#19 seems to be in good shape. Most of the tubing is in perfect condition, some just slightly worn, but nothing needing immediate attention. Travelling while in a vacuum has been good on the planes. Some fresh fluids, a bit of TLC, and the hellcat is good to go.

   His smile grew as each check he made,..ah...That's  My Lady, isn't it...already ta go... well.. be   gettin' out  there in  a bit. We have to check out the outside of our  new home, make  sure she ain't hurtin'...

 ..then, I'm gonna try and help the folks see ta yer cousins and such... me an; you might be nasty out there, but its gonna  take  a few more  blokes and sheila's to protect  out home...

 He gives his  fighter  a  gentle pat on the fuselage, then he grabs a clipboard,  and a pen  and  goes from  Fighter to fighter, writing down the numbers  and looking at the cockpit for the names of the pilots, seeing if any came from  the Aussie academy, or perhaps he knew from war games and such.

None of the names ring any bells, except for one.

Yuri Timochev.

A man Kray knew all too well. A PAK-FA pilot that had thwarted him in every wargame he had been in, and one that usually rivalled him in scores. Where Shadow was one of the most well known pilots in australia, Timochev was almost a household name in Russia.
His name was on #1. His rank... Commander. So where was he, and if he was still in cryo, why wasn't he awake yet? If the guy was going to be commanding the squadron, he should most likely be awake to run things.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:46, Wed 15 Mar 2017.

 As he got to the  fighter, he shrugged off the #1..90% of the piltos wanted that number.

 But  when he looked at the cockpit where the name was stenciled, He frowned....bloody 9 hells!... bad enough fer this... jackass  ta follow me around..now?..I'm bloody stuck with the....

  Stopping, he looked around..Marco?.... where is Yuri Timochev....?

   he jumped   down from the wing and   continued on to check off the other pilots. makes a side  note  for himself. on a separate sheet..where they flew from...

Commander Timochev is in pod 86 Kray. He is peacefully asleep.

 ..Thank You...Marco..

  Marco..Conect me  To Captain ..I mean..LT Maxwell, Please?

  After cataloging the rest of the pilot's he   walks over to the work stations  and begins to  sort out who came from where.

"Will you please not touch my babies unless asked," a voice with a slight asian accent startles Kray as he works on the lists. "You are pilot, you fly. I am engineer, I will keep them in shape. Do not interfere with my work. Go do usefull things. Sleep or something." Tech Sergeant Kong-We Lu walks up to the first hellcat, eyeing Kray with suspicion. She drags a tool cart behind her, and two other men in gray coveralls carry more toolboxes in after her.

  Shadow turned with an overly hurt look on his face, ..Fighters... are my family..and that one... I my Lady...I may not be able to do everythin' you do to keep her happy?... But  i can  help..besides?..She likes havin' me around, don't ya know?

  Looking left and  right he says,..so?..what does it take, fer me  at get  my Lady  in the Black, and have a look see  of our home?..It could answer alot of Bleedin' questions?...or?.. won't  answer a bloody one... either way?.. me and My Lady get to go fer a ride?

I get to nineteen when i get to nineteen. You are in the way. You want to fly, go to next hangar, maybe take shuttle. Maybe blow yourself up outside if broken. Captain say Lu, prepare fighters, so I prepare fighters.

Seemingly angry the tech sergeant snatches open the engine hatch of number One and shines a flashlight inside the fuselage. The two other mechanics look at Kray and shrug, a look of apology on their faces. They then get to work on Two and Three.

   Shadow turns  takes a few steps towards the fighter #1,..The Bloody Jerk who flies  that ship..is  still a bleedin' popsicle... I was out  of mine, and helpin' folks  work on the ship, before they even thought of anyone else.... I'm the only bloody bloke  who can fly one of these, who's  walkin' about right now..AND!...we bloody need ta see what the outside of the ship looks Like...

 So?...SGT Kong-We bloody Lu..Until some one with more  bloody brass comes  down here... Yer gonna get  #19 up and ready... and  THAT is a Bleedin' order!

 maybe it was her  attitude..or..the strain of the whole battery thing..or maybe it was she  went to the #1  fighter...what ever it was,it  tripped the wire.

Lu shot Kray a deadly glare, twirling her wrench in her left hand.
You pilot all the same. All do this do that. Let me tell you, lieutenant... This is MY deck. My hangar. You do not order. You request! Your rank mean nothing on my deck. I know you want go outside. You will. Patience!
She turned and continued her work on number one,ignoring Shadow further.

In an attempt to de-escalate the situation one of the other mechanics, a young man with Hanschel on his nametag, quickly rolled his cart to number 19.
I'll get her ready sir, you suit up. Forgive Lu, she's how do you say... stubborn... when it comes to these jets. Its a long story, not up to me to tell you about though.

  He looks  at Kong-We,..I ain'[t no bloody  spiut  and polsih  Offcier.. I earned my damn bars.. 10 times over.. not like that.....he waved to  the # 1  fighter.

 But  there's  two things   i don't bloody stand fer,  and that's somethign that hurts  my  fighter..and somethign that stop s me from doing my job...

  He walks over to his   ship ,..bleedin' russian might even be dead, and she's  workin' on his   gods be damned  plane?..there  could be somthing on the Hull right now..waitin' to bloody go off..so? she damn well better  get used to rank..'cause   ya disrepect me, i can be a right proper bastard...


 Looking at his hands as he reached  Hanschel, hands him the clipboard,..I did  preflight on all the  bloody figthers , before  the  called the conference he  motions to his  ship,..Lady checks out.. might need to  slip in some oil on some parts, but she's  good  enough for a bloody go 'round the MArco.... there were some little stuff on  the other  fighters... i have it marked down...

 Then  he pats the fellow's should,  his calmness returning,..thank ya,  i know ya didn't have ta do that..on the Adelaile  we treated  a grounds crew better then most, cause they kept us flyin'... we ain't never  had a NCO push buttons like that.... anyway, after i get the flight suit on.  i'll help the best I can with Lady..

Once you got your suit on, taxi her to hangar 2, I'll open the doors. Once in there I'll close em and open the bay doors. Cant have a vacuum here sucking us into space, and bay 2 isn't in use.

Hanschel grinned as he quickly checked the clipboard.

She's not so bad once you get to know her. Brilliant mechanic too. She just has... issues is the word I think?

   Kray chuckled, feeling a bit better,..aye  Mate..but don't we all...grew up.. me  father was clippin' sheep, and me mother was working the truck stop... if it wasn't fer  Football, i'd never seen university...then  the NAvy  bloke popped up  showing me this magazine..and i right took to it , i did...but every Bloody step o' the way, there was some bastard like Timochev..had all the answer, an' all the money..me?  all i had  was skill..  he winked,An' a bloody short temper.

 he  moves  to find his   Suit. checks the seals and all, gets  fitted up  with  his   weapons  secured on the suit.

 when he gets back to the  aircraft, He looks at the fellow and says,..now?  what i'm bloody hopin' fer is  i don't see a damn thing, and i come back in after a coup  laps up and  down  the top and bottom of MArco..but if  I see  somethin'..I'm callin'  right  away..somethin' isn't right..I'm just hopin' we took bloody care of it , before everyone woke up...

  he Climbs into   the aircraft and ctraps in. setting his pad on his knee, and  flicked the switches...hear the   engines warm up..using the   taxi thrusters to lift her  a foot of the deck. and ease her out of the  flight line...How's my Lassie then?..Feeling like a proper bird... Now..lets see if any buggers  messed with out home...

  'Lady' taxied  towards  Hanger 2..  the aircraft hovered in place..its wings  wiggled abit, almost as if it was  as ready to go As Shadow.

 Hookingout the  cockpit, He  grined at Hanshel.. when he opened the door, he gave the Salute as if Hanshel was a deck boss...easing  Lady out...  then fired off a few 100 yards  away from the ship...

 He banked  her  around  until he  was at the  bow end of the ship...on top... then began to make a slow cruise over the top. Looking  for anything, that may seem out of place.

<<<<<<<<  Shadow from space

 Entering the  Hanger..he hovers on thrusters, waiting to see where they what Lady Parked. Thinking he's the first one up..he should be able to hop in and Go  in a Moments notice.

  When the Time  comes , he updates his Log Book, Taps in the keys to lock his disc, so  it cannot be added to..or more important..deleted from.. then ejects the Disc,  Putting it  in his pocket to keep with him, until they  he finds out who the adjutant is. if they even have one.. Until then, he'll hang onto it.

 He Profoundly thanks Hanschel,..Thank Ya , Mate.. you don't know how mucg you helped..an'  i didn't bloody well go out there, while... we may have  added to the sheep muck we're treadin' now..I'm makin' it appoint to let the brass know that, fer certain..

  Hanging Up his  Suit and placing his log book in the locked section of his locker., then locking the locker ..He  calls out to MArco,..Marco? LT SHadow here...  Please    Ask  Lt Maxell to meet me in Cyro?.... Thank you


>>>>>>  Shadow to Cryo

<<<<<<<<<<<  from  Med tech

   Walking down the passage way, he shook his head,..he bloody 'elped  save the   bleedin' ship?...and this is his reward? he whispered  darkly. His eyes  narrowed a bit.

 Once he entered the Hnagers, he walked  down the flight lines towards his ship...but his eyes were looking down range..at Hanger 3...and?..could he see an entrance to hanger 4?

As Shadow reaches number Nineteen the first thing he notices are the tool carts around his fighter. The rear engine cover is resting one one of them, and the rear end of Techie Hanschel is just barely sticking out above the fuselage.
Every now and then some cursing resounds from where the man has his head inside the Hellcat, working on replacing all the age old tubing.
Somehow he senses Shadow's arrival though, popping up with a grin.
"I'll have her done in the morning. Readout gave a .2 delay on the right rudder response. Nothing you'd notice in flight, but it was there... Once I'm done she'll be as new."

Looking down the line, Kray can easily see Hangar 2, where the shuttles are lined up neatly. The doors to hangar 3, which should contain the dropships, are still closed. No way to see anything there, let alone find out if there is access to a bay 4...

  He smiled at Hanchel,..Thanks , Mate. Just came  down to Look her over.

 who do I have  to see about  takin' out the other craft?...figure  i take them out , throw them around The Black for  10 minutes or so,  and you folks can see what they need? Like ya did with Lady 'ere.

 ..be nice to have more then one  Craft that can fly, eh? Even if i'm the only bloke walkin' about to fly them....we dunno what's out here...an' ya gotta believe   we ain't the only ones  who can fly...

 he stands  watching as he waits for an answer, he'll hand in tools  if  he is asked.

... after  a bit, not  wanting to bother the guy, Shadow  went  for a walk to Hanger  2.... and then saw if he could get into hanger 3.

   If he  could get into Hanger  3 , he would check out the machines there as well. and work his way across the hanger to see if the  was a door  for hanger 4.

Access from two to three was as easy as the others. Sliding doors for personell, and huge bay doors for equipment or even the crafts themselves.
Immediately Shadow notices neither of those options for a fourth hangar. Nothing inside bay three even remotely suggests there is another bay behind it.

Entering bay three Shadow also immediately notices there is one dropship missing. Several transport carts line up around the place where it should be, all with completely dead batteries. Someone transported stuff here, loaded it up, and left the carts. Most likely a long time ago too.

The dropships themselves are things of pure beauty. At least four times the size of a fighter, twice the size of the older model dropships, they can contain two explorer vehicles each, or enough gear to set up a small group of people on a planet immediately. The modular design of their cargo bay makes transporting the bigger building units easier, its almost plug-and-play.
Kray remembers them from simulated trainings, but its the first time he actually sees them 'in the flesh'.

   At first he looks at the   aircraft with a bit of awe, but moves  to the  wall where the 4th Hanger  should be.. after checking it out  He Shrugs.

 , He'll have to check put the P-ways see if there is something from the otherside..or even on top..there would have to be an entrance..that was easy..do people and...'cargo'..could be loaded?


   Making Certain to  not touch anything , he hits  his COM......LT Maxwell?  This is LT  Shadow? I am in Hanger Bay  3.... there is a  spot where  a Drop ship is missin'..with a buncha  transport cart..bnatteries  are all dead... don't know if you want ta check it out?..Shadow out...

 He then moves the   one of the drop ships that are still there,  and checks it out, see if he can board it.

  The Pilot COMs back  Maxwell, ..LT SHadow .... Yeah.. gave the stuff a pretty wide  berth, just checked the batteries on the cart... I'm down here  checking out the   other drop ships.. waiting  to see if  i can take other fighters out to shake the dust off them.

The remaining dropships look to be in good order, about the same as the shuttles and fighters. That was to be expected, they had been in vacuum for the past century, and as such corrosion had been hardly an issue. Kray had expected that much.
His search for access to a fourth hangar came up empty, no access was available from here. Maybe from the R&D section that was right above where he suspected hangar 4. According to his virtual maps they were right on top of it.
For now he was checking dropships.
Pulling a lever on the first he lowers the large ramp, granting him access to to the innards of the beast. It had a large loading bay with hooks and clamps everywhere to secure cargo. A secured door lead to the cockpit.

  Waking in, and talking a look about, he'll head to the cockpit, to have a looksee . Though he hasn't handled a drop ship like this, it  couldn't be much different  then a shuttle.
 As he   sees if he can enter,  he sends a  COM to the Major,..Major?  This  is LT Shadow. I was  wondering if i could get the ok, ta  take the other fighters out...say?  10 Minutes a pop or so... give the  Tech down here and the.....SGT... some to get readouts off of..so far? mine is the only one  we know is active, and Hanschel is tweaking it now?

"That will be fine Lieutenant. However, first I'd like you to get to hangar bay two and take out shuttle 4. Take her for a spin, get a feel for the hovering mode. You'll be needed to take out a team in say an hour and a half. They will be repairing the number three engine, and will need an operating base. Dress for vacuum, they will be walking outside. And make sure the walking wires are all working please, don't want any of the engineers drifting off into the expanse."