Chapter 64

The Taking of Orak Tor

Sulvaka V, Sulvaka system

January 11, 2378

4pm

Yamato docked hard with the upper pylon of the abandoned station as the other ships spread out in a defensive formation to protect the flagship of the Alpha Quadrant campaign. Wildstar was beside his team of Star Force members, EDF Marines, Starfleet engineers, as well as Earthforce techs as they attempted to open the airlock. All of them were in spacesuits as they carefully began to open the airlock. Within minutes, the airlock opened up and they were able to enter the station.

"Atmosphere is existant, but not quite breathable yet. We'll have to go to Ops to bring it online., " said Commander Reginald Barkley, who was in charge of the Starfleet engineers. He walked with a tricorder in his hand behind some Marines. His own phaser rifle was slung over his shoulder, ready if he needed it. Barkley felt some of the intense fear that used to paralyze him, but now just kept him on his toes. He had come a long way from his days on the old Enterprise-D, and now he looked at a mission like this without fear, but an odd sense of exhiliration.

Wildstar nodded as he led the team down each corridor, and tracked the other teams as they spread out all around the station. So far, they had no trace of life signs on their scanners, but Wildstar worried that there might be sleeper Jem'Hadar soldiers in stasis, programmed to awaken when intruders boarded.

Sergeant Burroughs called in over the secured link. "Sir, we've reached Ops, and command and control looks deserted. All consoles and screens are off, and energy is a minimal levels."

Wildstar replied, "Good, Burroughs. Be careful, though. This place might be booby trapped still!"

"Yes sir! I've made sure the men are especially aware of this. It's been a major concern of mine, and I've run the men hard through the sims on the holodeck to prepare them."

"Good thinking, Burroughs. Knox did the same thing. He should be there shortly."

"Confirmed, sir. His men just arrived. We'll do what we can here and await your arrival. Burroughs out."

An hour later, Barkley and Wildstar stood in Ops, and Wildstar was impressed already with the commander's ability to get the station up and running, even if it were a minimal level. He went into the office, which was bare except for a desk, three chairs, and a couple of couches off to the side. The desk came to life as the consoles and screens came to life.

Stephen Sandor, his ship's engineer, joined him in the office, and nodded as he saw the systems come online. "We're in luck. From what I gathered, they left this place in a hurry and just powered things down. Barkley and his team are changing the security codes and access to primary systems to prevent the Cardassians from locking us out. EAS Nautilus has hard docked to lower pylon two and is ready to send up supplies when we're ready."

Wildstar nodded and said, "What about the portable jumpgate?"

"Magellan just jumped in and the Explorer-class ship is unfolding it as we speak. Captain Hazir says he'll have it up and operational in two hours."

"Good. Sandor, I want shields and weapons systems online ASAP. Make that your team's top priority!"

Sandor chopped his head in a brisk nod. "Yes, Wildstar." and headed out of the room.

Captain Marsden came on the comm system. "Wildstar, we're tracking some Jem'Hadar fighters heading towards us on an angle. Recommend we wait and see if they attack before we initiate combat. If we can keep them in the dark about what we're up to, so much the better. We're going to yellow alert, just in case."

"Thank you, Captain. How long do you estimate until they arrive?"

Marsden looked down at her console and said, "Estimate five hours before they can enter the system. But from our scans, they aren't directly headed here. If they pass us by undetected, I'd like permission to send some of my fighters to tail them."

"You have it, Captain. Keep me informed."

"Thank you, sir. Enterprise-E out!" The link cut off.

Hours later, they watched the fighters pass by without flinching. Wildstar was tempted to go after them, but resisted because he wanted to wait until his complete force was here at the staging area as well as making sure the station was fully operational. Marsden's fighters returned after the Jem'Hadar forces had gone out of range.

Marsden and Wildstar were in his office late that night as the teams were busy bringing the station back on line, and they looked over the readings from the various scanners. They had a meeting early the next morning with the commanders of all the ships in their task force.

"We were lucky today, sir. I was expecting to fight our way on here.," remarked Marsden.

"I know, which worries me. I've told Sandor and Barkley to go over this place with a fine tooth comb as many times as needed to be sure this place is secure. I'm just glad we've not found any. But our luck won't hold out forever.," Wildstar replied.

The next day, ships began to jump in via the jump gate, and the space around the station soon became crowded with ships. Wildstar sent smaller task forces comprising of Klingon and Romulan ships out on patrol, ordering them to cloak and maintain radio silence. Barkley and Sandor had the station's defenses up and running as well as the shields, and the power core was fully functional. As he laid down to sleep beside his love, Nova Forrester, in his quarters on the new station, he said a prayer of thanks for the good luck he'd had so far. He knew all too well that it would soon run out.