"Colonel, we've only picked up four survivors from the Greystoke. It's not looking good out here," MacLeod reported. "And the Mullurans are getting antsy. I've got a cruiser shadowing me!"
[Let's pull out and wait for the rest of the task force. Go to these coordinates,] Boyle replied, sending a set of pre-arranged coordinates to the rest of the squadron.
"Wait -- I'm getting a transmission! It's on a Ferengi wavelength."
[Bravo Four to any Federation unit, please respond! In immediate need of evacuation! I repeat, Bravo Four to any Federation unit, please respond!]
[Don't go in, MacLeod -- it could be a trap!]
"There's people down on that planet! Survivors!"
[Wait for backup. That's an order!]
Ryan and every other pilot in the squadron swore under their breath. They knew Boyle was right, but that didn't mean they had to like it.
The ruse of setting up dead Ferengi sentries did no good. The super-soldiers found their way through the perimeter and emerged nearly in the center of the encampment.
Benson's rifle finally shattered to pieces as he butt-stroked one of the monsters. Fortunately the monster's jaw also shattered under the blow. Unfortunately that made little difference. Benson only barely managed to grab a Ferengi hand phaser and fire its entire power cell into the beast.
Beckham was doing much better with the heavy cannon. Three of the creatures lay at his feet as the slender young Marine braced himself against a tree and fired the gun at the oncoming shimmers of light. "Come on! Let's get some!" he yelled.
Vartan was becoming more and more unstable as the sensations of hate and fear began to overwhelm her mind. She was shooting at nearly everything that moved: attackers, small animals, Damon...
"Dammit! Watch where you're firing that thing!" Damon yelled as he tried to work the comm and get help.
[Bravo Four, this is Hammerhead Six. Please be advised that extraction is not possible at this time. Reinforcements are on the way in approximately four hours.]
"Four hours???? What the hell is this????" he yelled back at the comm as he fired a Ferengi phaser at an oncoming attacker.
"Be glad they're coming at all!" Benson yelled as he wrestled hand-to-hand with yet another of the monsters.
[It looks like four of our Marines are still alive on the planet and fighting it out,] Boyle reported to Tarik.
"We've just entered the Rostella system. I'll have a company as soon as we're in transporter range."
[Transporters aren't such a good idea, sir. The Mullurans are scrambling all signals in the vicinity of the planet Otherwise I would have had MacLeod beam them out.]
"Get MacLeod within transporter range of the Patton. I'll take care of that."
MacLeod was once more upset at having been yanked away from the fighting. "What the hell is going on?" he asked himself aloud as he pulled within transporter range of the Patton.
Something beamed into his cargo area. Ryan set the runabout on autopilot and headed back, with his hand on his personal phaser. A huge mechanical construction not unlike a suit of armor two and a half meters high greeted him. A heavy phaser cannon was mounted over its left arm; the right arm consisted of a large rotary Anti-Borg Cannon.
"Stand down, Lieutenant. All is well here," a voice -- a deep Russian-accented voice -- told him.
"Captain Vladimir Mikhailovich Degataryev at your service."
"Spacebo, tovarisch" Ryan replied almost automatically
"Your accent is quite good, but I'm afraid the title is, shall we say, nikulturny. Here's the plan."
The small party's luck had run out. With even the last of the Ferengi stores exhausted, they were entirely dependent upon Benson's hand-to-hand prowess and physical strength to counter the onslaught.
Well, Mom, I tried, Beckham thought. Vartan was nearly catatonic. Damon's legs were broken.
Then suddenly the comm came on. [Bravo Four, this is Samurai Six. Reply.] The voice was very thickly accented.
Beckham rushed to the comm. "This is Bravo Four! Over!"
[Overflight of your position in approximately six seconds!]
A loud shriek! sounded as a Federation runabout ripped above the treeline. Beckham barely glanced up long enough to see that the cargo door was open. Something large and mechanical jumped out from sixty meters in the air and landed softly just inside the perimeter. The large object -- it looked a lot like a hardsuit for EVA construction -- bellowed something in Russian.
The creatures turned and faced their new opponent. Beckham heard explosions behind him as the runabout fired its phasers into the treeline. The screeching of more of the creatures dying almost distracted him from what was taking place.
Three of the creatures ran at the mechanical being. It fired a phaser cannon from its right wrist, disintegrating one of them. A burst from a rotary cannon that seemed to be its entire left arm ripped the second into fleshy yellow shreds. The third tried to grapple with it, when it jumped straight up five meters and landed on top of the creature, planting a gigantic boot on its back. The mechanical being reached down with its hand and yanked the creature's head and spine out effortlessly, tossing it aside. It turned to the stunned Marines.
"What are you waiting for? Get into the runabout!"
Benson grabbed Vartan while Beckham dragged Damon up the runabout's rear loading ramp. Out of the corner of his eye, Beckham saw two Hornet fighters descend from the clouds and pepper the ground with phaser fire.
"Surfer, Fek'lhr—I'm reading eight more of those things at bearing 239, approximately fifty klicks from here!"
[Roger, we have the fire mission!] a pilot with a distinctly California twang replied over the runabout's comm. The two fighters roared off.
"That's our air cover! Whatever you're doing out there, hurry it up!" the pilot called to the armored man.
[I shall be ready momentarily, Ryan Stefanovich!] Another buzz-saw-like burst from the rotary cannon punctuated the armored man's remarks.
"Do you guys need any help back there?"
"Just get this ship off the ground ASAP!" Benson replied as he grabbed a medkit from the runabout's stores. "Hopefully you've got a fleet where this came from!"
"As much of one as we were sent, we've got!"
The armored man bounded into the runabout. "Close the door now!"
The door closed just as the runabout pulled out of the jungle. Beckham took a moment to look out the window to see a wide swath of destruction. The bodies of no less than twelve of the beasts lay in a burned out circle centered roughly where the armored man had landed.
"Who are you?" he asked the man in armor. The man removed his helmet to reveal a close-shaved blond head.
"I am Captain Vladimir Degataryev, First Armored Reconnaissance Battalion."
"Where do I sign up?" he asked. Vladimir smiled.
Ryan also smiled. He'd just drawn the most important mission of his life... and pulled it off without a hitch!
[This is Commodore Zalar of the Mulluran Imperial Fleet. Who dares to intervene in Mulluran space?]
"I am General Tarik, in command of Starfleet Task Force 34, in the Rostella system upon the invitation of the Ferengi government. The Rostella system is recognized as Ferengi space. What is your business here?"
[Our business here is to secure the borders of the Empire from interlopers!]
"Commodore, I will not mince words. You have five minutes to remove yourself and all of your ships from this system or we will have no choice but to evict you forcibly."
[Five ships against twenty! You boast stupidly, General!]
Tarik tapped a few controls at his station in the CIC. "I suggest you update your tactical screen, Commodore. It'll make it more sporting for us."
The commodore turned from the viewscreen. He looked panicked but no less determined when he turned back.
"Yes, those are K'tinga-class cruisers that just uncloaked out there. They may be old, but they're still better than what you've got."
[Crewed by G'kra rabble! You insult me!]
"To insult you would be to give you more attention than you're worth. End com!" The signal was cut.
"Captain Amanat, what's your status?"
[All hands are at battle stations. I've coordinated with Commandant Mer'an. We are ready to engage upon your order, sir.]
"Let's get into this fight!"
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