[4thdimension]

Master Sgt. Scott Ortiz ran his Ortega dagger through a tricouple sharapener, the harmonic laser humming with each pass. The cockpit of the Stinger was bathed in red light, full red alert status. Nothing new to Scott Ortiz. The Marine sheathed his dagger and turned to face his troops. He had no delusions about what they were up against; he harbored no resentment towards the Captain of the Prometheus either. Battle is what he was out here for. Star Fleet Academy had bored him to tears, and when he was approached by the cloak and dagger group Section 31 to join this outfit he'd been more than willing. He hadn't been surprised to learn of the existence of Section 31, but he had been shocked to learn the true number of Officer casualties stemming from the Dominion war. He fully agreed That Star Fleet needed a rougher exterior. As for the Hirogen, this was just another alien race who had crossed the wrong Star Fleet Marine.
"ETA is two minutes." Lance Corporal X'theren announced from helm. "Now Clearing Prometheus shuttle bay, cloak active." Ortiz stood up from his seat behind the helm and leaned in to he view screen. Kilometers away, one of the huge Hirogen warships became visible as the Stinger dived into the planets thick atmosphere.
"Very good Corporal." He turned to the ten men behind him, addressed them all. "This is going to be a sting operation. No use taking unnecessary risks. We go in silent, we hit hard." He waited for his men to acknowledge his orders then continued. "We're outnumbered, out gunned. But we have something they don't." Ortiz pointed to the softly glowing blue triangle on his wrist, the portable cloak system interwoven into their armer would allow them to remain invisible and fire at the same time. "This is a done deal boys, now lets go show these orange bastards who's in charge in the delta quadrant!" Shouts and oorrahs came up all around Ortiz, and he allowed himself a small smile as he watched the relish in his men's eyes. 'Piece of cake', he thought.
"Dominion Dreadnought on screen Sgt." The slight waver of the Corporal's voice as she made her report revealed her apprehension. Ortiz turned, his mouth falling open as he took in the site. He felt his stomach react as the full meaning of what he'd signed up for hit him. All along the scorched ground beside the great behemoth vessel Jem'Hadar had been strung together in rows, their ruined bodies stripped of armor. Some of them had clearly been gutted, others decapetated.
"They probly all died in the crash, what sport is there in that?" Ortiz said to himself in disgust. Corporal Gates pushed up behind him, jockeying for a view of the carnage.
"Yeah, what's say we go teach those bloody bastards some manners?" Gates cried, slapping Ortiz on the back. Oriz's smile returned as the Marines behind them roared their approval. He turned to them, motioning for silence.
"Confirm that Picard isn't among them." He said to X'theren. X'theren ran her green fingers over the controls in smooth arcs, her innate Orian sensuality not muted even through her battle armor.
"Confirmed." She replied.
"Very good. Now, how many Hirogen are down there?" Another moment, a few more smooth gestures. Then, without warning her hands came to a halt, she turned her sparkling green eyes on Ortiz, her face losing all of it's former charm.
"Thousands sir." Her words came in tight bundles, tumbling over one another. "Hundreds of thousands." Ortiz shook his head in disbelief, this couldn't be right. A Hirogen habitation in a sector swarming with Borg transwarp signatures? Ortiz had been prepared to take on a few dozen, maybe as many as a few hundred, given their cloaking technology and superior fire power, but not an entire population. He stood there, looking out at the Hirogen milling around on the hull of the fallen Dominion Dreadnought for what seemed like a long time. What could he do, he reasoned, but follow his orders?
"That's not all sir." X'theren continued, her voice incredulous. "I'm reading several kilometers of subterrainian structures. I'm getting Kazon life signs, and Talaxian; several other non Hirogen the sensors can't identify."
"Can we contact the Prometheus through this interference?" Ortiz asked X'theren, already fairly sure he knew the answer.
"Negative sir." Ortiz swore under his breath.
"Any sign of Picard?" He asked. X'theren nodded, a small smile breaking free of the mask of dread.
"Thought you'd never ask." She tapped a command on the helm and a section of the Dominion ship began to glow in a soft blue light. "he's on the bridge with the Founder." Ortiz slapped her on the back and lifted his helmet over his head, securing the black hardware in place.
"Good work Corporal. We just have to get to Picard, attach the signal amplifier and get the hell out of here." He turned to the rest of his troop. "Men, remember the Spartans."