"Anatomy of a War" - Alt-Trekverse Fic

[CJvR]

Considering the large number of very competent Cardassian recruiters the resistance have working alreaddy it would hardly be worth the effort to get one more.

[Junghalli]

Damnit! You're making the Cardies into nice people. How exactly are we supposed to cheer when they are all slaughtered?

Because when you really think about the ethics of war usually end up being somewhat more complex than simply kicking a lot of ass than really needs to be kicked.

[Steve]

Bomber Atomic Dolphin, Near Bajor
7 December 2153 AST
03:15 GST


The Atomic Dolphin and her squadron came out of warp some distance from Bajor, approaching from the system's zenith point with ECS systems active. In the cockpit, Sheppard finished securing from warp flight and orientated the bomber properly. "Pilot to Bombardier, program weapons."
"Aye, Sir."
Inside the Atomic Dolphin's bomb bay, three impulse boosters had been loaded. Each carried five re-entry missiles with non-atomic warheads meant for surgical strikes. The boosters were locked on specific areas, the missiles on specific targets, mostly enemy bases and attack craft facilities. "Weapons programmed."
"Open bay doors. Launch when ready."



Kevep Sor, Bajor, Cardassian Union


Kevep Sor was a base near the city of Luvia, the home of the Cardassian 1,329th Planetary Defense Force and the 203rd Provisional Order. Altogether, some 25,000 Cardassians lived and worked in the facility, as well as an additional few hundred "native" workers, mostly of half-Cardassian and half-Bajoran heritage or "trusted" Bajorans (not counting the two hundred or so Bajoran girls forced to live in the base bordello).
The base was on medium alert now, contending both with the threat of invasion and the Alliance sorties to support the Bajoran rebel cities. Most of the native workers were now under close watch and would soon be dismissed. Even the bordello was to be closed down, though not before one last night of carousing by the troops in the base, who were taking the time to make some final use of the Bajoran girls they had available.
But suddenly, all activity was ended by the shrill cry of an alarm. A shield dome popped into existance over Kevep Sor as everyone rushed to evacuate the base or to launch the attack craft. There was a sudden explosion in the air over Kevep Sor, from a missile warhead hitting the shield dome. Then another explosion, and another...
The shield finally gave; three missiles came down through the dome and toward the base. Multiple explosive warheads were fired out just as the missile came into optimum height, raining a series of vicious explosions that spared nothing. Buildings, unshielded attack craft, and living flesh were vaporized, blasted apart, or scorched by the tremendous blast.
The saddest thing is that the explosions did not discriminate in their killing. In the barracks building holding the troops' bordello, which was hit directly by one of the warheads, Bajoran girls weeping at their renewed humiliation died along with the Cardassians who were violating them.
Within minutes, Kevep Sor had been turned from a thriving military base to a mix of ruins and structures lucky to survive the blasts. Thousands were now dead and the base no longer had much worth to the Cardassian defenses.




Camp Gapaka, Darane, Alliance Liberation Zone
12:15 GST


Camp Gapaka was the prefab barricks facility set up by the 555th Division when it arrived on Darane on the 6th. It was named after Vedek Gapaka Levip, the founder of the first Bajoran expatriate community in the Federation and one of the spiritual founders of the Bajoran Resistance, making the intent of the unit clear.
The unit was only half disembarked from the troop transport assigned to it, the Francis Conway, giving all of the troops sufficient room while maintaining readiness to launch the instant the order was given. The unit was on constant standby for re-embarkment and the mood among the soldiers was optimistic.
One irony of the situation was that roughly three-fifths of the unit's Bajorans had little to no memories of Bajor at all. They had either moved to the Federation with their families while they were still young or they were born in the Federation and had only heard stories of Bajor. To them, Bajor was semi-mythical, some unreal place their parents or grandparents longed to return to. It might have well been Heaven to them, albeit a Heaven currently controlled by demons. A Heaven they were about to reclaim.
Laying in a prefab barracks just outside the Conway's main hatch, Private Lorva Korvys was typing on a personal laptop, writing a letter to his wife back in the town of Little Hook on Corwich. Above him on the upper bunk, Private Opel Tevil was just laying and toying with his unloaded sidearm. Finally Tevil twisted to look down and said, "Korvys, still writing home?"
"Yes."
"Ah." Tevil turned again and faced the low ceiling. "I wonder how much longer until we go?"
"Beats me."
"You've never been to Bajor, right?"
"I was three years old when my aunt and uncle smuggled me with them to the refugee settlement on Sovel. I can barely remember anything about Bajor. Devys, though, she was almost a teenager when she left. So she remembers a lot more than I do."
"Devys being your wife?"
"Wife of four years, yes." Korvys sighed. Tevil heard one last tap of the keyboard before the snapping sound of the laptop computer closing. "From Little Hook, right?"
"No, I settled with the parents in Wypl Losa. A hundred or so miles up the coast from Little Hook, right on the sea."
"Ah. So you didn't see many of the local Humans?"
A sly grin crossed Tevil's face. "Oh, I did. Wypl Losa might be a bit isolated, but we have a small Human population, mostly the people responsible for setting up the local schools and such. And some of them brought very beautiful daughters."
A chuckle came from below. "Ah. So you're into Human girls?"
"Not too different from our own. And they love wearing very little when they're at the beach." Tevil had fond memories in his head of a couple of those girls he was most successful with, a blonde-haired beauty and a spunky, short brunette.
"But no family for you yet."
"I'm only nineteen, I'll get to it."
Korvys finished packing his laptop away and laid on his bunk, arms under his head. "Devys and I got together when we were eighteen. We had Uliya about a year later."
"If you've got a little girl, why'd you enlist?"
"Because I, well, I..."
"You got caught up in the 'We'll free Bajor one day!' sentiment, I guess?"
Korvys grinned at that. "Maybe a bit. But I also felt that I'd be helping to protect my family and maybe get some good pay in the process. And when I was eligible, I was going to sign up for OCS so that I could get transferred to the Corwich Militia as an officer."
"Oh, that's nice. Get some bars on your shoulder."
"And what about you? Why'd you enlist?"
Tevil shrugged. "Recruiter talked me into it. Said I could get a free college education, and the signing bonus they offered helped pay for my family's new home."
"Didn't bother with the charities?"
"Nah. Besides, things were boring at home anyway."
At that moment their Staff Sergeant, an older Human of light brown complexion named Weathers, entered and announced the daily mail call, leading to everyone standing and saluting. The soldiers had very limited real-time communication with their family, and almost no access to A/V comms due to limited communication bandwidth for the unit - such was the drawback of being in the field.
After some other names were called, Sergeant Weathers bellowed, "Lorva! Korvys Lorva!"
Korvys got off the bunk and accepted the small slip of paper from Weathers. He pulled it open from where the Division Postmaster had applied adhesive to seal it upon printing and sat down on the bunk. Tevil peered over the side. "Letter from the wifey?"
Korvys didn't reply at first. Instead he slowly lowered the letter and stared off into space. Some of the other soldiers laying and sitting nearby noticed the look on his face. "Hey, Korvys, what is it?" one of them said.
"It's a letter from my wife Devys. She's.... she's pregnant."
Applause came from all corners. Tevil reached down and slapped Korvys on the shoulder. Korvys just continued to stare blankly, coming to grips with the happy but unexpected news. He reached into his things and brought out the picture he kept from the day he finished boot camp and saw Devys for the first time in weeks. He was in uniform, she was in a sleeveless blue blouse, and their little girl Uliya was in his arms, wearing a cute little yellow dress and with the same dark blonde hair Devys had.
Tevil reached back down and put a hand on Korvys' shoulder. "Hey, Korvys, you're gonna make it. Don't worry."
"Yeah." He continued to look at the picture some before getting his laptop back out to redo his letter to Devys, taking into account this news.

[Steve]

Ithol Valley, Bajor, Cardassian Union
8 December 2153 AST
07:15 GST


Kira splashed another handful of cold water into her dirt-covered face and pulled the heavy woolen coat a little tighter over her thin, nearly mal-nourished frame. A fully-loaded AK-90 dangled from her shoulder, the steel weapon starting to catch a reflection from the dawning Bajoran sun. Behind her, in the trees and rock outcroppings of the mountain, were about sixty-four fighters, including the five Star Marines led by Lieutenant Korolev. Kira had sadly lost three of her comrades in the two week march; one killed when ambushed by a rather large shalkur and two lost in their passage of the more severe mountain trails from the bitter cold or slipping over the edge. But they had survived. After a grueling fifteen day march through the Gorlin Mountains with only basic nutrition rations and shalkar meat as food, Shakaar and his cell had arrived in Ithol.
The scenic Bajoran valley had a temperate climate, being warm in the summer but potentially cold in winter, something like Upstate New York on Earth. Fresh snow coated the ground from last night's snow shower, though the temperature was still high enough that this small mountain stream had not frozen over. Here, at the northern edge of the Gorlin Mountains, they were within a ten hour march to the Cardassian communications facility at Ithol, a comm facility that coordinated Cardassian ground troops for the entire Valley plus the prairie and steppes outside the valley on all sides. It was the major comm hub for the area, and without it the Cardassians would be forced to realign all of their communications to the other half of the Dakhur network, which was currently being utilized to deal with the siege of the valley city of Salmio. As soon as Korolev got the signal, they would begin their march and attempt to take the base by surprise. The timing was crucial, since it was not good defensive ground and there were about a thousand Cardassian troops in the area who could lay siege to them within two hours; another thousand and a half within six. So they would have to be supported quickly if they were to avoid annihilation.
"Damned cold. If we're not sweating like collaborator whores in the summer, we're freezing in the winter." Kira's irritated mumbling drew a laugh from nearby. "What's it to you?"
Corporal Nimenez looked up from where he was sitting. He was just as haggard looking as she was, with hair growing on his chin, but the young soldier shrugged. "Nothing, actually. But why that term? I thought the Bajoran for 'whore' was kefipi?"
"I'm talking about Cakefipi."
"Ah. The Bajoran prostitutes who service Cardassians."
"More like the ones who do it willingly and who even have their children."
Nimenez looked back down at his gun, which he was cleaning. "And what would you do if a Cardassian forced himself on you and got you pregnant?"
"Carve out my own womb," Kira spat. She noticed Nimenez frowning. "You have a problem with that?"
"I suppose it's my beliefs showing through. I believe that Life itself is sacred. Even if it's Cardassian."
She smirked at that. "You've never dealt with them before."
"Not like you have, true. But I don't think they're all evil either. Evil transcends simple matters of race. So does Good, and the promise of redemption."
"Oh, don't give me that metaphysical crap," scoffed Kira. "You're a soldier. Your job is to kill your enemies. How can you reconcile that with your beliefs?"
"The Church calls it 'Just War', that is, a war where a Christian can fight and kill without violating Christ's message of love and forgiveness or the sanctity of Life. And while I will not lie and say I am a very devout Catholic, I do believe very strongly that killing is a wrongful thing that can be justified only in certain circumstances. I became a soldier because I believed that if I had to fight and to kill, I would do so in circumstances that would justify these things and that I would be defending the things that I cherish." Nimenez put his AK down and placed his hands together. "What do you believe in, Nerys? I am not very familiar with your people's teachings and the divine revelations from those you call the Prophets, so I don't know how they compare to the Church. So you tell me."
"I, well...." Kira sighed and then sat down near him. "I'm not sure."
"Not sure?"
"We're all taught to believe in the Prophets from an early age, and we learn some of the basics about them, but... Sometimes I don't know. What if it's all some ancient fairy tale? What if there are no Prophets, no Celestial Temple? No happy land to which we will go when we die, free from the Cardassians? And when I think about how I don't know for sure, I always decide that it doesn't matter. I am here, Bajor is here, and the worst of all, the Cardassians are here. So I fight to get them out of here so that we can all live in peace." Kira saw Nimenez shaking his head. "What?"
"We Humans have often learned that there is never peace. It's a part of the nature of living things. We're so random, and we let our emotions and our beliefs carry us away so often, that there's always some form of conflict between two different groups, or even the same." Nimenez put his hands on his knees. "Even Bajor is like that. According to what I've studied, your people have their own ethnic divisions, cultural differences, and rivalries for land between those lines."
"Under the Kai's rule, Bajor was united in peace," Kira countered. "We argued, yes, but we didn't go around killing each other."
"The Kai has not ruled Bajor in decades. Your people's very culture has been changed since the Cardassian takeover. You cannot simply remove the Cardassians and return to the old ways. It's not possible."
"Then what will happen to us, hmm? Maybe you Humans can come and 'teach' us things, just like the Cardassians said they were going to?"
Nimenez saw the fire that was starting to kindle in Kira's eyes and sighed. "I understand why you might not trust us, Nerys, and I sympathize. But could you perhaps find it in your heart to be a little trusting. My people, the Humans from other universes, had no ambitions in this universe when we arrived, we simply wanted to find new avenues for trade. We, like you, were forced to fight by Cardassia. We have no desire to control Bajor or the destiny of the Bajoran people, only to help you if you would let us. That's for you to decide. Your people have to want us here if our help is to last."
"You say that. But what about your leaders? You've admitted yourself that Evil is something that is possible for us all. What happens if your leaders decided they knew what was best for us? Then we're right back where we started."
"I do not believe it will come to that."
"And what is that worth, coming from you and not your leaders?"
"Perhaps not a lot," Nimenez admitted. "But I'm afraid that for now, it will have to be enough." At that point, he stood to his feet and picked up his gun. "Have a good day, Nerys."
Kira watched him walk off and looked back at the others. No matter what doubts she had, she knew these things: this world was her home, and the Cardassians had to be driven out of it. And that was precisely what she intended to see done.

[Steve]

Ikila, Bajor, Cardassian Union
13:09 GST


Kai Opaka's expression was stoically neutral when the viewscreen flipped on to show Vedek Winn Adami, standing in a Cardassian military office. Opaka hid her feelings for Winn, which mostly consisted of some minor contempt and irritation at Winn's fence-sitting and politicking. Though representing a conservative branch of the Bajoran clergy, Winn was in fact an opportunist who played the factions of the Temple against one another, even as she vaccilitated in support to the Cardassians, carefully toeing the line between collaboration and subtle opposition. "Kai, Prefect Koral desires your response to this... unwise uprising in Ikila. The casualties on both sides are increasing by the hour. Surely the Prophets have revealed their wisdom to you by now?"
"The Prophets work on their own time, Vedek, not our's," Opaka chided her. "Revelations cannot be rushed."
"Oh, yes, of course. My apologies for my presumption, Kai."
"Tell Prefect Koral that I shall shortly be revealing the will of the Prophets to the people of Bajor."
"Yes, Kai. I will do so immediately."
Opaka watched Winn disappear from the screen. From behind her, a young nineteen year old acolyte stepped forward, her cherubic face full of concern. "Kai, what shall we do? The Cardassians are going to slaughter us and burn the Great Temple."
"Prefect Korel has said that if I manage to end the uprising he will spare the Temple and those of our city who are not fighting."
"But that will still condemn hundreds, thousands of our people to death." The acolyte's lip trembled. "And, how can we trust the Cardassians? They may sack Ikila anyway."
"Yes, they would." Opaka put her hand on the young woman's cheek. "Calm your pagh, my child. The Prophets have revealed to me the future, and I know now what must be done."




Space Station Terok Nor, Orbit of Bajor
13:20 GST


Prefect Korel was in the Ops center of Terok Nor, Vedek Winn's image on his screen. "So the Kai will denounce the uprising?"
"I am certain of it, Prefect." Winn smiled diplomatically. "The Kai has too much love for the people of Bajor to let them waste their lives in this hopeless act of violence."
Korel nodded. "Then for their sakes, they had better listen to the Kai and stop this pointless struggle." Korel tried to hide his own apprehension. Central Command had just issued an invasion warning, believing that the Alliance would attempt landings within four days. The last thing he wanted was the Central Detachment hotly engaged with enemy troops coming down on top of them.
"Sir, signal coming from the Great Temple."
Winn's image flicked out, replace by Kai Opaka. The older Bajoran woman seemed deceptively serene as she began speaking. "People of Bajor, please hear my words. The Prophets have spoken to me these past terrible days, revealing to me the course our people must take to avoid destruction."
Opaka's expression hardened. "For many decades, Bajor has been under Cardassian rule, and it has not been pleasant. The Prophets have always counseled restraint, knowing that our people could not overthrow the Cardassian control of our world. But that has changed. The Prophets have promised us deliverance, my children! They have consoled us to wait no longer, for our time has come! Cardassia's new enemy has crippled her strength and has opened the way for our...."
At that moment Korel's comm officer cut the channel from Ikila and severed the Great Temple's connection to the rest of the planet. Korel's expression was one of rage. The screen now reverted back to Winn, who had lost much of the color on her face. "Prefect, I... the Kai must have been coerced by the rebels! Perhaps I can persuade the other Vedeks...."
"Spare me your platitudes, Winn! Your Temple has betrayed us! The rebellion will only grow now!" Korel snarled. "I see the only way to bring you pathetic wretches to your knees is to destroy you utterly. I hereby order the execution of every member of the Bajoran religious orders! We will end your Prophet-worship once and for all!"
Winn shook her head. "Please, Prefect! Show mercy! There are Vedeks who will support you, who know that resistance only means..." At that moment one of the Cardassian soldiers in the room with Winn walked up behind her and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger on his pistol. Winn was not even given the time to turn around before the energy beam struck her. She screamed for a brief moment as her body was disintegrated into nothingness.
"Send final instructions to Gul Severak. All Bajorans in Ikila are to be executed. No exceptions. Burn the Great Temple to the ground!" Korel pounded a fist on his table. "Get me the Central Command."

[CJvR]

Yeah! Jihad! A holy war on the side of the good guys for a change.

It was a while ago I watched DS9 last but IIR the characters correctly a certain Vedek got the proper treatment... :)

[Junghalli]

My people, the Humans from other universes, had no ambitions in this universe when we arrived, we simply wanted to find new avenues for trade. We, like you, were forced to fight by Cardassia. We have no desire to control Bajor or the destiny of the Bajoran people, only to help you if you would let us.

I assure you that the British Empire has no interest in Arabia.

[Trogdor]

Hey, the Alliance didn't reduce Kelos to a puppet state. No reason to think they'll do the same with Bajor.

[Junghalli]

Hey, the Alliance didn't reduce Kelos to a puppet state. No reason to think they'll do the same with Bajor.

They're self-interested, just like anybody else. Nothing wrong with that, just saying...
Also, they're so similar to the Humans of my own universe in many ways I might be conflating the two. Those guys have a foreign policy that basically amounts to Bush's wet dream America; having a colonial empire and taking over and "developing" primitive worlds. Generally they're much nicer than their alien neighbors by in large, but they're still colonial imperialists.

[Trogdor]

I guess you're right, but unlike Bush, the Alliance leaders are damned good at making people like/respect their government. Besides, the Alliance is really only looking money here; they don't seem to have any desire for conquest. So some Alliance corporations decide that they want to build a branch on Bajor. I don't see the natives getting overly pissed about it.

[Steve]

Cardassian Mechanized Detachment Field HQ, Bajor, Cardassian Union
13:24 GST


Severak shook his head at Korel's image. "Rescind the order, Prefect. It's bad enough that the Kai has backed the rebellion. If we start slaughtering their clergy the entire planet will rise in revolt!"
"And why should I care? Our troops can slaughter them all."
"Don't be a fool, Prefect. According to our intelligence the Alliance will be attacking any day. Do you really want all of our troops to be caught in a killing spree when their troops land?" Severak pounded a fist on his table. "Prefect, let me take Ikila. I'll have Opaka's head beamed straight to you and you can direct the Vedeks to elect a new Kai to reverse her decree."
"You've had six days, Gul Severak. Yet you're still thirty kilometers away from the city's outskirts!"
"Initial attempts to quickly overcome the rebels' second defense line failed, so I held back to give time for one great push. It is my intention to launch an overwhelming offensive and to begin shelling their third line immediately thereafter. In fact, the offensive kicks off in precisely five minutes."
Korel nodded. "Very well. You have three days. After that, if the Kai is still alive, I suspect we will have no choice but to deal with the Bajoran Temple permanently."



Outside Lelipa, Bajor, Cardassian Union
13:29 GST


The rain had turned the dirt of the trenches into cold winter mud. The mud was no new thing for Oleri Gevia. The nineteen year old farmer's daughter was used to it from helping her father tend their land after her older brothers had died of illness or disappeared to join the Resistance. Gevia was only about five feet tall, needing a box to actually stand high enough over the trench for her to aim the Cardassian phaser rifle she'd been given when she volunteered with some of her schoolmates to fight. For her, it was a chance to lash out at the people who took her older sister away to be some Gul's whore and who killed her beloved grandfather so many years ago.
Or so she'd thought at the time. But after days in the cold rain wearing only a cotton vest and torn jacket with trousers and having to watch three of her friends die, she had come to realize that she had been premature in volunteering. In fact, Gevia was terrified, and with every ounce of her soul she wanted to run and save herself. But she couldn't bring herself to, not in front of her friends, not knowing that they would forever remember her as having abandoned them in their moment of need.
So she remained at her place, carefully holding the Cardassian weapon to shoot at any Cardassian trooper who appeared. Whenever she saw them she felt terror in her heart. If they captured her, would they simply kill her? Would they rape her first like they had probably done to her sister? Maybe she would get sent to Gallitep! The possibilities were horrible and weighed in on her mind as much as the fear of death.
Trying and mostly failing to calm herself, Gevia focused her rifle on the thickets that she knew some of the Cardassian soldiers were hiding behind. She heard something overhead at this time, something she wasn't quite sure of for a moment until she realized what it was: plasma charges! The Cardassian artillery had opened fire!
There was nothing to do now. Gevia simply stood there as the first charge went off about thirty yards in front of her, the heat of the explosion warming her skin and blinding her for a moment. Explosions were going off everywhere and she could hear cries of fight or of pain as some of them detonated near or even in the trench.
Now the Cardassians emerged from the thickets; grim-faced men carrying rifles bigger than her's with side-arms on their hips and some with communication gear on their heads. Gevia leveled her weapon and began to open fire on them. She wasn't a good shot - very few of her friends were - but together their massed fire managed to hit a few.
Suddenly there was an explosion beside Gevia which threw her off the box she was standing on. Her entire right side had been struck by plasma, burning much of her skin away and leaving her right arm, leg, side, and most of her face a pulp of blackened, charred flesh. Gevia began to moan and a tear began to roll down her surviving left eye, her right eye's tear duct having been destroyed. She began to cry out in her mind, begging for her life as she lay dying in the cold winter mud, soil that her family had farmed for generations. I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Prophets help me, please don't let me die! Save me! Save me please!
Gevia continued to plead for her life until everything faded into black, her heart gripped in a hand colder than the mud that she died in.



Space Station Terok Nor, Orbit of Bajor
15:30 GST


Korel was finally satisfied, to an extent, with how things were going. Severak's offensive had already broken through the second trench line around Ikila and again the Bajoran rebels were falling back to their third line, already under artillery fire. Severak had planned his attack well, holding back sufficient reserves that when his forward units were forced to stop at the third trench line, backup units would surge forth under artillery support to begin piercing it as well. In about thirty hours or so, Ikila would be wide open to attack.
Rebellions were springing up elsewhere now, of course, and some in areas long presumed pacified. Korel had ordered his troops to do what was necessary for their own self-defense, which in same cases would probably be slaughtering every Bajoran near them. But such was the price the Bajorans would pay for their fanaticism, and Korel did not care how many of them died or how many of them would be killed despite being no threat to his troops. The life of a Cardassian was infinately more valuable than the life of a Bajoran, after all.
A Glin walked up beside Korel. "Prefect, the evacuation is complete. All of our personnel and non-Bajoran residents have been beamed down to the Planetary Command Center. The Bajoran workers and their families are trapped in the Habitat Ring and the work facilities."
Korel nodded. "Very good. Evacuate Ops."
At that, the remaining ten or so Cardassians on the station made their way to the transporter pad on Ops. Six beamed down first, leaving Korel, two aides, and the transporter operator. Korel waited for the operator to finish his preparations and then gave the command. "Computer, this is Gul Korel. Commence self-destruct sequence with a delay of one minute, initiation code Gray-3394483."
"Self-destruct sequence set," the computer replied.
Korel stepped on the pad and nodded to the transporter man, who activated the delay-set transporter and walked to the pad. As he did so, Korel said, "Begin countdown."
The operator stepped on the pad and they were beamed down three seconds later.
The station's Bajoran population remained huddled in their quarters or stuck in the processing centers. They wept, cried, and prayed as they waited, helplessly, for the end. Fortunately this final act of torture did not last long. When the computer timer hit zero, the anti-matter reactor purposely overloaded and then exploded, as did charges throughout the hull. Something on the order of two hundred Bajorans died from the explosive force or the released radiation as the explosions tore the station apart.


From the surface, Korel stood in the main courtyard of the Planetary Command Center as hundreds of people looked up to see the bright explosion in the sky. Terok Nor was gone.
Gul Pecel, the female commander of the center, looked to Korel. "Why did you destroy the station?"
"Without the fleet to protect it, Terok Nor was doomed. Better for us to concentrate ourselves on holding out here, on the surface of the planet, until Central Command can rescue us." Korel looked at all of the soldiers around him. "Tell every Cardassian you see that there is no escape. We must hold our ground or die trying. There is no other possibility."

[darthdavid]

Sooooo screwed...

[Steve]

Kurvak, Cardassian Union
9 December 2153 AST
03:16 GST


4th Rank Gul Ivirak stepped onto the bridge of his flagship, the Leverat, and his crew immediately stood to full attention. The Betreka Nebula veteran had a solid frown on his face, the kind he always had, as he nodded and thus ordered them back to duty station.
Kurvak was not a major fleet base and did not have the berths to hold but ten ships out of Ivirak's fleet of five hundred. But a major fleet base was not needed at the moment; the Alliance invasion of Bajor would come soon and it would be up to Third Fleet to somehow prevent it or at least make it's cost prohibitive to the Alliance's forces, giving Cardassia an opening to regroup the other fleets to restore it's fighting power. Ivirak had given several addresses these past days, reminding his crews that the Alliance's fleets had been damaged by the brave sacrifices of other Cardassians. Reminding them that the Alliance's insistance on taking Bajor could be used against them, causing them to expose their forces to attack where they would least expect it. In that advantage was their key to victory, a victory Cardassia desperately needed.
Ivirak watched the blue and green world of Kurvak spin in the distance, a 3D display of the system beside it on the screen. "Assign scouts to each spherical quadrant of the heliopause and two light years outward. Maintain active sensor sweeps for any intruders, real or imagined. I do not intend to get caught unaware."



Ikila, Bajor, Cardassian Union
18:16 GST


Opel Nevis felt twice his age as he walked into what was an impromptu hospital for the battle wounded that Bajoran fighters had managed to get back to Ikila. Limbs were missing or badly scorched on some while the more fortunate had far less scarring compressor beam wounds, though all had been badly wounded. And every hour, the death count grew.
For a moment Opel stopped to give words of comfort from a dying man. The middle-aged Bajoran spoke mostly of his small grandchildren and wife, hiding in the Temple now, and Opel listened patiently, his heart threatening to shatter from the pain he felt at all of this. Was he not responsible for this man's death and the deaths of so many others? He had sparked this uprising because he sensed that the time had come and they would be able to hold the Cardassians long enough for the Alliance to land. Now, for the first time, he felt doubt.
Beside him, the poor man finally died, the death rattle of lungs damaged by the intense thermal damage of a plasma explosion finally ending within the grotesque remains of what was once a decently robust chest. Opel raised the sheet over his head and looked away, tears rolling down his eyes. This blood was on his hands. So much of it.
A gentle hand touched his shoulder. Opel turned and was quite stunned to find himself facing the Kai. "Your Eminence." He dropped to one knee, an act that surprised him a bit. For most of his life Opel had not been terribly religious, but habit was habit, and he now had a respect for the Kai that he had never possessed before.
"Stand, my child." Opaka reached down and brought him to his feet. "Why did you come here? Are you not needed to lead the defense?"
"No. The Humans I brought with me are more than capable of overseeing the matter." Opel's eyes looked down. "I have not been able to check up on news elsewhere, but some have told me that uprisings are spreading across Bajor and that the Cardassians are now resorting to slaughter."
"I have heard some similar things."
"Perhaps you should have not supported us, Your Eminence."
"I did not make that decision, my child. I am merely a messenger of the Prophets. It is they who decided the time had come and revealed to me the future."
"And what is our future, Kai?"
Opaka smiled serenely. "The Prophets blessed me with what I saw. I saw the fires of this war die and the shattered cities rebuilt. I saw Bajor and her people blessed with a prosperity we have never known. Bajor will be reborn, Opel Nevis, and it will be a Golden Age for our people."
For a moment Opel said nothing. He wasn't quite ready to believe it - he had been a rationalist for far too long - but in his heart he felt a sense of ease. "Then, for the rebirth of Bajor, we will persevere. Please excuse me, Your Eminence." Opel bowed his head respectfully and stepped away, leaving Opaka to tend to the spirits of the wounded.


Opel returned swiftly to the Cardassian HQ that they had converted to their command center. A holographic map on the central table showed the Cardassian forces quickly pushing in on Ikila's western outskirts, held only by the final trench line. "The reserves are in position, Commander Montecuccoli?"
The slightly-tanned young Human, an officer of the Free Worlds League nobility who was officially "on leave", turned from one of the stations and nodded. "The best men we have left will counterattack the Cardassians as soon as they break the trench line."
"At best, they will be a delay. We may only have twenty-four hours until Ikila is wide open."
The slightly-accented voice made Opel's head turn. A single figure dressed in combat fatigues emerged from a side room where he had been discussing things with subordinates. The Human was older than Opel and was missing his right eye, now covered by a patch. "Has there been any word on the arrival of Alliance forces?"
"None, Marshal."
There was only a grim expression on the face of the "Marshal", known to Opel Nevis and many others as Anastasius Focht. "Given the many months the Alliance military has had to plan an invasion of Bajor, I expect it will come soon."
"I would think it would take weeks, at least, to prepare an invasion of Bajor," Montecuccoli said.
"Ah, but that is not how the Alliance thinks, Force Commander." Focht finished walking up to the display, running a finger over the symbols representing the ad hoc battalions that had been formed since the uprising began. "They undoubtedly began preparing to liberate Bajor as far back as the first incidents in June. And remember the lessons of their wars against the Clans and ComStar, not to mention the opening of this war. Many in their leadership are married to the concept of seizing and holding the initiative. It has worked against them, yes, as we saw with their first attempts to deal with ComStar, but that alone will not change their way of thinking and they will want to land on Bajor as quickly as possible."
"Hopefully they will land before Ikila is a flaming ruin," Opel said.
Focht nodded briefly at that, studying the board. "Here. Move Colonel Wilkens' troops to the west as a secondary reserve and shift all forces away from the east toward the west. Gul Severak is massing entirely on the west and, I think, will not bother with an attempt to outflank with an attempt upon the eastern side of the city."
"How can you be sure, Marshal?"
"Because, Commander Montecuccoli, he does not want to waste time. Severak's offensive is entirely focused upon massing firepower and troops to force a breakthrough. He wants to get to Ikila to kill the Kai as quickly as he can, so that the Cardassians can force the appointment of a pacifist Kai to deflate the uprisings. And just in case he does try to flank us, Oberst von der Goltz's unit is in position to contain a breakthrough in that area." Focht turned to one of the Bajoran aides in the room. "I want constant updates from Commander Na'Toth. The instant the Cardassians begin pouring through the last defense line, her forces are to launch their counterattack."




Opela, Bajor, Cardassian Union
19:43 GST


Opela had been a prosperous town, even in the midst of the Occupation. On the southwestern coast of the main continent of Bajor, in ancient times it had been a thriving trading city for ocean-going traffic, and now it was known for producing some of the best seafood catches on Bajor. The terrain around Opela was open and flat, with many farms dotting the landscape.
Now it was in flames. A city of a quarter million Bajorans had been literally depopulated overnight. Following the Kai's declaration, the Resistance had sparked an uprising in the city that led to the deaths of all four hundred Cardassians in it's center. The 935th Provisional Order stationed outside the city had fought it's way into the city to try and save it's comrades, and when it failed, the panicked Cardassian conscripts had turned to the only tactic they believed would work: killing everything. And so they had started shooting everything while setting fire to the buildings to root out Bajorans who were given the grisly choice of jumping to their deaths or getting burned alive. Those in the streets were given no chance to surrender or prove peaceful intent. They were simply killed out of hand.
5th Rank Trooper Perek and some of his men were walking around some of the burned out remains now. Dead Bajorans lay everywhere from where they and their comrades had shot them on sight, whether they were armed or not. As far as Perek was concerned, none could be trusted now. Any Bajoran could be a fanatic with a bomb to throw or a dagger hidden to slice the throat of a Cardassian. "Damn these fanatics," he muttered as he looked at the charred remains of two younger Bajorans near what had once been a twenty-five story apartment block. Their hands were together from leaping to their deaths at the same time, undoubtedly young sweethearts. "It's not like the State treats us much better. But you don't see us rebelling!"
One of his 6th Rank Troopers beside him nodded. "We should've gotten off this fucking planet. It isn't worth this."
"Yeah, yeah, but Central Command is Central Command. Buncha desk rats who think they know everything. They fuck up and we're the ones who get vaped."
"Trooper!"
Hearing the cries of one of his men, Perek walked over to what was once a primitive Bajoran aircar. Two of his soldiers were gathered around it's rear compartment. "We heard a noise, sir."
Perek nodded to them. "Grenade."
One of the men removed a grenade from his belt while the others stepped back. He pulled out the firing pin and rolled the grenade under the vehicle before running for cover. An explosion engulfed the vehicle, throwing it into the air a few feet. When the blackened hulk landed, the rear compartment came open. Inside of it was what looked to have been a young Bajoran girl, or rather what was left of one, considering her skin had been charred black and her clothes and body were still burning. "One less Bajoran to worry about," Perek muttered as he led his troops on.



Pelika, Bajor, Cardassian Union
20:10 GST


Inside a school auditorium in the mostly-abandoned town of Pelika, a crowd of Bajorans were gathered around one non-Bajoran, the very fierce-looking and scowling Na'Toth. The Narn woman stabbed a finger at the display in front of her. "The enemy has forced breakthroughs in three areas simultaneously and the trench defenses are crumbling. We cannot allow them to advance much further."
"We intend to counterattack them along the road here," one of Opel's lieutenants said.
"And this force? It is advancing on our northern flank toward Okyva."
"Captain Fetladral's unit is waiting for them, Commander, with a force of irregulars. They will not get far."



Okyva, Bajor, Cardassian Union
20:21 GST


The lead formations of a battalion-sized unit of Cardassian mechanized troops entered the abandoned town of Okyva, cruising silently with guns ready to shoot at anything that moved. In one of the Revarat vehicles, 2nd Rank Glin Erekat kept scanning for life signs. "A few trace readings here and there, but no mass of enemy ahead. Keep going and be careful," he ordered his driver. Inside of the vehicle were ten Cardassian soldiers who would be helpless if the vehicle were to be targeted before they were disembarked.
The Cardassians crept along the road while Erekat kept a careful look on the trace readings, though not quite knowing what they were.
He found out a moment later when he saw the missiles.


"Now!"
The shout was not heard save over a specific short-wave radio frequency, but it nevertheless triggered a barrage that came down on the advancing column of Cardassian troops. Two missiles impacted on Erekat's vehicle, knocking it over. A small blue energy beam sliced out and cut into the vehicle's batteries, blowing it apart.
Four vehicles were lost in the ambush, and the others disgorged their troops quickly to find the culprits. The culprits turned out to be something the Cardassians hadn't quite expected. Twenty-five individual enemies that looked incredibly alien, at least until they realized that they weren't the actual bodies of their enemies but powered armor.
Evantha Fetladral had not fought a battle in Clan Elemental armor in over two years, having been captured out of armor when the Wolf flagship Dire Wolf was taken by an Alliance boarding force during the disasterous Alliance counter-attack upon their entry into the Inner Sphere's conflict against the Clans. In those years she had been a POW and then a civilian, and never able to reconcile herself to that life. The chance to help the Bajorans was something that she could not pass up, and neither could the Elementals with her, all of them being her fellow Wolves or former Jade Falcons or Ghost Bears and all of them warriors captured in the Inner Sphere before the Alliance's government opted to annihilate Clan society and thus provoked the suicidal fight to the death that the warrior caste had waged to it's end.
Their suits had been somewhat hard to get ahold of, though the Alliance Government had finally acquiesced after the war began, but now they were back in action and had a chance to fight once more, even if not for the society that they had been raised to lead.
Evantha tracked some of the pale-skinned Cardassians as they tried to take cover. Having no more missiles, she switched to her suit's laser and ran a blue beam across a retreating unit. They had no armor to protect them and the weapon sliced four of them apart, wounding a fifth before they took cover.
Screams filled the air from Cardassian soldiers being killed by the machine guns built into five of the suits and, more sickening, from the Cardassian soldiers being set alight by the flamethrowers on the other suits. Evantha watched one of her comrades, a Jade Falcon named Taman of the Malthus line, jump behind a squad and set all ten alight with a sweep of his arm. She triggered her own laser again and killed another Cardassian.
The Elementals' ambush had allowed them to make casualties of an entire company before the units further back reacted by opening fire. Artillery support was called for but was not needed, as the Cardassians found their rifles' higher settings were capable of penetrating the Elemental armor. Evantha watched a fellow Wolf, Adrianna, die under concentrated fire from four Cardassians. She avenged her comrade with a blast from her laser and immediately took a glancing hit that burned through her left arm. She grunted in pain, losing half the sensation in the arm. "Pull back! Pull back now!"
The Elementals began to retreat even as the artillery landed ahead of them, but not all were successful. A Ghost Bear named Gideon was struck down by multiple rifle hits and a former Falcon - Julius, Evantha believed his name was - was blown apart by the large cannon on one of the Cardassian APCs. Evantha saw two more claimed by the Cardassian artillery. Eighteen of them managed to pull back further into the city.
But that was the goal all along. The Cardassian battalion entered the core of the city, using it's weapons to burn down the temple and other nearby buildings in an attempt to deny the Elementals cover, and advanced onward.... right into the trap. Evantha triggered the device with a command from her suit and a single relay transmitted detonation orders to dozens of vibrabomb mines and other munitions spread around the area. The explosions were everywhere, tearing apart the Cardassian APCs and their passengers. The stench of burned flesh would soon fill the air.
The chaos was joined by mortar fire from nearby Bajoran fighters, who laid down such a barrage that most of the Cardassian survivors abandoned their vehicles just to be picked off by the Elementals, who carefully outflanked and shot up the Cardassians in such a rapid, overwhelming fashion that they took no more losses.
And thus ended the short battle for Okyva, a massacre of a large Cardassian force to a mere two dozen infantry foes; the last recorded victory for Clan Elemental troops and thus a glory for a society that no longer existed... and for the nascent Bajoran nation that was being painfully born.



Ikila, Bajor, Cardassian Union
23:09 GST


Focht and Opel stood side-by-side as the snowy holographic image of Na'Toth continued to speak. "The counter-attack has managed to pin the Cardassians in place for the time being, but we cannot maintain it. There are simply too many of them coming through our broken defenses now."
"Do what you can."
"Yes, Marshal." Na'Toth disappeared from the screen.
"I should warn the Kai to flee," Opel said. "We must evacuate as many people as possible."
"You know as well as I that she will not leave. As for an evacuation, begin the preparations as soon as possible."
"My apologies to you, Marshal Focht." Opel looked down. "I brought you here to die on an alien world for a cause that was not your's."
"Considering I have not had a cause for some time, I'm afraid I cannot accept that apology," Focht replied. "I had my reasons for coming to your aid, and I do not regret them."
"So, what shall we do now?", Montecuccoli asked.
"We shall pray, Commander. We shall pray." Focht looked to him. "That is all we can do now."



Kurvak, Cardassian Union
10 December 2153 AST
01:16 GST



Gul Ivirak was on the bridge looking over the sensor returns when his sensor officer began speaking up. "Sir, the Pokel is reporting anomalous readings about one light year out."
"Oh? What took them so long to see it?"
"They just had a shift change, sir, and apparently the sensor officer who came on was the first to notice it."
"So, what kind of anomalous reading is it?"
"Subspace distortion. It appears to be moving slightly."
"On course for us?"
The officer looked again for a few minutes. "Yes, Gul."
"I see." Ivirak put his hands together. "How long until it gets here?"
"Twenty minutes."
"I see." There was a smirk on Ivirak's face. "I want Squadrons 10, 15, and 20 to move into a position to fire on the anomaly at all sides when it comes within the range for Alliance missile attack. And they are to do it as discreetly as possible. All other ships are to prepare to raise their shields at a moment's notice."
"Yes, Gul."

[Steve]

Bomber Beta-One, Nearing Kurvak, Cardassian Union
01:37 GS


Secure in his seat, Flight Lieutenant Patrick Keller kept his B-195 on course with the rest of the 10th Aerospace Defense Bomber Group. The older bombers were all loaded with impulse boosters carrying anti-ship missiles, enough so that sixty bombers could target over three hundred enemy ships with at least two weapons. The plan was a simple one - do as much damage to the enemy fleet at Kurvak as possible, thus preventing them from easily interrupting the invasion of Bajor.
"Prepare to secure from warp flight. Ready weapons."
"Yes sir. Securing from warp flight now..."
The bomber came out of warp in sync with the others. Right after it did, the Corporal at the sensors station started shouting, "Sir! Detecting enemy fire on our pos...-"
At that moment a photon torpedo detonated right on top of them and blew the bomber to pieces.


CDS Leverat


Ivirak's plan worked flawlessly.
The instant the anomalous readings "disappeared", a storm of torpedoes and compressor cannon fire came down on their position. Multiple explosions occurred then and debris began to shimmer into sight, as did some damaged Alliance bomber craft.
Immediately the sixty Cardassian ships tasked to attacking poured on their fire, increasing the amount of debris. A few unseen bombers managed to deploy their impulse boosters laden with missiles before the very act led to their destruction. The boosters themselves were easily picked off and not a single one deployed it's deadly missiles.
"Detecting anomalous readings again, sir," Ivirak's sensor officer reported. "They're fleeing back to Darane."
Ivirak's lieutenant looked at him. "Sir, shall we pursue?"
"No. I have bigger prey in mind." Ivirak got into his chair. "This was no mere raid, but a deliberately planned operation to reduce our numbers. They wanted us out of the way to commence the invasion of Bajor. So they will have all of those troops and all of those support vessels out in the open. We must hit them before the enemy fleet arrives in response to their bombers' failure here. All ships are to enter warp formation now. Forward deploy the scout squadrons and set course for Bajor." Ivirak smiled grimly. "They have made an error in underestimating us, and I intend to use that to my full advantage."

[Steve]

Flagler Harbor, New Liberty, ADN Colonial Zone
02:13 GST


The city of Flagler Harbor had been founded two months after the Alliance purchase of the sector from the Federation. It was placed on a thin two mile wide south-facing peninsula on the island of Korovolos, one thousandor so kilometers south-south-east of the planetary capitol Wexford. Korovolos was in the northern tropics of New Liberty as part of an archipelago about twice the size of the Lesser Antilles, with one island about large as Earth's Jamaica and the others varying in sizes comparable to Oahu down to half the size of Guam (Korovolos was within horizon sight of the latter, called Hathaway, Korovolos being about a quarter of the size of Viti Levu in Fiji). Flagler Harbor and it's environs had been founded by a group of investors, developers, and various private individuals to turn into a tropical resort, with Seaside Resort Ltd. also owning a stretch of coast on Hathaway that it used for a private retreat for wealthier clientele.
Right on the beach of Flagler Harbor, just a quarter mile down from the marina, was the Carlton Resort, a decently-sized (and pricey) beach hotel with a few private cottages, a private stretch of beach, and the usual hotel amenities like a built-in bar and restaurant, swimming pool, and massage parlor.
In one of the corner tables was a woman in her mid forties, fit in body and looking a bit younger than she really was, with long red hair down to the base of her spine and blue eyes. Marina Lenarova was a Federation merchant ship captain, currently residing on Novya Moskva - about one hundred and fifty light years away inside the Federation - when she was planetside. The Starfleet-trained engineer had been out of the service since being forcefully retired from her resistance to the much-maligned Miller reforms, her offer to return to duty for the Federation's wars in the late 2350s having been refused and leaving her to carve out a life in a private economy that was being crushed under the growing weight of the Federation government bureaucracy and it's insatiable hunger for resources and shipping capacity. Like many other small ship-owners, Marina had transferred the registries on all three of the ships she had title to, flagging them in the Alliance to protect them from seizure under the BLN Support Act.
This was no business trip, of course, but a much needed vacation. And though Marina was now alone, reading a book, she would not be for much longer. When the door on the other side of the room opened, she would look to see who was entering from one of the resort's inner hallways. And when she saw Valentyna, her wife of fifteen years and soulmate for twice as long, she lowered the book and stood. Valentyna was her age but had aged better (At least in Marina's view), with the same healthy and beautiful figure she had as a young girl. She was wearing a flattering blue strapless bodice adorned with tropical flowers, and a cheap Hawaiian hula skirt of plastic-masquerading-as-grass. Marina herself was wearing the same kind of skirt - solely as a concession to Valentyna, given her own personal preferences in public wear - and a modest sleeveless halter top that went down to her belly.
A couple of male heads turned to Valentyna as she walked up and slid into the table beside Marina. The two held hands and kissed softly, nothing too sensual but enough to make the nature of their relationship clear to any onlookers, before Valentyna picked up a menu. "I'm sorry it took so long."
"Nothing to worry about, love."
"Still reading that Proctor book?"
Marina placed the book - "Memoirs of a Traveler, Volume 2: The Road to Hell" by Sara Proctor - down on the table. "It's an interesting read. The universe the book is from, I believe it's called CON-5, is the kind of universe that would make a Millerist's head explode. Which is why it's so interesting."
Valentyna shook her head, giggling softly. "Politics on a vacation, dear?"
"Oh, forgive that, but it is habit."
"I read the first book after you." Valentyna picked up the book and looked it over. On the back was the picture of a well-dressed young woman with brown hair and a pleasant smiling face. She looked to be in her twenties, but Valentyna had learned enough about the other universes to know that in many, Humans used genetic alterations to prolong their life spans. "So this explains more of that smuggling ship she ended up living on?"
"Actually, they don't end very well. Most of them are slaughtered when they are betrayed to a Chinese crimelord that Comeau had secretly double-crossed. Sara ended up being sold into sex-slavery on what was supposed to be the capitol world of a civilized interstellar society. It's a rather horrible read, clearly traumatizing to the poor woman, and I think if I'm ever given the offer of running a load to this 'Gilead' I'll turn it down out of hand." Marina smirked. "Though there was a note attached to the book when I bought it about how there were reforms implemented to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Apparently the Gilean Tourism Association has even issued lawsuits against her and her publishers, claiming the book is damaging their industry and is 'maliciously inaccurate'."
"I imagine they would say that."
"Anyway, it's a very depressing book so far. I hope it lightens up." Marina took Valentyna's hand. "So, tonight we take the shuttle to Wexford to see the New Sydney Orchastra?"
"Yes. I will fulfill my end of the bargain. Though tomorrow, I expect you to try on that swimsuit."
"Oh, love..." Marina cringed. "I will, but I still think you flatter me too greatly."
"I do not. You are simply too modest and self-critical."
At that moment someone turned up the one vidscreen in the establishment, which was currently on the BBC. "Fighting broke out today in the Klingon Empire," an English anchorman with graying hair said, "between rival factions for the Klingon Chancellory. In an official press release, the Duras Family denounced the Arbitration of Federation naval captain Jean-Luc Picard as 'unfair and poisoned by the material interests in the Federation'. We have received a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Relations announcing the issuing of a Travel Alert to all Alliance citizens, warning them to stay out of the Klingon Empire for the duration of the hostilities."
"Good thing I don't have any clients that trade there," Marina muttered while accepting a salad from a waitress.
"In other news, scattered reports continue to come in from Bajor, indicating that Cardassian forces have begun to actively kill Bajoran civilians in retaliation for the mass uprising that began over thirty hours ago in response to the Bajoran Kai's call for resistance to the Cardassian occupation. There are few press sources in Bajor to confirm.... Hold on." The man pressed a hand against his right ear. "I have just received a report that Alliance troops have landed on Bajor. We are starting to receive an open transmission from one of our embedded journalists, Nathan Cutter. He is with a battalion of the 23rd Marine Planetary Assault Regiment, which just hit the ground on Bajor. Switching over now... Nathan?"
The screen abruptly changed to show a man in a full military suit, complete with clear face plate in what was presumably an air-tight suit to protect from chemical or biological weapons. His face was not easily seen due to the darkness around him and the light mounted on the camera. Some of the picture had static and there was some commotion around the reporter. "This is Nathan Cutter, BBC News, reporting live from a position on the southern secondary continent of Bajor. We just landed about eight minutes ago - I cannot tell you where for certain - and..." The camera shook and Cutter brought his arms up instinctively from a nearby explosion. "...about three minutes ago we came under artillery fire from the nearby hills. It looks like some form of rapid-reaction force used transporters to deploy as soon as our landings were detected. The landing zone is under heavy shelling. Some of the Marines around me are setting up their own mortars..." - another shell exploded nearby - "...and others appear to have begun advancing on the Cardassian guns. Wait... turn the camera! Over there!"
As Cutter shouted, the roar of jet engines could be heard. The camera whipped around to show a dark hillside some distance away. Fast-moving flares of light could be seen racing over and then away from the hillside, after which explosions flowered up from the hillside. After the explosions ended the camera turned back to Cutter. "It looks like the Marines managed to call in air support from their fighters. It was bloody well effective too, as I haven't heard a single shell go off since those explosions."
"Nathan, are those the only troops that landed?"
"No, there were many other landings I'm sure, though I can't tell you where. And this was just the force to secure the LZ. An Army transport is coming down right now. Mike, I need you to raise the camera up to there..." The camera moved skyward, showing a dark silhouette coming down slowly with some lights on it's surface. "That's a huge transport right there, carries thousands of soldiers. They'll be landing soon."
“Any last word for the viewers, Nathan?”
“Yes. Given what I’ve seen here so far, I think it’s safe to say that the liberation of Bajor has finally begun. Back to you, Charles.”
The picture flipped back to the BBC News studio, but the words from the anchor became drowned out as applause and cheers broke out amongst the diners and the employees of the establishment. Marina and Valentyna eagerly joined them.

[darthdavid]

Burnination.
Refrencing yourself now are we .

[CJvR]

Although I do realize the Federation is a ball less eunuck that is hardly an excuse to turn all AQ citizens into lesbians.

The Cardie counter attack should be very well timed then, before the invasion force is completly unloaded but after it is to comitted to abort the operation. I hope for the army's sake that the navy have rounded up a solid screen or it could become, messy.

[Steve]

Although I do realize the Federation is a ball less eunuck that is hardly an excuse to turn all AQ citizens into lesbians.

Hmm?

If you're referring to Marina Lenarova and Valentyna Lahenza, that's another act of self-reference.

In my alt-timeline Trek fic "Star Trek: Timelines", Captain Marina Lenarova is the commander of the frigate Great Lakes and is, as you can guess, the homage character to our own Duchess of Zeon aka Marina. In this timeline, however, she was eventually forced to retire due to the politics of the time and she is now a private citizen and merchant ship skipper (As well as owning her own small fleet).

Valentyna Lahenza is her lover in both timelines, but in this one they married since Lenarova isn't in Starfleet, and the entire Lahenza family (Valentyna's parents) moved to Novya Moskva instead of remaining in the Ukraine on Earth.


Now, granted, I understand where you're getting at, since my other Timelines homages included Sharon Carter and Kristina Ivanova, who are lesbian lovers in this timeline but not in the other, but my decision for that had more to do with a thought experiment on how much sexual preference can be determined by environment and experience (like, say, being raped and tortured for a prolonged period and then being tossed into a faux-town to be living simulators for the people who mistreated you to train troops against). I'll be returning to that theme later in the story, when Madred Village 23 comes into the focus again.

[fgalkin]

It seems that everyone and their dog get a reference, but I only get a brief mention. Mehski.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Steve]

DNS Pearl Harbor, Darane, Alliance Liberation Zone
02:15 GST


Admiral Kentworth kept his jaw tight and his expression blank as he received the news from Air Vice Marshal Dupont. “How many bombers survived?”
“Eight out of eighty.” Dupont’s face was grim. “The enemy fleet did not suffer any apparent damage.”
“Then they’ll certainly be heading for Bajor to stop the invasion.” Kentworth sighed. “I’ll signal ahead and warn the invasion fleet.”
“It’s too late to call off the invasion now,” Dupont said. “The landings have already begun.”
“Then we’ll just have to beat that fleet. Excuse me, Vice Marshal, but I must be going now.” Kentworth nodded to a comm officer to cancel the connection. “Pah! Bloody idiots and their old toys. I’m sure the Cardies saw those bliddy slow bombers coming a sector away.” Kentworth now looked intently at the force listing displayed on the main command screen.
He was technically commander of 5th Fleet only, but 9th Fleet’s intended CO - Admiral Kevin Schafer - was still waiting to come through the New Liberty Gates, leaving the task forces from 9th Fleet already on station without a commander. He had Task Force 5.1 on station now, having exchanged some of the surviving ships from Task Force 5.4 with 5.1 to give it three battle squadrons, as well as Task Force 9.1 and 9.2. If he dragged every ship capable of warp and some combat function with him, Kentworth could arrive at Bajor with 400 ships in about two hours.
“Re-organize all available forces as indicated,” he said to the CIC staff while tapping the appropriate buttons. “Set formation and course to Bajor and go to warp speed as soon as we are ready.”



Purek Kor, Bajor, Disputed Space
02:45 GST


Purek Kor was the base of the 129th Provisional Order, one of the conscript units assigned to Bajor and tasked with security in the region of Solifpa. The vast majority of the unit was out in the field currently, suppressing the uprisings in Solifpa Province with a fair degree of brutality.
The base, however, was no longer their’s. During the landings an entire battalion of Marines assaulted it straight from their craft, taking advantage of Purek Kor’s lack of a defense shield to land directly in the base. A short firefight with the base guards had been waged, leading to some casualties on both sides, but the issue had not been in doubt due to the firepower the Marines had versus that of the Cardassians.
Now an entire Marine regiment was in and around the base, securing it from the approaching 129th Order, which itself would be attacked by the 315th Division within a few hours. Sergeant Kevin Waller was with his squad in the barracks, securing the area and eventually finding themselves confronted by a secured door. At Waller’s command, a Cardassian soldier was brought up. The young Cardassian was ordered to open the door, but all he did was smirk and say, “Open it yourself.”
“Open the fucking door!” one of the Marines bellowed, slamming the prisoner up against the wall.
Waller pulled the Marine away and sent for another prisoner. This one was not an actual combat soldier but a janitorial conscript who’s nose ridge and skin complexion indicated he was half-Bajoran. He didn’t seem anywhere as defiant as the Cardassian and was actually rather frightened. “Open the fucking door,” one of the Marines commanded him.
When the janitor obeyed, the Cardassian growled at him. “Farking bastard! Your Bajoran mother should’ve never spawned you, you little coward!”
The door slid open and the Marines stepped in. The janitor turned the light on for them and stayed to the side, his head kept low. Waller walked in, looked around, and muttered, “What the fuck....?”
There were about sixty beds in the entire room, crammed as close together as elsewhere in the barracks. On each bed was a Bajoran girl, none looking older than their thirties and some looking as young as fourteen. Each one had her wrists tied together by a cord tied to a bed headboard. Some were naked, some half-naked from the waist up or waist down, and others barely clothed and in easy-to-remove garments. About ten looked malnourished and almost all were sporting bruises, cuts, welts, and burns on their visible bodies, including several with black eyes, broken noses, or swollen lips. They all looked toward the Marines entering the room. “Holy fuck,” one of the soldiers said.
Some were clearly frozen from fear, not quite knowing what to expect of their liberators. A few, however, knew inside that their ordeal was at an end and began pulling against the cords binding them, begging in their native language to be freed. Waller put a hand to the side of his helmet. “This is Sergeant Waller, Platoon B. I need a corpsman down here ASAP. Hell, get all the corpsmen you can get. We’ve got wounded Bajorans here.”
There was commotion from the other room. One of the Marines who’d entered and seen the girls returned through the door and attacked their prisoner. “You sick mother fucker!” He knocked the soldier over and began to kick him before two more Marines pulled him away. “Let me the fuck go and look in there! You’ll want to kick his ass too!”
“Marine that’s enough!” Waller’s bellow calmed the soldier a little and pointed to the Cardassian soldier. “Get that piece of shit and the other one back to the holding area. We’ll stay here and wait for the corpsmen.”

[darthdavid]

Cardies = Screwed

[CJvR]

Cardassia's dirty little secrets are being brought into the light finally, should be most amusing. Particulary the reaction of the Feds.

[CJvR]

Cardies = Screwed

Cardies = more screwed than their Bajoran sex slaves.

[Steve]

Near Ikila, Bajor, Disputed Space
02:43 GST


The Bajoran sun was high in the sky as 2nd Rank Glin Rukat and his troops continued their advance east to “Splendid Ikila”. As they rode along the road they sometimes found the dead bodies of Bajoran fighters struck by artillery or shot by Cardassian troops as they attempted to resist the inexorable Cardassian advance on their holy city.
“About time,” one of Rukat’s troops muttered from within the APC. “We’ve been slogging through these dumb fanatics for days now, and only now are we getting to their precious farking city to burn it to rubble.”
“We’re not burning the Temple,” Rukat told them. “Prefect Korel decided to keep it off-limits so we can put another Kai in.”
“Ah, forget that. We should just kill Bajorans until we wipe ‘em all out or they stop fighting and go back to doing what they’re told to do.”
Rukat shook his head. In a way the Trooper was right, but orders were orders. Rukat looked east and saw, in the distance, a tall spire. “There it is, the Bajorans’ Great Temple. We’re almost there!”
Some movement to the side made Rukat turn. He swung his rifle over and leveled it at just the right time to shoot a Bajoran moving in a bush thicket, killing him instantly. He kept looking around him. “Not much farther to go, men.”


Shakaar Peitel (no relation) remained hidden in the bushes near the road, watching the Cardassians drive by. His friends were all dead now, leaving only him to lay and watch in fear as the Cardassians advanced onward.
They had failed their people. The young man, just past nineteen, thought of his family in Ikila and hoped they were among the refugees that would be fleeing east to escape the Cardassians. But what good would that do, as he supposed the Cardassians would simply keep advancing until every refugee column had been overrun and slaughtered as punishment for the uprising.
Peitel pulled his rifle closer. The AR-20 was an old Human rifle, like thousands that Opel Nevis had smuggled into Ikila in the past months. He still had three clips of ammo. Perhaps he could try to hold off the Cardassians by firing from cover? No, they’d just sweep their rifles over the bushes and get him that way. Or.... Peitel went to reach for his clips to remove the bullets. He could gather all of their chemical propellant together and use it to make a bomb. He would sacrifice himself to hold the enemy off a moment longer. Perhaps the moment necessary to save his family.
But before he could begin working, an explosion made his head turn. And he was surprised to see a Cardassian APC in flames. What caused that? he wondered, even as he heard a distant rumbling sound through the ground.


Rukat saw one of the vehicles ahead explode and looked down to his driver, who was already looking at his instruments. “What is that?!”
“Several contacts are showing up ahead of us, coming along the peripheral road of Ikila. It’s... What are those? I’ve never seen them before.”
Rukat brought up binoculars and looked to the distance. He spotted things - vehicles - coming out of the city. They looked a little low compared to his APC and had very large, ominous guns sticking out of their turrets.
He saw what looked to be a massive eruption of flame from the gun and lowered his binoculars just in time for his vehicle to be hit by a round that blew it apart, throwing Rukat many feet away.


Sergeant Peter Teller watched the Cardie APC explode from a direct hit by a HEAT round. “Damn, are they supposed to do that? What the hell do the Cardies make their APCs with, soda cans?” He looked back at the gunner, who had set the auto-loader to load another HEAT round. “Got a new target, Private?”
“Yes sir.”
“Fire when ready.”
Teller looked back to his viewer as the tank rumbled again. The newly re-designated HBT-1 Patton’s 150mm gun thundered once more, and in the distance another Cardassian APC exploded. He could see the Cardassian column stopping and some of it’s troops dismounting in reaction to the attack. He brought up the controls for the three anti-personnel weapons - an 8mm railgun and grenade launcher on a couplet mounting with his thermal viewer and a second 8mm on the opposite side of the main turret from the couplet.
Nearby were other tanks, all HBT-1s. The HBT-1 was a brand new heavy tank, the first being built in 2148, and was considered the “best of all worlds” in design, having been commissioned at the founding of the Alliance as a means of showcasing the combined talents and expertise of the Allied Nations. The chassis was Russian and based off the successful T-205, the 150mm main gun was a German Rheinmetal-Borsig tank rifle, and the 8mm railguns were an American Colt-designed gun, the electronics and point-defense phaser being American mostly and the microfusion engine being a design of a French company, Bussard-Guillan Inc.
“Hey, they’re running!” Teller heard his Lieutenant say over the radio. “The rat bastards are running!”
“We can’t let ‘em run,” the company’s commander answered. “Keep up the advance. We’ve got to pin them down.”
And so the tanks rumbled on.


Dazed and injured, Rukat forced himself to begin standing. Flames licked skyward from the shattered bulks that were once several top-of-the-line Cardassian armored infantry carriers.
Though without his binoculars, Rukat could still faintly see approaching vehicles emerging from the city. He looked around the area he landed and found the binoculars where they’d been thrown, fortunately not broken. He brought them up to his eyes and looked on, again seeing the treaded vehicles with the massive guns. There were other vehicles coming too, with smaller guns on their turrets but yet far larger. Infantry carriers, obviously.
Rukat strained to see if there were more guns, but he didn’t get the chance. A bullet tore through his lower back, hitting his spine and effectively paralyzing him from the waist down. Rukat turned as he fell, landing on his back and allowing him to look up as Shakaar Peitel walked up. The young man kicked Rukat’s sidearm out of his hand before he could grab it and placed the gun squarely at Rukat’s temple. Fear flickered in the eyes of Rukat as much as hate did in Peitel’s eyes. Before Rukat could say a word Peitel’s finger pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into the middle of Rukat’s brain and thus killing him instantly.
There were no other Cardassians nearby, as even the ones who had jumped out of their vehicles were running to get away, and failing if Peitel was hearing things right. Screams and shouts to the west along with the continued rumbling of vehicles and thundering of guns to the east were enough to tell him that the tide may have turned. He smiled bitterly, thinking of all of his friends who had died by Cardassian hands.
The Alliance had come. Now it was the Cardassians’ turn to be slaughtered.



Ikila, Bajor, Disputed Space
02:59 GST


Opel had been ecstatic when the Alliance transports had begun landing at and around Ikila. Shortly thereafter the commander of what the Alliance called the III Armored Corps - Lt. General Oscar Whitman - had arrived.
Now Whitman and Focht were going over the rapidly-changing battlefield. About ten minutes ago, the forward units of the 2nd Armored Division had counter-attacked the Cardassian forces advancing on Ikila, striking on both major roads and launching small company-sized flanking attacks along minor routes. Meanwhile the 9th Armored Division and 410th Infantry Division had landed north and south of Ikila and, with their support forces establishing base camps, had already begun advancing to outflank the Cardassian forces. The crushed town of Torvel, where the rear-most Cardassian reserves were placed, had been directly assaulted by the Marine 3rd Division, cutting off the main road back to the bases which the Cardassians had deployed from. They too were moving to hold the territory around Torvel, within an hour of linking up with the 9th Armored and 410th Infantry.
“The encirclement should hold,” Focht agreed after they received the latest report from the 410th, moving it’s marker even further to the west to show it’s controlled area. “Granted that it requires the 2nd Armored to maintain it’s counter-attack to pin the Cardassians in place.”
“I’m only a bit worried that the Cardassians might try to dig in or even use what’s left of your trenches. But our artillery should neutralize that threat.” Whitman pointed on the map to the leftover battalions of ad hoc Bajoran fighters. “How about your units?”
“I’m pulling out what’s left of our eastern defenses in light of your arrival and the lack of other Cardassian forces in the immediate area.” Focht pointed to portions of what was to become the Allied encirclement line. “We can use them to plug any gaps that appear.”
“I dunno, most of them are pretty worn down I imagine. You might want them to just sit this one out.”
“We will not, General Whitman,” Opel spoke up. “Bajor is our world, and we have to help free it.”
“I understand that, Mister Opel, but your people have been fighting for eight days straight. A lot of ‘em are hungry and some are probably wounded. You’ve done your part already, forcing the Cardies to stay nice and bunched up to force their way through your defenses and making it that much easier for us to give ‘em hell.”
At that point one of Whitman’s officers looked up from a portable phone. “Sir, artillery battalions are ready.”
“Tell ‘em to open up, Captain.”



Cardassian Mechanized Detachment Field HQ, Bajor, Disputed Space
03:04 GST


Gul Severak’s fist slammed on the table. His troops had been within sight of that damned Great Temple and now this!
Communications with Prefect Korel had alerted him to Alliance troops landing on Bajor, but he had hoped to get into Ikila to dig in to fight a defensive battle with any attackers. They were quicker than he’d anticipated, unfortunately. His spearheads to Ikila had all been blunted by a powerful enemy counterattack rolling right out of the city, using powerful armored vehicles unlike anything in Cardassia’s arsenal.
An artillery bombardment was now being prepared to thwart the enemy counter-attack, or at least hold him down long enough for Severak to bring enough forces ahead to resume the offensive. But there were other developments concerning him now. Cardassian forces had been expelled from Torvel in the rear by direct enemy landings, threatening to cut off Severak’s route of escape. And there were now reports of enemy forces moving along the flanks of his forces, not directly engaging so much as harassing (snd causing damage with just that!) and apparently moving to link up with the enemy that landed at Torvel, completely encircling over 80,000 professional Cardassian troops.
He had two options. Attempt to force his way through the newly-arrived Alliance troops to enter Ikila or turn his troops in another direction and attempt to break out. So far his best choice seemed to be pressing ahead, considering the orientation of his troops. And this was what Severak decided he would do.
That’s when the explosions began.
Behind the advancing Alliance forces were over two hundred artillery pieces and MRLS vehicles that had been disembarked from the transports they were carried in on. They now opened fire, directing most of their firepower on what looked to be the Cardassian artillery units in Severak’s unit and also on what field command centers they could find. Entire units were simply wiped out by the massive explosions. Some of the incoming shells released submunitions that created dozens of smaller but deadly explosions, others were themselves massive explosives - including thermobaric rockets - that flattened buildings and trees. Fire directed against Cardassian HQs or infantry positions consisted heavily of submunitions, conventional artillery explosives, and fuel-air explosive rockets, killing and wounding hundreds.
One shell directly hit Severak’s HQ before detonating it’s chemical charge. Half the building collapsed and the blast wave knocked over everyone, including Severak, who at least had the fortune of the table and a wall being between him and the blast. It killed many members of his staff, though, and wounded others.
Other shells exploded nearby and even overheard. As Severak walked about in a daze, trying to work with the surviving staff to find what equipment still worked, he smelled something in the air. He began to cough as a horrible burning sensation filled his nostrils and mouth and worked down into his lungs.
“Gas,” he rasped as he struggled about, looking for something to hold over his mouth. “Where.... where are the gas masks?!”
A surviving subordinate, coughing horribly, got into a small trunk and pulled several out, giving the first to Severak. He struggled to force it on, and even then it did not make the burning go away, as he had inhaled too much of it. With pure willpower Severak managed to ignore the pain enough to oversee the rest of his staff getting the masks and going back to work.
Within ten minutes it was clear the Alliance bombardment had not been sustained; it had been very short term, likely only a minute or two of firing before the ammunition on hand had been exhausted. But it had done enough, causing horrible casualties amongst Severak’s forces and further enabling their main thrust to continue crumbling Severak’s frontline.
And though he would continue leading his men to fight as well as they could, Severak could see now that this was a hopeless battle.

[Junghalli]

Don't you need a full NBC suit to protect from most modern nerve and blister agents?
Also, why do the Cardassians have APCs but no tanks? Seeing as an APC already violates the whole Trektard Paradigm of beaming underequipped infantry everywhere why not give the xeno scum a sporting chance?