Wishseeker Episode 3: Chasing Shadows.
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Episode 3: Chasing Shadows.
"We are the Borg... Resistance is futile".
The Free World Starship 'Wish-Seeker' glided effortlessly through the black river of space. It had been several weeks now since they had left the Free World System and headed out into the unexplored expanse of space. Free World had sent out countless probes to the nearby systems but they would be the first vessel to see it for themselves.
On the circular bridge various officers and crew members moved from science station to console as they plotted there journey and recorded unusual findings. But one man was almost as calm as the black void outside. The captain, Kim Temp'elar.
"Status report Ensign" he stated to the young Fizzy Lovejoy who sat at a console station in front of him. Following a few beeps from the buttons her fingers danced over she replied "all systems functioning as expected Captain, we should reach the anomaly in around twenty minutes".
The Anomaly. They hadn't known what else to call it. Following there departure from the system they had soon picked up strange readings including matter that had a different 'code' than that found in our universe. Similar but not identical. Slight time distortions surrounded it and even visibly the space seemed to warp.
"Thank you Ensign, I'll be in the engine room. Alert me when we arrive. You have the bridge".
The Engine flickered with brilliant blue light, processing the massive amounts of energy required to power the Wish-Seeker. Kneeling down to the side of it, tinkering with the interface was the lieutenant in charge of the engine and its systems, Lt. Tori. She brushed her dark hair back behind her ear as she tried stubbornly to improve the reaction time, despite it already functioning at
Episode 3: Alls fair in love and war.
Captain Kim Temp'elar of the Free World Starship Wishseeker sat at his desk reading the message. It was the fourth time he had read it and yet he felt that it just hasn't sunk in. Finally the door to his quarters beeped. "Come in".
Entering the room, his sister and second in command Sarina Lee was accompanied by Ensign Fizzy Lovejoy and chief of security Alexandra. His senior staff had been called the moment the message had come through and by now he hoped to have more answers to give the questions that would inevitably follow.
"Free World is at War. Dark Moon Base has declared itself an independent Nation having been captured by a threat known to the council calling himself Darth Rapter". The three looked around in shock, mostly he guessed, because it seemed like a comically unbalanced war with Free World easily able to wipe out the threat.
"We have also been given more grave news that a secret ship known as the Nightmare Child was taken and used in aiding them, one able to do things the rest of the fleet cannot do and that is a threat to the whole planet".
Finally the more impulsive of the three, Fizzy, spoke up.
"Captain, many of the other ships are not fully functional yet. At least not the larger ships. That's why we are the only ship out here! Are we returning to aid in the attack?"
The others nodded, readying themselves to plot a course. But the Captain shook his head. This was the part that had shocked him also.
"No. I'm not sure of the details as the council are not willing to send to much information across sub space in case it's intercepted. However our mission is to do something that will apparently aid the council in a way I don't fully understand".
He handed his sister a data pad. "These co-ordinates will take us to a micro worm hole that has several weak points in its structure. We are going to use this to split the barriers between realities and contact a species called...The Borg".
The three looked perplexed. Finally he continued.
"In our universe the Borg were destroyed around forty years ago according to the data I'm given, apparently however they had advanced and deadly tech and someone used it in creating the Nightmare child. Our Grandfather, Seven, made contact with a version of the Borg in one universe many years ago and became allies so he hopes their Queen will come through to help us".
Sarina Lee looked uneasy but quickly nodded "yes captain, let's go".
The Wishseeker tore through space like an arrow through the midnight air. Finally reaching its destination, it stopped. The crew went about final checks on the array that would open up the inter-dimensional hole in space until finally satisfied Sarina Lee nodded "it's ready captain".
With a nod the captain gave the order, and a blue and purple beam flew from the ship. The blackness ahead started to tremble like the surface of a lake under a strong breeze. Suddenly the stream began to stutter and split! The ship rocked and with fizzing explosions around the bridge, it stopped.
"What happened? Ensign report!"
Fuzzy looked at her screen frantically. " Captain the stream fractured... It worked it opened a passage to that dimension and the signal sent but... It sent the same signal to another dimension too and..."
The signal had fractured and had caused two rifts, calling to the borg. One to a dimension which Seven had made allies with the species. Another where he had not.
Captain Philip stood up. He knew the risk they were now under as a massive cube shaped ship came through. The communications fuzzed and the message erupted.
"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and prepare to be bordered. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile!"
"Raise shields, NOW!" He called out before turning to the weapons station. Even before they could fire the Borg ship fired heavy weapons at them, the shields dropping instantly.
"Fire everything we have, and avoid the tractor beam!"
The smaller ship flew around the massive cube with explosions rocking the bridge every time a shot his them.
" Captain" cried Fizzy "Another cube is coming from the second dimension!"
"Send one message to both ships" he said, frantically trying to keep the shields up "Seven says he will teach you about art".
She looked confused, but nodded and sent the message.
The transmission was distorted with static interference but the Borg Queen coming through on the second cube could understand enough of it to trigger a reaction in her. Without needing to speak a single word, her cube immediately stopped its barrage of missiles upon the intruding vessel.
Onboard the wishseeker the shields began to fail. Whilst the Borg Queen had stopped her attack, the other borg ship from the a different dimension continued to attack. "Prepare to man escape pods" called out Kim, ready to go down with the ship when suddenly a massive explosion filled the screen. The attacking Borg cube exploded leaving only the one remaining. "Sir, it seems the second cube just saved us" Fizzy said with a degree of confusion.
The echoes of the blasts stretched out onto the expanding silence of space. The Borg Queen’s face showed an unusual emotion of uncertainty; lips pursed tight and the crease of indecision in her forehead skin. Even the borg drones now paused in their activities with heads simultaneously turning to look at her, wondering in their conscious thoughts the abrupt absence of hers. One of the higher ranking officers dared to break that insufferable silence, “What is wrong?” he queried almost argumentally, “They have invaded our sector. They should be destroyed and assimilated just as the false Borg were".
The Borg Queen slowly turned her face to stare at the outspoken drone. His questioning her command was uncommon behavior for the collective hive, and very dangerous. She let out a slow breath to calm the rising heat of a temper building inside.
“I, myself, alone will tend to this matter”, she retorted dismissively, “Your prioritized orders is to continue to the home planet of Species 8472 as was planned. Do not alter your prime directive by this minor ‘distraction’. Continue your course to Undine.”
When a member of Species 8472 attacks a victim with its claws, some of its residue of cells is left in the wound. These stray cells multiply, spreading through the victim's entire body, consuming it from the inside out while the victim remains conscious and unaware of the damage being done. Since the attacking cells employ the same advanced immune response as when inside the creature, it also makes them entirely immune to Borg assimilation. Species 8472 had become a prominent threat to the Borg and needed to be hunted down and eliminated from the equation.
As the officer stood mute, staring at her with his jaw clenched shut to not further disobey orders; his cheeks blushed red with shame of humiliation. This uncontrolled show of emotion was not lost upon the Borg Queen’s observing eyes. She pressed a few keystrokes in the computer console to schedule him a mind purge and ensure that his nanoprobes were functioning properly. Occasionally a drone remembers its past life when there is failure in the nanoprobes functional ability.
"Now without further interference" the Borg Queen barked sharply a command to the others aboard her Cube vessel, “Prepare us for ‘guests’. Let them board us without further aggression. They have something of great value that I require.”
