Reality started to kick in as the squadron sat at the nebula’s edge, uncertain about what lay ahead of them. Even with a well-thought-out plan things could still go sideways which was evident by what Commander Rayu Isha had sent the Saratoga a few moments ago. Azras had begun to pace in front of her chair, while T’Prel sat in her seat watching her. This crew had been through a lot over the past year and some odd months they have been together, they faced many trials together and have always come out on top. Though the only difference now is that only a handful of officers had fought in the Dominion War and know how dangerous they can be.

They were about to storm the Fleet Yards, taking out their way of repairing their ships which was a huge task that would be very hard for a lone ship. For a squadron of ships and fighters, it would still be a difficult task ahead but one they would be able to accomplish working together.

Silence had taken over again, Ritru had been at her station as she looked over at T’Prel for some reassurance. She had only read about the Dominion and what they are capable of and to say she wasn’t scared would be a long shot. She was petrified though she wouldn’t let it show and would do her job, it still scared her that not all of them would make it out.

T’Prel stood up from her chair as the Azras kept pacing waiting on word about if the Knight was successful or not. She walked over to Ritru and placed a hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her a bit. Ritru smiled at the gesture that meant so much now, it reassured her that they would get through this together no matter what happened at the end.

Jeesa was at the science station monitoring the Knight and their progress as well as constantly monitoring for enemy ships. She started to pick up some weapons fire from the orbital platforms where the Knight was located, her heart almost sank but when she realized that they weren’t firing on the Knight but on the generator itself she felt relieved. After a few minutes, the weapons fire stopped, looking over her shoulder towards the captain.

“Sir,” she began which caused Azras to stop pacing the floor and look at Jeesa. “The Knight was successful the weapons platforms have been disabled,” she said as Azras had a look of relief.

“Wonderful,” Azras replied as she took a seat. Now the next phase was about to commence and the nerves started to hit everyone again. “Ritru send the signal to the Gagarin and the Crimson Knights to set course for Lungurn Fleet Yards,” Azras ordered as Ritru nodded in response.

Looking at Deza taking a deep breath, “take us in.” Azras ordered.

Briefly looking back at the captain she nodded before she turned around tapping a few controls and the squadron began to move in unison toward their destination. “Once we get in position launch those communication blockers,” she said as she looked at Jeesa who nodded.

Jeesa was having difficulty concentrating on the task at hand, she was having a hard time blocking out everyone’s emotions. Most everyone was feeling fear of what lie up ahead, there was some anger that this was happening again, and others were just downright scared. She was feeling scared, scared of the unknown, scared of not coming out of this. She kept her composure and would do what any Starfleet Officer would do and that was their job but that didn’t stop her from what she was feeling as they were about to go into battle with a formable enemy as the Dominion.

Chon’al had been at his station keeping an eye on the situation from an intelligence standpoint. He had seen many battles over his many years, fought in the last Dominion War which helped him now as he knew how they thought in terms of their movements. He had his fears along with everyone else, just because he was a Klingon didn’t mean that he was looking to go to battle for the glory of the empire. He walked away from that many, many years ago, he wanted something better than always looking for a fight.

Silence seemed to be the new norm with no one saying anything, or knowing what to even say. They continued on their course to meet up with the Knight, where they would begin to scan for enemy ships that were located near the command and control center. Dazra was making sure all weapons systems were operational and that they would be ready for the inevitable.

Jheria had walked on the bridge to monitor the ship from up there, she as well as the whole crew was still adjusting to the new ship after being on the Odyssey-class for so long. This had been an adjustment, the ship itself was operating at top efficiency. She wondered how she would do during combat, thankfully they were not on their own.

After a while the ships dropped out of warp next to the Knight, Azras looked at Jeesa who began to scan for how many enemy ships were near the command and control center. “There are four Jem’Hadar fighters and two Breen scouts currently near the control center.” Jeesa replied looking at Azras, “those are the only ships I am currently detecting in the system. The rest could be patrolling outer regions or at Izar,” Jeesa added.

“There seems to be a couple of Jem’Hadar battlecruisers in the process of being repaired. From what I can tell they are not even operational and won’t be for quite some time,” Jheria said as she brought up the current sensor readings.

“Do you know if they have detected us yet?” Azras asked.

“I don’t believe so as they have not moved or indicated they are aware of our presence yet.” Dazra interrupted looking at her screen of enemy movements. If they were aware they seem to be playing with them, wanting them to come to them. This made her nervous as things can go sideways real quick, but she was prepared to give it her all or die trying.

“Go to red alert and bring weapons online and ready,” Azras ordered looking at Dazra.

“Aye sir,” she replied as the ship went to red alert though she had silenced the actual alarm.

“Take us in, get ready on my mark to send those probes out,” Azras said as the ships began to move in past the dead orbital platforms. The Crimson Knights began to move in two directions to come at the enemy from both sides while the Gagarin and Saratoga came from the middle. Once they were in position Jeesa tapped her console sending out the four probes that would head in strategic positions. 

They began to head in separate directions until they reached their destinations and activated. She hoped they worked and they were not able to call for backup, she knew it wouldn’t last long before more patrols would return after failing to contact those at the fleet yards. She just hoped it would be long enough for them to do their job and leave.

Both ships had begun to move away from each other in each direction, while the fighters had gone in from both sides firing on the enemy ships. Their tactic was to catch them by surprise and draw them in the direction of the Saratoga and Gagarin that were waiting further away from the control center. The fighters came up and started firing on the ships before heading off in the direction of where the two ships were.

“They have taken the bait, they are heading in our direction,” Dazra spoke up from her console.

She looked at Ritru who nodded, “Captain Derohl launch your hazard team now.” Azras ordered.

“Aye sir,” Tajir replied before the channel closed. A short time later the shuttle containing the hazard team launched, the fighters began to protect the shuttle as it headed off in the direction of the control center while still staying close to the Gagarin.

“The enemy ships have come within range and are charging weapons,” Dazra spoke up from her console.

“Open fire!” Azras ordered.

The ships began to open fire on the enemy ships as the fighters worked with Gagarin to focus their targeting on the Breen scouts while the Saratoga focused on the Jem’Hadar fighters. While the Obena-class was a large capital ship, the Jem’Hadar fighters thought it would be an easy target to take down. Not knowing that she was able to maneuver as if she were a smaller ship, Azras used that to her advantage.

“Direct hit off our port side,” Dazra replied. “Shields are holding,” she added.

The ship began to move toward the aft of the ship and began to open fire, Azras looked at Deza as the ship rocked causing her to lose her footing for a moment as she stood. The Saratoga had continued firing her weapons as she looked at Deza, “swing us around.” She ordered as the ship began to maneuver around to face the ship. 

The fight would continue between the ships as they took hit after hit between the two ships, one of the Crimson Knight fighters was destroyed while the others regrouped next to the Gagarin. Azras hoped that the hazard team were successful at taking down the command and control center. That was a huge portion of their mission was the sabotage and destruction of most if not all of their operations here. Putting a damper on them being able to repair their ships, giving them a leg up in this battle against the Dominion.