The Fall

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Mission Summary

Admiral Macedo sat in his ready room going over the items needed his immediate attention. They were situated outside of the Iconian Gateway in the Alpha Quadrant. He had been expected news for days of his impending transfer out of the region and back to Earth to be debriefed on his latest mission.
The beeping of his comm screen broke his concentration. He pressed the button lightly “Admiral Mac…” he had barely started when his Comm specialist Ensign Alberts stated “Priority one message Admiral”
A sense of curiosity brushed his thoughts “Put it through Ensign” he then looked and say Vice Admiral Randal silhouette appeared .”Admiral it has been a long time how are you and your family”
Randal nodded “Sorry Diego no time for pleasantries in this. We have a Borg attack in progress just on the other end of the Iconian gateway. Starbase 900 is sustaining sever damage, but reports are erratic. You are to proceed immediately to Starbase 900 with the Helios. Under no circumstances are you to allow the Borg attack force anywhere near the Gateway. You must prevent the Borg from getting through, at all costs.”
Diego nodded slowly allowing himself a brief moment to compose his thoughts before returning his attention back to the Admiral. “I understand Admiral. The line will be drawn”
The Vice Admiral continued “The USS Excelsior is heading to Starbase 900 for Staff replacement. The Commanding Officer is Captain Peter Gardner. His staff are well trained and will report to you after this communication. The USS Poseiden under the command of Colonel Jagged Anderson. He is the most senior combat veteran in the area. Be careful my friend and don’t let those bastards home Macedo.”
Diego nodded his head ever so slightly. For some reason he was feeling that this would be the last time he would see Vice Admiral Randal. He knew his duty well and preventing the Borg from reaching the Alpha Quadrant at all cost could mean anything. If they got through there would be no stopping them from destroying all that he held dear. The wouldn’t stop till Earth was smoldering and it’s people either dead of assimilated. “I understand Admiral, the borg will be stopped.”
The conversation was ended abruptley as both men realized that time was of the essence. Diego also knew that each moment he waited would be time to allow his fear to play through his mind and he didn’t need that now. For all he know this would be a suicide mission and he was unlikely to survive this enounter.
He stood up and brushed his hands over his uniform as he looked at himself quickly in the mirror. It took him a moment, but, with concetration the lines of stress faded from his face - replaced by strength and optimism. A brisk walk brought him from the shadows of his ready room and onto the main bridge. As soon as he entered he saw that his XO, a Betazoid female who he called Faria stood up from the Captain’s chair and allowed him to take his rightful place.
“Open the Gateway we are heading into the Delta Quadrant. Starbase 900 is under attack by the Borg. we have been ordered to defend the sector and ensure that they don’t break through to the Alpha Quadrant under any circumstances. Maximum speed! All offensive and defensive systems go. Our flank ships will join us shortly” his fingertips passed over his control panel “Message Captain Gardner and Colonel Anderson when they reach our flank”
A moment of pause and alarm rushed over the faces of his crew. This pause was short lived as the knife of trust in their commander cut through the doubt of this surreal moment. The Helm quickly opened the Gateway. What they would face was anyone’s guess - but, the fear of death made them swallow hard and breath of uncertainty sent a shiver down their spines. The weapons on the cube ship as well as on the shields were better than anything. That one thing was certain, life would be lost and sacrifice would leave a scar no matter the outcome today.
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As they exited the Iconian Gateway he ordered them to set course for Starbase 900 at maximum speed. He was hoping that the Borg hadn’t detected the Helios coming into the system and they would be able to destroy the Borg with limited loss of the crew's life.
Contemplating on what tactics he could use seemed to relax him however inside he was a bundle of raw nerves that felt on fire. It had been years since he had engaged anyform of Borg ship. The last time hadn’t ended well either even though they had won, barely.
Quickly he readied himself for the oncoming battle “Lt Garan prepare for rapid fire of the phasers targeting weapons emplacements first and foremost. We need to allow time for those ships docked at Starbase 900” He then tapped his commbadge “Bridge to Sickback”
He heard the sultry voice of the Chief Medical Officer “Commander Gayara here”
Diego listened to the voice allowing the rich tones to send shivers through his body. She was an accomplished Dr. but she also was a quite good masseuse. “Commander prepare for casualties. Move all non critical patients back to their quarters.”
He heard the voice come back with a slight amount of annoyance “As ordered Sir. Gayara out”
He smiled and quickly hit the commbadge again “Bridge to Engineering” he stated
“Lt Commander Bledsoe here” he heard the deep male voice coming through his commline.
“Commander Bledsoe, we are going into battle I will need full power. We will be using unconventional attacks I need you to keep our energy level steady.”
Bledsoe voice came back “Aye Admiral.” and signed off quickly. His people knew there job and knew it well. He was prepared or as much as you could. “Ops, we are going to separate the saucer from the drive section. We will have skeleton medical crew on board. I need security, helm, ops and you Captain will be joining me on the battle bridge.Commander Ackers you will be handling the Saucer section as XO. I need you to retrieve any damaged ships get them to the Dr as quickly as possible for treatment. You will have Intel question those who are able to get as much information as possible. You know your assignments this won’t be easy but we need to secure the area and protect the gateway.”
He stood up as did his chosen people and they quickly rushed to the battlebridge. He quickly rushed down to the new bridge. He didn’t know what his staff would face but he knew they were well trained and he had honed them into a top fighting machine.
He looked around at the faces of his colleagues, those that he had led for the last while. How could he go into combat and not say something to them “My dear friends. This could be our last mission together. As you know we have been ordered to prevent the Borg from getting through to the Alpha Quadrant. All reports I have seen indicate 4 Borg vessels. That in my opinion is 3 more than we could handle with any real hope. We will have ships coming in from all areas of the quadrant. Be vigilant and keep your eyes opened wide. Watch out for our ships and each other. We will stop the Borg at any cost” he bellowed into the air. It seemed to work as he could see the eyes perk up on a number of them. They knew it was a suicide mission or most likely would.
The Captain came up “Sir the Delta Quadrant needs your command abilities. You are getting off this ship and heading for the Saucer section. If all goes as planned we will pick you up on our way back”
Diego shook his head “Captain Artiman. While I appreciate you want to protect me it isn’t necessary. I am willing to sacrifice my life if and when the need arises. I will stick with the ship until it is over”
She shook her head but had no further time to argue she heard the chime “INCOMING”
The shields were already up and at full power. Diego quickly sat down “
He saw a flare of light as a laser cut through space and struck at the shields of the drive section. Just then they turned at a sharp right and he could see Starbase 900 fire out what must have been the last attack it could take. He saw the base splitting apart from all the damage that had been inflicted.
“Helm plot us a course at full impulse. Angar get the torpedoes ready. Launch at my mark and then quick succession of phaser strikes. Find the places that are the weakest. Ops I need as much information as possible on the ships both the Cube and the Sphere. We are going to find out as much as we can while we are destroying them. I need you to track all the information including rate of regeneration.”
Ops just nodded “Aye Sir. starting full scan now” he turned to one of his compatriots near him. “Al. I need you to keep track as well as we will have a lot of data coming through which will need an analyst to understand.”
“Intel and Ops I want a stream of all data sent to the Saucer section. If we don’t make it back I want our people to know whatever has been discovered.”
He knew that the Excelsior was nearby and was fighting their own battle and would also get to the Shuttle craft. He noticed that the Borg was hammering whatever ships that they could. “Sir. To our right there is cube ship. We need to destroy it.”
Nodding he knew what he would do “Tactical target the ship. Engineering prepare for warpspeed. Helm” he sighted and knew what they would have to do “We can’t win this battle I want you to prepare for warpspeed locked onto the Borg ship. One way or another this will end now” he felt the fresh pain in his head. This was not the first time that he had faced the Borg but it would be his last.
“Communications sent priority one message to Excelsior. Have them destroy the Iconian Gateway. My orders are that under no circumstances are we to allow the Borg Collective into the Alpha Quadrant. After that all hands prepare for impact”
The captain rushed over “Admiral. It’s time for you to make your escape. The Delta Quadrant needs you and your expertise. You will be taking the shuttle and getting back to the Saucer Section of the Helios. You are not needed here” she said
Admiral Macedo shook his head “Not going to happen Lil. I am needed here this is my only chance to stop this now”
She looked at him “Major Alcone. Take the Admiral to shuttle bay one and get him the hell off this ship. He is needed”
Diego stubbornly remained seated. Faria grabbed up her phaser and fired directly into Diego. “Get him out not Major. Hurry we won’t have long now.
The Major quickly reached for the Admiral who was now unconscious due to the stun bolt. He easily picked up the weight of the Admiral and smiled “May your gods be with you Captain. What you are doing here will save the lives of all involved.“ he walked out leaving the bridge in the capable hands of the Captain.
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Captain Faria Andress looked at each of her crew as she saw the shuttle quickly depart from the docking bay. “Alright everyone here's the deal. The Borg are too powerful and there is no way that we can keep them away from the Alpha Quadrant. We are going to ram the borg ship at Warp speed. Nothing will survive that. The Excelsior has been given the hardest task. The message is to destroy the Iconian Gateway and all avenues into the Alpha Quadrant.”
The helmsman looked at her “Captain we can’t do this. The ships overrides will stop us from doing this”
She shook her head “That we know. Override security codes authorization Alcone savix predarta commix” The computer beeped in affirmative. “Now set Warp 2 and lock on tractor beams to the Borg ship. This is going to be very quick.”

She screamed out the order to engage and the streak of stars was so fast that they didn’t realize what had even happened.
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Diego woke up slowly and saw his ship and he wasn’t on it “Major what happened”
The major didn’t turn around “Sorry sir Captain’s orders that I was to protect you with my life. “ He heard the alarm klaxon and the major started to quickly do evasive actions.
Just as he turned around out the window he saw the Helios or what there was that was left of it charging in at the speed of warp right into the Borg Cube. It exploded in a shower of molten shards. It was over the Cube was gone but so was his ship those whom he commanded and cared for. It was a sacrifice that spoke to the seriousness of the situation. Borg ships were destroyed as was the Iconian Gateway. There was no way home and the life in TF38 would never be the same.

Life would never the same the Borg had seen to that. So many ships gone and so many good members of Starfleet had been lost. Now it was time to pick up the pieces and make a new life in the Delta Quadrant.