Lihran grabbed another cup of coffee and took it with him as he headed over to engineering. He slowly settled down in the chair, letting out a small sigh. Lifting the mug of coffee to his face, he drew a slow, long sip, savouring the taste of the rather acrid, bitter drink he grew to love and slightly missed. He set the mug aside and reorganised his workspace for a moment, making it more to his liking.

He grabbed a cord and plugged his PADD into the console, making a far more discreet and secure connection to the console, despite it being a bit old fashioned. He sets the device in his lap and once more starts to breach the Rideare’s security system while running a diagnostics check on the console to hide what he was doing. He worked on patching a message through to Thevius first:

---

Cap, I'm stuck on the ship, working that Navy life. Trying to cause a mutiny so I can beam back in the chaos. Got a few friends on my side. Taking them with me. No questions. If I die, I have a contact on SBB I worked with, Lt. Cynndle.

-Lihran

---

Lihran paused for a moment, then leaned over to type on the console, trying to boost his signal to use other Federation ships to fling his next message towards Starbase Bravo and specifically to Cynndle. He had no idea if this would even work, but he had to try:

---

Cyn, I've been kidnapped and held against my will on a Romulan ship. Don't send anyone. I'd be forced to fight with a disruptor to my head. I'm working on a plan to get back. Captain Thevius on the USS Thyanis is closest to me, either me or him will update from there if I get out or die.

-Lihran

---

The ship's klaxons suddenly blared, startling Lihran. He unplugged his device and jumped to his feet, dropping the diagnostics menu and pulling up the power systems, shields and weapons menus. 

Covel's voice echoed around the ship, "Klingon warship spotted in the vicinity with powered weapons. All personnel to battle stations. Standby for attempted communications."

The colour drained from Lihran's face. He hoped Thevius was smart enough at least to get out of the impending battle zone. He frantically grabbed his mug and drained it as he stood up. He set the mug down just as the entire ship jostled and shook, sending the mug shattering to the ground. Covel sounded more urgent, “Battle stations! Red alert!”

Ceramic shards crunched under Lihran’s boots as he darted around the console, quickly falling back into old battle routines, barking out orders to the other engineers, “Sekal, monitor the shields powers! Thajeet, you on weapons. You there! Monitor life supports! You two! Monitor the core!” He hurried over and took the chief engineers spot, though it was not his designated role. He pulled up what the bridge saw on their viewscreen on the display in front of him. Lihran murmurs, “One-- oh, no. Two, three? Three. For the love of… Three.”

He sighed sharply and opened the communications directly to the bridge, “Engineering to bridge. Things are stable and good down here. What did you do to piss off these Klivam, Covel?!”

Covel sharply snapped, “I did absolutely nothing! They flew too close and fired at us unprovoked!” Lihran replied rather coldly, “And… why was the ship…NOT MOVED!?” Thajeet looked up and over from his console at Lihran’s raised brow, looking slightly amused. Covel yelled in reply, “That is NONE of your business! Know your place, engineer!” Lihran chuckled, shaking his head, chirruping, “Keep your head in the battle ‘captain’...” Covel angrily cussed him out for a few more minutes.

Lihran leaned back and shook his head, “If I didn’t need to keep the comm line open, I’d have cut him off by now.” He explains to Thajeet, knowing Covel can hear him. Thajeet snorted and shook his head.

Lihran shifted, watching the Klingon ships dart around and harry them. The much larger D’Deridex gave off a few warning shots, missing the Klingons to try and deter them from engaging foolishly with them. The Klingon ships weren’t so kind in turn, pelting them with beams that got dissipated by their shields.

Lihran winced and held onto the edge of the console as the ship lurched violently into action. Lihran muttered, "Damned helmsman must be drunk!" Engineers run around frantically, keeping power rerouted to where the bridge demanded it at that moment and making sure the systems are kept stable. Lihran frowned as he saw the power to the shields drop slowly as the Klingons hacked away at them. 

Lihran leaned over, communicating to the bridge, "Why haven't you destroyed the Klivam?" Covel snarled in reply, "They are too fast!" Lihran groaned, "Missiles! Tracking missiles."

Covel barked out orders to his bridge officers, "Use the tracking missiles!" Lihran looked over and watched a missile hit home on one of their attackers, causing the ship to explode on impact. Lihran purred, "I told you…" Covel hissed, "I hate you!"

Lihran starts to laugh, his laughter gets cut off as the ship shudders, sparks raining down from above. He frantically checks the systems, relaying to Covel, "Port shields down. Took a direct hit to our left wing. We need to take care of--” Lihran freezes, cold steel pressing against his throat.

Covel barks through the comms, “Bridge to engineering! Status report, now! I said bridge to-” Lihran snaps, cutting Covel off, “We are boarded, Captain.” Covel fell silent. The Klingon that held the bat'leth to Lihran’s throat snarled, “Get up and fight me with honour.”

Lihran scanned his surroundings quickly. Romulans weren’t exactly known for bladed weapons on warships. He leaned to grab a hyperspanner and stood up slowly, “Unless you have a spare one, this will be my weapon.” He straightened up to his full height and rolled his shoulders back, trying to appear as large and intimidating as he could, thankful he was larger than the average Romulan. Evidently, the Klingon was not expecting the sheer size of Lihran and hesitated for a half moment. He recovered quickly and raised his weapon with a yell.

Lihran sidestepped quickly, whirling around with the spanner and hitting the Klingon in the back rather hard.

The Klingon let out a howl of pain and staggered forward, more of his comrades rushing towards the scene to watch. The Klingon aggressively swung at the Romulan. Lihran blocked the attempt with the spanner, holding it firmly with both hands. Lihran leans forward, scathingly taunting him, “I’ve seen Ferengi fight better than you.” Lihran brought his leg up, kicking the Klingon away from him. The Klingon stumbled back, enraged by the taunt, spitting and yelling curses at Lihran, swinging his bat’leth wildly at him and forcing the Romulan to step back to avoid getting slashed.

Lihran bumped into a console, hissing in pain as the blade sliced through his uniform slightly and into his chest. Lihran lunged forward with the spanner, placing it directly on the Klingon’s chest and switched it on to full capacity, electrocuting him. The Klingon drops the bat’leth with a clatter, falling to the floor himself. His companions that were watching with amusement now leapt forward with yells. Lihran dropped the spanner and quickly picked up the bat’leth to better his odds. He truly had no idea how to use one properly, but it was either adapt or die at this point.

Lihran blocked an overhead swing, suddenly throwing his weight back and using his feet to push off from the Klingon, rolling back over the console and landing deftly on his feet on the other side to put the console between him and his opponents. He ignored the throbbing pain across his chest and the overwhelming smell and taste of copper blood.

Klingons rushed around the console, coming at Lihran from both sides. Lihran locked weapons with one of them. Just as the other was about to deliver a lethal blow to Lihran’s back, the Klingon dropped to the floor with a green flash of a disruptor. Sekal had a disruptor pistol gripped tightly in a trembling hand. Judging by his paleness and trembling, Lihran guessed he had never shot at or killed anyone before.

Lihran did not have time to console him or dwell on this. The Klingon sliced up at him once more, aiming to kill. Lihran leapt back, calling in Rihansu towards Sekal, “Throw me that pistol!” Sekal throws the disruptor towards Lihran without thinking. Lihran deftly caught it and turned on his attacker, blasting him in the chest. Bat’leth in one hand, disruptor in the other, Lihran stood for a moment, panting heavily. He called out, “Engineering to Bridge. I’ve secured the area. I don’t know for how long.”

Covel replied bitterly, “Bridge to Engineering… We’ve taken out the other two ships. Securing the rest of the ship. Injuries or fatalities to report?” Lihran winced, “I am the only injured party.” Covel paused, “How bad?” Lihran laughed shakily, “Bad. I’ll report to medical. The ones that attacked me are either subdued or dead.” Covel could be heard sighing, “Meet you there…” Lihran retained his death grip on his two acquired weapons as he made his way towards the medical bay. The farther he walked, the more blood he lost. His vision began to swim, unable to see the lingering Klingon attacker that snuck up behind him and knocked him unconscious. The Klingon's victory was short-lived.

Covel rounded the corner just in time to catch this, killing the Klingon with one well placed shot. Covel holstered his pistol with a frown, stooping to pick up Lihran. He called to a passing crewman, “Grab his feet, we will carry him.”

---

Thevius paced the bridge of the Thyanis nervously, hands clasped behind him. Ashihl looked up sharply, "Three Kligon ships detected sir, they have power to their weapons." Thevius stopped, jerking his head up, "We need to get out of here. Now! Keep the cloak up and let's move it!" He paused, glancing at a message from Lihran on his PADD, muttering, "Shit. We will come up with a plan when away from the firezone."

The officers exchanged looks. Thevius has never really cussed in front of them. The situation has to be severely bad.