Putting it Together

Posted on Sun Sep 18th, 2011 @ 8:49am by Vice Admiral Quinn Androski
Edited on on Sun Sep 18th, 2011 @ 8:50am

Mission: Episode 2.2 - "Resistance"
Location: Observation Lounge, USS Orlando
Timeline: Mission Day 05, 0820

ON: [[Observation Lounge, USS Orlando, Mission Day 05, 0820]]

Trace was more then a little tired when he entered the observation lounge. Though he and the doctor had managed to determine what it was that killed the nanoprobes and from there what caused the Borg ship to explode, the thought of the Borg making any incursions into their space was still more then a little un-nerving.

Zekk entered, surprisingly refreshed despite the long night that he spent going over engineering reports. He had worked closely with Ensign Vosh in determining what exactly caused the ship to explode, which thanks to the discovery that Vosh and the doctor had made late yesterday, was a lot easier then he originally had thought. He took a seat, setting down the PADD that he brought with him.

The doctor meandered her way into the room in silent feline manner, sans shoes for a change. She settled into a seat near the Admiral's end of the table and leaned back with her tail tapping slowly at her feet.

Greg entered the observation deck and sat down rather heavily in a chair a mug of coffee sitting in front of him. The remains of an exploded Borg ship made him nervous, and wondering if this was just an advanced scout of a larger Borg incurision or an isolated incident.

Just as the last of the senior staff was taking their seat, the door to the observation lounge opened once more and Tobias stepped into the room from where he had been supervising the current bridge rotation. He paused just inside the doorway for the briefest of moments before calmly making his way toward the open place at the right of Vice Admiral Androski. It was clear from the faces of his fellow senior staff that their current situation was already beginning to take its toll in the form of both frustration and fatigue.

Quinn smiled and nodded to Tobias. He then looked around the table at senior staff, all of which had been putting in more than their fair share of hours recently. "I've received reports from the majority of you, but I'd like everyone to share what they've found thus far so that we're all on the same page."

"We determined that the ship was a tactical cube," Zekk said, tapping his PADD. An image appeared on the wall monitor. "Voyager encountered a number of these in the Delta Quadrant, they were all heavily armed and armored."

"But we've never encountered one in the Alpha Quadrant, have we?" Quinn asked, turning to Naros and Vosh for confirmation of his recall. "New variations of ships being sent out may be a signal that the Borg are changing tactics."

Tobias nodded slowly to confirm what Androski was saying. "Starfleet has only ever recorded the operations of three classes of Borg vessels in the Alpha Quadrant," the El-Aurian informed those seated around the table, "the cube, the scout vessel, and the sphere. The fact we have discovered the remains of a Borg Tactical Cube would seem to be a rather significant find indeed."

"Well, if the wreckage we came across is any indication, I would say that the collective has no choice but to try new tactics," Trace said. "The doctor here can fill you in on the details but it looks like the whole collective, or at least this ship, is still suffering from the effects of the virus that Voyager placed within it before she returned to the alpha quadrant."

The doctor nodded at the reference. She was still a little surprised at the scenario. "Yes, it appears the nanoprobes were offline before the catastrophe that destroyed the ship. If they were active they would have been damaged more significantly." R'Sera glanced at a few of the officers then continued, "I don't see any reason to believe they have found an alternative to the Voyager virus yet from this evidence."

"As far as we can tell that virus caused damage to their systems, shorting out communication inside the ship its self," Zekk said. "Bringing a ship out of a subspace corridor is hard enough, even more so when you have systems going down all over the place. When the ship emerged from subspace it literally tore itself apart when it reached the threshold of normal space."

Quinn nodded. It appeared as if the mysteries that had been uncovered had been answered reasonably, except for the new form of drone. "I guess, that all explains the how and when of the wreckage. Does anyone have anything else to report?"

"A question actually, are we sure this is a collective vessel," Greg asked from his seat, "When Voyager returned they reported they had managed to cut the link to some drones separating them from the collective. Could this have been a ship under the control of the other drones, or possibly the communications problem was a result of internal fighting or sabotage?"

"That's a possibility, but without further access to their databanks, there's no way to tell." Quinn responded, recalling something about some Unimatrix that he had been briefed about, but knew that none of the other officers would have the clearance for such information, so he let it go.

"In any event," Quinn continued, "the teams aboard the Pandora have identified the borg drone they recovered from the debris as a type we've never seen before. From what they can tell, it's a combat and medical drone in one, able to reanimate dead drones."

R'Sera leaned forward with the news, her tail twitching subtly. "That is new. Why would the Borg be needing medics?"

Zekk's eyebrow shot up at the mention of the new drones. The doctor had a point, why would the Borg need medics? It didn't really make any sense to him at the moment...unless they were missing something.

"Maybe that virus is causing more damage than we thought," Zekk offered. "I mean perhaps their network is more prone to break downs now that the virus is in there. That would make adapting a lot more difficult."

Quinn shook his head. "The Pandora teams have estimated that the ship was destroyed roughly around the time that Voyager returned. The possibility is still there, but it's also possible that these new drones were developed for a more tactical use prior to that point."

"It has been nearly a decade since the last notable encounter between the Federation and the Borg," Tobias observed, leaning forward slightly as he spoke, "Given what our respective investigations have revealed, it is highly probable the drones were part of an experiment being undertaken by the Collective to develop a tactic more suited to certain engagements." He paused. Having read over the reports made by the Pandora crew regarding the new combat/medical drone, he could not see how the Collective would have considered the drones to be an acceptable expenditure of resources. "Then again, the Borg are known for their efficiency," the El-Aurian continued, "The development of these drones appears contradictory to previous behavior we've encountered. It almost seems to be more indicative of a defensive or even desperate posture."

"Borg and desperate, never words that I thought I would hear in the same sentence," Zekk said.

Quinn nodded in agreement. Having heard from each of the groups that had found anything significant, he concluded the briefing. "Well, thank you all for your reports. The Pandora has copies of the ships databanks, so with no immediate threat, we'll be setting course for the Neutral Zone in two hours. Dismissed."

OFF:

A Post by:

Vice Admiral Quinn Androski
Commanding Officer
USS Orlando

Commander Tobias Naros
Executive Officer
USS Orlando

Lieutenant Zekk Alana
Chief Engineering Officer/2XO
USS Orlando

Lieutenant R'Sera
Chief Medical Officer
USS Orlando

1st Lieutenant Greg Jackson
Marine Commanding Officer
USS Orlando

Ensign Trace Vosh
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Orlando