"Got them, Sir," Tonok replied obediently, handing a small hand device to the colonel.
A female's voice was on the other end, as usual. A more ominous rumbling sound was suddenly heard in the background. "This is the Warlord, go ahead, Colonel."
"I was just wondering how everything was going up there, Ma'am," Colonel said cynically. He was losing patience. They had held up their end of the bargain. It had been fifteen minutes. They held their ground. It was time to drop the inhibitors and beam everyone out. The lack of communication with the Warlord was a bit disturbing.
Commander Kirk's voice interrupted the Lieutenant's reply. "Colonel," he started quickly, "we're a little busy here." There was another rumble in the background.
"I know the feeling, Commander," Prichard said impatiently. "Our fifteen minutes is up, we've got uglies getting through the front defenses and another group burning their way through the ceiling above us. When can we expect a pickup?"
"It'll have to wait a few more minutes, Colonel," Kirk sounded completely exasperated. "There was a second fleet of Dominion ships lying in wait..."
Another voice in the background interrupted the commander, "Commander, secondary shields are down to forty percent!"
The female lieutenant's voice interrupted as well, "I'm getting damage reports all over the ship, Sir."
"We're doing the best we can, Colonel. Just hold on a few more minutes. This thing is going to be over soon, one way or another. Kirk out."
Prichard pursed his lips and blinked at the vulcan captain several times before handing the communicator back. "Well," he started slowly, "I had expected that conversation to go a little differently. We'll need to manufacture some defenses to this room." He stared at his tricorder as the ceiling above him began to spark. "My tricorder says there isn't anything below us. Are you reading that?" Tonok used the relay in front of him to confirm the colonel's assessment, then nodded his head. The third sublevel was the bottom of the building.
Prichard nodded. He yelled over the phaser and disruptor fire, "Picard, Callis, I need you here!" He motioned for the two admirals to join him as he motioned to his own senior officers. As they approached, he began. "Alright, everyone... looks like we're gonna have to dig in for a few more minutes. Get the phaser rifles and carve out some trenches in the floor near the perimeter of the room. I need 'em long enough for everyone to fit and deep enough to give us decent cover."
There was a disturbing announcement from the left hall. "Grenade!" A muffled explosion shook the left hallway, causing the room to shake, ceiling particles to fall, and the light to flash again.
"Great..." Prichard commented. "Okay, I need the trenches a at least a meter deep and it looks like we've only got two or three minutes before we're overrun. Let's move, people!"