"It is with great honor, that as my final act as commanding officer of this, the San Francisco Fleetyards, place the new Sovereign-class starship U.S.S. Odyssey NCC-71832-A in commission, on this the 18th of November, 2375. God bless you all!" The audience began applauding. Captain Brandon Grasmick had longed for this Earth assignment, and now it was being taken away.
"We're gonna miss ya here, skipper." Grasmick's first officer said.
"Jim, if you ever want to accomplish anything in Starfleet, you will never call me skipper again." Grasmick and his first officer shook hands, and then Grasmick departed on a transport shuttle bound for Starfleet Headquarters, and Admiral Bennett.

Grasmick walked into Bennett's office, "Hey Putz, I thought you'd be on the Akaria." Grasmick wondering if he could get away with calling his old friend names.
"Moron. I was supposed to, but then something came across my desk and I deceided I better transfer you."
"TRANSFER ME TO WHERE, BOB? DAMNIT, I'VE WANTED TO BE STATIONED AT EARTH FOR SINCE THE LAST BORG INCIDENT! What in the name of God are you going to do with me now? I was an engineer on the Enterprise, and then we crashed on Veridean III. I was chief engineer of the Endeavor, and then the Borg hit. I was executive officer of the Galaxy, and then you deceided that I was supposed to command a shipyard and..."
Bennett interrupted Grasmick, "AND design the best damn starship you could dream up in your head."
"YES! Now, is there some kind of assignment I could call permenant for the lack of a better word?"
"Well, what you will do, I know you are up to. Spacedock."
"Vice-Admiral Wilson is Spacedock commander."
"I know. What you will do things with is in Spacedock, moored next to my ship. Come on, you have an appointment with a transport shuttle. Here is a PADD with your orders. I'll see to it that your gear is beamed up."
Grasmick took one look at the PADD and said, "Sovereign?"

Grasmick's shuttle landed in the main shuttlebay of his new ship. His senior officers and a small number of his crew would be assembled there. Grasmick saw a familiar face amoung the crowd, but stepped up to the podium before he would do anything else. He then began reading what was on his PADD.
"From Admiral Robert Bennett to Captain Brandon Grasmick. At this time, you are requested and required to take command of the Sovereign-class starship U.S.S. Sovereign registry NX-74222. Further orders will be relayed to you at a later date."
Grasmick stepped away from the podium and walked towards his senior officers, and then a shout ran out.
"BRANDON!" A lieutenant commander shouted.
"SAMMY!" Gramick replied as he recognized his old friend Sam Wilson.
"Holy crap Brandon, what are you doing here?"
"Didn't you pay attention to my speech? Well, well, look who made lieutenant commander. What are you doing onboard my new ship?"
"Tactical and Chief of Security."
"Alright Sammy, you get the choice of me calling you either Tac, or COS."
"Tac, that is what Captain Randle called me. So, now that we are shipmates, how often will we get to create havoc among your crew?"
"We'll discuss that later. Right now, I want you to introduce me to my senior staff."

It was odvious who Grasmick would meet first. Tac becan the introduction, "Captain, this would be your first officer, Commander Alexandra Ryan."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir."
"I'm sure it is. Tell me a little about yourself."
"What do you want to know, my underwear size?"
Grasmick chuckled, "I don't know, is it vital to ships survival? Maybe we can use it to power the warp drive." Grasmick felt relief that he would have a friend, if not a 'joker,' as first officer.
Tac introduced the next officer, a Vulcan, who if he had been human, would be of African heritage, "Captain, Mr. Tumok here sits at ops, and is second officer."
Grasmick raised his right hand in a Vulcan salute, "Peace and long life, lieutenant commander."
Tumok rose his hand in a saulte, "Captain, I thank you for honoring my heritage."
"How old a man are you? If you are like typical Vulcans you would appear to in your late 60's."
"No, sir. My mother is human. Therefore, I will age in the relatively same manner as humans until I am around 60 or 70."
"Fascinating," Grasmick said, "And who do we have here? Judgeing by your jacket I would say you are a doctor, as well as a lieutenant commander."
"You are very perceptive, Captain. Morgan Edwards," the doctor said as she shook hands with the Captain, "Call me Mo."
"Alright, Mo. Lemme ask you something, I get this pain when I..." Dr. Edwards interrupted Grasmick.
"Later, please, sir."
"Alright," he said as he moved on to the next person, "You must be the ship's counselor."
"Why, yes sir! How did you know?"
"No offense, but you are acting a little, well, perky. What's your
name and rank?"
"Lieutenant commander Anne Hathaway."
"You aren't related to William Shakespeare are you?"
"Not that I know of, sir."
"Right," Grasmick stepped up to the last officer and turned towards Tac, "Tac, you remember that SOB Reegar Tobin? That guy was a complete..." Grasmick was interrupted by the last officer.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT ME OR MY OR MY PREVIOUS HOSTS LIKE THAT!" The last officer, who was a Trill, said.
"Oh hi Emony," Grasmick said, "or should I say old man?"
"Knowing you, you wouldn't go with my recommendation."
"So you are working helm for me?"
"Yeah."
"I know you've done it before, but what is it like going from having a male host, to having a female host?"
"Always a little confusing for about 10 minutes. Brandon, the only thing about this I'm not going to like is being younger then you and Sammy."
"The role reversed," Grasmick said as he was about to finish,
"Alright everyone except Tac and Commander Ryan, dismissed.

Ryan waited until everyone left, "Yes, Captain?"
"First, can I call you Alex?"
"Sure, everyone else in my family does."
"Ok great. Tac, Alex, why does my ship not have a chief engineer?"
"Don't ask me, I've got to take a leak." Tac said as he ran to the bathroom.
"Mr. T'Stonn was injured when we were having some equipment installed. He requested transfer to Deep Space 1 after that. Do you have a replacement in mind?"
"Yes, but I heard he is up for command of the Mystic. That leaves another friend of mine, if Tac doesn't scare him off."
"You hire your friends?"
"I went to school with those two. They are both good, not to mention smart people."
"How is it you know Tac?"
"I went to pre-school with him, and by some miracle we kept in touch and saw each other often. That may have had something to do with the fact that our parents were friends."
"And Tobin?"
"Reegar Tobin was a damn good friend of mine and Tac's. When I graduated the Academy, he was assigned to the ship I was on as the chief engineer. He died just before I became CO of the San Fran yards. I still can't believe he died in an accident. But, with Emony on my ship, Tobin and I can create havoc with Tac."
"Should I be scared?"
"Very."

Grasmick walked into his ready room after he toured the Sovereign, and then sat down at his desk. Computer, open communications with Utopia Planita.
"Is there a specific person you wish to speak with?"
"Lieutenant commander Aaron Peterson."
"Standby."

Peterson was working with one of the refit teams on the U.S.S. Nebula when the computer came on over his comm badge.
"Computer to Peterson, incomming communiqué from U.S.S. Sovereign."
"Put it through down here," Peterson said as he activated a monitor, "YOU!"
"Surprised to hear from me? I thought I'd offer you a job if you are interested," Grasmick said.
"What kind of job?" "Chief engineer of my ship."
"I thought you were commanding the San Fran yards."
"I did, until about 8 hours ago."
"Why are you asking me?"
"Clint is up for command of the Mystic."
"Well, I'm not doing anything for the rest of the war. I'll take the job. Am I going to regret this?"
"Well, with Sammy Wilson, our old friend Tobin, and myself onboard, you might be on the receiveing end of a few practical jokes."
Peterson got on a shuttle, and was on the Sovereign in less then an hour.

Grasmick was not prepared for his first briefing with the senior staff. He didn't need anything, as they were all going to talk to Admiral Bennett. He grabbed an armful of PADDs just to make everyone think something big was going down, little did he know something was. Grasmick walked into the observation room, sat down in his chair, and threw all the PADDs on the table, and began speaking.
"Ok, now that we are all here, let's get started. Computer."
"Ready."
"Open communications with Admiral Bennett." It took a minute before Bennett appeared on the viewer.
"I take it you want me to tell you what you are going to be doing?"
"Yeah."
"I want you to take the Sovereign to the Torias system. It has no planets, and it might not have a star anymore. It vanished with out a trace."
Tumok spoke up, "Admiral, the amount of energy, as well as gravitational pull, a star emits are so great that it is impossible for a star to disappear."
"What do you know of Trilithium weapons?"
Grasmick knew how those worked, "They can blow a star to pieces. Just check my service record about my days on the Enterprise-D."
"Didn't you get thrown into a bulkhead when the saucer crashed on the surface of Veridian III?"
"Yes, and I'm still feeling it, and my grandkids probably will too. If a Trilithium weapon was used on this star, that would explain its vanishing, because we wouldn't be able to detect the results of a stars destruction in this manner with the sensor scans that we have been able to get of Dominion territory. Everytime we get close enough to get detailed scans, we get chased off by wolfpacks of Jemmie bug ships."
"Which is where you come in. Go to the Torias system and find out what is going on. Exercise extreme caution, and lay waste to anything that attacks you. Bennett out."
Tac spoke first, "You aren't going to re-enact Enterprise history again are you?"
Grasmick snickered, "I hope not, but knowing my luck something will happen. Trilithium weapons are very nasty ladies and gents. Tumok, I want you to research the devil out of them, work with Tac on how to shoot one down if we need to. Aaron, work with Tobin on getting us the hell out of the way of the shockwave that will result if we don't shoot the thing down."
"That shouldn't be that hard." Tobin said.
"Just work on it, just in case. Ask me questions if you need too, I know engines better then anyone in this room."
Peterson said, "Wait a dang minute here. You might find yourself on the receiveing end of a big water balloon.
"Don't you even DARE think about that. Dr. Edwards, you know your job. Alex, make sure I don't do something dumb, because if I do, I'll have to go see Dr. Mo."

It was about 10 minutes after the briefing when Gramick finally stepped onto the bridge and sat in the center seat. "Let's get this over with. Departure stations. Tac, get me the dock master.
"Control tower reading."
"Control this is Sovereign, requesting permission to depart." Grasmick was surprised when Vice-Admiral Wilson appared on screen.
"Sammy, make sure Brandon stays out of trouble."
"Ok, Dad."
Grasmick spoke up, "Mr. Wilson, how often did I get in trouble when Sammy and I were kids?"
"Well there was the time you..."
"Don't answer that."
"If Sam comes back hurt, I swear to God..."
"You swear to God that Mrs. Wilson will kick my ass from here to kingdom come."
"Exactly. Wilson out."
The Spacedock doors opened, "Ahead 1 quarter impulse, take us out."
The Sovereign flew out of Spacedock.
"We are free and clear to navigate." Tobin said.
"Plot course for the Torias system, warp 9."
"Ready."
"Engage."
And then the Sovereign flew off towards the Torias system.

It took 6 days, but the Sovereign got there. "Captain, we are approaching the Torias system. I'm surprised we've gotten this far into Dominion territory and haven't been detected by the Jem'Hadar." Tobin said.
"I am too, but don't speak too soon. So, just to be safe, Red Alert. Go to battlestations."
"Aye, sir," Tac said as Tobin brought the ship out of warp, "This didn't take long. 20 Battlecrusiers are bearing in on us."
Grasmick said, "Oh fun. Please tell me the star is here, Tac."
"We aren't detecting a thing. Stellar Cartography is working on that right now."
"Well in that case, we shou..." Tac interrupted Grasmick.
"THREE BATTLE CRUSIERS OFF THE PORT BOW!"
The Sovereign shuddered slightly when she took weapons blasts. "Fire Quantum torpedoes, three to each crusier." Grasmick said.
"Torpedos away!" and Tac was known to be dead accurate with his torpedos. All nine torpedos hit their mark, tearing all three ships apart.
"Nice shooting, Tac. Tobin, take us to where the star, well, was."

The Sovereign got there, surprisingly without anymore Jem'Hadar entanglements.
"Captain, whatever is there is a hell of a lot bigger then the star ever was." Tac said.
Tumok announced, "It is comming into visual range now, Captain."
"Put it on screen, Mr. Tumok. Maximum magnification."
What they saw on the screen made most people's mouths drop. Tac asked, "Is that a Dyson Sphere?"
"Yep. Send a secure message to Admiral Bennett, tell him what we found. Alex, please join me in my Ready Room. Tumok, you have the bridge."

Grasmick and Ryan walked into his Ready Room. "Alright Alex, give me your opinion."
Just as she was about to, Tumok came over the comm system.
"Bridge to Captain, we have found a large opening of some kind. Preliminary scans also conclude that this Dyson Sphere is similar to the one that the Enterprise-D found the U.S.S. Jenolen on near Norpin V."
"Thank you for reminding me of an Enterprise adventure that I missed because I wasn't on the Big E yet, Mr. Tumok. NOW Alex, give me your opinion."
"You know the adventures of the Enterprise better then I do, you tell me. If you REALLY want my opinion, I say we 'grab the boat.' "
" 'Grabbing the boat' of anything Dominion has always proven difficult, but is something we have to try. Let's get to the bridge."

When they got back to the bridge, Tumok had a report, "Captain, the subspace relays we have just located appear NOT to be of Dominion technology. This Dyson Sphere may not be of Dominion technology after all."
"Well if it has subspace, we can communicate with it. Open hailing frequencies, Alex."
"Hailing frequencies open, WHOA!?!?!?!" The Sovereign was captured in a tractor beam from the Dyson Sphere. Grasmick yelled out as the Sovereign was still shuddering, "REPORT!"
Tumok replied, "We can't pull out, the engines are beginning to tear up the way it is."
Peterson said from deck 16, "Engineering to bridge, we can't hold this much longer!"
Tumok replied, "The tractor beams are definately Dominion in origin, the hatch is opening, and we are being pulled in."
Grasmick was getting rather ticked at this new Dominion ruse.
"Don't fight it. Let's see what is going on inside."

The shuddering stopped. The Sovereign was now traveling down a very long passage way of sorts, and then they saw it.
Grasmick said, "Well, there's the star. Are we still in the tractor beam, Alex?"
"Negative, sir." Ryan reported
Grasmick turned toward the helm. "Tobin, are we moving?"
"No sir, vessel is floating free."
"Tac?"
"Scans indicate, my God, a MINIMUM of 700 million Jem'Hadar and 200,000 Vorta in the Sphere."
Grasmick was shocked, "This could get interesting. Tobin, turn us around 180 degrees. Hold this positon," Grasmick tapped his comm badge,
"Grasmick to senior staff, report to the observation lounge."

As soon as everyone was in the room, Grasmick began talking. "Ok everybody, how much do you all know about Trilithium weapons?"
Alex said, "They can destroy stars, Captain."
Grasmick said, "Exactly. Alex, Tac, Aaron, Tumok, let's go to the aft torpedo bay, and make a Trilithium weapon. Tac, stop by our industrial replicator and make a trilithium warhead. Let's build ourselves one hell of a bomb people."

The weapon was made from a photon torpedo, and loaded into the aft torpedo tube.
Captain Grasmick was psyched. "Let's bring out some conventional torpedos. Tac, load the foward torpedo tube with Tri-Cobalt torpedos. We'll need them to blast out of here."
"Those aren't exactly conventional, boss."
"Shut up. Tobin, are the impulse and warp engines ready, old man?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Aft view on screen. Full impulse and fire the aft torpedo!"

The Sovereign rocketed forward just as the trilithium weapon was launched. Everyone was watching what was going on behind them as the trilithium weapon hit the star. Nothing happened for a moment, until the star turned dark as all nuclear reactions in it began to stop as the star was about to collapse.
"Captain, there is a level 15 shockwave comming right at us!" Tac said.
"Oh fun, we had a level 12 on Enterprise. Oh well, this will destroy the Dyson Sphere and hopefully those crusiers outside. Fire foward torpedos!"
"Minimal damage to the hatch," Tac said.
"Again!"
"Same thing again, boss."
"FIRE AGAIN AND DON'T QUIT UNTIL WE CAN FIT THE SHIP THROUGH THE HOLE!"
Tac kept firing, and firing. Finally the hatch gave way, and the Sovereign came flying out of the Dyson Sphere. "HELM, WARP ONE, ENGAGE!"
The Sovereign went to warp. The Dyson Sphere, and the unsuspecting Jem'Hadar crusiers, all 17 remaining ones, were destroyed by the shockwave.
"Well that was fun. Change coarse to the Chintoka system and increase speed to maximum warp. Alex the bridge is yours, and get me Admiral Bennett on subspace, I'll be in my ready room."

Grasmick went into his ready room and sat at his desk, and flipped up the monitor on his computer panel.
"Bridge to Captain, we have Bennett on subspace."
"Thanks Alex, I'll take it in here." Grasmick pressed a button on his computer, "Putz."
"Moron. Tell me all about it."
"Well Bob, it goes like this..."