[2009: NOV-DEC] The Fall from Grace of Gul Monak

[Tal Tel-ar]

Gul Monak stood quietly, stareing out the window onto the alien world before him. It must have been an impressive city before the fall. Even now the enormity of the ruins stretching as far as he could see, blocked out any sight of anything else.

Not that he really cared. This [...] world was a curse. When would the High Command learn. The occupation of Earth was bleeding the empire dry. They had lost over 50 warships in the last year trying to protect the freighters assigned to bring in supplies, troops and equipment.

50 warships... that did not even take into consideration the number of freighters they had lost, and for what. Barely enough raw resources to build what... maybe one or if they were lucky 2 replacements. The outgoing transports were being hit even harder than the stuff comeing in.

He knew what they were saying back home on Cardassia Prime. That he had failed. His glorious future was gone. Even he had to admit it. There was no way he could redeem himself now. Not after loseing so many men.

"[...] there eye's!!!" he roared as he clenched his fists at his side. All he had left was his pride. He would break these filthy humans. Make them pay until the planet ran red with their blood. No way would he let them continue to make him look like a fool.

No.

He turned and stalked away from the window. His grim face a ridgid mask hideing his anger, but his eye's could not hide that anger. They were dark black pools of boiling rage. Eye's that seemed to pierce right to the soul.

He did not pause, but left his office. As he exited the room his elite bodyguards automatically fell in behind him. Another reminder of just how badly everything was going. He even needed them here, here in the heart of their command headquarters.

In moments he reached the lift, stepped in and turned to face the door. His cold hard voice barely restrained as he requested his destination. His men again silently moveing to shield him on all sides as he did.

"Sub-basement detention cells." A slight grin appeared like a ghost as he considered the prize awaiting him. His men had finally captured a number of rebels. Terrorists that he was looking forward to breaking. His hands clenched into fists as he anticipated the terror and agony that his specially trained examiners could inflict.

They would be begging him for death before long. His pulse quickened at the thoughts of the screams that would be wrenched from the pits of their souls. Filthy disgusting animals. How dare they try to resist their masters, but they would learn. Soon they would.....

BBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!

He was tossed like a rag doll, to bounce off first one body guard and then another. The lift bucked and screeched. The sound of metal against metal like a rusty blade thrust deeply into the ears.

As sudenly as it started it ended. He found himself on the floor. It was tilted at an odd angle and one of his men was lying on top of him. He could hear moans and someone was screaming. The voice a shrill wail of unbelievable agony. Not unlike the ones he had been anticipateing hearing shortly.

"Get off me," he commanded and the weight lifted off. As he pushed himself up the lift suddenly dropped another couple of feet. He slid, stopping when he struck the wall behind him.

A glance around showed him the lift was destroyed. Two of his bodyguards were dead. It only took that one glance to be sure. After all one of them was missing half his head and the other had a jagged piece of metal almost the thickness of his arm sticking out of his chest.

His glance also showed the source of the scream. It was another of his bodyguards. The man was covered in blood. He lay on the floor. His face was missing. The off white colored bone of his skull showing through the last few raw s[...]s of flesh that remained. It was obvious the man was useless. His eye's were also missing.

With out thinking he picked up a disruptor that lay near him. Set it to maximum and shot the screaming man in the face. Then he stood and looked around. Only one of his body guards was still alive. The man stood near him ready to obey even with the look of shook that he quickly wiped from his face.

The lift was a total loss. Half of it was missing. He could look out over the city through the gaping hole. Unless he was very saddly mistaken the humans had somehow managed to plant an explosive on it. From the sounds of the creaks and groans it was only a matter of time before the remains ripped free of the building and plunged to the ground below.

"Throw them out." He commanded as he waved towards the 3 dead men.

"Sir?"

He spun to glare at the man. Was he stupid. "Throw them out before their weight kills us."

He orded in a tone that made it clear that if the man was stupid enough to question another order he would be joining them in their freefall escape from this death trap.

Then he turned his back on the man as he started to search for a possible way out. As he moved along the twisted metal doors he could hear the groans and subdued curses of his remaining bodyguard as he manhandled the bodies one by one towards the missing wall.

Suddenly the lift bucked and dropped a dozen feet. For a second he was floating in the air but he quickly seized the closest piece of exposed metel. He gritted his teeth as his hand was cut to the bone when the lift stopped and he was smashed against the floor, ripped from his hand hold. Then he started to slid accross the floor.

He snatched desperately at anything, kicking out with his feet as he searched for something to brace his body against. Suddenly his foot smashed into something soft that gave way with a scream. The moments contact was enough to slow his movement enough for him to stop his fall.

He dragged in a deep breath and glanced behind him. He was alone but then he had expected that. That scream had obviously come from his last bodyguard. He could just see the mans body falling away far below.

Looking around he could see that the lift was barely holding on. It was now tilted out from the building at such an extreme angle that he was amazed that it had not fallen all ready.

As he held on he wondered what was taking his men so long. Were they complete morons. He swore under his breath as the lift shuddered under him.

When he got out of here he would make them pay. All of them.

Suddenly the lift dropped another couple feet. His legs now dangled over the missing wall, only his death grip on a jagged piece of exposed metal preventing him from falling. It cut into his fingers. His blood makeing the metal slick as it dripped drop by drop onto his face.

The anger came back, hot and savage. He refused to let them win. He would survive. When he got out of this he would order thousands of them to be put to death. They would regret ever being born by the time he was finished.

They would..... "AAARRRGGHHHH!!!!"

He screamed as he lost his grip and plunged through the gap towards his death. His arms and legs flailing till the last second when he struck with so much force that the concrete was shattered.

********************

High above in the security office 3 men watched. All of them were highly ranked officers within the occupation forces. Normally they would not be in here. The room would be full to overflow with dozens of highly trained men monitoring the various devices.

Not now. They had all been ordered out before the explosion had occured.

"Well thats over." said one of the men. His tired frame sagging to let him sit on the edge of one of the desks.

"Good ridance. He was going to be the death of us all." said the oldest man. One side of his face a mass of scar tissue.

"True. Now maybe we can convince the high command that this is a total waste of men and resources."

"I hope so." muttered the first man. "I hope so."

Then one by one they all left. The last to leave was the tired man. His face sad as he glanced behind him one last time. His vision resting for a long lingering moment on the monitor that showed the dead body of Gul Monak. The commander of the occupations forces on Earth.

"Goodby brother.... goodby." he said as he turned and slowly shuffled out of the room.

[Lawn]

Good dialogue. I'm really enjoying everyone's work! Very impressive. We have some great writters here! I worked as a collegiate English grader for a few years, and these papers are so good.