Star Trek: Chronicles - Captain's Valour

Part 9

The bridge of the Kodiak shook violently. Hogan gripped the arms of his chair to stop himself from being thrown to the deck. He glanced at the viewscreen. The destruction was unbelievable. The Borg cube had taken damage, but nowhere as much as the combined Federation/Klingon fleet. Within the space of fifteen minutes, thirteen Federation vessels had been destroyed. The Klingons had lost seventeen ships, more than half of their fleet. The bridge rocked violently to port.

"Shieldsss at sssixty one percent!" called Lieutenant Xarr over the alert klaxon. Hogan turned to his tactical officer.

"Lock weapons on the cube's secondary plasma junction!" he ordered. Xarr worked his console.

"Weaponsss are locked sssir!" Hogan turned back to the viewscreen.

"Fire!" He watched as the Kodiak unleashed a barrage of phaser fire at the cube. Then, four orange packets of antimatter flew towards the immense vessel. The torpedoes impacted on the cube's hull and sent chunks of debris flying into space.

"Report," Hogan called. Commander Bennett was the one who answered.

"Minimal damage to the cube sir." Hogan sighed and sunk back into his chair. This vessel was unbeatable. "Sir, the Justice is losing antimatter containment!" called Bennett.

"Hail them," Hogan ordered. The viewscreen switched to the bridge of the Justice. It was in bad shape. Most of the officers were dead. Admiral Fraser sat at the helm. "Admiral! Prepare your people for emergency beam out." Fraser shook his head.

"It's too late Captain. You'll never get us out in time. I'm giving you command of the fleet. Destroy that cube." Hogan nodded. "Good luck Cap..." The image began to distort and then vanished off screen. A flash of light signalled an antimatter explosion and the destruction of the Justice. Hogan bowed his head for his fallen comrades. He tapped a control on the arm of his chair and activated the com system, opening a fleet wide hail.

"This is Captain Hogan. I'm taking command of the fleet. All ships continue the attack on the cube." He closed the channel.

"Captain. There'sss an incoming transsmisssion from the Wellington," informed Xarr. Hogan motioned to the viewscreen and the bridge of the Sovereign-class starship came on screen. Captain Forrest sat in her command chair. There was a rip in her uniform and a deep gash in her left shoulder.

"Captain, are you alright?" Hogan asked instinctively. Forrest gave him nod.

"I'm fine James, but we need to fall back and regroup. We're losing too many ships." Hogan shook his head.

"If we retreat, we give the Borg a chance to head for Earth. We can't let that happen." Forrest sighed and gave a reluctant nod.

"Understood, Wellington out." The viewscreen switched back to the view of the battle. Hogan sighed. There had to be some way to stop the Borg.

"Sir!" called Bennett. Hogan turned to his first officer.

"What is it Commander?" he asked.

"I'm picking up twenty vessels dropping out of warp to port and starboard," she reported. Hogan frowned.

"More Klingons?" Bennett shook her head, a smile on her face.

"No sir, Cardassian warships." Hogan smiled and looked up at the viewscreen just in time to see the fleet of Cardassian vessels drop out of warp.

"We're receiving a hail from the lead ship," Xarr informed.

"On screen." A familiar face appeared on the viewscreen. Hogan's smile widened. "Gul Makel, you're timing could not be better." Makel gave a nod.

"The Cardassian Empire pledges it's forces in your battle against the Borg Captain." Hogan returned the commander's nod.

"Welcome to the fight." He watched as the Cardassian vessels opened fire on the cube. Hogan turned to Ensign Green. "Ensign, form up on the Rekleen. Lieutenant Xarr, fire at will." The two officers gave firm acknowledgements and did as they were ordered. Hogan watched as the combined fleet of Federation, Klingon and now Cardassian starships attacked the Borg vessel.

"Commander Bennett, what's the status of the cube?" Hogan inquired. Bennett checked her console.

"There's damage to thirty percent of the outer hull. Internal systems have sustained only minimal damage." Hogan banged his fist on the arm of his chair.

"We haven't even made a dent!" he exclaimed. A console behind him exploded and sent its occupant flying to the deck. One of the other officers called for a medical team.

"How did Voyager ever survive against one of these?" asked Ensign Green to no one in particular. Hogan paused, an idea surfacing in his mind. He stood from the command chair and walked to the ops station

"Commander, where's the hatch that leads into this cube's docking bay?" he asked the operations officer. Bennett looked at him, puzzled. "I'll explain later," he told her. She shrugged and brought up a scan of the cube, pointing to a large highlighted area.

"That's the hatch sir." She paused, suddenly realising what he was getting at. "You're not thinking of taking the Kodiak in there are you?" she asked. Hogan smiled. The bridge shook again as the ship was bombarded by the cube's phaser fire.

"Actually, I am," he replied. He returned to the command chair and sat down. "We can't destroy it from the outside, so we'll have to go in and destroy it from the inside." There were exclamations from the whole bridge. Bennett swivelled in her chair.

"Sir, that's a suicide mission," she protested. Hogan nodded.

"Which is why the crew will transport to the Wellington, I'll take the ship in myself." Bennett sighed. Lieutenant Xarr stepped away from the tactical console.

"Captain," hissed the Gorn. "I would give my life to ssstop the Borg from reaching my world. I wisssh to ssstay on board." Hogan smiled and shook his head.

"Thanks Xarr, but the Kodiak won't be coming back from this. I'm not going to endanger any of my crew." Xarr bared his teeth, which Hogan guessed was an attempt at a smile.

"With all due ressspect Captain, you can't ssstop me." Hogan chuckled and gripped the reptilian's shoulder.

"OK Xarr. You're staying. The rest of you, get to the transporter rooms." Nobody moved. Hogan bowed his head and sighed. He looked up and smiled at his crew. "I'll have you know that I'm going to report you all for mutiny." They all smiled and returned to their stations. Hogan turned to Bennett. "Commander, locate the point where the cube has sustained the most damage," he ordered. Bennett checked her console.

"I've found it sir." Hogan nodded and opened a channel to the fleet.

"This is Captain Hogan. All ships lock your weapons on the following coordinates and fire at will." He nodded to Bennett who transferred the coordinates to the fleet. Hogan watched as the ships changed their attack patterns and began to target the weakest point of the cube. "Ensign Green, set a course for the access hatch, full impulse." Green gave him a firm 'aye sir' and flew the Kodiak towards the hatch.