AUTHORS NOTE: Hello everyone! It has been a very long time since I have published anything on this story and to be honest for a time there I kinda gave up on it. It seemed like a lot of work for no real benefit. However, I can't leave something like this unfinished. So I have decided to wrap it up with a few more chapters. Today, on Thanksgiving, as a present to all of you loyal followers and fans, I have given you two chapters, both written today, and both probably the best quality work I have published on this particular story. Thank you all for your love and support, and please enjoy this next chapter.

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Lt. Japar, Klingon Warrior of house Ugresh, watched the giant wolf warrior with a mixture of suspicion, awe, and gratitude. He was suspicious because the way this wolf warriors superior had acted led Japar to believe that the warrior was a pup, unable to fully control his behavior. Awe at the giant's strength, fearlessness, and skill. Gratitude at having another warrior here to shore up the defenses.

"Lt. Ultara, how much longer until you and Lt. Terra have what you need from that program?" Japar asked impatiently. He wanted to make sure his people were ready to evacuate the second the wolf warriors reinforcements arrived. The medical personnel had been working non-stop to ready their people for transport, and it seemed these two were nowhere near being ready to move.

"Not long Japar." Terra said, as she plugged away at the interface her and Ultara were working on. Japar bristled slightly at the informality of her address, but he let it go. He was technically the senior lieutenant and as such was in command, but this was Star-Fleet, not the Klingon Empire, and some informality among close colleagues was not only common but encouraged.

"I've isolated the defensive code of this "machine spirit" and am attempting to replicate it, but the AI isn't liking our system very much. We have similar enough base languages that It doesn't think we are a threat to it, but it doesn't seem to like being examined. At all. It keeps attacking and dismantling any program I set to the task." Ultara said. Though the man was the watch stander in charge of damage control, he was also an engineer in his own right, primarily specialized in computer software, which is what he did during non-combat situations. He often worked with O'Malley, the chief engineer, to make long term repairs, though typically the man managed the civilian and non-combatant contingents on-board the Glorious, organizing them into damage control teams, and for those who couldn't, getting them to safe-zones.

"How can a machine 'not like' something?" Japar asked, before remembering who he was asking and raised a hand to forestall the no doubt lengthy explanation that Ultara would have provided him. "Never mind lieutenant. Just let me know when you are finished."

Japar went back to standing next to the wolf warrior, phaser rifle slung over his shoulder and Bat'leth gripped tightly in hands. "That weapon looks useless. Tell me non-imperial, have you used it before in battle?"

Taken aback to be addressed by the warrior directly, as up tell this point the great hulking wolf man had simply stood guard over the giant hole in the blast door that his superior had made. "Yes. The Bat'leth is a warriors weapon. It is nothing like you humans use of course, even those from the federation do not use such weapons. It is a Klingon weapon, meant for superior hands and strength. I have killed many a drone with this weapon, as their shields are weak against close quarters fighting, though an armored drone proves more of a challenge." Grunting his understanding the wolf warrior went back to silence, and so Japar did the same, returning his gaze back to the hole and hallway.

"Your people, the Klingons, they must be from a heavy gravity world then. Your mutations are slight enough that you will no doubt be considered non-heretical. Particularly if you and your people prove to be brave and true warriors." The wolf man said softly nodding to its self. Finally it turned on Japar and said, "I would like to see you fight. The next drone that comes here, kill it with that." The wolf man's hand gestured towards the Bat'leth.

Japar bowed slightly towards the great warrior. "It would be my honor. Though, I do not know of what you mean when you say mutation. Perhaps our translators are not fully functional yet. But I can assure you me and my people are the greatest warriors the galaxy has seen. At least, our portion of it." Japar said the last with some hesitation, again sizing up the wolf man. "It would be my honor to demonstrate my skill to one such as you."

"That you would, brave one."

A few minutes later, a single armored drone came into view. "A scout" said the wolf man. "Slay it, and it will be unable to report what it has seen to its superiors" he said, motioning towards Japar and the Bat'leth in his hands.

"With pleasure." Japar said, as he carefully stepped through the man sized hole in the bulkhead door. "But the drone has already reported what it has seen. Borg drones, all Borg for that matter, are connected to a type of hive mind they call the 'collective.'" Japar said, instructing the wolf man on how the Borg operated. "And now, you see how a Klingon fights!"

Yelling a wordless battle cry, Japar charged at the drone, moving as if to impale it on the point of the Bat'leth. The drones shield flared, and his Bat'leth slowed, but it did not stop the weapon entirely. The drone reached out, gripping one of Japar's shoulders and attempted to crush the joint, but before it could, the Bat'leths blade reached the internal circuitry, cutting deep into the drones innards. Japar pressed a button on the inside of his specially made Bat'leth, and an electromagnetic pulse shot through the weapon and disabled the drone completely. After that, Japar beheaded the creature, leaving the body to rot, and tossing the head to the floor in disgust before returning to the entrance to the bridge.

"Using the E.M.P. would not be honorable against any other opponent, but against the Borg, my people have learned that such additions to our honored weapons are needed for victory. And nothing is more honorable than victory." Japar explained as he crawled back through the hole. The wolf warrior only nodded his assent at the comment.

"There are things that are more honorable than victory, but they are few. YOu will learn of them as you and your people learn of the emperors light, if you do not get purged of course. But do not worry, I do not see such a useful and brave people being extinguished from the emperor's light. At worst, you and your people could call on our chapter master, Logan Grimnar for protection, if you were to swear fealty I am sure he could protect you and your peculiar people from the inquisition. He is one of the few men in history to make then blink."

"I know not of what you speak, but such things can be worked out at another time yes? Look, more drones. Let us kill them quickly before they begin to press us to harshly. And afterwards if ever we get the chance, I will drink blood wine with you, and we shall feast a true feast of the victorious!" Japar said, pulling his phaser rifle up to his shoulder and shooting one of the drones with a continuous beam of energy. It took almost six seconds to overwhelm the drones shields, but when it fell the drone quickly disintegrated. "I have it on the max setting. They have adapted heavier shields, oscillating our phaser frequencies is not going to work as effectively if they simply bulked up their shield strength." Japar said worriedly.

"Fear not warrior, these mindless ones can not withstand the emperors strength, and I am his instrument of death." The wolf man said, before revving is chain-sword, and engaging the door mechanism to open. As it opened Brother Blood Claw Jonathan stepped forward to fill the gap as best he could. He didn't block off the entire entrance as Alric could in his terminator armor, but he acted as good cover for those in the room behind him regardless. As the drones advanced, nearly fifteen of them by Jonathans count, the battle was swiftly joined. Japar directly behind him, felling enemies as quickly has his weaker weapon would allow.

Brother Alrick slammed his hammer to the side, taking down two more of the heavily armored drones. They were proving more and more difficult to slay, but even now, it caused him and his blood claws little effort to kill a single drone in close combat. The only time it proved hazardous to him and his blood claws was if they were swarmed with many at once and no other brother was available to clear the pests off. Two of the younger blood claws had been injured due to incidence like this, one losing use of an arm and the other losing a fistful of teeth when one of the drones attempted to shove their gripping claws down his throat. But the largest injury by far was to the two's egos. Humility is a lesson and a gift best learned and accepted early, Alrick thought, reciting a portion of the prayer of obedience.

Inwardly the prayer brought Alrick peace about the injuries under his command, outwardly the giant metal clad warrior screamed a wordless battle cry as Alrick engulfed the head of one of the drones in his power fists palm and squeezed. Oil and brain matter leaking out from between the metal fingers as Alrick threw the body at the hoard of advancing drones, nearly thirty of them this time. Whatever tech-heresy monstrosity served as a leader among these Borg, was getting ill tempered to be done with Alrick and his little pack he realized. Good, let fear creep into their metal hearts, let them know the emperor's wrath!

After the battle was finished, Alrick surveyed his blood claws. The Borg had brought in a new weapon of some kind this time around, a type of automated laser cutter flying machine, it was a tiny devise, about the same size as a servo skull and seemed to be at the direction of one of the heavily armored drones. Their surprise assault from behind the blood wolves allowed the Borg to take the life of the young blood claw who had lost use of his arm. Alrick felt the death like a personal blow to the gut, he had been responsible for this young pups life, and because he had been foolish enough not to set a rear guard or expect military tactical adaptation from these Borg, a young if not fully grown battle brother was now dead.

As Alrick extracted the gene seed of the dead blood claw the others bowed their heads in silent prayer to the God Emperor, ears flat, eyes closed, humility and reality finally allowing the young warriors to finally realize this was not some hunt of Feneris, this was war, no matter how easy the individual prey were to kill. Their herd was still a dangerous collective entity.

Gene seed extracted, words of death spoken, Alrick lead his blood claws down the corridor again. They had not seen any evidence that their quarry, the odd 'federation' ship's captain was still alive. If we don't find anything by the time we clear out the next level, we are going to have to call this quits and return with what few survivors we have found. As they had searched, they found a few pockets of survivors here or there, and had given them directions towards where the imperial navy would be sending support from. They had found a few more of the strange assimilation pods, but most of those individuals had had to be purged, only two had more had been rescued from those dark prisons, and they had been sent back with the last group of survivors they had found.

One of the last group was a green skinned woman who was apart of the medical staff. Obviously, Alrick thought, these federation types allow for far too much mutation among their gene pool. Either that, or God Emperor forbid they encourage slave xenos races as… near equals. That is to be sorted out by the Chapter Master and the inquisition, not by myself. Alrick shook his head, clearing the thoughts of the future political implications from his mind and refocusing on the task at hand. They had stopped outside of a large double door that did not automatically open upon their approach like most of the doors on the vessel had.

Had the Space Wolves been able to read english, they would have found that the sign on the placard outside of the double doors read 'engineering' and 'warp core.' "Hit the button and open these doors brother Marcus. Everyone else, be ready to cover him, we have no idea what's on the other side of those doors." Just then a burst of static hit all of them through their vox casters. Then a clear sound, the shrieking of some angry and hungry predator began pumping through their communications gear, overwhelming everything. As each one of them pulled their helmets off with the same alacrity they all heard the same shrieking, terrible, and horrifying noise begin pumping through the ships intercom systems.

"Brothers!" Alrick yelled over the shrieking noise, "I believe the Great Enemy has appeared here in system! We can withstand this horrid noise, as we know no fear, but I am concerned for the health and minds of those lesser than ourselves. We must shut this cursed noise off before it turns everyone aboard insane with fear. According to the schematic that that O'Malley engineer gave us, this should be main engineering, we should be able to control every system including the intercoms from here, and set the ship to auto destruct before we leave. This is our mission now."

"What about the ship's captain?" Brother Marcus asked, yelling over the intercom. "Is he still a priority?"

"No, he is moved to a tertiary objective. If we find him in the course of our other duties, we rescue him. If not, then we can still count this a victory worth remembering." Alrick said, as he pulled his hammer from his back as the blood claws each pulled revved their chain swords, and pulled the tiny phasers that O'Malley had given them as side arms. They would be useless against the Borg unless their personal shields had been penetrated, or unless they concentrated enough fire power on a single drone to overwhelm their shields, but the 'phasers' were still better than having no ranged weapons at all.

Marcus pressed the button standing directly in front of the two doors, and aiming his phaser into the room. When the doors finished opening Marcus yelled "The Enemy!" before blood and gore exploded from his chest as bolter rounds at nearly point blank range tore through him and impacted the ships armor which surprising Alrick, barely deformed. Marcus fell to his knees as bolts still pierced him, and raised his own weapon to shoot back. The phaser let out a whizzing sound, that if Alrick was right about who they were now facing, would do little but heat the cerimite of their once holy now blasphemous armor.

To Be Continued!