Re: Commission: "Strength From Diversity"
The central command area of Starbase 82 was a flurry of urgent activity, with voices ringing out across the room as Stonewall Fleet’s personnel rushed to get a handle on a flood of information.
“Perimeter sensor buoys are pinging incoming vessels. Energy signatures matching that of Borg vessels detected!”
“Transwarp conduit emissions are still active in the region!”
“Battle Group Omega is hailing us! They are requesting confirmation of a Borg incursion!”
In the middle of it all, T’Rehes stood in front of a holographic display that was now showing a map of nearby space. Starbase 82 was mapped in blue to her left and a growing number of green symbols were starting to move in from the right. She turned smartly toward the on-duty comm officer.
“Send a distress signal to all ships on all frequencies and request immediate assistance against the Borg. Call all patrol ships back to the station with orders to defend. Following that, send all details we have on priority one comminques to the Stonewall, Battle Group Omega, and Starfleet Command.”
“Aye, ma’am!”
T’Rehes’ head snapped to the next officer to her left.
“Tactical, ETA to the arrival of the first Borg ship.”
“20 minutes, ma’am.”
“Station ops, activate a defensive scramble alert. All docked ships are to form a defensive line 20 kilometers out from the station intercepting the Borg fleet’s trajectory in 15 minutes. Tactical, coordinate the perimeter until the Pendragon arrives at the designated area.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Just a few minutes ago, the station had been quite calm. That all changed when a subspace disturbance had been detected by one of the long-range sensor buoys that had been placed throughout the sector. Now the moment for which Stonewall Fleet had been preparing was at hand. Each passing minute saw more and more ships leave the station and personnel taking positions and arming themselves.
“Post security teams on all decks in accordance with anti-Borg protocols, including auto-modulation phaser rifles.”
“Admiral, Engineering is reporting they have finished shutting down all systems which are still infested with Borg technology. These systems are all non-essential.”
“Battle Group Omega reports that they will arrive at the Borg transwarp conduit in 25 minutes by quantum slipstream. They will engage the Borg and attempt to destabilize the conduit.”
“Admiral, neighboring starbases are answering our hails with details of reinforcements. However, Starfleet Command will not be rerouting ships already patrolling the Klingon border.”
T’Rehes continued to coordinate effort to prepare their defenses, racing with Starbase 82’s staff and the rest of Stonewall Fleet against what little time they had. Finally, T’Rehes received the report that she had been expecting.
“Ma’am... Borg have been detected 100 kilometers from the station.”
The report from the Tactical officer caused a short, but noticeable, pause as many of the officers reflexively steeled themselves. This was it. T’Rehes, however, didn’t miss a beat.
“Have all ships cleared our immediate defensive area?”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Good. Activate the dynamic shield modulation system. Transfer power from all non-essential systems to shields and facing weapons.”
“Yes, ma’am! Activating... dynamic shield modulation system is now online.”
The comm officer spoke up, her voice stilted. “Admiral... we are being hailed by the Borg.”
T’Rehes looked at the woman with a raised eyebrow. The Borg implants on her face reflected the light of the holographic tactical map.
“Is it the standard hail?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Ignore it. Order the fleet to fire at will when the first Borg vessel is in range.”
T’Rehes turned and faced the tactical map. There was a line of Borg vessels now stretched across the map to its edge, where the conduit resided. The number of Starfleet vessels standing between them and Starbase 82 were impressive... but would not be a match if the Borg continued to deploy more vessels. All chances of success depended first on closing down that conduit.
“Battle Group Omega’s ETA to the conduit?”
“Three minutes, ma’am.”
“Admiral! The fleet is reporting opening fire and engaging the Borg.”
“Tactical, open fire on the closest Borg vessels when you have openings. Prioritize by likelihood of destruction. The Borg will attempt to overwhelm us so we must attempt to minimize that advantage.”
“Yes, ma’am. Anti-proton banks are opening fire!”
T’Rehes kept an eye on the map in front of her as the command crew supplemented with reports from the field. In the opening minutes, Stonewall Fleet had the advantage, as the Borg had sacrificed a regroup at the conduit exit for a surprise attack. However, Stonewall Fleet’s preparations had allowed them to be battle-ready even in that small timeframe of twenty minutes. As encouraging as that was though, T’Rehes knew that it would only be a matter of time before that advantage shifted back to the Borg. The fleet, while capable, had no hope of destroying Borg ships faster than they arrived.
“The Corona is reporting their weapons systems have gone offline. They are pulling back until they can bring them back up.”
“The Hermes has reported Borg invasion parties, but have not yet reported any significant disruptions in ship operations.”
“Admiral, Battle Group Omega has engaged the Borg at the conduit exit.”
T’Rehes’ eyes darted to the point on the map. Indeed, a cluster of Federation ships were now closing in on the conduit’s location.
“Their primary orders are to seal the conduit.”
“They’ve acknowledged those orders. They are preparing tachyon beam pulses at inverse frequencies from those that the conduit is emitting in order to destabilize the conduit.”
T’Rehes’ attention was split between the engagements at Starbase 82 and at the conduit. When the conduit didn’t collapse within the next minute, she knew something was wrong.
“Comm, report. What is Battle Group Omega’s status?”
“I’m sorry ma’am, but they’re reporting difficulties in sealing the conduit. All destabilization efforts have failed.”
“Science, report!” ordered T’Rehes as she moved over to the closest science station. The lieutenant manning the station was frantically looking over the data.
“This is what Battle Group Omega is sending us. The conduit is being affected by their attempts, but it keeps recovering. Something on the other side is keeping it open... probably a transwarp gate.”
“Agreed. Would sending ships through the conduit to destroy the gate be an option?”
The lieutenant shook his head. “At the rate the Borg are coming out of it, the likelihood of a collision inside the conduit would be quite high. If the ship were to run into a Borg cube, the cube would suffer damage, but our ship would be completely destroyed. It’d be suicide.”
An officer standing next to the lieutenant suddenly perked up.
“Yes... but perhaps an explosion inside the conduit would have a greater effect.”
“What!?” the lieutenant exclaimed, horrified at the idea of throwing a ship in on a kamikaze mission. T’Rehes, however, remained much more calm.
“Elaborate.”
“Right now, the ships in Battle Group Omega have been firing tachyon pulses into the conduit. It’s having an effect, but not enough to overwhelm the gate on the other end. One way to increase the effect on the conduit is to fire the pulses inside the conduit in a spherical pattern instead of a beam; it would ensure that the conduit is hit with the full energy of the pulses. It’s the difference between your hand when a phaser overloads nearby... and blowing your hand clear off when the phaser overloads in your fist.”
The lieutenant frowned. “That could work... but getting a ship in there to fire the pulse would be impossible. It would collide with a Borg ship before it could do anything... unless... we don’t use a ship at all!”
T’Rehes raised an eyebrow as the lieutenant continued. “We could have some ships modify their torpedoes. The explosive payloads could be swapped out for high-energy tachyon emitters. They could fire the pulses inside the conduit while travelling through it. Enough volleys might destabilize the conduit.”
“Proceed. Order Battle Group Omega to begin the modifications to torpedoes. Divert all available staff to the effort.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
It was at this moment that the Comm officer approached T’Rehes. “Admiral, I am receiving a hail from the Stonewall. They have reached the front lines, but their Chief of Medical wishes to speak with you.”
T’Rehes paused. In that moment, her worst suspicions had been confirmed.
“Put it on your terminal. I will answer her there.”
T’Rehes followed the comm officer back to her station. The CMO for the Stonewall appeared on the screen shortly thereafter, with her Sickbay in the background.
“Admiral T’Rehes. Time is precious, so I’ll cut to the chase. Admiral Ford is currently incapacitated. He is unconcious and cannot be woken up. Additionally, the Borg implant attached to his neural cortex is now in a constant state of high activity. This is a marked change from the random bursts of activity we were observing earlier.”
T’Rehes nodded. “I take it then that you have been Captain McCloy’s contact on the Stonewall regarding the mysterious transmissions we have been observing?”
“Yes, Admiral. I have been keeping him updated with a record of the transmission occurrences since they began appearing while Admiral Ford was stationed at Starbase 82. As per your wishes, I have not informed Admiral Ford of them... against my own judgement.”
The CMO’s voice took a decidedly antagonistic tone. “I hope this gambit has paid off.”
“That still remains to be seen,” Admiral T’Rehes responded simply. “For now, can you stop the transmissions?”
“No. I cannot remove the implant for the same reason it couldn’t be removed when Admiral Ford was liberated from the Collective; there is too great a risk that the operation might kill him. Even attempting to access the implant and interfere with it right now could be dangerous. Neural scans show the implant is accessing memory centers of the Admiral’s brain.”
T’Rehes paused before she spoke again. “So the device is likely gathering intelligence.”
“... what?”
“This fits with the Borg’s pattern of behavior. During the first Borg incursion into Federation space, they abducted the captain of the Enterprise, Starfleet’s flagship, and assimilated him. This allowed them to gain knowledge of Starfleet tactics, as well as information regarding the defensive systems protecting the Sol system. It stands to reason that the Borg are now using a different tactic to achieve the same objective. The most logical conclusion is that the implant is using Admiral Ford as a database of Starfleet’s anti-Borg tactics and defensive measures, including the command codes for Starbase 82. If they gain access to those codes, it would allow them to take down our dynamic shield modulation system and beam invasion parties aboard the station, as well as turn the station against our own fleet."
T’Rehes paused again. She knew what she was about to order would be met with resistance.
“Doctor, I am ordering you to stop the implant from accessing Admiral Ford’s memories at all costs.”
The Stonewall’s CMO’s eyes widened. “That operation could kill him or cause significant and irreparable brain damage! And for all you know, the Borg already have the information they need.”
“If they are still accessing his memories through the implant, that would imply they still have not obtained what they need. However, since this attack coincided with the implant’s current state of activity, that would further imply the Borg think they are close. Every second we debate the ethics of this situation is a second the Borg get closer to wiping out this starbase. Once they do that, Stonewall Fleet, Battle Group Omega, and the Federation’s first and best line of defense against the Borg will be destroyed. It would not be hyperbole to say that billions of lives will be lost if the Borg win this engagement.”
The CMO opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her eyes burned with anger at T’Rehes as she finally found words.
“Acknowledged, Admiral. I will prepare for the operation immediately. However, know that I will be filing an official complaint with Starfleet Command regarding you and Captain McCloy. You have needlessly wasted the Admiral’s life.”
T’Rehes maintained her stoic expression. “Again, Doctor, that remai--”
“Admiral!” shouted the comm officer who was standing right next to her. It was enough of a surprise that T’Rehes looked taken aback.
“I am receiving a priority one message from the Pandora! They... they appear to have just exited the conduit!”
T’Rehes’ head snapped back toward the Doctor on her screen. “Doctor, prepare for the operation, but do not begin. We are about to see if my... gambit... has paid off.”
The Stonewall’s CMO reacted with surprise, but was unable to speak before T’Rehes looked back at the comm officer. “Open a channel to the Pandora and relay the transmission to the Stonewall.”
“Aye, ma’am!”
The screen switched to a view of the Pandora’s bridge, which looked like it had seen better days. A girder from the bridge’s ceiling was resting on a rear railing, and a small fire had erupted from one of the front consoles. The hail was even suffering interference, likely the result of a damaged comm system. Oren-De looked completely disheveled, but he kept composure even as a console behind him exploded.
“Captain Oren-De, what is your status?” asked T’Rehes.
“We were able to obtain what we believe to be the necessary system codes. Two of my officers, including my Chief of Medical, have prepared a treatment. However, it must be administered in person. We have taken significant damage and require assistance.”
“Acknowledged. Proceed to Starbase 82 immediately. I will task ships from Battle Group Omega with escorting you.”
“One more item, Admiral. The Borg are using a transwarp gate to maintain the conduit. We attempted to destroy it on our way through, but we only managed to damage it.”
“Excellent work, Captain. That should aid our efforts. T’Rehes out.”
T’Rehes snapped to an officer to her right. “Tactical, order the Felczer and the Whitestar to escort the Pandora to Starbase 82. Additionally, order the Stonewall to immediately fall back to the same coordinates and prepare for officers from the Pandora to beam directly to their Sickbay.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Minutes later, T’Rehes was watching the tactical map and keeping an eye on the Pandora and Stonewall as they neared Starbase 82.
“Admiral, Battle Group Omega reports they have finished modifying the tachyon torpedoes.”
“Order spread volleys, timed after the next Borg ship exits the conduit.”
At the conduit, half of Battle Group Omega disengaged their combat with the Borg and turned to face the conduit's entrance. As a Borg sphere emerged, the ships volleyed a massive volley of torpedoes into the entrance. Seconds passed as they waited for the result. In Starbase 82’s command area, a silence fell over the area.
“... I’m registering a change in the subspace disturbances near the conduit. It’s... it’s collapsing! The conduit is collapsing! The instability is too much for the damaged gate to handle!”
A loud cheer went up around T’Rehes, who simply turned back to the tactical map. Her eyes went back to the Stonewall, which was now waiting just next to Starbase 82.
On the Pandora, Sickbay was flooded with injured and wounded, but her CMO was forced to leave their care to his assistant and the EMH. He was busy working on a console which was connected to a tricorder held by the ship’s science officer.
“That should do it. Ready?”
“Ready.”
The two looked over at another officer who was manning a second console. “We’re nearing the transport site. Good luck you two.”
As the Pandora, flanked by the Whitestar and the Felczer, came within range of the Stonewall, the two officers were beamed to the latter’s Sickbay. Upon materializing, they were rushed to Nick’s bedside by the CMO. She gave the tricorder a skeptical glance.
“A tricorder? That’s the treatment!?”
The Pandora’s CMO looked at her to explain while the other officer placed a small device connected to the tricorder to the back of Nick’s neck.
“It contains the basecodes for the implant. We were able to isolate them by decrypting the Borg transmissions.”
“You were able to decrypt them!? How!?”
“Our ship was recently outfitted with an experimental device called the Partition. Basically, a section of our computer houses an artificial Borg intelligence.”
“WHAT!?”
“Red, don’t bother explaining,” interrupted the science officer. “I’m ready, so just monitor his damn vitals while I activate this!”
“Alright, already! Activate!”
The woman activated the program on the tricorder. The three officers looked expectantly at Nicholas...
“Perimeter sensor buoys are pinging incoming vessels. Energy signatures matching that of Borg vessels detected!”
“Transwarp conduit emissions are still active in the region!”
“Battle Group Omega is hailing us! They are requesting confirmation of a Borg incursion!”
In the middle of it all, T’Rehes stood in front of a holographic display that was now showing a map of nearby space. Starbase 82 was mapped in blue to her left and a growing number of green symbols were starting to move in from the right. She turned smartly toward the on-duty comm officer.
“Send a distress signal to all ships on all frequencies and request immediate assistance against the Borg. Call all patrol ships back to the station with orders to defend. Following that, send all details we have on priority one comminques to the Stonewall, Battle Group Omega, and Starfleet Command.”
“Aye, ma’am!”
T’Rehes’ head snapped to the next officer to her left.
“Tactical, ETA to the arrival of the first Borg ship.”
“20 minutes, ma’am.”
“Station ops, activate a defensive scramble alert. All docked ships are to form a defensive line 20 kilometers out from the station intercepting the Borg fleet’s trajectory in 15 minutes. Tactical, coordinate the perimeter until the Pendragon arrives at the designated area.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Just a few minutes ago, the station had been quite calm. That all changed when a subspace disturbance had been detected by one of the long-range sensor buoys that had been placed throughout the sector. Now the moment for which Stonewall Fleet had been preparing was at hand. Each passing minute saw more and more ships leave the station and personnel taking positions and arming themselves.
“Post security teams on all decks in accordance with anti-Borg protocols, including auto-modulation phaser rifles.”
“Admiral, Engineering is reporting they have finished shutting down all systems which are still infested with Borg technology. These systems are all non-essential.”
“Battle Group Omega reports that they will arrive at the Borg transwarp conduit in 25 minutes by quantum slipstream. They will engage the Borg and attempt to destabilize the conduit.”
“Admiral, neighboring starbases are answering our hails with details of reinforcements. However, Starfleet Command will not be rerouting ships already patrolling the Klingon border.”
T’Rehes continued to coordinate effort to prepare their defenses, racing with Starbase 82’s staff and the rest of Stonewall Fleet against what little time they had. Finally, T’Rehes received the report that she had been expecting.
“Ma’am... Borg have been detected 100 kilometers from the station.”
The report from the Tactical officer caused a short, but noticeable, pause as many of the officers reflexively steeled themselves. This was it. T’Rehes, however, didn’t miss a beat.
“Have all ships cleared our immediate defensive area?”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Good. Activate the dynamic shield modulation system. Transfer power from all non-essential systems to shields and facing weapons.”
“Yes, ma’am! Activating... dynamic shield modulation system is now online.”
The comm officer spoke up, her voice stilted. “Admiral... we are being hailed by the Borg.”
T’Rehes looked at the woman with a raised eyebrow. The Borg implants on her face reflected the light of the holographic tactical map.
“Is it the standard hail?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Ignore it. Order the fleet to fire at will when the first Borg vessel is in range.”
T’Rehes turned and faced the tactical map. There was a line of Borg vessels now stretched across the map to its edge, where the conduit resided. The number of Starfleet vessels standing between them and Starbase 82 were impressive... but would not be a match if the Borg continued to deploy more vessels. All chances of success depended first on closing down that conduit.
“Battle Group Omega’s ETA to the conduit?”
“Three minutes, ma’am.”
“Admiral! The fleet is reporting opening fire and engaging the Borg.”
“Tactical, open fire on the closest Borg vessels when you have openings. Prioritize by likelihood of destruction. The Borg will attempt to overwhelm us so we must attempt to minimize that advantage.”
“Yes, ma’am. Anti-proton banks are opening fire!”
T’Rehes kept an eye on the map in front of her as the command crew supplemented with reports from the field. In the opening minutes, Stonewall Fleet had the advantage, as the Borg had sacrificed a regroup at the conduit exit for a surprise attack. However, Stonewall Fleet’s preparations had allowed them to be battle-ready even in that small timeframe of twenty minutes. As encouraging as that was though, T’Rehes knew that it would only be a matter of time before that advantage shifted back to the Borg. The fleet, while capable, had no hope of destroying Borg ships faster than they arrived.
“The Corona is reporting their weapons systems have gone offline. They are pulling back until they can bring them back up.”
“The Hermes has reported Borg invasion parties, but have not yet reported any significant disruptions in ship operations.”
“Admiral, Battle Group Omega has engaged the Borg at the conduit exit.”
T’Rehes’ eyes darted to the point on the map. Indeed, a cluster of Federation ships were now closing in on the conduit’s location.
“Their primary orders are to seal the conduit.”
“They’ve acknowledged those orders. They are preparing tachyon beam pulses at inverse frequencies from those that the conduit is emitting in order to destabilize the conduit.”
T’Rehes’ attention was split between the engagements at Starbase 82 and at the conduit. When the conduit didn’t collapse within the next minute, she knew something was wrong.
“Comm, report. What is Battle Group Omega’s status?”
“I’m sorry ma’am, but they’re reporting difficulties in sealing the conduit. All destabilization efforts have failed.”
“Science, report!” ordered T’Rehes as she moved over to the closest science station. The lieutenant manning the station was frantically looking over the data.
“This is what Battle Group Omega is sending us. The conduit is being affected by their attempts, but it keeps recovering. Something on the other side is keeping it open... probably a transwarp gate.”
“Agreed. Would sending ships through the conduit to destroy the gate be an option?”
The lieutenant shook his head. “At the rate the Borg are coming out of it, the likelihood of a collision inside the conduit would be quite high. If the ship were to run into a Borg cube, the cube would suffer damage, but our ship would be completely destroyed. It’d be suicide.”
An officer standing next to the lieutenant suddenly perked up.
“Yes... but perhaps an explosion inside the conduit would have a greater effect.”
“What!?” the lieutenant exclaimed, horrified at the idea of throwing a ship in on a kamikaze mission. T’Rehes, however, remained much more calm.
“Elaborate.”
“Right now, the ships in Battle Group Omega have been firing tachyon pulses into the conduit. It’s having an effect, but not enough to overwhelm the gate on the other end. One way to increase the effect on the conduit is to fire the pulses inside the conduit in a spherical pattern instead of a beam; it would ensure that the conduit is hit with the full energy of the pulses. It’s the difference between your hand when a phaser overloads nearby... and blowing your hand clear off when the phaser overloads in your fist.”
The lieutenant frowned. “That could work... but getting a ship in there to fire the pulse would be impossible. It would collide with a Borg ship before it could do anything... unless... we don’t use a ship at all!”
T’Rehes raised an eyebrow as the lieutenant continued. “We could have some ships modify their torpedoes. The explosive payloads could be swapped out for high-energy tachyon emitters. They could fire the pulses inside the conduit while travelling through it. Enough volleys might destabilize the conduit.”
“Proceed. Order Battle Group Omega to begin the modifications to torpedoes. Divert all available staff to the effort.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
It was at this moment that the Comm officer approached T’Rehes. “Admiral, I am receiving a hail from the Stonewall. They have reached the front lines, but their Chief of Medical wishes to speak with you.”
T’Rehes paused. In that moment, her worst suspicions had been confirmed.
“Put it on your terminal. I will answer her there.”
T’Rehes followed the comm officer back to her station. The CMO for the Stonewall appeared on the screen shortly thereafter, with her Sickbay in the background.
“Admiral T’Rehes. Time is precious, so I’ll cut to the chase. Admiral Ford is currently incapacitated. He is unconcious and cannot be woken up. Additionally, the Borg implant attached to his neural cortex is now in a constant state of high activity. This is a marked change from the random bursts of activity we were observing earlier.”
T’Rehes nodded. “I take it then that you have been Captain McCloy’s contact on the Stonewall regarding the mysterious transmissions we have been observing?”
“Yes, Admiral. I have been keeping him updated with a record of the transmission occurrences since they began appearing while Admiral Ford was stationed at Starbase 82. As per your wishes, I have not informed Admiral Ford of them... against my own judgement.”
The CMO’s voice took a decidedly antagonistic tone. “I hope this gambit has paid off.”
“That still remains to be seen,” Admiral T’Rehes responded simply. “For now, can you stop the transmissions?”
“No. I cannot remove the implant for the same reason it couldn’t be removed when Admiral Ford was liberated from the Collective; there is too great a risk that the operation might kill him. Even attempting to access the implant and interfere with it right now could be dangerous. Neural scans show the implant is accessing memory centers of the Admiral’s brain.”
T’Rehes paused before she spoke again. “So the device is likely gathering intelligence.”
“... what?”
“This fits with the Borg’s pattern of behavior. During the first Borg incursion into Federation space, they abducted the captain of the Enterprise, Starfleet’s flagship, and assimilated him. This allowed them to gain knowledge of Starfleet tactics, as well as information regarding the defensive systems protecting the Sol system. It stands to reason that the Borg are now using a different tactic to achieve the same objective. The most logical conclusion is that the implant is using Admiral Ford as a database of Starfleet’s anti-Borg tactics and defensive measures, including the command codes for Starbase 82. If they gain access to those codes, it would allow them to take down our dynamic shield modulation system and beam invasion parties aboard the station, as well as turn the station against our own fleet."
T’Rehes paused again. She knew what she was about to order would be met with resistance.
“Doctor, I am ordering you to stop the implant from accessing Admiral Ford’s memories at all costs.”
The Stonewall’s CMO’s eyes widened. “That operation could kill him or cause significant and irreparable brain damage! And for all you know, the Borg already have the information they need.”
“If they are still accessing his memories through the implant, that would imply they still have not obtained what they need. However, since this attack coincided with the implant’s current state of activity, that would further imply the Borg think they are close. Every second we debate the ethics of this situation is a second the Borg get closer to wiping out this starbase. Once they do that, Stonewall Fleet, Battle Group Omega, and the Federation’s first and best line of defense against the Borg will be destroyed. It would not be hyperbole to say that billions of lives will be lost if the Borg win this engagement.”
The CMO opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her eyes burned with anger at T’Rehes as she finally found words.
“Acknowledged, Admiral. I will prepare for the operation immediately. However, know that I will be filing an official complaint with Starfleet Command regarding you and Captain McCloy. You have needlessly wasted the Admiral’s life.”
T’Rehes maintained her stoic expression. “Again, Doctor, that remai--”
“Admiral!” shouted the comm officer who was standing right next to her. It was enough of a surprise that T’Rehes looked taken aback.
“I am receiving a priority one message from the Pandora! They... they appear to have just exited the conduit!”
T’Rehes’ head snapped back toward the Doctor on her screen. “Doctor, prepare for the operation, but do not begin. We are about to see if my... gambit... has paid off.”
The Stonewall’s CMO reacted with surprise, but was unable to speak before T’Rehes looked back at the comm officer. “Open a channel to the Pandora and relay the transmission to the Stonewall.”
“Aye, ma’am!”
The screen switched to a view of the Pandora’s bridge, which looked like it had seen better days. A girder from the bridge’s ceiling was resting on a rear railing, and a small fire had erupted from one of the front consoles. The hail was even suffering interference, likely the result of a damaged comm system. Oren-De looked completely disheveled, but he kept composure even as a console behind him exploded.
“Captain Oren-De, what is your status?” asked T’Rehes.
“We were able to obtain what we believe to be the necessary system codes. Two of my officers, including my Chief of Medical, have prepared a treatment. However, it must be administered in person. We have taken significant damage and require assistance.”
“Acknowledged. Proceed to Starbase 82 immediately. I will task ships from Battle Group Omega with escorting you.”
“One more item, Admiral. The Borg are using a transwarp gate to maintain the conduit. We attempted to destroy it on our way through, but we only managed to damage it.”
“Excellent work, Captain. That should aid our efforts. T’Rehes out.”
T’Rehes snapped to an officer to her right. “Tactical, order the Felczer and the Whitestar to escort the Pandora to Starbase 82. Additionally, order the Stonewall to immediately fall back to the same coordinates and prepare for officers from the Pandora to beam directly to their Sickbay.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Minutes later, T’Rehes was watching the tactical map and keeping an eye on the Pandora and Stonewall as they neared Starbase 82.
“Admiral, Battle Group Omega reports they have finished modifying the tachyon torpedoes.”
“Order spread volleys, timed after the next Borg ship exits the conduit.”
At the conduit, half of Battle Group Omega disengaged their combat with the Borg and turned to face the conduit's entrance. As a Borg sphere emerged, the ships volleyed a massive volley of torpedoes into the entrance. Seconds passed as they waited for the result. In Starbase 82’s command area, a silence fell over the area.
“... I’m registering a change in the subspace disturbances near the conduit. It’s... it’s collapsing! The conduit is collapsing! The instability is too much for the damaged gate to handle!”
A loud cheer went up around T’Rehes, who simply turned back to the tactical map. Her eyes went back to the Stonewall, which was now waiting just next to Starbase 82.
On the Pandora, Sickbay was flooded with injured and wounded, but her CMO was forced to leave their care to his assistant and the EMH. He was busy working on a console which was connected to a tricorder held by the ship’s science officer.
“That should do it. Ready?”
“Ready.”
The two looked over at another officer who was manning a second console. “We’re nearing the transport site. Good luck you two.”
As the Pandora, flanked by the Whitestar and the Felczer, came within range of the Stonewall, the two officers were beamed to the latter’s Sickbay. Upon materializing, they were rushed to Nick’s bedside by the CMO. She gave the tricorder a skeptical glance.
“A tricorder? That’s the treatment!?”
The Pandora’s CMO looked at her to explain while the other officer placed a small device connected to the tricorder to the back of Nick’s neck.
“It contains the basecodes for the implant. We were able to isolate them by decrypting the Borg transmissions.”
“You were able to decrypt them!? How!?”
“Our ship was recently outfitted with an experimental device called the Partition. Basically, a section of our computer houses an artificial Borg intelligence.”
“WHAT!?”
“Red, don’t bother explaining,” interrupted the science officer. “I’m ready, so just monitor his damn vitals while I activate this!”
“Alright, already! Activate!”
The woman activated the program on the tricorder. The three officers looked expectantly at Nicholas...
