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[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[Conference Room]

Alex finally spoke up, seeing as he was the only one who didn't know. "First off, who the hell are these 'Borg' anyways?" He asked aloud, mortified and a bit insulted at the comment on the tech. "Now you listen here... the Federation does not have antiquated tech, I don't care who you are don't insult my ships!" He said, already defending the ship he hadn't laid eyes on. He felt very out of the loop but he didn't care... it was time for him to figure out what was going on.

Ian smiled at the enlisted man's pride and went over to talk to him.

"When ya from Lad? Antiquated is a relative term when ya are talkin' temporal mechanics."

[Bridge]

Ian was already in the turbolift when he heard the captain's announcement and stepped onto the bridge moments later. He walked confidently to the helm and relieved the Gamma shift flight ops officer and say down. He went back over the panel one last time to make sure everything was ready and waited for orders.

"I've been doin' flight ops simms of an Excelsior in the holodeck ever since we came aboard and now it's the real thing. Fifty bricks of gold pressed latinum question is will the sensor dish plan work? I brought it up ta the captain and he's bettin' our lives on it. If it fails, it will be on me ta a large part and that's goin' ta be a tough pill ta swallow because we don't have another plan that I'm aware of to bail us out. This is always the tough part, bein' shot at is nae so bad is knowin' yer goin' ta get shot at and havin' ta wait for the bugger ta do so is what's bad."

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[Conference Room]

"You guys are from before me. 2400 myself. It's good to see you two have been doing well. Can't say I am the same though. By 2400 I am a retired Starfleet Captain, well I was a retired Starfleet Captain until Agent Ferguson decided to get me drafted for this run. Guess my time in the field is of some use to him. Three years in deep space will get you that reputation."
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"If I'm honest Lizzie, I really thought you would be CO by now. Then again, Starfleet doesn't have as many Medical Vessels as it once did so I guess it's hard for a Doctor to get to the center seat."

Ian frowned as Waring spoke and replied as soon as the other man paused.

"It seems a waste of talent fer a skilled officer as yerself ta be retired so soon after takin' center seat. When I get there, Starfleet is goin' ta have either stun me or beam me out of command once I get there."

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

"Agreed" EQ replied.  He took a look around the room.  "This is a pretty impressive group" he remarked.

"Aye, that it is. Several Captains and a couple admirals. Not sure how that's goin' ta work. Too many cooks spoil the haggis as it were. I just drive, so who's givin' the orders does nae matter all that much so long as they know what they're about."

Ian replied as he looked around the room.

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

EQ was quiet for a moment.  "Very well.  I will do it if necessary" he said.

"Thank you Master Chief, never hurts ta have a back up plan, but the real plan is ta bugger these Borg gits with a splintered rake and make 'em like it."

Ian replied much louder and with a broad smile.

[Bridge]

[Bridge]

"Understood. Just give the word and it'll be done before you say 'go'" he said only so the Captain could hear him.

"They really know how to roll out a welcome mat" he said in a flat tone as the ship dropped from warp and saw the middle of the fight between 621 and the Tzenkethi combatants. Will saw the console explode and jumped up to assist the helmsman although by the time he had risen she had begun to address the Captain. "Permission granted, have Dr. Vaughan take a look at those injuries." He wasn't the Captain but he figured she wouldn't object to letting the helmsman go get treated.

"Ensign Galloway" he said without turned "Relieve Ensign Jaeger at Flight Control."

Ian had his back to the helm and did not see the panel explode, but it was impossible to not hear it or Ensign Jaeger's scream of pain. He'd turned toward the helm and by the time the First Officer spoke, he was already in motion and unconsciously swearing in Gaelic as he saw Jaeger's wounds.

"Deoghail am fallus bhÁƒÂ rr duine mharbh siadha tiiadham!"

Seeing that Commander Waring had Jaeger, Ian manned the damaged helm and threw the Tempest into a sideways skid that swung the ship through 90 degrees to keep the attacking Tzenkethi in the forward arc so that tactical could return fire.

"Damn me fer bein' a numpty! I never wanted fer harm ta come ta the Lass!

Was the nicest thing Ian could say about himself as he worked with the damaged controls and an overwhelming sense of guilt that was so powerful it threatened to consume him.

"Focus ya git, flagellate yerself later!"

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

"Thanks again, Ian.  Sounds like they taught you well at the Academy" EQ replied with a smirk.  "What's that" he asked, but leaned in forward to hear what favor the man would ask.

"If that's what you want, I will do it.  But I survived it.  Maybe not completely, but I did.  So I need you to be absolutely sure that is what you want before I will agree to it" EQ replied in hushed tones.

Ian's expression became even harder as he replied.

"Master Chief, if what I'm talkin' about comes ta pass, either I've already been taken or they've taken the ship and I'll not be a Drone, so aye, it will be what I want."

As he finished his statement he looked at the crew.

He looked at the person that spoke those words and said "I'll take it as a yes....and you are?"

He listed to Ian's statement and thought "I like the idea...the problem is that the Enterprise is going to use it.  We need to be careful not only of succeeding the mission but keeping the timeline intact, it's more complicated than a simple destruction of the Cube...Thank you for the suggestion, Lieutenant"

Ian's expression brightened as he spoke to the captain.

"Aye sir Enterprise-D will, it's their idea after all, but this is one time temporal mechanics are on our side. Thing is, when they try it, we already know they will fail. At the time, it was reasoned that it did nae work because of Picard warnin' them when he was assimilated. However, we'll do it first before that happens when it will work. So when they follow history and fail, it won't matter if it was because of us doin' it first or because of Picard, either way, it will work for us, and maintain the timeline."

[Bridge]

[Bridge]

This had become all to routine to the young Captain. She had become almost complacent in the routines prior to a military engagement. It wasn't long before that she was uncomfortable in these situations - a scientists - caught in a foreign world. However, the events of her life have compelled a different path and the development of a new set of skills. She couldn't help but long for an exploding star, a spatial anomaly - anything that could rescue her. But that was not the hand she was dealt. They were catapulting at warp 8.2, head on, into the fight. She found herself wondering when it would be worth it. 31. She thought. Thirty-one was the number of crewman and officers lost since she had taken command of the Tempest. Those faces were burned into her memory. She shook the train of thought and re-focused her attention on the critical challenges that stood ahead.

"Fifteen." Julia said quietly. Shifting her weight onto her left elbow she leaned in closer to Will. "Be ready. You might have to go get this prisoner quickly. With little warning or time to prepare. Who knows what we're heading into." She added shifting her weight back to the center of her seat.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Julia turned to address the tactical officer. "James, as soon as we leave warp... I want you to target and fire on any targets of opportunity." She advised the officer.

She looked to auxiliary communications. "Ensign Galloway, send a message to 621. Let them know we are dropping out of warp momentarily."

"Aye Sir. Message sent, station acknowledges with an additional response of 'Good timing' Sir."

Ian replied carefully, making certain that his Standard was as flawless as possible in his rather odd and unexpected role of communications officer.

"With me handlin' comms, it frees up Tactical and Ops ta fight the ship."

Ian thought as he attempted to find the silver lining of what he viewed as an especially dark cloud.

"...And Ensign Jaeger. Take us out of warp right on top of them. I don't want them to have a ton of lead time to react." She ordered.

[Bridge]

Keeping her hand on the accelerator,  Ardyn increased the warp engines until they were at a steady 8.2

" Yes, ma'am. Captain, at our current speed, we should  likely reach them within about two minutes. "
She checked the coordinates once again. The were right where they were supposed to be. "Alright guys, hang on tight, we're dropping out of Warp in 3...2...1... Now."
She shifted the controller out of warp drive with a determined grin on her face. It was showtime.

As Ian listened to the exchange between the captain and whoever this woman at the helm, he seethed internally.

"THAT SHOULD BE ME!"

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

James accepted the extentended hand and responded with a smile "Thank's for the reminder that I was the second choice for the mission...and also thank you for not punching me in the nose.  It has been a while Ian, I can see you are all grown up...we are lucky to have you".  As James finished he gave him a gentle pat in the back.

Voyage of the dammed, I need to do something to correct that attitude...they NEED to believe that we can do this against all odds James thout to himself.

He approached the table and remained standing.  He placed both of his hands on the table and began thinking what to say.  He knew the majority of the individuals here but it was ackward not having his crew and his vesell.  He stood for a couple of seconds and waited for the attention to go to him.

He cleared his throat for a second and began talking
"Ahem, this is a unique situation, some of us are old friends... other strangers, we have been gathered around time and space for a singular purpose, to stop the borg and save the Federation.  We are a team like no other, we have come from different times, different places, different perspective.  I want you to take a second and look at the people in the room, around you.  Each one of you was selected for this mission for a reason, each one of you were brave to answer the call, each one of you should understand that this is a high risk mission, but never in the history of the Federation a crew has been selected this way.  We are not just a crew, we are a team.  I know that you will not let each other down!  At the contrary, I am confident that you will make yourself proud and when this is all said and done this story might sound like a fairy tale...but in your hearts you know the truth of what happened! We will take our ship the Valour and we will show the Borgs...that they messed with the wrong people, in the wrong time!  We will kick their ass so hard that it will echo in the timeline all the way in the 31st Century!  Now, who is with me?"   James finished the small speech and hope that it boosted morale somewhat.

Ian nodded as Captain Hawke spoke.

"The Kirk thing is a family debt, but does nae matter. The wanker is nae here and I wouldn't be here if'n I thought our task was hopeless. One thought occurred ta me Sir, when Ferguson mentioned that we could nae bring modern tech back with us. As I recall, the Enterprise had found that high frequency phaser fire caused a drop in the Borg cube's power output. They tried ta use the main deflector ta emit the same frequency on a larger scale, but by the time it was ready, Picard had been assimilated and that gave the Borg the means ta adapt. If we roll in with that same modification ready and hit this cube before Picard gets taken, we should be able ta play holy hob with this cube."

Tag to EQ

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[Enterprise-J] Conference Room]

EQ smiled even wider.  "You would be right if I still had my neural transceiver.  But I had that removed long ago.  Apparently resistance isn't futile" the liberated Borg replied.

Ian laughed as he replied.

"Well said mate. Good ta have ya aboard then. One thing they impressed on us cadets at the academy was the value of a good NCO and looks like we're crackin' in that department."

Ian then lowered his voice so that only Kimball could hear him.

"I'm goin' ta ask a favor of ya Lad, and it's a big one."

Ian paused as he clearly struggled with how to say what he had to say before hs words came out in a rush.

"If'n it should turn out that this mission goes bad, or if just something happen ta me in particular. If either of those things happen and I'm not able ta do this on my own. I want ya ta make sure there is nothing for the Borg ta assimilate. I would trust I'm makin' that clear Mister Kimball?"

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[Conference Room - 26th Century]

Will returned the gesture to Lizzie before speaking. "It's been too long Lizzie" he spoke as if the two officers had seen each other in years "For me anyway." He gave a dismissive wave "The officers these days make me look like a first year cadet. My Ops Chief on the Daedalus, the Sovereign Class I captained for the past three years, speaks of comcepts that were hypothetical when I held the post. Could speak the leg off a table that one, reminds me of Ruth, she does..." he trailed off but quickly recovered by clearing his throat "Sorry, still difficult sometimes."
"Ian Galloway, well call me a monkey's uncle! How have you been? You just be at least Lieutenant Commander by now! Wait..."

He turned and spoke to Lizzie and Ian "What years are you from?"

Ian ached an eyebrow in confusion for a moment before he replied softy.

"Tis 2399 fer me Sir. Only five years since ya promoted me aboard the Tempest. I'd not thought about hoppy McGee's ability ta choose folk from anywhen. I thought he was havin' a go about about Kirk, but he said Jonathan Archer was here when he brought me aboard, so it'd be child's play fer him to have crew from all over the full spectrum of time. Hell, he could have Robert the Bruce here if'n he wanted."

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

[U.S.S. Enterprise Á¢â,¬"œ J 26th Century-Conference Room]

"You're correct, laddie," Leo replied with the same accent. "A'm gled tae meet a fellow Scot. Seems we're gonna be working together. "

He figured Ferguson was off to recruit more folks. He turned to the others that had joined.

"A few of you I recall from our time in the Athena, but the rest of you, I'll be glad to get to know you."

Ian shook Leo's hand firmly, while smiling and stage whispering conspiratorily.

"I'm figurin' that the only reason we're goin ta survive this here temporal conundrum is havin' Scots aboard. Shame we don't have one in the engine room, but beggars can nae be choosers."

[Enterprise-J] Conference Room]

[Enterprise-J Conference Room]

"Flit?  Oh I got it.  Good one" EQ replied with a smile.  He did not extend his hand as he did not expect it to be accepted.  "I'm Edward Quintino Kimball.  I go by EQ" he added.

"Well EQ it is then. I don't know anything about how the Collective works, but won't ya be at risk ta be re-assimilated? I mean we really need yer skills, but last thing we need where we're goin' is another Borg Drone."

[Bridge]

"Nice of you to join us Lieutenant." Julia flashed a slight smile in James' direction. The smile quickly faded as the reality came to the forefront. "We're about to engage the Tzenkethi at 621. Take your station Lieutenant. Bring weapons and shields online an get your teams prepared. We may have to board the station to recover a prisoner."

"Acknowledged. Lieutenant? Are we close enough to put it on the viewscreen?" Julia asked.

"Ensign, please take the auxiliary communications station. We'll likely be maintaining a constant comm channel with the station." She asked.

"What's our ETA to 621, Ensign?" She asked.

Ian blinked in surprise at rhe captain's order, but he squared his shoulders and moved to the indicated station.

"If'n I can't be at the helm of the Tempest, I'm still on the main bridge of a Galaxy-Class starship as it goes into battle. This may not be all I'd hope, but I'm goin' ta make the most of this opportunity ta earn my place here."