"Primary shields down to eighteen percent, Commander. The next impact will drop them entirely." T'Nia announced. Her voice was almost alarmed. Although she would never admit it, she was experiencing a heightened sense of urgency regarding the battle at hand. Although the plan had been devised well enough, no one had predicted the Dominions resolve, nor their willingness to commit suicide to ensure a victory. That had been the third Dominion raider to fly into the Warlord's shields at full impulse while simultaneously causing their own warp core breach. The result was a warp core explosion travelling almost at the speed of light. The effects had been... profound. The second wave of ships had also been... unexpected.

"Kenyon, how many bandits are still out there?" Kirk asked frantically.

Kenyon shook his head. They hadn't counted on a second group of ships. Apparently, there was more than just a ragtag leftover battle group of Dominion ships left behind... either that, or they had been building frantically for the past year. "I count twenty-two... four capital ships and eighteen raiders still operational. The cardassian ships count ten, but they're still staying out of the fight."

Kirk shook his head. This was too much of a fight. Almost two dozen ships had already been destroyed. By their initial count, they should have won already. This second wave of ships was just... unfair. "T'Nia, keep targetting those cruisers with the torpedoes. The LAST thing I want is one of THEM getting the notion to perform a kamikaze run, too. Bristol, spin us around their moon. Maybe we can use that for cover." To Stephen, all this did was reinforce the fact he wasn't ready for command. Why, in the WORLD, did he listen to Captain Hearne, his former captain? He could have just stayed on the Victory and been relegated to in-system patrol duty for years. The most complicated decision he would have ever had to make was a leave of absence duty roster. He couldn't admit it... he dared not admit it... not to himself or anyone else... this was exciting.

"Taking evasive to the cardassian moon, Sir," Tyler replied. His expression was of anger, not at the commander, but at himself. The damage they were suffering was his fault. Why didn't he think to use the impulse engines to turn the ship faster? His hands flew over the controls as the an image of the ship on his navigation display broke its course and headed towards the moon. How many shots did they take because of his incompetence? How many people may die because of his delusions of being a big hero?

"Incoming!" T'Nia announced loudly. Within a second, the ship shuddered slightly. "Primary shields are down!" The klaxons increased in volume. "Secondary shields at ninety-four percent."

Kirk pounded his fists against the chair arms and spun his head around. "Elaine, for the last time, shut that siren off!"

She was almost scared senseless once again. If Elaine fell to the floor again, she doubted whether she'd be able to get herself up. Absently, her hand moved over to the alert controls and touched the mute button. She stared in horrified wonder at the purple and gray ships flying around the front viewscreen. Occasionally, a purple beam of energy extended from one across the screen. Oddly enough, it was a pretty color purple... hard to imagine it could be so destructive. Then, the ship shook again, this time a bit more forcibly.

"This is not the time to panic," a voice in Stephen's mind told him. "Your voice must be calm. Your demeanor must be calm. The situation is far from hopeless, unless you believe it is." Stephen closed his eyes and prayed for calm.

"Secondary shields down to seventy-two percent." T'Nia announced.

"You got another one!" Kenyon yelled, staring at his sensor screen which was quickly filling with an orange fireball.

Kirk opened his eyes. He could feel that his heartrate had dropped. "T'Nia, when Tyler brings us around the backside of the moon, I want a full spread of torpedoes aft. Rig them to detonate one second after launch."

"Understood, Commander," she replied. Sensing the calm in him, she felt comforted and more confident. Quickly, she loaded the after tubes with five delay detonation torpedoes while the ship shook again.

"Commander," Kenyon interrupted, "I have four raiders coming from the far side of the moon. They're going to cut us off."

"That's what I'm counting on, Richards," Kirk replied. "T'Nia, you'll fire on my mark. Tyler, I'm going to need ninety degrees hard starboard and full impulse in a moment. Get ready."

"Torpedoes loaded, Commander," T'Nia announced faithfully.

"Ready when you are, Sir," Ensign Bristol added.

Kirk sprinted over T'Nia's shoulder to look at her tactical display. Gradually, the ship rounded the back of the moon until it was exactly on the far side. "Tyler, break now!"

"Got it!" Bristol yelled. Remembering his lesson with the impulse engines, the ship lunged to its right and quickly began speeding up. Four Dominion raiders rounded the moon to their left. Five raiders came up from behind to their right.

"They're locking weapons on us," Commander Richards announced.

Kirk began a silent count and closed his eyes. Hopefully, this and the moon would work to their advantage. "Fire!"

T'Nia pounded the launch controls. "Elaine, aft view on main screen now!"

Elaine quickly brought up a picture of the rear view of the ship as five red pinpoints of light shot backwards. The rightmost torpedo slammed into a raider shields, causing it to detonate prematurely. The raider exploded in a ball of fire and sparks. The other four torpedoes sped past the raiders as they flew past... and detonated just behind them. The concussion slammed several ships into each other and destroyed three ships immediately.

Kenyon nodded with a smile. "Well, that finished off six of the nine, and two of the remaining three are in some pretty bad trouble."

Kirk smiled. "And they never laid a hand on us. Mister T'Nia, finish off those three ships and load up the front weapons. By my count, there are still eight raiders and three cruisers out there."

"Dominion battlecruiser coming around the moon!" Kenyon announced.

"Brace for impac..." T'Nia began. The ship shuddered again from the impact.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Stephen commented to himself.