Season 15: Episode 4 - Vox Populai

[Malik Grippen]

[Shuttle 2 | On its way to Sol Station]

"I am not quite ready to die just yet Sir, instead I have one last idea. I am rerouting all power to engines but I will also reroute life support, if the shuttle explodes we won't need it anyway. Life support energy will be rerouted to forcefield though. I am routing those through the navigational deflector to create a thin membran around the ship. It itself won't protect us from hits but it can catch what we need. With all that destruction going on and our own leakage we are sitting in a cloud of ions and other ionised particles. These get trapped in the membran and in turn polarizer the Hull, making it more resilient against incoming attacks. It isn't as effective as full shields but is is the predecessor technology."

While speaking he already began to implement the procedure.

On the control panel quickly dissapered one system indicator after another until finally even lifesupport went offline. The computer commented on this with a long string of warnings and error messages but he locked them all out, there wasn't time to worry about them know. Later Engineering would probably kill him though if they discovered what he had done to the ship. This trick was crude and would eventually have negative effects on the molecular structure of the plating but they only needed to land on the Station in mostly one piece, the Shuttle wouldn't be in use after that anyways for some time.

Having finished the power transfer engine output nearly doubled, only adding to the list of systems that would need an Engineer to evtually fix, but the shuttle was now a lot faster and only that mattered.

"With any luck the polarizer hull even can scatter the targeting scanners somewhat."

[Shuttle Two, Near to Station]

The ensign's words were lost on Malik early on in the explanation, he was a pilot not a scientist. He flew things and looked good whilst doing so. The Risan was gladdened however when he felt the extra 'oomph' drive them forward, his body being pushed harder against the seat in response. Just in time to, as the torpedo that had their name written on it sailed by.

"Great work! Whatever the Academy's teaching these days, it's paying off."

Nevir glanced out of the window at the other shuttle from Discovery.  The Blue Ridge, if he remembered correctly, these shuttles were named for mountains in North America.  To fit the theme of 'discovery' for his ship.  He shook his head to clear those unnecessary thoughts.  Instead, the Captain took Vila's seat as she excused herself.  He briefly shook his head; after the time spent on the holodeck, she was the last person he expected to need a head break, but he didn't say anything and concentrated on monitoring systems and chatter.

"This isn't good... the Sacramento and the Keldor just entered the system and went quiet.  They were responding to Spacedock's call for aid.  Those were just the closest two ships, at least a dozen others are on the way.  I don't think its limited to just the fleet ships anymore."

The cockpit lit up as one of the docking rings took a hit as they sailed under it.  The bombardment was now in full swing.  And Bay 47 lay just ahead.  The system panel lit up as the station began shuttle docking procedure. As they neared the edge of the bay, however, the comm went off.

"Discovery shuttle!  Its a trap! Stay away!"

It was too late to stop, and they could see into the bay.  There were small arms firing both in the bay, and now at the shuttle.  Nevir grimaced, but shook his head.

"A bit late to get that message.  We're going in anyway.  Phasers out, we're going in hot!" he shouted, as the shuttle was pulled in and landed.

"Be aware, guys... someone just tried to kill us.  Fight our way out of the bay and get to a security station, hopefully we'll find non-assimilated.  Our goal is to make it to Starbase Operations and see what they are doing up there."

With that, the Captain opened the shuttle doors, and started firing.

[Space Dock, Hanger Bay 47]

With Ramort's quick actions, the second shuttle survived the few remaining kilometres to the station and maintained its formation with shuttle one. There was no thought to the proper docking speed or procedure, they had to get onboard as quickly as possible. As they flew closer, Malik couldn't help but notice the phaser-fight happening across the hanger. The Borg were here to.

"Grab a rifle, I hope you performed well on the Academy's marksmanship course, Mr Ramort."

The Risan had one more ace up his sleeve. As their shuttle entered the bay at breakneck speed, Malik aimed it directly between the two opposing forces to create some cover for the friendly-Starfleet personnel. The shuttle shuddered violently as it smashed down on the deck plating and skidded to a halt in the bay-centre.

Malik quickly got out of the pilot seat, grabbed a phaser rifle and opened the rear hatch aiming down the sights and ran out firing at the Borglings, shouting "For Risa!"

[James Ramort]

[Shuttle Two, Near to Station]

The ensign's words were lost on Malik early on in the explanation, he was a pilot not a scientist. He flew things and looked good whilst doing so. The Risan was gladdened however when he felt the extra 'oomph' drive them forward, his body being pushed harder against the seat in response. Just in time to, as the torpedo that had their name written on it sailed by.

"Great work! Whatever the Academy's teaching these days, it's paying off."

[Space Dock, Hanger Bay 47]

With Ramort's quick actions, the second shuttle survived the few remaining kilometres to the station and maintained its formation with shuttle one. There was no thought to the proper docking speed or procedure, they had to get onboard as quickly as possible. As they flew closer, Malik couldn't help but notice the phaser-fight happening across the hanger. The Borg were here to.

"Grab a rifle, I hope you performed well on the Academy's marksmanship course, Mr Ramort."

The Risan had one more ace up his sleeve. As their shuttle entered the bay at breakneck speed, Malik aimed it directly between the two opposing forces to create some cover for the friendly-Starfleet personnel. The shuttle shuddered violently as it smashed down on the deck plating and skidded to a halt in the bay-centre.

Malik quickly got out of the pilot seat, grabbed a phaser rifle and opened the rear hatch aiming down the sights and ran out firing at the Borglings, shouting "For Risa!"

[Sol Station | Hangar Bay 47]

Ramort in fact wasn't as good a marksman as he was good with manipulating physics.
It wasn't even close if he was honest. He could hold a phaser and fire it too, even at the correct target. But high pressure fire fights are something he liked to avoid. Sadly, the Universe wasn't asking today what he would like to do, and so he found himself again with his Phaser in his hands.

The Shuttle had created an obstacle but the Borgs Phaserfire was quickly leaving scorch marks in the unprotected platting.
The Officers on the Shuttle left through the hatch, following Lieutenant Grippen into battle.

Outside, the air was filled with the flashes of dozens of streams of charged Nadion Particles every second, leaving the air ionized and with the iconic smell of ozone and another smell. The unmistakable hint of burned flesh. While Starfleet had all their Phasers set to stun, the Borg weren't playing by the same rules. Their weapons were set to kill and they were finding their targets. Around them Officers fell, each of them a person, each of them having their own friends and family. Each of them a loss, a terrible loss for the Federation. Each a victim of the Borg, enemies of free will and now, apparently, also life itself.

"FOR THE FEDERATION!", Ramort screamed, joining the flock of Officers from the Shuttle, phaser firing at the Borg. He quickly ducked behind the Shuttles nacelle, his phaser trained at the incoming Borg. There were multiple coming from the Hangars Doors. His first shoot went just above the last ones head prompting the Drones to turn to him. Their black eyes and the surrounding veins casting an eary image that would haunt him for a long time still after.
He managed to turn back into cover quickly enough to dodge their returning fires but their beams still caused sparks to spring forth from the Nacelles reinforced platting.

All around the Bay Officers were calling out orders, coordinating fire and announcing targets of priority. Drones with the best tactical positions or higher grade weapons. Drones in places easy to break through or even just those that had become isolated from the attacking hive.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

Tanner cast a solemn glance at M'Nia, her determination mirrored in her eyes. "Let's go."

Their progress through the dimly lit tubes was slow. As they moved forward, Tanner periodically emerged from the access panels, leaving M'Nia to hide safely.

The aftermath of the conflict lay scattered - both Borg and Starfleet casualties. Tanner's heart sank at the sight. Yet, amidst the lifeless bodies, there was a flicker of hope. The Borg, relentless in their pursuit, had left sections of the ship cleared in their wake, providing Tanner the opportunity to search for survivors.

And find survivors she did.

A soft gasp escaped Tanner's lips as she stumbled upon a hidden enclave of Starfleet personnel, huddled together with only adrenaline and fear to keep them lucid. They'd almost attacked her onsite but one security officer stepped in.

Assessing their condition, while offering words of encouragement and false assurments that they'd find a way through it they rejoined M'nia. With new numbers they continued their journey through the tubes, now armed with more than their makeshift weapons. Hopeful to find more and rescue those who had managed to evade the Borg's relentless advance.

Freezing Tanner looked to their group, "Stay here. I'll be right back."

[Jettis Jyur]

-----------------
[Bridge]

[As Kinley One.]

One of the drones had caught a glance at the bomber saboteur. Analysis indicated that the weapons this bomber had were a serious threat to the Ship. Unacceptable. This Unassimilated had to be hunted down and eliminated. An image of the red-shirted saboteur was transmitted throughout the network of Borg on the Discovery as a lookout. One in particular was particularly close to the subject,  356697 would spearhead the search.  Annihilate the bomber and the other Unassimilated on sight.
----------------------

[Somewhere?]

[It didn't work.  She had tried breaking free and had almost gotten through.   Like she did the first time, but this time, the Collective held her in a vice-like grip. They remembered her transgression during her last mission, and they would not let her go again. Despite the Collective trying to lull her, smother her,  something felt different, felt wrong this time. Like there was rot in the hive. Something tainted and sick, far different from her memories of being there before.

And then something shook her out of her reverie from the Collective, from the voices and orders echoing throughout. A voice! Someone else? The Collective might terminate her if she tried to fight again, but if someone else was out there, she had to try, at least. "œI hear you. Hold on!"
-------------------
[As Kinley One]

[Bridge]

Spacedock's shields were at 75% integrity and failing. The bombardment was still going on schedule, with full Fleet power, even with trying to aim for any Unassimilated who were foolish enough to try running to the Spacedock. Suddenly, a sudden anomaly rippled through the collective. Another defect. "œSubdue all defects within the Collective. We must evolve."

--------------
[Meanwhile]

[Shuttlebays]

[ As Murphy]

The blast slammed Murphy face-first onto the floor, leaving his ears ringing.  It worked pretty well if he did say so himself.  Harrington helped pick him up, nodding to the scientists whose names they still hadn't gotten yet. "œI'm pretty sure there's some down on the way to engineering.

The Jeffries? A pit of dread welled in Murphy's stomach as he imagined the cramped, tight corridors of the Jeffries. He had gotten lost there once and swore he would never willingly go in there again. Well, it was either that or being at the wrong end of the phaser. "œR-right. Jeffries tubes.

| Lt. JG Dersch/Drone 356697 | USS Discovery

Drone 356697 was given the Lead Drone in finding the Defects.
Annihilate the bomber and the other Unassimilated on sight.
Acknowledge 356697 replied.

He then moved to the Lift and Drones 789654, 789655, 789656, entered the lift and made their way down to the Deck of Explosion. As the came out, The Hall was blocked.

Recalculating Route.....Use Jeffertubes..

They then begun the climb in the jeffertubes.

[ Shuttlebay - Jefferies ]

Jettis could immediately sense Murphy's hesitance, but there was no time to argue about it. The longer they stalled, the more likely a drone would catch up to them. "Alright, we'll head for there. Get you two out, and I.. have someone to find before I leave." As he passed Murphy, he clapped a hand on his shoulder with a nod. "You'll make it out of here."

It was a rather empty promise, there was no guarantee any of them would make it out alive. But if Jettis doubted that, it didn't show past his blank expression. With that, he took point in the horizontal jefferies tube, moving toward main engineering. It wasn't a far trek, however the explosion had understandably sent off alarm bells within the collective. And with only enough headroom to crouch though, travel wasn't exactly fast. Reaching the first junction was error-free, however as the group readied to continue on towards Engineering, there was the unmistakable sound of one of the hatches beside them being accessed. Someone was crawling up from below, and judging by the amount of steps, Jettis wasn't optimistic it was more survivors.

Swearing, Jettis quickly assessed their options - they couldn't go back the way they came, they couldn't detonate an explosive, and they certainly couldn't go down. That left forward, left, or up. They had no information on who, or what was in any of those directions, so best course seemed to just continue towards engineering and the life pods as much as they could.

"Quick, I'll block them off, open all the hatches and run." he barked. Without relaying the information verbally, he pointed down the main hallway, towards engineering. Then, he moved to unlock the nearest hatch - the one above him. It took much longer than he would have liked, but the more they could confuse the drones on which path they had taken, the better the chance that they would split up to explore all of them.

Not wasting any more time to run to another hatch, Jettis would follow behind, ripping open his match box to light his smoke bomb and toss it into the intersecting jeffries, before running. There was another intersection up ahead, if they could reach that one in time they might be able to block it off are lose the drones. Unfortunately, it seemed there was already someone ahead of them. Reeling back, Jettis clutched the remaining cannister as he stared down at them. "You.."

[ Somewhere... - Drone 356603 ]

That nebulous voice in the collective seemed to fade out for a moment, before returning when she heard an answer. An answer! Someone else was in here! "I'm here! Ther-" She called, before her programming fought back. She moved towards another officer she had tracked back to the medical wing, phaser in and raised level to his head. Any pleas for mercy felt on deaf ears, even as she called out from within.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck 3 >>> XO quarters] Stardate 78288.5  (April 16, 2401)

Rayek picked up Phlome's call over his open emergency channel.

"Doctor, the ship has been declared lost. You must evacuate the ship.  Either head for the shuttlebay or an escape pod." Rayek announced deadpan like a Vulcan though inside his emotions raged at what was happening.    He was standing inside the open doorway to his quarters and there was evidence of an a disturbance.  A spilled drink, a knocked over couch.  Then muffled sounds of weeping coming from the bedroom.

"I have to go, Doctor.  Good luck."

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

The voice from Rayek ignited the flame of hope within her heart that were almost extinguished. The pain on her shoulder had been diminished, but it still hurt when she had to move her arm and pressed on her comm badge to report, "Oooh! Commander, I am glad to hear your voice! W-Wait... evacuate?"

Then he wished her good luck and closed the emergency communications. She felt fear gripping her again, but tried to keep herself motivated. If the Commander was still alive, maybe others were too. In any case, orders had been issued, and she intended to follow them.

Gritting her teeth, she continued her descent through the Jefferies Spinal Tube, doing her best to try and remember those schematics she had once seen of the internals of the ship. If she could only remember that glimpse, maybe she could find her way to the escape pods. That was if the Borg did not find her first.

She felt the urge to cry again, from all the sensations currently overwhelming her. She wanted to stop and crawl over to a corner and tell herself that she was going to be alright. But she couldn't stop. Her instinct told her to keep going. To reach the end of this maze and try to find a way out.

Meelar stopped every once in a while, trying to determine if the Jefferies tubes that opened up at her sides led to her destination. But she was not certain. She just couldn't remember. She wasn't an Engineer for God's sake! Why was this happening to her?! Why was this happening to her colleagues, her friends?! Why her?! What had she done to deserve this?!

What she could do to save herself...

"W-Who's there?!"

She exclaimed as a defensive measure, as the sound of footsteps suddenly made her react. Had the Borg finally caught up to her? Or there were indeed more people still uninfected within the ship? She was not too sure, but she had already given her position. She did her best to grab the stairwell, reaching for her tricorder, and tried to scan in the general direction of the sounds...

[ Shuttlebay - Jefferies ]

Jettis could immediately sense Murphy's hesitance, but there was no time to argue about it. The longer they stalled, the more likely a drone would catch up to them. "Alright, we'll head for there. Get you two out, and I.. have someone to find before I leave." As he passed Murphy, he clapped a hand on his shoulder with a nod. "You'll make it out of here."

It was a rather empty promise, there was no guarantee any of them would make it out alive. But if Jettis doubted that, it didn't show past his blank expression. With that, he took point in the horizontal jefferies tube, moving toward main engineering. It wasn't a far trek, however the explosion had understandably sent off alarm bells within the collective. And with only enough headroom to crouch though, travel wasn't exactly fast. Reaching the first junction was error-free, however as the group readied to continue on towards Engineering, there was the unmistakable sound of one of the hatches beside them being accessed. Someone was crawling up from below, and judging by the amount of steps, Jettis wasn't optimistic it was more survivors.

Swearing, Jettis quickly assessed their options - they couldn't go back the way they came, they couldn't detonate an explosive, and they certainly couldn't go down. That left forward, left, or up. They had no information on who, or what was in any of those directions, so best course seemed to just continue towards engineering and the life pods as much as they could.

"Quick, I'll block them off, open all the hatches and run." he barked. Without relaying the information verbally, he pointed down the main hallway, towards engineering. Then, he moved to unlock the nearest hatch - the one above him. It took much longer than he would have liked, but the more they could confuse the drones on which path they had taken, the better the chance that they would split up to explore all of them.

Not wasting any more time to run to another hatch, Jettis would follow behind, ripping open his match box to light his smoke bomb and toss it into the intersecting jeffries, before running. There was another intersection up ahead, if they could reach that one in time they might be able to block it off are lose the drones. Unfortunately, it seemed there was already someone ahead of them. Reeling back, Jettis clutched the remaining cannister as he stared down at them. "You.."

She froze as she came upon what at first glance she identified as a human, a Science Officer. She proceeded to scan him, quickly breaking off the self-imposed spell, yet she couldn't stop trembling, nor stare at him as her mind recognized him. Zero. Medical Officer, she had seen him before. She was familiar with him.

Yet he wore a Science officer uniform.

The readings gave off a negative ping, and she immediately proceeded to eye the device he held in one hand. She slowly shook her head, "W-Wait... Z-Zero... please... d-don't..."

She spoke, trying to keep him from potentially blowing her up. Or himself. Or both. Her mind raced to try and find a way to convince him that she was not infected, "I-I am... n-not your enemy... please..."

She slowly scanned herself, to show him the truth, before offering him the tricorder, "See? I-I just... I just want to get to the pods... and w-work on a cure for this... this... madness. I just want the n-nightmare to end..."

She gulped, trying to calm herself down by taking deep breaths, "Do you know how to r-reach the escape pods?"

[Lorut Vila]

Shuttle 1
AQ
Near SpaceDock

Vila returned quickly-she wasn't one to stay idle anyway. Her breaks were barely breaks-she took only the allowed time, and no more. Usually less. She settled back into her seat. A hail from the Discovery came through. Holy sh*t, there were survivors still?

"Captain! We're getting an SOS from Commander tr'Lhohell's badge," she said. "I can do it. I hope. We're close enough. If I can beam from DS9 to my mom's house that one time, it's worth it to try," she said. She tapped some buttons, and let out a breath. Hopefully, it would work.

Alternatively, we could find a means off the ship ourselves either in an escape pod or other shuttles

After a bit, they'd arrived near the Dock, and the Captain spoke out.

A bit late to get that message.  We're going in anyway.  Phasers out, we're going in hot!...Be aware, guys... someone just tried to kill us.  Fight our way out of the bay and get to a security station, hopefully we'll find non-assimilated.  Our goal is to make it to Starbase Operations and see what they are doing up there.

Vila just nodded. He knew she'd be ready.

"Got it. Prepped to dock," she reported. "Systems are wiped, though, they figured out my backdoor code," she sighed deeply.

[Rayek trLhoell]

NPC Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[Shuttle >>> Spacedock]

[Shuttle Ozarks - En Route to Spacedock]

Nevir glanced out of the window at the other shuttle from Discovery.  The Blue Ridge, if he remembered correctly, these shuttles were named for mountains in North America.  To fit the theme of 'discovery' for his ship.  He shook his head to clear those unnecessary thoughts.  Instead, the Captain took Vila's seat as she excused herself.  He briefly shook his head; after the time spent on the holodeck, she was the last person he expected to need a head break, but he didn't say anything and concentrated on monitoring systems and chatter.

"This isn't good... the Sacramento and the Keldor just entered the system and went quiet.  They were responding to Spacedock's call for aid.  Those were just the closest two ships, at least a dozen others are on the way.  I don't think its limited to just the fleet ships anymore."

The cockpit lit up as one of the docking rings took a hit as they sailed under it.  The bombardment was now in full swing.  And Bay 47 lay just ahead.  The system panel lit up as the station began shuttle docking procedure. As they neared the edge of the bay, however, the comm went off.

"Discovery shuttle!  Its a trap! Stay away!"

It was too late to stop, and they could see into the bay.  There were small arms firing both in the bay, and now at the shuttle.  Nevir grimaced, but shook his head.

"A bit late to get that message.  We're going in anyway.  Phasers out, we're going in hot!" he shouted, as the shuttle was pulled in and landed.

"Be aware, guys... someone just tried to kill us.  Fight our way out of the bay and get to a security station, hopefully we'll find non-assimilated.  Our goal is to make it to Starbase Operations and see what they are doing up there."

With that, the Captain opened the shuttle doors, and started firing.

Torra, in the meantime, had been optimistically working to find a means of locating survivors using the transporter scans.  If she could have them search for that key genetic difference that Ramort had been talking about then she could beam out as many as she could scan"¦ but that wasn't to be.   Not only was she not able to find that difference, the Borg on Discovery must have realized their oversight and Torra was alerted to the fact that the shield frequency no longer matched that of the shuttle's transporters.  Just moments before Lorut's attempt to beam the Commander over.

"Shuttle Ozark to Lieutenant Lachlyn.  I'm so sorry.  We waited too long to beam you out. "œ    Guilt wracked the Grazerite, and Torra felt nauseous.  Some might attribute the illness to the high-speed evasive landing the Captain had been forced to take, but Torra knew it was just her weak nerves.  She wished she had a carrot stick or some celery to help settle her stomach before the heavy fighting began.

At the order to go in hot, Torra's stomach rumbled unhappily.  Still she readied her weapon, ensuring it was set to heavy stun and left her chair to cover the doors for when they opened.

At 6'6" - nearly 2 meters tall without her horns "" Torra emerged from the shuttle door way hunched down.  With the Captain firing to clear the path, the Grazerite charged the Borg approaching the Ozarks, knocking them down and then point blank stunning them with her phaser as she made towards the nearest cover, where she then did her best to keep the borg reinforcements from getting a chance to fire on her companions or the second shuttle as it came in almost immediately after the Ozark.

Despite the chaos in the shuttle bay, Torra heard the rousing calls "˜For Risa' and "˜For the Federation' and it bolstered her spirit somewhat.

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

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck 3 - XO quarters >> Jeffries Tubes] Stardate 78288.5  (April 16, 2401)

When Plan A "" the SOS signal "" failed to produce results, Rayek knew he needed to move his family out from their quarters.   The SOS signal could be tracked by the Borg; and waiting for a beam out that might never happen was only going to get them killed.   They had to keep moving, yet the corridors were teeming with Borg, and the Jeffries tubes soon would be next.

Knowing he would need to clear the path ahead for them, Rayek passed their unconscious son to Tess in the backpack carrier, then cautiously reopened the Jeffries tube down the hall from their quarters.  His choices from there were to go up towards the Bridge or down towards the rest of the ship.  While instinct was to move further away from where he had escaped initially, that was exactly why Rayek chose that direction.  He hoped it was a less obviously hiding spot for his family.

[Kinley Garrison]

[ Shuttlebay - Jefferies ]

Jettis could immediately sense Murphy's hesitance, but there was no time to argue about it. The longer they stalled, the more likely a drone would catch up to them. "Alright, we'll head for there. Get you two out, and I.. have someone to find before I leave." As he passed Murphy, he clapped a hand on his shoulder with a nod. "You'll make it out of here."

It was a rather empty promise, there was no guarantee any of them would make it out alive. But if Jettis doubted that, it didn't show past his blank expression. With that, he took point in the horizontal jefferies tube, moving toward main engineering. It wasn't a far trek, however the explosion had understandably sent off alarm bells within the collective. And with only enough headroom to crouch though, travel wasn't exactly fast. Reaching the first junction was error-free, however as the group readied to continue on towards Engineering, there was the unmistakable sound of one of the hatches beside them being accessed. Someone was crawling up from below, and judging by the amount of steps, Jettis wasn't optimistic it was more survivors.

Swearing, Jettis quickly assessed their options - they couldn't go back the way they came, they couldn't detonate an explosive, and they certainly couldn't go down. That left forward, left, or up. They had no information on who, or what was in any of those directions, so best course seemed to just continue towards engineering and the life pods as much as they could.

"Quick, I'll block them off, open all the hatches and run." he barked. Without relaying the information verbally, he pointed down the main hallway, towards engineering. Then, he moved to unlock the nearest hatch - the one above him. It took much longer than he would have liked, but the more they could confuse the drones on which path they had taken, the better the chance that they would split up to explore all of them.

Not wasting any more time to run to another hatch, Jettis would follow behind, ripping open his match box to light his smoke bomb and toss it into the intersecting jeffries, before running. There was another intersection up ahead, if they could reach that one in time they might be able to block it off are lose the drones. Unfortunately, it seemed there was already someone ahead of them. Reeling back, Jettis clutched the remaining cannister as he stared down at them. "You.."

[ Somewhere... - Drone 356603 ]

That nebulous voice in the collective seemed to fade out for a moment, before returning when she heard an answer. An answer! Someone else was in here! "I'm here! Ther-" She called, before her programming fought back. She moved towards another officer she had tracked back to the medical wing, phaser in and raised level to his head. Any pleas for mercy felt on deaf ears, even as she called out from within.

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

The voice from Rayek ignited the flame of hope within her heart that were almost extinguished. The pain on her shoulder had been diminished, but it still hurt when she had to move her arm and pressed on her comm badge to report, "Oooh! Commander, I am glad to hear your voice! W-Wait... evacuate?"

Then he wished her good luck and closed the emergency communications. She felt fear gripping her again, but tried to keep herself motivated. If the Commander was still alive, maybe others were too. In any case, orders had been issued, and she intended to follow them.

Gritting her teeth, she continued her descent through the Jefferies Spinal Tube, doing her best to try and remember those schematics she had once seen of the internals of the ship. If she could only remember that glimpse, maybe she could find her way to the escape pods. That was if the Borg did not find her first.

She felt the urge to cry again, from all the sensations currently overwhelming her. She wanted to stop and crawl over to a corner and tell herself that she was going to be alright. But she couldn't stop. Her instinct told her to keep going. To reach the end of this maze and try to find a way out.

Meelar stopped every once in a while, trying to determine if the Jefferies tubes that opened up at her sides led to her destination. But she was not certain. She just couldn't remember. She wasn't an Engineer for God's sake! Why was this happening to her?! Why was this happening to her colleagues, her friends?! Why her?! What had she done to deserve this?!

What she could do to save herself...

"W-Who's there?!"

She exclaimed as a defensive measure, as the sound of footsteps suddenly made her react. Had the Borg finally caught up to her? Or there were indeed more people still uninfected within the ship? She was not too sure, but she had already given her position. She did her best to grab the stairwell, reaching for her tricorder, and tried to scan in the general direction of the sounds...

She froze as she came upon what at first glance she identified as a human, a Science Officer. She proceeded to scan him, quickly breaking off the self-imposed spell, yet she couldn't stop trembling, nor stare at him as her mind recognized him. Zero. Medical Officer, she had seen him before. She was familiar with him.

Yet he wore a Science officer uniform.

The readings gave off a negative ping, and she immediately proceeded to eye the device he held in one hand. She slowly shook her head, "W-Wait... Z-Zero... please... d-don't..."

She spoke, trying to keep him from potentially blowing her up. Or himself. Or both. Her mind raced to try and find a way to convince him that she was not infected, "I-I am... n-not your enemy... please..."

She slowly scanned herself, to show him the truth, before offering him the tricorder, "See? I-I just... I just want to get to the pods... and w-work on a cure for this... this... madness. I just want the n-nightmare to end..."

She gulped, trying to calm herself down by taking deep breaths, "Do you know how to r-reach the escape pods?"

[Jeffries Tubes]

[ As Murphy]

The Jeffries were every bit as cramped, uncomfortable, and  unpleasant as he thought, and it clearly felt like the walls were  going to collapse inwards at any moment, but Murphy had to press onwards. He had to.  Every cell in his body wanted to leave, find the nearest escape pod, and leave the first chance he could get, but hearing the scientist mention someone he was looking for, he paused, just a bit. Was it someone who was"¦ taken? He didn't know. All he could do now was run. opening one of the hatches behind him, he heard a  scuffle. For a moment, he held up a spanner in  what could probably be considered a half-decent defensive pose, if it weren't so cramped in here.  It was someone else not assimilated! He breathed a sigh of relief.    "œGlad to see you here in one piece. We're"¦ we're headed that way. At least we're trying to. He looked at the other guy, not Zero, but definitely related. "œWho are you looking for? Do- do we need to get them to an escape pod as well?" It was against every instinct he had as he said that, but right now, the more survivors they could find, the more chances they had. He wasn't going to let that happen if he could.

[Somewhere"¦]

[ As Kinley]

The Collective moved to silence the anomaly, silencing the echo of the lone nameless voice as soon as she had spoken, and in horror, Kinley could feel  her own thoughts getting overridden and corrected, forced into lockstep even as she caught a glimpse of what was happening to Spacedock from her own eyes.

She was to amplify the voice of Vox as One. A conduit. Nothing more, nothing less. They kept her as long as she was needed. They would not hesitate to replace her.

[Bridge ]

With the unassimilated being eliminated, the Starbase was slowly becoming more and more under Borg control. 43% Shield fidelity and falling. Several drones were already onboard the station and in position to take down the Planetary Shield.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

"Shuttle Ozark to Lieutenant Lachlyn.  I'm so sorry.  We waited too long to beam you out. "œ

The world turned black and Tanner felt a cool numbness spread through her limbs as she processed the shuttle's words. A guttural cry, both made of agony and frustration, unleashed from her but was partially defeated as she bit down on her arm to muffle it. Eyes, welling with tears, she let herself have a moment for the emotions to process.

Now what"¦

Tanner knew that curling up in a ball wouldn't help M'Nia and the others, but the desire to do so was strong. Wiping tears from her eyes, she craned her neck forward. There was an intersection up ahead where the Jeffries dissected into other directions. She could faintly hear voices but sound carried differently in such a small space so it was impossible to pick out words.

Stay safe, Lachlyn Out Tanner said quietly into her combadge. Taking a deep breath she found whatever spark of sunshine she could and held onto it. When she returned to the others, she couldn't be gloomy. No, if she was going to go down in her first week as Chief of Security, it was going to be without tears.

Looking forward she shook her head. If the voices were still there when they returned, it would be handled as a group. For now, Tanner returned down to M'Nia and the others, "œThe shuttle isn't able to help us but there may still be escape pods." Tanner said quietly, "œWe need to move quickly and quietly. There's another weapons cache nearby so we can ensure we're stocked before we go out into the open."

With that, Tanner led the way up to where they'd cross and continue.

[M'Nia]

"Shuttle Ozark to Lieutenant Lachlyn.  I'm so sorry.  We waited too long to beam you out. "œ

The world turned black and Tanner felt a cool numbness spread through her limbs as she processed the shuttle's words. A guttural cry, both made of agony and frustration, unleashed from her but was partially defeated as she bit down on her arm to muffle it. Eyes, welling with tears, she let herself have a moment for the emotions to process.

Now what"¦

Tanner knew that curling up in a ball wouldn't help M'Nia and the others, but the desire to do so was strong. Wiping tears from her eyes, she craned her neck forward. There was an intersection up ahead where the Jeffries dissected into other directions. She could faintly hear voices but sound carried differently in such a small space so it was impossible to pick out words.

Stay safe, Lachlyn Out Tanner said quietly into her combadge. Taking a deep breath she found whatever spark of sunshine she could and held onto it. When she returned to the others, she couldn't be gloomy. No, if she was going to go down in her first week as Chief of Security, it was going to be without tears.

Looking forward she shook her head. If the voices were still there when they returned, it would be handled as a group. For now, Tanner returned down to M'Nia and the others, "œThe shuttle isn't able to help us but there may still be escape pods." Tanner said quietly, "œWe need to move quickly and quietly. There's another weapons cache nearby so we can ensure we're stocked before we go out into the open."

With that, Tanner led the way up to where they'd cross and continue.

"Lead on. If we can get out of this , we will. If not, well I for one knew the risks when i joined Starfleet. I will always have regrets but well let's try and focus on doing our best to get out of here in one piece! Lead on Lt." M'nia said.She realized she really didn't know the Lt. that well but wondering if, after all this was over, maybe the Lt would be interested in getting to know each other better. Well that was a thought for another time. They had to get out of this mess first!

[Zavrol Gohun]

Unsure of what to do next Gohun weighed his options. The ship was lost the captain said as much. Evacuation was already complete meaning he was all alone. Just in case Gohun headed towards the shuttle bay. Using the tricorder to scramble internal sensors Gohun worked an indirect rout to avoid capture. When Gohun arrived at the shuttle bay his worse fears were realized. He went to the wrong shuttle bay. Gohun then slowly backed out of the room and assumed that the rest of the non Borged crew escaped. It's time to Die Hard this.

[Jettis Jyur]

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

The voice from Rayek ignited the flame of hope within her heart that were almost extinguished. The pain on her shoulder had been diminished, but it still hurt when she had to move her arm and pressed on her comm badge to report, "Oooh! Commander, I am glad to hear your voice! W-Wait... evacuate?"

Then he wished her good luck and closed the emergency communications. She felt fear gripping her again, but tried to keep herself motivated. If the Commander was still alive, maybe others were too. In any case, orders had been issued, and she intended to follow them.

Gritting her teeth, she continued her descent through the Jefferies Spinal Tube, doing her best to try and remember those schematics she had once seen of the internals of the ship. If she could only remember that glimpse, maybe she could find her way to the escape pods. That was if the Borg did not find her first.

She felt the urge to cry again, from all the sensations currently overwhelming her. She wanted to stop and crawl over to a corner and tell herself that she was going to be alright. But she couldn't stop. Her instinct told her to keep going. To reach the end of this maze and try to find a way out.

Meelar stopped every once in a while, trying to determine if the Jefferies tubes that opened up at her sides led to her destination. But she was not certain. She just couldn't remember. She wasn't an Engineer for God's sake! Why was this happening to her?! Why was this happening to her colleagues, her friends?! Why her?! What had she done to deserve this?!

What she could do to save herself...

"W-Who's there?!"

She exclaimed as a defensive measure, as the sound of footsteps suddenly made her react. Had the Borg finally caught up to her? Or there were indeed more people still uninfected within the ship? She was not too sure, but she had already given her position. She did her best to grab the stairwell, reaching for her tricorder, and tried to scan in the general direction of the sounds...

She froze as she came upon what at first glance she identified as a human, a Science Officer. She proceeded to scan him, quickly breaking off the self-imposed spell, yet she couldn't stop trembling, nor stare at him as her mind recognized him. Zero. Medical Officer, she had seen him before. She was familiar with him.

Yet he wore a Science officer uniform.

The readings gave off a negative ping, and she immediately proceeded to eye the device he held in one hand. She slowly shook her head, "W-Wait... Z-Zero... please... d-don't..."

She spoke, trying to keep him from potentially blowing her up. Or himself. Or both. Her mind raced to try and find a way to convince him that she was not infected, "I-I am... n-not your enemy... please..."

She slowly scanned herself, to show him the truth, before offering him the tricorder, "See? I-I just... I just want to get to the pods... and w-work on a cure for this... this... madness. I just want the n-nightmare to end..."

She gulped, trying to calm herself down by taking deep breaths, "Do you know how to r-reach the escape pods?"

[Jeffries Tubes]

[ As Murphy]

The Jeffries were every bit as cramped, uncomfortable, and  unpleasant as he thought, and it clearly felt like the walls were  going to collapse inwards at any moment, but Murphy had to press onwards. He had to.  Every cell in his body wanted to leave, find the nearest escape pod, and leave the first chance he could get, but hearing the scientist mention someone he was looking for, he paused, just a bit. Was it someone who was"¦ taken? He didn't know. All he could do now was run. opening one of the hatches behind him, he heard a  scuffle. For a moment, he held up a spanner in  what could probably be considered a half-decent defensive pose, if it weren't so cramped in here.  It was someone else not assimilated! He breathed a sigh of relief.    "œGlad to see you here in one piece. We're"¦ we're headed that way. At least we're trying to. He looked at the other guy, not Zero, but definitely related. "œWho are you looking for? Do- do we need to get them to an escape pod as well?" It was against every instinct he had as he said that, but right now, the more survivors they could find, the more chances they had. He wasn't going to let that happen if he could.

[Somewhere"¦]

[ As Kinley]

The Collective moved to silence the anomaly, silencing the echo of the lone nameless voice as soon as she had spoken, and in horror, Kinley could feel  her own thoughts getting overridden and corrected, forced into lockstep even as she caught a glimpse of what was happening to Spacedock from her own eyes.

She was to amplify the voice of Vox as One. A conduit. Nothing more, nothing less. They kept her as long as she was needed. They would not hesitate to replace her.

[Bridge ]

With the unassimilated being eliminated, the Starbase was slowly becoming more and more under Borg control. 43% Shield fidelity and falling. Several drones were already onboard the station and in position to take down the Planetary Shield.

[ USS Discovery - Jeffries, Deck 10, 2nd intersection ]

Jettis relaxed his grip on the explosive cannister when the woman immediately identified herself as non-borg. Ignoring for the moment that she had called him Zero, after a brief once-over he accepted even a Borg mastermind couldn't feign real fear. At least not very convincingly to an empath.

"I'm not sure if I should say I'm glad to see there's more survivors still aboard." He uttered flatly. Survivors were always a plus, but the fact she hadn't already left on a shuttle or an escape pod was less encouraging.

As Murphy explained they were heading towards the escape pods, the real Zero stepped out to give a weak smile towards the Denobulan. "Meelar, it's Zero. This is Jettis, my brother.  Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually." So long as they all made it out of here, that was.

Jettis turned back toward Murphy as he asked who he was looking for. He hesitated on answering, unsure of that himself.
"...I don't know. Likely not." He frowned, jaw tensing as he glanced behind them - partially to avoid eye contact, partially to check for any drones following. "My daughter, Theresa. I don't know if there's any way to save her, but I'll at the very least die trying."

With the depressing matter of his intentions to stay back out of the way, he immediately shifted topics. "That said, the more people we can find on our way there the better. Once these pods launch, it's very likely the place will get swarmed with drones. I doubt another group would be able to make it down without fighting their way through with phasers." He pointed out. Then again, the larger the group the bigger the risk as well,  so it was a gamble no matter what. "We should keep moving before those drones catch up to us and figure out where we are. I'll see if there's a way to seal this door from this side before we keep moving."

[Tekin Nevir]

(Going to push this a bit.  Don't want to lack too far behind)

Nevir had no idea how he made it, but a swath of stunned bodies carved a path from the shuttle bay to the central promenade.  And they weren't alone, as other security officers from the Starbase took advantage of the surge of new people to start securing areas on the Starbase.  The defenses of the Starbase were able to concentrate on the massive fleet pummeling them.  And as Nevir and whoever stayed with him ascended the turbolift to the Operations center, orders were changed from the President from aid to quarantine.

Nevir stepped onto the Operations center just as President Chekov signed out, for hopefully not the last time.  But it was clear from the reports in front of them that Paris was under assault and the Federation leadership was being evacuated.

"What's the status?" Nevir asked as he joined the Starfleet admirals who were suddenly in a position of being on the defensive.  The station was shaking and fires were everywhere.  All power from the lower decks was diverted to shields and weapons, bringing shield strength back to 60%... but that started dropping immediately.

"Six ships have been disabled and knocked out of formation.  Two others have been destroyed with all hands.  The five ships that came to our rescue were assimilated immediately and are assaulting Luna's defenses.  Luna will be able to hold out, there aren't many powerful ships attacking her.  We also know where the signal is coming from." Admiral Patel stated, bringing up a starmap of the system.

"The source of the signal is Jupiter, we believe there is a Borg cube there.  Or a couple of them based on how strong the signal is."

"The problem is we don't have any ships to send out there.  We tried to reactivate the Lemenche and her systems immediately were overridden by Enterprise. We had to disable her to keep her from blowing us up from the inside."

"We also don't have full control of Spacedock; the Borg crew are congregating to made it to the main reactors.  We have teams down there, but still there are way more of them then there are of us.  And we are losing our fight with the fleet."

"We need to stop that signal, Admiral.  We can't be completely helpless."

"We wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Admiral Jackass and his merry band of idiots."

That caused a silence broken with more shaking, as eyes went to the Fleet Commander who spoke up.  Admiral Patel's jaw set, and for a moment it seemed like there was about to be a conflict here.

"Admiral, with all due respect... he's right.  We said this was a terrible idea.  And Captain Benbassat died for saying it was a bad idea.  You brought us here and put us in the line of fire."

"That wasn't me, Captain.  There were a number of Admirals, including Clancy.  The only person who really fought against it was Janeway, until she suddenly decided to recuse herself, after Captain Tuvok gave his support for the project."

"It doesn't matter now... if we can't figure out how to-"

The Fleet Commander spoke up, looking at the screen.  "Admiral, there's a ship coming in... no wait, it's at Jupiter.  I don't think its controlled either."

"What makes you think that?"

"... because it's the Enterprise..."

The Captain looked shocked, and immediately checked the viewscreen towards the fleet.  Sure enough, the Enterprise F was still in the center, firing on Spacedock.  So Nevir turned back as the computer identified the ship.  NCC 1701.... D!

".... Picard got off the Titan.  Probably the same way we did.  They have to know something we don't." he stated, as the Admiral nodded.

"Then let's try to keep the Borg's attention on us..." the Admiral stated.

There were two things that happened about this time.  The first was that the Titan seemed to vanish from the fleet, both visually and its signal.  It was followed by flashes of phasers and torpedoes appearing out of nowhere as the Titan came into view flying through the fleet before... recloaking?

The second thing is that Captain Tuvok stepped into the Operations Center, both quietly and with an eerie smile on his face.  The three commanding officers hadn't taken notice as the phaser in Tuvok's hand raised up and fired at the trio.

[Dem Broadshire]

(Going to push this a bit.  Don't want to lack too far behind)

Nevir had no idea how he made it, but a swath of stunned bodies carved a path from the shuttle bay to the central promenade.  And they weren't alone, as other security officers from the Starbase took advantage of the surge of new people to start securing areas on the Starbase.  The defenses of the Starbase were able to concentrate on the massive fleet pummeling them.  And as Nevir and whoever stayed with him ascended the turbolift to the Operations center, orders were changed from the President from aid to quarantine.

Nevir stepped onto the Operations center just as President Chekov signed out, for hopefully not the last time.  But it was clear from the reports in front of them that Paris was under assault and the Federation leadership was being evacuated.

"What's the status?" Nevir asked as he joined the Starfleet admirals who were suddenly in a position of being on the defensive.  The station was shaking and fires were everywhere.  All power from the lower decks was diverted to shields and weapons, bringing shield strength back to 60%... but that started dropping immediately.

"Six ships have been disabled and knocked out of formation.  Two others have been destroyed with all hands.  The five ships that came to our rescue were assimilated immediately and are assaulting Luna's defenses.  Luna will be able to hold out, there aren't many powerful ships attacking her.  We also know where the signal is coming from." Admiral Patel stated, bringing up a starmap of the system.

"The source of the signal is Jupiter, we believe there is a Borg cube there.  Or a couple of them based on how strong the signal is."

"The problem is we don't have any ships to send out there.  We tried to reactivate the Lemenche and her systems immediately were overridden by Enterprise. We had to disable her to keep her from blowing us up from the inside."

"We also don't have full control of Spacedock; the Borg crew are congregating to made it to the main reactors.  We have teams down there, but still there are way more of them then there are of us.  And we are losing our fight with the fleet."

"We need to stop that signal, Admiral.  We can't be completely helpless."

"We wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Admiral Jackass and his merry band of idiots."

That caused a silence broken with more shaking, as eyes went to the Fleet Commander who spoke up.  Admiral Patel's jaw set, and for a moment it seemed like there was about to be a conflict here.

"Admiral, with all due respect... he's right.  We said this was a terrible idea.  And Captain Benbassat died for saying it was a bad idea.  You brought us here and put us in the line of fire."

"That wasn't me, Captain.  There were a number of Admirals, including Clancy and Tuvok.  The only person who really fought against it was Janeway, until she suddenly decided to recuse herself."

"It doesn't matter now... if we can't figure out how to-"

The Fleet Commander spoke up, looking at the screen.  "Admiral, there's a ship coming in... no wait, it's at Jupiter.  I don't think its controlled either."

"What makes you think that?"

"... because it's the Enterprise..."

The Captain looked shocked, and immediately checked the viewscreen towards the fleet.  Sure enough, the Enterprise F was still in the center, firing on Spacedock.  So Nevir turned back as the computer identified the ship.  NCC 1701.... D!

".... Picard got off the Titan.  Probably the same way we did.  They have to know something we don't." he stated, as the Admiral nodded.

"Then let's try to keep the Borg's attention on us..." the Admiral stated.

There were two things that happened about this time.  The first was that the Titan seemed to vanish from the fleet, both visually and its signal.  It was followed by flashes of phasers and torpedoes appearing out of nowhere as the Titan came into view flying through the fleet before... recloaking?

The second thing is that Admiral Tuvok stepped into the Operations Center, both quietly and with an eerie smile on his face.  The three commanding officers hadn't taken notice as the phaser in Tuvok's hand raised up and fired at the trio.

[Shuttle | Spacedock]

Betaika sat off to the side of the shuttle when they "œlanded". Slowly, when the officers proudly ran out shouting their allegiances, he couldn't help but smile. Fed's have courage. Betaika stood up, checked his phaser. "œFor Romulus" He whispered under his breath, before winking at Sluchanny.

Betaika ran out from the shuttle greeted by the blinding flashes of phaser fire and a burnt electrical stench. Even after all these years, it was still sensory overload. Walking slowly but intentionally  across the shuttle bay and finding cover whenever he could, he fired at the borg. While he was sure that many of the Discovery officers would find shooting their fellow officers confronting, he had been pitted against the federation for most of his life. In his eyes, it felt like he was with the defectors, battling the evils of the federation. The Doctor spied Tekin and a few officers run into the central promenade, he thought it would be best to follow suit. He could try to contact the Romulan Free State.

[Malik Grippen]

(Going to push this a bit.  Don't want to lack too far behind)

Nevir had no idea how he made it, but a swath of stunned bodies carved a path from the shuttle bay to the central promenade.  And they weren't alone, as other security officers from the Starbase took advantage of the surge of new people to start securing areas on the Starbase.  The defenses of the Starbase were able to concentrate on the massive fleet pummeling them.  And as Nevir and whoever stayed with him ascended the turbolift to the Operations center, orders were changed from the President from aid to quarantine.

Nevir stepped onto the Operations center just as President Chekov signed out, for hopefully not the last time.  But it was clear from the reports in front of them that Paris was under assault and the Federation leadership was being evacuated.

[Starbase, Hangerbay 47 > Operations Centre]

The battle of 'hanger bay 47' was probably the most intense that Malik had ever been a part of, it was full on war at its most brutal. The Borg slaughtered dozens of Stafleet personnel like they were cattle, Malik watched as men and women of all ages and species fell to the left and right of him and all he could do was keep pushing forward. His phaser rifle was scorching hot, but tight in his grip as the Risan stunned down Borg after Borg not keeping count. At least his targets had a chance to live, though there had only ever been a handful of cases where drones had been reverted back to their former selves. In the heat of it all, the ship's captain led them up the megalithic spire to the Operations Centre. The pilot took respite where he could, his head still pounding from when Drone-Dem tossed him across the bridge.

As they thankfully arrived to the relative calm of the Operations Centre, Malik stopped and let the captain go inside. He wasn't authorised to enter in any case, so he took up a position with the others to defend the vital nerve centre of the starbase. Malik replaced his rifle's spent energy cell with another and took stock of those who had followed the captain - Ramort, Vila, Addams, Betaika.

"Report in, who's made it this far?"

As he waited for replies from the Discovery crew, a station security officer interrupted him. "Lieutenant, there's a breach in promenade sector G. Borg infiltrated the maintenance passageways and are on the promenade deck. Need all the help we can spare here..."

Malik nodded and turned to the rest of the Discovery survivors. He wondered for a brief moment about the fate of everyone else left behind, they were probably all dead by now. "Anyone who's up for kicking some more Borg-ass, now's your chance." His expression was one of anger and revenge after the hanger deck battle. He wanted revenge, he wanted to punish the Borg for killing so many.