Title: "Delenda est Stonefist" (Part 2 of 2)
Author: First Lieutenant Johnny Chee
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

"The battle appears to be in our favor so far," Barek commented to Johnny as they led the troops over the pontoon bridge. "How long can they possibly hold out against such an onslaught?"

"Remind me to tell you about an the siege of the Alamo sometime," Johnny replied.

"Beg your pardon, sir?" the Bajoran nomcom asked.

"An old Earth battle in 1836: Texas separatists vs. Mexican regulars. Similar situation, with technology not terribly far ahead of what the Horde has. The Texans held out for thirteen days," Johnny replied. Not much about this campaign had given him cause for optimism.

"I see," Barek replied. Though no historian even of his own world, Barek was, if nothing else, a pragmatist.

As the Virgo and Borial forces advanced over the bridge the Horde forces began to storm out of the gates of Stonefist and form skirmish lines in front of the breaches in the gate and walls.

"Platoon leaders, dress your lines!  Phalanx formation!" Johnny called out. The platoons separated out of the larger structure, forming into box-like formations with shields interlinked. The front rank of each phalanx presented its pikes and marched toward the Horde lines.

Horde footmen were skewered by the dozen by the advancing infantry. Occasionally a pike would be broken by a Horde sword or axe, only to be replaced by a pike from the rank immediately behind. Soon the Horde
were up against the walls, pushed off the main field of battle. The last of the pikes broken or firmly embedded in Horde footmen, the Virgos and Borials drew swords and began the true hand-to-hand fight!

The time for massed-unit tactics was over, so Johnny jumped into the fray, his borrowed bat'leth slashing into the advancing enemy. Before the battle, Johnny had supposed he should use a native weapon, but given the choice between a weapon forged by a people who had only learned how to manufacture steel no more than a few months ago and a weapon, though technologically equivalent, which was forged by a civilization that had been industrialized for centuries, Johnny knew what he would choose every time. A Horde idej shattered as the bat'leth slammed into its blade. Johnny drew a Borial dagger with his free hand and gut-stabbed his attacker, then turned to face his next enemy.

Sergeant Barek was dispensing his own form of deadliness to Johnny's right, using two short swords to fend off a Horde attacker: parrying a blow with one, then drawing the other across the Horde footman's throat. Barek then spun around and planted a sword deep into the belly of another attacker behind him.

Johnny heard a bloodcurdling cry behind him and turned just in time to see a Horde soldier charging at him with a gigantic steel battle axe. Johnny drove the dagger deep into the Horde's belly, then threw him judo-style over one shoulder. The Horde tried to get up but was cut short (literally) by the sweep of an idej across his neck.

"Thought you'd like some help!" Jenara said, smiling.

"What are you doing in the front lines?" Johnny asked.

"Just because I ran out of arrows doesn't mean I've run out of fight!" Jenara exclaimed as she jabbed her idej into another charging Horde footman bayonet-style.

The Horde dead began to pile up around the army's ranks, although more than a few of Johnny's army lay dead or wounded as well. Still, the Horde kept coming, though not in as great a number or with the same
intensity as before. Johnny, Jenara, and Barek formed a triangle, each one guarding the others' backs, as they moved toward the city walls. Already the first Virgo and Borial forces were beginning to advance into the city.
 

Title: "Thudd's Justice"
Author: Lieutenant Benton
Stardate: 2460307
EarthDate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Benton crouched in the hidden cave exit near the gates of Stonefist. As he waited for the signal to attack, he thought back a few days...

He had been sitting with his back to the stone wall of the lava tube the Virgos had made their base camp. It was about a mile from Stonefist. He sat quietly, watching Richard Wallace, Johnny Chee and Jonathan Lataro planning their offensive.

He remembered thinking that it would be a difficult assault, since there was no easy access to Stonefist, but then something small hit him in the head from above. Benton leaped up. He noticed there was a small opening in the tunnel wall where none had been before, and something was in it. He made a grab for the vague shadow and hauled it out into the main lava tube.

The creature struggled valiantly, but was finally wrenched out of his hiding place with a gravely "Yaaaaarrrrr!!!" It landed heavily on the cave floor as several dozen security men, attracted by the commotion, converged on it with weapons drawn.

The creature picked itself up off the ground, but when it noticed the ring of armed soldiers, it cowered in fear and said in a raspy voice, "Away put your weapons! I mean you no harm! For to help you I am here."

Then Benton recognized the gnomish creature. "Gori!" he said. "How pleasant to see you again." He waved his men back. The Aody spy, Gori, looked relieved. He made a hand signal toward his secret little opening and to Benton's surprise, five more Aody hopped out.

Gori and the Aody explained to the Virgo tacticians that there was a network of tunnels that ran underground in this area for miles in every direction. Not these lava tubes, but secret tunnels cut by the Aody spy network. Some of them led to the plateau under the city of Stonefist.

...It was in one of these hidden tunnels that Benton and his men huddled now, waiting.

The wait was over! The first ballista attack against the main gate was the signal for Benton's men. Quickly and efficiently, they swarmed out of the cave mouth and began running toward the city walls and the base of one of the largest towers. The tower had a commanding view of the field immediately around the gate, and any assault would be exposed to enemy fire from within. Benton's assignment was to take out the tower before the Virgo assault began.

Ten of the largest security men carried fifty-pound kegs of black powder on their shoulders as they jogged toward the tower. The rest of the team surrounded them for protection. Benton and Thudd were among those lugging powder, while Sitto commanded the guards. The ever-present Francesca came up close behind Thudd, carrying the torch that would light the fuse.

Suddenly, an arrow stuck in the ground right in front of Benton, and a hundred croaking battle cries sounded from above! They had been spotted! Arrows started raining down on them from innumerable arrow slits. One of the keg-carriers went down. "Cover!" shouted Benton. A group of Borials came running carrying what looked like a huge shield over their heads. The shield was at least thirty feet square. Quickly, the Borials maneuvered until the shield protected the Virgos carrying the kegs. The dropped keg was picked up by Thudd, who was now carrying two, and the entire troop continued on toward the tower wall. Arrows could be heard thumping uselessly against the top of the shield.

Then suddenly, they stopped. Benton was instantly wary. "Watch for Horde troops!" he shouted. But the warning was unnecessary. All around the base of the tower, trap doors on the ground sprang open and Horde warriors jumped out.

"Looks like the Aody aren't the only ones with secret tunnels!" shouted Sitto. "Prepare for hand-to hand!" The Virgos guarding the kegs readied their weapons for the Horde assault and the shield carriers moved off. More arrows from above were unlikely since there were now Horde on the battlefield. The keg carriers continued their
inexorable march to the tower. They were almost there.

With a clash of metal on metal, the battle was joined! The hideous Horde fought to protect their city, the Borials fought to free the Aody and the Virgos fought a fight that was not their own, but which they had been forced into by the mysterious gods of this planet. However the battle has some virtue to it, and that's what kept them
going.

As Sitto led the defense against the attackers, Benton's keg men finally reached the tower wall. He set down his burden and Thudd placed his next to Benton's. The other kegs were lined up around the curved face of the tower, so that when they blew, the entire outer base of the tower would vanish. Deprived of its support, the tower
should topple and take a large portion of the city wall with it in the bargain.

That task done, Benton signaled Francesca. She uncoiled the length of fuse from her belt and inserted one end into one of the kegs. Benton turned away and drew his sword, running to join Sitto's men in keeping the area secure long enough for Francesca to do her job.

But then, from behind him, Benton heard a scream. He spun to see that Francesca had been knocked to the ground by a Horde warrior who had somehow slipped through their defenses. The torch she had been carrying lay on the ground a few paces from her. The Horde yanked the fuse line from the keg and hurled it as far as he could. A few other Horde picked it up and quickly cut it to useless little pieces.

The Horde who had attacked Francesca advanced menacingly on her, while she tried to scramble backward on the ground. The Horde raised his idej, point down, for the final blow. Benton ran to Francesca's aid, but he knew he'd be too late. "Nooooo!!!!!!" he shouted in frustration.

Just then, the point of a blade blossomed from his chest. The Horde grunted and tried to turn, but instead its legs gave way and it toppled forward to land face first in the dirt. A bronze idej sprouted from his back. Thudd stood above the fallen Horde and yanked his weapon free. He wiped the blood from the blade on the leg of the
motionless Horde.

"My hero!" shouted Francesca. She got to her feet and looked around for where the Horde had thrown the fuse line. When she spotted the shredded pieces, her beaming smile turned quickly into a frown. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Now how are we going to set off the explosives?!?"

Thudd stepped over and picked up the fallen torch. "Fear not. All will be well," he told Francesca.

By this time Benton had run up. He could tell something was transpiring between Francesca and Thudd, but he couldn't tell what. They were staring at each other.

Thudd said to Francesca, "Go! I will take care of the explosives." With that, Thudd ran toward the row of black powder kegs.

Francesca shouted after him, "No! You can't! You'll be killed!"

She would have run after him, but Benton held fast to her arm. It had become obvious what was going on. He tried to use a sympathetic yet urgent voice, "Francesca! We have to go. Thudd knows what he's doing. Trust him!" He started pulling Francesca in a direction away from the tower.

Benton sought out Sitto. He found him, still in the thick of the fighting. Sitto was handling himself extremely well; there were more than a dozen slain Horde warriors around him. Benton gave him the hand signal to retreat. Sitto looked over to where the kegs were and guessed what Thudd was planning to do. "Retreat! Retreat!" he shouted to the men around him. "She's gonna blow!" He and his men ran for their lives, leaving the confused Horde alone on the battlefield wondering why their enemy had fled in so cowardly a manner.

Then they noticed Thudd, all alone on the field with nothing more than a torch for protection. A hundred Horde charged as one toward him.

Thudd faced the onrushing Horde mass with unflinching gaze. For centuries, the Horde had killed his people and ruined his planet. Now he, Thuddius, would get his just revenge.

>From far off, safe near the hidden Aody cave, Francesca watched with teary eyes. She saw Thudd turn his head in her direction and raise his torch as if in salute. Then, just before the black mass of murderous Horde reached him, the torch swung down and touched off the explosives.

A huge orange fireball mushroomed out from the base of the tower wall and clouds of billowing black smoke obscured the scene. A moment later, the echoing boom and rumble reached them. A powerful shockwave blasted past the onlookers, forcing them to lean into it or be knocked over. So slowly that it seemed to happening in slow motion, the tower began to lean and buckle. It came crashing down, and as it did it tore
away half the city wall on this side of the city. Pillars of dust and smoke rose and billowed outward for thousands of yards, obscuring everything from sight.

All the Horde that had been beneath the tower walls, as well as all the Horde in the tower and on the wall and nearby inside the city were crushed by the thousands of tons of falling stonework. Nothing living had survived.

Benton was standing behind Francesca. He tried to comfort her. He quietly said, "Don't be too sad, Francesca. His sacrifice was a very noble one, and it's what he felt he had to do."

Francesca turned away from the gruesome scene. She walked over to Benton without a word and just buried her face in his chest.

Benton put his arms around her and gently patted her back. *This is just the beginning. There's still a long fight ahead of us.*
 

Title: "Payback"
Author: Captain Stephen Maruu
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Stephen heard the huge explosions in the background and knew it was time to act. He motioned to Dweezle. "Okay, you're going to need to act very much like a Horde. With the universal translator, you don't need to speak their language. But you need to act like they do. Even hit me if you have too."

Dweezle nodded. "How will we get out?"

Stephen smiled. "Leave that to me." He signaled to a Horde guard. One of the few people that wasn't fighting. "Sir! Sir! This man here. There's something you should know about him."

The Horde approached the cell. He didn't get too close though. "Orrk?"

"Come closer! If he hears what I am going to tell you, he will bite my leg off."

The Horde positioned himself closer to the cell. "Fanti orrk?"

Stephen whispered, "Well, you see..." Suddenly, he extended his hand through the bars, grabbed the Horde's neck, and began to choke the Horde against the bars. "Dweezle, grab the keys!"

Dweezle grabbed the keys and fumbled with them until he found the right one. Then, he opened the cell.

Stephen choked the Horde harder until the vicious animal stopped moving. Then, he got out. "Dweezle, switch clothes with him."

Dweezle quickly did as he was told and reappeared in full Horde battle dress. "Just like old times, eh?"

Stephen smiled. "You know it." He grabbed the dead Horde with Dweezle's clothing and placed him in the cell. "Now, take me to Stephen."

Dweezle grabbed Stephen's arms, loosely tied them, and led him along as his prisoner.
__________________________________________

Stephen was in a large room decorated with dark stone and grime. He was standing before a man who, by his dress and the throne he was sitting on, was the commander-in-chief of Stonefist. "Your majesty, I place my case before you because I am in need of that prisoner that looks so much like me. He will become a sacrifice I will take to the Dark Mountain and ensure the continuous reign of the Horde Empire!"

The Horde nodded. "Horeinn oseringu ase juosk!"

"Thank you." Stephen was about to leave when a huge Borial-like giant burst into the room. He was wearing armor bathed in gold but darkened by gunpowder and cracked in a few places.

Thuddius yelled out, "Die, Horde!"

The Horde commander pulled out a weapon. "Heroculik! Thudd iu lemtko!" He jumped at Thudd.

Thudd only backhanded the man. The Horde was thrown against the wall so hard that when he hit, blood splashed everywhere. Thudd smiled as he saw Stephen. "Leader of the Virgo. Your people are among the most
honorable I have ever encountered."

"Thank you. You do me too much honor."

"Watch out, Borial! He is not Stephen!" came a voice from the door.

Thudd turned around and saw another Stephen clad in only leather pants and boots. His chest and arms were bare. Dweezle was standing behind him.

Thudd looked at both of them, closed his eyes in prayer, and reopened them in the evil Stephen's direction. "You will not leave this place!"

An explosion of smoke revealed a large centaur-like beast with curved horns on his head. He stood between Thudd and the evil Stephen. The monster grabbed Thudd and threw him against the now-empty throne.

Meanwhile, the evil Stephen grabbed the good Stephen. He lifted his arm and disappeared in an explosion of black smoke.

Dweezle decided to help Thudd. He ran to the centaur. The centaur tried to trip Dweezle with its tail, but Dweezle jumped over the monster's tail and used his telekinesis to throw him against Thudd's arms. Thudd squeezed the monster with all his might, crushing its chest.

The centaur fell to the floor and burst into flames. It disintegrated in the fire.

Dweezle looked at a gasping Thudd. "So, who are you? You seem a bit larger than the rest of the Borials?"

"I am Thuddius. I'm not a full Borial. I'm Kalmar's son with a Borial woman. I'm a demigod."

"Wow." Dweezle sighed.

"And who are you? You look like a Horde, but you are not a savage beast like them."

"I'm a Virgo. My loyalties are to them."

"Well," said Thudd, "now that we have killed their leader, let's turn the Aody against their masters."

"What about..."

"Stephen will be fine. Kalmar promises me that."

"Okay. Let's do it." Thudd and Dweezle left the throne room and ran out to find Aody being led into a group of dungeons.

Thudd grabbed two Horde and threw them back into the air. They landed on a group of bricks. "Listen up, Aody!"

Dweezle ran up to the Aody. "The destruction you see before you has been caused by the attack of the Virgo and Borial troops. They bleed and die to save you! Now is the time to rise up! Be free! Rise and defend yourself!"

"Right, he is! Freedom!" yelled a little Aody.

"FREEDOM!!! FREEDOM!!!" yelled the whole of the Aody slaves. They began to grab the shovels, rakes,  pitchforks, and other such weapons. Then, the little army ran to the Horde and began to kill them off one by one.
 

Title: "The Eagle Eyes"
Author: Lieutenant Garek Loran
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Garek, peering at the front lines with what was left of his sight, saw Jenara Tomme, and the rest of her archers, now clad with short swords, idejs, and the liking, begin hand-to-hand combat; he knew that they were out of arrows. He then turned to his engineering teams.

Garek, and his group, were situated nearly one hundred yards away as the back up barrage of archers, mainly, because his group, and some of the Borial archers, were the most accurate. The reason for this being that Antilles was one hell of a teacher, which is one of the main reasons he picked her to lead the Alpha engineering Team.

"Ensign!" Garek yelled out. Just before the battle, per Johnny Chee's orders, they were fitted with new helmets. Garek thought they somewhat reduced visibility, but he, being the prime example of the need for these helmets, gladly took them over being blind.

"Yes, sir!" Jennifer Antilles yelled back. She was positioned in a straight column with her archers, ready to fire another round of bolts into the Horde group still inside the gates.

"Get the teams together and have them start sniping off any of those Horde archers that could cause any damage. I don't want more people getting blinded or killed in there."

"Can do, sir." She turned to give a small briefing to her teammates. Garek then told the same to Celchu, Jacobsen, and Wiley, the other team leaders. In order to give the Horde archers and such less targets to shoot at, he had broken up the groups into three teams. Antilles, was in charge of the main group, composing of Alpha and Beta teams, with Celchu her XO. Marcus Jacobsen was placed in command of Gamma and Delta teams. Wiley, who wasn't the most pleased of the group, was in charge of the Borial archers. The reason for the unpleasantness was because he wasn't able to be in command of his own engineers. However, he was starting to make friends with the Borials in his group, especially the female archers. All Garek could do was roll his eye, and shake his head.

"Save your bolts archers. Only shoot when you see the yellow in their eyes!"

"Uh, sir. How are we going to do that. They're pretty far away," Wiley asked, making a joke.

"You know what I mean." Garek grinned.

"Eagle eyes fire!" Antilles screamed out. Her archers opened fire at a group of Horde foot soldiers that were making their way across a walkway that ran above the gates, around the massive complex. Antilles had given her team a nickname, hoping to raise their spirits, and be more productive. It appeared to pay off when nearly all arrows struck a target moving across that walkway. "Good shot team! They won't be a problem!"

"They won't, but those guys on the boat will!" Jacobsen yelled out, pointing to a craft, fashioned similar to that of a Viking ship. It was loaded to capacity with nearly 100 Horde in it.

*Well, this isn't going to be good.* Garek looked at the boat. He couldn't see any archers on it, but they could be laying in wait. "What's our count on the arrows?"

There was a slight pause, and then numbers started coming in. "We've got about 100 left," Antilles called out.

"About 70 over here, sir," Jacobsen followed.

"We're down to only two per man." Wiley replied, disgusted. He wasn't the best archer in the world, and he was disgusted by the fact that he flew through arrows, barely hitting anything.

Garek thought for a moment. "All right, get your arrows to the best four archers in each group. The rest of you, start digging out those acid arrows." Garek despised those weapons. Ever since he lost his eye, he still can't stand to go to where they're made in the Borial camps, or even be around them when they are used. Except for this, he's made an exception.

The groups shifted positions, aligning themselves up parallel to the boat. "Begin firing at will!" Garek yelled out. His response was the sound of bow strings vibrating after the release of over 120 arrows. The weapons flew over the murky waters surrounding this fortress, and then, they found their mark.

The gelatin acid arrows used by the Horde against the Borials at the Battle of the gate were now retrofitted to be used more precisely by the Borials. The Borials fitted a small black powder charge at the end of an arrow, and then carefully formed the acid bulb over the top of it. With an extra hardening agent, the acid held together in flight over long distances, instead of breaking up in mid-air. Once the arrows hit the ground, the small packet of black powder exploded, forcing the acid out in all directions, functioning just like a shrapnel grenade.

The arrows hit their targets. The normal bolts hit individual Horde foot soldiers while the acid arrows struck different parts of the hull, ranging from inside, on the deck to the mast, raining acid down on all the Horde inside the boat. Screams of anguish and pain could be heard, while steam started to rise up from the inside of the boat itself. Finally, there was no sounds coming from the boat at all.

A cheer and screams of celebration rang out from Loran's group, except from Garek himself. He knew the pain that the Horde on that boat went through before they died. However, he then thought about the menacing,
and ungodly acts that these creatures were performing on the Aody people, and an evil smile crossed his face. These people would pay for what they have done. "Let's move out!" Garek cried out. Cheers erupted from the group. They all picked up their weapons, hooking their bows up to their backs, over their quivers, and took out out their swords and axes. Garek unsheathed his idej from it's walking stick holder. "Let's go give 'em hell!" They then made their way to the frontline where Chee's group of Marines were scaling down the numbers of the
Horde quite efficiently.
 

Title: "Death, but a Chance"
Author: Lieutenant JG Richard Wallace
Stardate: 2460307
Earthdate: April 22, 2383
Location: Xenon III

Richard and Jonathan came up with a battle plan that was outstanding. It was to take the captured gun powder and to attack the rear wall of Stonefist and the two towers on the edge of the rear wall. Then Jonathan came up with a plan to attack the front gate first as a diversion so the Horde wouldn't know which way the real attack was
coming. The plan was to be executed at dark, and Richard had mixed feelings about his attack. He felt it would work but yet it would be costly. Richard gathered up his men: all nine Virgos and fifteen Borials. The Borials were to carry the gun powder, and the Richard's men were to place them and set them off. Richard saw his unit was formed up and ready to go and wanted to end this war. They found out like Richard that combat is not all it's cracked up to be.

Richard picked up his battle axe and turned to his unit and said, "Move out; keep your head out there. If you get separated, don't yell out and don't panic. I will find you. I have never left a soldier behind and don't aim to start now." Richard turned toward the city's dark outline and marched forward towards it. After walking for ten minutes they came within sight of their target. Richard made hand signals as where to put the kegs of  gunpowder. After they were placed, Richard motioned for the group to fall back away from the wall and tower. Richard tied the fuses together and pulled out a smoldering piece of hemp and was almost ready to light the fuse. "Sir, Horde party coming at us 25 yards and closing."

Richard looked up to see the Horde in the towers aiming bows toward his unit. "Take this you filthy pigs." Richard lit the fuse and took off running like hell. The fuse would only give Richard 32 seconds before they exploded.

Then the high pitched sound of a arrow came close to Richard he then fell to the floor.

An arrow struck him in the side and was half way through him. Richard was in extreme pain but got up anyway and fell back down. The bombs exploded lighting up the night. Richard could hear the screams of the Horde caught in the blast.

Richard got to his knees and saw his unit was being cut up bad. "No, damn it!" He picked up his axe and swept three Horde and cut them in half. He quickly took two more.

A Horde quickly attacked Richard. Richard tried to block it but wasn't able to and his left hand was cut off. "AAAAAH!" Richard went crazy after he saw his hand was cut off. He drew his sword and killed many Horde. He saw his unit was wiped out, but he saw a female crewman still alive and moving. Richard moved quickly and picked her up with his right hand. He threw her over his shoulder and ran for camp.

Richard was in very intense pain. The arrow was still in his side and blood was running down his leg both back and front. He could feel the pain in his hand with every heartbeat. Richard staggered like a drunk man trying to find base camp before he passed out from loss of blood.

The female crewmate was wounded in the side by a dagger and was bleeding down Richard's neck to his chest. Richard fell to one knee and tried to lay the girl down without throwing her to the ground. He stopped to tend to his wound and hers for he feared he and the female would bleed to death.

Richard looked to see his wrist was still bleeding. He tried hard to focus to keep him from passing out. "I need to stop my bleeding on my wrist first," he said out loud to himself. He undid the sword sheath and used his dagger in one hand and held the belt of the sheath in his teeth while he cut.

He cut the sheath belt to fit over his wrist. He then tore a piece of cloth off from his kilt-type uniform and placed it over the wound. Richard then held the piece of cloth over the wound and pulled the belt tight with his teeth.

Richard yelled out in pain as the belt and cloth tightened on his exposed wound. Now Richard tore off a big part of his kilt. Now he would tend to the female. Richard left the arrow wound in his side alone because he felt that the arrow was stopping the majority of the blood from coming out.

Richard kneeled over her and stuck the cloth into the knife wound. He then grabbed her by the shirt and stood up and threw her over his shoulder and started off once more. He walked more slowly this time for he was feeling weaker by the moment. Finally, after a slow pace for 20 minutes, Richard stopped and dropped the girl. He fell to his left side.

The thought of dying came into his mind but didn't exactly make him happy. Richard looked up and saw that day light was near and that by now his party was reported missing.

Then he shut his eyes and said to himself, "Just a few minutes."

He opened his eyes to see bright light all around him, and he wasn't in pain anymore. He looked at himself and saw his left hand was there, and he was wearing the Starfleet gold uniform. He stood up and looked around and only saw bright light around him, then the light flickered and he was in Noran.

He saw a man in his mid 40's in a command style uniform with the rank of Commodore. It was Commodore Benjamin Sisko.

"Commodore Sisko, is that you?"

"Yes. I am here to help guide you back to the path of light."

"What are you talking about. Where am I?"

"The Prophets have given me the task to watch out for you and your faith in mankind. They believe you, a Human, was the reason the *Defiant* was able to get through the lines to retake Bajor and DS9 and let me ask for help to save the Alpha Quadrant."

Richard was confused and didn't understand any of this.

"You are to insure that a threat bigger then the Dominion never reaches the Alpha Quadrant. You and your new commanding officer must work together. The path the Prophets have laid out for the USS Virgo is one of many trials."

The city gave way to lava tubes and the light blue sky and the rising suns and a female checking out his wounds.

*It must have been a dream.*

"You're very lucky, Mr. Wallace, that we found you and your fellow unit member when we did. A few more hours with that arrow in your side you would be dead."

Richard was being carried into a tent when he saw Jonathan. "Richard, where is the rest of your unit?"

"I am sorry, sir. All but one is dead."

Jonathan got a long face and shook his head in disbelief. "If it's anything to you the attack was perfect, Richard. Now you get better."