The Mokana Basin is about one hundred kilometers south of the equator on the planet Tezwa. During the Dominion War, Prime Minister Kinchawn allowed a nadion-pulse cannon firebase to be built in a facility there as well as at five other locations around the planet.

In 2379, a strike team from the USS Enterprise-E consisting of Commander William T. Riker, two engineers, Lieutenants Kelly Tierney and Matthew Barnes, and Master Chief Petty Officer Razka parachuted in, and then traveled through dense forest and swamp water to reach the firebase. Along the way, Riker was bitten in the neck by an insect and Barnes was injured by a large swamp creature with a dozen tentacles, but Alpha team was able to reach the firebase. Razka reprogrammed the shield generator's field geometry to emit a pulse knocking out the Tezwan patrol gathered at the base's entrance and eventually they were able to cause the facility to detonate, destroying the pulse cannons. As they were leaving the base, Tierey and Barnes were shot by a sniper and killed instantly. Razka was able to kill the sniper and carry Riker to safety, but Riker, severely injured from the bugbite, lost consciousness waiting for a rescue. He was woken by a group of Tezwan soldiers and was conscious just long enough to see that Razka had been killed as well. Later, Counselor Troi and a security team recovered the three dead personnel, but Commander Riker had been taken. (TNG novel: A Time to Kill)