Richard and Jonathan came up with a battle plan that was outstanding. It was to take the captured gun powder and to attack the rear wall of Stonefist and the two towers on the edge of the rear wall. Then Jonathan came up with a plan to attack the front gate first as a diversion so the Horde wouldn't know which way the real attack was coming. The plan was to be executed at dark, and Richard had mixed feelings about his attack. He felt it would work but yet it would be costly. Richard gathered up his men: all nine Virgos and fifteen Borials. The Borials were to carry the gun powder, and the Richard's men were to place them and set them off. Richard saw his unit was formed up and ready to go and wanted to end this war. They found out like Richard that combat is not all it's cracked up to be.
Richard picked up his battle axe and turned to his unit and said, "Move out; keep your head out there. If you get separated, don't yell out and don't panic. I will find you. I have never left a soldier behind and don't aim to start now." Richard turned toward the city's dark outline and marched forward towards it. After walking for ten minutes they came within sight of their target. Richard made hand signals as where to put the kegs of gunpowder. After they were placed, Richard motioned for the group to fall back away from the wall and tower. Richard tied the fuses together and pulled out a smoldering piece of hemp and was almost ready to light the fuse. "Sir, Horde party coming at us 25 yards and closing."
Richard looked up to see the Horde in the towers aiming bows toward his unit. "Take this you filthy pigs." Richard lit the fuse and took off running like hell. The fuse would only give Richard 32 seconds before they exploded.
Then the high pitched sound of a arrow came close to Richard he then fell to the floor.
An arrow struck him in the side and was half way through him. Richard was in extreme pain but got up anyway and fell back down. The bombs exploded lighting up the night. Richard could hear the screams of the Horde caught in the blast.
Richard got to his knees and saw his unit was being cut up bad. "No, damn it!" He picked up his axe and swept three Horde and cut them in half. He quickly took two more.
A Horde quickly attacked Richard. Richard tried to block it but wasn't able to and his left hand was cut off. "AAAAAH!" Richard went crazy after he saw his hand was cut off. He drew his sword and killed many Horde. He saw his unit was wiped out, but he saw a female crewman still alive and moving. Richard moved quickly and picked her up with his right hand. He threw her over his shoulder and ran for camp.
Richard was in very intense pain. The arrow was still in his side and blood was running down his leg both back and front. He could feel the pain in his hand with every heartbeat. Richard staggered like a drunk man trying to find base camp before he passed out from loss of blood.
The female crewmate was wounded in the side by a dagger and was bleeding down Richard's neck to his chest. Richard fell to one knee and tried to lay the girl down without throwing her to the ground. He stopped to tend to his wound and hers for he feared he and the female would bleed to death.
Richard looked to see his wrist was still bleeding. He tried hard to focus to keep him from passing out. "I need to stop my bleeding on my wrist first," he said out loud to himself. He undid the sword sheath and used his dagger in one hand and held the belt of the sheath in his teeth while he cut.
He cut the sheath belt to fit over his wrist. He then tore a piece of cloth off from his kilt-type uniform and placed it over the wound. Richard then held the piece of cloth over the wound and pulled the belt tight with his teeth.
Richard yelled out in pain as the belt and cloth tightened on his exposed wound. Now Richard tore off a big part of his kilt. Now he would tend to the female. Richard left the arrow wound in his side alone because he felt that the arrow was stopping the majority of the blood from coming out.
Richard kneeled over her and stuck the cloth into the knife wound. He then grabbed her by the shirt and stood up and threw her over his shoulder and started off once more. He walked more slowly this time for he was feeling weaker by the moment. Finally, after a slow pace for 20 minutes, Richard stopped and dropped the girl. He fell to his left side.
The thought of dying came into his mind but didn't exactly make him happy. Richard looked up and saw that day light was near and that by now his party was reported missing.
Then he shut his eyes and said to himself, "Just a few minutes."
He opened his eyes to see bright light all around him, and he wasn't in pain anymore. He looked at himself and saw his left hand was there, and he was wearing the Starfleet gold uniform. He stood up and looked around and only saw bright light around him, then the light flickered and he was in Noran.
He saw a man in his mid 40's in a command style uniform with the rank of Commodore. It was Commodore Benjamin Sisko.
"Commodore Sisko, is that you?"
"Yes. I am here to help guide you back to the path of light."
"What are you talking about. Where am I?"
"The Prophets have given me the task to watch out for you and your faith in mankind. They believe you, a Human, was the reason the Defiant was able to get through the lines to retake Bajor and DS9 and let me ask for help to save the Alpha Quadrant."
Richard was confused and didn't understand any of this.
"You are to insure that a threat bigger then the Dominion never reaches the Alpha Quadrant. You and your new commanding officer must work together. The path the Prophets have laid out for the USS Virgo is one of many trials."
The city gave way to lava tubes and the light blue sky and the rising suns and a female checking out his wounds.
It must have been a dream.
"You're very lucky, Mr. Wallace, that we found you and your fellow unit member when we did. A few more hours with that arrow in your side you would be dead."
Richard was being carried into a tent when he saw Jonathan. "Richard, where is the rest of your unit?"
"I am sorry, sir. All but one is dead."
Jonathan got a long face and shook his head in disbelief. "If it's anything to you the attack was perfect, Richard. Now you get better."