Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Would have had this out on Christmas,
but my FFN account went down so... yeah.
Anyway, Enjoy.
Warning: Action ahead, but plenty of fluff and plot dev.
Chapter 25: They Always Find You
TSCC Universe
3 light years from the Sol system.
Narada
Two weeks after capturing the Didact
Skynet watched over and guided its machines as it assembled the final prototype slipspace drive. After ten or others built into shuttle sized crafts, the last had finally produced acceptable results. The first five had completely obliterated themselves while the next four were either too slow or too inaccurate. The last had given a decent speed and accuracy, down to the millimeter, while going nearly 30,000 times the speed of light. The speed was over twice as fast as the Narada herself though it lagged behind both Covenant and Forerunner slipspace drive speeds.
Now the eleventh and final prototype would be much larger than a shuttle craft. This one was nearly two hundred meters in length and looked similar to a Borg probe ship, a roughly coffin shape vessel, and would be armed with similar defenses as the Narada. However, it would contain only squad's worth of T-888s, so it wouldn't waste resources if it somehow malfunctioned.
Much to Skynet's pleasure, it didn't. All systems checked out and the T-units suffered no ill effects from the jump. The AI beamed more troops over to the smaller vessel as it began preparing it for a transition to another universe through the inter-dimensional rift it had found in geosynchronous orbit above its own planet Earth, which explained how the nearly destroyed Narada had fallen to its version of Earth in a relatively tight formation. However, Skynet also realized that John Connor had probably used an inter-dimensional rift native to the universe he'd left for, which was supported by the fact that the rift native to this universe orbited on the opposite side of the planet that Connor had been on.
That being established, Skynet had been reviewing the scans it took of the residual rip in subspace left by Connor's departure. Thanks to its new found expertise in the area of ripping holes into subspace and inter-dimensional travel, Skynet was able to deduce what universe they'd gone to and roughly where they were in it, but not the precise time of their arrival.
Skynet considered its options for a moment, but it came down to the logical need to determine his enemy's tactical strength. The scout ship would be the perfect way to do just that. If it came back, then Connor would be dead or have escaped, and if it didn't, then Skynet would just have to wait to eliminate Connor until after it paid a visit to the Halo universe and got its hands on advanced Forerunner technology.
Once the vessel was ready, it would be sent it back to Earth where it would open the rift with a deflector pulse and direct it to Connor's destination before ripping into subspace at the invisible aperture.
If there was another version of Earth on the other side, Skynet had transferred several infiltrators to hunt Connor if he and his compatriots were on the surface.
A few hours after the test run, Skynet launched the scout ship with a small portion of itself to guide it. When the scout entered the rift as predicted, it did its equivalent of sitting back and relaxing as it awaited the scout's return in exactly ten minutes.
Meanwhile, the Didact was forced to watch sensor and camera feeds through their mental link as the machine entity plotted the decimation of his universe. This latest success only increased the crushing shame that weighed heavily on his soul. His thirst for revenge, his pride and overconfidence had given this homicidal ancilla a means to wipe out all organic life in his galaxy and beyond.
And to make a bad situation worse, he could do nothing to stop it. His body and mind were a slave to the ancilla, his knowledge was an open book for it to read, there were few secrets he'd been able to keep.
It was fortunate he had limited technical knowledge, otherwise... well it wouldn't have taken this long for the machine to perfect its prototype.
As he continued to sink deeper into his own personal hell, one that he alone had made, the sensor inputs Skynet had forced him to watch began to fade.
"Finally". He thought as feeling began to return. First, he twitched his eyes, then his fingers moved slightly, but he dared not move more, not yet. The opportune moment had not arrived.
His immune system was finally turning the tide on the invaders, and soon, he would turn the tide on Skynet.
Delta Flyer II
Voyager Shuttle Bay
February 22, 2013
1600 hours
(One Week After Arrival)
"All pre-flight diagnostics check out". John Connor reported as he flipped a few twentieth century style toggle switches. "All systems go". He finished as he turned back to the standard touch screen console.
"Don't forget to disengage the external inertial dampeners". Cameron reminded as she sat in the seat to his left.
"I won't". John smirked while typing a few more commands in and activating the comm. "We're ready to depart, John Henry".
"Affirmative, opening shuttle bay door".
As the door opened, Cameron called up the system readouts to make sure John had set the systems properly for take off.
John flipped another toggle switch and the Delta Flyer lifted off the floor. After securing the landing gear, John reached over for the throttle and eased it upward after selecting thruster power only. The aerodynamic craft left Voyager's shuttle bay gracefully in spite of its pilot's limited training.
"Good". Cameron said with an approving turn of her lips. "Now turn about and bring us parallel to Voyager".
John allowed a small smile as he used the Flyer's dual joysticks to flip the craft around in a wide arc. As the twenty meter long craft finished the maneuver, the much larger starship became visible through the front window.
John let up on the controls before passing the ship. Cameron looked at him curiously as his eyes fixed on the starship orbiting Titan.
"Amazing, isn't it"? He asked as he turned towards her.
Her head tilted as she tried to narrow his meaning.
"The ship"?
He shook his head before turning his head back. "Not just Voyager, but just about everything in our lives".
Cameron glanced out at the ship and the hazy moon beyond before turning back to John. "It is... unusual".
John snorted a laugh as he steered the vessel away from Saturn's sixth moon and into interplanetary space. "That's the understatement of the century Cameron".
She had to admit to herself that it was. Normal people didn't time travel or kill cyborgs from the future, much less work with fictional AI's and starships. Then, on top of it all, finding you too are fictional in one or more universes.
It made her wonder just how much stranger it could get.
For the next hour she showed him how to use the Delta Flyer's amazing maneuverability, teaching him how to perform loops at low impulse and how to deploy the impulse thrusters that gave the craft extremely high sub light speed capability.
After having him fly around asteroids at low speed, she told him they'd have to head back to Voyager soon. He nodded to let her know he'd heard her and then had her take over.
"You don't want to pilot anymore"? Cameron asked in confusion, John had been wanting to learn ever since he'd laid eyes on the Delta Flyer five days ago.
"Just take over for a second, I need to get something". He explained as he walked back into the rear compartment. Cameron wondered what her 'boyfriend' was up to as she took the controls in her hands. She wasn't entirely sure if they were truly a couple or not, she and John had been so busy working that they hadn't spent much time together.
They hadn't even gone on a date yet.
Little did the cyborg know that John had the same conversation with himself earlier that day.
When John came back from the rear compartment, she was very surprised to see him carrying a picnic basket.
He looked at her with a smile and sat down. "Hungry"?
"A picnic"?
"A date". He corrected. "I thought now would be the best time since, well, you know".
He meant the slipstream drive test later today, once that was done, things weren't likely to slow down for quite a while.
Cameron gave him a heartwarming smile for his thoughtfulness.
"What did you make"? She asked, the smile still on her face as she asked.
"I couldn't cook if my life depended on it, but the replicator made our lunch just fine". He chuckled and opened the basket lid. Inside was fresh fruit and a loaf of bread.
"I didn't know you liked fruit". She pointed out curiously as John took out a bunch of grapes.
"In the future, you eat healthy food whenever you can get it". He said as he turned one of the fruits with his fingers. "But I've always liked grapes". He said as he popped it into his mouth.
Cameron's face still radiated as she picked a grape of her own and bit into it. She let the juice marinate on her tongue, but instead of tasting the various chemicals in the fruit as the TX-2 allowed, the TOK made the taste seem dull and undifferentiated in comparison.
"What's wrong"? John was concerned that he'd done something as a frown spread across Cameron's face.
"Nothing". She said after swallowing the grape. "I was just thinking".
She'd hoped he'd accept her answer it for now, she didn't want to ruin the date talking about her problems.
"About what"? He observed her closely as he chewed his own grape.
Not wanting to blatantly lie, she conceded. "I was comparing how a grape tasted in this body compared to my last".
John nodded his head slowly, he understood that she was unused to such a low level of sensitivity and he knew that it bothered her.
"Isn't the Doctor working on that"? He asked as he put away the grapes.
"It not work, John, my endo may not be able to support more sensory bandwidth". She explained sadly.
"Then we'll build you a new one".
Cameron shook her head. "It's not that simple, even a Starfleet replicator couldn't make an entire endo, certain parts have to be grown, others have to be made with special machines we will have to build".
"It's time consuming but possible". He summed up as he pulled out some bread and broke it in half. "What about textures"?
"This body has sensitive tactile receptors, better than yours".
John's face scrunched a bit as he chewed the bread. "So they're not as dull as the rest"?
"No". She confirmed with a small shake of her head. "But still not as intense or diverse as the TX-2".
John handed her a small piece of the bread before pulling out more fruit. "As soon as we get you back to normal, we're having a real date at a real restaurant".
"I know a place, but we'll have to wear a disguise". She suggested as John began slicing an apple with his new tritanium switch blade.
"Wouldn't be the first time". He said with a smirk and handed her a slice.
They ate the rest of the apple together before John pulled out the dessert: two frosted chocolate cupcakes.
Cameron's eyes visibly lit up at the sight of the two chocolaty treats.
"I thought you might like one". He said and handed her the one with more icing.
"Thank you". She said before peeling the paper away and biting into it. Since the flavor was overwhelmingly chocolate, dullness and undifferentiated taste buds were bygone matters.
John took it as a good sign when she liked her lips to get at the remaining chocolate.
"Like it"? He asked teasingly as he finished his own.
"Yes". She answered distractedly while eyeing the small glob of chocolate on John's mouth, which made her want to kiss him more than she already did. "But I like this more". Cameron said coyly as she slowly moved closer and kissed him. John hands found their way into her wavy brown hair and hers roamed through his as their kiss became more passionate.
Cameron finally broke off the kiss when a console beeped. She silenced it with a button tap before leaning in and giving him one last peck on the cheek. John's hormone muddled brain cleared itself after a few seconds while Cameron sat back in the pilot's seat. He looked out the window and realized that they were nearly back to the ship.
"Delta Flyer to Voyager, we're on approach vector". Cameron said over the open channel as she lined the craft up with starship.
"It's about time you two love birds made it back". Cortana commed back teasingly, and neither occupant doubted that there was a very visible smirk on her face when she'd said it.
"Just open the doors, Cortana". John said back before ending the transmission. "She gets a kick out our relationship, doesn't she"?
Cameron turned her head with a serious expression and answered him. "No, she envies it".
Thirty minutes later
1630 hours
Deck 5, Sickbay
Allison sat quietly on a bio bed as a medical tricorder passed over the length of her body. The blue hand pulled back the device pulled as the scan completed.
Cortana downloaded the data into her matrices with a few commands and went over them in milliseconds.
"You've fully recovered from any trauma or health complications you arrived with, and your stamina is improving every day". She informed the young woman as she slid off the bed.
"Glad to hear it". She muttered sarcastically. Cortana gave her a withering look and snapped the tricorder shut.
"You know, you've been nothing but a bitch since you woke up a week ago, and it's getting old". Allison whipped her head around in shock. Cortana's hands were on her hips and her electric blue eyes were narrowed in annoyance.
"Oh? You thought you'd never hear me curse? Girl..." Her hands flew up in the air in annoyance. "Stop putting more stress on the rest of us, you know your not the only one who's been through hell and back"!
Allison stared at the blue AI blankly before finally blinking. She pursed her lips and looked away as the AI's words cut through her. Was she being a bitch?
Yeah, she was. But anger surged within her again and she felt her cheeks heat up as her hands quivered from the rage building within. How could treat others like they should be when she was always angry, always on edge, and always ashamed of herself.
She had to atone for giving up Ziera base to Skynet, and staying angry was the only thing keeping her from being curled up in a ball on the floor.
Since there was nothing more to say to Cortana, she took a step towards the sickbay doors, only to be interrupted by the AI.
"If you don't get yourself together soon, you won't receive the augmentations, much less the armor".
Allison whirled around with a pleading look, but Cortana was already gone.
1730 hours
Science Lab 1
The Emergency Medical Hologram, who'd yet to decide on a name after 16 years, sighed as the latest test results came through. For the last week he'd endeavored to find out what was wrong with Seven. When his first hypothesis had proven correct, he'd worked tirelessly to come up with a solution.
Unfortunately, his first instinct had proven only partially true as time went on. The primary suspect, Seven's Borg nanoprobes, were the reason her implants were degrading. They maintained both her cybernetic and organic systems; they were the reason her physical appearance hadn't changed since she'd been freed from the Borg Collective.
But then this happened and the Doctor was once again reminded how fragile Seven's life could be. The nanoprobes' programming was slowly becoming corrupt, causing them to perform tasks they shouldn't. If he couldn't figure out what was corrupting them, then his best friend would die a torturous death.
So far, all his attempts at either reprogramming samples of the nano machines, or trying to invoke a programming reset, ended in failure.
The Doctor brought the PADD back up to his face again, only to set it down again in disgust.
He was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of failure he wasn't accustomed to, but he tried putting it aside in an attempt to refocus on saving Seven. As he reached for the PADD, his vision was filled with a column of blue light.
The EMH didn't have to wait for the column to disappear to know who it was.
"Cortana". His greeting lacked all of his usual enthusiasm.
"I could hear that sigh all the way from engineering Doc, what's going on"? She told him with crossed arms.
"Shouldn't you already know"? He asked sarcastically.
"Most of my processing power's been devoted to numerous diagnostics and simulations for days. I haven't had much time to play spy". She explained as her hands dropped to her sides.
He sighed again as he struggled to find words to speak.
"I... She..."
Cortana put her hand up sympathetically and went through the Doctor's work. "I see". She said a second later. "You know, you could ask for help. You're not the only AI genius on board". It was her way of offering help.
He finally admitted defeat and looked at her pleadingly, conveying to her wordlessly just how desperate he was.
"Okay, no guarantees though". She said and diverted more of her vast processing ability to analyzing the nanoprobes corrupted programming. "Hmm... it seems to be an inerrant flaw in the self replicating protocol".
"That was my next guess, actually". The Doctor admitted. "And if it's true, we've got a problem that can't be fixed, at least, not within our technological means".
Cortana nodded sadly in agreement. If the nanoprobes' replication system had been compromised, then no amount of reprogramming would help because the nanoprobes themselves were now flawed. Substituting nanoprobes from another drone wouldn't work since each drone had nanoprobes programmed specifically for that drone's anatomy and function. Due to Seven's unique nature as a freed drone with less than twenty percent of her implants remaining, it would be impossible to reprogram them so extensively without a lot of trial and error.
The only way to solve the problem would be for something to take direct control of Seven's nanoprobes to circumvent the reliance on the nanoprobes' corrupt programming.
There was only one issue with that resolution, it would require an intelligence to direct the nanoprobes as Seven's implants required maintenance and repair.
"There is one possible solution". She muttered after considering the ramifications of such an arrangement. "But I doubt she's going to like it".
Delta Flyer II
1815 hours
John, Cortana, and Allison were all aboard the Delta Flyer as Weaver, Seven, and Cameron got Voyager ready for the Quantum Slipstream flight. Everyone else besides them and the Doctor were at the farm again.
Allison was in the pilot's seat learning how to fly from Cortana. Surprisingly enough to the John, Allison still didn't show any hostility towards Cortana, instead, she was heeding her instructions and doing as she was told.
"Now throttle back to 1/4 thrusters and maneuver around the asteroids". Cortana instructed as they neared the same field he'd practiced in earlier.
"Understood". Her controlled voice responded and she lowered the throttle to 1/4 thrusters. Then, using the dual joystick like yoke, she eased the ship slowly around a kilometer sized asteroid.
John watched his best friend and the super AI go back and forth as Cortana showed Allison tricks and helped her improve when she corrected Allison to prevent collisions.
Nearly two hours passed before his console beeped with an incoming message. He tapped on the flashing icon and connected to Voyager.
"We're almost ready, Seven and Weaver are giving the drive one last shakedown". Cameron's voice sent a small smile crawling up John's lips.
"What about the phaser and armor test"? Cortana asked anxiously.
"That's why I called".
The console beeped again as a proximity alert appeared on his display again.
"Voyager's moving closer to the field, she's targeting an asteroid a few kilometers off our starboard bow".
The blue hologram told Allison to position the Flyer so they could watch through the cockpit window.
The trio watch with eyes fixed as the starship moved gracefully into position and exposed it's starboard ventral phaser array to the rock Cameron had locked onto.
Allison and John watched with fascination as the phaser beam lanced out of the curved black strip and slammed into the kilometer lump of iron/nickel, slicing it in two.
John figured that Cameron wouldn't stop there as his girlfriend fired all thirteen arrays at different asteroids, some disintegrated their targets, others caused them to explode. It all depended on size and composition.
Seeing the huge space rocks explode, John had to agree that at 130,000 Terawatts total system output, the Type XIII emitters were a force to be reckoned with.
After Cameron had deployed the armor layer over Voyager's hull, John stepped down to where Cortana and Allison were and spoke what they were all thinking.
"I don't know about you, but that makes me feel a whole lot safer".
"Me too". Cortana responded with upturned lips. "Even Skynet will have trouble getting through it".
"Best news I've heard all day". Allison breathed as she watched Voyager move away from the asteroids.
Allison watched the starship as it flew away at impulse. She was still amazed that something so large could be flown with such grace. She blinked as the starship grew too small to see, realizing again just how much life had changed for her. Less than two weeks ago she'd been dying of cancer and being tortured by Skynet for information, now she was as healthy as ever and getting a real chance for revenge.
The thought of revenge sent the corner of her mouth curling upward.
"What's funny"? John asked and the smile disappeared.
"Nothing, just thinking". She diverted smoothly as she yanked back on the controls and put the Flyer into a back-flip and righted it with a half roll.
Cortana and John stared at her in astonishment and Allison's rueful smile reappeared. "I told you I was fast learner".
John let a smile come over his own face seeing her smile for the first time in week.
"Flygirl". He teased.
"AM NOT"! She fumed back.
"She hates airmen". He told the smirking AI.
"That's because they're all jerks". Allison huffed as she throttled back and dodged another asteroid. "Or, at least our's were". She finished more quietly. The last human airbase in the southern California had been destroyed some three years before John arrived.
Suddenly not feeling in the flying mood anymore, she gave up the helm to John and went into the rear compartment.
As John took the yoke in his hands, John noticed Cortana looking back at the door Allison had just gone through.
"You should talk to her, get her to open up". She told him quietly.
"You're right". He sighed and turned back to the door. "I just don't know what to say".
"Look, John, I know from experience that if you let your pain simmer inside long enough, it'll eventually come out, violently".
The soldier nodded, knowing that road all too well.
"Is it true"? He asked, and the AI looked titled her head at his words.
"About her wanting to be a Spartan"? John nodded again and she continued. "If she meets the physical and mental requirements, I don't see a problem with it. Most humans can become Spartan IVs, they just won't be as superior as Spartan II's".
"Mental requirements"?
Cortana shrugged at the question, as if it were trivial. "It would be a bad idea to physically enhance an unstable person, especially one as traumatized as Allison. She will have to pass the psych eval if she wants to be a Spartan".
"Getting over something like that... it takes more than just talking, it takes time".
A half smile graced her blue lips as she looked back out the window. "Gotta start somewhere, John".
Admitting she was right, he stood up and was about to leave when Cortana suddenly gasped.
"Cortana"?
She turned back to him with horror written in her eyes.
"John Henry just messaged me, a ship's coming through the inter-dimensional rift. The power signature is Romulan/Borg".
Understanding dawned over him and he breathed the name he'd been told to hate and fear all his life.
"Skynet".
USS Voyager
Same time
Cameron stood at the ops station keeping an eye on the sensors while Seven of Nine and Weaver continued to make sure that Voyager's systems were functional and ready for the slipstream flight.
Since no AIs were allowed to have direct access to the slipstream drive, John Henry and Cortana were both off ship as per the agreement to keep the slipstream technology secret. Cameron herself had limited access to the propulsion systems and no access to the secondary computer core where the designs were kept.
If Seven hadn't been running a diagnostic on the long range sensors, Cameron wouldn't have needed John Henry's message to know they were in trouble.
Cameron felt fear surge through her neural net since John was out there in only the Delta Flyer, and the rest were exposed on the ground.
Knowing every second counted, she vaulted over the ops console, over the captain's chair, and didn't stop until she was seated at the helm and shutting down all the diagnostics in order to get the ship operational.
"Seven of Nine to the bridge, what are you doing"?
"Skynet's found us, we need to intercept it now". She answered with more than a little concern influencing her tone.
"One of the armor generators has a faulty plasma relay and the shields are not configured for combat, it will take several minutes to reset the emitters and nearly ten minutes for Weaver to replace the relay". Cameron could tell from Seven's voice that she was frightened, though she'd never really show nor admit it. She also knew that taking Voyager in to battle without fully operation defenses was tactically unsound, but they had no choice.
"Engaging at warp 7, prepare for combat". She announced ship wide so the other two occupants knew that all hell was about to break loose.
Within seconds, the ship dropped out of warp a few hundred kilometers from Earth.
"Computer, deploy available armor". Cameron commanded as Seven entered the bridge and sat down at the Engineering console. "I've rerouted tactical to the helm". She informed the former Borg who was doing her best to maintain her composure. As the human cyborg settled into her chair, She noticed Cameron visibly frowning.
"I'm not detecting any ship within range of our sensors". Cameron said as she changed the settings and did it again. "Still no contact".
Suddenly, Seven remembered something important about the Narada the they might not know. "It could be cloaked, Nero was able to destroy a Klingon fleet because the Narada could fire while cloaked".
"Then it must be because something is jamming subspace radio frequencies". Cameron reasoned as she initiated a tachyon sweep in an attempt to uncover Skynet's vessel.
"We need to beam up the rest and leave! We can't protect the hole in our armor if we can't detect them".
Cameron hesitated for a moment, she didn't want to leave them behind, but she could not allow Voyager to be destroyed. She pressed her lips into a thin line and plotted a course.
"Locking onto them, setting course 297 mark 358...wait...enemy contact, they're firing"! As the nacelles folded up for warp speed, a volley of cluster torpedoes were launched from the cloaked ship and closed the distance on Voyager before it could jump to warp.
The missiles split into smaller missiles and targeted the port side of the ship. The area that was just behind the left side of the deflector and immediately below the primary hull was where the armor had failed to deploy, and was now tore open by multiple torpedo impacts.
Seven and Cameron were thrown about in their chairs as conduits overloaded and blew, consoles sparked and went dead as the ship's skeleton groaned from the explosive shock wave.
"We've lost power to three out of the four torpedo tubes, but the fore starboard launcher isn't responding"! Cameron reported over a hissing coolant leak as she turned the ship's exposed side away from where the weapons were fired.
"We lost the transporter lock! Transporters and warp drive are offline"! Seven reported back before patching a signaling Weaver through.
"Who's attacking us"?
"A cloaked Skynet vessel, we need that relay replaced now"! Seven urgently replied as torpedoes impacted the armor.
"It'll be online in seven minutes. Are the torpedo launchers offline"?
"All but launcher number 1, but it's ODN connections were severed, we have no control over it".
There was an audible pause before Weaver responded. "I'll never make it through the plasma fires in that section".
Cameron looked back at Seven knowingly as Voyager rumbled under the impact of disruptor beams and more torpedoes. They both knew that only Cameron's hyper alloy combat chassis would be able to survive the heat long enough to reach the torpedo launcher.
"Take the helm, we don't have much time". She said before performing another evasive maneuver. Seven quickly took the helm and looked back at Cameron before she entered the turbo lift.
"Good luck". Seven called out as the ship shook again. Cameron looked back one last time, her face resolute and determined, and entered the lift.
"Seven of Nine to the Doctor, I need you on the bridge. Activate your command protocols".
"I'm already on my way, what's going on"?
"A cloaked Skynet ship is attacking, I can't run the bridge by myself in combat effectively".
"I'm almost there! Doctor out".
To say she was glad that he'd had the foresight to head to the bridge would be an understatement. The Doctor had proved on several occasions to be capable of command through programming enhancements and sheer ingenuity.
The EMH, now in his 'command hologram' mode complete with a red colored command uniform, hurried out of the bridge's second turbolift and rushed to Seven's side.
"What's our status"?
"Warp, transporters, and torpedoes are offline. The armor is deployed but one of the generator relays is being repaired".
The Doctor sighed as he examined the numerous displays on the helm to fill in the complete picture.
"I can take the helm, you work on getting the shields up and finding a way to penetrate the cloak".
Seven wordlessly stood up and the Doctor sat down, quickly changing course and performing maneuvers designed by Starfleet's best pilots to work in situations similar to this. The blonde former Borg quickly made her way back to the engineering station right of the helm and began multitasking, shields being priority to finding the actual ship since they still had no weapons.
"As soon as the shields are ready, retract the armor and feed the power into the phasers, we'll be able to use them again once the armor is gone". The Doctor yelled as more of Skynet's ordinance impacted against the hull.
"Almost done"! Seven yelled back as her hands flew over the controls with desperate speed. "Retracting armor, charging phasers". Seven called out after inputting the commands. "Shields coming online"!
The ship rocked violently as a torpedo peppered the ventral starboard bow before the shields went up, taking out one of the main phaser arrays.
"I'm compensating for the loss"! The Doctor yelled as he set the shields to rotating modulations and fired the phasers in a pattern around the last position Skynet had fired.
"Contact! 204 Mark 058"! The pattern had struck the shields of the cloaked ship and the Doctor wasted no time in firing on what he thought was the 6km long Narada, leaving him wondering why no further hits were detected afterwards.
"Doctor, judging from the geometry of the shield flare, the ship can be no bigger than 210 meters in length".
"It's not that Romulan monstrosity? We may win this yet"! He said as his spirits rose with hope. A smaller ship generally meant less power output, and thus, easier to destroy.
"If we can find it". Seven muttered in frustration as every tactic she was using failed to find the vessel.
"Shields at 80%, no further contact, changing firing pattern". He announced as the shields took another beating from the formidable cluster warheads.
Seven knew the shields wouldn't hold indefinitely and wasn't sure Weaver would be finished repairing the armor generator relay before they fell.
The ship continued to shudder as the relentless weapons fire continued, the Doctor only managing a glancing blow with the phasers as the enemy remained cloaked.
"Shields at 50%"!
"I've picked up another contact, it's the Delta Flyer". Seven breathed disbelievingly, would Cortana and John be that foolish? She couldn't contact them, comms were still jammed.
Suddenly, the Flyer unleashed a steady stream of photonic missiles and phaser fire, all of them striking the cloaked ship.
"How the...never mind, concentrating fire on the shield impacts". The Doctor said as he concentrated his fire on cloaked ships flaring shields, further lighting them up.
"From what I can tell, their shields are starting to weaken". Seven reported as the both the Delta Flyer II and Voyager continued to wear down the vessel's shields.
Their sudden luck ran out when a powerful disruptor beam connected with Flyer's shields, sending the smaller craft spiraling away with visible damage. "They've lost shields, weapons, and warp drive". She said as a group of cluster torpedoes screamed towards the drifting shuttle. "Doctor"!
"I've got them"! He assured her and the torpedoes were shot down in a few short bursts, but doing so had allowed Voyager's shields to take more of a beating, dropping them to 20%.
"I'm reading hull breaches on multiple deck, emergency force fields are holding". Seven yelled as the bridge shook repeatedly. "I think I know how the Delta Flyer was seeing through the cloak, give me a second to reconfigure the sensors".
"Do it quickly or we're going to be carved up if one of those disruptor beams makes it through the shields"!
A few seconds went by before Seven smiled. "I've got you".
The EMH wasted not time nor words as he routed every last spare watt to the phasers and fired on the ship with extreme prejudice.
But its shields refused to fall, and it responded with its last volley of torpedoes.
He tried to evade them, but there were too many, and Voyager's shields finally failed as the remaining torpedoes split apart and struck the hull.
Seven dived away from her console as it exploded and the Doctor was thrown backward as a plasma conduit ruptured beneath him.
The blonde cyborg scrambled to her feet to avoid a structural beam as it came down from the ceiling, but she didn't stop until she made it to the still functioning ops console. "Multiple hull breaches on decks 2-14, we've lost shields, phasers, impulse, and long range sensors"!.
The EMH was already at the helm again using thrusters to move the ship about. "They're out of torpedoes and their disruptors are down, but not for long".
"They won't ram us, they're most likely programmed to return to Skynet".
"Well, we have about ten sec... hold on, one of our forward torpedo launchers just came online"!
"She did it". She whispered before shouting out instructions to her shipmate. "Load a transphasic torpedo, we can't take any chances"!
His hands raced over the controls as he programmed the launcher to load one of the precious anti-Borg weapons, it would be more than enough to take care of the 200 meter scout ship a kilometer off their starboard bow.
Once the torpedo was armed and locked, all it took was one press of a button for the torpedo to scream outward from Voyager as a blue/yellow ball of light before it phased passed the enemy's shields and hull before detonating right next to the power core.
The 1.3 gigaton blast was amplified the ship's detonating core, sending a shock wave of debris racing towards the unshielded starship. Voyager was tossed backwards as the high velocity fragments shoved it towards the upper atmosphere of the blue green planet below.
There was no time to celebrate as the battered ship took one last beating, sending Seven and the Doctor to the floor. More relays blew and the entire bridge went dark save the emergency lighting.
"That blast will push Voyager into the atmosphere, we have ten minutes at most". Seven estimated as the Doctor helped her to her feet.
"We'll never make it to engineering in time, the turbo lifts are down past deck 8".
Seven swallowed hard and sat down in her chair.
"We did our best".
The Doctor took her hand in his to comfort her. "We have to abandon ship".
"If the core breaches in atmosphere, it won't matter" She shook her head as a tear slipped down her face. "We'll all die".
Delta Flyer II
One minute earlier
John's body ached and he was sure he'd bruised some ribs after being thrown forward into the cockpit. Glowing blue hands helped him up and sat him down in the co-pilot's seat.
"John, stay awake". Cortana urged as she gently slapped his face. He pushed her hand aside and wiped the blood from his forehead.
"Status"? He asked groggily.
"We're drifting, shields are down and so are weapons. Voyager protected us, but now they're vulnerable and Skynet's about ten seconds from regaining... hey, one of the fore torpedo tubes just came back online"!
"I thought Voyager lost 'em in the first volley"? Allison sounded from behind them.
"Well they got one working, and they're firing a transphasic torpedo"! Cortana announced in alarm, knowing they were too close to the blast to survive unshielded. "Hold on, I'm getting us outta here". She told them as the Flyer's engines finally responded and shot them away at maximum impulse.
When they looped around, Cortana could clearly see that they had won, but Voyager was adrift and sinking towards planet Earth.
"The bridge is powerless, they've no control over the ship". She told John with worry creasing her brow. "They'll be destroyed upon reentry, along with half the planet's population".
Cameron, Mom, Derek, Kyle, and everyone innocent person on the planet, they will all die. He thought to himself, but he wasn't about to give up now, not after getting back everything he'd lost, not when they finally had the tools to defeat the monster that had haunted him since he was born.
There had to be a way.
"What about Weaver"? He asked, knowing she could gain control of the ship from engineering.
Cortana shook her head, having already considered that. "I think she's still trying to get the armor operational, but even she won't make it in time without the turbo lifts". John saw that her voice and body language were becoming increasingly distraught, not that he blamed her, he was barely keeping a lid on his emotions knowing that almost everyone he cared about was going to die.
But breaking down wasn't going to help, and neither was an emotional AI.
John knew he had to think of something, fast. He looked around at the system displays, and he noticed that the transporters were still functioning.
It didn't take him long to come up with a plan, and it made him wonder why Cortana hadn't thought of it earlier. Perhaps becoming Metastable had made her more...human. John set that thought aside as he focused on refining his idea.
"Cortana". Her head snapped towards him, holographic tears brimming in her eyes. "Can't you transport us aboard"?
She looked taken aback for an instant before her electric blue eyes darted back and forth, obviously conflicted about something.
"Cortana"! John shouted and she snapped back.
"I can't...I don't know"!
He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her right in the eye. "Listen to me, if you don't pull yourself together, you'll never see the Chief again"!
She froze at his words, the pulses running through her digital veins had stuttered in her emotional distress, but suddenly surged again with new focus.
"I can, but we'll have to get within spitting distance of Voyager". She responded with her index finger pressed to her forehead. "I can't beam us directly to Engineering, we don't have enough power available to penetrate that deep".
John felt their chances of success rise now that Cortana seemed to have pulled herself together.
"Good, we'll beam over, Allison can you fly this thing by yourself"?
Cortana looked skeptical, but Allison just nodded.
"Just don't ask me to do anything fancy, but I'll keep her in the air". She responded curtly, but her serious face allowed a smirk as she slipped into the pilot's seat. "Can't be worse than jury-rigging a plasma rifle on the battle field".
He put a hand on her shoulder briefly to show his confidence in her before Cortana whisked him and her chip away.
"Good luck, John". She whispered as she steered the shuttle away from the falling starship.
As soon as he materialized, John stumbled as the ship shook from the steep re-entry.
"Hurry! I need direct access to Engineering, there's too much security here to get through in time"! Cortana shouted down from her chip lying next to him. He grabbed it and ran like hell.
"Where are we"? He asked after jumping over a downed structural beam.
"We're on deck 11, just aft of engineering. Go twenty more meters and turn right"! She shouted above the noise of the klaxon still blaring over the comm.
"Got it"!
John didn't stop for anything, not even when sparks flew in his face nor when a sharp pieces of metal cut into his skin.
"Almost there, ten meters". She told him as the ship lurched, nearly sending him to the floor. "We're starting to enter thicker parts of the atmosphere, hurry"!
John didn't waste breath responding as he jumped over a mass of optical cables that had spilled out of the ceiling. He entered Engineering and ran straight for the Chief Engineer's station.
"Where's the port"?!
"On top, put me in"!
John spotted it through the haze and slotted her data crystal chip into the port.
Several seconds went by before he heard her voice over the comm. "John, hold onto something". She warned a few seconds before she began firing emergency thrusters and positioning the ship like it was supposed to when reentering.
"Are we good"?
"Not yet, we won't burn up, but the atmo-thrusters aren't responding to my commands".
"Is there anything I can do"? He asked anxiously even though he felt the ship slowing down.
"Yes, I can't establish my avatar without pulling power from other systems. I need you open the panel underneath the station opposite you, when you do, pull out the first bio-neural gel pack you see".
John didn't ask any questions and quickly did as Cortana instructed.
"Take it to the upper level, there's a blown out panel and a ruptured gel pack inside, replace it with that one". She instructed before John took off like a rocket for the lift just to the right of the still functioning core. The small lift was too slow and he jumped onto the second level before the lift reached it. He ran to the blown out panel and pulled out the remains of the dead pack and tried to insert the replacement, but it wouldn't stay.
The locking mechanism had been jammed and wouldn't move.
"Come on dammit"! He cursed as he pulled back on the metal handle until his hand started to bleed. The mechanism groaned as it slowly began to rotate the lock.
Finally, it slammed shut and the pack glowed as power was restored to it.
John collapsed backward, not sure if the shaking he was feeling in the deck was the thrusters engaging or death rushing to meet them.
"John"! A Scottish voice called out and Weaver rushed to his side. She quickly covered his bleeding wounds with her liquid metal as he sat up.
"Just like old times". He chuckled as he rested his head against the bulkhead.
Weaver quirked her lips as she sealed the cut on forehead. "Not quite". She responded before her own normally stoic face showed, perhaps for the first time, the slightest hint of fear.
"We gonna die"? He asked as the adrenaline began to wear off and his head began to pound.
They lurched forward as the ship slowed down. "I don't think so". She said confidently, but then her expression saddened.
"John, there's something you need to know".
The look on her face made his heart sink.
"About what"? He said as a nervous lump formed in his throat.
"Cameron was the one who fixed the launcher, she was in there when ship began to reenter".
Panic rose in his chest, he didn't like where this was going.
"What are you trying to say? Is she okay"?
Weaver could see that everything hinged on what she said next, but all she had was the truth.
"We don't know, John. The tube containment field failed during reentry, and she's not responding to hails".
A/N: This was a pain to get where I wanted it, I hope it was worth the wait.
The next chapter will be mostly Halo focused, also, in Chapter 23 I had a small section about the Spirit of Fire, that is going to be edited out and put in chapter 26 with revisions.
Reviews are always appreciated.