The klingon shuttles flew in towards the broken form of the USS Excelsior, its hull cracked and dented at multiple places, jets of smoke and atmosphere venting from several hull-breaches. One by one, the klingon vessels attached themselves to the hull of the Federation starship, at viewports or airlocks, and within moments had forced an entry.

"Koloths forces has boarded the ship" Mogh said.

"It has begun" Kang nodded, sitting in his captains chair.

Dax was pacing, frustrated and nervous of the reports that was to come from the battle that was about to take place on the decks of the USS Excelsior.

"My lord" Mogh then said, sounding a bit surprised. "We are being hailed by the IKS Klothos."

"The Klothos?" Kang sounded just as surprised.

At the mention of the ship, Curzon Dax suddenly felt relieved and even hopeful.

"On viewer" Kang ordered.

A few short seconds later, a flickering image of the famous klingon warlord known as Kor of House Ryna appeared; the flickering indicating he was transmitting from a cloaked vessel.

"Hail, Kang!" the klingon noble burst out, smiling wide and chuckled, holding up a cup of blood-wine in a toast.

"Kor, son of Rynar" Kang replied in a more traditional manner.

"You have a trill on your ship" Kor then said, after drinking a large mouthful of blood-wine. "If it is my good friend Curzon, I hope he is in better shape than that Starfleet cruiser."

"I am fine, Kor" Dax said and positioned himself to be seen in the opposite viewer.

"Bruised and black-eyed!" Kor laughed as he noted the trills current condition. "You never did learn when to duck, did you, Curzon!" Kor tossed his cup of wine to the side and smiled warmly. "Kang of Ansara, would you mind being a good host and offer a guest some wine and meat?"

At that moment, the IKS Klothos, a klingon Bird-of-Prey, decloaked to the starboard of the IKS HaH'vat, directly alongside the larger battlecruiser.

XXX XXX

Lieutenant commander Atl, along with four security-officers, all of them equipped with combat-vests and combat-helmets and armed with phaser-rifles, watched the klingon shuttles from a viewport along the aft of the saucer-section that gave the Starfleet officers a good look down at the secondary hull. Retrieving his commlink, Atl held it close to his mouth.

"Captain, the klingons have attached themselves to our hull. As far as I can tell, they have boarded us."

On the bridge, the area turned into a make-shift fort with each entrance barricaded and guarded, captain Sulu, also wearing a combat-vest, answered the lieutenant commander via his own commlink.

"Good work, mister Atl. Head back to you checkpoint."

"Yes, sir" came the reply over the static.

"Mister Shrav?" Sulu then said.

In a compartment filled with piping, vents, hydraulics and computers, lieutenant commander Shrav stood waiting with a team of which everyone wore the red of Starfleet Engineering department.

"Shrav here" the andorian responded in his own commlink.

Sulus voice was clearly heard over the commlink. "You may begin."

"Acknowledged. Shrav out."

The andorian turned and gave the men and women under his command a nod, and instantly, they began manually spinning six valves as fast as they could.

XXX XXX

Koloth jumped down from the open hatch of the craft that had secured itself to the hull of the Excelsior, having cut its way through the hull where a viewport once had been. A full dozen klingon warriors had secured the room and stood ready to advance further into the ship. They were all armed with bat'leths and mek'leths and other melee-weapons; as the tetryon-devices on the Gr'oth had detonated, all their disruptors, both cannons and handheld, had been made inoperable by the radiation, leaving the klingons with only edged weapons to conduct their assault with. Not that they minded it, quite the opposite.

"Korax?" Koloth said via his commlink.

"Korax here" the second in command responded. "Moving towards engineering. So far, no resistance."

Koloth snarled. "Be wary for ambushes. My men and I have set foot inside and will advance on the bridge."

"Affirmative, my lord. For honor and glory."

Koloth nodded. "Qapla'" he said in return and cut transmission, after which he took the lead and stepped out into the corridors of the Excelsior, followed by his warriors.

XXX XXX

One by one, the valves came to a sudden stop as they could be opened no further.

"All fuel-injectors manually opened!" an engineering lieutenant shouted across the room.

Shrav turned to the station he was waiting next to, placed a hand on the lever it offered, and then activated his commlink.

"Captain, this is Shrav. Hold on, we're igniting thrusters."

And with that, Shrav pulled the lever and the entire saucer-section shook.

Each of the aft-facing thrusters on the saucer-section ignited simultaneously, applying force to the primary hull of the USS Excelsior through basic rocket-science; slowly but surely, the saucer-section began moving away from the secondary-hull.

"Captain, we have momentum!" Shrav said over the commlink, unable to suppress his excitement. "Saucer-separation under way!"

XXX XXX

Korax and close to eighty klingon warriors stormed the engineering-section of the USS Excelsior, roaring and howling with their edged weapons ready to kill all resistance. But their bloodlust would soon fade as they realized there were no Starfleet officers present, no crew to fight them or protect the engineering-bay or the warp-core.

"Korax!" Bakula said as he leaned in over some of the Starfleet engineering-consoles. "The warp-core has been deactivated. The dilithium-chamber has been taken off-line. The ship has only basic power, nothing else; life-support and gravity, that's it."

"What are these cowards up to?" Korax growled as he looked around in hopes of finding some evidence of an ambush. "Where are they?!"

XXX XXX

Sulu listened to the low rumble as the thrusters pushed the massive saucer-section, sending a tremor through the entire primary-hull.

"Mister Tuvok" Sulu then said over the commlink. "You're up. Be careful."

Standing inside a shuttlecraft intended for VIP-duty, ensign Tuvok was clad in a spacesuit, save for the helmet. "Be assured, captain" the acting chief science officer replied, "I intend to." And with that, Tuvok closed transmission and turned to the pilot of the luxurious craft. "Ensign Faradal, if you please."

The aaamazzarite activated the shuttle and took it out of its docking-bay, located on the top of the saucer-section, facing aft and linked with the diplomatic guest-quarters of the ship. Faradal steered the shuttlecraft directly towards the secondary-hull that the saucer-section was increasing distance to.

On the bridge, Sulu and the others were suddenly overwhelmed by the noise of combat. Large explosions and the sound of phasers firing reached their ears and within seconds the roars of klingons mingled with the desperate cries of Starfleet officers. Lieutenant commander Atl hurriedly entered the bridge and made his way to the captain.

"Sir, the klingons are attacking checkpoints Bravo, Charlie and Echo. Full assault. This is it, they're coming. But they have no disruptors. So far they seem to rely on chock-grenades and smoke to screen their assaults."

"Hold the line, mister Atl" Sulu said, giving the chief of security a stern look. "We will provide you with reinforcements as you need them."

"Yes, sir" Atl said and hurried back to the fighting.

Eckenwald moved over to the captain, uncertainty and worry radiating from his inner core. "Damn it, Sulu… Is this really the way?"

"It is now" was Sulus cold response.

A response that did not sit well with the chief medical officer. "It will be a massacre, on both sides."

"They have no firearms" Sulu reminded Eckenwald, looking him straight in the eye. "We do. Their pride will be their downfall. They will come at us and we will gun them down, one by one."

"That simple, huh?" Eckenwald frowned and was not convinced. "If its one thing experience has taught me while patrolling the neutral zone, it is to never underestimate a klingon."

"Tend to the wounded, doctor" Sulu said with a clinched jaw, restraining himself not to make a scene in front of the crew.

Enraged and frustrated, Eckenwald sighed and left the captain, heading to perform his duty onboard the ship; treat the injured and keep them alive to the best of his abilities.

XXX XXX

Faradal settled the shuttle right on top of the neck-piece of the Excelsiors secondary-hull. The rear airlock opened and Tuvok stepped out into the void, carrying a large device with him as the thrusters on his spacesuit carried him towards a large, sealed hatch.

"Hurry up, Tuvok" Faradal said as he tried to spot enemy shuttles from his cockpit.

"Securing klingon torpedo in place" Tuvok reported his actions over the short-range commlink, as he sat kneeling and attached the warhead with magnets on top of the hatch. "Applying the device provided by lieutenant commander Shrav" he then said as he did exactly that, securing a small explosive to the warhead, custom-built by the ships chief engineer for the task at hand.

"Come on, come on" Faradal urged his fellow ensign.

Tuvok was not about to rush things. "May I remind you, ensign Faradal, that I am currently building a make-shift bomb out of a rigged fuel-cell and a klingon photon-torpedo, applied directly on top of the Excelsiors power-distribution system. Suffice to say, taking a short cut at this point could be extremely counter-productive."

Faradal shook his head, ever vigilant of incoming klingon shuttlecraft. "Tuvok, just get it done."

"That, ensign, is exactly my intention."

XXX XXX

Kor, wearing a sash of iron-chains and links over his attire of fur and armor, studied the scene as it unfolded on the screen in Kangs audience-chamber. The Excelsiors saucer-section was leaving the secondary-hull behind, slowly increasing distance with each second.

"Clever" Kor said, cup of wine in hand. "Hikaru of Akira just separated Koloths forces, halving the troops at his disposal to secure the bridge."

"Koloth has overcome greater odds" Kang reminded his fellow lord and noble.

Kor nodded and grinned. "True, the tough old targ has done that."

Curzon decided to cut in on the discussion, to try and steer it towards a more productive conclusion. "Kor, my dear friend, what about the romulans? You surely must see the evidence presented before us?"

Kor turned his bright yellow eyes on the trill, drank some wine and gave the matter some thought. "There is much strangeness surrounding these events. Like that vulcan, Sybok, knowing who would be here and why. And now you say cardassians are involved as well?"

"Possibly" Kang admitted and sipped his own goblet of blood-wine. "The matter-streams would suggest it is so."

"Kor, they have Emelie" Dax said, hoping it would spark some urge to go rushing into battle. "Emelie is at the mercy of dishonorable romulans and cowardly cardassians."

"Emelie?" Kor said. "Captured?" The warlord shook his head and sighed. "Grim news you bring me, Curzon of Dax. Emelie reminded me much of her father, the great Kirk, James of George. She had his spirit, the heart of a warrior. I liked her very much."

Dax grabbed hold of Kors clothing. "Then join with me, Kor, son of Rynar, as I, Curzon of Dax, charge into battle to rescue her from filth without honor."

Kor studied the trill, first by looking at the hand holding him, and then by locking eyes with the Federation ambassador. "Ha!" Kor burst out laughing and slapped Curzon over the shoulder, sending the trill stumbling a couple of steps. "I told you, didn't I, Kang?" Kor turned with a wide smile that bared his fangs. "After six generations, a trill can muster the courage of a klingon!"

"His words are those of a klingon" Kang admitted, "yet his tongue is still that of a trill."

"Trill, klingon, human, vulcan!" Kor said as he waved an arm about. "What does it matter? What matters is courage and honor! The very reason we all raise our cups as we hear the name Kirk. And Kirks daughter needs our help. Honor demands that we come to her aid, if only to honor her father, the great James of George, commander of the famed Enterprise."

"Even if her father wasn't Kirk…" Kang said, but did not finish the sentence as his eyes became locked to the large screen the chamber.

Dax and Kor both turned and saw what had distracted Kang; a series of massive internal explosions that, one by one, ripped the secondary-hull of the Excelsior apart from within, cracking it wide open and sending both nacelles spinning wildly into space.

Kor slowly raised his cup in honor of the klingons that mere seconds before had been obliterated. "For the Empire."

XXX XXX

"Captain" Tuvok said over the commlink, still wearing the spacesuit, looking out from the open airlock of the shuttlecraft. "Mission successful. The secondary-hull of the Excelsior has been destroyed. I fail to see how any klingons could have possibly survived."

On the saucer-section of the Excelsior, captain Sulu was engaged in the defense of checkpoint Charlie, together with a dozen Starfleet officers, armed with phaser-rifles and pistols. The corridor up ahead was filled with dense smoke, making it impossible to make out any targets, and matters were made worse as the klingons kept throwing chock-grenades, blasting the barricades with deafening noise and blinding light.

"Excellent work, mister Tuvok!" Sulu said in between firing his phaser-pistol at shadows moving in the wall of smoke. "Hurry back!"

"Not to worry, captain" Tuvoks voice sounded in the commlink. "Ensign Faradal will make sure of that."

Sulu flipped the commlink shut and returned it to his belt. A mek'leth came flying out of the smoke and hit a young female ensign of Engineering department in the leg; her screams of pain were clearly heard as medical personnel dragged her away for treatment.

Lieutenant commander Atl fired his phaser-rifle and a klingon was heard roaring as he hit his intended target. The chief of security ducked down into cover and took a moment to catch his breath.

"This is insane, captain" Atl said. "Their advance is slow, but they are advancing. And when their grenades start hitting our side of the barricades, we will have no other choice but to fall back."

Sulu took aim and fired his phaser, but could not tell if he hit anything, the wall of smoke covering the corridor was simply too dense. "Until that happens, we hold" Sulu growled as he took a knee next to Atl. "We need to inflict as many casualties as possible before we abandon any one of our checkpoint."

"Captain!"

Sulu and Atl turned around as commander Gars came limping towards them, badly injuried from laceration on her right arm and left leg. The blood covered her entire uniform. But what was perhaps more astonishing was the fact that she carried a bat'leth, a bat'leth covered in the purple blood of klingons.

"Captain" Gars said again, "Delta has fallen. We could not hold them, we had to fall back. Echo was overrun as well. Everything is falling apart."

Sulu cursed in his native tongue of japanese at the news. After a moment of thought, he grabbed his commlink. "Everyone, this is the captain; fall back to the bridge! I repeat, everyone, fall back to the bridge now!" Flipping the device shut, he then turned to his fellow staff officers. "Lets go!"

XXX XXX

Klingon warriors kicked down the barricades and pushed on through, at times stepping over the dead, at other times making sure their enemies were truly dead by slashing their bodies with their traditional klingon weaponry.

Bloodied, bruised and wounded, Koloth showed his warriors to the side as he made his way through the throng of klingons. His grip on his bat'leth turned his knuckles white. Koloth growled with each exhale as he took a long look at the sealed doorway in front of him. He was no expert in the languages of the Federation, but he knew at least that the eight words on the door, written in as many alien languages, translated into the klingon word for Bridge. Turning, his bloodthirsty gaze pierced his warriors.

"Open it."

Two klingons, larger and stronger than most of their species, stepped up and grabbed one half of the door each; their clawed fingers digging into the thin separation that split the doorway. All their comrades readied themselves to rush their enemy as soon as the doors had been forced open; they would charge into a wall of phaser-fire, climb over their own dead, and kill as many Starfleet officers as they could, using weapons, fists or teeth. Their eyes were mad with bloodlust, some of them had mouths foaming; fangs were bared and the sounds of wild animals, snarls and growls, erupted from every throat.

The doorway was opened, splitting in two and removed any obstacle between the corridor and the bridge of the USS Excelsior. The klingons charged!

But came to a halt after only a step or two as they realized they were faced by klingon warriors, aiming disruptor-pistols at them. The sheer surprise and unexpected turn of events, not to mention the anticlimax of not charging into a deadly maelstrom of bloody carnage, left the crew of the IKS Gr'oth baffled. And Koloth could barely believe his eyes as one of the opposing klingons took a step forward, a wide and confident grin stuck to his features.

"Koloth, old friend! You look like you could use a bath."

Koloth simply eyed the other klingon lord, amazed and bewildered. "Kor?" he then said, sounding as baffled as he was.

"And he is not alone" a deep, rumbling voice said, and pushing his way through the ranks of klingons on the opposite side of the doorway was none other than Kang. "Victory is yours, Koloth, son of Lasshar. Now, we have more important matters to resolve."

XXX XXX

"The IKS HaH'vat has detected a total of four matter-streams from orbit of Korvat Six" Dax explained, standing in the main briefing-room of the Excelsior. "Two from an unknown point of origin below the rings, roughly below the Excelsior. The last two were beamed off the Gr'oth and rematerialized somewhere in orbit of Korvat Five. We believe that these were romulan agents, beamed to safety by their allies, allies operating a cardassian cargo-ship called the Grelkat."

He was joined by the three intimidating klingons warlords, Kang, Kor and Koloth, as well as the captain of the USS Excelsior, Hikaru Sulu, and the young vulcan ensign, Tuvok.

Tuvok nodded. "The first two matter-streams were most likely the two mysterious figures that ejected out of the pod that was attached to our ship."

"And you have given us your word, Koloth, that you had nothing to do with this pod." Kor said, turning to Koloth as he did.

"You have my word of honor" Koloth said, still covered in the blood and sot of battle.

Dax let out a sigh of relief. "Then we all agree, that the theft of the datafiles was an act carried out by enemies of both the Federation and the Klingon Empire? We have a common enemy here. I invite you all to fight this enemy."

"You have my blade, Curzon of Dax" Kor grinned and offered the trill a nod of respect.

Sulu, poorly bandaged and mended, did his best not to appear weak in front of the klingons. But it was difficult to ignore his current state of condition. "We received a transmission from lieutenant Marcus-Kirk. She was attacked by romulans. Their ship, we believe, is now in orbit of Korvat Five.

"You think she's alive?" Dax said, filled with hope.

"You said she was alive and a captive" Kor growled at the trill.

"I am sorry" Curzon told his friend of some years, "I lied. I lied to get us this far."

Kor freed his d'k tagh, and managed a step closer to the trill before Kang intervened, placing a strong hand across Kors chest.

"Kill him later" Kang told Kor. "But now, we must deal with the enemies of the empire first. After that, house Ryna may satisfy its honor."

Kor sheathed his dagger with a frown and spat at the trill. An act that did make Curzon feel like a piece of filth for having betrayed the trust of a good friend.

"The house of Lasshar needs satisfaction as well" Koloth reminded Kang. "I claim this ship, and its crew, in the name of House Lasshar, as spoils of war."

"I will not accept surrender!" Sulu snapped.

"Gentlemen!" Dax quickly intervened. "Please, let us deal with the romulans and the cardassian ship first, and kill each other later. Lord Koloth, a Starfleet officer, the daughter of Kirk, is held captive by the romulans responsible for this entire incident. If honor demands satisfaction, surely that means killing the romulans responsible for the deaths of your warriors?"

"He speaks the truth, Koloth" Kang said. "I intend to find these romulans and bring them before the High Council. Within a week, the Klingon Empire will declare war on Romulus. It would be prudent to have the Federation as an ally in that conflict. Claim the Excelsior and destroy the stolen data. But keep its crew alive, shame them in the mines of Rura Penthe. Let the Federation bargain for their release."

Koloth walked over to Kang and placed himself so close that their breaths mingled.

"You ask a lot of House Lasshar, Kang… What do I get in return?"

"I give you command of my forces in the war against the romulans" Kang replied.

A reply that chocked Kor and took both Koloth and Dax by complete surprise.

Kor could hardly believe it. "Kang, have you lost your mind?!"

"I will not fight a war that dishonors the empire!" Kang growled, baring his fangs as he spoke. "I will not fight a war forced upon me by cowards and liars. You have heard my offer, Koloth… What will it be?"

Koloth looked at Kor, then back at Kang. "Very well" he eventually nodded. "On my word."

"Now wait just a damned minute!" Sulu interrupted.

"Captain, please!" Dax placed himself in front of Sulu as the man was about to rush on over to the three klingons. "Captain, I urge you to listen to reason."

"There is logic to the proposal, captain" Tuvok said.

"Logic?!" Sulu barked. "Rura Penthe is a death-sentence! Then I would rather die here, on my post!"

"Damn it, captain!" Dax barked in turn. "Either all of your crew dies here today, or some make it back alive from Rura Penthe. I give you my word that I will do all in my power to have you all released as soon as possible."

"Your word?!" Sulu frowned. "I have precious little confidence in your word of honor, ambassador."

Tuvok was next to try and calm the captain of the Excelsior. "Captain, if I may. If you allow your crew to be executed here today, you are betraying the oath you swore upon joining Starfleet, and the oath you took when taking command of a starship. Your ultimate goal, as a captain, is to ensure the survival of your crew. As it is, Rura Penthe is your only option in ensuring that outcome, concerning what little crew you have left."

Sulu, frown ever locked on his face, sneered. "You are a true vulcan, ensign Tuvok." Sulu then turned his attention at Kang. "If I agree to this, will you rescue the Starfleet officer held captive by the romulans on the cardassian freighter? To do what ever you can to return her alive."

"As I understand it" Kang said, "I need her alive to expose the romulan plot."

Sulu nodded. "Good… Then I surrender. I surrender my ship, and my crew, to Koloth of House Lasshar."

"Thank you, captain" Dax sighed with relief.

"On one condition" Sulu added. "That you take ensign Tuvok with you. He is a damn fine officer and just as clever as any romulan. Something tells me you will have need of him."

As Tuvok raised an eyebrow at the surprising twist, Dax turned to watch the klingons react. The klingons, in turn, glanced at one another. In the end, Kor was the one to step on over to the Starfleet ensign.

"Come, vulcan" Kor said as a grin slowly grew once more on his lips, the klingon placing a hand on Tuvoks shoulder and gripping it tight. "Let's hunt some romulans."