Karl.....

  Dixie    looked over,..they have  somne of that   soda?.. and .. tons of water?... she pointed a delicate  finger  towards the  Transport drops shuttle that served as  a  supply deot.

  ..If you get a ride  up, Sugar?  I'd  like to go too?...I think all the othe Pilots  made it back...at least, the ones who we'ren't killed.

Garrat wasn’t happy about pulling back but he was there in the shuttle.
     He pulled th latch back and cleared his chamber. “You are alive little one, that shows some intelligence. Don’t counter it by assuming that anyone who speaks a different dialect than you is ignorant.”

After torching the assault shuttle she'd been pursuing, Harry would continue to hunt down any Vampic fighters within the area until her hard ammo finally gave out. By this point several other pilots including Shadow had returned to the Hermes and so Harry felt she was justified in doing so herself, even if it was only long enough to get some fresh belts loaded before heading back out again. After gaining clearance to do so from the Hermes she would smoothly bring her fighter in to land within the Hangar Dec.

---> Hangar Dec

Karl gave a quiet chuckle.  "I hardly expect them to leave us behind.  And Big Uglies should be bringing down more ground troops to secure everything...so we shouldn't be stuck here long."  He waved in the direction of the landing depot.

"Let's go get something to freshen up a bit, find out who's in charge, and see what can be done about expediting a return to the Hermes."

  ..You Bet there  Captain.. I don't have  enough Brass on My ass  for them to worry too much about me!

 they reached  the  to teh transport shttle that was being used  for supplies.. a Gunnery SGT  seemed to be in charge.

"The Drak Council is made up of the ruling houses of Vampra, the various royal houses. My father sits upon the Council - or did. That the Council sent two lair ships here shows an uncomfortable dedication to the Empire on their part but the vote need not be unanimous, only majority. I'm hoping the vote was close and the Empire does not enjoy the full support of the Council. If it does then my call and our centuries of planning failed before they truly went into effect," she replied, looking rather crestfallen.

Finishing loading up Nikki then lifted off in the Diamond to head back to the Hermes.  This leg of the fight was going to be a lot smoother.
Mentally she went down her checklist....first was injured getting tended to, then she'd see about the Diamond.  There was talk of boarding the Vampic ship, if they told her go, she'd go.  Other than that the rest was gravy.


====> Hangar Dec

Karl stepped up, after having grabbed a soda.  "Sorry in interrupt, Gunny, but I'm wondering if you've got a Big Ugly heading for the Hermes that's got enough room for my damaged bird.  That's a bad flight to make with a cracked cockpit..."  His tone was pleasant, but respectful...the sergeant doubtless had his hands full of trying to keep things moving, and Karl was sure the last thing either of them needed was for him to try pulling rank.

  TheGunny looked up,well, Captain , Sir.. these here  are spoken for..but we got  abig Ugly coming  down  with  soe ammo for the tankers?.. if you got  about 15?.. we can get  you on that when she  takes off... if that's too slow, you'll have to   roll the dice?

Karl chuckled softly.  "Well, the only thing I would be in a hurry for is to get back in the air battle...and it sounds like that's pretty much over.  I can wait.  Thank you, Gunny...can you have someone give me a yell when my ride back up starts its landing cycle?  I can have my bird ready for loading, avoid slowing up the turnaround down here any more than necessary."

  the  SGt Nodded,..You bet  sir....already done...

 there was a crash  and the mad Looked over  as  two  trooper s  were  tring to stop a Palet of  water bottle  from  dumping off the  edge of the  ramp...

  .. NOW, I KNOE YOU TWO ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO HAVE WRECKED  A PALET OF...MUCH NEEDED..WATER... AND  I KNOW NEITHER OF YOU TWO ARE DUMB ENOUGH..NOT TO.. THINK OF USING  ANOTHER HOVER  JACK TO GET THE GODS BE DAMNED  PLAEET  UP RIGHT...AM I RIGHT..OR  AM I GONNA BE SORELY DISAPPOINTED THAT I  HAVE THE ONLY TWO STUPID  TROOPWERS.. WHODON'T  FIGHT,.,, FOR  THE E D..FUCKING T!

  the  lower  trooper   grabbed  anther    hover  jack   and  saved the   water  from  falling off  and Gettign  squished

  OUT...GODS  BE DAMNED  STANDING!.... now.. get it to where its  going..before  i decide  you each have to take a water bottle by hand .. to that  little tiny building  on the ridge!  they  moved the pallet off with out further problems..the GUnny shook his ehad   , talking to himself.....be a Cook.. Mother says.. do I listen..no?.. I have to be a Combat ..gods be damned  engineer... and  what am i doing... I'm  a gods be damned  Grocery clerk

Karl grinned at the verbal broadsides.  "You may be a grocery clerk, Gunny, but you're a Marine grocery clerk..."  He gave the sergeant a smile, and walked back to where Dixie was waiting.

"There's a Big Ugly coming down in about fifteen minutes that doesn't have a return cargo already assigned...that's our ride.  Take your time with the coffee..." he chuckled.

  Dixie    sighed  as she  ran a hand through her  hair,..guess we'll be  gettin' to the   party, just a wee bit late?... hope they don't do that salute thing  before  we get there... don't like to miss out  on that?  We didn't have that with the  Head Hunters.. if you got  kiled.. you were considered a fool..

Karl quirked an eyebrow.  "Well...if you were flying for people cooperating with someone that would gladly eat your friends and family, then I think there's some valid grounds for that judgment.  But, fortunately, some people wise up..."  He raised his soda in a casual salute to better judgment, before taking a drink.
This message was last updated by the GM at 20:59, Thu 07 Mar 2019.

   Dixie  Nodded   ashe  wathed the Fire.. the ligh  wasn't needed, but it  was  cold a  breezy, even the  Enviro suit  can  only keep  Cold away so long, unless your  moving.

  ..most of  us?.. we didn't  think about  things  like that?... We were   wanting to  take part..but...if you could get  good Creds  doing it.. well...

 ..So? there's  Little Ole  Me.. standing there  with alot of the Rich folks?... Now?..My Daddy..he had these peach orchards in  Atlanta.. they used some of the  soil  feeders to    be  put in the   irrigation?.. well..My my my, those   peaches  come out looking like  Volley balls..sweet as  all get out...So, My Daddy  knew  my grades  weren't  getting me into the acadmey..and I ain't no Marine ..to he meets  these  suit fellas... and Off I go to  England to learn how to fly the EDT way.. from there  to  soe  rock  out  past Everest Space?

  now?  them EDT  boys  they train your  little round butt off?... we  fly twice  as much,'cause   we don't have the classroom  that teh academy has... so?.. if you go by that.. if one of  the   Head Hunters   has    as much tie   in school as  an ESN?.. Well Sugar?  The ESN   boy should go down.... But it  didn't  work like that.. I saw  people who   picked off  LArgans, and wiped out   Caravan escort, blown away like they never been in a cockpit before?....  I wasn't smart?.. I was scared... that   Angel with the wings.. we had a  a go round... but..  in the end?  I wasn't goign to win..

Karl nodded, grimly.  "That's not a problem limited to the EDT.  I was a test pilot...some of those boys are the cockiest sonsabitches you'll ever see.  Time in a cockpit is good...but the quality of time makes all the difference in the world.   Remember one guy...can't recall his name, you forget the dead ones pretty quick...he was.positive he could handle anything because he had over two thousand hours behind a stick.  Problem is, most of those hours were flying transport craft, or ferrying fighters...first time he had an engine die in a dive test, he panicked.  Wasn't much left of him to recover, and they had to dig his remains out of the wreckage in the middle of a five-meter-deep crater.  There were five of us in the tower that tried to talk him through recovery, and then told him to eject...he was so far gone that we could've been speaking the same language as the LC's son and he would have made as much sense out of the words." Karl shook his head,  visibly weighted down by the memory.

He gave Dixie another look, and said, "I wish more people understood that there's options to get into flying that don't include the Academy.  Sure, that's the fast track...but some of the best pilots I've flown with enlisted, and then got into flight training later.  It's the hard path, I know...but then again, so's getting killed by your own kind because some suit gave you lots of flight time and then told you you were elite." He shook his head again, his voice tinged with a kind of bitter regret.

 Dixie  shrugged, a bit forlorn,well, Sugar? For a  small  town girl  whose Daddy suddenly had MoneyIt was a 'for sure' way to get his little girl into an aircraft..Like i said?.. I'm no Marine.. Why.. wa ger  to say Half the   girls on that boat  could beat me up..if that little old rainbow headed beth?

..I know  , Just enough  that if I pod out.. i might be able to last a few  hours, before someone picks  me up..

Karl grinned.  "Another evidence that the EDT training, though whether it's out of arrogance or deliberate malice could be argued...or, possibly, innocent incompetence.  But it would be generous to call the mindset 'blind optimism', when they're assuming pilots will never get shot down or will only ever need to pod out over friendly territory.  Whether they intended to or not,  failing to give that training means their pilots are disposable assets...cannon fodder, to use an old term."

He took another drink, then added, "I hope you're making time to get some survival and hand-to-hand training. Piloting's like anything else...the minute you think you know it all, you're doomed to need something you declined to learn."

    Dixce  shrugged,..piltos have  2  ties a week   Hand to hand.. and CAptain Morris  has  one...BORING.. class on survial..normal  focused in on the planet that we  will be close to during   a battle?... I mean..The Man is ncie  enouhg, but   Honey?...he needs to get soe  form of personality!

 The gunny came  walking over he had   two hot  dogs  in  what looked like  buns....cook is  makign these  for   folks who come in for the field..they are pretty good.. I think the meat comes  from Bura?.. anyway.. got  some bakers  making these things  for  Buns..

 handing them each a packet of Mustard, ketchup, and soe green paste from Bura that was   spicey....That bright light up there?.. that's   yor ride.. gonna be  about  8 minutes to land... about 15 minutes to unload..

 he turns   and shouts over his shoudler,....IF MY PEOPLE DON'T SCREW THINGS UP!

  then he smiles, Goign to be  5  troopers  going up with you.. they are  takign those  21?.. Red Suited Piltos  with them... those  folks are going straight to  The Alcatraz

Karl nodded.  "Thank you, Gunny, both for the food and the update.  Sounds like I may want my carbine out of my bird for the ride up...just in case."

He grinned slyly and added, "We were just discussing the value of survival and combat training for pilots, if we ever pod out over hostile territory.  What's your take on the matter, as someone who might get sent in to retrieve us?"

  The Gunney Nodded,I was  at the LZ on Aqra?... didn't have  to be a gods  be damned clerk there.. we have a Heavy Pulse ring  set up... I had  to keep checking on them... well  anyway.. we saw  some pilots  go  down.. Yu could tell the  ones who knew what they were doing... and  the ones  who didn't have a damn clue.. we  pulled  in a lot of  both?..but when you se  a pilto out there in light armor..or just an eviro suit?.. and he     crack off  shots  at the enemy... that's the kinda  folks you want to make sure you save.

 the    vessel was  down about  as  big as a grapefruit, in the sky.. and  would be enterign the thing Atmo soon.

Karl nodded.  "It's old news to us, now...but you might be interested to know the Shadow went down over Nivar's moon...not shot down, one of the Nivarian pilots was playing possum and decided to ram someone from the Hermes...Shadow saw the plane start to move and basically got in the way, so his plane took the hit instead of a pilot who had no idea." He was addressing Dixie, as he was sure the sergeant had heard it before.

"Crash-landed in totally unexplored, hostile territory, with enemy troops actively searching for him...and due to lack of accurate intel about the terrain, a rescue mission had to wait until the next morning.  Shadow not only managed to evade capture, he also managed first contact with the Naragrans, and took down several Nivarians on his own."

He shrugged, and added, "Now...if the top ace of the war can focus long enough to learn the skills to do that, maybe the rest of us can listen up during training...no matter how dry the presentation is..."

 Dixie   shook her head,..always  wondered  about that boy?  he  seems a bit off, you know... and..how many of these ehre stories  are true..and not , just 'punched up' for the  Fleet PR...

  but , lord o days...you'd thinbk they'd get soe one  who doesn't like tea  and Crumpets  to give a lecture!

 The Gunny Looked  over  as the aircarft  filled the  sky to  the west of the LZ...well,,Sir,  MA'am.. best  see if i can get thgis unloaded  with out my people spillign have the  stuff all over  this rock.

"Thanks again, Gunny.  We'll have the bird ready to load up as soon as your people are clear."

He turned to Dixie, taking another bite of the hot dog and chewing, a thoughtful expression on his face.  "That's the funny thing about the LC...some of the stories about him ARE exaggerated.  But there's other things about him that the stories don't even come close to getting right, and still more stuff about him that there's hardly any stories about, at all.  I've heard some of the crew saying that he's even more dangerous on the ground than he is in a cockpit.  I've been on the Hermes for close to four years, now, and I've seen enough to think they're right."

He took another drink of his soda.  "As for tea and crumpets...well, my experience has been that what a man eats is rarely an indicator of whether or not he should be listened to about anything beyond food.  Look at his service record, not his choice of afternoon snacks." He chuckled and shrugged.  "Suppose I shouldn't blame you for it, since it seems to be a universal EDT trait...but what someone's done should get a lot more attention than appearances and external traits.  At least twice now, the flight lead of an EDT squadron has laughed at Shadow because he was basically a gutter-snipe before he got into the Academy...or because he went to the Academy...instead of considering how many kills he's got, and the fact that he's bested at least one of every race we've come across, and seen and survived more aerial tricks than any collection of EDT pilots could come up with.  And both times, they lost.  The captain may not have the most entertaining delivery...but he knows what he's talking about."

Karl glanced up, noticing the growing mass of the incoming Big Ugly.  "Should be loading up soon..."

  Dixie   nooded  as she    tried to finish her Hot Dog in a Hurry, trying to  talk  with a  full mouth.

  well.. I sure think it would be  more  fun, to not to have to fight, to stay away in  classes!

  The  Big Ugly Pilot and His  Co-Pilot  came  down.....Say  CAptain?... what will do is   get your   ship in first... keep the prisoners  to  the  side of the static  field... this way we can see them..and if they do something   stupid, , pop them right off the  ship?... we'll set , off  of the  Hermes  and   you can Glide  your ride in... and  we'll pick up the Trash  the Hermes  has to send to Alcatraz  as we..

 with in 10 minutes or so.. the   Moring star was  loaded  and  took off with its  odd cargo,

>>>>>>Karl to Hanger Dec