Chapter 94

Paradise Under Siege

On board USS Wildstar

In orbit around Pluto

May 2, 2378

Captain Stephen Ashcroft knew that it was going to be a long day when Starfleet Command indicated that the Ragendoran fleet entered the Sol System from four different directions, and each fleet looked massive. The Alliance of Light had expected this, so all their forces had come into the system to meet the enemy for what appeared to be the final confrontation. He looked at the fleet on his tactical display and sighed. "This isn't going to be easy, is it," he said to his exec,Commander Katrina Litinova.

She nodded and said, "No, sir, but nothing's been easy in this war. Why expect the final act to be a walk in the park?"

As they sat on the bridge, Ashcroft pondered hailing the enemy to tell them that coming into the system would result in their fleet being attacked, but he mentally shrugged and dismissed the idea. Why state the obvious, he thought to himself.

The Alliance of Light had split their forces several ways. The Earth Defense Fleet, led by the Yamato, were joined by Deslok's remaining Gamilon ships in a ring around Earth, as a last resort. Earth Alliance President Garrison Hollifield, on board the Freedom, commanded a fleet of Starfleet ships as well as Earth Alliance ships, and they were located just inside the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Interstellar Alliance President John Sheridan commanded a fleet between Jupiter and Saturn, with all the fleets having a mixture of Borg ships and Legendoran vessels.

Ashcroft knew that the tactical plan was their best way to defeat the enemy: hit them with wave after wave of attacks and decimate their forces so whatever they had left if and when they entered Earth space could be handled by the EDF forces, whose wave motion guns could take out the enemy. They expected the enemy to bring in their planet killer to make one final attack on Earth, and they needed to take it out at all costs.

Lieutenant Commander Belinda Montgomery called out to her captain. "Sir, enemy fleet is within firing range. Sensors indicate they are powering up weapons."

Ashcroft nodded and said simply, "Time to end this, one way or another! Engage the enemy at will, Lieutenant Commander!"

The smaller fleet of Ashcroft engaged the larger Ragendoran fleet, splitting into two groups and attacking the flanks. What the enemy did not know was what awaited them when they crossed Pluto's orbit of the sun, and Ashcroft impatiently waited as his ship was rocked by blasts from enemy fire. He has spoken to Sheridan about a tactic he had used during the Minbari war, as well as the Shadow War to greater effect. It was sporting, mind you, but was hadn't been sport since the First American Civil War.

He locked his eyes onto the tactical display, letting Litinova and Montgomery handle the battle. He had immense confidence in their abilities, especially Montgomery. If they won the war and somehow managed to survive the battle, he intended to resign his commission and recommend that Montgomery be promoted to Captain and take command of the Wildstar, jumping the Commander rank altogether. He had wanted to give her a field commission to the rank, but he hadn't had the chance to put through the paperwork.

"Captain, we just lost the Hephastus and the Yorkshire! How much longer until they get to the minefield," asked a desperate Litinova, and part of Ashcroft was hurt to see his love's voice quivering with fear. Montgomery's voice added to his distress when she said, "Sir, shields down to 60 percent and dropping! Automatic targeting on aft phaser banks is out, working to fix. Outer hull breach! Sealing!"

"Thirty seconds until they get to the minefield. Prepare to activate mines," said Ashcroft, who took a moment to squeeze Litinova's hand. He leaned into her and said, "If this is the end, my love, then at least we're together!" She wiped away a tear and patted his hand, giving him a secretive smile as they continued to take hit after hit from the enemy fleet.

"Ten seconds until they hit the minefield. Activate mines," he ordered. The mines were a cobbling of technologies: cloaked mines that Commander Ben Sisko had used during the Dominion War, but with much larger antimatter yields. Sheridan had donated as many fusion bombs as he could scrape together to serve as the detonator for the antimatter. No one knew how much yield this minefield would have, but Ashcroft instinctively knew that even this would not stop the enemy completely.

The enemy was five seconds away from the minefield, and the cloak dropped on the mines. The ships could not turn away from the field in time, as inertia had them locked in on their course. Ashcroft thought of his first wife and son, as well as his second wife, as he waited for the fleet to enter the field. As they entered it, they took no notice of the mines, as they were not to be detonated until Ashcroft gave the order.

The last ship entered the field, and Ashcroft gave his love one final squeeze. "Detonate the mines," he ordered, and Montgomery pressed the button on her console to set them off. The screen went white, and Ashcroft was knocked to the floor, hitting his head on it and knocking himself out.

Later, he awoke in sickbay, with his first sight being that of Commander Litinova. She smiled and turned to one of the nurses, saying, "He's awake!" He felt like he'd gone on a bender like he did back in college, only this time it was far worse.

"What's our status," he asked.

Litinova composed herself and said, "We've lost 300 crew members, sir, along with 400 wounded."

He saw the expression on her face and asked, "There's something more, isn't there?"

She didn't want to tell him, but he had to know. "Captain, Montgomery's dead. She was killed when her console blew up in front of her."

Tears came to his eyes, as he knew that Montgomery had considered him a mentor to her. They had been close, especially after he had helped save her life years ago when their shuttlecraft was ambushed and forced down on a planet during a journey to a diplomatic conference. She had been an unsure ensign back then, but he saw limitless potential in her, and took her under his wing. With his guidance, she had grown into an outstanding tactical officer, and was destined for a captaincy of her own.

Now, though, as she lay in the ship's morgue, he couldn't believe it. "Damn," he said softly as Litinova put an arm over his shoulder. He focused back on the task at hand. "What's the status of the enemy," he asked.

"We took out 85 percent of the ships in the blast, and severely damaged another seven percent. They broke through on the other lines, though. Sheridan's fleet is ready to meet them, and Alex Wildstar's brought up his ship, the Andromeda, to assist, as well as the rest of his fleet.

"There's something else, sir. Sensors indicate that they have brought in the planet killer, and it's located in the Oort Cloud."

Ashcroft nodded, then asked, "How are repairs going?"

"We'll be back in operation within 24 hours. The fleet's giving us protection just in case we are attacked again. Orders are to proceed to Earth and assemble the remaining ships in Mars orbit."

He nodded again and got up from his seat, looking down on his fallen protégé. "Don't worry, Belinda. We'll win this one for you," he said as he touched her shoulder. They quietly walked back to the bridge, trying their best to focus on the job at hand. If they survived, then they could attend to the funeral.