(( this will be a  'catch all for beachs  and  such...))

Haley waved at the LC.  She went and put her towel near Thor and Tess, but a bit up from the water  She took her tee off and looked at LC again "Nikki got me and Roll new swimmin' suits" she spun about happily showing her suit off before going to grab her pail and bucket.  With a bit of sand patch she began making her new sand castle, even showing some new kids how to make some of their own as well.
This message was undeleted by the player at 01:00, Sun 11 Oct 2020.

   people Milled  around on the beach. Some folks  went stright to the  stalls  to get a  drink and  just  sit in the sun, the  cooks  were cooking hotdogs and Hamburgers, making a Rolled up  Taco of  sorts called  'Torpedo tacos '

Off course they had  to set  up a special Building  for  ice cream and shakes... and there  was bin  set aside  to  have cuttings  and   food trash for the Largs.

 Machins  Saw Shadow  throwing the football with Dana and Miller, he stepped  next to him and  started to catch and Throw too.

 ..You really eat this up, don't you... machins  chuckled.

 Sure do..I love catching footballs...

 you know what i mean.. the whole 'hero  thing"

 ..Look?  Dumbass?  Everyone of us are heroes..hell even those kids.. When you think of everything that has happened to them..and there  they are, playing like any other kids.

 Gia  smiled at Shadow and watched  as they caught the ball...why does not the ball, make noise when it  hits your hands, Like it  does  to  machins?

 I'm a recievert, he's a  DB.. my hands  are softer then his...

 Gia   walked by  and ran a finger across   Shadow's back..This , is true!...

Machins Glared at Gia, then at  Shadow.

 I thought you were going to the  spa thing, witht he posse...

 ..yes..i was lookign much forward to it? But the reporter was goign to be there...I do not  wish to start my shore leave in the brig...

 Then she  bounced off towards the water..Machins looked hard at Shadow...Really...

 Shadow shrugged  as he tossed the  ball back to Dana , who gave it to Miller to throw...that was job related, she worked for Etna.. I worked  for Lights Out... in the end?  we both lived , so we both won... I think we did better, because we  got  her in the   wing?

 so?  Now I gotta  try to live up  to you?he said sarcastically.

 naw?..don't worry about it... you could never live up to me..so?...just  relax...  The LC grinned... Machins  waved off the next throw  and Jogged  after Gia..Shadow  looked around the beach  lokign for kids who might stray..largs that might be eating some one they shouldn't..

Henry brought Val and Mila down to the beach. Seeing Shadow, he offered to take Larry, seeing as he was expecting the rest of the largs to come down for some exercise in the warm. He also looked round for Roll to see if he'd like to come and join the other Larg Masters and get some exercise for Gregor as well.

  Dusk Poses   for  Roy, lifting on arm in the   air , canting her  other hip to put the other hand  on.

 ..You like it!... No...Father does not like it... if it was up to him, i would be wearing  heavy  boarding  armor.  But look at the other Ladies, even the   Ladies in one piece suits   have 'cut outs' na d plunges  and all of that!..Should I not be allowed to have  fun too?

 A younger guy...say..mid  20's  to look, but who knows? Cleared his throat...I like the way it Looks...And, Your  Father  can't be every where! he laughs and Grins  at Roy.

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

 Roll  followed then to where Tess  and   Thor  were.. poor  Thor  got  rolled over  a  couple  times before  staggering back from the waves  to Tess.

 don't  worry  Thor...Gregor  was  little too..not he is  a bit bigger  and he  is running around with  the pack..

 Shade  was runnign around  with  some of the Kids, then with  some  SEC folks, then tryign to   'catch' a Larg..the Largs  liked the Game, and of course, there was no way  Shade  could  grab one, but it  didn't stop them from playing.

 a  few or the Largs  were tearing  down the  Beach sending up  a rooster  tail of sands  and   would  come to   screeching   halts when the  reached  the   far end of te fences.

 Nifty, Jax  and Sneak were takign turns on Nifty's  Hover Bike, a couple other people would ask and   Nifty would 'lay down the law" about  doing  'stupid tuff', before letting them ride, they stayed on the Grass above the East end of the beach so there  wasn't  , really, too many people to worry about. especially  witht eh BU blocking the road.

With nothing better to do given Melia and others were out having girl day so to speak this left him with a rather open schedule to do whatever he wanted, so he opted to spend it down on the beach.

Upon arriving down on the beach he stripped off his shirt and set it off on a empty lounge chair exposing his scar marred skin to all that could see him, he then glanced over watching all the children playing a small smile creeping on his face.

after a few seconds of contemplating his next move Zob decided to throw caution to the wind and run down the beach and then cannonball of sorts into the water.

Mila joined in the fun, letting some of the youngsters chase her, then running into the water and coming out again to shake all over them!

 Meari smiled as Dusk put on a show for the SM, she smiled at him, taking off her robe to show her Lilac colored suit. She says to Roy quietly," I think that is LC Shadow's side coming out in Captain Dusk, also I think she has a thing for you SM." Meari smiled and walked towards the beach staying close to Vaka, and watched the kids have a great time. Meari had never unwinded like thsi before and it felt good, and seeing some of the kids she helped rescue the night before having fun and having a chance at a better life made her feel so good inside.

 She smiled at Lilit a very real genuine smile as says to her Granmod," Granmod thank you for assigning me to the Hermes it has been an amazing experience Granmod Lilit."

  Kids  ran about squealing as they got  splashed  or  'dunked' by their  friends.. Footballs were thrown all over and  castles  were being built in the sand.

 now and then  groups  would go to stalls  for  drinks  and  eats. Those who would  care to take a look , would  see  HermesSEC  keeping watch, taking turns to get  eats or drinks  of  just take a swim.

 Roll   sat and watched  Thor, the wee beastie stumbled  around  in the Sand.. every now  and they a   tiny roar   , when a  waved  would  hit  him and he  wriggled back to  Tess.

 Shoey was 'off duty' , but that was just a word to most Hermes  folks.. he  intercepted  some  people who seemed overly interested in   the tiny Larg. After  some Posturing..  Freddie   came  up from  behind  Shoey.

 The grinning SGT  simply said,..You can move  down past those    boundary lights?..or ? You  can  talk to Freddie... he isn't  always   very nice though...

 a deep throated  Burble  came from  Freddie .. and the Suits  decided to leave.

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

  Larry found  Shadow running thought the water with Brivet , Chatty, and Lona  as   they tried to duck Him..     Larry Pounced on him  talking him under the water..      Shadow tried to Lift Larry over his head, but, those days  were Over  and they simply fell backwards again

 Poeple Laughed   Kids  Pointed  and  giggled and guffawed.. Shadow  sat up in the  surf,   with  Larry  Laying  on him  and him  cradling the  Larg like a Golden Retriever.

 CE-VA who stripped out of her  uniform to reveal a Nice lookign   One piece  and she   got Vids  of  people playing and some Live Vids...

 ...so What do our Heroes  do when they have down time?.. well? the wrestle with Largs!!!

 she waded into the water,Tell  our viewers , LC..who won this Match...

  Larry titled his head  as he was being held, his  tail thumping in the water,..You'd have to say Larry won this time...two falls   to 0!

  Their you go Viewers.... it  takes a larg to beat the  War's highest scoring Ace!...

 Shadow reached  out  and   flipped her Leg and she landed in the Water  Next to them,,she laughed   her  hair  drenched  as she  said.....stay tuned to out  network for news!... as? we seem to be the only one carrying any!

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


 Dusk  smiled  as she   asked  Roy if he was going into the water.

 Lyri   was    laying  on her  Towel.. as  was  Beth Flroes  and several others  who had already gotten wet.

Roy gave Dusk a grin.  "Well, I know a lot of guys who learned to love the water after survival training...I wasn't one of them..But given incentives, I can be talked into it..."

Turning to the guy who'd commented a out her dad not being everywhere, Roy gave a dangerous smile.  "He doesn't need to be everywhere.  He's protecting guys like you from her, more than protecting her...piss her off and she'll break you like cheap lawn furniture."

 The Fellow looked at Roy a bit oddly.. Dusk  said,..Come on!..you can pretend you are going to Blow up a ship or something,,,,,

 ..............

  Lilit  walked  down the beach to the water  with  Meari.....Humans were never my most favored species . The Myths  and lies  they told in thier early days , made me hope the demons would devour  them all...But there would be a handful  who rose up, the 'cream' as the humans say..

 but now..We have the Delta fleet..they  are strong, they do not beg or pray, they take things upon themselves, delivering those who they once  thought gods, from those who they once  though  demons  and such...

 ..The Admiral has  pushed GE-FI aside, he is the  'ruler' of the  ESN now...GE-FI is , once  again, hiding, only in a differant  system..

  Lady did not  make a mistake when she   chose one  who follows  Admiral hack's Tenants. Though it spelled  doom for   Adem

.......

CE-VA got out of the  water , laughing  and  talking  with  some of the Piltos,  Shadow leg  go of Larry and he went off into the deeper  water  like a scaled shark.

   The LC  got  out of the water  and headed towards his  towel..

 Can had  walked up to the icecream stall and  asked  for  the  cold  thick milk... The guy behind the   stall smiled,Milk shake?.. what flavor.. white, pink, Brown or Blue?

 Can said...Brown?

  they guy whipped him up one  and the Little  guy   came over and sat down  By  Shadow  and  Beth...

 Hey!..having more fun now?

 Can nodded,There are Lotsa kids  who were playign   with me...i did not  feel like i was 'serted...

 Well, Can? There will be times  you're by yoruself..or..maybe  at Home with your New Mom and dad, and you  miss  some of the kids?.. that happens all the time as  people move to colonies and stations and  stuff..but.. don't  feel deserted... I don't know what happened to the kids who left you behind... or why they did?.. but you never have to worry about that any more.

..is it ok if  i lay down here?

 sure..get yoiu towel and stuff...  the  little guy hustled  away, and  came back with an empty shake  and   his towel and Hat.. he  spread the towel out like he watched  other  people do and layed   down.. in a  couple minutes, he was  asleep..

 Beth peered over Shadow,..you think, he would  be  more  eager to run around?

 ..their  days  and Nights   were spent  wonder if they were going to eat, or be eaten... he had a Good night yesterday..and   a good morning...he might feel relaxed  enough, that his  body just wanted to rest....

 what do you think happened  to his 'pack'

 One of three things?....They are   either,  hiding somewhere on the stations... or..they were taken  by some one esle  farming out   kids.. or ? they   split up and left the little  guy to 'be found'.. doesn't matter  now? He's  safe.. that's all that counts.
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:19, Mon 12 Oct 2020.

Roy snorted softly.  "Just did that last night...why would I want to pretend to do it again?" he asked...but he followed Dusk toward the water, leaving the puzzled young man on the beach.

   With  Dusk and  Roy entering the water, several other s followed   around..some kids    zipped through the  water.

 a rather  tall fellow , who was at the Party Late  came  ambling into the water,..Hey Baby?.. lets go  get a drink..my treat...

 Dusk Tilted her  head,..it is  NOT..your  Treat, My father  and The Admiral are paying for all of this!

 he  went  to grab her Arm, Comon.... I wanna  talk with you a bit..., She beat down his  hand  and   took  some awkward  step in the   knee  high  water, towards Roy.

 Behind the  fellow, like   some Jungle Vid.. a   pair or  Larg  eyes were drawing  neared the fellow from behind.

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

 Grip came running   from the  far end  of the  beach.. he  stopped   by Shadow and Pointing to the road. Mr  Shadow?...  that Sneak Lady said I was 'possed to get you... some Streeters are trying   hurt  Niffy!

  Nifty?

 Rapid  Nods...

 Dammit!..Lets Go..lead me  to it...

  Grip tried to run as fast as he   could, But Shadow  didn't  take    more the  a second to zero in  on the  group of  'streeters'.

  everyone there  saw them  Coming..  Jax   was standing  between them  and Sneak,, Sneak was   kneeling near Nifty  , who was down and the Hover  Bike  was  in the hands of the Streeters.


  He Stopped... runnign and  walked  briskly  the last  40 yards  or so, keenly aware that the streeters  were armed, Judging by  Nifty being  down.

 The LC looked over the  Black Jacks  and   Hoodies,  more metal on thier ehads  that  was  on the hover Bike!.....  You know? I have alwaays  hated streeters?... At least Gangers  fight , real people..Streeters   are  gods be damned punks, who pick on kids and old  folks....

 one  guy with  Gauges the   size of teacup Saucer pulling his ears down and   pins  sticking out of his nose  and  ears.....Fuck off , 'Daddy'  this  bike's  ours.. we're thinking of takign the girl too?

 Fuck you  Junior.. if i had   a big magnet i could take  you dumbasses out.. instead..  we'll have to  do it  the hard way..

 the Streeters  Pulled out  little hand  Guns  , Knives  and  Poppers...one  Big  guy swirled a  heavy   chain, Grinning his   'pinned up lips' as the chain made noise..

 ..you're  kidding..right?..and that chain  is  gonna  feel real  differant  when i  wrap in  around your chest, and pull, until the shit pops out you  ears, nose and Eyeballs.

 Ease  up old guy.. we'll just take the Bike for now... we'll let you keep the girls...for a while...

 Shadow started Laughing...

 something  funny?

 ..You hurt a Hermes SEC trooper.. you stole his gods be damned Bike.. you made nosie   about  stealing another  Hermes marine's  GF?...what the fuck make you think any of you are leaving here alive

 some of thier  Smiles  dropped...so? you all have bathing suits on, and we're armed  and you think you'll stop us... the  streeters  started to  spread out , three girls had  the   pistols..some odd lookign little weapons.

 Grip  was Huffing and Puffing behind Shadow.....Grip?  remember  what i said, if you  got into  trouble.... do it...

 the Poor  Kid  truned  around  and ran towards the Sand.

 The  Big  Guy said,..Fuck this....  The  Chain  rattled through the  air  as Shadow, the LC let it hit his arm  truned it  around his  fore harm, grimacing   when it  first hit..., He   Jerked the Chain and it   flew  from the   big guy's hands....

 well?  that didn't  work  out...you guys are young?.. but  i'm gonna enjoy  exterminating  coack roaches  like you..

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

 Grip  was  runnign towards    the area   Roy and the others  were......MR  LC needs help..the bike riding  guys  got hit by streeters... I'm supposed to find a larg!

Roy took a step toward Dusk, reaching out.  He grabbed the fellow's hand that had grabbed her arm, his fingers curling around the guy's thumb and peeling it up off her arm as he continued moving, smoothly shifting his grip into a wrist-lock that would either force the man to his knees (and have his face just barely above the water) or would result in his wrist being broken...and possibly several other bones in his hand, if Roy wrenched hard enough.

He heard Grip's call...and made an educated guess.  "Larry!  Go help Shadow!"  Hard eyes bored into the man whose arm he was wrenching, and he said, "I just saved your life...last time I gave that order, three Nivarians were eaten alive..."  He was expecting, at about that point, for the water nearby to erupt with an angry larg missile heading to intercept Shadow's attackers.

Regardless of the eruption or lack thereof, he continued, "The lady made her lack of interest known.  You refused to accept that.  As a Marine, and as the Hermes Security Chief, I'm duty-bound to intervene at that point.  You put hands on the command officer of a Delta Fleet ship...and for that, I'm leaving it to her discretion whether you walk away with a sore arm, or get carried away with a busted one."  He turned one eye to Dusk, not removing his attention completely from the man...and if he saw any sign of an aggressive response, he'd not only complete the promise of breaking the man's arm, but also knock him senseless.

In reply to beach (msg # 11):

 Meari walked down to the beach with Lilit as Roy and Dusk headed their own way. She listens and then responds," Yes some seem rather weak and rely on other things to make themselves happy other than searching inside themselves. Yes the Hermes is a good ship and her crew is outstanding, Sgt. Call saved my life when he got that medal. I believe some are worth believing in Granmod Lilit, thank you again for having great trust in me to be the Udenese representative on board the Hermes."

 Then some commotion started and Meari heard Roy send Larry to help the LC. Meari was going to go and help but she stayed with her Granmod.

  Roy was not  disappointed  as the   Water seemed to open in a  fountain of  water, Larry's  head  Flatten and  tail straight Back.. from somewhere   to the  shore  there were shouts of  Surprise  a  Gregor  was  running  down the grass, the Moment  he  saw larry zipping through the  crowd.

 The Fellow was  alarmed  as he never   saw, or 'felt ' Larry getting  close... . Dusk   glowered at the Man.....you did not take the   hint, last night as you hovered around... SGT  Major?... I would like to  to be escorted  from Beach...

 With a heart beating  in anger and  Embarrassment, the Man said....You don't know  who i am..you'll be sorry for this!
..............

 Lilit  stood at the edge of the water, several  troopers and Pilots  were checking   the   two Udenese out....I  used to hate the water, save  for a nice shower?.... but.. if the water is  warm  enough, it  can be relaxing...,  and she  steped into the water ,getting used to  it  as the sun  climbed a bit higher in the sky.

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

  The leader snarled  at Shadow  and the  Big guy pulled a Manchette  ,well... we were gonna have to use that for Cash slashing anyway...

 ..Listen , Pin-Head, Its over..and  all these folks  with you, well.. you're all gonna  die, maybe?  when its all over    well collect all those piercings  , Melt them down and   build  a corvette...

  the girls mad a started   sound  as the  Pounding of larg  claws were  heard.. before  anyone  Could react.. the  Big Guy was slammed  by  600+ pounds  of    flying Larry.  the Crunch and squish of  bone and brains  was his head  and mpst of his  left shoulder   were bitten through..

 The  Girls raised thier weapons But  screamed  before they could do anything as  Gregor slammed into the  first one, then bit the  weapon's  arms off the other two..  Jax  took that Moment to   act  and  tackled  on of the streeters  near him,  while  Sneak  went after another  One, Dropped to the grass  and Kicked out the Guy's Knee...

   Shadow Looked at the leader...Look at the bright  side ace?.. if there is an after life? you know not to be a piece of crap the next time around, the  Chain  Shot out   and Got the   Guys  Legs , Shadow Jerked  and   Pulled the  fellow  down...he wrapped the  Chain around the   guys neck   and forced him to watch  the Largs  tear apart, his  'gang'..

 then the   links  were  pulled  and the  throat started to crackle,,,hear that sound?..,even if i was  to stop, right now.. you'd   die..but? you're in luck..cause..i'm not stopping.... a savage jerk of the   Chain the the  head  fellw  forward, held Up only by the  skin.

 Shadow  started to go though the the guy's pockets , the told   Jax  and Sneak to take  whatever Creds there were to keep.

 Grip looked on, his mouth in an 'O'  his eyes  almost as wide....You did real good, Grip.... this is what happens to bad guys when they try to hurt us... so?.. you're  safe, go and Play and  have fun...

 The   Kid scrambled  away , all excited....

 finding the  Leader's  COM he  called   Beth... Hey?..I need Messe's COM number, I'm using a dead guy's  COM..

 ..Shadow!,,can't you try..not killing people?... she sent him the Link, he called  Messe...

 Hey, Captain.. we  got 7  dead  streeters here  who attacked  a few of our younger troopers... they are near the beach road  towards the  east end of the boundary Lights.....I'm..out..Largs.. Might have  ate a bit more of  them,,but there should be enough to  ID them..Thanks...

 Nifty got up  his head  had a welt, perhaps from the Chain.....Sneak?  take the Bike to the Garage.. then   come  back to the  west end of  the   beach we have   marked off..Sneak and I will get Nifty  up there..Stefi's  running around there somewhere.

  the Young Troopers collected creds  and weapons, they put  it in  the  compartment under the  seat, and Sneak road off towards the  Hotel.

  Nifty was groggy... and the  two helped him walk up the beach....

 Larry?.. Gregor?.. go wash off in the water on   the outside of the Boundary,, then sswim back up and rejoin the Hermes folks.

 gregor  took one more  Bite  and trotted  along with Larry, his head held up high...

 How did this Happen...

 jax  shook his head.. we were taking turns, we even let Higgins take a few  rides?.. those streeters  were waiting across the road  by that fast food place.. I guess they hang out there to steal stuff from people on the Beach... That leader guy was makign noise  about Sneak and the Bike, we sorta  ignored them, Until the chain guy knocked   Nifty off the bike.

 well?   they won't  be  bothering any one , any more...

 Nifty said  in a painful  , groggy voice.....my head  hurts..

 we need to get you guys a helmet...not safe to ride those things  without a helmet..

"Did you just threaten a Delta Fleet officer?" Roy asked in mock surprise.  "Even after I warned you about doing that?"  He shook his head.

"Not only pushy, he's also stupid," Roy observed to Dusk.  "But he's right...I don't know who he is.  I should remedy that, I suppose.  Or call Larry back over here and let him eat you, out here in the water it won't be as messy and we won't scare the kids."  He gave Dusk a grin and a wink, masked from the man.

He paused a moment, as if considering the option.  "Lucky for you, I believe in being thorough...because scumbags like you who think a stack of creds makes you above things like courtesy and good manners always have powerful family and friends, so disposing of you would leave us with a dead-end trail.  I'd rather know exactly who you are."  He abruptly reversed the wrist-lock, twisting the man's arms up behind his back to a point the threatened to dislocate his shoulder, and grabbed him by the hair with his other hand, pulling the man's head back savagely in a way that threw him off balance, leaning back just enough to lack the leverage  to make any sort of strong moves to break free.

"So, we're going to escort Captain Dusk back to the beach, and then you and I are going to go find one of the Everest Security officers on duty down here, and we'll wait while they run a full background check on you.  And if there's even a vague whiff of you dealing with the EDT, collaborating with the Empire, or trafficking in human lives, you're going to get a call from a med tech in the detention cell they stuff you in.  And that's just for starters."

He used the pressure on the man's arm to urge him forward, and added, "I may not know who you are...but I'm the Sergeant Major of the Corps, the Security Chief of the Hermes, and the Grim Reaper's favorite son, in one package, and you made the mistake of provoking me.  If you behave, you might live long enough to appreciate what that means.  Now move, before I decide you're too much trouble and just drown you here and slash your chip for the ID."

  As they  Left the  water. the  Fellow   groaned and Grimaced... alot of the Kids  would stop and  watch, some laughed, because it was nice to see 'a rich guy' get arrested.

 Lyri was sitting  up by the towels, Can was still sleeping  with a tiny smile.., some one had  put thier   thin beach robe over him for a blanket

 Lookign up  at Roy..You and Shadow  just don't get it?... when  they say 'dwontime' that doesn't mean you look for people to 'put down'!

   Beth is  sitting crosslegged, pointing  with  a hood  down the  beach where SEC   Bubble tops  were comign in...Shadow and the Young  guns, just fed  parts of  some Streeters to the largs..Nifty's  getting his head looked at...

 so?...who do we have here?

 the  embarrassed and angry  man  said through the pain,I am  Manda Ying-Seu..My Father  runs   a great shipping company from Taiwan..We Have Holdings  In Nova Hauling..

 Lyri  chuckled,seriously? you're out her on the Edge of APF space  and you use the work, Taiwan?

 That is where are Headquarters and Family home is..but the  Nova Hauling  travels  across  all boundries of   The Black...

 ..Is that  a nice  way to say, you deal with Empire  scum too?

 Creds  are creds.. I could buy and sell all over you here..

 Dusk  posted   with weight shifted to one him  and her  arms crossed,..now? see why i did not like him....

 Meari walked with her Granmod into the water, she saw Larry take off and wondered who was going to get eaten, she smiled and responded to her Granmod." I never knew that Granmod, I love a good soothing bath myself. This is very nice Granmod I have not been in the water like this in many years. Grandmod may I speak to you about something personnel, I think there is something wrong with me Grandmod." Meari looked at Lilit with a worried look in her face.

  Lilit  got out  to water    about  up to her waist. The  saw  Gla zipping past the in the water a bit  deeper.

  ..what concerns have  you ?

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

   Vaka  was   sitting in the sun, watchign the kids  and the people.  he had a  drink, and seemed at   ease

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

 Shadow  made his  way back to  the beach, he  seemed in a good mood, Grip  was telling  a bunch of kids   what happened  as he walked  by and the kids looked up  at him.

 Gregor  and  LArry  surfaced  about Mid  way in the Boundary  area  and  made they way to the beacvh..as Grip pointed at them and talked excitedly

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

 Nifty  reached  the  area  a  few  yards  from Shadow  and The Admiral's blankets.. Stefi looked over  his  head, Giving  'stefi-like' orders and  chastisements.

Roy cranked the arm just a little more.  "Buddy, you keep talking about buying and selling people and I'm going to start thinking you traffic in humans.  And you REALLY don't want me thinking that, unless you're hoping to die young and horrifically."

He glanced over at Beth.  "I'm going to hand him over to Messe's people...I'm pretty sure threatening ESN and APF officers gives her enough clout to hold him, even if someone starts flashing creds.  After our beach time is over, if you would, Lt, I'd appreciate a thorough check on his family and their business, to see whether we need to pursue the matter further..."  He paused, looking at the man with a distaste that could be heard in his voice as he commented, "I don't want to take up your leave time with a petty wannabe thug who thinks creds equal credibility."

Zob was enjoying himself out in the water, however having been diving down at the time of the incident on the beach he missed Shadow and Larry massacre some idiots but noticed it when he resurfaced.

he then swam out in that direction when he got back into shallow water he held out his hand and a crewmen tossed him a towel which he quickly used to dry himself off with before tossing it on a chair as he came along side Jax, "What a mess... you guys alright though?"

Haley smiled at Tess and Thor, quietly building her castle of sand.  Making some structures out of a few discarded paper cups  and such.  Every now and then part of it would collapse from too much water or too little.  She didn't care, she got to play and get dirty.  Thor came close as he investigated, Tess watching her pup closely.  Her natural animal connections made it easy for her to skritch his head as he yipped and pranced about. She giggled and got up going and giving Tess a bit of deserved attention as well.  Turning she found Thor had 'pounced' all over her sand castle, leaving a bit of sand on his nose.  His tail rail straight wagging like an old fashioned antenna.

 Jax looked up,yeah? we're Ok.. some Streeters thought they would  take  Nifty's bike and, Take Sneak?...but..they're all dead now...

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

 Shadow checked on Can  and  chuckled, and went to get a Hotdog for himself. as well as a soda.

 he sat  down and  bit into the hotdog.so? everyone havign  fun?

 Two EverSEC troopers  hauled off Manda to a SEC  vehicle , to take him to the EverSEC.

In reply to beach (msg # 20):

 Meari followed her Granmod into the water up to her waist, she then said," I just  seem to always think and crave combat Granmod. I have learned so much from my fellow Hermes crew to unwind and umm relax but Granmod it seems I am wired for combat, is there something wrong with me?" She looked at her Granmod for answers.

Henry went down to the water's edge to watch the largs swimming. He was curious as to how well they swam. Mila was running around splashing and shaking water everywhere and he smiled at her even whilst dodging the water.

  Lilit  smiled a Bit  as she looked at Meari,....our  race  has been at war snice  i was  created. My line has had to  fight those of Adem's, and  even  the Humans of Earth as their  Mythic  novels painted us  darkly, while never knowing the real darkness that was spread , by the very same writtings? There  are Millions of Undenese and Calimites  out there, and we are blessed with a  life  that will allow  you ...'distractions', as you grow older.

 she waves  an arm at the Humans and  the smattering of  other races , playing in the water, running about   or  have an intimate  talk as they held  each other,...Humans  and the like?.. they are more   quick to sieze  opportunities for interaction, and care not, how it  turns out, as long as they have that Moment or two?.... There  are those who are hard and fast loyal, and others who do not care whom they harm, as they  flutter like a 'Begga bug' from flower to flower. I have seen it, you have seen it? But is it worth it ?.. that is the  answer you seek?...  Finding a  mate? Finding a Playmate..or finding some dupe, whom you can manipulate, regardless of  what you do to them?

 She sighs,..... in the end, we are in a War..we have always been in a war... so..there is no clear answer

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

  Henry watched  Stee move through the  water  with     trusts of  her  Tail  while chasing Nok who was a bit ahead of her.

  He Felt a gently  bump as Freddie  Nudge  him  with  his snout  and surfaced... this tail thumping  in the water causing splashes.

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

 After things   settled  down..Dusk looked at  Roy,..So....SGT  Major?... are you escorting anyone tonight?

 Shadow  looked like he was Going to   say somehtign and Beth shoved the   last bit of her Hotdog in his Mouth..causing him to look at her with   a Hand out, in question.

  Lyri  sorta cleared her throat, he looked up over ther sunglasses at him... Dusk, seemed Oblivious to it all.

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

 Sneak came  jogging over in her  swimsuit and smiled at Zob...hello SGT!.. you missed   Larry and Gregor  snacking on some  streeters.... Jax  crushed one's  thrioat... and the LC snapped  one of the necks  with a  chain?

 You Knoicked out that guy's knee?

Sneak frowned..yes i did...but.. Larry finished him.

 Meari smiled at Lilit and replied, Thank you Granmod I guess I just have to work harder to control my combat urges, well I already know I will only mate with someone who can best me in hand to hand combat. Oh Granmod I am running low on Udenese arrows and I would also would like to buy some specialUdenese arrows. Again her combat side came through. Meari accepted Lilit's answer but she still though she was wired differently from other Udenese.

 She smiled and turned and fell slowly backwards into the water and floated on her back next to Lilit.

Only a flick of his eyes showed that Roy was aware of the activity around him.  Beth and Lyri had been goading him to spend time with someone, so their reactions were entirely expected...and he'd already told Shadow about his suspicion that Dusk had something more than a filial interest in him, so if Shadow wanted to make something of it, he'd just have to remind the LC of their discussion back on Bura.  However...

"Actually, I have already agreed to escort Captain Messe tonight.  But I would be honored if you could spare a dance or two for me."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:20, Tue 13 Oct 2020.

In reply to beach (msg # 27):

Zob chuckled at her, "I missed Larry making a meal of some idiots?... what a shame" he then glanced over to Jax, "A throat punch eh? looks like i taught you well next thing you know you will be shooting the wings off a fly at 1000 yards away"

    Dusk frowned a bit, ..I should have  known you would have  an Escort by now, Fine..i will  try to  get a dance or two with you... it was worth a try, was It not.. I am going for another splash...

 She Ran off... Lyri laughed and Looked at Shadow,..Nice  Suit? she better  watch out  the waves   don't knock it off!

 Shadow  finished the  hotdog  Beth shoved in his mouth,..how would  you be able to tell!

 Is no worse then  some of us   are wearing... you're becomign too much of a  'dad'

  Lyri grins  up  at  Roy,Roy thinks its  Nice?  Don';t you , Roy... she grinned.
...........

   Steele came Over  with GiGi..Gigi was smiling...Hey?...LC?.... they have chapels on the  station right..you l=know, where you can get married and stuff..

 Shadow looked at Steele, then at Gigi...Steele..WTF?

 Just wondering...you know?... GigGi  was smiling  like she won the lottery.

 Ummmm..Not   sure.. I think you gotta  go through the Admiral and, Maybe  Captain Morris?..lots of paper work..shouldn't  bother them  with that now...

he  looked around  at Beth  who was dumbfounded. Lyri who was shaking  her head, then Roy...

 ..There..um..might even me.like some  'cooling off' period, before you  would do somehthng like that?...

 They both Frowned. Steele  Looked to Roy...

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

 Jax   smiled a  bit  , though the  smiled as a  closed lip twisted  smile....I was hoping to get a Popper  or somehting of the Guy..but he didn't have  any., the three girls had the Guns  and poppers.. so I just kept Punching him the throat until he stopped moving...

 Sneak brushed  hair from her  face  and smiled,..Then Larry ate  him..er..some of him....
............

 Roll went over  By Haley  and   started to Help rebuild the  Castle   , that Thor the dragon  destroyed.

 Tess  seems  to be  relaxed, her head on her   front claws  as her eyes  moved , watchign Thor  and those  around him.

 .........

 ..put in an order with My Flagship, and we  will have  some sent over...make a detailed account.
............

 it was going on 11:00  the Music  started  blasting in earnest , with  the  speakers pumping  up  and down the   stretch of the party...there were a  few 'dance areas  set up..

 Kids  started  to dance  as best they  could  , while watching   the adults... others  just played  and  ate  or let the sun  warm them, not havign to worry  about being chased off the beach.

 Will  Cora  and Ellen were dancing, thought  Will was more then a little  careful as he moved.

 Vaka  had  a pari of the New  SEC ladies  pull him into  the  dance area..He  moved   around, not knowing what he was doing, but not seeming to care!

 Meari smiled as she floated on her back and replied," Thank you Granmod I will do that before I go to the Ball, Captain Si said I could go even though I am not an Officer, I am very excited to wear another Angel silk dress." Meari was actually surprised she was excited to wear a dress, maybe she was normal after all.

 Meari heard the music and then stood up in the water, and she said," I am going to go dance on the beach with my crew mates would you like to join me Granmod?"

   Lilit  waved  Meari off,..go and enjoy yourself... I will save my dancing  for the Ball...

 Lilit  gave a shake of her  head as she watched  Dusk run into the surf...

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

Frans and  the others  were  getting  people to together to do line dances, as practice  for the   Ball.. They saw  some of the Kids   watching, and   waved them over  and were showing them  moves.

 in 10 minutes or  so they had   a few dozen stem kids   dancing  line   dances, and laughing    and clapping

 Meari smiles at Lilit and replies," Thank you Granmod, well I will dance there as well, but I have no escort." Meari then heads off to the beach where the music is and she sees Frans was getting people up for line dancing. Meari walked up to Frans and says," May I join in, but I am not sure how you do it?"

Frans  and Eckles  turn her  around  and they  got the  Vid-J to play  the  'electric  slide" a few  times   as the Kids  and   others  who were learning  tried to get into  it.

..........

 Arnie  and  Beta 'helped ''at two of the Drink stallss they watched the others  and   kept  an eye on 'passer byes

 Meari smiles and turns and gets into line and follows the others, she is having a blast, and she really looks like she is having fun.

Roy gave Lyri a dirty look, then said, to everyone, "I guess you could say I have mixed emotions about it.  Given that I know exactly when she hatched, part of me feels like a dirty old man...and part of me is perfectly fine with feeling that way..."  He grinned and shrugged at Shadow.

"I tried to warn you this was coming, back on Bura...and you treated it like it was no big deal..."

Any further comment was cut off by Steele arriving, with a question none of them had expected.  When eyes turned to Roy, he shrugged.  "You look like you think waiting is some kind of burden, Steele...did she shut you down until you tie the knot or something?"

 Shadow,  once again Held his arms out  in  question,..I didn't say  a thing  about the Ball... the bathing suit..well...  he added a shrug

 beth asked Shadow,Those  Streeters?  Did you have to waste them all?

 If Roles ever  comes up for air, you can ask him?..9 hells? you should  even know? You don't let  any member of  a gang..with its street punks, Gangers or  Mob, walk away.... They might  want revenge. Its better to  wipe them out, and  let the others  who are watching , realize  , being scum isn't a good career move..

 Besides , They Hurt Nifty, were gonna  take his bike, and  wanted to take  Sneak...you need  an adding machine  to figure out  how many counts of '..direct and indirect actions agains ESN personnel ' there  are.

 Disna  and Puskie  come over , they look exhausted.we  cannot  keep contol of  the Largs!..they are runnign up and down the beach, they are swimming  likesnake-fish in the water.. we are afraid they will get out of  control

Haley had a big smile as Roll helped rebuild her sandcastle.  How it would end up, didn't matter as long as you were with friends building it.  As the day wore on the castle was built atleast 4 times over before noon.  She coaxed Roll into practicing swimming.  Larry, Gregor and a few other largs were swimming too, plus some of the crew, so if they got into trouble someone would be there to help them.  Haley was a bit splashy but she did manage to swim a fair piece and back.  She felt like she swallowed a ocean of sea water, not quite getting the breathing coordination down right yet.  Soon they got out and came on shore to dry a bit.  Sitting near the remains of their last rendition of a sand castle that had collapsed.  while drip drying Haley suggested getting something to eat.  Of course hot dogs and milkshakes were the best options, and tater chips.  Haley got a bag that said 'sweet onion' on it.  she liked onions. then back again to sit and eat.

  Roll  sat  down.. then  thought and handed Haley his  stuff and  scrambled way to the stalls..  He  came back  with one of the Hotel guys   following  him and Pointed to Tess and Thor.

 the  Guy  put   down a big foil  pan  and  filled it with  leftovers  and  some fresh cuts of  meat  was well as  some ground meat from the 'taco -things"


Tess looked at the Guy and thumped her tail as he   smiled and   moved back,, ..Roll , gently   moved  Thor over to teh  tray  and  the wee beastie started to get some of the ground  meat, while tess   at the bigger  stuff.

  Mr Shadow  always   make sure people have food at the table  when we sit by him...so..we hafta make sure Thor and Tess have some too!

She smiled.  Roll was so smart she thought and nice "True...It was bad mannered of me to forget them." she watched Thor get about as much meat on him as in him.

"Who said I was talking about the ball?" Roy asked Lyri, with a grin.  He didn't often get a chance to get Shadow riled up, and he wasn't going to go out of his way to exploit it.  But he damn-sure wasn't going to let the chance go by without saying something...

After the exchange about the street punks, Roy was about to chime in, agreeing with Shadow...nothing said 'not worth screwing with' like a high body count, especially if any of their buddies were watching and saw it wasn't even a prepared engagement for the ESN troops...when the Nivarians came up and expressed their concern.

He laughed.  "We don't have to control them...Larry will do it, if they start to get carried away.  Remember, we're partners with them, not overlords...they don't have to be under control at every moment.  They've fought hard, just like everyone else, and they should have some time to run out all the excess energy, just like everyone else.  Besides, I don't think largs get a whole lot of open-water swimming on Nivar or the Green Moon...it's a new experience.  Let them enjoy it.  If they get over-stimulated and start to get carried away, Larry will get them back in line."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:59, Wed 14 Oct 2020.

  Shadow  gave  Roy a tilt of his ehad and , once more the  arms  went out,

  After Roy answered Disna and Puskie,  Shadow's nod  agreed. we only had  one   'bad' incident'..Some Bio techs  were using a  'squid thing' to spy on us at the  beach and  Larry..well...sorta  ate most of it..The  Demanded  we  turn LArry over to them, in recompense,Needless to say, they  didn't  get what they wanted...

 Puskie looked at Shadow...You didn't  kill the Bio techs did you?

 Beth Giggled,..he thought about it...

 Lyri pointed to the  Grass. Some of the Naragrans  were  sitting  like  boulders on the Grass letting the   Sun warm them,  far up the beach a pair of them were  in the water , lookign  around.

 ..Looks Like everyone likes  the Beach...

..or the Sun?... I understand the Burians  allowed  a few hundred Naragrans to colonize the Heavy Jungle areas to the south of the Capitol ...Thier  Bio-techs think the addition  of Naragrans will help some of the  smaller species  regain thier  foothold on Bura, after UEs and and Some of the Largran 'Rat Folk' were released...

 Not far from them   Larry   was chasing Gregor   along the  surf, they  had to  weave in  and out of  bunched people and kids..Gregor   Ran up Hool's Back   and  launch himself into the  air    coming   down 20 yards or  so into the   water..Now he had Larry and Hool after him!

  Henry could see the beasties  runnign  about, nor were the Naragrans hard to miss.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:54, Wed 14 Oct 2020.

Henry was happy to play with the largs in the water, rolling Freddie over seeing as he'd come over to nudge him, then joining in the general chasing and splashing. Sometimes he was a bit of a big kid, really.

  Shadow  Looked  at Steele,You still here?

 ..Um..well.... I was  hoping  for a good   answer, that might point us to the right direction ...

  Lyri looks  at  Gigi.....seriously?..you didn't even know him a whole day yet?

 beth   adds  with a coy smile,..see that chick with a color changing  Swimsuit?  That's Raven..they were  , more or less, toegther, for the last 4 years  , give or take a Month...

 Gigi  looked at Raven who was playign Vollyball.. Ladies  against Guys,  , Raven kept  in Shape...

 ..I don't know?..Nark seems so nice and...

 ..You know?  If you guys  get  married..right now..or sometime before  we cast off... 1 of three things have to happen... 1... You have to  come aboard  the  Hermes  and Live in the  Civie section..I guees  Steele  would have to move there  as well. Civies  can't share crewman's  quarters...

 2nd?   Steele  would  have to get a transfer to  Everest.. and what you guys  do from there, would be up to you and the fleet?

 ..Lastly?  You would stay here... and Steele  would  ship  out....and in that case, we'd have to send you  to Bura  anyway.

Steele frowned.

Shadow pointed to  Roy  , then the  two ladies , I don't know  what's goig on Steele/..I really, really don't..I don't know whether  Roy is right...But i think GiGi, being a woman and all, would put things together , one way or another, after knowing how long you and   Raven spent together. My Advice?.. wait until we go to Bura next time.. Gig  will be safeer  there then anywhere else, and if things  don't last over the distance? Its better to  find Out  now.

 Steele looked at Roy, after seeing  Beth and Lyri nodding.

Zob nodded before glancing around, "So any plans for the rest of the day Jax or you just gonna hang around the beach?" Zob was contemplating what he was gonna do for the rest of the day considering he wasn't invited to go to the big ball as far as he knew.

Roy nodded.  "Unless you miraculously changed your stripes sometime last night, I'm pretty sure you've already consummated the relationship."  There was, remarkably, no sarcasm in the statement, just a frank analysis.

"So unless you're seeing Golden BBs when you look in the mirror and she's somehow convinced you that she should be your beneficiary, there's no reason to rush.  We can get her to Bura so she's safe without you having to tie the knot, and if you actually do have some magical connection that requires you to be wed in order to fulfill it, then it'll hold for a few months."  He gave her a frank look that had nothing to do with the bathing suit she was almost not wearing, and added, "Don't forget, she showed up at the party last night looking to bed Shadow, for her own protection.  We're just trying to make sure she's actually THAT enchanted by you, and not just hedging her bets."  He was absolutely unapologetic about any discomfort she might have displayed at being discussed so openly, yet as if she wasn't even there.

  Steele  looked at Shadow... Shadow shrugged.

  ..so? we're just goign to let her get shipped off to Bura  and  run   be  stuck on a planet with  all those  green folks?

 ..Nothing  wrong  with Bura... I plan  on goign to earth. play  10 seasons or so for the Jeys ...if there is still an earth... then retire  to either   Fuji or Bura?.... and if I retire  to Fuji, you can bet  i'll take  some  vacation to Bura..

 Gigi looked more then a Little embarrassed But Beth  and Shadow  had been there when Steele 'got the call' to attend her.

 what happens if some  one kills her before the Fleet leaves...

 then?  she won't have to go to Bura... They Both looked at Shadow and the cold  tone of his Voice.

 why  can't I just take her to the Ship and..

NO!.... and Shadow pointed at  Roy..and he can tell you why, but..gods be damned,,no one should have to tell you..

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

 Jax said,I'm Going  with Sneak?... The Captain said she  can get a dress too.. and I have   my dress uniform..finally, i won't have to borrow  bits  and Pieces.. If yiou aren't  going   with  Melia. you could  come as a SEC trooper?

"Tell me something, Steele...how is marrying her in a hurry going to provide her any additional protection against getting killed here?  Because we've had too damned many times where some new 'guest' on board was there to kill someone, or sabotage something, or they stole the news van and packed it with explosives planning to blow it up on the dock next to the boarding ramp."

He looked at Gigi with eyes cold enough to create icicles.  "There's no way in hell, married to you or not, that she's coming aboard the Hermes without a thorough background check.  She can get aboard a transport to Bura easy enough with her current ID and a basic check to make sure she's not wanted for anything aboard the station.  She might even be able to finagle a fake ID, especially if she knows the right security people to pay off."

He turned his eyes to Steele.  "But if you're so damned certain that being her spouse will keep her safe, then you better be prepared to transfer to Everest, or pull a Case and resign your commission, because the Hermes will be leaving before her background check would be done.  And those are your options, unless you want to go AWOL and risk desertion charges."  He shook his head, with a look of distaste.

"I've known you long enough to understand that it's hard for you to get your head out of your ass, but you really better try on this one.  Get her on a ship to Bura.  If you two still love each other by the time the Hermes makes it there again, then great...more power to you, get married.  Hell, I'll even pay for the rings if it'll make you feel better.  But you're setting yourself up for a shitload of trouble if you keep going this route...the kind of trouble that can easily get you killed, and without the fighting chance you have in a cockpit."

  GiGi  looked troubled and angry...they said you were a Hero.. and you helped  people! she glared  at  Shadow.

beth sat up a bit  at the Galre, Lyri  just slowly  turned her  head towards her   as looked as she chewed   on her hot dog/

 Shadow pointed to Can.. he was dead asleep..didn't matter , about talking, hollering.. thumps of  feet and Balsting music..he was asleep..a tiny smile on his face , covered with beths   thin beach robe.

 ..See this  kid... look at him....nothing to his name in The Whole of the Black, except  soe  clothes  strangers bought him  and his life... and he thought he was going to be demon food..he..flat gave up and sat there, waiting  for some one to grab him?  Nice
 Hells..maybe your brother was one of them

 she flinched

 now you?  all those creds  and you have to run and ask for help..you have everything in the world  you could  want..but in the end?  you're not any better off them him... except..he's gonna be glad to reach Bura..Creds or no creds? you're gonna have to strt all over./

 Now go and  keep up your act....and Steele, i promise you this.. she sets one  foot on the hermes, with out  Captain Morris approval, you'll make Maris look like he died in his sleep...

   what started out  with One Kid, become an 'on going' wave of   Little  kids, one or two at a time, seemingly   making thier  way through the  beach...

  Henry..was  surpsied  by the kids  as  they would  spot  and   run over    and   giving him a crushing  hug... and, if/when they   saw Mila , hug her , or pet her if they could.

 Largs  that were resting  would  find themselevs  bing   squeezed and petted, Freddie and larry and even gregor seemed to take iit in stride... while the 'new   Hermes Largs'.. were confused  at first, but thumping   tails showed, they really didn't mind.

 Skiffle found   Roy and Gave him a Hug, her face showed  happiness and relief , but her  eyes  were still a bit haunted.

  Zob... was surprised by Sly and  Light  as they gave  him hugs..knowing the  big demon had  helped the others   save them on the Stem dock.

  Shadow smiled    looking   over at Zob, then  seeing Roy getting  accosted , he got up  to go to the water..

 Giving Steele  and GiGi  one last look he said,..not all of our pay, is in creds!

 he jogged off towards the water   A few of  the lady  Pilots  getting  up and  vectoring in on him from his  7 and 5 o'clock!

  Gigi looks at Beth.. Beth shrugs,..look?  Chickie? You're not getting on The Hermes, and if you get on  without clearance.. you and whom ever helped you will have to walk all the way back to Fuji to explain why .... You're  damn lucky.... you'er gonna get to  pick out  Angel silk!..you'er going to the   Ball with a guy who is, half decent looking, and you'er as safe as you can get..don't  screw that up...because the Delta Fleet tries to help folks..but man... will you get stepped on if you try to screw us over.

Roy was initially surprised by the hug, but it quickly gave way to a grin as he returned it.  As Skiffle returned to playing, he looked over at Gigi.

"You see, Steele, that's the problem with helping rich, entitled people.  That kid?  She was already in custody.  If I'd decided to wait another five minutes, she might be on her way to a Demon larder right now.  We run her through a basic medical check up, give her some food, and pack her in a room full of other kids, sleeping on the floor, and she's grateful."

His face twisted in distaste as he continued.  "Now, your 'beloved' was never in custody...she came to ASK for help, when she probably could have bought her way off the station.  But, hey...why pay for something the Delta Fleet is giving away, right?  She got free food...better stuff than the kids got, probably, since she was eating from the Admiral's table.  She got a luxury room and her own boy-toy bodyguard...and she's upset that she can't get more."

He looked at Steele again, this time without any judgment...the most open, concerned look he'd ever spared the pilot.  "And you want to marry that?  Someone who's always going to be asking for more, who can't be content with what she got?"  He shook his head and looked away again, watching the wave of kids giving out hugs throughout the beach.

"I admit, I don't know the first thing about being married...but that sounds like a great recipe for misery, to me."

In reply to beach (msg # 48):

Zob shrugged his shoulders, "Will see what happens if she wants me to go i will tag along and also if we have another scuffle like last time... don't hesitate just shoot em" he then patted him on the shoulder before heading back to get his clothes when he reached his chair he was surprised by hugs of all things as he looked down and saw the children he gave them a gentle pat on the head as he watched them run off.

After that was over he headed back to get changed into a off duty uniform and went down to the garage to grab his hoverbike and took off to the lowers to go shopping.

------> To Everest

  Steele  and  Gigi went off towards the  Stalls to get a drink and eats.

 Beth blew her bands out of her  face, Man..you called that... sheesh.... he  had Steele hook up with her with the Admirals  standing  there....sure looked like you had it pegged...

 Shadow waved   as he walked to the  water...

  another  Kid  came up and  looked at Can...why doesn't he want to play...he can sleep anytime!

Roy had a moment of concern...it was true, Can could sleep anytime and the chance to play on the beach was a rarity on the scale of finding unicorns for the kids.  He reached over, placing a hand on Can's forehead to feel for fever, and watching the rhythm of his breathing, even as he pasted a calm, unconcerned look on his face.

"He hasn't had a moment to be at peace for a long time," Roy explained.  "His group ran off and left him behind, and it's probably not the first time.  Right now, he doesn't have to be on guard...nobody's going to grab him, nobody's going to steal anything from him, he's part of the biggest, baddest group on the station and nobody's leaving him behind.  For the first time...maybe ever...he can relax and sleep without having to worry about being on guard for gangers, streeters, fake Sec troopers snatching kids, his group deserting him..."  Roy gave a sad, tired grin.

"Sometimes sleeping secure like that is more important than playing."  It shouldn't be, for a kid...but that's the world we live in, I guess...

Henry was indeed surprised at how many youngsters wanted to hug him, but he certainly wasn't going to turn them away so hugged back.

 Meari danced and had a great time, she saw Stiffle the grenade girl with Roy, she smiled and walked over to her. Hello Stiffly, are you having fun, this is my first time on a beach like this I have trained for war my whole life, but this is fun. You did great and should be very proud, abd I am honored to meet you Stiffle.  Are you hungry have you eaten? Meari was genuine and smiling she did kneel down some so as not to too intimidating.

  The Kid, who  they hadn't seen before , looked a bit   rough, he had a fading black and Blue mark  on his forehead..

 My name  Is Fetch?  That guy  with the Dog and largs  saved us  from being cut up and turned into  monster things?.... I met Can when the  Nutty  guy  ran him down to the  water... we're over there  , the older kids , they are makign a big starbase in the sand, like we  see on the vids in the park?... Tell him to come over...

 Lyri smiled,we will... sometimes your body knows what you need , more then your Head does... You guys are going to be  down here  until late tonight...there's goignto be a bar-b-que and  fires and  such!... so, you'll have time to play together...

 The   Kid smiled  and ran  abck to the  'construction site'..

 Beth Giggled,..nutty guy....

 i'm more concerned with..'cutting up and being made into monsters.."

........

 Stiffle  smiled a bit, her eyes  still showed sadness,can i have another  hotdog with that string sours  stuff on? she asked Meari.

..........

 Val came over in her  tight fitting one piece,..you may feel a bit odd with the 'warriro Prof'  tag?...But how many of  your peers can say they saved  over  100 stem kids in the course of  a hour or so?

 Larry  and other  Lrgs, though, to be fair, they didn't stop often... would be swarmed by the  kids  from the mountain, being Petted   and hugged( as much as little arms could hug a larg).

  The   'new" largs  took thier  cues from Larry and Freddie , who  say tolerantly as they were   showered with  thanks and  affection...thumping tails betrayed  their 'like' for it.

  Tess , Nudged  Thor over to Roll and  Haley to watch over   while she   sauntered over to the water  for a swim.

 Roll      Picked up Thor  who was   'roaring '   but his  little  tail thumped  against Haley

 Meari smiled at Stiffle and said, Of course you can Stiffle you can have as many as you want. Come lets get you another sour hotdog. I do not know what they call it either. I am Udenese I am not human, don't be afraid of me Stiffle. Meari gives Stiffle a hug takes her hand and they head for the hot dog area, Meari gets one a a cool lemonade as well. Stiffle would you like a drink as well, and don't be sad you are safe now.

Henry gave Val a frankly admiring look.

"You look fantastic, darling."

He didn't want to compare the vision before him with his 'dad bod' stuffed into a pair of board shorts.

"This is a far better environemt for youngsters than underground cages and an uncertain fate. And if I have to be the 'warrior professor', that's how I want to operate, rescuing people who need it. Most of my peers moan about a stack of papers to mark!"

Roy shrugged.  "You saw how much of a beachhead the Creshians had managed to make here...pretty sure they didn't ship all those things in, even with Stem docks available."  He didn't sound happy about it...but his lack of reaction to the comment about being cut up and turned into monsters spoke volumes about his lack of surprise.

Satisfied that Can was still asleep because he was genuinely exhausted and not as a symptom of illness, he ruffled the boy's hair gently, a fond smile on his face (and, perhaps just a moment of envious appreciation in his eyes).  "Gotta say, when I enlisted, winding up in the far reaches of known space watching kids play on the beach was not at all where I expected to ever wind up."

  Beth  smiled  as  she  brought her  knees up to her chin watching  Kids... seeing Henry and Val with  kids  splashing around... here  and there Largs   scampered about...some  starting to  understand the 'begging  for  food  thing" was easy!

 The Academy   told us, the stations were   built to help defend   the Black...., and to extent  the Human race beyond  the Sol System..never  Imagined   beaches  and Mountains and seas?...its like a puzzle?.. all the  things you want  and need, mixed with  things you are perfecting... sea creatures.. water   creations, crops food sources?...

 Lyri sighs as she lay back on her  elbows,..no one is addressing the LArg in the Bath Tub...

 Beth  turned her  head.

  Doc Christie  cleaned out that Mountain last time.. same kinda  testing. except it was animals, not kids....anyone wonder how that Moutnain got  another Lab going, without ever  being  check on?

 Shoey and Nagy  came  runnign over, they were both sweated up from Volleyball..shoey sported   some lipstick marks on his neck..

 Hey!!..SM..is it true?  There's Gonna me  a Big Name show up at the Ball?

 beth  looked a him, returning her chin to her  knees....Shoey?..the whole fleet  is 'big names..' her  one hand loosened its  grip  and waved to cover them, and the rest of the Beach.

 Nagy  smiled as she  checked out the two  Ladies.

 Naw!..you know what i mean..some one   who isn't us!

 Lyri  cocked her ehad a  bit and said,seriuosly?  who can be  bigger then the Admrial?

  Skiffle   followed    her to one of the  cookie stalls  and Pointed  to 'sauerkraut'...that stuff.. i like it with the hotdogs and that red stuff on....

 she nodded her head  as she  said,I want one of those  dark sodas?... but i don't know what they are  called..sometimes we  would  find  Cups that were half  full..some taste differant..i do not like the ornage colored ones...

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

 Val  stood in the water  with Henry, nodding towards Tess who was slowly entering the water and   swimming slowly.I think her  birthing was hard on her?... she  is movign around more... Look at  Thor, he  fell asleep across  Roll and Haley's laps!

 sure enough,  Thor's hea was on  Roll's  lap, and his   back  half on Haley's    as  he  layed thier in the  sun with his eyes  closed.

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

 Not  far away   CE-VA   popped up in another Update for the delta Fleet...  So?  You think you know all about the delta  Personailtie ...keep your  eye on the screen..... LC Shadow is Lifting  Lt  Frans and LT  Eckles  on his shoulders..not that impressive?.. while,, was  I back off the Camera.. we  see. SGT Lirg His Holding  Up Shadow!... and.... if that's Not  Enough..she backs out  More..PVT Nugest, the  Apefolk Rep to the Hrmes
  has   LirG On his shoulders!!!

 Mara  stood  in the front, moving her  arms like a Game show host ... when  a smallish Larg  came    flying  through and     hit  into   Nugest.  Causing the  whole group to Fall into the   water  with a giant splash.. the CAM caught the splash  and   the dozens of kids who were laughing  and pointing.. and the  little   Larg trying to swim away from Shadow..

 Mara Looked at the Cam...um... That was Cadet Gregor...

 CE-VA smiled at the  screen as she said...More Updates coming!

Roy shrugged.  "Damned if I know, Shoemaker...I hadn't even heard the rumor, so you know more about it than I do, at this point."

He turned back to Lyri.  "I have my suspicions, but it's not my place to bring them up here.  Already mentioned them to Admiral Hack and he's got similar suspicions."

He sighed and shook his head.  "Without a thorough review of station logs, reports, and orders, it's highly speculative.  The fact that a Creshian hybrid was in charge of ANYTHING on the station raises a lot of serious questions..."

 Meari smiled and ordered two hotdogs with sauerkraut and ketchup. Meari then orders two dark sodas for them, she also adds a large fry for them to share, she smiles at the vendor and swipes her arm for a 10 credit tip. She handed the hotdog and soda to Skiffle and said," Here you go Skiffle, now eat it slowly no one is going to take it from you if they try I will stop them ok. I got these fries for us to share but if you want more just let me know. Lets go have a seat in enjoy our food shall we Skiffle?" Meari like Skiffle she was young and went through a horrible thing holding a live grenade, the man who did it to her got off to easy she thought even though Zob ate parts of him. She wanted to make sure Skiffle was ok and she wanted to make sure she got a good home.

Haley sat with Roll and Thor skritching the now tired pup.  Still tired  Haley watched Tess get up and sniff and lick her little boy.  Smiling, Haley skritched Tess's snout.  "We'll watch him if you want to stretch your legs."  to which Tess seemed grateful and padded easily into the water for a gentle swim.  Thor seemed totally relaxed as he suddenly turned into a boneless larg.  She sat with Roll eating their meal as the larg pup snored and his tongue darted a bit in and out.

  beth looked up once more.was she a Hybrid, or did she volunteer to be a brood Mother?

 Lyri shook her head,who would volunteer to be a brood  mother?... heck..I don't want to have regular kids! Damn hard to look through a  scope  with  that extra  weight
 in your lap!

,,,,,,,,

 Meari  and Skiffle  saw and  ate, Skiffle  did   jerk a few times when  an adult ran by, , but  was more or less settled  down.

 I never seen lots of trees  before?.. We  won't  fall off the  planet with no dome?

 Meari smiled at her and said," Yes I heard you where going to Bura, there are a lot of beautiful tress there. Oh no Skiffle you will not fall off I was raised on the Planet Uden it has no dome and I am fine. Dont worry Skiffle you will be safe and have a wonderful family, also if you wish we could keep in touch."

Roy snorted and shrugged.  "She was part Human and part Creshian, that makes her a hybrid in my book.  Whether she was engineered to do it or just had latent genetics that came out with a little encouragement doesn't matter to me.  She was working for the enemy and that makes her bad news and she should never have been able to get that dug in on an ESN station, much less do it while holding a prominent position in the station's command and control circles."

He looked over at Lyri and shrugged.  "Not everyone wants kids.  Not everyone should have them.  Pretty sure lifers make shitty parents...a good parent has to be able to put the kids first, and it would be really damned hard to tell myself I had to not chase down a Demon agent because it would be bad for my kids."

He sighed and stretched out, giving Can's head another fond ruffle.  "Now, I can enjoy kids, sure.  Even take care of 'em for a while.  But I'll leave to other people to worry about making them and trying to turn them into decent people, at least until they get old enough to enlist.  Plenty of eager souls out there just starving for a kid or two...they can have 'em, I'll stick to making sure they can sleep safe in their beds at night."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:01, Sat 17 Oct 2020.

Henry was enjoying playing with the youngsters. He looked over at Val again.

"Maybe we should think about a family of our own. Do you want to be married on the Hermes or ashore?"

 Stefi and some Med techs walked  down the   beach and the  grass, calling out, that  all the Kids had to have a sit  down   and something to eat and  drink, before  most of the Adults  and to leave to   get ready for the Ball.

 Some kids  grumbled  but it was  with a smile, no one eever  told them they 'had' to eat before, The beach began a bit  less  busy, but the noise level didn't  stop, as    some of the  adults helped  with  gettign food  and Drinks.

 Shadow  came over, still a bit wet,Us guys  don't have to go as early as the Ladies.... we can Let Can  sleep a bit. then i'll wake  him if he sleeps too much, so he can eat before we have to go

..........


 Hack and  Si approached  and  said,.. I talked to  Disna and Puskie? They will stay on the beach  with   the   folks he don't want to go to the Ball and a few active SEC?... LArry and   Gregor need to go... Gregor has to be  part of Roll and Haly's  entrance..

 Captain Si added,..the  Beach sifting Machines  will not be run tonight... people can say here  all night, except the children,  they all have to go back to the ship, and theones  who are staying with  you will go back to the Condo.... Tomorrow is a free day, so we'll bring the  children down again before we cast off..., By then, we should hear from Sarah waht form of transport they will be using.


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

 Beth held up a hand,do we know who's  comign in..rumor  has it , some big name...

 The Admiral   smiles ,we Know..but  not alot do..that's the  thing  about a 'surprise'..this will be ..one interesting Ball...

Roy grinned and commented, "Begging the Admiral's pardon, but "WE" don't know, or we wouldn't be asking..."  He laughed softly and shrugged slightly.  Command officers loved their surprises, and Hack more than most, so he wasn't too fussed about surprise guests as long as Admiral Hack was the one bringing them.

He grinned over at Shadow.  "These formal balls and such are so easy to dress for when you know exactly what you're wearing and don't have to worry about anything more than making sure you're clean-shaven..."  He gave Beth and Lyri a look...he knew they both enjoyed dressing up for these things, but he was also sure that if a faster option was available, they'd use it.

 The  kids, for the most part, were able to  sit still long enough to  eat and drink and satisfy Stefi. Then the    started to  return to the sand,  One  kid from those whom Henry saved  was grinning as he Looked  at Roy on the way back.

 ain't no one  chased us off!.. we would sneak onto the beach so's we  could wash up in the  surf..an' the SEC  would come runnign  down, before we even got wet!


  Shadow Nudged  Can.....hey, Buddy? how about eating some Lunch.. if you wanna lay back down after you  um..can?

 The Little  Kid  stirred  and  blinked his eyes.. they  moved around seeing the sun, and  hearing voices   and the water.. will i get yelled at if  i don't eat...

 Yeah?  Sorta..That Nice lady  walkign up and down the beach giving orders, wants to make sure you guys  have food  and drinks.. then you can play or rest?  Me?.. I'm thinking you should  run around a bit, and play  witht eh kids, and watch  the Largs   running around

 Can sits  up , bleary eyed..I never slept that long on purpose..sometimes  we fell asleep  hiding from Gangers, inside  broken pipes and stuff

  Beth  came  back over after  leaving when Shadow  woke the kid.....Here... a hamburger, fries and a cold cola  with ice chips..

 he looked at the Plate and  at  the  adults,I get to eat it all?...

 Skiffle  smiled  a tiny bit...i will not  know how to act.. no tunnels... no gangers...what if the people  there  don't like us? she took a bit of the dog, sauerkraut  hanging from her lip as she chewed,

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

 Tess  came out of the water  after a good 10 Minute  swim.. she  strolled over to  Roll and Haley  with the sleeping Thor on thier  Laps.

 She  gave  Roll and Haley a gentle nudge on the ehad  with her snout, then  layed  down behind them.

........

 CE-VA was called to have   another 'update"// she looked aropund   and  ran  towards  Larry Was..

 Larry Titled his ehad   as she  came....Trooper  Larry?... I need you for a  Couple  Minutes...

 she turned the Camera and   Knelt  down By Larry, putting an arm  around   him..

 Hello .. my  network wanted  another update?... so here I am with  Trooper Larg of the  Largran Unti of the ESN 351 Hermes.. ( cheers in the back round, Larry Thumped his tail)

as you can see in the backround,  the  whole  Hermes  Larg until is playign   in the sand, sw3iming  and   some beach antics..

 a smaller  head  rose  over  top of Larry's  head, Larry's  ups  rolled up to look...

 Even Cadet  Gregor!  she  patted the smaller Larg on the Head,See you  in a bit...

 Meari smiled at her and replied," You just be yourself and you will get a proper education and you can be whatever you wish. I am sure they will like you there, if they dont you send me a message and I will get it fixed ok Skiffle, you trust me and the rest of us dont you Skiffle I will let nothing bad happen to you."

Roy grinned back.  "Well, that guy right there gives orders to the people who give Security orders...so they aren't gonna show up to chase anyone off, unless they want some real trouble."  He waved the kid on toward the water, leaning back and relaxing a little bit.

"Actually, Can's got a pretty good plan going on there, I think...some of the best sleep I've ever had was on a towel on warm beach sand.  There's probably a way to make a mattress replicate that feeling...but I haven't seen one that does..."

  Shadow  finishes  a Hot dog and    pats  Can on the back,when you done?..Go play with the  other  kids..you can always  come  back here  with us if you get tired..Ok...

  roy?..Lets Go  for a jog to the far end of the beach, past our boundaries and such... Freddie  can come with us...

 Freddie just came around from  the stalls  where they were saving 'larg food". He thumped his  tail licking his lips  trying to get ketchup stains off.

  Beth shakes her head,can't  you just relax?

 Running is  relaxing.....he starts  moving to the shore line  so there won't be as many bodies  in the way as the  run up  towards the Stem entrance   end of the beach

..........

 Skiffle  nods,I don't know if   we'll be able to Call anyone...none of us have our  own COM

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

   Roll is  eating   and  petting the sleeping  Thor... Tess is  'snoring' as she sleeps in the warmth of the   sun.

  I guess you'll go  with the Ladies to get  one of those fancy dresses and stuff?

 Meari smiled at Skiffle and looked into her eyes and said," I bet when you get to Bura they will give you a comm, and some of your friends might have homes near you as well. I will make sure you have a way of contacting me Skiffle, I will talk to our Comms officer and get you your own comm to at least contact me, would you like that Skiffle?" Meari had never been this open with children, there was something about this little girl, she was strong and helped save herself and her friends, Meari had to do her best to make sure Skiffle got a good home and she would like to stay in her life if Skiffle would like that.

Haley ate her hot dog as well.  "They like seeing us together. Yeah, I think they might too.  Means we can't make a mess or anything, Grown ups have no idea how to have a lot of fun sometimes" one of Thors back legs twitched a bit.  Haley reached and gave him a skritch.  "At least Gregor is coming out more, so we get to be with him a bit more.  That's a good thing...right?   Hmmmm....Maybe I'll ask Nikki if I can get a blue dress...Kinda larg colored.  Maybe?" she thought.  she took another bit of her hotdog and chewed it.

Roy shrugged at the invitation...it wasn't out of place, by any means, but Shadow didn't typically invite him to go running anywhere but the tunnels.  "I'm game, as long as you don't try and turn it into a sprint in the sand.  Only time I sprint is if bullets are landing around me..."  That wasn't true, strictly speaking...but it was close enough.  Snipers, in general, were discouraged from moving quickly...it was the fastest way to draw attention to your position, short of actually firing your weapon.

At Beth's comment, and Shadow's rejoinder, he just grinned.  "Hey...there's no pack or armor involved, this will be a breeze by comparison," he added to the conversation, and gestured for Shadow to lead the way.

  The Two Ran down the Beach, Freddie  running  ( trotting )  along side  as his ehad looked  arounbd at people  in the lest  crowded portion of the beach.

  ..So..tomorrow is a free day.... supposed to stay until about 6:00PM  station time.. The kids  are coming back down, or?  if there are enough folks on the ebach, they mat stay all night. Whatever, I'm goig to  do the breakfast thing   and all that...

 He waited  Until a Burly Marine  and a well put together   woman  Jogged past towards  the boundaries.. they  both gave Shadow and  Roy  a smirk...

 ..now?  You see that?.. if i wasn't in the middle of something i'd  have to ask them what their  problem is....

  ..anyway.. The  Ball is gonna have some   surprises..., Not  sure  what  they all are?  But  i know there are going to  be the list of  Everest  troopers  and Piltos  who  are going to ESN Vessels

 ..But here's the thing...right?....there is   supposed to have been  a stuff shipped out .. on the Mouse  or  some other vessel.... But? what if it wasn't..what if..what if? these folks  have connecting tunnels... what if...Nalba's  tunnel is  still open?... I didn't  burn down the places....

 ..Just  Imagine, if a  couple  folks.. say...jogged down to the other ned of the beach tomorrow?... and..you know..'checked on the house?'

Roy's grin widened to almost a smirk.  "Well, the Admiral DID say tomorrow was a 'free day'...seems like a really good time for a couple of the largs to get a little extra exercise, too..."  He shrugged.

"They can't have cleared everything off the station that quickly...we hit too many places too fast.  And Gresh may have dug up some additional information in the process of setting up his new HQ here...so, yeah, I'm game for a little distance-running exercise tomorrow..."

  Stopping  a  few  dozen yards  from the  'stem' edge of the  beach.what  we need  is  for you to get your hot french chick to keep her people away  from that House , form  noon unlit  we leave... if there is nothing there?.. fine.. but if  we find  something, we might be able to turn  the  whole damn station up side  down..

 Then he starts  to Jog again,..of course there is also the chance to  find some people who need to be dead...  he  Grins...

  Freddie     truned  and   Jogged  along  side   Roy this   time.
..................

 Skiffle finished her food.  she sighed a bit...I think i want to lay down a bit, i can play some more later..... she looked for her  towel and things.. there  were scores of them around, but the  'rules' made sure they had a towel with ther  'non-swimwear' on it  so the kids  could  find it a bit easier.

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

 Pilots , Marines, crew  , a few civies  and  lots of kids  were  scattered  all over  as Largs  ran about  like they were shephard dogs.

 Meari smiles and replies to Skiffle," Of course you can lay down, and you are right you can play later. I am so glad we met Skiffle, I am going to the Ball tonight so soon I will have to leave to go get ready. If you nap I might be gone before you wake up ok. I will see you here either later tonight or tomorrow ok Skiffle?"  Meari will kneel down and open her arms for Skiffle to give her a hug if she wanted too.

    Vendors from some of the civie decks had been setting up stalls on the beach, and a small stage had been erected near the food stands where local and fleet performers kept the music going for spare credits.  Shuttles and Vans dropped and picked up people going to the support ships and other ships of the fleet including a few from the LG01.  Several vendors were Familiar, The ancient, sold Specialty arrows and munitions, and another had his equipment to sell custom holsters right next to a bladed weapons smith.

   Food vendors were in evidence and flashy gadgetry made from salvaged materials drew in customers to buy less exotic, more practical items, from wrist lamps to thermal gun cams.  Several booths boasted art of recent ESN clashes, back dropped by spectacular Nebulas.

   Some of the paintings depicting very specific scenes like a top view of the Hermes, as it passed under the Hades and fired into the underbelly, the Mechs blazing fire across the top of the Largan Flag ship, the captured vessel being driven into the Greshain hive ship, and the Harvesters sacrifice, blazing more guns in the painting than the Merc vessel ever had in real life.

   Also posters of famous members of the Hermes crew posing together heroicly like a Star Wars movie poster, even one of pure fiction with Hack in shining boarding armor blocking a vicious downward blow from a Creshian Queen on the Flight Deck as he lead a charge of Marines who were blazing away at a hoard of UEs at the queens back.

   T-shirts...is that one of Dr. Christy With a lab jacket over boarding armor with Mila at his side and a shotgun over his shoulder?  The caption reads, "A good scientist knows there's a time to get out of the lab."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

Roy shrugged at the description of Messe as his 'hot French chick'... He didn't consider her as his, by any means...

"I'll put a bug in her ear about it at the ball.  Considering we cut off the bad guys that were trying to get away with abducting rich kids, and let her take all the credit, I think she owes us a few..."

    Some members of the IS are Dropped off on the beach.  Two Naragrans exited a shuttle.  One seemed injured and was aided by the other and a large Norse looking fellow to a place where she could rest in the sun.  Her mate was very attentive and it was peculiar to see one of these horse sized creatures showing genuine gentle caring to his mate in a way that transcended species.

   A swarm of Gavas set up a campfire space while two little Gava females lead a chubby reluctant Largan in Bermuda shorts, a Hawaiian shirt down to the water.  Two Females, a Skith and an Occui trail behind them chuckling together in their oddly attractive one pieces.  The Skith in particular seemed to be turning heads with her dark smooth skin, and the muscular yet graceful legs of a born swimmer.

    A handful of furry species that don't usually work together set up at the volley ball nets.  The one male, a Felrite seemed unusually stressed for his kind surrounded by animated female, Mulls, and Hyrians.  One of  the Hyrians seemed a little uncomfortable with the mixed group too.  She beckoned Lirg to join them.

   As the day progressed they seemed to return to the fire.  A regular hover bike arrived with two Sanri, the female has a peculiar instrument strapped across her shoulders, and a male with two obviously prosthetic arms.

   A shadow falls across... Shadow... and Spencer.  A large Ape woman in a maroon one piece with an intricate cut out on her chest and a matching wrap that falls free of a powerful well trimmed leg.  While not shaved, all of her hair seems trimmed to a short fuzz along her exposed skin with the exception of a severe French braid half way down her back.

   "That sounds like a nice run.  May I join you?"

Henry went to get snacks for him and Val (and Mila, although she appeared to have been doing quite well between grabbing larg food and being fed by youngsters) and wandered by the stalls...

... and was brought up short at one selling t-shirts, spotting one of himself with a lab jacket over boarding armor with Mila at his side and a shotgun over his shoulder?  The caption reads, "A good scientist knows there's a time to get out of the lab."

"Great Scott! Who came up with that idea?"

He wasn't sure whether to be amused or embarrassed.

(( I'm supposing the ape-folk thing was flexed? ))

  as  beth and the others  turn to see the  Female Apefolk approached the others, Shadow  turned  and  smiled.

 .. Not this   Tine? But, I'll be going for  another Run a bit later before  we go to get ready for the  ball.. This  is   sorta  'buddy time"... he gives her  a Grin as the  two fellows  take off on  thier Jog, followed  by   Freddie.

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

((out of Flex.))

   Shadow and Roy arrive  back at the  towels, he nods to the others  getting a soda at the stall,   walking  then, to the  Stalls of the  other folks.

    checking out  the the posters  and    t-shirts and such. At each  stall he says  quietly to whomever is running the stall ,any of those  kids out there..'stem kids"... if they come  over  and  ask for  anything. let them have one  item and charge it to My  Condo,Tab... Condo #2 of   the Ever Rest...make sure they understand  one item per kid... Thanks...

  Coming back to the towels  , Shadow smiled  at the Ladies he   passed, Most knew  him, some people from other ships  were there as well .

 Lyri  chuckles,It really doesn't  phaze you, that  dozens of  ladies  are checking you out?

 Naw?.. I mean? Its   cool, but  that's part of  my job, right? I am hiding in plain sight... the more stuff like  that, the better.

   Skiffle decides  she wants to  go into the water a Bit, and she stops  as  she hears  Lyri's   question...Maybe  they just look at Mr  Shadow  because  he is goofy?He's like one of us.... she  jogs away away towards the water, a few  other kids close  in on her  as she neares the water , laughing and  talking.

 Beth  grins,...out of the mouths of babes...

 Shadow  sighs...yeah?..i guess it  doesn't  really matter  whay  folks notcie....

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

  Thor  woke up and    looked around  for Tess,,, he gave a Little howl not seeing her  , behind the Kids..Gla  and Gren's Head Popped out of the  water and Looked around  as they  started  to job from the surf towards the Kids. Tess  gave a Burble, and   Thor  scrambled   off the  Kids  Laps   to  go around  Roll and   snuggle  against Tess..

 Gla  and Gren Stopped  and  turned abck to the surf.

 Meari smiled, listened to LC and Beth. She smiles at Skiffle and replies, Of course go play in the water with the others, have fun. Meari  really liked Skiffle and wanted to make sure she was taken care of.

 After Skiffle went to the water Meari said to Beth,Lt. Morrow is there anyway Skiffle and the other kids could get comms, I would like to stay in touch with Skiffle when she goes to Bura.

  Beth  looks up at Meari as she stands  . waving to Lyri to  come to the water....There  are 'kid COMs, for as many kids  as there  are, we'll have to contact the QM  ships.. the COms   are almost as good  as  Normal COMs, take pics.. they have a good  range.. and  can extend  range if  sent through a COMs  vessel or media ship?... They are meant , mostly to keep  kids in formed and all that..should.

 She hold up a finger  in caution,You have to understand?... Those  kids aren't  'our kids'.. they are homless..starys...whatever you want to call them, and the Fleet is  goign out of its  way, tying in with the Bura Fleet, to get these kids out of this  kind of enviroment, and a chance  for  a good home?....good life? So..even if those kids get  COMs, it may come down to the  'new parents', on how much interaction they want with folks outside of Bura.
This message was last updated by the GM at 14:21, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

 Meari looked sad and replied,Yes I understand that but I hope they let Skiffle keep in contact with me, thst is if she wants too, I just want her to have a good home and family,  I know nothing of human children wish I could take her or be her Gaurdian.

Roy chuckled softly at Skiffle's comment and the reaction it got.  "Hey, for what it's worth, humanity has a long history of being fascinated with deadly things.  You look at some of the swords that used to be carried...Viking axes with silver inlay...the decorative etching on firearms in the mid-1800s..."  He shrugged.

"Some weapons are pretty good-looking, if you don't know what they are.  If you didn't know what it was for, an Aztec axe looks pretty damned ornamental...but in the hands of so.eone who knew what they were doing, those things were lethal.  Nothing wrong with being a little goofy...keeps the bad guys underestimating you."

  Beth Looked   off  at  Skiffle, then to Meari as she said,These kids?..had a long  hard  road..and  most of them aren't  even 10 yeat...10!/ Would you really want to bring a kid  aboard, and have her only have one parent, and that Parent goes off to try and get killed every Jump off?

 ..Look at Roll? the poor kid has  the  mind of  a kid, tryign to force that mind into being  a 'big person'..9 hells, he  killed a Nivarian  at the Ball!.. i bet every one of these  kids, in some way..killed or help kill people..now?.. that's a good  skill to have, if you live in the  Stem...or you are a 'Larg Master'

 her eyes narrowed,look a Victor?... playign nice with the kid, all the  while trying to get Mortica to go back home? Then he turns on us? and there's Roll? Trying to figure out what's goign on.. We have adults on our boat that can't do that!..spend  days  in nights in bottles  or locked up in thier  quarters..I think its best she gets a fresh start...

Haley smiled and giggled as Thor looked for His mama.  She playfully skritched his rump as he moved.  Time again for another swim she thought.  Her tummy was full and she remembered what Nikki said about swimming on a full stomach.  Wading though?  well that can be done.  She got up to nearly her knees and splashed about.

Jug and the Hermes gava had changed to more off duty clothes.  Bog and the boys were set up with loose trunks and the female gavas were in.  well..in trunks as well and Hermes t-shirts.  Bikini bottoms were okay, but kinda itched so...they made up their own swim suits that they felt comfy in.  Their gear taken to the condos so they could relax for a bit.  Jug tore the sides of her tee and tied knots in hers.  The slight hike revealed her slightly yellow tummy with many gold and silver plotches.
Bog, Uvuvu, and the others raced ahead of a few into the water.  Liig and Jug helped the other gava set up their area.  Jug waved to the other Hermes crew she was.  After settling in on a spot nearby Jug went and got a hamburger with everything, some chips, and a milkshake.

  Two men came  searching  around the  beach, one had  cargo shorts, sandals  and a muscle shirt as well as  a 45  hard ammo side arm and   a knife on the other side of his belt. The Black Shades  and Dour look  showed he was  a body guard as  he   waved kids  away from whomever  the  man in the  suit  talked to..

 The  suited  man carried his   suit coat over  one  arm as he dabbed his  head  with a Handkerchief  as he checked out some of the Ladies  whose bathing suits  were rather...sparse..  he finally got directed to Admiral Hack, who  sorta Laughed  and Directed  him towards  Shadow and Roy

 Once  More   the body guard Bumped away some Kids   as the  two  stopped to get a soda  before  moving over to  the group's area.

 Shadow  was on his elbows  with  Aviator ( go figure)  shades on..

 Sipping his soda  and  smiling as he checked out the Ladies, The suit guy said,I tried   talking to Admiral Hack... darn strange fellow.. who plays  games  with their Underlings...am i right? he gave a nervous grin.

 Shadow  just started off   at the surf  watching Kids, chicks and Largs..

 he  Cleared his  throat,yes..well.... I am Mr Putnum Price.... I deal   in  exotic animals  and the like, you'd be  surprised the Market  there  are for them....yes.. well  I am seeking to Buy one  of the Hermes Largs?... you'll get a  damn good  price... and...i here there is a Pup...that pup could fetch even more?...

 Can came back , and the Little  Guy tried to move between Price  and  his  Bodyguard, the  Body  guard  Pushed him  away  and Can fell on his butt.

 Shadow didn't  even  turn  his head  as he  talked   a bit  coldly,..First?.... Your  Goon is going to  pick, Mr  Can up..., lead him to his towel... and go get the kid  a soda...

The Body guard  laughed  and sneered  at Shadow....fuck off , Mate...

 Mr Price   watched...surely all this fuss....

 ..your Goon...

 m'name's  Eli...mate...

 Eli..good..good...three letters, you should even be able to spell it right, most of the time...

 Shadow held up a Hand and shook his head...Beth..COM doc henry to come here, Please?.... Now  Eli? i saw you doing a great job of   diverting  little  kids  from your master's  way...but..you're gonna  do what i said, and you're Gonna get him a hotdog, extra  ketchup.... Now..You refuse  again, you're Gonna be in trouble...

 coo!.. ye think I'm afraid  of  the likes of you?

 If I get up..you leave  the beach in a bodybag...Now... My associate , Mr Spencer..he's more of the  'teaching' kinda guy...so  you'll be able to return to  work after your  bones heal.... The Ladies here?  I can't say for them..I never met a guy after they were done with him..

 Putnum looks at Eli..Eli looks  at  Roy while Can sat in the sand watching to see if he needs to do anything.

 Doc Henry?  this is beth  , were by the first  drinks Stall, some guy wants to buy Largs...

Jug saw what the men who were talking to Shadow did.  Calmly she walked over...after all she did have to 'report in'.  She grabbed another hotdog and soda as well then after paying walked towards Can.  She knew if either Roy or Shadow moved hell would breaking out.  She liked Can, he shared food when he barely had any of his own at first meeting.  someone worth protecting she thought.  She approached from behind calmly to step in between him and the two monkeys in suits if need be.  However she'd go full on shark if needed.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

Roy looked Eli square in the face, his eyes as hard as the projectiles fired from his rifle.  "You heard the LC.  Do as you're told, and we might have a civil conversation.  Refuse?  You'll be limping off this beach.  Knock one more kid over, and they'll have to drag you back to Medical.  Everyone here is a guest of the Hermes, and you're not, and I don't give shit-all how many credits you want to flash at us.  You're mistreating our guests, and the only reason you're still on your feet is because I'm trying to be gracious."  His voice was even and steady...and increasingly cold.

"Don't push your luck.  You may be hot shit in the personal protection market, but you're weak sauce after years of fighting Demons, Largrans, and Avians in close quarters."

In reply to beach (msg # 95):

 Meari listens to Beth and she knows Beth is right but she wants Skiffle to have the best chances possible. Meari did not want Skiffle worrying if she wouldnt come home she couldnt do that to the little girl. Meari nodded and then replied," You are correct Lt. I would not want Skiffle worrying if I would come hme, yes she needs a new start, if I never see or hear from her again I just hope she gets a good home and has a chance at a good life.  I do need to find a non-combat orientated hobby though, I just need to always focusing on combat. Thank you Lt. Morrow if I can help in any way to help these kids please let me know." Meari bowed and looked at where Skiffle went to play.

 Then the Suit and his bodyguard made the way around the beach, she saw the man push Can onto the sand she got into a combat position and looked at the man. Shadow spoke to him and it wasnt good, Meari nodded to Shadow and moved closer she watched the Bodyguard to judge how he moved the possible combat skills he had and any and all weapons he was carrying. Meari smiled at the Bodyguard waiting for him to help Can up, if she had to help him it was not going to be pretty for him. She looked at Shadow and replied," Everything ok SM, LC do you need any assistance." Meari looked at the man and waited to see his reaction to what the SM said, she was ready for a fight even wearing her Granmod's bathing suit.

 Eli looks  at Roy, his   eyes shift  to the  ...seemingly disinterested  LC,..ye bloody think I'm gonna  do this?

  I'm hoping you don't.  It would do this  kids  a bit of  good to some  some dumbass  get taken aprt, because he..well...was a dumbass...

 and?.. You waited a bit too Long.. so... you'll help mr  Can up...exsort him to his  Towel, get him a soda..a hotdog with  extra Ketchup  and an oder of fries, and give him 5 creds....last offer, Ace... The Roy gets to educate you... if you'll note..there's a Gava   next to him... and   a Undenese  woman behind me... so? this isn't just about protecting   the kids.. this is about educating Dumbasses...

 Eli  sneers  at Shadow, who seems to be seeing alot, for some one barely moving his head. ..Beth Is  Grinning, Lyri just shook her head and sipped from her soda...

 Lets  go then, boat rider... I ain't doin' none of that...

 Roy?  when you're done?.. relieve him of his creds he's carring, it will be   'damages' paid to  Mr Can....

  a slow  turn of  his head he looked up at Eli.....Just between  the  for  dozen of us here?.. we bagged 7 streeters  today..what is left of them is in the SEC Morgue...we don't have a Larg handy, so they might be able to ID you...

 Eli growled and Swung at Roy....

  Garrat had walked up calmly beside Jug and handed her one of the amp staves his Gava had been using to spear fish with as he draws his asgard pistol loaded this time with shotgun shells.

  He knew Roy could handle the man but wondered how it would look to his employer if he was defeated by a Gava. [It's hard to follow through with a punch when someone cattle prods the back of your Leg midswing.]

   Then again, the back of his leg might not be where she inserts it.

Jug traded Garrat the food she had in her hands for the staff.  "LC....There is Larg there.  The one called Freddy is nearby."  She looked about as Roy got up.  She was looking for any others the suited man came with.  Be foolish if he came by with only one body guard.

 Freddie's takign a break... but... if decides to weigh in on this, there is no one here going to stop him..or? Could stop him...

  He watches   as the Fellow takes   his swing  at roy.........

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

 Tess  and Thor   dozed in the   mid morning light, Roll  got up and  followed   Haley to the water,, some other   Stem kids came over  and were talking to Haley asking her   is she was a Stem Kid  and from where she  go 'ducted from.

.........

  The Admirals   had  split up Teams.. Bale was on  Hemmings  Team.  Rivets and Morris  were on  Admiral hack's Team.. Captain Morris  would serve all the time , ebcause of his leg... Flores    and Kat were on hack's team, frans and Eckles on hennigns  teeam along  with Shoey.

.........

 Others   were dancing to the Vid-J  in the Middle of the   'delta Section'

In reply to Jug (Pronounced 'Joog') (msg # 104):

Garrat takes the food and cradles it in one arm.

Eli took the swing that Roy was apparently waiting for.  With the slightest shift of his feet, he ducked aside just enough for the punch to miss...and then went to work.  A snap-kick folded Eli's knee at an angle it was never intended to bend.  As the bodyguard started to drop...before he'd even had time to cry out...a knife-edge chop of Roy's hand took him across the nose, causing the nose to bleed in spectacular fashion.  And as Eli collapsed, Roy's knee met his chin, snapping his head back as his eyes rolled back in his skull and he flopped to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

Roy looked at the suit.  "You might want to roll him on his side until med-tech get here...so he doesn't drown on his own bloody snot."  It was obvious that Roy didn't intend to do it.

<<FLEX>> After arriving at the beach with Garrat and the others, Slick went off to enjoy some of the local food vendors and relaxed by laying about and dozing occasionally between bites and sipd of his drinks,.<<FLEX>>
 Waking from a nap that was deeper than he was ready for. Being approached by some of the children running about and playing in the sands, Slick decides to join them in their activites, running around and goofing off like a child himself, he was really enjoying the time with the kiddos..

Haley happily splash and played with whoever wanted too.  When asked by one if she was a Stem kid "Not quite.  Roll is though.  I was borned on Earth and had a big family.  One night some people took me and my sister and rest of my family got kilt.  well all but my Papaw.  He got put in jail and they said he did it, but I don't think he did" she said kinda sadly  "some strange people took my sister away from me and put us in cages like we was farm animals.  didn't really give us food or water.  They took us from Earth to be eaten.  then Hermes folk saved us and we got to eat, get new clothes, and doctered up and stuff.  Then I heared some singing I knew.  and found Nikki.  She lived near my family back on Earth and used ta babysit my brothers, sisters, and me.  Knowing we knew each other she is keepin' an eye on me til we find my sister or my Papaw" her southern accent was a bit hard to understand, but enough to get the gist  "Another lady 'dopted Roll.  He also gets to hang out with some of his group ...Jax and Sneak over there" she pointed the two love birds out.  "Wanna help build a wrecked up sand castle?  kinda fun"

 Meari was on the defensive, she knew he was going to attack but who. Then he swung at the SM, oh boy Meari thought bad move there buddy. Meari relaxed and watched the SM take this bodyguard down with ease, precision and painful accuracy. Meari looked at him and wasnt going to turn him either.  Meari holds out her hand to help Can up, and says," Are you ok, I am Meari Udenese Commando Hermes SEC, nice to meet you."

    Mr Putnum Price looked   how  fast the  man went  down. The Suit got on his COM  and  asked for a Med Tech and  his driver,,

 Shad0w rolled over  a Bit  Lazt, took  Eki's Gun and  knife, and fished  the Loose Creds out of his Pocket  handing.

 N9ow?..Mr Putnum Price?  I warned him...and he failed to comply. Still better then being dead..i guess..

 Then Med tech came over, she looked  pretty angry,what's  wrong  with you people!... they are still sorting out parts  of   some streeters..and now this?

 Day's  young Lady... you want to save hospital beds? have an announcement  for Dumbasses  to stay away from fleet folks

 her  driver  came with a stretcher  and they carried  the  fellow  away

 ..you...um.... you took his  gun...

 yep, and his  knife  and his creds...Now?.. why do you want to buy a Larg?

 Shadow hands  Can the money and he looks at it , his eyes get real big..Those creds  are yours... do what you want with them,,, save them, but stuff..both?... its up to you

 Lyri took the  creds  and sorted

 out the   folding  creds...Shadow? there is 450  creds here!

 The Little kid looked  shocked.

 ..Kid  got a lucky break, what  can i say..

 Mr Shadow...can...can i by stuff for the other Kids

 ummmm..well?  the food is paid  for, you just have to ask..but you can look at the stalls  and Invite  kids to get things?.... meari?  Jug?  You wanna  take him over  and  help him so he doesn't 'lose track' with the stall keepers?

 He  says to Meari,when he runs out of money..if there are still more kids that want stauff, tell then to  put it on my  room tab, but tell  Can still comign from his  Money..

 Can was  excited  as anyone  has ever seen... he   ran to tell  other  kids   and they started to  follow him towards   the stalls...

 Shadow  sat up and  gave a shake of his ehad, he was  smilign a bit,..There ya go Mr   Prcie?..... i kid  that never has seen that many creds in his  whole life, and his first thought is  to by other  Stem kids stuff..

Jug smiled at Can and winked.  She picked up Cans now sanded food from the beach to take to the trash, then moved back to Garrat and traded back the food she had for the staff.  "Well beach time is interesting"

Roy turned his gaze on Price, in a vaguely predatory manner.  "Quit worrying about the creds and the weapons...you can obviously afford to replace both.  Answer the question...why do you want to buy a larg?"

   His driver  who was ..very less muscled, then the bodyguard stood  by Mr Putnum Price.

 well.. I  deal in animals, some folks Like   these exotics?.. and  dangerous beasts... The Nivarians  sold me one and i had it shipped to a client..but..well.. two of his kids were eaten, so  they put the  creature  down...I have heard word  Your  lrags  are More  Docile...

 Freddie's  eyes looked up  at  Mr price.

 he looked  abck  and forth between the people.....the Pup would be , most excellant...

Roy snorted softly, an unpleasant grin on his face.  "Well...how about we let you talk to the one in charge of the Hermes largs?" he offered, in a too-cooperative voice.  "If he's okay with it, I certainly won't argue..."

He gave a shrill whistle that cut through the chaos on that part of the beach, and in the resulting pause, called out, "LARRY!!!  Front and center!"

As soon as Larry appeared, he gestured at Price.  "The, ah...gentleman, here, would like to know if we'd consider selling any of our largs.  What do you think?"  He hoped Larry didn't actually 3at Price...the story of what someone went through when asking to buy a larg from the Hermes would get around...and discourage anyone else from trying it again.  But only if Price lived to tell the tale.

But he wouldn't be too upset if the larg did eat Price...he figured the odds were very high that Price's clientele were EDT or sympathizers.  Anyone with strong ESN connections wouldn't need to go through a broker like him.

Henry came running up the beach in response to the comm message.

"Hey, Sergeant Major, how can I help you?"

He took in the scene, getting some impression that the fellow in the business suit was likely causing trouble.

"I'm Doctor Christie. Is there something I can do for you?"

 Meari smiled at Can the replied to Shadow," Yes of course LC, it will be my pleasure, come Can lets go get you some food and see what you can buy for your friends." Meari smiles and walks Can over to the stalls and shows him what he can buy. Meari smiled at Jug and says," Hello Jug go to see you again, how are you doing?"

  Larry was 2/4th's way  down to the stem end of the beach, But he  started   running   and  largs everywhere broke to Follow him, except Freddie who was there and Tess who looked up at the whistle, but didn't move since  Thor was seeping on her front claws..

  Shadow Pointed to  Mr  Price..who was wondering  who Roy has Called.

 ..This Fellow here, once to Buy a 'Hermes Larg"... and  would   really like to buy Thor... seems he's in the business of exotic animals..

 Price turned towards  Henry,Um..Yes.. hello, I am Putnum Price, I deal in  Exotic animals. People pay  hefty creds  for them, don't you know. Yes..well.. one client was able to get a Nivarian Larg?..but it seems it had to be put down, ebcause it  ate two of his children?.. so..he is looking or  one that seems to get along with Humans...
 he points in the  Direction of Tess who was now lowering her head again.The Pup would be perfect...and?..be worth a hefty sum  more then a grown larg...

 Poeple squeals and shouted,  Kids as well, though some of the  Kids were  laughing  as the did, a  tight 'wedge' formation, of the Hermes Largs  appeared. with  Larg at the lead... Larry stopped   Sat Down  and Titled his  head... The effect would have  looked better, when the other  Largs  followed suit, except for  gregor   Runnign  into LArry and  Bouncing off with a quiet  Burble... Larry's head turned to Look at him and  Gregor laid  down...,

 Shadow shook his head,..the smaller  one was recued from a testing  facility... Shadow  offered  in way of  explanation. Gregor looked at Shadow and Henry , thumping his tail.
..............

  Can was  walking rather Proudly,  the  Kids brought  Roll and Haley along, Though  Roll  didn't feel like he should, because he had a mommy .... They  browsed the shops looking  for things the kids might like, that Can's Money ( with help from Shadow)  could but  and make them happy.

 Meari walked with Can, she also smiled at Haley and Roll. Meari would talk to the stall keeper and said if Can went over charge LC's Condo. Meari says,Well Can what would you like to get?

 While mucking around with the kids and tossing hand fulls of sand at them for having started a 'sand fight' with Slick, he noticed the whistle just as something out of no where. He turned to notice the group of Largs taking off in one direction and looked down the beach to see what had caught their attention.
 He noticed the group of people and recognized the Hermes 'family'.
 He told the kids to finish his food and have a good time as he picked up his drink, finishing it and then tossing the cup into the bin nearby.
 he walked down the beach towards the group.

Haley said she was good and styed near Tess and Thor working on her sand castle.  Roll nearby so she was happy just doing her thing.  She sort of 'felt' Tess tense up after thr whistle she heard.

"I'm sorry, Mr Price, but these are working animals not pets, and they are not for sale. The pup is too young to leave his mother in any case. I would not recommend a larg as a pet anyway... your client was lucky to only lose two children."

Henry fixed him with a firm gaze.

"If you are in the exotic animal trade, you really ought to know better than that."

  Price looked a bit insulted, his driver  didn't look very happy being around a pack of Largs.

  he  laughed a bit diversely,Well?  my job is just to get people the animals they want? What they do  with them afterwards,is not really my concern?

 Disna  was comign from up the ebach, Puskie from the other, they both had a few woman  with them, perhaps  admiring the  'golden Tan' Nivarains  would get.

 and the Pup? I mean..how much harm could it  do? if it reached the age  to wear it  would be a danger, wouldn't it have fit in with the family by then?

 Shadow  asked,..do you deal in Worts, Mr  Putnum Price?

 Ohhh!  yes..yes yes yes... stupid creatures, easy to catch, they are hard to train...from what i understand people will order  4, in the hopes of  2 surviving to be of use  as  guard animals..but, i have not heard of any that use them as  pets, as of yet.

  Folding the amp staff Garrat steps closer to the conversation. "The Largs are not so unintelligent.  Indeed, every test we put them through show intelligence akin to human. Only their lack of an oral language keeps their chips from letting them verbally communicate with us.  They understand nearly everything we say though.  We are learning that ownership is akin to slavery and given a choice Largs would rather be dead than enslaved.  Much of their other instincts however are animalistic.  They cannot be a pet.  They can be family if treated as a member of that family but as working animals they need a purpose that fits their predatory and pack nature.  These Largs are human friendly because the humans are Larg friendly.  Would your buyer be willing to go through basic training and work as support for Sgt. Larry's unit in order to have a Larg in His life?  I would find that hard to believe if his children meant so little that he is willing to sacrifice them and yet cannot even come down to speak with us himself."

  Putnum  gives Garrat  a  sidelong  looks  as he dabs his  neck with the cloth,,,those  clients who seek me out, and are willing to pay the creds  i ask for? They do not have time  to poke around  looking for  an animal..they pay me to find them one...

 Larry looked at Shadow and Thumped his tail.

 not yet buddy....


 Price looks at the LC,are you pretending to  talk with...a Larg?

  of course not? we can't  talk, but  he  knows how to show  what he wants to  do..or..when he's ready for an 'order'... we like to call them 'suggestions"... anyway, he's wondering when he   and his team  can eat you two..


 the driver and Putnum  laughed  nervously.. all the Largs titled their  head to the left ( except  Gregor who tilted right)...

 Putnum looked at the others..

Arriving to within earshot of the group, Slick can hear what is being said, and moves to catch Garrat's eye, nods his head just to let him know he's there, if needed, but as Slick can hear what is going on and see what might be happening, he just hangs back and signals Garrat to see if he might want something to eat. :Motions his hand to his mouth then points to Garrat:

    Garrat holds a hand up to Slick as in "Hold that thought."

    To the man. "You apparently didn't hear me.  He knows you are treating him like an idiot beast.  He's not happy about it.  He is Larry, the unit leader for the Largs, and your disrespecting his people by treating them like animals."  Garrat leans forward. "Yes he is that smart.  In fact I'll wager he is smarter than most noncombatants on this beach."

 Smiling with a look of :"Yeah I know":, He looks at the man in the suit, and tries to understand how someone could POSSIBLY think he is in any kind of control or talk his way through this.???
 h walks up a little closer, he nods to the SgtMjr, and the LC. smiles to the others in the group, and if "suit" looks at him, he winks with a sideways smile. :just to throw a wrinkle : in his demeanor

Jug sipped on the soda and watched the goings on with interest while still also looking about.  Especially towards Tess and Thor for any sniper type or sneak thief.

  Putnum looked at the largs once more, he  listened to Garrat, he more or less  took offense to  Shadow's  'over simplified speech'... he turned to Roy and a Glance at Henry..

 My client is offering  1 million creds for a  Hermes  Larg..i bet i could get him to give 1,5 for the pup..

  Can  walked over to the stalls and told the  throng of kids to 'get something small , since he got creds from a suit guy...

  The Little  Kids  were pushed ahead by the Bigger   kids to let them pick out stuff...most of the older  kids  would end up  with a T shirt..most of the Older Boys  getting   ladies ...most of the girls getting some of the Guys...Will seemed to be popular.

  the littler  kids  looked  for  tiny flashlights, or some kind of toy that didn't cost too much.

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

  Roll  and  Haley  were Building the  snadcastle  by themselves  right now

 Shade   and Dusk were platying   Volly ball.. Shade  had  Given up until Maria   showed him how to , underhand   serve" and  he  served  for the  team, and    would dig the ball to  taller folks.

 Orria was on the other side, she  could jump a little, but in the end, she was a wee bit too short

Roy scowled slightly.  "Either you don't hear very well, or you're incredibly thick in the head.  I already told you, Larry's in charge of the largs.  He leads, they follow.  You need to convince HIM that selling a larg pup is a good idea.  And so far, you're doing a real shit job of that."

Roy stepped over, letting a hand rest on Larry's shoulder.  "Now, I'd recommend either talking fast, or shutting up and walking away, before Larry decides he wants your left leg as payment for the trouble of listening to you."  He looked down at Larry, then at Price again.  "If you're lucky, he'll only take it at the knee.  Of course, if he finds your offer offensive enough, he'll just eat you...probably slowly, so you feel it longer.  And just so you understand how smart he is, none of us are gonna tell him what to do...or when to stop."

   Two Merchants from the stalls arrive on the scene.  One is an ancient looking Chinese man, the other a burly red head in his 40s with a poorly trimmed beard and hair curling down to his shoulders.  Finding things in the middle of a...conversation, they choose to watch rather than interupting Shadow.

 Meari stood with Can as he paid for gifts for the kids, she watched and smiled, they where well behaved and listened very good. Meari hoped Skiffle showed up to get a toy.

    Putnum  took a  few cautious steps towards Larry,his  fancy shoes  shuffling in the  Sand.

  ..Um..yes.. well..  mr.. um..Mr Larry? How... um..how would it be, if.. um... we   would purchase   the Pup... we could even buy the Mother.,,, if you...would, think  that is  Better..what  do you say?

 he looked at Roy,,,this  is so foolish...

 Freddie's head  and  Back flattened   as he burbled low , the rows  of teeth showing.. Larry  stood  lup  and   did the  same, followed  by the other largs... Gregor stood up and thumped his tail..

 Shadow   chuckled..see those   teeth>,, Doc Henry  could tell you  better the first row   s are  straight  up and  down, the next two rows   are slanted   to the right and  Left..  what a Larg Does? is thier Jaws   crush down on what they bit... the teeht
  more or less sever the thing they  bit..or?   take a massive  'U' shaped  bite out of
 somehting big?... If its  too big,, the  just hang on and the  two  back rows   cut
 back nad  forth  until the    they is 'sawed through"... the Impact of the bite? is
 send to be  strong enough to bend  a weapon....

 he points  at the Largs , and Gives gregor a Look...the  smaller  larg  tilts his ehad,,, then  straightens out and flattens like the others.

 Shadow sighs  at gregor  and  then says,when they flatten like that, they are ready to attack...they are incredibly fast, but  they are in faster  with they flatten..so?... If I were yuou?  i'd  get my ass out of here.. cehck with the Nivarians  ships... they don't seem to give too many damns what happens to their Largs

  Larry Burbled    deeply,, the  sould of wet gravel  churning in a mixer.

 ..Right?.. well..Um..you loss  and  all that.. see you , um  at the Ball... and the two walked  rather briskly towards there  car, that had to be parked  away from the Big Ugly.

 Beth shook her head,..never  ends?

 as long as there are those who worry about  Creds, more then people? it will never  end...

  They LArry  all happily thumped their tails.

Henry rolls his eyes.

"He does know that Larry is invited to the ball, doesn't he?" he asked loud enough for the departing man to hear.

He reached over to rub Larry's head.

"You, and the rest of the largs, aren't mine to sell, but even if you were I wouldn't sell you lot to anyone let alone someone like that."

   Garrat Shakes his head and turns to walk off with Slick “Kinda glad that worked out with no blood shed this time.”

  The red headed merchant steps up to Shadow and says in a Swedish accent,  “Some idiots are always trying to down hill ski up up a mountain.”  He looks at the Largs. “In this case in an avalanche.   Mr. shadow, some of the merchants are having trouble with keeping track of which children Have already purchased an item in your name.  They seem as a whole to try to be respectful but... well the selection is like, how you say, a candy store to them.  The ancient here might have a solution for that.  Also I sell bladed equipment.  I’m Having a little Trouble with my shop being popular especially among the Boys.  I believe it’s never too early to train to respect tools and weapons but their future parents might not feel the same.”

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 137):

Well, it takes time for some to learn, peorblem I see?..... Some don't listen to those that have already learned the lesson. Anyway,.... hungry? We haven't really had time to catch up since I've been back.

  “You’re right.  We haven’t.”  Garrat looks about “I’m going to need to prepare for the ball soon enough but we can continue talking while the sisters braid my hair.  That won’t be for a little bit.”  Garrat walks with him towards the food stalls. "We'll just have the little sisters put you in corn-rows." Garrat says unsuccessfully supresing a mischevious grin.  One of the IS Gavas come up and chitters a scolding to Garrat and takes the Amp staff.  "Sorry Aunty."
   "So"  Garrat continues. "Powered armor system, do you use sliding fillament, hydrolic, eletro-cervos?  I know you don't use the Largan power screw system in the CBs, as you saw they are way to slow for this application, even if they are insanely powerful."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Thu 22 Oct 2020.

 Shadow looks at the Vendor, and gives a shrug,see that little brown kid?  His name is Can..he  just fell into some  creds...one shot thing, you might say. Anyway, he wants to treat all the stem kids to   a 'gift' as it were, with him using  the Creds he   just  got. Something  you  never  see an Uppers  Kid do?

 he glances over at the stalls,.. That  Undense  chick and the Gava  Chick, they'll help out  as much as they are able, But i don't  want any of the merchants getting  screwed over, because of all the excitement. So?  If any of the merchants are unsure of the creds, they were  supposed to collect.. Just send the short  fall to my Condo's tab, and thier accounts  will be made good... If they aren't  quite sure, tell them to 'round up'..

 as far as blades go?  There isn't  a one of those  kids who hasn't used a blade, Brick, or board to  stay alive, so? as long as you keep the blades  in 'size'. I see no trouble.. little  daggers, Pen knives, switchblades  are good,  I don't want to see a 6 year old runnign around  with a Knuckle hilted trench knife!

  he gives the guy a whack on the shoulder,..go. make sure the merchants aren't gettign  shorted, and Let that Little  kid  enjoy helping other little kids...

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

Larry   Thumped  his  Tail at Henry's  rub, soon a group of Largs where waiting  for the heads to be rubbed

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

  Lyri  chuckled  as the  suit left the  beach,we should Just let Shadow and Roy  stand  at the doors to the Ball?  and  beat up anyone they thing is a jerk?.. it will save time   and get the message out!

 Speaking of the Ball? We got about   30 minutes before  we should ehad up for the Dress thing. The Captain left a bit ago.

 Yeah?  But o don't want to be  the first one there...Do you kinow, if a sold the Angel Silk dresses i have so far, I could  buy a condo like Shadow's? Can't see  me sellign them though. Each one  is special

In reply to beach (msg # 141):

   The man laughs, and starts to respond:  "I'll do what I can"  but The Ancient clears his throat and the big Swede falls silent.

   "If I may,"  The Ancient says "I have a very large number of Demon misfires that have been made into necklaces for soldiers.  It seems to be a tradition amongst ground troops who have survived a battle most didn't, something about the bullet they dodged.  These little ones seem to have all dodged their own bullets so I could donate a box and then they exchange the necklace for the item and get it back at your condo.  Does this seem acceptable?  Also, My Niece and Nephew have grown and are moving on with their lives.  I would enjoy taking on some new apprentices, I can provide a life on the LG01 that feels close to the feel of where the stemmers have been, with the warmth of a community family environment, and fleet level education, and there are several prospects in this group that have great potential."


   "OH yes,"  The knife maker says, "One boy came through tapping the blades with a steel ring he said he had ground out of a bearing piece, immediately wanted a Damascus steel short sword.  One of my prize creations.  It doesn't look like much but this boy knew quality by the ring of it so to speak."  The man shakes his head.  "I'll never find an apprentice like that in the uppers or lowers, and no one finds anything in the stem and lives to tell the tale.   Give me five months with that and he'll make journeyman Level, sooner if he has brains with the talent.  It broke my heart to down sell him to something a little more utilitarian."

   "I'll make sure they kids get what they can handle, and hope they get the guardians that can handle what they are."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Thu 22 Oct 2020.

Finding himself surrounded by largs, Henry rubbed heads enthusiastically.

 Shadow smiled a bit,..First thing? These kids  were promised a life  on a nice green Planet  with real  atmo and  trees and stuff? The  Commander of the Burian Fleet already has the plans in Motion, so i can't speak for  any of these  kids here...That's  something you would have to talk Jointly  with Stefi, Commodore  McKeon and  The Admiral

 he chuckles a bit,..2nd? that   sword thing?... not  something we want them to have just  yet, so don't  feel  bad  about  him having to  'look forward' to getting somehting like that... ( hells, he might  find a place   to work  with those  Burian  Blade Makers?

 Then he  says the  the older fellow, there is a soft smile,If you can orgnaize that... that's  fine..but, between you and  me, when the dust  settles, if ihave to pay a few thousand  creds, to amke those  kids  feel  good , and that Little kid  feel like he did something for someone.. then, I'm  fine with that...

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

 Gregor   stood  up on his hind legs trying to get notcied too... as Harry   rubbed the noggins of the Largs.

  Tess had  settled  down , after the fellow  left  the  beach.. Thor  was  starting  to stumbled through the 'footdunes' made by runnign kids, as he  went over to  Roll and Haley

Haley skritched Thors head and chin.  "Yer gonna be a good Larg when you gits bigger.  Do yer mamaw proud" to which she watched Thor again knock down their sand castle.  She gave sigh as his round tummy slid in the sand.

 The Little  Larg  titled his head to get scratched. Tiny tail thumping.

   Thor is way Littler   then Gregor even was. Thor is Lucky though, he don't have all them little  holes that  doctor people  put in him...Thor's  Lucky..

The Little  Larg seemed  happy in the   sand Pile the kids made him.
.....................

  Nifty  came  down to the beach, he had a blackeye  and Derma Plast above that eye.He was not  Happy  .  Jax  and  Sneak  Followed him trying to hide  snickers  as he Marched up to  Shadow..

  LC!.. Why didn't you save  one of them Streeter bastards .... I should have been able to  Kill at elast one of them!

 Shadow  held Up his hands, I took one, and jax  took On and Sneak Crippled one... Larry  and   Gregor   took acre of them after that... you wanna tell Gregor and LArry they can't have a snack?

 Nifty   looked at the happy largs with  Henry,noooo..just.. amn... i should of  been able to kill at least one of them...

  Shadow gave him a pat on the back,don't worry, there will be other scumbags to kill....

 You're just saying that to make me feel good...

 Sneak  broke in,If we  go to the Volley ball nest you can see  Cora  and some others in thier  bathing suits   jumping around...

 Nifty Looked  at Sneak and to the Nets... yeah!..lets go!

In reply to merch (msg # 144):

   The Ancient nods "I'll see that it's done."  He moves off to set things up and talks to the vendors about the little one with credits to burn on his freinds.

   The Swede on the other hand looks thoughtful and a little troubled when Shadow mentioned what the children were promised. "Yes, of course.   They deserve as much.  It would seem the time has come earlier than I expected.  I will put a bid in on that valley I have been looking at in the Burean white mountains, and will send for my family in Europe.  It is time to move the family resort off earth somehow.  It isn't the planet we used to love.  I will keep my stall open until the kinder have gotten what they need then move on to preparations."
This message was last updated by the player at 22:55, Thu 22 Oct 2020.

  Shadow smiles a bit sadly at the Swede guy,Just remember, those kids? every one of them, were left behind, Either on purpose, or because  thier parents were  killed or taken,.. They lived cold harsh libves in the stem.. This  beach is  the closest thng any of them  saw of a 'real world'.. They'll get that Bura, and they'll never look back.

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 140):

laughing at the hair style suggestion from his friend, I don't think that'll work friend OH mine. He pats Garrat on the back as they call for food and chat.

  When they talk about the armor,.. The armor is a system of micro tubing, see.. the armor isn't powered as much as a mech is, but the undersuit is a hydraulically driven system that contracts the body sections.... arms and legs at the joint areas, that really enhance the movements of the wearer. The armor is armor, the undersuit it the powered portion. It will allow the wearer enhanced movements , run faster and longer before fatigue, jump further and higher.

 As they chat about the systems, he will explain it further, all the time keeping an eye out for anyone that seems to be actively eavesdropping.

The weapons that are on the suits, are normal things that the wearer may use and carry. Now.... there are some pointing to Garrat, that may be able to carry heavier and more powerful weapons because of their physique more than doubled, in some cases, by the suits.

  6 people  arrived, strolling   down the grass towards the beach.  4 men, 2  women each of them  6"1' or taller, broad shouldered   well muscled legs and arms.

 they  had   small smiles on thier  faces  as they talked among themselves on the way to the   sand. They each had  a tattoo on thier right shoulder that had  an Oval shield  with cross swords  over them.

 They ignored  everyone else  as they made thier  way to the  water, even passing The Admirals  without  even a nod.

 Nice Matching   Bathing suits?  I wonder if they are boyscouts... Shadow grinned.

Roy glanced over, eyes narrowing slightly as he picked out details.  "Hardly," he commented, drily.

"Iron Guard...ESN Marine Special Forces.  If they're here, I'm guessing this rumored special guest at the Ball tonight is going to be someone from the Corps...and someone with some major clout.  Those guys get used sometimes as special escorts for big brass...for the guys who are actually worried about something happening, as opposed to the ones who just want to look good."

He turned and looked at Shadow.  "I'll put it this way...there aren't very many people that I think might actually stand a chance one-on-one against Larry.  Those guys make the list."

Now it's just a question of whether they're here on good terms, or whether things are gonna get messy.  The fact that they'd just walked down to the water without bothering with anyone else led him to conclude the former.  If they'd been looking for trouble, they would have made it already.

In reply to Slick (msg # 149):

    "So a sliding filament system is designed after a human musculature system where magnetized wires slide along eachother in a lubricant filled elastic sack.  They look like actual muscles that contract and relax.
    Your system sounds like it pushes and pulls but will be attached on a body system in the same way."
    "Interesting.  You are using micro hydrolic systems that curve along the body right?  How do you keep it from just squeezing people with out a exoskeletal system?"

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 152):



  The system uses a weave make up much like regular cloth. The warp acts as a guide and framework that doesn't allow the complete clamping and squeezing around the body part. Simple really.
 It can be adjusted to so that it fits as snug as the wearer wishes. It would take a day or so, but I have all the equipment needed onboard the Hermes to make you a suit. Suit is made to fit and then the armor is made to fit you and is attached to the suit. Again.... simple.   shrugs:

    Garrat walks up to a stirfry stall, perhaps hosted by a vendor from the Hermese "So the armor goes over the suit rather than the suit using the armor as an exoskeleton."  He looks at the menu than glances around, "Pick your poison my freind, I'll treat."

 Meari stayed and help Can get all the kids some kind of gift. Meari made sure Can could get anything he wanted for the others. Meari was smiling Can was so happy he could help the others, Meari watched as he helped and put smiles on the other kids faces. Meari was all smiles.

Henry took a knee to give Gregor a special fuss. Several other largs crowded around at one, heads resting on his shoulders in attempts to get their share of attention.

  Disna  and Puskie   stood by smiling   as they saw Henry with the Largs. The  women with them  were tugging on thier  arms to try to get them to move  on, But  htey just waved them off.

  Disna said to Henry,..Never, even on the Homeworld , did i see largs  act like this!... The more we are  around  The Hermes, the More  we are Glad  we Came.

 Indeed!....Largs  do not act like this on the Homeworld, or the Green Moon... it  is rare to even have them show any loyality, let alone , affection... Puskie added.

  Shadow Grins,..Iron Guard? I havn't heard anything  about them since  we left Earth... They would go through Boot Camps and the Academies to recruit   the 'best of the best'...kinda thing... They said  i was too short and My  record  had too many red flags"...

 beth gave him a  gentle pat on the back,yeah? well.. your  record  is  a bit spotted? as she and Lyri  went to the  waves...

 Lyri Giggled,Don't feel bad!  5'11" is almost  6 foot! and she followed beth.

  Shadow called after her in a bit of a tiff,..Mt Roster  says  6 foot!

 Lyri  just waved a hand in the air  with out lookign back.

 I'm gonna talk  to these folks... he   nodded to Roy and Jogged off towards the    impressive  group splashing around, there were alot of  folks looked  at the  unit, some checkign them out, others   wondering   why they were  there.

  He   stopped his  Jog about ankle  deep and called out,..Hey Guys?... This is   a Delta Fleet Area?....you're welcome to  share in the eats  and stuff, but its  Kinda  expected to introduce yourself to the Admiral ?

 The Tallest  fellow, about  6'3", Turned to Shadow, Though Shadow  was  in very good  shape, it was easy to see these folks  spent half thier lives in the Gym.

 Yeah... don't worry about that  Little  Guy.. we'll get around to it...

 Shadow bristled  , and his half smile appeared as he reined in his  normal retorts as he recognized the taunts for what the  were.   Yeah?... Ok... then how about you  'get around to it' Now?

 one of the women, a Blonde  who was 6'1"who the  9 hells are you!

 Shadow turned the    taunts  and said,ease off sister...The Men are Talking now... aiming  , at what he thought  was  a good target.

  She took a few steps,..I'll Kick your  ass and make you like it!

 ..Back off sister? I don't  fight  women Unless its  training, or they're  trying to kill me...

 CE-VA moved in  with a smile  of  excitement and  began to film.

 The Tall  Blonde Fellow smiled,Tell you what?.. Why don't you and   Betsy have some 'training"..if you win  we'll go find your Admiral..if  she wins, you fuck off and Mind your own business..

 Hack was   grabbed  By Morris as he pointed to the confrontation. Hack   frowned,..yeah.... i shoulda  known... I'm out for a bit...  He  started to  walk briskly  followed by Morris, Hennings  and Rivets.

 Shadow   shook his head,..some on , man?... All you have to Do  is show the  respect  for the Admiral and the Fleet as You....

 a  Roundhouse  sucker Punch Caught  Shadow  sending His spinning backwards  into the   surf.

 Standing over him was  one of the  6'2" Guys who had  Clocked him from the blind side. The Guy grinned at Shadow  as he tried to shake off the Blow.. the  crowd  started to murmur with  some anger at the cheap shot....Yeah..Fella, and if you  take one one of us..you take us  all on

 Hack Just said  ..fuck! and started to   run towards the  gathering.

 Shadow's   Grin  grew  wider   as he shook Off the Blow as best he could... standing   up from the  surf his eye  narrowed,..Right... then you better call more.... The girls   laughed  as    Betsy  when  to give him a  flying Round  house   Kick, SHadow savagely  took the  Hit  with  His Left  arm  and  Punched  the   woman in the solarplexes  as hard  as he  Could, She  screamed  and  fell Into the surf.. Her leg looked odd as the Block and been at the Knee  and she was gulping in sea  water as she  tried to catch the breath that had been knocked from her.

 then the Iron Guard  swarmed towards the LC

 Meari saw the situation unfold with the special group that came in, they where attacking the LC. Meari looked at Can, Stay here I need assist another Hermite. Meari turns to the stand vendor, You have been great I will be right back

 With that Meari sprinted as fast as her long legs would move her, she dodged the beach goers and targeted the biggest badest looking one of them to plow into. She had to go to the aid of a fellow Hermite, plus these guards needed to be taught a lesson most likely.

Henry was just about to respond to Puskie and Disna when all hell kicked off down on the shore line. He stood up.

"Larry, shall we take a few of your troop and make sure nothing untoward is going on?"

He began to jog down the beach towards all the fuss.

 meari was  running, Passing  the area where   Shadow and friends  had thier towels  Laid  Out.

 Henry  and the Largs  started   after, the  confrontation was  takign palce  a little  past mid-beach of the  'delta Fleet  beach'.

 people were starting to crowd  around. The Admiral and  a few others   were jogging towards the  mob, from the Volley Ball pits   about  Mid way up the ebach.. Captain Morris  struggled  to  move as  fast as he could.

 Shade  was churning through the   sand as well.

Haley could see the scuffle starting and looked worried,  It was a bit aways, but she knew fight moved about.  "Uh-oh!  Think we best shay clear of get ready to move quick outta the way." she looked at Roll, Thor, and Tess.  "Don't want Thor gittin' squishered"

Jug had taken a bite of the hot dog after the suited man left.  She was still chewing when the tall people walked by, not saluting the Admiral or anything.  her face scrunched up a bit then she smiled as Henry was swarmed by the largs.  She was about to take a bite of her hot dog again when Shadow got up to go talk to the tall people.  She watched the interaction like watching a new movie.  Her mouth a bit open almost taking a bit when the scuffle broke out.  one one one would have been fine, but this was a 5 on 1 situation...uncalled for.  She would join in and started her volley with the soda throwing it as hard as she could at the blond womans head.  she hoped it would burst hitting something so hard leaving her a sticky mess,  maybe out cold.

  Jug nbgan  to move towards the    crowd   as a few people  rushed towards the  Mob  starting to surround the  people in the water.

 her View  of the   fight  cloudign a Bit   as  the  one Trooper took his cheap  Shot   and  Shadow   decked the  Woman as she  tried to kick him...

 Jug  could see  Henry, Largs,  the Admirals  , Meari and  Shade charging in as well

 While Slick is checking out the menu, the commotion down on the beach could be heard, he turns to look and see what it is about, people could be seen rushing towards the water's edge. Jabbing Garrat at his elbow, Hey looks like food will have to wait, Fleet people are gathering and I can see arse-holes and elbows flyin', better check it out. He turns and heads down toward the commotion, figuring Garrat will follow.

As he got closer, Henry used his 'ranged weapon' - his voice!

"ENOUGH OF THAT! WE ARE HERE FOR R&R NOT BRAWLING. STAND FAST AND EXPLAIN YOURSELVES"

    Garrat rolls his eyes and takes off at a dead run.  "Crap, well lets mix things up a little. He let's off a sharp whistle.  a signal to his crew of allies in need.

   Nora quickly set down a knife she was examining and joined him.

   Uncle and Aunty Gava look up from spear fishing in the water, and shoo the little ones back to the fire before running along to the beach. Momma and Poppa Gave recieve them and prepare to defend their area as the little ones try to get the Largan to come with them. [almost all is basic Gava defensive instinct].

   Kritz took one glance at where Garrat was headed and shook them off and dove into the water.  A natural strong swimmer and extra bouyant with his weight Kritz swam around to the water side of the conflict.

   Gasa squeled in delight and dove in after Kritz catching him.  She loved conflict and she loved swimming, and suddenly the chubby lizard she had been toying with had shown his aggressive side with a dash of intelligence, the day was looking up.

   The Furrys saw Hack dash away from the volleyball area where some had held their own, others had gotten their arses handed too them but all enjoyed the exercise.  They had already taken off after him, Hyrians were in the lead dashing eagerly into combat while the Felrites were were hot on their heals, not wanting to be shown up by the dogs yet wanting to hang back and asses first.  The apparent mulls of course were lagging behind, Mint's wrap was billowing a little strangely behind her but it would take an intent observer to get a glimpse of the three shaved tails hidden beneath it.

   The two Occui hung back but came in behind the rest.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:21, Fri 23 Oct 2020.

----> From Everest

Zob was enjoying the speed of the hover bike as he whipped through the cities traffic giving a prompt middle finger back to a person in a hover van that he passed up as he came up back on the lowers beach.

as the beach was coming into clear view he saw the brawl forming down on the beach, 'its go time...' he then held down the throttle and sped down towards the beach.

chuckling at Garrat's comment of mixing it up.... Slick takes off running behind the big Viking.

Roy shook his head as Shadow said he was going to go talk to the Marines...it didn't take a crystal ball to foresee how this was going to turn out.  He didn't go with Shadow...but he followed behind, hoping against hope that the LC would actually exercise some version of diplomacy where the initial offer didn't conclude with some version of 'Or else!'

And he got about what he expected.  After allowing initial blows to be exchanged, he heard Henry's voice...and drilled on his best Marine Gunnery Sergeant bellow.

"MARINES!  STAND DOWN!"  He moved into the 'engagement area' with a grim stride, and added, "That means you too, LC!"  As a member of the Corps' command structure, he couldn't allow Marines to indiscriminately brawl with allied troops.  And as the Hermes' Security Chief, he couldn't let Shadow antagonize potentially friendly forces.

If, after hearing from the Marines, he found out they were being arrogant and outside of proper decorum, well...then he could let Shadow settle it his way.  Might even help...

It wouldn't be the first time...

   Garrat hears the call, as he's running the two Gava have already slowed still approaching catiously but the two Hyriens as still barreling in.

  "Korlana, Kazia, hold up!"  His voice cracks across the sand like a whip.  Kazia cuts speed almost too quickly.  She is used to voices like that hurting her if she didn't comply.  Korlana however slows a little and looks in him like "What?"

Henry kept going until he was right into the scene.

No longer shouting, his voice - accustomed to large lecture theatres - carried clearly.

"You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves. What an example to set to the children. We're just introducing them to civilised ways of behaviour... and then they see the people, the fighters for freedom, that they ought to be looking up to, brawling like a common rabble. Now, what is the problem? We shall resolve it like men and women, not like a bunch of squabbling brats!"

  The  woman  that was  Gobbling Sea water  was helped  to Keep her head above the  water  By the other woman, they both Glared   at Shadow, Shadow   had been High stepping  towards the  leader, Ignoring the guy who  blindsided him, witht he  full intent on Beating the  Leader down.

  then the Voices   rang out Shadow   stopped, the Blind  side   Guy  swung again, Shadow batted  it  away and Gave the man a Hard  Jab to the Nose, staggering the man backwards as he  held the bleeding  area..The leader watched  Shadow  and   took  a step back when he saw his   teammate  staggered.

  Henry snapped out ,Then   Roy  Yelled  and included 'LC' and the  Leader looked at them both. The    woman in the water was moaning about her  Leg. The other woman  stared at Shadow , like he was Qer La Cal. Henry  words   flooded over the 'combatants.

 Zob reached the    Ring of  onlookers  as henry and  Roy stood in the water  in a crescent shape   in the  deeper   water, Larg  Head Popped out of the  water  staring at the  Iron Guard,..well..except   Gregor   who popped up between Henry and  Roy The  other  two  Members of the Unit  were  looking around at the largs,..LT?

 ..I see them... his head   never moved  from  staring at Shadow, his eyes  shifted  quickly at the throng of  People that surrounded them,  about  20 kids  where  there ( the rest  were  playing on the beach? who cares  if adults beat each other up?)

 Shade finally   arrived  and    wiggled his way through the Group he stood in  the  water  with his fists balled up.

 Meari arrived, her  head  well above most of the   throng. as she  moved to get  past the crowd.

The Admirals ,Rivets and a tired, frustrated  Morris who had  tried to keep up had the  crowd open for them Like a  living door, all four of them stood in the water, Hack  crossed his  arms, Hennings   noted the   hurt  woman  and the man trying to  stop his nose  from bleeding.

  Thank you  Doc Henry, SM Spencer... there was a Glare  at Shadow who shrugged.

 The Good Doctor  asked  a Question, LC...since you seem to be the 'morale officer' why don't you start.. then   our  'guests' can answer.

 Aye, Admiral Hack... all 5 of the heads turned to  The Admirals ,Rivets and Morris.I saw these   people  walk down through our  area. I explained to them, they were welcome, but they should introduce themselves to  thier hosts.... there isn't any one on this  beach , from another ship, who didn't  approach someone....  This guy... he points to the Leader,..thought it was a good thing  to make  sport of my request... his people  decided   some training   should be had..

..That one... he points to the   crippled  woman,was coming at  me, and..like an idiot, i had  my guard  down, when that  gutless bastard, hit me from behind with a  sucker punch,,

 alot of the crowd nodded thier  heads and Murmured..

 The woman then  attacked  and it was plain they were all going to have a say in out little training session... so i took her off the board... then everyone showed up before i could finish the other  5..

 the Iron guard laughed ( except busted nose guy )

 Hack Looked  at the Leader.Your Turn....

 We Came  Back down Our Gen.... Hack snapped,..STOP!.. we don't  need  names of  anyone beyond this patch of wet...now...go on...

 The  Leader looked  shocked, but  nodded  and continued.Aye , Admiral,  As I was saying,   we were told  to enjoy the beach , that there was a party we  could attend  before  The Ball.. we came  down   and   ...He gives   the  shorter  Shadow a look , then looks back to  The Admiral,..The LC  came   and Mentioned our  breech in protocol... he...insisted, we  introduce ourselves to you, immediately, but ...we  just arrived, and thought we would seek you out   when we  went for some food... The rest, evolved to a training session...

 Hack looked over  at Roy and Henry, Then to the  Iron Guard...Well... I am Admiral Hack, This Is Admiral Hennings, Captain O'Reilly and Captain Morris... the   salt and pepper bearded  fellow is  Doc Henry, and the stern face fellow  is  SM  Spencer... You have already  met LC Shadow... The  little fellow there is  Shade.. and all those heads bobbing in the water are The Hermes LArgs..

 Gregor  snorted  as  some water  got in his nose...even that one... water  splashed  as a tail thumped.

 Hack Looked at the  Leader expectantly....I am LT Walt Cross....the man Next to me (dark hair) is Vinnie  Esposito,  he pointed  to the red Hair Guy who stood by the  two women, That's SGT   Mick  O'day, he pointed to the blackman with the busted nose, That's SGT  Luke Froth... The woman holding  betsy (red hair)  is Sally Frade a SGT.. and  SGT Besty Liggins  is the one  with the damaged leg... we are a unit of the Iron Guard, we are to report to the Hermes  tomorrow  before  cast off  as  a New unit  for your ship.... the G.. I mean.. our commanding officer  brought 100 of us  with him.. the others  will stay  here to help 'stabilize ' the  station.

 Hack nodded,we have had  worse  introductions  to new  crewmates, LC... Shake Hands,  they have been introduced , and they'll be part of the family, so..best get this  'Ironed out" Hack grins  and  Hennings  chuckles shaking his head,

  Shadow  frowned... but stepped  forward and shook everyone's hands, including the woman with the hurt leg. The Busted nose guy, he shook. but they gave  each other  hard stares.

  All right, iron Guard?.. we have  from  the boundary lights  on either end... Food  is free its goign on  My tab and the Tab of the LC, help yourselves.. and.. some  civies   set up stalls  down at the   west end..Any thing you buy there, you pay for...Now have  fun,  the  ladies  will be leaving soon for dresses and the Like, the Men who are goign to the Ball will leave about  4:30 station time..  The beach will be open all night, for those who aren't going and Most of the Largs   will stay  down here to keep the Kids  safe./. Enjoy yourselves and welcome  aboard.

 Captain Morris nodded to  LT Cross,when you report to the  Hermes, bring you discs  to my shed...

 The Crowd  Broke Up, Stefi  waded into the water  to check the  woman's leg, she looked back at Shadow,..Good Job,, its olny dislocated.. he  can pop it back  an inject it... I would stay off of it  for 24 hours. as she  talked   she   twisted and  jerked the leg to catch the woman off guard  and she  screamed a bit  and began to flex  her  knee. she open the pouch, pulled out a hard case , oepned that  picking the color of   fluid  she  wanted . The needle  went in with out any preamble   and was  wiggled around   to   spread the fluid.. the woman gasped  until she was  done.....Off you go.. relax...

Looking at the fellows  nose,Stefi shook her head,..Its  broke.. she said  as  she gingerly touched it at first, then   gripped it , giving it a  savage  tweak,, the Man  Groaned   and swore....head over to the  stalls  , i have more  stuff  there to inject you with.. it will be swelled for a day or two... but it should be ok if you keep your nose  away from fists....Lets go...

 as the crowd  broke up, Stefi said,I am very impressed, LC.. no body bags this time...

  Shadow sloshed out  of the water and Pointed to Henry and Roy,..its thier  fault, i was just getting warmed up

 The Iron Guard   headed out of the surf to go get some  food.. some of the  crew started to talk with the , others just walked away..

 CE-VA smiled  in the Camera   with the   crowd headed to the sand behind her,..always  excitement with the delta Fleet!.. stay tuned for more updates!

 SHade   walked over to  Shadow Bleeping....yeah?   I'm ok.. just , really mad  i got sucker punched, more  mad  at myself... just shows you, never let your  Guard  down.

 Cross and the   rest of the Iron Guard  walked betsy was limping but the leg  worked. as they  followed  Shadow  and Shade   towards the   stalls.

Henry smiled.

"It's always something trivial, isn't it? Thank you all. There are plenty of opportunities to be competitive aboard the Hermes if any of you feel the need to strut. Tunnel races, combat games, American Football... oh, and karaoke if you want something less physical. And, of course, there's a level of competition in just how many enemies you can defeat in battle. Then you can go all out physical."

He bent down to rub Gregor's head.

"Larry, Freddie... you may stand down now. Thank you for coming."

He turned and walked back up the beach to resume his conversation with Puskie and Disna.

By the time Zob reached the crowd he noticed the fight was breaking up so he slowed his movement to a slow walk, "Kids always getting into fights these days..." he then reached into his pocket and produced a smokewood cigar and lit it up giving amused chuckles between drags.

Falling in behind Garrat as the commotion was being settled by the Admiral, Slick stands and takes it all in, the children, the infantrymen, the flyboys, the Largs and everyone else involved, and think to himself with a visible smile on his face. huh.. it never ceases to amaze me, families always squabble within, but are the best together against those from without. Catching the eyes of one of the 'new-comers', he nods, Welcome to the Hermes, you just joined the best damned family in space. Slapping Garrat on the arm, Come on man! I'm getting hungry!Let's eat!! He turns back to towards the stalls.

 Meari could easily see what was going on over the crowd. She saw the Admirals and moved towards them to protect them in case this group decided to attack.

 When everything calmed down Meari smiled at Lt. Cross, she held out her arm for a warriors grip shake, and said," Sgt. Meari, Udenese Commando, Hermes SEC, Granmod of Warlord Lilit, it is a pleasure to meet you Lt. Cross and welcome to the Hermes." If the Lt. takes Mearis warrior's shake she will give a solid powerful squeeze, but not enough to hurt. Meari will smile at the other Iron Guard, and nod her head at them.

 Meari nods and smiles at the LC  and Shade, and watches them head towards the stalls then the Iron Guard helping Betsy follow them. Meari does not like the look of this at all, but they where told to get food, Meari still better to be safe then sorry follows the guard towards the stalls she had to get back to Can as well. She will head towards Can at the stalls, and watch the iron Guard closely.

   "That it is."  Garrat said in response to Slick shaking hands with the newcomers as well, "One moment."  He turns to his crew, "Great job guys. Sorry to interupt your leave but we had only partial knowledge of what was going on."

   Aparently not all of the heads in the water were Largs, two near the back of them rose out of the water revealing a full sized if chubby Largan and an athletic Skith female.  Garrat waves at them and the two Gava.  The old soldier arm clasps some of the Furrys as he turns to walk with the Iron Guard members.

   "A quick word of advise."  He says to them. #1 Every new group gets in a, how do you say, pissing match with the LC.  I strongly suggest you let it end here, because no one, not even a Udenese Leader has bested him.  He's more powerful than he looks, but his greatest ability is the speed he needs to dominate in space.  You'll never best him there."

   "#2 There are civilians on board the Hermese.  We treat them with a lot of respect.  Almost every  group that comes in doesn't.  In time they end up in the Med deck recovering when we need them in battle.  The civilians have earned everything we give them.  While we are out fighting they can only hope we succeed and the enemies as the noncombatants hide in hidden shelters and the rest form a militia to defend the civilian sections at the core of the ship. They have earned every ounce of respect we can give them.  They are our freinds, our family, my daughter works on the rec deck.  If you respect them it will go a long way to strengthening the ship as a unit.  The other crew members will immediately have your backs in all situations, and today you can see how fast situations can rise."

    Garrat sighs #3.  "With the civilians: "No" means "No" some of them are pretty cute but they have lives to live, and that doesn't include being harassed while they are trying to make a living.

    "#4, the Hermes has a lot of species on board including Ambassador Shade, the Largs, At least one Hyrian, there has been the occasional Largan, that one there is actually on a mercenary crew but be nice to him.  He literally just lost his brother saving a ship load of human orphans, I shit you not.  There is a Gava unit.  They fight like really big Piranhas with legs and weapons.  An absolute dream come true in the field of team work.  All of these species are intelligent and need to be treated with respect.  Again, they are great to have at your back.  It is nasty out there, you WILL need them.  Finally, rank means nothing.  We get switched around a lot regardless of rank by skills and by the needs of fleet strategy.

    "Follow these rules and you will gain respect immediately.  Spread the word.  I know you don't represent your entire unit.  I know few will believe you and there will be skirmishes, but I'm really trying to save you trouble."

   Garrat turns to Slick, "Yeah, I could really use some food before the ball."

Roy rolled his eyes slightly at Garrat's lengthy pseudo-briefing...he appreciated the effort, but that sort of thing would be best done with the whole unit under the watchful eye of their commanding officer, not spread piecemeal through the ranks by a disgruntled handful that likely weren't paying attention because they were still processing the encounter with Shadow and the information from Hack.

But he remained clear of the situation until after Garrat had gone with Slick again, then stepped up to Cross.  Speaking as he walked with them, Roy said, "The Admiral may not have wanted to know who your C.O. is, but I do, Lieutenant."  Anyone that was leading a hundred-man contingent of Iron Guard would be important enough for Roy to have heard of...and that officer's reputation could tell him a lot about what to expect from the new Marine contingent.

   LT Cross looks  around, Grabs  Roy  but the arm and leads him  down to the water...LT Cross looks  around    and has his back to the shore,..what do you know of  'Guy Stone...."

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

  some kids   come back to where Haley , Roll  and the..once again..snoozing Thor. one of the kids from the  merc ship says,..he sleeps  alot.... is he really lazy? he   sits   down and  bends  near  Thor  to see if the  wee beastie  will open his  eyes.

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

   Beth  finds herself being   talked  to, by SGT  O'Day  as he grins   and looks her over  as he talks.  The COM Offcier   smiles a bit, taking the  attention for what it is worth,

  betsy  say down Bitching  about Shadow, could have  Broke her leg.

  Will , Cora  and Ellen  sat near  them  ,while Scarlet came back with drinks.... best pick your marks  more careful, or there may not  be as many of you left next time.. will snapped. Obviously  angry  he couldn't  do anything about it.

 The Largs  went  about , splashing in the water  once more.

    Garrat caught the eye roll.  It wasn’t hard to figure out why.  But then again, it wasn’t Garrat’s job to tell them that information.  It was Spencer’s.

   Vinnie Esposito  shook Meari's  hand  as Cross  took  Roy way.

 Can was  trying to keep things  straight by himself  but loked lost. To there credit, the kids  seemed to be willing to  wait as  other kids took thier time to  pick out what they want, from what was availoable.

 your people have a Funny way of welcoming  people...I think I know Shadow..It the Bios  are right, he was from New York?

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

 Shadow , had  Stefi   Look over  his  right  upper cheek, it  was a Bit bruised ...Most of it  will be gone by to night, you could  always put Make up on?

 really, really?..i don't  do make up... folks don't like the way i look? they don't have to look..

 Stefi   gives him a Pat and Goes  check on broken Nose guy.

"He's still a baby.  Like we all were at one point" she said looking at Tess hoping she was not gonna get pissed.  "You see mommas with little babies?  They sleep a lot too, but as they git bigger they git more energy to run about and stuff, just like us.  Oh...be careful, Tess is real real protective" she warned them in a friendly manner.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:46, Sat 24 Oct 2020.

Jug was about to sit and eat when she caught a glimpse of Can.  she moved up to him "You okay, Can?" she asked.

  Can loked a bit  upset...the Stall people aren't  paying  any attention to me , i am tryign to tell them i have   creds  and  that Mr Shadow said to  talk with him..but the kids  are standing around 'cause  shop keepers  are 'noring me..


  The Little  Girl nodded.I guess?... he should  run around..he is going to  get  lazy... even when we  were   we little. he had to run  as fast as we could ..sometimes we would fall  and get hurt..

 Meari shook Esposito's arm and nodded. She then thought with SM here things would be ok she had to check on Can. She then made her way to Can and the Stall.

 Meari got to Can just to hear him say the shop keeper was ignoring him. Meari walked up to Can and smiled, she then waved the shop keeper over to talk to her.

Roy gave a half-grin.  "Now that's a blast from the past...knew him back when he was still Gunny Stone.  He was my DI through half of bootcamp, when he got transferred to Olympus.  Really made a name for himself on Mars, doing spec-ops attacks behind enemy lines.  Got commissioned on Olympus, worked his way through the ranks on Astra.  Last I heard, he'd made Brigadier General."  He raised an eyebrow to Cross.

"He's bringing a hundred Iron Guard troops onto the Hermes?" Roy asked.  That indicated an extended series of covert actions...the kind of stuff he and Lyri might be called on to provide cover fire for...

The Stall Keeper came over to   Meari and  Looked at her,whjat do you ned..there  alot of fuss  going on here!

 Can Looked up.....you 'nored  me...

 the  stall keeper frowned,Look, Lady.. do you se these kids? they're keeping away paying folks!

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

 Cross  shook his  head  as he looked out to the sea,Then Back to Roy.My Poeple... the 6 of us, are goign to the Hermes.. the other  94 are staying on  Everest.. General Stone is taking over... St Gaul find out tonight at the Ball.. Everest lost the war  here... The delta Nights  helped, but  this place needs a  good scrubbing.. The Sanri will be working from the Stem out.. and the Guard  will be  cleaning the  Uppers and Lowers... there's gonna be alot of empty  seats around here, in the next couple weeks.... me and Mine?  we're Going to help you folks..Seems the  Scots  are keeping thier  people on Earth to fight the good fight.. so.. they gave us to you..

 The Iron Guard was started on Astra, We were supposed to look like, shock troops and  dark ops  folks there.. Major Fe-Ro recommended we  be given  more  training  for   dark ops and shipboard encounters... and here we are,,,, They left 20 iron Gaurd on  Astra to start training more..But..Your Admiral isn;t screwing around here...

 ..and that LC of yours? He was goign to take us all on?..... i think he needs some rear area R and R



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


   Flores  whistled to  Beth and Pointed  to  the  Condo... Beth  Yelled for Haely  and  Cora  got  up witht he others  as they waved  Orria  along too.

 the  Tow iron Guard Ladies   stood up , to follow as well...

Jug easily hopped on the counter and sat a bit looking at the man "You do know he has money too" she smiled a toothy smile "The adults in this area have money.  Adults that could spend their creds on your stuff, but who won't if don't respect my friend Can and his friends" she leaned a bit closer "I know many deltas and especially Hermites not to buy here because you are unfair.  If need be Can here could leave the stuff here he wants to buy and spend his creds else where.  You lose out"

Roy grinned, and chuckled a little.  "I'm sure you'll see it for yourself, soon enough...but LC Shadow doesn't back down from anything or anyone.  He was challenged to single combat, hand-to-hand, by an Angel Elite...he walked away a little beat up and the Angel spent a couple of weeks in Medical.  Bested Warlord Lilit in a three-way challenge, solo.  There's a chance you might have taken him down...but it would have cost you heavily.  I mean, your group was down a broken nose and a dislocated knee to a few bruises, and he wasn't even warmed up."

Roy shook his head gently.  "I would take on a Largran with my bare hands before I'd pick a fight with Shadow...and I've known him for close to six years.  R&R would just wind him up tighter...he's at his most relaxed when he's killing bad guys.  My advice?  Makes sure he knows you aren't one of them."

He gave a nod, and continued, "Good to hear Cornerstone's taking over here...when we first stopped in, we thought, just maybe, St. Gaul would get her act together, but it became apparent, before Delta Night ever started this time, that she was not only on the same page as us, she wasn't even looking in the same book.  After Delta Night?  Well, I don't often advise Admiral Hack on command personnel...but it was painfully obvious that she was either complicit in everything we had to clean up, or she was incompetent.  Beta Quad needs a clear ESN stronghold...it's bad news when we're getting more and better support from defeated planets who changed allegiance than from our own people."

  Cross smiles,..I'll keep all that in mind .I  Think that  SGT Froth  might want to test him again...

 ..and you don't know any think about  Corner Stone being ehre,, for  some  reason, Hack wants it to be a surprise

 ...........

 Can looked up at the Stall. meari and Jug  standing there  while the Little  kid looked a cross between angry  and heartbroken.

 ..Look? I need to see the creds..or i need the account   i'm suppposed to  tap...

..........

 there was a  line of Ladies heading towards the  Hotel now, all chattering about the   Ball.

"Needing to see and ignoring a customer are two different matters.   You say 'Sorry' to young man.  Give him total THEN he shows credits....like other customers" she said waved Can Close so the man could apologize.  "Sooner this done the better, my meal is getting cold....and I will be very angry if my meal is too cold"

 Meari said," He has 450 credits, and anything that goes over charge to LC Shadow's room I am Sgt Meari. Keep track make sure everyone gets paid, the LC made that clear, now can you help them please." Meari smiles at Jug and nods a thank you nod.

 Meari will wait for the shop keepers reaction now.

Roy nodded.  "I had suspicions, from some other comments that the Admiral made, that St. Gaul was on her way out...but nobody needs to know that until it becomes official.  The fact she's out isn't going to be much of a surprise to anyone that was involved with Delta Night...her replacement might be, but they don't need to know who it is."

He grinned a little, and added, "And keep the sergeant in check until the Hermes has sailed and we're a day or so out.  There are some things about LC Shadow that should be known before anyone else tries to score a rematch with him...but they're things that shouldn't be talked about here.  With as compromised as everything else has become on Everest, I'm not sure there's a safe place to bring up those details."  His grin turned to a grimace briefly, and then turned serious.

"I will say this...the Demons put a bounty on the heads of several of us.  There are very good reasons why Shadow's bounty is the highest one.  And there's a long list of dead guys who thought they were going to collect it.  Anyone says anything about wanting to take on Shadow, ask them if they think they could beat me.  If they have even the slightest doubt about that, then they should only ever take on Shadow for legitimate training purposes...because he will take them apart and not even blink twice if they put him in that situation."  His voice was deathly earnest.

"That said, there's only maybe one other pilot in the whole damned Delta Fleet that I'd rather have flying air cover, and that's because his plane was built around the practice.  But I long ago stopped counting the number of times Shadow has saved my life...usually by doing something verging on suicidal.  If he's got your back, he will move Heaven and Earth to make sure you come back safe.  Is he arrogant?  You're damned right he is.  But he's every bit as good as he acts like he is, and he doesn't remind you of it all the time."

Haley looked at the girl "But before you could run there was a time you would crawl and babies gotta learn that even.  All babies do Is eat sleep and poop.  Sometimes they cry cuz they can't talk yet.  they not gotsa lots of energy yet, so they not lazy.  Thor is not very old he's still a itty bitty baby"  she heard one of the ladies call for her to go.  She looked at Roll "I gotsa go.  Roll I leave my pail with you so you all can keep playin'"  she stood and went and gave Thor a scritch and then gave one to Tess.  "Just handle Thor gently.  Tess might get mad if Thor gets upset or she thinks people might hurt him." she smiled and waved then and went and picked up her bag and towel, then made her way down the beach.  Passing Shade and Shadow she waved, then to the Admiral and will, and all the others to join the ladies going to get dress fittings.  Passing a prancing Gregor gave him a scritch too.  leaning in she said to keep an eye on Roll, Thor, and Tess.


===> to dress fitting.

Henry noticed the ladies leaving the beach and went over to where Val was dozing in the sun with Mila curled up beside her.

"Hey, Val... wake up, sleepyhead. I know you don't need any help to look beautiful, but if you don't make a move all the nice dresses will have been snapped up."

He bent over to give her a kiss.

"Love you... see you at the ball. We can dance a bit. As for you, Mila, you are going to need a bath and a good brushing to get all the sand out of your fur."

  Val smiles   as she gets  up  and gathers her things, yes, I will have to get  a quick Shower, and  get a dress. As  far  as  'all the nice  ones"... They are Angel Silk!! they are  all nice!

 Disna  and Puskie   looked at the Largs we will keep the Largs  down on the  Beach  except  for  Larry...and  i suppose? Gregor?  Those two can get housed   down in the garage.. I imagine  we will be here through the night to keep watch over the Kids  and the party people

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

 The Shall owner looks down the line at the  other Stalls, then Meari and   Jug..there has to be almost  200  kids... 450 credits  aren't going to be near enough!

 He  said  quietly  as the sad  little Can  looked  up from the  front of the  stall. Shoey and  Maria   were walkign up and down keeping the excited  kids in some kid of order, Shoey smiled his  'gum chewing smile'

 ..do what the Ladies said....you have any doubts about payment... go right over there... he pointed to Shadow   who was sorta by himself now that the   Ladies  left.

 He'll ease your greedy little  heart?...but... i don't  recommend it, seeing how you all but called  these ladies  and , him, liars?..give the stuff out, keep track,
 and you'll get paid...and?  just a warning, don't  take advantage of the Kid or the LC..it
 won't  end  well, cause, after the Ladies  get done with you...The LC will finish up...if there's anything to finish.

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

  Cross looked at the LC  who was eating a Hotdog , by himself, Larry   was curled up near him , with Shade  coming over to sit  down., I'll take your  word  for it... he don't look like  much.

 There is a chuckle as he watches the ladies  go, Stefi is walkign witht eh  two Iron Guard Ladies  as  Betsy is limping...I think i might be more afraid of  the Med tech!

I want to get something to  eat,,we do hear the  The Hermes trows good parties...

......

 Will sat by himself  after his  Lady 'escorts' vanished, Nagy sat  down near him with a deer  and   a burger.

 .. I think this is the first time you have been alone?

 Will grins,..yeah,  They'er  good people... they are in it to win it... and? I think they just stayed close, in case my Top half  fell off or something.

 Lippen  stopped and Handed  Will a paper plate  with a burger  fries   and she gave him a soda.

  Dress time!..you gys both oew  me dances at the Ball....

 Nagy watched  her   ran away  and   smiles,did you hear?  for some reason, all HermesSEC and EverSEC, are off tonight, there's a new   SEC group taking  the reins, so we can either  party  down here , or at the Ball

 I have to go to the Ball.... I might  come back down here  after, epends
 how tires i am.

 Nagy nods,..I get that? you have to  have suffered the worst  wound in ESN history, and you're still around

 Yeah?.. can't  do anything  except  smile  , wave  and shake hands   of people who didn't even know i was  alive   a month ago.

 ..well? your    SEC  family knew you were alive, those Ladies  aren't around you, just to  watch your back!

 Will chuckled,

Mila got up and stretched thoroughly, then wagged her tail and licked Val's hand.

As Val left she ran over to Puskie and Disna, still wagging.

Henry followed Mila.

"Are you sure you're both OK with that? It seems a bit unfair if I go off to party and you two stay on the beach with the largs."

 Puskie shrugs,there will be   party things  on the beach , and we cannot leave the Largs unattended ...if  we ship the Largs up to the Hermes,  that is a big deterrent  take from  the beach security? We will have   fun here and  watching females in anything suits   is   just as much fun as watching them in dresses...

 Disna  added.Admiral Hack did  invite us, but left it  up to us  what we wanted to do... though he did not mention it? We cannot leave the Largs to thier own devices.. they will 'over portect', and that may not go well with some.

Henry grinned.

"Of course you cannot leave the largs on their own, but... well, I am not much of a party animal. If you like I could come back, around 11 or so, and you could catch the end of the ball. Get some fancy food, maybe have a dance."

He wondered why Mila was wagging her tail so enthusiastically.

Zob was watching some of the ladies leave to get the famous angel silk dresses for the ball he still had plenty of time before he needed to get dressed for the event so he took this opportunity to wander up the beach making his way up towards the stalls getting in line with the kids as he waited to go and get food.

Roy grinned at Cross' assessment of Shadow.  "That's one of the things that makes him so dangerous.  Based on past experience, it won't be long before you see him in action...for some reason, people just can't seem to resist the temptation to throw themselves at him.  My personal favorite is hotshot pilots who dismiss the fact that he's the top APF ace in the war.  But if someone starts a fight with him tonight, just stand back and watch...unless it's one of your people.  I try to be his better judgment at events like this, but I can't be everywhere."

They started walking, and Cross commented about the fabled Hermes' parties.  "Hack definitely falls in the "work hard, play hard" style of leadership.  He doesn't often join in...doesn't want to dampen anyone's spirits...but he's generally pretty lenient.  The Hermes was designed to act as a colony ship if it crash-landed somewhere, so we have extensive support facilities, with civilian operators...but don't dismiss them as trivial.  They are every bit as much part of the crew as any of us, and any of the existing crew will definitely take exception to the civvies being slighted."  He paused, and then grinned and added, "And your instincts are good.  I wouldn't say Stefi's a sadist...but if she thought your injuries were the result of your own stupidity, she will definitely add some aversion incentive to discourage you from being that stupid again."  He grew more serious, and added, "You should also be aware...she...and a significant portion of the crew...have covert ops backgrounds.  Like Shadow, you should be careful taking them at face value."

He jerked his head in the direction of the food stands.  "Let's get some food.  I've gotta go get ready for the damned ball in a couple of hours, I'd prefer doing it on a full stomach."

 Zob saw, for  right now, with the  Kids  Mobbing the    merchandise  stalls, the  food  and drinks  were, more or less  quiet.

  He  saw 90 % of the  ladies  had left, leaving  only   women who weren't invited, or  didn't have the 'rank' to  be  invited to  St Gaul's party, though  it seems like  Hack and Captain  Si were bringing more folks then  there should be.

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

 Shadow Laid  down  to ctach some  sun.. Shade  sat next to him   eating and Looking  around.

 The Iron Guard that was left, more or less stayed away from him  as they tried to talk to some of the people who either SEC  or Pilots

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

Cross  nods  again looking  at Shadow , seemingly dozing,yeah?  I mean.. we  were told  alot of stuff coming in on the transport, doing the  whole, watchign tape and all that as we get ready.. we had ladies that can't wait to meet him, and others   don't want anything to do with him.. alot of the Guys  see him as a challenge, seeing how they are all Iron Guard, and he's  a pilot.  But..I have been smellign those burgers  since i got here!

..........

 Roll  cleaned off Haley's toys  and  put them by his towel, Then he gathered up the  snoring larg pup  , bring him over to tess   as he sat down with them.  . The Pup   curled up next to tess. Roll leaned against her    and  closed his eyes  as well.

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

 The Kids  were starting to get sorted out  as  the stall folks  were  sure  about what was going on.

 Can  was smiling again, that he could get stuff  for the other kids., and all was right with the  world.

 ..........

 there were still Ladies   dancing in the  sand to the HAppy V-jay who didn't  get killed  last night..AND..was making money!

  Meari made sure the shopkeeper would get paid she gave him hers and LC Shadow's word. Meari smiled as the kids where getting sorted , and Can looked happy. Meari smiled at the shop keeper and whispered, " Thank you, you have made these kids very happy." She will slide him 1000 credit tip and added," Split this between the shop keepers for helping out these kids I must leave I hold you responsible to give all these kids smiles thank you."

 Meari then turned to Can and said," You have done great Can, everyone is happy. I must go get ready for the Ball, it has been my honor to help you Can and to meet you."
 Meari would then look to see if she could find Skittle and say good bye to her before she left for the Ball.

When the person ahead of him was finished at the food stall he approached and ordered a huge food platter with burgers and hotdogs as he got the food he turned around and looked at the iron guard people behind him, "Greetings..." he then took a seat on a unoccupied chair where he promptly began to devour the food.

  Can  smiled  at Meari  and he  followed along with the other kids back to the beach. he got himself a Little  Metal shiny thing that was some sort of game on  wire with beads.

 Skiffle  had a small little  cloth made doll that some of the  other girls  were getting,  she   waved to meari as she  saw on her towel holding it. and smiling

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

  The BlackGuy with the Busted  nose, Nods  to  Zob,..hey?  I heard of you... how do you like the ESN?.... and..anyone ever give you a problem? he jerks head towards the   resting Shadow.

...........

 Vinnie  Esposito    plopped   down between  Shade  and Shadow, ignoring  Shade's   bleeps,..Hey Man... I'm Vinnie Esposito ..

 Shadow made a lazy wave,Congratulations ....

 Vinnie looked  a bit bummed,you're  from new York...right?.. you don't know the Name..East side?

 Shade Bleeped

 My son says you knocked over his Soda... You want to keep talking to me , replace it...

 Vinnie looks  at the soda  and  gets    up to get another one. he  came back and Handed the  Soda  to  Shade, who bleeped as he took it.

 ..he said  , thank you...

  ..right.. 'so k kid, my fault.... anyway.. they say you and   your buddy  ran around the docks  when you were in school

 there's a few of us from New York here.. and  Yes , we 'ran around the docks'

  Vinnie   nodded his head  as he looked around......rumor has it, you killed my dad....

 with out  even a hesitation Shadow  said,..I killed alot of pieces of mob shit  when i 'ran around the  docks'... never got their names, never cared, just like they  never  cared which  hookers  they slashed, or which  docks workers arms they broke  for not paying  a debt...or Kids that were killed  when they pushed drugs on them..so..yeah.. was be a mob dork? if he was, good bet me or my buddy wasted him..so..was he?

 Vinnie looked at  Shadow in disbelief ,..you don't  care? My Mom went crazy, she killed herself  a few months later,  me and My sister  had to struggle through the rest of our lives...she is on Moon base now.. and I'm here...

 ..Not my problem Ace, You ever feel bad  about  Moms who were killed   on the street because they worked the streets, one of my best friends on our boat lost her Mom like that.. I've seen little kids  whose  dad was fished out of the river..so? Tough shit buddy... your  Dad was a scum ball, and the only think i feel bad about  was i didn't kill more of them

 ..you're a real piece of  work, aren't you..how do you expect me  to have your back out there/.

 ..its easy?... you'er wearing ESN  Blue... I'll have  your back, I don't give one  damn who your  father was..he paid for being  a scumball.. you're out  here fighting for the same people he used to  knock off..so? as long as you do that.. we're cool..... but... if i see you leave someone  to die... you'll  follow right after them..

 ..you're  a cold bastard....

 .. Beth's  Mom  was  killed on the street..her  dad  had a  mysterious  accident  after  we went to teh academy ... Roles Dad 'fell off the dock' when he was 6.... My Dad  'had an accident   , just as they finished the keel of The  Hermes  and My Mom  died in San diego when we  swere sent there.... I  saved alot of folks, by killing   other folks.. and i keep doing that  today...Never killed a good  guy..some folks might have thought the people were good...but  i get the intel, and  clean house... So...Vinnie? You better ask yourself  right now?.. can you stay on the same Boat as me..if not, Tell your  Unit commander you wanna  stay here.

 so? how am i supposed to look past you offing my dad?

 ..Gangers...streeters .. they are just like EDT....maybe  the Mob was even working for the EDT?..bottom line, they hurt  real folks, and  they need snuffed out..I was  just  lucky enough to have the 'want to' to do that.

 Vinnie  nodded as he looked out into the water,..i don't like it.. but... i'll deal....

 Shadow  raises his hand  and   Vinnie grabs his   hand in a fist shake...Nice talk,  and..one more  question?... we're you gonna  really fight   6 iron Guard?

 ..only  had to   fight one more, two of you were out of the fight, I just needed to  take down your LT?..after that, everyone else would have been gravy

 Shade Bleeps.

 Shade  says , he likes gravy..

 Vinnie    chuckles  a bit, he gets  up and goes to get some  food.

Jug finally got down off the counter as things were cleared up and grabbed her food.  she looked at Meari "So going to the ball?  I not sure I am going, if so I go in dress uniform.  Angel dresses pretty but not right for Gavas"  she ate few french fries now a bit cold  "Some Gava stay here, not interested in fancy dance will trade to let a few others go who enjoy, we watch those on beach and keep safe" her way of letting Meari know kids are gonna be watched over.

Roy grinned.  "You've gotta take the rumor .I'll about Shadow with a lot of salt, because two-thirds of the stories come from guys who over-sell him so they don't look as bad for having been beaten by him, or by guys who totally discount him as a threat.  I've seen a lot of morons who bought into the story that he's a womanizing playboy whose kill-count is overinflated by stealing kills from his wingman, and then get their asses served to them on disposable plates.  Be smart...take some time to gather your own intel on the man before you make any judgments."

He chuckled, and continued, " Those burgers DO smell pretty good.  Not as good as the stuff served on our Rec Deck, but then again, the guys running the Rec Deck shops don't have the same overhead expenses so they can afford to be choosier about their meat."  He chuckled, and added, "It's not like they have to look hard for a way to use their scraps...large will eat it, bones and all."

He led Cross up to one of the vendors, and gestured an order for two burgers.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:26, Sun 25 Oct 2020.

 Meari smiled at Can as he went off with his friends, Meari saw Skiffle on her towel holding her doll and smiling.  Meari walked over to her knelt down and said," Hi Skiffle I see you got a wonderful doll, and it is good to see you smiling. Have fun on the beach listen to the Hermes people, I am heading to the Ball I will see you here tomorrow good day Skiffle." Meari would give her a hug and smile.

 Once she was done with Skiffle she was teary eyed and headed for the condo to get ready for the ball. She sees Jug and smiles and replies," Yes I am going to the Ball, knowing you are here watching the kids makes me feel better Jug, thank you. Watch Skiffle she has gone through so much.

--------->>>> to Everest (condo)
This message was last edited by the player at 20:29, Sun 25 Oct 2020.

Zob glanced at Shadow then back to the man with the busted nose, "The ESN serves me well and in return i give 110% back, ive never had a complaint... life is good"

After scarfing down a few hotdogs he responded again, "When i first arrived i had a explosive collar attached around my neck and i lived in the brig for close to 6 months if not longer, and i couldn't move around without a armed escort ready to kill me at the drop of a hat... but Shadow ive never had a issue with him as for others well they are dead" he said rather nonchalantly.

  Hack and  the other officers  moved through those  who were left.  He told those who were on the beach that the Sand shifters  wouldn't be working  tonight, and with tomorrow  being a free day, people  could  sleep and such on the beach, food  and drink stalls  would be  open around the clock.

  Fore the Stem Kids... those who came in on the Big Ugly  were going  to either  sleep on the beach if they wanted, or  sleep in the Big Ugly were   sleeping bags were supplied for them, as well as a change of clothes for the next day.

 The kids who stayed  at Shadow  would be goign up there, But would be leaving   on the Big Ugly   to go to Bura.

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


 Disna petted   Mila  while Puskie  smiled at the  dog...how much better it  would be , if Nivar had dogs

 Disna laughed,..that would lead to very fat worts  and largs!

.........

  Shade  loked over at   Zob, bleeping and giving a wave.

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

 Cross  and   Roy got thier   food  and   moved to sit  down,.... you're gonna have to clue me in one that little guy near Shadow. I mean.. we seen  film and  such, and its   his 'kid"...but they  that   hot chick is  supposed to be  his daughter..but.. they don't look like him, the little one,,welll

Roy nodded understanding.  "It's a long story, but 5he highlight reel is this:  Shadow's plane,  when I first came on board the Hermes, had a Verian...well, Udenese entity occupying it.  Everyone thought it was just some kind of AI the Verians developed...turns out that they...especially Verians...can opt for different developmental paths.  She chose to inhabit the plane...and became bonded with it.   We found out the truth when the Fleet upgraded planes and she couldn't leave the one she'd inhabited.  Rather than risk Shadow by leaving him stuck in an outdated fighter, she volunteered to stay on Bura and help drive out Demons."

He grimaced.  "Sorry, drifting a little off the main events."  He shrugged, then continued, "She got shot down by some EVOL chickenshit that had turned coats on us...and as she was dying, she let Shadow know she had sampled his DNA and made progeny, and he took the unmatched eggs before she cashed out.  Not knowing anything about Verian reproduction, we had the eggs in an incubator on the Hermes...a rat got into the lab and tried to get the eggs.   Shade, there...he sensed the threat and forced his own premature hatching...parts of him hadn't finished developing, and may never develop.  He hid the other egg until it matured enough to hatch...that was his sister, Captain Dusk.  And apparently Lady--their mom--chose the names and encoded the information, because they told us what their names were."

He took a sip of his soda.  "This was back when the Verians were still riding the fence...nominally our allies but not doing a whole helluva lot beyond giving us some fighter planes.  Evert and Adem tried to take Dusk and Shade...said they were going to 'fix' them.  Dusk went...Shade didn't.  And when Dusk came back, it became apparent that the 'fixing' was more about making her a compliant drone than overcoming any physical or mental flaws.  Lucky for us, their fixes didn't really take hold.  But because she got the full gestation cycle, she is more physically completed than Shade.  His instincts are better, overall, which is why he hatched early."

He took a bite of his burger, chewing for a few seconds before adding, in a slightly muffled voice, "If you get to know all three, you can definitely see where Shadow's DNA shines through.  Shade's worth his weight in gold in any kind of fight...when we hit Aqra, he basically held 5he right flank of the CP all by himself...had a ring of Aqra dead around him as 5all as he was, using it like a pillbox and returning fire with a pulse rifle he'd rammed clean through another Aqran so he had an extra body in front of him soaking up fire.  Captain Dusk saved her ship, back when she was just a lieutenant...most of the command crew was dead or useless, she took charge and not 9nly saved the ship, but scored some impressive kills on enemy forces.  She's definitely the most refined of the three...but I'm pretty sure if some guy pissed her off, she'd rip his arm out of the socket and use it to remove his tonsils through his rectum.  Shade is the Ambassador for Uden...lots of people forget that because of his size and speech impediment, and his appointment might have initially been a matter of political expedience...but he's definitely earned the office and he's possibly even a tougher sonofabitch than his old man."  As he spoke, there was a certain fondness and pride that showed he had genuine feelings for both of Shadow's kids.

  Cross started on his  second Burger, he   held the  burger up and gave it a bit of a shake,we have good food on the Transportbases. But this is great, almost like being back on Earth..

 he nodded  as he chewed,we still get some volunteers from Earth, its no secret they are trying to  keep  people from leaving, but there  are ways to get off  earth, once you get to Mars, you can , just about find a  way to get anywhere

 ,,yeah,,that's  for that backround. There are so many  stories goign  around  about his  kids....The Girl...Dusk? Some people   thing she's a Halfbreed of a Human and Verian, because   she looks pretty good.... The other Kid,, well, people think he is  just a Robot of some kid...doesn't  explain the  differences in sizes as he gets older though.. there are even toy sets out there  with  three differant versions of him  , that kids  can play with.

  SGT  O'day was  sorta laughing when he saw  him standing in the  surf  with those  fists  ready and  eyes  all red...

 there is a  sigh as he sips from a soda,..lotsa  stories  about  The Hermes  and the crew.  Hard to   sorta them out...

 His arm Gestures  to Shadow  who is talking to Shade,anything with him  is based on  'frat-boy'... the  Academies  Tell thier  people who are in line for Captain, 'not to pull a Shadow"... which is get busted  down to LT or Ensign... You know  if  you take  all four   US  academies  together, he  holds the record  for  'times busted".  Some  people  don't say 'Going to the Mast" at the academies, they say, 'Shadow's Walk"..and there he sits.. an LC... with a crazy score and   half-breed kids?

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

   Shoey came over on his  way to grab some  food  and he stops by Roy,..so?  from what the scuttlebutt  has,  we can all go to the party if we want?... and  those IronGuard  People are gonna do the SEC thing.. Those   Iron Guard folks? they going?

 Cross   shakes his head,The two  Ladies are going, the rest are staying here.. I have to go because  I'm thier   CO..

  well , LT? There's gonna be alot of Civie  women   down here  and  Some   ladies  who don't want to go to the Ball..Not sure  how many of us  are going, But  I'll warn you..to warn them..Those largs? Freddie  will sorta be  in charge..he..um..is newer the LArry, so if someone does  something stupid  with Civie  chicks... they might  get eaten...just saying....  he Gives   a nod and moves off to the  stalls   Giving  Zob a wave.

 Cross looks at  Roy, in question

..........

 By this time, Kids  are  all sorted out, most of the   kids  are taking    the   gift they  got to the Big  Ugly for  safe keeping, while others  are  sitting on thier  towels  and playing

 Roll , tess  and Thor  are sleeping in the  warm sun as it  starts to  slowly   slide   down the sky.

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

 Skiffle is  walking around with her  Doll, she sees  Zob and stops to show him. She is smiling  as she holds it out for him to see.

Roy gave Cross a serious look.  "He's not kidding.  We've adopted the largs...and they've adopted us.  Larry's been around enough different ESN troops to know to intercede with going full aggression, but the other largs have pretty much only ever dealt with Nivarians and us...and the Nivarians were always inflicting pain on them.  We've never been in a situation where they've dealt with friendly forces without one of us there to keep an eye on them.  Best warn your people to toe the line...the large will be fine as long as they think we're all friends.  If they get the impression that the Iron Guard are adversarial...no knowing what the body count could be.  And where Tess just helped, she's likely to be extra-protective, and not just of the civvies. She thinks someone's hurting one of the kids, and those maternal instincts could kick in."

He picked up the burger, looking at it for a moment before looking back at Cross.  "They're not my troops to command...but I'd suggest the treat everyone...and I mean everyone...on the beach like friendly VIPs they've been assigned to protect.  Avoid direct interaction unless it's necessary, set a perimeter and protect it and let them do their own thing inside the perimeter.  In all honesty, everyone who's been on the Hermes for more than a few months will likely be able to deal with 'normal' interference...it's the eventuality of EDT reprisals that we need your people watching out for."

He took another bite of the burger, chewing for a few moments.  "And the thing they don't tell you about Shadow is WHY he got busted.  Mostly because it would compromise their reputations to let it be known the number of times he took down an instructor that was trying g to exploit a female cadet, or was similarly dealing shady business and using their position to hide it.  Sometimes it was other cadets, using Mommy and Daddy's money and connections to avoid consequences...so he provided consequences that nobody could pin on the Academy.  But the frat-boy image?  Completely fabricated.  Shadow's about as working-class as you'll find.  He's an LC because he earned it the hard way.  If he was less working-class, he'd be a captain of his own ship...the offer was made, and he rejected it, because he knows he's at his best out on the lines, up to his elbows in the hairiest trouble the enemy can throw at us.  And it doesn't matter if it's in a cockpit or on the ground, he is probably THE most dangerous man I've ever met, and I'm beyond thankful he's on our side, because he would be an unholy nightmare if he was fighting for them."

  well?  I don't know the lay-of-the -land here, so any intel you  give me , i will try to use.

 there was a bit of a chuckle,would have been better  if your LC hadn't broken two  of my people, Can't say they'll be big fans of his..

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

  a bit  away, the sleeping threesome  of Tess, Thor  and Roll, were awaken by the sound  of  some  boys. They  we're stem kids, Nice haircuts  and  fancy trunks.

  wow..look at that Ling lizard..its   really ugly... the other two boys  laughed.

 Tess opened her  eyes  and stared.. Thor   slept..Roll  opened his  eyes.

 ..hey..kid?.... don't you know  these thigns  are dangerous, they shot  be  shot on sight!

 Roll  stood  up, he was  about  half the height the teenagers  were.....There  are Largs.. an' they won't  hurt you 'less your stupid  an' make them mad.. then  , they'll eat you... I know, 'cause I', Cadet Larg Master Roll..

  The kids  laughed, Roll got  Mad.

  Shade pointed to   Roll  , got up and  jogged towards  them..

 ..no..you are past  the  bounding lights.. so you have to leave, or SEC  will make you leave

 The older  Kid  stepped towards  Roll...  Tess's  Head   rose   up  as she showed her Teeth  and Burbled, deep from her throat..

  Shade  was  Bleeping   harshly  as he neared  and the   other  two  kids  started to look around.

  Rigg  came slowly out of the water  with her head Flattened...  Gregor    Jumped up    from the   kicks  he was playign with  and  started to scamper  down the    beach.. Larry    stood Up...

  Shadow shook his head,Go ahead...just... don't  eat the kids unless they hurt someone...

 Larry    trotted,  his ehad up as he loked  around

Henry heard yet another dispute brewing and wandered in that direction.

"OK guys. This area is set apart for Hermes people today and tomorrow. Locals can play on the rest of the beach. Do you want to look at the largs? They are fascinating creatures, and excellent fighters. Rolli here is learning to be a Larg Master, that's what we call the people who take care of them and train them. The pup on his lap is Thor, the first larg to be born to a Hermes larg, and the big female over there burbling is his Mom, Tess. Oh, hello Larry."

He quite deliberately went over to Larry and rubbed his head.

"This is Larry. He's the pack leader and very smart. All largs like having their heads rubbed like this."

Roy grinned in response.   "Would have been better if you'd gone and presented yourself to your future C.O. before you moved in among the crew.  I mean, the only reason you got a chance to cheap-shot Shadow was because I recognized you as Iron Guard...if he hadn't known you were ESN, you'd have been given an armed escort off the beach.  And it didn't escape my notice that your people threw the first punch...while I applaud initiative, using it because you disagree with someone on your own side doesn't speak well to discipline within the group."  His tone modulated from gently joking to a mild warning.  "Sure, Marines aren't supposed to take shit...but they're also not supposed to start trouble.  At least, not among friendly forces."

In reply to beach (msg # 188):

Orria waved goodbye to Shade and whistled that she'd see him at the ball before jogging off to follow the ladies to the suites for the dress fitting.

---Orria to Everest 1001/Condo--->

   Lt Cross   nods  as he  finished his  second burger,well?  in our defesne... we came to this Tin Can with our  Commanding Officer  and  they sorted out   which fire team was going   to the Hermes... We lost?..or Won?  depends on how you look at  being  in the thick or it, or being  on a station. Anyway?... who the  9 hells  expects Admirals  to be playing   volleyball on the beach with  his  crew...and..The LC sure didn't present a very ...even keeled  , I mean.. in Uniform we would have  done things by the numbers...but even the folks you have on duty aren't wearing uniforms.

 ..and I have to admit, I figure Betsy could have  taken him, Luke..i think..is a little sweet on her, so , i guess that's  why he clocked your LC.. that's  when the  fists  flew...

  Vinnie  was   walkign around the beach, catching with some of the SEC folks,..now  vinnie there?..he's from New York... he said he had  some questions to ask the LC if   we could find him.... i guess  that's  what they talked about. Vinnie's  wound  tight..his  Dad was a Mob guy  in New York... he got  offed  by someone..lots of  his mob got  Killed... he managed to get into the MArines  and  was picked  for Iron Guard trials..good Guy for the most part, seen him jump a  Creshian before  it  could sue its  mandibles to crush a trooper's head

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

 The  Kids looked  at  the Largs comign  around them,  the other  two were scared.

 Roll  just petted  Thor  who hadn't a care in the world.

 Larry tilted his ehad towards  Henry to get   rubbed.. hiss  teeth showing like  grin, but that didn't mean he was happy with the  kids.

 Rigg  stopped once  she was out of the  water...

 gregor   stopped  by henry as soon as he saw henry was giving out head rubs.

 The  older kid looked  at the  creatures    that more or less had them  surrounded, the way open, was back pass the Boundary...um.. yeah.. the kid  said  somehting about that.... we just wanted to go up the beeah and saw all this, and the funny loking   lizard there...

Tess grrrrrr.

Garrat, eating stir fry vegetables and chicken nearby with Slick heard Roy’s conversation but didn’t join in.  Instead he asked Slick what had been happening on the Hermès since the Mech-Mechanic had gotten back.

Zob looked up from his plate of food and let out a loud belch that's when he noticed the little girl and her doll trying to show it to him, "Bring it closer young one i promise i wont hurt you i only wish to take a closer look" he said to Skiffle in as friendly of a manor as a demon is capable of.

 While munching on a burger, Slick swallowed most of a mouthful before answering, Well, honestly the day I returned we hit the man made moon...planet... base thing. Haven't really been back too long, just moving into the berthing really, haven't even unpacked. he takes another drink of his soda and grabs another mouthful of  food before talking around it. I really have to get back into the swing of things, and that means the shop and sometimes going out on missions, didn't do that on Earth while there, I was basically in the shop working on designs for actuators and servo upgrades i was working on.

   Skiffle  went towards Zob. She has a  little smile. She Holds up  the Little doll. Its hand made. but Skiffle treats it like its made precious metal.

   I call he Neena
This message was last updated by the GM at 01:41, Tue 27 Oct 2020.

Roy nodded as he chewed.  "No uniforms, that's one of the reasons I'm not reading your entire unit the riot act as SM of the Corps.  Hopefully, your team is smarter than the last several assholes that decided to turn coat on us and give Shadow a go on their way out.  There's a lot of dead bodies floating in the Black because they took him at face value.  You've seen he's a lot more than he appears to be, you've heard a few stories and you'll hear more once we're away from Everest and I don't have to worry about eavesdroppers.  I'm hoping that's the end of it."

He took a sip of his soda.  "I mean, when we shipped out, he was actually more patient and forgiving than I was.  He's had a long line of people who he ignored his instincts about, that turned around and hurt or killed people near and dear to him...experience has taught him that anyone who abuses forgiveness and tries a second time is just plain old not worth dealing with any further.  You might get a little more leeway than that, because I vouched for you on the basis of the Iron Guard's reputation...but I wouldn't bank on it.  My advice is, make peace with him.  He'll have your back either way...but he's a good friend to have.  And a really shitty adversary, unless you hope to die a fast, gruesome death."  He took another bite of his burger, lapsing silent as he chewed.

Henry grinned.

"They're not funny-looking lizards, they are quite normal looking largs. Oh, you want another fuss, Gregor?"

He rubbed Gregor's head too.

"See what I mean? They love head rubs. Well, you've seen them now. Any more questions? If not, off you go."

   Rigg tilted her ehad  as she looked at the three Boys.  Tess was still showing her teeth... larry and gregor  where  by Henry getting fuzzed.

 ahhh..no sir..i..think we'll go now..... as they ran back the way the Came,  Rigg  walked up  and  sat   down , facing the way the kids  had  come and gone.

 Roll looked bummed...Thor isn't funny looking..he's little...

 Tess  gave Roll a nudge with her  nose and laid  it  down once more on her  front  claws.

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

 Cross   nodded  with a git of a smile  as he  finished his  Soda and went to  diuspose of the  plate and  can, in the proper places...Thanks SM. Things   should be a bit smoother. Though   SGT Froth will be a bit  sore-assed.. not only did he  gets  his face punched in, but   it was while  he was  tryign to impressed the  woman he   wanted to impress..and  she got taken down...Not sure about Betsy..she'll come around... Froth...might take him a bit to get sorted out/

 Hack and Hennings were coming    Roy and Shadow's Area, he  set his  COM to  go off on the PA horns, by the Light poles.....Attemtion... All Ladies who are goign to the ball and wanted  dresses should be at  My condo  to get fitted..Ladies choosing to wear  Dress uniforms  may take a bit longer on the beach.... All Men going to the  Ball, dress uniforms  and  we should  head  up in about an Hour..our Hotel  is  3 Blocks  from ESN HQ where the BAll will be..there will be venues  in and out of the Building... lets  try to keep the med techs  from having to work tonight.

 when he was Done, both Hennings and  Hack looked over  at  Shadow..he was leaning back on his   elbows  as his   hands   spread out .....what?.. why is everyone looking at me?

In reply to zob (msg # 225):

Zob took a close look at the doll, "You take good care of Neena and it will take care of you young one, now go and enjoy yourself" after finishing off food he relight up the half smoked cigar an took a long drag.

 Skiffle smiled,.. i don't know how a real Mommy  takes  care of  their kid?... I used ta  watch kids  with thier Mommies here in the lowers..some were mean...some just  didn't seem to mind...others  made thier kids laugh.. i want to make Neena  laugh..

 she smiled a bit  and   headed over to her towel again.

 Vinnie  walked the shore  with  Rolfe and  Simms, he   kept talkign to them lokign abck at Shadow, the two SEC folks just laughed  as they walked.



  Jumping Lion and  Jax   were  walking over to   Shadow, Red Water  was  talking to  Howe and Foster.

   Jumping Lion said,White Shadow, I will not be goign to the Ball. But  people said there  will be   things outside of the BAll?

 Yeah?   the party will start inside,  and as thepalce gets filled up, or  people want to get away from the crowd, they go out  by the pool and courtyards in the back... they'll have food  and tables  for drinks and such out tehre.. , You guys  can always come up.

 Jax    smiled slightly,I'm going.. Sneak is already getting a dress.. I have  my unifrom at the Condo.. we're  supposed to be  support for the Cadet Larg Master and gregor..

"All right then, lads, off you go. You can tell everyone you met the Hermes larg pack."

Henry sat down, and several largs crowded round all hoping for a fuss.

"Well, Rolli, you are used to largs. To someone who isn't, they may well be funny-looking. I study plants and animals on different planets, and some of them are pretty funny-looking... yet they are quite normal to the people who live on those planets. It's all a matter of what is familiar."

  Roll galred in the direction the kids   went...they were being mean... i bet they woulda tried and hurt Thor , since he is just a baby...I would have  had to stop them..or  tess  would have  ate them all up!

Tess thumped her  tails a couple times

"Just let the largs do their thing... the adults are quite capable of defending their young if things get that far. Best to defuse the situation if you can, though. It probably helped that I'm a lot older than those stem kids were."

Henry continued making a fuss of the largs around him.

   “Well that sounds like one hell of a skirmish Slick.  What was this planet ship like?  Did they blow it up or are we using it for something?

Roy chuckled deep in his throat.  Swallowing the bit of burger he'd been chewing, he said, "Well, pull him aside and reassure him that he'll have plenty of chances to make a good impression, and they won't involve him getting his ass chewed for scuffing knuckles on ESN personnel.  I'm guessing we go one of two directions from here...either after the Roussians for their interference at Vera, of after the Vampics.  If enough intel conceals by then, we might possibly go after the Ellipsians, but that asteroid field isn't safely navigable by anything much larger than a fighter, and then only when flown by some of the best pilots.  No matter which way we go, we're gonna need boots on the ground."

He shrugged as he sipped his soda again.  "Be a helluva lot more productive for him to save it for them, rather than getting turned inside out tackling Shadow again."

after eating Jug went and played with several  of the kids and other gava.  She was having a grand time.

 Shadow  asked   Shade  something, then  Got up  , patting him on the back, as he went to the  icecream Stall.

  getting two Vanilla  cheke, Shadow   truned to  , move mack towards  Shade.

  Luke Had a beer,  and  Said ...very loudly...ain't that Cute Now?.. The hero of the delta  Fleet with Milkshakes for him and  his wind Up boy...

 Mick  Put his hand  On Luke's chest,Laddie?  Dunna  be a dick...

 Rivets  had a Beer, and said,..yer mate has the  right of it.. us  Paddies?  we are  a might  quick on the uptake.

 Luke sneered at Shadow who Just   gave a  smile one might give to a addled child.

 ..I figure it this way.... I broke your nose  for  beign a wuss   and  cheap shott me, while  your  bitch  had the balls to come at my face.... so..we're sorta even...now.. that crack  about Shade?.. that was  your free one... next one... your in Med tech   getting  teeth  seeds  planted , so you can it   in a week,

 ..you called  Besty a Bitch.. She's twice  the marine you'll ever be...

 well?  I'm not a Marine  am I..and..you're  right..I shouldn't have called her a Bitch....seeing as you'er the  bitch...

  Luke   Pushed   Mick away  with a roar  and  swung a Shadow   who dropped the  shakes,  Grabbed the  arm  in is  Left  arm  while  grabbed Luke's throat  with   His   right.. the  impact of the hand. Gagged  him, but the  grasp... hard, steel like  grip, slowly closing..

 the   right  arm was twisted in an awkward  way,, the left  arm flailed at Shadow Who shrugged off the  blows  as they were getting  weaker and  weaker..

 ..20..maybe   30  seconds.. you'll  be dead...all because you wwere  a dumbass...


   Roles came   walking ove r as  Hack   and the board  ran over.. Mick and Rivets whispering to each other.

 cross  got  up and started to walk slowly towards the  pair..  Forth's eyes  were Bulging. He was trying to  talk.. His left  arm flailing  while his    legs  struggled in the sand...

 //Hey, Kray.. whatca got there...

 I dunno.. some sorta  super dumbass?....didn't get to finish it before...

 ..you...um...think you might want to let him go?

Can't think of a reason why/

 Common man? we have a Ball to go to.. The Admiral is watching... he can't really order you...since we're all off duty and  all...but..why don't you/.... you know... let this one slide?.. he just gave you a little welt..right..you smashed that big assed  nose over his face....I'm pretty sure he  gets the point, right?

 Shadow Lookd at  Roles, then to Luke.....That true?.. if i let go..i won't have to  do this again?

 The poor  guy's tongue was out his  eyes almost popping his  arms dangled.

 ..Bloody 9 'ells!.. he canna shake his  head, or not!//let the  bugger go! Mick  shouted.

  he Pulled froth towards him.., jerking him  down a few inches  so he  could look in the bulging eyes,..,e?  I think i should  jus rip the windpipe out, right now, and save alot of trouble..but you got  friends..i got friends...just remember this.. you fuck me off one more time...you'll be in  a bag.....

 there was a slurping  sound  as  Shadow dropped the  trooper.. gregror  was lapping up the   spilled  milkshakes.

 The LC  truned back to get two fresh   Shakes... Shade Bleeped hsi thanks   ans they went to sit  down  again

 froth was   breathing, but  was havign a rough time talking

 Roles looked  down  at Gregor  , who was thumping his tail as he slurped up the shakes...Tell your  buddy he's lucky... bullies used to knock kids  milks off their trays  in highschool for laughs... Shadow and I would   hold their faces in it  until they laped up every drop...

 Cross  stopped  as he watched froth  fall and Shadow  turn to get new shakes....he's a nut job..he...just turns it on and off?

 Roles  came over to Roy and Cross, grinning,naw..he was only a little mad...if  he had  been overe the top, the  guy would have been dead... this was his..'teaching moment'

Roy followed Cross, ready to intercede, until he heard others talking Shadow down.  At Cross' comment, he grimaced slightly, and after the response, he said, "You're gonna find out a lot of us turn it on and off like that.  You spend five and a half years at the point of the spear, you HAVE to be able to turn it on and off...it's a survival mechanism."

He shrugged and gestured at Shadow as the new shakes were handed to him.  "You look at his personal history?  He's been at the point of the spear a lot longer than that."  He shook his head slightly, and looked down at Forth.  "Better get your man off the beach, and tell him what I said about trying to redeem himself.  This is twice in one day that I've seen him be the aggressor against ESN personnel...he's not only making a bad impression on the crew he's about to join, he's making a terrible impression on the SM of the Corps.  Not exactly a great way to guarantee a chance to build a good career...I've sent people off to dig latrines in the Delta Colonies for behavior like that." He gestured in Forth's direction.

"Get him squared away, Lieutenant...or get someone to replace him, because we can't afford a hothead looking to square off every other time someone he doesn't like walks past."

  Lt  Cross shook his head and called out,..Right..Get him the  9 hells  out of here..take him to the hotel..keep him out of trouble..

  Roles chuckled a bit.one of these days, there is gonna be a batch of  people come aboard, and no one will make Shadow   nuts....

Roy snorted softly.  "Yeah...the day after Shadow transfers off the Hermes," Roy commented sourly...but grinned as he said it.  The LC's propensity for responding with force was problematic...but there was no denying its effectiveness.

"Frankly, I'm amazed that there are still that many people out there who think it's worth tangling with him.  There's a long line of people who paid a stiff price for it...some of them pretty publicly.  Not like the vids of Johnny Blu's demise didn't get a shit-load of air-play..."

  No, as far as I know, there was some serious plasma crap going down they were using for ....fueling the damned thing, and then something like a warp-portal-black hole- type thing they were trying. I heard it was some kind of transportation thing they could do?? Like some kinda teleportation thing? Really.. honestly..? I have no idea, all I know is that it was a serious mess for the ground types. Bad day at the office for those guys.
  He continues to munch his food and takes a drink of the soda, All I knew.... I report back to the Hermes, and then they are telling me we're kittin' out for a mission the next day. Seriously threw me for a loop, Actually, I report, then told I'm giving a small briefing to the heads that be, about the new suits we're working on, THEN I get told to put a unit together, of people I've never met, I Think the SGT Major put together a volunteer group, then we out fit them, and :air quotes: Train :air quotes:   Them as to how they work, and they go off and fight in them as a test run on the suits in actual combat. <red> He looks around at the scenery and all that is happening before returning to the conversation. <red> I am just a mechanic for cryin' out loud, I can come up with ideas for doing things  mechanically, I'm not a soldier, but ever since I Damon on the Hermes, that's a part of the mission from now on. I'm not complaining, Just not my training, I feel bad enough when I'm out in the field and someone near me gets hurt, I think "oh man I hope that's not my fault", He chuckles a bit here as he fidgets with a napkin whipping his mouth, But I do it, we all do it, just would like to be better equipped for the job. I think that's where I try to come up with tools for the fighters to have at hand ya know? Just never figured I'd be using them as well.
 But, I will do as I am directed, I think I'm getting better at the combat actions, just always striving to do just a little bit better at all I do.
 After that burst of talking, he looks at Garrat, shrugs and then dives back into his burger.

  Hack send out Mass COM Texts  , for people  to begin to  move on up to the the Condos  to get ready.

  Shadow  and  Shade   woke  Roll from where he had  dozed Off, and   , managed to Coax  Tess and   Thor..( who had to be  carried in Tess's  mouth since he was to lazy to wake up), to lay down  where   Shadow's Towels  were, so they would be in the Middle of the Hermes folks.

  Shadow  took a knee  by Freddie  and  rubbed his head,..you guys help keep the kids  safe..and  don't eat anyone one unless they are really trying to hurt some one...

 Freddie bent his head  for the  rub and thumped his tail.....Larry, Gregor?  we gotta get you hosed  down, lets go...</DarkGreen

 Hack    called over the PAs   for all the  Lids to  come together. ..Listen up!... alot of us have to get ready for  the  Ball.... you kids  will have the  choice of staying on the ebach all night, or sleeping in the Big Ugly over there... if you get cold?.. you go inside the ship... Food  will be here  around the clock..don't be shy...standard  rule...take what you want...eat what you take.. any scraps go into the 'Larg Bins"...

 Some of us will come back  down tonight... Those stating at Shadow's Condo or mine, may come and go, but  once we get to  midnight..you stay at the  Condo until morning.... Tomorrow is a free day, everyone  may do what they wish, and we will have this section of the Beach... enjoy yourselves!, And we'll see you later...

 Disna and Puskie   talked  to Roy, Henry and Shadow about staying with the Largs, they would go up  if  anyone else , whom the largs  would listen too, showed up.

  As people walked up  towards the   Hotel, Larry and gregor  close to Roll and  Shadow, SM  ... Cross jogged over.

 ..LC?.. I am   LT Walt Cross... My unit of  Iron Guard are goig to be part of the hermes...

 Shadow nodded,<DarkGreen>..Aye, This i know...

 what i want to know...LC?  Am i goign to have an  on-goign problem with you?

 ..Plain and simple, LT Cross?.. Aye.   If SGT Froth continues to be a dick.. the  next 'training' episode, will more then likely be his last... any of your people decide  thay have to even the score.. , I'll bag then too. ..So the real question you should be asking is, " Can i control my people, or  do they did to get another Unit in here.."

 He stopped  and looked at Cross ( looking up)....I have people on our boat, right now..that if it was up to me, they would be walking to the nearest transport base for  re-assignment...or..just plain walking home... They don't give one damn fuck about The Hermes, or its people, and  only focus on then selves. For the Time beign, I'm stuck with them...but..i sure as the 9 hells  , don't have to let new folks  dance to that tune...So?  LT Cross?...think about it  tonight, and decide what its goign to be...my next decision will be final...

 Cross stood there, almost dumbfounded    as Shadow and shadow  walked  off  with a  glaring Larry....

 Cross    aught up to Roy and asked,how much of that can he get away with.. I mean.. LC or not, he's still just  the  WC...a pilot..how the  9 hells can he make  calls like that?

 Shoey was walking back and  just  started laughing, shaking his ehad, never looked back.

Henry told Disna and Puskie that he'd try and escape so that they could attend at least part of the ball, then called Mila and headed off, wondering how long it would take to get the sand out of her fur.

-> Condo.

Roy grinned a little sadly, and gave Cross a gentle push in the direction of the hotel and condos.  "You spend enough time out in the field, you learn there are certain people you listen to, because experience has shown that they're almost always right.  Admiral Hack and Captain Si listen to Shadow because the only person who might have a clearer read on crew members is me, and that's just because I have access to the personnel records.  And I'll tell you right now...if the situation he warned about becomes reality, he won't have to bounce your group off the Hermes...I'd do it myself.  That kind of horseshit is hell for shipboard security, and Shadow's earned his stripes, as it were, with most of the security and ground troops...so a unit that can't be trusted to deal square with him WON'T be trusted by them.  And I plain old can't afford a team of people that nobody trusts.  Doesn't matter if he can do it or not...if he feels like he needs to do it, your people have become a liability and we can't afford to waste the crew space.  So, yeah...either at the ball, or after, you need to ask yourself, and your team, if they can stop turning everything into a pissing match with Shadow.  And if the answer is no, do us all a favor and send someone else who can park their ego somewhere behind their good sense.  Otherwise, you're wasting your time, and ours, even coming aboard, because you won't be there long.  Can't think of a single case where someone who couldn't move past their beef with Shadow didn't end up trying to stab the whole ship in the back...so, yeah.  If Forth goes after Shadow again, expect him to wind up in a body bag.  And don't expect anyone in Command to bat an eye about it.  He's acting like the last dozen EDT assholes that tried to infiltrate the crew, and he'll be written off like one if he doesn't get his shit squared away."

While there was a flat hardness in his voice that left no doubt he was serious, there was also a genuine concern.  "I'd rather have no one at all come aboard than have someone tarnish the name of the Iron Guard...and the Corps...because he had to prove he had a bigger dick than Shadow.  Don't do that to us...not to the Hermes, or the Fleet, or the Guard, or the Corps.  I was proud to be able to tell Shadow you were Iron Guard, and some of the best of the best in the Corps.  Don't make a liar out of me, Lieutenant."

 after  people  left, the beach was a bit less crowded, there were some SEC  who stayed on the  Beach, Simms  and Rolfe   were two.

 Nifty  was there, he  stay up in a Lifguard  chair  with his rifle. making certain to have a Hermes   ball cap on.

 a few dozen  Civies  were    enjoying the beach and the free food and  freddie  kept his largs   movign to guard   the beach, while Tells  and Thor  were curled up  , where   Shadow had  relaxed before.

  After the folks left the beach area for the ball, Slick settled in to enjoy the open area and keep an eye on the kiddos.

  The kids  were playign an eating. They were starting to get used to the idea , that , for today, they didn't have to pay, for  food and drinks.


 the    Sun was going down  and    Silk wind screens  were  getting put up  , by the Hotel people. Braziers  were being lit for  heat and Light, and the Vid-J had his   assortment of lights   in the dancing area..there were alot of crew who didn't go the  the BAll, augmented by Civies.

 Largs  patrolled around the  area, some  from the water,  some on the grass , while  aa couple   laid  down by the boundaries , Nifty sat in the lifeguard chair, scanning the  area with his scope.

Jug and the Gava played with the kids until the guardians began getting most to sleep.  Soon there was wide areas of the cordoned off beach that were fairly empty.  Jug took this time to jog one end to the other in water a little past the ankles.  Finding a floating football left behind she picked it up and tossed it to Bog, who in turn tossed it to Liig, then Uvuvu, and so forth.  Soon all were passing it around, making each other go in the water or out.

   about  half the  'other kids" were taken up to the  Big Ugly to bed  down. a few others  were   laying on towels  with this shirts on  and covered with   another towel.

 the music  still played  as those  Adults who had stayed   watched overt the   quiet party. Disna and Puskie   made sure the   Largs  were gettign fed , with  Tess and Thor  being taken over to one of the braziers , to keep warmer.

 Some of the  foundry folks   and other Civies   played   volley ball as well as tossed a football around,  some of them  worked  with  Gava  who wanted to learn how to ctach and throw  a football.

Jug and the others were happy to teach the 'game'.  There was no scoring to keep track or or such.  Rules simple if you are on dry beach and had the ball you ran into the water to your ankles or so then throw to another person, hopefully not the one who threw to you.  Then who ever you threw to had to change from water to sand, or sand to water.  after the ball leaves you you can move back or stay in the sand or water.  For the Gava the simple game was to help coordination and moving quickly to catch and throw.  As well it helped teach to avoid obstacles like sleeping kids and the others playing volleyball.

  Watching all of the activity on the beach was a wonderful time for Slick, he watched and laughed, and sometimes threw the ball back to the gruips playing. Whenever a Larg would come near he would smile and talk to them, never trying to reach out and pet them. thought too much of his hands to risk doing something wrong and then losing it.
  He began to think of work and the things needing completed, and he truelly had to force himself to relax and not let his mind go to the lists of repairs and adjustments. Several times he caught himself shaking his head and bringing his eyes back to reality and see the sand and the water and folks, instead of the work bench, tools and parts of either this or that machine.
  Man Slick, you really need to let your mind stop working and relax.he told himself, standing he walked to the waters' edge and started walking in upto his chest. He looked around to make sure everyone in their area was enjoying themselves, he dove into the water to get work out of his head. He came up for a breath and realized he was thinking of electronics before he was underwater for even a few seconds. Shaking his head he kept swimming aloing the beach to get in the mode of NOT WORKING.

 when a   2nd  Big Ugly landed  next to the ESN  headquarters, about a  1/2 mile away, some of the grew  scared, others, paid no mind ( mostly the older ones)

  Iron Guard  troopers walked the  road   near the    Big Ugly that was  serving  as a 'hotel' of sorts  for the Stem kids. One of the newer  female troopers  Brought    Nifty  a hot  chocolate  , a sandwich and   a bowl of fruit, for him to eat  as he   sat in the lifeguard  chair.  he smiled his thanks and she  went off to the Vollyball  pits.

 with the  sun  just throwing  some stray  light towards   the station, More of the  fleet ships  could be seen as the light  hit the underside of the Hulls.

 fires were now brighter, as they were  liyt and fed to help provide  head as well as light., and the tired V-jay , played on

Someone sits down next to Slick and a raspy voice says “I never got Around to thanking you for helping with the repairs on the Immigrants Song.

    Kritz, an honest to goodness Largan was sitting next to slick.  “Your work was nicely done

 As he hears the voice near him, he turns toward it to acknowledge the comment, he is hard pressed for a split second not to show his suprise at the visage of the Largran sitting next to him.




  In his shock, he answers Kritz. Well.... er.... uh... okay, no worries. listen.... I'm not going to lie to you.... just a bit startled there for a second... I don't think I've ever been in this close of proximity to ..... 'one of your kind'.... shall we say. Sorry for that. I meant no offense. he turns to more squarly face the Largran sitting next to him, looks at him solidly for a second and then extends his hand out. I accept your thanks, and offer my hands and tools whenever and wherever needed for this fight, and I mean that to EVERY ally.

Kritz snorts indelicately, “Yet another sign of how ethically Un evolved my people have become, I’m still getting used to how humans can be generous and prejudice at the same time.”  He holds up his hand to forestall a response, “Largans as a species have earned it, but your honesty, while viewed as a weakness amongst my people, does you justice.  It is refreshing to speak the universal language of engineering to someone who can really understand it.”

Henry arrived on the beach area set aside for the Hermes people and looked around for the largs. Disna and Puskie wouldn't be far away.

Once he spotted them he headed in that direction.

"Hey, you two: time you went to the ball. Have fun."

He spoke cheerily, no need to upset them just because he was perturbed by what had gone on.

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 255):

  Well, as for engineering, I'm no engineer, I'm your basic mechanic 'slash' tinkerer. I just move into the realm of actually putting the idea together with the other teams that can make my stuff into a physical item so I can.... well.... continue tinkering.   he again turns so they can further see fully face to face. I like to turn wrenches see? and in doing so, I keep machines moving and running so the foot soldiers and the pilots can go do their thing. With the hopes of them making it back so I can MY thing. I really don't like the fact of being told i can't do something just because it may...or may not....have been tried before. I feel there is ALWAYS a reason to continue to try..That make sense?

   The Lizard man nods, “Perfect sense.  Engineers and mechanics are not revered amongst the Largan.  We are second class citizens and are the ones blamed when things go wrong.  We are given cheap parts, and limited funds as well as crippling instructions like “Use less armor and more guns.”  There are no questioning the orders or you are injured or even eaten.  We do not get the quality of food the others get which is why I don’t Usually see my new friends as food.”  He wobbles his hand “Though Reptile instincts are a bit reflexive about constitutes sustainance when I’m tired or frustrated so I have to continue to redesignate people as people sometimes.”

    Indeed I’m where you are in how I deal with the IS.  With the new armor, I have to upgrade the quality of the engine to compensate for the heavier armor.  Once the IS was a very fast ship.  She isn’t anymore.  I’m constantly trying to replace Largan scrap with rebuilt AP parts and then having to test them.  If I’d focused on the vectoring boots for the upper two engines, Garrat might Have been able to cripple the Mouse before it got off the heavy shot and escaped.”

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 258):

Nodding his head in the affirmative while Kritz speaks, he makes agreeable sounds as well, <iYes, you bets, and uh huh's</i> He understands greatly the problem of no supplies and tech to work with, but when the Largran speaks of food. He stops his head nods and listens intently. When Kritz is finished talking Slick adds to the conversation.
  Well, I'll tell you Kritz, first... maybe there is somewhere on this planet we can find supplies to either help the engines, or  actually upgrade them? I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be a negative  to start reaching up the chain of command to do some planetary searches for our technical help.
 Second.... If you ever start thinking you're getting 'hungry', please...PLEASE let me know a day or two ahead of time so I can ask for a transfer.?? He chuckles in honest humor to let the lizard know he was only joking.

 After several second of the laughter, he continues, Seriously tho, If there is any way I can help, I am at your service. He puts a stoic and serious face on, he places his right hand on his chest and gives a slight nod.

   Disna and Puskie  thanked Henry, and Nifty went  along  as well, his  rifle shoudler...

 The  Largs , One   By one  came in to    give Henry and   Mila  a nuzzle, before  goign back to thier  'posts'

Henry rubbed the head of each larg that came to him. He felt a bit better now, out in the fresh air and surrounded by animals.

He was still troubled though. Were they running the risk of becoming the very thing that they were trying to defeat?

In reply to Slick (msg # 259):

   Kritz nodded in response to slick, but looks confused about number two, almost missing the third point.

   Then his eyes get wide. "Oh, sorry.  I didn't mean to be threatening.  Actually your right to a point.  Garrat works hard to keep all of us feed well, and that Matriarch Gava is very good at looking after the crew.  You would never be on the...um...menu.  Our instincts are opportunistic so it was the more vulnerable crew members that would trigger them, and while a distraction, I wouldn't start munching on them any more than you would go to a food storage device and start snacking in your sleep."  He winces, "It was almost frustrating to be a part of the crew at first though.  I locked myself away in the engine room, and when Grandma as they call her found out why she had a talk with her people and they have been working me through it.  The older sister has been very helpful when I need someone on the counsels while I tweak the engines.  She has a good talent for it. 

    The supply chains Missy runs on the LG01 allow me to look at much of the equipment available and the scrap from the battles allows access to rebuilt equipment that is almost s good as new.  The machinist shop helps me alter equipment to the specks I need, but most of the time I have to rely on the investors of the ship to do that for me.  The Immigrants song was originally designed to lock onto the side of Largan Capital ships like a troop transport, indeed, the auxilary bays were originally made for troops and vehicles while the main bay for mechs, though it's main purpose was to act with others to punch a hole in enemy lines, and tie up fighters while the transports got through then clear a landing spot and put the first troops on the ground. Anyway I digress, you saw how it clips on to it's mother ship so we can board like walking from run room to another.  Originally that clip was damaged, and other than some damage to the forward scramjet stage of an upper engine, the IS had nothing but exterior damage from stray fighter shots.  So repairing it isn't so much a problem as upgrading  it to hold it's own with ESN ships.  The cost and the time it takes to figure out what works and how to use it has been the main challenge."  He shrugs, "Scrappers and mechanics invest time and credits for a share in the ship.  Garrat gets net worth by piloting it and investing time and credits in it.  Technically some of your buddies who helped get some mechs on board and get it flying when they picked it up have some shares.  Little did they know they picked three of us up in the process.  The female died when she and my buddy tried to escape on Aqua," He swallows hard, "He died last night."  It seemed he was going to say more but looking down he had trouble continuing.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Sat 14 Nov 2020.

In reply to Garrat Wolfrim (msg # 262):

As Slick listens, he begins to understand how the IS is set to work on repairs and gathering crew. he didn't know about the teams working on it were pretty much, volunteers. He had heard something like that, but it was now confirmed. He listens to Kritz talk about the food situation, but shakes his head no and waves his hands in front of him in a dismissive action to show him that he understands and is not offended.
  I do offer my condolences for your friends. And if there is anything I can do, I will gladly help, if given permission by the chain of command on the Hermes, and if the IS would have me. I can only offer my services as far as I can, they are limited however, like I said, I am a mechanic and can help to a certain degree.
 He makes sure that Kritz understands that he would be more than happy to help.

all the   kids who came  down  on the Big Ugly where  nestled in..The Kids  that came down from Shadow's  were   being herded  up to tents  set up on the ebach  to get out of the breeze and get   sleep.. the largs  closed    around  curling up  but  watching over the   tents and the BU.

 some of the  crew layed on the beach  covered with towels  or  beach blankets.. The Vid-J was   pulling away in his   hover   van , finally dome with his , very well paid gig

Henry sat dozing amidst the largs, waiting for Puskie and Disna to return from the ball. Then he'd go hunt up Val and make peace with her for running out on her.

  Disna, Puskie and  3 hotel workers  came  down to the beach  with  hot   meat scraps, bones  and   leavings...

 Disna   whistled   for them, Tess  who was   in a  tent with Thor and Can, looked out... Puskie  brought   some over  for her, but made her   eat outside the tent.. Thor stumbled  along to   gobble  up smaller bits.

 Disna  gave the hotel workers some loose  creds  and  settled in to watch the largs eat thier 'midnight snack.'

"Hope you had a good time, guys," said Henry, appropriating something for Mila to eat.

"I'd better go and apologise to Val for abandoning her. Come on, Mila."

-> Ball

After the kids went to bed the Gava decided to turn in as well they could rejoin in the morning.  She made a perimeter walk about before going to the condos, just in case and make sure any child or critter was not overlooked.

  Slick and Kritz spend the evening talking and generally chatting about nothing important after spending some time talking about work on the ship.

 When the kids are gathered and herded to their places for the night, Slick basically heads to the hotel for a nights sleep before heading to the IS in the morning.

(( morning after  Ball))

 med techs  helped the  Kids.. most of the Kids  were confused. The kids from the   condo understood  a little. They knew this was  special, and   were  eager to try 'pancakes'.

 getting  sectioned plates, the kids got   servings of   scrambled   eggs, bacon, toast and pancakes, they were asked  what kind of  'toppings' they wanted on the pancakes.

 med Techs  and some of the crew who stayed on the beach  took 'orders'  for white milk or chocolat  milk  or   fruit  jucies...

  Kids    ate happily  talking...most of them thanked   people again  and again, some  kids outright  cried  because they were overcome  by people taking care of them.  Adults  would   talk to them, the  crying slowed, and  smiles  came, culture shock, is not always bad.

:::::AM:::::

   Slick wakes, dresses, eats and then signals for a ride back to the IS to find a software writer/systems coder, and hardware shop to look for items to work on changes to the suits. His mind was working all night as he tried to relax, on several of the systems on the suits he would like to adjust or adapt or upgrade or completely change.
 He had mental notes in the morning and spent his meal drawing them on anything he could get them down on before he forgot them.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:21, Thu 26 Nov 2020.

   the  sun , warming the beach.. kids  were still chatting and giggling  as they ate,   Some of  the Everest Cleaning  crew  shifted the  sands to get any  cups  or  plates  that were  blown  by the 'wind', that came off the   sea.

 Disna  and Puskie  made  sure the Largs  will  gettign  fed. tess   and  moved  down to the  sand  after  eating , Thor    trying to  romp in the uneven  pockmarks of  footsteps  and   'castle' mounds.