SHE WHO DARES WINS.

Chapter Two

By A.P Stacey

Kathryn Janeway, Commanding officer of the United Federation Of Planets Starship Voyager rubbed the bridge of her nose, doing little to stem the migraine she felt coming on, She took another sip of her coffee, trying to make sense of what to do now.

Her last communiqué from Starfleet had told her to hold current position and await further orders.

Those further orders had yet to arrive and it had been two months, crew morale was plummeting as the delay in resuming the flight home stretched on, and her own weariness about their delay gnawed at her being.

"Incoming subspace transmission. Security level red, Captain's eyes only." The tone of the computer underlined the importance of the mission.

"Authorisation Janeway Delta five Tango."

"Authorisation confirmed." responded the computer.

Upon the screen of the Captains LCARS unit a huge smattering of text began scrolling, at the top it was marked priority one alert to all Starships.

Starfleet Command

San Francisco

Earth

Sol Sector

Priority Alert One: For the attention of Commanding Officer Kathryn Janeway U.S.S Voyager NCC-74656

--------------BEGIN TRANSMISSION----------------

 Positive identification from the U.S.S Nautilus confirmed a Borg Presence in Federation space. The Nautilus was crippled and boarded, all hands were lost.

Last week the U.S.S Vienna was declared missing after it failed to report in at Oniaka II as per ordered, a search by the Starships Woking and London found nothing.

The U.S.S Galaxy attempted to locate the Borg vessel responsible and succeeded in locating what appeared to a transwarp gateway, which was in the process of moving Borg reinforcements into Kintaka system. The Galaxy accounted fourteen long-range spheres but as yet no cubes. She took heavy damage from the ensuring firefight and was forced to withdraw.

If the Borg is allowed a foothold in Federation Space it will lead to the fall of the federation.

New orders are as follows, proceed to sector four four nine at MAXIMUM WARP.

Reinforcements will rendezvous with you there.

The Prime Directive has been rescinded.

All other directives are withdrawn.

God Speed.

 Fleet Admiral J.J Anderson.

------------END OF TRANSMISSION-----------

Janeway stared at the screen, shell-shocked, her soul already filling with a dread.

The Borg had returned.

"Janeway to all senior officers, report to the briefing room immediately."

She stood from her desk and crossed over to her observation window, staring out at the stars stretching beyond her tiny ship's warp field.

Somewhere out there hell was waiting for them, and she would be riding through its gates.

B'elanna climbed to her feet, wiping the grime from her face with a cloth, the blown data relay temporarily forgotten as she heard the captains announcement, and prayed for the content of the meeting to be easy listening, she had enjoyed several weeks of not having to replace every section of the engineering subsystems and putting this bucket of bolts back together.

She brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and looked around main engineering, it was quiet, just how she hated it, and only the low thrum of the immense MA/AM engine core permeated the silence. She spied Vorik on the upper level, attempting to improve the dilithium ratio; Gavin’s was repairing a blown ODN line behind the warp core.

Everything was running smoothly, turning to leave she ran right into a body that had just walked into main engineering.

"Why don't you watch where you’re going you-"

B’Elanna’s vision drifted up slightly as a dark blue colour filled her gaze.

"Perhaps it is you who should look where you are going." a crisp tone replied.

Torres realised she was eye to eye with one of the ex Borgs more.... obvious assets, stepping away and grinding her teeth together slowly she stepped around seven of nine.

"I don't have time for this Seven, I’ve got a senior staff meeting and I don't have time to baby sit you in engineering, just don't go improving everything and putting me out of a job before I get back.” her voice full of sarcasm and snide.

Seven quirked her head, senior staff meeting? She had not been informed of this. Perhaps it was an oversight, or her expertise was not required. She hoped it were the former. Deciding on pressing on with her quest for more power to astrometrics sensors she began the modifications.

Captain Picard Straightened his tunic as he took his chair onboard the federation flagship U.S.S Enterprise, as he sat he ran a hand along the arms of his chair. He had been on shore leave for nearly month and he was unaccustomed to free time. The bridge was quietly empty as he brought the main view screen online and stared at earth, just a stone throw away. He could see the other Starships under his command in the distance, each one finished their upgrades and new system checks.

Indeed his own ship had undergone a complete engine refit under the supervision of course of Commander Geordie Laforge. Once again his crew were reunited. And Picard would face his most ruthless enemy once again.

His thoughts were interrupted as the turbo lift nearest him disgorged the bridge crew, mostly new recruits he noticed, many carrying what seemed like a heavy weight on their shoulders, Their faces lined with the thoughts of war. But one familiar face struck immediately.

Picard stood from his command chair and moved to the helm.

"Data are you a sight for sore eyes."

The android quirked her head.

"Are your eyes suffering from a medical ailment bettered by my prescience captain?"

Picard was about to launch into an explanation of how he had misunderstood when he saw the look in the androids eyes.

"Very amusing Commander, take your station and prepare to break orbit."

"Aye Sir."

"All Decks all stations report readiness for departure."

Picard pulled down his tunic once more and sat down, crossing his legs.

"Sir, all decks all stations report readiness, computer confirms all systems are nominal."

"Helm, take us out of the sol sector, bearing five three four four, maximum impulse."

"The rest of the fleet is moving with us sir.,” reported a nervous young ensign.

Picard nodded his head and cleared his voice.

"Data, prepare the fleet for Transwarp speed."

The whole bridge fell silent readying itself, the hastily cobbled together transwarp drives fitted to the federation ships in this fleet were years away from their first supposed tests, they had been mass produced and fitted with jury rigged aids. Many had grave reservations of their use.

Including Picard.

The briefing room of the U.S.S Voyager fell silent as each officer contemplated what had been announced.

"We're...we're going to war with the Borg?" Lt. Paris asked in shock.

Janeway looked to the startled young man.

"No tom, if we were at war we would never survive, we are launching a pre-emptive stroke, we are giving the Borg everything we've got. They are building forces in the alpha quadrant, from their they can launch as big a fleet as they want over and over and over again and they will be days rather than years apart. They know after the dominion war we have lost thousands of ships, and a direct assault by them would beat us in hours."

B'elanna added her thoughts in to the mix.

"So somehow we're going to take on the Borg collective and defeat them single handedly?"

"No....there are reinforcements coming from the alpha quadrant, ships from the alliance against the dominion."

A silence once again fell over those present.

"They have a drive that can get them here? Why the hell haven’t they given it to us!" the half klingons temper rising.

"That is enough B'elanna! The drive is highly experimental, its not even been tested, and there is no guarantee the fleet will even be able to make it to the delta quadrant in one piece. So be grateful you’re not risking your life just to test the damn thing."

"Captain, seeing as this involves the Borg, why hasn't seven been invited."

Harry Kim's question received mumbled endorsements around the room.

"Seven has spent a long time adjusting to humanity, and she has a very healthy fear of the Borg, she has come dangerously close to rejoining them several times, I don't want to involve an unstable element, and that is also Starfleet’s recommendation, if there are no further questions then you are dismissed."

With that several stunned officers shuffled from the small room, each with questions remaining un answered.

B'elanna threw her uniform jacket against the chair as she entered her quarters, crossing over into her bedroom she peeked over the crib containing her daughter Miral, and relieved to find the infant sleeping plumped down on her couch.

It had been a long day, and a very shocking one. The announcement that we were going one on one with the Borg in a duel to the end didn't seem very good news. She hit her fist of the table in irritation.........or was it fear, fear of once again facing an enemy who truly had no consiounce, no regret...no soul.

"Report!" Picard struggled to be heard amongst the groans of the ship as it tossed and turned.

"Shields are down to twenty percent, minor damage to the aft hull plating, a plasma conduit has overloaded on deck five section C-18." replied Commander data.

"Picard to engineering, Geordie can you hold her together?"

"Don't I always captain, don't I always?" replied the hoarse voice of a busy chief engineer.

"Captain, in four hours twelve minutes we will reach rendezvous point." announced Cmdr Data.

"Maintain course and speed, make the announcement of time remaining to the rest of the fleet."

The U.S.S Enterprise NCC 1701-E gracefully withstood the buffeting of the transwarp corridor as she lead the pack of ships towards the gates of hell, by her port side she was flanked by the immense form of a Dederix class Romulan flagship, her hull glinting in the mind numbing roar of the multicolour tunnel. To her starboard the massive Neg'Var Klingon Flagship maintained a similar speed, these three ships lead a band of very different vessels, hundreds of B'rel klingon scout ships darted in and out among the Nebula and Excelsior class Starships, trying to rattle the experienced Starfleet captains, elsewhere defiant class Starships flew around the massive frames of Romulan war birds as a show of their manageability, lumbering galaxy class ships kept pace with the similar Vorcha class klingon vessels. But all of the vessels had a common goal. To rid the galaxy of a threat worse than death itself.

 Chapter 3