Episode 4.1.12: The President's Tailor Shop

## S4, E1, Act 1: Seeking Answers

Commander Mayla Vree

Starfleet Intelligence Operations Command, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2108.19

Mayla pulled up a map in her eyes and pinpointed the name of the tailor shop in the city of Culat. It was currently on the nightside of the planet.

"The Well Groomed Tailor Shop?" Mayla said out loud.

"He can't very well call it Garak's Clothiers again, can he?" Nidek said with a snort. "Diplomats will never leave him alone."

Mayla looked over to Lazarus and MacLeod. "I'll form an away team and get some clothes made. We'll beam down in the morning when he opens."

"Very well," MacLeod said. But he gave her a piercing look. "You'll be on unofficial business, so don't rile him up or else we won't get anything out of him."

"Aye, Admiral," Mayla said.

"Fearless, out." MacLeod's image cut off and Lazarus turned to Hartman and Nidek.

"We are done here. I'll send a security team down to transfer the prisoner to our ship."

Hartman acknowledged the order, thinking he was glad someone else was taking the traitor away. "He'll be ready."

They went through step by step of the mission until Hartman was satisfied before Lazarus dismissed the team to return to the ship. Just in time for the Fearless' arrival.

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

Starfleet Intelligence Operations Command, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2108.20

Tiri looked across the table at Jahkar as Tajel’s betrayal was discussed and she could feel his pain as Melfis and Hartman laid it all out. How terrible for him. She knew how he valued his honor and this would have a direct impact on that, not to mention the terrible mess his step son was in and how that would affect not only Tajel, but Jahkar and Kedanya.

She managed to make eye contact with him and he gave her a grim stare. She could read his thoughts across the table as he grew angry with Melfis. She also wanted to say something to the arrogant bastard, but knew she’d better keep her mouth shut.

She mouthed the words, “It will be OK” and hoped he would take some solace in her words -- even if they were not spoken aloud.

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.21

Alaran Rown opened his eyes, shaking his head from the truly bizarre experience of having shared someone else’s dream.

Shortly afterwards, Reepchip himself opened his eyes.  He shifted in his bed a little, trying to curl up tighter.  He chittered woozily, alerting anyone in sickbay that the Muran was at least somewhat conscious.

Warrant Officer Hannigan heard the chittering first. She turned and strode across the medical bay towards the ensign. As she did, Commander Smith activated the EMH and followed Hannigan.

“The ensign just woke up,” Fiadh reported as the EMH materialized next to the two nurses. The holographic physician scanned the Muran and turned her attention to Victoria.

“The good news is his lungs and broken bones have healed nicely.”

“His nervous system?” The commander pressed.

“Too soon to tell.” The EMH conceded. “He should be more alert as the medication wears off.”

“How long will that be?” Fiadh inquired as she performed a secondary scan on Reepchip.

“I am unsure given we’re dealing with Muran physiology, but if I had to estimate...given his weight and size ... we should be able to run our first tests in the next thirty minutes.”

“What will be your first test?” Victoria inquired.

The EMH smiled slightly. “We’ll start off slow. I suggest we run some basic physical tests, including verbal cues from Reepchip. We’ll then stimulate the nerves around his tail and lower back to see how quickly the electrical impulses move through them. That should give us a baseline to work with.”

Victoria nodded in understanding as she gestured to Fiadh to retrieve the necessary devices to perform the nerve conduction test.

Reepchip quietly chittered as he shifted around in his bed, the drugs slowly wearing off.  “Something feels… wrong,” he said.  “The lifeflow…  muted…”

“Please explain in further detail,” said the EMH.

Reepchip switched to his own language, and tried to explain what he felt--or didn’t feel.  Victoria tried to listen in, but she got an earful of how rapidly Reepchip actually spoke, and many of the concepts he was talking about simply didn’t translate.

Luckily, the EMH had Reepchip’s language in her database and was able to determine that the operation to transplant a few nerves had resulted in numbness here and there.

As Reepchip chattered to the EMH, Alaran Rown looked at Commander Smith.  “Is there someone else who could share his dreams?  That was… surreal.”

Victoria ignored Rown’s complaints for the time being as she and the EMH started a secondary scan of the Muran.

“Slight numbness is a good sign?” She asked the EMH.

“Depends.” The EMH answered as she gestured towards Reepchip. “Start applying pressure to his extremities.”

The nurse nodded as she walked over the right side of Reepchip’s bio bed, leaned in and whispered to the Muran. “I am going to be applying pressure to your paws, arms and legs so we know how you are doing. Tell me if you feel any of this.”

Victoria took the ensign’s right paw and began to gently squeeze on it. She then rested her hands on his right arm and leaned further in, putting her weight on the Muran’s body. She repeated the same process with Reepchip’s right hip and leg. Afterward, she stepped back and asked “Did you feel any of that ensign?”

As Victoria tested his nerve responses, Reepchip whispered to her that Alaran hadn’t allowed Reepchip past a chess game.  When she asked him what he felt, Reepchip chittered softly,  and told her he had felt everything in the arm and hand, though one spot near his elbow had felt muted.  The right leg and hip definitely felt muted, though some spots had felt fairly strong around the thigh area.

Victoria eyed the petty officer momentarily after the EMH told her that Reepchip had noted Rown was not as cooperative as she had hoped.

“Fiadh, find me another crewman with telepathic abilities..preferably a Betazoid or a Vulcan.” She ordered before glancing at Rown again. “Dismissed Petty Officer.”

Rown hopped out of his chair and quickly walked towards the exit. He stopped briefly to look back at the Muran before leaving.

“Union 12’s Ensign Hixiwr Gace would be my first choice.” The Warrant Officer suggested as she scanned the Resurrection’s crew manifest. “But the Fearless is still ninety minutes out.”

“We’re likely going to be transferring the Ensign to the Fearless for follow up treatment so alert the Ensign to be on standby to assist when he arrives.”

“Yes ma’am.” Fiadh replied. “In the meantime, I found a Betazoid lieutenant assigned to Conn. Shall I send for him?”

“If he is not too busy, please.” Victoria replied as she turned her attention back to Reepchip. The numbness of his right leg and hip concerned her. However, there was one final preliminary test she needed to perform before they started a nerve conduction examination. She moved down the biobed, leaned in once again and began to apply pressure on Muran’s tail.

“Ensign, do you feel this?”

Reepchip frowned--then his eyes widened.  “I…  I barely feel it,” he said, dismayed.  He tried to move his tail, but it barely twitched.  He chittered in dismay at the numbness in his tail.  “I’ll be walking on all fours,” he chittered, trying not to panic.

“Walking on all fours?” asked Victoria, wondering if this had particular significance.

Since Victoria was in physical contact with him, Reepchip could send her a mental image of a Muran who Walked On All Fours--a fawning, sniveling toady that weighed over 100 lbs--for something Reepchip’s size, that was so disgustingly bloated with gluttony the being could not stand upright but had to literally walk on all fours like a quadruped, licking the dust his superiors tracked on the floor as he went.

Victoria briefly felt sorrow for Reepchip. However, the Trill voice in her head told her to knock it off and not to give up. The fact there was some movement in the tail was a positive sign. The nurse mentally reviewed the options the Fearless medical team could follow to treat Reepchip and concluded he had a good chance of improvement.

She rested her palms on the biobed and leaned across and looked Reepchip directly in the eyes.

“Ensign, look at me.” She gently ordered as the Muran looked up at her. Victoria continued.

“Ensign, are you listening to me?”

Again Reepchip nodded in understanding.

“I don’t give up so you don’t give up. I know you are small in size but I believe you are one of the toughest of that damn team. You are going to prove that again. Am I clear?” She told him in a reassuring and calming tone.

Reepchip nodded quietly with a chitter.

Victoria continued to visually examine Reepchip for a few more minutes. Afterward, she started to enter notes onto a PADD. As she did, she continued speaking with the Muran.

“You’re going to be transferred to the *Fearless* in under two hours for treatment. Would you like me to accompany you?”

“Yes.  And… if it’s possible, also Ryramorl?” he asked softly.

“I will ask him, Unless the Phoenix Team is tied up, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.22

Ryramorl headed for the sickbay--he had another lead that Unit 12 could follow:  The holographic beings collectively known as the Doctors of Jova.

He entered the medical bay and watched as Reepchip was tested by the EMH.  When Victoria saw him, he gestured her over.  “I have another suggestion, almost as good as the Scrolls of the Khyrrians, and much less likely to cause trouble.”

“What’s that?”

“The Doctors of the Jova System.  Several years ago, the Serrassa Cooperative took over a dilithium mine, and they found a bunch of holographic beings there.  All looked alike--a bald male human--and we were told they were from the Federation.”

Victoria’s eyes widened as she realized what Ryramorl had to be referring to.  “Emergency Medical Holograms Mark One.”

“Indeed.  When the Cooperative found out what they were, the EMHs were restored to their original function, given a network to communicate over, and can read our writing and sign languages.  Even the Khyrrians have contributed to their central databank.  If anyone has a very good idea of the Muran nervous system, it would be them.”

“I’m unsure if the Doctors program files and database are contained in Starfleet’s medical databases,”Victoria noted.

“If they are, we could have the program up and running pretty quickly.” Fiadh noted as she looked up from Reepchip.

Smith turned her attention back to Ryramorl. “Do you know if this information was shared with the Federation?

“I do not know.  When I mentioned this to a doctor in Starfleet, he mentioned the EMH Mark One was cranky enough, he didn’t want to know what it was like after it had been dealing with us Carnora for years.  But if any information is likely to be in a format compatible with Federation computers, it’s likely to be theirs.”

Victoria contemplated Ryramorl’s information briefly and nodded in agreement. “I’ll send for an engineer to assist us in setting up the Mark One EMH. If we can upload the data fast enough it could be helpful with Reepchip’s treatment. Regardless, in the long run, it should be exceptionally helpful to our medical teams if we have to treat you or the ensign again. Thank you, lieutenant, I truly appreciate you sharing this suggestion.”

“It may be easier to simply download their information into our computers, rather than bring one of the EMHs over.  If the one we bring has no access to the central database, he may not know Reepchip’s physiology.”

Victoria turned to Fiadh. “Hannigan, search both Federation and Starfleet medical files. See if we have on file that matches the lieutenant’s description of the Doctors of Jova. If we do, retrieve it and transfer it to the EMH’s database. If we can’t find it, lieutenant, I may be asking for further help from you to locate these files.”

As Fiadh searched for the files, she also found that both Dr. Zimmerman and Joe of the Voyager had been asked to lead the programmers in restoring the EMH Mark Ones to their original purpose.  Linguists had included modules to allow them to understand the Carnora sign languages, read their writing, and had new body templates installed so they could look like Carnora healers.  They’d also been tasked with numerous cultural procedures, such as the Olvern funerary practice of excising the bones from the deceased; they’d used that as an opportunity to do dissections of cadavers.  Much of their knowledge had been shared with the Federation when Reepchip was a cadet, but not really what she was looking for.  Then Hannigan frowned.  “...Why are some of their files classified?” she asked.

Ryramorl grinned a bit.  “In the Age of Wonders, the Khyrrians gave to the Carnora the Four Great Gifts,” he intoned, with Reepchip joining in.  “Thinking Minds, Feeling Hearts, Speaking Mouths, and Reaching Hands.”  Ryramorl continued in his normal tone.  “The classified files likely explain how they did it.”

Victoria nodded again in understanding. “Thank you again lieutenant. I am sure I am going to need your expertise and help deciphering the information we retrieve. I am grateful for your assistance.”

The nurse motioned for Ryramorl to step further away from Reepchip’s bio bed. Once she thought she was out of earshot, Victoria looked up at the Carnora.

“Lieutenant, it hasn’t gone unnoticed of your repeated checking up on Ensign Reepchip since his being injured in combat. For that, I thank you.”

“He is a member of a long-allied clan of Murans.  I personally vouched for him when he sought to enter Starfleet.  And I see him as a protege of sorts.  So, yes, I was--and am--worried for him.”

“The ensign has asked that you accompany him when he is transferred to the Fearless for follow up treatment.” Victoria announced. “Do you think you would be able to do that?”

“I shall ask Commander Vree,” he responded.

After he left, he thought on the revelation that Tajel had been mixed up in this mess and wondered what effect it might have on Jahkar.  Not for the first time he found himself wondering if he was the only one on this ship with a good relationship with his family.

Commander Mayla Vree and Colonel Jahkar

Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2108.22

The Starfleet Intelligence Operations Center was bustling with activity as they compiled and disseminated as much of the event details of the past few hours. Phoenix Squad's debriefing was mostly about their infiltration since the SIOC already had several visual logs of the primary assault. To add to the report were their perspectives during each melee on their opponents.

Not too long after the team and Lazarus beamed back to the *Resurrection*, a security detail beamed down for the prisoner transfer. Led by Hartman through the bowels of the facility, two Resurrection security officers, Lieutenant Phil Jackson and Ensign Eula Auriak, entered the secured holding cell block. Not a word was uttered as the brig security made sure the prisoner was in cuffs before manhandling him out of his cell to be escorted to the transporter room several floors above.

"Where am I going?" The prisoner asked in a small voice, not expecting a response considering how he was treated during his interrogations. Dara Tajel tried to be bold but knowing he will eventually be court martialed didn't give him too much of a positive outlook on the rest of his life.

"You're being transferred. That's all you need to know." Hartman said with a stiff voice. "You're somebody else's problem now."

They all finally entered the transporter room to reveal two more Resurrection security officers waiting for them. Tajel was roughly shoved onto a pad, and along with four armed security officers, beamed out together.

On the *Resurrection* in orbit above Cardassia Prime, the detail was met with just the transporter chief. With two of his escorts leading the way and two behind him, Tajel was taken straight to the Resurrection's dimly lit brig. He knew he was on a small ship as it was a short walk and his cell just barely fit the bed, a sink, and a waste recycler. But he was pretty sure this was just temporary until he was offloaded at a starbase of some sort to await trial.

"Can I get something to eat and drink?" he asked just as the forcefield was activated across his doorway.

The two guards just looked at him without a word and walked away, either ignoring his request or not wanting to acknowledge him at all. The light within the cell was on full brightness in contrast to the rest of the brig. His escorts faded into the darkness with the outer door swishing close with finality. They had left the cuffs on him.

He sat down on the single grey mattress bunk, staring dejectedly at his cuffs and what they stood for him now. His Starfleet career was most certainly over before it barely began. But his thoughts always quickly switched to what his father's reaction would be when he finds out.

Jahkar had never understood him in the first place. Not since he was a boy. In fact, the Marine hadn’t really understood him or his mother, the whole reason their relationship fell apart was Jahkar’s inability to listen and understand. He only understood two things -- honor and fighting.

His mother had wanted for the four of them to just settle down on Bajor and enjoy a normal lifestyle, but Jahkar couldn’t leave his precious Marine Corps. Then he decided he and Ilia were not good together and they divorced -- just like that.

The kicker came after the divorce, when Dara Ilia died and Jahkar, the martyr, sacrificed his career and left active duty to take a training job on Earth. Tajel knew Jahkar resented him and his sister for leaving him in that position. He gave up nearly 20 good years that he could have been out in the field. A part of Tajel was happy they had forced him to give up the very thing he’d left his mother for...his fighting career.

But soon, Tajel knew he’d have to face Jahkar and he was not looking forward to it. He grimaced at his demise, and how he came to be in this position that will no doubt throw dishonor and disrespect in his stepfather's face. In fact, he was more fearful of that confrontation than a JAG tribunal.

Still, maybe this was his chance to finally show Jahkar what he was really about. That he stood for something, that he had beliefs of his own that didn’t necessarily belong to Daddy Jarhead. He heard a door swish open outside as someone entered the small brig. "Food and drink for the prisoner."

"Which one?" the brig chief asked.

"The second one. And please activate the COS (cone of silence) on the other cell."

"Aye. Go ahead, Commander."

Tajel closed his eyes and tilted his head back while taking a deep breath of dread. He didn't have to peer out into the darkness to see who it was. He already recognized the woman's voice. He didn't expect this different sort of confrontation so soon.

Mayla relinquished her sidearms to the brig chief before walking over to the cell with a tray of food held with one hand against her hip. Illuminated from his cell, she stood in front of the doorway to see him seemingly meditating on his bed. She knew him better than that. He never meditated.

"You're in a pretty deep well of trouble."

With his eyes still closed, he took another deep breath. "I know."

"You want to tell me about it?" She asked, pressing the access code on the keypad to release the forcefield.

Now he opened his eyes to see the tray of food she had. "You trying to butter me up?"

She stepped in and the forcefield reactivated behind her. "DO I need to butter you up? Or will you just tell me everything without having to get my Draconian needles?" She put down the tray beside him on the bunk and released his cuffs with her security access, but she didn't put them away. She leaned up against the cell wall and just dangled them in her hand.

He rubbed his wrists for a few moments before tackling the food. He almost smirked because she WAS trying to butter him up with a few of his favorite dishes. Even though they were from the replicator.

"How did you come to be here?" he asked, after several mouthfuls and a long pull from the cup.

"You are now in the custody of Starfleet Intelligence, Ensign. And I'm using that rank rather loosely right now. First duty posting after graduation and you're already being charged with treason. I'd say you've been pretty busy. I'm here because I happen to be on the detail to wring out whatever information you have on this Sabka Drajal you were so enamored with like a child." She tried to keep the reprimanding tone out of her voice. After all, Tajel was almost two years older than she was.

"You don't need to lecture to me, I'm sure I'll get that from my father." He tried to say with a sneer but ended up nearly choking with dread instead. He hadn't meant for her to receive a backhanded remark like that about his stepfather. She had always been patient and understanding with him. At the very least she tried to be fair about it. Childhood friends they were, and in some people's books, that meant for something at least.

"Then start from the beginning, and don't leave out any details. No matter how small." She took out a small PADD from her pocket and began recording.

The half Bajoran/Cardassian began to explain how he’d met this woman, Sabka, during his time working with the Cardassian Relief, years before he entered Starfleet Academy. They had been close, working in refugee camps helping Cardassians displaced by the war.

He learned from her that there was a movement among some of the relief volunteers, a movement to undermine the occupation of the Cardassian Union. A group devoted to forcing the Federation and its allies to finish their work in Cardassian territory and then leave so life could return to normal.

When Tajel went to the academy, he spent all his free time volunteering with the relief organizations and frequently met up with Sabka, who told him of her adventures with the Anti-Occupation movement. After he graduated and sought a posting with Starfleet in Cardassian space, he ended up with a position among Captain Melfis’ staff,  his experience as a relief worker helping him find a job in logistics.

Once he landed that job, Sabka reappeared in his life and just when things seemed to be going great, she told him the Anti-Occupation Movement needed his help -- access codes to get a team of their people into a former Cardassian weapons depot on Torros III where Starfleet was hoarding supplies that were supposed to go to the remaining refugee camps on the outskirts of the Cardassian Union. Sabka and her friends just needed the codes to get into the base and steal the supplies -- food and medicine for sick and hungry refugees.

Then she asked if he could get data that would help with a POW rescue mission into Breen space -- 23 Cardassian officers who were abandoned there after the war who were still being held by the Breen. Tajel tried but wasn't able to get anything truly helpful for that task. It was after he failed to provide anything useful for them that Sabka disappeared.

"And in all those years you never noticed anything out of the ordinary with her? Like she was a fanatical terrorist?" Mayla blurted out blatantly. "Or were you just thinking with another organ all the time?"

He just shrugged and shook his head. He knew this looked very bad on him.

Now she sighed with a bit of sympathy and frustration at the naivete of her friend. Maybe Sabka was that good of an operative to get Tajel so attracted to her to use him that way. It's been done before throughout history. It's brought down kingdoms and empires behind the falsehood of love.

"I'm sure you've already been told of the charges against you." Mayla said, changing the subject seeing that he probably felt bad enough already to be made a fool. "And I'm sure you've already been told how she used that information you gave her for acts of terrorism that had nothing to do with the Anti-Occupation Movement."

Tajel took one last draw from his cup and pushed his tray aside. "I have been informed." His tone became monotone, perhaps trying to hide whatever shame he may feel.

"I'm going to need the names of everyone you've ever come into contact with, including everyone in the Anti-Occupation Movement. Anyone who Sabka has ever interacted with. And any opinions or suspicious actions she may have taken or said within your presence or without." She pulled out an empty padd from another pocket and placed it on the bed. "I need to know everything, lives depend on it. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." He said, not touching the padd. He sat back in his bed and leaned up against the cold wall, feeling the low vibration from the engines. "That's several years worth."

"Then get started. You're not going anywhere." They both stayed silent for a minute or two, drifting in the silence they used in the past to convey several nonverbal thoughts to each other. But the silence this time spoke of the now growing chasm between them as they both are now living with their own lives and beliefs.

"At best, you'll go to prison for this. If they pin all those deaths on your direct actions, you'll get life without parole, and maybe permanent solitary confinement. And you would have failed in helping anyone but yourself into imprisonment."

"You're all heart." He grumbled. "Maybe you can come visit me."

"I wish you had talked with someone outside that world before you did this." She said with a wistful tone.

"Who? My father? You? Both of you would have told me I was out of my mind."

"You could have talked with ANYONE not involved with the Movement. Even Kedanya. Tajel, when you surround yourself with only people with like minded beliefs, you close yourself into a tunnel and can't see the forest for the trees." Mayla's voice grew in volume and urgency. "Talking with someone not connected gives you a perspective to help you see if you are on the path you want to walk."

Tajel scoffed. "Then you better have a talk with Tylin."

The comment surprised her. "What about Tylin?"

"He talked to me about some anti-Federation sentiments he had while at the Academy. He wanted to leave the Academy and go to Draconis to support secession from the Federation."

Mayla looked to one side querying in her eyes her watchdogs on Draconis IV for her brother's whereabouts. He was still on the planet and there was visual confirmation. "So that's what he's doing there. But at least he had the common sense to leave Starfleet before acting on his beliefs as a Federation citizen."

"You mean run away from Starfleet."

The comment stung her. What Tajel actually meant was Tylin was running away from the Starfleet legacy in her family. "I'll deal with Tylin soon enough." She walked over and picked up his now empty food tray. "If there's any more information you have about Sabka Drajal or her brothers, you tell us. We're trying to prevent them from maybe killing millions more people."

She heard a sudden gasp at the comment. "Millions...more?"

Mayla stopped short at the doorway. "They destroyed the Breen homeworld with a planetary weapon. Millions, if not billions, have died. And one of her brothers just tried to set off a bomb to kill everyone in the Council Chambers here in Central Command."

He shook his head. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"No, you probably didn't. But there it is. That's the situation we're in now and we're trying to stop them from doing any more harm," she said sadly and let out a sigh. "That's enough for now. Get started on that padd. We can talk more later. If you want."

"Where are we going now?"

Mayla deactivated the forcefield. "I don't know yet. But you should be more concerned about what is going to happen to you right now. There's someone else here who wants to speak with you."

Jahkar stepped into view, obviously standing there just beyond view and listened to their whole conversation. Tajel groaned audibly. Mayla stepped out of the cell and put a gentle hand on Jahkar's arm. "Please don't kill him."

Jahkar looked at her and gave a snort, “Kill him? What’s the use? If he keeps going like this he’ll end up dead anyway.”

Mayla shot him a stare, “Come on.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jahkar said. “I won’t kill him.”

She left and Jahkar walked into the cell. From the edge of his bunk, Tajel looked up at him. Jahkar studied him for a long time and couldn’t help but recognize that annoyed look he used to get as a boy when he really didn’t want to hear what Jahkar had to say.

“Go ahead, say it,” Tajel said. “Tell me how bad of a screw up I am and how much I’ve embarrassed you and soiled your honor.”

Jahkar looked at him still, saying nothing until he finally shook his head, “You haven’t embarrassed me. You’ve embarrassed yourself. Worse, you have left a stain on the career, record, and good name of your mother, Dara Ilia.”

“That was a low blow,” Tajel muttered, not expecting that sort of attack by his stepfather. It truly stung.

“So is what you did, Tajel,” Jahkar said. “My advice for you is to cooperate with the JAG officers on whatever kind of deal they offer you. The way I have it figured you’re looking at life in prison. Fortunately for you, they abolished the death sentence for treason about 100 years ago.”

“Seriously?” Tajel asked, mouth agape.

“Yes, seriously,” Jahkar growled. “This is all the rise you’ll get out of me. I am done playing this game of 'what kind of trouble can Tajel get himself into today? What will he do next to lash out at his stepfather?' You made this bed, you’ll lie in it, Tajel. Help us and maybe JAG will take some kind of mercy on you. But me...I’m all done with trying to help you, to nurture you and to guide you in the world. You are on your own. Good luck.”

Commander Mayla Vree and Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*, in orbit around Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2108.24

Tajel jumped up off the bunk he was seated on and came at Jahkar as he walked away. Jahkar sensed him coming, turned and faced the young man. The half-Cardassian/Bajoran stared into his stepfather’s eyes and glared, rage boiling beneath his veneer.

“To Hell with you, Jahkar!” he barked. “I knew you wouldn’t support me. You never have. You didn’t support my decision to be a relief volunteer during the occupation, you didn’t support me having anything to do with Cardassia or my people! I’m in serious trouble, and you’re just going to walk away from me?”

Jahkar paused and considered the young man for a moment, then shook his head. “I didn’t support it because I had a feeling you’d get yourself in trouble. And you have, more than once. Besides that, your mother wanted you raised Bajoran. She tried to keep you from your Cardassian side because she knew how Cardassians are!”

“Oh! What? All Cardassians are evil and sadistic monsters? My father was, yes. I know that. But not all of them are!” Tajel muttered.

“I am not saying that, but I know many can be,” Jahkar said. “It’s not that I’m turning my back on you, son. I just don’t know what else to do. Everything I have tried to do to reach you, to support you, to guide you since you were a child has failed. This….this is huge. I can’t help you get out of this, Tajel. All I can suggest is you cooperate fully and hope JAG is willing to take that into consideration.”

Tajel continued to direct a cold stare at Jahkar, “I am cooperating. And don’t call me your son, because you aren’t my dad. You never have been and never will be.”

Jahkar nodded, “You’re right. I’m just the guy who raised you while your real father was hellbent on murdering you and your mother. I may have made mistakes, Tajel, but all I ever had was your best interests in mind. And after your mom died, you went against me over everything I tried to do to get close to you, to support you and to offer you guidance. I used to think I had to tell you to do the opposite to get you to do what I wanted you to do.

“I may not be your real dad, but I was there for you as much as I could be. I made sure we stayed together. It might not have always been easy, or ideal, or the way you wanted it to be, but it was the best I could do,” he said. “It was more than I ever had growing up in terms of a father. But I guess it wasn’t good enough for you.

“We’ll be wanting to have that word with you later...or should I say you’ll be interrogated,” he told the young ensign. “You might want to start thinking about what information you can give us, because we’re going to want to know everything about your friends with the Sons of Cardassia. And I suggest you don’t hold back...the better the information, the better your chance of coming out of this will be.”

Jahkar left his son's cell and reactivated the forcefield. When he got to the door to exit the Brig, he saw Mayla waiting for him in the shadows. She gestured for him to leave first while she followed him out.

"I have to say, your relationship with him hasn't improved much over the years." Mayla said quietly as they walked.

Jahkar fumed a bit inside. If it were anyone else saying that to him, he would have taken off their head. "It was like that even before Ilia died."

"I have a few memories of her," Mayla said slowly. In fact, she had all of Ky's memories of her. "She was a kind hearted, passionate woman who wanted a peaceful settled life. Kyril always thought she should have been in a different line of work. At least not one where working in the shadows gave her nightmares."

Jahkar nodded, “Our time together was great and I loved her, but she wanted things to be different. She wanted a different life for us and I...for lack of a better term...freaked out. In some ways I have always felt like if I had stayed with her and settled down, she wouldn’t have taken the command offered to her at Apachok Nor and she wouldn’t be dead now.”

"Yes, there is that," she said thoughtfully. "Every decision we make at the time to the best of our ability can never decide on the final outcome fate has in store."

He stared down at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means sometimes our decisions don't take us down the road we hoped to find ourselves walking on." She had a tone of...something in her voice that told Jahkar she wasn't just only talking about Dara Ilia.

"That's enough of that," he grunted, understanding Mayla's cryptic way of conveying certain perspectives. "Tajel made foolish decisions based on his hormones."

"Tajel made decisions based on the lack of support he received mentally and emotionally from his family." She said. Now they stopped in the middle of the corridor to the turbolift.

Jahkar crossed his arms. "Look, I know he confides in you more than he does me. But all of this resulted in 14 murdered Starfleet personnel and treason. There's no coming back from that."

"I disagree." Mayla said bluntly.

"Why? I've done more for him than any stepfather would have done. I didn't just let the system take him to raise. And I didn't teach him to commit treason or murder!"

Mayla looked to one side as if feeling a pain in her heart. "McCulloch gave the order to kill Bravo Squad. Kyril still hasn't forgiven him for that despite not killing him when he had the chance. And I know Kindred won't ever forget the knife going through her, nearly killing her. But here he is, working with us, hopefully a changed man. So you're telling me that Tajel can't come back from this one act than McCulloch giving the order to kill my father's team? McCulloch's decision was personal. Tajel was an unwitting accomplice."

Jahkar continued walking and just shook his head. "That's not the way JAG will see it."

"Is this how you see this playing out for him?" she asked. "And if he goes to prison, will you visit? Or do you want us to break him out?"

That stopped Jahkar in his tracks. "What? Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, he's my friend. He's your son, despite what he says. It's not like we don't have a former escapee working with us now." She said with a slight smile, clearly referring back to William McCulloch again.

Jahkar shook his head. "You know, sometimes you say the strangest, out-of-this-universe things."

"Well, just saying, that's all." Mayla let the thought sit with him for a few moments before changing the subject back to the here and now. "How would Dara handle this situation between you and him?"

They entered the turbolift before Jahkar smirked and gave Mayla a wry look, “She would have broken him out, whether it cost her career or not.” The smile then faded, “I won’t lie. Less than one minute after they told us Tajel was involved in the Torros III attack I was already considering the possibility of breaking him out...if it came down to it. If I decide to break him out, I don’t want the rest of you involved, Mayla. I don’t want anyone else to risk their lives or careers.”

Mayla was about to object and Jahkar held up a finger and gave her a stern look, like she was eight years old again. “I know you’re his friend. I couldn’t bear knowing you sacrificed your career helping me do something illegal. You are far more important to the future of this organization and to the Federation than an old Marine who’s best days are probably behind him.”

He sighed and looked down, “As far as how I see this going, it doesn’t look good. Life in prison for certain if he can’t work out a deal. If he has information, something modest that at least helps us, maybe 20-25 years. If, somehow, he is sitting on the biggest bit of information that will crack this case wide open and hand us the SOC, he could end up with 5-10 years. But it would have to be the lynchpin to cracking the Sons of Cardassia and putting an end to them -- and I doubt they have confided that level of information with him. They used him and certainly didn’t want him to take anything useful back to his Starfleet masters.”

"Unless we use him as some sort of bait." Mayla said thoughtfully. "If we can somehow make him important enough to draw them back out, even if it's Sabka, it could get us somewhere."

"You're thinking of including him on the mission," he said, already seeing where she was going with it. Just like her father, he had always used whatever assets he had available to him. Even if it's to create some confusion in the enemy.

"If we can suppress the news of his arrest, we can make it look like he was working undercover."

Jahkar sighed at the thought of bringing in his son to work with the team. "I have doubts."

"It's a stretch, but any bit of doubt we can put into the SOC-"

"I have doubts in Tajel's abilities."

Mayla stepped out of the lift and took a deep breath. "I think your doubt is not in his abilities, but in his judgement. He's a Starfleet officer. Though his judgement with Sabka was flawed, he went through the Academy like everyone else. We can expect him to be at least that."

Jahkar gave it some thought and grudgingly nodded. "You going to talk to Lazarus about it?"

"I'll talk to him about it. If he agrees, it will be up to you to train him and bring him up to speed. And to make it less awkward for the both of you, I'll make it voluntary for the rest of the Team to attend. But I will be there for certain. I need to get a feel of his physical and technical abilities in the field."

"I don't know if Tajel is going to like that. He's always been resistant to that part of my life."

Mayla looked at him sternly. "I won't give him a choice. And maybe, he'll get a different perspective on what you've done for him, and for the Federation."

Jahkar harumphed. "One can only hope. He's as stubborn as-"

"As his stepfather." Mayla jumped in.

"Colonel Jahkar, are you ready for a session with the prisoner?" McCulloch's voice came over the comm system.

Jahkar tapped his badge. "I'm on my way." Then he gave Mayla a glance before heading back to the brig. "Let me know what Lazarus decides."

Mayla watched him reenter the turbolift and waited for the door to close before heading to the infirmary to check on Charatetet's status.

Commander Mayla Vree and Commander Victoria Smith

Infirmary, *USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.25

She made her way to the infirmary a minute after Jahkar entered the turbolift. Jahkar had to be careful or else Tajel could make things worse for himself just to spite his stepfather. Her thoughts quickly turned to her younger brother Tylin and his own decision to abandon a Starfleet life to adopt an anti-Federation sentiment. An adept faction on Draconis IV began protesting against their government's involvement during the Dominion War. After a history of violence, the now peaceful people focused on medicines and healing as their main focus after learning a difficult lesson in eugenics perversion.

The Infirmary doors swished opened and Ra'yral filled the doorway. He gave her a very correct salute, which meant he was either irritated with her (unlikely), or wanted very badly to ask permission for something (much more likely).

"Commander, the doctor has informed me that Reepchip will need a full medical bay for follow up treatment. I am requesting he be transferred to the Fearless as soon as possible."

Mayla glanced over to the muran still lying on the med bed, his vital signs already appearing in her eyes. "I'll make the request. I'll ask the good doctor to have him ready."

“Thank you.  Ensign Charatetet has also asked that I join him on the Fearless.”

Commander Vree shook her head.  “I still need you here, Lieutenant.  This mission is not over.”

Ra'yral stepped aside and gave her another salute. "Very well."

When the Carnora left and the door closed behind her, Victoria stepped in front of the commander, folded her arms and cocked her right eyebrow as she studied the Trill.

“Let me guess, you’d like to borrow some of our medical equipment to perform open-heart surgery on yourself?”

Mayla didn't look at her but at the med bed. "Not this time. Ra'yral just informed me that Charatetet needs to be transferred to the Fearless. How long do you expect him to be over there to recover? We are still on a mission."

“The EMH and I suggested the transfer for follow up treatment.” The nurse reported as she glanced back at the Muran. “The ensign was banged up badly, but we were able to patch him back up….for the most part.”

“For the most part?” Vree replied.

“He has partial paralysis in his right hip, leg and tail. The EMH believes it is temporary and wants him transferred to the Fearless for follow up treatment. The most likely scenario is the doctors onboard that ship attach neurological stimulation devices to his leg, hip and base of his tail to force the injured nerves to work and heal further.”

Victoria watched as Mayla digested the prognosis. Before the Trill could speak, Smith continued, knowing what was going to be asked.

“What happens if the stimulation therapy doesn't work?” Smith asked before answering. “The EMH and I believe the ensign will be looking at further surgery that will involve replacing the damaged nerves with replicated ones. If that happens and it works, his time of recovery will be longer. If that doesn’t work then it’s likely his career as an operative is over.”

Mayla continued to stare at Charatetet, and giving her a slow nod. "I'll have to inform the Captain. Chances are, he's going to have to stay on the Fearless to recuperate until we can meet up with them again to get him back."

She gave him a tightlipped look. "You already think we're going to be deployed?"

Now Mayla looked away from the Muran and shook her head. "I don't know."

Victoria eyed Mayla briefly before leaning in towards the Trill and whispering “Be careful. Please.”

Colonel Jahkar

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.25

As McCulloch worked his way towards the brig, he couldn’t help but feel sorrow for Jahkar’s stepson. He had been through a similar experience, which led to a court martial and imprisonment on Severus IV. The last thing he wished on anyone, especially Tajel, was to experience the same hardships and misery he had experienced years ago.

“Your thoughts on a course of action?” Jahkar asked.

The Scot remained silent for a moment, still reflecting on Tajel’s fate.

“Lieutenant Commander?” Jahkar repeated as he tried to get McCulloch’s attention.

“Sorry, sir. There’s just been a lot to take in over these past few hours.”

“Is Ged going to talk?”

“He will.” Will conceded. “He’s deathly afraid of me and what I could do to him.”

“Well, you did pin him to a wall.”

“And…” McCulloch hesitated for a moment before continuing. “And I may have revealed one of my previous code names to him in the heat of the moment.”

Jahkar stopped in his tracks momentarily. “You did what?!?”

“One of my previous missions may have caused fear amongst the populace of a certain Cardassian province. “I may have mentioned my role and code name when I….ummm...pinned him.”

“Par for the course with this mission so far,” Jahkar muttered. “So what do you recommend now?”

“We need to keep him in fear of me, force him to reveal everything he knows, and then save his ass.” McCulloch noted as his attention returned to Ged.

“Are you going to hurt him?”

“No. But follow my lead. I’m going to scare the ever-living #$%^ out of him.”

As the pair started to enter the brig, McCulloch stopped and turned to the Marine.

“Sir, if there is anything I can do for Tajel, please let me know. I’ve been down this ugly road and it is not a pleasant journey. I will support you and Tajel in any capacity I can. If you even want me to talk to him to discuss what he can expect, I am willing to do that.”

Jahkar frowned and looked down, averting his eyes from McCulloch, “Tajel is on his own. If you want to speak with him go ahead.” He then added with an afterthought, “Just try not to stick him to a wall, OK?”

McCulloch smirked slightly. “No guarantees sir but I’ll do my best.”

The two security guards were standing across the room from Ged, who was inside a holding cell. He was lying on a bed and staring up at the ceiling. He glanced over and yawned at McCulloch.

Jahkar motioned for one of the guards to activate the COS.

The Scot quickly crossed the room, dropped the containment field, seized the boy by his shirt, hauled him up to his feet, and tossed against the wall. When Ged landed on his feet, the Scot manhandled him again and tossed him onto the bed.

Jahkar stood back and did not intervene. McCulloch apparently knew what he was doing, so he decided to let him go...for now.

Will wiped his mouth with his hand, retrieved a nearby padd, and started tapping it. After a moment of awkward silence, he held the device up. It displayed Ged’s mother, then his father, and finally his two sisters. A thin smile spread across McCulloch’s face.

“I now know who your parents and siblings are and where they are currently located. It didn’t take much after what you told the Trill. Maybe I’ll pay them a visit?”

Ged shook his head rapidly in the negative.

“This is what is going to happen, Ged...if you want to see your parents or your sisters ever again, you’re going to answer every &^%$ing question we ask of you. I promise you I will mount you to the nearest wall by your Cardassian balls if you hesitate. Am I clear?”

The Marine couldn’t help but think maybe this was the type of treatment his stepson needed. He would keep McCulloch in mind if they needed to wring information out of the young ensign.

McCulloch eyed Ged coldly. “Let’s start with Sharr Ghaik. We want as much information as you have on that son of a b^&\*%^. Where he lives, the school he teaches at, his family, and who else of your friends he started to recruit. Enter it on the PADD now.”

It took Ged about ten minutes to complete the request. He put the PADD down on a nearby table and looked over at Jahkar.

“Once Sharr Ghaik recruited you, where did he take you?” The marine asked softly, trying to take a different approach than McCulloch’s.

“It was off-planet. I think it was an abandoned Cardassian station.”

“Think harder.” McCulloch barked. “How long did it take you to get to the station? Who was with you and who took custody of you when you arrived?”

“I was blindfolded for the entire trip to the station.” Ged conceded. “I think it was a day’s trip to where we ended up.”

“Describe the station if you can.” Jahkar pressed.

“One of our trainers mentioned that it had been used for mining operations at one point.”

“Nor Class.” Jahkar noted.

“Do they even have any other kind?” McCulloch asked with a hint of curiosity.

“Who did you report directly to while at this station?” The marine asked a follow-up question.

“Jurvet Zer.”

“Who is he?” Will demanded.

“He trained me in advanced hacking techniques.”

“What about military training?” Jahkar asked. “You had to have received some military training.”

“I received some, but not much. Most of the time, they pushed me to hone my hacking skills.”

“What were you being trained to hack?” McCulloch demanded with a hiss.

“Military firewalls, network grids, medical facilities and communication networks,” Ged answered calmly, trying to focus on Jahkar rather than McCulloch.

“Tell us about your military training … who trained you?” Jahkar asked as he softened his tone slightly.

“Thren Trac and Dojeet Pec. They were training me how to use Dominion weapons.”

“Describe the training to me.” McCulloch asked as he studied Ged.

“Most of the time the pair beat me.” The teen sadly announced as he looked down towards the floor in shame.

“Oh ^%$# Ged.” Will muttered, his demeanor quickly changing.

“Sometimes, they used me to train their operatives. I would play the role of hostage, innocent bystander and enemy combatant. It always ended in my being assaulted”

“This all took place on the space station?” Will asked. Inside he felt vile and dirty for treating Ged the way he was.

The teenager nodded in silence.

“Describe the weapons they trained you with.” Jahkar inquired.

“Mostly Jem’Hadar disruptor pistols but they also taught me how to use plasma grenades.”

“What did they teach you to do with the grenades?” Jahkar demanded.

“How to kill ourselves and take as many opponents with us as possible,” Ged admitted as he started to cry. “The rest of the time, they kept pumping us with propaganda about how we were helping to restore Cardassia.”

“You didn’t like that, did you Ged.” The marine inquired as he continued to study the teen.

“No, I realized very quickly I wanted to go home, but Thren told me I could never return home to my family. Not until the glory of Cardassia was restored.” Ged announced as he continued to sob. After a moment of trying to regain his composure, he gestured towards McCulloch. “Like the Hunter here, Thren threatened to kill my family if I didn’t do my duty. I had no choice.”

Will softly cursed under his breath. Jahkar was eying the Scot carefully.

Jahkar looked at Will, “Hunter? Well, I guess you are as ruthless as they said you were.”

McCulloch nodded slightly in agreement. Briefly reflecting upon his time both with Kane’s Mercenaries and as a freelance operative, the Scot knew he had committed acts that would have made even the most hardened soldier shudder. Will shook his head quickly and returned his attention back to the Cardassian boy.

“Ged, do you know where they got the Dominion weapons and equipment?” McCulloch asked as he retrieved a glass of water from a nearby replicator and handed it to Ged.

“No. I honestly don’t. I thought they were leftovers from the occupation.” The teen replied as he gulped down the water and handed the glass back to the Scot.

“Anything else you want to tell us?” Jahkar asked.

The Cardassian teen eyed the pair for a moment before retrieving the padd he had used earlier. He quickly keyed a code into the device and showed it to the marine.

“This is the common back-end algorithm I used when I was concealing my partner’s tracks during cyberattacks. If you come across this specific code, then you know the Sons of Cardassia have breached your system.”

“Anything else?” McCulloch asked.

“Can I see my mother?”

“Aye, we’ll see what we can do.” Will quietly answered.

“Will you harm my family?” Ged demanded of the Scot.

“No. I was never going to harm your family Ged.”McCulloch conceded. “If anything, I want … we want … to protect them.”

The Cardassian boy studied McCulloch for a moment. “But you are the Hunter.”

The Scot ignored the question.

“What happens next?” Ged asked.

“We’ll know what happens to you soon enough.” The marine answered.

“There’s one more thing you should know.” The Cardassian volunteered.

“Go on.” Will answered cautiously.

“When we would have Sons of Cardassia rallies on board the station, I kept hearing the word ‘trilogy’ or ‘trinity’ being mentioned several times. I don’t know exactly what it meant other than the attack against the Breen homeworld was just the beginning of something larger.”

A chill went up the Scot’s spine. There was a moment of silence as the questioning came to an end. Jahkar directed the two guards to watch the teenager and treat him humanely.

As McCulloch and Jahkar left the brig, the Scot stopped and looked back towards Ged. The teenager studied the Scot in silence before looking away and wiping his eyes. A sense of sadness once again overcame Will.

Jahkar looked over at Will, “You OK? Sounds like the Cardassians did a number on that kid.”

Will sighed softly. After regaining his composure, he looked over at the Colonel. “I’m sorry sir, but after all these many years of working in the shadows, seeing children being used as pawns sickens me.”

Jahkar nodded, “Agreed. One more reason to bring these Sons of Cardassia to an end. Let’s go report to Commander Vree and tell her what we can about Ged.”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.29

Lazarus was on the bridge as Mayla Vree arrived. He turned in his chair and welcomed her with a nod.

“Commander,” he said. “I would like you to pick a couple of your people to accompany down to Cardassia Prime in the morning.”

Mayla gave a scowl, “You’re going to the surface? What for?”

“Paying a visit to Mr. Garak,” Quentin said.

“You know him?”

Lazarus gave a nod, “We had dealings, back when I was a mercenary with Freelance Guns, Inc.”

“After the war? He was president then,” Vree queried.

“He hired us secretly to run a couple of missions covertly for him,” said Lazarus. “Strictly off the books.”

“What sort of missions? The Trill asked, eyebrow raised.

Lazarus pondered whether he should tell her the truth, but finally decided it was something that no longer would have bearing on anything, “He hired us to find a couple of Cardassian traitors who aided the Dominion during his time with the Resistance. They were set up as criminals, operating outside the Union in the Badlands. We found them and…well…we killed them.”

Vree was silent for a moment. He wasn’t sure if anyone else had heard, but decided it was a cold reality they’d all just have to deal with. There were a lot of things Lazarus had done over the years that he wasn’t necessarily proud of and wouldn’t tell anyone else about.

“So, pick who you’re sending and have them meet me in the transporter room at 0900.”

Captain Taryn Kane

*ISS Gambit*

Stardate 2108.29

Kane guided the ship through the process of making the jump from the Mirror Universe back to their own universe in the Terran Empire. Only she and Durham knew the trick to pilot the ship through from one universe to the other and they had every reason to keep it that way. No reason just anyone should be able to make that journey whenever they felt like it.

For Taryn, jumping through rifts in space and time was nothing new. She had come from the Terran Empire’s past, the ship she served aboard, the *ISS Bozeman*, had gotten caught in a time rift while fighting a group of Klingon ships in 2278 and ended up being cast into the 24th century.

The crew of the *Bozeman* were captured, arrested and detained by the crew of a Klingon-Cardassian Alliance warship. They had arrived in a time where the Terran Empire had been defeated and was now ruled by the Klingons and Cardassians.  The Klingons who captured the *Bozeman* and her crew executed Captain Morgan Bateson for war crimes they said he committed 100 years earlier and sent the rest of the crew -- Kane included -- to the gulag on Rura Penthe.

After a couple of years, Kane and some of the Bozeman crew escaped and ended up joining the Terran Resistance. Kane excelled here and eventually rose through the ranks, ascending to command within the organization.

She helped Lars Naakon and Erik Jaegar along with the rest of the resistance defeat the Klingons and Cardassian and then helped re-establish the Terran Empire. She saw the tables turn when Naakon was double-crossed and murdered by Jaegar and joined him, rather than be put to death as a traitor. Secretly, she had conspired for years with other Naakon loyalists to someday oust Jaegar from power.

With the plan she, Durham and Thompson had hatched, she hoped they would soon be able to rid the empire of Jaegar and she could take her place on the throne.

Once the Gambit had crossed over to Terran space, Kane sighed in relief and gave the helm over to Ensign Dahrt. She stepped away from the controls and turned toward the bridge doors, “Take us into Terran orbit. Hail Imperial Command to inform them of our return, then await orders. I will be in my quarters.”

Lt. Commander Daryl “The Hand” Thompson

*ISS Gambit*

Stardate 2108.29

As the ISS Gambit moved into orbit of Terra, as Earth was called in this universe, Thompson stood ready on the bridge, just behind the Captain’s chair. He wore a standard Terran uniform, with Terran logo, the Earth with the Sword. As he was “The Hand:, the logo had hand holding the sword, making him stand out against the rest of the crew.

Daryl exhaled slowly and silently. While he had enough training with all his years of SO training to impersonate someone else, impersonating himself but from a different universe felt fairly odd. Well, all he could was get the job done and survive. He pushed away the thoughts and focused on the big screen as the Ops officer opened a channel to the Emperor’s Citadel which was in orbit of Terra.

The screen flashed once, and Emperor Jaeger appeared on screen.

“Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empire!” Thompson exclaimed, while he greeted Jaegar, moving his right fist to the left part of his chest, then extending his arm parallel to the floor.

Everyone on the bridge followed his example, and Jaegar nodded slowly, pleased by this display of loyalty.

"It is a pleasure to see you all back. Welcome home. " Jaegar spoke, as he looked around the bridge. As he eyed Daryl, he nodded slightly, almost respectful "Welcome back, Hand. Good to see you returned..." Jaeger said. Daryl nodded back, feeling just slightly uncomfortable.

"Join me for dinner" Jaeger continued. "Bring Kane and Durham along. We have a lot to talk about. " Of course. " Daryl replied, and without further ado, the screen went black as the communication was cut off.

Daryl exhaled. That didn't go too bad.

Back to top

## S4, E1, Act 2: Redemption

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.29

Mayla just gave the captain a nod as she had already decided during the debriefing that those who knew Garak should be the ones to pay him a visit. "Aye, Jahkar, McCulloch, and I will accompany you. We could all use new suits. Especially you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just saying." Mayla said. She was in a cryptic mood ever since talking with Tajel. Just then Jahkar walked onto the Bridge and reported what Ged had revealed to him.

"That's good information to know before we meet with Garak."

Jahkar gave Mayla a questioning look. "We are?"

"And McCulloch."

"As civilians?"

"Not officially Starfleet officers," Lazarus said.

"What's the difference?"

Mayla scoffed. "Civilians on a mission."

"Okay." Jahkar said, not understanding entirely. This sounded like some inside joke he didn't understand. "No weapons then."

"We'll be getting fitted for suits." Mayla said. "We don't want to spook him. And I'll bet he has his shop set up to detect any weapons that enter anyway."

"And maybe even shield generators to defend against any bombardment from orbit." Lazarus added. He gave her a nod. "Alright, the four of us then. Be in the transporter room tomorrow morning at 0900."

"One more thing," Mayla added. "Charatetet needs a full medical bay for further treatment. Permission to have him beamed over to the *Fearless* for the time being. And Ra'yral wants to go with him until we depart for our next mission."

"I'll allow it. Only until we leave. If the Muran needs additional care, he stays on the Fearless until we meet up with her again."

"Affirmative." Mayla said.

Captain Vehakra Rhikal

Admiral Ian MacLeod

*USS Fearless-A*

Stardate 2108.29

*Fearless* dropped out of slipstream and made its approach at Cardassia Prime. The ship, equipped with the latest faster than light drive available in Starfleet was still 16 hours behind the Resurrection. Captain Rhikal was amazed the smaller ship could jump from one place to another so quickly.

“It would be nice if we could get one of those coaxial drives, admiral,” Rhikal said the MacLeod as he walked onto the bridge, the Cardassian homeworld appearing ahead on the holographic viewscreen.

MacLeod gave a snort, “Doubt that will happen anytime soon. They haven’t figured out how to make another one.”

Rhikal shot him a look of astonishment, “Why can’t they just build another?”

“Long story, captain,” MacLeod muttered. “Let *Resurrection* know we’re here. They’ll want to get Reepchip beamed over and I’d like to meet with Captain Lazarus at his earliest convenience.”

The Orion woman gave him a look of affirmation, “Ensign Ralston, send to command of Resurrection news of our arrival and the admiral’s orders.”

“Aye, captain,” Ralston replied from tactical.

MacLeod then turned and headed off to the transporter room to await Lazarus’ arrival.

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2108.29

“*Fearless* is ready to transport the ensign to its sickbay.” Fiadh announced as she looked over at Victoria.

The commander was packing medical devices as well as a trio of PADDs that contained data on Reepchip’s prognosis and surgery. Once finished she slung the travel case across her back, straightened her uniform and looked over at Reepchip.

“Are we ready to do this ensign?”

The Muran nodded quietly.

“Lieutenant Ryramorl will be joining us on board the Fearless momentarily,” Victoria assured Reepchip as she stepped next to him. “And I am confident the doctors will have you back in action sooner than you would like.”

“Lieutenant Gysyd Riisos will be beaming over from *Fearless* to assume your responsibilities in your absence?” Fiadh asked. The Orion nurse was Union 12’s second in command and had already been ordered by Smith to report to the Resurrection in her absence.

“He is expected to arrive as soon as I depart. Be on your best behavior Hannigan.” Victoria softly warned as she watched the Warrant Officer hand the Muran a pile of stickers as a parting gift.

The commander shook her head in disapproval before turning her attention back to the Muran. “Warrant Officer was a pediatric nurse before she joined Union 12. She hands out small gifts like stickers and balloons in an effort to lighten often serious and somber moods.”

“And it works quite well.” Fiadh quipped confidently before turning her attention to another task at hand.

Victoria tapped her comm badge. “Commander Smith to *Fearless*. Two to beam directly to sickbay.”

Seconds later, Victoria and Reepchip were enveloped in a bright, blue light.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2108.31

Reepchip chittered in confusion at the stickers.  The healing shamans back home would never do such a thing--if you were fortunate and they liked you, they might give you some tea to wash out the taste of whatever vile concoction they’d dreamed up--there’d long been rumours that they held competitions to see who could brew most foul-tasting potion.

Ryramorl arrived in the teleporter room shortly after and saluted Admiral MacLeod.  “Sir.  With Reepchip as badly injured as he is, I would like your healers to receive all medical information on Murans as they can from the Doctors of the Jova System. They’ll have the best information available.”

MacLeod bristled. “Starfleet should have had that information when Reepchip joined. This has been a bloody mess. See to it they get the information they require, lieutenant.”

“With all respect, sir, I think Reepchip was already in Starfleet Academy when we got those EMHs.”  He pondered a moment.  “Perhaps we should snarl at my people’s Healers as well.  They’re notorious for hiding knowledge so they can be seen as working miracles.”

After talking with the Admiral, Ryramorl headed off to Sickbay to check up on Reepchip.

Once there, he greeted Victoria, and asked her when she wanted to get the information from the Doctors of the Jova System.

“Now. We should retrieve that data now.” She replied as she gestured for the lieutenant to follow her to a secure location to retrieve the necessary data.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra'yral

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Resurrection*

Doctor of the Yardralla IV Colony (EMH Mark One)

Yardralla IV Colony, Arko System

Stardate 2109.01

In the boardroom of the USS Resurrection, Ryramorl instructed a comm officer how to contact the central database of the Doctors of the Jova System, which would cause one of the doctors to respond.  The holographic image came to life, and Victoria laid eyes on a shockingly ugly creature:  He(?) looked to be the same species of Ryramorl, but the earflaps were shriveled, the skin thick, leathery, and absolutely furless due to some sort of abuse.  She now saw what Ryramorl had meant by her skin being too soft.  The image started speaking in a growling language, then paused and spoke with unaccented Federation Standard, "Oh.  I'm talking to a Federation nurse."

The image promptly switched to the familiar face modelled on that of Doctor Louis Zimmerman. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"Greetings, Healer," said Ryramorl.  "There is a Muran aboard this ship who has suffered serious injuries, including nerve damage. Commander Smith requests a download of all physical knowledge accumulated by The Doctors."

"I'd also like all physiological information on... his type as well," said Victoria Smith, gesturing to Ryramorl.

The EMH looked Ryramorl over.  "Ah.  Olvern.  Plains variant.  Please stand by for transmission."

The conn officer got ready.  "Transmitting now.  Checking the transmission--it's good.  It's safe."

"I've included instruction on replicating Carnora organs and tissues using a genetronic replicator."

"And also the use of a nerve simulator?" asked Victoria.

"I advise against its use.  It doesn't seem to work properly on Carnora, especially Murans, and may cause the nerves to grow in unpredictable ways."

The nurse nodded in understanding before looking over at the comm officer.

"The information has been received, commander." He reported.

Victoria smiled confidently as she reviewed the newly obtained data on a padd. Once finished she looked up at Ryramorl. "Thank you, I am grateful for your assistance."

"What happens now?" the lieutenant asked as the pair exited the boardroom and started to make their way to sickbay.

"There will be another surgery so the grafted nerves can be replaced with replicated ones."

"Will you be assisting with the surgery?"

"Yes and no. The Fearless doctors and nurses will be conducting the surgery. However, Reepchip asked me to be there with him so my job will be to tend to his needs."

"Will a telepath be present?" Ryramorl asked as the pair rounded a corner in the corridor.

"Ensign Gace of Union 12 will join Reepchip in recovery. She is a Betazoid."

He nodded.  "Good.  Betazoids are the most compatible telepaths outside of the Carnora themselves," he said.

The lieutenant stopped momentarily and studied the nurse. After a brief pause, he asked "Will the surgery work?"

"It should and if successful our friend will be back with you sooner rather than later."

Ryramorl nodded slightly.  "I hope so," he said.  "The Chara tribe will skin me alive if I let him die."

When the pair arrived outside of sickbay, Victoria looked up at Ryramorl.  "Tell me, lieutenant, was Lieutenant Sh’avelith and I the first Andorian and Human to assist with a surgery on a Muran?"

"To this extent?  So far as I know. Carnora stay close to their own, especially when ill or injured."

The nurse heard the trill voice of Jiarin congratulating her on the accomplishment. Victoria stood up straight and displayed a slight air of confidence about her. She then bowed slightly towards Ryramorl. "Then I am honored to have assisted. I only hope we did enough to ensure his recovery."

He entered Sickbay, he knelt beside Reepchip.

"Reepchip, I will find out who did this to you," he said very softly in his own language.  "And this I vow--Head, Hide, Heart."

Reepchip smiled wanly and chittered.

Ryramorl then made sure the medical team had the replicator codes for the medicines they’d need, along with the specialized passwords.

Victoria watched the pair interact with each other as the Fearless medical team prepared for surgery. After about five minutes, the chief medical officer nodded to Victoria. She walked over and stood next to Reepchip and Ryramorl.

"Lieutenant, time to go." She whispered. As Ryramorl exited sickbay, the nurse turned her attention back to the Muran. She leaned towards her patient, winked and then smiled. "Alright Ensign, we ready to get this over with so we can get back out there to kick some a\*\*?"

Reepchip chittered and nodded.  Then he looked at the doctors, and quipped--”you sure I’m in good hands?  Because their skin is as smooth as yours.”  Reepchip twitched his whiskers in amusement at their looks before the doctor administered the drugs that put the Muran in a torpor.

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.07

As Ryramorl emerged from the medical bay, Tiri was there waiting for him. He stepped out and looked down at the shorter Andorian as she looked up at him and quietly offered him a gentle smile.

“Thought I’d wait out here for you,” she told him. “You know he’s in good hands. They’ll do everything they can to put him back together. I know he’ll be OK.”

Ryramorl nodded quietly.  “Do you know who thrashed him so?” he asked.  “Could you show his face to me, or better, his name?”

“Why?”

“I have promised Reepchip Head, Hide, and Heart.”

“Head, Hide, and Heart?”

Ryramorl almost looked puzzled that Tiri didn’t know the phrase.  “His attacker’s head for a footstool, hide for a garment, and heart for a meal,” explained the big Carnora.  “I’ll have to look into how to tan a Cardassian pelt, though…”

Tiri smiled nervously, “Um...I don’t know how to break this to you, lieutenant, but no one in Starfleet or Shadow Ops is going to condone you taking trophies from dead Cardassians. The Cardassian who nearly killed Reepchip was beamed out of the Central Command building when they bugged out. I don’t think I could even identify him if I were to see him again -- with the exception of the scar he likely has from your spear. I don’t really know what I can do in this matter.”

“...  A pity the Federation is so squeamish,” he rumbled.  “I’ll have to find out some other way--Maybe Commander Vree or Captain Lazarus can help me.”  It was hard to tell if he was joking or not.  “By the way, I wish to challenge you at targets sometime:  your crossbow vs. my spearthrower.”

Tiri chuckled, “Sure…but I don’t have a lot of experience with the crossbow. It was pretty easy to fire, that’s why I picked it for the mission, but I am not very proficient. So I’ll need a little time to practice my shot.”

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.07

Jahkar appeared at the door to Tajel’s cell in the brig of the *Resurrection*. Oddly, it was the same cell General Krang had occupied on his “visit” to the Spec Ops ship. Seeing the young half-Cardassian/Bajoran sitting on his bunk, head lowered, a worried look on his face gnawed at Jahkar’s insides.

He wanted to let him out, but he knew there was very little chance the young Starfleet officer would be released. What he had done was...unthinkable. Even if he didn’t mean for Starfleet personnel to be harmed, his actions had still cost lives.

Jahkar stood there almost 20 seconds, staring at the man he remembered right now only as a boy and slowly, Tajel finally looked up and saw the Marine standing there.

“Hey,” Jahkar said. “Did you get something to eat?”

Tajel nodded. He didn’t speak. His expression told Jahkar that the situation was finally starting to sink in. Tajel understood fully that he was in some major trouble.

“It’s late,” Tajel said. “I would have thought you’d be in bed.”

Jahkar gave him a stern look, “Not going to get much sleep. Figured I’d come have a talk with you. By the way, I’ve activated a recording device in the cell so our conversation is recorded holographically. I’m advising you of this because I’m going to ask you questions that will ultimately be turned over to my superiors and likely to Starfleet for your trial. If you don’t wish to talk or have this conversation recorded, you need to say so now.”

“Like, if I wanted my legal counsel present?” Tajel asked.

“Exactly,” Jahkar said.

“We’re just talking about what I know, what I can tell you about this Sons of Cardassia? Right?” the ensign asked.

Jahkar nodded, “I only care about what you can tell us about them,” Jahkar said. “I’ll leave the legal case to the professionals.”

"You can read about," he said and tossed a padd towards Jahkar on the bed. "Mayla told me to write down everything I know."

Jahkar ignored the PADD. "I want to hear you talk about it."

Tajel let out a frustrated sigh and sat up straight on the bunk. "Go ahead then."

Jahkar lowered himself to the floor outside the cell and sat on the deck in a seated position with both legs crossed in front of him, appearing as if he was about to meditate.

“When did you first meet Sabka Drajal?” the half-Klingon/Romulan asked.

“Six years ago,” Tajel said. “Not long after I came here from Earth to help out with the relief movement that aided Cardassian refugees during the Occupation.”

“What was the context of this first meeting with her?”

Tajel recalled the memories and cleared his throat before continuing, “We met in the Neravda Camp in the western hemisphere. She was there as a volunteer also. We got to know each other, went on some dates together back in the capital city. It was about two months into this relationship that she told me she was also part of the anti-occupation movement called the Sons of Cardassia.”

“Had you ever heard of them?” Jahkar asked.

Tajel snorted, “No one had heard of them until today. I barely remembered the name after she told me. I always called them her ‘Anti-Occ’ friends.”

“When did you meet these people?” the Marine asked.

Tajel pondered for a moment, “I didn’t meet any of them until last year. I was here during my senior year at the academy, working with the Occupational Forces, and Sabka and I met up again in the capital city.”

“That was when you were disciplined for being at an anti-occupation rally?” Jahkar chimed in, recalling the news when he’d received it on Resurrection. “Who did you meet.”

“Her brother, Tirlin,” Tajel said.

The name instantly clicked with Jahkar, Tirlin had led the SOC assault on the Central Command building. “And what was the nature of this meeting?”

“We met just before the rally,” Tajel said with a shrug. “He talked about the occupation. How the Federation needed to be driven out. How the Federation was turning Cardassia into a glorified version of itself.”

Jahkar nodded, “And you…?”

“I listened. I agreed to some degree,” Tajel admitted. “That was the extent of that first meeting.”

“There was a second meeting?” Jahkar asked.

“After the rally we gathered at a drinking establishment…”

“A bar? Kanar, no doubt,” Jahkar grumbled.

Tajel gave Jahkar a dirty look, “I had a glass of Evasanna Wine.”

“Bajoran wine?” Jahkar nodded. “Your mother’s favorite.”

“Beats that wretched Klingon Blood Wine you drink,” Tajel scoffed.

Jahkar frowned, “So, you drank with them and what was said?”

“It was Sabka and I. Tirlin was there with a couple of Cardassians who weren’t introduced to me. They were from the rally. I heard them talk about the acquisition of some Keldon-class ships. There was also talk of something called Forward Base.”

Jahkar turned his head and looked into the cell at Tajel with his mouth agape. “Are you serious? They talked about Keldon-class ships being acquired and a Forward Base and you failed to mention any of this to your commanding officers. You were a cadet in Starfleet Academy, on special assignment to the Occupational Force and you never told them these things? Because I did not read it in their reports on that incident.”

Tajel shrugged, “I didn’t think it was important.”

Jahkar slammed his head backwards into the bulkhead and snarled a curse in, of all languages, Romulan.

“Did they say where this Forward Base was?” Jahkar asked through gritted teeth.

“Not exactly,” Tajel said. “They did say something about a possible inspection at Deep Space Nine, but that would only be for the non-cloaked ships.”

Jahkar’s blood boiled. He was flabbergasted. All this time Tajel had sat on this information, never saying a word about it to the investigators who questioned him after he was reprimanded for his participation in the rally.

“Anything else you forgot to mention to your superiors and the investigators following the rally disciplinary action?” Jahkar growled in a low voice.

“No,” Tajel shook his head. He then cocked his head to one side curiously, “Are you…mad?”

“Am...I...mad? Jahkar repeated, his downturned look slowly morphing into a crazed grin. “Tajel, if they don’t throw the book at you I…”

He stopped himself. This was all being recorded. There was no reason to give the JAG team more to work with that Tajel was already giving them. The information was helpful, but the ensign would likely find himself deeper in trouble after it came out that he didn;t reveal any of this information months ago.

“Was that your last interaction with Tirlin or Sabka?”

“Tirlin, yes. No more contact after that. Sabka and I were unable to see one another after that, I was confined to quarters until I was sent back to the academy,” Tajel said. “I returned, finished my classes and when I graduated I volunteered to go back and assist the occupational forces with the last of the withdrawal.”

Jahkar sighed before he continued, “Did you see Sabka after you returned to join Captain Melfis’ staff?”

“Twice. Briefly. The first time we got together on Cardassia for a date and...well….she took me back to her place...” Tajel explained.

“I get it,” Jahkar cut him off. “Was there any conversation?”

“She asked me if I could help the anti-occupation movement by obtaining security codes for the former weapons depot on Torros III,” Tajel said. “She told me they needed the codes to get into the facility to steal supplies they wanted to give to refugees still in camps along the Cardassia border. They said the Federation had overlooked many of these camps and weren’t delivering food and medical supplies as they had promised. She said the former weapons depot there was being used to store such supplies. They weren’t going to hurt anyone, just bypass security to get inside and steal the food and medical supplies.”

“So, you got the codes for them?” Jahkar asked.

“They were under a minor security clearance. I was able to access them with my clearance,” said Tajel. “The files said the Cardassian weapons there were all biological and metagenic in nature and had all been dismantled and disposed of. There was nothing there of a major security risk.”

Jahkar shook his head, “Except the secret weapon hidden under the floor in the bottom of the old depot. Likely the same kind of weapon that destroyed the Breen homeworld a few hours ago.”

“I didn’t know,” Tajel shook his head.

“Just like you didn’t think your little girlfriend and her friends would kil; nearly all of the 15 Starfleet officers stationed at the depot when they pulled off their little raid,” Jahkar hissed, standing up from the floor before slamming a fist into the bulkhead. “You got 14 of them killed, one seriously injured. They won’t go home to their families, Tajel. They are dead because of you!”

Tajel sank into a fetal position on his bunk and wept openly. “I...I’m sorry...I...I didn’t know Jahkar!”

“Stop crying! You did this, you’d better get used to dealing with the guilt,” Jahkar barked. He then shot Tajel and wicked glare and shouted again, “GET UP AND STOP CRYING!”

The door opened from the brig and Ensign Rolston stepped in, a surprised look on his face. “Everything OK here, s…”

“Get out, ensign!” Jahkar snapped. “He’s fine. He is just crying like a baby because he can’t deal with what he’s done. Right Tajel?”

Tajel suddenly stopped crying and flew off the bed, slamming himself against the forcefield between him and Jahkar, “Shut up! I didn’t know those people were going to die! Damn you! I didn’t know!”

Jahkar looked at Tajel and studied his angry expression, then slowly the Marine shook his head, “No, Tajel, you just didn’t care. You were so eager to impress that Cardassia b\*\*\*h that you gave her whatever she asked for and didn’t think about what the repercussions would be.”

Tajel looked at Jahkar and was silent. He turned and pressed his back to the wall next to the doorway and slid down until he was on the floor. Behind him, on the other side of the duranium wall, Jahkar did the same until they were sitting back-to-back -- the wall between them.

“So, what happened after you gave her the codes to Torros III depot?” Jahkar asked, his voice nearly emotionless.

Tajel collected himself, wiping away his tears, then he spoke, “She asked about data on the Breen border defenses. Something about some Cardassian prisoners held there that the SOC wanted to go break out. She said if I could help I would be a hero to the movement. But….”

“But you didn’t have the clearance,” Jahkar smirked. “Above your pay grade. So then what?”

Tajel was quiet for a long time. His head lowered and Jahkar heard him crying. He knew the answer...he knew from Tajel’s reaction what he was going to say, but he wanted to hear him say it.

“What did Sabka do next, Tajel?”

“She...was gone. When I couldn’t get the Breen data, she said that it was OK and thanked me for my help,” Tajel said, his voice breaking at times. “S-she said she would see me in a couple days. We’d have fun, go for a picnic and maybe to this arboretum she liked in Tessian City. Then...she left….and I never heard from her again.”

Jahkar nodded. He looked over and saw Rolston still hovering in the doorway. He scowled at the ensign, “Go! I said everything is under control here.”

The ensign slowly turned a disgusted look toward Tajel, then looked back at Jahkar and nodded, “Aye, sir.” He then left the detention area, returning to the security portion of the brig.

Jahkar turned his head toward the forcefield doorway and spoke, “She used you. Used you up for everything she could get out of you, son. Then she cast you aside. I’m sorry for that. I know that must be hard for you. Obviously, you thought you and this woman had something.”

Tajel wiped his eyes, “But we didn’t. I know that now.”

“Now that it’s too late,” Jahkar whispered. “Anything else?”

Tajel shook his head, “No...nothing else I can think of.”

Slowly, Jahkar got to his feet and snatched up the PADD. He stood by the door, looking in on the young Starfleet officer sitting there on the floor.

“If you think of anything else, Tajel, tell the guard you want to speak with one of us,” Jahkar said. “Get some sleep. I’m not sure what tomorrow is going to bring, so you may need that rest.”

“Jahkar,” Tajel said weakly. “For what it’s worth...I’m sorry.”

Jahkar said nothing, just nodded and stepped back from the forcefield. Finally, he said, “I know you are. I wish that was all it would take to put things right, but it won’t. I need to take this information to Mayla. I’ll look in on you tomorrow. Good night, son.”

Jahkar then whirled about and stalked out of the brig, heading for the bridge where he hoped Mayla was still awake and able to talk…

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.07

Will watched as the dirk knife spun in the air before sinking into the wall of his quarters. He retrieved a second knife and repeated the action. Afterward, he stood up, walked across the room, and collected the two weapons.

Still upset from his interrogation of Ged, the Scot had spent the past hour hurling his dirk knives at a wall while he cursed underneath his breath. As a result of his activity, there were now more than two dozen holes in his wall. Will stopped momentarily to study the damage before once again hurling the blades towards the wall.

Eventually, Will grew tired of his activity and angrily tossed the two blades towards the corner of his room. As they bounced across the floor, a metallic “clang” echoed across the room.

In his mind, he envisioned a variety of scenarios that called for the bloody and very painful torture of the Sons of Cardassia leadership.

His thoughts, however, quickly turned to Tajel and the likely charges he would be facing as a traitor to Starfleet. Will could only hope that the boy would not face a fate similar to his own.

Following his conviction and sentence, McCulloch has been sent to Severus IV, a maximum security facility where the worst of Starfleet’s criminals and terrorists were incarcerated...including William McCulloch. While there, he had witnessed the scum of society turn on each other and without remorse engage in rape, murder, theft, and assault.

Unsurprisingly, while at Severus IV, there were no less than four attempts on Will’s life...two by fellow prisoners, one at the hands of his marine guards and the final one was carried out by an unknown assailant.

Some years later, a former operative suggested to Will that Mayla’s father may have been the person responsible for the last assassination attempt in an effort to send a “F- you” message.

Will knew better and personally believed that the Black Watch or the Orion Syndicate was the true culprit.

For a brief moment, McCulloch’s thoughts remained on Kyril Vree. Sorvek had once suggested to Will that Mayla’s father had played some role in faking the Scot’s death when a high yield bomb was beamed into the prison facility and detonated. Shortly thereafter, a presumed dead William McCulloch was recruited by Sorvek and Taryn Kane for operative missions outside of Starfleet’s jurisdiction.

Naturally, despite the Scot’s best efforts to pry the information from the Admiral, the Vulcan remained tight-lipped and never spoke of Vree’s hinted role again.

Will’s thoughts once again turned towards Tajel. He wanted to visit the young man and prepare him for the road he was about to go down. But McCulloch quickly recognized that it wasn’t his job to do that...yet. Yes, Jahkar had given him permission to speak with the boy, but it was too soon to intervene.

McCulloch yawned slightly as he realized that the day’s actions were catching up with him and he began to wonder if he was too old for this sh\*\*.

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.07

Jahkar arrived on the bridge. He found Commander Sornax seated in the captain’s chair, along with three additional crew members manning helm, tactical and ops. The only other person on the bridge was Mayla Vree, who was at a console to the aft portion of the bridge looking over something on a holographic screen.

As the Marine approached, Mayla gave a slight glance over her shoulder, “You’re up late.”

“I just came from having a heart to heart with Tajel,” Jahkar muttered. “He is in this thing really deep, Mayla.”

Jahkar handed her the PADD Tajel had written out his statement on, having read it on the way to the bridge, Jahkar was comfortable with everything he included -- as it mirrored what the ensign had told him.

“The Sons of Cardassia have multiple Keldon-class ships, possibly equipped with cloaks and in order to get to what they call Forward Base, you have to get past Deep Space Nine,” Jahkar said, summarizing the most important information he gleaned from the talk.

Vree turned fully around and looked at Jahkar with a raised eyebrow, “It’s in the Gamma Quadrant?”

“That was my thought,” he said as she took the PADD from him. “He knew a lot of things way back when he first got in trouble for his involvement in those anti-occupation rallies. Things he never told his superiors or Starfleet security.”

Jahkar shook his head, “He’s really in trouble. But, I think there is useful information there.”

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.07

The surgery for Reepchip lasted well into the night. Throughout the entire ordeal, Victoria and Ensign Hixwir Gace remained with the Muran and assisted with the surgery as needed. Shortly after midnight, the procedure finally came to a conclusion. The Fearless’ chief medical officer looked across the biobed towards Victoria and nodded with satisfaction.

“It’s all in the Ensign’s hands now. If all goes well, he should be back in the game sooner rather than later. If it doesn’t..well…”

“His career as an operative will be over.” The commander quietly noted.

Victoria turned her attention towards the Betazoid Union 12 nurse. “Get ready. As soon as the effects of the sedative wear off, he is going to need a telepathic connection as part of the healing process.”

“Aye ma’am.” Gace instinctively replied.

“Whatever the connection is, you honor his request,” Victoria ordered as she studied the female nurse. Hixwir was fresh off an assignment with a Starfleet hospital ship and one of the last nurses recruited for Union12. In the commander’s eyes, she was wet behind the ears but had tremendous potential. “I don’t care if he asks you to play in the mud, you better tell me the two of you have a telepathic link that involves a mud pool. Am I clear?”

“Yes ma’am. Perfectly clear.”

Thirty minutes later, the chief medical officer approached Victoria.

“When was the last time you took a break or went to sleep Commander?” He inquired while reviewing Reepchip’s medical signs.

“It doesn’t matter.” Victoria countered matter of factly. “I’ve worked long hours and double shifts all my life.”

“It does.” The doctor retorted. “The commander of a combat medical team should not be setting an example by exhausting herself to the point she can no longer provide effective treatment to her patients.”

“I’m fine.” The nurse countered with a wave of her hand.

“Reepchip is not going anywhere for the next few hours. Take a nap.”

Victoria reelected upon the doctor’s advice momentarily. She suddenly realized she had been treating hostages and Reepchip for almost 18 hours straight. A sense of exhaustion finally overcame her yet she resisted the urge to leave Reepchip’s side. In her head Jiarin muttered that the pair had so much more to do and prove. After an additional moment of contemplation, Victoria looked over at the doctor.

“I’ll be fine.” She announced as she suppressed a yawn. “Ensign Gace and I will keep watch over Reepchip. After all he’s…”

“Your operative?” The doctor replied with a slight scowl. “I’m well aware of the Union 12 motto and the standing orders issued to your team. But this is my sickbay.”

“And?”

“And you are exhausted. You need sleep. If you want to keep watch over the Muran so you can feel good about yourself, so be it. But if there is any medical emergency involving the ensign, I will order you removed from this area for the safety of the patient. Am I clear?”

“Perfectly.” Victoria conceded.

“A\*\*.” Jiarin scoffed inside Victoria’s head.

“Good.” The medical officer announced as he gestured towards a set of chairs with a wide sweep of his hand. “Make yourselves at home.”

Victoria dragged a chair over to Reepchip’s bedside while Hixwir positioned her seat near the foot of the biobed.

The commander retrieved a nearby padd and began to access her personal library of books. After a few moments, she selected “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*. She leaned back in her chair, rested her feet on the side of the Muran’s biobed and started to read the classic...all the while fighting the urge to rest her eyes..*

Ten minutes later, Victoria was fast asleep and snoring...loudly.

Commander Victoria Smith

Ensign Hixwir Gace

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Fearless* / Dreamscape

Stardate 2109.07

As Victoria slept, she felt as if heard--or sensed--Reepchip whispering the words "Dream with me?" to her.  She opened her eyes slightly and saw Reepchip's paw laying on the bed, palm up, stretched towards her.  She heard him whisper, "Dream with me?" again.  After a moment's thought, said softly, "Okay."  She closed her eyes again and followed the invitation.  In the Dream, she saw a perfectly healthy Reepchip hop out of the bed. "Reepchip? What--" She paused at the unexpected bass in her voice and the slowness of her words. She stood up in her normal, slow way to her full, towering height amongst the furniture that looked normal, but she knew to be of immense proportions.  It also looked. . . unreal somehow, a constant reminder that this was, indeed, a Dream.

"Relax, Commander," said Hixwir in her rumbling drawl. "Apparently, Reepchip can also Dream with those who aren't telepathic if another telepath is around to boost his telepathy. Also, I know we feel and sound strange, but this is how he sees us."

Reepchip turned to the two nurses and held out his paws. "Will you Dream with me?" he asked. "I'd like to show you my homeland." His voice sounded surprisingly similar to that of the doctor who'd worked on him. Victoria became aware of two doors in the wall--one, she knew, was an exit; if she walked through that she'd enter into her normal sleep. The other lead--well, wherever the Dream might take them. The two females took Reepchip's paws, and he led them through the second door.

Agavan hated them. There was no other way to describe it, Agavan, Lord of Fire and Wrath, HATED them, hated every single living being that crawled upon His form in search of His treasures. Victoria knew that Agavan was just a moon of a planet only known as The Prince, and its volcanism caused by the complex tidal forces of its orbit, and the orbits of other moons, but this was Reepchip's Dream, and she was seeing things as he saw them--every moon, every planet, their very suns fully alive. Through the windows, she could see where He'd spewed his rage in gouts of fire and the spittle of molten rock which cooled black and bleak and unyeilding. But such was His immense wealth that Carnora dared his eternal wrath and hatred to mine the ores that He constantly spat from His mantel.

In the Healing Den, she helped a Healing Shaman tend to an Ataran worker who'd gotten badly burned when a piece of ore fell from a bucket and hit him in the arm. His webbed paw gripped Victoria's hand hard as the Healing Shaman--who smelt of sharp herbs and salts--placed a healing salve on the burn and bandaged it up. In another bed, Hwixer helped another Shaman heal the burned leg of an Olvern. Around them were many mystic inscriptions and diagrams, much of it to help the station to function properly with the Spirit World, but many, MANY more as wards against Agavan's rage. Reepchip was nearby, watching them work.

"Did you return here when you went on leave?" asked Hixwir.

Reepchip's ears flattened. "No... I couldn't."

Victoria glanced over. "Why couldn't you?"

They felt the rig tremble--then heard the ringing of the alarm. "He knows we're here!" one of the Shamans said as somewhere someone called. "Raise the drill!" The shaking grew worse, and another alarm rang. "Belay that! All hands abandon rig! All hands abandon rig! All hands abandon rig!"

The entire crew rose as one and headed for the escape pods in the manner of a group who'd been drilled endlessly for this; nobody took Agavan's rage lightly. Reepchip, Victoria, and Hixwir brought the injured Carnora with them to the escape pods. When the pod was full, they made a report of who was on it. Before long, the head of the rig gave the order to blast off, having made sure everyone had made it to a pod. As they rose through the air, Victoria looked out a window and saw Agavan open one of his uncountable fiery maws to devour the rig. She could almost hear the planet shriek with rage as He failed to destroy the Carnora with the rig.

"That was the fate of my birthplace," said Reepchip. "I learned of it when I was on leave."

"...where is your home now?" asked Hixwir. Reepchip invited them to step through the Pod door. They stepped through the door into the city of Muransurak. It was perfectly, wonderfully crowded, with Muran homes standing six or seven stories tall--but unenterable to anyone over 4' tall. "How can we come in?" asked Victoria.

Hixwir smiled. "Commander, this is as much our Dream as it is his. You're seeing yourself as Reepchip sees you. Just realize that you're both of normal height, and walk right on in."

Victoria looked at Hixwir, who firmly nodded, then over at Reepchip--who now looked to be about the same height as her.  He put his paw on her shoulder and playfully turned his head so his whiskers to brush her nose, and welcomed them into his home. The three of them entered into the crowded home. There was a massive ornate clock on the wall that was also a complex orrery that Hixwir and Victoria realized was actually a calender. The smell of insects and small creatures being prepared in the kitchen was absolutely delicious. Reepchip showed them around the house, the kitchens, the sleeping quarters--there were only three, but had rows and rows of bunks stacked four high. One room he passed by was the hatching room; the door barred and utterly immovable. "I've never been allowed in there," he said. "Only females can go inside."

Ensign Hixwir nodded a bit. Then pondered. "Didn't you have a bit of a reputation when it Starfleet?" she asked.

Reepchip looked at her in shock. "Me? I was an exemplary student! I never got in any trouble while in Starfleet! The classes they gave me were a reward, so I could graduate as one of their most learned students!" As he made his protest, he was surrounded by a nimbus of the purest, most innocent light, like a halo of piety as the scene shifted to the halls of Starfleet Academy. But as he protested his innocence, both Hixwir and Victoria could hear a savage warsong of the Charatetets. Drums pounded a deadly rhythm, flutes wailed, voices shrieked out for slaughter and blood.

"Awake! Tall enemies approach!

They see your clan as prey, your kits will be slaves!

They shall eat what you toiled for!

Awake! Your Den is under attack!

Kill the Tall Ones who violate your lands!

Take up the spear, and the thrower!

String the bow, dip the arrows!

Man the walls, ready the great bows!

Slay them! Their flesh shall feed grass!

Slay their chief! Yours will don the hide!

Dawn of Day brings death!

Suddenly a voice like the thunder of hurricanes called out, "Cadet Charatetet! Office! Now!" and the nimbus around Reepchip vanished. Victoria and Hixwir looked at each other, adjusted their security uniforms, and marched the diminutive ensign to the superintendant's office. Inside was Superintendant Admiral Brell, his eyes glowing with the flames of Agavan.

Also inside was Cadet Davis Alhorn, who could not POSSIBLY be more awake. His eyes were almost bulging with wakefulness, his breathing having been roused violently from sleep, every hair on his head and arms stood bolt upright.

Admiral Brell glared at Reepchip. "Explain, Cadet Charatetet, what you did to Cadet Alhorn's alarm clock."

Victoria could hear Jiarin's voice in her head asking her what the hell was going on and shouldn't she wake up from this very surreal dream. The nurse ignored the questions of the Trill woman and looked over to her Ensign.

"So this is part of Reepchip's healing process?" She asked...it seemed as if she could barely get the words out of her mouth.

Hixwir shook her head slowly. "No, Commander. It's deeper than that. This is part of being a Muran. His kind share their dreams; I can tell because I can feel the telepathic echoes of his entire family in his mind--even some I don't think he ever met in life.  Dreaming alone would be worse for him than solitary confinement."

Victoria looked over at Reepchip and cocked her head slightly to the side. "Well my young friend, what did you do to the cadet's alarm clock?"

Reepchip chittered and said that Cadet Alhorn had said the new security systems developed by the Academy were unbreakable, and that was a challenge if he'd ever heard one! When he'd figured out how to bypass it, he snuck into Cadet Alhorn's quarters and set his alarm to play an old Muran song.

Admiral Brell's eyes might have smoldered with the Fires of Agavan, but his face was as cold as the distant Hermit Worlds. "Ensign Charatetet. The United Federation of Planets doesn't want an international incident, so I won't expel you, but this IS an official reprimand, and it WILL go on your record. The administration has had ENOUGH of your pranks. One more, Ensign, and I will load you down with so many courses that mind of yours won't have time to think of anything but how overwhelmed you are!" To Victoria and Hixwir (and Jiarin), the Admiral looked... frazzled. He pulled out Reepchip's file--a very thick one, by the looks of it, and opened it up. From it flowed a multitude of shades of other cadets, many of them holding PADDs in unfamiliar languages, others having been roused from bed far too early, still others who were glancing nervously at the ceiling, and an instructor whose PADD containing the day's lesson was locked in a puzzle box; Reepchip had a reputation indeed. He glanced up at the cadets. "Dismissed." he snapped.

As Reepchip was led away from the Admiral's office, Hixwir looked at him, shaking her head. "...you, Ensign, have an evil sense of humour!"

Reepchip chittered. "I tried to make my last prank count..."

Hixwir looked apprehensive. "Your last prank?"

Reepchip grinned, looking very like an imp from folklore as they entered the Academy medical facility. As a group of cadets helped each other in, the EMH came to life and ran its programmed greeting:  facepalming with a groan of disgust, lookin to the heavens in a silent plea for patience, and snapping "What have you boneheads done to yourselves THIS time?"

"...you said 'tried'..." the Betazoid said--then the group felt the glare of ten thousand eyes as the giant, disembodied hand of Admiral Brell grabbed Reepchip by the tail and dragged the wailing Muran backwards to where he was buried in an avalanche of scrolls as the specters of those he'd pranked watched on in satisfaction.

The disembodied hand mockingly set an inkpot and a quill by the heap as a little white flag poked up through the scroll pile and began waving.

Reepchip dragged himself from the pile of scrolls, saying that the Academy had booked virtually every free moment he had with classes, just to keep the little pest out of mischief--then he took the pot and quill, and climbed the pile as one would climb a mountain. When he reached the top, he wrote his name on a scroll for a theoretical engineering course, symbolizing that he'd managed to rise to the challenge and even get into some of the higher echelons of engineering.

He came down, then looked at Victoria, curiously--but also seemed to look behind her, or maybe within.  "You know... you can come out," he said, but he wasn't talking to the nurse.  "I'd like to meet you, too."

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*, Medical Bay

Stardate 2109.10

Victoria cocked her head slightly in confusion and looked back and forth between Hixwir and Reepchip hoping for an answer. After a moment of awkward silence, the Betazoid nurse nodded towards her commanding officer before gesturing for Smith to look to her right.

She slowly looked over her shoulder and saw a Trill woman in her early thirties with dark hair and piercing blue eyes staring back at her. She stood confidently and smiled warmly as she stared back at Victoria.

“Jiarin.” Victoria whispered as she cautiously approached the Trill she recognized immediately as if it was a reflection. She was at a loss for words. This was the woman who had become a critical part of her life after her near-fatal injury years earlier and was responsible for who she had become.

However, as she closed the distance between her and Jiaran, an odd feeling overcame the nurse...one she had not felt in a long, long time. She felt alone and exposed. Worse, she felt as if something vital was missing...something that defined her. Instantly she realized she could not remember any of Jiarin's memories and the personality traits of the Trill were gone.  All that remained was just Victoria Smith...the quiet, shy human nurse. It was as if a part of her soul was ripped away, leaving her suspended in a void. Cold and alone.

Victoria gasped for air in the coldness and saw a door nearby. She instantly reached out towards it…

The commander woke up with a loud gasp and fell backward from her chair and onto the medical bay floor. She looked wildly around at her surroundings and up at Reepchip's biobed. Instinctively, she backed away from the bed on all fours until she collided with a Fearless nurse who was rushing to assist.

As Victoria rose to her feet, she finally managed to calm herself down and regulate her breathing. Once confident that Jiarin was still part of her, she straightened her uniform and nodded towards the nurse.

“I think the doctor was right. I do need some downtime away from the medical bay.” Smith announced. “If you could have Senior Petty Officer Iams Gatc of Union 12 take my place I would be grateful.”

“Senior Petty Officer Iams Gatc?” The nurse repeated.

“Yes, he's the Bajoran medic on my team. I will return later this morning to check up on Ensign Reepchip.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Victoria spun on her heels and quietly exited the sickbay. She was embarrassed at what had just happened and hoped Mayla wouldn't learn about what had transpired. Worse, she silently shuddered at the thought of returning to a life without the influence of Jiarin, where she was just Victoria the meek, quiet pediatric nurse.

Ensign Hixwir Gace

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Fearless*, Medical Bay

Stardate 2109.10

For someone to wake up from a Dream was one thing--but for someone to panic suggested something had gone very, very wrong, and Reepchip and Hixwir were both wrenched to wakefulness by Victoria's reaction.  Reepchip reached out to her, but he was confined to the bed.  He looked at Hixwir, unhappily.  "I don't know what ghost I awakened, but could you tell her I'm sorry?" he asked softly.

Hixwir nodded a bit.  "I'll go tell her."

She left Reepchip's side to follow Victoria.  "Commander?"

"Why aren't you with Reepchip?" Victoria demanded.

"Your reaction woke us both up," she said.  "Reepchip asked me to say he doesn't know what ghost he's awakened, but he's sorry."  At her commander's puzzled look, Hixwir continued, "I think it's the Trill woman.  Somehow, he could sense her presence in your mind, and from what I could tell, something like that is not unusual for them--or at least, not strange."

Victoria sighed and nodded in understanding. "My personal history is...complicated Ensign. I will speak with the Ensign and assure him that he is not to blame for a dream sequence."

The nurse put on her best face, returned to sickbay and walked directly over to the Muran. She took Reepchip by the paw and leaned in, looking him straight into the eye.

"MY patient has nothing to apologize for. You better take care of yourself and get better sooner rather than later as I want to know about your pranks Ensign. Am I clear? No apologies."

Reepchip chittered softly.  "Then why did you panic and flee the dream when I asked to meet her?" he said.  "I should have kno-"

Hixwir was ready to say something, and when Victoria gave her leave, Hixwir spoke.  "Ensign Charatetet, there are a hundred little signs and signals your people have when something is off-limits that humans simply don't have.  You couldn't have known."

“The ensign is correct.” Victoria replied reassuringly. “Sometimes we don’t like vivid dreams that are too...unexpected..”

As Victoria left sickbay for the second time, she crossed her arms across her body and shuddered in disappointment at her behavior.

You are an angel of the battlefield, Jiarin reminded her....act like one.

Commander Mayla Vree and Colonel Jahkar

Bridge, *USS Resurrection* above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.10

"We should request for a manifest of ships that's been coming and going through the wormhole," Mayla said, perusing the padd. "And a full sensor log."

"That's a lot of data."

"We might get lucky if we can detect an anomaly of the cloaked ships coming through the wormhole. The spatial and temporal distortion the wormhole could flicker their cloak just as they cross the event horizon." She looked at Jahkar and saw the troubled look on his face, and giving her the PADD wasn't the primary reason he came to see her. There was a tiny bit of turmoil in his eyes. "Did you want to come with me to talk to the captain about this?"

Jahkar looked away a bit and shook his mane of hair. "No, I don't have to."

She gestured to the console beside her for him to plant himself. "Did the talk with Tajel involve more yelling?"

“Some yelling, some crying and somewhere underneath all his bravado there seems to be some regret,” Jahkar sighed. “He seemed genuine in what he told me; his story remained consistent.”

Mayla saw a small sparkle in his eyes, maybe it was of hope his relationship with his stepson could be salvaged. There's always hope. "A breakthrough then, between you and him." She transferred the data on the PADD into her own internal memory to peruse whenever she wanted. "It's difficult to raise a stepson without his mother. Don't be too hard on yourself, and on him. He's been through a lot."

"He's an adult, I figured he would have a better head on his shoulders at this point because of his rough childhood."

"Some adjust, but some still live with the emotional trauma they haven't sorted out yet. Sometimes they need a parent figure to help them sort it out rather than someone to tell him what they should do." Mayla said thoughtfully with a slightly cryptic tone.

Jahkar just scoffed at the sentiment but remembered who he was talking to. Tajel had always been close to Mayla, and he probably confided in her with things he would never confide with his stepfather. "You know, it irks me that you seem to know more about his adulthood than I do."

Mayla gave him a dismissal wave. "More like I just listened to him complain about...things."

That almost made Jahkar let out a laugh. 'Things' meant 'him'. "Did he complain about me all the time?"

The young Trill gave him a sweet smile, the same smile she used to give to placate any question with a difficult or controversial answer. "Not all the time. But he did talk about missing his mother. I think he has a lot of Ilia in him. Probably why you two don't see eye to eye sometimes."

“He had it rough,” Jahkar admitted. “His father was a homicidal maniac. His mother and I started out in a great relationship, and we became a family, then everything fell apart and we ended up at odds. In the middle of all that, we had to hide Tajel for some time with Jack Dark’s underworld contacts to keep him from his father. I’ve never heard him talk much about that time, hiding out with criminals on Risa. Then, his mom died.”

“And you took him and his sister to Earth. You took a training job in the Marine Corps,” Mayla said. “You must have been a little bitter about that?”

Jahkar shrugged, “I missed being in the field. But I saw enough action to keep me sharp, I earned my commission and rose through the ranks and was able to be a real dad to Tajel and Kedanya.”

“But you weren’t happy,” the Trill said firmly. “You and I both know you hated being stuck on Earth, working a day shift and spending nights helping kids with homework, feeding and caring for them.”

“It was my responsibility,” he said. “I am their father. I sacrificed a part of my career for them, but I was there for them.”

Mayla nodded with a faint smile, “Tajel never felt that way. You kept him away from his Cardassiian heritage, you had more in common with Kedanya and bonded with her, but Tajel...you always expressed your expectations for him and never really listened to what he wanted.”

Jahkar took a deep breath and lowered his head, “I suppose you’re right. I tried Mayla...I really did try.”

“I know you did. Your kids know you did,” Mayla said. “But you missed a few important things with Tajel. I get it, you had to struggle as a single parent, you did your best under the circumstances, but Tajel has never felt that way.”

He nodded, eyes still lowered, “You’re right about the Cardassian thing. I tried so hard to keep him from asking too many questions, from searching for too much information on Cardassians. I should have kept him on Bajor. Maybe he would have embraced his Bajoran heritage more.”

“Or maybe not,” Mayla said. “You’ll never know, and you can’t second guess it now. But, keeping him from that part of his heritage, that just made him gravitate toward it when he was older.”

“Like the gravitational pull of a black hole,” Jahkar muttered.

"In hindsight, you'll always second guess yourself as to whether if he was exposed to both sides of his heritage equally, he may have learned for himself if a Bajoran way of life would have been more suited to him than a Cardassian way of life. And when he learns to understand what happened to Ilia." She said carefully and leaned back in her chair. "Some children can't understand being a child of rape carries its own baggage before they are even born. The parent sometimes loads that baggage unknowingly, leaving the child to carry it not knowing what it is. Omitting half his heritage could have him forever wondering where that half of him came from."

Jahkar's mind turned with that last comment. He didn't admit it, but it didn't make him feel any better. Trying to turn, or rather, forcing Tajel to turn away from his Cardassian heritage just made him want to know more about that side of his genetics.

"I was...afraid I would lose him, and dishonor Ilia's wishes." Jahkar said nearly in a whisper of near regret.

"You're already nearly there at losing him. Maybe we can try to throw him a lifeline so he can choose to salvage his life. And maybe give you two a second chance." Mayla held up the PADD. "I'll take this to Lazarus and talk to him about using Tajel. Maybe he'll allow him to work with us in some form. If not, this PADD is the only saving grace he has at the trial."

"He's not a field operative,” Jahkar shook his head. “I don’t think he’s ready for it.”

She looked at him with surprise. "What? Change of heart?"

"It might be a danger to himself,” Jahkar said, then adding, “or to the team. What happens if we’re in a situation where we’re facing the Sons of Cardassia and that woman...Sabka...shows up? Can we trust that he’ll pick us over her?”

"We'll watch him carefully. If he does pick them over us, then he has taken the fork in the road that will burn all of his bridges we've built. And he will have to live with his choices without support from everyone he's known since childhood."

Jahkar took a deep dreaded sigh at that possible outcome. Ilia would never forgive him if that were to ever happen. Was he doing all of this only to keep his honor to Ilia? Or was it really for her children's sakes?

"The question here I think, Jahkar," she said sternly, "is how afraid are you if Tajel chooses her instead of you?"

Jahkar almost bristled at the tone she had suddenly taken. "I will lose a stepson, and will have failed Ilia. Maybe even Kedanya."

Her face turned hard and looked him in the eyes. "No, I mean, if he chooses her, he becomes a member of the SOC. And what if WE have to kill him? Will you be able to pull the trigger?"

Jahkar shook his head, “I...I don’t know...could you?”

Mayla's gaze at him didn't waver. "If I had to, I would, but only in self-defense. Or if he is directly about to end an innocent life."

A fist seemed to have punched him in the heart. To hear her say she would kill his son made him uncomfortable. But the question was fair enough. Could he pull the trigger to kill his son to save another? Then he caught something in her eyes, almost a slight closing of an eyelid. Was that a wink?

"You're lying."

Mayla shook her head and smiled. "Can't say I am. Can't say I'm not."

"I guess we'll know if that time comes."

"Let's hope he has a better head on him now that we're both here. Having a heart to heart with his stepfather for once, and an old friend who supports him." Mayla gave him a pat on the knee. "Maybe he can directly save billions of lives to make up for indirectly killing fourteen. Now that he knows what might be at stake."

Yes, there was that chance, he thought to himself. A glimmer of hope his son could be saved. Jahkar wallowed in the hope for a minute before speaking again. "Go ahead and ask the Captain."

She gave him a slow nod. "As you wish." She queried the computer as to the captain's whereabouts, and he had just transported back over from the Fearless. "You go get some rest; I'll go talk to Lazarus now."

Jahkar got up and left the dimly lit bridge like a hulking shadow. In her eyes, she opened up a command window to give direct orders to the EMH to wait for Tajel to go to sleep before sedating him. With an override authorization, she ordered the EMH to implant a stealth homogenous isolinear tag into Tajel without him knowing it. The tiny tag would use nanites to replicate surrounding readings of his biosigns to hide itself from any scans.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Startdate 2109.10

Will couldn’t sleep.

He tossed and turned in his bed for some time before letting out a loud sigh. He sat up and looked around his darkened quarters. It was well after midnight, and he had to report hours later for a mission to the Cardassian surface. It was not the nature of the assignment that kept him up. Instead, it was the fate of Ged and now Tajel that bothered him.

A few hours earlier he had sworn off the Marine Colonel’s stepson as “not his problem”. Yet, here he was … up in the middle of the night worrying over the pair.

The Scot muttered to himself, hopped out of bed, quickly got dressed and exited his quarters. Once outside he proceeded towards the ship’s brig. Upon arrival, he entered the area and gestured for a nearby security guard to remain seated.

The Scot quietly looked around the room before turning his attention towards the two cells.

“The Cardassian boy. Is he asleep?”

“Yes sir. For a few hours now.”

“Good. And the ensign?”

“The traitor?” The guard replied before catching himself. McCulloch eyed him briefly before looking back towards Tajel’s holding cell.

“He was awake most of the night..sometimes crying, sometimes angry. The EMH came down and sedated him for a while so he could go to sleep.”

"Who ordered it?"

The guard shrugged. Will looked around the room and noticed a chair. He nodded at the guard, walked over to the seat, and dragged it across the room. He then placed it directly before the containment field of Tajel’s cell and sat down.

"Computer, illumination at 100 percent."

The lights slowly came to full, causing the ensign to stir in his bed.

"Wake up." Will ordered.

The man in the bunk just murmured something.

"WAKE UP." Will said louder and more sternly.

A head popped up suddenly and eyed McCulloch suspiciously for a minute.

“You have no idea who I am, do you ensign?”

“No.” Tajel admitted, laying back down. “Should I?”

“If you had paid attention in your ethics class at Starfleet Academy, you certainly would have learned about me. I even hear the JAG program at the school has an entire course devoted to me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure who…”

“Then allow me to cut to the chase. I’m your f\*\*\*ing ghost of Christmas yet to come and it’s time you and I have a chat.”

“I already gave a statement to my father.” Tajel protested, sitting up in his bed now, mentally getting ready for another interrogation apparently.

“I could care less what you told your father or Commander Vree. I’m here to explain to you about what to expect once you’re turned over to the authorities and how you can survive…call it a professional courtesy.”

“Professional courtesy?” The ensign asked in confusion.

“One traitor...to another,” McCulloch replied as he leaned back in his chair. “You and I now share a common heritage that very few in Starfleet can claim.”

There was a brief, awkward silence for several seconds before Tajel spoke again. “William McCulloch.”

“Aye.” The Scot hissed. “So, we can have a pleasant chat where I will try to impart some advice on how to survive and eventually have a life once free…”

“Or?”

“Or I can go back to bed knowing I at least offered to help you. But either way Tajel, I’m going back to bed once we’re done. You...you, on the other hand, will still be neck-deep in the s\*\*t.”

Tajel looked McCulloch up and down, “Oh, I think I’m well aware of my situation, Mr. McCulloch. My stepfather has made it painfully obvious as to just what I’m looking at.”

He continued to study the Scot as he spoke and then he added, “So, you carry a provisional rank, considering the pips on your collar. You were in Starfleet...Shadow Ops I assume...and you betrayed them. But somehow, they let you come back, but at a provisional rank like Janeway did to the Maquis on her ship when it went to the Delta Quadrant. Is that what I have to look forward to?”

“Perhaps.” Will conceded. “Or maybe you’ll also become fantastically wealthy like me.”

Tajel stared at the Scot with his mouth open. Eventually, he stammered “How...how is that possible?”

Will smirked slightly. “By hitting rock bottom and clawing your way back up. A very ugly and brutal climb Tajel.”

“How wealthy?”

“Wealthy enough...and I’d trade every single penny for a chance to clear my name and earn redemption once and for all.”

There was another brief pause between the two. Eventually, McCulloch continued.

“Years ago, I betrayed Starfleet and the Federation because I let my emotions get the better of me. My wife…” The Scot paused briefly as his thoughts turned to Victoria. “My ex-wife Victoria was shot at point-blank range in the chest by terrorists as she tried to protect infants and children. It horrified and angered me. Understandably so. The CO of my team pleaded with me to let justice run its course. But I knew better...or at least I thought I did.”

“What did you do?” Tajel asked.

“I wanted revenge for my wife,” Will answered matter-of-factly. “Since my CO wasn’t going to help me...and rightfully so… I decided to help myself. I recruited a paramilitary organization known as the Black Watch. I provided them with secrets about the top-secret Starfleet Intelligence program my team worked for in exchange for their assistance. And it was all for nothing. By the time it was over several civilians were killed, two members of my team were seriously injured, and I was no closer to avenging my wife.”

“Then why did you do it? Why did you betray everyone, even your own teammates?”

“My therapist recently told me I was under the influence of the shocking event...my wife’s injuries and it may have influenced my very poor decision. Others say I was just a selfish, traitorous ass.”

“You have a therapist?”

“I do now, and I advise you to get one as well...to at least deal with the emotional pain that will be coming. For years after my betrayal, all I had to dull the anguish was alcohol.”

The Scot studied the ensign as he leaned forward in his chair. He sighed softly. “Tajel, let this be your first lesson. You’ve stepped in the s\*\*t, don’t start rolling around in it. If you can cooperate and show remorse for your actions, do it sooner rather than later. It could help during sentencing.”

“Did it help you?”

“Don’t they cover my story in ethics class anymore?” McCulloch scoffed before regaining his composure. He folded his arms as he leaned back in his chair. “No it didn’t help me because I didn’t show regret or remorse until it was too late. When I finally surrendered, there was nothing I could do except beg for a lengthy sentence. And of course, there were the collateral consequences.”

“Collateral consequences?”

“Victoria divorced me shortly after my conviction.” The Scot sadly announced as he reflected upon the past decade without Victoria.  “I became an on-again-off-again alcoholic, and I did unspeakable things while in prison and after my release as part of a warped interpretation of what the road to redemption should be. So, your first lesson Tajel is you don’t be me. Don’t swim in s\*\*t.”

Tajel nodded, “Um...yeah...good advice. I’ll try not to. Any advice on how to get myself out of this mess? That would be the most useful thing to me right now.”

McCulloch held back the urge to laugh before answering the question. “You should have not been in this mess in the first place. You’re fooling yourself if you think you are getting out of this mess anytime soon.”

He watched as Tajel’s head sunk down. The Scot eyed the young man in silence for several seconds. The Scot cursed before addressing the Scot again.

“Tajel, you may have a slim chance...a very slim chance of getting off much easier than me...but there are two conditions you need to meet.”

What?” Tajel replied as he shot up from his bunk and approached the containment field. “Tell me Mr. McCulloch!”

Will stared at Tajel before looking over his shoulder at the guard and signaled for the COS to be activated. Once confident that it was, the Scot continued.

“First, you tell your stepfather everything you did and everything you know about the Sons of Cardassia and their network. You and I both know you either minimized or downplayed parts of what you told him.

“I didn’t do ---” Tajel protested before WIll raised his hand and signaled for the ensign to stop talking.

“One traitor to another? Cut the bulls\*\*t.” Will replied as he shot out of his chair and closed the distance between the two. The only thing separating him from Tajel was the containment field itself. “You and I know you didn’t tell Jahkar everything. Now is the time to get over the pity party and start f\*\*\*ing providing every small detail you can remember. My advice is you start ratting out every collaborator, co-conspirator or supporter you know of as well.”

Tajel nodded in understanding. “You said there was a second condition?”

Will looked back at the security guard again before returning his attention to the ensign.

After a pause, he continued, speaking deliberately and slowly. “Tajel, the second condition is if there is any remote possibility...any at all ...that you can provide information or leads that can draw the Sons of Cardassia out so we can ...deal with them … you better start offering suggestions to Jahkar or Commander Vree sooner rather than later. If you can’t, then you and I better start talking about how to survive your prison term.”

Once finished speaking, The Scot motioned for the guard to retrieve a padd from a nearby table. As soon as the device reached his hands, Will tapped the device several times and then held up the display towards Tajel.

“Commander Victor Delgado? I don’t understand.” Tajel noted in confusion.

“Commander Delgado was my lawyer during my court-martial and represented me in my divorce from Victoria. He’s still with Starfleet Intelligence’s JAG Department. After you are done helping us, you ask for Commander Delgado. Tell him I sent you. He will know how to best guide you through your court martial. Am I clear Tajel?”

Tajel nodded, “Crystal, sir. Despite what you might think, I have told Commander Vree everything I know. If anything else comes to mind, I will let one of you know.”

Back to top

## S4, E1, Act 3: Shopping Trip

Commander Captain Quentin Lazarus

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2109.14

Lazarus barely slept a wink all night. Interrupted three hours into his sleep cycle with a report from Vree on interviews with Tajel and a request to bring the ensign along on the mission. That alone was enough to keep him awake until the computer turned on the lights and announced it was 0600 hours.

He’d approved the request to bring Tajel along, despite his reservations. The young ensign was looking at a world of hurt if he didn’t do something to redeem himself, and soon. There were already inquiries waiting for Lazarus from the Starfleet Judge Advocate General’s office about how long before Ensign Dara Tajel could be placed aboard a transport to bring him back to Earth to face the charges against him.

Lazarus had a few fleeting thoughts that maybe Tajel would be the key to unraveling the rest of the Drajal family plot and it would carry some sort of weight with it when he faced a jury of his peers. The captain had even wondered if the young man were to die fighting the Sons of Cardassia if it would somehow bring him redemption...but Lazarus quickly snuffed those thoughts from his head.

With the approval given, Lazarus left his quarters around 0800 hours, dressed in civilian clothing, and headed to the transporter room to meet, Vree, Jahkar and McCulloch for their trip to the surface. He had selected some olive drab fatigues, a brown vest and boots -- something he might have worn years ago during his unofficial and unspoken years in the Maquis.

That is where Elim Garak would remember him from. So he figured he might as well do his best to look like he did then. Of course, Garak would notice he no longer had visible cybernetic implants. Those had been replaced years ago with more modern, organic looking cybernetics.

Arriving in the transporter room, Lazarus looked to see if his shipmates were already there or not…

Colonel Jahkar

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2109.14

Jahkar emerged from his quarters dressed in a black pair of pants, a gray tunic and a black jacket, his long, unruly hair pulled back in a ponytail. Waiting there in the corridor was Tiri Sh’avelith, who smiled as they made eye contact. Jahkar returned the smile and together they started off down the corridor.

“I didn’t want to bother you last night, so I thought I’d wait here for you this morning,” the Andorian said. “I know yesterday was a rough day. Is everything OK?”

Jahkar shrugged, “I’ve been better. I missed you, I thought about stopping by your quarters, but I needed some time to think.”

“I understand,” she said. “I heard you were going with the captain to the surface. Hence the civilian clothes.”

He nodded, “Yes. I’m heading to the transporter room. You?”

“Awaiting orders. Thought I’d check in on Reepchip this morning, but I’ll probably do it remotely. I don’t think they’re going to want me beaming over to the Fearless every time I want to see if he’s OK.”

“Maybe we can grab a bite in the mess hall when I get back,” Jahkar offered, giving her a faint smile.

She looked at him and saw his troubled face. They stopped and she reached out and touched his cheek, “I’m sorry about your son. Do you want to talk about it?”

Jahkar closed his eyes. Her hand against his cheek felt good. Then he shook his head. “No, not right now. Maybe later, we’ll see how this day goes. I have so many emotions going through me right now…I probably wouldn’t be the best company.”

“You don’t get off that easy, colonel,” she said, withdrawing her hand. “I’m here for you. Just let me know when you need me.”

The marine smiled and nodded before walking through the door into the transporter room. Tiri sighed as the door closed behind him and she headed off toward sick bay to see whether there was a report there on Reepchip…

Commander Mayla Vree

USS Resurrection above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.14

Mayla rarely dressed up for occasions. She was rarely AT any special occasions. Being a Starfleet Intelligence field operative didn't give much opportunity to dress with anything else other than combat fatigues. She looked at herself at the three-dimensional representation of herself on the screen, swiping the screen so she can look at herself from all angles. She had always been more modest than her adopted mother. Besides, Mayla didn't have nearly the curvy features Linsayla did, and she had a much more lithe figure than her due to her genetics and physical training. So wearing any sort of clothes designed for Lin was out of the question. Ever since she was little, Lin had always tried to teach her how certain colors work together and what type of statement she wanted to convey. This included selecting the type of make up to match the outfit.

She smoothed the slim dark gray pinstripe pants into the black ankle boots she then pulled on. Complementing the pants was a dark blue, soft sleeveless shirt. With a touch of metallic accent, she had on around the neck of the shirt a long silver chain with a small locket embedded with a sparkling lavender stone dangling to her midsection. It was actually her comm badge in disguise. The thin crimson belt she had cinched at her waist gave her outfit a pop of color. She had thin bracelets on both wrists and rings on two fingers. Nodding with satisfaction, she then pulled on the light cream-colored long coat with a low collar and crimson red lining inside to match her belt.

She had her short hair combed straighter than usual, and maybe even slightly curled on one side. As to her make up, she decided to match the eyeliner color to her shirt, and the eye shadow to her pants. The slight splash of blush on her cheek made her skin aglow.

She took one last satisfying look at her image and was out the door. The boots made the same noise as her uniform boots on the deck as it echoed its way to the transporter room. Lazarus and Jahkar looked her up and down when she strolled in. Both men nearly stared at her.

"I don't ever remember seeing you dressed like that," Lazarus said, nearly smiling.

"I've NEVER seen her dressed like that," Jahkar quipped. "It's like I missed out on her whole adulthood."

"Me too." Lazarus gave her a nod and a real smile. "Very nice and fashionable, youngster."

She flashed them a sweet smile and took a combat stance as if she was wearing her fatigues. "I learned a bit from my mother."

"I'm sure you did," Lazarus said, this time with a real smile.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2109.14

Will scanned through the computer screen of the replicator and examined the various civilian outfits that came up on the screen. After thumbing through a few suggestions, the Scot finally decided on a business casual outfit.

He watched as the outfit materialized. He quickly put on the light blue button-down shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, brown dress shoes, and a blue and black checked blazer. Lastly, he retrieved a navy-blue highland bonnet that was adorned with a bearskin tuft. He pulled it onto his head and cocked it slightly to the side.

He looked into the full mirror and nodded in approval. Afterward, he retrieved a cigar, lit it, blew smoke into the air and exited into the passageway.

He continued to puff on his cigar as he confidently glided past a pair of young female crewmen. The duo giggled nervously as he winked at them.

McCulloch rounded a corner and approached the transporter room, he encountered Warrant Officer Hannigan who was en route to the medical bay.

“You look like a fancy goat herder.” She announced as she tried to suppress her laughter.

“I look great.” Will countered.

“Maybe ye mum will tell you that,” she replied with a heavy Irish brogue, “but any other rational person will tell you that the bonnet, blazer, cigar and shoes are completely out of whack. You look daff.”

Will waved the nurse off and continued on his way to the transporter room, where he found Lazarus, Vree and Jahkar waiting for him.

“Nice hat.” Jahkar quipped as he gazed at the bonnet. Lazarus simply shook his head with disappointment.

“It’s a traditional highland bonnet. I always wore one when visiting Garak.” McCulloch protested as he looked towards Vree.

Initially, he didn’t recognize the Trill...she looked...attractive. After staring dumbfounded at her for a moment, he shuddered at the impure thoughts that started to creep into his head, looked away from the commander and simply asked no one in particular “are we ready to transport to the surface?”

Sabkra Drajal

CDS Oragagh

Stardate 2109.14

The screams of the female Changeling filled the interrogation chamber aboard the cloaked Keldon-class ship captained by Sabka Drajal and crewed by 74 members of the Sons of Cardassia. Sitting in a chair in a room adjoining the cell where the Founder was being tortured, Sabka watched the interrogation through a forcefield – controlling the instrument being used to exact pain from the prisoner.

The Changeling was held in some kind of stasis field which suspended her body above the floor of the cell, but she was no longer able to maintain a solid shape. Instead, she was mostly in a gelatinous state, spread across three large globs of metallic looking liquid floating in the air.

Using energy fields in the cell, Sabka inflicted pain on the Founder, while forcing her to remain conscious and unable to regenerate as she was forced from her liquid state, back into a solid state, then back to liquid again.

Floating there in the cell, the Founder managed to form a face with a mouth as it tried to communicate with Sabka. Finally, through its pain, the Changeling spoke, “I’m…sure you…have waited…most of your…life…to hear my screams.”

Sabka, a faint smile on her face, nodded, “Since the night my parents died and my brother was maimed. I have dreamed of this moment for more than 20 years.”

“You Cardassians are such…brutal, arrogant creatures,” the Founder said sadly. “It’s too bad we did not completely exterminate your species. We would have been doing the galaxy a favor.”

The Cardassian allowed her hand to glide across the holographic display and the energy field forced the Changeling back into a solid form, albeit somewhat deformed and mangled, and she sent another wave of agonizing pain through her body. The Founder screamed again until Sabka eased off the pain inducing energy.

“The location of the Founder homeworld,” Sabka demanded. “Tell me, Founder, and I will put an end to this nonsense. I will allow you to regenerate.”

The Founder was silent a moment, then she spoke again, “I will not betray my people.”

“Yes, because you are gods? Aren’t you?” Sabka laughed. “Funny, I didn’t know gods could be caged. I didn’t know they could be made to feel pain. But they can, can’t they?”

Sabka triggered the equipment again and the Founder was converted back into ooze which then was forced to harden into an almost wet concrete substance.

Whatever the condition was Sabka had forced on her, the Founder was in horrific pain. The blob of thick liquid quivered and shook uncontrollably, no voice able to emit from the Founder – but its pain was obvious.

When allowed to speak again, the Founder gasped, “I will not…tell you…anything.”

“You will,” Sabka mused. “Oh, in time you will beg me to stop. You will tell me everything I want to know.”

Hours passed. For Sabka it was entertainment. She took great pleasure in tormenting the Founder, turning it into different shapes and compositions while blasting her every now and then with painful bursts of energy.

Finally, after nearly a full day of torture, with the Oragagh making its way through slipstream toward the Bajoran wormhole, the Founder was broken.

It came as a murmuring jumble of numbers, which Sabka had to insist she slow down and repeat. The creature’s usually metallic globular body was now darkened and hard in appearance, unrecognizable as the female Founder who had led the war effort 20 years earlier. She was now a pathetic, wheezing glob of sludge floating in the anti-gravity field.

“Repeat that,” Sabka demanded. “Tell me again….god…where is your home?”

The Founder slowly rattled off a series of numbers which Sabkra eventually equated to coordinates. Once they were transcribed, a Cardassian named Tessias who was assisting her in the interrogation chamber went over to a display and ran the coordinates through the computer.

“It’s a star system in the Gamma Quadrant, about a six-day trip from the wormhole at standard warp,” Tessias said. He checked some other data scrolling on the holographic screen and smiled, “It’s one of the suspected sites Gul Drajal has been investigating.”

Sabka nodded and turned back to the Founder. She could hear it groaning and make soft whimpering sounds. The Cardassian woman took a deep breath and smiled at her accomplishment. “Now, you get to regenerate. And the next time we bring you out of your container, you will get to watch as we destroy your homeworld.”

The Changeling tried to say something in response to Sabka’s remarks, but the creature could no longer speak in her current condition. Sabka turned to Tessias and gave him a firm nod, “Put it back in it’s container and secure it in a cell.”

“Yes mistress,” the Cardassian replied.

Sabka stood up and stretched, then started toward her quarters so she could get some rest after being awake the past day conducting the interrogation of the prisoner. On the way, she keyed her comm-badge, “Bridge, what’s our ETA at the wormhole?”

“Seven hours, 33 minutes,” a voice replied.

“I will be in my quarters,” she said. “Awaken me an hour before we arrive in Bajoran space.”

Commander Victoria Smith

USS Fearless

Stardate 2109.15

Victoria blinked several times as she lay on her back in bed. She stared up at the ceiling of her temporary quarters in silence as she reflected upon the surreal dream she experienced hours earlier while with Reepchip in sickbay. After assuring herself that it was just that...a dream….she sat up and looked over at the chronometer on the table next to her bed. She had slept for over seven hours.

The nurse ran her hands through her hair and sighed loudly. After a few minutes of reflection, she convinced herself yet again that Jirian was still part of her and she was ready to return to duty.

She quickly got dressed and started towards the door of her quarters. Oddly, she felt jumpy. Her chest started to tighten and her eyes darted nervously about the room as her mind wandered to scenarios of being left by Jirian.

Instinctively, Victoria stepped back from the doorway and started breathing rapidly. For a brief moment, she eyed the spare med kit she had in her quarters, knowing there was a hypospray loaded with a sedative inside. She started to reach for the case before pulling her hand back.

Victoria looked away from the kit in disgust before starting breathing exercises. Once confident she was back in control of her thoughts, she exited her quarters and made her way to sickbay to check on Reepchip.

Upon arrival, she noted the Muran and Ensign Gace were fast asleep and likely still telepathically linked. One of the Fearless’ doctors was monitoring Reepchip’s bio signs.

“I assume you are somewhat rested?” He asked with a slight smirk.

“Where is Petty Officer Gatc?” Victoria asked, ignoring the physician’s question.

“Here ma’am.” The Bajoran replied from behind a nearby desk. “Just updating observation notes on the Ensign.”

“Finish those notes and then you are relieved Iams.” She ordered, calling the medic by his first name.

“Yes ma’am.”

“How is the ensign doing?” Victoria asked as she returned her attention to the doctor.

“We just started the process of waking him up. Why don’t you do the honors and run some preliminary neurological and physical tests to see how he’s doing.”

Smith nodded in understanding and walked over to Reepchip’s biobed. For a brief moment, she hesitated to approach him out of fear that she would once again experience separation from her Trill memories. Again she quietly chastised herself and advanced on the Muran.

Once at his bedside, he could hear the Muran chitter groggily as he started to stir. She rested her right hand on his shoulder as she retrieved a nearby padd with her left. After quickly reviewing a set of observation notes, she turned her attention back to her patient and watched as Reepchip opened his eyes.

Victoria looked down and smiled at the Muran. “There’s my brave warrior. Shall we see how you’re doing today?”

“I feel…  okay,” he said quietly.  “Again, I’m sorry for calling out that ghost.  I… didn’t expect that it would scare you or…”  He took a deep breath.  “Or that you’d find out what it is to dream alone.”

Victoria again rested her right hand on the Muran’s shoulder. “Reepchip, it’s OK. That...ghost...is part of me. You are one of the very few people who have actually interacted with her. It was a bit surprising...but that’s probably a good thing right? It reminded me that she is there with me. And that fact you witnessed it with me tells me you’re someone special ensign.”

Reepchip looked puzzled.  “...any Shaman with the training can sense these things,” he said.  “And ghosts like these are part of all of us.  I just wanted to meet her.    I wouldn't seperate the two of you...  not unless YOU were tormenting her," he added, speaking directly to Jirian.  "But you're not."

The nurse heard stirring behind her. Hixwir had also woken up.  Victoria could see that her face was wet from recent tears.  When Victoria asked her, Hixwir said, “We got on the topic of the Muransurak Uprising, and Reepchip witnessed it first-hand.”  Of course, it would make sense that not all of Reepchip’s memories would be happy ones.  Hixwir knew that Victoria would soon ask her for a report about the dreams--or at least what it was to Dream with a Muran.

“Alright Ensign.” Victoria replied as she playfully clapped her hands together. “Let’s see how you are doing today. I have a long list of prank requests against McCulloch and Beckett I need you to fulfill so let’s get to work.”

Victoria started applying pressure with her hands on Reepchip’s hips, base of his tail and legs. “So tell me Reepchip, what are you feeling?”

Reepchip concentrated on the pressures.  “The life-flow is back,” he said.  “but it feels…  muted somehow.”  Feeling had been restored to the entire length of his tail and legs, though it would still feel muted until the healing process had been completed.  He wasn’t sure about the prank requests--he didn’t want to deal with an angry Jahkar, especially not in the shape he was in now.

Victoria smiled slightly at the Muran’s response. She continued to press and pull on his extremities and watched his reaction.  “This is good, ensign. This is very good.”

“Status?” The Fearless’ doctor inquired as he joined Victoria and Reepchip.

“The ensign is improving quite well.” Victoria answered as she bent Reepchip’s legs at the kneecap and applied pressure by leaning into his body. She watched as the Muran shifted slightly in discomfort at the increased pressure. The nurse winked at him before repeating the procedure on the opposite leg.

She then walked to the end of the biobed, picked up his right foot and cupped his heel. She instructed Reepchip to push against her hand, which he weakly did. Victoria smiled again and nodded at the doctor.

“We’ll conduct a full neurological exam within the hour.” The physician announced. “But if all goes well, he’ll be back on duty sooner rather than later. My team will take it from here commander.”

Victoria nodded in understanding before moving along the biobed to the Muran’s side. She sat on the bed next to him and studied him momentarily. She could barely contain her relief at the ensign’s progress.

“Looked like you kicked a\*\* in that second surgery Reepchip. You’ll be back in action sooner than you know. I always knew you would do well.”

“I just wish I did as well in the mission,” he sighed.

The doctor shrugged.  “Ensign, just be glad you came back alive,” he said.  “Now please relax while we prep you for the neurological exam.”

Victoria looked over at Ensign Gace who had remained nearby ready to assist her commander if needed. She nodded at the Betazoid before turning her attention back to her patient.

“Ensign, I need to speak with Ensign Gace. I have been told my services are no longer needed at this time. Would you like me still keep you company until you are discharged or wait for you over on the Resurrection?”

Reepchip pondered a bit--then said he’d like her to stick around.  The more familiar scents about him, the better.

Victoria nodded in understanding. After a moment of silence, she looked back towards Hixwir.

“Ensign, on me.” She ordered as she stood up from the biobed, clasped her hands behind her back and started to leave sickbay. Gace instantly fell in next to the nurse.

Commander Victoria Smith

Ensign Hixwir Gace

USS Fearless

Stardate 2109.16

As the two nurses made their way from the Fearless’ sickbay, Victoria looked sideways towards her junior officer.

“Alright Ensign, talk to me about the dream sequence with Reepchip after I woke up.”

Hixwir explained what she'd seen in the Dream.  "He showed me through the Muransurak Academy.  Their engineering is so STRANGE; they used all mechanical computers until just

after the Dominion War," she said.

"What made you cry?" asked Victoria, concerned.

"He witnessed something called the Muransurak Uprising first-hand.  I guess it was a revolt against the old government because it favoured the Olvern over all other races.  The Murans were angry because Shor-Ghan--the Olvern leader--really mishandled a dispute between two

clans, and they started demanding a change.  Then the Atarans decided to take the chance to settle some old scores and...  and all Hell broke loose."

“And how are you? Are you ok having witnessed these memories?” The commander pressed.

Hixwir smiled.  "I'm okay.  It makes sense that not all Reepchip's memories would be happy ones.  And seriously--an empath isn't really as equipped to handle this as a full telepath."  She'd heard Alaran Rown's complaints.

"...What about Lieutenant Ra'yral? Is he a telepath?" asked Victoria with a slight tone of concern.

Hixwir shook her head in the negative.  "I didn't sense that, but he IS a Carnora.  A dream like this would be completely normal to him."  She pondered a bit. "You know, I think that's the most alien thing about Reepchip: that Trill he saw in you?  He thought it was something totally normal.  The more I spent time with him, the more I could feel echoes of other people in his mind."

“The Trill is not in me, she is part of me, ensign.” Victoria gently corrected before reflecting on Gace’s observations. After a brief moment of silence, she continued. “At some point, we should interview Reepchip to get a better understanding of his mental capabilities.”

“And for now, ma’am?”

“Now we compile all the medical and psychological data we obtained on Reepchip. We’ll use it to put together a training module so the team can effectively treat him in the field if he’s ever injured again." Victoria ordered. "Work with those who treated the ensign to design the training. And be sure to speak with Lieutenant Sh'avelith about her experiences and observations. She played an important role in the surgery as well."

Hixwir nodded in understanding.

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

USS Fearless

Stardate 2109.19

The doctors hovered over the small muran as they scanned and tested his nerves, comparing them to what was expected according to the physiological data from the Doctors of Jova.  As they checked him and scanned him, they were worried at the time it was taking his nerves to heal--but the doctor suggested that could be an effect of Reepchip’s alien physiology.

Meanwhile, to keep Reepchip’s attention, the doctor asked Reepchip about healing practices back home.  When Reepchip explained the bathing rituals, the doctor nodded.  “Let me guess:  When a lot of these practices were scientifically tested, it was discovered they really did have disinfecting properties.”

Reepchip nodded.  “Even if it’s really hard on the skin, we still use it.  After all--we expect our healers to have no fur and their skin to look like old leather.”

The doctor nodded.    “It’s not uncommon for a method or ritual or something to be known to work, but nobody have any idea WHY it works.”  He looked at the results of the scan and breathed a sigh of relief.  “Well, things look to be within proper parameters.  If your injuries had been worse, we might have had to resort to prosthetics or cyberneti--”  He stopped as he felt a wave of sheer terror from Reepchip.  “...oh.  I see.”

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2109.19

Tiri obtained a status report on Reepchip’s condition from Fearless and smiled in relief. He was conscious...which is about all the Union 12 staff had to report. Still, that was good news. She hurried from the sickbay and found Ryramorl in the messhall, where he’d just finished breakfast.

“Lieutenant!” she called as she entered the mess and approached his table. “They are reporting from Fearless that Reepchip is conscious.”

He relaxed some at that.  “Good.    I’m glad he’s getting better.  I was worried he’d be crippled for the rest of his life, as Shor-Talo is.”  He smiled slightly as he whispered a prayer of thanks to his gods.  “If he’s back to full health soon, I’ll talk with Jahkar about retraining him as a sniper or assassin, like the Khassa or Sral Muran.”  At her puzzled look, Ryramorl explained further:  “The Khassa Muran live out in the Great Desert, while the Sral generally live in thick forests.  The Khassa attack from afar, the Sral from cover.  They take great pains to hide from their enemies.  Reepchip’s kind--what you might call the Common Muran--usually attack in great numbers, but there’s only one of him.”  He switched topics.  “Have they someone suitable to Dream with him?”

Tiri shook her head, “I haven’t been over on Fearless since last night. I’m not sure how they’re handling his treatment.”

She gave Ryramorl a pensive look then asked, “Are you saying Reepchip’s fighting days are over? It sound like you want him removed from active duty...or have him assigned to light duty.”

“I did not say that,” he corrected her.  “I am saying perhaps we have been training him wrong from the beginning.  Sniping is still active duty, nor would I consider it light duty..”

Sabka Drajal

CDS Oragagh

Stardate 2109.19

“It’s closed off. There’s no way to get through,” Tessias reported from the tactical post on the bridge. “Starfleet has closed the wormhole.”

Sabka slammed a fist on the arm of her chair, “Blast it all! Do you know why?”

“There isn’t a reason given,” Tessias said. “Just that it is closed, all ships waiting to go through are being inspected and comm chatter suggests Starfleet is conducting tachyon scans of the area around the entrance of the wormhole.”

“They are looking for cloaked ships,” Sabka mused. “They must have figured out we might be heading for the Gamma Quadrant.”

“How?” Tessias grumbled.

She looked at him with pursed lips, “Either they figured it out, or that ensign I seduced was arrested and told everything he knew.”

“You told him about Forward Base?”

“No,” she glared back at him. “But he was around me and some of our people. He may have heard things.”

“So, what do we do?” Tessias asked. “Did the Varal make it through?”

“Should have. They were ahead of us,” Sabka said. “Do you know if we can get a transmission through?”

Tessias checked his sensor readouts and then he turned to Sabka, “Yes. But they may intercept it.”

“Intercept it…possibly. If they are actively watching they might pick it out,” she said. “Understand it, unlikely. The encryption key is very sophisticated. Our best people spent the last five years developing it, we’re talking old Obsidian Order encryptionists.”

Tessias nodded, “It’s the only way to get those coordinates through at this point. Prepare to transmit.”

Narvath Drajal

CDS Varal

Stardate 2109.19

Narvath Drajal sat in the captain’s chair on the bridge of his Keldon-class heavy cruiser which was now six hours on the other side of the wormhole, cruising through Gamma Quadrant space, skirting Dominion territory en route to the place known as Forward Base by the Sons of Cardassia.

The trip had been uneventful. With the last of the three warheads known as the Trinity parked in the cargo bay of his cloaked ship, the CDS Varal would arrive at its destination and be ready to join his brother Oran in carrying out the Sons of Cardassia’s main objective.

As the ship cruised along, the tactical officer reported an incoming transmission. “It’s from the Oragagh. They say the wormhole has been closed by the Federation. They are looking for cloaked ships around the entrance of the wormhole.”

“Anything else in the message?” Narvath asked.

“It contains the coordinates for the Founder Homeworld,” the Cardassian smirked.

Narvath nodded with a smile, “Good. Send to Oragagh…good work. Find a safe port and we’ll see you when this is over.”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2109.19

Lazarus and the team moved to the transporter pads, but Lt. Commander Darva McGuire looked up from the transporter controls, frowning.

“What is it, commander?” Lazarus asked.

“The tailor shop, it’s shielded. I can’t beam you in,” McGuire said. “In fact, that shop has a sensor grid that covers more than a block radius around it.”

The captain smiled, moving to the console beside Darva. He looked over the sensor readings and pointed to a location on the map. “Fine. Put us down here. Two blocks up the street. We’ll walk.”

Lazarus then returned to the transporter pad where Vree, McCulloch and Jahkar awaited. He took his place beside the trio and nodded to McGuire. “Energize.”

A moment later, they were materializing on a street in the Cardassian city of Culat. It was morning there, Cardassias moved along the streets and sidewalks on their way to their jobs, school or just going about their business.

The captain looked around and marveled at the condition this city was in. Rebuilt from the ground up after the Dominion obliterated it 20 years ago, Culat was a modern marvel. Modern buildings, clean and well-kept surroundings...even the sky was clean for a planet that was known as an ecological nightmare before the war.

It was all courtesy of the Federation and years of painstakingly rebuilding, cleaning the land and the atmosphere and giving the Cardassians survivors a chance at a better life.

“Come on,” Lazarus told the others. “The Well-Groomed Tailor Shop is this way.” He then led the others toward Garak’s shop...

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.19

The clop-clop of her heeled boots was drowned out in the bustle of the modern town. These were new buildings built up from the rubble into a new modernist architectural movement she had read about briefly. Shul Tejan rose to popularity due to his moody architectural paintings done before and during the Dominion occupation, which was much different than the themes he presented during the Federation occupation. Looking at the style of buildings one can immediately discern it was taken directly from Tejan's paintings.

The style was a marked difference from old traditional Cardassian design, which offered many arches and scaled facades that resembled who the Cardassians were. This new design moved away from the aggressive ominous angular arches to sweeping lines and colors that gave out feelings of hope for a better Cardassian future. Many people didn't like it, too 'Federation' some people criticized. But Mayla could see the meshing of the two. Instead of an overbearing Cardassian rule overhead, this newborn city itself reminded people of the turn of events because of that overzealousness to rule above all. This modern city spoke to the younger generation.

"I don't believe it," Mayla said out loud. She stared at the candy store half dozen Cardassian children were huddled in front of.

"What?" Lazarus asked, as he led them down the sidewalk.

"A Federation candy store."

"No, it can't be," Jahkar said, looking in the direction she was looking at. "It's a Bing Bong."

The Bing Bong Corporation was one of the largest companies in the Federation which had dozens of subsidiaries; each one focused on a specific part of a child's life. They created toys, local candies, child safety equipment, sports equipment, infant food, and all manner of hologames, holonovels, and PADD games. Unlike a local business, this company created products that were specific to whatever location a store may be located at. And because of that, they are able to offer Vulcan toys to Bajorans, Betazed candies on Andoria, Trill confectionaries on Vulcan, etc… And of course, chocolates of all types at every location-an Earth staple. If there was a specific item that wasn't in the store, it could be ordered from their extensive catalog of products. They had tens of thousands of stores spread throughout the Federation. To have one here on a non-Federation planet was risky. But then, politically, she couldn't help but to not notice the Federation's growing influence here during Cardassia Prime's 'occupation' since the end of the war.

Mayla had stopped in her tracks and stared longingly at this Bing Bong candy store and wondered what types of candies and toys they might offer at this one, especially on Cardassia Prime. The only Cardassian candy she's ever had was on Deep Space Nine. It would be interesting to try some here. Sometimes she would reminisce about experiences in a Bing Bong store with her twin brother and sister. They had loved being in the store whenever they were visiting Trill.

Jahkar grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "Come on, you're not ten years old."

"Oh to be that young again," McCulloch said, giving her a smirk.

Mayla protested for just a moment and continued walking. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you were like at ten years old."

"I'm not ashamed to say it, I was a hellion." McCulloch struck a pose with his nose in the air. And with the clothes he was wearing, it was almost comical.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" She said, letting out a grin. And for that brief moment, she thought back to what she was like at ten years old and let out a sigh. She was never a typical ten year old, unless she purposefully acted like one. She gave the Bing Bong store one last nostalgic look before continuing on. They were simpler times back then.

Then she had an afterthought. Relatively simple, that is.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Culat, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.19

Will watched as Vree looked longingly at the Bing Bong candy store. A smile quickly spread across his face. There was almost a sense of...innocence ... as the Trill commander recounted her adventures to the team.

Of course, Will did not reveal that while as the CEO of Inverness, he often gave Bing Bong gift baskets to his clients with specific instructions that they be passed on to their children and grandchildren. From the perspective of the Scot, he did want to take away from Vree’s “moment”.

McCulloch, however, made a mental note that when the mission was over he would get a Bing Bong gift basket for Vree. Admittedly, there was an ulterior motive beyond the gesture of goodwill towards the Trill … If chocolate and candy could help him score points with Mayla, it would mean he would gain additional favor with a certain nurse of Union XII.

As the team continued walking towards the tailor shop, Will clasped his hands behind his back, looked about and studied the unique architecture of each building they passed. From time to time he would unclasp his hands, reach up to pull his cigar out of his mouth and blow blue grey smoke into the air.

He smiled again. He was quite the hellion at age ten.

Captain Quentin Lazarus

Cardassia Prime, Culat City

Stardate 2109.20

Lazarus ignored the candy shop, his gaze focused down the street where Elim Garak’s shop would be. He was not comfortable here, considering his past with the Cardassians, being on their homeworld was not something he relished.

He had tried to bury his feelings about the Cardassians for many years. His family had been killed on Osaka Prime when it was destroyed in the war with the Cardassians. That same metagenic weapon attack had nearly killed Quentin himself and had left him with cybernetic implants for years -- only having recently had them replaced with more organic looking parts.

The attack that killed his family had driven him to secretly join the Maquis years later during those years when he drifted back and forth between civilian life and as a Starfleet officer. For years, killing Cardassians had been his goal in life. It was a difficult thing to get past now that they were at peace.

Here, among them once again, Lazarus could not help but feel uneasy.

They arrived at the door to the tailor shop and Lazarus looked back at the others. “To start with, let McCulloch and I do the talking. He knows both of us. Will, follow my lead.”

Lazarus then opened the door and stepped inside, leaving it open for the others to follow. A bell rang somewhere in the store, altering any occupants to the group’s arrival. Clothing, mostly of Cardassian fashion, hung from the racks throughout the room. There were sections for men and women, as well as some for other species and multiple genders.

A moment after they were all inside, a man appeared from a door in the back of the shop. He was an older Cardassian, his once black hair now gray, his face withered with wrinkles but yet there was still a spry gleam in his blue eyes.

“Welcome to the Well-Groomed Tailor Shop,” he said excitedly, opening his arms in an inviting fashion. As his eyes fell upon the party his smile was reduced to something more like an amused grin. “Well...what do we have here? Two of you I recognize. The other two, no, but I have been expecting a visit like this since the events of yesterday.”

“Hello Garak,” Lazarus said. “It has been a long time.”

Garak approached and nodded, “Indeed it has. So, the captain of irony himself pays a visit to my humble shop.”

“Irony,” Lazarus snorted. “What do you mean?”

“Lazarus, a name shared with the Biblical character who died and was raised from the dead by the son of God. In your case you are the Lazarus who was raised from near death after the attack on Osaka Prime who went on to captain a vessel called Resurrection,” Garak said, sounding delighted as he told the tale. “Surely Captain Lazarus, you see the irony in that?”

Lazarus gritted his teeth, “I suppose.”

“How do you know about Resurrection?” Mayla asked, suddenly becoming a bit edgy to know that Garak was spouting off classified Starfleet Intelligence information.

“Because he’s Elim Garak,” McCulloch smirked.

Garak’s gaze fell on Will, “Oh, and you Mr. McCulloch. I never thought I’d see you back with Starfleet. Tell me, what exactly did you have to do to get back in their favor. I’m dying to hear the details.”

“Garak!” Lazarus barked. “You know why we’re here?”

“I’m sure it has something to do with yesterday’s folly,” the elderly Cardassian said. “My association with Oran Drajal. You’re hoping I may hold some insights into what he’s going to do next.”

“How’d you know we’d be asking about Drajal?” Lazarus asked.

“Because we both know he and his Sons of Cardassia are responsible for the diversionary attack on the Cardassian Central Command building,” Garak continued. “And while I haven’t been able to talk to all of my sources out there, I suspect in addition to the strike on the Breen he has done something more -- hence the statement I made of ‘diversionary attack’.“

“There may have been other things,” said Lazarus. “If you had to speculate, what would you say Drajal would need a diversion for?”

Garak shrugged, “I do not know, captain. But perhaps you could enlighten me. While I know many things...many secrets...I don’t know everything and I haven’t spoken with or seen Drajal in many years.”

He then looked to see if Lazarus and his team would fill him in, or if they’d make him guess…

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Cardassia Prime, Culat City

Stardate 2109.21

Will smiled slightly as he watched the exchange between Garak and Lazarus. Slowly he walked around the shop and inspected the various bolts of fabric on display. Afterward, he made his way over to a rack of men’s suits. He removed a jacket from its hanger to try it on. He walked over to a mirror and examined the fit of the coat.

“I’m sorry, are any of you going to ‘enlighten’ our tailor friend or would you like me to do it?” The Scot asked without looking away from his reflection.

“See!” Garak exclaimed, “this...this is why I always enjoyed my relationship with William McCulloch. Direct and to the point when needed. Tell me Mr. McCulloch, do you still stay in touch with your former bride Miss Smith? I miss her so and would have enjoyed making her wedding dress. The green fabric I had picked out for her would have highlighted her red hair and eyes remarkably.”

Over a decade earlier, Garak had been hired to make Victoria’s wedding dress but following the destruction of the USS Renegade, the couple was forced to move the wedding date up. The ceremony was officiated by Admiral Sorvek in a ship's hangar while both were dressed in their soiled Starfleet duty uniforms.

“We’ve started speaking again recently.” The Scot evasively replied.

“Ah...I am happy to hear that Mr. McCulloch. Although I must confess, I always thought you were ...what is the saying...out of her league.”

McCulloch heard Vree snort slightly. He looked sideways at her before turning his attention back to Garak. He stepped away from the mirror and turned to face the Cardassian spy.

“Do you have this coat in a slightly larger size?”

“McCulloch!” Lazarus hissed. “We are not here for a custom fitting. We’re here on business.”

“Well, then perhaps we should get to work and fill Mr. Garak in.” Will complained softly as he returned the suit jacket to its hanger and started to inspect a nearby table filled with suit pants.

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.21

"Young lady, make certain you do not leave any sweets in my shop this time." Garak said as he sauntered away from Lazarus and McCulloch with a padd in his hand that Lazarus had given him what information they knew about the Sons of Cardassia.

Mayla turned to him but didn't return the smile. "So, you do remember me."

"Of course, I remember the little Trill girl who filled half eaten hard candies in the pockets of all of my suits on display."

She shook her head. "That was Jadzia who put me up to it."

"So you say." Garak straightened a suit hanging on a rack. "I remember your father, and his...colleagues. And his wonderful wife. One does not forget the concert that caused maximum capacity on Deep Space Nine. "

"And made you a lot of latinum, I heard."

"It made Quark a rich man." He tapped the side of his head with a fingertip. "I, for one, made just a modest amount." He looked at her outfit. "I am sorry for the loss of your parents."

Mayla gave him a puzzled look. "My mother is dead. My father is still alive and in Starfleet."

Garak gave her a faux questioning look. "Really? I didn't know that. I haven't seen him since he and Kira had the...let's say, disagreement."

Mayla turned away from the Cardassian and browsed through some of the female formal wear. "Kira is lucky the Federation didn't expel Bajor from membership after what she tried to do."

"Come, come, young lady, she is just passionate and very protective about her Prophet beliefs."

The Trill nearly bristled at the mention of Kira and her Prophet beliefs. "You, of all people, shouldn't be on her side as once president of Cardassia. She ordered the deaths of an innocent community of Cardassians just because they worshipped the same gods she did. I call that that mass murder in the word of religious purity. The Federation frowns upon that. The Prophets are not only for Bajorans to believe and worshipped. The Emissary was human."

Garak scoffed and gave her THAT smile. "The Federation should focus more on their own problems than other people's problems. A change is coming, Commander Mayla Vree. And it is best to understand all sides before choosing one." He waved the padd in front of his face as if contemplating what information it gave him, and what he could use.

"Are you saying you want us to just let Cardassia deal with the Sons of Cardassia? And walk away."

"It is an internal Cardassian matter. Maybe Oran Drajal is just what my home planet needs."

"What, another change in leadership? You've been in that role, what does Cardassia need?"

The question surprisingly took Garak by surprise and he gave her a slight bow. "Apparently, I wasn't able to discover what that was. Maybe Drajal knows."

"The all wise Garak doesn't know the answer. You're still a tailor with more information than he needs." Mayla's voice rose a notch. "Just tell us this, tailor. Are you going to help us or are we wasting our time here trying to save your home world from tyranny and possible destruction?"

Now Lazarus overhead the outburst and headed their way.

"Temper, temper. Your father had one."

"And you should be glad I'm not him, because his team put Quark, Kira, and Ro in their place when they were on DS9, and Bajor on notice because of Kira's violation of Federation policy." She shook her head with frustration. "My father was here on the last day of the War to save your people. It was the Federation meddling that saved this planet from Dominion obliteration. And we're trying to save it once again. If we don't stop the Sons of Cardassia, the Breen will blame Cardassia for the destruction of their homeworld. And I doubt Cardassia will survive another War. Do you want your people to become homeless like the Romulans?"

"That's enough," Lazarus said, taking her arm to pull her back.

Mayla tore away from his grip. "We're trying to save his people, and he says maybe Drajal is what Cardassia needs." She eyed the Cardassian sternly. "I think you thrive on that guilt you've been carrying for years, Mr. Garak. It keeps you alive." She gestured around the shop. "I think you're dying here, and you want that. Let the guilt of failure eat away at you. But no one will know, nor care once the planet destroys itself. And hopefully with you still on it." She walked away more angry than she intended to.

Colonel Jahkar

Cardassia Prime/Garak’s Shop

Stardate 2109.22

Jahkar stayed back and observed. He knew Garak from before, but they’d never had much interaction He was concerned with the animosity Mayla was showing.

Funny, colleagues always worried about what he was going to do in certain situations.

“Don’t set Jahkar off!”

“Watch out for Jahkar, he’s got a temper!”

They worried about him because of his size, his Klingon and Romulan heritage, his temper -- but the one they really needed to watch was Mayla Vree.

It was always the quiet ones.

Finally, after Mayla finished reading Garak the riot act, Jahkar cleared his throat and spoke, “Mr. Garak. It has been some time. All we want to do is prevent another genocidal incident like what happened yesterday. Maybe the Breen deserved it, maybe not. We’re concerned of what the consequences will be here on Cardassia. What this could mean for the Federation and to peace in the entire quadrant. Drajal has a powerful weapon...two more of them if I guess correctly. Surely, you don’t want him to destroy another planet?”

Elim Garak

Cardassia Prime, Tailor’s Shop

Stardate 2109.22

Garak looked Jahkar up and down and smiled, “I remember you. Husband of my dear friend Dara Ilia. I understand you turned out to be a disappointment. Poor girl. She deserved someone much better. Her death was unfortunate. Your children, they are well?”

Jahkar nodded.

“To answer your question, no, I don’t want to see further death and destruction,” Garak admitted. “This whole thing is happening because the Federation and its allies would not listen to me. I told them pushing Cardassia to become some hybrid of the Federation was not going to go very well with everyone in the Cardassian Union.”

“Forget about that,” Lazarus snapped. “Yes, you told everyone. I’ve read the reports on what led up to your resignation. We need to stop Oran Drajal and his siblings from killing anyone else. If you have some sort of information that would help, I suggest you tell us. Time is of the essence.”

Garak sighed, “When I met Oran Drajal, he came to me and wanted to work for my staff. I gave him a job, put him to work at a desk job. Three years later he was my chief of staff. We spent hours talking about politics, about the old days when I was with the Obsidian Order, the differences between the Cardassian and Federation governments and how they were both bureaucracies. We bonded and became close...he was like the son I never had.

“Then, there was talk amongst the Occupation forces that someone within the new government was diverting latinum, supplies, resources and information to anti-occupation forces,” he said. “I immediately suspected some of the more radical individuals within the military. There were many there who were dissatisfied with the way the occupation was going and the reconstruction efforts. But slowly, I began to realize it was someone closer to my office.”

Lazarus gave a snort, “Drajal?”

“I realized it before the Federation figured it out. I confronted him and he was very candid with me,” Garak explained. “He admitted he had been diverting money and supplies to aid a group he’d created...the Sons of Cardassians. They were his answer to undoing the changes the Federation and its allies had made to the Cardassian government with the reconstruction. He wanted my support, which I told him I could not give him. I gave him what we’ll call a ‘head start’ before I took my knowledge to the Federation. I thought perhaps he’d kill me, but he simply said he understood and thanked me for my defense of Cardassia during the Resistance. But then, he added that I should have stayed out of the occupation and reconstruction, because all I had become in the end was a sellout.”

“Charming young man,” Lazarus said, rolling his eyes.

“After he left, I took my findings to the Federation and then gave my resignation,” Garak said. “Oran was right, I sold my people out. I wanted to create something better than the old Cardassia government...the Cardassian government that was corrupt and fell so willingly into the hands of the Dominion. But all I did was turn us into lapdogs of the Federation.”

Lazarus scoffed, “Spare me the theatrics, Garak. You can go back to pitying yourself when we have arrested the Drajal family. Right now, I need to know where they are going to strike next. I need to stop them, Elim.”

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Cardassia Prime, Culat City

Stardate 2109.24

As Will continued to browse through Garak’s clothing and wares, he listened quietly to the ongoing argument. He knew there was a very good chance the “discussion” was only going to go so far, so when there was a pause, he cleared his throat and spoke. Perhaps a different approach would achieve the desired result.

“Elim, they’re using children.” Will announced as he held a pair of dress shoes up to a nearby light and started to inspect them for hidden listening or surveillance devices.

“Excuse me Mr. McCulloch?” Garak replied. There was hesitation in his voice.

“The Sons of Cardassia are recruiting children.” The Scot answered as he tugged on the laces of the shoes. “We have one in custody. It appears they’ve been recruiting children for both traditional and cyber warfare.”

“How old is your prisoner?” Garak demanded.

“Fifteen.”

The Cardassian spy scoffed at McCulloch’s announcement. “That is an acceptable age for military service within Cardassian society.”

“He was recruited at age ten.”

“Ten?”

“The boy reported to us that the Sons of Cardassia are recruiting children as young as eight.”

Elim stared in silence at McCulloch. After a moment of calm reflection, a smile spread across his face. “You’re bluffing Mr. McCulloch.”

“Am I?” Will countered. “Do you really want the blood of Cardassian children on your hands?”

“How would it be on my hands?”

“One way or another this Sons of Cardassia problem is going to come to an end. The Sons are either going out in restraints or in caskets. If it’s the latter, there is a very strong likelihood that many children...brainwashed, abused and violated children...will be deliberately sent to their deaths by the Sons.”

The smile left Elim’s face. Will continued, speaking in a low cold voice as he stared at the Cardassian.

“We know...I know...the Sons have trained many of these children to be suicide bombers. If pushed into a corner...and the Sons may well be...the children under their command will be weaponized.”

The Scot glanced at Mayla. The two briefly made eye contact before Will returned his gaze to Elim. “One of the people who will be risking their life to treat wounded and maimed children if this goes sideways will be the woman you just spoke fondly of...Victoria. Rest assured, if this goes badly for her or Cardassian children, I will use all of my resources both inside and outside of the Federation to get the word out that you had an opportunity to stop this and you did nothing. So are you going to bloody help us so I can buy this pair of shoes or are we wasting our time?”

Obsidian Cell, Sons of Cardassia

The Streets of Culat City

Stardate 2109.25

Obsidian Cell was a special operations unit of the Sons of Cardassia. They were typically sent on missions of great importance for the terrorist organization, whether they were acts of sabotage, infiltration, assassination or espionage. Just prior to the launch of the Gul Drajal’s Atonement Day plans, he deployed the unit to Culat City to keep an eye on his old friend, Elim Garak.

Oran Drajal knew once Starfleet and the Cardassian puppet government began to investigate the taking of the Cardassian Central Command building and the attack on the Breen, it would ultimately lead them to Garak – Oran’s old mentor.

The team had been set up in buildings and on the streets around the Well-Groomed Tailor Shop in Culat City, so when two humans, a Klingon-Romulan hybrid and a Trill came strolling down the street full of Cardassians, Obsidian Cell was immediately on alert.

Tarsen Glek was situated in the window high on a clock tower at the end of the block past Garak’s shop. Glek was watching the street below, scanning with an ocular magnification device. Beside him, propped against the wall, was a precision Jem’Hadar CX-5 sniping rifle.

He was the first to see the four non-Cardassians coming, and he immediately keyed a signal to the others in his squad alerting them to their presence. On the street, several Cardassians from the unit looked up from what they were doing – charades they were carrying out to disguise who they really were. Two members of the unit were posing as delivery men, another was posing as an old woman feeding birds in a pocket park along the route to Garak’s, while two more were sitting at an outdoor café across the street from the Well-Groomed Tailor shop posing as a young couple eating breakfast.

Glek again keyed his comm, opening a heavily encrypted channel to the rest of his team. “Four customers for the tailor of the non-Cardassian variety.”

“I’ve got eyes on,” said Barok, one of the delivery men unloading a hover vehicle.

“So do we,” said Elenar Vak, the male seated at the café.

“Likewise,” the old lady, Pando Naylis responded. Beneath her holographic mask, she was a young, 21-year-old Cardassian.

“Obsidian One to the Regnedor,” Glek said. “The tailor has customers.”

CDS Regnedor

High above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.25

Tirlin Drajal sat in the command chair of the Keldon-class warship Regnedor watching the holographic tactical display aboard his cloaked vessel. Drajal was fairing much better than he had been nearly 24 hours earlier. He’d been stabbed with a fork-like weapon, hurled across the room by a Starfleet commando during the raid on Central Command. Shortly thereafter, a young Trill woman rendered him unconscious with some sort of injected toxin.

Fortunately, his second in command, Glinn Demek, then transported him and the survivors of his team back to Regnedor and they fled in their cloaked vessel. Once they were safely away, however, Tirlin regained consciousness and ordered his ship back into Cardassian orbit. Cloaked, they had taken up a position safely cloaked in orbit and had been monitoring the Federation’s activity on and above Cardassia Prime – as well as on the surface by communicating with Obsidian Cell.

Drajal was itching for vengeance after the Starfleet interlopers nearly killed him, killed most of his cell and thwarted their mission. As he thought of exacting that revenge, he flexed his shoulder and noted the pain he still felt in his back where the thrown forked-weapon penetrated his flesh. It would surely be tender for several days.

He was up to speed with what was going on, however. The Federation had a small, cloaked ship in orbit. Regnedor had detected it a couple times. It operated with some sort of phased cloaking device, which he had heard of but never seen in operation. The ship had decloaked a couple of times to conduct transports, but mostly remained in a phased state.

There was a second ship. A bigger vessel, also operating with a phased cloak. That ship had also appeared briefly but had not been seen since. Now there were four people at Garak’s store – all Federation operatives no doubt.

“Obsidian, stand by for orders,” Tirlin said. He then turned in his chair toward Demek, his first officer.

“If they re-phase to transport that team out, how long will they need to be visible?” Tirlin asked Demek.

“Based on the amount of time they were visible to carry out the transport of the team they just sent down, less than 90 seconds,” Demek said. “If we decloaked to attack them we might get off a shot, but the second ship, assuming its still here, would likely decloak and strike. We’d be no match for both ships.”

Tirlin nodded.

“What do we know about phased cloaking devices?” he asked.

“Very little,” Demek confirmed. “However, I think there might be a way to disrupt one, based on what we’ve monitored here. It’s a theory.”

Tirlin grinned, “Your theories are usually good enough for me.”

Demek gave a sharp nod, “It would not mean an assured victory, but we might be able to keep the second Starfleet ship occupied while we attack the smaller one.

“If we attack the unphased vessel and saturate the area around us with graviton particles, it might interfere with the phased cloak on the larger ship before it unphases – catching it in a state of flux. They would be unable to attack us while they tried to stabilize the ship’s phase variance.”

“It would buy us time to strike at the smaller ship,” Tirlin nodded. “Hit it hard, beam out Obsidian Cell and make for the wormhole. I like it.”

“I can’t be sure their ship will be affected,” Demek said. “It is a long shot.”

“We have to try,” Tirlin said. “Based on the smaller ship’s last known position, when it unphased and transported their people to the surface, can you determine their possible location?”

Demek nodded, “Assuming they haven’t altered course, yes. Sending coordinates to the helm.”

“Helm, move us into attacking position,” Tirlin said. “Demek, ready your graviton field and get ready to discharge it when the ship unphases.”

“Yes, sir,” Demek said.

The Keldon-class ship then moved into position and got ready to strike as Tirlin reopened the channel to Obsidian Cell on the surface, “Obsidian, neutralize targets. Bring us the tailor.”

The Well-Groomed Tailor Shop

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.25

Garak nodded his head and turned toward Lazarus when suddenly the lighting in his shop turned red and a holographic display suddenly sprung up the from the check-out counter. Garak turned with haste and viewed the console, his eyebrows raised.

“It looks like we have company. Two armed Cardassians are at the front door,” Garak reported as video surveillance streamed across a panel on the holographic display of two Cardassians outside the door with weapons drawn. “Computer, secure doors.”

A steel bar locked across the door and a forcefield was erected over that, sealing them in as the back door and two skylights all closed up similarly.

As the doors and windows sealed, a display counter which held folded shirts and pants suddenly slid open and a square rack filled with an assortment of Cardassian disruptor pistols and rifles rose from inside the display counter.

“Since I scanned you and you were all unarmed, please feel free to help yourselves,” Garak said, grabbing a rifle off the rack.

Outside, as Obsidian Cell moved into action, they activated a series of four probes which placed a dampening field over a two-block area surrounding the tailor shop, preventing beam ins, beam outs and sensors readings from orbit.

Back to top

## S4, E1, Act 4: Boots on the Ground (Extended edition)

Commander Commander Mayla Vree

Garak's tailor shop, Culat City on Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.25

"Somebody was watching your shop," Lazarus said, picking up a pistol and a rifle.

"Yes," Garak said. "But I wasn't aware of who they were. The shop's sensors are being jammed by a dampening field. I am assuming they are not here to buy clothes."

"SOC," McCulloch muttered, checking his own weapon and checking to see where Mayla was.

Mayla was the first one already with a rifle and a disruptor. She began knocking down mannequins and whatever else that could be moved in front of the entry points as the red lights of the room turned off, putting them all in relative darkness.

"Let's try to take prisoner whoever is leading," Lazarus said.

"There are no stun settings on Cardassian weapons," Jahkar said, taking up his own position in the rear with McCulloch.

"Do what you can."

"With the forcefields up, they're going to have to do something drastic," Mayla said. "Since they can't shoot at us and we can't shoot at them, we might have to wait to see what their next move is. Report anything unusual."

Garak remained crouched behind the counter tapping at a terminal. With a few final taps, he grabbed his rifle and took up position. "I've sent a message to Gul Nidek at Cardassian Security informing him of our situation."

"Through the dampening field?" Lazarus asked.

"Hardwire. Don't you think I would have foreseen an event such as this?" Garak just gave him a smug look as his eyes turned hard.

Mayla couldn't help but smile. If Garak prepared for an attack like this, that also meant he had a means of escape in case of a siege. This was reminiscent of her father. "You also have another way out, right?"

"Of course," he said. "But I prefer not to use it unless I have to."

"Well, they're either here for us, or for you," McCulloch said. "I think if we can escape, I think we should. We're at a slight disadvantage here."

"What do you think, Mayla?" Lazarus asked out loud since the subvocals were also being jammed.

"I think we should escape, backtrack and take them from behind. You take Garak to safety. The three of us will bring back a prisoner."

"You sound pretty sure of that," Jahkar said.

"We'll make it happen," she said. "Captain?"

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Garak's tailor shop, Culat City on Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.25

Will looked over at the cache of weapons one more time before glancing towards Garak.

“You don’t have any sniper rifles?”

“I’m sorry.” The Cardassian replied as he peered over the counter. “Had I known the famed sniper William McCulloch was going to visit my shop, I certainly would have stocked my weapons cache with the finest rifles from the Alpha Quadrant.”

The Scot rolled his eyes at the sarcastic comment before returning his attention to adjusting the targeting scope of his weapon.

“Can I at least get up onto the roof of the shop?” McCulloch asked.

“No, there’s no way to get up there with the forcefield activated.”

Will grumbled as he pressed his back against a nearby wall towards the front of the shop and held his rifle at the ready position. If necessary, the Scot was in a tactical position to take out the first Cardassian to come through the entranceway.

To pass the time, he eyed the pair of shoes he had hoped to purchase for himself.

“Damit and bloody hell.” he muttered to no one on particular.

Colonel Jahkar

Garak’s Shop

Stardate 2109.27

Jahkar snagged a pistol and rifle from the cache of guns and stuck the pistol into his waistband at the small of his back. Armed, he looked to the others and waited to see what they were going to do.

At that moment, an outline around a square section of wall around the front door to the shop began to turn a glowing orange and it sparked as something burned through the duracrete and steel construction.

“Explosives, something like we used in the tunnels under Central Command,” Jahkar stated. “They’ll be through in a couple seconds.”

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Garak's tailor shop, Culat City on Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.27

“Go!” McCulloch hissed as he gestured for Garak and Lazarus to withdraw. “Get the $%&^ out of here.”

“We’ll see you shortly.” Lazarus announced as he and Garak started to work their way towards the back of the store. The Cardassian stopped momentarily to retrieve a pair of concussion grenades from the cache and tossed them to Will in rapid succession.

The Scot placed the grenades on a nearby display stand, shouldered his rifle, leaned forward and peered through the targeting scope. He slowed his breathing and rested his finger on the trigger guard of his weapon as an orange light started to envelope the shop.

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.27

Mayla followed Lazarus and Garak to one of the fabric storage rooms in the rear of the establishment. With several taps on one side of the doorway, and another few taps on the other, one of the storage cabinets lifted up off the ground a meter, revealing an opening beneath it.

Garak pointed at a small crevice in the wall of the rocky underground tunnel. "A finger in here will close the opening behind you." He pointed to another crevice on the opposite side. "That one opens."

She nodded and then took up position at the doorway while they jumped down into the tunnel. "How do you know they haven't already discovered your escape route?"

"I've paid handsomely for those locations to be hidden and guarded by some of my most loyal friends. I would have received an alarm if any of them were compromised." He pointed to a small, camouflaged conduit in the ceiling of the tunnel. "Hardwired. You will want to take the left tunnel, Commander." Lazarus pulled Garak down into the darkened tunnel and out of sight.

"We need covering fire for retreat," she said, taking off her coat and throwing it aside. She laid out whatever weapons there were left in Garak's stash on counters on either side of the store, pointed at the front. She set them for random autofire and gestured for McCulloch to retreat.

"Eight-One, take point in the tunnel, take the left fork and secure our exit point. See what we're up against." She ordered, taking the remaining concussion grenades and tossing a few to Jahkar. They had now exhausted Garak's hidden cache of weapons. "Two-One, I've got our six."

The entire front wall was now beginning to crumble as the supports began to give away. "Acknowledged," both men responded.

"Move." Mayla took up position just behind the doorway and aimed her disruptor rifle at the front entrance just as the forcefield shut off.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Garak's tailor shop, Culat City on Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.27

Will nodded silently upon hearing Vree’s command and attached the two grenades to his waistbelt. He then slowly walked backwards, his rifle still at the shoulder and aimed towards the front entrance. He quickly surveyed his surroundings and noted Vree and Jahkar were both behind him and closer to the emergency exit.

As the forcefield came down, the heavy metal frame of the shop doorway collapsed inward and slammed onto the floor with a loud, metallic clang. Light from the outside quickly flooded the entranceway.

For a brief, fleeting moment there was nothing but silence. There was no movement or even a sound. As Will kept his rifle at the ready with his right hand, he lowered his left hand and signaled to Vree and Jahkar to be ready. He then quickly brought the hand back up to the rifle’s foregrip.

A shadow moved quickly outside of the entranceway and then disappeared. Seconds later, McCulloch heard the rattle of a device skipping across the shop floor.

Will looked down to see a grenade bouncing towards him.

“Of f^\*& this.” He muttered loudly as he kicked the device like a soccer ball and watched it sail back out of the store entrance. There was a loud boom followed by the store shaking loudly. Streams of dust and debris fell from the ceiling to the floor. Two of the shop windows blew inward. The Scot cursed again as he was sprayed with shards of glass.

A large figure appeared in the doorway. It was clear he was well armed and was the person on point. Will didn’t wait to see who else was with the target. He squeezed the trigger of his rifle sending an energy burst through his assailant’s head. A mist of brown blood accompanied by brain matter sprayed out from the back of his or her head. The Cardassian fell backwards to the ground dead.

Will squeezed the trigger of his rifle several more times as he directed disruptor fire towards the entrance. Afterward, he spun around and started to race towards the emergency exit. As he did, McCulloch saw Jahkar jump down into the tunnel as Vree provided covering fire for the marine.

As he closed the gap between him and the Trill, he swore loudly. “Sh\*t!!”

Will turned around and returned to the weapons Vree had set up. Sparks rained down about him as disruptor fire struck his immediate surroundings. He activated the autofire on each of the prepositioned weapons and again started to retreat towards Vree’s position.

There was a loud series of whines as the weapons powered up and then opened fire on the shop entrance. He heard more than one Cardassian voice bark out orders and directions.

Without looking back, Will raced to the exit and jumped down into the tunnel. He passed the others without saying a word to the others and immediately took point.

Colonel Jahkar

Tunnels beneath Culat City

Stardate 2109.28

Jahkar stayed nearly on top of Garak and within reach of the captain as they made their way from the shop through the tunnels. He didn't see her, but Vree was supposedly covering their six while McCulloch had point. The Marine was not confident at all that Garak’s so-called trusted and loyal friends wouldn’t sell him out...or that Sons of Cardassia might kill them before they could get an alarm activated.

He essentially had babysitting duty, but it was no small task. He had to keep both Lazarus and Garak alive, so he positioned himself between them and kept himself alert to what was ahead and behind.

Down the left tunnel they went, finding it dimly lit with lighting the Cardassian tailor had placed every few feet in the ceiling. The tunnel appeared to have been carved out of the rock by someone with a mining laser -- not an easy feat to pull off and have very few people know about it.

The tunnel took them several hundred feet to the south and then it turned sharply on an angle, leading them another couple hundred feet until up ahead they could see a deadend with a metal ladder extending upward to a hole with a hatch on it.

“That’s it,” Garak confirmed. “That should take us up into a safehouse...it belongs to a good friend of mine.”

Jahkar looked at the Cardassian and grunted, “Indeed.”

Arriving at the ladder, Garak climbed up and rapped on the metal hatch two times rapidly, then once more after a delay.

“Secret Obsidian Order code?” Jahkar asked.

Garak smiled, “A simple pre-arranged knock to let my friend know I am here.”

There was some clanging on the hatch from above and then it opened, revealing the face of a Cardassian woman who was looking down at them.

“Well, after everything that happened yesterday you should have left before hell broke loose,” the woman said. She looked over the four from Resurrection and sighed. “Come on, all of you, get up here.”

Jahkar nodded to McCulloch to continue on point as he reached out and grabbed Garak by the shoulder. “You stay until he checks the place out.”

Garak nodded and all eyes fell upon Will…

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Tunnels beneath Culat City

Stardate 2109.28

Will nodded silently at Jahkar before brushing past a surprised Garak. He slung his rifle across his back, grasped a rung of the metal ladder and started to climb up towards the hatch. As he ascended towards the ceiling, he noted the Cardassian woman never moved or took her eyes off of the Scot.

When McCulloch reached the top of the ladder he briefly paused. Tactically he was in a very untenable position…. The woman or any companions with her could easily kill him as he pulled himself through the hole in the ceiling.

For a brief moment Will contemplated deactivating and tossing one of the two flash bang grenades into the room above him but he knew it was both foolish and would likely incur the wrath of Vree.

As Will debated his next move, a hand emerged next to him.

“Are you going to keep standing on the ladder drooling like a human idiot or come up?” The woman calmly asked as she reached down towards the Scot.

McCulloch nodded in agreement and clasped her hand. He was quickly hoisted up into a large and brightly lit open room flanked on all sides by tan, stone walls. A variety of art displays adorned the walls and tables of nearby furniture. The floor was made of a red and tan marble light material and shined in the light.

Will looked above him and saw a vaulted ceiling with multiple lights embedded in it.

He surveyed the room one last time and froze. In one of the corners was another woman who was armed with a disruptor rifle. McCulloch drew the pistol and started to bring it up, but the Cardassian woman who helped into the room quickly intervened.

“That’s not necessary.” She announced as she approached and rested her hand on Will’s wrist and pushed his pistol back down. “There will be no foolish mistakes here.”

McCulloch eyed the armed woman carefully before walking around the room once. Once satisfied the room was as safe as it could be, he walked over to the hatch and shouted down to his companions in the tunnel.

“Clear!” He announced before stepping towards the armed Cardassian woman, placing himself between her and his companions as they climbed up the ladder and surfaced in the room.

Elim Garak

Culat City

Stardate 2109.29

Garak smiled at the woman and then turned to his friends. “My friend here, we will call her Dathyn, she was an agent in the Obsidian Order assigned under my command. A protege, if you will. She is retired now, of course, but agreed to maintain this safehouse here in the event I ever needed to use the tunnels.”

The woman smirked, “Why would I turn down free housing? You have my motivations all wrong, Garak.”

The tailor grinned, “Of course, how thoughtless of me for misstating your true intentions, my dear.”

“So, I’m going to guess I need to get out of here because whoever chased you from your shop…”

“Is right behind us in the tunnels, yes,” Garak confirmed. “Can you go make arrangements to open up my secondary location?”

Dathyn nodded and briefly gripped Elim’s hand as she turned and started at the door. At that moment, as she started to move, a projectile materialized just inside the outer wall to the house and rocketed straight into the head of the woman, dropping her dead with a bullseye to her forehead.

Captain Lazarus tackled Garak, taking him down to the floor as another bullet materialized in the room and shot into the wall right where Garak had been standing.

“SNIPER!” Lazarus shouted as he and Garak hit the floor.

From the clocktower overlooking the central downtown area of Culat City, Tarsen Glek had abandoned his Jem’Hadar sniping rifle for an old Cardassian MENG-407 projectile sniping rifle fitted with a micro-transporter and a exo-graphic scope. With such a weapon, he could peer into the homes and shops around the area and fire into any of them, the micro-transporter beaming the projectile through solid matter into a building where he could shoot a person standing there.

After killing the associate of Elim Garak, he tried to place a shot into the tailor’s head, but was thwarted when the older human tackled him to the floor. Glek growled and searched the building they had identified days earlier as Garak’s safehouse -- one of the places where his secret tunnels connected.

Oran Drajal was correct. Garak had given himself multiple escape routes. They had pinpointed this house and two others as ingress and egress points to the tunnel system. Two of the three Glek could see into with his exo-graphic scope. The third was just out of his range. Fortunately Garak had chosen one of the two he could look inside.

“Overwatch, hold your fire,” the Obsidian Cell commander instructed. “We don’t want Garak dead. Gul Drajal wants him alive. Kill the Starfleet officers only.”

Glek sighted in another target and began to take aim....

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Culat City

Stardate 2109.29

“Holy sh\*t!!” McCulloch exclaimed loudly as he and the armed Cardassian women he was standing near both dove to the ground. He quickly crawled across the cold, marble like floor before taking up a prone position between a wall and a large piece of furniture.

“This is why you keep a sniper’s rifle in your weapon’s cache, Garak!” Will shouted across the room. “If you had one at least I could have taken up a concealed position and returned fire!”

“Ah, free and unsolicited commentaries from William McCulloch. Is there anything else you would like to advise us on? Perhaps how to keep your marriage, or how to stay sober?” Garak retorted from underneath Lazarus. "If you had taken the left tunnel as I instructed your commander, you would have your sniper rifle."

Will growled softly at Garak before looking around the room when he realized Vree was nowhere to be found. He then turned to the surviving Cardassian woman.

“The best route out? Which way out?”

The woman rose and rested on her elbows. She quickly gestured to a wall near Jahkar. “Part of the wall is a holographic image. There’s a door that leads to ----”

Will winced as brown blood and guts sprayed onto him.

“What the f#$%??” He blurted out as we wiped the woman’s brains off of his cheek and hands. Afterward, he called over to Jahkar.

“Colonel, there may be a hidden door behind you. Perhaps Mr. Garak would be so kind as to share the f#$%ing information about the door with us so we don’t end up dead?!?”

Colonel Jahkar

Culat City

Stardate 2109.29

Jahkar recognized the weapon as a projectile sniping rifle outfitted with a micro-transporter. They had similar weapons in the Resurrection’s armory. He had ducked behind a table he’d turned on its side, but he knew that wouldn’t stop the sniper.

WIll called over to him and he shouted back, “Copy that!”

The Marine reached over, ran his hand along the wall until it suddenly pushed through a holographic wall there, where he located a doorway. He grabbed Garak and pulled him through the door and out they went into a hallway that led to a door, presumably leading outdoors...or at least Jahkar hoped.

Lazarus scrambled out behind Jahkar and followed him and Garak as they hustled down the hallway and approached the door. Another projectile materialized and streaked past Lazarus, barely missing him by just a few centimeters.

That bullet snapped past them and blew a hole through the wall next to the door ahead. Through the hole Jahkar could see sunlight so he kept moving, Garak in tow and Lazarus behind them.

“Hope there’s no one out there because we don’t have time to stop!” Jahkar blurted out as they reached the doorway. The half-Klingon/Romulan slammed his palm against the keypad on the wall and the door slid open. Jahkar went out first, tumbling across the ground to come up with his disruptor raised.

Lazarus and Garak followed into the alley, both diving flat on their bellies on the dirty pavement. Two Cardassians were further up the alley, coming their way. Both began to fire when the trio appeared.

“We’ve got two shooters here!” Jahkar barked as he returned fire while Lazarus and Garak crawled behind cover. The Marine had crouched behind a disposal unit parked there and used it to fire around at the approaching SOC fighters who immediately took cover.

Then one of the Cardassian's heads suddenly exploded. The other took a hit at the shoulder and his arm fell to the ground.

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.28

“I did not say that,” Ryramorl corrected her.  “I am saying perhaps we have been training him wrong from the beginning. Sniping is still active duty, nor would I consider it light duty...”

Tiri frowned, “I guess two questions come to mind...one, what does Reepchip want to do? And two, if a Muran is such a delicate creature that it can be so badly injured should he be in this line of work?”

The Andorian sighed, “Maybe my questions are contradictory, but I think they are both valid concerns. We don’t know what Reepchip would like to do once he recovers. At the same time, what do Murans typically do in the Carnora military? I mean, a larger Carnora would tear a Muran apart. There is of course his size and speed...he can likely outrun and outmaneuver a larger Carnora, Klingon, Romulan or human. In this particular instance he just wasn’t fast enough.”

She realized she was rambling so she stopped talking and looked to Ryramorl for answers.

Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.28

Ryramorl thought about that for a bit, then sighed.  “We’re still figuring that out,” he said.  At her confused look, Ryramorl explained.  “The Carnora have not been a cohesive people until shortly after the Dominion War, which I myself remember,” he said.  “The closest we ever came was the Muran Empires from before the Great Teaching.  Between the Great Teaching and the foundation of the Republic, we were simply disparate tribes, each one unto its own.  The Jem’Hadar Invasion taught us that this simply didn’t work.  It was the Emperor’s forces that saved us from total extinction.”  He took a long drink of water.  “Even now, there are large parts of Carnor over which the Pentarchy holds no sway.”  He continued to think.   “I remember Murans being in Engineering a lot, since they can get into places the Tall Races can’t.  You could reassign him to Engineering, but I suggest you wear earplugs when you bring that up with Carmichael.”  He continued to think.  “Often, they’ll operate artillery as well, in teams.  But again, he is only one.”

“But what is he doing here?”

“‘So, the thread can be woven back into the tapestry, rather than being snipped off,’” he quoted. “Basically, because he was with The Madcaps, who were groomed to enter Starfleet Intelligence, he knows too much.  Starfleet almost had a heart attack when he came home.  I think, when Shadow Operations was reactivated, Sorvek sent word to Rissa Jachekchek asking him to return Reepchip to the fold.  Sorvek may have also been responsible for the rest of the MadCaps being assigned to us.”

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.29

Tiri smirked, “Maybe he should rejoin the Madcaps.” The Andorian then changed her tone, “I mean...he seems to thrive in that sort of environment.”

She hoped she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries by suggesting something like that, but Reepchip seemed better suited as an engineer rather than as a warrior. He certainly could be a formidable opponent, but this injury he received from a knife was troubling. What if he’d been shot with a phaser or disruptor?

“What do you think he should do?”

Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2109.30

“I’ll talk to him.  Thing is, if he’s with the MadCaps, I can’t keep an eye on him, as I promised the House of Chara that I would,” he said.  He drank more water.  “And besides, being put back with the MadCaps and thus out of action--he might see that as a sign of failure.  More than a few Murans I know of are like that.  Hell, a lot of us Carnora in general are like that.”

He then thought of something.  “Off-topic here.  When Reepchip is back, would you consider teaching him your language?”  At her look, he continued.  “One of the gifts that the Khyrrians gave the Muran was an especially agile tongue and a gift for learning languages.  Reepchip can speak all three modes of my language, Northern Arnorca, Federation Standard, Tet Muran, the Trade Language, I forget which Ataran language, a smattering of Klingon, and I know he wanted to learn Rihannsu from Commander Raillius, but she left.  Becoming fluent in a language not of Carnor--besides Federation Standard, which is as common as our Trade Language--would send his social cachet beyond the Moons.”

He looked up as Lt. Commander Tommy Carmichael came in, got something from the replicator, and approached a table near them.  Ryramorl rose and saluted the engineer.  “Sir.  In light of Ensign Charatetet’s injuries, Lieutenant Sh’avelith wishes to discuss the possibility of reassigning him to Engineering.”

Carmichael’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the Andorian.  “He’d better be setting you up!”

Tiri shot Ryramorl an annoyed look. She then looked back to Carmichael and grinned. “I believe he is, commander. While the subject came up, I wasn’t advocating he be assigned to engineering, I just mentioned it as an option.”

Carmichael gave a snort and shook his head, “Honestly, it’s not that I dislike the little guy. He just has a tendency to get under my skin.”

Tiri looked over to Ryramorl and smirked, “Yes...I think many Carnora have such tendencies.”

“However,” Carmichael continued, “I don’t make those decisions. Captain or Admiral MacLeod would have to make that call.”

Ryramorl’s whiskers twitched with suppressed laughter as Tiri glared at him.  “By the way, sir, remember to watch your spelling around him.  He tells me his ears still itch.”

The Chief Engineer stiffened for a moment.  “He told you about that?  Is it just him, or do all Murans enjoy giving people the creeps?”  He thought back to Admiral Clancy talking about the Muran that admonished her for even touching a Spirit Crystal Array.

This time, Ryramorl did laugh.  “He did indeed.”  He turned to Tiri.  “Reepchip pretended to be able to hear what Lt. Commander Carmichael was typing on a PADD.”  His expression became more serious.  “I think it’s more a shaman thing.  Rynaya--my brother’s wife--can be very unsettling when she wants to.”

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2109.28

After leaving Ensign Gace and Reepchip, Victoria retired to the Fearless’ officer’s mess and retrieved a light lunch that included lida and grakizh. As she ate, she entered observation reports on the Muran’s surgery, treatment and recovery.

As she reviewed her entries, she paused momentarily and stared at the paragraph that detailed the Muran’s dream sequence hours earlier.  The entire experience surprisingly rattled the nurse. Although she repeatedly assured herself that Jiarin was still with her, the fear of returning to the “old Victoria” terrified her.

After a moment of reflection, the nurse highlighted the paragraph and deleted it. She let out a soft sigh and promised herself she would discuss the...matter...with Mayla the first opportunity the pair had.

To take her mind off of the earlier incident, Victoria turned her attention to setting the daily and weekly training schedules for the members of her team. She smiled with satisfaction after making it a point to ensure a holodeck training simulation of a rapid deployment off a medical jumpship was included.

Of course, she made a note to herself to remember to invite the young Andorian operative that was part of Vree’s team...at least to let her see how the “cool kids” played.

Victoria snorted loudly and laughed to herself as she thought about calling Union 12 the “cool kids” … there was no doubt Phoenix Team could easily chew up and spit out her group...and look good while doing it.

The Trill voice inside Victoria’s head urged her to get control of herself and not to act so...silly. The nurse finished her meal, looked at the time and realized she needed to return to sick bay to help Reepchip with some basic strength and mobility tests.

Commander Smith stood up, straightened her uniform and left the mess hall. As she made her way through a passageway, Jiarin again reminded her to remain alert as she treated the Muran.

“Because that is what the cool kids would do.” Victoria replied to no one in particular as she let out a second snort before trying to suppress a laugh.

She often wondered if others could hear Jiarin when the Trill chastised her for engaging in the occasional foolish behavior.

Commander Victoria Smith

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2109.30

Reepchip chittered as he saw her come.  The EMH held a PADD.  “First thing is bipedal balance,” she said.  “In Murans, the tail is very important in walking upright.  Since the tail nerves were injured, Reepchip may have to learn how to stand properly.”

The still-healing nerves made it difficult for Reepchip to balance properly, and he ended up on all fours a few times.  He chattered sharply, and the nurses, doctors, and even the EMH looked at him with eyebrows raised.

“Language, Ensign!” snapped the Fearless’s doctor.  He sighed.  While it was a surprise Reepchip spoke some Klingon, French, and the Tellarite language--perhaps he’d learned them in Starfleet Academy--it only figured that Reepchip would have learned the obscenities.  He didn’t want to know what Reepchip had said in the other languages.

Victoria watched the entire fiasco and tried her best not to smile. It was almost comical how the Fearless medical team smothered the Muran. After a moment of watching she finally intervened.

“Doctor, I think I’d like the Ensign to take me for a walk. “ The nurse requested.

After a moment of careful contemplation, the Fearless doctor nodded in agreement. “I think he’s ready, but not too far..”

“Clear the hallway around Sick Bay so we can give Reepchip some privacy.” Victoria ordered Ensign Gace. The Betazoid nodded and quickly left the medical bay.

The nurse turned her attention back to Reepchip. She held out her hand and smiled warmly. “Is my warrior ready to escort me down the passageway and back again? I’m hoping you could teach me a few Klingon profanities while we’re out.”

It was the third time since she had started treating Reepchip that she had referred to the Muran as “her warrior”. Given what the ensign had been through, she sincerely believed he had earned the nickname from her.

Reepchip considered her offer--then an idea sparked in his mind.  He took her hand, and stood unsteadily.  “...Teach you foul language?” he asked, pretending to be shocked.  “Murans aren’t like the Tall Races!  Their language is absolute filth, unlike the civilized speech of our race.”  As she helped him down the hall, he hoped she could tell that he was joking.

Victoria smiled as she looked at Reepchip. “Well, being tall is uncivilized if you ask me.”

The Muran stumbled slightly as the pair continued down the hallway. The nurse gently yet subtly pulled on his hand so that he maintained his balance. To the casual observer, no one would have noticed she had just supported him. Victoria looked back at Ensign Gace, who was trailing behind the pair. The ensign smiled and nodded with approval.

As the pair rounded a corner, the commander continued the conversation. “So let’s make a deal ensign. You teach me a few words in a language of your choice...preferable swear words … and I’ll teach you how to swear in Trill.”

“You speak Trill?” Reepchip chittered with curiosity.

“I do ...fluently...I guess I’m full of surprises of my own aren’t I?”

Reepchip chittered.  “Of course.  She would have taught you.”  Suddenly his leg went awry and he went down, twisting his ankle.  He snarled and snapped in his own language--it seemed for a lot of his language, there simply was no translation, though it certainly SOUNDED like profanities.  Other phrases such as “blood on bronze,” and “black water” didn’t make much sense.  “Rotted birthing sack,” and “breeder in a hundred clans” made slightly more sense, though it seemed the Universal Translater was filtering out some meanings.  It seemed Hwixir still had some contact with his mind because from her face his language was FILTHY.

Smith watched the Muran closely. From her perspective this diatribe was actually a good thing. Reepchip was responding to pain in his lower extremities and he had walked further than he realized. He was certainly well along the road to recovery.

She helped him back to his feet and guided him to a nearby bench that looked out towards a viewport. Victoria gestured for Reepchip to sit down next to her. As the pair stared out the viewport towards Cardassia Prime, the nurse nudged the ensign with her elbow before gesturing for him to look back down the passageway.

“You covered some good distance on our walk Ensign.”

“You should reward him by washing out his mouth with soap.” Gace huffed as she folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “His mouth is filthy!”

“No Ensign, I think I’ll simply join Reepchip in blurting out some choice words.” Victoria replied before letting loose a string of Trill profanities.

Reepchip chittered softly.  “Too much time on Agavan,” he admitted to Hixwir.  “You learn to throw His language back at Him,” he said.  “For example…”

Hixwir waved him off.  “I don’t want to know!” she said, wincing.

Victoria laughed loudly. “The Ensign is full of surprises himself! Alright Reepchip, we’ll continue our mutual lessons in profanity as we walk back to sickbay. You walked much further than I had intended. You did well ensign….very well. You just let me know when you are ready to leave.”

The nurse leaned back against the wall behind her, crossed her legs and looked out through the viewport towards Cardassia Prime.

Finally, with a few growls about what Agavan could shove down his maw (which sounded physically impossible), Reepchip managed to get up.  Slowly, the three made their way back to Sickbay.

The doctor noted with concern that Reepchip was in pain and approval that he could feel pain.  At Reepchip’s request, he hoisted the Muran back onto the biobed.  “I have a question for you,” he said.

Reepchip chittered curiously.

“Why do cybernetics distress you?”

“Because that would make me one of the Banded Priests!  I wouldn’t be Carnora anymore!” he said.  The doctor didn’t dismiss his fears, but simply made a note to find out more about the Banded Priests.

Victoria pondered, she’d seen them gathered around the being that Ryramorl had held in such esteem.  Maybe he’d know what Reepchip was talking about.

“How long before the Ensign can return to the Resurrection?” Victoria asked, redirecting the conversation back to the Muran’s health.

The Doctor paused momentarily. “I have some final testing to perform on his reflexes and response time, but if all goes well, I would approve a transfer back to the Resurrection later today with strict orders of rest followed by  light duty for the next 48 hours.”

The nurse nodded in approval. “See Ensign? You’re going to be back in the game in no time.”

“Ma’am?” Ensign Gace interjected from a position off to the left. She was holding a padd up in the air and gestured for the two to speak in private.

“On me Ensign. Reepchip, I will check in with you later.” The commander assured.

Commander Mayla Vree

Beneath Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.29

Still hearing the auto disruptor fire above, Mayla jammed her finger into the crevice to activate the closing of the opening. Hearing the shelf move, she headed down the tunnel, stopping only for a moment to be sure the opening had closed shut. She turned on the light on the rifle and sprinted to follow her teammates who by now should be far ahead.

Mayla almost missed the nearly hidden tunnel on the left. She turned down it and quickly came to the end of it. There was a false rock door that she listened at for a moment before touching the dimly lit panel to open it. The rockface opened outward, showing a short tunnel inside.

Where was the team? Did they miss the fork in the tunnel?

She stepped into the tunnel and the hidden door closed behind her. Shining her light up, she saw a long ladder. With the rifle slung, she went up the ladder quickly to find it led to another trapdoor. She touched another dimly lit panel and the door slowly opened inward into a well lit room with the morning sun streaming in the single window. It was a simple room dwelling with rustic decor with just a bed, a desk, and a chair. As soon as she stepped free of the door, it slowly closed behind her, hidden behind an similarly styled wardrobe. As soon as the cabinet settled into its space, it clicked lock. A small green light blinked once on the underside of one of the drawer handles and dimmed as another click sounded.

Outside, she could hear yelling and pandemonium from the assault on Garak's shop. She put her back against the wall next to the window and peered out to discover she was perhaps on the third floor of whatever building she was in. Through the smoke below was the street in front of Garak's shop. The ladder must have come up in between the walls of the building into this room.

The Trill turned away from the window and looked around the spartan room, taking in her options. Her subvocal was still being jammed and she was separated from the team. She had to get out of range of the dampening field. Her eyes fell on the now slow blinking green light on the drawer handle. Walking back to the cabinet, she pulled the wide drawer open and nearly let out a scoff when she saw the few weapons laid out in outlined cushions. Apparently, Garak may still be performing clandestine missions, because one of the weapons was a Cardassian MENG-407 sniper rifle.

She pulled the weapon from its holder and took stock of the accessories already attached to it. Garak was definitely still ready to do what he had to do, as it also had a micro-transporter and exographic imager. Inside the drawer was also a power supply to keep it and the other weapons charged. While checking the weapon and the rounds, she came to the conclusion Garak must have secured this spot specifically for a single task; to protect his shop in case it was assaulted. And with a sniper rifle, the assailants would never know what struck them.

She linked the old exographic imager to her eyes and was able to scan the area around her through the walls, instantly changing the range with her eyes. Looking down at the shop, she found the tunnel she took, but followed the main tunnel and quickly found her teammates in another building about a block away. As she watched them pull themselves out of the tunnel, one of the figures' head suddenly exploded from a round that seemed to just come out of the wall. There had to be a sniper nearby.

Garak had underestimated those who were watching him. They knew about his escape routes and had them all watched. They knew exactly where he would emerge. That also meant, her own location might also be compromised. Grabbing whatever weapons she could carry from the drawer and closing it, she went to the door and opened it. It was silent in the hallway as she quickly closed the door behind her and went to the next door. Trying the handle, and luckily for her, it opened into another empty room similarly furnished. This must be an apartment with many vacancies. Closing and locking the door behind her, she placed the weapons on the bed before taking up a stance with her rifle to look for her teammates again.

Now, she found them out in an alley as another round appeared out of nowhere and created a large hole in the wall beside Lazarus. She swung around to try to follow the trajectory of the projectile. The downward angle eliminated many of the shorter buildings nearby. There, in the clock tower a block over, one of the obvious tallest structures with an unobscured view of most of the area. The Cardassian was sitting in a chair by a window with a rifle very similar to her own, but on a tripod stand. She went down on one knee to prop up her own sniper rifle on the back of a chair and took aim just as the Cardassian was taking aim. The rifle calculated the distance and located the exact coordinates, giving her an authenticated target acquisition.

She didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. She watched as the projectile instantly appeared next to his unmoving head and blew it off. She quickly turned her rifle back down to the alley where her team was pinned down by two crouched SOC fighters. She fired two rounds when she heard heavy booted footsteps in the hallway outside.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2109.30

Will cursed as a pair of projectiles slammed into the wall above him. Suddenly there was silence. After waiting for a count of ten, the Scot slowly raised his head off the ground and started to call out the names of his companions.

“Captain?”

“Garak?”

“Colonel?”

There was no response...either they were all dead or had fled from the room without him. He slowly popped his head up from behind the furniture he was hiding behind and looked around...he was alone. Jahkar, Lazarus and Elim had escaped through the holographic wall. But he never saw Vree...

Where the hell was she?

McCulloch walked over to the hatch he came up through. He aimed the light on his rifle down into the tunnel but saw no one.

“Commander?” he called out. “Commander Vree...Are you down there?”

There was no response. McCulloch looked about the room again. After a very brief moment of deliberation, he kicked the floor hatch shut and dragged a very heavy coffee table across the room, flipped it over and slid it on top of the hatch.

Admittedly, he wanted to go into the tunnel to see if Vree was safe but he couldn’t risk SOCs coming up through this passageway.

“Whelp, hope dark and moody Mayla never read the Cask of Amontillado.” The Scot announced quietly. He pushed on the table door several times until he was satisfied it blocked the hatch from opening.

Will unslung his rifle and passed through the holographic wall. He cautiously advanced down a hallway that was riddled with projectile holes until he reached a doorway that led to the outside. He tapped the panel and the door quietly slid open.

On the ground before him were two dead Cardassians. He carefully peered through the doorway out into what he believed was a side street or alleyway. To his right was a trash container scorched with disruptor fire. To his left the passageway emptied into a main street. The Scot saw that a crowd was starting to gather and was pointing in his direction.

The Scot let out a low whistle. Will tried to communicate with his teammates but realized his subvoc was either offline or blocked.

McCulloch grumbled for a moment...he couldn’t hole up in Garak’s safe house and he certainly couldn’t try to escape through the crowd. Worse, Cardassian security forces would have a field day if they caught him AND successfully tied him to Operation Styx.

His only hope was that Lazarus, Jahkar and Garak had retreated further down the alleyway.

The Scot stepped out into the alley, quickly turned right and advanced along an alley wall. He had no idea who or what would be waiting for him.

“Let’s go visit Garak.” He growled to himself. “It will be fun. We’ll get together, have a few laughs, and he’ll tell us everything we need to know.”

Colonel Jahkar

Culat City

Stardate 2110.03

Jahkar, Lazarus and Garak continued to run down the alley, trying to put distance between themselves and the Cardassian sniper. Jahkar ran through sniping configurations in his head, considering what they had seen of Culat City since beaming down and his conclusion was the sniper was quite likely in the bell tower located about two blocks north of Garak’s store.

The bell tower...he’d seen it when they beamed in and immediately thought of it as a place where they could have put a sniper if there had been time for such preparations. Apparently, the Sons of Cardassia had already claimed that spot.

“Hopefully we’ve put enough buildings between us and the sniper, so the effectiveness of the exo-graphic scope is nullified,” Jahkar told Lazarus and Garak as they moved cautiously down the alleyway.

“We’re getting separated from the others,” Lazarus observed.

“We may all have to get outside the radius of the dampening field and let Resurrection beam us out,” Jahkar said. He heard something ahead, down a side alley, it sounded like someone knocking something over. He paused, motioning to the others to stop.

There was a faint scuffling sound and Jahkar used hand signals to direct Lazarus and Garak into cover behind a dumpster. The Marine crouched, weapon ready, and just as he raised the rifle two figures appeared off the side alley.

Two Cardassians, a man and a woman, appeared and both immediately aimed disruptor pistols and fired. Jahkar returned fire, his shots claiming one of the two. He then rolled left as disruptor fire streaked from the remaining Cardassian’s pistol and tore up the pavement where he had been standing.

Garak and Lazarus rose up from behind their cover and it was Garak who fired first, his shot connecting with the Cardassian woman, dropping her into a heap on the ground.

Jahkar stood up and moved with his back against the wall until he arrived at the point where the two alleys connected.

Just as he stepped up to the juncture, a third Cardassian tried to come around the corner with a pistol raised. Jahkar slammed his rifle's butt down on the SOC terrorist’s forearm, knocking his aim downward and sending the pistol tumbling out of his grasp.

Jahkar then smashed the rifle butt across his face, knocking him backwards, and he came around the corner advancing on the Cardassian. Before the marine could smash him in the face again, the SOC member grabbed the rifle and struggled with Jahkar, trying to rip it from his grasp. The two struggled with the gun until Jahkar managed to force the rifle downward and then slammed his forehead into the Cardassian’s face.

The blow bashed in the Cardassian’s nose, and made him let go of the rifle as he stumbled backwards. Jahkar swung the rifle and shoved the butt of the gun into the man’s gut, knocking the wind from him. After that blow, the SOC goon slumped to his knees and dropped over gasping for air.

Lazarus and Garak arrived behind Jahkar and the Marine knelt and checked the gunman. He grunted with satisfaction that the Cardassian was relatively OK, so he pulled off his own belt, rolled the Cardassian over and drew his arms behind his back, using the belt to bind his wrists.

“Prisoner,” Jahkar muttered, lifting the soldier to his feet.

“Good,” Lazarus replied. “Let’s keep moving.” The three then moved out, toting the SOC prisoner along as they made their way toward a nearby street.

*USS Resurrection*

Above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.03

Commander Sornax was on the bridge of the *Resurrection* standing behind the tactical officer, Lt. Commander McGuire, as the two probed the dampening field that had appeared several minutes earlier around several square blocks surrounding Garak’s shop.

“Cardassian security forces have been mobilized, they are converging on that area,” McGuire confirmed. “I’ve made them aware there are Starfleet personnel on scene investigating the incidents from yesterday.”

Sornax nodded, still seeming a little concerned, “I hope I’m not...how do they say...blowing anyone’s cover, but the last thing we need is Cardassian security forces opening fire on our people.”

McGuire continued to pour over the incoming data scrolling across her holographic display, waiting to get a lock on the team below…

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.03

Will continued down the alleyway, his rifle at the ready. As he advanced, he looked upwards, only to notice local residents closing the shutters and windows of their homes and shops. Behind him, a teen scurried out of the shadows, quickly sized-up the Scot and retreated back into the darkness.

McCulloch stopped and surveyed his surroundings. As he looked behind him, he observed what appeared to be three to four adult cardassians slowly advancing up the alleyway. Even at a sizable distance, the Scot could tell they were armed. As they pressed forward, the teen he just observed shadowing him joined the group and pointed in the direction of Will.

The adult Cardassian handed the teen something before he scurried out of the alley.

“Bloody hell...teenagers.” McCulloch scoffed as he once again looked about for a possible escape route. He desperately wanted to get out of the alleyway. He knew the Sons of Cardassian wanted Garak at any cost.

Will cursed and let his head sink to his chest as it became clear what he needed to do….he need to draw off Garak’s pursuers long enough to allow the former spy, as well as Jahkar and Lazarus to move beyond the effects of the dampening field and escape back to the Resurrection.

Will peered further into the alleyway towards a y-juncture. It was clear that the marine colonel and his companions had passed through the area because there were fresh scorch marks on a nearby dumpster. Unfortunately, the Scot had no idea if Jahkar and the others had taken a left or right hand turn.

Straight ahead was an old, run down two story Cardassian tavern. Initially Will grimaced at its appearance but quickly recognized the tactical advantage of the building ...It commanded the juncture before it.

Will instantly recognized that if he could get to a vantage point on the second floor, he could hold off the Sons of Cardassia long enough for his companions to escape.

The Scot withdrew one of the two concussion grenades he was carrying, activated the proximity detector and set it down near a series of stacked metal crates against the wall. He advanced on the tavern, burst through the front entrance and looked about the dimly lit, smoke filled and foul-smelling room.

A pair of Cardassian laborers were inebriated and slumped over at a nearby table. Two more were seated at the bar drinking their troubles away. A grizzled, heavy set Cardassian bartender understandably eyed Will suspiciously from behind the countertop.

“Nice hat.” He quipped, ignoring the weapons the Scot was carrying.

“Everyone needs to clear out now.” Will barked as he looked about the tavern for a staircase leading to the second floor.

“Why? Is the Federation coming to buy my bar?”

“No, there’s…”

“Are you buying my bar?”

“No...you don’t understand, there’s about to be…”

“Is my mother-in-law coming to visit my establishment?”

Will sighed loudly before answering. He realized arguing with the barkeep would be futile. “No, your mother-in-law is not coming. How do I get to the second floor?”

“Stairs are around the back.” The Cardassian bartender replied. “I hope you are going to pay for any damage that is about to come to this tavern?”

“No, but I can tell you where to send the bill.”

The bartender eyes McCulloch suspiciously before sliding a piece of paper and a writing instrument over to the Scot. Will took both and quickly scribbled the public contact information for Admiral MacLeod. He smiled slightly before sliding the paper back across the bar counter. The Scot pointed to the display of alcohol behind the tavern keep. He threw three pieces of gold pressed latinum onto the bar.

“I’ll take two bottles of Romulan ale, a bottle of Pickering whiskey and a bottle of Kanar.”

“Just so you know, the Pickering whiskey is worthless around here. I’ll throw it in for half price.”

“Good to know.” McCulloch replied as he gathered the four bottles in his arms and started towards the stairs. He stopped and turned back towards the tavernkeep. “I’d lock and barricade the front door if I were you.”

“So who is coming?” The keep replied as he poured a nearby customer another drink.

“Sons of Cardassia.”

“How many?”

“At least three to four, but I suppose others will come when the shooting starts.”

The bartender sighed. “Sons of Cardassia? I always thought they were a\*\*holes.”

Will nodded in agreement before rushing upstairs. Once on the second floor, he raced down a long, narrow hallway and kicked open the second door on his left. Before entering the room, he noted the hallway opened to the rooftop of the tavern….a possible escape route.

Will returned his attention back to the room he selected. He found himself in a sparsely furnished office that overlooked the alleyway he had just emerged from. He looked out the window and saw four armed Cardassians cautiously advancing towards the tavern.

It would only be a few more moments before the booby trap he set detonated.

The Scot swore as he uncorked the bottle of Pickering Whiskey and took a large gulp. He knew Vree wouldn’t approve but at this point he really didn’t give a sh\*t. He grimaced as the alcohol burned his throat. Afterward, he set the bottle of whiskey aside and retrieved the other three bottles.

He grabbed an old, stained shirt that was draped on a nearby chair, ripped off strips of fabric, and jammed each into a bottle. He shook each bottle so the alcohol soaked the rags. He then retrieved his lighter from his pocket, tested it and set it down near the bottles.

Once satisfied he was as ready as he could be, he threw open the only window of the room he was in, leveled his disruptor rifle across the sill, and waited for his assailants to come within range.

Will deliberately slowed his breath as he peered through the scope of his rifle. He selected the second SOC in the group as his first target. As he started to squeeze the trigger, he heard a voice behind him.

“Don’t fire.” She said,softly.

The Scot looked away from his scope to see a Cardassian waitress standing behind him. “Bugger off woman. Things are about to get very ugly here.”

“Please don’t shoot. This entire alleyway is occupied by those who either sympathize with the Sons or despise them. You start shooting, you could be setting a match to kindling.”

“I need to buy time for my friends.” Will admitted.

"You won't buy it with a firefight. Either the Sons will bring in reinforcements from all directions or more likely they'll just fire a rocket into this establishment and move on."

Mcculloch contemplated the waitress' advice. "I'm listening. '

" I'll lead you out of here. I know where your friends went and I can take you there indirectly."

"Indirectly?"

"Well I could lead you through the four patrols that are out looking for you."

"Four?"

"As I said, there are many loyal to the Sons in this neighborhood."

"Why are you helping me?" McCulloch demanded.

"As I said, there are two factions in this neighborhood. "

Will paused momentarily.  "Who from your family did the Sons kill?"

The waitress looked away before speaking.  "My mother and brother."

"I'm sorry "

"Why, it's not your fault." The waitress replied with a quick wave before gesturing for Will to follow her out of the room.

"Where are you going to take me?

"First to my father. He knows all the old passageways and hidden avenues out of this area. He can help us reach wherever it is you need to go."

“I’m Will.” The Scot announced as they emerged from the hallway and onto the tavern’s roof. The waitress pointed towards an adjoining rooftop.

“Ejam. It is best we don’t exchange formal names.” She answered as she hopped from the tavern roof onto the adjacent one. "Stay close to me, Will.”

“What is your father’s name?” McCulloch asked as he followed the young woman. He estimated she was at most twenty years of age.

“Peltirt.”

“Well, let’s go meet dad.” Will suggested as the sound of the concussion grenade detonating echoed in the alleyway below.

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2110.05

“When did you receive this information?” Victoria demanded as she re-read the contents contained on the padd. The pair of nurses had just left Reepchip in sickbay and were walking towards the officer’s mess hall.

“Just now ma’am. I brought it to you immediately.” Hixwir answered with a slight tone of reluctance.

“Who provided this information to Lieutenant Riisos?” The commander asked as she referenced the second in command of Union XII who was currently onboard the Resurrection.

“Lieutenant Commander McGuire instructed Lieutenant Riisos and Warrant Officer Hannigan to be on alert in the event of incoming casualties from the Cardassian surface.”

“They’ve lost contact with our operatives on the surface?” Victoria questioned.

“Our information is very limited. All the Lieutenant knows is three operatives and Captain Lazarus went to the surface. There was some sort of incident and now the Resurrection has lost contact with all four.”

“We haven’t been ordered to mobilize.” Victoria sighed as she handed the padd back to Ensign Gace. “So at best we’re in the dark. We may as well be on standby rather than sit around with our collective thumbs up our arses”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I didn’t see it on the padd...do we at least know who the operatives are on the surface?”

“Riisos told me the three operatives are Vree, Jahkar and McCulloch.”

Victoria hesitated momentarily. She cleared her throat before issuing orders. “Tell Tusot and Pyme to report to the Gentle Annie and run it  though a pre-launch sequence. Have the rest of the team onboard the Fearless... except Mendes...report to the team locker room to be ready to suit up. Mendes will report to sick bay to liaise between us and sick bay if we are deployed.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“We're only on standby.”

“Understood ma’am.”

“Move.”

Gul Nidek

Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.05

Nidek and a squad of his soldiers were beamed to a street in Culat City, just outside the dampening field. The 20 Cardassian Defense Force soldiers were armed and fitted with combat armor as they assembled and heard what their commanding officer had to tell them.

“Terrorist from the Sons of Cardassia are operating within a five-block area beneath a dampening field we assume they have erected. They are attempting to find and kill four Federation operatives who beamed down earlier,” Nidek explained. “We believe they walked into a trap and could possibly be dead, captured or on the run. We’re going to go in, sweep the area and try and locate them. If possible, attempt to capture any SOC terrorists you encounter.”

One Cardassian cleared his throat, “Gul Nidek. Are we under orders to shoot these Sons of Cardassia members? They are Cardassian, are they not?”

“They are traitors and killers,” Nidek said sternly. “You are to treat them as the enemy. They will not hesitate to kill you, so stay sharp.”

Several of the soldiers did not seem pleased with the order to shoot their own, but no one said anything further. They nodded and put on their helmets before assembling and waiting for Nidek’s order.

“Move out, stay in groups of four,” he told them.

“Comms are going to be down?” another Cardassian asked.

“Yes. Until we can bring down the dampening field,” Nidek confirmed as they started into the zone. “Safeties off!”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

Culat City

Stardate 2110.05

Lazarus, Garak and Jahkar arrived at the end of the alley where it spilled out onto a street. As they approached the edge of the building they were against, the captain could hear the footsteps of people moving about, attempting to be stealthy and he was immediately certain they were about to walk into an ambush.

He remembered now how helpful his cybernetic enhancements had been when he was in the field. The uses for them aboard the ship were few and far between.

“Colonel,” he whispered as they all came to a halt. “Movement left and right of the alley entrance. I think someone is waiting for us there.”

Jahkar grunted in response. “We’ve got to keep going this way to get outside the dampening field. Hang back with Garak, I’ll move up and check it out.”

“Copy,” Lazarus said, before turning to Garak. “Cover our six, Garak.”

“Six?” Garak asked, his brow furrowing.

“Behind us,” Jahkar muttered as he started to edge forward, sliding his back along the wall.

“Oh yes, like a clock,” Garak smiled before moving behind a stack of empty cargo boxes. “I’ve got it covered, captain.”

As Jahkar moved forward, Lazarus moved up behind him but stayed back so he would not openly become a target. He gripped his rifle and waiting to see what Jahkar would encounter when he popped his head around the corner.

Commander Mayla Vree

Across the street from Garak's shop, Culat City

Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.05

She whirled around while at the same time reducing the distance viewing field of the exographic imager to look into the hallway outside. Two Cardassians carrying a disruptor each walked down the hall and without stopping, broke through the door of the room next door.

Mayla knew she had two rounds left in the rifle, and she had to make them count. With practiced precision honed from a decade of field experience, and centuries of memories of combat, she pulled the trigger on a head shot. Immediately after the round fired, she aligned her targeting reticle on the other one, anticipating him to react to the destruction of his partner's head. As seasoned as he was, he still flinched as the head of his companion suddenly exploded. He quickly dove onto the floor just in time to receive her last round through his head. His body hit the ground and flopped once. She swept her rifle around looking for reinforcements and found none.

Moving quickly, she gathered up the weapons and reentered the room with the headless Cardassians. She searched their bodies and retrieved anything that was of importance; a tricorder, communicator, two daggers, two disruptors, and two small personal padds. To her surprise, each one also had a remote beam out unit, most likely slaved to a master unit.

Stripping the bodies of their weapons harness belts and strapping them on to herself, she loaded up as much of the items as she could, even donning one of the Cardassian's cloaks. She was about to place all of Garak's weapons back inside the drawer when she looked at the bloody mess left behind. Garak was going to have some cleaning up to do. She opened the secret compartment behind the wardrobe and dumped the bodies down the shaft she came up in. Pulling out a Bajoran phaser from Garak's stash, she set it on its lowest setting, adjusted the beam to wide dispersal, and proceeded to scorch the floor wherever there was blood, and what was left of the heads. Replacing all of Garak's weapons into the drawer and making sure there was no blood trail leading to the hidden opening, she stepped out of the room and fitted the broken door the best she could.

Mayla could hear conversational voices filtering up from the stairway. The building must be an older one as instead of a lift, it had stairs. She decided she couldn't just walk out of the building without causing any attention to herself. She was carrying a disruptor rifle, after all.

Looking to the window at the end of the hallway, there was an emergency escape ladder that led downward, hopefully to ground level. Deciding that was her best option, she waited for the alley below to be clear before descending quickly and jumped the last several meters to the ground silently. Pulling her cloak tight about her, she crouched behind a dumpster and watched the street. From what she could see, civilian Cardassians were beginning to venture out again, staring and talking about the destroyed front of the Well-Groomed Tailor shop. She waited a few minutes before standing, intent on heading down the other way of the alley. Hiding her rifle beneath her cloak the best she could, she headed for the street behind the building to make her way back to their beam in point.

Hopefully she'll get outside the range of the dampening field and make contact with the rest of the team soon.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.03

After the pair had crossed to a fourth rooftop, Ejam halted and looked around at adjacent buildings. Once satisfied that no one had seen them or if so, didn’t pay attention, she gestured for McCulloch to follow her to a shed located near the center of the roof. She keyed a code on the access panel before the door slid open, revealing a set of old, worn stairs leading into the building below. As the pair descended the sparsely lit staircase, Will realized he had absolutely no idea where he was in Culat City and noted that if he was about to be set up, his body would never be found.

After descending two flights of stairs, Ejam stopped and turned right into a dark corridor. The Scot followed her as she quickly moved through the darkness. When they were halfway down the hallway, she whispered to McCulloch to stop and wait for her. The young woman then entered through the front door of an apartment. Will leaned up against the right hand corridor wall and waited.

Eventually Ejam emerged back into the corridor and motioned McCulloch to follow her into the residence. As the pair entered the modestly furnished apartment, a middle aged man was standing in the middle of what McCulloch believed to be a kitchen. He eyed McCulloch cautiously.

“Ejam, what have you done?” He asked with a tone of disappointment. “You said nothing about your companion being human.”

“I am sorry Peltirt for the inconvenience. I only…”

“Ejam, you told him our names? What have I always told you?” Peltirt demanded as he chastised his father.

“I am sorry father. Everything happened so fast. Will was….”

“You told my daughter your name?”

“Aye, I did.”

“What are you, Starfleet?” The father demanded.

“Close enough.” Will quipped.

“You’re not a very bright Starfleet officer.”

“Never said I was.”

“Father!” Ejam interjected. “Will was about to fight the Sons at Hultel’s Bar when I helped him escape. Everyone inside that bar, as well as my job, would have perished if I let that fight happen.”

“So you brought the human here?”

“An enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“No, your priority should be surviving...not making alliances.”

“We can’t simply survive with the Sons’ boot on our necks.” Ejam hissed.

“Enough!” McCulloch barked. “If either one of you can simply point me to either how to meet up with my friends or how to get out of this area and back to the Bing Bong I’ll be on my way.”

“The Bing Bong?” Ejam asked with confusion.

“The Bing Bong.” McCulloch repeated noting it was the only landmark he could remember at the moment.

“Well you’ve been moving in the wrong direction, human.” Peltirt answered matter-of-factly. “It's the other way."

“F\*\*\* me.”

“Yes, f\*\*\* you.” Peltirt retorted. After a moment of silently staring at the Scot, he continued. “You said friends?”

“I saw Will’s friends kill a couple of the Sons outside of the bar. There were three of them.” Ejam announced. “One of them was a Cardassian.”

Ejam’s father growled softly before shooting an icy stare at McCulloch. “Garak? Was one of them Garak?”

Will nodded silently in the affirmative.

“You’re with special forces...you were part of the disturbance from yesterday aren’t you?”

Again Will nodded.

Peltirt leaned forward and rested his hands on a kitchen chair. He did his best to suppress his anger and disappointment.

“Father, Will and his companions are fighting the Sons. After what we’ve been through we have a duty to help them.”

“No, I have a duty to your dead mother to see that you grow up.”

Ejam was taken aback and could not answer her father. Will interjected.

“Peltirt, please, either point me in the direction of the Bing Bong or show me a route to my companions. Once that is done, I will be long gone from your lives.”

“Even if I do that my daughter and I are condemned to die at the hands of the Sons.”

“Then I’ll go now.”

“No! Father, please!” Ejam pleaded. “I will not live the rest of my life knowing we had a missed opportunity to challenge the Sons...even if indirectly.”

Peltirt nodded reluctantly before approaching an old, worn view screen. He tapped the device and a map of the City's streets and public transportation appeared.

"Ejam, where did Will’s friends go?"

His daughter approached the screen and pointed to a series of alleyways that more closely resembled a spider's web than a public access route.

"That's not good," Peltirt admitted.

"Why?" Will replied with a tone of concern.

"Well look at it. A person unfamiliar with the area can get easily lost. Garak should be able to help navigate the alleyways."

"But?"

"The residents of that section of the neighborhood are very...sympathetic to the Sons."

"Bloody hell. Is there a path I can take to intercept them?"

“Why can’t all of you simply beam out?” Ejam asked.

“Our communications are jammed. We think we’re inside a damping field.” Will admitted.

“You can’t keep moving from rooftop to rooftop as the buildings start to space out from each other a block away from here.” Peltirt announced as he pointed to the view screen. “You’ll need to get to the street and follow this alleyway. It moves in a half arc away from your companions but it will empty out in the same public square that they will reach if they stay on course.”

“What does the park border?” McCulloch asked as he studied the map. The destination was approximately three city blocks away.

“One of our healthcare districts. I suspect it is out of the range of the dampening field as there are no news reports announcing the disruption of medical services.”

“Landmarks?”

“Here?” Ejam replied as she pointed to two bars, a grocery shop and a repair bay.

“Thank you.” Will replied with a slight bow to the pair.

“You can’t go out looking like this.” Peltirt announced as he seized Will’s highland bonnet and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. He went to a closet in the next room and returned with a dirty brown robe with a hood.

“I wear it in the rain.” Peltirt admitted. “So, you will stand out...but far less than an armed human lost in a bad section of the city.”

The Scot started to put on the robe when there was a series of loud bangs on Peltirt and Ejam’s front door.

“Open up Peltirt!!” A gruff voice barked from the other side. “We know you have the Starfleet human in there!”

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.06

Mayla watched from a doorway as the pair crossed over the rooftop to another building. Eyeing the next doorway she was going to hide in, she walked over but keeping an eye on the next crossover. She waited for 30 seconds and when the pair didn't reappear, she headed to the backdoor of the apartment building.

She had only gone a block when she saw a rooftop shadow move across a building face across the street in the midmorning sun. Alarmed, she quickly took cover only to see what she recognized as McCulloch moving stealthily across the roof with a Cardassian. Where was Lazarus, Jahkar, and Garak? And what were they doing on the roof?

Mayla walked in through the backdoor that immediately came to an open staircase going upwards. At the other end of the hall was the front door and it opened allowing two Cardassians to walk in with set determination. They turned a corner and she could hear booted feet ascend what sounded like another set of stairs at the front of the building. She ascended the staircase quickly, trying to get ahead of the pair. At each floor, she waited to see either them turning the corner, or going up another flight. At the fifth floor, she could hear them talking as they reached the top.

"Was Trut sure it was a human that he saw?" asked in a gruff voice.

"That's what he said. Ejam was with him."

"That settles our suspicions. Ejam is helping them." There was a sound of a weapon being pulled from a holster. "Maybe now we can apply pressure on him to control his daughter.  I'm tired of her constant rabble about a unified Cardassia under Federation rule."

"Better than a Dominion one."

"Bah," another man said. "Destroy us with energy weapons or subversion under Federation rule, same thing. True Cardassia still dies either way."

Mayla quickly pulled out one of her knives and put it into a reverse hold in her hand. The pair walked menacingly down the hallway towards her and stopped at one doorway. One of them banged on a door.

“Open up Peltirt!!” The tallest of the Cardassian men barked at the door. “We know you have the Starfleet human in there!”

Mayla turned the corner and with her cloak hood over her head, shambled down the hall as if she was an old woman living on that floor. With each step, she shuffled closer and closer. "Here here, what is going on?" she said in a decrepit old voice.

"On your way, woman, this is of no-." He suddenly stopped when he saw her pale hands, instantly realizing she wasn't Cardassian.

The closer Mayla got, the bigger the advantage of surprise she had. As soon as he spoke, she leapt at him and struck the pommel of the knife on to the side of his head. Her momentum propelled them towards the other man who attempted out of habit to try to catch him before he lost balance. She rode both Cardassians to the floor with a loud thump. With one Cardassian on top of the other, she grabbed the head of the top Cardassian and slammed it into the head of the one below twice. Both men's bodies slumped weakly. She grabbed their weapons and knocked on the door softly.

"Eight...One, open the door."

Commander Mayla Vree

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.06

The trio looked at each other. Peltirt had an angry look on his face, whereas Ejam's face went to fear. As for Will, he was ready to fight and protect these two. Just as he moved behind the door, there was some low murmuring talk, a scuffle, and then a loud thud. A clear, authoritative voice spoke.

"Eight...One, open the door."

Peltirt turned on his security camera and saw a lone figure standing above a pair of Cardassian bodies. Ejam nodded at Will.

“Friend of yours?"

"She's more like a supervisor."

"Shouldn't we let her in?"

McCulloch smirked before starting towards the control panel.

"One ...Eight...you didn't give the password."

McCulloch could actually hear Vree loudly sigh and grumble on the other side of the door.

"The password is, 'Now, or else'."

"She can be grumpy like this from time to time. I think it's because of a lack of chocolate." Will announced to Ejam and Peltirt as he touched the control panel. The door slid open, revealing a somewhat annoyed Commander Vree.

“I would have also accepted butterscotch.” Will proudly announced as Vree rolled her eyes and pushed past him dragging in two unconscious Cardassian men as if they were sacks of grain. “Maybe Bing Bong? Chocolate?”

What McCulloch wouldn’t admit in front of the Cardassian father and daughter - he was very...very relieved to see the Trill. He had envisioned a door to door fight with SOC loyalists as he tried to rejoin his team. It was an image that did not end well in his mind. At least by pairing up with the Trill the pair had a greater chance of getting out of the area safely.

The Scot watched as Vree retrieved belts and straps from Ejam and Peltirt’s personal belongings and bound the prisoners hands and feet together. Once she was finished, Will approached her.

“Orders?”

Vree studied McCulloch carefully for a moment before answering. “No sarcastic comment?”

“None are coming to mind right now, Commander.”

“The father and daughter, can they be trusted?” Vree demanded quietly.

“The daughter got me out of a potentially dangerous situation and also shared with me where Garak, Jahkar and Lazarus went. The father was assisting me with an escape route and disguise when those SOC thugs arrived.”

“Show me the escape route.”

McCulloch walked back into the kitchen with Vree. He looked over at Peltirt and gestured for the Cardassian father to reactivate the view screen.

“Sir, could you please show and explain to my companion what you shared with me.” Will requested.

Once again, Peltirt shared a map of the neighborhood and explained to Vree the two possible routes out of their neighborhood. As with Will, he strongly encouraged her to follow the secondary route that arced away from the neighborhood and emptied out in the city’s health district.

“Hopefully Garak will lead your companions in the right direction as well. If he does, they will arrive in the same square as you.”

Will walked over to the trash disposal and retrieved his highland bonnet. The last thing he needed was this piece of clothing to come back and bite the father and daughter in the butt.

He stuffed the hat into his waistband and looked towards Vree.

“Orders commander?”

"We need to dispose of these two," she gestured to the bound unconscious pair. "But you two," she then gestured to the father and daughter, "they already suspect you of sympathizing with the Federation. You are no longer safe here."

"That can't be," Ejam said. "We can't leave."

Mayla handed over to them the two disruptors from their bound visitors. "They weren't coming over for a social visit."

Peltirt took both weapons. "I'll take care of them."

"Are you sure?" Will asked. "We may have already put you two in danger."

"I said I'll take care of it."

Mayla nodded. "So be it. We need to meet up with the rest of our...friends to give them support. Can you get us to the-"

An alarm sounded on the console by the door. It was an alert message.

"It's Kasis, she said Cardassian Security is sweeping the area." Peltirt read the Cardassian script. "There's a small firefight two blocks over."

Mayla nodded, memorizing the path on the map. "I think we should part ways here. We don't want to put you into any more trouble than you're already in."

McCulloch bowed slightly to Ejam and Peltirt slightly. “I am in your debt for your assistance. Please be careful.”

“We’ll be fine.” Peltirt replied curtly as he pointed towards the front entrance. “Please, go. We will dispose of the bodies.”

Vree and McCulloch left the apartment and turned right down the common hallway...Vree on point and McCulloch on six. When the duo reached the end of the hallway, they came across an open-air metal stairway that descended into the alleyway below. Off in the distance, the echoes of a firefight and explosions could be heard.

Will looked at the Trill. “As tempting as it is to head towards the fight, we have no idea who is fighting who and we could end up in a bigger mess. I suggest we follow the path Peltirt laid out for us.”

Vree looked around briefly before setting eyes on the alleyway the Cardassian father had suggested they take.

Back to top

## S4, E1, Act 5: Battle Above Cardassia (Extended edition)

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.07

Staying inconspicuous was more difficult than Mayla realized as they walked the path given to them by Peltirt. Everyone was drawn to that hat McCulloch was wearing. But he refused to take it off. Then a short Cardassian woman in a brown frock with a similarly outrageous hat jammed a transparency flyer into his face, recognizing him as an outsider.

"Save the clock tower!" She seemed to yell at his hat. "The mayor of the city is sponsoring an initiative to replace that clock. Thirty years ago, lightning struck that clock tower, and the clock hasn't run since." She turned to Mayla and rattled a can with a few coins in it, if they really were coins. "We at the Culat Preservation Society think it should be preserved exactly the way it is, as part of our history and heritage."

Mayla fished around in her cloak and pulled out a slip of latinum they had taken off the two Cardassians she knocked unconscious. "There you go, lady. There's a quarter slip."

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, and moved on to the next victim.

The pair moved away from her as quickly as they could to try to blend in with the crowd as they came to a more crowded area they would have to cross. Off in the distance, she could see the Bing Bong store.

"Last chance," Mayla said, looking at his hat again.

McCulloch harumphed. "Alright." He took it off and stuffed it back into his waistband.

She gave him a flat look and gestured for them to start walking. As they reached a fountain with several children playing around it, a voice came over her subvocal.

"One...Havoc, we have your tag on our sensors. Report." It was the Resurrection. They had finally gotten clear of the dampening field.

Mayla brought them up to date as they moved into a shadowy doorway in an alley facing the Bing Bong store. "Do you have Leader and Two on sensors yet?"

"Not yet, just you and Eight."

"Peltirt said if Garak was leading, they would be coming from that direction," McCulloch said, pointing towards a series of short greyish green buildings.

"Then that's the direction we go, and then follow the sounds of weapons fire." Pulling down her cloak's hood to cover more of her face, they made a beeline to the buildings across the way.

Colonel Jahkar

Culat City

Stardate 2110.09

Jahkar took point and led Lazarus and Garak (as well as their prisoner) along a mostly deserted street which he guessed might get them outside the dampening field. He had given his rifle to Garak and swapped for his disruptor. WIth a pistol in each hand, he walked along, crouching slightly as he scanned the area around them, looking for signs of movement.

Most civilians had gotten off the street when the shooting started, but a random Cardassian would occasionally run across the street, ducking for cover or running into an open door along the store fronts.

Jahkar had to focus constantly to make sure he didn’t shoot a civilian, especially since the SOC fighters were dressed in everyday clothing. After holding his fire on no less than five stragglers, all civvies, he finally met resistance. Two Cardassians with disruptors appeared from behind a parked hovercar and started shooting. A couple of shots sizzled past the Marine’s head, and he quickly and efficiently returned fire, killing both.

He was not quick to lower his guard, sensing movement from the opposite side of the street. Two more Cardassians came in, weaving around parked vehicles as one came straight on at him, while the second tried to run low along the sidewalk and flank him.

Jahkar fired twice at the attacker coming straight at him and his shots missed, allowing the Cardassian to rush him. He came in swinging, but Jahkar dodged his punch and backhanded him with the barrel of the disruptor in his right hand.

Meanwhile, the other tried to come around behind him, but Lazarus dropped him with a well-placed shot from his rifle. This distraction gave the prisoner a chance he’d been looking for. He slammed himself into Garak, knocking the tailor off balance, and then he bolted, running toward an alley up the street, his hands still cuffed at the small of his back.

Jahkar tried to bring his disruptor to bear on the fleeing Cardassian, but the terrorist he just smashed in the face with his gun came back at him and tackled him to the ground. He dropped the disruptor from his right hand and used his empty fist to start slamming the attacker repeatedly in the side of his head as they grappled on the ground.

Garak regained his composure and leveled his rifle at the fleeing prisoner and placed a stun blast directly into his back. Once the SOC fighter was down, Garak began to move toward him and Lazarus trained his own weapon on the Cardassian tussling with Jahkar.

Lazarus had nearly reached the brawling pair when more disruptor fire came from behind them. The energy bolts from the weapon seared past the three of them before one finally connected with Lazarus’ shoulder. The blast punched through his shoulder from behind and exited the front of his body, causing his to cry out before staggering and dropping to one knee.

Jahkar was on the ground landing punch after punch into the terrorists head until he finally felt the attacker’s body go limp and he pushed him off, quickly rising to one knee with his remaining disruptor clutched in his hand.

“Captain!” he roared, training the pistol up the street toward two more Sons of Cardassia killers, a male and female. He fired over and over, his shots quickly felling the male, while the female dodged his fire and docked into a doorway where she had cover.

Garak had grabbed the prisoner and dragged him into an alley where he now crouched next to his captive, his rifle still at ready. Lazarus rolled out of the street and got behind a hovercar parked at the side of the road where he crouched and assessed his damage.

Jahkar moved to Lazarus’ position, testing the subvoc again to no avail. When he reached the captain, he ducked behind the car with him and looked down at where he was crouched.

“How bad?” Jahakr asked.

“I’m fine,” he muttered. “Left arm...my cybernetic one. Can’t move it so it must have sustained damage. Some organic damage on the front of my shoulder where the implant connects to flesh.”

Jahkar was surprised at how calmly Lazarus was able to assess his injury. Another volley of disruptor shots came at them, striking the vehicle and pavement nearby, drawing the half Klingon-Romulan back to the fight.

He fired over the hood of the hovercar and his shots truck the doorway the woman was hiding it, but she managed to stay hunkered down.

“Gentlemen!” Garak shouted. “We have more coming at 12 o’clock.”

Jahkar’s head pivoted as if it were on a swivel and much to his chagrin four more armed Cardassians appeared, two to either side of the street, ducking low and moving along carefully as they approached. Jahkar cursed in Klingon under his breath and looked to Lazarus. “One on our six, four on our 12.”

Lazarus scowled, “Moving to our six takes us back further under the dampening field. We need to press forward.”

Energy weapon fire began to rain down on them and Jahkar looked to the captain while remained crouched, “We’ll have to leave the prisoner. I can’t haul him along and shoot.”

Lazarus smiled and looked over where Garak was holding the prisoner, “I can carry him.”

Jahkar gave Lazarus a look of disbelief. Lazarus was more than 70 years old and injured. But before he could say anything more, the captain got up and scrambled across the sidewalk to where Garak and the prisoner were.

“We’re moving forward. Up that street, through those four,” Lazarus announced as he tossed the prisoner over his good shoulder, his injured cybernetic arm hanging at his side. “Relax...I have enough cybernetic enhancements that I can manage this. I just can’t shoot. Garak, you and Jahkar will have to get us through those terrorists.”

Garak gave a faint smile, “Certainly. Let’s go.”

Together, Jahkar and Garak each took a side of the street and began firing on the terrorists as they moved along, staying crouched as they trudged on. Meanwhile, Lazarus moved along behind them, crouching as he carried the unconscious prisoner…

Lt. Commander William McCulloch & Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.08

Will continued on Vree’s six as they crossed the square and entered the alleyway they believed Jahkar, Lazarus and Garak were moving through. The sound of a firefight continued to echo followed  by the occasional detonation of an explosive device.

As the pair moved forward, Vree noted her subvoc was cutting in and out.

“Eight, we’re going back into the dampening field.”

“Noted One. I’ve got your six.”

As the pair rounded a second corner, an armed Cardassian emerged...likely retreating from the firefight. He turned to look down the path he had withdrawn from...oblivious of the two operatives behind him.

Vree silently moved in and took the target down in a single fluid motion. As she searched the target, Will advanced and took point in front of the Trill. He knelt down on his right knee, kept his rifle at the ready and scanned their surroundings for potential hostile targets. Once satisfied there were no immediate threats, he quickly looked over his shoulder and whispered “clear”.

Seconds later, Vree silently passed McCulloch on his left and advanced further into the alleyway. Will sprung up and followed her, dividing his time between walking backwards and forward...always scanning above, sides and rear for any potential threats.

The echoes of the firefight continued to grow louder. When the pair reached a junction in the alleyway, Vree stopped. She quickly surveyed the area before her, focusing on an opening approximately 50 meters beyond their position.

Vree let out a low whistle and signaled for McCulloch to join her. As he came up, she gestured in the direction she was looking.

Off in the distance the duo observed a Cardassian firing a heavy disruptor rifle in rapid succession towards an unknown target to their left. The target’s head and shoulders repeatedly bobbed in and out of view as he laid down what must have been suppression fire.

“Can you take him out?” Mayla asked. “If he sees us advancing, we’ll be chewed up and spit out.”

“Then I better take him out. Cover me.” Will answered matter-of-factly as he rested his rifle on the top of a series of stacked metal containers. He peered through the targeting scope and watched as his target moved erratically from side to side while discharging his weapon at an unseen target.

After a brief moment of observation, the Scot was able to identify a basic pattern of movement. He adjusted his scope one more time to compensate for a hot wind that was blowing through the alleyway.

“As soon as I fire, make a dash for his position. I’ll cover your advance. Work for you Commander?”

“Do it.” The Trill calmly answered.

Will watched as his chosen target’s head swung in and out of view. He counted each time it appeared.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

On the fourth occasion, McCulloch squeezed the trigger of his rifle and watched as the energy burst sailed through his target’s skull, splattering brown blood on a second Cardassian who was not previously visible.

As Mayla sprinted towards the position, Will fired again. The shot passed over her right shoulder and struck the second target through his neck. McCulloch watched as the Cardassian gurgled on his own blood before collapsing face first to the ground.

As Vree surged towards the intended destination, the Scot rapidly scanned Vree’s immediate surroundings for any other hostile targets. Once she reached the location safely, McCulloch emerged from his position and followed to her location.

Mayla knelt beside the dead Cardassian, quickly taking in his garb and weapon. Commando, no doubt. She picked up the heavy disruptor rifle and peered down the alleyway for targets of opportunity. She saw four, still unaware their support from behind was neutralized.

She saw in her peripheral vision McCulloch take up position on the other side of the alley, still scanning and covering the area behind them. The weapon she held was charged and she laid down a barrage at the two crouched Cardassians closest to her. They were taken completely by surprise and killed quickly. But as for the other two who now figured out, they no longer had an upper hand, looked around them for a way to retreat. But McCulloch expected that and took one out. The other one decided he had had no place to hide and began charging down in the other direction, continuously firing his weapon.

As the commando continued to move, Will rotated around his defensive position, brought his rifle up to the ready and fired two quick busts. Unfortunately due to moving too quickly before firing, the shots went wide and missed..

“Damnit!” McCulloch cursed as he prepared to fire a third round.

“Eight, cease fire!” Vree commanded as the pair watched the Cardassian disappear from view. Will instinctively snapped his rifle upwards into the air and took his finger off the trigger.

“He’s probably moving towards Jahkar and the others.” The Trill observed. “We’re pretty close to the heart of this firefight and we can’t risk hitting other members of the team.”

McCulloch nodded silently in the affirmative.

Once again, the two advanced closer to the firefight and the location of where they believed their teammates to be.

Colonel Jahkar

Culat City

Stardate 2110.11

Jahkar, Lazarus and Garak walked right into the firefight awaiting them. Lazarus ducked for cover in a doorway while carrying the prisoner, leaving Jahkar and Garak to do battle with the Sons of Cardassia opponents.

There were four of them, plus one still coming up from behind them, hanging back until they were engaged with her colleagues up the street. As they made their way up the street crouching low, sticking close to the walls of the buildings lining the street, Jahkar glanced to Garak, “Any estimates on whether we’re getting close to the edge of their dampening field.”

To check, the marine keyed his subvoc but again ate static.

“From what I recall of the sensor screen back in my shop, about a quarter of a kilometer straight up that street,” Garak confirmed. “Well past that intersection.”

Jahkar nodded and then ducked as he heard the first shots from the Cardassian killers. Four pistols all firing on them at once sent a barrage of energy fire down the street in their direction. Jahkar crouch low and moved behind a hovercar while Garak found an alleyway and ducked just inside the opening.

Jahkar waited for a lull in the shooting to pop his head out and fire two shots at the attackers, his blasts scoring a hit and wounding one of the four. Struck in his right side, the injured Cardassian gasped and ducked for cover.

Garak then fired his own volley of shots which found the head of one of the SOC and burst it into a shower of blood and brains.

Behind them, the female Cardassian slipped up behind them, crouching low as she came in and she headed straight at Lazarus hiding in the shop doorway. Jahkar heard her footsteps as she ran in and he pivoted to pop off a couple shots at her, which missed as she jumped at Lazarus.

The captain heard her coming too, long before Jahakr did with his enhanced hearing. He turned with the Cardassian still over his shoulder, saw the woman charging him and tossed the prisoner like he was a sack of potatoes. His right arm was’t cybernetic, but he had muscle and tendon replacements and enhancements done during some of his many augmentation surgeries.

The Cardassian sailed through the air and slammed into the approaching woman, knocking her to the ground with an audible “Umph!” Lazarus then drew his disruptor pistol that he’d shoved in his belt, walked over and placed a blast directly into the woman’s head. The entire time, the captain did not flinch...he just finished her and retrieved the unconscious prisoner.

Jahkar and Garak were busy exchanging gunfire with the three Cardassians up the street, the tailor pausing briefly to look over at Lazarus as he killed the winded female soldier and he gave a grunt, “If I didn;t know better, captain, I’d think you still enjoy killing Cardassians -- like you did during your time with the Maquis!”

“Save it for later,” Lazarus barked as he dragged the prisoner back into the doorway. Garak returned to the firefight, just in time to rack up another kill. Jahkar managed to kill the one he’d injured at the start of the fight, only to have the one still standing fire on him, his disruptor blast searing across Jahkar’s right bicep.

Jahkar grunted and fell back behind his cover, assessing his wound. It was minor, but it fueled his growing rage. These Cardassians kept coming out of the woodwork and it was becoming quite annoying.

He took his dual disruptors, one in each hand, and rounded the hovercar, moving up the street firing with both pistols as he advanced. His shots slammed into the doorway around the remaining fighter, who stayed back and let Jahkar fire away. Across the street, the Cardassian fighter who had ran from his encounter with Vree and McCulloch, emerged onto the street and turned toward Jahkar, his adrenaline-charged body carrying him toward the Marine instantly.  vJahkar diverted his guns away from the concealed target and he tried to train them on the SOC warrior charging him, but he wasn’t fast enough. The Cardassian fired twice at him, missing both shots, then slammed into Jahkar and knocked him backwards.

Garak fired on the concealed gunman and caught him as he stuck his head out to see what was going on. Garak then moved to assist Lazarus, just in case he needed it, leaving Jahkar and the newcomer to the fight to grapple on the pavement.

Jahkar landed on his back, the Cardassian landing on his knees, straddling the marine’s abdomen as he knelt over him and began to rapid fire punches into his face. Jahkar took two blows to the face, then growled angrily and surged upward, throwing the Cardassian off him. Jahkar rose to a crouch as the Cardassian also stood and the two started throwing punches at one another, each blocking the other with speed and skill.

The marine recognized the form as Prevek Torsan, a Cardassian martial art many special forces operatives were trained in back in the days of the Obsidian Order. Similar to Wing Chun on Earth, Jahkar matched his opponent using an advanced form of Wing Chun called Jeet Kune Do, the only Earth form he was truly familiar with.

The Cardassian was good...very good. Not what he expected from the terrorist grunt. Jahkar blocked his blows, occasionally sidestepping a kick as they battled along the side of the street. Garak aimed his disruptor and tried to draw a bead on the attacker, while Lazarus watched both directions looking for reinforcements.

“I can’t get a clear shot,” Garak cursed.

Lazarus was distracted, hearing a couple sets of footsteps coming toward them from the same alley the Cardassian fighting Jahkar had emerged from. He looked to Garak and barked, “Incoming!” They both turned toward the alley as two shadows became visible along the pavement....

Lt. Commander William McCulloch & Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.11

As Vree and McCulloch advanced further into the alleyway, the pair stumbled into a close quarter and desperate fight between the Sons of Cardassia, Jahkar, Lazarus and Garak.

“Holy sh\*\*!” The Scot exclaimed as he brought his rifle back up to his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. Milliseconds later, the head of Jahkar’s assailant exploded...spraying brown blood all over the marine.

“I’m really going to pay for that shot.” McCulloch muttered as he watched Vree move silently towards their companions.

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.14

The Cardassian's head exploded in front of Jahkar, sousing him with blood and brain matter. Mayla threw McCulloch a hand signal and charged forward while drawing her dagger. Through the mist of vaporized blood and brains, she identified two Cardassians within her reach of attack. One was crouched behind a hovercar, another was attempting to provide covering fire for his companions while he tried to circle around Lazarus and Garak to take them in a flanking maneuver. The Cardassians moved with the stature of a trained commando. She had to move fast if she was to take them before they realized their rear flank had disintegrated.

As she charged at the Cardassian who hadn't reacted to his companion's falling headless body, she hoped he didn't expect an attack from behind where he thought they were secured. Every second delay could change that.

He saw a growing reflection in the hovercar and turned quickly with his rifle. She was already upon him when he realized the robed figure had moved much quicker than he anticipated. She knocked his partially aimed rifle aside and jammed her blade up into his head from below his chin. The force of her charge slammed the blade through him and smashed the back of his skull against the car. When her momentum stopped, she turned the knife 180 degrees and ripped his throat out.

With a fast turn, she hurled the bloody dagger at the other Cardassian who nearly flanking Lazarus’ position was. She didn't expect the knife to cause any damage, it was only a distraction to give her time to pick up the rifle in the Cardassian's dead hand. The knife flew at the man's torso, nicking his back. He ignored the slight pain and turned to fire on the person who attacked him.

He turned just in time to receive disruptor fire in his face.

Colonel Jahkar

Culat City

Stardate 2110.14

Jahkar, now covered in blood and brain matter from the Cardassian he’d been fighting who was killed by McCulloch, did a sweep of the area around them and found it target free. His gaze fell upon Will and he gave him a frown, “I had that guy.”

Lazarus, still toting the unconscious Cardassian with him, walked up and interrupted McCulloch’s possible response. “We’re not far from the edge of the dampening field. We need to get clear of it as soon as possible.”

Jahkar indicated the route they had been moving in and checked the power cells in his disruptors. “Let's go,” he told the others.

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2110.11

Tiri was still with Ryramorl, discussing Reepchip’s options, when their subvocs sounded in their ears, “McGuire to Sh’avelith, Ra’yral,” the security chief’s voice called to them. “The away team is possibly under fire. They have been cut off from communications and we can’t lock onto them. Commander Sornax wants you to be ready to deploy, just in case.”

Sh’avelith looked to Roar and keyed her comm, “Copy that. We’re on our way to the transporter bay.”

She looked to the Carnora, “Let’s grab some phasers and go!” They headed to the armory and grabbed up weapons, in Tiri’s case she slapped on a sidearm and took a rifle, then got her med-kit from her locker and strapped on like a fanny pack.

Ryramorl, meanwhile, put on his armour, grabbed a rifle, a phaser, and his revolver, and replicated a pouch of bullets.  As they entered the teleporter, he loaded the revolver with the bullets, silently.

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

USS Fearless

Stardate 2110.12

Reepchip was definitely recovering, if his antics were any sign.  The head doctor had consulted a chart of points to strike for testing reflexes, but when he reached for the hammer, it slid away from his hand.  More grasps had it sliding to the other side of the table, the hammer turning from side to side to keep its handle out of his grasp, then standing up on the end of its handle, and hopping away from him across the table, tapping out “SOS” as it did so.

The doctor glowered at Reepchip, resting one hand on the bedside table.  If the Carnora found the EMH Mark I to have acceptable bedside manner, then he needn’t be polite.  “Ensign Charatetet.  I administer your medications, which means I have FULL CONTROL over their side effects.  Now, are we going to be cooperative, or do I look through these scrolls for your Healers’ most vile concoction?”  The handle of the hammer slid itself neatly under his hand.   “Glad we understand each other,” he said, and began testing the Muran’s reflexes.

Gul Nidek

Culat City

Stardate 2110.14

Nidek and his team neutralized another eight Cardassian terrorists and gained access to the controls for the dampening field. He deactivated the field and communications and sensors were able to function again.

With the field down, the Cardassian security leader keyed his communicator and opened a channel to the Federation Occupation Forces HQ, as well as to Resurrection and Fearless.

“The situation down here is nearly under control. Damping field down. We believe the current threats have been neutralized,” said Nidek. “Still trying to locate the mission team. Your vessels should be able to establish sensor contact now. Nidek out.”

Commander Sornax

USS Resurrection

Stardate 2110.14

McGuire looked up from her console, “He’s correct. I’ve got the team on sensors.”

The Denobulan first officer smiled and walked over toward the viewscreen, “Open a channel.”

The tactical officer tapped the commands into her holographic screen and nodded toward Sornax, “Channel open.”

“Havoc to Phoenix,” he said. “We have a lock on you. Give the word and we’ll beam you up.”

Commander Victoria Smith

USS Fearless

Stardate 2110.15

“This is soooo boring.” Ensign Gace complained as she leaned against the hull of the Union XII’s jumpship.

“That’s enough ensign.” Victoria gently reprimanded the young officer. “Being on standby doesn’t mean we get to run off and make our own adventures.”

“Yes ma’am.” The nurse grumbled silently as she spun her med kit in circles on the shuttle bay floor. Nearby, two team members were lying on their backs and throwing rubber balls against a nearby wall.

Victoria looked about her surroundings. All but two of her team were with her at the moment. Absent were Lieutenant Riisos and Warrant Officer Hannigan...both of whom were onboard the Resurrection.

All of the team was dressed in their black tactical suits … with most of them letting the upper half of the outfit hang about their waists. Approximately thirty feet from their Arrow class jumpship, the “Gentle Annie”, was a pile of body armor, ballistic helmets, equipment packs, rifles and medical kits.

If given the word to mobilize, the team would suit up and board their transport in record time.

Victoria knew they felt useless. What they didn’t appreciate...yet...was that “feeling useless” was a good thing. It meant that the operatives they were sworn to care for were not injured or dying.

As she sat on the floor near the center of her team, Victoria looked around at her medics and nurses.

It suddenly occurred to her just how young her team was. She estimated all but three of Union XII were under the age of thirty. Yet despite their young age, Victoria was confident each of them would perform their duties if and when called upon.

“They may be bored but what they are not telling you is they want to prove themselves to you just as much as they want to prove themselves to Phoenix Team….if not more.” Lieutenant Vesol Tusot announced as he crouched down next to the nurse. The Rigelian was the pilot of the Gentle Annie and third in command of Union XII.

“I figured as much.” Victoria admitted as she patted the floor and gestured for the officer to sit down next to her.

“They’ll be fine.” Tusot observed. “In time they’ll learn to appreciate the down time.”

“So where are we on the nicknames?” Victoria asked, changing the subject.

“Half of the team calls you ‘Aunt Victoria’ behind your back, two call you ‘mom’ and the remainder refer to you as their ‘older sister’.”

“Good to know. What do you call me?”

“I am taking a liking to Aunt Victoria.”

“I’m not sure I approve”

“You are the cool aunt.”

“Really?”

“The cool aunt is the one everyone wants to speak with for advice.” The Rigelian replied. “Gace has confided to Hannigan that she needs relationship advice from you, while Gatc wants to speak with you about asking a girl on a date.”

“Don’t they know I am the last one they should be asking about relationships?”

“Ma’am could you help fix my braid?” Ensign Gace interrupted as she sat down with her back towards Victoria. “When I do it I can’t put my ballistic helmet on my head.”

“You were saying?” The jumpship pilot asked as a smile spread across his face. He watched Victoria take apart the braid and then adjust the Betazoid’s hair. The nurse shot a disapproving look at Tusot before turning her attention back towards Gace.

“The soldiers of many ancient Earth cultures braided each other's hair, Lieutenant.” Victoria protested.

“I’m sure they did Mom….err commander.” Tusot noted as he stood up and returned to his jumpship.

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.18

Mayla and her team had set up a defensive perimeter around Lazarus and Garak and were moving to a more defensible location when the Resurrection contacted them.

“Havoc to Phoenix,” Sornax said. “We have a lock on you. Give the word and we’ll beam you up.”

"Havoc, Leader." Lazarus quickly answered, now receiving status reports in his cybernetic implant. "Give me the location of Gul Nidek."

"Eighty meters east of your current location."

"Stand by. I need to have a word with him. We're going to head in his direction." He gave Mayla a nod to take point as Nidek's location was sent down into Mayla's eyes.

She was just about to give the hand signal to move from their position when a thought came to her. They had two members of Union XII on board the Resurrection; the male Orion Lieutenant Gysyd Riisos and female human Warrant Officer Fiadh Hannigan. WIth their communications cut off with the Resurrection for the past hour, they were unaware of the events that transpired down on the planet. This was a good opportunity to put the two members of Union XII to the test. She gave Lazarus a few SO hand signals telling him her idea. He shook his head and returned a more forceful signing gesture.

"Are you sure?" She said out loud and slowly while looking down the barren streets that had emptied when the firefight began.

"They need to be ready for any contingency, or else Smith isn't doing her job." Lazarus growled that caused Garak to smile at his expense. The Resurrection captain mentally keyed his subvocal. "Phoenix Leader to Havoc Actual," meaning a private direct contact to the current officer who has the bridge. In this case, it was Commander Sornax.

"Actual here, sir." Sornax's voice came over a subvocal's private channel.

"Run simulation 18PhoenixDelta, no sim warning."

There was just a slight pause before Sornax responded. "Aye, sir."

"We'll contact you when we're ready to beam out."

"Aye," Sornax said. "Running simulation 18PhoenixDelta now. Havoc, out."

Lazarus looked at Mayla. "Now we'll see how they function."

"Aye." Signaling to McCulloch to cover their six, Mayla started to move out and switched to her open subvocal to the away team. "That team is still new. We need to see how they cope with a crisis that's not a drill."

Jahkar and McCulloch looked at her. "What's going on?" Jahkar asked, trying his best to wipe himself clean with whatever piece of clothing he had before tossing it aside.

"Putting our medical support team to the test." Mayla said, carefully walking ahead of them, keeping her head on a swivel. "Now that Cardassian Security is canvassing the area looking for us, I'd say we're mostly out of danger. But keep your wits about you."

McCulloch almost laughed at what the poor saps of Union XII were going to go through until he remembered his ex-wife was in the lead of the unit. Their performance will reflect on her ability as the CO of the medical unit. "You're going to put them through one of your sims?"

Mayla shook her head. "One of my father's sims," she said.

"You're sh-tting me," McCulloch said with now a bit of fear and sympathy. He remembered several of her father's ruthless sims he used to put Bravo Squad through. The Scot admitted that it hardened the team to keep their heads in various...gruesome situations. Then he realized who made the final simulation selection and looked at Lazarus.

"Every person on my ship must be more capable than a standard Starfleet officer," the stern captain said angrily. "This will be the first time we'll see them in a crisis. I want to see how they react to something catastrophic."

Jahkar also looked from Lazarus to Mayla, still keeping his rifle at the ready and continued moving forward. "Which sim is it?"

Mayla peered around the corner of an alley to be sure it was clear before giving the signal to continue on. "You don't want to know."

*USS Resurrection*

In orbit above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.18

"The dampening field is down around Phoenix Squad," came the announcement over the ship-wide speaker system. "Union XII, prepare to receive multiple incoming wounded and casualties. All medical personnel report to the hangar bay immediately."

The two members of Union XII on the Resurrection suddenly leaped from their duties and sprinted to the hangar bay. Upon entering, they looked at each other and reminded themselves they were trained for this. Then multiple transports began appearing in the hangar bay. First were the four members of the away team. Once they materialized, they immediately headed in that direction while unslinging their trauma packs. Not expecting a bloody mess, for a split moment, the Phoenix team members were nearly unrecognizable through their ghastly wounds. The Resurrection's medical staff also burst into the bay.

Lazarus had a smouldering hole in his chest and his artificial right arm had been torn off with bits and pieces hanging out. Even part of his face, the artificial side, had been grazed by what looked like a disruptor blast. All of the flesh was gone leaving behind the partially scorched metal of his skull.

Jahkar's entire left side had been burned nearly clean to the bone, seemingly from a grenade blast. Some of the muscles on the left side of his left torso were completely see through to the bone and through the other side of his body. He was trying to stay conscious but could only groan in anger at the pain. It was a miracle he was still alive.

Vree had similarly serious wounds. Her right arm was gone with much of her shoulder and neck. She had a disruptor blast wound in her pelvis, which burned away most of her uniform. There was also hole in her abdomen where her symbiont pouch would have been. Now it was a burned-out crater of blood and gore. The wounds sustained on the right side of her head were substantial. Her right eye was gone, leaving just a burned-outsocket with milky and bloody ooze pouring out over her visible skull. She was unconscious and barely alive.

McCulloch remained motionless. There were several disruptor blast wounds in his torso, but one wound on his body wasn't from a phaser. It was from a projectile, and it had left a large hole through the right side of his head. His remaining left eye had the dead stare of eternity.

Six Cardassian civilians also appeared, some had sustained the same type of maiming wounds. The Emergency Holographic Medical Team appeared, and holographic medical monitors appeared above each wounded and casualty, displaying their lifesigns. Two of them were already flatlined, just like McCulloch.

"We need the crash carts now!" Riisos said in a slightly desperate voice as he took in his first look at the massive wounds inflicted on their charges. Triage was the first order of business, and it looked like Jahkar and Vree had the most serious wounds. McCulloch was gone. And the Captain's cybernetics should keep him alive for as long as they could.

"Get me some lifeline stabilizers!" Hannigan yelled at one of the many EHMT holograms. They had to at least stabilize the bleeding out first. One of the EHMT techs brought over two cases that each held a portable patient stasis unit and handed them over to her. She began setting them up next to each person. More EHMT holograms appeared working alongside the ship's medical team. While they immediately attended to the Cardassians, the two members of Union XII attempted to save their charges' lives hanging on a thin string.

Lt. Gysyd Riisos (NPC)

Warrant Officer Fiadh Hannigan (NPC)

*USS Resurrection*

In orbit above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.18

“Order of treatment…” Riisos announced after a very brief moment of hesitation. “Lazarus, Jahkar and Vree! EMHs will work on the civilians...give sedatives to Vree and Jahkar now.”

“What about McCulloch?” The warrant officer asked as finished sedating the two operatives and tossing the hypospray aside. She quickly withdrew a flexible hollow square device from her medkit and approached Lazarus. There was a sucking sound coming from the hole in his chest. The nurse instantly knew that was not a good sign.

“He’s dead. Leave him for the coroner.”

Fiadh firmly pressed the device over the wound and keyed a code on the numeric pad located on the lower right corner of the square. Immediately, the device attached itself to Lazarus as a containment field activated over the Captain’s chest wound. The sucking sound faded and then stopped.

“Chest wound sealed!” Hannigan reported.

“He’s stabilizing but multiple internal injured detected,” Riios reported as he worked to seal the Captain’s bleeding nub that was once his arm and treat the burns. He looked up at his warrant officer and then over at the team of EMH’s. “There’s too many wounded. We could use the rest of the team.”

“We don’t have the rest of the team!” Fiadh snapped back. There was a sense of desperation in her voice. Occasionally she would resort to cursing in Gaelic.

“The colonel...move to the colonel now. I’ll have one of the EMH’s continue working on the Captain while I work on Vree.” The Lieutenant ordered.

The sedative Fiadh had previously administered to the marine had little effect. He was crying out in pain and began to flail his arms...causing his torso wounds to open up further. Blood continued to ooze onto the floor around him. The Irish nurse desperately tried to calm her patient as she fumbled through her medical kit...eventually retrieving a hypospray loaded with a stronger sedative.

As she started to administer the sedative, Jahkar reached across his body with his non-injured arm and seized her by the wrist. He twisted it, causing her to release the device as sharp pains to run up Hannigan’s arm. Fiadh watched as the hypospray rolled off of his body and onto the floor. She instinctively pulled her wrist back...which was likely severely sprained.

Seconds later, the wounded marine started to flail his arms again and in the process, struck Hannigan in the face. She tumbled backwards...her head striking the floor with a loud thud. Her eyes burned and blood oozed from her nose. She started to feel dizzy.

“Oh bloody hell.” She cursed as she rolled onto her stomach, pushed herself back up to her knees and painfully crawled back to Jahkar.

Her wrist throbbed and the blood from a likely broken nose dripped onto the marine. She used her own weight and leaned onto his good arm, preventing him from striking her again. With her non-injured hand, she retrieved the hypospray and administered it to Jahkar. He quickly fell back into unconsciousness.

Fiadh whimpered in pain as she snapped open her medical kit. She could try to use a dermal regenerator but she knew given the extent of the wounds, the action would be futile. After a very brief debate, she reached across Jahkar with both arms, grabbed him by his clothing and leaned her body as far back as she could, pulling the wounded operative onto his right side.

Her wrist burned while her eyelids began to swell.  She found it difficult to breathe out of her nose. Regardless, she desperately tried to treat her patient. She again returned to her medical kit and retrieved several hemostatic pressure dressings that were designed to check Jahkar’s bleeding. She quickly set the bandages and began to apply pressure. She leaned in and examined Jahkar’s wounds more closely for any pieces of shrapnel. As she peered into his torso, she saw several small metal fragments piercing his muscles.

“Sh\*t!” She exclaimed as she looked over towards the lieutenant, who was desperately working on Vree. Quickly, Fiadh returned her attention to Jahkar, retrieved a device from her kit and began quickly removing those pieces of shrapnel that could jeopardize his survival. Once finished, she slid the portable stasis device over Jahkar and activated it.

“Colonel Jahkar temporarily stabilized,” Hannigan announced to Riisos.

“We are about to lose a third civilian.” One of the EMH’s suddenly announced as another quickly approached her.

“Warrant Officer, we have two more wounded civilians coming in.”

“Vree is flatlining!” The Orion lieutenant suddenly announced as Fiadh stood up and hobbled over to assist.

“Where the hell is Commander Smith and the rest of the team?”

“I’ll send up a flare momentarily.” The lieutenant announced as he checked the seal he had applied to Vree’s torso wound. A “flare” was Union XII’s internal verbal signal for its nurses and medics to rally on a team member to assist with a catastrophic scenario.

“Work on her head wound...we can’t save the eye,” Riisos ordered as he looked over his shoulder to see two more wounded Cardassians appear.

The two Union XII nurses worked desperately on Vree...who flatlined twice while in their care.

“She needs to be beamed to Fearless for surgery.” Fiadh pleaded. Riisos reluctantly agreed.

“Time to send up a flare.” The lieutenant grimly announced as he gestured for Fiadh to begin treating the nearest Cardassian civilian. As she left the Orion nurse with Vree, he tapped his comm badge.

“Riisos to Smith. The flare is sent, we need all hands-on board the Resurrection for treatment of mass casualties.”

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2110.18

“Lieutenant, repeat your request?” Victoria asked as she pushed Ensign Gace away, stood up and stepped away from the other members of Union XII.

“We have mass casualties from the Cardassian surface...multiple civilian casualties, three operatives critically injured and one dead. Warrant Officer Hannigan is also injured”

The commander hesitated momentarily. “Which...which operative?”

“McCulloch.”

Victoria felt as if she was going to vomit. She brought her hand up to her mouth and desperately tried to regain her composure.

“Understood Lieutenant. We’ll beam over momentarily.”

Smith stood in silence for a moment, stunned at the news that her ex-husband was dead. Once again, she felt nauseous. She rested her hands on her hips, breathed in and out through her nose for several seconds. Afterward, she tapped her comm badge.

“Smith to Bridge. Request an emergency beam out of Union XII to the Resurrection. I understand there is a mass casualty incident, and our presence is being requested.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before the bridge responded. “Commander, we just spoke with Resurrection. There is no mass casualty incident on board their ship.”

“What?”

“Stand by, Commander.” The voice announced before continuing. “Commander Smith, Resurrection has reported there is no mass casualty event.”

“What??”

“Captain Rhikal has been informed that Captain Lazarus is running two of your team members through a training simulation.”

Victoria seethed as she stood with her back to her team. How dare they run her nurses and medics through an unannounced simulation without consulting her?

“Understood. Smith out.”

If they wanted to test Union XII’s capabilities, the nurse was determined that her entire team was going to participate in Lazarus' little exercise.

“Suit up!!” Victoria barked as she turned around and started to walk back towards her team. “Full gear, weapons, packs and medical kits. Everything! Get all your gear on and board the damn jump ship!”

Smith clocked her team as they quickly donned their light armor, ballistic helmets, weapons and equipment. Once the team was onboard, she put on her own equipment and picked up her helmet.

Victoria looked around the now empty hangar as she angrily breathed through her nose. She felt betrayed by Vree; she would have been consulted for this to happen. Worse, now one of her nurses was injured and out of service for at least a day.

She cursed Lazarus’s name repeatedly in Trill before hurling her helmet in anger against the hull of the Gentle Annie.

After spending another moment fuming, Victoria snatched her helmet from the floor and walked up the ramp into the interior of Union XII’s jumpship. As the team was pulling harnesses down and strapping themselves in for the launch, Smith made her way to the cockpit where Corporal Pyme and Lieutenant Tusot were running a pre-flight check.

“Contact the Fearless’ bridge and request permission for the Gentle Annie to depart for the Resurrection.” She ordered as she sat down behind the pair.

“We still need to complete a preflight check...we’re being mobilized faster than we expected.” Tusot replied

“Do..it...now.” Victoria hissed as she folded her arms and looked out the cockpit’s viewport. In her mind, Jiarin encouraged her to confront Mayla head on as soon as they arrived on board the Resurrection.

“Fearless isn’t clearing us for launch.”

The nurse shifted uncomfortably in her seat and continued to grumble to herself.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.20

Cody had kept track off the comms of the away team while he was working on some optimizations of his personal gear. Now that they had been cut off, it had been silent for the last hour or so. He expected he would be called anytime soon to beam down for support, so he had geared up already.

Thompson had given him some cool software gadgetry to incorporate. Thinking of his fellow operative and friend, he wondered how Thompson was doing. If he even was still alive. He sighed, as he adjusted several parameters of the environment where he was tinkering with the gadgets and his thoughts drifted to Sarah.

After he got back from Cardassia he had received a few messages from her. She had quite some questions about the disappearance of Thompson, probably all coming from Inverness, McCulloch’s former toy company. They could use the data for all kinds of purposes. Cody had not answered them yet, as he actually didn’t know how to handle this. He didn’t want to disappoint Sarah, yet, this was valuable, but also very confidential information, so he wasn’t allowed to answer any of these questions.

While doing more adjustments to the virtual environment and the different AI persona’s he decided it would be best to discuss this with either Vree, Lazarus or McGuire and tell Sarah in all honesty he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. Suddenly Sornax came in over comms.

“Lt. Beckett, get ready to beam down for support to the away team. Transporter room 1.”

“Aye” was his short reply, and he quickly finished his work. He would finish that later. He got up, and while he slung his small pack on his back, he checked the status of his sidearms and the rifle on his back through his retina HUD, while physically checking the variety of knives at his belt and in hidden pouches as he made his way to the transporter room.

As he entered, Sh’avelith and Ryramorl just moved onto the pad, and he nodded to them as he swiftly moved besides them on the first free pad, and waited, concentrated on what would come.

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.20

Tiri saw Beckett walk in and smiled. It seemed like it had been a long time since she’d seen him, but actually it had only been a few hours.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Not sure. Apparently, the team has come under attack on the surface,” Tiri said. “Transporters are blocked by a dampening field over the area. Commander Sornax indicated we may need to beam down to assist.”

The speaker in the transporter bay then crackled, “Sornax to Phoenix 4,5 and 7. Dampening field was just taken down. We’re attempting contact with the away term. Stand by.”

Tiri sighed and looked at the others, “So...I guess we keep standing by.”

Commander Mayla Vree

Culat City, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.21

With the streets completely barren of civilians now, the only ones out of Cardassian Security uniforms would be those sympathetic to the SOC still trying to locate the Starfleet team. But word had quickly spread that those civilians who did go searching for the Starfleet team were not heard from again.

Moving closer towards Gul Nidek's location, his security forces saw the Starfleet team and quickly disarmed them before being escorted to Nidek under guard. Recognizing them, he ordered his men to lower their weapons and to continue the sweep of the area.

"Garak," Nidek said in a tone that couldn't be determined if it was with respect, disdain, or contempt. "You live."

"I am grateful to say that I do," Garak said. "But my shop has been destroyed and will have to rebuild."

"I'm sure we can make that happen." Nidek said.

"It seems you have a small insurgency sympathetic to the SOC here," Mayla said, keeping her slight SO hand signal to placate McCulloch who seemed to be chomping at the bit to say the same.

"We have been receiving intelligence of minor insurgent groups working throughout all of Cardassia." Gul Nidek kept his face neutral. "We underestimated the spread of the Sons of Cardassia movement."

"Again," Jahkar murmured.

"Yes, that is apparently so," Nidek said, looking at Garak and then to Lazarus. "Did he give you any information?"

"That remains to be seen," Lazarus said, a bit angry they had been compromised just by going to Garak's shop. "We'll let you know what we learn."

"What do you mean?" Nidek quickly chased away the surprised look on his chiseled face. "He needs to go back to HQ with us where-"

"We're taking Garak back to the ship...with us, where we know no one there will try to kill him," Lazarus said sternly. He gave a few flicks of his fingers to Mayla to inform the Resurrection to be ready to beam them up.

Mayla contacted the *Resurrection* on her subvocal. "Havoc, One, standby to beam the four of us up along with Garak."

"We're standing by," Sornax's voice responded immediately.

"Is the sim still running?"

"It is."

"Keep it running."

"I need to inform you that they've contacted Union XII on the Fearless and requested for immediate assistance."

Mayla nearly winced. Smith won't be happy. "And did they respond?"

"They did, but I informed them we were running a sim here and to disregard that request."

"Very well," she said just as Lazarus gave her the SO hand signal to beam out. "We're ready to beam up now."

*CDS Regnedor*

High above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.24

Regnedor continued on its orbital path around Cardassia Prime, the cloaked Keldon-class vessel running silent as it patiently awaited its prey. Tirlin Drajal was in the command chair waiting on events to transpire that his first officer had anticipated.

Drajal remained optimistic the young glinn was right about the Starfleet ships they had seen cloaking and decloaking in orbit of the Cardassian homeworld. During their silent observation of Cardassian space traffic, they had observed an escort-class vessel and a larger Starfleet heavy cruiser both emerge from and return to a cloaked status.

But according to Glinn Demek, first officer and engineering genius, this was no normal cloaking device. It was something called a phased cloak. Demek understood the science behind this device, Drajal did not, but he would take Demek’s word for it and they had put a plan into action to deal with the enemy ships.

Regnedor had plotted *Resurrection*’s course based on its last known heading and speed in orbit. If there had been no course corrections since it phased, Regnedor should be on top of the Starfleet she the next time it unphased.

They had also noted and mapped the course taken by the other Starfleet ship as it disappeared. The plan was to attack the smaller ship with everything the Keldon-class ship could muster, meanwhile launching and detonating a spread of quantum torpedoes containing graviton particles meant to interfere with the larger ship’s phased cloak.

Demek and Drajal knew the Regnedor had no chance of beating both Starfleet ships, but maybe against the smaller ship, with a sneak attack, they could score a little retribution for the failure of the hostage mission the day before. Drajal also wouldn’t mind getting back at them for the weapon he’d been impaled with during the firefight in the Cardassian Central Command building.

Growing impatient in his chair, Tirlin finally turned toward Demek and gave him an annoyed look.

“Have faith, Gul Drajal,” Demek smiled, looking over incoming scans of Culat City which showed the Obsidian Cell dampening field was down. “I am certain there will be a development soon…very soon.”

Commander Sornax

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.24

Lt. Commander Darva McGuire looked over form her console at Commander Sornax and smiled, “The away team has signaled for beam up. They are joined by a Cardassian.”

The Denobulan gave an intrigued look and nodded, “Unphase the ship and beam them up. Have a security detail on hand at the transporter bay, just in case.”

“The rest of Phoenix is assembled there,” she reminded him.

Sornax smiled, “That should be good enough.”

“Aye,” McGuire said, deactivating the phased cloak.

In the transporter bay, the operator looked to the three Phoenix operatives on the transport pad and said, “Looks like you’ll be staying here. The Away team is beaming back. Commander wants you on hand in case there’s a problem.”

“Problem?” Tiri asked.

“They are beaming up with a guest,” Ensign Thrice said, manning the transporter controls. “A Cardassian.”

“Garak?” Beckett asked.

“I guess we’ll see,” Tiri responded as they all stepped aside.

It was at that moment all hell broke loose aboard Resurrection…

*CDS Regnedor*

High above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.24

“I’m picking up a phase variance dead ahead,” Demek announced excitedly. “It’s directly on the course and heading we’ve been following.”

Drajal slid forward in his chair, eyes glued to the holographic viewscreen. “This is it. On my mark decloak the ship and initiate attack pattern Demek-One.”

Glin Demek nodded with satisfaction as they prepared to put his plan into effect. On the viewscreen the Starfleet escort vessel began to shimmer into visibility.

“Decloak and attack!” Drajal said.

Resurrection completed its phase adjustment and became completely visible. At the same time Regnedor dropped its cloak and raised shields, while energizing it’s weapon systems.

Aboard Resurrection, McGuire gasped, “Cardassian Keldon-class ship decloaking aft! They’re right on top of us! They’re raising shields!”

Sornax’s face turned into a mask of surprise and realization that they were vulnerable at this moment. He shouted his next command knowing full well they would probably not avoid taking a hit…or maybe worse.

“Raise shields!” the Denobulan barked.

“Transport in progress! We’ve got the team in transit!” McGuire yelled. “Enemy vessel firing!”

Regnedor unleashed a full volley of quantum torpedoes from her forward launchers while hitting Resurrection with multiple blasts from her disruptor array. At the same time, the Keldon-class fired a spread of four torpedoes from her aft launchers at the assumed location of the Fearless.

The first volley of torpedoes slammed the Resurrection hard, the massive explosions flaring across the armored hull of the starship, no protection from her shields available. The disruptors then ripped into the hull plating in some areas already damaged by the torpedo blasts, damaging Resurrection and sending it veering off across the curvature of Cardassia Prime’s surface.

At that moment, aboard the USS Fearless, they had detected the decloaking Keldon-class ship and Captain Vehakra Rhikal ordered her ship to drop the phase cloak and engage the enemy.

“Target that ship and fire!” Rhikal commanded as Fearless began to rephase. As the ship began to return to a normal phase variance, the aft spread of torpedoes launched and detonated nearby, saturating the area around Fearless with a massive cloud of graviton particles.

Aboard *Fearless* lights began to flicker, instruments flashed on and off and the ship vibrated beneath its crew.

“Report!” the Orion captain demanded as the turbolift doors opened and Admiral Ian MacLeod stepped out of the lift and approached the captain.

“Massive graviton particle flood!” tactical reported. “It’s interfering in our phased cloak…we’re stuck in a phase variance fluctuation!”

Rhikal looked to MacLeod, who shook his head, “Bloody Cardassians.”

“Get this ship back in normal phase!” Rhikal ordered the bridge crew. “They knew how to hit us! To keep us off their backs…”

“While they attack Resurrection,” MacLeod grumbled. “Damn clever.”

Meanwhile, on the Resurrection, the ship was rocked hard by the explosions against her hull. On the bridge and in the transporter bay, even across the ship, the crew was tossed around, and lights flickered on and off.

Sornax had been thrown to the deck when the ship was hammered by enemy fire, and he slowly got to his feet and looked around. A couple of coolant leaks had popped up, hissing and dispensing a cloudy vapor from the ruptured tubing. The lights were dim, and the bridge was backlit with a reddish glow.

McGuire had held on to her console and was currently trying to get shields and weapons activated, while Ensign Lakim struggled with the sluggish helm controls. Sornax looked to the holographic viewscreen and saw the Keldon-class ship firing on them from behind, while Fearless was a complete no show.

“They’re firing again!” McGuire barked.

“Evasive maneuvers!” Sornax demanded. “Get those shields up, commander!”

“Away team is aboard!” she called back to him as more enemy fire ripped into the Vigilant-class ship. “Raising shields!”

“Evasive pattern delta!” Lakim reported as he took the ship into a roll and then a hard turn to port.

“Damage report!” Sornax said.

Lt. Commander Carmichael’s voice came across the bridge speakers, “Warp engines offline, secondary phaser array is damaged, long-range sensors offline and lateral inertial dampeners are down, so don’t try any fancy maneuvers. Ablative armor at 70 percent. Damage on deck one and two. Three casualties reported. Also, phased cloak is offline.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that!” Sornax complained as another volley of disruptor blasts hit the ship. “McGuire, where is Fearless?”

“Not sure sir,” she said. “Orders commander.”

“Fire at will,” Sornax muttered…

Lieutenant Gysyd Riisos

Warrant Officer Fiadh Hannigan

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.24

The simulation onboard the Resurrection had been brutal for the two members of Union XII. Every time someone was saved, another victim crashed. Fiadh and Gysyd did their best to keep up the crisis but the continuous influx of patients, coupled with Hannigan’s broken nose and wrist only complicated matters.

At the height of the confusion, there was a loud groan that was heard throughout the hangar bay. Milliseconds later, the Resurrection began to violently shake.

The simulation immediately went offline, and the two nurses found themselves in a dimly lit hangar. Fiadh doubled over and yelped in pain as blood dropped from her nose onto the floor.

“This was a f\*\*\*ing simulation?” She cried out. “A bloody simulation? Who was the b\*tch who ordered this?!?”

Before Lieutenant Riisos could answer the ship once again began to shake and the pair were tossed about the hangar bay. Fiadh slammed her head against a nearby bulkhead wall while Gysyd slid across the floor until his shoulder slammed against a storage container with a loud “snap”.

Hannigan again cried out in pain...her face throbbed, her eyes were starting to swell shut and her wrist burned. She reached behind her head and felt it was wet. She looked at her hand and saw it was covered in blood.

Suddenly the lighting in the hangar turned to red. A voice came over the comm instructing all personnel to battle stations.

Fiadh crawled over to a nearby control panel and accessed the ship’s information. A holographic display appeared which not only provided detailed information on the Cardassian sneak attack, but also the location of wounded and injured throughout the ship.

The Irish nurse looked over at her lieutenant. He was on his back and writhing in pain with a dislocated shoulder. Fiadh cursed twice in Gaelic and struggled to stand up. She was dizzy and nauseous. She stumbled over to her medkit lying in the middle of the hangar and retrieved a hypospray. She quickly slapped a cartridge into the drive and injected a prescription designed to combat the effects of a concussion. She then retrieved a roll of bandages and began to wrap her injured wrist.

As she cursed loudly in agony, she decided the broken nose and head injury would have to wait. Once her wrist was properly secured, she turned, slung her medkit over her shoulder and turned her attention to her superior officer. She struggled to her feet and staggered over to Lieutenant Riisos. He was staring up at the hangar ceiling and whimpering in pain.

Warrant Officer Hannigan was not in the mood. She grabbed the lieutenant by the front of his uniform, forced him to sit up and got within inches of his face.

He sobbed in pain as she shook him.

“Lieutenant! Look at me! Look at me!” Fiadh barked at the Orion nurse. “I am NOT going to give anyone above our paygrade any excuse to say we didn’t do our job! You need to get up off your ass and do your job! There are people on this ship who need us right now sir!”

“I...can’t...I can’t go on.”

Fiadh didn’t even wait to hear the explanation. She quickly planted her foot against the Orion nurse’s chest, grabbed his arm and pulled hard on it before resetting his shoulder. Riisos yelped before rolling away from her. Fiadh cursed again in Gaelic and pulled the lieutenant back towards her. She glared coldly at him.

“We are NOT going to let Commander Smith down.” She hissed. “Other than the EMH and the Andorian on Phoenix Team, we are pretty much the only show in town when it comes to medical assistance. I don’t know where the rest of Union XII is but WE need to get our collective butts in gear and get to work. Not later, not tomorrow but now lieutenant!”

It took a moment but Lieutenant Riisos finally regained his composure. He silently nodded at his warrant officer. Fiadh sat back on her heels and smiled slightly.

“Orders sir?” She asked with a tone of urgency.

“Computer!” He barked. “Show me the location of all Resurrection casualties. Instantaneously, a holographic image of the vessel appeared...continuously adding newly injured personnel as the Cardassian warship pounded the Resurrection.

“Order of treatment?” Fiadh pressed.

“We check on our operatives, then start treating the rest of the crew...essential crew first,” Riisos answered as he struggled to his feet. He looked about the hangar before gesturing for Fiadh to retrieve his medical supplies.

“We don’t have time to suit up.” Hannigan conceded. “Mom won’t be too happy.”

“We’ll worry about Commander Smith’s reaction later.” He answered as he grabbed Fiadh by the chin and turned her head. “Your head wound isn’t the worst I’ve seen but it could be better.”

“It will take too long to treat. I’m fine for now.” She answered before the pair stumbled out of the hangar. Armed with medical kits the two nurses started to make their way into the interior of the Resurrection.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.24

Will watched as his surroundings in the alleyway were enveloped in a bright blue light. Seconds later he rematerialized onboard the Resurrection. As he looked around the transporter room, his eyes landed on Cody.        The Scot smiled and wanted to tell his companion that he was a sight for sore eyes. After his adventures on Cardassia, he definitely could use a bear hug,

As Will started to speak, he was suddenly knocked off of his feet and thrown across the room. He collided mid-air with Tiri and the pair crumpled to the floor. Will struggled to get back up but he found his legs were tangled with the Andorian’s. As he turned towards her, he realized he was mere inches away from her. He blushed slightly.

“My most sincere apologies lieutenant.” The Scot announced, avoiding eye contact as he tried to pull his legs free. “While I would be honored to dance with the lieutenant, now would not be the best time. Perhaps you would be so kind to help this clumsy sod back to his feet?”

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.25

Beckett stepped off the transporter pads and waited for the away team to return. As they materialized, McCulloch smiled as he saw Beckett, but the next second, Cody was thrown around the transporter room and smacked into the bulkhead. He hit his head hard and was dizzy for a few seconds. He got up again and looked at the others.

The lights of the room flickered, and the transporter pads whined as it shut down. Lazarus was put down by Ryramorl, while Tiri and McCulloch were trying to get their legs disentangled. Beckett looked at the transporter engineer, who was trying to get on his feet, but struggled. He helped the man to get up. "You ok? " He asked. The lieutenant, named Rotar, nodded, as he held onto the side of his head. Cody quickly checked. It was a big bruise, but other than the lieutenant seemed fine. Cody patted the man on his back and moved on.

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2210.24

Jahkar was able to catch himself against the transporter controls, avoiding being thrown to the deck. He looked around and saw that Garak had also caught himself avoiding the fall, but WIll had been thrown into Tiri, who must have been in the transporter bay when they beamed in. In fact, he noticed Beckett and Roar were also there.

Lazarus landed on the Carnora, who’d caught the captain, helping him avoid further injury. The Cardassian prisoner he’d been carrying was tossed unceremoniously across the bay, smashing against the bulkhead.

Mayla looked as if she’d fallen, but managed to roll, rising up to a crouching position across the small bay.

The Marine looked down to see McCullouch on top of Tiri and he gave a slight frown before reaching down and grabbing Will by the back of his collar. He lifted the Scot off the Andorian woman and hoisted him onto his feet.

“As you were, commander,” Jahkar said in a low voice and the ship continued to shake and rattle around them, the lights flickering back to full brightness.

He looked around at the others, “Sounds like we have unwanted company.”

Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.25

Ryramorl grunted as he caught the captain and went into a protective roll.  He got up and helped the Captain to his feet with a growl.  “Dammit--they must have been monitoring us.  They knew when to strike.” He grunted in surprise to see that they’d come with Cardassians, and looked at his superiors, questioningly.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.26

Once more the ship shook viciously as it was hit again. This time everyone kept on his feet, but the lights in the transporter room were shut off and only the red haze of emergency lighting was visible. Captain Lazarus listened to the different comms piping and turned towards Beckett. "Beckett, McCulloch, get to engineering. They could use some help. "

Beckett looked at McCulloch who was still fumbling on his uniform after Jahkar had pulled him from Sh'avelith. Beckett nodded to McCulloch, turned around and moved out of the room as the ship was hit again and rocked back and forth. Rains of sparks and plasma leaks erupted from behind the torn bulkheads as Cody and William made their way to engineering.

Another hit, the ship rumbled and the next moment they noticed they had become weightless, drifting through the corridor. Cody grabbed the bulkheads and pulled himself forward, swiftly followed by McCulloch. Then, without warning, the artificial gravity came back online, and Cody smacked once more onto the floor." This is becoming a habit" He muttered as he got himself up. He heard McCulloch cursing in Gaelic and Cody couldn't help but grin, as he continued his way to engineering…

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.26

McCulloch cursed once more as the ship’s artificial gravity system went offline again and he floated to the ceiling of the passageway. Seconds later, the system reactivated, and the Scot crashed to the floor with a loud thud and crack.

Will rolled onto his back, looked up at the ceiling and moaned in pain. He definitely cracked more than one rib in the fall.

“Why the bloody hell am I being sent to engineering?” The Scot complained as he struggled to his feet. “I was always at tactical and have no experience in engineering.”

“Someone has to hold the toolbox and light.” Beckett countered as the pair continued to advance on engineering. “Once we arrive, at least promise me you won’t tackle another young Andorian officer to the ground.”

“That was an accident.”

Beckett scoffed briefly at McCulloch’s objections before being himself tossed against the corridor wall. The ship once again shook violently followed by a low metallic groan that echoed throughout the hallway. The lights began to flicker intermittently.

“You think they’ll have electrical tape in engineering?” McCulloch asked as the pair looked about their surroundings.

“I sure as hell hope so,” Cody answered before gesturing in the direction of engineering. “Shall we?”

When the pair arrived at the entrance, they found a collapsed metal beam blocking the doorway. Hot white sparks shot out from a large panel adjacent to the doorway. Exposed wires danced above while thick, grey smoke bellowed from a nearby access tunnel. An orange glow flickered in several locations throughout the passageway. Screams and shouting could be heard coming from inside Engineering.

“Now I understand why the captain sent me here.” McCulloch grimly quipped as he surveyed his immediate surroundings.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.28

"Beckett to Engineering, we are outside of Engineering, but the door is blocked. What's your status? "

After a few seconds, Carmichael responded. "The second attack threw the secondary plasma containment fields offline. We have one casualty and several severely plasma burn victims. We have one EMHT member here so they are treated, but they need to get to sickbay ASAP. That is, if we can contain the breach. We have 15 minutes left before we run dry and need to shut off or eject the warp core. "

"Understood" Beckett replied. "Is it safe to open the outer Engineering door? "

"Yes, the breach is on the lower level. For now, the emergency shields are holding. Please make haste".

"We'll do our best, Beckett out"

Cody tried to open the door towards engineering, but it was locked out. He cursed and removed the small panel besides the door, revealing the manual override. He pushed the large emergency button, and on the other side of the door, a panel popped off the bulkhead, revealing a large lever. McCulloch grabbed the lever and started pumping to pressurize the hydraulic system that would open the engineering door. Slowly, the door started to move, but with every move, the metal in metal screeching became louder. Then, with a small thud, the door blocked again. McCulloch pulled as hard as he could, but the lever didn't move.

Cody tried to open the door with his hands, but it didn't move. "Where is Gordon Freeman when you need him " Cody muttered, as he looked up through the torn open bulkhead where the metal beam had come through, trying to determine what caused the blocking of the door.

"What? Who? " Will asked, puzzled

Cody ignored the questions, as he grabbed his plasma torch from his belt, slapped in a phaser battery and tapped a few buttons on the small display. The tool suddenly started reconfiguring, and it looked like parts were transported onto the tool, making it bigger, looking like some enormous hand cannon.

"Step back" Beckett said, while activating the personal shield from the tool. "This might be a bit messy. "

McCulloch did a few steps back, as Cody slung the belt of the tool over his shoulder and activated it. A large, red-purplish beam extended from the muzzle, and it cut through the metal beam as a hot knife through butter.

Seconds later, a large part of the beam was cut off and hung in the air, held by an antigrav beam from the plasma cutter. Cody slowly moved the beam to the side, laying it onto the floor, deactivating the tool. Just at that moment, the ship rocked again violently, and McCulloch smacked into Beckett, both hitting the ground inelegantly.

Cody cursed out loud as he scrambled up his feet again. "Dammit, McCulloch, stop with smacking into everyone near you, will ya? "

Cody grabbed the plasma cutter and stood in front of the blocked door. "Engineering, I'm going to cut open the door. Please stand back".

A simple " Aye" was the response, and he activated it and once more, the plasma torch cut through the hardened steel alloy. This took a bit more of the tool, as the door had several additional layers to make it more durable. The cutter whined and bursts of plasma splattered against the personal shield several times, until a large, man high hole was cut into the thick door. Beckett nodded towards McCulloch to move into Engineering, as he reconfigured the plasma cutter back into its original state.

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*, above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2110.28

Mayla quickly grabbed Garak's arm and hauled him towards Jahkar. "Get a transporter inhibitor on him immediately and secure him in the brig with a guard. Then coordinate with security in case we're boarded."

"The brig?" Garak asked with an amused voice tinged with a bit of anger and offense.

Jahkar nodded and grabbed the Cardassian's other arm. "It's shielded from transporters."

She walked over to Lazarus on the tilting deck just as the artificial gravity wavered, causing it to look like she skipped over to him. "They've been waiting for us all this time."

Lazarus just grunted as he stumbled towards the door to get to the bridge. In his subvocal he was receiving reports from Sornax on the bridge. She quickly tapped into the comms and listened to the damage reports. She followed the captain through the hallways taking note of the damage they could see. The ship was listing a bit as the computer continued to attempt to stabilize the ship's damaged systems.

The bridge was in shambles. The viewscreen was flickering, and yells of additional damage to the ship continued to come in as they attempted to fire back at the enemy ship. She took her customary position by Tactical, just as Darht sat down, replacing McGuire.

"I put Garak in the brig," Mayla said to her. "I assigned Jahkar to help you just in case we're boarded."

"Right," she said and ran off the bridge.

Darht's fingers were flying over the console swiftly to create bypasses around broken systems. "Get that energy flow regulated for the aft phaser bank," he said when he noticed her presence.

She didn't say anything as she immediately opened the floating computer controls in the air in front of her and began the work. Connecting the interface into her eyes, she was able to not only use her hands to perform functions, but her eyes were also working on something else they may need. Just in case.

Darht noticed it as one of their photon torpedoes was taken offline and marked not to be used. "What are you doing?"

"Nested egg," she simply said. "Just in case."

"Right," he said understandingly. He let out a successful grunt and immediately jabbed his finger on a firing stud of the *Resurrection*’s phaser cannons and torpedoes at the same time.

Back to top

## S4, E1, Act 6: Take the Damn Ship (Extended edition)

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2110.28

Will stepped into engineering to see a confusing mess. One of Carmichael’s team was face down and dead while half a dozen wounded with a variety of plasma-related injuries were strewn about the area. Several control panels were offline while other stations were either damaged or destroyed.

The remainder of the ship’s engineering team, led by Carmichael, raced about, desperately trying to either preserve or reactivate various ship functions so the Resurrection could either fight back or escape.

As Beckett fell in line next to McCulloch, he let out a low whistle and softly cursed.

“I didn’t realize just how much sh\*t we just stepped in.”

“We’re in it deep.” McCulloch answered. “This is very, very bad.”

“Suggestions?” Beckett asked.

“You and I both know I’m going to be useless here. You help out Carmichael.” Will replied as he looked over at the wounded engineers. “I’ll start carrying some of the wounded up to the sick bay.”

“That’s not exactly next door and it’s a deck above us.”

“I’ll figure it out somehow.”

“Don’t we have members of Union XII on the ship right now that could help with the wounded? Where are they?” Cody demanded

“Who the f\*\*\* knows.” The Scot complained as he approached the worst of the burned engineers, pulled him to his feet and then hoisted him onto his shoulders utilizing a fireman’s carry technique. “They’re probably still stuck in the surprise simulation Lazarus ordered. With our luck, they likely think this entire ordeal is just part of the simulation. I’m not sure they are the brightest bunch.”

“Your little redheaded nurse is going to be so pissed when she finds out what happened to two of her nurses,” Beckett noted with a slight laugh as he turned his attention toward a nearby storage locker and retrieved a variety of tools.

“My bet is she confronts Vree on the issue... I think Lazarus may intimidate her .” Will countered.

“I’m pretty sure he intimidates all of us.” Beckett answered.

McCulloch nodded in agreement as he reached down with his right hand and seized a second engineer by her uniform collar. He then started towards the exit with the two wounded officers….one over his shoulder and the other being dragged behind him.

Before exiting, Will turned and looked back at his companion.  “I’ll be back shortly for more of the wounded. Just be safe Cody.”

The Scot left engineering and traveled approximately fifty meters before he realized carrying and dragging two crewmen simultaneously was just too cumbersome. The Scot cursed wildly before loudly exhaling. He pulled the female officer over to the side of the passageway and propped her up before setting the male crewman down.

Will stood up straight and studied the pair...both were sedated but were in painfully bad condition.

McCulloch debated with himself silently before walking away from the duo and returning to engineering. Moments later he emerged yet again...carrying a crewman and dragging another. He set the two down next to their companions and for a third time returned to engineering to retrieve the remaining burned shipmates. He positioned the pair next to the other four, stepped back and visually examined those under his charge.

When he came to the final crewman he pulled from engineering, he realized the female ensign was not wearing an engineering uniform. Upon further inspection, he realized it was Ensign Thrice, the young officer who had repeatedly and vocally expressed her contempt for the Scot due to his previous affiliation with the Black Watch.

“Bloody hell.” He muttered as the Trill looked weakly up at him.

“Bloody hell is right.” She moaned back in pain. She had plasma burns all over her face, neck and hands.

“Well, let’s get you up to sick bay so I don’t have to listen to you nag at me. The rest of you I will be back to bring you up one at a time. If I can find help, I'll bring it.” McCulloch announced as he hoisted Thrice up onto his shoulder via a fireman’s carry and moved as quickly as he could towards sickbay.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*, Engineering

Stardate 2111.02

Beckett nodded towards William, before he made his way towards Carmichael, who was talking to some engineers. Carmichael nodded to Cody and dismissed the engineers.

As Beckett stepped closer, he saw Carmichael himself had a gash on his right cheek. “Lt. Beckett. Good to see you “Carmichael said, as he had to hold himself steady on a console as the Resurrection made another sharp turn.

“We sustained heavy damage on the EPS systems. They need to stabilized as the fluctuations are backfiring in the intermix shaft."

Cody nodded, grimacing as he held himself tightly as the ship lurched over to one side. "I'm on it!" Cody said, and turned around.

He grabbed the ladder nearby and slid down, landing on the lower engineering floor. It was an even bigger mess here. Several bulkheads had been torn off and layed around on the floor, revealing the systems behind them.

Cody quickly assessed the situation, as two other engineers were already working franticly to stability auxiliary systems. Cody grabbed his tricorder, scanned the environment and headed for the biggest leak. The emergency containment field was barely holding the searing hot plasma.

Cody felt the heat and quickly went to work, reinitializing the primary containment field emitters. Within seconds, most of them where online and ready, one seemed to be stuck in a loop, two seemed to be damaged beyond repair. Since there was quite some redundancy, it was safe to activate them and have the faulty emitters replaced later.

Cody's hands flew over the small terminal screen and within moments, the system came to life and the blaring alarms ceased. At least, in this part of engineering.

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2111.02

The repeated cries, shouts, commands, and occasional static could all be heard throughout the cockpit and main cabin of the Gentle Annie, Union XII’s Arrow Class jump ship. The vessel, as well as its entire crew, sat helplessly in a hangar onboard the Fearless as the lopsided battle between the Resurrection and a Keldon Class Cardassian vessel played out over the ship’s comm system.

The nurses and medics of the team sat in stunned silence as they listened to the brutal fight ...if it could be called that. Perhaps massacre was a more apt term. Some of the team had wild looks of fear and despair on their faces, while others muttered incoherently after each casualty report came in.

In the cabin of the Gentle Annie, Victoria sat in a command chair behind the ship’s pilot, Lieutenant Tusot and ops and weapons crewman, Corporal Pyme. Since the initial report of the Sons surprise attack against the Resurrection, Smith had been silent...her eyes closed and her hand over her mouth. As each report came in over the comm, she played out the terrifying scenario in her mind. Complicating matters, she couldn’t shake the wave of panic she felt as she wondered what the fate would be of the two people who mattered the most to her at the moment...Will and Mayla.

Victoria cursed herself over and over.

When she had boarded the jump ship moments earlier, she was so mad at the Trill that she was prepared to take a swing at her the next time they saw each other.

Now, the woman who Victoria had once considered a sister was trapped on a ship that could be going down fast. She had only just recently started to reconnect with Mayla and there was a distinct possibility their relationship would be lost forever.

And then there was Will.  After almost a decade of being away from her ex-husband, he had come bumbling back in her life just as she was about to assume command of Union XII. At first, she resented him for crawling out from whatever sewer he came from. Yet, after he had been stabbed in the chest and nearly died, she took a long hard look at her perspective of Will and began to question whether or not she should give him a second chance. She desperately wanted to do that...as well as finally confide in him that for years she had asked Admiral Sorvek to keep her apprised of where he was and what he was doing. Now, any chance of rekindling her failed marriage with the Scot was about to be extinguished. She felt a wave of sadness overcome her as she reflected upon the many lost opportunities she let pass because of stubbornness or resentment.

Victoria lowered her hand from her face and removed a black tactical glove. She then began to wipe the tears that were forming in her eyes as she looked out the cockpit viewport. After a moment of struggling to regain her composure, she looked down at her lap, sadly sighed, and then looked back up at her pilot and gunner….both of whom were staring back at her.

“Orders ma’am?” The lieutenant asked quietly.

Victoria didn’t respond. Instead, she returned to looking out the viewport.

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.03

Lazarus arrived on the bridge to find it in shambles. He looked around and saw a couple of plasma coolant leaks, along with a haze of blueish smoke in the air and sparks flying from several consoles.

“Mr. Sornax, I leave you with my ship for a short time and look what you’ve done to it,” Lazarus said as he hobbled to the captain’s chair.

The Denobulan looked up at him and winced, “Sir, you’re injured.” Lazarus’ damaged mechanical arm hung limply at his side, his injured shoulder unable to make it function.

“I’m fine,” he barked. “Status report.”

The tactical display on the holographic viewscreen told the story. Resurrection was trying to evade the Keldon-class ship, an inertial dampener knocked out so that every time they made a sharp maneuver the crew was tossed around like ragdolls. The Cardassian ship was in hot pursuit and *Resurrection* had already taken a beating.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. *Resurrection* was too tough to be beaten by a surly bunch of terrorists. He looked to Lt. Dahrt, “Status report.”

“Main phaser array offline. Phased cloak is down. Ablative hull armor holding at 43 percent,” said Dahrt. “Shields are at 30 percent.”

“Where’s the Fearless?” Lazarus demanded.

“The enemy did something to keep it stuck in a phased state,” Dahrt said. “They are trying to correct the problem.”

Lazarus frowned and watched as the Keldon-class ship came about and began locking weapons on them again. “Those pulse phasers functioning?”

“Aye sir,” Dahrt confirmed. “Got to get them in front of us.”

Lazarus smiled, “Exactly. We need to be behind them.” The captain pulled up his holographic display which formed a curving screen around in front of his chair. He made some quick calculations as the Keldon came around and then sent them to the helm.

“Black alert!” Lazarus barked. “Use those coordinates and engage the coaxial drive on my mark.”

“In...combat?” Nick sputtered.

“Do it now!”

As the coaxial drive came online, Lazarus followed the enemy ship on the sensor readout and when it reached a specific set of coordinates, nearly in firing range, Lazarus ordered the ship to make the jump.

*Resurrection* suddenly jolted, everything seemed to spin briefly and the ship vanished.

Aboard the Regnedor, Gul Drajal was ready to savor his victory over the Starfleet ship as weapons locked on and he prepared to give the order to open fire when suddenly, the enemy ship disappeared.

“What happened?” he demanded. “Did she phase cloak?”

Demek looked over the readouts and shook his head, “I...I don’t think so.”

The sensor readouts on Regnedor suddenly blared alarms at the bridge crew, sounds the engineer recognized as the proximity alert of a ship entering firing range and locking weapons.

When he checked the readouts, he gasped, “They...they reappeared...behind us.”

Drajal turned his head toward Demek and gasped aloud, “What?

“Fire!” Captain Lazarus said as *Resurrection* made a micro-warp jump from where it had been, in *Regnedor*’s crosshairs, to a position aft of Regnedor with its own twin pulse cannons locked onto the enemy ship.

Dahrt touched the firing controls, and the phaser cannons began to fire rapidly, the energy blasts ripping into the Keldon-class ship’s shields, shredding through them and damaging the hull of the enemy ship.

“Forward torpedoes. Fire!”

Dahrt delivered a spread of quantum torpedoes at the ship, which added to the compounding damage on the Cardassian terrorist vessel.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.04

Ryramorl followed his fellow officers to Engineering.  Being larger and stronger than the others, it was easier to help injured engineers to Sickbay.  He winced as he saw the damaged ship, hoping that engineering wasn’t completely destroyed.

He saw Lt. Chopra on the ground, bleeding heavily from a wound in his leg.  Ryramorl looked around and saw a chunk of metal, still red-hot from the blast.  He calmly grabbed it by the cooler end, though the heat still made him bare his teeth in pain, and pressed the glowing part to the wound.

Chopra bit back a scream.

“Suck it up,” growled Ryramorl, forgetting in the moment that he and Chopra were equals in rank.  “I’ve cauterized the wound to keep you from bleeding out.”  He took Chopra to sickbay, ignoring the evil looks he got when the EMH saw Ryramorl’s field treatment.  Then the ship seemed to spin, and Ryramorl almost lost his balance

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2111.04

In the midst of the testing, the ship rocked, and Reepchip gave a squeak of surprise.  When he heard what was going on from conversations in the corridor, he immediately got up to leave.

“Where are you going?” demanded the doctor.

“The ship is under attack!  I need to help!.”

“You’re still injured!”

“I’ll go on all fours!” he insisted, reverting to his upbringing on the mobile rigs on Agavan.

“Ensign Reepchip Charatetet, GET BACK HERE!” called the doctor in vain, as the diminutive operative disappeared out the door.

Reepchip glanced around.  Where to go?  Engineering.  That was his specialty, and if any place was responsible to keep the ship together, it was there.  He was familiar with the layout of this type of ship, so Engineering wasn’t hard to find.  As he entered, he saw several crew members working frantically.  His sharp ears quickly picked up the issue with the ship out of phase.  He saw the Chief Engineer, came over and saluted.  “Ensign Reepchip Charatetet, Head of the MadCap Engineers, reporting for duty.”

The Chief Engineer, Lt. Commander Ralph Blackwood, recognized Reepchip as one of the Phoenix Squad Operatives.  “Ensign, unless you’ve got a good idea, I think we’ve got this,” he said.

Reepchip grinned.  “I do.  I overheard your commands, and I wanted to suggest something.  Gravitons oscillate a specific frequency.  If we get the shields in the right harmonic of that frequency, they’ll absorb the energy faster and it will be easier to get into proper phase.”

The Chief Engineer chuckled.  “We’re more than familiar with those techniques,” he said.  “Ensign.  We’ve got this.”

Then the Chief Engineer’s badge chirped.  “This is Chief Medical Officer Dr. Edward Hayes, seeking the whereabouts of my patient Ensign Reepchip Charatetet.”

Reepchip’s ears went flat.  “I’m not here!” he squeaked.

The Chief Engineer eyed him, then tapped his combadge.  “Chief Engineer Commander Ralph Blackwood.  Ensign Reepchip Charatetet is in Engineering.”

“He’s supposed to be under observation after being severely wounded.  Would you kindly send him back?”

“With pleasure.”  He looked at Reepchip.  “You’ve been summoned.  Do you need some security officers to show you the way?”

Reepchip chittered with annoyance.  “I can find it myself,” he said, trudging out of Engineering.

Soon, Reepchip was back in Sickbay, being tended to by Dr. Hayes, who had a force field around the bed this time, to make sure the Muran stayed put.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.04

McCulloch looked up the ladder to the level above him. He sighed and tossed Ensign Thrice slightly up into the air to adjust her position on his shoulder.

“What the bloody hell did you have for breakfast? Lead?” He demanded as he started to ascend the ladder. As he climbed upward, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his knees, likely due to the extra weight of the wounded Ensign.

“You’re such an a\*\*.” The Trill ensign softly complained. “And a bloody traitor.”

“I hope I don’t drop you.” Will scolded as he continued to ascend the ladder.

“I would kindly ask you don’t drop my patient.” A female voice called from a position above. The Scot instantly recognized the Irish brogue.

McCulloch looked up to see Warrant Officer Hannigan looking back down at him. She looked like she had been through hell….her hair was matted with dried blood, her nose was swollen and broken and she clearly was in tremendous pain. Nevertheless, she reached down with a bandaged hand and grasped Will’s. As the Scot continued to climb, she used all of her strength and pulled the pair up through the hatch to the next level.

Will unceremoniously dumped Ensign Thrice onto the floor, rolled onto his back and exhaled loudly.

“You really do embrace drama don’t you?” Thrice softly asked the Scot as she started to drift in and out of consciousness.

“He also is a mumbler and a bodach.” Hannigan quipped as she rolled Thrice onto her back, grabbed her arms, pulled her up and onto the nurse’s shoulders and started to stand up. The nurse paused momentarily and started to cry in pain.

“Are you ok?” Will demanded.

“I’m fine.” The warrant officer curtly countered. “You don’t look so good.”

“Such a damn charmer, aren’t ye?” Fiadh replied as she prepared to stand up again. “You need to understand... if we don’t do our job today, my team looks bad. Commander Smith looks bad. Understand...sir?”

The Scot simply nodded. “What can I do?”

“I’m going to bring the ensign to sick bay. You have more wounded?”

“Four more.”

“You have three more.”

“Three?”

“Three.” The nurse replied as she finally stood up. Ensign Thrice was slung across her shoulder. “Lieutenant Ra’yral just brought up another from engineering.”

“What?” McCulloch demanded. “How did he get up here before me?”

“I suspect because he’s smarter and took the faster route.” Hannigan retorted as she started towards sickbay. She briefly turned her attention back towards McCulloch. “Go you wee little man. I’m sure there are others you can carry back to me.”

“Meet you back here in five minutes?” Will asked.

“Three minutes.”

The Scot nodded in understanding before he started to quickly descend back down. A quarter of the way down, he placed his feet on the outside of the ladder and slid down until he landed on the lower level. Once he reimagined his footing, Will raced to retrieve another crewman.

*CDS Regnedor*

High above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.04

Gul Tirlin Drajal struggled to sit up in his chair on the bridge of the Regnedor after being pounded, mercilessly by the Starfleet ship. He was still trying to figure out how they managed to disappear from right in their crosshairs to a course directly behind Regnedor.

They had almost managed to destroy the little ship, but now the tables were turned and Regnedor was on the receiving end of damage. Unsure of how long it would be before the other Starfleet ship managed to rephrase, and noting that other Cardassian patrol vessels were converging on them, Tirlin decided it would be smart to cut and run, while they could.

“Cloak us and get us out of here!” Tirlin barked, looking across the smoky bridge with minimal lighting. “Maximum warp!”

Demek entered the commands to cloak the ship, while the helmsman, a young female Cardassian named Prell, laid in a course that would take them out of Cardassian space. Demek pressed the holographic display where the touchpad to engage the cloak was….and nothing happened.

“Cloaking device is offline,” Demek reported.

Tirlin slowly closed his eyes as Prell took them out of orbit and away from Cardassia Prime, “We’ll jump to slipstream in 38 seconds,” she said.

“Damn,” Tirlin muttered as the Vigilant-class escort came around and locked weapons on them again. At the same time, on the viewscreen, the larger Starfleet ship known as the Fearless emerged from subspace and re-entered normal phase.

The Inquiry-class warship locked its weapons on Regnedor too, just before an announcement came over their comm-system, “Cardassian vessel, come to full stop and surrender,” Captain Vehakra Rhikal ordered. “Prepare to be boarded.”

“Sixteen seconds to slipstream,” Prell said nervously.

“Gul Drajal,” Demek said. “We can’t handle a simultaneous attack from both ships. We should surrender…”

“NEVER!” Drajal barked. “I will not surrender this ship.” In his hand he produced a familiar remote control device and Demek’s face became very stern and solemn.

The Fearless, seeing they were about to jump to slipstream, decided it was time to stop the flight of the Regnedor. Rhikal ordered the tactical officer to fire, targeting the engines. The Fearless’ phaser array quickly struck at the Keldon-class ship, knocking out her engines and stopping their effort to escape.

With Regnedor incapacitated, Fearless took up a position just out of firing range while Resurrection moved closer, ready to fire on the Cardassian ship again.

“Mr. Dahrt, report,” Lazarus said.

“The Cardassian ship is immobilized. She has some weapons functional, shields are at 10 percent,” the Iotian said. “There are 52 Cardassians aboard the ship.”

“Keep weapons locked,” Lazarus said. “Open a channel.”

“Channel open, sir,” Dahrt replied.

“This is Captain Quentin Lazarus of the USS Resurrection. You are ordered to surrender,” he said. “Lower your shields at once and power down your weapons.”

“Captain!” Dahrt exclaimed. “Each one of the Cardassians aboard that ship have engaged transport inhibitors. We can’t lock onto them individually and beam them over.”

Lazarus bared his teeth, “Of course they did. Lazarus reoriented his gaze to Vree still standing beside the Tactical station. "Ready a boarding party. Augment with security personnel and coordinate with Fearless if you need additional people. Take that ship's schematics and secure the ship and crew. I want that captain.”

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*, above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.06

"Aye," she responded quickly. "We'll want ten from the Fearless."

"I'll inform them. Coordinate with them as soon as you're ready to go." Lazarus said and turned away from her. "I want that shield down so we can beam over a boarding party," he ordered Tactical.

Mayla sprinted for the Bridge egress while opening a channel to Phoenix Squad and Lieutenant Commander Darva McGuire.

"Phoenix Squad, immediate deployment. Report to the armory on the double for a full A2 load out."

"What do you want me to do?" McGuire asked. Mayla asked her for six security personnel to augment their assault force. "On it. They'll meet you in the transporter room immediately."

Mayla burst into the Armory where Jahkar had half his armor on already. "Where are we going?"

"We're boarding that ship that attacked us. We're to secure the ship and crew and capture its captain." She whipped open her locker and stripped off her civilian clothes down to her undergarments.

He strapped on his weapons holster. "How many enemy?"

"Fifty two. And they all have transporter inhibitors." She pulled out her Type XII armor and began putting it on. "We beam out as soon as we get to the transporter room before they can prepare to repel boarders."

Jahkar began to load up his infiltration suit with various weapons more quickly now, looking around to see if any other Phoenix Squad team members had arrived yet. "It might just be two of us."

"Then it will be two of us," she grunted as she pulled on her own infiltration suit over her armor. With practiced moves, she had also begun to load her suit with her weapons of choice, including her katana, a brace of knives at her abdomen and several spread out across her body, her spring loaders, her hypoglove, her sidearm holsters at each thigh, and a few stun grenades.

"We can't take on the whole crew by ourselves," he said, checking his firearms.

"If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." She holstered two Type II phasers into her holsters, and then grabbed her TR-390 rifle. The rifle's multi-use ammunition always came in handy with the additional clips at her belt.

"I wish Antonia Reece had never shown you that time travel movie."

Mayla almost chuckled. "We'll have support. McGuire is giving us six of her security. And ten more from the Fearless. We need to permanently disable the ship first, so engineering and the bridge will be our priorities. I'm sending ahead nanoprobes to disable as many of the personnel as they can. The Fearless teams will secure the rest of the ship and prisoners. I'll have them sweep the ship for any traps that may have been laid out. The SOC seems to always have surprises up their sleeves." She grabbed two handled cases of the sky-eye probes, each one carrying six.

"You want the bridge or engineering?" Jahkar asked, closing his locker with a clang.

Mayla handed one of the cases over to him and then held out the hand with a gesture that was the Trill version of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"I wish you never taught me that game," he said, flashing his hand out with his own gesture.

"Don't idly use up your wishes, Colonel."

After the game was decided in a second, the two ran out of the Armory towards the Transporter room.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.06

Ryramorl was going to go back to engineering when he nearly collided with Mayla and Jahkar as they dashed towards the Transporter room.

“Apologies,” said the big Olvern, who was still in his battle armor.

“Go to the armory, arm yourself, meet us in the Transporter room,” ordered Mayla.

“Yes, Commander,” said Ryramorl, and headed to the armory to get himself an energy rifle and phaser, before heading to the Transporter room to meet with his superiors.

Lieutenant Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.07

“You really don’t look well,” McCulloch noted as he hoisted yet another wounded engineering crewman up through the hatchway and passed him to Warrant Officer Hannigan. The nurse was starting to slip in and out of consciousness. Her eyes were swelling shut from the broken nose and her left arm hung limp … The back of her head had started bleeding again.

“How many more are there?” She quietly asked as she tried to pull the crewman across her shoulders and stand up. Will stepped forward to assist Fiadh but she hissed and gestured for him to step back.

“Damnit sir, how many more are there?” She repeated as she suppressed the shooting pain she felt.

“There’s one left.

“Go...go get him and I’ll …” Hannigan replied before she collapsed to the floor unconscious. Her patient rolled off of her shoulders and landed on the passageway floor with an unceremonious thump.

“Sh\*t.” McCulloch replied as he dropped down next to the nurse. He began to pat her face and call her name repeatedly. Eventually, Fiadh regained consciousness and began to softly moan and whimper.

“It hurts so much.”

“I know, I know Fiadh.” McCulloch quietly replied as he held his hand to her face. “You’re done for now, Warrant Officer. You’ve done well.”

“No.” She replied. “There’s still two more that need me.”

“I’ll help you,” McCulloch replied as Vree’s voice was heard over the subvoc.

“Phoenix Squad, immediate deployment. Report to the armory on the double for a full A2 load out."

“One, Eight. I’ll be slightly late for the party. Assisting will casualties.”

There was no response from Vree. McCulloch simply rolled his eyes and sighed.

“C’mon Fiadh, let’s get you and your patient to sickbay. I’m being deployed.”

“Drag belt, there’s…” Hannigan started to answer as she once again faded in and out of consciousness. “There’s a drag belt in my medical pack. Carry the patient, drag me.”

Will looked at the wounded engineer and back at Hannigan. It was clear the nurse was the one worse for wear. He removed the black drag belt, extended it, slung one end under both arms of the crewman and the other across his chest. The Scot started to pull her onto his shoulders when she waved for him to stop.

“There’s an isolinear tag in my pack. Take it and attach it to the last patient. Sick bay can beam them in.”

“You had those all along?”

“Only one left.” She replied as her eyes fluttered. “The others I already used.”

McCulloch nodded in understanding and started to once again pull Fiadh onto his shoulders. He stopped midway and examined her right side just below her ribcage. Her uniform was torn and there was an open wound with a bloodied piece of metal sticking out from it. For some reason, she was oblivious to the wound.

“Is there something wrong?” She softly demanded as she resisted the urge to sleep.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” McCulloch lied as he started to carry Hannigan and drag the crewman to sickbay.

“You’re not a bad man William McCulloch. But you’re a terrible liar. How ugly is the wound?”

“You can’t feel it?”

“No.”

“You’ll be fine. Let’s get you to sickbay.”

“If I die, will you tell Commander Smith I did well?”

“You’re not going to die. Tell her yourself”

“I’m scared.” Fiadh admitted as she softly started to sob. “I want to see my Da one more time.”

“You’re not going to die Hannigan, End of discussion,” Will replied as he grunted and tried to pick up his pace. The weight of Fiadh across his shoulders and the crewman being dragged behind him stymied his efforts.

When the trio finally arrived in sickbay, the Scot found the area filled with wounded. EMH’s and Union XII’s second in command, Lieutenant Riisos, raced about the bay treating patients as quickly as they could. The Scot found an available bed and gently set Fiadh down on it. He then dragged the engineering crewman to a nearby wall and propped him up.

Afterward, he walked over and seized Riisos by the front of his uniform, dragged him over to Hannigan’s bed and sternly ordered the Orion nurse to treat her immediately or he would come back to gut him. The Orion lieutenant nodded nervously in the affirmative.

“You make sure Commander Smith, Commander Vree and Captain Lazarus know about what she did today...in spite of the injuries she sustained.”

“Aye sir.”

“I have one more coming in. I’m going to mark him with an isolinear tag for an emergency beam. I can’t help beyond that because I’m being deployed.”

“Understood.” Riisos curtly answered as he turned to treat Hannigan.

The Scot raced out of sickbay raced to the passageway outside of engineering and slapped the isolinear tag on the remaining injured crewman.

“McCulloch to Riisos, the tag has been set.”

The Scot watched as the crewman was enveloped in a bright blue light before disappearing. Afterward, Will broke into a sprint and made his way to the armory. As he started to strip off his civilian clothes he paused momentarily upon discovering Fiadh’s blood was stained on the shoulders of his shirt. He sighed and gently tossed the shirt onto the floor.

He immediately knew if Victoria’s warrant officer took a turn for the worse she was going to demand answers...specifically over how much of the surprise training exercise contributed to the Fiadh’s demise.

But that was Victoria’s problem to address, not Will’s.

McCulloch brushed the matter aside and quickly put on his infiltration suit and armor. He then strapped a pair of dirk knives to his calves, holstered a pair of Type II phasers, attached a series of concussion and flash-bang grenades to his chest, and strapped his collapsible military fork to his left bicep. Afterward, he picked up a Type VI phaser rifle and a PR-226. He weighed the pair of weapons in his hands as he contemplated which would be ideal for ship-to-ship combat. After a moment of contemplation, he put the Type VI down and began to load the PR-226’s grenade launcher. Once loaded, he retrieved three backup energy cells for the rifle, placed them in a pouch on his right hip and slung the weapon over his shoulder. He exited the armory and raced to the transporter room to find Vree, Ryramorl and Jahkar preparing for a boarding action. He noticed each pad had a sky-eye probe already floating within the transporter confinement beam

Instinctively, the Scot fell in next to Vree. The Trill threw a suspicious look at McCulloch as she took out another nanoprobe from the case on the floor in front of her.

“What?” Will replied with a tone of both surprise and mild sarcasm. “I figured since we’ve been working side by side since the start of this mission, why jinx it? Besides, we’re the two best friends that anybody could have.”

Vree nodded to the transporter chief just as she finished programming them to seek out and stun all of the lifeform sensor readings mapped from the Resurrection's initial scans. McCuloch could tell his lateness allowed her to strategize with the chief as to the locations the probes would be beamed to.

As soon as the transport was complete, she gestured the team and McGuire's additional six security personnel towards the pad. He held back a tiny bit of disappointment if the nanoprobes did all of the work for them. But he hoped at least the AI in the probes could at least clear their various beam-in points.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.07

Cody got up, closing the toolbox as the call from Vree came in.

"Phoenix Squad, immediate deployment. Report to the armory on the double for a full A2 load out."

"On my way" Beckett replied, as he got up, stowed the toolbox back into the nearest locker and headed for the exit. Carmichael, who was standing behind the main Engineering screen, nodded, and gave Beckett a thumbs up

"Thank you, Lieutenant, good luck." Beckett waved and made his way to the armory. As he entered, he saw McCulloch leaving through the door on the other side. Quickly, Cody put on his infiltration suit, geared up with knives and grenades throughout the suit and holstered two phasers. In the small backpack he placed additional energy cells, grenades and some drones. He tossed the backpack on his back where it automatically strapped and sealed itself. He checked his wristpadd and made sure all stuff he could need to hack into computers was available. He put on his utility belt and finished with grabbing a Type VI rifle which he slung over his shoulder. He quickly exited the armory and moved to the transporter room. As he entered, Vree, Jahkar, McCulloch and Ryramorl were already there.

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.09

Jahkar and Mayla were joined by the team they across the corridor from the armory in the transporter bay.

The prisoner they’d brought back from the surface had already been taken away and dumped in a cell next to Tajel, while Garak had joined the captain on the bridge.

When they returned, Jahkar hoped they’d be having a good heart-to-heart with the spy-turned tailor-turned president-turned tailor again. They needed answers and soon.

In the transporter bay, Jahkar set about divvying up the team as Mayla saw to the deployment of the probes, which were ready for transport over to the crippled Regnedor.

Jahkar brought *Fearless* in via holographic comm so its security team could coordinate with the plan he was laying out. He then pulled up a holographic screen so everyone could see as it displayed a map of the Keldon-class ship and a sidescreen displaying the data on the officers available on both Resurrection and Fearless.

“Chalk One will be Commander Vree, Sh’avelith, Ra’yral and three from Resurrection security – McGuire, Rolston and Sullivan,” he said. “Beam in point will be the bridge of the Keldon-class ship.”

Jahkar waited to see if there were questions, then continued, “Chalk Two is myself, McCulloch and Beckett with support by security officers Kapello, Grop and Auriak. Our beam in is engineering.

“Mr. Beckett, I hope you have learned a few things from Mr. Thompson because we’re going to need someone to secure the ship’s main computer from engineering, jettison the warp core as soon as we get aboard so they can’t blow us all up and shutdown their transporters.

“Chalk Three is five members of the *Fearless* security group.” Jahkar continued. “Azek’sau, Milford, Th'vaarrar, Senek and Kalberg. Beam in point is here, deck 8, mid-ship. You’ll have access to begin sweeping the port side of the ship for members of the Sons.

“Chalk Four is also five members of Fearless’ security group. They are Leung, Coghlan, Vux, Wovar, and Andrysiak. You’ll beam onto deck five and sweep the starboard side of the vessel.

“We’ll beam in a flash-bang grenade five seconds ahead of each team’s transport,” he added. “Hopefully if the probes haven’t neutralized everyone at the beam-in sites, the grenade will give us an advantage. Remember everyone, dead men tell no tales. We need some live bodies if possible. Questions?”

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.10

Tiri had armed herself with a Type II Phaser pistol strapped to her hip, a Type V Phaser Rifle, a bandolier of six flash-bang grenades slung around her shoulder and her medic pack strapped at the small of her back. In a sheath on her opposing hip was a survival knife and in a pocket of the Type XII Polyalloy Armor she was wearing was her trusty ushaan-tor -- in case they got into a hand-to-hand fight.

She listened to Jahkar’s plan and nodded with no questions needing to be asked. Fighting the Sons of Cardassia again was going to be a task, they’d put up a good fight the day prior. If the probes managed to take out most of the terrorists, they might have a good chance against 50 angry Cardassians.

She looked around at the others and wondered if any of them would have questions…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.11

Ryramorl was silent as he listened.  There was a Cardassian aboard Ryramorl truly wanted to find.  He said under his breath, “The Cardassian who smells of Reepchip’s blood is mine,” momentarily forgetting about the subvoc.

Commander Vree looked at him.  “Lieutenant, you are not going on any personal hunts.  You stay with your team.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Very clear, Commander,” he said, saluting.  But he could see in her eyes she knew he wanted personal revenge--and knowing the Carnora, probably something the Federation would never allow.

Lieutenant Commander William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.11

“Is there a cap on how many these SOBs we can kill?” McCulloch asked as he powered up his PR-226 and brought it up to the ready position.

“Use your head McCulloch.” Jahkar warned. “We need prisoners.”

“Fine,” Will grumbled as he silently noted Jahlar didn’t restrict the team from ensuring their prisoners experienced a miserable and perhaps painful fate while in their custody.

“Looks like we’re bringing you to engineering again,” Beckett observed with a slight wink. “Would you like us to pack the child safety equipment for you or do you promise not to stick metal objects into electrical panels again?”

“Bloody engineering...I never understood that department.”

“I bet you failed your engineering courses at Starfleet Academy.” Cody pressed.

“I got by.”

“Barely?”

“I got by.” McCulloch insisted. Beckett eyed the Scot suspiciously.

“If you’re a good boy I may let you play with the flashlight.”

“Promises, promises.” Will sighed with a slight tone of exasperation before glancing over at Vree and Jahkar.

“Are we going to sit around all day or are we going to take this damn ship? On your orders Sirs.”

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*, above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.11

Mayla gestured to the pad. "Remember, those commandos we fought in the council chambers are also on that ship. If you can't subdue them, then you take them out. But save the leader."

"You're taking the Bridge," McCulloch said. "You'll probably see him before we do."

The team quickly placed flashbang grenades on the pad and stood by while they were quickly programmed for a timed detonation. The transporter beams took them away before the first team, Chalk 1, stepped up onto the pad. Taking one look around to ready the team, crouched with their weapons drawn, Mayla gave the transporter chief a single gesture of her hand.

A second after the transporter room disappeared, they began to hear wild phaser fire. Before they fully materialized, she still hadn't received telemetry and status from the sky eye probes they had beamed in prior. They must have all been taken out soon. The probes had only neutralized maybe three personnel on the Bridge, those who were immediately fired on them first. Then the flashbang grenades were beamed over and activated, leaving many of the Cardassians temporarily blinded.

Chalk 1 took advantage of that and had beamed to different parts of the Keldon-class ship bridge that was nearly two times larger than the Resurrection. Her position was on the right side of the main viewscreen behind a support beam. She immediately made note of those in different armor and identified only two who were in the familiar commando armor she'd encountered in the Council Chambers on Cardassia Prime. She concentrated fire from her TR390 on them as she knew their armor absorbed energy blasts. She heard a roar from Ra'yral near the rear of the Bridge as he had surprised a Cardassian just stepping through the egress.

Mayla skillfiully alternated her aim between the two who had taken cover behind one of the freestanding bridge consoles, and the various bridge stations to disable whatever systems she could at the same time. Then one of them charged her, taking in round after round from her weapon into his armor until he was close enough to draw her katana.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*Cardassian Ship*

Stardate 2111.12

Ryramorl roared in the face of the Cardassian he’d materialized in front of and bashed the spoonhead in the face with his fist before grabbing his head and smashing into a bulkhead.  The Cardassian slumped to the ground, senseless.  Unfortunately, his roar alerted everyone on the bridge--though that was unlikely to matter as they were already attacking Vree.

He aimed a blast at the Cardassian seated in the captain’s chair, but the Cardassian managed to evade it.  Ryramorl fired again, snarling in his own language, nailing the ship’s captain square in the chest with the beam.  Only as an afterthought did he ask himself if he set it to stun, though he was pretty sure he had.  He wished he could get close enough to smell Muran on one of these bastards.

*CDS Regnedor*

High above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.12

Before the teams were transported, a series of events happened aboard the Regnedor that started with the transport of the Shadow Ops probes onto the Cardassian ship.

The drones quickly incapacitated nearly half of the ship’s crew before Glinn Demek, Tirlin’s second in command with a mastery of engineering and science under his belt, initiated a security protocol he’d devised in the hours after they’d beamed back from the surface of Cardassia.

Anticipating the use of tools like probes and drones, as the enemy had shown on Cardassia, he activated a shipwide electrical pulse that knocked out the probes while leaving weapons, communications and other electronics unfazed.

The move made it so about 23 Cardassians remained functional as the Starfleet commandos beamed over.

As this was happening, Gul Tirlin Drajal transported to cargo bay one, where a package leftover from the ill-fated mission to take the Cardassian Central Command building was sitting. He arrived there and immediately primed and activated the massive explosive device they’d used to hold the Central Command building hostage.

If this was the end, he had every intention of taking as many Starfleet officers with him as he could.

When Vree and her team beamed onto the bridge, they were greeted by weapons fire from the eight Cardassians remaining...well, at least seven of the eight. Demek busied himself at the tactical console initiating a fractal encryption of the ship’s computer, to prevent the Shadow Ops team from extracting information from the derelict ship.

At the same time, Glinn Zoren took the comm and was giving orders when Ryramorl beamed in and stun blasted him unconscious where he sat in the captain chair. It wasn’t until a second or two after he’d been stunned that Roar got a look at him and determined he was not the true captain of the vessel.

Colonel Jahkar

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.12

Jahkar, Beckett and McCulloch, backed by Kapello, Grop and Auriak from security, beamed into engineering and found themselves in an instant firefight. Six Cardassians lay unconscious on the deck from the probe strike moments earlier, while the surviving seven Sons of Cardassia who had been working in the engineering section, located the team upon transport and opened fire.

Beside Jahkar he heard a horrifying scream from Kapello as he was struck almost instantly after beaming in and his lifeless body was flung backwards, brushing against Grop and landing unceremoniously on deck nearby.

“Kapello is down!” Jahkar shouted into the subvocal communicator as the Marine tracked the lethal (or near lethal) blast back to the triggerman and he blasted the Cardassian with a merciless burst of phaser fire from his Type V Phaser Rifle.

Another Cardassian was nearby when they materialized and he made a rush at Jahkar who met him in mid-stride by slamming his shoulder into the terrorist’s gut and tossing him up and over his back until he crashed to the floor.

Jahkar advanced into engineering, crouched, moving with his rifle raised as he delivered fire onto the enemy soldiers positioned around engineering. He took down one more SOC fighter and then looked around for his next target.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.12

Will materialized in the Regnedor’s engineering room next to Beckett and on Jahkar’s left flank. He instinctively dropped his rifle, seized Cody by the armor and pulled him back as an energy blast sailed past the lieutenant and slammed into a control panel behind the pair. A shower of sparks enveloped the duo momentarily before Will pushed Cody away from him.

“Nothing personal!” The Scot quipped as he quickly withdrew a combat knife strapped to his chest and plunged into a Cardassian who was rushing towards him. Almost as quickly he withdrew the blade from his intended victim and spun it twice in his hand before throwing it at a second SOC who was closing in on him from behind. The blade sunk into the exposed neck of his target with a soft “squish”. The terrorist crumpled to the ground as brown blood gushed from his neck.

The Scot retrieved his PR-226 off the ground and fired an energy charge at yet another hostile who was rushing towards the ship’s warp core. The first ball of charged particles slammed into the Cardassian’s armor while the second knocked him off of his feet.

“Cody!” McCulloch barked, choosing to shout at his companion rather than use the sibvoc. “Where can they eject the warp core from?”

Beckett quickly finished his own opponent off, threw him to the ground and scanned the room. After a very brief moment of reflection, he pointed to a control station towards the aft section of engineering.

“There!” The New Zealander barked. “That’s probably it!”

“Probably?”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure?”

“When you pass an engineering course you can question my judgment!” Beckett barked as he turned his attention back towards another Cardassian who was closing in on the duo.

Will brought his PR-226 up to his shoulder and fired a grenade from the pump launcher of his rifle. He watched the explosive sail across the room and slam above the station…..scattering or killing those Cardassian crewmembers who were trying to eject the core.

Smoke and flames quickly enveloped the section of engineering Will was in...causing the Scot’s field of vision to shrink considerably. Cries of wounded Cardassians began to echo about him. Will spun around twice in confusion as he lost his bearing.

Suddenly, through the thick, grey smoke, he saw a wall of light followed by the silhouette of several Cardassians rushing into engineering. Once again the Scot brought his rifle up to the ready and fired another grenade towards the reinforcements entering the fray. There was yet another loud roar followed by a shower of sparks and flames. Additional plumes of smoke poured into engineering, obscuring the Scot’s surroundings even more.

As he started to call out to Beckett and Jahkar on the subvoc, he was tackled from behind and brought to the ground. Will’s PR-226 slid across the ground as the Scot and his assailant grappled with each other on the floor, each trying to gain the upper hand.

Colonel Jahkar

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.13

Jahkar had personally seen to rendering two of the terrorists unconscious and killed a third, leaving the others to the team as he sought out and located an engineering terminal to secure for Beckett. He was about to move on it when McCulloch pointed out the same console and he saw Cody moving toward it.

He scanned the room just as there was a bang and a flash. His vision was slightly obscured by the blast, but he was able to see well enough to notice the cloud of smoke billowing around them, from which a group of raging Cardassians emerged.

The last he saw of Beckett and McCulloch before they were enveloped in the cloud was Will being tackled by a hefty Cardassian and Cody moving in front of the holographic screens of the console, presumably to eject the warp core and deactivate the transporters.

Then, two Cardassians rushed at him from out of the smoke and he managed to shoot one, almost at point blank range, but could not turn his weapon on the other combatant. Who swung his rifle like a baseball bat and cracked Jahkar upside his head.

The blow sent the Marine staggering back, the rifle slipping from his grasp as he crashed into a console. The attacking Cardassian swung the rifle at him again and Jahkar managed to clear one of his 'obmaQ (ax) from its hip sheath and bring it up in time to deflect the blow.

Jahkar then cracked the Cardassian in the jaw with a left hook, staggering him back before swinging again with the ax in his right hand.

The Cardassian artfully dodged the ax and connected a fist into Jahkar’s gut, which was mostly absorbed by his armor. Jahkar bashed the Cardassian in the side of his head with the butt of the ax handle and then punched him again with a solid left to the face.

Jahkar heard a knife clear its sheath as the Cardassia drew a dagger and slashed twice at Jahkar, who bobbed and weaved expertly to avoid the shiny blade. He then swung as the Cardassian tried again to slash him, but his 'obmaQ connected with flesh and hacked through bone, lopping off the terrorist’s hand with the knife still clutched in it.

The Cardassian gasped aloud and stepped back, staring at his bloody stump, but was unable to further protest as the Marine drove the ax head straight down into his forehead, burying it deep and ending the attacker’s life before he crumpled lifelessly to the floor.

Jahkar then looked up to see how the rest of the group was faring with this arrival of Cardassian reinforcements.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.13

Chaos ensued after McCulloch fired 2 grenades. It was perfectly clear the Scot had no clue what an engineering department was for and that it wasn't a bright idea to fire grenades near a warp core. Yet, the smoke and flames were a good distraction and provided some cover. Cody carefully made his way to the large holographic screen, which faintly shimmered through the smoke. As he was a few meters away from the screen,a  sudden movement from the left instinctively made him crouch, and he saw two Cardassians approaching.

The first immediately fired, and a series of energy bolts flew around Cody. He ducked away behind the bulkhead, but one of the bolts hit him in the leg. Though the armor mostly absorbed the energy, he felt an intense heat passing through his leg. He gritted his teeth and readied his rifle, as the Cardassians, eager to kill his opponent rounded the corner. Cody fired two rounds, and the Cardassians was hit twice in his torso and slumped to the ground, unconscious.

The second one, right behind, jumped over the first, now unconscious Cardassians, swinging with a machete like blade, trying to pin Cody to the ground. Cody used his blade to catch the blow and move the blade out of his way. Doing so, the blade damaged the rifle, hitting the energy cell. The rifle started making a whining sound, and Cody knew it was a matter of seconds before the rifle would blow up. As the Cardassian jumped back and attacked again, Cody blocked the attack again with the rifle, from which the whining turned into a high pitch tone, and kicked the Cardassian hard between the legs.

The Cardassian yelped, and fell into his knees, and before he could get up, Cody right hooked him on his jaw, and the Cardassian slumped onto the floor. Three more Cardassians came from the right, and Cody threw the rifle towards the three. The first one caught it and at that moment the weapon exploded.

The Cardassian holding the weapon was partly vaporized, and the two remaining Cardassians were pushed back, landing both flat on their backs. Cody was also thrown backwards, but quickly got up, grabbing his sidearm. As he aimed on the first, another Cardassian attacked him in his flank.

Cody cursed, as was pushed backwards by the Cardassian, who was using some kind of wrestling techniques, trying to bring Cody down.

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.13

The fight for the bridge was hard fought. The bulk of the commandos they’d encountered at the Central Command takeover were here and they were nearly impervious to the energy weapons she’d brought.

After failing to take down a couple of the terrorists, Tiri slung her rifle and drew the ushaan-tor as she charged at the Sons of Cardassia commando charging towards Vree. He didn't see her swiftly leap at him from behind and wrapped an arm around his neck, then plunged the ushaan-tor into the side of his chest through the gaps between the pieces of armor.

The Cardassian gasped and stumbled forward, mortally wounded as the ushaan-tor penetrated his heart. As he collapsed, she let go and landed in a crouch as another Cardassian came at her, she lunged out of the way as he tried to draw a bead on her with his weapon, then came in low and slashed him across the back of his knee where there was no protection from the shrap point of her ice pick-like weapon.

The terrorist stumbled and dropped to one knee and Tiri rose, slamming her knee into his face, crunching cartilage in his nose and breaking the orbital socket of his deep recessed left eye. After the blow the Cardassian grunted and dropped backward, collapsing unconscious on the deck.

Crouching beside the fallen Cardassian, she scanned the bridge for another target, but saw, much to her dismay, that Ensign Kyle Rolston was. Laying on his back, a smouldering hole in the chest plate of his armor.

“Rolston is down,” she announced into her subvocal comm unit before scrambling across the deck, running low. She grabbed him by the arms and dragged him behind a console where she attempted to determine the severity of his injuries.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.13

McCulloch and his assailant continued to wrestle on the floor...each trying desperately to gain the upper hand. Twice his Cardassian attacker headbutted him, causing the Scot’s vision to temporarily blur. In response, Will slammed his elbow into his opponent’s throat.

The pair rolled away from each other and scrambled to their feet. Will withdrew his dirk blade from his boot, spun the blade downward and crouched back into a defensive stance. The Cardassian straightened up, eyed the Scot coldly, withdrew his own bladed weapon and rushed furiously towards him. As he lunged forward, Will leaned back, allowing the Cardassian to start to pass by him. Almost instantaneously, he drove his left hand into the attacker’s eye. The terrorist screamed in pain as he stumbled past the Scot.

McCulloch silently followed his opponent from behind, wrapped his left arm around the Cardassian’s neck and ran his dirk knife across it. He made a loud gurgling sound and crumpled to the ground dead.

The Scot spun to his rear and instinctively hurled his blade towards another attacker who was stalking him. The commando was knocked off of his feet as the dirk knife slammed into his skull.

As Will started to retrieve the collapsible military fork strapped to his left bicep, two more assailants closed in on him. As the first attacker raised his rifle so as to bash in the Scot’s skull, Will immediately brought his hands up to protect his head. He leaned forward and drove his elbows into his attacker’s chest. The Cardassian was caught off guard and stumbled backward. Will seized his military fork but did not snap it open. He swung the weapon downward in a wide arc and let the dual blades sink into the Cardassian’s thigh. As his assailant yelped, Will seized the rifle from his attacker’s hands, spun yet again and fired it at point-blank range at the second Cardassian who was now upon him.

The energy blast tore through the Cardassian’s armor and chest. Seconds later, she burst into flames and collapsed to the ground.

“Oh, that’s not good, not good at all.” Will noted as he turned his attention back to the other Cardassian who was struggling to remove the military fork from his thigh. McCulloch kicked his opponent’s right kneecap before punching him in the face. He yanked the military fork free, snapped it open so it extended to a length of six feet and hooked the Cardassian’s feet. He yanked the staff back, knocking his opponent to the ground. Rather than finishing him, Will spun the weapon around and struck the Cardassian between the eyes with the butt of his weapon.

McCulloch studied his prisoner briefly before stepping back and surveying his surroundings. As he looked for Beckett, an energy blast slammed into his chest and knocked him back into an environmental control station. A subsequent blast struck his right clavicle, causing Will to spin away from the station and collapse onto his back.

A SOC commando approached and stood briefly over a motionless McCulloch before slinging his rifle and withdrawing a Klingon mevak. As he leaned forward to finish the Scot, Will seized the Cardassian by the armor and pulled him down onto him. As the pair came in contact with each other, McCulloch withdrew his pistol and pressed it against the commando.

“Sod off.” The Scot hissed as he fired the weapon repeatedly until his target began to smolder and slumped lifelessly on top of him.

As Will stared up at the ceiling of Engineering, he hoped to God his armor had held out against the two direct hits he just received.

Commander Mayla Vree (Chalk 1)

*CDS Regnedor* Bridge, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.13

Before Mayla knew it, Sh'avelith had already jumped on the charging Cardassian commando. Quickly changing her direction, Mayla headed for the one other commando standing at the tactical station and let loose a throwing knife from her left hand. The knife flew faster than she could move and embedded itself into the small gap between his gauntlet and forearm plate of armor. He screamed with pain and frustration at the loss of motor functions in his hand just as she reached him and slammed him away from the console to stop whatever he was doing. Landing on top of him on the flat of his back, she grabbed his neck and activated her hypoglove to administer the quick acting sedative.

“Rolston is down,” Sha'velith reported over the subvocal. Mayla immediately took stock of the Bridge and saw it was secured as quickly as it could have been done. The enemy here was completely overwhelmed by the sky eye probes, flashbangs, and the boarding party.

"Four, One, take him back to the ship," she ordered as she stood up, her attention locked on the tactical console blinking with awaiting confirmation for encrypting the computer. She had stopped the commando literally just in time. The Cardassian's hand she skewered with the thrown knife had been reaching for the confirmation key panel. Slowly and carefully, she cancelled the order.

Now with access to the computer, she quickly shut down power to all primary and secondary systems except for environmental. Then she activated the latter to flood the ship with a Cardassian sedative called merfadon already in the computer.

"Team, One, the Bridge is secured. I'm shutting power to all primary and secondary systems. And hold your breath." She activated the filtration mask on her face and pulled out her two sky eye probes from the small of her back. Linking them to her eyes, she ordered them to map and sedate anyone who was not Starfleet, and let them loose.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*CDS Regnedor*, Engineering

Star date 2111.14

Beckett grappled with the Cardassian, rolling over the ground, each trying to gain the upperhand. It was time to end this. He had a task to fulfill and frolicking around with Cardassians was not part of that.

He gave a bit in, giving the Cardassian room to roll on top of Beckett. Beckett guided this a bit with his one arm while with his other hand he reached for the plasma torch and activated it with a few touches on the small control screen. Next, he put it on the side of the Cardassian's torso and activated. There was an intense purple flash, and the scream of the Cardassian changed into a bloody gurgle, as the plasma beam tore through the midsection of the Cardassian's upper body.

Cody pushed the dead body aside and got up. The fighting was intense, and he just saw how a Cardassian aimed and fired twice on McCulloch, who collapsed backwards and sideways over a console. Filled with rage, Cody stormed towards the Cardassian, who was just too late to see the huge New Zealander.

Cody grabbed the Cardassian with two hands, one on the armor just below his neck, the other hand in his crotch, lifted him up horizontally and pushed him downwards, lifting up his knee, breaking the back of the poor Cardassian in the process. The Cardassian screamed it out as Cody dropped him to the ground, slammed an isolinear tag on him and requested the Resurrection to beam him into the brig.

Immediately he ran towards where McCulloch had fallen, and saw him lying on the floor, below a dead, still smoldering Cardassian. After quickly assessing his surroundings, Beckett tossed the Cardassian aside and saw, much to his relief, McCulloch was alive, although his armor had sustained quite some damage. He helped McCulloch up, but McCulloch collapsed immediately. "It's my leg" The Scot grunted, in between Gaelic  and Scottish curses.

"You with me? Beckett asked, as he quickly grabbed a gave McCulloch a hypo to ease the worst pain.

The scot nodded grimly.

"Good. Now cover me while I eject the warp core" Beckett stated.

Will nodded, and shoved into a better position. "Go." He said. Beckett nodded, and made his way to the engineering console, a few meters away.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*CDS Regnedor*, Engineering

Stardate 2111.14

How the bloody hell did he get shot in the leg?

As Cody furiously tapped a screen to eject the core, McCulloch quickly inspected his armor again. The outer layers of his chest armor had disintegrated away...all that remained between survival and his untimely demise was a single thin interior layer.

The Scot adjusted his position as he sat against a metal support beam and scanned his surroundings. The fight raged around him but for some reason, this section of engineering seemed somewhat...quiet.

Will eyed his right clavicle where he took the second hit...the armor had melted onto his skin. He immediately knew it was going to hurt like hell once the sedative Beckett gave him wore off.

Again, Will studied his surroundings. There was nothing. No movement or hints of an enemy advancing on their position.

McCulloch looked down at his right leg. It was a tangled mess of blown armor, torn flesh and exposed muscle and bone. Blood was beginning to pool on the floor underneath his leg.

“Oh, that’s not good...not good at all.” Will complained loudly between a string of profane curses. He examined the wound again and realized that when he fired his pistol into his assailant, some of the blasts must have deflected off of the Cardassian’s armor and struck his own leg.

Suddenly a Cardassian crewman rushed towards Beckett and McCulloch. It appeared the young man was trying to escape rather than join the fight. Will raised his pistol and fired it twice, striking the crewman in the neck and center of his chest. The Scot scanned his surroundings again as the Cardassian collapsed to the ground dead.

McCulloch noted the pool of blood was growing. He began to feel dizzy and had a desperate urge to go to sleep. His breath became shallow but rapid. Despite the multiple fires throughout engineering, he began to feel quite cold.

“Hey Cody?” The Scot asked over the subvoc.

“Yes?” Beckett answered without looking away from the control screen.

“Could you see if Tara could come down and check me out?”

“Tara?” Beckett asked...there was a slight tone of confusion in his voice. “Who are you bloody talking about mate?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I meant Tracy. Our medic Tracy whatever her last name is.”

Beckett looked over at the Scot who had started to slump down towards the floor. A wide pool of deep red blood was slowly spreading across the floor. The lieutenant instantly recognized that the Scot was bleeding out from his leg wound.

McCulloch weakly raised three fingers and wiggled them above his head as if they were antennas. “Don’t you know? Tracy the medic? The Bajoran medic with the three antennas. Do you think she would mind paying me a visit?”

Cody cursed as he quickly continued to tap the control panel before him. “I think you mean Tiri and she’s Andorian. Stay awake Will and focus on my voice.”

“Yes, Tiri.” Will slurred as he rolled onto the floor and began to drift in and out of consciousness. “She’s such a good kid. A really good kid.”

Lt. Cody Beckett

*CDS Regnedor*, Engineering

Stardate 2111.14

Cody cursed as McCulloch started losing consciousness. He needed medical attention very soon or he would bleed to death.

He kneeled down besides McCulloch, grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him upright again. McCulloch reacted by weakly pointing his phaser towards Cody. "Come get some, ugly spoon head" McCulloch muttered. Cody grabbed McCulloch's arm and took the phaser, laying it on the floor. "Calm down mate, I'll get you to sickbay. You look like shit"

"Thank you, Tracy," McCulloch blurted out in a soft voice.

Cody reacted, as there was movement in the mist. He grabbed his rifle and pointed it at the figure that moved in closer, and the next second Lt. Auriak emerged from the smoke. Cody lowered his weapon and got up.

"Can you get him to Sickbay

immediately? " He asked, and Auriak just gave a quick nod as she looked at McCulloch

"Sure, will do"

"Good, and thank you. I have work to do" Beckett said, gesturing towards the warp core and returned his attention to the main screen.

It took a few moments, but finally Beckett found the right command and activated the sequence to dump the warp core, but access was denied. Beckett grunted and cursed inwards, wishing Thompson was here.

He connected to the AI in his wristpadd and commanded it to find a workaround through the security layers of the Cardassian computer.

The AI went to work and came back in seconds with an answer. Cody nodded, satisfied, and gave in some more commands on the terminal. Thompson had done a terrific job with this AI. He really had to give him credits for that. While he pondered, he saw how the procedure of ejecting the warp core was activated and accepted and how it was isolated so that it couldn't be blocked or stopped.

He heard hissing sounds of valves closing and being decoupled of the warp core, along with alarms blaring. And it apparently attracted the attention of a group of four Cardassians, that quickly closed in on Beckett's location.

Cody cursed, grabbed his rifle and ducked behind the console. He hand gestured towards Auriak that they had company and that she should hurry. She nodded and the next moment the blue-ish swirl enveloped McCulloch, being transported over to the Resurrection.

At least McCulloch was safe.

Auriak jumped up and fired at the Cardassians. They returned fire and hit Auriak in her upper thigh. She yelped and collapsed onto the floor, sliding behind Beckett into the relative safety of the cover of the console. Beckett grabbed two flashbang grenades and tossed them towards the four approaching Cardassians. Both grenades exploded simultaneously and all four Cardassians were disoriented and blinded.

Beckett got up and fired, stunning the first two with direct hits. The other two fired blindly, energy bolts ricocheting from the energy shields that closed off the warp core, which was readied to be ejected. Beckett ducked back behind his cover. If those forcefields would fail, everything within range would be sucked into the vacuum of space, along with the warp core and a large amount of plasma.

Beckett checked where the bolts impacted, quickly rolled over on his stomach from his seated position, aimed and fired. The first Cardassian fell onto the ground, quickly followed by the last of the four.

The firing stopped, and only in the distance Beckett still heard fighting noises. Carefully he got up, checking his surroundings. As everything seemed safe, he came out of his crouching position and opened a channel to Jahkar.

"2, 7, everything secu--" In a split second, he heard Auriak yell at him, then Cody flung backward and he felt a burning pain in his chest. All the air was knocked out of his lungs. He tumbled and rolled over the console backward and crashed onto the floor.

"What the $##&$$" He gasped, as he tried to breathe. His lungs were burning and he was completely disoriented, his sight blurred. His chest hurts like hell. He got onto his knees and tried to pull himself up at the console, to see who attacked him.

On the other side, a Cardassian stood there, sporting a huge axe of sorts, his face a combination of disgust and amusement.

"You got to be kidding me" Cody rumbled, and he got up, grabbing his own axe. As he grabbed the hilt, the weapon was triggered, and micro-replicators produced the double sided blade, and within a second, Cody stood ready. His breathing was heavy, and he knew the Cardassian had wounded him, as he felt how his own blood trickled down and fell onto the ground. Cody clenched his teeth, and took his fighting stance as the Cardassian made his first move. Cody easily evaded or blocked the attacks. The Cardassian was either probing his skills or he was only a mediocre axe fighter and got a lucky hit. Back and forth it went, and Cody was being worn out. He was sweating heavily and his arms burned to the point where he felt he had to lower his cover.

"F### this" Cody grunted. He attacked with a series of swings, pulled back and threw the axe under a low angle towards the Cardassian, full power. The Cardassian parried the attack but was distracted for a moment with the swinging, rotating axe coming at him. As he looked up the next moment he was looking at the point of Cody's sidearm. Cody shrugged, and fired, stunning the Cardassian. The Cardassian dropped onto the floor. As did Cody, as he felt nauseous. He sat down and opened a channel.

“2, 7 here. Warp core area secure and eject sequence in progress. Stunned a bunch of Cardassians. McCulloch is beamed back to the Resurrection as he needed medical attention. Auriak is wounded in her leg, but doing ok.”

Cody paused as he had to catch his breath.

“Lieutenant, are you ok?” Jahkar’s voice came over the subvoc.

“I got struck by an axe. Armor saved me, but the axe cut through and it seems I have a large cut. I’m losing blood and…”..

The next moment Cody passed out, just as the warp core eject sequence finished, and the warp core decoupled and was ejected. Immediately, the ship switched to auxiliary power and the light dimmed to a dark orange. The computer repeated something in Cardassian, but so far, no one paid attention.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*CDS Renegdor*

Stardate 2111.16

Ryramorl growled as he realized that the scent of the guy he shot did NOT match the scent of the chair.  He’d stunned the wrong Cardassian.

“Where is the Captain?” he demanded, but it was of no use; Glinn Zoron was out cold.  At Mayla’s warning, he activated the filters on his armour, so as not to breath the sedative.  He looked to Vree.  “Commander, the Captain is not on the bridge.  Do you have any way of locating him?”

Chalk 3

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.16

The Fearless security team currently designated as Chalk 3, consisting of a Rigellian named Lt. Azek’sau, a human named Ensign Denise Milford, an Andorian male known as Ensing M’evek Th'vaarrar, a Vulcan woman called Ensign Senek and Ensign Russ Kalberg had been sweeping the mid-ship corridors of Regnedor, stunning Cardassians and tagging them for transport out when they happened upon Cargo Bay One.

“It’s just a cargo bay,” Kalberg protested. “There’s no one in there.”

Azek’sau shook his head, “No stone unturned, ensign. Open it up.”

“Lieutenant,” Senek interrupted, glancing at her wrist padd. “Message from Chalk One. Commander Vree is flooding the ship with merfadon, an aesthetic gas to render everyone unconscious.”

The Rigellian nodded, “Helmets up. Filters on.”

The team engaged their masks and entered the cargo bay. Immediately, they saw a large cylindrical device in the center of the bay with a Cardassian beside it, wearing full armor and helmet, holding up a remote-like device.

“Oh crap…” Milford gasped.

“Take another step and I’ll blow this ship to pieces,” the Cardassian announced.

Kalberg started to raise his rifle, but Azek’sau reached over and blocking the barrel before he could lift it further. “His finger…he’s engaged the trigger.”

“He’s bluffing,” Kalberg snorted.

“I don’t think so,” Azek’sau muttered. “Chalk 3 to all. Cargo Bay. There’s what appears to be a large explosive device here and a Caradassian, fully armored, with his thumb pressed down on the trigger of what could be a detonator.”

In engineering, as Jahkar made his way to Beckett, he heard the incoming message and joined the conversation, “Phoenix 2 here. That sounds like a dead-man’s trigger.”

Back in the cargo bay, Senek scanned the device from across the room with her tricorder and nodded, “Confirmed, the device is a tri-cobalt explosive pod.”

Jahkar’s voice sounded back through everyone’s subvocs, “That might be the bomb they beamed out of the council chambers. Tri-cobalt…that could…”

“Rip this ship in half,” Vree acknowledged, pondering her next move.

Back to top

## S4, E1, Act 7: The Chase (Extended edition)

Colonel Jahkar

*CDS Regnedor*, Engineering

Stardate 2111.14

Jahkar came upon Auriak first, she was huddled behind a console clutching her phaser, her leg showing severe burns where she’d been shot. She looked up at Jahkar and managed a half smile. "Looks like they got me,” she muttered.

"Hang tight,” he told her, slapping an isolinear tag on her shoulder. He then activated it. "They’ll beam you out. Where’d Beckett go?”

Auriak nodded toward a console a few feet away. Jahkar turned toward the console and stepped over to it, glancing to the warp core chamber nearby which sat empty. Cody had successfully ejected the core.

When he looked over to the other side of the big console, he saw the unconscious Cardassian still laying beside his weapon – a Naausican Battleaxe. Where the hell had a Cardassian – basically a kid – gotten his hands on something like that?

Jahkar looked a few feet over and discovered Cody laying there, back against the end of the console, blood still dripping from his chest wound. The Marine rushed over to him and slapped another isolinear tag.

"Phoenix Two to Fearless (OCC: don’t know if it has a codename). I have two wounded marked with iso-tags for emergency beam out,” he ordered. Before Cody was transported, Jahkar gave him a pat on the shoulder and smiled, even though the lieutenant was unconscious. "Good job, Cody.”

Once Beckett was gone, Jahakr heard someone approaching and swung his rifle around, only to see the diminutive figure of Ensign Grop coming up on him. "Grop? How’s Kapello?”

"Tagged him and Fearless transported him out,” the Ferengi said. "Beckett and Auriak?”

"Wounded,” Jahkar said, tagging the unconscious Cardassians with tags designating them as prisoner. Once finished, he looked to Grop. "Get your helmet on, filters activated. The bridge is pumping the ship full of gas to knock any stragglers out.”

Grop activated the control on the wrist of his armor and the mask eveloped his face and head, leaving only a small port to look through.

"What now?” Grop asked, clutching his weapon.

"We make for Cargo Bay One,” Jahkar said, taking the lead as they headed out of engineering. "Chalk Three might need our help.”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.17

The Regnedor was on the ship’s main viewscreen as *Resurrection* sat off her port bow, weapons powered and trained on the ship while the boarding teams finished mopping up. Prisoners were being beamed over to the USS Fearless, which sat off the Cardassian vessel’s starboard bow.

The injured team members were also being transported to Fearless for treatment, considering the ship’s superior medical facilities. Union XII had a big presence there and he knew the injured team and crew members would be taken care of.

As he waited, Lazarus keyed the communicator on his holographic chair console and opened a channel to engineering. "Mr. Carmichael, status report?”

"She took a beating but nothing we can’t fix,” the engineer replied. "Need about 24 hours to complete major repairs, including the phased cloak.”

"See if Fearless can spare anyone to help, I’d like to be able to get underway in half that time,” Lazarus said. "Bridge out.”

The captain sensed someone behind him and turned to see Elim Garak approaching with a security escort, Ensign Sentaa. Lazarus turned and gave Garak a steely glare.

"Your little protege and his siblings are responsible for this,” Lazarus muttered. "You could save us a lot of trouble and time by telling me what you know about Oran Drajal and his plans. Otherwise I’ve got to start interrogating those SOC prisoners, and that takes time.”

Garak raised a hand, cautioning Lazarus, "Captain, I assure you, I am prepared to offer my full cooperation.”

"You are?” Lazarus sounded surprised. "You know where he’s at...what he’s planning? And you’re going to tell us what he’s doing? I thought he was your trusted pupil?”

"Was is the key word, captain,” Garak said. "Having seen these Sons of Cardassia in action today, and everything that took place yesterday, I am not inclined to protect Oran and his family. They must be stopped before they get Cardassia into another war or occupation.”

Lazarus leaned forward and stared Garak in the eyes, "Where?”

"There has been a reference made to something these terrorists call Forward Base,” Garak stated. "I’ve given it much thought and this is something that goes back to the Battle of the Omarion Nebula.”

Lazarus frowned, "Omarion Nebula? That was the ill-fated Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar attack on the first Dominion Homeworld. The first major armed engagement between forces of the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion, as well as the only large-scale conflict to take place in the Gamma Quadrant.”

"Yes,” Garak nodded. "A fleet was assembled and secretly sent by both the Cardassian Union and the Romulan Empire to attack and destroy the Founders' Homeworld.”

"The assault force snuck through the wormhole with cloaking devices, attacked the Founder Homeworld and discovered it was a trap,” the captain continued. "The Romulan commander was a Changeling. The planet was already evacuated of Changelings when they attacked and by the time they figured out what was going on the Jem’Hadar attacked and destroyed the entire fleet.”

"I know. I was there,” Garak said. "What no one knew, with the exception of myself and Enabrim Tain...my father...a secondary force was sent through the wormhole at the same time, cloaked and unbeknownst to our Romulan allies, to establish a secret base in Dominion territory.”

Lazarus’ mouth nearly fell agape. He looked at Garak in disbelief and slowly shook his head, "And you neglected to tell anyone about this for 20 years?” Lazarus demanded. "For Christ’s sake, Garak.”

"Honestly I believed Forward Base was probably destroyed,” the tailor said. "If it wasn’t, however, there was a force of more than 5,000 Cardassians deployed there with industrial replicators who were supposed to build a hidden outpost with ship building capabilities.”

"You think Oran found this base?” Lazarus asked.

"It is possible,” Garak said. "And it is likely he is there, with the two remaining Trinity devices, planning to launch an attack on the Founders’ current homeworld.”

Lazarus sighed, "Assuming he’s found it? Starfleet doesn’t even know where the Founder homeworld is. Hell, they may have moved it again since the end of the war.”

"Starfleet doesn’t have a secret base in Dominion space to use for twenty years of reconnaissance,” said Garak. "With events unfolding as quickly as they have, I would think an attack by the Sons of Cardassia is imminent. Everything that has happened here, while useful to their cause, has just been a diversion from the true goal of destroying the Dominion, once and for all.”

Lazarus hung his head in thought and was about to place his right hand on the armrest of his chair when he remembered his mechanical arm was damaged and no longer functioned.

"Where is Forward Base?” he asked Garak.

"I have the coordinates,” he placed a finger to his temple.

"Ensign, take Mr. Garak to a cabin and see that he is fed, and any injuries are taken care of,” Lazarus said. "I’ll speak with you once we’re done with the Cardassian ship.”

Garak nodded and started to leave with Sentaa, when he suddenly stopped and looked back at Quentin, "Oh, and I would be careful of that ship. While I’ve never met Tirlin, his brother always characterized him as irrational, vindictive and capable of sacrificing himself for a cause he believes in.”

Lazarus gave a curt nod, "Noted.”

Once Garak was gone, Lazarus keyed open a channel to Mayla. "Havoc to Phoenix One. Our tailor friend has provided me with the information we need. I’ll leave the decision up to you, but crew and team casualties are mounting. Tirlin Drajal can blow up his ship if he wants, I just want you and all of our people out of there ASAP.”

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge of *CDS Regnedor*, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.17

In the dim auxiliary light and with most of the ship's systems powered down, Chalk 3's report from the cargo bay couldn't have come at a worse time. If Jahkar was right, the SOC commando might have a dead man's switch literally holding the bomb's detonation in his hand. Her hands worked as fast as the computer could display readings and schematics as she restored power to specific systems around the cargo bay. The merfadon gas had just begun snaking into the cargo bay now.

"Havoc to Phoenix One. Our tailor friend has provided me with the information we need. I’ll leave the decision up to you, but crew and team casualties are mounting. Tirlin Drajal can blow up his ship if he wants, I just want you and all of our people out of there ASAP.”

"This is One, acknowledged." She answered, but she had other plans. "Prepare to beam someone to the brig from the coordinates I'll be sending you from an isolinear tag. And I need you to fire on us at these exact coordinates, but stay clear when the bomb gets sucked out."

Darht's voice immediately came over the comms. "What?"

Then Lazarus' voice came over. "I thought my orders were clear."

"I'm evacuating the ship, but if this one last idea works, we would have the ship's computers, and Drajal in custody. If not, we lose him and the ship anyway."

She could hear him pondering the option. "What's the plan, then?"

"Chalk 3, this is One, don't provoke him and vacate the cargo bay. All Chalks, begin evacuation of the ship and all prisoners immediately."

She mentally switched the comm channel back to the Resurrection while bringing the status and command screen in her eyes for the sky eye probes. "Havoc, One, I need you to blow a hole in the cargo bay doors at these coordinates I'm sending to you to cause an explosive decompression."

Outside the cargo bay, Azek'sau, Senek, Milford, and Kalberg saw a nanoprobe streak by them just before a forcefield activated just outside the door to the cargo bay. It had sandwiched itself between the forcefield and the closed door. The three paid it no mind and abandoned their sweep to return to their own ship.

Mayla felt Ra'yral walk up to stand next to her. "I'm staying with you."

She didn't look at him as she continued to put in commands into the computer. "No, you're not. I need you to make sure the rest of Chalk 1 beams out. Please go now." She glanced at the now activated internal visual monitor of the cargo bay. It was Tirlin Drajal standing at a dead console trying to get the computer station to work. He still had the detonator in one hand. She could hear the rest of Chalk 1 beam out.

"One, Havoc, we are in position."

"Has everyone beamed out?"

"Everyone but you."

"Prepare to beam me out in case this doesn't work and that bomb goes off." Mayla flexed her fingers, ready for the sequence of events as soon as the external cargo bay doors were blown open. She had overridden the safety protocols, those that were still working with auxiliary power, to allow her to open the internal bay doors as soon as the Resurrection fired on them. She had programmed the sky eye probe to pursue Drajal and tag him with an isolinear chip so the Resurrection could beam him aboard.

"Fire."

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2111.17

Victoria, as well as the other nurses and medics of Union XII, listened carefully to the events unfold over the comm system of their jumpship. Although the battle had turned in favor of the Resurrection, now Phoenix Team and Starfleet security forces were locked in a desperate hand-to-hand fight on board the Keldon class vessel.

As the battle raged, the commanding nurse eyed the dual holographic displays that hovered before the command chair she sat in. The first display provided updates on the wounded on board the Resurrection, including her warrant officer, Fiadh Hannigan. The second provided real-time status reports on the medical condition of each member of the boarding parties.

Victoria did her best to control her emotions as the status of Will fluctuated from time to time before her. After a moment of slight panic, she pushed the holographic displays to the side.

"Lieutenant Tusot?”

"Ma’am, orders?” The pilot answered.

"I expect we’re going to be deployed sooner rather than later.”

"Aye ma’am. Destination?”

"Best case scenario we’re going to be used as a Combat Support Hospital (CSH) so prepare your flight plan for a combination medical evac and mobile hospital scenario.”

"Corporal Pyme?”

"Ma’am?”

"I need to know how much damage we can take if we are mobilized and that Keldon class vessel decides to target us.”

‘Ma’am, that’s a pretty easy question. I know…”

"Just check again.” Victoria interrupted before a communication from the bridge of the Fearless came in. The commanding nurse knew immediately this was going to be Union XII’s "go” command. She quickly tapped the communication panel of her chair.

"Rhikal to Smith, acknowledge.”

"Orders Captain?” Victoria replied as she gestured to Tusot with her hand to prepare a preflight check.

"Union XII is activated.” The Orion captain announced. "There are multiple casualties from the Resurrection and the boarding party that raided the CDS Regnedor. The wounded are being beamed to the Fearless and are coming to your team first. You are to set up a CSH at your current location. Treat those you can and beam those who need surgery to sickbay. Understood?”

Victoria cocked her head in slight confusion. "Captain, we are to remain in the hangar?”

"Correct. The risks are too great to establish a CSH in an exposed position.”

There was an audible sigh of relief from both Tusot and Pyme.

The nurse nodded quickly in agreement. "Understood Captain.”

"You have two minutes before casualties start coming in. Priority is to be given to wounded Phoenix Team members...understood?”

"Aye.”

"Rhikal out.”

The commander quickly spun out of her command chair and started towards the main cabin of the Gentle Annie. Before leaving the cockpit, she stopped momentarily and turned her attention towards her pilot and weapons officer.

"Tusot, be ready in the event we have to launch. Pyme, stay on top of those incoming patients and make sure their transport to us is smooth.”

"Aye. ma’am.” The pilot responded as he continued to review his pre-launch checklist. Smith nodded curtly, spun on her heels and left the cabin.

"Listen up!” Victoria ...or perhaps it was Jiarin … barked as she entered the main cabin of Union XII’s jump ship. The nurses and medics under her command immediately rose to their feet. She punched a control pane to her left, causing the cabin’s lights to dim. A red holographic display listing the wounded and their real time conditions appeared in the center of the room.

"We have a dual medical crisis. We have multiple casualties on board the Resurrection and the ship’s EMH system is stretched thin. Phoenix Team, as well as multiple security teams from the Resurrection and Fearless are in the midst of a boarding action against the Sons of Cardassia. They are also facing casualties and injuries.”

"With all due respect ma’am, we shouldn’t be in two places at once and this fight is a hot mess.” Petty Officer Mendes protested.

"We’ll go wherever we are needed because that is our job.” Victoria softly corrected. "However, in this case, the wounded are coming to us.”

"We’re setting up a CSH?” Gace quietly asked.

"We are. We are going to use the Gentle Annie and this hangar as our base of operation. If they’re critical, you patch them up as best you can, tag them, and send them to the Fearless’ sickbay for surgery. Understood?”

"Let’s do this ma’am.” Gace replied calmly as she removed her ballistic helmet and tossed it aside. She immediately unslung her medical kit. Several of the other members of the team followed her lead.

Victoria clapped her gloved hands twice and barked again. "Move! Mendes and Zalir, set up an intake station outside of the Gentle Annie. As each wounded comes in you assess them. If we can’t treat them you tag them and send them upstairs to the doctors. If we can treat them here, you prep them and bring them inside the jump ship for treatment.”

"Aye, ma’am,” Zalier replied after a pause. Afterward, the pair raced down the ramp of the jump ship with a pair of stretchers.

"Sis and Gatc, you are working inside with Gace and me. The two of you are going to patch up as many of the wounded as possible. If you can’t help them then tag them and ship them. Got it?”

"Yes ma’am.” Sis replied as she and Senior Petty Officer Gatc began activating mobile biobeds in the main cabin of the ship.

"Gace?”

"Ma’am?”

"You and I will treat Phoenix Team wounded. Who do we have coming in?”

"Beckett and McCulloch.”

Victoria paused as she struggled internally with herself. The memories of Jairin warned her not to play favorites with the wounded operatives. On the other hand, there was an overwhelming desire to save her ex-husband.

"Ensign.” She eventually announced in a low tone. "You treat McCulloch, I’ll handle Beckett.”

"Ma’am, that’s not right. We all know your feelings…”

"My order stands.” She quickly interrupted the ensign. "Move. Wounded will be arriving momentarily.”

Victoria tossed her medical kit on a table next to the biobed she was manning and waited for Beckett to materialize before her.

For a brief moment her thoughts turned to Mayla. As she thought of the woman she considered a sister, she made a silent wish that the Trill would not pay her an involuntary visit on this day.

Colonel Jahkar

*CDS Regnedor*

Stardate 2111.18

Jahkar and Grop were nearly to the cargo bay when Vree’s order came across to beam out. They stopped and the Marine looked down the corridor, knowing they were just around the corner ahead. But orders were orders and Jahkar had no desire to die here.

He keyed his own isolinear tag and looked to Grop, "Time to go, ensign.”

Grop sighed and gave a nod, tapping his own tag, "Too bad, this was just getting good.”

Jahkar laughed as the transporter beam from Resurrection began to envelope them, "Right. You did good today, ensign. Keep it up.”

When transport was complete, they found themselves in the transporter bay of Resurrection, right behind Tiri, Roar and the remains of their security team.

He didn’t see Mayla.

"Tiri, where’s Vree?” he asked.

The Andorian gave him a dire look and Jahkar growl low in his throat. He knew where she was. "Damn kid,” he hissed as he stepped off the transporter pad and disengaged his helmet, which dematerialized back into the armor suit.

The Marine ran out into the corridor and turned to Tiri, "Get me a sitrep on casualties. I’m heading to the bridge.”

Jahkar then ran the short distance to the bridge, where he joined Lazarus at the tactical station with Dahrt.

*USS Resurrection*

*CDS Regnedor*

Above Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.18

The sky eye probe programmed to pursue Drajal and tag him with an isolinear tag so the *Resurrection* could beam him aboard swooped across the cargo bay and locked onto the armor suited Cardassian. When it was within range it fired the dart and it hurled through the air striking Tirlin directly in the chest...where it passed through him as if he weren’t even standing there.

Resurrection’s phasers pounded the Regnedor’s bay doors at that very moment, blowing them open and expelling the contents of the bay into space.

Vree was still processing the failed dart and realized Tirlin was a hologram when the explosion occurred. As Resurrection locked onto a began to transport Mayla out, all she could think is if that wasn’t Tirlin, where was he.

Wherever he was, he detonated the bomb in the cargo bay, causing a massive explosion to rip through the Keldon-class ship. As the explosion blasted the ship in half, every escape pod on the ship jettisoned at the same time, spewing a cluster of pods into space as *Regnedor* was destroyed...

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.20

"Frell," she quietly exclaimed when she materialized on the *Resurrection*'s transporter pad. She didn't waste a second contacting the bridge. "Havoc, One, Drajal wasn't in the cargo bay. It was a hologram. He might still be at large."

"The ship's destroyed. Escape pods have been launched. We're track them all now," Lazarus said. "You took a foolish chance."

She waved off the medtech about to give her a once over and ignored the Captain's last comment. "We have to check each prisoner we captured. Suggest we sedate them all and isolate them in a dampening field to prevent any remote implant detonations." She walked out of the transporter bay and headed for the Bridge. They had learned their lesson last time with Jack Dark's henchmen.

"I'll forward the suggestions to the Fearless."

"Let me look at the information Garak gave you." She sidestepped a blown panel that was still sparking.

"I'll let you brief him. He's in his cabin."

"Acknowledged," she responded curtly and made an abrupt turn to head in a different direction, passing the sparking blown panel again. She didn't stop as she approached Garak's door and opened it without announcing herself. She went straight to Garak and grabbed the hand that just pushed a piece of hasperat bread into his mouth. She slammed the hand down onto the table and butted the back of her other wrist to his. Her deathgrip caused him to wince slightly. But he held his yelp.

"You could have saved a lot of lives today, Mr. Garak. Starfleet and Cardassian." She said in an even toned voice. "And I have no patience for you anymore."

The Cardassian just gave her a pleasant look. "I was not aware Drajal's reach had gone so far. If I knew-"

"That's a tailor shop full of yotz."

The door burst open for Jahkar who looked like he ran down. He already knew what was going to happen when he heard her tone over the subvoc. He didn't have to see her face to already know her thoughts, despite his own frustration with her taking careless action of staying behind on the Regnedor. Her face was probably filled with anger and frustration; a look he'd seen before when she was a young lieutenant fresh out of the Academy...again. He, as everyone else in Bravo Squad, knew her three stints in Starfleet Academy across 3 lifetimes gave her an air of impatience with politics and prevarication. He knew for a fact the lifetimes of wisdom she has attained should be above this type of rational act. Maybe all of this was just an act? He knew her well enough to know it wouldn't be the first time.

"Commander, let him go." He saw the position she had Garak in. She had her spring loader poised to fire into the Cardassian's wrist, threatening to nail it to the table. "We need his information."

Mayla let out a breath slowly. "Then can I hurt him after?"

Jahkar nearly laughed. She already knew he was coming down to stop whatever she was going to do. It WAS an act. "Depends on how useful the information is."

She let the air linger for a few seconds before letting go of the wrist.

"I see she's your commanding officer, but you are her superior officer." Garak said to Jahkar, trying hard not to rub his wrist where the Trill held with strength that was much greater than her stature seemed to have.

"I've known her her whole life, and if we were anywhere else, I would have let her do whatever she wanted with you...former president of Cardassia notwithstanding."

Mayla went to the wall terminal and opened a virtual note taking screen and swiped it across the air to stop in front of Garak. "Start talking, tell us everything about the SOC, the Drajals, speculations, and theories. They have to be stopped as soon as possible or Cardassia might be in another war. And maybe this time they might not survive, short of extinction."

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2111.20

A wounded William McCulloch briefly materialized on board the *USS Resurrection* before being enveloped in a bright blue-white light. Seconds later, the Scot rematerialized in the hangar of the Fearless.

A Tellarite nurse dressed in a black tactical jumpsuit quickly examined McCulloch, lifted him onto a portable biobed, and quickly dragged him inside of the Arrow Class jump ship. Will struggled to maintain consciousness as he heard the Tellarite rapidly conversing with a woman with brunette hair that was also dressed in a black tactical suit.

Will was hoisted off of the portable biobed and placed on a second one. As he heard the woman rattle off his injuries...burns, broken ribs, bruises, muscle damage, femoral artery damage, and severe blood loss...he realized he was in the hands of Union XII.

"Bloody hell, not these quacks.” He weakly muttered as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Sometime later, Will awoke to find the unknown woman treating his leg wound. Realizing he was conscious, she looked up from her work and smiled at the Scot.

"How are we feeling, sir?” She asked. "It was a close call with the blood loss. We almost had to send you upstairs to sickbay, but it looks like you’ll pull through.”

"McCulloch looked at his surroundings in confusion. He was still groggy, and his entire body ached. "Where am I?”

"You’re in our CSH.” She simply answered as she returned to working on the Scot’s leg.

"A...what now?”

The nurse ignored the question and continued working on the Scot. "If all goes well, you and Mr. Beckett should be reunited with Phoenix Team in a couple of hours.”

"Beckett? Cody is here? Will demanded as he started to sit up. The nurse pushed him back down.

"Easy sir. We don’t want you to strain yourself.”

McCulloch was quickly becoming annoyed with the woman and found her entire demeanor and casual attitude off-putting.

As he started to fume, the nurse stopped working, leaned over him and eyed him carefully.

"Those really aren’t nice thoughts about me sir.” She calmly stated. McCulloch went white.

"Oh sh\*t, you’re the Betazoid of Union XII.” Will stammered.

"I am.” Ensign Gace retorted as she gestured behind her. "So let’s have nice, happy thoughts and maybe I’ll put a good word in for you with the Commander.”

At first, the Scot thought the nurse was referencing Commander Vree until he looked past her and saw a short, red-haired woman treating Beckett. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and swung side to side as she continued to tend to his companion. Will quickly looked Victoria up and down before turning his attention back to the Betazoid nurse.

Gace gasped softly. "I should tell Commander Smith what you’re thinking right now!”

"You wouldn’t dare,” Will replied as if challenging her to do so.

"Ensign?” Victoria asked without looking away from Beckett.

"Yes ma’am?”

"Is Mr. McCulloch distracting you?”

"Aye ma’am.”

"Switch.” Smith ordered before handing a dermal regenerator to Ensign Gace and pointing to the New Zealander’s chest wound. Victoria walked over to Will, placed the palm of her hand over his face and pushed him down into his biobed. She leaned in and whispered into his ear.

"You are going to be a good boy, stop being a pig and do what Ensign Gace says or I’ll neuter you with a laser scalpel...am I clear?”

Will quietly nodded in the affirmative. Victoria removed her hand from Will’s face momentarily before squeezing his cheeks with her right hand. She smiled thinly at him as she came within inches of his face.

"When I’m done treating Cody, you and I are going to have a discussion about who ordered two of my team members into an unsafe training simulation without my consent. And you’re going to tell me everything you know, right?”

Before Will could answer, the nurse moved his head up and down in the affirmative.

"Good boy.” She answered coyly. "And you’re not going to hold anything back about what you know are you?”

This time, Victoria moved Will’s head back and forth in the negative. She smiled again.

"Good answer. You just might get a second date with me.” The nurse noted as she started to ease her grip on Will’s face. "And I want to know Mayla’s role in this fiasco.”

"Vree was equally caught by surprise.” McCulloch deceptively answered.

The Scot didn’t lie to score points with Mayla. He did it because he knew how important Vree was to Victoria and the last thing he wanted to see was their relationship undermined over the unannounced training simulation.

Victoria hesitated. "Are you sure?”

"Yes. She was caught off guard by the order.”

She relaxed slightly. McCulloch looked past Victoria towards Ensign Gace, whose back was to the Scot while she treated Beckett. She stiffened slightly and began staring straight ahead. Will only hoped the Betazoid had not picked up on his deceptive response.

"How is Fiadh?” He asked, changing the subject slightly.

"She’ll live but she could be out of commission for some time.”

"She would have made you proud.” McCulloch conceded. "During the battle, she acted above and beyond.”

"I heard you carried her to sickbay.”

"Perhaps.”

"I won’t forget that William McCulloch.” Victoria answered as she straightened up, quickly squeezed his hand and returned to Beckett's side.

Ensign Gace returned and resumed treating the Scot’s wound. As she repaired a torn muscle, she studied Will suspiciously.

"You lied to the Commander, but I sense you did it to protect something important to her.”

"I did,” McCulloch admitted softly. "And if you tell her there will be bloody hell to pay, Ensign.”

"You understand you’re only delaying the inevitable, sir?” Gace pressed. "She is going to eventually find out whatever it is you are concealing from her.”

Will chose not to respond as he already knew the answer of what would happen when she did.

Elim Garak

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.20

Garak laid it all out for them. Mostly speculation, but as he pieced it together it all seemed to make sense.

When Oran Drajal worked in Garak’s office, the young Cardassian had been a protege. As time went on Garak realized he was using his position to funnel latinum and information to the Occupation government to the Sons of Cardassia.

Once he made the connection and the Federations overseers began to follow the trail of missing funds, Garak confronted Drajal and...in a moment of compassion for the young rebel, Garak convinced him to leave, get off world and not look back.

Drajal did just that and fled Cardassia before the Federation authorities figured out what was going on. Once they did, they did a full investigation of Garak’s office and in the end, Elim decided to resign.

He never heard from Drajal and his family after that, but through his many sources and contacts, he heard of them and their deeds. Thefts of supplies, weapons and explosives from in and around Cardassian space. Protests funded by unseen organizers. When things happened Garak could usually figure out if it had been the Sons of Cardassia or someone else, like pirates or other criminal elements.

Everything Garak knew about the siblings was mostly what was contained in the biographical files the team already had. He had never really spent any time with any of them, though he’d met a couple. He never spent enough time with them to draw any real characterizations. In general, based on what he knew from his conversations with Oran, however, Garak knew one thing -- the family had suffered greatly at the hands of the Dominion. Their hatred of the Dominion and the Breen was deep and Garak knew if the others were as angry as Oran, they would be a formidable enemy to those who had taken so much from them.

He repeated the details of the Forward Base story, as he had told it to Lazarus. A theory more than anything else, but one that made perfect sense. No one knew where the Founder homeworld was, but the news that one of the Drajals had taken the female changeling from a Federation prison hours earlier was one way they could find.

Vree, looking at the timeline since the attack on the prison, figured they had cut off that ship’s access to the wormhole, blocking them from bringing the Founder through to Forward Base. There was, however, evidence of an encrypted transmission which went through the wormhole relays was probably confirmation that the coordinates were obtained and sent through when the SOC ship transporting the captive Founder was cut off from traveling through the wormhole.

If they knew where the planet was and they in all likelihood had the two remaining Trinity devices, they only needed to get close enough to the Founder homeworld to detonate one of them and the singularity would do the rest….like it had done to the Breen homeworld.

As for the Trinity, Garak had known of their existence, but never knew their hidden locations. It was a secret Enabrin Tain had taken to the grave. Garak had not helped Drajal find them, nor had he put any ideas in the young man’s head.

Garak recalled, however, that Oran had asked him once if he knew anything about the devices, to which Garak declined to say much. Those devices, he told Drajal, were best left lost to history.

"That is all I know, commander,” Garak said. "I have provided the coordinates of where I believe Forward Base is located. I’m afraid there is little more I can offer you.”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.20

Lazarus and Sornax were on the bridge as *Resurrection* and *Fearless* moved along the debris field left by the *Regnedor*. Fearless was busy scanning every piece of wreckage, while the *Resurrection* was searching down the escape pods trying to find out if Tirlin Drajal was aboard any of them.

"There are 16 pods total,” the Denobulan explained to Lazarus as he brought up the courses of each pod moving in orbit above Cardassia. "They extend about 300,000 km from near our position moving toward Cardassia.”

Lazarus frowned. "Life forms?”

"Negative,” Dahrt said, looking over his tactical screens. "The pods are all empty, no life forms aboard any of them.”

Lazarus shook his head, "That’s impossible. Tirlin has to be on one of those pods. Why else would he have launched them?”

"Unless he’s found a way to cloak himself,” Sornax responded. "Should we bring the pods aboard?”

"Can we fit them all in the cargo bay?” the captain asked.

"Yes. I’ll bring them aboard and have security check each one,” said Sornax. "Lt. Dahrt, make sure you scan those pods for any explosives.”

"Aye, sir,” Dahrt said.

Lazarus took his seat and continued to ponder where their Cardassian terrorist leader had disappeared to….

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*, Cardassia Prime

Stardate 2111.20

Mayla looked at the star charts Garak had pulled up and labeled. In her eyes, she was recording everything including his entries and data. She pulled up the timeline of events to try to work out the Drajals' movements since Garak was in power. She also included Tajel's series of interactions with the female Drajal, Sabka, and accessed Starfleet's records from during the War of what they knew of the Founder's homeworld in the Omarion Nebula in the Gamma Quadrant. But there were unconfirmed reports that the Founder's had most likely moved to a new planet. If they were the Drajals' next target, they had to be warned, but in a way the SOC won't be alerted. If they could get there in time to set a trap, maybe they can stop the attack. Or mount a full assault on this Forward Base and destroy the Trinity weapons if they are still there.

"So, you turned a blind eye to the birth of a terrorist organization with the intent on retribution on the Breen and the Founders which could result in the end of the Cardassian people." Mayla accused as she swiped through several screens of data that was still compiling in Garak's report. "And, you as president just ran away from that to run your tailor shop."

Garak's normally calm demeanor turned hard and he glared at her. "You don't understand it, do you? Cardassia became strong because of its military might. Our historic military expansion throughout our territories created an independent empire strong with pride." Garak sat up straight, standing up for his homeworld.

"You've been in your tailor shop too long," Jahkar said. "I would have expected you to see the events as they are in our current climate. If the Breen and the Founders start another war that would draw us into it, Cardassia and the Federation would be on their own if the Klingons choose to remain neutral." He scoffed. "In fact, I can see the Klingons joining them to take us all out now that Martok is dead. And the Romulans are now even less amicable with us than before."

Mayla shut down the terminal interface. "We're now standing on the precipice. For all we know, the Breen are already on their way now with enough ships to obliterate anyone who gets in their way to eradicate Cardassia Prime in counter retribution. And if the Dominion joins them," she paused thinking the unthinkable, "the Federation may have to step aside and let them do it. For the sake of the Federation's survival."

Garak's eyes widened just a tiny bit. "The Federation would not protect Cardassia?"

"Have you seen the rioting down there for a Free Cardassia?" Jahkar asked. "Despite the years' old restoration project, they want the 'occupation' by the Federation to be over. With that type of movement across the planet, who can blame us for just letting it happen to what the Federation sees as an ungrateful people?"

Now Garak seemed to show a little bit of emotion, let it be fear or guilt. This was no longer the Obsidian Order constantly working in subterfuge to bring Cardassia into a new era of progress and military conquest. The Order was gone, and Cardassia needs to rebuild from scratch what they had held for so many centuries. It was that blind vision of military conquest that gave the Dominion the upper hand on becoming Cardassia's puppet master in the first place.

Mayla walked over to the door. "The Federation president has changed. The Federation Council's environment isn't the way it was before. After the Romulan sun went nova, the Federation has taken on the attitude that we should take care of our own member worlds first. So I wouldn't put it past them to let the Breen and Dominion have their way with an empire that wants to have nothing to do with the Federation." She put a hand on Jahkar's arm to signal to leave.

"Commander," Garak said in a small, quiet voice. "What would you do, if it came to that? Protect the Federation, or save Cardassia?"

She pondered the question as she took a quick glance at Jahkar before looking at the former president of Cardassia. "I would do everything in my power to do both. As is what I'm trying to do now."

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.22

Jahkar left as ordered, finished hearing from Garak and excuses. The tailor should have told the Federation of this threat. Maybe if he had, Tajel wouldn’t have gotten himself sucked into their scheme.

The Marine stalked away from Garak’s cabin and along the way ran into Sornax. The Denobulan stopped and smiled at Jahkar, "Colonel, you’ll do nicely.”

Jahkar raised an eyebrow, "Need something, sir?”

"Come with me, please,” he said. "We have a cargo bay full of escape pods to investigate.”

"The ones jettisoned from the Cardassian ship? Captain beamed them aboard?” he asked as they continued on toward the cargo bay.

"He did,” Sornax confirmed as they rounded a corner and arrived at the bay. Outside the door two security officers awaited their arrival, McGuire and Jackson. "No life signs aboard any of them, no signs of explosives. We need to figure out why they were jettisoned.”

"Did we get them all?” McGuire asked.

"Affirmative,” Sornax confirmed as they stepped inside the bay. It was full of escape pods, some of them stacked upon others to make them all fit. "Check each pod for signs of recent occupants, records, anything that might answer that question.”

Jahkar, Sornax and the others set to work checking each pod.

Cargo Bay

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2111.22

The search for the pods was quick. There were 16 pods, so the four of them moved through the process quickly. They scanned each one with tricorder and checked the instrumentation to see if there were any logs suggesting someone had recently been aboard.

Lt. Phil Jackson was on his third pod when he hit paydirt.

"Commander, colonel!” he shouted from across the bay. "I’ve got something.”

The others joined him at his pod and looked inside while he sat in the vehicle and scanned it with his tricorder. "There’s DNA recently left behind, Cardassian DNA. And, the emergency transporter is active on this pod.”

"Active?” Sornax repeated. "Was it used?”

"Logs show it beamed one individual to a set of coordinates on Cardassia Prime,” Jackson said.

"How close was this pod to Cardassia?” Jahkar asked.

"This pod was designated Pod 16 when it was beamed aboard,” Jackson said. "Pod 1 was the first pod brought aboard and it was the closest to Resurrection.”

"Making pod 16 the furthest away,” Sornax muttered.  He tapped his comm-badge. "Sornax to Lazarus and Vree. One pod, the first launched from the Cardassia ship, also the pod which was closest to Cardassia, shows transporter activity within minutes after the pods were launched. We have a set of coordinates the passenger of that pod was beamed to.”

"Send those coordinates to the bridge, ASAP,” Lazarus barked.

"On it,” Jackson confirmed, relaying the data.

Jahkar looked at the others, "I’m going to rejoin the team. Good work,” he told Jackson. The marine then headed for the bridge.

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2111.28

When Dr. Hayes saw sickbay filling up, he sighed, giving Reepchip a look.  He wanted to test Reepchip more, but he also needed every biobed in Sickbay.

Finally, he made a decision.  "Ensign, I’ll dismiss you from sickbay and let you go back to the Resurrection.  Just don’t do anything too strenuous, you hear me?”

Reepchip nodded, and headed to the teleporter room, asking to be returned to the Resurrection.

Once aboard, Reepchip stepped off the transporter and sniffed the air.  "Something’s wrong,” he said, worried.

Ensign Toth sighed.  "The Resurrection took a beating, and Engineering is a total mess, I hear.”

Reepchip chittered.  He’d present himself and see if they even wanted his help.

In Engineering, Lt. Commander Thomas Carmichael was directing repair efforts.  He sighed, seeing parts of engineering had to be disassembled to even get at the damage.  He hoped he could fix the ship in the promised 24 hours.  He and Lieutenant Madhaven Chopra glanced over as the door swished open, revealing the tiny muran.  "Ensign Charatetet, offering my help, sirs.”

Carmichael and Chopra looked at each other.  "What do you think, Lieutenant?” Carmichael asked.

Lieutenant Chopra looked around.  "We don’t want him poking around the coaxial drive.”

"He knows why we keep it secret, and he’s promised to stay away from it.”

Lieutenant Chopra grunted.  "...In that case… we really need someone who can get in tight spaces.”

Lieutenant Commander Carmichael turned to Reepchip.  "Very well, Ensign.  Your job will be to squirm into any place my engineers can’t get to.”

Lieutenant Chopra guided Reepchip to a section safely far away from the Coaxial Drive, and introduced Reepchip to the rest of the engineers, and stated that he was at their disposal.

Reepchip saluted, and went to work.  The first order of business was to go to a replicator that still worked, and replicated some goo to grease down his fur so he didn’t leave any behind in the ship’s workings.

Throughout the shift, Carmichael heard Reepchip’s chitters more than he saw the Muran--and some of the places the human heard those chitters coming from made the commander wonder how the hell Reepchip had squirmed in there.  Chopra watched in apprehension as Reepchip assisted in repairing a control console by literally climbing into the thing--if Reepchip ever decided to infiltrate Engineering, there were myriad places he could hide.

After a few hours of squirming into walls, crawling into consoles, and hanging from the ceiling to do myriad repairs, Reepchip had to take a break, panting and hungry.  "Sorry sirs,” he said apologetically.

"It’s fine, Ensign.  Take a rest, get something to eat,” said Lt. Commander Carmichael.  "I heard what happened to you and I know you’re fresh out of sickbay.”

He got back up and headed back to work.  As he went back to the section of Engineering where he’d been working, a Zakdorn stepped in front of him.  "Ensign.  This console here has some loose connections, but the housing for this is large.  You will remove the panel at the end, enter the housing, and affect repairs from within.”  Reepchip saluted him, and did as the officer ordered him.  As he started working on the circuit, a screwdriver fell from his pouch and rolled down the floor.  Reepchip crawled after the tool.  He didn’t know it, but it had rolled behind the facade that held the coaxial drive.  Reepchip grabbed the tool and looked around to get his bearings--and saw what Carmichael had wanted to keep him away from.

Before him was the Coaxial Drive, utterly unlike anything he’d seen in either the Federation or from the Banded Priests of the Citadel.  From the strange, humming machine, he could see its connections where it had melded into the very substructure of the Resurrection.  He stared, transfixed--and then fear overtook him, as he realized he was seeing something that the Resurrection considered…  well, "holy” wasn’t quite the right word, but near enough.  He slipped back out, and went to fix the panel, doing his best not to tremble.

Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Carmichael looked at the section of engineering Reepchip was supposed to be at, but couldn’t see him.  Then he saw Ensign Tegri Lokarchin doing some tests on a console that he’d been ordered to repair and got a bad feeling.  He went over to the Zakdorn.

"Ensign Lokarchin.  Have you seen Ensign Reepchip Charatetet?  Muran, less than three feet tall.”

"Sir, yes sir,” said Ensign Tegri Lokarchin.

"Where is he?”

"Sir.  The repairs to this console would require me to disassemble much of the housing, so I told Ensign Charatetet to enter it and repair the console from within.”

The Lt. Commander’s jaw clenched at the Zakdorn’s answer--that panel’s housing was part of the facade that hid the coaxial drive.  He rapped on the housing.  "Ensign Reepchip Charatetet, come out of there now,” the large human said sternly.  "That’s an order.”

When Reepchip climbed out of the control panel, Carmichael looked him in the eye--and could immediately tell Reepchip had seen the drive with his own eyes.  "Ensign Charatetet, you are relieved of duty.  I want a word with you,” he said, then looked at Ensign Lokarchin.  "I also want a word with you,” the commander said with grim what-were-you-thinking.

Lt. Commander William McCulloch

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2111.28

It took approximately another hour and a half of treatment before Ensign Hixwar Gace gave McCulloch a quick nod and signaled that he was free to leave Union XII’s CSH. As Will slid off the biobed, he winced. His head throbbed, his chest still burned and his right leg was very stiff.

"Are you sure you patched me up?” He demanded.

"I’d take it easy for the next few hours sir.” The Betazoid nurse replied matter-of-factly, ignoring the Scot’s quip. "But I would also suggest reporting to the Resurrection’s EMH for a final check-up and an all-clear….but that’s just my opinion.”

McCulloch eyed the Union XII nurse momentarily as he leaned up against the biobed and folded his arms across his chest. "So what’s your story Gace? He asked after a moment of silence.

"Sir?” The ensign replied without looking up as she cleaned some of her medical equipment.

"Well,” Will answered as he cleared his throat. "Warrant Officer Hannigan was a pediatric nurse before joining Union XII, Commander Smith was both a pediatric and emergency services nurse and I’ve been told Lieutenant Tusot is...and I quote… ‘one of the best jump ship pilots in Starfleet’. So where do you fit in?”

The Betazoid nurse retrieved a nearby padd and began to review a report on a wounded crewman who was being brought in for treatment as soon as McCulloch was cleared. She looked up briefly from the padd at the operative.

"I’m a surgical nurse with a specialty in cardiac cases. Commander Smith recruited me after my second rotation with a Starfleet surgical team assigned to Starbase 67.”

"Interesting,” McCulloch answered with a slight smile. He quickly looked over at Victoria who was still treating Beckett. She was oblivious to their conversation.

"How so?” Gace asked as she continued to scan the padd.

"Commander Smith obviously declined to treat me because she did not want to be accused of favoritism, yet she assigned a cardiac surgical nurse to tend to me.”

"And?”

"Shortly before this mission commenced, I was stabbed dangerously close to the heart.”

Gace rolled her eyes before seizing McCulloch by the right arm. "Yes, it’s all quite romantic and clearly a sign that Commander Smith is enamored with you. Now if you don’t mind sir, get out of our hospital and return to the Resurrection so I can return to my job.”

The Betazoid nurse started to lead Will down a ramp and off of the jump ship.

"I know what you are trying to do.” She announced when the pair reached the bottom of the ramp.

"What was that?” McCulloch asked evasively.

"Disrupt our treatment area with your juvenile romantic announcements so you can be sent back to the Resurrection before Commander Smith can question you about the training simulation.”

"It worked, didn’t it?”

"But is that a smart strategy for the long game...sir? Commander Smith is going to eventually determine what Commander Vree’s role was. Do you really want to be on the wrong side of this problem when she starts asking questions?”

McCulloch reflected on Gace’s words briefly. "Don’t you think this entire event might be blown out of proportion?”

The ensign scoffed. "Put yourself in her shoes. A dangerous training simulation involving two of her nurses was ordered without her consent. Three medical kits were either exhausted or damaged at the height of the simulation...kits that could have been used during the attack. Warrant Officer Hannigan was injured, affecting her ability to perform her duties when the Sons of Cardassia struck.”

"Perhaps.”

"As you damn well know ...rir ... she was also critically wounded because she was in a location she would not have been in but for the hazing ritual Captain Lazarus and Commander Vree decided to put her through.”

"You’re upset,” Will noted calmly.

"Warrant Officer Hannigan didn’t deserve what happened to her, nor did Commander Smith.” Hixwir answered with a tone of frustration in her voice. She quickly checked herself, exhaled loudly and placed her hands on her hips. "I’m sorry sir, it’s just…”

"It’s alright ensign. I understand where you are coming from.”

"You don’t understand. Sir.” Gace retorted. " The Victoria Smith you married probably would have shrugged her shoulders and said ‘oh well’. This is not the same woman. I can sense the personality, memories and traits of Jiarin in her.”

"Really?”

"Victoria has a strong sense of motherly protection towards those who serve under her. She also has a fierce temper and an almost fanatical sense of what she interprets as right or wrong...even when she herself might be mistaken.”

Will instantly knew that the last comment was directed towards him. Gace continued.

"If those three traits come out over this training simulation fiasco, Commander Smith will not hesitate to go for the throat. Which means everything Union XII has worked for ... just to be here to work with your team … will go to sh\*t.”

Will envisioned a scenario where Victoria physically attacked Vree. While Vree would easily have the upper hand, he sensed Victoria would still try to go down swinging.

"We’ll have to try and diffuse this situation.”

"With all due respect sir, you will have to do more than simply defuse the situation.” The Betzoid calmly answered as she quickly looked around before lowering her voice. "I suggest you do something sooner rather than later because this training disaster could exacerbate the situation and lead Jiarin to become even more … noticeable.”

"Come again?”

Ensign Gace muttered to herself before continuing. "Yesterday while treating the Muran, Commander Smith accidentally became connected telepathically to his dreaming sequence. At the height of the experience, she thought she had became separated from her memories of Jiarin. It took her hours to recover from the event.”

"And?”

"When she returned to duty the next day, Jiarin’s personality traits and memories were slightly stronger than before.”

"Go on but I'm not seeing anything that should raise a flag for us.”

"Between the training simulation and the battle, I could sense Jiarin’s memories were influencing her demeanor...more than usual.”

"I think you’re overreacting Ensign.”

"I disagree, sir. We’ve always had a balance with the commander. But I believe Victoria Smith is now allowing these implanted Trill memories to slowly take over her personality out of a fear she will be permanently separated from Jiarin. It’s very subtle now, but it could become worse over time...especially if she ends up in a serious disagreement with Vree and Lazarus over the treatment of Union XII.”

Will stammered in silence for a moment. He looked about the shuttle bay before returning his gaze to Hixwir.

"Ensign, you are grasping at straws right now but humor me for a moment. Walk me through what you think could happen in the long run to Commander Smith...given your extensive experience in psychology and psychiatry."

Gace ignored the dismissive comment and continued.  "Best case? Nothing. She continues to live an amazing and wonderful life.”

"Worst case?”

"She either becomes Jiarin or goes mad.”

"How long...worst-case scenario.”

"Lieutenant Commander, this is all speculation and I’m not a counselor so…”

"You raised this issue about your commanding officer, Ensign Gace.” McCulloch hissed as he struggled to maintain his composure. "How long do \*you\* think a worst case scenario surfaces?”

"Could be a year from now or could be a decade from now. I don’t know. But she’s not going to grab a bandolier of grenades and toss them into the Resurrection’s bridge this week if that’s what you’re worried about.”

"Well of course not.” McCulloch answered with a sigh as he tried to absorb everything Gace just disclosed to him.

"It’s just not sure now would be an appropriate time to speak with Commander Vree about everything you just told me. We’re in the middle of a damn mission.”

"I am sure you will figure it out.” Hixwir answered before she came to attention. "Permission to return to duty sir? I have another patient to tend to.”

"Dismissed.” The Scot answered with a wave of his hand. He watched the Betazoid nurse walk up the ramp of the Gentle Annie and disappear from view. As Will looked about the hangar bay, he debated silently with himself whether to return to the Resurrection or wait for Victoria to finish so he could tell her what he knew about the training simulation.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Carmichael

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

Ensign Tegri Lokarchin

*USS Resurrection*/Carmichael’s office

Stardate 2112.01

Carmichael left Lieutenant Chopra in charge and bid both ensigns to come to his office.  On his way there, he decided Reepchip was the one he was actually less angry with and so would deal with him first.  Lokarchin could wait outside for now.

Reepchip stood at attention, knowing he was in trouble.

"What happened?”

"Sir.  I was ordered by the Zakdorn… Lieutenant?... to fix a console from within.  He showed me what was wrong, so I went into the housing to do the repairs.  One of my screwdrivers fell and rolled away, and I went to get it, and I saw the drive.”

"Lieutenant?! Did you not see his pips, Ensign?”  Then he paused, realizing pips--normally worn on the collar--might be difficult for the diminutive Muran to see.  "On second thought, perhaps not.” He took a breath.  "Tegri Lokarchin is an Ensign, same as you.”  .o0(For all he talks to the other ensigns as if he were a captain,) he thought to himself, then spoke aloud.  "You guessed he was giving you orders, like any superior officer, am I correct, Ensign?”

"Yes, sir.  You are correct, sir.”

"And you didn’t think to tell him that I’d ordered you to stay out of that section of Engineering?”

"Sir.  I didn’t realize where I was.  Ensign Lokarchin told me to help him, so I went.  I didn’t even think of checking where I was, sir.”

Carmichael grunted.  "What did you see of the drive?”

"Sir.  I saw the drive itself, and that it melded with the Resurrection itself, sir.  I saw none of its inner workings.”

"Did you approach the drive in any way?”

"No, sir.  I looked at it, realized what I was looking at, and got out of there, sir.”

Carmichael looked at Reepchip, then nodded.  "I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt this time.  I appreciate the work you did, and thank you for it.  But next time I want you in Engineering, I will call you, and I will personally assign you your tasks.  Do I make myself clear?”

"Sir.  Clear, sir.”

"Tell absolutely no-one about what you saw.  Not even your race’s masters.  That’s an order.”

"Sir, yes sir.”

"Dismissed, ensign.”

Reepchip left the office and headed back to his quarters, in that strange state of being hungry, but with no appetite.

While Reepchip was being questioned, Ensign Tegri Lokarchin was formulating his own defence.  They were under a time restraint and disassembling the housing so that he could get at the problem would have required many careful disconnections to be made, and the reconnections would have taken even longer--perhaps even more than the promised 24 hours.  When he was called in, he strode into the office and stood at attention, looking Lieutenant Commander Thomas Carmichael in the eye--Lieutenant Commander Thomas Carmichael, who had exactly no time for his shit.

"Wipe that arrogant look off your face, Ensign!”

Ensign Lokarchin was taken aback by the heat in Carmichael’s voice.

"What possessed you to let someone who is not part of our team go behind the facade?”

"Sir.  I did not give him leave to go behind the facade itself.  I merely asked him to enter a row of consoles to repair one from within, sir.”

"The housing for those consoles is part of the facade and you know it, Ensign!  The section of Engineering containing the coaxial drive is off limits to anyone who’s not part of our team, no exceptions, and you know that as well.  So what possessed you to let Ensign Charatetet fix something in your section instead of sending him elsewhere?”

"Sir, had I not asked Ensign Charatetet to enter that housing, it would have taken me hours to disassemble enough of the housing to get to it, and twice as long to put it back together.”

"Then according to security protocol, disassemble the housing, fix the problem, put the housing back together, and to HELL with how long it takes!  All it took was one dropped screwdriver rolling into the wrong corner, and now a Carnora has seen a top-secret drive with his own eyes!”  He took a deep breath.  "Get this through your strategic genius head, Ensign.  Ensign Reepchip Charatetet is.  Not.  Starfleet.  His big friend and roommate Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral is not Starfleet either.  Their people aren’t even members of the Federation, they’re allies because the Federation has enough headaches in that part of the galaxy.  And they have masters we know next to nothing about.  Now that Reepchip knows, I have to worry about information about our top-secret drive getting to God-knows-who!”

"Sir, I cannot take responsibility if another ensign is too clumsy to hang on to his tools,” protested Ensign Lokarchin.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Carmichael made up his mind and tapped his combadge.  "Security.  Please escort Ensign Tegri Lokarchin to the brig.”  He looked at the Zakdorn.  "That should give you some time to strategize how badly you f---ed up.”

After the Zakdorn was led away, Carmichael sat down in his chair.  Now he had to explain this to Captain Lazarus…

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*/Captain’s Ready Room

Stardate 2112.01

"Dammit, Carmichael!” Lazarus barked. "I’m completely over this top-secret coaxial drive nonsense! I’m returning Reepchip to active duty immediately. If the clandestine nature of the drive has been compromised, then so be it. Tell Clancy she can take it up with me when we’re done bringing the Sons of Cardassia to justice.”

Carmichael gave Lazarus a grim stare and slowly nodded, "Aye, sir.”

"Status report on getting this ship underway,” Lazarus demanded.

"I’ve got everyone on it right now, plus the Fearless engineering team Captain Rhikal sent,” Carmichael said. "Six hours until we have critical systems restored.”

"She’ll be able to make a jump?” the captain asked.

"She should,” the engineer asked. "Where are we going?”

"The Gamma Quadrant, and not through the wormhole,” Lazarus stated. "We’ll be jumping from our present location to the coordinates on this PADD.”

He handed the device to Tommy, who took it and looked over the readout. "We’ve never attempted a jump at that distance.”

"Then today we’ll set a new record,” Lazarus said. "The theory is the same, distance really means nothing as long as we have a set of coordinates.”

Carmichael gave a faint smile, "True, but do we know these coordinates won’t drop us into a planet, an asteroid or a star?”

Lazarus grinned and slapped Carmichael on the bicep, "Fortune favors the bold, commander. Get it done.”

When Carmichael was gone, he summoned Mayla Vree to his ready room. He didn’t usually butt into Phoenix affairs, he just made sure they got from point A to point B, but this time he felt he needed to establish some parameters for how they were to proceed next…

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2112.01

Victoria stepped back from a recovering Cody Beckett and sighed. Her right cheek, hands and chest of her black tactical uniform were all marked with blood splatter from the lieutenant.

She studied the lieutenant momentarily before giving a nod of approval. His wound was deeper than expected and given the angle of the blow, more difficult to repair. On two occasions, the nurse had to activate an EMH and pull in Ensign Gace to assist with Beckett’s treatment. However, the team was eventually able to turn the tide and prevent his untimely demise.

As the New Zealander rested comfortably, Victoria cleaned herself up and turned her attention to a report one of her medics delivered to her. It contained a list of casualties sustained in the short but very violent battle.

Victoria quickly scanned the list of deceased crewmen and realized one had died while under Union XII’s care. She cursed softly to herself. From her perspective that was one too many. She put the padd aside for a moment and made a mental note to run a full debrief of the team to determine if anything could have been done differently to save those two crewmen.

After determining that the number of incoming casualties had slowed to a trickle, Victoria turned her attention back to Cody. She checked his vitals and again nodded with approval when she determined he was stabilizing. She retrieved a hypospray from a nearby table, loaded a cartridge into the device and placed it against his neck, activated the device and listened for the soft hiss. Seconds later, Cody started to stir towards consciousness.

As he opened his eyes, Victoria smiled and leaned towards him.

"Hey red.” She whispered before winking at him. "Was this run as good for you as it was for me?”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2112.01

Mayla arrived as Garak and his security escort were leaving the captain’s ready room. The Cardassian tailor shot the Trill a nervous look as he passed her in the corridor, his expression almost betraying a hint of having just been put in his place.

When she entered the ready room, Lazarus sat there in his chair, shirtless, as an officer from engineering, Lt. Abebi Nwadike, stood behind him working on his mechanical arm.

Lazarus looked up and saw Mayla enter, but his expression – one of bitter determination – did not change.

"Are we done, lieutenant?” he asked.

"It could use further calibration, sir,” Nwadike told him. "I’m going to recommend you get a replacement when we get back to port.”

"Noted,” he told her. "I’ll see you if I require further work on it. Thanks.”

The young, Nigerian officer nodded, then turned and exited the room, closing the door and leaving Vree and Lazarus together.

He began to put on his tunic and looked to Mayla, "I’ve consulted Garak on the coordinates where we believe Tirlin Drajal beamed to Cardassia Prime. He’s in the Draneth Mountains of the Elair Province…an island continent east of Eheen Province where the Central City is located.”

"I’m familiar with it,” she said. "Mostly laid to waste during the war. The Dominion destroyed everything from Pogar City on the western coast south past the mountains to the southern tip of Elair. Millions were killed. Whole cities destroyed.”

Lazarus nodded, "It was never rebuilt. The cities to the north were in better shape after the war so reconstruction focused there. Ninety-percent of the population to the south was killed. The southern half of Elair is called The Wastelands by the people of Cardassia. Nomads, criminals and individuals who have rejected the new Cardassian government and the Federation occupation live there now, mostly in the caves in the mountain region.”

"Makes sense,” she replied. "Sounds like somewhere a terrorist would go to hide out. There are probably Cardassians sympathetic to his cause there.”

"There are. Garak confirmed it before I sent him back to his quarters,” Lazarus said. He then sighed and leaned back in his chair, flexing his repaired arm to see how well it was functioning. "Commander, I want Tirlin Drajal brought to justice. I’m not letting him get away. But we don’t have time to waste. I’m having Captain Rhikal on the Fearless organize a team to go down to the Wastelands while Resurrection goes on to the Gamma Quadrant to address the issue of the Trinity devices and this Forward Base where Oran Drajal and possibly one or more of his siblings are.”

Lazarus turned his steely gaze on the Trill, "Rhikal will lead a team of Fearless security, one or two medics from Union XII, along with one Phoenix operator of your choosing, to search for Tirlin and bring him in. Garak and I will be joining Rhikal’s team.

"Meanwhile, Resurrection, commanded by Sornax, should be ready in six hours to coaxial jump from here to the coordinates of Forward Base in the Gamma Quadrant,” he said. "You will find Forward Base, infiltrate and assess the whereabouts and status of the Trinity devices, then take the whole thing out.”

He then waited to see what her reply would be.

The young Trill had the profiles of every Phoenix Squad member laid out in her eyes, but she had most of them already memorized. She wanted to provide Rhikal's team with some muscle, and some protection for the Captain at his XO's text request when she entered his office. So that narrowed it down to just two of them, removing herself that is. And she needed Jahkar with her if they were going to assault a stronghold.

"Take the Carnora."

Lazarus stopped buttoning his shirt. "Why him?"

"You're going to be hunting for Drajal in the ruins. I wouldn't want anyone else to hunt with other than an innate hunter, and one who can cover my six." She mentally swiped away the profiles after voicing her decision. "And to protect my commanding officer."

The bald captain continued buttoning up the rest of his shirt. He eyed her with a suspicious look. "Did Sornax talk to you?"

She gave him a shrug. "I don't know what you mean."

He gave her a grunt in reply. "What about Charatetet?"

"Take him too, he's perfect as a forward scout. We'll just give him a good enough defensive load out so he could be better protected."

Lt. Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2112.02

After their return to the ship, Tiri went to sickbay to assist with the casualties aboard Resurrection following the attack. She tended to several wounded officers, mostly concussions, one broken arm, a couple of plasma burn -- nothing more serious.

Most of the team was over on Fearless receiving medical treatment. She heard both Beckett and McCulloch were badly injured, but knew the Union XII team would put them both back together.

She finished up in the medical bay, then headed to her quarters for a sonic shower and to get on a fresh uniform. When she was done, she left her quarters and headed back out into the ship. That was when she heard a couple of engineers passing by speak about Reepchip getting himself in trouble.

Reepchip was back! She turned and hurried down the corridor toward engineering to she what the Muran was up to…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2112.03

Ryramorl entered his quarters to find Reepchip looking forlorn.  The muran told his big friend what had happened in Engineering–and how he’d mistaken an Ensign for a Lieutenant by the way he’d spoken and ended up seeking the Coaxial Drive in person–though he wasn’t allowed to describe what he’d seen.

Ryramorl listened and twitched an ear. "I’ve heard complaints about the Zakdorn,” he rumbled.  He took a breath.  "We’ll be shifting your training somewhat.  Not only will we train you for infiltration, but also as a sniper.  It will be like the Khassa or the Dar Szen murans, who strike from afar.”  He looked Reepchip in the eye.  "You’ll also have to learn to use your telepathy and telekinesis to your advantage on the battlefield,” he said calmly.  “What’s the heaviest you can lift, for example?”

Reepchip looked around and reached out to lift one of Ryramorl’s knives.  “That’s not too hard…”

“That much strength is enough to crush most humanoid’s throats,” said Ryramorl calmly.  “Also, I heard that the bones on an Olvern ship freak you out.  You’re gonna have to toughen up your mind.”

“I know.  The Chara soldiers made that clear when I was dreaming with him,” responded Reepchip.

“Not only that, Reepchip–but I learned this from my own people.  One of the most effective weapons a warrior shaman has”--he knelt down to look Reepchip in the eye– “is madness.  You told me what happened with Victoria Smith, and that you did that by accident.  You need to be willing to do that deliberately.”

He was about to say more, when he was pinged.  “Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral,” he acknowledged.

“Lieutenant, this is Vree.  I need you to suit up and meet me in the holodeck.  Do you know the whereabouts of Ensign Charatetet?”

“He is with me in my quarters.”

“Tell him to come, too.”

Commander Mayla Vree

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2112.04

The trepid fear in the Engineering lieutenant's eyes nearly made him stammer. While the Commander of Phoenix Squad was nearly a half meter shorter than he, her stance and stonelike look on her face made her request seem...undeniable.

He had just told her while the ship was under repairs, he couldn't route power to the holodeck. The six hours Lazarus gave them was how long it would just to get critical systems to get back online.

"How long can you give me?"

He shook his head. "I can't give you any time, Commander. I'm sorry."

She didn't react to the denied request, but to just turn and walk out of Engineering without a word. The lieutenant let out a sigh of relief when the door closed after her.

"Vree to Lazarus, request permission to beam over to the Fearless with Ra'yral and Charatetet."

"What for?"

"Sims for hunting Drajal. Our holodeck is offline, I've been told."

"Granted. Just get back here immediately when I call for you."

"Affirmative. I'll also go check up on our wounded."

"You do that. Lazarus, out."

She opened a subvoc channel to Ra'yral and the muran. "This is One, meet me in the transporter room instead of the holodeck."

The wait for them wasn't long, less than a minute after she herself had walked in. The transporter chief notified her that the Fearless had authorized the transport and was ready. The three beamed over to the *Fearless*.

Commander Victoria Smith

*USS Fearless*

Stardate 2112.04

“Understood Captain. Smith out.” Victoria announced after she had been briefed by Captain Rhikal on the mission details. She looked about the combat support hospital (CSH) that had been set up inside the main cabin of the team’s jumpship. She noted most of Union XII’s patients had either been discharged or were transferred to the Fearless’ sickbay. Cody Beckett had been transferred up to sickbay for a final check-up and was expected to be discharged within the next three hours.

Victoria rubbed her eyes and yawned. It had been yet another long day of working with little sleep or rest. Naps are for another time Jairin reminded her.

“Ensigns Gace and Zalir, to me now.” She ordered loud enough for the two nurses to hear. The male Tellarite ran up the ship’s ramp and stopped before his commanding officer. Gace joined the pair seconds later.

“No rest for the weary,” Smith announced with a weak smile. “We’re being mobilized again.”

“Ma’am?” Hixwir asked cautiously.

“We’re being split up. Gace... you and Petty Officer Mendes will stay here on the Fearless and support Phoenix here. The remainder of the team is going to the Resurrection to man its sickbay and provide support. Zalir please start preparing the team for transfer.”

“Which operatives are staying here?” Zalir asked.

"The Muran and Carnora. So Hixwir, we know why you’re going with the pair.”

Ensign Gace nodded in understanding. If Reepchip was wounded or injured again, her telepathic abilities were going to be needed. That said, she was somewhat concerned at the prospect of having to drag Ryramorl from battle if wounded.

“Concerns Ms. Gace?” Victoria pressed as she quickly picked up on the Betazoid’s hesitation.

“No ma’am, it’s just the size of the Carnora is a bit...concerning.”

“The team hasn’t been dragging four hundred pound sleds as part of our morning workout for over two months for nothing.” The commander replied matter-of-factly. “Lieutenant Ryramorl weighs much less than that.”

“We’ve been dragging those sleds in pairs ma’am. What if Mendes or I am tending to someone else?”

“Petty Officer Mendes has dragged over 300 pounds by himself on more than one occasion. If you too busy are working on a patient and can’t extricate Ryramorl from combat, have Mendes drag the Carnora to safety by himself.” At six-foot-two in height and two hundred and fifty pounds, Union XII’s Brazilian medic was the largest and strongest member of the team. He was also the youngest having recently turned twenty. His parents wrote to Victoria twice...first to thank her for recruiting their son and second to advise her that if he ever misbehaved to call his mother so she could snap him back into line. Three times the commanding nurse threatened to follow through on the offer. On each occasion, Joao Felix Mendes quickly complied. Occasionally, Victoria would make the young medic sit down before she would chew him out so she could compensate for the significant height difference between the pair.Despite his random mischief and mildly bad behavior, the Petty Officer was fiercely loyal to Victoria and referred to her behind her back as his “second mother”. Ensign Gace nodded in understanding for a second time. Smith continued.“I want the entire team assembled within the hour. Everyone is to be in full tactical gear with light armor, rifles, sidearms and full medical kits.”“Ballistic helmets?” Ensign Zalir asked.“You guys really hate those helmets, huh?”“Yes ma’am.” The Tellarite answered confidently.“Helmets and goggles included,” Victoria countered, as her memories of Jairin warned her not to roll her eyes.“What about the jump ship?” Gace asked.“It’s being transferred to the Resurrection as soon as we shut down the CSH. Any other questions?”After a moment of silence, Victoria dismissed the pair of ensigns with a curt nod. About forty five minutes later, members of Union XII began to trickle back into the hangar for inspection. All were in full tactical gear, armed with rifles and side arms and equipped with medical packs and supplies. Off to the side, the Gentle Annie’s crew watched as Victoria inspected each team member's equipment and armor. Occasionally she would remove the metal plating from a team member’s chest armor, examine it and return it to its owner.When she reached Ensign Gace, her comm badge chirped.“Riisos to Smith.” “Go ahead.” Victoria answered as she stepped away the team. Union XII’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Gysyd Riisos, had assumed Victoria’s role on board the Resurrection while she was onboard the Fearless.“You asked me to notify you if Commander Vree ever transported over to the Fearless. I just received word that she, the Canoran, and the Muran have already beamed over to your ship.”

The commanding nurse smiled wryly.

“Ensign Gace?”

“Ma’am?”

“You’re with me. Everyone else stands down until I return."

“Where are we going ma’am?” Gace nervously asked.

“I am going to see Commander Vree to have a little chat. I need you there as a witness."

“A conversation ma’am?”

“Hopefully that’s it ensign.”

“What?!!?”

“With me Ms. Gace.”

As the Betazoid officer stammered to answer, Victoria made her way towards the hangar bay exit.  The ballistic helmet strapped to her hip and red ponytail swung in unison from side to side as she quickened her pace once out in the passageway. The ensign rushed after the commander, sensing her superior was preparing for a fight.

Off in the corner, no one had noticed Lt. Commander McCulloch, who had been waiting for almost an hour for an opportunity to speak with Victoria.

“Oh sh\*t,” he exclaimed as he watched his ex-wife storm out of the hangar bay. “No, no, no...This is not good.”

The Scot raced after Victoria, hoping to intercept the nurse before she decided to invite Mayla into a ring for a “discussion”.

They intercepted the trio approaching the Fearless' holodeck. Vree saw the red cloud of darkness rapidly approach her just as the holodeck doors opened. But she ignored her and entered the holodeck with Ra'yral and Charatetet. She closed the doors behind them and locked it.

Commander Mayla Vree

Holodeck, *USS Fearless*

Stardate 2112.04

"Computer, access hyperscans from the Cardassia Prime Cartography Project of the Draneth Mountains, specifically the Wastelands in southern Elair. Authorization Vree Pi-Omicron-999." The three dimensional map appeared in front of her as she gestured to an area Drajal had beamed into. Over the course of the Cardassian Reconstruction Project, Starfleet Intelligence had taken the opportunity to spend the next few years mapping the entire planet, taking it's time to take a hyperscan of the entire surface to keep for future intelligence needed.

Ra'yral and Charatetet came up to stand beside her. "Drajal's beam in point was somewhere in what is called the Wastelands, here. You are going to sim through the terrain to get a feel of it. Especially you," she looked pointedly at Charatetet. "I need to know if you're up for this mission."

Charatetet nodded and gave a slight bow. "I am ready." <OOC-EW: JD, change whatever you need to here.>

"We'll see soon enough. You will also be charged with protecting the Captain as he will be leading the mission." She proceeded to inform them of the mission to the Wasteland and to apprehend Tirlin Drajal. "Don't kill him. Lazarus wants him alive. Take what you need from the armory, take as many sky eye nanoprobes as needed. Charatetet should gear up armored. I don't want him getting hurt. Is that clear?" She looked up at the Carnora.

"I will see to it."

"Good. I want you two to get familiar with the type of terrain and where are bottlenecks for possible ambush. This part of the planet is populated by nomads and criminals living in various cave systems. Anti-Cardassian government and anti Federation rule here. Over the past few years, Starfleet Intelligence have been watching their movements and the simulation will replay what has already been recorded so we can get a feel of what to expect. Let's start the walk through, and feel free to point out any possible elements you should take note of. And I'll do the same. Charatetet can be assigned to scout ahead of the group, so he needs to get used to this terrain to move in stealth."

She made a few gestures in the air and the holodeck changed around them to the Wastelands. "The Resurrection will be leaving in about six hours. Let's take a few hours and let's see what the Wasteland has for you."

Oran Drajal

Forward Base /Gamma Quadrant

Stardate 2112.04

Oran stood on the observation deck a level below operations and looked out the windows at the gaseous atmosphere of Nixamar IIX, which appeared as a purple and pink haze and marveled at his accomplishments.

He had arrived here 10 years earlier and found the facility, tucked inside the upper atmosphere of a gas giant where it was rendered invisible to sensors, still functional though abandoned by the original garrison left here by the Obsidian Order at the start of the Dominion War. According to logs the crew had slowly, one by one, left the station over the years, taking their cloaked ships and making for the wormhole.

Most had made the attempt during the Dominion War and had been caught and destroyed by the Jem’Hadar. The last group of survivors, their morale broken down as their numbers dwindled to just 200 or the original 5,000 left there, took a ship and set out for the wormhole after the war.

They made it through to the Alpha Quadrant and learned the fate of their world. Unwilling to surrender and submit the Federation, Klingon Romulan occupying forces they hid in the Badlands and conducted covert operations until they learned there were pockets of resistance.

The commander of the surviving Forward Base crew, Gul Toval, learned about the Sons of Cardassian and made contact with Drajal.

Because of Toval, Oran and his terrorist group were able to find Forward Base and the remaining 15 Keldon-class ships that remained docked there. The Drajals and their followers made their way to the Nixamar system in the Gamma Quadrant and there, they claimed Forward Base.

They used the Keldon-class ships to carry out their missions and the industrial replicators attached to the main station to create enough parts to build five more warships, as well as replicating new, updated equipment and systems for the existing Keldons. Cloaking devices, improved phasers, slipstream drives and holographic displays were the highlight of the upgrades.

And now, they had the Trinity weapons. At least the two remaining devices. The third had already been used to punish the Breen for their actions 20 years earlier. Now, he watched as the CDS Arluth docked with the station. His brother Narvath had arrived, delivering the Trinity device he’d recovered on Toros III.

With the two devices in his hands, and the location of the Founder homeworld delivered by his sister via encrypted transmission, they were ready to attack the Dominion and punish them just as they had done to the Breen.

A few minutes after the Arluth docked, the door to the observation deck slid open and Narvath Drajal strode in, his face displaying a huge grin as he walked toward Oran. It was good to she one of his siblings, especially with such a grand smile. It had been many years since they’d had anything to smile about.

“My brother! You did it!” Oran declared as Narvath ran to him and they embraced with a bear hug. “You have delivered the Trinity and the time is now upon us to make the Founders pay for what they did to our people.”

“Finally, we will have justice,” Narvath said. “The transmission from Sabka? She came through?”

“Yes,” Oran confirmed, stepping back from his brother. “She got the information through. If Starfleet intercepted, they will undoubtably be working to decrypt the message.”

Narvath nodded, “Then we should act quickly.”

“We will. I want to get underway within 12 hours,” Oran said. “Unfortunately, we will have to proceed without Tirlin and Sabka. They were unable to make it to the wormhole before the Bajorans shut it down.”

“Too bad that Founder b\*\*ch won’t be able to see her people die,” Narvath snarled. “We will have to make sure she sees a recording before we kill her.”

Oran nodded, “Come, brother, let’s celebrate with some kanar. Then, we will brief the Sons and Daughters on their mission.”

Together, the Drajal brothers left to observation deck and went to Oran’s quarters to drink and celebrate their impending victory…

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