(( c9ntinue here..after Matterhorn shore leave))

As she continued to quietly work on her paperwork it would be clear to anyone that cared to look that something was bothering her, however despite this Izzy would manage to put a considerable dent in the stack of files that had been left on her desk before she finally called it a day “Alright that’s enough, let’s head up to the rec dec and get something to eat” Izzy said throwing the last folder into her out tray ”come on Sam let’s go and see if we can’t take your mind off of your love life…you coming Remi?” she said as she got up from her desk and shut down her machine ready to go.

 Remy smiled slightly and gave a shake of her head...No thank you... I have another  2 hours on my shift. Thank you for  asking  though.

  The   SEC  was   rather  quiet, save  for the   stacks of   papers to  be sorted through.

 Sam worked hard on her stack, it kept her mind off of Roo. Sam put one folder completed and replied," Yes you are right enough for today. When you get done you can see if we are still on the Rec Dec, have a great day." Sam then shut everything down and secured it and got up from her desk. Sam then said," Ok lets get out of here."

--->>>>> To Rec Dec

----> Officers Quarters

Walking into SEC, Izzy would bid those currently on shift a good morning before retrieving another black coffee and firing up her terminal. Once she was logged in she would navigate her way to where the Delta night info was being stored and begin to work her way through it, looking for anything that might have been missed on the night or viable connections to other people or organisations that may require closer scrutiny.

 FFolkes was the only one on dty at the time. He seems a  bit out of  sorts.

 he  had a head set on and  was   a various  times,  arguing, chatting or ordering folks  at the other  end. After one  Call, he  slammed  down his  head set, when to the coffee pot  to  fix   Coffee..

 Its  bad  enough to miss out on the Run. But having to  put  up  with  idiots  . seems like every second one, doesn't know we're in a war...

 he  took an angry bit of a Jelly filled   donut and  was rewarded with  Jello on his   tuning, which he began to  clean while swearing around  a  mouthful of  jelly and  dough.

”Welcome to the crazy world of customer service” Izzy joked before offering the poor guy a sympathetic look ”Would you like me to cover the comms for a bit? Give you chance to grab a coffee and clear your head” she offered, suspecting that Folkes could do with a break from people and their stupid questions.

  Ffokes  shook his head,.. Naw... mosy of those  folks wouldn't  dare  to  try and snap like that if Beth, Or Lyri oe Shoey... but they  think  one of  the 'fill ins'  can be  pushed around

 I should be  running  the damn tunnels...that's going to help keep me alive..not talking to some  Desk Jockey who wants  to confirm  we  need  120 mags for   Gen 3 pulse rifles.

”Hmm true…but on the other hand not having a mag for your pulse rifle is liable to ruin your day too” Izzy pointed out as she continued to go through the data for Delta Night. As frustrating as fielding those kind of calls were, especially if there was somewhere you would rather be, they were still important ”Well let me know if you change your mind, I don’t mind fielding a few calls”she offered with a friendly smile before turning her attention back to her work.

  Ffokes finally cleaned the   jelly off, finished that doughnut and got a plain sugar one  to take back the desk he used.

  He shook  his   head  after  taking a sip of coffee...Pretty sure  we'd know if we didn't have  enough Mags  before  we  jumped off..,,,  I;m a combat Guy..I'm in here because we all have to take turns... you are more suited for office  stuff...I  don't know if you can relate  to takign part of stuff like that, being part of the crew...at least? I shouldn't have to do this  next time something comes up.

 He Put  his head  said on, he  was getting angry again, before  finishing with...what about  I  come down there... with a squad  of troopers...and   by all the gods , I bet we fine some AP  50 cal  rounds...what?..Yeah..I thought so..I'm forwarding this  conversation to LT Morrow's   desk...you can expect a call...

 lookign at  Izzy  he  holds both hands out to the  computer...see!...some   gods be damned pencil neck..bet he wanted to try and drive up the  price.

Izzy had started to open her mouth to explain that; yes they would know if they had enough magazines before they jumped off but that what she had meant was it was still important for someone to actually order them, before deciding against it. It wasn't important and this wasn't the hill she was going to die on. Instead she would consider what he had said before going on to reply "I've done both...I've worked in offices; making coffee, filing papers, talking to suppliers and all that, I've also been out in the field; served with a squad of guys I came to really like, done foot patrol in hostile territory, boot camp, firefights so on so forth so it means I can see it from both sides and yeah I will be the first to admit that I'm more suited to desk work than door kicking" she replied, though to be fair it was kind of obvious considering her diminutive size. She would then watch as Folkes once again lost his temper whilst on the phone causing Izzy to sigh before asking "Are you really sure you don't want me to do that for a while...I happen to be fluent in Desk Jockey"

  FFokes  frowned once more..well.... that would be great. But  I don't  think  I'd do any good at sort out info like you are.. Me?. unless its  Labeld.. 'this is bad  guy stuff"...i  may  miss it and we lose  something important...we're not going to lose the war, because some  gets mad at me for getting mad at them... beth will take care of them..If che  can't , they'll Have Captain Morris handle them..and if  its gets bad? they'll send the SM  or LC to  have a chat, next time we're in town.

 I mean?  I'm not the only one?  Maria  doesn't like this  either, but she better  at it then me...I think some of the guy callers  just try to get her   to wire out so they can hear a hot  Latino 's voice  with all that neat accent.

The  door  Opened Scarlett came in , her  hair plastered down  from sweating  in head gear. she opened the   locker  , taking out a small box  labeled "substance  checks'

 Ffoke looked up...You done?

she   flipped her wet  hair   as she  shook her  head,..no?  seems  the LC  and SM sniffed out   some losers  again...one  chick beat  the LC  bad in the first lap?, but the mercs have to run 2  more..she freaked out...they were  going to give her  another H2  shot, to finish  the  punishment?.... I thought it was odd?  LC  doesn't let anyone cheat of    his survival things..... Captain Si  sent me down  for  some substance  kits... I'd  hate to be them if he finds out they were Juicing...

 dammit..I miss out on everything.. any one coming down?

 Scarlett  smiled  as she  put her head gear on   and  gave him a sad tilt of her  head.Sorry FFolksie, The LC  said  people could leave whoa ren't part of the Punishment..but even the Brass is  running again, I want to get up there so i can get in that second run.... don't think anyone...well...maybe a pilto or two, who are goign to skip out  on the   extra  runs..they're going to want to see how the Mercs  and Heimdall people take to the  extra  running..

 gotta go.... see you later... she gave   Izzy a  finger wave  and   ran out the doors...

"Oh I wasn't worried about you upsetting someone, I was just offering you an out because it looks like being on the comms is driving you crazy" Izzy said, having made the offer simply because it had seemed like the right thing to do "...also I can't really blame them, Maria does have a very nice accent" Izzy jokingly added with a bit of a smile before Scarlett came running in.

After explaining what was going on in the tunnels, and breaking the news that Folkes would be in the office for the duration, She would grab a couple of drugs testing kits and quickly head out the door, with Izzy cheerfully returning the wave before turning her attention back to the boxes of "intel" on her desk. If she thought it would help she would have gladly offered to cover for Folkes so he could join the run, but unfortunately she had neither the pull or good will to get the SM to agree to such an arrangement, not to mention the fact that Folkes would be hard pressed to gear up and get to the tunnels in time to join in.

It was as she was trawling through a veritable mountain of receipts, bills and appliance manuals that Izzy would suddenly strike gold when she found a document with the word HEIMDALL printed upon it "Shit...I think I've found something" she said as much to herself as Folkes as she pulled out the file and began to read it's contents to see what exactly she had found.

Pulling on a headset Izzy would play the attached audio file of what sounded like an intercepted comms call. After playing it a second time Izzy would swear in a mix of Chinese and Japanese before pulling off her headset and looking for her comms unit ”Well Folkes it looks like you’re going to get some excitement after all because it sounds like we may have a problem” she said as she sent Roy a message.

 FFolkes looked over  at the  Izzy's desk.well?  At least something is happening...

 Mann   came  In taking his helmet off    and  wiping it  with a  gun rag, before placing it in his Locker... as he  checked his  weapon  and    placed it in  the clip  of his Locker, he  chuckled...you missed it... That Gunny Hill?  Kicked  the baby Larg... The Mom ate him...

 wish i could send the  Mom Larg through the COM Links.... dammit..i miss  everything...

It was several minutes later when Roy strode in, still in full combat gear and sweaty from the run, but still apparently with plenty of fuel left in the tank if he had to keep going.  "Okay...what's the news?" he asked, heading straight for Izzy.  He was all business...dispassionate and analytical.

With the look of someone that feared she may be overreacting and wasting someone's time, Izzy would quickly get up out of her chair the moment Roy started walking towards her in a business like "Sergeant Major I...I found this file lurking in amongst a load of rubbish and well...it's probably best if you listen to it yourself" she said holding out her headset for him to use. Once he had the headset on she would hit play on the audio file she had found;

"Sent this along...don't have much time. Bastards are killing people all over the station again..one of our people got away...says she has a prize... word has it, she was lucky... the hunters got called to another location...so...this isn't a total loss..." [sounds of wet coughing and some gunfire]

"...we got Aldo in...going by the name Nic? he found 'his  kind of target'...." [more  wet laughter and coughing, there were some shouts and screams in the background]

"...look.. I gotta go?..I don't think I'll make it, unless they are  all Gung Ho on the boss?...if I get out of here... I  COMM you from Anzio, if that Bastard Bren, hasn't killed  all our assets... Watch for Oscar...I think they could turn him... Nic should be good, he says his mark is eating out of his hand.. Glory to Vicrock..."

"There's a list of names attached to the bottom of the file...it looks like all of the Heimdall transfer they originally came here along with a pair of pilots...um...Nic and the guy he arrived with" Izzy nervously spoke once the recording came to an end with her pointing out the list of names which now included several deceased entries "I'm sorry if I'm overreacting or anything but to me it sounds like we need to round up all those that transferred from the Heimdall, including this Oscar guy he was worried about" she said before nervously waiting to see if Roy shared her opinion.

<<<< from tunnels

 Beth, Shadow , Kat and everyone else carrying the COM and  surveillance gear entered.. Shadow   sliding the  containers into their  slots.

  Beth asked Shadow , you washing up?

  Naw?  just something  small to eat  and  drink..I'm takign Hanger Duty in a little over an Hour, I'll shower  after that, Just going to get more  sweated in armor  walking the Dec. Just a  quick stp to put  by  gear in the crash compartment, I'll leave my armor  by my fighter..the up to the rec dec.

 I do not have the  duty  time, so I am for  shower, then food...  Kat left  after securing the chairs

Roy's face was an impassive mask as he listened to the message, only a slight clenching of his jaw betraying any reaction to it.  He set the headset down as Izzy began her explanation...

When she finally wrapped up, he gave a hint of a sigh.  "It's not exactly news...but it confirms suspicions that we've had about most of the Heimdall personnel since they got here."  If his tone betrayed any emotion, it was resignation, and he spent a moment pondering before he added, "That does explain a lot about Nic, and why, despite his combat record, he never suited up for anything outside the cockpit."  A little annoyance, in that one...

A few more moments of thought.  "Type up that list...I want a copy for myself, Master Chief Mullins, and Sergeant Shoemaker.  One of the Heimdall transfers is in Medical, right now...I think we need to look for opportunities to get them alone, and then put the screws to them and see what kind of information we can get out of them..."  He thought for another moment, then asked, "Can you get any sort of ID on the voice in the message?  If he's heading to Anzio, it would be good to give Bren a heads-up, and let him clean up the stragglers on that end."

 Once  Shadow  secured  Beths  Crates, he   said,I;ll be on the  rec dec, and   then on  duty in the Hnager..COM  me if  anyone needs  me..

..I'll be there soon, Just have to Upload the  running film for  next time.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>shadow  Rec dec

With a quick nod of her head Izzy would send a copy of the names to Roy, Lyri and Shoey via their comms units along with a quick message saying that the people listed were under suspicion and needed keeping an eye on. As to the identity of the mystery voice Izzy would have to see what she could find out ”I’ll see what I can dig up, even if it is just who the comms unit belonged to…though it’s also possible that he’s dead” she pointed out, after all he hadn’t sounded particularly healthy in that message ”Also if you’re planning on interviewing them individually you’ll need a way to stop them from taking to one another, because if word gets out that we’re on to them…” Izzy wasn’t all too sure on what exactly would happen but she doubted it would be good.

Roy's grin was unpleasant.  "Depending on what we find out from the first one or two, we won't need to worry about them talking to each other..."  He left unspoken the threat that was implied in the words.  "And we have to consider the possibility that this is planted misinformation.  It's not at all likely, especially with what we learned of the Heimdall's former command staff...but it's possible."

He scowled slightly, then added, "Try running the recording through a voice-print filter, once you find a name...that should help us verify if it's a borrowed comm or not...if it's someone important enough to have spoken in public a few times, it might even give us a match for the ID."

He nodded, adding, "Good find, Izzy.  Carry on.  I've got a ready-made situation with one of the transfers, waiting to be exploited."

He turned to leave, using his comm as he moved to contact Stefi and have her keep Zia isolated.  He'd argue with her over just which methods to use once he got to Med-Tech.

---- from Rec Dec>>>>


Just as TI-JO was reaching the door to SEC, it opened and he almost ran in to SM Spencer. Oh. Excuse me SM. he blurted out as he narrowly avoided the senior enlisted.

He stepped to the side to let Roy through. When he was clear of the threshold, the Corporal made a realization, and acted on it. Actually, SM, if I may ask, I know it's a bit below your duties to know all the details of every single duty roster on board, but, I was wondering, is there anything I need to be doing while we're underway to this jump off? The question had inflections of someone trying to be useful.

”I did consider that, I mean it’s pretty dumb to name all of your agents on an unencrypted message…however we’ve kind of have to assume it’s legit until proved otherwise” Izzy replied, edging on the side of caution knowing that there was at least one officer on the ship that would just flush the lot of them into space without any form of investigation.

After being told that she’d done good she would smile as much in relief that she hadn’t messed up as in response to the praise ”Thank you SM” she replied before continuing to try and uncover the speaker’s identity using a variety of methods including Roy’s suggestion of using a voice recognition program, hoping she would find something of use.

Flex, to answer TI-JO, since I'm actually currently in Med Tech...

Roy paused at the question, the flicker of annoyance in his eyes gone in a fraction of a second as he mentally reset from addressing the possible existence of enemy agents on board to assuring a new crew member about duties.

He turned around.  "Well, corporal, we've made it standard practice to not assign new personnel to duty until we've had a chance to get a measure of them.  The events that played out in the Tunnel run illustrate why.  Lapses in judgment, physical shortcomings, inability to adapt to the Hermes' operational practices...we've had problems with all of them in the past, so I don't plug anyone into the roster until I'm at least mildly confident that they won't screw the pooch in some spectacular fashion."  If the colloquialism escaped TI-JO's comprehension, Roy didn't show any signs of slowing down to explain it.

"You'll start getting duty assignments tomorrow, and you'll be paired with an experienced crew member who can familiarize you with the section of the ship you're working in and how to handle the more common issues.  For now, you're on your own time...I'd suggest getting familiar with the ship's overall layout and how to get around.  Avoid restricted areas...should be easy enough, because there will be armed guards telling you to proceed no further...listen to them when they say that, because they have absolutely no humor about people wandering through their areas.  If you find any regular Security troopers walking patrol, ask questions...get to know the people you'll be working with."

And, mentally, he apparently shifted gears, as his brows started to knit slightly.  "Now, I have a potential situation I have to assess, so I'm sorry I can't answer more questions or offer advice.  Ffolkes and Sakura, there, may be able to provide more insights."

His scowl deepened as he turned and headed off.

End Flex

The Corporal realized immediately that he had made a mistake by stopping the SM. The scowl faded while he was addressing him, for which he was grateful. He nodded at the right times as Roy explained his policy.

The SM was clearly in a hurry, so he didn't restrain him further as he headed off.

He was and wasn't given an assignment. He had a task to keep him occupied. He headed to the lifts to get a picture of the maps on his vidBoard. Then he set about to "wander" the ship, especially to the key areas he would need to know how to get to.

---- to "around the ship" >>>

It would take her around an hour of delving through various messages and comms signals, most of which had been dumped into junk folders, before she would finally discover that the message had originated from Everest station and had been sent to a ship around about the time of the Delta Night on the station but other than that the information was a little sparse “Guess I’m contacting EverSEC” Izzy said as she wrote a message to Captain Messe requesting any information she may have on the message, who on Everest had sent it and to what ship it had gone to, with Izzy attaching all of the relevant data that Captain Messe would need.

the message was tagged received and Open about   1 minute  after being sent. A COM message popped up on Izzy's computer.

  Ziss is  CAptain  Messe. I have seen your   question . Durning  Delta Night, there was many who sought to escape the station...some  were civis who did not  want to  be  part of ze  body  count..Qui?  We  did  catch  3 EDT people who were..as they say..'2nd string?"...we   have not the arrogance  to think we  caught all?

 zere was  3 ships, in our orbit, that were...how you say...independent Mostly..zey  are the mercenaries?... ze flight plans had   zem go to Etna, and  Nivar?.. Zere is
 some chance, some one  smuggled  zemselves aboard..or ze  ships  smuggled  zem  away..As far
 as  ze COMs... we cannot  get  ze track..some of ze countermeasures, ze fleet uses during
 Delta Nights, also  hamper our  own COMs  and such...

 Zere was a   ship...it is.....ze  Honey Badger...it   had  went to Etna, before  ze fleet left here....Ze others  are 'Callo' went to Nivar, and  ze ship 'Buck's Promise' was sailing to  Ze Sol system?

  we have  no further  information from Zem?

It wasn’t the conclusive answer she’d hoped for but it was something at least ”ok, thanks for the intel, if you find anything else let me know” Izzy sent back before feeding the three ships into the system to see if any of them appeared elsewhere either within the mountains of Delta night intel or their database.

It was as her system was running a search that Izzy would take a moment to reply to Lizzy’s message ”Sounds good babe, I’ll try and meet you for lunch, the SM has me working on something which is proving to be harder than I’d like, so here’s hoping ” With the message sent she would turn her attention back to the task at hand.

   The  door Opened  Maria  and Mann entered...They had  some carry cartons,  placing a  6 inch  sub in front of Izzy and  FFolkes , along with a   cola, before sitting at a desk with thier own..

  FFolkes gave a nod of thanks  as he sipped the soda  before   unwrapping   his  sub, there was a COM call and he began to talk to , whomever  was  on the other   End..Mann and MAria   turned  and watched   as he  slammed into, whomever was on the other  end  and  sent them a Link to the supply ships...

 he was about to take a bite when he notices the two staring at him..what?

 You know...My friend, it  is  not  very nice   to  swear at some  one, who ....

Mann took a bite  of his sandwich   and tried to talk through it...someone who has  more Brass on thier Shoulders then you....

 FFolkes frowned,...we  are Hermes  SEC..right?  we should be  getting calls about SEC  stuff..not  supply chain and are there   any people looking for transfers? Transfers are made  at docks.... only people we get after that are requested...or? some one got  rid of them, and they end up here.

 You..mia  Amigo..need   some  downtime....

 easy for you to say..you got to go on the run...

 Mann  shook his head  as he was typing away,you know its not supposed to be fun..right...its a measuring stick...

 I Like it.... I ran the beach  the first day of shore leave...

 you..are Muy  , strange, Amigo...

FFolkes looked at her  sandwich from where he sat...you don't have lettuce on there...what is that..

 It is Astra Sundown...it had  4 kinds of hot peppers, with   some kind of Hot sauce  from Bura...and i added  chilie peppers ...

Mann shook his head,you should tke that off the papers , before it catches them on fire...

Izzy wasn’t sure how long she’d been glaring at the screen hoping to find some piece of actionable intel when the sandwich was placed in front of her ”oh…thank you” she replied in a surprised voice having not expected to be included in the sandwich run. As she unwrapped her sub, she would listen as Folkes received another call, with the the others teasing him over his reaction ”oh he’s been doing that all morning! I did offer to cover the comms for him but I guess he’s a masochist” Izzy joked with a bit of a giggle before giving Mara an approving look when she spoke about the contents of her sandwich ”Sounds good to me, then again I like spicy food” she said as she scrolled through another file looking for any reference to the ships Messe had mentioned. The one destined for the Sol system seemed a good bet but she was kind of worried that it was a little too obvious and would prove to be a red herring.

---->>>>>> From Rec Dec

 Sam walked into SEC and smiled at everyone, then said, " Hello everyone, any big breaking news as of yet today, besides the tunnel run of course." Sam giggled and took a seat at her computer and begin to sign in and add her codes.

   Mann pointed to Ffolkes.....yeah?  Ffokes is jealous  Maria  has a  better sounding Voice them him...

  This would  be  well know fact, Si? Maria  said.

 Ffokes looked at  Man as he ate his sandwich and shook his head.

 Sam giggled and replied," I think I have a better voice too, and yes; it is a well-known fact, Maria." Sam then began working on her pile of reports and files

 Sam then looked over at Izzy and said," How are you doing Izzy need any help with anything?"

Izzy would manage to maintain the "Reporter" smile on her face long enough to hang up her call with Roy before launching into a tirade of angry Chinese directed at her screen. It was as she was in the process of angrily sorting through the junk file that Sam would arrive with Izzy giggling at the comments concerning Folkes, and Maria's accent "yeah there's no denying it...your accent is hot Maria, wish I had one like it but Chinese unfortunately doesn't have the same level of sexiness" she said with a laugh before giving Sam a weary sigh when asked how she was doing "Not too bad, been trying to sort through this Delta Nights intel but it's proving to be a nightmare! The SM is following up on a lead I found that hinted the Heimdall troopers were a traitor unit...or had traitors in it...but anyway I've been trying to track down the original sender of the message but I'm just getting confused now" she said in a frustrated voice "I think I'm going to have to take a break and go and see Lizzy for a bit...maybe inspiration will hit me while I'm away"

  Beth and  Roles  walked in , Beth was   still doing a 'not-so-slow' burn

 Roles had a  weary look on his face... Don't  call Kray?  what do you think will happen  if you call him..

 Beth sat down in her Chair, a vexed look on her face as she held up her COM...I dunno?  He  Kill Fred?..maybe just beat the  9 hells out of him...alot...

 ..is that what you want?

  Beth  shrugged and stared to type.

 Maria looked over,Amiga?  This  is not the Way.... let  The LC  find out on his own..he will cause much greater Pain that way!

 Roles Looked  at MAria, she smiled.

 ..Just..No>  There is plenty of time  for  shadow to take his head...right now.. we may need  White to stop some bullets..

 Beth rolled her  eyes...Finnnne..... Fred gets to Livvvve.... damn spoil sports...

 she takes a Deep breath, and  opens her  computer, Hooking up some Vidboards  to it...ok? who am I trying to get a hold of...

 Arthur  Church. I met him when   i was first assigned to the Harvester,,, we did  some runs together  before out Captain   Died  and I was promoted.. he stay..about 6 months before  we hooked up with The Hermes... Church   went to the 'union Hall' on Tortuga, and Hired out with some folks, he tried to stay out of the war , and  took protection jobs and such... he is  with the Arch-Tech on  E-1 now...

 Alright... you want your Sig, ot The hermes Sig...

 use  The Hermes Sig/// i don't want them to know  i'm here..they think I'm on Matterhorn  recruting  people for   our  EMS, Delta Fleet ships

 Sam smiled at Izzy and replied," That sounds good when I get like that, I walk away clear my head and restart. Did you want me to take a look?" Sam said not to say Izzy couldn't do it but to help her friend because she looked frustrated. " If we need you badly I will give you a comm message ok Izzy, go see Lizzy. From the sounds of that message she will be busy tomorrow." She will smile at Izzy as she heads out.

Izzy would consider what Sam had said before nodding her head ”sure…can’t hurt to cast a different set of eyes over it” she said, taking a moment to show Sam the original recording and what she had found so far before sending Lizzy an apologetic message saying she would meet her on the rec dec shortly ”see you in a bit guys, comm me if you need me” she cheerfully said as she hurried out of the room knowing that she was more than a little late.

——>Rec Dec

  Beth  gets a COM  back. Church is  on the other end.....This is Arthur Church.  we are expecting the  Rescue teams to arrived  sometime after Mid-day tomorrow.... I will make certain I  am at the LZ, so I can talk to the  person in charge of the  assault troops...its been  a bit quiet, Small fire fights,,, ESN Outposts  report the  same..One LT from the outpost to the North, feels  like they are trying to keep every hemmed in..There is something  going on down here, most of the mercs  are just doing , whatever they are told, But the Arch techs  spend way too much time in the Bowels of this ship..it  creeps me out.. I  am going to wipe this from My COM... I'll see whomever is in charge when they get here... Church out...

 well? I don't liike that, When the SM  Comes in  play that for him, I'm goign back up and talk with the Board...

  Rolesleft on the heels of Izzy, beth was  scrubbing the SIG  trail so no one  could  trace it, unless they had  piggybacked in,,,after that thought, seh  ran sniffers to make sure  there wasn't a tag-a-long

  Shade, Maria, Sims  and Ellen  entered the SEC, dressed, but  flsutered.

  Lyri Loked them  over.. they all had a bit of a blush going, Shade..it was hard to tell, but his  eyes    were  blue/green

  Nice  of you 4   to join us? But  don't  worry, those  people a=out there are Dead..right?  no need  to hurry..

Honor Guard... Zob, Shade, Vaka, Lirg Cora Will, and Rolfe... Simms, go to med tech, Frakas  is in a hover chair, he wants to be present.everyone else  , form  up  with the   troops..

 Shade, You have the Flag... let go out the dot  and wait for the admiral.

------>>>>> From Rec Dec

 Sam looked at Izzy and said before they walked into SEC," Yeah I saw that, I didnt hear what she said, well we do know Lizzy is very emotional give it a little bit she will probably calm down, do you have any idea what it might be about?" Sam held her friends hand, and waited for her response before going into SEC and getting to work.

  beth was in the  Office, she had  two  Tables   ready as well as  two  'heavy Duty' Vidboards to  track the    Runners with.

  Cora   came in and Looked at  Beth.I want to run!

 Beth  shrugged  as she rolled up  some   extra  Vidboards  to carry in her satchel. Izzy isn't running, we  need someone  to be with her  while we are Gone.., You have been Mother Hen, these last couple Jump Offs.. you're elected...

 wait?... so I can't run? because she won't?..WTF is that! she turned  and looked  towards Izzy.

 well?  I know  Orria  wants to run...  we can  have Izzy be our Cable  Girl and  let  Orria  run,  we'll just lock down the office.

 well..yeah????  do that..i want to  run!

  Beth looked frustrated, like  a school teacher..alright  Izzy.. you're gonna  come up and   do  and undo the Cables, so orria and Cora   can run..
 

——> Rec Dec

“Hmm maybe” Izzy quietly replied in a voice that suggested that that might be some of the problem ”I don’t know, She said she was off to speak to that new shrink or hit the SIMs so I said I may as well go to SEC at which point she stormed off…I mean she was uptight about me not wanting to run for some reason” Izzy replied clearly not understanding why Lizzy had gotten so upset over her not wanting to attend the run “I honestly don’t know Sam, I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to need to sleep on your couch tonight” she said in an anxious voice as she desperately tried to figure out what she’d done wrong.

When they finally stepped into SEC things would only get worse as she stepped into an argument between Beth and Cora about how Cora couldn’t go on the run because Izzy wasn’t, though considering that Izzy was yet to tell anyone this she was unsure as to how Beth had learnt this ”What!? Don’t drag me into this, as much as I appreciated Cora having my back down there I don’t need anyone watching over me on the Hermes…I was going to volunteer to watch SEC so someone COULD go on the run, honestly I have a mountain of intel to sort through I’ll be fine on my own” she said hoping to persuade Beth that she would be fine on her own but not holding out much hope.

 Sam looked at Izzy and said," Well she has been through a lot, maybe she just wants to see you succeed and find what did she say before your calling for the war was it. Izzy my quarters are huge so sure you are welcome to stay with me if it comes to that."

 Sam walked in with Izzy and listened to Beth and Cora. Sam went to her computer logged in and then got everything set up and ready for the tunnel run. Sam added," I Think Izzy will be fine here by herself she can handle it or we can lock it up and Izzy can come help us and at least be at the tunnel run." She gave Izzy a wink thinking that might help her Lizzy situation if Lizzy saw her at least helping with the tunnel run.

 Sam then added to Izzy," There will be down time you can bring the intel with you and work on it while you are down there."

 Beth Looked  a  bit sternly at Izzy, not  with condemnation ,You are in  SEC, because you are,,, as close   to a trained COM Tech  as we have, Outside of.. Magin. You are also considered a trooper....

 I can't leave you here by yourself..there is enough baggae  from the last year with the   Reporter  who took the long walk..and Vairous  confrontations with  offciers..including. Myself.  Now?  You can   come  and  work the wires, and  do the  'build up, tear down thing'..or , you can  be  considered  ;off duty'  and  you can take  the LAte  wacth with whomever's turn it is..

  she  shrugged  and pursed her lips in thought.of?  You can Go over my head to the SM  or Shadow and see what they think.

"Maybe I haven't got a calling, has she ever considered that? We can't all be heroes you know" Izzy replied in exasperation with her not really knowing what Lizzy wanted of her, though she was grateful for the offer of somewhere to stay tonight.

With her having not really expected Beth to actually change her mind Izzy wasn't overly disappointed when she said no, though she was rather hurt by the fact that nobody trusted her. After spending all of four seconds considering whether to speak to Roy or not and deciding it wasn't worth the backlash, she would then spend around the same amount of time considering her options in order to find the lesser of two evils "Guess I'll be running tomorrow" she replied finding it only marginally better than the make busy work of running cables or working the late shift, with the only consolation being that it might keep Lizzy happy.

Once that was sorted out she would head over to her desk to begin work on her paperwork.

 beth looked at her,The Tunnel  run is  in about  4 hours, give or take... I'm sure there will be a special one  for  the transfers coming in tomorrow.. But we're Running to day...

  She turns  to the Door and says,every damn person on the ship is  supposed to be a hero.....we  got Stem  Kids  that make the EDT look like  cub scouts.

  over the years out here, there has  been  some  folks  who decide they don't like to  do  somehting....but if you want to get on the bad side of the LC..just half ass what you're  doing, or worse  yet, act like you don't give a damn,  you'll get nudged   closer to the static  field  each time.... we  ran out of fucks to give, for those  who are too self centered to step up... Your   'buddy' drained that Bottle...

she walked out the door. Lyri was  settling her breast plate on...SM  may let you stand down?... heck, he may even let you here  by yourself..but that's  not going to buy you any respect...no one here can  make  you a shipmate, we all tried that before  with the other one... all of us got slapped  back for it, Including the LC....wasn't long ago? beth Got yiu some information, and you came in here bitching at her...we won't go into Hanger  dec things, and cheating on a survival run..

 she  clapped on the   thigh plates  to the mesh...a couple weeks..maybe a month.. you could be hanging on the rec dec  laughing with everyone  esle....or you could be hiding in your quarters.. This..Trooper   Sakura. Is all on you... New time to do newer and smarter things...or..stay as you are, and home that that doesn't fast track you to the Deltas.

 She  grabbed   one of the   tables  and had her sniper  rifle as she walked out the  door.

 Cora  lked at her   and SamSam's gotta be going  soon....Look? no one  expects you  to beat a larg in the tunnels? and No one even expects  you to Beat Roll!... You want to stay..I gotta  stay.. I have been  dubbed ' Stirfry's   babysitter"... if  its  something that bothers you enough, Ask the SM..... You ask the LC.. he won't be surprised..and he'll just refer  you to the SM  anyway she raised her eyebrow   waiting for an answer.

 Sam listened to everyone and they weren't wrong Izzy was her friend but everyone here was a hero if they wanted to be. Yeah Sam knew she wasnt a special forces commando and killed hundreds of bad guys, but she had her skills and found her purpose during this war and will do her best to win it or die trying.

 Sam began packing everything up and then added," Izzy they are right you can be a hero you just need to want to be a hero and do things the right way, fi you dont know what that is then ask we will help you if we see that you really want it and take it to heart, I am and will always be your friend but I guess it is time to see what Ens Izzy Sakura is really made of, I honestly think that is what is eating at Lizzy as well. Just think on that, I have to go."

 Sam got all her stuff together and ehaded down to set up for the tunnel run.

---->>>> To tunnels.

Although she wasn’t sulking as such Izzy was certainly subdued as everyone piled in with their opinions, though she would give Beth  a surprised look with her having thought that the run was the following morning ”Oh…I should probably find my armour” She quietly replied with her having hoped to hide under a pile of paperwork for a few hours and take a little comfort in doing something tedious. Not that she was avoiding Lizzy or anything.

After giving Cora a look that said she wouldn’t be seen dead asking anything of the LC, Izzy would sigh before responding “I’m more worried about tripping over Roll or getting run over by one of the Largs, there’s a reason I walk with Lizzy on this side of me” she said indicating her good side before continuing ”…I said I would go so I’ll go” She said with the air of someone that expected to do badly and was less than convinced by Sam’s assertions that she could be a hero by simply wanting to be one.

She would leave with Sam and follow her as far as the lifts at which point she would head head for her quarters to change into her armour.

——> Officers Quarters

 Cora  gave  her a  firm, if not understand  smile.That's all you ned to do... show  up and sucking, is better then hiding...but...

she added as they reached the door,// SM?...LC...even Lyri?... you suck while you're trying, that's  cool.. you suck because  you don't?..yeah..that never  ends  well. Do yur best, no one will say a damn thing..heck? You might even beat Roll or Orria!m she Giggled   as  the folowed Sam.

>>>>>>>>Tunnels

----> From Civie Section

It was a interesting day he still had Madison a bit on his mind but he had to snap out of it and focus and he did just that as he walked on in and made his way over to the coffee and got himself a cup, "What's on the agenda today?" he asked making small talk.

------>>>> From Rec Dec

 NA-CE walked into SEC and looked around she saw people moved towards them and then said," Hello Corporal NA-CE Combat Med Tech reporting for duty, or do I report into Med Tech I am not sure how it is done here on the Tip of the Spear the Hermes."

 Beth was sitting  at her Desk by the Door, she was  tapping away and checking screens. Well?  right now there are  folks doing patrols, and we have a couple empty Desks  if you want to sort through   info...but  its  not very exciting

she pointed to one empty desk,leave that one open,  The Burian  Offcier uses that,

 NA-CE nodded and replied," Thank you Lt. I can help out I am just not sure if I report here or to Med Tech that was still unclear to me." NA-CE didn't want to fuck up on her first day to bad.

you'll get put into the rotation of  patrols and such..SEC  does patrols..we have  'walking wounded' at the Lifts  and  various doors.

 see what you want to do, or   check out the ship?

 NA-CE smiled then said," Thank you Lt. I think I will take a tour of the ship, and maybe stop at Med Tech." NA-CE then went to the map of the ship and memorized what she could and then began her tour of the ship. NA-CE then headed for Med Tech first.

-------->>>>> to Med Tech

Roy strode in, sitting down with the Duty Officer to put together a message informing all SEC and ground personnel about the upcoming High Intensity Survival Training exercise that Shadow was putting together on Bura.  It was similar to the kind of note he sent out about the tunnel runs...not mandatory but highly encouraged...but he also emphasized that it was a live-fire exercise in a potentially compromised section of the planet.  Unlike the tunnel runs, this meant that all participants were to carry weapons locked and loaded and should expect to need to defend themselves against hostile action from either indigenous wildlife OR lurking enemy forces.

"Failure to participate will not be noted against your record, officially; but it WILL be taken into consideration during upcoming operations.  Weigh your decision to participate carefully.  Crew members HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED in past HIST exercises, and there is a very real chance that participants could die.  That said, the risk is lower than it is in any combat operation.  See those of you participating on the Hangar Dec at the indicated departure hour."

------->>>>>>> From Rec Dec via Quarters.

 Sam walked into SEC and checked the board, she then went to her station and began setting it up." Hello Beth, what do we have that I can work on?"

  Beth   shook her  head...we got alot of codes to send out  for all those  ships  the  SSN and   Empire  gave us, awful nice of them to so that she  giggled

  we have to watch the COMs  as well  , to see if  anyone  is sending anything into
 the Sol System.... We  want Olympus  to know, we  won't be that far away...

  Lyri  was looking through her  Locker checking out her  chest pates, to see which one she would use.either of you doing the  Survival run?

Beth laughs,i do a tunnel run..like..once a week? What makes you think i would  run through the  forest with  giant  animals  who want to eat me?

Half the Gava squad and Jug came into the SEC to begin their shifts. Jug checked the messages and their duty roster for next 12 hours. It showed the option for the training.  She agreed to be there then left for the others to join or not.  Seeing Roy after reading and checking she spoke "Gava squad will be there, Sergent Major.  Do you want us as a group, pairs, together, or in another option?" she asked.

Roy weighed the question.  There were a lot of ways it could be answered, but he quickly narrowed the field to just one.

"It's battlefield training.  Run it in whatever way you think you'd be most likely to group in an actual combat situation.  Unless LC Shadow says otherwise, of course...it is HIS exercise, after all, we're just tagging along to take advantage of the arrangements."

<<<<<< Shadow from OB  dec.

 The  door  hissed open, The LC  entered,  nodding to  those who were there.   reaching for the  SHIP's COM..he announced.

  NOW HEAR THIS.....WE ARE ROUGHLY  14 HOURS OUT FROM  BURA, WE WILL ARRIVE  AT  4:00AM , BURA TIME.... WITHIN TWO HOURS  OF REACHING BURA.. ALL PILOTS, AXCEPT FOR SHUTTLE JOCKS  WILL REPORT TO THE HNAGER DEC, WITH  FLIGHT ARMOR  AND CRASH KIT. ANY SEC CREW WHO  ARE JOINING IN SURVIVAL RUN, SHOULD REPORT AS WELL.... ALL INVOLVED SHOULD GET REST. WE WILL BE
 GOIGN INTO  , WHAT IS CONSIDERED, HOSTILE TERRITORY...WE EXPECT SOME  INJURIES. IF YOU TRAINED WELL, WE DO NOT EXPECT  DEATHS....AGAIN...14  HOURS I WILL MAKE ON REMINDER..PILOTS WHO MISS THE CALL, WILL NOT BE FLYING FOR THE HERMES ..THAT IS  ALL...

  Shadow  looked at the  coffee pot, but decided against it, he did take a doughnut.

 Beth looked up,...you could  just have a  'hunt and chase' with our own people?

 Shadow  tried to talk around his doughnut.we could..yeah?... but i may was well just set up a trackmeet or something..and even then, no one   would  'put out' to get the  exercise  done? This is more  dangerous?  so it  will make them work harder  then a simple competition  , and its  an upgrade over  running the tunnels, in that, they must  over come  the terrain and  any animals... the Bonus is, Running into pockets of  Dusters  or Empire  folks....about  15 minutes after   we enter the  trees, the Burian Rangers  will  sned  some two man teams in to  follow us, incase  we have firefights, or  someone goes  down with an Injury.

 Lyri shakes her  head...there are..what?  3  ships in the whole  fleet that do this?

 Aye.. and those  three ships  have a better recovery rate  then all the others..

 Sam giggled at Lyri and said," I made my firs tunnel run ever on the last one with Beth, I am not running in the woods in that dangerous section of Bura no thank you I will stay with my comms and computers thank you."

 Sam went to work and then the LC came in, he made his announcement. "Bura is beautiful but dangerous as well, I will handle the comms with the Burians and calls for retrievals."

"I'll take it.  I'll have my people near each other but I think groups of 3 to be good.  Bog and Uvuvu in charge of the others" Jug smiled her big tooth grin.  popping off some brown coats might be nice. She moved with other gava to complete their rounds then get some sleep before 4am.

Roy gave Jug a nod, and looked at Lyri.  "I'm surprised, Master Chief, that you'd downplay the value of HIST exercises.  You know performance under REAL fire can differ tremendously from what gets shown on the training range."

He shot Shadow a glance, and added, "Now, granted, the LC's zeal is a little out of the ordinary...but it's not really survival training if there's pretty much no question that everyone is going to survive.  When the threat is real and immediate, and the adrenaline kicks in...THAT is when you see what your people are really made of.  And more importantly, that's when THEY see what they're really made of.  We can swat down the big-talkers in the tunnel runs...but that can just as easily breed blind resentment against us as it can break them down to rebuild better.  When they're out there, in the undergrowth, relying on their training to keep them moving the right direction and never knowing whether or not their next step will bring them face to face with something that's going to try and eat them?  They get humble real fast, assuming they're actually made out of good enough stuff to hold it together and not actually get eaten."

He shrugged.  "Every decent military in Earth's history had some kind of high-risk survival training exercise.  No reason to surrender the tradition just because we left the planet."

  There is   a bit of a frown from Lyri.naw.... I like doing this?  if someone gets  hurt, or even dies, it was  just their  time. The who exercise  is to make sure, no one 'hits their  time' when you're doing a  run

 She looks at Shadow,why doesn't the Admiral make every one do this?

 what?.. I'm an 'Admiral Expert ' now? eh said ,  fighting to eat his  doughnut as he talked.

 She gave him a raised  eyebrow, Beth sat back  in her chair  and crossed her  arms , an eyebrow  , rose there as well..

  Looking  around at folks in the SEC, Even Nagy  waited, though he grinned.A sigh  came out, as he swallowed the  currant  bite. Look?  Admiral HAck  runs the fleet , way, way different then the ESN fleets  we  left behind...he runs it  different then the   fleets  the  of the  Carrirstatons?...so? he allows  al the  captains to  do with their  crew what they want, as long as they are ready for the next jump off.

he shrugs...so?  we run here. Look at  those   Bananas? They still can't wrap their heads  around, how  to  train Largs?..not all folks   can train their people like ours....even Cummings? Look at him.. all of those transportbases  have people trained, alot like us...every now and then you  get some  dumbass.. but  we get them here too...

 Like  the guy who was in command of that Transport bas on the  One Eyed JAck's  egg planet..

  yeah...lots of those types... i hope  i run into him on shore leave  somewhere.

"Besides," Roy chimed in, "not everyone on the ship faces these kinds of risks.  I figure the infantry faces danger on a pretty regular basis, so I don't feel any need to make exercises like this compulsory.  But I also know that the people who show up for something like this are serious...they want to prove to themselves that they can cut it in heavy traffic, which is why I prioritize them when it comes time to choose people for combat operations, especially when it's high-risk and I can only take a handful of people in...the people who've stared Danger in the face and waited for it to blink first are the ones I know I can put in damned near any situation and know they won't lose their heads."

He shrugged, and continued, "But ground crews?  They're supposed to focus on fixing planes, not combat survival techniques, and pulling them off the flight line to test their combat reflexes in the jungle would piss Rivets right off. QM personnel are busy keeping track of inventory and requisitions, they don't need to be sent out into the brush to prove anything to anyone.  If they WANT to participate, I'm sure they can request the assignment for the day...but there's a lot of people on this ship whose job is, primarily, to enable us to get out there and fight the war.  Only if the enemy gets around us are any of those people supposed to see combat...and let's face it, if we're in a position where Bridge personnel are shot down on a planet, we're WAY past anything any of us have actually trained for."

He shot a look at Shadow, before adding, "Now, pilots...well, they're a special case.  Because they ARE out there on the front line, in terms of risk, but if all goes well, they'll never have to get face-to-face with the enemy.  HIST exercises are good for them because they know, when stuff does NOT go well, that they've got the fortitude to pull through.  Getting shot down is a major morale buster, and if you're shot down behind enemy lines or out in no-man's-land, you need every bit of morale and confidence you can get, and knowing you can deal with the threat on the ground is a great start in the process of getting back to friendly forces."

  Shadow points to Roy  as he  selects  another doughnut...and there isthe winner... our SEC troopers are also  'marines', regardless  of  which branch the signed up for.... Most , if not all of them would be...could be..SEALs  and Rangers  and all that stuff on earth in the old services...

he  shrugs  as he sips a coffee  after taking a small bite,all the stuff  the  fixed  for  space travel with Gravity, food and, of course, Angel food? allows  us all to be out here without adverse  effects  to our bodies..well..outside of getting blown up...shot..eaten...

  a couple things  come to mind, and not me? because i was trained for this  stuff..I SHOULD..beable to do it. But look  at when the  Red Birds Jumped us  on Aqra? Noone had a clue, and we took losses, and people crashed... Kat ran her  ass off to reach out lines...and  went back up  to knock people down. Eckels crashed and Panicked,  i was   ...um... lucky enough?  to  crash near her   and get her Moving towards  are Lines    he grins,where i needed to  be   helped  By Roy and his gang....But  she should have been dead...right?... once she  got   got rid of the  shock she managed to  make it to our lines...

 and we have   Lizzy and  Nikki running from bad guys and Briss on Roussa... at least three others, including Howe, were brought  back from the front, because they kept thier heads  and ran like the 9 hells  we're after them

 Lyri shakes her head...me and  Captain SI  picked you up in Iran after a week of  running?

 Shadow waved that off...that was  the deluxe  package of  a survival run...

 and  The Green Moon....

 Yeah?  that was a bit scary since i had  no idea where to go, excpet for  the  co-ordinace CAptain Si gave me..hey?  we made some buddies  down there..those   Spider Gators...

 ..Naragrans....

 whatever..they are kind  cool, if they aren't trying to eat you...

Bottom line, Let's take it to its  simplest form,, Roy  nailed it?... you are stuck behind the bad guys lines? Maybe you're cut off from your unit..or you buddies got killed? or you  POD out  and land  in that  mess? , do you sit  down  and wait to be captured?  Do you hide  and  CAll on COMs  and hope  people can get to you? Or do you run like hell, Fighting along the way...AND... use your COM... The very fact that those who run, know that they can run, with their gear, could be  the difference . Most of the peope don't understand that, until they have to use it.. If they cheated themselevs in the tunnels, they'll pay  for it  out there.

 ..now? its  time  this   LC  heads to his quarters  to get ready for tomorrow.... he looks at Roy,Those  Nivarians  want to train with   our Largs and Mila....I can't see  anything good happening there, Unless they ...REALLY..want to learn from our way?

"LC?  It's not just running.  You teach them not to panick, true.  You teach them to use brain as they run.  A fast body can still be dead body if they not watching and thinking what they do." Jug said after making her patrol lap.  She overheard Shadow talk of others running to safety "Got to think where your safe line is.  just running you might run into enemy you meant to run from.  Or miss a set trap, walk into or off cliff in haste.  If you not thinking as you run"
other Gava with her wandered in

  aye to that, Jug.... in the field. the ebach head  always  has  Blue  smoke...we'll use others colors as well... if you find an enemy group that is too big  you set off Red...if  you are trapped and need  airlifted, or  reinforcements, there is  Yellow..for a place  we took over  and held...Green

 so? when the Big Ugly is finished   dropping folks off, they will  land  at our Target area and send up Blue  smoke... everyone on the survival run has to make their way there

Roy nodded at Jug's comment.  "Probably ninety-five percent of all the exercises any combat forces do as training is just boosting confidence and self-reliance.  I mean, I can count on the fingers of no hands the number of times I've had to run over a trench on a log in actual combat.  But damned if some part of my brain didn't hearken back to those boot-camp confidence courses when I was scrambling around beams and girders on Anzio or Fuji.  I wasn't worried about falling off them, because I already knew I could get across them.  Hell, they even had nice flat surfaces, they weren't round and covered with mud..."

He shrugged.  "People can accomplish some truly amazing things, when they aren't busy second-guessing whether or not they can actually do whatever it is.  When they KNOW, because they did something just like it a few months or a year or even a couple of decades ago, they don't hesitate and question and waver--they just do it.  And in survival situations, hesitating and wavering can get you killed.  In combat situations, they're almost guaranteed to get you killed.  Doing the wrong thing will get you killed faster...but standing there and debating with yourself over whether to do it this way or that way will get you killed just as dead.  You've got to do the right thing, but you've got to be decisive about doing it, or else the war or some massive critter with a taste for humans is gonna decide for you that your next course of action is to become deceased."

He turned to Shadow and grinned.  "Be interesting to see what kind of use they actually get out of their largs...and see if their largs react as well to a little kindness from a stranger as ours have."  Larry's acquisition was hardly the only one that involved a larg turning on its presumed master after someone from the Hermes stepped up for it.

"I may forego the survival run to go browbeat the Nivarians for a little bit.  Fun as it would be to stumble across some Dusters or Demons in the bushes down there, I think I'd have a better time making the Nivarian larg handlers look like morons..."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:19, Thu 01 Sept 2022.

  Shadow  chuckled, old  highschool coch used to say, if you make a mistake...".make a big one".   if your screwed up on defesne, or  were caught  in between  on a play.. you were supposed to  go ahead  and finish  , just as hard  as if you didn't screw up. You'd be surprised how many plays a game are made, because i guy messed up and  he just followed through.

 Rumor  has it, the Nivarians don't want me near thier Largs  and ours..... I'm starting another Rumor... I just may show up  after the survival run, just to stand there and let them see me..., But..that depends on what my flock does  as they  scurry like  baby Quail , through the trees...

  Lyri tilts her  head...Baby Quail?

  Shadow   stepped over his  words without a flinch...sure, there's  hot chicks  runnign down there..right..you're running?  he  grins as he heads out the door.

  Lyri shakes her head,so?  why am  i flattered ?  baby Quail?

Beth Giggled,..the hot chick  part got you..you may be badass  Master chief?,,but you're  still a Lady inside that armor..

Lyri tried to fight  of a blush.

Roy just grinned and shook his head.  Comments about old British slang for women being 'birds' flickered through his mind, but he couldn't really come up with anything that would build much on what had already been said.  Better, instead, to add to Lyri's discomfiture by showing amusement at her reaction.

"Guess I should see if Dr. Christie is going to be taking the largs down as a group, and if so, where he's taking them.  I'm sure it would turn those Nivarians absolutely purple if I showed up with Larry, Freddie, and Tess, and embarrassed them all, because I'm pretty damned sure there's nothing any of those Nivarian packs could do that those three couldn't do better, faster, and with less angst about getting it done..."

——> Officers Quarters

Izzy was still quietly humming to herself as she walked into SEC, with her pausing long enough to say good morning to anyone that was there before taking a seat at her desk and firing up her machine so she could begin to tackle the stack of paperwork that had accumulated in her absence a long with anything else that had arrived in her inbox.

----->>>> from Med Tech

 NA-CE walked into SEC and looked aroud she saw Izzy and said," Hello Izzy how are you today." NA-CE then looked around for Lyri or the SM to officially check in.

 Lyri wasw     going through  some charts, marking things   from what she  saw on her Computer Screen, Nirther Beth or  Roy were there yet

 Shoey was in the back  going through files, with a look on his face that said 'i wish my puter would catch fire"

Izzy had been sat at her desk processing the numerous shore leave related charges for what felt like days when NA-CE walked into the office. So far she had processed around a dozen drunk and disorderly’s, four brawling and one public urination charge with all of them, except the guy that had felt it was a good idea to punch a provost, getting a slap on the wrist ”oh hey NA-CE, I didn’t see you yesterday, how was shore leave? Get up to much?” she asked, glad for the break from her paperwork ”…also what brings you to SEC?” she asked seeming to recall that she was some kind of medic.

 NA-CE smiled and replied," Oh I went back to the faire watched the children's games, it was a lot of fun, I hope you enjoyed your second day as well." NA-CE smiled and giggled and replied to Izzy," Oh I am checking in as a combat Med Tech, I technically are a member of SEC because I go on jump-offs in a combat fashion but I am also a Med Tech so I am under the Lt's command as well, it is a little complicated.

 NA-CE turns to Lyri, " Master Chief I am officially checking in as a Combat Med Tech, Corporal NA-CE." She will let her Angel patches and other markings tell Lyri who she was with the Blue Moon Angels.

”We went horse riding with Maddy and Sam, it was an enjoyable experience though I’m not a natural rider by any stretch” she responded before she pointed out that she was a combat medic and therefore a member of SEC ”ahh makes sense…I think” she giggled before pointing out where Master Chief Lyri was currently sitting before returning to her paperwork.

  Lyri   smiled a slight  smile, she  stopped  markign a chart  and Pointed to the   card   rack.Take an  empty  card, stick your  self witht he  pin  so that card gets your  DNA..., then scan your wrist  for   the Blue 'on duty' scanner..Red is  for when you clock off...

 Shoey gives a short chuckle,..IF...you clock off. I haven't clocked off since   I boarded  at Olympus..

 NA-CE smiled then replied to Izzy," Oh wow that sounds like fun, Bura is a wonderful planet." NA-CE giggled then added." Yeah it is weird being in two worlds, killing bad guys and saving good guys."

 NA-CE listens to Lyri, she takes an empty card pricks herself, then scans her wrist and sees the green on duty. " Thank you very much so what do I do now?"

 Before anyone could answer the vids showed what happened on Earth with the loyalty feast and the rescue by Stoly Sr. NA-CE watched and when it was over she replied," How disgusting I do not see how a Angel could partake in such a disgrace to eat humans. What the hero did was amazing do any of you know him?"

------->>>>>>> From Admiral's quarters

 Sam walked into SEC, she was about to say hello to everyone but the vid started when she walked in. She didnt know the man but she had heard of the name going over files and comms from Earth. " Now that was a huge blow against those assholes, but we need to do more. I think after our next jumpoff the Black will be a very different place."

  Lyri   answered   NA-CE...You're under the direct Command  of    SM Specner. LT  Simmons  can request you  as you are needed.

 for right now, pick  a locker  .  You can put  your armor  there, or  your   quarters. Ther weapons  racks  achieve a variety of weapons, except  some are for the speclists, Like the Heavy weapons, rocket launcher  and grenade  launcher, we add Flame throwers... but they are at QM.

 The MAn who IDed  himself , Sailed  with us from Earth. He was a shuttle  jock.  We have a few People on Earth who  went back to help out, and keep  Lights Out  Going.. His Nephew is the   guy in charge of the  shuttles.

”yes, it was certainly unlike anything I’ve done before but…yeah I’d be willing to give it another go” Izzy replied before leaving NA-CE to speak with Lyri and get settled in, as she meanwhile returned to the world of alcohol fuelled stupidity as she processed the next charge on her list.

 NA-CE smiled at Izzy and then went to Lyri, and replied," Thank you." NA-CE then went and set up a locker and then asked when she was done," Does anyone know where the SM is?"

 Sam smiled at Izzy and went to her desk after the vid was over and began going through her files. She would check on any comms or messages they picked up and then began going through charges and complaints from shore leave. Sam looked at Izzy," This is the life isn't it Izzy."

  Lyri  looked at her screens after  tapping a few times, SM is on the hnager  dec, all the way forward to the  1st Bay door, a  shutle is leaving, it appears the LC  is there  as well.

 NA-CE smiled, nodded at Lyri and replied," Thank you very much, I will check in with him officially, if he comes back here without seeing me could you let him know I am looking for him." NA-CE smiled again and then headed to the hanger dec to find the SM.

--------->>>>>>> To Hanger Dec

She would look up as Sam entered the room just as the news report came on, with Izzy pausing to watch as a team of guys infiltrated a loyalty feast and promptly gunned them all down. She would take a moment to appreciate the pyrotechnics before returning to her paperwork. Izzy would look up again as Sam spoke up with Izzy rolling her eyes in response ”oh yeah, nothing beats processing charges levelled against drunken idiots” she said with a chuckle as she moved on to the charge on the pile.

 Sam giggled and replied," Well it is mostly the troopers just letting off some steam." Sam did see the report from the Burian Palace about Madison. She saw the Burian stamp on it listed as a written warning for actions unbecoming an Officer. Sam wrote on it," Taken care of personally." Then gave it the official stamp and put it in the taken care of, dismissed file.

 Sam then finally processed what she saw on the vid and was so happy when she saw the shuttle guys open fire and destroy the whole place she was so happy the children were saved. Sam then decided to see if she could help get the children to Bura. " So what did you think of that amazing rescue Izzy."

 Sam stopped processing the reports and went on her computer signed in using her special code. She started digging and searching for ant info on where those shuttles went and monitored communications if she could to see if she could help get the children to safety, Bura if possible but any safe place would be good.

”Well…yes…but I’d prefer didn’t blow it off against the fountain in the town square!” she said with a despairing shake of her head as she filed away another public urination charge.

When asked about the rescue mission that had played out on the screen Izzy would consider it for a moment before replying as she continued to type ”Well, I mean technically it wasn’t really a rescue as they were the ones that brought the kids into that room…but as an assassination it certainly removed a lot of pieces from the board” Izzy casually replied as if she was discussing the results of a football match rather than the brutal execution of several high ranking EDT targets.

 Beth came  in with a Tray of   coffeees  from the rec  dec and a few boxes of doughnuts.

 she waved to folks to show them   they had them and sat  down with a Doughnut and Coffee. As she Punched up her  computer, she  said  to Izzy and Sam...

 <Pink>According to Gresh, who is feeding the relays back and forth.The   EDT  troopers  were  eliminated, with  Stoly , the elder,  taking the kids in instead of the real EDT... by  doing

 She had  barely sat  down as he  f9ngers  taped  away at keys  like a Minigun.

 Lyri got up for  a coffee  and Doughnut, She Tossed a  dough nut across the office to Skoey and  Nagy, who each, deftly caught them ( after  years  of practice!)

  The Kids  might have been in danger?  could have  caught a stray round or somehting. But  them being there, , they helped, though unintentionally, of  saving , who knows  how many dinners  like that.

 beth saw the  COM from Kira... she  just COMed...'already done"

  Then she waited  as she shifted monitors ... and Opened  up another COM..

Roy came in, with a nod and tight-lipped smile to the guards on duty who controlled access.  "Good to see someone fighting the good fight back home, out and proud where everyone can see it.  Hopefully, the fact that a bunch of young kids had to be rescued at all will shake some sense into more people..."  He gestured at one of the screens, where media agencies were revisiting the event, analyzing details and speculating about who was responsible.

The headgear had obscured Stoly's face enough that facial recognition couldn't narrow it down beyond a couple hundred individuals, but Roy could swear at least one of the newscasters had figured it out...but, being staunchly in the ESN camp, he wasn't admitting to it.

"Time to see if we can find something useful we can do out here..." he said, looking over at the mounds of collected intel materials that were still waiting to be processed.  He did a slow survey of the room...the intel was not off-limits, by any means, and was generally handled on a "when you're not busy with something else" basis, but the number of people there without anything in front of them didn't exactly speak well for the enthusiasm people had for the job.

Still, it was a matter of personal pride to him that he didn't ask anything of his people that he wasn't willing to do himself.  He stepped over, collecting a pile of stuff from the older section of the collection, and took a seat, starting off with looking through hardcopy materials for anything that might seem relevant.

For a split second it would look like Izzy was about to say something else only to go with ”Like I said it was a well executed OP that removed a lot of pieces from the board” instead. Her eyes would momentarily drop back down to her screen before she excitedly exclaimed ”oh hey I think I’ve got a winner! Assault charge levelled against LC Shadow by a transport trooper…the trooper said he left the club at 02:00 and was heading to his barracks when “LC Shadow” jumped out of the doorway of comic book store. Trooper said he punched Shadow and broke his neck, but not before breaking his hand in the process. The trooper was found several hours later sleeping it off in a doorway by provosts” Izzy said, trying her best not to giggle as she read out the report before looking expectantly about the room ”…the guy got drunk and got into a fight with a cardboard cutout!” she said with a laugh as she marked the file as being dealt with ”anyway that was the last charge from shore leave, what do you need me to do now?” she asked trying her best not to look at the pile of intel.

    beth Giggled, Lyri rolled her eyes,I want to see the  guy who  could take out Shadow one on one.  For that matter?  the  Guy who would be stupid enough to try.

  Beth laughed,we gitta see if there is a COM   link pic, so we can show it to  The LC.

 Shoey was  grinning as he chewed  his gum, saying to   Izzy...the papers  with the 'Green tabs" are from Bura, look through  those  first... since  we  are headed towards Astra   right now..they might  have intel from the Quad, since  the Bura  fleet   is patrolling.

 Roy had a  stack that was  after  E-1... there were  some  100  Profile  with picks. Mostly Oil Lords and EDT folks's pics on the  corner.. They were waiting to be confirmed as  'dead"  or 'missing"

 Sam smiled at Izzy about the urinating and other not so glamorous charges. Sam rather talk about the attack, " Yeah but I think that was done for effect I am just glad none of them got hurt. I think it was a huge success and blow to Earth we will see the fallout."

 Sam then said," Beth do you have a way of getting ahold of Stoly Sr. maybe they could use some help getting those children to safety?"

 Sam lost it and giggled hard at the comment about the guy taking out a cardboard cutout of the LC. " Wow now that means you are very drunk lol."

  Beth frowns a bit.I can try?  But if  one of those  dimwits the EDT has handlign thier   COMs  stuff,  catches the link, i might blow  his  hidey hole?

 Lyri  Looked to Roy,what do you think?  when they COM us, they have the   covers  reroyted..should we try to contact them?

Still giggling Izzy would tap a few keys and send Beth the body cam footage of one of the Provosts showing a still very drunk young man slurring his way through his statement followed by footage of a near decapitated cardboard cutout of the LC advertising the latest range of action figures.

She would grimace slightly at the sight of the paperwork but would retrieve the stack of green stickered paperwork and begin sifting her way through to see what she could find.

Roy grunted at the question, as he sifted through the pile, looking for anything that he could confirm and setting the rest aside to be revisited at another time.  "I mean, the worst that EDT could do with us sending a signal is pick it up and figure out where it came from...but the fact that there would be such a signal inbound to Earth would give away the fact that we have personnel there who are actively working with us.  I'm sure they suspect it, but I'd hate to confirm it, because that would mean that they'd likely step up efforts to root them out."

He glanced up quickly in Sam's direction.  "I know Stoly.  He'll have a plan to get the kids out of the system, and then, if he needs help from there, he'll contact someone.  But he's not one to rush in with no idea how to get out."  He looked back down at the papers, sorting as he kept talking.

"The fact that they had fighters concealed and waiting to pick off the pursuit forces is evidence of that.  Besides, if he's meeting up with Garrat, there are people there who know that Bura is always accepting newcomers, especially kids.  Then again, so are Astra and the more settled Delta Colonies, and probably several places on Fuji and Everest that would make room for them, as well.  And if they need help, they can call for it when they know it's safe, from somewhere that's less likely to be picked up...they can always tightbeam something to Bura or Fuji.  Since we don't know for sure where they are on Earth...or even if they're on Earth anymore, which I'm guessing they're not, based on Stoly's escape plans...we'd have to send a broadcast signal that would basically be detectable by half the Sol System by the time it gets there, if anyone happens to be monitoring the correct frequencies.  Even if it's scrambled so they can't figure out what's being said, the presence of the signal is a security risk for them, at a time when Ge-Fi is going to have security throughout the Sol System ratcheted up to try and catch the guy reckless enough to slaughter so many VIPs on a live broadcast."

He looked up again, at Beth.  "You're the comms expert, though...if you think you can snake a signal in there without risking any alert to the EDT or Ge-Fi, feel free to contradict my assessment.  But my gut says they're better off if we sit tight and let them play their hand without us coaching from the sidelines."

 Sam listened to Roy and replied," Well those are great points, maybe we should wait till they are able to contact us then we can help out if they need us too. Maybe that is something we can work on, having a secret concealed way to communicate with Garret and other assets we have in the Sol System and on Earth."

 Sam smiled and also hit the intel files to, to see what she could find if anything in those files.

Trawling through the paperwork Izzy would find nothing but a shooting involving a pair of EDT agents and a group of off duty ESN troopers in a bar. However seeing as the EDT agents in question were dead it didn’t provide any useful intel or even where they were operating out of, just that there had been EDT assets present.

Everything else she had found was either a dead end or complete rubbish. However she would keep going in the hope of finding something useful.

 Sam found something that didn't make sense and drew a red flag," Hey everyone I found a link to a small transport headed to the Funnel... The Spartan Shield... supposedly a former pilot   used his Creds to pay for the transport, if it worked out, he would be swimming in creds..if not..he would be near broke. However, Shadow killed him on E-1...Nicholas Vasilakos..'Spartan'"

Roy gave a grunt of acknowledgment.  "Not sure if we have anyone out there that could make an intercept on the ship...not sure where Commodore McKeon has the Bura Fleet operating, they'd probably be the best choice to run an intercept on the Funnel, if they could get there in time.  I think everything else is too far away...unless..."

He glanced over at Beth.  " we have any assets in the area?  Not that we need the ship, but the creds came from someone else and that makes the ship their resource, so capturing it would deny them use of it."

He finished sifting through the pile he'd gathered.  He tidied one stack, clipping a note on it that read, Status Unknown--Presumed Dead.  Setting it aside, he gathered the other stack, marking each file Confirmed Dead.  In it were some of the Oil Lords, including the pair that had approached them at their landing site, but also a few others that he'd seen through his scope before he'd dropped the hammer and ended them.  There were also a handful of personnel from the Chinese transport whose dessicated corpses had been identified by the names on their uniforms.

 Beth  pulled up a map on the MAin screen, and used the   cursor ,Half of the Burian fleet is  near the Funnel..the other have is runnign down,pirates  and  scouts...other then that , the  Creeper's  transport  is out there somewhere. Bura  pleet has  our transponders, should be able  to locate it, if they know to look for it.           

 " I can contact the Burian fleet and see if they can send a ship or two to intercept it and then maybe meet up with the children escaping from the Sol system possibly." Sam wanted to get this Spartan transport and also help the kids.

 beth  shrugged, sent the  word  on ESN  channels.  we don't know  what construction the ship is,  But we know the name. see if  they can capture  , or destroy it.. she shrugged,maybe have  some   of the  Bruian ships  let 'housekeeping' COMs  leak every hour or  so, so theose who leaft earth can   home in on it.

Roy waved a hand absently in a 'go ahead' gesture as he finished detailing the files for the identified dead from E1.  "Well, that finishes up those..." he muttered, stacking the identified files in the processed area, so they'd be left alone unless there was specific need to look them up.  The others cycled back into another section that was for processed but potentially relevant material, available for quick reference if something came up.

He walked back over, grabbing another pile of material, and parked himself back in the seat he'd been using as he started poring over it, looking for anything relevant, noteworthy, or familiar...

Roy sifted through the information, settling on a file that had Elge's name attached to it.  He skimmed the file...notations about positively identified corpses in the morgue whose identities were being used elsewhere on the station, people reported dead who were known to be otherwise but no longer on station, all in similar vein...

They were mostly just names...nobody noteworthy enough to have come to his attention otherwise, and most likely little more than simple identity thefts carried out by common criminals.  One or two sounded vaguely familiar...names he had heard before, or potentially related to people he'd heard of...

And then one name grabbed his attention.  His eyes narrowed and face hardened as he slowed down, reading what details could be gleaned.  There wasn't much...she'd disappeared from the hospital ship, no current whereabouts known, no known associates...listed as a deserter...

Should've seen that one coming, I suppose... he told himself.  It didn't give them much.  He set the file aside, opening a file on the computer station he was sitting at and adding some notes to it.  By itself, there was nothing here to act upon.  It just helped fill in a few gaps, although there were still plenty of details missing...but sometimes it was the little puzzle pieces that led to big breakthroughs.

He skimmed the rest of Elge's file...one more name jumped out at him, although, again, there weren't enough details to connect all the dots.  Perhaps it was merely the context...

"Sam?" he asked, looking up.  "Do you have any details on where The Spartan Shield departed from?"  She hadn't mentioned anything of note about the ship's age or size, and Elge's report didn't have any useful names, other than the man who went missing with the ship.  It was a longshot...but his gut was usually pretty trustworthy on such things.

 Sam smiled at Roy and replied," I can try and find out for you SM, give me a few seconds." Sam typed like a madwoman on speed, as she tried to get any information on where the Spartan Shield Departed from.

 Then Sam's secure coded scrambled com went off. Sam checked the message and then said to the group. "Everyone I just got a message from Garrat:   “Shipment of children and shuttles coming in from Stoly.  Children to be found homes on Bura, shuttles to be sent on to the fleet.  Requesting access to nuclear device as a means of gaining access to earth, still determining yield.  Plan detailed in data package.”

Roy had opened his mouth to begin commenting on Stoly having a plan for the kids...his words died on his lips as he heard the rest of the message.  "The hell....?" he said, the words coming out before he became conscious of the fact that he'd spoken.

"What is he going to do with a nuclear device?  I thought the idea for his operation was to go low-profile, not announce his presence with a mushroom cloud..."  He shook his head.

"I'm not even sure where we'd get a nuclear device.  Pretty sure most, if not all of the nuclear stores on Earth were dismantled when the Angels first arrived...not like they didn't have other methods of causing mass casualties without fucking up the environment at Ground Zero for a century or two, after all.  If we had them, I'm pretty sure we'd have been using them a long time ago."  He looked askance at Lyri, wondering if she knew of some stockpile of nukes that had somehow been kept intact.  "Although, given the technologies of energy screens that are pretty much universal, at this point, I don't even know if they'd have been useful.  I mean, if your ship can tolerate close-orbit around a star and all the cosmic radiation it's belching out into the cosmos, I don't know how an artificial nuclear blast is going to make any difference...we're talking a few thousand orders of magnitude difference in output..."  He didn't know if the difference was that extreme or not...but nuclear weapons had long ago stopped being commonplace in any arsenal that he knew of...

  Lyri   said,what liuttle of those  we  took off earth, we  used  on  H-3  and  Hyria.

  Shoey was snapping his  fingers  trying to remember a name...shadow gave the last Mini Nuke we had to ...to ,,Irina!..yeah..she used it on that 'Isle of Death' the  demons had , that  had a hundred or so  toorptransports  looked together.

he got sad for a second,she was  fun... a bit whcked out, but  fun, even when she lost her  hand to plasma.

 Sam found the information and it sounded a little strange," SM the shuttle left Etna marked as Perishable." Sam's first thought went to the shuttle was carrying kids for loyalty feasts. Sam quickly got on the coms and tried to contact the Burian fleet to let them know about the shuttle and it's location and destination. Wirh orders to capture and search.

   COMs  came back from a  Captain  NI-ko...Captain NI-KO of the  Burian  FLeet. The Commodore  is running down some pirates, close to the far side of the funnel... they have taken 3 prizes thus far, and destroyed an Angel Cap ships that was  serving as escort. My squadron is  keeping close to th Funnel,and use  The Pit as  supply hub for ourselves. We haven't been as  luck, but  theer are   independent  Tenders that are gathering the  salvage of Those ships that were  blown apart.

 " Captain this is Burian Ambassador Samantha Robinson on the ESN Hermes, I am sending the coordinates and information on a shuttle called the Spartan Shield it was bought and paid for by a know EDT member please capture and board the contents were listed as perishable it could be carrying children for loyalty feasts but we need to find out Captain." Sam kind of went and did this on her own but she was the Burian Ambassador and she had a bad feeling and really wanted the craft captured and boarded as fast as possible.

Aye, Ma'am, Already   done, if  we find it, you will know.


 Lyri shakes her  head.you can always tell...right? The guys who come  in here with the  attitude, that what the LC  d9es  with  the pilots,isn't  to their liking

 Beth  snorted   as she sipped   her coffee...Lots of  washouts... couple of them were Redbirds, should have  dusted them , like the rest. Head cases who don't give a damn? should be a few more  floraing in backs out there. or  being uses   for forge fuel.

Roy gave a grunt.  "Can't use that as a cut-and-dried test.  That EDT captain...Zona, I think it was?  He seemed to have his shit squared away...until he didn't.  Some of the EVOLs weren't on board with the ESN methods...until they discovered that the EVOL leadership was selling out.  And look at Zob...talk about someone who came on board with an attitude..."  He snorted softly at the memory of the Demon spending his first couple of weeks aboard the Hermes in the brig, and another month and a half with an explosive charge strapped to him and an assigned rifleman following him around with orders to shoot to kill at the first sign of trouble.

"The Iron Guard had it out with him, too...a few times.  They've turned out to be pretty damned handy to have around.  Hell, at one point, I was so fed up with Frans and her bitcing about Shadow that I threatened to shoot her, right to her face.  Eccles, too..."  He finished looking through the file he had opened, and closed it up.

"But the odds are pretty good that someone coming in here, determined to have a pissing contest with the LC, doesn't have the best interests of the fleet in mind.  That's why they get stomped on so hard...there's no time to gently win them over.  If they can't get in line, they're a liability, so it's either persuade them quickly or else get rid of them before they get someone else killed."

He shrugged, and added, "Actually, guys like Spartan are the ones that worry me most.  Johnny Blu was a dumbass, could never get his ego under control, so he was constantly making trouble and we were constantly watching him.  Most EDT infiltrators are like that.  Spartan actually played along for a while, seemed like he was on the verge of toeing the line...until, suddenly, he wasn't.  Most EDT aren't smart enough to fight down their ego and settle into a spot.  Shit, if Spartan hadn't cozied up to Harry right off the bat, and thus put himself on the periphery of the crosshairs, he could have wormed his way into a position that could have given him some real potential for damaging us."

He glanced around the room.  "Gotta be careful slapping labels on people right off the bat.  You start seeing the label, not the person behind it, and if you got that label wrong initially, it could get people killed."

Izzy would quietly trawl her way through both physical and electronic intelligence reports finding most of it to be of little use or interest, with her archive pile far larger than her active pile. She had noticed Roy’s arrival but having assumed that he would be up and leaving shortly in order to attend a meeting, or a crisis, or one of his many other duties she had paid him no mind as she continued to delve into her stack of paperwork. However when it became apparent that wasn’t the case she would wonder whether now was the time to try and speak with him.

It would take her several minutes to psyche herself up before taking the data stick from the back of her drawer and walking up to his desk ”Excuse me, sergeant major I…um…I w-was wondering if you had time to maybe review the…um…drone data with me…I w-would appreciate your opinion on the whole concept” Izzy nervously asked, hoping Lizzy would appreciate what she was putting herself through.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:01, Sun 08 Jan 2023.

Roy glanced at the pile of intel remaining to be sorted, comparing it to what had been done, then nodded.  "I think we can spare a few minutes of looking at something other than captured intel material."  He gave an easy nod of his head in the direction of his office, the look on his face communicating that he figured she didn't want to present it all in front of the audience here.

He got up, and unless told otherwise, led the way to his office, though he left the door open.  He rarely had it closed...

There was a grateful look as Izzy followed Roy into his office, preferring to crash and burn in private. Once inside she would gesture towards his computer for permission before inserting the data stick and setting a program running ”this is the footage from the survival run” she softly said with her not needing to say which survival run she was referring to as a still appeared on his screen showing at aerial shot from within the forest ”ok so that figure at the bottom edge of the screen is me, I had Tali fly a little ahead of me so I could get the lay of the land ahead me, I would of preferred to have had higher but she would have been crashing into branches the whole time” she explained as she set the video going. They would watch as Izzy moved through the forest, perhaps a little slower than normal as she had been frequently looking down at her vidboard but she was clearly able to find the path of least resistance. It was after a few minutes that the screen would change to show thermal imaging with what looked to be a rabbit sized animal scurrying away at Izzy’s approach ”I’ll fast forward a little, there’s something you’d be more interested in seeing later in the footage” she said quickly scrolling ahead through several minutes of Izzy running and then pausing as the thermal image of a pair of figures appeared on the screen ”Those, if memory serves, are Burian rangers…now I couldn’t see them at the time and I didn’t know what they were until after Shadow’s…outburst…but they are clearly visible on the screen meaning that an experienced squad leader could have moved his team around them or flanked their position…Tali also has night vision so we could have used her to scout those tunnels, I can program facial recognition so she could locate hostiles in a crowded street…surely must see the advantages of being able to send a relatively expendable drone rather than a trooper?” she said with the enthusiasm in her voice growing as explained the possibilities, before turning to anxiously look at Roy to hear what he had to say.

Roy looked at her with an expression that indicated that she had just asked a patently obvious question.  "You've been sitting on this for...how long, now?" he asked, before waving off the question and any potential answer.

"We've always struggled to get intel on targets, especially planetside.  A drone can't really get far in a hostile ship, as they aren't equipped to activate bulkheads and are relatively easy targets if they're the only thing in a long passageway.  We utilized some form of drone to get intel before we attacked Astra...but we don't really have anyone authorized or experienced in operating them."  He shrugged, looking at her.

"I know you're attached to your drone, and it's done a lot of good for you through the years...to do what it seems like you're suggesting, we need something more robust...military-grade hardware that's armored and encrypted, something that can send burst transmissions so it isn't constantly bleeding a signal that can be used to locate it.  You think you can design something like that?" he asked.  Out of all his personnel, she was easily the one with the most expertise in drones...

Izzy would open her mouth to try and explain why it had taken her this long to come to him about this particular idea before thinking better of it and allowing Roy to continue speaking, more than happy to hear his feedback ”I’ve never thought about using one in a ship…I’d probably need an emitter or something to override the doors…” Izzy quietly mused to herself before recalling she was in Roy’s office and returning to the present and giving Roy a suitably embarrassed look.

It was then that he would ask if she could build something suitable for their purposes. Biting her bottom lip Izzy would hesitate clearly caught between the excitement of undertaking such a project and the inevitable fear of failure before beginning to cautiously reply ”given enough time and resources…I think I could build a drone suitable for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering” with her hoping that he understood that she couldn’t produce a finished product overnight.

Roy nodded.  "We've had people try and design drones in the past, but their designs all had practicality issues...the foremost being, the power source being used pretty much served as a beacon in some situations.  If you're going to come up with something that's actually going to fit the bill, it's going to take a combination of battlefield resilience and espionage detectability."

He looked into the distance for a moment, pondering, before he continued, "Resources, we can get.  Time...well...it's not like we're looking for you to upgrade an existing system or relying on this to turn the tide of battle.  If I give you authorization for this, it's not going to be a spare-time project...it's going to be your duty assignment until you either get a working prototype or decide you can't design something that meets the specs.  You've got some of the best of the best in the ESN on this ship, though, if you're wise enough to share the credit and get their help."  He looked her square in the eyes.

"I'm not micromanaging this.  It'll be up to you.  And I'm not guaranteeing that it'll see a lot of use.  Military procurement doesn't work that way, when it's working properly...there's a long history of projects--guns, planes, tanks, ships, you name it--that were an all-in prospect from the start, where no matter what they came up with, it was going to the troops.  And then when they actually hit the field and saw real use, they turned out to be shit.  Stuff slated to be used for half a century got retired in half that time, or less.  You're not competing for a contract here...but if the design can't cut it, or if we end up doing nothing but shipboard combat for a year and a half, I'm not carving out a niche for this.  It'll sink or swim on its own merits."

His gaze intensified slightly.  "Are you ready to fight for that?  Because the last time I saw you hit a serious challenge, you turtled up about it for the better part of a year.  We've had this conversation before, except it was about your current drone.  If you've got faith in this idea, you better be prepared to argue for it, take heat when it doesn't work right and needs to be redesigned, fight for it when people start calling it a wasted effort.  If you don't, then just shelf it, right now, and save us all the distraction of helping you with it until you decide it's too much trouble."  His voice was calm, clinical...it was an observation, not an accusation...he could have been discussing the quality of crust on a loaf of bread, as far as his tone was concerned.

 After Sam talked to the Burian fleet she went back to the comm from Garret, she then sent him a message with the info she gathered. Sam was happy Izzy was talking to the SM and hoped she found a job she could get into and show her skills and excel.

Izzy would quietly listen as Roy spoke taking on board his points about how it wasn’t guaranteed to be used, or instantly accepted, and that she mustn’t let her pride get in the way of asking for help and that she had to be willing to stand up for herself and her idea ”I can handle constructive criticism…I just don’t like being called a cheat and a liar, especially when I’m doing something to try and help people” she quietly replied, with it being very clear where much of the hurt and resentment had come from with her then moving on to address the issue of wasted resources ”I’ll try and build something by myself using standard parts, though I may want to borrow Orria to help with some of the programming…I should know fairly quickly if it’s a viable idea and be able to have something to show you” she said not wanting to waste people’s time or order in a load of exotic materials on an idea that wouldn’t work with her instead deciding that a working prototype and a list of proposed solutions would be a better course of action. With it also giving Roy the opportunity to voice any concerns or issues with the design before she got too far along.

A comm call for the SM:

Nikki seemed comfortable with the situation.  still Larry was alone. She commed the SEC and Roy specifically "Sgt Major Spenser.  Larry is on the Rec Dec alone...sort of.  Is a cadet Larg handler coming down to join him?" Nikki asked.

Roy shrugged at her explanation.  "People are gonna think what they think.  You can let it get under your skin and fester, or you can double down and prove them wrong."  He pursed his lips slightly, and added, "You haven't exactly been doing yourself any favors by running for cover any time there's the slightest chance you might cross paths with people who don't see things your way.  But I suspect you know that already, or you wouldn't have bothered stepping forward again to pitch this."

His comm beeped with the message from Nikki, and a brief flicker of annoyance crossed his face, more at the timing than the message or messenger.  "Hang on just a second..." he said to Izzy, before he keyed his comm to respond.

"I'm not sure where the Larg Masters are right now.  Roll may or may not be on his way.  Is there any particular reason Larry needs someone keeping an eye on him at the moment?" he asked.

While he waited for her reply, he focused on Izzy again.  "There's specialists in the Tech Lab that might be helpful, as well, especially when it comes to assembling military grade innards for this thing.  If you go in there and ask them to do it for you, you're likely to get a lackluster reception...but if you go in there with what you've got in hand, and explain what you need it to do and that you're not sure how to get there, they're usually pretty good about at least kicking out some ideas.  They might even get a wild hair and start designing some alternate takes on the system architecture for you, on their own."  He gave a grin and a nod, as he glanced back at the comm.

She would look a little uncomfortable by what Roy was saying but would make no move to deny any of it ”I just find my life goes so much smoother when I avoid being anywhere near certain people” Izzy quietly confessed with there being no need to elaborate about who she was referring.

When the message came through, Izzy would nod to show she was fine with him answering the message he had received, after all he was a busy man, with her instead reflecting on how this discussion was not going the way she’d expected it to before mentally running through what she would need to get the project started and how to go about getting them.

Having replied to his message would then mention the tech lab and how they would probably have some specialists that could help her out if she phrased her request in a polite enough manner and didn’t just expect them to do all of the work ”I’ll probably visit them at some point, but I want to work on it myself a bit first, that way I’ll at least have something for them to go on” and if it proved to be a bad idea she wouldn’t have wasted anyone’s time, though she also wanted to prove that she could do the work herself rather than palming off a half baked idea for someone else to make for her.

return comm

She commed Roy back "Never mind, Cadet Larg Master Roll is here.  Larry is safe" there was a bit of a chuckle in Nikkis voice

Roy was again about to respond to Izzy when Nikki's comm came through.  A slightly perplexed look crossed his face.  "Was there ever any question of his safety there?" Roy asked.  If there was, he racked his brain trying to figure out what it could be.  The only place on the Hermes Larry might not be safe was probably the foundry...where 'safe' had very different standards than most of the rest of the ship.  He couldn't envision Larry being at risk anywhere on the Hermes, much less the Rec Dec...

He looked at Izzy again.  "Personal question, Ensign...how did you get that combat reporter assignment?  I mean..."  He made a gesture that seemed to include the entirety of her being.  "You're five-foot-nothing, and probably weigh all of a hundred ten pounds, soaking wet.  You're the last person anyone's going to pick to send into a combat zone.  So how'd you swing it?"

 Sam continued her monitoring of the shuttle wuth the kids and she also tried to track the ships she sent after Spartan's shuttle, she hoped there wasnt kids in there but she had to make sure before the shuttle got to it's destination.

 She also sent Garrat another coded message.

She would look a little embarrassed by Roy’s question, with her knowing that she wasn’t exactly the ideal build for a marine ”I…um…just kind of applied and kept pushing until they let me try out…I think they expected me to back down as soon as I saw what basic training involved, but I went to Fort Benning, had my head shaved and got screamed at my drill sergeants that were convinced I was a princess, and did my training…the fact that I used to be pretty, had qualifications in journalism and could smile at a camera whilst things exploded behind me didn’t hurt either” she said with a shrug, curious about what had prompted him to ask the question.

Roy nodded slowly.  "So...when did you stop fighting for it?  You got here as a combat reporter...I think I maybe saw you put together a handful of reports, and I think I can count the number of interviews I saw you do on the fingers of one hand.  Other reporters were getting people on camera without any trouble, so I have to wonder how they succeeded when you seemed to struggle...except I didn't see you struggling all that much.  You hit an obstacle, tried to go around it, and if that didn't work, you just kinda walked away."

It was tough to say whether he was sad, or disappointed, primarily.  "Whatever it was, you decided being a reporter wasn't your bag anymore."  He shrugged, dismissing the need for any explanation.  "But then you wanted to try the drone idea.  It's not without merit, but the first major obstacle you hit, you collapsed like cheap furniture.  What happened to the woman that decided to stick it out through boot camp, who put up with all the abuse from drill sergeants and heckling from field troops, just to prove her point?"  He looked at her for half a beat, then continued before she really got a chance to start formulating an answer.

"Because we could really use her.  She's the kind of woman that's going to saddle up that drone project and keep kicking it until she finds something that will really work.  She's the kind of woman who's going to keep sending drones out to help out in spite of the fact that lots of people in charge are going to scoff and point out that we've done pretty damned good without them."  His tone altered, ever so slightly, adding an edge of personal challenge, as he said, "She's the kind of woman who's going to prove that she can do something helpful, even when she's helping people that she has every reason to think are assholes."

Izzy would stand there looking uncomfortable as Roy spoke, unsure if she was receiving a dressing down or pep talk, as he pointed out her past failures and asked why she had backed down so quickly when she had worked so hard to get here in the first place and that it was that version of her they needed back in order to head up the project. She would flail for a few minutes in an attempt to try and describe how isolated and forlorn she had been feeling at the time, and how her injuries had caused her to re-evaluate what was  truly important to her, namely Lizzy. However she had the girl, so to speak, and so perhaps it was time to try and focus on her career ”I…I want this…I’ll make it work” Izzy stammered with a determined look in her eyes.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  from Hanger dec

 Shadow entered the  Office. Lyri   smiled and said,Lets make a deal... you pretend  we said 'Officer on Dec' and we'll pretend you  told us to 'at ease'

a soft chuckle, Shadow  said,Deal... he  Grab the  'LC' mug of the  Hanger and  snitched a donut .very   cool, white  cream!... Captain Morris  never has  filled donuts , bit he  also always has some kind of toppings..

 the talked around the Bite of the  donut,Is  Roy in?

Beth Pointed to his office...he's in there talking to Stir-fry.  Some thing important ?

 No? a certain captain told me to tell him he is welcome  to visit her  quarters, or COM her when he  has to get some food or something. and Me  being a good little LC , has come to relay the message

 This  Captain  Undenese?

 ahh... yes and no... think there might be some human  floating around her DNA...

 Cora     looked up from the locker  where she was putting away her   rifle.LC? can I ask you a question..its kinda personal...

 maybe yoiu should  s   Roy or Lyri?...Stefi even?

 naw.. i mean... well.. do you think  Will and i should have a baby...

 Shadow started to choke on the  donut, Lyri Got up  until he  signaled he was ok... then he loked  at Cora, she was  red faced  , eyes darting around.

 NO!!!  Geez!..ok..first? if you  get knocked up..we loose a troper.. you ahve  a kid , we lose two... that's the  military side..right?   But.. you don't want to bring  brand new kids into this mess....what if  one of you are lost in combat? now the kid  has  one parent... if  the  kids looses you both, its like an Instant Stem kid , kit!

 just...just  enyoy your time toegther for   cryign out loud, and if the war ends you can help populate  some colony somewhere

 wow?..I mean..i thought  since you and kids and all...

 Shadow's face darken , for just a second, Shoey stood  up, Lyri waved him down.

 I...had not  damn choice in the matter...did you see what those two , have gone through, because of me?  Poor Shade  didn't even Cook long enough, because he was worried
 about his sister who didn't even hatch at that time!... sure.. I try to  be a 'dad'..but it was  easier for me, because they were already  walking and talking..sorta... I am damn proud  of them Both....they are both better persons then I will ever  be, but they deserved
 more..a child hood would have been nice

 Coar nodded slowy...understood... i..i..never thought of it like that before.

 Think about that..right? after the war,  you and Will find a place to  live, and you can be real parents, in a real world, where   you don'[t  have to worry  about Red Lights  going off, and wondering if you'll come back..I've seen retired guys  on Bura,  They look as  happy as anyone  could be... wait for that happy time, while enjoy this happy time

She Smiled   Gave  Shadow a Hug  and  went out the door.

 Lyri leaned her  chin on  the  palm of her  hand , elbow on the desk.wow? Shadow, You  should talk to the Doc lady, be partners  in head casery .


Shadow looked ai  his  chest plate..she crushed  my donut...

Beth started to laugh as the others did..

 Shadow looked up...serioulsy..its all over my chest plate..that was the last one like that...mannnnn...

 More laughter.

Roy nodded.  "I hope so, because the biggest headache I have going into any ground action is an almost complete absence of actionable intel.  We're at the point where every planet we land on is unknown territory, even to all but the most adventurous of our allies.  It'd be nice to get some kind of eyes on the territory before I have to send people into it."

He stood up, adding in a firm, but encouraging tone, "I hope you make more than just this work.  Everyone has skills they can contribute to winning this war...but those skills are only useful if they show up to do the job."  He gave a hint of a mischievous grin and added, "I mean, I get some of why you're preoccupied.  Metal starship hulls conduct sound pretty well and there've been more than a few duty reports that mention 'vigorous extracurricular fraternization' in certain quarters."  His expression turned a little more solemn as he continued, "But that doesn't win wars, and while it may be great incentive for her to come back, that doesn't help make the terrain your redhead's flying over any safer.  Time to stop spectating from the sidelines and get back in the game."

He stepped over to the door, turning back to say, "I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.  Take your time and do it right...but know that it's something we can use literally every time we do planetfall."  He would be patient, but only so far, if he felt that the risk to life and limb wasn't being taken seriously.  He gave her a nod, and gestured that they should leave...he'd never closed the door, but Security was disciplined enough that nobody had approached, letting them have their discussion in quite a bit of privacy.

  Shadow took off his chest plate and was  cleaning it with  weapon cleaner, fronw  the whoe  time.

 beth leaned back in her chair, tapping her  teeth with a  pen..so? what  bums you out more? having to clean the  armor,...or you lost  half a donut?

 giggles from around the  room...

Shadow looked up, some folks looked won  but still giggled. The Donut!..i mean they have  helly filled, choclate filled  and that  weird  yellow Barvarian stuff..heck? they are even baking the Green Bura  berries   intto some..but they hardly ever  get the  white  icing stuff...

 Sam watched and listened , she waved to Shadow when she noticed him, she was way into her work, trying to locate a EMP device, the tracking of the kids shuttle, and watching Spartan's shuttle as well. Sam was extremely busy.

Izzy’s cheeks would turn a suitably bright shade of pink at the mention of acoustic qualities of starship hulls and extracurricular activities, with him seeming to understand that her confidence had taken a couple of knocks and as a consequence had focused on her personal life. However he was right in that it was perhaps time for her to turn her attention to her career and the war at hand ”I’ll…um…head back to my quarters then and dig out my notes then” she replied with her cheeks still a bright shade of pink.

With Roy ushering her towards the door, Izzy would head out of SEC and quickly head for her quarters in order start work on her new duties.

——> Officer’s Quarters

 Zob and friends from  rec dec<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

   The  door  opens,  Zob is  lead  in by Wukke, who was the rec dec   elevator guard  this watch.

  Followed in my  Supe  and Hodden , brining Grite  in. Grite  face  was Busied  ,and lips  Bloodied

  Lyri Got  up,Now  what....

 Shadow watched    Izzy leave  Roy's office and  scurry out the door, he just gave a shake of his head  and  si0pped his  Coffee.

 Wuuke  said,I..I do not know?  SGT Zob began pummeling   The   Udenese SGT.

 beth hit the COM Button...SM.. we have some  visitors.

Zob turned to Wuuke, "When you get off your shift later have the rec dec folks charge my account ill cover your meal" he then turned to Lyri, "Newbie with a chip on his shoulder got his ass handed to him for making choice comments about us and the admiral, so I helped correct his way of thinking a bit and from the looks of it his nose as well"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Sun 15 Jan 2023.

Wuuke  shrugged...Thank you?

 Shadow  looked at Grite,guess there isn't  a IQ test For   Udenese SEC?

 Grite Glared at him.

 Well?   according to the  data  base,  The   Good  SGT has  been a Member of SEC  foe the last half  hour..so.. SM gets  to decide  what to  do with them.

"I'm right here, Beth..." Roy said, with a tone that spoke of some exasperation at what he was about to have to deal with.

"Sergeant Zob...what, exactly, were the nature of these choice words?" he asked, tersely.  "Or do I have to go looking for witnesses?"

He gave Grite an appraising look...and the expression on his face showed that he was clearly less than impressed with what he saw.  "Unless you'd care to repeat yourself here, for the record..." he said, with a hint of a drawl that usually accompanied him starting to build up a head of steam for a regal dressing-down.

  Grite  turned his head away from Roy.

  Gee  SGT? You were pretty talkative when you came off the shuttle he looked at Roy,The Good SGT  thought he was going  to get to stay in Dusk's quarters...Captain Morris has his quarters  being readied, int eh Non-Com Section

There was a Glare to Shadow  as beth Busted out  laughing.well? at least he  aims high?

 Wuuke said,I ran over  at the second  or third  Punch?..I didn't hear, But  the  Cadet larg person, made sure larry didn't eat him..The Dog  looked angry..do dogs get angry?

Roy's face hardened as Grite turned away, the sergeant's actions indicating at least some measure of recognition that he'd stepped way over the line.  "Yes, dogs do get angry...over many of the same things that make largs angry.  Especially dogs as smart as Mila...they can tell when people aren't respecting the ones they hold near and dear."

His attention focused on Grite again, slowly moving as he spoke, putting himself in Grite's line of sight and refusing to let him get away with looking away, even if he had to move in so close that his presence was unavoidably in the sergeant's peripheral vision.  "You're really damned lucky that Roll was there...and that he thought you weren't being deliberately offensive and were just stupid.  Larry's extremely aware of what people are saying around him, and he's been known to amputate entire limbs if provoked by antagonistic behavior.  Taking off your leg at the knee wouldn't kill you...hell, Stefi might even be able to reattach it, I don't know how versed in Udenese physiology she's become.  I'm sure they could come up with some kind of cybernetic replacement.  So the fact that you still have all your fingers and toes intact...you owe our Cadet Larg Master a huge debt of gratitude.  Had he not intervened, your tour of duty on the Hermes could have ended with you being invalided out of service and sent back to Uden.  And there's shit-all you could do to protect Captain Dusk from there, isn't that right?"  His voice had started out as slightly-too-sweet...it was a dangerous tone that pretty much everyone else in the room had heard on past occasion, some of them several times (although always directed at someone else.)  By the time he'd arrived at the prospect of Grite being sent home minus parts of limbs, however, the tone had shifted to something that was somewhere between a warning purr and a feral growl, and his eyes had all the warmth of a deep-space comet.

------>>>>>> From Rec Dec

 Meari had followed everyone into SEC she kept an eye on Grite. " SM dont worry I know Udenese physiology, but I believe Grite here has learned his lesson the hard way. I was going to do it myself in a more controlled manner but Zob beat me to it literally. So Grite what do you have to say for yourself like the SM said, you had a lot to say earlier."

Zob put on a serious face as he kept eye contact with Roy, "The Sgt has a issue with other races aside from his own going so far as to devalue the Gava and other alien races despite the fact they have time and time again proven their worth, but the kicker was insinuating that Admiral Hack be bedding down with Qer La Cal because I serve here on the Hermes..."

He glanced over to Grite, "At that point I felt obligated to rearrange the sgts face in a rather... creative manner sir"

  Grite  looked  hard  at Roy  as   The SM   lectured  him...  His eyes  shifted  to  Meari, then to  Zob, to whom, he added a sneer.

 I did not  think  , The Hermes crew  were so easily offended. One has to wonder
 if they can face down  The Empire...

Shadow  just laughed, Beth giggles.

Beth    holds up a hand,That reminds me, some transfers, a few extra fighters and  supplies  will be  meeting us tomorrow  at o800 or so..Big  Ugly will ferry things over. SGT Grite...you might get to see the SM and LC straighten out a few more  folks.

Zob chuckled, "What a clueless comedian... we have been facing them down and kicking their ass for years out here, and speaking of being offended you seemed pretty upset over the fact the LC here beat the warlord in every single challenge that was presented before him, SM sir I rest my case with this idiot" At this point is was bard to even keep a straight face around this clown.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:30, Sun 15 Jan 2023.

 Meari looked sternly at Grite," You have given the Udenese a bad rep, how would you react if I said Warlord Lilit was a coward and was sleeping with Adem, I know how I would. The first thing you need to learn is we are a family you disrespect one of us you disrespect all of us."

 Meari then added," Oh new meat for the grinder great." Meari then added," SM do yuo want me to check him out to make sure it is just his nose that is broken, and I have to admit you took some big punches I was a little impressed you can walk on your own Grite I think there is a chance for you after all."

 Shadow looks   around and says , offhandedly.well, No civis  were hurt, the Rec dec , might be out a  mug or something?  Its up to the  SM, this is  his  wheelhouse , but we can chaulk this up to training?

 Grite   growled , Training!, He  attacked  me as is was waiting for my drink

 Shadow shrugged,lots of  training happes on the rec dec,,,, wait until Tunnel run.... I mean..look what you have  learned? You learned  not  to be a dumbass?.. you learned some Little Kid  stopped a 8 footlook, 800 pound  Killign machine from eating you...you must start to realize, this is our war now, You folks  are joining in... Its  now an easy thing,

 <DarkGreen>anyway? I comes down to how the SM sees it.

Roy held up a hand to Shadow.  "Now, let's not be jumping to conclusions, here.  I think the Sergeant may have some grasp that a kid saved his life, but I'm not all that certain that he's learned not to be a dumbass..."

He turned to Grite.  "Listen, Sergeant...while you still have the rank to be called such.  Whether or not we are easily offended should be the secondary lesson.  You've just been given a number of very important lessons that could very well determine the length of your survival in this war.  You made assumptions about your opponent, without any solid intel to back them up.  That's always a mistake and potentially a catastrophic one."  He raised a finger, again making sure he was in Grite's line of sight if the Udenese tried to turn away.  "You just got a beatdown from ONE member of the Hermes crew.  If we were easily offended, he could have used knives just as easily as fists.  There's your second lesson.  You did all this in front of Larry, who is perhaps the single most dangerous individual aboard this vessel, and more devoted and loyal than you'll ever be."  He raised a third finger.

"You made disparaging assumptions about your new allies, without ever having seen them in action and therefore having absolutely no knowledge of their capabilities.  There are a lot of dead EDT agents littering the Black who dismissed the Gava, the Largs, and even Uden's Ambassador to the APF as beneath notice.  NOBODY is beneath notice.  One thing I've learned in six years of fighting this war is that any damned thing can suddenly turn around and try to kill you if you assume it's harmless.  Conversely, we've got a lot of allies who've proved incredibly helpful, that we didn't immediately treat as hostile and ruin our chances before we ever found out what they were.  Larry's one of them.  At some point, you'll run into some Naragrans and get an idea of what they're capable of."

He put himself nose-to-nose with Grite as he continued, in full-on drill sergeant mode.  "Get this through that density-enhanced lump sitting on top of your shoulders...EVERYONE who serves aboard the Hermes has proven themselves worthy of it, in one way or another.  We have servers on the Rec Dec with a higher body count to their credit than you've got.  And while we may not all get along all the time, a body's gotta earn the right to disparage anyone on this ship.  Right now, you've earned exactly shit.  You can shut your hole and learn why the Hermes is leading the Fleet, even after all these years and all the races who've joined the APF sending more of their ships to join than the Humans have, or you can keep walking around with that titanium rod crammed up your ass, in which case you'll be dead by the end of our first combat engagement.  You get me, Sergeant?  Or do I have to use smaller words and a tack hammer to beat them through that stone dome your excuse for a brain is hiding inside?"

  Grite's eyes   widen , just a bit  as Roy was Nose to  nose.

  You better listen? we lost  the SEC Tack hammer , long  ago. he'll have to use a Ballpeen...

 Grite  looked confused, because..hey? Undenese  don't have  ballpeens..or? tacks?

 He tried to  say something through his split lips..Yes..SGT Maj.. I.... I will  be, more considerate  in my....assumptions.

Roy nodded curtly.  Without looking away from Grite, he said, "Sergeant Meari, please check over Sergeant Grite's injuries and make sure there's nothing serious.  Sergeant Zob...I appreciate your efforts, but in the future you should leave disciplinary measures to my discretion.  Confined to quarters for twenty-four hours, possibly more if you've given Stefi any extra work here."  He paused for just a moment, before adding, "Off the record.  This never happened, understood?  While the disciplinary action would look bad on Zob's record, the gross disrespect that triggered it would look equally bad on Grite's.  So, for now, nothing happened.  If there needs to be an official documentation of anything, I'll handle it."

Zob nodded he knew he was gonna be punished but at least it was better then being in the brig all night, "Understood SM ill head there right away" he then fished out a 10 credit bill and pressed it into Grites hand not taking no for a answer, "Go get yourself that Astra beer Sgt" with that he went back home for the evening.

----> To Civie Section

 Meari smiled and replied," Already done SM." Meari said to Grite," Ok Grite lets see how bad this is." Meari would get her med kit she carries with her and did a full examination of Grite to see how bad Zob beat his face.

   Meari looked over   Grite, his lips  would  need   a bit of  foam and Plast.  There was a  cut  above the   left eye , perhaps  from the  First Punch, it   could be  plast, or  butterflys placed on it. , Meari would have to   reset his Nose   with a  sharp  jerk and crack,,

 This caused  Bet To say...ewww..... Grite is gonna mop that  blood up..and that's an order.

 Other then that , he was 'fine'.

 Lyri   said  in a quiet Voice,According to   Beth's   COM Text from  Fuji, we are Getting 12 troopers  and 4  pool  pilots....  the chances of  one of them  ending up Like , the Good SGT  Grite, is very high, because  most commanders, don't let  good people go,,,when they get here? It might be a good idea  for Grite to see how the SM and LC handle the new folks.

  Shadow, had to settle  for a jelly donut, after cleaning his chest plate,he says, with a wink to Roy   and an, otherwise, comic loks   at the donut as he took a bite,Oh?  SM,  as soon  as i finish this, I have to go back out  and continue my 'officer of the watch...thing'. I was...um... ordered to relay a message. from Captain Shadow. She is all settled in her  quarters, and  You are Invited to stop by, when you  wish, and/or  COM her is you want to grab a drink or  food somewhere?

  Meari  and..well..everyone..can see the  shifting skin color, turn  darker purple, as Shadow says this.

  Beth  giggled,..and ity doesn't bother you to say 'captain Shadow' and its not you?

 There was a smile from the LC,I had  my chances, besides, I'm right where i should be....  he popped the  rest of the donut in his  mouth, winked at grite  with the Budge in his cheek, as he dabed off some jelly, then  grabbed his weapon  and went back  to his  patrol.

Shadow, Hanger Dec>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 Meari checked out Grite, she foamed and plasted his lips, she put butterfly bandages on the cut above his eye, Then she said," Ok I am going to ahve to set your nose, we will go on 3 ok. 1..2..." Meari then put his nose back right after 2.

 When Meri was done she handed Grite what he needed to clean up his blood," Clean up your blood I do not want Beth mad at me no way."

 When Shadow was talking about her cousin she put her hand on Grite's shoulder and whispered into his ear," My cousin can meet with whoever she wishes Grite Captain Dusk likes the SM. I know you want to protect her, I also want to protect her but my cousin is in good hands with the SM, now ahow me how a Udenese handles this and rise up I know you can."

 Meari then said," He will be ok but he got roughed up pretty good."

If Roy was at all ruffled by the message being delivered, he hid it completely.  "Thanks for passing that along, LC," he replied, with about the same tone he would have thanked anyone else for giving him a status update from their security shift.  "We'll see what my schedule allows for."  From the very first time he'd acknowledged Dusk's interest and shown any reciprocation, he'd made it clear...the mission came first, and it always would, for him, and no matter how entertaining it might be to watch Grite start steaming from his ears, that wasn't part of the mission.

He returned to the pile of intel, looking through the unsorted pile, scanning the names on the files and perhaps the first page to see if anything jumped out at him as noteworthy.  As Beth jibed with Shadow about his rank, and the LC responded, Roy spoke up without looking away from the pile.  "Shoulda been a Marine, Shadow...you could've been a captain and still had fewer responsibilities than you do now..." in a droll, dry tone.  While he knew that 'Captain' was as much a position as it was a rank, within the Navy, he was not about to let that get in the way of giving Shadow a little grief.

A message comes in for Sam from the sol system.  Confirmed, the Sky Hag is on its way.  It has a manifest stating it is transporting fruit trees from mars to Bura and returning with a shipment of melons.  The Hell raisers have taken the place of some of her regular shuttles.

(Flex)

  Sam would confirm to Garrat that she had a track on the Sky Hag and Sam would send a Burian vessel to meet the shuttle as soon as they were out of Sol space.

 Sam would also track the Spartan shuttle as well and see how the ships she sent to check it out were doing.

 Sam would set up any responses on her comm special channel.

  The  Burians  contacted SAm, SAm relayed the message,  4  Burian Cap ships  and  destroyer were  cruising   5000 miles  inside the Delta line of the Delta  funnel.

  The Spartan shuttles  was    being closed in on, as a transport from the Sol System. The  ID  and  company name was the 'Pasta Lines", that featured  a bowl of  pasta with  many worlds  in it, instead of meatballs.

  The  shipping lines  are part of a  group of EDT sympathizers, who smuggle in things  for the Empire, mostly   people.  form slaves, breeding or food.

------>>>>>> From Officer's Quarters

  Sam walked into SEC smiling, she went to her desk and immediately checked on the Sky Hag and the Spartan's Shield to see where they were and their status. " Hello everyone, anything going on?"

  Word  comes in from fighters  ESN Atom.....Sea Hag Sighted, we are escorting her to  The Hermes... 4  Fighters  from The Atom. and Two  torpedo craft. shpould arrive in  2 hours.

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

 another message  was  in her files, from an 1hour ago..."  we are heading straigth away , to Bura,,, we have a total of  14 live children now, and  4  who are dead  by in freezers. "

 Sam would send bck to the ESN Atom," Excellent ESN Atom, thank you for the update we will be ready for the Sky Hag." Sam then Comm'd text message Captain Morris," Sir the shuttle Sky Hag will be landing in about 2 hours, there will be supplies and the children from the Texas rescue please be ready fir their arrival, and if it is ok after my shift I might come down for some tea, do you have any Burian tea Sir?"

 Sam read the message and sent back," Understood head straight for Burian space and escorts do not slow down until you are safe, thank you excellent work."

 Sam was happy both situations were being taken care of, she will put in Burian medals for the crew and Captain who captured the Spartan's Shield and rescued the children. She would monitor the spaceways for anything unusual as she waited for new messages.

 Sam got word the Sky hag landed and everything was unloaded, Sam sent work to Garret that everything was received thank you. Sam would then track the Spartan Shield and see if it was in safe space yet, she also contacted where they were going to land on Bura so they would be ready to receive the rescued children she didnt know their medical status.

  Sam gone  a COM, telling her the   Spartan Shield  was   entering  Bura   Atmo now. all the  kid  who were  alive are still alive.

 ' Going back  out  to seek and destoyr  now  ma'am"

 Sam received the comm and smiled, she replied," Great job thank you and good hunting."  Sam was all smiles as she sent a comm to Bura to make sure the proper people where there when the Spartan Shield landed. Sam will investigate the Spartan Shield and try to find out if that EDT asshole bought any more ships or if she could find any other connections tracing from what she could find on the Spartan Shield.

  The Admiral Entered the  SEC,  Shoey stood Up... ADMIRAL ON DEC!

 Hack waved   every  one  down,At Ease, as  you wre...

 He pulled a  chair Up to Beth's  DeskAlright Bethh,,, got  some  work  for you to  do...

 Aye Sir...?

Hennings , Roles, Bale,  Morris  and Rivets  entered.  salutes  and such as Admiral Hack go back  to business...

 Begging your pardon, Admiral Hack. Shouldn't we do this in the war Room< ?/Pink>

 This  will be  fine... some messages...but they need to be  sent...just...right...

  <Pink>I Sir? already done, what are we doing..

 The  Admiral unrolled his  Vid board,..they  first one...uncoded..to Astra...it  should  say.."   Fleet is moving, send your  gifts.. they will see us and should fall in.."

 Roles  looked at  Hennings  , then to the others...Uncoded?  Every one if  the Quad  who has  an ear  out , will pick it up....

 Yes... yes they will...

Beth   speaks the words  as  Hack spoke them.. the  COM was off and running. She gave a nod to  The Admiral.

 ....The second one goes to Zolth. .."..splitting   Astra  and Zolth... any gifts you have send them along.. they should see us and fall in...

 Beth  sent  it , when she was  done  she Looked at Admiral Hennings   who have her a  wink and a smile.

 Now?  This to the Blue Moon... Tight  band and Coded... "   Delta  Fleet ready to
  knock on the door, Please have the Light on for us.."

  Beth sent it....That one should be safe, Unless they have some one my level...

  Last One..use relays. if you have to. It goes the  D=SGT....I mean..Captain Hunter.... it should  say..." Big Party starting  soon. Eliminate  any all   enemies   or those who gibe them aid..good luck...

 Lyri looked at The Brass...so..huntr is going to be dropping  bad  guys and their lackys?

 something like that.  Sol System is a problem, because  Earth has  Humans...   we need to eliminate as  many  Humans, Angels and  empire   folks on earth as we are able... everyone that is dropped  , is one less reserve  for  the Sol System Fleet...  Captain Stoly   put a hole in Texas... The Govenor   and a hell of alot of  Big Cred Backers   got  roasted  alive or shot down, and that Base Stoly Blew up   contained Angel fighters  and  shuttles... But that's one state... people need to start dropping all over the world, so the Sol System Crews worry about Home

Admiral?  do you think we  will lose  to people  when the  time comes to entering  the sol System..

  everyone looked  at  The Admiral, he  just  raised his hands in a helpless gesture,every one has  seen..either first hand, or on Vids, what we did to Other races , when they stood  with the Empire..Earth cannot be treated any different. The Only difference is, those   units  and handfuls of    people who do not what the Empire..

 In the end, The fleet has  traded , fighting  for one  world  and some colonies, for fighting  for many worlds  and even more colonies

 But? that is the elast of our worries right now..

COMs  lit Up...Astra  Here.... Gifts  are on their  way... good Hunting...Astra
 out

  Beeps  and  Zolth  answered,this is being, Zolth  Alpha... goodies   on way... hope they  serve you well... Zolth Alpha out..

  then The Blue  moon..... 'Blue  Moon'  here.  lights will go on in 6 hours... it will be nice to see you once more.... Blue  Moon out...

  the  last COM came in...captain Hunter... we have word  that Captain Stolyarev  is  in  New York. Are people In  Hamiton an nova Scotia will help us   interrupt shipping and  flights. Chinese groups a have lost half their pepe , due to  turncoats.Austrailia  is all but  free.. there   are  battles  being waged they... Angels seemed to have backed off from there...we have  some inside people who will  end  Keel construction  on the two newest SSN  vessels , the ones  in New York and Utah

 Must go now.. we are hitting a three ship supply convoy in the North sea..big haul if  we can get it..Hunter out..

 Hennings  smiled a  firm smile<Royalred>,Damn good people y learned  how  The Balck works, faster then most.</Red>

 he  tapped his COM... Nil. make your announcementhe received  an  Already done, and the Brass turned to the  Monitors.

 Sam smiled and then saluted as the rest of the Brass came in. Sam listened and also monitored her comms, and her vids as she wondered exactly what the Admiral was up too.

 Beth  answered the COM about  the Pilot...SM? Did you  get   Max's  COM? what do we  want to do?

It was just as Beth started asking her question that Roy's response to Max sounded on the comms.

In the Morning, the SEC  had  duty personnel working,  When Roy came in, she   handed him the paper  work  for Vosts.

 It must be a thing, right.. Harry.. Vosts, a couple   troopers  , who hadn't even been on the  ship long, I guess they don't make them like the used to.

   I love  Shadow to death> but he screwed up with  Lynch, should have taken her  wings After the One-eye  Jack planet-station... Vosts should have  been sat  down
 for a head check.

  Maria   shrugged,we're all  out here, Si? Does not matter if he works or not. As long as you can kill more bad guys, then you kill good  guys

   Beth   taps the   Computer,we will be with in shuttled range of The Blue  Moon in a few  hours... The Admiral  will be sending  a special  mesage to paradise.. I can't wait to
 hear it.

Roy skimmed the report, having seen similar incidents before.  "That's the thing about being in a shooting war...you can't take the time to really run everyone through their paces to weed out the ones who aren't going to cut it.  You need bodies at the front, so you do your best to give everyone the basics they need to survive, count on the front-line troops to give them the rest, and pray they've got enough fortitude to stick it out."

He gestured at the report.  "Not everyone does.  And, sadly, a lot of the ones who don't also lack the good sense to speak up as soon as they feel they can't cut it anymore.  Even then, I don't know how much it would help.  There's a fine line between a little self-doubt that gives way under experience and the kind of doubts that leave you folding under pressure.  If she was a trooper and came to me saying that she wasn't sure she could make it, I probably wouldn't pull her off the line...just give her a pep-talk and assign her a battle buddy to keep a close eye on her."

He shrugged, and added, "Even then, you still have people who've just decided that they're going their own way, no matter who else gets caught in the fallout zone.  I'd rather this than kicking a hornets' nest in battle and getting her fellow pilots caught in a shitstorm they weren't prepared for.  We saw how well that turns out..."

He looked at Beth, his expression that of a man with an unpleasant duty.  "She was one of Shadow's...make sure he's notified about it, go ahead and give him the report.  Contact Stefi and see if there's any update on her condition first, so he gets a clear idea of what just fell in his lap.  If Stefi didn't find anything suspicious, I feel like it's a disciplinary matter for the LC, not a Security matter."

 will do. All suicides or attempts  as  such, does fall under the ehading of a crime, that's why it starts here.

 Lyri chuckled,Lynch did it twice.. O'connor caught her  by the static  field, then she  played the   whole 'gun on the wing' thing..

Sent  to Shadow.. He won't  be happy

Roy scowled.  "I think Lynch probably did it more often than that, those were just the blatant attempts.  You look at how she screwed that last op on Everest...that was damned near suicide, all by itself, and who knows how it would have turned out if we hadn't come in as reinforcements.  She also damned near drank herself into a coma a couple of times...

"He gave Beth a nod at her report.  "I wouldn't be happy, either, in his place, but he needs to know about it...make sure it's an isolated case, see if there's anything else that needs to be done in association with it...revise any plans he's got for upcoming action as she's taken out of flight rotation...either adjust tactics to make up for being a pilot down or decide if he's gonna bump a pool pilot into her slot, and give the poor bastard a chance to fly a few times with his squadron and wingman before someone kicks the pan into the fire and it really counts."  There was an edge to his voice...he knew what was coming, more or less, and he couldn't keep concern from coloring his tone.

"Helluva time to decide she can't cut it...just in time to throw a rookie in the meat grinder..." he muttered, mostly to himself.

  When   Sam returned to SEC , and listened  to the chatter   about  disturbed pilots and such

 she would see that the kidnapped kinds  from the Corvette  had landed on Bua,... and the  Shuttles from earth have been delivered, but she would have know that by  walking out the door  and seeing the activity 2/3  of a mile away.

all that remained to confirm, were the Kids from earth, and  if they reach a point of safety.

 (Next Day coming back to SEC)

 Sam had returned the next morning to SEC and went right to her computer, as the SM came in and they talked about Ens. Vosts and what had happened to her and also brought Harry back up. God she was so happy she didnt get involved with that nut case and she got sent away before anything could happen between them.

 Sam checked everything and was happy the Kids from the Spartan Shield made it safely to Bura, the shuttles where delivered, and then she began to check the status of the children saved by Stoly on Earth, she hoped they were close to being safe as well.

<=== from Hangar Dec

As Nikki entered she found Maria first. She sat her helmet on the front desk and signed in quickly to make a repost "Got some heavy-duty criminals about.  Some have a burr up their butts about Roll and Largs.  Buncha taggers writing ugly things on his door in the civie section" she wrote out the report quickly.

She'd then after finishing the report submit it and head back to the flight line and go check her 'Skeeter'.

 Maria  frowned,  Beth swore.

 why pick on the little   amigo? he does not hurt no one who does not hurt him..

 beth  was COMing  Roy,Jealous. he has a  job, heck,  he's  getting trained,, LC and Zob show up  at his house sometimes. Sneak and Jack are like his big brother  and Sister.. some of them purebred Civis  don;t have none of that...and the Ex  Stem kids, they are part of  Roll's pack.. sooner or later   they are going to  get caught, and it will hurt.

  SM?  Nikki filed a complaint, people, most likely kids, but you can never tell, are marking up  Roll's  house.

 Maria  says,don't we have to  go through  the MAyor, for  civi things?

 Beth's fingers looked  like a  centipede or  go pills...The Screen came up...

 House  29:... rented  by  Lt  Mortica. house , as  chikd,  Roll. listed  as ESN Cadet  LArg master,

 The house is rented  by a Hermes offcier, a Hermes Cadet resides there, the  tagging  is focused on  Mortica  and Roll..so that falls under the SEC.

"I know.  I go there with Haley and help make sure the house is tidy and clean.  That he has things for him to make meals out of and such.  He is a great kid" Nikki said.  "And the housing in the civie area is still aboard the Hermes, so untimately it is under the SEC.  Roll cleanse it off, but he should not have to, and deal with those bullying him"

Roy walked into the SEC office, scowling at his comm.  "It's bad enough we get cut off from resupply from Earth...that's where some of our best academies were.  At least, before all the best ESN officers jumped ship and headed somewhere else.  But I'm not putting up with horseshit like this."

He looked over at Beth.  "What kind of surveillance cameras do we have in the area?  If we don't have anything that's already in place, I want something installed that watches that house.  I want to find out whose mewling hellspawn is doing this, and make them sweat...HARD."

He looked over at Nikki.  "You filed the complaint...is it still there?"  Knowing Roll, it could go either way...the kid would short himself on sleep to clean it up, or he'd leave it for later while he went to take care of the largs.  "Time to remind these privileged little snotrags that the ESN watches out for its own..."

There  are  2 SEC  CAMS , one   over the entrance that looks  down the  street to the  end, and on on the  end, that looks up towards  entrance.. that back one is a little  worthless because of  tress that are planted in the   park cover.

  These are the Best   stills i can pull from the CAMs, the  people  come from across the street. but its hard to tell if they met there, or  ...that's where they came from.


 The Pics  show 4 figures, 3  taller then Roll, but shorter then most adults. One  taller  figure  could be an older  kid, or an adult.

even with a  zone, there was no way to see  faces, with  the pull overs they had. It was plain to see, they did not  know, or care, about the CAMS

 she  ran some films  very fast..and stoped,This is  last night, say?  12:30 AM... Roll comign back from some where....  The film showed the  Boy  walkign slowly to his home, as he walked up the stoop stairs , he  stopped, his shoulder drooped  more., then he just went in...

"You can see where he has tried taking some off before...so this is not the first time they've struck" she said "I made sure he had a good hot breakfast.  Not sure if he's going to clean it or go to feed the largs" she said honestly.  "I know he's had a few problems with the kids from the school.  Haley might know with who, she is at the school now" She knew Haley was close to Roll.  If she did not know she could get it out of Roll who was responsible.  She also thought of the earlier school incident "There was a problem at the school some time ago.Roll was supposed to help with largs, 2 boys.  Hoace something and a friend tried to prevent Roll from doing his cadet duty.  they might be 2 of the taller kids.  Both are bullies to a lot of stemkids.  Zob was there"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Mon 13 Feb 2023.

Roy nodded, his jaw taking a hard set.  "I'm going down there.  See if you can use my presence as a distraction to get someone to install some cameras that will get us usable footage if they come back...doesn't need to be long-term or hard-wired."

He keyed his comm, calling the QM.  Even though his comm would ID who was calling on their end, he made sure they knew who was calling.  "This is Sergeant Major Spencer.  I need some gear to clean up some graffiti...I don't care if it's a bucket, sponge, and soap or a good cleaning solvent, although it's probably best to avoid anything that would strip paint off a wall..."  Getting rid of the graffiti would help, but leaving a huge bare patch where it had been would just serve as a reminder, although he could probably get a maintenance team down there fast enough to paint over anything he took off.  One thing about shipboard maintenance...everything was pretty standardized.  They would have paint to match.

"I'll be there in two minutes.  I want to have it in my hands in three."  The steel in his voice made it clear that he wasn't in a negotiating mood.

 This is QM 1st class  Dara, Joles.. we'll have ti  ready, SM

 when  Roy  arrived there was a spray guy, two buckets  , two  sponges  and  a canisters of  cleaner.

Roy collected his requisitions, and headed for the civilian sector, his mood decidedly darker than it was on normal occasion.

Once done filling the forms and complaint out Nikki watched Roy take off to take care of the problem.  Nikki nodded in Marias direction and started to leave for the Hangar Dec.  She stopped after 2 steps then turned and took a step back and grabbed her helmet of the counter.  Then turned and headed out.


=====> hangar dec

 Sam watched as SEC was set up for something big, then everyone showed up and she knew it was something big. She helped out Beth where she could and also made sure Bura had a good live feed as well.

 Sam just watched as the Paradise Angels fell into the Admiral's trap, and then the bombs hit, and she could see the fear in their eyes. When it was done Sam just smiled and began scanning comms coming and going from Paradise and monitored any and all ship movement in the area.

Jug walked in to secure her squads detail for the ball.  "I notice new troops on hangar dec.  anyone to watch for?" she asked the trooper at the desk.

  Rolfe  was there By himselfThey briught one guy and supplies in, we'll see    BUs  comign up all day tomorrow....Lt  Morrow  has   your people  off  tomorrow, so yiou can go see the beach or  forests  or whatever?

"At Ball... look good and keep watch...correct?" Jug stated as she headed for the door.  She headed back out to the hangar dec. 'Jug will make sure the eat before ball, keep good tunics clean"


====>to Hangar dec

ooc inopportune post
This message was last edited by the player at 11:01, Thu 07 Sept 2023.

--------->>>>>>>> From Officer Quarters (VIP)

 Sam walked into SEC with a huge smile on her face she was beaming and glowing from the amazing sex she has been having, and the soreness was getting much better. (Sam giggled to herself). Sam looked around to see who was there and look at the duty log, then check out her computer and anything she needed to get done. Then she smiled and happily said," Good morning everyone, did everyone have a great shore leave like I did?"

 Beth greeted   Sam. she saw her looking at the Duty Log.after  the  bit on the hanger Dec last time ,  Sakura is  now going to be a trooper  on the  Hermes  and an OmniCOM  on away missions. People died  during that 'missing' of   The LCs message.. If i could prove it was
 intentional, i would  shoot her myself...but? going on away mission, the gods  can judge her. If that  new   guy works out. we;'ll use him, if  not Orria  will pick up the slack until we get a seasoned   COM Tech here. If  not? orria  has more Combat time under her belt then most frontline COM techs.

 how idd you like the  shore leave?

 Sam nodded at Beth, Sam didnt think Izzy didnt it on purpose maybe thinking about Lizzy to much yes but not on purpose. " Understood Beth, we will see about Jason and Orria is awesome and I would love to spend more time with her."

 Sam smiled and then sheepishly replied," I umm had a great amazing time with Zob on the planet, at the beach at dinner at the wedding and in the bedroom, so it was an incredible and very sore shore leave."

 Beth Giggled.I had  shore leaves  like that couple times. Maybe i will again sometime..good for you"  Right now..I am sorting  out COMs    that  deal with Vampics.... You sort through COM s  dealing  with  Largrans...we'll get Orria  to sort out  COJM about Verians

 Sam smiled and replied," Ok great I will get right to work on the Largrans right away, I just need to Comm Zob." Sam smiled got her computer up and going logged in with her code, as she waited for the computer to boot up she sent a comm text message to Zob.

Jason finally made it to sec after making a couple wrong turn. Sees Sam and saysSorry im late

 Beth  stood up. Dark Hair  with streaks of  bright  colors  through her hair., emerald    eyes. well Bet, if not shorter then Most of the ladies on the Ship.

I am Lt   Beth Morrow.  I am the  Chief COMs  officer on this  boat. and  deal with SEC information harvesting. This is  Lt Sam Robertson. she  is attached to us from  the Burian Fleet.. That  lady there is Master Chief   Lyri Mullins. she often leads  some sections of boarding  parties  and Ops

 Take that desk there. The   crewman who used it will be  a trooper and Omni COM operator  from here  forward. So you get to dig into the   info piled on the desk..You will be  looking for information on  Roussian  movements. and you will Flag  any information on any Empire   things that pop up.

 she looks at his slight  frame...The LC is having a Tunnel run at 8:PM ship's time... SEC   goes  as Voluntary..Pilots   are mandatory. Anyway?  Your are aboard  'the tip of the spear"..first ones in. last ones out.. Now?  The SM should be  along  soon.. He's in charge of SEC over  all, and  dishes out  assignments.

 Lyri looks up as she sorts through some  papers..,,she groans  as she  finds an encrypted dics.

  she flicks it to Beth, beth takes it over the computer she calls "the Mule".. she  slips  the  disc  in , and her  hands fly across the   keyboard  in a blurred.. about  15  seconds  she    ran it through a  scrubber. and handed it back...Looks Creshain.. have fun!

 Lyri accepted it  with a shrug...I hate  Bugs...

Yes ma’am Jason says taking the desk indicated and starts digging into the stuff piled on the desk.Its nice to meet you all

 Sam smiled at Jason and said," Welcome good to see you, get the computer loaded up and I will get you in." Sam waited till Jason was ready then loaded and gave him a access code. Once he was set up Sam went to work.

 After a bit Sam said," Beth it seems the Largans are headed to Aqra, I have confirmed this with other merchant hidden messages."

Thanks for helping me get set up Jason said putting in the access code and getting to work

Jason was going through what info was there trying to sort it to make things a bit easier when he noticed a couple of things he marked one thing and checked another thing jumping back and forth between a few documents to be sure. Pulling the relevant information he said Lt morrow I found three things that you should look at Ma’am. First Roussians have been coming and going between Russa and Vera a lot over the last month. Second there is EDT movement happening to Fuji . And finally russa is planning a retaliatory strike within the next month
This message was last edited by the player at 17:07, Mon 27 Nov 2023.

 Great... we  have   Lizards  going to help the  FishSticks.. I was hoping we  wouldn't have to go there  again... we have a pretty strong Presence there with those captured Battle  ships.. but  80% of the Human APF  folk are farmers  and Hunters,  trying to  keep Aqra   in their places.

 Beth's eyes  Narrowed.great..the egg plants?.. Fuji , I'm sure  we can deal with the REDT  there when we  doc there , Delta  Nights  are More  fun when they are  done at your home port.... I'll send word  to gresh....and Now i have more stuff to show the brass  in the Big meeting.

 Sam kept working trying to find out as much as she can.

After turning over the bit Jason found to Lt Morrow Jason continued going through the rest of the info he had to see if he could find more

 Beth  looked at the others,I am going to hand  the  information over to  the Brass at the  Meeting..if  any of you find anything else , SOM  me  and send the info to my Vidboard  so i might present it.

 Sam smiled and continued working," If we find anything Beth we will comm you ASAP." Sam smiled and went back to work on the comms.

Roy was up and about when he got the notification about meeting with the brass in an hour.  "Well, we may finally have some answers to all the questions people keep shooting our way," he muttered, as he read the note.  He looked over the duty roster for the day, made a couple of shift changes to break up some problematic pairings and keep his people more interested in their assignment than each other, and signed off on it.

He turned to the officer of the watch.  "I've got a meeting with the top brass in a little under an hour...unless it's critical, handle it.  I'm sure the Admiral would forgive interruptions, but I try to avoid them when I can."  He gave a nod, and then headed into his office to look through files on some of the new transfers, especially the ones that had been problematic thus far.  He was looking for indicators as to whether they were just chronically cocky or somehow otherwise problematic, or if they might actually be infiltrators again.  At this point, it should be clear to them that, either way, this was not going to be as easy as they'd hoped...but having clearer knowledge of their personal records and backgrounds would give him better insight as to whether each one was a 'break and rebuild' prospect, or just a 'break' prospect.  It was a good way to eat up the better part of an hour in a hurry...

Jason arrives on sec and heads to his desk to log in not seeing anyone else he logs in and then starts on the pile he was working on though it is a bit smaller than it was yesterday

 Beth  comes in with  three boxes of   freshmade  Donuts.... Lyri right behind  her starts  setting up the Coffee  Machine.

 Good  Morning   Jason. good  job on that stack.. we have   some wading through  before  we get to where ever it is  we are  going.

------>>>>> From Civi Section

 Sam walked into SEC all smiles, she said," Good morning everyone what a great day it is, what do we had to work on today Beth." SAm saw Jason and said," Hello Jason great to see you, looks like you have a enough to work on for now." Sam went to her desk used her code and her computer came alive. Sam looked at the folders on her desk to see what she had today.

Good morning everyone Jason says. How is everyone this morning

 "I have never been better it was a great time on the Blue Moon, and the last few days have been amazing, but sore." Sam looked at Beth and giggled.

 beth   gave her a comic  side-eyed look, and a bit of a smile. ask long as your brains stayed where they are supposed to be, that's a good thing!

 Vaka   had  just entered  and sign  , was  signed out  his  Pulse  rifle  and getting his helmet.

 Lirg  came  in and was doing the Same...Three is  an Hyrian  Shuttle  on the spine, that has APF  marking,  they couldn't see  the ship niumber.Why would Hyrains be  here...

 Beth  shook her head.better not to ask, better to find out when we are told

Cleaned, fed, and ready for anything the Gava came in the front office.  Jug looked at the board "freight day" she said then turned to her team "I will take that detail.  Bog, you take your group and work down Uvuvu, yours work up.  remember key points and work in threes" the Gava split into three groups and headed off.  Jug waved to all in the offices "remember to comm if there is trouble. No shame needing back up" the Gava started their patrols with Jug going to help inspect incoming freight and supplies.

===> roving patrols

 Sam giggled and replied to Beth," Oh yes my brain is fine, just other areas are very sore." Sam smiled and giggled more as she then went to work on the pile on her desk. Sam turned and replied," Maybe they are visiting the Admiral and the board?"

  Beth   gave a  little snort of laughter,I bet!..you are braver then i am!

  as   Sam gave her  thoughts  on the Hyrians,  Beth  nodded,well there are two offcier sthat were logged in at the VIP  lift. and there is a meeting going on..The SM and LC  are there.. so i would  bet 100 creds against one fat hamster, that's  were they are,

 Lirg take swished a  bit,I like Hamster, they are good  treats!.. whether they are fresh or cooked. Why do we not have them any longer?

 Beth wrinkled  her nose.ewww!  those  were pets!!! the Hobby shop  used to sell them!

 Lirg looked at  Beth, then at the horrified   humans in the  SEC..his tail drooped ,But the  Hobby shop sold, coffee  and  pastries  and  Muffins   for eating....

  Beth's head  dropped, she didn't  want to laugh.yes?  the hobby shop is also a coffeeshop.. now i know why they do not sell pets  any longer!.. the only pets they could see where  small mammals...

Lirg   looked  around with a  sheepish  grin on his face.I am very embarrassed,,, but they were sooo good.. you all should try them sometimes..

 Lyri  Handed  Lirg a  sugar  donut.. go!... get on your  beat,, pretend that's a sugar coated Hamster.

  lIrg    took a bite  as he stood  by the door,..it  does not taste the same...

 Lyri  pushed him out the door as it hissed open..

 Vaka left to catch up.He grabbed  a donut as well..

Beth  chuckled....that was unsettling!

 Sam was horrified those poor cute hamsters, but she knew others had different cultures. Bira was much different than other planets, but Sam kept her emotions in check and after they all left she replied to Beth," Oh yes very much, those poor cute hamsters." Sam then tried to get back to work going through coms and working on decoding messages.

 (( after  LC's COM...))

  Beth looked  at the Duty board  and  said...Supe... Hodden.. Minnet  and  Tucker.. grab weapons  and Zip ties.. you are going to Press Gang the   4  Angels Pilots that transferred over.. you find them, Grab them, Pop locks  if you have to..and  , The LC says  as is... not 'getting ready'..You grab them, Ziptie them  take the  to  the Pool area...

 Geezzz... The LC   must have thorn in his  paw... Supe said   as he stuck on his helmet and the  door  hissed open.. the   4  ran out  to the Lifts  and they Looked  at the COMs to see where they  are.

Roy was very nearly bowled over by the foursome as they barreled out of SEC on Shadow's errand.  "I didn't hear any fire alarms...?" he mused aloud as he turned from looking after the four of them to looking at Beth and then Lyri.  "Something I should be aware of?"

 Sam smiled at Roy and said," Well they are Press Ganging the 4 Angel Transfers for the LC, from the coms, seems like they are not looking after their fighters. The LC seemed very upset oh and he did say AS IS so it might get interesting if one of them was in the shower or sleeping naked." Sam giggled as she kept doing her work going through coms, and reports.

Roy gave a soft grunt of acknowledgment for the explanation, but otherwise seemed unfazed by any of it.  "We always seem to have a few who are determined to not fit in," he commented, "but there's some in this batch that seem determined to redefine the phrase..."

He looked over at Lyri again.  "Master Chief, I've got a special project...something I want to try out for the Admiral.  It'll take the two of us, plus, say, another ten individuals, I'm thinking a blend of snipers and infiltrators.  Lirg and Hirr come to mind immediately...anyone else you'd recommend?"  He tossed out the names to give her an idea of which direction he was thinking of going, but he didn't want to state the mission just yet.  It wasn't that he didn't trust his people, especially the core group here...it was just that, if word got out, he'd likely get inundated with suggestions and volunteers and he wanted to keep the group small and hopefully not too noticeable...he was pushing that with the Hyrian and Felrite, but he felt the skills they brought offset the risk that they'd be recognized on arrival and ruin the intended surprise effect of the operation.

 Beth nodded, That's it  in a Nutshell...or in Shadow's case... " nut Case"..he's been  going hard  since  we had  some  pilots   go awol..he found out about Harry running, lost  Vost..and that other  Pilot running  in Jerl..  wouldn't  want to be  those Angels right now

 Lyri caught Roys  eye,well..Vaka  was a ranger... Zoib with  a rifle.. hemsly  and  Karson?.. maybe Broks... it  depends  how  high up the  food chain you want to go

Roy grinned.  "Well, the Admiral suggested a dozen, and we'd only be away from the ship for a day or so...we could go pretty high and just treat it as an opportunity for some junior personnel to get some practice in leadership positions.  Pretty sure we could trust Beth to coach them along if anything too abnormal came up..."  He gave a grin, and then added, "Jax would probably be a good choice, and anyone else who's had a lot of experience on carrier stations..."  He didn't name names, but there were only so many SEC personnel who had any sort of background on carrier stations...

Lyri   tapped he r  coffee cut  with a 'not so long' nail.Jax....  Nifty?  if you don't  want to go all the way up... grabbing  one or two of the iron Guard  could be a smart Idea...

Roy nodded, and keyed his comm.  "Lt. Cross?  I need to borrow three of your men...looking for specialists in infiltration, penetrating enemy perimeters, covert action...I don't need snipers, I've got plenty of those.  Who do you recommend?"

 Cross answered well, SM..we  can  all sneak a bit.  But Mick  O'day  and Betty Liggins   are better then the rest of us?

a comm came quick
Jug commed Beth "Jug here...We have one on dec before Shadow now"

Roy grinned a little.  "They should work well.  How about you, Lieutenant?  Interested in a little off-ship time before everyone else?"  The fact that all of them were qualified made the offer easy to extend, and it would round out the dozen he was trying to put together.

  Cross answered,always looking for a  way to put some variety in my Life.... when and where?  there was the  sound of a chuckle

  Beth  sighed,Reminds me of the days  when people where trying to set up for  a Keg Party in the neighborhood.

 Lyri snorted,..You, and the Guys ,,went to Keg Parties?


 well..I mean  we weren't invited or anything..but there were always people there  who  needed to be  gone..and  we had to make sure  we showed them away...

 Lyri sipped he r  coffee, looked at  Roy then looked at Beth...where did you figure into all this..I mean.. you can run ok...but   I only see you kill a cou0le people on the Hanger Dec...

 Beth Rolled her  eyes...I can stab  people..shoot people...but  my real  thing ... is  'Pute them to death'

 Lyri's  eye brow raised. Beth flip flop her hand on her wrist...=yeah?  You know.. take over   some devices, burn some buidings  down, outlocked  doors.. car go ito rivers..    or  infront of a train empty bank accoutns, have it show up somewhere  esle with a  'trail' so the one guy goes kill the other guy.. its  fun? and  i very raely got shot at.

Roy listened with half an ear as he responded to Cross.  "The three of you meet me on the hangar deck in an hour.  Dress code is casual, passing for civilian.  Make sure you've got everything ready to ship down for shore leave before you go, though...we won't be back before the Hermes puts in at Fuji.  We're going to try out a pre-Delta Night..."

He stopped transmitting and looked at Lyri.  "Goes for you, too.  Sorry, you may miss out on the Captain's latest Angel Silk dress party, but we'll try to wrap up early enough for you to sneak back aboard."

He sat down at a keyboard...it would be faster to pass on the message that way...and sent a message to those that he and Lyri had discussed--Vaka, Zob, Lirg, Hirr, Jax, Nifty, Hemsly, Karson, and Brooks...

Early departure orders for you all.  Hangar Deck, one hour, casual dress (passing for civilian) and tools for wetwork.  Pack a bundle for the start of shore leave, as well...we may or may not make it back to the Hermes before shore leave commences.  Delta Night's going to start before the Fleet arrives this time...

He then commed Shoemaker.  "Shoey, I'm going to be off the boat with the Master Chief, leaving in an hour.  You're honcho for Security while we're gone.  Come find me if you have any questions, I don't want to discuss it over comms."

 NA-CE came from Med Tech, she walked into SEC and looked around, she checked the duty schedule then said,Hello anything going on you need help with?

 Sam kept working at her station as everything was going down when NA-CE entered Sam said to the SM, SM you might need a med tech for this Mission don't you think?

  The  door  His opened , Mann looked  bummed out.  Ellen    went to Roy...SM?  do you think  it would ge a good Move, for me to go to the AI...

 Mann muttered under his breath. she cast hima dark look, then back to Roy.

 Beth called over...One Of Emmies  Shuttles  from a ransprot is  comign in, in 46...Unload  time  10 minutes.., You group would  be ready to go 60 minutes after it touches  down on our  dec..

Roy grimaced a little at the questions, buying himself a few seconds of time by acknowledging Beth's report.  "Should be just about perfect, Beth, thanks."

He debated with himself over which question to field first.  Practicality won out.

"Hopefully, we don't need a medic...but it never hurts to have one along."  He looked over at Na-Ce.  "If you're interested in joining a pre=Delta Night operation, get your kit and be on the hangar deck in one hour.  Make sure you've got what you need for shore leave packed so someone can grab it and bring it along when the Hermes puts in at Fuji, we may not have time to come back to the ship.  That may also mean you miss out on Captain Si's crew-beautification party before the Ball, so weigh that in your consideration."  He left her to make up her own mind as he turned to Ellen.

"You're asking the wrong question, Ellen.  There's no way to know if it's a good move or not.  It's got potential, certainly...if those armor suits end up becoming a big deal in the Fleet, you'd almost certainly end up being farmed out to help stand up AI teams on other ships, and being one of the early adopters would get you some recognition and potentially notoriety.  It also means you're going to be answering the bell for some of the most hazardous assignments, in the hottest engagements with the least backup, because the whole idea behind AI is you are basically your own backup.  And we've already seen that, even though those suits are tough, they aren't invulnerable."  He shrugged.

"So, the question you need to ask yourself is, do YOU want to go Armored Infantry?  I'm not going to tell you don't do it, but I'm not going to tell you that you should do it.  I'm agnostic on the whole thing...I see advantages AND disadvantages to them, just like every other high-tech toy anyone's tried to introduce to this war.  Ask the mech drivers how they feel about going into a ship assault strapped to the back of a shuttle, or being the first thing the enemy troops shoot at because they're bigger and more dangerous, if you want to get some idea of what it's going to be like if you do it.  So I'm not going to encourage anyone to go, but I won't discourage it, either.  If you decide you want to do it, I'll endorse the transfer without hesitation.  If you don't, I won't question it.  Takes a certain mentality to strap on powered armor, knowing that if something happens to your power supply, you're pretty severely boned...but it also takes a certain mentality to stomp into an enemy ship passageway in unpowered armor, and you're already doing that.  You're the only one that can say whether you've got the right mentality for power suits."

 NA-CE listened to Roy, she nodded, she knew Vaka was in the team it didnt matter if she missed getting ready her date would be out on a mission. NA-CE answered fairly quickly," Yes SM I will meet you on the hanger Dec in an hour, civies, low key, my med kit, weapons, and I will also bring my information extraction kit with me as well it might come in handy."

Yotolia entered the SEC room after doing a patrol of the Rec Dec and tunnels, the only places she has been since arriving. she blinked som as she noticed how active this rrom was. she stood off to the side listening to the others as each seemed busy with something. her ears perked a little hearing NA-CE "Are we going somewhere?" She asked to no one in particular, but not to herself either

   Beth looked at Yotoia...The SM  is  taking  some people  to Fuji  is  a shuttle. ahead of the  Fleet. her eyes  shifted to the SM who talked  with Ellen.

  ......

 Ellen   looked  at  Roy  she  was obviously  caught  in a corundum of thought...I think i will talk to Meari  and  Tarja  and  then make the    decison .. I liked the feel of the Armor.. but it was awkward,  But so was  walking the Hull in magna boots.

 Mann frowned and shook his head as  he took the power cell from his  rifle, and plugged it   in, before adding a fresh one, and setting the weapon into the  rifle locker.

Roy gave Ellen a nod, noticing Mann in the background.  He had a few minutes...

"Mann...my office for a moment..."  There was nothing chastising in his tone, but the request, while not unprecedented, was an uncommon one.

When they were inside, Roy pushed the door closed casually, and said, "Speak your peace," before he turned around from the door.  "Something about Ellen's question has stuck in your craw...get it out."

  Mann   looked  around , his shoulders   sagged, before he looked at Roy.look?  SM.. I know  i might be outta line., But you go  back to Anzio , and the  battels with the  SSN? the   damn Red Birds and all the crap on  Aqra?   Cora and Ekken   signed up.. they  worked with  the LC and the rest of the  group  thinnignout  bad  guys on Anzio..and  ..well  you seen them on  Jump offs.. They are as Much Hermites  as  someone  that can be, with out being here since  Olympus!

 Those   tin cans?  They might be the  'next big thing".. But you saw that that one guy..one RPG and he was turned into a Hermes Puree

 he  sighed,I can't think of  too many worst ways to die, then Locked  in cold  metal. he threw up his hands.since her  and Cora  got here? they have been trying to prove   they belong,  and they have done  more then that?..why..why  step into  something Unproven?

another sigh.look.. I guess its  not my business...right.. Its one thing to lose    'brand new" transfers..but  tomlose   some one who has  [proved , very good at  thier job?... he winced...see what i'm saying?

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

 Outside  Beth Looked at Ellen as she put her own rifles away and switched out power cells.AI?   why? she  asked  as she looked at her screens  , fingers moving like centipedes or  amphetamines .

 Ellen shrugged  with a  half  smile. I went  for a walk in one..sorta.. bit  its  weird, its...powerful.  I could Kill alot of Bad
 guys in one of those  suits...

 Beth Nodded without looking up..yep?  Just like Pilots...right?  except Pilots  can fly away,, AI,  will be tagetted  like mechs..won't they?

 Eleen's smile  dropped..yeah..but  i can get killed   runnign down a corridor, or   moving through trees, or   on a delta  Night?

 look?  you see me..right? I killed  maybe..a dozen people   with a weapon..thousands  with a keyboard, so i don't have the  same persepctive  you have....but I will say this. If  you want to Join the AI... Join the AI because you want to Join, not because you think you have to show  people 'you are in  it to win it".. I'm pretty sure  everyone knows that now.

 Elen smiled a bit,Thank you for that...But.. I want to give it a try... I'll talk to   Tarja  when she  comes back from  training

Roy nodded. "I get it...but you have to stop thinking of the AI as 'them'.  They're part of US.  I'm no more going to tell Ellen that she can't do that than I was going to tell Nikki she should get her ass out of a fighter and back in the shuttle cockpit.  We're lucky, in that we've found something that we're good at, and comfortable with, and maybe even enjoy a little bit.  Ellen?  Maybe she wants more than just being a rifleman.  Maybe the thought of being able to tear apart most Demons limb from limb really thrills her in a way that being a standard groundpounder never will."  He shrugged.

"All I know is, troopers who feel like they're being used to best effect tend to make for better troops, overall.  Yeah, she may wind up as spam in a can...but dead is dead.  When that golden BB finds you, it doesn't matter if you're manning a turret on an assault shuttle, or in full armor, or you got surprised by a sniper at a beach party. There's no such things as a good way to die, Mann...the best we can hope for is a death that means something.  If she thinks her life will be more meaningful packed in power armor with a minigun that shoots smaller caliber rounds that the rifle I learned to hunt squirrels and rabbits with, I'm not going to stand in her way.  We're here to win a war, yeah...but I'm also trying to use people in the most productive and fulfilling way I can."  He stepped up to Mann, and put a hand on each of the man's shoulders, looking him squarely in the face.

"It's her choice, and I'm going to let her make it. It's not like she's leaving the Hermes and joining the EDT or something...she's still ESN, she's still Hermes, whether she's walking the deck on a Security patrol or she's strapping into one of those tin cans for a boarding op.  Those people are still OUR people."

  Mann Looke d at   Roy  there was a pained expression... he nodded slowly,yeah.... i.. i guess... but you know   when we're out there... she  see a Fighter  get popped.. the pilot's gone?... if they get shot Up, the POD out and then its a race who get them.. But those  AI things?...we only saw one of those go  down  so far.. and.. i mean.. that's it? Just a suit full  of  pasta  sauce.

 He  signed,thanks, Sm...

 NA-CE left SEC to her Quarters to get changed in appropriate clothes with her envirosuit underneath at least. She then hid her weapons and had her medical hit and torture kit. Then when it was time NA_CE would head to the Hanger Dec.

---->>>>>>> To Hanger Dec via her quarters.

Roy nodded.  "I get it, Mann.  But she'd be just as dead if she took the same hit in boarding armor.  And right now, she's only thinking about it.  She may decide she's not that interested.  She may get certified and then decide after some action that it isn't her thing.  The AI are basically shock troops, which is what we've been so far in the war, and she'll figure that out in a hurry the first time they go into action.  Some people like it. Some people lose it.  Just look at what happened with that pilot that had all but washed out, and then died defending the Hermes...if we'd had another week before combat action, she could very well have been on the ground with us, or flying a supply shuttle back and for within the Fleet.  I don't think Ellen would chicken out...but right now, it's a novelty to her.  When it stops being new and shiny, is it still going to be more interesting?  There's no knowing...only waiting to find out."

He stepped back to the door, pausing as he reached for the knob.  "But whatever she chooses, she's still Hermes.  And that's the only thing that matters, in the end.  Don't care what unit patch is on that uniform, as long as the ship patch is on the shoulder.  She's a big girl...she'll figure out the best course for her."  He gave Mann a nod, and opened the door.

"Now, I've gotta get my gear packed and get to the hangar deck in about forty-five minutes...wouldn't do for me to tell everyone else to be there in an hour and then not be the first one on deck.  Help Shoemaker keep a lid on things while I'm off the ship."

  Mann  nodded with a sheeish smile,..All right, SM. Already done..

 Ellen  was waiting..early Lunch.. the other   teams should be on the Rec dec

 Yeah?  Sounds  good

 Lyri Had her gear..   Jax  , Nifty  and Zob were there  gathering heir  gear.. Cross and his  2  people  were waiting outside the doors.

Roy took a few minutes to step next door to his quarters, rounding up what he needed there and making sure his dress blues were ready for someone to grab if he didn't have time to make it back to the Hermes.  He'd need to stop at the QM to check out sniper rifles, but otherwise, he was ready to go in all of ten minutes, gesturing for the rest to follow him out of Security and to the Hangar Deck.

Yotolia hurried after Roy in an attempt to get his attention only to find him gone as soon as she entered the hallway. it wasn't long after that he reappeared from his room, so she made her move to his side. "This one volunteers to go with you sir, if you have need of this one on your travel." She had hoped he would say yes and allow her to, though he did seem to be in a hurry himself.

slight flex

Roy looked a bit surprised at the request, but considered it for a moment.  Felrites were slowly integrating into the APF, so their appearance wouldn't be totally surprising.  But two Felrites might, actually, draw less attention than one, as it seemed likely to him that any Felrites that went to Fuji wouldn't be going alone...

He gave a small shrug.  "Stick with Lt Hirr.  She's got a better notion of what surprises you'd be encountering, compared to what you're accustomed to back on Zolth.  Unless I say otherwise, she's your senior officer on this one, do as she says."  He glanced at the clock.

"You've got about twenty minutes to round up whatever gear you need...we're going to a station carrier and you need to look like you kind of fit in, somehow, so don't get carried away with exotic weapons or gear.  We also may not make it back to the Hermes before we have to start attending to normal activities after she puts in to port, so get anything you'd need for shore leave packed up and leave it just inside your door...we can have people retrieve it and bring it down to Fuji if we need to.  If you're not on the Hangar Deck by the time the shuttle's ready to leave, we go without you, so you better hurry."

End flex
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Wed 31 Jan.

Yotolia nodded with out much of a word before scurrying off to her room then the hanger once everything was taken care of as instructed.

Hanger >>

 After everyone left Sam went back to work on comms and transmissions, and seeing if she can find any interesting ones.

 Sam will also try to monitor Fuji transmissions to see how their team was doing on Fuji.

  Sam  would get  feed  back, watching her readings , she  could  tell , whomever the Lights Out  people were, they had  finally released the   alarms  systems.

  there was a disturbance in the lowers.  on the port side  hull , near the  entrance to the  Stem.

After 5 hours on shift Jug and the other Gava entered the SEC. She checked for any outstanding notices, finding the last was the 4 Angel pilots incident. she looked at who was on desk "Gava go on lunch now.  everything okay?" she asked.as they all followed procedures.

Having returned from lunch some time ago Jug and the Gava continued patrolling and making their notes.  Finally the shift ended and the Gava began strolling into the SEC there they finished the shift.  A few wanted to go to the recdec, a few wanted to go sleep. Jug wanted a shower. After closing out she dismissed them to go where they wanted.

===> Enlisted Quarters

 Sam worked hard as always going through coded comms, and when her shift was over she had time to go shower and change and then head to Captain Si's Quarters to get ready for the ball. Sam closed down her secured computer and then shifted everything to her comms.

 Sam then smiled at everyone," Hope to see you at the ball if not have fun." Sam then left SEC headed up to her quarters, quickly showered put on a matching blue lace lingerie set both bra and panties, and her robe. Sam would then head right to Captain Si's quarters.

----->>>>>> To Captain Si's Quarters via Sam Quarters.

just going to finsh going through this last disk Sam i might check out the ball a little later. jasonsays pulling up on last data file

  Scarlett  finished her   last  disc...well?  the    ships  goign to be clmaped in  20 Minutes... the   Limos  and   shuttles  will be lined up, in 2 hours  to  take   those who are going, But?  some  folks take thier own transport...  Sometimes  , that   Forge  ship  run by That Porcine?   will rent out   Hover  Bikes , Hertmes folks het a  Deal from her, since he r Brother  flew  for us..he  got Killed when they were tryign to Get Shadow of the Green  Moon, when we  first attacked Nivar.

Jason finishes up the disc it did seem to contain any vital information.Well that’s done. Time to head to the ball I suppose. Jason heads to the hanger deck

>>>>> to hanger deck