Stardate 41255.6. Federation starship Hikaru Sulu, attached to Stargazer task force. Approaching the Dorvan system.

Captain Ghaz char Makal-Thraka rubber her armrest absent-mindedly. "Engines status, Mr. kaMpande?"

"Holding steady, ma'am," Jama kaMpande, a towering dark-skinned Human, reported from his station. "The old girl's still got the fire in her."

"Good. Just make sure we're still matching pace with Stargazer." The Sulu was a 23rd century Miranda-class light frigate updated to modern specs; even so, her engine was a 2340s model and tended to strain at high warp. She was a small, fragile, clunky old ship, previous relegated to patrol and VIP transport duties, but Ghaz loved her all the same.

Captain Picard's voice crackled over the intra-fleet communications system. The aging speakers on Hikaru Sulu sounded slightly tinny as he spoke. "All vessels, this is Captain Picard aboard Stargazer. Commodore Leyton believes that he has a sensor trace on the Cardassian Fourth Order, and is diverting the Galaxystrike force and Task Force 34 to the Geminion system to pursue. We are to return to radio silence, and assume position around the Federation colony on Dorvan V. Picard out."

"The whole of Task Force 34?" wondered Ghaz's XO, Lieutenant-Commander Kamarantha sh'Antar, a tall, buxom Andorian with hair in a tight bun. "That leaves us with just three Mirandas, two Excelsiors, two Constitution-class refits, and Stargazer. If the spoonheads ambush us..."

Ghaz winced. "That wouldn't be good. But Cardassian sensors aren't as good as ours, we should at least get advance warning if they show up."

"True," Kam acknowledged. "Well, let's hope for a nice, boring mission and no need to see the Captain Picard in action."

Ghaz grunted her acknowledgement. She'd heard all the fleet briefings about the Picard Maneuver, and wouldn't admit to anyone that she'd spent over three hundred hours on the holodeck practicing it to hone her own skill at the trick. She'd only just made Captain after ten years of mind-numbing patrol duty, after all; she needed to learn from the best.

"Keep us steady, Helm. I don't want any nasty surprises."

Bridge, CDS Vetar. Cardassian Fourth Order, 1st strike force "Defenders of the Fatherland".

In the depths of space, something moved.

A tan starship in the shape of an ankh, surrounded by four somewhat smaller ships of a rougher, more compact design, and ten slender escorts, slid through space like a hunting mako, running lights set low, barely illuminating the Cardassian script on the hull, which read CDS Vetar. A Galor-class, the warship was one of the newest, largest, and most advanced battleships ever constructed by the Cardassian Union, a match for almost any ship in local space bar a Federation Galaxy-class. Armed with a half-dozen disruptor mounts, including a main spinal mount, and two photon torpedo launchers, it represented the pinnacle of Cardassian engineering. Its command bridge was spotless metal, crisply-uniformed Cardassian men rising to stand at attention as the hatch at the back of the bridge opened to reveal their commander.

"Report," ordered Gul Aman Evek, striding onto the bridge a good thirty minutes before his shift was due to begin. A tall, robust Cardassian in early middle age, he was well-rested and calm, showing no sign of having lost two sons in the disastrous battle for Benzar the year before.

"The Federation forces have split, my Gul," replied his first officer, Dal Tora Madred, a rare female Cardassian officer. "The majority, containing their most modern vessels, have followed the Fifth Order and will not affect our operation."

"Excellent." Evek took his seat, uniform creases well-worn despite the spotless fabric. "Analysis of the other force?"

"Still too far for sensors, my Gul, and they've gone radio silent, but the track on the emissions would put them on a course towards Dorvan V. Composition is estimated to be one heavy cruiser, three to four medium or light cruisers, and three to five destroyers or escorts, according to Obsidian Order intelligence. Flagship of the task force is believed to be USS Stargazer, NCC 2893, commanding officer Jean-Luc Picard. Human, from a province called France on their homeworld. Decorations for valor, tactical genius, good conduct, and several citations for diplomatic excellence."

"A model Federation officer, then," Evek summarized, a touch of regret in his voice. "Maintain present course. We will loop around the sixth planet and use the asteroid belt to cover our approach. Take out the cruisers first, then Stargazer, then clean up the rest and move to occupy and fortify the planet until the Sixteenth Order can reinforce us. For Cardassia."

"For Cardassia!" the bridge crew echoed.

USS Stargazer, NCC 2893. Dorvan V orbit, two hours later.

"Jean-Luc," said first officer Jack Crusher suddenly. "I've got an anomalous contact coming in from the asteroid belt."

"Mr. Vigo, load photon torpedoes," ordered Picard. "Comms, alert the fleet and then try to raise Commodore Leyton, encrypted hail. Message as follows: Possible Cardassian contacts sighted, Stargazer strike force stands ready."

The Benzite nodded, then cursed. "Captain! I'm getting long-range communications interference, we're being jammed!"

"Shields up! Red alert!" Picard ordered. "Are short-range communications working?" Sirens began to blare as the Stargazer sprang to life.

"Yes, sir!"

"Alert the fleet, then, and then send out a broad-band SOS, repeating message."

"Yes, sir! Fleet channel open!"

"Picard to all vessels, our long-range communications are being jammed. I want a full sensor sweep on the asteroid field, coordinates across the following range-"

"Sensor contact!" shouted Crusher. "Cardassian profile, coming back as an Akleen-class cruiser! More contacts, Koranak-class destroyers! They're warp-jumping in!"

"All ships to battle stations!" Picard ordered. "Charge phaser banks!"

"We're being hailed! Cardassian military frequency!"

"Jean-Luc, I'm reading a battleship, might be a Galor-class," Crusher warned. Picard nodded authoritatively.

"Understood, Number One. Comms, on screen."

"Captain Picard, I presume?" the Cardassian on the viewscreen asked.

"You have the advantage of me, sir."

"It seems so, yes. I am Gul Aman Evek, of the Cardassian Fourth Order. I offer you this opportunity to surrender to the Cardassian Union."

"And I must decline," Picard replied gruffly.

"Of course." The Cardassian didn't seem terribly put out by the observance of the formalities, but at least he didn't gloat. "May the best man win." The man made a cutting motion across his throat, and the transmission cut out.

"Form up around Stargazer," Picard ordered immediately. "I want attack formation Kirk Epsilon, all cruisers initiate attack pattern Sulu Theta on my mark."

Stargazer wheeled in space, the cruisers moving to support it as the destroyers took the flanks. The oncoming Cardassian fleet loomed on the viewscreen, outnumbering the Federation ships three to one.

"In weapons range!" shouted Vigo. Stargazer shuddered as the Cardassians' weapons lanced out. "They're launching torpedoes!"

"Mark!" Picard snapped. "Vigo, concentrate fire on that battleship!"

"Sir!"

"Shields down to 87%!" Crusher shouted. "Cruisers engaging!"

"Destroyers, keep our flanks covered!" Picard commanded, tracking the enemy warships on the display with keen, experienced eyes. "Begin sensor jamming!"

Stargazer shook with the impact of a torpedo. "Shields at 62% and dropping!"

"Full impulse! Fire at will!"

CDS Vetar.

"Where the shtel are my sensors?" snapped Gul Evek, gripping his seat's armrests with anxiety.

"They're jamming us with some kind of particle field!" Madred replied, tapping urgently at her console. "I can't get all the way through it!"

"Do what you can. Ghemor, move to support Krader, their shields are down!"

The bridge shook, and Evek bit back a curse against Supreme Legate Kajhe's parentage. The Fourth Order was supposed to be guarding the core worlds, damn it, not gallivanting around in this doomed campaign against the Federation! If Macet hadn't lost the Benzar campaign so badly after the surprise attacks in the Dorvan sector and the opening strike on the Federation reserve fleet over Bolarus IX, they would still be there, too. And if Supreme Legate Kajhe hadn't decided to fully invade the Federation to press his border claims...

No use resting on maybes and what-ifs. Evek had a battle to win.

"Can you locate the source of the jamming?"

"I'm not sure, my Gul! This is a new model, they must have just introduced it."

"Very well. Tactical, first and second wings, converge on Stargazer and fire at will!"

USS Hikaru Sulu.

Ghaz char Makal-Thraka swore as Stargazer's shields flickered and died. Cardassian weapons fire scored across her hull, and more shots cut into Midway on her starboard flank. "We're getting cut to pieces," the Tellarite growled. "Kam, do our comms reach the warning buoys we set up?"

"I think so, why?"

The Captain's snout twitched. "The Cardassians must've hacked the warning buoys to get so far in-system without detection. But there's a backdoor, if you have the right ID codes you can trigger sensor ghosts and anyone using it won't be able to tell unless they double-check with their own sensors."

"And the Cardies are jammed," the Andorian realized. "I'm on it!"

"kaMpande, get me the destroyer wing!"

"Sir! You're on!"

"Cochrane, Kaiser Wilhelm III, this is Captain char Makal-Thraka aboard Hikaru Sulu. I'm transmitting a plan that should give Stargazer and the cruisers time to fall back and regroup." Stargazer's primary coms array vanished in a blast of sparks as the Cardassians closed in. "We're going to fake a massive incoming fleet and attack the Cardassians from behind, and take out their jamming ship to give the cruisers time to regroup and get their shields back up. Do a warp jump to behind the Cardassian lines on my mark."

"That's suicide!" protested one of the other Captains.

"We've got less than a minute before they cut us to pieces!" Ghaz snapped. Sulu's torpedo launchers thrummed beneath her feet as a Cardassian projectile crashed into Midway's left nacelle, leaving the Excelsior-class leaking plasma. "We can either make our stand here and die for nothing, or give the cruisers a chance and die for something!"

There was a moment of silence. Then, "What the hell. You only live once, right?"

"Humans," muttered Kam. "I've got the program ready, Captain."

"Hey!" objected Jama. "We're not all foolhardy adventurers. Just most of us."

"Go to warp on my mark, coordinates sent now! Three, two, one, mark!" Space bent, and they popped back into existence fifty kilometers behind the Cardassian lines, wheeling in space like lightning.

"Kam, wait on the program until my mark! Destroyer wing, target the following heavy cruiser, I think it's their comms jammer!"

"Target locked!"

The three aging little frigates sped closer, weapons hot. Ghaz leaned forwards in her seat, gripping the armrest. "Wait for it...wait for it...FIRE!"

The already-damaged CDS Krader lurched into an impromptu turn as phaser fire tore down its wavering shields and into its hull. Torpedoes followed, and an engine port belched fire.

"FIRE AGAIN! LOAD TORPEDOES, FULL SPREAD!"

Return fire from Krader slammed into Sulu's fore shields, tearing them down in seconds as two more cruisers joined in. A Cardassian destroyer erupted in a flash of light as Stargazer landed a lucky hit; Ghaz shrieked as a wall panel was blown out by an explosion of fire and electricity.

"Damage report!"

"Shields offline, heavy damage to the hull plating, breaches on decks 4 and 7!"

"Give me another volley!"

CDS Vetar.

"What the shtel are those maniacs doing?" Evek snarled. "Leave Stargazer, move us over to defend Krader!"

"Yes, my Gul!"

Vetar's main spinal mount fired with a palpable thrum. The blast tore into one of the little ships, sending its starboard nacelle pylon wheeling away from the rest of the ship, which lost control, drifting for the planet as it flipped end over end.

"Fire again!"

USS Hikaru Sulu.

"This is Cochrane, we've lost main power! Using auxiliary thrusters, all surviving crew are heading for the escape pods!"

"Deities be with you, Cochrane!" Ghaz replied. "One more volley! Kill that bastard for the Cochrane!"

Krader buckled under the impact of more torpedoes, and a phaser from Sulu found its mark, boring deep into the Cardassian cruiser's hull and searing into the warp core. The eruption was for a moment as bright as a star being born.

"Got him!" Hikaru Sulu shook again, and Ghaz was thrown from her chair. "Kam, now!"

"Sending program!"

A torpedo from CDS Vetar impacted with Sulu's forward hull a mere ten meters from the Bridge three milliseconds after the transmission left Sulu's communications array. The impact ripped into the ship's internal structure, and the fore wall of the bridge split, momentarily letting a stream of superheated plasma and pure energy into the atmosphere inside. Seconds later, disruptor fire from five Cardassian destroyers tore into the little ship's weakened dorsal hull, tearing deep into her belly and meeting the warp core.

Ghaz char Makal-Thraka, age 37, and all 57 souls of her crew, died instantly.

CDS Vetar.

"Gul Evek! The Federation sensor grid just sent out an automated message-a Federation fleet is inbound! Galaxy-class battleship, four Excelsior-class and six Constellation-class cruisers-"

"Task Force 34," snarled Evek. "Bring us about!"

Two more destroyers and the cruiser Tret Akleen died; one of the former ejected its core in time to avoid a breach as the Federation cruisers' fire tore into its hull, but was splintered by a torpedo, as the other two erupted into fiery death. Evek swore; he'd known the Gul of Tret Akleen, he was a good man, a father of four who was expecting twins with his wife-twins who he'd never see born. "Order all ships to shift power to shields! Get me confirmation from our sensors of the Federation reinforcements' attack vector!" Stargazer was recovering, her shields back up, and the Sixteenth Order wouldn't be here for two hours-they had to win this now or not at all.

"I'm trying, they're still jamming us! It's weaker now, though-coming from the destroyer!"

"Damn it! Kill that last destroyer!" Evek bellowed. The spinal mount thrummed again, and fire erupted across the Federation ship's hull. The little ship flared briefly, and the jamming field causing the viewscreen to fuzz vanished, along with the destroyer, which appeared on the far side of the Federation battle lines with its engines sparking in death.

"What is the Federation task force's attack vector?" Evek demanded.

"That's odd-I'm not reading any attack vector," Madred frowned, then her eyes widened. "Oh, shtel, it was a trick! Those were sensor ghosts!"

And the cruisers had stopped firing. Evek's shoulders tingled and went cold as he realized what had just happened. "Bring us about! Bring us back about, now!"

But it was too late. Six of his destroyers vanished in a hail of Federation torpedoes and phasers, and without his numbers advantage the Federation's technological edge was now too much to counter. "Damn it! Fall back! All ships, fall back now!"

The cruiser Trekal Darhe'el was too slow; the last thing Evek saw before they jumped to warp was its engines blowing out from Federation phaser fire.

"Shtel!" Evek swore as the starfield blurred and stretched on the viewscreen. "Shtel, shtel, shtel!"

"My Gul?" Madred asked with a hint of caution.

Evek ran a hand through his hair and scowled. "Get Command. Tell them that the operation was a failure. But first-did we get the IFFs of those destroyers?"

"Yes, my Gul. Federation starships Cochrane, Kaiser Wilhelm, and wing leader Hikaru Sulu."

"Mark their names in the log. Including the wing leader especially." Evek smiled a humorless grin. "Whoever he was, he had a pair of hemipenes on him to try that trick."

"Yes, my Gul."

Evek stood. "Helm, lead the retreat to outpost 47. Ocett, compile a casualty list and send it to me immediately. Madred, you have the bridge. I have letters to write."

Bridge, USS Galaxy. Leaving the Geminion system.

Commodore James Leyton was not a happy man. The Fifth Order had withdrawn into Cardassian space the moment Leyton's force had arrived at the system, and now he was beginning to realize just how grave of a mistake he had made.

"Repeat the message again," he ordered.

Lieutenant Elizabeth Shelby, communications officer, cleared her throat. "Er, yes sir. 'From Stargazer task force to TF 34 engaged by CDF 4th Order Dorvan system 1 Galor-class 4 Akleen-class 10 Koranak-class destroyed 2 Akleen-class 9 Koranak-class disabled 1 Akleen class lost 3 Miranda-class all hands recommend Cpt. char Makal-Thraka FMOH or Karagite Heroism remaining ships heavy damage moderate casualties request information where is repeat where is TF 34 the galaxy wonders'."

Leyton's PADD cracked in his grip.

Author's notes:

This is a TNG alternate universe, the minor point of divergence being that the Federation recovers the Stargazer after the battle of Maxia and refurbishes it, and the major point of divergence being that the Cardassian Union launches a full-scale invasion of the Federation in 2364 instead of the main timeline's minor border war.

This story, for those who aren't well-versed in WW2 naval battles, is intentionally paralleling the Battle off Samar, part of the battle of Leyte Gulf. In that battle, a Japanese fleet including the superbattleship Yamato ambushed a USN task force consisting of flimsy escort carriers and flimsier destroyer escorts, while Admiral William Halsey had taken most of the fleet, including the capital-ship-heavy Task Force 34, off on a wild goose chase. In the battle, a group of destroyer escorts bravely charged the IJN battle lines, managing to take down (with the help of air support) at least one IJN heavy cruiser, at the cost of their lives, causing the Japanese commander, VAdm Takeo Kurita, to turn back after taking what he saw as unsustainable casualties. It was one of the most heroic actions of the entire Second World War, and numerous officers, including destroyer captain Ernest E. Evans, were awarded Medals of Honor for their valor.

If anyone wonders how the timeline would proceed from this story-the Cardassian Union will be kicked into the floor, then forcibly neutralized and rendered a defanged puppet of the Federation. The Dominion war will likely go slightly better for a Starfleet that's had two more extra years to build up their military, and Wolf 359 (the battle in "The Best of Both Worlds" where the Borg cube destroys the Federation fleet) will be much less of a defeat for the Federation. And fortunately for all, that racist episode with the space Irish stereotypes isn't happening. ;P