Chapter 78

C-Day

On board Excalibur

In orbit over Crubelli IV

February 25, 2378

The Excalibur opened up a jump point and flew back out into normal space, roughly fifty kilometers away from the station. As expected, it was heavily guarded, but Captain Matthew Gideon's idea of jumping in Whitestars close to the station proved to pay off big time as they took out several ships nearest to the station without a shot being fired at them.

Deslok's Gamilon forces engaged the Ragendoran fleets to Gideon's left, while the Hercules and Alex Wildstar's EDF forces took down the Jem'Hadar ships to the right. That left the station and the remaining ships to Gideon and his forces.

Commander John Matheson pressed the earpiece into his ear to better hear some bit of information, then passed it on to his captain. "Sir, the breaching pods are ready, and so are the fighter escorts."

Gideon nodded and replied, "Good. We've had to wait too long for this. If we hadn't caught sight of that attack force heading to the wormhole,we would have been in much more trouble than we are now. Proceed!"

Matheson pressed a button on his console, and the signal to release the breaching pods was given. Thunderbolt fighters were launched first to provide escort, and Wildstar sent over what fighters he could to assist. The other Earthforce ships did likewise and soon the breaching pods had a healthy ring of protection around them. It would be necessary, as Ragendoran fighters soon came out to engage them.

Matheson watched the battle take shape on his tactical display, and despite losing more fighters than expected, the breaching pods soon made their way to their prescribed coordinates. "Sir, the pods are about to land on the station's exterior hull! All pods are accounted for."

"Good. Tell them to proceed with breaching as soon as they make contact."

"Aye sir!"

Pod after pod attached itself to the hull of the station, forming a vacuum seal. Then the pod's automated breaching torch went to work cutting a hole in the hull. A demolition charge was placed against the breach, and when it detonated, the metal of the hull that had been cut out flew out to allow a clear path for the invading troops.

What the invading troops soon found out was that the station was heavily automated, but booby traps loomed everywhere. They took heavy losses as they made their way to the central command facility. Jem'Hadar troops finally came out to fend off the invasion, but they were hopelessly outnumbered and soon beaten back. The Ragendorans knew the station was lost, so they beamed out to the remaining ships in a vain attempt to escape. However, before they could go to warp, several volleys from Deslok's forces as well as Alex Wildstar's ships laid waste to the fleeing troops. No one had been able to escape.

Three hours later, Excalibur docked with the station, and Gideon made his way aboard. He was not surprised to see the sheer amount of damage to the station from the battle, but the amount of losses his troops had endured soured the accomplishment. They would have to call in for reinforcements because of the losses.

In the command and control center, Gideon sat down in the office and waited for all of his commanding officers to assemble there. IQ-9 came into the office, and Gideon manfully repressed a groan. He didn't doubt the abilities of the robot, just his behavior. "Captain, I have been able to decode the Jem'Hadar computer database. Here are the results!" The robot handed Gideon a computer pad and Gideon was thunderstruck at how fast the robot had worked. "Good work, IQ-9! Please continue to work on the computers and see what else we can find."

"Yes, Captain." IQ-9 rolled out, and passed Matheson on his way out. Matheson smiled and asked, "So how did our resident robot do this time?"

"Out-friggin'-standing, from what I have read here on this pad! He may be an ass, but he's a damn genius ass!"

"What does it say, Captain?"

Gideon scanned his pad again, then returned to his XO. "It's what we expected. This was to be the launching point for an invasion of the Alpha Quadrant, with the ultimate goal of going after Earth."

"Our Earth or Starfleet's Earth?"

"Both. According to this, they have amassed enough forces to do the job. What we have to do now is take them out. Contact Wildstar and Deslok and have them meet me up here. I have an idea as to what the next mission will be."

"Aye sir!" Matheson made his way out of the office, and Gideon returned to studying the computer report. His confidence of taking the station waned as he saw what he would be up against soon. But he was a gambling man, and the idea he had would be a major wager indeed.

"Are you sure about this Captain? You'll be running a huge risk by just relying on our wave motion guns to get the job done.," commented Alex Wildstar at the planning session later on that day.

"Understood, but we are outnumbered, so we have to find a way to even the odds, so to speak. We'll go after the main staging area for their forces, here, at Olak Prime. According to the communication reports from this station, it's a key center of the Ragendoran and Jem'Hadar war efforts. It also looks as if the Vorta are also involved in the logistical planning. If we can wipe out the ships, we can head down to the planet and see if we can find any Vorta with any intelligence worth gaining., "replied Gideon.

Deslok thought for a moment, then added, "We'll need the element of surprise, and we'll need to take out their smaller ships to allow Wildstar's destroyers to get close enough to use their wave motion guns. I suggest we use my ships to take out the smaller vessels. That will open the door for Wildstar's ships."

Gideon nodded and looked back at the tactical display. "Since you can warp your ships in close proximity to the enemy, that's exactly what we need. Work on their flanks and try and spread out their forces. That should give Wildstar what he needs to take down their main ships. Wildstar, you'll be in overall command of the operation."

Wildstar was taken back a bit by that information. "You're not coming with us?"

"No, because Riker and I will be attacking another staging area at the same time. Two more Andromeda-class starships are due here soon, so when they arrive, we'll launch the tandem operations. Also, your brother Derek will be sending any ships he can spare to help free up some ships from protecting Empock Nor and assist us in the offensive."

Wildstar nodded, "Well, we'll come through for you, Captain."

"I know. I have no doubts on that account. Dismissed.," said Gideon.

The two men left and Gideon was alone in his office. But it wasn't long until one of Starfleet techs, Shanna Mosley, came storming into the office. "Sir, please, on behalf of all the female techs, could you do something about IQ-9?"

Gideon sighed and asked, "Where is he?"

"Level four. We were working on a communication node and he helped us finish up the work. When we were done, he pinched my butt!"

Gideon walked out of the office past her and headed to the turbolift. Chief Miles O'Brien was just stepping off when Gideon was getting into the car.

O'Brien said, "Lemme guess: IQ-9 again?"

Gideon laughed, "Gee, chief, I didn't know you were telepathic! You might as well come with me, because you can stop me from disassembling that pile of bolts!"

O'Brien laughed and said, "Yes, Captain. I'll try to avoid your elbows when I restrain you."

They made their way down to level four to try and get through to IQ-9. While Gideon had other more pressing problems to deal with, he found this to be mildly amusing, so he dealt with it himself.