Crossover: The Reality Bomb

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Primal felt a momentary disassociation as he was beamed into midair. Was this how it was for Skywarp? he pondered as his jets activated, keeping him hovering in the atmosphere. Kellan and her mech suit appeared a few moments later, weaponry already armed.

A visor slid down over his optics, enhancing his already-considerable sensor and optics. Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind. Under attack by Kull Warriors. My sidearm is slow to deal with their armor. Assistance would be... appreciated.

Primal nodded. He tapped the side of his head, activating his comnlink. "I'll be there in a nano-click, Arawden." He looked to Kellan. "Hold up here. Any death gliders fly in, slag 'em." he waited for an acknowledgement from her before rotating around, swooping and diving to the hills.

He found the Eldar surrounded by the Kull. Numerous shuriken were lodged in the enemy's armor-doing little to them. "Get down!" he broadcast before both his double-barreled blaster and over-the-shoulder missile launchers fired, belching high-energy plasma and high-explosive warheads, both designed to pierce Cybertronian shielding and armor.

The first Kull hit was torn in two, upper torso sailing off as the lower half tumbled to the ground. The second one had barely enough time to aim from his prone position before Primal's weaponry ripped it apart,burning up the foliage beneath.

The Maximal landed next to Arawden, blaster cannon retracting into his forearm housing. "You all right?"

[Monroe]

Slaves of the Jaffa scurried away from the assault team as it was transported in while Jaffa and Kull came running towards them. Zanitav activated his shield and power blades and charged into a duo of nearby Jaffa. His blades sinking deep into their chest cavity before they had time to bring their weapons to bear. "My life for Aiur!" He shouted this battle cry as he ripped the power blades free and slashed at a nearby Kull warrior. The blade was disrupted by some sort of power absorption shield and the Kull swung a backhand towards Zanitav knocking him off his feet.

The Kull warrior lifted his hand mounted weapon and opened fire on Huron-Fel. The shots doing little more than darkening the paint as the large Dreadnought lumbered towards the first of the many Kull warriors coming towards the assault group. Huron-Fel picked up a large rock with his claw and slammed it down on the head of the Kull which disappeared under the rock's massive weight. Zanitav brushed himself off having been a mere meter away from the rock's impact and charged towards the next Jaffa.


Xan nearby opened fire with his enhanced shock rife. "Headshot!" He yelled triumphantly as his first shot struck a retreating slave. He turned his rifle towards a Jaffa coming nearby and fired into his chest. The newly enhanced weapon caused the man to explode outwards in a mist of red. "Bow down!" Xan said before running behind a large rock over hang as the staff weapons of the enemy Jaffa and Kull began to rain destruction down on the assault team.

[Aaron]

A cry of "For Ithaka!" thundered forth from Phebes helmet speakers as the teleport ended and he observed the Kull drones headed for their direction. Unclamping his bolt pistol from his chest armour he flicked the safety to "semi" and opened fire on the lead Kull. The first round glanced off the creatures carapace armour but the second round impacted square on it's right shoulder joint, sending the limb flying from it's body in a spray of blood, the third round connecting center in it's chest, carving a massive cavity out it's back.

Seeing Zanitav backhanded by the drone he was fighting, Phebes sprinted to his aid, putting himself between the Kull and the downed Protoss. A swift crack to the warriors head with his lance did little but stagger the Xeno and it brought it's wrist weapon to bear against his head. Acting quickly, Phebes recovered and thrust the lance through the things chest and threw it over his head toward Huron-Fel.

Going down on one knee over Zanitav, he activated his speakers and barked "Protoss! Are you injured?"

[Mikey]

The Maximal landed next to Arawden, blaster cannon retracting into his forearm housing. "You all right?"

The Eldar looked up at Optimus and said, "I am unharmed." The next words were bitter in Arawden's mouth, addressed as they were to an alien, but they were necessary. "Thank you, Optimus Primal."

"No problem," came the easy reply. "I'm going back to fly overwatch. Call if you need me."

"I hope that will not be necessary. I should be all but invisible to any other observers." Without another word Arawden stalked off and set up his position in the small thicket on the hilltop, his cloak blurring his outline among the foliage, as Optimus extended his jets and took off. After a moment of arranging himself and his rifle, Arawden acquired the LZ in his scopes and then followed the path of the assault team's intended advance. That was when he saw the mass of Jaffa ranging up the road to meet the assault team. The idea was clear from Arawden's vantage point; swamp the team with Jaffa before they could concentrate on eliminating the nearby Kull Warriors. While engaged with the greater numbers of Jaffa, the team wouldn't be able to defend themselves properly from the more dangerous Kull. While he hated to make contact with the dreadnought, Arawden reached out for the mind inside the machine. They mean to overrun you with numbers while the armored warriors finish you. The Jaffa already head towards you. I will attempt to slow their advance.

Understood, was Huron-Fel's only reply, delivered without malice, derision, thanks, or any other feeling. The war machine was at work now, and he meant nothing but business.

Casting his imaging scope over the horde of Jaffa on the road below, Arawden soon saw that it comprised several units. Each unit was non-uniform with the next, but all seemed to have a more highly decorated individual - usually near the center of the rear rank. He quickly targeted such an individual in the back of the first unit and fired. The long rifle made a hum barely audible even to Arawden himself; a split-second later, the leader of the first unit fell with the side of his head caved in by the high-velocity projectile. The leaders of the second and third units soon followed suit, and the Jaffa advance slowed to a crawl.

***********************************************************************************************

Ashok's advance brought him clear of the road, and of the main thrust of the Kull in the vicinity. One black-armored warrior approached from Ashok's right, but before it could raise its weapon the librarian had charged it and staggered it with a sideswipe from his staff. Leaving a trail of blue energy in its wake, the head of the staff swept around and struck the Kull Warrior in the side of the chest; the bluish light flared and the staff ripped into the thing's torso. As the Kull fell, another advanced from up the road. Ashok raised his free left hand - jagged bolts of violet energy leapt from his outstretched fingers and left a smoking hole in the warrior's neck. Then, Ashok heard the Iron Snake's call.

"Protoss! Are you injured?"

Turning, Ashok saw the apothecary kneeling over the prone form of the Protoss. Behind Phebes, two Kull Warriors approached. The Angel Sanguine drew his bolt pistol, freshly loaded with Kraken penetrator rounds, and fired. The pistol coughed three times in quick succession. The first Kull staggered but didn't fall as the first round struck home - the bolts were made to penetrate armor, but didn't have the mass-reactive warhead of standard rounds. The second and third rounds, however, proved to be enough to put the Kull Warrior down. The Iron Snake swung the butt-end of his sea-lance from his kneeling position, sweeping the second Kull's legs and knocking it down. Phebes rose and stabbed the long lancehead through the thing's chest.

Satisfied that the apothecary and the Protoss were out of immediate danger, Ashok holstered his pistol and began to turn back toward the road ahead. A burst of energy suddenly glanced off of the pauldron of his armor, staggering him and forcing him to one knee. He could tell there was a bleeding wound under the armor, but his enhanced physiology would soon take care of that. Looking up, he saw a number of the Kull Warriors converging on the team's position - including one with its arm still raised in a firing position. The dull glow of Ashok's eyes under his hood took on a fiery intensity, his staff and left hand both began to glow with a dazzling blue incandescence, his voice rang out low but clear - "For the Emperor and Sanguinius!" - and growling like an animal he threw himself into the group of Kull Warriors.

[Deepcrush]

Huron-Fel noticed the Kull beginning to mass. Recieving word from the Eldar that the enemy ment to "swamp them with numbers". The Dreadnought's Comp replied. Understood. The Dreadnought picked up his pace. Now matching the speed of a human at full run.

"Eldar, cover the assault team. I will deal with the enemy and their numbers. Take out any that I miss." Commanded Huron-Fel as the stepped on a Kull that was in his way. Detecting a squad of Jaffa to his left and another to his right. Huron-Fel aimed his Heavy Flamer and let a one second torch fly. The dozen or so Jaffa had little time to worry. Even at fifty meters the flame reached them in just under a second. The Jaffa burned and melted. Screams were short lived.

The Jaffa squad to Huron's right took the time to open fire. As many as thirty blasts hit Huron's. Just as many missed. "These Jaffa are pathetic!" Raising his Heavy Bolters, Huron opened fire at eighteen hundred rounds per minute. The Jaffa and the trees they were taking cover behind quickly turned into a mist.

"Alert too all. The Eldar has spotted a large mass of enemy. I am moving to engage. I will contact when it is safe to advance."

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Primal flew along in the sky, cheering as a single blood-red beam lanced down and vaporized the bridge leading to the odd ring-shaped device. Torpedoes followed, impacting the enemy force's barracks and the Jaffa village, creating a small mushroom cloud and sending debris into the atmosphere. "Primal to James Kirk," he said, contacting the ship. "Status?"

A static-laced voice came through, warbly. "Lieutenant Frehy, sir. We have engaged Ha'taks. Two destroyed, three crippled. We've separated saucer and have taken minimal damage." There was a muffled boom before the speaker continued. "Sir, the lone undamaged Ha'tak has just launched death gliders. We'll try to blow them up, but the crippled Ha'taks are shielding them."

Primal sighed. "Well, that's just... prime." He looked to Kallen and her suit, receiving an acknowledgement from her. "Assault team, Kallen and I might be a little... busy."

*****

Down below, Rhinox's chain guns carved large swaths through Jaffa, sending the lightly-armored humanoids scurrying-before they were sliced apart. "Understood," he said. He targeted an advancing group of Kull that attempted a flank and let loose with both chain guns. The sheer kinetic impact and dozens of rounds per second sliced through their armor, reducing them to black chunks.

[Monroe]

"Only my ego is bruised, my body and spirit remain unharmed." Zanitav replied. Next to him Master Chief jumped behind some cover and began laying down supressive fire as the large swarm of Jaffa and Kull began to swarm into the area. A Jaffa bolt impacted Zanitav's shielding harmlessly as the Protoss turned and began charging into the fray once more. This time using his psi blades on Jaffa only.

"Dominating." Xan yelled triumphantly as he blasted away another Jaffa. His shock rifle useless against the Kull as well but worked nicely at a distance against the Jaffa support. Next to him Heron-Fel began to open up with his massive bolters sending metal down field and turning all of the enemies in Xan's sights into an obliterated mist. Xan mentally frowned. Maybe Heron-Fel wasn't the best cyborg to race to a hundred kills with.

Zanitav looked over head as crimson streaks ripped through the atmosphere and obliterated the bride south of their location. From this distance he could see the charging Kull and pieces of Jaffa fling into the air. Then little star like objects came slamming into the Jaffa village creating a massive explosion that swept many of the enemy soldiers off their feet giving Zanitav several quick and easy kills. He hoped this would prove a big enough distraction for the infiltration team.

[Aaron]

Dietrich and the infiltration team lay in the grass surrounding the back of the pyramid, upon hearing the phaser and torpedo strike tear through the atmosphere and impact on there targets she jumped up, "right that's our cue." Motioning to Roland to join her, they clamped the melta charge they had been given to the wall, set the timer and stepped to either side, weapons ready.

Five seconds later the charge hummed and the wall was blown in, a hole large enough for a man to walk erect now in it's place. Dietrich stuck her flamer nozzle in the hole and triggered a burst, then ducked her head through "clear!" she called and stepped through, momentarily reaching up to lower her thermal imagers HUD.

------------

Phebes heard the opening of the orbital bomardment and offered a prayer to the Blessed Primarch that Cain would make it out of the coming space battle in one piece. Noting some rapidly growing specks in the sky he triggered his vox and bellowed "ware the sky brothers! The enemy have seen fit to bless us with more of them to kill!"

Charging back into the fray, heading into a swarm of Jaffa that where attempting to flank Huron-Fel he activated his helmet speakers once again and a thundering beat issued forth, along with his booming laughter as he cut into the Jaffa with his lance.

We are the chosen ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armor stained with blood
We killed the dragon
In glory we return, our destination's end
We slayed the dragon!
No more living in fear it's time to raise our king.
We made it happen we're the chosen ones!

Phebes struck to his left with a fist, pulping the head of a Jaffa with the side of his gauntlet. Swinging his lance to the other side, he skewered the torso of another and drove through to hit his compatriot that had followed to close.


We are the chosen ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armor stained with blood
We killed the dragon
We're the chosen ones!

Riding through thunder and lighting once again
We slayed the beast we brought an end
Now we have left the kingdom of the damned
Heroes of the day, legends forever!

A Jaffa managed to discharge his staff directly into his shoulder joint, barely slowing Phebes, though he gritted his teeth through the pain. His engineered blood already clotting the wound seconds after the hit. The xeno worshipping scum didn't live long enough to notice, being sent to his god via a fist through the ribs.

We are the chose ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armor stained with blood
We killed the dragon
We're the chosen ones!

It seems to me like a journey without end
So many years, too many battles
We've finally arrived, now we're standing at the gates
Heroes of the day, legends forever


The first of the Death Gliders had reached the assault squad, Primal close behind. The lead glider burst into flames and cartwheeled into the dirt, hit square on by a missile from Huron-Fel. Phebes face broke into a wide grin at the sight, continuing to slaughter the Jaffa around them. A dozen rounds from his pistol sent a squad of Jaffa flying back, limbs and torsos blown to pulp.

In glory we return, our destination's end
We slayed the dragon
No more living in fear it's time to raise our king
We made it happen we're the chosen ones!

We are the chosen ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armor stained with blood
We killed the dragon
In glory we return, our destination's end
We slayed the dragon
No more living in fear it's time to raise our king
We made it happen we're the chosen ones!

The Apothecary staggered from a hit to his torso armour, a ragged hole where a Kull weapon had burned through. Dropping to one knee, he let his lance fly. It impacted the Kull's groin, keeling him over and pinning it to the ground. Acting swiftly he packed the wound with sterile clay from his Narthecium, sprayed a covering of skin-wrap over it and bounded back to his feet. The Jaffa in the immediate vicinity where in full retreat, apparently intending to regroup further up the road.

We are the chose ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armor stained with blood
We killed the dragon

"What is the status of the infiltration team?"

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Death gliders screamed through the atmosphere, staff cannons charging and spitting golden plasma bolts. Primal's arm-mounted blaster cannons barked, returning fire as his shoulder-mounted missile launchers fired. His subspace stockpiles were quickly accessed, replanishing his fuel and ammo.

Two death gliders exploded, and he dodged to the right, avoiding incoming fire. A flight of them broke off from the main group, attamtping to flank him... but shots from Kallen ashed them, sending debris raining down.

Primal sent her a brief thaks over commo while flying on, weapons spitting. The ground team's depending on me! I have to stop them! Three more were destroyed, but a few shots impacted his armor, scorching his synthetic flesh and burning the armor beneath. He grunted as damage indicators lit up. "Come on!" he screamed, firing off a random blast and shearing the wing off a death glider.

Three of the death gliders suddenly peeled off, heading right for the assault force. Primal's optics widened. "By Primus, no!" he shouted, diving and pouring power into his thrusters.

[Deepcrush]

Passing up the road to the mine. Huron-Fel came across the swarm of Jaffa that the Eldar had spoken about. "Enemy sighted! Large numbers. I will destroy them! Catch up when you can." Picking up his speed to around 30kph. Huron-Fel charged the Jaffa lines. "Seems they lack officers? The Eldar has made himself worth something..." The dreadnought's feet crushed into the ground. The sound alone was enough to reach the deepest fears in the Jaffa. Many of them broke ranks any ran.

"Engaging!" Huron-Fel yelled over both comm and vox. Huron's heavy bolters and heavy flamer sweeped across the field. The rounds kicking up dirt and bodies. The Jaffa armor and cover was no match for the projectiles that leached their life's blood. Flames melted the hordes of enemies where they stood, or atleast where they stopped running. "They die by the score!" Even the small line of Kull had fallen to the heavy bolters. A thousand rounds of the Emperor's justice. Picking up one of the kull. The only one who lived through the wall of bullets. Huron-Fel crushed the life from him and threw the Kull over in front of Xan. "One hundred. First too five maybe?" Huron-Fel laughed as he loosed a trio of missles into a trio of enemy fighters that had gotten past Primal. Two of the fighters turned in to smoking rubble in the air. The other dodged the missle only to be hit by Huron's lascannon.

The Dreadnought stood on the ground before the mine entrence. Throwing flame and metal alike across the battle field. "I now hold the mine and the enemy is in retreat towards the bridge." The field in front of the mine was a picture of hell. Burning bodies and trees left smoke and ash as far as one could see. Scattered limbs and parts of former humans and Kull lay where bolter rounds had torn them from their places. Several enemy fighters had crashed in the field. Thier wreckage only adding to the image of hell. Even Huron was on fire in several places where he had walked through his flame.

In a private comm to Primal, Rhinox and the Astartes.
{I have claimed two hundred and forty eight of the enemy accounted for. My flamer tank is at 50% and my bolter feed is at 71%. I also have 10 missiles remaining for use against enemy fighters.}

[Mikey]

Having eliminated the apparent leaders of each of the Jaffa units, Arawden began picking off random soldiers in the Jaffa front ranks. The Imperial dreadnought had brought the fight to them and beyond, forcing them back up to the head of their mine. Once in a while, one of the Jaffa glanced in the Eldar's general direction; but although they could see the angle of impact of each new bullet wound, Arawden himself was completely undetectable from their range. The bodies began to pile up into a fleshy, twisted rampart, but they hindered the Jaffa of the rear ranks far more than they did the massive walking war machine. Huron-Fel had begun killing with huge swipes of his power claws rather than his arm-mounted weaponry when Arawden's scanner-scope picked up a signature from right by the dreadnought's location.

A Kull Warrior with more sense of duty than intelligence - as was their way - had circled unseen behind Huron-Fel, leapt onto the dreadnought's back, and begun clambering up the ironwork through the flames still guttering from spilled promethium. Tenaciously hanging on, the black-armored warrior began firing energy pulses into the rear of Huron-Fel's shoulder before the dreadnought could disengage from his current four targets. The ironclad's armor was proof for now; but Arawden knew that sooner or later some damage would bleed though, and that the entry point was dangerously close to the power packs for the dreadnought's lascannon. Can you rotate 90 degrees? the Eldar hissed, aloud as well as psychically.

"Which way?" came Huron-Fel's exasperated reply over the vox.

"No matter," Arawden replied over his own helmet vox, "as long as I can see you in profile." He kept the dreadnought's shoulder level in his sight as the dreadnought finally twisted around his hip joints away from Arawden's point of view. Seeing the machine with his hitchhiker directly from the side at last, Arawden held his breath and fired. The Kull Warrior clinging to the dreadnought's back had its head snapped back, then was thrown clear by the shot as if a mosquito brushed aside from exposed skin.

"I suppose you want my thanks?" Huron-Fel voxed haughtily.

"No," replied the Eldar just as proudly. "Just keep killing these abominations."

*******************************************************************************************

Ashok looked around through the red haze misting his vision. Subconsciously he noticed that he had somehow moved forward through the Jaffa ranks to keep up with the rest of the assault team's advance; more consciously he noted the piles of Jaffa corpses along the grassy verge of the road where he had pressed forward, either torn apart, scorched, or punctured by gaping holes. Mixed in was the occasional Kull Warrior body, its armor cracked and split, or shattered along with the fragmented flesh underneath. He received the dreadnought's vox, but it was merely an insistent buzz in his ear. Slavering like a beast, Ashok began to prowl, looking for something else to slay. The armored human known only as Master Chief came up from his position supporting the Astartes line and spoke something - Ashok was insensible to the man's communication. Getting no response from the librarian, Master Chief began to reach out a hand to get Ashok's attention.

In a move too fluid for a human - especially an eight-foot-tall armored one - Ashok rose to his full height and spun, bringing his crackling and flashing staff down in a sweep aimed at the side of Master Chief's helmet, uncomprehending of the difference between friend and foe. Fortunately, Ashok's glance fell on the man's helmet before his blow and he saw himself reflected in the mirrored surface of Master Chief's faceplate. He saw his own eyes burning from the shadow of his hood; he saw, amidst the blood- and mud-spattered surface of his armor, five specific wounds he had unwittingly recreated in Jaffa blood on his chestplate. "Sanguinius!" he whispered, and the red mist abated from his vision. A split-second before impact, he diverted his blow so that his staff impacted with the ground next to Master Chief. A blue flame sprang up and a smoking crater appeared. "Are... are we clear?" Ashok asked hoarsely.

Master Chief cocked his head strangely at the diminished-seeming Space marine, then nodded. Ashok sunk to his knees in the mud of blood and flesh and spoke quietly. "For- forgive me." He then pulled his hood deeper over his face and went silent, appearing for all the world like he was completely alone.

A few minutes later, Brother-Apothecary Phebes came trotting over. "What's the problem?" he asked, noticing Ashok's near-cataleptic reverie.

"He was berserk a moment ago - nearly killed me - then simply knelt and has been like this since," Master Chief answered. Phebes nodded slowly, noticing the symbolized wounds on Ashok's armor, but his face was unreadable behind his visor.

"Can you speak, brother-librarian?" Phebes asked. Ashok's head slowly turned to face the Iron Snake; there was intelligence in his eyes once more, but he said nothing. Most of the rest of the assault team came up behind Phebes, Huron-Fel having already cleared most of the area.

After a moment of everyone forming their own opinions of the odd situation in front of them, Zanitav spoke. "I dearly wish we could tell if our diversion was working," he said to nobody in particular.

Startling everyone, Ashok's voice rumbled low and gruffly. "I may be able to answer that." He slowly rose to his feet and looked around. Finally spotting a relatively-intact Jaffa corpse, he crouched down by its head. To the interest of Zanitav and Xan - and the revulsion of the human members of the team - Ashok poked his gauntleted fingers through the orbit of the skull, plucked out the eyeball, studied it for a second... then popped it into his mouth and ate it as if it were a rare delicacy. "This may take a moment," he said once he had finished chewing.

Ashok stood, then staggered suddenly as his mind was flooded with more information than he had expected. There was racial history, lineages, pivotal events, the outrage of slavery; the memory of a race rather than an individual. Phebes started towards him but the Angel Sanguine held up a forestalling hand. Eventually bracing himself, Ashok focused and was able to sort out the individual recent memory of the Jaffa he'd selected.

"The Emperor's gaze is with us, even in this place," he announced. "At least when this man's unit was deployed, there was no mention of any incursion other than our team. At that time, at least, our infiltration unit had been undiscovered and the vast majority of the enemy soldiery lies on the field before us."

[Monroe]

"First to five hundred maybe?"

"Maybe in a vehicle 'map'." Xan replied annoyed. He only had 23 kills and had thought he was doing really well. He didn't even bother to say 'Godlike' when he killed two maimed Jaffa laying on the ground. Seemed like a waste.

Zanitav's shielding was barely operational from numerous staff blasts and several pieces of his armor were blackened but the melee element of the assault team had survived. "This worked better than we thought." He said through his psi translator box on his neck. Tapping the small comm badge on his chest, "Zanitav to Optimus Primal, area secure. Should we begin naqahdah resource harvest?"

Xan interrupted, "Leave that for the pajama clad men. We should take the fight to the Pyramid. Without the army there is no need for a distraction or stealth and I have 76 kills to earn." He looked up and saw a human slave on the ridge of the extraction area of the mine trying to take a closer look and Xan fired off his shock rifle turning the man into giblets, "75 kills."

[Sionnach Glic]

"Sir, enemy ships are closing on us!" The Kirk's XO, a gruff but quick thinking old man called McCarthy, called out in warning. Cain looked over at the viewscreen, which quickly changed to show a view of two of the ships - Ha'taks if he remembered correctly - floating towards them. Cain studied them for a moment, noting their vague similarity to discovered Necron vessels.

"You've locked weapons on the ground targets?" Cain asked the tactical officer.

"Yes sir. Firing now." He replied, tapping at his console. On the prow of the ship, a pair of arrays glowed into life and sent beams of destructive energy lancing down towards the planet.

Hope we didn't just frag the rest of the team. Cain thought absently, but the fact that six warships were very rapidly closing towards them was of greater concern to him.

"How long until the enemy is in weapons range?" He asked the tactical officer, Thompson if he remembered right. Suddenly, the ship shook harshly, almost knocking the Commissar to the ground.

"Two ships in range!" The young lieutenant called out in warning. Cain looked at the viewscreen. One of the ships was dead ahead, the other drifting somewhere above and to the left of the first one. The other four were sweeping out around the Kirk, forming a wide perimiter to ensure it couldn't withdraw.

"Shields up!" The XO barked. "Damage report!"

"Minor damage to the forward hull, small breach in the forward lounge. No reported casualties." A young ensign called out.

"Orders, Sir?" McCarthy asked, looking at Cain. The Commissar was no expert in naval combat and had only had time to be given a brief overview by the XO, but he didn't have to be to see the obvious course of action.

"Helm, bring us around so that the second Ha'tak's guns are blocked by the hull of the first one. Tactical, unload everything we've got on the closest target."

The Kirk surged forwards, racing towards its target as its phasers shot out to slam into the shields of the first Ha'tak. The two enemy ships retaliated in kind, bolts of energy hitting the Kirk's forward shields. However, it was the Goa'uld vessel that gave first, a phaser beam piercing the shields to slam into the central pyramidal structure. A pair of torpedoes quickly followed, hitting the pyramid dead-on and bursting it apart in a massive blast that snapped the outer hull structure apart. The ship's staff cannons fell silent, the vessel clearly without any means of fighting back any longer.

"First target destroyed!" The tactical officer called out.

"Good work." Cain replied calmly, trying not to get too enthusiastic. They weren't out of this by a long shot. "Pull the ship around to -" His words were cut off as the ship once more began shaking under repeated hits. "Report!" He yelled.

"Sir, the second Ha'tak has begun firing through the debris of the first one at us. The two to our starboard have also closed to weapons range."

"Frak." Cain swore. He'd hoped that the debris of the first ship would act as a barrier between the Kirk and the second Ha'tak, with the crew holding their fire for fear of killing any survivors. Clearly, that gamble hadn't worked.

"Sir, starboard shields down to 48%, prow shields down to 39." The XO called out in warning.

"Hard to port!" Cain yelled. "Put our aft shields between us and the two to our starboard, and start firing any weapons that can hit them. Then set course straight for the second Ha'tak."

"Aye, sir." The helmsman replied.

The Kirk swung around ponderously in space, hammered repeatedly by staff bolts and spitting torpedoes from its aft launchers. The ship dove straight towards the second Ha'tak, debris from the first ship bouncing off the shields as the vessel sped forward, its phasers lancing forward to hit the enemy warship.
This time, however, it was the Kirk's shields that gave first.

Bolts from the Ha'tak's staff cannons pierced the prow shields, slamming into the hull and wreaking havoc throughout the prow sections. One staff bolt slammed into a torpedo bay and detonated several torpedoes there, the blast tearing apart a chunk of the forward hull. The Ops station on the bridge erupted violently in a shower of sparks at the hit, the officer manning the console being flung backwards by the blast.

"Jurgen, help him!" Cain yelled, staggering back to his feet, shocked that the computer had blown apart without being hit. His aide hurried over to the officer, fishing a medikit out of one of his many pockets. "Damage report!" Cain yelled, the ship shuddering under repeated impacts.

"Forward shields are down." Thompson answered, inspecting his console. "Moderate damage to the forward hull. Torpedo bay 2 is not responding. We've got breaches on decks seven, nine and ten and fires are spreading throughout deck eight. No numbers on crew casualties yet."

"Frak." Cain swore, wondering why in the name of the Emperor someone had decided to put the bridge on top of the damn ship in plain sight.

"Sir, the enemy's shields have just been breached." Thompson called out. Cain turned to the viewscreen just in time to see a torpedo hit the outer structure of the vessel, tearing a large section of it apart in a massive explosion. Phaser beams slammed into the pyramid section, tearing huge gashes in the hull and anhialating thruster banks and staff cannon emplacements. After a few moments of fire, the Ha'tak's began to drift wildly to port, its guns falling silent.

"I think we got the bastard better than it got us." McCarthy growled.

"Good." Cain nodded, somewhat relieved the bridge hadn't taken a hit. "Then let's get the others." He was almost knocked to his feet as more hits began slamming into the starboard shields. The other two Ha'taks had swung around while the Kirk was taking down their comrade, catching the Federation vessel in a pincer move with their two counterparts.

Under the combined fire of two Ha'taks, the starboard shields failed quickly. Staff bolts slammed into the saucer and stardrive section, tearing chunks out of the hull. One bolt hit the starboard nacelle, which begin venting plasma out into space.

"They're hammering us from both sides!" Thompson yelled.

"Dive! Dive! Dive!" Cain yelled. The Kirk spun gracefully and began heading straight down towards the planet, the sudden maneouver causing the enemy fire to miss them wildly. "Suggestions?" Cain asked McCarthy.

"Helm, bring us up again between those two Ha'taks to our port." The XO ordered calmly, quickly seizing control of the situation as he and Cain had both agreed would happen if the situation went south.

The Kirk sped towards the two Ha'taks to its port, swinging around and taking more hits to its unshielded prow as it surged forward at full impulse, phasers lancing out at the two enemy ships. As soon as it had closed towards the two Ha'taks, the ship pulled up hard, rocketing between the two ships. As it flew between the two, the port-side Ha'tak's guns fell silent, the crew fearful of hitting their fellow ship. The starboard Ha'tak, however, continued firing. As the Kirk flew past the two ships, the port-side Ha'tak was bathed in staff cannon fire from its comrade. The shields withered under the barrage, explosions flaring along the hull where the bolts pierced the shields.

Lieutenant Thompson, thinking quickly, swiftly launched a quartet of torpedoes from the aft launchers at the stricken ship. The Ha'tak burst apart like a baloon being shot by a nail gun. In a massive blast of energy the ship simply ceased to exist. Chunks of debris spun outwards from the detonation, striking its fellow Ha'tak. The second vessel's shields withstood the reprisal, however, and the guns continued firing, slamming into the Kirk's unshielded starboard side.

Bolts pierced the engineering hull, exploding fuel tanks and munitions stores, causing fires to rage throughout the ship's aft sections. Phaser beams from the Kirk retaliated against the Ha'tak, lancing out to hit the vessel's shields. The ship's shields stayed up, but the captain had apparently had enough and the ship began flying rapidly away from the Kirk towards the planet.

"Sir," The Ops officer, now back on his feet and manning his post once more, called out urgently. "Engineering just took a major hit. They're reporting major problems with the warp core containment systems. Lieutenant-Commander Hudson's reporting that they may not be able to regain control of it."

"Damn." Cain muttered. "Options?"

"We could seperate the saucer section." McCarthy suggested.

"Do it." The Commissar replied. "Tell the crew down in Engineering to get that damn reactor under control before we go to pick them up, and have them move out of the engagement zone."

"Aye, sir." The Ops officer - Frehy, Cain recalled his name was - nodded and begun issuing the orders.

There was a shudder as the ship began an emergency seperation, the saucer section breaking free violently from the engineering hull. The stardrive section drifted out of control for a few moments before the crew on board took control, and then began moving quickly away from the planet and the remaining combatants.

The Kirk's hull, now a much smaller and more maneouverable target, swung around suddenly towards the remaining two Ha'taks. The Goa'uld ships, surprised by the sudden turn of speed and change in configuration of their target, began firing wildly, bolts missing by a good distance. Cain knew it wouldn't take them long to get back to hitting them again, though.

"Helm, bring us about. Take us right at those two Ha'taks." McCarthy barked. Cain was happy enough to let the man give the orders; he plainly had more experience in ship-to-ship combat than the Commissar and seemed to know what he was doing well enough. "Tactical, give the port-side one everything you've got!"

The Kirk sped quickly towards the two Ha'taks, all guns blazing at the one drifting slightly to port. Torpedoes hammered the shields, which quickly faltered under the impacts. The ship desperately tried to avoid the oncoming ordinance by pulling hard to starboard, and enjoyed some success. Most of the remaining salvo of torpedoes went wide, but one slammed straigth into the tip of the pyramid, blasting the top decks apart and sending smaller secondary explosions rippling through the interior. The ship tumbled wildly in space for a few seconds, its bridge destroyed, before the crew managed to regain control.

The second Ha'tak tried moving away from the Kirk, but was in turn hit by a salvo of torpedoes from the Federation warship. The torpedoes struck the ship's underside, sending explosions flaring through the outer ring structure, debris cart-wheeling away from the ship.

"Sir, both enemy ships have begun withdrawing." Thompson reported. "The enemy is in full retreat!"

A cheer rang out across the bridge, the crew relieved and delighted at their success and survival despite 6-to-1 odds. This would be a battle that would go down in history for certain.

"Good work, Commander." Cain nodded to the XO. McCarthy smiled grimly.

"A victory, Commissar. But perhaps a costly one. We took quite a beating."

"Sir..." Thompson called out yet again, this time his voice filled with concern. "The three Ha'taks have stopped withdrawing. They're holding position above the ground facility." He paused, looking intently at his console, then looked back up. "The undamaged ship is launching fighters! They're headed towards the surface."

"Frak." Cain swore. "And the other two."

"They're taking up position between us and the undamaged Ha'tak."

"A rearguard." Cain muttered. "Just there to hold us long enough for their friend to launch its ordinance." McCarthy nodded in agreement.

"We're getting a signal from the surface." Frehy called out.

"Let's hear it." Cain ordered. The voice of the xeno-machine thing, Primal, came through filled with static.

"Primal to James Kirk. Status?"

"Tell him." Cain gestured to Frehy. "And set us on a course towards the undamaged carrier." He added to the helmsman.

"Lieutenant Frehy, sir." Frehy said over the comms, speaking loudly. "We have engaged Ha'taks. Two destroyed, three crippled. We've separated saucer and have taken minimal damage."

Cain had to refrain from laughing. The ship was hulled in a dozen places, had fires raging out of control on three decks, had three weapons emplacements destroyed, God-Emperor alone knew how many crewmen dead and had broken itself in half due to a faulty reactor. If this is minimal damage, he thought, I hope I don't see serious damage any time soon. Suddenly the ship shook as the two delaying Ha'taks entered weapons range. There was a loud, concussive boom as a staff cannon bolt slammed into the ship just metres away from the armoured bridge.

"Astrometrics just took a hit!" Thompson called.

"Sir, the lone undamaged Ha'tak has just launched death gliders." Frehy continued doggedly to the ground team. "We'll try to blow them up, but the crippled Ha'taks are shielding them." Cain could hear the xeno sighing over the comms.

"Well, that's just... prime." It muttered, the expression sounding more like a curse as the link went dead.

The Kirk sped through space towards the two Ha'taks, but the enemy gunners had adapted to the vessel's new shape. Bolt after bolt slammed into the prow, rupturing the hull in a dozen places, knocking out a phaser array and tearing gashes across the armoured hull.

The exchange wasn't all one-sided, however. The Kirk unloaded what guns it still had functioning, phasers slashing across the hulls of the enemy vessels and torpedoes tearing out whole sections of the enemy warships. One torpedo set off a series of secondary explosions inside one of the Ha'taks, the vessel slowly being torn apart from the inside out as its fuel and munitions detonated. The second Ha'tak took a hit directly to its reactor, and began drifting wildly as it lost all power.

The ship surged past the hulks of its two vanquished enemies towards the remaining Ha'tak. The vessel, its complement of fighters expended, hurtled towards the Kirk, all guns blazing as it rushed forwards into weapons range. The two ships exchanged fire at long range, the Ha'tak slowing down as it began firing, happy to hold off at long range as the Federation ship powered forwards. The ships hammered each other brutally. The Kirk took hit after hit along its unshielded hull, its armour buckling under the impacts and fires breaking out throughout the vessel. The Ha'tak's shields went down rapidly, but the undamaged ship retained the upper hand in the exchange.

Consoles sparked throughout the bridge of the Federation ship as the vessel's hull began to crack under the relentless salvo. Their weapons were certainly hitting the Goa'uld ship hard, but it didn't look like they were going to be able to take it down quickly enough. How in the name of the Emperor am I going to get out of this one? Cain wondered, looking franticaly around the bridge for inspiration. He looked over at McCarthy just in time to see the old man's eyes widen in fear.

"INCOMING!" He yelled, pointing at the viewscreen. Cain looked over, seeing a bolt of energy headed straight for them.

He grabbed onto part of the railing that ran around the bridge just as the bolt hit, exploding through the viewscreen violently. Shrapnel from the blast shredded a red-shirted ensign where he stood as everyone rushed to grab a hold of something. Then just as suddenly there was a massive blast of air rushing outwards towards the breached hull, sucking debris, consoles and a pair of screaming crewmen out into the void before a force field of some sort sealed the breach.

Cain slumped to the ground in relief, amazed at their survival.

"Oh shit!" Thompson screamed, pointing out of the gaping hole in the bridge. Cain looked out in horror. The viewscreen was gone, but he hardly needed that any more. The last Ha'tak was clearly visible, the Kirk flying straight at it.

"Pull up!" Cain yelled franticaly. "Helm! Pull up!" There was no response. Cain looked over and saw to his horror that the helmsman, and indeed the helm controls, were simply gone, sucked out into space.

"Hang on!" McCarthy yelled.

Frehy stabbed at the intercom franticaly. "All hands, brace for impact!" He screamed into it as the Ha'tak grew and grew as they rocketed towards it, the enemy vessel trying ponderously to veer out of the way.

The stricken and pilot-less James Kirk slammed into the Ha'tak at full impulse, the edge of the saucer tearing through the pyramid section of the vessel like a knife through flesh. The prow of the Federation vessel crumpled under the impact, anyone still in those sections were crushed to death or torn out into space as the forward sections of the hull ruptured.

Cain was thrown forward as the ship hit, slamming into what was left of the bridge's forward hull and slumping to the ground, dazed and bleeding but alive. Consoles across the bridge erupted violently, showering everyone with sparks as the bridge buckled under the stress of the impact. The science officer was fried where she stood; bolts of electricity arcing out from her console towards her. Frehy, still sitting at his post, was blinded as his computer detonated, his face flayed by shrapnell. He fell to the ground shrieking as parts of deck plating burst free and began ricocheting around the room wildly. The body of one of the bridge security guards landed next to Cain, the man's skull pulped as he hit the wall head-first.

Cain staggered to his feet, coughing in the thick smoke that had engulfed the bridge. Looking aft he could see a blazing fire rising from the ruins of the engineering console.

"Who's still standing?" Cain yelled, looking around for his cap, his vision blurred. He put a hand to the back of his head and felt blood. Frak it. He thought absently, figurng he had better things to worry about.

"I'm here, sir." Jurgen replied, appearing at Cain's shoulder as though nothing had happened.

"I'm all right!" Thompson yelled, coughing and tackling the fire head-on with an extinguisher he'd aquired somewhere.

"The Commander's down!" A gold-shirted engineering officer yelled franticaly, shaking a prone figure.

Cain hurried over, stepping around Frehy who was still shrieking and clutching his ruined face. McCarthy was lying on the ground unconcious in a pool of his own blood. His right arm was missing from the elbow down, probably taken off by one of the pieces of deck plating that had gone flying around.

"Damnit. Get a medical team up here now!" Cain barked, looking around. He, Jurgen, Thompson and the engineering officer seemed to be the only ones still standing. A sudden thought occurred to Cain. "And why the hell haven't we been blown up yet?" He asked in mild surprise.

Thompson struggled to get his console working again as the engineering officer staggered over to Frehy's sparking console to try to call for help. Cain could see a piece of shrapnel embedded in the man's thigh.

"Uh...the enemy ship appears to be out of control." Thompson replied, frowning at his console. Cain looked out of the hole in the hull, seeing the Goa'uld vessel tumbling away from them towards the planet, debris streaming like conffeti from a huge gash in the ship's hull. Must have hit the bridge. He thought idly.

"Oh. Good work." Cain muttered vaguely.

"Medical team to the bridge ASAP! Medical team to the bridge ASAP!" The engineering officer was yelling into the intercom.

"Um, sir?" Thompson spoke up again, this time with a worried tone to his voice.

"What now, Lieutenant?" Sighed Cain.

"Uh, the enemy ship seems to be out of control."

"Yes. You said that." Cain replied.

"Yes...but....it's falling towards the planet."

"Do you know where it'll impact?" Cain asked with a sinking feeling, fearing he already knew the answer.

"Uh, yes sir. It's going to hit the ground facility where our team is."

"Frak." Cain swore. Could things never just go smoothly, for a change? "Can you do anything about it?" Thompson tapped at his console, then swore.

"Sorry, sir. The tractor beams are down. I think we lost them in the impact. And I don't think shooting at it will do any good. We'd just turn one big piece of debris into hundreds of small ones, and any misses would kill the team."

"Frak." Cain swore again.

"Sensors are still operational. We could beam the team back up." The engineering officer -Hernandez, Cain remembered him now- spoke up, limping over.

"How long have we got until the ship hits the ground?" Cain asked. Thompson consulted his console.

"Just 15 minutes. Should we beam them up?" He replied. Cain began to shake his head, then paused. He was feeling very light-headed. Perhaps the impact with the wall had shook him up worse than he'd thought.

"No, wait." He said. "Hail the ground team. Get me...get me Ashok." He ordered, feeling that he trusted the Librarian's judgement better than he trusted his own right now.

"Yes sir." Hernandez replied, and began staggering once more over to Frehy's console. The young lieutenant had thankfully stopped screaming, instead just lying still and making a pitiful whimpering noise.

"Got it, sir." Hernandez said, tapping at the console and flinching back to avoid a new shower of sparks.

"Ashok, this is Cain." The Commissar spoke loudly. "We've got a problem. A big one. We've wiped out the Ha'tak fleet, but have taken heavy damage. One of the ships are falling out of control towards the surface and we've got no way to stop it. You're right at ground zero for the impact. Sensors indicate that you've got about 15 minutes. Please tell me you've got everything you need."

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Primal touched down near the assault team. His large feet sidestepped the maimed and gory remnants of the Jaffa and Kull, but he was more fascinated than disgusted. "Xan's right," he said. "They've got the tools to get it out faster." He looked to Rhinox. "Although might be a good idea for you to go and help, old friend."

Rhinox nodded and sent his chain guns back into his subspace storage. "No problem, Optimus," he said before moving to the main entrance.

Just then, Cain's voice came over the comlink. "Ashok, this is Cain." The Commissar spoke loudly. "We've got a problem. A big one. We've wiped out the Ha'tak fleet, but have taken heavy damage. One of the ships are falling out of control towards the surface and we've got no way to stop it. You're right at ground zero for the impact. Sensors indicate that you've got about 15 minutes. Please tell me you've got everything you need."

Primal's optics widened as silence descended on the group. "What..." he said. "Put Frehy on the line! Last I heard, it was minimal damage!"

Cain's voice came over again. "I would, but the good commander has lost half his face."

Primal growled, then turned sharply to Rhinox. "Rhinox, get in there and help out ASAP. Get them aboveground with the naquadah and ZPM for transport." He then touched the side of his head and looked up. "Kallen, get out of here and back to the James Kirk. There's nothing more you can do." He looked back to the assault team. "Any ideas, folks, before Unicron's hand comes down on us?"

[Tsukiyumi]

Jack glanced around the corner of the seared hole, and ducked back. He signaled clear to the rest of the team; Roland strafed and jogged inside, the two massive revolvers covering both sides of the wide hallway. The large, masked alien called Dothude pressed a control on his gauntlet and nearly disappeared; Jack watched his shimmering form thump past as he took the lead, further down the hall. Jack moved inside the pyramid as well, aiming his rifle by it's iron sights as he ducked behind one of the gold-relief pillars.

The woman in the military kit and the other man followed, taking up a position behind Roland. Dietrich, the woman, took up the rear as the group advanced to the intersecting hallway, covering their entry point. Dothude's form shimmered into view briefly as he moved around the corner; he was almost completely invisible against the inlaid background. Roland swept around the other corner, quickly taking cover behind another pillar. He signaled clear, and Jack advanced, crouching before he reached the edge, and aimed down the hall. The other man, Robert, jogged across and joined Roland on the other side, and Dietrich's gear rested against Jack's back as she crouched as well, aiming back at the entry.

He's not even armed, Jack thought, looking at Robert, I didn't need a civilian to watch after.

They'd all seen the layout, and Dothude re-appeared for a moment, gesturing to follow before vanishing again. Jack and Roland both advanced rapidly up the hallway, following the alien's shape; Dietrich and Robert followed close behind.

The group continued, climbing up several levels toward the objective. The ZPM was some sort of power source, if Jack understood correctly; the details were a bit over his head. They took up positions near the doorway to the reactor; Roland's face was almost glacial in it's calm as he holstered one of his guns, and reached for the control. As Roland touched the small glyph, Robert gestured him to pause.

"I'll handle this; you guys guard the rear," He said, cracking his knuckles. Roland glanced at Jack, eyebrow raised. Jack shrugged, and aimed down the adjacent hall. Roland turned the glyph, and the doors slid open, revealing a large control area, and a pair of startled Jaffa soldiers.

Robert raised his arms, and the Jaffa weapons froze solid before they were fully raised; the armored soldiers charged anyways, swinging the staff-shaped weapons in wide arcs. Twin columns of frost blasted from Robert's hands as a thin coating of ice crystals covered his body; the Jaffa slammed against the walls, immobilized with wide bands of solid ice.

So 'Iceman' isn't just a nickname... Jack thought, wide-eyed. Robert ran to the console, and began the procedure to remove the ZPM. Roland held up his hand as Dothude suddenly re-appeared, thick blades springing from the alien's wrist gauntlet. Jack heard it a second later; the metal-on-metal sound of Jaffa armor approaching. He readied his rifle, sighting down the low-mag scope as the first of the column of soldiers stormed around the corner.

Roland's guns thundered, and the first two Jaffa went down with large holes in the centers of their forehead tattoos. Jack's G36 added several sharp reports, and the next soldier fell. Now they were pouring around the corner, and bright yellow bolts of energy sizzled past Jack's head as the Jaffa returned fire. A blue-white pulse blasted one of the helmeted Jaffa in the head, leaving a shattered hole where the hawk-shaped mask had been. Dothude roared, firing another blast down the opposite hall, where a number of the soldiers were trying to flank them; Roland spun, gunning down three of the flanking group as they tried to reach cover. Two more of the armored soldiers quickly died under Roland's guns, and Jack continued firing on the first group, a number of rounds glancing off of the Jaffa armor before finding their marks.

"Do we have the ZPM or not!?" Jack bellowed as he ducked back to reload. Roland had taken cover as well, his deft fingers reloading his cylinders before Jack could reach his next magazine. Roland strafed quickly across the hallway; his guns belched four shots, and four Jaffa from the first squad lost large parts of their heads. The slain soldiers lay in piles across the hallway floor; reinforcements began slipping in pools of blood from their fallen comrades. Jack began picking them off as they fell.

" Dammit, I asked you a question! DO WE HAVE THE PACKAGE!?" Jack shouted as the body of a helmeted Jaffa slid across the floor. Dothude had engaged the soldiers hand-to-hand, running them through with his wrist-blades with one hand as he sliced through others with a disk-shaped weapon.

Iceman held up a hand, then grabbed the small glowing cylinder as it slid up from the console's center, " I've got it! Let's get out of here!"

Their comms chirped simultaneously as a message came through from the spaceship.

"Ashok, this is Cain." The Commissar spoke loudly. "We've got a problem. A big one. We've wiped out the Ha'tak fleet, but have taken heavy damage. One of the ships are falling out of control towards the surface and we've got no way to stop it. You're right at ground zero for the impact. Sensors indicate that you've got about 15 minutes. Please tell me you've got everything you need."

Jack's eyes narrowed, "Fifteen minutes is plenty of time." He growled, laying down another Jaffa as Iceman ran across the intersection. A wall of ice shot from the floor, blocking the passageway, and a similar one sprung up on the opposite side.

Dothude stood from his crouch, sheathing his wrist-blades. He'd been preparing to take a trophy from this last Jaffa; the soft-meat had actually managed to land his blade in Dothude's thigh before being disemboweled, but this changed things. Withdrawal was the priority.

Primal came in over the comm, "Rhinox, get in there and help out ASAP. Get them aboveground with the naquadah and ZPM for transport."

Jack hit the small comm unit and responded, " We'll meet you outside of the entry point. Package in hand, repeat, package is in hand."

As sections of the ice walls shattered under Jaffa staff blasts, the group sprinted back the way they'd come.