As they began to approach the wormhole, the station and fleet near it, Captain Harald of the Ronin made it perfectly clear that the Sovereign could not assist them in the engagement. Even if they were to change their IFF to try and pretend to be part of the Imperium, the crystal shard that was still embedded into their saucer would be a dead giveaway. As it was made apparent, the Imperium are on the hunt for a Sovereign-class vessel with a crystal embedded in it.

Maxwell had inquired Captain Harald on how exactly did the Imperium get this information when it was just the Ronin and the other ship that made contact with them. Harald had explained that there were subspace relays practically littered everywhere in the territories of the Imperium. There are some gaps or dead-zones but as soon as a ship enters the range of at least one subspace relay, all data is then transmitted to the primary data centers of the Imperium. While the Ronin was able to make it appear that the other ship was supposedly part of the rebellion and the Ronin was acting accordingly to procedure; Harald was not able to alter any data or information that was collected on the Sovereign. This included sensors, video feeds, etc.

Nevertheless, while Maxwell has a duty to get his ship and the hundred crewmembers on board home, he still did not like the idea of a single ship engage a fight with over fifty ships. Especially when Maxwell believed that Harald is doing this to become a martyr for the rebellion, to try and encourage others to rise up against the Imperium. Perhaps he will succeed in his suicidal act, or he could fail and strengthen the Imperium’s resolve. All that mattered, was that the one ship that has chosen to help him and his crew get home, was going to get itself destroyed.

Maxwell did not wish to make this decision alone, as it was far more complex for a single man to decide. And so, he had requested all one hundred crew on board to gather in the main shuttle hangar, so that he may address them. With his senior staff behind him, and his first officer at his side, he could not feel any more confident in the hopes that his skeleton crew would choose to help and fight with the Ronin.

“With that said,” Said Maxwell, as he had explained majority of the situation for a better part of an hour while both ships were at warp. “I know that we do not have the full compliment of crew to make this ship much more efficient and much more capable in a combat situation as this. But I do believe that if we work hard, we could potentially succeed in delivering a heavy blow to the enemy.”

“I know that getting home is much more important,” Maxwell continued. “And you are right. I cannot expect you all to be able to put out fires throughout the entire ship. Although, we will coordinate quickly and effectively to seal off sections that are on fire and try to vent those sections, to starve the fire out of oxygen. Which can easily be done with only a skeleton crew.”

“The point is, though,” Maxwell went on. “We’ve been exceedingly lucky so far. So much so that I do not like it one bit. I highly doubt that the vessel out there could successfully hold an entire fleet and space station long enough for us to get to the wormhole and escape without being dragged into a fight. So rather than be dragged into one, I say we should take it straight to them, be unpredictable. But I would rather do this with the full backing of my crew. I cannot and will not bring the fight to the enemy if any one of you disagree with this plan.”

Maxwell then looked at Art when he stepped forward. “We will not lie to you,” Art said as he raised his voice for them to hear. “While we will do everything in our power to make sure that everyone gets home safely. No matter what we choose to do, there will always be risks. But we absolutely believe that the risks will be much less severe if we fight with our ally. So the question we have for all of you. Do we fight? Or do we run?”

In a sudden unison, loud voices from all of those that stood in formation, echoed throughout the hangar with one word. Fight.

Maxwell heard Art speak up once more, but more loudly. “I didn’t hear you!”

And then once more, even louder, a single word was shouted and echoed with great intensity throughout the hanger. Fight. Maxwell even heard his senior staff behind him shout the same word.

Maxwell then watched Art turn on his heels to face him. “We choose to fight, Captain.”

Maxwell smiled and nodded his head to Art. “Then, Number One. Mr. Grak. Prepare the ship for the Picard Maneuver.” He spoke softly to them before he looked out towards the crew and spoke loudly and clearly. “Battlestations!”

Tagg had read and studied the Picard Maneuver the moment that Maxwell had brought it up in the briefing that they had, before the whole meeting with the crew in the hangar. He was certain he could perform it with ease. Especially with the help of the first officer and acting chief engineer. Nevertheless, Tagg was nervous. He knows what this ship can do, he knows he can fly her through anything. But against a fleet of over fifty ships? And a station? He could only hope that the Ronin can inflict heavy damage against the fleet before they realize what is going on and raise their shields.

Tagg sat there at his station, where he monitored the displays before him. The Ronin had been ahead of them quite a bit while at warp for several reasons, while the Sovereign had been at a slower speed to ensure that the Ronin would drop in on the fleet before them. It only made sense, since Maxwell and this Captain Harald, had intended for the Ronin to drop in first, inflict damage, create the distraction needed for the Sovereign to drop in close and go through the wormhole. But since tactics had changed, tactics that Maxwell has not informed Captain Harald about, Tagg had to be ready to not just alter the ships course to engage the enemy, but also be ready to use that maneuver to fool the enemy. Too bad it will only work once.

“The Ronin dropped out of warp, Captain!” Tagg quickly spoke over his shoulder when his readouts notified him that the Ronin was no longer at warp. They would be at warp for at least five more minutes. So they won’t know what damage the Ronin has inflicted until they drop out as well. Five minutes. That can be an incredibly long time for a single ship to engage an entire fleet. That is why, Maxwell had instructed Tagg to increase their speed, to cut those five minutes down to sixty seconds. Which is exactly what he did, when he selected the warp speed dial and cranked it up to maximum..

Then it happened and as Tagg had expected, the bridge got loud.

“Warp drive disengaged! Altering course and engaging evasive maneuvers!” Tagg spoke as he watched both the view screen and his displays together. The streaks of stars ended and the mouth of the wormhole, completely covering the view screen, was suddenly brushed to the side as he had made the ship turn completely around. When the fleet was on screen, he could see it as clear as day. The space station was completely in pieces and the Odyssey-class vessel that was the flagship of the fleet was crippled. It was explained in the briefing, that the Ronin was going to launch the maximum salvo of torpedoes they had at the Odyssey-class vessel, while they hit the station’s main reactor with their twin spinal mounts at full power.

“The space station is completely destroyed, and the enemy flagship is ejecting escape pods.” Said Graves.

“Engage the Picard Maneuver!” Maxwell ordered. “Then target the next largest threat of the fleet and fire at your discretion, Lieutenant!” Said Maxwell.

As expected, the most of the ships altered their course to engage the Sovereign and began to open fire on them. Then the Sovereign did the maneuver exactly as instructed, leaving a singular afterimage that fooled the enemy to fire on, while the Sovereign appeared in another location just five kilometers away, which only a few enemy vessels had fired on.

“Firing full barrage, Captain.” Said Bates.

While Tagg kept a close eye on his displays to ensure that he was not going to headbutt any of the enemy ships, he also watched several phaser beams hit what looked like one of those weird Galaxy-class vessels that they had seen before. Followed by so many torpedoes of photon and quantum. Tagg was not sure how much damage they could truly inflict on these vessels when they carried artificial singularity reactors like the Romulan ships do, and have multiple shield grids as protection. But apparently those shields were not as powerful as Tagg had thought, when the full barrage of phasers and torpedoes seemed to have cut through the shields and Tagg could see multiple explosions of torpedoes making contact with the hull.

“Captain, the Ronin is hailing.” Said Ruby.

“Put them on speaker, too busy to look at his face right now.” Said Maxwell and soon Harald’s voice was heard from the speakers on the bridge.

“What the hell are you doing, Maxwell? The Wormhole is open! You need to get out of here, now!”

“I would never forgive myself if I had let you have all the fun, Captain. Besides, the Sovereign has a reputation to keep.” Said Maxwell. Tagg looked over his shoulder and could see the grin on the man’s face. “Besides, aren’t the Dominion ships suppose to show up by now?”

“What good would that do?”

“You’ll see!” Maxwell’s grin got even wider.

Tagg returned to his displays to notice the warning indicator. He brought it up and it notified him of the multiple contacts that had exited the wormhole. Tagg looked over his shoulder again. “They’re here, Captain!”

“Confirmed! Dominion warships have arrived from the wormhole, Captain.” Said Bates.

“I bet they’re confused as hell from what they’re seeing,” said Graves. “But what the hell? Let’s give them a call!”

“Hail the Dominion Fleet, Ruby. Tell them I want to speak to their leader.” Said Maxwell.

“Hailing. No response but the fleet has not moved from the mouth of the wormhole,” said Ruby. “Perhaps they are confused, like the Commander said.”

Tagg looked over his shoulder and saw that Maxwell had pushed himself out of his seat before he spoke, “Open hailing frequencies directly to the Dominion Fleet.” Said Maxwell.

“Open, sir!” Ruby acknowledged.

Tagg returned to his displays just in time to engage some maneuvering thrusters to adjust for the chaos that was now before them. So many ships that had changed direction, had forced Tagg to ensure that they don’t collide with them.

“This is Captain Maxwell of the-” Maxwell made a brief pause and Tagg swore he heard a chuckle from the man. “-Terran Rebellion Sovereign. We have rose up against our oppressors, to fight for freedom and justice against the real threat of this galaxy. My ship, and the other, the Ronin, are the only ones who have engaged the enemy, the Terran Imperium. But that is because we have decided that the atrocities must end, right here, right now, forever! Will you help us?”

Tagg was unsure if the Dominion were going to answer at all. He had no clue on how different or how similar they may be to the Dominion of their universe. But his displays showed that none of the Dominion ships had chosen to move in to engage the enemy. Perhaps that they had decided to not risk anymore of their lives in a pointless battle. At least, that is what Tagg thought, until he started to see not one, not two, but multiple Dominion vessels had begun to move in. And then there were more, and more, until the entire fleet began to approach.

“Your message has been heard, Captain. While we are skeptical of what you say, the scene before us cannot be ignored. Your ship and your ally, have been marked as friendly. However. If you alter your targeting systems to just one of our ships, we will obliterate you.” Tagg was unsure who that was, as no name was given, but they sounded feminine and old.

“You have my word, we will not target your ships. Thank you.” Said Maxwell.

“Except they lied about one thing!” Harald’s voice was then heard over the speakers. “While they fight with spirit and honor of the rebellion, they do not belong in this universe. Your scans will show that their quantum signatures are not identical to our own! So please, do not close your wormhole just yet! They need it to get home!”

“Goddammit Harald.” Said Maxwell. But before anyone could respond, alarms from multiple stations went off.

Tagg quickly brought up the notification to see that a large number of new ships entered the system. It was a second fleet of the Terran Imperium. Tagg looked over his shoulder at the Captain. “Sir, we got a big problem!”

“Another Imperium Fleet has entered the system, Captain.” Said Bates. “There’s no way we can keep this up! We have to go!”

“We do not have the fighting strength to take on two fleets.” The voice that left the speakers was from the Dominion fleet.

“Don’t worry! My ship has taken enough damage, but I know exactly what we need to do.” Said Harald. “Focus on this fleet here. My ship will deal with the second fleet ourselves.”

“Dammit Harald! You do not need to sacrifice you and your crew like this!” Said Maxwell.

“It doesn’t matter, Captain.” Said Harald. “The artificial singularity reactor of ours has already begun to overload. We cannot contain it and the ejection system has been damaged.”

“Sir!” Tagg looked over his shoulder when he heard Grak’s voice and saw Grak push away from the engineering station to quickly approach Maxwell’s side. “If we want to limit the exposure of us being here, in this universe, when we return to our universe, then I suggest we give the Ronin back their warp core.”

“That won’t do us any good when we can’t eject our singularity reactor!” Harald exclaimed.

“Except, the combined explosions of two overloading cores would be significant enough to deal a hefty blow to that second fleet.” Grak explained. “I would just have to force the core into an overload.”

Tagg could see Maxwell think about it, but he sure thought about it quick when he quickly gave Grak an answer. “Do it. Tagg, Bates, put all auxiliary power to the shields and impulse engines. We’re going home.”

Tagg nodded his head, “Aye, Captain!” And he prepared himself for the loss of main power. It took a minute, but he saw the indicator that the warp core was pushed into an overload before the system notified him that the core was ejected. From there, he adjusted auxiliary power into the and impulse engines before he altered their course to head directly for the mouth of the wormhole.

“Thank you, Captain! For giving us the courage to do what needed to be done!” Said Harald. “Dominion lady. You better give them a good fight this time! And when the Rebellion does contact you, make sure you let them understand what happened here!”

“We will. Good luck, Captain.”

“Your rebellion better not fail, Captain.” Said Maxwell.

There was a sudden burst of static on the speakers but before Tagg could alter the view screen towards the direction of the second fleet to see what had happened, they entered the wormhole. Tagg could only go off by what the sensors told him. The Ronin had captured the overloading warp core with their tractor beam as they flew towards the second fleet. And then the sensors registered a massive explosion with a secondary massive implosion, which then reverted into a larger explosion. The numbers were all over the place, but as far as Tagg could understand, it was massive and he swore he saw over thirty blips disappear from the second fleet.

“Is it ready?” Said Maxwell.

“Discharging into the crystal now!” Grak acknowledged.

Tagg altered the viewscreen to show the top later of the crystal shard. There they could where the dorsal phaser array had been altered to discharge arcs of energy bolts into the crystal, which seemed the only way to charge and activate the crystal. And then they witnessed the crystal discharge those bolts from itself, into the vortex of the wormhole, where they could see various colors of light had shifted many times over. The deck began to rattle at first, only to grow into a sudden shake until Tagg could feel his entire seat and console vibrating in intensity.

“Structural integrity down to sixty-seven percent!” Grak shouted. “Fifty-one percent! Thirty-nine! Captain, we have to shut it off!”

“No! Data said we would be ejected into our universe!” Said Maxwell. “She will hold!”

“Reinforcing structural integrity field!” Grak responded.

Then suddenly, a hard jerk sent Tagg forward into his station, were he felt the edge of his console dig into his gut just enough to force the air out of his lungs. But he was not launched from his station, which he was fortunate, unlike some others. He looked around to see that some bridge crew had been sent to the deck, while others were hunched over their console or seat. It was obvious that no one was prepared for it.

“Report!” Maxwell ordered.

“Weapons and shields are offline.” Said Bates.

“Minor injuries reported from all crew.” Said Graves.

“Structural integrity field is at twenty-seven percent, but holding.” Said Grak. “Auxiliary power generators are still operational but at seventy percent efficiency.”

Tagg checked his displays before he turned in his seat to look at Maxwell. “Engines are offline. The system has begun to cycle through the maneuvering thrusters. We should be in a stable, stationary position.”

“What about the stars? Our location?” Maxwell asked. “Are we home?”

Ruby had that answer for them as he quickly shouted over everyone. “Sir! Transmission from Deep Space Nine!” Ruby didn’t even wait for Maxwell to ask, as he linked it to the speakers.

“Deep Space Nine to Sovereign. Is that you?” Said a male voice.

There was a loud sigh of relief that had come from just about everyone but then their fears were rekindled when Maxwell stood up from his chair to ask. “That depends. What is our quantum signature to yours?”

There was a pause but then the male’s voice filled the bridge once more. “Identical, Captain. Why do you ask?”

The sighs of relief returned and Tagg himself even slouched a little bit in his seat as he felt the incredible relief of the fact that they were home. But then he realized he was still on duty and at station, so he sat back up and refocused his attention to his displays. That is, until Maxwell said this.

“No reason.” Said Maxwell. “I like to request a tug ship to tow us to Starbase Seventy-two. I am afraid that, we are in no condition to make it to a repair yard without one.”

Second Tagg heard that, he slouched again in his seat as he knew that his job was practically over. All that mattered to him at this point, was that they were home. He could not wait to contact his parents and tell them all that has happened….