Home No Longer

Posted on Mon Feb 17th, 2025 @ 8:34pm by Captain M'Raz & Lieutenant Meerah Praavor & Lieutenant Elias McEntyre & Lieutenant H'iri & Kenneth Hunt

2,363 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Resistance is Necessary
Location: San Francisco, Earth, Sol System
Timeline: MD001 - 1030

[Enlisted Dorms / Starfleet Headquarters]

A massive cube seemed to fill the sky, or at least that's how it seemed to Annalise Callahan; she stood there, training forgotten, her brain trapped, frozen. A ship of some kind, if the directed energy beams emanating from it were any indication. Too far away to see much of what was going on. I need to do something, she thought. There will be a staging area for Starfleet. A message ... something ... And yet, she stood, paralyzed by its massively ugly presence.

And then, she heard the first screams echoing down the corridor and the heavy footfalls of security teams moving to intercept. Go bag, with her orders, clutched tightly to her chest Annalise moved toward the door and peeked out into the hall. Clear. She took a deep breath and ran out of the room because when you were Starfleet you didn't hide under the bed (as much as you wanted to).

"GET DOWN!!!" A Booming voice called out to warn Annalise of the Borg she was about to run into. Shouldering his Phaser rifle, Lieutenant Elias McEntyre, Assistant Chief of Security for Earth Spacedock fired several phaser shots, along with his team of Security Officers that nailed several Borg Drones, sending them crumpling to the floor in a metallic whirl as they shut down.

His men were in Armor, Phaser Rifles shouldered, but armor would only do so much against these...zombies.

Annalise dropped flat to the floor, heart slamming against her rib cage, cheek pressed to the carpet. When the bodies dropped, she shot to her fee and took off down the corridor, reacting to the adrenaline coursing through her body, and as she rounded the corner, stepped right into the path of the strangest looking creature she'd ever seen (not that she'd seen that many). She tried to backpedal, she did, but it got her, shooting something into her arm, and then she dropped.

Elias and his men advanced turning around the corner to see the young woman transformed in short time into one of the enemies now invading Earth. The whirl of transporter materialized 10 more drones, turning to advance lumbering towards the Security Forces.

"Shit! Fall Back, Fall Back!" Elias ordered as he laid down covering fire, withdrawing with his men. He rushed back down from where they had entered the dorms. Their position lost. All over campus it was the same story. Hordes of these...Borg had invaded the planet, a Cube like ship hovering above the world, it was madness and chaos.

[Meanwhile, Elsewhere]

Shields were down and there were power outages. High value targets were taken which meant, as far as security was concerned, that these ... aliens ... had done their homework. The first thought had been to get the Council members to safety but the security team charged with the task realized all too quickly that there was no safety to be had. One by one and the pattern was the same. The victim would be injected with something and then removed in a transporter beam. Over and over and over. The last of the security team got the Council onto a ship and watched it take off before hurrying back to the fight.

[Back at Starfleet Headquarter]

Done! It was done! H'iri had completed the Kobayashi Maru and had received passing grades for it. She would digest the critiques later, but for now, all she wanted to do was try and sleep it off. She would not be talking about this test, not ever, if her life depended on it. She had walked outside just in time to hear the announcement, "We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

This could not be real. What in the world was going on here? This had to be another test, did it not? Straightening herself, she H'iri commanded, "Computer, end simulation." Her mind raced, what could she do against these Borg? If this was part of her Kobayashi Maru test, she was not amused. Having two tests in one day certainly seemed unjust. Think, H'iri. Think. She watched as humanoid creatures, perhaps cyborgs would beam down, attack someone, inject them with something, and then beam away. Phaser fire seemed to have limited to no effect. While the first phaser shot seemed to kill one, second and third shots were absorbed by some kind of shield.

H'iri started to shake. That cannot be good. I cannot be captured like that. Phasers are ineffective. So, now what? Dodge and weave! She thought to herself as she got onto all fours to run more quickly. So what are your options? Shuttlecraft? Yes, that's a viable option. Get a shield up and fly out of here. With that, she began to run towards the shipyard in hopes of finding a single man shuttlecraft.

Elias and his team was ushering people to transports and shuttles. Anything to save as many people as possible.

"KEEP MOVING!! Orderly lines, everyone will get off world!" His voice boomed across the field.

"SIR!! WE GOT MOVEMENT," one of his Team called. Elias weaved through the crowd to see movement from the perimeter of the field. Another wave of Borg Drones, advancing on the airfield.

"GET THESE PEOPLE MOVING CHIEF," Elias called back to his Chief Petty Officer as he raised his rifle, ready to reengage the enemy.

The shuttle containing several Cadets managed to make it into orbit making a beeline towards the Starfleet Academy. To their horror, San Francisco had been bombarded by these so-called Borg from in orbit. Starfleet Headquarters was in ruins as they passed by. On the ground, they could see hundreds of beings walking the streets. "Those got to be these Borg," Hunt replied. "Its more than an attack, it's a damn invasion."

As the shuttle made its way to the Academy, they could see several personnel on the ground trying to mount a resistance. Commander Moak pointed to the airfield. "Hernandez take us there. Hunt bring those weapons online."

"Phasers ready to go on your orders."

"Lay down some suppression fire to provide cover for those reaching trying to reach the shuttles," Moak instructed. As the ship passed over, Kenneth began firing phasers clearing a path of the drones that had stepped onto the airfield.

Phaser fire from the Cube began strafing the airfield, taking out ship after ship, as Borg started appearing. Security, working to get everyone to safety, were finding their phasers to be ineffective. "They're shielded," someone called out. "Run for it."

With the ships being taken out, one after the other, some as they were trying to lift off, security started bringing people together, motioning for them to be quiet, while one of the higher ranking officers consulted with what was left of the admiralty.

And then the message went out.

Red Alert! Red Alert!
We are under attack.
All Starfleet vessels are ordered to leave the Sol System at once.
Further instructions forthcoming.
Repeat. Do not engage the Borg.
Flee the system immediately.

Kenneth and the rest of his group in horror as the shuttle were getting picked off one by one. Without warning their ship was fired upon. The panel on the wall exploded next to the Commander who went down. "I'm getting us out of here," Andrea announced. "That ship up there is determined to keep everyone from escaping."

"We got to get the Commander to a sickbay somewhere soon," Alisa spoke as she knelt over Moak checking his vitals.

"There has to be something that we can do."

Hunt shook his head. "We transport as many people as can hold very quickly. Then get back into orbit." Everyone in the shuttle look around and nodded in agreement.

H'Iri watched helplessly as she got to the cargo bay. Apparently others had the same idea that she did. No sooner did a ship lift off than an energy blast hit it and destroy the vessel. This is one hell of a Kobyashi Maru test. Too bad this is real. Two tests in one day. Just my luck.

With the chaos erupting around her, she took a deep breath and again explored her options. Fighting was going to get her injected with something and transported by the Borg somewhere. From what she could guess, it would not be anywhere friendly. Taking a ship and tryintg to run was a suicide mission as the ships were being picked off one by one. That left only one option: gather as many people as she could and find places to hide and regroup.

Over the cacophony, H'iri called to anyone who could hear, "Federation, retreat! Hide where you can! Follow me!" Once again, she started running on all four paws. However, somewhere in mid stride, when none of her paws were on the ground, she could feel herself de-materializing. Please be the good guys... was her last thought as her body disappeared off Earth.

"RETREAT!!!" Elias called to his defenders, making moves back to the field, closing the perimeter. As the last of the shuttle's took off and the beam ups happened, Elias found himself with his Chief Petty Officer at the makeshift transporter pad.

"I got coordinates loaded in for you. Figure you want to go home. Go. Get your family."

"Chief, I..." Elias started before he was interrupted.

"I got this, El-Tee. It's been a honor to serve with you." The Chief saluted before beaming Elias to his home, and turning from the pad, picking up his rifle and reengaging the enemy.

[Starfleet Academy grounds]

Meerah quickly exited the Officer’s Mess, shaken by what she’d just learned, and headed for the nearest head. She was so shaken that she felt sick to her stomach. She’d just learned that something called the Borg were steamrolling through Starfleet’s defenses on a direct course for Earth. Most of the officers that had been in the briefing were gathered around the front of the room, desperately asking the briefer for more information than she had. Meerah felt an edge of distress in the air.

She found the head, went inside and occupied one of the stalls. The nausea was coming in waves now. Meerah knelt down on the floor in front of the head and closed her eyes. Her stomach was mid-flop and she felt the bile and lumpia rising in her throat. Her hands were shaking and she felt a chill run up her spine.

No, she commanded herself.

She forcefully centered herself, refusing to give in to the fear and panic. She snapped her eyes open and took a deep, cleansing breath in. She stared at a point on the stall in front of her, focusing intently on an intersection of two grout lines.

Meerah stood, shakily, off the tiled floor and adjusted her point of focus. She forced herself to take several more deep breaths, until she positive she had control of her body.

I can not fall apart, she demanded internally.

Others could fall apart in a crisis situation, but not Diplomatic Officers. Meerah unlocked the stall, moved to the wash basin and rinsed her hands. She was about to dry them off when the sound of anguished shrieks and phaser fire reached her ears. She was almost trampled by a group of Starfleet personnel as they ran past. She threw herself against the wall, avoiding the mass of bodies and spotted dark shapes moving across the grounds. Several Tactical personnel moved to intercept them, firing as they moved.

Meerah couldn’t look away as the scene unfolded. One of the Tactical officers fired, striking the leading shape. The shape fell but was quickly replaced by another. This one fell to phaser fire as well, replaced in turn by another. The third one, however, did not fall. Meerah gasped as several beams from phasers lanced out at the shape, but the shape kept coming. Meerah saw the shape grappling with someone in a Tactical uniform, and experience told her it was time to go.

Meerah shook her head to clear her mind and looked around. She started moving down the corridor, away from the shapes, searching. She came to a t-junction and turned right, seeing a large group of Starfleet uniforms ahead of her. She slowed her pace to a trot as she approached a status display. She confirmed her instincts: she was heading for the Athletics Field, which doubled as an auxiliary landing field.

The main landing pad would be where everyone else would head to, she reasoned to herself as she broke into a full-on run. The group in front of her split at another junction. Two thirds of the group turned to the right and disappeared around another corner. Meerah slowed as she caught up to the rest of the group. A sea of scared, confused faces stared back at her.

“You’re all cadets,” Meerah blurted as she caught up to the group.

“What do we do, Lieutenant,” a Denobulan female inquired.

Meerah glanced at the faces and then nodded, hoping her uncertainty wasn’t evident.

“We’re going to make for the Athletic Field…there should be shuttles there,” she explained, as she moved through the group. She stepped to the front of the cluster, stopped and turned to the cadets.

“Ok…move fast, stick together and don’t stop. Call out bad guys as you see them so that we can avoid them. Do not engage them,” she instructed them. For good measure, she looked at each of the cadets for understanding. All six cadets nodded that they understood the instructions.

Meerah nodded once and then led her charges out through a set of double doors, toward the landing pad.

Moments later, she and her charges scurried up the ramp of a shuttle as it was lifting off. Meerah slumped against one of the bulkheads and fought off a wave of despair. She had no idea what had happened or what she would do. But, she was alive and she was going to stay that way.

 

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