The Borg drone, Commander Kim'Taur as he identified himself, was standing in the observation lounge gazing at the stars through one of the windows. Before the experimentations, he remembered the gesture might have once indicated a sense of homesickness for him. Now, however, it was meaningless. His soul had been carved away years ago by Starfleet.

Instead of feeling homesick or anything for that matter, Kim'Taur was busy reanalyzing every detail about the Borg that Starfleet had uploaded to his memory banks in preparation for the mission. He heard the door slide open with a gentle shoosh followed by the soft footfalls of the senior staff. Kim'Taur re-filed the opened files into memory for later use and walked to the open seat but didn't bother to sit down, indicating a sense of urgency. Thermal scans of the now seated officers indicated most of them were anxious and intimidated no doubt due to Kim'Taur's presence, and understandably so.

Since the Enterprise's first encounter with the Borg 23 years ago, the Collective has been responsible for the deaths of millions upon millions of Federation civilians and Starfleet personnel. The Borg had even attempted to assimilate Earth in the second half of the 21st century when humanity was in shambles recovering from World War III.

Kim'Taur noted that one of the officers, however, was far different from the others and gave off extremely erratic readings. Kim'Taur regarded her with curiosity for her species was not in his memory banks oddly.

Picking up on the drone's interest in the woman, Picard broke the tense silence and introduced his officers beginning with the woman, "Commander Kim'Taur, that is Lieutenant Jillani Monroe, ship's consoleor."

"You can call me Jillani, everyone else does," she warmly replied with a welcoming but faint smile.

Picard continued with the introductions even though they were irrelevant to Kim'Taur, "On your left is Lieutenant Moor of Ops, and to his left, Lieutenant Commander Jason Kardaz, our resident Trill Tactical officer."

According to his memory banks, Kim'Taur learned that the Trill are symbiote ic hosts for a parasitic life form and that the memories of the previous hosts are retained in the current host through the parasite. It was vaguely similar to how memories are stored within the Collective even after a drone expired.

The ops officer represented a race known as the Ferengi, which unlike the Trill, had nothing in common with the Borg and was rather undesirable for assimilation. They often lacked physical strength and mental capacities due to their profound devoutness to business and profiteering. As Picard formally introduced Commander Sharra, Kim'Taur observed the Ferengi trying desperately to avoid eye contact. Scans of his jaw revealed strong muscle contractions which could result in dental fractures; a biological trait that tended to indicate fear or anger.

The captain looked down the conference table to the other officers seated on his left and introduced them as well sparring no haste, "Doctor Falhana Falai, Chief Medical Officer, the first Denobulan doctor in the Fleet since the Archer-era."

"Nice to meet you, hmm?" Falai cheerfully replied. Kim'Taur quickly accessed the Denobulan files and noted his species were nearly always joyous and chipper—they were an inefficient people by Borg standards.

"Lieutenant Commander Chen Won, our Chief Engineer," Picard stated. Won regarded Kim'Taur with the outmost curiosity but was simply interested in the mechanics behind Kim'Taur, as any engineer would.

"And Subcommander Torlus," Picard's tone had changed into a subtle coldness, "Our…attaché to the Romulan Empire." Kim'Taur recalled the war with the Dominion had forged a brittle alliance with the Romulans, the Federation's sworn enemy for generations. Many Starfleet officers, including Picard hadn't truly accepted the alliance—they believed it was just another ploy in the eternal chess game with the Romulan Empire.

"Acknowledged," Kim'Taur briskly replied and immediately began the briefing by bringing up a star chart on the viewscreen next to Kim'Taur.

"Your orders are to search this system," Kim'Taur continued as the map zoomed in on a sector of space, "the Kalanna sector, for a Borg cube that will be in the area. Once located, you will close in and transport me onboard. You will then disengage and leave the system while I assimilate the cube. When I succeed, I will rendezvous with the Enterprise at nine-three-two-five-mark-one-two where you will escort the cube to Earth for further study and dissection."

Picard and his officers considered the mission in silence with distain and astonishment before Kim'Taur forcefully added, "You will comply."

After a few more moments of silence, Sharra verbalized what everyone was thinking, "That's insane! Even if we happen to find a Borg cube, there are thousands of drones on board, you'll be killed or assimilated yourself faster than we can jump to warp!"

Won tactfully added, "Based on what I have seen so far, Commander, if you get assimilated, you would transform the Collective into a…Super race that even Species 8472 could not handle."

"Irrelevant," Kim'Taur echoed, "I cannot be assimilated into the Collective. My nanoprobes are programmed to aggressively seek and destroy foreign objects such as Borg nanites."

The chief engineer suddenly had a revelation, "Like Commander Data's anti-virus system that allowed him protection from Borg assimilation techniques."

That hit a sour note with Picard that triggered fond memories of his friend and previous ops officer to flash before his eyes. He quickly dismissed the memories while his expression remained stoic and unchanged during the exchange.

"Correct," Kim'Taur replied, "Only my system is more efficient."

Sharra countered, "Alright, alright! Let's say you don't get assimilated, there's still the matter of, oh, I don't know, the fact that cubes are filled with thousands of Borg drones! Even a hundred Jem'Hadar couldn't possibly take out all those drones and live to tell about it, let alone one renegade Borg drone like you."

"Irrelevant. I will survive and I will destroy or assimilate all Borg in my path," Kim'Taur reasoned as Sharra laughed under her breath in disbelief. Ignoring her, he explained, "Tactical manuals, after action reports, war texts, simulations, veteran combat diaries and strategies amassed from 23 species have been uploaded to my memory banks. In addition, I received extensive combat training from various warriors that are considered the best fighters in the Alpha Quadrant including Master Satik of Vulcan, Gul Malak of Cardassia, Brother Ki Zhou Wyann of Earth and Ambassador Worf, Son of Mogh."

That certainly grabbed Picard's attention. "Worf trained you?" Picard repeated with surprise, still not entirely trusting his hearing. Granted the others were indeed famous for their fighting prowess but Picard's respect and admiration for Worf went far beyond notoriety. He wouldn't bother training someone unless he saw great potential in the trainee. Picard suddenly felt more confident in Kim'Taur's abilities after learning of Worf's involvement. It wasn't absolute confidence but it was definitely a step forward.

"Correct, Captain Picard. Ambassador Worf and the other Klingon material were most beneficial to my development. Combined with the rest of the knowledge I have at my disposal, I am, in effect, an army of one."

"An army of one," Picard scowled at such a brazen idea. As if to challenge the claim, Picard demanded, "Outline your abilities, beyond your training and assimilation of tactical manuals."

"I have the ability to create multiple holographic decoys," Kim'Taur began rattling off, "I utilize a personal, short-range transporter device which also emits a high energy field, doubling as an enhanced version of a Borg shield. My optical system has been enhanced for optimal targeting proficiency which is fully integrated with advanced proximity detection. I have been equipped with a wrist-mounted phaser, an advanced phaser rifle, an experimental Tetryon rifle in addition to various bladed weapons.

"My training has made me highly proficient on each weapon but I am just as capable using my bare hands. My strength has been rated as the equivalent of three Klingons. My nanoprobes allow me to heal any damage I may sustain, can be used to amplify my strength and speed, and of course can be utilized for assimilation of the Borg. I am impervious to fear and intimidation and I am equipped with various, redundant fail safes such as obeying all orders from Starfleet Command and upholding the Prime Directive."

Picard quickly realized that Kim'Taur could indeed be an army of one as he had said. It was a terrifying thought, but at least Starfleet had the wisdom to install fail safes should something go terribly wrong with the commando.

Torlus also realized the full scope and implication of Kim'Taur as well and interrupted the drone before he could list further abilities. "Captain Picard," Torlus grinded his teeth grudgingly and then hissed, "The Romulan Empire will not stand for this insolence. We should have been briefed on this weapon prior to this briefing and well before its development and conception."

"Subcommander," Picard wearingly replied, "This is in fact the first time I've heard about this project as well, for once, we know exactly as much as the other knows." The Romulan grumbled to himself and reluctantly left it at that though Picard knew he'd be hearing more from him after the mission briefing. Turning to face Kim'Taur once again, he boomed, "I understand you are based on the I-Mod weapon developed by Seven of Nine. Please elaborate, Commander."

"The technology of the Infinity Modulator has nothing to do with my creation," Kim'Taur neutrally explained, "The story of that weapon was used as a ploy to detour unauthorized personnel from obtaining the correct intelligence."

The eyes on the Romulan widened with genuine surprise.

"However," Kim'Taur added, "the basic concept still applies. The Infinity Modulator turned Borg technology against the Collective while part of my functionality also uses their technology against them."

Picard quickly considered Kim'Taur's words, still unable to determine if the drone could possibly succeed. "And what if you should fail your mission?" He voiced.

"Failure is irrelevant."

"Surely you must be prepared for such a scenario, even as unlikely as it may be, Commander," Picard replied, unwilling to let it go until he got the answer he sought.

"Failure is irrelevant."

"Ugh dammit, just humor us!" Sharra yelled as a vein in her forehead briefly appeared. She paused for a moment to compose herself before she reiterated in a calmer voice, "What if you fail?"

Kim'Taur paused for a moment before he replied in the ever-eerie mechanical echoed voice, "If the cube cannot be taken, then I am programmed to detonate an anti-matter charge which would destroy the cube."

Picard was surprised that Kim'Taur decided to answer Sharra but was still glad he had answered nevertheless, even if the captain didn't show it.

"Anti-matter charge? You mean a photon torpedo?" Won asked in wonder and fathomed a traditional, man-sized torpedo case, "One of those weighs several hundred kilos and you'd need more than one to destroy a Borg cube. There is no way for you to manually position all of them that are required, let alone one, even for your servos and hydraulic-amplified strength."

"I, ah, I agree," Kardaz nodded his head, "And there, uh, well, there isn't enough bang in your grenades either."

"Starfleet has redesigned the concept," Kim'Taur's voice bore a faint indication of annoyance, "This is the new high-grade anti-matter explosive I am equipped with." The Borg commando pressed a hidden button on his chest plate and revealed a fist-sized metallic ball. He pulled it out of its compartment and placed it on the conference table for all to see. When he did, he added, "This object is the equivalent to 30 quantum torpedoes."

The officers rigidly sat back against their chairs, half expecting the device to explode after hearing how ungodly powerful it was. That was nearly half of the payload of quantum torpedoes the Enterprise had on board. The officers nervously looked to Picard, each wondering if the ship should go to Red Alert or simply be evacuated while the device was onboard.

Kim'Taur assured them with further explanation of the device. "This high-yield explosive will only detonate if my nanoprobes infiltrate the device." His words hardly soothed the people's fear but they did seem to take it in stride.

"Unbelievable," Torlus uttered as he shook his head disapprovingly, "First you build a Borg soldier that already has the potential to destroy an entire species then you people have the audacity to give it a bomb that can vaporize a small planet!? Tell me, Picard, has Starfleet lost its mind? I can see why the Vulcans are so infuriated with your people now."

"Subcommander," Picard sternly responded as he stared into Torlus' eyes, "While you are serving aboard my ship as my crew, you will address me as Captain. I understand your grievances but it is neither the time nor the place. Now then," Picard's tone became somewhat softer as he returned his attention to the other officers, "That kind of yield will certainly destroy a Borg ship but one cannot help but wonder why Starfleet simply didn't produce more of those explosives. Why go to the trouble of creating a living weapon when the device can just as easily accomplish the same task?"

All eyes turned to Kim'Taur before he nonchalantly replied, "Any means of testing the explosive would immediately result in undue destruction of the testing facility and surrounding area. In addition, when I complete my first authentic test against the Borg, then an assault force of similar models can be duplicated and sent to the Delta Quadrant to eradicate what is believed to be the main base of Borg operations. Explosives lack the intelligence to locate the Borg."

"Ah, Commander Kim-Kim'Taur," Kardaz uneasily asked as the drone finally inserted the explosive back into its chest compartment, "Earlier you-you said we're to take you to the, ah, the Kalanna System but why would the Borg be there? I-I mean one of my previous hosts used to run freighters through that system and-and her memories indicated it was a-a barren area of space with the closest civilization several light-years away. I-it's the middle of nowhere."

"I agree," Moor confirmed, still avoiding contact with the drone, "Long range sensors indicate there's nothing there other than a few asteroids and space dust, plus it's well out of Federation territory."

Picard's eyebrows flinched upwards with anticipation of Kim'Taur's response. He too wondered why the Borg would be in that sector as well as why Starfleet was so confident that it would be there. He listened intently on Kim'Taur's explanation.

"The cube's mission in that region is unknown," the drone explained, "A Starfleet operative has recently been assimilated by the Borg. The operative had a tracking device imbedded into his skin that allowed Starfleet to monitor the cube's location. Do you require additional information to complete your mission?"

His answer bothered Picard but he remained silent as his Chief Medical Officer spoke up, anxious to contribute to the briefing. "How unfortunate for the operative…But yes, I have a question. What species are you exactly? Before the ah, Borg modifications hmmm?"

"Irrelevant," came the mechanical monotone.

"Eh," the doctor glanced at Picard before he replied with a smile, "To ensure proper treatment in the event of injury, I'm afraid I must insist."

"Irrelevant. My nanoprobes will regenerate any injuries I may sustain."

Picard uncrossed his legs and demanded, "You are…A Starfleet Borg Officer. You will comply, Commander." He noted his words felt awkward to say but it was exactly what Kim'Taur was after all.

The laser implant on the side of the drone's head moved erratically for a moment as Kim'Taur processed the request, almost as if there was a conflict between two sub-routines. Finally, he responded.

"I am Breen."

The air was nearly sucked out of the room for no one, not even Picard, would have imagined Kim'Taur was Breen. His species were fierce warriors whose skills often surpassed the Klingons and probably would have been more than a match for the Jem'Hadar had the Breen chose not to join them in battle. They are never seen off their freezing home world without their full-bodied refrigeration suits, which doubled as an effective armor in combat. Since the suit also included a full-headed helmet, their entire appearance was hidden from all. Even the Founders were not aware of their appearance when the Breen served them in the Dominion War.

Upon this new information, the officers inspected Kim'Taur with a renewed sense of curiosity. Though Borg implants covered most of his body, there were still holes of naked flesh, which was concentrated on his face. Kim'Taur's right eye, his only biological one left, was a silver-yellow while his pupil was more oval instead of a circle. Below that was a series of simple tribal tattoos—three black rectangular lines above a green semi-circle. His nose seemed like that of a Human's. Kim'Taur's lips were dark blue with two small slivers of white peeking through. The officers realized that the slivers were actually the tips of the Breen's fangs. They also observed that although the Borg nanoprobes had made his complexion into a leathered white, it still had a subtle tint of blue suggesting a complexion similar to that of the Andorians.

"I see," Falai half chuckled and added, "Well, there's a first time for everything I suppose. I would like to run a few routine scans on you later to learn more about Breen physiology if you wouldn't mind, hmm?"

"I will comply," Kim'Taur resigned to the doctor's wishes even though they didn't reside within the mission parameters."

"Oh and are you the result of simple Borg implantation or genetic alteration?" Doctor Falai joyfully inquired.

"I am the product of both, Doctor Falai," Kim'Taur flatly stated.

"Can you elaborate?" Falai asked.

"Negative. That information is restricted."

"Hmph," Sharra grudgingly grunted.

Picard had heard enough as well. "Mm yes of course, Commander Kim'Taur, please step outside. The security officers will escort you to cargo bay two." During Kim'Taur's transport to the Enterprise, the Yamato had simultaneously beamed aboard a Borg alcove adapted to Starfleet technology that Kim'Taur stepped into for his daily regeneration cycle which allowed the organic components of the drone to be recharged for the next day.

Kim'Taur gave a final glance at the one known as Jillani before he moved towards the exit. When the doors slid behind him, the observation lounge broke into chaos with objections and additional points being made, each officer speaking at the same time of their fellow officers. Picard and Jillani were the only ones not saying anything at all. Picard listened to the collective roar of his subordinates for a moment longer before he stood up and casually walked to the replicator. Perhaps in his younger years, he would have talked above them, beckoning for order. Now that he should have retired years ago, Picard no longer indulged in such acts.

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot," he uttered into the replicator. Once his favorite beverage materialized, he grabbed it and walked to the same window where Kim'Taur once stood before the briefing. He took a sip and silently waited for his officers to quiet down. A few sips later, his senior staff got the hint. He gave them another moment to settle down before he walked back to the table and sat down, placing his cup on the table in front of him. He noticed most of the officers were looking at him apologetically, silently acknowledging they were out of line. Jillani, though, was smiling at Picard, admiring his subtle but effective tactic. Torlus was simply glaring at Picard with his arms crossed, as usual.

Now pleased with his officers' behavior, Picard looked at Sharra and calmly questioned, "Now then, Number One, your thoughts?"

"Sir," Sharra's voice trembled not with fear but with the anger that was slowly fading as she struggled to maintain a neutral tone, "Assuming we do find a cube, if we beam over Kim'Taur, our shields will be down. The Borg could beam over boarding parties of their own or rip us apart from their weapons. Either way, the Enterprise would be in danger."

"And Captain," Won added, "if the Borg decide to pursue us after transport, even our Sovereign-class engines couldn't outrun them forever. The absolute maximum I can push our engines is Warp nine point five, cubes can easily obtain nine point seven five."

"Mm, both good points," Picard reasoned, "Other comments?"

"This is ridiculous!" The enraged Romulan finally released his hellfire and sharply stood up. "What guarantee does the Empire have that the Federation won't unleash these…These…Abominations into Romulan space?"

"Newsflash," Moor grinned revealing his pointed and uneven Ferengi teeth, "The Empire and Federation are allies and allies don't kill each other."

Torlus glared into the depths of Moor's latinum-plated soul for a moment before remarking, "Alliances are promises waiting to be broken." Upon turning to Picard, Torlus demanded in the same chilling tone, "It as well as all relevant research should be destroyed immediately while scrubbing this advantageous mission of yours."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, Subcommander," Picard leaned back in his chair, subtly relishing the opportunity to remind his Romulan counterpart that this is no Romulan ship, and that Torlus wouldn't always get what he wanted.

"Then I insist on obtaining the research pertaining to this so-called weapon for the Empire in the interest of our…Alliance." Torlus glimpsed at the Ferengi across the table before his eyes returned to Picard.

"If this mission is successful," Picard assured in his most diplomatic tone, "I'm sure Starfleet will be happy to share its results with the Romulan Empire."

"But not the data for creating a Borg hybrid of our own? Hnh," Torlus expectantly nodded and while he sat back down, he mumbled, "Typical."

"Captain," Sharra Bii spoke up, eager to move past the Romulan outburst, "Kim'Taur's explanation didn't sit right with me either. I find it hard to believe an operative would be assimilated considering we don't have operatives."

"Ha!" Torlus blurted but otherwise remained quiet.

Picard ignored the Romulan and nodded in agreement with his first officer. "Indeed. Clearly he's withholding information or isn't telling us the entire truth."

"Clearly," the Romulan said in a very near-mocking way.

"Well Sir," Kardaz spoke up as he crossed his arms, hoping to get everyone past the Romulan's cynicism, "I-I don't, oh uh, with respect to Ambassador Worf, I mean, I don't think his training will help Kim'Taur much. He'll be too outnumbered and in-in my professional opinion, Sir, he, ah, he won't s-stand much of a chance over there, even-even if he's, you know, a Breen."

"Oh I'm not sure of that, Mister Trill," Falai ringed with a chipper smile also eager to move beyond the Romulan's paranoia, "He mentioned he intends to assimilate the Borg. We know from experience that a single Borg can effectively establish a foothold in Federation vessels. As you might recall, Captain, that's exactly what happened on this very ship a few years ago, when the Borg went back in time in an attempt to assimilate Earth in the past."

"I'm quite familiar with the incident, Doctor, I was there," Picard gleamed as he took another sip of tea.

"Yes, well," the Denobulan nodded and continued with his cheery ranting, "Anyways I'm no security officer but I presume the tactic is still sound to use against the Borg."

Kardaz shrugged his shoulders and shakily voiced his thoughts, "I-I suppose. It-it would be like a-a-a snowball effect where he'd make one drone join him, then they assimilate additional drones and on and on and on, it's definitely a proven Borg, ah, well, Borg tactic. It sh-should work when-when we turn the tables on the Borg. I, ah, would imagine Kim'Taur could assemble a formidable collective of his own within two or, well, maybe three hours. The trick is, a lot can, you know, happen in two hours and I'm not really sure how the Borg would be, ah, assimilated, with additional Borg, ah, Borg nanoprobes."

"That's easy," Won confidently replied, "While I'm not sure how exactly Kim'Taur's nanoprobes function, I do know that their ability to fight off enemy nanoprobes would be transferred to the Borg drone he assimilates. Kim'Taur's nanoprobes would eliminate the native nanoprobes already in the Borg while self replicating until they are the dominant element in the drone. It would also keep Kim'Taur's drones from being re-re-assimilated into the Collective if that makes any sense."

"Ah, like the Serracopolis Coccai strain retro-virus on Rigel Seven," Falai twinkled in understanding before he thought how wondrous the microscopic robots truly were.

"Sure," Won replied, attempting to appear as if he actually knew what the doctor was referring.

"I'm still not recommending Kim'Taur to be deployed though," the doctor gaily pointed out.

"I thought you approved from that remark about assimilating the Borg?" Sharra squinted her eyes, which highlighted her nasal ridges, while trying to determine what the doctor's stand was in the matter.

"I was merely bringing another point to light," Falai's voice started to climb higher in pitch as he instinctively went on the defensive when his comments were questioned. Aware of his overly-defensiveness creeping up, he cleared his throat and stated, "I'm against this mission, as I said earlier.

"The human body was not designed to handle the alterations and implants Kim'Taur has endured. I imagine he could very well fall apart at the seams as you Humans would say." Human idioms always made Falai chuckle, that one was no different.

"He's not human though," Jillani injected, "Maybe his people are hardier than Humans."

Falai considered this for a few seconds before replying, "Hmm, perhaps but I'd rather not take the chance given what little we know about the Breen. It could even be possible that the Breen are more fragile than humans without their refrigeration exoskeletons they wear."

"What is your stance on the matter, Jillani?" Picard asked upon realizing she hadn't said anything else during the briefing.

Jillani simply answered, "The Borg are not to be trifled with, Captain."

Picard had a memory of Guinan, the ship's barkeep on the Enterprise-D, whom said the exact thing to him oddly enough. He didn't follow her sage advice then and it had nearly resulted in the destruction of the Enterprise. Still, Picard had a duty to perform, both then and now.

When his mind returned to the matter at hand, he found his officers looking at him in silence, waiting for his inevitable verdict. He was more than happy to oblige.

"Several years ago," Picard gloomily said as he held the cup of tea in his hands, allowing its warmth to hug his hands, "I was presented with an opportunity to kill the Borg using a virus. It was to be injected into a damaged drone we recovered at a Borg crash site and then was to be introduced into the Collective when the Borg salvaged the crash victims.

"A problem arose which hampered that decision. The drone that we recovered had severed its link with the Collective and formed an individual awareness. At that moment, it had ceased to be a drone and been deemed sentient once more. According to the Prime Directive, the supreme law that bounds us to our duty, we could no longer use the drone as a tool of destruction as it, he, had rights as any other form of life we encounter. So we returned Hugh, as he became known on the ship, back to the crash site per his wishes without the virus.

"Later, the Borg assimilated a Ktarian colony, hundreds of thousands were lost or assimilated. Those people and countless others would no doubt still be alive today had I chose to use the virus then. Now that a second opportunity has presented itself, despite what we are all hesitant to do, we do not have the luxury of allowing this opportunity to pass.

"Mister Moor, set course for the Kalanna System, Warp factor five. Computer, Yellow Alert."