When Admiral Picard was on a planet named Vashti to coordinate the relocation of Romulans 14 years ago, he befriended a Romulan boy named Elnor, who was being raised by the Qowat Milat, an order of "warrior nuns". The order lives by the motto of "Absolute Candor", and its members may decide to "bind their swords" to a quest - the condition being that it is a hopeless cause. Picard never kept his promise to return to Vashti after he received the message of the attack on Mars, upon which the rescue operation was cancelled. Although their destination is Freecloud, the purported hiding place of Bruce Maddox, Picard orders a detour to Vashti, which upsets Raffi. When La Sirena arrives at Vashti, no one wants to welcome Picard, who beams down and proceeds to the nuns on his own. He meets Elnor again, who is grown up now and has become a formidable warrior. On the Borg cube, Narek spends time with Soji, in his efforts to find out more about her and her kind. He expresses doubts about her story of having been on a transport to the Beta Quadrant about three years earlier. Rizzo, however, demands more results from Narek and gives him one more week until she would apply violence. On Vashti, Elnor declines when Picard asks him to join his mission. In the nearby settlement, the disappointed Picard defies a racist sign saying "Romulans only" and evokes the wrath of the local Romulans, among them Tenqem Adrev, a former senator who is angry about how the Federation made big promises to his people and didn't keep them. He challenges Picard to a sword fight. Picard throws the sword into the dust. Elnor steps in and tells Adrev to stand down. When he does not comply, Elnor kills the man. Just as one of the other Romulans draws a disruptor, Elnor and Picard are beamed up to La Sirena. Rios's ship gets into trouble when an ancient Romulan Bird-of-Prey attacks. But a small vessel appears and supports La Sirena to defeat the Bird-of-Prey. As the other ship gets hit and is about to crash into the defense shield of Vashti, Picard orders to be beam the pilot aboard. To his surprise, the pilot turns out to be Seven of Nine!

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