From: naomi_lara_at_optusnet.com.au
Date: Wed Jan 09 2008 - 14:45:22 PST
('binary' encoding is not supported, stored as-is) > naomi_lara_at_optusnet.com.au wrote: > > > "Idylls of the King." > Cont from Shawn's "Outnumbered" > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > For many a petty king ere Arthur came > Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war > Each upon other, wasted all the land; > And still from time to time the heathen host > Swarmed overseas, and harried what was left. > And so there grew great tracts of wilderness, > Wherein the beast was ever more and more, > But man was less and less, till Arthur came. > For first Aurelius lived and fought and died, > And after him King Uther fought and died, > But either failed to make the kingdom one. > And after these King Arthur for a space, > And through the puissance of his Table Round, > Drew all their petty princedoms under him. > > Their king and head, and made a realm, and reigned. > And thus the land of Cameliard was waste, > Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein, > And none or few to scare or chase the beast; > So that wild dog, and wolf and boar and bear > Came night and day, and rooted in the fields, > And wallowed in the gardens of the King. > And ever and anon the wolf would steal > The children and devour, but now and then, > Her own brood lost or dead, lent her fierce teat > To human sucklings; and the children, housed > In her foul den, there at their meat would growl, > And mock their foster mother on four feet, > Till, straightened, they grew up to wolf-like men, > Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran > Groaned for the Roman legions here again, > And Caesar’s eagle: then his brother king, > Urien, assailed him: last a heathen horde, > Reddening the sun with smoke and earth with blood, > And on the spike that split the mother’s heart > Spitting the child, brake on him, till, amazed, > He knew not whither he should turn for aid. > > But—for he heard of Arthur newly crowned, > Though not without an uproar made by those > Who cried, ‘He is not Uther’s son’—the King > Sent to him, saying, ‘Arise, and help us thou! > For here between the man and beast we die.’ > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Location: GATEWAY Station > Scene: Promenade, lower level > > And they were dying. One by one, they were being whittled away. A > rock, battered at by ferocious seas, pounded away into sand and washed > away. The snapping snarling wolves was the Dominion war machine, their > pray was GATEWAY, the supporting ships and all of those onboard. No > quarter was given, it was the way of things. > > Catherine ducked behind cover as she threw away the dead power source > and rammed another home into her phaser rifle. She was with a small > group of three of Maverick’s crack marines, their task was to take out > the boarding Jem’Hadar; quickly, efficiently, and without mercy. Under > Sterling’s directions they tracked down the boarding parties and tended > to favour the tactic of mowing them down under cross fire. > > It was working well until the last group of Jem’Hadar did a suicide run > at one of her teams, which resulted in the obliteration of both groups. > They had started out as a team of seven, now they were down to four. It > had been a heavy price to pay. > > Several shots smashed into the metal wall around them while the four > took a breather and prepared for their next assault. The Jem’Hadar made > them pay in blood for every team they dispatched. > > Catherine tapped the shoulder of the marine crouched in front of her as > he returned fire. Using short, sharp hand gestures, she signaled her > intentions. The marines all nodded and turned back to lay down a burst > of phaser fire to distract the Jem’Hadar. > > Sterling slipped away and ran down the corridor away from the fight at a > full run. A part of her reveled in this; the bloodshed, the fighting, > the excitement, there were three things about this that she despised. > Her husband was fighting also and his welfare was a source of concern > for her, her friends were similarly involved, and the fact that they > were losing did not please her. > > She was created for this, a creature of war, of blood and of violence; a > savage, untamed part of her crowed in delight. Sterling vaulted over > the stair rail and ran up to the second level of the Promenade and began > to double back. From above she silently ran over her marine team and > alongside the corridor towards the Jem’Hadar. > > Whilst moving, she slung her rifle onto her back. It was too big to use > in close quarters; and pulled out the small hand phaser instead. Her > other hand grabbed the pommel of the large knife sheathed on the back of > her belt. On the upper gantry she approached the Jem’Hadar group from > behind. They were clustered together in typical formation. From above, > Catherine fired into the crowd of invaders. The Jem’Hadar’s > concentration was broken and they glanced up, and they glanced up and it > was enough to give Catherine’s team the edge. The marines began to mow > down the superior force of Jem’Hadar. The soldiers reacted to the twin > threats and divided themselves to face them and the pendulum swung back > into their direction. > > Sterling dodged another phaser bolt and leapt over the rails, landing in > the middle of the Jem’Hadar, firing her weapon and slashing with the > knife in a whirlwind of glee, legs lashing out and knocking their > weapons off aim. The Jem’Hadar scattered backwards out of her reach to > retaliate and her marines, charging up the corridor with weapons > blazing, did the rest. > > “That was insane.” Corwin muttered under his breath as they stood over > the dead Jem’Hadar. > > “They’re dead aren’t they?” Catherine grinned happily as she holstered > knife and hand weapon before grabbing her phaser. “Come on, there’s a > lot more where they came from.” She glanced at the thick coating of > blood on her hands. Neck wounds were incredibly messy. The woman wiped > them clean on one of the Jem’Hadar’s tunics. Blood was also incredibly > sticky as it started to dry and would hinder her. > > “We need another tactic.” Corwin insisted. > > “I’m working on it.” Catherine nodded in agreement. It was luck that > they weren’t injured or killed in that stouche. Next time they wouldn’t > be quite so lucky. “Any stun grenades left?” She asked as they took of > at a slow run. It would only be a matter of time before they > encountered another patrol. One of the marines took point while another > covered their rear while Catherine and Corwin struggled to come up with > a solid battle tactic. > > “Nope, used them up earlier.” It was a grim reply. > > “Nothing left in the weapons lockers anyway.” Catherine sighed and > wiped the sweaty hair from her eyes. “I’m down to two power supplies.” > She swayed as GATEWAY itself rocked under their feet, and reached out to > stop Corwin falling down. > > “Most of us are on our last.” He got his balance again quickly. > > Catherine felt a slow burn over her hip and glanced down, she pulled at > the large rent in her uniform and cursed softly. She had a slash wound, > one of the Jem’Hadar had gotten lucky. As quickly as she observed it, > she dismissed it, it would stop bleeding and heal quickly on its own > time. > > “We need to get supplies.” Corwin continued. > > “It’s going to have to wait.” The marine on point yelled. “Take > cover!” This time the Jem’Hadar patrol found them. The station rocked > again, and the marines hit the dirt, unable to keep their footing. They > were on their stomachs and shooting at the Jem’Hadar as they desperately > sought cover. > > Catherine jerked back as Corwin’s head next to her was vaporized. She > rolled against the side of the corridor and under cover of a doorway got > to her feet. She glanced around at the scene and grimaced. They had > been flanked by the Jem’Hadar and were now pinned down on both sides. > > Sterling turned her head and looked at the remaining two marines, taking > shelter on the other side of the corridor and saw something that > bothered her. They fought back alright, but the expression in their > eyes. They had given up. > > > =/\= > Location: Space > Scene: Fighter > =/\= > > Tanith gritted her teeth as she executed an imbelman manoever and > swooped down from above on an unsuspecting battle cruiser. She threw > everything she had at the much larger space ship as she raced along its > shied perimeter. Most of the shots splashed away harmlessly, but given > the flickering shields of the damaged cruiser, some of them managed to > punch through and drew a little blood. > > She twisted the controls into a spiraling corkscrew to defeat the > battlecruisers targeting sensors. Her fighter was just a shade faster > then their computer targeting, but not by much. The woman turned her > head around and glared as she saw a Federation fighter explode to her > right. > > Hands fighting for control, she swung the fighter back around, darting > between phaser blasts, space ships, fighters and debris for another run > at the cruiser. > > Somewhere in the dark corner of her mind, she wondered about the > futility of it all. > > =/\= > Location: GATEWAY > Scene: Medical bay > =/\= > > The rules of war should be that people who were in medical care were to > be left alone. > > Pity the Dominion did not believe in those rules. Injured persons, as > well as medical staff were fair game in their book. Daniel gritted his > teeth as he held his position in the doorway to the GATEWAY’s medical > area. The Jem’Hadar had been throwing themselves at the medical bay, > and it was only by Daniel’s determination that he kept them off. > > Kate ran up behind him and lay a hand on his shoulder as he loosened > another barrage. “We’ve evaced everyone that we can.” The doctor told > Daniel, feeling his shoulders bunch with tension as he raised his rifle > again. The Jem’Hadar were persistent. > > Daniel nodded grimly. They had to leave the dead behind in their > strategic retreat. They didn’t want to, it went against their moral > code, but their hand had been forced in this. Ultimately, the dead > could wait – the living could not. And Daniel and his marines couldn’t > hold the medical bay indefinitely. They needed to withdraw to a > secondary area. > > Kate pulled back and ran from the room, she had patients to attend to > and she could hear Daniel right behind her, protecting her back. They > made it to the safety of the doorway before the Jem’Hadar spilled into > the medical bay like an evil tide. Clarkson spun and knelt down, laying > down suppression fire as Kate dove for the door control. > > Her hand smacked the control and she hit the ground as the blast doors > separated the two groups. Daniel quickly got onto his feet and helped > the doctor up. “That isn’t going to hold them for long.” > > Kate closed her eyes for a moment. “This is hopeless.” She had been > hoping and praying for the Federation to send a fleet through the > reopened wormhole. She had been hoping for the last couple of hours. > > But her hopes and prayers remained unanswered. > > “We’ve just got to hang on a little longer.” Daniel said softly. He > too, had given up praying for a miracle. Now, all he wanted to > concentrate was survival. > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > NRPG: It’s short, and I’ll try and get something out tomorrow. > > Naomi Lara > > Lt. J.G. Catherine Sterling-Jade > ILO > USS PATRIOT > > And > > Commodore Teneill Danara-Bennow > Deputy Chief > Starfleet Intelligence From HyperNews_at_youth.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Nov 19 2008 - 03:10:45 PST