[Bridge]

CHEKOV [OC]: This is President Anton Chekov of the United Federation of Planets broadcasting on all emergency channels. Do not approach Earth. A signal of unknown origin has turned our young against us. They have been assimilated by the Borg. Our fleet has been compromised and as we speak, our planetary defenses are falling. Sol Station is defending Earth as best it can, but we're almost out of time.
WOMAN [OC]: They're trying to break in!
CHEKOV [OC]: We have not been able to find a way to stop this Borg signal and unassimilate our young. But I know if my father were here, he'd remind us all that hope is never lost. There are always possibilities. Until then, I implore you. Save yourselves.
WOMAN [OC]: Mister President, we need to get you to an escape pod.
CHEKOV [OC]: Farewell.
(Connection lost.)
WORF: The fleet has initiated an attack formation against Earth.
GEORDI: Orbital weapon platforms have been destroyed but Spacedock's defences appear to be repelling the assault.
RIKER: For now. Planetary shields won't hold against that fleet. Where the hell is the cavalry?
DATA: Emergency hails from both Federation and civilian ships have now gone silent. Apparently... we are the cavalry.
PICARD: The fleet is being controlled by the Collective. A hive mind with a single voice. The Borg are here. Mister Data.
DATA: Scanning, Captain.
TROI: If Spacedock falls, there will be nothing standing between an assimilated fleet and Earth.
CRUSHER: If Earth falls, everything falls. Every planet, every system.
DATA: Long-range sensors are picking up a Borg vessel... Jupiter, sir.
PICARD: Lay in a course. Maximum warp.
GEORDI: Aye, Captain.
PICARD: Engage.
(Staring at the Red Spot.)
RIKER: Where are they?
PICARD: There.
RIKER: Magnify. They hid a transwarp conduit inside the gases of Jupiter?
CRUSHER: It appears to be broadcasting the Collective.
PICARD: Let's hear. Beverly, can you find him?
CRUSHER: I'm trying.
JACK [OC]: Eliminate all enemy missile on approach. Eliminate planetary defences.
CRUSHER: Jack.
WORF: It is confirmed. Your son is the command signal.
RIKER: The Borg must be amplifying from somewhere on that cube.
PICARD: Then the only way to save the fleet... to save Earth... is to sever that connection, no matter the cost. What began over 35 years ago ends tonight. Mister LaForge, take us in.
GEORDI: Aye, Captain.

[Titan bridge]

(All Starfleet, arranged in Borg symbol patterns, are pounding Spacedock.)
ESMAR: Fire. Fire. Fire.
LAFORGE: Unsanctioned movement Deck 5.
ESMAR: Eliminate all unassimilated.
(Seven leads her rebels into the turbolift.)
LAFORGE: Unsanctioned movement.
ESMAR: Turbolift.
LAFORGE: Bridge.
(The drones turn to face Seven and her group, Raffi enters from the other side. Seven's phaser shots result in targets being beamed away. They clear the bridge.)
SEVEN: So did it work or did we just kill 'em all?

[Transporter room]

COMPUTER: Transporter Room One locked.
BORG [OC]: Eliminate command structure. Retake USS Titan.

[Titan bridge]

RAFFI: They made it. They're locked in there.
SEVEN: Good job routing transporter fields through phasers. You may have just invented the portable beam-me-up... if we survive. All right, you two, seal the lift doors. Lock us in here. Everyone, stations. Stations.
ENSIGN: Ma'am, I... I'm just a cook. I had lunar flight class training, but-but I didn't finish. I was close, but my mom got sick and I had to run the deli back home because my brother had a hernia...
SEVEN: You were a pilot. That makes you our pilot. You got this. To your station. Comms, open that maintenance channel.
OHK: Open.
MAN [OC]: They're taking down our shields. We can't hold out any more...
SEVEN: Titan is still under the control of the Collective. We have to find a way to disconnect this ship from Fleet Formation before they find out that we took it back.
RAFFI: Somehow.

[Bridge]

RIKER: My God, look at that thing.
DATA: The cube is only 36% operational. Most of its resources are being used to broadcast to the hive mind.
GEORDI: Must be using a beacon of some kind, hidden inside its structure.
PICARD: Deanna?
TROI: I've never felt anything like this before. It's like... a quiet suffering.
DATA: So much pain. So much misery inflicted on so many. I hate them.
CRUSHER: Deanna, can you...
TROI: Jack... Jack is there. But he's totally consumed by the Collective.
WORF: What if he is at a point of no return?
CRUSHER: No.
PICARD: Jack is in there, and he's still Jack.
DATA: Sir, the cube has scanned us. This is curious. Shields are lowering and weapons are redirecting.
RIKER: What is this?
PICARD: It's... an invitation. Somewhere on that cube is a beacon, projecting a signal across the solar system to the Collective. Our objective is clear. Locate it and destroy it. That will sever the connection to the assimilated fleet, put an end to all of this.
GEORDI: Yeah, but locating it is gonna be tough. That beacon is so powerful it's scrambling our sensor arrays. The only way to find it is to beam down there, access its systems directly.
CRUSHER: What about Jack? Any lifesigns?
DATA: I've been looking. This is all I'm getting.
CRUSHER: Computer, isolate lifesign energy signatures that mimic human neural frequencies.
COMPUTER: Electropathic pattern located.
CRUSHER: There. It is moving so fast, but that's a human brain wave, not Borg. Maybe I can somehow use that to narrow down Jack's location. You're going down there.
PICARD: I need you to lead me to him. You brought him this far. Let me bring him home.
RIKER: You're not going alone.
WORF: And I will make it a threesome.
RIKER: Do you even hear yourself?
DATA: Captain, you know I have experience with the Borg. I should go.
PICARD: Mister Data, we need you here. There's no telling what the Cube is going to do next.
DATA: Bu... but Captain...
CRUSHER: Believe me, Data. No one wants to tear them limb from limb more than I do, but right now we need every advantage we can get, and that means having you on this ship.
PICARD: Very well. Number One, Mister Worf, once aboard the cube, locate the beacon and transmit its coordinates back to the Enterprise. Mister LaForge, you have the bridge.
GEORDI: Aye, sir.
PICARD: It's been an honour serving with you all.

[Cube]

RIKER: No movement. No sound. A cube this size, there should be thousands of drones. Armies.
WORF: You appear to be oddly disappointed you're not outnumbered.
RIKER: Yeah, well, I've never found myself in a too-quiet situation that ended with a pleasant surprise.
PICARD: You don't leave the doors open if you want to keep the wolves out.
(They find a drone in an alcove.)
RIKER: Appears to be deceased.
WORF: The necrotic tissue is being cannibalized, consumed.
RIKER: But to sustain what?
PICARD: Or whom?
RIKER: This place is a tomb.
WORF: Which explains the almost complete lack of bio-signs.
PICARD: In the absence of one army, what else would they do but raise another? Ours.
CRUSHER [OC]: Crusher to Picard. Jack's bio-signs are emanating from a chamber one level below you.
PICARD: Past the Unimatrix array, below the transporter platform.
RIKER: How could you possibly know that?
CRUSHER [OC]: Given what we've learned, it's entirely plausible that some piece of you, some small part remains compatible with the Hive.
PICARD: Which is how I know that the time has come for us to part ways. I can no longer be your captain. I now have to be... a father. Go find the beacon. Will, thank you. I... It means so much to me.
RIKER: You know that I know. Always.
PICARD: Mister Worf...
WORF: There are two turns of phrase a Klingon never admits to knowing. Defeat... and farewell. We should be going.
PICARD: Beverly, lead me to our son.

[Bridge]

CRUSHER: I can lead you to the next level, but after that, the interference increases, and I'm unable to be more specific with Jack's location. Jean-Luc, I...

[Unimatrix]

PICARD: Beverly, you thought of Jack from the beginning, shielding him from danger. You did everything right.
CRUSHER [OC]: Jean-Luc? Jean-Luc?
PICARD: Beverly.
CRUSHER [OC]: Can you... me.
PICARD: Beverly? Do you read me? Jack?
VÕX: To the worlds of the Federation, hear us. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will contribute to the whole. Your cultures will evolve to serve the future. Peace and prosperity willspread across the galaxy. You will be assimilated. You will exist in a universe without fear, a universe without loss, unbroken, perfect. Those diseases are of the past.
PICARD: Jack? Do you hear me?
VÕX: Concentrate all firepower. On command, fire, fire, fire.
PICARD: Yeah. Jack, I'm here. I'm here to take you...
(The Borg Queen laughs.)
QUEEN: Home. He is home. You... are home. At last, Locutus has returned... to his true family. To his Collective. To me.

[Titan bridge]

ENSIGN: Commander.
RAFFI: There's a Federation ship near a... a Borg cube. Galaxy class, registry number NCC-1701D.
SEVEN: The Enterprise. It's Picard. They're engaging the Borg.
RAFFI: Enterprise D? What's left of that thing is ancient.
SEVEN: It's not tied to the new system, which means it can't be controlled like the rest of us. All right, we need to find a way to do the same. If they're making a play to shut down the Collective system, we've got to buy as much time as we can for 'em to do it. So how can we break from the automation?
RAFFI: Fleet Formation is using a kind of line-of-sight propagation. In other words...
SEVEN: If they can't see us, they can't control us.
RAFFI: On it.
SEVEN: Tactical, upload every prefix code we have for the entire fleet. Scramble their shields.
OFFICER: Uploading and transmitting now.
SEVEN: We can't fire while cloaked, so we'll have to do this fast.
ENSIGN: Us? Against the entire fleet?
SEVEN: I'm not asking you to give your lives for nothing. I'm asking you to fight for what's below. Your families, your children. The Borg have taken our crew, taken our captain. But in this moment, here and now, we are all that is left of Starfleet. It's up to us.
RAFFI: Cloaking device online, Captain.
SEVEN: Engage.

[Unimatrix]

PICARD: What have you done to him?!
QUEEN: What could I do? I have only my words.
VÕX: We are the future.
QUEEN: And the soft assurances of a mother's love.
PICARD: You are not his mother!
QUEEN: Until recently, there was no Collective left. There was only I. It was an unimaginable loneliness, one which Jack and I share.
PICARD: You're a liar, a deceiver. You wormed your way into his head.
QUEEN: He found me! At the very edge of space, where you left us, poisoned. No worlds to consume, no roads by which to return. Just the cruelty to die by starvation and age. And then, as the cries of my children faded, another voice rose. Louder, clearer. Jack's voice.
PICARD: Let him go. Take me. I'm the one you want. Your equal.
QUEEN: No, I don't want you, Locutus. The future of the Borg does not lie in... assimilation but evolution.

[Cube]

WORF: I believe this terminal is a central access node.
RIKER: Hope these Borg have been too busy dying to upgrade their codecs.
WORF: Accessing the cube's schematics now. Worf to Enterprise. Prepare for transmission of the beacon's coordinates.

[Unimatrix]

PICARD: You're insane. You consumed what little Collective you had left.
QUEEN: Only to sustain myself long enough to arrive at this moment, to invite you here to witness.
PICARD: Witness what?
QUEEN: Your future's end.

[Titan bridge]

SEVEN: Fire at will.
RAFFI: Fleet automation is trying to reconnect now that we're visible.
SEVEN: Recloak. Evasive manoeuvres. Weapons ready for another run.

[Cube]

RIKER: There. Broadcast emitter. Enterprise, uploading the beacon's information now.
(Drones awaken.)

[Unimatrix]

PICARD: So you struck a deal with Vadic and her Changelings to be your weapons across the galaxy.
QUEEN: They too shared the anger of a generation lost to Starfleet. Together, we've weaponised your biology. You've rewritten our machine code into genetic code. We've no need to devour raw materials, consume flesh or metal, not now that we can...
PICARD: Reproduce. Procreate.
QUEEN: Propagate forever out into the stars. A new generation of Borg, born with a single purpose, not just to assimilate, but to annihilate all.
(The Drones force their way out of the transporter room.)
BORG [OC]: Retake command. Eliminate all unassimilated.

[Cube]

WORF: Riker!
(They fight drones.)

[Bridge]

DATA: The Cube. It's opening fire.
GEORDI: Evasive manoeuvres.
DATA: Direct hits... aft and starboard. Shields at 68%.
GEORDI: We need to take out those turrets or this is gonna be over real fast.

[Cube]

(Taking cover. Worf's sword is on the ground. He is either tired or injured.)
RIKER: Worf.
WORF: The sword!
RIKER: Oh, shit. I had no idea it was that heavy.
WORF: The hilt!
(It's an energy weapon.)

[Titan bridge]

SEVEN: That was close.
RAFFI: They're using predictive algorithms to find us.
OFFICER: It's working. The fleet is redirecting some of its resources to locating us.
RAFFI: We can't do this forever.

[Bridge]

GEORDI: Doctor, I didn't have time to work on the weapons systems, so you're gonna have to do it manually.
CRUSHER: Torpedoes away. Locking phasers and returning fire.
(The resulting fireworks make everyone turn and stare.)
CRUSHER: A lot's happened in the last 20 years.

[Cube]

RIKER: You had this in there the whole time? A phaser, and you didn't use it?
WORF: Swords are fun.
RIKER: Riker to Enterprise. You should have the beacon schematics.

[Bridge]

TROI: Receiving. The good news is we have a clear read on its position.
DATA: The bad news is, it's at the heart of the Cube itself.
GEORDI: The only way to take out the Hive is to take out that beacon, but it's going to be impossible. I mean, no computer, not even my daughter could navigate us through this. Data, what the hell are you doing?
DATA: I've got this, Geordi.
GEORDI: Data, it's impossible.
TROI: Data!
DATA: Trust me.
GEORDI: Data, I said no!
DATA: Statistically, probability, yes, it's nearly impossible. But my... my gut tells me I can do this.
GEORDI: Your gut?
DATA: Yes.
CRUSHER: You've got to be sure, Data.
DATA: Please, everyone, just trust me.
GEORDI: All right. We go with Data's gut.
DATA: Okay. Here goes nothing.
TROI: Wait, what do you mean, nothing?
DATA: Hang on!
TROI: Why am I sensing enjoyment?

[Titan bridge]

SPACEDOCK [OC]: Mayday! Mayday! Shields are down.
ENSIGN: Planetary shields are down. Spacedock has fallen. There's nothing left to defend Earth.
RAFFI: The fleet is targeting every major city, every population centre of the planet.
SEVEN: Come around for another strafe run. How the hell did they target us?
RAFFI: Our cloak. It's gone.

[Somewhere on board]

LAFORGE: The Titan is exposed. Proceed to retake command.
VÕX [OC]: Continue targeting sequence.

[Unimatrix]

PICARD: Jack. Jack.
VÕX: Concentrate fire on Sector 001. Fire on Sector 001.
PICARD: Hear me, please.
(He tries to unplug Jack/Võx.)
QUEEN: You'll kill him. Sever the link, and you'll sentence his mind to insurmountable, unsurvivable shock. Only he could choose to leave now.
PICARD: Jack.
QUEEN: He's too far gone.
VÕX: Fire, fire, fire, fire.

[Titan bridge]

RAFFI: We've taken a direct hit. All systems non-responsive.
OHK: Commander, the Borg crew are making their way to the bridge.
SEVEN: Without that cloak, we're dead in the water.
BORG [OC]: The Titan has been neutralised.

[Unimatrix]

VÕX: We are the Borg. Resistance is futile.
QUEEN: We've already won, Locutus.
VÕX: Eliminate all unassimilated. Target lock, Berlin. Target lock, Cairo. Target lock, Philadelphia. Target lock, Rome. Target lock, San Francisco. Target lock, Paris. Target lock, Sao Paulo. Target lock, New York.

[Bridge]

CRUSHER: There's the beacon. Preparing to fire.
GEORDI: No, wait. Data. Data, are you seeing this?
DATA: The beacon is interfaced into the very substructure of the ship. Firing on it would trigger a cataclysmic chain reaction. We destroy the beacon, we destroy the Cube itself.
TROI: And everyone on it.
CRUSHER: No. There must be another way.
TROI: Destroy the Cube now, and we kill everyone down there. If we wait, it's everyone else in the galaxy.
GEORDI: Beverly? Enterprise to Riker. Do you copy?

[Cube]

RIKER: Every word, Geordi.
GEORDI [OC]: We have a lock on you and Worf, but not Picard. Prepare to beam up.
RIKER: Belay that order. I can't leave him.

[Bridge]

TROI: Will, the moment we fire, you'll have a minute to get out, at most.

[Cube]

RIKER: I owe him a lifetime. The least I can spare is a minute. I'll see you soon. Riker out.
WORF: There was a moment today where I was worried we might actually survive.

[Bridge]

DATA: We've lost their signal. They've crossed into the dead zone.

[Unimatrix]

QUEEN: What are you doing?
PICARD: I vowed never to return to the Collective. I've been running for half of my life. But not now. Now I have something to go back for.
QUEEN: Stop!
RIKER: Jean-Luc!
(Picard plugs himself in.)
PICARD [memory]: I am Locutus... of Borg. Resistance... is futile.

[Collective]

PICARD: Jack?
JACK: I can feel them. All of them. There are so many voices. Joyful, welcoming me. Nothing's broken in here. There's no suffering, no loneliness, no fear. It's... perfect.
PICARD: But, Jack, this euphoria isn't real. Perfection isn't evolution. This is death.
JACK: No, this is where I'm meant to be. I always have been.
PICARD: You always felt different. Hungry to connect while needing to keep people distant so they never see the real you. I was the same. I joined Starfleet to find a family I didn't have. And I found it. I let them in. But there was always a barrier. I too thought there... there was something wrong with me, and I waited... waited in that vineyard. Waiting to die, alone. But now, Jack, I realise... you are the part of me that I never knew was missing.
JACK: No. This was written before my birth. I am this. Just let me be. I'm surrounded, carried. This... is where I belong.

[Bridge]

GEORDI: We're out of time. Let's just hope they have a little left. Doctor. Target the beacon. Fire torpedoes.
(Enterprise flees the explosion.)

[Unimatrix]

QUEEN: No.
RIKER: Well, my friend, is this good enough?
WORF: It is a fine day indeed to die with honour.

[Bridge]

GEORDI: Data!
DATA: Scanning for them now. The shockwave is interfering with our transport sensors. I can't get a lock on their signal.

[Collective]

PICARD: Then if you won't leave, I'll stay with you... till the end. You have... changed my life... forever.
(Montage of happy moments, then Jack reasserts himself and he unplugs from the Collective and releases Picard.)

[Unimatrix]

RIKER: I love you, Imzadi. We'll be waiting. Me and our boy.

[Bridge]

TROI: I know where they are.

[Unimatrix]

QUEEN: You were born here and you will die here.
JACK: It's done. The time of the Borg is over.
QUEEN: As are you. Even if somehow you survived, you'd be different, changed, broken, alone.
JACK: No. No, I am not alone.
(Enterprise swoops in over them and beams them up.)
QUEEN: Argh!
BORG [OC]: Command signal interrupted. Continue last directive.
(As the drones enter Titan's bridge...)
QUEEN: No!
(And the Cube goes kaBOOM!)

[Titan bridge]

(The crew become unassimilated.)
SEVEN: They did it.
LAFORGE: Commander, I'm... I'm... I'm sorry. I'm...
SEVEN: It's over.

[Bridge]

RIKER: Oh.
(Affectionate reunions where appropriate. Worf sits down and promptly starts snoring.)
PICARD: Welcome to the Enterprise.
RIKER [OC]: Captain's log, stardate... shall we say one. The first of a new day for friends both old and young. Starfleet has implemented a fleet-wide transporter solution to purge our young officers of the Borg infection. A world-saving effort developed by our new head of Starfleet Medical Branch, Admiral Crusher, who also managed to spearhead technology that privately scans for other irregularities. In constant need for information, our Changeling adversaries kept yet did not kill many of their targets, from the lowest of ranks to the very highest.

[Observation]

TUVOK: In light of their past and present service, the command crew of the USS Enterprise are receiving a full pardon for commandeering... better yet, hijacking... this very ship... with your help. You disobeyed a direct order from your captain. As a result, Starfleet Command has ordered me...
SEVEN: Let me make this easier for you. Clearly, my judgement, my instincts, don't fall in line. And that is why... I'm resigning from Starfleet.
TUVOK: This was sent to Command prior to you setting course for the Ryton System. Your officer review.
SHAW [holo]: That leads me to First Officer Hansen. Or more accurately, Seven of Nine. Hell, I'm a relic of an older time. By the book. By God, the book is boring. Hansen is reckless. She's unrelenting. Doesn't give a damn about protocol or procedure. However... she's brave and loyal and... the book that she writes is gonna be great. And the rules that she breaks... maybe they were broken to begin with. So, in light of that, I have a recommendation. Promotion to captain when we return to port.
TUVOK: Resignation denied, Captain.

[Quarters]

JAE [OC]: You saved all of us. I mean, Gabe is still in awe of everything you've done. I... we... we're eager to see you again. Right, honey? Say hi to Grandma. Sorry, Raff. She's... she's a bit shy.
WORF: I have been told tears are the body's weapon against pain. Having never wept, I hope yours to be happy.
RAFFI: The strangest thing. My son Gabe wants me to meet my granddaughter. All the monitors in his house suddenly lit up at once. Every news-wave broadcast my face, and every classified valour commendation.
WORF: Whoever leaked this information is an honourable maverick.
RAFFI: And a dear friend.
WORF: Be happy with your family, Raffaella, warrior of the House of Musiker.
RAFFI: And you, Worf, House of Martok, continue to be a warrior for peace.

[Councillor's office]

TROI: You've been through a lot, most of which was very traumatic. Life, death, self-realisation. It's not unusual to be overwhelmed by those emotions.
DATA: Transition has been difficult. Balance is... challenging.
TROI: Well, you're almost there. We've gone past our time by over an hour. Again.
(Searching on her PADD for holiday locations.)
DATA: It's fascinating, isn't it? Sometimes I feel joyful. Others, melancholy. Anxiety and ease. Some anger. I witnessed an ensign feeding his cat the other day, and I wept. It seems being human is just as difficult as the desire to be human. And infinitely more complex than I ever considered. Oh, sorry, Counsellor. Same time tomorrow?
TROI: Yes, yes. Can't wait.
RIKER: How you feeling, Data?
DATA: Actually, Commander, I'm... okay.
RIKER: He still batshit?
TROI: Stop it.

[One year later - Enterprise bridge at Space Museum]

PICARD: If ever there was better evidence that the past mattered, it's right here.
GEORDI: How many times has she managed to save the world?
RIKER: No doubt more than the years will allow three old men to remember.
GEORDI: You know, it's difficult to imagine what we all might have been without her.
RIKER: Different, certainly.
PICARD: Mmm.
RIKER: But certainly not better.
GEORDI: Computer. Initiate shutdown sequence.
COMPUTER: Shutdown procedure initiated.
RIER: I miss that voice.
PICARD: Take care of her, Geordi.
GEORDI: Yes, sir. After all, she's always taken good care of us.

[Shuttle]

MALE [OC]: Admiral Picard, Admiral Crusher, welcome to Spacedock.
CRUSHER: I can't believe this. You're actually nervous.
JACK: Please. I've run transports through Tyrellian minefields, I've had phaser-fights with Orelex duelists. I am not nervous.
CRUSHER: Well, you're pacing nervously.
PICARD: So did I the day of my first posting. I walked a light-year in a circle before I mustered the courage to beam aboard.
CRUSHER: For Starfleet to put you on such an accelerated track... Trust me, it's an honour.
JACK: Or nepotism.
CRUSHER: Oh.
JACK: I think the family name might've helped just a touch.
PICARD: Names mean almost nothing. This is all you, son, and... I'm very proud.
MALE [OC]: Admirals, proceed to Pier 23.
PICARD: Oh, Jack, you never did tell me the ship to which they posted you.
JACK: Why do you think I'm so nervous? It's not for me.
MALE [OC]: Admirals Picard and Crusher, you're clear to enter into port bay.
PICARD: Oh, yes, of course. The Titan.
JACK: Mmm, not quite. At least, not anymore.
CRUSHER: You'll have to forgive the subterfuge, Jean-Luc. We just know your aversion to fanfare.
JACK: She's been rechristened in honour of you and your crew.
(NCC-1701G)
JACK: Names mean almost everything. Welcome to the Enterprise, Admiral.

[Bridge]

JACK: Helm, set a course for the M'Talas System, maximum warp. Tactical, ready torpedoes and phasers. I don't know what we're walking into here.
SEVEN: Out.
JACK: It's just so cosy.
RAFFI: Now, Ensign.
SEVEN: Thank you, Number One.
RAFFI: You're so very welcome, Captain.
SEVEN: Helm, it goes without saying to ignore everything he just said.
LAFORGE: I usually do.
SEVEN: All right, this is a shakedown cruise only, everyone. Get ready for departure.
RAFFI: I still can't believe Starfleet saw fit to give a thief, a pirate and a spy their own ship.
JACK: Bunch of ne'er-do-wells and rule-breakers, really.
SEVEN: What could possibly go wrong?
MURA: All engines online. Priming deflector shields for warp.
JACK: So, Captain. Where do you want me? Comms? I speak 13 alien languages. Tactical? I know the ins and outs the universe's most nefarious characters. Or science? Less so, but I have scienced myself out of some pretty harrowing situations.
SEVEN: You'll be stationed here, as special counsellor to the captain. Sit.
ESMAR: Captain Seven, we're cleared for warp.
RAFFI: On your command, Captain. Engage? Make it so? Take her out? There's a long history of this. Your first official act of command.
JACK: Writing the opening line to your legacy. So then, what'll it be?

[10 Forward Avenue]

RIKER: I hate to say it, but I think this is the end of the road. We closed this place down. Again.
GEORDI: Guinan's been giving us the side eye for the last half an hour.
TROI: That's because a certain someone has drained the bar of bloodwine, Doctor.
CRUSHER: Let's have some music.
WORF: No!
CRUSHER: Oh, come on, Worf, you have the most adorable voice. Have another glass of prune juice.
WORF: Perhaps it is time to call it a night. I have a lecture on Mugato meditation in the morning.
RIKER: Too easy?
TROI: Actually, perhaps we should go. Will and I have got a lot of work to do. It's exhausting, organising a whirlwind vacation.
RIKER: We're torn between the luminescent beaches of Kaphar Prime and Orlando.
GEORDI: Mmm, tough choice. All right, one final toast, huh? Data? This one's yours.
DATA: Oh. There was a young lady from Venus...
ALL: Data!
DATA: I always wanted to finish that. Actually, I believe the honour belongs to you, Captain.
RIKER: Jean-Luc? A toast?
PICARD: here is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current where it serves or lose our ventures.
ALL: Hear, hear. Cheers.
RIKER: We're grateful to have ridden the tide with you.
ALL: Hear, hear. Cheers.
GEORDI: Cheers.
DATA: Cheers.
PICARD: And, to that end...
(A pack of cards.)
WORF: Oh...
CRUSHER: Yes!
GEORDI: Yes! Absolutely. Couple of hands, right?
DATA: Yes, please.
GEORDI: Here we go.
RIKER: Let's play.
(Later...)
GEORDI: Nothing from Jean-Luc. Queen for the counsellor.
RIKER: Lady for the lady.
GEORDI: Trey. Nine of spades, another trey for the Doctor.
DATA: Okay, er, 25.
TRI: Oh. Okay.
CRUSHER: Oh. Uh-oh.
RIKER: He believes... he believes he could have a pair.
TROI: I see you, I see you.
CRUSHER: I fold. I'm out.
GEORDI: Worf?
WORD: I fold. Okay?
GEORDI: Seriously?
TROI: With two cards?
CRUSHER: Yeah. I... I'm gonna... Oh!
TROI: Oh!
GEORDI: He's all in.
BEVERLY: Wow. Okay.
TROI: Right.
RIKER: Ay-yai-yai. I call you. That's for you.
TROI: Let me see, let me see.
RIKER: Here we go. Oh. Hope you're feeling lucky, Jean-Luc.
PICARD: You know, Will, I've come to believe that the stars have always been in my favour.
TROI: Oh!
GEORDI: Stop.
RIKER: Ouch. Well done.
PICARD: Excuse me.
RIKER: Here we go.
GEORDI: All right. I'll take two.
BEVERLY: I think we know who's paying.
GEORDI: All right, let's play Risa six cards.
TROI: Whatever that is.
RIKER: All right, here we go.
(The final credits roll.)

[Jack's quarters]

Q: Well, look at you. A chip off the old block.
JACK: Q, is that right?
Q: Simple name. For a complicated being.
JACK: My father told me all about you. I thought you were dead.
Q: Oh. And here I was hoping the next generation wouldn't think so linearly. Young mortal, you have much ahead of you.
JACK: You told my father that humanity's trial was over.
Q: It is, for him. But I'm here today because of you. You see, yours, Jack... has just begun.