<<OOC: As of this log Major Walsh is on LOA. The end of this log has Jack Walsh unconscious. He will be unconscious until Jack Walsh (Finn) can return to simming.>> ==Deck 7, USS Gott== As quickly as their attack had given them some resemblance of superiority, it faded to a slow retreat. Though they had taken out several of the X'chi that stormed through the corridor, there were too many for them to take them out alone. Now with the bodies of X'chi slowly littering the halls, leaving a cumbersome trail to follow, Gary and the men with him slowly backed up as they tried their best to protect the rear of Major Walsh's position. "Keep firing. Don't let up. We cant let them overrun us." He shouted over the noise of phaser fire, and X'chi clatter. Meter by meter the team emptied power cell after power cell as the shuffled backwards toward main engineering. As the gangly 8 man team would fell one foe, another would move up to take its place. Gary thanked god for the fact that the halls in this part of the ship were narrow, and only allowed two Xc'hi to stand side by side, slowing their advance. But even with the restriction, the X'chi were advancing, and they were retreating. Almost like leap fogging, four men would stand fast and fire continuously, until the barrels of the phasers our glow red. Then, Just short of the safety mechanism shutting the rifle down, they would fall back and let the next for continue where they left off. At first each 4 man group would be able to fell two X'chi. But with the steady flow of foes, and the constant use of the rifles, it soon took four men, not two to drop the enemy. Not only was it taking longer with more moving around, but the X'chi were closing the precious little gap between the front men and them. {Damn! If we don't do something soon they will be nose to nose with them. And they will slice us to bits!} Gary thought as he drained his rifle in to the latest advancing foe. As the X'chi hit the floor no more than a meter in front of him, Gary quickly scurried back to slap in a fresh power cell. As Gary fumbled with the rifle, he placed the but of the rifle on his hip and slid his left hand forward on the barrel grip, closer to the muzzle. "DAMN!} he exclaimed as the hot grip singed the palm of his hand. Quickly sliding his hand backwards he grabbed a power cell and slapped it in. "Ok we need to give our rifles a chance to cool down." He muttered angrily. Gripping the rifle tightly he raised it to his shoulder and waited for his turn, he did not have to wait long. As the four men moved behind Gary and his fire team he shouted out to Jones. "Ok change of plans!" he shouted and keep his eyes on the enemy. "Jones! You and D'nar move back 10 meters. Prepare to throw two photon grenades. Once you are set we will fall back behind you. AS SON AS WE ARE Clear, throw the grenades and prepare to fire." Jones acknowledged the order and quickly headed to his destination. AS the next X'chi melted and hit the floor, Gary heard Jones call out form behind. "GO! GO! GO!" Gary called out as the warning indicator started to flash on his rifle, indicating an impending shutdown. Two by two the remaining men pealed off form their attack and raced wildly back to where Jones had stopped. Gary and PFC Wells were the last two to turn and run. "Move IT!" Gary started to say when her realized Wells was no longer along side him. Still running, Gary glanced over his shoulder to notice Wells, impaled through the chest and being shaken off the razor sharp claw. AS soon as Gary Passed Jones he turned and prepared to take his firing position. He had not seen Jones throw the photon grenade, but he saw the flash of the detonation, the two closest X'chi were silhouetted by the flash. In the back of Gary's mind, he could not help think how cool the silhouette looked. But he reminded himself this was not a cool situation. The amazement did not last long as the thorax of the two X'chi split in half. With Jones now behind Gary, the team waited to see what their last experiment had accomplished. Down the dim hall they could hear the scratching of X'chi claws on metal. Now having a short moment to let their barrels cool. Gary wondered what the X'chi were doing. Reaching down to his utility belt he pulled a photon Grenade out. Pushing the delayed detonation button, he flung the grenade with a side arm throw, hoping to keep the grenade parallel to the floor about half way up to the ceiling. After a second he heard a clank and then saw a flash. As the bright flash faded in his eyes he saw a brief but informative sing in the hall ahead. He had se a panel, from the wall that had some how come loose in the explosion, barely blocking the hall. {Interesting}, he thought. But the rest was short lived and soon they were firing on the Advancing X'chi. As Gary started to zero in on one of the advancing X'chi he started to talk to himself, loud. "Ok so they obviously out number us." He paused. "What petty officer?" Jones said form behind. No paying attention to Jones Gary continued. "So how do we stop them. Or at lease slwo them down so we can let our rifles cool off?" he said still firing. "I think the petty officer has cracked." Jones said to the man next to him. As Gary's turn up front ended he quickly moved back around Jones. He then started to look around at the walls. "Interior hall, walls are thinner.. After all no one said we had to keep the ship in perfect condition." Gary rambled. Reaching forward he grabbed photon grenades off of everyone's belt. "Ok Petty officer. If you are going to feel me up you better Buy me dinner first!" jones quipped while firing his rifle. Gary chuckled. "Well if this works, I might just live long enough to disappoint you." He started to turn and then stopped. "Give me five minutes and then fall back to me. Head to main engineering." He said and then quickly turned and ran. Gary ran back down the hall and then headed to main engineering. {Ok where is the best place to do this. Cant be a junction where a force field is erected, to thick. Some where ... unimportant." He thought. As he slowed his walk he searched the walls. "Where will I.. There that is it." He muttered to himself. Setting the grenades on the floor he quickly started setting the grenades to their highest setting. "Ok if this works, Walsh wont need to worry about his rear flank being over run." He muttered. As he finish setting the level on each grenade he heard footsteps running towards him. "Ok Petty officer, what are you up to?" Jones said slowing down in front of him. Gary grabbed the grenades and stood up. Tossing a grenade to each person he answered, "Well if we cant beat them, lets slow them down. If I am correct, the walls here are thin, thin enough that 7 grenades will collapse them and create a blockade. We can't stop these things all by ourselves." He said tossing the last grenade to Jones. "When I give the signal, Push the delayed timer button and drop the grenade on the floor, right along this seem. Then run like you life depended on it." Gary could hear the sound of the advancing X'chi coming from down the hall. As soon as he could see them he yelled. "RUN!" In unison everyone pressed the grenade timer button and took off running. As Gary started to run he looked over his shoulder and saw the X'chi pick up their pace. Panting form the sprint Gary muttered, "Lets hope this takes a few of them as well. The explosion was nothing short of loud. And the deck rattled under their feet as they ran. As the shock wave of the explosion reached them, they were thrown aside and down to the floor like cord wood, Gary fell directly on Jones. "Ok Petty officer, I really think you should learn foreplay." Jones joked about their current position. Gary rolled off of Jones and remarked as he stood up. "Laugh it up funny boy. We are not out of the woods yet we need to still get off of this tug boat before you can start making wedding plans." The rest of the team chuckled at the levity. Though they had lost a team mate, it was the first sence ot rest they had since reaching the deck. AS they gathered up their weapons and dusted their selves off, Gary heard some one shouting. "PETTY officer! What the hell is all that noise? You make it hard fo a man to get some rest around here." Major Walsh barked. Gary smiled, "Sorry sir, just closing the back door so the bugs cant get in." he said pointed back to where the explosion cam from. Major Walsh walked up to Gary and looked him up and down. "Well Williams? What are you waiting for? If you are done playing grab ass with your team mates, I am sure you could be of some use op front where the real battle is." He smiled. Gary slung his rifle over his shoulder and mocked saluted. "Aye, aye sir!" he said in jest. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw something move. Puzzled he looked over the major's shoulder and saw the broken remnants of an X'chi running towards them. Without hesitation Gary grabbed Jack to push him aside. Just as he started to move Jack, The X'chi lunged forward, extending the only Claw it had left. The motion of the X'chi, the weight it propelled was astounding, and though Jack was simply tossed asdie with a grazing blow to his upper arm, The claw pierced Gary thought the chest, severing his spine at the 9th vertebra. A hailstorm of phaser fire erupted as the teammates incinerated what was left of the foe. As soon as the volley died down, Jones ran up to Gary. Placing two fingers on Gary's neck Jones checked for a pulse, ther was none. "Damn!" Jones cursed out loud. Turning to Jack, Jones scooted over to check out the ODA co. Gary looked him over and saw the gash in Jacks arm. Fearing that Jack too had suffered a fatal blow, Jones checked for a pulse. Jones let out a sigh of relief when he found one. Shaking Jack carefully, Jones tried to wak him up "Major? Major? Are you awake? Major can you hear me?" but Jack remained limp on the floor. Glancing over jacks body he saw a contusion on his forehead. "Damn he was knocked out cold." He said to him self. Looking back to D'nar he yelled. "Make sure there are no more of those things that can sneak up behind us. " D'nar nodded and grabbed a teammate and they ran back to the pile of debris that was once a supply closet and latrine. Jones then Called out, "MEDIC! THE CO is down!" Lieutenant Scott! Lieutenant Scott! The major is unconscious!" ===end log=== PO1 Gary Williams (Deceased) USS Chiemra