Writing's Fun (Or, I can't think of a title)

[Stofsk]

This is a piece I just now finished writing. It's set in the same year as DS9 season 1 or TNG season 6. A few things have changed - the most obvious, and I hope that it shows in the story, is the militant nature of Starfleet. The Klingon Civil war continues to rage, as Starfleet failed to prove the Romulans were supplying the Duras. The Cardassians, upon seeing Starfleet lose it's closest ally to internal strife, takes advantage and renews its war. They did not withdraw from DS9 and Bajor, both are still under Cardassian rule. A certain Gul is about to make a significant discovery.

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1.
A soundless flash punctuated the cold emptiness of space as a starship exited warp. The familiar white hull and saucer shape betrayed it's origin to the waiting reception, a pair of Galor-class warships.

At her station on the Lexington's sensor station, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax analysed the information.

"Scans read two Galor class warships orbiting the Argus array."

"Status of the array?" asked Captain Soval with the calm precision Vulcans were renowned for.

In response to his question a tech who operated the secondary sensor station chimed in with his report: "I read multiple impacts on it's surface, it's been damaged all right. I also read Cardassian biosigns on the array." The Argus array - a long range observatory which Starfleet had made good use with during the war with the Cardassians. It was a boon for the Federation, and a curse for their enemies.

"Then they seek to capture it intact." surmised Soval. "Tactical, launch fighters; begin the attack. Helm, plot a course that will take us within transporter range of the array. Have the marine contingent prepare for site-to-site transport."

The Lexington was a Nebula-class Heavy cruiser, designed to be a cheap alternative to the pricey and extravagant Galaxy. While it wasn't as powerful it sure was as durable; the Lexington had seen combat against the Cardassians for the last year and a half, ever since the beligerent aliens had taken advantage of the ceasefire to renew their war. With the Klingons still engaged in their bloody Civil war, there were no allies for the Federation to turn to. The Cardassians didn't enjoy the same technological parity with the Federation, but their supply lines were shorter, and they were nothing if not efficient at bunkering down a captured system. Starfleet feared the Cardassians capturing the array in force, as it would be a devil to retake, and the Cardassians would use the array to spot for approaching ships. Hence why the urgency of starfleet's response.

Soval turned to his XO.

"Lieutenant Commander Dax, do scans detect the presence of the Setak and the Majestic?" The Argus array had been protected by two Miranda class destroyers.

Jadzia knew this question would be asked, and had made sure to check the status of the two ships.

"We're too late, Captain. Scans register ..."

There was buffeting as the Lexington's shields took a beating. The battle had been joined.

"Tactical, photon volley on the Cardassians, on my mark. Continue firing phasers." There was a brief acknowledgment from the tactical stations as crew rushed to comply with their captain's orders. "The ships, commander?"

"Destroyed." Jadzia finished. She tried to keep the emotion out of her voice. She knew the science officer onboard the Majestic. "But not without a fight, and not too long ago. There are various transponder beacons from escape pods."

"We shall pick them up as soon as this engagement is completed." assured Soval. While he personally found emotions a liability, exposure to other races gave him an unique perspective - people function best when they had hope, no matter how fleeting. "What do your scans tell me of our two antagonists?"

"Heavy jamming, sir." said a sensor tech. "I'll need to devote power to the filters to clear this mess up."

"Then do so, and be expedient." Soval noticed on his readout that the ship had entered transporter range of the array. "Transporter rooms, prepare for insertion. Flight Ops, instruct our pilots to cover our port quarter."




As soon as the Lexington had warped into the Argus system Tom Paris knew he'd have his chance.

"Tactical: Launch fighters. Repeat, launch fighters."

Sitting in the cockpit of his aurora fighter, Paris felt the anticipation of coming battle. He had just graduated from the academy, and had been assigned to the Cardassian front immediately thereafter.

"Paris, call in!"

With a start Tom came back to the present.

"Nova 5, standing by."

"Launch!"

The Auroras flew out of the hangar bay, flying out the aft of the Lexington.

"Come about - looks like the Cardies are sporting some reception of their own!" Tom looked at his HUD - sure enough the Cardies had their own fighters incoming. And torpedoes.

"This is Paris, I'm going to try and take out those photons." He pulled his fighter in the direction of the closest photon. A brief second to align his phaser cannon with the target, and in a flash of intensity the torpedo had been detonated.

"Nova 5, you've picked up a Cardie on your 6! Break to port, hard!"

Tom did so, and his aurora only took a few burns as the Cardie's phaser strike went wide.

"Orly, was that you? Looks like I owe you one." said Paris as he looped around and burnt his attacker.

"Hey, I scratched your back - now how about you scratch mine?" Tom took a second to find her fighter in the melee. There she was - being pursued by two Cardies. "Give me half a second babe -"

"I don't have a second -" Orly's fighter took damage, but it wasn't destroyed. Paris pushed his ship to the limit, coming upon the two attackers. A few bursts of his phaser cannon and one of the fighters had been disintegrated. Another burst and the last Cardie broke off his attack. "Orly, talk to me."

"I got hit hard, but I'll survive. Damn those Cardies." The venom in her voice was palatable, even on subspace radio.

"Good, form up. We'll tackle them together. I'll cover you." That way it would give her shields a chance to recover. Tom waited for his comrade to join his wing, and together they came about and engaged another Cardie fighter. Paris took most of the heat, giving Orly a chance to score a hit.

"Listen up, all wings -" said Nova leader over the coms. "- cover the Lex's portside. She's taking fire from those two Cardassian blimps."

"Request attack run on those Cardies."

"Negative Tom, stick with the mission. Cover the Lex's port."

Dammit! What the hell am I sitting on four torpedoes for if I can't launch them on a Cardie blimp? Tom's frustration was interrupted as another fighter came in to challenge him; he had just enough time to dart to his right before his attacker opened fire.




The Lexington came within range of the imposing sensor array. With the two Galor class warships beating at it's shields on one end, the other end had lowered it's shields to make way for the boarding parties.

Onboard the array, a dozen starfleet marines materialised with phaser rifles covering all directions. Almost immediately they came under fire from the Cardassian soldiers from down a lengthy corridor; the starfleet troops had beamed into a corridor threeway, and there were half-a-dozen enemy soldiers waiting for them. The marines came equipped with reflec vests, designed to take some heat off of enemy fire. One marine took the brunt of two Cardassian phasers - and went down, his vest a smoking ruin. No armour guaranteed complete protection.

The squad sergeant barked orders to his troops, and pretty soon the inside of the array was alive with phaser fire - another marine went down, but the half a dozen Cardassians were taken in exchange. Sergeant Kendrick took a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead - an aftereffect of close quarters battle with phaser rifles. He looked over at his fallen comrades, already being treated by the squad's medic, who looked up and gave a solemn shake of his head. Both were dead.

"Sergeant Kendrick to Lexington, we've secured the insertion point. We've taken casualties, over."

"-ry - ood, ser-ant ... prepare -" With a squark the communicators went dead. Jamming.

"Dammit! All right marines, move out. We'll sweep the Ops deck, that's where our Cardies will be. Olsen, lead the way."

"Aye sarge." Olsen took the lead, his rifle in steady hands.

The marines fell in step and moved out, keeping their rifles aimed down the corridor. Kendrick felt the danger as he walked swiftly. Few things were as terrifying as a boarding operation.




Jadzia worked hard and furiously to clear the jamming, but met with limited success. The Cardassians were thorough at this kind of warfare.

"Lieutenant Commander, my boards still show jamming."

Jadzia took advantage of three hundred years of experience - now was not the time to lose her mind, nor lose her focus. She had been trained for this, she had lived through similar experiences - her captain needed her.

"Captain, scans ... show a partial read out on the Cardassian ships. The port one is responsible for most of the jamming, the leading one is taking most of our fire in an effort at covering."

"Prolonging the jamming - they work well together. Tactical, offload the torpedo volley."

"Aye sir - sir, shields down to 60%."

"Acknowledged. Fire."

The Lexington opened fire with her torpedo pod. A dozen photons flashed out of their tubes, heading towards the port Galor warship. At the last second, the covering Galor intercepted half the torpedoes, sharing part of the damage. It renewed it's attack on the Lexington, furious now, or perhaps desperate.




Tom saw the photon strike, as did his wing man. Most of it landed and did impressive damage, but the Galor's companion moved to intercept some of the fire.

"Five and Six, with me. We're going to see if we can't deal with that blimp."

"Which one are we going for, Nova leader?" asked Tom.

"The one that was supposed to get that strike on it. Tom, Orly, form up."

Tom risked a quick glance at his HUD - still jammed from the interference. Tricky Cardies - they know they're outclassed but they also know how to fight. He looked at the ship itself with his own eyes - sure enough, it looked worse off than it's companion. Part of the hull had been penetrated by the photon strike, and Tom could tell this was the chance he had been looking for.

The three fighter's approach had not gone unnoticed by the Cardassians, but there were scant few opposing fighters to harass them. The forward warship took some shots at the three Auroras, but their phaser strikes went wide. Federation fighters were hard to hit.

"She's noticed us -," said Orly. "Look, she's turning around to face us -" there was a momentary lapse in communications as static took hold. "- it looks like the engine fin is exposed."

"That's where we drop our eggs. Skim the hull, they'll have a harder time tracking us."

"Right Tom." The fighters swooped in, evading the Cardassian point defence as they made their approach to the ship's hull. The wide beams lanced out and clipped Nova leader's wing.

"Sir, are you -?"

"Fine, still flying. Stay your course."

Tom could see Nova leader's engine was leaking plasma, but there was no time to worry about him as he pulled his nose up and hugged the Cardie hull. With the flick of a button he armed the weapons payload his Aurora carried.

A burst of phaser fire, and Nova leader was hit. Instead of pulling away he chose instead to crash into the Cardie's gun turret, giving Tom and Orly enough cover to drop their eggs. The microtorpedoes launched from the fighters, flying towards the exposed hull. When they landed they gave off a soundless explosion, and Tom's screens were now clear. He turned his fighter back to the battle, and Orly followed him.

Neither pilot tried to think of the death of their comrade.




The Argus array was being stubbornly defended by the Cardassians, like pitbulls who had grabbed a hold of a bone and wouldn't let go. They fought with desperation, and before long another starfleet marine had fell. Kendrick's men had assaulted the Ops deck - most of the Cardassian troopers had chosen that as their last-ditch stand.

By the entrance Kendrick pulled out a concussion grenade and threw it into the open deck. A second passed and there was a deafening explosion. With that the marines charged the breach, taking fire and shrugging it off with the reflec vests. Kendrick signaled half his troops to flank the opposite side of the Ops deck - a fairly large complex full of screens and consoles.

There was a balcony rail which had three or four Cardie troopers firing down at the marines. Kendrick and the remaining half of his squad took cover where they could find it, and opened fire when they could.

"Olsen, we're pinned down here from those high ground Cardies! They're focusing on us, which means they're ignoring you!"

"I see them." came Olsen's steady reply. A moment passed, and then bright blue beams of phaser fire cut apart the Cardie troopers.

"Sarge this is Olsen, looks like we've finished up here. No-one's left to fight."

Kendrick raised himself from his cover, and surveyed the deck. A dozen Cardassians were on the ground, either dead or struggling to remain conscious after that concussion grenade. The four on the railing above were dead, courtesy of Olsen and his flankers. A quick sweep of the Ops deck showed three more Cardassians, dead.

"Operate the sensors - see if we have internal at all. And secure the prisoners."

A marine who focused on sensors found a station and began to scan, while others wen to the fallen Cardassians and stunned them. A minute later and the scan was complete.

"Sensors register no Cardassian biosigns."

Kendrick looked dubious.

"Are you sure? Maybe the scanners took some damage?"

"Not that I can see sarge." replied the marine. "The Argy is big all right, but there ain't that many places for people to hide. Most of this place isn't even habitable."

"Fine - but I want a visual sweep, just to be sure. Olsen, take your section and sweep the wardrooms and cabins. Maybe there aren't any Cardies left, but let's make sure they didn't leave any surprises."

"Aye sarge - let's move out marines!" Olsen left with half a dozen soldiers, leaving the Ops deck with Kendrick, the sensor tech and a third marine who kept a watchful vigil over the stunned captives. Kendrick turned to the sensor specialist.

"Make sure all systems register positive, I don't want any surprises."

"Aye sarge."




"Captain," Jadzia called out from her station. "The jamming has been lifted. Scans now show heavy damage on both Cardassian warships; the port one is out of commission, dead in space."

"Tactical, do you have a firing solution on the starboard Galor? Make your shots count."

"Aye sir!" came the reply. Working furiously the weapons tech repositioned his target and opened fire.

With no jamming left to obscure the battlescape, the Lexington's armament found their mark. Phasers tore through the armour plating, while a second photon strike chewed into the hull. Plasma leaked from the ship's engines, an indicator of the attack's severity. It offered only feeble resistance, and it slowly began to turn as if to withdraw.

"Damage report?" commanded Soval.

"Shields at 40%." began a tech covering the aft engineering board. "Structural integrity has been impaired on the forward decks, portside." The side where the shields had been lowered to beam over the boarding party. "Sickbay reports casualties, though no fatalities so far. Doctor Bashir requests to beam over more medics for the marines -"

There was a severe buffeting as the Lexington came under a new onslaught.

"Report!" Soval was as surprised as anyone else - the Galor was clearly retreating.

"Damage to the port nacelle! A few of those Cardie fighters slipped through the shields and kamikazed -"

There was another shake and the tech was thrown from his seat. The board he had been occupying burst with electricity, shorting out the console which turned black with powerloss.

"They were playing possum." breathed Jadzia under her breath. Soval returned his voice to the calm and in command.

"Medic to the bridge. Man down. Tactical, if you have a firing solution on that Galor -"

There was a shimmering around the bridge as intruders materialised.

"Intruders!" Soval whipped out his phaser pistol and fired at the closest materialising trooper, catching him square in the chest. A marine pushed Soval out of the way as another intruder took aim and fired. The marine took the hit, but Soval returned the favour.

Jadzia pulled out her own weapon and aligned it to the closest intruder. Too slow; a Cardassian with his back to her whipped his rifle butt into her head before she could fire. The sensor tech leapt from his own console and bravely distracted the trooper. He was cut apart by the purple Cardassian phaser beam. Jadzia felt her head thudding with pain, and could barely register the trooper in her vision. She took aim and fired, but didn't know if she hit because at that moment there was darkness.

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Comments, suggestions and criticisms welcome. Based on feedback I'll consider serialising this (it certainly leaves you hanging - well, at least I hope it does).

[Crazedwraith]

Interesting. THough its hard to understand why a contining klingon civil war woyuld mean that Tom would be a fighter pilot or explain the exsistance of the fighters themselves I've never heard of an "aurora" class fighter before.

[Stofsk]

Interesting. THough its hard to understand why a contining klingon civil war woyuld mean that Tom would be a fighter pilot or explain the exsistance of the fighters themselves I've never heard of an "aurora" class fighter before.

Alternate reality. The whole place is crazy.

[Gandalf]

That's pretty damn good.