The battlefield was as bad as any I could remember from the war. The land had been scarred by disruptor impacts and what few copses of trees that had dotted the scrubland were burned to cinders by phaser fire. Fertile agricultural land had been reduced to a wasteland in a few short hours. I wondered if the colony would be able to recover food production after all of this, or had our actions poisoned the ground here? The reality of the situation began to take hold in the less experienced volunteers and all conversation had ceased saved for the clipped instructions of my security teams. It didn't take long for us to stumble on our first body. We couldn't tell who it was from a visual inspection, as it had been charred black by energy weapons. A quick scan from one of our medics confirmed it was a Lethean. I felt terrible for all of those with us who had never seen death like this. I still remember some of the corpses I had seen over the years, many of them vividly in my dreams. We didn't stay long by this body, partially to keep up with the rest of the extended line that was sweeping across the proverbial no man's land, but also simply because no one wanted to linger around a stark reminder of the reality of our situation. That corpse represented a fate that could befall all of us.

We had arranged ourselves so the teams accompanying myself would sweep rally point two. I didn't want anyone else to have to have to bear the responsibility of discovering what had happened. I owed it to Marcus and the rest of his brave volunteers. It had to be me. As the berms where team one had made their final stand came into view I called a general halt. Joined by Risi, Sala, a trio of security officers and a pair of medics, we left the main body to discover the fate of our crew. It did not take long to discover what happened. The Klingons and the mercenaries had left the bodies of the dead where they had fallen. Ensign A’haia lay face down in dust, the closest to our line of advance. She had been hit by multiple disruptor blasts. We didn't need a medic to confirm she was dead. Crewperson Rogriss was next. He lay in a pool of purple Tellarite blood, his body covered in multiple stab wounds. Crewpersons Litz and Eclan had died together. The former had been attempting to shoulder carry the latter to safety behind one of the low berms but hadn't made it. Both had been cut down by disruptors. Scenes like this continued as we advanced steadily, only stopping for medics to check for possible survivors where appropriate. There were none. By the time we completed our sweep we had eleven more dead, which meant that just shy of twenty of our people were unaccounted for. Despite the danger that being captured by Klingons carried, my heart surged at this. We had a chance to find them and bring them home. An additional small mercy, Commander Fanes body was not amongst the dead, meaning there was a chance he was still alive. I took that as a good sign.

After dispatching a few volunteers to carry the dead back to our command post and allowing the rest of the extended line to catch up, we set out at speed for the Klingon positions. I deployed a few security officers ahead of the main advance to act as screens and it was them who first stumbled upon the Klingon lines. The gas had worked, but not without some unintended side effects. It rendered the Naussicans and Klingons unconscious, but clearly had a different reaction with the Letheans. Many of them that we found amongst the Klingon positions bore disruptor wounds or slashing injuries, as if their comrades had been forced to kill them. I couldn't guess as to why and there was no explanation forthcoming, so we set to work. Volunteers collected the weapons from the fallen enemy while Suliban and Brotherhood personnel grouped the unconscious bodies together into easily controllable groups, watched over by a pair of security officers each. It didn't take us very long to secure the enemy prisoners, almost four hundred in total. Alarmingly there was no sign of our captured team here either. That means Klaugh’s men had taken them. To get them back, I needed Klaugh here.

I knew the Klingons would be watching us and I couldn't help but wonder what their next move would be. As we had no time to patch our communicators into the main colonial transmitter I had no way to signal to Captain Klaugh that I wanted to parlay again, so instead I made myself visible hoping the Klingons would perceive my actions as a challenge and respond accordingly. I also spent the time mentally preparing for this confirmation. I knew Klaugh would try to break our spirit as he had done back in the administration's garden. I couldn't let him. I needed to confront his cruelty head on with pride and goad him into making a mistake.

It did not take long for their response to come. As we were gathering up the last of the unconscious prisoners a pair of sonic booms broke the stillness of our surroundings. I had Risi send a signal to our shuttles to launch but stay over the horizon for now. I hated being out in the open without air cover but I also didn't want to provoke a fight too early. Soon two Ki’Tang’s broke through the clouds to land only a few meters from us, access ramps swinging open as they spun to face away from us. The Klingons jumped from the ramps before the craft had even touched down. Gone was the confident bravado from before, this time they approached us with disruptor rifles raised and grim determination on their faces. Almost in unison our forces raised their weapons but to everyone's credit, no one fired. Last to disembark was Captain Klaugh, his seemingly constant grin replaced with a scowl. He had his bat’leth drawn and stormed towards our line with a barely contained fury, flanked by what I imagined was some form of Klingon honor guard.

“Well Captain,” he bellowed. “I am here. I answer your challenge. What do you want?” Good, he had understood my intentions clearly enough. I separated from the group and walked towards him, joined only by Sala, and Lieutenant Risi. It was all I needed.

“We have beaten and captured your mercenaries, Klaugh. You can no longer take this colony or its inhabitants by force. Leave now or face the consequences.” I pointed directly at him as I walked to drive my point home. Lets see if he would rise to the bait. We stopped just paces apart, facing each other down like those gunslingers in those old human movies Cserr and Hiroshi had liked.

“And how do you plan to force my fleet to leave Captain Zh’kaarrin? Angry words and a few shuttlecraft? I think not. Our reinforcements are mere days away. Yours, well they are not coming at all. You are still doomed, despite your efforts.” he taunted, adopting the familiar confidence from our last meetings. I clenched my fists at his reply. I did not want to be reminded of the fates of the Resolute and Aurora at this moment, my anger at their loss was still too fresh.

“It does not matter, The Federation will come for us and they will stop you. I will do whatever it takes to deny this prize to you.” I spat back, rage building inside me.

“What makes you think I would not do the same Captain? Why should I not burn this planet to ash for defying us?” I had expected him to escalate his threats and this fit the bill.

“We all have purposes greater than ourselves.” I retorted. You said as much yourself. I doubt the Klingon Council would take kindly to report that thirty thousand workers were incinerated instead of delivered. What would they do to a captain responsible for that?” I raised my voice to shout. “What would they do to a crew who was responsible for that?” I let the question hang as a threat. To his credit, Klaugh laughed before replying.

“You may be right, and you may have left me with few options. However, I have more leverage than you think. daH!” At his shouted command a squad of Klingons emerged from the second Ki’Tang leading a ragged group in torn Starfleet uniforms and shackled together at the necks and ankles. I recognized many of the faces. This is what had happened to those of team one taken prisoner. Klaugh must have understood what our gambit was and secured his own leverage. As the prisoners were paraded in front of us I could hear gasps and words of astonishment from the ranks behind me. I tried to meet the prisoners' eyes as they were displayed like slaves at auction to provide them with some reassurance we wouldn't abandon them. I met Commander Fanes' gaze and despite his face being a mess of cuts and swelling so severe it almost closed one of his eyes, he smiled at me. Marcus Fane, a man always able to find the good in any situation, and first to run towards any danger was still defiant despite his capture and subsequent torture. That was all the motivation I needed. Klaugh continued before I had a chance to interrupt however.

“You may be brave with your own life, Captain, but will you be brave with theirs? We do not care for the fates of mercenaries and all of us are prepared to die for the greater glory of the Empire!” He was right, I wasn’t brave with the lives of others. I was happy to risk my life for theirs but hesitant, even reluctant to allow others to do so especially on my behalf. I stamped down my anger for now, this would need a clear head as I was unwilling to risk the lives of our captive officers. I would make this personal and keep his attention on me.

“I know what this is, you're afraid, Captain.” I replied, venom creeping into my voice. He frowned at my accusation and I continued. “You don't think you can beat us. I don't know why the Imperial army isn't backing you and why you’re using mercenaries, but now you have neither and you don't know what to do. You're afraid, but more importantly, you can see that I am not. Doesn’t that make it worse, Klaugh?” I spat those last words at him. A scowl had completely replaced his confident smile and he glared at me from under his brow ridges.

“I will kill you right here and mount your body on the bow of my ship as a warning Captain. Do not test me.” He growled. It was a very real threat but it didn't matter anymore. In that brief moment I could see the real him and I knew I had rattled him.

“What is it your people are fond of saying? Today is a good day to die. Well Captain Klaugh, ask yourself, is today a good day for you to die?” I replied, taunting him with the same threat he had made to me earlier

“Oh you certainly are a troublesome petaQ Captain Zh’kaarrin, I will give you that. You seek to goad me. So be it.” He spun his bat’leth in front of him and took up a fighting stance. “It seems I cannot frighten you. Perhaps I should just kill you and your troublesome officers and be done with it?” I couldn't believe it, in all of his pride and bluster he had finally made a mistake! Something I could actually use. His threat gave me exactly the opening I needed.

“Fine Captain Klaugh, if it's a fight you want. I’ll give you one. You and I, right here, right now, in front of both of our crews.” I had balled my fists in anger and was trying to make myself look as threatening as possible. Captain Klaugh looked at me for a moment, confusion on his face, before replacing it with yet another scowl. I was sure he wouldn't be able to allow this challenge to his authority stand, even though I wasn’t a Klingon.

“You have no blade Andorian, do you crave death so much as to just fall upon my sword?” He asked me, mockingly. I slipped my combat knife from its scabbard before answering.

“If you knew anything about my people, Klaugh, you would know what the Ushaan is. A knife is all I need.” I kept the knife low at my side as a show of confidence. Though at this moment I wished I had my childhood Ushaan-tor, no doubt it had incinerated in the Resolute’s crash or was resting on the bottom of New Jerusalems ocean. The monomolecular edge of a standard issue ceramic Starfleet utility knife would have to do. Both Risi and Sala made sounds of disapproval and moved to block me from advancing, while the Klingons fanned out in a larger half circle to create an arena for us.

“Captain, ma’am, please what can this possibly accomplish?” Risi spoke first, putting his considerable bulk between myself and captain Klaugh. “I don't need to tell you how dangerous that Klingon captain is.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“He's afraid of something Lieutenant, or something pressing him for time.” I kept my voice low to avoid revealing what I suspected. “I don't think he has time to wait for reinforcement. I think he needs to finish his mission now, so I’m going to give him that chance. Don't worry about me lieutenant, I’ve been fighting with an Ushaan-tor for almost my entire life.” I put the hand wielding my knife on his shoulder in reassurance.

“At least let me fight for you, Captain.” He was almost pleading at this point, unable to control the color flashes of his scales. I did envy his Saurian strength at this moment, but it couldn't be helped.

“It has to be me,” I replied. “Anyone else would be seen as cowardice and he would have no reason to acknowledge any demands if it's not me who fights. Besides you still will be fighting with me out there, with this.” With my empty hand I unsheathed his knife, so I had a blade in each hand. My killing edge and my guard, as it should be. He looked down at my hand by his waist and nodded.

“Can you promise not to interfere, Lieutenant. I’m counting on you to make sure this works, especially if something goes wrong here. I need you to keep a clear head if something happens to me alright?” I asked him, and he simply nodded. I knew he would do exactly as I asked of him and I was eternally grateful. I turned to Sala. she was taking this much worse than my tactical officer was, and tears marred her cheeks as she spoke.

“Don't you dare, don't you dare do it! This is so stupid! You can't do it!” She was furious. With a cry she rushed into my arms and beat her fists on my chest. I let her feel, instead choosing to silently hold her. “I can't lose you like this.” She cried quietly into my chest as her blows weakened and at last she gave up and she slumped against me.

“Sala please, you heard what I told Risi, it has to be me. I don't want to do this” She cut me off before I could keep speaking.

“Yes you do, this is everything you’ve wanted since you met that Klingon bastard.” I hated that she was right. I wanted nothing more than to humiliate this Klingon who had humiliated me. Fate has given me the perfect opportunity here. I hugged her closer, mindful of the knives I bore in both of my fists.

“You might be right.” I conceded. “I want that more than I want to wipe that self satisfied smirk off Klaugh's face. I promise I'll come back.”

“Then I want an answer, before you go.” She whispered into my chest, so quiet I could barely make her out.

“To what Sala?” I asked, genuinely confused. She laughed through her sobs. That was a small mercy. She pushed back against me and I slackened my grip slightly so she could look up at me.

“You’re lucky you’re so pretty.” She joked, shaking her head. I flushed blue yet again and she elaborated. “I asked you when we were walking back to the medical tent. What do you want us to be?” I hadn’t given this any more thought since she had said it. In fact, if I was being honest with myself, I had hoped she had forgotten. I found myself unable to reply, at a loss to articulate how I felt. I started to panic.

“Sala, I.” I began, but she cut me off.

“It's ok if you don't know for sure right now, just say the first thing that pops into your head.” She rubbed my back to try to comfort me but I could feel her confidence deflating as her body sagged against mine. I needed to get this right.

“I want. “I started, but my voice cracked. I took a final moment before swallowing and steadying myself. I knew what I wanted to say, but I was too scared to look at her while I said it. “I want to survive this. I want to have a future in Starfleet and I want to keep fighting these bastards. I know things are really bad right now and I don't know what my future holds, but it would mean so much to me if you were a part of it.”

“Niah, can you look at me?” she asked quietly. I slowly lifted my eyes until they met hers. The amber of her eyes was watery with tears and her lower lip was quivering. “That’s.” she finally spoke, her voice shaky. “Exactly what I wanted to hear.” With a tug, she pulled me against her again, renewing our tight embrace. I returned it. We stood there, mere meters from Klaugh and the entirety of my surviving crew, as if nothing existed outside of the two of us. Like all good things, I knew it wouldn't last forever and all too quickly we broke the embrace.

“I’m holding you to that Niah.” With that she grabbed my collar and pulled me into a kiss. I knew at this moment, this is what I was going to stay alive for. For the first time in a long time, I had a real reason to come back. Our lips parted and she let go of my collar. Risi put his arm around her and they walked around me back towards our line. I turned to watch them walk away, throwing a little half salute in their direction as they looked back before turning back to Klaugh.

“Well captain? Do you still mean to fight me this day? Or have you lost your nerve?” He gloated, adopting a casual stance in an attempt to goad me further. “Has the weeping of your crew broken your resolve?”

“You could be so lucky.” I retorted, adopting my own fighting stance. Feet evenly spaced, I reversed the blades outwards to mirror the Ushaan. “Let's get this over with.”

“in’cha!” He shouted and began to spin his bat’leth in a slow hand over hand figure eight while circling me to my right. I moved in the opposite direction to maintain our spacing, balanced on the balls of my feet to stay limber and mobile. My leg screamed at sudden lateral movement, but I had to ignore it. His warriors began to beat their fists on their chests in time and sang

“Qoy qeylIS puqloD

Qoy puqbe'pu'

yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI'

Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw.”

I did not know the meaning of the words, and my universal translator was struggling to keep up so I tried to ignore it. It did concern me that they all seemed to know to sing it at this moment and that they all knew the words. Was this a common occurrence on Klaugh’s ship? On all Klingon ships? I didn't have time for cultural questions however as Klaugh took the ending of the fourth line to leap at me, his blade flashing in late afternoon light. I had no opportunity to do anything aside from dive to my right, hurling myself to the ground as his blade sailed through the space I had just occupied. He let go with one hand to sweep the blade around behind himself in a backswing that chased me to the ground, slamming into the soft dirt centimeters from my chest.

I rolled, just like with the targs, to create distance while he recovered from overextending. Springing to my feet I charged him, just to close the distance and deny him the reach of the bat'leth. At the last second I brought my left hand up, blade aimed directly at his stomach while with my right extended to counter balance. He had recovered faster than I had anticipated and knocked my thrust aside with the flat of his blade which sent me stumbling past him. We stood apart from each other for a moment, the cool wind whipping around us before, with a wordless cry, Klaugh launched into a complicated pattern of two handed cuts I only barely managed to avoid or parry. I had to bring up both of my knives to repel his onslaught, denying me the possibility of a counter attack as he relentlessly swung his bat'leth. He had raw strength alongside what was clearly years of experience and nearly every swing was a potential kill strike. Many I just barely managed to deflect or dodge at the very last second. His furious assault also left me no opportunities to go on the offensive. I knew with my old injuries and higher metabolism, I wouldn't be able to stay in the fight for very long. Soon I would start to slow and then I would die. I had to win and fast!

I sidestepped an overhanded chop that sailed so close to my face I could make out the miniscule Klingonese characters that decorated the edges of the blade. Seizing the faintest glimmer of an opportunity I kicked out with my left foot and hit him in the knee just as the blade finished its arc. The joint buckled slightly but it was enough to knock him off balance which created an opening for me. I sliced my right knife horizontally, across his bicep. A bright spray of purplish-pink blood followed my cut and he bellowed. Letting go of his bat’leth with his injured arm, he swung the same hand and backhanded me in the face. I staggered, seeing stars. The singing grew louder as we finally started to connect and draw blood. The chorus from the Klingons drowned out almost all other sounds. I wiped the blood from my face from the slashes his gauntlet had left in my cheek. As I staggered he recovered and we separated again. This time I attacked first, closing the distance and jabbing my fists like a boxer, blades held upright. In reply he spun his bat’leth in front of him to create a whirling shield against my quick blows. Seeing no way to penetrate this, I feinted left before side stepping right and my left fist connected with the side of his head. His sword spinning faltered for a moment and I followed up with another two quick punches before adjusting my grip to angle the tip of my knife straight for his face. To my surprise he recovered fast and headbutted my wrist as I was changing my grip, causing me to cry out in pain and drop Risi’s knife. His follow up was even more effective and he swung his blade in a backhand sweep that lodged one of the prongs in the meat of my thigh. I howled in pain as he pulled the blade out for another swing, its edge and my uniform pants slick with blue Andorian blood.

Seeing I was momentarily stunned he took his blade in a two handed grip and stepped forward to swing it in a powerful downward arc that could have split me in half. Without thinking I fell back on my past and my history of bar brawls and street scuffles. I cocked my now empty arm back and punched him as hard as I could in the nose. There was a crack as the bones of my fingers broke on his ridged face but I felt something give. My surprise recovery and counter attack completely arrested his swing and he stumbled back and we separated yet again. The Klingon crew was still singing that damnable song, but they had been joined by another sound. My crew, the Suliban and even the colonial volunteers and Brotherhood troops were either shouting jeers at the Klingons and their Captain or cheering my name. This was a new feeling for me, I had never felt worthy of such trust and belief in my abilities. The effect was electrifying and I was filled with a newfound belief that I would defeat this Klingon and save the colony.

That fantasy was short-lived as Klaugh began his next assault. With a two handed grip on the lower third of the sword he swung it in a series of arcing chops like an axe. Unable to parry with just one blade I had to give ground to save myself. Falling back, I stumbled on some loose stone I couldn't see and lost my footing. Klaugh capitalized on my mistake and twisted his next chop into a sweeping cut mid swing that caught me across the chest. Had I not been wearing my body armor I would have died right there. The armor was ruined but it had done its job. I could feel a few broken ribs from the impact as I sucked in a fresh breath and I could feel blood from where the armor hadn’t been quite thick enough begin to soak into my uniform. He swung again but was off balance from the previous hit and I finally had my opening. I ducked under the blade and coiled my body like a spring. As he completed his arc and reset to swing again I rushed him, throwing my whole body past him, my knife aimed at his chest. The blade bit but deflected off one of his dermal bone plates leaving him bleeding but not seriously injured. I took the moments separation to toggle my armors emergency release, usually used in case of a drowning risk. It couldn't protect me anymore and I might be able to use my increased speed from not wearing it to gain the upper hand. Klaugh turned to face me and held out his bat’leth to threaten me. Spitting a glob of blood, he spoke.

“Getting tired Andorian. Is this planet too hot for you? Or are you regretting your choice to face a Klingon warrior in single combat?” He taunted before bringing his bat’leth back into a two handed grip across his chest. We faced each other yet again, both of us bleeding from multiple wounds and panting. I raised my fists into a boxers guard, my knife in my right.

“Come on Klaugh, we’re long past talking.” I replied, glaring at him over my fists. To my surprise, he raised his bat’leth in salute.

“I will ensure that your bravery is commemorated in the songs they sing of my victory today Captain.” His mocking tone was gone, I had earned the Klingons respect and, if I survived, I could use that respect.

“Don't start writing those songs just yet!” I yelled as I rushed him, sunlight glinting off my knife as I charged. He braced his blade two handed across his chest to receive my charge, but I was counting on that. With a wordless bellow I slammed the flat of his blade with my left as he pushed it forward to stop me. Though the impact caused my broken fingers to howl in pain the maneuver worked. The added momentum of my strike carried his blade downwards and his defensive jab quickly turned into an overextended swing, which critically, caused him to lower his head. That gave me my opening and I leapt, pushing off from his blade with my left arm and twisting my body in mid air. With a roar I brought my knife crashing down into his neck. The blade sunk perfectly into the gap between his back plates and collar bone and with a bit of luck would have punctured one of his three lungs. Klaugh roared in pain and headbutted me, which sent me reeling in pain, my vision swimming. Unfortunately it also caused me to lose my grip on my knife, which I left embedded in him. Blood obscured my vision as he had split the skin over my eye with his ridges. I wiped my face with my sleeve, trying to find my opponent.

Fortunately Klaugh was right where I had left him. Clearly I had seriously injured him. He had a hand on the knife I had stabbed him with and with one swift motion he wrenched it from his neck and hurled it to the ground. Blood immediately welled up in the wound and spilled over his golden uniform. I imagined how similar we must look, the gold and symbols of our ranks coated in our blood, neither of us willing to give up despite our injuries. The fingers on his injured side slackened and his bat'leth clattered to the ground. He clearly lacked the strength or control in that arm now to maintain his grip. I could also hear a new note to his breathing, a labored sucking sound, the sign of a collapsing lung. Wait, I could hear his breathing. The singing and cheers had all stopped at some point and it was as silent as a grave. Seeing as Klaugh was disarmed and in no shape to attack me right now, I took a chance to look around. All eyes were on us and no one dared make a move or speak. I turned back to Klaugh, wiped the blood off my face again and put my hands up in a guard. He drew his d'k tahg from its sheath on his back and advanced on me, his left arm dangling limply. I was unarmed, and even handicapped as he was, I was still going to die. For the first time in a long time, that fact terrified me. I wanted to live, more than anything! I frantically cast my eyes around for anything I could use as a weapon. A stick, a rock anything, but nothing availed me. I met Klaugh’s’ eyes as he approached, his face bearing his familiar grin. He knew he had me.

“Captain!” A voice bellowed from amongst the Klingons. “It is time to leave!” One of the Klingon juniors was holding a communicator to his ear. “The earther fleet is almost here!” Klaugh growled at me and hurled his d'k tahg blade first into the ground at my feet. Wordlessly he turned and followed his officers back to their waiting raptors, picking up his bat’leth as he walked. I found myself stunned at what had just happened. I had been staring death in the face just seconds ago and now the Klingons were retreating? How? A cheer went up from our line, louder and even than those that had been cheering on our fight. Risi led a team of security officers past me towards our chained prisoners. Their guards resisted for a moment but a few aggressive gestures with some phaser rifles and the fear of being left behind changed their minds. Our people were safe, it was finally over.