The  War Room sits on the   bridge level  near the  Admiral's  Quarters  and the Ambassador's quarters.

  the Board and the Admiral will talk over moves to be  made her... and ay times.. call in the officers who will need  to have input.

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

   Captain Bull For the   sat  down.  The Orderly brought him food and drink as well as   snacks and such for the others.

   Hack send   word  to Shadow  and  Spencer to  come up to the war room at their earliest convenience ...

  Morris  poured a drink.. Rivets  looked over the Snacks... Hennings  Arrived.. BAle  had to use a hover chair for the time being.

 The two Sanri and Occui ambassadors  were there.

  Commander Si took a seat near  Map able and began to key up the GAmma Quad.

 ..Relax  for a Bit, Captain.  My SEC Chief and the LC will be along shortly, as well as the..um.. Verian  Ambassador.

  For the  takes a drink and  beings to eat some  steak tips... I have heard you got a Verian Manned Vessel  out here... no small  thing there.. they never leave thier  Quad, let alone, send  an Ambassador.

 Hack looked around at the smiles    as he answered,..well the ship was a captured  Oil Lords  ship.. and  after the Battle at The Line... some Verians saw fit  to help the fight....As for the Ambassador..he was  already here.... we just promoted him, when the Verians  refused to aid us before the fight..

 Forth Nodded as he  ate a bit...too fast.....still it will be  good to hear his views on  the upcoming choices you need to make....

 <<<<<<<<< from SEC

  Shadow and Shade entered  the   war Room, they both saluted the room, in general.. Only the CAptain  gave a formal slaute, the rest were pretty easy going.

 ..CAptain Forthe... this is LC SHadow, my WC for the Hermes, and the Fleet... This  is  Ambassador  Shade Shadow... representing  the Verians  forces.

 The CAptain stayed seated as he  ate and drank...I have  heard of the LC, Of  Course.. you have  80 some Kills, do you not?

 Shadow handed  Shade a soda from the bar,  and took one himself,...97 , Captain.  And 18  Confirmed  Ground Targets....

 Morris clears his throat,..they LC takes alot of pride  in his  fighters taking out enmeies on the ground

  Forthe  smiles,..If he stills lives, you'll have to talk to my WC.. Captain Moggle.. he has  18 Kills and   4 Ground Kills... his people ..well.. don't like  getting too near the ground.

 ..well, Sir,  Moggle needs a wake up call.......the difference between the   Empire and the   APf, is the APF  protects its  people.. The Empire  just feeds theirs into the grinder.....

 ..I believe ,  LC.... that  CAPTAIN.. Moggle feels, losing  an aircraft to ground  fire, is not a fair trade off for.,...

 ...for other men's lives?   Captain ?   .... MOGGLE..... he said the  word as loud  as   Forthe  said the  word'captain'......is the kind of pilot that  gives  fighter Jocks a bad name..

 For the stabbed his   steak tip a bit harder,..Perhaps..... Mr  Shadow.. you need to fly in  his place for...

 Shade whistled a bit..  and Forthe looked at him..

 ..The Ambassador  suggest that you shut up..before you turn this   briefing into a brawl... I agree.... Because... CAPTAIN.. you will lose...

 Hack stepped in,..That's enough....  CAptain Forthe?  I wager to say  you don't have  anyone  in your  fleet who  could Compete with  Shadow..... SHadow..... Captain Forthe is not  in a very good mood.. he lost control of his ship to Bugs.. he  was ordered  to  report the SIT REP in the GAmma Quad.

 .. Indeed?..  I am certain he doesn't have  any one  in his fleet, who could  complete with any of the Hermes Pilots..period....and? Perhaps if his  fighters  gave  ground support.. the  Bugs  wouldn't have had their  boarding Shuttles reach his  ship...

   Forthe  stood  slowly.....you have  no idea  how to  Handle a situation like  I had... his  voice  was low and Full of anger..

  Shadow  shrugged and grinned,..I know i didn't lose a ship..a whole goddam ship!

  Si.. reaches out ,  and Pushed Shadow  Back from the Table.. surprising  everyome ( maybe  Shadow the most) ENOUGH...  Kray!  The man is embarrased enough..... and you, CAptain.. would do well  to learn from your betters.... Now?... relax.. we'll give the SM a few minutes.. then we'll proceed...
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:46, Fri 27 Oct 2017.

  Hack, Si and Shadow all look at their COMs.

  ..there seems to be some....excitement ...on the  docks.  While  we wait on  the SGT MAJ. Perhaps  Admiral Hennings  can tell us about Etna Space?

  Hennings Unrolled his Vidboard and opened  up the files.. handing it to Commander Si to tape into the Holo-map.

 ...Towards Largran Space is the Planet Aqra... 90% is covered  in Fresh water. Because of this, it has become a Hub for  merchants and traders. They spend   a few creds  for tankers jugs  and containers of  water.. and sell it  for Max  profit  to colonies, ships and stations...according to the reports, its nothing to see a Tanker ship as big as the Hermes with Ships from both sides of the  war, hooked up to buy water...

 ..on Aqra.. are the Aqrains ...  or..Fish folk. There  are three main types... The Alphas, or Humaniod types...  They look a bit like a cross between a Skith and a Human.. gig  eyes and wide mouths?.. but some are rather . pleasing  to the eyes, by human standards... and... yes  we can mate with them... Aqrains  try to discourage that, because the HUamn side seems to take over.. and breeds out  the  fish side of the family in  as little as  1 generation.... Halfbreeds  tend to  be light blue skinned.. though there are light green skinned as well...  The Alphas have Gills and  lungs, but are slower in dry land... they have  very few arid areas, as they have  most industry under water, or Under rhgound..so their  forests and Jungles  run wild... there are limited  'human' towns, for  renegades or  colonists  that managed to make their own way there...Alphas need  to  get wet  once or twice a day.. in space, their  suits keep their bodies moist..

 ..The  second Group is the HAlfbreeds... They are considered as second class citizens, but do have a say in some of the local goings on.... Again.. they  seem to favor their human side.. but?... LArgans are  bred out for some reason.... Demons..as far as we know, have only been using Aqrains  for food... if they are  using them for breeders.. we have  found anything...

 ..The Last group are the  'Followers'... they are Breeders..pure and simple, from thier eggs come  the Alphas and other followers.. one out of every  5 eggs  is an Alpha.. the rest are Followers... They tend to be  built  stronger..but less  intelligent.. we'll find  them in the  ground  troops and Labor... but none will be seen in command or flying   aircraft....

 He looks at Shadow,we have  Trotugan contacts  that....have  contacts on Anzio.. we are trying to get more intel on thier  fighters?... but the only thing we know for certain, they fly  in space, in the air, and under water...and?  thier pilots  seem to know, no fear.

 ..well , except For the whole, water thing? We heard the same  about Demon pilots... and i seen plenty of them run...

 Forthe  snorts as he eats...

 ..of  course we see them running, because we don't run ourselves.....


  The CAptain looks at Shadow with narrowed eyes.. Si merely stares at Shadow and shakes her head.

  Lastly.... Hennings  clears  his throat,.... there are two small moons, around  earth size... one has   ore we could use... there are some wildcat miners there.. low  atmo.. helmets need  for prolonged  walks and such..... the other is a bit Bigger, and Closer to Aqra.. has tries  and some water... there are only  Aqarian Ourposts there, and one 'city' of sorts.. it was a small sea... but many  lakes... some small time  traders will land there to trade for   waster and crops....

  he adds,..Aqarians eats small mammels, insects  and  birds... they will hunt and Kill larger mammals  for  big feasts and such......thier favorite food? he loonhs  around  with a bemused  chuckle,..Creshians...

From Etna...the docks...

Roy walked in, snapping a perfunctory salute.  "Sorry I was delayed...things got messy at the boarding area."  His t-shirt had traces of bloody hand prints...likely from his hands, which had Clye's blood drying on them...and in contrast with the bloodstains on his pants.  "Looks like Eclipse is still in operation, and I'm not just talking about Lady V's video taunting.  Lyri took over for me, or I'd be stuck out there dealing with media and Etna SEC..."  He looked around the room as he explained, gauging reactions, and identifying the captain from Matterhorn.

  Ahhh.. SGT MAj.... This is CAptain Bull Forthe, he commands..

 ..commanded....

 Forthe's fork stabbed   the steak tip harder.. Si hissed at  Shadow.

 Clearing his throat, HAck  continued,..COMMANDS.. The ESN MT00 Reinhold Ewald ..  It is presently  under siege by Bugs.... Admiral  Richards sent   some troops in, and had one of her flagship's shuttles  bring him here..

 Henning s   printed out  a sheet, handing it to Roy,..that's what i could pull from Lights POut in  the  Alpha  Quad..... The CAptain is going to give us a run down, of what's happeing there.. if he and Shadow can refrain from bickering over   tactics...

 shade  just gave a low  falling whistle.

  Shadow gives a stage whisper, to Roy,.. the CAptain seems to favor  his WC's   idea, that aircraft aren't for   airs upport...

  For the stabs  another  steak tip  as he glowers at Shadow...Si said  softly,..I can send you to check on your   aircraft if you rather. LC?

 ..no..no..Thank you Ma;am..I'm  just fine here..

 Rivets  gave   Shadow a wing and nod.. Morris  just gave him a 'warning  shake' of his ehad.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:19, Sat 28 Oct 2017.

Roy gave a nod to Captain Forthe, before turning to Shadow.  "I'd appreciate you sparing the editorial commentary, LC.  I just had to put a torniquet on what was left of one of trooper's arms, and if Lyri hadn't come along to spell me off, I'd probably be busy explaining to Etna's media the reason we're dismantling a news van full of C-10, right there on our front doorstep.  It's barely past lunchtime, and I've already had a helluva day.  I'd like to hear the captain out and decide for myself whether his current status is due to bad luck, lack of proper support, or possible incompetence."  He had too much respect for Shadow to tell him to put a sock in it and shut up...but his tone made it pretty clear that he did, indeed, mean something in that vein of thought.

"Go ahead, Captain...give us the full rundown.  We're already aware of Etna's lackluster execution of the war effort...some of us just had a very graphic reminder of it.  What else do we need to know?"

  For the Nodded  to Rou, as he took a  sip of Coffee. He did pass a Glare at Shadow, who just grinned  back.

  ..Well, I hope you all forgive me  for eating as  i talk, but i did not have access to  my quarters  and my cook was killed, so i  had to survive of Rec Dec food... Pointing to the Holo-map  he nods to  Commander Si and she  Brings up   the Matterhorn.. Dozens of green  and Red Dots surrounded the Station. Pointing with his fork to the upper half ( which did not  sit  well with  Si ) he   Then asked for A Pull out so the Uppers  were visible, as well as showing the majority of colored dots...

 One  Dot was orange...The Orange ship is mine.. i hit the 'mayday' button  before leaving the Bridge...

 Hennings  asked  as  he looked over the display,..how many enemy vessels?

  Unkown  Admiral Hennings...  if you watch the display, in real time, they  keep winking out  and  appearing elsewhere. They are doing this, i assume, so we cannot get  real numbers on their numbers  ...and..

  HAck held up a HAnd,..LT  MIller.. he said as he opened   the Room COM,..Please  have   Lt Ore Step into the warroom?

 Aye   Sir, Already Done...

 shortly a Small LT woman, Blonde hair, blue  eyes and a bit  shy,stepped through the doors,..Lt Ore ..um.. Reporting , Sir?

  Si Brought up a real  time view of the Matterhorn and brought the  CAM out so  the whole of the station and tiny dots  could be seen...

 The  lights were  , indeed , winking out  or  popping up a  different laces  on the display.

 , Lilly?  tell us , your  best count of the  Red Dots...please. Hack asked  , gently.

 Lilly looked at the Screen,  For the began to say something   m But Hack waved him to silence.... after a good  2 minutes she  said,..um... Sir... there   are...um... 27  enemy dots.. That stay on...and..um...um...14 that  wink on and off?....

 For the  said,..how can she... and  again he was waved off to silence.

 ..anything else.. LT?

 um... yes  sir?... the..um.. winking ones?... they are in the same places..Just like the Unwinking ones?..except they are..you know... winking...

 ..Thank YOu  LT...Please return to your station...

 Lily   saluted, spoared a smile  for    Commander  Si and left.

 ..I hope you aren't  going by what....

 Hack  stopped him by  interrupting Lt Ore.... Lilly.. is a Savant of sorts. She had  struggled in the academy, where she  got in, mostly due to her father's  Cred stack... Commander Si had her  for  a class is statistics.. and found, Lilly could count..almost anything, in a matter of minutes....We tested her with Cans of beans.. trunks  of .45  rounds.. people  walking across the academy center at lunch time... she was right.. almost always to the  number...

 Almost??

 Si  Spoke up,she was off by  2 fighters   during the BAttle on Bura, that  freed the planet.. and was off  by so 20   Demon troopers   on the battle field.. before forth could say anything she  went on,..the  fighters  were a bit harder for her to count, because EVOLs were involed and their  dots  were showing up as  orange, instead of  red... The   troopers  numbers  were off because some fighters strafed the field, and she had trouble with   the math of how many legs and arms  would make a 'whole' trooper.

 ..So , with that.. we know there are at least 51 cap  ships in the area to yours  16?... The support ships   can sort themsleves out  as we get closer...

  .. we do not have  16 Cap ships.. we lost 4 when they first broke  through.. so we have 12....

  ....11 and a half... he pointed to the oanage dot.

 Sit rep #2

 Hack  glanced  cross ways  at Shadow before   asking,what is the Sit Rep on  the  008?

   Forthe bit off the steak  tip as he glared  at Shadow, then  continued to talk around his bite of  food,.. The   Boarded  from    the   bridge and OB  deck.. and began to  fight their way down We  lost the Bridge and   Offcier's  quarters.. the OB  Deck nas the  Enlisted  sections to amidships.

there is a constant  battle  on the officers  deck with them trying to break through to the   Engine  room.. the  Foundry has  sealed  all the door  by welding Plates we have a hand  full for troopers on each level of the  engine rom.. The Civies   as   still working the foundry to make   plates to   cover the  doors  again...and  again.... The HAnger Dec  is a mess.. when I left we had   one  flight of  fighters  that haven't launched the others   have either been shot  down.. or  go to  The Matterhorn, to re-arm . Our MArines  are using our  shuttles  to   help blockade the hanger dec.. but the  Bugs  keep send    boarding shuttled  into the deck.. for some reason.. they want to capture the ship...

 ..when i left?..  we had some 30 troopers   on the hanger dec.. maybe  another  20 in the  engine room...

 what about the Civies?

 aboput half  were evacted to Matterhoorn.. the other half,  have barricaded themselves in  their section..

 Med-Tech?  SEC?

 ..safe  for now.. but it won't be if they just send   waves of  bugs into the hanger Dec.

 ..ok?.. the   thing is dire... we understand... but i need to know? how the 9 hells they boarding shuttles  lock on..and stay on your ship...and? take the damn Bridge?

 Before   Bull  could say anything, Hennings  and Bale  both asked,..Indeed.. that ..quite frankly  should not  have happened... what was your fighters doing at the time..

 ..Captain Moggle was enagaged  with  enemy fighters. and...

 ..you mean the fighters they sent as a distraction so their  boarding shuttles  could   land in peace?... yet..not one  fighter tried to stop them?

  For the stood,..My WC felt it was more import to eliminate  the   Enemy  air cover...

 ..fine.. they wanted to rack up kills?.. But one flight?.. 9 hells.. 1  fighter?.. couldn't spare the  time to  shoot the parasites off your hull?

 ..Captain Moggle did not want to risk damage  to the ship  by having his fighters  make  runs  on the shuttles... he  said   with  an iron voice.

 ... yeah... sure.... because?  losing your whole gods-be-damned upper deck and most of the 2nd  Dec...is  wayyyyy better.

  For the  pounded the table,..I'll not have   my Commanded  second guessed  by some  playboy  pilot!

 Hennings   stood  and Poured himself and BAle  a cup of Coffee, then Looked to Shadow and Roy to see if they wanted one,... Yes...Captain Forthe.. you will...even..if  we take the ship back... or  even if we have to scuttle it, with all hands  on board... The Bugs  now have  all the information that you have had on your fleet.. your stations  and anything else.. dec plans for   every   ESN Curiser ,with the only variance , being the number of fighters and MArines, a  Commander chose   for his or her vessel...

 ..how  would you have handled it?.... LC?

 Shade   made   chuckling sounds  as the Sanri and Occui were shaking their heads.

 A very least?   we would have split  our   wing  to  give airsupport to the  fighters that would have   blown the shuttled off the hull..regardless.. of a bit of damage...That's it... problem of boarding..solved... any shuttle within hailing  distance would have  been brought down... by doing that?  You don't lose  your   AA guns..

 ..you are speaking on hindsight...

 ..I am speaking as a  WC who's first  job, is to protect his ship..

 For the  sat down, and  dug into his food  one more time, Hennings  Gave Shadow a cup of coffee with a wink, and one for Roy, whether he asked for one or not.

 well?.. that  makes our choice easier... I'll send Sevente to Anzio,  and the Delta fleet heads  to Matterhorn...  Roy?. You'll  be taking two Duces  to the MT 008 to try and retake..or.. scuttle the ship... we won't let that ship  fly against us.

 For the  looked at  Roy,then to the Admiral  I'll leave for  the ship  as soon...

 ..No?..  YOu'll be in your shuttle with some extra  troopers.... SN?  You have  any questions   for the CAptain?

Roy frowned slightly, contemplating the logistics and potential scenarios.  "A few, actually.  For now, we'll leave any questions about how they ended up in that condition unasked...won't help fix it."  He gave Forthe a frank look.

"What's the ammunition status of your crew, and what kind of armaments are they using?"  He began ticking off points as he asked questions, marking two for what he'd just asked.  He continued, "Are we going to have to run every command through you, or are your men independent enough that they'll follow directions from us?  How xenophobic are your men...if we have some Sanri or Occui troopers go in with us, are they in danger of friendly fire?"  Two more questions checked on his fingers.

"How many of your men have actual ground-combat experience, versus some Academy training or boot camp, and then just being part of the ship's crew?"  With a finger of his right hand now laying across all the digits of his left, he stopped, and looked at Forthe again.

"That should do, for a start..."

    For the finished his meal  waving for the orderly to come take it  away, and pointed to his  glass without a word .

 THis caused  HAck, Si and the others to frown a bit.

  No, SGT  MAJ... we  don't  kill allied    aliens... though we have killed a few who manned  pirate Vessels when we  came  upon them boarding transports and merchants...

 ..Id they are  wearing  ESN  Blue.... they have no fear.

  The  Troopers Admiral Richards  sent,  have flamethrowers.. hard ammo and, of course standard issue Pulse guns... We had an Angel Elite sniper team.. but only one of them is alive, when i left..... we  are using   Frags and  Concussion grenades  on the Officer's Dec, since  it has been taken over...


 Thge  Hanger Dec   has been  Blocked off  pretty well.. we are trying to protect that last  flight of fighters... I think we have  3   pilots  left who are  waiting for the chance to launch.. but   that is were the battle is most intense.... if we lose the HAnger Dec.. we'll lose the QM.... that won't be good.

 .. we ha d  one mech.. but  it went up when thier  first shuttle landed... Like they knew it was there...

  He  looked at his  glass with distain as he waited for the orderly to fill it. Si couldn't take it any longer as she said,..The Bottle is there  for you to use, CAptain. The rest of us  get up and get our own from the sideboard.

  A Glance at  the Commander showed a bit of annoyance, but he  let out a breath of  air and poured himself  another glass...My people are  built  for  fighting  on a ship...most times  other  ships.. but some times    Ours..and...

 ..wait..wait..... This isn't the first time you were boarded?

 An angry look,..you have  no idea what kind of   combat we fight out here.... and?.. were you not  boarded  recently?

 Bale  laughs ,..quite a differant  story... we grappled  with  the Hyrian Flagship.. the Admiral was   ready to board her,, when thier   Admiral   charged  across  the boarding Tunnel..... they didn't make it much past the flight line...

 Morris  nodded as he remembers   firing on the boarders,..yes... quite  right.. they reacehd the stage.. tried to swarm past, but didn't  past  further then that... I thin two of them reached Bio-tech...The  Ambassador... he pointed to Shade,..killed one.. I think his  aid killed or  finished of the other...

 The  CAptain  took a deep drink and  topped off his glass again,..perhaps your luck  will hold then...  if you deceide to help us, ratgher then hold Sevente's hand?

Roy scowled more deeply.  "I appreciate the fact that you've been fighting largely unsupported out here, Captain, but you'd be smart to keep a couple of things in mind...the first is, the Delta Fleet largely chased the Demons out of the Delta Quad.  They still operate around Olympus...but only because Admiral Hack decided our resources were better spent taking the war to them, rather than trying to clean up every pocket of activity.  And the Delta Fleet started out as only two ships...and one of those wasn't even ESN.  A large portion of the Fleet is comprised of prize vessels, captured and repurposed.  You look out there, you'll see Demon ship designs, I think even a couple of Avian and Largran ships.  Like I told Sevente, we're not here to keep the peace, we're here to win the war.  Considering we've shattered the Demons'  operational capacity in two quadrants...you might just consider keeping a civil tongue in your head, and spare us the constant pissing contest with every officer that comes along.  We get it...you've held Matterhorn with the scantest degree of reinforcement, if you can even call it that, and Sevente's inaction regarding supporting your operations may even be considered gross dereliction of duty...that's for the Adjutants to decide.  But stop snapping at the hand that's trying to help."  He wasn't sure how that would go over...if the Captain was more concerned about his men than his position, he might just take it in good grace.  But it was coming from a non-com...even if it was a Corps-level non-com, and a Captain would not be accustomed to getting dressed down by a sergeant.

He didn't wait for the response, but turned to Hack.  "Admiral, I'd like to request another shuttle be added to our operation.  Sound like a Sanri detachment hitting the Hangar Deck could be a major help to the effort there...if they hit the Hangar and we come in from the Bridge, and one other point, we've got the Creshians in a three-way vice.  If all they've done so far is get boarding shuttles on, we should cut their numbers down pretty fast."

  Hack speaks up,where is   Admiral Richard's Flagship?

  ..When I left, The Sally Ride was about 1000 miles  away from My Vessel... The  transportbase   that send the troopers  was between  us  and the flagship, the fighters  are trying to keep Bugs off the transport....

 Hack nodded slowly,well send out  4 assault shuttles.. the  3  we have , and the  one you arrived in.. One shuttle  will have Felrite troopers ..  the other  two will have  the SGT MAJ's  teams... and the one you arrive in , will have Sanri Troopers

 .... LC SHadow as the Fleet WC will take   over   all charge of  the Air   ops in the Quad  for  this action..

 ..He'll what????

 ..Relax  Captain.. I work with the other  WC's in the area.. I'll be in the air..i don't sit behind a desk, as a WC...

 ..I will get Beth to scramble  a message to inform her  of  everything , but the Shuttles, I'll inform her  of that, once we have launched you...

 who is going to lead  the shuttles?...

 Shadow  chuckled... For the   glowered at him.

 ..The SGT MAJ  will co-ordinate his  3 shuttles.. YOu will lead   the Sanri  Troopers  onto  the Deck of...YOUR..ship

  For the  was  about to say something when Henning  spoke as he tapped  the information into his Vid Board,I realize  you are , unaccustomed to leading  a boarding  party..it hasn't changed  much since  the academy...Admiral HAck was ready to lead our people across the  to the Hyrian Flagship...only the Hyrian Admiral beat us  across the  tunnel....Captain Rivets  and CAptain Morris  accounted   for themselves as well... so..you will understand, how  we feel you would want to board your own ship..

 The Captain looked at  Hennings, who still didn't look up. Shadow was just grinning.

 Hack looked at  Roy,..Roy? figure  out  who and where you are going to hit  the Reinhold Ewald... Lt Hirr  will lead the Felrite  shuttle.

Roy nodded.  "Aye aye, Admiral."  Without hesitation, he said, "My shuttle will go in via the bridge.  I'll have to look more closely at the deck plans and where the Creshians have control to figure out where to best use our other team and the Felrites."  He answered readily...but watched Forthe out of the corner of his eye, deciding whether he'd need to give the Sanri an extra heads-up about the captain's reliability.  He was not particularly careful about whether Forthe saw his measuring gaze...

     With a  quick nod to Si, who brought up the dec plans for the Hermes...The Reinhold Ewald, should have the SAme  Dec Plans as we do.... except  for the Black HAnger, if I am not mistaken, that is the main Gunnery range on  other ships?

  Forthe frowned,... you have a hidden hanger...

  ..you forget, CAptain Forthe, That I designed  my own ship.. just as the Eastern Block captain designed  the HAdes... after our Victory over the Demons at Jupiter  our design was kept by the ESN.... we had a refit a few months later  and  we added more hanger  room and switched out   some broadside weapons..and made some other changes.. it  would not be a good thing, for you to repeat that we have the ..'extra training' space.

  He Looked to Hennings who stood  and  read off his   Vidboard...

  ..we leave in 16 hours......  LC?..   get your  Pilots  briefed.... I  or    Admiral Hack will send along message for you   to co-ordinate  the  Fighter wings ....

 Aye, Sir.

  ..SM?  You'll get your  people together  and can decide on where you want them to Hit... Lt, Ferris  will be the lead of the Sanri troopers... they'll have a  unit of 10..

  ...From what Captain Forthe  has  told us... they have lost  the   Bridge and the officer's Dec, all the way to the engine room.... They have lost the OB dec and enlisted/NCO quarters , all the  way to amid ships.. which means  half the guns are in thier hands  as well...

 ..and... The Hanger Dec  is a no man's land  with  Ewald  troops and those the transport Bases of the  GAmma Fleet  fighting   with the Bugs that have been  landing... Hopefully  Captain Forthe and the Sanri  can turn the tide , by coming from  'behind'

 Shadow cleared his throat, Hack's eyes narrowed as he said,..Do you have something...constructive to say?

 ..Just, Something to ask?  Captain Forthe...other then your  Fighter  wing  Bugging out...

 he grinned at the word..Hack held up a hand to stop him from the  impending  pun..yeah.. well... what  we need to know... how did  the Bugs get into your ship and spread...so fast?... again?... this won't happen to the  Delta Fleet.. because our  fighters won't let them 'take hold'...but even at that?  How did they manage to spread, that far, that fast?

 Captain Forthe's  face colored in anger and embarrassment.....as  i said.. they   boarded us, and spread through the ship... that's  what ...i know...

 Commnader Si looked annoyed at  Shadow,..LC?... I think You should   take a look at your aircraft and see that they are  all ready.

 ..'ang on, Boyo... I'll come with ya.. as they Moved to the  door, Shadow stopped and looked back at Forthe who was staring at him,..one more thing?  CAptain? your shuttle crew?  where are they.. are they being taken care of ?

  ..Yes... The Admiral offered them   food  on the rec dec and use of  spare quarters until  we  return...

 Shadow looked at Roy and then Nodded,..good...good..... He saluted  'the Room' and  salutes  were returned  , He and Rivets walked out the door...

 They walk   through the Bridge were  Rivets waves away 'officer on Dec'..Shadow gives a fist bump to Miller as they pass her.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:47, Mon 30 Oct 2017.

Roy's brow was furrowed in thought.  "So...my team hits the bridge...the Sanri hit the Hangar deck...the Felrites can go in through the Observation Deck...the other Hermes shuttle hits just forward of Engineering."  He looked at Forthe again.  "Can your men in engineering evacuate the atmosphere in the captured sections?  I know the Creshians can operate longer without atmo than humans...but they do still need to breathe.  If there's no atmo, the lack of pressure might also induce the bends...at the very least, it will make it less convenient for them to operate, we'll all be in boarding armor and shouldn't be affected much."

  Giving  Si an impatient roll of his  hand, for her to bring up the   Bridge Deck.

  Si  gave  him a cold stare  but brought it  up...when they first came in... they came in here.... and Here...  the spots he pointed  to was   the  Captain's (since there is no admiral on his ship) Quarters  and the   War room.

 ..They Sealed off the breeches .. the  OB deck , they came in from the windows... they seal that off  the OB Dec  but shutting  doors... they are still bringing in troops  that way.

 he shakes his head   as he looks at the  screens,..we shut the engines  down... there is   enough power  for life support.. keep the  Civies alive and such... we left the lights powered up, because ...most of the Bugs  don't need the light anyway... but it helps us.. so we keep them on...

  Bale speaks up.....I am a Provost.. always have been..since the day i left the academy... but  i know  some tactics  too...not like you folks... but..i have to ask this? Why are they so set on capturing   your ship?..outside of more  food and breeders? what do they have to gain? Why not  just blow it up... one less warship for them to worry about?

 ... We will not know...unless we  can take the ship back...