Season 15: Episode 4 - Vox Populai

[Lek]

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek only half listened to the chatter about the great technological advance that was the fleet maneuver system. However, when the screech started it was almost like a spike had been driven between his eyes. The pain was horrible, but it didn't keep him from seeing the consoles taking on a greenish tinge. He had no idea how, but the ship was being assimilated!

His worst fears about the program was not only coming true, but they were worse than anything he'd ever imagined. The only tiny ray of hope he had was that the foreboding feeling he'd felt all day, compelled compelled him to act without hesitation.

Lek ran. He was partially aware that some of the crew were struggling with something, but he ignored them and was grateful that whatever was happening was freezing the crew in place. This allowed him to unlock one of Engineering's weapons lockers long enough to grab a phaser before destroying the rest. He then bolted for the nearest Jeffries tube access panel. He leapt inside, pausing just long enough to use the phaser to fuse the panel in place, before scrambling deep into the most inaccessible parts of the ship.

"Blessed Exchequer! What do I do now?"

He grumbled as he crawled along, alone and terrified.

[Kinley Garrison]

EDIT: This is in reference to an old Featured Mission Kinley was apart of.
This is the link if you're interested in what happened then.

https://www.shadowfleet.org/forum/uss-valour/the-first-battle-with-the-borg/

[Bridge]

An awful screech seemed to penetrate every fiber of Kinley's being. She tried to cover her ears, but there was no relief as the screech woke up something deep inside. Something she had never mentioned these past few years before she came back to the Fleet.  Something she had tried to forget.

Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.

A chill went down her spine as she turned to the Captain with a glance of panic."œNo! Not again, not again! she thought. She was trapped, Eyes glazing as the process took hold of her.

50%

She could hear those voices again, first a whisper, then a choir. Those same voices that chanted in her nightmares. Millions of them. Billions. Trillions. The voices that reminded her of the secret mission she underwent, back in time. Back to the Valour.  The voices infiltrated her mind, filtering through every thought, every sensation she had ever felt. They didn't forget her, They never did. The voices called for her,  yearned for her.

The voices that called her Queen.

She knew those Voices""The Borg, and they terrified her.

She sacrificed herself centuries ago, or was it only a couple of years ago?  To save her crew, and in essence, to save her home before she was ever born. She had willingly forfeited herself in order to buy time. But it wasn't enough. They were here again, and she couldn't stop it this time.

Resistance was futile.

75%

The process was faster now, she could feel the voices clearly.  She could see again. Not alone with her eyes, but all the eyes of the Collective that was coming online one by one.  The knowledge and information from all the Borg past and present flowed into her mind. Beautiful knowledge. Like waking up from a long slumber, she felt her mind awaken, remembering the sheer exhilaration she had felt all that time ago. All the memories of the Collective, past and future.  She was all the Borg. She was One again.

A Queen.

80%

90%

100%

Download complete.

An icy smile crossed her face as she looked around the Bridge to all the other Borg that were coming online, one by one.

They knew the objective: Annihilate all the Non-Assimilated.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[USS Discover- Deck 1 Bridge]

No. No this was not happening. Tanner flinched as the sound pierced the panicked bridge atmosphere. Hands flew to her ears as she attempted to diminish the painful noise.

What's going on?

The sound ebbed and the eerie glow of green was the first thing she noticed as her focus returned. Tanner slowed her breathing and forced herself to think ahead. Tapping on the console she felt her muscles tense as the computer chirped at her.  They had no comms. She had now way of communicating with her team.

What a day to be the new Chief.

[Alexander Graham]

[USS Discovery-bridge-CPO Alexander Graham]
Things seem to be getting rather worse for them. He seemed to be panicking on the inside with everything that was going on. The sound that he heard was loud but he didn't seem to be affected. Since the consoles had a greenish tinge he was for the time being out of a job. He had no idea what could be causing it he just knew it wasn't good.

[USS Discovery-bridge-Ensign T'prith]
T'prith had no idea what was going on however when she heard the loud sound she tried to block the sound with her hands. She mumbled softly as she said "œwell this ain't good." She focused on her breathing even though she felt a sense of panic. Her initial thought was that it was going to affect how she did her job. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what would happen next.

[Dem Broadshire]

For reference:

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain smirked and shook his head.  "I believe Miss Tanner is correct.  At least for now.  It would cause waves if they started trying to phase out Starfleet officers.  Then again... a group of us Captains also said this would cause waves, and we were overruled.  We did have some Admirals agreeing with us... and strongly worded objections from a certain Commodore LaForge, but when the Admirals who agreed with us suddenly flipped and sided with the rest of the brass, this thing was going to keep going." the Captain stated, while Admiral Shelby was still giving details.  He couldn't help but notice that even she started to sound like she was trying to convince people... or convinced herself.

"Our next demonstration is the summation of decades of technological advancements..."

The fleet was just about in position, and the ships all moved at once, sailing from point alpha towards the Spacedock for a Fleet formation flyover.  There was nothing anyone could do, except watch the viewscreen, or watch the data coming in from the stations.  The displays were still active, just the controls were locked.  Which was good, since the ops Console suddenly beeped an alert... a proximity alert.  A ship was just warping in.  Once the signal was confirmed, Nevir stood up.

"Onscreen!" he ordered... but of course nothing happened.  They didn't even have control of what was being displayed; command functions were also locked out.  But the fleet formation mode also meant that not only could they see the ship that just warped in, but they could communicate with it.

"The... Titan?" he repeated, a bit dumbfounded.  Of all the possible places the Titan could run, it decided to join the rest of the fleet at Earth?!  By now the Captain understood that Captain Shaw wasn't the problem.  It was formerly decorated officers... some of the most famous of the modern era... that had suddenly decided to turn rogue.

"Well, there is one good thing about this mode... Titan is now under our control.  Or at least under the Enterprise's control.  Those people aren't going anywhere." he said, crossing his arms.  Thats when Admiral Shelby's broadcast was hijacked.  Not the visual, just the audio.

"Captain, there is a hail coming from the Titan on all channels.  All emergency channels." Ruthie stated, turning back to monitor her station as it came in.  Not that she could do anything more than inform her father.

"This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.  I come to you with a warning!"

"What the hell is he doing?  Right in the middle of Frontier Day?" Nevir practically shouted, actually looking annoyed if not upset.  The Bajoran was coming out.

"Changeling infiltration of Starfleet has made us vulnerable to our greatest enemy... the Borg!"

The Captain stood stunned.  Shelby on screen seemed to be doing a private transmission on her chair, leaving the rest of the fleet to hear the other activity on the Enterprise's bridge.  He shook his head, but then Shelby decided to do something unexpected... listen to him.

"Admiral Shelby, I know this message may seem desperate, even impossible, but you must trust us.  I hope you can see-"

The message finally cut off as the Titan locked out its own comms and joined the fleet formation.  Shelby looked like she was trying to allow Titan to transmit again when even the viewscreen cut out, with a message that communications were lost.

"What just-" the Captain was never able to finish his statement as a sudden, loud shrill tone seemed to echo through the ship, catching him completely off guard. It lasted for what seemed like hours, but was only seconds, before it seemed to fade to a less shrill but consistent tone.  The science station put up a notification of a massive energy spike coming from far in the solar system... and by pure luck it seemed to be emanating from the direction of Jupiter, but without being able to access sensor controls it was only an alert reading.

Nevir took a step forward when the tone changed pitch again, and the screens around them flickered with faint shapes of green.  There was a surge of resonance coming directly from the quantum slipstream systems that heralded what was about to happen.

The Captain looked around the bridge.  The eerie green sent a shiver down his spine.  And the panel shapes were starting to look familiar.  Not first-hand knowledge, but something from his Captain briefings.  Something that chilled him to the bone.

"Ruthie... try to send a message to the Enterprise." he ordered.  That was followed by silence.  A long pause of silence.

"Ruthie?" he asked again, this time turning towards where his daughter sat, with her back to the rest of the bridge.  She seemed to be frozen as a statue, with just slight twitches.  But she wasn't responding to him, neither as the Captain, nor as her father.

"Ruthie?" he asked again, now with a twinge of concern and almost fear in his voice.  She still didn't respond.  And she wasn't the only one.  Some of his bridge officers seemed to freeze as well, silent, with an almost imperceptible sound of attempts to breathe.  All throughout the ship, and indeed the fleet, some of the officers, specifically all of the younger officers, suddenly froze as well, as they were... changed.

((Alright all, this is where things get tricky.  Any being under the age of full development (for a human, that is 25 years of age, so it would be species equivalent), is now being assimilated.  If you are unsure where you stand, ask Rayek, they have the list.))

[Bridge | USS Discovery]
Dem intently watched on, as the ceremony was in full swing. Not really taking any notice of the captain's snide remarks, or really anyone who decided to comment. However, when the most heroic, figure of the entire federation crashed the party, Dems interest peaked. Paralyising fear consumed him once more. It can't turn into another crisis, Dem thought. I can't deal with this.

A tight feeling gripped his stomach. Originally, Dem thought it was his nerves. But it spread. It spread all through his body like a plague. It felt like another being was growing inside of him. Paralysed in fear, Dem tried to stay still, hoping whatever it was would become dormant. A great screech rang through his head, and he tried to stay still, but he was shaking all over.

The ringing stopped. And there was nothing.

Drone 346572 online. Dems shell transmitted to the hive, with thousands of officers entering, being assimilated every second. As the highest command level officer currently assimilated on the ship, Dem transmitted another message to the buzzing hive.
Weapons Locker 237, bulkhead three. 10 handheld phasers and 8 assault rifles. Authorisation Dem Bravo Alpha Three Charlie. Weapons locker 124, 50 handheld phasers and 30 assault rifles. Weapons locker 57, 50 handheld phasers and 30 assault rifles"¦

This information was transmitted rapidly in the space of a second, giving all drones the authorisation codes to access the 300 weapons lockers around the ship. They had one goal in mind.

Annihilate all non-assimilated.

Dem stood up and walked towards the nearest locker, calculating his attack.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge] Stardate 78288.5  (April 16, 2401)

[Bridge]
Now that Helm control was locked out, Malik and Alex had been made redundant at the flick of a switch. With nothing immediate to do, Malik simply stood stoically and watched the viewscreen awaiting further orders. He felt about as useful as a chocolate teapot. With a smirk he spoke up, "What do you think Starfleet will do with all the pilots suddenly out of a job?"

[USS Discover- Deck 1 Bridge]

"As if Starfleet could ever remove such a valued position," Tanner said with a shake of her head as Malik expressed his woe, "Computers have been known to calculate the best course but not always the right one. This is just a show for the ceremonies. I highly doubt in future this technology will be used regularly."

Or so she hoped. The thought of the tech being used regularly made her uncomfortable. As if the higher-ups were looking at a map of the fleet and merely using them like a point-and-click style game to command around the galaxy.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain smirked and shook his head.  "I believe Miss Tanner is correct.  At least for now.  It would cause waves if they started trying to phase out Starfleet officers.  Then again... a group of us Captains also said this would cause waves, and we were overruled.  We did have some Admirals agreeing with us... and strongly worded objections from a certain Commodore LaForge, but when the Admirals who agreed with us suddenly flipped and sided with the rest of the brass, this thing was going to keep going." the Captain stated, while Admiral Shelby was still giving details.  He couldn't help but notice that even she started to sound like she was trying to convince people... or convinced herself.

From his position by the Ops console Rayek regarded the Risian pilot as Malik left his seat and made questioned the future of pilots in Starfleet.    He listened as others, Miss Lachlyn and even the Captain attempted to suggest that this was just for demonstration.  Rayek was less certain of that.   "If you like I can transfer you to Security.  We are always in need of more targets... I mean personnel."  His feigned slip was meant to be humorous - but he'd been told often that he lacked the proper delivery for jokes.

In response to his earlier order, Torra was frowning at her computer.  "Um sir. " the Grazerite addressed the Romulan, "I don't know how to sign off my console while in this mode. I can't access any control at all."

Rayek refrained from rolling his eyes at how unnecessarily complicated the Fleet Formation Mode made the simplest of tasks.   "Belay my earlier order then Miss Addams.  My apologies, Ensign Lorut, seems you'll have to wait until after the celebrations for that break.   Sit back and try to enjoy the show."

"Our next demonstration is the summation of decades of technological advancements..."

The fleet was just about in position, and the ships all moved at once, sailing from point alpha towards the Spacedock for a Fleet formation flyover.  There was nothing anyone could do, except watch the viewscreen, or watch the data coming in from the stations.  The displays were still active, just the controls were locked.  Which was good, since the ops Console suddenly beeped an alert... a proximity alert.  A ship was just warping in.  Once the signal was confirmed, Nevir stood up.

"Onscreen!" he ordered... but of course nothing happened.  They didn't even have control of what was being displayed; command functions were also locked out.  But the fleet formation mode also meant that not only could they see the ship that just warped in, but they could communicate with it. 

The Romulan turned away from the Ops station to return to his seat when the proximity alert sounded.  He looked back to the Ensign as the details of the alert were announced.

"The... Titan?" he repeated, a bit dumbfounded.  Of all the possible places the Titan could run, it decided to join the rest of the fleet at Earth?!  By now the Captain understood that Captain Shaw wasn't the problem.  It was formerly decorated officers... some of the most famous of the modern era... that had suddenly decided to turn rogue.

"Well, there is one good thing about this mode... Titan is now under our control.  Or at least under the Enterprise's control.  Those people aren't going anywhere." he said, crossing his arms.  Thats when Admiral Shelby's broadcast was hijacked.  Not the visual, just the audio.

"Captain, there is a hail coming from the Titan on all channels.  All emergency channels." Ruthie stated, turning back to monitor her station as it came in.  Not that she could do anything more than inform her father.

"This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.  I come to you with a warning!"

The Titan's unexpected arrival was concerning.    The fugitive ship certainly wasn't here to join in the celebrations.

"Miss Lachlyn, I want you to prepare a security team in case Discovery personnel are called on to board that vessel."

"What the hell is he doing?  Right in the middle of Frontier Day?" Nevir practically shouted, actually looking annoyed if not upset.  The Bajoran was coming out.

"Changeling infiltration of Starfleet has made us vulnerable to our greatest enemy... the Borg!"

The Captain stood stunned.  Shelby on screen seemed to be doing a private transmission on her chair, leaving the rest of the fleet to hear the other activity on the Enterprise's bridge.  He shook his head, but then Shelby decided to do something unexpected... listen to him.

"Admiral Shelby, I know this message may seem desperate, even impossible, but you must trust us.  I hope you can see-"

The message finally cut off as the Titan locked out its own comms and joined the fleet formation.  Shelby looked like she was trying to allow Titan to transmit again when even the viewscreen cut out, with a message that communications were lost.

"What just-" the Captain was never able to finish his statement as a sudden, loud shrill tone seemed to echo through the ship, catching him completely off guard. It lasted for what seemed like hours, but was only seconds, before it seemed to fade to a less shrill but consistent tone.  The science station put up a notification of a massive energy spike coming from far in the solar system... and by pure luck it seemed to be emanating from the direction of Jupiter, but without being able to access sensor controls it was only an alert reading.

Nevir took a step forward when the tone changed pitch again, and the screens around them flickered with faint shapes of green.  There was a surge of resonance coming directly from the quantum slipstream systems that heralded what was about to happen.

The Captain looked around the bridge.  The eerie green sent a shiver down his spine.  And the panel shapes were starting to look familiar.  Not first-hand knowledge, but something from his Captain briefings.  Something that chilled him to the bone.

"Ruthie... try to send a message to the Enterprise." he ordered.  That was followed by silence.  A long pause of silence.

"Ruthie?" he asked again, this time turning towards where his daughter sat, with her back to the rest of the bridge.  She seemed to be frozen as a statue, with just slight twitches.  But she wasn't responding to him, neither as the Captain, nor as her father.

"Ruthie?" he asked again, now with a twinge of concern and almost fear in his voice.  She still didn't respond.  And she wasn't the only one.  Some of his bridge officers seemed to freeze as well, silent, with an almost imperceptible sound of attempts to breathe.  All throughout the ship, and indeed the fleet, some of the officers, specifically all of the younger officers, suddenly froze as well, as they were... changed.

Given his usual state of paranoia, Rayek wasn't surprised at Admiral Picard's warning.  The details were not what he might have expected but it wasn't a shock to learn that the Changelings were up to their tricks again.

He grimaced when the transmission cut off, seemingly because of the Fleet Formation Mode.  Rayek half expected Admiral Shelby's broadcast open up once more, instead a loud shrill tone seemed to encompass the bridge and ship.    While the Captain, called on his daughter to contact the Enterprise, Rayek  looked to Science.

"Commander Garrison, is there anything on your science display that can explain what that was?"  The Romulan knew he was asking a lot of the Science Chief since he was fully aware that the console locked down, but surely some sensor somewhere had to have recorded what that was.

[Bridge]

An awful screech seemed to penetrate every fiber of Kinley's being. She tried to cover her ears, but there was no relief as the screech woke up something deep inside. Something she had never mentioned these past few years before she came back to the Fleet.  Something she had tried to forget.

Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.

A chill went down her spine as she turned to the Captain with a glance of panic ."œNo! Not again, not again! she thought. She was trapped, Eyes glazing as the process took hold of her.

...

An icy smile crossed her face as she looked around the Bridge to all the other Borg that were coming online, one by one.

They knew the objective: Annihilate all the Non-Assimilated.

There was no immediate answer from the Chief - which wasn't like the Commander at all.   "Commander!" he called out sharply in an attempt draw her attention.  When she did turn from her console to look over the Bridge, Rayek sucked back a breathe in fear.

[Bridge | USS Discovery]
Dem intently watched on, as the ceremony was in full swing. Not really taking any notice of the captain's snide remarks, or really anyone who decided to comment. However, when the most heroic, figure of the entire federation crashed the party, Dems interest peaked. Paralyising fear consumed him once more. It can't turn into another crisis, Dem thought. I can't deal with this.

A tight feeling gripped his stomach. Originally, Dem thought it was his nerves. But it spread. It spread all through his body like a plague. It felt like another being was growing inside of him. Paralysed in fear, Dem tried to stay still, hoping whatever it was would become dormant. A great screech rang through his head, and he tried to stay still, but he was shaking all over.

The ringing stopped. And there was nothing.

Drone 346572 online. Dems shell transmitted to the hive, with thousands of officers entering, being assimilated every second. As the highest command level officer currently assimilated on the ship, Dem transmitted another message to the buzzing hive.
Weapons Locker 237, bulkhead three. 10 handheld phasers and 8 assault rifles. Authorisation Dem Bravo Alpha Three Charlie. Weapons locker 124, 50 handheld phasers and 30 assault rifles. Weapons locker 57, 50 handheld phasers and 30 assault rifles"¦

This information was transmitted rapidly in the space of a second, giving all drones the authorisation codes to access the 300 weapons lockers around the ship. They had one goal in mind.

Annihilate all non-assimilated.

Dem stood up and walked towards the nearest locker, calculating his attack.

Paranoid instinct immediately suggested that where there was one Borg, there would of course be more.   The Romulan did a quick visual survey of the bridge and noted the same stillness that had gripped Garrison in several others:  Ensign Falleg-Tekin, Ensign T'Prith (though that might just be Vulcan stoicism), and even the doctor seemed to have fallen prey to this spontaneous assimilation.

"Captain! The crew is being assimilated! As he spoke, the Romulan rose from his seat and sprinted towards the Bridge's Weapons locker - the same one the doctor was headed towards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC Crewman Kitaa Horg
USS Discovery - Deck 5 - Alpha Hull Medical Facilities]

[NPC Doctor Meelar Phlome | Deck 5 | Alpha Hull Medical Facilities | USS Discovery NCC 78393-B]

Doctor Meelar Phlome listened to the grand maiden flight of the Enterprise-F being announced through the communication systems. At this moment, though, she was pretty torn. On the one hand, she really, truly wanted to join the rest of the crew in observing this celebration by herself, and not just hearing it. Denobulans like herself were social creatures, and at this moment, she truly, deeply craved interacting with others, especially if it was within such a special moment.

On the other hand, her work had consumed her. She was about to make a significant discovery that could greatly benefit the medical world, she felt. She had acquired these spores from Veridian III, which when exposed to plain ol' H₂O, proceeded to mature into amoeba organisms which were usually obligate carnivores. However, under rather specific circumstances, it had been reported that they could instead acquire photosynthetic capabilities. But more than that, they produced a substance that was a rather effective antibiotic against many of the bacteria that caused disease. Enterobacteriaceae of the class Gammaproteobacteria, Phylum Firmicutes, Pseudomonadales, and genera such as Clostridium, Legionella, Lysteria, Mycobacterium, Vibrio, and Yersina, to name a few.

The compound still had to be tested to be safe for all species, though it at least seemed to leave her cells unaffected, thus making it safe for Denobulans. She hoped that when she figured out if it was fully safe for all, that the amoeba could be sent to far-away colonies, where it could serve as medicine in case all other options were unavailable. The spores were highly resistant to adverse conditions and could remain in that state for many years. Thus, there would be no issues with the medicine degrading over time. And the cultive upkeep was relatively easy. Of course, there was a question if these could be damaging to ecosystems, but she supposed that would have to be another avenue of research.

Her observation on the microscope was interrupted as the ship lurched suddenly, telling her that this... 'synchronization' she had heard about was now working. She sighed, as she glanced at her samples, and then decided to return them to the incubator, to keep them safe. She made sure to place the microscope slide alongside them too, hoping that she would not be too long and be able to return to her experiments soon. But she wanted to see the ships flying in formation. Maybe make some conversation with the others. She had determined that the antibiotic was produced by exposing the amoeba to ultraviolet light, so she deserved a break, right?

She just hoped that her egoistic delay would not involve any loss in life in the future.

Assigned to keeping watch over the many various experiments that went on in the lab, was the role of the medical technician.  Kitaa's role.  A role she enjoyed, though you could never tell from her dour expression.

She had been listening to the Frontier Day celebration in a small room off of the side of the lab, as she watched the doctor work.  When it seemed that Dr. Phlome was going to depart for a bit - likely to see the fireworks and such - Kitaa gave the Denobulan woman a grunted nod, then suddenly cocked her head in surprise at the unexpectedly hijacked broadcast.   Admiral PIcard giving a warning about Changelings in cahoots with the Borg?  Sounded ominous.

Anything more to be warned about was cut up and soon after replaced by a shrill tone that caused Kitaa to go into minor convulsions as her being was taken over by the borg programming in her DNA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck 2 - Armory]

| Lt. JG JB Dersch | Weapons Armory | USS Discovery |

As soon as Dersch realized the lock out, Dersch had a gut feeling. He moved to back to the weapons lockers. he also laughed as the Admiral said "impenetrable armada." yea, That's what we thought at Wolf 359, and we seen how that went He did like that how they brought up Enterprise NX-01, He loved that ship, He won't mind heading back into the past to serve on the vessel. Then Dersch got a question. Will we still be able to keep in contact with other fleet

Helga had been listening to the broadcast  along with Dersch when the interruption by Admiral Picard occurred.  She glanced to him, wondering which ship would be called on to deal with the rogue Admiral.  What was it with Admirals and going rogue... first Leyton and now Picard... they certainly didn't set good examples for the younger generation.

When the shrill tone sounded throughout the ship, Helga found herself paralyzed as she was and her individuality stripped from her.  She was Borg.

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery - Main Bridge]

There was something. Something faint. Something reaching out, trying to connect. He could feel it, the shadow that walked by just out of your field of view. The touch that hovered over your arm and nearly graced it but could just never reach. A breath next to your ear. His mind was trying to make sense of it. He was walking down a dark alley back in Pike city and could hear steps behind him but if he turned there was nothing. It was the buzzing next to his ear on a summer day, only the sun seemed to be missing, but when he reached for the insect there was nothing, like there never had been any. It was the slow tabs on his back after clearing out a bar. The telltale signs of a one of the Great Spiders from Cerberus III. It had found him and was now sitting on his back. He tried to scream ... and he did. With all his lungs and all his voice. He screamed until he had no more voice.

But he had not moved and not made a sound, it was all in his Head!

It was probing, searching for a way to reach him. He could feel a part in him answering, trying to scream out, trying to answer the feeling with .... something ... he was not sure. But it wasn't whole. Something was missing, it couldn't connect. He fell down to the floor. Filled with just a single emotion. Fear!

Before his eyes flashed some lines from logs he had read long ago:

"... but the Feeling was like nothing else, a bliss but also the greatest curse... "

"... for someone who was never part of it the experience is hard to describe, it is as if your mind is being pulled and cradled at the same time, it is a call, it is powerful... "

"... They took everything I was. They used me to kill and to destroy, and I couldn't stop them! I should have been able to stop them! I tried... "

He remembered now. These logs had been part of one particular course. They connected with other memories. Reading certain logs that he had gathered from some of the Starfleet Friends he had made in the later years before joining the Fleet himself, Logs read like horror stories at midnight under a blanket. Logs from Voyager and other ships, reports from Battles and slaughters alike. Reports not usually cleared for the Public. They spoke of the enemy. The enemy that had died and disappeared. The civilization had had sacrificed itself on the altar of efficiency. The logs had spoken of death and no ways to escape. He was crying now.
The name of the course, the one name in each and every of the Logs. He opened his eyes. His vision blurred by the tears clouding his vision. It couldn't be, it was not meant to be, they were dead destroyed... and still that green tinted his vision. He had seen it in Holodeck simulations. He had seen it on pads and described in the logs.
Green was one of that colors that touched something primal in all humans. It connected with their genetic memory from a time when they weren't human yet. A feeling of peace and safety. The feeling of calmness and home. Memories from a time living among the trees and then wandering endless seas of grass. All of these memories had been tainted by one adversary. A force of nature really in its own right. Twisted from calmness to a beacon of horror, this green, it was called death incarnate.
The name of the course.... "Borg: Know them, Run.

They had laughed at that name, the Borg were dead. A nightmare. A story told to scare young recruits of the dangers lurking in the depths of space. And here they were. And he could feel something. He was going to die. His mind, somehow they tried to reach out to him, he was going to cease.
His family was watching the proceedings. They would hear the chorus of Borg voices, and his voice would be among them. He had just been assigned to Discovery. What a way to die.

He looked up. He needed help, assurance they would be able to fend off the attackers. He looked at one of the friendly faces he had gotten to know on the Ship, his Superior Officer, Commander Garrison. She was a Lieutenant Commander, she had to know what he could do. She was more experienced than him, he blinked away the tears in his eyes and looked at her... and saw that smile, those eyes, those dark veins, and something broke in him.

He could nearly feel it. It was a part that had made him human, it was something innocent but fearful. It was a feeling not connected anymore. It was human and it was gone. His training took over, drowned out the emotions in his head, gave him something to keep hold off in the malstrom reality suddenly had turned into. It was something most powerful, it gave him something to do. It gave him back agency. Emergency protocols overwriting every standing order. Emergency commands structures ironed into their heads that seemed silly at the time but now were golden rihgt. First asses the depth of intrusion. Starting with himself:

He had felt something, nearly heard it too. He had broken down. Just that he wasn't ready to die. And he wasn't hearing the voices. The voices should be there. They should fill his head if he had been assimilated. And why was he still crying, one of the first things the collective vanquished was emotion. A fearful half assimilate could try to resist, one that had been made passive to their state was much easier to be made into a drone. Something had to have gone wrong. He was feeling, he was thinking, he still was, he was him.

First item on the checklist cleared. He himself was not compromised. How about primary ship components.

The room was filled with that green hue emanating from all consoles. The Fleet Formation mode inspiring that feeling that it turned the ship into a probe, what if Probe was the wrong word. What if he should have called it Drone instead. Ship compromised on all technical levels, another item cleared. Crew was just as much a component as the Computers and connectors of the ship itself. The expression on Commander Garrisons face hinted at her at least having fallen victim to the Borg, but he couldn't be the one and only that had been sparred. There had to be others. He looked around and saw both the first officer sprinting to the Bridge's weapon locker, the second officer right behind him, slowed only by being assimilated like it seemed as the dark veins in this skin told him. Next the Captain: He was calling out to a young Ensign Ramort didn't know, was that fear in his eyes? But no veins, he seemed clear too. Next, in case of ship intrusion, Security. Lieutenant Lachlyn seemed clear as well. She had welcomed him onboard, a welcome good memory but not one to get lost in right now in this situation, she seemed clear too. He quickly worked his way through the remaining Bridge Crew making a mental list of Key Personal compromised.

Next Item on the list: Resist and Investigate. A standing Order. It had an annex, Deassimilate. But that one was hard.

Next Step: Gear.
There had been too many aliens randomly appearing on Star Fleet ship Bridges for them no to be fully kitted out. He was still lying on the floor, which now wasn't too bad a place to be in. Under all Bridge Station there was a small compartment with three Items: A Tricorder in case the invader was somehow of energy nature or manifested itself as another kind of strange physical phenomena. A medical Tricorder in case someone got hurt. A Phaser in case someone tried to take control of the Bridge and the Officers at station needed to defend themselves. Luckily the Compartment was not held by any kind of computer log but a good old time physical release. He opened it, with both hands securing the medical and Scientific Tricorders to his belt, then unlocked the Phaser. It was set to stun. He rolled to the site and stood up without giving much thought to how his uniform looked. The uniform he had freshly replicated this morning for the celebrations. How long ago that seemed now.

[Malik Grippen]

[Bridge - Pre-Borgificaton]

Malik couldn't tell if the first officer was joking or not. Perhaps the frivolities of Frontier Day had loosened up the formal Romulan to the point of making a pun. In either case, Malik was slightly offended. To suggest a pilot of his calibre be transferred to the grunt department was to put it mildly, a waste of his superior talents. He flew the ship like he handled women, with grace and precision. It was almost as bad as suggesting a transfer to the Ops-nerds. Malik shuddered at the thought.

[Bridge - Post-Borgification]

Coming back to his senses from the piercing shriek inside his head, Malik's heart dropped as the bridge turned to the unmistakable green-hue of Starfleet's greatest enemy. The reaction of the younger bridge officers was unmistakable and the First Officer confirmed it. Somehow they were being assimilated by proxy.

The Risan watched as Rayek rushed towards the weapons locker in a race with the drone-doctor. He knew whoever got access to weapons first would win this fight. He quickly formulated a plan of action using his honed pilot-reflexes. The only weapon Malik had at his disposal was his body.

He lurched into a run, long legs carrying him quickly forward then leaped into the air aiming straight at Drone-Dem's back in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. "For Risa!", he shouted.

[J.B Dersch]

| Lt. JG Dersch | Sec/Tac Officer | Deck 2 | Armoy |

Dersch had never felt anything like this, A few moments before, he heard the Voice of Picard, then even earlier, A loud shrieking..Then coldness, Creeping through his veins, Then he started to hear the one voice he never hoped he would hear...I am being assimilated..Dersch couldn't understand it, How the hell did the sensors or Starfleet past this!. Then He was only watching. Drone 356697 Reporting Ready To Annihilate All Non-Assimilated

[Tekin Nevir]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge] Stardate 78288.5  (April 16, 2401)

From his position by the Ops console Rayek regarded the Risian pilot as Malik left his seat and made questioned the future of pilots in Starfleet.    He listened as others, Miss Lachlyn and even the Captain attempted to suggest that this was just for demonstration.  Rayek was less certain of that.   "If you like I can transfer you to Security.  We are always in need of more targets... I mean personnel."  His feigned slip was meant to be humorous - but he'd been told often that he lacked the proper delivery for jokes.

In response to his earlier order, Torra was frowning at her computer.  "Um sir. " the Grazerite addressed the Romulan, "I don't know how to sign off my console while in this mode. I can't access any control at all."

Rayek refrained from rolling his eyes at how unnecessarily complicated the Fleet Formation Mode made the simplest of tasks.   "Belay my earlier order then Miss Addams.  My apologies, Ensign Lorut, seems you'll have to wait until after the celebrations for that break.   Sit back and try to enjoy the show."

The Romulan turned away from the Ops station to return to his seat when the proximity alert sounded.  He looked back to the Ensign as the details of the alert were announced.
The Titan's unexpected arrival was concerning.    The fugitive ship certainly wasn't here to join in the celebrations.

"Miss Lachlyn, I want you to prepare a security team in case Discovery personnel are called on to board that vessel."

Given his usual state of paranoia, Rayek wasn't surprised at Admiral Picard's warning.  The details were not what he might have expected but it wasn't a shock to learn that the Changelings were up to their tricks again.

He grimaced when the transmission cut off, seemingly because of the Fleet Formation Mode.  Rayek half expected Admiral Shelby's broadcast open up once more, instead a loud shrill tone seemed to encompass the bridge and ship.    While the Captain, called on his daughter to contact the Enterprise, Rayek  looked to Science.

"Commander Garrison, is there anything on your science display that can explain what that was?"  The Romulan knew he was asking a lot of the Science Chief since he was fully aware that the console locked down, but surely some sensor somewhere had to have recorded what that was.

There was no immediate answer from the Chief - which wasn't like the Commander at all.   "Commander!" he called out sharply in an attempt draw her attention.  When she did turn from her console to look over the Bridge, Rayek sucked back a breathe in fear.

Paranoid instinct immediately suggested that where there was one Borg, there would of course be more.   The Romulan did a quick visual survey of the bridge and noted the same stillness that had gripped Garrison in several others:  Ensign Falleg-Tekin, Ensign T'Prith (though that might just be Vulcan stoicism), and even the doctor seemed to have fallen prey to this spontaneous assimilation.

"Captain! The crew is being assimilated! As he spoke, the Romulan rose from his seat and sprinted towards the Bridge's Weapons locker - the same one the doctor was headed towards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC Crewman Kitaa Horg
USS Discovery - Deck 5 - Alpha Hull Medical Facilities]

Assigned to keeping watch over the many various experiments that went on in the lab, was the role of the medical technician.  Kitaa's role.  A role she enjoyed, though you could never tell from her dour expression.

She had been listening to the Frontier Day celebration in a small room off of the side of the lab, as she watched the doctor work.  When it seemed that Dr. Phlome was going to depart for a bit - likely to see the fireworks and such - Kitaa gave the Denobulan woman a grunted nod, then suddenly cocked her head in surprise at the unexpectedly hijacked broadcast.   Admiral PIcard giving a warning about Changelings in cahoots with the Borg?  Sounded ominous.

Anything more to be warned about was cut up and soon after replaced by a shrill tone that caused Kitaa to go into minor convulsions as her being was taken over by the borg programming in her DNA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck 2 - Armory]

Helga had been listening to the broadcast  along with Dersch when the interruption by Admiral Picard occurred.  She glanced to him, wondering which ship would be called on to deal with the rogue Admiral.  What was it with Admirals and going rogue... first Leyton and now Picard... they certainly didn't set good examples for the younger generation.

When the shrill tone sounded throughout the ship, Helga found herself paralyzed as she was and her individuality stripped from her.  She was Borg.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

There was audible fear on the older Bajoran's face as he took another step closer to his silent daughter.  He was almost close enough to reach her when she finally turned around in her seat.  At about the same time as the others on the bridge.  The sight would render years of nightmare for the Captain.  Ruthie's red hair barely covered her pale, spotted part-Trill face, but those spots were connected with lines.  Lines crawling up her face like black veins and going down her neck into her uniform.  Her eyes... her eyes were pure black. Soon the white would reappear, but her eyes still looked changed.

"R-Ruthie?" he asked again, and finally she spoke.  They all did.

"WE.  ARE THE BORG."

"Prophets... no... " the Captain was rendered shocked, staring into the cold eyes of what was once his daughter.

The sounds of the comms started to come in; it seemed like Enterprise had opened full fleetwide communications and every ship could hear every other ship.  The Captains of the other ships were calling to their officers, or reporting that their crew was no longer obeying commands.  It wasn't just Discovery... it was everyone.

Nevir instinctively took a step back from Ruthie, visibly shaking as he did so.  The assimilated crew stood up as one.  For Ruthie, her individuality was gone.

Drone 056239 Reporting.  Primary Objective: Eliminate all Non-assimilated.  Secondary Objective: Take control of USS Discovery. Execute.

A hand grabbed his arm, he assumed it was one of the bridge crew, but as he turned he saw that it almost was... it was an assimilated security officer.  His arm was being held tight as the officer reached for his phaser.

"ELIMINATE ALL UN-ASSIMILATED."

Rayek's words woke him from his stupor as the situation was verified.  Most consoles had phasers within them as a relic from the Dominion War... they were easily accessible in case of boarding.  The phase rifles on the other hand were in lockers.  In which there was one on the bridge.  But even a phaser would be enough to kill.  Before the phaser could be brought to level, Nevir's Bajoran heritage kicked in, and he grabbed the security officer, shoving him back and causing him to stumble.  That would give him a few seconds at most as he dived for the Captain's Chair.

The viewscreen came back on for a few seconds, with Admiral Shelby reporting that they were under attack from within.  As Nevir grabbed his phaser he looked up to see the Admiral take two shots to her torso before the visual cut again.  There were too many officers on the bridge who were now basically Borg, and he aimed his phaser for the first target... which turned out to be his daughter.

He hesitated, the phaser shaking.  Was he really about to kill his eldest daughter?  Step daughter?  No.. his daughter.  He wasn't going to try to justify it.  He wasn't going to end her life.  He wasn't going to accept that she was gone.  Not yet.

Ruthie, however, did not seem to have the same concerns as she fired at her father, striking the Chair itself as Nevir dodged it.  It was red, she meant to kill.  Of course... the Borg were trying to take control of the ship.  That meant eliminating the threat.  He quickly assessed his surroundings.  There was his ready room, and the observation lounge, but without access to ship systems there was no way to defend, and they would be trapped.  No.. what he needed was numbers.

"T-turbolift!  Now!" the Captain shouted, as he dodged another shot and tried to fire back, with blue bolts of stun.  He was firing wildly; he couldn't bring himself to shoot his own crew.  He wasn't like certain other Captains, and he was damn proud of that.  But that pride might end up getting him killed.  He swung around and fired on the security crewmen on the bridge, knocking at least one of them out.  But the kid didn't seem to be hurt.  He was already struggling to get back up.  Lowest stun setting wasn't going to cut it.

"Everyone let's go.  Move it.  Stun setting only! Kinley... Prophets, not you too..." he stated, only now seeing the science officer also trying to kill him.  He and the others. That meant it wasn't just junior officers.  But he wasn't assimilated, and neither was most of the senior officers.  If there was a chance to be assimilated, he wouldn't be targeted for elimination.

One by one he watched his remaining crewmates pile into the otherwise empty while offering cover fire.  He turned to his side to see the one officer he actually expected to be defiant.

"Lorut!  Now!" he shouted, firing at one of the assimilated officers.  He watched that officer finally go down, and took a glance on his own weapon.  Stun level 6.  That meant even the low-setting kill mode might not take them down.  The Borg has already put in defenses against their standard weapons.  Of course the fellow Bajoran was almost outright refusing.

"Vila!  I'm going to need you!  Move it!" he shouted again, practically forcing her into the turbolift.  He was the last to step off, firing wildly until the door finally closed.  He then finally lowered his phaser, trying to hide the shaking.

"Computer... Beta Bridge..." he called out, and the turbolift thankfully started moving.

"Garrison... Ruthie... Dem... what just happened...?" he asked those still around, turning around and facing what remained of his bridge crew.

[Lek]

[Jeffries Tube - Deck 11]

Lek crawled along faster than he'd ever crawled before. Whatever was happening was beyond his worst nightmare and he'd gotten caught in a mental logic loop.

"I knew this was a bad idea. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew this was a bad idea."

He repeated over and over again as a sort of twisted mantra of terror. While he was operating in complete flight mode, despite this, ever the engineer, his subconscious directed him to the tube that led to the deuterium control conduit. Winded by his rapid escape, he stopped and after a moment, he realized where he was and got an idea.

"I may not be able to override that thrice damned idiotic program, but I do know how to sabotage the poodoo out of a warp drive. I just need some tools."

He paused for a moment to remember where his nearest cache was. He then also remembered something very important as he removed his combadge and phasered it out of existence. He then began crawling for his stash of tools, this time he was more deliberate in the way he moved.

[Kinley Garrison]

[As Murphy]
[10- Forward]

As the Admiral gave her speech, there was a mixture of cheers and chatter amongst the crew down there, all intent on watching the intricate dance of hundreds of ships in the Fleet, some cheering as the Discovery came into view of the cameras on the holonet.

As the waitress came back with their drinks, Rajagopalan eyed the formations with a starry-eyed grin.  "œWoah! That's amazing! We're so close to everyone, it feels like we could practically touch the next ship's nacelles! Not that I'd wanna, given that we'd probably be incinerated within a millisecond, if we didn't die to the cold vacuum of space or the cosmic radiation, but"¦.,"    "œAnd the folks up on the Bridge probably are sitting prettily on their consoles, drinking Romulan Ale as we speak!"   Interrupted Harrington as Vinnie got a bit too into the technobabble.

"œWhat I'd pay to see that." grinned Murphy, trying to imagine the Commander and Captain partying it up.

Suddenly, The Admiral's speech was cut off by an emergency broadcast, and instead, the famous face of Admiral Picard flashed on the screens, warning about the Borg.

"œChangelings? The Borg? What the - "œ he asked, getting up in confusion as the message got cut off.

Murphy never got to finish his sentence as he was interrupted by this awful shrieking noise, worse than nails on a metal panel. It was worse than his Mother's yelling. Shaking off the ringing in his ears, he looked at his two buddies. Something weird was happening to Vinod. He was standing straight as a rod, and his head was twitching, his eyes going pure black. Some of the others were too. The waitress, Lieutenant M'Tira, Ensign Travis"¦ almost half of the people in 10-forward were twitching. And then, in unison, they moved. Vin? What are you doing man?

Murphy shrieked as he dodged Vinnie's grasp, but Harrington wasn't as lucky. Not his most elegant moment there, but they all seemed to be heading toward everyone left standing. Including him! Grabbing the first available thing he had, his drink, Murphy cracked it on Vinnie's head, stunning the science officer enough to let go of Harrington's shirt. "œRun, Man! They're everywhere!

[Lorut Vila]

USS Discovery
Bridge

The entire fleet should be here if they are anywhere near this sector...

Yeah. That was the ENTIRE problem, though. Why Starfleet insisted on such milquetoast leaders was beyond her. She knew that she'd be running her mouth to the Admiral now-actually, that wasn't a half-bad idea; she had a lot to say to him, anyway.

"Signal is gone..." she said, to no one in particular, but just to share.

The incessant tap-tap of the Bajoran's foot had clearly gotten to some people, because, in a flash, tr'Lhoell was at her side. She moved away-anyone too close to her was liable to be laid out flat, though that was a particular thing she was working on. Just that, though.

His voice in her ear gave her the reprieve she'd wanted.

Lieutenant Addam...Please take over main Ops.  Miss Lorut, you may take your break early and watch the parade from the Observation Lounge.

She moved to leave.

Belay my earlier order then Miss Addams.  My apologies, Ensign Lorut, seems you'll have to wait until after the celebrations for that break.  Sit back and try to enjoy the show.

She gave him a LOOK. They both knew that wasn't going to happen. She quickly moved, her fingers flying, brown eyes scanning the screen in front of her. Nothing was working-none of her her overrides, no codes, not even her go-to, back door, probably definitely illegal applets and code pieces would work. What. the. HELL?? Another look to the Commander, this one more panicked. She hadn't had a situation like this before in the Fleet-the last time she'd faced something like this, she was setting up a computer system on Campor III, and it was Breen interference. What was HAPPENING?!

----------------------------------------------------------------
A strange communique came over the wires. She couldn't control what came in or out, but this one was at least welcome to the Bajoran. Admiral Picard. Along with Benjamin Sisko, she held him a slightly higher regard than most-his care and concern for the Bajoran people when he'd been promoted to Admiral during her ex-husband's tour with the Bon Homme Richard had earned him a spot in "people she listened to at least occasionally." Sisko was there, for obvious reasons.

But this was...different. Concerning. A warning?! Followed by a strange silence on the Bridge...she watched as the younger Ensigns and Lieutenants appeared to go into "screensaver" mode. All that could be heard for a few moments was heavy breathing and the incessant tap-tap-tapping of her foot against the metal kickplate of her console.

A moment later....

Captain! The crew is being assimilated!

Oh, Ras*. This was bad. Quickly, unthinkingly, she moved.

She took the nearest silent person's phaser, silently. She extracted hers from the waist holster she wore-she was on a strict check in-check out schedule now with the Quartermaster and Security, but she was willing to risk it in this case.

She heard the Captain call out to head for the Turbolifts. She, however, wasn't going down without a fight-though she appreciated and understood his need for self-preservation. She had fought that her whole adult life, truthfully.

T-turbolift!  Now!...Everyone let's go. Move it. Stun setting only! Kinley... Prophets, not you too...
Lorut! Now! Vila!  I'm going to need you!  Move it!"

Garrison... Ruthie... Dem... what just happened...?

Her flight/fight had kicked in, and she always went for fight. She was stunning attackers left, right, and center-in her mind, she was back to 19 years old, targeting leftover Cardassians that the Federation had missed during liberation movements. She was sure in her shots, though, carefully aiming for vital organs. Stunning them seemed to work.

She tried to protest. "NO!" But the Captain was bigger and stronger than her. In the end, she knew they needed to get away, so fired off a final shot as the door shut.

"What the HELL was that about?" She asked, the adrenaline in her system causing her to tense against the far wall.

(*this word is the Bajoran word for the s-word in Standard, according the Bajoran Language Dictionary on Wikipedia).

[Dem Broadshire]

[Bridge - Pre-Borgificaton]

Malik couldn't tell if the first officer was joking or not. Perhaps the frivolities of Frontier Day had loosened up the formal Romulan to the point of making a pun. In either case, Malik was slightly offended. To suggest a pilot of his calibre be transferred to the grunt department was to put it mildly, a waste of his superior talents. He flew the ship like he handled women, with grace and precision. It was almost as bad as suggesting a transfer to the Ops-nerds. Malik shuddered at the thought.

[Bridge - Post-Borgification]

Coming back to his senses from the piercing shriek inside his head, Malik's heart dropped as the bridge turned to the unmistakable green-hue of Starfleet's greatest enemy. The reaction of the younger bridge officers was unmistakable and the First Officer confirmed it. Somehow they were being assimilated by proxy.

The Risan watched as Rayek rushed towards the weapons locker in a race with the drone-doctor. He knew whoever got access to weapons first would win this fight. He quickly formulated a plan of action using his honed pilot-reflexes. The only weapon Malik had at his disposal was his body.

He lurched into a run, long legs carrying him quickly forward then leaped into the air aiming straight at Drone-Dem's back in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. "For Risa!", he shouted.

[Bridge | USS Discovery] (Before senior staff enter turbolift)

Dem's heightened senses detected the flight control officer lurch towards him, but it took his body to long to react before Dem was bowled off his feet, smashing his head on the carpet only meters away from the weapons locker. Dem tried to roll around underneath the weight of the Risian, eventually getting enough purchase to rip him away but with Dems increased agility, Malik was thrown quite far, even closer to Dem then the weapons locker. Taking barely a second to recover Dem crawled to the weapons locker, input the codes, unlatched a phaser and immediately took aim at the Romulan commander barreling towards him.

[Zavrol Gohun]

Gohun got himself to a junction area to hear the fleet wide announcement. As ceremonies go this was one of the most boring things he had ever seen. Yes we get it. You're really impressed with yourselves. Gohun found himself wishing that something would happen. Ceramonies just sucked.

For reference:

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain smirked and shook his head.  "I believe Miss Tanner is correct.  At least for now.  It would cause waves if they started trying to phase out Starfleet officers.  Then again... a group of us Captains also said this would cause waves, and we were overruled.  We did have some Admirals agreeing with us... and strongly worded objections from a certain Commodore LaForge, but when the Admirals who agreed with us suddenly flipped and sided with the rest of the brass, this thing was going to keep going." the Captain stated, while Admiral Shelby was still giving details.  He couldn't help but notice that even she started to sound like she was trying to convince people... or convinced herself.

"Our next demonstration is the summation of decades of technological advancements..."

The fleet was just about in position, and the ships all moved at once, sailing from point alpha towards the Spacedock for a Fleet formation flyover.  There was nothing anyone could do, except watch the viewscreen, or watch the data coming in from the stations.  The displays were still active, just the controls were locked.  Which was good, since the ops Console suddenly beeped an alert... a proximity alert.  A ship was just warping in.  Once the signal was confirmed, Nevir stood up.

"Onscreen!" he ordered... but of course nothing happened.  They didn't even have control of what was being displayed; command functions were also locked out.  But the fleet formation mode also meant that not only could they see the ship that just warped in, but they could communicate with it.

"The... Titan?" he repeated, a bit dumbfounded.  Of all the possible places the Titan could run, it decided to join the rest of the fleet at Earth?!  By now the Captain understood that Captain Shaw wasn't the problem.  It was formerly decorated officers... some of the most famous of the modern era... that had suddenly decided to turn rogue.

"Well, there is one good thing about this mode... Titan is now under our control.  Or at least under the Enterprise's control.  Those people aren't going anywhere." he said, crossing his arms.  Thats when Admiral Shelby's broadcast was hijacked.  Not the visual, just the audio.

"Captain, there is a hail coming from the Titan on all channels.  All emergency channels." Ruthie stated, turning back to monitor her station as it came in.  Not that she could do anything more than inform her father.

"This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.  I come to you with a warning!"

"What the hell is he doing?  Right in the middle of Frontier Day?" Nevir practically shouted, actually looking annoyed if not upset.  The Bajoran was coming out.

"Changeling infiltration of Starfleet has made us vulnerable to our greatest enemy... the Borg!"

The Captain stood stunned.  Shelby on screen seemed to be doing a private transmission on her chair, leaving the rest of the fleet to hear the other activity on the Enterprise's bridge.  He shook his head, but then Shelby decided to do something unexpected... listen to him.

"Admiral Shelby, I know this message may seem desperate, even impossible, but you must trust us.  I hope you can see-"

The message finally cut off as the Titan locked out its own comms and joined the fleet formation.  Shelby looked like she was trying to allow Titan to transmit again when even the viewscreen cut out, with a message that communications were lost.

"What just-" the Captain was never able to finish his statement as a sudden, loud shrill tone seemed to echo through the ship, catching him completely off guard. It lasted for what seemed like hours, but was only seconds, before it seemed to fade to a less shrill but consistent tone.  The science station put up a notification of a massive energy spike coming from far in the solar system... and by pure luck it seemed to be emanating from the direction of Jupiter, but without being able to access sensor controls it was only an alert reading.

Nevir took a step forward when the tone changed pitch again, and the screens around them flickered with faint shapes of green.  There was a surge of resonance coming directly from the quantum slipstream systems that heralded what was about to happen.

The Captain looked around the bridge.  The eerie green sent a shiver down his spine.  And the panel shapes were starting to look familiar.  Not first-hand knowledge, but something from his Captain briefings.  Something that chilled him to the bone.

"Ruthie... try to send a message to the Enterprise." he ordered.  That was followed by silence.  A long pause of silence.

"Ruthie?" he asked again, this time turning towards where his daughter sat, with her back to the rest of the bridge.  She seemed to be frozen as a statue, with just slight twitches.  But she wasn't responding to him, neither as the Captain, nor as her father.

"Ruthie?" he asked again, now with a twinge of concern and almost fear in his voice.  She still didn't respond.  And she wasn't the only one.  Some of his bridge officers seemed to freeze as well, silent, with an almost imperceptible sound of attempts to breathe.  All throughout the ship, and indeed the fleet, some of the officers, specifically all of the younger officers, suddenly froze as well, as they were... changed.

Gohun wished that the ceremony would have gone off without any problems. Be careful what you wish for Gohun thought. So the crew has been infiltrated by changelings or the Borg. Or maybe Borg changlings not that made even less sense. Why was the Borg working with the changelings it had been years with no Borg contact. What did they accomplish? Why help the Borg when all the Borg is going to do is stab you in the back? Gohun would have to assume that he was alone with no backup. One man against the world. Until he ran into Lek.
"How do I know that you are the real Lek?"