CHAPTER 5

"I shall have him! I'll chase him round the Moons of Nibia, and round the Antares Maelstrom, and round Perdition's flames before I give him up!" - Khan Noonian Singh – aboard USS Reliant (Human)

Sitting in the bridge of the Delos, Nolin turned to his battle manager and said "Bombard the station. Have the destroyers force down the shield facing them, then Turanti, Toulagai, Borlin, and Sheol will finish disabling the Azusa, Towson, and Zion. Make VERY sure that they know to fire to cripple, not destroy. I will personally skin the captain of any ship violating that order."

There was smoke, dust, and endless noise in the Sensory. The commander called to the Admiral, 'Sir! Zion reports heavy damage. They were unable to cause significant damage to the Turanti due to fighters, drones from the assault carriers, and harassing fire from several vessels." The station rocked again and rang like a bell hit by a giant's hammer, "They've broken through several shields and we're beginning to take serious damage. Power generation is down 50% and we've taken hits on both torpedo launchers. Three phaser-3's and one of the phaser cannon have been destroyed.

"The good news is that the Eleth and the Delos are both damaged and have stopped dead in space in order to reinforce shields. Both carriers are damaged slightly and have four collapsed shields each. The Dinen is still moving away, but the Dorsai is closing fast."

A young crewman spoke up "Zion is under heavy fire. Five incoming plasma torpedoes and four drones." As T'Skay turned to give an order, a breathless and bloody Marine sergeant ran into the room.

"Admiral, over fifty Dosadi Marines have boarded the station. Auxiliary Control was destroyed. We've repulsed raids on all six phaser cannon."

"Take me to General G'Relt." T'Skay followed the sergeant out the door. Seconds after they left, a hellbore torpedo struck the Sensory, knocking the both of them several yards down the hallway and leaving the corridor blocked with debris and beginning to vent atmosphere as alarms sounded.

Once they finally made it to the general's command post, it was evident that things were not going well. The general's side-arm showed signs of recent use. "T'Skay, things are not good." he reported. "We've got 600 civilians and close to a thousand wounded crewmen on board. We've only got about 250 Marines total and the Dosadi already have a toe-hold with the better part of a Platoon. We're trying to coordinate our transporter scramblers, but we've taken a lot of power and command and control hits. So far, the fighting's been concentrated in civilian areas – the Mall and the restaurant sector.

In fact, at that moment, in the Gorn version of a woman's lingerie' shop, several Dosadi Marines were having a bad time of it. They had materialized in the middle of the room and were set upon by a 350 lb behemoth flogging them with something like a purse while several Gorn troopers across the hallway kept them pinned down with occasional pot-shots when they could get a clear shot past the rather upset matron beating the Dosdai.

Other Marines, their beam-down points scattered by the Gorn's defensive electronic warfare had materialized in a men's bathroom, the kitchens and a video arcade. In scattered, extremely violent actions spanning 10 minutes, all 50 of this wave had been killed or captured. But they took a heavy toll of the defenders – casualties were heavy and the Gorn's were now also scattered throughout the station.

It was Sooth's turn to interrupt, "I still think about those people. I knew a lot of them really well."

Jons continued, "Admiral Nolin decided to get the Marines there with a bit more precision. All ships were ordered to launch shuttlecraft containing boarding parties.

A few minutes later, his battle manager shouted "The bloody Gorn are firing on the shuttlecraft!"

"What? What ships?"

"Azusa and the Towson – the bastards! Zion's pulling back. Blackfoot's repaired some of her power, but she's not firing."

"Dammit. I'd hoped crippling them that badly would force them to run. Order Borlin, Sheol, and Green Wing to destroy them." Seconds later, both the battlecruiser and the heavy destroyer exploded, but not before taking with them eight shuttlecraft and forty Marines.

In the ball room, the party came to an abrupt halt as a squad of ten Dosadi Marines materialized in the middle of the dance floor and engaged in a firefight with the twelve Gorn Marines stationed there. People began screaming and diving for cover. The heroic Sword Worlds Colonel," Jons winked at Heather and ruffled her fur again, "unarmed but taking on a young, armored Dosadi Marine anyway, took a plasma rifle butt to the face and went down hard. The six guarding Marshal Furball quickly hustled him out the door and down to T'Skay's command post.

"That was when your mother was so badly hurt, kits. And your father's post on the Delos was hit by the Zion at just about the same moment. But, back on the station,

"General G'Relt shouted over the noise of the railguns and plasma rifles "T'Skay! All of our other command posts have been overrun or destroyed. There's at least another company of Dosadi Marines aboard and we're down to a reinforced platoon. That last run by those Hornets shot up two more phaser cannon and five more phaser-3s. We're running out of options here."

As Furball was dragged in, T'Skay smiled to himself. He was going to have one last pleasure. "Hold him." then, while the remaining Marines in the battlestation fought it out, he began to beat the shit out of Marshal Furball. He'd really only gotten in a dozen good hits or so when G'Relt grabbed his arm "T'Skay, the Dosadi are now in control of this station – We need to..." He never finished the sentence; A Dosadi plasma rifle sliced him in two. Half a moment later, T'Skay's world went black as a Gauss gun grazed his skull. When he came to, hours later, the Dosadi fleet was gone, as was Furball.

Seeing a wounded Marine checking for survivors among the debris and the bodies he slurred, "Report."

The Marine looked up and finally recognizing the Admiral said "The fucking cats grabbed Furball and ran off. We've got no weapons, no sensors, no power, no nothing. We're screwed."

"Relax. There's no one left to fight. The disaster beacon should've activated when the Sensory was destroyed." Holding his bloody head in his hands, he wondered how he was going to get out of this one.

Admiral Nolin smiled as he walked away from the Brig. Evidently, T'Skay had had some fun with Furball before he was 'liberated.' he was still conscious, but only just. Oh well, he didn't need to look pretty for the Court Martial and the inevitable execution. Perhaps he'd send his skin to T'Skay as a gesture of respect. He might be a big lizard, but the man never gave up.

Sooth's son Corin asked, "Did he?"

Jons smiled, "You know, he really did. T'Skay still has it as a rather gruesome trophy."

Captain Stone shook her head, "Colonel, you have a talent for taking dry battle reports and turning them into a story. We need to hire you for Star Fleet Academy. And I still can't believe I'm sitting here with THE Marine from the ballroom fight. I've watched the sensor logs from that fight; I thought you died. And Colonel, you put up a hell of a scrap yourself."

Turning to Wilkes she said, "Wilksey, I told you the day we graduated that you're the luckiest man on Earth. AND that there was something out there for you." Leaning in, she said in an aside to Sooth, "Excuse me, please." and kissed him. "And I was right."

He laughed, "As usual. Thank you, Colonel, for telling all those stories. It's funny. When you're part of a battle, all you really see is your little piece of it. What I remember most from those fights, other than the dead, is how exhausting it was. Every few minutes the bird was back and we had to fix it and recharge it over and over again."

Jons said, "Indeed. Even the commanders rarely have a real understanding of all parts of the battle. It is not until years later that historians are able to really piece everything together."

The younger kits had fallen asleep, curled up in laps or next to adults, and the urge for conversations and stories had pretty much exhausted itself. People were beginning to find comfortable places to fall asleep. Wilkes held his hand out to the Colonel and said, "Colonel, you are without a doubt the most complex, confusing, and unusual person I have ever met. I think Angie was right. I am the luckiest man on Earth. Or Dosad." He put his arm around Sooth's waist and said, "I don't think I'd trade the life I've lived for anything, or anyone's."

Jons took his hand with a smile and shook it. "And who knows where our lives will lead us next, Wilkes? There's a lot of stories out there yet to be discovered."

Sooth laughed, "We'll turn you into a Dosadi yet, Colonel!"

Marin spoke up, "Well, perhaps not Seins, but we should have a discussion about our son Tir. He and young Ceena seem to truly enjoy each other's company whenever we visit. Would you two be willing to join us in talking with Corin and Eletha? You have experience in melding two different cultures and there would be many advantages to such a pairing."

Wilkes thought to himself that Corin hadn't run fast enough...