(Flexed in)
   Joseph just happens to be nearby checking out some new gear.

Justin swallowed hard when he spotted MacPherson the bounty hunter lingering nearby. Thoughts of being sent to a prison planet to die in the mines or being tossed out the stasis field to explode as his blood vaporised. The fact that he didn't fry Townes the instant the traitor took his third shot at the the Brass, was sure to go heaverly against Justin in the Court Martial he expected would quickly following an Official Charge by the LC.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:37, Fri 17 Aug 2018.

   Shadow Looked  around at the gathering of  folks who came to see  what was up.

    ..Seems  there was  a damn big Mis undestanding a few years ago, about  letting , 'under aged' folks   fly 500,000 cred aircraft around...and...

 ..You aren't  reading it  right..... Stefi takes the board back as she looks at  Justin, but  talks to all those  gathered.

  ..Though all of us born on Earth will be  bound  by the numbers of  our 'earth age'.... Those  born off planet  must go by the Mull Galatic  calender...of 15 months of  30 days

  she shrugs, Earth Tends  to 'take over' those who are left homeless  and such... and tag them with   EArth Ages.. they tagged him with the  wrong  earth age , as they converted   his years.. and   was off  by  almost 4  years... we take  into  Account, a  COM message  i sent  to Delta Sigma to have the Mulls check on Justin's  chip.... and it  appears the chip  was also incerted  at the time of Birth...but that time  was also.. about  2 years  off....

 ..There is alot of leagl things that went into checking this... General BAle   was over the top in aiding ,me, since  the wrong out  come, meant  one of our Blue Max  winners  wouldn't have been able to  fly his fighter any longer, and , could Just be a supply shuttle pilot, for the   next few years..

  But, General BAle  and the Mull Chief  ... she  waved her hand  with a  frown,..of chips, or what ever the 9 hells they call  him... have  came to a Date  within , rough ..2  hours   of   what they feel is the correct birth date, and...may also explain some of Justin's  'gifted' ways....... Certainly  not all of them... so?  after  runnign the  numbers through  the Mull's   Chip banks.... Your Birthday is  today... 6th Galatic Month..26th day  2117.... You age is  now  legal, and more importantly..'real'.. at 22 Years and roughly 6 hours, as of  Now...

    the  crowd parted    while Dana  and  a buncj of  waitress   pushed  a   hover  cart with a  table sized Cake (  about a dozen cakes from the bakery,  'iced ' into on Big cake, with a rather  decent cartoon  fighert with the Number  25   on its   fin..and  some chocolate stars.

  ... so?.. he can still fly?

 ..Yes...LC..he can still fly...and you would have know that, and you read to the end..,

 Hack, cleaned up  along  with Commander Si and General Bale Popped in.


 well... some one should  sing then?

 Flores  Covered  Shadow's mouth  as the rest of the Folks   Broke into  Happy Birthday...  Dana  and the   waitress  stuck one  big Dinner Candle on the   far  corner  and had it  burning.

 After  thr song, they waited for Justin to Blow out the Candle...

Surprised by the events Justin was mentally relieved that what he was thinking did not eventuate, albeit his face reddened with embarrassment. Smiling nervously at those about him he took a deep breath and blew out the candle.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:28, Fri 17 Aug 2018.

Teela smiled and winked at Justin from her position on the floor with Larry and clapped and cheered with the rest. She leaned over to Larry and whispered, "Give him a nice birthday howl."

  Larry  Turned to  the Cake  and Justin  and   Gave a Howl.

   Dana had    the Other  Two Girls  start to Cut ,they purposely  the 25  from the  cake  and   handed it to Dana  who gave it to Justin...it  was a spur of the moment thing? So..I think this  is  chocolate...looks like.. we have  about  6 differant flavors in there.

   Shadow  Nodded,..everyone  eat, we can't   put the CAke back..sooo....

  Hack walked Up to Justin, he eyed the  young man and said,.. we're Going to  try something her, Mr  Kase… As  of tomorrow Morning at 0800 .. You  will be given your  LT rank back.... It will be   good, if I did not have to remove it again... he offers his  hand.


  Hemsly looks  around,..lets    see if  we  kin build a bleedin' party!

Henry and Mila followed the Admiral over. Someone's birthday was just the thing to lift Henry's spirits.

"Happy birthday, Justin."

Joseph fires up a live rendition linked into the Rec Deck sound system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjF1bG5LUcs

  Shadow n as a  bit of a Wry smile  as he  Comes up,..well?   Seems you're  back where you started.. lets  try to hold onto that Rank this time?

 He winks as He  is given a  slice of  cake.

Roy walked in as the music started, scowling slightly as he noticed the large cluster of people gathered around a single table.  He made his way over to Shadow.

"What's Larry howling about?  You threaten to send him back to Nivar again or something?"  He looked around at the cake, all the people gathered around and eating pieces of it, and added, "Who's the lucky sap that got all the celebration going on?"

  Shadow    Nodded to Spencer, Dana  handed hi a slice  of   cake,..General BAle  and  Stefi  were lookign iton the legality  of  having a 'kid' fly an ESN Fighter... and they had a  Chat with the Mull Chip Master.. or..whatever the  9 hells   he's called... Turns out the   dates  and passage of  time were mixed  and matched, so the Mulls  traced the chip to its  first insertion .. and .. according  to  Stefi he's  like.. ..

 Stefi rolls her  eyes,..about  22 years..6 months, give or take a week or  two... depending on how soon after  birth it was plugged in...

 Flores had a slice of lemon cake...

 ..This one..didn't even  let me sing happy Birthday...

 Flores  grinned,well?  we did  want him to feel good..right?

Waggles   recived  a  slice  for Him and  his  date  and  whacked Justin on the BAck.

 Kat and her  Marine 'friend' each took   a slice  and  Kat said,congrates, comrade...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Wed 20 Mar 2019.

Teela laughed and kept giving Larry rubs and scratches. “Two big steaks, raw for Larry.” She said to one of the passing waitresses.

“Congratulations and happy birthday, Justin,” Teela smiled at him. “I’ll have to get used to calling you sir.”

Returning Shadows smile, she'd continue to quietly chuckle before replying "oh don't you worry we regularly pair up after parties" a mischievous grin appearing on her face as she did so.

The conversation would then briefly turn to that of allowing the sole surviving Head Hunter to sign on for the ESN and their current track record of signing up the enemy. Personally she'd prefer to work with a mercenary over an EDT operative any day of the week as there was no ideology governing their actions and so as long as you kept paying them they would remain loyal. Though like Shadow had told Teela that particular decision would be up to the Admiral.

The conversation had barely begun however when Shadow summoned Justin to the Rec Dec, the pilot looking extremely nervous as more and more people appeared with no real explanation until they finally wheeled out the cake “…and he smells like one too!” Harry sang along with the rest of the assembled crew, albeit with a different set of lyrics to them.

After helping herself to a slice of cake she would move over to join Teela in wishing Justin a happy birthday and congratulations on his promotion “Hey Happy Birthday Justin, just think now you’ll have to deal with us unruly reprobates” she said with a laugh whislt flashing Teela a grin before then continuing to speak to her in a teasing tone of voice “oh look, if it isn’t Sergeant Major Spencer I wonder what he’s doing here?”

  Some one tried to gave  Larry some Cake, but he  just sniffed  and  went back to eating the  steaks.  sawing off...'nice  bites"

 Shadow COMed   Beth and Lyri  to come up.. and they  Did.  Beth  nodded to Roy,.... Got Bots   running, we'll see what they turn up... and some other Info come in as well for  another  request.

 Lyri Nodded to   Justin,..second go round.. not  many get that chance.

  Will , Lippen, Ellen  and Hawkes  came up on Dec, since they had only 'volunteered' for soem extra creds...

 Shadow  Looked at  Harry and Nodded in Will's  direction.

Justin was attempting gather himself and adjust from the dire train of thoughts he had to that of a birthday celebration. Responding to those who wished him a happy 21st with a slightly confused smile or thanks he roused himself from the previous mindset to one of a party mode.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Sat 18 Aug 2018.

Teela shot Harry a 'I'm going to do you for that look' before she smiled at Roy. "Enjoy the steaks," she told Larry. "Let me know if you want anything else or just more rubs and scratches."

She stood up and walked over to sit next to Harry, 'accidentally' hitting her with an elbow as she sat. "Apologies, terribly clumsy of me." She said as she picked up a piece of lemon cake. "Oh this is quite good."

Roy snorted softly.  "Twenty-two, huh?" he said to Shadow, before glancing at Justin.  "Well, that explains a lot...except for how he got behind the stick of an ESN fighter five years ago, as a lieutenant..."  He shrugged and grinned as he stuffed a forkful of cake in his mouth.

"But, hell...this war is full of special cases, and more show up all the time."  He glanced at Shade, then at Larry, and added, "If we can recognize a Verian ambassador who's younger than my freshest uniform, and give military commendations to a runt Larg who's at least semi-sentient, a slightly underage pilot isn't exactly crisis material, is it?"  He chuckled and added, "It'd be a waste to bounce him for misrepresenting his age bqck then, now that he's got some solid mileage under his belt..."

He turned and gave Justin a roguish grin.  "If it makes you feel any better, Lieutenant, I still think of you as 'just a kid...'"

  Shadow Moved  away to a near table that was empty and sat down...Shade was mingling..Larry was  eating  and  enjoying being Fussed over. Piltos  and some of the  Delta Night folks  were  giving   greetings  to  Justin.


  He rubbed his   forehead with one hand, as he watched the others.

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 974):


No Problems SM that's good to learn and I you a Dutch Uncle... Mind there's a slight error with the calculations, actually I work the timing out as Twenty One, they have given me eighteen months head start. You do know I graduated from the academy at eleven and put in three years Shuttles and Deep Space before applying for Line duty on the Hermes. glancing about the assembled group This sure is a mixed bag, Hack has gathered from all that's available. he glanced towards Harry and replied No need to do that, as I'd not want to step on the SM's toes, after all addressing Reprobate activity is part and parcel. he grinned giving Roy wink.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 04:17, Sat 18 Aug 2018.

  Hack Held  up the HAnd that held his  plate of  Red Velvet cake.

  ..Alright... I'll take this GAthering to Tell all those Here.. Beth will be sending out  the COM  notices later...The Hermes  is Going to be  at the Grand Ball , It will be at the   APF  HQ on the  Far West quad of the  Horizontal Axis of the Station.. there  might be two more ships  worth of  Delta's there... Dress  formal...Ladies... as per  Regs.. you may wear Unform...or Gowns... If you where Gowns  and You have a   Blue Max.. where it.... If you chose  a Unifrom,ribbons  will be the order of the day, instead of the whole ,  Medal thing...

 we will have   crews  come in in shifts, so everyone can get some station time, we will  leave the Next day at 1800 hours   to  go to Etna.....unless something else arises..

 Commander SI steps forward,..Ladies?...I  will have  my quarters  opend  at 1200 hours tomorrow,..That will give you time to pick from my  dresses and such...

Roy gave Justing a grin.  "You'll understand, I hope, if I put more faith in their calculations than yours.  Don't thik I know anyone who remembers the exact date of their birth THAT well...not even childhood prodigies."  He chuckled as he took another small bite of cake, then added, "Graduated at eleven, huh?  I'm impressed that a child could pass the PT requirements...or do they not have hand-to-hand combatives as a required part of pilot training in the Academy.  I know you can't get past Boot Camp as an enlisted man without it..."

He fell silent as Hack made his announcement, then nodded and spoke up.  "Ribbons for everyone in uniform, Sir?" he adked, with a hint of relief in his voice.  That would make his uniform considerably lighter...and considerably less ostentatious, as multiple commendations were easily indicated with a single ribbon, instead of multiple copies of the same medal...

  Hack nodded  to Roy..Ribbons  for everyone in uniform... These folks will want to show us off, but  not like   Everest and Sevente.... I hear  Elge has a party planned as well for  Etna, , but that wil be a bit low key, i should think.

 Shade sad  down  with a second Piece of  cake , next to Shadow  and bleeped a bit.

 ..yeah.. Dana did  good at the last second...


…………


 Will got a  slice of marble  and some chocolate Milk  as he stood by himself , by near bt Harry's table.

 Ellan was  giggling with  Hawkes, even as she   gave  Justin a Peck on the  cheek,..happy B-day... My...My.. not every day you fine out  your are  all grown up!

 Steele came   by gave  Justin a cuff on the shoudler, and  dana handed him a  slice of  cake.

Henry smiled quietly to himself. As a civilian, there wasn't an equivalent to wearing ribbons - well, maybe a single buttonhole one at most - so he'd not feel obilged to display the ridiculous number that had come his way.

Thinking of that, he'd seen a suspicious box in his mail that he hadn't got around to opening yet. Probably more from the last action.

In reply to Roy Spencer (msg # 978):

Not at all Spencer, that is exactly why I based my calculations on theirs, its that their result is off by a factor of .00264. Flying doesn't quite require hand to hand, as all pilots who tried that with a aircraft would either end up with a hernia or in a straight jacket. he replied just before Hack made his announcement. Several Pilots milled about, either thrusting a plate of cake into his hand or giving him another form of congratulation.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:37, Sat 18 Aug 2018.

Despite receiving an elbow to the ribs Harry would still chuckle at the reaction she got out of Teela from her teasing. Looking up from her cake to listen as the Admiral and Commander Si spoke of the upcoming formal dance coming up on Anzio along with the expected dress code she'd turn to smile at the Angel "Looks like we get to wear pretty dresses to the Ball, now go and talk to him or I will" she said, nodding her head in Roy's direction with look in her eyes saying that she wasn't bluffing and that she would be more than happy to talk to him "...but anyway I'm gonna love you and leave you as my man is here" she said with smile, having caught Shadow nodding his head in Will's direction from the corner of her eye.

With her small shopping bag in one hand and the plate holding her slice of cake in the other Harry would move to join Will, smiling from ear to ear as she did so "Hey you, when did you get here?" she asked whilst taking the seat next to him "so I don't suppose you'd be interested in taking little ol' me to the dance on Anzio would you?"