Valiant

Synopsis:
Starfleet Command orders Nog to personally deliver a diplomatic message to Ferenginar. Jake accompanies him in hopes of having an exclusive interview with the Grand Nagus himself. Just after they leave, the runabout is overrun by a fleet of Jem'Hadar fighters, which are on their way to the starbase they just left. They manage to get away in time, but one of the ships persues them. In an effort to outrun them, Nog sends the runabout into Dominion-held space.

When the Jem'Hadar ship has catched up, Jake and Nog are beamed off the heavily damaged runabout onto the Defiant-class starship USS Valiant which subsequently destroys the Jem'Hadar ship.

They are told the Valiant got trapped in Dominion space 8 months ago, when the Dominion war began. The ship had been manned by an elite group of Starfleet cadets, called Red Squad, and a few senior officers to evaluate their performance. During an attack by a Cardassian fighter the senior crewmembers had been killed and Watters was promoted to captain.

Because of the ordered radio silence Starfleet is unaware of the situation on the Valiant. The ship's orders had been to spy on a new Dominion warship, 2 times the size of a Galaxy-class starship and 3 times as strong. The new captain intends to carry out those orders.

Nog is promoted to chief engineer with the rank of lieutenant commander because of his experience with Class-M warp drives which he gained on the Defiant. He manages the Valiant to exceed Warp 3.2, as a result of which they are able to shadow the Dominion prototype.

Meanwhile Jake chats with a young cadet, Collins, about home, which makes her home-sick. He is told by Captain Watters to stop distracting his crew.

When they have scanned the Dominion ship they find a design flaw. When exposed to Delta radiation the antimatter storage compartments will collapse. Watters stirs up his crew to exploit this flaw and try to destroy the enemy ship. Jake points out that going against such a big ship would be suicide, but the crew and Nog hold such high regard of Captain Watters that they agree to destroy the ship.

Jake tries in vain to convince Nog that the captain does not know what he is doing. His conversation is monitored by the captain and Jake is subsequently thrown into the brig.

The Valiant is able to fire the torpedos that should have exposed the flaw, but to their surprise the Jem'Hadar ship is not destroyed. Instead, it destroys the Valiant and most of its escape pods. Jake, Nog, and Collins manage to escape in an escape pod and are picked up by the Defiant. Back in Federation space Nog realises what they had done was crazy, but Collins still unconditionally supports Captain Watters.

Guest Cast:
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Paul Popowich as Watters
Courtney Peldon as Farris
David Drew Gallagher as Shepard
Ashley Brianne McDonogh as Collins

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Val"iant (?), a. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, Equivalent, Prevail, Valid.]

1.

Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer.

Walton.

2.

Intrepid in danger; courageous; brave.

A valiant and most expert gentleman. Shak.

And Saul said to David . . . be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. 1 Sam. xviii. 17.

3.

Performed with valor or bravery; heroic.

Milton.

[The saints] have made such valiant confessions. J. H. Newman.

-- Val"iant*ly, adv. -- Val"iant*ness, n.

© Webster 1913.