From Jupiters' eye, i stab at thee...

Setting up their attack, the allies try to prevent the destruction of all they have ever known...

Jupiter glowed brightly in the cold light from the sun as it orbited slowly around on its’ elliptical path. Its’ moons circled oblivious to their surroundings as a small point of light appeared in the distance and sped towards them. Turning from a point of light into a stream of rainbow colour, it seemed to slow down before suddenly appearing to stop and solidify into the hulking forms of the U.S.S Thunderchild and the Borg cube.

Both vessels, running slowly, crept around the planet to begin their inward journey toward Earth. Each keeping pace with the other, they began to prepare for the biggest battle of their collective lives.

******

Alarm klaxons sounded across the Thunderchild as the crew made ready for battle, preparing every detail of the huge battleship as they headed under full impulse power for Earth. Each moment was filled with activity as all systems were prepared for the up-coming battle which would tell the future of the human race.

Perched atop the bridge, its’ all-seeing, iris-like eye watching every event that took place there, the Computer patiently predicted each of the outcomes of the combat the crew were about to engage in. Most of its’ predictions did not bode well for the people it was designed to protect. Almost every one had at least one flaw that would cause the ship or its’ crew to be destroyed in a matter of moments from the commencing of the fight. The computer decided that this was not an acceptable state of affairs.

Setting in motion a set of pre-determined flags, it set about planning for the eventual destruction of itself. If the crew were going to die, it would not be through inaction on its’ part.

The voice of Captain George Rex took a millisecond to filter through the recognition systems, and then was passed to the main sub processors to be processed for an answer.

“Combat readiness stands at ninety-seven percent efficiency, and is holding at the moment, Captain.” It intoned politely. “All systems report ready for battle, most of the crew are at their stations.”

“Scan the area for anomalies.” Rex ordered.

The computer ran the scan in less than a millionth of a second, and then sent the information to the sensor readouts, waiting for the next command.

“Sensors indicate no sign of the anomaly we detected at Redknapp, sir.” Ensign Taylor reported, matter-of-factly. The computer noted in its’ improvement log that the command could have been processed by its’ own systems much more efficiently, thus removing the need for a human to control that particular function. This log would be used to make further improvements to the ship, if it survived the day. Silently, it watched the events unfolding on the bridge, waiting for the fight that was to come. Above all, it decided, it would NOT sacrifice the crew. It would rather be destroyed than allow that to happen.

A silent alert interrupted the computers’ chain of thought at that moment, causing a cascade of further alerts as the information became clearer. Instantly, the isolinear chips within the core began to flash important data to the screens of the various readouts of the sensor operators’ console.

“Captain,” Taylor reported, turning slightly to look at Rex. “Sensors indicate an unusual disturbance about 300 AU”s at bearing 289 Mark 35.”

Rex’s face suddenly changed to his more usual expression of �" what the computer could only assume to be �" his “battle mode”. It watched in fascination as he began issuing orders to the rest of the crew.

“Shields up; battle stations.” He said, his voice booming above the red alert klaxons that once again wailed across the ship.

The computer decided to examine the disturbance a little closer before the battle became fully engaged.

It was a gaseous anomaly, a little like a huge smoke ball in space that seemed to be growing. But the sensors told a different story to the one that seemed to be emerging. The anomaly was not growing, but was instead EXPANDING, getting thinner as it approached the ship.

A more focused examination was called for, so the sensors could penetrate the cloud easier and decipher what was going on.

Tightening the frequency of the sensor emitters, the computer began a detailed scan of the cloud, discovering the intermittent signal hidden within. The signal, hidden though it was, seemed to be obvious to anyone looking for it. Curious.

Why hide a signal and then make it obvious? This did not compute. Once again, the automatic systems sent the information to the sensor operators’ console.

“Sir, the computer has identified a signal hidden within the cloud, but it seems to be too small to be anything of significance.”

“Identify.” Rex commanded, turning his seat towards the iris-like main computer.

“Uncertain.” The computer intoned, “the signal does not appear to be from a fleet of vessels at all, but more like a small transmitter. This is similar to the one at Redknapp.”

“How similar?” Rex demanded.

“The frequency is lower, but the signal has the same form of coding to it.” The computer explained.

“Scan the area and display results to my console.” Rex turned back to his normal position and began concentrating on the data that came streaming in.

******

“How long to intercept?” Rex asked, as he watched the data stream on his console; of course he didn’t have to ask, the information was on the readout, but he wanted his crew to be on their guard at all times.

“By my mark, five minutes and thirty seconds…..Mark!” Responded Taylor, watching the console to his left while keeping their course with his right hand. Rex grunted, unable to disguise his anger at how long it would take them to intercept the cloud and make sure of the impending doom that awaited them.

“Increase to full impulse. All reserve power to forward shields.” He added, still unsure of the true information that the computer was giving him.

Some of it just didn’t make sense. There were things that were almost right, like the cloud itself, but quite a lot still seemed to be a little off… like where was the guardian fleet that Starfleet kept stationed at Earth just in case of such an emergency? Why weren’t they here? The sensors were detecting some signs of a conflict within the cloud, but nothing remained of the ships themselves. Not even one piece was left to say that the fleet had even arrived to defend Earth. It was confusing to say the least.

Then there was the signal itself. It seemed to be genuine, but then it was similar to the one from Redknapp Was this a real attack? He couldn’t be sure.

If it was, then he was staring almost certain defeat in the face, even with the modifications that the Borg had made. No vessel could have a chance against thirty two Borg cubes, no matter how advanced it was.

Dismissing the possibility of a fake, he concentrated on the actual information at hand, and discovered a most disturbing piece of evidence. Something that was to send a chill up and down his spine…

The cloud wasn’t an ENTRY point, it was an EXIT one! That meant that the Borg could already be here!

What was it that the report had said before this had started? Twelve ROMULAN cruisers had been assimilated? Oh god, what if they had the Romulan Cloaking device? Then they could be…

His fingers stabbed quickly over the panel under his left hand, switching the sensors from the forward array to the rear one. Sure enough, there was the tell-tale signature that told him the Borg were somewhere behind him. Although he could detect their engine efflux, he couldn’t see exactly where they were, as they were indeed cloaked against the sensors.

“All power to aft shields, now! Helm, bring us about! Sound collision alert!” Rex rattled the orders off in quick succession, hoping against hope that he was in time. He heard the collision alarm sound loudly above the din of the engines as the huge starship swung hard to port in an attempt to face her invisible foes.

******

Just as the mighty vessel neared the end of her turn, a Borg cube began to de-cloak. Its’ first shot struck the shields radiating into light and heat as it was dissipated away. Thunderchild fired back, quantum torpedoes tearing huge chunks off of the square sides of the cube.

More and more Borg ships winked back into reality, firing at the massive Federation ship, this time causing her shields to buckle. Quickly, another shield layer took the place of the first, allowing time for another salvo of torpedoes to be fired.

This second salvo found its’ mark, destroying the first of many cubes in a fireball of smashed pieces that floated off into space at high speed. With each passing minute, the Thunderchild found herself surrounded by more and more of the cubes, each one opening fire on her with equal ferocity.

Although almost completely surrounded, the Federation ship was not alone. Standing close beside her was the Rebel cube, taking out its’ share of the enemy in equal measure.

Soon, debris and shattered pieces of ship hung in space around the conflict like guardians of the dead.

With each following salvo, both sides caused massive damage to the other. Chaos and confusion reigned, causing the ships to manoeuvre around the debris in an effort to draw a line of fire.

With one burst of fire, a Borg cube caused the shields on the Thunderchild to finally collapse in a shower of radiated heat and light. The second shot hit her hull, tearing great gouts in her side and causing fires to spread uncontrollably throughout the ship.

In one final flurry, the Borg caught the Rebel cube by surprise, smashing huge gaping holes in its” sides, and sending the now disabled vessel speeding silently across the void towards the cloud that had been the starting point for the battle.

Once again, the Thunderchild spat a vast amount of torpedoes. This time aimed at the three that had destroyed her ally.

Almost all found their targets, ripping great gouts of twisted metal from the ships as they impacted with the chaotic mass of pipes and structures that made up the outer shell of the cubes.

With a final rending set of explosions, the three Borg vessels erupted into balls of fire that sent pieces of their hulls spiralling away in all directions. Another set of cubes closed form the right, firing on the exposed primary hull, scorching the plating and ripping through the ablative armour in seconds.

Another came, and another. Constantly firing.

The battle was over.

******

Rex surveyed the damage to the bridge with a sigh.

Where the Borg had finally caused the shields to collapse, several of the shots had found their way through to the hull.

As a result, fires raged out of control all over the place. Choking fumes billowed across the room, almost blotting out the main screen on the wall opposite him. The floor was littered with smoking pieces of metal that seared the ground where they lay. Various control panels were alight, and several of the crew lay unmoving on the ground.

It had been one hell of a fight. If it had gone on much longer, Rex mused, it probably would have seen the end of this ship and its” crew in one fell swoop. And with the destruction of the Thunderchild, so too would the Earth have been destroyed.