Shortly after Holmes' arrival on the station, several of Elysium's perimeter outposts are destroyed by a group of Breen cruisers. Dispatched without most of his crew, Holmes and the personnel of the FDF's Akira-class flagship Icarus - along with the Chamberlain-class Light Carriers Chamberlain and Vincent, the Antwerp-class Scouts Durendal and Roland, and the Raider-class Light Escorts Jaffa, Tyre, Dorylaeum, and Antioch - pursue an enemy that far outnumbers and outguns them.
The Breen unit is stopped at a Cardassian station that was their primary target. With the help of a small Cardassian force under the command of Gul Latok, Holmes and the FDF use their starfighters to outmaneuver the Breen force, forcing them into a virtual corner and systematically destroying them with their starships.
At the same time, FDF Intelligence Operative Lieutenant Entar Phalynx, aboard the experimental Covert Operations Runabout Lillith, discovers a Jem'Hadar battlecruiser being hidden by the Breen, and while the rest of the task force returns to Elysium, Lieutenant Phalynx goes undercover to find where the Breen are constructing the ships and cloning the troops.
Upon arrival at Cardassia, the Federation-Klingon-Cardassian group discover the Olympus-class U.S.S. Ticonderoga, flagship of the Seventh Fleet. Seventh Fleet commander Admiral James MacDonald beams aboard the Icarus and informs Fleet Captain Holmes that he has been awarded the rank of Brevet Rear Admiral, due to the level of the negotiations.
At the same time, MacDonald gives Holmes intelligence of a plan by a Cardassian isolationist group to sabatoge the conferance. With this knowledge, Holmes brings along twelve Marines to act as a ceremonial guard, under the command of First Sergeant Gary Garber, while General Kohteth orders a team of warriors to assist them. With the troops ready to assist them, Holmes beams to the planet with his executive officer, Commander Ares Khoma, his personal aide Petty Officer First Class James Munroe, and ship's intelligence analyst Ensign Ben Walker.
During the negotiations between Holmes, Kohteth, and Detapa Council Speaker Dural, the central market in the Cardassian capital is bombed, and, as a gesture of good-will, Holmes offers his assistance in administering aid to the wounded. While investigating the bombings, Holmes is introduced to the head of Cardassia's security forces, Gul Jarol, a man who was responsible for the murders of over two-hundred fifty-thousand Bajorans during the occupation. In anger, Holmes calls off all negotiations and takes the Icarus out of orbit, followed closely by General Kohteth's flagship, the Du'Qov.
After this interstellar incident, Starfleet relieves Holmes of his brevet rank and returns him to the rank of Captain, disbanding the Fighter Defense Force and reassigning it's ships.
Holmes' crewmembers slowly begin to request transfers, and he grants these requests, not wishing to damage any of their careers. As a result he soon has a senior staff made up mostly of inexperianced officers, though this does not matter much, as there is little or no risk of the Icarus seeing any action at the base.