[Location: Norris VIII-A]
[Time: 1240 hours, Federation Standard Time]
It had been nearly an hour since the massive explosion had rocked the quiet mountain installation, leaving a gaping crater in the surface. During that time Third Platoon had been stationed inside and around the building that had supplied Second Platoon with an entrance to the underground facilities, doing their best to hold off the Romulan forces long enough for Captain Spiers and Second Platoon to pull out. Half an hour ago Third Squad had been sent into the lower levels to search for them, but there had yet to be any sign of them.
There was, however, a change in the Romulans' behavior. Without notice, and certainly without explanation, the sound of disruptor fire ceased. The Starfleet Marines sat huddled behind their cover for several moments, silently looking between each other for some clue as to what was happening beyond. No one wanted to move.
Finally, though, Second Lieutenant T'Shal took in a deep breath and peered around the corner of the wall debris she had been behind.
In the distance beyond, where several dozen Romulan soldiers had been huddled just moments before, there was now only empty space. There was no sign of the local defense group anywhere in the immediate vicinity. Pulling back behind her cover the Lieutenant looked upwards at the second story of the building, where Sergeant Kilmer was looking down at her. With a questioning glance, T'Shal motioned to the empty street behind her.
With a shake of his head, Kilmer pointed at something in the distance, away from their location. Looking in the direction of Kilmer's finger, T'Shal understood. The Romulan forces had pulled back to focus on the communications center. Fighting over the destroyed ruins of a power generation station was a moot point; however, retaking the communications center was a much more worthy cause.
Were she human, she probably would have wished for the opinions of her Platoon Sergeant, who she had sent into the levels with Third Squad to look for Spiers. Her Vulcan logic, however, told her exactly what to do: one more weakened platoon would make no difference in the defense of the communications center. It was obvious that Lieutenant Winters and First Platoon had achieved their primary goal. The only thing left for T'Shal to do was to take advantage of the respite and double the search and rescue efforts.
"First Squad, you're on me," she called out as she pushed herself to her feet. "Second Squad, hold this position…"
=/-\= Level 14-Sierra =/-\=
Staff Sergeant Vish Jalanak had joined the service against the will of his family. The Jalanak family had become one of the more prominent families on Krios Prime in the years since the First Dominion War, and he had been tapped to become the next patriarch of the family. Of course, Vish himself never had any such desire to join the world of politics and bureaucracy. So, instead his father had guaranteed him a spot in Starfleet Academy.
This had done nothing but infuriate Vish, as once again he had been handed something with no effort. Instead of boarding the shuttle and heading off to San Francisco, the day before he was to leave he signed the enlistment contracts for the Starfleet Marine Corps and left for Quantico instead.
And even now, as he worked his way though these burnt-out tunnels on a planet that even the Great Gods had forsaken, there was no place he would rather be.
"I've got one, Sergeant!" called out one of his marines from further down the corridor. A moment later another shout followed, " It's Private Bullock, sir! He's alive!"
In moments Jalanak had crossed the distance between them and fell to a knee, "Private?"
A moan was released on response, "Oh…lords…that was one helluva blast." Rolling over from his stomach onto his back, with the help of Jalanak and the man who found him, Jeremey Bullock coughed dust and dirt from his mouth. His face was covered in soot and ash.
"Are you alright, Private? Can you get up?" Vish asked, a hand moving to the Private's shoulder. Considering the circumstances, the man looked no worse for wear.
In between further coughs, Bullock nodded, "Yes, sir. I'm fine. Just got my ass kicked is all." A moment later Vish was on his feet, pulling the Private up from the ground.
"Where's the rest of your platoon?"
A look of regret washed across Bullock's face as he responded, "I was leading the escape, sir. The rest will be further back down the tunnel."
Looking down into the smoke-filled distance, sure enough the Sergeant could see the men and women of the squad already finding other members of Second Platoon. There were others, however, that were left lying on the ground. Hopefully a body recovery team would be able to return to Norris for the downed team members.
"Sir! Sir!" came yet another shout from the distance. Through the haze Jalanak was unable to see who it was coming from. "Sergeant! We've found Captain Spiers!"
Second Lieutenat T'Shal [NPC by DK]
Platoon Leader, Third Platoon, E "Easy" Company
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
Platoon Sergeant, Third Platoon, E "Easy" Company
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
