Under Siege, part II

Under Siege, part II is the fifteenth episode - and second season premiere - of Star Trek: Abandoned.

Synopsis

Help arrives from an unexpected source, but it proves insufficient. The expedition must employ desperate measures if they are to survive the onslaught.

Previously on Star Trek: Abandoned

The Borg fleet is detected, giving the inhabitants of the city five days to mount a defence. The starship Adelphi is retrofitted with salvaged alien weaponry, but modifying the city proves more difficult. To that end, Will and Rhiohr take the nanoprobe vessel in an attempt to stop the Hives. Their plan fails, but buys sufficient time to allow Nathan to repair and raise the city's shield. After enduring hours of orbital bombardment, a section of the shield destabilises, allowing enemy fighter craft inside. Adelphi takes on the Hives in space, but is critically damaged. As she faces destruction, a transwarp conduit opens, bringing more ships to the battle...

Plot

Teaser

Aboard the Olympus, Nathan and Rhiohr witness the second fleet emerging from the conduit. The seven ships are quickly identified as belonging to the Inc'Ranas, and their commander hails them - Major Deran. She offers the expedition her assistance in destroying the Hive ships.

Act One

Deran's fleet engages the Hives, crippling one and forcing the other two to retreat. Olympus assists in the destruction of the first Hive.

Meanwhile, in the city, the battle between the Borg vessels and the Inc'Radi fighters continues. Will, piloting one of the fighters, is contacted by Nathan, who informs him of the situation and their new allies, who are sending reinforcements to combat the enemy. Will is sceptical about their intentions, but he is distracted somewhat by a Borg fighter tailing him. Through some clever flying he forces the Borg ship to crash, and its pilot is taken prisoner.

Act Two

Damage control and casualty retrieval begins on the Adelphi. Tom is injured, but not seriously so; Anton tells him they have lost forty people in total.

Deran visits Eyrn in the drone control room. She expresses her disgust that he is helping the "aliens" of the expedition, and scorns his singular ability to operate the city's weapons. Eyrn appeals to her compassion, reminding her of their former relationship, but she tells him it was all in his head, and leaves.

T'Sora is busy repairing the damaged shield stations in preparation for the next attack. Nathan offers to help, but she insists he rest. A few hours later, he is visited by Will. The two discuss the merits of simply attacking the Hives with their combined forces. Nathan argues that eight Olympus-class warships could easily dispatch two Hives, but Will counters that the Ranas have no experience in fighting the Borg - and frankly, with the many recent changes in their society, neither do they. Before they can continue, they are summoned to the control room.

They arrive to discover that Deran has taken her fleet to engage the Hives on her own. At first the battle seems to go well, but the Borg quickly overcome and destroy them. For Eyrn the ramifications are twofold - he has lost any chance he had of returning home.

Act Three

Will, Nathan, Hanar and T'Sora are observing the drone in detention. T'Sora has been requested to perform a mind meld on the prisoner, though she confesses she has never melded with anyone before. Nathan insists it is necessary - through the drone, they could access all they needed to know about the Hives and their defences. T'Sora agrees, and performs the meld. She converses briefly with a manifestation of the drone's independent mind, before seeing through the eyes of drones aboard the Hives. She feels conflict within them, divided opinions on their presence in the system. Before she can proceed further, however, the drone assumes control of her body. She attempts to escape, but is shot and stunned by Nathan.

Later, in the mess hall, Rhiohr wonders about the effect T'Sora may have had on the Borg. He recalls an incident during the Occupation of Bajor - his aunt Nerys, assigned to bomb a local prefect's residence, discovered Cardassian civilians oblivious to the plight of the Bajorans, and was able to convince them to sabotage their government's actions instead. He suggests that, in sensing the conflict and making her presence known, T'Sora may have had a similar effect aboard the Hive ships.

The Queen of the larger Hive is visited by her counterpart from the other ship. This other Queen voices her doubts about the mission. Amused, the leader of their alliance demands that she capitulate and allow her to seize her Hive. Naturally she refuses, and is killed.

In the control room, Kreeahn monitors the increased traffic flow between the two Hives. On a hunch, Nathan takes Will and Rhiohr in cloaked fighters on investigate. Upon arrival, it becomes clear that the larger Hive is taking control of the smaller. Playing on this increased tension, Nathan and the others dock their fighters to a nearby cruiser and open fire on other Borg ships. Within minutes the place is a battlefield, and the Hives quickly annihilate each other.

With the threat neutralised, the inhabitants of the city can breathe freely again. At a party of sorts in the mess hall, Tom toasts "the finest crew... of the finest city in the galaxy". Nathan is troubled, knowing it is only a matter of time before another wave of Hive ships heads their way, but allows himself to enjoy the moment.

Cast of characters

Main cast

• Doctor Nathan Carson
• Lieutenant Will Gates
• Colonel Eyrn Nora'n
• Professor T'Sora
• Ensign Hanar D'Jan
• Ensign Kira Rhiohr
• Captain Tom Farrin

Guest characters

• Major Deran
• Doctor Anton Tagan
• Ensign Kreeahn
• The Borg Queen

Notes

This episode marks the second, and final, appearance of Major Deran, Eyrn's former consort, who first appeared in season one's "Contact". Nathan and Will both reference the events in which she attempted to have them killed. Her motives for helping the expedition are not revealed. This episode also provides the first definitive evidence that Kira Rhiohr is related to Deep Space Nine's Kira Nerys.

External link

Under Siege, part II at Ad Astra