Part 2 Coridan Campaign - The November Counteroffensive - Scouting ahead

Posted on Sat May 3rd, 2025 @ 4:21pm by Staff Sergeant Jordon Basset & Colonel Josiah McEntyre & Sub-Commander T'shir & Captain Johnathan Reece & Captain Gaagii & Sergeant Sonny Holt & Lance Corporal Jeremy Kerr

2,045 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Campaign for Coridan
Location: Jorinal Canyon
Timeline: November 30th, 2156, After Part 1

It took the Colonel about ten minutes to make it to a position overlooking the crash site. It was swarming with Romulans and their Hastati shock troopers. Way too many of them. Dozens of them, encircling the crash site. Josiah pulls out his combat binoculars, focusing on finding his EXEC. He could see smoke, rubble, the nearly intact hull of the Dropship.

He caught the flashes of blue and greens. The Captain was still fighting it seems.

Though he was still pinned inside the dropship, Johnathan had managed to grab his phaser gatling and had started laying down a heavy stream of fire. He had already killed nearly a full platoons-worth of the enemy, doing what he could to protect the other MACOs still in the dropship. Thankfully, for himself, the Romulans seemed to want to take prisoners, or else they would have simply destroyed the dropship wreck, instead of taking losses trying to get close.

Every breath was pain. Bassett, the seat he had been sat on, and the hull to which it had been attached had been catapulted from the rest of the ship in the anti-air fire. Only a quick release of his emergency chute had saved him. Groggily getting to his feet, he had made his way towards the wreckage and the gunfire he could see.

Clutching his side for a second, he threw himself on to the floor beside McEntyre. 'Colonel,' he remarked dryly through the pain, 'doesn't look like our landing went to plan. Rolling on to one shoulder he saw the smouldering wreckage of the dropship, and the fire from Johnathan's gatling. 'Looks like the Cap's got his hands full down there.' He hefted his pistol, the only weapon beside his knife he had left. 'What say we go give him a hand?'

"How many you count, Bassett?" The Colonel asked, passing the binoculars to the Sergeant.

Rolling over on to his stomach, Bassett took a hold of the binocs, and took what felt a long time looking at the Romulan infantry surrounding the remains of the drop ship. 'Too many,' he said succinctly. 'We're well outnumbered.' The man turned his head and grinned through the pain, 'this is what we're trained for, though, Colonel.'

"We'll provide overwatch from here, try to pick them off and then make a run for the crash site once we get an opening, OO-Rah?"

'Sounds like the only chance we've got, Colonel,' Bassett replied with a grin. 'If you've got a spare rifle, that sure would be appreciated. Only managed to keep my pistol on me when the dropship disinte-' he turned at the sound of some rustling behind him, twisting around on to his back, and raising his pistol.

Josiah heard the rustling, turning and aiming his rifle with a click of the charging handle.

Kerr announced his presence once the wreckage was in view and he could hear the voice of his Colonel. "Lance Corporal Kerr approaching site, sir." His shoulder was burning, just a little inflammed from the injury, but nothing he couldn't tolerate.

Bassett let out a breath as he recognised the other MACO and lowered his weapon, and grinned, 'glad you could join the party, Corporal.'

"Agreed, we'll need you for the wounded." Josh let out a tense breath before turning back around. "Right, we do this strategically, cause once we engage, we'll have kicked the hornets nest."

'What do you suggest Colonel?' Bassett asked.

"There's wounded sir?" Kerr asked. "Permission to begin to treat them, Colonel?" Kerr asked.

'They'll be down with the dropship,' Bassett explained, casually handing Kerr the binocs. 'We need to get through some Romulan and Reman groundtroops before we can help our comrades,' he said, a grim set to his expression. 'Colonel, suggestions?'

"Kerr will stay here, while we flank 'em. Once we've pushed them back, Kerr will come down and start helping the wounded." The Colonel elaborated as he picks up his rifle once more.

Corporal Kerr would have protested and insisted that he go along, but he knew he'd be rendered immediately useless in hand to hand with his shoulder precariously relocated less than an hour ago.

"Ready Sergeant?" He asks Bassett.

With his good arm Jeremy lifted the rifle he had slung across his back and held it out toward Sergeant Basset. "Here, Sir. I still have my pistol, and I can take cover."

Basset nodded as he accepted the rifle, and gave it a once over. He clasped Kerr on his good shoulder, 'thank you, Corporal. I owe you a drink once this is all over.' Looking about the group, he began playing with his comm device. 'I'm switching to frequency gamma - we know the Romulans haven't been picking up on it.' Looking to Kerr he flashed a smile, 'keep your ears open, and come running quick if I go down. I've got a pretty face and I'll need you to keep it that way.'

Kerr held back a grin. "Yes, sir!"

Turning to the Colonel, Bassett said, 'ready when you are, Sir.'

Josiah nods, "Take point, Sergeant." Picking up his rifle, Josiah shifted backwards from his position and clambered to his feet.

'Yes, Sir.'

Heading down the ridge, Josiah, along with Bassett moved from cover to cover, trying not to draw attention till they were in the right position. Near the dropship, Josiah gestured to Bassett to split to cover multiple angles. It took a few minutes before they had eyes on the dropship crash site, and zeroing in his rifle, Josiah clicked his radio to signal Bassett to open fire.

Gaagii tried to get to his feet to have a look around. However, the weapons fire and the searing pain in his right leg stopped him from doing so. He recognized the weapons fire as friendly fire. So, he turned his attention to the pain. Gaagii looked down to his right leg and saw the blood ooze and something small, white and slimy protrude from his leg. All at once he knew he had a compound fracture in his lower leg and needed help. Through gritted teeth he spoke into the comm. "This is Captain Gaagii to anyone within the sound of my voice. Zero on my position. I am wounded, possible other friendlies wounded as well." He could see bodies around him but was unsure if they were alive or who they were.

“Cap,” Kurt shouted in between aimed shots, “I think it might be time to bug out.”

A shot hit the shuttle carcass above Kurt’s head, causing him to flinch and duck into cover. In that instant, a Romulan soldier appeared in the opening in front of Kurt.

“Fick dich, Arschloch”, Kurt grumbled as he centered his sights on the Romulan’s chest and squeezed the trigger. The shot hit the soldier square in the chest and he slammed into the torn metal bulkhead behind him.

Hearing the difference in weapons fire outside the dropship hulk, Johnathan called out again from his pinned position. "Friendlies in need of aide, inside dropship." He quickly looked around, taking in the scene. "Four dead, three wounded, and I've got a bulkhead pinning me in place. Be nice if someone brings a can opener with them. Over!" He laid down some more fire from his gatling cannon, until suddenly, the battery pack was exhausted. "New problem! Out of ammo, Over!"

Bassett threw a look at McEntyre as Reece's update reached him over his comm. 'Colonel, we gotta get closer! he cried as he picked his shots carefully, at least winging the masked Romulan soldiers. Ducking from the incoming fire, he snarled in frustration, blood pumping. Momentarily losing his cool, he snapped off a few blind shots, before popping his head round the wreckage he was sheltering behind.

Seeing the fire from the dropship falter, and the Romulans and their Reman auxiliaries advance, he set his jaw. They weren't getting his comrades.

"Make a break for it, Bassett!" Josiah called out, laying down covering fire for the Sergeant to rush the Dropship.

Popping up, Bassett ran straight, legs pumping. For a long moment there was only his breath in his ears, rifle swinging from side to side as his arms pumped, helping him to keep balance. Sprinting through the mud and smoke, the night lit only by the flashing disruptor fire, the Romulans and their auxiliaries stood dumbfounded for what seemed an eternity before raising their rifles in his direction.

Lungs burning, legs straining, Bassett could only pop off a few shots, forcing the enemy to duck their heads as he careened in to the side of the dropship, then ran the length of it before finding a ragged hole. Frantically shouting 'Flash! Flash!' as he ducked in he braced in case someone didn't recognise the code word.

Josiah kept laying down fire, waiting for a chance to make a break for it himself, but taking more fire, ducking again behind the boulder he was using for cover.

When no fire rained down on him, Bassett raised his head, shouted, 'Sergeant Bassett reporting! Who's the ranking officer here?'

“Captain’s over there, Bassett,” Kurt offered between shots, jerking his head in Reece’s direction.

Without waiting for a response from the other NCO, Kurt went back to snapping off shots at the Romulans outside.

'Captain,' Bassett moved to Reece, 'there's a ... relief force of sorts outside. What's our disposition in here? Is it just you and these men?'

Seeing the senior NCO, and his friend from when he was an NCO himself, just a short time ago, Johnathan replied as he tried to free himself from under the hull plating. "Yeah. I'm pinned here, and out of energy packs for my girl here, he grunted, patting his gatlin cannon as he spoke.

Bassett swore under his breath, stooped and planted both feet firmly on the ground, slipped his hands under the plating, and hoisted at the same time as Reece pushed, helping him hoist the plate off his legs. 'You always manage to get yourself in these situations, Sir,' Bassett said with a grunt. 'Roll on out of there.'

Slowly, the large Texan started to feel the pressure lift off of his back. Once there is enough removed, he pulled his large form
clear. As he stood, checking his body for any soreness, he chuckled softly as he replied. "If I didn't, you wouldn't be able to play the role of hero!"

'Very kind of you to volunteer so I can be that hero,' Basset chuckled then let go of the metal. It fell to the floor with a loud crashing and scraping noise. He wiped his hands on his fatigues, and picked up the rifle he had discarded to help the Texan. 'Can you walk, Sir?' he enquired with some concern.

Johnathan nodded as he tested his back and limbs. He then reached down and collected his gatlin cannon. After grabbing a fresh energy pack, he connected it, and the weapon hummed back to life. "Texans don't run, J.B. My girl here and I'll give y'all covering fire to get to safety." He moved to the breach in the hull, then issued a few commands. "Peterson, Jones, you two help Jones and MacCauliff get to safety. Follow Sergeant Bassett's lead." He then looked at his friend. "Jordon, you get these men to safety, then give me cover to get to you guys."

Basset nodded his understanding. 'Alright.' He turned to the men surrounding them. 'Listen up men - our squadmates are outside, they'll provide covering fire while we withdraw. There's some high ground we can fortify. It'll be a firing retreat - I assume you're all good for that?'

Johnathan nodded that he was ready. "On your mark, J.B."

~To be continued~

::OFF::

Colonel Josiah McEntyre
Commanding Officer
Unicorn NX-151/ MACO SOD-Alpha

Captain Johnathan Reece
MACO-SOD-ALPHA
MACO Executive Officer
Unicorn NX-151

Captain Gaagii
Chief Strategic Intelligence Officer
Unicorn NX-151

Staff Sergeant Jordon Bassett
Platoon Sergeant
Unicorn NX-151
[NPC Saul Whitford]

Lance Corporal Jeremy Kerr
Medic
Unicorn Nx-151

Sergeant Sonny Holt
Field Medic
Unicorn NX-151

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