Paint and Powder
A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
2375
Chin'Toka System
USS Veracruz, Chimer-class advanced modular battleship
Veracruz smoked. Not for the rush of nicotine or other chemicals that gave organics a high, but simply because... It was familiar. It was comforting. A regular habit that just seemed to fit her so well. Fire and smoke, the products of industry. Technological advancement. Everything that had built her, and built the civilization she was made to protect.
In that sense then, it was addictive. It helped her feel more grounded, having fire and smoke between her lips as she stood at her captain's side.
"Report," Captain Shrahr Ch'zorir, a scarred Andorian male, ordered. Veracruz locked her eyes on her viewscreen as the bridge crew stayed at work. AR-558 was there, where Starfleet troops were in desperate need of reinforcements.
"There's three squadrons of Jem'hadar fighters and five battleships in orbit," Veracruz reported. "Retaking orbit is possible, but... Difficult, on our own."
"Odds of success?" Shrahr asked, scowling through the scars on his face.
"23.7 percent," Veracruz stated. Shrahr's scowl deepened.
"ETA of reinforcements?" He asked.
"Thirty seven hours, ten minutes, thirty five seconds," Veracruz reported. Shrahr nodded slowly.
"There has to be a way to reinforce them sooner," he grumbled, "could we get a few runabouts through if we distracted them?"
"Potentially," Veracruz allowed, taking a deep drag and letting it out as a cloud of smoke. Her bridge's scrubbers removed it almost immediately. "Unfortunately, that would require a heavy warship to keep their attention off our launches. I'm currently in assault ship configuration. I'm well armed, but I'm still mostly set up to land troops, not fight. Odds of them getting through are... Not good."
"How not good?" Shrahr asked. Veracruz sighed softly.
"19.3 percent," she said. "Our fighter wing is still escorting our convoys."
"Their ETA?"
"Nineteen hours, fifteen minutes, ten seconds" Veracruz stated. Shrahr leaned back in his chair, glaring at the Jem'hadar vessels holding the small world's orbitals. Other Allied Forces were fighting across the system. They were already engaged. Veracruz knew he knew that.
It seemed almost hopeless. Veracruz was fine with going out in a blaze of glory if necessary... But the odds were not kind to them.
"I'm open to suggestions that don't involve a suicide run to help them out," Shrahr murmured thoughtfully. Veracruz looked at him, and processed the data quickly. Her one visible eye lit up.
"Captain," she asked, "how much can you boost the signal power of my subspace transceiver?"
Shrahr raised his white eyebrows. Shrahr hadn't started as a soldier-He had started as an engineer. Given how complex her new hull was, that was usually a godsend. But he was still learning how to fight.
"I'd say... Ten times with the equipment we have on board right now," Shrahr hummed, doing mental calculations in his head, "who do you want to reach so badly?"
Veracruz smiled.
"Myself."
Shrahr blinked... And then smiled. He reached out and poked her arm-A solid gynoid arm.
"And let me guess, you know how we're gonna get you there?" He asked, a devilish grin on his face.
Veracruz grinned right back.
"I believe so," she said.
Shrahr shook his head, chuckling as he got up.
"And they said I was crazy for taking command of you," he said.
"If it works? It's not crazy," Veracruz said cheerfully.
Patrols out behind the camp perimeter were difficult at best. The planet was barren and dark pretty much all the time-One side was locked to the sun and boiled, while the other faced away. The atmosphere was able to transport enough heat energy to keep this part of AR-558 from freezing, but it was still desolate, rocky, and gloomy.
Ensign Nog couldn't recall any light save for that of the stars overhead.
The Jem'hadar operated just fine though, and so would he. Due to all the jamming by the Jem'hadar, their tricorders weren't operating very well. That's where he came in: With his huge ears, he might be able to hear the Jem'hadar camp out.
Larkin, an officer, came along. So did Reese, a soldier, who had a necklace made of ketracel white cartridges. They crept slowly through the canyon, quiet. Nog strained to hear, as best he could.
He did... Hear something...
"I've got a whistle," he murmured softly, "something falling from the sky... Fast..."
Reese pointed up, and both officers tracked it. It was an orange falling star, rocketing for the surface.
"Photon torpedo?" Larkin mumbled.
"Resupply?" Nog suggested.
It crashed ahead in the canyon. Nog had to cover his ears-That had been loud. He uncovered them, narrowed his eyes...
"I can hear Jem'hadar," Nog mumbled, "they're running... Shouting... Away from us."
"Towards that thing," Reese surmised. Nog nodded quickly. "We need to find out why."
"Captain Sisko told us to scout out their base," Larkin protested softly.
"And if it's crashed near their base?" Reese asked. Larkin grit her teeth... And nodded.
"Let's go."
They made it through the canyon system as quickly as they dared. In a neighboring gulley, they spotted the light from the crashed object. Creeping behind boulders, the two humans looked to Nog. He focused, darting his head up just above the rocks.
"They're... Yelling about Federation... A torpedo," he said, "but it had an antigrav. They're trying to get it open."
"Stay here," Reese ordered. The soldier moved forward, Larkin and Nog watching him vanish into the gulley. Nog grimaced. Not all the sounds had come from ahead... He could make out sounds nearby. Like a hatch opening. And other sounds, up, and from above-!
TSEW!
"AUGH!"
Nog's eyes widened. Larkin fell, an energy blast burning a hole through her armored vest. He tried to scramble out of the way, but another shot lanced from above. A sniper!
His foot burned and-!
"AUGHH! AAAAHHH!" Nog tried to bite down his screamed, tried to be quiet. Another shot from the Jem'hadar went wide, blasting over his head. He curled up, in so much pain... Knowing the next shot would be-
He heard Jem'hadar dying. The sniper began shooting down the gulley. Despite the agony, Nog was able to peek up... And watch.
A tall, white haired woman in a long coat and eyepatch dashed through the canyon, faster than a normal humanoid could. A Jem'hadar emerged from his shroud and fired on her. She kicked a rock right at his head, and it impacted his skull. He went down, dead in an instant. Another Jem'hadar emerged from camo, and another, and they fired on her.
The woman closed the distance, taking a hit to her side but not even bothering to slow down. Incredibly, she dodged the other shots the Jem'hadar fired as she charged!
She punched one Jem'hadar, shattering his skull-Nog heard it in all its glory detail-and stealing his weapon. She slashed the other Jem'hadar's throat out with the rifle's bayonet, then jump-kicked him to send him flying away into the nearby canyon wall. She spun around and took aim, firing several shots with the rifle at the top of the canyon wall. The sniper above screamed, and fell silent.
The woman came up to Nog and Larkin's body, not even winded.
"Ensign?" She asked.
"Help me," Nog whimpered. She nodded, and pulled Nog up in a fireman's carry. Nog could see Reese show up, a few more Jem'hadar ketracel white cartridges on his necklace. He locked eyes with Nog as he pulled Larkin up. He checked her pulse, and nodded.
"She's alive," he told him, "you did good, kid."
"Glad you finally started wearing body armor," Veracruz said, almost sounding amused.
"What can I say, Professor Veracruz," Reese added as they ran down the canyon for their base, "some of us never stopped. And airdropped by a torpedo?"
Veracruz smirked.
"War, in some ways, never changes," she said. "Don't worry son: You're going to be all right..."
Nog nodded, in too much pain to say otherwise.
He hoped so...
A short bit for "The Siege of AR-558".