The situation was getting tense on the bridge in the Tokyo. They were entering a hostile area and didn't know how the cube would react most of all. The situation had changed a few times already since the last intelligence report they had received from the DEI. However, the investigation and retrieval of samples became a rescue mission of the same team that went in. 

“Anything!” Towalr asked in a demanding voice. Fear crawled up his spine as he didn't want to do this. But leaving the area to bring the rest of the crew would create a rebellion on the bridge. His life would be more in danger than facing off the broken Borg in front of him. Or at least that was what he hoped for. 

Shaking his head as Tamaz tried his best to get some communication through the interference zone “I am unable to get anything through this. It's like this field was boosted up somehow.” That was bad news in general, it meant that something had changed on the cube. It made no sense for the Borg to do something like this, but they did show weird behavior. Maybe it did add up to their general behavior?

“We are not getting anywhere with this, Commander. We need to get in the danger zone to get a more accurate scan of the cube. I know what is at risk, and I fully trust Lieutenant Padgok's skills to get us out of here. But we need to get closer to find our away team.” Sujian started to push Towalr more to do his duty as an acting commanding officer. He looked worried at the screen where the cube was shown and knew his sister was right there, out of his reach.

“Thank you for your vote of confidence, Commander. But I do have to advise Commander Towalr that I have not been able to succeed in outrunning a Borg ship in any of the simulations. ” Padgok was pretty straightforward about his skills in the given situation. 

Rolling his eyes, “Padgok, the cube has been stuck in the same position for years. Do you think it is functional enough to get away from that position? Commander, my operational knowledge says it will not move an inch. We need to focus on the potential weapons they might have active,” Tamaz pointed out. 

“Fair observation” was the only reply from Padgok.

Towalr shrugged at the discussion. He was not going to skip this shot any time soon. “Lieutenant Padgok, take us further in.” He tightened his left hand into the chair. “Lieutenant Alavidze, keep searching for them.” He felt the fears in his body getting worse, getting nausea again. But he swallowed his vomit and felt the sour and burning sensation going down his throat as he looked at the screen, seeing the cube getting larger. 

“Scanning…” Tamaz said, focused on the console. He didn't see much. The interference was cutting off his visuals from long-range. He took a deep breath. “I got ping,” He suddenly stated as he shoved the schematic to the main screen, showing a ping moving slowly, “They are moving to the outer frame.” 

An alert went off, “Ship activity is getting louder. Borg have noticed us.” Sujian looked at the console, seeing alerts all over the cube going off. “They are charging some weapons.” 

An explosion was shown from the side of the cube.

“What happened?” Towalr asked, seeing the parts flying through space.

“One of the phaser banks of the cube got overloaded and blew up….this is a chance to get our team out of there” Sujian quickly replied.

“Agreed,” Tamaz added, trying to get a lock on the away team.

“Lieutenant Padgok, get us closer to the last known location of the away team. Lieutenant Alavidze, get me the away team back now.” Towalr stood up from his chair, looking at the screen. This could be over very quickly, maybe the gods were blessing him with perfect leadership, and they held the Borg back from stopping his reign of success. Towalr couldn't help but smile. 

The Tokyo turned one more time around the broken cube and got closer to the last known position of the away team. 

“GOT THEM” Tamaz replied.

“Get us out of here, Lieutenant” Towalr ordered to Padgok.

The Tokyo charged its engines, moving away from the cube. A last attempt from the cube as a green beam gets launched in the direction of the Tokyo. But misses it as the Tokyo warps away from the graveyard location.

A cheer was heard on the bridge as they were safe. Towalr felt relieved from the tremendous tense moment and sat back down “Bridge to transporter room, away team status report.”

“This is Commander Ibrix, I am doing an emergency transportation to sickbay. Captain Yoon-Jung is severely injured and in the phase of Borgfication”

The cheer on the bridge stopped as they looked at each other “Borgfication?” Towalr asked, confused and surprised by the sudden announcement also. It would change the situation right now a lot. 

“We had to improvise with the given situation. I had to inject the Captain with Borg nanoprobes to keep her alive. If you have further questions, Lieutenant Vahdat can answer them.” 

Giving it a nod, Towalr resumed “Alright, Lieutenant Vahdat is everyone safely back”

“Everyone is safely back, Commander. However, Lieutenant Deem is in a state of shock that needs treatment. You can tell Commander Deem that the Captain held her word on keeping Lieutenant Deem safe. But at a cost, as you just heard. We have completed our mission and have the pathogen. I will be moving to the science lab to investigate the state of the pathogen and if Starfleet can use it. Vahdat out"

Looking at Sujian direction, he seemed relieved and worried at the same time. “You can check on her after we inform Starfleet about her status." Towalr stood up and walked to the ready room. “Follow me, Commander” 

Sujian shrugged and nodded, following Towalr into the room.