On Endeavour's bridge, Captain Mackenzie gave a grim smile as he watched the enemy ships begin to react, imagining the panic on board as the complacent crews realised that they were under attack. It was a nice image if not a wholly accurate one; sadly, Jem'Hadar were not prone to panic and whatever was going through their minds, they were already organising themselves and getting their ships under way. Snapping orders, he sent Endeavour after the Klingon ship, firing a barrage of photon torpedoes at the large Jem'Hadar ship which was now moving to threaten the Hegh'Ta. Even as he gave the order, he saw Hegh'Ta diving into the upper atmosphere, its disruptor canons firing volley after volley at the weapons facility, then as it shot past, turning and coming back for a second run. Multiple explosions bloomed like scarlet flowers on the planet's surface and Hegh'Ta rocked with the intensity of the shockwaves.
Endeavour followed suit, firing a volley of photon torpedoes at the weapons facility before veering off towards their secondary target. Mackenzie had serious doubts about the next part of the mission, aware that he was very likely sending his marines to their deaths. Not that staying aboard ship was any safer with half the Dominion fleet after them, he thought wryly. But there was no time for second guessing, all they could do now was move forward and do their duty as best they could.
A Dominion ship, reacting a little more quickly than its compatriots, was approaching them from starboard. It opened fire but Ch'Pesh was already swerving to avoid the torpedoes, and in a spectacular display of piloting, he turned Endeavour straight at the enemy cruiser and dropped her down to skim just a few metres underneath it, so close that Mackenzie thought their shields would brush those of the other ship. At the same time, Ibn Ahmed returned the attack with a barrage of phaser fire, all of which found its target, "Allahu Akbar!"
Mackenzie had limited knowledge of Arabic, but he knew that phrase. The rest of Ibn Ahmed's imprecations as he turned the ship's weapons on another target were lost in translation, although he thought he caught something about camels and dubious parentage. Despite the seriousness of their situation, he couldn't help grinning. Arabic was such a poetic and descriptive language for insults.
Ch'Pesh already had them back on track to their destination and it was time to beam down their marines. "Cover us, Hegh'Ta," Mackenzie yelled, "We are going in. Transporter room, stand by…"
"Changing course now." Kargan's voice was clear over the comm channel. "Hegh'Ta has your six." Mackenzie was not the only member of the crew to wonder momentarily just where the Klingon had picked up that Americanism.
The bird-of-prey banked, coming hard round to its left and putting itself between Endeavour and the pursuing enemy cruiser, its disruptor canons spitting green death.
"Kehlan, on my mark, lower the shields…. Mark!"
The half Klingon first officer had been waiting for the command and she obeyed instantly, "Shields down, Captain. Hurry up, we haven't got much time."
"Transporter room, NOW!"
Almost before the fog of the transporter beam had released him, Major Speares was already stepping forward, phaser rifle at the ready as he looked around him, assessing his surroundings.
He was, he discovered, in a loading area, maybe thirty metres on his left, a large, partly raised roller door leading to what appeared to be a warehouse. It didn't look much different to manufacturing sites on Earth and he supposed there were only so many ways a factory could be organised.
His fellow marines were materialising and just as he had, were checking their surroundings and spreading out to secure the immediate area. No instructions were needed, they were well trained and knew what to do. Another handful of marines, some of his best snipers, would be taking up positions on the rooftops of nearby buildings, he knew. He didn't bother looking for them, they would have concealed themselves too well to be visible.
Overhead were the flashing lights and sounds of aerial fighting and taking a very brief moment to glance up, he winced at the sight of Hegh'Ta swooping down for another strafing run on the weapons facility, the bird-of-prey flying far too low for his liking, a Dominion fighter close on its tail.
A pair of Jem'Hadar guards standing one on either side of the roller doors were already reacting to their presence, raising their weapons with shouts of alarm and Speares opened fire. One guard fell immediately, his weapon clattering to the floor. The second guard managed to get off a shot before phaser fire from Van Zyl took him down as well.
A few hand signals placed a marine on each side of the roller door – Van Zyl and Murray. The two men were very different, Van Zyl being a large and very noisy Afrikaner, whereas Murray in contrast was a small, wiry Glaswegian. To listen to the pair bickering in the mess room, anyone would think they were mortal enemies but in reality the two worked well together and made a good team.
Satisfied with the situation so far, Speares approached the warehouse entrance, positioning himself to one side of it before ducking under the roller door, phaser rifle at the ready. His marines followed, keeping the combat engineers in the middle of the group where they could be protected. They were essential to the operation and their safety was paramount. A couple more Jem'Hadar were running towards them, obviously reacting to the shouts from the two they had just killed and a moment later, they too lay dead.
For the anxious officers on Endeavour's bridge, the transport procedures appeared to take far too long but in actual fact, it went smoothly and efficiently and it was actually only a very short time until they heard Argyle's broad Scots brogue informing them that transport was complete. "All done, Captain, ye can raise the shields again."
It was with some relief that the captain gave the order to do just that and immediately the order was carried out, he sent Endeavour on a showy strafing run designed to draw the Dominion attention away from the bird-of-prey so that Hegh'Ta could send down its own marines who were waiting impatiently to go into battle.
A nearby cruiser took the offered bait and with a quick order to Ch'Pesh at the helm, Captain Mackenzie sent Endeavour into a zigzagging flight pattern to avoid the enemy fire, at the same time careful to keep the Nebula class ship between the enemy and the temporarily defenceless Klingon ship.
The interior of the warehouse was very much as Speares expected, a central corridor dividing it in two along its length, with rows and rows of racking on either side and at the far end, another roller door. The marine's commander swore at the sight – pallet after pallet of boxes, all containing ketracel white. There had to be tonnes of the stuff and it all had to be destroyed.
A faint crackling from the transmitter in his left ear was followed by Koreq's voice, informing him that the Klingon marines were all in position at Site Four and were already moving to secure their positions. That was good news. Keying open the mike, he responded briefly, "Acknowledged," adding in badly accented but understandable Klingon, "batlh peSuvchu' - Fight Well."
Lieutenant Davis was already pushing his way to the front of the group, ready to get to work and Speares stepped aside to let the engineer through. His job now was to keep the area secure so the engineering team could work.
Under Davis' competent supervision, the marines carrying the explosives started laying the first of their charges. They had been into battle far too many times since the beginning of the Dominion War and were experienced at this. It did not take them long to get the explosives in place and they were almost finished with the job when the large roll-up door at the far end of the warehouse let out a loud creak as it began to open. The teams immediately scattered, concealing themselves amongst the rows of racking, weapons at the ready to kill anyone who approached them.
Two figures appeared in the doorway, approaching their position, pulling a heavily loaded pallet on an antigrav trolley. Wearing dirty grey overalls, the two workers were obviously not Jem'Hadar, but it was only as they got closer that, to the shock of the watchful marines, it became obvious that they were Terran.
Biting back an imprecation, Speares gave a few quick hand signals to his team to cover him before leaving his hiding place and stepping out in front of them, his weapon raised and ready to fire. "Stop right where you are and don't make a sound," Speares warned.
Instantly the two men halted, letting go of the equipment they had been handling and holding up their hands as a mix of fear and hope dawned on their faces. "You're Starfleet?" one of them asked, too shocked to register the command to stay silent. "Are you here to rescue us?"
Unable to get out of the way of the attacking cruiser without leaving Hegh'Ta dangerously exposed, the Nebula class starship was rocked by a series of explosions, causing Mackenzie to stagger as the bridge shook violently. He swore virulently, utilising a variety of Klingon curses he had learned from the other captain, before yelling "Hurry up, Krang. We are taking heavy fire."
"qatlho' Endeavour, transport complete." With the all clear given, the Klingon captain raised Hegh'Ta's shields again and sent Hegh'Ta back into attack mode, soaring upwards and into a dizzying series of manoeuvres as it wove in and out of the attacking enemy vessels.
Regaining his balance, Mackenzie glanced at the view screen and froze. Hegh'Ta had turned and flying at almost suicidal speed, was coming straight towards them, its disruptor cannons still firing. As the Klingon ship veered off at the last second, the torpedoes shot straight past Endeavour, barely missing it and tore into a Jem'Hadar vessel that had come up behind them, causing it to explode.
"I thought you'd changed sides for a moment there, Krang," Captain Mackenzie called to his fellow captain on the other ship. "Don't scare me like that!"
He heard laughter over the comm link. The Klingons were, he thought, enjoying this far too much. "On behalf of my crew, I'm insulted!" Krang's voice came back to them. "If you'd been the target we wouldn't have missed."
Mackenzie could not argue with that; Hegh'Ta's young gunner had proved his brilliance many times over although Poseidon's first officer, currently serving in that role on Endeavour's bridge, was currently giving him a run for his money.
Swerving to aim at their second target, Endeavour shook violently for the second time in as many minutes as it was hit by several enemy weapons. "Shields down to sixty percent," Elana Kal yelled from her position at the security console. "Rerouting auxiliary systems to bring them back up to full strength."
Captain Mackenzie grabbed hold of the back of his chair for support as the bridge shook again, but somehow managed to keep his balance. He would be better off in his chair, he knew, but the idea of sitting down in a battle was just… wrong… He needed to be on his feet.
Damage reports were coming in from all over the ship and he knew without asking that his engineers were frantically working to not only hold the ship together but also to provide power for the shields and weapons.
Endeavour turned again, firing at an enemy ship that was attacking Hegh'Ta and scoring a glancing blow. Looking again at his tactical screen Captain Mackenzie suddenly saw an opportunity and pointed it out to the Klingon captain. Together the two ships dived dangerously low into the atmosphere, and on Krang's mark, they fired simultaneously at the weak spot the Federation captain had identified, Jem'Hadar ships streaking after them. Immediately after firing both ships turned and shot upwards and away from the devastation. But even as they gained height, Krang saw an enemy move in under the Endeavour and sent the Hegh'Ta swooping to intercept.
On the bridge of the Endeavour, Captain Mackenzie watched the weapons facility explode, a huge fireball shooting into space, taking out four of the Jem'Hadar cruisers. It was with shock that he saw the Klingon ship caught in the blast as it tried to protect his own ship.
A massive hole in one wing, the Hegh'Ta spun out of control and went tumbling through the upper atmosphere, its remaining cannon still firing crazily at the enemy. And there were still plenty of ships to fire at. Six had been destroyed now but that still left six relatively undamaged and fully alert Jem'Hadar ships to contend with. His own ship had sustained damage and Hegh'Ta was in serious trouble.
"Are you okay over there?" Captain Mackenzie called.
"We've got a coolant leak in engineering," Krang answered, "And no shields worth mentioning, but we're fine. We've done what we came to do, now retrieve your marines and get your ship out of here before it's too late."
"And leave you here?" Captain Mackenzie gave a very Klingon growl, showing his contempt for that idea, "Don't be a complete idiot!" Seeing two more enemy ships heading towards the bird-of-prey, he gave orders to divert more power to the weapons system and began to fire again. It was with great satisfaction that he saw the shots find their target, and as he watched, Hegh'Ta began to regain control of its helm, straightening up and beginning to gather speed as it headed towards the nearest enemy vessel. Suddenly he realised what the Klingon was planning as he listened to the orders being given on the Klingon bridge.
"Prepare to ram the enemy!" he heard Krang shout. "Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam!"
"It is a good day to die," Captain Mackenzie echoed. He'd guessed from the beginning that this would be a suicide mission; now it was confirmed. Running was not an option; Endeavour's engines were damaged and even with the engineers working flat out, it would be some time before they could go to warp – time they did not have.
Turning to his bridge crew for a moment, he said, "We are heavily outnumbered and cannot win this fight. But every Jem'Hadar ship we destroy today is one less to attack the Federation."
"Then we go down fighting!" Kehlan said.
Surveying his crew, the captain saw that she spoke for all of them. There was nothing but grim determination in their faces. "You are a good crew," he said resolutely, "the best any captain could ever hope to have. It has been an honour serving with you."