Ambush at Betazed
“All the information we have fits.” Fleet Admiral Garrett stated as she and her guest peered into the holomap. "The Dominion is going to launch an attack on Betazed in three weeks.”
Admiral William Ross shook his head doubtful. “Intelligence reports that the Dominion are massing forces in the Kalandra sector. Betazed is too far from their main supply lines. Especially to risk a major engagement caught between Tenth Fleet and our fixed defenses.”
“I wish I shared that opinion, admiral but my information not only says they are capable of such a move, we know the exact date. We also know that the Tenth Fleet will be caught out on maneuvers when the Dominion fleet arrives. The fixed defenses won’t be enough and then the Dominion will reinforce. We’ll end up bleeding three fleets trying to dislodge them. This is not an acceptable situation.”
Ross frowned. He had never encountered a ‘Sunset’ file before. Only a select few knew what they contained or where they had come from, although their existence was popularly confirmed in the fleet eight years ago when Starfleet had successfully evacuated all but a skeleton staff from the New Providence colony and the non-essential crew and families from eighteen starships prior to the Borg invasion attempt of 2366, saving an estimated five thousand lives. It also demonstrated that this knowledge had its limits.
“Forgive me, admiral but how certain are we that this information is accurate or that it hasn’t already been compromised to the Dominion.”
“Sensible concerns admiral,” Garrett answered him. “This is why you hold the position you do.”
Ross felt a slight chill at Garrett’s words. It was widely believed that whatever information was in those mysterious files had led to more than one career being brought to a close over the past hundred years. That Garrett’s group had known about Admiral Leyton’s intended coup two years earlier all along and had allowed it to proceed to make certain that all of Leyton’s conspirators were caught and sacked in the ensuing investigation and that something contained in those files had resulted in the forced retirement of Admiral Dougherty among others during the past century.
If Rachel Garrett noticed the discomfort in the younger Admiral’s eyes, she paid it no mind as she continued.
“There are benchmarks in the files we use to see if the butterflies have flapped too hard, admiral. So far, our information still tracks well. We do our best to nudge the right pieces into place even if the board shifts a bit. As to whether we’ve been compromised? Even Section 31 has had fits trying to worm its way into our midst.” She looked at Ross sternly. “And I know they’ve reached out to you, admiral but that is a discussion we will have another day.”
Then Garrett’s eyes seemed to twinkle. “I believe you’ve met Commander Gordon, my staff security chief?” She gestured for the man to step over.
“Yes,” Ross confirmed.
“Then perhaps you should meet Commander Apocrites.” At a nod, Commander ‘Gordon’ was enveloped in a pillar of green flame. When it subsided, in his place stood a being that resembled nothing so much as an insect built on an equine frame.
“Commander Apocrites is an Equestrian Changeling. He has an unstandable knack for identifying things that are a little… ‘off’. We’ve had Equestrian Changelings helping ensure the integrity of this project for nearly eighty years. In that time, we have recorded attempts by Section 31, the Tal Shiar, The Obsidian Order, the Parasite Conspirators, The Klingons have made a few attempts, just to make sure we’re on our toes, I think. No, the intelligence is solid and now we’re going to act on it.”
“With what?” Ross asked. “If we hold Tenth Fleet in system indefinitely, the Dominion will just hit us somewhere we can’t so easily predict.”
Garrett nodded, relieved that Ross was beginning to accept what he was being told. “Fortunately, we don’t need to order Tenth Fleet to do anything. Admiral. In fact, we don’t want them to do anything. We want the Dominion to attack. I’m certain it will please Admiral Uhura to know how well her preparations have protected a few secrets we’ve been keeping. No Admiral, while it won’t win the war, we are in a position to catch the enemy by surprise. We’ll save countless lives.” /Maybe it might even convince the Breen to stay out of the war, though I doubt it. They know we can’t promise them the whole quadrant and we still can’t guarantee we’ll be ready for that Breen energy dissipator. Of course, Kang might have a surprise for them…’
Dismissing such thoughts for later consideration, Garrett pressed a key on the holomap interface and a new icon appeared, hovering over Betazed in a ghostly fashion.
“The 12th Fleet, Admiral., we’ve been gathering assets for some time and now we can reinforce those ships with ships we’ve pulled from the Romulan border.”
“Pulling what forces we have off the Romulan Border is a dangerous gamble,” Ross warned.
“Not since we’ve been slowly mining the border for decades. The field goes ‘hot’ today. As for the rest of it, well, Captain Scott and a few other engineers with first-hand experience on older designs have been giving the fleet reactivation program a boost for several years. That, along with other assets means we have quite a significant force “
“It’s still a risk and what if we change things too much? Your intelligence source may become worthless.”
“The ‘Sunset Files’ were never a bottomless, unending well of information, Admiral. Most of the fruit has already been carefully picked. I suppose I could simply protect the gains, knowing we’ll win anyway, but Risk is our business. In my judgment, the potential to save lives means I am willing to gamble much of what we have gained in both material and lives. And yes, I want the Dominion and its allies looking over their shoulders every time they even think about making a move for the rest of this war.”
“Very well then,” Ross agreed finally. “Let’s hope the gamble pays off.”
Aboard the massive Dominion battleship. Kilana, Kilana 4, to be exact, stood patiently as the Dominion-Cardassian fleet dropped out of warp as they arrived at the edge of the Betazed system. It seemed that their intelligence had been correct: While not an unimpressive force, the Federation Tenth Fleet, or rather its commander had gotten predictable in scheduling his ‘training maneuvers’. By the time Betazed’s defenders could sound an alarm and the missing ships could be recalled, Gul Revok’s troops would have secured the system’s fixed defenses and the planetary capital. Without the orbital weapons platforms or powerful ground-based phasers, the Federation fleet would be too weak to force them out.
Thinking of Revok made the Vorta’s skin crawl but all that mattered was that his actions served the will of the Founders. Of course, if the Founders ever decided his services were no longer required, Kilana would gladly see to his execution if the Founders willed. For the moment, however, there was a mission to perform.
Turning to her Jem Hadar First, she simply nodded. War was what they were created for so it was best to let them fulfill their purpose as the Founders intended, a lesson that some other Vorta never seemed able to grasp: The Vorta stood where the Founders intended as did the Jem Hadar. Petty displays of power only made for wasteful friction.
The First responded by ordering all weapons readied and a scan of the system. He regarded this Vorta better than most. The Vorta carried out its role without meddling outside its scope.
Currently, the soldier manning the sensor station completed his initial scan. “No Federation ships detected, First. Defensive Batteries identified. They have not gone active.”
“Good.” The First turned to the Vorta.
Kilana nodded. Everything was going exactly as expected. “Instruct Gul Revok to begin landing his troops.” Even as she gave the order, something nagged at the back of her mind.
“Sensor beacon seventeen has been tripped, Admiral.”
“Thank you, Commander. Signal the fleet to battle stations.”
As the klaxon sounded, Garrett circled around from tactical to the command chair of the Galaxy-X Dreadnought. She would have preferred her chair on her own Enterprise but the command and control facilities aboard a Yamato class were far superior. Still, her old ship was in good hands with Captain Castillo. Good luck Captain. Take good care of her today.
“Open a discrete channel to the Enterprise -Σ.”
“Channel open.”
“Captain Kirk, your party.”
“Thank you, Admiral.” The channel changed to a general broadcast.
“This is Captain Kirk. All ships standby to commence Operation Gorkon… Execute!”
Slowly, the Enterprise -Σ rose up from the atmosphere of the largest Gas Giant in the Betazed system. Behind her rose the Galaxy-X Dreadnoughts Yamato, Enterprise, and Odyssey. Across the system, Federation starships emerged from hiding.
Captain Kirk leaned forward. “Ready phasers, load quantum torpedoes.”
“First! New contacts!” The soldier manning the sensor station reported in alarm. “Federation starships.”
“How many?” The First demanded.
“Two hundred and thirty-six.”
Too late, the pieces fell into place in Kilana’s mind. We didn’t see a thing! If surprise had truly been on our side, there should have been something moving in system! A cargo hauler… something! How could they have predicted us so completely? Unlike the Jem Hadar, who already considered themselves dead, Kilana feverently wished to survive. She only hoped the Founders would be merciful.
“We must escape this trap!” She ordered.
“The Cardassian ships are already pushing into the inner system. They are already fully committed.” The First replied.
“Unfortunate for the Cardassians. In the meantime, we need to make certain their heroic sacrifice is not in vain.”
“Understood.” While the First might not have liked the idea of abandoning the battle, obedience was life. And the Vorta is correct. They are only Cardassians.
Around the Dominion fleet, the ghosts of the Federation’s past had risen to haunt them. Instead of perishing at Veridian III, the Enterprise -D was here, reborn alongside her sisters Yamato and Odyssey. Rather than dying in a desperate battle at Narendra III, Enterprise -C was here along with her sister, Horatio. Their sister ship Yamaguchi, risen from the wreckage of Wolf 359 joining the starships Kyushu, Princeton, Chekov, Firebrand, Buran, and both starships Melbourne all resurrected from the tragedy, all reclaimed out of dire need.
Other ships for whom the threads of fate had changed… USS Farragut, Drake, Olympia… Starships Proxima and Maryland, who were no longer destined to be casualties in an undeclared war.
Nor was the USS Cairo, which instead of waiting to be ambushed patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, was now one of many ships quietly withdrawn from the border, fighting alongside the Enterprise -B and the Defiant-class USS Valiant.
Older ships, Constitutions, Constellations, and Mirandas descended on the Cardassian troop ships. Gul Revok, who might otherwise have lived to betray Legate Damar and his anti-Dominion resistance, died as his ship came under fire from a pair of Constitution class vessels.
They’re all here, Garrett thought. “All but one at anyway. Hopefully, she’ll be in time to join the party.
Aboard the Dominion flagship. Kilana winced as the massive battleship shuddered under hammer blows from a volley of quantum torpedoes. The Cardassian ships were clearly too deep in the enemy’s grip to escape but fortunately, it seemed that the majority of the Jem Hadar ships would yet escape. Rather than push a fight to the finish, the Federation forces seemed mostly content to whittle down the large numbers of Jem Hadar fighters. Kilana would settle for this. Just a little longer. We’re almost clear.
“New contacts dropping out of warp!”
Kilana’s eyes went wide as the sensor plot changed. So… No escape after all…
“Message from Captain Picard, Admiral.”
“On screen,” Garrett ordered. The image of Captain Picard appeared. “Well, Captain! Good to see that you and that fancy new ship of yours could make it.”
“Indeed Admiral and good to see you and to see my old bridge again.”
“Comfortable chair. I think I may keep it.”
“Quite understandable. And the Chancellor sends his regards.”
“Accepted with thanks. And now that you and our Klingon friends have arrived, we’ll finish this fight.”
Aboard the Enterprise -Σ, Commander M’Ress turned to Captain Kirk. “Incoming message from K’naiah’s Pride.”
“On visual, Commander.” Kirk leaned back as the bridge of a Vor’cha class ship came on with a very familiar face sitting in command.
“Ah! Captain Kirk! A true pleasure to see you again.”
“And you as well, Kang. Your timing is impeccable.”
Kang smirked. “Tell me, Kirk! Do you know what is best in life?”
“To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women," Kirk replied.
“Ah! So you remember more than just Shakespeare! But you can never truly appreciate Conan until you have read it in the original Klingon!”
“You’ll have to send me a copy. In the meantime…”
“In the meantime, let us crush our enemies and drive the Founders to lament that which they have brought about…”