First Officer's Log: Sic transit gloria mundi

[Cmdr Ayers 0]

Nick feels the Captain's words "I can't believe Starfleet sent me someone who was partially El-Aurian...Borg should have done us all a favor." and the chuckle burn into his mind.  He feels himself stand up to his full height and take a long stride towards the shorter Andorian.  As if from a distance he hears himself say in a tone from the grave "And perhaps we should have led them straight to your planet since we knew about your race long before you knew about ours."  The Captain's fist crashing into his jaw is what causes Nick to toss aside the last vestiges of control against his rolling emotions.  As the two fall to the deck, Nick tries getting his hands around the Andorian's neck.  When that proves unsuccessful he kicks the Andorian off and kips to his feet.  He settles into a defensive stance as he watches the Captain likewise get to his feet.  He doesn't even notice Quark intervene herself as he lunges for the Captain, intent on finishing what the Andorian had foolishly started.  Before he gets that far he once again finds himself falling to the deck with the darkness rushing up to claim him.  His last conscious thought upon noticing the Captain hitting the deck first is "At least we were enough of a threat that they tried destroying us instead..."

 

      Before he can finish that thought Nick finds himself seemingly transported to a planet's surface.  He picks himself up from the ground and looks around wildly, expecting to find the Captain rushing towards him.  He gasps and stumbles backwards when his attention focuses on the crystalline buildings and the wide expansive roads and parks before him with all the people milling about.

 

      Even before he can begin to appreciate the beauty of the vista before him a bolt of green lightning lances into the largest of the buildings from above.  As the crystalline tower explodes spectacularly, Nick looks up and he gasps when he notices the huge green tinged Borg Cube hovering in the upper atmosphere, blocking out part of one of the two suns.  The arrival of several more Cubes darkens the sky considerably as the first continues to fire into the surface, killing scores with each hit.  Soon the other Cubes join in and what light the Cubes don't block out is soon swallowed up by the fire and debris.  A blast from the Cube overhead strikes near enough that Nick can feel the heat of it wash over him.  

 

      Suddenly the Cubes stop their firing and just when he's starting to think it's over, Nick hears a sound far worse.....the sound of marching drones.  The whine of discharging personal energy weapons draws his attention to a cluster of homes nearby.  He notices the Drones mercilessly blowing apart the buildings and any inhabitants they find within.  Vaguely he remembers that the Borg hadn't come to enslave the El Aurians...but to slaughter them.  As he rushes for the buildings, intent on fighting the enemy before him, he activates the small metal solid that just appears in his hand.  It elongates into a polearm type weapon with an energy blade humming at one end.  

 

      He fights through the small group of drones before dashing through the door of the home.  He makes a quick sweep of the ground floor before heading upstairs.  As he reaches the top of the stairs he hears a sound from the room at the end of the hall.  He opens the door and steps through, tripping over something in the process.  He catches himself before he falls head first into the floor but he finds himself staring down the barrel of a phaser type weapon.  It's not the weapon though that holds his attention but who's holding it.  He finds himself staring into the face of an older version of his mother.  He gasps "Aishra."  

 

      The woman's eyes widen and then focus on something behind Nick.  He turns to find a Drone standing in the doorway.  He has just enough time to register that it is an Andorian before an energy bolt lances out over his shoulder and strikes the drone in it's midsection.  Nick turns to find the woman looking at the fallen drone with anger and grim determination. He quickly glances over the two other El Aurians present, a young boy and a woman about Nick's age in appearance.  He breathes "Eshen, ni awa larin."

 

      The older woman, the one that Nick referred to as "Aishra," nods and together the four of them get ready to leave.  That is when the Borg cubes resume their bombardment.  Several near blasts rattle the house hard enough that it seems to Nick as if it is about to fall apart.  They've made it downstairs to the back door when, with a thunderous roar, a shot from one of the Cubes blows the house apart, leaving nothing but blackness...and a brain-splitting headache.