The Ronin was en route to SB901 when the call came in. A Nausicaan refugee ship was under attack and calling for assistance.
"Helm, divert to intercept the Nausicaan vessel," Captain McConaughey ordered.
"But isn't that a violation of our orders?"
"Our orders state only that we do not interfere in the Nausicaan/Mulluran conflict," the captain replied, feeling nauseated at just uttering the words. "We still have a positive obligation to assist a vessel in distress, and we have received a distress call." And I for one do not intend to sell out completely.
The helm officer entered the new course. Moments later, they came across a Nausicaan tramp freighter with a disabled warp nacelle. A Mulluran cutter with Order Police markings had pulled alongside it and was boarding.
"Do we interfere now?"
"Hell, yes! They're in Federation territory now," McConaughey said as he consulted the charts. He opened a comm channel. "Mr. Yellowhorse, I want you to prepare a boarding party at your discretion."
[Acknowledged, sir.]
"Open a channel." A beep sounded when the comm channel was opened.
"Attention master of Nausicaan vessel. This is Captain Craig McConaughey of the Federation starship Ronin. We have received your distress signal. How can we help you?"
A transmission came back, filled with static. The scene was of complete chaos--the bridge was in flames and screams could be heard. [Thank the gods! We are being boarded by Mullurans! They're killing everyone!]
"Mr. Yellowhorse, your party may board when ready."
Cody Yellowhorse assembled his small boarding party on the transporter pad. With him were Shara Mikori, Rob Benson, and Ming Wang. Only four of us, but with these four this shouldn't be a problem, he thought as they beamed out.
Once they hit the decks of the Nausicaan vessel, he opened his tricorder. "We've got 450 Nausicaans on board and about thirty Mullurans. Most of them are concentrated on this deck."
"I've got them!" Rob said as he primed his phaser rifle.
"Wait!" Ming yelled. "You can't take them alone!"
"Watch me!" With that, Rob rushed from the transporter room.
"Well, what can we do? We'll have to cover him," Cody said.
Rob advanced carefully once he'd left the rest of the party behind. Something told him that they would be in danger were they to stick together. His senses seemed somehow keener, his reflexes more responsive since Ming's treatments.
He moved quietly from frame to frame in the vessel, rifle at his shoulder as he advanced. He saw two of the Order Police outside one compartment standing guard as a third could be heard inside beating the Nausicaans in the compartment.
Carefully he sighted in on one of the guards from behind a support. He exhaled slowly as he pulled the trigger. The guard disintegrated immediately. To hell with this 'phasers on stun' nonsense! he thought.
The other guard saw his companion drop and raised his weapon in response. Rob shot him, too, then moved with blinding speed toward the compartment. Inside, the Order Police interrogator was beating a Nausicaan woman with a sap, shouting something at her in Mulluran. Rob crept up quietly behind him and, without a sound, snapped the Mulluran's neck as easily as an ordinary human would break the neck of a chicken. He took the sap from the twitching Mulluran and placed it in a secure location deep up the dying man's colon.
"It's okay, people. We're from Starfleet. You're safe now," Rob said, his senses still tingling at the edge of berzerker mode. It was all he could do to restrain himself to accept the embrace from the woman who had been beaten.
Cody, Ming, and Shara advanced along the deck, noting that Rob had the situation secure in his area. "Ming, pair off with Rob and make sure he doesn't attempt any more unauthorized rectal exams. Shara, you're with me," Cody said as they split up.
Cody and Shara advanced to the next-largest concentration of Mullurans, one deck above. The Mullurans had started to rally and they were met with a barrage of disruptor fire as they emerged from the hatch. Cody ducked back down and returned fire.
"Lay down suppressing fire," Shara said. "Cover me and I'll take out that firing position."
"Got it!" Cody knew better than to argue with Shara on these matters.
Shara launched herself out of the hatch and practically bounded in amongst the Mullurans ensconced in the entryways several frames ahead while Cody fired his phaser rifle in full-automatic mode. He winced as he heard the screams of the Mullurans when Shara began her work with them. >From one doorway a puddle of purple Mulluran blood began to spread. Soon the enemy fire died down and stopped completely. Shara emerged with a bloody knife.
"All clear," she said cheerfully.
"I guess it is!" Cody replied as he took the knife from Shara.
"What are you doing?" she asked as Cody crouched next to a dead Mulluran.
"Counting coup." With a quick, well-practiced swipe he removed the Mulluran's scalp. "One atrocity deserves another, and maybe this will make the Mullurans think next time before raiding in Federation space!"
Soon all four Mullurans were without scalps as the team moved forward to the bridge.
"Sir, the Mulluran cutter is attempting to comm us."
"Put it through," Captain McConaughey said.
[Attention Federation vessel. You are interfering with a legitimate law enforcement operation well within Mulluran boundaries. Can you explain your actions in light of your government's stated position?]
"Our charts place you five parsecs beyond the Mulluran boundary even adjusting for your takeover of the Nausicaans. You are in Federation space and thus out of your jurisdiction. Withdraw now or we will consider this a hostile incursion."
[We are pursuing known pirates. Piracy is a crime prosecutable by any interested party.]
"You are attacking an unarmed merchantman outside your own territory. You appear more the pirate in this case. My patience is wearing rather thin and I've no time for semantics. Break off now or I will be forced to fire on your vessel."
"Sir, the Mulluran vessel is powering up weapons and shields."
"Fire one photon torpedo. Target Engineering," McConaughey ordered.
The Ronin fired a single photon torpedo at the Mulluran vessel.
"Sir, the vessel's shields are offline."
"Phasers--one-quarter strength. Target the vessel's warp nacelles and weapons arrays."
Before the Ronin could fire--[Attention Federation vessel. Allow us to withdraw safely to our own borders.]
"Pull out your boarding party first, then we'll discuss your withdrawal."
"Captain! The Mulluran vessel is coming about! They're discharging disruptors at full-power!"
"Evasive!" McConaughey shouted as one of the disruptor bursts hit the Ronin's forward deflector shields.
"Starboard side forward deflector at 40%."
"Return fire!"
The Ronin's phasers blasted the Mulluran cutter's warp nacelles into oblivion. "Enemy vessel's warp drive is offline. They are running on impulse only and broadcasting a distress signal."
"Kill their comm!"
"Sir? Isn't that a little--"
"Tell it to the people on that freighter! I want to send a message," McConaughey snapped as a phaser shot blew out the cutter's comm array.
Ming and Rob found themselves two frames away from the bridge, surrounded by Mulluran Order Police. They stood back to back, fighting the Order Police hand-to-hand. Ming dropped one with a snap-kick to the jaw, then turned to grab another's wrist, wrench his arm around, and shatter his elbow with a downward strike. Rob simply barreled his way into the enemy with no finesse whatsoever, breaking jaws, ribs, arms, and legs. Whatever his fists couldn't handle, his knife and the butt of his rifle did nicely.
Ming had no time to watch as he used a fire extinguisher as a bludgeon, smashing a Mulluran's skull as he turned into another's torso with a thrust-kick. Rob caught the Mulluran Ming kicked, blasting his fist into the man's windpipe. Soon twelve Order Police lay dead or dying on the decks.
They opened the door to the bridge, to find an Order Police commander holding the ship's master hostage. The rest of the bridge crew had been killed rather messily. "Get off this ship or he dies!" the commander yelled.
"My life is nothing! Get my people to safety!" the ship's master yelled even louder.
"You are nothing!" the commander yelled in the ship's master's ear as he jabbed his disruptor into the Nausicaan's ribs.
"What are you waiting for, Starfleet! Kill us both now!"
With almost autonomic reflexes, Rob threw his knife. The knife--not meant to be thrown--nonetheless sailed with force and velocity into the Mulluran's solar plexus. The Mulluran dropped to the deck.
Cody and Shara appeared. "Nice work, guys," Cody said. Ming made it a point not to notice the thick purple stains on their hands--or the trophies in Cody's hands--as he checked the Mulluran's vitals.
"He's alive, and he'll recover."
"Good!" Cody snapped as he and Shara began removing the scalps of the others.
"What are you doing?" Ming said, horrified.
"Sending these bastards a message." Cody stepped over to the fallen Mulluran commander and whispered something in his ear. Then, to the Nausicaan master: "Load these creatures aboard your transporter and beam them back to your ship." He shoved the scalps into a disposal chute, where they were promptly disintegrated.
"Sir, the Mullurans are breaking off, best possible speed."
"And the boarding party?"
"Returning now."
"Excellent. Get a medical team over to the Nausicaan freighter. And get a tractor beam on the freighter--we'll tow them to SB901."
Of the three of them, only Ming was the least bit disturbed at what had happened to the Mullurans.
"If it had been a fair fight," Cody said, "then they would have been entitled to fair treatment. But beating up civilians--especially children--that's a different matter. If you think this was bad, you should have seen what the Maquis used to do to the Cardassians for far less."
Ming nodded silently, seeing how that would make sense from a certain point of view.
"What did you say to the Mulluran commander?"
"I told him to tell his master that this is what happens to people who raid in Lakota territory." Cody and Shara exchanged a knowing look. Rob just smiled.