Doctor Who and the Borg: Part Three of Ten

Characters and concepts related to Doctor Who and Star Trek, and related marks, are trademarks of the BBC and CBS Studios Inc., respectively. This work of fan fiction is written purely for entertainment purposes, and is not to be used in trade of any kind.

To go back and read Part Two, click here, or to go to the beginning, click here. Part Three begins after the jump.

Doctor Who and the Borg
by Mark Baker-Wright
Part Three

The TARDIS materialized on board the large cubical ship. The Doctor poked his head out, and glanced around.

"You stay here, K-9," the Doctor whispered. "I'm going to try to find out what these people are up to."

The Doctor then cautiously stepped outside of the TARDIS, and proceeded to walk through the mass of corridors that was the interior of the ship.

It wasn't long before the Doctor came upon one of the inhabitants of this strange vessel. The being was roughly humanoid, but much of his body was replaced by mechanical parts. Since the being was alone, the Doctor decided to approach him.

"Pardon me," the Doctor began, "I'm called the Doctor, and I was wondering if you could show me the way to whoever is in charge here."

The being paid no attention to the Doctor, and merely continued on its way down the corridor.

Unabashed by the lack of attention, the Doctor tried a different tactic. He walked to catch up with the being, and produced a small object from his pocket. "Would you like a jelly baby?"

Again, the being gave no response.

Finally giving up on the possibility of direct personal communication, the Doctor continued his search through the large ship. Eventually, he came upon a corridor filled with beings
like the first one he encountered, all apparently attached to the wall of the ship.

The Doctor approached one of the beings, and waved his hand in front of its face. "Hello! Anybody home!" Failing that, he tried another, and then another until, having determined that any further such attempt was clearly futile, the Doctor returned to the TARDIS.

When he arrived back at the TARDIS control room, he told K-9 about what he had seen. "They're not very interesting, K-9. No originality, no ambition, no sense of humor whatsoever, some just walk on as if they were in some sort of trance or something, but most just stand there against the wall. Arguably the most boring creatures I've ever encountered."

---

"Now approaching the Dinar system, Captain," Lt. Commander Data announced from his ops console. "Dinar vessel entering sensor range."

"Take us within communications range of the vessel and hail it, Commander."

"Aye, Captain." The android obeyed the captain's instructions. "Now receiving a response."

"On screen." The screen revealed a hastily constructed spacecraft control center, with what appeared to be a young man in command. The apparent leader looked anxious. Frightened. Not unreasonable, the captain supposed, considering that the man's planet could well be being torn to shreds by this time. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise representing the United Federation of Planets. We've come to offer assistance in your evacuation procedures."

"This is Commander Volon of the Dinarisis. I'm afraid you're too late, Captain," the young man began. "The Borg ship arrived just as we were leaving orbit." The commander paused a second. "We were the only ship to escape in time."

The captain considered the news with regret, if only they had been able to arrive sooner.... "How many people are aboard your vessel? Do they require medical aid?"

"We have about 2500 on board," the Dinar leader replied. "We were able to escape without conflict from the Borg... they seemed more interested in our planet. But our supplies are low... we were in a bit of a hurry."

The captain offered a slightly forced smile. "Then we offer our facilities to restock your supplies until you can reach Starbase 54."

"Thank you, Captain," Volon replied. "I will make the proper arrangements. Volon out." The viewscreen switched back to reveal the Dinar ship.

How terrible, the captain thought, that such a prosperous race could be reduced to so little in such a short time. And they were the lucky ones. Not every planet survived a Borg invasion as well as the Dinar did. The more the captain thought of the Borg's capacity for destruction, the more he feared their inevitable confrontation.

To Be Continued...

Doctor Who and the Borg: Part Two of Ten

Characters and concepts related to Doctor Who and Star Trek, and related marks, are trademarks of the BBC and CBS Studios Inc., respectively. This work of fan fiction is written purely for entertainment purposes, and is not to be used in trade of any kind.

To go back and read Part One, click here. Part Two begins after the jump.

Doctor Who and the Borg
by Mark Baker-Wright
Part Two

Captain's log: Stardate 46147.1

My crew is quite uneasy with the news of the Borg presence in Federation territory. We had known that a return from the Borg would be forthcoming after our recent encounter with their shipwrecked survivor, but were still not prepared for their eventual return to our space. While it is my hope that a confrontation will not be necessary, I fear that it will be inevitable.

Captain Picard paced the bridge of the USS Enterprise, a look of concern on his face.

He turned to his Klingon security officer. "Status report, Mr. Worf."

"All weapons systems are operational, Captain. However, they will not withstand a Borg attack."

"What about the weapons that Starfleet has been working on?"

"Most are only just now finishing the experimental stages. None will be ready for Starfleet use for some time." Privately, Worf considered Starfleet Command's reluctance to design these weapons at all. Our mission is exploratory, not military, they had reasoned. Perhaps if Starfleet lost another 40 ships to the Borg, they might see the need for a proper defense against them.

Picard continued, "But this is an emergency situation, Mr. Worf. Aren't there any prototype weapons in existence?"

Before Worf could comment on Starfleet Command's lack of willingness to defend themselves, Riker spoke up.

"Excuse me, Captain, could I speak with you for a moment?"

Picard's head snapped toward Riker, and no one could miss the captain's annoyance. Even so, Picard was the consummate professional. "Of course, Number One. Lt. Commander Data, you have the bridge." Picard then raised his hand toward the Ready Room in a gesture of invitation. "After you?"

As soon as the doors to the Ready Room closed behind them, Riker spoke, "Forgive my bluntness, Captain, but this doesn't sound like you. You've always looked for non-violent solutions. Reasoning before shooting."

Picard struggled to retain his composure. "Ordinarily, I would agree with you, Will, but you can't reason with the Borg!"

"Our experience with Hugh would seem to indicate otherwise."

"Hugh was alone. Isolated from the rest of his kind. When we fight the Borg this time, it won't be just one, but an entire ship full."

---

"K-9, take a look at those stars. Can you give me some idea of where we are?"

K-9 processed the Doctor's request for several seconds. "Spatial coordinates... Dinar sector... temporal coordinates...insufficient data."

"Well, at least that's something of use. The Dinar system has an inhabitable planet. Maybe we can get some idea of when we are from them."

The Doctor input directional coordinates into the TARDIS control console. As the TARDIS approached Dinar VII, the Doctor met up with a surprise. The planet was being orbited by a large spaceship in the shape of a cube.

"Now that's odd!" the Doctor exclaimed. "No sense of aesthetics whatsoever. What do you make of that K-9?"

"Large cubical spacecraft... unknown design... apparently hostile."

"Hostile?" the Doctor cried. "Now, K-9, you should know better than to make accusations like that. How do they appear hostile?"

"Tractor beam emanating from craft cutting away large portions of planet's surface. No life signs remaining on planet."

"Gadzooks, K-9!" the Doctor shouted. "That ship's hostile!"

---

Upon learning of the Borg presence near Dinar VII, the USS Enterprise was ordered to proceed to the Dinar system to aid in the evacuation procedures. Although the ship sped to comply with the order, no one really expected that they could possibly arrive in time to make a difference.

In the meantime, faced with the very real possibility of having to face the Borg again, Captain Picard grew visibly more agitated. Doctor Crusher suggested that it might help Picard's focus if he were to take some time off before the Enterprise's arrival, and Picard found that he couldn't disagree. So he decided to go down to the holodeck to partake of his own special brand of relaxation.

"You know, Dick, you really shouldn't have tried to put me and my boys out of business."

"I was hired to find out who was behind the Mancini operation," the captain replied.

"Well," said the man, dressed in a 1940s-era costume, "I would suggest choosing your cases more wisely next time, except that, for you, there won't be a next time." The man began to pull out a pistol, ancient by Enterprise standards, but no less deadly.

But before the pistol could escape the man's pocket, Picard, alias private investigator Dixon Hill, whipped out his own pistol, which he had the holodeck create for him earlier. "I think there will." He coolly replied.

At that moment, Captain Picard heard a sound behind him. Before the captain could turn around, another man from the criminal gang appeared behind him, firing his own weapon.

The holodeck simulation ended, its mortality fail-safe kicking in at the last moment, leaving only an empty room, with Captain Picard standing alone in his trenchcoat, which now had a bullet-sized hole in its back.

"Take some time off," Beverly had told him, "Relax." How could he relax when he was about to go up against the most deadly race known to the Federation? He looked again at the hole in his
trenchcoat. He couldn't even solve an imaginary mystery without getting himself killed. How was he supposed to handle the very real threat of the Borg?

To Be Continued...

Doctor Who and the Borg: Part One of Ten

Last week, when IDW comics announced their upcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who crossover, I was taken back in time.

You see, although the IDW press release proudly reports that this is "the first time ever" (their emphasis) that the two franchises have crossed over, that's only true in a strictly official sense. It is no doubt obvious that wherever there are fans, there is fan fiction, and fans have been trying their own efforts at a Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover for many years now.

I know. I was one of them.

More than 15 years ago, when I was still in college, I wrote my most ambitious piece of fan fiction to date, and although I have never shared it on this blog, the coming of the official IDW crossover tells me that now is the time to dust off that manuscript and make it public.

Like the announced IDW work, my work featured the Borg and the "Next Generation" Trek cast. However, that's probably where the similarities will end, since my work features no Cybermen, and a different Doctor.

That's all I'll give away right now, except to say that I've broken down my old manuscript into ten parts, which I will feature every day, Monday through Friday, for the next two weeks. I'll consider posting the entire thing on a separate, uninterrupted page, once I'm done, but for now, I like to think of this as a return to "Classic-style" Doctor Who, when stories had to unfold a little bit at a time, and when fans had to wait a little while between installments to ponder just how the hero would get out of the latest spot.

So, with that, let's begin:

---

Doctor Who and the Borg
by Mark Baker-Wright
Part One

Historian's note: This story takes place just after Dr. Who: The Invasion of Time (starring Tom Baker), and sometime after ST:TNG: I, Borg.

In space, the movement of a ship doesn't make any sound. You can't hear a spaceship coming.

If it weren't for Dinar VII's long-range sensors, then, there would have been no warning of the Borg's approach.

Not that it mattered.

Dinar VII was a planet on the very edge of Federation territory, but although they were not actually members of the Federation themselves, they had heard about the Borg: the race of inhuman, half-mechanical creatures who had nearly destroyed Earth just a couple of years ago.

The incident at Earth had proven that the Borg were not invincible, but the circumstances leading to that particular defeat were miraculous, and not repeatable.

Unlike the Federation, the Dinar had not had a citizen abducted by the Borg. They had not made a contact with its collective consciousness. They had no means of transmitting a similar shutdown signal, or even of telling the Borg to turn around.

Not that the Borg would have listened.

All that was left for the inhabitants of Dinar VII to do was to abandon their homeworld, while they were still able, and send a warning to the Federation:

The Borg had returned.

---

The Doctor labored in the TARDIS console room, completing the construction of the new K-9 Mark II. Having just left his homeworld of Gallifrey, where his previous robot-dog companion and chosen to stay behind with Leela, he was looking forward to a much needed vacation.

As the Doctor adjusted the last couple of wires and affixed the final silver plate back into place, he addressed the now-finished metal dog. "Well, K-9. How do you feel?"

Pausing for a moment to run an internal diagnostic, the computerized canine spoke in its artificially-produced monotone, "All systems functioning, Master."

"I don't know about you, K-9, but I feel like a vacation. How does 20th century Earth sound to you?" The Doctor began to input coordinates in the TARDIS console.

K-9 processed the question for a second. "Twentieth century Earth. Two world wars, 397 international conflicts. 73,426 domestic disputes..."

"The automobile, television, microwave ovens!" The Doctor interrupted. "Why, the twentieth century saw the first computers ever built! We could see your great-great-great grandfather, K-9!"

"I do not comprehend. Computers do not reproduce."

"Oh, never mind," The Doctor replied as he turned a few more dials on the console. "We're almost..." the TARDIS lurched forward with a terrific quake.

"Danger, Doctor! Unidentified phenomena!" K-9 spouted.

"We must be caught in some form of space-time vortex! We're being pulled off course! Hold on!" The Doctor held on to the TARDIS console desperately. In another minute, it was all over.

"Well, then." The Doctor straightened up. "Let's see if we can find out where we are." He turned on the TARDIS monitor. "This is strange." He wondered. "The monitor shows everything as it should be. There's the Andromeda cluster, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Sol. But the TARDIS says that our location is unknown." He continued to fiddle with the console controls. "Come on, now. Why won't the TARDIS give me some coordinates?"

K-9 spoke. "Insufficient data, Master."

"Quiet, K-9, I wasn't talking to you.

"Where are we?"

To Be Continued...

Characters and concepts related to Doctor Who and Star Trek, and related marks, are trademarks of the BBC and CBS Studios Inc., respectively. This work of fan fiction is written purely for entertainment purposes, and is not to be used in trade of any kind.

Transformers Feature: Bot Shots Optimus Prime

In the beginning, God created Rock-Paper-Scissors. Children would play this game, and it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, "let there be created Battle Beasts, expanding upon the rock, paper, scissors concept with cute little plastic animal toys that use wood, water, and fire instead. And let the Battle Beasts be connected to the Transformers line in the country called Japan, so that children who love transforming robots will also come to love the cute little plastic animal toys, despite the fact that the Battle Beasts shall not transform." Children would play with these toys, and it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Finally, God said, "let there be created Bot Shots, utilizing the same play pattern, but this time using actual transforming robot figures. And let the weapons this time be called 'blaster,' 'fist,' and 'sword.' And then the children who were not fooled into loving the non-transforming cute little plastic animal toys would nonetheless come to love the Bot Shots." Thus the cycle of creation was completed.

Obviously, with the Bot Shots having only been on the market a very short time, it's too early to tell how popular they will really be, but I think there's good promise. Not only do the toys utilize the familiar three-weapon play pattern, but they are also constructed to encourage children to crash the toys in their vehicle modes into each other as they "battle," thus triggering an automatic transformation into robot mode. As the rules of the game go, if only one toy transforms into robot mode, that robot wins the battle by default, regardless of what the weapon symbols would have shown.

I really do think that someone messed up big time with the rules, though. Look at this chart. I suppose "blaster beats fist" works all right, but there's no way "fist beats sword" or "sword beats blaster" makes sense. I think that they got the rules exactly reversed! (I think one could make a strong argument for "fist beats blaster" in close-range combat, but I have a much more difficult time imagining "fist beats sword" and "sword beats blaster" scenarios, while the reverse of each makes much more sense to my mind.) I have no idea if anyone at Hasbro has considered this. Maybe future versions of the game will update and/or correct the rules. If so, I suppose these rules could become collectors items?

Video Game 30th Anniversary of the Month - BurgerTime

Although I was only 8 years old at the time, I nonetheless have always thought that 1982 was a pretty good year. Besides being the summer I lived in Walnut Creek, which I've always considered an important part of my childhood story, I later began to notice that a great many things I enjoyed had origins in that specific year. Sitcoms such as Cheers, Family Ties, and Silver Spoons all started that year. Michael Jackson's Thriller was released and Madonna made her debut. I've also discovered, in the years since, that several of the video games that I still remember fondly dated back to 1982. Admittedly, some of the most significant games—Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, for example—had already been introduced by that time (in 1980 and 1981, respectively), but by 1982, the golden age of video games was well underway (Professional video game referee Walter Day of Twin Galaxies actually says 1982 marks the start of the golden age, citing the date of a TIME magazine cover story. I don't go quite that far, but it's worth pointing out). To commemorate the 30th anniversary of some of these important video games, I'm going to feature a different one each month.

BurgerTime was an odd concept by almost any standard. You don't have to be a vegetarian to wonder about the hygienic rigor of a chef who walks over the individual parts of each hamburger so that they will fall into the appropriate trays to be served at the bottom of the screen. You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to wonder what's going on in the head of someone who is being chased by human-sized food items (which, perhaps ironically, aren't all traditional hamburger items, although there is a pickle monster that tends to show up only on later boards). Obviously, this is not a game that attempts to be realistic.

Still, it's hard to deny that the game is fun. The mazes are challenging enough to force a player to plan out his/her movements very carefully, lest the Peter Pepper character be maneuvered into a corner from which there is no escape while trying to trigger that last hamburger patty to fall below. Also, points are scored in such a way to incentivize waiting until the last moment to move, so that Peter can trap a food monster either on top of a falling hamburger part (which also forces the part to fall even further toward the trays below, potentially saving time, as well) or below (so it will be crushed under the part's weight—again, try not to think too hard about the foreign food items finding their way into the resulting hamburgers). And the addition of just a few shakes of pepper—which will not only stun food monsters, but also render them harmless to walk through, if only for a few seconds—adds yet another dimension to game play. But use those pepper shakes wisely, or you'll find your pepper shaker empty at a crucial moment!

BurgerTime was released by a company named Data East, which actually weathered the decline of the video arcade game industry of a few years later (as home video games began to gain dominance, recovering from a home console industry crash in 1983) better than most, but which sadly went out of business in 2003. Fortunately for BurgerTime fans, DataEast's intellectual properties were purchased by another company (albeit one I admit I'd never heard of prior to working on this article), and so BurgerTime-related games are still being released for various modern game systems to this day.

---

I'm admittedly starting this year-long feature a little late, and thus have already missed January. For "January's entry," I'll refer you to the bit I wrote a few years back on Pengo, which was indeed released in 1982.

A Brief History of G.B. Blackrock - Part Three

When we last discussed G.B. Blackrock, I wondered about the possible negative PR that Blackrock Enterprises might suffer as a result of its namesake having been an unwitting pawn in a scheme by the Decepticons to steal gasoline from human beings. We don't see G.B. Blackrock again until issue #68, when his company has apparently changed its name to Blackrock Industries, and is now based out of Washington, DC, rather than Portland, Oregon (given the change in locale, it is, of course, possible that this is a separate organization, but it's far more likely that new writer Simon Furman simply misremembered some details of Bob Budiansky's work, and a name change accompanied by a geographic move makes sense to me).

Having spent so much time in his previous appearances trying to convince those in authority to distinguish between Autobot and Decepticon, the US Government has finally been convinced (actually, Blackrock only specifically mentions "the Security Council," which would imply the United Nations) and have scrapped their own attempts to fight the Transformers—which really did cause more harm than good—asking Blackrock to step in with his own team that understands that not all Transformers are the enemies of humanity.

Thus, Blackrock becomes the Transformers-universe equivalent of Charles Xavier (well, he doesn't have super powers of his own, and he can still walk, but I digress...), assembling a team of humans with special powers (they're never called "Mutants" here) ready to fight the Decepticons. Fast-forward to a few issues later, when a Decepticon Civil War threatens to spill across the river into New York City, and the President (although not named, it is clearly then-incumbent George H.W. Bush) calls for Blackrock. The now-named "Neo-Knights" respond.

Before the battle can be completed, events taking place elsewhere in the universe intervene, and Blackrock and the Neo-Knights are transported (along with nearly every Transformer on Earth) to Cybertron, where they must quickly turn their attention to fighting Unicron. Ironically enough, it is the non-superpowered (to say nothing of human!) Blackrock himself who becomes a pivotal player in this battle, as he realizes that he must take drastic action to shock Circuit Breaker (who was recruited to the Neo-Knights despite her lingering problems distinguishing Autobot from Decepticon) into attacking the planet-devouring behemoth. While this gives Optimus Prime enough time to destroy Unicron with the Creation Matrix, Circuit Breaker is left in a catatonic state for the rest of the series.

After the destruction of Unicron, Blackrock and the Neo-Knights are left stranded on Cybertron while the Transformers turn their attention to more pressing matters: the apparent self-destruction of Cybertron itself. Although the Transformers make preparations to evacuate the planet, the Nebulan Hi-Q (one-time Powermaster partner to the now-deceased Optimus Prime) convinces Blackrock and the others to stay behind to locate what Hi-Q calls "The Last Autobot." For a clue as to why Hi-Q was so convincing, check out the dialogue in the image to the right.

So the Last Autobot is found just in time for the end of the series. We don't actually see Blackrock in the last issue (unless you count a tiny uncolored image of him in a flashback), but a newly-resurrected Optimus Prime does pledge to return the humans to Earth, which I assume was done without further incident. When the new "ReGeneration One" series starts up in May, we'll finally have a chance to see what Blackrock has been up to in the years since returning home. I know I'm eagerly looking forward to it.

A Brief History of G.B. Blackrock - Part Two

In the previous entry, I detailed multi-millionaire industrialist G.B. Blackrock's first encounters with the Transformers in issues #5 and #6 of the original Marvel Comics Transformers series, as the Decepticons attacked and captured a new oil drilling platform built by his company. Another casualty of the attack was one of Blackrock's employees, Josie Beller, who was left paralyzed. Although Blackrock is only seen in cameo appearances in issues #7 and #8 as he visits Beller in the hospital, it is clear that both are planning to fight back.

In Beller's case, this means using Blackrock's resources (freely given to her disposal by her guilt-stricken employer) to create an exo-skeleton that not only duplicates the functions of her nervous system, restoring her mobility, but grants her electrical powers which she plans to use to destroy the robots that crippled her. Thus, Josie Beller becomes "Circuit Breaker."

Blackrock has his own ideas of fighting against the robots who have attacked him and his company and, unaware of Beller's intentions, develops a superweapon designed to destroy them. But before he can unveil this weapon to the public, two important things happen. First, Beller offers her services as Circuit Breaker to help Blackrock destroy the alien robots, an offer Blackrock declines out of concern that Beller not place herself in harm's way again. Second, Blackrock is approached by the Autobots (recently restored to function through the efforts of Ratchet and the newly-awakened Dinobots) with an offer of protection from the Decepticons in exchange for fuel. Blackrock agrees to the Autobots' terms, and Jazz and Wheeljack accompany Blackrock to the unveiling of his superweapon.

We never get the chance to see whether the superweapon would have been effective against the Transformers, as Beller sabotages it in an effort to pressure Blackrock into announcing her as his planned anti-robot weapon. Before he can decide whether or not to do so, the scene is interrupted by a Decepticon attack, whereby Circuit Breaker not only demonstrates her effectiveness against the Decepticons, but against all Transformers, severely complicating the Autobots' efforts to protect Blackrock and the other humans present.

This sets up a theme that follows Blackrock through the rest of the series. As arguably the Autobots' staunchest human ally (with apologies to the Witwicky clan), Blackrock attempts to help his fellow Earthlings to understand that not all Transformers are evil. Once in a while, such as with the G.I. Joe team in the original G.I. Joe and the Transformers mini-series, Blackrock finds a receptive audience. But in other instances, such as with the U.S. Government in issue #15, Blackrock's advice goes unheeded, making things difficult for the Autobots.

Although, with the Autobots' help, Blackrock was indeed able to recover the properties stolen from his company by the Decepticons, he finds himself the victim of a Decepticon scheme once more in issue #31. This time, he is attacked personally, as a Decepticon device hypnotizes him into building and promoting a series of "Wash and Roll" car washes, which themselves are designed to hypnotize humans into driving their recently-refueled cars to a Blackrock Enterprises facility (which, of course, is being run by the Decepticons). The fuel is then siphoned out of the cars, and the humans return home with half-empty gas tanks. Although the scheme is thwarted, and Blackrock is freed from the hypnotic influence, I can only assume that this incident was a bit of a setback for Blackrock's company, although he deserves credit for his promise to donate money gained from the stolen fuel to aid the poor of the local area.

After this, G.B. Blackrock isn't seen again for a few years, but when he resurfaces, he's still doing his part to fight the Decepticons. I'll deal with that more fully in a few more days.