Chapter 96

Paradise Saved

On board the Yamato

LaGrange Point 3, between Earth and the moon

May 6, 2378

Derek Wildstar accompanied his fiancee back to the bridge and led her to the station beside him on the bridge, which had been reconfigured to allow her to perform her duties from there. Her own station, set behind and to the right of Wildstar, had exploded from a power surge after the bridge was hit. She had been slightly wounded, as had Wildstar, who now sported some stitches above his right eye from a small piece of shrapnel.

"What's our status, Venture," said Wildstar. Venture sat at the station beside Wildstar, opposite that of Nova's new station. He looked at him from his pilot's station and said, "We're in position, Derek, and it looks like we'll have to act. The fleet's taking a terrible pounding,
and the planet killer has moved past Mars. It'll be here within twelve hours!"

Wildstar nodded and was about to order the ship to move into position when a Jem'Hadar attack cruiser slammed into the bow of the ship. Those standing on the bridge were knocked to the floor, and those seated were almost thrown from their chairs.

"Holy...! Those bastards did a kamikaze job on our wave motion gun! Sandor, take a repair team down and try and clear the nozzle of the gun before the planet killer gets here," said Wildstar.

"Right, Wildstar.," replied Stephen Sandor, Yamato's chief science officer and engineer. He rushed off the bridge and headed down to don a space suit and try and clear the remains of the Jem'Hadar ship from the nozzle.

Ashcroft hailed Wildstar, saying, "We just got a very nasty surprise: those Jem'Hadar have cloaking technology, so that's why they've been able to sneak up on us. They've started taking out all ships with wave motion guns. We're shielding Andromeda as best we can so we can have one dog in the fight, and Yamato II is nearby and can shield you."

Wildstar replied, "Fitting, I guess. I'll contact Captain Suarez and send him my regards."

Ashcroft cut the communication and leaned back in his chair. A new tactical officer, Octavio Montange, stood behind him, and he felt the missing presence of Montgomery. He shook his head and focused again at his own tactical display, spying a squadron of Jem'Hadar cruisers making a run on the flagship of Admiral Avatar, the Phoenix. "Send our five Defiant-class ships to help aide in the protection of the admiral's ship, then launch fighters. Take us to ten kilometers in front of Andromeda's bow and raise shields."

On board the Defiance, President Hollifield sat in the chair usually occupied by the ship's Scottish commanding officer, Captain Shirley Connelly. She didn't object in the least, as the president had been a friend of her father's, who had been lost at the Battle of the Line. He watched as the Ragendoran ships drew ever closer to his firing range. Whitestars surrounded the ship, including the one which had picked up his life pod.

Connelly turned to the president and said, "They'll be in range in one minute, sir!"

"Launch fighters! Open fire the second they are within firing range and raise shields. We'll leave the planet killer to Yamato and the rest of the EDF forces."

"Sir, we're getting a report that Yamato's been damaged and may be out of the fight. Jem'Hadar fighters have started making suicide runs on the EDF forces."

Hollifield had an idea spring to life in his head, and he ordered, "Hail Deslok"

Deslok nodded to President Hollifield as he cut the link. He turned to his aid, Talan, and said, "My redemption may finally come at last!"

"Sir," asked Talan.

"Raise the Deslok cannon and begin powering it up," he ordered, leaving Talan guessing as to what had been said.

Hollifield leaned back into his seat, and the redheaded Captain Connelly stroked a wisp of hair away from her face as she asked, "Are you sure he will do what you ask?"

"He's in search of a way to atone for what he did to Wildstar's Earth. This is his chance. Who am I to take it away from him?"

"But, sir, if he fires that cannon as close as he needs to get to that planet killer, his ship won't be able to escape in time!"

Hollifield nodded and calmly said, "He knows that, and so does his crew. They'll do the job."

Leader Deslok thought of Starsha as his ship moved into position to fire at the massive planet killer. Outside, his own ships were doing heroic work in protecting his ship, and they were getting decimated for their efforts. He was thirty seconds from firing on the planet killer, and he took his position at the trigger of the Deslok cannon. In his sights was the massive device sent to destroy Earth, and he had the perfect target. The main orifice from which the largest beam began to open, and he set his target right in the middle of the aperture.

As power reached its peak in the gun, he thought of his lost homeworld one last time as he pulled the trigger. His last words were, "For Gamilon!"

The beam shot out of the cannon and entered the opening, heading straight for the massive power core of the infernal device. The beam hit the core and caused a chain reaction, blowing the device up from the inside out. Deslok's ship tried in vain to escape, but when the planet killer went up, the shock wave took out his ship, as well as the rest of the Gamilon fleet.

Wildstar watched the explosion from the bridge and shuddered. His once enemy had saved Earth, but had paid the ultimate price for his efforts. He looked down at the bow of the ship, and saw that there would have been no way to clear the wreckage from the suicidal Jem'Hadar cruiser in time to use their wave motion gun.

Eager called over to him, "Wildstar! The enemy is retreating! They're pulling out!"

On board the Defiance, Hollifield got the same news. "Where are they headed?"

"Looks like the asteroid field, sir. Orders?"

"Contact Starfleet Command and ask them to send as many ships to pursue them. We'll be doing likewise. I don't want those bastards leaving the solar system alive!"

"Yes sir," she said, and went to send off the transmissions.

On board his cruiser, Godoron, the supreme leader of the Ragendora, was apoplectic and enraged. He knew he had no more planet killers left, and all the ships he had left were being defeated one by one. He had sent out the order to retreat to Jupiter, and he was trying to think of one last way to make the enemy pay. If I am to fall, then I shall take them all with me, he thought as he began to concoct one last desperate plan.