Under Siege (Part I of III)
Posted on Thu Mar 18, 2021 @ 8:04pm by Second Lieutenant Sh'Zera & Master Sergeant Jian Zhao & Commander Caleb Ryan & Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Means III & Captain Tam "Demon" Haican & Master Sergeant Miranda Schultz & Gunnery Sergeant Terry Henderson & Civilian Hydel Turvan
Edited on on Thu Mar 18, 2021 @ 8:04pm
2,033 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Portal Complex
Timeline: MD 04 0600
Previously in It Begins
Looking at the sensor data coming in, they would soon be outnumbered by a lot. In addition to the marine manning the complex, he had another three companies, a single fighter squadron, and three transport squadrons all bivouacked on the other side of the ridge for their training op. He had tried to raise them, but communications were jammed, and he slammed his fist into the console.
The whole area was suddenly bathed in blue light as the shield took a blast from the Cardassian long guns, trying to break through. Sh'zera ran in. "They've brought up heavy artillery and are aiming for the generator. It should stop pretty much anything short of orbital bombardment. But only for a bit."
Her next words were drowned out by the roar of the Stryker coming to life, a handful of Bandits, lighter armed vehicles buzzing along with it.
"Okay, cavalry's here," Sh'zera said. "Primary targets, sir?" she asked as she turned towards the Stryker, meaning to take the larger, heavier vehicle, with its larger, heavier gun.
And now the continuation
"Light up their heavy weapons and forward troop locations!"
The Cardassians had them surrounded. Forces were concentrated on the main gates, but not by much. Plenty of squads were working on trying to overwhelm and disable all the various sections of the shields. And those shields were as much a hindrance as a protection, limiting their options for firing out.
Terry was busy patching up the few of the marines who had been hit before the shields went up. They were lucky, all were superficial wounds. It was going to get worse from the looks of things.
"All right, Private," Terry said to the last one he treated. "The El-tee will kick both our asses if she sees you here taking a break with me."
The woman nodded with a smirk and left the medical area.
Terry watched her leave, and then the shields, and thought, Don't know, Kyle. I might be joining you soon.
Schultz was having a lot of success from her position. Twice she'd had to move when the enemy fire got too close, but there were enough places to hide for her to successfully take out a number of Cardassians. She was concerned, however, that the longer this fight took, the more vulnerable she'd become.
Means was at the mobile command station, but with all the jamming there was little information. They would have to do things the old fashioned way. He deployed the limited troops he had at the portals the only way he could to maximize their defense and allow for a small reserve. With communications scrambled he could only hope those at the training site would be able to come to their aid.
However, he couldn't count on anything at this point. Seeing two bandaged Marines, he called them over. "Take whatever explosives you can get your hands on and wire the entrance. If need be, we will collapse the opening to the portals."
The pair were surprised at the order, but slung their weapons and started lining the opening with enough explosives that it would take the Cardies a week to dig it open.
Gul Meran was reading the sitreps as they were coming in from his subsequent field commanders. They were taking more losses than he had anticipated. The Starfleet contingent on the planet was supposed to be a small force just to protect the Portal Complex from tourists and random trespassers. In reality, the Starfleet Marines, as they were called, were putting up a bitter battle for this particular piece of real estate.
"Tell Glinn Alatum to concentrate his company's fire on the northeast sector. I want the Federation forces to be completely cut off from escaping via the river that leads through the northern half of the area," Gul Meran ordered his other officers. "Have Glinn Baktur reinforce the 3-122nd with more heavy fire support. I want that shield targeted and brought down with as much pressure as possible!" he shouted.
"Status on the fighter squadron from the Warship Ghemor?" he asked.
"Sir, the 965th Fighter Squadron has been dispatched from the Warship Ghemor. Squadron leader Glinn Metsah has acknowledged your orders to dispatch an element to deal with the Klingon compound."
The Cardassian ground commander turned towards his communications section and leaned over the shoulder of the operator.
"Open one hailing frequency and send a targeted signal to the Portal Complex. I want to speak with the commanding officer of the contingent currently controlling the portal," Gul Meran said.
"Right away, sir!" a Cardassian replied as she began to reroute the signal blockers to allow the solitary hail to go through to the Marine commanders.
Means and Zhao had been working to see that the entrance to the caves was wired, and they were nearly complete when a sergeant came running up. "Sir, we are being hailed. They wanna talk."
Means looked to Zhao and tossed the next set of explosives to be mounted to the sergeant. "Help them finish! I want everything set to this detonator in the next few minutes. Zhao, you're with me."
"Sir." Zhao fell in besides his CO. "They want those caves real bad, sir. It may not be enough."
"I don't care what they want. I'm going to keep him talking while you find a way to piggyback a signal on their transmission. Get word out to the training site. I want Wyverns and Broadswords dispatched to the colony. Once the troops are landed, have them evac any colonists they find. The other half are to be routed here. Fighters are to trace their transmission and make a run on any surface command and control then provide us air to ground support.
"The transports are going to be the tricky part. We will need to drop the perimeter shield to get them in and raise it the second they are inside."
"That will leave us vulnerable, even if we just drop a section. Those are some big guns out there."
"No guts, no glory. It's all in the timing. Just be sure those flyboys time the strike on their command or heavy weapons with the transports’ approach to our shield perimeter.
"Didn't get my stripes for organizing tea-parties, sir." Zhao scoffed. "If we can get comms working it won't be any trouble."
"Now to make things even worse than they already are.” Means took out the laser lighter for his cigars and held it against his face. He activated the lighter and winced slightly as the beam created a good seven centimeter wound and a quick smear with some dirt completed the look.
"Open the channel."
As the screen came to life, Means spoke, "Lieutenant Colonel Means, Commanding Officer 21st MEU. I really don't have the time to chat, as you are well aware I'm a little busy at the moment."
Once he had made a secure connection with the Starfleet Marine, he stood up and faced the display. "I am Gul Meran of the Cardassian Empire. As you are aware, we have the tactical advantage," Gul Meran said matter-of-factly. He did not see the need to beat around the bush to unnecessary pleasantries. He was speaking with a warrior, not a diplomat.
"I wish to offer you and your men an opportunity to end this engagement. Surrender control of the Portal Complex. I will give you my word as an officer that you and your men will be allowed to transport safely back to Deep Space 5," Gul Meran said, extending the olive branch.
"Advantage is a matter of perspective, Gul Meran. I have a cave complex at my back. That's a narrow opening. We can hold out for quite some time even if outnumbered."
The Cardassian commander's patience was beginning to wear then with the puffery from the Human. "Our objective is the complex. We have no desire to take any prisoners, Lieutenant Colonel. Now you and your men can stand down and peacefully leave the planet and return to Starfleet territory," the gul stated.
"I've studied your file. You served on the front lines in the last war, just as I did," Gul Meran said, seeking to establish some point to understanding. "The majority of your troops are much too young to understand what took place. They didn't have to sit and watch their friends and colleagues die senseless deaths just to defend a rock in the middle of some nowhere planet," he said, lowering his tone in a bout of sincerity.
"There is no reason they should learn that lesson today," he said solemnly.
Means’ brow over his eye patch arched slightly. "I have no intention of letting anyone learn any lesson unnecessarily, but we will all still do our duty. However, I find your offer interesting."
Means crossed his arms. "You offered to let us return to the station. Do you really expect me to believe you plan to take the portals from the Federation, but leave a Federation starbase orbiting the same planet? A case of kanar says your friends are attacking the station right now, or soon will be. Another case says you wouldn't even let our transports break orbit before shooting them down. Besides, when have Cardassians ever let their enemy just leave? Hmmm..."
Means was trying to drag things out, waiting for any signal from Zhao. "Your interest in the portals is obvious, but before I let you near them, I'll destroy them." He held up the detonator. "Here's my counter offer. Halt your attack or I'll deny you your prize."
Gul Meran shook his head in irritation. He had almost forgotten how irrational Humans could be. Especially those placed in life or death situations. There always had to be an "option C". I believe the term they liked to use was being a "maverick". Whatever that meant.
Gul Meran locked eyes on the projection of the Marine before him. "Those portals are the only reason your men are still alive. I could have ordered the Cardassian fleet to turn this entire area into a sheet of glass long ago if it weren't for those portals. You destroy that, and we no longer have a need to restrain ourselves," the Cardassian said, seething.
"Go ahead and make the heroic sacrifice. It'll just be fewer Marines standing in our way when we turn towards the research complex," he said intently.
In the corner of his eye, Means saw his sergeant give him a subtle OK sign from the side of one of the shelters where the signal operator had found the Cardassian frequencies and sent the message.
Now the wait, always the worst part of any operation. They just needed a little more time. "Oh, I have no intention of any heroic sacrifice. I love my people, and they will survive in whatever alternative universe they end up in. Then I will destroy the portal complex. And I will.
"I'd lay odds that you are already attacking the research colony, so there is nothing I can do to help them. Then again, what good is the research without the portals that research is based on. But I'm sure your superiors will be content with some scan result and a few dusty artifacts."
"You strike me as being a very perceptive individual, Colonel Means." Gul Meran said, his patience running thin. "So I want you to listen very carefully to me. Run and hide. I want you to run and hide, so that when I capture your Command, I want to stand toe to toe with you and look you in the eye and tell you what a waste this effort was," the Cardassian commander said with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"If I find out that you were killed in some cave in or by a disruptor blast, I'm going to be very disappointed. So please, do me this one favor," he said.
"End communication," Gul Meran said to his communications officer.
To be Continued…
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