Teela say down across from him and took a chip which she bit into somewhat tentatively. "Oh, I like this!" She attacked them with far more enthusiasm. "I'd leave that one in a collection or for practice. I'd hate to see something happen to it and we all know anything can happen on a op at any time. Any kind of damage would be a tragedy to see on a work of art like that." She took out a wing and took a bite.

"Kinetic weapons, magazine-fed, bolt-action have a character to them that modern pulse rifles simply don't have and lasers are about as boring to shoot as it is to watch Paradise grass-grazers move. There's something about that kick in your shoulder, working the bolt and sending another shot down until your targets are done moving that cannot be beat by any pulse or beam weapon."

Roy gave a chuckle, and shrugged.  "I was never that poetic about it.  Lasers are a liability for a sniper...anyone with multi-spectrum optics looking at your line of fire is going to see a guidepost showing exactly where you're shooting from.  Pulse rounds aren't that much better, really, aside from the fact that the energy of the pulse round isn't a continuous beam reaching back to your location.  But they're still highly visible...and on top of that, there's tech out there to defeat or at least minimize their damage.  That's one of the reasons Shadow relies on his cannons so much...Largrans and a few others have developed shields that will take all the sting out of a pulse round...but there's not a lot you can do to defeat a supersonic piece of metal, short of blocking it with a bigger, thicker piece of metal...and that's only effective up to a certain point.  Body armor's always been a compromise between protection and mobility...the better the protection, the worse the mobility."

He grabbed another wing.  "My preference for hard-ammo weapons is purely pragmatic...first off, I grew up shooting them, so I know what to expect and how to compensate for most conditions.  And second, the only drawback to them is ammo capacity.  In every other way, in my book, they're either superior, or are good enough without the accompanying liabilities of any other weapon out there."

He was about to pop the wing in his mouth when he gave a short laugh, and added, "We had a period on the Hermes where there were a bunch of people who wanted to carry captured Qarl plasma weapons, or Demon plasma grenades, every time we went on any operation.  Yeah, they were damned effective against us...but the beings we were fighting also knew their shortcomings.  We were really lucky that nobody shot one of those pistols...we could have lost the whole boarding team in one moment.  Took a long time before they understood that...at least it happened before we had a major disaster strike."  He stuffed the wing in his mouth, chewing as he shook his head and chuckled again, ruefully, at the memory.

"Lasing a target is lazy. If you can't gauge range to target using a Mk-I Eyeball or scope you have no business being a sniper." She took another squash chip. "I grew up learning how to shoot pulse weapons but never fancied them. Once I first got the chance to shoot kinetic weapons I was hooked on both the 'poetic' aspect as well as the pragmatic. You need to get into the heavy pulse range before you're getting the penetration of some of the lower caliber kinetics."

She took a bite of one of the wings. "These are good. They taste like the Paradise Fire Eels if properly prepared. I was told everything tastes like chicken when Nikki, Harry, and I went shopping. Anyway, that explains the ban the ESN and APF put on plasma weapons. I can only imagine the carnage trying to use those against the Demons and Qarl would have caused."

Roy gave a small snort of amusement.  "Well, the ESN ban on plasma weapons predates any exposure we had to plasma weapons from other races.  We tried them...I think a century ago?  Maybe closer to a century and a half..."  He scowled for a moment in thought, then shrugged.  "Our approach was totally different from the Qarl, might have been closer to what the Demons did, although I've onky ever seen the Demons use plasma as a grenade weapon, and we used it as an energy beam, so there's some kind of difference that's way beyond my level of technical understanding..."

Again, he shrugged.  "Anyway, Humans ended up banning plasma weapons because the power supplies were like small, really unstable nuclear reactors, and when they failed the collateral damage was immense."  He gave a twisted, almost sad smile, and added, "Everyone agreed the risks outweighed the benefits."  He sighed, and shrugged again.

"The Qarl plasma was...well, is, since they presumably still use it...weird stuff.  It's almost like highly energized acid...it clings to whatever it hits and starts eating it...bare flesh is almost instantly consumed, armor slows it down some...metal, like a mech frame, is even slower."  His expression darkened as he recalled the effects.  "But it clings to what it hits and just keeps going until it burns through or burns out.  The folks that carried the captured weapons liked them because the plasma works on pretty much everything...but every time I saw one of those pistols, I saw a gigantic 'kill the whole squad' button just waiting for an enemy smart enough or lucky enough to shoot one and make it cook off."

He leaned back, against the tunnel wall.  "Now, by comparison, Demon plasma was easy to deal with.  It was hell on any organic material it hit...but you could duck behind a bridge console and be untouched by it, or just step around the corner of a side corridor...it went out in a straight line from the source...their grenades...but there wasn't much of a 'splash' effect when it hit inorganic barriers.  Even body armor helped a bit against it...the plasma wouldn't each through the armor plates...it would just erode everything in between them.  We had people who lost parts of limbs to that stuff...after the smoke cleared, you could see what was left of an arm or hand or leg...the parts behind armor were intact, maybe even potentially viable...but the stuff that had been at the seams was cauterized, or worse.  And some people thought THAT was a good weapon to carry around.  It got to the point where I started giving ultimatums...'Anyone carrying a plasma weapon is NOT part of my squad, even if I have to take you on this mission...'  And, gradually, people started to realize that we were still doing a damned good job of killing the enemy without having to utilize weapons that we didn't really understand."  He chuckled again.

"So many races out here got so used to fighting with energy and pulse weapons that, with the exception of the Largrans, they forgot how dangerous projectile weapons can be.  Most of them don't have much protection against a high-velocity slug.  And, I've gotta say, whatever I think of them as a species and an enemy, the Largrans make some damn fine projectile weapons."

"I would be interested to see how they're getting plasma to act that way. Normally you would have an intense thermal and mechanical reaction as well as an EMP that would damage electronics but a 'sticky' plasma? That's not normal plasma behavior so they've done something to keep the energy at work doing the thermal damage rather than dissipate once it was fired and struck the target."

She shook her head and took a bite out of another chip. "I agree completely about the other races not being used to a projectile weapon. Like this lovely monster." She indicated the Barret .50. "It will fit in a cockpit, by the way." She told him with a smile and a gleam in her eye.

"Well, of course it will fit in a cockpit.  I've broken them down and carried them in a rucksack before.  We don't typically have snipers fly a very loud, very visible fighter into their target zone, though...and while the regs allow one long arm in your quarters, a .50cal doesn't count...nothing that could easily shoot a hole through the wall into the next room.  You're welcome to check one out from the QM, if the mission call for it...but not as YOUR personal rifle, to keep."  While his voice was pleasant, there was a look in his eye that indicated this was not something to joke about...and it was not negotiable.

Teela stopped chewing and set the chip down before looking Roy square in the eyes. "I already have a long arm in my quarters, that being my pulse rifle. At no time was I thinking or suggesting I would like this to be my personal rifle to keep in my quarters or that I would ever do anything with it save check it out as needed depending on the mission. If that is the impression you received then let me disabuse you of that immediately."

She liked Roy. She was attracted to him but she was not, by any stretch, foolish or ignorant and the suggestion she was put a chill on her feelings as evidenced by the chill in her voice and the slight darkening of her eyes.

Roy shrugged.  "Then we're both on the same page," he answered, apparently unfazed by her change of tone and the darkening of her eyes.  He took the last deep-fried squash chip, using it to gesture at the lone remaining chicken wing in the box.

"Feel free to finish that one off...and don't take what they said too literally about everything tasting like chicken.  It's an old joke...centuries old, if not older...among humans, but it's not necessarily true.  Depends on what it is and how you prepare it...also depends on what you fed the chickens, because chickens that grew up on scratch feed taste different than chickens that lived on bugs they had to chase down..."

"Good place for us to be." She said with a smile as she took the last wing, impressed by how unflappable he was.

"There may be something to the joke as I have sampled alien cuisine from any number of worlds and found there to be at least one dish that tastes remarkably like chicken. I have also found that every race has the equivalent of Swedish meatballs. It really is quite incredible despite the mathematic impossibility of it all."

Roy shrugged.  "Doesn't seem that impossible to me..." he said, with a hint of a grin.  "Look at all these different species that evolved into bipedal, anthropomorphic life-forms.  In the same way, pretty much every planet has small bugs and some kind of critter that eats them.  Similar diets tend to produce similar flavors.  Convergent evolution..."

He chuckled, and added, "I'm sure there are more variables involved than that, but if Humans, Angels, Demons, Largrans, Avians, Felrites, Hyrians, Nivarians, Aqra, Gava, and Verians can all develop similar body forms, why wouldn't their worlds have other similarities?"

<<<<<<< from Hanger dec

 Shadow  Took off his  Jacket and Layed it off the    corner   where he Mornmally    Does.. LArry   still had his head  and back flattened out.

 ..Shuck what ever  you think you need to  run 36 miles....

 ..how can you  make  me  run 36 Miles, when you said  you won't even try?

 .. I told you  why, dumbass, we have a game tomorrw.. I'm not  goign to  hurt the team, to show you up...besides, you'll look bad  , all by yourself... There is a damn good  bet you don't make the first lap...

 ..you know this and You'll make me do it anyway?

 ..first off?.. I don't  care if you   pass out and die.. i really...really don't. Second.. You mouthed off   to Rivets and the  Crew chief?... you deserve  what happens... Now?.. I don't  have   much of   an Idea, why you think you're EVOL humping  family, deserves  to be in the postions  they are in... but  i'd  just as soon, make them all take the long walk.. get rid of your side arm..

 ..I'm keeping that, in case your  Lizard wants  to attack me..

 ..LARRY.... earned his  way on this boat.. and..if you woudl  pul a weapon on him?.. I'd  have to kill you.well.. to be fair?.. I want to Kill you.. but.. i can't do it  without a reason..so feel free to carrly that  extrafew pounds  around   with your  for the next 36 miles..

 Then  Shadow hits the COMs,Beth?... or whom ever is in teh SEC?

 Yeah , I'm here  for  another hour? what's up?

 .. the   audio  in the Tunnel CAms  doesnt  work..but  the Vids  do...

 wait?.. what.. she   looked at the Tunnels..Oh..yeah.. i think it  might blink out  in 5 seconds?

 ..good.. it might be a few hours.. But I call when i think it may be working again..

 ..here is  waht is goign to  Happen... I am setting the  COM to  track  each lap... 12 laps...36 miles... damn long  way to run.. but you got to keep moving... you stop.. I add a mile.... Larry bwill Nudge  You along on the far side.. I'll do it on this side... don't..try to hurt Larry...he'll eat you.. I will let him...

 Larry thumped his tail...

 ..loos..Shadow?.. I haven't  had  anything  to  eat since this  morning.. I..

 ..I don't care...Besserman... I want you to suffer.. I want yur in pain,  because you slapped  every warning, every   gesture  aside... now?.. you  pay the piper..

 ..what if i die!

 ..Then? I will happily write your parents, on who you had  a heartattack when you were caught  wearing   ladies' underwear in the mens  room of the OC..

 ..you're a bastard..

 ..you haven't even touched  on  how much of  a Bastard i can be.. but you sure seem willing to find out.. You ready?...  GO!

 he Motioned Larry to Go  and   Larry zipped past him  like a dart on a full dive...     Shadow  waited at the  corner.. Larry would watch the far side...

   it   took Besserman  30 Minutes  to come around the  Corner.. he  was  Tired  and Gasping.

  ..So... you look winded.. only 11  More laps... now?.. a Half  hour to  run  3 miles.. That's not  good...

 Besserman   gasped  as  he stumbled,..I...I  can't  do this.. I ..can't...

 ..I Know you can't.. you don;t have a catch  in the losest, of the 9 hells, in  making it... none...

    Shadow  Grabbed his   shirt  and Pulled the  man forward  in contempt,..but.. you're  gonna  try.. and I'm Gonna  Push you.... and  with every step.. I want you to think how  you  treated those  you think you are  Better then...

 The LC   just   Jogged   next to the Stumbling  Besserman,,  he  Pushed hIm forward.. harder.....waitresses you  grab by the ass.... Ground  crew that  you treat like slaves...all of us.. who you think you are better then?.. You are starting to see?  you aren't worth what   we flush out the toilet..

 Besserman stumbled On..  Shadow    Pushing   hard. every now  and then.....If  I brought   That wairtress up here.. she  would bust her  ass to  run  these tunnels.. Agrie?..  would never question it, whether he thought he  could do it to not..Shade   Ran   a Lap around  here..  pushing himself   hard...

 and here you are .. witht eh  Man who beat your  Uncle to  death, with his bare hands.... and Helped   End Wess..and Wess's  daughter..

 Besserman  Glared  at   Shadow,..we'll get your Aunt  as well.... it  may not be me.. but  we'll get her.. If its me.. It will take her  a long  time to die..


 The Pilot    swung  at Shadow,  he  Batted the  tired Man's  arm away  and  Hit him hard in the face...,.. You can't  beat me  Besserman.. You couldn't  beat Shade...or  Argie.. I don't think  you could even take  the Waitress....

 They were  3/4 way up the  starboard  side...  LArry was  Peeking around the  Corner..

 ..let's go!.... Larry's  waiting for  his  turn to    Push you   along..

 .. You want  me.. to  die   doing this....

 ..I don';t care if you Die Besserman.... I just care    that you do your punishment... Rivets sent for me to do this....

 They reached  the   corner  ..  Larry got a Pat  from Shadow   as  the LArg  Pushed   Besserman along with his  Snout.. the  tired   pilot  just staggered   along.

 Shadow  truned   to walk down the starbpard side.. to wait  for him again

Flex

"Convergent evolution is a fascinating topic and one I studied at the Academy. It amases me how many races evolved to be carbon-based bipeds that are capable of mating with one another. The 'Precursor' or 'Seeder Race' hypotheses are hotly debated in our corridors of academia. If not for the war I would like to have gone into Xeno-biology and Evolutionary biology. If. stars willing, the war ends in my lifetime I'll have time do something like that perhaps," she said, sounding somewhat wistful. "Or perhaps stay where I am. I've been a soldier and pilot for a long time. I'm good at it, I know the life, I enjoy the structure."

She shrugged. "This assumes a lot of things difficult to predict. What about you? What would you like to do once the war ends?"

Flex...

Roy shrugged, and seemed suddenly just a bit uncomfortable with the tyrn the conversation had taken.  "Never given it much thought.  Being a Marine is the only productive thing I've ever been good at.  Truth be told, I never expected to live this long, once we started taking the fight to the Demons."  He lapsed into a pensive silence, looking down the tunnel in the direction of the targets...but his gaze was somewhere well beyond the bulkhead behind them.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:59, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Teela stopped talking immediately and reached forward to lay a hand gently on Roy's. "I apologise for bringing up something uncomfortable and shall not do so again. I have something that might bring that smile back. I bought it just for you," she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a gift-wrapped package which she held out.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:45, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Flex

Roy seemed to abruptly come back to himself, as though realizing he'd let his guard down somehow, and immediately put it back up.  "No problem.  It's just...I've always kind of had the expectation that I'd die fighting.  So, I haven't thought all that much about what happens after the war."  Something in his expression hinted that explanation was incomplete...but he wasn't going to go into it further.

He looked at the gift...and once again looked uncomfortable, in a totally different way.  "I...uh...I don't know what to say.  Gifts to me are usually still in packing crates, sometimes with shipping labels still intact.  It's...uh...it's been a while since someone gift-wrapped anything."  He reached out hesitantly...almost reluctantly, even...and took the gift, then looked from it up to Teela's face.

"If I'd known there were gonna be presents, I'd have brought something..."  With unaccustomed awkwardness, he unwrapped the present...

    Besserman , Just Barely  made it to the  starting point.

 He  Fell down at  Shadow's   feet. The LC just stared  down at him.well?..Come one?... Surely  some one as well Bred as  you can  do something  us poor  mortal cannot?... yuou ..barely made 6 miles.. and it  took you  a bit more then 2 hours!.....20 minutes  to  run a mile?... and that's only because Larry and I shoved you along..... well..Ace?.. I'm telling you this now?... I don't have time for this... so?  we're Gonna go down to the  Hanger Dec... and You'll finish you shift....... and?... after   the football  game and  such is over.. and  we leave Etna.. Your   finishing the other  24   miles.. is that  Under stood?..LT  Besserman?

 ..he crouched  down  and Looked into the man's eyes,..not  being able to run the  36 miles?.. that doesn't make me lose  respect for you... I have run futher... harder, ebcause my life  was on the line... but.. that isn't what  disgusts me about you?

 Larry's head  wasn't far from   Besserman's head, as  the man glared at Shadow.....please  tell me..almighty Shadow.. what disgusts you...  his  chest   heaved,    his hands were on the dec   and he was  covered in sweat.

 ... the  thing here?... You're just no damn good..you are worth less, and you think you are better  then anyone else, because   you  have credits  coming out your ass?...well?.. Some Empire  bitch.. or  EDT scumbag..isn't gonna  care when they pull the trigger... Creds   don't mean a damn thing, Until this war is over.. and you won't live that long..There isn't  one person, on this boat..in this damn fleet.. you are  worth shining thier  boots, let alone ..'be better then'..

 ..and You..... he spits the words out,.... You don't  think you'er better then anyone else?

 Larry   Comes Over   and Nudged    Shadow.. Shadow Puts  an Arm on the  massive  head   and leans on it,..there  are a bunch of people, i am more skilled , at what i do then.... there are 10 times that many people who are skilled at what they do..that  I can never be... but tehre is  not  one damn person.. from the smallest Civie  kid.. all the way up to Admiral HAck.. that I am Better  then.. and you better learn.. anyone on this boat, who wears a uniform.. could kick your ass, in any form of  fight you want to pretend to have..and?  they will enjoy it.. Get Up..get your stuff...

 as Shadow puts on  his Jacket he sees Besserman   put his hand on his   .45 and looks at Shadow. The LC  chuckles,..lets  pretend you want to pull that out and  shoot me?.... I will have that  weapon flying across the  dec, and a Blade in your throat before you even get to  make  some memorable  threat?.. and... if  somethign should happen. like...i trip or something and You do shoot me?.. You'll never know if i lived or died, because  you'll be working your way through Larry's   intestines  in your epic  journey  to come out his ass...

 Besserman    buckles on his  sidearm  as   Shadow hits his COM,..Beth?.. I think the Tunnels  Audio works now...

 ..got it  LC.. thanks for troubleshooting...

Waving to the  entrance,  Shadow and  LArry Moved  Besserman on...


 Shadow..hanger dec.. Rec dec>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Well now I'm doubly pleased to give you something wrapped rather than in a crate," she told him, her lilting voice soft, and silver eyes shining.

Once the wrapping paper was off the newest Command Sgt. Major Roy Spencer! action figure was revealed.

Roy almost started to roll his eyes, remembered himself, and forced a gaming grin.  "I, ah...I appreciate the gesture..." he said, trying to find something sincere to say.  She had no way of knowing just how much he despised having an action figure of himself out there...and having one of himself?!

Rather than sit there and let the awkwardness stew, he nodded to the ammo boxes.  "We've still got fifteen rounds of each left...and morning's going to roll around soon enough.  We should either shoot these off or pack 'em back to the QM..."  It wasn't a very graceful dodge, and he knew it.  He winced inwardly...then reached out with one hand (not the one with the figure in it), and gently touched her arm, just above the wrist.

"I do appreciate the thought..." he reiterated, in a very open, frank tone of voice.

Teela felt her heart drop just a little as she saw how Roy responded to what was supposed to be an amusing gift. She could tell he felt as suddenly awkward as she did and nodded at the idea of putting some more rounds downrange. She looked up when he placed his hand on her arm and smiled. "You're welcome."

Roy set down the figure, picked up the Beretta, and started loading the magazine.  Having the rifle in his lap gave him an odd sort of comfirt, a normalcy in what had become, for him, a very abnormal situation.  "It's just...I've never been a big fan of having these things out there.  Yeah, I get that they're good PR and help with recruiting...and some of the figures are no big deal.  I mean, Shadow has never exactly tried to keep a low profile."  He slid the last cartridge into the magazine, closed the bolt, and shufted around to a seated firing position, tucking the earplugs back in before raising the rifle to his eye, looking through the scope at the targets.

"But I've always worked on NOT being seen..."  He squeezed the trigger, and cycled the action, catching the expended brass deftly and tucking it in his pocket, barely shifting his position relative to the scope.  He continued as he settled his hand back on the trigger.  "Then the Admiral started having some of us carry out covert operations, and having copies of my face on every toy store shelf went from being uncomfortable to being a liability."

He squeezed off another shot, and cycled the bolt again, again catching the spent shell casing.  The brass was still hot...but his hands were accustomed to it.  Sighting again, he added, "I had to make an impassioned plea with the Admiral to get him to put some pressure on the toy makers to tweak the designs just a little bit, so that mine and a few of the other coverts' figures only KIND OF look like us.  Compare mine to Shadow's...his is an almost perfect miniature.  Mine?"  Shot, cycle, settle sights again.  "It looks enough like me that people who've seen news clips recognize who it's supposed to be...but if you've been looking at that, thinking it's me, and I walk into a room out of uniform and trying to be nondescript, odds are good you wouldn't put two and two together and get four."  Shot, cycle...this time, he looked up from the scope with a crooked grin.

"And on top of that, I just don't have the kind of ego that feeds on having a doll of myself."  He chuckled as he setlled back to the scope.

"I'm not even sure how many different versions of the Sgt. Spencer figure are out there, now...this is a new one, but it's been...oh...a year or more since I saw one last, so I don't know if this is just one I haven't seen before or if they've issued yet another series of 'Hermes Heroes' figures..."  He squeezed off the last round.

In spite of his talking...and using the less-stable seated position...all five shots were in a tight cluster, just loose enough to not makea single large hole in the target.

Teela stayed silent and watched Roy shoot, her augmented eyes letting her see the impacts without the need of a scope. She nodded as his words did make sense to her. "I understand. I bought it as a...mmmm...," she hummed as she searched for the correct phrase to use. "Joke gift? Is that it? Had I known your feelings, logical ones, I would not have done so."

She went silent for a moment. "That is part of the newest set."

"'Gag gift', is the term I grew up with..."  He had an odd, distant smile, then looked over at Teela with a more normal grin.

"Like I said, I appreciate the thought..."  He chuckled, and added, "Gifts like that are always a gamble...because it's hard to be sure of the other person's sense of humor.  Even the timing can make a difference, because what's a good laugh at one moment can be sad or even infuriating under the wrong circumstances.  So I'll give you props for being a gambler on it."

He ejected the last shell from his rifle, and gathered up all the spent casings from his pocket, tucking them back in the box.  It was alittle gesture, but it was that many new shells that didn't need to be made.

He glanced back over at Teela.  "So...you gonna shoot any of these some more?  Or are we done?"  Despite the business-like question, there was a good-humored tone to his voice.

   Garrat arrives with Besserman and two thermoses and some water bottles.  He hands Besserman a thermos.  "This will help undo the doghnut and give you strength.  Then we warm up and run."  The thermos appears to have a small amount of oaet meal, berries, sliced almonds and milk.  Tasting it will show it's spiced and tastes kinda like a blueberry cobbler.

   "The oatmeal has protein, nutrients, the almonds also nutritious and proven to increase metabolism, blue berries high in iron vitamin C, black berries, has a better nutrient balence for men, if you can treat a Woman like a woman and attract her, you'll noyice prolonged consumption of blackberries will improve your performance."

   Garrat waits half expecting him to turn up his nose

  He  takes a  swig , shaking his  head,..you're kidding ..right?... this is like  some  12 year old  tried  to make a pie  and messed up?  Then He  took another  swing  , just to  'be nice'.


    he  shivers   as he swallows the  2nd   drink...look..man?.. I don't know why you're  doing this.... I won't be here long.... That's why Matterhorn  sent me here... so they don't have to deal with the Problems that come with Mistreating  someone  like me...