Season 15: Episode 4 - Vox Populai

[Kinley Garrison]

[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.

USS Discovery
Bridge

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.

She moved to leave.
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....

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.

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).

[Bridge]

The Weapons locker codes for the Discovery were now being transferred to all available drones.  Good. She nodded in approval.  By the second, more drones were coming online, and she directed them to the key parts of their respective ships: Take the Bridge and Main Engineering. Eliminate all Unassimilated.

A security crewman attempted to rush her and overpower her, but instead with one smooth move, she took his own pistol and fired it into his chest, and then immediately shot two more Unassimilated who were in the way.

[Target: Eliminated.]

[Target: Eliminated.]

[Target: Eliminated.]

The remaining Unassimilated were retreating, with one stubbornly dodging each blast, before getting dragged into the turbolift. They were going to Beta Bridge.  She fired one last shot, right as the doors closed, then made her way to the Captain's chair.

Exeter, Curie, Artemis, Triumph"¦ One by one, Each ship was commanded by the Borg. She could hear each of them reporting back.

"œCollective: We have Discovery."  She stated to the Collective.

[Dem Broadshire]

Doctor Betaika
[Sickbay | USS Discovery
"œEnsign."

"œEnsign, the hypospray please."

Ensign Humphries swung his arm in a full ark, attempting to deliver a devastating blow to Betaika's left temple. Catching her hand with his, the doctor looked into the young woman's eyes, where twisted, dark veins circled around her face.
"œEnsign"¦"
She lurched again, and this time Betaika took no chances, landing and uppercut under her chin that caused her to stumble backwards. Betaika darted towards the weapons locker as quickly as he could. Turning his back on his assailant for just a moment to grab a phaser let 8 other assimilated officers get within meters of him. Ensuring that the phaser was on stun, he spun around, starting to rapidly shoot each officer that lurched towards him, progressively turning up the potency of the stun setting with each shot until they were incapacitated. The Romulan hypocritic oath didn't include do no harm, so the Tal Shair trained doctor had little worries about the amount of damage that he was inflicting on his fellow officers. While it was the last thing he wanted to do, it was for the greater good.

Deciding to move from his current position, the doctor ran towards the CMO's office, that was currently surrounded by drones attempting to enter. After swiftly incapacitating the officers, Betaika stepped inside, to find Sluchanynyy and Thane still agitated from what had just occurred. "œGood day gentlemen. We are in a tight spot at the moment." Betiaka said with a hint of concern.

[Rayek trLhoell]

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

[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.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"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.

"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.

USS Discovery
Bridge

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....

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.

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.

For a moment, when the Risan pilot had thrown himself in a tackle towards the Borg-doctor, Rayek thought that he might reach the locker first.   It wasn't to be though, as the drone-doctor recovered faster than even Rayek anticipated.  Before the Romulan could think to alter his action, the Borg who once was Broadshire, had a phaser rifle aimed up towards him.

With only two meters between them the phaser was fired, even as Rayek threw himself down into a feet first slide across the bridge's carpeted floor so that the phaser beam passed just overhead, his momentum closing the distance.  As he slid on his back towards the drone, the Romulan kicked out at the rifle in Dem's hand sending it flying before the assimilated medic could attempt to use it again; and then kicked a second time - this time towards the Borg's head in an attempt to 'stun' the drone long enough so that Rayek could get to his feet once more.

As he kicked, Rayek heard the Captain calling for a retreat to the turbolift.  Though Rayek hated to admit defeat here, the odds were not in their favor if they stayed.  Rolling away from the Dem-drone, Rayek rose to his feet and did a quick glance about to determine his best route of escape.   He spied the dropped phaser rifle on the floor between him and the pilot, in a direct path to the turbolift.  Convenient.  Rayek snatched for the weapon in passing and used it as a bludgeon to knock away other drones attempting to block his way to Lieutenant Grippen.

"Get up, Lieutenant.  We gotta go!". Behind them, Rayek could hear the Captain's remorse at having noticed Garrison's assimilation.

Rayek crouched by the turbolift doors and used the muzzle of the rifle pressed against the doorway to keep the lift doors open while the remaining unaffected officers made their escape into the lift.   "Move it everyone! Graham! Ramort! You too Lachlyn! We can't defend here."

Eventually they were inside the turbolift and on the way to the Beta Bridge. The ensign's frustrated question, didn't have an answer.  Rayek did however attempt to respond to the Captain.   "It seems this is the Changeling threat that Picard was trying to warn us about.  Somehow they have managed to assimilate a large portion of the crew."

The Romulan paused to think a moment.  "Captain, it is likely that the Borg will seek to secure the ship by taking over all three of her bridges, as well as engineering and the armory." Those would be his first targets in a boarding action if he had to take over Discovery.  He didn't say not to go to the Beta Bridge - he just needed the Captain to be aware that they would likely encounter opposition there as well.

"What weapons did we manage to salvage?" he asked, displaying the hard-fought for phaser rifle.  He'd needed to know what they had to work with if the Captain intended for this small group to take and hold the Beta Bridge.

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

NPC Crewman Kitaa Horg/Drone 356700
USS Discovery - Deck 5 - Alpha Hull Medical Facilities]

Annihilate all the Non-Assimilated.   That was the directive.

[Bridge]

The remaining Unassimilated were retreating, with one stubbornly dodging each blast, before getting dragged into the turbolift. They were going to Beta Bridge.  She fired one last shot, right as the doors closed, then made her way to the Captain's chair.

Exeter, Curie, Artemis, Triumph"¦ One by one, Each ship was commanded by the Borg. She could hear each of them reporting back.

"œCollective: We have Discovery."  She stated to the Collective.

Drone 356700 knew the directive.

It noted the presence of a Non-Assimilated in its vicinity and moved towards the Denobulan female.  Lacking an energy weapon, the Collective would use this drone's superior strength to crush the Non-Assimilated's head with its hands.

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

NPC Dr. Misha Sluchaynyy
USS Discovery - Deck 9 (Beta Hull) - Sickbay ]

Doctor Betaika
[Sickbay | USS Discovery

Deciding to move from his current position, the doctor ran towards the CMO's office, that was currently surrounded by drones attempting to enter. After swiftly incapacitating the officers, Betaika stepped inside, to find Sluchanynyy and Thane still agitated from what had just occurred. "œGood day gentlemen. We are in a tight spot at the moment." Betaika said with a hint of concern.

"You have  knack forrr underrrstatement, Tanarrr,"  the elderly Russian commented to the Romulan, addressing him not by his family name was common, but rather the man's personal name.  In the short time the Romulan had been aboard, Misha had grown to consider the other doctor a close comrade.

He frowned as he looked at the momentarily stunned medics that littered the Sickbay floor.  "What is going on vith  crrrew?" he asked, then as if answering is own question he offered up a thought.  "If I had to hazarrrd  guess, I'd say zey verrre assimilated but I don't have clue how since none have been exposed to  Borrrg nanites as farrr as I kan tell."

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

NPC PO2 Helga Tragnar/Drone 356698
[USS Discovery - Deck 2 - Armory]

| 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

"We are the Borg"

Annihilate all the Non-Assimilated.

Drone 356698 - an assimilated hybrid species containing Human and Klingon genetics - surveyed the armory.  Through the hive mind, 356698 noted the presence of another drone - 356697 - Human genetics.

[Non-target]

No others were in the armory.

Armory secure Drone 356698 announced to the Collective.

A moment later, there was sound at the armory doors as they were forced open by some determined Starfleet security officers intent on gaining weapons to defend themselves against the Borg invasion.   Unfortunately for them their former crewmates within were already assimilated.

[J.B Dersch]

NPC PO2 Helga Tragnar/Drone 356698
[USS Discovery - Deck 2 - Armory]

"We are the Borg"

Annihilate all the Non-Assimilated.

Drone 356698 - an assimilated hybrid species containing Human and Klingon genetics - surveyed the armory.  Through the hive mind, 356698 noted the presence of another drone - 356697 - Human genetics.

[Non-target]

No others were in the armory.

Armory secure Drone 356698 announced to the Collective.

A moment later, there was sound at the armory doors as they were forced open by some determined Starfleet security officers intent on gaining weapons to defend themselves against the Borg invasion.   Unfortunately for them their former crewmates within were already assimilated.

| Lt. JG Dersch | Drone-356697 | USS Discovery | Deck 2 | Armory |

Drone 356697, grabbed a Rifle as 356698 reported to the Collective that the Armory was secured. Then Non-Assimilated  Entering Armory 356697 quickly lifted up the rifle and fired off two shots, Dropping both Non-Assimilated to the floor.

[Target 2: Eliminated]
[Target 1: Eliminated]
[Primary Objective:Eliminate Non-Assimilated]
[Secondary Objective:Take Discovery]

Drone 356678 and Drone 356679 handed weapons to the other Assimilated Drones weapons, Once all armed, they moved to the Corridor and begun the Antilation of all Non-Assimilated

[Lek]

[Jeffries Tubes - Deck 11]

Having retrieved a set of tools from one of his strategically placed caches, Lek had crawled back to the deuterium control conduit. There he removed several critical components and then destroyed them with his phaser. As he knew it would be far to easy for someone to simply replicate replacement parts, he then used his phaser to fuse the connections inside the control unit. Now the entire array would have to be replaced. Still not a difficult task, but a complicated one that would take hours to accomplish.

"Discovery will not be going to warp any time soon, I can promise you that."

He commented on the quality of his sabotage, but he figured there was more muckery he could perform to keep the ship immobilized.

"Next stop, the warp coils."

Lek had to admit, having an engineering task was keeping him focused away from whatever was happening on the ship. He didn't have much time when he fled engineering, but he knew the greenish hue that infested the consoles and the black veins appearing on the crews exposed skins meant one thing...Borg. How it was happening, Lek couldn't guess, but Discovery and her crew were being assimilated remotely. Why it didn't happen to him, he also didn't know and he refused to dwell on that, because that road led to madness... and he had a job to do. He might not be able to save the ship or stop the take over, but he could keep the Borg from using the ship for anything useful.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

USS Discovery - Bridge - Turbolift

So much had happened in a short amount of time. Tanner was reeling. Her mind was jumping from her teammates to her new role to the civilians aboard. So many variables.

Looking about the lift at the various faces, it became very apparent that she wasn't the only one thinking like that. Especially for those who had families.

"We-aa" She cleared her throat, "As you know there are some hidden weapon caches on the ship, a preemptive move in the instance we lost the armoury to a takeover." Taking a calming breath she continued, "None of the lower-ranking Security know of them and with my new promotion I was just privy to the information a bit ago."

"If we use the Jeffries tubes, we can move about the ship safer." Looking up, "We can exit the lift from the roof hatch. I'd be hesitant to leave through the doors, as we don't know what's going on outside."

[Jettis Jyur]

[USS Discovery - Family Quarters -- Deck 10 Lounge ]

Jettis absently fixed his hair in his mirror for the fiftieth time as he waited. He would always be sick of the abrupt moving of ships, no matter how many times he did it. At least this ship though felt a bit more like home. He was surprised the Discovery was still standing so long after he had been stationed on it, majestic as always. But still.

"Theresa, mausi, can we hurry up? We're going to miss the ceremony." Through the reflection he watched his daughter shoot him a disgruntled glare. Resisting the urge to smirk, he turned around to face her.
"Fine, fine. I guess I won't know anybody there anyway." She grumbled, fixing her  ponytail before grabbing her shoes. "Not many." Jettis corrected her passively, shrugging before stepping towards the doors. Letting Theresa walk past him, he rested a hand on her shoulder as he navigated down to the lounge.

The place was, predictably, packed. There was an assortment of on-duty teals, golds and red, as well as some off-duty officers like Jettis. He couldn't spot Alani anywhere yet, but assumed she was somewhere amongst the crowd, likely near to the windows.
Maneuvering around so he and Theresa could get a better vantage point, Jettis took a seat as the buzz dimmed a bit when they began to shift and move, falling in line behind the ship of the hour. Jettis glanced over toward Theresa, who seemed wholly unamused. "Something wrong, lieblings?" He raised a brow at her face.
"I don't like this." The response was simple, but impactful. Jettis was about to ask for more details, when suddenly the broadcast changed from the upbeat, explanatory one to a sinister warning. The voice of the one and only Picard immediately caught everyone's attention, the message immediately striking panic into Jettis.
Before the warning had finished, a shrill screech reverberated through his head, and his heart dropped. There was a strange.. lull, in the emotions, the presences he felt around him, as if half of the people in the room dropped off. Blinking against the ringing in his ears, Jettis shot a glance around at the crowds. Nothing seemed immediately wrong, other than that bone-chilling, sickening feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Reese, are you -?" The question went unfinished, as Jettis met her eyes, that were staring blankly back at him. Unmoving, unblinking. "Hey, Theresa?" Waving a hand, he clicked his fingers to get her attention.

Slowly, his sickening feeling worsened as it seemed the people on the deck were almost reanimated. Mechanical movements as they announced their presence, and reflexively Jettis stepped back. "No-" He could hardly speak as his throat tightened. It had been so long since his last run in with the Borg, and yet entirely not long enough. The absolute pandemonium erupted on the deck, as people ran, screamed, called out desperately to those who had.. changed.

His eye shot back to Theresa as his survival instincts pulled him back to the moment. He opened his mouth to speak, even as she approached him. A volley of pleas that fell on deaf ears. Suddenly he felt a hand clamp down on his collar from behind him, yanking him backwards. Wheeling around, he prepared to fight, only to make eye contact with Zero. The man was in uniform, so he wasn't sure if he had come from the medbay, or simply taken some time off to watch from the lounge instead.

"Zero, don't." He snapped, moving to pull out of his grip. Zero had no intentions of letting him stand in that room and get himself needlessly killed though. "There's nothing you can do. Move."

The blunt words, paired with an expression Jettis could only describe as hopeless struck him hard. Eyes widening, he stumbled as he fell in step next to Zero, as everything in his being screamed at him to go back. For a moment, his mind flitted to Alani, he never did end up seeing her, but they hadn't been in the lounge long enough to spot the woman. No, no, this absolutely couldn't be happening. His masterful control over his emotions, his telepathic blocking was slipping, and even despite his years on a Starship he couldn't help but hear every scream for help. Not only the ones blasting over the intercom and emitting from every room on the ship, but the silent ones from those injured, those resisting. Yet even as he focused he couldn't hear Theresa.

Zero's tapping his commbadge was wholly useless, as the only thing broadcasted across communications was what was once the Frontier Day speech. Finding anywhere where there was no borg was essentially useless, but he knew there had to be somewhere those still standing would coordinate. Either the secondary bridge, or a medical wing. But running through the halls or through the jeffries unarmed was out of the question, so the safest  bet was the turbolift. Hoping and praying it was functioning enough to get to the beta bridge, or even simply to meet someone with their wits about them still.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]

The Weapons locker codes for the Discovery were now being transferred to all available drones.  Good. She nodded in approval.  By the second, more drones were coming online, and she directed them to the key parts of their respective ships: Take the Bridge and Main Engineering. Eliminate all Unassimilated.

A security crewman attempted to rush her and overpower her, but instead with one smooth move, she took his own pistol and fired it into his chest, and then immediately shot two more Unassimilated who were in the way.

[Target: Eliminated.]

[Target: Eliminated.]

[Target: Eliminated.]

The remaining Unassimilated were retreating, with one stubbornly dodging each blast, before getting dragged into the turbolift. They were going to Beta Bridge.  She fired one last shot, right as the doors closed, then made her way to the Captain's chair.

Exeter, Curie, Artemis, Triumph"¦ One by one, Each ship was commanded by the Borg. She could hear each of them reporting back.

"œCollective: We have Discovery."  She stated to the Collective.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]
Ensign Ruth Falleq-Tekin

Drone 056239.  She was only vaguely aware of who she was.  The Ruthie inside was pacified with the euphoria of assimilation. So the Drone she had become didn't see her father or anyone else on the bridge.  She saw ourselves, and the others.  And she recieved her instructions.

Elliminate all non-assimilated.

The Collective labeled its targets.  Captain.  First Officer.  Sec- Negative.  Second Officer Assilimated.  Chief of Security, Chief Scie- Chief Science Officer Assimilated. Helm Officer...

The Borg Drone pulled out the station phaser and raised it, firing on the Captain.  Then the next target.  Then the Captain again.  As long as they were still standing they were a threat.  As long as they were alive the Collective couldn't annihilate the Federation.

Very quickly the non-assimilated retreated and escaped through the turbolift.  The Drone walked over and sat at the First Officer's chair as the former Science Chief took the Captain's chair.  They had control of Discovery.  They also had control of Enterprise.  And control of every other ship in the network.  They were connected to each other on every ship, and even ships out within the system and sector.  There was a limit, of course, but as their Collective got bigger, more ships were being sent to eliminate defenses and threats to the Collective.

"Unsanctioned movement, turbolift.  Unsanctioned movement, Deck 11."

Thats when warp drive was taken down.  Resistance.  Priority Target 7 has not been eliminated.  Target 7 hadn't even been located.  It was a threat.  It was a big threat.

"Secure vital systems. Assess and repair damage.  Restore full functionality."

The Borg were now aware of attempts to disable Discovery.  And were moving to trap the saboteur.

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

For a moment, when the Risan pilot had thrown himself in a tackle towards the Borg-doctor, Rayek thought that he might reach the locker first.   It wasn't to be though, as the drone-doctor recovered faster than even Rayek anticipated.  Before the Romulan could think to alter his action, the Borg who once was Broadshire, had a phaser rifle aimed up towards him.

With only two meters between them the phaser was fired, even as Rayek threw himself down into a feet first slide across the bridge's carpeted floor so that the phaser beam passed just overhead, his momentum closing the distance.  As he slid on his back towards the drone, the Romulan kicked out at the rifle in Dem's hand sending it flying before the assimilated medic could attempt to use it again; and then kicked a second time - this time towards the Borg's head in an attempt to 'stun' the drone long enough so that Rayek could get to his feet once more.

As he kicked, Rayek heard the Captain calling for a retreat to the turbolift.  Though Rayek hated to admit defeat here, the odds were not in their favor if they stayed.  Rolling away from the Dem-drone, Rayek rose to his feet and did a quick glance about to determine his best route of escape.   He spied the dropped phaser rifle on the floor between him and the pilot, in a direct path to the turbolift.  Convenient.  Rayek snatched for the weapon in passing and used it as a bludgeon to knock away other drones attempting to block his way to Lieutenant Grippen.

"Get up, Lieutenant.  We gotta go!". Behind them, Rayek could hear the Captain's remorse at having noticed Garrison's assimilation.

Rayek crouched by the turbolift doors and used the muzzle of the rifle pressed against the doorway to keep the lift doors open while the remaining unaffected officers made their escape into the lift.   "Move it everyone! Graham! Ramort! You too Lachlyn! We can't defend here."

Eventually they were inside the turbolift and on the way to the Beta Bridge. The ensign's frustrated question, didn't have an answer.  Rayek did however attempt to respond to the Captain.   "It seems this is the Changeling threat that Picard was trying to warn us about.  Somehow they have managed to assimilate a large portion of the crew."

The Romulan paused to think a moment.  "Captain, it is likely that the Borg will seek to secure the ship by taking over all three of her bridges, as well as engineering and the armory." Those would be his first targets in a boarding action if he had to take over Discovery.  He didn't say not to go to the Beta Bridge - he just needed the Captain to be aware that they would likely encounter opposition there as well.

"What weapons did we manage to salvage?" he asked, displaying the hard-fought for phaser rifle.  He'd needed to know what they had to work with if the Captain intended for this small group to take and hold the Beta Bridge.

USS Discovery - Bridge - Turbolift

So much had happened in a short amount of time. Tanner was reeling. Her mind was jumping from her teammates to her new role to the civilians aboard. So many variables.

Looking about the lift at the various faces, it became very apparent that she wasn't the only one thinking like that. Especially for those who had families.

"We-aa" She cleared her throat, "As you know there are some hidden weapon caches on the ship, a preemptive move in the instance we lost the armoury to a takeover." Taking a calming breath she continued, "None of the lower-ranking Security know of them and with my new promotion I was just privy to the information a bit ago."

"If we use the Jeffries tubes, we can move about the ship safer." Looking up, "We can exit the lift from the roof hatch. I'd be hesitant to leave through the doors, as we don't know what's going on outside."

USS Discovery
Bridge

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).

[USS Discovery - En Route - Turbolift 1]

Nevir tried to not let his thoughts wander, but his heart was aching.  His has practically just lost a daughter in front of him.  Step daughter, yes, but his nonetheless.  But he couldn't afford to despair.  At least not yet.  He lifted his head back up as if he just woke up, hearing the officers around him.  The small group of officers.

"Why are we still here?  How are we still here?  How are they assimilated?" he muttered, looking around.  "Beta Bridge is just a stop.. but a good one.  I didn't have anyone stationed in Gamma or Beta because the ship's MVA was disabled.  It will buy us some time... maybe enough to retake the ship.  That's why I needed you with us, Vila.  I need someone I know can handle terrible odds with us than sacrificing yourself on the Bridge."

"Rayek is likely right.  Somehow Changelings have found a way to infect Borg nanoprobes.  Dormant probes. I think.  I... I don't know.  But to time it so well... Prophets, they only needed to infect Enterprise."

The turbolift doors opened to the thankfully dark and quiet beta bridge.  The lights automatically came on as Nevir stepped out of the turbolift.  Without hesitation he went over to the ops station and got under it, ripping out the panels.

"Get the weapons from the bridge armory station.  And help me with these panels.  We need to isolate the individual systems from each other.  We might not be able to restore functionality to Discovery, but we can at least retake the Bridge.  Remember I said that there were a bunch of us Captains who objected to the fleet mode?  We've all talked about how to get around the system.  Or at least trying to block the system signals.  Fleet Mode uses line of sight, if we can find a way to block the signals we can try to blind them.  At least in theory." he stated, while ripping out cables and chips.

"Obviously we couldn't test anything without someone breathing down our necks.  But there are at least 10 ships out there with Command crews lightly doing something like this.  It just depends on who succeeds." he added, as he kept pulling.  So far he had no luck.  The systems had redundacies that he normally would have been able to use his command codes to get around.  Trying to pull out chips and wires was all blind guesswork.

As if on cue, there was a comm that cut in, startling the Captain.

"Can anyone hear me?  This is Captain Benbassat of the Excelsior broadcasting on Frequency 99-Delta.  To all who can hear, we have managed to retake control of our bridge."

"Ben!  Somehow not surprised he beat us to it.  So now we know we can take back Discovery."

"Hold on, Helm?  What's happening?"

The Captain stopped, looking up. He scrambled up and activated the Ops display, which showed the fleet formation.  The dot labeled USS Excelsior was starting to move away from the central circle, opposite of Discovery.

"They're controlling us remotely! They are taking us out of formation!  No, no!!"

"Oh Prophets no..." he answered, watching helplessly.

"We're being directed in front of the fleet. Now we've been targetted.  Tell my family-"

The signal cut off, and the icon on screen showed torpedos from four other ship impacting it, before it vanished.  A small boom was heard on the ship; the sensors registered the shockwave from Excelsior and mimicked the sound it would have made if there was sound to travel.  Nevir dropped his head and slammed his fist on the console.  It started to shake again as it came up.

Retaking the ship was no longer an option.  Even if they could, they would end up like Benbassat.  There was really only one option, but Nevir couldn't bring himself to say it.  They needed to run.  To get off Discovery.  He couldn't do anything now, he found himself fighting tears and shaking.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

She wanted to facepalm but instead merely nodded while kicking herself for not remembering the change in staffing due to the celebrations. Deck Six held the forward lounge where a large group gathered to watch the celebrations. Surely they were affected as well.

Captain Benbassat??

Tanner knew him. He golfed with her Uncle. The panic in his voice was intense and when he was silenced, everyone felt the weight of what it meant.

"The whole ship...they just removed the whole ship."She shook her head, rage replacing the sorrow of the action they'd just noticed. "They may not be here yet, but they're too close for comfort. We need to seal this bridge since they know we're here." She motioned to the emergency access conduit, "We can still head out there and can use the Jeffries to reach the closest weapons cache. Just lock it behind."

"Anyone coming with me?" Tanner asked, "Whatever is going on, they're focused on control. I doubt they'd expect kick back this quickly."

[Malik Grippen]

[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.

[Main Bridge]

Before Malik could process what was happening or get a grip on the drone-doctor, he was sent flying by the physician who suddenly possessed increased strength. His head struck the sharper edge of the captain's armrest, causing a blinding flash and searing pain quickly followed by dizziness and wetness...blood. With adrenaline still pumping and with Rayek's quick thinking actions, Malik somehow staggered to the waiting safety of the turbo lift.

[Beta Bridge]

The Pilot staggered onto the quiet bridge clasping the nasty wound on his skull, blood soaking his uniform. He was a pilot. This wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. Malik didn't have the first clue as to how to retake a captured vessel, no less one taken by the Borglings. He flew the ship, and looked good whilst doing so. Is this going to scar?, he thought as the Risan slumped against the nearest bulkhead trying to catch his breath and staunch the flow of blood from his head, adrenaline still sufficient for him to remain conscious for now.

[Lek]

[Jeffries Tubes - Deck 7 - USS Discovery]

Lek was exhausted, the climb from deck 11 to deck 7 had been difficult, but he'd reached his goal, the Antimatter Injector System. He'd originally planned to disable the warp coils, but decided there were too many, so he went for a more vulnerable target. Just as he'd done with the Deuterium Control Conduit, he removed and destroyed multiple components with his phaser, before fusing the connections inside the injector assembly. He found himself smiling at his work.

"Never thought I'd be happy to be crippling my own ship. Now she will have to go into a spacedock for repairs. Damn Borg. Next target, the impulse engines. Ugh, deck 5, here I come."

He then scrambled up the nearest ladder and began his trek to his next act of sabotage.

[Kinley Garrison]

[USS Discovery - Family Quarters -- Deck 10 Lounge ]

Jettis absently fixed his hair in his mirror for the fiftieth time as he waited. He would always be sick of the abrupt moving of ships, no matter how many times he did it. At least this ship though felt a bit more like home. He was surprised the Discovery was still standing so long after he had been stationed on it, majestic as always. But still.

"Theresa, mausi, can we hurry up? We're going to miss the ceremony." Through the reflection he watched his daughter shoot him a disgruntled glare. Resisting the urge to smirk, he turned around to face her.
"Fine, fine. I guess I won't know anybody there anyway." She grumbled, fixing her  ponytail before grabbing her shoes. "Not many." Jettis corrected her passively, shrugging before stepping towards the doors. Letting Theresa walk past him, he rested a hand on her shoulder as he navigated down to the lounge.

The place was, predictably, packed. There was an assortment of on-duty teals, golds and red, as well as some off-duty officers like Jettis. He couldn't spot Alani anywhere yet, but assumed she was somewhere amongst the crowd, likely near to the windows.
Maneuvering around so he and Theresa could get a better vantage point, Jettis took a seat as the buzz dimmed a bit when they began to shift and move, falling in line behind the ship of the hour. Jettis glanced over toward Theresa, who seemed wholly unamused. "Something wrong, lieblings?" He raised a brow at her face.
"I don't like this." The response was simple, but impactful. Jettis was about to ask for more details, when suddenly the broadcast changed from the upbeat, explanatory one to a sinister warning. The voice of the one and only Picard immediately caught everyone's attention, the message immediately striking panic into Jettis.
Before the warning had finished, a shrill screech reverberated through his head, and his heart dropped. There was a strange.. lull, in the emotions, the presences he felt around him, as if half of the people in the room dropped off. Blinking against the ringing in his ears, Jettis shot a glance around at the crowds. Nothing seemed immediately wrong, other than that bone-chilling, sickening feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Reese, are you -?" The question went unfinished, as Jettis met her eyes, that were staring blankly back at him. Unmoving, unblinking. "Hey, Theresa?" Waving a hand, he clicked his fingers to get her attention.

Slowly, his sickening feeling worsened as it seemed the people on the deck were almost reanimated. Mechanical movements as they announced their presence, and reflexively Jettis stepped back. "No-" He could hardly speak as his throat tightened. It had been so long since his last run in with the Borg, and yet entirely not long enough. The absolute pandemonium erupted on the deck, as people ran, screamed, called out desperately to those who had.. changed.

His eye shot back to Theresa as his survival instincts pulled him back to the moment. He opened his mouth to speak, even as she approached him. A volley of pleas that fell on deaf ears. Suddenly he felt a hand clamp down on his collar from behind him, yanking him backwards. Wheeling around, he prepared to fight, only to make eye contact with Zero. The man was in uniform, so he wasn't sure if he had come from the medbay, or simply taken some time off to watch from the lounge instead.

"Zero, don't." He snapped, moving to pull out of his grip. Zero had no intentions of letting him stand in that room and get himself needlessly killed though. "There's nothing you can do. Move."

The blunt words, paired with an expression Jettis could only describe as hopeless struck him hard. Eyes widening, he stumbled as he fell in step next to Zero, as everything in his being screamed at him to go back. For a moment, his mind flitted to Alani, he never did end up seeing her, but they hadn't been in the lounge long enough to spot the woman. No, no, this absolutely couldn't be happening. His masterful control over his emotions, his telepathic blocking was slipping, and even despite his years on a Starship he couldn't help but hear every scream for help. Not only the ones blasting over the intercom and emitting from every room on the ship, but the silent ones from those injured, those resisting. Yet even as he focused he couldn't hear Theresa.

Zero's tapping his commbadge was wholly useless, as the only thing broadcasted across communications was what was once the Frontier Day speech. Finding anywhere where there was no borg was essentially useless, but he knew there had to be somewhere those still standing would coordinate. Either the secondary bridge, or a medical wing. But running through the halls or through the jeffries unarmed was out of the question, so the safest  bet was the turbolift. Hoping and praying it was functioning enough to get to the beta bridge, or even simply to meet someone with their wits about them still.

[As Murphy]

[Deck 10]

Murphy and Harrington were running, terrified out of their minds, all dignity having left them long ago now. All their friends, most now Borged with soulless eyes and phasers set to kill were coming after them in swarms, and the most weaponry they had was a steak knife  Harrington had snagged from the kitchens as they ran through. Not good odds. Racing through the hallways, the two ensigns saw someone getting into the open turbolift - someone who didn't look like they were assimilated! An ally! They just had to get there before the doors shut, or else they'd be in big trouble. "œHold the turbolift! We're not assimilated! shouted Murphy as the two ensigns raced across the long halls of the ship to get there.

[Jettis Jyur]

[ USS Discovery - Deck 10 ]

When the called turbolift finally arrived, Jettis breathed a sigh of relief that it was there was no borg on it already. What they were preoccupied with he hardly cared, but as he stepped onto the elevator, he whipped around at the sound of a voice. Two people running to catch up, and a quick enough glance over confirmed their claim that they were not affected by the current disaster.

Zero threw an arm out, trusting the computer to detect the action and prevent it from taking off prematurely. "Come on!"

Seeing two more people was definitely welcome, knowing that they were not yet overrun. Whether they would be able to reclaim their ship would be seen, but the more hands on deck the more chance they stood. When the two finally reached them, Zero allowed the doors to zip shut, sealing them into what was, for now, a safe haven. "What's going on out there?" Jettis wasn't sure where they had come from, but he hoped that somebody would have information, anything. "We were just trying to find some others who haven't been taken. But everyone's scattered. Think we can get to the beta bridge or find some phasers?"

[Kinley Garrison]

[ USS Discovery - Deck 10 ]

When the called turbolift finally arrived, Jettis breathed a sigh of relief that it was there was no borg on it already. What they were preoccupied with he hardly cared, but as he stepped onto the elevator, he whipped around at the sound of a voice. Two people running to catch up, and a quick enough glance over confirmed their claim that they were not affected by the current disaster.

Zero threw an arm out, trusting the computer to detect the action and prevent it from taking off prematurely. "Come on!"

Seeing two more people was definitely welcome, knowing that they were not yet overrun. Whether they would be able to reclaim their ship would be seen, but the more hands on deck the more chance they stood. When the two finally reached them, Zero allowed the doors to zip shut, sealing them into what was, for now, a safe haven. "What's going on out there?" Jettis wasn't sure where they had come from, but he hoped that somebody would have information, anything. "We were just trying to find some others who haven't been taken. But everyone's scattered. Think we can get to the beta bridge or find some phasers?"

[ As Murphy]

They made it! Murphy and Harrington took a moment to breathe in the relative safety of the turbolift, before nodding. "œY-y-y-yeah. S-so, we-we were just in 10-forward watching the parade of ships and fireworks with our buddy Vinod  here, and then the Admiral came on and said something about the Borg coming, and then, Vinnie and practically everyone in the room turned"¦ like Zombies!"   stuttered Murphy, who was shaking like an Earth Chihuahua dog from the shock of it all.  Murphy interjected," We got out when we could, but there were a few others there that got swarmed and couldn't get out. I don't think they're alive anymore. We were just looking for someone who wasn't turned too."

Murphy pondered. "œIf there's anyone left, they might be t-trying to hold the Beta bridge as long as they can. But, it's not going to be able to control anything on the ship with that Fleet mode active"¦ But I think I do know of a stash of weapons. I had an old Flight Chief who always kept a stash of guns in the floors of the shuttles when she was here. It's not really on the official registers for weapons, but they're still there, and it probably means that the Borg don't know about them, not to mention that there might be less Borg in the hangars than up here.

[Rayek trLhoell]

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

[USS Discovery - En Route - Turbolift 1]

Nevir tried to not let his thoughts wander, but his heart was aching.  His has practically just lost a daughter in front of him.  Step daughter, yes, but his nonetheless.  But he couldn't afford to despair.  At least not yet.  He lifted his head back up as if he just woke up, hearing the officers around him.  The small group of officers.

"Why are we still here?  How are we still here?  How are they assimilated?" he muttered, looking around.  "Beta Bridge is just a stop.. but a good one.  I didn't have anyone stationed in Gamma or Beta because the ship's MVA was disabled.  It will buy us some time... maybe enough to retake the ship.  That's why I needed you with us, Vila.  I need someone I know can handle terrible odds with us than sacrificing yourself on the Bridge."

"Rayek is likely right.  Somehow Changelings have found a way to infect Borg nanoprobes.  Dormant probes. I think.  I... I don't know.  But to time it so well... Prophets, they only needed to infect Enterprise."

USS Discovery - Bridge - Turbolift

So much had happened in a short amount of time. Tanner was reeling. Her mind was jumping from her teammates to her new role to the civilians aboard. So many variables.

Looking about the lift at the various faces, it became very apparent that she wasn't the only one thinking like that. Especially for those who had families.

"We-aa" She cleared her throat, "As you know there are some hidden weapon caches on the ship, a preemptive move in the instance we lost the armoury to a takeover." Taking a calming breath she continued, "None of the lower-ranking Security know of them and with my new promotion I was just privy to the information a bit ago."

"If we use the Jeffries tubes, we can move about the ship safer." Looking up, "We can exit the lift from the roof hatch. I'd be hesitant to leave through the doors, as we don't know what's going on outside."

While the Captain explained his decision to continue on to the Beta Bridge, Rayek tapped behind his ear in an attempt to contact his wife.  But even the 'off-the-books' comms lines were locked down.  Fvadt!

Rayek completely agreed with the Security Chief's suggestion, to exit out the lift's emergency hatch but the Captain had other plans.

The turbolift doors opened to the thankfully dark and quiet beta bridge.  The lights automatically came on as Nevir stepped out of the turbolift.  Without hesitation he went over to the ops station and got under it, ripping out the panels.

"Get the weapons from the bridge armory station.  And help me with these panels.  We need to isolate the individual systems from each other.  We might not be able to restore functionality to Discovery, but we can at least retake the Bridge.  Remember I said that there were a bunch of us Captains who objected to the fleet mode?  We've all talked about how to get around the system.  Or at least trying to block the system signals.  Fleet Mode uses line of sight, if we can find a way to block the signals we can try to blind them.  At least in theory." he stated, while ripping out cables and chips.

"Obviously we couldn't test anything without someone breathing down our necks.  But there are at least 10 ships out there with Command crews lightly doing something like this.  It just depends on who succeeds." he added, as he kept pulling.  So far he had no luck.  The systems had redundacies that he normally would have been able to use his command codes to get around.  Trying to pull out chips and wires was all blind guesswork.

As if on cue, there was a comm that cut in, startling the Captain.

"Can anyone hear me?  This is Captain Benbassat of the Excelsior broadcasting on Frequency 99-Delta.  To all who can hear, we have managed to retake control of our bridge."

"Ben!  Somehow not surprised he beat us to it.  So now we know we can take back Discovery."

"Hold on, Helm?  What's happening?"

The Captain stopped, looking up. He scrambled up and activated the Ops display, which showed the fleet formation.  The dot labeled USS Excelsior was starting to move away from the central circle, opposite of Discovery.

"They're controlling us remotely! They are taking us out of formation!  No, no!!"

"Oh Prophets no..." he answered, watching helplessly.

"We're being directed in front of the fleet. Now we've been targetted.  Tell my family-"

The signal cut off, and the icon on screen showed torpedos from four other ship impacting it, before it vanished.  A small boom was heard on the ship; the sensors registered the shockwave from Excelsior and mimicked the sound it would have made if there was sound to travel.  Nevir dropped his head and slammed his fist on the console.  It started to shake again as it came up.

Retaking the ship was no longer an option.  Even if they could, they would end up like Benbassat.  There was really only one option, but Nevir couldn't bring himself to say it.  They needed to run.  To get off Discovery.  He couldn't do anything now, he found himself fighting tears and shaking.

She wanted to facepalm but instead merely nodded while kicking herself for not remembering the change in staffing due to the celebrations. Deck Six held the forward lounge where a large group gathered to watch the celebrations. Surely they were affected as well.

Captain Benbassat??

Tanner knew him. He golfed with her Uncle. The panic in his voice was intense and when he was silenced, everyone felt the weight of what it meant.

"The whole ship...they just removed the whole ship."She shook her head, rage replacing the sorrow of the action they'd just noticed. "They may not be here yet, but they're too close for comfort. We need to seal this bridge since they know we're here." She motioned to the emergency access conduit, "We can still head out there and can use the Jeffries to reach the closest weapons cache. Just lock it behind."

"Anyone coming with me?" Tanner asked, "Whatever is going on, they're focused on control. I doubt they'd expect kick back this quickly."

As the doors opened to the Beta Bridge, Rayek was ready with his phaser rifle, ready to fire - his weapon on its heaviest stun setting - at any Borg movement from within.  But the room was quiet for now.  The console displays all showed the same green symbol overtop the Fleet Formation Mode wording.

Rayek was already on path towards the weapons locker when the Captain suggested exactly that.  It took only a moment or two to empty it of the half dozen rifles, and various stun and smoke grenades that were stored there.   He also activated the mobile transporter inhibitor which was stored there for exactly this sort of hostile takeover situation.  At least the Borg weren't going to be able to transport in now.  While Rayek did that,  the Captain, began sabotaging consoles; he also explained about the opposition to this Fleet Formation mode by several other Captains.

"Lorut, Addams - I hope you are helping the Captain in his sabotage there. " He called out figuring those two would know best what circuits to pull and chips to break.

Seeing that Lachlyn was covering the entrances, Rayek continued to gather the weapons scattered about the room - collecting the hand phasers next.  They were located under each console.   No sense in leaving them behind for the Borg to use on the crew.

In the midst of Tekin's explanation, a transmission came in from Captain Benbassat , clearly hijacked from the Borg.

While others watched the video feed, Rayek continued to move about the room counting the survivors so far.  Nine, on a bridge that had a capacity for  passing out weapons and grenades to those in need, listening as the Captain of the Excelsior attempted to rally the other ships to fight back like they were.    Unfortunately, for the Excelsior the fight was short lived.  An entire ship destroyed.  Assimilated and Free-willed alike.  Dead.

There were six rifles in the locker (plus his own).. that was not even one for each of the commissioned officers present.   Similarly there were only six hand phasers (plus what weapons the others might have already with them).  It wasn't common practice for officers to just carry weapons on them.  Department Heads yes, on duty security yes.... but not the average officer.  That's what the weapon stashes were for.

Rayek tried to do a weapons count and in doing so noticed that the Flight chief didn't look so well.

[Main Bridge]

Before Malik could process what was happening or get a grip on the drone-doctor, he was sent flying by the physician who suddenly possessed increased strength. His head struck the sharper edge of the captain's armrest, causing a blinding flash and searing pain quickly followed by dizziness and wetness...blood. With adrenaline still pumping and with Rayek's quick thinking actions, Malik somehow staggered to the waiting safety of the turbo lift.

[Beta Bridge]

The Pilot staggered onto the quiet bridge clasping the nasty wound on his skull, blood soaking his uniform. He was a pilot. This wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. Malik didn't have the first clue as to how to retake a captured vessel, no less one taken by the Borglings. He flew the ship, and looked good whilst doing so. Is this going to scar?, he thought as the Risan slumped against the nearest bulkhead trying to catch his breath and staunch the flow of blood from his head, adrenaline still sufficient for him to remain conscious for now.

"Ensign Ramort, Chief Graham.  See to Lieutenant Grippen's injury.  I know you are not medics - just do the best you can."

His finally determination had him handing out rifles and type 2 hand phasers to the Captain, Lieutenants Addams and Lachlyn (if she didn't already have either on her presently), and Ensigns T'Prith and Ramort.   For the moment, with the man's injury, Rayek withheld handing the Risan pilot a firearm.  Nor did he hand anything out to Ensign Lorut, since he already knew from her barrage of attacks on the Alpha Bridge - that the Bajoran Ops officer had 2 hand phasers already.   The last rifle (other than his own) went to Chief Petty Graham and he kept the last hand phaser in reserve to pass to Lieutenant when the man was more steady.

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

NPC PO2 Helga Tragnar/Drone 356698
[USS Discovery-B - Deck 2 - Armory >> Deck 7]

| Lt. JG Dersch | Drone-356697 | USS Discovery | Deck 2 | Armory |

Drone 356697, grabbed a Rifle as 356698 reported to the Collective that the Armory was secured. Then Non-Assimilated  Entering Armory 356697 quickly lifted up the rifle and fired off two shots, Dropping both Non-Assimilated to the floor.

[Target 2: Eliminated]
[Target 1: Eliminated]
[Primary Objective: Eliminate Non-Assimilated]
[Secondary Objective: Take Discovery]

Drone 356678 and Drone 356679 handed weapons to the other Assimilated Drones weapons, Once all armed, they moved to the Corridor and begun the Annihilation of all Non-Assimilated

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Eliminate all non-assimilated.

The Collective labeled its targets.  Captain.  First Officer.  Sec- Negative.  Second Officer Assilimated.  Chief of Security, Chief Scie- Chief Science Officer Assimilated. Helm Officer...

Very quickly the non-assimilated retreated and escaped through the turbolift.  The Drone walked over and sat at the First Officer's chair as the former Science Chief took the Captain's chair.  They had control of Discovery.  They also had control of Enterprise.  And control of every other ship in the network.  They were connected to each other on every ship, and even ships out within the system and sector.  There was a limit, of course, but as their Collective got bigger, more ships were being sent to eliminate defenses and threats to the Collective.

"Unsanctioned movement, turbolift.  Unsanctioned movement, Deck 11."

Thats when warp drive was taken down.  Resistance.  Priority Target 7 has not been eliminated.  Target 7 hadn't even been located.  It was a threat.  It was a big threat.

"Secure vital systems. Assess and repair damage.  Restore full functionality."

The Borg were now aware of attempts to disable Discovery.  And were moving to trap the saboteur.

There was no emotion at all from the Klingon hybrid Borg drone at watching the two security crewman eliminated.  Their individualness was noted and recognized by Drone 356698; but as mere crewmen their names weren't on the target list - at least at present.   Their elimination was reported to the Collective so that when their names/roles did appear on the list, they could immediately be struck off as having been eliminated already.

Having handed out all the weapons in the Armory to assimilated personnel, Drone 356698 received new orders to located Target 7.  Species Ferengi. Position: Chief Engineer.   Collective knowledge from the Assimilated had provided information that this drone's shell was familiar to the Ferengi and which could be provided advantage.

The sabotage reports suggested the target was using the Jeffries tubes.  A request was sent to the most senior of Borg on the ship.  Drone 356698 required transport to nearest access to the most recent sabotage site.

[Jeffries Tubes - Deck 7 - USS Discovery]

Lek was exhausted, the climb from deck 11 to deck 7 had been difficult, but he'd reached his goal, the Antimatter Injector System. He'd originally planned to disable the warp coils, but decided there were too many, so he went for a more vulnerable target. Just as he'd done with the Deuterium Control Conduit, he removed and destroyed multiple components with his phaser, before fusing the connections inside the injector assembly. He found himself smiling at his work.

"Never thought I'd be happy to be crippling my own ship. Now she will have to go into a spacedock for repairs. Damn Borg. Next target, the impulse engines. Ugh, deck 5, here I come."

He then scrambled up the nearest ladder and began his trek to his next act of sabotage.

[USS Discovery-B Deck 7]

The accuracy of the transporter system meant that transporting into the Jeffries tube was not possible.  The nearest access was Deck 7 Corridor 7A-4.  With a drone sitting at the controls in Ops, Security and Engineering, Drone 356698 arrived to the location and found the hatchway already unlocked.  They entered and listened.  Their biological shell had an excellent olfactory sensory and was soon able to locate the missing target as being in the ladder tube just around the corner from her position.

They walked to the ladder access and looked up.

"Target located."  Drone 356698 announced then began to climb rapidly, closing the distance between them and Target 7.

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

NPC Lek
[USS Discovery-B  - Engineering]

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.
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?"

The Ferengi startled by the sudden appearance of another, seemed to shrink back a moment.   "Why would you even question that?!  Of course, I'm the real Lek.  I'm the only Lek!  Do I look like a Borg to you?!"  The Ferengi huffed.  "I don't have time to play 20 questions, with you."