=/\= USS Howe, 3 years earlier =/\= Acheson entered the Security office, only to be waved into an adjacent armory. Commander Marsh was distributing arms. “These are type IV phaser rifles. The Borg will adapt, so I’ve set them to a rotational modulation. The rifle is sturdy and can be used for hand to hand combat as needed.” She tossed Redding a rifle, who quickly gripped it and held it with both hands. Holding the rifle, in the company of other armed men and women, gave him a certain confidence … a certain feeling of invincibility. The Borg were going to be in a lot of trouble. She reached deeper into the armory and began producing other, nonconventional weapons. “When the Borg adapt, start using these!” She handed Acheson a projectile rifle. He caught the bulky weapon, but wasn't prepared for its mass and had to recover himself before tipping over. “What’s this?” ”Ensign, don’t you read your history. It’s an assault rifle from the 3rd world war. It fires a large caliber bullet through chemical decomposition of an phenonitrile. It was very accurate and fires around 10 rounds a second when the trigger is decompressed.” She turned away from him and continued handing out weapons. Ferengi disruptors, Romulan disruptors, plasma grenades. She’d acquired a lot of trophies in her 10 years of service on the Howe and she didn’t want to be assimilated. “Our goal is to send a power surge into the EPS conduits on decks 4 and 10. When that happens, the surge will destroy the borg collective by overloading the alcoves. This is a theory from Starfleet intelligence, but it’s the best we have to go on. The idea is that the energy will be transferred to the Borg drones and it will be too much for the drones to handle. Don’t ask me to explain it, I’m a security officer, not a weapons scientist. If it fails, we’ll try something else. It’ll leave a hell of a mess, but that’s Engineering’s job to clean up.” Her quip produced a nervous chuckle from the security members. “Let’s move out! Acheson, take your group to Deck 10. I’ll take Deck 4.” He nodded and waved his team forward. “To the turbolift!” Acheson walked to the turbolift and waited for the team to get in. “Deck 10” As the turbolift went to its destination, Acheson could hear the breathing of the people in the turbolift. A quick look around revealed a 3 Crewmen, 5 Petty Officers, and an Ensign from the Academy. This Ensign had slightly less experience than Acheson and her major had not been Ship Security Science. Rather, she had studied counterterrorism operations. He looked to the security members. “Let’s all agree. Better dead than Borg. If any of us get assimilated, we should be shot before we end up a drone.” They put their arms together into an improvised circle and made the covenant. The doors opened, revealing a Starfleet-style corridor, with the red alert lights flashing. Acheson marched on, holding his tricorder. “The conduit is just 10 meters away. We place this explosive and every Borg in this section and on 15 will be killed.” As they headed onward, the Starfleet corridors changed to Borg alcoves. The team stopped. Acheson called back. “Keep your weapons down. The conduit is right over there. We’ll form a circle, plant the explosives, and run. Ok?” They arrived at the point and Acheson pulled an explosive device from his pocket and began to configure it. A Borg drone, regenerating in its alcove, suddenly jumped out and walked toward Acheson deliberately. The Ensign fired, dropping the Borg in a single shot with her rifle. “They’re onto us. Protect Acheson!” Out of necessity, the team formed a semicircle around Acheson, to allow him to complete setting the explosives. The phaser fire made him nervous and his work slowed, due to the racing thoughts in his mind. The Borg became alerted to the threat as the phaser was fired. Borg drones starting converging on the Starfleet team. The team fired back, and the phaser shots remained effective. “Just a few more minutes!” Inevitably, the Borg did adapt. The Ensign fired her rifle and the shot was absorbed by a shield. “They’ve adapted!” Acheson watched in horror as a human crewmember tried to slam his rifle into the Borg drone. Surprisingly, the drone slumped forward, and the crewmember was able to slam his rifle across the drone’s head, severing the critical tubes that maintained the life support, causing the drone to collapse to the ground with sparks bursting from its inorganic components. “Got it!” Acheson turned around and produced the WWIII assault rifle. He aimed at the Borg drones heading deeper into the corridor and fired. The rifle was lethal and accurate, but control was not second nature. Acheson’s first shot found a Borg but the rest struck the ceiling, as the kickback on the gun forced his hands up. However, he was able to retain some control after practice and began shooting at the drones. “Let’s get out of here.” The team moved rapidly, heading back away from the Alcoves as more Borg drones tried to pursue them. As they approached a junction, more Borg came from the right and they hurried forward, to prevent being flanked. “10 seconds to detonation!” Acheson called out. They reached the turbolift and opened it. After rushing inside, they felt a sudden shake as the ship rocked. The turbolift lost main power, but the safety protocols held it in place. +TAPS+ Bridge to Deck 10, what’s going on? +TAPS+ This is security. We’ve neutralized the Borg drones on decks 10 and 15. Can you confirm? +TAPS+ The Borg are all dead. Neutralization confirmed. Borg drones still present on Deck 4. They were not affected by the overload. The crew got out of the turbolift to see a pile of dead Borg. The power surge must have infiltrated the collective when it traveled through the alcoves, destroying the few Borg that had been on the ship. Such a method would not work with a large population and the team was lucky for it to even work in this case. Suddenly, a call came out. +TAPS+ Marsh to Security Team Beta. I’m surrounded by Borg. I’m on Deck 4, section Beta. They’ve adapted to our weapons and I’ve set forcefields to protect our perimeter. We need reinforcements now!” The communication was abrupted with Static. Acheson rushed to the Jeffries tubes to climb to deck 4. =/\= END LOG =/\= 1Lt Acheson CTAC USS Chimera -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm