(( for when   we  start the OPS ))

  The  Party Limo Pulled up,  a few Media  Folks were there... The  group got out, some new  ones  on Board, some others   drifting in later.

 As they walked to the  door, Liine began to follow... Shadow stopped  and Looked  at her, the half smile darker then any she had  seen this night,..ohhhhh no you don't Lady. You had your short... you used me.. you'er  done... pack up, go back to your ship,  'casue you aren't getting  anything else...

 ..Comon Now Shadow.... You used me!

  ..no..i may have surgar coated things  a bit.. but i was up front  with sending that re buttal... you... choce to  hide..anyway? You'er  done..Go home..

 Two Etna SEC showed up.. both  wearing  Delta's under their Etna Patches,..Problem..Sir?

 ..no media allowed  in the  Hotel.... and this woman and her team should be excourted to teh Docks..if you find them near the Grounds, arrest them  for espionage  confine them to Etna SEC, and  tomorrow  sometime, we will take then to  the Hermes to be..questioned....

 ..you wouldn't dare...

 ..Again?  You don't know   me  well enough, or you wouldn't have asked that...

 frans  lays her chin of   Shadow's shoulder,..you should go.... If the Admiral finds out  about the issued  orders  ..well... you'll be doing farm reports on Astra...

 beth  was  egttign out of the  Limo and 'accidently hit the  Cameraman and his Machine hit the ground.. it sparked a bit  and  he started to swear  at her   and she picked up the CAM  and handed it to him,.. I'll let those words  slide, since i know  about equiment..don't  push your Luck...

  the group was   stepping in the elevator as  Liine and her  crew were  'escorted to the   vans.... She was  Bitching up a storm the Cam  fellow  was fussing over his machine , and put it in the  rack next to a few spares...

  The Vans Pulled out.. as the elevator  went  Up.. Beth  Punched  something into her COM and pressed Send... as the   elevator  went up , giving the group a good  view of the lowers at   Night, they saw the back of the Van Blow  Out,  Just as it was  lifting off the Ground.. the    Cab crashed  into the  hedges on the other  side  and   Enta SEC rand to get the  cameraman  and  Liine put of the   battled nose .

 Kree turned to Beth  and said,..I thought you said you'd let it slide?

 ..i did.... I popped a Tab in the Camera to try and destroy what records they have..i mean? its still  on tape  in the media ship..but..anything they hadn't sent yet, is gone... had  I sued  two?  both of them would  be burning now...

 Flores   Giggles   ..Nasty Little Techie....

 ..you must , not blow me up.. i would be very sad... the others laughed  as  Shadow watched   a med tech Van come to take the two away... the other Media  Vans were gone.. two heading for teh stem.. the other..Back to the HQ.

  As they got to the Party,   Steele and Raven fired Up the  Vid Music. and   Turned on the Vid screens..

  Shadow grabbed his  Bag and headed  down one of the Halls to get changed..  Lights began to flash  as the   music  thumped..Shoey was  sitting In a chair  by the alcove.. MAria an Lippen say out side..

 about 100 yards  away Nagy sat outside the Admiral's Condo, which had  lights on and servers  walking around, but no 'people' yet.

 the roof was laid  out about they same as the others.. the Admiral's place  int he   north east Corner...Shadow's in the  south  west.. Main Elevator on the  NW corner and a fright  elevator on the  SE  corner,,, this Elevator was hidden  with  trees and a  fountain, so as not to bother those who could afford the condo/penthouse to the  west side of the  Room was  a Table set up..The   Blue Felt  spoke of a high stakes   "EDT Stud' game.. but the  stacked  Packets  and folded  map spoke of something  else...  a f3ew dozen pizza's were picked up fresh coffee was brewing and   MAnn was  by the bar dressed as a tender.

 The Table  was Blacked  from any one's  sight,when they Entered , by the Fireplace  that jutted out abit .. a fire  had been going  since the crew checked it out..'accidently' burning  some plastic to send   smoke up the  chimmey to foul Mics and lens..if there were any they missed

 the Other  walls  were of  stone ,only the overhead light, shone on the Table. Lyri and Shadow  were  the first ones  at the table, Shadow  moving all the  way into the corner so the others   could gather around the Table. Shadow  had a  Black Enviro suit the  Hood pulled  back.. His Blaster on  one hip  , a thick Dirk on  the  left hip and  the hilts of throwing  daggers peaking out of the top of his boots.

 Lyri had her Dark sniper 'second skin' suit on. a silenced  Glock, Hard ammo. He looked at  his COM to check the Time as he waited for everyone else...

 Beth stood By the table in her party dress.. Frans and the 'party folks were  in thier   dresses  daning and  sining  and eating. He-La  and Dr-NO where there as well, as  Party People.

 Hemsly was taking off his  freight lifter's Over hails to reveal an Enviro suit. Mc Cloud and McNiel were there as   Cover.

Roy took his place at the table, having changed into the black BDUs he'd packed...if the assignment warranted it, he'd change to the other outfit.  "That's quite a stack they've got there," he commented drily.  "Looks like it's going to be a very long party..."

  He nodded a bit grimly, Mann asked  anyone if they wanted Drinks, Shadow had a soda...I.... advised against this particular plan...its one thing to hit a few targets...its  another to have a Mass housecleaning like this..the last time we  did this , we lost that new guy, and his mark got away...one of the other marks got away as well, as time ran out....

    There was a sound  of " Officer On dec!"   and  a replay that was lost in the music and LAughter.

  Hack  and Gresh made their way back to the Table.  The Admiral waved off Salutes,as he began,..First, before we get started,  I will introdcue  Mr gresh. He is a  Sanri...umn... Business man.. he aided us on Olympus.... and  now has  a Headquarters , of sorts  in Fuji's Stem.. he has placed  a pair of Businesses on  Everest and   is , more or less doing the same thing here... The Toy Store.. "Space Case'.. wil he his  headquarters  here..with the  New Lights Out Agents   working the front... Elge, as most you know will head Up Lights out On  Etna..

 He nods  at the stack of  Marks,..Shadow.. is concerned  we may not get  all the marks... that..is a very big..very real, concern.. the  two marks we missed last time  are runnign free..we don't know where..but .. they know  they were being hunted..each one of those.. makes    Lady V a bit more dangerous.. She has  already brought the EVOLs into her  fold.. and EDT  is workign with her as an equal..there MArks?.. you have to make the Cold hard decison ... bring them in... or take them out.... letting them go..or flat out losing them?.. is not a good thing...we  already have  had  a trun of events that effects  Doc  Henry and his team's  op...and its  directly Linked to Lady V...through the Information Occui that killed the new guy and escaped.... Beth is brought up  some of the Information...and   Kray?  You are not going to like it...but you'll have to wait  until we go over these ops..

 Gresh  takes the chance to speak  after being handed a bottle of beer from Mann,..As the Admiral says.. I have helped.. I will always help , as  I can...wrokign with  that Emmie woman for transportgs and the like.. we have  Modified  a few  as  warships....  when convoys are attacked, they get a surprise.....Good   we recover , from  the attacker.. are  being  send to Fuji and the fleet... other goods  are sold  to the carrier stations  and Colonies at a 'lower rpcie, thus  helping maintain a flow of creds.. while making   the APF holding stronger... If these  all go well.. I will also have a  Business in the Stem, both to get  underground Tech and such.. and.. eliminate some of the  foes , under the cover  of  gang wars...

Karl had tagged along with Kat, satisfied that her invitation would serve to keep him from looking like he'd 'shouldered in'.  What he,saw, upon arrival, was not at all what he expected...the roaring afterparty that was part of Shadow's legend looked more like a criminal gang preparing to run some action on its competition.

To his credit, his expression hardly shifted.  "I definitely didn't come dressed for this kind of party," he muttered to Kat, before taking up a position near the fireplace, so he could listen unobtrusively.  He was painfully aware of his less-than-stellar results when Shadow had taken the Hermes contingent against their counterparts on Everest, and while he'd taken steps to address his shortcomings, he still regarded himself as only slightly better than a liability on the ground.  My old gunnery sergeant would have my hide for book covers for getting too soft, he told himself.  Test pilot he might be, but he was a MARINE test pilot and the Gunny had always said that whatever else they did, Marines had to be ready to tussle on the ground.

Still...they might not need him for that aspect of the operation, he reasoned.  So he stood back and listened, to see where he could help.  It appeared as though most of the pilots and half of Security were in on the 'party'...with a group that size, he wondered what role he could play to help.  Right now, it seemed to him his best role was 'silent observer'.  If they needed him, they'd say so.

Roy nodded minutely as he listened to Hack and Gresh address the 'nuts and bolts' of the situation.  Part of him still smarted with the thought that one of his people had been lost to the intended target, and he was painfully aware that anyone they missed, if not already working for Lady V, was a prime candidate for recruitment.  He looked at the stack of folders and clenched his jaw, wondering who and where they'd be going after...

His eyes flickered briefly to Nilsson...the pilot was a new face to Shadow's after-parties, but his record was clean...Roy had no reason to be suspicious of the man.  He focused again on what was being said at the table.

Henry had walked over, to give Mila a chance to do dog stuff on the way. He came up to the condo with her, and found his bag. He helped her switch the 'dress coat' for her working harness and checked her water bottles were filled, then took off his smart suit and put on more regular clothes - cargo pants, hiking boots, and a sweater.

Then he got a coffee and found a corner to sit in to listen. Mila sat at his feet, ears perked up.

  Kat leaned against  Karl as she looked over the table. She still wore her Dress. The rest of the  'posse' was   having a good time, the Vid Machine blared  while people  sang and danced... some folks had a Vid on the screen of   a Sanri and an Occui  SEC team, as they comicly blundered their way through  an EDT underground group.

 He looks over The table and Nods  to  Shadow   , beth Picks up the  stack of Packets and hands the first one to the LC. As Shadow opens the packet, his voice is cold....like an instructor on  exam day...

 ..Before I start to read this.... I have to make this clear. Anytime... every time we do this... there are always  three  facets... the first.. is those of us  'going in'.. we have to do the job..adjust.. and try to keep  Collateral damage  small...but..make no mistake...the  end justifies the  means here... the Op has to be successful ..each failure ands  another card to Lady V, or the EDT's  Deck...As  many of you have heard me say?...its  the  whole 'egg -omlette ' thing.

 ..the second part.. is  almost , and sometimes  more as important then the op.. is the Cover.... he points to the    Guys and Gals  having a good  time. The Image has to be kept, because it is a catch all for almost anything we need it for... those  who take part in the Cover...help the team....


 ..Lastly ..Home Base...  That starts  with the Admiral, Commander  Si and  Beth... the  movign parts  are people  we Evac us out of tight spots. whether it is with a shuttle... an Air Van, or a Gods be damned  airbike... Its bad enough to lsoe someone..its  worse to have them captaured... So   It will take  me a Bit to read these... while I do..think on what you might want to do....and..fair warning here?.. If you want to walk away... Just keep your mouth shut.. i would hate to have a shipmate, turn up in one of these packets..

  Shadow   began to read....

Giovanni Marko:... Head of the  Etna Mafia.  Hometo  be searched for anything  we can use..dre3ds... papers.. discs...and any information there in... Marko is to be killed...... we have made copies  of  'Eclispe' team coins.. you will leave one that is easy to find, but not obvious..its time we started turning them on each other...

Audar Olanni: Head of   the Asteroid  development near the Hillite system... more raw materials there, then any were , within the tri-quad.  Some  of that has  been going through  the  'passage" within the  Field, to Eclispesians  who, we believe are   working with LAdy V and the  EDT... this makes them a powerful group, , and another player in the   Game with the Empire , the APF and the   Skith -Qarl war....Olanni is to be eliminated.. his home searched.. and  an Eclipse coin left behind....

Lucci De Grande:  head of transports and such for Etna... has   places  on every Carrier station we know....she is  an EDT Operative.. smuggling Slaves, goods  and   Med Tech through   Olanni's corridor... she is marked as well..seacrh , destroy..leave a coin...

Micca Florine:..Shadow looks at  Hack and he nods,.. Main Arms dealer  on Etna and the  Ebta-Matterhorn Corridor...does alot of  business with  Anzio Station. Though she does not directly deal with  the enemy..It is clear she  does  sell to  Lucci and Olanni... we are to try to turn her... if turning fails.. then we clean her house too..leave a coin....

Mindless Mitch..and..Now added to this Sister August.. They work within the Mountain..trainign and testing  for  animal take over, two use animals on all planets to attack  any Humans, or APF folk, thus..turning some folks  own pets against them...They are to be killed... they research either  taken, or  destroyed ..if the  complex is  big enough.. we will send in a transport group... this  neds  to be sanitized..and  Doc Henry?... This one is yours...if you find   somethign that will help you and Mila?..fine..otherwise..capture or destroy..but  don't let it  get  off this station.

Leena:  Sanri Business woman.. Human trafficing..information  gathering and   a spy ring of sorts... Search destroy..leave a coin...

Nona  Costa :  this chick seems small time... she hands out on the Beach..looks  for crewman to  blackmail, or   flat out kidnap and  Give  to Leena... we believe she has  two different homes on the beach... Both should be   search and destroyed.. with coins  left... if you can bring her in? Fine..if not..wax her.

These last two are in the Stem..

 Vinno:  Loan shark  with a Blackmail twist. He will  pressure -threaten  his client's  Families... many are idiots... they get caught..get killed and Vinno  takes    the family anyway.. those who are successful, bring in a kid or someone, whom Vinno ships off Leena or Lucci.. he is to be flat out Killed... and   a search and destroy ..for this bastard?  you leave a Delta fleet  patch  in the room the place where it can't be missed...

Ka-Li:  MAle  Nagle..EDT.. kicked out of the Angel Elite on the Blue Moon, was to be sent  to  the priosn colony but  escaped   on the way there....he is a spy and  assassin..and?  Much like me... loves his job...he collects Bounties... Kidnaps   high priced marks  to either balckmail the famlies..or  sell to the Empire for a pile of creds....search and destroy ... if you have the time?..Make him suffer...

 Hack waits until he is done..then starts  slowly..Shadow?.... I am goign to tell you this  now... only because of the reaction you...had when you were not told  about Lady...

 Shadow nodded  coldly he was already thinking  about  ops...

 Lady August was sent to Earth to do trials...we think she might have been trying to  Find Sam?  we don't know... her teams in scotland  and  spain were wiped out by Lights Out  agents.... he looks  down for a moment  as he  tries to collect himself, then looks Shadow in the eye...

Lady A's  other team was chewed up pretty bad, in New York...but not before  a Number of New Yorkers  were attacked and Killed by Strays roaming the neighborhood.... Kray...Son.... Your   Brother  and  your  Niece  and Nephew  were Killed.. Your Sister In Law  was  at work.. the  Lights Out Teams Got her out.. and Your Niece... but your  Niece  died at the hospital... Your Sister in law is Now ...safe.. in Hunter's  care?...but..i had to tell you know, because we promised  not  to  with hold information from you....If you want to stand down from the Op I....

 ..No... Sir....  he struggled to keep his voice  steady, even as  a tear dripped  dwon his  right cheeek.. Beth was  crying.. and Lyri had  turned away from the table,..I...Thank you for this......  he turns to Henry,..Doc?.... I don't care who else you have to  blow up with them.. you make that Bitch die....

..Now?    lets get on with this.... Garrat should take the Stem along with anyone who wants to go with him....everyone else?.. pick an Op.. I'll take what's left over.

 he tried to wipe the tear away quickly and took a deep breath..Beth wiped her eyes  and  had her  Vidboard  ready to collect the information

Henry was a bit disconcerted when he got his assignment. Finding, copying research fine. Taking folk into custody, well, he was no cop but, fine, he could do that. Killing in cold blood? If needs must, but he didn't like it.

Then Hack talked to Shadow about Sister August. Things fell into place. Beside him, Mila's lip curled and she let out a GRRR!!! that made several people jump. In his mind, Henry felt her cold fury at those who misused animals in such a way.

He stood up.

"Understood, Kray. We shall attend to it for you."

Roy shrugged...which bag of trash to take out?  "I can take Marko or Olanni...I assume their residences are accessible from the ground, somehow."  His tech skills were greatly improved over what they'd been when he joined the Hermes...but it wasn't hard to improve over 'non-existent', and there was a lot of room left to improve.  But he figured Beth could help him...and his approach wouldn't be totally reliant on beating the tech.

"Can I look at the dossiers, get a lay of the land?  See if one or the other is better suited for the kit I've brought?"  It would be a lot to hope for...but one or the other might be a better target for sniping, which was his best bet, at least to start.

Still wearing her Angel Silk dress Harry would take a seat at the table with the others deciding that she'd change into something a little more appropriate once she'd been assigned an operation, as it would take a little time for her to do so.

With the Admiral delivering the news that several members of Shadow’s family had been killed in a terror attack led by one of the names on the list, Harry would feel the mood in the room plummet causing her to shift awkwardly on her chair. She wanted to try and help, to say something comforting but nothing she could think of seemed sufficient and so she remained silent so that he could deal with his grief. Well… up until Henry's dog started growling that is, at which point she would all but fall out of her chair as she scrambled to put some space between them with her eyes momentarily going wide with fright. However with the animal making no move to attack her she would quickly come to the conclusion that she may have over reacted on this occasion "Sorry...I've had a few close shaves with attack dogs so...um...yeah...sorry" Harry mumbled as she got back into her chair so as to examine the list of targets.

With Roy stating that he wanted to take either Marko or Olanni, Harry would then voice her own preference “I’ll take Lucci, I know how you boys get squeamish over icing the fairer sex” she said with a smirk before continuing “any idea what kind of security we’re dealing with?” she asked, knowing full well that unlike Roy that her methods required her to get up close and personal, meaning she’d have to bypass whatever security measures Lucci had in place before she could make her move.

   Shadow   slides the  Packet for Lucci across the   table towards Harry..She  Stem Packets  to Garrat.. Henry's   was Given to him by reaching it across the table.

  ..More  often then not, we have to worry abourt SEC Cams and such... But Elge is   Etna SEC Command now, so the CAMs  will be Off in.. he looks at His COM,..One more hour.. they won't be able to 'fix' the problem until about  10:00 AM station taime.. that goves  us   about  9 hours  without CAMs..Elge worked up the packets, so any  SEC calls  comign in from these places will , be told 'help is coming'.... but help won't get there  until ..about...10:00 am...

  Openign up the MAp  as he waits for other s folks to Volunteer, hepoints  two Red Circles pn the  Lowers  Map.... the Map has a Circle for the Lowers  on the  left... a rectangle in the Middle for the Stem..and another  circle on the right for the Uppers.



Hack whistles to  Waggstaff to toss him a cue  stick from the  pool table  that sits  on the other  side of the Room behind the  Vid Box. Waggstaff  hand it to him  after   weaving his way through the party folks.

..I start with the Uppers... you see the   water  goes  all around the  Mountain.. with the biggest beach to the south of the Uppers..that is alos where the lavish homes  and  suxch are located... Henry.. has to find the  Moutnain access points... going in through the tunnels  and main doors would  be a death sentence...

 Next we have the stem... he tapes the  rectangle..There are two Xs on it...one  the   oirt side  we have  both of the main targets... Vinno is  clsoer to the  Lowers... Ka-Li is  closer to the Uppers.. Ka-Li also, has the  biggest workign dock of the two... I am thinking  Mr Gresh would  find that a nice place....

 ..indeed.. make sure you kill him....


 Now ..the Lowers.. the meat of the Ops  is  here. You will Not.. we are here...right  about  dead center, only ..two blocks  from HQ....with the top of this  drawing as 12:00.. and we are the Center.... Giovanni is  at 12:00.. three floor  Block style House...small windows..not much sniper actions...Andar is  at the  edge, hugging the Hull.. at arounf  10:00... three  tube shaped  towers.. connected  by three   covered  bridges.. we assume the tunnels lead to all the towers.. there are also  doors  on the bottom  for each tower... Elge says  he  used the   right hand tower  for Visitors.. the Middle tower  for entertainment...and the left most tower is his home...again..porthole like windows...


  ...Lucci is  at around 2:00.. she has a Lavish place3, for those who have seen it.. it a cross ebtween LAdy V's  place  on Zolth, and a resort... she hugs the Hull on  that side.. and has a straigh shot to the Beach from  her  home... Elge tracked it as 10 minute  walk or 5 minute Job..ir?  2 Minutes  by aircar.... Lots of windows there.. But elge  says their are Cap ship class. Metaglass....

 Now? the Lowers  only has the breach on the  southern portion of this  place.. Micca's  House  sits at about 5:00.. ..it is three floors, one of the few building on the beach that go over two floors... Elge has not been there..but says   that her  'living places Is the  second floors.. the  ground floor is for entertaining, and the top floor has her mercs.

 ..Leena  is close to the Hull at the   west end of the Beach at 7 :00... you can see the tops  of  Audar's  Home from there.. it is rumored to have   an 'splice' into the tunnels  to get her goods  to  merc shuttles that  take them to thier destinations..mostly Transports in the Middle of the  Three station's triangle.

 ..Nona is the  wild card...She can be any damn place... there are two small housed  one at each end of the  Beach... but she also stays  at Leena's.. of   goes to the stem..of all the ones  there?.. she may be the HArdest to cap...

 He hands the   stick back to Waggstaff.....now?  Elge  tried to set some ground work.. he send   three kids  to  spread rumors  that, EDT folks  should  get the  9 hells out of dodge... 1  was  found   near the mouth of the lowers.. with an eclsipe  patch in his mouth... another  was  found floating in the water  in the upper.. the other  2 are missing...

"Nice of so many of them to congregate in the lowers, that makes the approach easier..."  He was weighing the options of the two targets he'd initially looked at, trying to decide which was his best bet.  Either way, it didn't look like a sniper mission.  "Any chance someone packed a couple of claymores in anticipation of all of this?" he asked, only half-joking.  He hated exposed flanks and uncovered 'back doors'.  "I'm thinking Marko's place suits your style best, Shadow...I'll take care of Olanni."

  Shadow is Looking at the map and  only nods  once... Hack Looks,..Son?.. You sure  you'er ...ok...for this...

  ..Never   better...Sir....

 gresh Give Hack a Look, Hack shrugs.

 Lyri speaks up....I'll Have Over watch on  Roy from   the  beach side..from there  i can Get to Shadow, Or  Harry as well.. .. what about Micca?


 Shadow says, whichever one  of us finished up?.. we'll move on her, then   we can sweep the beach of teh rest ... They might know something si going on.. but they can't be expecting  another Mass Op, since the last one had some fish slip through the net...

    He Looked over the  Packet on  Marko and snorted.....this bastard isn't any different then the  scum  running the  Docks  in New York.. Just   more creds  and  fancier  weapons... they all die the same way though...


 Looking up at henry , Shadow says,..Doc?... if you are in trouble , you send a mass  COM..Garrat.. and anyone going  with him will be closer.. but  might have  trouble  with a ride....

 ..the rest of us  will be 15 , 20 minutes  away.. that's a lifetime.. so don't Hesitate...seconds  count..minutes  are.. well a gift... 

 Grit looked  Down, then back and forth between the  Admiral and  Shadow,..Listen.. I duua think i kin do this , Mates... I'll fly down the mouth of  the 9 'ells  for you..but.. i dunna want to get any one killed if i freeze on this...

 Shadow gave  him a bit of a smile,..Grit?..You'er  on the Hermes, cause you'er a good pilot... you are in this building, because   You have skills  we can use..But?.. there will be  more ops  down the road... you can bet you wings on that... if you would?.. it would be good for you to help  the cover party..and?..maybe, if  we need some one to be a wheel man...

 grit Brightened,..aye Sir!..I can bloody do that!..

 ..good.. have fun.. be ready for you COM to light up...

 Grit seemed  happier  now, that he had a way to help, with out killing someone face to face.

 Hack Pulled out his  COM to check the Time...in about 8 minutes..Elge  is going to trigger the Rains.... depending how long its been since thier last rainfall.. there might be   lighting as well....When the rain starts..  all folks get to the freight  elevator.. while gresh and I return to my...rather.. subdued  party..beth is  going to be the  COMs hub.. she'll  send messages in mass or  diectec to your target... I don't want to lose  anyone...but i want these marks taken down..or..whatever... Now.. make sure you are ready.. maybe get a drink..snack.. you got 6 miniyes before the rain starts...

  SHadow handed his packet to  Beth.. and he went to the Bar, he asked   Mann for a whiskey... as Shadow reached  for it.. an hand  Firmly grabbed it, Flores  smiled, sadly,..not tonight , sailor... save  if  for when you get back....

 Shadow    pulled his  arm back  and pointed to the coffee pot.,  Mann smiled   and took the whiskey away, after  fixing the sugar and milk, Shadow took a Sip..

 ..much better... Now? Make sure you can come back to your  own party.... Flores    walks away..

 Kat Grinned up at Karl.....a winglady's job is never  done....

  Hack stopped  as he  heard   Kat,..Ahhh Captain?.. Good to see you here.... since yo..um... heard a bit... we might need  another wheel man...Lets face it... we send the lady Pilots out in those dresses, everyone's going to notice.. a few  drivers with  flying skils.. well.. could be the difference  in how many come back...

Karl nodded.  "I'm a,little ashamed to admit it, Admiral...but I've been raining hell down on targets long enough that I'm more than a little rusty at raising hell on the ground.  But I'll take a hoverbike through the gates of hell if it'll help out."  He squared his shoulders crisply, then broke into a grin at Grit.  "Can't let a Navy boy have all the fun, after all, Sir..."

He unbuttoned his dress tunic and laid it over a chair.  "Anyone pack any extra hardware they're not taking along?  Maybe we can double up as fire support and retrieval, if needed..."  He looked around at the group, pausing almost apologetically as he looked at the Sergeant Major.  "I found out about this party at the last minute...afraid I'm traveling a bit light for the party games.  I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

   Hack smiles  as he Points to  shadow.  The LC  sips  from his  coffee  as he    waved  The Captain down the  Hall to his  room.

   ..Now?  This   isn't  like my place on  Fuji... But it serves...

   Lifting a Metal Case  about as big as the card  table onto the Bed, he   spun the   locks  and opened it....now Me?.. I don't  quite have the knack.. so i have to go   for Blades.. or spray and  pray... There's a pair of  grease Guns.. pulse   or hardammo.. Hard Ammo  seems  best  so they can't track the flight of the Pulse rounds... and there is One SCAR 16.. retooled  with the  lighter  metals  but  hard  ammo.. i never  fired it once?... there are a pair of Sauger  Sidearms..one pulse..one  hard ammo..... in that trunk there are some Enviro suits.. if you wanna go dark? Help yourself...  he   started walking to the door and  gave a bit of  a grin as he sipped from his coffee  again.. welcome to the  party..

 As Shadow went back down the long Hall way ,Grit came Up to him.....I'm sorry  ta let ya Down Its...

 Shadow put a finger to hos  own lips,... one of two things is going to happen to you with this stuff? You'll either Grow  into it..or You won't. That doesn't mean, you can't help... Pulling us out of someone backyard.. or  giving us a chance to get to a ride, before we bleed out?.. makes  more difference, then anything else... me?  I like this...nothing better then seeing these bastard's faces when they know its over.. and you remind them of the people  they have  harmed or killed...

 ..but everyone has to have a hobby..aye?

 Grit looked at him, not sure if he was serious about the ..'hobby' part and they walked back into the main room.


 Lyri was   looked at the Map when we leave.. I'm goign to the toy store  and get whatever they have there for a sniper rifle..should be lots of   Security guards  to put down...

 grsh was dancing with some of the LAdies  while some of teh Alpha Officers  made thier  way to  The Admiral's Condo... the  Blind on that are of the   Big Room, jusy hapened to be up for them  to see the  Blue skined  tall fellow and     well dressed aldies  dacning  with  Steele   'crooned' on the Vid Mic. Lippen  made a good show  of  banging on the  widnow with her  rifle butt and poited at the arriving guests... Gai ran over  and  clsoed the    Blinds...

Jesse came in a few minutes after Henry.  She walked up to him pattin Mila on the head as she did.

She slipped off her dress jacket which left a nicer but dark colored top on.

"So what we got?" She asked over his shoulder.

Roy chuckled at Karl's comment.  "Don't sweat it, Captain," he said in response.  "I've been part of these special events for years, now, and I'm still never sure what to bring..."  He looked over the information on Olanni as Shadow walked Nilsson down the hall.  When Lyri spoke up about going to the Toy Store, he answered without looking up, "I've got a Barrett and my .308 in the bag...20 rounds for each.  Don't know if that serves your needs or not, but I won't be using them."  There were very few people he'd entrust with those weapons...but Lyri was top on the list.

  ..You got  a Barret!.. Yeah.. that's what i want.. 20  dead  bad guys  is a damn good start, not  counting what the rest of you rack up...

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

  Shadow  sat back down and asked  for another Coffee.. he  was  playing a  vid on his COM.

  The Admiral stopped  and put a  fatherly hand on his  shoulder,..we should be going Son....

  ..Aye..Sir. but one more  Cup of Coffee isn't  going to change the outcome of the night...   then the Voice   came on the  COM... two smiling faces came on the   Vid,..Hi Uncle   Kray!.. we just got the  Model of the Everest .. we started workign on the lights...

  ..Thank you   Uncle  Kray... will you be sending one  from Etna?

  ...Kids!.... don't beg... the woman's  face came into the  pic,..we know you are busy..something about  moving on to Matterhorn... Good luck..stay safe.. we miss you!

 the screen went blank.

 ..I coulda  answered  that.. but i was too worried  about   my aircraft..and  making sure every one was ready... That was the last....

  Hack Put   his arm around  the LC  was he lowered his hand  into his hand...you don't have to go... we have enough...

 ..whether i go..or stay?... it  won't bring them back...but ..if   I go.. every one of the bastards  i kill tonight, won't ever hurt anyone again...

     Kray straightens up..Mann looks  worried as he hands him his  coffee..

  Hack then pats   the Pilot on the shoulder,..take a few then.. yhou let us know when you'er ready to saddle up....gonna be an interesting night...

 ..You Miss it...Sir?

 Hack shook his head,..no son? I don't. I wasn't half as good  as you at this..but  a damn well miss  being in a fighter.... I'm gonna do it again , one of these times... Let us Know when you'er ready... he whacks     the LC on the back  and moves on to watch gresh dancing...

Muri arrived a bit late to the event.  She had had to change dresses at the last minute, after spilling some food on the previous one.  That had taken an extra 3 minutes.

She was a bit nervous when she arrived.  Her first  "special ops" mission.  She was both nervous and excited.

She decided  to socialize, and as time passed, danced with several strangers, making small talk.

After an hour she went to get something to eat and drink.  She was starting to just plain relax and enjoy herself.