A directive came from the hive mind:
UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED IN SPACIAL GRID 44147. INTENSITY AND WAVEFORM READINGS INDICATE LIKELY PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE MATTER/ANTIMATTER REACTORS. CUBE 942: INTERCEPT AND INVESTIGATE.
With that, Cube 942 became instantly active; its crew coming to life to coax the massive vessel into operation. Suddenly, the ship shook and seemed to lurch, before disappearing in a flash of brilliant green light. The crew of the mammoth cube worked to precisely tune its transwarp velocity for maximum operating efficiency. This vessel would not waste a single millicochrine en route to its destination. Black, brutal efficiency summed up the species. They would have taken pride in their efficiency, if it were possible for them to feel pride.
Transwarp drive made the journey a matter of minutes, but more than that, it hid the cube from all but the most sophisticated subspace sensors. A cube could enter normal space very near a target and engage it before the target could mount a defense. The object that this cube had been sent to investigate, however, hung very near a protostar; no doubt hoping the star's high-intensity e-band emissions would mask it's presence. It was an unacceptable risk to exit transwarp so near a gravity well, and so the cube would intercept its quarry at space-normal speed-using the delayed approach time to make detailed scans of its target. The cube's crew uploaded their sensor data to the hive mind:
THE OBJECT IS A DISK-SHAED VESSEL 540 METERS IN DIAMETER CONSTRUCTED OF UNKNOWN MATERIAL. HULL SHOWS MODERATE DAMAGE. UNABLE TO DETECT LIFE-SIGNS. POSITRONIC EMISSIONS INDICATE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE ARTIFICIAL LIFE-FORMS. RELEVANT TECHNOLOGY CONFIRMED; WE WILL INVESTIGATE.
The cube's weapons and defense systems were brought on-line, and many more of the crew became active. Several scouts were preparing for transport; their duty would be to board the vessel, evaluate its systems, and catalogue the aliens' technology. If the vessel had a crew, it would be brought aboard the cube for processing. And so, opening all communications channels, their investigation began:
WE ARE THE BORG. LOWER YOUR SHIELDS AND SURRENDER YOUR SHIP. YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS WILL BE ADDED TO OUR OWN. YOU WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
Several seconds passed. Then, the disk-shaped vessel transmitted its one word reply to the Borg cube, "EXTERMINATE!"
