The corridors of the Steadfast had each been turned into narrow battlegrounds, each one the site of a war of attrition that the ship's crew were losing. The massive warship just beyond the walls had a far larger crew, and so they could put a larger number of combatants onto the the tiny vessel.
Ash and Lydana stalked down the corridor, opening fire on the first group of Romulans they saw - their backs to the turbolift, fighting to prevent some of the crew meeting up with others and forming an organised resistance. As the Tal Shiar were forced to face the sudden threat, the other crewmen redoubled their efforts, and eventually they broke the chokepoint.
"Captain!" one of the officers cheered, wearing the red-trimmed uniform of a Tactical officer. The rank pips marked her as a Chief, which Lydana figured meant the woman was her chief of security. At that point, she was finding it hard to recall.
"Chief, report," the Bajoran ordered, and the older woman sighed as she checked a disruptor wound on her shoulder.
"They haven't gotten to sickbay yet, which is a mercy - there's too many wounded in there that would just get executed if these bastards got in. We're fighting back on all decks, but it's a losing battle, and we were making our way to the shuttle bay before this lot jumped us."
Lydana's eyes narrowed, and she fixed the Chief with a withering glare that most of her classmates would never have expected from her.
"The shuttle bay? I never gave an order to evacuate, what were you hoping to accomplish from there?"
The Chief shook her head, her expression defeated.
"Sir, the ship is lost. We're dead in space and boarders are on every deck, we can't-"
"This ship is not lost!" Lydana snapped, her anger overriding all other emotion. "We will fight until there is no-one left, because I am not about to let the Tal Shiar, or the Romulan Empire, or whoever they want to call themselves use my ship and crew for their own twisted plans!"
"Sir, I don't-"
"You're all coming with me," Lydana announced. "We're going to drop Ensign Flores off at sickbay, then we're going to the armoury, then we are going to take this ship back. Do you understand me?"
The Chief looked sheepish, and the others behind her looked nonplussed. They all seemed nervous or apprehensive, and Lydana couldn't blame them given their situation.
However, one among them was less inclined to remain silent.
"First Klingons, now Romulans think they can invade our ship!" snarled R'raak, the Caitian who had been wounded when the Klingons invaded only a few days previously. "I am tired of letting these other races bully us! If the captain wants us to fight, then I say we fight!"
Lydana offered the feline former cadet a crooked smile, and he reciprocated with a feral grin. She was thankful for his support, and not simply because it showed his loyalty - it stirred the others to action as well.
"Yeah, he's right!" another crewman shouted. "Why should we stand for this? Let's kick these bastards back!"
"It's what Captain Taggart would've expected!"
"We shouldn't be running, we should be fighting!"
Lydana looked at the Chief, and the young woman's cheeks heated with shame. Eventually she met her captain's eyes, and smiled weakly.
"Looks like we're with you, captain," she offered, and Lydana patted her shoulder.
"Good choice, chief. Alright people, let's move!"
As one, the whole group moved off with renewed purpose, filled with fresh determination and eager to fight.
For her part, Lydana was just shocked that she'd had the fire to get her people moving in the right direction. She might actually be able to make this work, after all...
Eventually the makeshift team managed to fight its way to sickbay, and with no severe injuries, for which Lydana was thankful. The Lieutenant herself suffered an unpleasant burn on her left cheek, when a disruptor shot blew out a wall-mounted display panel she'd been stood near, and although the damage narrowly missed her eye she fought on regardless. When they'd finally made it to sickbay, Yatsai left Elisa on the nearest free bed while Lydana checked in with the doctor.
"I'm glad you came when you did, Lieutenant," the Andorian doctor stated hurriedly, moving between patients in a blur of motion. "I could hear weapons fire coming closer, and I was worried I'd have to evacuate the room."
"You should be safe for now, doctor," Lydana replied, checking over her friend's vital signs. "I've managed to stabilise Ensign Flores, but I think she took an energy discharge when her console blew."
"Thank you for letting me know, I'll get to her promptly." The doctor looked at her briefly as he responded, then looked again as he noticed the burn on her cheek. "Captain, you're wounded," he stated with concern, reaching for a dermal regenerator from a nearby trolley, but Lydana waved him away.
"I'll live, doctor, and you have far more pressing patients than me. Besides, I have to see about getting rid of our unwelcome guests."
Despite her assurances, he still prepared a hypospray and quickly pressed it to her neck. She winced as the device hissed in activation, but she soon found it easier to work her jaw.
"Just a little something for the pain," the doctor told her. "If you're going to be fighting for our lives, it's the least I can do."
"Thank you." Lydana stroked her unconscious friend's hair gently, before checking her phaser and gathering her team once again.
"Ash, Jensen, Korim, stay here and guard sickbay. I don't want anyone getting in here who isn't Starfleet. The rest of you, with me." She looked back at the doctor, her hazel eyes hard as flint.
"Look after these people, doctor, and stay safe. I have a feeling we're all going to be needing your services later on."
At that, she gathered her team and led them out into the corridor, all of them armed and ready to face the enemy once again.
Another deck down, and once again Lydana's team were caught in a firefight. This time, however, they were focussed, co-ordinated, and despite the Romulans having the greater numbers the Starfleet officers' training began to prove successful.
Lydana peered around a corner, spotting her target and putting a phaser beam directly into his chest. She ducked back behind the corner, avoiding the inevitable return disruptor fire, tapping her comm-badge as she did.
"Kassai to Zarva, report."
"Still here, sir," the Bolian replied, with the jovial attitude often shared by her race. "The Romulans are quite eager to get into Engineering, but I'll die before I let them get their grubby hands on my warp core."
"Good work," Lydana told her, taking another shot round the corner. "Secure the engine room, then bring everyone you can to meet me at the armoury."
There was a brief moment of silence - or relative silence, anyway, as more weapons fire sounded over the comm.
"Sir, I don't think-"
"At any point did I imply that was a suggestion, Ensign?" Lydana interrupted, her impatience superceding any qualms she may have had about her position. She still hated talking to her classmate like that, but she needed Zarva to just shut up and do as ordered for the sake of her crew.
"No sir," Zarva's voice replied, less cheerful this time. "We'll get it done and see you there, captain. Zarva out."
Lydana thanked the Prophets for that, and made a mental addendum - if she ever survived this ordeal, she was going to make a greater effort to follow the faith of her people. She owed the Prophets that much.
She looked around the corner again, and saw the chance she was waiting for - the Romulans were growing cautious, and their reinforcements hadn't arrived.
"Move!"
Her team bolted forwards, phasers filling the corridor with searing orange beams, scything down the Romulans as they pushed forwards towards the armoury.
Lydana would not let her ship be taken without a fight.
Lydana's team arrived at the armoury door at the same time as Zarva arrived, a few light burns marring her blue skin, her expression almost thunderous. As soon as her people had grouped up, Lydana opened the armoury door, and as soon as everyone was in she locked it behind them.
"Everyone grab a phaser rifle," she ordered, inputting the command codes on the weapon locker. "If we're going to save this ship, we need all the firepower we can get."
"Can we save this ship?" Zarva asked, and Lydana glared at her.
"I don't know, but by the Prophets I would rather die trying than surrender to these terrorists."
"Then wouldn't it be better to just set the self-destruct?"
Lydana almost choked in shock at the suggestion, and for a few moments she had no idea how to respond.
"Set the- Zarva, in case you didn't notice, there is a Romulan battlecruiser outside these very bulkheads. After all this, you think they'll just let us go? They'd pick us up, because let's face it no one else is within a hundred light years to stop them, and then we'd be at their tender mercies for who-knows how long. Believe me, death is a better option."
She pulled another rifle from the rack and handed it to her classmate, and after a moment's hesitation Zarva finally took it.
As she checked over the weapon, Lydana picked up and checked her own, then paused in thought. She looked towards another locker, standing on its own at the end of the narrow room, and she weighed up the options.
The weapon in that locker was considerably more powerful than a phaser rifle, but for that reason it was only ever used in surface combat. It had the potential to burn through a bulkhead and open the deck to space...but then, Lydana reasoned, that had already happened. What was one more hole?
Her choice made, she slung the rifle over her shoulder and moved over to the other locker and input the command code.
Zarva spotted the weapon Lydana pulled out, mainly because it was almost as long as the Lieutenant was tall, and she walked over to her friend as she checked its power levels.
"Is this the scientific approach?" she asked in mock displeasure, smiling at the Lieutenant.
"No," Lydana answered seriously, her expression blank. "This is the 'I want these bastards off my ship' approach."
As soon as she'd finished her checks, Lydana hefted the massive phaser minigun, keeping a firm grip on the carry handle and curling her right hand around the rear grip, her forefinger easily finding the trigger.
"Let's move out," she stated, moving towards the door. "I want this over and done with."
She unlocked the door and led the group out, determined to hunt down the invaders' leader and end the assault once and for all.
