"One more hit and we're done for!" Faradal said after failing to successfully avoid an incoming salvo from the pursuing klingon craft.

Karalga was doing her best not to panic, but it was not easy. "I don't know what else I can do?! I've given you all the power I've got!"

Tuvok was doing what he could to remain calm, but even his vulcan training was not enough to shut out reality. "Our shields are hopelessly outmatched by their weapons, redirecting power to thrusters instead. I believe we have more use of maneuverability at this point."

"Great!" Faradal growled, narrowly avoiding another salvo, the disruptor-bolts obliterating a rock-formation half a mile up ahead. "Good to know!"

"Ensign" Tuvok then said as he operated the station next to the pilot, "there is a gorge approaching, along the impressive ridge on our starboard. I suggest we head for it."

"There'll be no room to maneuver" Faradal objected as he took the shuttle through an evasive flight-pattern. "We might as well line up for a firing-squad!"

"There is not time to argue, ensign" Tuvok said, only slightly agitated. "Lieutenant commander, would you please order ensign Faradal to comply."

Karalga looked between the two ensigns at the fore of the cockpit. Unused to the stress of the situation, she froze and was unable to utter a word. Glancing back at the kaitian, Tuvok realized she would be of no use, for the time being at least. Tuvok aimed his attention at the yellow-skinned aaamazzarite next to him instead.

"I am sorry, ensign" Tuvok then said, "but I am forced to take command of the situation."

Tuvok reached over and grabbed Faradal where neck connected with shoulder and pinched very specific clusters of nerve-endings; the result being that ensign Faradal slumped over unconscious in his seat. Tuvok instantly transferred control of the shuttle to his station and proceeded to head for the gorge he had discovered.

"What are you doing?!" Karalga wondered, panic in her voice.

The shuttle shook as rocks showered across it after klingon disruptor-cannons blasted the ground dozens of feet below.

"Lieutenant commander" Tuvok said, focusing on remaining calm, "you are relieved of command according to Starfleet regulation six-one-nine for the duration of this engagement."

"Ensign?!" Karalga could barely believe it, despite the mental state she found herself in.

But the kaitian did not argue any further as she took note of what was up ahead of them, closing fast; a narrow passage cleaving a massive mountain in two, leaving a narrow gorge that allowed passage through to the opposite side, and Tuvok was heading straight for it.

"We'll never fit!"

Tuvok was not persuaded by the emotional outburst of the chief science officer. "On the contrary, lieutenant commander" he simply said, "the klingons will not fit."

The shuttle, as per Tuvoks commands, locked on to the klingon vessel hunting them with its tractor-beam moments before Tuvok flew into the narrow passage. The klingon D3 assault-craft was about to veer off to avoid crashing into the mountain, but was instead forcefully dragged behind the shuttle until it slammed into the mountainside, both wings ripped clean off as the main hull of the vessel was pulled along by the Starfleet-shuttles tractor-beam. The remains of the klingon craft bounced between the cliffs, plating denting and breaking off, flames erupting from exposed sections and eventually fuel-cells detonating. As Tuvok cleared the gorge on the other side, the tractor-beam only had a twisted carcass of the klingon vessel dragged behind it. Tuvok disengaged the tractor-beam, leaving the remains of the klingon craft flying off to tumble along the lunar surface.

Tuvok turned to face his superior officer, who was both amazed and speechless. "Lieutenant commander" the vulcan said, "what are your orders? I feel obligated to remind you of commander Gars order, that in the case of the away-team being in jeopardy, we were to return to the Excelsior and report."

"We can't leave them behind." Karalga spoke in a state of chock, more than issuing an order.

But ensign Tuvok could not tell the difference. "As you wish. We shall head back and extract our fellow officers."

XXX XXX

Gars and the others had found cover behind some large boulders. Up on the ridge of the crater, the remains of their shuttle lay in a twisted heap. Circling the crater was the klingon vessel that had blasted their shuttle and killed their pilot.

"No, no, no!"

Gars turned around as the medical officer was heard over the commlink. He was struggling with keeping lieutenant Haji alive; wounded in the arm, her brachial artery had been severed by the ballistic that had hit her, and she was bleeding out rapidly.

"I'm loosing her!" the medical officer said. "Stay with me, lieutenant!"

"Incoming!"

Gars turned around again, spotting the device dropped by the klingon craft. Everyone ducked as it struck ground, but nothing happened. As they all got up on their knees, the science officer got a spike on his equipment.

"Massive surge of tetryon radiation" lieutenant Sjoberg said, his deep-blue spacesuit marking him as a science-officer.

Gars realized what it meant and tried to fire her phaser, but it refused to respond. "They've taken out our phasers" she said and turned her attention at the circling craft overhead; like a vulture circling a carcass. "They're coming down after us."

As she said it, four klingons in spacesuits exited the vessel and began a freefall towards the surface and the crater. Commander Gars picked up a sturdy piece of rock from the ground, eyes ever locked on the klingons as they fell from the sky.

Gars clinched her jaw as she spoke, knowing fully well what was about to happen. "Get ready."

XXX XXX

Korax leaned in over the klingon in charge of scans and turned a dial himself, as if not truly accepting what their sensors was telling them. He almost chuckled, a bit amused, as he eventually turned to his lord and commander.

"Lord Koloth" Korax said and walked over to the captain of the IKS Gr'oth. "A lone object has ventured outside the cover the rings." As Korax had expected, it caught Koloths interest. "Scanners indicate a bio-signature."

Koloth found it as puzzling as his second in command. "On viewer" he ordered and soon the object was in full view up on the main screen of the bridge.

Every klingon on the bridge were taken by surprise watching the object, unsure of what it was they were looking at as a humanoid, wearing a Starfleet spacesuit, seemed to be waving at them in a friendly manner.

XXX XXX

The humanoid and spacesuit rematerialized on the Gr'oths main transporter-pad, six klingon warriors standing in wait and armed to the teeth, Korax being one of them. Having been successfully transported onboard, the humanoid eventually found his balance as he was suddenly subjected to gravity after having been free-floating in space. Instantly, the klingons closed in to subdue their prisoner.

"Easy now!" Curzon Dax said from within the confines of his spacesuit. "Easy! Easy!"

XXX XXX

Curzon, having been stripped of his spacesuit, and quite violently so, was thrown to the floor by two klingon warriors. His body now bruised and aching, the trill slowly climbed back on his feet and tried his best to ignore the pain. He quickly realized he had been taken to the Gr'oths audience-chamber; torches alight along the walls, the banners of the klingon empire, along with the banners of house Lasshar, covered the wall behind an impressive throne. And on that throne sat Koloth, klingon warlord and hero of the empire, bat'leth in hand.

"The bold trill" Koloth said and drank from a cup of blood-wine. "We meet again."

"We do, lord Koloth" Curzon said, tossing a quick glance over his shoulder at the eight other klingons in the room; naturally, all armed with disruptor-pistols and edged weapons. Turning back to the lord of the ship, the trill tried to appear as bold as possible. "I speak to you as the voice of the Federation. I would have you listen to me, as if I was the will of the Federation."

Koloth interrupted quickly enough. "And I speak to you as lord of House Lasshar!" the klingon growled, his words trembling with a subdued roar. "No riddles, trill; what do you want?"

Curzon took a defiant step forward, causing a few klingons to instinctively ready themselves to kill him. Dax tried his best to ignore them, despite the bloodthirsty klingons standing mere feet away from him. "I am here to barter a truce" he said, "a seize-fire to allow the truth to emerge victorious."

"Barter?" Koloth growled. "You would treat me as a ferengi?!"

Koloth was out of his throne in a heartbeat, and with bat'leth in one hand, he freed his d'k tahg from its scabbard and pressed it against the trills throat. Curzon, in the midst of fear filling his entire being, was impressed by the speed the massive klingon had possessed.

"Then kill me" Curzon eventually said, meeting Koloths gaze without flinching, "and let your honor be sullied with glory bestowed by romulan deception."

Koloth leaned in, a growl trembling in his throat as he eyed the trill with cold eyes. In the end, he returned his dagger to its place in his belt and took a step back.

"Kor wasn't lying when he said you are not like other Federation envoys."

Curzon, unable to release a sigh of relief, did manage to smile at the mention of Kor. "So, my good friend Kor has spoken of me? Then you know, Koloth of Lasshar, that I, Curzon of Dax, am a man of honor and would not deny you glory in battle."

Taking a step back, Koloth eyed the trill with quite some suspicion, resting his bat'leth in his arms across his chest. "Yet, you are here to convince me not to destroy the Excelsior? Despite the fact that honor demands it."

"Honor demands that the cowardly spies that stole your data-files are killed" Curzon pointed out. "I am here to tell you that those cowards are romulans."

"Can you prove this?" Korax cut in with a snarl.

Curzon Dax turned to look directly at Korax. "You interrupted us as we chased after them" he said and then turned back to Koloth. "Halt your attack on the Starfleet crewmembers, and let us work together in finding the cowardly romulans, so that we can punish them for their dishonorable ways."

Koloth gave the matter some thought as he returned to his throne. "I will not deny my warriors glory in battle" he said and sat down. "For now, they may kill as they please."

Curzon was not satisfied with the response. "Even if I can prove that the romulans are responsible for all of this?"

"Bring me this proof" Koloth replied, "and I will hunt down and kill the romulans guilty of this treachery. But I will not order my warriors to retreat from battle, and I will not ask of them to forsake victory just to please you, Curzon of Dax."

Curzon knew he had to work quickly to convince Koloth to trust him, or else many more crewmembers of the USS Excelsior would die before this day was over.

XXX XXX

Lieutenant Rork, the science officer, screamed out of pain and fear and desperation as a klingon slashed his spacesuit wide open with a bat'leth. Oxygen and blood almost exploded out from the open tear, forcing the klingon to take several steps back not to be knocked over. Sjoberg, the medical officer, was thrown to the side in the low-gravity environment by another klingon, flying a good six meters before bouncing off the ground.

Vladorim, the engineer on the away-team, wrestled a third klingon together with ensign Baum, the last of the security-officers still alive. The klingon was roaring inside his helmet as his opponents tried to wrestle a mek'leth out of his grip.

Gars ended up on her back, or rather, the back of her bulky spacesuit, as the fourth klingon dragged her down. Landing on top of her, Gars just managed to stop the klingon from puncturing her suit with his d'k tahg; in desperation, she took the rock she held in her hand and slammed it against the klingons helmet. She did it again and again until the visor eventually cracked and two narrow jets of vapor escaped. It did little to persuade the klingon warrior from halting his attack; instead, he seemed more determined to push his dagger into the chest of his enemy.

Sjoberg looked up just as the klingon that had thrown him came flying at him, slamming into Sjoberg and pinned him to the ground. Paralyzed by fear, the medical officer screamed as the klingon impaled him through the gut.

Vladorim was kicked to the side, but in turn, Baum managed to wrestle the mek'leth out of the klingons grasp. A quick slash, all force and no finesse, ripped open the klingons suit across the leg. The klingon put pressure on the gash with one hand and pulled a dagger with the other and plunged it into Baums shoulder. Baum let out a fierce howl of pain, anger, fear and insanity as he in turn started chopping wildly at his opponent with the mek'leth; cutting open the klingons spacesuit at random as each strike was fueled with desperation.

Vladorim looked up as both Baum and the klingon they had wrestled succumbed to their wounds and the loss of oxygen, falling over in the dust of the lunar satellite. But there was no time to think about it, as another klingon swung a bat'leth and completely severed the engineers arm with a single strike; Vladorim cried out, out of pain, as leaking oxygen acted like a thruster and pushed him into a violent spin, a spin that eventually crashed him into a rock-formation and knocked out him out cold.

Gars cracked the visor of the klingon helmet wide open with a final strike, a massive jet of atmosphere was sucked out from the spacesuit and in the end left the klingon gasping for air as he was exposed to the unforgiving void. Commander Gars quickly came back on her feet, rock in hand, and surveyed the situation. Her entire away-team was dead, killed, and she was now on her own against the two remaining klingons. The stand off lasted for seconds, but felt like hours. Breathing heavily inside of her helmet, Nathalie Gars summed up her options and came to just one conclusion.

She reached down and grabbed a device strapped to the thigh of the dead klingon at her feet. The last klingons instantly came at her at full speed. Gars took aim as a klingon leapt at her, bat'leth ready to strike, and the Starfleet commander launched the jagged-edged harpoon point-blank, nearly impaling the klingon clean through. With his spacesuit pierced, the klingon flew away, unable to control his movements as oxygen was violently escaping his suit.

Gars parried the second klingons attack with the harpoon-pistol, pushed to the side and forced to stumble by the sheer impact of the blow. Regaining her footing, the klingon was already swinging his bat'leth a second time at her; it was by sheer instinct that Gars threw herself backwards and out of harms way, landing on her back once more. The klingon was triumphantly stepping over towards her and raised the bat'leth over his helmet, ready to let it come down in one single victorious blow.

The harpoon, launched by Gars stolen weapon, pierced the visor of the klingons helmet without shattering it. Instead, the klingon took a few steps back, almost as if surprised, before drops of purple blood was pulled out from within the helmet along the length of the harpoon. Gars watched as the klingon warrior slowly fell to his knees and, in the end, fell over on the ground itself.

The Starfleet commander climbed back on her feet, trying to catch her breath, stumbled and regained her footing and then took a look around. Her away-team dead and four klingons dead. No sign of any romulans. Suddenly, she was engulfed in bright white light, and shielding her eyes with a hand, she looked up at the hovering klingon D3 assault-vessel that was looking down at her from above. She stood no chance, and she knew it.

Out of nowhere, the klingon craft took several hits from phaser weapons. Gars could hardly believe it as a Starfleet shuttle swept in and circled the klingon vessel; a Starfleet officer standing on its roof, firing a phaser-rifle, while secured in place with magnetic boots as well as duranium tow-cables. The distraction was enough to provoke the klingons to take chase. As the klingons came up behind the Starfleet shuttle and opened fire, they discovered the rear hatch wide open and two Starfleet officers firing phaser-rifles back at them.

With the main threat out of the way, a second Starfleet shuttle came in for a landing in the crater and Gars quickly hurried towards it. Climbing aboard and sealing the airlock, she was relieved to remove the helmet and get a chance to sit down and rest. The hatch leading to the cockpit opened and the commander was a bit surprised to find ensign Tuvok joining her.

"Commander" Tuvok said with little show of emotion. "We will return you to the Excelsior for medical treatment. The remainder of your away-team will be retrieved at a later time."

Gars merely nodded, exhausted and out of breath as she was.

The shuttle took off and headed for the Excelsior as fast as possible. Not far away, the third shuttle was doing its best avoiding klingon fire, while the three officers wearing the brown of Starfleet Security, armed with phaser-rifles, returned fire as best they could. The officer secured to the roof of the shuttle was none other than recently promoted lieutenant commander Atl, chief of security.

While firing his phaser-rifle, he spoke over the commlink. "Get ready to line them up! On my mark!"

The klingons came up right behind them, taking fire from the three phaser-rifles. Lieutenant Commander Atl knew there would be no second chances.

"Do it!" Atl ordered. "Do it now!"

The shuttles co-pilot did as commanded and released a container previously secured to the belly of the shuttle. All three security-officers took aim and fired their weapons at the container, and upon hitting it, the small amount of anti-matter that it carried was released as the containment-field was ruptured. Instantly, as the anti-matter came into contact with matter, a large explosion erupted, engulfing the klingon vessel that had no time to avoid it. Badly crippled, the klingon craft crashed towards the surface.

"Alright" Atl said with a smile. "Let's head back home."