"I stopped carrying rope wit me but my spare bag on the shuttle always has 2 50 foot coils.  if its under 20 feet we can halve them and send 4 troops down at a time."

     When the time came, Garrat repelled down the rope and drew his Asgard pistol, standing next to Zob it would fire a frag round further than the Demon could throw.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Mon 15 July 2019.

  Flores    sighted   as Shuttle,  Shadow  set her off to finish it.

  .. if you find something..shoot  it down. then  Get back here....Never  leave  less then  to  2  fighters in out   area...

Roy glanced at the two.  "Well, Shade could probably clip on and drop just fine, but he's never done it before so it could be a hard landing...probably best to belay him down. Same with Larry, but it's gonna take a couple of us, at least...that's a lotta larg to counterbalance."  He glanced over at Jax.

"Should probably do you, too, since we haven't gotten around to fast-rope descents and rappeling in your training yet.  Besides," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, cutting the comms for a moment and butting his helmet against Jax's so the vibrations could transfer helmet to helmet, "If you go first, Shade doesn't feel so much like we're taking extra care with him because he's young, or an ambassador, or Shadow's kid.  He's all those, sure...but right now, he's just a trooper and we need him to do something he's not trained to do.  So we have to compensate."  He looked Jax square in the eye and nodded, then keyed his comm again and turned to the rest of the group.

"Hemsly, bust out that rope.  We've got three we need to lower before we all go down there, unless they're ready to sit up here and hold the line with the mechs.  I don't see that one agreeing easily to that..." he grinned ruefully as he jerked a thumb in Shade's direction.  "Nor that one, to be perfectly honest," and he gestured in Larry's direction.

 The Burners  were  welding   legs  on the plates  that they  cut  from the  Neds.. then  began to Meld  them to the  walls, drawing superheated metal  from the  wall to mix   with that of the stand Up Plates.

 Lirg laughed  again.....this  is  fun.. it is not  good, that they taste bad...  Then his  shoulder   barely move d as the   big  sniper rifle  jerked ...this   time, Down range  to the stern, send  a Body slamming  to those behind  it.

 Jax  Nodded  to  Roy.....we had to slid e down Power cables on Etna...can't be  worse then this..but  I'll do what you want me to do..

 Shade  was peering over the  edge.. he whirled    and Buzzed  to   LArry..   Larry  just looke d down, a bit unsure... titling his  head   one  way then the other.

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

 At the  bottom, Mortica  and the others heard  shouts.. and   fell the vibrations  of   a Shuttle   launching into The  Black .

Roy knelt down, on eye level with Shade (and a little below eye level with Larry).  "We're gonna run another rope, with a loop in the end.  The knot can't slide, so it won't cinch down on you, but you'll have to hold yourself steady as best you can."  Focusing on Shade, he explained, "You sit in the loop, hold onto the line above the knot, and keep the loop under your butt.  Don't lean too far back, or the loop will slide up to your knees, and don't scoot forward or the loop slides off your butt and catches up under your arms...still safe, but you feel stupid when it happens."  He gave Shade a nod, assuring him he could do this.

Turning to Larry, Roy explained (banking heavily on Larry being far smarter than the average larg appeared to be), "We have to run the loop around your body between your first and second set of legs...any farther forward and you'd drop out of it backwards, any farther back and you'd be hanging head-down all the way down.  Shouldn't be too uncomfortable with the armor.  As soon as you get down, someone will loosen the loop so you can get out of it.  Only other option is to have you jump...and there's nowhere for you to land down there that doesn't get somebody hurt."

He put a hand on both of them.  "We'll lower Jax down first so you can see what I mean...I'll be up on this end with Brooks and Hemsly to make sure you get down safely.  Good to go?" he asked, looking back and forth between the pair.

  Shade  gave a Thumbs Up.. Larry;s  hea d  Turned   90  degrees  again..but he  thumpe dhis  tail, making a metal  banging sound.

  Roight .. go the  Loops  an' all ready.. let's  Go fishin' ..'eh?
 Hemsly Grinned   as the   secure  on  end to a   make shift hook. made   by the Burners.

 Will. Lirg and Minnet   were  with the others.  Rolfe  looked to Roy to see  if he wanted  him and his grenade  launche r with them..or  to hold the intersection.

 The Felrites   were bouncing about   with glee  ,w ating  to go  down the  lines

 Lyri slide into the ship,..I'll stay with  the  intersection....

 Lirg pointed for her to look towards the  Stern... she    knelt  down,looking through the scope for a while... then the  rifle   cracked... another Body   Flew backwards...

 .. they don't like this.. they move  back  a bit.. lirg chuckled.

  One the Cold Stone.. the COMs  were  filled  with screams of pain , terror  and anger... answered  but   full throat roars  of   hate  and  anger...

 The  Ape  folks were tearing through the   Cold  Stone   , Shredding Vampics, who..may..or may not..have  ever  been boarded  before

Roy nodded.  "Jax first..."  As Hemsly got the loop situated, he turned to the others.  "Rolfe, hold here.  If the Vampics ever get up the nerve to do a mass charge, you and the mechs make 'em pay for every step once they get inside range.  Hopefully, between Lirg and Lyri carving away at their officers and senior NCOs, they'll never get up the nerve to charge."

He turned around, taking a firm grip on the line, letting Brooks and Hemsly hold it between him and the drop down the lift shaft while he sat back against it, holding the slack in his right hand so it went back behind his butt, then payed out with his left hand to the other two so there were three bodies controlling the rate of descent.

"Ready, Jax?" he asked, looking to where their newest recruit was standing at the edge of the shaft.

 Jax  Nodded  rapidly, he  was a bit scared, but he has been scared before.....Ready!

  They sent him   down  as he hang On, his head   swiveled  about  looking  , he  was  waiting  for those  below, to   grab him..

  Shade Peered over the edge  watching him.....  LArry    made  some   burbling  sounds... the  HAlf Verian  just  patted  him on the back.

…………………….

 Rolfe    stood in the Middle  with Lirg  Morgan FAced  Amiships…. Clark to the  Stern.. Leaving Kira  to  go   to either..or  to    go with those headed to the bow.

  Lyri Cracked  Off  another   Shot.. as  Did  Lirg...

 ..My Last shot dropped a bit... they  must have  Moved  back  even More...

 Lirg snorted,..they   try  to hid  around each  corner  down this  way... but  fools  step out..  They...seems... to be  talking a bit... I think charge is coming..

Listening in to the interchange above about lowering Larry, Shade, and Jax via belay, Melia shifts back to the entrance of the lift. "Melia here, I'm available to catch them as the come down and get them off the rope." she calls up to the group above. "landing area clear, send the first one." She steps back scanning over her shoulder relying on Garrat and Zob and the rest of the team to provide cover while the last few come down the ropes.

Once Jax gets down to the level Melia grabs him pulling him onto the deck, and quickly unclips him from the ropes, then tugs on the rope twice calling out "Clear" followed by giving Jax a gentle helping push out of the landing area for the fast ropers

 Howe  and Brivet   went  after  another escape shuttle... Bresil and Munuez  were   Under the Bow   keeping watch...He-La  and  Waggels  were  to the   Starbaord  side of the Deadly Song..

     Lizzy took off after  the shuttle on thie r  Ned.... Viktor    chased  a  fighter, Krafe  and  Bottoms  were  under  the stern  keeping watch.. Shadow held  firm  in case there was a  feint .

 Karl Saw  the   Two  fighters  Coming from the port side  hard and fast.

 Lizzy picked up a escaping shuttle, she would say over the comms,I got a running shuttle in pursuit Lizzy made sure their where at least 2 fighters in position and then headed after the shuttle.

 Lizzy would watch carefully in case it was a trap and when the shuttle was in range see would open fire trying to send the escaping Vampics to the 9 Hells.

 Lizzy open fired at first she got the engines and the shuttle was dead in space.

 Lizzy didn't care if they put their surrender lights on, Lizzy wanted to see them die, she then fired again and the shuttle exploded sending bodies of Vampics into the dark. Lizzy would smile watching them die and then head back to her post at the Deadly Song.

  Seeing things in hand with the ropers Garrat looks intot he hall, does it head only in ine direction?

With the rope clear, they pulled it back up.  "Your turn, Shade...just like Jax did it, stay calm and enjoy the ride.  We'll make the loop smaller so it's more secure for you."  He nodded to Hemsly to take care of it, and as soon as the Scot was done, took up a ready position, bra ing himself for a heavier load...he'd never picked Shade up, but after seeing the way the Verian had thrown blocks on the football field, Roy had absolutely no doubt that Shade's physique was considerably more dense than human average.

"Ready when you are, Shade...we've got the slack, just step off the edge and we'll do the rest."

  Shade  held  up a thumbs  Up .. then  stepped off , holding   tight to the  Rope.

  Larry  whined  a Bit  as he looked down, watching   Shade   disapear into the dark.

………………………….

 Garrat looks  around,  there is a  DArken   passage  to the Bow..  sparks  are  flying, but there  are bits   of flashes , showing station  fields     were  sealing the breaches

…………………..

  at the Intersection, Lirg   calls Out.....they have  stoppe d    wigglign about... I think they  will charge soon..

"Oooh, I see you there, trying to sneak in..." Karl muttered.  He cut his circle tight to bring guns to bear on the pair of fighters, as he commed, "Two bogies, coming in just to the port side of the ship's tail, about forty degrees high, Morningstar on intercept..."

The target indicators were already lining up, flashing a target lock on one, then both planes, and Karl fired...the howitzer fired at the plane to the left, the heavy pulse at the plane on the right...as soon as the weapons fired, he banked around, continuing to close, ready to follow up with the rotary cannon if either plane made it past those shots.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 21:36, Tue 16 July 2019.

 The   weapons   fired out ,, shattering  the  first    Fighter...  How e and  Shadow  came   from thie r end s of the   Ship..  as the   Vampic   tried  to shcnage his  target Vector... Karl finished him  as  well..

 Shadow and Howe  passed  each other   within a few feet of  each other, then banke d away to   come back to thie r   cap cover  area..

  all the opther  fighters  returned to thier spots as well

Mortica dropped into the lift and looked down the passageway to either side. “The bridge took a hit and may be hulled. If so there’s an auxiliary bridge I can lead us to so we can take control of the ship, get it out of this spin and get it in formation,”   she said over comms.

  As things are getting crowded in the elevator Garrat stepd out into the hall. his large riffle at the ready, waiting to see if he draws an attack orfire.

Lizzy will come back and take her position with Viktor, and keep her sensors looking and her eyes peeled for more fighters and Shuttles.

"Splash two, Morningstar is going back on station over the shuttles, " Karl reported into the comms, rolling out of his intercept with the remains of the Vampic fighters and swinging around into the circle he'd been holding over the hull of the Vampic cruiser.

Muting his mic for a moment t, he commented, "Good initiative, Ed, targeting those planes before I was ready to fire.  Just...d9n't get carried away, okay?"

He was about to unmute the mic when the AI responded.  "Don't worry, Captain.  I am not rewriting my operating system, and I have explicit directives prohibiting me from opening fire without your permission.  Evaluation of past operational scenarios indicated we would be firing on the hostile craft, and the majority of my programming exists strictly to analyze combat patterns and enhance the operational efficiency of this craft."  There was a momentary pause, and then, in an almost conspiratorial tone, Ed added, "If anyone asks, you can tell them that auto-targeting enemy craft is part of a software upgrade."

Karl sat for a moment, mildly perplexed..then shrugged.  Technically, that was all true...and odds were really good that nobody would think twice about the timing of a target lock.  Nobody in the Fleet really had much of a clue as to how the Morningstar operated, outside of Karl and a couple of his more inquisitive ground-crew members.

Satisfied, he settled into watching over the shuttles, alert for any other craft that seemed intent upon damaging them.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 01:38, Wed 17 July 2019.

"Once we're all down I'll take the lead. We clear a space leading with flashbangs. Be advised if at any time we hear the shout, 'Their blood is ours!' it means they're about to attack. It's a battle cry used to intimidate foes. Also be advised that whilst Vampic are not used to being boarded that doesn't mean they're not going to be vicious and deadly foes and the ones here know death awaits them inside and out. We may get some who surrender but the majority will fight to the death."

Mortica checked the magazine on her rifle and looked to make sure everyone was present. "When everyone is situated we move fast. I recommend a squad on either side of the passageways we come to. Larry with me. Zob can you watch our six?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:48, Wed 17 July 2019.

Roy paid out the rope evenly, letting Shade descend smoothly down the shaft until he saw slack on the line...he let out a few more inches so the loop could be easily untied, then pulled it back up when Shade was clear.

Once Hemsly had the end of the line, Roy stepped over in front of Larry, looking the larg in the eyes.  "Okay, Larry...this is gonna feel weird, hanging from a line with nothing under your feet.  Just relax...we'll do the rest.  If you start wiggling and jerking the line, you can pull it out of our hands, or pull us into the shaft on top of you.  Just let yourself hang until you feel deck under your feet, and it will all be just fine.  Okay?" he asked the larg, glancing up to gauge how ready Hemsly was with the loop.

   there is  another  90 degree turn of his head,, as   he watches    Hemsly hook up the   loops.

 there  is a   worried  Blurble.

 Shade     makes  some  Bleeps  from down below.

 well?.... he's as ready as  he's gonna  be.. lets  git  'im down....