Kor and his klingons gunned down any romulan that came into view, cutting them down with their melee weapons if they came within reach as they came around a corner or stepped through a doorway. Dax was supporting Emelie as they went, discharging his weapon every now and then if he got an opportunity to take a shot at a romulan.

"This way!" Kor waved them on as he hurried down a corridor, stepping over three dead romulan engineers. "The shuttle-bay is not far!"

"Shuttle-bay?" Emelie wondered. "We can't fly through their shields with a shuttle."

"Don't worry" Dax tried to reassure the young lieutenant of Starfleet Intelligence, "a vulcan came up with the plan, and it wasn't Sybok, which means this will probably actually work."

"How comforting."

Around them, the klingons engaged more and more romulans, and incoming disruptor-fire was becoming more frequent the further they went as more enemy troops closed in on their position. Already, four of the klingon warriors had been killed in the fighting. They pressed on, fighting their way through the corridors of the romulan warship, killing reman shocktroops in hand to hand combat and taking cover from romulan soldiers firing disruptors at them at range. In the end, they finally reached their objective; the shuttle-bays.

"Go!" one of the three remaining klingon warriors told his lord. "We will hold them! For House Rynar!"

Kor grabbed his subordinate by the shoulder and nodded, all the while as enemy fire struck the walls around them. "Glory to you and your house, my friend."

With a mad howl, the klingon warriors rushed the enemy, guns blazing, and threw themselves into melee with mek'leths and bat'leths.

"Come!" Kor told Dax and Emelie. "Their glorious sacrifice must not be in vain!"

They hurried towards the closest of the shuttles and climbed onboard and strapped in, Emelie and Kor seated in the cockpit and Dax behind them in a passengers chair.

"You do know how to fly one of these things, right. Emelie?" Dax inquired somewhat worried. "The entire plan sort of depends on it."

Emelie was already operating the controls and getting the shuttle ready to take off. "Relax" she said, "I'm more worried about the disruptors on this Warbird."

Kor grinned, displaying his fangs for all to see. "Let us hope that Sto'Vo'Kor awaits!"

The klingon warlord slammed the controls and the shuttle they were in blasted the closed hangar-bay doors with several volleys of disruptor-fire until there was nothing to bar their escape. As the shuttle-bay violently lost atmospheric pressure, Emelie increased velocity and they left the innards of the romulan Warbird.

"Alright" Emelie said. "Now what?"

"There" Kor pointed beyond the viewport of the cockpit. "The ventral emitter-array, it controls both their shields and their cloak. Take us in and I will destroy it!"

Dax leaned forward. "When the cloak collapses, we will be able to escape."

"Not bad" Emelie said with a cocky smile and took the shuttle in for an attack-run.

The shuttle flew in towards the intended target and Kor made sure that the disruptors did as intended and disabled the emitter-array with a devastating barrage. Emelie pulled on the controls and made a sharp U-like maneuver as she forced the shuttle to reach full throttle, flying up between the two warp-nacelles and left the Warbird behind; a Warbird with is ventral cloak not functioning, leaving much of it in plain sight for sensors.

XXX XXX

On the bridge of the Warbird, the warships sensors and computers told everyone what had just taken place.

"Drop cloak and raise shields" the admiral ordered. "Bring us about and prepare a tractor-beam. I want them back onboard now."

"Yes, sir!" the commander replied and went to work.

"Admiral!" a sub-commander called out from across the bridge. "The HaH'vat has decloaked in sector three-one! Range, one light-second!"

The admiral realized what was about to happen. "Helm! Spin us around! Face the enemy with our port shields, now!"

XXX XXX

The IKS HaH'vat, having emerged out of cloak after successfully thrown the subspace-warhead of target, dove down upon the fully visible Warbird as it was still charging up its shields. The klingon battleship unleashed a full volley of disruptors, pulse-cannons and heavy cannons, not to mention torpedoes. The Warbirds hull was slammed by incoming fire, one warp-nacelle was blown apart and several sections of the main hull was blasted wide open before the ships shields started having effect.

XXX XXX

As the HaH'vat chased after the fleeing Warbird, guns firing, Emelie and Kor and Dax let out a sigh of relief as they watched the two large warship move away in the distance.

"Kahless bless you and your children, Kang" Kor said and thumped his chest with his fist as a sign of honoring his fellow lord. "Behold, my friends, the destruction of the cowardly romulans" he then said and pointed at the battle taking place.

Dax could not help but smile wide and grabbed Emelie by the shoulder and squeezed. "Told you this would most likely work out."

Emelie smiled in turn and nodded at the trill.

"Ah!" Kor now grinned with pride. "The Klothos" he said, almost with reverence.

Only a few hundred yards away from them, the IKS Klothos, a Bird-of-Prey, decloaked and emerged out of hiding. Within a second, Emelie and Dax dissolved into orange sparks of energy as a klingon transporter dematerialized them. Kor, however, was left untouched and he could only watch as the trill and the human vanished before his very eyes. Baffled, Kor felt his surprise transform into rage and bloodlust as the IKS Klothos, his own ship, cloaked once more and disappeared from all sensors. Kor, son of Rynar, roared out of frustration and punched a console with his fist, utterly shattering it and rendering it useless.

XXX XXX

As Emelie and Dax found themselves back in reality, rearranged by the transporter, they smiled and sighed with relief to be onboard the klingon vessel. A relief and smile that would only last a brief second as they both were violently thrown to the floor, before being picked up, held in the strong grip of two romulans. And in front of them stood D'jalel, bruised and with cuts here and there, showing signs of recent battle.

"Hello Emelie" D'jalel said with an arrogant frown. "Welcome onboard the Klothos, as commandeered by the Romulan Star Empire."

Dax and Emelie were both secured with shackles in the klingon vessels holding-cells, the two hanging from chains in the ceiling. Once secured in place, Toldol left to head for the bridge, leaving D'jalel and Vera left with the prisoners. D'jalel, commander of the Tal Shiar, studied her two captives for what seemed like an eternity.

"Where is the torpedo?" D'jalel eventually asked.

"If Kor didn't bring it" Emelie said, "I don't know. This is not a big ship, if it's not here, it is not here."

"You lie!" D'jalel spat. "That torpedo was crucial for Syboks plan! It was cruicial for your plan! It must be here! Where is it?!"

Dax let out a shout to gain D'jalels attention. "Hey! Tribal-face!" It had the intended effect as D'jalel turned to eye the trill instead. "Has it ever occurred to your pointy-eared head that the torpedo was not crucial for Kors plan?! If you can't find that damned torpedo, Kor obviously didn't bring it!"

"Curzon Dax" D'jalel said without hesitation. "The ninth trill to carry the Dax symbiont. Previous hosts were Lela, Enjana, Penzak, Tobin, Emony, Audrid, Torias and Joran. Your fame for striking a truce with House Ryna of the klingon empire is not unknown on Romulus. Nor is your friendship with Kor of House Ryna ever since that successful negotiation. We both can be considered experts on klingon behavior, ambassador, and for a klingon to go against his own word is practically unheard of. So if Kor assured you he would bring Syboks weapon, why would he break that promise? Chances are he didn't and the weapon, the torpedo, is here."

"Unless Kor figured out what it could do" Dax replied with a stern face.

D'jalel burst into laughter. "A klingon does not have the mental fortitude to understand something as complex as… Unless… Unless you told him." D'jalel closed in on the trill, holding her face a few meager inches from Curzons. "You warned him? You betrayed Sybok and Emelie? You tricked them into going through with this insane quest of theirs, only to secure your own fame and standing as you prevented a war between the Federation and the klingons." D'jalel grinned and took a couple of steps back, nodding as she did. "You let Emelie think she could save her father, only to further your own fame. You are a greedy one, aren't you, Curzon Dax. Impressive."

D'jalel left the chamber with holding-cells, leaving her comrade Vera to guard the prisoners with a disruptor-pistol.

D'jalel entered the bridge of the Klothos and found Toldol in the captains chair, overseeing the ships functions and operations.

"Report" D'jalel said and joined Toldol.

"Course set for Romulus" Toldol said. "Cloak is stable. Internal scans show no life-signs other than our own, and one trill and one human. We are in control of the ship."

"Good" D'jalel nodded. "And the Warbird?"

"Adrift" Toldol admitted. "By all accounts, the HaH'vat is boarding it as we speak."

D'jalel gave it little thought. "No matter. The prize is what we have onboard this ship. As long as we bring Emelie and Curzon back to the empire, we will be successful. A lieutenant of Starfleet Intelligence and the most renowned diplomat in the Federation is a grand prize indeed. And if Syboks torpedo is somewhere onboard, the Tal Shiar will find it."

XXX XXX

Kang returned to the bridge of the IKS HaH'vat, covered in sot and green romulan blood from top to toe; it had been a fierce battle onboard the Warbird, a battle that had resulted in a glorious victory for House Ansara and the Empire.

"One-hundred and forty-nine prisoners of war, mylord" Mogh reported, showing signs of battle as well. "They are secured in our holds as we speak."

"They will serve us well in the mines of Rura Penthe" Kang growled as he sat down in the captains chair. "Take us away from the romulan ship and destroy what remains of it."

"Aye, my lord" Mogh said with a snarl and turned to carry out the orders.

"And what of your ship?" Kang then said, turning to face Kor who was joining him on the bridge.

"Stolen!" Kor spat. "And whoever stole it abducted my friend Curzon and the daughter of Kirk. We must find my ship and avenge this deception!"

"The Klothos is on none of our scanners" Mogh cut in. "If it is cloaked and travelling at warp, we will never find it."

"You are wrong, my friend" Kor countered the HaH'vats executive officer. "While battling a breen marauder some days ago, my ships tachyon-array was damaged. As a result, my ship is leaking tachyons at a regular interval, like drops of blood for a hound to follow. Kang, my old friend, honor demands that I either retake my vessel, or destroy it; will you aid me in this?"

Kang, a growl bubbling in his throat, eventually nodded at the request. "The honor of House Ryna is dear to House Ansara. I will assist you, Kor, son of Rynar. Mogh! Find the Klothos and intercept her."

"At once, my lord!" Mogh acknowledged the order by slamming his chest with his fist.

"I am in your debt, Kang" Kor told the blood-drenched warlord.

Kang, slowly wiping his beard from green blood, leaned into the leather of his captains-chair. "I release you of this debt. Honor is its own reward."

The IKS HaH'vat left the Warbird behind, launching a salvo of torpedoes before shooting off to warp-speed, leaving the romulan warship to be ripped apart by the spread of torpedoes as each warhead hit its mark in turn, one by one.

XXX XXX

The strain on Emelies and Curzons arms were beginning to being felt in earnest, hanging as they were in chains from the ceiling. Both had trouble breathing as the raised arms put pressure on the lungs, making it increasingly difficult to fill the lungs with air. But their guard had no intention of helping them just yet. Emelie was not worried, even if it was uncomfortable; she knew she was too important to be killed, the Tal Shiar would never make such a mistake. Curzon, on the other hand, was starting to struggle with the earliest forms of panic; unable to breath properly and being a captive of the romulan empire was taking its toll on the bold trill.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a vulcan in Starfleet uniform appeared and engaged the romulan in hand to hand combat. The Tal Shiar agent, having been caught by complete surprise, was soon enough beaten bloody and had her neck snapped by the strong arms of the vulcan. Curzon could hardly believe his eyes as he realized it was actually Tuvok who had come to the rescue.

"Tuvok?" the trill said, quite astonished. "What the hell?"

"There is not time to waste, ambassador" Tuvok said as he freed Emelie and Curzon from their bonds. "As soon as we make our move, the romulans will know that you have been freed." Tuvok pulled out a satchel from a hiding-place and supplied Emelie and Dax with a klingon disruptor-pistol each. "As far as I can tell, there are only two Tal Shiar agents still alive onboard, most likely occupying the bridge. I will create a diversion to draw them out, at which point you will surprise them and shoot them."

"Hold on" Emelie cut in. "Wont they spot you with the ships sensors?"

"When I realized there was a chance that the romulans could take control of the ship, I disabled part of the ships sensors, effectively denying them the ability to detect any vulcan bio-signatures onboard. As far as the ship is concerned, I am not here."

"Good work, ensign" Emelie said and charged her weapon, the klingon pistols attached blade reflecting the few light-sources found in the chamber.

Dax simply sighed. "Here we go again."