Marine Deployment

Lieutenant Colonel Jon Phanan watched as the six Marines boarded the two Warthogs ready for their departure. He had assigned Marine Second Lieutenant Mike Gibs to one of the scout's and Private First Class Garet Jax to the other. Gibs was an old hand at all this, having been with the Colonel and the Leviathan for sometime, but Jax was much 'greener'. But he'd proved himself a good Marine on Mirisam V and Phanan needed most of his more experienced officers with him on the shuttles. Both drivers gave a 'thumbs up' as the bay was filled with the sounds of the Warthog's power cells and drive motors powering up. Jon tapped his comm badge and stood back.

"Phanan to Marine Command, Whiskey-Gamma and Delta are ready for transport." The Colonel announced.

Moments later, the first of the Warthogs disappeared as the cargo transporter the vehicle had been sitting on was activated. Almost as soon as the first Warthog was gone, the second moved forward to take it's place and in turn also disappeared. The Colonel looked around the now half empty bay at the three remaining Warthogs. He'd have liked to have sent at least another Warthog, but his Marines were stretched thin enough already.

[Marine Command to Colonel Phanan.] A voice announced over the comm link. [Transport complete. Sierra-Alpha and Beta have also been deployed safely.]

The Colonel acknowledged the signal that the Warthogs and the two Scorpion tanks had all been deployed successfully.

"Phanan to Marine Command." Jon announced. "I'm heading for the shuttle bay. Launch in eight minutes."

[Confirmed.] The voice in the Command centre announced.

Auxiliary Shuttlebay

Colonel Phanan arrived five minutes later in the Saucer sections shuttlebay. As he stepped through the doors, he saw the three Type-9 shuttles lined up ready to leave. Ahead of them was a single Type-16, with its side door still open. Phanan headed for the Type-16 and as soon as he stepped inside, the Marine who had been waiting by the door activated the hatch, which closed behind them.

Jon headed for the cockpit, passing the Marines who were packed in the shuttle like sardines. Phanan would have preferred to have used the Leviathan's runabout's and the Devastator for the mission, which were much larger. But they were still onboard the Engineering section of the vessel, so they had to make do with the smaller shuttles.

The plan was to allow the two Scorpion tanks to take out the heavy artillery around the base before the shuttles would swoop in and take the base. There were some twenty Marines packed into the shuttle Phanan had boarded. The other shuttles, being smaller each had around fifteen soldiers, made up of both Marines and some of the Jem'Hadar loyal to Goran'Agar. With the four pilots and the Colonel, that made a combined force of some eighty plus, Phanan just hoped it would be enough.

Goran'Agar had suggested that they use one of the Dominion transports to move more of the Jem'Hadar, but Phanan had dismissed the idea. The transports were too large a target and poorly defended. The shuttles were far more manoeuvrable and less detectable, especially if they flew at zero feet towards the base.

"Welcome onboard Colonel." The Ensign at the shuttle's helm said, as the Colonel sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

Behind them First Lieutenant Jack Truman was sat at the ops station, monitoring the situation and co-ordinating the attack with the Command centre onboard the Saucer section.

"Status report Lieutenant." Phanan requested.

"We are ready to leave when you are Colonel." Jack replied.

"Ensign, take us out." Phanan ordered.

The shuttle's engines came to life and rose off the hanger deck before heading out of the door and into the air outside the Saucer section. The three smaller shuttles followed one by one.

"Establishing uplink with satellite." Truman reported. "We have uplink, Sierra team is heading for Tango-One, ETA thirty minutes."

"Good." Phanan commented. "What about Whisky team ?"

"Whisky team are heading for Tango-Two." Jack stated. "Their ETA is about ten minutes."

"OK Ensign, take us to the deck and keep us about three kilometre's behind Sierra team." Phanan ordered. "Lieutenant, inform the rest of the Charlie team to follow us at minimum speed. Single file, keeping a close formation astern. If we can get this right, if and when we're detected, they'll be unsure of how many shuttles we have."

"Yes Sir." Jack Truman replied. "Charlie two, three and four all confirmed orders."

[Charlie one, this is Marine Command.] A voice announced over the comm. [We're transferring battlefield command to you now. We'll continue to monitor your situation and advise of any additional tango's.]

"Marine Command……" Truman replied. "……Charlie one assuming battlefield command."