CHAPTER X
NEMESIS

When Xon walked onto the bridge, he saw that everything was ready. All the warbirds and the Tholian vessel were cloaked. The away team-, which consisted of Kirk, Decker, McCoy, Rand, Ensign McKnight, and Ensign Robbie-, was ready. The Enterprise, Excalibur, and Exeter were all standing by. Kirk just had to give the order and the war would begin.

"Xon", said Kirk. "You're in command of the Enterprise while I'm gone. Follow Ksia's instructions to the letter." Xon could tell Kirk was very nervous and he wanted this mission to get done as soon as possible.

"Aye captain", said Xon. Then the away team stormed of to the transporter room, where Scotty was ready to transport them down to the surface.

"Beam me down, Scotty," said Kirk.

"Aye captain" said Scotty, and he transported the team down. They were one mile away from Kronos's main power plant. Kaumass, Kro'Kor, and four Klingon soldiers beamed down with them.

"Let's get this done with, shall we?" said Kirk.

"Agreed", said Kaumass. They then walked very silently to the power station, which took five minutes. Once they arrived there, Kirk blew open the door with his phaser. There were only two guards waiting for them. Xon and Kaumass both stunned the two guards and the rest stunned the five workers. Kirk then ran to the control station to shut off the power. He easily walked up to the fifth floor, blew out the locked doors of the control room, stunned the worker there, and tuned off the power. Everyone in the station tuned on the flashlights they brought with them so they could see, since the power station was all black.

"All too easy", thought Kirk. Then the station was full of red lights for a second that turned off immediately. A group of Klingons had beamed aboard the station. Kro'Kor and the Klingon soldiers charged where they saw the light, but the enemy Klingons shot all five of them. Their disrupters were set for kill. Kirk, Kaumass, and the remaining Starfleet members hid for cover, except Ensign Robbie. His flashlight wasn't working, so the enemy blew off his head. The Starfleet members fired wherever they heard breathing, but all their shots missed. Ensign McKnight tried to tackle one of the warriors he heard, but he missed his leap. The Klingon warrior was about to chop off his head with a Bat'leth when Decker put his arm in the Klingon's way. McKnight was safe, but Decker lost his right arm. Decker screamed with all his might, and McKnight killed the Klingon that did that horrible deed. Kirk was shooting whenever he saw Klingons, but one slipped passed his sight and put his disrupter up to Kirk's head.

"Turn on the lights or I will kill you", said the voice. Kirk then turned on the lights and saw that all the Starfleet members were hostages. He also saw the Klingon aiming the disrupter at his head.

"Why, Kaumass?" asked Kirk.

"Because you are going to loose", said Kaumass. "You are going to loose miserably. And you are going to cringe when you see what happens in space. I told Kitumba everything. Don't you worry, Kirk. They're all going to die. Every last one of them.

Xon was waiting for the enemy fleet to approach them. He was waiting a long time. Five minutes. Then ten minutes. Then twenty minutes. Then an hour. He never saw them coming.

"Uhura", said Xon. "Try to reach Kirk. Ask him what's going on." Right as he said that, all 500 of Kitumba's fleet de- cloaked, and they all fired at once. The Exeter and the Excalibur were destroyed within seconds, and the Enterprise suffered extremely heavy damage. As the friendly warbirds de-cloaked, they were destroyed. The Tholian Cruiser de-cloaked and tried to fire the net, but all 500 cruisers aimed at her and fired. She was destroyed instantly. "Scotty get us maximum warp now!" yelled Xon, and the Enterprise fled the battlefield instantly.

"Course, sir?" asked Ilia.

"I'll plot the course", said Xon. "I know a certain someone from a space station that could really help us."

"As you can see", said Kaumass, "your friends are dead. There is no escape from us now." Kaumass and the Klingons forced Kirk, Decker, and the rest watch the failure of the attack through a camera on one of the warbirds. McCoy was trying to treat Decker, but Decker had to be brought back to the Enterprise to get a mechanical replacement.

"You bloody traitor", said Kirk. "I know you're not Kaumass. You're someone more important. Someone who could make a bigger difference than just the typical commander. Who are you?"

"You really want to know?" asked Kaumass. "You're sure you want to know?" Kirk nodded his head. "Okay. Here it goes". Kaumass then ripped off his prosthetic mask to reveal who he really was. Everyone was in shock (except for the Klingons- who didn't really care). Kirk was especially surprised. This was the one man who he hopped to never see again. "I am Khan Noonien Singh".

TO BE CONTINUED...