Chapter Text
"I remember the day Odyssey finally launched. We knew we were stepping into a volatile galaxy, but something a lot of people outside Starfleet fail to remember is that when you're out there in the void between stars, all that matters is if the guy next to you can do their job. Starfleet gives us the training and the gear, but the most important thing they give us is each other." - From The Biography Of Admiral Evan Boll
ESD, Earth Orbit, Sol System, January 8th, 2391
Standing on the observation deck of ESD, my eyes looked over the Block 4 Sovereign Class vessel that was currently docked. It was a real work of art, primarily designed for battle with rather limited science and diplomatic facilities like the rest of the Sovereign Class line. As a Block 4, it was twice the size of the others of her class with a significantly greater armament. The Block 1, 2, and 3s were all 685.3 meters long, 88.2 meters tall, and 250.6 meters wide, the Block 4 was 1370.6 meters long, 176.4 meters tall, and 501.2 meters wide. It was basically a supersized Sovereign.
Carrying a total of 24 Type 14 Phaser Arrays, 2 Forward Chroniton Torpedo Launchers, 1 Aft, 8 forward Photon Torpedo Launchers, 7 aft, 6 forward Quantum Torpedo Launchers, 3 aft, 8 forward Phaser Cannons, 4 aft, 8 dorsal VLS Launch Tubes, 8 ventral VLS Launch Tubes, and 1 Phase Lance on the underside of the Saucer. The various Torpedo Launchers could be easily used to launch Transphasic, Plasma, Quantum, Photon, or Chroniton Torpedoes if needed. Our new Mark 32 Photons, Mark 5 Quantums, and Mark 3 Chronitons were capable of yields of, respectively, up to 120 Gigatons, 250 Gigatons, and 5 Terratons per Warhead.
On the saucer could be seen USS Odyssey, NCC-71832-A. My eyes then went to the Yellowstone Class Runabouts moving back and forth between the ship and the Station. One of 24 of that type stationed aboard my ship, it also carried 8 Workbees and 6 Type 2 Argo Excursion Rovers as well as the Shuttles needed to carry them. As well as 144 Mark 4 Valkyries divided into four Squadrons of 36: Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Zeta.
The hull of the Odyssey was covered in the latest Mark 3 Ablative Armor and the interior had a reinforced design my Chief Engineer was testing. He assured me that it would make the ship a lot more resistant to kinetic impacts than her predecessor almost 20 years ago. Our nacelles were also designed to be easily detached in an emergency, and had additional armour plating. Our shields were also far more advanced than previous designs: multi-spectrum, multi-phase, capable of rapid regeneration, and were theoretically capable of automatically adapting to enemy weapons much like the Borg had done in the past. Though it'd taken years to mimic the technology without actually analyzing it, since nobody had seen the Borg since the return of USS Voyager in 2378 a few years after the Battle Of Sector 001 in 2373, none could deny that it was simply a natural evolution of our technology.
After all, what was publicly available about those ships the Tal Shiar used to destroy Romulus back in 2386 was terrifying enough. But for those who'd been there, who'd been part of the ships sent in response to the distress signals, we knew the reality was far worse. I was the First Officer on the USS Renown at the time, a Prometheus Class. I can still hear the screaming at night. While the Romulans had been embroiled in a nasty civil war ever since, a friend in Starfleet Intelligence said she was confident that things would be changing one way or another soon.
The Klingons were well on track to joining the Federation, and the Cardassians had mostly become a society of recluses in the wake of the Dominion War 16 years ago. Though they did have ongoing problems with the True Way, as part of the peace treaty after the Dominion War they'd dismantled anything that wasn't strictly defensive, and so most of their modern fleet was made up of larger, slower vessels. They did retain a mix of Galor and Keldon Class ships, around 1500 according to the latest intel, but that number fluctuated regularly as the True Way stole or destroyed Cardassian vessels in small skirmishes here and there.
The whole region was a powder keg. Especially since a delegation from the Dominion had recently arrived from the Gamma Quadrant to begin negotiations for closer trade relations. Nobody wanted another war, but we knew it was always a possibility. Fortunately, the Enterprise was tasked with assisting Captain Kurland with them, so my crew probably wouldn't need to be involved in it.
Though I'm sure my MACOs wouldn't mind. A crew of 8,000, and a total of 4000 ground pounders in power armour. While it was a bit strange having a dedicated military ground contingent, the scars of the Dominion War were still healing for a lot of people. They had an entire deck in the Stardrive Section mostly to themselves, which had annoyed some of the scientists, but I could see where the people behind their reinstatement were coming from. After the Borg and the Dominion, we started expanding on the military section of our fleet.
Over the past 16 years, the Federation as a whole has basically adopted the slogan "Better to have it and not need it." when it comes to defence. Makes sense, I suppose. The Block 1 Galaxies, while powerful at the time, were minimally armed in comparison to the Block 2s developed after Wolf 359 or the Block 3s developed during the Dominion War, and you could see similar upgrades for our other ships. Ships like the Obenas which were being rolled out to replace the Excelsiors, Block 7 Mirandas, and the Block 8 Constitutions were all more heavily armed and armored in case the Borg reappeared or we got invaded by the Dominion again.
Not to mention all the other threats we've been dealing with here and there... "Good morning, Captain."
I looked aside to find my First Officer, Elisa Flores. A 5'6 Human woman with white skin, dark green eyes and dark red hair. She's been my best friend ever since we were kids. We wouldn't have survived the Dominion War without each other, having been caught in the crossfire when the Breen attacked Earth. We'd been visiting some friends and family members that day, many of whom had been injured or killed when the Breen bombed both Starfleet Headquarters and Starfleet Academy, not to mention large parts of San Francisco.
There were over 3,256,000 civilians dead in the city alone, not to mention the orbital habitats and civilian ships over the region at the time. While Starfleet managed to destroy the Breen fleet that had attacked, by the end there were a total of 5,358,658 civilians and over 680,000 Starfleet Officers and Cadets dead. Due to the damage to the Academy, more were setup on several other planets post-war while the one on Earth was being rebuilt.
Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar Prime, Caitia Prime, Betazed, Trill, Bajor, and several other planets all hosted their own Starfleet Academies, though the one on Earth was the most prestigious and well-known by the public. Mostly because it was the main one people tried attacking. Fortunately, with the new Vigilance Defence Platforms, which also had a planetside variant, and Mark 12 Planetary Shield Generators that prospect would be suicide even for a Borg Cube. Not to mention the Post-War retrofits for ESD and the Earth Defence Grid.
"Good morning, Number One." I turned and smiled, and she returned it.
"She's quite a beauty, isn't she? You know Admiral Jellico is still trying to get her scrapped and replaced with one of his Verity Class ships?"
I shook my head. "The man just doesn't like the Great Grandson of his old Academy rival building a ship that's better than his pet project. Besides, Odyssey is already good to go, and the next two Block 4 Sovereigns, Wayfarer and Pioneer, will be ready to launch next week. His Vesta is still over two months from beginning her trials. By then, there'll be over a dozen Block 4 Sovereigns entering service from the Mars Shipyards."
"Including the Frontier."
We turned to find two more men in Starfleet Uniforms. The first was a white Human male with purple hair, Captain Bradward Boimler, who commanded the Wayfarer, and the second was a white Human male with brown hair, Captain David Keogh, who commanded the USS Frontier. The Frontier was still under construction in the Mars Shipyards.
"Captain Boimler, Captain Keogh. It's good to see you two."
Keogh nodded as he looked out the window. "It's good to see you too, Captain Boll." He continued to stare out the window. "I'm sure my grandfather would be proud that a man like yourself got the ship named after his."
I nodded. "From what I've heard, he was a good man. And I'm sure he'd be proud of you following in his footsteps, David."
I put a hand on my old classmates shoulder in comfort, and he nodded. "Thank you, Evan. Still, there's a lot about our modern ships that probably wouldn't have gone over well when the first Odyssey was built. But after Wolf 359 and the Dominion War, things changed, didn't they?"
We went silent. Nobody could deny that. Wolf 359 and the Dominion War had both shaken Starfleet and the Federation, the entire Alpha Quadrant, to their foundations. 40 Federation Starships were lost at 359, the greatest losses in one battle that anyone had seen since the Earth-Romulan War back in the late 2150s. Sure, the Klingons had a few minor skirmishes with us during the 2230s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, culminating with an incident on Organia in 2267, but even then things hadn't been as bad as when the Borg showed up. The Border Wars with the Cardassians had only resulted in the destruction of a couple dozen starships, at most. And those losses had been spread over several years of conflict.
As we were thinking, Boimler pulled out a photo of his family and smiled at it, so I decided to change the topic. "So, Brad, how're the kids doing?"
He looked up and smiled, and I could see David was happy for the new topic. "Oh, they're fine. Beckett is, in her own way, tearing her own hair out as our son keeps on trying to get into the new Mark 3 Valkyries. From what Carol, I'm sorry, Admiral Freeman, keeps telling me it's karma for how she acted when she was that age. As for T'Lyn, well, our son is very much like his mother. Something I think she's rather happy about. We've already moved all our stuff onto the Wayfarer."
I nodded. "Well, good luck with them. From what Neve tells me, your ship is slated for a 15 year mission to the Gamma Quadrant."
Brad chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing the Block 4s all use Quantum Slipstream Drives with normal Warp Drives for backup. We'll be able to just slip back to friendly territory when needed."
We all rolled our eyes at the pun before my Com-Badge beeped. "Boll here."
"Captain Boll, this is Admiral Janeway, please report to my office. We've got a delicate situation and we want your ship to handle it."
"On my way. Commander Flores, please return to the ship and begin getting us ready for departure."
She saluted. "Yes, Sir." Elisa walked off to the nearest turbolift to go down a level to the nearest Transporter Pad. Brad and David both walked off in their own directions as I made my way to Admiral Kathryn Janeway's Office. Captain Harry Kim, who commanded the Rhode Island, nodded as he exited the Office and I entered it.
"You asked for me, Admiral?"
The Captain who'd survived the Delta Quadrant turned. "Captain Boll. As you know a Dominion Dreadnought escorted by several Battlecruisers and Attack Fighters recently came through the Bajoran Wormhole."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"We've detected anomalous energy readings in the Badlands, but things are tense at Deep Space Nine and we need every vessel there on-station in case something happens. The Odyssey is ready for deployment, and with your Slipstream Drive you can be there inside of two hours."
I frowned, and nodded. "We'll do what we can, Admiral."
She smiled. "Investigate those readings, and then report to Admiral F'Rak. He's the one coordinating our operations in the area while the negotiations are going on."
I saluted. "Understood, Admiral. We'll get it done." I walked out to return to the Transporter Pad to beam back to the Odyssey. Admiral F'Rak was a good man, a Vulcan who'd served in Starfleet for over 60 years. While I hadn't personally served under his command, several of my family who'd gone into Starfleet instead of working on the family ranch have over the years, so they'd occasionally mentioned him, among several others, in conversation.
Out the windows I could see a swarm of Fighters and Shuttles scrambling to return to the Odyssey. Walking into the Turbolift along with several other Officers, my mind went over what would be required to ensure we left within the hour. I'm sure Elisa and the others already have most of it handled, so it's likely the only thing we'll really need is to go get Delta Wing, who were still running CAP outside the Station, they'd be recalled on our way out. They were among the best of the Fleet, and some of the finest Officers I'd ever served with.
I walked into the Transporter Room and walked onto the pad. "Ensign Ramirez, can you please transport me to Transporter Room 1 on the Odyssey?"
The Andorian/Human Hybrid nodded. "Of course, Sir."
A second later I found myself in Transporter Room 1. The security team stationed there in case of infiltration lowered their rifles. "Just me, guys. Good reflexes, you had those up before I finished rematerializing." They smiled, checking over their armour, and I walked out to head for the Bridge, which was near the center of the Saucer Section. The dorsal bulge was where we'd put one of our forward Chroniton Torpedo Launchers.
As I walked through the brightly lit halls of the Odyssey, Major Darril Traubel walked over from ahead of me and handed me a PADD. "Sir, all of our battalions are prepped and ready to go."
We had four battalions onboard, 1,000 MACOs in each. "I don't know if you'll get a chance to deploy on this mission, but it's always good to expect trouble. Well done, Major."
"Captain, you're the man who taught me to always expect trouble. You remember that time in Hawaii?"
The raven haired, fair skinned man smirked as we kept walking. "Yeah, I remember having to pull your ass out of a volcano because you got drunk on a dare. I remember that that was when Elsa's hormones first began acting up, and then she puked her lunch into the volcano."
He smiled as he thought about his wife, Elsa, and their three kids. Two boys, one girl, Daniel, Spencer, and Amanda. They kept in regular contact with us, and the blonde woman regularly asked me about giving Darril some mandatory shore leave. Though as the ship neared completion, those requests eventually stopped as her and their kids got to move onto the Odyssey. Given some of the things Elisa has mentioned her old Academy roommate occasionally alluding to in conversation, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't stop until their ninth or twelfth kid.
I looked over the PADD as we kept walking. "So, what do you think of the new Valkyries?"
Darril snorted. "You mean the 25 meter long and 14 meter wide one-man craft that's only slightly bigger than a Danube Class Runabout? Well, it's heavily armed and armored, not to mention faster than most racers. Seriously, I know Commander Cooper and Red Squadron had some tight deadlines during the Kam'Jahtae Incident eight years ago, but these new fighters can reach speeds of up to .50c, as in half the speed of light. I remember learning in the Academy that all Impulse Engines were ultimately limited to .25c."
Right, the Kam'Jahtae Incident. When a force of True Way ships attacked the USS Sentinel and tried to release a force of insectoid aliens who wanted to enslave or exterminate everything. Why was that the case with almost every ancient alien race we encountered? Seriously, what's next? The T'Kon? Fortunately, through the efforts of Captain Worf and the USS Typhon, including Red Squadron and Commander Cooper, they were sent back to their extradimensional prison.
"Well, technology evolves. A few centuries ago people would've called you mad if you tried saying anything about travelling at Warp. And don't forget that Odyssey and our Shuttles have those new engines and shields too, we could probably outrun or outfight anything in the known galaxy." I continued looking through the PADD, noting down which Squads had taken the longest to get ready. Seems I might have to talk to Thompson again.
"Right, in case we ever run into the Borg or if the Dominion start shooting again."
"Major, they've kept to their side of the galaxy for 16 years. I don't fully trust them either, but if they really wanted another war, they would've been ready a long time ago. Why would they wait while we rebuilt? All of our modern ships, even the new Mirandas, would shred any of our war-time vessels."
He nodded, saluted, and walked off down another corridor as I continued onward to the Bridge. As I entered the room I caught the last of several reports from Chief Engineer David Warrick.
"I've got the Slipspace Drive as ready as I can, but do we even know where we're going yet? Because if we're not careful we could end up burning out the Drive and end up like Voyager."
"Don't worry, Warrick, we're only going to the Badlands to investigate some strange readings. Admiral Janeway wants us out there as soon as possible."
I could hear him holding back a sigh. "Understood, Captain. I'll try to keep us together down here."
"That's all I ask, Warrick."
"Sir, all crewmen are accounted for, the only ones not aboard are Delta Wing." I turned to my Human Chief Of Security, Lieutenant Commander Carlos Nuv'Cir, and nodded. The pale skinned half-Human half-Andorian returned to coordinating his security teams.
"Thank you, Nuv'Cir. Tarsi, request permission from ESD to depart and have them release the docking clamps. Potter, stand by to take us out with maneuvering thrusters, half power."
The blue skinned, white haired and blue eyed Andorian pressed a finger to her earpiece while working away at her console, while the redheaded, white skinned Human woman worked away at her own. I sat down in the Captains Chair, Elisa in her own to my right. Unlike most vessels this size, there were only two chairs here.
"Earth Traffic Control has cleared us to depart, Sir. We've also received a full mission brief from Admiral Janeway, I'm transferring the coordinates for this part of the Badlands to the helm now."
"Clamps are released, Sir. Maneuvering thrusters are online and ready for your go."
I paused for a second, taking it in. "Take us out."
The vessel began to move, slowly but surely, out of ESD. As we did the forward viewer showed dozens of smaller vessels, and we were soon passing the Wayfarer and Pioneer. Our sister ships were both slightly different from the Odyssey. Pioneer had a third Warp Nacelle like the Block 4 Galaxies, while Wayfarer had an upsized version of a Nebulas Weapons Pod. Soon, we were exiting Earth SpaceDock.
"Sir, Delta Wing is inbound at full impulse and will be in the bays in two minutes."
"Thank you, Tarsi. Anne, once Delta Wing is aboard I want you to set course for the Badlands, use the Slipstream Drive at half power. We'll work our way up to maximum over time."
Anne pressed several buttons on her console. "Aye Sir."
We waited a few moments as Delta Wing made their way back to the Odyssey. While we could've gone and met them halfway, they'd been on the far side of ESD when we left, and had to navigate around a number of ships and stations of various tonnage. Odyssey was one of the largest ships ever built by Starfleet, the space around Earth was already crowded enough without us wading into it just to pick up a few starfighters. As we entered the Luna Perimeter, Delta caught up and entered the Bays.
"All hands aboard, Sir."
"Engage."
Power thrummed throughout the vessel as both of our Class 9 Warp Cores went into overdrive. The Slipstream Drive went online and routed energy into our Deflector, emitting a beam of energy which tore a hole into the Quantum Barrier. The vessel shot forward as the Quantum Field enveloped the ship, passing through a blue tunnel. Our new design rapidly adjusted for the Phase Variance faster than an organic or most computers could. We were supposed to have a dedicated AI that would put a lot of their processing power into it, but the program hadn't been installed yet, and we only had an EMH in the Med-Bay.
"Sir, we've successfully entered Slipspace. Bringing us to half power now."
If you weren't looking at the sensors, you might not've known our speed had increased. There certainly wasn't any deep rumbling or worrying shaking like the ship was about to fall apart.
"How're we doing?"
Anne and Tarsi ran their hands over their consoles. "Power readings are holding steady, the Quantum Field appears to be stable."
Tarsi turned around. "I can confirm that, Sir. At our current speed we'll be on station in 45 minutes."
Right, Bajor and the Wormhole were still on the very edge of Federation Space. As we settled in for the trip, I pressed some buttons on my chair pulling up some holoscreens around me. Soon, the doors opened to admit Darril into the bridge.
"Major Traubel. Things get boring in MACO town?"
He smirked. "Captain Boll. You know I come up here for my peace and quiet. I'm not interrupting nap time, am I?"
Several people snorted. "On the contrary. Tarsi, please pull up the mission brief again."
She nodded. "Aye Sir."
The data quickly appeared on everyone's screens. "Starfleet has detected some anomalous readings in the Badlands. As most of you know, several Dominion vessels recently came through the Wormhole, supposedly so they can negotiate closer relations with the Federation. We need every ship on station at Deep Space Nine in case it's a trick, so Starfleet Command has ordered us to the region to investigate. Any questions?"
"Sir, how can we be sure this isn't a True Way or Dominion trap?"
I turned to Elisa. "Good question, Number One. While our intel suggests the Dominion might be sincere this time, the True Way are active in the region. Another reason for why we have so many additional ships protecting Deep Space Nine. Most of the True Way are hardliners, fanatics that want to see Cardassia rule the galaxy, and I doubt they've forgotten what the Dominion did to their homeworld at the end of the war. If they come looking for revenge, we'll need to be ready."
As we got closer, everyone ran some final systems checks.
"Sir, all Torpedo Bays are fully loaded, Alpha and Beta Wings are in the Tubes, ready for launch. Delta and Zeta will be good to go five seconds after that. Our VLS Tubes have also been loaded with Transphasic Torpedoes."
I turned to my Gorn Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Kov'Charr, and nodded.
"Well done, Kov'Charr. T'Vrel, do you see anything?"
The white skinned, black haired, and brown eyed Vulcan shook her head. "There's too much interference, Captain. If we send in some of our Valkyries I can link our systems and use them to expand our range. Otherwise, I suggest we take the ship in."
"Understood. When we get close slow us down, switch to Warp, and take us in."
"Yes Sir."
A few minutes later, we'd slowed down and converted over to our Warp Drives, proceeding into the plasma storms at Warp 7. I called for Yellow Alert, and the shields came up as crewmen rushed to their battle stations just in case.
"Sir, we're nearing the coordinates. There's definitely something out there, but our sensors are having a hard time identifying it."
"Launch Alpha and Beta Wings to extend our sensor range, I want Delta and Zeta standing by in the tubes in case we find trouble. Send a transmission to Starfleet Command that we've arrived at the coordinates and are proceeding to investigate."
T'Vrel nodded as Tarsi relayed my orders. "Aye Sir."
Outside, the Valkyries were flung into the void from their Launch Tubes. The same Tubes they used to return for refueling and rearming if their internal Replicators were damaged. Much like the Industrial-Grade Replicators used to build new Shuttles, Torpedoes, and Hull Plating for the Odyssey. Something which became standard across the Fleet back in 2377, though some classes such as the Galaxies had been testing since the 2360s by that point. The USS Voyager would later expand on it as part of her purpose as a Deep Space Science Vessel meant to be away from friendly space for decades at a time.
While the Valkyries moved into position, the Odyssey pushed forward as we continued to analyze the anomaly.
"Sir! I'm detecting a Starfleet distress signal, it's old. The encryption's around sixty years out of date. Unfortunately, the registry is choppy and hard to make out. I'll try to clean it up... New contacts! 5 Cardassian vessels, 3 Galor Class, 2 Keldon Class."
"Pull the Squadrons back to the Odyssey. Where are they in relation to us?"
Tarsi frowned. "The Cardassians are at Bearing 056 Mark 280, 800 million kilometers distant, while the distress signal is Bearing 030 Mark 50, 960 million kilometers distant."
"Can you ID the Cardassian ships?"
"Looks like the Belkar, Jinur, Frina, Valcoth, and Taoth. Intel indicates all of these ships were stolen by the True Way within the past five years."
"Have the Valkyries engage their cloaks. Is ours online, yet?"
Elisa shook her head. "Engineering reports the Cloaking Device will be online in four minutes."
Kov'Charr snorted. "They'll have detected us long before then."
"Sir, we're picking up those anomalous energy readings again, stronger this time. They're coming from a location Bearing 055 Mark 275."
"Then it is logical to assume that the True Way are up to something. I suggest we have Alpha and Beta Squadrons investigate under cloak while Odyssey investigates the distress signal."
I rose an eyebrow at T'Vrels suggestion. "Have Alpha and Beta Squadrons proceed under cloak, recon only. Observe at a distance, and tell them to hightail it back to the Odyssey at the first sign of trouble. Come about and back off, once the cloak's online we'll join them. Have they detected the distress signal?"
She shook her head. "They're not deviating from their current course, Sir. They seem to be ignoring it. It's possible... Movement! They're altering course, now moving towards us at full Impulse. They've raised their shields, powered up their weapons, and are targeting us."
"I want Alpha and Beta to continue without deviating, Delta and Zeta Wings will be enough with these guys. Red alert, all hands to action stations. Move to intercept, have the Squadrons keep out of our forward firing arc. When they cross within 600 Million kilometers, we'll open fire."
Some of the lights turned red, but the corridors were otherwise well-lit. As the enemy vessels crossed the 600 Million kilometer line, we charged our Phase Lance and fired a full spread of torpedoes. Our forward Phaser Arrays and Phase Cannons soon charged up and fired before we angled downward and kicked into evasive maneuvers as our Valkyries surged forward.
The enemy ships were quick to react, trying to move away even as our phasers slammed into their shields, the new Subspace Accelerators propelling the particles of the beams at Warp 1.5. Our Lance hit one of the Keldons right in the deflector, blasted through and out the other end, vaporizing the entire back half of the ship. The rest quickly disintegrated.
The second Keldons' shields flared for a few seconds under the force of four of our Phaser Arrays before failing. Five seconds later, 20 Quantum Torpedoes slammed into its hull, obliterating it. Two of the Galors floundered as each was hit by two Phaser Beams and then a dozen Torpedoes. The remaining two ships tried to fire back, but we were well outside of their weapons range.
Our Valkyries had charged into range, and now decloaked to open fire before recloaking. Scattering in random directions after firing a spread of Torpedoes and Phaser Cannons, they got away with no losses. Though one of them was forced to decloak after getting their left wing blown off by a glancing blow from a Galors secondary Disruptor Cannons. Smoke and flame trailing from the craft, his wingmate used their tractor beam to tow him back to the Odyssey.
The fire from the two Squadrons slammed into the Galor Class Attack Cruisers, and proved to be devastating as their shields went down and fire sprouted from dozens of hull breaches. While intel had suggested that the Cardassians, along with several other factions, had been trying to develop their own version of Ablative Armor, it would appear that it wasn't as widespread as some of our people had assumed. As the two drifted, their engines damaged, the rest of our salvo slammed into them.
"Enemy vessels have been destroyed, Captain."
"Good. Recall Delta and Zeta Squadrons, then alter course for the distress signal. Have there been any reports from Alpha and Beta Squadrons?"
Tarsi shook her head. "Not yet, Sir."
I nodded. "Very well. Keep us at yellow alert in case we find more trouble."
As we proceeded, things were quiet except for the beeping of consoles and the humming of power conduits. "Sir! We're close enough for me to clean it up a bit. It's an automated beacon, no audio. Registry reads as NCC-1701-B."
Every eye on the bridge went to Tarsi at the end of her sentence. T'Vrel shook her head. "I can confirm that, Sir. But that can't be right. The Enterprise-B was declared lost during a patrol of our border with the Klingons. I'm running a diagnostic."
"Either way, we need to investigate. Anne, take us in."
As we got closer, I kept an eye on the sensors via a screen built into my chair.
"Sir, we're close enough for a visual."
"On screen."
The screen turned on to show an Excelsior Class vessel, her hull scorched and covered in damage, from her silhouette she looked to be a Block 2 or 3.
"Confirmed, it's the Enterprise B. The readings are consistent with a Block 2 Excelsior Class."
Elisa looked around. "Anyone care to speculate how she found herself so far from our old border with the Klingons?"
T'Vrel ran her hands over her console. "Sensors aren't seeing anything. We'll have to send someone to access her logs. Remote access is impossible due to the damage to her communications systems."
Kov'Charr growled. "Not to mention it's over 60 years old. Those systems weren't designed to be remotely accessed in the event of being hijacked by a hostile entity like modern vessels. Means we have to disable them the old fashioned way, which can be risky if there's any Starfleet Officers left alive on them."
"Darril, Carlos, I want you two to get some teams together to board the Enterprise. Do a sweep for hostiles, don't know what could be hiding from our sensors. After that, we'll send over Dr Kaistro, Chief Warrick, and their teams to see what happened to the crew and get started on repairs. At least enough so it won't fall apart the moment we try tractoring it. Who knows what's happened to the internal structure after floating adrift for the past sixty years."
Darril and Carlos headed down to the nearest Transporter Room, getting on their Comm-Badges to coordinate their teams. "Sir, I have a priority transmission from Beta Leader for you."
"Put him on. Beta Leader, this is Odyssey Actual."
The voice of Carlos Butcher soon replied. "Sir, we've got trouble. The True Way have amassed what looks like the majority of their navy here centered around a Hutet Class Dreadnought. We can't get an accurate count on the number of ships, it's a mix of Galor Class Destroyers, Keldon Class Battlecruisers, Norin Class Light Cruisers, Tonga Class Cruisers, and Hideki Class Attack Fighters. Those readings we detected were coming from the Hutet, which seems to have been modified to project an energy field that makes ships around it much harder to detect."
"Get back to the Odyssey, grab Alpha Squadron on your way out. Tarsi, send a message to Starfleet Command and Deep Space Nine apprising them of the situation. We can't afford to get into a fight, not with the Enterprise right there."
The crew scrambled to obey orders. Meanwhile, Darril and Carlos had completed their sweeps of the Enterprise, and Warrick and Kaistro had beamed over with their teams. "Warrick to Odyssey."
"Go ahead."
"Sir, it looks like someone came through here recently and decided to cause additional damage. The Distress Beacon is basically a pile of scrap that's stuck on transmit, and the engine room has been ransacked. Doesn't look like the intruders really knew what they were doing, if we run the right series of bypasses we should have engines and the Deflector Array back online in 20 minutes. Looks like her torpedoes are gone, and the last one detonated in the tube as it launched, but her phasers should be relatively easy to repair. Unfortunately, there's no repairing her Warp Drive as it looks like they had to eject the Core, and we don't have time to properly replicate and tune an entirely new one. Our spare parts are all for a Class 9 Core like Odysseys, not a Class 5."
"Do we have any idea how she ended up here?"
"Still trying to access her logs, Sir, I thought we might want to concentrate on repairing the ship and getting her out of here before the rest of the Cardassians notice us. But given the fact every member of the crew seems to have been turned into bloody smears, like they just spontaneously exploded, I'm guessing they ran into something nasty."
I winced at the image, as did several others on the bridge. "Alright, leave the logs for now. We'll get her back to more friendly territory and then figure out what happened."
"Sir, Alpha and Beta Squadrons have returned and are taking up defensive positions alongside Delta and Zeta Squadrons."
Things quickly became a race against time. Thus far, it appeared we had wiped out those ships before they could alert their friends, but their destruction also meant they would eventually come to investigate. Even if I ordered the Odyssey and our Squadrons cloaked, the Enterprise didn't have a Cloaking Device so if they detected the distress signal they'd move to investigate, and I doubt they'd hesitate to destroy her."
"Sir, we're getting transmissions from Admiral Janeway at ESD and Admiral F'Rak at Deep Space Nine."
"Put them up."
The Admirals appeared on the screen. Admiral Janeway was clearly still in her office, though Admiral F'Rak appeared to be on the bridge of his ship, a Block 3 Sovereign, the USS Valiant. Admiral Janeway spoke first. "Captain, we've read your report on the situation. Do what you can to get your ship and the Enterprise out of there safely. None of our ships will be able to reach you in time, so try to get the Enterprise to Deep Space Nine."
"The Valiant is leaving along with several other ships to assist you. If you can escape, we will meet you along the way."
"Alright, we'll get the Enterprise spaceworthy enough to tractor the old girl and..."
"Contact! The Cardassians are moving in our general direction, Sir. No way they won't detect the Enterprise with all the activity around her."
"Tell Warrick to step up his repairs, activate the cloaking device, tell our Squadrons to do the same. Extend our shields around the Enterprise, we'll ambush them as soon as they get into range. Once repairs are complete we'll tractor them out, I'm not risking a fight with these guys with the Enterprise right there."
F'Rak began issuing orders himself as the connection was cut from his end, and Janeway nodded. "I'll leave you to it, Captain. Good luck."
The ships were soon cloaked, waiting. 15 minutes later, we were contacted by Warrick. "Captain, the Enterprise is secure and we've brought the Structural Integrity Fields back online. We're ready as we can be, over here."
"Understood, stay aboard and try to keep her intact. Decloak and lock onto the Enterprise with the tractor beam, we're getting her out of here. Have all Valkyries dock with the Odyssey, they aren't as fast as we are. Set a course for Deep Space Nine, Warp 6."
The tractor beam engaged and locked onto the Enterprise as we started moving at full Impulse. Once the last of our Valkyries were aboard we accelerated to Warp 6. It wasn't even a full 30 seconds before T'Vrells console beeped again.
"Sir, the enemy vessels have detected us and are pursuing."
"Alright. David, Carlos, get everyone you don't need ready for transport back to the Odyssey."
The Scotsman and Brit were quick to reply. "Aye, Sir."
"Can we increase our speed without the Enterprise falling apart?"
"Her Structural Integrity Fields have been repaired to 50% functionality, but even on the old Warp Scale, much less the one used when she was in service, we'd risk tearing her apart if we went to Maximum Warp."
Right, the Warp Scale had been completely redone by the time the Galaxies came into service back in the 60s, and Odysseys Warp Core operated on an entirely new Scale. The Big E-B wasn't designed to take those speeds.
"Alright, let's just try to keep her intact."
Behind us, the True Way Fleet accelerated to Warp 7, well, on the old scale. Guess they wanted to keep pace with the Hutet. We were still significantly faster, though.
"Captain, we've transported most of our teams back to the Odyssey, there's only a skeleton crew left on the Enterprise." To emphasize her point, Darril soon appeared on the bridge.
"I left some of my guys to guard the Chief and his team while they do their repairs, Doc's back aboard too. He says that the crew simply detonated, like their molecules suddenly decided to just lose any sense of cohesion."
That was... weird, but Starfleet dealt with weird every day. "We'll figure out what happened when we aren't being pursued by hostiles. Any sign of Admiral F'Rak and his ships?"
"No Sir. Enemy vessels are still pursuing, they appear to be intent on chasing us all the way to DS9."
They'll regret that. "Stay on course."
After another forty minutes the situation changed again.
"Sir, I'm detecting a cluster of Warp Signatures approaching. It's Starfleet, Evan. 8,000 ships, led by the Valiant. They'll meet up with us in ten minutes."
You could almost feel the relief around the bridge. We probably could've taken the True Way on our own with the proper tactics, but not with the E-B in the condition it was. Admiral F'Rak soon hailed us.
"Captain, we'll escort you back to Deep Space Nine so you can get the Enterprise behind the stations guns. If the True Way continue to pursue us all the way there, then we'll engage."
"Understood, Admiral."
Several minutes later, we blew past the other ships on course for Deep Space Nine and they quickly turned around to follow. Far behind both groups was the True Way Fleet. Despite being heavily outnumbered, they continued onward. Eventually, we reached the safety of Deep Space Nine and released the Enterprise from our Tractor Beam, allowing our teams to pilot it in for dock, where it'd be protected by the stations shields.
We turned around and joined the others as the Fleet formed up, 20,000 Starfleet and Klingon vessels arrayed around the station. Even the Dominion vessels, though there were only a dozen, had joined up with us. The Dominion Dreadnought had taken position directly above us, while the USS Valiant and USS Defiant were to our port and starboard. A Negh'Var, a ship I recognized as one commanded by an old friend, had taken up position below us.
"Target the True Way vessels, charge the Phase Lance, and set it for maximum spread."
Elisa turned to look at me. "Captain, is that wise? We haven't exactly had time to test it on that particular setting."
"No better time to find out. Request permission from the Valiant to fire once we have a targeting solution."
A few seconds later Tarsi turned back to me. "Captain, the Admiral has given us permission to fire."
"Phase Lance is charged and ready to fire."
"Fire."
For all of a second, energy gathered in front of the Odyssey as a sphere of energy before it shot forward like the breath of a Dragon, gravitic arrays splitting it into a myriad of smaller, though still powerful, beams aiming for multiple vessels. A Keldon was pierced through the center, then exploded in a magnificent fireball, and the beam continued on to tear through the entire starboard side of the Hutet. Beams curved through space and tore through dozens of ships.
IKS Daedalus, Bridge
Eyes wide, the half-Klingon half-Human Captain of the Daedalus, and Brigadier General of the Klingons 19th Strike Division watched as the Cardassians were decimated. When he'd last talked to the 5'7 Human Captain of the Odyssey, his pale skinned and light brown cut short haired friend had mentioned he'd made some minor modifications. Guess the two had different definitions of what exactly that meant.
"General Caldwell to all ships, we're going in!"
The 682.32 meter long, 470.09 meter wide, and 136.5 meter tall Negh'Var charged ahead, quickly followed by 60 Birds Of Prey and 20 Vor'Cha Attack Cruisers. Firing the Heavy Bombardment Cannons on the underside of her wings, massive green bolts of energy quickly slammed into the Cardassian Hutet, which had surged forward to target the Dominion Dreadnought. Its efforts were to be in vain as the fire from the 19th Strike Division, along with the fire from numerous other Klingon and Starfleet ships, slammed into the hull of the Cardassian warship.
The vessel was soon disabled as the Dominion Dreadnought powered up two massive Proton Beams on her bow and fired, piercing through a Keldon and obliterating it, along with a second and third behind it. While the display wasn't quite as shocking as the Odysseys Phase Lance, it most likely still had a debilitating effect on the morale of the Cardassians.
Shifting their fire, the Daedalus and Odyssey worked together with the rest of the Fleet to remove the True Way from existence. Disruptor Beams, Disruptor Bolts, Phaser Beams and numerous Torpedoes painted the void of space a myriad of both bright and darkish colors. While they were slightly more advanced than they'd been 16 years ago, the Cardassian Union had been forced to focus on rebuilding their industry and cities, many of which had been destroyed during the Dominion War. As such, they weren't designed to defend against some of the most powerful vessels ever put into service by the Klingons or Starfleet. The Hutet, the most modern vessel in their possession, might have held out one on one against the Dominion Dreadnought, but it was still years behind everyone else.
The True Way were fanatics, without access to Industrial Replicators, which were tightly controlled, they had to rely on stealing vessels and encouraging desertion to recruit new members.
Vessels such as the USS Resolute, USS Enterprise-E, and USS Agamemnon shielded the Station, and the Enterprise-B, by extending their shields, while vessels such as the USS Challenger, USS Roanoke, USS Venture, USS Syracuse, and USS Pembina led the charge into the Cardassians lines alongside the Defiant and Valiant. The Daedalus and Odyssey soon joined them, and five minutes after the battle began, the entire Cardassian Fleet had been destroyed.
An hour later, the Odyssey and several other vessels started towing the Enterprise-B back to Earth Space Dock.