Roy keyed his comms.  " Once our reinforcements reach the auxiliary bridge, start sending non-essential personnel back to load the shuttles.  As soon as they get a flight crew in to take over, we're heading back to the Hermes, so let's get this as smooth as possible.  Should be able to use the lift now, so we'll make sure our ropes are out of the shaft."

He cut the comms, then looked around at the group there.  "Okay, we're secure here...let's set up for egress to the shuttles and get people moving out."  Granted, they'd already cleared a bunch of people to the two shuttles...but they had been wounded personnel, and that wasn't the same as extracting the entire boarding contingent.

"Damn, no weapons. Hermes Actual be advised we are zero on weapons on the Deadly Song so cannot engage fleeing or hidden enemy assets"

Mortica heard the comm from Will and nodded to her 'bridge crew.' "Roger that. We'll stay on post until relieved."

    Shadow    comed  Howe  and  Viktor,  Alright  guys?..Form up about  500   feet above the shuttles.. when the    are  ready.. Howe  leads  the tin.. Kiktor on  Top.. I come in last

…………….

 The  Diamond  and Club  settled  down in.   Rope  Ladders  took the place of the   repel lines with 6  of  them around the edges.

 ………………………

  Troops  came  down the P-way to the Aux  Bridge, This  could be heard on the COMs... " Damn!..There's  that LArg thing!"..." That little  Robot Guy..that's  the   Ambassador from the Hermes"

 there is a  stern Voice  telling   people to shut the 9 hells up..

 LArry's Head disappears  from the hatchway, and Shade   follows  him down...There is a  LT  in  very Bloody armor, Nods to Mortica  and  Garrat.,..Ma'am.. we  are to relieve you.. this vessel will be   towed along  to   Bura..No offesne  , Ma'am.. but your  people.. they  just  doubled  Bura's  Navy..... The count is  still goign on. but almost  500  escape  shuttles  have  been destroyed.. or have  cleared the limit  that the Admiral will allow chase... That other Heavy Cruiser  was taken by  Drop ship troopers.. they found on there.. what they found on here... the LT  shrugs  as if in apology .

"None taken, Lt. I wasn't raised like my people and disavowed even the pretence of being like them. Everyone who died here today had the chance to become something better and made the wrong choice. I believe the English phrase is 'fuck them.'"

Mortica smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "The ship is yours, Lt. Let's get off this thing. I hate the sight of it and I need to kill anyone who's left and dared attack the Hermes and my son."

   The  Troops began to   form up  at  the  entry Point.

 Tucker  came on the COMs....SM!... you need to see this.. hurry.. down the   passage to the   Bridge stairs

   there was a side  panel to the  wall where  Shade  cut the power.. it was Kicked  out...

  Jax   Lay on  a pile of  four  Vampics.. he had a Vampic  blade jammed  deep into his right thigh and  another on in his   left shoulder.

   two of  the Vamps had no faces from hwere his    Pistol  went off.. a third  had Jax's   blade in his throat (  and  was still trying to  move )..  the  4th had  now  legs  from Jax's  Pulse rifle   chewing them off   at close  range.

  ..i put plast around the  entry spots?... I saw what the   thigns  down when they draw them out..he's  alive..but he lost alot of Blood.

Roy wasted no time upon hearing Tucker's call, and slowed down only as he came into view of Jax.  A quick look at the bodies gave him a good idea of what had happened.  "Motherf..."  The word trailed off as he keyed his comm.

"Sgt. Muldoon, pass along to your people that the Vampics apparently have concealed compartments, and may pop out to ambush lone troopers.  Nobody goes ANYWHERE alone, everyone should be in pairs or groups."

He cut the comm and grabbed Tucker by the shoulder.  "Good work stopping the bleeding...let's get him back to the shuttles.  We're gonna have to team-carry...there's not a solo-carry position that isn't gonna increase the damage from one or both of those blades," he said, dropping the captured pulse rifle he'd been carrying.  "If we can get a couple more people, we can carry him without too much risk of making the knife wounds worse..."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:48, Sun 21 July 2019.

Mortica was on her way when she heard the call and broke into a run. She slowed down when she saw Jax. "That is one tough Marine, Sgt. Major," she said as she shouldered her weapon and went to help lift Jax.

"Those damn panels are used for equipment storage and internal sensors didn't show anyone in the walls so I didn't think twice about them. There's one every ten metres. Just when I think I've seen how treacherous my people can be they manage to surprise me."

  They  witht eh teams   workign  they got  Jax  to the     hole. a MAkeshift  sling was  used  to   lift him into the   Club.. The flrites    and a  few others   went on Board,  the Club  taking off  with   flashing  red  and  white lights  to indicate  a  badly wounded   Crewman.

 with in Minutes  the  ship  was full of    Gun fire  and the smell of  burning Vampic  flesh,  as Thermite grenades  were tossed into   panels when Vampics  were  found.. though many of them dropped thier weapons.. there was no quarter  given.


 Shoey and Robbins   stood  with   Roy,.. now that    Jax  was  found, everyone is accounted  for.... Drop Ship troopers  brought in another  shuttle   they  have a  boarding tunn linked to the  Hnager Dec... should be more then enough to   clean up any more rats...

 Rofle  came runnign from the  stern,..Pretty hot looking  SGT    told  me the   engine  room is  secoured.. they did  space   6 Vampics  tryign to  scuttle the ship...all's  clear now..

Kira took this moment to catch her breath the mechs really showed their worth this day, "Good work you two, drinks are on me when we get back" she said to Clark and Morgan ready to go home and get out of this mech.

 The Mechs   were Locking onto the  The  Diamond  and the  Spade

  troops  wer e  Getting  aboard.. they  Saw  three  fighters   setting  Up arpound them. One witht eh Light Blue   Tail fin and  #19.

 Shoey COMed, we  yu folks are  ready, we'll go home...

Roy nodded.  "We're not accomplishing much more here...the dropship troopers can mop up and they've got control.  Let's head back home...go see how our wounded are doing..."  This had been a tough one...cost them at least one Felrite, with another whose status was yet to determined...Lirg was in rough shape when he was sent back, and Zob was wounded...and while the wound itself wasn't that bad, any fragmentation wound carried the risk of metal poisoning for the Demon.  Jax would hopefully be okay, but it would be a minute before he'd be training again.  Plenty of other wounded, some seriously but not life-threatening...there were a lot of people to check on after they got back.

"Shuffle around and buddy up...I know I said I didn't want people riding on laps back to the Hermes, but with the Club pulling med-evac duty, we're gonna have to fit a few extra people in each shuttle..."

Mortica climbed into the shuttle and found a corner to stand in so others could get in. Now that they were leaving her worries over Roll were starting to really take effect. Her eyes were crimson and her fangs down due to the combination of nerves and anger she was feeling.

Viktor was in formation with the commander and his wingman as they awaited the shuttles to depart. The signal had come in they were loading up so the Vampic pilot was prepared and on alert. If there were any lurkers they’d be looking to capitalize on the limited ability they had left to wage war.

After the shuttles were safely inside, Viktor came in to land and taking a deep breath.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:03, Mon 22 July 2019.

Garrat Wavd aknowledgement to victor as they climbed abaord.  He had his own to see.

  The   4   vampic assault shuttles , that were still in good shape. were  lined up on the   side  of the Hermes... thoughts of using them   for   supply shuttles  but   having thier bows    enter the static  field  would allow   6 of them to  be  unloaded  while they loked like  puppies  feeding from thier mother .

   the  holes   were   having  temp plates  welded or melded  onto the  ship   with  portable  static   field  to  make sure they  are sealed  until they reached  Bura...  sounds of     workers    clomping around  along  with   tools  making  noise.

  they would  work for  3  hours, then get relieved , so they could   have   time to party as well.

    If  Space had  sound.. the  thrum of   giant  engines  would be like  the heart beat of Titans...

 the Sheer  Mass of  ships.. from the    front  of the  Fellet, to the  rear..and Both Flanks  covered   Millions of  Miles. A cloud  of  steel Locust.

 A distant  Blue Green Dot, perhaps the only other    welcoming  site for the delta Fleet  sat. about   18 yours  away at present  course.

 Support ships began making  plans.. Burians  who wanted to sign up on pleasure ships..or  work the transports  and the Agro ships.

   those who went through the Burian Military  were being   settled in  to  become  assault troopers  of    Caps ships who requested them.

 Bura  had  14 orbiting  docks..but they were all for  repair, not ships were being constructed there..but that would change as   Humans , Sanri and  Occui were being   transferred to work along   side the Green folk and Green  Angels... lifting them   as EArth had been lifted.

 Burians  developed the hard  ammo that was   a source  fright for Demons..Burian  iron  rounds that shatter   on impact.. sending their  shards and powder into the  wounds.

 Burian fighter  rounds  were being made  for 37 MM casings, to be sued in ground  support, or for    ship-strafing

   Bura  would be swimming in  creds  after  this  Visit...  fruit  and  Veggies getting  crated  for   Caps ship   and rec Decs...  trayed  plants to  start on  Cap Ship farms.

  The Threat from the  Vera..Verians.. and the Empire  was there, to be sure..but now.. Bura  was  about to have its own fleet.. with trained officers, who  were battle tested, and  they would be  training Burians.

 Roussians  were heard to  still be  sending raiders  and    scouts.. a lot of things  were about to change..

Nikki flew the Black thunder Mantis craft out from the Hermes.  When well clear of other craft, but within Shadows directive she began giving the craft a shake down.  She made sure to push it hard to make sure it would be a durable aircraft.  Hard banks, spirals, twists even a few 360 turns.  Even as she made the moves she continued her basic heading towards the Argus.

  Argus  wasn't hard to  find, The  renamed  and  painted    Largran  Cap ship Stood  Out   with its  Hanger  dec opened   to both  sides.

  Niki  was challenged   a couple times   but   scout   fighters, since the  Fuji  markings  were   still visible.

 after a good  20 minutes to the   starboard Flank  of the Fleet, the cap ship began to loom even bigger.

"Black Thunder to Argus, requesting permission to land." okay, she let them know she was coming in over the comm. "Thiis is Ensign Rutledge.  Please respond"

..got  you  on  screens... Fuji  Transponder?.. he waited.. she  could  see  , newely installe d AA  guns    moving a bit.

"Thats where they made her.  on her shakedown flight"  As far as she knew it was all true, no reason for anyone getting snitty.

 right then..power down and Glide  in on the  Green arrows...

  the  Dec    was clear.. the whole way through the other  side...odd seeing   the stars  at the other side of the HAnger Dec.

"Copy Argus.  Follow green and land."  So far so good.  now she just hoped that she was not walking into a hornets nest of anything.  She followed as requested.  just out of caution she did run a quick weapons check.  Remembering her training she went slow and cautious to make sure she didn't crash on the Argus.  She then came in to land.

    Landing on the  Dec She saw a Chief   limping towards her. The Vidboard in his hands.  topping and  waiting  for her  to  climb out of the Cockpit, he slauted   Niki  and said, as he  easy swept over her.

 Welcome  aboard. Ma'am.... I see you have Hermes on your shoulder, but the transponder says , Fuji.... If i didn't have  This... he  waved his Vid Board,..I might   have to send  your through SEC... care to tell me  the pleasure of your Visit, Ma'am ?

  some   grounds  crew  came  over  to check her machine and clean the Glass.

"Thanks for the welcome" she returned the salute.  "LC Shadow wanted me to give this many is a shakedown.  plus practice take off and landing on different ships." she leaned a bit closer "Still a bit new.  I'm used to shuttle piloting.   But, I'll remind Rivets about the transponder" she turned on the southern charm a bit.  "I chose the Argus though.  Hoping someone I knew might still be aboard...A civilian.  Used to be a neighbor back on Earth.  who would I talk to to find out?"