Best of Both Worlds IC

[Brusia]

[Link to OOC: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=381084]

Admiral's Log, Stardate: 50929.5

Responding to reports that a number of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan vessels have recently vanished without a trace inside the Neutral Zone, I am leading a flotilla to their last known coordinates to investigate. Starfleet Command suspects rogue Nausicaan raiders to be involved, but as the last known locations of the missing vessels are well outside the shipping lanes such pirates usually prey on, I fear the cause to be something more sinister. Though Task Force Omega has done an adequate job containing the Borg within the Gamma Orionis Sector, Borg vessels do occasionally slip past, and I fear this may be such an occasion. Why they would attack a handful of ships in the Neutral Zone rather than proceeding to directly attack Earth, Qo'nos, or New Romulus is troubling however. Perhaps they feel that the Federation and Klingon Empire will blame the mysterious disappearance of ships in the Neutral Zone on each other, resulting in an end to our tenuous cease-fire and the abolishment of Task Force Omega. Whatever the case, I have no doubt that...

The door to the Admiral's Ready Room opened and the Constitution's Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Bradley, entered and reported that:

"We've reached the last known coordinates of one of the missing ships, sir."

Nelson pressed a button on his console to pause the recording, then stood up from his desk and began walking towards the Bridge. "Thank you Commander" he said as he approached Bradley. As Nelson left the room, Bradley followed close behind and returned to his post. Upon entering the Bridge, his XO, Commander Jhamal stood up from the Captain's Chair, which Nelson promptly reoccupied.

"Anything on scanners?" Nelson asked

"Yes sir" Lieutenant Commander Suval, the Chief Science Officer, replied "I am detecting debris 600 kilometers from our position. It appears to be from a starship."

"Any escape pods?"

"No sir, it appears that the escape pods either were not launched, or were already retrieved." The Bridge fell silent as Suval continued his scans "Admiral, analysis of weapon signatures in the debris field indicates that the attackers were Borg."

Nelson turned to the Conn Officer "Any signs of Borg vessels on long-range sensors?"

Before the Conn Officer even had a chance to respond, the Communications Officer yelled "Admiral! We're receiving a distress call from Starbase 42!"

"Onscreen."

"This is Commander Thompson of Starbase 42 to any nearby vessels, we under heavy attack by the Borg and in need of immediate assist..." and explosion interrupted the Commander, and the screen went to static.

"Go to Red Alert and prepare a message for all allied ships in range."

"Ready, sir."

"This is Admiral Marcus Nelson of the USS Constitution, I am leading a flotilla of ships to engage the Borg attacking Starbase 42. Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated." Ending the message, he turned to the Helmsman "Lay in a course to Starbase 42, maximum warp."

"Course laid in, sir."

"Engage."

Minutes seemed like hours as the Constitution and accompanying ships hurdled at a great many times the speed of light towards the beleaguered space station and an uncertain fate. Fortunately, the station was not far from their earlier position in the Neutral Zone, and when they dropped out of warp the monitor on the Bridge displayed a station that was damaged, but still intact.

The Conn Officer gave her report "Admiral, scans indicate the station is badly damaged. Their weapons are down, and life support is failing."

"Tactical analysis?"

Lieutenant Commander Bradley began rapidly pressing buttons on his console, then responded "I'm detecting two Borg Cubes...and a Borg Octahedron. If reinforcements don't arrive quickly, I don't like our chances."

Nelson rubbed his eyes, then pressed a button on his chair's armrest which opened a direct channel to all the vessels in his flotilla. "This is Admiral Nelson, all ships are to divert their auxiliary power to their shields and to make sure their shield frequencies are set to automatically remodulate. The Curie and the Ohio are to engage the Cube at a heading of three-two-zero, the Charlemagne and the Magellan are to engage the Cube at a heading of zero-four-zero, while the Invictus and the Constitution engage the Octahedron. Your orders are to draw the Borg away from the starbase and keep them engaged until reinforcements arrive. Nevada, you are to move within transporter range of the starbase once the Borg have been drawn away and begin evacuating the survivors. Good luck everyone." He pressed the button again, then turned to the Helmsman "Move us within firing range of the Octahedron, full impulse."

---

ANN
Emergency Update
Amita Qasid reporting

We can now confirm that the Alliance Second Fleet and Arcturus Station have been destroyed by Reaper forces. Reports from the Sol System have been few, but what news we have received has been bleak; Reaper forces appear to be rapidly overwhelming Alliance defenses on Earth. We have also confirmed that the Alliance Third and Fifth Fleets, as well as Commander Shepard, survived the Reaper attack and have retreated from the Sol System. Reports coming in from the rest of the Galaxy indicate that the Reapers have also launched major invasions in Palaven and Thessia. The location of the Quarian Migrant Fleet is still unknown, but we have received unconfirmed reports that they have been destroyed...

Admiral Shala'Raan, Commander of the Quarian Patrol Fleet, pressed a button on her terminal to close the report and muttered "Not yet." The reason for the Quarians' sudden disappearance was the start of a major offensive against the Geth intended to reclaim the Quarian homeworld of Rannoch. Using Admiral Daro'Xen's scanning countermeasures, the Migrant Fleet had infiltrated into Geth space and was making final preparations to begin a surprise attack against four systems under Geth control. Before this primary assault was to begin however, a small detachment of several dozen ships from the Heavy Fleet, under the command of Admiral Han'Gerrel, was to destroy a Dyson sphere which the Geth had been constructing for centuries.

As she sat at her desk, an aide entered her office, informing her that she had an incoming message. Leaving her office, she walked to the Communications Room where a Quantum Entanglement Communicator had recently been installed, to enable interfleet communications without risking detection by the Geth. Activating the device, the image of Admiral Tali'Zorah appeared in front of her. Though her face was concealed by her enviro-suit, Raan could tell that she was upset.

"Have you seen the news reports!?" Tali asked "The Reapers are launching attacks all over the Galaxy, and we're really going to start another war?"

"We were outvoted Tali, the Admiralty Board decided to attack and we are obligated to carry out the decision."

"But the vote was taken before the Reapers invaded, we should postpone our attack until the Board can reconvene to take the Reapers into account."

"Perhaps so." Raal replied "Admiral Gerrel is scheduled to begin his attack soon, we'd better contact him now."

After pressing some buttons on the QEC console to contact Gerrel's ship, the two waited for a few minutes before his image appeared on the device.

"Can this wait" he asked angrily "We've nearly reached the Dyson sphere."

"Admiral Gerrel" Tail replied "In light of the Reaper invasion, we believe you should postpone your attack until we can reconvene the Admiralty Board and take another vote."

"Another vote!?" Gerrel exclaimed "There's no time for another vote! These 'Reapers' haven't bothered us so far, and without any evidence suggesting an imminent attack, I see no reason to alter our plans."

Another Quarian was then heard saying "Admiral Gerrel, our ships are now within firing range of the Dyson sphere."

Gerrel turned his head to address the other voice "Inform them to target the sphere and fire when ready." He then turned back to the QEC "When I contact you again to inform you of the sphere's destruction, I expect you both to launch your attacks as planned." With that he deactivated his QEC and returned to his ship's Bridge.

Tali simply shook her head and loudly stated "Bosh'tet."

[The Pacifican Islands]

[center]USS Sergey Korolev, Near the Neutral Zone

Captain's Log, Stardate 50929.6

There have been unknown incursions inside the neutral zone where our ships and many others have been lost. Starfleet Intelligence believes that Nausicaan raiders were involved, but the Borg may also be at play. They've changed since the battle of Sector 001 and stopped direct attacks on the home worlds of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. Maybe our nations will pin the blame on each other and weaken ourselves, making assimilation more "efficient".

Joseph Stevens walked out of his ready room and to the bridge.
"Hello, Captain." Steven's Science Officer, Soralk, greeted in his monotonous Vulcan tone.
Before the captain even got into the chair, he was caught off guard by a distress call.
"This is Starbase 42! Please! We are under heavy fire from Borg vessels!"
The bridge fell silent.
"Well you heard him. Set a course for Starbase 42, maximum warp."

A hum of the warp nacelles followed by a familiar "whoosh" sound shot the Korolev towards a Borg fleet and near-certain death. The captain excused himself and retreated to the ready room.

Captain's Log, Supplemental

We are on a course for Starbase 42, currently under siege by the Borg. We are woefully unequipped for this, but I'm willing to help the Starbase. If this is my last log, I want to say that I died a proud death defending the Alpha Quadrant. Stevens out.

An alert tone buzzed from his combadge.
"Yes?"
"Captain, we are 30 seconds out from the Starbase, I recommend you return to the bridge."
"I'm coming."
Captain Stevens stepped into the turbo lift and, within seconds, stepped onto the bridge. At that very moment, the ship left warp and on the screen was a horrifying view of two cubes and a octahedron, surrounding the Starbase like a pack of wild vultures and fresh meat. A small contingent of Starfleet vessels tried to stop them, but it seemed fruitless.
"Hail the Starbase."
"Captain Stevens? We are under heavy fire, we need assistance right n-" the audio cut to static before a voice returned onto the audio.
"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile."

Once more the bridge went silent. The captain, at a loss for words, started multiple times before ordering:
"Red alert. Open up with long range phasers."

[Zepplien]

B.C.S. Saar Praxis, Near Romulan-Federation Neutral Zone

The cold interior of the Breen Confederate ship could only be matched by the cold demeanor of the crew members as they worked tirelessly at the controls. Thot Ret sat stiffly in her command chair, her eyes flicking behind the green HUD to scan her crew for even the smallest sign of weakness. Weakness could not be tolerated on a ship of Breen Privateers, each one the symbol of the Breen to the outside world, and every action would reflect upon the honor of the entire Confederacy. She gripped her arm rest as a shrill alarm went of behind her before being silenced with the speed of someone who was paying great attention to their job, she made a mental note of their competence before barking out "Report Ak'ched."

"My Thot, our scanners indicate that a small unit of Federation ships have engaged the Borg vessels."

Of course, there was the battlefleet sitting in front of them that had attacked a Federation outpost that she had planned to raid. She knew that one ship against a pair of Borg cubes, and the strange unknown class would merely result in the useless destruction of her ship and crew. Now though, the Federation was here to distract the Borg, perhaps even bring their destruction if the battle went favorably, though the Federation could not be counted on to win. She leaned forward ever so slightly as she thought, then tapped her comm system "Ak'ched Kir, prepare two boarding teams to strip down the Federation Station. No witnesses, take a photon torpedo to insure nothing is left behind."

"Yes, my Thot." was the only response she had expected, and indeed, the only one she received from her loyal Ak'ched. She then indicated her helmsman "Ak'ched Irs, take us close enough to the station that we will be undetectable when we drop cloak to beam over the boarding team." the nod from her helm was all she needed to bark out the next command "Prepare forward disruptors to fire upon the U.S.S. Nevada, load photon torpedoes into fore banks. If they detect us, open fire and destroy them. Shut down the energy disipator, shunt its power into the disruptors, we can not let the Borg analyze our greatest weapon."

[Mincaldenteans]

Tilt & Min Collab ^_^

CDS LAKARIAN CITY
ROMULAN-FEDERATION BORDER

The pair of Cardassian battlecruisers currently passing through the area were an upgraded model based on the stardrive and weapons improvements used in the Obsidian Order’s failed attack on the Founders. Upon the abrupt onset and turmoil of the Federation-Klingon War, the Cardassians’ long memory had led them to remilitarize to face a possible Klingon resurgence and second invasion of the Union.

With the restoration of peace in 2409, the Guard maintained patrols in and out of its space, and the Lakarian City and Danasket formed one of these. The cluster of merchant ships and single passenger liner behind them - headed, ironically, for Bajor - bore on Gul Palen’s thoughts as he sat in his command chair.

We’re still so far from true independence. Where does it end, this ridiculous weakn -

“Gul Palen, signal from the Danasket. Gul Rejal has picked up a Federation distress signal. Medium range sensors registering antimatter explosions and phaser fire. Replaying distress signal...now.”

"This is Commander Thompson of Starbase 42 to any nearby vessels, we under heavy attack by the Borg and in need of immediate assist -

Gul Palen did not waste an instant of thought for Starfleet; Cardassia’s interests in the here and now were to escort the ships, given just who and what was on them. “Pass orders to Danasket. Disregard the signal. Sound general quarters and raise shields. Notify the merchant ships.”


RRW GRENAX

Tracking the Cardassian escort along the Romulan border proved entirely an exercise in futility. What was the Republic thinking to assign him to such menial task? Surely there were lower, and overly eager, junior officers that Command could have assigned. Instead, he was given express orders by the Admiral in this sector to trail the end of the small squadron. Commander Valdran resisted the urge to make a disgusted face as the viewscreen maintained the sensor imaging of the pasty orange vessels. Surveillance and eavesdropping were not beyond his skillset, they just didn’t prove to be of any use in his current career endeavors, and snooping upon their erstwhile friends and neighbors was hardly the best way to foster trust.

Old habits, it seemed, die hard, Valdran smirked. Across the bridge, officers manned their posts with as much silence as the ship, operating as though they were one.

“Commander,” one of the lieutenants spoke up from Valdran’s right.

“What is it?”

“We’re picking up a distress signal, audio only.”

Fighting the urge to sigh, Valdran contemplated for a bloated moment whether he should bother with the signal.

“It’s Federation,” the lieutenant supplied.

Closing his eyes momentarily, Valdran let loose an exasperated puff of air before gesturing for his subordinate to open the channel.

"This is Commander Thompson of Starbase 42 to any nearby vessels, we under heavy attack by the Borg and in need of immediate assist -

“It repeats, after. Sensors confirm the Cardassians have received the distress signal. Do we-”

“Sir, the Cardassians are moving. Bearing three-four-six, mark two. They’re headed for Starbase 42.”

Valdran steepled his fingers and considered his options. The Federation and the Romulan Republic were on friendly terms and if Valdran ignored the message in favor of his current orders, chances were he’d lose his command. However, Command would understand his reluctance to thrust his crew against the Borg. But there was more at stake than duty, and Valdran knew that if his family were to remain in their minor position influence within the Council, he had to lead by example.

Already regretting his decision, Valdran sat back and barked orders, “Match course and speed. Drop the cloak and open hailing frequencies.”

“To whom, Commander?”

Valdran shot a glare at the lieutenant for such an obvious question. It was met with silence and immediate compliance. When the console bleeped, Valdran did not wait for his officer to confirm the signal.

“This is the Republic Warbird Grenax to Cardassian ship. We’re responding to a Federation distress signal and we see you are headed in the same direction. Would you mind we join you?”


CDS LAKARIAN CITY

Gul Palen sat back, startled despite himself at the sudden appearance of the Romulan Warbird on his screen, followed by the hail. The Romulans’ passive aggressiveness and subtlety rearing their head again? Fortunately, those were qualities he understood.

The Union didn’t make a habit of trusting its newest warships to idiots or the slow-witted, even now, and he leaned forward.

“Gul Palen of the Lakarian City,” he acknowledged. “We are naturally happy to sail with you, Grenax. However, the merchant vessels and our sister ship are part of a convoy through this area to Klaestron space and will need to alter course soon.” He nodded to his communications officer, indicating the man should signal the other ships to break off and head in that direction.


RRW GRENAX

Stifling a grimace at the obvious, Valdran merely nodded in acknowledgment, “Of course. We will be increasing speed once your convoy has changed course.”

Nodding at his communications officer, the line was cut, but the Commander had further orders, “Signal the Starbase, tell them we’ll be headed in. Let the Cardassians do their own work.”

“At once, sir,” the female Romulan nodded, turning away from the commander after a respectful bow of her head to begin her transmission.

“Commander, shall we have the fighter squadrons prepared?”

Valdran shook his head slowly. Risking Romulan lives on this foolish rescue was dangerous enough, pitting his fighters against the Borg was plain suicide. “No, but alert the medical team to prepare for wounded. Sound battlestations.”

“As you command!” His first officer saluted, barking orders to the bridge crew while the ship came to life.

On the viewscreen, the Keldon class Lakarian City continued to surge ahead, with its convoy slowly diverting away as Palen had noted. As soon as the convoy was clear of the two ships, Valdran ordered them to increase speed. He felt Grenax steadily move forward and ahead of the Lakarian City, Valdran recalled the ship’s name - a dedication to the first city destroyed by the Dominion when the Cardassians openly rebelled. Ironic, Valdran noted, was the type of starship that bore its name. In a way, the Keldon class under the command of the now-extinct Obsidian Order was responsible for the Dominion’s takeover and genocide of the Cardassian people. He wondered if the irony escaped the Gul that commanded her.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he looked over to his left, “Tactical, once we drop out of warp, get me firing solutions and coordinate with whatever tactical officer is available on the Federation’s side. Prepare plasma torpedoes and be sure they’re on a rotating modulation.”

“Yes, Commander!” His subordinate responded passionately, “Disruptors and shields have also been adjusted accordingly. Shall I power up the singularity beam?”

“No, I don’t want the Cardassians thinking they can scan us for information. Make sure it is ready at moment’s notice, but do nothing more unless I order it. Keep our scans passive on the Cardassian warship, we don’t want them accusing us of the same notion.”

“Aye commander.”


CDS LAKARIAN CITY

No such thoughts ran through Gul Palen’s mind; all his energy focused on the impending battle in space. His own tactical officer stood by on the shield and weapon frequencies. Particularly crucial, given the upgrades afforded to the Keldon Plus. Everyone in the Guard knew the stereotypes held by foreigners, especially the Federation. Cardassian ships were slow, heavily armed and armored, they said, not at all like the sleek Starfleet vessels with their blue and red glow, or even the nimble Klingon Birds-of-Prey.

The double layer of irony came in the fact that defying their expectations would be done not in battle against Starfleet or the Klingons, but alongside them. It fit exactly the rotating dual-layered shield system and more powerful stardrive capable of at least matching the Defiants that had been so praised in the Dominion War.

Elsewhere, to match their commander’s focus, arms lockers were opened and disruptor pistols handed out to everyone, especially the sickbay staff. The Borg wouldn’t establish a foothold on his ship, Palen thought grimly, as he gave his final orders before the Lakarian City exited warp.

“Sensor section, monitor weapons power level readings from the Romulan vessel. Time our weapons strikes to match theirs as closely as possible. Work with Tactical. Communications, hail the first Federation ship you see and transmit our standard response. We don’t want them firing on us as well.”

[Demincia]

Geth Megastructure
Milky Way/Perseus Veil/Tikkun System

The Geth Megastructure, to which the closest analogy to organics was a Dyson Sphere, had been in construction for 264 years. To organics, it would have been a massive waste of time. To Geth, it not an issue. Geth did not require food, sleep, or compensation. They were able to work around the clock for centuries in order to build their utopia. It was almost done. It was a marvel of engineering, unlike anything that had ever been done. A massive server, capable of housing every Geth runtime. No Geth would ever be alone. Seamless data transmission. Knowledge obtained would be instantly spread to all Geth. It was as close to a utopia as they could ever want. Millions of runtimes had already been uploaded to its server. The structure had sat unmolested since its construction began, so it was only lightly guarded. One cruiser-class platform and one carrier-class platform remained near the structure. More ship platforms would have to enter the system, or divert from Rannoch if needed.