"Captain! The Borg have been spotted in our sector, heading
toward earth" Daisuke shouted from his station behind the command
chair. "From the reports that we have, it sounds as if they have
already assimilated 2 Star Fleet vessels."
"Sir, the Enterprise is still awaiting a new warp core after
the StarTrek Insurrection incident. There is no way they could be
here in less than two weeks." Hiroshi added.
"Looks like it's up to us!" Captain Ranma exclaimed,
straightening his Chinese style Star Fleet uniform. "Prepare for
saucer separation, All hands to battle stations. Akane you have
the bridge, I'll take command from the Battle Bridge."
"You can't do that! I'm a Star Fleet Officer too!" Akane
jumped up, glaring at Ranma.
"Watch me," Ranma replied as the doors closed isolating him
from Akane's response.
"Separation complete, sir" Daisuke replied from his new
station on the battle bridge.
"Lay in an intercept course for the Borg Cube and engage,
maximum Warp."
"Aye aye, sir. Course laid in, engaging Warp 9.997" Hiroshi
responded, from the helm.
"Ranma you dummy. He has no idea what he's getting himself
into. Well, I'll show him. Lay in a pursuit course, maximum
warp."
"Uh, sir, the saucer section doesn't have a warp drive."
"All right then, Best speed possible! Do I have to think of
everything!" Replied Akane, with a nervous twitch in her eye.
Sir?" Sayuri prompted.
"What!" Akane snapped.
"Isn't that against what the captain wanted?"
"He never ordered us not to follow," Akane said, with a
smirk. 'Not that that would have stopped us.' Sayuri only grinned
in response as she finished laying in the course. "Engage."
"We are receiving a message from the Borg Cube, sir."
"On screen," Ranma quickly regretted that order.
"As the light of day ever defeats the dark of night, the
vengeance of heaven shall be swift and sure! Tis the time of your
destruction Captain Ranma. I the rising star of Borg
assimilation, The Giant Nanotech of Borgdom. Kunou Uni-matrix 767
Sub-juction A vow this." Kunou said with a flourish as the
echoing sound of thunder bounce across the bridge.
Ranma raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out just how he had
managed the thunder.
"I shall assimilate the wild Akane and the fair pig-tailed
girl and all the girls of earth, thus freeing them from your evil
federation mind controlling magic," Kunou of Borg turned to glare
at the screen. "Prepare to meet your fate Captain Ranma."
"Katsutenshin amaguriken!" Captain Ranma answered sweetly.
Suddenly, photon torpedoes erupted from every square-inch of the
USS Anything-Goes, smashing into the Borg Cube with deadly lethal
accuracy. Ranma sat back in his chair watching for the screen to
clear.
"You dummy, Ranma! That may be Kunou, but he know has the
quick adaptive ability of the Borg."
"Wha-," Ranma sputtered.
"Commander Akane, sir. She said to put her through
immediately." Daisuke said with an evil grin.
As the debris explosions from the torpedoes cleared,
revealing an undamaged Cube, Ranma ordered, "Evasive pattern
Saotome Alpha. Prepare for another strike."
<Meanwhile on the USS Enterprise>
Counselor Diana Troy looked over toward the Captain Pickard. "Are
you alright?"
Starring blankly into space he replied, "What does
strike!strike!strike!strike! mean?" He could not quite keep the
strange Borg thought out of his mind. He thought better than to
mention the image of two teenage girls that kept popping in his
head since he had first learned the they returned again.
<Back to the fight>
Everyone on the bridge of the saucer section looked on at the
view screen as the main propulsion system moved in and out on the
Borg vessel, dodging the full array of Borg weaponry while some
how not tearing itself apart. Every shot Ranma got off was a good
one, but was either repaired quickly or already compensated for.
"Commander Akane!" Yuka called from tactical.
"What is it."
"I've plotted the Borg course. If it continues unabated, it
will pass through the New Nerma system on its way to Sol."
"That's it. We have got to find a way to stop it!" Akane
looked around thoughtfully. "Do we have any anti-matter on
board?"
"It is all kept in the Main Drive section." Sayuri responded.
"Not all of it, There is the physics lab's supply," Yuka
supplied. Akane looked at the screen with the look of a predator.
"Sir, the saucer section is approaching weapons range."
Daisuke tried to keep his attention on his panel. Half of the
bridge officers where already sick with motion sickness and he
really didn't want to be added to that list.
"That idiot, what does she think she's doing? Order her to
back off! Doesn't she know that without the main drive connected,
most of their weapon systems won't work at max power?"
"And whose fault is it that!" Akane's voice erupted over the
com's.
"There is nothi-"
"I see the fair Akane has come running to her true hearts
desire. Come Akane and watch me vanquish this foul sorcerer. Then
together we can go rescue the pig-tailed princess and all the
women of earth!" Kunou broke in.
He might have said more, however was distracted as the saucer
section flew in close, much to his delight, only to launch a
modified tactic that she had thought of after reading Commander
Rikker's inventive use of the Galaxy Class's saucer section.
"Sir, the Borg have the saucer section in a tracker beam.
They wont be able to break free. The variable frequency harmonics
shield are keeping the Borg from boarding, but that wont last
long," Daisuke frowned.
'I wish he had some good news for a change.' Ranma thought.
'An opponent as hard headed and stubborn and Kunou, and as quick
adapting as the Borg was not a good thing. Even with the
momentary distraction Akane had bought, they had been only able
to do a minimum amount of damage.' He didn't need the sensors to
tell him those avenues where being closed off as he thought.
'Think think think!'
Daisuke frowned at his sensor readings. The motion
compensatory weren't meant for this type of maneuvering. 'They
can't take much more of this' he thought in a lousy accent.
Suddenly something new appeared. "Ranma, its Ryouga ship
approaching on course 115." Announced cheerfully, the first good
new he had to report.
"How could you let Akane get into this trouble, Ranma!
Prepare to Die!"
Suddenly the USS Anything-Goes was dodging strikes on both
sides.
"Open a channel to that idiot!" Ranma barked.
"Channel open."
"Would . . . you . . . listen . . . to me for a minute!" The
last part he rushed out as he felt a little sick staring at the
screen moving back and forth in almost random and impossible ways
while the motion compensators, all ready taxed, pushed gently in
the opposite direction. "If we fight, all that's gonna
accomplish is getting Akane assimilated!"
Ryouga's ship stopped dead for a moment. "Very well, but
once this is over . . ."
"I know." Ranma answered.
Ryouga's ship spun toward the Borg vessel. Then, with a shout
of "Shi Shi Houkoudan!" over all subspace com's, the little ship
fired an impossible volley of anti-photo torpedoes with a beam of
darkness so powerful Ryouga's ship almost seemed to disappear off
of sensors.
This got Kunou's attention. When the second volley did as
much damage as the first he know knew that Saotome must have used
his evil magic trick him into thinking he was on his usual ship
the Anything-Goes, but was really on his true command ship. The
great intellect that was his was far to quick to fall for that
ruse. 'Ranma must truly fear me to risk bringing his true ship
out.' The third volley bounced harmlessly off of the adaptive
shielding.
To compensate for the power drain, Ryouga had shifted his
strategy to include the numerous conventional weapons as well as
the Dark weapons he had acquired on his journeys. He became even
more frustrated when the Borg tracker beam attempted to hold him
in place. Putting the engines to full, he began to gain some
ground.
Yuka looked up from her station. "Were moving!"
"What! More power to the engines. We can't let them pull us
in!" Akane cried out.
"That's not it. It looks as if Ryouga is actually pulling the
Borg cube with their tractor beam."
After a few minutes, Kenou realized something. For some
reason his course was being altered. Frowning he passed the
thought to fix what ever it was that was altering the course.
1.23 nsec's latter Kunou was now upset that the sorcerer's ship
was freed. 'Run from me will you, cowered. I wont let you off
easily this time.'
Ryouga shook his head after having banged it against the back
of his chair. He hadn't expected Kenou to let go of him like
that. 'Well, he is not going to get Akane.' Looking at his
sensors to get a bearing on the Borg, he laid in his course back
to the fight and took off at max warp almost directly away from
his destination.
Everyone on the battle bridge looked on in awe as the Cube
turned and ran away from the fight. Then something occurred to
Ranma. "They have Akane! Pursuit course Maximum Warp!"
"Aye aye," Hiroshi responded.
"Well well well . . . Looks like you could use some advice
Son-in-Law."
"Daisuke?"
"Yes sir."
"Don't open any more com channels unless I say to, okay? Oh,
and that's an order." Ranma looked erked.
While on a routine science expedition, or so his father said,
he had first encountered the Amazons. They apparently had
migrated from earth about the same time as Khan had, but were
even less known about from history. Almost as if they had been
ignored by history. Then the accident with that cursed planet.
With the strict genetic laws evoked after the Khan issue, he knew
that if he was discovered he would be drummed out of Star Fleet.
Fortunately, it never rained on a star ship, and as long as there
were no liquids allowed on the bridge (even hot drinks would go
cold if allowed to sit) he was sure there would be no accidents
while talking to Star Fleet. Ranma thought about that for a
second.
"Open a channel to the Nekohatten."
"Yes sir,"
"Actually ghoul, there is something you can do for me?" Ranma
grinned up at the screen.
"Yes?" Colon knew the boy was up to something.
"Is Shampoo there?"
"Yes! Shampoo here. Husband want Shampoo come with Raman
soup. Is good, yes?" Shampoo said, bouncing into view.
"That would be perfect," Ranma said. Colon frowned, this was
too easy.
Turning so he wasn't facing the screen, he motioned for
Daisuke to mute the com's. "Alright on my mark, drop the shields
for Shampoo to beam over and transfer manual control to me. Once
she is over raise shields. Oh, and I need a cold glass of tea."
Ranma turned once again toward the screen trying to conceal his
grin. "Are you ready Shampoo?"
"Hai, Shampoo all ready."
"Now." Ranma leaned back in his chair, the manual control
station raising from the floor. As Shampoo began to materialize
in front of him, someone handed him his tea.
"WHAT DOES THAT DUMMY THINK HE"S DOING!" Akane was screaming
at the monitor. Everyone on the bridge had been watching the
screen as they eavesdropped on the com's between the battle
bridge and the Nekohatten. "Can you get me over there."
"If we drop shields, even for a moment, to beam you out,
anywhere between 5 and 50 Borg drones could get aboard." Seri
calmly replied.
"I'LL KILL HIM!" Everyone else on the bridge looked very
scared.
"Uh, Transmission from the battle bridge, on all channels."
Seri looked confused.
"Put it on!"
"Meeeooooooowwwww!"
"All hands brace for impact, once the Borg let go, get us out
of range, but only just," Akane ordered. Everyone began making
preparations.
On the view screen, the battle bridge appeared to faulter.
Coming to a complete stop. Suddenly, it rushed forward with
incredible speed. Its shield harmonic seemed to bow and flex as
the ship sailed at the Borg Cube, ripping it to pieces, like a
giant cat attacking its prey. Huge gouges formed in the hull of
the Cube.
"I wanna know how he does that with just shields" Yuka asked
to no one in particular.
"I wanna know how he does that to clothing without
fingernails," Akane replied, then blushed when she realized she
had said that allowed.
"Docking maneuvers complete," Seri lets out with a sigh. 'All
over.'
Before Akane can say anything the doorway opens with
Neko-Ranma bounding in and leaping on AKA's lap. "Uh, Ranma?"
"Meow."
Softly Akane begins to pet him, when he looks up at her with
a very familer expression. "Uh, Ranma . . . No Ranma . . . Ranma!
Stop filming!" Akane screams at the person behind the camera.
"Cut er stop."
Just as Neko-Ranma gives Akane a big kiss, Kunou in his
traditional garb wearing what looks like a smashed model of a
Borg Cube on his head comes screaming into the room.
"What, foul naive are you subjecting the poor defenseless
Akane too. Fear not maiden, I shall save you." Kunou pronouces as
his bokken smashes into the camera, the now uselessly exposed
film rolling across the floor.
Nabiki is very unhappy. While she knows she can get everyone
to do the final scean over, she really doubts that Ranma would be
willing to do the Neko bit again espicially just so she can try
to get their kiss on film again. That last few seconds of footage
would have been worth lots. Kunou, she decided, would have to
make up the difference.