The Undisputed Border

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Cleo materialized in the transporter room of the Gulf. She strode out and headed to the medical lab, passing into a specialized suit that had several warnings about "authorized personnel only" being allowed. She greeted the team of doctors with a brisk "Klingon number three"

The doctors nodded and waved her into a modified biobed.She climbed on and a cover slid into place...the doctors began working their consoles, watching intently as their readouts monitored her vital signs as the proceedure began. It was new...highly secret...and sometimes had serious side effects...but in ten minutes the cover retracted and Cleo sat up a bit shakily...her appearance now altered to that of a female Klingon.

She gave herself a moment to get used to the changes...nothing short of a full autopsy would be able to distinguish her from an actual Klingon now. For the next 72 hours she was a Klingon right down to the genetic level...once 72 hours had passed the process would begin to break down and she would have to return here to keep from dying as her body literally would break down on the cellular level.

She stood and spoke in harsh voice "Computer! Klingon Defense Force Uniform, House of Martok!"

"Confirmed" the computer voice replied as Cleo headed for the door to the lab. As she exited her Starfleet uniform vanished and a KDF one replaced it. She made her way to Shuttle bay two.

Ch'Bargh and five other Klingons were waiting on her there...they too wore KDF uniforms, carried Klingon distruptors and Bat'Leths "Admiral" Ch'Barth greeted her evenly. He found it a bit disconcerting that his commander made a very convincing Klingon...so convincing in fact that he found himself evaluating her as a potential mate when she was transformed like this.

"Is the Botany Bay ready Number one?" She asked him, oblivious to his internal confusion.

"Yes Admiral, she's ready to go...warp core online, weapons charged and shield generators ready" He replied.

Cleo nodded and led her team to the Klingon Bird of Prey that stood ready in the hangar "Let's get moving then...we have Romulans to fight."

They quickly boarded the ship and took their stations...Cleo sliding into the command chair and opening a com channel to the Gulf "Gulf this is Botany Bay...clear us for launch from Bay Two please"

"Botany Bay you are clear to launch" Came the prompt reply

"Cleo nodded to Ch'Bargh and the small warship lifted from the deck and moved smoothly out of the bay...as soon as it was clear of the Gulf...it shimmered into invisibility as it's combat cloak came online.

Cleo entered a set of ground coordinates into her console "That is our destination Number One...take us past the Romulan fleet at 15 Kilometers...I want a full passive scan, laser relay the results back to the Gulf."

"Aye Sir."

The cloaked ship accelerated to full impulse and made for the massive invasion force arrayed around the planet.

[RampantArc]

The streaks of light flashing over the Argo’s cockpit window turned back to the tiny specks they were before. One by one the remainder of the wing appeared with a blink of light, flaking Kelly’s ship. She looked forward to what had been among the indiscernible specks but moments ago. Antiva now took up much of her sky, though she had to strain to make it out. The systems star peaked over the horizon, causing Kelly to shield her eyes as the cybernetic implants adjusted. In about half an hour the capitol would be visible, as would the Romulan battle group. She silently hoped that the Kusanagi had made it to that moon and was powered down, and she hoped the Saratoga had received her report.

To: Captain Devon Scott
From: Colonel Kel Zor’ah Har’cos (2410.0606 @ 1135 Zulu)
RE: Situation
Captain, by now you are apprised of the situation no doubt. 3 CCS Class Battle Groups and 39 Troop carriers, with a Scimitar leading the fleet; with current federation forces in this system we don’t stand a chance of holding this system. Though the fleet is big, when the storm passes they will be at the mercy of an overwhelming federation response. From this we can presume that their objective it to take and hold the Antivan capitol, a highly defensible position. As it stands at the moment we have 540 MACOs, whatever Mavendorf has brought with her and 20,000 none combatants to stand against the 50,000 Romulan infantry. Any assistance on the ground would be appreciated.

I would also recommend that you move your ship to a hidden location, out of sight. When the Romulans detect my formation they’ll be looking for the base that they came from.

Kelly had detected the Saratoga with the Argo’s sensors, nowhere near the resolution but at least they were working, and she had first hand information to work with.

“Ok marines, this is the score, we have no idea what the current situation is ground side” Andersons distinctly Australian voice said over the com. “Temperature is a balmy 272 degrees Kelvin at the insertion point, with blizzard winds forecast. Visibility will be a problem, Infrared will not be viable and I don’t want to make their job easier by sending off a beacon with Life sign detectors. We are going to avoid hitting the enemy if at all possible until we link up with the MACO groundside battalion.” She paused while that sunk in “So, I’ll make it nice and easy; no active scans and do not fire unless you are engaged first, Clear?” Anderson finished with a forceful tone.

“Crystal Sir!” 40 Marines said in unison

“I won’t lie to you” Anderson continued “Best case scenario, we have 540 MACOs against an onslaught of 50 thousand plus Romulans, so the odds are stacked in our favour.” Anderson said with optimism, several chuckles were audible through the com badge. “I’m not kidding here, we’ve got two flavours of pointy eared bastard-“ Kelly smirked as she fondled the point of her ear “-who had the balls to take on such a risky operation, and so far it’s gone off without a hitch. But they didn’t count on the 81st! We are going to show them that they could not have picked a worse enemy than the United Federation of Planets, we are going to shoot them until we have nothing left to shoot them with, and we are going to hold that piece of land until the fly boys come in an blow that space garbage into dust. Am I right Marines?”

“Oo’rah” Kelly said joining the chant.

“Colonel, were 30 seconds from hitting atmo, how do you want to do this?” the pilot said next to her.

“Athena to formation, prep for combat entry” Kelly said as she tapped her combadge

Lights flickered green on her side panel, indicating that the formation had copied. She pushed down a key on the overhead console, disengaging the external inertial dampener and the pilot tapped the aft dorsal thrusters until the dark planet was no longer in view. The craft continued at the same speed, shuddering as it struck the outer atmosphere. The Cockpit window burned as the ship descended into the planet below. The fire stopped, but the shuddering continued as the crafts plummeted. The pilot held onto the stick and throttle tightly, holding off on the ventral thrusters until they were lower. Cloud formations whipped past as they got lower and lower. Finally, the pilot hit the thrusters and the ship began to slow. A green light from the starboard side of a Valkryie travelled up over the window, shuddering with the wind turbulence as it did. Kelly could just barely make out the silhouette of a mountain in the darkness. The altimeter slowed its countdown, 5,000 metres, 4,000 metres, the ship still rapidly descended. The pilot tapped the aft dorsal thrusters again and pointed the noise up, 2,000 metres. He hit the impulse engine and began combating the decent, 1,000 metres. The ship still continued to plummet. Kelly looked at the pilot with some concern, combat entries got you close to the ground quickly, but this was a little too quick. Finally, at 10 metres the decent finally stopped. The Argo kicked up snow as it pushed forward. It flew through a valley in between the high mountains, keeping close to the ground. The star slowly crept up over the horizon as the formation pushed on.

Kelly tapped a button on her console, deactivating it. She went over to her pack and grabbed the gloves and slid them over her hands, they shocked her a little as the filament inside the glove made contact with her skin. She took the ear piece out and slipped it around her ear before she put on a helmet. The wind shield flickered and came to life, a Starfleet logo with a bald eagle in front of it appeared. Other icons flew in, indicating an active subsystem, as the MACO combat suit fired up. Kelly looked back at the cockpit, the star was still rising, emitting vibrant pinks and gold’s on the sky, clouds and snow, fighting back the black. Off in the distance Kelly could make out the dark clouds of the blizzard. She tapped a key on the underside of her fore arm and a blue overlay console appeared over her arm. She moved her fingers and checked her thermal control; she brought the suit temperature down to 285 Kelvin then up to 300, then back to 293. She grabbed her TR-116A and a small cross hair appeared on her visor. She dropped it and went back over to the pilot and grabbed hold of the handle bar above his head.

“What’s our ETA?” Kelly asked, her voice somewhat artificial after being processed though the helmet’s voice processor.

“About 3 minutes ma’am.” The pilot replied

“Any visual on hostile forces?”


“Negative, I’m picking up a large thermal signature, but the blizzard is messing with the reading”

Kelly sighed as the Argo and its accompanying craft passed into the storm. Kelly saw the altimeter climb a bit as the pilot adjusted for the poor visibility.

“What the?” the pilot said as an alarm sounded

“We’ve been spiked?” Kelly asked

“Yeah, but I don’t see how, in this-” He replied as the alarm changed “We have a launch!”

A piercing green light from a plasma torpedo was visible. One of the escorts intercepted it just before it hit. The Argo passed through a green blaze. Two more came at them with the same result.

“AAs a bit lacking, mustn’t have expected any reinforcements.” The pilot said,

Just as he did the console screamed with launch indicators. A line of green blazed across the window.

“All call signs! Break formation! Drop counter measures!” Kelly commanded as she tapped her combadge.

She held on tightly as the Argo banked. She heard the flares ignite and jettison, as well as the detonation of the missiles behind them. With a solitary lock indicator still blaring, the Argo flew close to the ground, pulling over a slight mound and ducking under it again causing the missile to strike it. White powder from the explosion engulfed the Argo.

“All call signs break LOS.” Kelly said as the Argo punched through the powder.

The indicators on the command console and on a tab on her visor changed to green as the wing confirmed. The pilot of her Argo turned her around and hovered just behind the ridge.

“Minerva,” Kelly said to the other Argo “transmit your telemetry from that foray.”

An upload bar appeared on her visor and the two sequences played out, the one from her Argo and the other from Custard, as it did she looked over to where she thought the battle formation was. Markers formed on her visor, placing way points on the emplacements. Kelly’s eyes darted from one to the other, the visor giving any additional information as it did. 4 AA Plasma missile batteries and 2 Plasma torpedo launchers, but that was only what had fired. Visibility was still too poor to make anything else out.

Kelly nodded at the driver of the Puma in the hold. The vehicle started with a low hum. Kelly picked up her pack and strapped her rifle to the side of it and slid her side arm into the holster on her thigh.

“Athena to Minerva, drop your payload, all flights standby.” She said, tapping the com button on her helmet. She stepped up onto the rear pedestal of the Puma; she pulled the catch on the turret and flicked on the targeting computer. The HUD on her visor changed as she placed her hands on the grips to accommodate the new hardware.

The hatch at the rear of the Argo opened, the wind and snow blasted Kelly’s visor, causing it to fog up. The visor adapted and the condensation evaporated. With a nod from his commander, the driver stepped on the gas. The ATSV left the Argo with an explosion of speed, skidding across what seemed to be thick ice from a frozen lake. The driver maintained control, pulling the Puma around. He headed for the bank that was giving the Argo cover. It hit the thick snow, causing it to slow down but the vehicle pushed on.

As the Puma hit the top of the bank it leapt forth, leaving the ground. Kelly held on for dear life; the maglocks on her boots were the only thing keeping her on the vehicle. As the vehicle landed a green bolt whipped by; narrowly missing Kelly’s head. The mound behind them exploded as it struck, Kelly’s shields flared as the splash back of molten plasma sprayed her and the Puma.

“ Shit!” she yelped “Minerva, you get a visual on that?”

“Affirmative Athena.”

“Set up a point to point, visibilities but we should still be able to triangulate –“

Kelly was cut off as the driver noticed a mass of missiles inbound. They cut through the sky, their green light piercing through the storm. The driver pulled the Puma to the left violently, trying to shake the lock. The first three struck the ground in quick succession, right where the puma was a moment ago. The rest changed course, the driver pulled her back to the right, avoiding the second volley. The bolt of plasma struck again, right in front of the ATSV. They pushed through the green fire. An upload progress bar started at the bottom of Kelly’s HUD, and a crosshair homed in as it drew to completion. Kelly switched to the Tricobalt HE rounds. The barrel began to spin as it re sized for the bigger rounds. The redical glowed green, Kelly brought the turret to bear and fired, the sound of muted air and a slight muzzle flash the only indication that the round had launched. At the same instant the distant thunder of the round striking the plasma cannon washed over them.

Kelly continued to watch, the detonation and its light outlined on her HUD. Her smile faded somewhat when the lower part of the outline was cut by what seemed like an artificial silhouette. A second green bolt from another location struck the ground beneath the left rear wheel. The Puma was lifted airborne, and hit the ground. Kelly knelt down and wrapped her hand around the base of the turret as the Puma flipped end to end, bouncing around on the floor. With a quick manipulation of the inertial dampener, the navigator was able to right the puma mid flight, and she landed with a soft thud. Kelly locked on to the second turret and fired a second round. As she did, the shields of the vehicle flared as they were pelted by disruptor bolts from small arms fire.

“We need to find cover!” Kelly yelled as the indicator on her shields whittled away. She changed the barrel back to fire the 9 mm rounds and fired suppressing fire.

“I’ve got no reading from LIDAR CM outside of 30 metres; this blizzard is playing havoc with our -.” The Navigator stopped “Left, full-” the driver pulled the Puma around before he had finished “14 metres”

The Puma ducked down behind a limestone cut out, into an excavated trench. Fire continued to whip over head. Another bolt from a plasma canon struck the edge of the trench, causing several tonnes of ice and limestone to come crashing down. The driver swerved to avoid, though several of the smaller rocks struck the shields.

“How many of those damn things do they have!?!” The navigator said

“Minerva, Sit rep” Kelly said into her communicator

“Visabli... taking fir...” The reply came with static

“Find cover, we take out those AA defences we can call in the fly boys to take out the ground defences.” Kelly commanded.

“Copy, wil-“ The transmission was cut short with a distant thud.

“Minerva!?!” Kelly asked franticly.

The Puma pushed on undercover while they awaited response. 30 of the longest seconds Kelly had experienced passed by

“This is Minerva” a marine said coughing over her com “We are under heavy fire, pinned down. The cars wreaked”

“Stay where you are Minerva.” Kelly looked over at the indicators for the AA batteries. “All flights this is Athena, when I give you the signal push through. Wings delta and alpha, hit the ground artillery on your way through.”

Kelly’s legs buckled as they hit an incline. The vehicle pushed on, and Kelly regained hr footing. They left the trench under fire, the shields of the ATSV simmering a bright blue. Kelly located on of the missile batteries and fired. Remans took cover as the emplacement detonated. High-powered repeaters fired on them from high. Kelly looked up to see a massive mobile arms fortress, dotted with turrets, firing at them.

“Now that’s new” the navigator said in awe

They continued to push on, the shield indicator slowly ebbing away. They came around a small mound, a reman attempted to jump onto the vehicle but hit the shields and bounced off. A head was a small line of Romulans, firing their disruptors. Kelly change the configuration to fire the 9mm rounds. With a short burst they all fell. The next emplacement came into view. The turret went through the transition and fired. One of the missiles launched and flew off uncontrolled, striking the ground at the base of the ATSV. This time, the navigators efforts went on in vain. Kelly’s Puma struck the ground and she was thrown aside.

***

The driver had dragged her to the small fox hole where the missile emplacement used to be. Her helmet was off, as the side of her and the driver was shaking her. The navigator stood behind him, rapidly turning between fronts as he fired. She blinked several times before as she got her bearings.

“Colonel? Colonel!?! Athena!?! Are you ok?” the driver asked concerned.

“I’m fine” Kelly said sputtering

The marine nodded and went off to assist the other. Kelly searched the ground for her helmet and placed it back over her head. It began running through its start-up procedure, but then the display flickered and died. Kelly clicked her tongue with a disapproving tisk. She put a finger to the com button on the side of her helmet.

“Mjolnir, Athena. The missile batteries are down, are you able to take down the torpedo turrets and lend a hand with the ground ordinance?” Kelly said into her com.

“We can try Athena, but the chances of a successful run are low.”

Kelly sighed heavily. She dug her shoulder hard into the side of the mound that was providing cover.

“Copy that.” She looked over the rise to see if she could see the muzzle flash from the turret. She noticed the teal flash; by her reckoning it was about 200 metres away behind a reman line. The ordinance from the battle fortress was still pounding away at her position.

The other knelt beside Kelly. She looked at them both, who returned a respectful nod. They knew what had to be done, and accepted that the chance of coming back was low. Kelly nodded back and placed her hand back on the com button.

“Mjolnir, we’re going attempt to take them out. If we fail, you run in first followed closely by Dion and make a run for the colony.”

Kelly unclipped her TR-116A from her pack and charged the battery. With her rifle in one hand and her other hand on the top of the mound Kelly said a silent prayer before she ran the gauntlet.

((Someone can jump in here if they want.))

[J. St. Peter]

Jessica sat forward in her chair, her chin resting on her hands. Her foot tapped the deck plating impatiently, and she bit her lip more out of habit than actual nervousness.

"Wirst, time to rendezvous?"

The Oza didn't show his annoyance, but his voice indicated very clearly that he was not enjoying the updates every ten seconds. "We are still thirty minutes away, ma'am."

Commander Obruz was behind her, and put a hand on her shoulder. She startled a little, but looked up and nodded. She needed to relax. They'd get to the battle in time; her crew knew their jobs, and she wasn't helping the ship to go any faster.

"Captain..."

Jessica turned to her left; Lieutenant Sano was hunched over her console, her hands working furiously as she made sense of the latest sensor sweeps. The Trill's brow was furrowed in confusion.

"What is it, Sano?"

"Captain, I'm detecting a second ion trail in our wake..."

Lieutenant Commander Seurer was next to her in a heart beat, verifying the readings. "Not just one...there's four distinct patterns back there, only one is ours."

"What?" Jessica was out of her chair. "There are no ships back there..."

"Captain," Wirstowx called from the front, "Weapons fire, aft!"

Before Jessica could order shields, the Rafale was rocked with an explosion. There was a shudder, and the inertial dampers screamed as the ship was thrown out of warp. The lights went red and the battle alert klaxon filled the air.

"Report!"

"Shields have been disabled!"

"Warp drive is shot to hell, we're not going anywhere!"

"Weapons are fully loaded and ready!"

Jessica lifted her head up and pointed at the screen. The image had shifted to the rear of the ship; there, just decloaked, hovered two Mogai-type Romulan warbirds, flanking a D'deridex in the middle. The hulls weren't the usual green, but instead a darker purple that seemed to shimmer in the light of the star nearby. "Oh God..."

Dossu spat out a curse. "Remans! Wirstowx, I'm taking over primary tactical..." The Bajoran sat at the tactical console and began inputting attack commands. Wirstowx stood next to him at a secondary console, waiting to assist.

"Dossu, open fire, concentrate on the port ship!"

"Aye!"

***

The Akira-class starship was sluggish from the attack, but she righted herself and pounced, weapons flashing hot orange and blue as she lashed out at the Reman warbird. Green plasma and disruptor fire was thrown back, and Rafale danced as best it could to avoid the attacks. In a few seconds, the warbird was pulling away, its weapons systems disabled and its shields failing. The larger D'deridex moved to block the path of the Starfleet ship.

***

"She's running away!"

"Primary defensive systems are back online; shields at 46 percent."

"Sonia," Jessica wiped her face and coughed, smoke starting to completely fill the cramped bridge. "Send out a distress call..."

"Ma'am?" The engineer turned from his post, looking incredulous. "You can't be..."

"That was an order; we're not going to last very long against all three of these ships. We can't run, but we certainly can't fight forever. Send out the distress call, now!"

"Aye, Captain..." Seymour Sonia turned back to the screen and tapped the interface. "Distress call transmitted successfully."

***

To any ships in range, this is the Federation Starship Rafale. We are under attack by Reman warbirds and are unable to jump to warp. We request immediate assistance. I say again, we are under attack and unable to effectively defend ourselves or retreat. We request immediate assitance. Rafale out.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Cleo snarled in frustration as she read the data on her armrest screen..the limited visibility even a full 2 kilometers above the planet surface was playing havok with her crew's attempt to see just what was going on down there "Report!" she snapped angrily...her transformation did little to keep her temper in check at times like this

"We are reading plasma fire...and intermittent communications Admiral." Ch'Bargh replied

"Can we tell who is shooting at who yet?" She asked in a slightly less annoyed tone as she scrolled through some fresh data

"Not with more than a twenty percent chance of accuracy Admiral." Ch'Bargh admitted

"Fine...take us down for a closer look...I cannot assist Colonel Kelly if I can't see what is going on!" She snarled.

The Botany Bay executed a half roll left and dropped like a rock...the battle cloak not really very effective in the atmosphere's clouds of blowing snow...anyone within a kilometer of the ship would see a hazy outline as it flew past them...though luckily no one was up here just yet.

The Klingon ship leveled out five hundred meters above the ground and flashed toward the intermittent plasma fire at almost full speed...abruptly swerving to starboard and climbing as proximity alarms blared as an artificial mountain loomed in front of them "What is THAT?" Cleo growled as she tried to get and estimate of it's size from the limited data the sensors had provided in their near miss.

"Some sort of ground based battle station I think Admiral." Ch"Bargh finally replied as he also scanned readouts "It seems to be firing artillery at several locations on the ground." He pulled up a holomap that begin to light several locations near the large red icon that represented the battle station.

"Ready Torpedoes and main disruptors...we'll come around behind it and see if we can do it some damage." She ordered. She picked up a stylus and drew a rough course over the map to give her navigator a clear idea of where she wished to attack from.

"Aye sir!" The bridge crew chorused as they readied the Botany Bay for the attack run. the small starship made a wide sweeping turn that brought it around to the opposite facing they had flashed by just few moments ago.

"Drop cloak! Fire main batteries!" Cleo ordered as the range dropped to under five Kilometers. Green disruptor fire flashed from the Botany Bay's main armament as the cloak shimmered and faded...a split second later a salvo if three quantum torpedoes launched...the Botany Bay's sensors recorded the splash of disruptor beams and cannon bolts on heavy duty shielding for a moment before any return fire came their way.

All too quickly plasma bolts began to track toward the small ship "Evasive pattern three!" Cleo ordered...The Bird jinked and changed altitude, throwing the Enemy gunners off a bit...some plasma did strike the shields but no direct hits were scored as the Klingon ship rocketed past the mechanized battle platform and clawed for altitude.

A second after the Botany Bay vanished upward the three torpedoes struck.

((Your ball Kelly!))

[RampantArc]

She held the barrel of her rifle, bowed her head and closed her eyes. She could feel the ice and pulverised rock prying forth from the disrupter fire hitting the back of her defunct helmet. The tapping on the hard polymer was cathartic in its own way. One of her escorts fell backwards as an over charged burst struck the ground before him. Kelly opened her eyes; she focused her expression into one colder than the snow that was slowly pushing its touch through the ablative polymer that lined the small of her back; she had an objective, she was Har’cos, a MACO, god help them if they got in her way.

She helped the soldier up and back on to his knees. She turned and crouched behind the mound, ready to leap over. She looked to the other two who had entered similar postures. They looked at her with both determined and terrified looks on their faces, and seemed to become even more terrified when they saw Kelly’s emotionally blank expression. She tensed her arm and gripped her rifle tightly.

Just as she pushed off the ground she heard the roar of an impulse engine in atmo. She winced as she thought the Valkyries had attempted to make the run, regardless of the risk. She turned and looked up to see a Klingon Bird of Prey decloak just above her head.

“Danger close!” Kelly yelled as she took cover.

The other Marines did the same. Debris struck the ground and flew over her head. Now, she thought to herself. The shock and awe effect from that- ally?- would only be temporary. She dragged the nearest MACO to his feet and nearly threw him out of the fox hole. The other got to his feet and exited under his own strength. Kelly made a mental note to tone it back a bit, but they had to move. About 100 metres on, she could just make out a green fire, and indication that the spare ordinance for one of the turrets was on fire. She placed her hand to her ear and opened a com line.

“Athena to all flights; the window is open. NOE until you reach the screen. Avoid pinging additional AA.” She said in a breathless voice.

She placed her hand back on the grip of her rifle and began sprinting. Green bolts came from the trench once more. Kelly signalled to her escorts to find cover. Her shield flared as one of the bolts struck her in the head. Her heart seemed to stop as it did. Her helmet was still broken, she had no idea if the shield was still working. She continued on making a mental note; probably a high kill setting, about half left. As she saw a large rock in the distance. When she was close she fell back wards and slid along the tundra until her boot touched the rock. She bent her knee and the other foot hit the rock, then her hand propped her up and she came into a crouching position. She noted a slight pain in her shoulder as her arm struck the rock. She looked for the other two marines who came sliding in behind her, though they had to pick themselves up. She motioned for a grenade. The marine reached into his kit and pulled out a flash bang and a plasma grenade. Kelly looked back to see what was taking him so long, and merely pulled both out from his hands. She then made motions with her hands. “wait for my signal” “Flank right” “Run for enemy line”. They nodded.

Kelly turned back to the edge of the rock that was slowly being chipped away. Kelly placed the plasma grenade into one of her free satchels and pressed the button on the flash bang, priming it. She appeared at the edge of the rock face and threw the flash bang into the trench. The sound, somewhat muted by the storm, she trusted, had incapacitated the enemy. She motioned with her hand to begin. The marines complied and Kelly followed. They sprinted once more against the soft tundra. As they got closer Kelly slung her rifle back over her shoulder and pulled the plasma grenade out from her satchel. She primed it and threw it into the trench. The teal fire peaked over the mound that had formed from the digging. She indicated to hide behind the mound until the flame died.

A disruptor bolt struck one of the marines huddling behind her. She couldn’t make the attacker out. She dropped down onto her stomach and allowed the offended soldier to take the shot. The flame died and they rolled into the trench.

“ETA 1 minute ma’am” A pilot said over her com.

She pushed herself to her feet, her hand fell through the rib cage of a severely charred Reman and she stumbled slightly. This flavour of self wrought carnage always bothered Kelly, she was silently grateful that the air filter in her helmet still worked. They pressed on, by her mental countdown, 50 seconds until they could be evaced.

She wondered if Minerva strike had gotten out, but pushed it to the back of her mind. “Speculation leads to hope, hope leads to disappointment” years of Har’cos training taught her; “Make your expectations from facts and go from there”. And the facts were Minerva was pinned down with overwhelming opposing force and they had abruptly lost contact.

Kelly pulled out her side arm and combat knife. They continued down the maze of trenches at a hurried but cautious pace, Kelly took point. The ice in the freshly dug trench had melted and became a thick brown slush, the earth beneath; that slippery.

The first wave of Valkyries flew over head. She heard the pilots confirm the release of ordinance over the com channel and the detonations on the battle fortress to the side of her. The monstrosity’s components screamed as the metal bucked under its weight and it came crashing down.

Kelly prayed that the fortress was felled once and for all but that thought was cut short. A reman jumped down from above. She saw it in his face, he was not expecting such a find, he was merely taking cover from the avalanche that passed over head, but that no less stopped him from capitalising on his fortune. Kelly was struck to the ground with the weight of the “Fraking Goblin”, she found herself indulging in a instant of political incorrectness, and only the arm she had raised stopped the blade the Reman had pulled from striking her. They tussled as the wave of snow fell on them. Kelly managed to focus on the task at hand and kneed him in the abdomen a few times. She knew that her marines daren’t fire while they were still under the snow. She fired a few bolts from her side arm, one of them grazed the back of his head and he flinched in pain. She threw her leg over his and rolled over so she was on top and placed her knees on his legs, pinning him down. With effort she lifted her head back and pierced the snow. With her identified the other marines locked onto the heat source below the snow and fired. In an instant the hands grappling hers went limp. She clumsily pushed herself to her feet.

10 seconds, they saw the red glow from the bussard collectors of the Argo that brought them. It was still too hot for them to land. She felt her stomach drop slightly, the felling increased as the ship neared. She knew what would happen next. She placed her knife and side arm away.

“Combat Lift! Get ready!” She yelled to the other two and held her arm out as far as she could across the trench.

She felt a line hit her arm and she closed it. Though there was little friction in the space between her elbow, the effect of the extended inertial dampener made it so it was still enough to lift her up. With her other arm she clipped it onto her combat webbing. She looked back to see if the others had been attached, with a silent sigh of relief she noted that they had.

They flew behind the Argo by a neotritium tether, slowly being winched in.

***

Her team rallied on the runway of the space port. She stood in front of the body of one Private Wilks, she had found out his name from one of the medics that had attended to him. She looked upon him showing no emotion. She had lost people before, even MACOs, and each time she felt torn between what seemed human and what was natural to her. But now was not the time for mourning, for any of them. They were lucky to have only lost one she thought optimistically, but it nothing but remind her that the chance was none of them were coming back. Kelly placed her hand on his head and uttered a Thosian prayer.

“Onlyalcek Monvat Salue Kol Vavonyek; May the goddess deem that you died in faithful service.” ‘Cause I’ll be having words with her if she doesn’t Kelly thought solemnly.

The Blizzard had died down and the scene had become deceptively calmer. She brushed the snow that had settled on her red hair away; Anderson had her helmet and was attempting to fix it. She heard hurried footsteps against crunching snow behind her. She turned to see a MACO she didn’t recognise as one of her own; He had the Antiva crest on his uniform instead of the 81st. She turned back to the body and pulled the cover over his head before turning back to the messenger.

“Private... Sirkin” she said breathlessly. She had dropped her hands to her knees and panted heavily.

“Take your time private” Kelly said placing a sympathetic hand on her back.

“No... Time.” Sirkin said pulling herself upright as she caught her breath “You need to get over to the CP ASAP.”

“Would a hard link suffice? I’m still waiting on a group.” Kelly said. she began to wonder about that Klingon ship that decloked above her head; would make sense if that was Mavendorf, well about as much sense as a Klingon pulling a “Harri and the Felucia” she thought in reference to the Thosian Ship Master that always appeared in a knick of time to save the imperilled ground forces.

“I think so ma’am.”

“Ok,” She cupped her hands over her mouth “Red eye!” she had only heard the call sign in passing, and that he was a combat engineer “Head off with Private Sirkin to a communications node and get me a hard link to the Command Post”

The marine gave a curt salute as he ran over. The Private turned and jogged over to intercept them.

It was disconcerting somewhat, that she hadn’t leant all their names and yet she was most likely ordering them to die. She turned and sat on a stack of medical crates that had been unloaded. Her marines were off to the side, checking their equipment, joking and carrying on. She smiled softly before she turned back to the body.

I will get you home, she thought, I will do better.