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The Hubris of Red Squad.

Ben Sisko picked out the two mugs of Raktajino, and he handed one of them to Jake. "Thanks, Dad," Jake smiled gratefully.

Ben smiled back, glad to see that his son was alright despite everything he had been through. It was hard to believe that Jake and Nog had both been picked up by the Valiant, one of Defiant's own sister ships, crewed by Red Squad. He had a long memory. He remembered the entire mess Red Squad, a group of elite cadets, the 'best of the best,' according to Nog back in his days when he had been at the Academy back home.

"You're welcome; I'm just glad you're okay," Sisko smiled.

"So am I," Jake took a sip of his drink and smacked his lips appreciatively.

Sisko looked at his son. He could see that his son was shaken by the events of the Valiant, and while his son had given him the basic story of what had happened, there was still a great deal that he didn't know, yet. "Okay, what happened Jake; you've given me some of the story already but what else happened?"

Jake sighed. "After we got on board the Valiant, Watters welcomed us. He told Nog while I was taken away when he noticed my hand was injured to get it treated they couldn't go to high warp; you'll have to ask Nog for the full details, but they couldn't go faster than warp 3."

Sisko shook his head. "Even at warp 3, they could have left Cardassian space. Why didn't they?"

Jake sighed. "I don't know; I found myself asking that same question later on, especially when Watters unveiled his master plan to get everyone killed."

"What do you mean?" Sisko asked sharply. "Jake, what do you mean?"

Jake took a sip of his Raktajino. "From what Dorian told me, the Valiant was sent on a mission to circumnavigate the entire Federation. The cadets would be given tasks to do, such as basic work on the bridge or in engineering, and the regular officers would observe and mark them down."

Sisko nodded, although he was very worried about what his son meant by his comments towards Cadet Watters. "It works. I received the same thing during my time at the Academy, and it's a good way of testing the cadet's performances, especially under pressure. Go on."

"Well, Valiant was caught behind enemy lines when the Dominion came pouring in through the wormhole into Cardassian space. They were attacked by a Cardassian warship, and it was their first taste in combat. The regular officers were killed, but Captain Ramirez was left alive. He supervised the repairs to the ship while the Cardassian warship was in similar shape. Whoever repaired their ships first would win. Valiant won, but Ramirez gave Watters a field promotion to captain. But I'm not sure if Ramirez knew what Watters was doing, dad. Okay, I think it's possible Ramirez gave Watters his orders to investigate a Dominion battleship, but at the same time I wonder if he just wanted Watters to get back home, and inform Starfleet of what happened."

Sisko looked away and he rubbed his bald crown. "No Starfleet officer would ever give a critical mission to a cadet, Jake. I never met this Ramirez, but if he had any common sense, he would have told Watters to just get home. Either he died before he gave that order, or Watters ignored it."

"It wouldn't surprise me if it were the latter, dad," Sisko was surprised by the bitterness in his son's voice, but he let it slide. After all from what he had learnt Jake hadn't been treated very well on that ship.

"Go on."

Jake sighed and took another sip while he assembled his thoughts. "Watters promoted several members of Red Squad and gave them duties, and although I thought he was an egotist, he was damn brilliant as a leader. He was charismatic, very professional. Maybe, if things had gone differently and he had made better decisions, then he would not be dead and he could have become a damn good captain. When we came on board, I spoke to Dorian and our conversation broached off into where she had grown up on the moon, in Tycho city. I was only talking to her, but she began to cry. And the next thing I know Watters is banning me from staying away. Okay, I could see his point of view, but I didn't like how he spoke to me while his first officer ranted and lashed out. It was like good cop, bad cop. But it wasn't to be. The Valiant went after one Dominion target after another, but what good it would do in the long run, I don't know. But their chase for the Dominion warship seemed to never end because they couldn't go fast enough."

Sisko shook his head, still disbelieving that Watters or one of Red Squad could be so stupid to remain behind enemy lines when they should have returned home. Why hadn't it occurred to them to just go home?

"Watters began taking cordafin stimulants for a few months," Jake added.

Sisko's head shot up to glare at his son. "WHAT?"

Jake barely shook at the loud hysterical disbelief in his father's voice. "That's how I felt, dad. Dorian told me. She came to me, dad. She felt bad about how I got into trouble because of her, and she told me about her concerns about Watters. She was only going along with it because she did not have any kind of power on the ship."

Sisko did not like the sound of that. From the way his son was describing the situation, he was becoming increasingly concerned the Valiant had been a dictatorship.

"Watters began requesting stimulants and high energy foods as he was pushing himself more and more, and then he remembered cordafin," Jake went on.

"Julian isn't going to like this, Jake," Sisko pointed out. "Those types of stims are only meant to be taken in small, occasional dosages. Not on a regular basis."

"I know, dad," Jake said. "After we got on board Nog helped them solve their warp problem, and he was given a Red Squad insignia, and he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander."

"Don't tell me, the power ran to his head? But what I don't understand is Nog is a commissioned and experienced officer. He might have been an ensign, but he outranked everyone on that ship. Why didn't he order them to go home?" Sisko demanded.

Jake took a large gulp of his drink after a moment's hesitation. "Dad, do you remember when Nog used to hero-worship Red Squad when he was cadet?"

"Yes, I do. But I thought he was over that considering everything he's been through, but clearly, I was wrong."

"Yeah, I think it was that. After they got the readouts on the Dominion battleship, Watters decided to go for the ship. He claimed that another ship with some other crew would finish what they started and destroy the Dominion ship."

"What, but that's insane! The Dominion will be churning hundreds of those battleships out by now. What was Watters thinking?! Everything the Valiant discovered could have saved hundreds of lives!"

"I know, dad, and I was hoping that Nog would say or do something, but he didn't. Not only had he repaired the warp drive, but he also reconfigured the warheads on torpedoes because the metal of the battleship was vulnerable to delta radiation, and he was throwing out this crap about how I didn't know anything about what made a soldiers life. Okay, maybe I don't wear a Starfleet uniform, but I didn't like the way he was throwing it into my face!" Jake stopped when he realised he had begun to rant.

But it was too late.

Ben Sisko was frozen with anger. Jake could see it in his father's eyes.

"What?"

Jake sighed at the anger in his father's voice. "Dad, I think his hero-worship got to him. In the end, it didn't matter, and now I think while Nog has some fond memories of how he was finally a part of Red Squad, he now accepts that they took on a ship three times larger than a Galaxy-class ship and was three times as strong. The crew paid for it with their lives."

Sisko listened to the growing nightmare. He couldn't understand why anyone hadn't stopped this from happening until it was too late. Sisko knew he would need to speak to Nog before he wrote out his report and filed it with Starfleet. He knew they would start an investigation. Personally, Sisko hoped another Red Squad did not come about, or if one did then they never made the same mistakes as the last one.

He had never really liked Red Squad despite finding the idea of an elite squad of cadets intriguing even if it caused unnecessary problems within the Academy such as competitions, but they could be good for morale in the cadet ranks. But after what happened with Leyton, his fears had been justified but now they were…gone, Sisko wondered if Starfleet would condemn such groups in future.

Only time would tell.