Battle of Lessek

The Battle of Lessek was the first battle fought against the Cardassian Union's Dominion occupiers by the combined Thirteenth Order, a Cardassian-Starfleet rebel group in 2375, eleven days after the Battle of Rondac III. (--The Thirteenth Order)

Prelude
The Battle of Lessek would never have been possible but for the unprecedentedly large-scale alliance between a group of rogue Cardassian guls and their former Starfleet "prisoners," whom they hid on a low-tech training camp "accidentally" abandoned by the Cardassian Guard's Vigilance [Training] Corps on the surface of Lessek. Due to the planet's composition, sensors were often nearly useless, and prior to the uprising, the guls who would help found the Thirteenth Order had hacked into the orbital satellites to generate false feeds that hid the camp from Dominion view. These same satellites could also jam subspace communications in and out of the system, and trigger an effect similar to a moderate ion storm.

Further computer sabotage by Riyăk Curam Iymender affected a number of other systems, to include subspace communications in and out of the planetside base, a backdoor to the base's shields, and false camera and sensor feeds intended to keep the soldiers on base from detecting the incoming attackers. Iymender also created backdoors into the systems of the orbital spacedock, with the hope of being able to raise and lower the station's shields; however, he was not able to be present in person.

Other base personnel in addition to Iymender were recruited to be part of the resistance--though not all could be trusted.

Taking the ground base
Rebel operations began in earnest on the ground. Iymender remotely lowered the base's shields and initiated false feeds; unfortunately, someone noticed the transition to the false feed, so base shields went up prematurely as the last few members of the Thirteenth Order were moving into the perimeter. Base leadership deployed Cardassian and Jem'Hadar soldiers to scout for enemies. At the same time, the Jem'Hadar attempted to signal the base with regard to the shield failure, but were rerouted to Iymender's padd and the call was answered by Gul Rebek, who pretended to be Glinn Uradnen, and temporarily allayed their suspicions.

When one unit of the base's soldiers located the Thirteenth Order, controversial Glinn Thouves Daro used himself as a "lightning rod" to distract their attention from a group of Thirteenth Order soldiers who stunned their entire group. Some were converted to the Thirteenth Order cause; Gul Speros killed the others after one prisoner became aggressive.

Meanwhile, one infiltration team was let into the base by an apparent sympathizer--however, one of the Starfleet officers overheard a conversation inaudible to Cardassian ears, and realized they had been betrayed. Base security chased after the teams, who entered the crawlspaces under the floor. Realizing their intended destination--the pilots' area--was likely compromised, one team headed for the command center, another to the computer core.

The main ground force then stormed the base, though suffering significant casualties thanks to a Jem'Hadar polaron cannon emplacement, which was destroyed by Ensign Ngaer, who used her species' limited flight capabilities, and sacrificed her life in the process. Together with the infiltration team, the Thirteenth Order took the base's command center and forced base commander Uradnen to yield the access codes to the room where the Cardassian pilots were being held prisoner--herself becoming a prisoner. Iymender, despite a serious leg injury, programmed the station's shields to lower and disabled booby traps aboard the shuttles themselves.

From there, the Thirteenth Order boarded the Hidekiy-class fighters and launched into space.

Taking the spacedock
As the fighters began their ascent, the Sherouk suddenly opened fire and destroyed one of the three Jem'Hadar vessels on their first salvos. The other two retaliated, and the Sherouk took advantage of the Jem'Hadar return fire to fake a critical hit and free-fall into the Lessekda atmosphere. This risky maneuver allowed the Sherouk to hide the rising Hide'eki and catch the Jem'Hadar once more by surprise; however, some of the smaller vessels did not survive the ascent due to the dangerous effects of engaging full impulse in atmosphere.

By this time, programmers aboard the orbital spacedock had begun undoing Iymender's sabotage and he could no longer circumvent the station's defenses. Instead, the two Thirteenth Order ships equipped with Dominion transporters beamed three of their fighters through the spacedock's Cardassian-designed shields. Iymender was still able to control the doors to the shuttlebays on the three new vessels docked there, and from there, the Thirteenth Order overwhelmed the loyalists among the ships' skeleton crews.

Together with the ships outside the station's shield perimeter, the new vessels succeeded in overwhelming the station's shield generators and joining the fight against the Jem'Hadar, eventually dispatching the other two vessels.

Aftermath
While not a significant battle in terms of the course of the Dominion War, the Battle of Lessek was the first successful battle fought by the combined Thirteenth Order, further aiding in cementing the trust between the two groups, who formerly fought on opposite sides.

Lieutenant T'Ruveh, one of the officers Spirodopoulos relied upon for advice, passed away after the battle, though her katra was transferred to Cadet Subek.

The Zerayd was named by the Cardassians in an indirect tribute to Ensign Ngaer in honor of her sacrifice (the zerayd is a Cardassian animal vaguely evocative in appearance of an Aurelian).

Participating starships

 * Ghiletz
 * Romac
 * Sherouk
 * Trager
 * Zerayd (not named at the time)
 * Ghemor (not named at the time)
 * Turrel (not named at the time)

Dominion
Three cruisers, names unknown