Ross had struggled with every step until, at last, he found himself at the communications panel. He stared at the buttons, wishing someone else would have taken this position, wishing the Dominion had never approached him, wishing he had never left his house to secretly secure materials for Gelnon and his monsters. He stood over the panel, his hand resting near the buttons that would summon his forces, knowing if he commanded them to attack the Warlord, it wouldn't survive. His hand shook.
Gelnon's glare intensified. He began to shake himself. Unless the Cardassian ships joined the fight, it was conceivable the Warlord would be victorious, and they didn't look like they were in the mood for prisoners. As it was, his plans for conquest were virtually over. The majority of one of his leftover fleets was decimated; precious few were able to fly into Warlord. He had little hope the second fleet would finish off this Starfleet warship. Now, all he was hoping for was an escape route back to the Gamma Quadrant, where he could raise another fleet, unless the spineless Tegril complied. He turned impatiently to his First, who was holding a communicator. "First, if Prefect Tegril here doesn't comply by the time I count to three, order the Fang to execute his family."
The Jem'Hadar was looking perplexed. "I've been trying to reach them for several minutes, Master." He offered. "I haven't been able to raise anyone on the Fang."
"What do you mean?" Gelnon replied angrily. In the back of his mind, he suspected what had happened, but he hoped it wasn't true. That battleship was his best bet for defeating the Warlord. He shoved Tegril aside and began manipulating the sensor screen. He couldn't find his battleship anywhere in orbit. "Where IS it?" He cried.
Ross gulped hard and picked himself up. Looking over the vorta's shoulder, he couldn't find the battleship, the vessel that held his family, and others, prisoner. Could it be the Warlord destroyed it already? His eyes welled up with the thought. "No," he thought. He had done so much, agreed to so much, deceived and betrayed so many... just for them. His eyes refused to blink as he stared at the screen.
After an eternity of seconds, the battleship's whereabouts became known as they saw the image in the upper atomosphere decending rapidly... some pieces more quickly than others. It had already broken apart into five pieces. "No!" Gelnon screamed, punching the panel with his hand. No longer holding the tears back, Ross fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.