Captain Picard folded his hands and supported his chin with his thumbs, listening to the ideas of his colleagues, still intrigued by their forced but welcoming appearance from Q. After he had briefed them on the situation, they accepted it in stride and worked towards an answer—just like old times.

"Back at the S.C.E.," La Forge's advanced ocular enhancements that had replaced his VISOR glistened in the white void, "I managed to glance over some schematics for a neural network Starfleet started working with. At the time, I thought they were Data's and didn't think much of them but now, I bet those schematics were actually Kim'Taur's. If I'm right, then Kim'Taur and Data's neural pathways are virtually identical to each other and we could probably modify a tricorder to disrupt Kim'Taur's neural net, exactly what we did with Data during the Ba'Ku incident."

"Interesting point, Geordi," Data's artificial eyebrows flinched upwards and his head turned sideways mimicking a human expression of disagreement. This representation of Commander Data or whatever he was appeared to have been created after Data's emotion chip had been removed. He could only attempt to recreate human emotion rather than the authentic emotions the technology gave him. Although, considering he should be dead, it was still a wonder at all. Without missing a beat, the android delivered a counter point, "However it seems Commander Kim'Taur is not an android but a cyborg. Thus his positronic relays would be interlaced with biological tissue and may not be able to be disrupted in the same manner as that of my own regardless of the similarities in our neurotics."

Riker scratched his beard and stated, "Captain, I'll lead an away team to the cube. We'll locate Kim'Taur and we'll take him down with phasers or a couple photon grenades."

"I will go as well," Worf boomed and nodded at Riker. When he returned the nod, they both looked to Picard for approval.

He removed his hands from his face and tensely replied, "That may very well be an option, Number—" Picard caught himself, remembering who Riker was now, "Captain, but Kim'Taur has been specifically designed to combat the Borg. He has been heavily modified to resist them, which by definition would include resisting us as well. His technology aside, his tactical prowess is unparalleled, Mister Worf, I'm sure even you can attest to that."

"Yes," Worf grunted before he added, "Kim'Taur is a skilled warrior, but even Kahless, the greatest of all Klingons, was eventually killed. Kim'Taur, as Kahless, will be defeated."

"Mm," Picard slowly nodded, "We shall reserve a direct confrontation as a last resort. Though malfunctioning, Commander Kim'Taur is still a Starfleet officer and we must deal with him as such until all other options have been exhausted."

Picard glanced at Beverly as she tucked a stray lock of red hair behind her ear before she said, "Well, Data's right, Kim'Taur is a cyborg. If we can immobilize the biological half, the machine could also be stopped. We know that has worked for dealing with the Borg in the past."

"That's true," La Forge replied, "but the thing is, Commander Kim'Taur is much more advanced than any Borg I've seen. We have to assume that his mechanics will be able to resuscitate his organic half, I mean if I wanted to build a super soldier whose sole mission is to fight the Borg, I'd want to make sure he can heal himself no matter what. The same holds true for the opposite. While I'm no expert in Breen physiology, I would also assume the organic part can still function if the machine cannot, even if only on a most basic level for a limited amount of time, but it could still be enough to make any self repairs. With the Borg, yes, if you eradicate the organics, the rest of the machine ceases to function and vise versa given the organic dependence on the Borg machine after assimilation, but I really don't think it'd work for the commander."

After all the years they've served with each other, not only did they all know what each other was thinking, but also that they were all starting to think of the same idea. It was clear on their faces, even Data's. Regardless, Doctor Crusher's face slowly lit up as she voiced the thought everyone was now considering. "So we need to attack both the biological and mechanical parts at the same time to be sure that we can immobilize Kim'Taur?"

"Yeah, we gotta take them both out," La Forge's mind started to race with ideas on how to accomplish what Beverly was eventually going to suggest.

"Data," the doctor beamed, "Would it be possible to modify a tricorder in such a way that it could disrupt Kim'Taur's neural net while simultaneously affecting the biological tissue in a similar fashion? Maybe a certain harmonic that can be disruptive for both entities?"

After cocking his head slightly as he accessed the appropriate information, Data gently nodded and replied, "Before the Eugenics Wars in the early 20th Century, Khan Noonien Singh experimented with such a concept. His hypothesis suggested that enemy soldiers and vehicles could be incapacitated or disabled with a high resonating, metaphasic frequency."

"What were the findings?" Picard asked, knowing that Data would continue into the irrelevant details if no one intervened.

"The test targets were indeed disrupted—"

"—Excellent!" Doctor Crusher interrupted and smiled, pleased with Data's explanation.

"However," Data blinked at her, "the facility was destroyed in the process. Singh barely escaped with his life."

"Damn," Riker mumbled to himself as Crusher's disappointment spread to him and the others as well. This was turning out to be that one mission everyone feared that could not be reasonably completed. The Kobayashi Maru test all over again, only this was no mere test, it was real.

"And there's no way to counter that energy in a tricorder?" Crusher turned to Geordi with saddened eyes.

"I don't think so, Doctor. Even if I could modify a tricorder in that fashion, there wouldn't be any way to test it without chancing half the ship exploding in the process." Geordi's mind still pondered the situation for a few moments, searching for a different way. Suddenly, it came to him. "Captain, we might be thinking too small here. The tricorders may not be able to handle that kind of modification but the deflector array could channel it. Sure it might blow out every relay on the ship in the process but the ship would still be in one piece and it might just work if we direct all power into the structural integrity field. Warp, impulse, phasers, replicators, it'd take everything we have."

Worf struggled to maintain a neutral tone, "If all power is diverted, the Enterprise would be dead in space. If we were to fail and with no shields, the Borg would be able to easily assimilate the ship and crew."

"Where's that Klingon bravery I've come to admire over the years?" Riker teased as a twinkle appeared in his eye and a wide grin carved its way under his beard.

"Bravery is one thing," the burly ambassador countered, "Tactical errors are suicide."

The captain waited for Worf to turn and look at him, sensing he was going to add something else. Sure enough, Worf looked his way and opened his mouth. "Captain, I recommend giving priority to our defensive systems. If we can reroute power from the shuttlecrafts, we should have enough reserve power for low yield weapons and limited shields. It would be enough."

"Hmm," La Forge said, "I must be off of starships too long, I forgot all about the shuttlecraft. Yeah, the power from those would give us some leeway with the phasers and shields. Great idea, Worf."

Picard crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair, waiting for any other ideas. When there were none, he nodded in approval. "This seems to be our best option at the moment. Beverly, work with Mister La Forge and Mister Data to ensure the modifications to the deflector will affect both Kim'Taur's biological and Borg halves."

As La Forge and Crusher nodded in understanding, Riker spoke up. "Captain, if we can get Q to return me to the Titan I could contact the fleet and get it to converge on your position. If Geordi's device doesn't work, the Enterprise is going to need a lot of help as soon as possible."

"If I am taken to Qo'noS," Worf added, "I can attempt to convince the High Council to deploy a fleet of Klingon warships to aid as additional reinforcements."

"Agreed," Picard decisively nodded. He was about to wonder where Q had run off to when there was a flash of light above the conference table. Speak of the devil.

"Well, Mon Capitaine," Q mused as he stood on the tabletop, looking down at Picard with crossed arms, this time dressed in a Starfleet Admiral's uniform, "Your enemy has set up the game pieces, are you ready to play?"

Picard stood up and briskly tugged on his uniform before he firmly declared, "Yes Q. Take Captain Riker and Ambassador Worf back to the Titan and Qo'noS respectfully. You may take the rest of us back the Enterprise."

Q's jaw tightened and with great restrain, Q replied, "You should enjoy giving me orders, Jean-Luc, under normal circumstances I wouldn't have tolerated such behavior from you and I would have turned you into glue for the Klingon to eat."

With a snarl from Worf, Q threw up his arms, transporting everyone out of the white void.

--

Captain's Log, Stardate 64535.4:

Commander Sharra Bii reporting. Nearly thirty minutes ago, Captain Picard disappeared from Sickbay after suffering a phaser blast by that damn Borg drone, Kim'Taur. All scans are negative and all shuttlecraft are accounted for. The Borg ships are still pursuing us and we're still out of range for meaningful communications with Starfleet. I've assumed command of the Enterprise and since have deployed a subspace message to Starfleet. It should arrive in two days and maybe another day for a reply to be picked up by us at present course and speed. I hadn't realized just how isolated the Kalanna system is; perhaps I should spend less time on the holodeck and more time behind a science station. Regardless, I've just been informed the Borg have increased their speed and are closing the gap at an alarming rate. I feel all we can do now is hope Commander Won and Engineering can give us more speed as promised.

"Time?" Sharra nervously asked as she precociously sat in the captain's chair, poised to jump to her feet at the slightest noise.

"The Borg will now overtake us in five minutes," Moor somberly stated as he looked up from his console and watched the Borg ships grow larger on the viewscreen as they closed in. Everyone else on the bridge was also fixated on the same view before them, preparing themselves for the seemingly inevitable confrontation with the Borg.

"Bridge to Commander Won," Sharra strained to mask her impatience from her voice, "Report."

"Good morning Commander. This is Ensign Jek-Jek speaking. Chief Won is indisposed at the moment. We're making the final adjustments now. Speed boost will occur in ten minutes, Commander."

"Ten—We don't have ten minutes Ensign! You have four!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Ma'am. I assure you we are working as fast as possible. If there is nothing else I can help you with, please excuse me as I return to my duties."

Sharra sighed to herself and cursed the fact that Jek-Jek's people were extremely cordial and courteous by nature, something that always annoyed her. She forcefully acknowledged and closed the channel. At which point, she noticed her fingers were sore and beginning to go numb. Once she looked down, she found her hands clenched tightly around the command chair's armrests. Worse yet, she couldn't release her grip. She also realized that everyone had shifted their gaze to her in search of orders or from her sudden outburst, or both. Panic pulsed through her veins, paralyzing her, clouding her mind. She suddenly knew she wasn't ready for command; she was cracking under the pressure. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice two flashes of light appear in front of her.

"Report," the familiar bold and confident accented voice boomed.

"Captain! I mean," Moor cleared his throat and continued in a tone more suiting for a Starfleet officer, "Sir, the Borg are about to overtake us in two minutes. Engineering is attempting to give us more speed but they may not have enough time."

"Dispersive s-shields and-and weapons are primed and ready for-for combat," Kardaz reported from Tactical.

Moor's console updated and he immediately added, "Correction Sir, the Borg ships are dropping out of warp!"

"Confirmed," Kardaz's face suddenly turned into a bewildered expression, "Ah…Th-the Borg, Captain, th-they're engaging each other!"

Picard turned to Kardaz with surprise before he looked back at the viewscreen and then at Q whom stood beside him.

"It has begun, Jean-Luc," Q uttered with a chilling element of seriousness in his voice as he stared at Picard, waiting for his first action.

"Helm," Picard ordered without hesitation, "Take us out of warp and bring us about, half impulse."

"Aye Sir! Coming about!"

"Mister Kardaz, shields to maximum and prepare to fire the quantum torpedoes, full spread."

"Yes Sir!"

"What are you doing Picard!? This is our only chance to escape!" Torlus roared as he turned to Q and demanded, "And who in the Praetor's name are you?"

"Not now, Torlus," Picard beckoned. The Romulan was about to protest but Picard cut him off and calmly added, "You can either remain here in silence or spend the rest of the mission in the brig, the choice is yours."

"You wouldn't dare!" Torlus's eyes narrowed as he challenged Picard. The captain didn't even dignify that with a reply. He simply nodded to the pair of security officers that had positioned themselves behind Torlus before they drew their phasers and stepped forward. Fortunately, Torlus got the hint and gritted his teeth as he resentfully walked towards the turbolift with his security escort. Before he stepped inside, he snapped a threatening look at Picard and screamed, "The Tal Shiar will have your head for this Picard! This is a blatant disregard of the conditions of this alliance!"

The captain smirked and coolly replied, "According to the Treaty of Sigma Ceti, the shadow organization of the Tal Shiar was disbanded by the Romulan Senate following the alliance with the Federation. Thank you for informing us it still exists, I'm sure they shall reward you greatly for revealing their existence to us."

Realizing his grave mistake, the anger in Torlus was quickly replaced with sobering worry and self-pity. He sheepishly stepped into the turbolift without any resistance.

"Permission to leave the bridge as well, Captain." Sharra quietly asked as she stood up on wobbly knees. Picard easily recognized her state of shock and nodded and then murmured,

"Granted." As Picard sat down, Sharra vacated the bridge with Jillani following close behind after she shot a cold and piercing look at Q.

Once Picard sat down, Q leaned in and murmured, "Haven't I told you the dangers of having an imp on board masquerading as part of your crew?"

With raised eyebrows Picard bellowed, "We do not have time for this, Q. Now then, would it be safe to assume Kim'Taur's ship is the single ship battling the other two?"

"Very safe," Q stood up and crossed his arms with a visible scorn on his face, no doubt still somehow agitated by Jillani's presence.

"S-sir, the Yamato has just been destroyed," Kardaz said, never bothering to glance up from his tactical readouts.

"Hail the unarmored cube," though unlikely, Picard wanted to try to end this through diplomatic means.

"Kim'Taur is responding, Sir."

"On screen."

Commander Kim'Taur appeared on the screen standing in front of several Borg drones inside a darkened corridor. His red optical laser gently danced in the darkness while his eyepiece glowed with an icy blue color.

"Commander Kim'Taur, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise. You are to stand down and abort your mission immediately. Your life is in grave danger."

"WE ARE THE ARMY OF UNIMATRIX FIVE-THREE," Kim'Taur's lips were moving but instead of his own voice, it was amplified by thousands of drones on board that were speaking in unison. It truly seemed the Borg had been assimilated on that ship with Kim'Taur forging his own collective of the drones. It was a chilling observation. Kim'Taur's head abruptly turned to his right as if someone was interrupting him. Within a blink of an eye, Kim'Taur's wrist-mounted phaser sprang up and fired several shots into something that appeared to be just outside of the range of the viewscreen. He then said to his right, "WE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE US ALONE. WE WILL FIND A WAY TO DESTROY YOU, MASTER."

Picard's brow furrowed slightly as he wondered to whom or what Kim'Taur was speaking while it appeared Kim'Taur continued to have a conversation with whomever or whatever it was.

"NO. NO. WE WILL NOT DESTROY THE BORG. THE BORG ARE OUR SLAVES. NO, WE WILL NOT."

Moor glanced at Picard in disbelief, wondering if he was hearing this as well. The captain's stoic expression confirmed that indeed he was. Picard looked on, committing every word to memory in case it provided some clue as to resolve this matter.

"THE OTHERS? THERE ARE NO OTHERS. VERY WELL. THEY WILL ALSO BE DESTROYED." Sensing Picard's scrutiny, Kim'Taur turned back to the viewscreen and echoed, "YOU WILL BE DESTROYED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

The viewscreen quickly changed back to the space battle before Moor said, "He closed the channel, Captain."

Q humbly offered, "Nice try, Jean-Luc."

The Enterprise was suddenly jolted by a blast from Kim'Taur's ship.

"Whoa boy! Gravimetric torpedoes, Captain! Dispersive s-shields have, ah, a-a-absorbed the energy, no, ah, no damage."

"Dispersive shields?" Q mused, "I'm impressed Jean-Luc, maybe humanity isn't quite so primitive after all."

"Target Kim'Taur's cube and concentrate fire at two-three-mark-five-five, attack pattern Eight Gamma," Picard tried to ignore Q as best as he could. He tugged on his tunic and calmly crossed his legs as he watched the battle unfold on the viewscreen while the Enterprise moved into attack position.

"Won to Bridge, we're ready for a burst in speed now."

"Commander Won," Picard explained as several explosions struck the armored cube that came from Kim'Taur's vessel, "Belay that order. Reprioritize your attention to the shields and structural integrity for now. Keep us informed."

There was a slight pause before Won disappointedly replied, "Aye Captain."

"Target acquired, Captain," Kardaz was already in the process of firing as Picard nodded and gave the order to fire.

Fire, a single word that by itself is just another word, yet when Picard voices it, it sends chills up the spines of the crewmen on the bridge. It was a simple four-letter word, yet one of the most powerful words a starship captain could say. Several blue blurs of quantum torpedoes surged towards Kim'Taur's ship which were interlaced with vicious streaks of the Enterprise's advanced phasers.

"Direct hit Captain!"

"Attack pattern Two Alpha, keep hitting those coordinates. Ensign, watch the crossfire from the other cube," Picard ordered as he marveled at the sheer firepower of the tactical cube. It was indeed inflicting massive amounts of damage to the hull of Kim'Taur's ship. However, one of the clear faults of the behemoth to Picard was the lack of accuracy from the increase in firepower; it simply was not hitting the sweet spot on the cube as the Enterprise was. Still, he was counting his blessings that Kim'Taur had not gained control of that monstrosity; the Enterprise would have its hands full with the regular variant. So far though, everything was going better than expected.

The Enterprise lurched onto its starboard nacelle and fired another volley at the same coordinates as before. With the occasional salvo of cutting beams and gravimetric torpedoes, both cubes were largely ignoring the Enterprise as it focused on the rival cube—the greater threat at the moment.

"Captain, th-that last run, I'm not reading any damage on the cube!"

"Verify coordinates," Picard reasoned knowing that those coordinates he gave earlier would eventually destroy the cube and would always result in damage.

"Confirmed, S-Sir," Kardaz finally looked at Picard with a desperate expression of confusion, "It-it-it's like we-we never even fired!"

"Come now, Picard, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Q said with a subtle tone of mockery in his voice, "Whoops, watch out, you made him mad now."

"Captain, Kim'Taur has broken off with the tactical cube and is on an intercept course with us," the ensign at the helm stated with a remarkable calm and alert voice.

"Hard to Por—" Picard began but was drummed out by another jolt. It was considerably more severe than the previous hit.

"What the…I, uh, I-I-I d-don't believe it!" Kardaz cried out, "K-Kim'Taur's ship just boosted its weapons output by…A-a-a-a hundred! S-shields down to 90% efficiency!"

Another series of quakes rattled the starship.

"M-make that 82%!"

"He has adapted," Picard gasped realizing that even the Borg weren't capable of adapting their offensive technology so quickly whilst in the heat of battle, "Evasive maneuvers!"

Kim'Taur's ship unleashed a horrid bombardment of modified gravimetric torpedoes, taxing even the mighty Enterprise. Her advanced shielding was quickly buckling under the intense energy forces of Kim'Taur's cube.

"S-shields down to 66% Cap-Captain!" Kardaz roared over another series of vicious hits.

"Kimmy's got quite a punch!" Q chided as he started hovering above the deck; even he was growing tired of being rattled about.

The Borg weren't fairing well either; an entire armored piece of its hull peeled away from their hull after a ruthless slice from Kim'Taur's cutting beams. It was reminiscent to the lid of a tin can being pulled off. Picard wondered if the Enterprise would share the same should their shields fail—being skinned alive.

"Deploy all mines and continue to fire," Picard said to Kardaz with more urgency than what he had used when the battle began, "Hail the armored cube, or what's left of her."

"WE ARE THE BORG. DROP YOUR SHIELDS AND PREPARE TO BE—"

"—I am Locutus of Borg," Picard interjected, "This ship is of no concern to you for assimilation. We must work together to stop the other cube."

There was a seemingly long pause in the Borg's reply as another series of blows struck the Enterprise. Finally, the Borg said, "YOU WILL ASSIST US THEN YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. YOU WILL COMPLY."

"Some deal," Moor mumbled to himself, "Die now or be assimilated later."

"We will comply," Picard nodded and had the channel closed, much to the shock of the bridge officers, "The Borg are the lesser of two evils, we shall deal with them later when the time arises."

"Captain, the Borg are transmitting tactical and sensor data now, transferring to Tactical," Moor replied as he couldn't stand the Borg, let alone help them.

"Received Captain! Th-they also sent along s-schematics of the cube!"

The captain leaned forward and ordered, "Target their weapons and fire."

The Enterprise turned about and unleashed a storm of fury at various positions on Kim'Taur's ship while the massive cube struck several mines the starship had laid moments before. The cube hardly seemed fazed until the tactical cube began synchronizing its own weapons with the Enterprise's targeting patterns. Chunks of Kim'Taur's ship broke away with each successive combined bombardment. Suddenly, Kim'Taur's ship slowed to a stop and ceased firing of its weapons entirely while the Enterprise quicklysoared out of range, shifting into evasive maneuvers for the counter-attack.

Picard leaned back in his chair, as if expecting the cube to resume firing or explode. When it did neither, he asked, "Hold position. Status of Kim'Taur's ship?"

"Weapons, ah, appear to be offline," Kardaz said as his hands trembled over the tactical controls from the rush of combat.

"I'm also reading all other systems have powered down, Sir," Moor added, "I have no explanation."

Picard studied Q in search of an answer before Q noticed and shrugged, "Don't look at me, Jean-Luc, your guess is as good as mine."

As soon as the Borg cube began moving towards Kim'Taur's ship, Picard quickly recognized the maneuver. It's the oldest trick in the book. "Hail the tactical cube! Tell them to stay away from that ship, it's a trap!"

"No response Captain."

"Helm, bring us about, full impulse!" Picard bolted to his feet and stepped toward the viewscreen, as if he wanted to physically wave off the Borg. "Mister Kardaz, lock on to the tactical cube and fire all weapons! Draw it away from Kim'Taur's ship!"

"Sir the other cube is powering back up!" Moor cried out before the Enterprise could move into position, "Sensors are detecting multiple transporter signatures between the two cubes!"

Picard glanced to his feet and slowly rubbed the top of his head in defeat. Confirming his suspicions, Moor uttered, "I…I think Kim'Taur is assimilating the Borg, Captain."

"I-I-I'm sorry, Captain," Kardaz softly said, "I couldn't establish a lock in time."

"You did your best, Commander," Picard uttered as his jaw line tensed.

As the captain slowly walked back to his chair, Q quietly said, "Well, Jean-Luc, you tried. There's no stopping him now that he has two cubes under his control. Your crew can still be saved though, at least, for a while before Kim'Taur knocks at your Federation door in a few days."

That stirred a thought in Picard. In the excitement of everything, he had forgotten about one major topic of great concern. "The crew? Q, what happened to Beverly and the others?"

"Eh…Like I said before," Q explained, "I can only do little parlor tricks. Your officers weren't technically there with you; I could only transport you. What you interacted with were…Ghosts of sorts."

"Ghosts?" Picard repeated, only half listening now that he knew his old crew was presumably safe.

"I don't know how to explain it for your small, primate mind to understand. It was their subconscious minds there with you. In their perspectives, essentially they all shared the same dream where the only real element in that dream was you and me."

"So they won't be helping," Picard muttered as he steadily decided on a new plan.

"There's a slight chance when they wake up, they'll remember their unique dream. Some might even choose to act on it if they realize it wasn't just a dream. It was the best I could do. And please, don't even ask about the android, Data, that one will take much too long to explain given the circumstances.

"Oh well, it really doesn't matter now, it's hopeless. We should throw a party to commemorate our noble deaths. How about some fermented potato juice from ancient Earth? Or maybe some Romulan Ale, outlawed in how many sectors now? Oh I know, maybe some company; I hear Orion slave women are just a hoot at parties."

Picard abruptly concluded his thoughts and decisively headed towards the turbolift before Q had the chance of doing something else obnoxious following that last statement. Before he stepped inside, he turned to his Tactical officer and said, "Mister Kardaz, you have the bridge. Take the Enterprise to the nearest colony or outpost and evacuate all non-essential personnel. Attempt to reach the fleet for reinforcements but then you are to intercept Kim'Taur and engage him with or without the fleet. You must stop Kim'Taur at all costs, do you understand?"

"I…Yes, Sir," Kardaz nervously nodded, as the spots along his neck almost seemed to turn pale at the task before him, "What…What of you, Captain?"

"I'll be taking a shuttlecraft to Kim'Taur's cube, beam aboard and God willing, stop Kim'Taur myself."

"I'll have a-a-a team of security officers, ah, meet you in the s-shuttle bay," Kardaz stated, feeling awkward to be insisting to not only a superior but legendary officer."

"That won't be necessary," Picard forcefully said, "I must do this alone. The Enterprise will need every security officer it can spare in the coming days. You have your orders." He took a final, approving look at the bridge and stepped inside the turbolift.

For the first time in his existence, Q didn't have a snide comment to say. He looked at the viewscreen of the two cubes with a reluctant scorn before he resigned to his thoughts and disappeared behind a blinding flash of white.

As soon as the turbolift doors closed behind the captain, he tapped his combadge and said, "Picard to Commander Won, meet with Doctor Falai immediately. I have an assignment for you both…"