NeoSeether: Thank you. :-)
Yeah, that was a major error about Ivanova seemingly being in two places at the same time. She did say she was God... ;-) That will be fixed up in the rewrite when this story is done.
Yes, these are drones, not torpedoes. The people in this story didn't know this as they were not as familiar with the Ancients as the Stargate people. Perhaps only Galen knew enough and he's not in the habit of volunteering information on the spot. As for the ZPM in the outpost, I'd say it had been replenished at least once before. As I said before, the Vorlons did use the outpost as a laboratory for introducing telepathy to humanity on Earth a century before the Centauri First Contact.
Yes... Mariel would burn men of power. The emperor IS the ultimate man of power in the Centauri Republic. We'll see how Londo's ploy would pan out... The question would be "Will Mariel burn Londo or Cartagia?"
Yep. There's no limit to insanity. Human insanity is limitless, so why should Centauri insanity be any different? Several human monarchs have actually done Cartagia's crossdressing, notably the Roman Emperors Caligula and Elagabalus.
You will see if there were survivors at Wolf 359 in the coming chapters.
The First One reaction to the Borg is coming. As will the Borg reaction to Shadow technology.
As for the Ancients' great enemy, they're all in the Pegasus Galaxy, so they will not make an appearance in this story. Unless someone manages to get a foldspace-driven ship and go to Pegasus...?
Zee-Magnees: It is a kind of homage to "Best of Both Worlds." I use the episodes to make the Borg and other aspects of the story as canon as possible.
Bolo: It's an interesting possibility, isn't it? The problem is...if you're not properly prepared, you can't control the Shadow ship without going insane. And that preparation is mostly the job of the Zener, a Shadow servant race.
Durham: That was indeed all Captain Kirk knew. But that was BEFORE the Borg made a personal appearance in the Babylon 5 universe and revealed facts about themselves through their actions toward the Centauri and Earthers.
Everyone else, thanks for the comments and feedbacks! They are all one of the guiding lights for how I write. On with the story!
NOTE: This chapter takes place approximately during "Voices of Authority" in the Babylon 5 original timeline.
Battle of Jupiter: The character of the Shadow War was changed by the events among the Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter in the Earth Alliance Sol System in the year 2260. If the Battle of Wolf 359 sobered the star nations of the era into realizing their vulnerability to armed incursions from the Federal Universe, Jupiter determined the path that the Earth Alliance would tread for the rest of the regime of President Morgan William Clark. He was exasperated by the events of Wolf 359 where his fleet was wrecked. The choices made for Jupiter was in large part due to what happened at Wolf 359. There is a strong suspicion that President Clark was trying to discipline EarthForce by staging the assault on….
—Encyclopedia of the Shadow War, Repository of Knowledge, New Earth (AKA Vorlon Prime), a million years after the Shadow War
Captain Kirk threw up an arm to preserve his eyes as the main viewscreen's glare compensation failed to keep up. Even Spock's second eyelid didn't keep him from covering his eyes. This was why they didn't catch two of the Ancient torpedoes detecting the cloaked starship, and deciding that its technology was similar enough to that of the Borg, veered away from the exploding and dying river and made for the starship.
Ivanova saw what was happening and tried to mentally command the Ancient torpedoes to turn back to the river of golden destruction now plowing into the Borg cube. She strained to throw her telepathic command all the way to Jupiter's orbit.
Galen slowly shook his head. "You are not fully compatible with the Ancient command chair. If you were a full telepath, had the compatible genes or had ingested what the Ancients called the Spice Melange, you would be capable of control at much greater distances. As it is, you are limited to the Earth-Luna space."
Ivanova only strained harder, and began to look frustrated.
The two Ancient torpedoes reached the Enterprise, the first golden-glowing squid striking the starboard nacelle of the starship, destroying it and causing the ship to instantly decloak and begin a spin that halted as stabilizing thrusters fired. Shields were automatically raised in time to lessen the blow of the second torpedo, but the blast partially penetrated the forming shields and damaged the secondary hull of the Federation starship.
The Enterprise, lazily spinning out of control, was now visible to the entire EarthForce fleet arranged in Jupiter's orbit.
Captain Kirk reached up for the rail from the floor and pulled himself up right amid the billowing smoke. Alert lights flashed red through the smoke as sparks flew from two of the consoles. Blood seeped from a gash in his forehead, creating a prison-bars effect down his face. He blinked hard to get smoke-induced tears out of his eyes.
"Spock?"
The Vulcan, true to his form, was already up and studying his console readings. "Jim."
Kirk stood up and pulled down his tunic from under his belt. "Status report."
"Captain, the warp core and the cloaking device are offline. Shields are down to 76 and holding. Life support is optimal. Weapons minimal. Casualty reports are still coming in."
As the smoke was cleared by the atmospheric cyclers, Kirk turned to look at the main viewscreen. The EarthForce fleet was still arranged in orbit of Jupiter, but several warships and many fighters were now moving to surround the Enterprise. The Borg cube has been reduced to a very small remnant of itself, perhaps one-sixth the original size, the size of an Earth Omega-class destroyer.
The Borg remnant shot off a message drone toward the quantum gate near the Vree System.
The eyebrows on Kirk and Spock shot up. Amazing. Apparently, the Ancient blast was not enough to finish the Borg off. They had worried that EarthForce would get their hands on the dangerous nanotechnology that would survive in the broken remnant, but now it would seem they also had to worry about surviving drones.
Spock said, "I'm detecting activity on the Borg vessel." He toggled another control on his console and the main viewscreen magnified and focused onto a part of the mangled and severely reduced vessel. They could see pipes, filaments and other parts slowly moving as if they were wriggling worms weaving a new network of their bodies.
"Self-repairing regeneration. Fascinating."
Chekov had finally cleared his banged head. "Fascinating, hell! More battles and death!" He turned to Ensign Redpath to make sure he was alive enough to helm the starship.
The ensign lay on the deck, his neck at an impossible angle and eyes staring emptily.
Chekov swore in Russian. "Yebat'-Kopat'! Durak neshtiasnyI…."
The main viewscreen fizzled and switched to the image of a Japanese woman on a darkened warship's bridge. Static in the speakers was bad but soon cleared as Nyota Uhura adjusted her communications control.
"Thi…the EA…-on,…-ain Laurel Takashima commanding. Do you require assistance?"
"Ah Captain Takashima!" Kirk put on his best smile. "Thank you, but no." He knew that EarthForce would do anything to get their hands on his starship and he vaguely remembered her name in the reports from Director T'Sara's people.
Laurel nodded expressionlessly. "Can you shoot? The Borg are still there."
Kirk glanced at Chekov. The Russian whispered, "We only have enough power to do tattoo work."
"Why yes, Captain! You need our assistance in erasing the last of the Borg from your universe?"
One corner of Laurel's mouth pulled up in a knowing half smile. "My scanner operator tells me you have very little power in your weapons."
"Every little bit helps." Kirk looked at Spock who inclined his head warningly. EarthForce was still surrounding his starship. "But I warn you. Do not make any attempt on my ship."
The starship jolted as Laurel watched. The first thought that came into Kirk's mind was that EarthForce had opened fire, but he quickly recognized the feel of a tractor beam latching onto his ship.
Laurel shook her head admonishingly. "Don't waste your warning on us. The Borg have you." She leaned forward. "We will help you to fight them off, if only so that we can work on creating some kind of rapport."
Kirk almost blanched and looked at Spock. His friend subtly nodded. The Borg had indeed tractored the Enterprise, in spite of their severely reduced state.
Antarctica, Earth
"Pizdets! OK, I guess that's it…. Blin!"
Ivanova angrily jumped off the Ancient control chair and the machinery's blue glow darkened and the chair jerked up to its upright position.
Sheridan nodded, partly thankful that there was no universal translator built into the outpost's infrastructure. There was nothing else they could do with the Ancient technology available in this abandoned outpost. They had seen the Enterprise struck down by the Ancient torpedoes in the holodisplay and EarthForce moving to surround it. Sheridan doubted that it was benevolent protection the Earth military was thinking. There was one more worry left….
"Galen, it's not a good idea to leave this place unguarded. Clark could…you know."
The technomage gave a mirthless smile. "The Atlantus outpost is built with material that is impervious to all scanners except subspace scanners and those of the First Ones. I have created a spell to make it a bit more impervious to subspace scanners in case your EarthForce somehow attain that technology. President Clark wouldn't be able to find it for centuries yet even if he had to dig out all the glacier, ice and snow off this region. For now, only we and Captain Kirk know the location and its capabilities."
Sheridan nodded, though he wasn't completely reassured. He spoke into his comlink. "White Star, this is Sheridan. Beam me up."
Ivanova smirked. "You've been waiting to say that, haven't you?"
Sheridan grinned guiltily and shrugged. "What else can I say?" The world was whitewashed with motes of light till it was replaced by a small room in the White Star. A Minbari, her headbone uncarved and unadorned, dutifully stood behind a transporter control plinth, her hands coming out of a plain robe to gently caress the crystals jutting out of the plinth.
Sheridan stepped off the transporter pad with Ivanova and Galen following behind. "Get the White Star to Jupiter, now."
The Minbari Worker, having heard perfect Lennau from Sheridan thanks to the universal translator, bowed slightly and responded in her native tongue, "Vis, Shok'Na." She trusted the wondrous Newcomer technology to translate it to 'Yes, Captain.'
Jupiter Orbit
"My God," commented McCoy angrily, "after all this and we're going to die? Pathetic!"
On the main viewscreen, the broken, but still powerful, remnant of the Borg cube loomed closer as the Enterprise was slowly tractored closer. EarthForce's weapons still pounded into the Borg vessel to almost no effect.
Kirk pounded the intercom button on his command chair, channeling his frustration into the hit. "Scotty! Please tell me you have a miracle up your sleeve!"
"Ach, the poor lass is banged up. If I try to reactivate the warp core, it will breach. Too bad I have na the chance to test the Bel-Nar dilithium crystals, third-rate though they are."
An idea formed in Kirk's mind. "Scotty, you told me the Bel-Nar crystals could easily act like trilithium and blow."
"Aye. Third-rate like I said. I do na know the quality of the dilithium the Centauri use, but they canna be much better."
"Yes! We still have them in the cargo bay, don't we?"
Captain Montgomery Scott looked around himself, confused. Kirk couldn't mean having Centauri in the cargo bay, so he must mean the Bel-Nar crystals. The starship captain must have an idea up his sleeve. "Aye, we do."
"Wonderful! We will have a warp core breach!"
Scotty frowned, wondering if the captain's head had been banged up once too many times. "Umm, ye do know we will die much sooner that way?"
He could hear a chuckle over the intercom. "It is our fate to die sooner or later, but I prefer later. Start the core reactivation sequence. Have everyone come up into the saucer section. The Borg will eat our core breach and we will be away and free in the saucer section."
Scotty widened his eyes. Kirk meant to have a saucer separation! A last resort, but at least they may all survive that much longer. "Aye, aye, Capt'n! I be starting the reactivation sequence and I'll finish it in the bridge!" With that, Scotty went to work on the reactor controls while ordering everyone in Engineering to evacuate to the saucer section. The Bel-Nar crystals should be able to amplify the explosion. He only had to open a few conduits from Engineering to the cargo bay and then….
Too bad he wouldn't be able to work with the good lady anymore, at least her stardrive section anyway.
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"Are you mad!"
Spock arched an eyebrow at McCoy. "It is the logical course of action. EarthForce is having minimal effect on the Borg vessel. Inaction on our part would allow the Borg to complete their repairs and continue their efforts to assimilate Earth."
"But then we must deal with EarthForce! It's going to be a case of getting out of the frying pan and into the fire!"
Spock exchanged a glance with Kirk. The ship's doctor was right. "If the Borg survive, the…'fire,' as you would say, will instead be a volcano."
Dr. McCoy threw up his hands into the air. "All right, all right, you damned Vulcan! Do it if you must stroke your precious sense of logic!"
Kirk grinned humorously. "This ship has become a deathtrap and I intend to have us live through it."
The doors of the turbolift slid open and admitted Montgomery Scott into the bridge. The Chief Engineer immediately activated the engineering console. He waited for Captain Kirk's expected orders.
The captain turned to Uhura who said, "All decks in the saucer section signal readiness. Stardrive reports ready."
Kirk nodded for Scott to begin.
"Capt'n, can we not find some other way to salvage the situation?"
"Scotty…."
Scotty grimly nodded. "Beginning saucer separation…now."
At the top of the neck connecting the saucer section of the Enterprise to the stardrive section, a red line had been painted to note where the emergency separation would occur. This red line split in two to create triangles on the sides of the front and back of the neck. These triangles now created a clanging vibration in the starship's hulls. The rear triangle moved backward away from the saucer, while the front triangle slowly dropped down away from the saucer as well. These were docking latches.
Scotty hesitated as his finger hovered over a button in his engineering console. He had worked with the warp core of this starship ever since it had been commissioned at Earth Spacedock. "Me bairns…," Scotty whispered to himself regretfully and pressed the button.
Explosive bolts blew along the red line between the docking latches, forcing the saucer section off of the neck. The Borg tractor beam pulled the stardrive section free away from the saucer section.
Kirk made a fist. "Mr. Chekov."
The plasma exhaust of the impulse drive glowed red and added to the distance already evident between the saucer and stardrive. The push was not as strong as it would have been with a warp core providing the power. The impulse engines were now relying on fusion reactors.
Laurel Takashima and every other captain in the EarthForce fleet stared with disbelief. This particular starship was capable of dividing itself in two! They waited to see what Captain Kirk's next move would be.
Kirk also waited. The Borg vessel pulled the stardrive closer to itself. Closer and closer….
The captain pounded his fist into an open hand. "Now!"
Scotty's lips thinned grimly, mourning the loss of the warp core, and sent a signal for the reactor to restart itself.
In the warp core, matter and antimatter flowed into the intermix chamber. The magnetic containment fields attempted to control the annihilation, but, damaged as they were by the Ancient torpedoes, the fields failed. Matter and antimatter now rushed into their destructive embrace. The warp core breached.
The destructive energy, in the milliseconds before manifesting itself for everyone in Jupiter orbit to see, reached the cargo bay where they touched the crates of the low-quality dilithium crystals bought on the planet Bel-Nar in the Antares Sector. The crystals absorbed the energy and, due to their low quality, quickly converted into trilithium resin which then combusted, adding to the blast of the warp core breach.
For the second time, a brief sun shone in the orbit of Jupiter.
The ruined Borg vessel could not resist the power of the blast and soon became tiny broken debris and gas. The few EarthForce ships that were too close tumbled in the dying edges of the blast and a few more ships were singed. The Enterprise's saucer section tumbled before a shockwave.
The bridge crew stumbled and fell, receiving yet more knocks.
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Laurel Takashima stared openmouthed. They had just destroyed half their ship to eliminate the Borg threat entirely! Maybe they were beneficial to EarthForce after all. She turned to her tachcomm officer. "Send to Earth Central: Borg eliminated by Feddies. Fed ship damaged by effort. Do we assist?"
EarthDome, Geneva, Earth
General Smits entered the President's office, subtly nodding to General Hague in a knowing greet. Generals Franklin and Fontaine didn't notice. The President was too busy reading reports.
"Mr. President. We have received a report from the Jupiter Fleet, specifically Captain Laurel Takashima of the Ag—"
"Yes, yes, yes." Clark was waving dismissively. "Get to the point!"
Smits thinned his lips at this departure from protocols, then gave the report. "The Fed ship has eliminated the remains of the Borg threat—"
President Clark interrupted again. "What! How…. Damn them! Now we can't study the Borg nanotechnology!"
General William Hague stepped forward. "Mr. President, our weapons were having no effect on the leftover of the Borg ship. The enemy was still a danger to planetary security."
Clark frowned at Hague. Suddenly, he could imagine an interrogator roughly plucking the hair off the general's neat silvering close-trimmed beard. "EarthForce is one of the best military forces in the galaxy. We would have eventually worn the Borg down into submitting to us." He slapped a paper he was holding down at the desk. "Smits! Anything else?"
"Uh yes, sir. The Feddies destroyed the Borg by dividing their ship in two and causing the engine part to blow up in the Borg's face."
Fontaine looked at Smits skeptically. "Divide their ship in two? They really could do that?"
General Smits nodded. "Captain Takashima is asking for permission to assist the surviving part of the Fed ship."
Clark's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face. "Oh ho so that means the Feddies are unable to do anything?" His eyes shifted over to Franklin pointedly.
General Richard Franklin was still smarting from the failure to seize that extra-universal civilian ship at Janos 7. This was his chance to redeem himself. "Mr. President, we do have marines stationed on ships in the Jupiter fleet. I'll give the order for them to seize the Enterprise."
Clark raised an admonishing finger. "If they shoot, just disable them lightly. Just board them and capture the ship. We will not be left out of the new technologies that everyone else seems to be getting!"
General Fontaine frowned along with Hague and Smits. "You sure? We don't know if there is still an open way between our universe and the Federal universe. We could be getting ourselves into a war with the…." Fontaine frowned further, trying to remember the name of the political entity. Hague supplied him. "The United Federation of Planets."
"Yes, that's it. Thank you, General. I seriously doubt EarthForce could handle the full might of this Federation."
Clark almost sneered at Fontaine. "By the time they find out, we will have upgraded EarthForce to their level of technology. We can handle them. If there's ever an open way into their universe, which I seriously doubt."
Hague made one more attempt to deflect the president from this path. It would be a terrible mistake, possibly as bad as the mistake made by Captain Michael Jankowski who had started the Minbari War. His mind had, unbidden, conjured up the image of an entire fleet of Enterprise's and Excelsior's replacing Minbari warcruisers at the Battle of the Line. "But, Mr. President…!"
Clark slapped a hand down at this desk, creating a thunder-like resounding noise. "General! I am the President here! Many people seem to think that I'm easy to manipulate. Those stupid senators think a…a special prosecutor is enough to remove me! Me!" Clark scoffed before continuing. "Well, let them. I'm the President. They're not. They can think whatever they like. Besides, I cannot be defied especially when we have Martial Law in the Solar System. This is a turning point in Earth history, generals, and I intend to take as much advantage of it as possible for humanity's sake!"
Hague and Smits still looked like they didn't fully agree yet. Franklin spoke, wanting to solidify his position to redeem himself from the Janos 7 failure.
"Generals, can we cancel the agonies of Earth? All the agonies of Earth, cancelled?" Franklin made his voice strident to overcome the resistance in the other generals' minds and to put himself in the President's personal favor. "Are broken ghosts limping forever from Stalingrad and Salamis, from Gettysburg and Dunkirk, Agincourt and the Spanish Armada? Do the butchers' blows still fall at the Teutoburg Forest and Auschwitz and Wounded Knee? Are the dead of Carthage and Hiroshima, San Diego and the Dilgar Invasion burning yet?"
The other three generals stared at Franklin with surprise.
"We must move forward! This is a turning point in our history, gentlemen. Like those other turning points, we must move forward and not look behind us. An opportunity has presented itself to us and we must seize it!"
Clark smiled. He had been right to choose General Franklin as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after all. "Yes. What he said. We must move forward. We do not let the past hold us back. As your Commander-in-Chief, I order you to seize the Fed ship!"
All the generals snapped to attention and intoned together, "Sir, yes, sir!"
White Star Prime
Captain Sheridan studied the holodisplay at the front of the bridge. He didn't feel right about this situation. Not right at all. He could see EarthForce ships of all classes surrounding the primary hull of the Enterprise. The Minbari crew had informed him that they had detected several breaching pods being prepared and made ready. So far, EarthForce hasn't shown any notice of the White Star. Good. The sensor stealth was working at maximum.
But it wouldn't be long till someone visually noticed the Vorlon-Minbari hybrid ship.
"Get us to within 30,000 kilometers of the fleet."
The Minbari crew complied. Sheridan knew that this was the maximum range of the Federation transporter installed in the White Star.
Ivanova glanced at Sheridan suspiciously. "What are you going to do?"
"Without their engines, Kirk's people wouldn't be able to fight off EarthForce. We are going to beam as many of his people aboard as possible and leave."
Ivanova nodded, but still looked unsure. "That will still leave Kirk's ship for Clark to take advantage of."
Sheridan nodded. "I believe Captain Kirk knows this. He'll destroy his ship rather than let Clark have his hands on it."
A Minbari called for the humans' attention. "We are noticed."
Sheridan and Ivanova went back to look at the holodisplay. One of the EarthForce ship was turning around to face the White Star. Sheridan took a deep breath. He recognized the ship.
The Earth destroyer fired a laser warning shot off the White Star's bow. "This is the Earth Alliance ship Agamemnon, Captain Laurel Takashima commanding. Unknown alien vessel, identify yourself or be destroyed. Repeat, identify yourself or be destroyed."
Sheridan exhaled hard. His own ship. He wouldn't fire on EarthForce ships. He won't. And this was the Agamemnon, his command before Babylon 5 and that made it even worse.
It's not fair.
Ivanova peered at her commander. The bond of captains and ships cannot be underestimated.
One of the Minbari spoke anxiously. "Shok'Na, do we respond?"
Captain Sheridan stared at the Agamemnon. His old beloved ship.
It's not fair.
Sheridan shook his head in negation. "No. We can't have them knowing who we are."
Ivanova lightly touched her captain's arm. "What can we do about the Enterprise?"
"Start beaming them over. Tell Kirk about that."
"And…if EarthForce starts shooting at us?"
Sheridan stared straight ahead of himself silently.
Ivanova, understanding, exhaled sharply. "Oh boy."
USS Enterprise
"The White Star is going to beam us off, Captain."
Kirk nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Uhura. Tell them I'm the last to beam off."
Spock pointed out a fact that they all uncomfortably knew. "The White Star is of an insufficient size to contain all 400 crewmembers of the Enterprise."
"I know, Spock. Hopefully, Sulu will come in time."
Chekov stood up from his console. "Shields are offline. EarthForce breaching pods are approaching on an attack vector."
Kirk grimly pulled his red tunic down at the belt. "Uhura, ship-wide. Attention, all decks. Prepare for boarders. Repeat, prepare for boarders. All personnel go to transporter rooms." The captain turned to Chekov once more. "Do we have phasers?"
"Minimal."
"If we open fire," Spock pointed out once more, "EarthForce will feel obligated to return fire and kill more of our people than necessary."
"Agreed. So phasers are out. Everybody, go to the transporters and beam over to the White Star or the Excelsior, when Sulu finally comes."
McCoy said, "And you, Jim? What about you?"
Kirk gave the doctor a mischievous grin. "Military tradition says the captain should go down with his ship."
"Military tradition, my eye! You've failed to go down with the other Enterprises!"
The captain laughed, feeling more alive than he had felt in a long time. "Am I ever a traditionalist? Go, Bones. Go!"
"Not until I know what you're planning to do, you stupid fool!"
Kirk suddenly turned serious. "The Enterprise has become a deathtrap. But I intend to make it a deathtrap for the EarthForce boarders too. I'm going to set a self-destruct sequence."
McCoy nodded. "Again, Jim. One of these days, you're not going to destroy an Enterprise."
Kirk stepped over to the science station as Spock and Scotty gathered around. Captain Kirk leaned over the console and pressed a communication button.
"Computer, this is Captain James T. Kirk. Destruct sequence one, code one, one-A, three-A."
It was Spock's turn. "Computer, this is Captain Spock, Chief Science Officer. Destruct sequence two, code one, one-A, two-B."
As Spock stood away from the console, Scotty stepped forward and spoke into the console. "Computer, this is Captain Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineering Officer. Destruct sequence three, code one-B, two-B, three."
"Destruct sequence completed and engaged. Awaiting final code for one-minute countdown."
Kirk shared a somber look with everyone on the bridge. "Computer, hold and wait for me to speak the code."
"Holding."
The bridge crew watched Kirk stand up and face them. "Now…we fight!"
Chekov nodded and hurried to a cabinet under the tactical console. Opening it, he handed out hand-phasers to the bridge crew. Once everyone was armed and ready, he jumped up and typed in a command in the console. "Keptin, all doors to the bridge will be sealed after we go."
Kirk nodded, satisfied. "Go. I'll wait here for Sulu to pick me up."
McCoy was worried as everyone piled into the turbolift. "You sure, Jim?"
"I'll see you again, Bones. Spock." Kirk smiled to reassure McCoy and Spock.
A dull but loud thump vibrated through the hull. One of the EarthForce breaching pods has attached itself to the saucer hull. Spock nodded, allowing a little of his emotional worry for Kirk to seep through his Vulcan veneer. The turbolift doors closed and took them all to the nearest transporter room. Captain Kirk went over to sit at the science station to await the word that everyone has beamed off. He caressed the arms of the science chair, mentally apologizing to the starship.
Another vibrating thump in the hull signaled the arrival of another breaching pod.
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Kalina Reikson checked her instruments before looking at the pearlescent hull. She shook her head to herself. The computer had analyzed the hull to be composed of an alloy of metal, ceramic, crystal and fullerene, making the hull 24 times harder than diamond. The result was the visual appearance of a pearl. Beautiful but certainly made the torching job difficult, especially when the torches had to burn the inner hull as well. She consulted the instruments before making the confirmation.
"Sergeant Major! The way's clear, sir!"
The breaching team commander grunted and yanked at the red handle beside the large hatch. The hatch popped and hissed open, revealing blackened hull around the edges where the breaching torches burned. Beyond was a quarter that seemed luxurious in comparison to those on EarthForce ships. Personal effects littered the room between bunks for crewmen.
The sergeant major grunted in satisfaction at the lack of crewmen. He shouted, "You straookin' maggots! I want you to dust up this ship! Take prisoners, but if any resist, wound 'em! Go, go, go, go!"
The boarders jumped through the hatch and dropped down through the burnt hole in the ceiling. The breaching pod had attached itself to the flat part of the saucer's topside. They quickly and efficiently searched the quarters, sweeping their phased plasma rifles around.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
The sergeant went to what was clearly the entrance door for this quarter. They obligingly opened at his approach. Definitely a luxury unheard of on EarthForce ships. He had always thought that the sliding doors known on Babylon 5 and other such large stations spoiled the crew and made foreign invasions too easy. He grinned. All well and good for them to capture this ship. "Theeeese strokin' Feds are gonna learn how soft they are! Men! Secure the corridor! We must go to the command center!"
The heavily armed and armored men filed through the open door and sighted over their guns down the straight corridor. The contours of the corridor were strange and a little too bright to their EarthForce eyes. The light color certainly made the dark armor and clothes of the EarthForce marine commandos all the more starkly visible. Black stripes ran along between beige bulges in the walls. Some of the black stripes were flashing red. At least that part was familiar enough.
One of the boarders spoke through the intercom in his helmet. "Sarge! It's empty!"
The sergeant nodded and made hand signals commanding a team to take point and charge down the corridor. An angry red beam whined down the corridor, signaling resistance from around a corner at the end of the corridor. The boarders crouched down to the floor and walls and shot pulses of helium plasma in response.
The sergeant squinted down the corridor through his visor. He could make out a wine-red helmet and the muzzle of an energy weapon rifle. A red beam lashed out once more, touching one of the boarders in the hip. He slumped.
Phased plasma rifle fire saturated the corridor, the boarders now enraged by the downfall of their comrade. One of the commandos carefully forced a hand through the fallen man's armor and felt his pulse. Surprised, she turned to the sergeant. "Sarge! He's not dead!" Her voice dropped in perplexed wonder. "He's…sleeping."
The sergeant grunted. These Feds were softies indeed. But he felt a little uneasy. As far as he knew, no one had the technology to stun someone without using blunt force, tasers, tranquilizer guns, or PPGs at ineffectively low power that would leave sunburns. He'd be damned if he allowed these aliens put them all to sleep and capture them. "Fire at will! Subdue them!"
The boarders slowly advanced, firing their PPRs. A pulse of helium plasma finally burned through the burgundy armor on one of the Starfleet security officers, causing him to fall dead. The face of a Caitian was visible in open front of the helmet. An oddly distorted gold triangle adorned the helmet front above the furry face. Phaser beams and pulses rained back at the boarders, stunning two more marines.
The sergeant major frowned in disgust. This was going to take too long. He hoped the other breaching pod crew made better progress.
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The White Star weaved through space, avoiding the weapon fire from EarthForce while the Minbari crew labored to beam as many of Kirk's crew as possible over. The Minbari were careful by locking onto only the transponders built into the Starfleet uniforms. The Enterprise helped by using her own transporters to beam more people over to the White Star. A laser beam from the Agamemnon grazed against the port nacelle of the Minbari-Vorlon hybrid ship.
"You must shoot back!" shouted Ivanova.
Sheridan vigorously shook his head as he strained against the pulls of the ship's dancing maneuvers. He wasn't about to shoot at his own military. They were people who wore the same uniform as his, shared the same jokes, the same yearning for real Earth food in space. They adhered to the same Constitution of the Earth Alliance. He knew that if he shot back, someone he knew might die. Especially if that someone was on his old ship, the Agamemnon.
He shook his head vigorously, horrified at this turn of events and at himself. "No."
Ivanova grunted as she held onto an arm of Sheridan's chair as the White Star spun on its axis and flew in another direction. "Damn it, Captain! I understand your reluctance, but if we don't shoot, we will die! Our rescue will be useless, pointless if we die!"
Sheridan felt stuck in a corner and looked at Ivanova with pleading eyes.
"Ah blin!" The Russian woman exhaled hard and came to a decision. Usurping the captain's command, she began to give orders to the Minbari crew. If she was going to be damned, then let's be damned!
Thank God, she's Russian.
The White Star finally opened fire, eliminating a starfury and disabling an Olympic corvette in quick succession.
A warp flash bloomed in the distance and the Excelsior cruised out of warp, firing at EarthForce ships.
"About time you came, Captain Sulu!"
The image of a harried Starfleet captain appeared in the descending Minbari holodisplay. "I apologize. We have been apprised of the situation. We're going to drop shields and start beaming. We'll do as much as we can. We will need to raise shields before our hull integrity start failing."
"Just do it fast!"
The intact Federation starship began to dance among the Earth weapons, firing phasers and photon torpedoes.
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The sergeant major of the first batch of boarding EarthForce marines grunted as he felt his PPR kick back into his shoulder. He was satisfied when he saw another armored Starfleet security officer being thrown back by the hit. He shook his head. Unbelievable. They had found out by consulting a map of the Enterprise on a bulkhead that the command center was in the very top of the saucer instead of in the center. If EarthForce had known this, they would have concentrated fire on the saucer dome for a decapitation strike. Earth wouldn't have exposed its high officers to potential danger this way!
The PPR kicked back at him once more as a phaser beam whined past his helmeted head. A whine of a different tenor sounded and the sergeant was amazed to see blue-white points of light appear and surround one of the enemy security men. When the light faded, the man was gone. So the rumors of transmat technology were true! The marines advanced as yet another Starfleet security officer vanished in transmat light, this time a blue skinned and antennaed woman.
The sergeant smiled. Cowards. It only made the job of seizing this ship and its miraculous technologies easier for them.
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Captain Kirk silently listened as reports came of the White Star and Excelsior getting more of his crewpersons off of his doomed ship.
"Holding."
The computer was automatically reminding him that the self-destruct sequence was still awaiting his final command. He wondered whether this situation would apply as a Kobayashi Maru situation. He smiled ruefully. Too bad this time he couldn't alter the parameters.
He idly imagined Starfleet Academy using his present experience in the test simulations. He could imagine the Commander-in-Chief, Fleet Admiral William Toddman, agreeing to the modifications for the Kobayashi Maru test, and Blackjack Harriman seething at yet another point that his son has to match in the next Enterprise.
Too bad he couldn't go home to tell Admiral Bill about this.
Thumps sounded from inside the turbolift shaft. Ah. The boarders had finally climbed up to the bridge level.
A whistle sounded from the communications console and Kirk went over to Uhura's former station. He was surprised to find that it was a tachyon visual signal from one of the EarthForce ships, the Agamemnon. He activated the main viewscreen.
"Captain Takashima."
The Japanese woman narrowed her eyes as she took in the sight of Captain Kirk standing all by himself on his bridge. "Captain Kirk. You still won't surrender? My men are about to enter your command center. Give up and no more people will get hurt…or killed."
Kirk chuckled. "No, Laurel."
The EarthForce captain's face twisted in anger. "It's Captain Takashima! I'm not your friend!"
"All right, all right! Captain Takashima. Touchy today, aren't we?"
Seeing the Starfleet captain standing there all alone bothered Laurel. "What are you waiting for, Kirk? For one of your transmat devices to whisk you away at the last dramatic moment?"
Kirk grinned brightly. "You do know me, madam!"
Laurel rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. Kirk thought he heard "drama queen." It must have been his imagination.
A louder thump sounded, this time from the turbolift doors. Kirk imagined that the boarders were now attaching some kind of explosive device to the sealed doors. Reports were now saying that the last crewmen were being beamed away. It was time. He returned to the science station, ignoring Captain Takashima. He lowered his voice softly.
"Computer, minimum volume. Final code for countdown: zero, zero, zero destruct zero."
The computer spoke in a volume softer than a whisper and showed numbers on a small screen. "One minute…fifty-nine seconds…fifty-eight…fifty-seven…."
Kirk sat and waited for the turbolift doors to blow and for Sulu or Sheridan to beam him away. He gave Laurel another bright teethy grin.
Laurel crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes further. "You know the problem with men? They have tunnel vision. It comes from looking at everything through their dicks..." Laurel raised a hand and her finger and thumb almost touched each other in the gesture. "A little tiny hole, Captain Kirk. The penis has this little tiny hole."
Kirk widened his eyes good-humorously and his smile broadened. "I didn't know you played doctor before!"
Laurel only said in contemptuous response, "You are dramatizing your last few moments. That's the tunnel vision of male ego."
The turbolift doors finally exploded, forcing Kirk to take cover under his arms. The dark figures of EarthForce marines hurried through the smoke and aimed their PPRs straight at Kirk.
The starship captain muttered to himself, "Anytime now, Sulu."
USS Excelsior
Captain Hikaru Sulu pushed his hair out of his eyes and glared at Ensign Tuvok. The Vulcan had just informed him that hull breaches were appearing in spite of the power reinforcement of the integrity field. It wouldn't do to have his starship destroyed, making all the rescue efforts moot. Sulu pursed his lips before giving the order.
"Shields up."
Tuvok nodded and pressed a control.
"Did we get everyone?"
Janice Rand furiously communicated with the transporter rooms on the starship and the White Star. "Just one left, sir. Captain James T. Kirk."
"Can the White Star get him out?"
Janice clutched to her console as the starship stumbled under weapons fire. "Uhh, no, sir. Captain Sheridan says that EarthForce is forcing him out of transporter range."
"Damn."
USS Enterprise
The sergeant major of the Earthforce boarding marines studied the workstations of this command center. The marines were now escorting Kirk to the breaching pod. What a boon for EarthForce R&D! Soon enough, with this ship as a template, Earth would be able to fight even the Minbari easily! His ears caught a very soft ticking sound. He leaned down with an ear directed at a computer panel speaker at the science station.
"Twenty-two…twenty-one…twenty…."
The blood drained out of his face as the sergeant recognized the sound of a countdown. He ran to the second turbolift that was opened and activated by Kirk, screaming into his helmet microphone. "This is Sergeant Major Plug! Everybody, get out of here! Get out now! Reikson! Prep the pod for departure!"
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Kalina Reikson anxiously waited at the hatch, having heard the sergeant major's shouted orders. The doors of the quarters slid opened and marines were pushing Kirk at a run. The marines pushed chairs to under the burnt hole in the ceiling and forced Kirk to reach up for Kalina's outstretched hand.
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The sergeant major flew out of the opening turbolift at a tearing run, mentally continuing the countdown. Calculating the time he had left, he knew he won't reach the pod in time.
Damn Kirk! Damn them all to hell!
"Reikson, leave!"
"But, sir…!"
"Go! Now!"
Sergeant Major Plug mentally kept up with the ship computer's countdown as his arms pumped in the run toward an escape pod he knew to be there at the end of this straight corridor.
"Six…five…four…three…"
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Captain Sulu watched mournfully as explosions racked the primary hull of the Enterprise in a designed destruction. The saucer hull ruptured and cracked as flames licked out from inside. EarthForce ships hurriedly moved back away from the starship's death. A fireball escaped one of the crumbling cracks in the saucer hull, quickly dissipating in the cold vacuum of space.
The turbolift doors opened to admit Spock and McCoy. They stopped in their tracks when they saw their beloved starship in its death throes.
Spock stared at the sight with tight eyes, his face rigid as he tightened his emotional control.
The fusion reactors at the back of the Enterprise's saucers pumped out one final energy burst. This time, it wouldn't be directed at the impulse engines, but inward at the main body of the primary hull. The saucer blew in a final fiery explosion, throwing debris at the EarthForce fleet arranged around it.
Doctor McCoy struggled to voice what Spock dared not say for fear of quickly losing his self-control.
"My God…Jim…."