From: felldoh_at_voyager.net
Date: Tue Jul 29 2008 - 13:30:57 PDT
<style type="text/css"> -> </style> "Eon Blue” continued from “Rocky Terrain” Location: EON ALPHA Stardate: 2.80729.1410 Scene: Bridge Time index: Marathon +9:53 “Sir, the second marine team reports their array has been destroyed, but their situation is critical. They are requesting immediate evacuation.” Sanba announced from the operations station. “We have to destroy this last array. They'll have to hold out a little longer.” Ben hoped they could. Millions of lives depended on their mission succeeding, and he knew fifteen marines was more than an acceptable price to pay, but they were his marines. They had names and faces, and he didn't want to lose any of them. The PATRIOT glided around the array, pummeling it's shields with phasers and torpedoes. It was a matter of time before they came down, but how much time did they have? The Array's communications were temporarily disabled, but Ben had no doubt engineers of some unknown species were scrambling to bring them back online. If they succeeded, it would only take a few seconds for them to ruin the entire operation. The PATRIOT's own shields had taken quite a beating. The ablative armor would keep them safe even after they went down, but the other two ships didn't have that luxury. “EON GAMMA has lost shields, they're pulling away from the battle.” Ben's instinct was to put himself between the injured ally and pursuing enemies, but that would mean stopping the assault on the array. “Tell them to jump away, they can't do anymore good...” “They've been destroyed, Sir.” Vasquez voice was strangely quiet in the context of the battle. Ben took a deep breath and let it out. “Get those shields down, ensign. Give them everything we've got.” =/\= Location: Undisclosed Scene: Marathon High Command Time Index: Marathon +10:06 “Eon must have failed.” The first admiral said as they watched the counter tick past the deadline. “We should have been contacted by now. We'll have to call off the main assault.” “Let's not jump the gun.” argued another. “We won't get another shot at this, and the Dominion fleet isn't responding as if they've detected our plan. We may not be out of luck yet.” “Eon group was ordered to maintain radio silence until the mission was accomplished except to signal failure.” added the only Vulcan in the room. “There are several scenario's in which the mission is not lost, but they would still have sent no message.” “For all we know, They could have succeeded already, but lost long range communications.” “Or they could have been destroyed.” The senior admiral leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “We have to give them more time. As long as Marathon still has a chance we can't call it off.” “People are dying, Admiral.” The first man spoke again. “The first wave was only supposed to last ten minutes, and they may not be able to hold much longer.” “Then pray we get word from Eon soon.” =/\= Location: EON ALPHA Scene: Bridge Time Index: Marathon +10:12 “Sir, a Jem'Hadar attack ship just dropped out of warp.” Vasquez's voice started frantic but the switched to disbelief. “It's firing on the other dominion ships.” On the veiwscreen they all watched as the newcomer fired on one of its sisters which had been engaged with the remaining PHANTOM. The attack sheared off the port nacelle causing the injured ship to careen out of control into the array, dropping it's weakened shields. Moments later a single phaser blast from the PATRIOT lanced directly into the Array's core, finishing the job. “We're being hailed.” Sanba announced from ops. “On screen.” Ben replied and waited for the image he expected to appear. “Good timing, Colonel. What's your status?” “Fully Functional, if a bit undermanned.” Maverick replied. “How about you?” “We've lost our transwarp drive.” Ben replied. “I need you to pick up the other marines. They don't have time to wait for us to get there at regular warp. We'll rendezvous at GATEWAY.” “Acknowledged. Maverick out.” As the channel closed Ben was already issuing more orders. “Have EON BETA pick up the fighters before they head home, they haven't been issued any shuttlecraft yet, so their hold will have room.” He announced to Vasquez, and then turned to ops. “Lieutenant, I'm transmitting a set of coordinates to your console.” He began, typing into the panel on the arm of his chair. “Enter them into the long range communications system, and then send the message Eon Blue.” Last he turned to Tanith. “Helm, set a course for Federation space, maximum warp.” =/\= Location: CARRON VI Scene: Dominion Monitoring station Time Index: 10:22 The Dominion and the Federation, though antithetical in values, are in many ways more similar to each other than any other governments. Both are the dominant powers of their quadrant, with territories dwarfing their next largest rival, both leverage their significant political and diplomatic clout to maintain order within their sphere of influence, and both have thousands of member races working together towards mutual benefit. Many in the Federation try to forget this last point. While UFP membership is voluntary, the Dominion accrues new members as often through force as diplomacy. In the aftermath of the First Dominion War, it was easy to classify the defeated power as a brutal, totalitarian regime. The Federation had seen first hand the atrocities exhibited upon rebellious races by the Founders. The destruction of home worlds, genocides, and worse punishments that showed a horrible creativity were all directly witnessed by the Federation before the war began. During it they, along with the rest of the alpha quadrant saw the Dominions brutality first hand. Jem'Hadar soldiers who would die rather than fail, and Vorta who committed suicide to avoid capture were the least of it. The occupation of BETAZED, though short, left the population devastated, and the trauma experienced by the survivors was so severe the memories and scars are often still unwittingly projected upon those around them 50 years later. The Cardassians, who joined the Dominion, received perhaps the worst treatment. In the two hours between the rebellion of the Cardassian fleet, and the Dominon's surrender, they dedicated all occupying forces over to the destruction of key infrastructure, and the extermination of the populous. The once great Cardassian empire was reduced to a shadow. Without relief from the other alpha quadrant powers they would never have recovered. But the fact is that these are the exception, rather than the rule. The majority of Dominion races are pleased with their situation, and loyal to the Founders, though only the Jem'Hadar and Vorta are allowed to see them. Federation forces were reminded of this fact in the first wave of the new war when they sent relief forces down to the first few “liberated” worlds. They came expecting celebrations and gratitude from a people finally free of oppression, but were instead met by hostile militias intent on repelling the Federation invaders. The Carroni were “conquered” by the Dominion over 200 years ago. At that time they controlled no more than their own system, and were so wrought with infighting that the could barely support their own population. Malnourishment and starvation were so common that few Carroni lived more than thirty years. The average age was made even lower thanks to near constant military conflict between the various factions. When the Vorta came and offered them the benefits of Dominion membership, many accepted gratefully. The Jem'Hadar destroyed those who did not, and with unanimous consent the remaining leaders voted to join the Dominion. The harsh consequences for causing disorder within the empire quickly put an end to infighting, and massive freighters carrying more food than the entire system could produce in a year began arriving every month. Expert technicians from dozens of worlds arrived to streamline their infrastructure, and doctors came wielding medical technology that seemed like magic. Today the leaders that rebelled against the Dominion are remembered as selfish warlords who cared nothing for the people they ruled. The Carroni are a people renowned for scientific discovery, and play a key role in the development of the Dominions superior shield technology. The average life expectancy has just risen above 100 for the first time. That is why when Mirista, the on duty Key Communications & Sensor Information Monitor at the monitoring station orbiting CARRON VI, saw fifty Starfleet ships warp in the the system, minutes after the bulk of their defense force had left to give aid to the ships fighting in the ROGAL system, she began to cry. =/\= Location: Second Ground Array Scene: Rocky outcropping Time Index: Marathon +10:22 Despite her best efforts, the Dominion troops had managed to pin what remained of her team down. They were in good cover, but outnumbered and surrounded, they could barely return fire without fatally exposing themselves. The Jem'Hadar were advancing slowly, and soon it would come down to a hand-to-hand fight they had no hope of surviving. Catherine looked around at her team. There were five marines in good fighting condition, and three or four more who wouldn't go down easy. She set down her rifle an pulled out the long knife they'd been issued for just this reason. “When they come.” She addressed the group. “Try to make a circle around the wounded. If we can keep our back together their numbers will matter less.” They'd matter enough though, she knew. “We'll take as many of them as we can, but remember, whatever happens, we won today. We accomplished our mission. In a few minutes Starfleet is going to deal a crippling blow to the Dominion fleet, they may have started already. That's something we can die proud of.” The others nodded, pulled out their own knives, and prepared for the worse, but before the Dominion charge came, a voice crackled through their comm unit. [[Away Team, prepare for extraction.]] Catherine was shocked. “Maverick?” Seconds later the Jem'hadar charged into the outcropping and found nothing. =/\= Location: VICTOR URILLA system Scene: Drydock Facilities Time index: Marathon +10:24 When the Victor Urilla Drydock was the closest repair facility to the front lines, and one of the largest in Dominion space. In addition to its standard garrison (slightly diminished by sending reinforcements to the NEUROPO system) it housed approximately 200 ships in various states of repair, and perhaps thirty more in salvage condition. At least there were before Starfleet attacked. The Garrison fought tooth and nail, but they were woefully over matched. There were no reinforcements within range of local communications, and the long range arrays didn't seem to be responding. The battle lasted minutes. =/\= Location: HADRIN IV Scene: Cloning facility Time Index: Marathon +10:25 The final target of marathon was a Jem'Hadar breeding facility. At peak efficiency it produced 40 squads a week, and at any given time housed enough Vorta to command three times that number, and an appropriately massive stockpile of Ketracel White. It had no garrison of ships. The Founders considered its orbital defense grid to be sufficient defense to hold the world until reinforcements could arrive to drive off any remaining attackers, but they have never anticipated a situation where those reinforcements could not come. =/\= Location: USS PATRIOT Scene: Bridge Time Index: Marathon +1:42.37 “Sir, we have officially crossed into Federation space.” Corwin announced from the helm. With those words there was an audible release of tension. Ben leaned back and took a deep breath before tapping his commbadge. “All hands, this is the Captain speaking. We've just completed what may have been the most dangerous and important mission of the war. You all have something to be proud of. When I end this message we'll be returning our transponder to USS PATRIOT, and our communications blackout will be over. I encourage you to contact your loved ones. Good job everyone.” As Ben closed the channel he heard the beginnings of a cathartic applause throughout the ship, and smiled. “Helm, set course for GATEWAY, warp 2.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NRPG: Well that's all for Marathon, sorry it took me so long to get this out. I've been having computer trouble, in addition to being sick over the weekend. We're going to have a week or two of shoreleave on GATEWAY, and then I'll start the next mission when I get my main computer working again. I'm not 100% sure what GATEWAY is up to right now, but we have permission to dock there, and last I heard the crew was onboard. We're not doing any formal joint endeavors, but if you'd like to do a cross over post, just make sure it gets posted to both archives. Erik Walz Captain Benjamin Kenta Commanding officer USS PATRIOT From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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