A/N: Well, this is slowly garnering interest, it seems. Which is good, because I can't stop writing it, and it'd be nice to share this story with likeminded people :) Anyway, the story of Lieutenant Kassai Lydana continues. I hope you approve of this addition, and once again, thanks for all the faves, follows and reviews I've received so far. The support is greatly appreciated!

I don't own Star Trek Online.


"Are you absolutely certain, Lieutenant?"

The shock and dismay was evident in Admiral Quinn's voice, the bridge's viewscreen displaying his concerned expression clearly, and Lydana nodded sadly.

"Yes, sir. Ensigns T'Vrell and Yatsai have double-checked our findings, gone over them in detail...there is no doubt, sir. I wish I had better news, but-"

"No, you've done well. We'll send a ship to recover the DaVinci and her crew, and another to continue your investigation. You should return to Earth Spacedock, take some time to recuperate."

Lydana wasn't sure how to respond to that. She knew what she wanted to say, but she managed only a muted mumble as she tried to speak.

"Did you need to say something, Lieutenant?" Admiral Quinn asked, giving her the opening she had needed.

"I...Yes, sir." She took a deep breath, thought carefully about what she intended to say, before finally giving voice to her thoughts. "Sir, any ship sent to continue this investigation could take hours to arrive, maybe even weeks depending on what ship is sent and where they are. Our ship is here, now, and every minute of delay allows whoever did this to get further from justice. We have to see this through, before anyone else suffers at the hands of these...renegades."

There was a taught silence on the bridge for a moment, before Admiral Quinn smiled broadly at the young officer.

"I knew there were hidden depths to you," he told her warmly, and gave her a choppy nod. "Very well. You are hereby ordered to continue your investigation, and if possible, bring these traitors to justice. Keep me informed. Quinn, out."

Lydana turned from the viewscreen, only to find all of her bridge officers staring at her raptly.

"Gotta hand it to you, captain," Elisa stated, "you can make one hell of a speech when you want to."

"It certainly exuded a confidence we have rarely seen from you, Lieutenant," T'Vrell stated, in the same flat tone most Vulcans spoke with, and Lydana smiled.

"Watch it, Ensign, or I'll have you cleaning the deflector array with a Ferengi tooth-sharpener," she quipped, then sobered again. "Deploy a beacon, so that Starfleet knows where to find the DaVinci, then we need to see about finding a trail to follow from the attacking in ship."

"I believe I have one, sir," T'Vrell announced, working at her console. "Utilising the readings Zarva provided for the DaVinci's warp signature, I have been able to isolate that from our readings. Negating that signature and our own, there is only one other Federation warp trail in the area. Logic dictates that this would be the trail from our 'renegade' vessel."

"Sounds good to me," Lydana answered with a nod. "Good work, T'Vrell. Helm, once you receive the heading lay in a course, maximum warp."

"Aye ma'am," the helm officer replied, and in a few moments the starscape in the viewscreen shifted as the ship swung onto its new heading.


Lydana was afraid, even more so than she showed - Starfleet had been her dream, ever since she had been a little girl and she'd seen the Federation ships coming and going, from Deep Space Nine and her home planet to the wormhole and beyond. While her parents harboured a mistrust of outsiders, Lydana had seen the good they were doing, and she wanted to be a part of it.

To think that there was a group of people who had decided to spit in the face of the altruistic and selfless organisation...it was painful for her.

Just another reason why she wanted to be the one to hunt the renegades down.

Lydana sat tensely in the captain's chair, and she caught herself rubbing her nose ridges again. They'd been at maximum warp for roughly three hours, and they still hadn't seen the renegade vessel. She'd sent Elisa to her quarters for some rest, and the watch rotation had seen T'Vrell and Yatsai replaced with a pair of officers Lydana hadn't met, but given their terse responses she assumed they were crew she had passed over when Quinn promoted her.

Well, it wasn't like it was her fault. She hadn't even been prepared to be Acting First Officer, let alone suddenly thrown into the captain's chair, but she doubted that anyone with a grudge was going to pay attention to that.

There was something that T'Vrell had mentioned, just before she left the bridge at the end of her watch, which had made Lydana feel at least a little less concerned. She had reminded her that it may not be Starfleet renegades - after all, there were several documented occasions where intruders had captured a Starfleet vessel for their own ends. Khan Noonien Singh had captured the USS Reliant, back in the days when the Enterprise was a Constellation-class vessel captained by the famous James T. Kirk. The Enterprise herself had been captured on numerous occasions - both the earlier incarnations under Kirk's command, and the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D commanded by the equally-famous Captain Picard. The USS Prometheus, encountered by Voyager's EMH, had been captured by Romulans, and indeed Voyager herself had been taken over by the Hirogen and turned into a massive hunting ground.

Somehow, the reminder didn't make Lydana feel a great deal better.

"Sir, we're detecting a distress signal," announced the officer at the Comms station, intruding on Lydana's reverie.

"Location?" the Lieutenant asked, focussing again as her heart leapt into her throat. She was definitely not prepared for a combat situation again.

"Just a few degrees off our port bow," the officer answered, tapping a fresh query into his console. "It's just slightly off from where the warp trail ends. Allowing for spatial drift, I'd say this is our renegade, sir."

"Good. Bring us out of warp, Anne. Ash, raise shields and-"

"There's something else, sir," the Comm officer said. "The distress signal - it's being sent on a Federation frequency...but it has a Romulan verification code embedded in it."

"Romulan?" Lydana asked, confused by the implication. "I thought they were meant to be our allies?"

"I can't offer any more information I'm afraid, sir," the officer added with a shrug, and Lydana thought for a moment.

"Ash, raise shields and charge weapons. Anne, bring us into visual range. Once we're there Comms, put the distress call onscreen."

It only took a few minutes, and in that time no-one shot at the Steadfast, allowing Lydana chance to breathe again - for now, at least. As they closed, the ensign at Tactical gave continual updates on their quarry.

"I'm detecting a single ship...Akira-class, heavily damaged. Weapons are offline, engines are down, life support is failing, and- sir, their warp core is losing containment!"

"Shit!" Lydana blurted out without thinking. "How long have we got?"

"A few minutes, at best!"

"I've got visual, sir!" the Comms officer announced, immediately complying with her previous instruction.

The viewscreen lit with a male Romulan, who looked like he had seen better days - his hair was a mess, he was bleeding severely from several facial wounds, and he appeared to only have the use of one arm. The distress call itself was a mess of static, but from what Lydana could see behind the officer, she was surprised they had any communications at all.

"This is...Ravek of the...Romulan Star Empire. I am...I am the only survivor, and...this ship is doomed...please...help me, I beg of you, be-"

The screen blanked suddenly, and Lydana swore again.

"Are we in transporter range?" she snapped to the Ops officer, who nodded.

"Yes sir, we-"

"Beam him directly to sick bay!"

"Sir?"

"Now!"

The young man nervously worked at his console, heaving a sigh of relief after a moment.

"We've got him-"

"Anne, get us out of here, best speed!"

The small ship pulled away, jumping to warp a second before the Akira-class vessel detonated in a flare of blue-white energy.


"You have some explaining to do, Mister Ravek."

The Romulan grimaced in pain as the ship's chief medical officer busied himself, administering a pain suppressant via hypospray before conducting a full scan of the officer's injuries.

"I have nothing to say...to you, Starfleet." His voice was rough and cracked, no doubt from inhaling too much smoke from a burning ship seconds from death.

"Not even what the Romulans want with a Federation ship? Why your superiors thought it was a good idea, when the Klingons have been attacking our ships mercilessly for months?"

The Romulan glared at her, struggling to support himself as he leaned on his good arm.

"I will say nothing...to a Starfleet child," the officer scoffed, and once again Lydana felt the weight of her youth and inexperience bearing down on her. A better officer would know how to deal with this man, a better officer would know what to say and what to do, but she was too young, too fresh from training.

Wordlessly she strode from sickbay, the sound of Ravek's choking laughter echoing behind her.

Outside the infirmary, Lydana leaned against the curving bulkhead, closing her eyes as she fought to keep herself from having another panic attack. The feeling of being overwhelmed by the burden of her position was a common one, and it was always a chore to overcome it.

She finally choked the feeling back down, although she was certain it would resurface later on, but at least she had regained some of her ability to function.

She pushed herself away from the wall again, heading for the nearest turbolift as she thought about what to do, and she tapped her combadge as she walked.

"Kassai to Potter."

"Potter here."

"Anne, I need you to set a course back to where we found that ship. If our prisoner won't tell us anything, perhaps we can find something among the wreckage."

"Aye sir, we'll be back there before you know it."

Lydana took a deep breath, regaining her composure as much as possible as she finally reached the lift.

She just hoped she could find something, otherwise she would have nothing incriminating with which to bring Ravek to justice.