Continue  of Green Moon.....

Roy growled softly, under his breath...he didn't like the situation, but didn't feel like they could stand back and do nothing.  "Spread out...QUIETLY.  If those are the same plasma weapons we've seen, let's not make the whole team an easy target.  Supe, stay set up here with Tucker...if anyone spots us and starts shooting, chew them up.  I want no more than two people together, and each pair at least two meters apart.  Let's go..."

In a low crouch, he started moving, his trained footfalls almost silent.  Two meters along, he pointed to the floor, indicating that was the location of the next shooter.  Barely pausing, he continued onward, repeating the motion as he spread his team out as much as the space would allow.

  Lyri move to the top of the  steps leading    Down. Putting her rifle barrel under the   top railing......we're gonna kill them..right?..cause if  we aren't I don't  want tp be the first one to try and talk with them.

 Supe   mover to the  right of the platform his  heavy Pulse rested on the top railing as he watched the   Qarl moving with ant-like haste.

 Tucker  was against the   wall, just outside the door way..keeping a Watch on the far door.

.........

 McCloud  , the 5th and the Felrites  were  pushing to reach the spot.

Garrat's team.........

    Moving to the  Door, Garrat has to bend a bit to turn the wheel.. there is a  Hiss sound and  more red light  flash on the Insdie. In side  are smaller  control consoles ... there is a screen that is  flickering, but shows  no  vids.. there are hatches on the   west wall and  north wall ( besides the one they have entered... this room is  also  dusty, with the  team making  the friest fresh tracks in...who knows?.. there  are smaller  tracks but appear to be a little older.. and the clawed feet.

  Garrat looks around. "Okay, secure the room.  Those hatches are likely cells.
whatever is in them isn't coming out any time soon."  Garrat looks around, then goes and dusts off some of the screens and controls, being careful not to activate them.  "This may be as far as we can go but we are going to need some techs down here.  Beth, do you have some NaRagran near you"

As he eased forward, moving slowly and cautiously down the steps, Roy repkied, "If the Admiral wanted to talk to them, he wouldn't have sent us..."  With the team spread out, he took the last position, closest to the Qarl.

"Tucker, Robbins, Mullins, Dalton, and me...pick the corresponding black Qarl, going left-to-right...on my call, drop them.  The rest open up on anyone else that moves down there."  He settles his sights on his target, following the Qarl as it gave directions to the others.

"Sound off when you're ready..."

 Garrat fusses  witht he  consoles.. there is  some power there.. but the have obviously  been locked down, to prevent  waste of energy...

  Ming  wiped off the  porthole to the  west.....SGT Garrat?.... there seems to be a passage behind this door?

 Lirg looked to the other  door, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to bend down to peer through.

 Beth COMed,..Aye, SGT Garrat..we have one who....settled into the Command Tent...

  TGucker  came off the   passage  and settle into the spot, down a few steps, that Roy set up...

   One  By One... the  shooters  said 'check' softly.

 Supe  tilted his weapons   down towards the   Stern of the  structure, where there were some  greys walking about looking at the stern of the   thing.


    Karson, had  two Items in his hands and said.... 'ready"

In reply to Garrat's team (msg # 6):

   Please show them these foot prints,"  Garrat shows the four toed prints again and ask them if they know the animal.  Also ask them if they know the writing of their gods."

  Garrat goes to the door with the passage. "Let's see what lies behind it." and carefully starts to open the portal.

  Hack watched  , neither approving or disapproving of actiions  being taken.

  NC-37 spoke up,...yhou are going to attack them?..just like that?..no warning?

  His left arm was around his  waist... his right elbow  rested  on that arm as  his hand  held his chin..his green eyes moved back and forth watching  the screens and subscreens,..just like that.....

 ..Unless  i was not informed. The Qarl are , our   , enemies .  They seem  to aid, if not serve the Empire... The Skith are thier  sworn enemies.... the Skith aid  our cause.... if You do the math... The qarl down there , come out on the short end...

 MC-1  nodded as he watched, interested in the military part of it all.

 ...what if they would  surrender?

 Again? I do not prescribe to most folks idea of honor or  fair play when it comes to the lives of my people..or..my allies . These qarl?.. had some  weapon on the mountain...they trained it on  the vessel...but?.. there were  odd qarl bodies  found working with the big black creatures...this could be explained..any number of ways... pure bred Qarl stayed in the mountain..while others  crossbred  and   did something  to work with, or flat out use, the Big Black creatures.. The very fact, that there are not Nivarian NAmes  for them..speaks  volumes, that they are not from this Moon..or Nivar?... there is no record of them on The Black Moon...

 TX-5  asked,...and?..if they are  harmless.. scared even..and you just flat out kill them?

 Then?... we will no longer have to worry about them... SGT Garrat went in and was attacked.... we blew the  damn top off the mountain..... we  ripped the Vessel out of the lake like a rotten tooth... if they are scared, maybe they  should have  surrendered then...Right now.. i have ESN troops in there..  and my concern is for them.. something, you can think on as you  ponder  the signing of the pact, that will bring Rouss , into the APF

     Garrat turns the  wheel.. there is  another Hiss of  air.. another red flashing light  goes on above the door.

   Before he streches  a good 200 yards  of tunnel..at the end  another   hatch... half way up..on the  right Hand side , about  100 yards up is a Hatch on the wall...

   Beth  COMs Back,..I am trying to get Shade  to  show  the Naragran the feed.. i am limited   in my screens here...

   Beth  Looks  at Shade  and asks  him to show the Naragan the Vids.... Shade is  a little put out as he is helping Orria  watch Melia.

   Hack looked at Shade..for a few Moments  they stared at  each other...  Shades  eyes  went  from  red.. to Balck..to  Grey as he  fussed with his own board ( which is a little more juiced the Orria's ) and   pointed to Melia..

 then he  went over  with Orria's Board,  his three fingered  hand moving as  fast as Beth's do at times.... Then he Brought up the tracks, and showed a slide show of the lettering

  The  Naragran  scuttled a few steps  back at the  sight of the lettering...

  "Sorry, it's just really good to be able to check on intel as we go.  I will put in a formal request on tech back up for missions after this one and perhaps we can work something out." Garrat pauses looking at the next hatch.  "I will await outcome before continuing."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Wed 07 June 2017.

  Garrat's  team..

   Hacks  Voice  came in, calm and Cold,..We can't quite tell yet SGT Garrat.. The Naragran looks  put off by the  pictures Shade is showing him..... I would like you to  continue..or? if you feel the need retreat and seal the tunnels....I will not  taint your actions with my thoughts  right now

 Lirg  continues to look round from his spot near Garrat

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

 Spencer's  group...

 As  for you  , Roy?.... I'm backing whatever your call is... we're building a colony  right out side this  damn mountain..and when we leave?.. we have to know they are relatively safe.

    "Already done sir."  Garrat goes to the next sealed door and opens it.

   The   Hatch opens... No lights  go off... no hissing sound... Before him, he sees another   passage... another hatch at 50  yards on the right  side. and one  at the End of the  passage   at 150 yards from where he stands . There are lights in the tunnel and the   far hatch is  well lit.

   Lirg  looks  around and huckers  down a bit, his  rifle   ready...Ming is issuing others  for  fire teams to   stay at the   door that did not open...

Roy had already settled on his course of action, and spared a moment for a terse, "Aye aye, Admiral..."  Without pausing, he said, "On my count...three...two...one..."  Where he would have said 'zero', he squeezed the trigger, the sound suppression on his rifle turning the standard 'bark' of a fired round into a throaty 'chuff', and a high-velocity round raced at the head of Roy's target...

    At  Roy's  weapon's  cough...  Lyri, Jesse , tucker and Robbins fired in order...  Supe Opened up on the    'stern' end.. he had no suppressor...

  Black  Bodies Exploded from rounds,, Two stood  headless for a moment   before collapsing..  Supe's Target area flashed  with heavy pulse impacts.  small qarl boddies blew  apart like  cheap pinatas .

    KArson Shouted...CLOSE YOUR EYES ON THREE!.....ONE!....TWO!.... he  ehaved his two projects and Ducked,..THREE!...

   Two white flashes    exploded...White Phosphorus...and the second  Magnesium ..

 Shrill cries   from the  creatures   Below,  many of the greys  covered  their   huge Black eyes  Most stumble d and  Fell, at least half of them  were   smoking    and Burning from Embedded  bits of the  melting  metal...

  Use  Filters.. or shades... it  will  burn for another  3 minutes or so....and.. so will they!

 Lyri was swearing...That's  just Great Karson... I didn't bring a filter  for a tunnel run...

 ..Comon , Master Chief.. I've been waitin' a damn long  time to do this!

 Pulling  down the  screens on their Helmets  they could see the   effect.    there was no more  fire  coming from the railing.. But bodies  writhed in pain.. smoke..in some  cases..flames  from larger  bits on the  superheated  metal,  some of the creatures  were  Blinded, whether for good.. or..for a while as the   stumble, a few of them falling of the top of the structure..

  Some  white  qarl  with Helmets on , came out to try to gather the wounded.

  Tuckers    weapon  rang out, One of the  Whites    split open, the other looked  around in a panic...

  Lyri ,still frustrated      Pulled the Bin on a frag and  Tossed it towards the  'bow" where the hatch was  opened... it  exploded, Just before hitting the   metal,  shredding  life and dead Bodies  alike...

  One More Minute   SM!

  Supe's weapon  opened  up  as   4 or  5 qarl ran towards the   small tunnels   at the stern.. None of them made it....Damn Shame Morgan isn't here, after that other dumbass  almost killed us all  at Zolth... he'd  love the payback!

"Less bitching and more shooting, Supe," Roy growled.  He kept his eye on the openings only he had a good angle on, firing anytime he saw a,Qarl move near them.  He certainly hadn't expected Karson to pop phophorus or magnesium, but he couldn't argue with the results.

Problem was, they didn't know how many Qarl they were engaging.  There'd been the numbers they observed on the hull, which he as more than confident his team could handle...but they didn't know if there were more inside, or down the tunnels...or even possibly coming down the halls behind them.  "Tucker, eyes on our six...I don't want anyone surprising us until the Fifth gets here..."

  Tucker  nods  and spins  back to the tunnel opening,..on it SM...

   Supe   squeezed  of a couple more  bursts, thjat only netted  a white and a Grey teying to  reach that  stern tunnels.....sure  looks like they want them tunnels....

  Karson  speaks up...10 more  seconds.. I have one more surprise..then  all i have is some C-10 and grenades.

  Lyri tried to peek but was  afraid of ruining her   shooting  eye,.. don't thnk.there are any left on the top that can fight...

Jesse fired when a Qarl would peep out from hiding.  She smiled at the surprise that Karson had provided.  She made an attempt to make sure that her friend and host was safe from fire, although she'd be happier if he were in the middle of this so he could get the experience.  She felt he had very little, and with some just reasoning I'm sure.

She spoke up on the COM.  I have 2 of my iMeins to use in case we need them.  Just have to give the call.

"How close am I safe to get, Karson?  Thinking it's time to start moving in..."  As much of a crossfire set-up as they had on the ship, there were still sections of it they couldn't see, and the longer they stayed in one place, the more opportunities it gave the Qarl to assess their position and numbers and formulate a responding tactic.

"Let's not give 'em time to figure out there's only a handful of us...by the time McCloud gets down here, I'd like to be ready to try going inside and making sure we've cleared them out..."  He grumbled internally...he should have thought to tell McCloud to bring some flamethrowers down with the Scots' detachment...it would make sweeping the interior a lot faster...

    As they Gathered, Tucker  says,..someone's coming.. and thier at a run?..good guess..5-10 ,minutes?

 Karson Looked over the  edge, he could see a couple  greys  rolling in the dirt ,on their side of the structure,..We can go now, SM?  Just..no one  tough the  white hot burnie things...

 well.. there's a good  2...3 dozen that won't be  fightng  anymore... Waggstaff  said.

 Lyri  Nodded,2 hatches opn?..but they are on top? We might have to see where  those things  Supe  gunned down, came from... unless we  find another way in... there has to bne a landing bay...

   The NAragran  was moving its   spindle claws  and Pointed  at   Orria's  Board, that Shade  held.

, Shade was  messing with the  screen and  began to draw with his finger.. drawing, rather  nice   'humans"..then some letters  and Numbers...

 he then put up the odd   symbols.. , pointing to the Naragrans' clas  and tapping the  board.

 Beth Watched   the screens as well as Hack, her  hands   trying to keep important Views  on the screens.

   She Let Cumming's Call  come through,..I say?  Admiral.. we seem to have  a bit of a Muck up?.... Coves unit has had a Bloody Cave in.. we don't know if the bloody thing was on Purpose or not...

 Hack  shook his head,..If they have the means to try and  dig through.. continue..If they don't.. I want them to rig their own  Cave in..is that understood...

 Rig our own Bloody Cave In sir!..

 ..Yes.. if the caved it in, they must have a way to get through it.... if not..they are stuck.... Your people blowing a few more tons of rocks for them to get through, might save them..or trap the qarl...

 ..Right then , Admiral, that's what we'll do....Cummings out...

 MC-1 Looked at Admiral Hack  and laughed,..That is your Big Plan, Admiral Hack?.. Cave in a tunnel that is already caved in?

 Hacks  eyes  shifted to MC-1.....of course... i may not  be the Military Genius  that has  his whole flotilla  trapped   by a few  Human vessels..... I did not  come here to capture a Mountain, on some moon.. I came here to capture the Moons, and defeat Nivar.. If the Cave   in  was natrual? then it is better we  seal it, all the more... if the qarl tried to  seal it  shut.. we will make sure it is damn good and sealed.....they may limit our ways in....but... we will limit their ways out.

"Right...hands off the phosphorus and magnesium..." Roy muttered.  In a clearer voice, he directed, "Supe, stick with Tucker...Karson, do what you can do rig the hall outside the hatch, in case the runners Tucker heard are NOT the Fifth...you three need to hold the backdoor until the Scots get here.  Make sure of your targets, though...we don't want any friendly-fire incidents."

He started down the stairs.  "Everyone else, sit tight until I'm down...once I clear, next one moves, then the next on that clear, and so on.  Keep the maximum number of weapons aimed into the chamber while we're moving in."

He kept moving as he spoke, and after, until he reached the bottom and dropped to one knee, bringing his weapon up to cover the space.  "Clear..."

  Garrat turns slightly, "How about we call down some more units and you explore that hallway."

 Ming calls  Up for  more troops, then says,..There are two doors  we  did not open on the right sides of  places.. and the one that is  50 yards  ahead.... do you want to  send troops down all of them?

 Thee is a Rumble.. then  another..and yet another... it sounds   far off. but  ..perhaps..not that far.

  Cummings  Voice came on,..As per  the Admiral's  orders.. we sealed a Bloody tunnel..that was already sealed... Cove's  stick is  Moving back and will take anothe branch...... I seee Ming's stick is  almost all down your way... let me know  if you need troops  from the reserves here.

   "Might as well.  We have the troops.  If there is a problem we'll back track and converge on it."

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 24):

Jesse quietly listened to orders but followed along as Roy gave the clear to move.  She kept attentive to the surroundings and listened for any quicker approaching footsteps.

  they were getting near the  Bottom of the stairs.. Lyri stayed on top scanning the ship , loking  for a head to peek out...

 Tucker  called out.......  Captain McCloud   and the Lt Hirr about   a Minute away...

 smoke was rising in the air.. some parts of the ship had  small fires from the  buring/melting metal , melting the skin of the structure...

  Robbins  calls out into the Mics......Found a  Door... its open...  dark inside...

 Kole stayed close to  Jesse, he fired of a few rounds of his Nivarian rifle, but it was unclkear if he hit anything.

"Well, at the very least, they're not taking this thing into orbit anytime soon..." Roy said quietly as he looked at the smoking holes from the magnesium Karson had dropped.

"When McCliud and the Felrites get here, take two people and set up overwatch on the hall and the ship exterior, send the rest down to me, so we can clear the ship.."  He turned to the group with him.  "Robbins, Wagstaff, see if there's anything noteworthy down any of these other corridors."  He gestured to the locations the Qarl had attempted to flee to.

"They had to have some way of opening up the mountain to get this thing out...if we're lucky, it was more complex than just blowing out the mountainside, and it's something we can use to get troops and techs inside."  He'd heard the speculative discussions about using the mountain as a military base...that meant getting people in, and right now, there was no way to do that efficiently.

"Jesse, you and Kole keep an eye on that open hatchway into the ship...anything that tries to come out without its hands in the air and a surrender posture, you shoot it dead where it stands.

  Kole  Nodded, but looked  more to  Jesse then Roy... Looking at the..then to  the Hatchway on the Top.

   Roy  No sooner  finished his orders,  Mccloud and  Hemsly came  down the  stairs,  LT Hirr was  right behind.. the  rest of their units came  down in relative  formation.

  Tucker   called down.....Tou still  want me  watching that other  door?

 Robbins  and Waggstaff   started  running to the stern.. from down here the  thing was a lot  taller... only about 100 feet shorter  then an ESN destroyer, it was elliptical , but  with  slanted sides and a flattened  Nose...

 the others  gathered  by the open   hatchway... the darkness   was lit  by some  dim lighting way    inside, and what appeared to be a corner.

  There was  a Crack for Lyri's  weapon, and on the far side of the carvern, a  doorway lay open, and Bits of Qarl   rained down  to the opposite side of the  structure.. Lyri said into all COMs,..yes, boys and girls, that;s why you don't  have a light on, when you open a door or window.

"Yes, Tucker...I don't want to come out of the ship into a cluster of disgruntled Qarl.  You, Supe, and Lyri are in charge of making sure we've got a safe place to exit to, using whichever of McCloud's people you tapped."  He turned to Lt. Hirr.

"We don't know if anyone's aboard, or if this thing's even operational...but there were Qarl coming and going when we opened fire and odds are good at least a few decided to hunker down inside."  He gestured at the hatch Robbins had found..  "That's the only external hatch we know is accessible...we can either go in that way, or search the ship for another, but the longer we look, the more time they get to regroup."  He grimaced, adding, "If this is the only way in, and anyone's in there, it's a good bet they've got it under watch.  Going in will be high-risk...so I won't order anyone to go.  But I'd appreciate some extra guns at my back."

  Lyri  COMed,..there'sthathatch. near..what  should be a bridge?.. its  on  top though?

 Supe added his  2  creds,..those   guys who were runnign to the   tunnels?.. they didn't  come from opurside of the thing...

  LT Hirr's  take  flicked a fee times,...my people can be  climbing up.. see what the hatch is doing?

 Tucker   grabbed Minnet  and pointed to the  door  past the  interception.. he  COMed,Ok? SM..  we have Minnet     and Myself  watching the   back tunnel... Supe  and  Master Chief  over looking the  ship-thing...

Roy processed all the answers in short order.  "That'll work, Tucker.  Lyri, if things go sideways out here, give us a yell.  If you lose comms with us, pass it along to Beth and bring in as many troops as you can muster."  He knew odds were good Beth would be monitoring, but it never hurt to have a backup plan.  He turned to Hirr.

"Go ahead and take the topside hatch.  Check in with Lyri every three minutes, at most...if we don't hear from you, we'll assume bad news."  He looked at Jesse, then his eyes flickered to Kole for a moment.  "Jesse, you and Kole take over checking the hallways on this level.  Do what you can to secure any hatches you find...look for controls of some sort, see if there's a way to open the mountain.  Catch up with Robbins and Wagstaff...that should give you enough firepower if you run into trouble."  Still looking around, he spoke again..."Karson, be on call...if anyone ends up facing more Qarl than we can handle, I want you to drop the roof on the Qarl, even if it seals us in here."

Mentally, he ran down his checklist...he'd covered all the relevant positions.  "McCloud, you and yours are with me, we're going in down here.  Let's do this..."

  Robbins  and  Waggastaff were at the  two tunnels  down, they looked around at all the  'left overs  from the qarl who tried to escape

   Lt Hirr's   commandos  fired up , thin line  as stuck to the   metal of the  structure... then they stated  climbing up like chipmonks...

   Jesse and   Kole  saw  robbins  and Waggastaff rounding the Bessel at the back, heading towards the   tunnels.

 McCloud  and Hemsly racked up there  weapons  and Nodded to  Spencer as the rest of the 5th formed up

 Karson stood  near the  entrance, he had a small back on his shoulder and  a sidearm.

 Beth's  COM  came back.Admiral is  trying to get a stick to send  down if you need it...

    Beth relayed the  message  and  Hack COMed the  Colonists   A Captain answered,..Captain?  Try to form a stick of troopers  and head to the cave mouth , LT Morrow  will send you... don't  enter until i tell you... even if you can't get a whole stick,,, gather what you can...

 Aye Sir..Already done..

 MC-1  asks,..so? that is a Qarl ship?... but..its   buried in a Mountain..what harm can it do?

 Hack shook his head,..Cavet? How long has that Mountain been there?

 Juil looked up in surprise,..i...do not know?.. it was here when i came..80..90 years ago?

 ..indeed..... he said as he rubbed his chin.

Jesse nodded for Kole to follow behind.  She took each section of wall carefully.  If she came to an entrance, she would pause, check, then send Kole across before she did. If she came to a door she checked for booby trapping or rigging after motioning Kole to keep a look out.  If there was nothing, she sprayed her iMeins on the hinges and put a tagging to let others know she was here as a warning.

Once done she'd move along the tunnel.

  As  Roy melia  and the  5ht  entered  the   one  entrance they see on their side of the   Cavern...

 The Feltites  were scrambling up their  ropes  to mapproach the Hatch at the top.

  Looking a round, there  were no other  entrance to the Cavern, other then the two tunnels at the  stern end of the   structure .

  above them, Lyri, supe, Minnet and Tucker   covere the   the tunnel  they entered  from

  Robbins and wagstaff waited  for Jesse and Kole to catch up, at the stern end  , where the tunnels  were.

 Above the  cavern, almost across the way, from Lyri was the  door  that still stood open.. a light  shone behind it, but  there were no stairs  down.
...............

 Inside  the  structure..it was  dark...with a diffused light  coming from ahead, looking like they might be a bend. about  50 yards    to the north.

Roy grimaced at the lighting conditions.  "Here's hoping the Qarl show up on IR," he grunted, setting the filter on his helmet's visor.  "Everyone keep a five-foot gap...about a meter and a half...between you and the next one in line.  Don't bunch up unless we have to, if they're going to try and ambush us, let's make them work for every single one of us they get."

He gave a curt nod, and started down the accessway toward the light, his weapon up and ready to fire.

  Moving  down the    passage, the air is  a bit more stale then in the cavern.  When they get to the  corner that bends to the east.. the see another 'rampstair' that leads up to a shut hatchway.  there is  an Image on the  wall to the  right.. a slightly scraped insignia of a Silver Comet with a Black orb as a back round.

   They stand in the passage... the fire teams  Ming set up at the Door stand  Guard, the rest of the stick is forming up behind. on either side of the walls

  ..what  are we going to do now?.... Lirg asked

  Ming  looked to Garrat as well..we have a few oprions SGT?....  hit the HAtchways..or coniniue on?.. the  fire teams   could, at very least, warn us...if indeed they cannot hold a hatch way.

   In the Command  Tent was  quiet, except for some brief words the Roussians  would  add to what they saw, was going on.

   The Naragran used  its  claw to move on the screen to draw, like Shade did...

   The  NAragran took a step back from the   board, as if it did something Wrong, or? If it was  frightened .

   Shade  held up the image.. at first, one  would think it was   some mindless  scribble...there was an Arc with a Ball at the end of  it, with a circle behind it.....

 Hack Looked Up......alright people?  what does that look like to you?...

 MC-1  turned with a bit of impatience ..until he saw the  Image, then turned to the other two... NC-37 looked....shocked.... Tx-5 looked away.

Roy paused, focusing on the comet logo on the wall.  "Don't know if this is significant or not, Beth, but let me know when you've got a good, clear still-shot of it.  Might be worth looking into..."  The fact that it was scratched onto the wall told uim ithad been added after primary construction...witbout access to proper stencils...an improvised logo could mean the ship had been captured.  The logo could be pirates, zealots, rebels...knowing which would either confirm their resolve in how they'd been dealing with the Qarl, or influence how they dealt with them going forward...but any intel would likely be useful, at this point.

    Beth was  quiet for  about 30 seconds,....Ok...got it!

    Hack 's Vioice  came on,...   I do not need to tell you, that this is a shoot first senario ... we don't know what, or who they are, but we know there are Qarl...that's enough, until someone on their side, enlightens us...

    Beth  captures the Image  and  cuts into  one of the feeds to show those who are assemble there...

 Shade looks at his board and the new  image..

 The Roussians  seemed ...taken a back..

 The Cavet tilts her head, her  eyebrows  narrow in thought.

Roy moved up to the hatch, inspecting it as carefully as he could for any signs of having been booby-trapped.  "If the door is clear, I'm going to try and open it.  Form a couple of ranks, one kneeling in front of one standing, ready to fire into the room.  Get ready while I check the door..."

   as they moved up the ramp/stairs.. the first  group m, mor eor less layed  down..while the others  stood to fire over them, because of the incline.

 Hemsly said,..shoulda  brought Minnet and her  heavy....

 McCloud  just said,..she can hold  that tunnel better then  a carbine or rifle... we got enough barrels  here Ta, fry whatever fish is in there...

 when they were ready,  McCloud Nodded to Roy,.

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

 down at the stern end  Jesse, Kole, Waggstaff and Robbins stood  looking into the tunnels... they were black as night.. one on the left side of the  structure..one on the right.

 Robbins looked perplexed,why the 9 hells  would you run in there... those look like exhaust ports!

 Jesse sees  that the  Bottom of the  structure is  still, well underground  here.. she can see  the  door  on that wall  of the cavern, where Lyri  pegged the qarl that came out... across the way.. she could see an open hatch or  the structure's  right had  side, but it was   well above them..almost  to the top.

 .............

 Lt Hirr  came on the COMs,...we have been looking into the hatch..it is being dark in there..but some shine comes for west part? Yu want us to go in?

...........

  for those outside the ship... the crack of  Lyir  rifle... and a sudden Blossom of  white   flashed out, the parts that splattered on the  structure  began to  eat away at some of the  metal..it was  rapidly dying though

 ..My Bad.. wanted to hit the shooter.. he must havd taken a step up..hit his weapon.. that's a  plasma rifle for sure...

Jesse takes the sniper rifle she has and uses the pin light from it to shine down the tunnel.  She looks through the scope to check out the scene down the dark tunnel.

-Player Reentry-

In reply to Spencer's team (msg # 38):

Melia spaced out as directed by Roy and also switched to IR placing herself somewhere close to the center of the formation. She quickly checked her bag and her equipment to ensure everything was were it belonged, before double checking that there was a round in the chamber. She slips quietly into position again staying towards the center. Since Hawkeye left with the biotech she was the current medic for both groups and needed to stay within reach of both to be most effective. She thought of the Qarl plasma weapon she'd left back on the Hermes, but decided there was no use dwelling on it. She looks into the darkness and waits for Roy to open the doors.

---

Orria sat near Shade while watching the operation unfold. She followed Melia via the camera's though frequently looked over at Shade to ensure that he doesn't need any translation.

   The  Tunnel looked  long...dark..and small.. just ..maybe a foot  taller then the Qarll, at best 4 foot tall..maybe  4 foot  wide.

 Jesse's   scope   could see much past where the Light  reached, but one  thing was certain.. he was hewn by hand or   small machines.. and was   smooth the whole way around..


...........

  Roy..
 The 5th  along  with Melia  were  ready for Roy to Open the door


...

 On Top,  Lt Hirr  waited for the  word to either enter,  or  drop grenades....

.......

  on the Stairs  the 4 kept watch...actively  watching the door across the way she had  seen some movement..but nothing she  could get a shot at.....just a heads up? the  door that  I blew the plasma weapon.. there  is  still movement?  they can't get down from there.. but they have to be able to go someplace?

In reply to Beach (msg # 45):

   Joseph was trying to run through his signal database to see if the NAragran had anything to say about the writing Garrat sent when he saw the Symbol, "Aw crap, not those rat bastards."

In reply to Garrat's team (msg # 41):

"Sounds good.  Let's cover as much ground as we can...This area hasn't seen a lot of travel but we may enter one that has.  It is a safe but that they will not be expecting invaders from their unused corridors but you never know."

  In the Command  Tent.  Hack looked  over to  Joe Mac,...if you have something... say...something....

 Shade Blinked and   waited.. the NAragran didn't seem to want to have any more  a part of  either, Spencer's  Pic... Garrat's symbols..or his own drawing.

 The Little  verian seemed to want to  go over  to Orria as  gun fire was  taking palce. but he held his ground.

  Lirg  hefted his  Rifle  and Nodded. Ming looked at  Garrat,

  .. I..Um..need a clear order?  do we have the fire teams  guard those side hatches.. or  do we  send troopers in?

  The Stick was starting to make its  way down  and was stringing out behind them while the 4 man fire teams set up at the  3 side hatches they have discovered.

Roy grimaced at Hirr's question.  "We have to clear the ship...that means going in.  If you want to lead with grenades, that's fine, but just looking in from the outside isn't going to do us any good."  With barely a pause, he added, "I was expecting plasma weapons, but now that their presence is confirmed, make sure you get the first shot.  Kinda wish I'd told you guys to bring flame units down with you..."

He stepped to the hatch, taking a position to one side as he identified the controls and (hopefully) triggered the release...

  Lt Hirr replies...will start off with grenades..... we do not like flamer throwed..makes fur  smell funny...

 In a Few Moments..  the struture  Rocked witht eh Sound of grenades.......SGT MAJ Roy?... it seems like..Palsma  weapons do not react well to grandes.....also.. Plasma  must hurt very much..from mouse-squeals they are making..oh... noise is gone now... we will be going in from top..

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

 Spencer hit the  release... the   door slid   sideways to his left... he didn't even get to peak inside  as the troops opened  up...

 Hemsly  Yelled..Plasma Packs!

 ..then   area was filled with the  trademark white hot light...  The  troops   fell back ( Dove  BAck ) out of the way of splatters...

 Roy , Hunddle  against the  wall could feel the ehat from the plasma eating  the wall.. Two 'top hales' of qarl a Black and a Grey  were crawling..using their  three fingered hands  Towards the ramp/stairs.. as if  they could crawl away from the  eager  energy goo that was  consuming their Bodies.. they  wailed and screamed.. then  lay still

 Thinck white smoke, drifted out of the room...

    Joseph glances at the Admiral, then back at the Symbol. "That is the symbol of a group of species...well their name roughly translates as the scourge.  I Guess the Skith used to be part of them before they dealt a little to much with the Demons.  The other heavy hitters in the group of course are said to be the Quarl.

    There are some half a dozen or so other species but we don't usually see them in our side of space unless they are in small units sniffing out bounties for the demons or raiding Angel supply lines.  Kinda the bully boys of the galaxy if you see the demons as the villians.

   Hack  looks at the    screen Shade is  holding,..sure?  That's  just what we need... another pact of bad guys.....

 ..How sure  are you... and?  where  did your Information Come from....

 Si  shrugs,..we Knew the Qarl and Skith were ones  allies... but the skith broke thier pact? Other  then  That we do not know much of this...scourge.

 Hennings Looked at NC-37...what of you?

 ..if  have not sen that symbol, nor the name..as humans say.. we have oue own problems..whcih is why we came...

   Bumped into some of the lesser races while hunting bounties, though they preferred the more illegitimate targets..such as yerself.  The occasional raider ship would dock on the underbelly of Tortuga.  The watch dog Mercenary groups would have to keep an eye out for them.  They tended to follow us into deep space and sell the location of the colonies we looked after to the Demons for a good turn of profit.  I canna tell you much more, but it's a start."

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 55):

--Orria--

Orria started a little as the gun fire rang out, but kept watching Melia on the screen.

--Melia--

Melia opened fire with the rest of the team. Though she conserved ammo firing in a discriminatory fashion.

When the plasma packs went up she stumbled a bit back away from the caustic hot matter. The plasma illuminating bright white on her visor, until it cooled. Once the plasma had cooled she started to push up to the door jam opposite Roy to provide fire into the room up the ramp.

  the  light  died  down. only  one console was spared in the room. The rest were  hardening around the  edges m where the plasma  had fed.

  there were a few limbs lying around from  Qarl.. ...above them..they could hear  weapons fire above...

 spencers   team can see door on the   left ( south) ..or  right (  north)

.......

      The  Cats  dropped in  like  furry rain drops, and  opened  fire on anything standing . there was a  large  melted  Hole in the floor where   a plasma gun hand  ruptured. There are  three doors  for them.. one on the  west wall.. on  each..on the North and south.. the north door, had  a step/ramp way up.

 ... we  are having the 3  doors... the     one most forward.. we are going to check.. we have also.. doors   the  north and south side..

    Shade  send the pictures to the Hermes for his own use... then  took Orria's board back to her as they both watched  what was going on in the Mountain.

   Checking His COM, Hack says.. I will give Nivar.. 30 more.. at 30 minutes..1 second..they lose any chance of  surrender...

 Mr  MacPherson?... if you have any chance  of getting more information..do so... we might be dealing with a rogue   craft... or maybe an Unlucky one..... either way..its been around for a few years... so we need to know  what presence they have here.

 NC-37.....  if your  enemies  have  anything to  do with  this new group... you night have  come at the right time..not only  have we learned  about them... but you can help us fight them.... if not... we can still see what aid  we mat give you, if you join the APF.....  if you do not join, but remain neutral we will still aid if  we are able... but the APF has to come first..

 ..how long  do we have to decide ?

 28 minutes  37 seconds.. your talks, run out the same time as Nivar's...

 ...we will contact our  Homeworld....

 the three    Roussians  moved off to  the    water.. Beth sent a Tech to help them Call out... The Tech then stood guard a bit away from them

Send them in.  If they find targets they are to hold positions until reinforcements can arrive

   Joseph nods, a small smile quirks his face "Already done sir."

  Ming Issues  Orders.. each fire team would enter the Hatchways. with 2 More  troopers  backing them up.

 The entere   at the Same  time.. as Ming  truns to Garrt,..Lead on...  Teh rear elements of the Stick can back them up if  needs be...

 Reports came through , of  dark and dust  tunnels...

  NC-37 and her  people  came  back to the Command tent.  NC-37 nodded to  the Admiral, and looked at each Member of the board ( except  Shade).

 ..The Home  world  says,  we cannopt  continue to face our  foe alone. The Information...such as it is...about this new threat..makes it even more paramount  That we have allies. Since there is a very good  chance   , our enemies   are in league  with them..

 ..Then.  NC-37... you may tell your  homeworld  we  will vidcast the signeing to them... you may..or may not, as it fits yuor needs. add ships or  troops. or both to the  Delta Fleet... we will understand, if you cannot....now? we only need, wait on my people in the mountain... and  see if Nivar wishes  to commit suicide...

In reply to Garrt's group (msg # 65):

  "As I thought, keep your eye's open, you may get back to populated tunels or find something sleeping down here."  Garrat continues forward.

  The tunnels lead further on... The Fireteams  haven't  COMed  back.

  Garrat's   group with troopers  following. headed to the  end  Hatch...this hatch, thought   dusty and  Diry, opened  with  no problem... and there was a step/ram, upwards.

   Garrat looks at the ramp.  Before going on he needs to know what's going on.  "Fire teams, check in."

  Fire team 1 ( first hatch)

  ".... Nothing  yet... pitch balck..no  lights.. but these are part of the structure..... 60 yards in , and moving slowly.."


  Fire  Team 2 ( 2nd hatch that they had  fould)

 "  ...same here.. dark.. found a qarl skeleton..."

 Fire team 3

 last one the  found

 "..aye... dark..dry..lots of  Dust.... still moving..."

  "If we have the man power, double up on teams.  I want each group in sight of the next and watching."  Garrat starts to advance up the ramp cautiously.  Dead Quarl, sealed passages, there may be a reason this part of the complex is abandoned. "Keep moving slowly and be careful.  I have a bad feeling about this." [OOC LMAO]

Roy glanced from side to side, not really thrilled with either prospect...and headed for the port-side door, for no reason more complex than he felt more comfortable going around the corner that direction.  "Move up...same procedure with the door, but I want two weapons covering the hatch behind us, as well."  He'd leave it to McCloud to sort out who was watching ther back.  As they moved up, he examined the door carefully, checking for any signs of traps.  At least this doir would have a little more space to step aside if they hit another plasma container inside.

    Confirmation came through the COMs  and  another  4 man fire team entered  each passage way, Giving e3ach tunnel 10 troopers  going  down.. with 2 more  standing guard at  each hatchway.

  At  The Ramp way  up,  the dust wasn't as thick.. the air was looked thick as they saw motes of  dust in their  lamps.

 The   Hatch. was made  as the others, But rather then a  wheel .. it had a  touch pad... paint  light under the dust, showed it was barely active.

Melia darted across and lined up on the opposite side of the door from Roy setting up a double stack. She waits patiently as one can taking each pause between doors to quickly check her current mag and weapon. So far the carbine was the better option for what they were doing as it allowed her to engage the plasma weapons from outside splash range or from cover.

In reply to Garrt's group (msg # 73):

Garrat looked at his right boot knife....risk using this one or ruin the other...choices choices.  Garrat pryes the facing puts the messed up knife in his prosthetic hand and jams it in to melt the rest of the way to the hilt, quickly removing his hand.

    McCloud point to the two last scots, then the  Door...  They didn't look to Happy , but nodded  as they set up.

   Hemsly said  softly,..why the  9 hells  would they carry  those  tanks on thier BAcks... They use the things.... you'd  think they would bloody well not want to carry them around?

 McNiel  answered,..i'd  say they  use them like flame throwers?..every weapon they have, is plasma based..... makes you wonder what the  Engine runs on?.... we have never seen a  qarl powercell...

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

 From LT Hirr..

   ..we are to be entering the next door..... there is the  sound of  Felrite Pulse rifles going off....

  .....I am thinking.. we  have found something......

Jesse looked to the other three that were with her.

Robbins and Kole you have our backs.  Waggs, you with me.  She put on her nightvision goggles and motioned for him to follow a step behind.

You guys keep an eye out on anyone who may try to follow.  Unless they call out for Red, they aren't one of us.

Folks we are taking to the tunnels. If you don't use my call name, you'll be shot.  Red over and out.

    Entering the   far tunnel... it is  indeed , pitch black..but the  walls  were smooth... they have traveled some  50 yards inside  and still could not see the end.

  Waggastaff had  a  Knuckle-hilted blade and a Pulse  pistol, as they  moved ,...how much  further should we  go.... man.. i don't know what's  worse... getting  shot at, or all this quiet..

  The   Door pops open an inch or so, as the seal  Hisses....red light come on again above the door , inside and out...

  they  walk into a  hexshaped chamber,  with a door on the north side.. the door has the wheel locks..

 ...........

 Fire Team One..."..Nothing yet..but  I think I see a wall another 50 yards?.. that would make it  150 from the hatch we entered..."


fire team 2...".... Same here... see the  wall....  looks like there  might be an Intersection?

fire team 3..."....yep..use  two...  hard to tell  about the intersection....

  "Keep in touch.  If you have a way, mark the intersection so you know where you came from and a personal symbol."

   Garrat tries the door.

   The  Door opens  easy enough, there  are some light s  scattered down the hall.. the  can hear rapid  odd sounds, that do not   get translated  through the chips...

 the   sound  comes  from the end of the   passage where there is some faint light  coming though a Hatch way.

Roy gave a grunt as he heard the commentary behind him.  "Now you know why I was so skittish about our people carrying commandeered Qarl weapons...even with just a sidearm, one hit in the wrong place could wipe out half a platoon...worse, if there's nowhere to run from the splash."

He raised a hand, leaving his finger hovering above the release for the door.  "We're just damned lucky they haven't figured out how to make claymores out of their plasma packs..."  He keyed the release, slipping to the side to be well clear of the fire that would be flying at anyone behind the door, and slipped the Verian pistol into his hand.

    Hack was In conversation with Beth she was nodding rapidly as her   Hand   work the screen, every so often they look over towards the screens to watch the units'

     Beth Nodded to Hack, and He  turned back to the Others. The man who  stood  on the  bridge, or on a scaffold  during  the battles.. was   getting short of  temper.

 Bale  spoke softly,..Oliver? I have spent a few sessions , such as this... waiting  and watching  my people, unable to help....do not let it Stress you, along with the other concerns?

  There was a grim look on HAck  as he watched the screens,..i have flown into battles.. led  people in battles... but nothing is as frustrating , as watching   your people do something, that you cannot aid them in.

  Then, the  Nivar  feed came back to life...The High Council  stood there... dressed in  fancy  Robes..a  Fellow in a golden  (light ) suit of  boarding armor..and a Female in another  type of  Uniform.

 ..Admiral Hack.. we have a decision... and.. a favor....

   Hack held up his finger,..Before you speak, because it shouldn't matter  either way.... you will watch these Vids....if you d not?  I will take it as a 'no'..and we can begin your downfall...

  Beth didn't wait  for the nod, she   turned on the Vids... the  scenes  unfolded....

  Sanri women and  children  fighting with sidearms and Blades  , Against Armored Nivarians and Hillites..  Sanri gunned  down , without mercy. if they defied the  attackers... the ones who dropped their weapons  were cuffed with  chains, or  Vibracollars.

 the next scene Occui  fighting savagely   on some  planet... the buildings looked to be stones..pulse  weapons fired into Nivarians  troops, as Sundrops    roared over  head,  taking out the  short buildings..strafing  Occui as they tried to get young into the forest.

 A Med tech Supply ship , Flagged  from Etna... was being boarded  by Largrans and Nivarians.. Humans  fought   as the Guardians   tried to Protect t Med Techs  and crew..but they were over  whelmed.. in the end  the ship  was blown after  supplies were unloaded.

 Hack nodded to Beth and she  cut the feed...That.. was  just three feeds  that show the  Triad..or Nivarians  working with the Empire, against APF members.....non-combatant members...Guardians who have sworn never to use  weapons, unless it was to protect Med Techs  and thier  charges....so..... if you seek to plead  for mercy.. do not waste what is left of your breath....

   The Nivar High  council stood  ramrod  straight as he  said, with   tears in his  eyes,..We Cannot....  Surrender.. nor  Join the APF... it would go against every thing we stand  for.....

 ..Indeed.. though  our  methods are a bit harsh.... we stand  against Slaves... The  Empire and... for the most part... Pirates..... what was your favor....

 ..We were going to ask you.... to repair the damage to the machines, so, those who survive.. will still have a planet


  Hack pursed his lips,...in a few days... Nivar we become an APF colony planet...if the machines  survive the pounding you are about to receive, then. we will indeed... fix them... but... Niavrians need to know  wht will happen..... The Ape-folk , humans, Sanri, Occui..maybe a sprinkle of Mulls.. Angles..Burians. Felrites.. will be in charge of the planet.. there will no longer be a Nivarian Home world

 The  Nivarian in the gold  armor  asked,and?... if the  machines do not survive?

 ..Then... 'my friend'.. there will be far less nivarians  for my people to have to kill... and far less of my people, that have to die

 They stood in shock.. Hack looked bored, perhaps he was...you would   wipe out  our race?

 ..No..High Council.... you would. I..am just the   machine that will be used to do it.

 The  Female  asked,..but  our children our....

 none of yours  cared  for the children in those vids...  i have a whole library  of  innocnets who suffered at the hands of the Empire...the  Triad..and  Even the EDT....so?..in that  vein , I will be as cold and ruthless as  any Demonic  Officer  save for the fact, that we will not breed or  eat your people..well.... maybe the Naragrans and Ape Folk might... he shrugs.

 ..Naragrans?

 ..Aye?  from what i have  heard, it was thier homeworld as well.. but your people hunted them down....

 The  Officer  snapped,..they are beasts!

 ..they are  aiding my people in building the  Colony here.... they  have  protected some of my people..and?  they have  signed the PAct that Brought the Green Moon and Black moon into the APF

  They were  quiet.. and  Finally  they said,...  if... we  surrender....

 ..we   find a Place to  ,a colony..that place will become the new Captiol and you will  have to  either  Join the ESN.. or... keep your ships in Home defense orbit....and

 ..Nivar  will still be your homeworld...but we will have a presence... to make certain no one strays back to  raiding and Slaving

 The began to talk  Softly, The High Council turned to the screen.......then... you force   us to surrender....we...will join the APF... I cannot  speak for the Colonies outside the home world.

 ...you will not have to....The choice  will ne theirs....... We  will meet, on your Homeworld, In 2 days.... The Roussians MAy come aid you, while thier    representatives sign their own  Pact....I think..after you  find out  that folks will trade with you?... That Creds will flow a bit more freely.

  we await  you..and the  Roussian Techs...

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

 The Screen goes off.. NC-37 asks,what happens  if they turn on you, once the machines are fixed?

 two things.... First.. we will pound those   machines to gravel.. then we will blockade the planet , again..and Not allow anyone off... once the  planet breaks its plates.. we'll see if  it can be colonized.

 The  Door  Opened,, there  were some dead Qarl there... chewed up  but pulse weapon fire. A PLasma rifle  lay close to the wall,

  Another door on the  east wall, had a 'wheel'  opening system.

  Some one's been Bloody Busy....... leaset it's pulse  rounds that gunned them down...

Garrat:

   The  Door opens  easy enough, there  are some light s  scattered down the hall.. the  can hear rapid  odd sounds, that do not   get translated  through the chips...

 the   sound  comes  from the end of the   passage where there is some faint light  coming though a Hatch way.

   Garrat advances cautiously, on his whisper mike: "We may have some action soon.  If they do not shoot at first sight I will offer surrender, but make no mistake.  I will level them if they harm the soldiers with me." He fishes a length of wire from his gear and ties it to his trigger then pumps a shotgun round into the underslung chamber.

    Moving Froward,  Garrat and  Lirg reach the end of the  passage, and can see a stand up light, a few feet below them... a damaged  Ramp way leads  down.. Garrat can see   one Grey with a shovel-like object  digging into the dirt, while  another  pair leaver our    ricks  with  Metal  pry bars.

Garrat takes bead on them, "You dig well.  Surrender and you'll live to dig another day."  If they attack, they die, but Garrat figures the greys may be tired of being tools.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:25, Tue 13 June 2017.

   At first, they just continue to dig.perhaps not hearing him over their chatter and tool work

   Then One Looks  up and shreeches ,a two run to the   west.. the other  two heft thier tools

   Garrat sighs at the pitiful sight and signals those with him to hold fire.  He walks a little ways down the ramp, still well out of combat range for the greys and sits down cross legged with his rifle in his lap.  [with the shot gun round he can still swing it up and make short work of them without having to aim carefully.]  He turns the inner helmet light on so they can see his face through his visor. "Do you really want to die?" he asks seriously.  They may not understand him but his intention should be pretty clear. "For this?"  He asks increadulously motioning at the featureless tunnel.

In reply to Jesse (msg # 78):

Jesse chuckled near silently.  Better here than in the trenches.  We are going until we either run into our own team members or start firing.

She shrugs.  We may end up at a dead end, who knows.

Roy's expression deepened into a full-on frown.  He hated missions with insufficient intel, even though he had a lifetime of them...but even worse, he hated mysteries that arose in the middle of a mission.  "We keep looking...might be a new ally, but if they swing a weapon up at us, don't hesitate..."  Roy gestured for the Scots to follow him in, except for the two he had watching the other door.  "You're our insurance policy...you make sure nobody flanks us.  Until I specifically call you further into the ship, you make sure that nobody hostile makes it through that door alive."

He turned back into the compartment.  "Stay away from that plasma rifle...I've seen weapons rigged as booby traps, and they were pretty damned effective.  And those weapons didn't shower you with corrosive plasma..."  He stepped over to the wheel mechanism on the other door.

"You know the drill...get ready..."  He gave the wheel and door a quick once-over for any traps...he doubted there would be any, at this point, but as his birth mother had been fond of saying, when she was still alive, 'An ounce of prevention saves a pound of cure.'  Especially when there's no cure for being eaten by Qarl plasma... he told himself.

Once satisfied the door was safe, he spun the wheel and gave a yank, using the door to shield himself from what was inside...

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 91):

Melia side steps the plasma rifle as she traverses the room with dead Qarl. Head on a swivel, she reconsiders the carbine for a moment seeing Roy with the Sanri blaster, however she decides to stick to the range even as the cooridors and rooms get smaller.

The first room clear, Melia quickly resets in the same position as before, waiting for the door to open.

  Once everyone  was in  Place... Roy opens the   door with a  quick  swing...

   there is a sickening  smell  of something  burned... a blue-white cloud hands in the air.

   A large , crater-like  hole is  still smoking.. then  walls  are  peppered with Frag bits...

 The door is opened , and they  can hear felrites talking...

   The  two  Qarl  hefted their tools, that looked  a bit like Picks. The other  qarl had   scampered ( still scampered)  down the   tunnel to the East.

  The watched Garrat,  and they charged   Letting  out a fearsome shriek ....

  Lirg  started   forward as  Did Ming

In reply to Garrat (msg # 94):

Garrat's rifle was up in a flash, the first shot, was a shotgun blast at the chest of the leader then the heavy gun fired fully auto into the rest.

  Any way you look at it, it was over quickly

   His  Weapon discharged into the Two Qarl...  their   Bodies  were  torn to bits...

    Lirg   peered  aroudn the  corner... they appeared to  be  in the stgructure.. yet  Rocks and dirt covered a large part of the passage going  east....

 The Hyrian  huffed a bit as he said.......something ..glowing..coming this way?

 the Glowing thing was  moving oddly..yet fast.. about  4  feet off the ground...

In reply to Garrt's group (msg # 96):

"Duck and cover!"  Garrat yelled dodging for cover.

"Watch your fire!" Roy called out, and gestured behind him.  "ESN, looks like we've met up with you, Hirr.  Anything your direction we should know about?"  He was surprised...he'd expected the Felrites to be further forward, for some reason, although he'd never really verified the position of the top hatch they'd gone in.  He waited for a response, sidearm held casually ready...

  Lirg  Flies    back to the  Tunnel  Knocking a SGT and two troopers  Backwards.. Ming  dives  as well......

 the odd looking Ball   'coasted' ,  one  could have merely walked around it, if not for the tight  passage.. then..it hit the way.. the Sickening ' FLOOM' sounded  as the  Plasma ...bumnped... into the  walls.... Globs  splattered as the   sphere ruptured

 Garrat  and   Lirg Just missed a Plasma shower... as it  was, the   'wave' of the   plasma , caused  Lirgs  and  Garrat to scuttle back

  ..i did not see, muzzle  flash.. do not know  what that was..... But i do not like it...

  Feltites  were kicking chewed up bodies.. one Black  4 greys. , Lt Hirr smiled her  cat smile,

  ..you will be following me?   You must be seeing this...   they move  down the open area  where there were  chewed up consoles and the  dead Qarl..walking down a ramp way and opened a   sliding door.... as  soon as the door opened, they were looking out the windows at the Cavern

  But  the 'bridge' wasn't what Hirr wanted them to see... walking to the  windows, they looked There was a Hole as wide as the cavern,.. and  it  slanted upwards... the opening was hidden from the   stairs they entered  by the out cropping....and  by others, by the stucture's side.

  It slants to the North west?

.........

 after another  8 Minutes   Jesse and her people stop...and look at the  rear wall.. there  are opening as big as the  lid of a coffee can...

 ..Exhaust Vents?  Waghgastaff asks...

Roy keyed his comm.  "Jesse, Robbins...if you guys haven't found anything promising yet, Lt. Hirr may have just discovered what was going to be the launch tunnel for this tub.  Long sloping tunnel, going northwest out of the cavern.  We couldn't see it from where we entered.  If you could take a look and see what's out there...if it's just a concealed cave or if they've got some kind of hatch..."

He paused for a moment and shrugged.  "If it's just an open cavern, we don't need to waste time looking for a control room.  And it would also explain, somewhat, why all the plasma traps we found were inside...to remove wandering pests that had found their way in from that cave..."  He doubted it was that simple, but it did make sense...especially if they'd had problems with Naragrans discovering the cave.

He closed the comm and looked at Hirr.  "Anything further up here that you need to check out?  We left a team watching one door back when we started coming this way...if you've swept this end of the ship already, you're welcome to come with us...if not, we should get back to work making sure we've got it cleared."

Jesse replied to Spencer's COM.  We are going thru a tunnel ourselves.  If or when we run across something, I'll brief you.

Jesse looks back at the others.  Let's hope we find some goodies too.

  LT Hirr   waved her  hand-paw at   consoles and  screens,..what we shopuld do here?.. should we  make sure nothing works?...

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

 Jesse and   her group  stood in  the tunnel, Thereap[p[ears to be  nothing in this  Tunnel, but the perforated  back of the tunnel.

Roy shook his head.  "Right now, we're clearing the ship...overall, clearing the base.  If you want to deactivate something, remove a component that we can give to the engineers to replace, so they can check the whole thing out...but capturing a mostly-intact Qarl ship is a great opportunity."  He grimaced, and added, "I wouldn't recommend pulling random pieces out, though...we don't know if this ship has an active power source...and if it does, we don't know if deactivating random systems might overload it."

He scowled slightly.  "If you can spare a pair to scout that tunnel...I don't want to pull anyone off watching our back, and our scout team is busy in another tunnel..."

   Garrat gets on the com.  "Apparently they have a means of making floating plasma balls like the float grenades we encountered on Bura.  No losses...yet but this will be hard to work around."

   Garrat pulls his asgard pistol and sights in the direction the plasma ball came from.  He stabilizes the pistol with his human hand and absorbs the shock with his cyborg hand firing it into the wall near where the ball came from showering the area with fragmentation from the grenade round.  He follows it three seconds later with a second shot to catch any one coming out of cover after dodging the first blast.

  Garratreloads as he says, "We leap frog from cover to cover, keeping the others in sight but maintaining enough distance so those balls can only get one of us at  a time and giving us enough room to escape without tripping over eachother  Then moves out in that pattern.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:18, Wed 14 June 2017.

  Two felrites    scurry out of the  Control area  so they can  leave through the  top hatch.

    After they  left. Lt Hirr  says,... we have only been seeing the  one  White Qarl... he have been killing Greys and the Black... there must be some place, they are being?

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

  Jesse and her  Unit were in the  dark Tunnel.

In reply to Spencer's  team (msg # 93):

Melia starts to pivot the corner to enter the room noticing mists, then the crater. She's halfway into the room when the rounds hit the wall, and the Felrite's voices register. She throws herself back around the corner behind cover not wanting to get hit with friendly fire and not wanting to compromise the Felrites ability to target their opponents by putting a friendly in the mix.

As soon as the fire has died down she moves into the room. She looks at the chewed up bodies, for a brief moment before following Spencer and Hirr. As they walk through the door to the bridge and the opening she considers all the places she'd been to and seen trying to determine if this matched anything she'd seen before even on a smaller scale.

She listens to the dialogue as she looks at the consoles and displays trying to compare them to demon tech, hoping for a clue as to how the system worked. Did the demons get inspiration or tech from the Qarl she wondered.

"Sergeant Major, I could go with the Felrites as well to scout the tunnel if you'd like." She offers as the Felrite' s scramble until the tunnel.

PO Volkov touched the shuttle down with practiced ease on the beach. The two marines serving as her escort stepped out the shuttle to the end of the ramp waiting on her.

Moving down the ramp she heads over to the viewing stand area with Admiral Hack and the other dignitaries. She wages the marine escort to stay at the edge of the platform as there's little for them on the stage area. As she approaches the senior officers she salutes smartly.

  The  Rounds  Sailed  down the passage, rocks  fell ,dirt fell.. there was no sight or  sound of  any one being  hit ( or missed).

 The  Team gathered.. Lirg  shrugs,..The  splatter  that happens  when the sphere hits.. will kill , even on a near miss  will end  some one?

 Down range... there was the   sound  of  rock hitting the ground... otherwise the darkness was  silent

  Ming suggest,..I have a signal flare?

Roy considered Melia's offer for a moment...it reduced their strength, clearing the ship, by three guns, overall, but if they found anything up the tunnel in the way of controls, Melia probably had a better chance of figuring them out...

"Go...but don't take your time up there.  Even if we get this ship cleared, we've still got the rest of the base to clean out, until we meet up with Garrat and the transport-base Marines...we'll need you."

He turned to the rest of the group that was still in place.  "Well, unless there's some other area here in the fore of the ship to take care of, we've got another half of the ship left to go through..."

    The two felrites  were already Climbing up the  ropes  ,,and waited  for  Melia on the   shell.  The   were looking  at the top of the other side, where Lyri's  rifle  just sent another round through the doorway.

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

  Lt Hirr pointed   to the   door on the otherside of the entry way to the   Control area.....that is leading  down the other side to the   room that  brought us here..

 She stood  and  looked at their people,..this..is  having no sense in the making?...This is not a qarl ship...but.. it has  some peices..that is the most of the truth.... but the markings are not being right...

  Sarah makes her  was  past the stand, to where  the  Spade is  set up.  The  makeshift Tent is  Over a  wooden long  table  with some screens set on the table.

   SEC trooper s salute Sarah, One of the  announce her.

 ..Ahhh Commander McKeon... you know most of the People here?.. These are going to be  new Allies  once  we get back to the Hermes.... They are Roussians.. NC-37...MC-1  and TX-5... Sarah Commands a corvette in out  fleet...

 Bornberry Nods to her  as  well.. As it looked like there was a collection made for Female  Commanders, With Sarach, Si, and herself.

  Shade looked up and  beeped and went back to watching  the Vidboard.

Roy's face took on a perplexed expression.  A year ago...six months ago, even...he would have shrugged it off and said to let the engineers figure it out.  But he'd started studying up on alien tech, since he kept running into it under trying circumstances, and while he had a LOT left to learn, he'd picked up enough to perhaps not be totally baffled by the explanation...

"What do you mean?  How are the markings wrong?  And if it's not a Qarl ship, whose ship is it?"

  ... It is not  quite the for sure? But the   Bow, is looking like that of Largran.... the stern is looking like the   Creshian?.. the insides... look like qarl. but  qarl do not use the wheel doors....

 Hirr  shrugs her   shoulsers,..this is ... much puzzle?.. parts  together..like , many people? work on it..or people use..many ships?

When, if, Jesse and the group come to a dead end, they turn around and head back down the tunnel.  Jesse take a slower pace and checks for doors, hatches, or traps along the way.

  The  tunnel Jesse, Kole, Waggstaff and Robbins stook  at the  end of the  Tunnel , where the preferations  where...

 The walls  were  smooth, going the  whole way down.

  Garrat approaches the area catiously. "Let the records show I  gave some Greys the opportunity to surrender and they attacked.  No mercy will be shown from hence forth.  So much for subverting the work force."  Did they cause a cave in and retreat?

   Moving  towards the    tunnel where the frags  hit... there was  no sign of  dead, but there was a spend , circular shellcasing...

around the  bend, leading  back  into the metal structure,  Light  shone from around a bend that  bent back, towards the EAst.

 the  light  seems  to   shake about...

Jesse carefully moves the team back to the entrance of the tunnel.  It was odd how smooth the walls of the tunnel were and would have to inquire of that with anyone else who may have took a tunnel.

Once at the exit, she COMed Roy.  "Do you need us to come back towards you?"

In reply to Garrat's team (msg # 118):

Garrat creeps up to the corner.  Drawing his pistol he peaks around it.

  Garrat  rounds the  corner, he can see where , and how far frag had it of scattered...

 Moving  down another 60 yards  to the south., he hugs the wall, and  peers  around the Corner that ran east  , once more.

  There  were small figures running  down the Passage,  He could  see 2  hatch's  Opened  in ... and they  had   bright  white light..slowly dimming.. The  third  Hatch was opened By a Grey and a While    used an odd  weapon to fire into that Hatch.. and they   kept  running, to the  east...

  In the COMS..Screams were  heard, but they did not last long.. there was some   weapon's fire from the third  door.. but it  did not last long...

  CORPRAL  JINNN HERE!... REPORTS  FROM THE  HATCH TEAMS.... PLAMSA BLASTS... CAME SUDDENLY.. THE HATCHES  FLEW OPEN..... SOMEONE TRIED TO SHOOT THE SHOTERS. BUT THE  PLASMA RUPTURED.... ALL THREE TUNNEL TEAMS ARE DEAD.... EXCEPT  FOR  PRIVATE KILTA... WE HAD TO CUT OFF HER LEG SO  THE REST WOULDN'T GET  EATEN.. SHE'S ON HER  WAY OUT WITH A FIRETEAM

Roy scowled slightly at the news, and nodded.  "Keep your eyes open for signs of differing sections having been pieced together...if the ship's been cobbled together from recovered sections, or if it was built this way from the ground up."  He paused for a moment, then added, "Keep an eye out for sections or components from non-Demon allied races, too."

He stopped as Jesse called.  "If you've checked all the tunnels heading out that side of the cavern, then join up with us in the ship, so we can finish the sweep faster."

      Melia and the felrites,  repelled  down the   Nose of the structure, when they Hit  ground, they got a Better view of the   structure.

  The front, under  the  bridge, had plates in Demon Colors, as well as Creshian.

 what looked  more alarming, where the Bodies., Hundreds of Skeletons  hays Under the bow of the  ship, many types of  Uniforms..the new bodies  had ESN  uniforms .

 The tunnel up was crude, but  wide  with living bracnches and Bows  being pulled over to the  exit, that was  about q/2 mile away.

In reply to Garrt's group (msg # 121):

   As Garrat saw the grays, he fired both grenades into the path of the grey then dropped the pistol and opened fire with his heavy rifle. Not likely in time to stop the shooting but definitely in time to pin the Greys down, and maybe do some damage.

   "We saw it from the other side.  Hunting the bastards now."

    The First  round  sails  Down, Catching the Last Shooter and two other greys...

    Jinns here.. we   have  set up shooters  at the HAtchways.... we have anyhting  trooper  who..sorta ..survived..he..wants us  to end  Him...

 Ming snaps back,...how bad?

 ...there's  not much left LT?..I...  there was a crack of a Hard ammo carbine.

 ..never mind, LT.... I think..he took a round from a shooter.. hard to tell... tunnel is kinda dark...

 ..indeed....carry on...

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

  Garrat  And  lirg   charged  down the  tunnel,  Hirg seemed to be  quite good at  firing on the  Run...      qarl  died.. then they saw  the door open at the end...

  Jesse and her  unit  was  coming out of their  tunnel, when they saw the stern part of the ship open..  a dozen or so qarl were   exiting the  structure, and there were some  muzzle flashes and  Explosions  behind them

 Lyir's  Voice  shouted....COUNTERATTACK!

  She  fired  again and another  qarl Vanished from the platrofrm  as two more  rushed out  firing   smaller plasma  weapons, Lyri shouted, Into the tunnel!

 Tucker shouted back..the  Sound Of  Minnets  heave  Pulse in the back round.....we  can't!... More  Quarl and...something else!... they are coming from the  door at the far end!

 Supe turned       and Fired over top of Tucker.. as the mass or  creatures  boiled out of the door.

  Lyri just fired off a few More shots.. the  another  qarl died  as   two more  set up support fire for their escaping comrades... Plasma  rained down on the   cavern floor...we're  stuck.... we can't leave.. or they wil ahve a cross fire  on the  cavern.... if  they have heavy Plasma...we won't be here long!

   Garrat leveled his rifle but he didn't dare shoot until he knew what was coming through.

   As Garrat and his people Move towards the tunnels.. the Qarl are exiting the  structure.

    Moving  passt the first hAtchway they could  see the   slowly dying  glow, of the plasma attack... at the far  end they saw the Movement of   the  guards.

 ........................

 Jesse and her people  were coming  close to the entrance of their  tunnel... from their spot  they also  saw the  Qarl  shooting across the cavern at  Lyri, but the   hand weapons   didn't have the range.

  though  they couldn't see, they could hear heavy weapons  being fired from the platform

In reply to Cavern (msg # 128):

  Garrat continues to push the Quarl, shooting whenever they are in sight.  He doesn't give them time to take bead on his people again.

Roy couldn't see what was going on...but he could hear the comm chatter.  "C'mon, we've gotta get the rest of the ship cleared, and get out there so we can provide some support for the rest of the team!" he said to the Scots that were with him.  Hirr already had her 'marching orders', and if the bow end was clear, she'd come with him, but if not, he didn't want to wait for the Qarl to box them in ...he'd rather take the battle to them and keep them guessing.

They'd already cleared the way back to their entry point, where he'd left a pair of Scots watching the other hatch...Verian pistol in one hand and the other stabilizing his assault rifle as he moved, he ran back to the pair he'd left covering their backs...

   The Scots here standing By the door  when  the Felrites  and Spencer reached them.

   ..SM?  we heard some nosie from behind the  door, bit  muffled it was.... but..now its blody gone...

   McCloud, nodded ,It was good to not open the  hatch Unless  you werre COMed.... we should continue.. the fighting seems to  be getting  worse..

 ..............

  The  Qarl rounded the  door  some of them ran towards Jesse's  Tunnel  others  round the   door  way and Fired   plasma  hand weapons. back at the   troops  chasing them.

 One of then  was  kneeling  getting an odd  weapon ready.

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

   Meanwhile  there was a  scream  and   four  figures    dove-rolled  down the stairs as the inside of the stairway tunnel erupted in bright  white light.

    Lyri,  Supe  , Minnet and Tucker   finally stopped  about half-way down...

  ...we lost the stairway for now..  we'll see how many of the Qarl... are left....

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

 The Opposite  side of the Carven  was now has  4  qarl with  sidearms  firing  down at the ship.

    Hack watched the  Goings on.. Beth and Si  both jumped when Lyri's gun cam went  head over  heels    but  found a  stop against the   weaken railing..


 she  swore as she looked at her Optics,  and  ejected  the  scope  , Binging the  Rifle  up and using pure eyesight...

  A Black Qarl came out  with a rifle, it looked at the melted  RAiling . Supe and Minnet were  brining their   weapons up to bear. The Rifle  fired, and the  slug through the weak body , into the wall of the Cavern.. the  Qarl's  rifle fell.

 Supe said, Get down to the bottom of the stairway.. we'll be  dead if  we stay here.


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

 Hack's Voice  came over the COMs ..Sending in some  fire teams from the beach..they will follow The SGT  MAJ's  path ... it will take them  a good 10 Minutes to reach  you...

Jesae created a clinched fist for her team to halt.  She watched briefly and notices with careful positioning that they were firing at Lyri's team.  She looked back at the others and nodded.

"Nows the time to restance and start firing. Cover me and start firing at willb but not at me." Her own weapon was up and ready and she started heading towards the end of her tunnel careful to keep to the shadows.  When, if, one rounded the corner she too her blade and throttled it until it went down.

  Jesse   was moving towards  the  Tunnels  mouth as   6 or so Qarl ran towards their tunnel


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

  the   Qarl on the far side of the   cavern were trying to fire at  Lyri..but... the  plasma  didn't have the range.. globs  dropped to  hit  and eat away at the top of the  structure.

  On Lyri's  side  a Black qarl just  fell , some other  Qarl seems to be massing at the   mouth

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

  Melia and the Felrites  went  about 200 yards up the Tunnel's  gentle slope.. the rock over hand, hid everything but the from of the structure from them

"Melia, if that tunnel opens out, see about getting it cleared...Admiral, if Melia's got a clear route in, it will save the reinforcements a lot of time..."  He paused for a moment at the door.

"Lyri, how bad is it out there?  We can finish sweeping the ship, or we can clear out now firing.  I trust your call on this..."  He could always leave the same pair watching the door, with orders to shoot anyone who came through it...that would elikinate surprise attacks from that angle...

Jesse takes a knee and starts firing atnthe Qarl as they come around the corner.  She's low enough to take out a knee and let the others fire from behind so she don't get shot as well.

 From where  Melia  is, she figures  they got  another   300 yards to the   branch covered   opening.She would have to make the call on what  to do from that point.

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

 Lyri   COMed .. they are Massing at the door  we were Guarding...... we have the bottled out, they were using  Plasma and Pulse.... sooner or later they are Going to break out... we are at the Bottom of the stairs..... Across the way.. they have   at least three shooters.. there are mOre  troops behind them... they only have side arms.... Can't see what's going on, at Red's  end.

...........

 Jesse and her  People Gun down ^  Qarl running towards them.. two of the Qarl at the  door that leads into the structure, points back towards Jesse's  Tunnel...

 The shooters on that side of the carven fire   in Jesse's tunnel direction.. but again.. the rounds  are falling short..hissing on the   cavern Floor....

Roy grimaced.  Lyri's response wasn't exactly what he'd been looking for...it was a good report of the situation, but not a judgment call on whether or not assistance was needed.  "Hemsly, come with me.  The rest of you, finish the sweep.  Don't take your time, and be ready to come running if more Qarl turn up out there..."  He holstered the pistol, took up his rifle from where it had been hanging by its sling, and made sure he had a fresh magazine in it.

Checking to make sure Hemsly was with him, he stepped over to the exterior hatch, cautiously listening before taking a look out, to get an idea of where any Qarl were firing from around that side of the ship.

   Garrat pushes forward trying to  clear the area of Quarl

     Roy  climbed out the HAtch  the Felrites  used to enter the Structure... from where he looked  he  could  see  Melia and  2 Felrites some 400 Yards  away ( just barely as the tunnel moved up.

  he Could see the  troops  at the  Opening they came through... a crack of  a Rifle hit  , just under the  Head of a Grey splitting the chest opens.. heavy pulse round  twinkled off the  walls  and railing  as Supe and Minette tried to keep them inside the tunnel.

 He  could see the  three people on top the  other side  trying to rain plasma  down on the area behind the structure...


 Roy could see the end of the Structure.. the top of the  cavern  behind it..but could not see   Jesse's  tunnel.

 ............

 Jesse's  team  had gunned  down the Qarl headed towards them..but  were more or less pinned down

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

  The  qarl  Fire the Odd shaped   weapon.. it made a soft .. PUMMMFFFF.. and a slow moving  plasma  ball headed towards   Garrat, Lirg and Ming..behind them were  8 more troopers.

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

 Cummings  came on the COMs,..I say mR Garrat... our  screens  show you are bloody well running around in circles..... your  stick is  short a few lights... you having a problem?

...........

 Over the COMs a SGT PIllar  COMed......following  the SM's  Trail?...  have  8 men with me...should reach you in 11 minutes....

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


 ..CUMMINGS!.. send  at least  1/2  stick of men to where PO Kristensen is... I want them to enter as safely and  as quickly as possible... if we don't need them, they can return when  the op is over? 

 ..I say, Admiral Hack..isn't that ..MY..bloody call?

 Beth   took two quick steps away from  the Admiral.. Shade's head Jerked up with black eyes....

 ...NO.... CUMMINGS... it is ...MY  call, I just allow you to make  decisions  when i feel you are making the right ones..... I want the LT  of that Stick to COM me the second  they reach the edge...all they have to  do is track the COMs.....and  they COM better come, 5 minutes ago....

 ...Aye....Admiral.. Bloody well Clear..... what about   SGT GArrat's people?

 ..He has a Stick... and from my screens.. it looks like they will be linking up  with the SM.....I know you do not have the screens i have...so i will allow your impertinence  to pass...this one time...

 ..Aye, Admiral  Sir......

 ..aye..Admiral..what?

 ..Aye Admiral  , SIR.... all ready done

 ..Carry on then....

Keep firing, she yelled back to the others behind her.  She would take them out as they got to her weather by gun or by blade.

The instant The Qarl showed his head Garrat had hin in the sighs of the heavy Pulse rifle.  Garrat was already firing when the plasma ball came out.  With luck, it didn't get far.  "Duck and cover!" Garrat shouted again even as he continued to fire.

  Garrat and  his people  keep   moving down the  PAssage... The    Ball  sails  down towards them as he fires...

  He  hits  it  about  10 Yards  from it reaching him, the Plasma explodes in it white hot Flash Of  Light...

 Lirg  Lets out  a howl of surprise, that    he slams  against the wall trying to see...

 Flecks of plasma   land on Garrat's weapon.. Hissing  away...

  Ming  Sucks her  chest plate, and  leaves it  smoldering on the floor of the tunnel.

 The  tunnel is thick with the  steam and smoke of  melting metal....

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

 Outside  the  three   Qarl  turn to  face  Jesse's Tunnel.. the  odd  weapon is  dropped on the ground, the  white qarl that used .. shoots it with a plasma  side arm.

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

 Roy  is still taking everything in ( but the  scene at the back of the ship)

Roy brought his rifle up and settled his sights on the trio.  He debated, komentarily, shooting at one of the plasma weapons...but there was no knowing just how far liberated plasma would splash...and whether destroying one would cascade as its plasma ate into the storage capacity of the others.  With people in vulnerable positions and lacking a safe direction to flee if a large burst of plasma headed their way, he opted for caution...

He settled his sights on the head of the Qarl furthest away from Lyri and the others, hoping that, with their attention focused on the humans, the Qarl would be slow to notice their own dead behind them...he'd find out soon enough.  With the sights centered, he took a steadying breath, and fired.  Without waiting to observe results, he shifted to the next, firing as soon as the sights were steady, then repeated it again for the third, before allowing himself to 'stand back' and process the results...

  Roy  sights in on the  overwatch qarl... the first on  dies, splattering  those  behind.

 The second one  follows  and the top half  fall over the tailings.

 the Third  Fires at Spencer, but the  plasma falls  a good 20 yards short, hissing on the  skin of the structure... then Roy's third  shot slams, what's left of the  3rd qarl against the wall..

  for a  moment the movements behind  the platform stop...

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

     One of the Qarl Tosses a Plasma  Gun down the  strairs..  Lyri and her  people break and  run , when the Gun Goes off the  Bottom of the stairs begin to  be consumed upweards.

  Lyri says,..aim for any  rifles qarl.. the sidearms  have  imited range....

  supe fires off a  few rounds  from their spot  near the stairs.

Jesse cursed loudly when she realized they were cornered.  She looked back at Waggs, Kole, and Robbins and what weapons they carry.  She sighs as she decides.  Waggs, Robbins, what you guys carrying? she asks.  Kole needs to stay behind, unless he has some other type of goody weapon wise on his body.

She sends a relay in the COM.  I don't know where everyone is at, but we are stuck in a tunnel.  Kinda cornered here.  I can send out an iMein, but I don't want to do so if our teams are out there. 

Garrat drops his Rifle, glances at Ming to see if she is okay then checks on lirg.

  Lirg   throws his  helmet off,... light  hurt  my eyes...cannot see good now...

 he  feels around  for his  rifle as he  squints.

 Ming  waves Garrat off  as she looks  through her   scope,..i don't see any movement out there..... we still have to wait for those  damn puddles to eat themseleves away...

   "We live.  Some of our friends and many of our enemies weren't so lucky."  Garrat examines what's left of his rifle, letstry to keep the former down and the later up.  Lirg, can you continue or do you need to sit this out.  You have been a great help but without sight, I don't want you being a liability to the team when you can be a help later."

  Lirg  nods,....you go..i will catch up..soon  as eye see....

 Ming Points to a trooper,Stay with him... the rest follow us....

 The Puddles were gone for now, though stil a bit hot, the air , still thick with  steam and smoke...

Roy gestured toward the platform the three had been shooting from.  "Hemsly, keep an eye on that.  Anything moves up there, start shooting at it..."  He turned his attention to the doorway at the top of the stairs.  With the bulk of the ship shielding him from plasma below, and being elevated to a different angle than Lyri had been using, he put his sights at about chest level for a Qarl, flipped the fire select to burst, and sent off three-round bursts at any flicker of motion that he saw until he'd emptied his magazine, hoping that some of the rounds had ricocheted on the other side of the doorway and bounced around in the hallway.  But he didn't wait to analyze results between shots...he was firing to thin the ranks beyond the door, and to bottle up the Qarl until the reinforcements could come in behind them.

"I can't see Lyri and the others anymore, I don't know where they are, aside from on the floor...if she calls clear for it, go ahead, Red...the rest of us are inside the ship and shielded."  With practiced movements, he ejected the spent magazine, grabbed a fresh one, and slapped it home.  "Three mags left..." he mentioned into the comm.

 Hemsly crawls  Up and makes himself  small , by curling a leg Under him, he  aims his greasegun toward the platform.  He  can see slight movement, but  waits for a 'for sure' target.
.............

 Roy fires at the  entry point  after his mag emptied he can account for at least 2  dead.. and one that flew backwards...dead or dying.. there  seems to be a few More in the back.. but they are staying out of sight.
..................



 Jesse  and her  folks watch the  3  Qarl get closer, one bends  down and picks  up a weapon on the run.

 Waggstaff  says he has  1 grenade and side arms.... Robbins    the same.. Kole  has his   Nivarian rifle.
...............

 Melia  and her  people   wait to see if the stick gets to the top as ordred.

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

 Garrat, Ming and  4 troopers  head to the door at the end of the structure.

 Lirg  is  trying to clear his eyes  , 4 troopers stay with him.

Garrat shoulders the remains of the rifle.  Down to only his grenade launching pistol, he checks for dropped weapons. [was supposed to be posted yesterday but didn't go through]

     Garrt figures he can try to go back and see if  any weapons survived  blasts in the side  Tunnels.

    He  could  see the   figures  running into the distance....

In reply to Garrat (msg # 154):

If they are the Qarl he fires two more Asgard rounds after them:

    Garrat Fires  from inside  the passage. the round  shooting  towards the three Qarl running towards  Jesse's Tunnel..

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

   Jesse can   see the flash from the   structure's  door way... as the rounds  sail towards the qarl, and them.

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

   Roy and Hemsly keep taking   shots  at their targets ..

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

   supe  says,.... Me and Tucker  will stay near the bottom of the stairs.. about 5  feet of the stairs is missing now  anyway...  Lyri and Minnet are making thier   way to the back of the structure..... see if Red  needs Help....

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

  PIllar here... found  2  qarl  as we are getting closer, they went up like a flare?.... guess full auto doesn't  agree with them?

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

 ..This  is LT Hist...  coming with 20 Troopers    that were still outside the Mountain.... oddly enough.. one of those spider  things  helped us  find the Hole....dMN  big hole here....  were  setting up the ropes..  we'll be  down by your  people , in a moment.

Jesse hears Roy's COM reply and looks back to the others.  You guys fire, I'm going to stomach crawl to the end and toss one of these out. 

She holds up one of the iMeins.  You fire if you think I need the cover.  Don't hold back.  Don't be scared. 

Once she's on the ground, she sees the flash and covers her head in case there is any dangerous debrie from the aftermath of it.  As soon as she's a couple of yards from the exit of the tunnel, and she gets a relay from Lyri, it was all hands on deck for her toy to go off.

   Garrat's  Rounds  Go Off , Just behind the Qarl   and Spray the front of Jesse' tunnel with gores  and Bits of shrapnel... the resulting Plasma ruptures    . leaving  dozens of  Hissing droplets on the   ground.

  Jesse is Looking  up as the   steam/smoke  rises , some  droplets only inches from her.

Jesse had been about to move forward when the light from the flash subsided, but dripping from the ceiling above had her freeze.  She looked from it to the ceiling above and the damage it caused.

So help me if that would have hit me or any of my splinter group I would come back and haunt you for the rest of your mortal and immortal life!

She let her near anger tone reflect in the COM.  She hopes whoever had shot that in her direction heard her.

Ahe looks back over her shoulder to make sure the other 3 are okay.  She then carefully scoots back away from anything that could sizzle her skin

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 110):

Melia nods scrambling up after the cats. Moving through the opening with them she repels down the 'nose' looking at the ship design, "SGT MAJ we have plates out here in both demon and creshian colors." she says reporting what is easily observed, as she kept her rifle slung behind her as she descended. "Not a lot to see in the tunnel just the structure itself she says as they continue down  the tunnel. We'll see about clearing and holding it if we find an exit." She reports back. As the climb the tunnel she keeps the carbine out and ready.

Once she spots the opening she comms Roy, "SGT MAG we have a branch covered opening here about 300 metes up from my current position. I am going to move up and take a look first before deciding to clear it or not." She crawls forward towards the brush and branches examining for booby traps and threats. "Cummings, send you LT to the following coordinates...." she reads off her location from her visor. "I'm working on clearing the opening." She says signalling the two cats to take the left and right sides working on making an opening for troops to enter.  "Understood Lt Hist. We've got it currently secure down here, though things get hair the closer you get to the structure." She glances up at the top of the hole, and then turns down the tunnel to provide cover incase and qarl are sneaking up after them.

In reply to Beach (msg # 112):

Sarah nods to Bronberry, "thank you Admiral, it is a pleasure to meet the Roussian delegation." Sarah says politely. She watches the screens closely observing the op.

--Orria--

Orria watches Melia move with rapt attention.

  Melia  Meets up with  Lt Hist and the 20 Troopers,  Hist takes of her Helmet for a Moment.... We were the rear guard  for the   troops going into the   Mountain... I heard The Admirals COM.... we left, there are enough   troopers   on the  Guards on the  Transport  back them up... what do we need to Do...

 She puts her  Helmet,..LT HIst..Linked  up the  Away team party....

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

 Roy and  Hemsly   had to fire now and again as  a random Qarl would try an pop out.

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

  Lyri and  Minnet rounded their side  ships   in time to see the Bodies splatter... then began to work their  way over   slowly.

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

  Jesse's  team saw the Puddles   fizzle out....  Waggastaff says,we need to get out of here.

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

 Garrat, Ming  and  4 troopers  exit the   Structure, looking   to the  North and back, they see  the other  platform Hemsly is  shooting at.

 Bornberry  and Sarah sat next to each other... They watched and Listened.

  NC-37 looks  at the Two Commanders, she  speaks quietly,..Humans...seem so very odd... they seem to  fight  with each other, as much as  others..


 Shade Bleeps a few times  and Goes back to watching what is going on...

In reply to Jesse Dalton (msg # 159):

   "Don't threaten me with a good time little one.  It would be refreshing against the other ghosts I have to endure."  Garat says. To his "Stick"  "Move up, we have final cleanup to complete."

   lyri Looked  around, as she Grew  closer, and Jesse's team  came out of  tunnel.

    The other  4  troopers and Lirg  came out Styructure.. the  trooper that was with Lirg says.. the rest  are checking the passages  for sign of something to  ID the troopers...

  Waggstaff pointed to the  two platforms,..anyone have an Idea  for those....

 ..The Admiral has   some troops  coming from the Colony.. they should be able to ambush the ones on the stair.. side..

   "How do ya think we got good at fighting?"

     Things  were starting  to get  tense in the Cavern.

  Si  Said,...so?  We have  qarl in there.. that have been there for how long?.... Yet..no one came to aid them?


 ..why would they not have  been missed..or trackers?...the Nivarians Navy  could not have worried them?

Jesse growled and relayed in the COM to Garrat.  You big furry galoot, just wait until I get out of this tunnel and find you.

She shut off the COM and looked back to Waggs.  Yes, I agree.  Let's get out of here before whatever this stuff is eats the tunnel and us alive.  She looked for a good footing to not step in or land in if it so happened that she lost footing.

Roy grumbled as he watched the hatch at the top of the stairs through his scope, firing sparingly now as he got nearer to depleting his ammunition supply..."Next time we go clearing tunnels in atmosphere, remind me we want to bring at least a couple of flame units..."  On some of his earlier missions, flamethrowers would have been useless...with no oxygen, they would have done nothing except spray volatile fluid that wouldn't be dangerous until someone got back into atmosphere again.

"Or at least a grenade launcher or two..."

    Ya know, SM... if  we  can take out those things on the stairs  side... we  could  keep the other's heads in side the other  door  Until the  climbers could get up there...Toss in a few grenades an' such?

  There is the  Sight of the top half of White  Qarl  splattering over the wall.. while some of the others  ducked inside...

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

 SGT PIllar. here.. 40 seconds  until we reach you... we can here some fiant  weapon's  fire....

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

 By Now, Lyri and Minnet as well as Jesse and her party,  and  Garrat and his group are  near each other, in the shadow of the  structure.

  "I've got six more asgard rounds"

"Put one up through that doorway...try to get as straight a shot as possible, so it goes down the hall.  Looks like they're standing back a ways, trying to figure out how to get one out long enough to locate us and fire..."  He fired another shot at the doirway as motion flickered just beyond it.

"Not sure how many are still out there, but it'd definitely give them a kick in the privates to have something grenade-like come through the doorway from our end..."

  Garrat loads and takes careful aim before firing.  "We need to start manufacturing these here.  I'm running out

   Lyri   Peeks  around the   farside of the structure,  she  steadies her  weapon as she  says to Garrat.

  ..if that weapon has the  range, then go and set up and  shoot.. i nail  anyhting   coming out on the  platform.

 Minnet    Kneels a bit away from Lyri  ready to send some rounds up towards the platform as well.

 Jesse  and her  people, as well as the rest of Garrats's  watch.(?)

..........

  There is the  Sound  ofr  hardammo and Pulse  weapons.. some stray  raods  shoot out  the tunnel Roy's team came from.. two Qarl , back out   and  are  Gunned  down  by Supe's Heavt weapons.

 SGT Pillar calls out,..CLEAR!... there is a Muffled  rumble,..Sent  some Grenades through the open HAtchway... don;t think anyhting  going that direction

 Melia  with  LT Hist begin to fire up Boarding  ropes, to  climb up the  structure.

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

 LT Hirr says,..it is being  quiet... i  am thinking they all be dead?

Roy spun around, looking up at the platform that Hemsly had been covering.  "Guess that's the last stronghold..."  Then he thought about the hatches and halls that his group had opted not to check out...

"Sgt. Pillar, set up a team to watch your back...once we're done in here, we need to go back through the way both our groups came and make sure there aren't any lurkers hiding out...these bastards came from somewhere behind us, I don't want to be surprised if there are any more of them hiding out in the same place."  He took a half-second to pause and think.

"Lt. Hirr, once Sgt. Wolfrim has fired on the platform, take your team and climb up there, do what you can to secure a climbing line for the rest of us who aren't as agile as you, and we'll see what we can find up there.  They're coming from somewhere else, and we can't stop until we know where it is and we know there aren't anymore of them.  A couple of stragglers could wreak havoc in the settlement with a few plasma weapons..."

   Garrat heads out looking for decent cover.  He sets up as best he can and steadies the pistol before before firing his next shot.  He fires his next shot.

     Garrat's  round   Hits, inside the  door way,. Lyri fires off another shot  and   hits  around the same  Area.

    Hirr's Team  fired  off ,hand launchers  that drove   Felritr metal Pinions into the  rocks.. Two  Cats  Scrabbled  up the  ropes, waiting  for  enemies to pop out..

...........

  Pillar COMs  BAck..You bet, SM.. we killed a  few stragglers on the way in... they seemed lost?  I dunno.. we didn't take chances...

  Hemsly   took a knee  near  Roy,..this  don't make  much sense..Ya know?....

 Tucker COMS, Hey SM.... Supe  and I  are still by the stairs... you want us to stay, or what?

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

 Minnet  stood  with   Jesse  and the others As they watched the CAts  climb the wall.

In reply to Cavern (msg # 162):

Once the stick of troopers get to Melia and the Felrites she nods to the structure, "we're going up top. Split your chalk into 2 groups, we're splitting into 2 squads. Equal fire power 1 Felrite. You and I being senior are splitting as well" Looking over to the Felrites she says, "y'all wanna take point? You'll be a little quicker climbing than us." She pulls out her grappling hook firing up towards the top. "My Squad will be Alpha, you're Beta." she starts climbing up after the Felrite in her squad. "SGM Spencer, Admiral, we are currently climbing to the top of the structure. What areas up here have been cleared?" She asks over the comms.

In reply to Beach (msg # 163):

Sarah nods, "It's hard to argue against that observation. Though the disposition towards conflict and fighting for survival has made humanity understand the value of unity, creativity, and of course the violent experience necessary to stand up to the threats the demons and their allies represent to the peaceful peoples of the black." She says  continuing to watch the screens as the troopers reach Melia and the Felrites and the firefight rages below.

  "Aye, the worst thing any species can do is give us a reason to unite."

In reply to Cavern (msg # 177):

Jesse and her small group stay behind as they didn't carry grappling or climbing gear to go like the felrites were.  They, at the moment, were better suited to stay behind and watch guard.

If they were needed, she'd reposte them.

   The Felrites got to the top of the ropes  with  practiced ease...  the one closest to the  Railing  , grabbed it  and jumped onto the platform. Her Pulse rifle spraying as  it screamed  some  wild , cat-like laugh.

  The Beta  Cat  Soon Joined  her sliding on the  platform as she opened up into the door  way.

   after about  20 seconds  of  firing,  Both  Cats  where Blown over the railings   then a second  explosion, then a 3rd...  the   cavern wall  ripped  with shockwaves.

  Then... things got  quiet..,,smoke and   fire  poured out of the door  way.

  Lyri kept watching the doorway though her scope...go check on the felrites ..i cover the door way...

   The Mountain Rumbled a bit


   ..Cumminngs?... Sit Rep....

  Not Much 'ere  Sir.... Cove's comin' back wit' most of  'hi Stick....  They  caved in the Bloody Tunnels there..... Me top cover went to met yer cats... SGT Garrat's people are  'aving a bit of a time...


  ..With drawn  your people , except  for the Sticks that are with SGT Garrat.. be ready to send more troops  down that other  Exit way..

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

  Shade  watched  as the Feltites   flew over the  railing and the  fires burned in the door way.

   Garrat goes to the fallen cats.  Did they land on their feet?

In reply to cavern (msg # 182):

"Son of a bitch!" Melia exclaims as the Felrites are launched over her head as she gets her hand near the ledge their ropes catching and the autobrakes slowing and stopping them about a dozen feet below her. "LT Hist get Beta team up there and set up a perimeter. Alpha team set up to reel the Felrites up manually I'm going down to check on them." she says reeling out and descending to the Felrites pulling out her scanner.

    The Felrites  did not  hook themselves to the  climbing lines, the Blast sent them Over the railing. where they bounced off the    structure, then the  wall, then the  structure and  hit the Ground...

 Garrat came  charging Down the   space between  structure   and the Wall, as Melia   zipped  down her  line.

 The  Felrites  were lying still, their armor took a lot of the pounding, but they looked a bit  battered.

...........

 Above  , The others   looked into the door.... its damn weird in there.... Black smoke, White  some...bright white light, and normal fire... there  are alot of elcetric arcs in there.... can't seem more the  10 yards in

 Checking over one felrite, Garrat looks up. "I don't think anything is living in there."

  The Felrite  Garrat looks  at his still breathing, though she dose have the look on a broken leg.

  Hist watches  the inside of the   door though his scope,..I can Barely see in there?.. there is  an opening   to the   east.. but the  smoke  is rolling that way faster, then its coming out  the door here...

   Screens  were now  solely focused on the Cavern now.

   Hack  said into the COMs....Away teams?...  if you are  certain  the structure is secure...  Pull out, and head back to the  Hermes.....


   Then, to those in the tent,NC-37  , Your people will ride  up with Commander Bornberry... We will have a dinner and a signing of our Treaty..... Tomorrow,  You and yours  may accompany us down to  Nivar, for thier  Treaty...IF.. it is signed, Your People  will be permitted to see about fixing  those machines...

 ..Commander McKeon.. you may come aboard if you wish,, while we are a Dinner, The Roussians  will tell us what help they need....this..after the treaty is  signed , of  course.

 ..So?  Once More.. you  hold us Hostage then? MC-1 said .

 ... I suppose you could  say that, if your focus is narrow enough..... We are here to help the APF grow, while  damage the   Empire anyway we  are able....so?  Yes.. if you do not sign the treaty, you will not be permitted  to aid Nivar, nor  will we  bother  hearing of your plight...because we must look after our own, first.

Roy bit back profanities as the Felrites were blown clear...that had been exactly the kind of thing he'd been hoping to prevent.  "Did anyone see if that explosion was something they hit while firing?  Or was it something detonated to cover a retreat?  Anyone get any sort of eyes on?"

His scowl deepened at Lt. Hist's report.  Smoke clearing faster meant more air flow...which usually meant a more direct route to the surface, in this environment.  "Just trying to tie up a few loose ends here, Admiral..."

  Hist answered,...Well SGT  Major... its   really hard to tell ..its like two kinds of hell in there... there is    red  Fire..and white  fire, and   everytime the plasma hit s something it shouldn't, there is another  explosion....

  One of the other  troopers  chimed in,..well?  Nothing is coming out of there for  a while, that's for sure....

In reply to Cavern (msg # 186):

Melia cursed all the way down until her boots touched the ground and she quickly unclipped running over to the Felrites. She starts checking the other Felrite with her scanner, "If you're seeing electrical arcs stay back. Last thing we need is an arc to hit a grenade and take you the entire stick." As she waits for the results she begins a visual diagnostic of her own.

"We'd just reached the edge when it went. We were damn lucky they were the only two up top when it went off. I'm doing triage at the moment." She says in reply to Roy's question.

In reply to Beach (msg # 189):

Sarah nods, "Of course Admiral. I'd be glad to join, I will of course require guest quarters to clean up before hand. If not I am perfectly comfortable using the locker room in the recreation area aboard the Hermes." She knows it's very likely there is room for her to use however, she doesn't wish to assume.

-Orria-
Orria continues to watch the board watching Melia fast rope rappel down the line to the wounded Felrites. She looks over at Shade showing him what Melia is up to.

Roy grunted, not really satisfied with the answers he was getting but unable to fault the sources.  There was one other option...a longshot, but worth checking...

"Beth?  Do you have footage from the Felrites?  Can you check it quickly and see if they caused the blast, or if there was someone else in there?"  He didn't recall anything the Felrites said indicating that there was an actual target in the room...they seemingly cleared the top rail and just started shooting.  And neither one of them sounded like they were in any condition to provide coherent answers about what they were shooting at...

     Beth COMed Back to Roy and the others,...all i can see is some Movements. There was at Least  1 white...1 Black  and a couple Greys... there was a large Canister , they appeared to be trying to move it forward... then the felrites opened up, and all 9 hells broke lose.

Roy grunted softly.  "Sounds like some kind of plasma containment device...Felrites hit it and it blew.  Damned lucky they got knocked off the ledge, if that's the case."  He paused in thought for a moment.

"Hist...does it look like the plasma's pretty well contained inside?  Any danger of it blowing out over the edge of the platform?"  If there was, they needed to get the Felrites under some kind of cover before they ended up the victims of some really bad luck...

At any rate, Roy figured, any Qarl that had been inside weren't going to be much of a threat.  He was, however, a little dissatisfied with the damage being done, even as he thought...it was that much more information they could have turned over to engineers to figure out how to combat the Qarl more effectively, or ways to adapt Qarl technology to improve their own...

But he'd settle for clearing the Qarl from the mountain.  There was still plenty to keep R&D personnel busy for quite a while...

     Cummings came on the  COM,..I Say... there's  something Bloody well  happening... there  are  Orange  lights...no..hold on....Red Lights  Now..showing up..the Techs  connected  some of the Consoles.... seems like some one  activated something......

 ....................

  Hack's Voice......I want to know what ..'something' is...and  now!

  The Beach felt a slight rumble. It lasted  about  5 seconds.. Hack's  eyes  narrowed as he waited for  word from the Units....

Garrat contacts his stick.  "Alright, all units too me.  We might be heading out soon."

    Slowly appearing in 2s and threes   Ming's stick comes out of the  Structure. there were some 30 left.

   Some of the  Troopers  carried   extra  weapons and such, that they could  recover from  what was left  of  any who had  died.

    "Sgt Spencer, I don't like the feel of things, it might be wise to leave now so we don't end up in the scenario that took Irina's life."

   Two  Dots  appeared in the Sky,..LC  Shadow ..... coming in with a  Plane ..of...sorts...

 ...Ahhh..LC.... there is  still.....

  Understood... I think I can handle   any thing?

 when they  make the approach to the  Beach where  the shuttle and Tent are set..  Shadow  Hovers ....

  ..straight ahead, is  the  Mountain, ..you can see the  part that  was blasted.......

Jesse saw the group go over the railing and COMed to the others.  Need me and my group to check the...

She paused as she heard something from the same tunnel her and the others had came from.  She paused and walked her way back towards the tunnel and saw that it was slowly filling with water.

Guys, I think we have a problem.  My tunnel is filling up...with water.

    As they turned to look, there was  water slowly pouring out of  both tunnels like  a slow stream....

 Lyri turned and  Curse,...9 hells!.... she opened the  COMs,..the rear tunnels  are letting water into the Cavern!...  We got to get the  Fel rites Up.... and head  for  exits!..... SGT MAJ!... where to?

Garrat picks up an injured Felrite and jerks his head to his team. "Time to double time out of here boys and girls."  To Spencer. "Which way?"

    The large ship is more ponderous than the dart, but Missy swiveled the massive engines on her wing tips to bring the shuttle sized plane into a hover. "That looks like it was defoliated by a concussion missile.  I thought the ESN gave up on missiles centuries ago."

   A small alarm goes off in her cockpit, she glances down, "That's odd,"  Shuts it off and looks up at the clearing.

  yeah..they aren't something we can count on...Belt fed 37 MM and Power celled  weapons are cheaper and we can carry more...

  He looked over to the clearing,we fought there  twice....nothing there but  rock, stuffs, and shell casings....

"Up the stairs and back out the way we came in, unless anyone wants to try climbing out the tunnel Melia was checking.  The stairs will get us ahead of any water, though, and we KNOW where they come out and what we're facing there.  Hist, get your team moving, spare us a couple of people to help move the Felrites. Garrat, your people right behind Hist's team, we'll be right behind you. Let's move!"

He fought back a shadowy misgiving that this would put everyone packed in close proximity...if there was a booby trap or ambush waiting, the body count could go high in a hurry.  "Don't bunch up, unless you have to in order to carry something or someone.  Try to keep five-foot spacing between each person, where possible..."

He got himself out of the superstructure of the ship...or what he'd assumed was a ship...and headed immediately for the stairs, stopping to turn and hurry people along.

  Hemelsy  followed close behind as the rest of  Spencer's team  rushed out the door.

   Tucker  was  fussining  with  ropes  that he had  Fashioned to make a Landing net for the  tropps to climb up , to get to the stair way.

 .................

  Lyri  and Minnet watched the water   pouring a bit  faster and faster...so far the   dirt was just getting wet, the   water  was  starting to move  around the  backend of the structure.

..........

 Zillar and his people   waited  at the top of the stairs....


 Melia  and the wounded Feleites  could see the  water  as it broke against the side of the structure, flowing  towards them.

   "Then I'll have to go boots dry later.  My brother and I are of The Way Of the Wheel, we believe that a private ship is part of a persons soul and wish to retrieve any parts I can find."  She looks around "I don't see signs of conflict.  Where is the operation taking place."

    again there is a space of quiet,..Plasma  and ruptured power cells don't leave much behind  there might be a chance of  a sliver  or something at the bottom of the lake?..but..i wouldn't  think that would be too  heavily possible....

    That thing up on the Mountain.. was  some  type of weapon... we knocked it out, but  found some qarl... that thransport/base shuttle dropped a few sticks of troopers in there... and the SM is  running around in there  with the away team....

 There is a crackle on the  COMs,..Shadow?  What the 9 hells are you doing..either  land or get out of here..and what's that odd  craft....

 ..ahhh... viistor  Sir  , escorted the craft to the Moon.....

 Then to Missy,..you heard the man.. we land   or go away. If  we hand  we have to go to the west a bit... you can see the shuttle burns  from the Duces  that have landed and  take off.... you'll  have to get as close as you are able there... there  are still folks doing thier job on and in , the lake.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:07, Fri 30 June 2017.

  Hack  stood  when he heard about the water....

  ...Major  Cummings... withdraw your   deepest troopers...   start sending troops up to your transport.... But..by all the gods  who are floating around out here...don't you dare  leave until everyone of your troopers is accounted for...one way or the other...

 ..of...of..course...Admiral...already Done....

  SGT MAJOR..... I see you are moving..make sure your people aren't leaving anyone behind.... Get some Vids of where that damn water is coming from as you leave!

 Admiral?   Zillar here.. I have  Guin cam on it  , since it started to   leak out of the tunnels.....

 ..Good  Job Zillar... send your  people   back ahead, make sure you don't find some more strays..... keep your CAM  on it until the SM  tells you to bug out....

  Lyri,  and Minnet look at Jesse  and Garrat... well./.. we go to the Steps    we should be safer..... if we want to go out the way Hist's stick came in, we'll have to climb....

 ...Hits here..... you'll have to get to the    main control room at the front of the structure ... then repul down the nose, and   run up the bigass opening... the  lst  400 yards   or so are kind of steep...

 there are a couple small explosions from the  other room...More Black smoke  pours out starting to collect on the roof of the cavern.
........................

 Shade  is Pointing at the Screen from Jesse's    CAMs from before..the perforations , must be   where the water is   coming in from...

 Orria  looks at the water  and Nods....

    Missy looks down again checking something. Uh, roger that, respectfully request we  go to the southeast.I got a blip on my sensors while flying in."  She tries to make it fast. "Sea planes are now required to carry water doplar to detect currents when looking for a landing spot.  I would like to investigate to make sure my sensors are giving me correct readings and can set down on the water out of the way."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:42, Fri 30 June 2017.

 shadow looked at the Lake,sure... southeast will take is  were  the 3rd section of the colony is building.....according to the specs, we cant  hand on the beach  to the  west, and southwest... they are trying to keep that open for wildlife and such....but?.. we'll be on the other side of the lake, from the Admiral?

Jesse ushered every ahead of her.  Kole, she shouted out.  Lead them the way out.  Do you remember how we got here?


She kept an eye on the water in the tunnel and then left as soon as everyone else was clear in the area.

  The water  was  starting to   come faster and  will more  Volume now

  Lyri was leading the way back to the staircase...

  Hack turned from the  two aircraft  above the lake, Back to the scenes on the screens.

  ..Commander BornBerry..... Commander McKeon. If you please, you amy  go to get ready for the  treaty  dinner and signing , aboard the Hermes...

 He  bows  slightly to NC-37,NC-37?  You  will  go with  Commander Bornberry to the Hertmes, and be show  Ambassador's  quarters , so tyou may   clean up before the dinner and  signing....

  ...we  will follow, once    my people are out of the Mountain.

 The Cavet  looks  at the screens,..I should like to stay, to see the outcome of  the people in the Mountain?.... it is in...my mountain..after all?

 Hennings smiled,..it is ...OUR...mountain now..all of  us in the APF... yours  to keep and protect...and the rest of the APF to  protect.

 The   Roussians  stood,..Thank You, Admiral... Commander Bornberry?  We wil follow you...

 ...of course , By your Leave, Admirals....

 Hack smiled and nodded  and tthey left for Bronberry's  shuttle.

   Flying to the  Eastern most end of the  Colony Building site, Shadow settles down  onto the  beach , Popping his cockpit as he waits for the ungainly machine to land.

 He  sits on the  edge of the cockpit  as he waits, noting the   workers  are setting up a double ring of  Fences... none are solid. they  have criss crossed  wires.. and  are separated  by 20 yards...

 Looking down towards a trooper who was  approaching he  asked,...why the Double  Fence?

 The troops pushes back his  helmet as he looks up,..well? Sir... we aren't allowed to cut  down all the trees and such to make a Killing ground.... so we set up the  fences, so we can see anything coming,  and whatever it is , will be trapped  between the two for a bit...we'll also power it up at night, and harvest what ever  we can eat, that gets Killed by the  zapping..... Can I ask what you need here?

 ..waiting on a Visitor.... he points to the  odd ball  craft coming in.

Roy nodded as he heard Hack's directive.  "I'm the last man leaving, Sir, even if I have to place-kick people ahead of me."  He waited half a beat, and added, "We're not leaving anyone behind in here."  He thought of Irina as he said it...staying with her probably wouldn't have changed her fate...except that she wouldn't have died alone.

He looked up at Zillar.  "Keep your camera running until your team's past you, then follow them.  Faster to go up the ropes here to the steps than to try and slog all the way back out the way you came, Hist...as soon as Tucker's got it secure, get your team going up, follow Zillar out."

Turning to Tucker, he added, "Get our people started up as soon as Hist's team clears.  Supe, come with me..."  He headed toward Melia, helping get the Felrites moved to the base of the ropes.

    Supe   moved   with Roy.. they past Lyri, Minnet, Kole  and the others,,, Garrat's  team wasn't far  behind   with the  wounded   felrites and Hist's  people


   there was another Muffled  explosion that  rumbled through the  far cavern wall.

   Water  was   pouring in faster  now.., though it  had barely reached the front of the structure, it was already ankle  deep around   Jesse and the rest.

  Supe     was giving  troopers pushes   to pass him towards the stairs that Spencer  came  down

  Tucker  came on the COMs..OK, SM.... sending troops up.. i got a  Cargo net thing going here..  to the   stairs  that didn't get melted...

 Hemsly stood  By tucker  Giving  folks a boost up the net.. Zillar'
s men helped at first from the top.. then they   worked out a flow... two would climb up... help the next two up and move on..then the cycle  would  repeat.. faster  and with Little  problem

Jesse moves forward at Roys instance to be last man.  She went closer towards the exit zone and made sure people didn't get lost.  Kole make sure every gets out safely from the entry point, she said.  Fire if you see enemies. Don't hesitate.

She put in the COM to Roy.  You send them my way, Kole is at the entry to make sure everything is okay there and people get out safely.

In reply to Beach (msg # 216):

With the op ending and the dinner to prepare for Sarah nods, "Thank you Admiral, I will see you at Dinner." She says taking her leave to go to her Shuttle.

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 194):

Melia listens to Beth's description with half an ear as she works on the Felrites stabilizing the both of them, "The cats are both worse for wear, they'll be out for a week maybe." She calls out as she puts in the medevac order for the two. Water starts running in, and Melia curses as time is up. "A team on me," she says snapping the litter together, and maneuvering the Felrite with the broken hip and leg on to the litter. As Garrat grabs the cat with the broken ribs she lifts one side of the litter using a trooper to hold the other side. Heading towards the door.

ORRIA

Orria jumps a little at the miniquake that is triggered, but keeps watching the screen. When Shade points to the water she looks closer and then nods looking over toward the Admiral and says, "Admir'l. Shade say water different blue. Not lake blue."

     The Admiral looked  at Orria, his  eyes shifted to Shade... SHade  just  nodded  and gave  HAck a thumbs  up.

  ..Alright Cavet?..why would the   water color  be different?

   She peered  at the little ones' Vid board  and  shook her head,...our  fresh water   lakes a very  clean.... the plants at the bottom eat, almost everything.... you will see?.... in a day or two, there will be no sign of damage  to the Vessel.... so The water  is  very light blue, almost a clear blue...... our seas, have some Minerals in.... they do not harm you...some say, it can even make  you  more healthy?...  The minerlas, however make the water a  darker  blue... so?  that  water coming into  cavern,...must be from the sea?.. The sea  is to the North East...

  .... Shadow?.... if you don't have anyhting  better to do?... take a look at the Sea to the NorthEast... look for   water moving towards the  land....in the direction of the Mountain...

 ...um......Aye  sir?

 He  sat on his cockpit ledge  waiting  for Missy to stop her plane....

    Troops  were going  up the 'cargo' net. Kole had to stop to watch the military types  scramble up before he  gave it a  try.

 McCloud and McNeil lowered  ropes from their packs to  have the others secure the Litters to be  hoisted  up from the   sides.... the  stairs  were shaking a bit...more so , since the bottom8 feet or so  were blown/melted  away.

  Tucker   kept   taping  folks on the shoulders  to get the Moving.... the water coming out of   jesse's tunnels  was about 3 feet deep now....those at the stairs  were standing in water that was  ankle high and  rising fast.

 The structure was groaning a bit...

  over the COMs  there was the sound  of   Pulse rifles.....hey?..SFT Zillar?... we capped  another pair  of the whities... it looks like they are  running for the hills....

 ..Thanks, Mickey....  make sure any intersection are   guarded, we have a lot of people to move out..

   Missy settles in and pops the seal on her T top hatch.  She takes a whif of air.  Just checking to see if there's any bugs on my sensor lense, she pauses looking at him.  Something about the way he is watching her but not leaving his ship. Is anything up?

     he stood up , and bent  down to pick up his head gear,...somehting is going on in the mountain... water coming in, where  the   away  people are..... The water is darker, or something like that...  he shrugs.

  ..Admirla  thinks   its coming from the Sea...to the Northeast... he wants us to see if   we can pick up anything, to see where the  Intakes are.....can your   machine do that?... if not?...  I'll have to skim and look for  swirls?

    "Well cowboy, today is your lucky day.  Not only can I locate it, I can use high resolution sonar to map in. Long story but this could be the cause of what triggered my gear on the way in.  Let's go."   She pauses, "I could work a lot faster with an extra hand at the stick if you want to back me up.  It's not like you can help me much in that gunner."

  Shadow frowned a bit,...gotta  be with you in the fighter.... i send you without an escort... Admiral won't be happy...

  when we get there? You tell me were i'll be out of the way....

   Missy thinks "Okay, I'll try and narrow in on the breach from the air then land on the water and take readings."  She slides the over head hatch shut.

https://www.google.com/search?...imgrc=bwzJy7HaSV1fQM:

   And get's back on the com. "Don't forget to tell me where to send the telemetry."

... we'll follow the road to the sea....then  check the sore , on the Mountain side of the   sea.... if we can't find it there, we'll have to make the  search pattern bigger......

 he  button's up and Hits the thrusters  to rise into the  air,, then kicks away  heading to the  wall on the north east.

     While bigger than a Stoli or any other boarding shuttle in the fleet, the Albatross was nowhere near a big ugly, still she manouvered well with the turbion boosters on her wing tips. and she opened up the full ion boosters on her belly to keep up with shadow's dart.  Still, the large shuttle performed well transitioning into hover mode over the sea as she approached the mountain.

    "In this mode I can't break 70 knots but the computers keep me stable for scanning.  The shallower the depth the wider and area I can scan.  We'll start with ten fathoms, that will let me scan a strip of .75 miles wide with each pass.  If that doesn't work, we'll narrow the beam."

    She starts the first pass sending information to wherever she was told to

Roy helped where he could with getting the litters to the base of the cargo nets, and secured to the lines.  "You dump them out of those litters, boys, and we're gonna have some harsh words when we get out of here," he commented, as they started to hoist...but the chuckle in his voice and the grin on his face gave witness to the teasing nature of the comment.

"Keep it moving, people, we're doing good.  We've got time, water's not rising that fast. Just keep going in good, orderly fashion..." He turned to Melia.

"Bumping you in line...get up there, so you're ready to go with the litters.  I want you to stay with those two until we get them back to the beach and can evac them to the Hermes.  Take whoever you need with you..."  He moved to the base of the cargo net.

"Clear a hole!  Medic and team coming through!  Make space for 'em..."

   the first litter was  2/3s of the way up....   troo9pers  were moving pretty well.


   Then, a Muffled  crack was  heard... Zillar, still taking vid s with his Gun Cam shouted...  Water is Gushing from the left hand tunnel.. Big  chunk of rock with Holes in  just  Tumbled out...water if  gushing like crazy now!

 the  back of the  structure    was  moving a  b it  as  water went in through the two openings... there was some snapping   sound coming from inside the structure...

 Blue lights began to light up from the back of the structure all the way to the tunnel that Hist came  down.

  the lights were in the roof... and a groaning  horn was  sounding.

Missy combed the shore line carefully, "Nothing at this depth, narrowing beam to check deeper."

   She makes the proper adjustments The coast drops off a little here.  She need only do two sweeps to cover the area past the mountain.

Sure enough, there it was on the first sweep "I have motion.  Logging cordinates."  She lands on the water and taxi's directly over the spot. Doesn't look like an existing cave."  She reads the flow and calculated approximate area in which the passage continues. "I'll transmit suggested cordinates to collapse and seal tunnel now."  She sends them, double marks cordinates and takes off.

   "Clear of target zone"

  Hovering  with Missy, but above and Behind.


  if you have a Tag Cannon on the ship..Tag as close  as yu  can. on the shore... if not...let me know  and  You'll have to paint the spot  and I'll Fire one off...

 On the COMs.... subsurface unit headed your  way in a Crab..should be there in about  15 minutes or  so...

 ...now  we wait...

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

  Hack had  sent the subsurface.. as son as he had  called  Shadow.. Well done, LC.....

  ..it was  Ms  Jagger , Sir..her..um...plance  has something on for  finding currents..

    Missy did as she was told.

"How secure is this cargo net, Tucker?" Roy asked, with a hint of urgency in his voice.  The increase in water flow wasn't too alarming, yet, but it sounded like the tunnel was starting to erode and the water would keep coming faster.  It had been a while...he didn't remember for sure how long...since he'd had to operate in water, but it wasn't new.  He didn't know, however, how many of the others had gone through the same training...he'd spent most of his career planet-side, where bodies of water weren't an uncommon operational element...the space-trained Marines might have never had to worry about it.

"Can we start sending people up closer together?  More of them hanging on the net?"

Even as he asked, and was waiting for the response, he puzzled over the water flow...whether weapons fire had compromised some kind of barrier, or if it was some kind of failsafe to render the base un-usable if it was overrun...if it was some kind of containment system triggered by the reacting plasma the Felrites had set off.  None of the options were really pleasing...

  McLOud  and McNiel got he  second Litter up...

  the first was already moiving  down the   tunnel that lead to the door.. several of the troopers  had gone on ahead, waiting  for for the rest at each  cross roads.


 Tucker called down ....we can send up 3 at time...maybe  4 if we have some light ones

Roy nodded.  "Go..." he directed the next Marine, as soon as the man in front of him had climbed head-high.  He continued, starting another as soon as each man had climbed the net far enough to open a space.  "Keep it moving, no time to take pictures...up the net and keep on going..."  He let his voice drop into a rhythm, providing a cadence of sorts, competing with the sound of the rising water to give the men something to focus on.  He kept his voice steady...the urgency was the urgency of a sergeant on a training course, pushing the men to go faster but not betraying any sign of fear or worry.

  The there  was Tucker, Supe. Jesse, Garrat ,  a somewhat dazed Lirg, Hemsly and Roy.


  The water  was getting  deeper...faster and  a very loud 'snap', showed the back end of the structure.. starting  to move left to right, with more smaller  snaps, crackling up the structure.

 Pillar was still  taking Vids, he was ordering every into the tunnels to  cut  down the weight on the stair way.


 McCloud  and McNiel had hammerd  Pitons into the   , inside  wall of the tunnel and tossed  the two ropes they used  for the litters, down for  extra grip, and to  ease stress..
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:27, Fri 07 July 2017.

  Shadow hovered...he pivoted on his axis  a bit, look for signs of throuble... though the water  was a darker Blue, it was still clear...

  ...how deep you think that is. I  have  heard of someplaces, so clear, that you think its only  afew feet and you drop like a rock...

      "The hole is over 10 fathoms down, that's sixty feet.  I learned on the docks at Fuji that the color of the water and how sparkly it is relates to it's calcium hardness and PH.  There's a whole bunch of math involved but water is never just water.  It's a bunch of other factors as well that can really affect what lives there and how it affects things that come in contact with it."

      She looks at her readings, ""It would be faster to collapse the cave with a capitol shot.  It might save lives if our troops are caught in flooding unless the cave is unstable.

    ...That may be...but its not my call, will have to see what the subsurface folks  say...and...what the Admiral  says..

  The Crab was   coming up over the top of the 'road'.. it was  square shaped  and  ran on  tracks., two  arms   were  folded into its  sides..

Roy noted the ropes.  "Hemsly, up a rope.  Garrat, you take the other.  Jesse, Lirg, up the net..."  He had a logic for the way he'd distributed people, but ridn't want to take the time to explain it.

"We'll be right behind you, so don't take your time..."  The water was getting deeper, faster, and he didn't want to find out at what point the armor became buoyant...if it became buoyant.  If the helmets were sealed, they'd be water-tight...so he wasn't worried about drowning...but the increasing water flow was creating swirling currents...if the contained air in the armir caused it to start floating, they could be swept away from the nets and ropes...

Jesse took to the ropes and made quick hand and foot work to make it up quickly.

She looked down briefly at Roy.

Your ass better start climbing too Spencer!

  Supe  , Tucker and  Roy watched the other...the water  was close to knee deep for Roy...The Structure was moving  left to   right, , more snapping from under the  thing.

    Pillar took his   Guncam off the weapon, holing it up to the  top of the  door way,..Admiral?  I hooked up my CAM, to  you all can see what happens  after  we bug out...

  ..Good   Job Pillar.... Roy?   get your   people out and though those tunnels....if the water  reaches the doors...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Fri 07 July 2017.

   Missy was thinking.  [one of her most dangerous past times]

   She looked back at the mountain and lined up with the peak and the cave exit.

   "Why would the bad guys go through all the trouble to tunnel out here and risk cave-ins when there is plenty of space under the mountain?"

   The albatross turned lazily to face directly away from the peak. "Do you think perhaps they were tunneling TOO something?"

   Without waiting for a comment from Shadow, the albatross swoops down and skims into the water.  Missy turns on the active sonar. As her hands fly across the instruments she continues to speak to shadow, "Let's just see if there is anything interesting out this way Mr. Kray, would you be so kind as to target anything that might think a large plane is edible?

  Shadow snorts,..on this moon...i wouldn't  doubt it. Sea is kinda  big, looks like the most of the top half of the back side is water...no wonder they have giant jungle stuff...

  Missy moves out  a Bit... after a few moments, doesn't  find any then , but a weaker  current, the closer she Gets  BAck to the Tagged  spot the  stronger the current , one thing she notices... the  water is  being pulled in Much faster now.

 The Crab finally reaches  the  beach and tries to close in on  intake  area.....hey?... LC?   Chief Gren.... tell us where the  thing is, we'll go take a look...


 ..ask the LAdy..she found it  with some machine she has... i'm jist a body guard.

Once Jesse and Lirg had climbed high enough on the nets, Roy clapped Supe and Tucker on the back.  "You're next, gents...move it."  He stepped over to the rope Hemsly had climbed, grabbing on and bracing a foot against the wall.

"Let's move it, Marines..."  He pulled himself up the wall, pushing against the stone with his feet and leaning back, running the rope around the small of his back, pulling himself up with his right arm and using his left to keep tension across the rope behind his back, so his legs did much of the work of climbing and his arms and the rope supported the weight of his torso and moved it along to keep pace.  It wasn't the fastest way to climb, but it was the easiest way he could think of with the gear he was wearing.

  Tucker looked looked down at his  landing net,..told you, it would work!

 Hmelsy  nodded  and gave hima  pat on the back... as they all reached  the platform, there were  2 loud  cracks.... one was the  perforated wall from the right hand  tunnel as it  was Blown into the CAvern.. car and hard enough to  shatter on the structure.

 the second sound  was the structure  Breaking  free... its  swayed, a bit cockeyed  as water entered the  door that were open...but it began to 'sail, awkwardly, towards the   curving shaft that Hist came down.

 The increased  rush and Volume  of water had the  water level up to where Tucker  had set up hi  cargo net...

  Stoly  came out from his watch in  his shuttle.

  ..Excuse me , Admiral... Commander Boenbery left?.. do you want be to get ready?

 The  Admiral nodded slowly,..get our  ride  ready, but i won't  be elaving  until our  poep are out...

  ..understood..she'll be ready when you are, Sir.

When Roy reached the top of the rope, he scrambled onto the steps.  "Let's keep it moving, people...the way that water's rushing in, these steps may not be stable for long..."  He gave the others a gentle push up the stairs, toward the exit they'd come in.  The water was rising fast...but once they got out into the branching hallways, it would slow down again, with far more volume to fill.

"I'm the last man out, and if I end up taking an unexpected swim, we're gonna find out whether I've got a future place-kicking for the football team...and your butts are gonna be the practice balls!"

   the  troops  moved   as fast  as they  could  through the  tunnels... the last  of the  folks   could see the   structure, sway from side to  side  as it  reached the  opening, the  fron   reaching  up as the water poured in...

  two shots   were  fired   down range as the troops  reached  the room that had a door they did not open ( south  wall) lyri  stood   with her  rifle  shoulder  and a MAchine pistol in her hand  waving  people to the North door..

  Rumbling s  were behind them.. there was  a faint , highpitched , metal groan... only the last 10 or so popel amy have heard it, as the stair  collsped into  the  filling cavern..


  ................

 Cumming was shouting over the COMs,..Right  enough..Admiral.. I'm pulling the lads and LAsses out....

 ...you do that... Lets hope  you beat the water.....doesn't look good....

 Beth, Orria  and Shade looked up at him,  HAck shrugged,..he doesn't know...give him something to talk about on Fuji...

 Beth  chuckled  as did the board Members..Shade  whirled a bit5... HAck widened his  eyes,..so?.. Mr Ambassador?..Admirlals  aren't  allowed to have some fun...

  Shade  turned to Orria  and  bleeped a few times,  and she giggled.

In reply to other beach (msg # 249):

Missy checks her digital gauges.  "The water flow has greatly increases.  Whatever your going yo do you might want to do soon."

   She switches back to sonar which detects underwater shapes not flow and looks for anything unusual beyond the tunnel opening.

  The  Crab's  arms  come up and out as the   tracked    machine enters the   water, Lights   come on and a   red light on the  black flashes  now  and again.

 once  summerged  the   vehicle  uses   tracks, or  thrutsers  to  mover  long the   floor, depending on how  soft the area is.

 while they waited  , Kree says,used to use those in south America and Africa...anti-angel groups  used to get under the  rivers  and shore lines... and   tunnel in to  keep out of  view of scout  forces...

... They started using them on Astra... to hunt  down Creshians that were aquatic?... image that... bug people who like water!

 about  10 more Minutes Chief Gren calls out... Got  us a Big Hole here.... don't see nothin' else... but somethin' is suckin' the water in kinds fast. Some  egg head might be able to yell ya all why this is happening?.. whether its a giant syphon...or  some machine.... whadda  want me  to do

  Admiral HAck , here.... do you have a way of  Closing it off?

  ..we have 2  anti ship troops mounted on the sides?... we can fire them in... but what ever is pumping, will keep pumping whatever gets through?

 ..Understood , Chief.... Fire one... watch.... fire off the second   one if you feel the need....

  right you are Admiral ...already done!

  there are a couple minutes go by....  the  first Killer torp is launched  from 50 or so yards  away... Shadow and Missy see the light  of the  weapon's thruster , the   the  Beach Heaves a good  20 Feet in the   air, there is  even a spout of water that gushes up for a MOment

  Gren comes on,waitin' fer the blowback to die  down, before sending the second one.... looks  like there is still some   suction, since the dust is being  drawn in...

 ..Understood  Cheif, this is your show... you call the ball...

Once Jesse reaches the top she gets on her stomach to help those below her to get up the rope quicker giving a hand and boost when needed.  She keeps an eye on the water and the last group finishes.

  Everyone is running  down tunnels... they past Lyri who is being Traffic  cop...

  Roy  feels  a bit  better  , thinking of an water that might reach them  will  lose some Volume falling into the  crevices

  Lyri was overly stubborn  and   Pushed Garrat ahead  and waited on Jesse and  Roy, When they were closing in she snapped,..so?...now's  when you want to sightsee?.... you didn't get enough on the way in!

    "Can you cover the leakage with smaller particles such as gravel and silt?  Maybe creat an avalanche onto the area with the second torpedo?"  Missy suggests helpfully still looking to see if the tunnel was headed towards anything interesting.

   ...you heard the LAdy, Gren?...Admiral  says  its   your ball to call? can't  be worse then what's happening now?

  Gren came back...right... Guess we'll try to hit a little  higher insdie the  mouth?... The first one  sorts  went  down the  pipe..... clear the zone...in case the   surface isn't as solid  as we think....

 ...firing  in....3....2....1..... again.. from a bit higher the  weapon slammed into the  roof of the CAve Opening the  Sand  Mushroomed  about a good 40 feet into the  air...  wter gushed  up  as a channel..of  sorts.. opened  up about  7 feet across, then Got  wider as soil fell from the  sides  into the water  as the hollow sides of the tunnel gave  way....

  From the  Air.. Shadow Just whistled at the  sight... about 7 Minutes later he said,don't know  about down there?... but from up here?  it looks like  we have  another stream to the sea....

 Missy?  use  your water-moving-thing...


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

  Gren here... we're  Coming up... not  going to be able to see for a Hour or so.....

"Stow it and get moving, Chief...I'm Tail-end Charlie in this excursion and the longer you stand there flapping your gums, the more likely I am to end up swimming outta here."  The gruff words were hard to take seriously with the crooked griin on Roy's face...but he gestured for Lyri to go ahead, with a slightly mocking bow, before reaching over to tap his wrist-chrono in a gesture that typically meant valuable time was being wasted.

Ahead of Lyri and Roy she chuckles.  Not the first time you've swimmed in the deep end Spencer.

She speeds up her pace to get out as quick as they can.

Roy gave an amused grunt.  "I've got nothing against swimming...as long as I'm choosing the water.  It's one thing to dive into a lake...it's another thing altogether to get thrown in."

    the Last three  were getting ready  to  round the corner  when the fell the second  rumble...

 There was  a second   rumble.. they could hear this one  a bit  more  as  rocks  and  dirt  fell from the  tunnel ceilings..

  they  turned the corner , still running  for  Kole's  hidey hole.... some lead elements  were already  exiting the  Entrance..McCloud, Melia  and McNiel, along  with Hemsly  carried the litters  straight  out towards the  beach without stopping.

 The felrite   Medtech shuttle, easy to spot  by its  catlike  form,  was breaking Atmo now  and   set to land   to the  west of the Admiral's Tent

...........

  Corp  Ogger  Here... I was  watching Captain Hist's  back as they entered  that sloping plume?... but Sir?....  I can see the front of something  trying to  com up... but is stopped.. the  walls?.. seem like they are  starting to  shake a alot..and...
.....

 Hack made  an Urgent  sign to Beth,Oggen... This is  an Order from me..... YOu get back to your transport tell the   pilots to  be ready to take off....


 then  he said......Cummings!..everyone out..now... get in your transport and get airborne...NOW.....

 ..Shadow?... Buzz around see what the 9 hells it looks like?

 Aye Sir....already Done..... YOu can Come... or catch rays...up to you Missy....

 ...Right Then?  Let's  bloody well  get to the transport..... don't  leav any tools  behind?  eh?

   "I'm no fighter but I wouldn't miss this for the world."  Missy said.  Her turbion boosters kicking into full military thrust and turning the sea into a froth.  By cashing into the properties of air expansion which are not available in space these boosters are able to put out more thrust per pound in atmosphere than standard ion drives causing the large ship to lift with surprising speed for it's size.

   She lifts free  and speeds after Shadow ."Do you need another transport?  Floor room only but it might get people out of there quicker."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Mon 10 July 2017.

Jesse took a brief pause in her footwork to get out of there when the tremble happened.  That's not good, she said in a serious but joking tone.

Spencer, what did you do?

Garrat's still hot footing it out of there.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:44, Tue 11 July 2017.

    The Admiral   makes a few  quick Movements  as the sees the  Felrite Med Vac screaming in.. Standing   in the sand looking towards the trees as McCloud and  McNiel, then Melia and Hemsly  came onto the sands.

  He watched as the rest of the troops   ran from the trees.... Hennings  and Si Joined  Him as the  watched.

 Orria  was out on the sand  with Shade as they watched Melia and Hemsly working hard to get to the landing spot as the   shuttle   began drop.

  Beth shook her   head  as  her the Cavet came out.... The Cavet looked  around....since  meeting you people... its  seems you spend alot of time running onto the beach?

 ......

  On the Mountain, little  figures  of the transport troopers    heading into the  Trasnport-shuttle...

  Just above them a  Dart came  screaming around the  peak.. followed by...another  aircraft....

  Beth had a vidboard in her  hand  as Shadow's Voice,  ..I think I see it?.... there  are slices of  rock falling away on the north west face?... like some one  cutting a Cake.... there.. seems to  be    boulders  falling off  the North face....hope are  folks aren't in there...

  The   Dart  Circled out ward  and  Flew a lot Lower  as hit   buzzed the camp the shot up in the  air....to  head back again....

  Beth   Ducked Her  Head  as Shade    stood in the  sand  and waved....

  Dammit, LC... this isn't the Time.....

 Hennings  was  shaking his  head  with a  grin.

 Cavet looked at Beth as she uncovered her  Vidboard,... is he  always  like this......

   Beth smiled  up at the  Dart  as   it  bent towards the Mountain,..you have...NO..idea...

Roy continued double-timing it as they got clear of the mountain.  "What did *I* do?" he asked, with mock incredulity.  "The water started coming out of your tunnel, didn't it?"

As they got clear, he let his speculation finally get out of his brain and into his voice.  "Given how fast it started after the explosion that injured the Felrites, I wonder if it was some kind of failsafe...sounded like that building was having a series of plasma incidents, something either got shot or was triggered by someone, but to prevent it from continuing to react, I'd imagine flooding the space with water would do something to quench it...force it to expend its corrosive properties before it could come in contact with another plasma containment system..."

He trailed off for a moment, and shrugged, the gesture largely lost as they continued jogging.  "That, or they set up something to prevent the base from being taken...when they realized they were being overrun, they just flooded the whole thing...but that seems a little out of character for the Qarl.  They never seemed to bat an eye at any of us, except the Skith..."

    Standing On the Beach as the litters  met the Felrite shuttle. The  Cat MedTechs  waved off  Melia, and shut the door, and  Head towards  The Purr..the  Felrtite  Med tech Vessel in the Fleet.

  Hack Watched as the rest ran towards them.  the top of the mountain was shaking... the transport shuttle  was rising into air...the ruins were either falling ogg and tumbling down the mountain.. of falling into the collapsing  Middle.

 Plumes of  smoke  were rising from the others  side of the Mountain, the good bet it was the  plume the structure...almost..came out of...

  McClould  came  back with the litter  folks   and shook his head at the Mountain,..Bloody hells.. we could 'ave  done that from Orbit....

 Meanwhile  Shadow's DArt  Kept   dancing around the  Mountain, playing   tag  with plumes of  smoke, or  gouts of water.

 Si said,..I should send Kray Home?

 Hack  just shook his head,..let him unwind....
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:29, Wed 12 July 2017.

In reply to Beach (msg # 270):

   Missy rotated her ship and put all the sensors she had on the item gathering information.  She rolled her eyes at Shadows antics but her own curiosity kept her in place until ordered elsewhere.

   No one had mentioned needing another shuttle when she asked.

 North east...

   The Crab  came out of the water,  and began to move up the road towards the Colony.

  ...Nothing left for us to do here... we're  coming back Hope... need  two more  torps  to reload. Whatever water is  getting through now?... we can't stop.  on the other end?..no ones  digging through that... Gren Crab..'waved ' to  Missy as it  made its   way inland.

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

 Beach.. The whole of the Team was on the  Beach now... The Transpostbase   shuttle Came  down, well to the  west of the   tent.. lowering  ladders for   Their  troops  to be recovered... Cummings    climbed about halfway down  and   jumped... Followed  by  Norwood.

 ...Bloody  9 'ells... the wee bastard Norwood.. like ta meet him in a bar  some time...

 ...fat bleedin' chance o' that.. his like one of the  bleein' sucker things, stuck to a shark...

    Hack, Hennings, Si and the Others  were standing with   Roy, Jesse , Garrat  and the others.

 Shade  and Orria  were near Melia

 ...Well , Admiral,  Cummings  started  as he  Gave the Admirals and General a bit of a salute , it was not in-noticed , that there was no inclusion for  Commander Si in any form of greeting,... if yer  bloody well  done killing  my people?..i gather what's left and be on  out  way   wot?

 ..Mind Your  Tongue...

  Hack Raised a Hand to forestall anything else....you have a comment on the Operation, Col?

 ..Aye Sie, I do.. we lost alot a bloody good  Lads  and LAsses in there.. and didn't get a bloody thing out of it?

   Hack Nodded thoughtfully,... we have  neutralize the Mountain, the Colony and the  Green Moon Nivarians, as well as  our Naragran  Allies    should be safe..... What Qarl where  there, I suppose, are mostly dead... i am certain, patrols will find  any leftovers.....

 Cummings looked a bit  mollified  as he said,aye... well.. there is that  I suppose  , Sir... We will be going back to the  Ben franklin Now..

 Hist   and that part of a stick, was  well  as what was left Of Ming's  stick  doubled timed to the transport's ladders.

   Ming Looked at Garrat  and Nodded,..Myabe  we'll fight again sometime..... and  turn the Huslte her people   along..only a few extra weapons returning from those the  Plama Sprayer got.

 Cummings Strode off with another   worthless salute  whacking his  riding crop against his   pant legs.

  Hemlsy said,..Hey!, Norwood.... do you polish  his Bum too?

 Norwood  sneered at him as he stopped, his beloved Col already ahead of him,... shut yer Fly Trap... ya  rock crawlinin' lay about...don't know  nothin' 'bot good soldierin'!

    Garrat nods solemnly to Ming.  "That is a day I will look forward to."

  ..Mount Up...  Time to Go home... Cavet? I  assume you'll come up as well, to add your Name to the  Pact.

 ..Of Course, Admiral..... she makes a pouty Face...I am Afraid I will not have an escort....

 surprisingly Emma  and beth both said,..oh..Brother...

 I am sure, we can find you a suitable escort..come along....

  Mount Up People....... he waited  as the others  began to stream into the Duce of Spades.

 ..Ye  won't be  needin' the Like  Of me... Aye Sir?

  ..No,  Capt,  YOu'er  free to Go on this one.....

 he smiles  and gives a salute as he heads to the ramp.

 SGT Maj... I will have need of you on this....and...COM  Shadow  tell him to head Home, before he  scares all the birds away...

 Bale  stood  a step or so behind,..What do your  Think about the Roussians.

 They came here to Help the Nivarians.... and have found out they could not..... they also have needs.... and they found out  we can help with that.... I'll keep  my mind open..

 Aye... I  do not  trust  MC-1

  Beth speaks up,..aye to that... with those heads they look like grape flavored King Tuts....

   Joseph had been transferring all of the contacts related to Hacks request to Beth looked up at the escort comment intrigued "Tell me lass, is the presence of an escort a symbol of status among yer people?"

   Beth  frowns a bit,...Yes and no. It is  deemed more friebdly, to have  a  partner, mostly of the opposite sex at the dinner.... though people have shown up unescorted. or with same sex escorts....The Idea  is, there is lest  chance or  13 people..or  25..if you go back to the Paris-Angel signing?

 ..Status  does  raise  its  head, depending on your  escort, at some place... showing up..at a state Dinner on Everest will a  fellow who cleans the Manure pits in the farms..... would  be suicide for  any talks after dinner...showing Up with...say..Shadow?  would guarrentee , someone, would  chat with you...

 ..For the Dinner with the Admirlal, it would not  be too concerning, save that the dinner  leads to the signing of the Roussian Pact.

.........

 The Naragran who was  at the tent, Scuttled over to Hack....I am Afraid we cannot Bring you aboard  for this? The paassage ways  and such, would not  be comfortable....... But  I will be back down... You will add your   mark to ours... and them You will come with us to Nivar, to Sign  The Nivarian PAct. I am hoping, that you understand?

   The Naragrans  Alligator   head seemed to   Nod as it put is  right claw on Hack's  shoulders... as it    backed away and headed to the trees.

Out of respect for Admiral Hack, Roy held his tongue as Cummings mouthed off.  Mentally, he was shaking his head...a man as career-oriented as Cummings should have known better than to mouth off to an admiral, much less the flag officer of the entire fleet.  He should also have known better than to do it in front of Corps-level personnel, even if none of them were commissioned.

When Hack stated that he'd need to attend, Roy answered crisply, "Aye aye, Sir."  He added, in a low voice to Lyri, "Just as long as it's not shepherding the Cavet around again..."  He decided to wait until the group had broken up before he asked if he needed to be in dress uniform or not...

   Admirla HAck made  waving motions for every one to enter, He and Roy would be the  last 2 In.

 While they waited for  everyone  to settle in, HAck  said to beth...Send a COM to  CAptain Morris....tell him there is a 3 striper down here Named  Pillar... I want him to have a rocker, and the COM sent to him and his LT before  we reach the Hermes.... add to that not  that he can bump a corp up a strip..and a  Lance tp CPL....

 Beth's Fingers were tapping as he spoke, as she said,..Aye, Admiral Sir, Already Done...

 HAck looked at Roy,..The  Guy thought  fast.. got  just the right amount of people, with the right skil sets, out of  Volunteer tranpost troops, and Colonists...

Roy nodded.  "Men who can think on their feet need to be the leaders out here, not hampered with leaders who can't make decisions.  And good leaders need solid support."  He cringed, inwardly, at the thought of someone like Cummings being in charge of the military forces for a colony like the one they'd just started here...especially if that colony was even further out and more isolated.

He opened his mouth, straightening slightly as another question came to mind.  "Just who are these Roussians you mentioned, anyway?  I've been inside a mountain for a while, I missed a few details..."

   Hack  frowned a thin-lipped frown,..between you and I? I don't like them. They are boasting Tech... they seemed to  be  some form of 'bred' people..I dunno... we'll find out tonight...dress uniform.. we'll be signing a treaty..then in the Morning, we are comign back here to allow the Naragrans  to sign...and.. Take  at elast one with us to Novar to sign thier Pact...

  Beth waved  Shade over  and  asked his to show Roy the   Roussians. What Roy was was , enlongated skulls.....NC-37  had   a  Darker Blue  skin, that that of a Sanri.. and Gold  eyes.. her  hair  was Black, but didn't start until well back on the skull.

 TX-5 had Lt Purple skin, with bright yellow eyes and drown  hair

  MC-I Was Dark Purple skinned, with  rubyred eyes

 Shade  Bleeped a few times. Beth  just said,...see?... grape  flavoered  king tuts....

    Shadow saw the  transport  finally left off from the ground, He banked sharply towards the Lake.

     Well?  Miss  Jagger.. where do you have to be?..'cause  you won't be able to  fly around  without a reason...

Roy quirked a grin.  "I can see where you'd get the name from...but I try to avoid sticking nicknames on different species.  After a while, it becomes too easy to see the nickname, as opposed to the potential ally or enemy that the species could be."  He shrugged.

"I know not everyone sees it that way...but I'm more likely to want to take a Felrite into battle with me than a cat.  I take a Hyrian much more seriously than a dog.  And I'm not likely to be wary of a 'grape-flavored King Tut'...but it sounds like these folks definitely deserve a wary eye."  He gave a nod in Shade's direction.  "Thanks, Shade...nice to know what I'm dealing with before I get there..."

 As they walked into the Shuttle, Hack said,..again.. they claim to be able to fix the machined we just beat the 9 hells out of.... they claim alot of  ..'higher end  Tech'... they said.... that they  saw Bronberry's task force... But  Alice doesn't think they had a Clue they were there, Until they hailed them...makes it worse?... they dodged around the question when Alice asked them how many  ships were around them....

  ...they didn't have a clue in the 9 hells... if they did, there would have been some reaction... If the Nemesis  hadn't  hailed them  , they could have harvestws the whole task force.

  Hack Pounded on the  Hull and  said into the COMs,..lets go Stoly...  gotta get back to start  the  Delta fleet friendship tour.

 All ground folks who are going back to The Hermes  can  now  post on Hanger Dec

In reply to Kray Shadow (msg # 281):

   "I have come to pick up my brothers belongings, and the remains of the Black Betty, as the Black Betty was "Vaporized" as you say..."  a slight twist to her voice says she's not completely buying that, "I simply have to dock in the hold, take his items off your hands, and move on.  I have a support vessel on the way here I need to land on.  I was told I had the job but we'll see.  To much has been going wrong lately for me to get my hopes up."

   Ok......But.... he was  quiet, then proceeded,.... look, Missy?.... whatever hit the powercells, lit up the sky... I can't  pretend to say i saw what happended, but  as a  fighter Pilot, I know what happens  when  Power cells  get hit.....there isn't even air left.... the explosion you hear when a power  sell goes off?..if a tiny little nova..and  when  its  done, the  air collaspes  again, like a thunder clap...

  ..FDollow me up..... I tell the Hold Boss to  get ready for you..... You'll have to  See Morris or Rivets  for....Bo's things.

 He  flies a circle  around   her, top make sure  she's  ready  , they  Zips  up towards The Black.......

>>>>>>>>>>>Shadow  Missy.. Hanger Dec ( hold?)

Seeing that the Hermes crew were leaving, she looked around for Kole to wish him a fond farewell and to keep in contact with her.

She listened as Hack, Rou2 and the others talked about their next venture being a pact signing and soiree.

Jesse gave a low sigh and boarded the Stoly.

In reply to Kray Shadow (msg # 286):

   Missy snorts. "Probably not so much as the concusion missiles he was carrying, but the law of conservation of matter says that the ship may have been melted or blown to bits the size of your pinky, but steel does not turn to gas at temperatures generated by by a powercel over load and the explosion from the internal launch bay would have kept even the most thorough coverage of oxidizing plasma from destroying every shred of evidence My brother and his ship ever existed."

   "Your a good pilot shadow, and while you seem to go to the ends of the universe to prove otherwise sometimes, you are also a good man.  I understand what you saw and how it looked to your awareness of physics.  I also understand that it would probably be futile to look for scraps of the ship in that forest.  I will leave it alone but that doesn't mean I won't have hope."

   She checks her sensors and course, "See you at the Hermes."  She puts her engines to full thrust to reach escape velocity and streaks out of the atmosphere towards the waiting fleet.

 ( going  down for   signing )

   Unlike Nivar, the Green Moon's fighter Cover was  for show. Letting the people of The Moon know they were as important  as any system in The Black.

  The Big Ugly was  settling   down between the  Table area  the   transportbase  Transport that was being loaded  with the Naragran Colonists.

  Fighters  Flew over the Colony , walls  and  fences  were almost all up.. many  houses  were getting  windows, and solar panels  were feed power cells.

 The   Troops that were being stationed  at the Colony had a  'barracks' area and were  working on the Tunnel  that Kole had  found, as  areas  were secure, they were slowly being converted into   a 'bunker' type  area for  troops and Colonists  to run to, in case of attack.

 .........

 Once the Ramp  hit the  sands, Lyri  and  Shormaker  stepped out first and stood  at Attention as everyone else disembarked.

  Hack, Si, and the Board Moved  forward as Melia followed as  a Body guard.  Fighters  flew over  By Flight...  One broke  Of   and  Landed   between the  stand  and the   treeline. Shadow Hopped out Jogging towards the Others. He stopped at beth and   Spencer, Grinnign at Jesse and  gave a stage whisper to MC-1.....hey? MC?.. I made it!

 The  Roussian glowered  but  did not  say anything. For this  signing, Only NC-37 would be  signing.

    General BAle Spoke  loud,..Today, The   Moon Colonies of Nivar  welcome the Roussians to the APF.... We  will now  sign,......

  Hack   Signed  first, then the rest of the Board... Shade signed for the  Verians   Then the Cavet.... The Cavet handed the  stylus to the Naragran ( who had been practicing)  and it made a signature in some old form of harchs  slashes  and dots. The Naragran then handed  the   Stylus to NC-37..who took it  with an awkward smile, and added  her Name to the Bottom of the papers.

   Some Colonists, along with   Green Moon Nivarians handed out  drinks  for everyone and HAck offered  a Toast...It is always pleasing, to have a world join the APF.... as with some  Members ,our  fighting  led to this peace. Let us  hope, that we all remember the foundation, was laid in blood... but  we  will build a solid base, that those who died, will be proud of...

  Holding Up his drink, he then took a  sip... the naragran had a rather..odd  sized  cup as  he and his  aide ( mate?) tried to be as dainty as they could ( fail) but remained  dignified.

   MC-1  barely took a sip.... Shadow  whispered,..what's wrong..MC?.. the Taste of  peace too sweet for you?

 Lyri's  eyes shifted to  MC-1.. Hack  lowered his Glass  , looked at Shadow, but said nothing.

   ..Now?   we must be off.... we have another  signing to complete. ..... Cavet... and I belive  Xor,,, he nods to the Male...and Kaa is extending shore leave offer on the Moons so those  of the fleet may take in the sights....

 Xor  and Kaa looked  surprised that  Hack knew their Names.

 ..Please?  everyone to the   Shuttles.... we shall return later  this eve?

  As Shadow turned to  head towards t His  Fighter.. a  large ( but not a big as Xor ) female  was scuttling across the  sands  towards him... with her were  4 smaller, no much  bigger the Mila,  naragrans  were  scuttling faster, sending up waves  of  snand  behind them.

  The Little One  reached   Shadow  and started      to reach up to him, Shadow Knelt  down  and he was  patting their ..um... heads?   as they   grasped at him with  their tiny spindle  arms...

  a Male  almost as Big as  the Female  came out of the tree line, it still had a Battered  Pilot Helmet webbed to its back.  and they  both approached  Shadow who looked up to them from his place in the sand.

  then both lowered their  front  legs  and  bowed.  the Little   Naragrans  did  the same, but then  quickly grasped at Shadow.

  The Cavet  said to the others, as if she was at a Zoo, giving a tour.... This is the first time... we have seen an Offworlder Receive  a gesture  such as this , from the NAragrans.... This most have been the female that Shadow aided.... and the one who wears the helmet is her mate..perhaps? now... we will see more gestures  , such as this.... from both sides?

 MC-1  Looks at TX-5.. TX-5 says in a soft tone....parasites...

   Xor  grumbled a hiss   Shade snapped    his head around   as he stopped to watch Kray with the little creatures...

  Beth  snapped, perhaps a little too harshly,..i am going to go out on a limb and say you have no idea the Naragrans  can read your minds...and hey?..with heads like that, you must be like a megephone!

 The  Roussians  looked  at each other, trying to figure out a megaphone.... Kaa Laid a  gentle  , spindle  arm, on Beth's shoulder.

  Supe looks at  HGM.Ok..new guy... when they send a tech.. its  because the  expect trouble... maybe you get to fix  something..maybe you don't.... but.. fi  the  signing on Nivar turn Hot?.. you make sure you use that weapon

 Tucker   was  setting up the ammo cans  for Supes  60 cal.. Hodden brought her  heavy Pulse gun.

In reply to Green Moon (msg # 289):

Melia stepped down the ramp behind the board and the senior officers. Over her dress uniform she wears the breast plates of the light boarding armor over her chest, with her Occui pulse weapon slung at her back, and pistols in their chest holsters. She carries a surgical bag away bag slung behind her back. She carried her carbine on her shoulder in parade position, everything freshly cleaned and oiled.

For the signing she places herself off to the side, nearer to where the Roussian delegates were located. After the previous nights tension she wasn't taking any chances. She tenses as the group starts to depart for the big ugly for ceremonial signing number two of the day, the Roussians were at it again insulting their way into the hearts of the APF.

ORRIA

As the delegation stepped off the shuttle Orria was with Shade, she fussed for a moment with the body armor a little fidgeting as she followed Shade staying close to him. As the signing concluded she turned to glare at the Roussian delegation, after the previous night their behavior only served to further damage their reputation with her.

Sarah came down with the delegation, and observed the signing. As the groups broke up to go to the Nivar surface, she departed on her own shuttle for the Ironwood.


---Space--->

Roy listened to the exchange between Shadow and the Roussians...and then between the Roussians themselves, and gave a quiet nod to himself.  On Nivar, his position in the line would be different...a place where he could watch the Roussians as much as the signing ceremony...

   Garrat in his usual Armor with the antimaterial rifle at the ready with a B-clip nods to the Naragrans. [he hadn't quite completed repairs on his pulse rifle yet and the plasma rifle was gone]  "When we get a chance, I was wondering if some of your people would take me hunting."  He says respectfully.

   To the Roussians [He had turned up and buffered the volume on his helmet to hear everything said: "Every race has it's strengths to go with it's weaknesses.  Crash-land some of your men on an uncharted forest planet with one Naragran and we'll see who the parisites are by the end of the second day."

  The Admiral did not seem to mind the Roussians were upset.,..MC-1?   believe it or not, this is for your  own protection...  if something bad  happens  down there..and we  are giving it every chance to go bad..... you do not want to be considered, part of the problem...

  NC-37's  eyes  grow  wide,you want them to attack? We are bait???

  ..if you want to use those words?....yes. If Nivar wants to strike back at the EPF..what better way , then to Kill me , the board and  our Allies speakers?... if they do not attack now... Then they , most likely, won't... if they want to be heroes.. this will be thier biggest moment...

 Hannings  smiles,...in the end?... We are offering them a chance...sign..or attack...sure?..they could atack the colony and such after the fleet leaves..but the payback will be as harsh as  if the attacked us today.. so? we will see...do the Niavrians want to be members of the federation... or.... defeated  foes...