It’s another double post because hey, sometimes sleep has to come first. Apologies to the fan who has consistently liked most if not all of the images in this Advent Project. (I’m looking at you DirtySciFiBuddha.)

The Borg have paralyzed multiple quadrants in terror with their singular objective to assimilate all they encounter. With their efforts repelled more than once by Starfleet, the Collective sought new means with which to achieve their goals. Thus they chanced upon the Epsilon Erdidani system and there what the Borg Queen would describe as “two million five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal…all alone in the night.” With dozens of races and their disparate technologies housed onboard the Babylon 5 station the Borg were able to add the inhabitants’ distinctiveness to their own and tremendously increase their power. But the worst was yet to come, as the Borg Queen turned her sights below, to the Great Machine beneath the surface of Epsilon III. Soon Zathras heard a chilling voice echo through the cavernous facility, “Resistance is futile.”

After a long night of story, song and bloodwine, Worf made an uncharacteristic wager with Chancellor Martok. If Worf were to best Martok in a B’aht Qul challenge he would win the right to select a ship design of his choice to serve as Martok’s new Capital Ship. After a fraught competition, Worf was victorious and, having already decided on his choice, his bellows of laughter were heard throughout DS9’s Habitat Ring. Some weeks later the vessel finally arrived at the station; the ancient Terran vessel Discovery 1. Martok was enraged and hurled epithets at his comrade all the way to the ship’s bridge, where the Chancellor immediately ordered for departure. The computer replied sedately “I’m sorry, Mark, but I cannot do that,” and shut down all engines. As Martok rose to berate Worf yet again the tactical officer shouted that a Klingon vessel was entering the system; a newly constructed D9 Dreadnought flying the Flag of the Empire. In short order the crew transported to the Dreadnought which towed the Discovery 1 to a safe distance before Martok used it to test his new flagship’s targeting systems. And never did he allow Worf the honor of a B’aht Qul challenge again.