The Captain was dead. He had been killed by shrapnel thrown across the bridge from a terminal exploding. The first officer was dead as well, killed by one of the first Jem'Hadar boarders that had materialized aboard the bridge. Everyone in the chain of command on the bridge was dead, except for one. Lieutenant Commander James O'neil ducked under the quick jab the Jem'Hadar threw at his head, the knife in the soldier's hand impaling itself into the empty chair behind James. Ducking under the Jem'Hadars' strike, James turned and brought his closed fist up and into the man's side, staggering the dominion soldier long enough for him to turn, pulling the knife from the chair and stabbing it back into its original owner.
Turning, James had just enough time to see three more Jem'Hadar beginning to materialize on the bridge, and he quickly raised the phaser in his hand. Two quick shots took down the two Jem'Hadar in the front, though the third was able to snap up his own weapon, a concentrated polaron shot flying past James' head by an inch, before the third shot from him took down the Jem'Hadar as well. Glancing behind him, James grimaced at the sight of the tactical officer slumped over his station, smoke rising from the wound in his forehead.
"Sir, the Jem'Hadar fighters are coming around again! Their targeting the warp core!" The panicked shout from the helm officer drew James's attention to the cracked view screen at the front of the bridge. Through the flickering display, James could see three Jem'Hadar fighters, commonly referred to as 'bugships' by some of the officers coming towards them, one vessel in the front followed by two more in close ranks behind. Polaron beams fired from the front of the vessels, and a moment later the few members of the bridge crew left standing were thrown around as vibrations rocked the vessel.
Leaning against the support rail behind the captain's chair, James pulled himself forward, ducking under the support rail and taking position at the tactical console. After a moment's hesitation he grabbed the tactical officers' body, still slumped over the console and pushed it aside, closing his eyes as he heard the body crumble to the ground. Typing in a few commands, he glanced back up at the display. "Helm, bring us about and put us on a parallel course with the lead vessel. Keep us below them." The young officer nodded her head nervously, streaks of blood staining her once pristine blonde hair.
Slowly, the damaged Nova class vessel, the USS Dawn, came around, flames streaming from multiple holes blown into the small vessel's hull. The Jem'Hadar vessels began to descend down, the lead vessel leading the formation. James waited several seconds longer, watching as the ships continued an arced descent, taking a nearly full one hundred and eighty-degree path from above the Nova class ship to now facing them head-on. James waited, his eyes narrowing as he watched the vessels draw closer. A second volley of polaron beams leaped forward and crashed into their ship. A crewman rushing from one side of the bridge to the other was caught as railing from the ceiling exploded downward, slamming into his back and sending him flying. James forced himself to block at the sound of the man's back-breaking as he typed in a few more commands to the console before him, before finally initiating his command.
Three quick phaser beams cames from the Dawn, striking the lead Jem'Hadar fighter. It's shields held against the impacts, though the three quick strikes in succession caused a brief fluctuation in the shielding. A brief gap that the torpedo fired right behind the phasers used to breach through the fighters defenses and impact its port side nacelle. The entire port side of the Jem'Hadar fighter erupted in flames as secondary explosions rocked through the vessel, and the sudden loss of stability sent it spinning wildly out of control. It crashed into the fighter on its starboard side, both vessels detonating. The last fighter attempted to alter course, but it was bathed in flames as well. James could see the shields of the fighter flickering as it pulled away, trying to avoid the now rapidly approaching Nova class vessel.
"Helm, stay with them. Bring us alongside them and cut below their ventral side." The orders were carried out, and James watched as the view screen spun around, focusing on the back of the now retreating Jem'Hadar fighter. Flames were leaking from the ship now as well, and the Dawn was able to quickly catch up with the craft. The Dawn came down below the fighter, phaser beams arcing up into the exposed belly of the fighter, some impacting the weakening shields until they finally began to connect with the hull directly. The Dawn than began to come out in front of the fighter, swinging up until it was directly above the fighter. Two finally shots from the Dawn sent the fighter into oblivion along with its compatriots.
Just before detonation, however, several alarms began to go off across the bridge, followed moments later by the shimmering form of more Jem'Hadar beaming aboard the Dawn. Two Jem'Hadar appeared a few feet from James, and he had just enough time to fire his phaser at one of them before the other was rushing towards him, stepping over the body of the tactical officer and stabbing at James with the blade attached to the end of his rifle. James brought his hands up, sending the warriors strike away from his body just as the Dawn began to violently jerk around once more. The tactical console erupted in a shower of spark and shrapnel, piercing through both James and the Jem'Hadar.
Crying out, James fell backward, clutching at the open wounds across his face. Through blood-filled eyes, he looked up at the Jem'Hadar, bleeding as well, but not nearly as wounded as James. Helpless, James watched as the Jem'Hadar slowly brought his rifle up, aiming it at James's head. James stared down the barrel of the rifle, and just as the end began to glow, signaling his inevitable doom, the entire bridge erupted in flames, consuming James, the Jem'Hadar, and the whole universe.
James jerked awake, leaping from his bed and landing in a combat crouch, fists raised and eyes narrowed. He scanned the darkroom around him, taking in the small dresser and mirror directly across from his bed, the bathroom connected by an open doorway, and the small desk and table at the other end of the room. After several seconds of inaction, his heart began to slow down. His mind began to take back control of his body from the instinct and fear that had driven him. Sighing, James leaned backward, sitting on the side of his bed. The covers and sheets had been strewn about wildly in the room, and after a few seconds of attempting to calm his nerves, he began to gather them up.
With practiced efficiency, he made his bed, tightening the corners until the large bed was in perfect condition. Turning away from the bed, James made his way towards the mirror across from his bed, resting his hands on the dresser just below it. Green eyes stared back at James from the mirror, dull and uncaring. Messy red hair kept well above his ears was drenched to his face with sweat, and three long scars, running from just below his right eye to the left side of his mouth burned. James reached up and ran his fingers across the scars, the raised skin sending shivers down his body.
A chime echoed through his quarters, followed by a soft, almost musical voice. "Captain, we are approaching Deep Space Nine. Expected arrival will be in thirty minutes." After a few seconds of silence, James pushed himself away from the dresser, leaning down pull open one of the drawers and pulling out the underclothes that he wore with his uniform. "Thank you, ensign. I shall be on the bridge shortly." The comm cut out with a nearly inaudible click, and James was left alone once again in the darkness of his quarters. Walking across the room towards the bathroom, he tapped a terminal set in the wall and the lights brightened in the bathroom. He placed the garments in his hand on a small shelf in the closest containing his various uniforms and activated the sonic shower. Shedding his nightclothes, he stepped into the shower, shivering briefly at the tingling sensation that spread across his body.
After five minutes in the shower, James deactivated it, stepping out and beginning to dress quickly. In short order, he had pulled his uniform on. The dull grey and black uniform was not new to James, though the captain's variant he now wore was. He toed with the color of his uniform as he walked towards the door of his quarters, the red undershirt beneath peaking out to various extents as James finally adjusted it to how he desired. Pulling down the sides of his uniform shirt, James took a final breath before thumbing the open command on the door terminal.
His quarters were immediately flooded with light from the well-lit corridor outside, and James had to blink several times as he stepped out into the corridor. Light grey walls and blue carpet lined the corridor, in shades similar to his uniform, and James began to walk down the narrow, rounded corridor. Hands folded behind his back and with his eyes forward, he nodded to the few crewmen he passed as he made his way towards the bridge and the start of his career as a Starfleet captain.
Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the prologue of this story! It is an idea I have toyed with after binge-watching Star Trek DS9, and I finally got around to writing the prologue. Please leave a review of what you thought, so that I can make the story better for all of you, and for myself as well. ArisenMoon, signing off.