“Thank you all for waiting,” Rebecca greeted as she entered the ⁠Denver’s observation lounge. “I was getting a final briefing from Fleet Captain T’rak of the 10th Fleet.”

Riandri sat quietly watching the room as the Captain began her briefing. She knew the general point of the new orders as star fleet intelligence had reviewed it in advance but she was curious to see how the rest of the crew would respond.

Collins looked up from his seat at the briefing table. “And what does the Fleet Captain have in mind for us this time, captain?”

Rebecca slid into her seat and shuffled through the PADDS and slid one to him, “Since you asked Mr. Collins, you and your teams get to pretend to be Dominion boarding parties. You have been assigned the USS Andromeda and the USS Catalina. I expect you to brush up on your Jem’Hadar combat tactics.”

“Ah, that should be…..interesting. How nice of T’rak to come up with that.” Collins picked up his padd and made some notes. “Captain, I’m assuming this exercise is to be non-lethal.” He smiled at his joke.

Rebecca smiled, “Mr. Collins I don’t think that would be at all fair to those crews.” Taking on a serious tone she continued, “We took on two crates of modified Jem’Hadar weapons in the armory.  They can only stun. Getting shot shouldn’t be a pleasant experience.”

“They’ll still leave a mark, physically and mentally.” Collins remarked. “I’ll have the teams start practicing today. We’ll be ready when the time comes, captain.” He nodded.

“That day is today,” Rebecca quipped.

Ming watched with quiet interest.  His violet eyes tracked the action going on during this briefing. The reactions of his crewmates was just about as important as the briefing itself.  As was often at the forefront of his motives:  He kept an ear out for any useful information especially as it pertained to the Knights. 

“Mr Ming,” Rebecca said turning her attention to him.  “You’re most likely not going to like this, but these are the battle plans.”  Sliding a PADD to him she continued,  “Get your crew chiefs to modify your fighters to look and act like Jem’Hadar fighters.  As wing leader it’s your job to make sure they fly like much larger ships and use appropriate tactics.”

Marcus  looked thoughtful for a brief moment then nodded.  He said, “Understood.  I, and most of my flight, have seen enough Jem’Hadar in action I don’t think we’ll have too much issues imitating their flight styles and tactics well enough…Whatever we don’t know we can fill in the gaps in short order I expect.  War games are nothing new so no complaints here.” 

The Knight’s commander smiled now and added, “I suspect Chief Xellath will have a grand old time when I present his job as a challenge.  I am not sure magic is real beyond parlor tricks but if anyone can convince me of it Mr. Xellath’s knowledge of and skill with those birds just might.”  

“Good.  You don’t have much time. The mission starts at 09:00,” Rebecca added.

Ming’s eyes slipped out out of focus in thought for a very brief moment before he confidently nodded and said, “We’ll be ready, Captain.”

Rebecca slid a PADD to Crawford,  “Your job is to make the Denver look like a Jem’Hadar battleship.”

Peter scanned the data.  He’d been working on some ideas before the meeting.  He gave a nod, “It’ll be as close to perfect as I can make it, Captain.”  He focused on the PADD some more.  He had some work to do.

“Mr. Conroy, make sure our phasers are turned down and locked so we don’t accidentally blow a hole in the side of Admiral Jackson’s flagship. Also, kindly review Dominion tactical procedures. And, Ms. Jones.  Not a whole lot that’s different for you; however, a Dominion battleship is a little less maneuverable than that of the Denver. Show some restraint, will you?”

“Aye, Captain. No barrel rolls.” Lt. Jones quipped with a smile. 

“That would be correct,” Rebecca said with a smile.

“I think one or two barrel rolls would be acceptable.” Collins said, with a smile on his face.

“Finally, as you may have noticed the Kyo’s and Mr. Lovecroft are absent from this meeting.  The Kyo’s have a family emergency. Mr. Lovecroft is at Starfleet Academy helping us mitigate our fleet shortage of engineers.  That means it’s the next one up.  Ms. Nalam you are now acting XO.  Mr. Crawford I want you covering engineering. Any questions?”

Riandri, not usually one to be caught off guard stumbled in her response, “Ah, yes ma’am, captain. I would be happy to do that. Anything I can do to help.” 

Crawford allowed a thin smile across his lips.  He’d whispered an off the record suggestion to the captain about Riandri and his opinion of her standing.  She was as good as anyone and the life she had lived would be helpful at the moment.  He gave her an encouraging nod, “Wouldn’t trust anyone else to be XO.”

“Peter, is your assistant ops chief up for taking over for you?”

Crawford’s thin smile faltered and faded, “Ready as she’s going to be captain.  She’s got a stellar crew behind her, so have no doubt they’ll help her shine when she needs.”

Ready Room – 08:45

Rebecca sat behind her desk with Riandri giving her last minute intelligence report. Rebecca savord her coffee only half listening. It was vital information,  but for the most part nothing had changed.

“Honestly Captain, not much has changed from the last report,” Riandri said with a sigh as she set her PADD down. “The most recent intelligence reports show the Dominion is sitting tight.” She stopped for a moment and adjusted herself in the seat a little, “It just doesn’t seem right. With DS9 back in our hands they need to do something…”

“They don’t need to do anything,” Rebecca said absently. “They can just sit back and breed soldiers and build ships.”

Rinadri snorted at that comment, “That is very true. But I just do not see the Dominion or the Jem’hadar as the sit-and-wait-around sort.” She paused and picked up her peppermint tea and took sip, “Maybe I am just paranoid. Maybe they will bid their time. In a way it would be the smart thing to do, let the interest in the war wane, promote infighting within the empire, weaken us while they grow stronger.”

Rebecca shrugged,  “Certainly not out of the realm of possibility.  That side mission,” Rebecca asked suddenly.  “Have you had chance to get a feeling how many of the crew would be with us if we left the Federation to get away from the Dominion?”

Riandri exhaled and clicked her tongue a few times, “It is really hard to gauge if I am being honest, I haven’t spoken directly to anyone about it,” she shrugged in and exasperated manner, “for understandable reasons. But if it comes to it, and the war is lost I get the feeling that we would have crew. Some would want to leave to be with their families but enough would remain especially if we do what we can to rather survivors and other ships. But it will be a difficult call…”

Riandri was cut off as the com chimed and the voice of OOD officer spoke. “Captain, we are receiving a distress signal from Betazed.  They are being attacked by the Dominion.”

Rebecca gave Riandri a “we were right” look before standing from the table. “Scratch everything.  We’re going to war.”

Riandri cursed aloud, a string of words she doubted the translator even knew as she jumped to her feet and began to make her way to the bridge. As she walked she couldn’t help but mutter an ancient poem under her breath as a sinking feeling overcame her, “Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell…”