Fan Fiction/Memorial Day Defensive 2013/Liberty Determined Marine Mission

Story Notes: Written by Members of the MFS Liberty and MFS Determined. Each crew working on their own parts and together to edit it into a coherent whole. We hope you enjoy!.

Operation: Whirlwind
Units involved: 97th Military Police Battalion- MFS Liberty. 21st Marine Recon Marine Detachment- MFS Liberty. Members of First Marine Division to include the unit on the MFS Determined.

On the MFS Liberty: Battle Prep

General Trentin Anara turned her XO, her lined face showing every one of her 42 years. She shouldn't technically even be in the field. As an experienced General Officer, there were other places for her, but they had enough Marine general staff coordinating this that she wasn't vital there, at least in her opinion. And the little ribbon on her dress uniform jacket that proclaimed she was a Maquis from way back, a Maquis who had fought when all still were against them. Not many argued with that. She respected the chain of command; she just didn't accept stupid. Not for the first time she missed her friend McBane. She could of bummed an unlit cigar from him. She moved the helmet of the combat armor to another arm as she shook his hand, “Try not to ding my ship too badly eh Commander?” she asked Lt. Commander Korel Tan. He was an experienced naval officer who knew spacial combat well but she had to rib him a little. "Not to worry," Lieutenant Commander Korel Tan replied, ignoring the jibe about dinging the ship. "I have no desire to take the Liberty into a head-on with any of those Breen battle tanks. I'm perfectly content letting the ground-pounders have their fun. The Liberty will just stick to providing fleet communications and fire support where needed."

They went over the plan as they neared their destination. The Liberty, as a small but quick craft, would act as support fire for the larger Maquis vessels. That was one reason why she was leading the 97th Marine Military Police Unit herself. The 97th OIC was an amazing pilot who could make a ship stop on a bar of latinum if she wanted too. She would make the Liberty dance, and the Liberty would need every step to stay ahead of the Breen. She was also forced to leave her Ops Chief on board. They had a good ops crew, but the Chief was a whiz with communications and would be helping members of the engineering team hack or interfere with Breen communications, even as engineering worked to keep the ship together. Everyone had a role to play, especially the 21st Marine Recon Detachment, a small but well trained group that some on board had taken to calling “The General's Swiss Army Knife”, not that she got the reference but there it was.

The 21st would scout out targets for the 97th to sweep in and deal with. The General nodded and the Recon leader, one 1Lt. De'zart, a tall Half Klingon Woman in her own armor, jogged to a console. She tapped keys, watching the screen intently, “Nearing target...LZ A overrun...LZ B...Overrun...LZ C...acceptable.”

“Go take a bath Lt...” The General said. De'zart's face lit up with a savage joy as she took in the meaning of "go bathe in the blood of your enemies," Trentin's way of saying she was clear to take her team and secure the LZ. This one was near but not too near one of the main settlements where they hoped to find survivors and maybe a few prisoners for the SSD to poke at.

The recon unit was off. There was still heavy phaser fire when De'Zart called up on the tactical comm unit, “Come on in the waters fine!"With a grin of her own she gestured to the main body of her troops and looked to her XO one more time, “Good Luck..” she told her old friend. Korel shook his head, smirking at Trentin. "You're the one that's going to need the luck, Boss. It's not going to be a picnic down there," he trailed off, watching as the General joined the troops going down to the planet. Trentin waved to him then she too was gone.

On Planet: Time is the fire in which we burn...

A couple of Marines who looked like technicians were frantically trying to set up a jamming device. It was a wide spread one. This meant the Breen wouldn't know what the 97th was trying to block or even where exactly they were. It wasn't foolproof against their technology, but worked well enough to muddy the waters. It helped other forces who were using them and that helped to confuse the issue even further.
Each group of 25 had one of these devices in case it was decided to split up to keep the Breen from being too accurate. While they worked, the 97th formed up and Section A went left to watch the flank, as B went right. The remaining two formed up in the middle. While all this was going on, the 21st Marine Recon Detachment wasn't idle; they moved swiftly to get eyes on the enemy. 1Lt. De'Zart looked through binoculars at the settlement as members of her team called in.
“Sniper One in position. Sniper Two in position. Cat Flap in position...and why do I have to be the back door, and isn't there a better name then Cat Flap?”. De'Zart gave a quiet bark of laughter, “No, it amuses me, so deal with it. Just keep them under observation.” The man muttered but obeyed and other segments called in. It looked like the settlement was under siege. The colonists had tried to put up a fight. There was significant damage to the buildings, and even a few dead Breen. Unfortunately, most of the bodies that littered the ground were what looked to be colonial militia; in essence, colonists who could shoot straight. “Honorless Pa'tak!” she cursed, thinking they'd killed everyone, until she saw one Breen in his armor pulling an older man to one of the center buildings.

On Planet: Out of the frying pan...

De'Zart quickly brought out her scanning device, but the Breen were blocking too. The best she could get was there were some non-Breen life forms in the center building, which looked to have been fortified as some kind of last stand, then refortified when it fell. It looked to be the only governmental building in the entire settlement. She was just going to report when the Breen started moving quickly, as one of her troopers would say “Like someone kicked over their ant hill.” Struck by a horrible thought she quickly contacted the main body,

“Sword Edge to Bear, come in..”

Trentin stopped giving orders and paused, “Bear online.” She replied into her tactical ear piece.

De'Zart continued, “Something's got them moving and we think there are prisoners in the central building. Maybe about 75 Breen...”

Trentin cursed. Breen were not well known for kind treatment of prisoners, especially prisoners they weren't sure they could keep. She understood immediately the problem behind the call. “Sword Edge: Orders. Chaos. Sniper officers, blow up empty buildings to fall on them. I don't care, just avoid damage to the central building We are on our way.” With a muttered curse, she cut the connection after De'Zart's reply. She turned to the 2 officers and Master Sgt. who commanded the other three sections. She took one as her own. “New plan. Prisoners under fire in central building. They know something's up. Section A, go around left, Section B go right, Section C, around back. D with me; we'll be going to knock on the front door...”

Personnel scattered except for the two Marines whose job it was per their Sgt. to “Prevent that crazy General of ours from getting her lunatic self shot.” They shared a look; this did not bode well. Marine troopers moved with a speed borne of long hours training as they nearly flew to their positions. Section C ran off to the side. This maneuver was something some personnel had called, “closing the noose." They were spread a little thin for it, but there was no help for it. They had to make sure their jamming devices overlapped so no word could get out and so no one could escape. Older by many of her marines by at least a decade. the General, whose uniform proclaimed her a Major (Hey she's not stupid...just crazy), was keeping up well.

By now, most of the Breen De'zart had spotted had taken up positions in various buildings and behind barricades. “I hate this...” She muttered. With so many places to hide an enemy, they'd have to assume every inch wanted to kill them. She was just glad her recon had managed to confirm the only non-Breen were in one building and was keeping eyes on it in case they decided to move them. At this point, they'd reached what little cover there was and began receiving fire. Infantry protected the artillery personnel as they struggled to set up their heavier weapons under poor cover. Problem was, it was the best they could get on this fairly open field. Artillery set up in a nearby farmer's field where there were tall crops to help shield them as they worked. As Trentin fired her phaser rifle from behind a rock, she watched twin air disruptions barrel into the building where they seemed to getting some heavy fire. Marines fell wounded as they were hit and cried for a medic or their mothers, Trentin closed her ears to it. There was nothing she could do but make sure it was worth it. As soon as the artillery stopped, she yelled, “Move!” then went over tac net as others acting as artillery personnel stopped their shelling as well. The 97th didn't have all of the toys others did as an MP unit but Trentin managed to get them a decent amount.

They ran forward into the chaos. Members of the 21st Recon had managed to sneak in among the buildings and set a few explosive charges, adding to the noise and confusion. Unfortunately, the Breen were well-trained and vicious fighters. The noose of the 97th closed in, but not fast enough. They were being delayed, and Trentin didn't like what that could mean for the hostages.

“Bear to Sword Edge, come in.”

“Sword Edge online.”

“Pull your team, leave the snipers, but I need the central building secure. We'll buy you whatever distraction we can.” She said grimly as she spun to dodge an incoming Breen shot, then dropped to one knee behind an overturned metal crate and machine gunned them until they stopped moving. She and the team she was with tossed grenades into the nest where some Breen were still firing and on it went. The sounds of battle were everywhere: phaser fire, explosions, the sounds of the injured and dying.

On Planet: Housekeeping.

These sounds De'Zart and her team ignored as they moved quietly. The Breen were mostly focused on the bright and shiny noose around their neck, so they were able to get fairly close to the building before they were spotted. “Oooh an officer..” De'Zart nearly crowed as she pulled her sniper rifle off her back and took aim, she ignored her team going for positions as they returned fire. For the Officer, known to be such because of his gold lining on his armor and helmet, had ordered a nest of them to open fire. “There's a secondary entrance.” She said calmly as her shot pierced the soft armor in his neck. “Covering fire. Lets go..” A few machine gunned and tossed grenades as the others took off around to where experience taught her would be the back door for delivery and such. True enough, it was guarded and there was another fire-fight, but they managed to gain entry. One of her team quickly moved to a broken computer console in what looked to be a receiving office off the dock. The others secured. Fortunately, they were alone for the moment, since most of the Breen attention was elsewhere.

“Busted, but I can hack it...maybe tell them there's a fire up here?” asked the short, round faced Bolian man nicknamed “moon faced assassin”. He looked eager for a chance at more Breen, his dried blood on his face looking odd on one so harmless looking. He pointed and De'Zart grinned evilly. He'd managed to hack into the environmental systems. “Nice thought, but we need to move. Let's find where they are keeping the hostages and make them doubt their reality.” She knew they were using the buildings security systems, what it had of them, to augment their own field gear. As she watched, her computer expert hacked away and let in a virus that would random turn things on, then off; tell them there was fire then a flood warning, until he hit the final key on a remote control which would crash everything. She thumped him on the back and they took off.

They leap frogged down the corridor, heading for the only large area in this place: the town hall room. The air was thick with the smell of ozone as phaser, disruptor and other types of energy fire flew. Grenades were tossed. Breen died and a few of her team went down. Finally, they arrived at the last door before the town hall. Hearing disruptor fire from inside, she ordered her team to throw the last of their grenades and they charged. De'Zart didn't bother with a weapon. When she got close enough, she grabbed heads and twisted with all the force a fully enraged Klingon was capable of, and if that wasn't enough, phaser fire in the soft bits was usually enough to put them down. They burst in to a horrifying scene. There were maybe a dozen Breen led by an office,r systematically shooting the surviving colonists of this settlement. They had speed and surprise on their side and were able to take down some of the Breen before they were truly noticed. And yes, they took fire but at least they were no longer shooting colonists. De'Zart yelled, “Maquis! You Must Rally!, Remember Juhraya Colony! Avenge yourselves!”. Juhrava colony had been among the first the Cardies had taken back in the early days, many died there and those that had survived still bore scars.

This room had long been used for storage as well so random bits of farm tools and other items littered the room. Without missing a beat, at her call, a few older ones started herding the younger ones out of the way and others grabbed what they could. A few others panicked, but there were those who saw the embattled Marine unit who was now trading fire with the Breen and they followed their example, forming up on De'zart's position. Not for nothing were the Maquis long used to war and using what came to hand to defend themselves. They fell on their tormenters with a ferocity that shocked even De'Zart as she pulled her dagger from the neck of a nearby Breen. A few took off out of the door, but for the most part the colonists swarmed the Breen, hacking them to pieces rage and tears on their faces. De'Zart kept up heavy fire, but as most colonists had melee weapons, they had to check their fire or risk friendly fire incidents. “Pull back!” she tried to yell at the somewhat crazed colonists, finally an older man started to pull them back a bit to draw the Breen closer as De'Zart and her team moved in from the sides laying fire so thick one could barely see with all the flashes of light. The sounds of combat were deafening, but they could drown out the cries of pain. A colonist slid into the wall as he slipped on a pool of blood, and the rest of the brief but bitter battle wasn't any less chaotic. The Marines kept most of the Breen focused on them as the colonists took care of their share.

On Planet: What and miss all the fun?

There was sporadic fire fights as the remaining member of the 97th pulled back to a staging area where medicos quickly tried to see to the wounded and injured. Trentin turned to give an order when a flaming shuttle slammed into her side. Well, that's what it felt like as the survivors of the Breen contingent fired a heavy weapon at her. Well fair was fair she took out one of their nests by overloading her phaser rifle and tossing it with the last of her grenades attached. Rather satisfying boom. She went down deaf and in pain. She didn't hear the cries of “Medic!” or the curses of her bodyguard, who returned fire with a combat phaser rifle. She quickly fought her way to full focus, sitting up behind a makeshift barricade. 1Lt. De'Zart was there. Sound came back with ringing in her ears in the background. So she heard as De'Zart reported in. “Boss, the comm block overlay was destroyed, They were able to get a message out. Reinforcements will be here in minutes. Recon shows hundreds I think they diverted an entire section.”

Cursing, Trentin tolerated the field medic slapping on a bandage as the report continued, “We've got a lot of wounded and the colonists are game to move, but they are in worse shape...” “Right..” General Trentin said, sweating profusely with heat and pain. “Prepare to move out everyone who can move, rear guard for those who can't. I've a plan...”. De'Zart nodded and took off. Trentin tapped her tactical comm unit on her helmet. =/\=”Bear to Determined, come in Determined. Fubar, repeat Fubar...heavy enemy reinforcements en route. We've got a lot of wounded to move. We're clearing the area. Requesting backup...”. She called the Commander of the First Marine Division, elements of whom were even now forming up behind the spearhead that she and other units have made.

On the bridge of the Determined: Its Hammer time.

Col Preast was discussing with GEN Trentin via private message regarding the ground status. Things were getting ugly on Mirmak. "Bear, this is Blackout. Get your people and any survivors to a safe location. Provide me with the coordinates. You know what's coming. Any Breen that get in your way..." He could almost see Trentin's grin as she replied, "We can't afford any extra mouths to feed. I already have a location selected. Wait one...” She paused as a Private held up a portable scanner, “Coordinates 345.67 should suffice. All friendlies out of area, drop the hammer, Colonel."

Col. Preast replied, "Right. Gunfire support will come first, widespread. We will then refine it down to precise strikes, to include the buildings you wanted brought down, as well as cover for all of us. First Marine will then beam personnel in waves to secure a landing zone for personnel and vehicles as needed. Once the area is secured and all personnel are gathered and casualties are medevac'd, it will be the Breen's worst nightmare come true. For them, as the Devil's Brigade said, 'The worst is yet to come.' We will work out follow-up plans after. Please go ahead and begin moving your folks."

On Planet: Drawing them into a trap.

"Blackout this is Bear. Roger all. Out." Trentin replied and yelled as she was helped up, “You heard the man, move it or lose it!” She pulled away from her helpers, her arm in sling and her side on fire as everyone helped the wounded, excluding the rear guard who was laying down everything they had into the Breen to buy time for the colonists, etc to get free, even as their reinforcements started to get within range.

On the bridge of the Determined: Boom today forget tomorrow.

Col Preast made his way to the bridge, still in kill mode. He spoke in a near whisper to his Communications Officer. "Comms, open a secure channel for me. All vessels, all stations." "Channel is open, sir, go ahead."

"All, this is Colonel Greg Preast, CO of the MFS Determined and OIC of First Marine Division. We have comrades-in-arms on the ground, as well as survivors, who need help...and some Breen that need a lesson in manners. I need all First Marine Division personnel who can be released from ship duty to join me at the coordinates provided. First team will secure a landing and operations zone for the rest to follow. SEALS will go in and relieve the initial landing team to join the rest of us. We will provide a force en masse to get the situation on the ground under control. Mr. Relyea, you ready to rock?" "Willing and able, Greg!"

Mr. Wanie spoke up. "Uh, sir, you keep saying 'us' and 'we.' Do you mean...?" "Yep, I am going down in the initial wave. Once the area is secure, I will move on and rendez-vous with GEN Trentin. Can't let her have ALL the fun! You will have the conn."

"Sir, I must object..."

"Objection noted, Number 1, and overruled."

"Aye, sir."

On Planet: Knock three times.

<<Fast forwarding a little>>
The 97the MP's formed up in a defensive perimeter for any Breen that managed to get close. 21st Marine Recon scouted the edges to see what trouble they could get into. The colonists sat huddled in big circles. Those of them who were armed acted as a secondary protective unit for the truly non-combatant. General Trentin got on her comms: “Determined, would you please knock three times.” General Trentin said, her voice cold as she looked through a set of Binoculars that showed her the reinforcements of the Breen were coming up on the booby traps her people had left. It wouldn't slow them for long. Knock three times was from an old ghost story that stated death would knock that number.

Elsewhere on Planet: Don't kick a sleeping Dragon.

Preast grunted an acknowledgment, then tapped his combadge "Determined, Skipper."

"Go ahead, Skipper," said Comms.

"Broadcast channel to all stations."

"Channel open, Skip."

"All Determined Maquis Forces, Col Preast here. Hard rain, hard rain, hard rain."

Enormous rumbling came through Mirmak's atmosphere as the vessels above rained down large weapons, phasers and photon torpedoes.

After a short while, the incoming fire was sporadic in timing, but precise in location, bringing down the buildings GEN Trentin had asked for earlier. The veteran officers barely restrained their grins as Breen screams sounded in the air. Including General Trentin.

The firing ceased once the targets were obliterated. Upon completion of the fire support and precision strikes, Col Preast materialized on the surface with a crack team of Maquis Marines. They all had weapons raised and backs turned to each other, scanning in all directions. "Ok lads, fan out about 50 meters and plant yourself. The builders will be behind us to set up shop. Dennis, you're with me. We're moving to Trentin's location." Dennis and Greg made their way to what was left of the roof, on what was left of the building, having beamed down with the initial team. Both scanned a 360, then Dennis looked over at the Determined's CO. "There are still a lot of Breen around here. Dunno why they came in the first place, let alone attacked our folks..."

On Planet: Reward for success? More work....

Arriving at Trentin's location, Preast and Relyea took in the scene. Dead and wounded Marines and settlers were scattered within the safe zone, covered by a large rock formation.

"I never get used to that," Greg said shaking his head.

The Sharkfin's CO agreed, "Rog, but we gotta take care of business before we go kick some Breen butt." Trentin walked up looking battered and bruised, but mostly really pissed off. Her earring had long been lost to some blast and dried blood sit covered her right ear.

"Hey there, Bear." Preast greeted the General.

Trentin nodded and replied, "Blackout...welcome to..what do Earthers say?...Hell."

"No," Greg stated, "That comes later when everyone's here." Preast commbadge crackled:

Comms: "Blackout, this is Blackout 3, area secured. Building has begun. SEALS are in place; we are reinforcing them. MEDEVAC at your ready."

Comms: "Copy all.“ He turned to the General, “Trentin, I leave this in your hands. Medevac is set up and waiting to beam out the wounded and dead.". “Thank you Colonel.” She replied and made a gesture, her eyes looked somber as the Medevac began taking whom they could save but it was the lines of body bags that seemed to add a 'G' to just existing. She showed none of this however and continued to issue orders and fill the Colonel in as their people worked.

Once the dead and wounded were medevac'd, Trentin and Preast took stock.

"Good thing we have reinforcements ready to beam down," Trentin muttered, thinking of the status of the rest of the planet."Pretty soon, it will be a moot point. All Maquis stations, do it toit. Lock onto my location, and send down my Dawgs!"

Slowly, small groups arrived around the location. The numbers grew steadily, until the building could no longer contain their population.

"Well, if we weren't obvious before, we are now. Best not to stay in one location. Let's move out.”

The General nodded, “Let's go take our planet back, I want to hit them so hard their ancestors will feel it...”. She shared a knowing look with Colonel Preast and they moved out, lighter without the dead and wounded, so faster now. Arrows just looking for a target.