As the six members of the first landing party from the USS Grus materialised on the surface of Samson III, just to the east of what was a small town called Merryfield; they fanned out immediately, weapons at the ready, eyes alert and watching for danger.  The Vaadwaur soldiers were pulling out in a hurry.  After the destruction of their Battlecruiser, they had no hope of holding the planet, possibly no means of leaving it either.  Indications showed that the soldier were heading for the main space port and would take a ship with which to escape in; if any were left after the orbital bombardment of the place.

For now that wasn’t Lieutenant Devron’s concern, the priority for his team was to check on the civilians; a large group of which hand been locked up in building just along the road.  It was one of several locations the Vaadwaur had been holding them, under guard.  Now those guards were gone and the streets were deserted.

The two security officers moved first, phaser rifles held high as the swept their weapons from side to side, constantly watching every door and window.  Devron followed, as always carrying the old Dominion War era phaser his Grandfather had left him.  Next to him Doctor de Havilland cared a Medical Tricorder in one hand with a large medical pack slung over his other shoulder,   Appleby a few paces behind, carried his own Tricorder and wore a backpack containing a number of engineering tools, freeing up his other hand to hold a phaser.  Another crewmember with a rifle brought up the rear, spending most of the time looking back in the direction they’d come from.

“This is the building.” Appleby announced. “I’m picking up between 370 and 380 life signs inside, some signals are weak.”

“How could they all fit?”  One of the security men exclaimed, rushing for the door.  “We’ve got to get them out of there.”

“HOLD IT!”  Appleby yelled. The other man stopped in his tracks and looked back.  “I’m picking up some inconsistent readings from the door.  It may be booby-trapped.”

“Damn, that’s all we need.” Devron tapped his Combadge.  “All teams be advised, entrances may be rigged with explosives; approach with caution.”

He received replies from the other landing parties who were all heading for similar building in which civilians were being held; confirming they understood.

Appleby placed his backpack down on the ground and moved closer to the door; scanning it and the wall sections either side and above it.  No one else spoke, as they let the young engineer go about his work.  Only the occasional hum and sigh giving any indication as to what was going through him mind.  Then without turning to say anything to those behind him, the engineer hit his own badge.  “HOLD POSITION!” he yelled. “Nobody move, the doors are remotely linked.”

“What does that mean?” Devron asked with concern.

“Without the right code, any attempt to open one door even if the explosives on it were deactivated would cause the rest to explode.” Appleby replied with a frown.

“Couldn’t we just coordinate our efforts and disable the explosives at the same time? The security officer ventured.

“We’re detected nine buildings; this one alone has five exits!” The engineer informed them. “No way we could deal with the all those simultaneously.”

“One false move and we kill two thousand plus.” Deveron commented.

“And hundreds of others would be injured.”  Doctor de Havilland added. “Many of the critically, we’d never cope, even assuming the blast didn’t kill us to.”

Lieutenant Devron relayed the information to both ships captains, neither of which seemed very happy to hear the news.  The Vaadwaur had created a deadly situation, with no margin for error.

*********

A few minutes later he was back in one of the two main transporter rooms on the USS Grus along with the two security officers from his landing party, Ensign Tholakath and a security officer who had been with him on the planet.

Seconds later Lieutenant-Commander Vought walked into the room, his face was stern, but the situation clearly had him worried.  “I’ll make this brief, as time is of the essence.” He began.  “You’re being deployed as close to the space port as we dare beam you.  The da Vinci is doing likewise.”

“I take it the plan is to get the code which will deactivate all the explosives.” The Cardassian asked.

“That is correct.” Vought watched them step back on to the pads. “Good luck gentlemen.”

“Thank you Sir.” Devron looked across towards Petty Officer Lightwood at the controls.  “Energise.”

********

They were back on the planet and fanning out once more; only this time it was certain they’d be facing the enemy.  Jason could just make out another group off to his left, but the distance was too great to recognise anyone in it.  Everyone moved forward, taking what cover they could.  They kept talking to a minimum, whispering instructions and using hand gestures.

The team reached one wall of a hanger; or at least the lower half that still stood.  They picked their way through the fallen rubble and girder sections of the roof.

Ensign Tholakath stopped them at the corner of the building and took a Tricorder from its holster; scanning the immediate area.  Two stationary blips; indicated life signs not far from their current position.  Crouching low the Cardassian edged round a collapsed section of wall.  What had once been the upper part of a window, now devoid of glass; offered him just enough of a gap to look through, without being seen by the Vaadwaur standing roughly 30 metres away.  He looked back towards the rest of the team, signaling to them, what he could see.

The Lieutenant moved forward, following the same route the Ensign had used; one of the security officers following, whilst the other two took up defensive positions further back.  A noise caught their attention; one of the other landing parties had just engaged the Vaadwaur.  For the briefest of moment the two soldiers turned towards the sound of phaser and polaron fire.  That was the opportunity for the team to strike; there was no time to hesitate or be concerned about those colleagues already in combat; that would come later.

Concentrated and accurate fire; dropped the two soldiers, despite the protective armour they wore.  The way team moved forward; keeping to the edge of the building.  One of the security checked the two Vaadwaur, whilst another disabled their weapons.

The shooting from the other location continued, so they headed towards it, coming past a second hanger; which appeared in a far better condition than the previous one.  Just beyond three Vaadwaur soldiers; currently with their backs towards Devron and his team, exchanging fire with another landing team.  There had been four, but one had clearly already been hit and some point during the fight.

What had once been a transport vehicle of some sort lay on its side; twisted and marked with the signs of having been on fire at some point, it offered the soldiers a fair degree of protection from those shooting at them; but gave no protection from those coming up behind them.

Devron, Tholakath and the others, all fired; bringing the fight to an abrupt end.  Four Starfleet members approached, the leader of the group a Tellarite Lieutenant. “Thank you.” His tone was its usual begrudging dissatisfied grunt.

“What’s your situation?” Devron asked the da Vinci’s Tactical officer.

“Blake copped one in the leg, so I’ve had to send him back to the ship.” Grav announced. “Other than that, these three are doing ok for beginners.”

The three crew with the Tellarite weren’t entirely sure how to react to that comment; they were however used to him never being completely satisfied with anything.  After a brief exchange and a scan of the immediate area; which include a wreaked transit shuttle.  The two teams went their separate ways once more.

It was only minutes later, when two pieces of disastrous news were relayed to them from the ship.