Fic: Observations, Ch 103
“They’re not expecting us.”
Jim was looking at the lastest map and surveillance produced from sensor scans and high resolution aerial photos. The positions of the aliens and the surrounding area were laid out before him near the transporter room.
“They are not even aware of our presence, if their activity is any indication. This central building is the current position of most of the creatures. They have set up four small outposts, one of which has heavy artillery weapons.”
“Any chance we can just beam into their central command and go for the jugular?”
“There are some indications that they hold are holding prisoners in there.”
“I can’t beam yeh inta the building, Jim-I might beam yeh into a wall. Or a water tank, for that matter. The best I can get yeh is near the door, but that might not be much at all in terms of military strategy.”
“We have to hit the outposts first, captain. Pasha just forwarded these topographical maps to me, and they definitely hold the high ground. They turned that building,” Sulu pointed “into a fortress. We need some on the ground surveillance before we tackle that thing.”
“Lt. Sulu is right, sir. My squad can lead the attack on the artillery outpost.”
“Okay, Kelowitz. You’ve got it. Lt. Marquez, Ensign Oktawiec, you guys go on recon. Get me as much info as possible on their position and report back. Sulu, I think we can think of these three outposts as one big outpost divided into three parts. You and me, we’ll take that. Bones, you’re with me.”
“Heard ya the first time, Jim.”
“Spock, I’ve seen you at target practice with a phaser.”
“There are advantages to a mathematically precise mind, captain.”
“I know, and it shows in your marksmanship. How are you with a sniper rifle?”
“I have never used it.”
“Giotto, get my First Officer a sniper rifle with an thermal scope. Spock, there’s a terminal right there, go and memorize the user’s manual now with that amazing learning curve of yours. We’ll figure out the little kinks in your machine on the fly. I want you as sniper on my team.”
“What about the last outpost, sir?”
“It’s closest to the center, and it looks like it’s the smallest. We’ll take one when we’ve regrouped and going for the main hub. We’re keeping communicator signals to a minimum. Don’t use them unless you have to, we don’t know what kind of technology they’ve got. Anyone have any questions?”
“No sir.”
“Scotty, send Marquez and Oktawiec in first. Get them somewhere with plenty of cover.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Energize.”
--
The area was eerily silent. Heavy debris, the remains of buildings, were scattered everywhere. The officers immediately spread out and went into defilade. From my vantage point, I could see tall biped lizard-like creatures at their outpost. Jim was surveying the situation intensely.
“Fuck, are those anti-spacecraft rocket launchers?” he breathed. “How the hell did we not notice those in the maps?”
Several of the lizards were busy assembling or loading an enormous weapon.
Sulu ran to Jim. “Did you see the cannons?” Jim asked.
He nodded. “It’s worse, captain. There are three, one for each part of the outpost. As far as I can tell, the three outposts are connected by trenches forming a kind of triangle, with their big guns at each corner. They shouldn’t be expecting a ground attack, but I got glimpses of some sorta machine gun setup.”
“They’re setting up a base to launch an invasion.”
“Looks that way, captain. Maybe we should call up to the Enteprise and ask them up there to take care of the job.”
“No. They’re be able to take out the first launcher, but those other two would punch holes into my ship. We’re gonna assume that they’re fully operational. And I don’t want to give away the fact that we’ve got a ship up there in orbit. Let them think we’re some survivors or escaped their attack.”
Jim looked back at the outpost, then back down. “All right. Here’s what we’re gonna assume. Those trenches they’ve got probably give them access to the entire battery and give them some cover from an aerial attack. The machine guns are there to cover a land based assault-that’s what I would do. We’re up against some really thorough and smart bastards. Got a count on their numbers?”
“No idea.”
“Spock?”
“Negative. They do, however, outnumber us at least three to one.”
“Fine. We’re gonna establish a base of fire, move under it hard and fast with two squads. Bones, you stay out of this until it’s over or someone needs you. Sulu, put Bailey, Pashaei on enfilading fire. Take the rest of your guys around the left. I’ll draw their fire from the right. Okay, go.”
Sulu went back to his position and informed his men of the plan.
“Hoontrakul, take Ranney, envelop right give covering fire. As soon as you see that Sulu’s got the first cannon, I want you to blow that thing to pieces.”
“Aye sir.”
“Spock, take out their machine gunner first, on my signal. I’m gonna go around and tell the other guys what’s going on.”
I nodded. I looked at the rifle in my hands and inhaled. Then I readied myself and trained the rifle on the lizard. Jim returned to my side.
“Go.”
I fired. Black blood oozed from my first target. There was a commotion on the enemy line as they slowly went to their stations and drew their weapons. Jim and his squad kept firing. Then, an enormous explosion.
The lizards had discharged one of their weapons. Though they were slow to take aim and fire, their weapon fired instantly and was enormously powerful. The colossal piece of cement behind which Lt. Spisak was taking cover exploded in a shower of rubble. Spisak screamed as the jagged pieces tore through him and left him a bloody mess.
“Fuck. Spock, keep firing. Bones!”
Jim ran to the fallen security officer and dragged him back to the doctor, taking cover behind another piece of debris. Around him, all around us, the ground exploded with showers of dirt and crushed matter as the lizards fired on us. I continued to methodically kill them, falling into a smooth rhythm. There was noise, inhuman screams of lizards, the smell of burnt blood, the familiar sound of phasers discharging. Chaos all around us. Jim returned to my side and continued firing.
“Come on, Sulu,” he said under his breath.
The rock before us whined. Jim grabbed me and threw me to the ground, dropping down beside me. We were crawling away when it exploded with a deafening sound.
“Go find cover!”
Then there was another massive explosion, but the quality of its sound was different. Jim and I looked up, and I could discern the form Lt. Sulu in the outpost. The remaining lizards were fleeing from their former position, but they could not move quickly to escape the relentless phaser fire of Sulu’s squad.
Jim barked out orders. “Let’s go, let’s go! Follow me!”
His security squad emerged from their positions, running towards the captured outpost. We were being fired on by the other two outposts. Every around us, materials exploded, dirt flew up and obscured the view. The smell of lizard flesh hung in the air. Several security officer vomited. Dr. McCoy was the last to enter the outpost.
“Where’s Spisak?” Jim yelled. He was barely heard over the sound of all the explosions.
“Lost him, Jim. They shredded him to pieces.”
“Hoontrakul blow that cannon out.”
“Yes sir on it sir!”
“Spock, Sulu, Maass, Dean, Jalena, Ghirardei with me on the next gun! The rest of you stay and keep this location secure. Hold this outpost, do you understand. Pashaei give us some covering fire! Fuck-grenade!”
The grenade sizzled as it fell into the trench, then exploded. Lt. Ghirardei lay on his side, arm bent at a strange angle. He had no legs. Blood spread from a point on his abdomen and all over his uniform. Jim checked for signs of life, but all could see there were none. He paused for a second, then quickly looked at the rest of his attack squad. They were uninjured. Jim inhaled to get a hold of himself, then began to run down the trench to the second gun. His men followed.
We approached a bend. Jim stopped, looked at me, and pointed with his head. I went, quickly took a glance and saw three lizards, two manning a machine gun and one with his phaser. I calculated, turned, and killed all three creatures with three neat shots.
Before we continued, Jim gave orders. “Maas, Jalena, you still have your grenades?”
“Yes sir.”
“Me and Sulu will be in front. You throw over us and take them out. Spock, you take the rear.”
Jim waited for Maas and Jalena to get ready with their grenades. When they nodded, he started running, shooting his phaser as he went. Lt. Sulu followed quickly behind. As we approached the second outpost, the two security officers launched their grenades. Jim and Sulu did not stop, but ran in after the explosion. One lizard managed to lock his weapon onto Maas and exploded the lieutenant’s body. Blood and bone was scattered everywhere, smearing everyone’s uniform. When the location was finally secured, another lizard stood and dropped his weapon. His words were incomprehensible.
“Shut up,” Lt. Dean screamed at the creature, shaking. Blood oozed from his hair down the planes of his face. “Shut the fuck up!”
The lizard continued to speak, hissing.
Lt. Dean blew its head off with his phaser. Jim looked on, Lt. Maas’s blood streaming down his face. He said nothing, only putting a hand on Lt. Dean’s shoulder for a second. Lt. Hoontrakul appeared. He immediately began procedure to destroy the second cannon.
“How’s everyone on their phaser cartridges?” Jim yelled over the noise of the blasts.
“I’m all out sir!” several of the officers screamed back.
Lt. Ranney and Lt. Pashaei joined us. “Sir, just want to let you know sir that Lt. Kelowitz and his squad have joined us sir. McCoy’s tending Ensign Weintraub, but other than that no casualties to report. They’re keeping the first outpost secure, and we’ve been coming under a lot of fire from the third outpost and a fourth location, but we can’t figure out where it is. We think it’s somewhere near their third rocket launcher.”
“You guys have grenades and extra cartridges?”
“I’ve got all three of my grenades and brought some ammo for you, sir, figured you’d need it,” Lt. Pashaei offered.
“Good job. All right, Dean, Jalena, stay here and keep this gun secure. Sulu, Ranney, Pashaei, take the last rocket launcher, usual drill. Grenades first, then fire. Spock, you fall back to the first outpost, find that fourth location, and take it out. I’ll follow you in a sec.”
I immediately left. As I turned the corner, the sound of Lt. Hoontrakul detonating the cannon reverberated through the area.
When I returned to the first outpost, the security officers gave a start. Dr. McCoy grabbed me.
“Why the hell are you covered in blood?!”
“We lost Lt. Maas. This is his blood. If you’ll excuse me doctor, I need to fulfill a mission.”
Most of the fire on us originated from the third outpost. That was quickly reduced as they came under attack from Lt. Sulu and his security guards. The fourth location came from a point near the third outpost but removed from the trenches. From the sound, I calculated that there were four lizards who were pounding us with their machine gun and phaser fire.
Jim appeared. “You figured it out?”
“Affirmative. I estimate that they in that corner,” I pointed.
Jim nodded. “Sulu’s got the third gun, but these guys still stand to pick us off with that phaser of theirs.” He made a decision. “Follow me.”
We went back to the third outpost. I could make out the figures of some lizards. They were still concentrating their fire on the first outpost.
“Fuck, that looked bad,” he remarked at the last explosion. “They’re making us waste ammo.” Jim looked at me intensely.
“Think you could take them out?”
“Their figures are somewhat obscured. If their attention were directed here, their positions would change and I could snipe all of them. But I can do it from here, Jim.” I hoisted my rifle and took aim.
“Don’t miss, Spock.”
With those words, he left the trenches and began to run on the open battlefield. My breath caught. There was no time for thought-the lizards saw him, and began firing along his path. As they did so, they changed their position, making themselves more visible from my vantage point.
I quickly fired five rounds in succession and a strange satisfaction filled me to see the black blood ooze from the creatures. I watched Jim roll into the trenches and I quickly made my way back to him.
He looked at me. He was covered in grime and blood, but his brilliant blue eyes were trained on me.
Dr. McCoy approached Jim from the other side.
“You goddamn idiot! Never pull a stunt like that again, James Tiberius Kirk, or I will kill you myself and dance on your grave!” Leonard examined Jim for injuries while helping him to his feet. “See how you like that, you whoreson sonuvabitch!”
“Just doing my job, Bones.”
“Don’t give me that crap. When we get back on the ship I’m gonna have you sedated from here til the next doomsday!”
“Casualty count?”
“Maas, Spisak, Ghirardei dead, Weintraub and Kelowitz wounded.”
“Kelowitz too?”
“Yeah. They locked onto him, but Bailey thought quick and phasered the man’s leg off.”
“His whole leg?”
“That’s the part they locked onto. I’ve got him sedated. The phaser was a clean cut, sealed the wound. Minimal blood loss.”
Jim was silent. Sulu and the other security team members joined us.
“Let’s regroup. We’ve still got their headquarters to worry about.”
--
“Jim!”
Nyota’s voice, panicked, came over the communicator.
“Uhura, what’s going on?” Jim asked in low tones.
“We’re coming under attack. Unidentified ship quartering in. I’ve put shields up but I don’t know what to do!”
“Lt. Uhura, I’ve trained you in battle sims before. Don’t panic. Just do what you’ve always done.”
“Jim, I could lower shields and bring you up. Captain, you need to be here.”
“Lt. Uhura, I placed you in charge of my ship. Don’t put down shields-I need you to do whatever you need to keep her flying. Is that clear?”
“Jim-“
“It’s captain, to you, lieutenant,” Jim replied, a mixture of anger and detachment in his voice. “Stop making this personal. I chose you to be in command up there, I chose you to train for a command position, so now use what you’ve learned and fucking keep the Enterprise in space. Control yourself, stop making this personal, and consider us expendable. Did I make myself clear, lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Use phasers, photon torpedoes, take the Enterprise out of orbit, if you have to.”
“Understood, captain.”
“Report back when everything’s settled. You can do this, Lt. Uhura. Not a ‘served to the best of your ability,’ but you will succeed. Got that?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Kirk out.”
--
“Marquez, report.”
“We heard the battle going on at the other outposts, sir. The lizards did too. They’ve been working on fortifying themselves, and that fourth outpost that wasn’t such a big deal, is now. They’re spread between the that central building, and that hill there.”
“They lugged out some form of machine gun. There’s five of those killer things on that hilltop, with a bunch of lizards besides. And either these guys have been doing target practice, but they’ve blown up everything that that might give us some cover. All of this rubble here used to be perfect little hiding places for us. Now, we’ve got a flat plain.”
“They’re entrenched in that position and have the complete advantage. It’d be suicide to attempt an offensive.”
“We’ve gotta take them down and recapture this planet. This might be the first of an invading force. Any sign of prisoners or Federation survivors?”
“We think they’re alive, sir, no guarantees.”
“Then we’re going in. We’ve just gotta find a way.”
“Sir, every inch of that plain is presighted. We can’t do it with just these weapons, they’d slaughter us. We need every man we’ve got.”
“Sulu, Kelowitz, what weapons did you guys scavenge from the outposts.”
“We got a few of their disrupters, some grenades, a couple of their machine guns.”
“What’s the range of the disrupters.”
“Not far enough to get to them from here. They take a while to lock and load, sir, compared to our phasers.”
“This is what we’re gonna do. Kelowitz, do you feel up for this?”
“Anything to help, captain.”
“Know how to operate these disruptors?”
“Yes sir.”
“All right. You’re gonna fire these randomly-lock onto something as close to that hill as you can. Just make a lot of dust and dirt fly into the air, and create some craters we can use for cover. Everyone else, run and stay down. Let’s hope their machine guns don’t have automatic infrared trackers.
“Spock, use your thermal scope and get rid of those fuckers.”
“Understood, captain.”
“But don’t hang out in one place too long.”
“And then what, captain? Whadda we do after getting cover?”
“From that range, you should be able to take aim and get some shots in from there. I want people with disruptors to lock onto those bastards and blow them. If you don’t have good cover, then fucking keep moving. Sitting still you’ll be perfect targets to get blasted into red mist.”
“We’re gonna draw fire from their central building, captain.”
“I know. Just keep moving. We’re faster than they are. Use your speed.”
Ensign Carroll vomited.
“All right. Kelowitz, ready?”
“Aye sir.”
“Start firing. Everyone else, after my signal.”
The officers secured their weapons. Lt. Kelowitz’s firing his weapon caused the lizards to fire their weapons as well. Dust clouded the field and craters appeared.
“Go.”
Jim sprinted out into the haze. His figure disappeared in the spray of dirt and pulverized debris.
The officers sprinted after him, adrenaline pounding through their veins. The rush to the head, the thrill of coming so close to death, the explosions and whine of the weapons in the all consuming dust. Cries as some officers fell tripped and fell into craters, screams of battle lust. Or simply the steady gasps and the sound of footsteps pounding on the rocky plain.
The thermal scope showed me the blurred shapes of the lizards. I combined that image with my eidetic memory as I took aim. I calculated the length of my stride, counted the number of steps, recalled the positions of the lizards, raised my weapon and fired. Fired. Fired. Then ran again as a spray of rock and dirt burst up in front of me.
Dust was clearing as I neared the hill and I fired again, this time able to see my target. A lizard slumped over. I fired again. The ground beside me exploded and I ran forward, taking cover. Jim was there, looking up at their fortress.
“There’s still at least two guys alive and gunning. We got the rest with disruptors and phaser fire. And you took out two guys. Spock, I need you to get the other two. Get in there and give me some firing discipline.”
I nodded. At that moment, a grenade landed in our crater. Jim immediately put his body over mine and it exploded.
By some miracle, neither of us were injured.
“Holy shit, that must’ve been a dud.” Jim was shaking.
There was no time to think. I rolled over, took my rifle and looked up at their position. My vantage point was not ideal. I reloaded the phaser cartridge, jumped out of the crater, and found a new position. I would have ten seconds before the lizards lock their machine onto me.
Plenty of time.
I looked, calculated, took aim, and fired. One down. The other turned his attention to me. I looked, calculated, took aim, and fired. He was only injured. I fired again.
I returned to Jim, who was climbing out of his crater.
“All clear, captain.”
“Everyone up the hill!” he ordered immediately. “Get up there, move it move it! Sulu, headcount.”
“All accounted for sir, except Kelowitz. Hoontrakul got his arm ripped off by one of their grenades, and Doc says Oktawiec sprained his ankle and broke a rib and his collarbone when he fell into a crater, but no casualties. They say they’re still going with you, captain. They can walk and hold a phaser, so they want to go with you.”
“That’s for me to decide.”
“Thought you’d like to know, captain.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey captain?”
“Yeah?”
“How’d you think to do that. To use their disruptor to create that screen of dust that would give us cover from their weapons?”
“Made it up. It’s what a lot of military tactics boil down to-distract the enemy with something, so that they can’t see what you’re actually planning. There’s tons strategies for accomplishing that, but that’s the idea behind it. Have a goal. Figure out a way to get it done. The best way to get it done is to hide your purpose. Even two seconds of distracting them can make a huge difference. If you keep that in mind, the rest is improvisation.”
“Still, I never woulda thought to do that.”
“Yeah you would. When you’ve got a bunch of guys all looking at you like ‘what do we do next, captain,’ you’d think of something.”
--
“The last sensor scans we took from the Enterprise said that there might be Federation prisoners in there. What do you think.”
“They’re dead. Either that or tortured for answers, and then killed.”
“I don’t think you should jump to that conclusion, Dean.”
“Did you see what they did to Maas? Huh doc?!”
“Calm down, Dean. Your argument’s got merit. Why do you think they’d be alive, Bones?”
“You guys are soldiers. Rules of war are different for soldiers and civilians.”
“No, they’re the same. The civilians just don’t have any way of fighting, so they get fucked over,” Lt. Hoontrakul retorted.
“Well fine, what if you assume that there aren’t prisoners in there and you go blazing in with your phasers? What’ll ya do if you come into a hostage situation and they’re holding their goddamn disruptors to the head of some child? The last scans said there were prisoners and survivors in here, damnit, and you beamed down to the surface to rescue them! That was the purpose of this mission, before it got bloodied and convoluted!”
“Both of you, shut up and pull yourselves together. We walked into a fucking trap, and it sucks, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still in it. So until we get back on the ship, keep it together and stay focused.
“Hoontrakul, Oktawiec, and Weintraub, you guys stay here and attack their building with all the artillery that’s here. The rest of you will come with me and Sulu. We’ll be the main assault on their building. Spock, you meld with one of the lizards to figure out if there are any prisoners and where they are. If there are prisoners, then both teams are rescue ops, is that clear? The prisoners are our first priority. After they’re out, we can just pummel their building from our position.
“If there aren’t any prisoners, then this turns into all out search and destroy, maybe get some intel on them. Got it?”
“Yes sir.”
“All right, Jalena, Ranney, you take their machine guns and put them to good use. Sulu, pick your team, I’ll take the rest. Bones, what do you wanna do, stay or go?”
“There might be prisoners.”
“There might not.”
“I’m still goin’.”
--
It was a bloodbath.
The lizard creatures were ready for us inside the building.
I am soaked in blood. Jim is soaked in blood.
There was only one prisoner, barely alive. The others showed signs of extreme torture. They were executed by means of decapitation.
We secured the building against all odds, but it was a bloodbath. Only eleven of the original thirty two away team members are alive. Dr. McCoy sustained some injuries. Lt. Sulu almost had his head blown off by a lizard.
Nyota called in, forty minutes after everything was over. The Enterprise has sustained casualties and damages as well. Lt. Commander Scott was among the number of wounded, though his injuries, according to Nurse Chapel, are not critical.
Jim beamed down a security team to sweep the area. He beamed down a team of scientists to take scans. There are no surviving lizard creatures. He has been in communication with Admiral Nogura for the past twenty minutes, giving his report and receiving new orders.
He has not changed out of his soiled uniform nor has he had time to wash himself of the blood and dust. The iron rich Terran blood has dried and left a rusty red-brown. The oily black blood of the lizards is under his fingernails.
We are to find and pursue the alien ship immediately. We are to leave a small team of personnel on Cestus-3, then warp out and track the whereabouts of the lizard creatures.
Only eleven hours ago, Jim and I watched Edith Keeler die.
Annotations
Jim was looking at the lastest map and surveillance produced from sensor scans and high resolution aerial photos. The positions of the aliens and the surrounding area were laid out before him near the transporter room.
“They are not even aware of our presence, if their activity is any indication. This central building is the current position of most of the creatures. They have set up four small outposts, one of which has heavy artillery weapons.”
“Any chance we can just beam into their central command and go for the jugular?”
“There are some indications that they hold are holding prisoners in there.”
“I can’t beam yeh inta the building, Jim-I might beam yeh into a wall. Or a water tank, for that matter. The best I can get yeh is near the door, but that might not be much at all in terms of military strategy.”
“We have to hit the outposts first, captain. Pasha just forwarded these topographical maps to me, and they definitely hold the high ground. They turned that building,” Sulu pointed “into a fortress. We need some on the ground surveillance before we tackle that thing.”
“Lt. Sulu is right, sir. My squad can lead the attack on the artillery outpost.”
“Okay, Kelowitz. You’ve got it. Lt. Marquez, Ensign Oktawiec, you guys go on recon. Get me as much info as possible on their position and report back. Sulu, I think we can think of these three outposts as one big outpost divided into three parts. You and me, we’ll take that. Bones, you’re with me.”
“Heard ya the first time, Jim.”
“Spock, I’ve seen you at target practice with a phaser.”
“There are advantages to a mathematically precise mind, captain.”
“I know, and it shows in your marksmanship. How are you with a sniper rifle?”
“I have never used it.”
“Giotto, get my First Officer a sniper rifle with an thermal scope. Spock, there’s a terminal right there, go and memorize the user’s manual now with that amazing learning curve of yours. We’ll figure out the little kinks in your machine on the fly. I want you as sniper on my team.”
“What about the last outpost, sir?”
“It’s closest to the center, and it looks like it’s the smallest. We’ll take one when we’ve regrouped and going for the main hub. We’re keeping communicator signals to a minimum. Don’t use them unless you have to, we don’t know what kind of technology they’ve got. Anyone have any questions?”
“No sir.”
“Scotty, send Marquez and Oktawiec in first. Get them somewhere with plenty of cover.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Energize.”
--
The area was eerily silent. Heavy debris, the remains of buildings, were scattered everywhere. The officers immediately spread out and went into defilade. From my vantage point, I could see tall biped lizard-like creatures at their outpost. Jim was surveying the situation intensely.
“Fuck, are those anti-spacecraft rocket launchers?” he breathed. “How the hell did we not notice those in the maps?”
Several of the lizards were busy assembling or loading an enormous weapon.
Sulu ran to Jim. “Did you see the cannons?” Jim asked.
He nodded. “It’s worse, captain. There are three, one for each part of the outpost. As far as I can tell, the three outposts are connected by trenches forming a kind of triangle, with their big guns at each corner. They shouldn’t be expecting a ground attack, but I got glimpses of some sorta machine gun setup.”
“They’re setting up a base to launch an invasion.”
“Looks that way, captain. Maybe we should call up to the Enteprise and ask them up there to take care of the job.”
“No. They’re be able to take out the first launcher, but those other two would punch holes into my ship. We’re gonna assume that they’re fully operational. And I don’t want to give away the fact that we’ve got a ship up there in orbit. Let them think we’re some survivors or escaped their attack.”
Jim looked back at the outpost, then back down. “All right. Here’s what we’re gonna assume. Those trenches they’ve got probably give them access to the entire battery and give them some cover from an aerial attack. The machine guns are there to cover a land based assault-that’s what I would do. We’re up against some really thorough and smart bastards. Got a count on their numbers?”
“No idea.”
“Spock?”
“Negative. They do, however, outnumber us at least three to one.”
“Fine. We’re gonna establish a base of fire, move under it hard and fast with two squads. Bones, you stay out of this until it’s over or someone needs you. Sulu, put Bailey, Pashaei on enfilading fire. Take the rest of your guys around the left. I’ll draw their fire from the right. Okay, go.”
Sulu went back to his position and informed his men of the plan.
“Hoontrakul, take Ranney, envelop right give covering fire. As soon as you see that Sulu’s got the first cannon, I want you to blow that thing to pieces.”
“Aye sir.”
“Spock, take out their machine gunner first, on my signal. I’m gonna go around and tell the other guys what’s going on.”
I nodded. I looked at the rifle in my hands and inhaled. Then I readied myself and trained the rifle on the lizard. Jim returned to my side.
“Go.”
I fired. Black blood oozed from my first target. There was a commotion on the enemy line as they slowly went to their stations and drew their weapons. Jim and his squad kept firing. Then, an enormous explosion.
The lizards had discharged one of their weapons. Though they were slow to take aim and fire, their weapon fired instantly and was enormously powerful. The colossal piece of cement behind which Lt. Spisak was taking cover exploded in a shower of rubble. Spisak screamed as the jagged pieces tore through him and left him a bloody mess.
“Fuck. Spock, keep firing. Bones!”
Jim ran to the fallen security officer and dragged him back to the doctor, taking cover behind another piece of debris. Around him, all around us, the ground exploded with showers of dirt and crushed matter as the lizards fired on us. I continued to methodically kill them, falling into a smooth rhythm. There was noise, inhuman screams of lizards, the smell of burnt blood, the familiar sound of phasers discharging. Chaos all around us. Jim returned to my side and continued firing.
“Come on, Sulu,” he said under his breath.
The rock before us whined. Jim grabbed me and threw me to the ground, dropping down beside me. We were crawling away when it exploded with a deafening sound.
“Go find cover!”
Then there was another massive explosion, but the quality of its sound was different. Jim and I looked up, and I could discern the form Lt. Sulu in the outpost. The remaining lizards were fleeing from their former position, but they could not move quickly to escape the relentless phaser fire of Sulu’s squad.
Jim barked out orders. “Let’s go, let’s go! Follow me!”
His security squad emerged from their positions, running towards the captured outpost. We were being fired on by the other two outposts. Every around us, materials exploded, dirt flew up and obscured the view. The smell of lizard flesh hung in the air. Several security officer vomited. Dr. McCoy was the last to enter the outpost.
“Where’s Spisak?” Jim yelled. He was barely heard over the sound of all the explosions.
“Lost him, Jim. They shredded him to pieces.”
“Hoontrakul blow that cannon out.”
“Yes sir on it sir!”
“Spock, Sulu, Maass, Dean, Jalena, Ghirardei with me on the next gun! The rest of you stay and keep this location secure. Hold this outpost, do you understand. Pashaei give us some covering fire! Fuck-grenade!”
The grenade sizzled as it fell into the trench, then exploded. Lt. Ghirardei lay on his side, arm bent at a strange angle. He had no legs. Blood spread from a point on his abdomen and all over his uniform. Jim checked for signs of life, but all could see there were none. He paused for a second, then quickly looked at the rest of his attack squad. They were uninjured. Jim inhaled to get a hold of himself, then began to run down the trench to the second gun. His men followed.
We approached a bend. Jim stopped, looked at me, and pointed with his head. I went, quickly took a glance and saw three lizards, two manning a machine gun and one with his phaser. I calculated, turned, and killed all three creatures with three neat shots.
Before we continued, Jim gave orders. “Maas, Jalena, you still have your grenades?”
“Yes sir.”
“Me and Sulu will be in front. You throw over us and take them out. Spock, you take the rear.”
Jim waited for Maas and Jalena to get ready with their grenades. When they nodded, he started running, shooting his phaser as he went. Lt. Sulu followed quickly behind. As we approached the second outpost, the two security officers launched their grenades. Jim and Sulu did not stop, but ran in after the explosion. One lizard managed to lock his weapon onto Maas and exploded the lieutenant’s body. Blood and bone was scattered everywhere, smearing everyone’s uniform. When the location was finally secured, another lizard stood and dropped his weapon. His words were incomprehensible.
“Shut up,” Lt. Dean screamed at the creature, shaking. Blood oozed from his hair down the planes of his face. “Shut the fuck up!”
The lizard continued to speak, hissing.
Lt. Dean blew its head off with his phaser. Jim looked on, Lt. Maas’s blood streaming down his face. He said nothing, only putting a hand on Lt. Dean’s shoulder for a second. Lt. Hoontrakul appeared. He immediately began procedure to destroy the second cannon.
“How’s everyone on their phaser cartridges?” Jim yelled over the noise of the blasts.
“I’m all out sir!” several of the officers screamed back.
Lt. Ranney and Lt. Pashaei joined us. “Sir, just want to let you know sir that Lt. Kelowitz and his squad have joined us sir. McCoy’s tending Ensign Weintraub, but other than that no casualties to report. They’re keeping the first outpost secure, and we’ve been coming under a lot of fire from the third outpost and a fourth location, but we can’t figure out where it is. We think it’s somewhere near their third rocket launcher.”
“You guys have grenades and extra cartridges?”
“I’ve got all three of my grenades and brought some ammo for you, sir, figured you’d need it,” Lt. Pashaei offered.
“Good job. All right, Dean, Jalena, stay here and keep this gun secure. Sulu, Ranney, Pashaei, take the last rocket launcher, usual drill. Grenades first, then fire. Spock, you fall back to the first outpost, find that fourth location, and take it out. I’ll follow you in a sec.”
I immediately left. As I turned the corner, the sound of Lt. Hoontrakul detonating the cannon reverberated through the area.
When I returned to the first outpost, the security officers gave a start. Dr. McCoy grabbed me.
“Why the hell are you covered in blood?!”
“We lost Lt. Maas. This is his blood. If you’ll excuse me doctor, I need to fulfill a mission.”
Most of the fire on us originated from the third outpost. That was quickly reduced as they came under attack from Lt. Sulu and his security guards. The fourth location came from a point near the third outpost but removed from the trenches. From the sound, I calculated that there were four lizards who were pounding us with their machine gun and phaser fire.
Jim appeared. “You figured it out?”
“Affirmative. I estimate that they in that corner,” I pointed.
Jim nodded. “Sulu’s got the third gun, but these guys still stand to pick us off with that phaser of theirs.” He made a decision. “Follow me.”
We went back to the third outpost. I could make out the figures of some lizards. They were still concentrating their fire on the first outpost.
“Fuck, that looked bad,” he remarked at the last explosion. “They’re making us waste ammo.” Jim looked at me intensely.
“Think you could take them out?”
“Their figures are somewhat obscured. If their attention were directed here, their positions would change and I could snipe all of them. But I can do it from here, Jim.” I hoisted my rifle and took aim.
“Don’t miss, Spock.”
With those words, he left the trenches and began to run on the open battlefield. My breath caught. There was no time for thought-the lizards saw him, and began firing along his path. As they did so, they changed their position, making themselves more visible from my vantage point.
I quickly fired five rounds in succession and a strange satisfaction filled me to see the black blood ooze from the creatures. I watched Jim roll into the trenches and I quickly made my way back to him.
He looked at me. He was covered in grime and blood, but his brilliant blue eyes were trained on me.
Dr. McCoy approached Jim from the other side.
“You goddamn idiot! Never pull a stunt like that again, James Tiberius Kirk, or I will kill you myself and dance on your grave!” Leonard examined Jim for injuries while helping him to his feet. “See how you like that, you whoreson sonuvabitch!”
“Just doing my job, Bones.”
“Don’t give me that crap. When we get back on the ship I’m gonna have you sedated from here til the next doomsday!”
“Casualty count?”
“Maas, Spisak, Ghirardei dead, Weintraub and Kelowitz wounded.”
“Kelowitz too?”
“Yeah. They locked onto him, but Bailey thought quick and phasered the man’s leg off.”
“His whole leg?”
“That’s the part they locked onto. I’ve got him sedated. The phaser was a clean cut, sealed the wound. Minimal blood loss.”
Jim was silent. Sulu and the other security team members joined us.
“Let’s regroup. We’ve still got their headquarters to worry about.”
--
“Jim!”
Nyota’s voice, panicked, came over the communicator.
“Uhura, what’s going on?” Jim asked in low tones.
“We’re coming under attack. Unidentified ship quartering in. I’ve put shields up but I don’t know what to do!”
“Lt. Uhura, I’ve trained you in battle sims before. Don’t panic. Just do what you’ve always done.”
“Jim, I could lower shields and bring you up. Captain, you need to be here.”
“Lt. Uhura, I placed you in charge of my ship. Don’t put down shields-I need you to do whatever you need to keep her flying. Is that clear?”
“Jim-“
“It’s captain, to you, lieutenant,” Jim replied, a mixture of anger and detachment in his voice. “Stop making this personal. I chose you to be in command up there, I chose you to train for a command position, so now use what you’ve learned and fucking keep the Enterprise in space. Control yourself, stop making this personal, and consider us expendable. Did I make myself clear, lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Use phasers, photon torpedoes, take the Enterprise out of orbit, if you have to.”
“Understood, captain.”
“Report back when everything’s settled. You can do this, Lt. Uhura. Not a ‘served to the best of your ability,’ but you will succeed. Got that?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Kirk out.”
--
“Marquez, report.”
“We heard the battle going on at the other outposts, sir. The lizards did too. They’ve been working on fortifying themselves, and that fourth outpost that wasn’t such a big deal, is now. They’re spread between the that central building, and that hill there.”
“They lugged out some form of machine gun. There’s five of those killer things on that hilltop, with a bunch of lizards besides. And either these guys have been doing target practice, but they’ve blown up everything that that might give us some cover. All of this rubble here used to be perfect little hiding places for us. Now, we’ve got a flat plain.”
“They’re entrenched in that position and have the complete advantage. It’d be suicide to attempt an offensive.”
“We’ve gotta take them down and recapture this planet. This might be the first of an invading force. Any sign of prisoners or Federation survivors?”
“We think they’re alive, sir, no guarantees.”
“Then we’re going in. We’ve just gotta find a way.”
“Sir, every inch of that plain is presighted. We can’t do it with just these weapons, they’d slaughter us. We need every man we’ve got.”
“Sulu, Kelowitz, what weapons did you guys scavenge from the outposts.”
“We got a few of their disrupters, some grenades, a couple of their machine guns.”
“What’s the range of the disrupters.”
“Not far enough to get to them from here. They take a while to lock and load, sir, compared to our phasers.”
“This is what we’re gonna do. Kelowitz, do you feel up for this?”
“Anything to help, captain.”
“Know how to operate these disruptors?”
“Yes sir.”
“All right. You’re gonna fire these randomly-lock onto something as close to that hill as you can. Just make a lot of dust and dirt fly into the air, and create some craters we can use for cover. Everyone else, run and stay down. Let’s hope their machine guns don’t have automatic infrared trackers.
“Spock, use your thermal scope and get rid of those fuckers.”
“Understood, captain.”
“But don’t hang out in one place too long.”
“And then what, captain? Whadda we do after getting cover?”
“From that range, you should be able to take aim and get some shots in from there. I want people with disruptors to lock onto those bastards and blow them. If you don’t have good cover, then fucking keep moving. Sitting still you’ll be perfect targets to get blasted into red mist.”
“We’re gonna draw fire from their central building, captain.”
“I know. Just keep moving. We’re faster than they are. Use your speed.”
Ensign Carroll vomited.
“All right. Kelowitz, ready?”
“Aye sir.”
“Start firing. Everyone else, after my signal.”
The officers secured their weapons. Lt. Kelowitz’s firing his weapon caused the lizards to fire their weapons as well. Dust clouded the field and craters appeared.
“Go.”
Jim sprinted out into the haze. His figure disappeared in the spray of dirt and pulverized debris.
The officers sprinted after him, adrenaline pounding through their veins. The rush to the head, the thrill of coming so close to death, the explosions and whine of the weapons in the all consuming dust. Cries as some officers fell tripped and fell into craters, screams of battle lust. Or simply the steady gasps and the sound of footsteps pounding on the rocky plain.
The thermal scope showed me the blurred shapes of the lizards. I combined that image with my eidetic memory as I took aim. I calculated the length of my stride, counted the number of steps, recalled the positions of the lizards, raised my weapon and fired. Fired. Fired. Then ran again as a spray of rock and dirt burst up in front of me.
Dust was clearing as I neared the hill and I fired again, this time able to see my target. A lizard slumped over. I fired again. The ground beside me exploded and I ran forward, taking cover. Jim was there, looking up at their fortress.
“There’s still at least two guys alive and gunning. We got the rest with disruptors and phaser fire. And you took out two guys. Spock, I need you to get the other two. Get in there and give me some firing discipline.”
I nodded. At that moment, a grenade landed in our crater. Jim immediately put his body over mine and it exploded.
By some miracle, neither of us were injured.
“Holy shit, that must’ve been a dud.” Jim was shaking.
There was no time to think. I rolled over, took my rifle and looked up at their position. My vantage point was not ideal. I reloaded the phaser cartridge, jumped out of the crater, and found a new position. I would have ten seconds before the lizards lock their machine onto me.
Plenty of time.
I looked, calculated, took aim, and fired. One down. The other turned his attention to me. I looked, calculated, took aim, and fired. He was only injured. I fired again.
I returned to Jim, who was climbing out of his crater.
“All clear, captain.”
“Everyone up the hill!” he ordered immediately. “Get up there, move it move it! Sulu, headcount.”
“All accounted for sir, except Kelowitz. Hoontrakul got his arm ripped off by one of their grenades, and Doc says Oktawiec sprained his ankle and broke a rib and his collarbone when he fell into a crater, but no casualties. They say they’re still going with you, captain. They can walk and hold a phaser, so they want to go with you.”
“That’s for me to decide.”
“Thought you’d like to know, captain.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey captain?”
“Yeah?”
“How’d you think to do that. To use their disruptor to create that screen of dust that would give us cover from their weapons?”
“Made it up. It’s what a lot of military tactics boil down to-distract the enemy with something, so that they can’t see what you’re actually planning. There’s tons strategies for accomplishing that, but that’s the idea behind it. Have a goal. Figure out a way to get it done. The best way to get it done is to hide your purpose. Even two seconds of distracting them can make a huge difference. If you keep that in mind, the rest is improvisation.”
“Still, I never woulda thought to do that.”
“Yeah you would. When you’ve got a bunch of guys all looking at you like ‘what do we do next, captain,’ you’d think of something.”
--
“The last sensor scans we took from the Enterprise said that there might be Federation prisoners in there. What do you think.”
“They’re dead. Either that or tortured for answers, and then killed.”
“I don’t think you should jump to that conclusion, Dean.”
“Did you see what they did to Maas? Huh doc?!”
“Calm down, Dean. Your argument’s got merit. Why do you think they’d be alive, Bones?”
“You guys are soldiers. Rules of war are different for soldiers and civilians.”
“No, they’re the same. The civilians just don’t have any way of fighting, so they get fucked over,” Lt. Hoontrakul retorted.
“Well fine, what if you assume that there aren’t prisoners in there and you go blazing in with your phasers? What’ll ya do if you come into a hostage situation and they’re holding their goddamn disruptors to the head of some child? The last scans said there were prisoners and survivors in here, damnit, and you beamed down to the surface to rescue them! That was the purpose of this mission, before it got bloodied and convoluted!”
“Both of you, shut up and pull yourselves together. We walked into a fucking trap, and it sucks, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still in it. So until we get back on the ship, keep it together and stay focused.
“Hoontrakul, Oktawiec, and Weintraub, you guys stay here and attack their building with all the artillery that’s here. The rest of you will come with me and Sulu. We’ll be the main assault on their building. Spock, you meld with one of the lizards to figure out if there are any prisoners and where they are. If there are prisoners, then both teams are rescue ops, is that clear? The prisoners are our first priority. After they’re out, we can just pummel their building from our position.
“If there aren’t any prisoners, then this turns into all out search and destroy, maybe get some intel on them. Got it?”
“Yes sir.”
“All right, Jalena, Ranney, you take their machine guns and put them to good use. Sulu, pick your team, I’ll take the rest. Bones, what do you wanna do, stay or go?”
“There might be prisoners.”
“There might not.”
“I’m still goin’.”
--
It was a bloodbath.
The lizard creatures were ready for us inside the building.
I am soaked in blood. Jim is soaked in blood.
There was only one prisoner, barely alive. The others showed signs of extreme torture. They were executed by means of decapitation.
We secured the building against all odds, but it was a bloodbath. Only eleven of the original thirty two away team members are alive. Dr. McCoy sustained some injuries. Lt. Sulu almost had his head blown off by a lizard.
Nyota called in, forty minutes after everything was over. The Enterprise has sustained casualties and damages as well. Lt. Commander Scott was among the number of wounded, though his injuries, according to Nurse Chapel, are not critical.
Jim beamed down a security team to sweep the area. He beamed down a team of scientists to take scans. There are no surviving lizard creatures. He has been in communication with Admiral Nogura for the past twenty minutes, giving his report and receiving new orders.
He has not changed out of his soiled uniform nor has he had time to wash himself of the blood and dust. The iron rich Terran blood has dried and left a rusty red-brown. The oily black blood of the lizards is under his fingernails.
We are to find and pursue the alien ship immediately. We are to leave a small team of personnel on Cestus-3, then warp out and track the whereabouts of the lizard creatures.
Only eleven hours ago, Jim and I watched Edith Keeler die.
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