Once Downey had left, Amasov slowly rose from his seat and walked over to the room’s replicator. “Rigelian pulmet juice,” he said to it while having his gaze fixed outside of a small window. A small mechanical whirr came from the machine before the beverage materialized in a small glass. Promptly, he picked it up and took a sip of the sweet pineapple-like juice before returning to his desk.
“Computer, display all records on the Borg taken by the USS Enterprise.”
Various texts began to appear on the Captain’s small screen and he began to carefully scrutinize it as he took another sip of his juice. There must be something here to give us an edge, he thought to himself. It was all there before him. Everything from the technical sensor readings of the Cube-shaped vessel from Commander Riker’s mission report on the interior. All of it was there, staring blankly back at him but there wasn’t a dent or a scratch in the Borg that he could find to exploit and use against them. If they had Picard’s knowledge to help them, then the need for such a weakness was even greater.
Some time passed by and Amasov read over the reports so much that he had them practically memorized. After going over every iota of information that the Federation had on the Borg, he felt like he was about to collapse. His salvation came in the form of the brash Grazerite Lieutenant who flew the ship. Having finally arrived at their destination, the Captain gathered himself together and stood up from his chair.
Is our arrival truly something to be happy about?, he wondered to himself. He was saved from boredom but he was about to be thrust into doom. He was about to stare death in the face and make a gallant attempt to stop it from descending down onto his world. A slight tug to straighten his uniform and then he was ready to step out onto the Bridge.
And into harm’s way.
“We’ve arrived in the Wolf system, sir and we’ve been given tactical orders from Admiral Hanson’s ship.”
“Very good, Commander,” the Captain said, making his way across the Bridge. “Put the fleet on the main viewscreen. Let’s see what we’ve got to work with.”
On command, the viewscreen switched images and it was flooded with ships. There was a wide assortment of varying sizes and power with almost no duplicates in class.
“Well, it looks like Command just scrambled to get any ship here that they could. Excelsior, Miranda, Ambassador, Nebula… They sure weren’t choosy about what they sent. Half of them are freighters and low-class tactical vessels! How do they expect us to take on a Borg vessel with this?”
“I’d imagine that most of these came from the Talar III shipyards, only a few sectors out,” Lieutenant Carlisle said from her station.
“Indeed,” came the Captain’s only reply. He could understand Starfleet’s haste to gather any available vessel to try and stop the oncoming Borg, but this was hardly the fleet that he had expected to see. It would have to do though because these vessels were Humanity’s only hope. “Commander T’Verin, display a tactical map of the area along with our strategic orders.”
On the main viewer, the image of the fleet disappeared. In its place was a tactical layout of the region. Amasov stepped forward to closely examine the details of the region and the fleet layout that Admiral Hanson had given them. The layout was a simple strategic one with the smaller vessels, the Gage, Firebrand, and Bonestell out in front and the larger more combat-worthy vessels, the Melbourne, Roosevelt, and Yamaguchi in the rear. The Endeavour was assigned near the fleet’s center alongside the Ahwahnee and the Kyushu.
“Not a very imaginative strategy, sir,” Downey pointed out as he stepped up alongside his Captain. “I mean, a flank wall with our weakest ships out front, followed by our bulk cruisers in the rear. And all of the ships are in groups of three.”
“Imaginative or not, it’s what we’ve got, Jim. Let’s just hope that this pack of wolves is enough.” Looking over the tactical strategy, he tried to memorize it in his head. In his mind, he was silently looking for any weak point, for any advantage that the Borg might exploit to crush the fleet. Sure, the plan had its flaws. Any plan did but it looked to him as if it was the best that they could pull off with what they had.
As the Endeavour took her position in the fleet formation, Joseph took his place in the command chair. Comfortable as it was, it couldn’t even ease his nerves. Instead, he decided to move to the chair’s edge as he studied the list of ships that were present. From what he gathered, there were roughly forty vessels spread out over their small battlefield. While some of them were little more than tug ships, there were a few of them that had earned notable distinctions over the past couple of years.
The Kyushu’s Captain had recently been decorated for outwitting two Romulan Warbirds in the Dalaneb Sector, and in effect, he had probably helped to prevent another war. Another ship that caught Amasov’s eye was the Yamaguchi. Being an Ambassador-class ship, the vessel was beginning to age. However, after performing a three-day supply run in nearly half the time and its unprecedented accurate mapping of the Raylos Belt, the old ship had once again been placed among the fleet’s finest. Then, of course, there was the powerful and noble Melbourne. One of the first Excelsior-class ships ever built, it had been running for nearly seventy years. Over that time, it participated in countless missions ranging from exploration to cargo transportation and even combat missions against the Klingons and during the Cardassian Border Wars before a treaty was established between both races. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but knowing that the Melbourne would be fighting alongside them brought him a touch of comfort.
“Captain, we’re receiving an incoming hail from Admiral Hanson,” Lieutenant Carlisle reported from her station.
“Patch it through, Lieutenant.”
“This is Admiral Hanson to the fleet. We’ve just received confirmation from our listening posts that the Borg vessel is currently on course to our location. Unfortunately, our posts were destroyed before they could determine the vessel’s speed, condition, or anything else aside from course trajectory. According to the Enterprise, very little damage was inflicted to it before heading off towards us. Due to their regeneration skills, we can assume that this damage will probably be completely repaired before its arrival. I know that this task seems to be a daunting one, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to stop them. Either way, may God be with us all. Hanson out.”
As the Admiral’s message ended, the tension on the Endeavour’s Bridge noticeably increased. Sitting back in his chair, Amasov wondered what was going through the minds of all of the other ship captains. Hell, he was curious as to what the other officers around him were thinking.
While the crew outwardly appeared to be calm and collected as they attended to their duties, Joseph knew that they were just as anxious and as worried as he was. Before a few days ago, there had only been one encounter with the Borg and it had technically ended in a stalemate. With a record like that facing them, it seemed only natural for them to feel as though their end was drawing even closer. Not knowing a way to reassure his crew any more than he had already done, he couldn’t do anything but sit and wait for the bear’s arrival. Then in a year-long moment, that waiting ended.
“Sir, the Borg ship is dropping out of warp at coordinates zero-five-six by seven-two-three,” Commander T’Verin said with an eerie calm in her voice.
“This is it. Our waiting has ended,” the Captain said, almost silently. “Arm all photon launchers and phaser banks, Commander. Fire everything that we’ve got at them, the moment that we’re in range.”
The Borg ship slowly approached the fleet. Like some ominous giant, it headed towards the small ants that were prepared to drive it back. It had almost gotten within weapons range before it stopped and sent its cold message to those who stood in its way.
“I am Locutus of Borg,” the voice said in an almost robotic tone. There was still enough Humanity in that voice though, for Amasov to recognize in horror, as to who owned that voice. “You will power down your weapons and let us proceed to Sector 001 where we will begin to incorporate your biological and technological distinctiveness into our own. You have ten seconds to comply.”
“Like hell,” Amasov blurted out.
“Sir, we’re getting an order from Admiral Hanson to engage,” Lieutenant Carlisle reported with a tone in her voice that seemed as if she had just told her life goodbye.
“Very well, Lieutenant. T’Verin, coordinate your attack with the Kyushu and the Ahwahnee. I want to do as much damage to that ship as we can.”
“Aye, sir,” was her only reply.
In the following moment, a fury that had never seen before by the Federation was unleashed upon the looming giant. Vessel after vessel threw everything that they had at it in a wild attempt to inflict damage upon it. Silently, the Borg ship sat there, almost mocking the insects that were attacking it. Not a Human soul could understand why the Borg waited and not one of them cared anyway. However, in their arrogant assurance of victory, the Borg waited until ten seconds were up before their retaliation came.
Their retaliation was just as fierce.
Their first attack was with their cutting beams and it was a devastating attack. As though there were no shields standing in the way of their weapons’ blasts, they tore a hole out of the Roosevelt’s saucer section. Followed quickly by a volley of photon torpedoes that struck the engineering section of a Miranda-class ship, the USS Minerva. A tractor beam lashed out and latched onto the Firebrand, tearing a piece of its outer hull plating clear off.
Amasov sat there in shock, watching the horrific battle slowly unfold before him on the viewscreen. Being about midway in the pack, the Endeavour had avoided the brunt of the Borg attack so far. While they had eluded being struck by the Borg’s weapons, he was far from happy about it. It was true that he sat in command of a pristine vessel but being back here and doing hardly anything but watching the battle unfold wasn’t satisfying at all. He wanted to get in there and make the Borg pay for every life that they took and to prevent them from taking any more.
And he was about to take his chance.
“T’Verin, what’s the status of the Kyushu and Ahwahnee?,” he finally asked.
“The Ahwahnee has lost propulsion and is dead in the water. The Kyushu has only sustained minor damage,” the Vulcan quickly replied.
“All right, I want you to send an encoded message to the Kyushu.” He paused for a moment and looked over at a small display screen located next to his chair. On it was a list of all of the ships in the fleet. “As well as the Bellerophon and the Saratoga. We’re going to punch a hole in that ship. Even if it takes all four ships to do it.” There was a fierce new confidence in his voice.
“Aye, sir. Where would you like me to target our fire?”
For a moment, Joseph had a dumbstruck look on his face. After all, should T’Verin, being an experienced Tactical Officer, know where to attack an enemy vessel? It was all quickly dismissed as a moment’s lapse in the heat of a battle. Something that many officers were sure to be experiencing at the moment.
“Focus all of our weapons on theirs and tell the other ships to do the same. I want them completely defenseless by the time that we come back for our second run.”
T’Verin quickly sent the orders to the other ships and prepared to launch everything that they had at the Borg vessel. In a bold fashion, the four vessels headed off towards their target in a diamond formation. The two Nebula-class vessels, Endeavour and Bellerophon took the top and bottom points of the formation, with the Kyushu to port and the Saratoga to starboard. Not a moment after they got within weapons range, the Federation vessels unloaded their full complement of their armaments at the lumbering threat. With the Borg focused on an assault from the Ambassador-class ships Yamaguchi and Spartan, they were almost completely outflanked as the ‘Diamond of Death’ began their assault run.
As the first of the four vessels’ weapons struck the Borg, they suddenly lost interest in their previous targets and quickly, they moved their attention upon the four incoming vessels. Their first wave of phaser fire struck the Saratoga which spiraled out of formation the moment that it was struck. With one of the ships no longer a threat, the Borg turned their fire onto the Kyushu.
A volley of torpedoes was launched in the Kyushu’s direction buwasly half of them hit their target. Several chunks of hull plating from the saucer of the New Orleans-class frigate flew off when the torpedoes collided with it. Unwavering, the Kyushu continued its assault. All three of its launchers continued to fire wave after wave of death at the Borg Cube in an attempt to affect damage, any damage, to it. The Borg quickly retaliated with a fierce energy blast that struck the wounded vessel’s port nacelle. Leaking plasma, the ship was forced to break formation and leave its two Nebula-class brethren behind to face the enemy alone. As they made their effort to leave harm’s way through, the Cube fired another wave of torpedoes, refusing to let them simply duck out of the fight. The new wave of enemy fire struck the Kyushu along her ventral side which sent the ship spiraling away in a ball of plasma and fire.
Watching as the Kyushu tumbled away, Amasov suddenly grew nervous of the situation. They hadn’t even finished their first attack run and already two of their four ships had been disabled. How were they supposed to stop such a foe? Invincible or not, he and his officers possessed something that the Borg surely didn’t. They were determined to win. While determination alone was far from a deciding factor in a battle, it could be useful too. Determination and the fact that if they failed, then the Human race would surely fail as well. It was bound to be enough to help them win this day. Even if the current situation looked grim.
Endeavour and Bellerophon tightened their two-ship formation and came at the Cube with a new resilience at losing the other vessels of their small squadron. At the almost same exact moment, both vessels fired every weapon that they had at their Borg fore. Closer and closer they came to their target and yet, it refused to return fire. It made no sense to Captain Amasov. If they had attacked the other two vessels so swiftly and precisely, then what would possess them to relent now? From what he could tell, they weren’t currently engaging any other vessels.
So why would they stop?
It didn’t matter though because both Federation starships refused to cease their brutal attack upon the Borg Cube. As they continued their run, the distance between them quickly shrank before it virtually disappeared altogether.
Seeing the cold and menacing Cube nearly fill up the entire viewscreen, Amasov finally decided to speak. “Helm, take us into a gradual barrel roll away from the Borg vessel and relay the same order to the Bellerophon as well.”
“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Kir-Noka responded as his fingers worked frantically to carry out the Captain’s orders.
Almost simultaneously, both ships slowed their approach and began to roll onto their sides. Being next to each other, they switched from firing their forward weapons to the one located in their aft stardrive sections. On their sides and being parallel to one of the corners of the Cube, they fired a full complement of photon torpedoes along with several phaser blasts to try and punch a hole, a dent, or at least, some noticeable damage into the mockingly pristine vessel. To Amasov’s and everyone else’s dismay, only negligible damage was inflicted.
Disappointed, the two Nebula-class ships started to veer off from their foe. One of them wouldn’t be able to get far though. The still giant that was the Borg Cube sprang to life once more in response to the attack unleashed by the two ships. With its tractor beam, it seized the Bellerophon and held it firmly in position while its cutting beam shot down at the helpless vessel’s saucer section, slicing it in two.
“Captain!,” one of the Endeavour’s Bridge officers shouted out as the scene unfolded before them on the viewscreen.
Joseph Amasov knew all too well that the Bellerophon wouldn’t last very long in its current situation. Even if it were crippled, they owed the crew of the brave vessel a moment more to evacuate.
“Helm, bring us about and prepare to –,” he began to order but he was suddenly cut off by T’Verin.
“Sir, I’m picking up a vessel on approach to aid the Bellerophon!,” the Vulcan officer shouted over an explosion.
Amasov and the rest of them had only a moment to wonder which gallant vessel would bring about their own destruction in order to save the ailing Bellerophon. Slowly, a bruised Miranda-class light cruiser came into view and opened fire at the spot where the Borg tractor beam had come from.
“The Saratoga!,” Endeavour’s Captain shouted out in both surprise and joy at the same time.
“We’re getting a hail from the Saratoga, sir.”
“Put it through, Carlisle.”
“This is Lieutenant Commander Sisko of the Saratoga to the Endeavour. We’re going to try and get the Borg’s attention off of the Bellerophon. Some help would be appreciated though.”
“This is Captain Amasov, Commander. We’ll help you. Just be sure not to get too much of their attention.” A slight smile creased across his face as his small joke tried its best to ease a few of his Bridge officers’ tension. The feeling was swiftly brushed aside as the order was given to support the Saratoga.
Not even a second after the smaller ship entered weapons range, the wounded ship fired a full complement of torpedoes at the Borg tractor emitter. Reacting to the abrupt attack, the burned and beaten hulk that had once been the Bellerophon was released as the Cube turned its attention to its latest attacker.
A tractor beam locked onto the Miranda-class ship in the same fashion as it had with its previous Nebula-class victim and proceeded to fire its energy beams along the lower hull of its captured prey. As the Saratoga returned fire, the Endeavour swooped in behind them with the Yamaguchi alongside her. Both ships let forth a fury of destruction, striking in the same area as the smaller vessel. Small explosions erupted from the Cube’s surface and noticeable damage finally formed but it wasn’t enough to make the Borg slightly concerned.
In retaliation for the onslaught, the Borg returned fire with its full arsenal of torpedoes and energy blasts. The first vessel to be hit by them was the Yamaguchi. Several blasts struck the lower areas of the saucer section and around its deflector array. The ship shuddered for a few moments before it was dead in the water.
The second ship to feel the Borg’s wrath was the Endeavour herself. A cutting beam all but destroyed the ship’s upper weapons pod and a few stray torpedoes punctured the starboard warp nacelle, causing it to spew warp plasma.
“Status report!,” Amasov shouted as a console exploded behind him.
“Phaser arrays are destroyed and only one of our three photon launchers is still in working order, sir,” T’Verin quickly reported.
“Sensors are down as well and our starboard nacelle is all but destroyed,” Carlisle said from behind her Ops console before it exploded. The explosion sent her flying to the deck.
“Carlisle!,” Amasov shouted, but he made no move to rush to her side. Whatever her condition was at the moment, she could soon be dead. They would all be dead if he didn’t think of something quickly. “Fire whatever we’ve got left at them, Commander!” It was the only thing that came to mind.
The battered Endeavour fired what little it had left at its Borg foe, but that foe gave them little interest now. Instead, it focused its cutting beam on the captured Saratoga, followed swiftly by a volley of torpedoes.
With the impact of the enemy weapons, the small ship shuddered and began to fly apart as piece after piece of her hull was blown away. A large hole punctured the saucer section before a torpedo destroyed the port nacelle strut. It was only a few moments later before escape pods could be seen jettisoning away from the burning hulk that had once been the noble Saratoga.
As the Saratoga’s crew abandoned her, Amasov grew frantic to find some way of defeating the bear that continued to smack the attacking wolves aside. His thoughts were interrupted by his First Officer.
“Captain, we’re receiving a message from Admiral Hanson,” Downey said, having transferred Carlisle’s console functions to his own. “He’s ordering us to withdraw and regroup at two-four-six by zero-nine-one.”
“Very well. Lieutenant Kir-Noka, set a course and give me the best speed to that position.” There was a note of hesitation and disappointment in his voice as he gave that order. Part of him wanted to stay and to fight until the bitter end. In his mind though, he knew that a tactical retreat was their best option if they were going to drive back the Borg threat.
As they began to limp away from the debris-littered battlefield, the Borg Cube suddenly took notice of them once more. In a final act to destroy the defiant Endeavour, a volley of close to a dozen torpedoes was launched at them, moments before they exited the combat zone. All over the wounded starship, the torpedoes hit, sending it hurtling ahead in the brilliance of a thousand small fires.
The force of the impact threw Amasov from his chair and flew across the smashed Bridge. As he landed, he struck his head on a fragment of the bulkhead that had collapsed. Blood trickled down from a newly formed gash above his left eye before he lost consciousness.
Some time passed by him and he wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been. He awoke with Commander Downey hovering over him.
“What’s our status?,” he asked him, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head.
“Every system has sustained moderate to heavy damage, sir, but she’s salvageable,” Downey said with a grim look on his face that he was trying to hide.
“Why so grim, Jim?,” Amasov asked, noting his First Officer’s facial expression as he tried to stand up.
The Commander quickly stepped forward and helped his Captain to regain his composure before he quietly said,” We’re the only ship that made it, sir.”
The End…
