And here is the third episode. Enjoy and please review!
EPISODE 3: ASSIMILATION OF THE INNOCENT.
"We arrived before the Borg. Now my heart can start beating again!" Elisa said with a relief when they entered the Vega system. She continued: "What are your orders, Captain?"
"Hail the colonies! We have to warn them." Lyzara enjoined.
"T'Vrell managed to establish a comm link with Willa Post, the administrator of Vega colony. It's not a great signal, but it's the best we are going to get. Putting her through now," Elisa stated.
"Greetings, Captain. Is there something I can do for you today?" the administrator asked through some static.
"The Borg are on their way to this system. You need to start evacuating," Lyzara answered the administrator.
"Repeat, please? Your signal is breaking up. Did you say the Borg? What about them?" She talked through the increasing static.
"The Borg are on their way, Mayor, you have to evacuate!" the Captain spoke as clearly as possible. The moment later there was only static.
"Comm, what just happened?" Lyzara demanded.
"I have lost contact with Vega colony, sir. Something is blocking all subspace signals in this area. Even our hails to the civilian ships are not getting through. There is a communications satellite nearby. It should boost our signal sufficiently to inform the freighters of the danger and warn the colony," T'vrell reported.
"Helm, set a course for the satellite. Full impulse. T'Vrell, when we reach the satellite, begin boosting the signal," the Captain ordered.
"Our hails are still blocked, sir. The Borg may be attempting to isolate the planet before they land. Your orders, sir?" the communications officer said after a few moments of trying.
"Thel, can you get transporter locks on the colonists?" Lyzara asked.
"The Borg are jamming up any remote signals. It's not safe to beam through that. I think I can boost the gain though," he responded.
"Hurry. I think the Borg will be here any…," Lyzara said, but couldn't finish the sentence, because her First officer interrupted:
"Transwarp conduits opening all over the system, Captain. The Borg are here!" she announced as probes warped in.
"Those civilian ships are right in the Borg's path! We need to help them!" Elisa said.
"Helm, take us to the probes, engage evasive action and fire all weapons!" Lyzara ordered and hoped that the ship could take a few more hits. Luckily, the probes they engaged weren't built for combat – apparently for only planetary assimilation – and high yield torpedoes could tear through shields in seconds. The Altair circled around the probes and did its best to avoid their weapons, though the ship still suffered several hits. In a few minutes, the torpedoes did their job.
"Captain, I have short range communications. Long range signals are still blocked. I can contact the planet and have informed Administrator Post of the situation. However, the Borg have already landed and are moving toward the colony. It may be prudent to retreat back to the Renown, sir," T'Vrell advised once the battle was over.
"We're the only Starfleet vessel in the system. We'll rescue as many colonists as we can," the Captain decided instead.
"Borg landing craft detected nearby. Captain, there are civilian ships engaging them!" Elisa reported. And T'Vrell proposed:
"I believe I can send a message to those ships,"
"Civilian ships, you are ordered to disengage and retreat! We will cover you." Elisa said into the comm. The shields on several ships were failing and one of them was leaking plasma.
"Roger that, Starfleet. All ships, fall back," the Captain of one of the freighters complied. The civilian ships warped out and left the Altair to deal with three probes. Two of them were similar to the previous ones, but the third probe was carrying heavier weapons. M'Rew launched a series of photon torpedoes towards the last one, but they only scratched its hull.
"Thel, I need more weapons power!" he yelled while helm officer was applying different maneuvers to stay away from the probes' fire and in a moment Thel said:
"This is all I can give you, fire that probe out of the sky!" M'Rew immediately compiled it into a massive phaser blast and the probe was disintegrated. The last two probes soon joined it. The Borg forces were destroyed, but the Altair was barely holding it together.
"Captain, the Borg have landed, and the colony won't be able to hold them off for long. I recommend beaming down to Vega and getting as many people out as we can." Elisa suggested.
"Very well, Elisa and M'Rew, you're with me. Thel, get as many people working on repairing the ship as you can; T'Vrell, you have the bridge. Try to keep out of the Borg's way," Lyzara said and made her way into the transporter room.
"Captain, according to our readings, over half the planet is already assimilated by the Borg. At the rate they're progressing, the region we're in will be overrun in roughly one hour. And if that wasn't bad enough, the interference is affecting the ship's transporters," Elisa informed when the three of them were standing on the planet's surface.
"Understood. We will manually tag any survivors we find for transport. Any questions?" the Captain responded.
"No, sir. We'll follow your lead," M'Rew said.
"Let's get moving," Lyzara nodded. They followed the road up the hill. Some weird mushroom-like plants could be seen all around them, the ground was muddy and large rocks were scattered on the sides of the road. In the distance Borg beams were hitting the ground. They reached a ridge and were astound of the view: one of the Borg probes had landed farther away and it was spreading green wires into the ground – nanoprobes. Were they too late?
"Those landing ships don't just carry drones. They can pump nanoprobes directly into the ground and the atmosphere," Elisa apprised, "We need to hurry. The Borg will be in this area soon." Nearby they noticed a couple of refugees and after they had tagged them and beamed them up, they continued down the dirt road that was heading towards the main body of the colony.
Soon they reached the outskirts of a colony. The mushroom things were fewer here and the ground was quite flat. They continued toward the buildings and encountered another group of colonists.
"Thank you! We didn't know if anyone from Starfleet got our distress signal and we don't have any weapons. This code will open the gate. Please – Administrator Post and some of the others are still there. You have to save them!" a Cardassian colonist said before she and the others were beamed onto the Altair. The three Starfleet officers proceeded to the console at the colony's gate and entered the codes given to them. The gate opened with a loud creak. The sight of the colony was bloodcurdling. Two Borg drones were assimilating a colonist and several more freshly assimilated colonists could be seen further away. The Borg were a combination of humanoids and machines, much like cyborgs. Their eyes or arms were replaced with prosthetics to deal with different tasks and they had implants on their hands to inject nanoprobes for assimilation. Once a person was infected with nanoprobes – assimilated –, they would become a part of the collective. The team killed the drones and the colonist with a few phaser shots and proceeded to the next group of drones that were surrounding two colonists. Luckily, they were not yet assimilated and could be beamed into the ship. Lyzara could see the same green wires that were emitting from the probe in the ground around them – the Borg had already begun the assimilation process of the colony. The Starfleet officers continued deeper into the colony, down the street and between dark metallic buildings, and saved two other groups of civilians.
"We have the civilians. There is still no sign of the Renown or the Khitomer, sir," T'Vrell reported from the ship.
Lyzara continued towards the center of the colony, where the green Borg wiring was getting denser and it could be seen on almost every step. Finally they reached the main building. She could see the Administrator standing in one of the niches and an Andorian woman with a phaser rifle firing at the Borg that were surrounding and steadily approaching them. The officers immediately joined in to help her and together they were able to kill the drones, after which the Andorian pointed the gun at the Starfleet officers, seemingly unsure how to proceed. She had long white hair and her antennae were bent forward as she was keeping an eye on the officers, but at the same time also scanning her surroundings for more Borg. Her face was cautious and her frail features were overshadowed with fear.
"I apologize for Njahla putting a rifle in your face, but if it wasn't for her the Borg would have assimilated me by now. What's the situation? Are you bringing more Starfleet reinforcements?" Administrator Post asked once the drones were killed.
"We're the only ones here, I'm afraid. The Altair is in orbit," Lyzara answered her.
"I... see. Then it's true. Vega is doomed. A single starship cannot hope to stop this. Still… there is more to do. Many citizens are hiding in their homes. We cannot abandon them to the Borg," Post said with a woeful expression on her face. The Captain decided to give her some hope and offered:
"We can rescue them, but something is blocking our transporters."
"I know. Njahla and I have been trying to get around the interference field. Thank you for tagging the people you found and getting them safely transported to your ship," Administrator said. Lyzara nodded and stated:
"That can't be everyone."
"No, there are dozens more hiding out in the buildings. But Njahla and I have a plan: we think a pattern enhancer will do the trick. With that we can transport the remaining citizens to your ship," Post instructed, pointing at the pattern enhancers nearby.
"We'll set up the enhancer," Lyzara agreed. She moved a bit away from the Administrator and with the help of her officers set it up. A communication came in from T'Vrell:
"We have lowered the shields for the transporters, sir. I will need to raise them at the first sign of Borg ships."
"The pattern enhancers are working! And not a moment too soon. I can hear the Borg moving this way," Administrator Post said.
"I need you to signal the citizens to come here for transport," the Captain enjoined.
"I'll do that. How long do you think you can hold off the Borg?" she said looking worried.
"As long as we need to," Lyzara answered and gave the officers orders to defend the area as the first group of Borg appeared from around the corner. M'Rew threw a grenade in the middle of them, killing several Borg, and stated: "Remember when we thought fighting a crazed Klingon was the worst thing that could happen today?" Many citizens were running past them towards the transporter enhancers where they were beamed up to the Altair, one group after another. The Borg kept coming and M'Rew threw in another grenade that killed a group of Borg. As another group of colonists ran towards the pattern enhancers, several Borg followed them and the away team opened fire. One of the Borg shot a running colonist and she fell down as the blast hit her left leg. Another drone then injected the woman with nanoprobes right before Njahla fired a phaser beam through his head. The other colonists had already reached the enhancers and beamed to the Altair. The woman looked at the away team, her eyes dilated in fear. Then she stood up and started limping away from them. When Lyzara tried to get close and help her, she yelled: "No! Save the others! You can't help me anymore, I'm already hearing them!" she ran towards the colony centre and was out of sight within seconds. Lyzara stood there for a moment, cursing herself for not being able to save her, but then T'Vrell hailed them: "Shields are back up, sir, but more Borg vessels are warping in on our location. We have detected a type of generator near your position. There is a 94, 6 percent chance that it is the device affecting our transporters. If you can destroy it, we will transport as many people from the area as we are able."
"Hang in there, T'Vrell, we'll be there soon. Mayor, thank you for your assistance," Lyzara said.
"Thank you for everything you've done! Even though it was impossible to save everyone, those you did save will be forever in your debt. Don't forget that," she responded and beamed up to the ship.
"I'm not finished yet. Njahla, are you coming with me?" the Captain asked.
"Glad to do anything I can, sir. I was born on Vega. There's no way I'm sitting by and letting the Borg take it without a fight!" the Andorian said.
"Alright, let's get moving." Lyzara commanded and they approached a console to open the colony gate. Almost everything around them was covered with Borg wires, the buildings had a greenish glow on them as did the ground.
"Njahla, you're going to see friends who have been assimilated. Don't hesitate," Elisa said to warn Njahla. She responded:
"I know the drill. Just never expected any Borg here, you know?" They approached one of the consoles and entered the command codes to open the gate. Several Borg were right behind it and attacked them as soon as the gate opened. M'Rew threw a grenade in the middle of them killing three and the remaining two were taken down by the phaser blasts. They continued through the gate out of the colony, into what used to be a beautiful grove, but was now being assimilated and full of different sized wires. They followed the road up a small hill and encountered a Borg patrol. The team concentrated their fire on the drones, but kept their distance to prevent the Borg from administering them nanoprobes. The drones were killed one by one and they resumed moving toward the Borg generator. Now almost nothing around them reminded the beautiful colony Vega used to be. Then they reached the top of the hill and could see a generator ahead of them. It was surrounded by a force field.
"It looks like the Borg are activating the transport inhibitor," Elisa said once they had moved a bit closer. The team engaged the Borg protecting the force field generator. M'Rew threw in a grenade, killing most of them, and stated: "Now I'm officially out of grenades." They focused fire on the remaining drones and were steadily gaining the upper hand.
"The Borg are so… what's the word? Effective? Systematic? Evil? I'm going to go with evil," Elisa uttered when they were shooting at the last drone. Once the drones were down they disabled the Borg field generator.
"We are the Borg. Resistance is futile," they heard a drone that was previously working at the transport inhibitor say. Say is not the word. It sounded like thousands of voices were talking at the same time in perfect sync. The team concentrated the fire at the remaining drone, but suddenly their weapons were no longer having any effect. The Borg had adapted to their weapon frequency. Several more drones beamed in and they were also immune to the phasers. The team started retreating to where they had come from, when they saw a beautiful white-haired alien woman ahead, running towards them. She was closing in quickly from behind the Borg and before she reached them, she jumped up and attacked the drones from above with two long knives, one in each hand. The woman quickly and cleanly killed the remaining Borg. She then turned, quickly holstered her knives and grabbed a pistol from her belt. With one clean shot the generator exploded and then she walked towards the Starfleet officers who looked extremely amazed and impressed at the same time. She was quite short, couldn't have been more than 160 cm tall. Her skin was light, with a pinkish shade and she had two short horns on both sides of her face, starting from the back of her cheeks and going diagonally up the side of her skull, ending with a sharp tip. The Alien's features were soft, almost fragile and a darker pink line was running down her forehead to the tip of her nose. Her face was cupped with her long locks.
"That… was impressive," M'rew was first to talk. The alien woman just nodded. Elisa gathered her thoughts quickly and said:
"The ship is transporting anyone they can get a lock on, Captain, but we don't have much time. We need to get back as soon as possible."
"Are you coming with us?" Lyzara asked the mysterious woman. She nodded and Lyzara continued: "Altair, five to beam up."
Once they were back onboard the ship and had left the alien with other colonists, Elisa reported:
"We're packed to the brim with civilians, Captain, I don't think we could fit one more soul on this ship. Communications are still jammed so we can't reach the Renown or the Khitomer. Thel managed to boost the structural integrity so we're back in action, but the most immediate problem is the civilian ships in this system. Vega is a huge trading outpost – there are always ships traveling here. We need to warn them the Borg have taken over."
"Can we reconfigure the satellites in the system to send an automated warning?" Lyzara asked.
"Possibly, but what we need to do is high-tail it out of here with those civilians. Of course, the path to the satellites does lead away from the plane, so we could remotely reconfigure them as we leave. The message won't get very far, but anyone who enters the system will get the signal and be able to turn around before it's too late," she answered.
"Sounds like a solid plan. Helm, lay in a course for the first satellite," the Captain ordered. They quickly closed in on the satellite and once close enough, the ship emitted a reconfiguration signal. One down, two more to go.
"I don't think the Borg like us hanging around! Multiple probes inbound!" Flores said and a moment later two probes warped in. The Altair focused fire on one probe and Thel's structural integrity modifications were doing their job – the Borg weapons didn't create more hull breaches. When the probe's shields were down, M'Rew launched two photon torpedoes that sent the probe flying into pieces. The explosion of the probe badly damaged the other one and they could destroy it with a few shots. Then the Altair continued to the next satellite.
They emitted a similar pulse and had reconfigured the satellite when a Borg sphere warped in.
"From this time forward, your culture will adapt to service ours," rang though the comm.
"Never thought I'd wish I was back at the Academy studying for the astrometrics final…," Elisa noted.
"Tell me about it…," M'Rew agreed and continued: "One of the sphere's sides seems to be badly damaged, probably the work of the Renown. I suggest we concentrate fire in there if we hope to destroy it."
"Do it," Lyzara concurred. M'Rew immediately sent a full spread of torpedoes toward the sphere's weak point and they had a direct hit. The sphere went up in an explosion.
"Sir, there are several fast-moving ships on sensors. No way to contact them, and I can't tell if they are friend or foe," Elisa notified a moment later.
"Hopefully they're friends," the Captain said, "Let's reconfigure the last satellite." The Altair was moving towards the last satellite, but before they were able to reach it, another Borg ship warped into the system – a cube. It immediately fired its weapons and caught the Altair in a tractor beam.
"A cube? Guess it's our time to go out in a blaze glory," Elisa uttered. The Altair fired continuously all its weapons, but they couldn't even bring down the cubes shields, not even talking about scratching its hull. The Cube however was quickly bringing down the Altair's port shield, despite the best efforts of the engineering team. Just when everything seemed to be completely hopeless, several ships warped in – Starfleet. The Captain of the Regent hailed:
"Exceptional effort. Now let us finish this." Several Starfleet ships unleashed the full power of their weapons on the cube and it was enough to break the Altair free from the Tractor beam. The ship at once engaged evasive maneuvers and escaped from the reach of the cube. The Starfleet vessels continued firing at the cube for several minutes and one of them – the Khitomer – got hit with a Borg kinetic beam that cut off a large piece of its already crippled plating on the ship's hull. Slowly, but steadily the cube was submitting to the superior firepower. And finally it went up in flames as the plasma leaking from it ignited when it came in contact with oxygen aboard the cube. After the cube was destroyed the Renown hailed:
"We held off what we could at Pollux and sent a signal out to Starfleet. These were the closest ships. Others will be arriving as soon as they can. "
"Glad to see you. There's no way we could have defeated the cube ourselves," Lyzara said to the Vulcan Captain.
"You have handled things well thus far. Excellent thinking on reconfiguring the satellites into warning beacons. We received the signal as soon as we arrived in the system," he seemed… pleased. If a Vulcan can seem pleased.
"Are we going to attempt to retake Vega?" Lyzara asked.
"I will be discussing that option with the other Captains here, but your priority s to protect the civilians you have on board, as well as to ensure the safety of your crew. The Khitomer will return to Earth Spacedock with you. Once you arrive, report to Admiral Quinn. He will have more information for you," he responded.
"Yes, sir," Lyzara said, and, after ceasing the comm link, continued: "Helm, set the course for Earth Spacedock, warp 4. Engage!"
While they were en route to Earth Spacedock, the captain decided to speak to the alien they picked up on Vega. She went to a computer panel and enquired about her location. "The female of an unknown species is in sickbay," the computer answered with its robotic female voice. Lyzara entered the turbolift and rode a few decks downwards. She walked down the hallway and passed many colonists from Vega. Some of them looked scared and some were crying, while the others were trying to find some place where they could be of use. Anything to get their mind off things. When the Captain entered the sickbay, an interesting view unfolded: the alien was treating several wounded refugees and the ship's doctor Morek was nowhere to be seen. There were also a dozen bodies on the ground, because the beds were full, with blankets over their faces – causalities of the attacks. The alien woman was standing between the injured colonists and looked quite busy. Her long white hair was loose on her back and she was wearing a dark body-suit. Lyzara made her way toward the alien that noticed her almost immediately.
"Ah, hello, Captain, I believe I didn't introduce myself when we first met. My name is Dgirexox," she said. Her voice was quite high-pitched, but soft.
"I am Lyzara Dalis, Captain of the Altair. When we first met, you didn't say a word," Lyzara answered. The alien smiled and explained:
"Yes, I was a bit… overwhelmed at that moment."
"That is understandable, but where did you learn to fight like that and where is Morek, the chief medical officer?" Lyzara enquired.
"As for Morek, he's over there," Dgirexox responded, pointing at one of the covered bodies, "I did everything I could for him, but it was already too late. And the answer to your first question is: I don't know."
"You don't know?" Lyzara asked, with sorrow in her voice. She had lost too many good officers.
"Yes, I don't know. I woke up in the Vega colony about a year ago. I have no memory of who I was or where I belonged. I don't even know what planet I'm from," she said, "The colonists helped me and since then I've been trying to collect bits an pieces of my life prior to Vega. They named me Dgirexox after a word I repeated in my sleep. I only know that I can heal people and I recently also discovered that I fight well with knives."
"That's quite a story," Lyzara was quite impressed.
"Yes. If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to tending the injured," she told and turned away from the captain. A moment later Elisa informed her through the comm:
"We'll be arriving at the ESD in three minutes."
"I'll be right on the bridge," Lyzara confirmed, had a last glance on the alien and headed to the turbolift.
After they had docked in Earth Spacedock, Lyzara went to Admiral Quinn's office where the Admiral was already waiting for her.
"Greetings, acting Captain," the Trill admiral said when Lyzara entered his office.
"Admiral, sir! Lyzara Dalis reporting," she answered.
"We have a lot to discuss, Cadet Dalis," He stated.
"I'm no longer a Cadet, sir," Lyzara corrected the Admiral.
"Yes, I see that here in the report transmitted by Captain Vo'Lok. He granted you a field promotion to give you seniority over the rest of the active crew of your ship. As a cadet, you were assigned to an Academy training cruise, under Captain Masc Taggert, correct? Acting first officer?" He continued. Lyzara confirmed his data.
"I've read the reports. Facing off against Klingon raiders and a Borg invasion force within hours of leaving Starfleet Academy. Very unusual. In your own words, tell me what happened out there," he said. So Lyzara told him about everything that had happened.
"That's… quite the story," he said when Lyzara had finished.
"Yes, sir. It's all true," Lyzara confirmed what she had just said.
"Don't worry. I have statements here from Captains Vo'Lok and Yim and Willa Post from Vega colony collaborating to your story. All three of them cite your bravery and command skills, as well as you and your crew's willingness to get yourselves in harm's way to preserve the lives of others," he apprised.
"I'm a Starfleet officer, sir. It's in the job description," Lyzara answered.
"And you're exactly the kind of officer Starfleet needs. I know that your ship might not be the Enterprise, but I think you've proven yourself capable of sitting in her Captain's chair."
"Sir?" the Lyzara inquired.
"Under normal circumstances, it would take you years of work to get your own command. But these are not normal circumstances. We're at war with the Klingon Empire. The Borg have returned. I'm losing more trained officers and ships than I can spare. Ships we can build, but leaders with courage and honor… those are harder to find," he continued, "It's time to try something different. I need someone who can handle themselves in a crisis and get the best out of their crew. Even though you're young, I think you're that person. I hereby grant you the rank of Captain and all the rights and obligations connected to this rank. I also give you the command of the U.S.S. Altair. Don't disappoint me."
"I won't sir. But what's going to happen to Vega?" She enquired.
"Unfortunately, the Renown and her task force were not able to repel the Borg. Vega is lost. Starfleet command will meet with Federation President Aennik Okeg, and the Federation council to determine our next steps. For now, Starfleet vessels will patrol the outskirts of the Vega system to ensure no Borg escape. Do you have any further questions?"
"No, sir. What are your orders?"
"You will be assigned to the Klingon front, but first take some time off with your crew until the Altair is in drydock for repairs, you've earned it. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir." Lyzara said and saluted the Admiral.
As the fresh Captain walked out of the Admiral's office, Elisa said through the comm.
"Sir, could you please join me in Club 47?"
"I'll be right there," she answered and started walking towards the club. When she arrived, every senior officer of the Altair was already there and Njahla and Dgirexox had also joined in. They were all sitting around the table a bit further away from the bar and waiting for their captain.
"Finally, you're here," Elisa said when the Lyzara approached her.
"Sit down and have a drink!" she continued and handed the captain a glass. Then she asked:
"So, what did the Admiral say?"
"Well… he promoted me to Captain and gave me the command of the Altair," Lyzara said as casually as she could.
"He… what?" Thel couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes, I have to submit the list of my senior officers within next two days," Lyzara continued with a smirk. Everyone around the table remained silent for a moment and then T'Vrell raised her glass and said:
"To Captain Lyzara Dalis." And everyone followed her example.
"To the Altair," Njahla toasted.
"To Admiral Quinn," Elisa said.
"To the colonists of Vega," Dgirexox followed them.
"To the Starfleet Academy," Thel raised the glass.
"To fallen friends and comrades," M'Rew said and everyone slightly lowered their heads.
"To the crew of the Altair!" Lyzara finished the toast.
And they drank the sweet saurian wine.