Session in Hell

Posted on Wednesday 9 June 2021 @ 19:58 by Gunnery Sergeant Alexander Beck

Mission: A Cry from the Darkness
Location: Sheol, Cardassian Military Colony
Timeline: Dominion War, Year 2
1238 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Beck raised his right hand, signaling the squad to halt. Then he extended his arm straight out and motioned up and down with his hand. They all took a knee, phaser rifles out, watching their flanks, save for Devlin, who had the tail.

He had seen something. Not the tell-tale shimmer of a Jem'Hadar unshrouding. But something ahead of them had moved.

It had been weeks since his recon platoon had been dropped onto Sheol.

Weeks since they had been essentially abandoned here on this Cardassian colony with no way home.

It had been a running battle the entire time.

They had dropped in with forty Marines with the purpose of reporting on Cardassian and Dominion forces gathering here as a possible push on the Federation.

Now they were down to twelve.

Lieutenant Stratton, the platoon leader, had been wounded less than a day after they had arrived. He had later taken his own life rather than slow down the rest of them.

Gunny Palmer was gone now too, killed in the last attack on the Marines' position. He had taken command of several wounded and covered their escape, going down fighting.

Now Beck himself, as the only remaining sergeant, was in charge.

He'd decided to keep them on the move for now. They were more than two hundred kilometers from the nearest Dominion outpost on this world.

They were down to a few power packs per man for their weapons.

Beck's TR-115 sniper rifle was now useless. No ammo.

They had scrounged some Cardassian and Dominion weapons, but were saving them for when they were out of their own.

They were out of rations, too, although they'd managed to survive on some local roots and plants, and what few animals they could track and kill.

"Everything okay, Gunny? " asked Corporal Kelly Stone.

"Thought I saw something. " he replied in a low whisper. Just as he was about to continue moving, a bright yellow bolt lanced out from the jungle in front of him, hitting Stone and knocking her down.

"Ambush! " he yelled, dropping to prone and starting to fire as Lance Corporal Jones, their only surviving Corpsman, crawled to Stone to check her. Phaser and plasma rifle bolts lit up the jungle. The Marines returned fire.

"Get on line Marines! " he yelled as he snapped shots off at the still unseen enemy. He spotted several Marines crawling forward, stopping every few feet to snap off a shot or two at the enemy as they low crawled.

"Stone's dead! " he heard Jones yell. He grabbed Stone's phaser rifle and began firing.

"We have to fall back!" someone yelled.

"Negative on that! Charge the ambush! " Beck yelled as he got to his feet and began running straight at the ambush, firing as he went. He killed the first Cardassian he saw, followed by a Jem'Hadar. He could hear his Marines around him. They were doing as he'd ordered, howling like furies as they ran. THough they knew the Jem'Hadar wouldn't break, maybe they could scare some sense into the Cardassians.

The Jem'Hadar wouldn't break. They couldn't. They were genetically conditioned not to.

A Jem'Hadar soldier stepped out in front of him, weapon raised. He swung his bayonet-tipped plasma rifle at Beck, grazing the lower left part of Beck's abdomen.
The Marine's body armor folded. The action also served to knock his phaser rifle out of his hands. Beck didn't hesitate. He drew his combat knife from his combat harness and stepped into the Jem'Hadar's attack, getting inside his reach. He stabbed three times in quick succession into the soldier's stomach, following with another strike to his throat. He jerked the Ketracil White tube out of the soldier's collar then.

He looked around for his phaser rifle. When he found it he saw that the firing circuitry was smashed, making the weapon useless. He picked up the Jem'Hadar's plasma rifle, pulled the polaron disruptor from the holster on the now dead Jem'Hadar's body, and continued the fight like he'd been trained to.

ONE HOUR LATER

Beck took stock of who he had left. They'd lost another seven Marines. It was down to himself, Turk, Nutjob, Private First Class Jenna "Kitten" Harris, and Doc Jones, although Jones was in bad shape. Nutjob had picked him up and carried him out of the ambush site as they had managed to break contact. Turk was doing what he could, although Jones had already told them that there wasn't any hope and to save their dwindling medical supplies for themselves.

"Sarge. " he heard a strained voice say. He looked down at Jones. The man was suffering. It wouldnt' be long now.

"Yeah, Doc? " asked Beck.

"It frigging hurts, Sarge. " said Jones. Turk looked at Beck, who motioned with a head nod to take a hike. Beck knelt next to the young Marine, who was only a year out of ODI training and still considered a rookie. Jones held out his hand and Beck took it.

"Did I do okay, Sarge? " he asked.

"Yeah, Doc, you did good. " said Beck.

"Can you do something for me? " asked the dying medic.

"Yeah. " said Beck.

"Can you tell my dad I did good? That I fought hard? " Jones asked.

"I will. I promise. " said Beck. Jones nodded.

"One more thing. " said Jones.

"If I can. " said Beck.

"Don't let me spend eternity on this shit hole, Sarge. Promise me you'll come back and get me when this is all over. " said Jones. Beck nodded.

"It may take a while, Doc, but I promise. I'll come back one day and take you home. If I have to steal a ship and do it myself. " he said. Jones nodded.

"The casualty list is in my bag. Doc Smitty kept it until he bought it, then it fell to me. You'll have to sign for the Marines we lost today, but all of them up until then have been signed and confirmed by Smitty and I. Let's hope I'm the last one. " said Jones. Beck rifled through the bag until he found the PADD.

"Is this it? " he asked. Jones nodded.

"Hypo with red tape. " he said after a short coughing fit that released some blood from his shredded lungs. Beck found it.

"Hydromorphacin. It's a neural blocker. " said Jones. He took the hypo and tapped something in on the head.

"This is a lethal dose. There's still enough for you guys if it's necessary. It'll be instantaneous. " said Jones. He pressed the hypospray to his throat.

"Don't give up, Sergeant. Make this count. Don't let us have died here for nothing. " said Jones as he pressed the trigger on the hypospray. Less than a second later it fell from his lifeless hands.

Turk, Nutjob, and Kitten gathered around the dead medic.

"I'll bury him. " said Turk.

"I'll help. " said Kitten. Both Marines grabbed their entrenching tools and headed to start digging. They had buried their comrades when they could. It wasn't necessary. Every Starfleet Marine had a short range wave transmitter surgically implanted to help locate and identify their remains if they couldn't be extracted.

"We'll come back for them. " he told the others.

"And what if we don't make it out of here, Sarge? " asked Kitten as she began digging.

"We will. We have to. " said Beck.

END POST

((>>> Gunnery Sergeant Alexander Beck
Marine Sniper
USS Merlin