Hack Looked at Henry with a  grim smile,..cant promise  anything , Doc Henry... But if you have a  chance.. take her.. Just... don't  let her kill you. She didn't get to Command the fleet because she was weak.


.....

 Morris stood  with some Ground Crews  who were armed and Armored.. Unarmored  crews  stood  at various places around the Dec, ready to  run out if an Aircraft needed  work, or to help a wounded pilot. They all had   side arms   and   Rifles.


 Rivets   only had a chest plate on, and his  tool belt. he had  a Thompson-pulse , the Visor of his head gear up as he chewed on his  Cigar.

 The QM's   people  riggef a plat form that Mounted   a heavy Pulse  with two cage tech sitting behind it.

 ..................

 Shoemaker  came on the COMs,..Ok?  SM?  we have units of  12 SEC  at each intersection on each dead... which is good... what is bad?.. the Cupboard is bare.. no reserves.. we have Off duty crew   walking the  P-ways and   3 groups of them   walking the Tunnels that Shadow uses  to run?

............

..I'll Take Hodden for my Heavy.. give me Robbins . Bloodstar, and Waggastaff...

......

Henry smiled sweetly.

"I'll do my best to stay alive. Got Mila to look after..."

He made himself inconspicuous, standing near Hack, shotgun out of sight but ready for use. OK, he was wearing armour but so was everyone else.

   Garrat starts piling non explosive equipment in defensive barricades...with Rivets' permission of course.  When things are to the satisfaction of himself and his superriors he takes his place beyond a crate with his rifle ready using the B-clip as a bipod.

 as they sorted themselves out... CAlls from the Hold came in.. a Parasite  laned.. Foster  folks  took it out.. but there were a lot of Bugs in the Hold.

 The Cap ship.. seemed to be attackign Funny... but they saw them by sight...about the same  time  they came  our of the  Black behind the   Cap ship..

 Si called  down,..Admiral!

 ..I see them....Shadow... they'll be under  the AA guns in a few seconds.. the ones you can't stop... are gonna get through...


some 3 Dozen   Parasites, that had  been  hiding  on the CAp Hips  all Broke off... the  came for The Hermes like torpedoes .

  Hack  Shouted into the COMS,..RIG FOR MUTIPULE IMPACTS ON PORT SIDE>>>>STAND BY TO REPELL BOARDERS...DO NOT... I REPEAT... DO NOT TAKE PRISONERS!

   Garrat notes the use of strategy.  This concerns him.  A smart enemy is a dangerous enemy.
 If he sees the enemy ships comming in he fires on the engines.  If he can get them off course so they don't punch in nose first, there's a chance they'll just shatter on the hull of the hermes.

   People heard  cross talk on the COMs.. the fighters  were doing thier Best.. the ship shook a few times as parasites  slammed into the ship, but Howe and Foster's  people keep   blwoign them  up  500 yards  out a parasite  blew up.. followed  by three   fighters   zooming BAck up as if  one person piloted them.

  explosions marked the  death of  aircraft... from the  hanger  doors  it was a horrific fireworks  display...But three  parasites  were  coming in  hard towards the HAnges.. the one to the Left of the hangers  was  getting shot   at By 3  fighters.. the other  two moving in... slowing?....

  Then.. Shadow's warning came  as three  armored  assault shuttles began to rise   at the Hanger Bay doors.

If the armored assault shuttles belonged to the enemy then garrat fired a steady stream of bullets at the windsheild of one of the shuttle until it's doors opened then he made sure anything comming out of those doors had to dodge his bullets.

As the assault shuttles came into view, Roy dove for cover, trying to run forward as far as he could to spread out the angle of fire the shuttles would have to cover if they wanted to hit everyone on the deck.  He ran through options in his mind...and none of them were good.  In a pinch, he could try throwing grenades out, and hope the HE was enough to damage the shuttle or at least the gun turrets...or, more disturbingly, he could try shooting up the barrel of one of the guns.  Problem was, shooting up one of the barrels meant that the barrel had to be pointed at him...and that was a patently unsafe situation to be in...

  The assault  Craft for the   Creshains were  made to take a pounding.. the one   further towards the stern, had  taken hits.. its  Buggle was gone   and  the  Gunner was  paste.


 The  three   armroed  craft  slammed into the  Hanger  deC... this   stopped anyone  form  coming in..or going out.. the Duces  along   with Garrat, Roy and almosty anyone with a gun.

 .. the    Shuttles opens up with thier  fixed forward  firing Guns, orange suited  crew were  torn to bits , a few  SEC  dropped , dead or wounded.

 the  duces  were   sending streams  of  50 cal into the    shuttles   chewing them up, along  with the   , rigged Heavy Pulse  , at the QM.

 The fire only lasted about  6 minutes, But to all those who were under fire.. it was the last moments they would live.

    Hack   had  taken  shots  with a  carbine from the stage....Commander  Si now  has  Command...  he  moved to the stairs   and   told Hennings  and BAle to Cove r Beth.. Melia  tried to heep the little  ones   back from the Fight..

 The.. the  9 hells brike  Loose    the  side door s  came  down, and  humanoids  charged  out   with  a Dozen  or So  UEs  in each shuttle...... it  wasn't   easy to count..Lilly might have been able to do it... At lest 50? or  more humaniods  and  the UEs  poured in.. the   bugs  didn't even wait,  But charged to the enarest humans  to  bring  down.. some   Bugs  fell right  away.. But the   waves were  on the  barracades ..  even were Morris  was.. Hack was  chaging down as he slipped his   helmet On  Shade  was   screaming   robotic  vendictives .. the  Heavy Pulse  Gun  the QM set up  was Blowen from the stand by a bug grenade ..

The moment he saw the doors on the shuttle start to move, Roy threw the bug bomb on his rig.  He had no way of knowing if the gas would spread and hit anyone close to the point of contact, but he was still in boarding armor...he could lay out a blanket of the gas and move with impunity.  "Boarding team!  Anyone who's still carrying gas grenades, get them in play, NOW!"

He pulled his rifle up, flipping the fire select to full auto, and started raining explosive rounds into the swarming Creshians.  He faced a dangerous choice...stay close to the boarders, or withdraw and put himself in line of fire for the shuttles' weapons.  He did his best to steer clear of the Creshians' fire arcs, while keeping distance from the grouped Creshians, staying out of the line of fire for the Deuces and other weapons on the deck as he did what he could to stem the tide.

Henry came forwards to the edge of the stage, took a knee and started taking potshots at any Creshians who came into his sightline.

   Bug Bombs arced  towards the enemy shuttles, the greenish-brown  fog began to coat those  wheo were charging out, the  once in front  were spared  as the Met the defenders...

  Shouts  of anger , pain and  help came from  the defensers..  Screams of  pain and hate  came from the Bugs.

 Revenge  drove both sides.. as  well as survival. Rivets  Clashed  with a  PAir Of Humanoids   as they   waved  jagged blades.   were fired  at near Point blank in some cases.

 Morris  and  His People  were about to be over  run.. Hack  stood   by the  barricades ,, his  greasegun chewing up the  few UEs that managed to reach the  Barricades near the stage.

   Shade  fired off some fire at  a humanoid that screamed  as hit burned, its   boarding  suit catching ablaze.

  the  front of the assault  shuttles  were battered, the Metaglass finally Broke..Garrat had broken the middle one, and killed the   Pilot, he shattered the  one on the left  and a bug bug  finished  any in the cockpit..

 Roy was forced  back by the  slowly falling   fog of the Bug Bombs..

  Robbins  was swarmed  but  the Humanoids, Lyri   Jumped in with  a Blade.. Hodden went down with 2 Humanoids  atop her.

  Hack   shot   a pair of  Humanoids  that had  Reached  Tucker  who  was jamming his   blade repearedly into a UE.

  form the other  side. Morris  and his  people  were    into hand to hand  as they  tried to  beat off the  surge that  wanted to reach the  Stage.

   Henry blew   the chest plate and  chest from a Humaniod that  was abouyt  to hit HAck from behind.

  Garrat continues from the shuttle to fire into the highest densities of enemy bugs.  The efort it took to accelerate a 55 calrifle round past the speed of sound shoved at his body every time the rifle fired on full auto.  He braced his massive body, pressing the large gun into the barracade  and controled the kick so he stayed pretty dead on target.

   The large shells cut through multiple targets sending shockwaves through the bug bodies that liquified internal organs and muscles crippling and often killing the insects where ever they were hit.

   As he scanned the crowd, does he see anything that looks like it is different from the standard humanoid?  Something that would define an ex-queen?

Heh! We'll have none of that!

Henry continued to take pot-shots as the opportunity arose, keeping an especial eye out for Hack to ensure nobody else snuck up on him from behind either.

Roy gave ground reluctantly, staying away from the reach of the UEs.  He stopped firing long enough to swap magazines, then resumed firing again, walking his fire across the mass of bugs, relying on the explosive rounds, rather than any real marksmanship, to inflict damage.  He wasn't generally a fan of 'spray and pray' shooting...but when the enemy was that numerous, and that close, there wasn't time to be clean and tidy about picking targets.

It took maybe a second to empty the magazine, at full auto...he dropped back a few more steps as he ejected the spent magazine and put in a new one, bringing the rifle to bear again and opening fire with the smooth, steady precision of movement that came with years of experience.

      There was a Lull....  some Humanoids  retreated buck to the  shuttles...The fixed   forward  Guns couldn't fire, the top  bubbles  were gone.

  The HAnger  was  covered  with  bodies from both sides.. the bug juice  was  slowly evaporting, or   being  sucked into   creshains  as it  fed on the dead bodies.

  Hack looked at his     armor, that was  covered with Bug guts.. he took a look back at Henry and  Grinned.

  Shade  stood near  Beth's console  Orria  stood  near Melia  who had been using a carbine to  snipe at bugs. with Orria  close to Beth's console.

   Hodden was   wounded  badly. she   leaned against the Mech station wall with her  Heavy weapon   on the counter,  ready to fire.

 Tucker  was wiping off his  Blade along  with Lryi as she    tried to patch his  wounds,

 Supe  and Minnet were putting fresh power Cels into thier   weapons.

  Hack called  down the Lines,... there  is a good  bet there are more  troops aboard those  shuttles...but... that should be about it...

 .. we have  been breached  a few places, so far the SEC and  crew have contained   or eliminated the  enemy...some of the Largran tried to surrender.. but  were  eliminated.

Garra shoulders his rifle, draws the asgard pistol in ine hand and his occui auto pistol in the other.  He carefully approaches the two enemy ships that do not have their cockpit shot out.  If the doors are still open he will fire two asgard rounds into the first and then enter directly after the explosion.

  of the three... the closest one to the Bow, has the   'hold' door open about  a foot, though it is  dark.. lots of  moving  helmet light  can be seen.

  the  middle one, has  compartment  doors shut.

.. to get in to the  shuttle, he wound have to  climb the   blunt nose, of the aircraft...the battered lower left forward  Gun might help...

................

 Orria  watched the whole of the BAttle. she was scared.. her  eyes   glassy with tears... she  wanted to run.. she wanted to grab Melia's leg and   hang on.. but she was supposed to stay with Shade...

.................

 Morris  calls though all COMs,...we .... we took a bit..of a pounding here... got 4 or  5 crew left.. ..I..... there is a grunt of  pain,..I can see a bit..into the  shuttles side  doors of the  one close ot us.... they have ...more  people.... but.. they are doing...something....  he coughs.

.........

 Rivets  is Now  Moving up line, behind the   barricades , he steps over bodies of his people, and those of the  Bugs.. A creshian  reaches to him for  help, Rivets kicked the thing's head, then crushes it  with a stomp.. he  stops   about in the Middle...RIGHT!.. Everyone who can Fight.. ye get  ready, 'cause  we're gettin' this filth of my Dec.

  Garrat fires his rounds through the foot opening.

  Garrat fires   3  Rounds  In..  the first , nothing  Happens.. the second there are shouts of  surprise as  screams.. the  Third,  Garrat sees  a Flash  and  Flies towards the back of the  Hanger    as the Explosion Rips the  Back 2/3s  of the shuttle aprats,  sending  at least have that section out into the Black..  Steele is flying past  and  uses  lazers to  cut  up about  6 of the Bodies..just for target practice.. the other s   Pinwheel into the Black as they make thier last   struggles.

  The Middle  shuttle shakes  shards of  the   exploding  shuttle  slamming into the  side.  what was left of the shuttle burned

  Out of that Middle  Shuttle stepped a Humanoid  at least a foot  taller then the others, with  Dark Boarding  armor and  some black Metal hand guns  in her  Hand..  some 20  fresh troopers   joined her  and  12  who survived the first attack...

 Morris's  small group sent  rounds   at the last shuttles  doors,  but the fighter  berths offered  cover to everyone. The Queen  fires  as soon as she  saw the humans... he r  First  shot hitting  Wagstaff  and slamming him against the wall of the Mech shop.

 Shade  saw her  and  fired off three burst form his   hand.. None  came close at that   range and  just impacted on the shuttled  side.

 Her  head  Jerked  n his   direction and   turned to fire.

Roy swore under his breath.  "So much for dealing with them while contained," he muttered.  Seeing the Creshian elevating weapons toward Shade and the others, Roy snapped his weapon up to his shoulder, pointing it at the larger humanoid Creshian, and squeezed the trigger, spraying explosive rounds at what was apparently one of the Creshian commanders.

   Roy's   Rounds   Hit the Thick  armor of the  creature  Bits  flew off as it was  staggered...the shots Zipping  By Beth and Shade.

 there of the  'fresh troops" all wearing dark armor  Like the  taller  creature    turned to charge   Rou and his  people, while the  first wave left overs  were charging towards Hack.

Roy stepped back as he emptied the magazine, ejecting it and slapping home a fresh one, mentally noting he had one magazine left.  He flipped the fire select to burst, and took aim at the 'lead' Creshian again...this time, at its head, above the armor.  He paused long enough to get a clean, steady sight picture, pulled the trigger, and was backing off again before he'd even taken the time to make note of the results...three steps back, turn and fire at the nearest Creshian, again targeting its head...

Henry returned Hack's grin, then turned his head to check on the younglings. He directed Mila to go and keep Orria company, as the poor lassie look scared although she was sticking to Shade like glue.

"Shade, protect Orria!" he directed, hoping the little guy wouldn't get too excited and run off into the thick of things.

Then he returned his attention to the invaders and continued to fire single directed shots as targets presented themselves...

Then he saw the queen, and began to fire at her.

   Garrat was  getting up slowly..his  head rung with the Blast...it registered on him, as the Black armored Creshains   were surging towards  the  'middle'  of the barricades were set  as   Roy  fired off his  Rounds.

  Henry's  shotgun fired

  Lyri, with Bloodied hands  from trying to stems  wounds,   began shooting at the Black armored  troops  closing in.

  The   Leader  Bug jerked and Fell as  at lest  one....well aimed ..round from Roy's  weapon  Blew off   part of the Helmet..

 Henry's  Shot Got,  just a bit out of range.. still manage to shred one of the 'normal' troops  that were headed thier  way..

  Shade  Looked back and Henry's call,  and took a few steps  back to  put himself in front of Orria and Melia.. Melia  brought down some of the normal troops with her  carbine... they were starting to thin out..

 The Black armored Humaniods   were  falling, But not  near as  fast.. Shoemaker went  down,  but  got   back up.. firing   and  grinning like a maniac .

   Morris  and his group   were firing  on 8  of the Normal Bugs , a few of them  fell as they darted through the  Fighter's  Berths, one of them  Knocking Lady's  nose  art from the pipes that it hung  from.

 Then  the  Leader thing   started to  rise, Have of its helmet was gone... that have of its 'face... Burn and torn... the right  eye destroyed...