The USS Denver streaked across space. Rebecca now more aware than ever on how shorthanded they where, and her daughters were with her.  She wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse.  On one hand she knew they were safe right now.  Ethan on the other hand she had no idea what his fate was with the fall of the station.

“Ms. Jones, ETA to Betazed?” Rebecca asked.

Glancing at the console, Arin replied, “Thirty-two minutes at Warp 8 Captain.” At the speed they were traveling, Arin was hyper-focused. It wasn’t the fastest the Denver could go by a long shot, but things came up fast at speed. 

Riandri looked over at the Captain and could sense the tension within her, more than just what was visible. Still unsure why she could sometimes sense more than usual she took a gamble and leaned over, “I am sure they will be fine, they will be evacuated to the surface at the first sign of trouble.”

Rebecca glanced at Riandri.  The woman had an unnerving way of knowing exactly what she was thinking at any given moment. “Is it that obvious?”

Riandri consider it for a minute, “Yes and no, just a sense I had Captain.” She turned back and looked at the view screen as her mind wandered slightly, “But anyone would be worried, everyone here is for one reason or another.”

“How many have family right in the middle of all this?”

Riandri pursed her lips and shrugged, “On the Denver, not many but some. There are a couple of betazoids on the ship unless I am mistaken and then within the fleet, too many.” Her face grew serious for a moment, “This war puts everyone’s family in harm’s way but you, we, have the ability to protect them more than most.”

Rebecca nodded embarrassed she had been so focused on herself she had forgotten about the others affected. “You’re right of course. Let’s focus on the job. We can worry about the consequences tonight.”

“True enough, we can worry about that later.” Glancing back at the empty tactical console Riandri cursed,  “With your permission Captain I will man tactical.”. She quickly made her way to the console. Their Chief of Security had been briefing the Recon team and had yet to return.   Shields and weapons systems were reading 100% across the board but she wanted to make sure. Running a quick diagnostic confirmed her fears, one of the ventral phaser arrays was still set to its lowest yield. With a quick command, she cycled the commands and reset the array to maximize its yield. With that, she pulled up the internal coms and typed out a quick message. Once sent she switched over and checked her link with command and intelligence to see if there were any further updates on the situation but all she could decern was that it was an ungodly mess they were about to fly into.

Several decks below them Jeter moved briskly through the corridors as he watched the crew move rapidly to their battle stations. Before him, he saw two new crewmembers who joined just before the planned train looking lost, “Why are you not at your stations?”

The young Bolian’s eyes when wide at seeing him, “Sir, ah, we, are on damage control.”

“I know that crewmen. Your team is assembling on Deck 3 section 4. Get there double time,” he said with a stern voice and watch them both head in the correct direction. With that, he stepped onto the nearest turbolift and exhaled calming himself and muttered under his breath the same poem that always passed through his head before a battle, “Once more into the fray, Into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day.” A moment later he stepped onto the bridge and nodded towards the Captain before taking a seat at the damage control systems.

Engineering… 

Crawford was in engineering.  He’d worked with the team as operations chief, and it was a natural shift to step into the chief engineer role.  He eyed the consoles, the displays, and the warp core.  Whatever happened next was out of their hands. What they did in response would matter.  Life and death felt like as if it hung precariously on a sliding scale.

Before him, a message icon flashed on his console, just two words; “Be safe, Ria.”

Flight bay…

Ming closed the connection with the Tigris and steepled his fingers thoughtfully staring at the now blank screen. Nightmare material for sure.  It was also big enough to warrant a change in immediate plans.  Standing up, he walked around his desk and out the door of his office so he was looking out into the flight bay.  

After a moment he placed two fingers in his mouth and let go a piercingly loud whistle.  Much of the activity stopped short but not all.  A second shut down the rest.  

“Pilots and flight crew….On me!  Double time,” he said projecting his voice so everyone could hear.  Everyone managed to get there quickly.  Pilots up front and a mix of junior and senior crew peppered from front to back. This was no time for sugar coat things.  

“Listen up folks!  There is no easy way to phrase this so here it is…The Dominion has made another push.  Betazed has fallen.  Starbase 75 as well.  We are en route to Betazed to fight back as part of a task group.  The fighter contingents will be coordinated by the Tigris and it’ll be our first action as a coherent unit against the Dominion,” Ming said.

The senior officer in the room scanned the faces looking at him.  Grim looks, nervous looks and looks of conviction all looked back at him.  He continued, “I will not candy coat things.   It’ll be a scrap for sure.  We’ve been trained for this and I have utter faith in all of you.  I cannot guarantee anything much but I can promise one thing….We are the elite…We are the pilots and flight crew of the Starfleet Fighter Corps!  If anyone can make it through a fight like this it’s us!  Flight crew, we’ve got a short while before we get into the tangle.  I trust the Valkyries will be ready to dance when we arrive….”

Chief Xellath gave Ming an affirmative nod.  Ready and sound then.  He looked over at the new Ordenence Chief who was standing next to his protege Órlaith, “Andrews….Full load out on the weapons? I want to be sure the pilots can give the Jem’Hadar the kick in the teeth that they deserve.”

The NCO nodded to him gravely.  Armed for bear then.   He then said, “Knights, now’s as good a time as any to start prelaunch.  Mount up and get all preflight protocols done.  When we launch it’s weapons hot and safeties off. Flight teams:  Prepare a ready deck! I’m not expecting battle damage but be ready just in case.  Ordenance:  Have additional ordinance ready to go in case we need a rapid reload at any point in the brawl.  We got this!  Get to it, folks!!!”

As the flight crew broke up to head back to their duties Ming noticed the grim and nervous looks had mostly been replaced by determination if not eagerness.  That was what he’d hoped for.  Now, it was time to finish getting ready for a starfighter combat version of a slugging match. 

Bridge…

The Dominion fleet loomed threateningly on the viewscreen as the Federation fleet raced back to Betazed. Rebecca gripped the armrests of her seat. It looked much worse than it was. “Report.”

Riandri quickly pulled up the sensor readings, “We are detecting over four hundred Dominion and Cardassian ships. Four hundred twenty-eight to be precise but there may be others hidden. The majority, two hundred fifty, are Jem’hadar fighters with 60 of the Dominion battleships. The rest are Cardassian cruisers manly.” As she continued to scroll through the data in from of her she shook her head in sadness and frustration, “Starbase 75 has fallen, though that was expected, it is still intake but has been boarded and all the defence platforms are either destroyed or offline. I am also getting reports from teh surface that troops have landed and fighting is taking place within across the planet.”

The final thought she had as she looked over the report, one she did not dare voice sent a shiver down her spine, ‘We are too few…unless something changes this war is lost.’

“Mr Conroy,” Rebecca started, “Ready weapons. ”Ms. Jones, maneuver at your discretion.”

His eyes quickly glanced over his sensor readings, as his hands moved even faster. Conroy had spent the last few hours preparing for a fight, but this what far worse than anything he imagined. A group of three Cardassian vessels on the port side changed their course to intercept. Those were his targets! “Weapons Ready! There are three Galor class cruisers approaching on our port side, should I raise shields captain?” He signaled for the closest security crewman, “I need you to prepare this.” He handed him a PADD and sent him on his way. 

“Mr Conroy,” Rebecca replied giving him an amused expression, “I think that would be wise. Ms. Jones take us in.”