The four crew members of the Legend were held at gunpoint until the Captain of the Lenin arrived. He was a tall Russian man in a Starfleet uniform, although their uniforms were inlaid with plates of lightweight flexible titanium mesh. "People! Lay off! Can't you see that you are threatening a Starfleet Captain? Greetings, Captain Samuel D. Cho, Ms. Jael D. Cho, Mr. Ben Sawyer and Mr. Alexander Olson. I do apologise for my crew's belligerence, but they were merely doing what they deemed right. I am Captain Mikhail Andreievich of the U.S.S. Lenin, and I must say, for a Combat-Explorer starship, you put up more of a fight than what we expected. However, I can see that you are heavily damaged. How interesting. Come and I shall tell you of my tale." Mikhail led the four to the bridge, where he sat them down and started his story.
"I was commanded by Starfleet to chart this region of space ten years ago. You call it Uranium Region now. We call it Hell Region. We know that there is precious uranium in this region, but it is highly toxic, clean as it may seem. This uranium is what exploded in the atomic bombs of World War Two years ago. The isotope uranium-235. Your sensors detect cleanliness, but they are wrong. Your sensors were built by engineers who relied on and trusted the fact that elements found in space are always clean. However, this is not the case for this uranium, which is the deadly isotope. If I were you, I would have chucked out all taken samples of the uranium and quarantined the ship."
Mikhail took a sip of water and continued. "Now, as to why I am still here and why your Rear Admiral has disappeared. Ten years ago, I was sent here to scout out, I believe I mentioned this before. We were attacked by a fleet of Romulan ships, and suffered heavy losses. However, one of the Romulan flagships, the one that you saw attacking you, was damaged internally by our torpedoes. We flew straight for it, hoping to get closer for a clean shot and somehow, we flew straight through an energy barrier. Then, we suddenly found ourselves in this hangar, within the Romulan vessel, our bridge controls warped such that we could control the outer vessel. All Romulan hands on this vessel were lost when we passed through this barrier. We have been protecting this section of space, as per the dying Romulan Captain's last wishes when he hailed us as we were rushing for his vessel. All has been well, but boring for these past years, until your Rear Admiral Justin appeared in an extractor ship. Believe me, I played no part in his disappearance. I merely was sitting here in my ship and hailing him to try and turn back. We knew each other way back in Starfleet Academy and he was as stubborn as always. He wanted to attack me! But before he launched his attack, he instructed me to destroy all ships that came after him, to safeguard his uranium possession. I refused. He fired all phasers at my shields. So, I hit his side nacelle with a glancing torpedo blast and he fled, behind that gas cloud over there. I know what is behind that cloud, but I fear it, therefore I will not go. I wanted to spare all the ships that came after him the agony that was behind that cloud, so I would try to blow out their nacelles such that they would turn around, but alas, they fled in the wrong direction. This is the same reason why I attacked you, but you made the right choice of falling back." Mikhail was finished with his long tale and fell silent. "What is behind the cloud?" Ben demanded. "I dare not say their name, but I believe my Commander Anna does not believe in bad omens. Anna?" A tall blonde woman stepped forward. "I trust you have heard of the Borg?" she asked. A murmur ran around the assembled crew. "There is a Borg hive on the planet that is permanently obscured by the gas cloud. Whenever a ship comes into view, they will aim a freeze blast at it to immediately send the occupants into cryogenic freeze. Then the ships are tractor-beamed onto the surface where a team of Borg troopers are waiting…you get my drift?" Anna continued. "We have lost dozens to them." Sam now realised what the survivor had meant by "…he is definitely not going to see another sunrise as himself!" The survivor knew that Justin would be assimilated by the Borg and turned into one of them. Sam shared this fact with Mikhail, who nodded grimly. "Very likely the ones who followed are going to be assimilated too." Jael realised out loud.
"Captain Andreievich, the starship Legend is hailing us." Sam rose and watched the screen light up. The face of Kenny appeared. "Captain Cho! Joel has finished the repairs. We were worried about your…oh! Starfleet personnel? What is happening? Please explain, Captain of this ship." Mikhail drew himself up to his full height, and spoke. "Greetings, Lieutenant Commander Kenny Green of the Legend. Your Captain is with me, and please rest assured that no harm will come to him or his crew. I am Captain Mikhail Andreievich of the Lenin." Mikhail then poured out his tale for the crew of the Legend to hear. Kenny nodded after Mikhail was done. "You seem trustworthy, Captain Andreievich. We shall leave the safety of our Captain, Helmswoman, First Officer and Navigator to you. I wanted to inform Captain Cho that repairs are nearly done, and what do we do next. Captain?" Sam faced Kenny and explained that a rescue mission might be feasible to rescue Justin and the others from the Borg hive. Kenny shuddered at the mention of the Borg. "The Borg? You mean the ones who deadpan, 'Resistance is Futile'?" Sam nodded grimly. "Kenny, you have full command of the Legend now as Acting Captain. Hail the other ships and try and get them to aid us on the mission. After you have hailed all the other ships, report and follow us." Kenny nodded. "I understand, Captain. Acting Captain Kenny Green out." Kenny then cut the connection.
Meanwhile, in the Borg hive of BG-389, the captives were held frozen in cryo-tubes, awaiting assimilation. The new Queen of the Borg, the beautiful Landra, stopped at Justin's cryo-tube. "Unfreeze this one." She said in a high, silvery voice. Two Borg troopers grabbed the tube and a Borg scientist pressed a few buttons and pulled a few levers, rapidly thawing the tube and awakening the Rear Admiral inside. Justin pounded on the tube. "What is this?! You have committed an act of war against the Federation!" Landra smiled simply. "I know all your secrets, Justin Blake of Starfleet. Why don't I remind you of your charming young wife Lisa, killed in the explosion of the starship Resilient? And the explosion was due to a skirmish with the Borg?" Justin stopped, taken off-guard, and snarled. "What do you want, Borg?" Landra smiled, and continued. "I can bring her back, for she is frozen in one of our tanks, but in return, you will submit to our cause." Justin paused, then shook his head. "I will not be myself again…and neither will she! We will both be assimilated! Never!" "Very well!" Landra raised her voice for the first time. "Guards! Take him to the table!" Four troopers wrestled Justin out of the tube and restrained him on an operating table with the help of clamps and laser bands. Landra shook her head sadly. "Lisa would not want to see you like this, Justin." Then, Landra raised her blaster, and shot him with a stun blast. Justin fell unconscious, and the surgeons went to work.
Kenny was having a hard time trying to persuade the other Captains, who all refused to help. He was about to give up, however, when an unknown starship hailed them. A tall, slightly gaunt man in a black Starfleet uniform appeared on the screen. "Greetings, Acting Captain Green. I am Captain Adler Juergen of the U.S.S. Eclipse, a secret starship commissioned five years ago in a secret space dock. The Eclipse was the first Combat-Explorer starship to be built. I can see that the Legend is the second. How nice. I know of your situation, and me and my crew would be happy to help you terminate the Borg and rescue the Starfleet personnel." Kenny nodded. "Meet us on the edge of Uranium Region, coordinates 76-98-15-87. Acting Captain Kenny Green out." Kenny nodded to his crew. Unexpected help was better than no help, right? Then, broadcasting all throughout the ship, Kenny ordered all crew members to take a phaser pistol and a phaser rifle each, and prepare for the upcoming fight. "Joel, are we all set?" The Chief Engineer's voice came loud and clear. "Yes, except that two of our portside phaser banks are depleted. I am sending a crew over to refill them. Carry on." Kenny suddenly saw a huge black Federation starship approach. In design and appearance, it was similar to the Legend: four pulsing nacelles, two main engines in the engine hub, a streamlined saucer and plenty of well-tuned armaments. The red words "NCC-4000 U.S.S. ECLIPSE" were visible on the surface of the saucer. The Eclipse hailed the Legend, and Adler's face came into view. "I am here, Acting Captain. Lead the way." Kenny contacted Sam, who gave the go-ahead, and the two Combat-Explorer class starships flew into Uranium Region, or more properly known now, Hell Region.
At the same time, as decided by both Captains, the Lenin disengaged itself from the Romulan shell and flew close to the gas cloud, waiting for the other two ships. The phaser banks, having never been used before as the only weapons previously used were Romulan, were spanking new. So were the engines. The practically brand-new Lenin waited for three hours, lights blinking, before the Legend and the Eclipse came into view. Sam, Jael, Ben and Alex then returned to their own starship. Once everyone was ready, the three starships flew past the gas cloud and for BG-389, all phasers primed and ready to fire.
"Your Highness, three starships come into view." Landra turned. A Borg sentry was there, holding his rifle respectfully. "How large are they?" Landra inquired. This was when the sentry looked scared. "Speak, child." Landra commanded. "Two Combat-Explorer starships, and one Defiant attack cruiser. They make the largest starship that we captured seem like an ant to us." Landra's eyes widened. "Engage them." "Yes, your Highness." The sentry saluted and ran off. "Everyone! Move out! Pilots! To your shuttles! Engage the three ships!"
The crew of the Legend, Lenin and Eclipse watched an immense cloud of Borg fighters lift off and race for them. "Ready, everyone? (Each of the three starships always had the other two on permanent hailing)" Adler asked. Nods of "affirmative" and "All ready and good to go" went around all three ships. "Good. Engage enemy fighters!" Adler commanded as all three starships went into red-alert mode and started to engage the Borg fighters. The Borg fighters were fast, but they were no match for the enhanced homing phasers of the Legend and the Eclipse. The Lenin also fought well, using its Defiant-class phasers to blow the Borg out of the sky. The three starship crews gave it everything they had, until no more Borg ships came. "Where did they go?" wondered Alex. Then, seven huge Borg flagships took off and stopped a few thousand metres away from the three Starfleet ships. The face of Landra appeared. "Greetings, Captains. I am Queen Landra of the Borg, and I would suggest that you lower all shields and disarm phasers, and prepare for landing parties. If not, I have the power to assimilate you remotely. If you do not power off, I will assimilate you all and you will wake as an almost mindless Drone of the Borg. Now, shall we begin?" Sam, Mikhail and Adler looked at each other.