Subject: [Fanfic] Tides of War Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 20:50:20 GMT From: Col.Falkenhorst Newsgroups: alt.startrek.vs.starwars Star Wars vs. Star Trek: Tides of War A fanfic by Ray Koons (aka Col. Falkenhorst) No money is being made on this story, and no copyright infringement is intended. (7th January, 2001) Chapter 5: “An Ill Wind” Heinz Wilhelm von Falkenhorst swung the heavy sledgehammer again, smashing another rock. He was sweating in the midday sun, the day being hot even for northern Europe in Autumn. He, along with the other prisoners who were connected to him by means of chains leading through ankle shackles, had been hammering away since well before dawn. This was reward for killing Jemmie occupation troops. Rather than just execute him, the Dominion had sent him here. He looked around the familiar complex, in which he had been imprisoned for almost 4 months now. This was camp XQ-2403, to which offenders from northwestern Poland, East Prussia, and the Berlin area were sent. There were about 4000 prisoners in the camp at any given time, watched by 500 Jem’Hadar and 20 Vorta. The perimiter consisted of a 30 foot high electrified double barbed wire fence, ringed with guard towers and surrounded by minefields. The prisoner barracks were on one side of the camp, the guard barracks and administration buildings were clustered around the gate, and the work area occupied the rest. A separate complex was situated a half mile away, from which necessary supplies were delivered to the camp by means of a transporter system. Falkenhorst had been 15 years old when they had come. He remembered standing on his porch at night, watching the flickering exchanges of fire up in the sky and hearing the wailing air-raid sirens. The next morning they had begun showing up, beaming in in groups of ten and engaging whatever federation forces they found. Within the space of a few weeks, they had conquered earth. At first it hadn’t been so bad, since the schools were closed and there was nothing to do. Then it had started. Squads of Jem’Hadar had begun going door to door, carrying lists. They dragged people into the streets and shot them down, for the reason that their intel services had deemed certain people a threat to the occupation after viewing the detailed files the Federation kept on every one of it’s citizens. They had taken his father that morning. He had run after him, smashing aside enemy soldiers, leaping at the one dragging his poor sick old dad towards a pile of smoking corpses. The Jem’Hadar saw him coming and backhanded him, swatting him onto the pavement. He sat up, and saw his father look at him as they stood him up and took aim. “Don’t give up, Heinz!! Don’t let them stop you! Kill them aaackkk....” the disruptor whined, blasting a steaming hole through the old Prussian’s head. The image was forever burned into his memory. Falkenhorst looked at the smug Dominion soldiers as they tossed the body onto the pile. They looked at him and one walked over. “You just learn your place, scumbag, and you’ll get along fine. But no tricks;” snarled the Jem’Hadar, clicking the safety off on his disruptor. Falkenhorst looked into the emotionless eyes of the clone. He felt his hatred rising, and all at once he felt powerful. He felt as if he could rip this abomination before him to pieces with a thought. Fire smoldered in his eyes as he spoke in a voice that lowered the temperature a good 10 C. “I’ll remember you;” he glanced at the serial number on the Jemmie’s shoulder pauldron, “Number XT-38340.” With that, he walked back towards his house, where his mother and younger sister were sobbing on each other’s shoulders. After that, Falkenhorst had begun readying himself to exact revenge. He had begun tampering with the replicator, until he had managed to produce a .45 caliber pistol. He took the ammo and waited till dark. Then he went down to the police station and opened fire. He had killed 10 Jem’Hadar that night. For 2 years after that, he planned carefully where he would strike. When the time was right, he would appear out of the darkness like a spectre and go on a shooting spree through a Dominion base. The Dominion laid a dragnet for him. After several years on the lamb, sleeping in sewers, eating rats and randomly killing Jemmies, he had planned a hit on the base where a contact had told him XT-38340 was assigned. However, enemy agents caught up with him before he could lay the twenty tons of dynamite in the sewer under the base. He snapped another 3 of their necks before succumbing to multiple stun blasts, such was the force of his anger. After weeks of brutal interrogations and horrifically torturous beatings, he refused to crack. The bewildered Dominion guards had ordered him executed, but through some sort of clerical error, he was instead loaded on a transport to camp XQ- 2403. Or perhaps fate was not done with him yet. Falkenhorst had been here in the camp for several months now, expanding his network of contacts to the prisoners, making alot of friends, and of course doing what all good prisoners do, planning to escape. The plan had been in the works for several weeks now. Falkenhorst and a fellow inmate, Dietrich Hauser, were the ringleaders. Basically the idea was to fake an accident, and when a squad was dispatched from main gate, the prisoners would jump them and take their guns. Falkenhorst and Dietrich had yet to tell the others, but unbeknownst to them, the time was growing ripe... A vast fleet was arrayed across space. 21 Star Destroyers, 1 Allegiance class Light Cruiser, and no less than 34 Victory Class Star Destroyers hung in formation in the Epsilon Beta system. Hundereds of support craft hovered in screening formation, while others patrolled the perimeter. It was the largest strike fleet yet assembled by the Empire in the Milky Way. 6 of the ISDs in the fleet were new builds, their crews fresh from the academies. The Allegiance and it’s taskforce had been shifted to a new patrol sector close to the Imperial end of the wormhole, and was on call for large scale operations such as this. It would come in useful, since the probes had reported that no less than 3 of the Dominion’s immense Dreadnoughts were present among the forces assembling at Starbase 74. Flag Captain Lucas Florian was conferring with a subordinate regarding crew and supply transfers. All around him, the Enforcer’s bridge was a hive of activity as the crew prepared for the coming battle. He finished his business with the Lieutenant just as Admiral Stevens strode onto the bridge. “Good Morning, Captain.” said Stevens, sitting down in his command chair and punching up the latest news from back home. Imperial fleet assets were working around the clock laying a network of holonet transmitters and boosters on this side of the wormhole, connecting the Imperial forces in the Milky Way. Direct holonet transmissions through the wormhole were impossible due to the nature of the anomaly, but a system had been set up to counteract this. Twin space stations were being constructed on both sides of the wormhole, to serve as inspection points and a last line of defense. The first components that had been completed were the Communication arrays. Courier drones constantly transited the wormhole, from one station to the other, ferrying the compressed data back and forth for retransmission. A drone from either side docked and uploaded it’s data on each side every ten seconds. This allowed communications between both galaxies, albeit with a slight delay. Captain Florian walked over and stood next to Admiral Stevens. Stevens finished reading the news and looked over to Captain Florian. “Sir, the latest reports indicate that the fleet will be ready to depart by tomorrow.” he said. “Excellent.” said Stevens. “I want you to get the staff planners together after lunch and go over the battle plan again. I will be joining you.” he said. “Very good, sir.” said Florian, turning to attend to his business. The wind whipped through Admiral Jellico’s hair as he stood in the desert. He and his staff were in one of the more arid regions of Bajor, which had been wrecked years before during the first Cardassian occupation. All around, Starfleet personell, now wearing the silvery Gearlike Imperial insignia on their uniforms, worked feverishly to complete preparations around the prefab buildings that had been replicated and beamed in. Soon the transports began arriving. Many were old and rusty, and some bore crudely welded patches on their hulls. They set down on the landing field that Jellico’s men had marked out. Their hatches opened and hundreds of Bajorans began walking out and lining up on the pressed dirt of the landing strip. A group of officers in Imperial army uniforms walked out of the buildings. At their head walked none other than General Grodin Tierce. He had risen in rank since the death of Grand Admiral Thrawn, but it had taken much careful maneuvering on his part. He dared not reveal his existence to the reborn Emperor, since he was indirectly responsible for Thrawn’s death. (feedback on this one is welcomed, my memory of that book is a bit cloudy) Tierce and his staff had been detached from Admiral Stevens’ fleet to begin the training of the Alpha Quadrant’s ground troops. The officers walked up to the lines of Bajorans, looking them up and down. The weak and unfit had been weeded out at the recruiting posts that had been set up in many of Bajor’s cities. The ones who had been accepted had passed the standard battery of Imperial intelligence tests and physical examinations. Only the strongest had been allowed to progress any further. Many of those that did not pass the tests were still fit for auxillary work, and many had been listed in databases for future recall when the naval academies opened in a few weeks. General Tierce was saying something to the assembled recruits. Jellico walked closer to hear him. “...Selected for your intelligence, strength, and determination to fight.” the officer was saying. “Your stay here will be hell. Many of you will not make it.” said the General. Jellico noticed that to their credit, only one or two recruits looked nervous at that. The Imperial continued. “For those of you who survive boot camp, a future lies ahead of you. You will be able to advance your careers in the service of the Empire and your families. You will be given preferred job positions upon discharge. But most of all, you will rank among the best soldiers in the Galaxy. Your allies will respect you, and your enemies will fear you. You are the true defenders of the Empire. Fall in!” he said. The recruits formed lines and waited for orders. “Forward March!” yelled one of the Sargeants. The recruits marched into the Imperial Boot camp to begin their training. Admiral Jellico turned to Captain Benson. “Jack, what do the R&D teams have in the way of armor?” he asked. “Sir, last they told me, we’re looking at 2 months before we can put anything into production. 1 Month to complete the development, but another month after that for us to organize any kind of replication facilities to produce the designs.” he said. “These troops will be getting the 2 month training course? Asked Jellico. “Yes Sir, said Capt. Benson. “1 Month for basic, then another month for Advanced Individual Training. If we weren’t so pressed for ground forces, we’d extend the courses, but being that many of these people are former militia and resistance fighters, we can afford to cut their training short.” “Very good,” said Jellico. “I’m thinking of locating our new capital here, on Bajor, at least until we retake Earth.” He said. “Yeah.” said Captain Benson. “This place isn’t all that bad. So, I guess you’re going to be the Emperor, Hmm?” he asked. “Well, I am actually to be the Imperial Viceroy of the Alpha Quadrant. The whole region will essentialy be a separate political entity, while I will be responsible to the authorities on Bastion.” Said Jellico. “Hmm, I don’t like the idea of being the lackeys of the Imperials that much.” said Benson. Jellico Considered this for a moment, then spoke. “Yes, but one day, we will be in a strong position, and will be able to assist them in return. We will acheive equality through patience;” said Admiral Jellico. Gul Damar sat in his command chair on the bridge of his Flagship, a Keldon class Cruiser. 300 other Keldons, 500 Galors, and numerous Hideki class fighters were holding station near Starbase 74. These comprised the 14th Fleet, the premier assault force of the Cardassian Empire. No less than 3 of the huge Dominion Dreadnoughts were now present. Damar knew that they accounted for a large part of the Dominion fleet on this side of the wormhole. Arrayed in protective formation around these massive warships were no less than 100 Battleships and 450 Battlecruisers. Nearly 1000 attack ships were included in this impressive armada. Damar had no doubt that their combined forces would be able to stop the enemy cold in his tracks, although he wished that it was the Cardassians, and not the Dominion, that would do it. He waited, marking time. The fleet would leave in another 5 hours... The Imperial Fleet had left Epsilon Beta several hours ago, and was now just 15 Minutes from their destination, Starbase 74. Admiral Stevens and Captain Florian sat at the plotting table in the Enforcer’s wardroom, going over the final plans. The Imperial forces were divided 3 ways: TF 1 (Vice Admiral Wong) 1 Allegiance Class Light Cruiser 4 Imperator Class Star Destroyers 14 Victory Class Star Destroyers TF 2 (Admiral Stevens) 9 Imperator Class Star Destroyers 10 Victory Class Star Destroyers TF 3 (Captain Sheppard) 8 Imperator Class Star Destroyers 10 Victory Class Star Destroyers Vice Admiral Michael Wong’s TF 1, which included the heavy hitting Allegiance, would perform a hyperjump pincer maneuver, dropping into realspace on top of one of the Dreadnoughts. The other 2 Task Forces would do the same. The attack was perfectly timed so that all three groups would be deployed in position for a surprise time-on-target strike that would hopefully knock the Dominion’s biggest ships out of action before they could start throwing their weight around. The 3 groups would then form a solid perimiter in the center of the enemy formation, allowing the Dominion forces to wear themselves down against the concentrated batteries of the Star Destroyers. Once the enemy had spent enough of his numerical advantage, the fleet’s interdictors, which would have prevented their escape up to then, would continue to do so, allowing the Imperial forces to move in and mop up any remnants. The 2 men finalized the plans and departed, making ready for the coming battle. Captain Mark Sheppard sat in his command chair on the bridge of the ISD Revenger. A LED clock on a nearby console ticked down the few remaining minutes to hyperspace drop-out. He began giving orders. “Go to Condition 1, raise deflectors, charge all batteries. TIE pilots to their ships. All hands to action stations!” The ship buzzed with activity around him as his crew raced to carry out his orders. Red emergency lights came on, and the timer ticked down to zero. Captain Sheppard smiled as the starlines resolved into points and he got a good view of his surroundings. Space was cluttered with Dominion vessels of all descriptions. “Dominion Dreadnought, directly above!” shouted a sensor operator. Sheppard’s smile twisted into a wicked smirk. They were right where they needed to be. He turned to the chief gunnery officer. “All batteries that can bear, open fire.” The Dominion ship was taken totally by surprise. Captain Sheppard’s entire taskforce unleashed a devastating torrent of energy on their assigned Dreadnought, each ship firing a full dorsal broadside. The Revenger’s gunners had concentrated their aimpoints around the vessel’s center of mass, and as a result, the ship was holed“from keel to masthead”. The heavy blasts of energetic plasma smashed and battered the ship’s heavy armor aside, ripping through compartments, vaporizing crewmen, and finally punching their way out through the ship’s dorsal side. The bridge structure was anhilated, spinning away in a cloud of twisted wreckage, glowing plasma and escaping atmosphere. The heavy guns of Sheppard’s Taskforce swiftly recharged. They bellowed again, ripping through the ship like a shotgun blast through tissue paper. The huge Dominion ship began a lazy roll to starboard as it was wracked with hit after hit. A blast sheared the port nacelle free, starting a chain of explosions that snaked it’s way back up the power conduits and into the ship’s reactor core. White hot wreckage of all descriptions pelted off the Imperial shields like hail as the Dreadnought’s onboard antimatter supply cooked off, violently ripping the ship asunder. The Dreadnought had died without firing a shot. Admiral Stevens smiled in satisfaction as The Enforcer led His taskforce through the expanding cloud of plasma and wreckage that had been the second Domininon Dreadnought. Vice Admiral Wong’s fleet had wiped out their target quickest, thanks to the numerous heavy guns of the Allegiance. TF 2 was now plowing it’s way towards the other 2. All 3 were moving toward a rallying point at which they would assemble their defensive sphere. Several Battlecruisers made a run toward Stevens’ line, firing their phased energy weapons. A few shots raked over the Enforcer’s shields, not even depleting them 3%. The generators quickly pushed them back up. “Heavy Batteries, target those ships.” The Enforcer’s heavy Turbolasers pivoted on their mounts and began hurling flash after flash of fire out at the 3 oddly shaped ships. Within seconds they were joined by the secondary batteries. One of the ships flared up as several shots blew it’s engine rooms to hell. The other 2 split and attempted to attack a few Victories. The smaller Star Destroyers laid out a welcome mat, wiping out the 2 ships in a barrage of fire as they foolishly tried to close range. The 3 Taskforces drew closer together, as the Allegiance unleashed a 1/2 broadside on a pursuing battleship, leaving it’s burning hulk behind. Vice Admiral Wong watched his holoplot with satisfaction. The operation was coming off just as planned. There was a constant thrumming beneath his feet, as his ship’s gunners maintained a steady rate of fire against the Enemy ships. Every so often, one would explode outside the viewport. His Taskforce completed it’s run, and the helmsmen steered the mammoth vessels into the larger formation. As the Star Destroyers pulled into line, the Dominion ships began massing... Gul Damar tried and failed to hide his surprise as the enemy ships suddenly appeared within the Dominion formation. Crewmen began cursing and running to battlestations as the 3 biggest Dominion vessels were torn asunder before Damar’s disbelieving eyes. He activated the tactical plot. The 3 groups of ships had finished wiping out the Dreadnoughts, and were now converging on a fixed point between all three. He turned and began giving orders. “All ships, fall into attack formation. Come about to heading 024 Mark 43, prepare to engage the enemy.” There were a few half-hearted cheers among the crewmen, but they quickly died. These new enemies were like no others they had faced. The Dominion fleet was fully arrayed for battle now, having maneuvered into attack formation. The Star Destroyers had formed a perimiter, orienting themselves so that their most powerful guns could bear on the Dominion warships. The interdictor cruisers had moved to the center of the formation and were now projecting their powerful gravity fields over the battlefield. The TIEs were away, orbiting within the formation. The bombers carried a full antiship loadout, while the Fighters and Interceptors were preparing to deal with the smaller Jem’Hadar corvettes. Captain Sheppard watched through the viewports as the enemy fleet loomed closer. Their ships were next to worthless in single combat, but in large numbers they stood a chance of inflicting damage. He turned to his chief gunnery officer. “Prepare to engage the enemy. Full broadsides until they close range, then go to individual targeting.” “Yes sir!” said the Gunnery Commander. The larger Dominion units were still a ways off, but the attack ships began moving in. They came corkscrewing in in thick waves, polarion beams beginning to lance out and pelt the Imperial leviathans. Admiral Stevens watched as the forward screens flickered, easily shrugging off the weak hits. “Light batteries free, target those attack ships. Hold back the fighters until we have worn them down.” As soon as this order went out, space became crisscrossed with closely spaced bursts of turbolaser fire as the Imperials’ point defense batteries began acquiring targets and engaging. The swift blasts searched and found their targets, the computer aided tracking guiding the imperial fire. Ship after ship was hit, spinning out of control. A few tried to ram, but were either deflected by shields or destroyed en route. The space around the Imperial line became a confused melee of swirling dogfights and explosions as imperial escort units maneuvered to bring their guns into play. The Jem’Hadar were taking heavy casualties, but still they continued their suicidal assault. Finally, as the main body of their fleet approached firing range, they began to break off and withdraw. Captain Sheppard smiled a wicked smile. Here they came. Delivered into his hands. Now he would judge their souls, and send them to hell. He gave an order that was repeated aboard many other ships that day: “Commence fire!” The shrinking distance between the two armadas was suddenly lit with a deadly release of energy. Sheets of turbolaser energy leapt forth from the Imperial fleet, as the massive Destroyers concentrated their considerable broadsides into a 30 Degree arc throuugh the thickest part of the Dominion formation. Ships were hit, shields swatted down, the turbolaser blasts passing through their screens like bullets through cardboard. A Battlecruiser took hit after hit, the powerful energy bolts splitting it’s hull open like a rodent caught in the blades of a lawn mower. It was torn apart in a titanic explosion as it’s warp core blew. Variations of this scene were repeated up and down the line, as the Domininon was again reminded that their shields were insufficient to protect them from the wrath of the Imperials. The Dominion soldiers, those stolid clones that they were, could not feel fear. Thus they continued their advance. Vice Admiral Wong watched another Dominion Battleship split open on the seams and immolate itself, a victim of containment failure. He spared himself a quick chuckle. These people were so foolish in their ship design it was amusing. Using volatile fuels that depended on power driven containment systems to keep them stable... That was just plain idiotic. Even as he watched, a Battlecruiser shuddered under the impact of a brace of ion bolts. Blue lightning crackled over it’s hull, and the light behind it’s portholes flickered and died. Then, as if on cue, the ship was immolated in a fiery blast. Wong walked over to his gunnery officer, who was cooridinating the destruction of several more Dominion vessels with his counterpart aboard the Allegiance. “Commander, begin coordinating our turbolaser and Ion strikes. I want the turbolasers to knock down the enemy shields, and the Ion cannons to exploit the breach. Their reactor systems seem to be extremely susceptible to power failures.” “Yes, sir!” said the man. Wong’s Taskforce began coordinating their strikes. Within several seconds, the results showed. The Dominion had been trying to mass their forces on both flanks of the Imperial perimeter, in order to collapse the defensive position and flank their larger adversaries. Twenty Dominion warships attacking Wong’s fleet were Immolated as the coordinated salvoes began striking home. The tactic worked like a charm, with 3 or 4 Ion hits being sufficient to cause containment failures aboard the Dominion vessels. The Imperials had no lack of heavy weapons. They took their toll on the Dominion fleet. The Dominion ships found that they had better success against the escorts, and began to concentrate on them. They began to go down, the Dominion bringing it’s weight of numbers into play. It was then that Admiral Stevens ordered the Fighters forward. The order crackled over Col. Ray Koons’ commlink, and he keyed the squadron frequency. “All ships, move in and engage the enemy. We will be flying support for the 932nd bomber squadron, so watch their asses. Exploit any opportunities, and don’t stray too far from the main formation.” With that, Ray opened his throttles. The TIE accelerated quickly, pressing him back in his shock couch. He made sure his quad lasers were fully charged. The other 10 pilots of the 463rd accelerated with him, holding their speed down to allow the slower bombers to keep up. They moved out at about 75 megalights. To Ray it was slower than shit, since the interceptors could make about 120 at full military power. (I get this from the LucasArts “X Wing” DOS game, which I play avidly) They roared in, twisting to avoid the heaviest exchanges of fire. Ray watched in awe as he drew closer to the battle. A Dominion Battleship, streaming atmosphere and fire from a dozen hull breaches, accelerated on it’s one remaining impulse engine. The Star Destroyer in the way began to maneuver, coming slowly about and accelerating, trying to avoid the oncoming ship. The next ship in line pumped salvo after salvo into the charging ship, finally bringing it down in a blast of thermonuclear fire. The explosion occured just 300 meters off the other Destroyer’s starboard, and the ship was hammered by the blast. It slowly pulled back into line, belching atmosphere and flames from it’s damaged Starboard hull. Even as Ray watched, it’s undamaged port batteries opened fire on another enemy vessel. Ray smiled, impressed that an Imperial ship could take such heavy damage and go on fighting. 3 attack ships appeared on his scopes, angling for them. One appeared to be damaged, and was running it’s port impulse engine at 1/2 power. He keyed the mike. “Okay, boys. Let’s waste these kriffheads! Keep them off the bombers!” He began twisting and jinking as the enemy ships started firing blue beams towards him. He wove in and out, his targeting reticle lighting up for a second or so every time the enemy ship was in his firing arc. He quad linked his guns and began squeezing off bursts, one each time the reticle went green. He only had time for 3 such shots before the enemy ship screamed past. He cut his throttles and threw the ship into a tight starboard turn, coming out on the tail of another enemy ship. He punched the throttles to full and opened fire. 2 other TIEs joined him, and they spread out, firing burst after burst into the attack ship. When it would dodge to evade one fighter, another would have optimal firing angle. It took about a minute of constant firing and tight maneuvering to collapse the enemy vessel’s shields. The small laserbolts played over the hull of the ship, causing minor damage. Then several shots found one of the impulse engines, and it exploded. The ship slowed to a stop as it was wracked by internal explosions and fires. Ray executed a victory roll over the disabled enemy ship, spiraling up and away. The other 2 ships had been driven off, the damaged one trailing plasma where it’s already damaged engine had been stricken a few more times by the tenacious fighters. One interceptor was heavily damaged, and floating in space. Ray keyed a comm channel back to his ship, radioing for a recovery shuttle. Ray brought the ship back into the escort screen around the TIEs. They were right in the thick of it now, the agile Dominion cruisers maneuvering and firing, all the while being hammered by the Star Destroyers’ heavy guns. The leader of the 932nd had found a target, and ordered the interceptors to cover his ass on the way in. The Interceptors formed an arrowhead before the bombers, augering in on a Battleship that had just been disabled by a raking salvo of light turbolaser fire. Ray’s laser cannons stuttered on single fire, spreading destruction among the sensors and other equipment on the hull of the damaged ship. He rolled slightly to clear the Bombers’ firing arc. Yellow dots began appearing on his scopes, multiplying behind him, and then flashing past. no less than 24 concussion missiles swept in, slamming into the hull of the battleship. There were no immediate detonations. Ray saw a line of jagged holes in the armor where the warheads had penetrated. He kicked the interceptor into a looping turn and accelerated away. Deep within the bowels of the Dominion vessel, the missile’s timers ran out, detonating the warheads. A series of massive blasts wracked the ship, ripping it in half. The two pieces spun away from each other until a passing Nebulon-B frigate unloaded on them with it’s turbolasers. The TIEs screamed away, looking for other targets. “Gul!” 2nd section reports 70% casualties!” Gul Damar Cursed. “Order them to fall back.” Damar now had 400 ships, out of his original 700. The Hidekis were proving to be no match for the enemy’s Corvettes and esocorts. The enemy’s guns were simply too powerful. His ship shuddered as another flight of those infernal fighters screamed past, peppering the shields with their lasers. The forward disruptors fired, managing to hit one of them, and send it spinning away. Damar shook his head. One out of how many? “Fleet status report!” he snapped. “Sir, we are down to 365 ships, and the Dominion fleet has suffered 50% casualties.” “What about the enemy?” he asked. “3 of their larger ships have suffered heavy damage, but they are still in the fight. 4 Of the smaller ones are also damaged to varying degrees, and 2 of them have withdrawn behind the enemy line. Most of the damage was caused by close quarters reactor failures or ramming, sir.” “Regroup. All ships withdraw to grid point 23-51.” No point in risking further casualties if it wouldn’t accomplish anything. The time was now ripe. The enemy had lost more than half his ships, and most of the rest were damaged. The fleet identified by Admiral Jellico’s intel as “Cardassians” was turning to run. Admiral Stevens turned and spoke to Captain Florian. “Order Admiral Wong to begin advancing. We will take the right flank. Captain Sheppard is to bring up the left.” The Imperial Fleet began moving forward, the ships’ Ion engines flaring as they accelerated. The big ships moved forward, forming a large, 3D “U” shape in space, like a net that would snare the remains of the enemy fleet. The Allegiance led the way, It’s powerful batteries wasting ship after ship. All along the line of advance, Dominion vessels were drifting, their lifeless, scorched hulks testifying to the power of their ruthless enemy. Captain Sheppard was especially merciless on the left flank, leaving no ships recognizable as being that. The Dominion fought hard, but with their numbers depleted and ships damaged, they stood no chance. Imperial fighters swarmed over them like flies scenting blood. The explosions came fast and fierce as the ring of steel closed around the doomed enemy fleet. Some Dominion vessels began to accelerate towards the Imperial vessels, but theirs was a hopeless endeavour. They were hammered apart before they could come close enough to do harm. Gul Damar watched as the remains of the Dominion fleet were bottled up and anhilated. It was unbelievable. In just under 30 minutes of close combat, 3 entire dominion fleets had ceased to exist. What chance would he stand against that kind of firepower? Damar was brave, but he was not a fool. “All ships, set course for Cardassia. Maximum warp.” And may the gods have mercy on their souls, thought Damar. The last thing he saw on the viewer as his ships accelerated to superluminal speeds was the Imperial fleet turning it’s attention on Starbase 74...