(( Start posting here, the last leg of  Spencer's op))
This message was last edited by the player at 13:23, Tue 08 Jan 2019.

Roy nodded as he listened to Teela's report.  "See if you can do an IR sweep of the area...if he's got snipers hidden, it's going to be hard for them to mask body heat, unless they're in specially-prepared positions...which might very well stand out under thermal viewing as being a different temperature than the spaces around them...not as warm.  Check the buildings and the mountainside...based on the fact that so many reinforcements at the last place came out of the woods, I'm guessing they likely came from there."

He checked his weapons...the Verian pistol still had about half its charge...ten shots, give or take; he had one magazine left for the machine pistols.  He went through all the others that he'd popped during lulls in the fight, and scrounged up another five rounds...thirty-five shots wouldn't last long in heavy traffic.  He removed one pistol and its holster, grabbed a salvaged pulse rifle and a couple of power packs, checking them to make sure they were close to fully charged.

"We should be on approach in five minutes, we'll take a low sweep over the mountainside to see if we scare anything up.  Do you see anything that looks like it might be anti-air defenses?  It wouldn't be heavy...too much risk of blowing a hole in the station's hull...but depending on the guy's ego, he might have left himself open to a frontal assault from the rooftop.  I'm sure Hemsly would love setting breaching charges to drop that roof on the rest of the building, if that's an option.  Make the sweep, then see about finding yourself a good vantage point to watch the compound...bonus points if it's got a good view of that rooftop party."

  hearing Roy's  COM,  Supe    broke into   COMs,..alright, the ice cream trucker is coming.... we have a  few flavors here..should be in your neighborhood  in 9 more minutes...

 ..bit of  an Undate  for the Stem?.. we can see   gunfire  all over the place,  as we near the 'lower's Middle'... There are two more Drop shuttles on the ground?.. Cummings  isn't messing around. There are two MedVAc shuttles   from  Med Tech ships  parked on the ground too?.... They are having  a party, any one of the 9 hells would love...

 Simms  was   driving the VAn..  Supe, Zob ,Hawkes and Hemsly.

  Hemlsy, Like KArson before him, opened a brick of  C-10.. he  made  some  flat discs  and  some round  balls. ..I like  ta  call this  flat ones  Biskets.  you throw  them   like   one of  the  disc toy things?..... or  you  just slap it against a  Wall or door...

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

 Will was  watching his COM for news in the  area,..well folks?.. seems    some terrorists attacked the Uppers?.. some buildings  are on fire, and ..um..'several'.. Etna  SEC, troopers  died..thwey also think there  is a 'large number' of  the attackers  dead...

 He  thumbed though  some more  screens,..it appears.. that several Pilots    were killed  at various parties... no names  here  but, I guess they were from other ships? They were found, either poisoned  to stabbed.

  Yates shook her  head,I don't even pretend  to know  what you guys  are doing?.... But if  Elge  says  we need   to help?..its  Good  enough for me.           

    “I’m setting down on the roof of an office building that seems abandoned.   There are Several other hotels that don’t seem to have the celebration going on. It might be interesting if some Hermes celebrities dropped by and scoped out that celebration.”

“Roger that, Roy. I was thinking a drop and roof entry would be best as well. Stand by, about to do the IR recon.” Teela slipped the visor down on her helmet and activated IR and continued circling the area.

“I have visual on one guard on the roof. He has a rifle and keeps looking in the direction of the cabin fire. Negative contact on the mountains or surrounding buildings,” she said as she continued to circle and recon the area.

"Copy that...one armed guard on the roof, no other activity of note.  We'll turn our approach into a general fly-over to buy a little more time for the ice cream to arrive.  It just wouldn't be a party, otherwise." He gave a dry chuckle.

"It would be nice to get bodies in that party...but at this point, it would mean having to delay long enough to round up a competent team and get them there...best case scenario isarrival 5 minutes behind Supe, more likely 10 or 15, plus time for them to assess the party...which is that much more time for our target to either dig in or run.  I think we've gotta gamble on it...unless..." He paused for a moment then asked, "Beth?  How fast can you find out who's in that hotel and booked for the rooftop?  Hopefully, if it's a red-flag situation, Elge would recognize the name..."

  Elgle  COMed back,....the party is  mostly..from what i see here?.. Charity stuff... orphans  and  wives  things... maybe   supplies  for   new colonies..that kind of  things...That Hotel is the  'Grand  Sky'..the  Group called.....'Human Outreach'..has   rented it  for tonight...trying to draw  some of the Fleet backers to throw  creds  thier way... We  might be able to send Shadow there.. with an escort..?

  Supe's voice  broke in..Simms  says... about 4 minutes  until we  pop out of the Stem

Letting out a yawn, Harry would take a hand off the wheel in order to rub one of her eyes with the heel of her gloved hand; smearing the black eye shadow she was wearing so that she resembled a bedraggled member of the Kiss Army. She was tired, irritable and less than impressed with Roy's suggestion that there might be anti-aircraft positions hidden on the targets property, knowing full well there was nothing she could do to evade even the smallest of guns in this thing "yeah because that's all we need" she quietly grouched as she proceeded to give the party a flyover in order buy time for Supe and the others to join them.

Meanwhile Will would read out a handful of recent news bulletins concerning the nights festivities and how it was all being attributed to terrorists, including the death's of several pilots prompting a grimace from Harry "I warned them someone was targeting our parties and going after pilots!" she quietly snarled to herself before adding in a defeated voice "...why did I even bother"

    As HArry   flew over the   Buildings, she could see this  party   was what  Shadows  was suppose to be...if he didn't have to  worry about wounded  people, orphaned kids, or  giant lizard dogs , being hauled in and out.

  Many of the LAdies   were testing the pool with or without  thier gowns  or dresses... and   a few of the Men where joining them.

  They weren't  the only vans  doing fly-bys of the party, as   Some Media  folks    had  Cameras  showing  while  people waved to them.

  at least 100 people  were on the roof, ages  very old, to , what looked   like, airbrushed  Teenagers.


……………………………

 Supe  broke into the COMs,Popping out  now..where   show  we meet to  hand out the treats?

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

 Elge's Voice  was  a whisper, as he...too... broke in on the COMs,..This is   Elge....  we have..um...circumvented... Stefi and   The Commander,  Shadow is  en route  with Frans   and Eckles  as his  DAtes.... there is  a  Mrs Pickworth..at the party?..she is a Contact i use to send kids through to colonies   in the Delta and Astra  groups.... she is  currently  working  with E-1, E-2  and   Aqra, as they all need  young  people...

 ..he is  coming in  with a bright  yellow  convertable..he will have a   suit, the ladies have...i guess?  they are dresses?.....  he should be on site in 6 minutes or  so...

Teela facepalmed as she was flying. "You circumvented Stefi and the Commander? Commander Si? You did that and let a wounded Shadow out on an op? You poor, poor soul. Si is likely to pull your arms off when she finds out."

well?..who would you send..at this late  hour.. who culd get into a party.....

  Supe laughs,..if you are smart?  you jump off the roof  now, beofre   the Commander finds out...

   “I’ve got a good overlook of the party and the target from here.  But if you want to check on the anti aircraft all I have to do is an over fly.  I’m a smaller faster target and harder to hit.  I just need someone to spot the launch so I can hit the dirt and put things between me and the missile”

Roy grimaced...if Shadow had been wounded enough for Commander Si to order him grounded for the night, he didn't want to think of everything that could go wrong 8f the party was an EDT front.  But it was too late, now, Shadow was on his way...

"Well, we're not delaying until Shadow gets here.  Harry, put us in the outer circuit of media vans.  That should give us a good vantage point to watch the area while Garrat does a flyby of the compound.  Garrat...keep in mind they're likely to realize who you are, no matter how fast you fly through...there just aren't many humanoids your size to start with.  I'll leave it to your judgment,  how close you want to fly, and how fast...but keep in mind a good sniper can take you off that bike with barely a flicker of muzzle flash...they don't necessarily need anti-air missiles or artillery.  So don't give them a clear shot if you can help it.  Harry will cue it, when we've turned to face the compound and have a clear view of the area...on her call, buzz that building."

  Simms  came on the COMs..  I am to the North..  staying   close   enough to the Hull to  be ignored, but  not  to be hiding..i hope?..where  should   we meet you...

 From where  we are?... I can see the Fire Control  guys    are clustered  around , what's left of the CAbins.. those  fire  guys  must love the Delta Fleet... supe  Chuckles

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

 .. Ok>,,,   I never  crashed a party before...mostly, ebcause  i'm invited to them all.. anyway... I'm Gonna  land on the  EVAC  pad?... should make    a nice  entrance .. When frans  get out of the  car, they should draw  some eyes,  unless thier dress  fall off, then  they'll draw all the eyes...

 there was a  thud in the back round …

 Ouch!..watch the elbow!....Anyway.. got about   3 more minutes until we   reach it..Media  VAns should  see a bright  yellow  Aircar.

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

 Will   called up front,..see!..this is more  fun then walkign around tunnels!

  Yates  looked  at Spencer  and  asked, levelly,..so?  all this  talk  about  'Delta  Nights'..they are  real?... You guys come into a station and run around killing people?

  “Roger that.” Garrat said disattaching his combat back and leaving it hidden on the rooftop.

    Garrett have no illusions that face to face with a very recognizable but he doubted that a blob flying in the dark of night without  running lights Would be easily recognizable as Garrat Wolfrim.   Still, maybe Spencer needs something he didn’t. But that would just ensuring he drew in the fire that was there to be drawn which would paint the target.

    However, he was not about to go in and get his ass shot up. He circled around the complex and came in from another direction constantly changing altitude and direction buzzing it the close byAnd then continuing to where he can duck out of sight.  “Tesla, any response?”

“Not that I see. I’m still checking IR and there haven’t been any heat blooms. Where do you want the van to touch down so we can resupply, Roy?” Teela asked over comms.

Roy grinned at Yates' question.  "Well...it's usually not on this scale, but we're trying to catch up with years of crooked leadership out here.  And we don't always kill people...Elge was one of our targets and Shadow ended up recruiting him.  We're just trying to get things to the point where you guys can keep a lid on the place...break down EDT operations far enough that there's no chance they can compete with you...or worse yet, take you all out and leave us with a safe haven for EDT in the middle of what's supposed to be APF space."

He heard the inquiries about where to rendezvous the vans, and scowled slightly.  "Let's pick a rooftop outside the ring around our target...speed's more important than stealth, right now, but don't have everyone land together there...let's keep some eyes on the target and rotate through who needs to pick stuff up.  Teela, you go first, as soon as Garrat's back in position for sniper duty.  We'll go in as you leave."

“Roger that. I’m seeing some activity in the target building but I can’t make it out. The building was made to block this kind of recon.” Teela banked and headed for the landing site to resupply.

   Garrat returns and sets up. "I'm not the best sniper.  Think they can approve Lyri for light duty?  She lives for these things and I imagine she's chomping at the bit right now."

  Sims   said,well?  There   another    4 stroy, about a Block from the beach..lots of trffic  being Funneled that way... vehicles  going up and  down?.. don't know who much  they  will Notice.... I'll Land.. we'll wait , they may think we are just party Buddies  or something.

  He ehads to wards the Building  about  3 blocks  to the  5:00  from  the target building.

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

 Yates nods,..I was a trooper  before  you guys came in... damn hard for a woman to do  damn near anything... Used to watch Vids of  some of those pilots blowing stuff up... flying  right up there  with the Big  guys?...

 That Sniper  chick?... Lyri?  I didn't know it was her  until   that big gy said her name...she's like a hero to alot of  us  ground troops...

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

 Shadow's  Voice  came over the COMs.....made some  good time....though there is a   deliver van that  couldn't   quite  understand my need  for  speed..  I guess  they'll have insurance for that?.... anyway.. breaking out of the stem in  1 minute..

 YAtes  frowns,..then again..guys like that?.. I'd  rather see flying in space, then  running around my station.

"Roger that, moving into position" Harry said as she moved the van to move round the outer ring of media vans currently watching the pretty young things skinny dipping in the rooftop pool. Tearing her eyes away from the party taking place a short distance away Harry would take a moment study the target building and it's surrounding grounds "There's a gate to the East of the property leading to the mountains that could be used as an entry point...though you'd have to deal with at least a pair of Wort handlers" she suggested when the topic of landing sites came up, though not before reminding Will that he was still in her bad books "oh well I'm sorry my choice of mission didn't live up to your exacting standards" she sneered as she continued to maintain her current flight path around the party building, as she waited for the others to decide on a landing zone.

  Sims   LAnded.   Supe  , Zob  and Hemsly got out, they left the weapons in until the others  came around.
..................

 Will looked  at Little wounded , but  shrugged   as he  went  back to  watching the COMs, he was  but  a trooper, and didn't  know the ways of women.

 ..So?.. SM? This whole 'August-guy' thing?... if we had  word on him.. why wasn't he iced as soon  as he introduced himself at the party?

 Shade  styarted  to    explain   with a myriad of  npoices and  arm waving, then he stared at   Will...

 Will looked   at the others  and BAck to Shade,..sorry..Ambassador?.. but.. i don't understand....

 Shade just let out a metallic  sigh...

 YAtes  looked at Shade, then to  Roy...wait?..Ambassador?... That's... him?