[2007: NOV-DEC] The Last Stand

[Bar Zukiza]

The Last Stand

By: Gregg Tomlinson-Bell

<----// The Last Stand \\---->

A rugged man was dragged across the camp by a Vulcan and a Jem’hadar at each side, the lifeless soul was stumbling, trying to find his footing. Until the escorts stopped and flung the human to the ground, he had laid there not moving a muscle, exhausted from his unsuccessful mission. As the light sea breeze gently caressed his skin, and hair, as if Mother Nature was nurturing him. Some slave laborers looked around to get a glimpse of what was going off. Others just kept working on what was a glorious day.

“We caught this Rebel Scum trying to infiltrate this planet, General” the Vulcan reported.

“What is the nature of his visit, do we know?” the general had enquired, as he walked around the weathered human.

“No he was caught in a cloaked Bird-of-prey; we believe he is Commander Ikeda. He is responsible for some of the terror and destruction he has caused to our precious empire.” The Jem’hadar had responded with some anger.

“Is there any other news you have for me?” the general pursued.

“We have searched the databases on his ship; we didn’t find anything worth reporting yet.” Lekir had countered.

“Lekir, take this scum to the bunker be sure to draw some information out of him by all means possible when you get what I want, kill him. The less of these scums the better. Fourth Darin’Tajal, find out any more information in his ship; find out his communications log, what he was last talking to about, everything!”

The human started to find his feet as he slowly moved his body into a praying position, when Lekir grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away.

*****

“How long till we arrive at Kohren Prime, Ensign?” the CO had asked. “Not long now, Captain, We’ve just come out of warp and will be there in less then half an hour” the young helmsman had replied. Captain Bacheva had relaxed into her seat, trying to adjust to the new surroundings in the Jem’Hadar Attack ship that the insurgence had managed to salvage during an operation. Of course they had they’re best engineers at work, making it more federation like. Hristina came out of her daze and tapped on her combadge.

“Kozakor, have you integrated that cloaking device onto this ship yet?”

“Yes, captain. The cloaking device is operational” the Klingon had responded.

“Very good, commander.” She said tapping the combadge once again.

“Then we should be ready for this operation.” She mumbled to herself.

“Ensign Hutchings, we had a cloaking device let’s use it now, we can’t have any Dominions coming into contact with us now we’re near the Kohren system”

“Aye, ma’am” was the response from the teenage ensign.

It had been 12 years since the end of the war. Some of the new officers of the insurgence we’re children from the lucky federation and klingons that escaped from the power of the dominion, yet Hristina, and others always found the force still breathing down their neck. Kurt Hutchings was one of those people. The death of Hristina’s captain and then the XO caused her to be promoted to be in charge of one of the few ships they had at their disposal at Deep space 16 which was located just beyond the border of what was once the federation border. Hristina thought how the dominions had reduced the Klingons and federation citizens into the same boots as what the maquis were in. She hoped they would not have the same fate, and that there was some hope. There were other packs of federation ships about, but communications with them were severed due to the dominion forces.

*****

“Now tell me the truth, what is your purpose of visiting this concentration camp, commander” the monotone question, was all that echoed in the quiet murky bunker.

“You disgrace me” Ikeda said, then spat at the Vulcan. Vulcan resolved this by using a cat o’ nine tails, as he inflicted what seemed to be an insurmountable pain on his back. The young commander yelled the bunker down in anguish.

“Now what is the nature of your visit?” Lekir pursued for the answer he was after

“I came here to try to free some of the slaves” he said with some disgust in himself for giving into the torture.

“Now how hard was that, commander? Now how many ships does your rebellion have in commission?” Lekir continued

“I’d never tell you that” Ikeda quickly snapped back, before the nine tails burned his raw skin again.

Before the Vulcan could speak 3 Klingons barged through the door, and fired their disruptors at the Vulcan before carrying Ikeda out of the bunker, and releasing him from the chains.

“Are you all right, Ikeda” one of the Klingons questioned.

“I’m fine” Ikeda said, as he got on his feet, wiping the dirt, and dust off his clothing.

“How did you get pass all the guards?”

“The way as you did, except we killed them.”

“Ah yes, the warrior way… right, who’s in charge of this?”

“Captain Bacheva is in charge she is over this way, come” the Klingon had exclaimed in a boisterous tone

The Klingon didn’t really give Ikeda much of a choice, and clutched his arm, and dragged him towards her. Ikeda never meet this captain, and this seemed rather weird since the insurgence force from DS16 had become best friends with each other over the years. The Klingon came to a halt, pulling Ikeda to the side of him, releasing Ikeda from the mighty Klingon grip.

“Here he is, captain!” the Klingon bellowed

“Ah very good Ahmaghov, we should get out of here quickly before any dominion forces reach here. Ahmaghov clear the lands, and regroup our forces, I want a word with this commander first” Bacheva remarked from her soft voice.

The Klingon nodded and strode off on his tasks. What now stood in front of Ikeda was an angel; a slim-slender human, with long brown hair. She didn’t look a day older than twenty.

“Right, commander, I don’t believe we have met before. You will send a report to me on what happened here. We can not afford to lose a ship, never mind a high ranked officer like yourself; I don’t know how you got caught though. The security here was very scarce…”

“Yes, Captain I understand.”

“Well, I’m Bacheva, you can call me Hristina, if you’d like” Hristina said with a gleaming smile and offering her hand out. Ikeda returned the smile, and shook hands, and noticed how delicate and soft her hands were.

“Well I’m Ikeda, Hristina” he answered

“Well we better get out of this system fast, our last long range scanners picked up a battle cruiser a few light-years from this position, I will give you 3 of my officers to board you’re ship. I’m using our recent new addition to our manifest, a Jem’Hadar attack ship.”

“Really, an attack ship?” enquired the young commander

“Yes, well I’ll send you some people over to you, they are experienced, I trust them with my heart I hope you do too” she said beaming another warm smile, which made Ikeda tingle inside.

“Sure Hristina, I’ll head off to my Bird-Of-Prey then” Ikeda remarked.

“Well it was nice meeting you hopefully I will see you at Deep Space 16 then”

Hristina smiled again before walking away. Ikeda stared at the inconceivable figure, before heading over to his ship. It was definitely his ship. Ikeda had found it in one of the many ship graves, the D-13 class was left in what would have counted as a immaculate condition despite the whole inside was beyond repair. All was left was the chassis, and the hull. The main thing was it was in one piece which was more to say than the rest of the floating debris, Though Ikeda had slowly turned it into a luxurious warship.

Ikeda had arrived at the lagoon, next to his ship. And stared at the sunrise, and he thought to himself these next years will be the coming of the return. Ikeda was always hoping for peace to be restored in the quadrant. His thoughts we’re soon interrupted by a few people.

“Reporting for duty, commander” the three officers yelled

Ikeda watched the Attack ship fly through the sky, before turning to the three people Hristina had sent to him. There stood a human, a Vulcan, and a Klingon. Ikeda had greeted and meet up with the three people before flying off to Deep Space 16.

“Three Attack ships are within this system!!!” James yelled

“We only just left the planet!” Ikeda had added

“They must know we we’re here, Ikeda” the klingon had replied

“Yes they probably did. It does have the weakest security around its perimeter”

“I say we fight them, it’d be a good day to die!” Ahmaghov yelled raising his fist in the air.

“No! ahmaghov, We cannot afford to take the damage, plus 3 attack ships is just too much, this ship could probably hold off 2 attack ships not 3!” Ikeda had replied back

“T’Lar Cloak the ship, activate Ion Glide, and warp 8” Ikeda commanded

T’Lar began to initiate the commands, as Ikeda relaxed into the command seat which never got used, since Ikeda had this ship modified to more or less a fighter. Ikeda could feel Ahmaghov’s fury radiate from him, this was dominion space. Ikeda knew he had to tread lightly, and over the years knew that 3 attack ships could mean a Battleship wasn’t very far. The Dominion Insurgence couldn’t afford a loss no matter how insignificant. It was already a David Goliath scenario as it was. Eventually the Buruk had arrived at DS16, and docked. Ikeda walked out of the Buruk when Hristina dashed up him and yelled

“Ikeda, you must come now, there is a meeting”

Before Ikeda could protest the female grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the meeting. The pair walked into the crowded room, with Ahmaghov and the rest following in behind.

“…though the liberation on Kohren Prime wasn’t as successful as we hoped, we have something more important to worry about… Spies from Bajor and Lukarian City on Cardassia Prime have reported that there are construction sites across the planets, which are building a monstrous starship. There are apparently 48 of these sites. It is said it will be 3 times bigger then the Dominion Dreadnoughts. These Ships will end all insurgences within the alpha quadrant; we are joining forces with another two groups we have come into contact with. Apparently 2 of these Dreadnought carriers are built and ready.”

“Sir, this sounds like a suicide mission, we would have to get through the cardassian defenses and Terok Nor. Plus we know this fleet alone could just handle one dreadnought never mind this colossal destructive terror that you describe” one of the commanders had stated. The Vulcan waited till the commotion had halted before he continued

“One of the insurgences has been lucky enough to seize several Dominion Battleships. These ships are about to depart there construction yards anytime soon, if anymore are to depart there will be no hope for us to be successful.”

The Vulcan continued and explained what seemed to be a flawless plan. It was the last stand. Deep Space 16 was reduced to a minuscule fleet over the 14 years after the dominion war. All there was left was a sovereign-class, a couple of galaxy class, a few Vor’cha and Negh’var classes. Ikeda was heading over to the Buruk when a high ranked officer approached him.

“You there commander”

Ikeda looked around to make sure he was talking to him. Then the Commodore came to a halt, and added.

“Commander Ikeda, for this combat I will be commanding one of the Dominion Battleships from the other star base since they lost they’re Vice Admiral last week. I want you to command the USS Redemption she’s a fine ship, probably the best there is that’s highly maneuverable.”

“What’s wrong with your first officer commodore?”

“He’s taking command of the USS Aldora “

“Commodore im not turning down your offer, but we need as many ships for this, If I left the Buruk here that’s 1 ship less. Surely there’s a decent officer from Hristina’s crew to take command of the Redemption.”

“Are you kidding me? You know how crazy some of her crew is?”

“I’ll take command of the Redemption “

Ikeda and the commodore turned to she the stunning Captain Bacheva standing to the side of them.

“Very well Hristina commands the Redemption “

“Yes I will command the Redemption, Ahmaghov will take the the Attack-ship. The Buruk and the Attack will head to Cardassian Prime and bomb some of the construction sites”

“Yes, so we are all set then?” Ikeda asked

“Yes good luck everyone” Commodore had remarked, before leaving Hristina and Ikeda, which they both soon departed before looking at each other.

*****

The fleets had all aligned near the base of Terok Nor. The Dominions force was ready, for this threat. There in front of the Dominion Insurgence stood a vast flock of Battlecruisers, battle ships, and a handful of Dreadnoughts. This had brought back memories to Commodore Kingsley, who was now commanding a Dominion Vessel. The sight of the eloquent Dominion Empire stood. The empire that had terrorized and shattered not just the peace of many different cultured civilizations, but peoples lives along the course as they dominated throughout the alpha quadrant. It was now this, several Dominion Battleships, and miniscule amount of Klingon, and federation ships stood against the fierce force that stood in front of Bajor.

Ahmaghov was plopped in the command seat of what he had named the Attack-ship as Kahless. The ship was cloaked, but the commander watched the omnipotent fleet the Dominions had. Then what was discussed about at the meeting appeared. Though there weren’t 2. There were 3 of them, which formed into a key formation. The hopes of many to end this war, the lives lost during the Dominion war, the lives lost during the aftermath. The 3 dreadnought carriers stood as if roaring fear down what was now left of the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The sheer presence that stood around these incredible ships made a statement. The statement was clear, it was obvious

Ikeda’s mouth dropped when he had asked to see one on the view screen up closer. The thought had echoed in his brain sometimes ships can be far too big. Ikeda snapped out of the gaze from the viewscreen, and stared around the bridge of the Buruk.

Ikeda had manipulated the console to obey his commands which had directed the ship towards the planet and through the mammoth fleet. Then the minute Kahless had followed the Buruk and had approached the gigantic dominion fleet; frenzy had broken out. Two Negh’Var Classes started firing at one of the dominion Battlecruisers. As segments of the ship erupted like a volcano.

*****

Alarm klaxons rang throughout Comodores Kingsley’s ship.

“Sir, we’re approaching too close to the USS Asgard and one of the dominion ships!!!” one of the officers yelled in a panic.

“Steer the ship into the dominion if you have too!!!” The commodore barked orders.

The commodore paced as quickly as possible to the helm, and pushed the officer out of the way.

“Get out of the way, from that Galaxy-class!!!” The commodore yelled at the top of his lungs, and he tapped the board to move ship away from the Asgard. Chaos and panic is all that was filled in the atmosphere of the commodore’s ship.

“We’re going to hit that ship, sir” the helmsman cried out

“I don’t care if we sc.rape that thing or buckle its hull! Tactical, fire all weapons at that dominion ship, NOW!“

A dazzling array of Phased polaron beams fired at the dominion vessel, as both ships collided and sc.raped each other, which had flung all officers about on the bridge. The explosions of the dominion vessel also caused a lot of aftershock as well.

“Damage Report!” the Commodore yelled

The tactical officer was just finding his feet, and then quickly sprinted to the console. “Decks 38 through to 47 are damaged on the starboard side” the tactical officer had reported

“Well that’s the least of our worries then, Tactical fire all weapons at that Dreadnought carrier, the sooner that menace burns into ashes the better.” Kingsley had concluded

Ikeda watched the dazzling display as five Klingon and federation ships formed up on one of the Dominion Dreadnought Carriers, the astounding display of weapons impacted the ship yet, and it seemed to have withstood the beating. Ikeda had noticed a pack of battlecruisers on the other side had teamed up and destroyed a nebula-class till it was left nothing but a blazing heap. So many will fall, but will we reclaim what was once ours? Ikeda stood in the middle of the battlefield contemplating whether they should bomb the facilities or fight in the battle. Then Ikeda witnessed the commodore fire the entire arsenal at one of the dreadnought carriers. Then Ikeda saw two galaxies and a sovereign form up and fired on the dreadnought. Though the explosions we’re incredible the ship had seemed to be taking the beating very well. That’s your answer Ikeda. Ikeda tapped his combadge

“Buruk to Kahless”

“Aghmaghov here”

“You go and bomb the construction sites, I have a better plan”

“Affirmative” Ahmaghov had responded casually

There the young Commander stood in the mist of an epic battle, gun fire thrown to each others end, damage taken on both sides. The insurgence fought bravely and honorably. Ikeda took a deep breath, and then sailed the ship to one of the dreadnought carriers’ bridges. He decloaked the very second and appeared without warning. May one day we take what was once ours…

edit: seems like it has sencored the word Sc.rape, see censorship isn't all that grat now is it?

Edited December 12, 2007 by GZekyel