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Starfleet was in a very tight spot. The
beginning of their campaign was marked by a very big and very costly
setback, the loss of Deep Space Nine to the Dominion. With the
station out of Federation control, Starfleet Command knew it was
only a matter of time before the Dominion figured out a way to
destroy the entire minefield. Once the minefield had been
cleared, nearly 3000 Dominion ships (2800 to be exact) would pour
through the wormhole and considerably reinforce the Dominion's fleet
in the Alpha Quadrant, tipping the balance of power to their side
considerably and making victory for the federation virtually
unreachable.
Supreme Commander of Starfleet Forces, Vice
Admiral William Ross couldn't fathom this possibility at all and
while hope slowly escaped the grasp of the Allies, Ross promoted
Sisko to Fleet Captain and made him his adjutant. Morale was
slipping, even among the Klingons and something drastic had to be
done soon or else.....
Sisko presented a battle plan to Starfleet Command
which focused on the re-capture of Deep Space Nine. By
throwing together elements of 3 major battle fleets as well as those
of the Imperial Klingon Defense Forces, the Dominion could be driven
off and the station re-taken.
However, there were three key problems. Ross
confronted Sisko with the news that the Dominion had indeed
discovered a way to destroy the minefield and that it would be down
in three days. Furthermore 1/3 of the Federation Armada
wouldn't reach the rendezvoux point in time leaving Sisko with just
600 ships. Compounding those problems was news from General
Martok that Chancellor Gowron had serious reservations about
comitting a large battle force to a single engagement and that the
Klingon Forces would stay out of this battle. However, Captain
Sisko pleaded with Marktok and the General agreed to plead the
Captain's case to the Chancellor, on the condition that Lt.
Commander Worf accompany him. "What could be better? An ally
and an enemy telling him the same thing. He'll have no other
choice.....but to agree."
Time constraints weighed heavily into Starfleet's
timeframe and Sisko decided to take what ships he had and fight all
the way to Deep Space Nine where the weapons array could be disabled
before the minefield was destroyed.
At Deep Space Nine, the Dominion had detected the
large Allied Task Force on an intercept course and sent 1253 ships
to ambush the Allies and hold Allied reinforcements back.
"Stormed at with shot and shell, boldy
they rode and well into the jaws of death and into the mouth of hell
rode the six hundred."
When confronted with the fact that they had been
intercepted by a force twice their size, Sisko had no choice but to
fight his way through the Dominion agressors so as to get to
DS9. Sisko walked through the proverbial "Valley of
Death" on a pure suicide mission. The Dominion used their
strength in numbers to their advantage and it didn't take long
before the suicide mission disintegrated into total chaos.
As the USS Venture rips up a Galor class ship, the
USS Galaxy comes in to finish it off.
The Federation Armada sliced it's way through the
Cardassian elements, hoping to split them from the Jem'Hardar, but
they kept on loosing ships left and right (as featured in the top 2
pictures, the loss of the USS Majestic and Seetak). Their fate
seemed pretty much sealed until the Klingons made an unexpected
arrival.
By now, the Federation Armada amounted to next to
nothing, over 450 ships having been oblitterated. But a small
hole was formed in the Dominion lines which the Defiant took full
advantage of. More and more Klingon ships arrived on the scene
and soon that small hole was large and glaring. With the
arrival of the final Klingon Squadron, the Allies reformed and
punched straight through the Dominion lines and warped away to DS9.
The Defiant arrived at the station just as
the minefield came down. Sisko, outnumbered and outgunned at
every turn, took the Defiant into the wormhole in an attempt to slow
down the Dominion Reinforcements. Curious about the Emissary's
motivations, the Prophets intervened and Captain Sisko successfully
convinced the Prophets to intervene. They erased the Dominion
Reinforcements and the Defiant emerged from the wormhole to learn of
the Federation/Klingon victory in the battle and of the Dominion's
hasty retreat from DS9.
"I don't want to see Bajor destroyed
anymore than you do, but that's what's going to happen if those
Dominion reinforcements come through the wormhole. You want to
be gods? Then go ahead be gods, stop those ships!"
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