Chin'toka Disphoria Pt. 1

Posted on Sat Jul 6th, 2024 @ 9:21am by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Inara Senn

Mission: The Andromeda Strain
Location: Chin'toka
Timeline: Chintoka, 2375

Inara woke up from the sounds of weapons fire and moved cover to survey the invasion. They had beamed down two days ago. Two days. Her squad had gotten split up from the center of the city of Al'selon on Chin'toka, and the invasion had fallen to pieces, she couldn't even get a beam up. Not only was the fleet not there, but she didn't dare tap her comm badge. Instead, she took cover in the city's sewers and began to move through them.

Fortunately for her, the old construction work used large conduits made from simple Tiviacite Alloy. It was confusing to scan through, very confusing. Cheap metal with a cheap refining process, and it screwed over sensors.

Inara suddenly heard some movement and some lights, a squad, she got into a smaller and darker recess. She began to hide as a patrol of three Jem'Hadar began to search.

Cmdr Shran dh'Klar rushed to the tactical station of the USS Jupiter, the Galaxy class vessel that was the key to the defenses of the system at the moment. They had to protect the troop transports to ensure the reinforcements made it down safely. But the Jupiter, along with the rest of the convoy was taking heavy fire from two wings of Jem'Hadar attack ships. "Concord has been destroyed. The Sun Tzu and the Iwo Jima are beaming down troops. We have a trio of Jem'Hadar coming in on attack vector."

"Fire phasers. And notify the Klingons that they are allowed to actually engage the enemy as well" said Capt Parker. The dark-haired British woman was as steely as her nickname of "Iron Lady" implied, and she was a cool as the other side of the pillow.

The phasers fired rapidly from the Jupiter. The lead Jem'Hadar vessel exploded brilliantly. The two others continued to push towards the Jupiter, firing menacingly as they did. Shran wasn't about to let these soulless bastards usher in his final moments. He continued firing the phasers, finally hitting one of the Jem'Hadar vessels, blowing off a nacelle and sending it hurdling into its companion, destroying them both. "Targets eliminated" he said in his usual stoic voice.

"Very good commander. Tactical analysis" replied Capt Parker.

Shran quickly brought together all the relevant information. "We have a hull breach on deck 5, section 21, emergency force fields are holding, and damage control teams are already deployed. Sun Tzu and Iwo Jima have unloaded half their ground troop compliments and estimate the rest will be beamed down in the next 15 minutes. And the Klingons are finally engaged with the Jem'Hadar and seem to have them well in hand. We are also getting reports that the Jem'Hadar have beamed down additional troops in hopes of retaking the planet. Readings are still being jammed, but I would suggest they have sent down at least a full column to retake Al'selon. They have to retake it if they want to have the tactical position to move against us for that communication relay."

"End red alert. Set condition yellow" ordered Capt Parker. She was perfectly aware of what her XO wanted at this point, but it was a gamble. She looked back the Andorian who was making his way down to her. "I know what you want. Last time I let you deal with the Jem'Hadar I nearly lost you and a dozen officers."

"Those troops down there, they need leaders who have tactical experience, not a bunch of newly minted lieutenants who were barely ensigns a few months ago after they graduated from the Academy. The orders are to hold Chin'toka. We just held off a probing attack while they sent troops down. Sisko will be here in 3 days with additional ships and manpower. I am more useful to you on the planet" Shran replied in a diplomatically forceful manner.

Capt Parker looked at him as she always did when she knew he was just angling for something exciting. "I'll give you two squads worth of people, that's it. And Wilder stays here. I'll need her to fill in for you while you are on the planet. The moment Sisko arrives, you are back up here, understood?"

Inara moved carefully through the old tunnels, the Jem'Hadar's heavy footsteps resonated.

Aboard the Jupiter, Cmdr Shran gathered his people and equipment and prepared to beam down to the planet. Chin'toka III once was a relatively nice planet, even for a Cardassian world, but now it was a warzone. "Make sure you have plenty of power cells for your weapons and supplies. We can't get ahold of anyone in the area we are beaming down to, so be prepared for combat as soon as we arrive. Jem'Hadar can be anywhere, and we don't know what other surprises we might run into. Orders are to gather up any remaining personnel in the area and hold the city until reinforcements arrive. We will hold that city, understood?" Shran didn't wait for a response. "Alright, lets move out. First group on the transporter pad." The Andorian jumped up onto the pad with the others. "Get us down there chief and get the rest of them down as quickly as possible. Energize."

A figure wearing a cloak spoke to Inara. "Over here." Inara began to follow the figure's advise. "This way," It seemed this figure knew exactly the route to take to get her past most of the patrols that were hunting her. They exited the sewer and proceeded into and abandoned shop in the no-man's land. "Stay in here, come out next morning." The figure then left.

In the city square Shran and the first of his group materialized. He looked around and saw only destruction. The Cardassian architecture was distinct, but besides the dull metallic color, it was nearly unrecognizable at this point. He signaled his people to take up a position in what looked to be a governmental building. They began to filter that way in a tactical manner as the rest of the personnel began to materialize. With 30 people under his command, Cmdr Shran began his mission to consolidate Federation forces to hold the position.

TBC