The Target

Posted on Sun Apr 3rd, 2016 @ 3:05am by Captain Melody Windsor & Master Sergeant Daniel Browden & Lance Corporal Tyler Howard & Captain Julius Whitlam & Commander Elliot Drake & Staff Sergeant Sandrine White & Staff Sergeant Augustus Deakin & Corporal Valerie Parks & Ensign Gavin Alken

Mission: First Strike
Location: Planetside
Timeline: [[BACK POST]]

Danny watched his red-headed protege as long as he could see her before she finally disappeared into the terrain around them, then he brought his attention back to running. He always worried about her when she went into battle, because war was hell. But never because she was anything less than a stand out officer. He was damn proud of her, and would be to the day he died.

"Gunning!" He called, falling in with the Security chief, "You just stick close to me and keep your eyes open. You're my second in command on this time, you see something that needs to change, you call it out. I won't second guess you. You aren't sure, you ask me. Fair?" He asked.

"Seems legit to me." Alec replied, continuing to move, checking his feet every so often in case he was about to hit the deck. He was pretty glad that Browden had been assigned to him, meaning that he didn't have to lead the team himself. It was one thing to lead a security team, quite another to lead an extraction team into a war zone.

Lance Corporal David Riggs fell in beside them. His long range, high powered rifle was held at ready, its scope ready to see everything within ten miles, "Sir, I'd like to break off and head up to that tree over there. I think I can get up in it and provide recon," He offered. "And we've got bogies coming in," He said, showing Danny his tricorder's read out.

"Do it," Danny replied with a nod, readying his fire-arm. Riggs bolted toward the tree as Danny called over his shoulder, "Bogies coming in hot, dead ahead. Get ready, boys, shit's about to get real!"

"Take up cover!" Gunning shouted back, more to his own team than the marines. "Prepare to provide suppressing fire." He checked his own rifle as he dropped down behind a particularly sturdy looking rock just as the first vibrant blue pulse cracked through a tree just behind him. He shouted the words that would spark a volley of vicious retaliatory fire. "Contact!"

Danny rolled in close to Gunning as the took cover behind a downed tree, cursing under his breath, "I have a feeling Mel and company are heading to the wrong target," He said, returning fire as lulls in the barrage allowed it.

"Certainly seems that way! Wasn't this place supposed to be lightly guarded?!" Gunning shouted back over a sudden hail of fire which splintered the trees around them, sending dagger-like shards flying. "We need to make sure we get inside, get the others to lay down suppressing fire, we have to make a move for the target."

"Agreed," Danny replied. He tapped the secured comm in his ear, "Melody, we've got the hot target over here," He said, urgently.

"I figured, we just got here and there's barely a skeleton crew. I'm setting up an air strike, and we're regrouping to flank your position. You guys focus on punching in and make this happen," She ordered, her tone calm and confident as always.

"Yes ma'am," Danny replied, tapping the comm shut and nodding to Gunning.

Gunning charged forward, motioning to Alken and Danny to follow on. He was committed now - if he was going to get a disruptor bolt to the face he was damn sure going to do it achieving his objective rather than being killed hiding in a hole. He saw his targets for the first time, a squad of Jem'Hadar soldiers, their grey scales jutting out at unnatural angles from their faces. They weren't terrifying because of how they looked - although that helped - but he knew that every time he killed one, their masters would just make another, and another, and another.

He fell to one knee and fired a couple of rounds, keeping them suppressed long enough for Browden and Alken to get up beside him. The others were still where he had left them, laying down a thick carpet of covering fire. "Okay, we've got to make our move and break through behind them. Hopefully we'll be able to catch them on the hop."

"Just keep everything tight," Danny replied. "I'm going to break away and hard to the north east. I'll rendezvous with Melody's team over there and help lead them in. You lead the marines straight down this woodland till you're at the edge of the court yard up there," Danny explained, returning fire as necessary while he spoke. "Break to the west and when you get the signal from me, push them in, Melody will be right behind with her team. We should be able to get a concentration of fire on the building itself and corner our target."

"You got it." Gunning replied, unwilling to argue with Browden's confidence in his plan. "Come on you lot, let's get going." He said before offering the Sergeant a nod. Just a little one, just something to say good luck.

Danny bolted, rushing to where Melody would be breaking the woodline, keeping an eye out for any approaching Jem'hadar. He knew there wouldn't be much time and if they caught wind of Melody's approach, it would be dangerous for her team.

He finally spotted her and raised a hand so she could spot him. At the last second, he spotted the Jem'hadar soldier closing in behind. He growled, stood and fired, feeling satisfied for a moment as the soldier fell, but only for a moment.

His vision dimmed for a moment as a blistering pain seared his mid-section. He spun, and raised his weapon, blasting the Jem'hadar behind him into oblivion but even as the Jem'hadar fell, his view of battlefield was replaced with sky. He could taste blood in his mouth, and feel his organs seizing inside him as they tried to compensate for the sudden damage. Somewhere nearby, he heard a scream.

"Danny!" Melody shrieked, sending out a furious roar of well placed barks from her sniper rifle. She dropped to her knees at Danny's side, feeling Witzowski drop in behind her to cover her.

"No. NO! Danny! Do you hear me?!" She barked, grabbing him by his uniform and jerking it a bit to get his attention.

"I swear to god, if you get boys killed today because I've me, I'll haunt you and ensure you get cold coffee and cheap beer for the rest of your damn life," Danny growled back, sounding much, much weaker than he wanted to. His vision was blurry... he knew he wasn't going to survive this.

"I'll be fine, Melody. You know that," He lied.

"I'm getting you back to the shuttle," Melody hissed.

"NO!" Danny barked, pain causing him to shudder, "You're going to finish the damn mission, and get your boys back out of here. Grab me on the way out. I'll lay here and and work on my tan," He said, giving her a warm smile, normally pearly white, now blood stained.

"There's no time, I've got to get you back to medical before--"

Danny interrupted her, placing a bloody hand on her cheek, "Darlin', there's no time anyway... you can't get me to medical fast enough... I wouldn't even survive a transport," He said, weakly. "Go do me proud. That's the best you can do now," He said. "Do. Me. Proud."

"I love you," She said, angry tears welling her eyes.

"I love you too, sweetheart. I'll tell your dad hello, okay?" He said sweetly.

Melody's lips quivered at that, "You hug him for me," She said.

"Promise," Danny replied, a tear rolling down the side of his face. "Promise."

Melody stood abruptly and fired off several shots, dropping Jem'hadar with each one, "DELTA COMPANY! GIVE 'EM HELL!" She screamed, and the hills lit up with phaser fire.

Beyond the treeline Gunning could hear the phaser fire coming from Delta Company making their way into the compound. He dropped to one knee and motioned to his group to stop as he had run almost full pelt into a concrete wall. This had to be the building on the schematics - a quick check of the tricorder - it was. Now all they had to do was get inside. He could hardly think straight from the blood pumping his ears, he had caught his leg on a branch on the run and could feel the heat of his blood gently trickling down his leg.

Melody's voice crackled over the secure com, "Master Sergent Browden is down. I'm taking full command. The enemy is flanked, breach the building, find out target, and get us off of this rock. Parks, if you see the spoon headed some of a bitch, blow a hole in him." She said. Her voice was strained, but still powerful, an edge of anger breaking any hint of hurt.

"Captain... I'm sorry about--" A young voice came over the line, but was cut off.

"SHUT UP, BREACH AND KILL, SOLDIER!" Melody barked back sharply.

"MA'AM YES MA'AM!" The soldier replied.

Sandrine made her way to the Master Sergeant as the soldiers around her fired at the enemy. Leaning down beside him with on knee, she motioned a nearby Marine to offer her cover. "Barely in and you're already playing hero Sergeant?" Looking over at the wound, the corpsman didn't need her tricorder to know he wouldn't survive this injury. Had they been closer to surgical equipment...

Looking in his eyes, she saw the life slowly draining out of them. He was almost gone. How many time had she seen this before? Looking up at their leader screaming like there was no tomorrow, the staff sergeant sighed. "I'll keep on a eye on her."

"Gunning! You good?" Melody asked over the com.

"Still here!" Gunning replied, firing back blindly.

Deakin had found some cover about ten metres short of the targeted entrance to the bunker. It was tightly defended and they'd have to scramble over a growing pile of Cardassian casualties - not something he was keen on - but it was clear that Delta Company and the security guys in support had the upper hand. He turned back to give his assessment to the lieutenant, but he wasn't with him anymore. He looked back and caught sight of the young Bolian, his blue head face down in the gravel. Dammit, he thought. He must have copped it as they scrambled for this cover.

There'd be time for mourning later. “First platoon!” he bellowed through his comm, “This is Deakin. El-tee is down. Keep pushing. You heard the skipper, we’re breaching! On my six! Move, move, move!”

They moved. The marines and fleet security officers swarmed in, screaming a fearsome war cry that sent some of the Cardassian defenders reeling. The Federation troops fired as they ran, pushing through the entrance and into the building.

Before they knew it, they had entered the large main chamber, where the Cardassians had decided to stage their final stand. Only a few of them remained and they had set themselves up behind barricades of cargo containers, furniture and whatever else they could find. The troops were propped up on the barricade, rifles at the ready, but behind them, standing in full view of the attackers arrogantly daring them to take him down while he directed his troops, was Legate Olan Jerad.

The firefight was beyond fierce as Melody scanned the crowd for their target. There was no way in hell she was losing this bastard after losing Danny outside. Her eyes caught sight of a familiar profile and she stepped into the fray, bringing her gun to bear and his head into her cross hairs. With a satisfying splatter on the wall behind him, the Cardassian fell, earning her pleasing screams from those pressed around her.

She never saw the Cardassian bringing his gun to bear on her, his finger tightening on the trigger.

A phaser bolt whizzed past Melody's head, hitting the Cardasian before he could squeeze his trigger. From the other side of the room, a pleased Corporal Parks grinned at her handiwork. "Heads up, boss. You had a live one on you." Parks steadied herself as the building they were in rumbled. "I suggest we get out of here."

Melody whirled around just in time to see the other Cardassian crumple to the ground. She turned back and offered Parks a grim nod, "Good shot, Parks. ... Delta! We made out mark! Move out!"