Chapter 9: The Sacrifice

As Romulans contrived how they were going to carve up the galaxy for their own ends; Elim Garak and Julian Bashir were stuck in the cargobay on DS9. They were no longer lying in their own blood and gore; they had moved to the door, but in their weak state, they weren't going to be able to get out, even if the door hadn't been sealed shut by the changelings. Now, here they were, sitting side by side, Bashir's body slowly sliding down the wall and down Garak's shoulder. In the past hour, he had gone from an upward position with his back against the wall, to slumped against Garak's right arm, his body at a weird angle, even for the agile genetically engineered doctor.

"How much longer do we have Doctor?" Garak asked, his voice weak and blood trickled from the side of his mouth and dribbled down his chin.

"I have maybe ten minutes," Bashir said in a horse whisper, "But, in about three or so, I will faint from the loss of blood. You have thirty minutes, fifteen of which you will be unconscious."

"Cardassian physiology is more adapt then humans, that's for sure," Garak replied.

"If I was-a-mere human," Julian struggled to say, beginning to gasp for air, "I-would have-perished-three-hours ago."

"You know what I will miss?" Garak asked.

"What?" Julian asked.

"Our lunches together," Garak stated and Julian nodded his head in agreement.

"They seem to have their hands full," Garak muttered, "We should have been out of here by now. Why don't they just beam us out?"

"Tran-sporters-are-off-line," the human said, "Odo-"

"He's been naughty hasn't he?" Elim muttered, "Doctor?"

"What?" Julian gasped, beginning to lose focus on reality, his blood soaked hands no longer able to stay on his gut.

"What if I had a way to save you?" Garak asked.

"I-would-ra-her-die," Bashir whispered, losing his ability to piece his words together, "Then-gve-u-the-satsfact-ov-saven-me. You'd-must-likly-poson-me."

"Why doctor," Garak exclaimed, "After all our lunches and bantering; after all these years you still don't trust me?"

"No-clzer-thn-I-culd-transport-" Bashir's words trailed off with a slight chuckle and he went unconscious. His chest and head fell sideways and landed in Garak's lap.

"Doctor," Garak said, "There is still hope for you yet."

Garak looked at his dying friend and thought, He was my only real friend. No one had so much respect for me as he did. And now, he will die. Even as he thought this, phantoms sprang into his mind from his past.

"What's the matter Elim?" Enabran Tain asked, "Feeling sorry for yourself?"

"Not for myself," Garak muttered, "But for the doctor."

"That's not what I've taught you," the Cardassian reproved him, "To be a member of the Obsidian Order, you must not feel any type of feelings, great or small for anyone. It's not good for business."

"But he's my friend," Garak said, "And we are both dying."

"Friend?" Dukat asked, joining Tain, "I had a friend once. Benjamin Sisko, and look what he did me! Best to leave well enough alone. You said yourself that he is dying."

"I believe it was you that did stuff to him," Garak replied, "Besides, I would have done the same to you myself Dukat."

"Really now," Weyoun, the Vorta asked, appearing on a crate, sitting with legs dangling, "Let's all be friends here. After all, he is dying."

"I don't remember inviting you to the party," Garak said.

"Of course you didn't," Jadzia Dax said, appearing by his side; kneeling and patting him on his shoulder, "And that's the whole point of your life; isn't it. You never asked. You never let anyone be a part of it."

"I asked a lot of questions," Garak responded, "But, sometimes the answer is more deadly than the question."

"No," a young woman, Ziyal, a woman he once had feelings for said, standing with phaser wound to her chest, "What's worse is not admitting to yourself what really is happening."

"I really have no time for this," Garak rolled his eyes, and weakly waved his hand, "I have things to do."

"Like what?" Tain demanded, "I had the perfect solution for destroying the Federation once and for all. But you blew my perfectly laid plans to the Federation!"

"I couldn't let you use bio-weapons on all thirty planets," Garak said, feeling a bit dizzy now, "Over seven trillion would have been lost."

"A traitor," Dukat mocked, "Right up to the end."

"You should cut your losses and save yourself," Ziyal begged, "I don't want you to die."

"Let Julian die," Dax smiled, "He is only holding you back."

"Yes," Tain goaded, "Let him die."

"Not today," Garak said, and out of a pocket in his jacket, he pulled out a gel pack.

This gel pack was a one use affair, where if something like this would happen, they could use it to seal the wound and replenish twelve percent of the blood lost. Not a permanent fix, but enough to keep someone stable for six hours. Should be enough time.

"I hope you appreciate what I am doing for you, Doctor," he said, and feeling off one side, he slapped the pack onto his cut, and immediately, the blood flow decreased to almost a trickle.

"You know what Doctor?" Garak asked, although he wouldn't get an answer, "I was trying to train you during our time together, to succeed me. I wanted your skills to become such that you could defeat any operative that came your way. That you could be the best of the best. And indeed, you helped us get out of a Jem'Hadar prison, saved Sisko, Chief O'Brian, Jadzia, Worf and Kira from that holodeck program of yours. You went toe to toe against Section 31 and won. You even were able to get the Tal Shiar on your side. You are my pupil, and you have learned your lessons well.

"There was only two possible outcomes. Either you would live and I were to die, or I would live and you would die. However, I can't beat a man who refuses to accept defeat."

Garak's eyes became heavy, and a grogginess began to come over him. He was dying, and he knew it. With his last breath, he said, "There is hope for you yet, my friend."

Then, he closed his eyes, and it all went dark.


Meanwhile, things were not doing so well on the rest of the station. Auxiliary power went off line with a hum and the backup power was barely being turned on. Captain Kira strutted around the command center, shouting out orders to the crew, which hurried to do her bidding.

Standing on the stairs was Benjamin Sisko, waiting, and watching as they scurried along. "Captain," he said, stepping forward, "with your permission, I'm going to get the runabouts out on patrol. If the Dominion doles decide to take advantage while you're working, you'll need advance warning."

"Good idea," she said, then turning towards her Chief of Operations ordered him to get the scanners up and working.

As Ben walked off the Command Center onto the turbo lift, he was joined by a human Ensign, heading off to the cargo bay to help in the rescue attempt. The ensign was extremely young, maybe twenty at most.

"Ensign," he acknowledged.

"Sir," the ensign replied with the taut stick nature of a raw cadet.

"Your name," Ben asked.

"Ensign Clark Jones," he crisply responded.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Ben's lips. "I'm not interrogating you soldier," he half chuckled, "you have to learn to lighten up. That is something you'll have to learn."

The ensign uncomfortable shifted his weight from foot to foot before asking, "May I speak freely sir?"

"Granted," Ben shrugged.

"I'm twenty-two," he said, "And I served on two ships before coming here. But, I only lasted a year on each ship before the captain booted me off. I'm not the most likeable guy. But, I want to make a good impression here sir. But, Captain Kira scares the crap out of me."

Ben smiled, "Yes, she can do that, can't she."

"I just don't know what to do about it," Jones sighed.

"Tell her," Ben said.

"No, no, I can't," Jones said horrified, color draining from his face.

"Why not?" Ben asked, not sure what to make of this ensign.

"Uh…I just can't," he said, nearly looking like he was going to faint.

"Ahhh," Ben said, realizing what was the problem, "I agree. She is unattainable. Certainly for you."

Jones eyes grew wide, "Please sir, don't tell her."

"That'll be our sec-"

His mind flashed as he saw locusts, purple and black, surround a field of stars of blue and white. The purple locusts began to surge forward, through a small opening, ready to devour a small space station. They were so many, that he almost despaired to wonder how they could ever beat them.

The black locusts he could hear now, sounding more machine then organic and they devoured several dung beetles that scurried to flee. They turned from black to grey; then from grey to a dark shade of green. Two hundred of them entered a swirling light that looked like watercolors splashed together.

Then, he heard clicking, and turned, and saw a great scorpion, whipping back its tail, and he saw several stars darkened. But, as it prepared to strike, Ben could see several of the black locusts had nestled on its belly, and as it posed to strike several white ants that scurried to fend off the scorpion, the beetles transformed into a giant rat, which broke off the tail and picking up the scorpion began to gnaw it. But, a single baby scorpion escaped, where it was captured and dragged back to the ant hill.

Then, the purple locusts, which he had turned away from, jumped on the station and began to gnaw and chew.

His mind snapped back, and the Ensign, who had just been standing there a few seconds ago, had fallen. His face was charred and his eyes had gone glassy. The ship rocked as if hit, and he tapped his comm badge.

"Report," he demanded and a reply came back, "We have nearly thirty Jem'Hadar attack fighters attacking the station."

"I'm hurrying to the hanger bay now," he said, and ran down the corridor as the ship rocked with explosions and sparks flew from walls and ceiling.

He reached the shuttle bay and headed for a runabout, jumping into the first one he saw. A lieutenant was already there, taking the com.

"Mind if I join?" he asked, and the woman turned to him and nodded.

As soon as they were cleared to leave the station, they shot off into space, and Ben could only gasp at the sheer numbers of the fighters they were facing. There was no thirty fighters. More like three hundred. And more were pouring out of the wormhole.

"It make so much more sense now," he said, "It is an invasion from the Gamma Quadrant. Round Two has begun."


Weyoun stood on the bridge of one of the Jem'Hadar attack fighters, leading the assault against Deep Space 9. It really was a shame, watching the purple plasma bolts lance out and strike against the weakened shields of the station. He had never seen it before, but, his eight predecessors had seemed genuinely concerned for the well being of the station and of Bajor. And those emotions had been carried on through him.

It really was too bad he was going to have to destroy it and everyone on board. But, the Founders wished it, and who was he to deny the wishes of the Gods?

He looked out, surveying the battle, and smirked at the six runabout, valiantly fighting against the beetle shape hulled assault ships. They did some damage, and to his surprise and delight; they had even managed to shoot down four fighters. These shuttles seemed to have some teeth, and more than willing to play the game.

"Good," he laughed, "I would hate for the game to be one-sided. First!" he said, "Send squadrons 71, 73, 44, 88, 100 and 501 to destroy those shuttles. The squadrons are to pick a single shuttle and do everything possible to destroy them before moving on to the next shuttle."


"Captain!" tactical officer Jamie Dumel shouted across Ops as another explosion erupted on the bridge, caused by part of a plasma beam getting through the shields, "We are as ready as we are going to get on this end."

"Rand?" Kira shouted as the station shook.

Her chief engineers head popped up from the lower level and said, "We aren't going to get anymore out of these babies while the Dominion is beating us up."

Kira nodded grimly. "Return fire."


Weyoun watched in amusement as the station suddenly lit up like an electrical chair. Dozens of phaser blasts and photons came flying from it, and although they were limiting their firepower to within the eight hundred kilometer distance of their damaged scanners, they still destroyed or disabled enough ships to warrant a fight.

But, Weyoun needed DS9 to fall sooner than later. It wasn't a matter of not wanting to fight, but, the station was going to have to fall and soon to enable to invasion fleet on the other side to come in safely.

"As soon as the runabouts are destroyed," he ordered, "Advance all ships against the station. Throw everything we got at them."

"No," a calm voice said beside him and he turned to see the Female Changeling at his side, "I want to give time for Odo to get off the station."

"Founder," Weyoun objected, "I was not aware Odo was on board. I thought he was still in the Link. Besides, the Founders have had enough time to flee."

"What you know is of no consequence," the Founder said with a finality that brooked no argument, "Just carry out your orders."


"I said evasive maneuvers!" Ben shouted as sparks flew from the transporter, "Not suicide maneuvers!"

"I'm doing my best," the female lieutenant snapped, "But we have a whole squadron of Jem'Hadar all locking on."

"Execute Evasive Pattern Delta 5," Ben ordered, firing a phaser at a Jem'Hadar, which avoided it with ease, "And watch your tone with me, young lady."

She threw the ship hard to starboard, rolling as they went. As they rolled, they were grazed by a plasma shot, which destroyed their inertial dampeners. Ben and the woman barely held in their seats as she whipped the back of the shuttle to port, which pointed the nose towards the wormhole.

Even then, they were greeted by the sights of six Jem'Hadar fighters, making straight for them.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered, "The warp core has been disabled. We are stuck sir."

"Let them come," Ben snarled, tapping away at the weapons in front of him, "We might have lost inertial dampeners and transporters, but I'll be hanged before I go down without a fight. All power to forward shields! Full thrusters! We're going in."

But, even as they headed straight forward, a flurry of white/orange phaser bolts lashed out, catching four of the six in a deadly accurate marksmanship. The two bolted, trying to get into a position of defense, but they were taken out by photons, which seemed to follow their every evasive maneuver and match it until they smashed into the fighters and blasted through before plowing into two more before coming to an explosive conclusion, ripping the hulls apart.

A circular ship, one that resembled the Defiant, only with a longer prow, engines underneath the ship and not behind and a command bridge that rose from the top in a small circle, flew above them, scattering the Dominion fleet.

"USS Supreme to Captain Sisko," a voice came over the come, "We hope we weren't too late to join the party."

"About time!" he gladly said, "But we might need a lift."

"No problem," the man said, "Energizing you now."

But, Ben was surprised when not only he began to be transported, but the entire shuttle into the Defiant Mark 2. Before he even knew it, not only he but the runabout as well was now in what seemed to be a small shuttle bay.

Oh boy, he thought to himself, this ship is a bit bigger then Defiant.


"Captain on the Bridge!" the tactical officer said, and Ben and the lieutenant marched onto the bridge, the bridge crew bustling with activity.

"I am Commander Henry Andrews," a giant of a human of about six foot, three inches said.

"Captain Benjamin Sisko," Ben introduced himself, "And Lieutenant Julia Fatts. I relieve you."

"I stand relieved Captain," Andrews bowed and stepped aside to a side station as Ben took his seat in the middle of the room.

"Are any other ships coming to our aide?" Ben asked, as the ship slightly shook from an impact.

"No," Andrews reported, "Our orders are to help evacuate DS9. We are to abandon the system and head for the Tyre System."

"What?!" Ben demanded.

"It has just been assigned as the fourth grouping area for Starfleet's vessels," Andrews responded.

"DS9 is of strategic importance," Ben snapped, "We need to hold this station!"

"Sorry sir," Andrews shrugged, "But, this comes straight from the Federation Council. It can't be countermanded."

"And what do you think of these orders?" Ben asked him.

Andrews closed his eyes before speaking. "It's flawed," he said slowly, "I think that something is wrong here. They shouldn't be issuing orders that will abandon nearly 98% of the Federation to our enemies."

"My thoughts exactly," Ben smiled cruelly, "Let's do as much damage as possible to the enemy. Full impulse! Throw everything we got at them!"


Weyoun was shocked at the sudden onslaught from the new vessel. It was tearing apart the invasion fleet like a fat boy at a buffet of food. The new assault had given the remaining four runabouts the boost they needed to retake the offensive, and they flanked the ship, peppering fire at the Jem'Hadar assault ship. At one point, six Jem'Hadar fighters were laying heavy fire on the new Federation vessel, but they were wiped out without so much as a scratch on the enemy.

"Order the fleet to pull back to the wormhole," the Female Changeling said, "where we shall regroup to launch a second assault. Order the weapon to deploy."

"The Founder is wise," Weyoun submitted with the adoration of a young puppy with its owner.


The fleet began to pull away, and Ben clenched his fist and air punched with his fist in victory. This ship had been put through its first test, and it had born it brilliantly. He needed tp get more of these!

"Damage report," Ben ordered.

"Shields held at 90%," the tactical officer reported, "And no damage to speak of to the ship itself."

"They'll be back," Ben snorted, "And with greater numbers. We can't hold Bajor without help."

"But," Andrews said hopefully, "at least the station is intact."


Kira wiped her lips, which were moist with sweat, causing an unpleasant scent to rise from her. They had beaten off the first assault, but, even with the new Starfleet vessel, they could not possibly hope to hold out forever.

"Open a channel to the Supreme," she ordered, and after a beep confirmed a channel was open, said, "Deep Space Nine to Supreme."

"Sisko here," Ben replied his face coming onscreen, "How are you?"

"The station has taken damage to two of the upper pylons and structural integrity is down to thirty percent," she counted off her fingers, "The shields are down to forty-three percent, main power is offline and most of our weapons systems are down."

"Will you be ready in time for their second assault wave?" Ben asked.

Kira turned to her main engineer who shook his head, "We won't stand another assault."

"That's a no," she said, "I am beginning evacuation procedures."

Ben let slip several words that he surely wouldn't have said in front of a pastor. "If we lose DS9, we can't stop the Dominion from invading."

"I don't think we have a choice," she said, and almost as if in agreement, the ship rocked as an explosion ripped from the hull in a brilliant yellow glow.

"What the heck is going on?" she ordered as another explosion ripped through the ship.

"We are being hit by shots that are out of phase with our time," her tactical officer reported, just before an explosion ripped from his console and he fell screaming, holding his face in his hands.

"Hull breaches on habitat levels 6, 7 and 8," another officer shouted as another explosion tore the hull.

"All hands!" Kira ordered over the comm system, "Abandon the station! Repeat: Abandon the station."


"Let's keep ourselves between the Dominion and the evacuees," Ben ordered, as another shot fired from just outside the wormhole. This shot sheared off the deflector array.

"Sir!" the tactical officer reported, "I have triangulated the location of the Dominion vessel."

"Where?" Ben demanded, swerving his chair around to stare at the Lieutenant Commander.

"Coordinates 03.14 by 22.83," she replied, and Ben swerved his chair around.

"Onscreen!" he ordered and the screen flicked to a Jem'Hadar ship, bigger and meaner than any other he had seen before. It was three times as large as the Jem'Hadar battleships that had participated during the Dominion War, and by the nasty looking design, it must certainly be in a heavier weight class.

"Can we get scans of the ship?" Ben asked.

"We can't penetrate the hull," the officer said, "As a matter of fact, we can't even seem to get a lock on it with our scanners. We just seem to glimpse it for a second before having to recalibrate. But, one thing is for certain. It's more powerful than anything we've ever encountered before."

"Set a course, full-impulse!" Ben ordered, "Let's see just how nasty it is."


"That ship is attempting to attack the weapon," Weyoun said in surprise as he watched the singular ship make straight for the battleship.

"Fire a triple yield from the chronitronic weapon," the Founder ordered, "Knock out their weapons."


The ship buckled and came to a dead stop. Klaxons sounded throughout the ship and Ben turned to his tactical officer. "Status," he demanded.

"They are targeting our weapons array," she reported, "But the ablative armor deflected it. We are down to fifty percent."

"That shot hit us so hard it stopped us in our tracks," Andrews added.

"Do we still have engines?" he asked as another hit threw them all out of their chairs.

"Yes sir."

"Ablative armor offline."

"We are detecting minor fractures in the hull."

"Get us moving forward," Ben shouted, "Attack Pattern Delta-Twelve!"

The ship sped off again, heading straight for the ship. The ship jerked left and right, as the automatic sensors responded to the oncoming weapons. Sure, their shields couldn't manage against the chronitronic weapons, but, they could dance around them.

Unable to lock on, the Dominion ship switched to traditional plasma blasts. They couldn't track the ship any better, but, there were more of them. So many in fact, that they would have a hard time missing the smaller vessel. But, these weapons could do little to crack the shields of the Supreme, which only lost ten percent of their shielding after a volley of twelve blasts hit home.

"Can't get a phaser lock," the tactical officer said in frustration.

"Switch to manual," he ordered, and soon, they were blasting away. They weren't much better than the Dominion's, but, the hits that did land home, penetrated the hull, opening up gaps.

"Sir," Andrews called out, "The Dominion fleet has come back with a vengeance."

"Has DS9 been evacuated?" Ben inquired.

At that moment, they received a transmission.

"Onscreen!"

Kira's face appeared on the screen, surrounded by both frightened people and stern looking officers. "DS9 has been evacuated," she told him, "Where do you want to meet up at?"

Ben rolled his eyes. Backwards they would go. "The Tyre System."

"Gotcha," she nodded, "Kira out."

The screen went blank, replaced by a star field. At least seventy ships were heading their way.

"Get us out of here!" he shouted as a chronitronic weapon made contact and took out their inertial dampeners, "Warp 9!"