“The base was overrun and is currently in the hands of the ‘Janoor Justice” group.  Initial reports on what they got their hands on are limited, and the base doesn’t control any of the planetary defense weapons.  We’re getting scattered reports of unease and protests in two other townships.”  Kondo continued as he stood at the head of the briefing room table, “We’ve completed work on three of the weapons installations, but some of them are nearer to residential areas.  The Janoor III government has expressed concerns about the safety of those operations if they included Cardassian officers.”  He mused, “We knew it was going to be tough implementing this…but we did not expect something so quickly organized.”

Captain Walton spoke at the far end, “I’ll ask it – do we suspect coordination with government members?”  She had been reading up on the history of Janoor III.  The political system was not without its imperfections and infections.

Charlie Hargraves sat back in his chair in the middle of the group, “You’d asked me day one of this thing, I woulda said hell no.  A few days in…and I’m not going to try and defend them from that kind of accusation.  We’ve been working on a deep dive into the governmental and political operations…and it is messy.  Beyond messy. They’ve grown in the last twenty-five years from one big city and a few homesteads to three cities and two townships…not to mention a growing military operation.  It won’t stand against much of anything, but they’ve been putting in the work and gathering support.  Some of this may have come from there.”

Wren asked, “They ran when they should have walked?”  She’d seen it before with colonial operations, which worried her in this case.  Janoor III was a defensible position against the Dominion.  “If we end up having to fight this battle on two fronts, I’m not sure we will have the people to close a breach that big.  Charlie, can you start poking around a little more…see what you can find out?”  He gave a nod and left the room with his team.

Crawford was on the screen, his busy bridge behind him, “I agree.  We’ve got the additional problem of Palak.  We have to notify them we have him.  What trust we’ve gained would be quantum torpedoed if we tried to hide this.  Your engineering teams and our folks have made good progress on the Galor cruisers…but we’re balancing the needs of the planetary defenses with the ships in orbit.”

Park held up a PADD, “Together with all of this is how much time we have until they strike.  Our sensors and the chain of transmitters to the original buoy are showing additional fighters arriving, and an additional battlecruiser was observed moving into the sector this afternoon.”

Peter nodded as he read the reports on his bridge, “Commander Park is reading the trends correctly.  They’ll staff up what they think they need and dive in when their Vorta gives the signal.  That they haven’t moved yet is interesting.”  He leaned back in his chair when the red alert klaxons suddenly rang on his ship and the Mackenzie, “Looks like we have Jem’Hadar fighters coming our way.  Ten are on their way.”  The red lights reflected off his face as he frowned and glanced back at the Mackenzie briefing room, “Interesting has now become odd, Wren.”

Walton returned the frown, “A test?”  She’d studied her share of Jem’Hadar tactics.

Crawford shook his head slowly, deep in thought.  ‘Victory is Life’ was the mainstay of the Dominion.  The suicide attack on the USS Odyssey had been a stark reminder of how they valued their own lives to score a victory against the enemy.  Peter sighed as the memories of the Dominion War, having flitted at the edge of his consciousness for years…now occupied the very front of his mind.  “They haven’t fought us.  At least, 2401 Starfleet.  This might be them figuring out if we’ve improved our tactics, weapons, shields…everything.  Victory is Life isn’t about the big wins…it’s about chipping away at the base until it all falls down.”  He grimaced, “Apologies for the imagery…but let’s treat this as the real thing.”

Wren stood from her chair, and her crew dutifully did the same as she ordered, “The real thing it is.  Peter, pull your crew from the planet.  Activate evacuation protocols for the senior government and head for safer ground.”  He gave a solemn nod and closed his side of the channel.  She faced her crew, new and old.  “We’ve got less than two hours to get those Galor class ships in fighting shape.  Kondo, signal battlestations.”  She turned to leave but stopped and looked back at her crew, “It doesn’t matter if it’s ten Jem’Hadar fighters or fifty – don’t get cocky.  Remember the Odyssey.”  She let those words hang in the air and settle on each member of her crew in the room.  Walton ordered,  “Let’s get to work. Dismissed.”