"Seventeen," the Jem'Hadar replied, "and three are badly damaged."
"What is the condition of the Starfleet vessel? Surely it's close to destruction."
"We managed to damage some of the armor plating on its port engine before its shields went up. After that, we couldn't tell. Their shields are somehow preventing us from scanning them. It doesn't appear to have suffered any further damage, however."
Gelnon pounded his fist against the console, to Tegril's hidden delight. "This is impossible! Fly every raider we have into that ship until its shields collapse. And have one of the cruisers transport a contingent of soldiers as reinforcements to the council chambers and another contingent to the government building. DESTROY THAT SHIP!" The vein in his neck was bulging.
"Victory for the founders!" the Jem'Hadar yelled. His image vanished from the screen. Once again, the building shook and the lights flickered from the pounding by the smaller Starfleet ships that mysteriously appeared as the Warlord opened fire on the government building from orbit.
The vorta let out an atypical scream in anger. "First!" He yelled after his personal Jem'Hadar assistant. The large, gray soldier stepped out from the rest of the group standing behind him.
"Yes, Master," he replied, walking up to the Vorta.
"Exactly how did it come to pass that this Federation ship got into orbit without being spotted?" Having been asleep at the time of the attack, he knew nothing of what was happening until the building began shaking from the weapon exchange.
"Apparently, the Starfleet ship is capable of disguising itself as other objects. When it approached, our sensors identified it as the cardassian cruiser Nolkath, the vessel we sent to intercept and destroy Warlord after it left cardassian space. It arrived severely damaged and with a radiation leak."
"That tells me the Nolkath was probably destroyed if the Warlord was disguised as it." He turned and looked at the tactical display on the main panel at the bottom of the giant meeting room. "Why aren't the Cardassian ships firing?" He asked angrily. "They're just sitting there!" He turned and glared insanely at Ross Tegril.
Tegril merely shrugged, desperately wanting to laugh at the desperation in Gelnon's face. "I don't know, Gelnon. You told them to open fire as soon as they saw a Federation ship."
"Master, if I may..." First began, "The Starfleet ship broadcast a message offering not to fire on any cardassian vessel that lowered its weapons."
"We offered independence," Gelnon paced as he spoke, "we offered freedom from the tyranny of Federation rule. We have the superior numbers. We have the superior firepower. Why would they listen to a Federation ship that is so hopelessly outmatched?" His plan had been perfect. Everything had been working until the Federation showed up. The angry glare returned to Gelnon's face as he turned around to face Ross again. "Prefect Tegril... you will get on your communications system and order the cardassian military to open fire on the Federation ship, or I will order the immediate execution of our cardassian 'guests' on our battleship. Is that clear?"
Ross was stuck. He certainly didn't want to add Cardassia's firepower to the Dominion, but what could he do? Once again, his wife and daughter were at stake. As much as he desperately wanted to step fully into his leadership role as the head of Cardassia, he just couldn't. Gelnon pointed indignantly at the console before him. The conflict within him overwhelmed him to the point of tears. He simply couldn't handle it any more. Ross began to weep.
Gelnon's expression softened a bit. He walked over to Tegril and patted him on the back. "There, there," he cooed, "the mantle of leadership can be quite heavy, can't it?" Ross dared to look at the vorta's purple eyes, which almost looked sympathetic. "Perhaps this will help... try to imagine how your precious daughter will cry when I have her mother executed before her very eyes." He motioned to an imaginary image in front of him, then smiled evilly.
Helpless hated welled up inside of Ross as his teary eyes glared up at Gelnon. "You monster," he whispered.
Gelnon helped push him towards the communications console. "I'm the monster?" He asked coyly. "I'm not the one who betrayed my people. Now... order your ships to attack."