Ch 1
The explosion of the Valiant died out, and the Jem'Hadar warship left the scene of the crime.
"Now what?" Jake asked.
"Now we wait. And hope a friendly ship will pick up our distress beacon." Nog bitterly replied. He went hook line and sinker for the whole Red Squad thing, and nearly paid the price.
All they could do was wait. Hours passed, and their patience paid off as the Defiant and the Archeron appeared into view.
"Thank god." Jake said, as the pod was pulled into the hanger bay of the Venator.
"We've scanned the sector, but couldn't find any other survivors." Sisko informed his son.
"I know." Jake replied to his father. The duo entered sickbay, seeing the clone doctors treat Nog and Collins.
"How are they?" Jake asked.
"Nog will be fine. Collins suffered a concussion and damage to the skull. I'd like to keep her under observation for the time being." the doctor said.
Rex entered the sickbay, approaching the survivors. As he got closer, he listened to their conversation.
"Put that in your story. Let everyone else decide." Nog said. Standing up, he approached Collins and handed her his red squad pin.
"He may have been a great man, he may even have been a hero. But in the end, he was a bad captain." Nog said, leaving the troubled cadet.
Needing information, Rex interrogated Nog and Jake about their mis-adventure with red squad. And he wasn't happy when they told the story.
"You're telling me that Captain Watters decided to go it alone against an enemy dreadnought and lost not only his crew, and the Valiant, but all the sensor data he obtained about said enemy ship."
"I'm afraid that's true." Nog said.
Rex slammed a fist on the table, startling the boys.
"Not surprised. The Federation fucks up, and the GAR has to clean it up. Fine, i'll get the sensor data." Rex declared.
"How? It's been hours since the fight. That warship could be anywhere." Jake said.
"It's top speed is warp 6, right? It won't be hard to find it." Rex said.
Trailing the enemy's warp trail and picking an ambush spot was the easy part. Waiting was the harder part.
"How do you know they'll come here? We should send out probes." Sisko said.
"Out of the question. We're behind enemy lines. Put yourself in the shoes of the Jem'Hadar captain. One day you're on patrol, when you suddenly encounter a lone starfleet ship that launches a sudden attack on you, aiming for a specific weak point. If you were the Jem'Hadar captain, what would you think?" Rex asked.
"I'd think that the enemy ship scanned my vessel, figured out a probable weak spot and attacked hoping to exploit it. I'd be alert about more spy probes." Sisko said, realizing Rex's point.
"Exactly. I hope to god we can pull this off. How long did it take for Watters to gather the data?" he asked.
"Three hours." Nog said.
Rex could only facepalm in response.
"There's no way we can hold off a battleship for three hours. If anyone has any ideas, now's the time." Rex said.
Dax was hard at work configuring the sensors on the jedi cruiser, hoping to reduce the time it would take to scan a ship.
"I don't see how Rex expects us to get these sensors reconfigured before that ship arrives." she said.
"The sooner we can get data on the enemy warship, the better. It's a pity captain Watters decided to toss away such valuable info on a fool's errand." Tech replied.
"Fool's errand. The GAR doesn't think much of Starfleet, does it?" Dax asked.
"To tell you the truth, we don't." Crosshair snarled, chewing on the toothpick in his mouth.
"Crosshair, now's not the time." Tech cut in, but the clone sniper continued.
"Your Federation is weak and decadent, unable to hold back the disciplined Jem'Hadar and Cardassian troops. Hell, you wouldn't last 5 minutes against the clone army. Looks like the Republic will have to win the Dominion war for you guys." Crosshair finished.
Dax shot the leaving clone a death glare, then returned to her work.
"Dax, Tech, how are you guys doing?" Rex asked over the comms.
"Still working, Rex. What's the situation up there?"
"Bad. We got one hour before the bullets start flying."
"One hour? We've got at least 2-3 hours of work ahead of us." Dax retorted.
"Do what you can. We'll work with what we have." Rex ordered.
Everyone waited for the feared enemy ship to arrive. Rex threw in some gum and began to roughly chew on it. The sensors let out a couple of chirps, alerting the bridge crew.
"Contact! Two Jem'hadar fighters." the tactical officer said.
"They're just scouts. They'll report back to the fleet. Get our defenses ready, and launch everything we have."
About five minutes later, the massive battleship appeared just on the edge of sensor range.
"Once they get into weapons range, open up with everything we have. Tech, start sensor scans. Lets see what we're dealing with."
Hot blue plasma from the ship's turbolasers slammed into the enemy warship, slowly draining its shields. Rex watched as the dark void of space became brightly lit as both warships were engaged in a brutal slugging match.
"All fighters and gunships take out their missile ports." Rex ordered, watching as incoming ordnance slammed against the shields of the Archeron. Walking over to the sensor viewscreen, he watched as Tech and Dax were busy monitoring the incoming data. If he could gather as much data as possible before his ship was destroyed, then it would be a victory.
"Helm, keep the hyperdrive online. We'll need it to get the fuck out of dodge." Rex ordered, as a barrage of photon torpedoes rocked the bridge. Bridge consoles briefly failed and Rex was tossed against a window, spraining his shoulder.
"How long until we get that data?" Ahsoka asked.
"A least half an hour. How long can we hold out?" Tech asked.
"Sir, we got enemy reinforcements incoming. Multiple Jem'Hadar fighter wings incoming." an ensign alerted.
"Damn it. Recall the fighters and gunships. We'll have to make due with whatever intel we've gathered." Rex said. The hanger doors opened, and the fighters and gunships scurried in like fleeing mice.
"All aboard. Hanger is secure." the Lso informed.
"Get us out of here. Now!" Rex shouted, watching the blackness of space turn into the familiar blue of hyperspace.
Leaning against a console, Rex let out a breath of relief. They had faced down the most powerful ship the Dominion had, and survived. Now all they had to do was to make use of the intel that was gathered.
Arriving at DS9, Rex handed the intel to Admiral Ross.
"There's not a whole lot of intel on that Jem'Hadar battleship." Rex said.
"It's better than nothing. Thank you, Captain." Ross said.
Standing in one of the pylons, Rex watched as O'brien's crew were busy making repairs on the Archeron.
"How's it going, Rex?" Sisko asked.
"Still alive. That's got to count for something." Rex said.
"Thanks to you and your crew, we're making plans on fighting these monster battleships." Sisko said.
"Good. I've heard rumors that the GAR will introduce its own monster battleship; something called the Mandator." Rex informed.
"Speak softly, and carry a big stick." Sisko quoted.
"If you want peace, prepare for war." Rex replied.