>> Star Trek fan fiction >> Special Ops >> Actions Speak Louder

The deck rocked beneath him as Captain Shawn Gorman fell to the ground. He jumped to his feet without loosing a step. The deck rocked again. He was wearing a sleeveless dark gray uniform with a black combat vest. Strapped to his left forearm was a small rectangular device.

Three other men slowly rounded the corner of the Borg ship with phaser rifles in hand. Each member of the team dressed identical to Captain Gorman.

"Just twenty meters till we reach our position." Commander Doran Lapel, a Bajoran man, said holding his tricorder out in front of him.

Captain Gorman shouted, "Hurry we don't know how long the fleet will last." The Borg ship rocked again.

Lieutenant Comander Tarbis, Romulan by birth, moved ahead of the team. He rounded the corner and went down on one knee his phaser rifle pointing down the corridor of the ship.

"Clear!" He shouted as the rest of the team continued straight on down the hall way.

Lapels' brother Lt. Jonas, he preferred to be called by his first name as was the typical Bajoran way, rounded the second corridor in the same fashion as Tarbis.

Gorman walked on ready for battle. In his hand he held his phaser rifle as if he was a child playing with a toy. He came around the third corridor rifle in front of him. Through the thick smoke he spotted two Borg crew men standing in the distance. He fired his weapon the Borg shuttered and fell to the floor.

Commander Lapel crouched down and opened a bag he had been carrying. He pulled out three large explosive devices and handed them to the team. The men moved with explosives in hand into their assigned positions. The Borg ship once again rocked. Smoke began to fill the area as several bulk heads exploded.

Lt. Allenby sat aboard the cloaked ship attached to the Borg vessel. She hit her comm badge then looked at the sensor board.

The ship rocked and Lt. Jonas stumbled nearly dropping the explosive. He took a deep breath and regained his composure. "Explosive three in place."

The Defiant _swung around firing a full spread of quantum torpedoes. The ship shuttered as the Borg ship fired on it. Several pieces of the Defiant were thrown out into space. In the distance several a Federation ship exploded.

The crew had been running down the hall way from which they came. Gorman stopped, and turned around to see Jonas in the arms of a Borg. In his neck was two small tube like probes that extended from the Borgs forearm.

"NOO!" Lapel shouted as he raced back to help Jonas. He was stopped immediately when he slammed into the chest of Captain Gorman.

"No!" Gorman shouted struggling to hang on to Lapel. "There is nothing we can do for him now."

Gorman turned around and positioned his phaser rifle. He fired a shot killing Jonas.

"You bastard" Lapel shouted. He grabbed the Captain and threw him against the bulk head. He lunged forward punching him in the stomach. Gorman countered with a chop to the throat. Lapel went down.

"We don't have time for this." He looked towards Tarbis. "Doctor!" He commanded.

Doctor Tarbis stepped towards Lapel. Using a hypospray he injected a sedative into his neck. Lapel dropped to the floor unconscious. Gorman bent over picked up Lapel and tossed him over his shoulder. The Borg ship shuttered again. Tarbis fell to his knees. Gorman reached to his left forearm and flipped up the top of the device he was wearing. He ran is fingers over the LCARS pad that was now visible. There was a small flash of orange light as a personal force field was placed around his body. Tarbis did the same.

A female voice came from his communicator, "Sir I'm detecting more Borg crew men in the corridor ahead of you. They have you surrounded."

"Then we'll have to set off the explosives now." He glanced at Tarbis. "Gorman to Allenby, Get out of here, there's nothing more you can do."

The Enterprise moved between the Borg ship and the Defiant. The Enterprise fired on the Borg ship destroying the tractor beam that was locked on to the Defiant then moved off to regroup.

A few moments later Gorman entered his ship via a corridor of the Borg vessel that they had burned into the ship. Tarbis entered behind him with Lapel over his shoulder.

"He's dead." Gorman answered. "Detach ship! Set heading 365 mark 095 prepare warp six."

The ship moved of and prepared to jump to warp. Their orders were to infiltrate the Borg ship, set the explosives, alert the fleet to the now damaged portion of the Borg ship and return home.

"This is Captain Picard of the Enterprise. I am taking control of the fleet. Target all weapons on the following coordinates and prepare to fire on my order."

Shawn Gorman sat in his home in San Francisco. He was thinking about how much he resembles his father. Tall, short dark hair, brown eyes, and built like a brick house. He missed his father. He thought about him every day. It would be easier for him if he knew what had happened to his father. He went over his last transmission over and over in his mind.

"Son, by the time you get this I'll be in the Gamma Quadrant. we are one of just four science vessel being ordered to explore the Quadrant. It will undoubtedly be the greatest experience of my life. It's amazing they only discovered the Worm Hole four months ago and already an armada of ships have passed through it. I wish you were here. I hope to see you soon, and I love you."

Five years later there was still no word from him. His ship had disappeared shortly after entering the Gamma Quadrant. There was a massive search but every corner turned up empty. The one thing he remembered most about his father was how he was so fascinated with twentieth century films. He was so fascinated in fact that he replicated a Television and a Laser disk player so that he was able to watch his movies. Gorman was no exception.

"Inconceivable!" Came the cry from the Television. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

He sat down in the chair across from Gorman. "Well I'm not even sure if you know this but the events that took place on the Borg ship have been taken before a magistrate."

"Well just so you know it wasn't Commander Lapel. He testified at the hearing that there was nothing that could have been done to save his brother."

"You know we have to keep this secret. Your team doesn't even exist as far as Star Fleet is concerned." He was watching Shawn's reaction. "Shawn, the magistrate has ruled in your favor. They decided that you were not at fault for the death of Jonas Lapel."

"I know you are." Jamerson added. "And I assure you that your duty will never be questioned again."

"Well now I see why it has been so long since we have recieved a mission. One year sure is quite a bit of down time?"

"That's exactly why I'm here Captain. I'm not the one who is supposed to deliver your missions to you, but I pulled a few strings. I guess I just wanted to tell you the good news. I thought it would be best to hear it from a friend." He handed Gorman a pad.

"You will receive your replacement for Jonas as soon as you reach the weapons briefing."

Gorman stood up and took the pad. "Thank you Admiral. I appreciate the visit. Of course next time I hope you come under better circumstances."

"Computer." Gorman said looking at the pad. "Decode. Authorization Gorman-omega-three-gamma-nine."

Commander Lapel stood on top of a hill over looking the training facility in central North Dakota. He was not as tall as Captain Gorman, but he was just as strong. His green eyes were rare for a Bajoran man. His light blonde was shaved exposing his scalp. Starfleet aloud him to where his earing while he was not on board a ship. He was wearing the long sleeved version of the dark gray uniform. The Sun had set only a few hours earlier. Lapel was watching the field through a pair of night vision sensor goggles. Explotions were going off in the background. He was watching Starfleet personnel as they ran through the fields with phaser rifles in hand.

"So what do you think?" Came the voice of Commander Alvarez as he walked to the top of the hill to meet Lapel.

Lapel turned to greet the man. "Alpha squad looks great. Beta needs a little improvement." Lapel made a few pointing gestures.

"I'm here," Lapel said annoyance in his voice. "To train these men, and that's exactly what I am going to do."

"Well not any more you're not." Lapel looked at Alvarez. "I'm here to replace you ." Alvarez handed him a pad. "Here are your next orders Commander. Come back to us in one piece eh."

"Let me start by saying that every piece of equipment you see here is assigned to your genetic make up." Michael Mirek spoke. He was the weapons specialist assigned to replace Lt. Jonas. He was the shortest member of the crew only standing a little over five feet tall. His dark hair matched his dark eyes. His hair just touched the top of his ears.

"If anyone else besides the assigned user tries to operate any of the equipment, it will shut down and become absolutely useless." He continued.

All of the Team was now present in the weapons briefing room. The room was oval shaped with the United Federation Of Planets logo painted on the floor and ceiling. In the middle of the room was a table with several different mechanical devises on it. The Team was seated around the table watching Lt. Mirek give the briefing. Lapel, who had not spoken a word to Gorman since the incident on the Borg ship was now face to face with him. Glances were exchanged between the two but nothing was said. Lt. Mirek walked around the table picking up one item at a time and then going over them in detail.

"The USS Shadow Horseman has been upgraded to a phase variance cloaking device. When cloaked she is absolutely undetectable by any ship. Which brings me to this device." He walked over and picked up a small round optical device. "This device is an Optical Relay Cloak Readout, or ORCR for short, it attaches around the eye socket. When activated it will allow you to see the ship or any member of the crew while under cloak. This will be helpful when you have to land and move about a planets surface without having to worry about where you parked so to speak."

"The chip inside is designed to modulate with the cloaking device. It is constantly receiving a signal from the cloaking array. The chip acts as an image server transmitting a view picture to the optical output. Then of course you see the ship." Mirek answered. He placed the device back on the table and continued on.

Lieutenant Tarbis was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Gorman. Tarbis is the medical specialist for the team who very rarely goes by the tittle Doctor. He wore his hair like a traditional Romulan. the only deference in his features is that he is wearing a Federation uniform. He is short by Romulan standards but still matched the size of Gorman. He picked up a rectangular device that he was already familiar with.

"Ah, I was just getting to that." Mirek said. "What we have done is added something to it. We used Jem'HaDar technology to integrate a personnel cloaking device into the force field matrix. Now not only do you have a force field you also can become invisible to the enemy."

"The device has been integrated through out a newly commissioned Independence class ship with hardly any problems at all. The reports from her Captain have been more than pleasing."

He continued to walk around the room. He stopped next to Commander Lapel. "There have not been any changes to the standard vest nor to the phaser rifles. The only thing more I have to add is that the phase cutters that are used to cut through a ships hull have been doubled in intensity therefore making them faster. Other than that this meeting is over. I guess now I should introduce my self. My name Lt. Michael Mirek. I have been assigned to replace Lt. Jonas."

Commander Lapel was the first to stand and approach Lt. Mirek. He walked straight by him and exited the briefing room without saying a word. Captain Gorman felt it necessary to intervene. "Welcome aboard Lieutenant I am Captain Gorman." Mirek saluted. Gorman extended his hand smiling. " The first thing you have to learn is that this is not a Starship, we are all family. We live as a Team and we die as a Team." Mirek who now felt stupid for saluting took Gormans hand. "Lt. Mirek allow me to introduce you to the rest of the Team. First, our medical specialist Lt. Tarbis." Tarbis and Mirek exchanged hand shakes. He motioned towards Tess Allenby. Tess Allenby was a slender woman with shoulder length dark curly hair. She was very athletic and had dark blue eyes. "This is our computer specialist Lt. Allenby." Mirek took her hand. "And that" He motioned to the door. "Was Commander Lapel, he will take a little more getting used to."

"I will remind all of you that this briefing is classified." Captain Gorman said. He was standing at a podium that over looked a briefing table. The team members were seated accordingly. Gorman nodded to Lapel. Commander Lapel pushed a few buttons on his console pad in front of him. A holographic representation of an area of space appeared before them in the center of the table. Gorman continued. "Our mission objective is to infiltrate a Cardassian base located on the surface of Primora IV." Lapel hit another button. A small area of the hologram enlarged itself and revealed a planet. "We will divide into two teams, Commander Lapel and Lt. Tarbis will proceed to take out the Computer core. Lt. Mirek and I will detonate explosives around the shield generator. As always Allenby, you will be our eyes and ears on board the Shadow Horseman."

"There still remains two problems." Gorman continued. "First, we have to find a way to get to the station itself. Second," He paused choosing his words carefully. "Starfleet intelligence has not been able to gain any recognizance maps of the surface. Once we do arrive we are on our own."

The team shifted in their seats. Michael Mirek was the first to speak. "Sir, with all do respect they're sending us on a suicide mission."

Commander Lapel shot him a look. "We shouldn't have to explain the significance of our orders to you Lieutenant. Is that understood?"

"Nevertheless." Captain Gorman intervened. "If we are successful it will pave the way for an attack by the USS Protostar and a Klingon task force. Primora IV is one of the Dominions key ship building yards. Our orders come directly from the Captain of the Protostar himself. The station must be destroyed."

Gorman continued, ignoring Tarbis, "Once we have detonated the explosives we only have three minutes to get off the planets surface before the attack begins."

"No lieutenant, I'm afraid it doesn't." Gorman replied. "We will convene on the ship in one hour, dismissed." The team stood reluctantly and began to walk out the door. "Commander." Gorman said,

"Have a seat Commander." Lapel walked back and took his seat. "You were a little harsh on the lieutenant don't you think?"

"I agree. But are you sure your hostility towards him isn't because he replaced your brother?" Gorman asked reluctantly.

Lapel gave it some thought before he answered. "I don't know sir. I really don't want to get on the subject of my brother right now."

Gorman walked over and sat next to Lapel. "Doran, you and I have been friends for a long time...." Before he could finish his sentence Lapel jumped to feet.

"Captain. This is nothing personal but as soon as this mission is over I will be requesting a transfer onto a Star Ship. I trust you will sign the order." Lapel walked out of the room.

Gorman still sat at the table. "A Star Ship?" He said at loud. "That's worst than a desk job."

The USS Shadow Horseman flew through space. She had just detached herself from the USS Orion who had given her a lift. The "Horseman" was only twice that of a standard runaboat in size, but just as strong as the Defiant. Her elongated nose was a copy of the "Runaboat" itself. The warp nacelles extended out from the center of the ship and were incased in armor much like that of a Defiant Class ship. An upper sensor pod had been attached to the top of the ship. The extra room was needed for the cloaking device. On the Bridge of the "Horseman" Captain Gorman sat in the command chair that was positioned in the middle of the bridge. To his left, Commander Lapel sat at the engineering console. In the front of the bridge seated on the left side was Allenby. Her hands controlled most of the sensor boards through out the ship. To the right side of the bridge Lt. Mirek sat at his console doing a weapons check. On the right side of the bridge Lt. Cmndr. Tarbis sat at his medical readout station. They were all dressed exactly alike, sleeveless dark gray uniform, and a black combat vest. All of them had their personal LCARS pad attached to their left forearm. The only new addition to the uniform was the O.R.C.R. that they each wore around their right eye.

"Sir I believe I found the safest way through the mine field." Mirek said turning to face the Captain.

Halfway between the Captains chair and the view screen, a section of the floor began to rise. It was only one foot in diameter and stopped at a height of just three feet. On top of the device a holographic representation of the area of space they were in appeared. Mirek walked towards it and pointed to a region of space. "We could enter through this Nebula. It is only a few hundred kilometers out of the way. After we exit the Nebula the mine fields are minimal. We should be able to fly right on by under cloak."

"Sir, may I point out that would be the obvious route for any ship to take. Certainly they will have it heavily patrolled." Tarbis interjected.

"What about this area of space here?" Gorman asked. "It appears to be shipping lane."

"It's too far out of the way sir. By the time we reach that possision the fleet will already be in place."

Gorman paused, considering his opptions. "Allenby set course for the Nebula warp six, engage cloaking device."

Captains log supplemental: Thanks to the handy work of Lt. Allenby and Lt. Mirek we have successfully navigated our way through the mine field. We are now en route to Primora IV.

"As far as I can tell the planet is basically dead. There are hundreds of structures through out the planet. The center of the planet appears to have been hollowed out." Allenby answered.

Allenby ran her fingers over console. "Tapping into the Jem'HaDar main computer base." She paused for a few seconds. "Got it sir." She smiled "Realigning phase variance of cloaking device to match that of shield harmonics surrounding the planet."

He turned to Allenby with a grin, "Allenby, can you interface with the main computer and upload some schematics of the base."

"No sir, not from this range. I'll have to touch down on the surface to get a better read out of the computer core."

"I can put us within half a kilometer sir, but that's the best I can do." Allenby answered.

"Just turbulence sir, compensating now." Mirek said. The ship began running smoothly again.

The ship glided across the surface of the planet. It leveled off twenty meters above a small building and came to a full stop. It descended slowly and touched down on the top of the structure.

Each member of the team reached to their right eye and turned the device counterclockwise. A slight hum was heard as it was activated.

A slight orange haze appeared around the team. Less then a second later all of them disappeared. Gorman could view his team through his right eye.

"Initiating high intensity phase distributer." Allenby said. "We should cut through the structures hull in three... two... one... done sir."

Gorman and Mirek stood reday with their phaser rifles pointed down. Lapel flipped the switch on the HIPD and a panel on the floor slid open.

Lapel and Tarbis dropped out of the ship and into the corridor below phaser rifles in hand. Tarbis pointed his rifle to the right, Lapel to the left. "Clear" they said in unison.

Gorman and Mirek drooped down the tube. Mirek, with tricorder in hand, walked in front of Gorman.

Gorman looked up into the ship, Allenby was looking down towards him. Gorman nodded his head and Allenby dropped two bags down to him. Gorman placed one of the bags over his shoulders and strapped it onto his back. The other bag he handed to Lapel who did the same.

"Exactly half a kilometer from the shield harmonic relay station." They started walking.

"Gorman to Allenby, start working on tapping into the computer core, we need some schematics as soon as possible."

Mirek was still holding his tricorder out in front of him. "Sir, I'm picking up a massive power signature twenty meters to the right. It could be the computer core."

"Very well then, lets split up. Lapel, Tarbis head down this corridor." He pointed to the right.

They reached the entrance to the control room and could do nothing but wait. If they detonated an explosive on the outside of the door it would give away their position and alert the Jem'HaDar, so they waited. Several minutes passed. Finally two Jem'HaDar soldiers came walking down the corridor towards them. Gorman stood to one side of the door and Mirek to the other. They watched as the soldiers approached getting closer and closer. Gorman glanced at Mirek. Mirek stood there and began to shake. He had never been in a combat situation before and he never assumed it would be this intense. He watched as the Jem'HaDar stopped less than two feet from him. He knew they were starring straight into his eyes waiting for the right moment to strike him down. The soldier closest to Gorman reached out his hand causing Mirek to flinched. The Jem'HaDar next to Mirek cocked his head to the side looking directly at him, then turned to look at his companion. Mirek held his breath afraid to breathe.

The Jem'HaDar pulled the control panel and entered a six digit code. The door to the control room slid open and the two soldiers entered. Gorman and Mirek slid in behind the Jem'HaDar before the doors had a chance to close. To the far side of the control room three Jem'HaDar sat at a panel monitoring the shield frequencies. To the right were several consoles. On the left side of the room were the communications array and a computer interface.

Gorman motioned to Mirek with his hand to start placing the explosives around the room. The explosives were equipped with a cloaking device. Mirek walked over to Gorman and reached into the back of the bag. He pulled out three explosive discharges and walked away from Gorman never taking his eyes off the Jem'HaDar. The two soldiers they had followed in turned to the left and took their assigned stations. The room itself only measured twenty meters in diameter. Six explosives would be enough Gorman decided. He walked to the right carrying an explosive in his hand. He crawled underneath a console and placed the device in the back.

Mirek did the same, taking all three explosives five meters apart on three different consoles. Gorman made his way to the far end of the room where he met up with Mirek. They slowly walked back to the door that they had entered and waited.

Commander Lapel and Lt. Commander Tarbis walked along the corridor heading towards the power emissions. Tarbis stepped cautiously holding his rifle in one hand and his tricorder in another.

"Commander I'm picking up several Jem'HaDar ahead. They seem to be centered around the source of the power emissions. It must be the computer core main frame." Tarbis whispered to Lapel.

They moved cautiously around the corner. Two Jem'Ha'Dar were seated at a console less than two meters ahead of them. On the left side of the corridor an opening that led to several large computer access panels. Lapel motioned to Tarbis to head inside the door. They moved forward with phaser riffles ready to shoot. Tarbis entered the corridor first. As he entered, a Jem'HaDar soldier turned from his station and moved to exit the room. Tarbis jumped to the side and slid up against the wall. The Jem'HaDar moved less than an inch from him and exited the room.

Lapel crossed to the other side of the room. He noticed several Jem'HaDar had crowded themselves around a console. He moved forward carefully to get a better look as to what they were looking at. A few of the Jem'HaDar dispersed themselves to tend to other duties. Lapel motioned to Tarbis with a "thumbs up" to begin placing the explosives. He walked a couple of steps and glanced at the readout terminal on the console. His eyes widened with surprise and fear. Tarbis seemed to sense something was wrong.

Tarbis glanced towards Lapel who was already heading out of the room. Lapel motioned to Tarbis to retreat. Tarbis quickly followed him out of the room. They made their way back around the corridor out of ear shot of the Jem'HaDar.

Gorman and Mirek stood ready as the doors opened in front of them. Two more Jem'HaDar soldiers entered the room. Before the doors closed Gorman and Mirek slipped out of the room.

Gorman and Merik headed down the corridor to rendevous with the rest of the team.

Gorman smiled. They made their way back where Lapel and Tarbis were already waiting for them.

"Not well sir" Before Lapel could continue he was interrupted by the voice of Allenby.

"Sir I managed to break through to the computer main frame, I'm tranferring some data to your tricorders. Only you're not going to like what you see."

"A Dreadnought missile! Here?" Mirek said stunned. "I've never even heard of one that size."

"According to the readings, this Dreadnought is nearly six times the size of a standard Dreadnought missile." Gorman added.

"Captain, I saw the readout myself. The Jem'HaDar are planning to launch this thing within the hour." Lapel added. "And sir, it's set to hit Earth."

"Sir, if the fleet is out there, by the time they realize that there is a missile launching it will be too late. The chances of them stopping it are minimal." Tarbis said.

"I've been looking over the schematics of the base that Allenby sent us. There is no way that we have enough fire power to destroy the station. At best we can take out the shielding allowing the Fleet to destroy the ship yard; however the missile would remain intact." Tarbis said.

Allenby was listening to the conversation. "No, he's right sir the fleet would be defenseless against that missile. If we reprogram the missile to return to place of origin it will destroy this planet. If you can fix a tricorder in position over the launch console I may be able to break into the computer over ride."

"The only problem with that is, once we do tap into the Dreadnought systems they will know we are here." Tarbis added.

"Understood, but by now the fleet has moved into position and are awaiting our word. This is our only option." Gorman said.

Captain Gorman stood watch in front of the access doors to the main computer room. Lapel was once again standing over the console that had frightened him before. Tarbis and Mirek were on opposite sides of the room watching and waiting with their phaser riffles. Gorman looked back towards Lapel and nodded. Lapel had rigged the tricorder for silent running. He placed the tricorder on the control panel less than a foot front the Jem'HaDar that was operating it.

Lapel nodded back to Gorman. Gorman hit is communicator two times signaling Allenby to begin realigning the trajectory of the missile.

Allenby ran her fingers over the controls on board the "Horseman." Using the extended computer memory on the ship she easily broke one code after another until reaching the Dreadnought systems. She tapped into the dreadnought main frame and accessed the terminal "Trajectory." After a few minutes she realigned the missile trajectory to return to place of origin after launch. She smiled to herself feeling a little egotistical for a job well done. She closed the program and hoped that no one would run a final check on the trajectory before launch.

The lights above Lapel began to flash. A siren was heard as the main computer came on line.

The Jem'HaDar looked around the room, weapons in hand, not completely understanding the computer warning. Lapel jumped back. He let go of the tricorder that was still sitting on the console in front of him. The tricorder revealed itself to the Jem'HaDar. He jumped to his feet. Without warning he swung the blade he was carrying forward striking at the air. The Jem'HaDar barely made it a step when he was gunned down by a phaser blast from Captain Gorman. Lapel stood motionless with fear. The rest of the Jem'HaDar were taken completely by surprise as phaser fires seem to come out of no where striking them down one at a time.

They moved back down the corridor. The station had now gone to full alert. Jem'HaDar were moving down every hall way. The Team stood to the side as soldiers ran past them towards the control room. They moved on. Tarbis turned down the left corridor first. He fired his riffle killing three Jem'HaDar that were standing near him.

They eventually reached the access port to the ship and took position under it. Mirek stood on the far side with his rifle pointing down the hall way. Tarbis waited on the opposite side doing the same.

The Team materialized at the back of the bridge on board the "Shadow Horseman." Gorman was the first to move forward.

"I can't sir." Allenby shouted. "Once the station went to full alert a dampening field erected it self around the base, It's completely shut down the warp core."

Gorman sat in his chair looking towards the blank view screen. He once again thought about his father. About how much he missed him, and how he would never see him again.

"Allenby, send a broad band signal on subspace to the fleet. Tell them Mission Accomplished."

"Sir." Mirek said, "The dampening field is causing an overload in the cloaking matrix. We're decloaking."

A violent explosion rocked the station and the ship. Gorman was thrown out of his seat and onto the floor. A conjugate on the ceiling exploded knocking Mirek unconscious. Tarbis moved to help him.

"The detonations knocked the dampenning field off line." She turned with a smile towards Gorman.

Lapel jumped to his feet and started to run towards the back of the ship. "I'll get the warp core back on line." He shouted.

Mireks' station went to alert. Tarbis took Mireks seat and checked the readings. "Sir," Tarbis said "The Fleet is attacking. I'm detecting three Styx class runabouts and four Spector class ships approaching the command center. looks like they're going to finish the job."

"Wait sir there's something else." Allenby added. "I'm Picking Klingon troops throughout our area. They're drawing fire from the Jem'HaDar." She turned to face the Captain again, this time the smile went from ear to ear. "They're trying to buy us some time to escape."

Allenby turned back to her station. Gorman stood there helpless. He looked around the bridge as if it was for the last time. He watched as Allenby and Tarbis stared at their consoles motionless. Suddenly a familiar hum was heard as main power came back on line.

"Sir Captain Arkcana is concentrating all fire power on the Dreadnought."Allenby said.

"Send personal message to Captain Arkcana, tell him not to worry about the missile or the shipyards. Tell him to get the fleet out of here as soon as possible." Gorman ordered.

On the view screen the missile shot into warp and came to a full stop at the edge of the asteroid field.

"Captain missile changing course, it's heading back towards the planet." Tarbis said.

"We did it sir." Came the voice of Commander Lapel as he walked from the back of the ship and entered the bridge.

Allenby's console chirped "Sir, Captain Arkcana is ordering all units to retreat."

The ship warpped through space with ease. Minor abrasions could be seen throughout the hull. Lapel had done an excellent job getting all of the systems back on line. The ship had entered Federation Space only two hours ago. Being in Federation space was a comfort for all of the crew. Shawn Gorman was sitting in his ready room looking over the report he had just written. His door chimed. He looked up as if he already knew who it was.

Commander Lapel entered the room somewhat reluctantly. He approached Captain Gorman who motioned for him to sit down.

"Yes of course." Gorman picked up a pad off his desk and handed it to Lapel. "I have already signed the order Commander. As soon as we get back to Earth you will receive your new assignment."

Lapel continued. "The moment I got the warp core back on-line and entered the bridge. I looked around and I couldn't have imagined being any where else. Sir, with all do respect, you guys are the only family I have left. My parents died during the occupation, and of course my brother was killed by the Borg. I looked around at you, Tarbis, and Allenby and I knew this is where I belonged.

Gorman sat there a moment without changing expressions on his face. On the inside he was smiling but didn't want it to show. He wanted Lapel to sweat it out a little.

As Lapel exited the room Michael Mirek stepped inside. He abruptly moved to the side so that Lapel could move past. Lapel walked by him and shook his head. Mirek stepped in and looked at Captain Gorman.

Mirek felt a little more comfortable and took a seat. He moaned for a second catching Gorman's attention.

"Yes sir. But I should fully recover within a few days." He paused "Sir, what do we do now?"

"Well yes sir, I was wondering what was going to happen when we get back to Earth."

"I see." Gorman replied. "Not to put to fine a point on it Lieutenant, but nothing is going to happen." Gorman was annoyed but didn't show it. "Are you expecting some kind of ceremony? We don't do this type of thing for the glory Lieutenant. We do itbecause no one else has the courage to try. We are the best of the best. When we die, they cross our names off the list and move on. This isn't a glory hunt, what we do, we do for the safety of our friends, our families, and the Federation itself."

Mirek didn't hesitate. He jumped to his feet and practically ran out the door. Gorman leaned back in his chair and laughed to himself.

"This should be interesting." He said. On his desk sat a statue of an American Bald Eagle with its wings spread. In its claws it was holing a pitch fork. The statue had been passed down from generation to generation. Gorman turned the statue so he could read the inscription.

Read more from Special Ops and David Highlender.

David Highlender Special Ops Paradox Conceived	On Site 2012.05.07
There are always two sides to every story - this is what happens when both sides are brought together from opposite sides of the most devastating battle in Federation history.