Familiar Voice
Posted on Sat Nov 16th, 2013 @ 4:24pm by Commander Gaius Ra-Xialii & Captain Benjamin Byrne & Lieutenant Horatio Hawke & Lieutenant Ciaran McIntyre & Lieutenant JG Ethan Kessel
Mission:
Remnant Part 2
Location: USS Endeavour - Bridge
Timeline: 3 hours after the end of Remnant Part 1
McIntyre rolled the words around on his tongue. The last words he had said to his Captain. Good luck. Good luck. What luck was there for him to have? Captain Byrne, as McIntyre had known him, was dead and he had failed to save him. Lieutenant Kessel was dead and he had failed to save him. Lieutenant Stott, that infuriating Bolian, was dead and he had failed to save him.
The mad Doctor, so obsessed with saving his life's work had met his end with a blast from his phaser. So far he was Zero for Four with a Borg Cube on his scanners. Not a good day by anyone's standards.
Hawke found himself wishing he were still laying mines. He had remained at his post, keeping an eagle eye on the Borg Cube's trajectory, keeping the Endeavour in close pursuit. He checked the timer on his screen - it had been a little more than three hours since the chase began.
He gripped the side of his console and glanced back over his shoulder at McIntyre. His friend clearly wasn't taking this well, but from the report he gave there was nothing more he could have done. The Captain, Kessel, Stott, they were all gone. As Hawke turned back to his console, he couldn't help by feel a faint glimmer of hope that maybe they could get them back. They had to. Didn't they?
Suddenly, and without warning, an alert started bleeping on one of the consoles on the bridge, as the Cube's power signature dropped rapidly, signalling that the ship's warp drive was being shut off and the ship was returning to sublight speeds.
"Borg ship dropping out of warp!" Hawke reported. "They're coming to a complete stop. Initiating all stop to match them, Commander."
The ghastly Borg vessel and the sleek Endeavour dropped out of warp one after the other and then stopped completely to face off like two silent behemoths. The bridge was tense as all eyes looked forward to see what would happen next.
The screen filled with green light, which faded. Instead of the expected Borg Drone - that would often speak for the Collective in this sort of scenario - a figure sat on some sort of chair. At least it looked like a chair - not dissimilar to the Captain's chair on the Endeavour. But upon closer inspection, the Borg seated on it was not merely on the chair. Cables, wires, hydraulics all leaded from the chair like construct around him, to other parts of the command bridge.
The Borg spoke, with a voice that was deeper than that of a normal drone.
"We, are the Borg. You will cease all hostile activity towards this vessel. Cease you're attempts at waylaying this ship. They are for naught.
If you do not comply, you will be destroyed."
"Return our crew to us immediately, or we will have no choice but to continue our pursuit," Gaius said, his voice a growl. He stood in the center of the bridge, in the most composed stance he could muster. A mote of light caught the side of the talker's face, and something was familiar.
The figure leaned forward. Some of the cables became taught from the strain, but did not break. Overhead lights pulsed brighter, showing his face.
A cold horror washed over Hawke as the cybernetic abomination on the screen revealed itself as Kessel. He could feel the hope he felt earlier drain away to be replaced by a deep fear that left his mouth dry and echo of his heart thumping loudly in his ears.
The former Engineer's skin was pale, sickly and glistening. But the rest of his body was covered in cybernetics - tiny patches of polished black steel and flickering diodes. Some being assembled even as he spoke, the assimilation process only partially complete. On the surface at least.
Gaius clenched his jaw at the sight of his former shipmate, deformed and a shadow of his former self.
Glaring at the screen, McIntyre could feel the bile rising in his throat as he struggled to process what he was seeing. Kessel was trussed up like a puppet and being manipulated by the nanoprobes coursing through his veins but he was alive, and he wasn't a drone.
At least not yet.
"Your crew will not be returned, Acting Captain Ra-Xialii.
I am Scorpius, Of the Borg. Identification: One of All. The technology on this ship, and your former crewmen, belong to the Borg Remnant. Resistance is Futile."
McIntyre barely knew Kessel, just enough to watch him be consumed by Borg nanoprobes but the desire to give in to temptation and fire every weapon the Endeavour had to exact some form of useless revenge upon the Borg vessel. His face remained unchanged but his hand wandered nonchalantly toward his tactical control panel.
"I have no choice then," Gaius said, giving a nod toward McIntyre, seconding his motion to fire the arsenal of this Soveriegn class vessel. With the tactical knowledge contained within the officers assimilated, the borg would know all starship positions and tactical procedures throughout the sector of space. Gaius could not, and would not let that happen.
"Fire," He said, a slight more hate in his voice than he anticipated, "then initiate a sharp port turn, jump to warp 2 for 1 second, then bring us about and initiate attack pattern omega, roll ship to starboard to bring our main phaser batteries to bear, execute," Gaius said, hoping that this tactic wasn't one he was known for using. He retook his seat, and punched in his command codes to officially take command of the Endeavour.
The inertial dampeners shuddered into life as McIntyre volleyed everything the Endeavour had into the Borg vessel as Hawke executed the pinpoint manoeuvres necessary to keep the Sovereign-class vessel out of the reach of the Borg. Explosions littered the Borg ship - its previous damage weakening the shields enough to allow superficial damage along its outer decks.
Scorpius gave a hiss of anger... quite unlike the rest of the Borg.
"Then you have chosen destruction! All Weapons - Engage!" And with that, the communications ceased into a haze of green static.
"We're not getting much joy!" McIntyre reported as the ship swung through its range of motion. "They're not able to get a lock on us though. I'm cycling through deflector settings to try and project a false signal to them but their weapons don't seem able to lock onto us for long. I doubt that'll last long though, Sir."
Hawke had seen the ship through its initial maneuvers and even added in a few random rolls, banks and speed variations. Although he was able to keep them out of range, and McIntyre's countermeasures were keeping the weapons off their backs, Hawke knew that it was only a matter of time before they ran out of options. He kept an eye on the range indicator and noted that it was ticking down ... fast. "Sir, they're closing on us!"
Unable to lock onto the smaller Federation Ship with damaged equipment, the Cube changed tactics.
The Borg Ship span along its axis, and fired several beam weapons as it did. The trajectory of the Cube unchanged, creating scythes of green energy that cut through the vacuum of space, clashing against the shields of the Endeavour as they did. The Ship shook as the shields threatened to buckle under the strain. They held, but the deadly rays of weaponised light continued, and of disruptor-esque energy followed, unleashing a bombardment upon the Endeavour - a shotgun spray in space.
McIntyre could feel the semblance of control he had buckle as the screeching heat of the Borg energy weapons pounded the shields. "We won't take another one like that, Commander! Shields at thirty three percent!"
Hawke gripped his console as the ship took hit after hit. He fought to maintain control, but the barrage was doing everything it could to thwart him. "I'm losing RCS!" he called as he compensated for the loss of maneuverability. "We're limping, Commander!"
Gaius righted himself, brushing away debris from an exploded console off his shoulder, "Back us off, full impulse," Gaius growled, a feeling of helplessness washed over him.
"Damage report! All Departments submit casualty reports. Engineering, we need RCS. Helm, bring us to 3000 kilometers out," Gaius said, walking from console to console.
"We've got two depressurised cargo bays, shields are down to ten percent and I'm getting reports of damage to our aft torpedo launchers!" McIntyre reported. There were numerous reports of minor systems damaged but the Commander looked like he needed the pill sugared slightly.
The Borg Cube held still for a moment, as if deciding whether to press its advantage. Then, it turned a cubic behemoth of metal, flickered, and vanished into Warp Speed, leaving the damaged Endeavor behind.
Gaius watched as the ship flashed away, "Senior staff to the briefing lounge, begin repairs to all systems," he said, and without another word left the bridge for the observation lounge.
Hawke stood up, tapping out of the conn as he did, and motioned for Lieutenant sh'Leksa to take over. His Andorian deputy was quick on her feet and was seated at the conn before Hawke had even taken two steps. Of course, the CFCO didn't notice this; his mind was focused on the situation and trying to come up with some solution as he followed the XO into the observation lounge.
The Tactical officer dragged a hand across his head, pulling away the filth of the day. "Take over." He planted Petty Officer 1st Class Taccone at the Tactical station and followed Hawke into the Observation Lounge.
Commander Gaius Ra-Xialii
First Officer
Lieutenant Horatio Hawke
Helmsman
Lieutenant Ciaran McIntyre
Chief of Security
&
Lieutenant JG Ethan Kessel (Assimilated as Scorpius of Borg)
Chief Engineer
USS Endeavour
