Chapter 3: Far away
Unsettling.
That was the only word the ponies could think of how to describe that message that had been sent.
“W-what was that?” Blau asked with fear in his voice as the Captain took a deep breath.
“The Borg. For your own safety, get to your quarters at once. Red alert!” Gunnar ordered, the lights and computer terminals were dimmed of displaying red graphics, an audible alarm also sounded as they made their way to the quarters, the children shivered in fear the entire time.
“Schaeffer, fire phasers, keep the frequency changing and get the torpedoes online!”
“Yes, sir!” The tactical officer replied and did as told as the Borg ship fired its green beam weapon, the ship rumbled from the hits. “Shields are holding! Returning fire!”
He pressed the fire button and scored a direct hit. “It’s weakening their shields minimal, no discernible effect otherwise.”
“Quantum torpedoes! Ensign, take evasive action!” Gunnar ordered.
“Torpedoes firing!” Schaefer yelled and the screen showed that they also hit their target, causing small explosions but no visible damage. “Enemy shields are down to 50 percent.”
In response, the Borg ship fired again, causing the Federation ship to rumble again. “Shields down to 75 percent. Firing phasers!”
This time, he saw only the phasers hitting, but no flashing of the shields whatsoever. “No effect!”
“Damn! Did they adjust their shields already?” Spring cursed in frustration.
“Send out a distress call!” Günther ordered as the Borg ship fired once again, this time sparks came out of the consoles as the ship rumbled.
“They took out our warp drive!” The flight controller reported.
Alarms were blaring in the entire ship as the knights with the children made their way to the quarters, with the Gabilan rumbling every now and then.
“Almost there, almost there!” Midnight announced before they heard the computer voice yelling,
“Intruder alert!”
With a screen, they all come to a halt as they saw a security team around the corner, a green flash in front of the team and they saw something terrifying.
A group of humans.
They looked not healthy as their skin was pale gray, covered in what looked like black armor, one eye and arm replaced by what they could only describe as robotic device, connected to tubes, having emotionless faces.
Were those the Borg?
None of the pones could think about it, staring in shock as one Borg got hit by a phaser and fell with sparks to the ground, dissolving in a green flash, the other closed in, strangely calmly walking towards the security team, who fired again, but this time, the Borg glowed green, apparently unaffected by the phasers. “They adapted!” One of the crewmen shouted and tried to hit one Borg with the butt of his rifle, but the cyborg shrugged it off and shoved him against the wall, the human fell lifeless to the ground.
“Back up!” The batpony yelled and they all ran back, hiding in a random quarter. The children trembled in fear, hugging each other, the knights barricaded the door with chairs and tables.
“I don’t wanna die…” Ruby whimpered.
“None of you will, not with us by your side,” Wolf assured them in an attempt to comfort the children, as more phaser fire sounded from outside.
“Doesn’t sound like the fight is going well for the crew. Fletcher, can you check on the Captain?” The bat pony asked and he nodded.
“No problem.” Focusing, Fletcher cast a teleport spell and in a flash, he found himself on the bridge, but what he saw was chaos.
Most of the crew was dead, probably killed by overloaded consoles, Spring and Günther were struggling against two Borg.
The Brit managed to shove his attacker back and drew a small blade from his sleeve, slicing the neck of the Borg.
Gunnar and was pushed against the wall, screaming before his first officer came to his aid and hit the Borg into the back of the head, allowing the Captain to push it off himself. “Thanks!”
“Watch out!” Fletcher shouted as another Borg closed in on them and Spring tried to strike again, but the Borg grabbed his blade, effectively blocking it.
The Borg then grabbed him by the collar and the man struggled before getting thrown over a railing, hitting the ground headfirst and Fray heard a cracking sound, with the man staying lifeless after hitting the ground.
Gunnar’s expression was one of shock, yet he grabbed the blade and sliced two Borg before a third one grabbed him by the throat lifting him up.
The man struggled, gasping for air before becoming limp with a crack and got dropped.
Fletcher took notice that the Borg did briefly look at him then moved to the command consoles, appearing to ignore him. He used this to check on the two officers.
No pulse.
Also, he did a quick medical scan on the first officer, realizing the hit on the reeling had broken his neck.
“Damn!” The stallion cursed and teleported back to the quarter.
“Please tell us they’re okay.” Tootsie looked at him with hope.
The green pony took a deep breath. ”I’m afraid I was too late.”
“N-no…” Tootsie cried, only to be hugged by Dinky.
Suddenly a loud groan startled them and the door deformed. “They’re trying to break in!” Midnight yelled and took a defensive position with his fellow knights, the children huddled behind them.
In a matter of seconds, the door was breached and two drones moved in, everyone froze upon seeing them fully.
They were not humans or humanoid but…
“No, it can’t be…” Wolf mumbled in disbelief.
Both Borg were…
Ponies. An Earth pony mare and a unicorn stallion, the latter was slightly higher than the mare. Both were also covered in the black armor, the stallion’s horn was covered in metal, their manes gone, the skin pale grey, their expressions empty.
The mare had its left eye and leg replaced, the latter with a rectangular device, the leg appeared to be a metal leg, with a hand at the end. The stallion had the same replacements but it was his right side and the eye device was of a round form.
“Do-domino? Sa-Saracen? No...It can’t be…” Midnight mumbled shocked as the ponies looked at him and the others, red laser pointers emitted from their replaced eyes, pointed at them.
It seemed like hours as the former ponies stared at them before slowly walking out, leaving the ponies still in shock.
It wasn’t until the sound of boots greeted their eyes and they saw Schaeffer running in. “The ship is lost, let’s get you to safety!” He yelled and they slowly nodded.
The corridor was littered with dead crewmembers as he led them to a hatch and opened it. “This Jefferies tube leads directly to where the escape pods are.”
“Thank you.” Fletcher took the lead, the children followed after, with Wolf taking the back, Midnight held it open as the tactical officer with a few crewmen tried to hold back the Borg that closed in, fired a phaser type 2, but the Borg had already adapted to it. In response, Schaeffer and his fellow crewmen used their fists to fight the Borg, punching their faces and throwing them over.
Midnight wasted no time to get it before he heard a cry of pain and a body hitting the ground. “Help…” Schaeffer’s voice sounded in his ears and he turned around.
To his shock, he saw how the man was lying on the ground, his skin becoming grey, deforming, with a painful expression. “Please…help….”
Realizing that there was little time and that the officer was in great pain, the batpony grabbed the Type 2 phaser and aimed at the neck of Schaffer, pulling the trigger, mercy killing him and then climbed into the hatch.
They had been informed themselves about Jefferies tubes, internal maintenance conduits that were used to provide crew access to various ship's systems, also used if the lift wasn’t working. This one was a vertical one, with a ladder leading to the lower deck.
“Come on, almost there!” Fletcher said as they climbed out of the tube into the next corridor, but the Borg had other plans.
FEDERATION TECHNOLOGY ASSIMILATED. ALL SURVIVORS MUST BE ELIMINATED.
They ran as fast as they could towards the end, as the ship rumbled heavily, sparks flying everywhere, the escape pods were in sight.
“Quick, we are almost there!” Midnight yelled as suddenly, a big explosion in front of him threw everyone over, against the wall, their ears ringed, vision blurry.
The grey stallion groaned in pain, as he struggled to get up, a faint voice sounded in his ears.
“Warning. Life support failure on all decks. Abandon ship!” It was the last thing he heard before everything became black.
Somewhere else in the galaxy.
“Captain, I receive a distress call. It’s Federation origin.”
“From where does it come from?” The Captain asked.
“Not far from our current position.”
“Lieutenant, plot a course.”
“Aye, Captain. Coming into visual range.”
“It’s a Federation ship. Starfleet registry identifies it as the USS Gabilan. Reading massive structural failure and… life signs aboard.”
“Beam them to sickbay.´”
“Ugh…” The bat pony groaned as he regained consciousness, looking around. He found himself with the others in a sickbay. “Where are we?” He mumbled confusedly as his friends slowly woke up too.
“We’re…alive?” Katja wondered, holding her head.
“Yes, you are alive and well.” A new voice replied and they saw a man in a dark green uniform coming from the office. He was bald, featuring only hair at the sides of his head, his brown eyes were somehow calming. “I’m the chief medical officer of the USS Voyager.”
“Thank you,” Dinky said with a weak smile as the door opened and woman in a red colored uniform walked in. She had long brown hair and blue eyes, smiling warmly at the filly and her friends.
“How are they, doctor?”
“Perfectly healthy, Captain.” The doctor replied.
“That’s good to hear. I am Captain Kathryn Janeway and welcome on my ship, although I wished we met under more pleasant circumstances. Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure, why not.” Midnight replied, it was a generous offer and she led them to the mess hall.
“Ah, captain, nice to see you. Coffee?” A male voice asked and the ponies saw a male humanoid with large areas of yellow to reddish-brown spotting on his head, with a pale skin and brown eyes.
“Yes, Neelix and some hot chocolates for our guests.”
“Right away, Captain,” Neelix replied and did as told in a kitchen, the ponies enjoyed the warm taste greatly as Janeway asked,
“We analyzed the logs of the Gabilan, is it true?” She sounded rather curious and Midnight took a deep breath.
“Yes, it is.” With that, he and his friends told the woman where they came from and how they had landed on Gunnar’s ship.
“I’m terribly sorry to hear that. But I’m also afraid you are a long way from home now.” She said with sympathy in her voice.
“What do you mean?” Katja asked.
“Well, we are in the Delta Quadrant. The Voyager was stranded through an incident back in 2371 and we try to find a way back home ever since. We estimated it may take 75 years to get back to the Alpha Quadrant.” Janeway told with regret in her voice.
“75 years?!” Pip exclaimed in shock.
“Yes. But I promise I’ll do everything I can to help you find a way back to your home. I know it’s much to take, so may I suggest you try to rest a bit after everything you went through.
“A good point, Captain Janeway.” Midnight replied.
“Naomi, would you be so kind and escort them to their quarter?”
“Yes, Captain.” A young, female voice said and the ponies turned around to see a girl standing at the door, her hair was blond, the eyes had an innocent blue color. What was most noticeable that she had thorns, like that of a rose on the forehead. “Would you please follow me?” Naomi asked politely and they all nodded.
None of them said a word, still trying to process their current situation, that they were the only survivors of the Gabilan and now probably longer away from Equestria. It was nice though how friendly Naomi was to them, though it was a bit surprising how Janeway trusted a child with such a task.
“You seem to be on very good terms with the Captain,” Pip commented.
“Well, in our current satiation, we have to hold together and I learned a lot from the crew of the Voyager.” The girl replied.
“And you learned quite well, everyone has to do his part in such a situation,” Fletcher added, speaking from experience.
“Indeed. No matter the age, we all have to do our part and despite this all, we still had some nice moments.” Naomi replied with a smile.
This made Dinky curious as they got led through the corridors. “Would you mind telling us about yourself, Naomi?”
“Not at all, although there’s not much to tell. I was born on the Voyager 5 years ago and do my best to help the Captain as her assistant.”
“Really?” The filly asked amazed, not able to believe that a child could have such a close position at the age of 5.
“Yes. And there we are.” The girl pointed to the door. “I see you later.
“Okay, bye and thank you,” Dinky replied and walked in with the others.
She and the other kids played another round of go-fish to pass the time, while the knights informed themselves more about the Borg, yet the thought of 75 years away from home made them worried.
Would they ever see their families and friends again? How would they react upon seeing them after years? None of the children could imagine the worry of their parents.
For the knights, it was more concerning, as they couldn’t age, but the kids could. Also, they hoped their families and Luna weren’t too worried. There was also the question of how much Equestria could change if it would take years to get home.
Seeing Domino and Saracen as Borg was most disturbing for them. None of them could imagine how the two could have landed in that situation, and also hoped there could be a way to save them.
“I never thought I would see them like that….” Midnight mumbled in disbelief. “If the Borg got their knowledge, they could attack Equestria….”
Fletcher put a hoof on his shoulder. “I doubt that. They went missing 1000 years ago, if the Borg had been interested in us, they had attacked already. I just hope if we can save them, that the regenerative magic can restore their lost leg and eye.”
“We can only hope,” Wolf added. “Though Naomi said she was born on this ship…”
“What’s wrong with that?” Midnight raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing, just, if you are born on a spaceship in, well space, what will be written in your birth certificate?”
The grey stallion thought for a moment. “No clue. Yet, I’m surprised that the Doc for a hologram designed to function in emergency situations only, managed to develop a distinct personality.”
“Yeah, but Nanny did too, so it isn’t that surprising.” Fletcher pointed out.
“Fair point. Let’s hit the hay, might help to get over this.”
“Agreed,” Fray replied and they all went to bed, sleeping quite peacefully despite what they went through at the moment.
In the next morning, they breakfasted in the mess hall, with Neelix smiling warmly. “I hope it tasted good.”
“It did, thank you,” Tungsten replied, taking a sip of his warm tea.
“Glad to hear it. Apart from being the chef, I’m also the moral officer here. So if you feel down, feel free to talk with me.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Ruby replied before the door opened and a man in red uniform walked in, his hair was black, eyes brown and they took notice of what looked like a tattoo in the left side of the forehead.
“Hello, I hope this morning finds you well. I am commander Chakotay, first officer of the Voyager.”
“Can we help you?” Noi asked friendly.
“In a way, yes. We plan to test a prototype of an improved shuttle and it was suggested you should have the honor to do the test flight. If you want of course.”
The knights and children looked at other. It was a good offer, yet none had experience in that matter. “It’s nice but no one of us has experience in flying starships.” Midnight said for the group.
The offer waved a hand. “No problem, you could learn on the holodeck.”
Fray shrugged. “Fair point. What do you think, children?”
Dinky slowly smiled. “I wouldn’t mind that. Pip? Tootsie?” she asked and they all smiled too.
“Would be an interesting change,” Blau added.
“Good. I’ll inform you once everything is ready.”
With that, the knights went art once to the holodeck to get themselves familiar, while the kids resumed their card game, eager about the shuttle flight, chatting about it.
Around half an hour, they were called to the shuttle bay, seeing that the shuttle was looking similar to an arrow at first, white in color.
Another man in red uniform and a woman in yellow uniform did maintenance work on it before they turned around, looking at the ponies with friendly expressions.
“Hello. I’m honored that you will fly the prototype of the Delta Flyer II. He’s all yours.” The man said, before adding, “Oh, how rude, I am Tom Paris, flight controller of the Voyager.” He had brown hair and blue eyes, the woman had similar thorns on her forehead with brown hair and matching eyes, her uniform was yellow.
“And I am B'Elanna Torres, chief engineer. The Prototype is ready for take-off. We also made some suiting spacesuits for you, just in case.”
“Also for added security, I added some phasers for self-defense.” They saw a man with dark skin, black hair and brown eyes, but his eyes were pointy, a Vulcan. “Modifying the shuttle to compensate the additional passengers was hopefully not to difficult.”
“Not at all, Tuvok,” Paris replied and turned back to the guests. “Enjoy the flight.”
“We will.” Midnight said and he went on board with the others and took seat in the cockpit, Fletcher took the tactical seat, Wolf the helm, while the kids got into the aft compartment. “Engage impulse drive.”
“Aye, Aye.” Wolf acknowledged and steered the shuttle out of the shuttle bay, calculating a provided course for the Warp jump. “Course laid in.”
Midnight in response, raised his hoof. “Engage.”
In a matter of seconds, the prototype went to warp speed.