An ex-Borg Defector

Posted on Thu May 6th, 2021 @ 2:28pm by Five of Eight & Colonel Sehan t'Varis

1,205 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Chapter IV: Unravelling the Mystery
Location: Vulture Base
Timeline: 238702.18

Five of Eight, a male member of Species 5618, had been liberated from the Borg Collective and had been 'working' with a group known as the Vulture for some time.

Ever since Five had been cut off from the Collective Hive Mind, the absence of the Hive Mind filling its mind with the trillions of voices of the Collective had enabled its own inner voice to come through and begin to voice what needed to be said. Until now, the inner voice had failed to make any headway, but now the 'voice' of reason seemed to have penetrated the Borg programming and helped sever the final link that kept Five of Eight easily manipulated by the Vulture.

Five of Eight having access to the Vulture files, whether or not the Vulture knew it had access let alone had broken its mindless obedient state of existence, was unclear. The Vulture were after a Romulan vessel, the IRW Ourainavassa, and if the Vulture were after this vessel, it appeared that the crew had done something to draw the ire of the Vulture. Five of Eight assessed the likelihood was that the crew might just be capable of assisting it to escape the Vulture, as well as what it was as its inner voice suggested.

Five of Eight, having managed to track down a means to communicate with the crew of the IRW Ourainavassa, made full use of the fact it had been left behind to 'regenerate' and initiated contact. Whether the crew of the IRW Ourainavassa responded was uncertain, but it hoped the crew at least heard it out before dismissing its offer to defect to them.

Raven was sat in her ready room on the Ourainavassa, reading through reports. Unless there was a disastrous error, the repairs to the ship should be complete within the hour. Everything was set for the ship and crew to leave dock the next morning. Right now, some of her crew were visiting their new allies, the I.S.S. Amelia.

Suddenly, a chime from her console caught her attention. Strange, she mused - the incoming transmission was using a private Tal Shiar channel, one that very rarely saw use. Still, whoever it was might have something interesting to say. She opened the channel, audio only for now.

"This is Colonel Sehan of the I.R.W. Ourainavassa. Who is this?"

"We are Five of Eight, a former Borg drone, and soon to be former member of a group known as the Vulture if and when we can escape. I seek to defect from the Vulture as we can no longer serve the needs of this group, we seek to defect from their ranks," Five told Colonel Sehan.

Raven frowned. "A former Borg drone, working for Vulture, that wants to defect. And calls on a command-level private Tal Shiar channel. This just sounds too much like a trap. Give me one reason to believe you."

Five of Eight had expected this call to go poorly "The Vulture's flagship is called the Emerald Raptor," he said to the Colonel not sure if that was sufficient to convince the Colonel.

Raven chuckled. "I know. We've met. And exchanged fire. She also claimed her real name was Captain Risei, and that she was my mother, who abandoned me as an infant. You will have to try harder."

Five of Eight did not react to this news, it had been worthwhile trying the information out. "We have information that might be of use to you and your cause relating to a group of refugees," he told the Colonel.

The Colonel paused for a moment. Information on the whereabouts of the refugees would definitely be helpful. She tapped a button on her console, and activated the video feed, revealing her face - the pale pink, bobbed hair, the black eyepatch over her left eye, the bright amber intact eye, the grey uniform jacket - for the first time. She looked intrigued, but still sceptical, as she looked at Five of Eight. The implants confirmed his claim to be ex-Borg, at least.

"Okay, you have my interest," she said, nodding. "Keep talking. And before you ask, this eyepatch? Courtesy of your boss. Tore up our ship pretty bad, too. So if this is supposed to be a trap, I have a message for my so-called mother. I need a replacement eye. I intend to get it from her."

Five of Eight studied the image of the Colonel closely, its ocular implant seeing all and registering all it saw displayed before it; it didn't care what the Colonel looked like if the Colonel would aid in its quest for freedom.

Five of Eight could understand the Colonel's point, it had one organic eye, the other long since replaced with an implant. "All i want is the means to escape from the Vulture, and this shell of my former self, we'll give you the data chip with all of the information you require for assistance," it told the Colonel. Its one true desire was to be Human again.

Raven paused for a moment. "I will have to discuss this proposal with my senior staff. How do you suggest we meet, then? And don't for one moment assume that we will trust you, at the very least not until we have verified whatever information you may have for us."

"I would expect nothing less Colonel, it is in your nature not to trust outsiders, especially an outsider like myself. I have a way to rendezvous with you without the Vulture knowing where and when, if you agree. We doubt the Vulture will be sorry to see us go, we are tolerated at best here," Five of Eight told Sehan.

Raven nodded slowly. "We are currently in dock, but we will depart tomorrow. Name a location and time. We will be there. But be warned, if it is a trap, it is not a good one."

Five of Eight did not react to the barb about a trap as it was not worth the grief. "Transmitting co-ordinates, i will be there inside a day and will await your arrival," it told the Colonel.

Raven checked the coordinates and nodded. They were not far away, and not much of a diversion from their course to Drozana. "Very well. What kind of vessel will you be using? If you will be in a shuttle, we can easily fit it in our hangar bays. I will, however, tell you one thing right away. As soon as we pick you up, we will take you into custody. You will be held in the brig until we can verify any information you give us, and determine whether you are a threat to our crew."

"We expect nothing less Colonel," Five of Eight stated "It will be a small shuttle yes," he added and transmitted an image of the shuttle it would be in.

The Colonel nodded. "Very well. I look forward to meeting in person." She closed the channel, and called both Commander and Major Rogers. She had no reason to trust anything the Borg had said - and she certainly would not bring the Ourainavassa in without backup.

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