Apeworld: Civil War III Chapter Twenty-Eight

Thrawn began to look around as they walked through the ship.

"Everything looks the same to me," he said. "The Borg are most illogical creatures. Their vessels have no bridge, no engineering section, no fighter bay, no..."

Caesar stopped abruptly and gave Thrawn an icy stare.

"The Borg are perhaps the most efficient killing machine known to the universe. Unlike you Imperials, they have no need for the finer things in life. In many ways, they are to be admired."

Caesar continued on his way, but Thrawn still wanted answers.

"You still haven't told me how you know so much about the Borg," he said.

"I know a lot more than you think, Admiral," Caesar replied. "Now come! We are wasting too much time. We must find the others!"

 

As Magus continued to sing, he watched the Borg intently. He could tell that they were trying to work out his plan of attack. They could not. The only one who didn't seem confused was the Borg Queen.

"Your tactics will not work on me, Phineas Magus," she said.

"Oh, really?" asked Magus. "Won't you join me for the next verse? It's very seldom heard these days!"

The Borg Queen extended her arm, so it was just inches away from Magus' face. A probe then began to extend from her hand.

"You will be assimilated!"

"I think not, my dear. Don't you remember what happened the last time? No? Maybe you should ask Jean-Luc Picard? Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot! You only know him as Locutus!"

"Enough!" the Borg Queen cried, at last showing some sign of emotion. "Prepare to be assimilated!"

As the probe extended itself further, Magus uttered a silent spell and erected a force field around himself. Try as she might, the Queen's probe could not penetrate the field.

"I can keep this up all day, young lady! Can you?"

 

The corridors began to get darker and darker. Caesar began to get suspicious.

"Something is distracting the collective," he said.

"How can you tell?" asked Thrawn.

"My device tells me so. Extra energy is being drained from all over the ship. It's as if they are focusing on something, trying to combat a single threat."

Then, Thrawn suddenly stopped and placed his hand on Caesar's shoulder.

"I hear footsteps," he said. "And not all of them are metallic!"

"I agree," said Caesar, soon seeing a small alcove. "We'll hide in there."

From their hiding place, they saw two Borg drones walking down the corridor, and behind them, their missing comrades—Zaius, Cornelius, Zeera, and the now-conscious Urko, who still seemed a little groggy.

"Now is a better time than any," said Caesar, adjusting his device.

When he had finished his work, he tossed the device out into the corridor, in the path of the oncoming drones. They seemed intrigued by what was lying on the floor in front of them, so much so that one of them began to bend down in order to pick it up. And that was his mistake. An energy charge suddenly released itself, engulfing the two drones but causing no harm to the apes.

Seconds later, as the energy died down, Caesar emerged from the alcove, closely followed by Thrawn. While Cornelius and Zeera were pleased at having been rescued from almost certain assimilation, Zaius did not show the slightest sign of emotion, and Urko was still too groggy to do anything.

"How did you stop the energy from hurting us?" asked Zeera.

"Quite simple," Caesar explained. "I set the device only to hurt Borg life-patterns, not ape."

"Are they dead?" asked Cornelius.

"No. Just removed from the collective for a short time, although from what I can tell, the collective are having enough trouble as it is!"

 

The Borg Queen watched as one by one, the drones around her began to drop to the ground, their logic circuits being overloaded by a most illogical creature. As all of this happened, she still tried to penetrate Magus' force field.

"I thought by now you would be learning from your mistakes," said Magus. "Istarians and other cavourite-based life-forms cannot be assimilated by the Borg! Just look around you!"

The Queen looked around as more and more drones fell down.

"What have you done?"

"I always carry a small portion of cavourite with me, and I used my powers to disperse it into your systems. By my estimations, the entire ship's systems will be affected in roughly..."

Magus looked down at his old pocket watch.

"...Three and a half minutes!"

The Queen moved her hand away from Magus' face. She could tell that Magus was not bluffing.

"By my estimations, you will be affected in just under three!"

The probe retracted itself. Magus watched as she concentrated intently.

"There really is no point in sending out a distress signal," he said.

"It's not a distress signal," she said. "It's a beam-out call."

Seconds later a transporter beam engulfed her and whisked her away.

"Bon voyage, my dear!" Magus said, tipping his hat. "Now where could the others have got to?"

 

"What is happening?" asked Zaius as he looked around at all the fallen drones. "And how the hell are we going to get out of here?"

"A sort of virus has been planted into the collective," said Caesar. "Every system on this cube is being shut down one by one. We must find the transporter conduit, and quickly!"

"Couldn't your device just whisk us away?" asked Thrawn.

"It does not have transporter capabilities," Caesar replied. "However, I do believe there is one just around the corner."

Caesar quickly pointed out the way, and as they turned the corner, they were met by a party of Borg drones. Each drone raised their weapon at the same time and fired. Caesar was the first to fall. However, he was merely stunned, the reduced power of the collective having had some effect on their firepower. Caesar slumped to the ground, releasing his hold on his device. Cornelius and Zeera were the next to be stunned, soon to be followed by Zaius and Urko.

Thrawn knew he had to act quickly. Diving down low, he scooped Caesar's device into his hands, and even though he had no idea how to operate it, he held it out in front of him and hoped for the best. His suspicions about the device were correct. All along he had thought that it had been activated by some sort of telepathic means, by mind control. Thrawn concentrated as hard as he could, and a burst of energy which he could barely control shot out from the device, engulfing the entire party of drones. They fell in unison, as if hit by a massive gust of wind.

Thrawn began to marvel at his own handiwork, but as he did, the device began to shake in his hand. Then, it raised itself into the air and glided itself back into Caesar's hands. The ape, weary after the attack, allowed himself a slight smile.

"I am indebted to you, Admiral," he said. "We all are."

Thrawn accepted Caesar's thanks but did not let it be known that he was merely looking after his own skin.