Chapter 75
Circle of Light
Bliel Hnaran System
February 17, 2378
Whatever worries that Derek Wildstar had of a trap evaporated as the Cardassian ships gathered around Yamato and took fire from the Jem'Hadar warships swarming the fleet. The Whitestars began to outflank the warships and systematically began to take them out.
"How much longer until we get to the facility," Wildstar asked his radar tech, Chris Eager.
"30 thousand clicks, Wildstar. We've got Ragendoran bogies coming in at two o'clock," replied Eager.
"Dash, take them out once the Cardassians are out of our firing solution," commanded Wildstar.
Dashell "Dash" Jordan nodded and sent out the orders to the gun crew, while Homer Glitchman sent out a message to the Cardassians. It wasn't long until the Galor-class warships moved out of the line of sight of Yamato's guns.
"All main guns, prepare to fire," commanded Dash.
"Cardassians clear! You can fire at any time Dash," said Eager.
"Fire," ordered Dash, and all five main guns opened up on the Ragendoran ships. The first barrage of fire took out seven of the smaller ships, and subsequent waves of fire began to decimate the enemy. Meanwhile, the Cardassians were taking heavy losses as their flying wedge formation began to break apart.
Pulan Doss came on the video screen. "Captain Wildstar, we don't know how much longer we can hold off the Jem'Hadar and the Ragendora. Recommend that you use the wave motion gun to take out the facility!"
Nova spoke up, "Wildstar, if we use the gun here, we run the risk of hitting the planet and causing catastrophic damage."
Doss nodded and said, "There is no life on Bliel, at least not now. That is other than the facilities there. As far as I know, there are no Cardassians there."
Wildstar paused for a moment for thought, then turned to his chief engineer Yamazaki and said, "Power up the wave motion gun, chief!"
"Aye sir," the chief said and sent down instructions to the crew in the engine room. Soon, the power buildup was rapidly growing until the gun was ready to fire.
"She's ready to fire whenever you are ready, sir," called the chief.
"Good. Countdown starts at one minute on my mark. Mark," called Wildstar.
Tachyons began to glow in front of the wave motion gun nozzle as the power began to build. Jem'Hadar ships, apparently tipped off to this phenomenon, tried to make run after run on Yamato, but the Whitestars as well as Hideki-class fighters of the Cardassian fleet began to take out the alien kamikazes.
Wildstar spoke the final ten seconds of the countdown aloud. "10...9...8...7...6...5...4..."
Suddenly, five Jem'Hadar ships broke through and made a dead ahead run right at the front of the ship. They went full impulse and tried to stop the crew of the Yamato, but it was, ultimately, an act of vanity.
Wildstar didn't blink as he kept the main target in his gun sight. "3...2...1...Fire!"
A massive wave of energy shot out of the bow cannon and vaporized the Jem'Hadar ships. They could do nothing to prevent the energy wave from streaking into the orbital facility, running through it like a hot knife through butter. The energy wave crashed onto the main habitation dome on the rocky planet, wiping it out, and the shock wave, paired with the remaining energy from the blast, wiped out the entire colony on Bliel. The planet wasn't wiped out, but a sizeable crater had been created where the colony once was.
Seeing the results of the shot, the remaining enemy forces made one last run at the fleet, taking out several Cardassian ships as well as a score of Whitestars. Two Earthforce cruisers were destroyed and five others were severely damaged, and three Earth Defense Force destroyers were seriously damaged in the last run, but the main heart of the fleet was still intact, much to Whitestar's relief. However, he soon found that there was still bad news to deal with.
"Sir, the ships Pulan Doss and Rorak Menka were commanding have been destroyed. No sign of survivors.," Homer said soberly.
Wildstar sighed and smacked his fist against the armrest. "Anything else?"
"Not at the...wait, we're getting a message on a private channel. It's being patched into us from the EAS Dionysus on one of their frequencies."
The message came up and Wildstar recognized the woman despite the Cardassian makeup. It was Dureena Nafeel, and she seemed to be huddled on a rooftop somewhere.
"If this is getting through, I have to let you see what is taking place," she said, then took the camera and placed it over the railing. Looking down at the street, hundreds of Cardassians were running for their lives. Bolts from phaser rifles began to take down the people one by one. Jem'Hadar soldiers began to run by and massacre all that they could catch up to. Men, women, and children were ruthlessly cut down.
Wildstar watched and began to shake with anger, and he looked around and saw the various reactions of his crew. He turned to Mark Venture, the ship's pilot and spoke just a few words: "Venture, take us to Cardassia! Best speed!"
Yamato warped moments later, as the remaining ships followed. It would take three days to jump to Cardassian space, and Wildstar had the ships that could not make it in time for the battle to meet them at Cardassia. As he lay down beside his love in his quarters to sleep, the sight of those Cardassians being butchered kept him from sleeping that night.