© 2002 by
Federation Space and the author Tam Otlan
== Before the
attack on Starbase One ==
She had been waiting for so long for the opportunity to present itself again.
Her ship, and several identical to it, were cutting through subspace on course
to a new beginning. The vessels were no longer the simplistic cube that beings
expected to see, but were wedge-like and sinister in appearance. Where basics
had been, there was improvement in design and function. Their collective power,
knowledge and perfection drove them to innovation.
The ships were more powerful, faster and could regenerate almost instantly from
even the most devastating damage. Their assimilation technique was flawless and
left no time or chance for reversal or even suicide. When you were struck, you
were changed in an instant and no longer an individual, no longer alone.
They had been on the run for years, trying to flee an enemy that they could not
fight. She had sent billions of beings to their death, attempting to find their
enemy’s weakness, their fatal flaw, the one thing that would turn the tide of
battle, but all had failed.
Three decades ago, they left the Alpha and Beta Quadrants to destroy Species
8472 once and for all. They were the one species in the universe that resisted
all attempts at assimilation, until, specially designed nanites were found to be
able to infect 8472 and assimilate them into the Collective. The telepathic
abilities of 8472 had enhanced the Collective, making it more than it was.
It also allowed 8472 the secret to defeating them. The assimilated 8472, while
being part of the Collective, were still open to the telepathic connections of
their species. Their brethren were able to read the minds of the Collective and
cause massive shutdowns and self-destructs.
When 8472 had discovered the Collective’s weakness, they had counter-attacked at
the very source. The losses suffered by the Collective had been catastrophic.
Where there had been trillions, there were now less than a billion. They had
been driven nearly to extinction.
Now they were on the run. For the first time in their history they didn’t have a
homeworld. In a desperate attempt to rebuild, they had gone hunting anyone that
was weak enough to be assimilated. If they found a world that was yet to build a
combustion engine, they swallowed up its people and resources and left nothing
behind. Their new drive for conquest had brought them closer to perfection than
ever before.
When one of their scout ships reported back that two major powers in the Beta
and Alpha Quadrants had gone to war, she ordered a course set that would take
them there. The irony was not lost on her. They would be returning to the scene
of another great loss to finish what had been started long ago.
They would feed on the remains of two war-torn empires and rebuild faster than
she could have imagined possible. Now was the time to make their move and to
reclaim what was theirs. With the assimilation of the Federation and Romulan
worlds they could take back the Delta Quadrant and send species 8472 back to
their own space forever.
They would never stop, and they would not fail. The Borg were returning to
Earth.