The Drop

Posted on Wed Jun 23rd, 2010 @ 2:29am by Lieutenant Lianna Vanders

Mission: Character Background
Location: IKC Goras, Betazed System
Timeline: Ten Years Ago, Day One

Li waited for the moment that she would set foot on her homeworld again. Silently waiting for the chance to make them pay. However, the Klingons on this ship grew to respect the Airborne, suicidal missions seemed to appeal to them. She looked around at the rest of her squad. "If you're gonna puke, now's the time."

It took a month to modify three birds of prey to launch the drop pods, and they would only have a few minutes to get planetside before the planetary defense grid cut them to pieces. Some would say it would be the ultimate rush, but they were not Airborne. Most of these men and women in this Klingon ship knew they were about to die. Li spoke, "Alright Airborne. We trained for this, we prepared for this, we sacrificed for this day. Most of us are from this world, we call it home, and we are going to take it back from them. To our brothers and sisters from Earth, Andor, Vulcan and Bolarus; we are proud to call you Airborne as well."

The unit sounded. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am."

"Attention all Warriors, board your pods." The Klingon Captain shouted over the loudspeaker. The unit rose from their seats. Preparing their weapons and armor, and one by one, they filed into the cargo bay. Each soldier stepped into an assigned pod. The pods themselves were designed to withstand reentry, they were hazardous, but not as much as the Dominion on Betazed. Over the speaker, the sounds of the Klingon Crew singing a Battle Song came through. "Starfleet Airborne Warriors. This is Captain Klang. We sing for you and your courage. And should you die here, die well. Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam!!"

Li entered her pod and began to strap herself into it. Placing her rifle into a gunstrap to her side. When she was finished strapping herself in, she pushed a button to close her pod. One by one the pods closed until silence pervaded the atmosphere once again. The only thing she could see outside was through the pod's small viewports. An eternity passed, and for some time, Li wondered if they were going to be dropped.

Suddenly Li felt the inertia hit. Even though the dampeners took the most of it, it still felt like her stomach was trying to climb its way out of her throat. She saw the planet appear as the pods were released. Above were the Birds of Preys cloaking again. They had the easy job. A red and yellow aura appeared around the pod as it began to enter the atmosphere. Outside was her homeworld, The haze of the atmosphere began to block out the distant starfield. Land began to appear below. "Airborne, our target LZ is right below us. We caught them with their pants down. Our main objectives are to take out the communication towers. That will cut Dominion HQ off from the Defense Satelites. We then hit the power generators to deny power to the land based defense installations. We must succeed Airborne, or it will be much harder to take back our world. Welcome to Betazed Airborne."

The Pods released drag chutes as it neared the surface, followed by breaking thrusters. One by one, the pods hit the ground, and they opened. Li stepped out, phaser rifle in hand, this was day one. The next week would be hell.