Mortica was absolutely delighted at the fun they were all having and truly felt like part of the crew. Gregor's antics with Larry were hilarious and she was very happy to see him having fun, something that had been in very short supply in his young life.

"Not only can I go in water, as you can see, but I can cross running water just fine. Only some of the legends are true."

Mortica kicked a leg out and splashed Shade as he walked by, still grinning from ear to ear. She kept the smile up as she looked around under the pretense of admiring the view when what she was doing was looking for the watchers.

Whilst she did that she made another ball of sand and beaned Shadow with it when he wasn't watching.

  Shadown LAughs,well?.. you do that  agin,  we'll see about  tossing  you out nthere, and  then have a race to see if  we can re aply that sun Block  before you turn into a sparkler..

 LArry   Came out of the    water ..shook himself  and padded up  near the towels  and Plopped  down..  his eyes closed     letting the warm sunlight  dry him off.

  gregor came over   and  Plopped onto  Mortica's  blanket..his little sides heaving..and soon he was on his  back sleeping with his   paws in the air.


 a rather stern voice   said..These things  Yours?...  he waved   his hands at the group..

 Beth and Flores  said with a straight face,"..yes...yes  we are.."

 The Man shook his head, but lingered on thier suits, I mean the creatures.. we have had complaints... you don't have them Leashed...

 ..they aren't  'mine'..they are crewmates... he snapped his  fingers   as he looked at Beth,what's his rank?

 ..I'm not sure..Have to ask Roy?.. But he is listed as  an SEC trooper..

 ..The LArg....is... a Trooper?

 yep?  saw  action on  Aqra... Anzio.. boarded a few  times... and helped  clean up some bad  guys here...

 the  SEC guy looked at the Ladies.. Beth and Flores   smiled and  Fluttered their eyes lashes..

 he got  flustered and said,..what about the little one?

 ..oh?.. He's a spare...

 a spare?

 ..yeah?.. In  case the big one gets a flat?

 The   SEC  guy stared  at him as the girls giggled.

 ..look?  you're  trying to  do your   Job...  I know..but were  only gonna be here a few hours..... tell folks to stay away from us if they're  scared...I'll Tell Elge  I gave you are hard  time..and he'll let you slide..

 Right?.. and who are you?

 beth  did a stage whisper  with her had by her Mouth,..LC  Shadow..

 The Sec   guy turned  white....ok..look..i'm...i'm..sorry..please.. I'll..um..go now.. and the SEC  fellow  was gone.

 wow..seriously?.. he didn't know?

 Shade  bleeped    a bunch..Shade   says he's been watching for since  i went in the water..... there are a few other  folks watching...I'm thinking they sent him here  to make sure... but... there is  a hot chick with  rainbow hair  and a tiny broken lightbulb on her  wrist... another  hot  chick who is  a service member,, a pilot, considering the lack of tan... there is a very pale , bundled up  woman.. a Verian.. and   a Lizard dog.. so?.. i'm sure  folks know who we are..but?.. I'm not going to worry about it.. we're here to have fun..if  somthing happens.. we deal with it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:38, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

Nikki waved at Shadow and those that way and towards the group the other way.  Setting out a few towels she looked at Joseph a moment "I'm gonna go take Haley and change real quick.  We'll be back" Leading Haley to a changing cabana they went in.  IN a few moments Haley came out, followed by Nikki.  Haley was wearing a pair of shorts and a spiffy little bandeau top made from blue jeans.  She was all smiles and jumping excitedly about.  Nikki came out wearing one of her tank tops she cut the lower half off and twisted with some blue jean material for a slightly 'jogging bra' style top and a pair of nearly to short cut off shorts.  They fit snuggly, yet showed off her legs and a bit of her toned haunches.  She stopped and bought a bottle of lotion to prevent burns and headed back to the towels.
Haley beat her there.  She twirled a bit "Ta-da!  Like my suit?" she asked Joseph.
Nikki made it there "A country girls swim suit" she said.  She began applying lotion to herself and to Haley.  "Okay Haley, swim or sand castle first?"
"Sand cassel" she said.
Nikki brought out a reuseable plastic cup and some spoons "Okay then we need some water to mix with the sand"
Haley...Smart little firecracker she is smiled "Oh...like a mud pie?"
"You got it, but it can dry out quicker" she let Haley go get some of the beach water and bring back.

    Joseph had bee walking barefoot in normal rolled up pants but had stopped at a shop on the way there and picked up some sand castle molds and pails.  He had a duffel he usually brought to gigs with his collapsible gear in it. "That's what I thought." he said putting down the sand gear for her.

   "You look great Lass.  Where I come from it's too cold for women to wear bathing suits.

Roy shrugged.  "I'm not altogether certain I see the benefit of combining effects into a single round like that," he said.  "I'd rather have a larger, more powerful EMP grenade and a larger, more powerful frag grenade.  I realize it's two different weapons to carry...but in my experience, every time anyone tries to make a do-everything weapon, it ends up being inadequate at all the different roles it's had foisted on it, instead of being really good at just one role.  Humanity has a long history of trying to make weapons that are good at everything...very few of them actually fulfilled the designers' promises."  He raised an eyebrow thoughtfully as they continued walking.

"But an EMP grenade...suppose it could disrupt the power flow on a pulse rifle?  One good blast could disable a whole infantry squad, unless they were carrying hard-ammo weapons.  That would be something I'd really find useful...don't know if it's a practical concept, though, I just don't know enough about the science side of pulse rifle operations."  He looked at Micca, and added, "That's why people like you stay in business."  He gave a grim smile.

  Eaching   the  Gunnery range, she ooened the Metaglass  door and Ushered them in, I'll tell you this.  Mr Spencer? if i  filled a coffee can  with Lonnox  crap and  buckshot, and marketed  as a new Cannister  round?.. someone would buy it?... Doesn't mean iot good?

 she smiled a bit,...it was ...supposedly , brought up by SEC  people, a few years ago...for  Urban warfare.  Toss it into  an  Offcie, blow out the COM.... CAMs.. Computers... while  taking  out some people as well...but, as a Civie, I can see its application  for boardin parties.

 Te  Door opened  and  a pair  of workers in  jumpsuits  brought in face shields , 3  side arms and three  rifles. they set a pair of them in each slot. , then stood  back, though one of them went to the target controls.

 Micca  put  the  shield  on and began to take, just like she was giving a sales pitch., she  Held Up the Rifle.....This is the  DT-5  'Death Twin... given the same name  as the LArgran weapon it has be made to mimic.....it foires  308 hard   ammo  rounds  from the  bottom barrel... using  the  the trigger... it fires    Pulse rounds from the top  barrel using the   button at the top oo the trigger housing... the Button is ...by design.. hard to push... both triggers are locke d by the same safety switch..

 she head  up a  rectangle,..this is  the standard  8 round mag.. you slap it in cock the  first round with the  round slide, and....

 she nodded to the   control  and a light came on in the middle slot, she turned raises the rifle  and   fired off  8 rounds   down range at the Approaching Demon Tank target.. the  rounds   grouped in the  middle of the chest form50 yards... when the last round went  down range the  Mag  ejected itself.

 ..the mags  are  reusable.. but auto eject to save the shooter  time..if..and some point you would   have loose  rounds and  no mag.. you can hand  feed one  round   into the  slot , like an old winchester...

 ..the  puse  rounds can be  bursts....by tapping the   button... beams  by suppressing it a bit longer.. and  streams..  by holding it  in until you are  done shooting... needless to say..bursts  are  the best for makign the power cell last longer..

  she  turned  again.. send a pair  of bursts  at the target...then a Beam about  3 feet long.. as the beams  do... it look odd hitting the  target and getting shorter  until it vanished...then a  2 second long   stream lashed out ..it ended up being about  5 yards  long and  tore the   target to  bits  as it entered..it was a bit  wavey.

 I'm sure  an experianced  Rifleman  could hold the stream longer..but the weapon tends  to shake on me, when i use  stream...

 she opened the right side of the  butt...a standard  Pulse   rifle  power cell was in there, and  2 mags....power Cell is standard..plugs in the normal way.. there is room for   2 extra mags..or?  a sandwhich.. she smiles.

 it is lighter then a  standard pusle  rifle.. and Cannot  use a bayonet.. we tried to make a mod  for that.. but  it unbalences the  weapon... Now?  Gentlemen?..  have some  Fun The  caee was open for with  loose  .308 rounds  for them to reload.

 ..one  word on the side arms.. they kick upwards.. they are light... and the mag can be elected   with  the  thumb lever... the mag holds 8   hard  ammo , 45 cal rounds....over under is the  same.. triggers  are the  same... both weapons can  have scopes added to them..

 the  next tow   people came in with a   crate  of lose .45 rounds...now?.. enjoy yourself... ask questions if you feel the need.

Henry found someone selling trunks and bought a pair (not that he cared for blaze orange, but that's what they had in his size!). He put them on then ran down with Mila to join the others splashing in the sea.

   a fellow from the   drink stall came over,  excuse me Sir?  The Lady with the Colorful hair  ordered  drinks..a   milk shake  for the young MAster?... as..um..cola  for you.. Fuji Iced Teas  for themselves,and a ..Bloody mary? he handed the last one to   Mortica...

  they said to charge this  to your room, Sir?

 Aye... I sent them over, Thank you.. please  at 20 creds for yourself.

 The fellow smiled,..thank you Sir... he went off to his stall.

 ..This is nice.. its not Fuji , by any means..but..if you never been to Fuji...its great..

   A fellow  walked up he ha d a hat like Mortica's on, and a pair of longer  trunks, he was older fellow...Ahhh..Mr Shadow?... New   friends  i see..not one of them the same  as last night?

 ..ahh.. well?... I try to spread myself around..make sure no one is left out..

 ..indeed..indeed... my people have the same..'problem'..try not  to have  anyone feel  left out...

 he  Nodded  and gave  a a smirk of his smile to Beth  and Flores...././I was hoping to contact you.. but a rather...how shall  i say this..um... 'blunt'.. spanish woman refused to  COM  link me to you.. and went on about who she thought my mother  might have mated with?...is she your house keeper?

 ../She's a Hermes Trooper  who will most likely kick any of your suits asses, if you push her too far.. By the way?... you and yur  people bene here  for a while... you enjoying the  sun..or did you wish to  talk to me.

 ..both.. I like to have my people get down time, and I felt it was a god time to  meet with you...only for a moment , of course. We both need to  have some fun, and.. you'll be off to fight the war soon and all that..

 Shadow Motioned  for  a Drink  to  Arthur King, as well as one for the  3  'unsuited' suits he and Shade noticed. Ling was mildly impressed  as he  took the drink and sat next to Flores, putting  his hand on her bare thigh..which..she removed...your LAdies  are not very welcoming?

These ladies.. and the Verian  are my Crewmates.. they are not the playthings you had  yesterday..thought... your  woman were, very well put together..

 Beth and Flores  gave  Shadow a glare.

 ..Yes..  and that brings  me to my reason for stopping by...  he loked  at the Stall's  runner  taking drinks to his   people and shook his head.

 ..I found out..after   your people blew up my neighbor's home, that  Lady Winter   was thrown from the roof of your building... Sir August had to Jump from that same roof?

 well.... he sipped his wise  as smile lookign worse with the Mirror Shade on.. Shade tried to wear a pair too,, but he had  no ears to hold the  stems.

 ..seem as your bitch Lady  thought it was a good idea to try and stab me?... she came close.. I think i broke her wrist thought.. Sir  August stabbed  the 'Spanish woman"  and ran away... one of my Crewmates, that it was uncouth  for him to leave his lady like that, so  allowed her  to leave the  same way?... turns out..she didn't have a wing suit....but?.. you'll have  things like that...

 ..so you came to my party to even the score...changed your mind because you were out numberd?

 ..I came  as a professional  courtesy.. to let you know  i was alive...had i wanted you and your  minions  dead, Fire  control would be pulling your  bodies out of the ashes this morning.

  Arthur smiled  as he took a drink,..well, Mr  Shadow? Confidence is a wonderful thing.....he  stands  with his  cup, he gives mortica  another once over,..I guess that's the end of it then..perhaps we shall see you  on your next trip here? he begins to walk away, Shade bleeps at him...

 Arthur  turned to him , then to Shadow,..he asked,,,what do you people really call yourselves?

 he Smiles  and Tosses    Shade a  Silver Coin..the Coin  had a sword on one side and a K on the other. King's  Knights.... I was hoping to recruit you..but the attack on you..and the  death of LAdy Winter, will letthat  stand, until the enxt time you come to port... You can serve  your  people, as well as  me..we both work to the same end, after all..

 Shade examined the Coin..Shadow  said,what about the   dead pilots?...


 King   held out his hands in  surrender...That, Mr Shadow , is a talk for another time...we are at a balance now.. the next time you come in.. we may find ourselves   on the same side..or?.. in direct conflict.. I hope for more..but will not shrink from the other..enjoy by our time...and Good Luck in The Black..

  Shade  bleeps a fee time more. yeah  I saw the  Red HAired  guy bleep..didn't see the others......more beeps,good .. you saw the Blonde    girl They are good...I hate to leave things  like this go though..

..Shadow!..You Promised!

 ..not to fear... today  we relax.. I 'll think of something , for later

 seeing Henry and  Mila  join  the  beach.. he waved  for a drink for Henry as well..  LArry's  head Popped  up and  wnet prancing after   Henry and Mila.

    Joseph saw the men approaching and suddenly put on a mike and fired up an acoustic guitar.  Beth gets an E-mail with good pictures of the man and several of the people Shadow mentioned before he mentioned them, and a few not so good pictures after he mentioned the others...but they were better than nothing.  Also a link to any possible bountys on pictures good enough to ID them.

    "You know," he says almost to himself "I should look into getting active with the legal bounty hunting again, but delta night keeps beating me to my targets."

Henry waved to Shadow, and welcomed Larry, encouraging the larg to play in the water along with Mila who was having a wonderful time.

  The   Runner from the Stalls gave  Henry a Drink, and Iced  tea.  Larry and   Mile    splashed about  in the water.

   Henry Noted Mortica  Bundled up.

  Gregor on his  back,wiped out..his  tongue , lolling from his mouth like a  snake.

  Shadow  sat up a bit   more. Causing  Beth to  moan,because her head  rolled off his  belly,.... I was Tellign Mortica, that this isnt quite Fuji, but at elast its a beach..

"Well...there are a lot of people out here.  Some truly need it" she had noticed the men as well.  As the one talked to Shadow she keyed up on the others.  Luckily she did bring her weapons.  She played on the pretense of getting something from her bag, finding her pistol just in case.  That close to Shadow, the man would have been a bad target, but the others that hung back...were lined up like ducks.  Still, unless someone else was starting a scuffle she'd keep it relaxed....for now.
Haley returned with some water.  Sitting on her knees she used the bright pail Joseph bought and shovel and mixed the sand with a bit of water.  mixing it she got it to eventually slide out of the bucket as a whole.  She made 3 then decided to try a 4th over the three she had in a triangle.  Like a pyramid.

Mortica took the drink with a smile and raised the glass to Shadow. “This is called a Bloody Mary? There’s no blood in it. The name is misleading. Still good though,” She said as she kept drinking.

She looked at Gregor and smiled fondly. It was clear she was already very attached to the little pup. “Look at him; worn out from play and not from abuse. This may well be the best day of his life. The first of many."

She looked up at Henry with a smile and wave.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 00:09, Fri 25 Jan 2019.

In reply to Roy-Zob (msg # 983):

Zob stared at the weapon for a moment before picking it up and looking it over, he was quite familiar with Largran weapons but he has not seen this one before.

Zob took it and loaded it up which was a simple task and took aim at the demon target down range and fired the entire 8 round clip of hard ammo into its face forming a smiling face on the target, he then moved over to the pulse fire mode and shot the letters Z,O,B into the targets chest area before setting it down, "It feels like a feather compared to what i'm used to... i mean i like the versatility and would use it over a standard issue pulse rifle any day but its just not as fun as ripping apart a target with a heavy pulse gun" he said as he glanced at Roy.

   while  larry and Mila   romped in the surf.. the others sipped thier drinks.. some other  Crewmates  dotted  the beach, and it was easy to pick out  crew from other Fleet ships with thier light tans or no tans

.. Flores  and   Beth  flipped over to get the 'other side  done'

 Shade  bleeped a few times,..no buddy?... Lady was never  at the Beach..least not  as  i know... she was in that Hammer   3.... then transferred her to the Hammer  IV..and that's where she stayed.. I'll never know   if she was Like Lilit.. i think she was, since Lilit  was Half Human..but it seemed like the Verian side  took over there... You and  your sister have alot more human   in you...

 some  sad  sounding    whirls  and bleeps..I dunno?.. I guess because yu came out nearly?... Dusk..um..'baked ' a little longer.. but.. you had a mission on your little mind then.. you didn't hatch?.. you broke out...you grabbed your sister  and ran..yu were trying to protect her, from what GArrat and Doc Henry Said..i don't know why?... maybe something  that LAdy  put in your  head?..maybe  some thing  Evert  put in your ehad  when she transferred you two, to those  egg thingys ..all I know?.. is you came  out  right.... Your sister  too a bit of  doing, but she learned fast enough..all and  all  yuou  guys  would make Lady proud .

 he bleeped a few more times..naw?  You'll Grow?..look mat Lilit?..Look at Adem Theya re taller  and wider then Garrat or Zob..even Evert isn'[t  small, by any means.  he   put a Hand on   Shades   head  and  wigged the ehad  around, in lieu  of fuzzing hair that wasn't there.

Nikki continued to help Haley build her sand castle.  Trimming areas and making sure that it stayed damp but not too wet.  The People at Etna did an excellent job, making sure the sand was deep, not just a few inches over a mesh.  2-3 times an area of Haley's castle collapsed, but Nikki convinced her to keep trying.  It was just sand, but for the moment, important sand.  When Nikki heard Josephs playing she noticed they were lighter and more up beat....More beachy.  "Joseph?  How about ...'Rock And Roll to the rescue'?"

she began to sing a bit to get it started
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MNxhWvDXsk

Haley began dancing
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Fri 25 Jan 2019.

In reply to Nicole Rutledge (msg # 993):

    “Ya know, I think I can pull that one off but I’ll have to cheat on the words a little bit.”  Joe quest up the song on his computer screen and does a fair job of playing it.  “Wow, the video that goes with that tutorial is insane.  I haven’t seen that much silicone since I was in a glass factory.  I’m so glad they have come up with safer augmentations”

    Over hearing shade complaining about size Joe says “ I’ll tell ya what, next time you see Garrat ask him if he would swap places with you.  Then think about what chassis you would rather have in a tight spot.  Your ability to sense things is more important than size any day of the week..”

Ry picked up one of the rifles, following behind Zob.   " I'm a little dubious about an eight-round magazine.  Most situations I've been in would be hazardous if I had to swap magazines every eight rounds..." He hefted the rifle, judging its weight relative to what the APF troops were currently carrying.  He brought it up to his shoulder, aiming at Zob's first target, and fired a round at the center forehead on the target...then fired a second, third, and fourth round, aiming carefully to try and put the egg pounds through the same hole, gauging the accuracy and consistency of the weapon.  He grunted softly lowered his sights so they were on TV he target's neck, and rapidly fired off the other four, getting a feel for how well the weapon handled recoil and some sense of its rate of fire.

   Micca  smiels a brief  thin lipped smile,..that's what you boys  are  here for.. to give  fee back... but the  hard Ammo carbines?.. don't they have   8  rounds?.. the hard  Ammo assault  rifles..have  a bit more if you get extended  mags?

 she looked  down range,..lighter.. easy to carry... riflemen can do alot  of  damage  with 8 rounds..but even with extended  mags?.. you run out  of hard ammo at some point..then all you have  is an expensive  club.. with the DT-5..you still have a  full power cell, plus  what ever extra you bring

 ..now?.. I'm Hawking here, and the  only battles a fought  were capping a few pirates..but?...if you are facing  any enemy but Demons, both types of rounds  can kill....if you are facing Demons, the hard  ammo can  kill, while  the pulse  will do what damage a pulse  rifle would  do  anyway?

 ...in the end? I'm not the one out there  facing these  things... you guys are?.. so? Tell me.

    Shadow  Out his   drink into a depression of  sand.. then   he leaned in and whispered to  Shade.. Shade's head   popped up and he gave a Thumbs up. Gettign to his feet, beth bumed out again, Kray winked at Henry as shade  stood up..then  Shadow  said,'NOW"

 Shadow  Grabbed   Beth  around the    waits  and  lifted her  Over her  shoudler,

  while  scooping under  Flores  at her waist.. Shade Grabbed  Flores  legs

 both  Girls  screamed in surprise..."..SHJADOW!.."

 the  two abductors   ran  full out  towards the   water...   and  when they  reached   Ankle Deep they   Dove in  with the shrieking women.

 LArry  Popped  Up  scrambling like  a maniac sending Plumes of  sand into the  air   as  he zipped in to  Join them...

 gregor  Rolled Over..popped his head  Up and Lopped   after   Larry..  struggling at times  through the deeper  depressions in the sand.

 Mila looked  at Henry with a doggie  smile  as she took some  steps towards the water.

 Gai and   Dixie , lookign  rather  fit  in  two piece suit came  but  with...what looked to be   two pilots, but not from teh Hermes...hey Ya'll I see  everyonbe's taking  a likin' to the beach?

 Gai  smiled  as the  pilot who was a head  taller then her, slipped an arm around her.we've been here  since the sun  came across ..its  time we   go get ....showered up....

Nikki laughed as she sang.  She knew what he meant about the silicone. "Still a good song.  how about you crank the volume up, put it on auto select beach tunes and then we hit the water as well?"

   That I can do  Joseph says with  grin, stowing all but necessary equipment and locking it down.

    He turns on a classic play list and heads to the water with her.

Mortica smiled at the fun being had and gave the sun a baleful glare. She wished she could join them but didn’t have a bathing suit and the thought of going so underdressed in the sun made her shudder. She would have to content herself with watching.

Smiling and laughing she grabbed Haley to go rush into the water as well.  After a about calf deep water she let Haley land with a splash, then picked her up to make sure she was going to be okay.  Haley coughed up a bit of water from the surprise dunking. "You are okay Haley Jean.  I am going to help you learn to swim.  You might not get it right away, but every time we can do this you will get to practice." she said.  The water cam up to Haleys waist.  She wasn't too sure about this.  "You'll have fun...promise" With that Nikki bent onto her knees to help Haley learn to float a bit on her tummy.  First thing is to kick your legs.  from your hips not just the knees." Haleys legs went out like a frogs "No no, kind of like your walking real fast" She was getting more wet from Haley than just the water itself cresting in the low waves.


From the beach she could hear 'Walking on sunshine'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U

  While Haley splashed  about.. others   were   havign   'hand to hand ' combat in the waves, tossing   each other  about.. with   a LArg and a Dog Prancing is the waves..while a  smaller  Larg ran back and forth was the  Waves   came in,, thumping his tail.