Four Days before the battle at Chin’Toka.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please!” Ford raised his voice, along with a glass of champagne. “It is not often that I get the chance to host a party, especially when it is the anniversary of our two finest officers, Lieutenants Carl and Ella O’Conner. But even more so when it is also the birthday of their daughter, Faye. So I only have one question for the two of you; how did you two manage that?”

Laughter filled the lounge as Carl took the mantel or just Ford’s spot and raised his voice. “It has been a real pleasure serving on board the Echelon. Some would say being a security officer is not as exciting as being a helm, or tactical or commanding officer.” He gestured to Ford before he continued. “But I enjoy doing my job every single day. I get to chat with wonderful people, lend a hand to those who need one and most importantly, I get to see my wife and daughter every day. Whether it be at work or at home.”

Ella then stepped up beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist. “As for Faye’s birthday landing on our anniversary; that was just pure luck.” She said as she gestured their now twelve year old over and wrapped her other arm around her as everyone sang their praises.

Over an hour would go by and the lounge would start to grow more quiet as people started to leave. Only a handful remained, much like Nathan Ford, Ravaen Reade, and the O’Conners.

“Why are there so many systems not able to communicate with each other?” Faye asked. “Mom said it was some weird darkness surrounding them. Has no one figured out how to get around it?”

“Well, Faye,” Ford began. “There are some theories in progress about the phenomenon but right now there just seems to be nothing we can do. That we know of anyway. There are other technologies that we have that could allow us to communicate with others. We may even be able to traverse the phenomenon in another form of FTL but at the moment, it’s just too risky.”

“The only dire need we have right now, is the supply chains being cut off. But we have ships working on that as we speak. So, there really is nothing else out there that requires us to take any amount of risks to ourselves or to others by trying another form of FTL.” Reade explained.

Ella made a ‘well…’ kind of face. “If we could re-crystalize much like we do with our dilithium, it wouldn’t be an issue. Then there’s the other idea.” Then she remembered why Faye asked and smiled. “Faye was only curious about the comms, because she hasn’t been able to continue her classes. Since we don’t have school on board the Echelon, she’s been taking classes on the computer in our quarters with an instructor from Starbase Eighty-Six.”

“Well hopefully the onboard computer can still compensate for that, or the holodeck for that matter, at least until we get word from Fourth Fleet Command.” Said Ford before he took a sip of his forth champagne glass.

“Could Fourth Fleet Command really get comms up again?” Carl asked.

“I wouldn’t put it past us. There are brilliant minds everywhere, and there is just no doubt in our minds that Fourth Fleet Command will get in contact with everyone in regards to the issues at hand. Right now, we just continue with our current orders.” Said Reade.

“I sure hope that the Sovereign is at DS Nine. Would hate having to take the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant,” said Carl.

“What’s wrong with the Gamma Quadrant, daddy?” Faye asked.

“Nothing’s wrong with it, just these long trips does get some people on edge and that’s what daddy has to deal with some times, sweetie.” Carl told her before he gave her a quick hug.

“Speaking of which,” Ford set the empty glass down and a thought came to his mind that he should stop there. “Has that crewman calmed down?”

“The petty officer?” Carl sighed. “Yeah. I don’t understand what he was thinking running through the corridors naked but his coworkers explained that he opened a cargo container that belonged to one of the Ferengi officers on board and tried out the Hupyrian beetle snuff. So that led me to asking one of the nurses to take some tests and apparently the petty officer is allergic to it.”

“Allergies made him take his clothes off?” Faye had a weird-grossed out look on her face and everyone laughed.

“Anyway, some of us sealed up the container and told the Ferengi that it belonged to, to make sure that they lock it with a passcode or something.” Said Carl.

“People should know better than to open other people’s property,” said Reade before she sighed. “But I suppose curiosity is still an issue for the undisciplined.”

Ella grabbed Carl’s arm. “It’s getting late, we should be heading back to our quarters.” To which Carl nodded his head.

“Don’t worry about the clean up, it’s all taken care of,” said Ford and after brief thanks and congratulations were said, Ford watched all three O’Conner’s depart the lounge. Ford then wrapped his arm around Reade’s waist and leaned in. “So, since you’re here now. Mind if we swing by my quarters?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” She smirked as she set her own glass down and traversed out of the lounge right with him.

Over the asteroid where the large generator facility is located

“Sir, with the orbital weapons platforms offline, it looks like the battleship is launching troop transports to the surface of Chin’toka two and three.” Ella reported.

Ford frowned as he watched his ship move into position above the generator facility through the view screen. Once they were informed by Gul Terek of what was happening, their sensors picked up sixteen life signs in the facility, all Vaadwaur. Two security teams should suffice, and they were all prepped in transporter room one and two. Ford then had instructed Decker to provide covering fire, as the Vaadwaur ships will surely try to stop them.

Except they seemed to be rather busy protecting the battleship while it launched a full troop invasion onto those planets. Luckily for them, Cardassians are not known to give up easily and those planets should have large battalions of troops to deal with the Vaadwaur. But if those orbital weapons platforms were turned against them, anything could happen.

“We’re in position, sir!” Remi called out.

“Ventral shields down!” Said Andre.

“Transporters one and two have energized! Raising ventral shields!” Said Clayton.

“Then let’s hope that our teams can get that facility back,” said Ford as he stared at the facility on the view screen.

Raging firefight echoed throughout the corridors of the facility. Two starfleet teams of six per team had beamed into an area that had no Vaadwaur soldiers. But they barely when ten feet down a corridor before they were engaged by them. Several beams of light would zip through the air, some would hit the ceiling, some would hit the floor, while most would hit the bulkheads.

As the fight raged, the Starfleet teams began to gain ground and grew closer and closer to the facility’s control center, where most of the Vaadwaur soldiers were located. So far the two teams had suffered no casualties, while the Vaadwaur had suffered eight, leaving them only eight more to deal with.

“Carl!” Shouted one of the officers. “They’re all inside the control center, just past that doorway!”

Carl was pressed up against the wall in one of the cross junctions, where he quickly leaned around the corner with his pistol raised and pulled the trigger. His phaser zipped across the air and struck a Vaadwaur soldier solid in the chest. Carl quickly ducked back before the enemy could get a shot on him. “That was pretty obvious, ensign!” Said Carl. “Lucky for us, they only have seven left.”

“Six!” Said someone who just took one of the soldiers down with a shot from their rifle.

Carl smiled, “It’s going to be a good day, boys and girls! We’ll have this place cleaned up and get those orbitals back online in no time! And once we’re done here, the drinks ar-” He was abruptly interrupted when a polaron beam had struck him right in the chest.

“Behind us!” Someone shouted and it was all chaos from there.

“Behind us!” the voice echoed on the bridge as Ford paced from side to side on the bridge, anticipation of the battle below was getting to him. They had an open comm link with the teams below, so that they knew what was going on and were able to understand the situation at hand. But it was more to ensure that they weren’t out of the loop when something goes wrong.

“It looks like the remaining Vaadwaur soldiers found a way to flank them,” said Andre. “Sensors show three of them in the control room while the other three are right behind our teams.”

“There! Over there!”

“Shoot them!” Sounds of weapons fire echoed throughout the bridge until it just suddenly stopped. Silence. Ford was about to ask for a report when a voice beat him to it. “Echelon! Control room secured! We’re bringing the orbitals back online. We got several wounded that need immediate transport to sickbay!”

Ford looked to Andre and nodded his head. “Transporter room, ventral shields are going down. Beam the wounded to sickbay right away.”

While there were a few of the away teams on bio beds with minor injuries, weapon burns on their arms or legs, there was one that was on the surgical table that had the attention of several of the ship’s doctors. Carl O’Conner.

“Careful in removing his uniform!” Said one doctor while another took a hypospray to his neck to inject him with a sedative. He was in too much pain for an anesthetic. “The burn covers almost ninety percent of his chest, we can’t put a cardio-stimulator on him if something goes wrong!”

“Get me that cortical stimulator!” Said the other doctor and they attached it to Carl’s head once it was handed to them. “Close it!” They pointed to the large table that housed several medical sensor clusters that hovers over the patient’s body. Once it was raised from both sides of the surgical bed and closed together above Carl, they were able to get more thorough readings of his condition and the weapon burn.

“Severe damage to his vital organs, including his heart. Get me that dermal regenerator!”

“We’re losing him!” Said one as the obvious beeps of his heart beat grew slower and slower by the second until the solid sound from the bed indicated that he had flat-lined. The doctors worked feverishly to get his heart beating again but all their efforts were in vain.

There was silence in sickbay, as someone had silenced the biobed’s heart monitor. Then that silence was broken when the Chief Medical Officer spoke, “I’m calling it.”