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Messages - Raszagal

#1
Major Raszagal - Presidium District, City of Antioch

Raszagal and her team moves silently through the streets of the Presidium, taking cover and cautiously rounding each corner. Although each phaser rifle was equipped with an integrated bio-scanner, it was never a bad idea to take manual precautions, considering the fact that sensors were not difficult to trick.

Suddenly, she felt the presence of hostiles a split second before her scanners detected them. A medium Heraani search party, no doubt sent to recover the survivors of the crash... or more likely to ensure there were none. She dropped to one knee, and held her left fist into the air, the UFMC signal to hold. She switched to her sniper rifle, and spotted down the avenue, attempting to get a visual glimpse of the enemies. Raszagal noticed that the Heraan were moving with focused intent, not the inquisitive manner in which one searched. This meant that they already had a target, and were moving to close on it. They did not seem to be headed in the marines' direction, however, and that meant that they had located the crash site.

She immediately pulled out her tricorder and flipped it open, getting a much wider view of the area. Her scans located the same group of Heraani soldiers, as well as a number of allied signatures and a large mass of polyduranium plating, most likely the hull of Charile 0-2-2. The friendly signatures were approximately six hundred meters from their current location, and the Heraan were only four hundred from the crash.

"Marines, hustle, double time!" she said in her best Corps attitude. "We've got a party to crash."
#2
Major Raszagal - Passenger's seat of a Puma

Raszagal looked through the scope of her sniper rifle, and despite the rocking of the Puma, she was able to hold the rifle steady enough to see the Heraani detachment that was pinning her brethren down. "Speed up," she said to the driver, who pressed the accelerator to 120 KPH.

Within forty-five seconds, the Puma cavalry met the Heraan, who were unfortunate enough to be concentrating their attention in the opposite direction. The Pumas smashed through the enemy lines, crushing several of the massive warriors under their even more massive tires. Raszagal's Puma, unfortunately, caught the attention of the detachment leader, who happened to be a psionic. He tossed a psi-pulse right at the Puma, which caused little damage, but sent the truck flipping end over end.

The Gallifreyan managed to leap from the truck as it began to flip, and she dropped her rifle midair and retrieved her khala, it's searing edges fully ignited well before she landed gracefully on the ground. A quick look behind her revealed the bloody corpses of the two marines, crushed by the weight of the vehicle as it rolled.

A pair of Heraani soldiers rushed at Raszagal, but she grabbed a chink in one's armor, jumped into the air over his head, knocking the second to the ground with a psi-pulse. Upon landing behind her first target, she swiftly stabbed him in the back with her khala, it's light-blue prongs of energy melting through metal and tissue alike. She kicked the dead soldier from her weapon, and whirled to face any others that might challenge her.
#3
Private Raszagal - Pelican Dropship Sierra-7-2-5

The fleet of Pelicans swooped low into the atmosphere, skimming only a few meters from the treetops of one of the lush jungles of Gallifrey. Raszagal tapped the hatch release, and the rear hatch of the troop compartment unsealed and slowly opened to reveal a spectacular view of the jungle rushing past, broken only by the Puma that hung on the underside of the tail behind the compartment.

"LZ in fifteen!" the pilot yelled from the cockpit through the open door. Raszagal secured her rifle to her back, and stood near the lip of the troop compartment, grasping a ceiling hand-hold to prevent herself from falling out of the ship in the turbulence. This was the first time she'd returned to Gallifrey since her exile, and it gave her both joy and sadness to be here again, defending it's very existence from the enemy.

"There's a whole mess of Heraan between us and the Gallifreyan camp outside Antioch!" she yelled over the roar of the rushing wind. "There's no way we're going around them, so we're just going to go through them!" Such romantic ideas of glory in battle were not common for her people, but she knew that marines, terran males specifically, reacted well to a hard-ass pep talk seconds before an engagement.

The dropship slowed it's engines, bringing them into a hovering position and letting the ship coast away most of it's speed. It then pivoted almost 180°, and slowly but steadily descended before hovering only a meter-and-a-half from the  ground. Raszagal pounded her fist twice on the inner hull of the ship before jumping down to the ground, with several of the marines behind her shouting various cries of encouragement and cockiness as they followed.

Her rifle in-hand, she ushered her marines out from under the Pelican, and the magnetic locks holding the Puma in place were deactivated, causing the vehicle to drop to the ground, a hearty crunch-thud emanating from it's suspension. She immediately climbed into the passenger's seat as two other marines occupied the driver's and gunner's seats.
#4
Private Raszagal - Marine Hangar Bay, U.S.S. Normandy

The young alien hesitated for a moment at the colonel's question. "Private, I asked you a question," came the colonel's reply to her silence.

"Excuse my reluctance, sir, but you have to realize that we're in this situation because of the last time I gave away that information." She paused, then continued: "If I hadn't given the Heraan information on Gallifrey, it's location included, my world would still be safe."

Raszagal sighed, took a moment, then began her report. "To answer your question, no one enclave is of any greater importance. But our enclaves are only outposts, locations where our people can rest, safe from the dangers of the planet's natural predators. The most important locations on the planet are in the capital city of Antioch, those are the Spire, where the council sits; and the Citadel of Adun, the shrine dedicated to our ancient leader and prophet. These are sure to be the Heraan's first targets."
#5
Major Raszagal - Streets of Antioch

Raszagal used her sniper rifle to hone in on Charlie 0-2-2 as she went down, getting a clear view of the damaged engines, and an approximate idea of the crash site once the ship dipped below the city skyline. The pulled out her communicator, and put out a call to the whole of the 17th. "Pelican down!" she said. "I repeat: Charlie 0-2-2 has gone down near the Citadel! This is Fire Team Echo, Alpha Company. We're moving to investigate, over."

Raszagal slung her sniper rifle onto her back again as she unslung her Type-III assault rifle. She kept an eye on the integrated bio-scanner on the rifle's sight unit, ensuring the area was clear of Heraan before she advanced her team too far. Luckily, her knowledge of the city helped Fire Team Echo move toward the crashed dropship much faster than any other Federation team could have.

After a few encounters with Heraani patrols, many of which Raszagal and another marksman were able to whittle away with their sniper rifles, they finally reached the Presidium. One of the vast districts within the city of Antioch, the Presidium contained both the center of government, the Council Spire; as well as the religious epicenter, the Citadel of Adun. Although Raszagal was uncertain where exactly Charlie 0-2-2 had gone down, she knew it was somewhere within this district.
#6
Private Raszagal - Pelican Dropship Sierra-7-2-5

Raszagal slapped a control pad on the wall, releasing the seal on the door between the troop compartment and cockpit, and ducked carefully through the passage. In the cramped transport, bathed in the dim red light of the troop compartment, the chance of hitting one's head on the doorway was ever-present.

She stepped into the cockpit, and had to squint at the sudden brightness of the planet's reflected sunlight. Gallifrey was a beautiful world, paradise in almost every sense of the word, and the bright oceans and plains made the planet quite luminescent during the day.

"How far are we?" she asked the pilot calmly. The pilot turned his head, and answered: "We're about seven minutes from planetfall, ma'am."

Raszagal settled into one of the chairs behind the pilot, and called up an image of the landing force. There were nine Pelicans, arranged in a wedge, all carrying some variant of the Puma LRV (Light Reconnaissance Vehicle). Her ship was second on the right, just behind the lead ship Echo-1-1-7, the ship Colonel Balkazar was on.

She got up, and made her way back into the troop compartment, where twelve marines sat strapped into two banks of seats, six on each wall, both facing toward the center. "We'll be landing on Gallifrey in a few minutes," she said, addressing the marines on her boat. "Our LZ is right outside the capital city of Antioch, which has since been occupied by the Heraani military. My people have Templars on the ground as well, attempting to breach the enemy defenses to the city, but they'll need our help."

Raszagal then heard a sickening explosion, louder than any of those from the battle raging higher in orbit. She slammed her fist into a button that activated a small viewer on the wall, and is displayed a view from the aft of the dropship. She was shocked to see debris from a Federation starship, debris that was unmistakably from the U.S.S. Normandy.

She turned back to the marines. "And we'd might as well do our best down there," she said almost sarcastically, "because we don't have a ship to go back to."
#7
Private Raszagal - Bridge, U.S.S. Normandy

Raszagal logged out of her console, and turned for the turbolift. Thankfully, the lift car was already at the top of the shaft, and the door opened as soon as she stepped near. The Gallifreyan entered the lift and pressed the appropriate key on the wall to take her to the marine hangar.

As soon as the lift deposited her on that deck, she stepped out and walked briskly to the bay. She located the form of the colonel deeper into the cavernous room, and gracefully approached him.

"You wished to see me, colonel?" she asked.
#8
Private Raszagal - Bridge, U.S.S. Normandy

Raszagal stood at the operations console, filling in for the absent bridge officer who was injured during the Lothlorien's crash. "Do I detect a hint of envy?" she asked the captain aloud, a smirk on her face. "You could always ask Master Taurik to borrow the Rivendell."
#9
Major Raszagal - Approaching Charlie 0-2-2 Crash Site

The marines rounded the last bend and saw the crash survivors locked in battle with the Heraan. Raszagal's team was in a prime flanking position, and she led her team silently toward the enemy positions. One of the Heraan spotted them, but Raszagal immediately sent a high-powered bolt from her sniper rifle into the creature's head. The remainder of the soldier's cranium that wasn't vaporized proceeded to explode into a plume of smoldering, purple ichor. This drew the attention of the Heraan force, and some of their numbers turned to engage their newest threat.

"Weapons free!" Raszagal called out, and her marines let fly a volley of phased energy fire. Several of the Heraan dropped in their tracks, and the rest dove for deeper cover. She noticed that several of the Heraan were close together behind a large section of debris. Raszagal dropped her sniper rifle, and pulled out both her hand phaser and a photon grenade. She began a dead sprint toward the Heraan, leaping into the air and landing directly on one of the Heraan. Swiftly, she primed the grenade and slammed it into a notch in the Heraan's armor. She then kicked away from the soldiers, using her psionic abilities to propel her much farther than an average jump could.

Landing hard on the stone road, she felt the shock through the ground as the grenade detonated, sending bodies and parts of bodies flying. The marines closed in, and finished off the few wounded Heraan that were left. One of her marines, Staff Sergeant Vasquez approached her after they had ensured that the Heraan were finished. "Ma'am," he greeted, "Corporal Bisenti took more than a few hits to the chest, and Private Willard lost his arm from the elbow and is bleeding out. We need medical facilities."

She helped the sergeant lift the wounded body of Corporal Bisenti, while two more hoisted Willard. They carried the two stricken soldiers to the crashed Pelican, and set them along the troop seats in the rear bay. "Anyone here a medic?" she called out.
#10
Major Raszagal - Gallifreyan capital of Antioch

Raszagal was busy loading several containers into a Puma when she sensed Telkar approach behind her. She turned, and smiled at him. "Telkar," she said, "it's good to see you again."

Telkar did not return the smile. "I had not thought to see you on Gallifrey for a very long time," he said.

There was no obvious offense in his voice, but he was also devoid of any joy at seeing her.

"I thought the same," she said. "I'm glad my people are still willing to welcome me back."

At this last remark, Telkar was shocked, and his eyes narrowed. "Is that what you think we've done?" he asked. "Welcome you back? The council is accepting your help, that is all. We can use every soldier during this crisis... this crisis that you unleashed."

Raszagal's expression was as if she had been shot. "I guess I deserved that. Telkar, you don't have to remind me of what I've done."

Telkar's voice lowered, as he stepped closer. "Perhaps I do. I hope you realize that the death of every Gallifreyan lost today is a direct result of your betrayal. Their blood is on your hands. I told Master Techerakh your exile should have stood, even during this attack. You shouldn't be on this planet."

The female Gallifreyan stood straight at that remark, and looked Telkar in the eyes. "Their deaths are on the hands of the Heraan! Of Ar'Krakh! NOT mine! In case you didn't notice, I'm here drawing blade AGAINST those mongrels! I've done all I can to atone for my mistake, and I'll NOT have you treating me like some damned traitor for it!"

Telkar looked as if her were ready to spit in her face. "If I regarded you as one of them," he said through gritted teeth, "you'd already be dead."

"Is that a threat? Because we both know who was always the better swordsman..."

Both Gallifreyans' skins were turning a much deeper shade of purple, an obvious visible sign of their anger. It was at this point that Master Vetraas noticed the altercation and stepped over to them. "Telkar, Raszagal, you will cease this behavior at once," he ordered, regarding both of them. "It is unbecoming of Templar such as yourselves, and I will not have my warriors in conflict with one another during a time of war."

Raszagal's hands were balled into fists, and it took tremendous will for her to exhale deeply and unclench her hands. "As soon as this is over, Telkar, we shall deal with this. Until then, it's irrelevant." The robed Templar only nodded, his eyes still ablaze with latent anger.
#11
Major Raszagal - Gallifreyan/Heraan battle site

Raszagal evaded a few bolts of plasma fire, drawing her hand phaser in her left hand, her khala still in the other. She took cover, along with a few other marines, behind the overturned Puma, ducking in and out to take phaser shots at the Heraan. It occurred to her, however, that her shots were futile, as she was pinned down too well, and her shots were so rare that the Heraan she fired at had time to replenish their body shields.

"Stand back," she muttered to the marines taking cover with her. She gathered all of her power, and waited for the Heraan to draw near. Suddenly, the Puma was launched at the approaching hostiles after Raszagal unleashed a powerful psionic blast in that direction. The truck's weight killed the Heraan on contact, shattering their sizable bodies as if they were made of cardboard.

By this time, the remaining armed Pumas were making circles around the Heraan, firing inward on their position, while the transport Pumas had already offloaded their passengers and were parked safely away from the battle. The Gallifreyans saw this as an opportunity to move in on the battle and assist their Federation allies. Raszagal spotted one Templar in particular who was battling with, and struggling against, a rather powerful Heraani elite. She immediately dashed toward them, intercepting a deadly blow with her own khala and enabling the templar to finish the elite off.

With her back pressed against the templar's own, she asked: "Are you injured?"

"No," came the reply, and Raszagal immediately recognized the voice. It was Telkar, one of the other initiates that was trained alongside Raszagal, before any of them were taken on by masters. It was her and Telkar alone that were considered for training by Master Techerakh himself, and that had caused a rivalry between them, both vying to train alongside the Senior Master of the Templar. In the end, as things had occurred, Raszagal came out ahead.

"Telkar?" she asked, spinning to face him. It was her mistake, as a Heraan closed behind them, and Telkar barely managed to knock Raszagal out of the way before the alien crushed her skull. Removing it's target caused the Heraan to lose balance and tumble to the ground. As it started to get up, Telkar threw his khala into the creature's armor, and it fell to the ground, silently screaming in pain as the weapon flew back to it's user's hand.

"We can talk later, Raszagal," came Telkar's annoyed response. "Until then, keep your mind on the battle."
#12
Major Raszagal - Outskirts of Antioch

Raszagal hopped onto the seat of a Gallifreyan hovercraft, a small vehicle used by Templar as a form of cavalry mount. The vehicle powered up and lifted itself about a meter into the air. The vehicle was narrow and sleek, the design tapering off to what looked like a pair of lances, each mounting a tetrionic pulse cannon, powered jointly by a micro-tetryon generator and a Khaydarin core.

The vehicle began sliding forward at great speed, reaching the battle site in a matter of seconds. The tetrionic pulses, both physical and psionic in nature, were startlingly effective at neutralizing the Heraan it was pitched against. Like the much larger tetrionic arrays (or "lines") equipped on a warship, the Gallifreyan weapon system was notorious for often proving itself the most advanced on the field.

Unfortunately for Raszagal, the vehicle was primarily built for speed, and was tailored for quick, glancing strikes at enemy lines. Engulfed in battle, it was only a matter of time before a Heraani soldier managed to get behind her agile vehicle, and jumped up onto it's frame. Startled by the sudden weight increase and the hovercraft's subsequent shudder, she spun her neck to see the Heraan knock her violently from her seat.

Landing on her back on the ground, she saw the Heraan seat himself on the vehicle, and found herself on the receiving end of her own weapons. The bolts from the tetrionic cannons were powerful, and recoiled her as she tried to deflect them. Suddenly, there was an excess of blue light from the aft of the vehicle, and it lurched forward as the Heraani soldier steered toward her.

Thinking fast, she leaped into the air, and as the craft passed harmlessly under her, she used her psionic power to pull the creature from her hovercraft. It flailed in the air a moment, but as she moved to strike the soldier with her khala while they fell, it produced it's own blade of energy, deflecting her blow. They both landed harmlessly on their feet, weapons at the ready.

It had been some time since Raszagal fought a Heraan blade-to-blade. She had trained relentlessly after rebuilding her weapon, but the last time she had fought another swordsman, she was at a severe disadvantage without her psionic abilities, and only managed to survive by pure luck. So it was with caution that she entered battle, using a defensive form that Techerakh had taught her during her apprenticeship. It involved keeping the weapon close to one's person, so as to minimize the distance a parry must travel and increase the speed of one's defense. It also called for extreme patience, as it required a Templar to pass up tempting opportunities for counterattack, waiting for the opponent to become fatigued or complacent.

When this moment came, it was as the Heraan held his weapon high in an attempt to smash through her defenses. She broke her defensive stance, attacking the Heraan first, which required him to haphazardly switch from attack to defense during mid-stroke. This threw the alien off-guard, and Raszagal swung her leg to trip him, and he fell through her waiting blade.
#13
Private Raszagal - Marine Hangar Bay, U.S.S. Normandy

"You don't need to tell me that, sir. But how many times has humanity fought to the death to protect Earth, even when it's only one planet out of the two hundred worlds in the Federation? I would think a human could appreciate the idea of protecting a planet containing not centuries, but millions of years of culture."
#14
(OFF: I need to break up your post to respond to it correctly.)

Private Raszagal - Marine Hangar Bay, U.S.S. Normandy

The colonel looked surprised. "So your saying the buildings are of no importance to save? but the people are?. Hmmmmmm, then we need to protect the people."

"Colonel," Raszagal replied, "everything is of importance to save. This is my home we're talking about. I simply meant that most of them have no strategic value."

"We will need to move everyone of your people who isnt willing to fight down to a bunker of some kind.  I need to know entrance points into the enclaves? are they connected to each other? What are these predators like? Will the Heraan need to go through a surface entrance first before going down to the enclaves?.  Things like these I need to know." Balkazar told Raszagal.

"All of my people are willing to fight," she said, somewhat defiantly. "Over the countless millenia, it's what we've been raised for, to combat the Na'jigat. If those details are so important, however, I'll prepare a report on all of the enclaves on the northern continent."

Balkazar lowered his voice. "As for your hesitation, I understand fully.  But you need to understand we are allies, you should trust me more, after all we will be defending your homeland.  If we fail here then the entire universe pays for it after all.  As for your guilt dont feel guilty, its in the past and you had no choice unless you intentionally told the Heraan then the guilt will be with you till the day you die.  Thats the one of the many things you have in common with us mere humans." the colonel added.

"That's not making me feel better about it, colonel. I did do it intentionally. I would give anything to take it back, but I can't blame it on any sort of mind control or torture. By the time I told them what they wanted, it wasn't to appease them, it was because I believed they were the better cause. Sure, they tortured me at first, but in the end, I didn't blame them. They had me believing it was something they were forced to do. I believed myself to have been deluded. Now I see that I was always right in the first place, and it was them that deluded me. But the damage is done, and all I can do now is give my best effort to stopping what I helped unleash."
#15
Marine Command Center / SFMC Motor Pool
December 03, 2007, 05:59:12 AM
Here's a list of all of the planet-based vehicles employed by the Starfleet Marines:

"Puma" Light Reconnaissance Vehicle:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a318/admiralkarelia/phaserpuma.jpg" border="0">

The Puma is a relatively small and fast vehicle designed for scouting and anti-personnel duties. It employs a phaser turret on the rear bed platform as it's primary weapon system. The passenger is also capable of providing secondary fire using his personal armament.

"Puma", Light Anti-Armor Variant:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a318/admiralkarelia/torpedopuma.jpg" border="0">

This is a variant of the Puma LRV that uses a shuttlecraft-grade torpedo launcher in lieu of the phaser turret. This variant of the Puma is designed to combat enemy ground vehicles, aircraft, and large installations.

"Goliath" Main Battle Tank
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a318/admiralkarelia/scorpion.jpg" border="0">

The Goliath tank is employed by the Marine Corp in only the most dire of situations, due to it's high cost and difficulty of deployment. It carries a starship-grade phaser cannon on a large turret mount, and is capable of decimating most vehicles and aircraft with a single blow. It also has a phaser turret similar to that of the Puma mounted near the commander's cockpit, which is used to defend the tank from anti-armor personnel and faster vehicles otherwise unreachable by the main cannon.

"Pelican" Combat Dropship
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a318/admiralkarelia/pelicanfront.jpg" border="0">http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a318/admiralkarelia/pelicanback.jpg" border="0">

The Pelican is the primary mode of planetary transport for the Starfleet Marines, and is also used by standard Starfleet naval forces as well. It is capable of ferrying up to sixteen marines in the rear troop bay (up to thirty in emergencies), and carries a phaser turret on the front nose as well as an optional rear-facing turret mounted to the ceiling of the troop bay. It is capable of extra-atmospheric flight, and the magnetic cargo latch behind the troop bay is the primary method of transporting large equipment or assault vehicles to a planetary surface.