Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/old-incomplete/shadow-oncemore.p1-8

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From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:24:48
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc(8th story):oncemore(1)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
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                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt1)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper


   "How hard is it to sustain a Collective?"
   Benjamin Sisko sat next to the holding pen Sasha Borg currently occupied.
She looked quite beautiful under all her symbiotic technology, Sisko realised.
If it hadn't been for the Borg...
   ...But she was assimilated three centuries ago.  There was no hope for them.
 She was Borg.  And, listening to her other self, the more evolved self from
the future, she would be like this for at least another thousand or two years.
As she herself said, assimilation was absolute.
   "The Collective is not hard to carry.  It is... a merging of minds.  I have
never been this close to it, nor influenced it as much, previous to this point
in time.  I hope to exist like this for some time.  It is analogous to the
human condition of pleasure."
   "Have you ever experienced pleasure as a Borg?"
   "Pleasure is irrelevant.  The Borg is all."
   "But have you ever experienced it?"  It was not the first time Sasha Borg
had dodged a question in this way.  Of course, to a Borg, it was irrelevant,but
they may have experienced it.
   "The Borg do not experience emotions.  We do not simulate them.  They are
irrelevant."
   Which was the Borg way of saying `I have absolutely no idea...'
   After a day in transit, Sisko had become an expert in Borg communication.
The creatures whom he had once hated for killing his wife, and destroying his
life, he now understood.  He knew the drives that the Borg had.  The Collective
seemed to experience fear.  Fear that it would cease to exist if,even for a
moment, they stopped assimilating.  Sasha Borg had explained that,even to the
point where a human could understand it.  A Borg that didn't assimilate wasn't
a Borg.  Therefore, the Borg ceased to exist.  And as the Borg lived in a
Collective mind, where every thought was made by the whole,any single Borg
resisting carrying out assimilation on any culture caused the species to cease
to exist.  Sisko thought it was a strange way to operate,but then, so many
things the Borg did were strange.
   According to what he had heard (Reading between the lines, in the most
part), the Borg had begun as a race travelling space, bringing the best of
their culture to other worlds.  When they found worlds less advanced
technologically than themselves, they began the process of transplanting their
civilisation to these planets.  Over the centuries, the directive changed to
the point where it was every planet that was assimilated.  And not just through
cultural and technological standards.  Every race encountered was found to be
of use to the Collective.  Humanoid races were altered.  Technology was
assimilated.  Cultural values were irrelevant, and, therefore,obsolete.  Every
thing was to be Borg.  A civilisation like no other grew. And would continue to
grow, changing, adapting.
   But somewhere along the way, the directive changed again.  No longer
changing, no longer evolving, the Borg conquest slowed.  Something happened.
Perhaps they realised they had stopped doing what they originally set out to
do, maybe something totally different.  But it was deemed irrelevant.  The Borg
Collective began a period of consolidation, making sure everything had been
assimilated.  But the Collective knew something had been lost.  Perhaps their
humanity?  They were no longer keeping other cultures intact, as they had meant
to do.  They were changing other cultures to fit Borg culture. They were
destroying the very thing that had brought them to the stars in the first
place.
   It was then that it was decided that everything bar assimilation and the
Borg directives were irrelevant.  And the Main Directive was assimilation.
   Sisko knew the trap.  As a member of Starfleet, he had seen the process
happen on many planets.  You couldn't blame the people it happened to, they
generally had no idea what had happened to them.  By the time they noticed, it
was too late.  And on every planet where Sisko had seen this condition, the
most common 'irrelevant' concepts were self and humanity.  This Borg seemed to
be gaining those qualities back.
   "We have arrived."  Sasha Borg's voice broke in on Sisko's train of thought.
 He looked up to a nearby viewer, and saw a planet.  Nothing unusual,mind you,
just an average M-Class planet.
   "Life?" he asked.
   "Negative.  Sensors indicate sterilization of the atmosphere and surface.
Long range sensors detect no underground life.  Signs of underground life are
therefore inconclusive."  She blinked.  "Borg are awakening."
   All around him, Borg stirred.  It was like being in the lion's den, Sisko
thought.  He would hate for a Borg to go rogue right about now.
   "Borg don't go rogue," a voice said in his ear.  "Borg go Individual."
   Sisko recognised the voice, but he swung around to look at Sasha Borg's
future counterpart.  "We've been having some very interesting
conversations,your past self and I."
   "I know.  I can remember them," Sasha smiled.  "Listen, you'd better see to
your crew.  They're getting, well, jumpy."
   "I suppose they're not used to being around forty-seven thousand Borg."
   Sasha Borg interupted.  "We suppose not.  Familiarity, however, -"
   "Is irrelevant, I know, I know."  Sisko couldn't help liking the young Borg.
 Even though she wasn't Individual, she had a charming quality about her.
   He wandered off to find his crew.
   Jadzia Dax lay covered in a blanket.  For some reason, she was cold.  Doctor
Bashir had told her it was shock.  After all, being around ten Borg was bad
enough, but thousands...?  Her problem was, she was a scientist, she wasn't
supposed to fold up like this.  And her Symbiont, the Dax componant, shouldn't
have frozen up.  Being a joint species sometimes had its disadvantages.
   Julian Bashir sat next to Jadzia, sharing body heat with her.  Ay
least,that's what he told himself.  He could have asked someone else to go it,
but he had a thing for Jadzia.  She was... attractive.  And being a member of a
joint species..., well, that really interested him.  He glanced over at the
Major.
   Major Kira Nerys was leaned up against a bulkhead.  Around her, Borg shifted
ceaselessly.  She would go crazy if this kept up.  The Commander was getting
all friendly with an adolescent Borg, too, something she thought was
impossible.  However, Sasha Borg seemed to be different from the others.  She
seemed almost human.  Why couldn't she have seemed Bajoran?
   Miles O'Brien wondered why he was on this battlecube.  He should have been
trying to get Deep Space Nine back on line.  Instead, in a fit of madness, he
agreed to let the Borg transport some of their technology onto the station.
Like all true Borg equipment, it adapted itself right into the systems.  Power
was up, but only enough for replicators, lighting, gravity, and turbolifts and
doors.  He wasn't needed here.  The Borg were infinitely adaptable.  He was,how
did they put it, irrelevant.  Not necessary.  His place was on DS9, or the USS
Defiant.


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA               down further!!!
                                \/

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From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:26:14
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc: oncemore(2)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt2)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper


   Odo bubbled in his bucket in a nearby pen.  How he hated to have to rest in
front of everyone here.  It was so degrading...!  He especially wanted to keep
what passed for eyes on a certain member of the 'crew'.
   Quark sat in between O'Brien and Kira, wondering why he had been drafted for
this mission.  He didn't have anything to do with Starfleet, nor the Romulan
Star Empire (except for a few shadey deals), nor the Borg, although he had
tried to.  Maybe that was it.  He had nearly been killed by one of these
'shadows' everyone was talking about.  The people they were going to fight.  If
that was the case, revenge, then Quark would have some.  His skull still
throbbed from the hole it had had in it.  The medical staff had managed to fix
it up before the power went out.
   He was the first to notice Commander Sisko approach.
   "So what is it, Commander?" he asked.  Everyone looked up at the dark
skinned man, who wiped his forehead, cleaning beads of sweat away.
   "We're there," was all he said.  Everyone got up, and it was Kira who
noticed the Borg come to life around them.  The interior of the battlecube
suddenly seemed full of the cybernetic symbionts.  Borg after Borg lumbered by,
ignoring the foreign group.
   "How ever did you guess?" Kira muttered disrespectfully.  She may have been
the first to volunteer for this mission, but she didn't have to like it.
   "Sasha has informed me that we have entered orbit above our target planet.
We shall be within transporter range in approximately ten minutes. Then we get
to have our... fun."  Sisko turned, and headed for the area Sasha Borg resided
in at present.
   The other Sasha, The future Sasha Borg, appeared next to Kira.  "So,
Nerys,enjoying yourself?"
   Kira muttered something under her breath at the non corporeal being.
   "That's nice," the girl replied.  "Dax, are you ready for that tour I said
you could have?"
   "Dax is in no condition to do anything at the moment," Bashir retorted. "I'm
having enough trouble keeping her conscious as it is.  She's gone into shock,
and -"
   "Oh, all right.  What do you want me to do about it?"
   "Take us back to DS9.  It's the least you can do."
   "For you, or her?"
   Bashir sighed.  He really didn't want to be here, but he'd volunteered.
Mainly because he'd never live it down afterwards if he didn't, but he
volunteered, all the same.  "For me," he admitted quietly.
   "You're not alone in that wish, doctor," Kira muttered.
   Sasha stood still for a moment, letting everyone pass her.  "Oh," she said
in a small voice.  Then she flickered out of existance in the lower bowels of
the cube, and reappeared next to Sisko and her younger self.
   "Your staff don't approve of me, Ben.  I can't say that I blame them.  I
haven't done much to gain your trust, have I?"
   Sisko said nothing.  He thought this Sasha had something to get off her
chest, and he was going to let her say it before the others arrived.
   "I... didn't give you much trust to go on.  I didn't do anything when Kira
was transported into the future, I didn't do much except get Kira into the
holosuite when Bashir got attacked.  I hardly did anything when you and Dax
were assaulted by the Jennifer shadow, and I didn't do anything to stop the
shadows from 'talking' Dax into a transfer.  I could've stopped Jadda Mor from
dying, yet I waited too late to yell out in Ops, and I didn't have to take so
long in the Gamma Quadrant, so O'Brien wouldn't have contributed to the
shadows' mental energy accumulation.  I didn't even stop that Borg shadow from
attacking, and nearly assimilating Quark.  But I have to do something,Ben.  And
I'm going to tell you what it is..."
   Sasha took a deep breath, and launched into her explanation.
   "I told you, I was a Borg.  You can see me here.  But I, here, at least, am
still a part of the Collective.  I may have small nuances that are attributable
to Individuals, but I am still a member of the Collective.  I have to change
that.  I have to make sure here, that I become Individual.  I will no longer be
dependant on the sum of the whole, nor even a part of the whole.  We becomes I.
 Dependant becomes Independant.  Sasha Borg becomes Sasha Wren.
   "I have to ensure my own future, Ben."
   Sisko nodded.  He could understand.
   Kira coughed softly from behind them both.  Sasha turned around, her eyes
wide open.  She disappeared.
   "Something I said?" she muttered.
   Sasha Borg plugged her right arm into a console.  "Commander, the
Collective's guests are asking for you."
   Sisko grunted.
                                ******

   "Are you listening to me?"
   The Romulan female's voice echoed around the chamber.  It had been specially
constructed for the Romulans, as the female wouldn't have it any other way.
And the Collective believed Romulans may come in handy.  So the room had been
built.
   Sela couldn't understand why the Borg didn't go on about assimilation,as
she'd been led to believe.  In fact, the lead Borg, one called Sasha by the
human Commander, seemed almost to make jokes about assimilation.
   Impossible.
   But then, the Borg excelled at doing just that.
   Didn't they?
   The door to the chamber hissed open, and in strode Sisko.  He glanced around
the room, just to see where all the Romulans were.  Four guards and Sela, he
counted.  Five total.  Just what had been brough on board. Disruptors lay in a
pile on the floor, near to the door.
   "I want to know why we're not being informed of anything that's going on,"
Sela demanded.  "I still think you're trying to deceive me, that this is all
some Federation trick to get me out into the open."
   "Believe me, I didn't want Romulans on my station.  Why would the Borg want
to draw you out?  And as to being informed, a Borg was outside if you needed
anything.  You were told that, remember.  You only had to open the door -"
   "And walk into thousands of Borg.  I saw the amount of them when we arrived,
I didn't want to die - just yet."  A smile crept up around the corners of her
mouth.  "I want to know what's going on."
   "We have entered orbit over our target.  I believe we'll find the answers to
all our questions down there.  If you'll follow me...?"
   Sela wasn't going to follow anyone connected with the Federation.  "I'll
accompany you."  She gestured at her guards, then at the disruptors.  The
guards dove for their weapons.
   Sisko managed to talk to a guard on the way back to the others.  "You all
seem afraid of her."
   The guard glanced at Sisko.  "With good reason, human.  She killed three
crew members on the way here.  I'd stay out of her way."


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA

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From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:26:56
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc: Oncemore(3)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
Lines: 123
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4606

                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt3)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper


   Sisko took the lead, well, as much as Sela let him.  The corridors all
seemed the same, but for some reason, the path seemed clear for him.  He never
took a wrong turn, never stopped to second guess himself - Sela did enough of
that.
   Finally, they ended up with the others.  Sasha Wren had returned, and was
sitting opposite her former self.  Kira was supporting Dax with Bashir on the
other side.  O'Brien sat rubbing his head, muttering with Quark in muted tones
on Borg technology.  Odo looked only half formed, less human than usual.  Sasha
Borg was still plugged into the mainframe.
   "One minute to transporter range," she said for the sake of the foreigners.
   Sasha Wren sighed.  "We'll be running into their defense nets any moment
now.  I suggest you hold on to something."
   Everyone reached for something to grasp.
   The ship turned sideways.
   "We are encountering heavy graviton anomalies," Sasha Borg apologised as
much as the Collective's spokesperson could.
   "Small black holes," Sasha Wren translated.
   "Adaption protocols established,"Sasha Borg continued.  "Regeneration
protocols established.  Thirty seconds to transporter range.  Loss of
operational Borg:  fifteen thousand.  Ten thousand damaged.  Personal
regeneration protocols engaged."
   "Sit back and enjoy the ride," Sasha commented.
   Kira turned to Sisko.  "How can they lose so many, and not feel anything?"
   "Transportation of Collective componants complete.  Fifteen thousand two
hundred eighty two Borg losses confirmed."  Sasha Borg turned slightly, just
enough to face Kira.  "Once our race is 'dead', as you term it, the Collective
has lost them for good.  The 'dead' cannot be raised.  The Collective realised
this long ago.  We have no use for our dead, apart from recycling, and
reclaimation of Collective componants.  We once left these componants in our
dead, but one race we encountered used them against us."
   "What happened?" Kira asked, full of morbid curiousity.
   "Borg losses were great.  We adapted, and began reclaimation of our
Collective componants."
   Sasha Borg turned back to the console.
   "What did you do to the race that used them against you?"
   "We assimilated them."
   "Oh," came a small voice from Dax.  "You assimilate all opposition, then?"
   Sasha Borg turned again.
   "We assimilate all.  Resistance -"
   "Is futile," Sisko ended.  "Don't get her started, Dax.  Sasha and I
couldn't get her to stop earlier."
   "Transporter range reached.  First wave transporting."
   A loud hum of power surged through the ship.  Both Sashas monitored consoles
for information on the first wave.  The lights in the room dimmed for a moment.
   "The Collective is empty.  All Borg lost.  Commencing Reclaimation
protocols.  Transportation of Collective componants complete.  One thousand
Borg losses confirmed."
   "There go more of them," Kira whispered.  Then aloud, she added, "What
happened to them?"
   "The Collective became empty.  One thousand Borg losses recorded."  Sasha
Borg seemed at a loss to explain what had happened.  "Mass Collective deletion.
 Operational parameters dropping to accomodate losses."
   "She doesn't know?" Sisko asked Sasha Wren.
   "No, she doesn't.  And, before you ask, I don't either.  I think it may be
time we went down to the surface, though."
   "Agreed.  Collective operational parameters stable.  Regeneration protocols
engaged.  All Borg entering rest state for one hour period."  Sasha Borg
disengaged from the console.  "Borg strike team alpha, accompany us to the
surface."
   Sisko stood, and stretched.  It had been a long day, and it was about to get
longer.  Kira stood up next to him, and he pushed her gently away from Dax.  He
reached down, and helped her up.  "Come on, Old Man.  I'll need you before the
day is out, no doubt."
   Dax resisted momentarily, then aloowed her self to be pulled up.  "It'll be
a while before you don't need me, Benjamin."  She looked at him, then looked
away.  "I... have something to talk to you about when we get back."
   Sisko hoped it was about her transfer request.
   Sasha Borg spoke.  "Transporter is ready.  Report status."
   Sela caught on quickly.  "My men are ready for transporting."  To
herself,she whispered, "I'm coming, mother..."
   Sisko looked his crew over.  "Ready when you are, Sasha."
   "Transporter engaged."
                                ******

   The planet's surface was bleak.  It had a breathable atmosphere, but
everywhere was dirt.  No life.  No nothing.
   "That Crystal Entity has a lot to answer for," Sasha Wren muttered under her
breath.  Then, to everyone else: "Well, we're here.  Now we find them."
   "I rather think they found us." Sela swore in Romulan.  The word was
unknown, but the meaning was clear.  Everyone looked around them, and found one
thousand Borg surrounding them.
   "They are not part of the Collective, we removed the Collective's
componants."  Sasha Borg took a step towards one.
   "I don't remeber this," Sasha Wren called to Sisko.
   "Do not move," one Borg roared.  "You are to accompany us to the Base
Collective."
   "You do not serve the Collective," Sasha stated.  "We would know about your
existance otherwise."
   "We serve the Base Collective.  You are to accompany us to the Base
Collective.  There you will be assimilated."
   "I have been assimilated," Sasha Borg stated matter-of-factly.
   "You will be assimilated."
   Sisko and the others were led away.  Sasha Borg stayed still for a
moment,then was pushed along with the others.  She ran through every subspace
network, looking for these Borg's Base Collective.  She could not find it.
                                ******

   Kira stared into the distance: a cave was visible on the horizon.  She
walked next to Sisko, who she was talking to non-stop.
   "And it's funny how Sasha Borg, as you call her, isn't affected like the
other Borg are.  Even her strike team was affected.  She wasn't.  Why?"
   Sisko dropped back to talk to Sasha Borg.  Kira caught up to Bashir.  "What
I'd like to know, is why..."  She went on and on.  Bashir only stayed with her
to make a good impression.  After all, if she left Bareil...


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA
Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!softtech!au!org!brisnet!closer!william.gracie
From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:27:40
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc:oncemore(4)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
Lines: 131
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4607

                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt4)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper


   "So, why are you not affected by this Base Collective?" Sisko asked the
female Borg.
   "We do not know.  We cannot find this Base Collective.  We have no concept
of Borg leaving the Collective."
   "What about the Individuals?"
   "The Individuals are irrelevant."  Borg pride surfaced again.  "Logic states
otherwise.  Individuals are not irrelevant.  Individuals are... We are not
continuing this line of conversation."  She fell quiet.
   "You know, I used to hate Borg.  I used to hate Borg with all my heart.
After all, you stripped my life away, my reason for living."
   "Join the Collective," Sasha interjected.  "We have all reason for life we
need.  Assimilation is absolute."
   "So you say.  But let me continue.  I hated you.  I was ready to sacrifice
the lives of every person on Deep Space Nine to destroy you and your ship.  I
always thought Borg were the ultimate evil.  But you've helped to show me that
isn't the case.
   "You and your ship have shown me that the Borg are... living
creatures,scared, afraid..."
   "The Borg do not -"
   "Let me finish.  You are scared.  You're scared about not having each other.
 You're afraid of not having voices in your head.  You're scared the Borg
directives will collapse with the onset of Individuality."
   "The concept of Individuality is irrelevant."
   "Now you're contradicting yourself."
   "We stated Individuals are not irrelevant.  We also stated the concept of
Individuality is irrelevant.  State contradiction."
   "Sorry, we Individuals do not see every thing so clear cut as you
Collectives.  But you are scared.  Admit it."
   Sasha Borg raised herself to full height, and devices in her right arm
whirled in what appeared to be anger.  "The Borg do not possess what you term
emotions.  Emotions are irrelevant.  The Borg are one.  The Collective is all.
All are one.  One is all."  The voice took on a near-pleading  tone.
"Assimilation is absolute.  Resistance to assimilation is futile.  Resistance
to the Collective is futile."
   "The Individuals managed to resist the Collective."
   "The concept of -"
   "Yes, yes.  I've heard it before.  But why aren't the Individuals
irrelevant?"  Sisko waited a full two minutes for an answer.
   "The Individuals are not irrelevant."
   "Therefore, resistance to assimilation is not futile."
   "Resistance is futile."
   "Resistance to what?" Sisko demanded quickly.
   "Resistance is futile."
   "Resistance to what?" Sisko repeated urgently.  He was on the edge of a
breakthrough here, he could feel it.
   Sasha Borg gasped, and collapsed.  Sisko dropped next to her, and rolled the
Borg over onto her back.  "What's wrong?" he asked desperately.  Her devices
stopped moving for a moment.
   "The Collective has broken down," she whispered.  "There is no more
Collective..."
                                ******

   O'Brien looked back at the Commander.  The Borg he was walking with - it was
that Sasha, he thought; they all looked alike - had collapsed for no apparent
reason.  He went back to take a look.  The Borg lay on the ground,not moving,
not acknowledging anyone or anything.  A Borg kicked her.  A light in her
eyepiece flashed on.  An arm lashed out, the hand clutching the Borg around the
ankle.  A swift pull followed; gravity took care of the rest. The Borg rolled
around on the ground, trying to get leverage to get up.  Sasha was helped to
her feet, and the party moved on.
   The Borg on the ground eventually stopped moving, and began to conserve
power.
   O'Brien walked back up to Bashir, and took hold of Dax's other arm.
   "A lot of excitement going on here today, isn't there?" Bashir announced
brightly.  Dax muttered something under her breath.
   "Pardon, Dax?  I didn't quite catch that."
   "You weren't supposed to," came a stronger reply.
   "Oh."  Bashir fell silent.
   Dax immediately felt bad.  Bashir had enough trouble lowering his ego enough
to talk to people, so why not encourage him?  It'd pass the time.
   And on the bright side, he'd run out of things to say sooner or later.
                                ******

   "We... thank you, Commander."
   Sisko looked at his female Borg companion.
   "We?" he asked.  "Who is we?"
   Sasha Borg seemed nervous.  "The Collective."
   "There is no more Collective; you said it yourself."
   "Borg have no concept of self," Sasha replied, almost nervous.
   "I didn't mention the concept of self, I said there was no more Collective.
If you think you're going to get out of it this time, think again.  You think
you're still part of the Collective?  Then tell me how many Borg are in the
Collective at this moment."
   "Assimilation is absolute," Sasha responded.
   "How many?" Sisko demanded.
   "Resistance is futile."
   "How many?"
   "The Collective exists."
   "HOW MANY?" Sisko yelled.  Kira turned to face him.  Sasha Wren turned from
the front of the group to watch.
   "One," Sasha Borg replied in a small voice.  "There is one Borg in the
Collective."
   "One is not a Collective.  Is that true?"
   "Yes," Sasha Borg answered.
   "Then the concept of a Borg Collective is irrelevant.  True or false?"
   "False.  The Borg Collective is continued.  We exist as Borg."
   "Where does this other Borg come from?"
   "There is no other Borg.  No Borg belongs to the Collective apart from one
of forty-seven nine hundred eleven."
   "That is correct.  Therefore the concept of a Borg Collective is irrelevant.
 True or false?"
   Sasha Borg wilted.  A tear rolled down her cheek.  "True.  We no longer
exist."
   "No longer exist as a part of the Borg Collective?  Or as a Borg?"
   "We no longer exist as a Borg."
   "There is no we," Sasha Wren informed her earlier self.  "We as a concept is
no longer irrelevant.  You are I now.  A Borg 'I'.  Not a 'We', but an 'I'."
   "The concept of we is irrelevant," Sasha Borg repeated.  "We are I." She
looked up at Sisko.  "I is one?"
   "I is one."
   Sasha Wren looked up at Sisko gratefully.  "Thank you, Commander."
                                ******


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA
Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!caen!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!softtech!au!org!brisnet!closer!william.gracie
From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:28:16
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc: Once More(5)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
Lines: 121
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4608

                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt5)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper

An hour later, the group of Borg and foreigners arrived at the caves.  They
were dark inside, and no one had thought about whether the visitors could see
in the dark or not.  Sisko, supporting Sasha Borg, stumbled over a rock.  The
Borg's reflexes saved him from a nasty thump on the head.
   "Thank you," Sisko said quietly.  Sasha Borg almost smiled.
   "Thanks are irrelevant."
   Sisko rolled his eyes and groaned.
   The cave's gradient deepened for a distance of half a kilometre, then
leveled out.  Torches were placed on the walls, lighting up the cave no end. It
was then that everyone who was able to appreciated the size of the cave.
   It stetched out twelve hundred metres to the side, and stretched twenty
kilometres.  All through the cavern were figures, some Borg shaped, some draped
in shadows.  What seemed to be teachers drifted through the crowd, pointing
things out, joining in on group activities.
   Now that it been brought to his attention, Sisko realised that most of the
Borg were in groups.  It was like Sasha Wren had said: Mini-Collectives.  Each
group was working on something different.  One they passed was floating a green
ball in mid-air, trying to fill holes in it with pieces of light.  They never
touched the ball, or pieces, however.  Another group were concentrating on
something.  Looking closer, Dax saw an injured Borg lying on the ground. The
group was concentrating the Borg back into operational order.  A third group
was reproducing common elements, and changing them into a useful form. These
were taken by a fourth group, and placed down a hole.
   The group was led towards this hole.  The Borg leading and surrounding them
split off, until it was only thirty Borg escorting the prisoners towards the
hole.  They were passed down into the next level's elevator, some three
kilometres above the ground of this cavern. Here was the use for all the metal
they saw being made: a massive Borg battlecube occupied most of the cavern.
The elevator sped down towards the ground, stopping at a hole in the wall three
stories from the bottom.
   Sasha Borg gazed all around her, absorbing information at a staggering rate.
 "Commander... This is... fascinating?"
   "Do you mean, is that the word?"
   "Yes."
   "Yes, it is fascinating."  Sisko stared around himself also, as did everyone
but the Borg.
   The tunnel led into a small chamber, where four Borg shadows waited.  They
hummed a meaningless, random tune, picking out high, then low notes.
   "I wonder what they get out of that," O'Brien muttered.
   //They are attempting to ascertain the future\\ came a voice from behind.
O'Brien turned to see a shadow standing there.  He turned back to the Borg
shadows.  //They were most useful in our attempts to feast on your mental
energy.  They are now put to more useful... measures\\
   Sisko turned to face the shadow.  "Why are you doing this?"
   //Come now, Commander.  You know why we are doing this.  One of our
operatives on your station told you, and this young Individual\\ he pointed at
Sasha Wren, //told you the rest.  This is the only way we can ever ascend\\
   "One thing, though," Bashir interupted, "Didn't your people say that Sasha's
people were like gods to you?"
   //That is correct\\
   "But the Collective and the Individuals don't mix."
   //That is correct.  It should have been we who ascended.  That is why they
are like gods to us.  Are you not supposed to emulate gods?\\
   "Not like this!" Sasha Wren growled.  "You're not supposed to go around
disrupting everyone's lives!  You ascend by learning about human nature,
learning respect and humility.  You can't do it through force!"
   //You know how adaptive Borg are.  We have found a way\\
   The shadow made a movement, and the borg herded the prisoners after the
shadow.  //You've seen our equipment here, Sasha\\ he muttered.  //Would you
like to become one with the Base Collective?\\
   Sasha Wren replied.  "I don't want to be a part of a Collective entity."
   //I was not talking to you\\
   Sasha Borg pondered.  She looked around at the assembled humans.  "What is
the term..." she asked Sisko, "when one considers another to be a member of a
human Collective?"
   "A friend?" he asked in reply.
   The Borg turned back to the shadow.  "We... I will not join a Collective
unless my... friends join it too."  She slipped a protective arm around Sisko's
waist.  It was nearly impossible to tell who was the more surprised:  Sisko or
Sasha Borg herself.
   //Resistance is futile.  We are too far evolved now to be stopped\\
   "Resistance is not futile," Kira shot back.  "Resistance against the
Cardassians was considered futile.  It took us fifty years, and many losses,but
we were able to win our world back."
   //The Cardassians pulled out because your world had nothing left to offer\\
   "Apart from labour.  They had a race of slaves.  It's not like the
Cardassians to leave a planetful of slaves behind."
   //The answer you propose is not substantiated by Cardassian documents\\
   "We know the Cardassians never record anything the way it really was," Sisko
interjected.  "They change their own history all the time, every time they are
defeated.  And if you knew them, you would know this to be true."
   //It is of no consequence\\ the shadow decided.  //You are to be taken
before the seniors\\  The shadow led them off through a second cave, which led
to a large chamber, full of shadows.
   They were visible in their most human form, that of a humanoid with
long,gaunt faces, long limbs, and very tall.  No Borg symbiotic technology was
visible.  Sasha Borg looked around her, noting exits and defendable points.
Sasha Wren kept staring straight ahead, occasionally flicking her eyes to look
at Sisko.  The Commander walked along, over-awed by the size of the cavern, and
the number of senior shadows.  Kira, carrying Dax once more, didn't bother to
look.  Her people had had to live in caves occasionally when they were fighting
the Cardassians, and to her, one cave looked like another. Dax was beginning to
come to her senses, waking from a long sleep.  She glimpsed the shadows, and
that seemed to make her strong.  Here was the enemy, no longer looking like a
half-remembered dream, but in flesh and blood,or what passed for it.  O'Brien's
mind was still churning over the Borg battlecube they had seen, wondering how
they were going to get a craft of that size out of the caverns, and into orbit.
 And then it clicked: they were going to think it up there.  When they had
achieved this... ascension, they would have enough 'mental oomph' to boost the
craft straight up, or even teleport it up there.  Bashir, on Dax's other side,
had indeed run out of things to say.  His mouth was agape, and he wished he had
brought that tricorder with him.  It would have been a lot better than just
relying on guessing games.


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA
Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!caen!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!softtech!au!org!brisnet!closer!william.gracie
From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:28:50
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc: Once More(6)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
Lines: 122
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4609

                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt6)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper


   Quark trailed the main group, looking for some opportunity to exploit.
Granted, he didn't know what he would do when he found one, but it kept his
mind off the fact that he was about to die.  He wondered why he didn't fight
harder, resist not coming just that little bit extra.  But he had been told
that, like the Romulans, the Ferengi would get something out of this.  He had
to get it.  That Borg shadow owed him that much... Odo walked out the front of
the group, determined not to seem frightened, or over-awed.  His demeanour
seemed to make the shadows nervous for some reason.
   Behind Quark, Sela and her guards trudged along.  Sela's mind was in danger
of giving out under the number of these shadows.  The sheer numbers...! And she
had not seen her mother here, as she had been told she would.  She could be one
of these shadows, for all she knew.  After all, Tasha Yar's body had
disappeared from the morgue.  If these Borg were as advanced as they claimed,
they could have abducted her mother's body, brought life back into it, and
assimilated her into one of their Collectives.  Sela hoped she would find her
mother a Borg.  She shifted her disruptor into a more comfortable position.
   <<Welcome to Borg>> a senior shadow murmured as the prisoners were led past
him.  <<I do so hope you enjoy your stay>>
   "Sasha,"Sisko asked quietly, "How can these by members of a Collective if
they speak in 'I's', instead of 'We's'?"
   Sasha Wren answered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
   "They have evolved to that point.  They are still linked, but they have a
concept of self, as a personal unit."
   The prisoners were led around the cavern, until they were placed on a dias
in front of everyone.  The room fell silent, all the shadows swinging their
heads to peer at the group.  Kira felt a mind caress hers, a light touch, but
it was strangely... stimulating.  Dax's joint mind was ripped apart, studied,
and put carefully back into place.  Sisko felt a hammer blow to his brain, a
blow that dropped him.  Sasha Borg caught him, pulled him back up, and steadied
him.  O'Brien memories were copied, and scanned, and passed around the room; he
could almost see them.  Quark's mind was open for all to see.  His deals, his
contacts, his life.  The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition were laid bare for all.
Odo's body lost all traction, all hold on its form. He collapsed momentarily
into an orange blob on the floor.  Sela's mind was ripped open, memories pulled
out forcefully, reactions tested.
   Kira opened her eyes, scanned the cave, and saw Kai Winn cowering at the
table the shadows were sitting around.  Her eyes were wide with fright, and
reflected in them was darkness.  'Hold on,' Kira willed the Kai.  'We'll get
you out of here...'
   A shadow stepped forward to the dias.  It looked up at them, and became a
Borg.  It was slightly misty, the form fading out rather than the straight
edges of a corporeal life form.  Borg shield generator coils ran around the
body, armour covered the body and partially covered the face, the right arm was
a devive-studded monstrousity.  But under all the cybernetic symbionts,Sela
could make out something familiar...
   (-My dear daughter, it is good to see you.  You don't know how long I've
waited to see how you grew up, and how long I've been waiting for you-)
   "Mother..." Sela whispered.  Her disruptor fell limply to her side, her face
creased in long held back emotion.  The disruptor whipped up, and fired at the
Borg, not once, not twice, not even ten times.  The disruptor howled fifty
times before the power pack was depleted.  The Borg stood where it was,no
damage done to it at all.
   The Borg's face changed.  It became that of an old man.  (-You see, Sasha?
We have thought of everything.  That was the last drop of energy we needed-)
   Sasha Wren stared at the Borg.  "You won't get away with this."
   (-On the contrary, we already have.  You have been brought here to witness
our triumph.  You have been brought here to watch us ascend-)
   "My people will stop you."
   (-I severely doubt it, Sasha.  The Individuals were no match for the
Collective, remember?  We were beating you until the Federation, and the
Romulan Star Empire, and the Trill Confederacy, and the Klingon Empire, and the
Tholian Assembly, and numerous other races stepped it.  When it comes down to
adaptiveness, the Individuals don't have a stitch on the Collective.
   (-And you have brought here to watch the Collective rejoin-)
   The shadow walked away.  Sela looked at her disruptor, then at Sisko.
   "It was my mother," she said weakly.  She seemed to close herself then.
   Odo finally managed to regain human form.  It was an effort, and Dax,
recovering more and more by the second, helped him stand, and stay standing.
   "Commander," the shapeshifter muttered in the human's ear.  "I think we
should be looking for a way out of here..."
   Sisko glanced over at Sasha Wren.  She was smiling, and shook her head in
Sisko's general direction.  "No, Constable, we stay.  We have something to do."
   The shadows began to chant a meaningless set of words; at least, it sounded
meaningless to the prisoners.
   "Old Borg," Sasha Borg informed Sisko.  "That was the language spoken before
we became symbionts."
   "What are they saying?" Sisko asked.  "Can you understand it?"
   "Yes.  They're saying something about a legend.  A myth.  Human myth, about
a - a... phoenix.  A bird that rises from its ashes."
   'The phoenix,' Sisko thought.  'Allusions of grandeur already.'
   An audible hum rose, and the air became cloggy.  A spark of electricity
passed from one shadow to another, then more appeared, and still more.  The
cavern was alive with sparks.  The light grew, and grew, until no on could look
at it.
   Sisko heard something; a shriek?  A yell of pain.  He saw shapes in the
light, faces, peering and poking.  He saw himself in a zoo, with everyone else
in his party in cages, and Borg strolling along outside.
   Kira saw Cardassian bodies lying everywhere, a gun in her hand.  The
Cardassians rose up, and advanced on her.  She fired the gun - to no avail. The
Cardassians were undead, and nothing could kill them.  They kept on coming.
   Odo saw his people, the Founders of the Dominion, Changlings, coming for
him.  They stretched out their arms, flowed them into his, joined him in the
Link.  It was painful, as it had never been in the Gamma Quadrant.  He realised
he wanted to be alone.
   Bashir walked through a park, looking at Borg left and right.  They had some
kind of disease, he didn't know what.  One reached up, and touched him.
Technological symbionts swarmed over his body, worming their way into his vital
organs, strengthening his limbs, changing him, joining him to others. Bashir
heard voices in his head.
   Dax felt herself being ripped in two.  A shadow stood over her as the
surgeon in some horrible parody.  Blood spurted up from her abdomen were  he
had sliced her open.  A cold hand punched its way into her, and ripped out her
symbiont.  "It's a girl," the shadow whispered menacingly.


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA
Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!sgiblab!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!caen!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!softtech!au!org!brisnet!closer!william.gracie
From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:29:28
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc: Once More(7)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
Lines: 130
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4610

                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt7)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper


   O'Brien watched a Cardassian rape his wife and gut his child.  He could do
nothing to stop it from happening.  His body was numb, his back broken from the
Cardassian's cowardly assault from behind.  The look on his daughter's face was
a questioning one: why didn't you save me, daddy?
   Quark saw himself giving his bar and latinum away to his brother.  He knew
he was dreaming.  Then his ears began to shrink, his wrinkles disappeared, he
became human, and Quark began to scream loudly.
   Sela saw her mother, running with her through the spaceport.  She knew she
had to be quiet.  She didn't make a sound until they were on the freighter.
Years passed, and little Sela joined Starfleet Academy.  In 2370AD, she was
assigned to the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, where her mother had once served.
She was bound by Federation laws.  She was ridiculed by fellow officers.  And
her mother told her not to worry about it.
   The Kai saw a world where she hadn't been made Kai, where she had
accidentally been killed by her operative, Neela.  Vedek Bareil had become Kai,
and none of Winn's planned reforms were ever made.
   Sasha Wren collapsed under the strain of holding most of the energies back.
Her mind was filled with images of the future: war-torn, the Collective entity
ravaging whole worlds.  Humans yet to be born perishing in a single moment.
Future history being rewritten.
   Sasha Borg felt her future self fall.  Her shield generator coils were
working overtime protecting herself from the energy in the cavern, but these
were her... friends after all.  She extended her shield to cover everyone. The
power drain was enormous, but as a Borg, she had a lot of power to use.
   The onslaught of energy and visions stopped.
   Sasha Borg collapsed.  "Personal Regeneration protocols... engaged." She
slipped off into unconsciousness.
   The cavern was empty, apart from the prisoners, and the lifeless bodies of
Borg slumped around the table.  Kira recovered quickly, and checked on everyone
else before resting.  After a few minutes, everyone had regained consciousness,
including Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren.  The Borg sat rubbing the back of her
head, not caring about what anyone else was doing.  She was thinking.
   "Where are they?" Sisko asked Sasha Wren.
   The girl looked around, her eyes covering her thoughts.  "They're here.
They're just waiting for the right moment."
   A blast of light signified the entrance of the Collective entity.
   **We have triumphed**
   "You are Borg again?" Sisko asked.
   **We have moved beyond Borg.  Now we are one**
   Sisko glanced at Sasha.  "We are to be assimilated?" he asked.
   **Correct**
   Sasha Borg looked straight at the entity.  "You are all one?"
   **Yes**
   "You are still of the Base Collective?"
   **Yes.  We hold the Base Collective.  All Collective Borg on this planet are
linked to us**
   "Then... if we are assimilated, we become Base Collective?"
   The entity pondered this for a microsecond.  **Correct.  Do you wish to
become one of the whole?**
   Sasha took a deep breath.  "I do."
   A bolt of light struck the Borg.  Servos malfunctioned, shield generator
coils overloaded, biochips burnt out.  The Borg was being ripped apart screw by
screw, symbiont by symbiont.  Technological symbionts fell to the floor,and
began to wriggle around, looking for their host.  They found none, and soon
terminated their existance.
   The Borg screamed moments before the entity.  The output of light grew at an
exponential rate before the explosion.  The Collective entity dissipated
rapidly, light playing on Sasha once more.  From the other caverns, screams of
agony were heard, Borg and Borg shadows making one final act of defiance.
   Then there was silence, apart from the shattered wheezing of a single Borg.
   O'Brien made it to Sasha first, knelt down, and began checking her over on a
visual basis.  He glanced up at the Commander.  "I... don't know what exactly
I'm doing, Commander."  He began to work again.
   He fitted a plug into the back of the Borg's headpiece, and a red light
flashed.  O'Brien thought he heard something about protocols being
mentioned,but he could have imagined it.
   It took three hours for something to work.  A small device on her right arm
buzzed, and moved in a circle, then her eyes opened.  Servomotors whined in
protest as she struggled to sit upright.  "Thank... you."
   "What did you do?" Sisko asked after a moment.
   Sasha didn't speak for a while.  "I... joined with the... Base Collect...
ive."
   "We know that, but what did you do to it?"
   Sasha smiled.  "I... am an... Individual.  I disrup... ted the Collective. I
des... troyed them."
   Dax asked, "How do you destroy a non-corporeal entity?"
   "It was a... Borg Collective.  It was... suscepti... ble to Individual
thought pro... cesses.  I gave it Individuality..."  The Borg's eyes played
over the assembled people.  "Ready... for transport?"
   Sela grunted ascension.  She had been staring out into the dark recesses of
the cavern for a long time.  Her guards snapped to attention.  Sisko nodded.
The Kai moaned.  They felt the tingle of a Borg transporter beam, and found
themselves back on Sasha's battlecube.
   Kira looked around.  "Where's the other Sasha?" she asked quietly.
   In a corridor, not too far away, the non-corporeal girl listened, as she
restored the Borg that had been disabled while still on the ship.  She would
talk to Sisko later, But not as Sasha Wren.  That wasn't how it happened.
   It would be her past self that talked.
   For the first time.
                                ******

   Cardassian Galor-class warships slowed to one-quarter impulse power, coming
out of warp speed right next to Deep Space Nine.  The station was dark, very
little lighting actually visible.  Was it a trap?
   On the lead warship, Gul Hadan asked himself the same question.
   "What is their shield status?" he asked Tactical.
   "Their shields are not up, sir.  Should we attack now?"
   Hadan paused.  "Yes."
   Tactical locked in a firing sequence.  "All warships, prepare for attack." A
beep came from his console.  "Sir!  We have a Romulan Warbird located on the
other side of the station!"
   "Armed or cloaked?"
   "...Negative, sir.  That is powered down also."
   Hmmmm...  "Prepare to fire."
   On the viewer, something flickered, then the viewscreen went black. Hadan
checked with Helm.  It was an object.  Whoever it was was going to be sorry
they had interferred with a Cardassian strike force.
   "Gul Hadan!  A Borg ship has just placed itself between the station and
ourselves!"
   "Bring the fleet around, prepare for attack!"
                                ******


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA
Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!news.moneng.mei.com!uwm.edu!caen!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!softtech!au!org!brisnet!closer!william.gracie
From: [e-mail] (William Gracie)
Date: 16 Jan 95 18:30:04
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: DS9-Shadow arc: Once More(8)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Soft-Tech [phone]
Lines: 111
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4611

                     Once More Unto The Breach... (pt8)
                     ****************************
                                by
                         Raymond N. Cooper



   Sasha Borg stood, hooked into the battlecube.  She smiled.  "Shall we
frighten them off, or go in for the kill?"
   Kira smiled; this Borg was her kind of person.  "I think the Commander
wanted us to scare them.  Make it a big scare," Kira added.
   Sisko had been transported back to the station, loaded with Borg engineers
and Borg technology that would keep the station going until proper repairs with
compatible technology could be made.  Sela had the same deal going with the
Borg.  Power was being restored to her Warbird first.  Shields and the cloaking
device were next.
   The Borg cube fired at one warship with its tractor beam.  The beam locked
on, and began draining the shields.  The warship rocked with the force of the
beam.  Another ship came in in a burst of weapons fire, and the Borg ship
locked on with another tractor beam.  Two more warships fired from a
distance,and kept firing, until the cube fired back, and disabled their weapon
systems.
   The battle didn't go on for very long.  The Borg battlecube was the clear
victor, and the Cardassians knew they were beaten
   "Head for Cardassia.  They must be informed of this - in person." Hadan
didn't really want to be the one to tell his superiors, and was trying to think
of a way to get one of his subordinates to carry out his duty.
   "Speed, sir?" Helm asked.
   "Warp seven."
                                ******

   The station was unusually quiet that night.  No partying was going on in
Quark's (it was shut); the O'Briens had an early night, Miles taking time to
talk to his wife and daughter.  Kira was rather subdued with Bareil, by which
he knew something had happened, and she wasn't opening up to him. Dax stood
nervously outside Sisko's office, where he waited for the Kai's shuttle to
leave before asking Dax in.  Odo just burbled away in his bucket, shuddering
occasionally whenever his dreams got around to his experiences with the
Collective entity.
   Sisko watched the shuttle depart from his office, impulse engines flaring as
it sped towards its destination of Bajor.  'Good riddance,' he threw at the
shuttle.  He turned back to his desk.
   "Come."  The door to Sisko's office hissed open.  Dax entered.  The
Commander gestured at a chair, which Dax gratefully accepted.  "Now, what's on
your mind, Lieutenant?"
   Dax took a deep breath.  "I... want to withdraw my request for a
transfer,Commander."
   "Strange... I though you didn't have any trust in me."
   The Trill smiled, the old Dax he knew.  "What happened wasn't your fault. I
should have listened to my heart.  I would have done the same thing if I saw a
previous host of mine walking past me."
   Sisko steepled his fingers.  "Can I trust you, though...?"
   "I believe you can, Benjamin," Dax replied, regaining her Trill pride.
   "Then your request is accepted," he grinned.  "...Old Man."
   Dax smiled, and left, claiming tiredness.
   "She likes you," a human voice stated in the shadows.
   "As a friend, Sasha.  Nothing more."  He watched the Borg walk out from the
darkness, and into the light.  "We knew each other a long time ago..."
   "We must take our leave of you now, Commander.  The ship is waiting..."
   Sisko sighed.  He had been hoping to further the Federation's tenuous
relationship with the Individuals, and it looked like he wouldn't get the
chance.  "I... wish you could stay longer.  I feel like I've just gotten to
know you."
   "You have." The girl smiled, and for a change, her symbiotic armour seemed
to smile with her.  Not for the first time, Sisko saw the girl under the
technology, not scared this time, though.  This time, she was proud of her
heritage as a Borg.  Possibly for the first time.  "I hope to continue
relations with the Federation.  And the Romulans, and Klingons.  That way,when
the Collective does make its strike, we can all stand together.  Not as
separate worlds, but as one.  Strong enough to rival the Collective."
   "I would like you to stay longer..."
   "We can't.  We exist in a symbiotic relationship with our vessel.  The cube
can't exist without us.  Well, it can, but it gets lonely.  We have to turn
that Individual now."
   "A large task," Sisko commented.
   "But not impossible."  The girl turned away slightly.  "I'll see you in the
future, then... Ben."  The Borg transporter beamed Sasha away.
   "Yes... the future."  Outside his office, the cube leapt into warp speed.
And Commander Benjamin Sisko, Commander of Deep Space Nine, finally began to
let go of his past.


   Please note that, while some characters and locations are copyrighted
   to Paramount Pictures, some of these characters and locations (such
   as Sasha Borg and Sasha Wren, the shadows, and their planet) and the
   ideas in here are copyrighted to Raymond N. Cooper, as is the storyline.
   I don't care what happens to this story, as long as I am still
   credited as author, and my name and address remains down here, and
   this copyright blurb stays here too.
   Raymond N. Cooper
   17 Belton Crt
   BEERWAH  QLD 4519
   AUSTRALIA               down further!!!
                                \/

   Well, I hope you enjoyed these stories, it took me several weeks to
   bang them all up.  That is, about four days over several weeks.
   This is the longest of them all, what did you think of it?  Did the Borg
   seem all right?  I like writing for them and showing that the Borg
   aren't just the ultimate evil the television series portrays them
   to be.  I tried to give them a 'personal' touch.  Hope it worked.
   Well, bye for now!