The Bajoran Incident: Civil War III Chapter Fourteen

As the final preparations began, Captain Watt sat in the command chair of the Valkyrie, pondering over his thoughts. To him, it seemed like just five minutes since he had returned from the Delta Quadrant and made contact with the Rebel Alliance. Now he was being told to help free a world with just a handful of ships and the help of a few disgruntled colonists from a disputed territory.

"We're getting a signal from the Time," Ro reported, now transferred full-time to the Valkyrie because of Amarus' medical condition.

"On screen."

The image of Admiral MacCleod soon looked down upon them.

"Just calling to wish you good luck, Captain."

"To be honest with you, Admiral, we could do with more help on this."

"I had wanted to put the Eden with you, but your gramps had other plans for them. Anyway, I thought you Watts were thought of as miracle workers!"

"We always had the help of you MacCleods!" Watt smiled.

"Captain, the Defiant, the Liberator, and Voyager are pulling alongside," said Ro.

"I'd better let you go," said MacCleod. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Admiral. Valkyrie out."

Watt got up from his seat and turned to Ro.

"Give the order to Captains Janeway and Sisko to get underway for the D.M.Z. Then give the signal to Captain Tarrant."

 

With the order to conserve energy from the new cavourite drive, the Valkyrie and the Liberator made their way to Bajor at half speed, which, by normal warp standards, was still pretty impressive. A journey that would have taken nearly two weeks was made in a little over a day. Watt had taken the time to rest while the journey was made, and he was contacted as soon as they entered the Bajoran system. Moments later he was on the bridge, relieving Sutek of his command.

"Is everything alright, Commander?" Watt asked upon entering the bridge.

"We are maintaining impulse speed as we move towards Bajor," Sutek reported. "The cloaking device is functioning within normal parameters."

However, moments later, Ro's sensor panel suddenly came alive.

"Captain, I'm picking up something!"

"Imperial ships?"

"No. A massive energy reading, going completely off the scale!"

"From where?"

"Directly coming from the location of the entrance of the wormhole!"

 

As the plasma storms raged around both the Defiant and Voyager, Sisko pondered his next move.

"Any sign of the Maquis ships?" he asked.

"None," Dax reported.

"Well, I haven't got all day. Mister O'Brien, disengage the cloaking device. If Mohammad can't go to the mountain..."

The lights of the bridge soon brightened as they became visible to all passing ships. Moments later, Voyager followed their lead.

"Here they come!" said Dax. "Twenty Maquis fighters, heading straight towards our position!"

"Shouldn't we raise shields?" asked O'Brien.

"Negative," said Sisko. "Our intentions are, for now, peaceful."

"Now within five hundred kilometers of us," Dax reported. "And we're being hailed."

Sisko was pleased to see the image of his old friend, Calvin Hudson, on the screen before him. However, Hudson did not seem happy to see him.

"What are you doing here, Ben?" asked Hudson. "I thought you'd have more pressing engagements at the moment."

"We need to talk, Cal," said Sisko.

"Who needs to talk to me? You? Or your Free Federation?"

"Both. Can you beam aboard?"

"No. I'd rather talk to you in my territory, as it were. Follow my ships."

"Very well."

And without further ado, the screen went blank.

"Commander, signal Voyager our intentions... and follow that ship!"

 

A large crowd began to gather along the viewports of the upper levels of the Promenade, all wanting to see the spectacle. One man on the station didn't have such a good vantage point. Commander Travis watched as Darkmagus entered the airlock to begin the second stage of his spell. Soon, the wizard was flying out into the cold void of space. Moments later, Travis made his way to Ops, where on the viewscreen, he watched the outside proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Valkyrie and the Liberator were now closing in, still cloaked. Watt couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Energy readings are going even further off the scale," said Ro.

"Darkmagus is now moving closer to the wormhole," said Sutek.

"Captain, I urge caution here. It seems the first wave of energy was just preparing the site. Who knows what the second phase of this operation could do to our ships."

"Agreed. O'Rourke, move us back to a safe distance, whatever that is!"

As the Valkyrie began to move backwards, Watt watched the screen as Darkmagus moved to where the wormhole once was. Then, at an incredible speed, the wizard unleashed the full extent of his power. The ship began to rock.

"Shields are starting to buckle!" said Tompkins.

"Lom! We need more power to the shields!"

"Shield power down to fifty percent!" Ro reported.

"Quite unbelievable," said Sutek. "The atoms of the wormhole are reforming. He's actually reconstructing the entrance. The power for this must be..."

"Let's worry about the power later, Commander," said Watt.

A call came through from Engineering.

"Captain, I'm giving you all the power I can, but we need a great deal for the inertial dampeners."

"Give me all you've got, Commander!" Watt urged.

"Shield power down to twenty-three percent!" shouted Ro. "And still falling!"

"Engines beginning to fail!" said O'Rourke. "I can't move us back any further!"

The energy began to crackle around Darkmagus. Atoms that had long been thought destroyed began to reform in a display the likes of which had never been seen before. Under other circumstances, Watt would have considered the display beautiful, and like his more scientifically-oriented first officer, he would have jumped at the chance to study this firsthand, but at the moment he didn't have the time or the inclination to do this.

"Shields down to five percent!" said Ro.

"Energy readings beginning to drop," said Sutek. "Whatever he was doing appears to be over."

"What about the wormhole?" asked Watt.

"Unable to determine at this time," Sutek replied. "We won't know if he was successful until a ship passes through from the Gamma Quadrant."

"I want a full report as to the extent of the damage, Commander," Watt ordered. "Our mission brief has now changed... drastically!"