Commander Aramis Lionel stepped out of the transporter room and wanted to intercept Captain Skyrunner to brief him before he got the shock of his life. Kirok came out of the main turbolift and saw Aramis standing outside the transporter room. Aramis spotted him and walked to meet him halfway.

“Aramis, what’s going on,” Kirok asked, curious.

“The situation is complex, sir. As you know, we found what looks to be some kind of former Borg colony. Their leader, Kaelara, wants to speak with you. Also, we found…”

Suddenly, the doors to the transporter room opened and a portable medical bed was floated out, being pushed by a medical tech, with another tech and a doctor trailing behind. Kirok glanced at the bed, saw a familiar tattoo on the person’s right wrist of a coiled snake.

“Stop!” Kirok ordered the techs.

He stepped to the bed and slowly pulled the sheet back, revealing the face of his wife, Sophia. He dropped to his knees at the sight of her in bad shape. Kirok started to cry, thinking she was dead, as the sheet completely covered her. Sophia stirred and turned her head to look at Kirok. The sight of him made her feel a little better, calling out to him.

“Kirok? Is that you?”

He gently took her left hand, since he saw her right arm still in a makeshift sling. He kissed her hand and lowered his forehead, so it touched her hand.

“I’m here love. You are safe now.”

The doctor said, “sir, we must get her to Sickbay now.”

Captain Skyrunner looked at him, then nodded. He let go of her hand and stood up and stepped back out of the way.

“Of course, Doctor. Please keep me advised.”

The Doctor gestured for the techs to proceed. He stood in front of the Captain.

“She looks like she is in rough shape, but her vital signs are still strong and her spirits are improving now. I’ll let you know when she can have visitors, sir.”

Captain Skyrunner nodded. “Very well Doctor.”

The Doctor nodded and hurried to catch up with the medical team. Kirok then turned to look at Aramis.

“Thank you for finding her, my friend. I’m so very grateful,” Kirok said to Aramis.

“Wish I could take credit sir, but we accidentally crossed paths when the away team got captured.”

“Report Commander.”

“The away team got ambushed, sir and ended up in a holding cell. When we came to our senses, I met the leader of this exBorg colony, who called themselves the Kyrennei. They claim that this colony was started by an exBorg drone named Hugh. Kaelara also told me that she and the other 25,000 former drones, all regained their individuality and freedom from the Collective when the Unimatrix One complex was destroyed. Once freed, Kaelara started to seek out other freed drones and came here to help build this colony. They despise the Borg Collective. Kaelara wants to speak with you sir. I wanted to brief you before you encountered her.”

Kirok listened intently to every word his First Officer said, then patted him on his back.

“Interesting, Number One. I’m glad everyone is safe and back home. What do you suggest about these Kyrennei?”

“I think she is worth listening to sir. With this threat from the Vaadwaur, the Federation needs allies,” Aramis told his Captain.

“Very well. Let’s see this Kaelara then.” Captain Skyrunner walked towards the transporter room and the doors whooshed open for him and what he saw shocked him. On the platform was five exBorg, kept on the platform and detained by the squad of security officers that were already standing by. Captain Skyrunner walked forward, in front of the security guards.

“Stand down everyone.” Kirok glanced at everyone one of his security personnel, who each nodded a silent confirmation of the order and holstered their Type 2 hand phaser. Satisfied that things were settled and calm, he turned to face Kaelara, the leader.

“Greetings. I am Captain Kirok Skyrunner, commanding officer for the Federation starship USS Carlsbad. I presume you are Kaelara, the leader of this colony?”

Kaelara stepped forward and down the two steps to the deck flooring, stopping right in front of Kirok. A security guard stirred, but Kirok glanced his way and raised his hand, silently telling the guard to stand down.

“Yes, my name is Kaelara.”

“Pleasure to meet you Kaelara. I understand you wish to talk with me. Would you and your party follow me to a conference room and we can discuss what you want,” Kirok offered.

“We will comply with your request Captain,” Kaelara said, then glanced at her four other members to follow her.

Captain Skyrunner gestured for them to follow him and Commander Lionel brought up the rear. Kirok led them to Conference Room 5. Kirok took his seat at the head of the table and Aramis sat to his right and Catersha sat to his left. Kaelara sat next to Aramis and the other four sat down on either side, filling every seat in the room.

“So Kaelara, what did you want to talk to me about,” Captain Skyrunner asked.

She looked at him square in his eyes before answering. “Captain Rodriguez told us the main reason why she was in our star system. We also heard the Quadrant wide message from the Vaadwaur and we would like to discuss the possibility of working together against a common enemy. The Vaadwaur also threatened us as well. A month ago, one of our Type 4 Assimilator class ships was engaged with two Vaadwaur Manasa-class Assault Escort ships. That battle is what caused the destruction of the USS Thunderdragon. They appeared suddenly from a subspace tunnel, just like you did. The Vaadwaur took advantage of the weakened state of the Thunderdragon and destroyed her, but not before a few lifeboats managed to get away safely. Unfortunately, several Vaadwsur fighters picked off most of the lifeboats that launched. The three survivors found are all that is left. I did talk with Captain Rodriguez and if you talk with her, she will confirm my story. I apologize for placing them and your away team in holding cells, but we had to take necessary precautions. We didn’t know your intentions.”

When Kaelara mentioned that his wife and his away team were captured made his anger rise, but he quickly diffused that part of himself. Regaining his composure, Captain Skyrunner commented a reply to her statement.

“First, I’d like to say thank you for caring for the surviving crew of the Thunderdragon. Second, the Federation has also heard the Vaadwaur message. We believe that the ‘Blackout’ anomaly that has jammed all uses of subspace is a prelude to a full invasion of both the Alpha and Best Quadrants, if not the full galaxy. The Federation can use more friends and allies. If you are sincere about this, then we can start building a friendship and work together to confront the Vaadwaur. Right now, they have a ship in this system. My guess is probably a scout to find out what happened to their missing ships. They haven’t detected us yet.”

Kaelara nodded softly. “Yes, we detected the new ship. Yes, I am sincerely interested in forming a friendship with the Federation and you, Captain Skyrunner of the starship USS Carlsbad. My people and I can help you fight the Vaadwaur and hopefully end this ‘Blackout’ they have created. In fact Captain Skyrunner, I have in my possession several operational Borg ships that are independent from the Hive mind.”

She pulled a data chip from her suit pocket and handed it to Aramis, who stood up and inserted it into the wall display console. Aramis tapped a few keys and an image popped up on the screen. Kirok turned to face the screen and whistled in surprise. Catersha gasped in shock at what was displayed. Kaelara stood up and walked to stand next to Aramis, presenting what she had in her proverbial pocket.

“Captain Skyrunner, I present to you one fully functional Borg Cube, two Type 4 Assimilator class cruisers, and several Borg probe ships. Each has transwarp capabilities and all weapons are operational.”

“Damn. That is a fleet in itself. We can definitely do some damage.” Captain Skyrunner looked at Kaelara, asking a question,”who do you propose to lead this battle group?”

Kaelara looked at Kirok, straight into his eyes, sizing him up. “I suggest you, Captain. Captain Rodriguez has told me of some of your missions and service record. I feel comfortable giving you command of my ships for this combined mission to defeat the Vaadwaur threat.”

Catersha asked Kaelara a question. “Do you think the use of Borg technology would enhance our defenses, power systems, and weapons?”

The two Vulcan looking exBorg, the Kyrennei, stood up and looked at Catersha, after glancing at Kaelara, seeing her nod of approval. Kaelara introduced them both.

“The male Vulcan is Sorvath, he is the chief scholar and scientist in our colony and the female Romulan is Vora. She was a Romulan Tal Shiar agent. She now specializes in cyber security and hacking computer systems. The other female is Naomi, who also helped most of the colonists to find their own freedom and individuality after she was mentored by Annika Hanson. She has the ability to generate organic skin to look human. She might look sweet and innocent, but she is quite terminating for missions.” Kaelara looked at Kirok. “What do you say, Captain?”

Captain Kirok Skyrunner sat for a minute, looking at each of the five Kyrennei, from Kaelara, Vora, Naomi, Sorvath, and the one not introduced, Aximo. He pointed at Aximo.

“What role does he play,” Kirok asked Kaelara.

“I am Kaelara’s second in command and her military advisor,” Aximo said, with a hint of the usual Cardassian attitude.

Kirok nodded to Aximo, a silent acknowledgement of what he said. Kirok glanced at Aramis first, who locked eyes with his commanding officer and nodded slightly. Kirok glanced over at Catersha, who nodded her agreement to it. Knowing he has his two most trusted officers supporting the idea, Captain Skyrunner stood up, pulled on his uniform to straighten it and offered his hand to Kaelara.

“Sounds like a good plan to me Kaelara. I’ll accept the command responsibility for this combined mission. First though, I need to finish repairs to my ship.”

Kaelara shook Kirok’s outstretched hand, smiled at him and offered. “I can have my people beam on board and assist in repairs. Also, we can begin to make modifications and upgrades to key systems. After that, we can bring back my ships and remove this Vaadwaur menace from this system, then work together to defeat the Vaadwaur all over.”

Kirok smiled at that idea. “When can we get started?”

Kaelara smiled back. “Right now Captain. My engineers are already ready to beam up.”

“Excellent.” Kirok looked at Aramis. “Number One, will you handle the guests we will be receiving and the ship upgrades. Catersha, have your people know that help is coming to make repairs and upgrades. Make sure they know that our guests are allies even though they were Borg. I’m going to Sickbay to check on the survivors.”

Everyone stood up and exited the conference room, heading to their duty posts. Kirok walked to the main turbolift for Sickbay, needing to know that his wife was ok. His mind was full of concern for her. He stepped into the newly arrived lift and told the computer to go to Sickbay.