"So why an odd number of people?"
"Unfortunately we're the only ones qualified so that means we can't have three shifts a person instead it will be two people a person with one person as backup just in case it's needed"
"Understood, now then here's the plan and what I have in mind since we're in control of Starfleet technology that the enemy has had their hands on for seventy years"
"Wouldn't they have advanced the technology further than the Republic?"
"Maybe, however there's also a chance they didn't succeed plus the coding of the program I inserted is so discreet and prolific that it can survive upgrades in technology"
"Oh didn't know that"
"I know, now then here's what we have available"
Ashland shows the group what to do whenever she wasn't the operator and then went to get some sleep so that she wasn't completely useless while on patrol. The plan that the Captain came up was soon gaining results and the resistance that was still around after twenty years of no contact was glad that the Republic was still fighting and when they found out it was the final strike they gladly joined whatever ship they had to so that they could join in the fight whenever possible. They did have set backs naturally but soon enough they managed to free Romulus where they decided to take stock and rest for a few days because by that time they had been fighting for months on end and everyone was a little tired
"So about how much longer will this last?"
"Not much longer because I want the Federation to be free by the seventy-first anniversary of this blasted war"
"Then we're on a tight deadline aren't we?"
"Yes we are, but we can afford to rest for a few days"
"We need it to be honest"
"I know, next is Vulcan and once we have Vulcan all that's really left is Earth"
"What about the Dominion?"
"Why do you think I had the group split up in the first place after we dropped out of warp?"
"Oh to see if the Dominion is free and if it isn't then to start freeing the Dominion...but wait what about DS9? I thought that the wormhole was in front of that station"
"Oh it is which is why they had orders to make sure that the station was liberated before they tried anything and seeing as how we haven't had contact from them it's safe to assume that they either haven't arrived at the station or haven't freed the Dominion because those were their orders"
"Why didn't I know about those orders Portland?"
"Because maybe you weren't the one who needed to know about the separate group from the beginning, look Captain there's something you have to understand no one trusted my plan from the start and I knew that, however I also knew that the Dominion would be excellent allies if they were free so during the planning I discussed with the Senate splitting the rescue team up into two groups one group would free the main branch of the Federation while another group would work on the Dominion"
"Killing two birds with one stone because it would be harder for the Dominion to know that the Federation is free if they too were taken due to the wormhole then if they were free and helping us rebuild if they were too late to the party"
"Exactly, now then we also have to worry about the Klingon Empire and the Cardassian Empire because they were never part of the Federation though we had treaties with them"
"We'll worry about that later, so they're supposed to contact you when the Dominion is free?"
"Yes, there's also the situation where they find mines on the other side of the wormhole"
"Well for now let's recover our strength for the push to Vulcan and then the push to Earth"
A day before they left for Vulcan though there was an official change of plans because the Dominion hadn't stood by idly over the past seventy years of separation from either the Republic or Federation because they had mined the wormhole, however a year before Ashland was woken up they decided to start fighting back and it took until a month before the Republic was ready to fight back with Ashland's plan but the Dominion regained DS9. As soon as the Republic vessels arrived the Dominion realized that it was the final push to free the Federation so they allowed them aboard the station and explained why they hadn't moved past DS9 after freeing it. As soon as they discovered the final push and who was behind it they were definitely shocked but also glad and demanded to make contact immediately. Ashland would also receive a surprise that she wasn't expecting in the form of two old friends
"This is Sentinel Portland go ahead"
"Sentinel Portland this is Founder Odo along with Commander Data"
"Odo, Data is it really you?"
"Of course it is Sentinel, though the odds of Odo being alive after this long is..."
"Enough Commander Data I get that it's you, so where are you calling from?"
"DS9"
"Wait how long have you guys held the station?"
"We've only had it for a month Sentinel, we were making sure we were established before trying to free the rest of the Federation, how are you alive?"
"Carbonite freezing, we'll discuss that later Sentinel Soketh is also alive but you know that Vulcans are long lived so that's probably not that big a surprise for you, what exactly are your plans now that we've regrouped with each other?"
"We want you to hold off a little longer before you liberate Vulcan and then we'll go to Earth to liberate the Federation in it's entirety at once from that planet"
"Works for me, be advised if the clones start giving orders to people don't hinder them, and yes I know that you know the history of the clones but things are different this time they've been active in the Republic for seventy years and yes the Jedi trust them implicitly and don't ask me how that happened because I'm not telling you. Well as for your idea to wait for backup we'll most certainly do that just let us know how long it will take for you guys to get things set up on your end so that you can even send people and we'll be waiting"
"First of all where are you guys?"
"We're currently on Romulus Odo, taking a small break because we've been fighting for months now, along with the current resistance that's still alive"
"Okay, oh and could you tell us why we had to switch to the extremely old Cardassian computer system of the station?"
"Yeah that would be my fault, I'll explain everything in detail later but in the meantime the short explanation is I imputed a special virus way back in my Academy years into the Federation system mostly focusing on Starfleet systems and it gives me control of the entire system"
"Okay we'll see you in a few days then"
"Understood Odo"
A few days later the two groups were reunited after all this time and they made short work of freeing Vulcan along with a resistance cell which had actually been started by Spock shortly after the Burning Galaxy Plan was enacted and had been going strong for seventy years
"Okay now what?"
"Now we free Earth, and that's going to be the hardest battle of all of them because of the fact that they are so deeply entrenched on Earth because they've actually been there since before the Burning Galaxy Plan, they just didn't act until that point in time"
"What makes you say that?"
"History, I was abducted by them when I was still a cadet in the Academy, the group used to be two different groups but they became one and the group that was based on Earth was the one that captured me, unfortunately I forgot about them for a long time and by the time I remembered they were ready to act, it didn't help that even though I remembered about the group that abducted me I still didn't remember they were based on Earth"
"So they were able to strike fairly quickly and also join up with the second group"
"The group that truly helped the Burning Galaxy Plan get started because of a huge base, we Jedi even have a code for that type of base"
"What's the code?"
"Code Death Star"
"Oh, and that stands for big enemy base?"
"Exactly, and if you know the history of the Republic you'll know the reason why we gave a huge enemy base that code name"
"The fight for Earth may cost us our lives but it's going to be worth it"
"Indeed it is, though I do have a question for Commander Data"
"What is it Sentinel Portland?"
"How on Earth are you still functioning? I know for a fact that the Enterprise was one of the groups that was supposed to stay but reports were that they were destroyed heading to their final destination"
"It wasn't that easy, the ship and crew were almost killed on the way to Bajor however we succeeded in getting far enough that a Dominion patrol managed to get close enough to help with the deception. They then took us across the wormhole to the Dominion where the rest of the crew died over the years because yes the Dominion mined the wormhole but that was in the later years, we first had to be part of the battles"
"So I have a question when exactly did the Dominion join the Federation officially? I know it happened before my sleep and that I was rescued by the Dominion, but when exactly did the treaty get signed?"
"Two months before you were rescued"
"Okay then that answers my questions"
The group heads to Earth knowing what would await them in regards to a tough fight. They didn't know that they would lose an important person in the atmosphere of Earth during battle and they would almost lose two if not for something that only one person would see but would later mention in their report