Jesse DeVere Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 (( Government Plaza - Anjunaar District )) ((30 Minutes post engagement – 06:13 Local Time))::Nine losses and forty-eight confirmed kills. For a hostile beam-in surrounded on all sides, the sheer maths of it should have made this a moment of triumph. All too often these sort of incursions ended in larger losses and lessons learned, promises to train harder that often didn’t bear fruit.But there would be no celebration, at least not from Tatash. He had nine letters to write when he returned to the station. Nine parents, partners and children that were going to be mourning a loved one, collecting little more than a folded flag and a note explaining why their dearest had to die on some backwater little world.::Hughes: “We tracked a few of the stragglers Sir, all hostiles have left the theatre”.::Tatash grunted in response. Of course they had ran at the first sign of a genuine military force. Tilanna consisted of a barely capable Police force rife with corruption, with no actual armed force to speak of. To go from taking pot-shots at a Police cruiser to being engaged by a true outfit would have been a shock to the system. The chances were they wouldn’t be met in the field again, not in a stand up fight at least::Tatash: “They were children, Phil. Look at them. Do you really think they knew the risks? That they knew what they’d be up against?”::He gestured to the row of enemy corpses, being loaded up onto the local ambulances. He’d already ensured his own fallen troopers had been beamed back to the Aegis::Hughes: “No.” ::They didn’t share any more words, just a few moments looking around the wreckage as the sun started to finally break through down onto the ground. Blackened vehicles and barricaded metal lay twisted, reformed by the heat of plasma into a twisted sculpture while the once pristine walls of the Governmental building were cratered like the surface of a barren moon. The occasional fire still burned, one by one being damped out by the planets fire service, the entire scene having transformed from a pleasant civic garden to the war-torn hell that Tatash had seen countless times before. It had always been and would always be nothing short of madness:: Jemet: "I take it that you are in charge here?" ::He turned to face the Cardassian woman who had approached them, Captain Hughes moving quietly off to assess the damage inside the building::Tatash: “I am, for now. Major Tatash, 292nd Iron Yaegers”.Jemet: "Senior Inspector Gilora Jemet, Anjunaar City Police Department" :: she extended her hand towards the reptile. :: "I'm glad you and your people are here..." ::He didn’t take the offered hand. His powered gauntlet could crunch her bones into dust if he squeezed a little too hard, he also found the concept of friendly gestures to be somehow immoral given their ruined surroundings::Tatash: “I can give you nine reasons why I’m not, Inspector.”::A harsh comment, but a fair one. The Police forces incompetence had cost both sides dearly and had started dragging in external forces to spill blood on their soil.:: Jemet: "I'm sorry you got caught up in our mess Major Tatash." :: she motioned to the smoldering wreckage of the skimmer :: "I'm afraid the mob were prepared to take us on."Tatash: “They were prepared to take us all on. I suppose we have the narcotics to thank for that.”::It had crossed his mind after the initial engagement, how a group of civilian mobsters could stand and face such a force as his head on. Then they had found vials of ATH on practically all of them, the blood-work would undoubtedly reveal they were all out of their minds on the powerful substance:: Jemet: "I take it you secured the Governor, is he unharmed?" Tatash: “He has been secured. He’s receiving medical attention at the moment.”Jemet: :: alarmed :: "Medical assistance? May I see him?"Tatash: “Of course, he’s still in his office. It’s probably the safest part of this entire compound.”Jemet: "Stay here and assistant the marines where you can." ::She turned to her uniformed officers. :: "Care to walk with me Major?":: He nodded and followed Jemet into the building, hydraulic servo’s whining in this legs. The lobby was absolutely ruined, thin plaster walls tore down by weapons fire, his feet crunching on shattered glass underfoot as several of the large skylights lay ruined on what was a beautiful mosaic floor.He couldn’t help but notice that Jemet didn’t seem at all phased by the sight of the pools of blood on the floor, smeared where people had been dragged away either for medical aid or to finish the job, Raisillius was as efficient a killer as he was disciplined. No prisoners were taken from the building, nor had he expected there to be. :: Jemet: "I wish I could say that this was an isolated incident." :: beat :: "This is the fourth major riot against the government in six months. Al'Akir is a good, honourable man but this planet is a cesspool. He's one man surrounded by bad, bad people." Tatash: “You call this a riot Inspector? Riots on most worlds involve broken shop windows and burning cars, not firefights and public executions. This was a out and out rebellion” Jemet: "All Time High is just the latest in a long line of problems Major" :: beat :: "We've dealth with traffickers, smugglers, arms dealers, other drug epidemics... all within the last five years. This is like Nimbus III writ large."Tatash: “Things are completely and hopelessly out of hand then.”Jemet: "I'll be honest with you Major, I've come close to resigning so many times." :: beat :: "Al'Akir persuaded me to stay, I don't understand how he can be so optimistic when 9 out 10 members of staff are on the take."::He didn’t say a word to that one as they stepped into the elevator which was struggling to lift the added weight of a tank armored Gorn.:: Jemet: "I take it your Marines won't be assisting in the search for Malinov's murderer?"Tatash: “No, that falls under the remit of Commander Whittaker’s team.”Jemet: "Is this 'Whittaker' a good man?"”::He suddenly felt a pang of emotion towards his friend. Theo was the definition of a good man, always wanting to see the best of a situation. When they had faced down that monstrosity weapon Providence, he’d seen how close it had pushed him to breaking. How would he react to coming down into this mess, seeing the death and the carnage that his best friend had brought down on the heads of these misguided souls. Would it harm their friendship?::Tatash: “He is. The best I know”Jemet: :: with a weary chuckle :: "He'll be eaten alive here Major."::He paused for a second to press the emergency stop button, leaning himself in with a hand covering his microphone pickup::Tatash: ::growling:: “If a single hair on his head comes to harm, Inspector, I will tear this city apart finding the ones that did it and I can promise you it won’t be pleasant.” ::He let that linger for a moment, locking his gaze with hers before letting the elevator start once more::
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