Ground Offensive Part 2

Posted on 02 May 2017 @ 3:22pm by Major S'arila Donovan & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd

5,456 words; about a 27 minute read

Mission: S02 Episode 2: Once More Unto the Breach (Incidental Posts)
Location: Hydaransz 4
Timeline: Mission Day 26/27

[ON]

After her initial attempt hitting the proverbial brick wall, she stood up looking miffed "I take no joy in what is to come" Donovan said and walked over to Dodd and guided him out of earshot of the Orion, by this time she had put her combat visor back on. "Lieutenant, have you heard of the good cop, bad cop tactic?" Donovan asked.

"I am familiar with that tactic. I am glad you are the bad cop. I am a terrible bad cop. So what do you have in mind for Zlur?" Dodd asked as he could sense some heightened mental activity from the prisoner.

Zlur, on the other hand, was watching the two Starfleet officers talking as he was plotting what he would do to escape. He was working to free his hands. He had the feeling that someone was attempting to tap into his mind but he could do nothing to stop them but he hoped he could hold it all together to get free and end this whole situation by possibly blowing up the area fortified by the Federation scum.

"Okay let's do this, Xindi," she said to Dodd and then Donovan looked over to the Orion, she noticed him struggling and smiled as she walked over to him.

"Let me tighten those bonds for you, would not want you to escape now would we!" she said and made sure the bonds were tightened, then once again took off her glasses and looked down at the Orion. "Okay now we can do this the hard way or the painful way, I am hoping it is the painful way. But you will either talk or you will be dead" Donovan said and hoped Dodd would catch on and begin with the good cop bit.

"I can't control my partner here, you may need to just tell her what we want to know. I think the hard way would be a better option than the painful way." Dodd added as he was never really good at this sort of scenario.

"You scum with your scare tactics, I have been through much worse than either of you can dish out. I have been held captive by the Xindi for a month and I am still here to tell you about it, I can survive what you have to offer. Pain is only a matter of opinion and I doubt you can change my opinion." Zlur stated in a firm tone and temperament.

oO I noticed he is starting to build a mental wall and mentally chant some sort of incantation. Must be some practice of the Orions to take control of their mind. I find this fascinating. Oo Dodd thought as he was picking up the thoughts of Zlur. Dodd secretly hoped to probe Zlur's mind if Donovan asked him to do so. He wanted to dive into the memories of what Zlur has experienced in his past and use it as leverage to get him to talk if her method did not work.

Donovan gave him an evil smile "listen Orion, the reality I come from where Starfleet was at war with the Dominion became a lot easier on treatment of prisoners during a wartime scenario and this falls into that and trust me I learned a few things that this reality and the Xindi would find terrible, I have seen matter/antimatter clouds rising 90 feet or more on earth and I have seen the bodies the explosions left in their wake. Those that had not been incinerated outright were so charred that the bodies were fried solid, so when you speak of pain, you know nothing of true pain" Donovan said and knew she would have to carry out her boast.

And so this she did, she pulled out her combat knife and plunged it into the Orion's leg without warning and the Orion screamed as she twisted the knife left and right.

"Do not worry Orion I have not punctured your main vein, now tell me your name/rank and exact position within the Orion combat forces?" Donovan asked once again twisting the knife.

"You can cause me all the pain you want. This is all about I will tell you. My name is Zlur. My rank is Major. I will share nothing else with you no matter what. But my general will stop at nothing to stop your forces and remove your scum from this sector once and for all. " Zlur stated and then attempted to maintain a straight face and hide his pain.

Knowing Dodd was telepathic and having been so once herself she knew that while she could not hear his thoughts, he could hear hers, especially if she directed the thought at him.

oO Mr Dodd, begin to make out your are his friend and be nice, because I am going to have to get ugly with this guy and you may not like it, also I know you can hear my thoughts, but I cannot hear yours, when I lost the ability I lost the capacity to hear a telepaths direct thoughts too Oo Donovan thought as she looked at him.

"Major Zlur I really do feel for the situation you are in. I never thought this would happen. I really will work to help you avoid the devilish ideas she wants to carry out. Will you at least talk with me?" Dodd stated in reaction to what was happening as well as what Donovan was thinking to him.

"I am willing to have a discussion with you as long as she is not a included. Women never really should be involved in matters of interrogation. ". Zlur replied after a few seconds to think of his plot and knowing Donovan would not be happy at all.

"I will do what I can but you will need to be open with me as we speak or she will get to torture you or worse. She is my commanding officer on this mission but I will see if she will let us have a few moments to converse in private." Dodd replied then turned to Donovan and started to discuss with her his plan just out of earshot of Zlur.

Donovan agreed to let Dodd have ten minutes to talk to Zlur will she stepped back. So as Dodd stepped away from Donovan, he began to formulate what he could he could say to get Zlur to provide information.

While Dodd was speaking to the Orion, her Commbadge went off.

=/\= Somers to Donovan =/\=

Donovan tapped her Commbadge to make the link =/\= Donovan here Captain! =/\=

=/\= Major what is the SITREP down there? =/\= Somers asked.

=/\= Orion ground forces have pulled back for a moment, I am in the process of doing a good cop bad cop interrogation of an Orion officer, who is less than forthcoming, he will not even give his name and rank, the most basic things and I am the bad cop *sighs* how goes the battle upstairs? =/\= Donovan ended with a question.

=/\= All hostile forces have been neutralised and mop up operations and intel gathering are underway, finish your mission down there Major and bring Bravo Unit back and if you are the bad cop I feel sorry for the Orion =/\= Somers responded.

=/\= Good to know Captain and will do, this Orion thinks that nothing can get worse than a Xindi interrogation, he is about to be schooled, but it shall be done =/\= Donovan said and she could hear the amusement in the Captain's tone in regards to the bad cop bit.

=/\= Acknowledged, Somers out =/\=

When the link closed she returned to the Orion and Lieutenant Dodd "Okay what did I miss?" Donovan asked.

"He did fill me in on what he was doing in the area where we stunned him. He was to investigate the transport that landed on the other side of the mountain." Dodd replied. "When I had the shuttle transport Jones and myself to the location to set up the cannon, we caught them off guard and they tried to take advantage of us."

"I see *looks at the Orion* thought you should know, your space forces have been destroyed so you will not be getting any fresh troops to help you, and if you answer my questions, I will give you an honourable death, you do not deserve one, but I will give you that and if asked by any Orion's in future I will say you died in combat, so Orion what will it be?" Donovan asked.

"You can attempt to try woman but your lackey will get more from me as I will speak to a man but I will still not reveal my full orders," Zlur replied.

Donovan sighed heavily "I ask for his rank and name and he acts like this, obviously his sect of Orion's their females are classed as inferior, this might explain his actions" she finished looking directly at Dodd as she replaced her glasses on and walked over to him and spoke quietly so that only Dodd could hear. "Okay, we will try it his way, Lieutenant you going to have to be the really good cop here, use the threat of my using violence against him if you find the need, but if you can get what we need to know out of him all the better. What we need is his name and rank out of curiosity now and his position within the Orion forces here on the ground, we also need to know about the Orion base camp. *pause* It is your time to shine El-tee" Donovan said.

"So I see your female is coming to her senses and sent you back over to try to get information from me." Zlur states as he saw Dodd walking towards him.

"I am going to get the information from you or she will do things you can't even imagine," Dodd replied. "So be a good prisoner and give me the information or she will come back and do unspeakable torture to you."

"First off, you are still Federation scum to me. Secondly, I figured I could get more from you than you will get from me." Zlur replied in a very cocky manner.

"You thought wrong. I know you are a Major in what your militia calls the Bowen Unit. Not sure what that means, but you have a wife and six children. You have not seen the youngest since she was born as your wife sold her into slavery to pay for the other five to have a place to live. The youngest was your only daughter." Dodd replied to him.

"How can you know that?" Zlur was dumbfounded. "I have no idea how you know that, but it must have been a good guess."

"Let me get this clear. I am trying to be nice and give you a chance to get home and see your five sons that your wife is trying to support while you await payment for your mission success. But I do have news for you, your mission will fail because my superior will get her way with you because I will not be nice if you are not cooperative." Dodd stated to the now very confused Orion Major.

"You must be a Betazoid, and I know you can't see in my mind without my permission, so get the hell out of my head," Zlur replied.

"You are wrong, I am not restricted where I can go with my telepathy. I just know how to control it from wandering. However, in a time of war, I reach out to read any and all enemy minds to know what to prepare for." Dodd firmly replied. "Furthermore, I have managed to get inside your mind and bypass your mental walls. I can now access any memory I wish. Not only am I Betazoid, I am half Ullian and somehow have full use of those abilities."

Dodd further mentally tortured Zlur and got more information about what the Orions were doing in this system. He got from Zlur that the unit he and Jones took down was really supposed to destroy whatever they found on the other side of the mountain. The main forces on the surface were to protect the planet at any and all costs. Dodd even got from Zlur's mind that the main camp for the Orion ground forces was about 25 kilometres to the south just the other side of the river in the lush forest.

"Stop, you are making it hard for me to realise what is real and what is your doing in my own head," Zlur begged of Dodd to stop reading his mind.

"I am getting somewhere. Why should I stop? I need the information and being nice to you was not working. What I am doing is much nicer than what Major Donovan would do." Dodd stated as he pushed deeper into Zlur's mind.

After finishing some questioning Dodd tapped his Sub-dermal Comms to activate it =/\= Donovan, I see a memory of about 1000 troops in the forest. All are armed and preparing to make an assault on our compound. The time for the troops to depart is in about five minutes. =/\= Dodd stated as he pressed his subdermal communicator to close it and in which he felt was the quickest way to get Donovan some of the intel he got from Zlur.

Dodd then started to recall all of the orders that Zlur had received since arriving on the surface. He got deployment locations for all the Orion ground troops and what they were really up to.

=/\= Donovan, apparently the Orion Syndicate wants this planet as their new colony in this sector because it has all the specifications of the original Orion homeworld. They will defend this sector and attempt to do what it takes to get us off this planet and out of the picture for good. I would like to turn Major Zlur over to you for the finishing of our interrogation. He may be more receptive to you as I can see, he is sick of my questioning. Sorry to turn bad on your good cop bad cop scenario but I do have a wicked streak of my own. =/\= He said.

Donovan was standing ways away checking things and her own sub-dermal Comms activated and she heard Dodd's report =/\= Acknowledge Lieutenant, thanks, but I am coming to you as I work better with one on one verbal communication" Donovan said.

It did not take her long to walk over to Dodd, she remembered his Comms report but still preferred to hear it in person.

"Sorry Major, I am really sorry, be prepared for a party of Orion soldiers about 1,000 strong. They will be coming from the south. I have details of all his orders since he got to the surface. I will write them all down to share them with you." Dodd replied. "I don't normally do this sort of thing but it felt good to be so bad and dig into a mind with lots to offer. I hope I didn't step on your toes, Major. But Zlur will be useless to the Orion now, I have his mind all mixed up. It will take him a few days to come to his senses."

Looking at Dodd "Thank you Lieutenant she looked down at the Orion and with the butt of her Phaser rifle cracked him over the head rendering him unconscious "no one makes me out to be a second class person, Orion" she said with vehemence and spat in his direction and it hit the ground next the Orion. She then turned to Dodd "okay Lieutenant take him back to the shuttle and secure him, he can go to Rura Penthe I am sure the Klingon's would gladly take another prisoner for their mines" Donovan said as she looked up to see the second transport troops arrive "ah here are the rest, see to him Lieutenant I will bring the new arrivals up to date" Donovan said.

"No worries, Major. I will secure him and enjoy making his time with us as miserable as it can be." Dodd replied.

With that she smiled and headed off in the direction of the new arrivals to brief them, it would take some time, the other marines had taken over Bravo Unit's task of defending the LZ allowing the Unit to have a short rest before their next task. A half hour later she was done and located Dodd at the shuttle and walked over to him.

"Lieutenant, I trust our prisoner is secure? Also, will be taking Bravo Unit to wipe out the Orion base, I am leaving you in charge of the LZ while I go kill me some Green skins" Donovan said sounding happy. In her reality, the Orion's were often referred to as Green skins and it had been noted in times of stress her vocabulary from her original reality had a habit of coming through.

"Ma'am, Zlur is secure and won't be giving anyone any issues. I have to admit that I really messed up his mind so he thinks he is somewhere other than here and that he is only six years old." Dodd stated in response.

Dodd watched Donovan and Bravo Unit head out to raid the Orion base in the forest. The one thousand troops that were sent to attack the landing zone were neutralised and never made it to the attack and none survived to make it back to their base. Bravo Unit and the other marines were more than ready to attack with the help of Dodd's information.

Dodd was monitoring the activity at the landing zone and all was going well. A detail of the troops was standing guard of the command centre. Dodd had even assigned two troops to guard the dazed and confused Zlur. Dodd felt bad doing what he did to Zlur, but it was for the success of the mission and the benefit of Starfleet. The forcefields were holding and the cannons were working as programmed. The troops inside the landing zone were as safe as they were on the ship. Dodd started to allow the troops inside the zone to rotate with five troops every hour to have some down time to take a shower, get some chow and a nap if possible.

Inside the shuttle, Dodd took a moment to remove his uniform jacket and take a long deep breath. He looked in a mirror as he attempted to wash his face. He was shocked by his reflection. It almost looked as if someone else was looking back at him. He realised it was his own mind trying to deal with what he had done to Zlur. He had never been that aggressive mentally with anyone he has read before. He also has never probed anyone's mind without establishing permission and boundaries. He felt bad for what he did but he also felt like he did the right thing or Zlur could have been seriously maimed or killed.

Dodd got a report from the sensors on the Delta Cannon. He checked it out and then asked two troops to go check it out. It was not a major issue but worth checking at this stage. Apparently, the cannon would fire a shot off in the direction of the leeward dessert and there did not appear to be anything there. This happened six times in the last ninety minutes. The Alpha Cannon was on the side of the landing zone that was the same direction as the forest where Major Donovan and Bravo Unit went to finish off the Orions. Dodd got a report from that cannon's sensors that there was activity just out of range for the cannon to fire upon it. Dodd investigated by tapping into the sensors.

Dodd could make out Bravo Unit approaching the forest and starting to make their move. Suddenly there was a large flash of light and a very loud boom that originated in area Alpha Cannon's sensor were monitoring. The flash of light was enough to overload the cannon's sensors and the sonic boom was strong enough to shake the landing zone and startle all the troops and Dodd. The troops who were on relaxation came running out of the tent and headed to the shuttle to report for duty, however, they were in various states of undress. Dodd sent them to get dressed and report to Alpha Cannon to tend to any injuries that may be there. There were 100 troops in the landing zone and so Dodd divided them up to have three troops at each of the five cannons other than he wanted 10 at Alpha. He kept three at the command centre two to watch over Zlur and one to help him monitor communications activity.

The young female trooper who was with him in the shuttle was glued to the communications channel. She was trying to find any signals from Bravo Unit, but they were either in radio silence or knocked out by the explosion. Dodd attempted to reach out to sense any thoughts but it was hard to separate the thoughts of all the troops and pinpoint thoughts from Bravo Unit.

The troops not assigned to the cannons or the command centre were fully armed and patrolling the perimeter of the landing zone. Dodd had been monitoring all of them via their commbadges which seemed to only be working inside the zone as he could get no signals from Bravo Unit's badges.

The communications troop was doing a thorough job of making messages of all that she was detecting on the frequencies she was able to detect. She presented Dodd with several reports of Orion movement towards the same location of the explosion. It appeared the Orions were calling in all the units that were struggling to defend their FOB in the forest. But other reports showed that the troops who were outside the zone were taking out all Orion operatives they came across. Normally Dodd would have wanted to be humane with any lifeform, but he was okay to have the Orions on the surface be removed from existence. For some reason, Dodd knew hew was going to be a new man after this mission.

Bravo Unit returned to the LZ and Donovan was looking satisfied as she walked up to Dodd "the Orion Firebase is no more, even their underground bunkers went Boom" she said as she made an exploding motion with her hands. "It was spectacular, have you scanned for any other life on this planet besides us and the charging Orion's?" Donovan asked.

"Major, we have been scanning to maintain a count and location of Bravo Unit. The scans do indicate life signs all over the planet, but other than our life signs, we only get flora and fauna readings. There are over a million different flora species and about 50,000 different fauna species detected. Interesting that about 30,000 of those fauna species are in the oceans." Dodd reported to Donovan. "However, from what our scans have shown there are no Orions on the surface other than our prisoner and one transport that is preparing to take off to leave the surface. It is about 100 km south of the FOB you wiped out. The area is currently in happens to be a flood plain that is dry during the current cycle of how this planet's seasons function."

She thought for the moment "Okay I will let the Tomcat know, when you are ready to get your stuff back aboard the shuttle, I have to speak to the ranking marine officer who will be remaining here" Donovan said and walked over to the Colonel.

"No problem, ma'am," Dodd replied and then turned to start gathering all his gear and to find the technician with the marine unit to make sure all was fine with the perimeter and defence cannons. The whole time they were on the surface, he had yet to see any major life forms but the insects were very interesting. Dodd was sort of relieved to get back to the ship and have some down time.

"Colonel, the Orion FOB has been destroyed, the enemy Fleet has been destroyed and there is an Orion shuttle lifting off 100 km south of the FOB my unit destroyed, you may get some stragglers, but for the most part, all hostiles are gone. I am about to return to the Tomcat" Donovan finished.

"Thank you, Major noted and thanks for taking care of the Orion base, will see you on the flip side Major," the Colonel said and gave Donovan a salute and Donovan dutifully returned it before leaving the Colonel and returning to the shuttle and activating the Communications.

=/\= Donovan to Tomcat =/\=

=/\= Tomcat here=/\= an unknown voice responded, Donovan, assumed there was a relief Communications officer at the Comms station.

=/\= There is an Orion shuttle lifting off about 100 km of that large explosion, but otherwise all hostile forces have left the planet and it is all clear for exploration, but would advise any Away Team to have hand Phasers =/\= Donovan reported.

=/\= Understood, Tomcat out =/\=

Closing off the link she looked back to see all of Bravo Unit in their seats and one extremely miffed Orion tied up, she looked to Dodd "Strap yourself in and we can begin the pre-flight"

"Pre-flight sequence is initiated. All communications for the unit remaining on the surface will be powered and routed through a unit I built for them from parts I had stored in a transporter buffer sequence. They have replicators to provide them with meals and tools. So all should be fine for them until they are reassigned. As for this shuttle, I have her all restored to her former glory without any trace of her being a command station. The power supply is at full and all thrusters are in prime operational status. The shuttle is clear in a structural capacity and so we should have smooth sailing to the docking bay." Dodd replied. He knew he was more nervous now than when they left the Tomcat and hoped it didn't show in his voice. "We are ready for departing the surface once you are good with the rest of pre-flight."

Donovan gave him a sidelong glance with a raised eyebrow "why so nervous El-tee? our job here is done, you get to return to your engine room and those marines on the planet will become part of the perminent marine contingent there. The marines from Bravo Unit on the Tomcat were the only elements of the 95th Rifles to land on the planet the others are mainline troops, but you do seem on edge though, is is due to your actions with the Orion, I did not see all but I left you to question him and when I returned you seemed all bothered!" Donovan said.

"I did something I am not fully proud of. I scrambled his mind after telepathically probing all of him memories for information after he continued to refuse to actually have a conversation with me. He said he would cooperate if you backed off so I played good cop and got you to agree to back off but he would not hold up his side of the agreement." Dodd replied as he continued with the preflight routine. "I then decided for the safety of our troops and the success of the mission, I would use my abilities to get what we wanted from him. He was never going to cooperate and I felt I had not choice. I left him with all of his appendages, and his life, but it will be a month or so before his brain will be able to make sense of things and he will return to a somewhat normal life for an Orion."

Dodd then looked at Donovan. "I am so sorry for that outburst and I am afraid it will do it again someday. I am not a monster but at times my abilities get the best of me. But this is the first time I took it too far. I mean I read every mind on the ship every day, but I know how to drown out the meaningless stuff and only act upon the vital stuff. But my darker side has shown itself and I am sort of afraid of it. You were telepathic once, so I know you have some idea of what I am talking about. Before today, I was always good at keeping myself in control, but today I let it out and will be always worried it coming back out."

She looked at him concerned, he was truly scared he had broken some rules where telepathy is concerned and had technically crossed the line, but she had stabbed the Orion with her knife in his leg and twisted it and threatened to do him some serious damage, so who was she to judge "Been there done that El-tee, but do you know what I always did to drown out all those voices?"

"I would be interested because since I got to this section of space, I have been finding it hard to keep the walls up and not read everyone. During the events prior to us leaving the ship, I was picking up on lots of telepathic traffic and it was not from our own ship. It was like I was listening in on the thoughts of alien ships." Dodd replied. "I have not had a chance to really meditate and that could be part of it. I find meditation helps me focus and keep my sanity to boot."

*Sighing heavily* as she looked at him from the side "It worked for me Remy what I suggested and I was twice as powerful a telepath as you are, but then again I was taught from a very young age in my reality not to use it unless absolutely necessary and so I have had over thirty standard years to practice, now I find it strange sometimes that I cannot hear peoples thoughts when I want to. But I suggest you find more ways of blocking others thoughts out as unauthorized use of telepathic abilities is frowned upon by Starfleet, even in this reality" she paused.

She looked directly at him "what happened on the planet stays on the planet, as long as you promise me that you will not use your ability, unless you are asked to do so by the Captain or First Officer?" Donovan finished.

"Major, I am so thankful you will not say anything. I have struggled to control my ability and for the most part, I am relatively controlled. Without getting permission from the one I am going to read, I typically only sense emotions and random thoughts but never act upon them nor say I have sensed them. I typically use what I pick up to help with the situation I am in. For instance, I am working with someone who is feeling upset, I will ask if they are okay or something and try to get them to talk about it which always seems to help them feel better. I just had to tell you because I know you were once telepathic and I did not know I could do what I did, but I had to get the information from him. I feel really awful about the whole thing and I will promise you that I will not use my telepathy without consent of the one I am reading or from the Captain or First Officer if needed for a mission or such. " Dodd replied and he felt a little better that he got it off his chest. He felt Donovan sort of knew he did something mental to Zlur. But now Dodd knew he could work with Donovan on any mission and that she would have his back if it was needed.

"Excellent now lets get back to the ship, I do not know your Assistant, but I would hope she has been doing a fine job in engineering" Donovan said not expecting a response as she activated the shuttle's engines and lifted off into the sky leaving the planet behind. As the blue sky became darker as they got higher she always marvelled at the stars that gradually show as a shuttle leaves a planets atmosphere, as they entered low orbit they saw the USS Tomcat in stationary orbit while rescue tugs and medical ships began to clean up the space debris.

[OFF]

Major S'arila D'Tana Donovan [PNPC: Somers]
Bravo Unit Commander/Acting MCO
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Jg Remington Dodd
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Tomcat

 

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