[4thdimension]

Jean Luc Picard materialized on the creaking deck of a Dreadnought class Dominion warship, it's smoldering bridge lit dimly in emergency lighting. A dead Vorta hung limply across the only chair, his command visor splayed over his face at an odd angle. The Captain stepped around the command chair, counting the dead Jem'Hadar on deck. Eleven, the entire bridge crew. When he'd been on board this vessel only a few hours before to join Commander Kata'clan in greeting his former superior, the mission had seemed simple.
The Borg had been detected along sector 342, thirteen sectors away from the Federation's first Delta Quadrant outpost, Deep Space 12. Star Fleet ordered a probe deeper into the quadrant, to the last known border of Borg space. The vessels that had attacked the Dominion's contribution to the effort had not been Borg however, and now Captain Picard was faced with the task of eluding a force who could cripple the Dominion's most powerful warship in less time then it had taken the massive ship to enter orbit around this desolate planet.
A bulkhead dematerialized in front of Picard, dissolving into a wall of golden liquid. Picard let out a sigh of relief. "Ambassador Odo." The founder materialized into solid form and gave a gruff harrumph in the Captains direction, moving quickly past the Captain towards the command chair.
"Admiral Picard." Odo said in his gruff voice. There was no time for pleasantries. The Founder began imputing commands into the dimly lite command console, Picard moved to his side. Odo looked up,and then down again, as if he'd forgotten the Admiral was there. "Do you know what hit us?" he asked over his shoulder, slamming his fist into the command console, it had gone black.
"Hirogen." The Captain said simply.
"Hirogen?" The changeling shook his head, the smooth lines of his face wrinkling in disgust. "According to our probes, the Hirogen don't have access to transwarp drive, and their borders are hundreds of light years away." He moved off to check the pulse of the Vorta commander.
Picard tugged at the bottom of his uniform, and followed the Founder to the command chair. he placed his hand gingerly on the Founder's back.
"The Hirogen are nomadic Predators. Either way Ambassador, this isn't your fight. Our primary objective must be to get to the safety of the Prometheus." Odo's hand slid off of the dead Vorta's neck, he turned to the Captain, snorted and turned away again.
"It's my fight as long as Nerys is in this sector, Admiral." Picard nodded, knowing that it would do no good arguing with the Changeling. This was, after all, the reason for the Dominion's assistance in assessing the new Borg threat. Captain Kira Nerys had dissipeared in this sector, after a battle with an unidentified race. A race that was certain to have not been the Hirogen, the subspace signature had been far too alien for that. The Defiant B had not been heard from since. Now, three months later Ambassador Odo had convinced the Federation counsel to pursue the matter, in order to ensure the security of Deep Space 12. Only a handful of Federation citizens new the true reason for the Dominion's generous offer of assistance.
"Ambassador, the Hirogen are here, now, on this planet. The Prometheus is in orbit by now, our greatest chances for finding Nerys are up there." The Admiral Softened his tone, taking a look around the junked battle ship. "Not here."
A Dominion portable scanner on the Vorta's belt beeped once, and then began to reverberate in a steady, deep tone. Picard stared at the scanner, weariness narrowing his eyes, creases in his forehead deepening. Odo threw a Vorta hand weapon his way.
"I'm getting too old for this, you know."
The changing grunted in his gruff way, his hands elongating and solidifying into two serrated blades. " If the Prometheus is up there, now would be a good time for them to." Odo paused a moment to remember the proper term. "Beam us up."