by Alan Tripp

2408

As an Okinawa II-class, the U.S.S. Sam Houston was a small ship. 

That was both a blessing and a curse. 

On the one hand, it meant the enemy has less ship to conquer before a potential boarding operation could be considered a success. … Or in the case of the Borg, the ship and crew completely assimilated and under Collective control. 

On the other hand, it also meant the Starfleet crew had less ship spaces to defend, meaning it could potentially become easier to repel and defeat any boarders. 

In this case, it was the latter with Ahlayna and her team stripping the heads off their Borg invaders and / or beaming them into space. 

The Houston’s captain kicked a wayward Borg head out of the command well as she approached a forcefield that contained yet another drone who seemed to keep lashing out at that which held it. 

Something unique about this drone was it was a member of her crew … her first officer to be precise. 

Ahlayna locked eyes with Lt. Cmdr. Aruju. 

However, the assimilated Bajoran seemed to look straight through her captain. 

“Beam her to the cargo hold with the others and make sure that area remains shielded from any Borg transmissions … and finger on the button to eject them into space should the need arise,” the captain ordered. 

Ahylana hoped they could find a way to save her crew members assimilated, but that hope could NOT reach beyond the need to protect the ship and rest of the crew. 

She knew it was possible to “de-assimilate” some, but it was never easy. 

And as long as those officers remained under the control of the Borg, they remained a threat. 

As soon as that threat edged toward uncontrollable, saving the assimilated would no longer be an option. 

The Scottish-Romulan dropped into her command chair even as Aruju disappeared from the bridge. 

“Helm, bring us about on course three-nine-four. Put us in line with the rest of the fleet.” 

It was time to push the bastards back to depths of the hell that had so recently spit them out. 

— 13 hours later —

The Borg Queen saw through the eyes of her drones left behind. 

She felt the addition of each new drone as it joined the collective and welcomed their voice into that of the one. 

And when the ships of Starfleet and the empires began to rally and work as one, she one-by-one withdrew her forces … even going so far as to have drones from shattered cubes, spheres, etc., to be beamed aboard those ships still operational. 

Sometimes it was necessary to sacrifice the few for the betterment of the collective. 

Yet today, the few were needed to help rebuild her collective … and time was not on their side. 

The Borg Collective must be reborn and it would need strength to see it through. 

–

“HOLD ON!” Ka’nej Hauk bellowed. 

On screen, the view corkscrewed as the ship rolled like a drill to force it’s way through the narrow gap within the wreckage of the last of the tactical cubes remaining on the field of battle. 

As they cleared, so did the view to show Borg ships warping out. 

“Cheers erupted all around as the sight pushed one simple fact to the surface … They had survived what would become known as “the passage through hell” and “the day the lost fleets returned.” 

But Hauk knew the battle might now be over, but tending to their wounded and those in distress was only beginning. 

And for that, they would need help.  

“Open a channel to Starfleet Command.” 

Ka’nej Hauk 

Respectfully, 

–Alan Tripp

Aka. “Ka’nej Hauk”  

–— OUT OF STORY —

Thus ends the Darkstar series which brings the various elements of Darkstar Command into the STO timeline.

Next story will be a postscript epilogue between this post and the next set.