Home Front - Part VII
Posted on Wed Mar 31, 2021 @ 8:07pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Caleb Ryan & Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Means III & Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant T'Lul & Captain Tam "Demon" Haican & Civilian Jason Haines & Charghwl'IH of the House of Soval
6,899 words; about a 34 minute read
Mission:
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: DS5, various
Timeline: MD04 0500
Previously in
"Ma'am, the Federation station has begun scrambling their fighters and they are heading towards the planet," the tactical officer said from her station.
"Order the Warships Arvawn and Beldon and tell them to take up defensive positions around the Ghemor, defensive pattern Omicron-5. Direct the Ghemor to scramble Hideki fighters and stop any more Federation fighters from reaching the surface," Gul Vashur said sternly as she gripped her chair rest.
The area of space outside the station quickly devolved into a chaotic swirling storm of dogfighting starfighters and heavy weapons fire between the attacking Cardassian capital ships and the gargantuan space station.
And now the continuation
Starfighter Battle
“You've got a spoonhead on your six, Harold! Watch yourself!”
“I can't shake ‘em! Help me out here, Cheetah! I can't--” Warrant Officer Second Class Stephen “Harold” Harcourt didn't finish his plea, as his fighter suddenly became a small cloud of debris and vapor. The Hideki that had made the kill was not resting on its laurels. It had already moved off to find another target.
"NO! STEPHEN!" 2nd Lieutenant Devora Nogalla, callsign Cheetah, creamed into her headset as she watched her boyfriend vanish in a cloud of debris and vapor. They hadn't been together long, but it was clear that they were deeply in love. Now, that chapter was closed, forever.
Curling her top lip in a vicious snarl, Devora hunted down and killed the offending enemy with great veracity. She then began to hunt for another target.
A flight of Hideki fighters formed up and began to engage several starfighters that had broken away from the main group heading towards the surface. The lead fighter locked on and opened fire, shearing the port wing off of the fighter, causing it to drift out of control directly into its companion fighter. The collision caused both of them to careen out of control, leaving them prime targets for the other Hideki fighters to open fire and quickly destroy.
Gul Vashur watched from the bridge of the Warship Nuvor as the station took a more active role in the fight. It was a moment that she knew was going to take place. She had planned and anticipated this ever since she was forced to take command after the disastrous attack by the Svikiri. She was far from intimidated by the awesome power of the station. Mostly because she had planned on just how to bring it to its knees.
"Have the Arvawn and Beldon keep a tight protective formation on the Ghemor while it launches its second squadron of Hideki fighters. Order the 345th Attack Squadron to begin their attack run on Deep Space 5, target their primary weapons. I want to trim the claws on this Rikellian cat," the commander of the 127th Tactical Wing said as she settled back into her chair.
The Turbolifts
Maritza's mind swirled as she tried to martial all her thoughts. Enemy troops were on board. Cardassians for definite, and she couldn't rule out the possibility there were Xi'cadians in amongst them. The latter would be far less noticeable on a station dominated by the more homogenous looking humanoids. She had to get to Ops, and put in a command override that would lock Cardassians out of everything but essential services. Only a few more minutes.
Then there was a crunching sound, and the lift came to a stop, and the lights went out, plunging the two women into utter darkness.
"No!" Maritza hissed. "No!" She let her rage out with a scream. Then pulled herself together, and jumped up.
Fel'tora felt the same frustration, though she did not comment on the captain's outburst; she didn't feel it was her place. Instead, she said, "Captain, if I give you a lift, you should be able to reach the hatch on the roof of the car. My best guess is that we are five, maybe seven decks below Ops."
"Progress then." Soran reached out in the dark for the Klingon, and the larger woman boosted her up. Feeling in the dark, she found the release catch for the top hatch. "I hope you're okay in zero-G."
The Klingon chuckled. "Ma'am, I was born in zero gee. I got top marks back in boot, and have kept up my qualifications on it."
"Good. You can give me a shove."
Ops
"Sir, they're sending fighters at us?!" The screen lit up with multiple pings from the small vessel. "Why are they doing that? Our shields against their weapons. They wouldn't even heat it up. They couldn't even make a dent until they were right inside them."
The lights flickered and went out. There was a moment's pause, and then emergency lighting came on.
"Sir," T'vril sounded quite alarmed. "We've just lost main power, and shields. And the secondary generators aren't responding."
“What the hell?” Caleb spun around in the dark. “Target those fighters!” he ordered. With no shields, they were a sitting duck. “Get me a progress report on the evacuation. Get Security and Engineering to main power and get us back online.”
Caleb seethed, feeling helpless as he watched the phaser and disruptor fire outside the station streak across the view screen.
Main Computer Core
Gil Mursah watched as the power levels with the shield generators and the torpedo fire control fluctuated as the device came online and synced with the various systems. He pressed the final command and watched as the device processed the information began to work its way through the established power conduits.
"Mrotoc Cardăsa!" (Cardassia is rising) he shouted as the energy dissipator device immediately went into action, causing the power levels of shields and torpedoes to drop to critical levels, rendering them mostly useless. Gil Mursah watched as the power levels dropped from 90. . .66. .44. . .22 and leveled off at 12%.
Cardassian Fleet
"Ma'am! Federation power levels are fluctuating. It seems like their secondary shielding and tactical systems have failed," the Operations officer shouted over the den of the bridge onboard the Warship Nuvor.
Gul Vashur smiled. The insertion team had managed to achieve the objective of activating an energy dissipation device within the station, taking its tactical systems offline. In the twenty years since the last war, the Federation had learned how to overcome the effects of the Breen draining device that had cost them the Chin'Toka system. However, thanks to the ingenuity of the research and development activities of the Raddon Corporation on Xi'Cadia, the current device was able to accomplish the goal of depowering various systems in the same fashion as the Breen device without needing to be fired from a ship-based weapon.
"Order the fleet to engage the station, have the Warship Rakara begin transporting shock troops to capture Operations Control, Main Engineering, and other vital points of the station," Gul Vashur said. "This battle ends now,” she said.
Deck 17
The inside of the main transit lines that ran the centre of DS5, there was no gravity. Pushing off from the top of the turbo lift Maritza was able to float over to the nearest door section. Deck 17. That was general admin, probably deserted at this hour, even with a red alert,. More importantly there was a jefferies tube straight through to Ops. Hanging on to the small ladder-like holds that ran along the sides of the lift shaft, she cranked the door open.
Which was when the bombers hit. She was flung out of the turbo lift, gravity hurling her into the wall opposite the doors with a slam that rattled her teeth. But it wasn't that that made her stomach lurch. If she could feel that, at the centre of the station, then that had been a big blast. Had they hit a generator? Or had something rammed them?
Fel'tora tried to cushion the captain's fall with her own body. She was only partially successful. Feeling the rumble of explosions was troublesome. She suddenly worried that they wouldn't repel the invaders. However, if this was the day that Fel'tora, daughter of Gre'gol, died, then she would do so on her feet, with her weapon in her hand. She helped the captain to her feet and the pair quickly moved to get back to where they had been heading.
There was no way that an explosion that big had no casualties. How many had died? And how many more would be killed before this was over. Did they have the numbers to defend the station? Most of the Marines were on Pangaea. And security had the numbers to police the station and handle small ships of trouble makers. Not what was looking like determined military action.
And she was failing all of them, because she wasn't at her post. The jefferies tube access was several hundred meters away. She started running.
Fel'tora kept an easy pace with Maritza as the women sprinted through the empty offices. Finally reaching the access point, Fel'tora held up a hand to caution the captain. She then carefully opened the hatch to the jefferies tube and quickly checked for any traps.
Finding the path clear, she stepped back and nodded to Soran. "All clear, ma'am. Go. I'll be right behind you."
Ops
Caleb felt the first bombs hit the station, shaking the superstructure. He saw the indicator lights flash on, indicating weapons systems in the affected areas were offline. “Arm yourselves!” Caleb called to those in Ops, drawing his phaser. “Hail the Cardassian fleet,” he said with resignation as another salvo of Hideki bombers hit the station.
"Aye, sir, channel open," T'vril replied
Warship Nuvor
Gul Vashur gripped her chair tightly to keep her balance. The vessel rocked as more starfighters attempted to try their luck at attacking her lead vessel as opposed to continuing to engage with the Hideki fighters. She shook again as the vessel rumbled. They were like annoying animals who just didn't know how to stay in their place. She wanted to order the Ghemor to deploy its entire complement of Hideki fighters to overwhelm the starfighters; however, she knew that she needed to keep them in reserve to defend the station and the portals once they were able to seize it. For now she'd have to just make due with what she had.
"Ma'am! Deep Space 5 is hailing us!" Her communications officer shouted over the cacophony of voices and tactical status reports.
"On screen!" Gul Vashur shouted as she forced herself to her feet to address the enemy.
"This is Gul Vashur of the 127th Tactical Wing of the Sixth Order, state your intentions," she said as she rocked slightly from another phaser blast to her vessel's shields.
Caleb stared into the soulless Cardassian eyes on the screen. “Ah’d like ta talk about a cease fire so we can get civilians off of the station an’ to safety, Gul Vasher,” Ryan said, standing stiffly.
"I take it that Captain Soran won't be joining us?" Gul Vashur asked rhetorically. Captain Soran had either been killed or was too embarrassed to personally surrender her command. "There is not much to talk about, Commander Ryan," Gul Vashur said. "You will order your forces on the Deep Space Five as well as Pangaea to stand down. We will then accept your surrender and allow you to withdraw your crew and non-combatants," she said directly.
"Do you accept these terms?" she asked.
Caleb took a breath. “We haven’t been able ta contact Captain Soran. Ah’m in charge.” He was probably going to ruin his career with this. “Ah can surrender the station. Ah have no communications with those on the planet,” he reminded Gul Vashur.
Gul Vashur recognized the agonizing look in the Human's eyes. It read of frustration and anger. "Very well. Recall your starfighters back to Deep Space Five. We will permit general communications to the planet surface so that you may coordinate retrieval and evacuation efforts," the Cardassian commander said.
"Furthermore, you wi--" She was interrupted as her tactical officer interrupted her.
"Ma'am! I'm seeing several distortions. I believe they are Klingon vessels decloaking!" the officer yelled over the clamoring voices.
IKS K'tobHa
Charghl'IH had been enjoying a fresh barrel of blood wine as he regaled those in the mess hall with stories of battle when the ship was placed on combat alert. "Well, we'll just finish this later. Station!"
Upon his returning to the bridge, the deck officer reported that she had cloaked the ship and that they had detected weapons fire near Deep Space 5.
"Tactical!"
The display shifted, and while the planet's distortion caused some problems, he spoke, "Contact the High Council. Inform them that the Cardassians are attacking the station and most likely the planet as well."
"Helm. Take us out of warp between the station and the Cardassian fleet then decloak and raise the shields."
"Yes, my lord!"
The Negh'Var class battle cruiser dropped from warp with its two Vor'cha class escorts, decloaked and swooped in between the Federation station and the Cardassian ships.
Ambassador Charghwl'IH to Deep Space 5. Do you require assistance?
Ther hail was met by the squelch of jammed communication channels. Sensor readings showed a flight of Cardassian Hideki fighters bombing the Klingon quarter of the colony planetside.
Warship Nuvor
Gul Vashur narrowed her eyes as she returned her glance to Commander Ryan. It was possible that he was trying to trick her into lowering her shields so that his rabid Klingon pets could launch an assault. However, that would have been a foolhardy plan, considering her fleet outnumbered the Klingons and the station was tactically ineffective. Instead, she chose to not let it disrupt negotiations.
"Furthermore," she continued, "you will also order your attack dogs to stand down as well," she said, indicating the Klingon vessels that had just decloaked, but had not yet engaged her forces.
Caleb maintained his poker face as the Klingons appeared. That could add unexpected spice to the stew.
“Hail the Klingons!” Caleb hissed at his comms officer before returning his attention to Vashur. “It will take us some time to effect the withdrawal,” he told the Cardassian. “Our internal communications have been sabotaged. Until we get something up and running again, and get someone here to aid in evacuation, there is little I can do immediately.
Ensign Guurg tried to reach the ships rapidly heading towards the fray, to no avail. The Cardassians were the only people they could talk to. He shook his head silently at the Commander.
Gul Vashur listened intently. "By all means, we'll be glad to lend our assistance in effecting the evacuation," she said with a genuine smile. "I will order our forces on the surface to begin helping your Research and Development staff board the nearest available transports without further delay," she said.
Caleb paused and nodded. “I will accept that assistance,” he said. “Contact the colony,” he told Ensign Guurg, hoping the Cardassians kept their word and unjammed communications.
The young officers that made up the graveyard shift were looking at him in a state of shock. Then Guurg shook himself as light came back up on his panel. "We have comms back, sir. Internal, external, and the public address."
T'vril watched the life signs appearing on the sections where the shields had failed. "We're being boarded by strong numbers, all over."
Caleb nodded. “Put me through,” he said, stepping out. He spoke clearly, without a hint of his Texas drawl.
“Attention all Starfleet personnel and residents of Deep Space Five. This is Commander Caleb Ryan. As of this moment, the station is being turned over to Cardassian forces. All members of Starfleet should lay down their weapons and report to their quarters. Residents should also report to quarters and remain there until given further instructions. To the colony and Marines, lay down arms and report to barracks for withdrawal and evacuation.”
It wasn't the call anyone on the security teams wanted to hear. All were prepared to defend the station until reinforcements arrived or they were overwhelmed. However, it wasn't their call to make. With comms back up, at least for the moment, Annora switched to a secure channel to reach out to the teams across the station.
"This is Lt. Tessaro on Deck 49. Per the Commander's orders, all teams are to withdraw and await further instructions. See you at the evacuation site. Tessaro out."
As expected, she got confirmation from a handful of teams, while most stayed silent. Keeping a mental tally of who responded, she turned to those with her. "Are you staying or going? My absence would be noticed, so that decision is made for me."
Aurélio and Isaksen both expressed a desire to stay, while the others would join those evacuating the station. Handing over her weapons to the two petty officers, Annora reluctantly headed to her quarters. She felt confident Starfleet would return in force in due time, and until then the "resistance members" would cause sufficient trouble for the Cardassians.
IKS K'tobHa
"No reply, my lord."
Charg, now sitting in command, pulled at his beard. They still couldn't get sensor readings on the planet, but the ones they could were strong Cardassian forces already on the station. He thought to himself, What was Maritza doing?
Rising, he turned to his tactical officer. "Prepare our forces to board..."
"My lord! We are being hailed!"
Turning back to the view screen. "On screen."
Caleb looked wearily across the distance through the screen. “Stand down, Ambassador,” he told Charg. “The station has fallen. I need to focus on getting my people out of here safely now.”
Where was Maritza, and what was this coward doing surrendering the station! "Commander, where is your captain?"
“Captain Soran was on bereavement leave. We haven’t been able to contact her,” Caleb Ryan told the Klingon. “I am in charge of the station. This is a fight we can’t win, not without shields and power, and I have the safety of civilians and families to consider.”
The damage to the station must have been more extensive than had been reported to him. There must have been sabotage, as he remembered Da'nal telling him of his part in the defense of the station with only a handful of small ships against the Romulans. Only the training he took to honor his Vulcan heritage concealed his face and concern for his friend and former shipmate.
Where was Maritza? he thought. He knew she would have probably blown the station than hand it over. A part of him wanted to begin landing what warriors he had onto the station and engage the Cardassian fleet. However this was a Federation facility, and if they wanted to surrender it...it was their decision to make.
With a deep breath visibly taken, he said, "Very well, Commander. We stand ready to and in your evacuation. Inform the new owners that I and a small contingent will be beaming over to secure the Klingon Embassy."
Caleb nodded. “Thank you, Ambassador,” he said with a nod before closing the channel.
Livia Sagan's merchant ship
Running errands for Geral had proved profitable. Now that she had established a relationship with him, she was starting to branch out on her own. The goods that she carried now were not strictly legal, but there were always those on any planet, or starbase, for that matter. The captain seemed to turn a blind eye to Geral's activities, so a small fry like her was unlikely to be noticed, especially if she had some of Geral's protections.
What Livia had not expected when she dropped out of warp was seeing DS5's distress signal on, with a Cardassian military fleet on DS5's doorstep. Now that's inconvenient, Livia thought to herself. Rule of Acquisition 34 says that war is good for business. However, it is not good business to be caught in the battle. Where is the profit in that? She considered her options. Without a place to sell, I have no profit. And the Cardassian military is not likely to have use for my wares.
Livia thought about the matter for a while longer. Perhaps if I can save some individuals from DS5 or Pangaea, I will gain some grateful customers. And, perhaps if I can get the distress information to the Federation, I will be richly rewarded. A satisfied smile crossed Livia's face. "I could get killed," she announced to nobody on her ship. "However, Rule 62 is clear. The riskier the road, the greater the profit."
With that thought, her ship drifted towards Pangaea.
USS Nemesis
“Captain, I’m getting a distress signal and message from Deep Space Five,” Lt. Irissa Toma spoke from the Ops station.
Commodore Artemis Pierce sat up straighter in his chair, as did his XO, Commander Keesmaat Mira’ni, and the rest of the bridge crew. “On screen,” Pierce ordered. They listened with surprise to Commander Ryan’s surrender.
“I knew the Cardassians were up to something,” LtCdr. Eve Three said, striking the Tactical console. “We should have done something!”
Pierce raised his hand to calm his daughter, “And risk sparking a war? The Cardassians have done that themselves now,” he said. “Irissa, open a channel to Deep Space Five. Let them know we’re coming to assist in the evacuation. Anzio,” he spoke to the helm, “set course for Deep Space Five, maximum warp.”
Deck 14
Soran and her shadow had reached main sensor maintenance when Caleb's announcement came across the public address system. And for a moment she froze. Surrender was unthinkable. How desperate must things have been for him to do that? She took a long breath. Cardassians were taking over. She was not, on principle, going to surrender. But chances were every Cardassian on board would be looking for her. She would have to make that harder. First thing she'd do if she were them was look for her combadge. Which she'd left in her quarters. No... She reached to her chest. She'd had another one made, in Science. There were two of her on the system right now. A small smile came to her. "Sergeant. Open that hatch over there." She moved to an operations panel, and started calling up the diagnostics programs. "We're going to break the station sensors. It won't last long. But while they're down, you're going to take my comm badge and get as far from Deck 24 as you can."
While she didn't like the thought of leaving her captain, Fel'tora understood the need for confusion. The longer the enemy was unbalanced, the more time was gained in building the resistance group needed to retake the station. Taking the combadge, she suddenly noticed that Soren was unarmed. Reaching behind her back, Fel'tora drew her kligat from its sheath. Moving over to Soran, she turned the blade and handed it over, grip first. "Take it, ma'am. It's not an option. Use it as both upwards and downwards slashing mostly. If you have enough leverage, you go straight in. But, that requires proper training. After we survive this, I'd be honored to teach you, ma'am."
Soran took the knife. "We'll see. At the very least, I'll owe you a barrel of bloodwine."
Moving back to the open hatch, Fel'tora turned back to say, with an evil grin, "That blade belonged to my mother and my mother's mother. I will be annoyed if you lose it, ma'am." Then, before Soren could respond, she turned, and dove through the hatch opening, quickly following her commanding officer's orders.
Soran gave her to the count of thirty, and then pulled out a handful of EPS leads that fed to the main sensor processors. The hiccups she'd added to the diagnostics should slow down the detection and rerouting for a good few minutes. Long enough. She was sure the invaders would be watching the shuttle bays. She'd just have to find another way out.
Arboretum
Brianthe was in the arboretum when she heard the orders. "Evacuate?" How could she leave her arboretum? How could she abandon her plants? At the same time, how could she stay? Surely the Cardassians would not let her keep the arboretum alive? Did they even care about such things?
She went to her workroom and copied all the files on the computer, the layout, the various plants and where they were located, even the watering cycle. And what of her moon moss? She slipped the data crystal into her cross pack and collected a large sample bag. She would get samples of all the rare plants to take with her, just in case she returned -- and she would return -- and found everything dead.
Fortunately, she'd done nothing with the seeds and runners from her trip up the beanstalk. They all went into her bag. She collected samples of moon moss, and a dozen other exotic plants, putting them in individual sample bags with plenty of moist soil. If she had time, she'd go to her quarters, but this was more important.
Paula ran up to her. "Bri, what do we do?"
"Pack samples of your projects. We need to leave the station."
Paula paused, thinking. "No. Starfleet personnel need to evacuate. Civilians have the option to stay," she said quietly.
"Yes, but they may not want to keep the arboretum going," Bri said.
"I'm a civilian," Paula said again. "I'll stay. If they won't keep this place going for the civilian population, I have a friend who works on the Promenade. I'll stay with her."
"Are you sure?" Bri asked. She didn't like the idea of leaving Paula behind. "I can stay instead. I'm just a botanist."
"No. You go. With Lieutenant Wells on the planet, you're the Chief here. You need to evacuate."
Paula was right. She didn't know a lot about Pangaea, but she knew too much about Alanna and T'gan. With a sigh, Bri hugged her assistant. "Be careful."
"Of course. I've got ten decks of plants to care for. I'll be fine." She hugged Bri back. "Go get your clothes."
Bri grabbed one more sample and carefully placed it in her bag, just in case. "I will see you again. I promise."
"Of course you will." Paula hugged her again. "Now go." She had a few more things to do before going to her quarters as ordered.
OPS
Caleb turned to his officers in Ops. “Ah’m sorry it’s come ta this,” he told them. “It has been an honor ta serve with ya’ll. Ah hope ta see ya’ll on th’other side of this. All non-essential personnel clear Operations, please,” he requested.
As the supplemental personnel filed toward the turbolift and their quarters, gold Cardassian transporter lights began to appear around Ops, and armed Cardassians appeared. Caleb lifted his arms away from his body, and a Cardassian stepped up and relieved him of his phaser.
Gul Vashur swirled into existence on the upper platform of the Operations Center, surrounded by an armed security detail, each soldier with their weapons trained on a particular target once their eyes adjusted to the brighter lighting environment. The Cardassian commander looked around the spacious area for several moments as she stepped down the platform and towards the lonely Starfleet commander.
"Set up a connection with Legate Turvan and Gul Meran on the planet surface," Gul Vashur shouted to a nearby Cardassian as she continued to maintain eye contact with Commander Ryan. She could read the look in his eyes. The anger was bubbling just beneath the surface of his otherwise calm exterior. She took the phaser from the Cardassian that had been removed from Commande Ryan and studied it for several moments as she waited for the connection to be established.
"Guls Vashur, Meran, I commend your efforts," Legate Turvan said as his image filled the main view screen. "Today will be remembered as a great day for all the people of Cardassia," he said with pride and reverence as he turned his gaze onto Commander Ryan.
"Deep Space Five and the planet of Pangaea have now become protectorates of the Cardassian Empire," he announced. "I, Legate Hydel Turvan, will serve as the administrator for this district until further notice," he said with an air of certainty and ownership in his voice. "You will have the next two hours to gather your forces and withdraw from the station and the planet. Any Starfleet personnel that remain within our borders after such time will be treated as hostile combatants and be dealt with accordingly," he said.
"Where is Captain Soran?" Legate Turvan asked, noticing that Commander Ryan stood as the senior-most officer within the Operations center.
Caleb took a breath. “Missing in action,” he told Turvan. “The communications blackout made it impossible to find her.”
Legate Turvan was visibly upset at the answer. He quickly looked towards Gul Vashur. "I want you to deploy whatever troops are necessary and find the station commander!" he said with intensity.
"Legate, is that truly necessary? We control the stati--" Gul Vashur began.
"WE CONTROL THE STATION, BUT SHE IS STILL A THREAT!" Legate Turvan said, overtaking the woman's voice. "Find her or her body under rubble, I do not care which. But find me Maritza Soran!" Legate Turvan said with an apparent edge in his tone.
"Sir, I can travel to the station and assist in--" Gul Denat offered.
"No, Meran, you will remain on the planet surface and secure the Portal Complex. Redirect the necessary forces from the Xi'Cadian Home Guard for assistance," the Legate directed. "I will be joining you in due time. Gul Vashur, until then, dispatch your forces to secure the station. Legate Turvan out," he said as he terminated the link.
Caleb glanced over at Gul Vashur. “This ain’t over, an’ ya’ll know it,” he said. “Ya’ll think the galactic community is gonna stand for this? Yer a long way from Cardassia, an’ ya just started a war when ya’ll are barely recovered from the last one.”
One of the Cardassian soldiers stepped up and rammed the butt of his rifle into Caleb’s face, beating him down into submission with a snarl and an order to keep silent.
Gul Vashur extended her hand towards the Cardassian soldier and gestured for him to pick the officer off the deck.
"We do not need to get off to a bad start, Commander Ryan," Gul Vashur said diplomatically.
"Besides, Commander, I would think you had more important matters to tend to, such explaining how this occured," Legate Turvan said as he witched the viewscreen image to show the remains of his cottage as well as the bodies of the two Cardassian soldiers.
"We already know that this home belonged to you and that your daughter was staying there. Your same daughter that is now a fugitive for her brazen act of violence. We will not tolerate cowardly acts of terrorism from the Federation by having lethal combatants pose as civilians. This act of perfidy will not be condoned," the Cardassian official said.
"Now you can help your daughter by giving us her location so that she may be peacefully detained and turned over to the appropriate authorities," Legate Turvan offered.
Caleb rubbed his bleeding lip and eyed the view screen. “Good girl,” he muttered under his breath, though even he was a bit surprised. To Turvan, he said, “Ah got mah daughter trainin’ so she could defend herself. If yer soldiers got on the wrong end of that, well, maybe you should train them better.” He couldn’t help but smile at Turvan, and nearly got a rifle butt in the stomach again.
“If Aleczandra ain’t at the cabin, then Ah don’t know where she’s at. We ain’t had contact with the planet since ya’ll attacked us unprovoked.”
Gul Meran interjected from his screen. "What was it you said to me not that long ago when you seized our embassy. . .?" He said, feigning deep thought.
"Oh, yes, It ain’t yer station any longer" The Cardassian said, mimicing the Human dialect and drawl. "You're wasting precious time that could be otherwise devoted to packing up your belongings and surrendering your Command." He said, speaking in his regular tone. "I have ordered my Troops to stand down in order to allow your personnel to retreat from the planet without any interference. However, those that remain will not be treated with the same courtesy." He said.
Main Computer Core
Elot'oX and Gil Mursah continued to monitor the energy dissipation device as it continued to cause the station's power system to collapse and not provide sufficient power to shields and weapons. With the device in place, the station continued to be effectively defenseless. The two were so enthralled in their success that they almost missed the announcement that came through the station comm system.
COMM: “Attention all Starfleet personnel and residents of Deep Space Five. This is Commander Caleb Ryan. As of this moment, the station is being turned over to Cardassian forces. All members of Starfleet should lay down their weapons and report to their quarters. Residents should also report to quarters and remain there until given further instructions. To the colony and Marines, lay down arms and report to barracks for withdrawal and evacuation.”
The Cardassian's smiled spread across his face. "Mission accomplished, the station is ours!" He said triumphantly. "No need to keep around dead weight anymore!" He said as he turned back towards the Operations Chief and his wounded assistant. He gestured towards the other Cardassian trooper for him to hand him his dagger.
"Normally I try to maintain a professional distance from my work in order to maintain my objectivity." Gil Mursah said as he examined the blade. "But this time, I'm going to completely enjoy what I'm about to do." He said as he walked over towards the still crouched in pain Operations Chief.
"You know, Kivan...Ta'Gas...or whatever the hell your whore of a mother named you. It really has been a while since I've seen the inside of a Bajoran. I wonder if---" Before he could finish his taunt, Kivan mustered up the last bit of strength he had and shouted.
"Operations Emergency beam-out, Kivan-Tango-Six-Six-Kilo!" He shouted as he grabbed ahold of PO Kujall and was engulfed in a transporter beam as Gil Mursah lunged with his dagger, but only swiped at the air.
"DAMNIT! How were they able to access any kind of transporters!?!" He shouted angrily. "That was supposed to have been prevented!" He roared.
Elot'oX had noticed the commotion that had erupted and checked the panel beside him. "They were disabled. . .until you had him deactivate the system's self-defense subroutine in order for us to connect the disappation device." THe Engineer said. "Once the security counter-measures were deactivated, he was able to access the emergency site-to-site beam out." The Xi'Cadian said. "Ordinarily, the station would never allow any form of transporting in or out of the Main Computer Core. However, they must have a safety feature built in to beam an injured crewman out of the immediate area to a different location so medical can retrieve them." The Xi'Cadian surmised.
"He's somewhere within the jeffery tubes network." Elot'oX said, but immediately waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter, we control the station. I'm sure a Security patrol will find them and detain them eventually." He said as he turned back to his work.
"What do you mean it doesn't matter!" The Cardassian Trooper roared as he frantically paced back and forth. "He could undue everything that we have don--" He began to say.
"What are two going to do against an entire station filled with Cardassian and Xi'Cadian forces?" Elot'oX retorted. "We control the station and they have on reinforcements for lightyears. If they're lucky, maybe they'll be able to catch a ride on an evacuating shuttle." The Engineer replied, not wanting to spend too much energy debating the subject.
Deck 14 Main Sensor Maintenance
Lt. Kivan and the significantly injured PO Kujall shuddered into existance just 2 decks below the Computer Core maintenance jeffery tube. Lt. Kivan looked around and realized where they had been dumped by the computer program. It was not far enough for his tastes, but it at least got them away from the Cardassians and to a spot where they could try to escape.
He groaned aloud as he tried to pull himself up to his feet. As he did he could see on the far side of the area what looked like the form of Captain Soran, but it couldn't be because this person was pulling out the EPS leads that fed into the main sensors.
"Ca--Captain Soran?" Lt. Kivan half shouted-half whispered incredulously.
She whirled, hand instinctively raising the Klingon dagger. "Lieutenat Kivan!" She was only half sure of the other one. "Are you alright?" She was already looking at the petty officer, who's face was grey with shock. The young crewman would need serious medical attention, and their window of opportunity was closing.
"I've been better." He said as he slumped against a nearby console that had long since been deactivated. "PO Kujall is in bad shape and I don't know if we can get him to sickbay. . .or even if there is a sickbay remaining..." He said. "Ma'am, are we really turning the station over to the Cardassians?" He asked incredulously. The more he thought about the idea of surrending the station the more he felt that the world was coming to an end.
"How were they able to do this?" He asked angrily.
A good question. But, "A question for when we get out of this. And yes, when faced with overwhelming force and the lives of thouands in the balance, Ryan made the right choice." They'd been caught unawares by a force asolutely determined to succeed meant that withdrawal and regroup was the only real ourse of action they had left.
Maritza didn't have a tricorder but she could see Kujall needed more help than she coud give. Crossing back to the console she tried to beam the injured crewman to sick bay, but the invaders had locked the transporter buffer. Her guts twisted. If she stayed to help, Kujall had a better chance of getting down the forty floors to sick bay. But also she didn't want to hand the Cardassians a victory by hanging around to surrender either. Best case scenario they packed her back to the Federation in a PR coup on top of their military victory. Worse case scenario could be a lot worse.
"You need to take Kujall down to sick-bay, and then get off the station. We'll need your n#knowledge for planning how to retake it. I'm going to ge Geral to take me off station." Given his history with the Cardassians, she wanted him away from anyone who wanted a shot at revenge too. "But before we go, lets make their lives a bit more difficult. Computer. this is an Omicron Scenario. Execute Omicron protocol four, authorisation Soran alpha four four sigma."
She crossed her fingers. Omicron protocols had been written years ago, in case of occupation by romulan or Klingon forces. Unless they wanted to rip the main computer core out completely and rebuild it, it would ensure that core life support couldn't be switched off, whilst making everything else awkward. the fast transit turbo lifts would freeze, the starfleet databanks would wipe themselves multiple times to make data recovery impossible, air traffic control would shut down, and the main bay doors to the mushroom shaped hangar would roll open and freeze there, stopping the cardassians from turning the place into a fortress. Or at least slowing it down.
"Omicron Protocol acknowledged. Omicron Protocol four executed."
Maritza looked at the two junior crew members, and hated herself for abandoning them. The Vulcans may have been right about the good of the many, but it didnt' make it easy. "the cardassians will be looking for me. The best chance I can give you it to get away from you so you can get him to sick bay." She ducked into the nearest jeffreyies tube. "Good luck, Mr Kivan."
[OFF]
OOC - final tags polease, lets get this up before April!
2nd Lieutenant Devora "CHEETAH" Nogalla
NPC Tam Haican
Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
Sergeant Fel'tora
SFMC
NPC-Haican
Livia Sagan
Exquisite Entrepreneur
Commander Caleb Ryan
Executive Officer
Commodore Artemis Pierce
Commanding Officer
USS Nemesis
Commander Keesmaat Mira’ni
Executive Officer
USS Nemesis
Lieutenant Irissa Toma
Chief of Operations
USS Nemesis
Lieutenant Commander Eve Three
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Nemesis
Lieutenant Anzio Mira’ni
Chief Flight Officer
USS Nemesis
Ambassador Charghwl'HI
Klingon Ambassador to DS5
Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Assistant Chief Science Officer & Botanist
Paula Pendergast
Botanist
Lt Annora Tessaro
Chief Security Officer
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