jIHaD - Part III:
By Ch'tach

PART THREE:

"Just when you thought it could'nt get any worse!!"

 For such small ships the Militiamen were determined to put up a fight. The Defiant had put distance between herself and the attacking ships but still they fired on the station. DS9 could take it without worry but the Runabouts they were trying to launch were different, very soon Capt.Sykes would have to make up his mind whether or not to open fire.  Captain Ch'tatch watched with some amusement, he actually admired the Bajorans for attempting to take on the station and the Defiant with such under powered ships, but still his orders were to defend the station and Wormhole, and with all this fighting going on around him his blood was starting to boil.

 Vedek Ho watched the drama unfold on his view screen. He was aboard his shuttle on the far side of the Wormhole, due to the distortion in this area of space the other ships could not detect him. He reached over and activated his comm link and sent a message.  Kira was in turmoil, all around her station was under attack and she was having little success in quelling the trouble, her deputies were fighting battles all along the Promenade and loosing, it was at times like this she missed Odo.

 "Captain, detecting a shielded message coming from the Wormhole." Ch'tatch stopped his pacing, he was getting impatient for an answer from the Homeworld, he stepped up beside the Companel.  "What sort of message?"  "Who ever is sending it dose'nt want anyone else knowing where it comes from. Can't quite pinpoint the location but there must be a ship out there somewhere."  "Who is the message intended for?"  " It's being sent via the stations main Comsystem, they're trying to make it appear as if the station is sending the message." Ch'tatch moved and sat down in the centre seat, he looked over at his Bridge crew, he could see they were as eager as he.  "Bring us around the far side of DS9, find that ship and de-cloak right on top of it, I think this comes under the heading of a threat to the Wormhole."

 "Captain, detecting an energy surge aft of us." Sykes looked up from his PADD.  "What sort of surge?"  "The sort made by a cloaked ship." Sykes lowered his head, damn that's all I need he thought. Ch'tatch was known for his aggressive nature, Sykes had fought with him before and he had no doubt the Klingon meant to intervene.  "Wide band transmission, raise Ch'tatch before he makes matters any worse."

 Vedek Ho saw the ship before it fired, He caught the shimmer of the cloaking field dissapating and hit his shields just as the Disrupter blast enveloped his ship. Consols erupted all round and the lights dimmed, sirens sounded as all the shuttles systems overloaded. Ho frantically called up the impulse drive but nothing, he was dead in space, then he saw the Defiant approaching.

 Ch'tatch was surprised to find himself on the floor, one of the Militiamen had acctually opened fire on them, all amusement was gone from his face as he stood and lunged for the forward gunners position, he shoved the warrior to one side.  "Give me full thrust, bring us about 180, targeting scanners to maximum." The Bird of Prey swung round and fired on the leading ship, it disintegrated as it took the full force of a Disrupter blast, then she turned for the others and cloaked, Captain Sykes looked on in disbelief, he had hoped to avoid this but now he knew Ch'tatch would'nt stop until he had destroyed all the Bajoran ships. Sykes held Ho's shuttles in a Tractor beam but was forced to release it when the Militiamen opened fire on him again.  "Captain we're being hailed, it's Captain Ch'tatch."  "On screen." Sykes looked at the angry Klingon  "Why did you have to do that?" Ch'tatch sneered, "What's the matter Sykes, lost your stomach for a good fight? They dared fire on a ship of the Empire, they will suffer the consequences."  "Ch'tatch don't be foolish, this situation is well out of hand, if you continue with your action we could have a war, which is something I'm sure the High Council dose'nt want at the moment." Ch'tatch sat back in his chair, a smile spread across his face. "Even after fight along side us still your Humans do not know us." He sat forward and glared at Sykes." Klingons are always ready for war." He broke contact.  "Get him back" Sykes barked, Swalez at communications shook her head. "Get me Admiral Ross."

 Ross looked concerned, obviously the news Sykes had just given had not gone down well at Command. "We've been in contact with the High Council and they are reluctant to call off Ch'tatch, thier view is that the Bajoran ships fired first, and they are a threat to the stability of the area. Chancellor Martok has sent more ships to Bajor, we can only hope they are coming to help you. Starfleet Command has diverted the Yorktown and New Jersey, they should be with you in 72 hours. Try and keep a lid on things untill then Captain."

 Sykes watched as the screen went blank. The remaining Militiamen had retreated to Bajor after Ch'tatch had destroyed another, the fighting on DS9 seemed to be under control but Kira had enforced a curfew and more deputies were being sent from Bajor. All he needed was to 'keep a lid on things', great, he already had one bloodthirsty Klingon around somewhere and soon he would have a small fleet of them, add to that the arrival of Starfleets front line Battleship's and the lid could pretty soon be blasted into the Gamma Quadrant. But his main worry had been the ship sending the coded message, in all the confusion it had got away, he needed to find that ship.

To be Continued........

--- End of Part III----

NEXT - PART FOUR :
A story by Ch'tach