Star Trek: Starbase 777

The space the Vinculum resided in too was bathed in green light, denoting its frequent use and activity. The Vinculum, the device that governed the entire cube, resided in the middle, a monolith representing the hivemind that loomed over them both metaphorically and physically.

And from deep in the recesses the dark room, a familiar silhouette manifested in the middle of a catwalk near the ceiling, suspended in air above the away team as if on a mechanical dais. Their red ocular implant glowed brightly in the dark as they leaned forward, and began to fire a barrage of phaser shots into the crowd...

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Two stood to the side of Four, their Buzzsaw whirling into action, daring any of them to get close as they protected the center of the cube.

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Tavek ducked for any cover he could possibly find upon being fired at, firing twice at Four of All before remodulating, rifle trained on them at all times so its light could illuminate them for others to better shoot at them. Wait.. what the fuck… FOUR OF ALL? HOW- they’d crushed item, how on earth were they up and about! His brain had finally caught up with his eyes, he had to do a double take (leaving him exposed for a moment >:3 )

Khamlet crouched as he returned fire, his phaser rifle cycling through frequencies with each shot, he was no engineer but he could gather from where the Borg were positioned that their goal was in the centre of the room. He could not see the third Borg, “Two drones ahead!” He called back with what could only be described as almost a whoop or laugh of joy even as the phasers danced and burned around him. Their target was ahead, they shouldn’t pause and let themselves get placed onto the defensive, advance as a unit, cover the engineers as they continue forward. But he was not the warrior leading the attack, and so as he returned fire he gave a moment for the commanders to shout back their orders. (edited)

Not again. He was fed up of being shot at by drones who shouldn't care about shooting. In a half concussed, half adrenaline fuelled state, he decided that he wasn't going to get hit a third time. Moving into cover as best he could he returned fire, specifically looking to cover the advance of the Engineering officers. The sooner they could get to work, the better.

Vara'l stepped inside and as he spotted Four of all and hurled himself sideways to avoid the initial barrage of phaser fire as it arced forward. As he did so, he slammed into the ground on a unarmoured shoulder, emotion that screamed in relief mixed with grief and guilt and so many other things joined with a sharp spear of pain that stabbed through it. Stabbed through it as part of his mind idly observed the actions of itself and observed, idiotic actions enacted by a individual who failed repeatedly. Would not have failed as part of the whole. He struggled up kneeling then as a soft groan was again ripped from him. Ripped from him by far more than just physical pain as he turned, exposed as he rose and sighted upon Four of all and fired.

Oh good Ato wasn’t dead! That was actually very relieving for Vesta, despite the danger and wondering why he showed up at dead on their scans. Still, they had to destroy the vinculum if they wanted to end this. She raised her phaser and began shooting at the drones. No buzzsaw to the neck for her this time!

T'She was not the best in a fight -- especially in a fight where they couldn't just kick their opponent away, but they could use their hand phaser and help Eicran get to cover before they did the same. It broke their heart, shooting at those they considered comrades but it had to be done.

"YOU!" Was this a joke? He was RIGHT? It must be! Ato, magicked to life by a Q, or perhaps his torpor theory was right, or, or - "I KNEW it, you BASTARD! Brought back by some vile necromancy!" He exclaimed, wide, intense eyes, manic smile, fast breathing. It was hard to tell if he was thrilled or pissed. Maybe both. (edited)

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Welp, time to scatter! Rex slinked away from the group, looking up and around, trying to spot all of the Borg. The previously assumed dead Andorian was up there - which, hurrah! That is good, at least in the long run, if they all survive this shitshow and the drones can be detoxed! - shooting people with his eye. Removing a long-range danger could probably do the team a lot of good... He followed the outline of the catwalk to the bottom of the room, mapping out a route. He took his gloves on, revealing the black, sharp-tipped fingers - and began to crawl up.

A lot of things seemed to be left unanswered in this cube. The sight of the previously assumed deceased drone was just one more of them. The Vulcan ducked when the blasts were immediately fired as they entered the room. Following the others example, he scattered and opened fire at the two drones. Their goal now was to give the engineers time and cover for a chance at disabling the vinculum.

Two shots from the android from before. Four let one hit him and bent out of the way for the other, reflexes quick and jittery and robotic. As he moved, his arm raised and fired a shot at Tavek's hand with the phaser. His head swiveled in tandem, his ocular implant assessing threat risk of all individuals below him, identifying engineers heading toward the Vinculum and letting off multiple shots at Serin and whoever else was approaching. Multiple shots hit his armor, one of them connecting and burning a hole in his shoulder padding. Another in his abdomen. He did not flinch, but instead remained upright and facing the crowd below. The remaining phaser fire was absorbed by whatever sophisticated Borg personal shielding mechanism. "Resistance is futile." He said, his now black and empty looking organic eye boring into Serin, no recognition found on his pallid face.

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Two charged as they followed their fellows advance, their blade spinning like a death sentence on wheels. Serin was their target, as they swung for his kneecaps, a few shots hitting their shields.

Khamlet watched as no order came from the leading warrior, the commander instead collapsing behind cover, and then the strange Trill ensign broke off from formation, and he snarled in aggravation. Had he no warriors here with him?! The anger fueled him and fired him, “Concentrate fire on the charging drone!” He snapped off shot after shot, his phaser rifle cycling through frequencies, the engineer had to be protected. With a snarl he added, “We’re still missing one, watch the rear!” The Klingon’s thrill in battle palpable, but so too his frustration at the disorder of his comrades. (edited)

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Noticing Two seemed to prefer hand in hand combat and seeing how it charged for Serin, Tarsek focused his shots on them, modulating after every two. “Lt. De-Sieth, get back!” He warned as he opened fire.

Whoa! Direct hit to… two of Tavek’s fingers! The blast connected, knocking him back and taking his left ring and pinky fingers clean off! A blast of green coolant came out before he quickly shut off the coolant flow to that hand. Luckily.. Tavek had two hands and five fingers on each hand for a reason. Two fingers out of ten down wasn’t stopping him, especially when he couldn’t feel pain! “Oh, now I don’t feel bad for earlier!” He said, firing again at Four.

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Aoife began firing at the charging drone, while she simultaneously kept an eye behind them in case One of All decided to flank them.

Vara'l recovered fully now and stood. He then fired once more at Four of all before he manually started to remodulate the hand phaser one handed. The CTO then started to advance, his mind fully surrendered to act, decision to role and duty. All that remained within walls of control here as the combat progressed. Here as emotion roiled and the demand roiled about his mind as he advanced then fired once more as he started to approach the Vinculum too. Not yet. The demanded that remained at the core of what he was as he ignored the ghosts, as he pushed through the guilt that clawed at the individuals mind. He'd failed these officers. Now he fired at one of them, intended to fire at both of them. Failed them.

Stretch, grab, pull. Stretch, grab, pull. His body swayed with every move, metal tick-tick-ticking against the metal, the officer reduced to a Thing on the wall as he didn't breathe, didn't blink, moving up-up-up, his pale face occasionally lightning up in a stray ray of light, or an echo of a blast, expression blank yet utterly concentrated on an ambush. He pulled himself up onto the catwalk, eyes glancing up and forward at the Borg drone's side some distance away from him. And as soon as Kairos felt his feet firmly planted on the catwalk's surface - there was a lunge.

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T'She kept firing, keeping their shots firmly focused on ~~Two of All~~ Maggie. It felt wring, what they were doing, but the buzz saw arm could cause a lot of damage to their remaining team members, damage that T'She could not simply will away.

God, that intelligence officer freaked her out. What did you mean he had just started climbing the wall??? Ugh that was something to unpack later. She continued firing, this time targeting Two of All’s buzzsaw arm, having a personal vendetta against the thing.

Timi shot up twice at Four of All before remodulating, watching Kairos' ascent and deciding to cover for him by pulling focus.

Senang on the other hand focussed on Two of All, shooting straight through the mass of people.

"Resist THIS!" He said, which might lead one to think he was going to do something cool, but instead he ran away very fast and hid behind the nearest large object near the vinculum.

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Shots flew at Four of All, two or three connecting with various parts of his body. Their Borg armor was singed and an unpleasant scent of burning flesh began to dissipate from their body. They scanned the crowd, firing two shots at Khamlet, their implant having identified him as a particularly dangerous target. Another shot at Tavek, one at Senang. And in all of the commotion, the drone did not notice the android until it was too late. Mid lunge, Four’s body shifted to face Rex, their firing arm facing the crowd but their shoulders and face gazing at him. The ocular implant whirred wildly.

Two looked at Serin begin his escape, before turning as they felt the phaser fire begin to singe their shields and break through. They charged at Senang, going to slice straight through their rifle.

He was quick to maneuver his position between Two of All and the route Serin had taken to flee, still firing his riffle as he saw the drone choose a new target.

Vara'l continued to advance upon the Vinculum as he re-sighted upon and snapped off a hand phaser shot at Four of all. * *He then started to re-modulate his hand phaser again as he angled his advance to try and draw a clean shot on two of all once he'd finished remodulating.

Thankfully, Tavek’s two missing fingers did not stop him from dodging Four’s next shots at him. He swapped targets, firing twice at Two’s saw arm, hoping to get its attention on him instead of Senang. The scent of burnt plastic from the stumps on his left hand added to the scent of burnt flesh, a union of flesh and machine in the worst way.

Khamlet ducked one of the shots that fired in his direction, but as he rose to advance to another piece of cover he felt the energy of the second shot impacting him. The armour dissipated the worst of the damage, but it stung nonetheless and momentarily he was forced down onto one knee. He roared out a laugh, “petaQ!! They’re just Grishnar cats!” Laughing as he rose again and saw the Trill ensign seemingly lunging at the Borg that was firing. HAH! He barked out a joyous roar. His phaser rifle was lifted as he resumed firing on the charging and melee armed Borg, seeing them going for Senang, his shots cycling through frequencies and he snapped off each shot for expected nerve or wire clusters. Potentially it might stagger or cause temporary short-outs in parts of the Borg, if he was lucky. His eyes still alert though for the missing drone as he pushed on in formation. (edited)

There. Seemed everyone else was occupied with all their pew-pewing and buzzing saws. His slow movements would be lost in the chaos. Tiptoe... Toward... The vinculum...

For someone who had sustained a head injury about half an hour before, Eicran felt alive. It was like laser focus had kicked in, adrenaline surging through his veins. Blink and he could picture that he was back in the field, MACO colleagues at his side. Blink and that image was gone, but these colleagues meant just as much. Using the constant phaser-fire as cover, he dropped his own rifle and slung off his medical kit for the umpteenth time today. He rooted around and found the hypospray cartridge he was looking for. Borg nanoprobes were good at fighting off things like disease, but drones were techno-organic. They were still partially flesh and blood. Would this work? He had no idea. "Cover me," he whispered to T'She before advancing forward. Firstly he used Two of All's focus on other opponents to remain hidden, and secondly, trying to creep up behind the drone, he also used them as a meat-shield against the constant phaser-fire. Closer, closer, tiptoeing just as Serin was... And then when poised within reach behind Two of All he sprang forward, aiming to inject the drone with enough sedatives to floor a Gorn. Pharmacist to harmacist, as it were. (edited)

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"Eyes - on - ME!" he barked out, teeth clacking, voice loud and boisterous and oh so giddy. Hopefully Ato was not someone who cared too much about his personal space, for the android was right there, right in his face, grabbing onto the drone's neck and shooting arm and trying to rip him off and away from his position on the catwalk. Anything to mess up the shots and give the team below some relief.

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More shots at Four, some dispersed by the Borg shielding and others continuing to singe his body. He paid no mind to them now, entirely focused on the real and present threat of Kairos Rex ripping into them with his clawed metal hands. An grunting noise escaped the drone's mouth as the android latched on, their free humanoid hand reaching up and grasping at Kairos' head, pulling him by the hair, ocular implant and beady, empty eye level with his own. Kairos had managed to knock the phaser arm into the air, so the shot the drone let off went up and into the nothingness of the ceiling, sparks flying. And in the split second it took for the drone to grab Kairos by the head, a phaser blast shot from his ocular implant at point blank range, directly into Kairos' face.

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I totally didn't miss Two's message in the chaos, and Senang saw the attack coming I swear. He pulled back his rifle out of buzzsaw range, taking his finger off the trigger to be able to bash Two of All's face in with the butt of rifle in a swift motion.

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Two no sold that, they didn’t have pain receptors anymore, why care about a broken nose. They raised their non Borg arm to backhand Senang, Two of All’s signature Borg Backhand (previously used on a nice Doctor). However, as they were throwing the bitch slap, they got the sedatives straight to the neck, and instantly started moving like a drunk Irishman in Chicago, doozy. It was almost like now, it was a great time for a good hand-to-hand fighter. (edited)

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Given that their hoped for shot was now well and truly spoiled by first fight, Vara'l indulged in a burst of speed then. Did so as he raced toward the Vinculum as he attempted to close the distance, find a better shot or do something else. *Right now he elected to hold fire as it rather seemed there were people too close to both borg for a shot to be risked by him. Not that he'd not fire if a shot later presented itself though. *

Khamlet watched as the Borg Drone that had been charging Senang was seemingly overwhelmed and staggering; the other drone was turning on the Trill who had engaged in close combat, he snarled at that, but there was something more important than the life of one warrior: Victory. He saw the figure of De-Seith creeping towards the monolith and the commander Vara’l too, grinning toothly he moved parallel to them both: his phaser rifle snapping off modulated and rotating frequencies for each shot as he gave them cover. Though the absence of third drone still bothered him, and he kept his attention peeled for it's arrival. (edited)

Wing Chun is a martial art based on mastering technique, so that one may be able to apply technique at speed to overcome stronger opponents. Well, put more simply, Senang deflected the blow with ease, dropping his rifle back into its sling to grab at the punching arm with both hands, the grin on his face possibly the most he'd emoted in his entire tenure on the station so far as he put his entire weight and Vulcan strength into throwing Two of All to the floor, unholstering his phaser for a point-blank shot. "NOW!" he called out to his comrades, to stir them to action in hope of putting Two out of the fight for good.

Aoife followed Senang and began firing at the downed drone with her phaser pistol, and also getting a good kick or two into it to make sure it stayed down!

The medic stepped back, allowing the other officers in to continue with either shooting or simply physically flipping Two of All to the floor. Now unarmed, he wasn't much use against Four - but he had spotted Serin trying to get towards the vinculum before. He darted after the officer to try to lend a hand (even if he knew not much about engineering).

Vara'l continued to run toward the Vinculum, as he spotted Serin doing so, he wanted to get close to it. Wanted also to get into a position that, if Serin reached it, he could help cover them! So well, he raced toward the Vinculum!

T'She decided to start shooting at Four, offering covering fire for anyone who wanted to do some other actions, leaving cover to make themself a bigger target.

Borggie Roode has fuckings been exploded, please call back another time. She was knocked the hell out, good job team!

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Tavek also made a break towards the Vinculum, and given that he was an android who could run scarily fast, he hoped that he could get by without too much more damage to his person.

Senang successfully resisted the urge to yell out like a victorious Klingon, but didn't manage to wipe the grin off his face at all.

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Upon people getting close to the Vinculum, too close to the Vinculum, the third and last (first?) drone left came out of the woodwork, his appearance quiet against the chaos of the firefight and rising from the darkness as if appearing there like a vampire rising from the mist. It hung against from the catwalk that Four was walking on, though a little ways away, using two of its prehensile arms to hold itself up while the other two grabbed at Vara'l, using its phaser attachment to shoot at Tavek. One shot, then another, calling up an energy shield around its own torso and head to protect itself.

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Khamlet roared in violent glee as the last foe appeared, now the battle was truly joined! The moment where it would swing to their death or the Borg’s was here! He saw the shield shimmer into existence around the drone’s torso and head. “Shields on its head and torso!” He shouted in case others might have missed the flicker of the shields as it appeared from the catwalk. He advanced and fired, each step interrupted by a shot from his phaser rifle, and then another step forward and another shot, and again. Aiming to push the drone back under the consistent drumbeat of phaser fire. His shots aimed for the unshielded legs, intending to topple or stagger the drone. (edited)

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[TW robot gore] *One of All’s shot hit the exact same place Four’s did- the burnt mess that was the stumps of his left ring and pinky fingers. This time, the flesh was seared even more, the stumps melting together until they became one glob of plastic, a bit of coolant leaking through before he shut off the flow to the area once more. The smell of burnt plastic was strong, before the globs of it became solid. Tavek, however, couldn’t feel it since his pain receptors were off. He fired at One’s prehensile arms, trying to disable them while he searched for a bit of cover.

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Vara'l managed to get off one shot, which arced off wildly and missed with his hand phaser as One of all surged out the darkness. He reacted far too slowly and was grabbed by the first tentacle and struggled as the second wrapped around him. Grated the already mauled and unusable bits of his arm that didn't move together and snatched from him a growl of utter pain. A growl that graduated into a howl of pain as he called. "AOIFE!" He managed to call then as he struggled to turn the hand phaser in his good hand, attempted to get some form of shot as he writhed in its grip and his bad shoulder almost whited out his vision with the pain it caused. Almost whited it out as he struggled a futile struggle against the grip. (edited)

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T'She had a new target, and a new purpose. There were people who needed help, and if they could not do much to fight, they could at the very least shield. (Unless, of course, they shot at one of the other arms holding One of All up which was what they were currently doing). If they make themselves a target, then they could ~~sacrifice themselves to~~ distract any drones that were still around enough for a push to the Vinculum to be made. (edited)

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His move to help take down Two might have been worthwhile, but abandoning his phaser rifle for it hadn't been such a good idea. Amidst the fighting he tried to return to T'She's side to retrieve the weapon and join them in aiming specifically for the drone's arms, following their lead. Even though it felt like his brain was processing thoughts at a thousand miles per hour, he had no other ideas that would help take down the drones. MACO raids on Borg cubes had been conducted against normal drones which had been bad enough, but they hadn't had an ounce of the savagery that was being displayed here. "There has to be a way to take them down," he snarled through gritted teeth, hoping that maybe, T'She and himself could combine brainpower and find a better way to help. (edited)

TW for mild body horror The expression on his face only became more severe as the drone, indeed, turned on him; the pupils in his dark eyes constricted as they, too, focused solely on his opponent, Kairos' grip only strengthening, paralleling Ato to a perfect degree. The shots rang out into thin air, harming no one, and Kairos couldn't help but celebrate that with a short cackle. A Borg drone and a bastard hybrid of an android, locked in place; he wondered if this man, in his current state, knew what he was. Did he know about the durable steel, the squirming flesh? Was he a curiosity to the Borg? Or perhaps an atrocity? He hissed, feeling that grab; not pain, not really, but something instinctual forcing that sound out of his larynx. The same Instinct - pesky fucking thing - grabbed control of his facial muscles, just once, just for a moment, when the realization of what was about to happen dawned on the ensign. The force of the shot pushed his head back, a gasp bubbling out of him as it happened; at the same time, there was a cracking sound, followed by a sharp, mechanical keen. He stayed that way, for a few seconds that might as well have lasted eons. Then, the officer's shoulders twitched, once, twice... "Hrrrfffffffff--," an inelegant sound, followed by an inelegant roll of his head back towards Ato, the android's facial plate singed, cracked, open. The musculature around his jaws glistened, squirmed, and pulsed, dancing to an unnatural rhythm, clearly not dictated by a living heart; it pulled itself back, baring the sharp teeth like it was a grimace, tongue lolling out as it followed his newfound trajectory up and forwards, targeting the drone's shoulder, and forcing both of them off of the catwalk and down, down, down...

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Shit it grabbed the boss! Aoife thought to herself as she moved forward. When she got a better look at One an idea came to mind. What else but a grenade! Either way she saw it, if it went badly she'd be dead and therefore not her problem, or it went well and she was given accolades to add to the forgotten drawer in her quarters. With that in mind she produced a photon grenade, armed it, and held it in her hand for a moment to ensure it would go off at the right moment. With all her might she threw the grenade at the two legs securing one of one to the roof. "Grenade!" She yelled before running for cover.

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Some other shots previously directed at Four connected with their back while Kairos was busy getting shot in the face, not caring, and throwing them off the balcony. Four did in fact fall backward over the side of the railing, and the two bodies went tumbling down into the crowd below. Hopefully they wouldn't land on anyone...?

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The drone used one of the arms it was hanging from to intercept the grenade in its arc, swinging dangerously (and swinging Vara'l quite dizzyingly) as it batted the grenade right back into the crowd, exploding right above T'She. In its movement, it intercepted the phaser fire from T'She and Tavek on its moving arm, which did sustain some damage, but to the arm of it, meaning it would still be able to attack. With its arm, it launched two shots at Aoife for the audacity, forgetting about Tavek, at least for the moment.

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HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Well.. the guy who Tavek thought was a weird Trill was certainly NOT a weird Trill. Tavek would unpack all of this later. Tavek would maybe offer a hand to repair him later. But for now? Tavek was wondering exactly how much of Kairos was flesh, versus machine. It was the perfect combination.. no, this was not the time for his roboticist brain to take over. He had the Vinculum to worry about. Thankfully, Tavek’s congealed glob of plastic of a left hand was not hit again. Which gave him the chance to fire again, this time at the arm launching shots at Aoife. Handle the guns, then get Vara’l. It seemed like a plan.

Vara'l's hand phaser went flying as his bad arm was mangled further by the squeeze and the movement flared pain in him from other injuries. Ribs screamed, body howled. He struggled to something to try and get out. But he struggled in vain. Not that it stopped a mind reduced only to the here and no, only to what existed in the next second and minute. On what remained of duty as pain howled, as his vision whited out again and he gasped out. "Aoife!" Was jerked again and growled in pain, gasped in it as he struggled on.

Khamlet watched the drone handle everything that was being thrown at it, he couldn’t see De-Sieth at this moment as he quickly dropped to one knee behind some cover as the shout of ‘grenade’ went out. However, that too the drone handled. Roaring angrily, “The Vinculum, if the engineers can’t reach it, do we break it?!” He was tired of the warriors around him fighting like lives mattered more than victory, the objective was there, why had none of the engineers achieved it yet? If they didn’t reach it and he didn’t hear a reply soon Khamlet was going to open fire on the Vinculum. He gave his supposed superiors a chance to bark an order though, and for his comrades amongst the engineers to do what they were here for, and for now fired again on the drone that was throwing Vara’l around. One shot aimed for where the shield stopped at the drone's hip, hoping to again stagger or displace its balance, while the second fired instead for the unshielded joint in one of the knees, aiming for the same effect, and as always he fired and advanced. A constantly moving and incessant wave of violence and certainty. There was no way for him except to die or to win. (edited)

T'She would be able to call Aoife out for throwing a grenade when it was clearly disadvantageous to do so later. But until then, they would have to deal with the pain, they would have to deal with the pain from having a grenade explode right above them. Thankfully, they had shielded their face with their right arm -- thankful that they had armor, unsure whether they would have survived if not for it. "I... I will live...!" They spoke through gritted teeth, ignoring the way the shockwave had been dispersed up their arm.

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In the middle of all the shouting, the grappling, the screaming and the almost blowing faces off - what was up with THAT, problem for later - Tarsek heard Khamlet’s shout. Focus, they had lost focus. The drones had been successful at making them forget about the vinculum, at making them stuck at a battle that was not priority. He looked around. Tavek had been shot, multiple times, his hand mauled and his attention on the drone that had Vara’l’s under his grapple. “Lt. De-Sieth!” He called, not seeing the engineer at first.

One shot hit Aoife hard in the leg as she dove for cover from the grenade. Walking would be a challenge from now on. The second shot landed where she had been a moment ago harmlessly hitting the bulkhead. From her new position crouched she heard Vara'l call out again. Was this the moment they had discussed? Neither of them could be assimilated? In that moment of hopelessness she raised her phaser towards the mess of arms that currently was Vara'l and fired a stun volley onto him. Maybe if he was knocked unconscious she would be a bigger target and the medics could see to Vara'l. (edited)

UGH!!!!! That android was so WEIRD!!!! For whatever reason hi freaked her out more than and of the Borg did. She ducked from anything coming her way, and looked at the engineers. Was it time to get the plasma cutter out again? This time not to use it on anybody, but to attempt a to destroy the vinculum.

He ignored Tarsek. Not to worry him, but if he revealed himself to his allies, he revealed himself to his enemies, too. His top priority was getting to Da Vinky. How close was he? I don't know. Depends how many places there are to hide around the vinculum. If there were enough, he was probably pretty close by now.

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Not too many hiding spots right next to the Vinculum unfortunately, it really was quite like a monolith standing out in the center of the room.

There was so much going on at once, but if there was anything to be paid attention to it was the shout of 'grenade.' The only problem was that the grenade was then swiftly batted away, hurtling in T'She's direction. "Get down!" Eicran managed to call, only seconds before it exploded above his fellow medic. The deafening sound of the explosion made his ears ring, feeling like his brain had again been rattled in his own skull. He still managed to turn to T'She. "Are you hit?" He asked, already looking for the signs of green blood against white armour. He couldn't help but look behind them as well: the engineers trying to make it to the vinculum, Aoife being hit, Vara'l being constricted by those additional limbs... They were going to die. Everyone here was going to die - and everyone back in the hangar bay, the ones who were depending on them, were going to die too.

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He observed his surroundings for convenient steam vents, or a large box he could tip over his head and inch across the room, or any better ideas, please help.

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Vara'l smelt smoke as the pain of limbs as they grinded, of ribs of his shoulder and body was joined by first dull heat. Then a growing heat that snatched from him another growled explaination of depthless pain as he struggled. Struggled in vain but what else could what remained within Vara'ls head do. No tactical decision existed past this, existed past fighting existed past struggled existance. Nothing but that as some fragment of his mind within emotion that roiled within all that remained of him whispered once more. I'm sorry, Telim. Whispered it as he struggled, as he refused to surrender to the roil or to what he assumed looked upon him with dispassion. Whatever fate he faced would not be surrendered to as he continued to squirm and struggle and gasped then howled as the pain of the limbs that squeezed joined with more heat. Combined with the pain it brought. Joined as his vision whited out once more

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The drone's shooting arm was hit, knocked out of position as it was aimed at the group, a lucky hit. It tanked the hits to the hip and knee with scary ease, not putting any weight on his main body anyway, the force only adding to the violent swinging the drone was doing. The hits to the arms holding Vara'l were more devastating, the volley heating up the arms and lightly toasting the Romulan inside. With another squeeze, it decided it needed its arms free to swing, and so let go of Vara'l, only to throw him right into the far wall with awe-inspiring force to get him out of the way. The dangling tentacle-like limbs then all went for different people, hitting Tavek, trying to grab T'She when it saw an easy target, swiping at Aoife.

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Wait. What was that thing they tried on Vesta earlier? Really fucking loud noise to distract the borg? And there were at least three deaf people on their team that would be unaffected. Hmmm. Alright. He took out his hearing aids and started fiddling with his tricorder. It made fun little noises when scanning things, right? Well, what if it made those noises REALLY LOUDLY?

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The two bodies falling through the air struggled as they fell, seconds appearing like eons, phaser fire flying through the air, and apparently grenades going off a short distance away. In fact only seconds had passed, and as they had fallen down down down, the Borg had not been able to right himself, and landed unceremoniously on his back, under the android, and right next to Serin. The impact made a loud THUNK noise, and almost immediately knocked the drone out. The light on their ocular implant faded and they lay there, under the android, finally still. Only One of All was still active. The rest of the Borg hive had been disabled, and One of All was alone again…

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He did not hear the thunk, as he'd literally just taken out his hearing aids.

T'She was not looking, they were still trying to gain their bearings after being explodified, so they were, in fact, a super easy target to grab. "Commander Kehal! Run!" They called to their fellow medical officer.

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1

Vara'l screamed more as he was toasted and in the last moments before he impacted the wall with a crack and he crumpled to the floor, what remained within what had been of that fortress of control was one thing. A thought of two children, a ex-wife still a good friend and a dead pair of best friends, mother and father to his adoptive son. I- Crunch. The roil calmed for a time, at last.

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1

He looked around to make sure he wasn't - AARGH! Jumpscared by borg'd Ato and normal(?) Kairos! Wait, Ato wasn't fucking dead AGAIN, was he? He checked him for a pulse.

He took out the phaser! Yay! Unfortunately, he was taking a creepy as fuck arm directly to the chest! Fortunately, he couldn’t feel it. Also, fortunately (or unfortunately).. he had an idea. Planting his feet, he seized the tentacle limb that hit him with what was left of his left hand- as well as catching it in the crook of his elbow and squeezing as hard as he possibly could with all muscles involved. Then, in his right hand.. He fired his rifle point blank into the appendage before letting go.

Vesta read the thunk, as she was one of the three deaf people who was unaffected. She looked around the room trying to figure out what the best thing she could do to help was.

Ones swipe very effectively managed to knock Aoife down as she was mid attempt to stand. The force of the impact knocking her backward and opening a lovely gash on the back of her head as she impacted with a crack. She saw Vara'l go flying over her head in her dazed state her glassy eyes followed as he impacted the wall. She attempted to hit her Comm badge to call for an emergency beam out for Vara'l but badly missed the mark with her impaired coordination and instead only banged her own chest in vain.

There was a faint pulse. Better keep moving now that you know he’s alive, Serin, or you might get nanoprobed!

Khamlet heard the shout of Tarsek, son of Sopel, for De-Sieth seemingly trying to organise the warriors here into some sort of coordinated response. He glanced around and saw some warriors seemingly hesitating, overwhelmed by pain, fear, or exhaustion; while others continued their wild struggles. The Klingon warrior let out a bestial roar, mountain shaking, and grinning with joy for the battle that might be his last, “Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam!” Today was indeed a good day to die! He thought with a joyous laugh. He saw the plasma cutter on the hip of one of the Starfleet warriors, he roared at them, “Cut the walkway the drone is on!” He stepped forward and fired at the Drone, aiming for its legs, trying to keep it in place. Fiery eyes fell upon the medics next, “Get the wounded back, now!” He stepped forward and fired again, roaring again in a snarl of violence, “When the drone falls, throw grenades! Qapla’!” Khamlet was a whirlwind of violence all focused into a singular glorious purpose as he stepped forward ever advancing and firing again at the legs. (edited)

1

Too many things to do at once. Too many things to do at once, no time, and only one of him. There was what looked like bodies falling from the roof. One of the drones, the terrifying Intelligence officer, and now the CTO. There was a mechanical tentacle heading towards T'She, the officer in question was telling him to run, he couldn't abandon them but there was everything happening, everything happening- In as swift a motion he could, he tried to push T'She aside so the remaining drone couldn't grab them. Staggering, he snatched up his medical kit and frantically made his way towards Vara'l. Triagetriagetriagetriage, the drone was techno-organic, whatever that Intelligence officer was wasn't normal, he was banking on them being fine; Lt. Cdr. tr'Hara was surely the worst off. How had he worked that out? He didn't know. Brain going at a hundred miles per hour, his ability to shove down his emotions vanishing into the void, keep a hold of yourself keep a hold of yourself, is this what you've come to? There was an un-Betazoid snarl under his breath. He slid to a halt next to Vara'l, not even bothering trying to get out a medical tricorder. "Don't move," he said to the fallen Romulan despite him being unconscious. "Don't move. You're fine, you're fine." Deftly he tapped the commbadge on the CTO's armour. "Kehal to Runabout 01, requesting medevac transport for Lt. Cdr. tr'Hara, now."

Big sigh. Thank fucking God. "Hey! Kairos. Can you go press this button and hold this item right next to the octopus man's ear? It'll inflict Deafened upon him," he said, holding out the tricorder. (edited)

3

Vara'l remained completely unresponsive, head plastered with green blood and metal of implant dented. His previously wounded arm looked very rough now and well yes, the CTO failed to even twitch at the voice in his proximity. He was and remained out of it. What occurred in the CTO's head, what corridors might be involved if that head dreamed or did not dream if life remained in stilled form, couldn't be determined.

3

Like an exhausted feline after a long hunt, Kairos raised his upper body off the floor and Ato on wobbling arms, head hanging low and panting. The android pushed himself backwards, both arms grabbing onto the plating that was barely hanging off of the right side of his face, and pushed it back into it's place with a soft "click". It was probably scuffed and singed, but at least now he looked somewhat... presentable, for the rest of his team. "Oh man, what a horrible first impression..." Kairos huffed out, briefly sliding his tongue over his teeth, feeling... something on them. Eugh. Serin's presence brought him back to it all, and the android gave the engineer a skeptical look: "He's all the way up there, though. But I can certainly try and hold is attention with some annoyance. Book it, little man!" It was time to shoot some shots - not with intention to harm, given that they would do pretty much none of that, but to distract. Two, then move, then two again... (edited)

"Just some annoyance? So no tricorder?" He slammed it against the ground and then jumped on his skateboard. Just kidding, he put it away normally. "Honestly, you seem tough enough, go for it. Cool face!"

1

The drone took a hit from Tavek, the arm now nonfunctional from the point where Tavek shot it. It raised T'She into the air by the arm it had grabbed, swinging them and in the process likely luxating the shoulder joint and putting quite a lot of stress on the muscles in the arm, dangling their entire body from it at an uncomfortable angle. It seemed unable to keep track of everything, Khamlet's shots hitting but doing little. It wasn't bearing any weight on its legs, so it could tank hits there. It forgot to remodulate its shielding in accordance to the phaser fire, Kairos' hits hitting harder than intended, and again, it swayed dangerously, letting go of T'She a few feet above the ground to let them crumple in an effort to spare effort. Throughout it all, it stayed silent, the only sounds leaving it those that couldn't be helped, like the sound of metal on metal and the air leaving its lungs upon getting shot in the chest.

T'She was up, then T'She was down, falling through the air and landing on their arm -- the same arm that had taken the brunt of the explosion just a few minutes before. That... was going to hurt later, but now was not later, now they were running on adrenaline, using their other arm to pull themselves back up -- their main arm lying limp and useless.

"Wait!" He called while trying to determine his next patient and keep up with the plans as well. Everyone had some sort of fucked-upness going on. Aoife, from a very quick initial look, seemed the worst. "Can you use it to make a certain frequency of noise? Destabilise its inner ears, knock it off balance further instead of distracting it?" Literally anything that might work? It felt like there were no ideas left, but they had to try.

Seeing that OoA was thoroughly occupied and would be even more so when Kairos got there, he took Cool Face's advice and snuck over to the Vinculum, searching it for buttons or a panel or even a miraculous off button!

Now clear of the arm, Tavek booked it towards the Vinculum, and if he reached it, he turned back to fire at One’s arm- the one that had been holding T’She up, before trying to locate any consoles for any of the Vinculum’s controls, all the while looking up every few seconds for incoming attacks.

He let out a sympathetic hiss, seeing T'She's drop - perhaps wanting to reach the poor nurse, but also fearing that his annoying fly hovering technique will become too predictable for their eight-legged opponent. "Commander! You okay?" he shouted, all the while targeting the one single tendril One of All was still hanging off of from. One two, stop, one two...

A quick evaluation by Eicran would reveal Aoife had a moderate to severe head trauma first and foremost. A blown left pupil and slurred words being the worst of the neurological symptoms. Along with that she had a bloody gash on the back of her head on top of a fresh phaser wound to her calf. She grabbed Eicran with her good arm and looked them right in the eyes, one good eye and one wonky eye staring into their soul. "Va..." She stumbled over her words. "Varall?" She eventually slurred, asking if he was evacuated safely.

"I will... live!" T'She called back as they tried to grab their phaser in their working hand and retreat to some sort of cover -- even if there wasn't much to find. Their job was done, there was not much that they could do in this state. No, they needed to help the others... somehow... (edited)

Vesta tried to move with the engineers to the vinculum. She didn’t have knowledge on how to destroy it, but she had tools. She was also one of the least injured of the party. Yippee for that.

From where it had been swinging wildly, the drone's tentacled arm had slowly been losing grip. It simply had not had the time or perhaps the attention to do something about it, and with Kairos shooting... Yeah, alright, it fell down from where it was hanging, hitting its head on the floor with a devastating crash, only its tentacled limbs still moving sluggishly in an attempt to take someone down with it.

The Vinculum had consoles Tavek and Serin could try to access, and with the final drone down it became quite easy. The computer that connected the cube and all the drones in it, like a brain flayed open and prepared for study. It showed a lot. It showed enough. It showed no connection to the rest of the collective. There were no millions of drone voices telling this cube what to do. There was no Borg Queen relaying orders, there were no outside presences looking in. This cube had been cut off from the collective during the altercation that decimated its population, the Collective cutting its losses before it could be contaminated by weakness. In the end, it was almost insultingly easy to sever that last thread.

11

The drone fell, and with that, Kairos lowered his weapon. Cautiously he began to walk closer - steps measured and controlled, reacting to each and any twitch like a cat approaching a coiled up snake. Can he... take the attachments off, perhaps? And turn the guy onto his back?

Gloved hands grasped Aoife's arm back. "He's alright, he's safe," he confirmed between rapid breathing. "You're going to be safe too-" It was then that behind them, the final drone toppled. Pausing from where he had been ready to request a further emergency beam-out, this time for Aoife, he watched One of All hit the floor. Was that it? Was it over? Its arms were still moving - and so with rifle in hand again he aimed at the drone, just in case. "Do we... Do we have comms with the Eventide?" He asked and looked to the engineers, no longer knowing what to feel now that things appeared to be over. "The drones need beamed directly into medical stasis. I need to triage. The worst casualties need beamed out first, straight to the medical bay as well..."

Alone. Abandoned. He felt a twinge of empathy for the cube as he put it to sleep. It was an instrument of violence and terror and yet it had no say in it - he glanced at One - no say in it at all.

4

Tavek stepped back from the consoles. It was over. It was done. He looked down at his hands. The melted plastic had full cooled now. He’d had to restore coolant function to the rest of the hand in order to effectively use the remaining fingers to type, so the burned fused-together stump still leaked coolant for a moment before he once again shut it off. He’d have to cauterize the living shit out of it later until he could get to 777 and actually replace the fingers. Now.. he looked to One. For everything One had been doing, for all the horror.. he could not help but want to save them too. One was a Borg, who’d had no say in being assimilated. One was a victim of it all too, as much as they’d done to the away team. Tavek could not hold hatred for someone who had not -chosen- to hurt him or anyone else. Could One of All be saved?

3

The danger was… gone. The cube severed from the collective, seemingly it had been for a while. She glanced at the original Borg drone, pitying it. It had done what it could, even if it had hurt people immensely in the process. She wondered who they were, who they would be, if they were able to liberate it. Who would she be after they all got back. She stared down at her own hands, they had done horrible things, they had helped very little, she hated them and yet they were her way of communicating to the world. She clinched her fists and let them drop to her side. Get her out of here. Get her out of here now.

2

No real way to remove the octo-arms without cutting them off, unfortunately. In engineering itself some efficient limbs, it also grafted them to itself quite handily.

Senang appeared by T'She's side, helping them up on their good side, not wanting to aggravate the arm that got hurt. "I can set it for you," he offered, though he didn't want to force the matter.

Timi on the other hand came to assist Kairos with the drone, in whatever way was necessary.

"The appendages on this guy can't be popped off, by the way," he looked at Eicran and Timi as he said that. "So he needs to be transported with them in mind, or we, umm... cut them off?"

He sat down on the floor, panting as though out of breath. It wasn't from physical exertion, but from the tension. With each breath, he released a little stress. "Didn't one of them have a Spinning Disc of Slicing?" A saw. Or a pizza cutter. What is a saw but a very efficient pizza cutter?

"Thank you... I would appreciate it if you could set it. That... should probably be done before anything else..." They rationalised quickly as they looked at Senang, offering him a relieved look. "I am glad... that it is you to help me..." They mumbled, clearly a little out of it.

Aoife tried to lean herself against a wall without splitting her head open even more. Her blown pupil making it extremely difficult to focus on anything as she swam in a sea of painkillers, regret and exhaustion. Had she really fired on Vara'l? Her friend? That surely wouldn't be a good career move. Neither was the grenade, she owed T'She an apology for that for sure.

Tarsek watched the engineers. Done was the job. Suppressing the wave of relief that washed upon him was a hard task. He thought about the people in their base who would be finally home. Injuries would be properly tended to, minds would be given the chance to heal. The drones would have a shot to recover their individuality. They would have a shot to get their comrades back. He lowered his rifle and readily approached the group. “Two of All.” He answered Serin. (edited)

"Maggie, yeah. Use hers, if you can detach it." You probably wouldn't be able to, though.

Eicran was caught between starting tagging the worst casualties (the ones here, he'd get to the others in the hangar bay later), and joining Kairos in examining the final drone. "Don't worry about appendages... Or buzzsaws. They're going straight into stasis where they can't hurt anyone again." He'd wrap those mechanical arms around One of All's body to make them fit onto a biobed if he had to.

"I will set it on one," Senang promised, taking T'She's shoulder in hand gently before starting a countdown. "Five, four, three, two-" she lied, pulling the oldest trick in the book and setting it on two, the surprise hopefully making the pain a bit less bad compared to how the anticipation would have felt.

"I will defer to Medical in this case," Timi signed, giving the appendages a good look. Perhaps R&D would be able to make something from this, they seemed quite sturdy despite being made from discarded parts.

T'She hissed slightly at the pain, but appreciated Senang pulling the oldest trick in the book, soon enough, it was over, at the very least. "Thank you. I do mean that."

"Of course," Senang replied simply, hand falling away from T'She's shoulder slowly. "You would have done the same for me." (edited)

Then, the entire group was transported out in bunches, first the drones in their stasis, then the team, to enter near the sickbay and disperse as needed.

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