The flight to the asteroid belt where the Darwin had been destroyed was for the most part uneventful. Tarik, Deveraux, and company monitored the traffic into and out of the belt.
"Zhere seems to be a great deel of traffic to ze target area," Deveraux commented. "Mainly Son'a transports, and a few fighters."
"The Darwin was attacked about 5 million kilometers out from the objective; let's assume that is the maximum range of their sensors," Tarik replied. "Take us to 5.5 million kilometers, then launch the probe."
"Aye, sir. Adjusteeng position."
The runabout Hudson moved just outside the range from which the Darwin had been detected. Moments later, the surveillance probe launched. Heavily shielded using technology adapted from the Borg and some Romulan cloaking device elements, the Class IV surveillance probe was almost as good as being on the base itself. There's nothing the Son'a have that could touch it, Tarik thought.
"Resuming helm control. Mr. Deveraux, the probe is yours."
"Aye, sir. Data return incomeeng now!" Deveraux replied. "Merde! I have not seen reedings zuch as these een years! Ze energy output is almost identeecal to a Jem'Hadar breeding creche!"
Tarik looked at the stream of data. "Any estimates on current population of the base?"
"Five, six hundred effectives, plus anothair group of two hundred fifty ready for releese wethin zix days!"
They aren't considered sentient until they can survive outside the creche, Tarik reminded himself as he took a look at the data. "They appear to have a shield mechanism in place around the base itself, but not the asteroid. Chang, Gutierrez, if and when we land on this rock, your squads will be responsible for shutting down that shield. Lieutenant, can we get some visual data from the probe?"
"But of course!" Deveraux punched in some commands, and an overview of the enemy base appeared on the screen. "There appear to be three main parts of ze complex; ze largest part of ze complex appears to be ze breeding creche, and has five sublevels. I am lookeeng for ze field generator...zhere!"
A huge structure not unlike a metallic mushroom sprouted from the barren soil of the asteroid, about ten kilometers from the base. Impressive...a hit to their shield generator will take down the shield, but not the base, Tarik thought. It also buys us some time...oh, shit!
The probe spotted a patrol of Son'a troops, on foot and in an armored vehicle. "Okay, we're going to bring in the Banshees to nail that generator from a distance. You two men will take your squads down as soon as the generator is offline to prevent a repair crew from deploying. Standard infantry load, plus one M-24 Photon Anti-Tank Weapon and one sniper per squad."
"Aye, sir," the two corporals replied.
"Mr. Deveraux, can you find the hangar or the docking platform those fighters are operating from?"
"I am lookeng for zhat right now...negative. Zhey must have been carried by ze larger Son'a vessl zhat destroyed ze Darwin. I am unable to locate anywhere on ze asteroid where zhey might have landed."
"Very good. Is the recorder full?" Tarik asked. The science officer nodded.
"Then retrieve the probe. We're getting out of here."
The surveillance probe was retrieved without incident. Tarik brought the Hudson around and set a heading back to the station.
The mission proceeded routinely until about an hour into the return flight.
"Captain, I am receeving a distress call," Deveraux reported.
"Put it on audio."
[This is Captain Hardesty of the the freighter S.S. Galatea. We are under attack by Son'a forces! Our shields are down to 5% and our engines are offline. Any friendly vessel, please respond! We are about to be boarded!]
"Long range scans indicate Banshees 3 and 4 have deployed from ze station," Deveraux reported. "We within tree minutes of ze Galatea at current velocity. Ze Banshees will take at least eight minutes to arrive on station."
"That settles it," Tarik ordered. "Maintain radio silence. Activate the ECM pod and move us in on the Galatea. I'm going to the rear."
Tarik clambered back to the storage compartment containing the surveillance probe. If I recall those engineering courses correctly, this should work. Reroute this, reprogram that...there we go!
"Ze Galatea iz comeeng into view now, sir!" Deveraux announced. A Son'a ship equivalent to a revenue cutter had latched onto the freighter. The boarding had begun! "I am reading a total of eighteen Son'a, both on ze Galatea and on zhere own vessel."
"Mr. Deveraux, deploy the probe 5000 meters aft of the Galatea's warp generator. At my signal, beam me and Corporals Chang and Gutierrez to the Galatea using the probe as a relay. Then get the hell out of here!"
"But sir!"
"If we don't come back your odds in this runabout are about the same as if you were buck naked in the vacuum of space, because I guarantee you once we show up the Son'a aren't going to wait for the Banshees to give you backup. Get back to the station and get the data to Captain Wallace."
"Aye, sir."
The three Marines arrayed themselves on the runabout's single transporter pad. "Mr. Deveraux, beam us out!"
What seemed like an eternity passed before Tarik and company reappeared in the engine room of the Galatea. Immediately the shooting started.
Tarik placed the warp core between himself and his assailants, and returned fire. With only hand phasers as opposed to the full infantry load, the fight was going to be significantly more difficult than Tarik had hoped. Nonetheless, within about thirty seconds five Son'a lay dead on the engine room floor. "Grab their weapons!" Tarik ordered, and soon the party was equipped with Son'a disruptor rifles and sonic grenades.
"Okay, the odds against us are now down to four to one," Tarik said as he looked over a status panel in the Galatea's engine room. "We have another six on the bridge, and seven aboard the Son'a vessel."
A loud CLANG and a tremendous vibration shook the Galatea. They've undocked. The Banshees have no doubt arrived and are challenging the Son'a.
"All right, that's our signal! Let's get moving to the bridge!"
The engine room was connected to the bridge by a narrow corridor surrounded by sealed cargo containers. Tarik, as usual, took the lead. About two-thirds of the way to the bridge they found a man bleeding to death. He'd been stabbed and disemboweled by a Son'a raider.
"Chang, stay with him," Tarik ordered. "Report to the bridge as soon as he's stable," he added, though both men knew what 'stable' under these circumstances meant.
The door to the bridge was sealed. Tarik took his disruptor rifle and blasted it off its mountings. Inside, the scene was one of chaos.
Three more of the Galatea's crewman lay dead, while Captain Hardesty was tied to his command chair. A Son'a held a bloody knife to the captain's neck. The rest of the crew was being held on their hands and knees at gunpoint. Before the Son'a could respond, Tarik blasted the Son'a holding a knife to the captain, while Gutierrez shot down two of the Son'a doing guard duty.
The Son'a abandonned their hostages and rallied to meet their new challenge. The remaining crew of the Galatea, freed to act, rose up against ther attackers. In a few moments, it was all over. All of the Son'a and one more of the Galatea's crew lay dead.
An engineering crewman went to the ship's scanner readouts. "The attacker's been destroyed. Two Federation craft are ready to escort us to Starbase 901," he reported.
"Can we get there unassisted?" Hardesty asked.
"The engines are capable of Warp 2, but no greater."
"If I may," Tarik asked the captain, who nodded assent. "Banshee 3, this is Captain Tarik. We've disposed of the boarding party. The ship's engineer reports this vessel capable of no greater than warp factor two. Request towing to SB901; alert Sickbay for casualties."
[Aye, sir. Initiating tractor beam,] a feminine voice replied. [How the hell did you get on board, anyway?]
"Now, ma'am, if we told you that, it wouldn't be a secret!"
[Keep up that attitude and you'll end up with schplict in your coffee, jarhead!]
"You underestimate the Romulan palate, ma'am. See you back at base!"
<After-Action Report, Stardate 61289 Captain Tarik, SFMC
Reconaissance mission to Son'a base successful. Upper estimate of 600 Son'a and allied effectives present on base one parsec from New Canada system; base appears to be breeding clones at a rate of 250 every six days. Recommend investigation of probable Jem'Hadar aid to Son'a. Recommend combined air-ground strike to eliminate shield generator on base and ensure standoff capability against Son'a fighters or other support vessels. Based on current capabilities, assault should take place within 10 days if station resources alone are to be utilized. The clock is wound; we had best act quickly if we are to get this base under our control.
At 6 hours 45 minutes into mission, received distress call from civilian freighter S.S. Galatea carrying cargo of 10,000 tons of kevas and trillium, Captain Jonas Hardesty in command. Son'a boarding party defeated by recon party while Lt. Paul Deveraux ensured delivery of data on Son'a base disposition to SB901. Son'a boarding vessel destroyed by Banshee Squadron and eleven Son'a boarders killed by recon party. Civilian casualties were heavy; seven dead and three wounded out of crew of twenty. Captain Hardesty is being debriefed by station command while his ship undergoes repairs. Mission terminated at 1644 hours on stardate 61289; elapsed time 11 hours 44 minutes. End log.>
Tarik looked up as his door chimed. "Enter," he replied.
In walked Captain Hardesty. "Captain, I just wanted to thank you for your assistance before we left. The repairs took less time than we expected, and I was even able to recruit some replacements for my crew."
"Aren't you sure you'd rather wait a while? It's still pretty rough out there, and your crew hasn't had an easy time of it."
"I've got to get my cargo to its destination on time or else we lose 50% of our agreed price! Besides, with our new crewembers we shouldn't have too many problems," Hardesty said, handing a PADD to Tarik.
Tarik looked at the display: the Galatea's crew manifest. The crew complement was up to seventeen again, including four Klingons, two Nossicans, and a Gorn. "I should say you won't be having too many problems!" Tarik replied. Hardesty grinned.
"And, as a token of our appreciation, I wanted to give you this," Hardesty said, presenting Tarik with a box. Inside were six heavy china coffee mugs with the name 'SS GALATEA' and a wire frame picture of the ship on them. One cup for himself, and one each for Deveraux, Chang, Gutierrez, and the two Banshee pilots. "It's not a lot, but it's the best we can do."
"It was all in the line of duty, but your thoughtfulness is appreciated."
"I'd love to stay and chat, but we're pushing a deadline! With insurance rates in this sector the way they are I need every credit I can get!" Hardesty replied.
"Good luck, Captain." Tarik said as the man departed.
No sooner than he left than Kassia entered. "Welcome back! I see you have another souvenir for the wall," she commented, looking at the Son'a disruptor rifle and the dagger mounted on the bulkhead.
"Yeah, a couple more out of circulation, but some souvenirs mean more than others," Tarik replied, toasting Kassia with one of the empty coffee cups.