A Romulan ship flew overhead of the Zhang He that Captain Kang ordered to slow down to make the ship overshoot them. Once past, the Zhang He slammed a volley of photon torpedoes into its hull sending it spiraling. Another pair of photon torpedoes finished it off. Another Romulan ship battling the Gorn ship had one of its nacelles sliced off by the Gorn's disruptors. A plasma torpedo from the Gorn ship finished off the rest of the Romulan ship. The Gorn ship came about and destroyed the spiraling Romulan ship the Zhang He had disabled. Only one ship remained.
The Shihori listened closely to her earpiece as the battle raged. She had to cover her other ear to block out the orders shouted by her captain. As it was in Romulan, she could only pick out words and phrases she knew from trying to study the language but she was far from fluent. She had been inspired by Hoshi Sato of the NX-01 Enterprise to learn languages. She didn't have Hoshi's ability to start speaking a language just after hearing it once but that didn't stop Shihori from jumping on any language she came across. The language she spoke the best was Andorian. She and Tarsi often had conversations in Andorian. She always wanted to learn languages that were outside the norm such as Romulan or Klingon. With the Federation's encounters with the Klingons being so frequent that was an easier language to learn than Romulan. The noise of the battle made it even harder to hear.
"Captain," Shihori said from her comm station. Miyachika swung around in her command chair to face her. "I've been monitoring the comm chatter between the Romulan ships. They're saying something about needing at least one ship to get back to a planet called Galorndon Core."
Miyachika thought for a moment and then shot back around to the viewscreen. "Get a tractor beam on that ship. We can't let it get away."
"Get us out of here!" The Romulan commander demanded. Her bridge officers huddled around the center console turned knobs and flipped switches as per her orders. Just as the Romulan ship powered up its warp engines, a tractor beam snagged it. The Romulan commander swore loudly and in a way that caused her battled hardened crew to flinch. They had never heard a commander act like a veruul using such obscene words. "Intiate self-destruct!"
"Self-destruct is not available," the computer said.
"Typical. What's the point in having a self-destruct option if it's not always available?" the commander said aloud. She walked over to the compartment on the wall pulling out a hand disruptor."
"Orders?"
"They'll try and take the ship. We won't let them. We'll go to the last man standing. We'll make them pay for every step they take on this ship."
Miyachika stepped over to the science station. "Tenzing, how many Romulans are still aboard?"
Tenzing looked into her scope. "I'm reading forty-seven. A crew complement of a Bird of Prey is about a hundred and twenty."
"I'm sure they'll be expecting a boarding party and will fight to the last man before letting us take the ship. We're not going to give them the chance." Miyachika returned to the center chair and pressed one of the buttons on the arm. "Transporter room, lock on to all Romulan survivors and beam them directly into the brig." The transporter chief acknowledged and Miyachika pressed the button once again to cut the communication. She made her way to the turbolift. "Tarsi, Tenzing, Hunter, you're with me. Shihori, send a message to the Zhang He and inform Captain Kang that we are boarding the Romulan ship if she would like to join us." Shihori turned her attention to her console just as the turbolift doors closed.
Miyachika strolled into the brig where all the Romulans were held before heading to the transporter room. The Romulan commander recognized her from their conversation on the viewscreen. She slammed her fist into the invisible forcefield that produced a slight electric shock when touched.
"I demand you release us."
"Why do you think your demand would entice me to do so?" Miyachika said.
"Because you Federation types are afraid of war and would do anything to avoid it. Holding us as prisoners is an act of war."
"Yes, we don't like war unlike you who thrive on it for some reason. However, you crossed the neutral zone, entered our territory and tried to disrupt peaceful cooperation between two powers. So if anyone is the aggressor, it's you. You will be taken to a starbase where you will be tried and sent to a penal colony to do hard labor for the rest of your life."
"An honorable captain would give us all a swift death."
"I never said I was an honorable captain," Miyachika said. "I might just beam you all out into space. I haven't decided yet."
Miyachika walked back out into the corridor heading to the transporter room. She could feel the eyes of the other three on her. They stepped onto the transporter pad without saying a word.
"Captain Kang and her landing party are already on the Romulan ship," the transporter chief said.
"Energize."
Miyachika watched the transporter room fade in a sparkling gold light. When the gold light faded, she was on the bridge of the Romulan ship. Captain Yeon Tae Kang stood with some members of her crew in the cramped bridge. Her away team was doing various other tasks while Kang came to greet her old friend.
"Took you long enough," Kang said.
"Had to scare some Romulans into believing they're either going to die in space or spend the rest of their life in a penal colony. Just something to shut them up."
"Wait, you were just saying that to scare them?" Tarsi asked.
Miyachika nodded. "Of course. Romulans act high and mighty as if they're always in the right so they need to be busted down a peg or two. I'm still taking them to a starbase and the worst that'll happen will be the interrogation. They won't be sent to a penal colony. They'll just be in the brig for awhile until the Federation decides to send them home." Miyachika turned back to Kang. "Have you found out anything yet?"
Kang shook her head. "The problem is that everything is in Romulan and I don't have a translator."
"Not a problem," Miyachika said flipping open her communicator. "Miyachika to Miki Endo. Shihori, I want you to beam to the Romulan ship. We're going to need your assistance translating some Romulan mail."
"On my way, sir."
"Any word from the Gorn ship?"
"None, sir. They've been quiet."
"Understood. They're probably conducting repairs leaving the rest of the mess for us. Miyachika out."
"You have an officer who knows Romulan? Bet that's handy," Kang said.
It wasn't long before Shihori materialized on the Romulan bridge. She immediately started reading through the transmissions both received and sent as well as any officers' logs she could retrieve. The two captains ordered their away teams to check the ship for anything useful while being careful in the event the sensors missed a Romulan or two. Everyone was split off going down different corridors, Captain Kang brought along four people and sent them off into pairs, Tarsi and Hunter went down an adjacent corridor, Tenzing stuck with Shihori on the bridge while Kang and Miyachika traversed another corridor that looked like it led to crew quarters.
The battle had messed up EPS conduits thus darkening areas of the ship that was usually displayed in various hues of green, red, blue and pink down various corridors. Miyachika wondered if the different colors signified certain areas or if it was just arbitrary. She couldn't wait to see what secrets they could uncover with a Romulan ship in their grasp.