Johnny dodged through alleys and winding back streets, avoiding the Horde infiltrators as much as possible. Burdened with carrying his wounded comrade/caretaker, he was unable to fight. Now I understand why Farouk never carried a weapon: he had too much else to worry about!
Eventually he happened across a young Borial wearing the blue and gold tunic of a herald. "Take me to where the other Virgos are headquartered!" he ordered. The Borial messenger led him there, impressively slaying three Horde warriors along the way.
The headquarters was little more than a converted market square, where Starfleet personnel were being dispatched to the most troubled sections of the city. A storefront had been converted to a makeshift hospital where the wounded were treated and the dying comforted. Hoping against hope that Jenara would be in the former category (I don't need yet another ghost to poison me! Johnny thought), Johnny left her in the hands of the overworked and under-equipped Starfleet medical personnel, who were making do with such herbs and potions and improvisations as presented themselves.
Lieutenant Richard Wallace and a Borial officer were contemplating a map of the city of Noran, marked by Wallace with red and white pins to indicate the positions of Horde and Virgo/Borial personnel.
"Johnny! Good to see you back among the living!" Richard responded. Of the officers Johnny had associated with, he found he could relate to Richard Wallace the best. Perhaps it was because they had both started as enlisted men; perhaps it was because of Richard's baptism by fire against the Borg at Wolf 359, when Johnny was still just barely a teenager in Tuba City with the stars in his eyes. Compared to that, what Johnny went through with the Cardassians was on a level with shore leave on Risa.
"You can say that again!!! How are we holding up?" Johnny asked his old comrade from the Ilion.
"It's pretty much a holding action at this point. The Horde had a few initial successes but we're driving them back. We're trying to keep this from becoming a siege; the city just isn't prepared, the extra hunting and preserving we did notwithstanding; by assembling our forces as much as we can outside the city. The Horde have already erected siege engines. Your Sergeant Barek is coordinating the defense of the city parapets. That's where most of your men are right now."
"What sort of intelligence do we have on the Horde?"
"Lieutenant Benton led a team behind their lines, but we haven't heard from them since early this morning. If I could spare a man I'd send a runner. Crazy way to run a war! And to think this is the way Humans ran wars hundreds of years ago." Not that we have any business running this war, Wallace thought.
"Do we have anyone who can coordinate things here?" Johnny asked.
"Certainly! The Captain's still around, as well as most of the senior staff. And Kylar here's pretty sharp," Wallace said, indicating the Borial officer.
"Great! Get someone in charge, and grab your gear. Let's go meet Benton and see what we can do to the Horde!" Johnny exclaimed. "Herald! Go find Corporal Salonnen: the big Virgo with blonde hair. He'll be with Barek, the bumpy-nosed Virgo wearing the earring, up on the wall. Tell him to come to me here!"
"What's the urgency? I want to take these bastards down as much as anyone else, but..."
"Let's just say I have a few debts to settle," Johnny said, looking over at the medics attending to Jenara.