Lizzy stayed on station checking to see if any Vampics could be seen coming to the hatch.
" Yes Sir I will guide them in Sir, my pleasure. Yes Sir I should have gotten them in the act Sir. Felt good to cut them in half Sir."

 Lizzy will show them the hole and watch out for fighters or Vampics in the hatch.
Lizzy will say to Watt #34," This is Ensign Maris, Watt #34 the hole is right in front of me ,all Vampics ran I believe,  I will cover you." Lizzy will aim the nose ofher fighter to point at the open hatch.

  Watt  #34   pulled     up   the    transport ,  put  around  so a board   tunnel  could be    sent out  to the    hatch..  troops   were movign  befor ethe  last Pins  were   shot  in to anchor the end..

  It wasn't long   before  the sounds of weapon fire  and screams of  frighten kids   could be heard.

  ..May every god  who allow this   to happen, burn in thier own hell!.. there has  to be... 100 kids  here.. some of them look like they may be  dead.. Send   Med Tech , EVAC  ships now!....  Vampic s  went  up a ramp way to the Next level, we capped  about 8...

 ..This is the  Snowbird... sending   two EVAC ship on your COM  signal..

 Lizzy was happy they got to the kids and so many my God, she was so glad she caught those bastards in the act.
 Lizzy will move back to give the transport room, and she will scan the area for threats and keep cover over the transport.
"LC, this is Ensign Maris, shuttle is here I am staying on station to cover them. About 100 Kids Sir, two Evac ships in route. "

   ..got it.. we  can't  do a  damn  thing  from here   for the Hermes, we can't even  land, so.. we'll do what we  can out   here.

 The  Med   Vac  Ships  were  coming   fast... for all intent and Purpose,  stripped down  sloops  that were attached to the  top part of the  Med  Tech ships, with   ' shelf decs'  for   about  100  wounded on  each.

 There weren't many more  in the Black now...  ESN  ships  were  expanding pout  from the  Taskforce  as  drop ships  came  to   send in the final nail in the Vampic's  coffins...

…………………………………….

 Ironwood.. the transport  was Boarded... Captain Mintz, Captain  McKeon...  we have   8   decs on this  ship..purely cargo  .. the    first 7 Decs  are   food  and Ammo...  the food  is ...APF   food.... but the  8th dec  has... as  near  as my  troopers  can count... 1000 APF  citizens .. they are  wrapped  with  O2  being  fed into them

 Lizzy responded," Yes Sir"
 Lizzy didn't know the Hermes's Hanger Dec got hit, so they couldn't land, good thing they fueled her up when she landed. Lizzy will see the Med Vac ships coming and smile, hopefully they could rescue all the kids and Lizzy would be so happy.

 Lizzy was still fuming watching those bastard Vampics throwing those kids out she was so mad and wanted to kill all of them so bad right now.

"On it, LC," he replied.  Had anyone else offered to overwatch the shuttles, Karl would have been skeptical...but if Shadow was there, nothing was getting through to them without destroying Shadow and his plane...

For a moment, Karl smirked at the mental image of Shadow, his plane damaged beyond operability, ejecting from the cockpit and taking on a Vampic fighter by standing on its nose and firing his sidearm at the cockpit...the smile faded immediately as he spied the sloop...twenty miles was practically stone-throwing distance in a space battle.  "That one, Ed...target engines, weapon systems, and the bridge, in that order."  He highlighted the vessel on his targetting array, and indicators began flashing with trajectories, intercept points, and likely targets on its surface.  As Ed calculated the firing information, Karl kicked the plane sideways, bringing all weapons to bear on the sloop.  He keyed both artillery guns to volley-fire...and as soon as the target lock flashed, he fired off a HEAP round from the howitzer and a blast from the heavy pulse cannon.  Ass soon as both weapons cycled, he fired again, still aiming at the engines while the targeting array was highlighting weapons.

 the  troops   were pulling  back,,, Supe  says,well?  we   either hold this   spot..or  we  go after them... The  Vampic s  went  around  the bend  to amidships.

 ………………………………

   weapons  fired   at the     Vampics  who carged.. some    only  wore    unifroms   and carried pots    and pans... some were dressed in heavy  Boarding armor.. but they all charged, screaming thier  war Cry.

Zob huffed when he saw the Vampics turn tail and flee but even still he had his weapon at the ready just in case he saw them again, "Well we need to keep moving if we wanna get to the bridge... as much as i like killing Vampics we do have a mission to accomplish"

Roy glanced back toward the mechs...there was a crowd of troopers at the bottom of the shaft...along with a very eager larg...and a scant handful of people helping fill in the gaps between the mechs.  And unlike the group at the bottom of the shaft, the mechs were facing reinforcements from potentially anywhere else on the ship, rather than just the bridge section.

"Hemsly, Brooks, with me!" he called out, heading for the trio of mechs and the cluster of infantry around them.

Nikki dropped one Vampic in the groups way with a steady shot to what would be his lower jaw/ throat area.  watching him become both mist and a fountain.  "Suck on that"

"Let's move!" Mortica called out and launched a flashbang at the Vampic still in their way to the bridge. "No prisoners unless I point one out that will have intel or tactical value. Kill the rest."

  The  Group  MOved  ahead   as the  Vampic s   Pull d Back, heading to the stairs  that would take them, to whats left of the Bridge..  LArry   took   off.. only  a little  'slower'  with his armor  on  slamming into the  last 4  Vampics  Thier  screams  were loader  then thier  war cries  as  the beastie   relished  tearing them   to   bits..  The rest of the Group  followed  Mortica ..Shade  stopped  to  watch over Larry  as  he  crushed   and  broke  the  Vampics.

 Supe    and Hodden with tucker  behind them  followed  the  Felrites  bounced on the  walls of the  passage  way  like  hand balls /..firing out in front of them

 Garrat, Zob and Nikki   following Mortica

…………………………………….

 Hemsly  and Brooks  stopped in  the Intersection and saw the VAmpics… Brooks  frowned,coulda  used the  wee beastie up here... They'll slow  down  when they  hit me  mines?... but  after that?

 Lirg   fired  again. there  were some   20  casings by his  feet.

   Lyri   was kneel;ign , shooting the other  way, even as  rounds   Pinged off the  plates.

  Morgan  , clark  and   Kira  took turns    fireing  down range..  but the  horded   regathered  and  began to attack again.

Roy nodded, grimly.  "Do what you can with the charges, Brooks...after that, it's up to us to shoot the bastards."  He readied his assault rifle, and checked his vest, making sure the extra magazines were accessible.

"Sniper fire will keep them stumbling, but when they get inside a hundred meters, we can reach them pretty effectively..."  His rifle could actually hit quite accurately well beyond that, but neither Brooks nor Hemsly was trained as a sniper or even a sharpshooter, and the SMGs they were carrying didn't have the high-velocity ammo to be effective much further out than that...lack of atmosphere would help a little bit, perhaps, but the artificial gravity would still cause trajectory drop and it would be more extreme on the larger, slower round they fired.

He set up behind the metal plate next to Lirg, standing above the kneeling Hyrian, waiting for the Vampics to get close enough to start shooting, watching where the mechs were firing and looking for spots where the Vampics might try to elude the mech fire and get closer.

 Shadow  and Howe    moved about teh deadly  Song l;ike   sharks.. while the others   looked  for more


………………

 Karl's weapons   pounded the  Sloop, it  tried  to change direction     but the    Engine d Blew , splitting the  Vessel in have  like a Pea pod

  around the Task force the ships   were starting to show  Blue  Lights   as the transport troops  took them over.

As secondary explosions started going off, Karl changed tactics, deciding to add insult to injury and speed up the demise of the sloop.  "New plan, Ed...I want HE rounds, with a 2-second delay, to go in every hole where an explosion breaches the skin of the ship, until she dies..."

It only took two additional shots before the sloop burst wide open.  "Scan the debris, Ed.  If you see a Vampic in boarding armor or a vac suit, shoot it.  Let the rest die the hard way."  It was, perhaps, a less than humane way to handle the situation...but Karl didn't feel particularly inclined to humane measures.  In the unlikely event anyone tried to make a case out of it, he'd simply argue that it was a measure to extend his ammunition as long as possible on the battlefield.

The Morningstar eased forward, staying on the perimeter of the debris field.  "And keep scanning for any Vampic shuttles or fighters in weapon range..."  He watched, both the targeting display and out his canopy, looking for signs of Vampics who'd eluded death for just a little while longer.

    The  time came..when some one....somewhere  gave the order... but the orderr  was  Given..  some of the Lights  in  the passage ways  went out.. as the VAmpice   charged    forward  with  just  bouncing head lamps... every  30  feet or  so, an emergency  light   ws light, adding to the Confusion..

 Hemsly  grunts... Ye  wanna  play with Lights?....  he  reache d in  his    pouch  , pulign out three   baseball sized   Spheres... he   Lit   them all out   once  and  threw them   as  far across   amidhsip  as he could... the  Bounce d  and rolle d   before they    went off , spinning around   white   hot  flashes.. then pitch balc  the white hot  again..

  they'll last about  2  minutes like that..

 The Bright light  and  darkness  , repeating  switched  as   Morgan let loose  with his    Heavy pulse..  Lirg would look away, the   quick  fire  and Look away   again.

 Lyri fired     down the   starboard, Vampics   were Picking up speed  even with  Bodie s  falling.. Clark Opened  up  with hard  ammo.  Will  tossed  two grenades  and the frags  tore into Vampic  flesh, some   kept  clawing thier  way to the   little fort.

Zob formed up on Mortica and took position near the back to watch out in case of being ambushed by any patrols that may or may not try and attack them as he moved his way down the stairs.

Roy shook his head softly as the lights went out...and the helmet lights stayed on.  "Thanks, guys...no mistaking where to aim now..."  He flicked the selector to burst-fire, and aimed about 18" below the lamps as they came closer.  It was the same reason he'd always refused to use laser sights, despite the fact that they showed you exactly where the bullet was going...they also showed exactly where your weapon was located.  Wearing a light on your body was even worse...

As the charge got closer, he flipped to full auto, emptying that magazine and slotting a new one into the weapon.  He still fired in bursts, but they were longer, and he held the rifle angled to the side so that the recoil 'fanned' the spray of projectiles in a horizontal plane across his firing arc.  The volume of bodies coming at them would have been more alarming, he realized, were it not for the fact that they were all conveniently channeled into passageways...the more lead troopers you downed, the more bodies the following ranks had to wade over...

He finished a second magazine and coolly put in a third, continuing to coldly and efficiently spread shards of death throughout the oncoming Vampic ranks...

Kira was nearly out of ammo for the flame thrower and not more then a few seconds after the warning on the HUD came up stating it was now empty so she exchanged it out for another heavy pulse arm.

The vampic tide was numerous but the the team was still holding the line strong so she fired full auto with both mech heavy pulse arms into the incoming waves of vampics Kira wanted to save the limited hard ammo for when it was really needed.

  Intersection...

   Stoly     leaned out the    edge of the   hole, his  carbine  firing    at the  troops  Coming  from amidships.. the facy he  could  sight in on them at all, meant they were getting   damn close.

  Brooks   Yelled.. ..EVERYONE....DOWN!

   the troops   ducked  as  he  looked  at each passage   then    dropped  down to  trigger   his  mines...

 Some  dozen ..grenade like.. explosions  went off in  each  Passage.. once mor e pain and surprised   replaced  the  war  Cry..

   Hemsly stood   and   Opened  fire    towards  amidships...SWHOOT NOW!... 'afore   they kin  recover!

  SMGs  and  rifle s  went off...  Rolfe   would fire    Grenades  , 2  at  a time  down  each corridor    Morgan  and   Clark    sent , unending    sprays  of Pusle  rounds, even as they  Mechs   would take a  shot   or  two from a Vampic in the  BAck.

   Lirg was   against the   wall.. he  was weakly  holding  Up his  riffle,   as he  now fired   towards the stern

  Minnite  replaced her spent   power cell witht eh last  of her fresh one.  and began to deal death  again.

  Roy's   fire  before  the  mines  went off dropped  a dozen or so frontliners…  Bodies  50  feet away  were  almost  3 feet  high.. some   were   torn to bits.. some  wriggled to    try and fight.. some twitched in mindless pain

 a Voice  came over the  loudspeaker..  thick  with Vampic accent.

 ..this is not  a fight you can win!...surrender...

  Will  fired    down the stern   dropping two more VAmpics.. with the lights    flickering, it was hard to see how many were left. he shouted.. more  for the troops , then the Voice, Could have fooled me Coffin Breath!.. between  the ones  dying here, and the ones leavign the ship like rats? You can't have  too many left!

  Zob, Mortica , garrat  and Nikki  charged   with Supe and Hodden  behind them and Felrrites   flowing up the flanks  like furry water.

  Shoey,  and a few  other    followed them,   watching the    elevator .. and  Keeping  an eye on Shade  and  the  dark blood covered Larg

   They  came to the     hatch  that lead to the  stairs , one3 Vampic  was  cut in half  when he was wounded, but the retreating Vampics    sealed the hatch

 Shoey looked at the  Door... ( as the PA announcement went off)....now  what?

 there  are  Bleeps  and whirls from behind them... Shade  pointed  to the   Panel  by the    key pad

   LArry gently nudged   folks out of the way     and   sat  down by the   door, Shade  climbed up his  back to starte  at the  panel that was 6 feet  above the dec.

  He popped the top of  his  right   finger , the troch started to burn   as he  cut   a  Hole to the Right   side of the  panel..it  took  2 minutes or  so, he punched   it with  his other hand.. reaching  Behind the     panel  he    grabbed   all the  wires   and Pulled Therer were  a lot  of sparks... the light  abouve the door went out..and the   door hissed   half  way open..

 Shade looked at Garrat  and Zob  and pointed to the  door.

Zob prepped a flashbang and tossed it in the room and waited for it to go off, fully expecting Vampics to be waiting for them on the other side given the fact they just sealed this entrance once it was done he would move in through the door and if a target was visible he would gun them down with the heavy pulse.

Kira chuckled a bit as she continued her endless spray of pulse rounds chewing up hordes and hordes of Vampics but for every 20+ or so she killed more would just keep coming, "They are determined ill give them that!" part of her felt this was a trap of some kind between the lack of air defenses coming in... it was like they wanted us to come in but she took comfort knowing they couldn't get mechs up here even if they did have them on the ship.

In reply to troops below (msg # 937):

With the three assisted descents completed Melia moved away from the rope to allow the last few experienced fast ropers down taking up a position with her carbine as all hell breaks loose and the Vampics start to charge at them.

She pushes up placing herself offset to Zob and in front of Shade giving him a clear line of fire but also giving him some cover behind herself and Zob. When Zob calls for cover she steps forward switching to burst and sends controlled bursts downrange allowing Zob a chance to reload.

Once Zob was back up she let him take point and pushed forward with him clearing the passageways. Staying with the group, strength in concentrated firepower being a thing they continue to assault forward.

Once the door opened Melia posted up opposite of Zob reloading as he prepped and threw a flashbang into the bridge, she followed him into the room moving along the back wall in the opposite direction  leaving space for Garrat and the others to fill the middle while she cleared from the edges. Any Vampic she saw she shot at unless indicated my Morticia.

In reply to space (msg # 959):

Sarah calls over, "Ironwood to Cpt Mintz, do you need prize team to get it running and out of danger?"

Ironwood flight guard that transport like 1000 lives depend on you.