The doomsday machine arrived to the location of the Borg signatures. The Starfleet vessels followed and surrounded the aft section of the planet killer. Allensworth rose from his chair and walked towards the view screen.

"Sparhawk, open a channel to the other ships."

Sparhawk pressed a few buttons on his console. "Channel open, sir."

"This is Captain Allensworth of the Alexandria, target all of your weapons on the following coordinates." He pressed a few buttons on the ops console. "Fire at my command."

Seconds later, a multitude of beeping came from Sparhawk's console.

"The fleet is standing by, sir."

Allensworth looked at the view screen and saw the multiple ships move into position. "Fi…"

He was interrupted by a beeping coming from the ops station.

"Sensors are picking up a ship coming out of warp, right on top of us. It's the Brighton."

Allensworth held his breath. The Brighton had reported multiple Borg ships in the Compdi system and it wasn't heard from again. It was possible that it was able to get away but damaged enough not to be able to contact anyone. However, it was very improbable when it came to the Borg.

The Defiant class ship appeared out of warp and it no longer looked like the standard Defiant class ship, it had bulky unorganized additions added to it's port and starboard sides. It flew in firing at the planet killer. Allensworth was unsure what to think. He knew that the Brighton was a lost cause and it had been assimilated. However, his theory was proven correct. The Borg and the Doomsday Machine were enemies and it would appear that both sides would ignore a third party until the other was destroyed.

The planet killer fired its antiproton beam and nailed the starboard side of the Brighton destroying the new additions to the ship. The ship flew out of control and drifted away.

Allensworth just got an idea. "Merriell, what's the status of the Brighton?"

"It's adrift." Merriell reported.

"Lock a tractor beam onto it and we'll throw it into the things mouth."

"Open a channel to the fleet."

"Open, sir." Sparhawk said.

"All ships, fire."

All of the ships fired onto the set coordinates of the planet killer. With the Borg infested Brighton out of commission, it turned its attention to the Federation fleet. Meanwhile, the Alexandria locked onto the Brighton with its tractor beam. Allensworth turned around to his chief engineer.

"Zofchak, I have a job for you. I want you and a two security officers to beam over to the Brighton and rig it to blow, then we'll throw it inside that thing."

"May I suggest beaming a few quantum torpedoes over and I can set them on a timer to add to the explosion?"

Allensworth nodded. "Do it."

Zofchak pointed to Fulks and then headed for the turbolift.

Shortly later, Zofchak, Fulks, and Justin Oliverio, a security team member, materialized in the engineering room of the Defiant class ship along with four quantum torpedoes. Engineering was very similar to the way it looked on the Enterprise-E when the Borg had assimilated it. It was creepy enough to have all three of them on edge. The lack of lighting made it a bit hard to tell where anything was. Dustin was half expecting half a dozen Borg to come out of the walls in their zombie like manor.

"This shouldn't take long but to be on the safe side keep an eye out for Borg drones."

Fulks and Oliverio nodded and then turned away to watch the engineer's blind side.

Zofchak went to work right away and began the process to make this ship destroy itself along with the planet killer. However, there were other plans for the ship as far as the other inhabitants were concerned.

Out of the shadows came two Borg drones. Dustin looked up from his work and saw the intruders. The intruders didn't last any more than a few seconds due to Fulks and Oliverio's phaser blasts. The chief engineer went back to work. More phaser blasts erupted while he worked.

"Damn it." Fulks said.

"What is it?" Zofchak asked.

"They've adapted."

Fulks and Oliverio set their phasers to another setting and fired. It was no use. The Borg had adapted to that setting as well. They got closer without being thwarted. Fulks looked back to Zofchak who was still working on the panel. He reached back and grabbed Zofchak by the shoulder, surprising the hell out of the Lieutenant Commander.

"Fulks to Alexandria, emergency beam out."

The three dematerialized from the Brighton and rematerialized on the Alexandria.

"That's twice, I've come that close to being assimilated."

"Zofchak to Bridge, disengage tractor beam, Borg drones still inhabit the ship."

"Understood. We're you able to rig the ship?" Allensworth asked.

Zofchak hesitated for a second. "Negative, sir."

"Understood. Allensworth out."

Captain Allensworth stood at the center of the bridge, trying to think of a new plan. Fulks and Zofchak entered the bridge and went to their respective stations. A set of beeps filled the bridge notifying them of something. Merriell pressed a few buttons on his console.

"Sir, the Brighton has regained control and is coming about to fight the planet killer."

Allensworth looked at the Defiant class ship as it moved around in space and faced the Doomsday machine.

"That ship is not going to last against that thing." Sparhawk said.

The first officer was right. The planet killer fired its antiproton beam and took out the Brighton with a single shot. The Brighton erupted in fiery ball and then into nothingness.

"Prepare to bring us about." Allensworth said.

"Now what do we do?" Sparhawk asked.

"Moran, set a collision course."

Moran turned around and gave the captain a questioning look.

"You heard me, a collision course." Allensworth snapped.

The captain looked at the view screen and took a deep breath. "Enga…"

"Captain, we're being hailed."

"By who?"

"Unknown,sir."

"On screen."

The battlefield was replaced by the image of an alien that had a deep blue skin and yellow eyes with a green slit in the middle. The eyes would make one think that this species was reptilian.

"I am Nurain from the planet Focaria. I ask for you to cease fire upon my vessel. I meant no real harm towards you and your ships but I was merely defending myself when your species attacked me. I came here to defeat the Borg and no one else."

"I am Captain Jermaine Allensworth of the Federation Starship Alexandria. If what you say is true then why did you turn your attacks toward us and our fleet when we did nothing to provoke you?"

"A ship of your species was assimilated by the Borg and I couldn't tell which it was. My instruments kept telling me that a Borg ship was nearby but it didn't tell me which. That is why I fired upon you and the other ships. I apologize for the lives lost in this conflict. We only wish to destroy the Borg."

"If that is true then why did one of your vessels attack two starships about eighty years ago?"

"Our technology is somewhat unusual, Captain. We were on the trail of a Borg ship that was on its way to this solar system at the time. We found it and destroyed it but we were also low on power and we have to consume planets for fuel."

"I see." Allensworth said as he raised his left hand to touch his chin that was supported by this right arm as it crossed his chest.

Allensworth didn't want to continue this confrontation but he would like some answers to some mysteries that have been hanging around the Federation for quite some time now.

"Nurain, perhaps you would like to beam over and be our guest. We can use this opportunity to learn from another. One of our mottos in Starfleet is to seek out new lifeforms. We'd be honored to have the chance to meet the creators of this mystery machine."

"Thank you, Captain. This is the start of a new day for my people as well as yours."

"I'm inclined to agree." Allensworth said with a smile.

The End.