As Roy explained what it was that Garrat was actually offering her along, with the usual caveat that she wouldn't get anything that would compromise fleet security, Izzy would turn to offer the sergeant a grateful smile "oh sure an interview would be great, I'm currently doing a piece on the ESN fighter wing at the moment but once that's wrapped up I'd love to speak with some of the security personnel" she excitedly said, agreeing that getting an outsiders perspective of the war would certainly be interesting to hear.

At the mention of the upcoming conflict with the Verian and how she would handle herself dictating how the others would see her, she would give a single humourless laugh "The same way I always handle myself in those situations; stood at the back talking to a camera whilst trying to pretend that the whole world isn't exploding just behind me...you should try it sometime it's scary as hell when you're not even sure the rest of the team has your back" she said with an impish grin "But anyway I suppose I'd better let you get on, I did try and speak with you this morning about an old toy of mine I thought you might like...I guess you didn't get that message huh?"

   “You do what you can little one.  However it is always wise to research your subjects first so you know what to ask of them.  The same goes for interigation and battle prep.”

  Garrat glanced at Spencer then back at her.  “I have reason to believe my words don’t mean anything to you,  I tried to tell you about others that have betrayed us.  You rounded on me about respecting rank, while you were part of a crew that believes that all respect is earned despite rank.  Make no mistake.  You ARE part of the crew now.  If anyone especially Shadow saw an outsider disrespecting you as a person, they would find themselves on the way to the med dec.   Your in the door Isobel.  And believe it or not you have come a long way.  Keep at it.”  Garrat looks at Spencer and speaks carefully , “have the missions of The cat mansion by the monster pond and hidden dragon crouching mech been declassified?”

Roy shook his head.  "They have not.  Aren't likely to declassified anytime soon, either.  Declassifying them puts them in the public domain, and there are too many details in both cases that our enemy could find useful."  Hr grinned and shrugged.

"Occupational hazard.  Good to check, however...we have kind of skirted the line on classified operations with the increasing operations for Delta Nights...but even then, while we don't do much to keep the operations secret, we still end up keeping the Intel-gathering side of it quiet."

He shrugged again and looked at Izzy.  "That's the other challenge you're up against...a lot of the people you're likely to want to interview have a lot of classified operations in their background.  It gets difficult, sometimes, remembering what can and can't be talked about, so we become habitually tight-lipped...we'd rather say too little than accidentally give away some incidental detail that may compromise security.  It's easy to forget that there are real lives being protected by that secrecy...until you read a report or two about someone's gruesome death that happened when the EDT discovered they were related to an ESN operator."  Bitterness had crept into his voice, and it was readily apparent that he had read such reports, far too often.

"That's another reason trust is slow to be given.  Most of us have family back on Earth...some of them aren't known to be relatives of anyone in the Fleet.  When that information is discovered, lives are in danger...and have been lost.  We do what we can, but...you can't watch everyone all the time.""

   "Indeed.  In my time on the ship I've heard of successful executions by the EDT of over a dozen family members.  Shadow himself has lost at least three, Stephi has had some loss and as you know has recently learned about how her mother has died.  I believe commander Si has lost relatives, the list goes on.  I was trying to buy up a planet in the Asgard region and two of my girls are running it while the boys run around in the military trying to get themselves killed, luckily the demons don't have access to that space or I would be very open to vengeance myself.

”yes...um...sorry about that, I didn’t appreciate Shadows accusations that I was EDT just because I made the mistake of dancing with the wrong person...I’m afraid someone was going to cop it and you were just unfortunate to choose that moment to speak to me...sorry” Izzy apologised as Garrat pointed out that she’d pulled rank on him the last time he’d tried to give her advice. To be fair it wasn’t her proudest moment and one she’d come to regret once she’d calmed down.

As for their concerns over security and the reprisals that could befall peoples families should their involvement ever be discovered Izzy fully understood and agreed with what they were saying as the last thing she wanted was for someone to be killed because of something she’d done. Not to mention the fact that her mother still lived in LA and so was at as much risk as anyone else’s family ”Like I said, we need to sit down and discuss how we’re going to handle any Delta night footage that gets taken, because I’m not releasing anything until I’m sure that no one is going to get hurt because of it”

Roy gave a tight grin.  "Except, it's not just Delta Night footage that needs careful handling. News is information, and information is a weapon.  Everything we share serves a purpose...and anything shared unwisely puts someone at risk."

He looked at the floor.  "We've all seen it happen.  Somebody gets compromised by an unguarded comment.  They're put at risk...or worse, their families are turned into leverage against them...or killed as an intimidation gesture."

He looked up at Izzy.  "We can handle being in the line of fire.  We all signed on for that.  Our loved ones?  Some of them don't even realize they could be targets.  Can you see why we're inclined to be tight-lipped?  The deeper and darker we are in all of it, the more concerned we are about what gets revealed."

   Lyri's  Ship-COM  beeps...Ok? a Stall Vendor  says we have Shadow on the  Rec Dec  with some  new   hot shot   Fighter Jocks?... Looks  like one of them wants to  be the new Alpha.... Roy?  we have Scarlett and  Ellen on the Rec Dec.. you think that's enough..or should we  send more

"True...but at the moment Delta Night is the most obvious with our special operators making very tempting targets" Izzy responded to Roy's observation that wasn't just with Delta Night footage with which she needed to be careful with "...I mean I'm not even sure I want to be visibly involved in it, as I don't fancy the idea of some EDT thug getting the idea that I know who you guys are and kidnapping me" she continued, shifting awkwardly in her chair at the thought of being kidnapped and tortured for information she didn't possess...not that possessing the information would make it any less painful "As for general security, I can edit out foolish comments in recorded interviews but anything I do live all we can do is be careful" she said, hoping that would be good enough for Roy, at least for the time being.

Roy raised a finger, indicating that he'd get to Izzy's point in a moment.  "I'll be heading to the Rec Deck shortly.  I trust Scarlett and Ellen to keep a lid on things...but if they need to intervene,tell them to shut the guy down hard...if his ego is getting ahead of his brain, getting a beat-down from a female SEC trooper should put a little ice water on him."

He turned back to Izzy.  "That's part of the reason we aren't as guarded about the involvement of certain individuals in Delta Nights...if they had no idea, almost anyone on the ship could be a target, if only to get some hints from shipboard gossip.  Instead, we occasionally let slip tidbits about Shadow, or Master Chief Mullins, or myself being involved...that gives the EDT a focus, some specific names...who also happen to be some of the most dangerous people in the Fleet, and not exactly an appealing prospect to try and abduct.  They rarely get specifics...although Shadow has a penchant for thumbing his nose at Lady V anytime we catch her people on an open comm, so they KNOW some specific operations he's been involved in...but they have a pretty clear notion that we were there...so they don't give much thought to anyone else.  We'd like to keep it that way, as much as possible."

He gave a quick nod.  "Think a bit on what I've said...especially about giving in order to get something...respect, trust, good faith...it all works the same way.  And remember that we're here fighting a war, and pretty much everything around here is done with winning that war in mind...that means that, quite often, short-term rewards are sacrificed  for the sake of long-term objectives, and nobody does that better than Admiral Hack.  He brought you here for a reason, and it's not to create his own propaganda ministry.  If he tells you no on a story, there are strategic reasons for the refusal...but you can bet, if you don't fight him at every turn, he's going to make it up to you.  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He pointed to his comm unit, and then in the general direction of the Rec Deck.

"Duty calls, and I've got to go make sure that some rookie hothead doesn't wind up leaving his teeth all over a tabletop."

  Garrat Sighs, it looks like he was going to have a conversation with Spencer at a later time. He gets up and nods to Izzy then follows Spencer out.

She would nod her head in understanding as Roy explained that certain members of the team were purposefully revealed so as to give the EDT someone to focus on, with the people in question being some of the more dangerous operators within the fleet "Well...ok that's cool but, could you talk to the others about wearing masks or something? The fewer faces I have to try and obscure the less likely a mistake is going to be made" she said as she rose out of her chair, not holding out much hope of that happening but deciding that if anyone was going to help a girl out it would be Roy "Thank you for you time Sergeant Major, I'll try and bear in mind what you said" she said before following him out of his office and heading off towards her quarters in the hope of getting some sleep tonight...though she wouldn't be holding her breath on that happening either.

---> Officers Quarters

------> From QM Locker

Carrying a handful of armor pieces he entered inside SEC and went straight to his locker and started reorganizing the already clustered locker once complete he went to check in to see what his assignment was for the day but given that it wasn't ready yet he set out to find something to occupy his time for a bit.

------> To be decided (Will Edit)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Thu 02 Jan 2020.

<<<<<<<<<<<  from Rec Dec after  run

 Entering   the SEC    Roll  struggled  with  Gregor  and  put him  down  in a corner where no one would trip over him.

 LArry went Back into  Roy's offcie to see if he was there.

  Shadow Brought out  the  fried   Vidboard,What can you do with this?

 Beth Looked at it... she  frowned,..not Much... It isn't  burne dthrough, I can pull  files off it..but its  shot...

 Roll looked sad.

 This is  Roll's? He used  it to  beat Higgins and his chair... You have a spare one he could have?.. refurbished  One...?

  Beth bot up  and  took the  fried  board to the  back of the  room to one of the computer  and hooked it up.  Then she opened up a  drawer and pulled out  one that looked  Brand  New.. she got a memory   stick , downloading  everything that was on  the   Vidboard. When it was  done, she wiped it  of any  Hermes  files  and   SIGs... then hooked it up to the  computer   to   load up, whatever  Roll had   on his.

 the  whole thing  took  about  20 Minute s when she  came over  with an ESN  colored Vidboard.alright Kid? This is one of my old  ones... it  almost as good  as the new ones  we  picked up on Fuji... so you're not going tom lose  anything for your games  or homework and stuff.... Just ...keep it away from hover chairs

 Rolls  mouth opend into a  'o'  and his eyes got big...Yes , Miss Beth!.. I'll take real good  care of it... i took care of my other  one..until  it went under the chair...

 Shade  was rummaging in his SEC  Locker and Gave   Roll a SEC backpack .

 Shadow shrugged  and gave  Roll a Donut from the   container..its not  cookies// but it will do ..you have to replace those yourself.

Roy stepped out of his office as Larry 2as walking in, quietly standing at the doorway and listening to the events being described, a grin on his face.

"So, Roll took out Higgins with a backpack and a vid board?" he asked, amused.  "If he stays on the ship, I should let Genersl Higgins know just how well his son is upholding the family name..."  His tone was drily sarcastic, lea ing little doubt that he found the idea appealing for reasons that General Higgins wouldn't like.

"Job well done, Roll.  You're a credit to the ship.  Before you know it, Jax is going to be your Sergeant and you'll be giving the Empire nightmares. "

He gave a smile to Roll, and a nod to the others.  "I'm heading for the War Room...sounds like the Admiral is nailing down some details and I'd like to know them so I can help make the most of them."

 Beth Nods...I have to stay here  and co-ordinate the  feeds, and make sure  we don't have any out going COMs  until this  is done.

  Shadow  said,Tell them to COM  me if they Need me.. I'm gonna go down to the Hanger  and  check my Belts.

 Roll  looked up,Can I come?

 sure..but  we'l have to have  you home, to get sleep.. stuff Gregor in your new Back pack and lets go...

 Larry Followed   Roy.

 Jax  stayed in the offcie   seeing what he  could help with.
................

 As Roy left the  offcie  he saw a Young marine   trooper  with SEC markings  on his  shoulder. his  chest pin said  'sniper'.

 SGT MAJ!.. do you have a Moment!


Shadow to  Hanger.

Roy paused at the call, turning to face the young Marine.  "I'm on my way to a meeting with the Admiral.  If what you have to say won't take too long, we can walk and talk, otherwise I'll have to connect with you once the Admiral is done with me."  He gestured in the direction he was heading, waiting to see what the choice was.

 The Young MArine  smiled,I'll go with yuou..Got   to learn my away  around the Ship. Was  sent here Via transport bases , from Fuji Bootcamp?....

 they enter   the  elevator.

  A friend of ours... gresh?.. He pulled a  few strings  for me to get me on the Hermes...Said  you  might  remeber me  from Olympus..been a few years though...

 he  patted the  rifle case  , slung on his shoulder,got a better  rifle now...... don't have to  shot  ffolks   off of roofs  anymore... Now I shoot  from the roofs...  he grins.

Roy paused, turning to look at the young man more closely.  "Well, now, that's a helluva thing," he commented, with a grin.  "Gresh pull you off Olympus with the rest of his people?  Or did you find your own way out of there?"  He gave a quiet laugh.

"Remind me of your name again...it feels like another lifetime ago, and like I've flown all the way across the galaxy since then..."

 He  Patted his name patch and offered his had to Roy,..Nifty.... The  Med Techs  said  they  found my real NAme  when they scanned by chip?... But.. I told them to wipe it and Use  Nifty. I have always been , Nifty... and Us Stemmers are a bit mroe pround, then we  should be, by our ganger name.

  Gresh  tried to pull  all 'his kids" out, he managed to get about  12 of us out.. the other 10 or so  were scattered in the Stem, That's when that FAt assed Frans  started  sending Kill  teams into the stem.. i'll tell you know? He lost more  people then we did.

 ..anyway... a couple of us  went to boot camp.. a few  went to scholl to do tech stuff.. a couple work in the Toy store..the rest aree still 'Gresh's Kids"..just a bit older, but  roaming around the uppers  and the lowers  lookign  from EDT and such... My eye  with the rifle   helped get me here.

Roy grinned.  "We've picked up a few stemmers from other stations along the way...nobody with your eye for a rifle, but one of them saved the day with a handful of poppers.  You'll be in good company.  And your timing is good...sounds like we're going into action sometime within the next couple of days...that's why I'm going to meet the Admiral."

He chuckled and shook his head.  "Who knew all this would get started because I wanted a non-standard assault rifle and was willing to go to the black market on Olympus to get it?"  He patted his stomach, and added, "Still have the scars from the popper that almost got me going in there."

 Nifty smiled  and   gave a shake of his head, You guys picked up more Stemmers ?  That's good  and  bad, You know? I mean..anyone who had to live in the Stem can handle themselves, but if they were good enough  for the Hermes to take in, Then..those are the kinda  folks the Stem  needed to  clean the  badfolks out

 ..That CAptain Morris  Fellow is  Nice... Got to eat a donut and  have some  tea? Never had Tea  before... Have to stick with  coffee...So?.. when this  moving box  steps.. I just take it  down to the enlisted  section?...

 he thought  for a bit  and  Added,..there was  this other  kid? He had a bad leg from that mix up  down there... That pilot   guy sent him on his way, with some Creds...he made it all the  way to the Lowers.. Some    guys  found him wandering around. Took him to this  fancy place?... then shipped him off to his new home... which ended up being a Larder ship.. I spent the  next  6 weeks hunting   those  guys, or guys like  them.....made alot of creds that way..don't know if  i ever  got the right ones? But i figure, any one of those  Black suited bastards i killed couldn't hurt another kid...

Roy nodded.  "Can't always get the guy you really wanted...but every one of them that we put down makes it harder for that guy to keep running."  He grinned and gave a significant look at the rifle case over Nifty's shoulder.

"I hope you're proficient with more than just a sniper rifle.  Sniper operations are few and far between, out here, and if you want to stay in the thick of the action, I'd suggest getting a solid assault rifle...a lot of guys carry SMGs of some sort, but the Kalashnikov I carry gives me a good compromise between the firepower of an SMG and the marksmanship of a rifle.  I'd also recommend sticking with hard ammo, if you're on the fence at all...pulse rifles work in most situations, but we've got a SEC trooper recovering from a pulse round that would have killed him if it had been a solid round...and hydroshock from solid rounds can do nasty things to Creshians, with their exoskeletons containing the kinetic energy so it can just keep stirring up their insides."  He gave a mildly unpleasant smile and added, "And Demons aren't allergic to pulse rounds."

By that point, they'd stepped up to the door outside the War Room.  "This is where I have to leave you behind.  Find ane SEC trooper and tell them you're looking for your quarters...if they aren't on duty, they'll likely walk you there, but even if they are on duty, they'll point you in the right direction."  He grinned and swatted the side of Nifty's shoulder with one hand.  "Welcome to the tip of the spear, kid.  Glad to have you."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Wed 08 Jan 2020.

   Nifty Listened,Yeah?  they wouldn't let me bring  all my stuff.. they  said the QM  would out fit me.. I have a Pulse Sidearm ...  he patted his hip

 ..I'll go with a Carbine  in the field, I can carry more mags  for that then  most weapons... if  we go  on a ship, I'll take  an SMG, for close   quarters 'spray and pray ' thing... good   of   cleaning out a  room too, if you kick the door in.... Some one of gresh's people do that  at Goodwill Harvey's place  on the Olympus.. he kicked the door   in  and  sprayed until the mag  ran out... coolest thing i ever  saw, back then.

 ..Ok  , SM.. thanks for taking the time to talk... he ehaded back  down to the elevator  and the  guards there  explained how far down he needed to go for the enlisted  quarters.

  The Door Opened  and a brand new  recruit  entered he  Saluted  Beth who returned i , holding her hand out  for his disc.

  then she began to check his files..

 ..Your Patch says you're in the right place... what's your name? Lyri asked.

  Nifty, Master  Chief. I'm from Fuji  Bootcamp..sniper..

 Jax looked  at him...you'er a Stemmer...

 Nifty looked at Jax,..that's  right?  how did you know?

 The Name. Gangers   don;t give us real Names, we got some of us  from Etna here.. My Girl Sneak..some younger ones, Roll, Lifter,Canny,Score,Dice..we're are Hermes now...

 so? is it  as hairy here  as they say?

 we get some bad guys on the ship sometimes.. if you get on the assault teams you get to go kill poeple  somewhere else..but?  we are always  looking...Empire...EDT? whatever..always sending some one.

 Ok Kid Here's your  Disc... if yhou want to make an Off Ship call, you have to do in in the next 5 hours...after that..COMs  are shut down except for  Fleet use... I'm LT   Beth Morrow... This is   MAster Chief  , Lyri Mullens. SM  should be back soon..he's incharge of  troops..I have the COMs and such... find an empty desk, and start sorting through papers, cross  referance them with  files on the computer..if  you see  'EDT..EVOL  or  Empire you let me know..

 Already Done, Ma'am... but?  this here  ain't my strong point..

 Lyri  nods with a smile,..good, gives you something to work on..

  Lyri  was frowning as she   got  her  '2nd best' sniper  rifle out  and  checked the Optics.  I get to stay here......aren't i  the lucky dog...

  Beth Giggled,yeah?  well.. you're  stuck watching over me and the  Admiral..

 Lyri nodded,..great....  but if we're  meeting the Verian fleet?... you know they are going to try and board us..right?

 Beth Shrugged,we've been boarded   before ... just gotta  hope  more of them die  right away, this time.

 Will came   in and checked the  'shuttle sheet'.....what the  9 hells?..Stefi said I was cleared!!

Ellen  and  Cora  where shuffling papers  in an angry way.....we don't get to go either..

 Nifty and Jax  looked at the sheet.  they   slapped hands   spun in a circle  and lapped hands again..

 Will Looked at  them  and  then at Beth.. Beth  smiled and shrugged,..who the 9 hells  are you....

 ...My NAme's Nifty?... Just trasnsferred in..Sniper...

 ..just like that?.. 'hey New Guy? go out and shoit stuff..Will hyou sit here  and made sure the doughnuts  are lined up by size and color!

 Nifty  looked at Jax when Will said this... Jax   just  closed his eyes and shook his eha d 'no'.. Nifty looked relieved  sinc ehe just grabbed any doughnut