Johnny saw the dust cloud rising on the dirt path, about 500 meters ahead of them. If the Horde's mounted, we're screwed, he thought, then suddenly hoped that his particular choice of profanity did not get transmitted to his glap'ta!
Most of the Marines had eyesight roughly equivalent to humans, so there wasn't another member of the platoon he could ask to more closely ascertain the situation. Johnny noted with satisfaction as the Starfleet personnel formed up in defensive lines behind his cavalry. Already the archers were finding their range.
"First and second squads, reverse echelon at my point!" Johnny commanded. "First squad to my left, second squad to my right!" The squads immediately formed up, with Barek to Johnny's left and Zog to Johnny's right. "At the double time, advance!"
The glap'ta lurched forward in their peculiar loping gait. The Horde had closed to 200 meters. Johnny could see through the dust about 10 mounted Horde riders followed by forty Horde foot soldiers.
"Lancers, deploy your weapons!" Johnny had ordered his men to abandon the bronze Borial weaponry in favor of the steel weapons employed by the Horde. As a result, he had six lancers near the center of his formation, which now resembled a huge "V" straddling the road.
Six lances came down parallel to the ground as the Horde closed to within 50 meters.
Now or never. Changing Woman, watch over us all! "CHARGE!!!"
Garek and Neklus' archers performed perfectly, sending a flight of arrows into the advancing Horde ranks just before the charge reached the enemy. Arrows ripped into six of the Horde cavalry riders as the first lancers made contact. The foot troops were advancing in the wake of Johnny's cavalry, but their survival was intimately dependent upon how many of the Horde riders the Marines could dismount or kill.
Zog, his diminutive size making inappropriate the use of a hand weapon on any sort of mount, drove his lance deep into the lead Horde rider who, from what Johnny could ascertain from the markings on his armor, was probably the commander. Last time he'll make that mistake: going in with the troops is one thing; making a spectacle of yourself is another entirely! Johnny thought. I'll have to find out from him whether there's a Ferengi Rule of Acquisition which covers wearing a flashy suit in the bad part of town!
Johnny's reverie was cut short as another Horde lancer made it through to the center of the formation. Johnny drew his sword (the same sword a Horde rider attempted to use on him earlier that morning) and brought it down on the lance, smashing it as he directed his glap'ta, ~Bear right!~
The mount dutifully obeyed, then circled around as the Horde rider attempted to swing at Johnny with what was left of his mount. Though no champion fencer, Johnny parried the blow and punched the Horde rider in the face. The rider fell out of his saddle. These boys sure do have glass jaws, Johnny thought.
A loud cry of "Hakka pullalla!" sounded as another of Johnny's Marines sent a Horde rider to its equivalent of ghostland. That would be PFC Salonnen, he thought as he glanced over at the burly Finn putting paid to yet another Horde rider with an axe taken from his most recent victim. If I ever get more than two squads again, he's my next squad leader!
Off to Johnny's left, Barek Nim, the brevet Bajoran sergeant, was swinging another captured Horde sword as if it were a machete, parrying blows from one rider, then another; the man was poetry in motion!
Johnny rode deep into the enemy formation, waving for Garek and Neklus's infantry to follow him in. Eight of the ten Horde riders were dead or wounded; the Marines had lost only one rider. PFC Horenn had been another of the Bajoran resistance fighters in the unit. The irony of a woman who had spent most of her adult life standing toe to toe with Cardassians and teaching them a thing or two about knocking heads in getting her own head knocked in by a Horde mace would have been an interesting philosophical discussion, Johnny thought as he advanced on a grouping of infantry. Too bad it's beyond the realm of the abstract now. Prophets, whoever you are, take her home!!!
Johnny's sword scythed down right and left at Horde infantry attempting to bring him down with their double-ended idej weapons, driving them back but not really harming them. Zog rode by and speared two of them in rapid succession with his lance but had to withdraw as his own mount was wounded. Then, the unthinkable happened: an idej found its way into the heart of Johnny's glap'ta!
This is the second mount I've lost today! Johnny thought to himself as he rolled away from the beast to avoid being pinned by its bulk. A Horde footman tried to gut-stab him as he was down but Johnny brought his sword up just in time to skewer the enemy in the rib cage. The footman fell, taking Johnny's sword with him. The sword was firmly wedged in the footman's rib cage, Johnny discovered as he attempted to retrieve it: it would not budge.
Weaponless in a set-piece not being an ideal situation, Johnny looked around desperately for something he could use. Stumbling back to his dead mount (did I land wrong? he thought), he found the old bat'leth still strapped to its saddle. What the hell? It's better than nothing!
Taking the bat'leth in the traditional Klingon battle stance, Johnny soon discovered why it was such a preferred weapon. Its curves and edges, corroded though they were by the ravages of the elements, the weapon came to life in his hands as he parried and countered the assorted swords, idej, and maces being swung at him. One Horde footman went down, then another, then another...
...then Johnny went down after seeing a bright light flash in front of his eyes.
Johnny woke up immediately thinking he was in ghostland. Hovering over him was a beautiful vision of a woman, unlike any he had ever seen before. The Holy People were visiting him.
"C-c-changing Woman?" he asked, referring to the most powerful and benevolent of the Navajo spirits.
The figure above him laughed softly. "I suppose you could say that, Johnny, but I don't think I'm the Changing Woman you're looking for."
Johnny's vision cleared up. He recognized the woman kneeling over him as the ship's Tanzaran Chief Science Officer, Jenara Tomme. Changing Woman, indeed! Now there's a way to win points! he groaned as he returned to his senses and recalled that Tanzarans had shapeshifting ability.
"How did we do? Were there many casualties?"
"We broke the enemy attack. The casualties were fairly low: only about 15 dead, another 20 wounded. Two of your people were lost, unfortunately."
Shit! That makes five in a day! "I knew about Private Horenn; who was the other?"
"It was the Ferengi. Zog, I think his name was. They say he died pulling you out of there after you took a mace to the back of your head. He dragged you to me with an idej through his kidney, then collapsed."
Looks like Salonnen's getting his squad after all, Johnny thought grimly. "I'd better see to my unit," Johnny said, attempting to get up.
"You'll stay right here, mister, until we can get that head wound attended to!" Jenara ordered, forcing Johnny back down. This woman has spirit! he thought groggily. Jenara continued her admonishment. "Your sergeant's got things well in hand and he'll report to you when he can. In the meantime, the captain wanted you to speak with me: something about the Horde's weapons technology?"