Man Down

"One, three, everything clear ?" Gunnery Sergeant Rich Sharpe looked through his binoculars from the foxhole he had in the ground. His helmet was adorned with leaves, while he was covered in the leave mesh, perfect for the forest area that they were hiding in.

[Three, One. I don't see anything,] Major Jon Phanan replied. Jon was sitting up in a tree, taking a look around the area. A twenty four hour watch had been posted around the cave encampment until the Leviathan arrived to pull them out. Assuming that the Leviathan was still in one piece.

"Three, One, I have movement in the brush. Due north at about 200 yards."

Sharpe turned in his hole to face the direction. Sure, enough, there was some brush movement.

[Copy I got it,] Sharpe's voice came back in the headset.

Jon steadied himself on the branch, and raised his S-1 into position. Sharpe did the same from his foxhole. Then, it emerged. It was a creature native to the planet, similar to a wild boar on Earth. The two relaxed themselves.

[One, Three. All stressed out over a pig Major ?]

"Yeah yeah yeah." Jon replied. At that moment, an orange energy blast flew out of the surrounding brush, exploding in a nearby tree. "Holy Hell." Jon activated his comm unit again. "All Marines, we have tangos in the barnyard, repeat tangos in the barnyard."

Jon raised his rifle again and quickly scanned the surrounding area. The muffled blast of another S-1, that being Sharpe's was barely heard. There was then a thud from behind a nearby tree as a Barien fell to the ground.

[Tango down.] Sharpe's voice was transmitted.

[One, two.] The voice was of Second Lieutenant Erindor J'Lan. [I can see a total of twenty tangos heading in our direction from the east. They appear to have a type of heavy antipersonnel weapon.]

*Great, the party's just started.* Jon thought to himself, as he ran over options in his head.

"J'Lan, take Lieutenant;s Gleason and Truman ahead with five other Marines to knock out that weaponry."

[Understood, on our way.]

"Sharpe, get the heavy artillery set up in your hole. Grab two others to keep you company."

[Going now Major.] The artillery Jon was referring to was the mortar launcher and the antipersonnel canon they were able to take off of the Devastator before the Bariens arrived.

"Captain Goerl, separate your group into two squads and start fanning out."

There was a slight pause and she then responded. [Done. We're moving.]

"All Marines left, meet at the back door. We'll head out from there." There were scattered replies as Marines that were assigned to guard duty or were doing other tasks assembled.

"Major Phanan to Commander Soliel."

[Yes Major ?] Toran responded.

"Can you hold the fort while we're away ?"

[Starfleet is always the best at holding things down.] Jon could mentally image the XO smiling.

"Understood." Making his way out of his sniping position, Jon quickly sprinted, weapon in hand, to the rear entrance to the underground cave/barracks. Stopping behind some brush before the back door, Jon yelled out "FLASH!"

"THUNDER !" The word came back loud and clear. Jon emerged from the brush to find another seven Marines standing up from their laying prone positions, covered in jungle camouflage mesh. A Private handed Jon some mesh, and a Type III-A assault rifle. "All right, let's move out. Remember, no dumb risks and keep your eyes and ears open." With that, the group moved forward.

Second Lieutenant Jack Truman was crouched low. The enemy Barien was probably thirty metres ahead of him. There was a type of rapid fire cannon on an antigravity sled sitting next to him. Another three Bariens were standing with him. Without letting his eyes move away from the group, Jack, over his head gave the hand signals for four enemies, one emplacement. There was a reply in the form of a whistle similar to that of a bird. The Bariens dismissed the call as a type of fauna here on the planet.

Quickly and quietly, the seven other men moved forward to form a line across behind the brush. They all looked forward. Seeing as though the Bariens had no idea what was about to happen, it would make their next move considerably easier. J'Lan looked around and snapped his fingers three times. With that, there was a reign of orange compression phaser fire from their position. The orange discs of light flew forward through the air, coming into contact with the flesh of the Bariens. There were groans and screams from the group of four, until all was quiet. The group moved forward, cautiously, to examine their kill.

The four Bariens were dead. The most frequent cause was the phaser blasts passing through their skin, into their internal body cavities liquefying their internal organs. Except for one, whose head lay about one meter away from his body. His eyes and mouth were wide open, with a look of terror in his eyes. "Asses the damage of this weapon," J'Lan ordered, looking around. "I want a five meter perimeter, and I want to get this thing moving."

"On it," Lieutenant Gleason replied. He then began issuing some more orders as Lieutenant Truman began looking over the weapon.

"It's definitely Starfleet in design. Granted not Starfleet, but close to it. Looks like a combination of Starfleet \ Federation Marine Corps weaponry and a blending of Barien control panels and such. At any rate, it works though."

"TANGOS !" A Private yelled out. He raised his weapon and fired repeatedly. He was soon joined by a group of Marines who began firing as well. One of them was hit in the knee and fell to the ground screaming. Gleason, with the red cross painted on the front of his helmet ran forward swiftly, rushing to the aid of his fellow Marine. Jack turned the cannon with the help of Erindor and powered the weapon up.

"Hang on Johnson !" Robbie Gleason yelled out as he began to administer first aid and drugs to the injured soldier. I'll get it fixed up in a synch." Taking some tools from his med kit, he began working swiftly, trying to avoid enemy fire. "Done, let's go." Robbie helped the Private up on his feet, and helped him hobble away from the firing line, where the group was now laying prone, filling the air with phaser blasts. The two made their way to Erindor and Jack when suddenly a look of shock came on the face of Gleason. He then fell to the ground.

"ROBBIE !!!" Jack yelled out. He ran quickly over to his fallen friend as Erindor fired up the artillery cannon and began firing into the brush where the enemy was. There were cries of agony and pain as nearby plants began to ignite from the incendiary fire of the weapon. "Where are you hit buddy ?" Jack asked his shot friend.

"In the *cough* back." Robbie replied, his eyes glazed over. "It's pretty bad....."

"Come on, tell me how to fix you." Jack begged. "Come on Rob, tell me how. You can't just leave me here."

"Sorry......" Robbie's look then turned into a blank stare.

"DAMN !!!!!!" Jack yelled out, tears starting to form in his eyes. His long time friend had died. He had died bravely helping a fellow soldier and he was killed dishonourably by being shot in the back. Shot in the back by a coward of an enemy, that had the audacity to shoot an unarmed medic in the back. Jack solemnly reached into one of the inside pockets of Robbie's uniform and removed a small isolinear optical chip. He placed the chip in his pocket, and removed his friends' dog tags and unit insignia. He the lifted the body of his comrade up, and placed it on the hover sled. "Let's get back to base," he said quietly.

Erindor nodded. "Move out." The group of now seven moved forward.

*Damned Bariens...* Jon thought. He and his group had moved forward and encountered another group of the ever present annoyance. "Need a frag !"

"Fire in the hole !" Another soldier yelled out. Pulling the pin from his fragmentation grenade, he through the weapon over his head. Everyone turned their heads as the flash of light and explosive shrapnel flew in every direction out of the grenade. There were some screams and yells from the enemy group. The sounds quickly diminished and the group moved forward quickly with weapons drawn. They encountered little to no resistance. Within another ten minutes, the battle was over. Casualties were at a minimum, ranging from a dislocated wrist to a second degree burn from enemy phaser blasts. Then, there was the major casualty. The loss of Second Lieutenant Robbie Gleason.

Gleason was given a burial on a planet not his own. His Type III-A phaser rifle was stuck into the ground, with the butt sticking up in the air. On top of this was his medic's helmet. Also laid to the rest were the hopes, dreams and opportunities of an aspiring young officer. John had seen countless young men come and go, but something about this one gripped him. It wasn't combat that Rob sought, like so many of the other Marines he had been with. He joined to help others to reach a common good, something that had to be admired. Jack Truman delivered the eulogy to the small assembled group. From now on, everyone would have to rely on their basic medical training from now on.

As night came across the camp, Captain Goerl and two of her troops took up lookout positions. The only good thing that came out of Gleason's death was the heavy antipersonnel cannon that they picked up. This weapon was now in the foxhole concealed behind shrubbery, and covered with jungle mesh. Hopefully, the Leviathan would be back soon. The last thing he would need is another battle like this today.