Team Bajor - 12

Posted on Fri Nov 7th, 2025 @ 6:07pm by Remal Kajun & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali

3,361 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: For Bajor!
Location: Bajor - Ashalla

Rhenora headed towards the exit, knowing that retrieving their weapons was now off the table. Damnit that was her favourite pocket phaser as well. She listened carefully, hoping to glean any intel on what would happen next. Pushing the door back to the sewer tunnels open again, she stepped out of the light and back into dull dank darkness.

Savar gave a short curt nod as Bonnie withdrew the dagger, he had learned first hand that they or rather she was alert and aware of what was happening, going on around her. He took a step back, two and turned and headed to rejoin the others. Perhaps another opportunity would present itself but he was not hopeful.

The heavy door creaked open. Steam and the scent of metal rolled into the chamber as the Nausicaan brute ducked through, dragging a twisted chunk of satellite plating like a trophy. Coy followed in silence, her boots leaving wet prints across the stone floor. They barely gave nod or glance to the six who didn't belong.

Vekar Dane stood before the light. His shadow loomed against the far wall, long, sharp, uneven. The storm outside caught his profile in flashes. He did not turn when he spoke. “Report.”

The Nausicaan tossed the wreckage down. It clanged, spun, came to rest. “Satellite gone,” he grunted. “Fire in the sky.”

Dane’s head tilted. Just a fraction. "You… what?”

Coy stepped forward, keeping her tone neutral. “The Federation intervened. They forced detonation before I could re-establish control.” She lied.

He turned now, slow, deliberate. His voice came out low and even, too calm. “That platform was balance,” he said. “It was order. And you...” his eyes snapped to the Nausicaan “...were meant to guard it.”

The blow came sudden and vicious. A backhand across the Nausicaan’s jaw, hard enough to stagger the brute into the wall. The echo filled the chamber. “You were to wait for command,” Dane hissed. “You hear thunder and think it’s your cue to strike. You are muscle, not mind. Remember that.”

He turned then, on Coy. The heat in his voice was colder now. “And you… my glorious pilot. My prodigal thief of stars. Deep Space Nine still stands, yes? Where is the fire you promised me?”

Coy’s expression did not change. “They’ve found the gate,” she said quietly. “The one over Bajor’s northern pole. The same one we used to get here.”

That stopped him. For a moment, even the static hum of the monitors seemed to fade. "They know?”

Her nod was small. Certain.

Dane’s shoulders drew back. He looked to the Nausicaan, then to Coy, and finally toward the far corner, where Bonnie had been standing half in shadow, watching with that unreadable calm of hers. For a heartbeat, he seemed to draw strength from her presence. Or perhaps he only imagined it.

“So. The rains return. The gate is open. My enemies close in.” His voice cracked on the last word, the first sign of a fracture. “And you bring me proof of your failure.”

The Nausicaan lowered his head. Coy said nothing. Only Bonnie moved, a small step forward, her expression cool, deferential, perhaps even loyal. Dane took it as comfort. He exhaled through his nose, almost a laugh. “Mercy breeds rebellion,” he murmured. “And rebellion...”

He turned back toward the stormlight, shoulders squared as if to face the gods themselves.
“...breeds rain.” His jaw tightened, and he looked to the ceiling where the last rivulets of rain ran down the glass. “Let Bajor drown in its own mercy. We are done here.”

He turned sharply toward Bonnie. “Prepare the transporter. Detonate the tunnels once we’ve crossed. No trace. No pursuit.”

Bonnie’s lips curled into a dark smile. “With pleasure.”

The Nausicaan rose with a grunt, still clutching his side. Coy hesitated, her gaze flickering toward the doors where the others had left, then followed without a word.

As the lights dimmed and power rerouted toward the lower chambers, the last echoes of Dane’s voice lingered like thunder after the rain: “Burn the path behind us. Let them choke on the ashes of their hope.”

In a blaze of amber light, the three of them, Vekar, Mirror Coy, and the brute, dissolved into ribbons, their forms scattering upward toward whatever escape remained. The hum died. The silence left behind was almost holy.

Then Bonnie moved. Her smirk unfurled slow and venomous, the kind that promised pleasure in destruction. Her fingers gripped the detonator slung at her belt. A sharp metallic click, followed by the echo of her laughter, and she was gone, her body fragmenting into light just as the first charge began to scream.

The echo of Dane’s order hit Zio like the memory of a detonator click. Instinct took over, eyes narrowing, breath held, body pressed low to the tunnel wall. “He’s going to bury us down here,” she hissed through her teeth, hand already tracing the wall’s seams for an exit route. The calm she wore in battle steadied her now, though her voice carried the sharp edge of someone who’d once lost a leg to the same kind of order.

Remal froze for half a second, then felt the old, familiar surge of triage urgency rise through his chest, not panic, but purpose. “Then we move. Fast.” His tone was clipped, the medic voice from the Occupation returning after decades of peace.

“Oh, now that’s just rude,” Yitka muttered, voice pitching upward in theatrical indignation. “You spend decades nursing the weather grids back to life, and they repay you with a cave-in.” He clutched his half-working scanner like a relic, shaking it toward the ceiling as if scolding the universe itself. Beneath the bluster, though, there was focus, eyes darting toward the tunnel’s map in his mind, plotting a path out. “Follow the old service vein east,” he said, almost to himself, “she’ll hold, she always does.”

Rhenora fell in behind Yikta, following the old man's crazy careen through the tunnels towards this service vein he lay his faith in. Every second felt like an eternity as the sound a distant explosion rippled through the tunnel. The end was nigh.

Savar along with Aurora brought up the rear of the group as they followed Yikta to a possible exit from the sewers. The sound of an explosion reached his ears and he knew the others had heard it as well, "I suggest we proceed with as much haste that is prudent to escape what is coming."

The blast hit like a beast awakening. A deep, guttural roar rolled through the tunnels, chasing the heroes with fire and fury. Pressure rippled down the old sewage arteries, stone walls fracturing, ancient support beams snapping like brittle bones. A wall of heat and dust exploded outward, an orange tide that devoured oxygen, light, and sound. Zio’s shout barely pierced the chaos; Remal’s hand caught her shoulder, dragging her toward a collapsing service pipe.

Behind them, Yitka’s silhouette flickered in the blastlight, waving wildly, shouting something about “east, damn it, east!” as the ground buckled and the world came undone in flame and thunder. He stumbled, a gnarled hand clutching at remnant rails, then found his feet and hollered, his voice was all grit and faux-grandiosity, but it shoved them forward like a shove from an old friend.

They spilled into the service crawl, bodies colliding, hands scrambling for purchase as the first concussion rattled the stone. Yitka was at the blast door before any of them could argue, breath fogging in the sudden chill of the shaft. He jammed the release mechanism, fingers fumbling, joints flaring with the effort. For a ridiculous, humane instant he smiled, the stupid grin of a showman about to take his final bow. “Just remember, you lot owe me tips,” he rasped, voice breaking around the edges. Then, with a shove that put the rest of them into the small service tunnel, he heaved the door and wedged himself against it as the seals began to grind closed.

The blast hit like a living thing. Stone screamed and the world folded into thunder and heat; the door slammed home and the tunnel became a throat closing on a secret. When the dust thinned and the aftershocks died, the crawl was silent but for hard, ragged breaths and the small, impossible sound of someone sobbing.

Remal pounded at the hatch until his fists ached, then sank back, forehead pressed to the cold metal. “Yitka!” he called, the name ragged and useless in the vacuum. No answer came, only the memory of the old man’s grin, the echo of his last, terrible joke, and the knowledge that the sky had cost them one brave heart to buy them all a chance.

Rhenora's ears pounded, symptomatic of the effects of the pressure wave. She saw Remal, angst etched across every one of his features as he tried to open the door upon which Yitka had used to seal them in the safe space.

"Remal..." she crawled forward in the small space, placing a hand on his shoulder without the need for further words. The old man had sacrificed himself to ensure their survival, a final gift that counted for something.

She looked around the small group, everyone had the same number of limbs as previous, as though from the expressions she couldn't tell if they had the sound level of headache as she was experiencing or if they were still processing the situation.

"We need to find a way out" she said simply, realizing that would mean attempting to open the hatch the old man had sealed shut. It swung outwards and if there was a body against it.....

Savar stumbled, crawled, fell into the service crawl. he lay over Aurora protecting her the best he could as the heat and the blast hit them. it sucked the oxygen out of the air and their throats burned as a stifling heat threatened to suffocate them. After what seemed an eternity they could breathe (actually gasp) but they were gulping air. He looked about and didn't see Yitka and knew what happened. He had lived the axiom, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Knowing it didn't make it any easier to accept.

The inside of the hatch was relatively uncomplicated, getting it to move against a literal dead weight however proved challenging. They managed to open it enough to reveal the state of the tunnels and the fate of Yitka. Neither of which was positive.

"We need to find another way" Rhenora said simply, covering her mouth and nose against the stench of exploded sewer. Yitka was mostly intact, and she took a moment to kneel next to him, closing his eyes and whispering a prayer.

Remal knelt beside her, eyes fixed on the soot-streaked face that had once been all grin and bluster. The absurdity of Yitka, that patchwork old Bajoran with half an ear and too much heart, gone quiet was more than he could quite absorb.

“He didn’t deserve this ending,” Remal said softly, the words half swallowed by smoke and grief. “He survived the Occupation, the jungles, a hundred stupid miracles… and it ends here in the dark.” His voice cracked on the last word, then steadied, a medic’s discipline taking over. “Let’s make sure it wasn’t for nothing.”

Zio crouched beside him, one hand pressed to the tunnel floor, the other touching the cool metal of the hatch. Her expression was tight but steady, the calm she’d always worn like armor. “He went out like the fighter he was,” she said. “Didn’t flinch. Didn’t run. Just made sure we got one more sunrise.” She stood, brushing grime from her knees, eyes already tracing the shadowed walls for exits. “Let’s honor him the way he’d want, by getting the hell out of here.”

The air still trembled with heat and dust, but in the distance, faint, muffled, came the sound of moving water. A current beneath the ruin. Hope, or maybe just another trap. Either way, they started walking.

"I" Savar then corrected "We did not know him as well as you all did but I was impressed with his courage and his devotion to Bajor and it's people. That is a fitting legacy for anyone. I believe Yitka would like that." He finished as he and Aurora began walking with the others as the sound of water was louder as they walked.

The tunnels had collapsed in parts, causing the team to pick their way through the rubble and scramble around cave ins. After a time they could hear voices ahead, shouting voices. Rescue teams were making their way through the tunnels to see if anyone was down there.

"We need to find another way out, the authorities can't know we were here" Rhenora whispered as she took off down another branch tunnels, this one thankfully more intact than the last.

Hearing Rhenora's utterance, Savar looked in the direction Rhenora had gone, as she ran down a side tunnel. he looked at the others and then followed her.

The air grew colder the farther they pushed down the side passage, the sounds of rescue teams fading behind them. Every few meters, light bled in through the cracks above flickering off the wet walls, glinting against mica veins that caught the light like stars in mud.

Zio fell in beside her without a word at first. Her limp was barely noticeable on the uneven ground, but her breath came steady, a resistance fighter’s rhythm, equal parts caution and resolve. When the tunnel finally widened into a fissure, she spoke.

They reached a service hatch half buried in debris. Zio brushed her sleeve across the corroded lettering. “Maintenance conduit,” she murmured. “Might open into a drainage canal topside. Discreet enough.”

Remal caught up a few steps later, keeping his voice low. “The shuttles are still holding at the port,” he said, glancing toward the direction of the Capitol’s main district. “If we can find a dry stretch to surface, we can transport out to them.”

Zio gave a curt nod. “Good. But where are we headed after that? We still don’t know which direction Dane ran away with his people.”

"It is regrettable a tracking bug could not have been placed on MU Bonnie. However i would hazard a guess that Dane and his minions headed back to the gate they first came through.." Savar replied.

"Lets get to the shuttles, regroup, and check in with Cmdr House and his team. They may have come into some new information." Rhenora offered, realising that they may be at a dead end here. Dane would have had another exit of these tunnels with his goons, but finding it would be a needle in a haystack. "If I know Dane’s type, he doesn't take to failing very well. His next move with be brash, maybe rushed and unplanned."

They broke the surface through a maintenance hatch in a quiet lane way, noone around to notice the ragtag group that reeked of sewer inhabitants as they crawled out and sank against the nearby wall to rest for a minute.

"Im going to enjoy a good shower, a real one, hot water and the like" Rhenora grumbled as she sniffed the sleeve of her robe. "Ugh, I stink"

"You are not alone in that regard captain. We all smell rather badly. To be diplomatic about it."Savar replied. "I also believe we will need several showers to rid ourselves of these offensive and noxious odors, along with perhaps a good amount of perfume for the ladies and after shave for the men."

Zio pulled a compact scanner from her belt, its casing scuffed and weathered, like something salvaged from a dozen different resistance caches, and held it low, the faint blue light casting soft halos through the mist of the alley. The map flickered to life, showing grid overlays of the Capitol’s undercity and access routes leading north.

“Looks like we’re two klicks from the shuttle depot,” she said, brushing grime from her cheek with the back of her hand. “We can cut through the market quarter, quieter this time of day. If we’re lucky, we’ll make it before the authorities lock down the area.”

From beyond the alley mouth came the wail of sirens, first distant, then multiplying, echoing off the close-set buildings. Emergency lights flickered faintly against the low clouds, a jittery pulse of red and white.

Zio’s expression tightened. “They’ll be pulling survivors and sealing the lower tunnels by now. Whatever story they build, we don’t want to be standing in it.” She nodded toward the street, motioning for the group to move. “Once we reach the depot, we can signal Baldric and her team, see what they’ve learned, if anything, about Dane’s escape vector.”

She glanced over her shoulder toward Rhenora, a wry half-smile tugging at her mouth. “And maybe, just maybe, we’ll make it to that shower before the next mess finds us.”

Remal adjusted the strap of his pack, giving a low grunt as he fell into step beside Zio. “You’re assuming the next mess isn’t already waiting for us at the depot,” he muttered, scanning the narrow street ahead. The sirens made his jaw tighten; too many memories in that sound.

Then, a small, grim smile crept across his face. “Still... beats rotting in the dark. Lead the way, Zio. I’ll take my shower after we stop the bastard who started all this.”

"Indeed." Savar intoned solemnly, "Our objective remains the same to stop the one for good who began this treachery and deceit."

They moved swiftly, with a purpose that could only be described as misdirected haste. Their path wasn't predictable but to anyone watching seemed to lack purpose. They strode quickly towards the markets, leaving behind a waft of stench that could only be described as vile. Rhenora had fallen quiet, sombre in her own mind about the falling of Vitka. The authorities finding his body would be nothing remarkable, an old man renewed for tinkering and the occasional petty theft being down in the tunnels seeing what he could find without being caught. Tough times had forced people underground to steal whatever they could get and sell it for whatever they could. Her head hung slightly, reeling from the death of another friend due to her actions and plans. How many more would die for this cause she couldn't stop chasing?

The streets around the market were alive again, vendors shouting, hovercarts moving smoothly over stone, the faint hum of patrol drones sweeping past overhead. Yet their small group carried an invisible weight, a silence that kept the noise of the city at a distance.

Remal saw Rhenora's posture waver, her eyes sink with sadness, but said nothing. He’d learned that grief, for her, was a storm best weathered alone until she chose to let the rain fall.

By the time they reached the shuttle depot, the air was thick with the tang of burnt fuel. Rescue craft and transport vessels came and went, their engines howling in the distance. Zio spoke briefly to a dockhand, securing their way off the surface. The rest waited in quiet stillness, eyes on the sky where dark clouds broke apart, revealing a sliver of clean blue light.

Remal glanced sidelong at Rhenora, at the hand she kept clenched around the strap of her satchel, at the streak of grime she hadn’t bothered to wipe away. He wanted to say something, anything, but instead just stood beside her, silent as the shuttle’s ramp descended to meet them.

Without a word, they boarded Yikta's shuttle. The hatch closed with the hiss, sealing shut, leaving behind the city, the smell of rain, and the ghost of Yitka’s laughter echoing faintly in the wind.

TBC

 

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