Roy grinned at Yates' comments about Lyri and Shadow.  "Shadow is...well, I guess you could call him an acquired taste.  But I'd be dead, a few times over, without the Master Chief...and we'd both be dead, a few times over, without Shadow.  Don't buy into the public persona...it's a pretty distorted version of Shadow, and it serves our purposes to let people think that's who he is."

He was about to answer Will when Shade cut in...and about to venture a guess at what was said when Yates asked another question.  "Yeah...he's the ambassador for the Verian faction that's joined the APF.  And don't let his size fool you...he might be the most dangerous individual in this vehicle.  Due to some genetic anomalies, he hasn't been able to pick up human speech patterns yet...but Shadow understands him just fine, and so do the Verians...and there's a girl on the Hermes who picked up on his dialect and can translate damn near everything he says.  The rest of us just kinda wing it."

He looked at Will.  "I got the impression that we found out about this August guy after operations were already in motion...and word obviously didn't make it all the way around.  And even if it had...how long have you been on the Hermes?  Long enough to have seen Shadow ignore blatant warnings about people and handle them in his own way...who's to say he didn't try it again, only this time, he wasn't tricky enough?  Don't second-guess operations until you get the full brief on them."

As the van circled, Roy added, via comms, "Last we saw, Lyri was barely conscious and we weren't even sure of the full extent of her injuries.  At this point, I don't even know if they've seen her yet, much less finished treating her...but I'm for damn sure not asking Stefi to send her back out.  She's probably already prepared to vivisection whoever sent Shadow out...I'm not drawing her attention with ano TVher request for a wounded trooper.  Safer to stand there and have you shoot around me...at least if I die that way, it'll be quick..."

"Lyri took two pulse rounds to the shoulder and had one graze her head. She was unconscious when I got to her so she's likely concussed and in no shape to come out here. I'll be back on station shortly, Garrat," Teela said as she picked up extra mags, spare rounds, and more dermafoam and plast.

"I bloody warned them about him" Harry once again grumbled in a bad tempered voice just under her breath at the mention of August and why he hadn't been shot on sight. Roy's explanation was feasible enough, and it wouldn't surprise her to learn that Shadow had tried to tackle him alone and misjudged him, but all the same it kind of felt like she'd been ignored.

Seeing as Garrat hadn't exploded under a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, it was probably safe to assume that there weren't any AA position hidden on the targets property...that or they simply didn't think a lone hover bike was worth the effort. Either way Harry would break away from the ring of media vans in order to make the rendezvous with the others. After finding the roof top in question she would gently bring the van in to land next the already waiting van and shutting down the engine.

  As Harry  set the VAn Down, Supe   walked over,All right  folks?..  help yourself.. we  got   45 cal..9 mm..50 call and  Power  Cells, we have  6 Frags left....Hemlsly is making  some of hsi   Biskets and  C-10 sphrre.. he has  about   15 made  so far...

 Will went over  and  started to load a  Mag with  .45 cal  ammo  for his  grease gun the    rounds  went in   quickly, and he  two an extra  loaded  Mag to put into his pocketed leather  pack.

 once  he   finished loading    his  used  mags, he  took a hand  full of  45  cals  and  put  them in a pocket and  buttoned it up..

   He would look  up at Smile at  HArry, then   continue to load  his  M3.

 YAtes  took   a fresh powercell  ejected  the old one  and putting it in the van

  Shade  used  the  9 MMs for the modified   MP40..he  had  to load up the  expended mags, and   filled his pouch with loose  round.

………………………………………………..

 ..and here  we  are, breaking the  Stem..headed to the party... Shadow said.

Zob was quiet as he grabbed a few more power cells he had his heavy pulse gun ready to go as well as the shotgun he brought with him just in case, "I'm more or less ready to go"

Roy looked at the assortment and sighed.  "Shoulda had you bring some .30s..." he said.  With a dissatisfied look on his face, he grabbed a couple of power cells for his confiscated rifle.

"Okay...I'm thinking we don't even bother trying to fight our way in...we come in with the vans from two different angles.  Teela or Garrat drop any guards on the roof, we land next to the bodies, Hemsly makes us an entry, and we go in hard and fast.  Once we're in, if it doesn't look like there's any threat of anyone coming in behind us, Teela and Garrat can drop down from their perches and join the action, but I want them up there long enough to watch for anyone trying to back-door us, or for anyone trying to make a break for it on the ground."  He spoke with the comm open, so Teela and Garrat could hear for sure, and so Beth and Elge had a chance to speak up if there was anything from their end that could enhance the plan...such as it was.

With everyone stocking up on ammunition for the upcoming assault Harry would likewise help herself to a pair of 9mm magazines for her uzi along with a frag grenade that she clipped to her belt. It was as she was doing this that she would catch sight of Will smiling at her as he loaded his own weapon ”It’s going to take more than that to get you back in my good books pal” Harry said giving him an unimpressed look, although much of the previous venom was no longer in her voice.

Meanwhile Roy would make his suggestion of a two way assault on the target building. Although the smash and grab approach lacked finesse there was no denying how effective it could be ”sounds good to me...where do you want me?”

   Will titled  his head  , as he had  no clue  what was  wrong.   then settled his    weapons   belt  around  him

 Hemsly    looked at Roy as he finished up a few more   'biskets'.. so?.. watch   ye want me ta do?.. Blow the  door on that stairway/elevator thing?.. or   ya  want  me to blow a hole in the roof.. between you an' me?  I dunna  wanna  be stuck in a lift  wih bad guys  all around?


 Hawkes  says,..this guy is a weapons   mover.. right?...... so we  gotta be  ready  for  a war, going in..

 shade  sat on the roof.  he  was tweaking something  in his  left  hand   as he  adjusted the Flame that  was  flickering  on   the 'pointer  ' finger of the  three fingered  hand.

 Hemsly shook his head  with a  bit of envy,..the  things  i could  do, if me own 'and  could do that!

 Simms  whacked him on the back,..Yeah? Like  Blow  a hole  in  the Hermes the size of a small moon...

...…......................

   The   bright yellow   aircar, was circling the   party..  they could hear the sound of the horn  as  Shadow let the car be seen, and who was in it.

  ..Ok?..Beth.. Roy?... we're  going in now>..media seems real happy with us..so?...

 Eckles    can be heard to say,.. you let me know?.. if we have to  get naked and stuff, I'll  do it for you!...

 Beth growled,..ECK!

 ..what?.. I'm a Team Player...

 Frans   just said,..kill me now....

  the  car    zipped between two Media Vans  as the crowd  waved and    shouted ,   the pilot  did  some  low  fly  bys  and  had them cheering, before he  finally  settled  down on the EVAC  circle...  almost all the people rushed  forward ( including unclothed  swimmers).. at elast a dozen male   guest  just stood  by the tables glaring at the pilot and his   'dates"

As the rest of them team tried to work out the details for the assault Harry would take advantage of the natural lull to vent her frustrations on her seemingly clueless boyfriend "I can't believe you went and ditched me back there! I felt like a right lemon sitting by that van by myself!" she said in an angry whisper, hoping to try and keep this little domestic between the two of them "I've never been in a gun battle that big and you went and bloody left me!" she continued, jabbing her finger into his chest for emphasis, though seeing as he was wearing a chest plate all she really achieved was to hurt her finger "...I've never felt so bloody useless in all my life" she quietly finished, looking ever so slightly downcast as she did so.

  Will  looked hurt, he gave his ehad a shke and said,.. You  are were the driver..and?..  you were the one with the elast expericance  on the ground..at least..in  a Damn opened battle like that.... it turned out ok?.. but what if  we had to run? and you weren't   there?..   The SM  was  in the open, more or less,  and Me and Zob were the closest  ground  people  there?..and that's before   we knew Shade was comign around the corner?

 he   looked around  , hoping   not to cause too big a  scene,.... whatif  we lost the SM, because  i didn't move up?... what if  Shade  would have been killed, ebcause the SM  was killed?.... none of that happened... and if things  would have  went bad.. we  would have had you to  take us out of that soup.. I didn't think?.. I reacted?

 giving her a nudge and a smile,..you did great?... and  now you  have something  eles to put in  your diary.... " dear Bloody diary... i was in a blood  mess  I was,  cat things bouncing all about?..  poeople getting legs  blown off..right bit of  a barny it was.. "  he rgins   cutting off  'better then  the LC's"  british  accent.

Roy nodded to Hemsly.  "The more surprises we can throw at them, the better.  If anything, I want the lift completely disabled...but we're going through the roof, not the door."  He paused, flashing a wicked grin.

"Just don't collapse the whole roof underneath us..."

He glanced over at Harry and Will, catching the tail-end of Will's 'performance'.  He cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow in over-exaggerated surprise, and said, "We'll keep the same people behind the controls in the Van's, but we ought to make sure we're more or less balanced in numbers between the two."

Party Roof.

 Shadow  Jumped  Over the  side of the door,  and  Leped out  Frans  and Eckles who showed  very much, in the way of Leg  and how to ...just...make sure  that's all was seen.

 The other people gathered  around,

 " you're Shadow?.... Aren't you Frans?.. You're Eckels!..."  and questions followed   about   kills, Frans Father.. Eckles being sought  after, ect ect. "

 An older man with  an open rove, hair  soaked  had his arms  around the waists of  two  younger  woman, who didn't bo9ther with the robes,what brings  you to my party?

 Ahh,  well?... You know...my party was  winding down..Got the Admirla  right across the roof..so.. when he shuts  down, we gotta  shut down, and?  to be fair, alot of my friends  were tired.. so  i asked  for volunteers  to  hunt  down other parties..and look what we say?

 people  cheered..  some guys  moved   in to   take  Frans  and Eckles  to the   bar,  ladies crowed  around Shadow to do the same....

   there were 6  guys  in suit s  Drinking and nibbling, they never moved  from the tables.. But.. all the  focus was on  the three newcomers  now, One of them a  red HAired   fellow..not much older the  Shadow,..so?.. Just like that.. you decide to Crash the  party?..Like you owned the joint?

 some of the grils   around Shadow lost thier  smiles.. others   held on tighter...

 ...and you are?

 The  fellow looked a bit darker  as he slowly sipped from his drink,..I am Sir   Griffon... I  am in transportaion...

   Realy?.. because  you look like you are in a  really cheap suit...

 The  fellow  took a  Step  toward  Shadow, Shadow  never  flinched, but his half  smile  grew, more   antagonistic.. a Blonde   fellow fellow  Grabbed  Griffon,..For give my  Friend..I am Sir  Vester...

 he offered his hand,  Shadow smiled  and declined the shake because of the  wet , unclothed  LAdie shanging on his arms..

 Frans  has her best  , prom queen, smile as she came over and nodded to then,  the  guys who got her  a drink Trailing..   Eckles had her arms  around on  guy with  T shirt and shorts,  the other  guy..um..just came from the pool..Eckles  does her best  'air head' and says,wow...all these Sirs?.. we  had a Sir   January...

 Frans  rolled her  eyes,..Sir August....

 eckles giggles,..I knew it was some month... but he  came to our party..he didn't get in though..SEC can be real mean

 Griffon  looked at them,..you met August?.... where is he?

 Shadow looked Sad,never had  much time to talk?.... His  Gril friend, left him..and he  took off?...guess they hada ....falling out?

 frans  nods  and smiles   slightly,..you know him?  since he is a Sir?

 The  Older  guy  comes up behind  Frans     puts   an arm  around her  waist and  chuckles..why?.. Yes.. he is a Member of my  group.. we are  all into Transport... I am.. Arthur  King...

  Shadow  looked  aft Frans.. Frans  looked  at the  man,..of   course you are...

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

 Sims  says   as   he  watched through his scope....hey guys?.. what ever   we're gonna  do.. we best do it?... they are  all Hearding  around   frans , Eckles  and  Shadow.... don't know how long that will last?

"I guess so" Harry meekly responded as Will explained why he'd done what he'd done with her knowing full well that he had a point...several in fact, she just wished that he'd given her some kind of a warning about what was going to happen. As he broke into a better than average attempt at her accent, or at least better than Shadows anyway, Harry couldn't help but return his grin before Roy brought them both back to the here and now.

Once again Harry was to remain with the van whilst a pair of teams made their move into the property via a hole in the roof, which seemed fine though she couldn't help wondering if there wasn't a easier way "um...just a thought but seeing as this guys an arms dealer and is liable to have a ton of weapons, mercs and security systems in place do we really want to be going inside? I mean it's four in the morning so there's a good chance he's in bed so why not just place a big ol' block of C10 on his bedroom window and blow him to hell?" Harry suggested whilst raising her hand like a school girl in order to get their attention "...I mean even if we don't get him there's a good chance they'll try and evacuate him so we just get Teela to shoot him during the confusion when he runs outside with everyone else...that or we just get Hemsley here to bring the entire building down...it'd be nice to outdo Shadow for a change....not that it's a competition or anything"

  Hemlsy Grins and nods his head pointing to Harry,..now,  ye see the bonnie lass  has the right of it!.. bring the hole Buildin'  down on him... on everyone!

 Simms  turned to them and  said,..if me  and  HArry  gotta  stay with the vans?.. you want is in the air, oo on the roof?.. i mean?  if  we blow a hole?.. every one's goign to know?... if we blow the Building, it won't matter who knows?

  he goes back to lookign through the scope,..wow..those   poor  grils  are a bit chilly...well..so's the guys...
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 01:08, Fri 11 Jan 2019.

Teela turned and looked over. "They really are. There's quite a bit of anatomical distortion going on over there," she said before turning back. "Arms dealer with a walled compound and a killing ground, no windows on the top floor. I guarantee he has security measures on that third floor and likely a small army in that outer building and we are low on available backup. We need to be quick and clean or total shock and awe."

    Garrat is scanning the floors.  "Or we can just start punching holes in the building and drop c-10 on whoever runs out. I think I have five pounds of straight c-10 and five pounds in shaped charges.  Still waiting to slap one of those shaped charges on a Demons chest and blow his armor into a cloud of death on the demons behind him

      Hawkes looks at his  COM  for the Time,well?  we have  4:50 ship's time..... sooner or later  folks are  going to be getting up for breakfast?

 Hemsly looks  around  eagerly.

  Shade  his  looking from one peson or another .. he  makes  some noises, then, just sorts  sighs.

………………………………………………………

 at the party.

 so?..all you folks  are in transportatin.. You Know  Emmie?... she's in transportation too...big old  company..at least  40 tranpsots, and she gets more all the time..

 Arthur  smiles  as  a woman brings him a drink,.. we   don't  really  run transports... we just get things  transported..there is Creds in that you know?..oh yes..lots  of Creds ..people need to send things... people need to get things...people need to arrive, people need to  leave...

 Shadow  Nods  and  shrugs, as he dis engages  himself  from the  women,... yeah.. well?.. that's nic e and  all, but this party  seems to be a bit....odd  for  me... I think me and the Girls  are gonna go...

 frans  smiles    and moves towards   Shadow.. eckles  seems reluctant, but  also does,..shore leave or Not..Admiral's going to  be looking   fir us...

 one  of the suits   is   now standing  by the  car, his  arms  crossed, , It doesn't  seem to  make Shadow  and the ladies  slow down,..let me hguess?.. Your  NAme   is Sir  Ranwrap?

 The guy looks  at Shadow and  says, Sir Vesa...

 wow?.. that's even worse?

   he stands  in there  was  until  Shadow  grabs him by the   pockets, and  Moves him  with a half a toss...

 The Fellow  tried  to stop   Shadow's   hands, but he was a bit too slow..

   when the reached the car, Shadow waited  for the  ladies to get in, ..not much of  a party, but your ladies  look good...

 Artur  raised  a glass to him,..I am allowing  yo to leave, Mr  Shadow, at least until i get to  talk with Sir August.. we have had a good  night  this night...but?.. tomorrow?..could be differant, should we cross paths...

 Shadow    got into  the car.....Just keep in mind?... I deal in transport as well....and  I'm very good at it...

 ..Really?... I have not heard that?

 The  car hovered in the air.  Eckles   shouts,..he sends  people to the  9 hells....

 The LC  Grins,..and no one ever asked for their  creds back... .

 he  was between the target Building  and the party,   and   the LC  dove the   car    down so the thrusters  hit the foot tables, blowing  food, robes  and towels  all over.

 Sir  Griffon  stood  up brushing    Burian  beet dip off his  suit coat..

 as  shadow dancers  and teased  the  car  to the north of  the  party building, he said to the OPS  COM,.Alight ?.. that  group was a tad  weird  for my tastes.. I'll   mess  around he r for  another minute  or two, but we're gonna have to go  home..Mom and Dad are gonna be made i snuck out..

"You have any idea what the interior structure of that building is?  Where the key stress points have to be to drop it?  How much C10 you'll need to compromise internal supports from the exterior walls?  Ready to look the Admiral in the face and say the collateral damage to all the other buildings around this one was unavoidable?"

He turned to Harry.  "Which window is his bedroom?  I mean, I love a good surgical strike...but we're trying to carve out a cancer and we don't know if the tumor's in the brain, the neck, the chest, the gut...all we have is which body is cancerous.  We've got no reliable intel beyond which building it is...which makes every other plan potentially as dangerous as going in through the roof.  At least if we're inside with them, innocent bystanders are a helluva lot less likely to take stray rounds."

He gave the whole group a sweeping look.  "I'm truly, seriously open to suggestions for a better plan...but right now, we're trading one blind speculation for another...and while I'm no demolition tech, I'm pretty sure the only way we can drop that building from the outside is by using some ordnance that we don't have...like, maybe if someone got on the horn with Captain Nilsson and had him do a flyover with his bird.  But it takes a helluva lot of charges to shatter an entire building from the outside walls...and if this guy has all the countermeasures in place that we're concerned about, I'm pretty sure he's got his outer walls hardened, as well.  So, unless someone's got blueprints of the building and a way to get Hemsly in and out safely with a whole lotta charges...or a floorplan identifying which window is our target's bedroom...or a pile of bunker-buster RPG rounds...then I'm sticking with the original assault plan.  It gets more of us inside faster, from a location that isn't typically used for a forced assault.  Yeah, it could be fortified...I'd be shocked if it wasn't, to be perfectly honest.  But that roof doesn't have a landing pad, unless I missed it as we were flying around, so it isn't typically used for air traffic and therefore is likely not armed against aerial incursions.  If we hit it and it's too much for the forces we've got available, we've got both vans on the roof so we can bug out.  It's not my first preference for attack styles...but we don't have time to sit here with a sniper team waiting for him to poke his head out so we can shoot it off.  The longer we wait, the better the odds that he gets away.  We've gotta go dig him out, or at least see what kind of a mess we can make of his operation.  For all we know, at this point, he's already cleared out and we're going into a building that's got a handful of guards to keep it looking occupied...but we won't find out until we go in."

He gave the group another look.  "What I said before, about this being volunteer?  It still stands. If you think this is too risky and you don't want to chance it, wait here.  We need eyes on the interior of that building...and if mine are the only ones that go in there, so be it.  But the odds that they'll make it back out alive go way up if I don't go in solo."

   Shade  stepped up By Roy  he  blleped  a  few  Times pointing to the  Northeast corner. Sitting there  was  a  Very big power generator, humming away.

  Will Nodded,..you know  i'm in?... but... it If the Building is  hardened? It works  both ways?..right... so? if    it  started to burn inside? wouldn't it be like an Oven?.... and.. we have to believe the Metaglass is thicker then most places?..

 Hemsly shrugs,..I got me littl' darlin's   all made up...be a shame  not ta let them  have a party.... Now?.. we ain't bringin' the  whole buildin'  down   wit the  stuff  we got  'ere..but ye   find me  the   gas lines... or  the main  water lines.. we  can mess this place up pretty good..

 Simms   stayed  watching the  party shaking  his head,..I got  nothing better  to do?...nope...not...at..all.....

 Hawkes shrugs...beats the  Hell out  of wating through the swamps on Aqra...

Upon being told that Roy they weren't going to be blowing the building up or even the guys room Harry would cross her arms and offer the Sergeant Major a playful sulk "Spoilsport" before listening to the rest of his argument for going in, with him asking for volunteers "There's always a third option and you probably won't like it but...we could always just go home" she suggested before hurriedly explaining her reasoning behind the idea "...what I mean to say is we don't need to go in tonight, we're going to be here for a few days right? So why don't we go home let him think that he's avoided the dreaded Delta Night and then hit him whilst he's on his way to work or something rather than on his home turf surrounded by armed guards...I mean bloody hell we've already had to rush three of our friends to the med bay why risk our skin on an assault we don't need to do?" Harry knew she was probably stepping out of line and would no doubt be on the receiving end of a load of flak for this suggestion but the way she saw it the risks seriously outweighed the gains here.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:29, Fri 11 Jan 2019.

   "There is merit to Harry's Idea.  Even having the house under watch to learn about security during the day would be a great help."

    Garrat scans the building for signs of life.  For all he knew, the glass was 6 inches of inpentrable quartz

Roy glanced in the direction Shade was pointing, and nodded with a grin at the short Verian.  He listened to Harry, then Garrat.  "The longer we wait, the higher chances are that he slips through our fingers completely.  There's a good chance this particular OP could go very sideways...that's why I'm only taking volunteers.  If you feel like it's too risky, wait here or head back to the condo.  But we're running g out of time for a debate about it.  Teela, how many guards do you see on the roof?"

While he waited for the response, he shouldered the pulse rifle, and started back toward the van.  "So, do we need to leave a van here, or is everyone going?"

“One guard on the roof with a rifle. He’s distracted by the fires at our last location. And I’m absolutely going in if you are.” Teela replied.

 Shade  went off  after   Roy..   Trying to   keep up.

 Hawkes  shrugged.....if i undertsand it right?.. if we finish up today?  we have tomorrow off..or..today off?..anyway..sunrise day off...

 Will looks at  Harry,..you guys  both  made great points?... But he's my SM.. if he's going, and I'm  out here.. I going too...

  Hemsly   shoulders his Demo  bag and  takes off   with a  grin.

 Simms  is looking at the part yet.....yeah?..yeah...just tell  me where you want me to drive.. i'm making sure   none of them are looking this way...

  Shadow  made his last  pass, drawing thier attention once more to the north side of thier building.. this  tips  Pulse  rounds   zipped  up at the car.. and  Shadow   flew off towards the Stem entrance.
 Zob, and HArry.. and the 'ever  watchful Simms  were left, though it was clear  Simms would  go where  they told him... if he ever stopped watching.

"He's only going slip through our fingers if he know's we're gunning for him! If we attack that place and fail then he'll run for certain" Harry quickly responded before the group of volunteers had chance to mount up and make their move "Damn it Spencer quit thinking like a marine! This isn't a strong point that needs to be taken we just need to kill him and the best way to do that is when he isn't in a fortified position with an army or mercs! Call Elge, get SEC to watch the property and as soon as he leaves we ice him...this is just playing right into his hands" Harry said, making one final attempt to dissuade them from assaulting the compound. we don't even know if he's inside!