Picard closed his heart as he slowly watched icons disappear from the display. There would be a time and a place for mourning their dead, but it wasn't now. Now, there was just the mission.
A mission they would be lucky to survive.
He watched a K'tinga attempt to ram the last remaining of Osiris's new build ships but be shattered by weapons fire before it could impact. He watched the shields of the captured Ha'tak falter for a moment and nearly a quarter of her weapons be destroyed before the ship could rotate and present an intact shield towards the enemy.
The watched as the enemies fighters actively sought out and destroyed the allies escape pods. And all the while, he kept his ship in the fire.
Tec'on didn't spare a glance at Dukes as much as he would like to. He had his duty and that duty was exactly what he chose it to be; the destruction of the false Gods.
Today, one more of the false ones would die. But they would die in the name of a plucky Tau'ri Warrant Officer who would never again grace him with her smile. He triggered the ships weapons again, catching not one or even two Al-kesh but three in a single salvo.
That was enough to bring a glint to his eyes, a grim glint. It wasn't enough of a vengeance, but it was certainly a start.
"We've lost the port shields! Forward shields at twenty percent!"
"Maintain evasive! Try and keep our starboard to the enemy!" he commanded.
The ship shook and then shuddered, a tortured groan being more felt then heard.
"We've lost the starboard shield and nacelle! Structural integrity alarm on port nacelle! Hull breech in main engineering!"
"Merde!" he whispered as he gazed upon the ships status displayed on the readouts around him and with a sinking heart, he knew that it was over.
Again.
It was on the tip of his tongue to order the Enterprise abandoned when the battle shifted once more.
His expression satisfied, Ewing 's eyes didn't leave the screen as the Indefatigable dropped out of hyperspace, a Ha'tak directly in front of him. He didn't know which one and for now, he didn't care. It was a valid target and it was in range and perfectly positioned.
He would have to thank his navigator later, for now…
"Alpha Strike!"
Tec'on felt his eyes widen, he had thought the Indefatigable would not be ready for some time, he had been told…
Ahh.
A secret you do not know you can not ever tell, clever.
He doubted the enemy would appreciate it though. With a swift manipulation of the Pel'tac controls in front of him, he added his own fire to that of the destroyer.
Two minutes later he smiled, just for a moment as the target went completely dead, not just the weapons and shields but the exterior lights as well. Then the final salvo impacted and the ship fell apart at the seams.
He turned his head towards his fallen friend for the first time and gave her a nod that said, all too clearly, that one was for you.
"The enemy Ha'tak is attempting to flee,"
Ewing smiled darkly, "let them."
It got him an odd look from his crew, a look that disappeared mere moments later disappeared as five ships appeared in the direct path of the enemy vessel, three Romulan D'deridix 's, a Klingon Negh'var and a Federation Defiant.
"Bring us in on their six," Ewing commanded, "maintain fire. Order the Ha'tak back to lick there own wounds and cover the Enterprise . We'll finish this bastard off here and now."
"Captain, they're attempting to enter hyperspace!"
"Belay my last," he rose forward in his seat in an instant, "all ships, bring all weapons to bear, we can not allow that ship to escape! Helm, maximum military power now! We'll follow them into hyperspace if we have too."
The weapons fire from the Ha'tak died and with a puzzled frown, Ewing gazed upon the sensor readings, his eyes then widening in pleased recognition, "they don't have the power."
"The Enterprise is hailing them!"
"What?" he turned around startled.
"The False God Osiris is dead," Picard held the eyes of the Jaffa warrior on the screen in front of him, knowing it would not be he that blinked, "with it, her Rel'tac and every other vessel in her fleet. Only yon know remain and you do not have the power to escape without diverting energy from your shields."
He paused and then quietly, resolutely, "and the instant you divert that power our fleet will kill you. You will not be given the opportunity to escape, of that I can assure you."
"Disengage your hyperspace drives," he commanded quietly, "order the surviving Al-kesh to stand down and then lower your shields and surrender."
There was a moment then Picard released a relieved sigh as the Jaffa blinked.
They would surrender, they had too.
"Death before dishonour!"
He glanced up shocked as the Jaffa disappeared from the screen, and then he glanced towards the tactical display on his screen at the Ha'tak and at the Indefatigable, still racing to intercept.
He watched aghast as the Ha'tak diverted all its energy not to its drives, but to its weapons.
Watched as, in the instant of its demise, the Ha'tak fired its last salvo. A salvo fired with the weapons safeties apparently disabled; a salvo that caught the frantically evasive destroyer dead centre of the starboard hull.
Watched as two new Suns lit up the black of space for a moment.