CYCLE 5 – FINALE

CHAPTER 1

"There is no substitute for face-to-face reporting and research."

- Thomas Friedman – Earth (Human)

ANTICA, BETA RENNER SYSTEM

JANUARY, 2310

Lieutenant Commander Corin lay flat on his belly, watching the landing field below him. He and his 5-man team had been on Antica for a week, waiting and watching. This was a tremendous risk, but they didn't give easy missions to the Raider Teams. They were expected to be able to get in, get the job done, and get out without being caught; usually without anyone ever even knowing they were there.

This time though, they were being used to send a message. The Anticans are a large, fur-bearing canine-like species native to the Beta Renner system in Sector 500. Purely carnivorous, they preferred to eat their food while it was still alive. Warp-capable and in a long-running war with their neighbors, the reptilian Selay, they were skilled fighters. Recently, they had attacked a Dosadi freighter, killed her crew and took her cargo. The Dosadi High Command hoped that sending such a message would put an end to any Antican thoughts of continuing the practice without the need for a devastating military action by the much more powerful Imperial Fleet, which truth be told, was badly overstretched at the moment.

Scattered out on the field below Corin's perch on a low range of rocky hills bordering the field were nearly two dozen ships. These ranged in size from atmospheric craft to military patrol ships to a pair of large warp-capable transports. The buildings of the facility were squat, dome-shaped structures and the team had mined them extensively over the previous days. Finally, the vessel he was waiting for began landing, a sleek, well-armed attack ship; About the same size as a Dosadi frigate. This was the same ship that had attacked and captured the Gatlon.

He spoke quietly, relying on the subcutaneous communicator to mask the transmission to his team. "That's her. Sunset's in 15 minutes – we go then. No change to the plan."

Nothing was said in return. Nothing needed to be. He and his team had been working together on similar missions for fifteen years. The ship settled slowly onto the field as the sun slid towards the horizon behind Corin and his men. His chronometer tingled his skin and he began creeping towards the perimeter fence of the landing field, trusting to the twilight and his active camouflage battle dress.

There was a gate guard, a young Antican who was watching the attack ship and daydreaming, clearly bored with standing guard. He died without making a sound and without knowing anything about why. Corin slid his lifeless body to the ground, removing his knife from the young guard's rib-cage and continued on through the gate, noting on his heads-up display that the rest of the team were on-schedule.

They made their way through the ships on the field, quickly planting their remaining charges where they would do the most good – for the Dosadi, at least. Meanwhile, Corin made his way to the Administration building. He stepped through the door, his silenced caseless-ammo pistol making virtually no noise as the sub-sonic rounds tore into the Antican at the entry point. There was none of the noise a phaser or disruptor would make and it killed just as well, he thought to himself.

In seconds he had charged up the stairs, the active camouflage adapting itself to the colors and lighting around him. Switching from the pistol to his phaser, he pushed the door to the command post open and stepped inside, reveling in the shocked looks of the Antican's inside – including, he was sure, the captain of the attack ship.

"Everyone stand up and move to the far wall." he said, the universal translator making sure that he was understood even if the unwavering phaser muzzle hadn't already made it clear. With no real option, the Antican's did as they were commanded.

"Who is the captain of that vessel that just landed?"

One of them stepped forward, snarling, but before he could even speak, Corin shot him through the liver – located mid-chest on an Antican. Watching the dying man writhe on the floor in pain, he spoke again. "Hopefully this will be all it takes for your species to learn that attacking Dosadi will bring you only death in large measure." He indicated another man, "You – Move to the communications panel."

He handed him a sheet of real paper. "Contact your higher authority and read this. Quickly."

The Antican, watching Corin out of the corner of his eye tapped some controls and began to read, "The Dosadi Imperium has elected to demonstrate to you the costs of attacking the Empire. The vessel involved and the landing facility supporting it have been destroyed. We could as easily destroy any facility on your planet, or your entire planet. There will be no further warnings. Any further attack on any Dosadi anywhere by any Antican will result in the extermination of your race."

As he finished, Corin shot him, quickly moving on to shoot the remaining Anticans in the room, the open microphone picking up the sounds of slaughter. He stepped to the console and hissed in Dosadi, "Don't fuck with us. Ever." and closed the connection.

As he was heading towards the stairs, he killed two more Anticans who had come to investigate the sounds of phaser fire, continuing quickly out the door. Speaking again to his team, he said, "Get clear and let's blow the place. Move, move, move."

They double-timed back through the perimeter fence and when Corin noticed people beginning to exit the buildings, he ordered, "Blow it now."

"Now?" came the puzzled response from Force Leader Veth, his demolitions expert.

"Now, now, now." he repeated, followed by a ripping series of explosions across the field as the ships and buildings were torn apart.

There was no further conversation.

Two hours later, they were back aboard the ISS Tarak after finishing their mission debrief. The team was back in their usual civilian rigs and sitting in the team room aboard the Raider which was cloaked and leaving the Beta Renner system far behind.

The Team NCO, Strike Leader Trion was clearly not happy. She was scowling at an officer she had followed and respected for many years. "Cap, what the hell was that?"

Corin was puzzled, "What was what, Trion?"

"That kid at the gate? What was the point to killing him? We wanted to leave witnesses, remember?"

Force Leader Ason added "And why blow the buildings so early? They were still coming out of them."

Veth asked, "The plan was to give them a couple minutes to evac before we blew everything so that there were lots of Anticans telling the story of just what happened. So...?"

Corin shrugged, a fluid action in a Dosadi, "There were still plenty of them to tell the tale. And the kid was sloppy. And I didn't want to have him getting lucky behind my back."

Trion shook her head, "So rather than knocking him cold you killed him? Cap, you're getting creepy."

"What do you mean by that, Strike?"

The team exchanged glances, "Cap, we've followed you for a lot of years because we trust you. Because we know you. Well, Trellos is new, but she asked for this team because we've got a great rep. But, part of why we've got a great rep is because we kill when we have to, not because we can."

He shrugged again, "We had to. We were supposed to send a message. We sent one."

Soral, the team medic offered his observation. "Corin, I think you're starting to like it too much. There's a reason they promote people out of the teams after a while. You've turned down like 3 offers to move up to full Commander and go into planning instead of the field. Why?"

He looked at the medic, a man he'd worked side by side with for almost a decade. "I'm not interested in leaving the field. This is who I am, what I do. I've got no interest in sitting in a ship planning raids when I could be running them."

Trion continued her probing. "Corin, you're forty. You've been in regen, what, seven times? Eight? There's only so many times they can grow stuff back."

"You're no spring chicken yourself, Strike."

"I'm thirty-six." she smiled, "But Corin, I AM gonna cycle out. I've got two kits and a mate and I'm getting too old to run around on exotic planets meeting interesting new people and killing them. And to be honest, I've always been able to go home knowing that I only killed when I had to. That my team only killed when we had to. I'm not sure I can do that this time. I don't like that.

"I think it's gotten too easy for you, Corin. I don't think you know anything else and it's getting to be waaay too enjoyable for you."

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't have the blood lust. Don't go all crazy just because I made the message a little more emphatic than we planned. And I'm pretty sure I've got a few years of ops left in me yet."

Trion kept pushing. "No blood lust, huh? Killing that kid because he was sloppy? Corin, when was the last time you spent time with someone who wasn't on the team?"

"I visit my folks every time we're back on Dosad."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. When was the last time you shared a bed with someone? Anyone? Or how about this, when was the last time you had a relationship with someone? Hell, even just for sex?"

His expression grew cold. "That's not really your business, Strike."

Her expression matched his, "Yes, it is. I'm the Team NCO. If it affects this team, everything is my business. And your mental state determines what happens to this team each and every time we go on a mission. If you're more interested in death than in life, that is a huge issue and is very much my business."

"I think we're done here."

"No, we're not. Cap, Dosadi are a social species, and you're the most isolated Dosadi I've ever met, and getting more isolated as the years go on. That's not a good sign..."

He interrupted her, "I'm only half-Dosadi."

"Who gives a fuck what genes make up that beat up old body of yours? My point is you're not behaving normally, Cap. We've all noticed it. It's been getting worse." The rest of the team were nodding and watching Corin. She stood up, "Cap, there's way more to living than just killing. We've all got mates and most of us have kits. Except you. We're worried about you – and ourselves as well." She put her hand on his shoulder, noticing the scars under her hand.

He put his hand on hers. "You guys are my family, Strike."

"Then listen to us, OK? Cap, you gotta find something to live for, or you're going to take us all down with you."

He nodded and looked at the table top while the rest of his team got up and left the room.

ELETHA, DELTA ERANI SYSTEM, DOSADI IMPERIUM

JANUARY, 2310

Ceena sat upright, panting heavily in the hot desert sun. She looked up at the pale blue sky, noting that the afternoon clouds were already starting to build. Turning to the young reporter who had been following her and her husband Tir around for the past several days she said, "We've only got a few more minutes before we should head back unless you want to enjoy the monsoons."

"No luck on that root you're looking for?"

"Really, you've been talking to us for days now! I'd think you'd have picked up more on what we're doing. It's the Zolar root."

The young human smiled, "I remember, and I know it's a big export of this planet, and I know it's popular because it acts like an intoxicant on many humanoid species – one without a hangover! And I also know that it affects your species like catnip does on Earth cats."

She laughed. "You're bad. You listen a lot more than you let on."

"Well, that IS my job, Ceena."

"And I'm sure you know that our main interest in Zolar isn't because it's an intoxicant, but because of the photo-genetic properties. We're beginning to suspect that the concentrations of dilithium in this planet have a lot of effect upon the root and that may be one reason it's so unique. The mitochondria seem to have no relationship whatsoever to any other photo-genetic species in the alpha quadrant and that's caused some problems for our main research!"

"I'm afraid the science of that is way beyond anything that I can follow." He paused as Tir came up to the pair of them.

"Found one, but it's going to take some time to get a decent sample without destroying the plant, and judging by the sky, we don't have that kinda time if we want to stay dry." he said.

She stood up, the young reporter marveling at the flowing grace with which the Dosadi moved. "We can always come back tomorrow. We've got plenty of data to play with for tonight anyway." She moved to her husband and rubbed the top of her head under his deep tan colored chin.

"Perhaps we can talk more about the Wilkes Clan then? Since your work seems to be on hold for the next little bit?"

They were packing up their instruments and tools and Tir asked, "Why all this interest in them? And why come to us? We're not really related you know."

"Well, not by blood. But from what I've learned of the Dosadi, your parents are considered part of the family, as are you, and your father has been closely involved with Captain Wilkes and Storm Leader Sooth for a number of years."

Ceena and Tir looked at each other. Tir answered, "Well, yes, Dad and Captain Wilkes ran an import/export business on Dosad together, which is how we met." and he squeezed his wife.

"See, that's something my readers would be interested in learning about as well! A Dosadi married to a Hydran? That's not a mix anyone on Earth would think would ever happen! I'm guessing there's quite a story there."

Ceena laughed, "Not really. My father-in-law would bring Tir with him when he came to visit and we just fell in love is all. Pretty basic stuff, really."

They began loading their gear in the back of the ATV float they were using to explore the desert region to the west of a small mining village. When they got everything loaded and were about to get into the passenger compartment, there was a terrific peal of thunder in the distance.

"Wow!" Ceena exclaimed, "That's the loudest thunder I've ever heard!"

The reporter said, "We need to find someplace to hide, right now. That wasn't thunder."

Tir asked, "What was it then?"

"That was an explosion – look." and he pointed up in the sky. Visible in the far distance were flashing lines of green, dark specks diving down from the sky and growing clouds. More rumbles and bangs began to reach them."

"What the hell?" Tir asked.

"I've done plenty of war reporting; we need to get out of here, but not to the village. This is about to become a war zone and they're not going to be picky about who they shoot."

Tir put the vehicle in motion and began to bounce across the desert, away from the mining village.

Ceena asked, "Who would be stupid enough to attack the Imperium? We're too far from the Klingons or Avatans. Romulons? The supply line would be insane."

The human said, "We can figure the who and the why out later, but right now I'd really like to get someplace safer." He was facing out the rear of the ATV, sensor logging the attack, watching more incoming vessels engaging the defenseless mining village they were leaving behind them.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Legate Dukat of the Cardassian Union leaned back in his chair and smiled. Three years of planning and toil. Just setting up the staging base hidden within the Torelli Nebula had taken a year of secretive efforts. But finally, the day of action had arrived. 200 ships had dropped out of warp around Eletha and were closing fast.

Gul Tennekt gave his orders to his staff. "Send the destroyers after their patrol craft. Begin the bombardment of ground defenses. After five minutes, launch the fighters. When they report air supremacy, launch the assault craft. Move quickly while their defense network is still struggling with the Obsidian Order's charming little virus." and he chuckled.

Within seconds, nearly twenty vessels responded to his commands, with a dozen destroyers charging towards the four 20-man patrol craft the Dosadi had in orbit. Eight of the big Sartan-class cruisers were already taking up orbit around Eletha and targeting ground facilities with their heavy forward phaser arrays.

IMPERIAL DOSADI PATROL SHIP ISS FORETH, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

The alert siren was wailing, but his ears were ringing so badly that Lieutenant Commander Karon could barely hear it. The lights were sparking on and off again and something was on fire. He coughed "Where the hell did they come from?!"

His helmsman, wounded, answered back "No clue. One second they weren't there, the next they were shooting everything." while he continued to drive his little ship in as erratic a fashion as he could. Their few remaining weapons were firing constantly – with so many ships around them they could hardly miss.

Karon looked at his tactical display, now completely clogged with Cardassian warships and weapons. There really was no hope that they could salvage anything out of this, but honor. "Ramming speed. Aim for that cruiser."

The helmsman grinned back at him, "Honor above all!" And plotted his course, the engines straining to their maximum output, the Foreth trailing fire, smoke, and debris as she rolled towards a Cardassian cruiser that was moving into orbit.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Dukat leaned forward and frowned. The Dosadi didn't seem to ever do what was expected. He watched a nearly-destroyed patrol ship slam into one of his cruisers. Shields weren't going to stop 2,000 tons of mass moving at high-obrital-speeds no matter how much energy you put into them. The cruiser exploded almost instantly, the detonation causing further damage in the packed fleet. They hadn't tried to surrender. They hadn't even tried to abandon ship.

Gul Tennekt spoke, "All enemy vessels destroyed, Legate. We are bombarding their ground defenses now. As expected, it appears that the virus was unable to take out the transporter-jammers, so we will do a standard assault."

"What are our losses at this time?"

The Gul swallowed. "Two cruisers, and a frigate destroyed, three destroyers and two frigates damaged, but repairable. Several ships report light damage to shields or hull."

"From four patrol craft, with no warning? When the operation has concluded, I will expect an explanation of your crews' performance, Gul Tennekt."

"Yes, sir." He gave the orders that sent the fighters and assault ships down onto the planet surface. The outcome was not in doubt. Only the cost in men and equipment. And he was beginning to worry about what that cost would be. The Dosadi were even more insane than he had believed.