Episode 1- Borg Attack Backstory

The year was 2403. The USS Carolina, an Intrepid Class starship, was caught unawares by a Borg Diamond. The attack was vicious and instantaneous. The Carolina had little to no chance of escape or survival. Their distress call indicated impending disaster if help did not arrive. The USS Nike came to her aid. This is the story of the Carolina and the Nike’s battle with the Borg.

Upon disabling the Carolina, the Borg invaded without delay. Details of all the events are sketchy at best with heavy casualties from the Carolina. It is known that the Borg invaded engineering first, most likely to try and further disable the ship from any hope of escape. The engineering crew of the Carolina was decimated. A few lucky survivors managed to escape engineering with their lives. The bridge and other areas of the ship were targeted by the Diamond. Destruction, explosions, and even the total loss of large areas of the ship were reported.

The Carolina survivors reported that many of their crew were killed from the attacks themselves, while they were forced to watched others be assimilated before their very eyes. Tricia McAdams reported the loss of many crew, including that of her fiancé, Stenn, whose life was lost when a blast took out a huge section of the ship. Alexis McConville reported the death of many of her science comrades, including her chief, when the borg tried to take the labs and the crew. The entire command team of the Carolina died or were assimilated in the attack, while they tried to save their ship and crew.

The Nike, arriving just moments before the Carolina’s destruction, attempted to fight off the Borg. As the Nike drew the attention of the Borg, it bought the Carolina crew a few final minutes before the ship exploded. The Nike, realizing the Carolina had no chance, dropped her shield to beam any and all survivors to the main cargo bays.

In a matter of seconds the Carolina was no more and the Nike was soon riddled with explosions and problems of its own. Their shields were weakening and unbeknownst to them at first, the Borg had managed to beam aboard while the Nike’s shields were down. One particular explosion on the bridge of the Nike would have killed the captain had Sean Alexander, the first officer, not given his life to save Captain William Lester. The Borg soon invaded the bridge, Engineering and the main cargo bay where the Carolina survivors had been transported to. Battles ensued everywhere.

In an attempt to save the Nike and the rest of her bridge crew, Captain Lester remained on the bridge while others were evacuated. His attempts to hold off and destroy the Borg saved all onboard the Nike, even though it nearly cost him his very own life. Lifepods were dispatched in an attempt to save whatever crew was able to escape the Nike. Lester was later rescued from the burned out bridge of the Nike.

Meanwhile, on other areas of the Nike the Borg had also materialized. Main Engineering was quickly overrun with Borg drones, just as the Carolina had been. There was almost little to no hope for the engineering crew to escape. Most of engineering was destroyed during the fight, as were most of the engineering and operations crew who were there to assist with the Nike’s attack on the Borg drone.

Within the cargo bays, the Carolina survivors attempted to once again ward off their impending assimilation by Borg drones, this time aided by the Nike security and other officers. More lives were lost, more injuries sustained.

Finally, due to the heroic efforts of the Nike’s crew, especially her captain, William Lester, the Nike managed to destroy the Borg Diamond and limp her way back towards the nearest starbase, where she was transferred to Utopia Planitia for major repair and refit.

As soon as the Borg was defeated, the crew of the Nike gained access to the bridge, where they were able to rescue the badly injured Lester. His injuries, while severe, would not take his life. However, Lester had a long road of recovery ahead of him. He would be transferred to Starfleet medical, along with the other severely injured crewmembers for continued and long-term care.

The second officer, Commander Pheobe Sutherland, ship’s chief medical officer, was forced to take command of the Nike in order to get her back to space-dock and prepare for the final farewells that many of the crew were faced with. By the time all was said and done, 21 members of the Nike crew, including her XO were killed in action, more were severely injured, and most others suffered minor injuries. The Carolina crew was nearly destroyed. Not even a third of her contingent made it back alive.

The ship herself suffered severe damage. Many systems were destroyed, others suffered severe problems. ‘Scars’ of the battle marred the once gorgeous hull of the galaxy-class vessel.

Now, not only will the Nike need repair, but so will the souls that inhabit the space, where ghostly memories of friends and loved ones, battle and survival, life, heroism, and loss fill the now quiet corridors. Shadows that will forever more be a part of the Nike just like the crew who will soon inhabit her once again….as life must move on. Old friends lost, but never forgotten.