Editing Once More Into The Breach (section)

==The Impact==
[[File:Atmospheric ignition.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Ignition of the atmosphere upon ionospheric impact]]
The Impact of the core of the [[Tkon Nanosphere]] struck the Earth approximately 58 minutes after the [[Borg Collective]] , led by [[Volus]] slipped into the [[Cretaceous Period]] of [[Earth|Earth's]] History. The combined efforts of both the [[USS Rosenante]] and the [[USS Boudicca]] could not destroy enough of the sphere for it's pieces to burn up upon re-entry into the atmosphere. As a result of this, a sizable chunk of the sphere entered the planet's atmosphere and set off a chain reaction of events that devastated life on the planet.

The first stage of the impact was the atmospheric re-entry.  The impact with the ionosphere was seen to deform the entirety of the planet's atmosphere, compressing it on the side of the impact, while forcing a bulge in the opposing side of the globe. Such a tremendous and sudden shift of atmosphere would have caused a massive number of windstorms and mega storms to form spontaneously. As the object continued into the atmosphere, ignitable gases, combusted. These included oxygen, methane and other hydrocarbon derivatives. In addition to the windstorms, now a massive ring of fire spread across the planet, although it did not consume all available oxygen, but instead depleted it significantly.
[[File:Chicxulub close impact.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The impact with the crust of the planet]]
The second stage of the impact was the impactor. The debris struck earth at a point that would later become known as Chicxulub. The crust split and was instantly liquified at the impact point as the massive amounts of remaining energy transferred into the planetary body. Some of the energy wasabsorbed by the vaporization of miles of ocean water near the impact point. The atmosphere was then forcefully blown away from the site in a massive series of shock waves as the main body of the impactor gave in to sudden irresistible forces and exploded.

The portions that weren't immediately vaporized were pulverized instead. An ultra-fine powder of iridium and other materials kicked up from the impact flew skyward, where they would be captured and suspended by the newly agitated windstorms as the planet struggled to stabilize itself from the impact.

[[File:Post impact atmosphere.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Massive dust clouds suspended in the atmosphere]]
Dust remained airborne for a very long time, blocking out ultraviolet radiation and life-giving sunlight, and plunging the world into an ice age that would last for the better part of a millennium.

Trailing pieces of the device, known as secondary impactors, slammed into the planet at intervals and a few even managed to slam into the dark side of [[Luna]]. Some of the ejecta reached low orbit, traversed a sizable arc over the world before succumbing to its intense gravitational grip. All over the planet, sections and pieces of the debris slammed earthward, creating dozens of impact craters of various sizes, setting fire storms, and throwing incalculable amounts of iridium and other dust particles airborne.

Sciences determined that as many as 90% of all viable life was extinguished upon the planet. The largest animals, the dinosaurs would become completely extinct within a couple of decades, with only a few survivors managing to scavenge enough food to survive. It was estimated that the rise of mammalian life was soon to explode and that life on Earth, would recover and thrive.