..continue  with  shore  leave   after   2nd delta night.

Nikki kept having Haley kick until she could feel it moving her forward when she did.  Then letting her feet back on the sand in the water she looked at Haley "That was outstanding Haley.  Now your arms and hands Then I'll hold you up again.  use your feet and the hands motions I'm gonna show you.  Then we'll put them together and see if you can do a few strokes over to Joseph.  Okay?"
she coughed a bit as water got in her mouth "Okay"
Nikki showed how to cup hands and to turn a bit and bring her arm over her head and into the water and push the water out behind her, then alternate to the other arm.  Even remember to turn her head and breath now and then.

After a few practice moves Nikki again lifted her into the swim position and let her go for it.  Big splashes went everywhere.  Still Haley kicked and her arms spun.  After a few moments and a rough start, she felt her body move forward.  After that Nikki aimed Haley towards Joseph and let her go 5-6 strokes for him to catch her.

   The Commander  and The Admiral  arrived at the beach..The Commander's   2 piece was Angel Silk and  turned alot of heads.  The Admiral set up a blanket for them ,a yard or two from Mortica

  the Commander stretched out to get  Sun, as  HAck looked  down the beach and smiled,  Shadow and Shade with  the    two LAdies,   LArry and  Mila romping about,  Gregor  would charge to the surf,  but  run back Hissing at the water.. trying to get LArry's attention

 He nodded to Henry and  Mortica, and  started to pick out others  like Gia, Nikkie  ,Joe Mac  and  frans...seemed like the Hermes  claimed a section of the beach.

 Then  Nil   looked  at  MAria  and Scarlett who had   two , brand new suits  from the shop.. they had  Pusle rifles  with them...Ladies ,,,Relax.. nom one is going to attack us?  We have   people on this beach right now.. that have killed  enough people to fill the lowers...and more!..relax..

 ..Sorry , Ma'am... no one is going to camp you on the Admiral on my watch...I am gettign a tan,  Si?

 Scarlett smiled,..... I won't  mind   a  quick Jump, in the water...

  The Commander waved her hand,..go..that's   an order...

 Scarlett  grinned , Layed her rifle   on a towel between  MAria  and Mortica  and ran to the surf.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:42, Sat 26 Jan 2019.

Henry returned the Admiral's wave then went over to Gregor to coax him into the water. Mila capered around emitting high pitched 'Yips' to add to the fun. Larry splashed over too.

    Joseph worked with Nicole to help Haley swim.  When the little girl tired he had her cling to his neck while he did some gentle body surfing.  He wore a loose shirt over a tank top with his cargo shorts. It concealed two glock quality pistols [can fire under water] in the small of his back.  He'd have to clean them later.

Roy set the rifle down.  "Your people do good work.  My only real concern is the ammo capacity.  Yeah, carbines have the same capacity...but carbines aren't standard issue.  Most of the time, they're an emergency weapon, used by pilots or tank crew who need something smaller than a standard combat rifle.  And I don't feel like the pulse option fully compensates for that.  I mean, we already know at least one enemy race has shield technology that makes pulse weapons on fighters superfluous against them.  If they...or someone else...figure out a battlefield application for that technology, pulse rifles are paperweights.  As is, I'd consider these as emergency rifles, or for special operations...but as a primary combat rifle, I think the hard ammo capacity needs to be doubled, at least."

He reached for a pair of the pistols.   "Let's see how these do..."  He tried a couple of carefully aimed shots, not expecting much...pistols were nowhere near as accurate as rifles, it was the trade-off for them being so small and easily portable.  After getting a sense of their general accuracy, he raised both pistols at a target and rapid-fired them at another target, starting out aimed at center torso and making an effort to keep them on target while squeezing triggers as fast as his fingers would work.

  Micca  Nodded,..well.. we'll have to find a Niche market i guess... still?  there are  4  crates of these thing    sent up to your Ship... I didn't send any of the  sidearms, ...

 the Pistols  did   'kick up' when the ahrd  Ammo was fired..but no worse then a standard  .45 or .44

"Everyone working out swimming...ships gonna be quite with people sleeping tonight"
Haley laughed and giggled having fun trying to swim and being led about getting wet.
Nikki took a moment and swam a bit deeper and did a hand stand under water then came back up.  Her totally wet hair clung down the back of her neck and shoulders. As she took another breath after cracking the surface a light spray of water came out.  She then came back in a bit closer.

   Joe stands with Haley on his shoulders so she can see Nicole.  "Not bad."

 <<<<<<<<  Harry from Condo

 Will carried   a bag  with  thier stuff.. he saw  all the folks on the beach.  He stet up a bit  down  from  Shadow's Blanket, he notcied  guys checking out the  commander who was baking in the sun.

 well?.. water  first... or sun first?


 .....

 Shadow was Getting tired, Beth wasn't  flying as  far, and   Flores  Dumped him a  few times...Shade   came   out, he  was shaking his head to get water out of the 'hearing slots';

 Gregor  Looked Up at Herny, cowed a  little bit    as he was ushered to the water..      Larry, flipped his  tail  to pusher the  wee  one in, and gregor  took off like a  fish, but  circled  back  to Mila.. .. people  near the water, but  tool a wide  berth around LArry who was  thumping his tail

…………………

 The Adiral was  coming out of the surf  soaked from doing a few lengths.

---> Etna Condo

Upon arriving at the beach it didn't take long for them to find the ESN portion of the beach, as well as the general pallor of Navy personnel there weren't many people who'd have a pair of Largs running in and out of the water like a pair of seriously overgrown puppies. Smiling as she watched as Will set their bag and blankets a short distance away from Shadow's she'd give his question a few seconds thought before replying with a playful grin "let's hit the water first...Race you!" she said with a laugh before dashing towards the shoreline, being sure to pick a spot away from Larry as she did so. Although deep down she knew that the Larg was very unlikely to hurt her, the way he was swimming around with only his eyes and nostrils exposed reminded her just a little too much of a crocodile for comfort.

Mortica walked down and in to the water some after rolling her leggings up and splashed Gregor. "Look at you, swimming as naturally as can be. Well done little one. Now go jump on Larry again." She told him with a smile.

Haleys head tilted to the side a moment "Do I get to lern that?" she asked with a 'PPpppplllleeeeeaaazze' smile on her face.
"If you want to learn how" she reached over and beeped her nose. still a bit of an evil thought crossed her mind "Be right back...got an idea you might like" she swam off a bit over to where Shadow, Morticia, Henry, Larry, and others were. She stopped and let the little pup smell her a moment but looked to Larry.  It was kinda hard to hear being a bit aways and all the splashing and music.  Nikki moved closer.
_{"Larry....would you help me out a moment or two?  I am teaching Haley to swim and get her used to being around non humans.  would you mind taking her for a real fast swim?  I know you normally don't but I want her to get used to a lot of things"} she asked quietly "If not I understand and all you have to do is shake your head for no.  So your choice, please"

Joseph sees her talking to Larry. "This might be good."  He works with Haley till her guardian is coming back then gets out of the water and goes to where his computer was set up, [with the camera facing outward on panoramic] and grabs his head set. Thank goodness these things are all made waterproof nowadays.

  The Little   Larg  sat down in the water.. every now  and the   the waves   wonf  knock him back, but he was content  to stay by Mortica.

 LArry Tilted his ehad  a Bit.. then Ndged her..  to lean on..

  Shadow  was  Coming out of the  water, As    Harry and  Will  charge d down the sand   and into the   water.

  Beth  collapsed on the blanket and   just laide on her    back, reaching for the ball cap to Cover  her  eyes

   Shadow stood  By moment,..Go?.. Have   Fun for a Bit.. I'll stand Guard...f
 The   Mexican woman  finally broke  down , laid her rifle  by  Scarlett's  and  went off..

 ..LC?.. You  are dripping on me...

 ..yeah?.. Guess  I  am... maybe  you ought  a  run down  and  Join the Admiral

 ......why is that?

 ..because?.. it  wouldn't hurt to just be  'crew' for a few  hours...

 She  Sighed,...I'll never get that  tan...

 She got  up and  began a swift run towards  the  unsuspecting Admiral , before  Blindsiding Him into the water.

 Beth chuckled...

"Thank you Larry...Tonight I am going to order a steak for you back on the rec dec." she walked in the water with him  "Haley...got a real treat for you" She let Larry get close to Haley "Haley...this is Larry.  He is a Larg"
A hit taken aback by his size she looked at him a moment.  Even though he was smaller than most Largs he was still big to a 5 year old.  "He's not gonna bite me is he?" she was a bit worried about that.
"Nope....Larry is a crew member, Like An'Teela has wings, and Mr. Zob, They are not human like us, but we are all on the same side" she explained "I asked Larry to take you for a spin" She held her arms out for her to jump off Joes shoulders "He's gonna be fast, so you need to hold on, but not tight enough to hurt Larry okay?"
Haley nodded as she began to hold onto Larry.  "Hi Larry, my name is Haley.  Thank you for playing with me"
Nikki bent down "Thank you Larry ...how about chasing others in the water?" she then let them go off like a torpedo.
She looked at Joseph a moment "I think she'll remember this part"

Teela walked down to the water wearing a one piece Angelsilk suit that shimmered as she moved. It tied around the neck and was backless to allow her wings plenty of space to move. She spread a blanket out on the sand and set her bag down next to the other Hermes crew before watching the Admiral get tackled.

She laughed and looked over at Shadow. "Well done. Are you getting a chance to 'just be crew' today?"

In reply to Roy Zob (msg # 7):

Zob just wasn't digging the rifle all that much but that was personal preference he preferred weapons like the heavy pulse gun cause he had the strength to handle such weapons efficiently but this pistol on the other hand could be useful, so he gave the pistol a few shots and then set it down once the weapon was empty, "This i could see myself using"   

Mortica reached down and scratched around Gregor's ears. "Are you having fun, my little love? These past few days together are just the start of a much better life for you. I promise you I'll make you as happy as I can for as long as I can."

 Larr y  Thumbed his tail  in nthe  water, splashing near by people, though  the Crew folks didn't mind, some  Civies   thought it might be better to move on...

  Once  HAley was    Holding  on..  LArry   Glided  into the  water  a bit.. the    kicked his    tail  and   back legs.. sending them forward  with a  Bit of a wake behind them, like a  serpent , he  weaves his way around startled  people.

  ………

  Gregor     stood up on his  hind legs  trying to  see  LArry Through all the Bodie s  Moving  around.. A Soggy Mils   sat  down by  they  with her tongue panting

  Stefi took a  break from the Stem  kids  who  seemed to be watching the  Larg in awe...She sat down by Henry,..This is  more like  shore leave....not blowing up half the station and eliminating half the population.

 Shade   looked at them, and Bleeped    a few times to Stefi, holding  up a finger , as if to make a point..

 …………….

  Flores   was  Ganging up on the Admiral, with  the Commander.  Two   Guys    walked into each other  as they watched  The Commander  frolicking ..

  MAria  and Scarlett  splashed  around with  some  Guys from  another ship.

……………………..

 Harry  and   Will swam  a bit further out.. Will Managed  to capture   Harry  and  Held her  for a Bit   as they bobbed in the  water..... we got  all day, and all night now..and..part of the day tomorrow..Shadow  lets  us stay at the Condo until  recall sounds.. he watched  some kids  placing drinks  by Hermes people's blankets....looks like   the LC is getting people  drinks..

 Beth   Rolled her  ehad   towards Teela,..Yeah.. Shadow  was out there throwing LArgs, and Com Officers   around

 Shadow   smiled  as he leaned   he waved   around  the area   and pointed to  Drinks.. The Stall Guy  nodded and began  to  make    another  round of  drinks, plus the New  folks.

 The Drinks   guy  borrowed  the Food guy's  runner, and the  tow  kids  went about  setting out tall    glasses of Iced   Tea and Lemonade.  The Stall guy came over to  the Blanket,  setting    trays down   with  drinks for those  in the water, and handing out to Teela  Shadow and beth.

 He   stammered a Moment,..Sir ?.. I hate to bring this up... but... since you have been here, you have been running up a Big Tab  for  drinks  and such?

  ..and  you are worried    that you  and your  buddy might not ghet paid?

 the   guy  shrugged   and smile d meekly..Beth could be over ehard to Mumble. "oh Brother.."

 Shadow points  to the    far corner  of the Etna Star,..see that?.. That's Mine.... Had a  Big assed  party there yesterday.. The Admiral had a  more....refined..big assed party  across the roof...now?.. does that sound like you aren't going to get paid?

 The  Fellow Nodded,..sorry ,, Sir  I was..

 ..Relax.. you're  not used to people spending  Creds  to make other people have a good time... You'll get paid... and if the Etna Star tries to Stiff you...well.. they'll make me upset..

 The Fellow Moved  off with a nod  and a smile.

...............……..

 Shadow's COM  blinked  and he grabbed it,..Shadow..

 ..hey? Boyo..I got  a Block of Potassium here.. it weights  about   40m pounds?... Now?.. what you be needin' this fer?

 ..Great..Great... yeah.. its a gift for someone... I need you to get a driver  from someone on the ship?.. I want that  Block,  brought  down to the Hotel, and  put in a Van..with teh driver... I want it  here around...say...2400 hours...

 ..Lookit it?.. I can't just have this  tossed  about?.. what  are you gonna  do with it...

 ..do you..REALLY..want me to tell you?

 ..yer  gonna cause  trouble, ain't ya...

 ..yep?


 ..never mind then.. i'll have it  down there for ya... and don't be doing stupid stuff...

 The Com  shut off and  Shadow too a deep drink of iced  tea,..hey beth.. you  did better  in Chem class them me..right?

 beth , was  almost dozing as  she said,..everyone  did better in chem class  then you...…she mumbled.

 what happens   when you drop Potassium  in water...

 ..burns...  explodes?.. depends on  how much  of each there is...

  Shadow grinned  and nodded...

When Larry cut through the water and picked up speed like a shark Haley could not help but have her eyes get wide and have a titanic squeal of delight come out of her.  Those looking she had the largest smile on her face as Larry zipped and splashed.

"Oh...think I might need to get Larry 2 steaks"  Nikki said to Joseph.  She watched as they darted back and forth for a few moments.  She laughed even harder when Larry stopped a moment and splashed his tail to send a spray of water onto Shadow, Beth, and Maria.  Then darting away with Haley laughing and giggling having so much fun.  After a bit Haleys ride brought her safely back.....Sending the same style of spray at Joseph and Nikki.  "You just made Haleys day, Larry" finally plucking Haley off of him she gave him a skritch and a kiss.
Being held Haley also kissed Larry "Thank you Larry...that was fun!!!"

    "I'll have to chip in on that."  Joseph said catching some good footage.  He had even caught the tackle on Hack.  Footage of Teela, Beth and Mortica. "You know, that old Barbie franchise could be brought back to life with the Hermes women alone.  They are hard to miss and have strong enough personalities they could star their own reality show.  We'll call it "shore leave.""

Roy nodded at Zob's assessment. "I actually think the hard-ammo/pulse combination is far more useful in a sidearm than as a primary battle rifle.  A lot of heavier sidearms only have eight or ten rounds in a magazine, and you aren't typically using a sidearm in a heavy-fire situation." He looked down at the pistols in his hands.

"Send us four crates of these, as well.  And I'd like to request high capacity magazines...twenty or even thirty rounds for the rifles, twelve to fifteen rounds for the pistols." Personally, he wouldn't be trading in the machine pistols Shadow had given him anytime soon...but the design was robust enough to take field duty, and he did like the thought of the extended magazines, as well as the fire duration allowed by the pulse option if the hard ammo was gone.

Reaching the water mere seconds ahead of Will despite the head start Harry would giggle delightedly as she only just managed to dodge Will's attempt to tackle her before swimming away from the shore. With it quickly becoming apparent that Will was the far stronger swimmer out of the two of them it wasn't long before he'd caught up with her and had his arms wrapped around her as Harry suitably rewarded his efforts with a kiss before settling down into his embrace "Hmm...a nice beach, large comfy bed, a bath and a wonderful, handsome man to share it all with...who could ask for more?" she softly sighed into the side of his neck.

At his mention of the LC getting them drinks Harry would twist her head ever so slightly to watch as a young boy placed a pair of drinks down by their blankets "Ok, let's head back and sit in the sun for a little bit, it'd be nice if I could get a little bit of colour I mean any paler and I'll look like a Vampic" she chuckled. It was around about this point that a mischievous look would appear on her face as she quickly moved her hands from around his back to the top of his shoulders with her dunking the unsuspecting trooper before quickly swimming back towards the shore, giggling as she went.

  Micca Smioed,..allright..Done...

 She LAif  her  sode  arm on the counter,Keep those  two weapons  as  a  gift  for helping Test...we'll have  cases  of sidearms  and what extended mags we have sent up... we'll send the bill for the magsm the weapons  are for  capping Fen Fen... I think your weapon smiths  will be able to  mod  extended  mags  for the sidearms as well

"Looks like the Admiral could use some backup. Maybe a...wingwoman." Teela said with a giggle before jumping up and running down the beach before diving into the water like a harpoon, coming up behind the Commander, and tossing her off of Hack.

  “Nicole, I’d like to play a little for the stem children.  Who knows what lies ahead for them, I’ll leave you to the wet play for a bit.”
       Joseph towels off and heads over to the children stopping to invite Mortica to join him with the baby Larg.  Give the children a different concept of puppy.

     His first song of course is “the rhyme and the reason” John Denver
This message was last edited by the player at 19:28, Sun 27 Jan 2019.

Mortica turned to watch Joseph and nodded as he extended his invitation. "How about it, little one, care to meet some children who will play with you? You just need to be gentle with them. Let's go say hello, Gregor."

She started to walk down the beach whilst looking behind to make sure the pup was following.

"Not a problem.  Joy of music can make a wonderful memory or perhaps turn someones fear into hope" she smiled "If you need me, comm me.  otherwise I think it is almost time for a water break and to work on some sand castle building or maybe lunch"
Haley kept trying to learn, getting coordination between arms and legs were hard.

In reply to Roy zob (msg # 25):

Zob took the handgun and put it in the holster it would be a weapon that would see plenty of use in the days to come, "Ill make sure it sees some good use" he chuckled a bit.

   The  Kids  from the  Stem were there  with  Dana  and Libby from the  Rec Dec.. they  were all takign a break with the  drinks that  qwhere  sent ot them.. most watched  the    LArg  with rapt attention.

  Gregor  looked  back at LArry.. then  followed  along, trying  not  to get stepped  on my anyone who ran about.


……………………………

 Will   Came Up from the   water  Laughing  a  bit  and  tried to catch up to   Harry,   and  Managed  to  grab her   about a yard from  the  beach  he   swung her   around, but didn't let he r  go  as he place  her on the sand.. the were both rewarded  with  a Fan-tail splash form Larry

  Shade was  sitting on   the blanket , watching   the others  foir a bit  as he  sipped  his  tall  Iced tea...HArry could see  the skin of his chest and legs  flowed  with  the.
 same odd  colors of Grey, light flesh color and blue.

 Will chuckled,..this  will be  real iced  tea.. LC  doesn't normally drink hard  stuff.

 Beth Mumbled  from   the blanket.. her  back getting a bit  tanned , almost Tine to be  'flipped'.....you see him drink hard stuff.... stay out of his way.... it means he's off the rails...

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

 Teela  and the Commander  went into the  deeper  water,  Flores  was  Lifted in the Air n by th Admiral  and tossed, though not near  the  Distance  Shadow  did.

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

 Stefi looked   at Henry,..look at them.... almost every one of them, a  cold  Blooded  Killer, and pracing  about like kids...

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

 Nikki and Haley saw the runner   placing the  drinks for them and Joe Mac, as they neared  the blacnkets.

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

 Melia , with Orria, was  walkign Up the Beach.. the Little Girl ha d on a  bathing suit. Melia's was a one  piece, but  couldn't even begin to  hide  the  'Demon-like' scars on her  body from the testing  she  survived... she   carried  a side   arm on a holster , that was  slung over her shoulder.. they set their Blacnket down  by the   others... two runners cam e with drinks for tham

  Micc  Motioned for them to  head to the dors, the   Techs  gathered up the ctrates  and spent shell casings.

   She had he r arms   wrapped  around her waste,  was the  headed to the Lift,I knew  Enta was  bad... but i didn't know how bad.... there ae still some folks out there that need to be ended... but that will be Elge's  job , i suppose... But  the Fleet has made  my life a bit better...and I should be able to expand  some  ..'honest' weapons  transactions , not that some of the  EDT backed bastards  are dead.

 ..Damn shame that building went up... the weapons he had there?... might never  be seen again, at elast not, out here.

Mortica smiled at the kids. "Hello everyone. This is Gregor and he is a Larg pup. He's very young but very smart and loves to meet new people as long as they are gentle."

She crouched down and stroked the pup's back. "Do you want to meet the children, Gregor? You have to be gentle with them like they will with you. They'll hold their hands out so you can smell them." She looked up at the kids. "Who wants to say hello first?"

 The Little  LArg  peeked  around Mortica's  legs.  One of the younger gilrs  started  making fuss   when she tore her eyes  away from LArry in the water

 ..it is a  Smaller One!

 some of the other   kids were looking... the girl who had been wounded badly , when Garrat over ehard the gang war... stepped   pu.. knneling with some  effort and  held out a hand...

 Gregor  looked up at Mortica  and   then all  around.. he  took a few  steps  closer, tilting his ehad   at 45 degrees.

"There you go, child. Just let Gregor smell your hand and get to know you," she said, still stroking the little pup's back.

"Very good, Gregor. She wants to be a friend so be gentle with her." She scratched around his ears. "He likes to be scratched right around here. What is your name?" She asked the girl.

 The  Gril had a  one  piece  suit on to hide her   Dermaplast, her left arm was held in a bit, like she was afraid   stuff  would fall out.

 ..I don't know for sure... The Stefi Lady said my  chip called me.. Rana Vesta..but   i only knew my name  as 'Sneak'  he    scooted in the sand a  step  closer.

 Gregor  titled  his  back the  othr  way and  his  tingue   zipped out to  Tpuch her.. she jerked  a   Moment...  he    took a  few   steps  closer and thumped his tail twiace.

Nikki could see all the kids playing.  She smiled, it was good seeing kids just being kids.  She also spotted Melia and Orria.  "Haley...do you remember us talking about non humans and stuff?""
Haley thought a moment "Kinda"
Nikki knew that a 5 year old usually only rembers fun stuff.  "Well, I was just thinking Orria and Melia don't often get to play.  I think it might be nice if maybe you asked them if they would like to build a sand castle with you." she leaned forward a bit "I think it might be okay if you ran aroud a bit to play.  just make sure if you go in the water you ask me first, you are still learning.  just don't leave the beach and kinda stay in sight."
Haley smiled "Okay." she got up and grabbed the sand pails and shovels. She walked on the wet sand area over to where Melia and Orria were.  She looked at both, but mostly Orria"Hi....would you two like to build a sand cassel with me?" she hel up the pails and forms.

Mortica smiled at the girl. "I shall call you whatever name you wish to be called. Rana is a pretty name but I also like Sneak. You get to chose what your name is. And look, Gregor wants to be your friend! He sniffed your hand and gave you a lick and now his tail is thumping which means he likes you. If you want to pet him you may."

Teela came up laughing and splashed the Commander. "Your backup is here, Admiral. I have one enemy fighter contained. Continuing to put suppressing fire on her!" She splashed Si again.

  Orria smiled.....I know how to do that!... Dr Henry showed me on Fuji!

  Melia   Nodded  as she accepted   the Drink from the nrunner..The runner  ,, not sure.. set one  down by  Orria   and Haley too.

   Oria  waited for  Haley to start, and  see what she wanted her to do.  Melia relaxed, putting her holster near.

…………………………………..

  The Admiral  was  fending Off  Flores , who was  laughing. Teela felt an iron grip on her left  ankle as she was pulled down.

  Shade pointed to them, looking a Shadow,..you want to?.. go ahead... i'm not taking sides in that battle

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

 Sneak reached out and scrunch  the little larg's noggin. Gregor padded a  couple steps by the hurt little  girl and curled up by her knees.

In reply to Roy zob (msg # 32):

Zob moved over to the door where she was, "At least they aren't in the enemies hands so silver lining and all that" was all he said in regards to that situation.

Haley plopped her little but onto the sand and passed out the pails buckets and such. "Nikki and Mr. Joseph sayd that it not matter what it looks like.  It's the building it thats fun" she filled one pail up with the brown sugar like sand "Oh..we need some water too" she took the reusable cup and went and got water for them both.  "Nikki told me that if a little bit of water is added that the sand sticks better" she smiled pas she added a bit to her pail then shoveled more sand in.  She packed it in a bit then flipped the bucket over. It slid out a bit slow but it held together.  A flat topped conic shape came out "Back home me and my sister ..we'd play in the red mud and dirt.  It's what we had.  I think the sand is more fun" She began refilling the pail again "Know why?  Cuz I gots friends to help me play"

With in eye shot Nikki relaxed a bit.  One of the things she relaxed with was one of the training manuals the SIMS chief gave her.  Still she kept an avid watch on Haley and others.

  Orria nodded sagely as she took a sip of the drink and set the  cup into the sand so it wouldn't fall over.

  then  she began to dig around to make a moat.  PO Mommy says castles   had  water  aroudn them to keep out  bad  guys, cause thgey didn't have flyign things  then...

 There was a stage whisper, and she nodded  as she said,..Mommy Nelia..is mnot my  1st Mommy... My first Mommy was eated   by bad guys..

Henry was happily splashing around in the water with Mila and Larry, although Mortica had enticed Gregor away.

Harry had just about reached the shallows when Will finally caught up with her; swinging her around to chorus of delighted laughter that was only slightly muted by the small tidal wave that Larry produced with a single swipe of his tail causing Harry to gasp  ”Bloody Lizard!” in between her laughter before finding herself being effortlessly hoisted over Will’s shoulder in fireman’s lift.

With her legs kicking out in a futile effort to get him to put her down she protest in between gales of laughter all the way back to their blankets whereupon she’d find herself having to sit down rather hurriedly. After giving herself chance to get her laughter under control she would look up at her man adoringly, uttering ”cheeky sod!” with fond smile as she retrieved her drink and turned to watch the ongoing melee between the Admiral and Commander with interest.

Roy nodded at Zob's statement.  "We generally have a series of priorities on interdiction activities like last night.  The primary target is usually the individual...beyond that, capture what materials you can, and if you can't,  then make sure they're no longer available to the enemy.  We didn't go into it thinking we were going to burn down several buildings...but the EDT were waiting for us.  Word's made it around, bad things happen to EDT personnel whenever the Delta Fleet arrives.  We were lucky to capture what we did."

He shrugged after a moment's thought, and continued, "We made a helluva hole in their operations, though.  They're not dead in the water, by any means...but they took a big financial hit, they've lost a lot of weapons, transport, and information, and we captured a lot of potential intel on their operations that could help Elge pinpoint the remaining movers and shakers.  We'd always like to have captured more, of course, but we got a lot."  He gave a grim smile and nodded.

"One other thing we accomplished...word will get around, I'm sure, they KNEW we were coming for them...and they still couldn't stop us.  And that was just with our SpecOps teams.  We didn't mobilize even a full percentage of our available combat personnel.  A lot of fair-weather EDT contacts are going to hear about that and realize the EDT can't protect them."

    Joseph waves to Christy.  The Vampic would benefit from being around children and the fleet would benefit from the blue Vampics and puppy large being shown as working with children.  Adding a kind professor and a earth dog could help but the doctor deserved his own time if he wanted it.

   Joseph watched Nicole and thought about what would happen if Haley no longer had her.  He looked at the stem children and wondered where they came from.  The names were trails of bread crumbs.

    To the others he said, “If those of you who don’t know your past could.  Would you make the choice to learn?”

   When Joe Mac  asked , One of the Older Boys shook his head,..Miss Stefi has  scanned  us?  we know our names..... we also know the names  we have lived by?...She Said    The  SEC  might be able to track down our Mothers, if not  both parents...

 Lookign at sneak and back to  Joe Mac,.... If they are Dead?  it would be good to know...If they are alive I would  want to know  only 2  things?... are they slaves?.... or do they live  free.... because, if they are Slaves,  they should be found and saved.... and if they live free...

 Sneak says  softly   as she pets  Gregor,..then that means  they either left us...or sold us... and we don't care...

 one Little  boy  looked up ay Joe  Mac  as she  crouched near Sneak, "...or they got  eated..and  that's  not their fault..."

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

   Larry  seemed to be boundless.. Mila was  getting a bit tired  as she looked  up a Henry a few times.

 Stefi watched Larry,..that thing, could  kill half the people  in this area of the beach before  a SEC trooper  could bring it down?.. and no one seems to care...

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

  Will was smiling  as he sipped, Beth rolled over  to 'get the other side  done' pulling the ball cap over her   eyes.

  ..so... now its  Tan tie, for all of us,,space sardines....

 Amen to that.. sunlamps  just  to  cut it...

 Shadow sipped his  iced  tea, Shade   Bleeped  something to the  little ones, Orria  said,..Shade is going to clean out his  Cup and Help...

 As  the  Verian      walked  down  to the water..a fellow, who was near the Size  of Supe  came   Jogging  down the  beach,   there were  calls  of " watch where you are going".. and One  girl was Picking her self up after being ran into .

   The Fellow  Hit Into Shade.. Shade    fell BAckwards  in surprise. the   Fellow   stumbled  back   rubbing his legs...WTF!.. Watch  were you're Going...

 Shade began a stream of  sounds  and  Pointed to the  direction he came  from.. he stood looking up at the fellow  with one arm pointing and the other on his him.

 Shadow  calls over, rather calmly as he  studies the  'Enta Star' design on his cup...He says  You have to apologize  and..Go back and apologize to that girl.... and?.. You have to go around us...

 ..This Yours?..Maybe I should come over   and teach you some manners?

 Beth Mumbled,..oh Brother....

 Tell you what  Bluto?  If you don't do what he  says?..  we'll  have to call Med tech.

 The Big Fellow  lost it. He  reached to grab  Shade, his right  hand  Gabbed  Shade's left arm, Shade Grabbed his left arm and began to squeeze...

 The Fellow   Yelped  as  Shade  squeeze harder.. the big man fell to his knees..

 MAria  and Scarlett  stopped talking and began to move..but Shadow  just waved them off...what Color  are his eyes?

   The Man looked   frightened  as he hear a crack..RED!....

do what he says.... if they turn black.. well...

 ..I'm Sorry!..... I'm Sorry!...

 Shade's   hand  came open, the man's  arm dangled.....I think it broke my forearm!..

 ..Best find that Girl..and apologize ... then..GO AROUND.. this section..  I won't help you again..

  The Fellow      took a few  steps to get Up , Looking  for the Girl who was   in her  Teens.. he ran  up to her  , Apologized, then headed to the   streets to go around the   'Hermes section ' of beach.

  Shade   clapped his hands  together, picked up his crushed Cup  and rinsed it out, bringing  a  Full cup of water  back..The Girl who was  with a Teenage  Boy , ,and holding his hand, stopped  and Gave Shade a Kiss on the cheek..."..My Hero!"  and the  Boy  grinned as they kept walking.

   Shade  walked  towards  the  sand castle  with bright blue eyes.

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

  The  Commander  Boibbed up  Just when  the fellow shouted  at Shadow   The Admiral stopped   with his arm around Flores   as he was about to toss her again..

 After the fellow   was   taken    Care off, Flores Hooked  Her  leg behind the Adnmiral's  and  Plopped him into the Drink...She  raised  her  arms in  Victory As   The Commander   Said,..WE WON!.... Now.. time for  sun....

  The Adiral Popped  up   Giving Flores  a  pat on the back  . making his way to the blankets as well

“That victory was tainted by that fool man running over people. I refuse to accept it and demand a rematch. After we get some drinks and work on our tan.” Teela declared as they walked out of the water. She made sure Hack, Si, and Flores were in range when she spread her wings and gave them a vigourous shake to shed water.

She had a mischievous grin on her face when she got her drink and began toweling herself dry.

Mortica gently reached out and stroked the girl’s cheek. “Everything will be done to find your parents, little one. All of your parents. We will look for them. Look at how Gregor is curled up by you. He only does that with people he likes.”

Seeing that Mila was tiring, Henry led her to the shore to have a rest near to the knot of youngsters and Mortica and Gregor.

   Sneak smiled a bit,..It woulod be nice to know if they are  dead.. or..just  didn't care to find us. We have  all bveen on Enta..and in The Stem..as long as I can remember..Only  Jax  remembers the ship   we came on..

 ..Mary Celeste... she  used an Orbiting Dock..they gatheres  a bunch of us  and sent us to the Station.. when  we were taken to the Stem,  some of us older ones, slipped through the cages, and got as many little ones out that we could... we split up , so's  we all wouldn't get caught... Me and Sneak ended up in differant Gangs... Lots of the Little ones  got  killed through the  years,  'casue they couldn't get out of the way of stuff...The Bosses  we had?.. they tried to keep littlke ones  just being Runners, but  some of you saw what happened to the runners  trying to go back and forth from the trucks...

 Gregor  was eating  up the attention, after  feeling left out  from the fuss over  Mila and LArry in the water...every now  and then his tail would thump.

 One of the Little boys looked at Mila,..that is a real doggie?.... I only seen those  weird ones in the stem that they made from other  animals...  his eyes  were  wide  as he watched Mila.
......................

  Flores    Was  Laughing,..all fighter pilots  learn, when  there is  a change  in the  conflict area, you take advantage..


   Si   stopped at the blankets  and  squeezed   water water there  was in her hair out,Well said , Candy...

 Hack  hit the Blanket and grabbed the fresh drink...can't aegue that... no such thing as a Time out in the middle of a Battle.

With the confrontation between Shade and the beach bully ending with a crack that could be heard all across the ESN part of the beach Harry would take a sip of her drink before quietly musing ”you know I’m starting to think we may have to start putting signs up wherever we go...Warning, ESN Hermes crew, enter at your own risk!” she said as she carefully slipped her arms from out of the straps of her bathing suit so she wouldn’t get any tan lines on her shoulders. Lying down on her front she would settle herself down on the blanket beside Will so that she could enjoy the “sun” for a little while.

Henry smiled and put an arm round Mila.

"Yes, this is a real dog. Her name is Mila and she's very friendly. Do you want to pet her? Let her sniff your hand first, like this."

He demonstrated how to offer a dog the back of your hand, staying far enough away that the dog had to decide to move closer to sniff it.

"If she likes the smell of you, she either licks the hand or wags her tail. Then you may pet her. No sudden moves, and make sure she can see you coming so she doesn't get startled."

   Will squirted  so9me    suntan  lotion  on her  backs  and  rubbed it in ,..I dunno... imgaine  if he would have  Hit into the LC?

 then he laid  back on his elbows to watch the  folks  , seeing how many Hermes  folks he could pick out..and how many 'fleet'...

…………………………………..

 The   did   took a  couple   'duck step' towards  Mila. his  Hand close in behind his  knees.. then he  held out  his hand like a duchess …

 Mila   Looked at the   Hand.. and wagged  a  bit..  as she took in the new kid's  look.

 Gregor kept  peering around from his spot by  Sneak.

    “Well it’s good to know things are bein worked on for ya folks, but what about those still in the stem?  Doincha think they should have a chance to know their past an maybe let it help their fate?”

  Jax  sounds a bit cold as he says,..Don'[t no one care up Stem Rats.... when  we  pop up in the Uppers, where cased  away, like if we were real Stem Rats... if  we pop up in the lowers, some  folks might help us  with  some creds, or something to eat..most ignore us..the only reason we are here... right niow?  'cause  we were in the right place  at the right time

 ..now?  I'm  just a stem rat.. we  only got as smart  as them folks who  took us in, wanted us ta be?... but , there is  as MAny people in the Stem, as there  are in the  Uppers, or Lowers...only difference is.. Folks in the stem die alot more.

  “So what would you be willin to do fer a steady meal and a good place to sleep?” Joseph asked almost absently as his Fingers played across some soft calming cords.

 Jax   snorted,we've been doin[' that..and more?.. scrounging... picking up packets or delivering them..keep watch on places   so's the boss  knows  when to send teams in ta get stuff.. we even shot some folks.. so?.. I'd  say we earned what little we got.

“Bah. We would have won that engagement. I had the Commander at my mercy and Flores was about to go down at the hands of the Admiral.” Teela said as she stretched out on the blanket. Her golden skin wasn’t predisposed to tanning but the sun felt good.

Softly moaning as Will's hands gently massaged the sun lotion into her back and shoulders before then moving onto her arms and the backs of her legs Harry would attempt to mull over his statement about the LC as she started to relax in a way she hadn't done in a long time, with it all too clear to Will that she was enjoying the pampering she was receiving "well...if he'd ran into the LC...I suppose Stefi would have to try and stop the bleeding until the ambulance arrived" she replied dreamily. The LC could be so delightfully violent when he wanted to be, and she'd most certainly want a front row seat "you know Will...if you keep this up there's a very real chance I'll fall asleep" she said with a relaxed sigh as she suddenly found keeping her eyes open to be a real struggle.

“Look at him basking in the attention he’s getting. You would think I haven’t been lavishing it on him since we rescued him.” The Vampic woman said with a smile as she reached down to scratch under his chin.

  Sneak    got brave  enough to put her hand on the  beasties    side  and   scratched a bit...I was  like that with  chocolate?... one time, we found a crate of Chocolate bars that were  going  to the  fleet, but  the   truck was  highjacked  and crashed to the steam.. the  big guns got there  first and  took   weapons  and stuff , but  we Found a Crate?... we  divvied it up so we each had a couple bars.... never  saw another one.. but  I bet i could eat them forever if there was enough to go around.

  Jax  smiled.....Remember  that onbe  with the  Cherry juice in it?

 ..yes  i do!.. and you took one  bite, and let me have the rest of the bar...I felt  Guilty..but i couldn't stop!

 Gregor  stood up on his hind legs   and  Grabbed  Mortica's    Fingers   and Pulled  he rhand  down as he laid there  waiting for  more  pets...his eyes  shifting to every voice that talked.

………………………………………

   Will  said  quietly,..Then sleep?.. we have  the rest of the  day down here, and ..maybe a few hours in the morning...

 ........................

 Flores   sat down by Beth  water   fell on Beth from her  hair, and Beth said,..don't be gettign me wet.. i'm starting to feel nice and  warm now..

 Hack looked mildly suprised  when  Commander  Si handed him lotion.Really?

 If  an Ensign can get pampered..so can a Commander....

  There was a slight   Chuckle  and  Hack coated away...

  Shadow Got Up,..I guess i better check on Larry?  see home many people he ate.... That big guy is lucky Larry didn't see him knock down Shade..   he Got up  to move  down the  shore  towards  LArry, who  seemed to have found a  job as a Divign board  for  Mara, Eckles  and Frans..it would be notcied, that he wouldn't let the  'none Hermes' guys who were there on his back.

Mortica laughed as Gregor pulled her hand down and scratched around his ears and under his chin. As she pet her little attention hound she gave Dana a quick ‘come hither’ head wave. “Can you see if the food stall has chocolate. If they do get some for all of the kids.”

  Dana  Nodded,..I'm sure  they do, Ma'am....  They like to make Creds...

 Dana    Took a head  Count  of  all the Kids... when she returned,, she had one  for  everyone, as well as   Orria  and   Haley

 She gave the Bag to Mortica  and said,..They are chilled, so they wouldn't melt.. I just  go straight up chocolate, no nuts  or  anything.

"Thank you, Dana. All right everyone. I have a treat for you," Mortica said, giving Gregor one last scratch before she started reaching into the bag and handing out chocolate to all of the kids. "Everyone gets some. Eat and enjoy."

When the bag was empty she went back to petting Gregor.

 Dana  took the  two  candy BArs  over   for Orria  and  Haley, Lt  Mortica  sent these over, she bought  all of the children a  Candy Bar...

 Orria Looked  surprised... and she waved ay  Mortica… Melia did as well.

 The  Kids  went  Crazy ( much to Gregor's dismay, as they  were more  worried  about the  Chocolate then the  little Larg.. He  Moved   a bit closer  back towards  Mortica.

………………………………

 Larry   pranced  through the  water  to Shadow,  thumping   up  Splashes..

 ..SHADOW!.. we we're Havign fun! Mara shouted...

 ..you wanna keep playing?

 Larry bounced in the water...

  Ok.. don'[t  eat anyone , unless i tell you!

 alot of the 'non-hermes' folks  gave Shadow n a odd look, the  guy that had been hitting on Frans  asked,..he's kidding..right?

 Frans just have a sly  smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

"Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt?...it was a long night after all... and I didn't sleep that well" she replied in the same dreamy voice as she justified, at least in her mind, why taking a quick nap on the beach was a good idea. Upon hearing the Commanders comment she would softly chuckle, not even bothering to open her eyes as she replied "The Ensign highly recommends the pampering Ma'am" before slowly beginning to drift away. Just a quick nap...

Mortica waved back at Orria and Melia before watching the children and their excitement over the chocolate. She picked up Gregor and snuggled him in close, her cheek resting on his. Part of her was extremely happy to give the children this chance for something nice whilst another part was upset at how little they had and how hard their lives had been to this point that a chocolate bar evoked such a response.

"This is why I fight, Gregor. So little ones like you and these children can have a better life. This is why I won't stop."

   Gregor's  tongue  licked on to Mortica's nose.  His   tail swinging in the air. One  quiet little Boy sat with his candybar, takign tiny  nibbles   to make it last, one a tear  went  down his cheek.

 Sneak  said in a stern Voice, that all the kids  turned to,..Don't  try to save it!..it  will melt  and you'll miss out... eat it..before it melts..

 the one little  girl  said,..but then it will be gone!

 Jax  spoke up,..yeah!..but it will be gone in your tummy.. if it melts.. you'll miss some of it..

 the Kids  sat down, taking small  bites, now the mission was clear.. eat it,, ebfore it melted...but make it last!

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

  the Commander  gave a  soft , musical laugh, before  Slipping into  a nap of her own.  Hack Layed Back.....So LC... Plans  for to night?

 ..Just hanging at the Condo..might take a drive..I dunno... Just unwind...

Mortica snuggled closer with Gregor and gave him a kiss on the nose before she noticed the crying boy. "Come here little one, tell me what's wrong?" She held a hand out to him.

Teela was lying on her stomach letting her wings dry when talk of pampering came up. "If anyone wants to pamper me they're more than welcome." She said in a lazy voice.

   The Boy held up his  1/4 eaten Candy..he  didn't  move as another   tear rolled  down his cheek,mommy..gave me candybar..when i was good... the man who tooked me.. said  i was real bad, so i don't have mommy or candy... now.. I have... he looks at Mortica,..candy..but no mommy..

 he took another  tiny Nibble

  Jax  knelt by him...i told you , Roll.... they  are the bad  people...

 Roll  just kept looking around, as Jax    gave him a pat on the back.

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

   Shadow chuckled  as  Teela  Commented,..I already Oiled up two chicks...

 ..yeah?  I did mine..so....

  Hack   smiled,.. Do9n;t  think it  would  be wise   for  Admirals  to be oiling up Ensigns...

 Flores  Piped up,..Its ok to toss them around the surf though!

 ..aye?.. LT  Flores... combat training is allowed..

 Shade  was goign back  and  forth  with his   cup to get the  little girls  water for the moat.

Mortica moved closer to him and sat down in the sand with Gregor cradled in one arm. She reached out and wiped the boy's tears away. "You are not bad, Roll. Not at all. And we are going to do everything we can to find your mommy, I promise."

She pulled him into her lap, put her other arm around him and kissed the top of his head. "Everything we can and the bad man who took you will never take anyone again. We took care of him and the other bad people. So you sit here and enjoy your candy because I know we're already looking for her." She told him, trying not to cry at how sad the boy was.

  Jax  looked at Mortica , and  give a lsight  shake of his ehad, he almost mouthed somehting, Buy Roll Looked Up and  asked Jax  If he wanted a bite.

  ..no buddy, that one's all yours.. we don't have to share this  time.. I'm almost done..see? he Held  up    the last  rows  of  his candy bar.

   Rolls   nodded a couple times in a jerky Motion. Gregor looked a bit jealous  that  Roll was  sitting on her  lap., But then started to watch the other kids.

 every one  of them treated the candybar like it might be   the last thing they ever ate.. eating  each bite  slowly..well..not  as slow as Roll..by slowly

"I believe humans have a saying about the third time being the charm, LC. Want to make it three...chicks?" She asked, eyes still closed. "I don't think it would be wise for married Admirals to be oiling up Ensigns, sir. Especially when your wife is an Angel given we're known for being short on temper and very strong."

  Stefi  came over Just as   Sadow was  goign toi reach for the  oil...hey?  Warlord... come  see these  kids?.. The Vampic is makign friends..but... they are still pretty sad?

  ..and?....You want to bring a  guy who kills   people  for a Living   to cheer them up?

  She   Motions  for him like a school kid,..you are Kray fucking  Shadow.. the  biggest bad  the   ESN has..or so PR tells  folks.. so?.. Pretend you are.. lets go..

  Dragging the LC over to the Kids, Stefi says,..Alright.. who all know, who this is!

 The Kids  Looked  up a few of them said, "The Guy who let  us  eat and stay at his place!"

 Shadow gave a  wry, upturned  smile at  Stefi  who  tried not to laugh.

 ..This is LC, Kray Shadow...of the ESN Hermes..

  the  kids  looked ay Him

 "..Hey!.. You KNow  Lt Frans.."

 ..yeah..But...

 " You're  the Little Robot  guy's  dad! "

 " well..he's not a …"

 Jax  said..."  You play  Football!"

 ..You Bet I Do, I...

 " This  Must be  Dana!.. She's really great!.."  other kids pointed at Dana now

 The Kids  were  all chattering again, eating what's  left of  thier candy bars.. Roll   was looking around..Gregor  just gave  up  and put  his head in the nook of Mortica's  arm.

 Dana  was talking to them about football and the Rec Dec...

  Stefi  gave Shadow a wink  and let go of his   Arm.

 Shadow   ran a Hand through His  hair as Stefi waved him off.... as he   walked a bit then  stopped to watch Larry's  New trick.. Lifting up one of  the pilots, on his head  as he stood on his  back legs in the water, and   they Flipped  off into the deeper  water, Like a  Dino-iving board.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:03, Tue 29 Jan 2019.

Zob was starting to get a tad bit hungry, "I do like the weapons especially the sidearm, i am curious what you will come up with next time we come around" he had only a few hours before he would return to the hermes and a little time in the sun would be nice.

(Flex)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:50, Tue 29 Jan 2019.

"Do you want to go and meet Shadow, Roll?" Mortica asked the little boy. "Go and introduce yourself to him, he would love to meet you." She gave him a little squeeze before moving her arm so he could get up if he wanted. She looked at Jax and nodded at him, motioning him over as she cradled Gregor in both arms again.

"You wanted to tell me something about Roll?"

  Roll  walked up to  Shadow.. he had    the last row of his candy bar and Held  It up to him.

  There was a  soft smile, he held his arms  out   and Roll raised his , Shadow Picked him up...you want a Bite?

 ..no thanks  Buddy.. so?..What's your Name...

 Roll  nodded and  took another  nibble,..I am Roll?.. That's   what they call me....Bad  men tooked me...

  yeah?.. well..  right now?.. in the Stem.. that bad place  where the  Bad men  were sending  little kid?.. is  all shot up... other kids   are going to Med  tech on the station?...Now?.. there's gonna be bad guys... But.. we try to make sure, there are less of them...

 ..they white lady said  they might  find my Mommy?

 well..this chip...  he tapped  the  kid s  wrist...that has your name.. and   they can trace that to your mommy and Daddy..and see if  we can find them..now?.. its hard.. but ifn they can't  fine  them.. you'll go to a place  that has  Sun, grass..animals  real Sky..wind... all kinds of stuff...and there  will be   a Mommy and Daddy  who  will be waiting for you..

 the   kid looked  down.....even if   i'm bad...

  Shadow  chuckled  and the   kid  looked up with a tilted head,now?...  I dunno about bad?... Bad  guys think i am bad..good  guys  think i am good... so?..if a Bad  Guy says you're bad.... he looked   at him with his eyebrows  raised...

   Rolls  eyes   opened  wide.. and he said,..I"M GOOD!  and he Hugged   Shadow hard  around the  neck ......now you got it !...smart too?..That's what bad guys are scared of..did you know that?.. Good Guys who are  smart!

 Roll was  LAughing  now  and wiggling,  ..can i go back?

 .. You bet buddy.. go...  and Roll ran off towards the kids all excited.

 Frans,  Stood there with her  arms  crossed and a big Grin... Eckles  leaned on her one shoulder  grinning.. and Mara  had her  head  on  Fran's other shoulder looking  at Shadow..

 what?

 ..I dunno Shadow.. I think the beach is  getting  full of   Ladies who wanna have your baby.. and the three started  to laugh,

 Shadow threw up his hand s and  headed to the drink stall

…………………………………………….

  Jax  Knelt  down  while all the Fuss  was going on with Dana.....well... I was there when they brought Roll in, he was supposed to go to that place in the Stem? I got him to carry a box  for me, then took him to the other gang, so Sneak could  hide him.. but his Mom?...she went into a transport... don't know  where se went.. but i'll tell you this... the  compound she was shipped out of?.. there is only two places   they go....one was  some asteroid place.. Hillite place?.. I dunno for names ..the other  one... well... they went to Vampic  space...the Dad was liked  on board one of the  Alpha  Fleet's  ships  during the big battel.. he was a   MArine…Now?.. He knows the Dad is gone...and some of us?  we got sold, by our parents... or abandoned....Roll..His Mom wanted him.. Jax   just shrugged an gave a slight smile.

 they could hear a   happy  Roll running through the Sand.. I'M GOOD... I'M GOOD!!
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:56, Sat 29 Oct 2022.

   Joseph almost falls over laughing "Stefi," He gasps, trying not to let shadow hear "I got that on recording, including youre conversation to get him over here.  We need to carefully edit this for a PR video.  Then loosely edit it for a laugh track on the rec deck."

    The smile went off his face when he saw Roll walk up to shadow. "I might have to enhance this off a lipsink program but this may be important."

    His laptop catches bits and peices of the sound but it's enough to get the jist...Joseph is speechless as he hears the conversation.  He just quietly boxes the file, sebds it to sec and purges it from his computer.  "Sometimes words can have a lot of power."  He says by way of explaination.

"So his father is dead, killed in combat and his mother may have been sent to Vampic space." She shook her head and was very glad she had on dark sunglasses as she knew her eyes were turning crimson. "Do you know his mother's name? I may be able to do something if she was sent to Vampic space."

  ,,,Lady?... I'm just a Kid...maybe a bit  smarter  then the   slaver guys bthiught..but that's it?.. For every  kid  like Roll me and Sneak saved.. 5  got pushed through  when i wasn;t around..so... Roll was  damn lucky..i guess..

 Roll  came over.....Mr  Shadow said  I'm Good!... he says , if bad  guys  say you  are bad..it means you are good, 'cause they are afraid of  Good guys!

 Jax  Chuckled , Gregor  yawned  a bit    opened mouth  yawn.

………………………..

 Stefi   smiled a  bit,..its not what i thought?.. but it doesn't hurt to take the hotshotm  down a peg or two...

---------> From Weapons Factory

Zob took the closest taxi back to the Etna Star and instructed the driver to drop him near the private beach area but not close enough where it would disturb anybody.

Once he paid the driver he stepped out and made his way down the beach, even if he was part of the crew he still felt a bit weird mingling with Humans and Angels he kept quiet as he got closer to the crew and took a seat near the waters edge after removing his shirt which showcased his light orange skin and huge as hell muscles which were marred in every single place imaginable with scars some from battle others torture.

ooc: just got home time to catch up
<<Flex>>

Haley nodded at the idea of a moat.  She remembered that castles had moats.  As they played and Orria spoke she understood that sadness.  "My Mamaw is gone too.  Some bad men kilt her and mosta my family.  I gotsa sister somewheres...just a bit bigger than me.  Some bad mens took her somewheres, haven't seen her since." Now she was a bit sad.  She over heard some of the kids they found talking about not having a mamma or daddy.  Made her think of her family.  She realized she was lucky, she did have a daddy.  He just wasn't there right now.  And...she had Nikki.  "You gots Shade and Melia, Mr. Shadow and ...Oh shoot I forgot her name....Lily? No, Leelee?" trying to recall the name "Still..They help take care of you.  Means they love you too"

After a bit Dana came over and gave both her and Orria a chocolate bar.  "Thank you ma'am." she said politely happy to get a whole chocolate bar.  When she found out it was from the new pale looking woman she tilted her head.  Still Melia and Orria waved and other kids seemed real happy, they got chocolate too.  She smiled and waved at her too, as a way to say thank you.

Haley looked at the castle then picked up one of the forms and filled it with a bit of the damp sand.  Her candy she carefully laid it on the blanket Orria and Melia had, to prevent sand getting in it for a moment.  She packed in the sand and then let it pop out on top making it a bit taller.  true the moat did not stay filled with water but you could tell where there had been some, and pretending was always fun.  After a few mor minutes Haley reached for her chocolate.  Still wrapped it was a bit soft, but not melted.  She gave a smile as Shade came over "Wanna to join us?  We're making a sand castle"

 Jax looked up towards the  grass area and said,..Is...is..That a Demon! his   voice  was  Hushed  as he  asked Mortica...

 meanwhile Roll  was  getting hugged  by Sneak

…………………………………..

  Orria watched Shade  bring up another   cup of water...yeah...lottsa  bad  people..they should stop making them..

  The  Verian  went  to teh garbage  can and picked up  a hotdog tray. after  washing it  in the water he brought it over to them. The  tore off the  fron, then carefully  tore  either r side of the  front.. then..gingerly.. slid the   carboards into  the sand.. then  showed the  girls how the thing car board  could  go up and down across the Moat

……………………………..

  Shadow  looked up at the Metaglass.. E-1 was gone.. E-2  was goign the rother  way, and much further out.. the  sun  was  getting  lower.

 he w walked up  passed up  Zob,..hey?..Sick around, I'm gonna  order a Bunch of pizzas  and Hot dogs and burgers..

 he stopped  at the   food  Stall.. give your  Bosses a call.... send.. 20  large Pizzas...say...50 Hot Dogs , and  50 Burgers..to start..with Ketchupo..Mustard.. and  that greenish stuff Burains use  for ketchup.. He held out his wrist to get scanned.

    Joseph looked up.  “Yep, that’s Zobriach, or Zob for short.  The current demon Queen wiped out his family so he went to the biggest baddest people to help them take her down.  Hack and Spenser came highly recommended for that.

Roy gave a satisfied nod to Micca.  "I'm serious about wanting a big, powerful EMP grenade, too.  Not so concerned about the hybrid, but I realize someone else asked for it first, so if that takes priority...well, that's business.  I've got a few contacts on some of the other carrier stations...think I'll send my pair along to them as a sampler."  He grinned at the notion of repaying Gresh in some measure for the heavy armaments the Sanri black marketeer had sent to him.  "Could turn into quite the marketplace for you...might even be able to license some of them to produce models on some of the other stations.  You would, of course, get a percentage.  They're good people like that."

The idea of an EMP grenade had wheels turning in his mind...but he wasn't going to discuss the option he was thinking of with Micca.  To the best of his knowledge, the little trick Hannah had figured out with the residual dust from the Harvester's ion cannon was still off the books...and while Micca was, thus far, working well for the APF, he wasn't sure he trusted her enough to tip her off on that.  Lyri...he could call her, get her talking with some of the tech people on the Hermes. The weapon he had in mind would potentially be very dangerous to use...but it could possibly cripple a ship in a single burst...maybe two.

"If you'll excuse me, I've got some business to attend to, as well.  Looking forward to seeing those grenades."  He gave a nod and headed off after Zob...while the Demon disembarked at the beach, Roy went back to Shadow's condo.  He needed to do some thinking before he started explaining the idea he had in mind to anyone.

 Micca saw  them off, turned to the building   to  check things out in her offcie and call some ofm the Tech  dept heads up for a bit of a meeting.

 She had a bit of a smile  as the door closed behind her.

end of Flex

  The  Stall Guys  gathered  around  A Shadow spoke to them.....ok?.. this  is goihng to cut into your  sales, so..here's what were gonna do?.. anyone that coes to onbe of your  Stalls   Youy charge to mmy Room at the  Etna Star... have your runner s helpm the food  guys  set up tables on the Beach... and Keep  and eye on the food... we get down to 10  hot  dogs or 10m burgers.. you order 50 mmore?... we get down to 5 Pizzas.. you order 20 more ...

 he  held out his wrist...you each take  100 creds  right now for yourselves,, and  20  creds  each for your runners...and?  don';t be afraid to eat...ok?
 the two stall guys  grinned  as they each scanned   Shadow's chip  twice ...  By then the Pizzas  were arriving, and right behind them the  hamburgers and Hot dogs..

 Shadow   moved to Joe MAc,Tell then the Beach party is   starting,  Pizza, burgers and dogs on me  as well as drinks from the Stalls  then get some dance music  going.
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:27, Tue 29 Jan 2019.

In reply to Beach party (msg # 86):

Zob glanced back at Shadow as he addressed him, "Ill be here Shadow" he then glanced over as the food was starting to arrive but he would wait for everything to get set up before digging in for the time being he decided to lay down upon the sand and enjoy the sunset a bit.

  The  artificial , convention current  was stratign  a slight breeze . The sun would last anothr hour or so, but  then vaniosn begind  E-2.. and the starrs would be  lighting the sky.

 Workers  at teh Hotel, brought  down  powercell driven 'fire pots'  and set up  6 along the beach, for  both light and heat.

 People started  Movign towards the Tables   and the stall guys didn't even  wait as they order another 100 burgers  and  100 dogs, and  40 more pizzas.

 The stall guys  also made sure there would be  Plenty to  Drink with Kegs, bottles  and cases   being  brought in my thier suppliers.

 Shadow smiled  as  he saw that the Stall guys knew  what they were  doing, he grabbed a Burger  for himself  and  Shade, with Ketchup..

   before he sat down he asked Orria  and Haley what they wanted, pizza, burgers

 The Commander  sighed as she  sat up on the blanket,..I suppose  we  should move on, Oliver?

 Shadow looked at her,..why? you have been around the crew  all day? No use leaving now?  Unless you really want to
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:06, Tue 29 Jan 2019.

  "You got it LT."  Joseph Gets on the com with some of the players on the hermes to see if they want to show up.  He also puts a comment out to Missy suggesting she show up, and maybe bring some people by.  He asks one of the girls to bring his children's instrument bag.

   He also sends out a come to every hermes member on his phone.  He approaches Hack "Admiral, I believe I can speak for a lot of folks on the hermes if I ask ya a favor."

"You're right Jax. But you're one hell of a smart kid. Keep an eye on Roll, would you?" Mortica asked as she stood up. "All right everyone. I'm going to take Gregor and join the crew in getting food. I know Dana will take care of all of you so I'll see you again."

She gave them all a smile and walked off, scratching Gregor. "Let's get something to eat, little one."

  Hack  Looked  at Joe Mac, as he   bit into a Hot dog. , Comander Si, like most  Angels  have  adopted  Shadow's Pizza habit.

  ..What  do you Need, Mr  Mac?

……………………………………

 Beth   was  shivering a bit, as was Flores... MAria  in her one  piece  came over   with a  piece of pizza,..how  those   suits   feel now, Chicas?

 Flores   just waved her hand,they'll feel better after a hot shower  and  warm bed...

…………………………

  Gregor  Looked around  as she  said  food.

 the  kids  were  each got two slices  of pizza  and  a drink, they all sat around one  fire.

 Dana  and Libby  were  chatting with them telling  space  stories

Zob slipped his shirt back on and made his way over to the food tables and loaded up on a bunch of food for himself and took a seat off to the side by himself not wanting to make the kids uncomfortable as he ate.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:30, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

Teela had been drifting in and out of sleep up until she smelled the food arrive and things kicked off. She opened one eye and spied what was arriving and sat up. "Oh, pizza!" She reached into her bag and pulled on a skirt and slipped into a beach wrap before getting a plate and sitting down with a few slices and a cup of something alcohol filled.

Mortica walked over and grabbed a plate to which she added two slices of hamburger meat sans buns as well as two hot dogs. She moved over to the table where the winged Angel was sitting and gave her a nod before setting the plate on one of the chairs and putting Gregor down. "There you go little one, enjoy. I'm going to get you some water and then some food for me."

She came back a few moments later with a bowl of fresh water which she placed in front of the pup. "Time to get some food of my own. I'll be right back, my little love."

She walked over to one of the Etna guys manning the stalls. "Can I get a raw steak and a tall cup of cow blood, served nice and warm?"

Haley realized it was a drawbridge that Shade was making.  She smiled in delight.  It seemed like hours they built a small sand castle.  Some walls would fall but that was half the fun.  A few of the other kids even joined in as well.  At times they would get up and run about in a circle.  Haley introduced the kids, Orria, Melia, and Shade to an old Earth game called 'Duck Duck Goose'.  Nikki also came over and introduced herself to the kids.  She even offered to help show them how to swim.  That they may not be good at it at first, but enough that if they fell in water they could help themselves.  By the time it began to cool down it was dinner time.  Nikki helped pass out some of the food.  Sodas, water, and even a few juices and milk she gave out as well.  Nikki at one point watched Haley play.  She was so much like these kids.  She seemed to be adjusting well, she hoped they would too.

  The   guys at the tablke   loked at Mortica, the light  was thinning, and they shrugged, all these are cooked , Ma'am...

 the stall guy looked at her  and  made a sad face,..my friend  he has the food stall?.. he'll have  raw Buugers?...non cooked dogs..he could heat them up a bit for you?

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

 Larry  looked at Shadow  as  the Pilot frowned,Yeah... Hey Pal?.. call in some more burgers  and Dogs...and a container of your  scraps..bones and all?...

 The guy shrugged, ..sure  pal?.. whatever you say..its  your creds...

 Then he say down  by Zob   to wait for LArry's   food  to come.

 ..So?.. Zob? they have beaches on Hel?

 the  people on the beach..about 90% were Hermes  folks, the rest were either hook ups,  or free loaders...But Shadow  didn't seem to care, Now and then his  eyes  flickered over the  gathering   like he was lookign for an enemy fighter, and, for the most part, people ignored him...most were finding it   odd..yet refreshing, that  the Commander  and  Admiral  wwere down on the beach  eating party food.

In reply to beach party (msg # 95):

   "I was thinking that Captain Rivets and Captain Morris might be more efficient in their positions if they spent a little time with some sand between their toes."  He motions to the people filling up the beach, "It seems to work for everyone else."
   "As I said sir, just a thought, and your the only one who can make it an order."

  Hack chuckled,,,, Morris  doies    the ebach, when the sun is up..he  feels  a wee but odd about his leg... Rivets?.. You're  not getting him on a beach unless its  fuji..they served thier  tie  at the  party. I feel odd enough myself..but it was a Good  thought..they know what's  going on, if they want in?.. one of them will show, but i wouldn't bet on it.

   "Alas it was worth a try, I was putting together the footage for a promotional video, and thought rubbing the EDT's face in the fact that Morris was alive would be kinda fun.  I'll see if I can get Missy to drag Rivets out."


   He looks down and frowns at his com text. "Looks like I accidently invited lucky out.  Must be providence, the poor boy deserves it more than anyone.  He'll make a fine man before the mast some day."

In reply to beach party (msg # 100):

Zob turned his head to Shadow, "No its mostly volcanic with high peaks and some magma pools, at the peaks are often where you find the Pirloc nests or other horrific abominations that can rip a ESN tank in half with its claws... most of the luxury if you can call it that is at the palace located on the north side of the main city where the high queens throne room is located, that was from the last time i was there... it may very well of changed since then" Zob then took another bite of pizza and swallowed.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:02, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

"Raw beef, slightly heated and the blood in a cup, warm. That would be wonderful if you could ask him to do such a thing for me. I have a little pup to keep an eye on. Thank you." She gave them a brilliant smile and went back to where she had sat Gregor down to eat and watched him to see how he was doing and if he wanted more.

Now that the light was waning she took off the glasses and hat and put them in her bag.

Henry brought Mila over to get her - and himself - some food, checking to see that Larry and Gregor were also being provided for. They settled down near where Gregor was to eat.

Waking up from her nap, Harry would immediately notice two things; one that it was nowhere near as warm as it was when she’d fallen asleep, and two that a beach party had seemingly broken out around her complete with food, drink and music. After putting the straps of her swimsuit back over her shoulders so as to avoid an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction Harry would sit up and snuggle up to Will as much as to warm herself up than out of affection ”Hey you” she whispered with an affectionate smile on her face.

Feeling refreshed from her little nap she would glance over at the tables of food and the people gathered around as the music started to play before turning to look up at Will adoringly ”let’s go and get something to eat then maybe we could have a little dance...or something...if you like”

    Lucky arrived about the time   the next wave of  food  hit.  He looked  around awkwardly, as he grabbed a  slice of pizza and a Burger.

   The  Food stall guy came over , a bit apologetic  as he had  a plater loaded  down with  wht  , but uncooked  Hamburger  and had  a plastic  spoon  and a couple Buns...Sorry Ma'am  best i could do?.. and this  is   the Beef blood that i drained off and  heated  up?

 Gregor  was  Munching away, looking around at all the fuss.

 Henry watched  as the   fod folks  brought ,  'larg food'..The lkarger  Larg  dropped a pair of  ribs  by Gregor.. then  saw  down to  Crunch  porkchop bones, and beef boones like they were pretzels.

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

 Will  smiled  and titled his ehad  to hers, ..Yeah , Lets go get something.. this  must be how  'the other half' lives..parties  all the  time...  they went to the  tables   to pick out, the limited  selection of food, but there didn't seem to be a limit on the quanity.

  Though he seemed relaxed, he stayed with getting a soft drink, rather then  beer or  mixed  things.

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

 Shadow  chewed on a piece of Pizza..  Shade   plopped down in front of them and began to get  one of the  3  burgers had.

 ..this is good... good end  to Delta  Night...activities.., people get to unwide.

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

 Orria   played  with Nikki, Melia  kept a watchful eye..

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

  The Commander   Dragged    HAck out to the middle of the sand  and    began to   fast dance, her  body moving like a serpent, as she smiled.


  Maria    hooted  and clapped along

Zob took a drink of his beer he had next to him and a bite of the hot dog, "Still feels a bit alien to me... guess it comes with being one of the most hated things in the galaxy" Zob shrugged.

 Shadow  shrugs.....its  all relative.... the Delta Fleet is the most hated thing  in the Empire..i bet?......so it ndepends on the way you look at it...

 Shade  bleeps  a bit.

 Shadow  adds,..he says, 'at least they don'[t call you a robiot..."

Zob shakes his head, "They don't Shade they call me much nastier things i assure you" he said with a grin as he finished the hot dog, "I just sometimes think of the future and the very real possibility of being the last of my race when the war finally ends, maybe ill get a little shack and hide out on a deserted planet fighting evil swamp monsters or something" Zob said amused.

Shadow  chuckled,..you won't  be the last?.. The Admiral has sent   a few hundred  Larrgans, Demonsand even a few Avains tot eh delta  Colony, Prison   planet?....  They are buildign thier own colonies there?... Creshians   , and Most Avains  don;'t get  that  chance...

Zob shrugs a bit, "Well that is sorta good news i suppose... i bloody hate Creshians anyways so that's no loss as far as i am concerned... but enough negative talk for now"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:28, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

     Shadow  nods ,well?  the Demons who got thier  2nd chance on  ,  planets  that aren't  tryinbg to kill them?... shoudl be good for something?

 Stefi Game over, pulling  Shadow over.....He'll be  right  Back.... One more  time... see if you can   pull it  off...

 Stefi   held  up  her hands and said,.. for all you  'non-Hermes '  folks  We try to make the LC a bit uncomfotable... he's been gettign better  at it, but.. he  has to sing when he starts a party.. so?. Mr  Mac?  Play the Tune...  and  let's really get started!

 Shadow  was  trying to swallow  a bite of  Pizza  and wiped his hands on his   swim trunks...He gave  Stefi an Evil stare when she  told him  the song.

    Shadow   took a deep breath   sending in the sand... and the Muisc started.. Beth Whooped  as she here the first few  notes... and  began to clap  in time..

 Lucky sat in the sand  by Beth and Flores  watching...he was like  a kid in a candy store.  frans  , Mara  and Eckles  from , near the kids  started to sing the' OHHH OHHHs '

 The  Shadow Grinned  as he started..".I've got that lightnin' inside me
Son of a God
I'm like a titan that's risin'
Oh, just you watch
I'm steppin' into fate
There is no time to waste
I've got that lightnin' inside me
This is how legends are made "

 T beth   Flores  and  Maria  were   up daning  and clapping, was   was   The Admiral  and  Commander.


 Then he got into it.. with the PIlots   going  nuts...

"I'm crankin' up on the throttle
Victory is mine
Show you the harder the battle
The harder I fight
I've come too far to quit
Step back I'm goin' in
I'm crankin' up on the throttle
This is how legends are made"

 Some of the kids  watched Shadow  ..some watched the dancing pilots.. most just ate  and smiled.


 He  was grinnign when the  tossed the  Mic  back to Joe Mac.... and wanted to go back to his  food, but was Intercepted   By    Beth, Flores  and Maria...

 as the next song came on to dance.

 Shade looked back at Zob and Blleped a few ties pointing to the dancing folks.

..........

  Larry Howled a few tines when  the grils  said  Ohhhh Ohhhh... his tail thumped  rapidly

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

 Gregor   stood up  and looked  around..his tail thumped a  few time.

"I'll have you know I was the other half" Harry chuckled before straightening herself up into an almost regal pose as she spoke in a very prim and proper voice "...We do not have parties my dear boy we have formal balls and charitable functions don't you know" she said, just managing to get to the end before bursting into a fit of giggling "trust me this is far more fun" she said once her giggling had subsided enough for to be able to talk coherently.

It was at this point that she would suddenly reach into the bag in which they'd put the towels and the like in and pulled out her comms unit; her fingers dancing across the keypad as she keyed in an image search. When she finally found what she was looking for she'd cast a furtive look about them to make sure that no one was nearby before showing Will the picture she had found.

It was an old photo from some charity event in London showing a man in an exceedingly expensive suit standing beside what was presumably his wife and two teenage daughters who were likewise dressed in what had been the latest fashion at the time, the youngest of whom according to the annotation at the bottom of the picture was none other than Harriet Carmichael, aged 16 who was later to become Ensign Harry Lynch of the ESN Hermes "See what I mean? That poor girl is bored out of her mind and is currently making a vow to never wear a dress again...huh...I guess we both know how that worked out!"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:48, Thu 31 Jan 2019.

  Will shook his head,..looks like your   people could  buy and sell  my whole town....

 ..didn't see  any flks  complain about  you in a dress the last couple times! he took a bite of  his pizza  as  folks began to  dance.

Zob turned his head when Shade pointed to the dancing pilots, "I'm not that coordinated Shade i'm big and bulky" he said he had no intention of getting up to dance.

  One of waggles  showed up  and  asked    Joe Mac  to play  this  song  for the Hermes Ladies. as it  seeed to be a Shipo's favorite..

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ_XfKYzBqs

 the  ladies  started to hit  the  sand hard now.

Teela stood up and moved over to the dancers, moving in that sensual, graceful fashion that seems to come naturally to Angels. Her skirt flared as she twirled and shook her hips, arms raised above her head.

"This is perfect, thank you," Mortica told the man when he delivered her food which she immediately tucked into.

She stopped long enough to scratch around Larry's ears after he dropped some ribs for Gregor. "Thank you Larry. You're doing a wonderful job being a big brother to Gregor."

She smiled when she saw him stand and even more when she saw his little tail thump. "Gregor my love, you don't know how happy I am to see you happy. Go ahead and howl with Larry. I'd love to hear your voice."

   People where  stepping out into the  oen area of Sand..some of the Guys had a Hamburger in hand  as they  tried to smooze  witht he ladies..

 Shadow   sat back down  By  Shade  and  Zob.. he picked up his plate and  started on his pizza, as if he  never left.

  He Told Shade  to  go out  and Have soe  fun... Shade   finished   a slice of  Pizza   m tossed the  paper plate into one of the  fires pots


 Larry settled  back down to his   food. Gregor  still  watched  with a  bit of  bone in his  mouth. he  curled up closer to Mortica  as he ate.

 The LC  checked hi COM to see the tie. going on 8:00  it was a bit darker and cooler. Teh Etna  Star  send  down  some tent like   'barricades' that were set up between the party and the sea, to cut  down on the  Cool breeze, with   a top on  to help hold in the   heat

  Maria  took a break near  The Vampic,  and drank from a Bottle of  Beer, she had made sure, that her  rifle and Scarlett's  was well inside the tent-like  covering.The Big Hombre?....On Astra.. some of the Nivarian  Vendajos..they tries to start trouble, eh?.. Big foot to smaller  LArgs..who were still bigger  then  Larry?.. Much bigger on..bigger then...two elephants..he . dind't like  the new gringo LArg, , Larry..he tried to take all food  from the other's...Larry ,.,he doesn't give..he   just snarls... Big big Larg?.. beats him around... Lc  sat... Attack form  his  Six.... Larry   runs aroun big Larg... Big Larg gets very very mean... then LArry  runs  Up Back..  Bites  Big Larg in throat,,,, dangles there,  chewing and  clawinbg... Big..big Larg die... Larry..he  takes  other  Larg's food  back to them... then sits  down and eat... Larry...bad Hombre!

As they ran around Nikki called Orria and Haley over, a bit aways from the other folks for a moment Quietly she talked to them and asked them a question or two.  Orria didn't look too positive, but Haley was in for what Nikki had in mind.
"I'll go set it up with Joseph...You go see if a few kids would like to try it.  Orria...all you have to do is do what Haley and I do...it will be fun"
"Yeah...I like this one and it's easy to do" Haley smiled.

With that Haley went and asked a few of the kids if they wanted to join in, and surprisingly a few did.  They followed Haley back to the place where the ladies were dancing.

Nikki walked into the area where Joseph was playing music and the ladies were dancing.  "Joseph....would you mind playing Venga?  I'll sing it, with a bit of back up" She gestured to the kids headed their way.  "Ladies your all about to be out danced, but I am sure noone would mind it you joined in" she teasingly smiled.  Haley arrived and stood next to Nikki.  When the music starts all the kids follow what Haley does.  A happy song for kids to really remember.  The fact Nikki was still in her cut offs and such probably didn't hurt.  Nikki encouraged anyone wanting to dance to join them as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnXvpKFspX8
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Thu 31 Jan 2019.

  The  Kids    startet to  to follow    what Niki and Haely were doing.. Orria   started to giggle as she tried to   follow  along...

 The Ladies   eagerly  Joined in...

 Shade  tried to  Move, but  wasn't quite as fluid  as the others. The Commander  took her place in line with 'her ladies'     writhing with the beat of them.

 Meanwhile the   Kids  were  having a lot of  fun

Roy spent some time on a computer, checking into some different options, so it was a few hours after he'd arrived back at the condo before he grabbed his comm.  "Hey, Lyri?  I'm going to send you some tentative designs for an idea I want you to take to the tech lab, see if they can fabricate something for us.  Oh, and do me a favor, will you?  Don't get shot on my ops...you're gonna turn me into an old man!"  As he waited for a response, he sat back and chuckled grimly.

Somewhere, off in the distance, he could hear a lot of whooping and hollering, and what could only be Larry howling.  "Sounds like they're having fun out there," he mused aloud to himself, with a laugh, as he hit 'send' on the designs.

    There is   a COM Call back from Lyri,..... Right.. once i  burn this on a disc...I'll take it  over, shouldn't take too long, I think there are  only 2 Techs in there right now.

 ....Those bastards  are getting to be  better shots..but the one who  got me ..'sprayed  and prayed' , or else i might have capped him.

 then she chuckles,..I'm still winning, I capped  hundreds of bad guys, and they haven't even killed one of me!

Joseph follows with a song that links the children with the delta night soldiers and empowers them to face the change in their life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeInLlD_-7o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm9d5wAXW5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8TyLTD7EE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JqY-6q-RNA

As other players arrive from the pulse on the Hermes, He continues to give Teela a looped song to dance too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUMxk4UuUxo

And maybe a little something for Zob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq0mXBL5MdI

Finally a freind who is good with rap shows up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHdOXIc1vf0
This message was last edited by the player at 10:08, Thu 31 Jan 2019.

Disembarking from the shuttle Justin caught a ride to the beach and followed the sound of music to its source. Watching the gathering he noted where people were and what they were doing. Grabbing a mug of iced cocoa he sipped on it as he watched the others blowing off energy and enjoying themselves.

"They probably could..." Harry replied, though there was no boasting or arrogance in her statement she was simply stating a very simple fact, like the sky being blue or what size boots she wore "...but they wouldn't, Daddy can still remember having to work two jobs just make ends meet, and mummy grew up on a decidedly rough council estate in Newcastle so they try and treat people right, so in short the only reason Daddy would buy your home town would be to stop someone else doing it" she said, gently tracing a finger about his hand as she spoke. She wasn't trying to show off or rub Will's nose in the fact that her family was seriously wealthy, she just wanted to share her past with him and bring him into her life, trusting him not to break her heart like so many had done so before.

At his mention of how no one had complained about her wearing a dress the last couple of times an embarrassed flush would appear on her cheeks, betraying the fact that she still wasn't comfortable wearing a dress in public "yes...well...I've kind of filled out a little since then" she said looking down at the picture of her sixteen year old self; a girl that had looked rather skinny, awkward and boyish wearing the dress they'd given her. The fact that both her mother and older sister were absolutely gorgeous didn't exactly help matters either "...besides I mainly wear the girly stuff because I know you like it" she said with a smile, as she shut off her comms unit and tossed it back into the bag "now finish your pizza and come dance with me!" she said, jumping to her feet with grin as she beckoned for him to join her on the "Dance floor"

     The party Continued..

 En  Lanna Brivet  came in as well, she looked  tired  from whatever  other party there was a bout, she grabbed  a beer, and Nodded to Justin,  she wore a  knee high Dress and helf her  shoes in one hand.

……………………….

  Will, smiled,well?.. those  are the kind of   rich folks we can tolerate...its the  cold ones, who don';t give a damn, that end up as EDT  Lackeys.. ,..He took one  More  Bite of  Pizza,..lets go?..  the food  wil be here, when the Music is  done....and he goes  out  on  the sand  with her.

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

 Mila   rested  against  Henry.. she was a tad  damp and startign to shiver, though, not as bad as before the  Tent was set up

 Stefi sat  down  by Henry, a  bluish green drink in her hand....so?.. Dr Christie.. enjoyign the party?

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

The Kids we eating, they couldn't believe they didn't have to 'sneak some away' and  that whatever they took  they could eat.

 Roll sat by the fire pot, keeping warm and he  chewed on another hotdog, ketchup on his  cheeks and chin.

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

  The Admiral  Stood Behind   the Commander  who was  drinking from some  Mixed  drink, his arms  around her waist...Alright.... The Commander  and I are going  to  the Condo..everyone have  Fun... be back on the ship by 1800 hours  to cast off  at 2000 hours... enjoy yourselves..   as they  went towards the  hotel, he stopped  and    gave a handful of creds to the  people working the  food  tables

 Cardboard boxes  were being added to firepots  for more heat and to  cut down on garbage

……….

 Shadow was on his Last Pizza slice  for the night..it was closing in on 10:00PM...I'm going to be leaving in  around 2  Hours

 Simms arrived he had on  shorts and a T-shirt..he stopped  by Shadow,..I came Early , LC....everything is ready.... he couldn't take his eyes of the  ladies.

..get some food,  go an dance, if you get lucky?.. you know where the  Condo is?

 Simms  grins,..what about....

 ..don't worry, if yu get..up..tied up... I'm a big boy, i can drive a van.

  Simms  grinned and  grabbed a burger  and a Beer  and  sat near the  front  to watch the Ladies.

 Shadow shook his  head, as he said to Zob,..that poor  guy needs to catch a break..hge's a good  guy...but he's  a wierd kind of shy...

Henry smiled.

"I'm not much of a party animal, alas... but it's quite pleasant to have everyone around having a good time and getting the chance to relax."

Zob glanced over to Simms then back to Shadow as he finished off his beer, "Yeah he needs to let loose a bit have some proper fun..."

Justin responded to Lanna's nod with a smile and half wave.

  Lanna  smiled back,..wish i would  have known  about this  sooner... would have saved me a wasted bit of shore leave, Damn  locals....  she took a  burgr  and  added  extra  ketchup.

  Shadow   walked over to Sims.....hey , Man.. see that  chick  with the green wrap on?... she's been checking you out.. go there introduce yourself... have some fun.. if she needs a place to crash.. you know where the Condo is... he wings.

 ..Sir?.. I'm supposed to drive?

 ..you did?.. no  i'm ordering you to have  fun... Since   the stuff is here, I'll go a bit early, and  see everyone at the  condo..maybe, most of them, in the morning..

 He Patted    Shade on the shoudler   as he walked past the dancing   Verian.....The Stopped  at  Zob,..I'm going for a bit of a ride... I'll be back  in about...40 minutes..and hour , maybe..

  He pointed at Beth , then at Lucky,..if he needs a place to crash afte the party. bring him to the Condo..

Zob looks Shadow square in the eyes and said quietly, "Need me to tag along or you got this by yourself?" he figured he would ask even if he knew Shadow could take care of himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

  Shadow smiled,..well?..I just gave  my driver permission to try and get lucky.. so if you want to come along..or?.. if you think  you can pick up 40 lbs of  something, and drop it where it needs to go...come on?

 He Grabbed a Burger for the road...heading to the hotal like he  was  done for the night...

Zob nodded confirming his answer and followed suit not to far behind Shadow after grabbing a hot dog for the road, he wasn't gonna get lucky here or dance at all so the least he could do is do something productive.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:51, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

Haley dances for as long as she can before getting a bit tired and hungry and a bit cold.  Nikki disappeared with her for a bit and changed into the clothing they arrived on the beach in.  Plus their hair was brushed atleast.  After a bit she gets 3 pizzas from the stall vendor and brings them back, walking carefully.  She moves to Orria and Melia first and then to Shade, bring them each a slice of the pizza offered to them.  Then gets a fourth and goes and sits near them "I didn't know that partying would be so tiring.  I'm having fun, but my get up an go got up and left"

Nikki...always in sight was still dancing.  With other Hermes crew and a few kids too.  This was her type of party, very casual and for really no reason.

FLEX

Roy gave a dry life at Lyri's explanation.  "They're gonna keep getting better...we keep killing all the slow, stupid ones really fast, so the ones that live long enough to get anywhere in the organization are smarter and faster.  And they're paranoid.  We're gonna have to shift up tactics here, pretty quick, or Delta Nights are gonna be really frustrating...I mean, those guys were packing up to move when we got to our first target, if we'd gone in reverse order, they could have been gone by the time we got there."  He shook his head.

"Anyway, you've got that information.  See what they can do with it...most of it should be pretty readily available, but there's a few details they're gonna have to work out...I know what I want it to do, but not how much to use to get the effect.  I'll check in with you tomorrow when I get back to the Hermes."  He disconnected the comm call, leaving Lyri to take care of her errand, and switched on the vid, watching some of the station news broadcasts, checking to see what kind of information was out about the targets they'd hit last night and this morning, and if there were any kinds of patterns to the people in the background...similar uniforms (aside from the Etna SEC that should have been there), corporate logos, spokespeople from the same organization at different sites...anything of that nature.  He was sure Elge had people doing the same thing...but he hadn't exactly been overwhelmed with the quality of Elge's intelligence-gathering, after the number of surprises that had happened last night.

  Melia smied and  took  the Pizza,  she pointed to the food  table,..Thank you , very much.  You knew , those  food  tables  are  food  for  all of the party people and they are free,or..at elast teh LC  paid  for them, But thank you...

 Orria  sat  down on the edge of the blanket  and  ate, chewing a cheek full of pizza  as she looked  around.,,she was  staring to get burned out.

 There was a Guy from the Ares... a Marine  by his  look and hair cut, seemed to take  quite a bit of interest in   Nikki as they danced.

 …………………………

 Other  were Mingling , eating or  dancing.

 Stefi  grabbed  Henry's Hand,..Comon  Doc,  on dance...  Mila  was lating on the blanket  her  eyes  half closed.

"Who, me? All right then..."

Henry allowed himself to be hauled off. Mila gave a sleepy wag of her tail, and closed the other eye.

He wasn't a particularly good dancer, he just stumbled around and did his best not to step on Stephi's feet.

Grabbing a plate Justin piled several pizza wedges on it. Picking up the tumbler of cocoa he meyandered around the fringe of the gathering. Finding a shady spot Justin sat watching the dancing allowing the sights and sounds to occupy his focus; munching on pizza and sipping his iced cocoa.

 The party seemed to be fighting to continue..it was   well, past 10, some folks  left, other   folks   drifted  in.

 some of the  kids looked tired  as they sat by the firepots . drinking thier  drinks.. tummies full of  food.

 The Pilot ladies  were  getting  wound  up... as they  danced.

  a few of the Herme s drew men   where there is well, some danced.. some settled on eating and drinking.

Finishing his snack Justin joined the line for a couple of dances then headed to the shuttles to go back to the Hermes.

  Joseph unleashed some of his heavier songs with the help of his backup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDnOVOFAzjs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...oE&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OwIJGQFxks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05G4xixESiY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWKRVI4V3ns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKYmPEQgB8A

and another Zob song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohksu5zMOWw
This message was last edited by the player at 21:49, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

In reply to Joseph MacPherson (msg # 145):

The sudden change in tempo and tune cut short Justins forey to the dance floor. He wasn't familar with the content and thought it best not to make more of a spectical of himself then he already was.

Although she lacked the sensual, feline grace of Teela and Commander Si, Harry danced along to the music with the bottle of beer she held in one hand compensating nicely for how self conscious she felt about dancing in only a swimsuit and the general anxiety she felt in the presence of so many attractive women that, in her opinion at least, she simply couldn't compete with.

It was as the current song was drawing to a close that Harry would nimbly skip over to the vid machine; smiling sweetly at Waggles as she unashamedly hijacked the machine so she could insert a song of her own before skipping away so she could continue dancing, and perhaps grab another beer from one of the tables on the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq2jJLswL8I

It was as she was on the way back that she would catch sight of Lucky, with her grinning broadly as she called over to him “Lucky! When did you get here?” she cheerfully said as she slipped a friendly arm about his shoulders “how are you doing? I heard you took a nasty bash to the noggin, don’t worry we got the bastard” she said with a sadistic gleam momentarily appearing in her eyes. She’d wanted to catch up with Besserman herself so as to make him really suffer, not just on account of him hurting her friend but for how he’d made her feel that time in SEC when she’d surprised Will with her new dress, like she was some kind of cheap whore to be looked down upon and used before being discarded. But alas she hadn’t crossed paths with him and so would have to remain satisfied with the fact that he was dead “hey you should come and meet my boyfriend Will, I think you’d like him, he’s SEC and big into his collectables” she said managing to get the word collectables to rhyme with toys. Signalling for Lucky to follow her she would move to rejoin Will so that she could introduce the pair to one another should Lucky choose to follow her.

  The    crew  was getting into   Shuffle dances   with  sand  kicking up  to teh Music.

 Melia  gathered  up a rather  pouty  Orria, they stopped  by  HAley and    Niki to  let them Know they were going  to the Condo.

 Will  seemed to  be having   fun with  Harry

  Gregor  was  passed out, once more on his back, legs in the air...half of a  gnawed  rib, nearby.

 beth and Flores   were having  fun, cold  or not, but were fending of  some  of the Delta  Crew  who tried to get them to take  'a walk' down the darken beach

 After thier  Dance, Stefi    rounded up the   stem kids to head up to teh Condo, tomorrow they would be going to the Med Tech ship   to see where they  might  find new homes.

Mortica listened to the story of Larry taking out the bigger Larg and nodded. "I think that will be my little one. He's smart. He already knows what's being said to him when people talk. But most importantly, to me, is he's happy. He's free from that man and his wretched lackeys that were hurting and caging him."

Now, as people danced and had fun she was sitting next to him, one hand resting on his full belly as he slept. She watched him and watched the others and was content.

Teela was having a good time dancing and drinking with her friends and shipmates, using her wings to add an added dimension to her movements that made her dancing along to the faster songs as equally sensuous as she was with the slower ones. At one point she grinned st Harry and gave her 'come hither' look with her eyes before twirling over to her and Will and wrapping her arms around Harry's neck and swaying with her.

As Orria seemed to be a bit sad Haley looked at her "You okay?" she asked quietly Even as Melia began gathering their things.  "I gots ta go to school tomorrow.  If you go maybe we can play together" she smiled and gave her friend a hug.

AS the kids were rounded up Haley waved at them, especially the ones who danced with her and played 'duck, duck, goose'.  She let them know what was going to happen, because...well she went through it too.  She gathered up the pail and forms that Joseph bought and moved to sit with him for a bit.  True, she was a bit tired too but she was still moving with the tunes.

Nikki danced with whoever wanted to.  As it turned out one of the Ares guys wanted to keep dancing with her.  As long as he was not 'gropey' she obliged.  It was close to eleven or so when she decided since the kids were gone and Orria and the others were beginning to leave...might be time for them to get headed home too.  Still she had atleast one more dance left.  "Joseph I think you should pick a song you like and have it play...your about the only one I have not danced with yet" she said to him.  Fast or slow..she'd leave it up to him.

  Shade   and LArry  sat back  on the  slope, that led  to  party. The b relaxed  .. LArry and  Shade  watched  as people  broke up, to make sure there was  no  'misunderstandings.

  Beth  asked   Shade  where Shadow went, and he pointed to the hotel... beth Nodded,  and went back  to dance a bit  more

 Gregor  was  done... exercise.. lots  of  food, even more attention.. the little larg  was   out like a light

 Mila  was   resting as well, though an eye would  open now and then to keep track of Henry

Once Stefi released Henry from the dancefloor, he returned to sit between dozing animals. Mila moved over to snuggle up, still mostly asleep. Gregor was well gone, on his back with all six legs in the air. He could see Larry up on the slope with Shade, and kept half an eye on the pair of them as Shadow wasn't in sight.

Harry was enjoying herself. It had been a very long time since she'd last been to a real party where she could relax and have fun without having to get up early the following morning in order to report for duty. As such Harry had not long finished her third beer of the evening and was happily dancing with Will and more than approving of the rockier songs currently being played, with her wondering to herself whether Propane Nightmares was lurking somewhere within the vid system and whether she could get them to play it.

Feeling a pair of arms gently wrapping themselves about her neck she would quietly chuckle before leaning back so as to rest the back of her head on Teela's shoulder, so as to confirm that it was indeed the Angel that had come to join them having caught the look she'd given her from across the "dance floor". In another time and place she'd have taken such a look as saying that she'd pulled, but that surely couldn't be the case here? As Teela was more than aware that she and Will were together, and besides the last she'd checked Teela herself had a major, or perhaps that should be a Sergeant Major? Crush on Roy "You'll have to excuse me baby, but it would appear that Teela would like to cut in" she said to Will before gracefully turning so as to dance with the Angel quietly speaking as she did so "tut, tut...using your Angelic wiles on us mere mortals, shame on you Teela!"

  Will  smiled  and nodded and was about to return to the  blankets when he saw   Lanna left to her own devices, lookign rather sad.

   ..Hey?..  My Date is busy?.. you wanna  dance?... I won't charge you much..

 Lanna  Giggled   and set her shoes and drink down  By Harry's  bag  and  went out toi Dance with him,  feeling better. Simms  was  walkign by,  he had the look of  a  disowned  hound dog....the   Tech from another ship was  now  dancing with a   larger   guy from, yet another ship

  Wil waved Him  over   and    Simms introduced himself, as Lanna  began to talk with Him, Will made a skillful exit to the blankets.

 All the kids were gone, save for HAley..the  music  started  getting  faster with longer   spans  of slow stuff.., Just after   midnight... Food orders were slowing  down.. there were still 4  whole  pizzas  left.. and  a dozen of so  hot dogs and hamburgers , a  orders for  25 more of  those , were made ..but..extra  drinks  were brought down to the stalls... both Stall keepers were making more in this one night, then they had the last month, and it  kept on going.

 Flores  sat Down  by  Henry she was  tired and a bit  chilled  , despite the  tent -like covering and the firepots...Well, Doc?  You having  Fun?... what   kind of stuff are you gonna  have to do with those chipped kids?..do you ..'un chip' them?..can you?..what happens  if they keep the chips?... man... I'm glad i just have to shoot things  down..

 One  Fellow  from The Nemisis , had Beth  in a  hug and Kissed her  despite, her  trying to   Push him away, until  she  swung her  elbow up , hit him in the temple, and dropped the big  Guy like a  lumberjack..

 she   stomped off the  sand  and sat down  by   Flores  and Henry as she waved for a runner to get her  a drink...sheesh.... you dance  with a guy, and suddenly he wants to take you back to 'his place"

 flores    shook her head  as   Waggles  and Scarlett drug the    guy out of the  way, leaving him out on the beach...you know  Shadow won't care if you hook up....

 Beth   still had a hard look as she thanked the runner for the  mixed  drink...Yeah?.. But i do...

   "Well lass, there's not much left of me after two nights of playin an little rest in between, so I'm goin to heve to take ita little easy here."  He turns to the Hermes keyboardest that sometimes plays near closing at the pulse, "Bob, think you can lead solo on that tune we've been practicing?"

    Bob gives him a thumbs up, "You got it lucky charms."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upyY-XA1aHA
This message was last edited by the player at 14:56, Sat 02 Feb 2019.

Nikki smiled as they danced.  She was not a bad dancer (not a great one, but not a bad one).  True the guy from Ares was not a bad dancer, but she wanted to keep things light and at least for her last dance she wanted to share it with Joseph.  She was glad she changed out of her impromptu swim suit.  Dried salt water denim was riding up her butt cheeks was not comfortable.  Her other shorts and tank she was wearing made her feel a lot better.


Haley was glad that she did get a small nap at the beach between swims and dancing, and building sand castles.  All of which made it a very very fun day.

"My wiles won't work on you given how smitten you are with young Will. I'm just having s dance with my dearest friend in the fleet," she replied with a smile. "It seems my wiles aren't as...hmm...wiley? is that a word? as I had hoped. I stand properly chastised." Judging by the look on her face she was anything but.

 one of the   workers from the hotel came down,.Attention, folks?... at 1:00 AM we have to chear the beach and fire  pots, so the Beach cleaners  can get  to work, you are welcome to stay. just watch out for the  sand  sifters?..Thank  for choosing   Enta Star...

 The   food  Guys  at the table were handing out food for  people to take  with them, the two stall guys  had 'last call'..

  Beth  and  Flores each got another  drink to take with them, was LArry and   Shade escorted  a wave of Hermes folks to the  hotel.

 way down the beach they could see the headlamps of the  sand shifters, with a pair  of  Enta SEC troopers  on either side.

Quietly getting up so as to not wake Gregor Mortica went and gathered everything, folded up her towel and packed her bag. She slung it over her back and made her way back to where Gregor slept and gently gathered him into her arms, trying not to wake him. She stopped to get one more Bloody Mary for the road and began walking towards the condo with the rest of the Hermes folks headed back.

"So ends a very good day" she said.  She glanced over and could see Haley all but asleep "I'll help you pack up.  Think there is room at the condo?" she said as the man came around to let everyone know of the beach closing for the evening.

Henry smiled at Flores rather sadly.

"That's in the hands of the MedTechs, really. I don't know if chips can be removed safely. It's quite a major operation to get in there. I shall be looking more at the animals. It appears they've taken a different route, one of a handler exerting control rather than a partnership like Mila and me. I shall have to see if they can work using our model. First, of course, we need to gain their trust and restore the ravages of ill-treatment."

Although trying to mimic the sinuous movements that Teela made look so easy was never going to work for her, Harry, the competitive soul that she was, tried her best to keep up with the Angel as they danced together on the sand "hmm... no your wiles are still good but like you say I'm smitten with young Will, which makes me sound like a love struck teenager...nine hell's I'm not that bad am I?" she asked with a horrified look on her face. Sure OK she loved Will and he made her very happy, but she wasn't doing the whole love sick puppy routine was she? She'd seen girls like that before and it was always kind of cringe worthy to see their brains seemingly stop working just because they had someone. Then again it was entirely possible that Teela was teasing her as she was wont to do from time to time "...but anyway if it makes you feel any better, were I single I'd be trying to get into you pants right about now" she said with laugh just as the song came to a close and the announcement that it was time for them to call it a night was made.

With a disappointed look briefly appearing on her face Harry would give Teela a hug followed by quick peck on the cheek "well Teela babe, it looks like it's time for all the good little ESN boys and girls went to bed, come on, you can walk back with us if you want" she said with a smile as she went to rejoin Will; grabbing a pair beers from a table along the way.

    One last song, Joseph Grins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Uab6qzM9s

Justin sat on the sand watching the different events unfolding as they did. He watched as Beth fended off the unwanted attention of a low life from the Nemisis, who would be receiving a crash course in manners soon enough. There was also the Exchange between An'teela and Lynch which revealed a side of the Angles character, he considered odious and was pleased he kept his distance from the Pilot. Another point of intrigue was the discussion between Flores and Doc Christie about removing Chips from several Children. This sounded like the objects presented some threat to the Children, leading him to think they were weaponised, and life threatening. It may be necessary to get the chips electronically neutralised before they were removed. Popping the last piece of Pizza in his mouth he strolled across to Flores and enquired about the Chips in the Children.

 Flores  pointed to  Henry.on the ops   for the  Dr... they found  aniamsl being chipped and  cinroled with remotes..there was aslo a child  that was being  controled  and  we brought back two from the Doctor's homw office.. Chips in there  heads.. like some of the beasts  we have  fought anf heard about..

"Nice choice for a last song." she said then noticing Haleys energy collapsing faster than a flan in a cupboard.  "'sigh' Looks like I better ger Haley back to her bed.  I promised her she could see Maryanne befor she and Olivia leave the ship"

"You're not that bad. You're worse," the Angel replied with a glint of humour in her silver eyes. "And I'm truly happy for you though, were you single, you wouldn't have to try very hard."

The song ended and she returned the hug and quick kiss. "Let me get my things packed. Be right back." She walked over to get her bag and towel which she shook loose of sand before rolling it up and tucking it under her arm. Once she was ready to made her way back to Harry and Will for the walk back.

Despite being on the receiving end of what was promising to be a fair amount of teasing from Teela she had been glad to hear that her friend was happy for her and wished her and Will all the best. Concerning the comment as to how easy it would be to pull her at this point in time, Harry couldn’t resist grinning as she rather cheekily replied ”that’s because I’m awesome!” as she went to help Will pack away their things.

After handing a bottle of beer to Will she would quickly shake the sand off of her blanket before then rolling it up, all the while drinking from her own bottle and enjoying the fact that it wasn’t ESN Blue Label for a change, although the word Export was a little worrying oh well I have all of tomorrow morning in which to recover

With their things gathered up they would begin the walk back along the beach to the condo as Teela joined them ”Will, Teela says my brain has turned to mush because I’m with you, you don’t think I’ve gone all soppy do you?” she asked with a playful pout that suggested that she’d be fluttering her eyelashes at him if she could.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Mon 04 Feb 2019.

 Will   chuckled  as they walked....you got me? I never had a   woman go 'soppy'  befiore?. so..maybe..but  i dunno.. I am just a simple  Trooper..who  is making his way through the  dark Galaxy  with one shining line...  he grinned.

Seeing as things were winding down, Henry looked around for Mortica. He didn't want the sleeping Gregor to just get left where he was. He also checked the bank where Orria and Shade had been sitting.

Mila had sat up and was stretching in her usual manner, one end at a time - front legs stretched with rump in the air, then the back legs stretching out.

"Dr. Christie...I think most went to the condo.  Might be able to catch them" she let him know as she helped Joseph pack his gear.

Looking at Christie. So what's your thoughts Doc?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Mon 04 Feb 2019.

Will's response hadn't exactly been what she had been after; leading her to suspect that there may be some truth to what Teela had said about her being like a lovesick teenager. The fact that she had to resist saying anything about holding his hand whilst he walked through the Galaxy wasn't exactly helping matters and would only add yet more fuel to that particular fire, Nine hells maybe I am getting soppy?

In an attempt to avoid any further teasing from her friend she quickly changed the topic of conversation to something other than her inordinately happy love life and the unfortunate side effects it was having upon her personality "I wonder how long we'll get to stay on Fuji? I hear we're heading that way and…well…I’ve never been...hey perhaps we could grab Gai and Nikki and have ourselves a girly night out?” she said already looking forward to the prospect of spending some time with her friends “…depending on how things go I could maybe ask my sister to join us too?” she said though she didn’t sound all too confident about that. Truth be told she still didn’t quite know how to feel about Abby and was terrified over what her family may or may not have told her about her, chances are she already despises me and has been warned to steer well clear of me she miserably thought to herself as they started to approach the Condo.

Glancing up at all the lights on within the building it was clear that they weren’t the first ones to arrive, though seeing as she and Will already a room she wasn’t too concerned “Well I suppose we’d better call it a night then” she said as she tossed the now empty beer bottle into a nearby bin. It would be tempting to stay up a little longer and have another drink and put the world to rights, but that would probably not be the best of idea’s considering they were casting off the following morning…or to be more accurate later today, and so deciding that going to bed and eventually to sleep was probably a better idea Harry would head up into the Condo.

---> Etna Condo

"I would love to have a girl's night out. Our last one was a great deal of fun so I look forward to another. Fuji is pretty amasing. Flying around the mountain is simply wonderful so I look forward to some free time to do that." She sounded wistful as she remembered the good time her first trip to Fuji had been.

"I shall bid you both good night. See you later today." She waved and smiled and made her way to a well-deserved rest.

[To the Condo and Bed]

Nikki helped Joseph pack up his things then gathered her own bag and a boneless young girl.  "I think we have done partied out.  We'll head for the ship and I'll tuck her in.  I had a blast today and I am sure Haley did too.  Think we'll sleep in a bit" she grinned "See you tomorrow on the recdec" There was a small group headed for the shuttles back to the ship.

==> Hermes hangar dec

"Well, Justin, that's the fundemental difference between their research and ours. They want to control, we look for partnerships. Now, a dog cannot give consent in the legal sense but Mila is an independent operator. If she doesn't want to do a thing, I'd not dream of forcing her. They do not have the same ethical standpoint, for animals or even for sentient beings. They want to force their chipped creatures to act as puppets, doing whatever is commanded, like it or not."

Henry got up, waved acknowledgement to Nikki, then picked up the somnolent Gregor to go to the condo. Mila capered around beside him, wagging her tail.

In reply to Henry Christie (msg # 177):

Thank you Doc, I'd figured that out myself. What I was asking about was your thoughts on the possibility of these chips being lethal, thus killing the children. If they are we could attempt looking into neutralising that potential before they be removed.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:33, Tue 05 Feb 2019.

"It's distinctly possible. If anyone knows the control frequencies, who knows what harm they could do. Some kind of shielding might be possible, best if they can be removed, though. They certainly used pain to reinforce commands," said Henry, unconsciously rubbing his head.

In reply to Henry Christie (msg # 179):

And we've got just the person to do that, blindfolded, Beth the Specialist... Justin checks his portable tapping away to see if she's still around or has put up a OOS notice to give her some down time.

"The MedTechs have some experience with such things too," said Henry. They'd sorted his chip out, after all.

In reply to Henry Christie (msg # 181):

ooc humm Henry had a problem with his chip.
 What type?

Justin terminated his search. Giving the Doc a nod. Sounds great; they should be able to handle this situation then. Justin helps clean the area and gather any of the children needing to be carried back tonth3 shuttles.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:05, Wed 06 Feb 2019.

FLEX-  Garat bussies himself working on his mech while the women do their tour and when Kira returns he takes her and her mech back to the Hermes.  He talks to Missy about making hover bikes from the spare parts retreaved from fighters [will rp it later, it looks like Missy has her hands full describing the LG] before going and catching the end of the party.

   Catching a ride with some pilots where he desccused ground suport concepts, he found himself on the rooftop between the penthouses lookong across the station.  The midgardians sure knew how to build a station, if only they were better at maintaining them.

   He awoke in the morning leaning against the rail.  Without the adrenaline of battle to bolster him he was suseptable to a narcaleptic moments since his last spacial jump if he didn't get suficiant sleep the night before.

  Driving through ..or  Above..the streets... shadow  had the window  down in the Van.

  ..so?...   I go in with Hemsly  to take out Fen Fen?... sure  we  set of a grenade or two, but it wasn't  until we were in the buiding things started to  get real noisy.... And there he was, all set up  with those  weapons..and Lady V...'just happens ' to CON vid him as we  fight.. You guys  go up there.. people moving stuff  around....Lizard furballs   running around.. Harry's op didn't go bad?..least..that I know of?..Henry  said they were  trying to move  'subjects' out?

 ..according to Shoey, that Doctor guy was  'busy ' all night with the lady  we hired...and  Shoey smashed   the man's  COM.. they dind't have  the chance to know  Doc Henry was  coming early

 Shade Bleeped...

 no?  I don't think its  Elge..he's not that  stupid..he might consider  himself my equal...but he knows i would hunt him down..

 ..what are your thoughts...

<<<<<  from Condo, last day of  shore leave.

 Will was  driving a  car, from the back of the lot..they  flew a bit lower   to get a look down below.. 100s of  peopel were working  on the 'colony' the Lizard had  made Replacing pipes.. and slowly starting to rebuild  walls  and floor.

 ..so?    do we  want a boat ride?.. or  a fancy eating place?..or?.. hiking up the mountain?.. cause you know  us  ground  folks , we like  hiking up mountains...

---> Etna Condo

Siting in the passenger seat Harry would look out of the window at the passing scenery with her enjoying the novelty of flying slow enough so that everything outside wasn't just a blur "well...I don't know about hike but we could certainly go for a walk...it'll give you chance to introduce this clueless city girl to the countryside" she said with a bit of a chuckle before continuing to speak "...afterwards we can go and grab a drink and a bite to eat somewhere, doesn't need to be anything fancy, just somewhere where we can just be Harry and Will for a little while longer" and then it will be back to the ship and the usual military routines...and the war.

 will  slowly  climbs into the Traffic   stream, when they  break out of the Stem, ht e Van   wiggles it s way  pst trucks and cars   towards the Mountain.

 They can see  groups   of Delta  folks walkign here  and there  as well as Station folks. T Settling down into a  parking area , near fence that surrounds  the  Mountain.

 As they get out.. they see  some    smoke  coming from the last  Building  Roy's  group attacked.. and beyond that.. Construction  arms  were  tearing off    the roof   and  the next three floors that had the pool 'accident'.

  to teh east.. there was only the tiniest  whiffs  of smoke from the burned  cabin.

  Sitting  in his booth, a guard hands them a  chit that says  what tie the entered,..Hey Folks!.. enjoy the day..but..I'd  get the 9 hells of the mountain before  dark... lots of bad things  hppening   around her the last couple nights.

Roy thought for a moment.  "Well...the first place we hit last night, they were trying to clear stuff out, as well...there was a boat docked near that was apparently serving as a kind of guard post.  We boarded it, the comm had a message telling them that the Delta Fleet was coming and they should get ready.  Didn't get any indication where it had come from.  Not so long ago, I'd have been positive that was evidence on some inside source...but we haven't exactly been subtle.   Delta Fleet arrives at Everest, and almost immediately several EDT operations are hit and dismantled.  Delta Fleet gets to Etna, and a whole string of EDT operations are eviscerated.  Delta arrives at Anzio, and the top EDT personnel and sympathizers are liquidated in a matter of hours.  Delta Fleet comes back to Etna?  You don't have to be a cryptography specialist to notice the pattern and predict what's going to happen.  And if it had been Elge tipping them off, I think the warning would have been more timely...and EVERYONE would have been dug in and waiting for us to wheel up.  We'd have been taken apart everywhere we went." He shrugged.

"I'll admit, I had suspicions...but the longer I thought about it, the less plausible it felt that Elge was dealing us dirt.  I think he's guilty of not knowing how to gather, or at least verify, intel about targets...as you said, he's like you...he got a target and learned what he needed to know for HIM to get to the target.  That's a whole different world from collecting intel for someone else's attack."  He paused, and added, "But there could very well be someone in his organization that overheard plans for Delta Night, but not specifics...so they just sounded a general alarm, let all their contacts know there was a threat without knowing exactly who or when.  And if you look at where we met the most resistance...Fen-Fen was an arms dealer.  Our first target, that we handled pretty easy, was a transporter...but the intelligence broker and the mercenary agency both had plenty of countermeasures in place.  Could be they, like Fen-Fen, thought they had enough people on hand to deal with any threat we might present to them...confidence born of arrogance, and never having faced a truly motivated enemy."" He paused, shrugging again.

"Which still means we need to talk to Elge.  If he's got a mole, he needs to be watching his back."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 21:16, Fri 08 Feb 2019.

With smoke still betraying the results of their Delta Night operations rising from in amongst the trees, Will would set them down in a car park before heading over to collect a pair of chits from a guard that advised them not to stay in the park after dark "thank you, though if we're still here after dark we've got worse things to worry about than the local wildlife" Harry responded to the guard with a friendly smile. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Will the last thing she wanted was to be dragged back to the Hermes by a squad of provosts.

Picking one of the way marked trails at random Harry would take Will's hand and start to walk; casting the surrounding nature a wary glance as she did so "so was it anything like this where you grew up? Only you don't strike me as a city person" she asked, remembering that he'd mentioned living near a lake but knowing very little else about where Will came from other than it was somewhere in the States, or so she assumed "maybe we could visit someday? I'd like to go back to Earth one day, if only to introduce you to my parents" she said giving his hand a gentle squeeze as they continued along the trail.

  Will  shrugs,..it is?  but it isn't.  I'm from Western PA up near thelakes?.. we'd cross over to Ohiop  sometimes.. Lots of trees  and Mountains... Fuji's  Mountain is nicer.....this one, reminds  me too much of a testinbg groud?.. shoirter  grass,  lots of threes..nit much bushes  or tall grass?.

 ...still..this  is Nice   after living in a Tin Can with nothign around you by light eyars   of Black.

  there was a smile at the thng abiut her parents, he slipped it no a bit of 'English accent',"..Blimey Poppet.. you bringin' a Yank around, are you?

   they get out and walk to the Building.. SEC  troopers  there   now had  Blue  Tunics on, to match Tunics  worn by ...almost all..ESN  SEC troopers.. white station jackets were starting to be seen less and less  as they were Culled or vetted.

 The reached the  main desk.. there was action all around... Gangers being brought in.. some  'regular Civies"..to be processed.

 some fleet  people were lined up with zip ties, all looked like they wee in a bar fight and were starting to be marched out to  Fleet shuttle to be returned to thier ships.

 ..Is  Elge in?

 the woman GAve Shadow a cold look...yes?  the director is  in.... she snarked Until she saw  Shadow oakleaves,..sir?... Shall I ring him?

 ..no thanks... I COM him on the way up...

 She just nodded as she watched  the  three   move off..Shade gave her a thumbs up..which she returned..awkwardly.

 Going up to the top floor,  they got out, without Shadow ever Comming  heading towards the   Director's office. the guard  outside  stood  at attention.  Shadow  just nodded  and they entered the   offcie without knocking.. Elge sat behind his desk.. Lydia  stood off to the Side.. and a fellow i8n a suit  sat In front.

 ..Shadow?.. I did not know you were coming?

 few did.. the ones who matter... who's the suit?

 Teh  Fellow  stood upo..clicked his heads  and bowed his head  and Smiled....I am  Fritz  Breeken

 Aren't you the guard...

 ..Ja.. I am the von this fellow spared, when he  did not shoot me..and you hit me in the head...

 Elge  Motioned to  Fritz, Bren sent him to give a  report...

 ..This is   True..Mr Bren is having za time, geting  his  legs to Vork..but  we haff cleared out all the Aqra  on the Axis .. ve are starting  hunts for them on za Equator.. Der   station SEC, they are  taking  care of der  Spheres... Ve have also elimintaed  a few  EDT..but mostly just  as you say..'grunts'..ve  vill work on zem hardr, Vonce  ve haff  finished   mitt the Fish..

"Good to hear headway is being made.  Hopefully you finish up with the Aqra before all the remaining key EDT people get a chance to cut and run..." His tone made it clear, he was wary of something, although he didn't give a clear indicator of what or who was making him feel guarded.

  Fritz   turned ..indeed... I vill be off now..I spend one day here..for ..hoiw you say..R Und R..zen I go back to kill more  empires..

 offering his hand  to Shade,zank you for not  shooting me...

 Shade  Shades the hand and the Fellow leaves..there is some bleeps  after the door closes.

 ..yeah , Buddy?... most folks like it when you don't  Kill then... shade   gave a thumbs up.

 Elge  looks at Shadow as he sits  down.. Sade  sits on a couch against the wall..

 ..you should have  called  ahead..i would have been ready?..what can i do  for you...  He looks  more  at Roy then Shadow.

Roy's face didn't show the grimly amused grin that came to his mind.  So, we're gonna play it that way, huh?  "You get anyone into that boat at my first stop?" he asked.  He left it at that, watching both Elge and Lydia for their reaction.

   Lydia stood up from her  'leaning"...... we  sent  extra  troopers..  the Boat  has been searched, but there  wasn't   anyhting   that helped us  pin them as EDT

     we sent a Volunteer though the   transporter tunnel?...i8t didn't  go anywhere..though we  powered it  up from our side it hand no connection?..which..aids  us, as far as ,  we send  the Information to the fleet that  we  could  break the   transporter, but   destroying our end... others... just want to send  Nukes  through it..which would be  fine, unless  the other  side is somewhere in the  city?

 what about   these  Knights?... how did they start to be a player?

 Elge   nods  and  raises  a hand,..that is easy... they filled  the vaccufrom the last visit.. The ..how you call..'mob'..is weak..almost..reduced to thug level...Arthur  King..he has  Creds  and is backed..by high roollers, who pay very  big bounties?.. You  two, my firends.. are worth alot of  Creads...


 Lydia  speaks up.. the Bounty keep getting  bigger....you are lookign at  9 figures for  you.. 6 or  7 for other members of  the Hermes.. the  informers  tell us, if someone pays for the hit.. they will get half the bounty, and the  trigger man the other half.

Roy glanced at Shdow.  "Nine figures, huh?"  he repeated carefully.  He grinned darkly.  "We must really be pissing somebody off..."

He looked back at Elge.  "The comm screen on that boat had a message, warning them we were coming.  Did anyone try to back-track that message to its source?"

  Elge   swung around in his chair an  started Typing like a slower version of Beth. He Grins,..Shadow, My friend.. yo should learn more of the  HYAckign ways, da? You would  not need that Pretty little Beth  to  find thing  for you?

 Lydia  smiled a bit at the  swipe.

 .. She does , what she does, ebcause she is the best? She did not  do this, Because she is on leave, she's been pushed ....hard the last month or so?.... then the LC  smiled,..I know enough to be able to hack into  important porn sites?... Angel sites , Space faring  Human LAdies... Russians  with Monkeys...


 Elge gives hi a dark looks..your humor has not changed  from that, that you use on your missions...

 a shrug,I dunno , Elge. They all seem to laugh themselves ...to death.

There  is a Beep.. Shade  stood   up and began to chatter.

 ..he says, some one lokked yoou out.

 Elge's face  got dark as he began to   concentrate more on the screen and  Type away..Beeps are heard , every few seconds, followed by Russian swear words.

  Shade  walks  around the   Desk whirling  and bleeping.

 ..he said....get out of the way, you'll fry your MAchine..let him try.

 Elge  frowns  and Get up, he runs his hand  through well coiffed hair, the Little   verian  stands on the chair. he  looks over the  screen, he brings up files.. and begins to one  certain ones.. he is bleeping  away, as if talkign to himself,  , Both  Elge  and Lydia look at him, Shadow  just gives a dismissive wave...

 ..no way, am i translating all that..suffice it to say, you've been hacked.

 about  9 minutes of  screens opening and closing   the  rapid   tap if  Metal-flesh on a solid  keyboard.. a bit  of  smoke  was  coming  from the  back of the  machine's housing,  but  Shade  just began to type  faster.

 There is a  harsh bleep   as he types,..he  needs a clean  disc  in the drive..NOW!

 Lydia    opened a  cabinet behind them , pulled out a package of  discs, tore in opened hand  handed one to Elge  who slipped it in the  drive..there  was a Harsh  , but small roaring from the inside of the machine.. But Shade just typed faster... the disc  popped   out, shade   stepped away from the     Machine   , the back  Blew out , the  front  caught  fire and   electric arced   Into the BAck of the  Chair , catching it on fire, then the machine Blew Sending Shade, Elge  and Lydia  against the   wall and  most of   the Desk   into wood shrapnel .

 Guards  CAme in, saw the fire  , reached for foam blowers and Hosed  down the   shattered desk. Shade got up,  reached for the  entry disc  container , played  the disc  in, before walking around to give it to Roy.

  Shade  waved  at the desk and  send out a stream of..rather angry..sounds

 ..he sent a  purge through the system when the feedback bomb started .... you are to have all your  people in your  building to type in the  Phrase.." Lady Lives "...if the machine locks  down, remove it from the BUilding..  place them in a container  and   have a shuttle  jettison them, and have  a fighter  blow it up...

 Elge is  picking   wood out of his arm, lydia  is gettign some out of her hair,what will those  words  do?

 The  Verian   rattled  off more sounds...it will activate a Virus  he put in the system, that will attack  the Hacking Virus,,,which.. will start another feedback bomb.. the machines wont  be able  to hit critical.....he adds, that Beth would have been able to  cleanse the system, but he's not as good as she is..he had to settling  with ending it..and thus..alot of your machines he didn't have time or pathways to reach.

 Shadow brushes off his  Jacket, we're gonna go.. we'll have Beth  check this disc out, and  send  you the information..he's not   sure what he got..but  we might have the sender... we'll let you know...I'd start on  checkign the machines..like..now?

 Elge  comes  around , shakes thier hands..you have saved my Life... though , it seems every time your father visits me..there is  damage to my building! he laughs,we look to  hear form you soon

 Lydia was already calling  for all  the HQ to Meet  in the  auditorium .

 ..anything to add, Roy?

She listened intently as Will talked of home and of how that although there were similarities between here and his home state of Pennsylvania that the mountain was just a little too artificial to truly feel like home. Giggling as he spoke to her in an English sounding accent Harry would then reply in an atrocious American accent "oh honey where did you find that stuck up British chick? Why couldn't you have found yourself a nice girl?" she said with a laugh before dropping back into her usual voice "Mummy and Daddy would love you, I'm more worried about what your parents are going to think of me" Street tattoos, criminal record, naked photo's of me strewn all over the internet, yeah I'm a real classy girl me! her mind kindly supplied as they crested a rise that would give them a nice view of the lake, with the trio of burnt out cabins lurking just out of sight.

Using the view as an excuse to stop for a moment and catch her breath, she would rest her head against Will's shoulder and gaze out at the view and enjoy the peace and solitude of the mountain.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:27, Sun 10 Feb 2019.

Roy gave a dark grin as Shade handed him the disc, and gave the little Verian a thumbs-up gesture.  When Shadow asked if he had anything to add, Roy nodded.

"Yeah, I'll just add a little advice.  Shadow says you're one of the best at what you do, but you need to expand your skillset if you're going to send other people after targets.  I'm satisfied, at least, that the locations were valid...but the mission briefing should have mentioned guard animals, especially worts.  Some basic recon would have told you that much.  You...or your people...did alright getting the location, but there was nothing about the presence of guards or guard animals, how many guards, what they were armed with--all stuff I could have learned in five minutes with a scope from a distance, at the cabins, or with a few casual fly-bys, at the other buildings.  We're really damned lucky we didn't have massive casualties, and if we'd known how heavily armed and patrolled our second objective was, we'd have tackled it very differently.  I expect better, if we come back here...and if you're at a point to start running your own missions, I hope you do better for your own people, or you're gonna have a lot of casualties."

It would have been easy to say the words in anger...indeed, Roy was tempted.  But he remembered what Shadow had said about Elge's background...and while he started off a little testy, he managed to make the bulk of what he said sound instructional, rather than accusatory.

"Obviously, EDT was much more established here than we'd initially thought, and I'm guessing you've still got a long list to work through before they're gone.  Guess we know, now, why the Creshians didn't hit Etna the same way they hit Matterhorn...Etna's fighter corps definitely wasn't ready to repel that kind of attack.  I don't envy you the job ahead...any when they realize it's you taking them down, things are likely to get dicey.  They're already gunning for you--once, when they gave Shadow your name via your predecessor, and then just now.  As they get more desperate, the attacks will increase...better make sure your HQ is fortified, and your staff is ready.  Truth be told, we shouldn't have been able to just walk in here, practically unchallenged, no matter who we were, and we definitely shouldn't have made it in here before you were warned we were coming.  You're lucky it was us...both because Shade subverted their data bomb, and because we could easily have been a hit squad, instead of some mildly perturbed allies." He gave an easy laugh at the description.

"Oh, and...were I in your position, it'd probably be very useful if King had some kind of fatal reaction to his medication, or an overdose...it won't get rid of his people, but it forces someone else to try and keep order...the more unsettled they are, the less they can accomplish.  Right now, they're likely your primary internal threat, because whoever sent them after Shadow is probably still out there, and now has even more incentive to get rid of anyone feeding info to the Delta Fleet.  One of the few useful things my dad taught me was, in a real fight, there's no such thing as gentleman's rules...King's organization is down, don't give 'em the chance to get back up."

Roy paused, looked over at Shadow a moment, then shrugged.  "I think that's everything I wanted to add..."

    Shadow offered  a HAnd to Elge as    the  cleaning crew  came in with a cart to   clean up  the mess... two secretaries   came in they began to  pick up papers  and  discs that were scattered  around.

 Shadow smiled   at the Brunette, she Blushed a  bit  and Lydia   cleared her  throat, and the woman went back to work.

 Lydia  signed  as the other woman, a Blonde, never looked up...I will get the Meeting ready, people should be   filling up the seats.

 ..I will, as well..I will walk my friends to the Door...  The Burnette gave   Shadow a cute little smile  as she  pretended to  sort the papers on what was left of the desk.

  as they walked to the elevator, Shadow said to Roy, but  was more or less talking to Elge,..Roy.... did you notice?  that Blonde  only  looked at  us once...and went  right to picking stuff up...

 Shade  whirled.....he asked if my ego was Brusied...

  Getting in elevator , Elge laughed,..it is not like you to feel ignored . my friend, You have plenty of women who look at you...

 ..yes.. I do....and  i saw  a blonde  who looked alot like her...at a certain rooftop pool....

 Elge's  Mouth opened as he rweched  for his  COM..

 Will chuckled,as he slipped  an arm around her, turning her  away from the  cabins area, to  look out over the 'sea'.

 The sun ws  creeping down ward, they had  about 4  hours before  Recall.

  Some boats were on the water...fishing, or  just sailing...Dad  will like you.. he's abit  old fashion, to be sure?.. but he likes  woman who are bowing down to  men..you know, the ones?.. Husband   tells  them  how to dress, eat  and vote..that kinda crap...

 ..Mom? If she is still alive.. will be wary, since you are  around her 'little boy"

Roy's grin was almost feral.  "Just the sort of person that would know  Delta Night was being planned, without being able to say for sure which targets would be hit or when..."  He looked at Elge, his expression hardening.

"Or install a data-bomb virus across an entire network..."

 The COM  call went to Lydia,..Listen?  I want two of our Best to   escort Ms Summer  to the questioniung Room I use.. Da..It si that important... I want her chained, and her COM taken.. we will deal with her, after  we  make the Computer announcements

 Shadow Leaned to Roy,..the woman who attacked me, was  named Ms  Winter

 The Door Opens  as  Elge  Shuts  down his COM...Once  i finish  my questioning. I will report to the Hermes.... if the ship is gone, and i cannot  catch you by shuttle, I' send Beth   information from a new  Network and Computer.

  Giving a wave, Elge  heads to the  big doors  where the meeting is to be held.

  Shadow looks at Roy,well?.. I guess we go home?

Roy shrugged.  "Unless you want to interrupt his debriefing to tell him to watch out for ladies named Spring and Autumn..." He shook his head.

"Wonder how long she's been here...and how she managed to pass the vetting process.  Elge really needs someone who's at least close to Beth's status, working under the radar for him chasing down loose ends and doing background checks.  Wonder if Gresh has anyone he could send out here..."

He gestured toward the way they'd come in, indicating he was ready to go.

  well?.. we get back to the Ship, we'll use  out COMs  to get a hold of  Gresh.. if he has someonethat good, he's keepign that for himself, but he might have one a bit  down the  ladder... But...its not hard to see  who she got in there.. Hot chick, if she  had  any skills to speak of , she'd get hired...  Arthur  King?.. who i knows  how many  people he has in palce, while the 'mob' was running things... waiting for their chance to  get thier fingers in the pie...

 Shade bleeped from teh back.

 ..Shade says he likes  pie...

 Shade bleeped some more.

 Shadow looked back for a moment  and then  forward against ..he said it was his  fault  the  computer blew up.. he said he could have stopped it..but, he  saw a chance to get the SIG from the bomb....

 More  chatter from Shade,..which mean.. Beth can send  a return gift...

With the sun slowly setting she would watch the boats on the water below whilst Will spoke of his parents. His mother sounded like every mother the world over; wanting the best for her little boy meaning that Harry would no doubt have to prove herself worthy of being with Will. His father meanwhile sounded nice enough... so long as he didn't try and subject any of his views upon her that is "If you think you're going to tell me how to dress you've got another thing coming mister!" she jokingly said before going on to speak about her own family "Mummy will give you the third degree, when are you two going to get married? When can I expect my first grandchild? that sort of thing...Daddy meanwhile is a massive nerd so being able to talk to him about tech is a bonus but otherwise he'd be happy so long as I'm happy...oh...um...do me a favour if he does the whole hurt my daughter and I'll break your legs routine just try and look suitably cowed ok?" she said, knowing that her father would only "threaten" Will because he felt it was what he was supposed to do as her father despite the fact that he was probably the most un-violent man she'd ever met and incapable of carrying out such a threat.

They would walk around the mountain a little while longer, taking in the views of the surrounding parkland and the nature around them, although Harry wished the nature wouldn't be quite so messy, before finding a small cafe at the foot of mountain from which Harry would get them both a drink and a slice of cake before taking a window seat overlooking the water.

It was as she was sat opposite Will, sipping her tea that she would notice the time in the clock over the cafe's door "we're going to have to think about going back soon" she said in a disappointed voice, clearly not liking the way reality was intruding on their afternoon together. It wasn't that she disliked serving on the Hermes, far from it in fact, it was just that she'd never had a proper relationship with someone who actually wanted to spend time with her as a girlfriend as opposed to a friend with benefits if you could even call it that, and so was simply disappointed that their time together was coming to an end and that it was time to go home.

  Will smiled  as they  finished , he  left a 20 Cred chip for a tip..

 ..In the end? It doesn't matter.... Lets  say we  screw up.. and the Demons break the Fleet..if  we  survive, there  may not be an Earth to go back to?..it will be   just a big  round Larder waiting for the Empire  to go shopping.

 ..If  we pul this off,  we'll have to go back to  Earth to  set things  straight  with the Angels..and?  even if they  bow  to the Fleet's success..then we'll be  damn big Heroes, and no too many folks are going to   complain about us

 they got in  the vehicle  , ad  Will took off slowly, taking his  tine  to reach the  Stem, and the  Trip to  the Lower's dock, to send them out to the Hermes

Roy nodded to Shade.  "You made the right call.  Computers can be replaced, and if Elge didn't have his data backed up somewhere else, it'll be a hard-but-important lesson for him.  Giving Beth a hard target to track down?  Well worth it.  She might even be able to cherry-pick their files before she hits them."

He shrugged.  "I guess this concludes station-side business for us.  Best get back home and get ready to cast off."  He continued walking as he spoke, Within moments, they were on their way back to the Hermes.

Although she winced a bit over the idea of Earth being turned into some kind of private larder, Harry had to agree that Will was right and that until the war ended, one way or another, that speculating on how their parents were going to react to them being together was perhaps a little premature, even if the prospect of having to meet Will's mother did worry her.

Having paid for their light lunch she would then follow Will to the car and get it, quietly looking out of the window as he took a leisurely drive back to the docks and the shuttle that would take them back to the Hermes.

---> Hangar Dec

(( after Battle of Funnel))

 Admiral Richards was checking through things with her officers Elge  and Gresh were setting up SEC.

 after  an Hour Long Talk with Grand High Admiral which ended like this...

 ..So.. You will have Berths   for My Fleet..30  ships...and it will be on the docking arms of the Station.

 Admiral Richards,   tucked a bit of her wine dark red hair behind  her   ear, the sipped from a cup of coffee. She shook her head as she looked at the  Cup, then to The Admiral on  the COMs  screen....Now Admiral.... The delta fleet  will  reach her  before you.. they had one section arrive    with  support ships and transport bases... t those  ship will  pull  back to make  the   'Delta  Protection' cloud, As   Fleet Admiral Hack calls it.... the three sections  of the delta fleets  and some ships  of the Bura  Fleet will  get the  docking  arms, and closest  orbital docks... they have battle damage to  take care of...your  ships  did not see to encounter  any enemies in your  long cruise from  Paradise Space... you will be able to shuttle your people from outside the  Delta Cloud.

 This is  an Insult!... We are the  Angel  System Fleet!... I will not have  my ships  stand off like some Subordinate  race..

  Admiral  Richards  leaned  towards the  screen.....this is a new world  Admiral  ZU-IS. The Angels we know fought beside us.. gave ships  and lives to the cause... you sat back, and let the  Empire steal your lunch money for 1000 years.... Right  Now, 'Admiral".. you don't mean one damn thing to me... The EMS has more standing then  Paradise  System Angels.. you don't want to park outside the Cloud... be  my guest.. Orbit  E1   or E2... but   you'll be responsible to get yourself  to...MY..station... or.. "admiral"  you can turn your   rusty Tin Cans around  and go home....it won't make one bit a difference. because  we  fought our asses  off with out you for  the  last....Going on 6 years... the  have Action figures of Us Admiral.... you know what they have  of You?  editorial Cartoons!

 Zu-is  stood  up his eyes  full of hate or anger.you will regret talking to  me  thus!

 ..got news  for you ZU-IS... you think i'm bad, you wait to  your deal  with  the Tip of The Spear.. I've been out of  the   Fighting Fleet  for over  a year.. I still earned my stripes..and by all the gods  that flit around out there..you...HAVE NOT..Test me on this  Admiral  I dare you... I  hit   one  Button on my COM  array, and a pretty  Girl with rainbow  hair  will Tell the Admiral i am unhappy. and you might find yourself Commandeered  ....Now ..I have a Ball to   get set, and  a meeting  rom to  secure.. ..DO NOT... push me, because i  will have   The Alpha Fleet  take your ships  apart... You aren't allies   Yet..Admiral... The Blue Moon and Red Moon are part of the APF... it will take some fancy talking  to let Paradise in...don't make it  worse, by being a fool.... COMs...End...

 The Screen went Blank.. a Captain who was  the COMs   Master said..Was that wise..Ma'am...

going to be a  Chinese  firedrill when  they hit the  station..  Colonel Cummings  is already  setting up  drop ship folks   in the   Upper and Lower Hander Decks, we need them, we'll use them.

   The   Etna Fleet's ships withint  10,000 miles of Etna, set up in groups of  3, as the awaited the  Delta  Fleet...and on thier heels, The Paradise  Fleet.

  It was an Odd look, that most   Offciers  manning  the COMs  and Screens  would see the  wave of  , 3 sections of the delta Fleet  along with  a smattering of  tranpostbases  and  the  Prize vessels.

 far behind them.. one would see the  'odd colored' dots of the Angel Fleet, as they do not have the ESN/APF  transponders...

 Delta 4 Ships pulled , slightly away  from Etna, with the  support ships  inside thier Shell..refit, replenish , and regroup  was added to R and R  for   Hack's  '5 Rs "

Fleet arrival, after Battle of the" Funnel"....................   Docking lights  lit  Up.. orbital   docks   stood  Ready.. Damaged  ships  came in  First, which included The Hermes

 The Extra speed put on, had  brought the Fleet in, a bit  past 1000 station time..The Angels  were a good  4  hours  behind.

 Damage control and Civie workers   rushed to the  docks were the  hardest hit of the ships    sat.

 The Etna ESN Head quarters  were being   set up,  with  the   large hall , as usual , begging the  'ball room. the next floors  balconies would be set up  for  quiet  dinning  , access able from the large stair  way  near the  north end of the Ball room.

 There  would be tables  set up by the fountains   and  such, for overflow and those  who wanted to smoke  and such

 Colonel Cummings  walked  with Admiral Richards  as  he marked a map on his  Vidboard. Bloody shame, wot?  Having to prepare  for  allies, as if they are enemies?

 .. My good Colonel,  They are not allies, until they prove  themselves, such.

Ckearing his  throat he    ran a finger along his trimmed mustache Yes...Quite  Right..quite  right...

   The clock was  Ticking, The Paradise  Fleet was in sight...many  bright   dots in the distance..

 The Fleet was instructed to   hold  space 1000 miles off  The Station, since the delta Fleet  took up so much room.

  Complains  and  insults  were  tossed back and Forth until  Richards  told ZU-IS to go stright to Matterhorn and Dock, if he didn't like it...but...The BAll  and the conference  was too big of a prize  for the Grand High Admiral.

 The study in contrast... Richards was preparing her station to be all over Galatic  News, and..getting people in place to minimize the damage.

 The Last Admiral was just thier  for the party.

  Vans  were  pullign around the Back. Troopers from The Goodyear made sure the  cater folks  worked fast, and cleared the  rear parking area, other  vans  would be  coming in, and the place had to be  Empty for them

 Gresh wore  a fine tailored  suit , purposefully made of only  3 arms.  Elge  was dresses as well in a  Tux his shoulder  holster strap was easy to see on purpose.

 gresh  watched the  people   comign and going at the front doors... it was organized chaos .

 Are you sure  we are ready for this?

 Elge shrugged,I do not know this. I do know that the  That the Bright Halo, is being permitted  to  use an empty  berth on one of the orbiting  docks.... They have been given  Light Year Hotel  in the uppers  , for thier people to stay, the rest of the angel fleet will have to shuttle about  40 minutes, one way, just to enter the station.

 There will be trouble....

 da, this is so. But the Admiral has it orcastrated , so  it  is  a bit of  'flash fire", then the rest of the night should just be hard stairs  and  pointed words.

 we shall see...

  Shuttles  had   left  2 hours  earlier with   crew and  Civies , not going to the ball.

   Can, and other   Stem Kids  went, they would have thier beach  stuff and   warmer clothes for the Night...The Kids  would be brought up to the Condo  to either crash in Shadows  living area' or  leave for the ship  after they got  a good  dinner

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

 at the HQ   The Admiral's Limo  stopped, all 8  doors  were opened by ETNASEC 'footmen'   Roll and HAely  Got out  with Larry on his 'leash' They were followed  by   Henry and Val, with Mila

Will and Cora  stepped out, the crowd  roared  at the  GMH winner. Cora  beamed  as  they stopped  for pics, stepping back  when  some one wanted  Will, stepping up when  they wanted her as well..  Bale  and Miller, Hennings  and Emmie Capt Morris  and  Lilit Rivets  and Stefi, as well as Roy  and  Dusk..

 Dusk seemed to  like the people callign her Name, she waved  with her free hand, never takign the other off  Roy's  arm  CE-Va   had  come along   getting out  first to get  her own Vids as some of the other Media types  cried 'foul'..By  CE-VA just smiled  at them while she got her  footage.

 The  headlights of  Shadow 's Limo were  starting to drop down, to enter the  semicricle  drive way.

Inside the HQ Admiral Richards  Talked  with ZU-IS and his Flag Officers.

 Admiral Hack and his people are late, why are we holding up the ball...\

 ..If  I may  speak my mine, and i will.. we  are   waiting to start the Ball for the people who have helped  liberate  most of the quads  in this  section of  The Black. So..You will remember your place  as spectators, and  get ready  to  welcome the Warriros of The Black

 we were fighting  The Empire before you were born!

 Yes?  and you quit  fighting them , before the ESN was born.

 You should watch your speech Admiral, When i take over  command  of  the fleet, i have Admirals  waiting to  take over these Stations...

 and what will they  Do, Admiral ZU-IS..will they have a  drive through, for the Empire to pick who they want to eat, or  will you have a deliver service?

 ZU-IS looked darkly at her.

 But  Admiral Hack and Captain Si  walked through the doors, and were Introduced, to a roar of the   Etna( and   fleet folks who came  early) crowd.

 They were walkign down the stairs to the floor, Hack stopped  about Half  way and seemed content to stay there, as  everyone was  introduced .. some orderlies   were running  to the   ESN folks with a choice of  drinks for the arrivals.

Zob grinned and waved as he stepped out of the limo with Melia and the others, he knew most of those cheers for the Admiral but at least a few of them for him and that was a really awesome feeling, as Hack stopped half way down the stairs he took a glance around for any signs of trouble he wasn't necessarily on body guard duty but he couldn't break the ingrained habit that was instilled in him for thousands of years.

Roy was content to appear to be little more than an additional ornament for Dusk.  He didn't need to feign the appearance of enjoying being with her...but he didn't go out of his way to acknowledge the media or react to anyone calling out names.  He'd never been a fame-seeker, and what fame (or notoriety) he had acquired, he considered more of a burden...but he looked on the whole of the ball as being akin to a convoluted form of social dance, which extended far beyond the actual dance floor, and he'd learned enough to know that in social dance, it was accepted that the primary task of the male dance partner was to make the woman he danced with look as good as possible, with as little visible effort as possible.

As such, he followed her lead in reacting to the voices calling from the crowd, as to where to turn and how long to stand still for pictures.  He trusted Elge's SEC personnel, so he wasn't highly concerned about threats...but the back of his mind was still bouncing hypotheticals at him, querying how to respond if this individual turned out to be an assassin or that individual produced a weapon.  The physical discipline involved in holding a sniper rifle steady on target while panic-fire rained around you came in handy, allowing him to process those thoughts without tensing up or appearing agitated in any way.

This was all just a warm-up, he knew...the main event lay inside.  He did, however, take no small satisfaction in the volume of the reaction to their arrival.  He could only imagine how much louder things would get when Shadow's limo arrived and disgorged its passengers...

   Admiral hack   nodded to those who came with them,  he seemed  quite comfortable  with   waiting near the    entry stairs, for the rest of his people.

 Roll stood  with Haley, his Hand  on Larry leash. The Larg's   head swivels  now  and then, as he  eyed  those  who   were 'new' scents  and  faces... a Low Burble  as he looked at the   Angel Dark Blue with Lt pule  pants ( or skirts)..None of the Angel women wore  dresses  of gowns.

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

 Outside,  the  roars  and cheers  have subsided...it was almost  quiet.... The  the 2nd Limo  stopped. Those who had followed the Delta Fleet knew who was in the   Limo..the question was?  who else  was in the Limo?

 The  doors Opened   and  the 'pairs got out  first.... the likes of Billie  and Arnie, Mitch and  Nikki, Meari and  Frakas...and   Howe  and Sam.. others.

 single folks  were  Lirg, Nugest  and Vaka

as before  names  were shouted out.. Raven and Redwater waved,,, Jax  and   Sneak looked  so young with all the formal attire they, and thier comrades wore

     the   cheers  lowered a bit as they waited, the  doors  hanging open as the press  waited..CE-VA  smiled half waiting, half  watching the other Press   folks who were  unused to covering such an event.

  Then..all at once, the Ladies   stepped out of   differant  Doors  with Shadow stepping out of the Middle  door..The  Roar was deafening  as Shadow raised  his  arms and smiled a cocky, welcoming  , smile... His  arms moved ot encompass those Ladies who strutted out of the   Limo...they , themselves, showing Confidence , Pride  and expectation.
Camera's  flashed   as if   fighters  were in a furball, with Pulse  cannons  flickering.

 Shadow yelled...HELLO ETNA!!! ITS GOOD TO BE BACK!

 The  'natives' of  Etna  went  crazy..Roars getting Louder at those  words..

  a Reporter  who must have  one a straw pull, got to  step out   in front of Shadow ( with two ETNASEC troopers  on either side of her..

 welcome  to Etna, LC Shadow!  more   roars.

   ladies  waited  Dutifully   around Shadow as if they were all his escorts... those who walked  past as pairs   slowed thier  walk  and waited  as they turned.

 NICE TO BE HERE!!!  he waved  as more roars   answered...,,AS YOU KNOW, WE"RE COMING OFF ANOTHER ASSKICKING WE GAVE THE EMPIRE AND THE TRAITORS OF EARTH!

  the  Lamp posts  seemed to shake  with the roar of the Crowd...

 ..LOOK? ME AND MY .....DATES... laughter  and some good intentioned   jabs  echoed  around, causing Shadow to laugh  which inspired  alot of smiles  from around the   Carpet.

 Shadow nodded as he grinned...WE GOTTA GET IN THERE, THE ADMIRAL.... THE LEADER OF THE DELTA FLEET AND THE APF WAR MACHINE....

 louder  cheers  and  chants of  ESN...APF...ESN..APF...

 WELL...HE AND MY OTHER  FRIENDS ARE WAITING, WE HAVE A PARTY TO GET STARTED!!!

 More  cheers   as  Shadow  and the Ladies  around   him began to move..those  ahead of them went forward as well...

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

 it took a few moments.. the  cheers outside the  HQ  caused , amny a person, even the ETNA SEC  and   ESN  SEC to  look put the glass to see the oncoming   group.

 Richards who had not moved  from the spot next to the Angels sipped from her  drink, giving ZU-IS a sidelong  Glance.. he and his   officers  The  Paradise. His  Navy people  Dark Blue Tunic, Light Blue pants...his Marines , Dk blue Tunics, Black pants or skirts.

 this...this  is insulting !

 This  is  how heroes  are greeted...those who have been dropping bodies  and  spilling blood, including thier own... Richards   said  with a selfsatisfide  smile. She did not have to 'coach' the people of Etna...nor  would have Admiral Hack been pleased, if she did...the natural. approval, and adoration..carried more  weight , they anything that could be scripted

 The SEC  Troopers  holding the doors  opened at the top of the  entry stairs..allowing   cheers  to waft in... The Pairs  and the  singles  the   led Shadow and his 'posse'  were cheered  when they entered the doors. Thier names shouted  by  Enta personnel who recognized them
...   there was a rippling  among  them, inside the building  , when Shadow   entered with those ladies  who  accompanied him.. The Cheers   threatend  to  shake   wine glasses from the Tables.. Shadow grinned, playing it  for all it was  worth as  he  held a Hand to  his ear...and the roars were louder..., again, as  the ladies   strutted passed him , he motioned for them to get thier  due. And  more cheers   surged through the  building with  Admiral Hack   cheering and clapping as well... Captain Si, had a pompous look, as if she could not be , more proud, of her Ladies. As  they walked down the  stairway, Shadow shook hands with Etna  Folks,  some of the Ladies  dis  as well, or allowed an Enta  officer to take a selfie with them.

 when Kray reached  the Admiral's  group, with the rest of the Hermes  folks  spreading out around them, He Hugged   Dusk, and Shook hands with  Roy, and the Board..getting a hug from Shade, Lilti and  a  strong , smiling hug from Captain Si.

  Hennings grinned at Shadow as he  said, sipping a bandy as  Emmie  gave Shadow a hug,..a bit over the  Top...LC?

 Shadow smiled...I hope sir, Admiral Hennings .

 others laughed , Shadow  took a whisky   and  downed it,  as the others  recieved  drinks  from the orderlies.

 Richards looked at  ZU-IS....Shall we?... she started to walk towards    The Hermes  folks, some 150 yards  across the floor.

 I will not!..He is supposed to  come greet the Host! He is also  to come greet the Commander of the allied forces

 ..That is  Fleet Admiral Hack, and the people who  sail on the tip of the spear.. I might be  the Host... but he is the leader...stay here if you are afraid...


 with that, Admiral  Richards  in her  dress Unifrom , followed  by her staff are 20 yards away from ZU-IS  before he  begins to follow with his people.

----->>>> from Hanger Dec

 Meari came out of the LC's Limo with Frakas, she smiled and said to him," Here we go now the fun begins and we will see how the Paradise Angels react, this could get interesting." Meari would walk with Frakas until they reached the Admiral's group and then she waited for what was next, ready for anything as she saw the Angels approach.

----->>>>>> From Hanger Dec

 Sam got out with Howe, and let him lead the way t where they where suppose to go for the next part of the Ball. The noise was amazing and it was fun to be apart of it for Sam.

Roy gave an easy grin at Hennings' question.  "Over the top would have been riding a hover cycle through the front doors.  I think this was just about right..."

His eyes, habitually scanning the environment, noticed Admiral Richards leading her staff in their direction...and Zu-Is starting several yards behind her.  "Heads up," he said, casually, his eyes flicking back in the direction of the approaching groups.  "Richards seems to have set the fuse...fireworks should be starting shortly...

  The others  Spread out, not  yet moving to  food  and drink tables, , some taking the drinks  from the orderlies.

 people from Shadow's Limo  had  finished   comign in... there were cheers  outside for the few who came by  Bus... entering to thier own, more  subdued cheers.

 Admiral Richards  and Her Flag Captain , Fred Boone stooped in front of  Admiral Hack  as she  extended her Hand. I decided  not to wait. Oliver... ZU-IS is not of that mind...but  thought better  then  to be left behind

 The Admiral took her  hand  and Bowed slightly, Thank you, LanaI have a few people out there taking thier   time, I wanted to make sure   they were in, before i did the formalities./

 around the perimeter, there were Enta  crew, and delta fleet crews who came  early. most of the ship's  captains and thier #2.

 Paradise  Angels   had  not seemed   to eager to mix  with the Humans and other AP races there.. as they seemed   to  hover in a area  that was with in a 100 yards  or  so of  Grand Admiral  ZU-IS.

When Roy gave the heads up about the approaching group Zob instinctively turned his head in their direction and stood vigilant, 'here they come...' he thought to himself as he watched and waited with a blank expression on his face although secretly a part of him just wanted to see ZU-IS and the rest of his flag officers die a rather horrific death even if that was the worst possible result of this meeting.

---> Hangar Dec

With Lizzy suggesting they catch a ride to the ball in one of the minivans as the LC's limo was already looking rather crowded, Izzy would take the opportunity to enjoy a little quiet time with Lizzy, with her gently resting her head upon her shoulder as she held her hand and enjoying the relative quiet whilst she could.

Upon their arrival after Shadow and his posse had departed, Izzy would once again offer Lizzy her arm before plastering her fake reporters smile upon her face for what was left of the crowd as they walked inside, not really expecting anyone to be calling her name.

Once they were inside it would just be a matter of listening to the inevitable speeches before she was finally allowed to take her baby out onto the dance floor and enjoy their evening together. Or at least until the brawl between the fleet and the Paradise Angel's broke out that is, with it feeling very much like walking into a saloon in one of those old Western movies where you knew any second now that all hell was about to break loose.

  Shade  said  something in bleeps  and whirls  to Orria , who stepped back towards Melia.

    Admiral Richards  waved a Hand  at her  people  by way of interdiction  with  3  Navy and  three marines on her  flag staff. adding the addendum , that she was sure they could all  Catch up when the ball started.

 Gresh approached  with Elge, they Both greeted Shadow  and Roy first, then  worked their way to the  Admiral and the board.

 then turned to ZU-IS as he  finally reached the   knot of  brass, as   Frans  motioned for  every one to 'flow  around the  obstacle of brass.

   ZU-is  extended  a Hand to  Admiral Hack, the Angel was a good  3  inches taller.  Hack took his  hand in a frim Shade  with a forced   Smile...

 Zu=Is   used his free hand to  motion to his people , while GR-DA used her  CAms  and Jockeyed  for position with CE-VA

 Admiral Hack? These  are my Flag Offciers...FLag Captain RG-GE  ( he wore there  Angel Marine colors...) Admiral  KI-NE   the male   Nodded to hack.Captain  SE-DI, My  SEC  commander.. the Angel Male just nodded.

My WC ,LC  SA-TN  Captain SI's  cousin  by her  father's side...  The Female  nodded as well in her Navy Unifrom.

 and  Captain JO-VN , My Ops  commander..he is  SA-TN's  brother. the Male  Marine  nodded  but studied   Roy and  Shadow.

  My  Board here are... Chief of Navel Operations, Admiral  Hennings...Commandant of the Crop, General  Bale , who is the Fleet/APF  Provost...Captain Morris, Captain  O'Rielly LT  Simmons, Chief Med tech..and  DR Herny Christie, Bio-Tech... You also see Ambassdaor Shade Shadow,  Warlord  Lilit and of  Course, MY  WC , LC  Kray Shadow  and my SEC and Operations  chief, SGT MAJ of the Crops, Roy  Spencer...I saved my wife for last, she is my Flag Captain, Nil-SI

 the  eyes of the Angels  stared  down each of those  mentioned... SI's  cousins gave  Nil a look of disgust, they were also a good  3 inches taller then the  6 foot tall captain.

 You know.... as he kept  hold of  Hack's hand through the interdictions.It is Commmon practice for   the  subordinate to  walk over   to greet the  Commanding offcier?

 Hack smiled right in  ZU-IS's face...Aye..Admiral.. I thank you for  following that custom!

 ZU-IS' face  held shock and embarrssment.. Richards  winked at  hack...YOU!..YOU TRICKED ME!

 ..and if i did?.. do we want a Fleet commander who is  such an easy mark?

[From Hanger dec]

Nic lead Harry in, frankly following Lizzy and Izzy because he still wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. Best just to pretend he knew. "I am surprised you don't want to turn and run, Harry," he said aside to her as he looked around. "I think I really would like to run," he added with a chuckle.

If the reporters had their attention on others, he was pretty sure both he and Harry were quite happy to be ignored. Besides he kept on giving her glances. She did look wonderful in that simple dress and he felt pretty lucky to have her hanging on his arm.

Zob stood next to Orria and reassured her with a hand on the shoulder that Shade was gonna be ok before continuing to keep a eye on the current situation, he also had the responsibility of keeping her safe knowing full well that Shade could handle himself while taking Flores advice a bit more to heart.

Billie largely ignored the crowds, knowing that she was really a nobody in the sea of 'celebrities' and it honestly didn't bother her. With her hand resting gently on the inside of Arnie's bicep, Billie let him led her inside. She definitely noted that it seemed like that the group of angels were already trying to stir trouble. "Well...I am sure the night is going to prove to be rather...interesting..." she said softly with a slight shake of her head.

Roy gave the Angel officers the kind of detached appraisal he would devote to any battlefield assessment...with his expression making it clear that he found them lacking in some significant fashion.  There was no overt hostility...more of a general dismissal, especially for the Marine officers.

At Zu-Is' declaration of outrage, he spoke up, calmly.  "No warrior worth the label would default to taking commands from an officer who hasn't proven his ability to command, especially after a millennium-long absence from the battlefield."  He coolly eyed Zu-Is above the rim of his glass as he took a sip, creating the fairly obvious implication that if Zu-Is wanted command here, he was going to have to earn it the hard way...and the less obvious implication that he discounted the rest of the Angel officers as warriors because they were taking orders from an Admiral who'd been missing from the actual war for so long.

 The orderlies  knew the tension was there. they moved  around the Hermes   people who have entered  with trays of  drinks.

  ZU-IS  Jerked his hand  away.. Hack  chuckled with a  very  insulting  grin.....This is a victory  party for the fleet.. of  which Etna is  a part of.... The Paradise  Angels  are here  as  ....guests... until we find out  what your  choices are tomorrow.

and what are your choices, Admiral Hack?

 ..Fleet Admiral Hack... and   we will find that out tomorrow, after your choices are made, one  way or the  other..

 Shadow  Gave  Roy a  Nudge.. Shade  watched, as the LC stepped forward.

 ..look at what you have  around you!...Gava? Apefolk, Hyrians...

 Shadow pointed out the door..We have Naragrans..but they like the beach....and  Lrags..we got them too...Even a furry one.. Larry thumped his tail a few times.

 before  Shadow  could say anything else,Captain SE-DI hit him  with a sucker  Punch  that sent  Him Into  Rivets  and   Captain Morris..the Latter  was knocked backwards, because  of the   artificial leg...

 Beth looked at the Angels..a snarl on her Lips.....that's gonna cost you  some officers.

 SE-DI stood  smugly.. Shadow Helped   Captain Morris up, he had a welt on the  right side of  his  face, and  some blood coming from his lip...

 Funny.....You gutless wonders hide  under your beds, while you sent of..what?  the  poor and workign class of your  system....all that time  afraid  to fight.. and you have  to  take a cheap shot now....

  SE-DI  smiled.....I'm Looking at you now... hero.... do something  to show  me you're the hero...

 Shadow   didn't  even take a breath, , His left arm came around   as if to hit  the Captain with a round house. But, the captain was  waiting and smiling, Until, Shadows, right  hand   came  Up  under the Captains    arm, the Captain's  right  arm ,   Shadow left arm grabbed the wrist of the blocking  arm  and brought the  arm down on his  Knee, the  crack sounded  like a 50 Cal going off and Captain SE-DI  scream as the   bones  from both ends of the break,   burst through the  Uniform sleeve.

  Supe  yelled from the back...NOW ITS A PARTY!!..   some of the  Hermes  folks surged  forward, mostly the men from SEC and Pilots, as  the  guy didn't want the dresses of the ladies  to get ruined.But no one  stopped any who dove in.

 Shadow  was tackled  by some  eager  Angel SGT, while the  Tow  cousins  tried to sweep in   on Admiral hack... ZU-IS, Backpedal away. looked  confused  and..maybe?  scared.

 Another  Angel SGT  flew threw  the  air  to land in the middle of the dance Floor  as  Nugest ROARED!!  "....WE FIGHT FAIR!!!!"

The surge of Paradise  angels met the  surge of  Hermes  flocks, with Enta  folks clearing the Dec.... CE-VA  was getting  footage...GR-DA, had 'some how  fallen' and CE-VA.might..or might not have... kicked her CAM  out to the  middle of the dance floor.

With his opposite number already taken out of action, Roy went after the next target (in his mind)...the fact that it was Captain Si's cousin was of absolutely no concern, as he launched in, leading with a knee aimed at the Angel's solar plexus...even if there wasn't a nerve cluster there (he hadn't studied Angel anatomy...they hadn't been enemies, except as individual cases, so there'd been no reason to), a solid blow with a knee in the midsection should, at the very least, take the wind out of his sails...

And if it didn't, the follow-up blow--an elbow to the jaw--should definitely slow him down...

 JO-VN had a vector of The Admiral, But  Roy Intercepted   as the Angel Buckled  and Roy's elbow contnected , the  Dark Ops   Angel  hit  the   flor, dazed  as he tried  to scramble up.

  Shaade  Plowed into the  Flag Captain, the  much  smaller Ambassador, was   pretty solid, they  hit the  dec  with  Shade  flailing away.

, Captain   Si  steped  in  to SA-Tn, The two    Angels  traded Blows, As The Admiral stepped  towards  ZU-IS..ZU-IS  was backing away, Admiral richards Laughed..

   20 some  Paradise   angels  surged  forth, closing in  on the  Hermes popel, the fringes  were being  dealt  with by Pilots  and SEC troopers..everyone else...watched.

 Shadow,s  roled   and  spun on the  floor , breaking the  grip the Angel SGT  had,  as the  Sgt, took a Swing,  Shadow     took the  Punch on his shoulder, kicked the  male angel in the left  knee, as the  man fell,  Shadow grabbed the back of his head  and pounded into the  alien-marble-like  floor, 4 times, before  gettign up , looking wildly around for the next victim.

 captain Morris  was more then a little angry..  Rivets   stood between him and the floor...Relax there  , Washington, we'll be gettin' a measure of  'em..

Nikki stood there a little stunned brought her hand up to her lips. "OH!  Sweet cheese and crackers!" Moved to the side of the roughhousing.  She looked to see if Haley was okay.

With Jo-Vn down and dazed, Roy didn't waste time.  The moment the Angel put an arm down to push himself up, Roy's foot lanced out, hitting mid-forearm on an angle that the arm was never intended to bend.  Before there was time for Jo-Vn to collapse back to the floor, Roy followed through, this time with his knee connecting on the opposite side of the jaw from where the elbow had connected.

While it was tempting to drop on top of the Angel and teach him something about the relentless nature of Human aggression, doing so would leave him immobile and relatively vulnerable...and with a swarm of angry Angels charging in, he wanted to stay on his feet and maximize his options.

So when another got close enough, his arm snaked out, grabbing the back of the uniform and pulling the Angel into a Muay Thai-style clinch, too close to swing an effective punch.  Knee blows thudded into the Angel's body, through the midsection and lower ribs, until he felt the Angel sag under the onslaught.  He stopped with the knees, shifting his grip slightly as he stepped across into a judo throw that sent the Angel flying back at his own people, spinning through the move to come back around facing the bulk of the group (some had flowed past him already), ready to take on the next one.

She saw her standing with Roll and Larry.  She also noticed several paradise angels headed towards the Admiral and Commander Si.  She checked out what they wore but assumed nothing. One seemed to want to run past her as if she was not a threat.  Looked like she was gonna let her...until at the last moment...Her good arm came up quickly and caught him hard at the throat.  The neck stopped hard, the lower body did not. Nikki continued and dropped him to the pavement choking.  as the Angel was on knees trying to catch his breath she made a quick open palm hand with ends of her fingers folded.  grabbing his hair tilted the back, then hit him again in the throat, stunning him more.  she finished by hiking up her dress a bit came about with a knee to the chin with a loud crack...and it was not her leg.  she pushed his limpness to the curb looking about incase others came their way.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:52, Sun 25 July 2021.

Henry had tagged along behind the Admiral, but was rather startled to find himself being introduced. He smiled as he was mentioned, then looked over to Val.

When the brawling started he moved between the fighters and Val.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Let us behave that way." he snapped in that lecture-hall-filling voice that carried without effort.

Mila merely got in front of Her Human, bared her teeth and growled.

 Meari watched the coward Angels, she looked at Frakas and said," Shall we help." Meari looked at the shorter Angels and smiled. Meari would go after the closest Angel threatening the Board, and attack it with her mixed Udenese martial arts, going for broken bones and pain not trying too kill yet. She would move fast and hit hard trying to drop the Angels as fast as possible and too make sure none of the Board are harmed. Meari will also position herself to protect Fleet Admiral Hack, Warlord Lilit and Captain Dusk, she was the warrior of the family and made sure no Angel got close to them.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:40, Sun 25 July 2021.

----->>>> From Hanger Dec

 Lizzy smiled as her and Izzy went in one of the Vans, when they got there the LC's group was just about gone. They got out and got some claps but not as much as the LC. Lizzy and Izzy went where they where suppose to wait and then it broke out. A fight between The Delta Fleet and the Angels, Lizzy got her hand on her sidearm if it got that bad, but if it was just hand to hand she would stay out as too not ruin her dress. Lizzy held Izzy's hand and said," Well we knew this was going to happen the main thing is how it ends, lets stay out of the way unless shooting starts then we join in ok."

Zob saw the punch go out and told Orria to stay behind her mother out of the way before Zob strode his way over. As he passed Shadow and the injured SE-DI he kicked her hard squarely in the face aiming to bust her teeth as he passed into the melee that was forming, their was no shortage of people to 'dance' with so he simply went for the closest person to Hack that wasn't already occupied which seemed to be a angel SGT from their SEC.

Zob was brutal as he caught the angels fist with his left hand and with very little effort snapped the wrist like a dead twig forcing the man to his knees then the last thing the angel saw was Zob's right fist shoot out like a broadside cannon connecting full force square in the face causing him to fall backwards on his back down for the count, "Who's next?" he then looked for his next angel victim.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:38, Sun 25 July 2021.

 Sam watched and then the fight broke out, she moved behind Howe a little she was not the fighting type, but she would if she had too to protect the Delta fleet. If Howe went to fight she would stay behind him and watch his back.

---> Hangar Dec

With her hand resting within the crook of Nic's elbow, they would follow Lizzy inside for the ball with her quietly wishing she could look anywhere near as glamorous as her two friends as she surreptitiously admired the view in front of her and not blaming Nic one bit if he was too. Then again she had already caught him giving her a few admiring looks leading her to believe that she must have done something right with her choice of dress.

Hearing his comment about them doing a runner Harry would nervously chuckle before leaning in to speak to him "Don't tempt me, if it wasn't for the fact that I walked out of the last ball I would be all for us sneaking off for a night on the town" she replied knowing that she would get in no end of trouble for repeating that particular stunt quite so soon "It shouldn't be too bad, we normally have to endure a couple of speeches and a bit of ceremony before they release us for an evening of champagne and dancing...though just as a heads up there's a very good chance there's going to be a brawl what with the Paradise Angels, and also Gia and I have beef with the Etna old guard" Harry softly explained, realising that she had probably been a touch lax when it helping Nic out with what was probably his first Hermes Ball "So I take it this is you're first time huh? Don't worry I'll be gentle with you" she then added with a teasing grin and a chuckle, taking full advantage of the opportunity to tease him for a change.

They wouldn't be in the hall for very long before the first punches were thrown and the aforementioned brawl broke out between the ESN and the Angels, with Harry giving Nic an understanding look "I'm in no fit state for a brawl but you feel free to do what you need to do, I'm going to go and keep an eye on little Izzy" Harry whispered knowing that the tiny former reporter wasn't much of a fighter and was very much an easy target. With that said she would lean up to give him a quick kiss before moving over to stand on the side lines with Izzy, fully prepared to get stuck in if required to do so.

With the fighting breaking out far sooner than she had expected it to, Izzy would give Lizzy a relieved look as she was lead away to the side lines knowing deep down that her presence in the brawl would be more of a hindrance than a help. At Lizzy's suggestion that it may escalate to a shooting match, she would give her a concerned look before softly reply "I hope not Liz...I haven't got a gun!" she said with the body hugging dress she was wearing leaving nowhere for a weapon to be concealed even if she had thought to bring one "Shall we get a drink while we wait for this to blow over?" she asked before trying to flag down one of the servers carrying a tray of drinks.

 When Harry came over to help protect Lizzy and Izzy, Lizzy smiled and said," Ok Harry you get anyone who gets close, I have my sidearm this time. I actually wore a dress with enough material to hide weapons. Oh Harry do you need a knife?" As Lizzy reached under her dress to reach the One eyed jack knife she had on her thigh.

 As it looked like they where far enough away from the brawl and no one drew weapons yet, she smiled at Izzy and replied," Well if it does come too shooting you can use mine, wish I had my fighter." Lizzy giggled as she watched the fight closely, and when a server got close she got a drink for herself and Izzy, waiting for this part to be over and figure out the aftermath.

Haley started shaking a bit and hid behind Roll and Larry, her eyes were large.  If the adults expected this she wished they'd of told her.  She turned her head so as not to watch.

With her watching the brawl with a critical eye and in obvious delight at the wanton violence, Harry would saunter over to where Lizzy was standing with a nervous Izzy. When asked if she needed a knife, Harry would shake her head as she helped herself to a glass of orange juice from the tray "Nah, this is just a little fun no need for a shiv yet, but yeah I'll encourage anyone that comes this way to take it elsewhere" she replied, cautiously taking a sip of her drink to make sure there wasn't any vodka lurking within it before offering the pair a mischievous grin "you know what, if you girls are game I reckon this party needs a little mood music" she said with a quick chuckle before heading over to where the vid machine (Or band?) was and grabbing the microphone. She didn't normally sing in public but with everyone more intent on the fight than her, she wasn't suffering from her usual stage fright especially if either Izzy or Lizzy wanted to duet or split verses with her.

As the guitars started to PLay Harry would move to the music before confidently launching into the song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhnZEmnuzgM) and nailing the high notes and pointing at Nic when she reached the slightly modified line "He's with me!"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:13, Sun 25 July 2021.

Henry had had enough.

"STOP THIS BRAWLING AT ONCE!"

His voice carried easily even through the music.

"IS IT NOT SUFFICIENT THAT WE SPEND EVERY DAY FIGHTING THE EMPIRE? DO WE HAVE TO WASTE TIME BRAWLING AMOMGST OURSELVES? ARE YOU STUPID CHILDREN? OR THE FIT INHERITORS OF THE GALAXY WE WISH TO RULE?"

He turned to Val, his hands reaching up to remove the medal bar.

"Care to take dinner somewhere civilised, my love?"

  Hack  tossed  aside    soem Angel  Non-com with all the  distain might   do with an Unwanted  cat on your lap.  He  was Movign towards ZU-IS, But the ebb and flow of Combatants  seemed to   thwart him as he , Punched, or was punched  by someone.

 A female Angel marine  Jumped On SHadow   back,  the  flipped her  as he  dropped to his  knee,  when she landed on her  back, he broke her right arm. and Flicked  the  damaged   limb  across her  chest as she  screamed.

 He  was  enraged  as he looked  for anything   that had a Paradise  uniform on.

 Admiral KI-NE  seemed   to be a  a Vector  for   Captain  Si.. Roll  ran in front of him,  he  tripped  over  him and  gave Him a solid  back hand, sending  him  a yard or so across the  Floor... That's  when  Admiral KI-NE Scream a Blood  curling   Scream...

 She looked at her  arm...it  was shorter  then before.. Blood  covered her whole left  side..  As  Larry  held the  offending limb in his  Mouth..

 Henry's vice  echoed...

Elge's  side arm  went off three times.. causing  some debris to fall from the ceiling...ENOUGH!!!! IT IS ENDED!  there were sounds  of  ETNA SEC weapond  being readied.

 ZU-is  was  across the floor  by then, near the stairs  to the 2nd level... Hack  stood   in the Middle of the  Floor  Two angels  trying to get up, The  Admiral had a bit of a Bloodied  nose. he breathe
d  hard, his  teeth set in a snarl..Shadow a few yards  from him.. with the whimpering  female  whose arm he  broke....no other Angels seemed interested to step up anyway..

The first fellow , who had sucker punched  Shadow was  unconscious. mostly due to shock and  rapid  blood lost..

Roy was on the other Side Of The Admiral surveying the  crowd... Two  Angel flag Offciers   on the ground  near him.

 Nikki's  Angel  and  another one who folow her,  were on the floor,like the others, desperate to get up

 Mila  stood her ground with her Teeth Bared  in front of  Haley and Val. henry  was near Larry who still held the  horrified  Admiral's arm in his mouth, almost like he was taunting the Admiral.. Roll was sitting on his But, he was angry.. the whole left side of his  face dark red.

 Meari had her  Back to  the ....seemingly , unconcern Captain Si, as if she never  thought, for a second, some one might reach her, Two  Angels , a male and female  lay by Meari.

 Frakas  had  droped one...just because he could.

 Zob was a bit in front of  The Admiral, three Angels   were on the  ground  while one held a ruined wrist.

 Howe  tried to get in the  fight, but he wasn't  quite  full speed  yet and was rewarded  with   blow to the  face, Redwater, decked  the  offending Angel..

 Things  quieted   down  while Nugest slammed  two angels together  saying..."FIGHT FAIR...FIGHT FAIR"

  Supe  dropped the  Angel he was  pounding  on as he yelled  NUG!!!!...we're done!

 Nugest loked  at Sup, then  around as  Lirg just shook his head... The Apeman  sighed and   dropped the  angels down the stairs...

 Admiral Richards, waved  both Admirals to the Middle of the  floor.. Shadow  whiled his  mouth on the back of his ehad and frowned at the Blood.. he trailed  after

 ZU-IS looked around.  The paradise  angels who did  not  step in to fight, had   Hermes or Etna crew around them...ZU-IS Flag Staff was scattered  about,,, Stefi was calling  for  Med  tech evacs

 Stefi snapped ,,,,Don't you eat that!..we Might... oh gods be damn it all... as the larg crunched up the  arm and  swallowed it..Admiral KI-NE fainted.

  NOW...that that is  out of the way..let us continue with the Ball.....

 ZU-IS was shaken...you're people  are like animals!!!

   Hack pointed to Larry who sat thumping his  tail  as Roll staggered  over to him and hugged him. Then pointed to Mila..some of my people  ..ARE...animals.... I warned you ZU-IS..we just came of a damn hard fight...

 The Dumbass  with the broken arm over there started  it with that cheap shot.....

 you broke his  arm..in two!

 I should have killed him, i never let people take a cheap shot like that and live to tell about it....he's lucky.
 Hack   gave  Roy a pat  on the shoulder  and nodded to the others, who had cleaned up on Angels... , He pointe dup the stairs  at Nugest  who smiled   and felt  proud.

 The  He Looked to CE-VA who  had popped up,, and said to the Camera...You all see, the diffe4rance, between   troops who have been fighting for the last 6 years.. and those who have been hidng the last 1000... My  People stepped up.. a surprise  attack you might say...and we dealt the punishment back to the offending party....ZU-IS..ran across the  dance floor.. while  my people held  firm I think..that is all anyone need to remember, when we have the  conference tomorrow...

 Richards say loudly....Help yourselves to food and drink , while the  techs   get the  wounded away and the floors  cleaned,, should not be  but a minute.

 Hack and Richards went back towards the  Captain  as soft Music  Played..ZU-IS stood by himself  , before moving towards  Paradise  angels.

 Gresh and Elge walked   up to Roy and  Shadow..we  have the marks  and where they should be, we will bring  them to the Condo after the party...

 Elge  looked at Shadow,did you have to snap his arm in such a manner, My friend?

 well?  he made me kinda  mad..you know..gods be damn cheap shot... they should have tried a few of those on the demons the last 1000 years

 Val looked at herny, a bit  wounded.....but thse? are  our family...

Zob added insult to injury by looking down at the 4 angels, "Absolutely pathetic I've fought Creshian more dangerous then you four" he said with a smug look on his face as the med techs carried them away his first goal now that the shit show was over for now was to get a drink until the dance floor was cleaned up.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:28, Sun 25 July 2021.

Mila wagged her tail furiously when Hack reminded everyone that some of his people were animals. She was proud of being a dog, her title of 'furry larg', and above all, one of the Hermes crew.

Henry smiled sadly at Val.

"Indeed they are, but sometimes they need to be reminded just who they are. The civilised ones, the ones who will make this galaxy a nice place to live. Would you care for a glass of wine, my dear?"

He left the medal bar pinned on, and waved to a server to bring over a tray of glasses.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said to her, taking a couple of glasses and giving one to his wife.

Then he patted Mila.

"Good girl. Splendid job."

Roy inspected his uniform, checking to see if anything important had torn loose...but all of the blows had been struck with elbows and knees, leaving the uniform in...well, presentable condition, at least, although it would have gotten him berated by his old drill instructor.

He glanced up at Zob's comment.  "They didn't surrender, Zob...that would have been more honorable.  They negotiated a cease-fire and paid tribute in flesh, and let others suffer so they didn't have to."

He turned back to Elge and Gresh.  "Considering our past experiences with Paradise leadership...or the pathetic excuse they have for leadership...I'm not inclined to any sympathy.  I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of Angel's from Paradise that I've met who didn't turn out to be actively collaborating with the enemy."  He raise a single finger...and pointed at Captain Si.

"With that in mind, I'd say we practiced remarkable restraint in not just killing them outright the moment they attacked any of us.  A few broken bones?"  He shook his head.  "Shit...with the technological advances they keep claiming as excuses for why they should be in charge, the only one who shouldn't be ready to roll again in a week is the one stupid enough to slap Roll in front of Larry."  While he wasn't shouting the words, he also made no effort to prevent the Angel's from hearing them.

"I don't know if they've got anything that can regrow missing limbs...if they do, they've been holding out on us."

Zob shook his head, "Oops then i was thinking about an entirely different situation from my past my apologizes... after several thousand years and blows to the head you get things mixed up from time to time" he said to Roy as he went back to sipping his drink feeling rather foolish at his mistake.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:45, Sun 25 July 2021.

Getting up Nikki did rather 'unconciously' comply with the 'cease and desist' command.  She placed her hand on her opponents stomach just under her ribcage and pushed her self upward, knocking out her opponents breath.  her little 'get back' for knocking her on her butt.  Luckily Mitch helped her up as well to her feet.  As others spoke she straightened her self up.  pulling her dress up a bit here and there, making sure there was no tears or rips, or blood splatter.  She reminded herself to check herself in the restroom proper.  She gave Mitch a hug, then checked on Haley and Roll.  She kneeled a bit checking Haley, hugging Mila, checking Roll "You too are very brave" she said quietly to them.  She winked and smiled at Larry but stayed a bit distant because blood and angel silk would not match well at the ball.  She helped Roll straighten his uniform with a soft smile.  Haley would shake slightly for a bit, but another hug reassured Haley all was okay.

   people  Milled  around. Roll was  mad and embarrassed that he got hit  across the room.  He was given a tall  soda  with ice. he  sat on a chair petting   Larry, who burbled any time  an Paradise Angel came near.

 Shadow   had the side of his face sprayed  with a bit of  derma plast. He  was  still doing a slow  burn, shaking his head from time to time  as he looked at the Angels

 GR-DA was following  CE-VA around  snapping at her for  ruining her  CAM,  CE-VA  just waved her  away with a flick of her  wrist as she  drank a mixed  drink.

 SE-DI was Gone  , as was KI-DI, whose arm was now inside Larry. SA-TN and  JO-VN were battered, but they  went to be near ZU-IS

 Richards was told the Dancing  would start, But   she was concerned   on who should  have the 'first Dance"

 ZU-IS  tried to  regain some ground as he said...Since  your 'hero' proved to be  so heroic  against my poor  staff.... why not  have him have the first dance....but his partner, must be someone, who sums up, what he feels, the APF  is about.

 there  were murmurs , female officers  abounded.. Dignitaries  and   people from his own ship...

 Richards looked  with concern at the LC...well..LC....

 Shadow  looked around the  Venue...there wasn't a woman in the  building, human or otherwise that anyone could fault   to whom he would  pick...Richards?  Si?.. a Paradise Angel?  Shadow  chuckled to himself, he  slicked back his hair  and  settled his  block of medals.,, he walked over to the knot of  Hermes  Folks,  Jax  was  dabbing a bloodied  nose...

  ....Sneak..I am not a great Dancer, but would you  have this dance with me....

 Sneak's  eyes  went  wide... alot of..'awwwwws' came from the   Hermes   Ladies.

 Jax  smiled.. as  Shadow lead her out to the  floor.

 ZU-IS protested...she ..she is no one of import! He makes a mockery of  this!

  Captain Si smiled and did a little clap

 ..you asked  Shadow to pick... i will not fault his choice... hack grinned

 as they  dance ( both a little awkward, but most folks didn't seem to care..

 you have  a pin....

 Sneak  smiled, blushing up a storm.Of Course i do!...

 After   the first Minute of the Dance,, Richards  signaled  , all could dance...

 Beth Nudged  Jax.....go cut in, before  he destroys her shoes  or something.

 Jax  hustled out, tapped   Shadow's  shoulder  ,the  LC Bowed to Sneak, giving her hand  to Jax, and  made his way to the drink table.

  Captain Morris   stood there, Handed him a fresh cola...rather  smart thinking... very good....
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:36, Mon 26 July 2021.

 Meari looked at the Angels at her feet and made sure none got to Captain Si. Once Larry took one of their hands the fight was stopped, Meari stopped and looked around at the pathetic attempt of the Angels too beat them down.

 Meari looked at Admiral Zu-Is and said," You are pathetic, a sucker punch and then you can't back it up, and you run off from the fight like the little bitch coward you are. No wonder Warlord Lilit my Grandmod thinks you are a lower not a higher lifeform. I do not think the APF wants a notorious coward in charge of the APF." Meari spits in his direction and moves away with Frakas and stays close to Captain Si, as she gets a drink while they wait for the dance floor.

 Then the first dance was announced and the coward Admiral said for the LC to pick a female he feels sums up what the APF is about. When the LC picked Sneak Meari thought it was perfect, she was a Stem Rat survived and now does what she can to fight the good fight, perfect choice Meari thought. " Admiral she is very important, I think she is the perfect choice to say what the APF is all about. In the APF everyone is important and not treated lower for any reason, you we can not say that, you sent your own kind to die because you are cowards."

 With that meari walked away smiled at Frakas and said," Would you care to dance Sgt."

  frakas  let  Meari to the floor... Howe was a bit  shaky, But he  took Sam out to the Floor.

  Beth and Flores  gave Shadow a pat on the back...Cool down, and come  get us.. we each get a dance.

 Shadow nodded  with a smile  as the Ladies got  swept up  by Hermes  folks or Etna  Folks, Hermes  women would not be lonely tonight.

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

 A very nice lookign woman in a nice  dress   approached   Henry, she held out the hand that did not hold the Drink.

 Good  Evening, Dr  Christiem it seems we weathered the storm of  sorts  for  the evening I am Allie  Stoe. Late of   Harvard  and  Mars colony, got on the boat  at the right
  time..

 I have taken over Bio-Tech here. We have some.....she looks around  and smiles faintly as  two  Paradise Angels go  by....interesting  Bio-weapons?they are ...how shall i say this..based on the UEs  of the creshians.. but  far more deadly, should we allow  them to be used...

 who is this lovely young lady?

 Val  smiles a bit shyly, but was hanging on the  words  about the Bio-tech

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

 Gia   sporting her   Blue Max  and her  'pin'  popped up  by Harry, her  smile  was forced  as her  eyes shifted in the direction close to  Shadow  were two  Etna  Offciers, both had the Blue Max,, were  lookign over the   women.

 ..you remember them? They  are part of the 'lay to play'  group...i want to know  how they are  still in uniform, and how they have  a Blue max!

 Sam smiled at Howe and said," We can wait to dance until you have recovered Steve, and you faought well considering your still recovering Steve." Sam gave him a kiss and they went onto the dance floor.

Zob looked to Melia and offered her his hand as they went out to the dance floor he had gotten better at these formal dances but he was no expert by any means.

Nikki and Mitch entered wit Haley and Roll.  After entering Roll found and collected drink for himself as he moved to make sure the larg detail was taken care of.  Mitch found a table for them to sit.  After a few moments Nikki excused herself to freshen up in the ladies room, she took Haley with her.  Once in Nikki corrected any make up and hair.  She had a seat in the outer lounge with Haley to help her calm down more.  a few more minutes Haley said she was okay with a sniffled tissue blow Nikki got her photo perfect and then washed her hands.  Then she came out many had started dancing, she led Haley back to her seat.  "Our apologies gentlemen.  We just freshened up to look good just for you two"

Roll frowned...I don't look good.. I look beated up..  Larry  sat there lookign at the food tables, But the Etna folks didn't take the hint.

..........

 Cora and Will were dancing and Laughing, in between dances they chatted  with  some suits, or Etna officers.  Cora  took  a very active  role  as they talked. Often getting   Will to laugh as a suit would seem to take exception to what she had  said

 Ellen was  dancing with  an Etna pilot,  Maria  was   taking turns  with  Lippen , dancing with Rolfe and   Nagy.

 Shoey had  arrived with his people , giving  Roy the high sign that the   'trunks' were delivered.

 Shade took  Orria  out to  dance., the   Angel he took  down was headed   for Med Tech proper, to get cheekbones inflated  for they could be  set and sealed..

 Shadow  nibbled  on some  'meat sticks' as he nursed his  Cola, his eyes  scanning the party.

Roll...You look perfect.  you commanded your larg with perfection" She gave him a kiss on the forehead.  "A little scuffed, but you do not have any critical wounds.  And the first rule of fighting is you might not walk away looking perfect" she gestured to Shadow, who she knew had respect for "Even shadow has a bit of dermaplast on him.  But look how he is smiling?  showing his enemy they tagged him, but he won.  and you did toousing what you knew.  the larg training." eventually all at the table had drinks.  Haley even had a version of a 'Shirley Temple'.

 Meari went out too the dance with Frakas, tried to calm down and enjoy the dances with Frakas. Meari just couldnt understand how the cowards thought they would just walk in here and taker over for doing nothing the last 1000 years. She smiled and danced with Frakas trying to put the Angels out of her mind for now.

When the floor was opened for everyone to dance, Roy returned to Dusk.  "Willing to dance with a rabble-rouser, Captain?" he asked, with a teasing grin.  He spied Shoemaker and gave a brief nod of acknowledgment.

  Dusk takes to the floor  with   Roy, she  pouts a bit,was not quite  fair? Shade  was able to beat up on an Angel..I did not get to..

 The Admiral  and Captain Si were on the floor  with  almost everyone else who had  an escort..while single folks  hunted   dwon partners for a dance.

Kira had hung off to the side the whole time as the brawl went down and when it came to a end she looked to Morgan, "Hope you been practicing your dance moves Mr charmer" she chuckled as she lead him out to the dance floor.

Nic was in the periphery of the fight but he didn't have the heart for it like the rest. Maybe a little too straight laced in a sense but when someone took a swing at him, they learned of his warrior ancestors when he dropped them with a few well placed strikes which included sensitive spots like the groin, solar plexus and the like. He was vicious about it, putting all his weight into the blows like Roy had. And in the end he had to pick up his hat and dust it off.

Of course he was a good sport about it and helped the others up to their feet. Really, no hard feelings. Brawls were just that, a wild melee where everything was game. He figured not all the Paradise Angels were like their admiral who seemed to be a puffed up idiot. He felt sorry for them, they had given in to the Empire instead of fighting. Taking a napkin, he blotted some blood from the corner of his mouth as he went to find Harry again.

Roy grinned slightly.  "I don't think anyone was holding you back...you've only got yourself to blame for that one."  He chuckled slightly as he added, "Besides, he's not going to give them fits for dancing with one of the humans who chewed up their command staff.  That honor will fall to a select few tonight, and even then, most of them will be dismissed as little better than mongrels, themselves.  But you?  Grandchild of the Warlord, Flag Captain of the Udenese Fleet...oh, you can bet they're just over there choking on their outrage right now..."

He chuckled, and held her a little closer.  Whether it was to upset the Angels or simply because he wanted to was up for interpretation...but it was a slow song and lent itself well to such gestures.

Henry turned to Roll.

"Good work, Larg Master. You might want to take Larry to a bathroom and clean him off so he doesn't drip blood for the rest of the party."

Then the dancing began. He was about to ask Val if she'd care to dance when Allie  Stoe came up.

"A pleasure to meet you, Doctor Stoe. We'd be fascinated to see what you have... oh, may I present my wife Val Christie? She's also my chief technician."

Oh, the sheer pleasure of those simple words, my wife!

 DR Stoe Bowed a tilted head to Val. Congratulations to you both. I was  unaware the 'Warrior Prof' was married.

 Looking at them both she   explained a bit. The  UEs  are, perhaps, the most dangerous thing our  people  have to  deal with   on the planet or the boarding missions, when dealing with Creshains, or  Creshain supported  units. The UEs  have only one thought..to  eat until they are full, and they are never  full. They give of   Pheromones' to Keep from eating eat other. And that same  'scent' as if were, keeps them from Turing on thier humanoid  'parents'

As  we  studied  dead UEs.. we found that some  pick up a parasite, roughly  6 to 7 inches lone. We  do not know what they are called, because no other AP  people have bothered to study  the UEs. We  call them 'piercers' after  somethign one of  our gamer  techs thought it remined him of..

 ,,as with most Parasites, they come from the homeworld, in food, crates, and already in some of the  Humanoids..When they have  'Breeder Queens'  The  Queens cannot move, are  are more or less  egg machines...the parasites   find the,, pierce through and borrow in.. , there they lay thier own eggs that begin to  get passed along  through the reproductive system and ..into some of the Eggs.. The Humanoid Creshains,  are cleaned of the things when they are taken to the nurseries ... the UES  are  dumped in holding  bins and  such and fed scraps  until they use them to attack  enemies

 ..here is what  we have been able to do... we are able to recreate  the parasites in labs..and weaponize them. They  breed eat and die..that's all they do. I suppose
 Nature   made them to  cut  down on creshians? I do not know.... Our Lab  bred   parasites
 can live up to 2 years as opposed to 1 year in the wild. They only lay half the eggs?... we can only assume that's natural selection, to  balance thier longer lives.

  these things attack fast..  they feed on  the  softer  flesh , which means they bore through  UE shells  and  feed, they seem to target organs, but are also happing  just eating away... There is a   asteroid outside of  Hyrian space..it had  two colonies of  Breeder  queens..once a month ships would  come, take away the humanoid new borns and   juveniles ..Yhe UEs   are  kept in caverns and  are loaded onto  transports to  be shipped to ...whatever  ..battle  is takign palce...

 Until now.... we had a  dark ops  team land  and  drop some  30 containers of the parasites  into  opening   of the  Asteroid... its been 2 months now, no other  creshian vessels  have  approached  the  rock?... we haven't picked up COM traffic, but  we  think it might mean, the   Creshians on that  rock have either  all died, or..have quarantined the  place.

 Dr Largersen  is on board with this, as we  have seen the devastating  effect, the UEs  have  on ground troops... what  are your  takes?

"Interesting."

But was it fit conversation for a ball? Probably more interesting, but...

"Val and I were only married yesterday. Your work sounds fascinating, though. Perhaps we could visit your laboratory tomorrow and learn more about it. Certainly seems an elegant way to deal with UEs, to use a development of a parasite designed to harm them against them. What about the pheromones? Have you had any success in duplicating them?"

  The Band was playing slow songs, Hemsly and Brooks were talkign to  Admiral Richards, who led them over to the Band area  and  was pointing out an  area where   a Vidbox   could be set up.

.........

 Dusk danced  with   Roy, and more or less anchored him there for the next song. as the  2nd  song started, she  said,...tomorrrow's conferance   wil be tesne?. once it is over, we will  be free to  go to the beach?.. do you have plans...I know father  will want to go, if he is able.

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

  Jax  and Sneak  came off the  floor  after they finished   the 'first dance'  and  had  one more.

 Some of the Ladies  made a fuss over  Sneak who was  laughing, and  still had a blush going on.

.......

after   a full dance, Howe motioned to the  chairs along the wall,..Let's take a seat. lots  of Ball to go, don't want to be  burned out... he would go, If Sam found someone to dance  with he  would give her  a nod to do so as he made his way to the chairs.

.....

 ZU-IS,  made his way over to Shadow  you watched the  ladies   and kept  an eye on some of the Paradise  Angels.... he leaned back after getting a mixed  drink, as if  watchign the party with   the LC...

 ..you are  a rabid  animal, you should be  put down.. you'er attacks on my people were far from warranted

 I'd  expect that from you?... I mean..you and your leaders? turned your  whole fucking system over to the demons..imagine how the demons laughed  as they  ate  a young Angel, or the pleasure they got  from matting with  Angel women, to get a Angel-Demon hybrid ?

  I'm not wired that way... you attack me..you pay the price...had  we been in a battlefield, an ambush  isn't taken as a slight? You do what you must....but to take a cheap shot like  your idiot  Captain did?... I am still seething i let him live...he will not get another chance to do somehting stupid...tell him to stay as far away from me as possible..

 You broke his  arm, over your leg, like  Kindling...I should think that's  enough...

 That's why Paradise Angels  are getting the Rep of 'wusses of the black"...

 I have not heard this, who started that!

 ..Me?..Just now... it will spread like wild fire..get used to hearing it.

 ..this is not  done, between you and me...Shadow...

 you and me..getthe fuck outta herehis new york accent  coming to the front. ..you didn't  do a damn thing, and your lackeys  paid the price  for  stepping up?... You'er not yesterday's news?  you'er  History...you should  slink back to your system... funnel support to the APF, and try something new?..Like....I dunno?  blowing up a demon shim...start small?  maybe have you Cap  ship blow up a shuttle, then work your way up until you have the guts to go to guns, with a demon cap ship....but hey?..100 years kissing asses and bending over?...hard Habit to break....harder then breaking Angel arms though...

 ...i see.. well? atvleast we  know  we we stand....

 The ESN? The APF?  we stand against the  Empire... you and yours?. are bent over and smiling...

 ZU-IS  says...I could snap you like a twig...

 Last guy who said something like that, is spareparts now?..and   Me and my peopel ahve stacked Angel Elites , like cordwood...we have Gava on our ship  with more  heart then your whole damn fleet...so..don't  come off  acting  like you're a war hero...you'er nothing

 ZU-IS started to turn, and he looked at Shadow...do you believe  everything people write  and broadcast about you?

 Shadow watched  Beth Coming  towards him, her eyes were on ZU-IS...the pilot never looked at ZU-IS.....Most of its  true...some of  it is colored..and there's a  whole bunch no one knows about.. I do know this?.. If  I would walk out there with you.. and  announce  we were going to have  this big assed  fight. and for  people to pick sides?... I'd  have a thousand more people then you..and that';s a short sized  guess...now? This  chick  coming towards us?.. she'll kick your  ass..so? you better  get away while you are able...

 ZU-IS  snorted  as Beth arrived.....is there a problem....Admiral....?

 ZU-IS looked  at Shadow who  handed   Beth a mixed  drink that were prepared....no...just chatting with  the LC...

 no you weren't..I know his look..the only reason you are alive right now, is there are too many witnesses...

 Shadow  turned to  ZU-IS,  as the  song  ended and people  began to make thier way to the  drinks and eats...Shadow  smiled his   half-smile and shrugged, and gave a nod...

 ZU--is  went  toward the more...'paradise' populated tables.

  Allie  smiled as she took the hint,yes..of course.. i wanted to reach out to you before the conference.. I will be making   our  presentation..I was hoping  for your support. This  far, the pheromones'   seem to be ...slightly..easy  to duplicate..but there is a draw back to that...The humanoids. seem to pick up on it  , more quickly. So, we let our  creatures develop thier own?....if this passes and  we are able to get into full scale production, it will be   our answer to the creshians, as Largersens  Gas and  liquid was for demons... I will  go off now?.. I will see you at the Conference tomorrow...

 she offered a hand to Val,..Congratulations to you both , again...  as she went  away, Val Looked excited.

 This could save  1000s  if not Millions of lives... Planets that have colonies, where  creshains have tried to  take over?.. could be , all but cleaned out!

As the  last of the slow  songs ended, Arnie    put a gently hand on  Billie's back to guide her to the tables...it seems like   Hemsly and Brooks  are  about to crank up the tempo soon...

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

  others  have made thier  way to the tables  around the perimeter Admiral Richards  was talkign with   Hack and Hennigns.

 Captain Si seemed to be  in  a heated conversation with her  battered  cousins

 Shade Pushed  a paradise   angel aside, who tried to push him aside.., the  Little  Undenese, never slowed his pace   as he  headed towards Shadow.

  Vaka was  talking to  some  Etna ladies   as he was, from his arm movements, telling war stories.

 Giles   entered the   Ball room, with another Guardian, Telling Captain Morris  and Stefi, that the   angel wounded  are either  in Med tch central or  in the Med tech area in the  HQ,

 Captain Morris  told them to help themselves to drinks and eats.

"Yes, that would be amazing. We must talk soon... so you shall be attending the conference. I expect I am supposed to be there as well. A pleasure to meet you, though. Hopefully just the beginning of a long collaboration."

As she left, he turned to Val.

"You got your dancing shoes on, darling? Would you care to take a turn around the floor?"

After a decent bit and a good chuckle at the mistakes they both made out on the dance floor they slowly returned to a nearby table. he went to go get them both a drink at one of the tables he then looked at Shadow who was standing with Beth, "He reminds me of one of those small rodents with a puffed up inflated ego that don't get how much danger he is in and keeps poking the predator" he said referring to ZU-IS.

  Val  smiles  and they got on the  Dance floor, Val  not being  afraid to lay her  head on Henry's shoudler as they danced.

..........

  Shadow  snorted   as   beth stared  daggers  at the retreating form of ZU-IS.....Grand High Admiral?.. i wonder what the guys were like before him... no damn wonder Earth is so screwed up.. rather  then  comign in and  taking charge, they spend too much time  writing Myths and Humping  earth women,  or getting  humped  by earth men?..what i don't understand, is where are all those   descendants , from those  couplings?.. Shouldn't  we have   some people running  around who  are 'better then human".</DarkGree>

 Beth's turn to snort.when it comes to angels? there is no 'better then human'..I bet that's what  they  didn't want to get us  to rise above all that  Myth and superstition. They were saving us  for  when the Demon's  got too bold...

Shoey had  come over, he had a 'dress' SEC  unifrom on, required  for  being 'on duty' at a  function.Too bold?... they  have thier   hands in every quad in  The Black, we should have been brought up to speed sooner.

 <DarkGreen>Its  Just my take on this whole thing... but i think the Demons tried to get us going, sooner? Look at  all the  myths?  Satan, and a few other  'newer'  guys who gave us  knowledge.. there was,Prometheus that  greek god who gave is knowledge  and some  eagle eats his liver  every day?..Pandora's box? all kinds  off stuff that  punished humans, and those who tried to help them rise faster ....Angels were saving us for something. whether it was
 for  tribute, or for troops?

Zob simply shrugs, "Most of the myths were before my time, the only thing i know for certain is the myth of a warrior heaven and even i didn't put much stock into that... it's hard to say anything really cause of my racial bias against Paradise angels but the patterns certainly lean towards them having a personal agenda of some sort"

 Captain Morris, still a bit put off , by being knocked  down. spoke up from behind them.

 ..I should say? The demons  may have pulled back to have a better line of defesne. With thier thoughts of  reclaiming thier  Angel Food  source once   The delta fleet is taken care of... with  the annexation of  The Sol,System, they might feel it will deter  us  into  heading into   The Hel System?

 well? had they made that move  5 years ago..it amy have worked? The Admiral..Commander then, would have seen to it that we fight  to protect Earth. But we are way past that now... 100's of Billions of  people are counting on the  Delta fleet to end  the Empire... one little blue planet, doesn't stanmd much pf a chance  to  change the Admiral's  mind.

Seeing that Her Human was off cavorting with His mate, Mila wandered off to find Larry and/or somethng to eat.

  Mila  found a  rather baleful Larry staring up at the people  at the food  tables. Roll finally  saw this  and  walked around   to the  end of the table...

  I need  some  food for  Our  Larg and  our  furry larg...

The  fellow looked around, Frans  was standing there talkign to a Enta pilot who looked like he  thought he was going to  score.

 Um...Young Sir? I am Afraid this food is only for  crewmen?  we may have scraps in the kitchen..but...

 Roll drew himself  up  his ,almsot 4  foot  high stature,THEY ARE...crewmen.. larry is   Enemy red...redec... He  eats the bad guys!... And Mila  is  part of the Larg team..they both have medals ,,can't you see them!

 The fellow looked a bit  upset, frans    gave the Etna  pilot a gentle push away as she stepped over to the table.....you might think you are doing your  job?.. But look at the tables?..alot of this food is  going to  have to be packed up ? Let the  Multilegged  crew have some  food? Its thier  Ball as well...

 The  Fellow looked at her, and the determined  'cadet Larg Master'.. he  said,have them come  against the wall so  they can eat  without causing a scene...

  with help from one of the others  servers They used   empty  continers  and  psuhed some of the 'colder' meats that were left out as well as  some  carcasses  of some animal that wasn't a bird?.. Larry and Mila  sat  down and began to eat, Larry  rether, elegantly , as he crunched  bones  from the carcass...

 Roll Gave them both a  couple pets   and  sat back down. he nodded his  thanks to frans, who smiled and strutted off to find  better  game then the Etna  pilot.