An alarm echoed through the bridge.
"Captain!" T'les said. "I've picked up another group of ships!"
A single T-bat fighter streaked in from behind them. It opened fire with its pulse phasers, strafing the Cardassians cruisers, and causing them to break formation.
"Pershing, the Sinoraptor 1," Dee's voice echoed through the bridge. "Sorry, I'm late. It seems like everybody forgot about us." Katie nearly burst out laughing. She could tell that Dee was smiling on the other end of comm.
"Dee!" Katie said engaging her comms. "How the hell did you get your pulse phasers back online?"
"Hold your horses, Fleetie. Mama's still got business to take care of. Sinoraptor squadron, this is Sinoraptor 1. Have your Sizzos look next to their right foot. You'll see a small access panel. That's your main phaser relay. Reconnect the isolinear link inside and you'll have your cannons back."
"Dee," Phil said engaging his comms. "You're a goddamn miracle worker!"
"And don't you forget it, Sab. Consider us even for that little stunt you pulled back on the Tholian border. But it still ain't all sunshine and roses. We got pulse cannons, but no micro-torpedoes or missiles. It's gonna take a lot to take those spoon-heads down. Plus, one hit of their main disruptors will tear a fighter apart like paper."
"I'm still happy to see you, Fighter Jockey," Katie said on the open channel. "We got shields and armor for you."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Fleetie?" Dee asked.
"That's right: we block, you tackle."
"Alright, alright, alright!" Dee replied. "Sinoraptors, we're gonna take position right between the Pershing's nacelles. Stay clear of their impulse wash or you'll flame out like a scrub. Call your shot and let's plow the road! Hey Sab," Dee said talking to Phil. "I'm really glad you're my bus driver today. I wouldn't trust anyone else behind the stick of that fat bitch of a starship."
"Hey, watch who you're talking to, Dee," Phil said grinning from ear to ear as he made some adjustments to the helm. "Lady Blackjack might have a big appetite, but she's all muscle."
"Phil," Katie said cutting off the banter. "She's yours to fly. Do what you gotta do."
"Aye, Ma'am," Phil said rolling his shoulders back. "They'll be studying this one at Fighter Weapons School for years to come. Gleeto!" Phil called over his shoulder. "All power to forward shields. The Cardies ain't gonna see any other part of us!"
****
"That's amazing!" Kira said studying the tactical display.
"You ain't seen nothing yet," Annabeth replied.
Tigranian stood next to them silently watching the battle unfold. He was so incredibly proud of his crew at this moment that words couldn't describe it. He had trained them, and now they were performing at a level never before seen in the history of a space combat.
Laria was still working furiously at the subspace control panel. Wires, isolinear rods, and fiber optic cables littered the floor around her knees. Everyone seemed to ignore her efforts, Annabeth and Tigranian because they trusted her, Rhaan and Kira because they thought she had probably lost all touch with reality.
A Bajoran technician had taken her place at the sensor console.
"They've closed to within 100 million kilometers," he said nervously. "The Bajoran fleet has reformed in a defensive line ten million kilometers to our rear, but still has no offensive capabilities."
"By the hand of the Pah-Wraiths!" Rhaan said starting to pace back and forth. "What's our status?"
"Shields one-hundred percent and holding. Phasers and photon launchers offline. The engineering crews say another two hours at least."
"TWO HOURS!?" Rhaan shouted loud enough to shake the bulkheads. "By the time we can fight, this battle will already be written in the history scrolls!"
"Almost ready, almost ready…" Laria began to repeat from across OPS. Everyone looked as she furiously focused on her mysterious task. Kira stepped over to Tigranian and whispered in his ear.
"Is she alright?"
"Colonel, I don't know what Laria is planning, but I think it will amaze us all."
****
"Alright, Dee, I'm coming around to Zero Mark 317 and cutting straight across their axis." Phil said bringing the Pershing around in a sharp arc.
"Acknowledged," Dee said flying less than a hundred meters behind him. "Sinoraptors, wach that crossfire. Last thing we need right now is to lose a fighter."
Phil accelerated to full impulse and charged straight at the formation of Cardassian cruisers. The enemy ships lashed out with their main disruptors. Blasts of energy slammed into the Pershing's forward shields. The entire ship shook, but the shields held. Just they were about to collide with the nearest ship, the Pershing pulled hard to the left, clearing the way for Dee and the rest of the fighters to open fire. Dozens of pulse phaser blasts slammed into the manta-ray like wings of the Cardassian vessels. Before they could react, the Pershing veered to the right to protect Dee and the rest of her fighters from the counter-barrage.
As more disruptor blasts hit the Pershing, Katie called for another status report.
"Forward shields down to 61 percent!" Gleeto said steadying himself at his console. "Those Cardassian main batteries are more powerful than they look.
"Did we lose any fighters?" Katie asked.
"Negative," Gleeto replied. "They got back behind us just in time."
"We've just passed the Derna perimeter," T'les said. "The Cardassians are in the final stages of reintializing their warp cores. I estimate they will be able to jump within the next three minutes."
"How long until they are in range for their tri-cobalt warheads?" Katie shouted.
"If they can jump to warp, they will be in launch range within twenty seconds," T'les said trying to us her Vulcan mental discipline to stay calm.
"God dammit!" Katie said banging her fist on her chair. "We need to do more!"
"Captain," T'les said. "The Galor cruiser on the far left of the formation is showing significant fluctuations in their power grid. I believe if we focus our next attack run on them, we might be able to penetrate their shields."
"Phil!" Katie commanded, but he was already in motion.
"Dee! hit the far left cruiser with everything you have! Attack pattern Lancer Delta 3!"
"Acknowledged, we're right behind you!"
Phil brought the Pershing back around and charged straight at the Cardassian ship. Dee maneuvered her squadron into firing position and let loose. Within a few seconds, their pulse phasers had punched through the weakened shields. The ship exploded into a giant fireball.
"Got him!" Dee shouted triumphantly.
"Don't pop the cork yet, Dee," Phil said lining the ships up for another pass.
"One of the Cardassian cruisers has reinitialized their warp core," T'les said. "They've begun the tri-cobalt arming sequence and are preparing to jump."
"No!" Katie said climbing to their feet as she saw the Cardassian vessel break formation and line up straight for Bajor.
"For Bajor!" a voice said echoing through the bridge's speakers. A Bajoran interceptor came screaming into view and rammed the Cardassian straight in its bow. Both ships were destroyed in the resulting fireball.
"Oh my God," Gleeto said.
"Dee, we're out of time," Katie said into her comm system.
"What else can we do?" Dee replied on the verge of panic. "Both of those other ships still have active shields. Even at max overload, our phaser relays would burn out before we could punch through…"