Operation Spark

In 2374, after Betazed had been taken and occupied by Dominion Forces, a series of attempts to retake the planet were turned back. Recognizing that the roots of the Dominion on the planet were growing deep, Starfleet Intelligence drew up a bold plan to send a number of field operatives to the planet, in order to organize resistance elements into an effective force. This Starfleet insurgent force consisted of 24 volunteers that were brought in from various other operations in the immediate theatre of action and were ferried to Betazed aboard the USS Challenger. A diversionary skirmish was enacted by a small task force, meant to draw away a large portion of Dominion forces in orbit. After they withdrew, the Challenger warped into the system in order to offload the Intelligence operatives. However, it was discovered that the Dominion had enacted a plant wide net of transport inhibitors that made insertion via transporter impossible. The backup measure as taken, and the volunteer operatives were jettisoned via 48 of the Challenger escape pods, twice the number of actual operatives in order to increase their odds of getting through to the planet’s surface.

It would later be determined, that of the 24 volunteers aboard the 48 escape pods, only 12 had made it through to the surface alive.

Spread out across Betazed, the volunteer operatives went about the process of building up resistance elements and coordinating their efforts to disrupt the Dominion’s foothold. Of immediate concern was the disabling of the planetary transport inhibitor, which was sabotaged just eight days after the initial incursion, allowing for future beam ins of addition personnel, or supplies. A few days later, communications silence was broken, as a Resistance Cell operating in Dalaria City managed to implant a carrier wave program into the Dominion’s system of signal jammers, that in turn increased the effectiveness of communications between other Resistance Cells, and with Starfleet elements. This would go a long way to linking up the efforts of planet side resistance, and the Federation Fleet when the time came to push the Dominion off of Betazed.

When Betazed was liberated, only 3 of the original 24 volunteers had made it through the Operation, and despite those heavy casualties, it was still considered a successful operation by Starfleet Intelligence Services.