Judgement Day

Posted on Sun May 25th, 2025 @ 7:08pm by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi & Lieutenant (J.G.) Dylan Blake & Administrator Kuzos

3,400 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: InQuiry
Location: Main Bridge, U.S.S. Odyssey
Timeline: 2370-12-24, 13:00

The final Bridge of Q's exercises was one that made Commodore Wilkan Targaryen feel sick to his stomach. Galaxy Class, but not the standard design, the Main Bridge of this final vessel shared many commonalities with other vessels of the 24th Century. The central area of the Bridge provided seating for the Captain and two others, with the Captain slightly ahead of the others and more centralized in the room. Directly ahead and to the right of the Captain in a small pit was the Ops station, with the helm station located next to it in the left workstation. At the very front of the bridge was a large viewscreen, with wall mounted status displays adjacent. A large wooden railing, featuring the vessel's Tactical controls, separated the forward stations from those at the aft of the Bridge. Against the back walls of the bridge were four ancillary stations for engineering and scientific operations. A small alcove in the center of the aft wall held a large Master Situation Display, which was surrounded by entryways to the rest of Deck 1.

Knowing he wouldn't be alone, the Commodore looked quickly to see who was with him for this - final - mission. Seeing Ambassador Kuzos, he next saw Commander zh'Roothi and Lieutenant Blake were there as well. Wilkan sighed, again, knowing the challenges about to befall him.

"You know where we are, Commander," Wilkan pointed out, "but this time it isn't a game."

The Andorian looked around the familiar bridge feeling her skin prickle at the Commodore's acknowledgement of their situation. "Let's hope Q lacks historic accuracy."

The junior officer wasn't able to hide his bewilderment as he stared around himself. The fact both senior Command staff and the dis-likeable Vorta had been caught up in this strange challenge wasn't on the top of his agenda as curiosity took over. Normally he'd been sweating bullets at this point or looking to point distance between them all and himself especially since the incident on the Bridge where he refused to accept a direct order. He was still waiting for that to bite him later, right now, however things had taken an unexpected turn.

"What's going on?" Blake asked feeling like there was an elephant in the room as well. "Where are we?"

Kuzos looked around. Commodore Targaryen, Commander Zh'Roothi and the insolent junior officer were all with him on what appeared to be the bridge of a starship. He heard the exchange between the Commodore and zh'Roothi. "Would you care to enlighten me, Commodore?" He asked graciously. His smile ever present. "What is going on?"

"We're in the middle of history, Administrator, you're standing on the Bridge of the Starship Odyssey. If this plays out the same way Q had the last two scenarios that he's subjected our crew to go then we're about to relive the Federation's first contact with the Dominion," Wilkan answered. "Only, this time, we're in command of the Odyssey and have to live out those events."

"Oh." The usual megawatt smile gone from his face as he took in what the Commodore said. "If I remember correctly, your USS Odyssey was destroyed in that contact."

A disembodied voice answered, "That is correct, Administrator." In a bright flash Q appeared in the center of the Odyssey's Bridge, dressed in a Starfleet Admiral's uniform from the era. "You all are back aboard the Odyssey on that fateful day and fulfilling the role of the Senior Staff of the starship. The Commodore has become Captain Declan Keogh, Commander zh'Roothi appears as Lieutenant Commander Joseph Shabalala. Lieutenant Blake you are Mislav Kovac, the Chief Engineer, and Administrator Kuzos I see no one better for you to be than Lieutenant Jason Talltree, the weapons officer of the Odyssey."

"Now, as before," this was directed at the Commodore, "you may choose to reenact the historical events or you may try to forge your own path. Regardless, anything you do will not change history, as part of our agreement, but should you die, you die. Good luck," Q snapped his fingers.

"He's joking, right?" Blake asked the group suddenly feeling queasy upon reveal of their location and task ahead. "About the dying part..."

"Unlikely, given historic encounters with Q it's a strong possibility." Commander zh'Roothi replied heavily and held the young man's eye. "And one I'd not like to test."

Blake visibly swallowed hard.

"Commodore," the XO addressed her Captain. "Though we're pawns in this...game. You have the most experience in this simulation. What are your orders?"

"I'm not too sure we're in a game this time, Commander," Wilkan answered, knowing better than most about what could happen in one of these games Q had decided to play. "The last two missions involved two vessels that survived their encounters, this one had a definitive ending," the Commodore explained as he looked at the group. "Odyssey is destroyed in the end of its encounter and its entire crew, save those evacuated to DS9, were lost. Q told us in the last engagement we could alter history, but he had the right to alter it right back."

Before anyone else could answer the viewscreen came alive with the Gamma Quadrant terminus of the Bajoran Wormhole flashing open, two runabouts flying in formation slightly below the center of the screen ahead of the Odyssey. This told them all the reality of what they were facing: the game was afoot.

"I had a feeling they were a lot of hot air," Ensign Doyle said with levity from the Helm. "Scans show no Jem'Hadar ships in our immediate vicinity."

Knowing how history progressed, Wilkan ordered, "Begin scanning for the Jem'Hadar and engage the tachyon detection array to scan for cloaked ships." He looked at his real crew, "Are we ready?"

"As if we had an option," Blake muttered under his breath, his gaze fixed upon the viewscreen fearfully.

Aside from an irritable twitch of her antenna zh'Roothi nodded at his question: "Ready."

Kuzos looked around the bridge, "Um, I don't seem to have a say in this so, I suppose I am ready as well."

"Q's not exactly the friendliest of the bunch," Wilkan answered as he took his seat, "Odyssey to runabouts."

"Go ahead, Captain."

Wilkan looked at the scans, "We're not detecting anything on sensors, but we can't rule out the possibility that the Dominion have cloaking devices."

"We'll keep our eyes open, Sir."

The Captain looked at Ensign Doyle, "Maintain formation with the Odyssey while we travel to Nav Point Alpha, then begin your own scans for the survey team."

"Aye."

As the Odyssey jumped to Warp, Keogh looked at the Helm, "ETA?"

"Three minutes," Doyle answered from the Helm.

Targaryen nodded, but directed the next part to his own crew, "Any suggestions for this mission beyond what we already know happens?"

"Direct your scanners to port and starboard the Jem'Hadar fighters will come from those directions." Kuzos spoke his eyes on Targaryen. "I would also recommend, with your approval of course Commodore to modulate the phaser frequency as Jem'Hadar ships shields cannot handle rapid energy fluctuations."

Commodore Targaryen stood silently for a moment as he processed the recommendations that he'd been given. To say he was surprised by the frankness would be an understatement as he did not expect such direct suggestions to allow them to destroy enemy starships. He worried about the answers, but also knew a truth.

"Permission granted," the Commodore confirmed with a respectful nod. "Transfer power from shields to weapons and complete the modulation that Mister Kuzos has suggested."

Still harbouring his doubts regarding Kuzos' intentions Lieutenant Blake hesitated and looked between the senior leadership chewing his lip as if wishing to either object again or speak out.

"The Commodore gave you an order Mister Blake," zh'Roothi injected hotly. "Is there a problem?"

The junior officer's mouth moved wordlessly for a moment or two before he found his voice: "No," he croaked. "No sir. I just need to find my bearings."

"Do it quickly," the Commander pressed. "Time is short."

"Yes," Blake nodded and hurried to the unmanned engineering console.

The Andorian pursed her lips as Blake finally set about his assigned task and returned her gaze to Targaryen and his previous question. "Would separating the saucer section be any benefit?" she asked. "It may reduce our firepower but could improve our manoeuvrability to avoid becoming overwhelmed or caught in cross-hairs."

Kuzos spoke up, "Commodore." He interjected, "While I am sure Commander zh'Roothi presents a valid case for separating your ship, I would recommend against such a tactic. The Jem'Hadar fighters would swarm over it and quickly destroy it and then come for this saucer section. Of course, the choice is yours."

Wilkan considered the suggestion to use the saucer separation ability to create additional targets for the Jem'Hadar, but he feared the reality of what they faced. In the actual engagement the combined might of the Odyssey wasn't able to withstand the Jem'Hadar onslaught and he wasn't certain that the separated components would make it as long as the whole. He had to answer honestly, "We're going to need to extra power available from the reactors."

There was a second reason behind the suggestion zh'Roothi made that she didn't voice - with the crew separated it would have affected their chances of living through this battle and combat Q's threat of actual demise. There, of course was no guarantee it would increase their odds of survival but with Will's experience in the holodeck she'd assumed it had been an option he'd experimented with therefore could theorise on its potential.

"Slowing to impulse," Ensign Doyle interrupted.

On the viewscreen the stars collapsed into their familiar spheres as the Odyssey and its escorts closed in on the disabled runabout. Commodore Targaryen looked carefully at the scene, having done so countless times already looking for evidence of the Jem'Hadar approaching. If time went as the simulations did...

"Chief O'Brien has beamed to the Rio Grande, Captain."

"Thank you, Ops," Targaryen answered. "Start scanning for any incoming vessels."

"Sir, what about Commander Sisko and the rest of the survey team?" Lieutenant Maritza Gonzales questioned from Ops.

Wilkan nodded, "As much as I hate to say this we need to focus on potential threats to this ship and crew over Commander Sisko. Conduct your scans."

"Yes Sir," she sounded irritated.

The El-Aurian didn't let it disturb him, in fact he used it to guide his next actions, "I know that this is an atypical situation and we don't know what the future may hold for us, but we must do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of the Federation and its future. We work together, we stand together, and we get this crew home."

Privately zh'Roothi was both impressed and surprised that Targaryen was playing things thus far accordingly to the holo program she'd intruded on recently. Given Q's warning and permission to toy with history safe in the knowledge timelines would not be amended the Commodore could have ignored Sisko's plight and that of the runabout convey. She wondered lightly running a slender finger and the back rest of the seat of the XO's position before opting to sit what choice she'd make in his shoes.

"Captain," it was Gonzales, "I'm picking up something on forward sensors."

The Tactical scans appeared on the viewer, showing the Odyssey in the corner with its escorts and three vessels quickly approaching. Wilkan tapped his Communicator, "Odyssey to runabouts."

"Go ahead, Odyssey."

"We're detecting three incoming ships in attack formation," Wilkan reported as they watched the tactical plot.

"Captain, this is the Rio Grande. Half the systems on this ship are disabled. I'm going to have to break formation."

At his Captain's Chair, Wilkan was typing on the control interface, "Understood. Return to the wormhole. We'll try to screen you from enemy fire," he looked to Kuzos as he gave the order.

"Captain, I'd like to see if I can get close enough to the planet to locate Commander Sisko."

Knowing how history had gone from his past encounters, Wilkan nodded, "All right, but you have ten minutes and not a second more."

"Dominion ships in range."

"Break formation," the Captain ordered, "Attack Pattern Delta."

At the Helm, Ensign Doyle nodded in confirmation as her fingers were a near blur over the flight controls. The viewscreen was the real key of the battle though. Instead of a visual overview, the Captain had opted to keep a tactical plot on the screen as the indicators for the Jem'Hadar assault ships came for the Federation ships. The indicators for the runabouts broke formation as ordered, easily out maneuvering the Jem'Hadar energy pulses, but the Odyssey wasn't as lucky.

The viewscreen of the Odyssey was awash in fire, smoke billowing throughout the room as the crew fought to keep the ship alive. Red alert indicators flashed amidst the darkness, while consoles erupted into flame and sparked. As another impact from the Jem'Hadar weapons crashed into the Odyssey, the Captain fell from his chair amidst the chaos.

At tactical, Kuzos's fingers played across the display, "Modulating phaser frequency." He announced as the Odyssey's phasers lanced out at the attacking ships and smashed into their shields. "Jem'Hadar shields have weakened and are on the verge of collapse."

"Captain," zh'Roothi offered him a hand up from his prone position and gave him a once over for obvious injuries as the battle around them continued to rage around them.

"Continuous fire of all phasers," the Odyssey's Captain ordered. "See if you can find a way to strengthen our shields against the Dominion weaponry." Wilkan knew that the early engagements between Federation and Jem'Hadar ships usually were disasters for Starfleet as Federation shields were incapable of deflecting the Phased Polaron Beams. Starfleet overcame this quickly, but he still wasn't sure if the Odyssey had the technical ability to match these upgrades.

"Receiving casualty reports on decks four, five and seventeen," zh'Roothi announced. "And a plasma leak in our port nacelle."

Kuzos made no comment he knew what needed to be done, he brought the Odyssey's phasers to bear on the Jem'Hadar ships at the point where their shields were the weakest.... at the dorsal fin junction. He concentrated the phasers there and was rewarded as the Jem'Hadar ships shields collapsed. He quickly launched photon torpedoes at the fighters and his smile grew in satisfaction as the torpedoes struck home.

Wilkan was impressed by the Administrator's efforts. He commented as his XO helped him to his feet, "Thank you, Administrator, and you, Exec."

"Nothing I've tried so far has helped Captain," Blake replied wafting away a smoky haze. "They're cutting through our shields as if they were made of paper."

"Deploy damage control teams," he directed to the Exec and then to Mister Blake, "Make your primary focus restoring the Warp Drive. I have a feeling we'll need it soon enough."

Satisfied Will was in one piece zh'Roothi nodded at his order dispatching the damage control teams through the ship in an attempt to keep them in the fight a while longer.

"Aye Captain," Blake replied feeling a touch hopeless in the situation.

Wilkan pressed the comlink, "Odyssey to runabouts."

"Go ahead."

Using the information that was being displayed, coupled with his own knowledge, "They're using Phased Polaron Beam weapons to penetrate our shields."

"Have you tried altering your harmonics to compensate?"

"We rotated through the full spectrum," he answered as he looked at Lieutenant Blake, "but none of the frequencies were effective." The Odyssey shook from another impact, "Divert your shield power to weapons and focus your attacks on their dorsal field junction. In five we're getting out of here."

"Understood. Let's see if we can take some pressure off the Odyssey."

"We're with you."

Looking at the Helm, "Evasive pattern Sierra, Tactical fire at any target of opportunity."

"Captain," Blake called out again feeling increasingly under pressure and inadequate with the ships limited functions. "I'm not sure how..."

"Move over," zh'Roothi rose and shouldered Blake aside. "We need to stabilize the damaged nacelle and reinitialize the wrap core..."

The Odyssey shook heavily from another bombardment of enemy fire causing both zh'Roothi and Blake to stumble and the bridge to momentarily slip into darkness before sluggishly returning.

"Tactical controls are offline!" Blake shouted hulling himself upright again. "We're losing power to the phasers." He then realized zh'Roothi wasn't standing beside him and quickly glanced around him fearful she'd come to harm. "Commander," he called softly having located her still upon the deck at his feet and crouched to help her up.

"Argh!" an angry hiss escaped the Commander's lips as Blake helped her sit up and revealed a bloody wound to her left shoulder likely caused by flying shrapnel.

Instantly Blake felt guilty that she'd been injured due to his inability and felt his frame start to tremble anew with a sense of failure.

"Don't," the XO swatted Blake's helping hand away knowing time was short. "Continue working. I'm fine - get warp power online."

Wilkan looked at Kuzos, "Switch to secondaries, you'll have to use manual targeting."

Kuzos gave a short curt nod. "Understood." As thought of ways to improve the odds in what so far was a one sided battle.

"Commander, are you alright?" the Captain asked as he signaled for a medical team. He knew they were getting close to the end.

"It's nothing serious," the XO replied through gritted teeth.

"Get that port nacelle back on line," Wilkan hissed at Lieutenant Blake, knowing they had less than thirty seconds left.

"Yes, Captain." Blake nodded.

He tapped his communicator, "Odyssey to runabouts, we've got what we came for. Form up on the Odyssey. I have a feeling they're going to make a suicide run!"

"I'm sorry, Captain, they've hit our communications array," Gonzales informed as the Odyssey shook.

"Evasive pattern Gamma," Wilkan demanded, "full speed to the wormhole. Standby to separate the saucer."

Gonzales looked, "Sir?"

"You heard me," the Captain answered, knowing that the Saucer may make it a few extra seconds.

"Captain, one of the Jem'Hadar ships is on a suicide course!"

On the deck now being overseen by a medic Commander zh'Roothi inhaled sharply at the announcement. This was the final moment..

Reacting to the news, Kuzos knew he had mere seconds to act, without asking the Commodore, he diverted power from the secondary systems and locked a tractor beam on the Jem'Hadar ship, holding it firmly in its grasp. "Jem'Hadar ship is immobilized, caught in a tractor beam." He announced.

On the viewscreen Wilkan looked at saw that the Jem'Hadar Fighter, the source of the destruction of the Odyssey, had been caught just far enough away to not be a risk to the safety of the Galaxy Class Explorer. On the screen the runabout Orinoco came in behind and fired upon the alien fighter, their phasers and microtorpedoes smashing into the dorsal field junction and ripping the Dominion warship to pieces.

Odyssey's tractor beam winked out to protect the ship as the last remaining fighter jumped to Warp. Ensign Doyle looked up from her console, almost like she'd seen a ghost, "The last Dominion ship has retreated. We're clear!"

Wilkan collapsed back in the Captain's Chair and watched the now vacant viewscreen, his mind focused on the fact that the Odyssey had survived the encounter for the first time in history. He looked up at Kuzos, then to zh'Roothi, and finally Blake with a broad smile full of disbelief. He rested a moment before issuing his orders, "Bring the nacelle online. Let's get the Hell of out here."

Letting out a sigh zh'Roothi fell back against the bulkhead with relief and allowed herself to smile they survived the encounter in near enough one piece.

Close-by Blake too shared her relief. "With pleasure Captain," he acknowledged the request before glancing over the Kuzos feeling oddly thankful the Vorta had been present to aid them. He wondered briefly how he must have felt firing upon his own vessels to save the once enemy of the Dominion.

For his part Kuzos, stood at the tactical station, his head down, looking at the tactical display. He raised it long enough to see Blake looking at him and he simply returned the look as his attention shifted to the Commodore. "An excellent idea Commodore, one I fully support."

"All ahead," the Commodore ordered.

 

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