Chapter 12 - The Cavalry
The slip fighter.
"So, where are we? " Sisko asks
" Your database calls this system, Tan-okia. It has eight planets and an asteroid field "
Dylan and Sisko had spent the last two hours looking for the Maru, since leaving the Exeter and captured Cardassian Warship, and this was the fourth system they had inspected.
" It's not a system that I am familiar with " Sisko admits " Explain your detection methods again " he asks, after staring at the display in front of him .
" Well, if we cannot locate the ship itself, we should be able to locate Beka if we are in the same system, all of the Andromeda's crew have nanobots under the skin that transmit a beacon with enough range to be detected anywhere within the same system. "
" What if they had been forced to land ? "
" The beacon would still get through most jamming. ..." Hunt trails off " it would not get through the Atmosphere of a, by your designation, class N atmosphere "
" There is a class N planet in this system " Sisko states, checking the readout in front of him
" Lets move in for a closer scan "
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Beka sat in the cockpit area of the Maru. Her father's ship was quite beaten up, she decided, just before cursing and throwing a circuit board across the floor. With the slip drive out, and no working comm, as well as Jem Hadar being in the same system, she had been forced to land the ship, in order to avoid a enemy patrol ship. She had picked this planet as it had the worse atmosphere within range, or the best, Beka had thought at the time, to avoid the enemy patrol.
The only thing she had not counted on was the standard engines not re- starting after powering down to avoid detection. The Andromeda crew would look for her. Tyr was probably dead by now, she realised sadly. Still, once Harper had Andromeda repaired, and once he discovered that she was missing, he'd work non stop to get them up and running, Dylan would search until he found her, or she decided numbly, her remains.
Beka frowned, worry lines crossed her face. The injured from both DS9 and the Exeter didn't have time thought. When the live power transfer cable had impacted the hull, it had fried the power core, and the Maru was slowly losing life support. Beka shivered suddenly. She had reduced the life support in the cockpit further than anywhere else.
Hurry Dylan. Beka thought, before she closed her eyes to sleep, hurry Dylan.
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" I have the Maru " Dylan said relief in his voice " She has landed on the third planet, but they are not responding to hails. That means that they are either not on board or the comm unit is not working"
" There are also a number of vessels entering the system " Sisko interrupted " A number of Jem Hadar battleships, with a heavy escort. They are not very friendly. It looks like they are going to rendezvous with some of their colleagues I just scanned, in orbit around the 4th planet. "
" Understood. I'm going to hide us in the magnetic pole of the planet Beka is on."
The two captains were very quiet as the small fighter hid at the top of the planet.
" We are going to need help " Dylan stated
" You mentioned that our equipment was not capable of detecting your transmissions ? "
" I'm way ahead of you "
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On board the Andromeda
Andromeda appears in holographic form next to Harper, who asleep in his quarters.
" Harper. Report to command "
"Ummm.? "
"HARPER Report to command "
" Ok, ok, I'm on my way "
As Harper dragged his body out of bed. " Rommie, can't you tell me what the problem is now ?"
" I have received a transmission from Dylan's slip fighter " came the reply, causing Harper to dart from his bed into the en-suite bathroom.
Harper suddenly felt very vulnerable, as he realised that he was naked. As he made a grab for the nearest item of clothing, Andromeda merely raised an eyebrow and turned her back, much to Harper's relief.
Knowing that he would still be able to have a conversation with Andromeda, Harper asks what the transmission said.
" They require the presence of the Andromeda " came the brief response.
" Why ? "
" They found the vessel in distress. But the Maru was not in the area. " As Harper got dressed he listened to the full report. Right down to the capture of an enemy warship, and the size of the enemy force currently in the system Tan-Okia
Harper then summed up what they had to do as he finished getting dressed.
" So basically, Dylan wants us to go over there and distract a Dominion a battle fleet and then rescue Beka ? "
" No, he wants us to go over there, destroy the battle group and then rescue Beka"
" Oh, ok, what's the crew situation ? "
" Trance is the station, my Avatar is on the Klingon bird of Prey"
" Recall them. Contact DS 9 and update them, and inform them that we are leaving the area. Also, calculate a rough return time and inform them when we should be returning" Harper ordered
Andromeda just nodded. Moments later Andromeda spoke again.
" Harper, General Martok and Commander Dax are requesting permission to board. Once they found out where we are going, they volunteered to assist "
Harper debates this for a moment. If they got boarded, two more friendly people would be a welcome change.
" Very well "
Harper finished dressing and bolted out the door, as he entered Command Andromeda spoke again
" Incoming signal from DS9 "
Major Kira's face appeared on screen
" I understand that your going after our people ? " Harper just nodded once " Good luck, do you need anything ? "
" No, just waiting for the drop ship to return and then we're gone "
" Very well. Keep us informed. DS9 out "
As the image of Harper and Andromeda's bridge vanished, it was replaced by a shot of the ship. Kira watched as a small ship approached the ship, docked and then within moments, the massive vessel simply disappeared in a blaze of white light.
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One day later
Harper was sat in the slip stream chair on the command deck. Rommie, Dax and Martok walked in together, while Trance stood next to Harper.
" We are approaching the next slip stream range, and we should be going to slip stream in about one minute " said Rommie.
Suddenly Andromeda appeared on the main screen in front of Harper
" I have just received an update message from the Captains. The message has a time delay of roughly 1 minute. It appears that the Jem Hadar have located the Maru. They are sending an assault craft into the atmosphere. "
" That means they will plan to send in ground troops " Dax stated simply " The wounded on board wont stand a chance "
Harper looks deep in thought, Martok notices and approaches the small human
" Tell me...What re you thinking ? "
Harper suddenly smiles, and ignoring Martok, looks at Rommie
" As soon as we exit slip stream, I want to skim the planets atmosphere. As we make our pass, deploy both of the planetary warfare bots, and head down yourself in a drop ship. That should be more than enough to keep the Jem Hadar busy, keep the Maru safe, and find out why they are down there, not responding to comms "
Rommie simply nodded and left. Harper moved from the slip stream chair and headed to the weapons console. He gave Trance a slightly pleading look. Trance, who understood what Harper wanted, simply climbed into the slip chair.
" Andromeda, Activate all point defence lasers." Harper called " Battle stations "
" PDL grid is on line " Andromeda responded, as the interior of the ship was bathed in a rich blue colour. " All weapons charged and ready for firing. "
" General, Commander, you know their battle tactics. Watch their actions and warn me if they are up to something unusual. " Harper says to the two, gesturing one of the empty bridge stations.
" Andromeda, once we enter the system highlight where the slip fighter is on the tactical display, inform Dylan that we will pick him up as soon as we can, but it must be quick as there is going to be a lot of company on our tail. Prepare the other slip fighters and drones for launch, but wait for my order to actually launch them. Once I order them to launch, I want them to attack whichever ship is closest to the planet "
Harper then stopped speaking and just nodded at Trance
" Entering slipstream in 5.4.3.2.1."
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The Tan-Okia system.
15 Jem Hadar battleships orbited the star in the middle of the system. They were awaiting more vessels to add to the growing fleet, and then they were to launch a new offensive. While they were waiting the Vorta's of each ship planned which targets to attack.
They were escorted by an equal number of smaller attack fighters, who were now patrolling the system. It was one of these that had detected the Maru.
Suddenly, without warning, the Andromeda appeared in blinding flash of white light. Even as the ship started to deploy its battle blades, it accelerated to attack speed, faster than anything in the Jem Hadar fleet. It skimmed the surface of one of the planet and rotated so that the belly of the ship was facing the planets surface below. As the ship veered on its axis, three objects shot out and entered the atmosphere, leaving a firey trail behind. The Jem Hadar ship had only just landed, and was three kilometres distant from the unsuspecting Eureka Maru..
As the troops deployed from their ship, they felt the ground shake. The Jem Hadar first, Katalack, the leader of this group of the fierce warriors, ordered his men keep an eye out for any more tremors and led his men at a run in the direction of their target. He increased his pace, and with a gesture his men broke into three squads, so they could approach the vessel from different directions at the same time.
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Rommie emerged from the drop ship. She had dressed in standard battle armour, and carried two spare force lances. The reason she had been forced to resort to lance overload during the fight with the Jem Hadar on Deep Space 9 was due to the confines of indoor fighting. Out here, in this jungle like environment it was a different story. Rommie paused, establishing a link with the two warfare bots. On the way down in the drop ship, she had noticed that the ground forces had split into three groups. Two were obviously flanking and one group was approaching the vessel directly. The battle bots left in separate directions, to intercept the flanking groups, while Rommie herself intercepted the main force.
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In space the Andromeda rounded the planet the enemy fleet was orbiting and made a pass at the Jem Hadar battleships. Missiles erupted from the Andromeda at a rate that impressed even Martok. While Martok was sure that the small human was skilled in engineering, he could tell that Harper's skill at the weapons console was match for Tyr's skill. He noticed that the incoming fire from the Jem Hadar was either, in the case of torpedo's, being shot down and the phaser fire, or disrupter blasts ignored.
Once they had emerged from slipstream, Trance, Martok had noticed, had got out of the slipstream chair rather quickly, obviously unhappy at being at the helm of the warship. Now Andromeda was on auto-pilot .
4 of the battleships had been destroyed in the initial fly by, but now the remaining ships were chasing from astern, a couple we're already lagging behind, obviously with weapons damage to their engines.
Harper stood at the weapons control station, maintaining fire on the pursuing Dominion ships. He kept one eye on the tactical display, and noticed a small white blip move across the system.
As soon as the Andromeda appeared in the system, the Jem Hadar had been focusing their attention on the high guard ship, so they never noticed the small slip fighter leave the planets orbit and enter the asteroid field.
Andromeda increased her speed to match the Jem Hadar cruisers. They were now incapable of catching the High Guard ship but were still too far away for any weapons fire to be effective against the armoured hull of Andromeda.
They led their pursuers towards the systems asteroids were Hunt and Sisko were hiding after leaving the protection of the polar orbit when Andromeda had entered the system. As the ship approached, Harper called out
" Launch Slip Fighters "
" Launching "
Martok watched intrigued as one, then two, five, ten slip fighters appeared on the screen in front of him. They quickly grouped into formation and engaged the pursuing ships.
Martok watched the screen as the slip fighters ducked and dived around the Jem Hadar. As they did, all thought of pursuit of the Andromeda was forgotten. Suddenly "Hanger ready for high speed retrieval" flashed across the screen.
The slip fighter carrying the two captains moved out of the cover of the asteroids and positioned itself in the path of the Andromeda. It accelerated away, heading in the same direction, until the Andromeda, with a burst of speed caught them up.
Instead of ramming the tiny craft, which is what it looked like would happen, at least to Martok at the last moment the hanger doors opened and the tiny fighter vanished inside the hanger.
The ship suddenly slammed into a dive, and continued diving until they had turned 180 degree's and were heading towards the oncoming ships. Again the ship rotated on its axis, so that they approached the enemy fleet 'upright.
Ever since the Andromeda had deployed it slip fighters, they had not been firing any offensive weaponry, only defensive. As they headed back towards the battle the Andromeda slowed to its attack speed and opened fire on the battered Jem Hadar ships. At the same moment the slip fighters broke off from the engagement and positioned themselves between the fleet and the planet.
The barrage from the Andromeda increased, as the range towards the Jem Hadar was dropping fast.
" Harper, what are you guy's doing? " Dax asked, speaking for the first time, " at close range their weapons can penetrate the hull "
" AP Cannon " Harper called, ignoring Dax
" Standing by " Came the voice of Andromeda, without appearing
" Fire "
Martok and Dax watched fascinated as blue beams shot from the nose of the ship. Suddenly all fire from the Jem Hadar went wide.
" They have lost weapons lock " Martok heard Dax say, more to herself.
With no incoming fire the Andromeda pressed on. To late the Jem Hadar tried to engage evasive manoeuvres. By the time the High Guard War ship had completed the fly by there was not a single vessel capable of warp speed or raising shields.
The smaller patrolling warships caught up to the battle. They all made a sweep past the Andromeda, again the PDL turrets took out only the torpedo's. The return fire by Harper again was accurate and took out all of this wave of attackers.
Hunt and Sisko came running onto the bridge, still wearing the flight gear
" Report " Calls Dylan, the tone in his voice that Martok could recognise all to well - the tone of a vessel's Captain when it was in battle but the Captain wasn't on his bridge.
" Rommie is on the planet with the two warfare bots, we have destroyed all the patrolling attack fightters, and the main battle fleet is now disabled, with only 12 ships remaining "
" Understood. Well done Mr Harper " Dylan approaches the view screen " Andromeda. Hail the lead ship "
" Aye Sir "
The view screen changed and a Vorta appears. Behind her the bridge of the battleship was a smoking mess with figures running back and forth.
" I am Tress, whom do I have the honour of addressing ? "
" Captain Dylan Hunt, of the High Guard Warship Andromeda Ascendant. You have one hour to repair your FTL drive and leave this system. If you are still here at that time, you are dead"
" I am afraid that is not going to be possible. Your weapons fire has damaged our vessels severely. It is going to take a number of days for us all to leave "
" Well, then you have a problem. "
" I do? " Some of the smugness was wiped from the Vorta's face
" Yes, I am here to meet a Federation fleet. While I have no intention of capturing one of your ships, they might. In your present condition do you really think that you would stand much of a chance against...." Hunt laughs to himself a little " I'm sorry, I don't remember "
" I do " Sisko interrupts. " 8 heavy destroyers, 3 battleships and 5 frigates " adding to the bluff.
Tress looks at Sisko and recognises him. Her jaw drops in disbelief
" Your supposed to be on DS9. "
" You really should look at your intelligence information " Sisko says " DS9 is no longer blockaded "
Suddenly Andromeda's voice is heard
"Captain, they are transmitting.. Decrypting ... We need reinforcements. .Bring a battle fleet. They are also sending all of the sensor data they have on us. Its not very detailed. It did not get through "
Tress looks alarmed that her intentions were so obvious.
" Sensors indicate that one of your vessels will be FTL capable within 1 hour. Abandon one vessel every ten minutes to that ship. I will destroy one vessel every ten minutes, starting with yours. If anyone is still on board, that's not my problem. Hunt out "
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Katalack led a squad of 20 warriors. Suddenly in the distance he heard weapons fire. He came to a stop, reached for the comm unit on his arm. Suddenly he heard more weapons fire from the opposite direction. There were the two flanking groups, he realised, without bothering to contact them. The Vorta had assigned him a objective.
Quickly he ordered his men to shroud themselves and then proceeded onwards, at a slower pace.
They rounded a large boulder in the undergrowth, beyond it was a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a small petite women. Despite the planet having such a hostile environment to humans she wore no protective suit. In each hand she held a small tube like device. She looked straight at them, even though they had shrouded.
" Your flanking parties are both dead " The petite women stated. " Either you leave now or you will also die "
Katalack deactivated his shroud, it was pointless to operate it when it was obvious that it wasn't effective.
" We are dead. Victory is life... Who are you ? "
" I have a.. friend who is now protecting the ship you are heading to. "
Rommie said without answering the question
" Another is heading to your ship, and will attack in 15 minutes, unless you are on board and leaving this planet. You cannot contact them, you comm is being jammed. Leave or.."
Suddenly Rommie whirls and strikes at what appears to be thin air. Her hand make contact with a shrouded Jem Hadar neck. The solider crumples to the floor, with a broken neck.
Katalack charges, and as if one, so do the rest of the Jem Hadar. Rommie raises both lances and fires, running to meet the charge.
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" Fire "
" Missile away "
A Missile shot from the Andromeda straight at the lead battleship.
It exploded, the blastwave catching another ship and damaging it as well.
" Captain, I'm detecting weapons fire from the planet "
" Source ?"
" Both planetary Warfare bot's "
" Status ?"
" Two groups of soilder's have been eliminated " Andromeda " Avatar is about to engage "
" Understood.. Keep me posted " Hunt turns to Sisko " You can contact the Sol system from here, just use that console" Hunt informs Sisko, indicating to Trance to help him.
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Beka opened her eyes. She was still in the cockpit of the Maru. She glanced at the display board. They only had 30 minutes of power left then the life support system would fail. Because of the planets conditions Beka figured that they could not last long before the cold night killed them.
Suddenly she heard gun fire, and a lot of it, getting close. After about 1 minute it stopped abruptly. The ground then started to quake. Beka got the impression that whatever was the cause was coming closer.
If only they had a working comm!!!
Beka dug her fingers into the armrests of the chair. On her lap lay her trusty blaster. She slowly gripped it with one hand, preparing to go outside and try to hold it at bay. She knew that if she could hold it off, Dylan may still get here in time to save the wounded. She began to get out of the chair but then saw the cause of the tremors and then breathed a sigh of relief. One of Andromeda's warfare bots marched past the cockpit, obviously on patrol around the ship. Suddenly the light flashed indicating the airlock was opening.
Still clutching her gun, Beka charged into the rear of the battered ship. Stepping over injured people from the Exeter laying on the floor, she made her way to the airlock. Beka was surprised to see the Star Fleeters, who really should be in hospital, grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon, and stand next to her. The respect she had for these survivor's increased. They had not once complained about the plight, and were now ready to fight by her side, perhaps to the death.
The doors opened, and instead of a rush of boarders, Rommie stood there. She had clearly been in battle, her armour showed where the Jem Hadar had made contact, but otherwise she was intact.
" Hello Beka " he said formally.
" Hi, Nice of you to drop in " Beka responded
The crowd around her relaxed when they realised that they were about to be rescued.
" Drop ships are on their way down now, they will be taking you to the Andromeda, and Harper is on his way down to assist with repairs. " Rommie informed the gathered people.
Suddenly a boom was heard in the distance.
" All Jem Hadar on the planet have been destroyed " Rommie reported as she stepped inside the Euraka Maru. " Warfare Bots are returning to Andromeda "
The two crew mates walked into the cockpit.
" How did the Andromeda get here ? I thought that the slip stream, drive was still weeks away from becoming operational?"
" Looks like we should listen to Harper when he says hes a genius. "
" Tyr, Tyr and the Exeter, I left them behind. The weapons fire broke the towing cables. There were two Galor class vessels when I engaged the slip drive!!! We have to go and find him!!" Beka was just as loyal to the crew as Dylan was.
" Tyr is ok, as is Worf and most of the survivors. They have gone to a starbase, and then on to Earth. The Andromeda is going to stay here until we get the Maru back to its hanger, even if it means towing it up with slip fighters, and then we are going to Earth to meet them. "
" But how did Tyr and Worf survive ?"
" They boarded one of the vessels, and then Dylan, who was following you in a slip fighter after receiving your message, drove the other one off. We spoke to them both less than 10 minutes ago on route to DS 6, courtesy of Captain Sisko's security clearance. "
The slip fighter.
"So, where are we? " Sisko asks
" Your database calls this system, Tan-okia. It has eight planets and an asteroid field "
Dylan and Sisko had spent the last two hours looking for the Maru, since leaving the Exeter and captured Cardassian Warship, and this was the fourth system they had inspected.
" It's not a system that I am familiar with " Sisko admits " Explain your detection methods again " he asks, after staring at the display in front of him .
" Well, if we cannot locate the ship itself, we should be able to locate Beka if we are in the same system, all of the Andromeda's crew have nanobots under the skin that transmit a beacon with enough range to be detected anywhere within the same system. "
" What if they had been forced to land ? "
" The beacon would still get through most jamming. ..." Hunt trails off " it would not get through the Atmosphere of a, by your designation, class N atmosphere "
" There is a class N planet in this system " Sisko states, checking the readout in front of him
" Lets move in for a closer scan "
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Beka sat in the cockpit area of the Maru. Her father's ship was quite beaten up, she decided, just before cursing and throwing a circuit board across the floor. With the slip drive out, and no working comm, as well as Jem Hadar being in the same system, she had been forced to land the ship, in order to avoid a enemy patrol ship. She had picked this planet as it had the worse atmosphere within range, or the best, Beka had thought at the time, to avoid the enemy patrol.
The only thing she had not counted on was the standard engines not re- starting after powering down to avoid detection. The Andromeda crew would look for her. Tyr was probably dead by now, she realised sadly. Still, once Harper had Andromeda repaired, and once he discovered that she was missing, he'd work non stop to get them up and running, Dylan would search until he found her, or she decided numbly, her remains.
Beka frowned, worry lines crossed her face. The injured from both DS9 and the Exeter didn't have time thought. When the live power transfer cable had impacted the hull, it had fried the power core, and the Maru was slowly losing life support. Beka shivered suddenly. She had reduced the life support in the cockpit further than anywhere else.
Hurry Dylan. Beka thought, before she closed her eyes to sleep, hurry Dylan.
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" I have the Maru " Dylan said relief in his voice " She has landed on the third planet, but they are not responding to hails. That means that they are either not on board or the comm unit is not working"
" There are also a number of vessels entering the system " Sisko interrupted " A number of Jem Hadar battleships, with a heavy escort. They are not very friendly. It looks like they are going to rendezvous with some of their colleagues I just scanned, in orbit around the 4th planet. "
" Understood. I'm going to hide us in the magnetic pole of the planet Beka is on."
The two captains were very quiet as the small fighter hid at the top of the planet.
" We are going to need help " Dylan stated
" You mentioned that our equipment was not capable of detecting your transmissions ? "
" I'm way ahead of you "
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On board the Andromeda
Andromeda appears in holographic form next to Harper, who asleep in his quarters.
" Harper. Report to command "
"Ummm.? "
"HARPER Report to command "
" Ok, ok, I'm on my way "
As Harper dragged his body out of bed. " Rommie, can't you tell me what the problem is now ?"
" I have received a transmission from Dylan's slip fighter " came the reply, causing Harper to dart from his bed into the en-suite bathroom.
Harper suddenly felt very vulnerable, as he realised that he was naked. As he made a grab for the nearest item of clothing, Andromeda merely raised an eyebrow and turned her back, much to Harper's relief.
Knowing that he would still be able to have a conversation with Andromeda, Harper asks what the transmission said.
" They require the presence of the Andromeda " came the brief response.
" Why ? "
" They found the vessel in distress. But the Maru was not in the area. " As Harper got dressed he listened to the full report. Right down to the capture of an enemy warship, and the size of the enemy force currently in the system Tan-Okia
Harper then summed up what they had to do as he finished getting dressed.
" So basically, Dylan wants us to go over there and distract a Dominion a battle fleet and then rescue Beka ? "
" No, he wants us to go over there, destroy the battle group and then rescue Beka"
" Oh, ok, what's the crew situation ? "
" Trance is the station, my Avatar is on the Klingon bird of Prey"
" Recall them. Contact DS 9 and update them, and inform them that we are leaving the area. Also, calculate a rough return time and inform them when we should be returning" Harper ordered
Andromeda just nodded. Moments later Andromeda spoke again.
" Harper, General Martok and Commander Dax are requesting permission to board. Once they found out where we are going, they volunteered to assist "
Harper debates this for a moment. If they got boarded, two more friendly people would be a welcome change.
" Very well "
Harper finished dressing and bolted out the door, as he entered Command Andromeda spoke again
" Incoming signal from DS9 "
Major Kira's face appeared on screen
" I understand that your going after our people ? " Harper just nodded once " Good luck, do you need anything ? "
" No, just waiting for the drop ship to return and then we're gone "
" Very well. Keep us informed. DS9 out "
As the image of Harper and Andromeda's bridge vanished, it was replaced by a shot of the ship. Kira watched as a small ship approached the ship, docked and then within moments, the massive vessel simply disappeared in a blaze of white light.
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One day later
Harper was sat in the slip stream chair on the command deck. Rommie, Dax and Martok walked in together, while Trance stood next to Harper.
" We are approaching the next slip stream range, and we should be going to slip stream in about one minute " said Rommie.
Suddenly Andromeda appeared on the main screen in front of Harper
" I have just received an update message from the Captains. The message has a time delay of roughly 1 minute. It appears that the Jem Hadar have located the Maru. They are sending an assault craft into the atmosphere. "
" That means they will plan to send in ground troops " Dax stated simply " The wounded on board wont stand a chance "
Harper looks deep in thought, Martok notices and approaches the small human
" Tell me...What re you thinking ? "
Harper suddenly smiles, and ignoring Martok, looks at Rommie
" As soon as we exit slip stream, I want to skim the planets atmosphere. As we make our pass, deploy both of the planetary warfare bots, and head down yourself in a drop ship. That should be more than enough to keep the Jem Hadar busy, keep the Maru safe, and find out why they are down there, not responding to comms "
Rommie simply nodded and left. Harper moved from the slip stream chair and headed to the weapons console. He gave Trance a slightly pleading look. Trance, who understood what Harper wanted, simply climbed into the slip chair.
" Andromeda, Activate all point defence lasers." Harper called " Battle stations "
" PDL grid is on line " Andromeda responded, as the interior of the ship was bathed in a rich blue colour. " All weapons charged and ready for firing. "
" General, Commander, you know their battle tactics. Watch their actions and warn me if they are up to something unusual. " Harper says to the two, gesturing one of the empty bridge stations.
" Andromeda, once we enter the system highlight where the slip fighter is on the tactical display, inform Dylan that we will pick him up as soon as we can, but it must be quick as there is going to be a lot of company on our tail. Prepare the other slip fighters and drones for launch, but wait for my order to actually launch them. Once I order them to launch, I want them to attack whichever ship is closest to the planet "
Harper then stopped speaking and just nodded at Trance
" Entering slipstream in 5.4.3.2.1."
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The Tan-Okia system.
15 Jem Hadar battleships orbited the star in the middle of the system. They were awaiting more vessels to add to the growing fleet, and then they were to launch a new offensive. While they were waiting the Vorta's of each ship planned which targets to attack.
They were escorted by an equal number of smaller attack fighters, who were now patrolling the system. It was one of these that had detected the Maru.
Suddenly, without warning, the Andromeda appeared in blinding flash of white light. Even as the ship started to deploy its battle blades, it accelerated to attack speed, faster than anything in the Jem Hadar fleet. It skimmed the surface of one of the planet and rotated so that the belly of the ship was facing the planets surface below. As the ship veered on its axis, three objects shot out and entered the atmosphere, leaving a firey trail behind. The Jem Hadar ship had only just landed, and was three kilometres distant from the unsuspecting Eureka Maru..
As the troops deployed from their ship, they felt the ground shake. The Jem Hadar first, Katalack, the leader of this group of the fierce warriors, ordered his men keep an eye out for any more tremors and led his men at a run in the direction of their target. He increased his pace, and with a gesture his men broke into three squads, so they could approach the vessel from different directions at the same time.
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Rommie emerged from the drop ship. She had dressed in standard battle armour, and carried two spare force lances. The reason she had been forced to resort to lance overload during the fight with the Jem Hadar on Deep Space 9 was due to the confines of indoor fighting. Out here, in this jungle like environment it was a different story. Rommie paused, establishing a link with the two warfare bots. On the way down in the drop ship, she had noticed that the ground forces had split into three groups. Two were obviously flanking and one group was approaching the vessel directly. The battle bots left in separate directions, to intercept the flanking groups, while Rommie herself intercepted the main force.
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In space the Andromeda rounded the planet the enemy fleet was orbiting and made a pass at the Jem Hadar battleships. Missiles erupted from the Andromeda at a rate that impressed even Martok. While Martok was sure that the small human was skilled in engineering, he could tell that Harper's skill at the weapons console was match for Tyr's skill. He noticed that the incoming fire from the Jem Hadar was either, in the case of torpedo's, being shot down and the phaser fire, or disrupter blasts ignored.
Once they had emerged from slipstream, Trance, Martok had noticed, had got out of the slipstream chair rather quickly, obviously unhappy at being at the helm of the warship. Now Andromeda was on auto-pilot .
4 of the battleships had been destroyed in the initial fly by, but now the remaining ships were chasing from astern, a couple we're already lagging behind, obviously with weapons damage to their engines.
Harper stood at the weapons control station, maintaining fire on the pursuing Dominion ships. He kept one eye on the tactical display, and noticed a small white blip move across the system.
As soon as the Andromeda appeared in the system, the Jem Hadar had been focusing their attention on the high guard ship, so they never noticed the small slip fighter leave the planets orbit and enter the asteroid field.
Andromeda increased her speed to match the Jem Hadar cruisers. They were now incapable of catching the High Guard ship but were still too far away for any weapons fire to be effective against the armoured hull of Andromeda.
They led their pursuers towards the systems asteroids were Hunt and Sisko were hiding after leaving the protection of the polar orbit when Andromeda had entered the system. As the ship approached, Harper called out
" Launch Slip Fighters "
" Launching "
Martok watched intrigued as one, then two, five, ten slip fighters appeared on the screen in front of him. They quickly grouped into formation and engaged the pursuing ships.
Martok watched the screen as the slip fighters ducked and dived around the Jem Hadar. As they did, all thought of pursuit of the Andromeda was forgotten. Suddenly "Hanger ready for high speed retrieval" flashed across the screen.
The slip fighter carrying the two captains moved out of the cover of the asteroids and positioned itself in the path of the Andromeda. It accelerated away, heading in the same direction, until the Andromeda, with a burst of speed caught them up.
Instead of ramming the tiny craft, which is what it looked like would happen, at least to Martok at the last moment the hanger doors opened and the tiny fighter vanished inside the hanger.
The ship suddenly slammed into a dive, and continued diving until they had turned 180 degree's and were heading towards the oncoming ships. Again the ship rotated on its axis, so that they approached the enemy fleet 'upright.
Ever since the Andromeda had deployed it slip fighters, they had not been firing any offensive weaponry, only defensive. As they headed back towards the battle the Andromeda slowed to its attack speed and opened fire on the battered Jem Hadar ships. At the same moment the slip fighters broke off from the engagement and positioned themselves between the fleet and the planet.
The barrage from the Andromeda increased, as the range towards the Jem Hadar was dropping fast.
" Harper, what are you guy's doing? " Dax asked, speaking for the first time, " at close range their weapons can penetrate the hull "
" AP Cannon " Harper called, ignoring Dax
" Standing by " Came the voice of Andromeda, without appearing
" Fire "
Martok and Dax watched fascinated as blue beams shot from the nose of the ship. Suddenly all fire from the Jem Hadar went wide.
" They have lost weapons lock " Martok heard Dax say, more to herself.
With no incoming fire the Andromeda pressed on. To late the Jem Hadar tried to engage evasive manoeuvres. By the time the High Guard War ship had completed the fly by there was not a single vessel capable of warp speed or raising shields.
The smaller patrolling warships caught up to the battle. They all made a sweep past the Andromeda, again the PDL turrets took out only the torpedo's. The return fire by Harper again was accurate and took out all of this wave of attackers.
Hunt and Sisko came running onto the bridge, still wearing the flight gear
" Report " Calls Dylan, the tone in his voice that Martok could recognise all to well - the tone of a vessel's Captain when it was in battle but the Captain wasn't on his bridge.
" Rommie is on the planet with the two warfare bots, we have destroyed all the patrolling attack fightters, and the main battle fleet is now disabled, with only 12 ships remaining "
" Understood. Well done Mr Harper " Dylan approaches the view screen " Andromeda. Hail the lead ship "
" Aye Sir "
The view screen changed and a Vorta appears. Behind her the bridge of the battleship was a smoking mess with figures running back and forth.
" I am Tress, whom do I have the honour of addressing ? "
" Captain Dylan Hunt, of the High Guard Warship Andromeda Ascendant. You have one hour to repair your FTL drive and leave this system. If you are still here at that time, you are dead"
" I am afraid that is not going to be possible. Your weapons fire has damaged our vessels severely. It is going to take a number of days for us all to leave "
" Well, then you have a problem. "
" I do? " Some of the smugness was wiped from the Vorta's face
" Yes, I am here to meet a Federation fleet. While I have no intention of capturing one of your ships, they might. In your present condition do you really think that you would stand much of a chance against...." Hunt laughs to himself a little " I'm sorry, I don't remember "
" I do " Sisko interrupts. " 8 heavy destroyers, 3 battleships and 5 frigates " adding to the bluff.
Tress looks at Sisko and recognises him. Her jaw drops in disbelief
" Your supposed to be on DS9. "
" You really should look at your intelligence information " Sisko says " DS9 is no longer blockaded "
Suddenly Andromeda's voice is heard
"Captain, they are transmitting.. Decrypting ... We need reinforcements. .Bring a battle fleet. They are also sending all of the sensor data they have on us. Its not very detailed. It did not get through "
Tress looks alarmed that her intentions were so obvious.
" Sensors indicate that one of your vessels will be FTL capable within 1 hour. Abandon one vessel every ten minutes to that ship. I will destroy one vessel every ten minutes, starting with yours. If anyone is still on board, that's not my problem. Hunt out "
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Katalack led a squad of 20 warriors. Suddenly in the distance he heard weapons fire. He came to a stop, reached for the comm unit on his arm. Suddenly he heard more weapons fire from the opposite direction. There were the two flanking groups, he realised, without bothering to contact them. The Vorta had assigned him a objective.
Quickly he ordered his men to shroud themselves and then proceeded onwards, at a slower pace.
They rounded a large boulder in the undergrowth, beyond it was a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a small petite women. Despite the planet having such a hostile environment to humans she wore no protective suit. In each hand she held a small tube like device. She looked straight at them, even though they had shrouded.
" Your flanking parties are both dead " The petite women stated. " Either you leave now or you will also die "
Katalack deactivated his shroud, it was pointless to operate it when it was obvious that it wasn't effective.
" We are dead. Victory is life... Who are you ? "
" I have a.. friend who is now protecting the ship you are heading to. "
Rommie said without answering the question
" Another is heading to your ship, and will attack in 15 minutes, unless you are on board and leaving this planet. You cannot contact them, you comm is being jammed. Leave or.."
Suddenly Rommie whirls and strikes at what appears to be thin air. Her hand make contact with a shrouded Jem Hadar neck. The solider crumples to the floor, with a broken neck.
Katalack charges, and as if one, so do the rest of the Jem Hadar. Rommie raises both lances and fires, running to meet the charge.
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" Fire "
" Missile away "
A Missile shot from the Andromeda straight at the lead battleship.
It exploded, the blastwave catching another ship and damaging it as well.
" Captain, I'm detecting weapons fire from the planet "
" Source ?"
" Both planetary Warfare bot's "
" Status ?"
" Two groups of soilder's have been eliminated " Andromeda " Avatar is about to engage "
" Understood.. Keep me posted " Hunt turns to Sisko " You can contact the Sol system from here, just use that console" Hunt informs Sisko, indicating to Trance to help him.
**************************************************************************** *************
Beka opened her eyes. She was still in the cockpit of the Maru. She glanced at the display board. They only had 30 minutes of power left then the life support system would fail. Because of the planets conditions Beka figured that they could not last long before the cold night killed them.
Suddenly she heard gun fire, and a lot of it, getting close. After about 1 minute it stopped abruptly. The ground then started to quake. Beka got the impression that whatever was the cause was coming closer.
If only they had a working comm!!!
Beka dug her fingers into the armrests of the chair. On her lap lay her trusty blaster. She slowly gripped it with one hand, preparing to go outside and try to hold it at bay. She knew that if she could hold it off, Dylan may still get here in time to save the wounded. She began to get out of the chair but then saw the cause of the tremors and then breathed a sigh of relief. One of Andromeda's warfare bots marched past the cockpit, obviously on patrol around the ship. Suddenly the light flashed indicating the airlock was opening.
Still clutching her gun, Beka charged into the rear of the battered ship. Stepping over injured people from the Exeter laying on the floor, she made her way to the airlock. Beka was surprised to see the Star Fleeters, who really should be in hospital, grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon, and stand next to her. The respect she had for these survivor's increased. They had not once complained about the plight, and were now ready to fight by her side, perhaps to the death.
The doors opened, and instead of a rush of boarders, Rommie stood there. She had clearly been in battle, her armour showed where the Jem Hadar had made contact, but otherwise she was intact.
" Hello Beka " he said formally.
" Hi, Nice of you to drop in " Beka responded
The crowd around her relaxed when they realised that they were about to be rescued.
" Drop ships are on their way down now, they will be taking you to the Andromeda, and Harper is on his way down to assist with repairs. " Rommie informed the gathered people.
Suddenly a boom was heard in the distance.
" All Jem Hadar on the planet have been destroyed " Rommie reported as she stepped inside the Euraka Maru. " Warfare Bots are returning to Andromeda "
The two crew mates walked into the cockpit.
" How did the Andromeda get here ? I thought that the slip stream, drive was still weeks away from becoming operational?"
" Looks like we should listen to Harper when he says hes a genius. "
" Tyr, Tyr and the Exeter, I left them behind. The weapons fire broke the towing cables. There were two Galor class vessels when I engaged the slip drive!!! We have to go and find him!!" Beka was just as loyal to the crew as Dylan was.
" Tyr is ok, as is Worf and most of the survivors. They have gone to a starbase, and then on to Earth. The Andromeda is going to stay here until we get the Maru back to its hanger, even if it means towing it up with slip fighters, and then we are going to Earth to meet them. "
" But how did Tyr and Worf survive ?"
" They boarded one of the vessels, and then Dylan, who was following you in a slip fighter after receiving your message, drove the other one off. We spoke to them both less than 10 minutes ago on route to DS 6, courtesy of Captain Sisko's security clearance. "
