In reply to hunter ect (msg # 5):

 There is an older woman, ( looks to be) in her late  40's. She is  smiling, and Kenny sees her and runs to her for a Hug, then motions to the people...This is my Mom!...her name is Pia?  Mom? this is..SGT HUnter, Dr Henry, LT Beth, MAster Chief Lyri, That is Melia..she is a Med tech!, and that is Orria...and...this is Sam

Sam was a little stunned at first, but smiled sweetly. "Hello.. Mrs Smith!"

 Pia smiles at them all, "Hello... i cannot tell you how grateful i am, that you all have been so kind to Kenny? My boss called to tell me that Kenny had the Day off today, but will work tomorrow instead... i was worried..the man can be....uncaring...at times... Kenny said Mr Shadow had a talk with him...and My Boss more-or-less..said the same thing?... But its nice to see Kenny get out with People....and ..please... you need not buy him all sorts of stuff..we..."

 Beth stood and motioned to all the Hermes folks, "It is no problem, Pia..Kenny is with us..and our special Mission is to have a good time... we ..just make sure all the team members are outfitted! she winks  at Pia.

  "..See Mom!..I'm part of the Team."

 She gives Kenny a kiss on the head, her eyes a bit moist. "I must get to work now?... they are Letting me wait the tables today, so i might pick up a bit more tips!..Thank you all..again!"

Sam took her "celebrity" sunglasses off and stood close by, but not interfering, just observing... Her blue eyes grew large...taking it in...
Kenny had a real mom!
Sam already knew that of course, but Seeing Her... felt strange.
Sam could not remember her real mom...

    "Learned early, betting on Shadow is always a good Idea.  Talk to Spencer or someone.  I'll wager for a cut they'll be happy to put credits on him for you when the chance arises."

   Garrat walks down to the armory and looks around.

  Grarrat  steps in through the door, like the other  shops, the doors  were open while  Gresh's  folks  cleaned up.

 The Occuir  was standing on the  countwr with a Mop. even on the counter, he was  an inch or so from looking Garrat in the eye....'we're  gonna take over a place in FUJI...the bosss  says...gonna be a real nice place..... everything we need... we might ..hafta  fix a few things...


 He looks at  Garrat while  chewing on a Bucca root from Bura.some stuff!...like you folks leaving  brains and Gut5s all over the damned place!

Naomi's adrenaline is pumping again. Stoly gives her a hug which she returns, "Viel Glück Leutnant. ((Good luck lieutenant.))" With all the adrenaline going she kisses the side of his head not realizing it till he is out of sight.

"Holen Sie es zusammen Naomi ... ((Get it together Naomi))" She shakes her head to get herself back into the game of what is going on now.

Once in the Shuttle she looks at all the brand new controls taking a moment to admire. She never has flown anything for it's first time before and she became excited again, but then went to working the inside of the shuttle like a conductor to an orchestra.

She bit her lower lip to contain all her excitement as she followed suit with the others. She continued to check COM channels to make sure to stay in contact with everyone while waiting for her 'cue'.

  As the floor lowered the Gunners   all   called in to check their guys, everyone was  working, the  split  gates were  opening and closing , a lot  faster then the  old  ramp  gates.

  stoly even played with opening  the top part, then closing it, and opening the  bottom and closing it
 Ogre Fired out.... Stoly followed   watching the  Bright  ..blue-white.. lights of the  thrusters  ahead of him. Passing through the  Deck he saw Pilots and fighters  that were staged  and ready.

 a brief  concern for  two Med-tech  shuttles..but? they always had those on stand by..right?

 then..the Broke Into the Black. a Cargo shuttle   held its  place for the Shuttles to form up. the Feeling  of   the Duce,  was the same difference as the feeling  between the  'old  ' stoy's  and the  homemade  Assault craft....

 The   Pilot of the CArgo shuttle waited   until the  Duces  where in place....all righ  Duce of Clubs..... You'er on....  Orge  Fired  Out    Banking the  Shuttle  in a  steep bank, and    setting up his run on the Stem.. there  was a wide  patch of   Hazzard Lights   set up to play as their LZ.

In reply to garrat (msg # 12):

Garrat looks at him a moment then sighs.  He puts his gear on a table.  "okay, where's the mop closet, a good shop isn't a good shop unit it's ship-shape."

  The Occui   points to   the   woman with a mop,..ask her....

 Then his Voice  gets  real loud,..THAT IS...IF THEY LEFT ANY..MAYBE THEY BLEW THEM UP TOO!!!!

    gresh Looked over  a Shadow, Shadow just shook his   head once,...must be a bitch, having to clean up after dead guys...

 The Sanri  frowned,..no...its   cleaning up after the live  guys who , made those guys  dead!

 there is a shrug,Tell him?... I'll give him job security...

 Garrat  finds     another Bucket and  a broom, which might  be better  for  cleaning off the  walls  by the work spaces.

    "Wow, it dried a bit."  Garrat says tying a rag across his nose, "That really makes split intestine smell worse. "  He begins to industriously scrub the wall, and finally pauses fishing some hard credits out of his pocket. "Tell you what,"  He says to the occui "here's some credits.  If you go get some bleach it will cut the smell and makes it easier to get the little pieces off things off."  Garrat returns to scrubbing.

 The Little Guy   takes the creds , jumps  down  and  heads out the door, I'll be Back... you should  make him do some work!.  The Occui points at Shadow.

   Kray Tosses the   mag onto the  Pile  , finishes his Soda  and says,..right... that's enough  for me... i heard enoug whining  from people who didn't want me to kill them.... don't want one that i want to kill...tempt me...

 Shadow  walks   out  the  Occui sees him , and runs to his   Air car  looking over his shoulder  and takes off.

  While he walks, Shadow COMs  for a  Taxci  and  stands outside the gate.

 the  Sanri who  is  scraping the front counter,... he wouldn't kill the Occui..would he?

 Gresh  watches the two, until the Occui takes off...so? This is normal  for you people? he looks at Jesse and Roy.

 GArrat  can see   some of the   machines  and tools, there are even a few   medium and Heavy suits  hanging  in the  racks  around the back of the shop. There are  Plates of various metals... as well  was  insulated  mesh and  backing   to  attach plates  to.

Roy gave a quiet snort at Gresh's question.  "I'm not even sure we have a 'normal', anymore."  His smile was more of a grimace.

"Shadow's still adjusting to a forest of bad news that got dropped on him shortly before our last battle...and it's not the sort of news you can really take care of by killing someone, which is kind of his default method for handling surprises.  So, I'm not altogether certain just what he might do, right now."  He didn't want to go into detail about Lady, and Shadow's unexpected progeny...the memories in his own mind associated with the topic were painful to bring up.

"Tough news about Olympus...but unless the Demons have some kind of pipeline in there that we know nothing about, I'm not too concerned.  Ge-Fi is hopefully not continuing to pump supplies or commerce their direction, which leaves them as an isolated outpost of Demon sympathizers."  His voice made the statement into a question of sorts, as he looked at Gresh, knowing the Sanri was much better informed about Olympus that he'd readily let on.

"We're better off completing their isolation, keeping the Demons occupied on so many other fronts that they can't afford to try and exploit Olympus.  We get them on the ropes and take care of the war out here, it won't take much effort to deal with them back there."

He shrugged, and added, "I'm assuming you didn't leave much behind to be recovered when you cleared out...or if you left stuff, you left it well booby-trapped..."

   Gresh Motions to a  Pink liquid in a  bottle  that was shaped link a spiral,..pour me a tall glass of that Lux-made  stuff... its smooth, doesn't  burn...but... you'll have great dreams  at night!

 As he  waits   , he looks out the door  to see Shadow getting into   the Taxi.Ambassador  Frans  is now ...Governor  Frans...elected  by....what most think is a weighted  election....alot of ...pro-AP votes  were disallowed, and   there were  more  votes  from EDT sectors  than numbers showed...existed.

 ..some Businesses were  shut  down, because they refused to  pull down AP flags...one  man was Locked up.... some ... Doorman  at   the big fancy   Hotel in the Uppers... Mech-Rider  MIke?..damn stubborn son-of-a bitch..lost both  legs on Mars?... anyway..he did interviews that tried to rally  ESN people to   fight against the pro EDT movement... he's  stilling in a Cell, in the Uppers  right now.... I tried to rbeak him  out...don't know why..guess  I'm a fool  for  people  who buck the system,,,,

..I left  with  4  ships.... one of them was  Blown out of the Black by the Olympus , big Guns...we lost another to those Bastard  Hillite Pirates... would  would have   lost one more, But that  Angel Ship?  The Blizzard came  in    and Pumped a few shells into  a Nivian pirate ship.....

  he  looked down and shook his head, the  leaft hand   ran overt the bald-blue  head.Spencer? Nivian? ....Hillites? what the 9 hells  are they doing in the  Quad?

  Shadow  sat in the Taxi,... White Sands...please.....

 ...hey?.... You'er that Pilot Guy!...look..My Kids... they would  really like to know i had you in my cab?.... can You  sign something?

 Shadow   reached into his  Flight Jacket and Pulled out his Notebooks, the  as the Guy   what the  Kids  Names  where, and what his  name was.

 he signed  5 sheets of paper,  said,"...you Dad gave me  a ride... It was the   best  of the day!...." sighed his  name, Number and dated it... the 5th page  had the Driver's  name  it read,"..yeah... I was in this  cab!.." and signed  and Numbered that. then  he  carfully removed the pages  and   handed them over the seat,

  the  driver  asked questions  about the  Hermes  football team, and questions  about   the Battle of the Black... shadow would answer... even to the point of saying  how he missed the   traitor that slammed into the Thor.

  The   Cabbie   seemed  very saddened  by this..or maybe it was the tone of   Shadow's voice. well..... you can't get them all , right?...I mean? what  can you do  about it?

 ...about the Thor?...not a damned thing..... but the rest?...alot.....

 Looking into the mirror , the  driver  was almost shocked  by  Shadow's  grim look...what can...you know... do?

 Vengeance..... on every one   who  stands  on the side of the Empire...

 ..ok.... yeah..sure...that will work.... hey?... you make sure you hit the ebach..ya  know.... you need to ..relax?

  Shadow's  smile returned,..Thanks... i plan to do just that..the relax  part..anyway.....

 when they set down  the Driver   scans  his wrist Kay tosses a 20 chip in for a tip.....hey ..man....can... you do me a favor?

 if  i can...whatcha  need?

 ...brun me one of those fighters..ok?.... you have  my name.... next time  you come back...just..you know..COM me..let me know you did.... I can't go out there.....but... I lost a brother  in that Battle?.. Be nice ..if i knew  someone on their side. lost someone..'just because.."?

 ..Count on it.... Maybe   if Captain Morris lets me?.. I'll get you  a Gun Cam pic of it....  he offers his hand to the Cabbie, the  man shakes  it with a sad smile....

 ..Thank you.....

 the Cabbie  lifted off,  Kray turned to the White Sands nodded  at  folks  with a smile and  a wave.. a few folks  took pics   or got him to sign something,  and he headed  to  the pent house.

    Garrat continues to help get the shop in good condition before he starts working on his gear.  If he hears the conversation..."Read some footnotes about Mike.  Wish we had him on the Hermes.  APs goin to have an underground there in no time." He shakes his head.  "Can't say much about the Pirates, though if the ESN didn't want me, I'd go privateer and raid the hell out of the demons."

Roy shrugged at the question.  "Got me...up until last night, I'd never even heard of either of them.  At a guess?  I'd say the Demons are out of allies in this area...we've chewed up their entire task force assigned to this sector, taken out three Nest ships in the past couple of years, destroyed or captured a bundle of Largran stuff...the Qarl are only effective if they get the drop on you and we've blown up enough of them that they've got to be getting nervous about tangling with us.  So the Demons are calling in favors, or publicizing that they're no longer patrolling the sector much, but not saying anything about why, so the pirate groups think they're looking at easy pickings."

His face settled in a dark scowl for a moment, before he looked at Gresh and said, "Naturally, that makes this an excellent time to...if you'll excuse me borrowing lingo from an old Earth General...grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass.  If they're prowling around here, they aren't watching their home system as carefully...and if we stomp 'em back there, then the ones out here aren't left with anywhere to run."  He shrugged.

"We've got both Angel moons, the Sanri, and the Occui working as well-mobilized forces.  They're getting stronger all the time, now that they aren't stuck fighting individually against the Demons.  The Felrites seem pretty eager to get into the fight, now that they've seen that the Demons and Qarl aren't as all-powerful as they claimed to be.  Delta Quadrant is going to become a very hazardous place for non-AFP forces to try and operate...the pirates will be the hardest to get rid of, because they'll hide in the shadows every time someone turns on a light...but I think Delta's able to hold its own for a while.  We visit the Beta Quadrant and spread the joy around, and there will just be that much less space the Demons can use to hide themselves or their allies, and that many more forces looking to kick the crap out of them."

He shook his head, and added, "I'd feel better with Olympus in allied hands...but we're not too far from being able to blockade Olympus, which pretty much neutralizes them as a threat.  Set up some signal-jamming systems so they can't get word out to the Demons, and they're done, even if they don't know it.  Or, leave them calling the Demons for help...and mass a fleet just outside their sensor range, waiting for the Demons to come calling.  They're a nuisance, but not much of a threat.  We can't afford to ignore them, or they could become a threat...but it won't take much to keep them whittled down to nuisance levels.  One of the Earth militaries used the same principle in one of our old wars...they called it 'island hopping'.  Rather than sacrifice thousands of men on assaults of every island territory the enemy held, they'd focus on the key ones...capture the stronger, central islands, use them as bases to attack the smaller ones around them as necessary, and cut off all the supplies flowing to the enemy troops they'd bypassed.  Left the enemy with forces stranded and useless in battle, cost them a lot in attempting to get ships to those forces to either rescue them or resupply them, and minimized the amount of resources tied up in keeping prisoners of war.  Olympus is an island that we're hopping past.  We've got to keep it cut off, so it doesn't turn into another Bura on us."

He shrugged.  "Of course, that's just the strategic considerations of an old ground-pounder...but the fastest way for us to win is to keep liberating systems and rounding up allies and making more and more space hostile to Demon forces.  If we get side-tracked into cleaning up pockets of people too stupid to see which way the wind is blowing, we lose our momentum, the Demons get a chance to tool up again, and before you know it, we're fighting for the Delta Quadrant all over again.  I'm already annoyed that we had to fight for Bura twice, I damned sure don't want to fight every other battle we've had all over again."

In reply to Sam (msg # 10):

Hunter looks at Sam, smiles steps beside her and gives her a cuddle, "and that is why you have lots of mums and dads who all love you silly"

"Come on there is beach waiting for all of us"

  The Occui came  back rather quickly,  he  carried  in a few Bottle s of  Bleach, while other   took a few crates taking  them to the supply area.

  When he  entered  he handed the Bottles  to the Sanri and she  started to pour  some on the tough stains

 Ya know?... that fancy doctor   gut that the ESN saved.. he came up with that melting Gas, stuff  when he  hit a demon with a bit, trying to blind  him.. turns out he got  an idea and  added a couple  more stuff.. and it  just reacted  with the skin..melts  them like  a pile of   Sanri Sweets...


.......


 ... what i am concerned with, is the EDT.... if Ge-Fi lets them have  the run of the ESN  resources in the Sol system..we could have another one of your Civil wars, your   people are so fond of!..one of my last customers was  a trading   fellow  from  Mars?    he
brought  Martian Iron   ore  and copper..took back alien goodies to sell..alway talked  about the ESN is worse then the demons...bet he never had   anyone   getting carved up for dinner....

Henry holds his arms out to Orria.

"You look wonderful, Orria! Do you like your new stuff?"

Henry was just about to add something about teaching her to swim when he remembered that he didn't have any swimming trunks!

"Excuse me a moment," he said. "I need to buy a pair of shorts."

He went in to the store and grabbed the first pair he saw, paid for them and rejoined the group.

"Now I can join you in the water!" he said to Orria with a grin.

In reply to Grotto (msg # 25):

   "Met him, used them.  Bleach does the same thing with smaller organic matter.  Uor skins protect us from it for awhile.  Earthlings have been taking advantage of it's abilities for centuries.  If you use it on metal be sure to wipe it right off or it will rust."

   Garrat does so himself looking up a spray on mineral oil to coat and protect surfaces.

  the Shop is  pretty well cleaned Up. Some  smaller  areas are getting cleaned up by  another one of  Gresh's people.

 ..ok...fella?... start doin' what yer  gonna  do... me  and her  are gonna  try to set this shop up, so's it looks  nice...

 the Sanri  smiles  a bit  as  her arms  seem to have minds of their own, grabbing this , placing that ...

     Walking down to the Beach, Beth points out  a spot  about 50 or so yards  down from the Steps, there are some Odd Looking palm trees there  to give a bit of shade, and they are only about another  50 yards  from the water..

 there  is a drink stand  and  a little  'fast food" shop that sells  mostly  food that  is easy to eat, and pre wrapped, just  put it in the Gamma wave  and its  Hot.

 they also sell icecreams.

  Beth and  Lyri    take off their  beach jackets  and  rub  oil on themselves  while  Beth  dabs  some  on Orria, while  Lyri  gets SAm..

 Beth  says,alright..as ranking Offcier here?.. i order you all to have fun..Kids?.. stay  where we can see you..if you want to go into the water... get an adult to come as well...

 Lyri chuckles  as  she lays on her towel to catch some rays. Her   leg wound barely shows  now.

 Kenny looks around at the others to see what everyone is doing.

In reply to hunter ect (msg # 5):

"That is fine your gift was 12 credits." She says not afraid to share that cost.
When everyone comes out of the store store she smiles. When Pia is introduced she greets her politely, waiting for the exchange to finish.  She makes a few silly faces at Orria to entertain her.

Once they have found a spot Melia shows Orria all the different beach toys setting them out. The dolls and the Dr. Christie set stay in a bag protected from the sand.  Once the toys are out she unwinds the wrap laying it out as a blanket.  She takes care to put plenty of sunscreen on her exposed skin, especially her pale and rarely exposed legs. She looks about nervous that people are judging her scars.  She couches near Orria, "so, what do you want to play with first?" She asks with a smile trying to ignore the anxiety of her scars showing, glad she decided to wear shorts.

    Orria  is  smiling, she'll pick up a shovel...then a rake...then  put one down  and grab a bucket, she is looking around  at everyo9ne  from time to time, always fixing on Henry, before she  smiles and Goes back to playing  with Melia.. she  holds the Bucket up to Melia, not  knowing what to do with it.

  If, melia  would look around, she would see all manner of  folks on the beach, hot young men and women in daring suits, to Older  folks who  are less exposed.

  She also Notices  the  ESN folks...most are pale, or at elast..not as tanned as locals. It seems the Beach or planetsides  are the only place  folks can get a real tan.

 if she takes  time  to filter in, she'll see  some  of the Fleet members.. some have  scars on  legs, shoulders  or chests, even to the point of missing a limb here or there.

  She see  LT Foster and his wife and her  Child  near the shore line. he has a few Pulse round wounds  from  fighter battles, that even Derma foam or plast can't   clear up..so the  marks are there.

 It seems.. that FUJI is a   Military Base , and  folks are used to seeing   the damage the war  has  done to the outside, of most folks.

  Reaching   the Condo, all is quiet.  the Admiral  and  Commander are either inside, or have gone out. Guards in front of  both  buildings  seem to be more relaxed.

  he  enters  the  Condo and everything is  spotless, all the doors to the rooms are wide open, to show the work has been done.

  The pilot   grabs  another  Soda  from the   fridge  and Goes out onto the  small balcony, puts his  turning the chair  a bit  so  his  side is to the  beach. he puts his  feet up on another   chair as he looks   at the   dots of folks on the beach..now  and then his eyes stray to the birds flying  past.

Hawkeye forces a smile, "well I hear they are always looking for volunteers, maybe they could afford to field a defensive fleet if more people volunteered. I've visited a few places that the demons have established footholds, seen the aftermath.  Not pretty.  It's not a threat that can be ignored. Male poluations forced to labor or used as a source of food, and labor, children are considered a delicacy, female populations decimated packed into shuttles and ships like chattel to serve the demons hand and foot as slaves and breeders." She pauses dramatically, leaning in close, "the worst part is they have no regard for the betters of humanity, they care nothing for rank or class. Tossing the wealthy into the same cages as the low class scum." Her voice facetiously dripping with sarcasm, she looks the woman over as if evaluating a prize heifer.  "You've got good hips, decent looks i bet you survive a month after a demon abomination claws is way from your abdomen." She fixes a hard look on the man,  "and you sound like some sort of tactical genius. I'm sure my very close friend, CPT McCloud here," she gives Rolf a wink, "would just love to give you some investment and business management advice since you seem sooooo inclined to tell him, how to conduct his business." Her voice is cold and her disgust at the two is written clearly on her face.

In reply to beach (msg # 31):

As she gets used to the environment she begins to notice the wide variety of different people ranging from the young and bold, a group had her past been different she may have been part of, to the older and more modest where she fit in.  The scars tell a story of bitter victories, crushing defeats, horrible losses, and mutilations that even modern medicine can't repair. She begins to feel more comfortable, and shows Orria how to fill the bucket with damp and and make a round tower, she notices the girl is still fixed on Dr. Christie, and worries a little about it,  but then decides that add far as people to become attached to Henry was far and away from the worst my many orders of magnitude.  She sighs a little focusing on playing with Orria, occasionally looking about at what the others are up to.