Chapter 6 - Part One - Interregnum
Starting at one edge of the Delta Quadrant the Vor'ku'far swept through the galaxy like a plague destroying untold civilisations. It swept hundreds of races away by destroying their stars in the blink of its eye, now not willing to hide any longer, deciding to act overtly, crush those races that had wronged it. Naturally it left some, otherwise it would be millennia before other younger races would rise to be playthings besides it was so much more satisfying to abuse those the First Ones were supposed to be shepherding. She clicked her mandibles together in pleasure. Races such as the Kazon, Krenim, and others like them, were hardly worth the bother, so it inflicted disease and pestilence upon them, allowing respite should they fall on bended knee and serve faithfully. Those that did were granted health, wealth and anything that they should desire – well all except freedom as that would be far too charitable. The Vidiians were one of the first races to serve, all were healed of any phage affliction - many went to sleep to find their bodies in perfect health the following morning.
One race led to another, and another.
Even the once powerful Borg fell before their advance as the Old One severed the Collective consciousness as easily as a human stepping on an ant, unable to coordinate a defence they fell before their advance. Cube, diamond and the transwarp hub were destroyed. A few escaped entering transwarp conduits for destination unknown, not that it cared for such trivial fleeting beings. Behind her was wreckage of thousands of ships, and millions of innocents, dead before their time.
Careful to gather the burst of psychic energy released at death, those sensitive enough had gone on to believe in the ridiculous notion of an afterlife. She even stole the emotional energy off every being she encountered, whether it was faith and love or abject misery, it mattered not, using it all to bolster her personal reserves. Once others like it were released they would strike at their true targets, the First Ones, all of them, whether it be; Vorlons, Walkers, or those damnable Alterans and the Ori in distant galaxies – all too pathetic to be allowed to exist any longer. All must die!
In the inner part of the Metron system, high above their Homeworld, five Organians floated - behind them were thousands of Metron ships, each semi-transparent and encased within a forcefield that the lesser races would dream of possessing. She sensed them from within her ship, deciding that for this battle to no longer bother with the façade of needing transport, teleporting just over one million kilometres distant from them – its fifty foot bulk floating in the void.
"Wait outside the system children," it chittered eyes glittering with happiness as they left.
"You are not welcome Old One. We banished and imprisoned your kind aeons ago"
"This is our home you are ordered to leave immediately or we will destroy you!"
The threats of the defence force were churlish, it could crush them easily. Five humans that had chosen to become energy comprised of pure thought, Organians were certainly not enough to stop it. Any Old One having long since absorbed far too much cosmic energy – they must be a distraction it mused silently – but it did not matter. A burst of power sent the sun nova, and they floated in silence, neither side moved in the five minutes it took to reach the planet. Planetary shields flared into life protecting the Metrons precious orb.
"Your attack has failed" screamed the Metrons in defiance.
The Organian known as Ayelbourne was somewhat more pragmatic, wondering what the Old One could be doing surely it must have known that such an explosion could not destroy the Metrons? He then it realised his mistake, the whole attack had been a distraction! While the shields had been protecting their Homeworld no one had noticed the energy readings spike within the globe. Suddenly seismic forces shook the planet, and the core exploded without warning. The defence forces opened fire in retaliation but nothing got through the malevolent beings shields.
"Run!" Ayelbourne sent telepathically.
The Metron known To'quan shook with impotent fury. "As commander of the fleet I order all ships retreat to the coordinates of my designation" he said transmitting them on encrypted subspace frequencies. Then the ships vanished as they went to ultra-warp departing the Milky Way. So these were the Old Ones they had heard tales of, that had supposedly created them. Beings long since thought to be fiction and superstition - that they had scoffed about silently thinking themselves superior. To think that they had ordered the Enterprise from their system over a century ago stating how inferior a species the apes were, when in fact they too were sadly lacking - unable to prevent the destruction of their planet, the planet that birthed them. It left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
It watched the Metrons leave as it began its task, one that took an hour and a half for the Old One to rip the Organians to pieces, each shout and cry of pain they uttered was heard ten thousand light years away and across distant dimensions. After completely shredding their energy matrixes, sending their death screams even further across the cosmos. Travelling to the star Formalhauti she released a rogue member of the Lambent Kith, placing the jailer within the gaol instead – Cthugha was free!
The Organians shouted their defiance for no member of their race had died in one million years now five were dead beyond any chance of resurrection. Not wanting to see their race totally destroyed fifty had fled their planet before the invaders had arrived – seeking safer territories. Those that stayed watched the arrival of the two Old Ones with deep trepidation, and fear. They began to pool their energy into a psychic gestalt quickly striking out at the invaders. What they thought would be triumph was far from it, as the Ancient Evils used their greater knowledge and turned their own psychic energy upon itself, and upon them!
On the outskirts of the system a silvery apparition stood on his board, watching having obfuscated his presence - as both planet and Organians were burnt to ashes by energies too great for either to bear. He felt a twinge of sadness and guilt, but even he dared not attack a dreaded Old One directly despite being given the power of a First One status due to his master – Galan. He knew his duty, return to Otherworld to pass on this most dreadful news!
The crinoid, half vegetable creature with its star shaped head, erect barrel like body and flailing tentacles were a blur across the controls of their base on Pluto. Using methods of detection beyond the pathetic apes, which it knew, in time, would not be so feeble – if they survived. It was concerned about its other children which had come to fruition millions of years later, after those disobedient Shoggoth were all but destroyed. However they had a lot in common with their cousins. Knowing that any First One would be targeted - it had foreseen this event thousands of years ago, nothing mystical just plain deductive reasoning on its part. The fact that it had confirmed the events psychically too had certainly helped. But then so did a lot of others. There was now little choice to but to uplift them from the Gamma Quadrant of this galaxy and place them elsewhere. Preferably nowhere near those damn apes, another venture gone wrong! Priming the engines the whole base went through the centre of Pluto as it was still out of phase to all the lesser races, and opening a portal entered Z-space, bound for the Founders Homeworld.
Half a dozen Borg cubes appeared over the Martian landscape, emerging from transwarp conduits, one was spinning uncontrollably in the vacuum of space bouncing off the atmosphere, parts of the hull sloughing off in the heat. A green beam shot down towards the surface of the planet, drawing the unfamiliar organic vessel from New Alaskan soil high into the air and out towards space. Several attempts with a Borg cutting weapon proved unsuccessful until one drone, One of Ten gained a foothold by creating a temporary collective consciousness allowing it to control the Borg once more. It fired at full power slicing the vessel into tiny pieces, followed by several plasma torpedoes which vaporised the remains, leaving northing but free floating atoms.
At tactical her eyes opened wide in alarm. "Captain" said Jasminder, "We're being hailed"
"Open a channel," he said, "Ready all weapons!" Riker watched the vessels partly in shock, and partly in horror – what the hell else can go wrong? Down on the planet there were reports that the mass hysteria had stopped abruptly, thankfully before it had become as bad as Bajor. One of the few worthy things the Borg had ever done – in his opinion at least.
"I am One of Ten, our scans revealed similarities in the DNA of you and aliens and concluded escaping here would be the most logical alternative"
"Their secret is out," casting a quick glance at his fully telepathic wife wanting to know here thoughts, not that it was necessary.
"Imzadi he's telling the truth" she sent telepathically.
"What do you suggest we just welcome them?"
"I don't know" she sent equally perplexed. "Worth a try?"
"I am one of many free Borg standing before you, free of that damnable Collective"
"What is it you have in mind?" He remembered Hugh, and he hoped that maybe, that they too could become an asset – but his pragmatism doubted it.
"We want to live and be free of this damn technology" he said tugging, but not very hard, at various conduits running from his flesh into the external armour he wore. Hope was visible within his one human eye, "To see my family again. I was a Federation officer like you – once!"