<<Since the next plot is going to feature hallucinations, I thought I’d write a Borg story. I’ve been waiting for one of my sims to do the Borg as a plot as long as I’ve been in the organization, but never had one. (for obvious reasons. For one, the IC implications require a Subfleet or Division level plot to possibly succeed in repelling them) That is, of course, except for the Academy sim that featured the Borg, but that was, as Frasier said in his resignation email, “canonically ridiculous” because it featured individuals resisting the collective of their own free will all of the sudden. It is clear that the Borg are the ultimate villain that Star Trek ever devised and they’ve been an object of my intellectual fascination. All other enemies have weaknesses and vices and some, like the Romulans, would make for friends for the Federation someday. The idea of a Borg collective, much like an insect hive, is intriguing and has various parallels to modern dystopias, like 1984 or the Giver.>> =/\= 3 years earlier, USS Howe =/\= Ensign Nathan Acheson sat at a rear Security station on the bridge of the Howe. Being fresh from the Academy, his lone pip gave a refreshing glisten to a bridge filled with experienced, line officers whose uniforms and faces bore the brunt of years of selfless service to Starfleet. The Captain, after being briefed by Admiral Nokolai, briefed the bridge crew. “Listen up. Starfleet intelligence detected unknown signals from a sector near here. They had a Borg subspace frequency to them. We’ve been ordered to investigate and report back if we sight any Borg vessels. Helm, set a course here. Engage at warp 9.” The Captain handed the helmsman a PADD with coordinates and soon the ship lurched at warp. Acheson nodded to the Captain and sighed. The Borg were the most lethal enemy the Federation would ever face. They were a collective mind, devoid of individual pursuits and dissention. The will of the majority was total and the individual drone had no ability to question his orders. The Borg were not only restrictive, but militaristically imperialistic. Twice they’d attempted to assimilate Earth by launching cube offensives against Sector 001. Every Starfleet cadet had learned about the loss at the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Borg attempt to circumvent Zefram Cochrane’s warp flight. Worse of all was the simple reality that the Borg themselves decided if you lived or died. If they could have you, they would assimilate you into their collective. Such a fate was perhaps worse than death, because while you remained alive physically, the Borg collective robbed you of all traits that made you an individual. Under the Borg slavery, the body was subservient to the collective and the t asks it performed were for the betterment of the entire collective. The Borg had no rank, no order, no hierarchy. The entire collective obeyed the Queen and the Queen’s will was derived from the desire to expand the Borg collective. Realizing he was daydreaming, he returned to his security station. The Chief of Security, Lieutenant Commander Marsh, allowed Acheson to hold the bridge station while she stayed in her office and did the necessary security tasks. She didn’t like being on the bridge and felt that she could be better summoned from her office if anything required her attention. =/\= 12 hours later =/\= The tactical officer called out, his voice shaking in a mixture of fear and adrenaline. “Sir, I’m detecting a Borg reconassiance sphere approximately 1 light year from our position.” The Captain nodded. “Set a course to intercept. Red Alert. Ready phasers and photon torpedos. Inform Starfleet command.” The room immediately became dark and the red lights flashed as a familiar sound of a Federation klaxon called out to all those who were in earshot. “Onscreen” The Borg sphere appeared on the viewscreen. It was a black shape, with no discernable characteristics. The geometry, however, was perfect. The sphere was entirely circular, with no eccentricity. “Sir, the sphere is moving to engage. They are hailing.” “Onscreen.” The eerie words were spoken by the group of the unknown Borg. The voices numbered thousands, but in saying the exact same lines they spoke with but one voice and were crystal clear as to their intentions. “We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ship. We will add your technological and biological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.” “This is the USS Howe. You are in Federation space. We demand you leave immediately.” “Federation Starship designations are irrelevant. Federation political territory is irrelevant. Demands are irrelevant. You will join the collective.” The sphere fired, sending a green beam into the shields. “Captain, shields holding at 90%.” “Fire at will!” The Howe fired, sending phasers and torpedos as streaks of ambient red light from its weapons arrays. The two ships continued firing, but the Howe had the advantage. The Borg fired a new weapon at the Howe shields, causing a shield hole to appear above the saucer section on this Nebula class ship. “Sir, they’ve found a way to disable a shield grid.” 2 green forms beamed onto the bridge and rematerialized, next to Tactical and next to the helm. The black figures, with pale white skin and synthetic black armor were unmistakable. The Borg drones headed menacingly toward the consoles. Their arms were extended and they prepared to use their nanotubules to access the ship systems. Acheson typed a single command into his station. “Code Red Security Alert,” meaning that the bridge had been boarded. The entire bridge crew that was armed drew their weapons. Acheson felt a surge of adrenaline and he began to shake as he drew his phaser and set it to kill. He aimed his phaser and fired, striking a Borg drone who fell to the deck. The CO fired his phaser and killed the other drone. Operations called out. “I’m showing Borg drones on Decks 4, 10 and 15. We are showing personnel losses on those decks. … I think the Borg are assimilating crewmembers.” The tactical officer fired a last volley, which struck the Borg sphere and caused it to explode in a brilliant flash of green fluorine gas. <<The First Contact writers don’t know chem. ::growls::>> The Captain rushed to the helsman. “Set a course to Starbase 22, maximum warp. Engage. Let’s get the hell out of here.” He turned to the XO: “Inform Starfleet command of the situation.” +TAPS+ Bridge to Commander Marsh, we have Borg infiltration on Decks 4, 10, and 15. They are trying to establish a collective on this ship. You need to form teams to repulse the Borg before they can establish a foothold.” She responded. “Aye, sir. Get Acheson down here. I’m calling all security to my office to make a bulk force.” The Operations officer called out. “I’ve set rotating modulation forcefields to protect computer control, main Engineering, Sickbay, and the weapons control room. Power restrictions prevent me from doing this to others. The Borg may adapt to the rotation algorthium, though, so this won’t work for long. I’m going to isolate the main computer, incase they try to control it like they did in the past.” The Captain turned to Acheson. “You heard him. Get down there.” Acheson nodded, as he holstered his phaser. He walked to the turbolift. “Security Office” =/\= END LOG =/\= 1Lt Acheson CTAC USS Chimera -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm