Chapter 82

Liberation Day

Gora system

March 21, 2378

Ashcroft took the Wildstar out of warp and he ordered his five Defiant-class ships riding piggyback to deploy and attack the enemy. The Jem'Hadar came at them in swarms and two of the five ships were taken out immediately. His crew had no time to react to this as they were heading after one of the main battle cruisers.

"Prepare to fire quantum torpedoes on my mark," ordered Ashcroft.

"Aye sir," responded Lieutenant Commander Belinda Montgomery, Ashcroft's tactical officer. She worked her console and had the forward torpedo tubes loaded with the warheads. "Torpedoes ready, Captain!"

"Fire," ordered Ashcroft, and a slight rumble went through the ship as the torpedoes fired off. They slammed into the cruiser moments later and did heavy damage, but did not destroy the massive ship. The ship fired back and its beam weapons bounced off Wildstar's shields.

"Damage report," Commander Katrina Litinova called out. Engineer Hosea Barton scanned his console and replied, "Minor damage to the outer hull! No breaches reported."

"Return fire, Ms. Montgomery. Use main phasers," Ashcroft commanded.

"Aye sir," replied Montgomery, who set the target coordinates and then fired the main phasers. Unlike the traditional phaser banks, which could fire at a ship from a variety of directions, the recently added main phasers had to be aimed by pointing the ship at the target. However, these Legendoran weapons were much more powerful than regular phasers, and the Jem'Hadar cruiser was sliced apart and destroyed by the ship, which flew through the widening gap between the sections of the ship.

"Good work, Montgomery! Now, find us another target," Ashcroft commanded.

Meanwhile on the Excalibur, Gideon's ship was under tremendous fire. He was almost knocked out of his chair a couple of times, despite the combined efforts of the Vorlon defense system and the shielding technology from Starfleet.

"Status report," he called out to Matheson.

"Sir, minor damage to decks 22 and 23, and the automatic targeting systems for the particle beams are out! They've switched to manual on their own initiative."

"Good. Keep us heading towards the planet. We have to find those planet killers!"

Out on the right flank, Alex Wildstar commanded the Andromeda along with his half of the EDF fleet. Captain Brian Maddox had been wounded when his console blew up in front of him. His arm took a lot of shrapnel, but his face remained unscathed. He'd live, as he said, but he was out of the fight for now.

Two attack spacecraft carriers, the Italy and the Mexico, were lost by kamikaze runs from Jem'Hadar ships, but the rest of the carrier fleet (America, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, China, and Australia) were able to launch their attack craft. Andromeda's sister ship, the Orion, was flanked by several main space battleships: the Texas, British Columbia, New South Wales, Provence, Sicily and Sao Paolo, and they began to break past the enemy's line with blasts from their shock cannons.

Wildstar turned to the exec on the Andromeda, Jerome Jayson, and asked, "Where are our space battle cruisers?"

"Sir, the Mumbai, Marseilles and Miami are to our left and Tokyo, Sydney, and Caracas are to our right. Others are coming into the line, as well as into the line alongside the Orion. We've also been joined by carriers Norway, Egypt, and India. Our bombers are ready to make a run at their battle cruisers at your command," replied Jayson.

"Very well. Launch them as well as all fighter squadrons. We need to take the battle cruisers out so we can get our wave motion guns into position to destroy the planet killers!"

Deslok was on the left flank, and he was using his ships like an orchestral conductor. He was beaming in his "Exterminator"-class destroyers, high-speed cruisers, guided missile destroyers, as well as his fast destroyers, along with swarms of fighters, bombers, and torpedo boats. From his flagship, he watched as his smaller ships began to soften up the enemy for his battle carriers and garrison battleships.

Talan, his aide, reported to him on the status of the battle. "Leader Deslok, our ships have begun to open up holes inside their flank. The bombers and torpedo boats have worked havoc on their attack cruisers and battle cruisers. We're ready to move the main battleships up into the line whenever you are ready, sir!"

Deslok nodded, not looking at Talan as he scanned his tactical display, saying, "Recall the fighters and other ships, then move us into the line. Have them refueled and reloaded and prepped to send off after we complete our first few volleys from our shock cannons."

"Aye sir," replied Talan, and went off to comply with the order. Soon, the shock cannons on his vessel moved to target a burning Jem'Hadar battle cruiser and fired, ripping into its right side and hitting the warp core, blowing it apart. His other ships followed suit and soon the line began to crumble in front of him. From his vantage point, he could observe the tactics of the enemy. The Jem'Hadar ships served as the front line of the defense, while the Ragendorans comprised the forces at the rear.

As they drove closer and closer to the heart of the enemy's position, Gideon's forces began to meet much heavier resistance. It was going as well as could be expected. Or so he thought.

Suddenly, there was a message from the Hercules. "Gideon! Our warp core's been hit! We need your cover fire to evacuate the ship!"

Gideon didn't miss a beat. "Tell the Missouri and the Cleopatra to form up in front of the Hercules and give them cover fire. See if we can get some of the smaller Starfleet vessels to assist us in the evacuation!"

Matheson was about to dispatch the orders when four Jem'Hadar attack cruisers slammed into the Hercules, and Gideon could tell there was no hope at all. "Beam whomever you can off the bridge," he said to his crew, and they complied. Their makeshift transporter room beamed in three dozen people before the Hercules went up in a massive explosion.

Riker was among those beamed out, but he was badly injured. He didn't even bother to protest about being taken from his ship, as he could tell that his wounds were severe. His command panel had exploded before he was beamed out. "Let's get them to medlab. C'mon people, let's move it," yelled out Dr. Chambers as her staff hustled the wounded away.

Ashcroft saw what had happened and took a risk. "Prepare for saucer separation! Power up saucer section warp core and arm warp core phaser banks. Litinova, you'll command the warp drive section!"

Litinova sprinted to a turbolift car, yelling back, "Aye sir!" She was there in a matter of moments. Once on the warp drive bridge, she finished the preparations for the separation. "Ready to separate, sir," she called out over the ship's intercom.

"Separate. Helm, move us away at course 110. Litinova, move your section away at course 60. Attack enemy ships at will!"

"Aye, Captain. Good hunting to you!"

"Likewise, Commander," Ashcroft replied, managing to suppress his worry over Litinova's fate. They had become close as of late, and things looked like they may move beyond mere friendship. Both of them, though, had decided to wait until the war was over to see where the relationship would go. That is, if they could survive.

The separation came as a surprise to the enemy attack cruisers, whose suicide run was thwarted first by the separation, then by volleys of quantum torpedoes from the rear tubes of the saucer and warp sections. Two of the Defiant-class ships that the Wildstar carried moved alongside the saucer section, but one was taken out by two Jem'Hadar cruisers and barely missed the other as it spun out of control and crashed into a Klingon bird of prey.

"How much longer until Wildstar's ships are within range of the planet killers," asked Ashcroft.

"Twenty minutes, sir. But they're facing very stiff resistance. They're through to the Ragendoran back lines and they're taking heavy fire"
replied Montgomery.

"Send word to Gideon that I'm taking my ships to draw off as much of the enemy we can from Wildstar. Hopefully this will help him kick down the door and get in range to blow those planet killer straight to hell!"

"Aye sir," said Montgomery and she busily sent off a message.

"Sir, Ashcroft is taking his force to bleed off resistance in front of Wildstar's line," said Matheson.

Gideon nodded and said, "Tell him we'll send some Whitestars his way! Send Whitestars 222, 246, 319, 353, and 398 to assist him."

Matheson nodded and sent out the orders. "Sir, Commander Litinova is on the line."

Gideon was shocked at this. "Put her through."

Litinova came on screen, saying. "Captain Gideon. Ashcroft's taken the saucer section to deal with the right flank, while I command the warp drive section. We're here to assist you with the attack on the middle of the line."

Gideon shook his head. "Wait a minute...how?"

Litinova instantly knew that Gideon didn't know all of what the Wildstar was capable of. "Sir, the ship can separate the saucer section and warp drive from each other. The saucer section has its own warp drive, so it's just as capable as the warp drive in battle. Now, what are out orders?" Gideon's mind snapped into focus and he sent them off with other Whitestars to deal with the first ships in the Ragendoran lines. To his surprise, he saw some of the larger ships moving out of the line.

Matheson saw something on his display and yelled out, "Sir, they've got some sort of vortex generator! Much larger than a jumpgate! They're starting to move ships through, and it looks like they're moving planet killers that way as well!"

Gideon ordered the communications officer to contact Litinova again. "Commander, the enemy's got a vortex generator. They're looking to escape! Head over there at best speed. We have to stop them from taking the planet killers out of here!"

Litinova nodded her head in a brisk chop and said, "Yes sir! We're on it!"

Wildstar saw what they were up to and moved his fleet to counter the tactic by the enemy. "Sir, the first ships are going through," called Jayson.

"How much longer until the first planet killer is within range of the vortex generator?"

"Fifteen minutes. I'm not sure if we can make it in time to stop it! Unless we fire from maximum range," Jayson suggested.

"Nah, we want to make sure we hit them. Tell the fleet to go to full speed and head directly for the vortex. We take that out at any cost,"
Wildstar replied.

The battle now became a race against the clock as Deslok pressed the enemy hard from the left, decimating them as they tried to flee. Gideon and Litinova also began to slash into the line as the enemy began to go from defending to fleeing. They tried to launch a fighting retreat, but their tactics were not effective as the Romulan and Klingon ships took great relish in destroying the fleeing enemy.

A powered down planet killer came within range of Excalibur's main gun. Gideon ordered Litinova to cover his ship as they activated their main weapon. Energy surged from the three points at the back of the ship, then sped forward towards the front of the ship, triangulating into one beam and shooting out at the planet killer. The powerful beam hit the power core of the massive structure and the planet killer blew itself apart.

Gideon's ship required a minute to recharge their energy cells after firing the main gun, and they were almost caught by Jem'Hadar ships. But Deslok's fleet swept through them and covered Gideon's left side, protecting Excalibur from the attack.

"Gideon. There are two other planet killers within range. I can hit them with my Deslok cannon, but I'll need you to help get me within range," said Deslok.

Gideon nodded at the image and gave the order to protect Deslok's flagship. They took losses, but Deslok's ship got to within perfect range to hit both planet killers with one shot, as they sat side by side. They were powering up, but the process was a slow one.

The firing control rose up in front of Deslok and he took aim. The computer showed the optimal spot to attack the two objects, and when he had lock on, he pulled back the firing trigger and the massive buildup of energy shot out of his ship and struck the first planet killer, going through the first and impacting on the second. Both went up in huge conflagrations of fire and explosions, and Deslok's ship came back beside Excalibur.

Wildstar's fleet was within range of the planet killers. To his chagrin, one got through, but the second was not close enough to go through before his fleet would be able to fire their wave motion guns at them. The enemy crowded their planet killers together, in what looked like an attempt to get as many through as they could. All that did was make it easier for the EDF ships to fire on them.

"Wildstar, this is Ashcroft. Listen, we'll cover you as your fleet powers up. Let me know when you are within range to light the candle!"

"Roger. All EDF ships, this is Wildstar. Power up your wave motion guns. Target the planet killers!"

The ships came to relative stop and began to power up, while Whitestars and the fighters from the Wildstar began to attack the Ragendoran fleet. The countdown came down to ten, and the allied ships scrambled out of the firing line. "10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1..Fire," called out Alex Wildstar.

All twenty-six ships with warp guns fired in sync, and their combined massive energy hit the grouped planet killers and overran them. The ten structures began to melt, then explode as the surging wave of energy began to rip them apart. Jem'Hadar ships, as well as those of the Ragendora, who had grouped themselves around the planet killers were wiped out.

The remaining ships, very few in number now, made suicide runs at the fleet, but they were cut down with relative ease. Gora, as well as the Gamma Quadrant, were free of the enemy's occupation.

However, the celebrations were muted when word came to Gideon of the situation with Riker. "How long does he have," he asked Chambers.

"Not long.," she said soberly, and stepped away as Gideon sat down at Riker's bedside.

Riker looked over and said, "Gideon. If you can...please...tell my wife I loved her...tell her that she will always be my Imzadi."

Gideon didn't know what Imzadi meant, but he grasped the context. "I will."

Riker croaked out, "Tell my brother that I love him...and that I'm sorry I won't be there for the wedding!"

Gideon replied, "I will. On my honor, I will."

Riker's death rattle came and he expired. Gideon placed Riker's hand on his chest and stepped away. Chambers made a quick scan for life signs, but it was academic that there were none. She made an official record into the log, then turned to Gideon. "I'm sorry.," she said.

Gideon nodded and went back to his quarters, where he knocked back another shot of whiskey. On this night, he didn't even bother with the apocalypse box. He was depressed enough as it was. There may have been a victory today, but the war was still far from over, and, to Gideon, he felt that the ships that went through the vortex would be heard from again soon.