Author's note: Hi guys, thanks for reviewing my other stories! This one should be a little longer. I have it all written, I just need to edit and post it. Thanks for reading!

"Captain, there's a call from engineering for you" Uhura called from her station on the bridge.

Jim Kirk nodded and pressed a button on his chair, "this is the captain, how can I help you?" he answered brightly, happy for a distraction from an otherwise boring shift.

"Captain, we have a situation down here, do ye think ye could spare a minute?" Scotty's tense voice sounded through the connection.

Kirk frowned at the engineer's strange tone and unusual formality, "sure Mr. Scott, I can be down there in five minutes. Kirk out".

As he cut the connection and stood up, Spock rose from his station and approached the chair. "Captain, I do not see the need for you to personally attend to Mr. Scott's summons without additional information as to the nature of the disturbance, if you would permit me to…"

Kirk waved him off, "it's fine Mr. Spock, nothing's going on up here anyway, I'm sure you can continue without me for a while"

Spock raised an eyebrow, recognizing that the captain was teasing him and would probably go down anyway. "Of course, Captain" he conceded with a slight nod.

Kirk beamed and headed to the turbolift "Try not to miss me too much" he called to the crew and waved as the doors slid shut. The smile slid off of Jim's face as the lift started to move, Scotty sounded distressed on the brief call and Jim sensed something was off but had not wanted to alarm the rest of the bridge on a hunch.

The minute Jim walked into engineering, he knew his hunch was correct. Scotty was on the floor, communicator still in hand, and there was no one else in sight. Running to the engineer's side, Kirk knelt down and tried to wake the man, alarmed by the blood pooling underneath his head.

"That was fast, Captain" a voice sounded from behind the pair. Jim whirled around, standing defensively in front of the still unconscious Scotty as five men stepped from the shadows, aiming phasers at the captain. Kirk's eyes widened, he recognized these men, they were on the Enterprise's security force.

"What did you do to Scotty?" he demanded.

"Oh, we had no further use for him once he lured you down here and away from your precious chair. You should be more worried about what we are going to do to you" One of the men replied, sneering,

"What do you want" Kirk spat, hoping for more information than vague threats.

"We want your ship of course. You have enemies Captain, enemies who are willing to pay for such a fine ship as this, especially if it means your death" the leader smiled as the other four edged around to surround Kirk.

Kirk stalled, preparing for the inevitable attack "you think you can take over the Enterprise with just five guys? You gotta be kidding me" he goaded.

"On the contrary, we merely need to disable the controls and secure the bridge. Others are waiting for our signal." With that ominous announcement, he nodded at other men and they sprang into action.

Kirk held his own, breaking the nose of one assailant and causing another to double over in pain before the third got in a solid punch and the fourth, who Kirk dubbed Ugly, overpowered him and slammed him into a wall, holding him up by his throat. ("Why do they always go for the throat?" Jim cursed silently).

"Fucking traitors" he rasped "there's no way in hell you losers are gonna take my ship". Ugly leaned in and grinned wickedly, "who's gonna stop us, the Great Captain Kirk? You've been captain for less than two years and you're already gonna lose your ship. You're a failure."

Kirk lashed out viciously with his feet and grinned in triumph as something connected, Ugly didn't let go though, only glared and gripped tighter as he recovered. He punched Kirk in the stomach and reeled back for another but stopped when the leader called from a nearby computer console, where he was typing furiously, "that's enough, I'm done here and we have to secure the bridge. Just leave him and the explosions will finish him off. I want him to burn along with his precious ship."

Just as Kirk's vision started to blacken around the edges from the lack of oxygen, Ugly let him go and he slid down the wall, gasping for air. The five traitors headed for the door (not before Ugly got in one last kick that left Kirk curled in on himself, clutching his stomach). Kirk heard the leader laugh as he left "So long, Captain, it has been a pleasure serving on your ship" he mocked.

The doors slid shut and an explosion sounded somewhere behind him, Kirk tried to crawl back to Scotty's side, where he would be relatively protected behind a low wall, but a chain reaction started and the floor rumbled beneath him. Pain ripped through his body as the world around him erupted into flames and he was thrown forward.