The Fight Is On

[Alpha, we have three bogies heading your way.]

Floten activated the two missile launcher systems and using a remote Padd locked in on the first two shuttles. As soon as they were in range, he fired off four missiles, retargeting the third shuttle.

High above them, the first shuttle disintegrated into a thousand pieces as the missiles hit. The second shuttle reacted to the explosion and manoeuvred away. Only one of the two remaining missiles hit its target, the second exploding as the third shuttle fired at it. The second shuttle, heavily damaged veered away from the shuttle pad as the third continued on course. Floten fired the last two missiles at the third shuttle, which managed to destroy the first. The second however hit the port nacelle, sending the third shuttle into a spin.

"Floten to all teams." Floten announced. "One bogie destroyed, two damaged. It looks like they're trying to land on the far side of the forest. Beta, Charlie and Echo teams, proceed to intercept, we'll back you up."

[Beta confirmed.]

[Charlie confirmed.]

[Echo confirmed.]

USS Hellcat

The Hellcat was in orbit above Mirisam V, cloaked and waiting for the Jem'Hadar to arrive. They were expecting a fight, but the two phaser arrays were currently on the opposite side of the planet. One thing for the Jem'Hadar, they knew when to strike. The Hellcat had established a link with the arrays and they were slowly moving around to defend the colony.

"Jem'Hadar vessel has just entered orbit." Ensign Vasquez announced. "They're launching three shuttles."

"Open a channel to the away teams." Chu ordered.

"Channel open." Vasquez replied.

"Alpha, we have three bogies heading your way." Chu announced. "Vasquez, how long until the phaser arrays are in range of the Jem'Hadar vessel ?"

"Thirty seconds." Vasquez reported.

"Fire when ready." Chu ordered. "Prepare to decloak on my mark."

"Sensors have just picked up a large explosion in the upper atmosphere, looks like one of the shuttles has been destroyed." Vasquez announced. "The second appears to be damaged, but still in the air. The third is still on target. Phaser arrays will be in range in ten seconds.

"Prepare to fire on the target." Chu ordered.

As the two phaser arrays came from behind the shadow of the planet, Vasquez fired their weapons at the Jem'Hadar target. The viewscreen showed the phasers hitting the Jem'Hadar vessel, some of the blasts hitting the hull. The Jem'Hadar had not been ready for an orbital attack and not detected the slow orbit of the platforms. They had been caught with their shields down and knew it. Now that they had raised their shields, the phaser arrays were not making any significant impact, but the damage had been done and the Jem'Hadar vessel was not making much of a dent in the phaser array platforms.

"Should we decloak ?" Vasquez enquired.

"Status of the shuttles ?" Chu asked.

"The two shuttles both appear to be damaged and are attempting a crash landing." Vasquez announced. "They're heading for the far side of the forest, away from the colony."

"Look." Shale exclaimed, looking out of the window. "They're leaving."

Shale's statement was true, the Jem'Hadar vessel was indeed breaking orbit and heading not into the atmosphere, but back out into space and away from the phaser arrays. Which although the Jem'Hadar vessel was moving out of range, were still firing away.

"Set a course and follow them." Chu ordered. "But keep a safe distance, we don't want to give ourselves away. Open a channel to the away team."

"Channel open." Vasquez announced.

"Hellcat to away teams." Chu announced. "The target is moving away from the system and we're going to follow, you're on your own. We're sending down the co-ordinates of the probable landing sites for bogies two and three."

Mirisam V

[Hellcat to away team.] The voice of Commander Barker announced. [The target is moving away from the system and we're going to follow, you're on your own. We're sending down the co-ordinates of the probable landing sites for bogies two and three.]

"Great." Logan said to himself. "Let's keep moving forward."

He and Rahel were leading Echo team that was made up of the two Starfleet officers and six of the colonists. They were already in the forest and had noticed the two damaged shuttles and estimated that they would land on the southern side of the forest.

"Follow me." One of the colonists announced. "I know the path through the trees."

The rest followed and soon the squad was deep within the forest. From the air, the forest looked rather small, but infact it was nearly three miles wide. The trees were growing close together, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage to the group. The trees would deflect any sensor readings, but also made their progress through the trees very hard. It took them over an hour to reach the far side.

"I'm picking up the other two squads." Rahel announced, looking down at her tricorder. "Beta is about three miles to the east and Charlie is about a mile and a half to the west. I'm not however picking up any other lifesigns, nor the crash-sites."

[Alpha to Echo.] Floten's voice announced. [We have you at five miles west of our position.]

Rahel nodded that she had indeed picked up the third Marine squad, appearing out of the forest.

"Confirmed." Logan announced.

[Lieutenant, we have picked up one of the crashed shuttles close to our position.] Floten announced. [It appears to have crashed into the sea. No sign of the other shuttle…….]

Suddenly the Marine commander was cut off.

"Phaser fire." Rahel announced, pointing her tricorder in the general direction of Alpha squad.

"Move, but keep close to the tree." Logan announced. "Echo to Beta and Charlie. We believe bogies have attacked Alpha. Beta, you are closest to them, investigate. Charlie, follow us to Alpha. Keep close to the forest and watch you six. Maintain radio silence unless absolutely necessary."

[Beta.] A voice announced.

[Charlie.] A second voice announced.