The IKS Gr'oth increased velocity as it was diving down towards the rings of dust and debris surrounding the planet of Korvat Six, and the enemy-vessel hiding within them. Onboard, Korax studied the details and graphs of their intended plan of attack.

"Warp-core ready to eject" Korax reported. "Time to ejection, twenty seconds."

Koloth said with a finger hovering over a key on a console attached to his chair; pressing that specific button would launch the ships warp-core into space, sending it and all of the anti-matter that it contained towards the USS Excelsior. Effectively a bomb with the power to destroy an entire continent.

"Fifteen seconds" Korax said, following the Gr'oths attack-run on the screens of the bridge.

Koloth slowly moved his finger closer to the key that would doom Hikaru Sulu and the USS Excelsior; the ship, with all of its crew, would die by his hand, by his command. Today, honor would be satisfied.

A massive explosion shook the IKS Gr'oth, sending klingons standing upright falling over and tumbling along the floor. Koloth was almost thrown from his seat and others were. Red lights flashed and a klaxon roared throughout the ships corridors and compartments.

XXX XXX

"The Gr'oth has been hit!" Mogh reported and, like the rest on the bridge of the IKS HaH'vat, turned to watch events unfold on the main viewer.

Kang saw the flames and smoke erupting from the rear of the klingon battleship, below its main impulse-engines. Dax felt the tension build on the bridge, and in his chest and stomach, as the damaged IKS Gr'oth was leaving a thick trail of dense smoke behind it. He could not help but hope it was enough to save the Excelsior and her crew from certain death.

XXX XXX

"Core-breach!" Bakula roared, the Main Advisor relaying the information provided by his station on the bridge of the IKS Gr'oth. "Dilithium detonation in eight seconds!"

"We must eject the core!" Korax growled, clinging to the seat of a control-station.

"Ejecting!" Koloth shouted and hit the console with a clenched fist.

The warp-core shot out from the open hull on the battleships belly, a rod glowing brightly blue as it slowly began to spin on its descent towards the rings below.

"Braga!" Koloth snarled at the pilot from his seat. "Raise shields and take us out of here!"

Braga did not bother answering his lord, instead, the pilot of the IKS Gr'oth pulled two of the four levers used to steer the ship towards him as hard as he could; as he did, the ship struggled to obey the commands as the Gr'oths inertia-dampeners took serious abuse in order to comply with the pilots wishes.

XXX XXX

Mogh studied the scans of the situation unfolding. "The Gr'oth has veered off. They have ejected their warp-core. The core will impact with the rings in thirteen seconds."

"Are we safe?" Dax wondered.

Mogh eyed the trill, almost with loathing. "As safe as we can be" he answered.

"All power to shields" Kang ordered, appearing almost calm despite the situation at hand.

XXX XXX

Almost a hundred personnel of the Excelsiors crew were outside, in spacesuits or operating shuttles, conducting repairs to get the ship prepared for leaving the safety of the rings. All of a sudden, a bright flash erupted far above and directly behind the USS Excelsior, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turning to take a look.

A few seconds later, the blast hit them.

XXX XXX

Kang and Dax, along with all the klingons on the bridge of the HaH'vat, watched as the explosion tore a great rift in the rings, obliterating matter in a matter of seconds.

Kang got up on his feet. "Quick! Status of the Gr'oth?!"

One of the klingons quickly adjusted his screens. "Adrift, my lord, but with life-support."

"They are not answering our hails" Mogh added.

Another klingon turned his chair to deliver his findings. "We have two-hundred and thirty-two life-signatures on the Gr'oth. All klingon."

Mogh sounded almost dismayed. "Out of a crew of four-hundred."

Dax swallowed, clearing his throat from the lump of angst that had built up there. "And the Excelsior?" he eventually dared to ask.

A bit reluctantly did Mogh check the status of the Federation vessel. "Adrift with life-support. One-hundred and sixty-three life-signatures, multiple species."

Curzon Dax felt pressure in his chest, a hole growing in his belly. "By the gods" he whispered. "The Excelsior had a crew of five-hundred."

Kangs expression was grim and determined. As he spoke, his voice seemed deeper than usual. "Pilot! Turn us around and plot an intercept-course with the IKS Gr'oth."

XXX XXX

Director Rukat had a vicious smile on his lips as he saw what had taken place in orbit of Korvat Six. The klingon ship, the IKS Gr'oth, was heavily damaged and adrift, as was the USS Excelsior; both ships had suffered massive casualties to their crews. Somehow, the thought of so many klingons and Starfleet officers, all enemies of the Cardassian Empire, was most satisfying. He turned around as a small group of romulans entered the bridge of the cardassian cargo-ship.

"A successful detonation" Rukat said, ever smiling. "Both ships are more or less destroyed with hundreds of crew dead on both ships."

"And the HaH'vat?" D'jalel inquired.

"Turning around" Rukat admitted. "But heading for the Gr'oth. For the moment, the Excelsior has some respite from klingon wrath." Rukat turned his attention back to the ships surrounding Korvat Six, as seen on the main screen of the bridge. "The HaH'vat suffered only minor damage from the explosion. What ever the case, the Excelsior will stand no chance of escaping Kang and his ship; the Excelsior, and the information it carries, will be destroyed before ever reaching Federation space. Your mission has failed, commander."

"My mission has altered somewhat" D'jalel said in response. "Tell me, director, how many men do you have onboard right now?"

Director Rukat offered D'jalel a glance. "At the moment? Fourteen, with thirty-six back at Korvat City. As you recall, we were in a bit of a rush to hunt down your human spy."

"Excellent" D'jalel said and turned to give her fellow romulans, five in total after having successfully transported onboard both agents from the pod attached to the IKS Gr'oth. The romulan commander then turned her attention back at Rukat. "Then I am afraid I have no choice but to commandeer your ship, director."

D'jalel grabbed hold of Rukat and forced him to his knees, and a split second later, snapped his neck. Before the director even had hit the floor, the other romulans opened fire with their disruptors, gunning down the cardassians operating the bridge. Within a few seconds, all eight cardassians found on the bridge were dead.

"Find the others" D'jalel told her subordinates. "Kill them all."

"At once" Toldol said and took point as he and the other romulans headed to clear out the ship from any cardassian presence.

XXX XXX

Eckenwald was applying a bandage to his captains head, Sulu having suffered a nasty cut along his brow that had covered his face in blood. Sulu had been lucky; most of his crew were either badly injured, severely injured even, or dead. Or soon to be dead. The doctor had thrown his uniform-jacket to the side long before treating the captain; his clothes covered in sot and blood, the blood of others, red, blue, green and yellow. Sulu was also a mess, covered in his own blood, as well as sot, his uniform torn and ruined.

Sulu took a quick look around and saw his bridge in shambles; the dead were still being removed, having died by their stations or lay scattered on the floor. He sighed with relief as he spotted Nathalie Gars, his executive officer, still alive, her right arm and leg treated for burns.

"There you go" Eckenwald said as he secured the bandages in place. "Just leave it be and it will heal within the next sixteen hours."

"Thank you, doctor" Sulu said and slowly pushed himself out of his captains chair.

"What the hell happened?" Eckenwald wondered as he took a look at the ruined bridge, floor cracked and ceiling caving in, stations burning and blood splattered here and there.

"No idea" Sulu said as he tried to button his jacket, but the pain in his ribs was a constant obstacle to overcome. "But whatever it was, it did a number on us."

"Captain" Gars said as she limped on over. "Initial reports indicate that we have life-support on most decks, artificial gravity is functional on half the ship. Main power is down and auxiliary is only operational at thirty-two percent."

"And the Gr'oth?" Sulu wondered, instinctively looking at the broken viewscreen before turning back to Gars.

Gars shook her head. "We have no way of knowing, captain. We are blind and def and disabled. Unable to see, move or make contact with anyone."

At that point, ensign Tuvok entered the bridge, a cut over his left eye and bandages wrapped around his right arm. "Captain. Commander" he said and gained the attention of the superior officers. "I regret to report that lieutenant commander Karalga is dead. Crushed beneath a collapsing bulkhead."

The news made Sulu and his commander and chief medical officer lower their heads in grief. Eckenwald cursed in his native german language and Gars found a chair to sit down in, resting her weary body.

Tuvok took a moment to remember his mental training and regained his ability to focus. "I took the liberty to reroute power to the primary-hulls fourth sensor-grid, and I have linked the readings to this datapad" the vulcan said and handed over the pad to Sulu. "It is an electromagnetic image of our aft sectors… clearly depicting the IKS Gr'oth."

Sulu took a moment to figure out what he was looking at as the datapad displayed waves and curves in various colors. But in the end, he too spotted the clear shape of a klingon vessel in the midst of colors and lines.

Tuvok, arms folded on his back, explained what the captain was looking at. "The electromagnetic scans clearly indicate that the IKS Gr'oth is badly damaged, but still has power. What ever it was that damaged us, also damaged the Gr'oth."

"The romulans" Eckenwald said, hands resting on his hips and shaking his head. "Bloody pointy-eared bastards! They did this!"

"Indeed, doctor" Tuvok said. "For some reason, they decided to intervene. I suspect that they found out that the klingons were about to destroy us and decided to prevent that from happening."

"And what of the other klingon ship?" Sulu inquired.

"Unknown" Tuvok admitted. "It is either out of our sensor-range, or, positioned ahead of us."

"I'll find Shrav" Gars said and got back on her feet. "See what shape we are in."

"Do that" Sulu nodded. "And find lieutenant commander Atl while you're at it, and send him up here."

"Right away" Gars said and headed for the turbolifts.

Eckenwald watched the commander leave and then turned to his captain. "Sulu, we are in no condition to take on the klingons. The ship is unable to fly and most of the crew are dead. We should consider surrendering."

Sulu looked at Eckenwald with almost insane eyes, appearing even more dramatic with his face covered in sot and blood, wrapped in bandages. "Surrender?!" he frowned and shook his head. "I will not surrender to klingon scum! Never! I will not let them get away with murder and slaughter as they please! I have lost too many friends, too many good officers because of their barbaric customs! They attack our ships and we accept their apologies! They raid our colonies and we accept their tokens of good will! Well, not any more! It ends here! Today, we fight back! Today, we do not surrender! Today, we kill as many of them as they kill of us! Because today, I have had enough! And I will not surrender this ship, or this crew, to anyone; be it klingons or romulans or cardassians! So let them come! Let them come and I will greet them with phasers and hate! Do you hear me doctor?! HATE!"

Sulu stormed off the bridge, disappearing into his ready-room, leaving behind crew that were baffled at the outburst. Awkwardly, everyone returned to their duties, trying to treat the injured, repairing the bridge or removing the dead.

XXX XXX

Koloth, sitting in his chair on the bridge, was breathing heavily to cope with the pain burning in his broken body. Klingons were trying to put out fires all around, thick smoke gathering in the ceiling. All screens flickered and their images were distorted. His crew did their best to keep the ship operational as damage-reports flooded in from every deck.

"Braga!" Koloth growled. "Braga!" he repeated but got no response.

Korax limped on over to the pilots-station at the fore of the bridge and found the ships pilot slumped over his controls. The executive officer pulled the dead pilot from the seat and sat himself down by the controls of the IKS Gr'oth.

"Braga is dead" Korax reported as he pressed keys and flicked switches to gain control of the vessel. "Korax is the pilot."

"Good" Koloth nodded and sat himself up straight in his chair, grinning from pain. "The Excelsior… Is it destroyed?"

"No, my lord" Korax reported and aimed a finger at the main viewer and its out of focus depiction of the Starfleet vessel. "It is adrift in open space. No longer protected by the rings."

Koloths face turned into a fierce snarl. "Redirect power to weapons… Attack!"

Koraxs only response was a growl as he operated the controls of the battleship in order to follow his lords command.

XXX XXX

Tuvok entered the ready-room and found the captain behind his desk, the room itself appeared as if a hurricane had redecorated it. Sulu was going through information on a datapad when he spotted the vulcan.

"What is it, ensign?"

"Captain" the young vulcan said as he tried to avoid stepping on the debris that filled the room. "I came to inform you that it appears as if the Gr'oth is heading towards us. The klingons appear intent on our destruction and a response is advisable."

"Response?" Sulu said with a sneer. "Are you here to convince me to surrender as well?"

"On the contrary, captain. A surrender at this point is not logical, for the klingons will not accept a surrender when they are this close to achieving victory. Our only two options are to either self-destruct, or, force the klingons to accept defeat."

Sulu slowly turned to eye the young ensign. "Defeat?"

"They are severely damaged, captain" Tuvok said, "and have no shields, as far as I can tell, using very rudimentary sensors. We have Shravs neutrino-probes and can destroy their ability to utilize disruptors."

"And their photon-torpedoes?"

Tuvok felt forced to let out a sigh as he replied to the question. "Concerning their ability to utilize photon-torpedoes, all I can say is… We will have to rely on a calculated risk that they do not have the ability to launch their torpedoes."

Sulu got out of his chair and placed the datapad in his hands on his desk. Hikaru Sulu studied the vulcan joining him in the ready-room as he gathered his thoughts.

"Ensign" Sulu eventually said. "Launch the probes. And have everyone man their battle-stations."

"At once, captain."

"And ensign."

Tuvok stopped just as the door opened to allow him to leave the ready-room, and turned to face the captain.

"Consider yourself the ships acting chief science officer, as of now."

Tuvok appeared somewhat uncertain of the decision, but in the end, he seemed to accept it. "Thank you, captain" he said and left the ready-room.

Sulu walked over to a panel in the wall and removed it and retrieved the belt with a holster and phaser-pistol, securing it around his waist. With the phaser in hand, he adjusted it to the kill-setting.

XXX XXX

"The Gr'oth has shut down their engines and redirected all power to their disruptors" Mogh told his lord and master. "The Excelsior has no shields and are undefended."

"Kang, stop them!" Dax exclaimed and turned to the lord of the IKS HaH'vat. "You know the romulans are behind this."

"Koloth refuses to listen to reason" Kang said. "And he will not power down his weapons at the moment of victory. Once Hikaru is dead and the Excelsior is destroyed, Koloth will be satisfied and will listen to what you have to say."

"After they are all dead?!" Dax felt frustration grow. "Kang, you know that their deaths are meaningless. There is no honor to be had here if it all was a romulan deception."

Mogh sneered and snarled. "Our scans tell us it was a Federation torpedo that struck the Gr'oth. It's shields were down and left vulnerable, and was hit by a new Starfleet weapon. Koloth has every right to engage and destroy the Excelsior."

"What of the two matter-transfers you discovered?" Dax countered. "Two humanoids were beamed off the Gr'oth seconds before the ship was attacked. Are you telling me that is not suspicious?"

Mogh snarled and waved his arm to dismiss the trill. "You make no sense!"

"You know I do!" Dax argued. "Do you really think the Excelsior launched a cloaked torpedo? And that Koloth transported two members of his crew off the ship moments before that torpedo hit?"

"Mogh" Kang eventually said. "Where did those matter-transfers rematerialize?"

"Unknown" Mogh was forced to admit, "but the matter-streams were pulled towards Korvat Five."

"Korvat Five is uninhabited" Curzon pointed out to Mogh and then turned back to Kang. "I bet there is a ship there, in orbit."

Kang gave Mogh a long look and the HaH'vats second in command understood what it meant, and turned to a station and turned a few dials to adjust the ships scanners.

"A cardassian cargo-ship" Mogh eventually said. "The Grelkat, in high orbit of Korvat Five."

"That is the enemy" Dax said and placed himself directly in front of Kang. "That ship beamed aboard two romulan agents, the two romulans that detonated an explosive-device on the Gr'oth. Intercept that ship, Kang, and you will find glory in revealing, and defeating, your true enemy."

They were, however, interrupted as a klingon serving on the bridge called out for everyone to hear. "The Excelsior has launched four probes! Dispersed to envelop the Gr'oth!"

Mogh confirmed the readings. "Four probes. Blasting the space between them with neutrinos."

Dax shook his head. "Damn it, Sulu… You just don't know when to quit, do you."

XXX XXX

"My lord!" Bakula said as he looked over his shoulder at Koloth. "All our tetryon-devices have detonated; the entire ship is flooded with dangerous levels of tetryon-radiation. We will all die from radiation-sickness if we do not get medical attention, or abandon ship in thirty-six hours."

Korax checked his instruments, and as he did, slammed his controls with both fists. "All disruptors are jammed! We have no weapons! The disruptors are disabled and the torpedo-launcher was damaged by the blast!"

Koloth turned into a massive frown and spat at the floor with a snarl. "Ready boarding-parties…" the klingon warlord said with a growl escaping his throat, "have every warrior arm himself for close-quarters-combat. We launch all boarding-craft in twenty minutes."

Korax got out of the pilots-seat and slowly nodded at the command given by Koloth. Pride filled his chest and his heart pumped with a lust for bloodshed as the prospect of engaging the enemy in hand-to-hand-combat filled his thoughts.

"This day, lord Koloth, we shall heap glory upon your name as we slaughter our foe in honorable combat."

Koloth freed his bat'leth, secured as it was next to his chair, and stood up, tall and resolute in front of his crew. "We charge them head on! For glorious victory, or glorious death! For today, my fellow warriors, is a good day to die."

XXX XXX

"Eight large shuttlecraft, four medium sized and six smaller shuttles" Tuvok told the senior staff of the USS Excelsior that had gathered in the main briefing-room. "Every shuttle available on the IKS Gr'oth has left the ship and is heading straight for us. Combined, they can carry half of the ships crew."

Atl was first to address the report. "The other half can be beamed aboard our ship, fifty men at a time. They will beam aboard moments before the transports breach our hull. Their primary objectives will most likely be engineering and the bridge."

Gars nodded in agreement. "If they take control of those two sections, they will effectively control the ship, leaving us all at their mercy."

"Barricades are being built at key junctions throughout the ship" Shrav said. "The klingons will be forced to attack prepared defenses, to the best of our abilities. I have instructed the crew to throw out broken glass and any pieces of sharp debris they can find to make the klingon advance as difficult as possible."

"All in all, captain" lieutenant Angred, the tellarite, said and turned to Sulu, "we will give those stinking bastards a fight the rest of them will sing songs about."

"Good work, all of you" Sulu said, unable to hide the pride he felt. "We have all faced the challenge of the Kobayashi Maru" he then reminded them of the famous test of Starfleet Academy, placing the cadets in a no-win situation, "facing impossible odds. I had the honor of serving with the only captain that beat those odds. Captain Kirk did not believe in no-win situations. Captain Kirk did not believe in defeat. If it's one thing that my service on the USS Enterprise taught me, it was that there is always a way. There is always hope. Remember that today… No matter the situation, there is always hope."