(( after  Matterhorn  shore leave))

  Once everyone who wanted  to run, or was being  made to run, lined up. Beth  started the  countdown and   the 'gun' went off.

 The   largs  fired off, chargign  down the   tunnels,perhaps  they were trying to burn off  excess energy

Tulliun opted out of continuing the additional laps after the larg incident. Choosing instead to go to his quarters and take what he felt was a well deserved shower.

--- to officers quarters>>>

TI-JO continued running at his own pace, choosing to capitalize on the additional training, ignoring any drama from the Mercs, pending the need for intervention. His effort kept him within a modest distance of the LC, which favored the Corporal, since he would be there to respond if any Mercs got ambitious.

  The LC   purposely  sprinted out a dozen or so yards, He called  back...Any of you Mercs or Heimdall folks can ctach me, you can go to the  rec dec  for a dinner and a Beer on me...

Aideen.. took the bait and  tried to  run after  him

 Flores  Goaded the  mercs.....he's only a Pilot..right..go catch him..he never welches on a bet..

Fred     took off  too..a few of the others   sped up  ...

 Flores    Looked  towards Shoey and Roy...gods..they are sooooo dumb...

 beth Pipped  Muisc  through the  Tunnels  PA...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6M65s0Gm-8

  as the  run started to pick up... The Pilots   and some of the SEC ( Including  Flores)  sang  as the mercs tried to catch Shadow...

Roy shrugged, still running smoothly despite the armor, combat pack, and weapon and this being a third lap.  "If they were that smart, they wouldn't be enlisted rank in the EMS.  From what I've seen, EMS promotes pretty readily to senior NCO and officer status if you're even vaguely competent.  I mean, Raven was an EMS lieutenant back when the Hermes and Harvester first paired off, and she was two short steps above totally useless back then."

Nikki made sure she did not sit down yet.  If she did, she would not get up. "Roll, you go with Stefi and a few others in need of medical aid.  If okayed you can go see about Thor.  Okay?" she prodded him.  Letting Haley down to walk.  "I need a shower and a change of clothes" Haley handed her back the half bottle of cool water that Nikki tossed to Haley before.  She began to wobbily make her way to her quarters.  She gave a few clasps on the shoulder or a hand shake moving through the crowd.  Zob, Meari, Sneak, and others.

===> Officers Quarters

With the situation seemingly resolved, Harry would breathe a sigh of relief and shoulder her weapon ”Stand down people, shows over, it looks like we get to live another day” she said giving a grateful look to those that had stood with her. It was then that Nikki would jump her, with Harry awkwardly returning the hug as she replied ”um…yeah…something like that” after letting Nikki go Harry would hang around long enough to watch the idiots fall into Shadows trap before leaving the tunnels. Some things never changed.

——> Rec Dec

Comms message for Roy: “Sergeant Major we may have a problem, I’ve just found something hidden in the Delta Night intel and…I think you need to hear this ASAP”

 Lizzy had gotten out of the way and then she saw Harry standing with Meari in case the Largs attacked. Lizzy didnt know what to do, she still hurt from Harry's comment and she wasnt going to let Harry bring her down at all. Lizzy decided to see what this returned Harry was all about, she would give Harry one last chance.

 Lizzy walked up and said," Welcome back Harry, it always takes the idiots to cause a little commotion doesn't it. How are you doing?" Lizzy decided to say that and see where it goes from there.

 When Meari realized the situation was under control, she lowered her 30-cal. and said to Harry," Thank you for staying Harry I am glad it turned out well for us." Then Meari saw Lizzy come up and Meari knew they had some history, so Meari moved back towards Beth and the finish line to see how the first punishment lap went.

 Sam sat with Orria watching everything and trying to not draw any Larg attention. Sam knew she couldnt run so she just stayed at her table with Orria. Then Zob showed up and Sam felt much better just in case something went wrong. Once the Gunny was disposed of for kicking Thor, what a complete idiot who would kick a baby Larg with its big hungry pack running around you that was a new level of stupid in Sam's eyes.

 Once everything was all set and the running began again, Sam said to Orria," Are you ok Orria you dont have to stay here if you are not ok with it."

Henry walked over to the SEC people.

"I need to turn myself in. I attacked a member of the crew. However obnoxious he was, that should have been left to the authorities to deal with."

   Lyri , who wasn't running this lap, used her helmet Mic  to  talk to  beth, She brought Henry over to the Table Sam's Table..

 Her weapon's  But  resting on her hip, as the barrel  pointed to the ceiling, her  shield   Came up   after talking to   Beth, she   gave Sam a little smiled  , and   skipped back  to the  part where Henry  grabbed the Gunny. she  skimmed through  Until the Part where    henry walked  away, and  hit  another  key.

 In to her Mouth piece  she said... 1 hour...38 minutes...54..no 53 seconds.  end at  1 hour ...46 minutes...13  seconds....on my mark....mark...

 she hit   three  kets  and   the   vid tape   flashed  for a moment, now showing     The Punishment   run  as the people   were rounding the starboard, stern Bend.

 Admiral...Dr  Christie  seems to think  he has done something Wrong.... Sam? could  you find  anything   he did wrong?

The Admiral Looked at the starting line, But  came over   to  Sam's  side,show me.....

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

 Rounding the starboard, stern, bend..Shadow  kept his pace up... keeping  a yard or so in front of the mercs  who were trying so hard to  pass him...they were  wavering... stumbling then  had to rally  to  gain  the few steps they Lost.

 Lippen , who ran the first lap, was  at the site of the  dead Gunny. She was  gathering up  his  weapons, she   stepped  back against the wall  to  watched them  Run By... she shook her  head  with a  smile as the Mercs  tried to catch  the LC to 'end thier  punishment'.

 Flores Yelled out ..her  laughter barely suppressed ...CATCH HIM  YOU CAN DO IT!!! HE'S ONLT A PILOT!! and she  broke  down  laughing causing her to lose  some distance   from  Roy  before Maria   Pushed her  forward...

 Gloat when you have   a better  view of  finish line, Si?

 Frans  and Eckels  where on either side  of the Tunnel  almost even with the  'lead' Merc... frans  shouted  across  with her  Visor opened,,,... Transfers?  am  I right?

 Eckles  called Back...I thought maybe  one or two would be  'Bunk' material?

from behind  Mara  said...everyone is 'bunk material' to you.

 Eckels  Looked back, and a few other Pilots laughed.

 Sam smiled as she watched what Lyri did and smiled, then when the Admiral said show him, Sam brought up the footage showing what happened with Lyri's slight edit. Sam played it through and said,' That is all of it Sir, I didnt see anything wrong Sir." Sam smiled at Lyri and went back to monitoring the runners.

  The Admiral who had been at the Table , when   the Largs  reached  the fallen people... gave  a shrug and   patted  Herny's   shoulder.....don't see anything wrong  Henry... Now? I want to run this next lap... Take care of yourself...

  The Admiral Looked  at Lyri, who looked up at the ceiling  , he smiled slighlty...and   jogged off across the Bow to line up.

 Disna    was holding  Thor, who was  taking ...too much..comfort in all the attention...I'll wait here until all the Largs are done...make sure  that Thor  doesn't eat up  all thier lunch, on the rec dec.

With the angel's endurance showing over the remaining mercs' limitations TI-JO decided to capitalize on the antagonism. From his spot in the middle-rear of the pack, he dropped back, to make himself some room. Then, he poured on the speed, really stretching his legs to full stride. He passed the majority of the pack and a couple of them out front. Once he found a good spot, he spun around to face those behind him. While keeping his spot he called out to the pursuers, Come on, is that the best that money can buy? mischief and malice in his voice, At least there'll be some real operators out there, to keep you guys safe. with a short laugh, he spun around and resumed his trot, maintaining his position relative to the crowd.

As any of the pack tried to break away, he egg them on, There ya go! Get it! Go on, catch that pilot who's showing you up! then, as they burned out and fell back, Aw, that's too bad. Maybe next time. he would feign pity on them

"I'd better run it too," said Henry and walked over to where the runners were congregated, still in mental turmoil.

He knew, intellectually, that he had behaved badly. Yet he did not feel anything other than satisfaction, the sort you feel after squashing a bug that has been pestering you for a while. Had he lost control of himself? The worst of it was he didn't think so. He had intended to do what he had done and moreover did not regret having done it.

Part of him wanted to cry. He wasn't sure what for.

So he ran, instead.

 Sam giggled as Lyri looked up, Sam knew that Henry didnt need to be punished for kicking an asshole in the balls after what he did.  Sam just smiled at Henry and said," Run safe and keep up the good work Doc."

  Supe, who really hadn't planned to run again, But did  so , because Hodden drug him out  by his  pack straps..  as they were  rounding the  bend..he started to chant...if a bit horsely...

 ".....Hermes  troops  are made of Gold...."

  Shory grinned  as he answered,

 " mess with us, you won't grow old..."

 Maria chipped in..

 "..if you cause us too much strife...."

  Cora  answered...

 " .. we will gladly  end your  life...."

Will started the cadence ..

 "  SOUND OFF...ONE  TWO....  SOUND OFF.... THREE...FOUR"

  the tread of the Boots  started   to  mesh.. with , perhaps a few pilots  and such out of   stride. but most have done this before, and  By the time the  reached Amidships,, Sam  could see them  in unison ..save  for the mercs  and  Heimdall folks...

 The LArgs  and   Mila  were already near the   starting line.. Puskie   scrambling about  with Sneak, to get them drinks.

  At This Point..The Admiral    would push his way  through the middle of the pack... He joined in the cadence.. and   saw the steady , unified  tread hit the dec plates..he  allowed himself to feel the  Pride, that this was his  crew....

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:21, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

 Meari had made it to the starting/ finish line when she heard the cadence and the boots falling together, it was an amazing sound, the Hermites ran together as a team and a unit that is why they are still alive and the tip of the spear, the mercs had no clue, and she wished Zia would have gotten a clue, but she didn't. Meari looked at Beth and said," Now those are true Hermites Lt. wish I was out there with them, I missed that lap. I only have one question are there really that many idiots in this Universe, why do you kick a baby Larg with its pack running around you, that is just pure stupidity."

  Beth  sat  there  and sighed...Just because  they went to the Academy, or Boot  camp, or whatever... doesn't  mean  they are good people.... Look at Kray?

 she had  her  head resting  on her  hand  with the elbow on the table  as she watched the Cam vids...

 I bet  half the Captain of the Fleet  would  have  hand him in the brig or worse..the other  Half  would  have promoted him to Captain..... Right now...right here? he's Just what the Admiral wants...well.... she wrinkled her nose  and giggled,..some times...

 ..so? people send us  Volunteers  , that they don't mind getting rid of, or...we just get the  'next people in line" from the cue?.. Bottom Line, they need to be sorted out....look at that Heimdall scum bag that stole an aircraft and left...big talker. Heck.. Lyri thought he was a preditor , the way he went after Lynch? Guess he got what he wanted though....

 That Gunny, Got what he paid for...damn shame we didn't get to scan his wrist though, More creds for the fleet?..... she giggled again,bet it saved Vassat  a few creds...don't have to pay dead folks, who didn't  die, doing what they were getting paid for... Dumbassary, isn't on a pay scale..if it was? they could buy thier own cap ship!

Harry had got as far as the door before being stopped by Meari ”I’m glad you joined me” Harry replied just as much glad of the show of support as the extra firepower Meari’s weapon would have provided had the worst happened ”hey if you’re still up for it I’d like to resume training with the ol’ pair blades” she said wanting to learn how to use the pair of Udenese blades properly. With Lizzy’s arrival the smile would disappear and she would look decidedly awkward as she replied ”Yeah…um…I’m fine…” with it clear that she didn’t know how to continue the conversation and was trying to find a polite way of leaving.

Roy checked his comm, then answered, with the measured breathing of a man running, "Is it urgent enough to step away from another assignment?  I'm kind of overseeing disciplinary action here..."  He could, and would, just walk away from the run if the information warranted it...but that didn't mean he wanted to run off from an assignment--even one he'd given himself--for something that could wait an hour or two.  He had to rely on Izzy's judgment, to gauge how truly urgent the new intel was.

Henry got caught up in the cadence and soon was running in step with the rest.

 Lizzy could tell she caught Harry of guard and that she was trying to find a way not to talk to her. Maybe it was too soon, maybe they just weren't friends anymore and that hurt Lizzy's heart. Lizzy had the look of a hurt puppy for a few seconds, then that bubbliness came out and Lizzy bounced to the next thing," Awesome glad you are fine Harry, well see you around going to get a shower.' Lizzy hoped for more and just bebopped towards the Officer's quarters.

---->>>>>> To Officer Quarters

 Meari listened to Beth and smiled at her and responded," Yes, I guess there needs to be a weeding out process, on Uden we weed those types out very early. I was taught to fight at a very young age because of the war with the Verians. Yes, not all those volunteers are going to be worth a damn, I was hoping Zia was different like Oscar, but it seems I was wrong about her." Meari watched the Largs return and she was happy to see them like Hermes Largs again.

 Meari just shook her head and said," Well yeah fortunately for us most of them get themselves killed hopefully without taking other good troopers with them. I think I will run the next lap."

Comms message to Roy “If it’s the Heimdall troopers you’re discipling you may want to hear this sooner rather than later…I found a file in the Delta Night intel and they’re in it”

Catching the hurt look on Lizzy’s face Harry would wince ever so slightly, with her allowing Lizzy to get a head start before stepping out of the tunnels and heading to her own quarters to change out of her armour and grab a shower before heading on to the rec dec for a bite to eat.

——> Rec Dec

(Slight Flex)

Once the commotion was over and things safe for the most part he took Zia who he saved and threw her back into the mix with the others to continue the punishment laps after all punishment was punishment Zob didn't make the rules he just helped enforce them.

(End of Slight Flex)

Zob watched for a bit as the others began to leave he even gave Harry a polite wave glad to see her back even though he didn't know her all that well he had no reason to dislike her he then stood next to Orria and watched the run from the vid screens.

  The  Run  ended..Zia  hand to be carried across  by two Pilots. The LC looked at  the Mercs  and  Heimdalls...

 everyone? 5  minutes..drinnk..Volunteers.. ran if you want..everyone  Else   except  for Zia... Stefi?  do something with Zai...

Stefi frowns...yes  Sir almighty LC..what would y0u like me to do....

 I dunno?   do ...Stefi stuff.. fix her..shoot her..send her to Med Tech...but she's useless up here.

Zai  was sitting against the wall, gasping and crying.

  Fred  was very  Tired. his legs were like JelloB..Big Man....you running with  ...Light  armor..and a  little...tiny..SMG...

 Shadow    walked  up to the bend over trooper...he handed  his SMG  to  Shory and Motioned to Shade..who was not running the next Lap. He Motioned  for Minet's Heavy Pulse  Gun...

  There was  dark anger in his eyes  as she Forced   Fred's   Head up.....i have had  my fill..a while ago...with people  who  blame every one  else   for why they can't  cut it.... so Here is what  we're gonna do... I run with this Heavy Pulse... all the   Mercs and Heimdalls.. take off  your  armor, pack and weapons.. Pile them neat  let to where Zia's  dying... Then we Run again... and ..NONE...of you, better let me  beat you... I'll give you a  30 yard head start....

 and if you beat one of us?

 Then?  the Punishment gets harder.

  Those troopers  put thier   weapons and armor in neat piles, Lined up   just wearing  Duty uniforms  and  Baseball caps.

    putting the Strap over  his shoulder. Minnet took the LC's   SMG...Shadow looked  around to see  who all was ready...nodded to Beth  The Lights  counted  Down.. he looked  at the new   Pilots  who  stood  ready to run.They were beat, but none of them  would say a word...

 the 'gun' went off... Shadow  st9od Holdign the    Heavy Pulse...realizing why gunners  had bigger shoulders them him...

Beth watched the  screens.. at  30 yards  , she said..GO!

 The Hermes  folks  decided  to  run  in a  group..once again  coming up with cadences.

  Lyri Ran this time..she shouted  out...

 " when  we  fight we do it right..."

  Tucker Called out...

 " whether it be  day or night"

 Lyri..

"  We  never give the Empire  a Pass.."

 Scarlet  chanted..

" we just kick them in the ass.."

" Hermes...One..two...Hermes  ..Three..Four..."

" we'll keep running and ask for more.."

Having grown bored of taunting the Mercs and Heimdall traitors, TI-JO decided to take up a position in the formation, not knowing the first cadence they called out, but using it for breathing rhythm all the same. As he expected, it helped him recover and maintain a good pace for the run.

 Meari lined up for this lap but when the mercs and Heimdall's got to take their armor and weapons off, Meari put her 30-Cal. down, took off the two belts and lined up with the SEC folks.  When they got running Meari ran with the group got into step and sung along with the other Hermites.

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:22, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

   mercs and Heimdall folks ran  hard..or..at least as  hard as they were able... With the Largs  well out of sight,  they began  to feel good  about thier  chances of beating the LC.

 For His part, the LC passed them On the outside   as they were  rounding the  Port stern,  to start crossing the  stern.

  He  held the Heavy  weapon with  Both hands,  as if he  was running during a firefight,He  twitched to get the Visor of his helmet up..he was sweating inside, but..seemed  to Like it...

 His breath was measured, but not labored...wow?..You're  right    Fred?.. this  damn gin does  make a differance... I though i'd catch you guys   5 yards ago!

then..out of  Pure  spite..he  took off on a lang striding Gait . that started  to leave the  Mers behind, a few feet each length .

The mercs  groaned , Aideen started to  sprite after Him... White knew he had  no chance.. the others  were a Mixed bag... Flora  Moss of the heimdall people  pushed hard to try to catch him.  Shadow knew, this was probaly it  for the Mercs..but   he wouldn't let them know....

 Flores  moved into the merc  pack.....tell me something...since i never  had  the   feelig myself?...what bothers you  Most... Him. making you look so bad...... Him looking  so much better then you...or the very fact that he's been in your head since you stepped on the  dec?

 CPL Sunny Davis ws laboring hard..he Looked  at Flores, sweat streamign  down his neack  and face with the thick air of the tunnel...what are you...one of his  whores.....

 Flores   grinned a dangerous  Grin...she tapped the little pin that Most of the Ladies  wore...I'm a cheerleader!

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:23, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

As the run paused so Zia could get sent off for medical attention, Roy waved to his comm.  "Duty calls, LC..."  He didn't sound happy about it, and stepped over to Lyri, muttering something to her about Izzy's call and the suspect information that she'd turned up from the Delta Night findings.

"Keep an eye on them...and don't leave Shadow alone with them.  If they were stupid enough to jump him, they'd be dead and if we need to ask questions, that makes it really hard to get answers..."  It was a low murmur, but it was definitely delivered as an order.  He gave her a nod and then headed for Security, clearing the magazine and the round in the chamber before he left.

He paused at the door.  "Hey, White?!  Don't think anyone here will be any less ready to put you in the morgue if you grab a weapon..." he said, in a voice that was half warning and half taunt, before he turned and left.

Henry had had enough, although he was still troubled.

He called Val instead.

"Hey, beloved, I'm done running. You and Can care for brunch on the Rec Dec? Mila's still scampering around with the largs but they should be done soon."

  Val answered,Yes, we  can come up to the  Rec dec... I set up  a meeting with our new  lab  Crew  for  after Dinner..around 1800?.. Maybe Can,  can play with a  friend or two while we have  the meeting in the Lab Conference room.

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

  The Run  went  as one would think...The mercs , everyone  suspected, would  die out..the Heimdall  folks, should have been in better shape.

Olny Aideen finished the Run on her feet, bent over  and gasping. Shadow had purposefully   sprinted, past his  'wal' just to  show them Up..he handed  Minnet's weapon back, and took his own SMG from her.

 Bleedin' Machine, you are, an' that's  me  sayin'...how's ya learn to  run like that...

Shadow  crouched  close, looking at the Light green eyes, she had taken  her head gear off, the  scarlet hair plastered down  by sweat. when i was little... i had to run fast... to make the track team and  football team, i had to be  fast..and i had to be mean....in the streets...people died...and i had to be fast to get away, or...to make that happen....and in continued   all the way to here....Being able to run has helped me on Ops....when i had to pod out, and when we play our games.... a trooper  who can't run? Is called  'A target'.

 everyone..stow your gear... change,  one drink and a meal on me at the Rec Dec.....anything after that is one you...

  Troopers dismissed. Minnet and Tucker  carried Hodden and Supe's weapons, as the two taller HW tropers   each grabbed a a cooler for  each shoulder.. Nagy grabbed one as well. Jax  and Nifty   took handles of  one... Jumping Lion and Giles   took another.

 Orria  helped   Sam Pack  up...Lyri helped  Beth. Shadow shouldered his SMG and grabbed the  components for the  lights  and Cams on that  side, while  Beth unplugged from the SEC CAMs  over head.

 Fred stopped    Shadow  as he carried the  instruments and  said.....You know?  me and you have to throw down..i mean..i have to do it...

 Kat  carried beth's Folding chair. she  stopped to watch the two, the slightly taller   Trooper staring at   Shadow who seemed to be thinking...Tell you what , Fred?..you stow your gear...get cleaned up..have you meal... you can even sit  with me...and  you tell me why you have to spend the  rescue mission in Med tech...or...floating in  Matterhorn space in a black plastic bag? and if you want to roll the dice...we can do that... But you're  already down Gunny Larg Food....Margo is gonna have to pass whatever
  tests   the SM lays  down for Stefi...but i don't  fight for fun, Fred. You will get hurt..theres a 75% chance you'll end up in Med tech

 what if i beat the 9 hells out of you?

 Shadow smiled....The?  I'll cry, at how far I have fallen, from where i am now....

 Shoey came over  his  grin showing as he chewed his gum.....Problem, LC?

 ..not for me....see you on the Rec Dec, Fred.... Shadow  shouldered past him  to the  stairs.

 Shoey and fed  watched hIm go, Kat behind him...you'd be better off, askign the  SM to fight you....SM  stays pretty much  in control.. LC?..well..he tends to get  carried  away...


Hamsly Grins.., as he walks  past with KArson and Brooks...too right !...Bloody LC near Beat me to death....SM  pulled the reins in...there's a difference though?.. I was testin' him fer me Captain.....now you and yours..he  don't like..soooo... maybe stick that on the  scale when you measure it..eh?

  Shoey  whaps   Fred on the back...lotsa thinking to do...bottom line?  do you want to collect  the pay that  fancy dress lady is offering you... or  just ride  around space in that bag, the LC talked about.

Mila ran over to Her Human as He rounded up the largs.

"Come on you lot. Food on the Rec Dec for all of you. Larry and Tess too, even if they've already had a snack."

He led the pack up to the Rec Dec, waving for Disna, Puskie and Roll (if he was still around) to join them.

-> Rec Dec

 Meari helped pick up and lift heavy things, but she had her 30-cal. to carry though. Once things were done, Meari nodded to everyone and still felt bad about Zia, she had hoped she would become a real Hermite but that hadn't happened yet, only Oscar didn't join the Mercs he ran with his fellow Hermites.  Meari then headed for her quarters got changed into a duty uniform, took a shower in between and then headed for the Rec Dec.

--->>> To Rec Dec

 Sam thanked Orria for helping her pack up everything. Once Sam was done, she smiled at Orria and waved at Beth as she headed for the Rec Dec. She needed a drink it was hard work watching everyone run Sam giggled to herself. When they were cleared to go Sam headed for the Rec Dec.


--->>>> To Rec Dec

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

With the stand off over, TI-JO decided to go to the Rec Dec and enjoy a burger to refuel after a quick shower and change.

--- to Rec Dec>>>

ooc 10 hours GT until
This message was last edited by the player at 13:58, Wed 06 July 2022.

  Beth Looked  at the time..they had  a little less then an hour to get the CAMs  piped into the  vid boards   with the recognition programs  and timers..


 The  tables  were  set and braced  in case some one  'accidently' crashed into them.  Sneak, Dana and May   along with some Stall Boys  were setting up ice chest.

---------->>>>>>>> From SEC

 Sam came down with her stuff and began setting up, getting some with her tables and setting up braces. Sam began setting everything up and hooking up cables. She would let Beth know when she was ready for the next phase.

>>>>>>>>>>>>> Madison from Officer's Country

After a few wrong turns, Madison arrived at the Tunnel start. Seeing Beth setting up some equipment she went over.

"Hi Beth." She waved. "I know I'm here a little early, but this is my first run. What do I do?"

   Candy, Art Moor and Waggles  came behind   Maddy as she climbed the railed steps to the Tunnels.. it was  well lit..it was warm..it would get warmer.

 Beth smiled, Not Much to do?  except run your ass off?... I'm on the starboard  side, there is  a starting line taped to the Deec... this tape here... she tapped her  deck shoed foot on a tape about  5 yards away from her table.

 ...is the finish Line... One lap..3 Miles, unless you have done, or did  something stupi. then you get another.... LC's hard core on this.. you break a leg because you did something stupid?  he just sends you to Stefi... Now, Sam is over there  on the Portside... we are Hoked into the  CAMS, and  have recognition programs to track everyone's  time... You go out..Bust your  ass..that sets a time for the next ruin..and you have to beat it... folks not putting  out  will run again...and again..Until they run the whole way, or end up in Med Tech...

  Candy Joined in.Its  about  Comaradarie, good  Habits, and Muscle Memory... You POD out  and you have  UEs  or largrans  after you, you want you body programmed to run...not to give up.

 we  got stories...pilots  down and had to run for our lines... Shadow on the green Moon, Eckels on Aqra. Lizzy...Nikki..list goes on.. works both ways too..Chasing  down bad  guys.. Shadow  and  a few others, chased  down some EDT assassins on Fuji?  or maybe  Everest.. and they were Jucied?... artificial don't  help when you got a cold  blooded   hunter after you...

a  Moment Later, Shadow arrived  behind him a dozen or some Pilots  and SEC.. Sneak, Dana  and  Amy    stood  by  coolers.


 people   snapped to.. But hack waved them off,  all the officers  except  Rivets, Morris and Bale  were dressed to run. though they would be walking, just to show support.

 As you were!.. I'm not  'Admiral' until after the runs   finished.. This is the LC's show.
 ADMIRAL OB DEC!

Madison nodded. "Okay, sounds easy enough. Stamina and willpower or pass out trying. No problem." She turned to Candy, bouncing with some excitement. "I'm so looking forward to this. I've wanted to do it since I arrived," she checked the time "Almost five whole days ago! Are we sticking together or is it every woman for herself?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:34, Fri 15 July 2022.

  Candy giggled...I have to run hard.. i set my times pretty decent.. don't kill yourself  doing this..  and  i mean for real?  last run  dumbass got eaten by  a larg for Kicking the  Larg Pup  and  another   gut lost his arm for Throwing  Roll  down the tunnels. we almost always  have some  jerks... i imagine  the SM and LC will be here tomorrow with the transfers...

 Frans  used to say... 'if you want to Fly, you have to try"...

 Minnet  and Hodden stepped up  the stairs, Broad-shouldered  women, on  6 foot tall, one  about   5 8..

 Candy chuckles,Heavy womans chicks?...They run with  Heavy Pulse, or   30 Cal MGs.. Tucker is  thier loader, her  runs with belts of   ammo and two ammo boxes as well as his own weapons...no one expects them to  be in the top ten, but they have  done it.

"Well, I'm not expecting to set any records. Especially the way I've been feeling today. I'm not at my best, but pushing myself in endurance events like this is kind of a hobby. I'm psyched."

  Shadow watched the others   come in...some took their   time, others  were eager, some looked miserable.

  Aideen   was Making  sure Shadow  saw her...I thought your group was shipped out.

 aye, an' that's  a fact. But I stayed. Took me  alot of  bitching to get here... i wasn't letting  whiners  and weaklin's  take be away...

 Morris nodded, full transfer, she is a Hermite now...

 Shadow smiles his half  smile,so she is... Aideen grinned.

 Now?  any new folks?... You run hard, and you run to finish.. Beth and
  Sam will track  each of us.. vets get to see if they beat thier  last run, new  folks
 set a  new time... and..a warning.. you try to dog it...and  they pick up on it..you'll run another lap..or three..until i am satisfied, or you are in med tech..

 he waved  to people to start lining up...Oh?.. please.. please.... don't hurt the Larg Pup.. not even i can stop  the LArgs  from reacting to it.

------->>>> From Quarters after changing into combat gear.

 Lizzy ran into the tunnel all ready to run, she was eager to get going and she looked around to see who was there.

------>>>> from Quarters

 Meari walked onto the tunnels in her full combat armor, 30 cal machinegun, her kukri's, backup shot gun, her dual Udenese combt knives, throwing daggers, she does not have her bow or swords with her no room to carry them. She also had 3 belts of 30 cal ammo wrapped around her shoulders. Meari looked ready and eager to run she stretched out and got ready for the run.

Somewhere along the line, Roy had arrived, in full combat kit with his assault rifle.  He was focused, but not tense, and began checking in with all the SEC people as they arrived, making sure nobody was trying to run against Stefi's orders and letting them know that, unlike Shadow, he didn't expect everyone to beat their last time or run again...but if they chose to run that way, it would be duly noted and taken into consideration when assignments for the next operations were being handed out.  But all he was expecting was for each of them to make a reasonable showing...a run comparable to their last one.  Faster was better, but they weren't training for a competition, they were training for operational readiness, and he'd rather have them run a little slower than last time but be able to run again in twelve hours.  "Unlike the pilots, our operations aren't always scheduled and we need to be ready to answer the bell any time...I can't afford to have half of Security effectively incapacitated because they ran their guts out."

He knew it wasn't Shadow's method...but Shadow wasn't in charge of Security.

Mila tritted in at the head of the larg pack. Her ears were pricked and her tail wagging gently. She was looking forwards to running. So were the largs. Her Human brought up the rear, less happily. She knew He didn't like running, yet He always came along.

——> SEC via officers quarters

Izzy would arrive a little later than the others with her having had to make a detour to her quarters in order to change into her armour and collect her carbine and webbing, with her quietly noting that the paint on her armour was still in need of patching after she’d been shot. She had also been quietly relieved to find that Lizzy had already changed and left by the time she had arrived, with her a little uncertain as to where the two of them stood at this point in time.

Upon her arrival she would go and stand of by herself, fidgeting nervously and looking very much like someone that expected to do very badly if not make herself look extremely foolish in the process.

 Lizzy was stretching and getting ready and then her eyes lit up she saw Izzy. She ran over to her and gave Izzy a big hug, and she said," Yes Izzy you are my hero, now let's kick some butt like our lives depended on it because it might one day I know." Lizzy was so happy to see Izzy tying to be her hero again, that's all she wanted just go out there do your best and fight the good fight and have some love along the way, she just wanted Izzy to find her part in the war that's all her calling her and others told Harry. Lizzy hoped Izzy doesn.t fall like Harry did, Izzy has many things too overcome but Lizzy hoped together Izzy could be her hero. I think that's what Lizzy needs Izzy to be for her, her heroic knight in medium armor, she was just so happy to see her here, she was full of energy and gusto now.

 Lizzy knew then she would probably go out too strong and die out at the end she just hoped she had enough to make her time within her range.

  Shadow  Stood  near Roy and Lyri.. Rivets   came Over , patting Lucky on the shoulder...Me  Bucko  'ere is off duty, he wants  ta  run..he has   that there Prybar in his hand, and a chest plate.. its  about all he uses when were fightin'..kin he run..

 You bet Lucky.. you go out  and  do your best..nice  to have you here..

 Lucky nodded,Gotta be faster..you know..maybe if I woulda been a step or two...

Shadow put  a hand on his shoulder...don't?  This is a war.. folks  die..has  nothing to do with some one  being a little stronger..or a little faster, or shooting  a little sooner... It the   Good fight..being smart..and listening to order..right?.. Now  run, to make yourself better..not because  you aren't  'good enough'..eh?

 Ye Listen  to 'im...all this is.. is  harder PT....

 Giles  came Looking at   Shadow with imploring eyes.  Stefi walked over as  well and shook her head...hard.

 LC?.. Stefi  won't let me run..she says  i can walk...

Stefi had her  arms crossed..Then you walk?..  If Stefi says  you're good...you're good. If  She  says  you're not..you're not... Glad to see you here for the walk..some folks use whatever excuse   to  pass on this,

 He Lowered his head  and nodded...Aye, Sir, Already done.

 he  Moved  up..he saw Vosts..rether Timid.....its a bit differant   for us them the troopers... you run hard...not only  to get in better shape..but the  very fact you know you can do it, could save your life...

 ..aye...Sir....

 Then he saw  Izzy, mostly because  Lizzy ran over...he  looked at her, there  was  no friendliness in his eyes... but a twitch of a smile..

 .. good to see you taking part.. You're under the  SM's  umbrella on this... try to be tough..its only 3 miles. he  gave  Lizzy a friendly nod  and mosved down, Talkign to Dusk and  Shade.. Lilit  stepped on the  deck, Warlord Armor and  an Undenese   pulse rifle..

 I am  here to show you how  a Warlord can run..

Shadow smiled...well. Lilit?, Most warlords  stand  and  fight..well..except for verians...

 I will beat you, LC....

 maybe?.. but i have one thing going  for me today... I don't have to ride herd on any headcases..so i can just  run....we'll see what's faster..an Udenese Warloard..or an ESN LC...


 Other  Came  in.. Shadow called Out....Largs take off   first... don't be surprised when they lap you!... all runners  next.. walkers  and Roll with  Thor  will go last..Mila? You're a fur-larg, to run with them.

 he nodded to beth.. and the  Lights flashed on he r board  and a hron sounded..The Largs amd Mila took off,, the  massive  bunch of  people in the  20 yard wide.. 15 foot high tunnels, waited  and.. they took off.. Then the walkers   started.

"Yip!"

Mila barked and took her place at the front, tail wagging.

When the horn sounded she took off at a flat run, ears back and tail streaming behind, her paws pounding the dec plates. She liked being a furry-larg. She liked to run even more.

 Meari nodded to her Grandmod, and smiled at the LC, she hoped the LC would beat her Grandmod but Lilit was old but still very fast. Meari took her position with the other troopers smiling at Vaka and giving him a respectful nod.

 Meri was surprised by one person, Ens. Sakura showed up and from her mate's actions she was excited to see Izzy stepping up. Then Meari made sure the weight was well distributed around her body so she could run her best.

Madison stayed with Candy as the clock counted down. Constantly hopping and stretching, she was anxious with both eager and nervous energy. The more she moved, the more the soreness faded into the background, but she knew it would affect her run. It didn't matter. Shadow gave two acceptable outcomes and one not acceptable. Not acceptable was to dog it and have to do it over. Acceptable ends were finish strong or get carried out to Med Tech. She was going to go strong and the only way she wouldn't finish that way, was if they had to carry her out.

Strong runs, biathalons, triathalons, endurance courses, Madison was no stranger to any of that. This was a little different. It wasn't an athletic even where planning and pacing were teh difference between winning or losing. This was to train for an escape. Her skeeter had crashed and the enemy was hot on her heels. Catching her would mean torture and probably death. They would come fast. Pacing herself would get her captured. She had to run hard, just below peak and use willpower to go past exhaustion. If this was real, she might be injured and would almost certainly be a bit battered from the crash or pod out. At least she had that extra bit of reality accounted for.

From the way everyone was now getting ready, Madison could tell the run was about to start. But then the strobes started and everyone took off. She was caught a bit off guard, but the first few steps wouldn't matter in the end. Once she got going though, that faded soreness came right back and it was worse than she thought. Fighting through that pain took a lot of will, and though she kept moving, it seemed most were passing her. But she knew that the race was against herself and so she stayed focused on finding a stride that hurt the least and that kept her moving.

 Shadow let most of the rgoup take  off  , he moved to teh Outside    lane, carrying his greasgun as if he  were expecting  trouble. he widen his strides  t to start to over take  the front line.

 The largs were   near rounding  The stern, by the time the leaders  reached  Amidships.

   Roll stayed to the Inside  he was  Jogging Next to Thor  who was tryign to get the  hang of  ;larg  Running' a various times he would  do wel, but  trip over his middle pair of Legs.

  Morris, Bale, Rivets  and Giles walked Orria  tried  to keep up  with  the  back of the Middle pack.

 Sam got her monitors up and going, and watched the runners come to her. She was hard at work monitoring and cataloging as the runners went.

 Meari went our fairly strong on the first section she got a good powerful pace and let her long stride help her. She was near Lilit and Vaka as she ran, she held her 30 cal like she was running into combat to save her friends. Meari as all work at this time, getting into the run and trying to stay with her Grandmod.

 Lizzy gave Izzy a pat on the shoulder and looked so happy she was here running. Lizzy then took off with the pilots and she was full of energy, and she went out on a very good pace, but how long could she hold it.

the  troops  tramped  down the starboard side, on the first leg of the Run... Shade    was catch the lead for  as  he leaned into the  outside  turn

 Tucker  , and Shoey  ran  hard , Lyri was  with them..


 Captain Si was  enjoying herself

Henry, who hated running almost as much as Mila loved it, set off at a steady jog. He wasn't interested in times, just making it round would do.

Through their link he felt Mila's joy, the wind in her fur, her paws pounding. He kept his own toughts down, he did not want to detract from her pleasure.

When the signal was given Zob pounded down hard the tunnel he was doing his best to keep at Shadow but instead was neck to neck with Steele and Hennings but not for long as he inched past them both.

 Rounding the  starboard  Turn, they could barely see the Largs and   Mila round the bend on the far side.

 Shadow  pushed a bit hard  now.. captain Si  saw him, and with a determined  smile   tried to press faster.

 Lilit  was  striding hard  , her armor  and equipment  might have slowed her a bit.. but she  saw   Humans and  Nugest pushing through..

Shade  ran hard.  as Dusk tried to stay close to him as they ran

 Meari on the second leg had issues with her belts, she had to slow way and readjust them. She lost a lot of time, but hopefully she could find a rhythm and catch her Grandmod and Vaka.

 Lizzy was feeling it she was pushing and going strong, she concentrated on just running as hard as she could. She knows this saved her life on Roussa, so she was giving it all so she would be able to get out of worse situations next time.

The first leg was an absolute disaster. Madison's body felt like it was made of lead with rusty ball bearings for joints. She started off strong but then quickly fell behind and then tripped and fell twice. Not only was that painful, it was also so embarrassing. All that must have gotten her blood moving and her muscles cleared because when she got into the second leg, her pace had improved considerably. Passing other runners, her overall time improved dramatically.

As far as she was concerned, if she didn't have to rerun the course, she was doing fine. But with her surprising improvement in performance, she could actually make a strong finish. If her body held out.

Izzy was more than a little surprised by Lizzy’s reaction to her being there, especially considering how they had left things between them, with her not really having the heart to tell her that she was kind of being forced to run, or at least not given any better options. Before she really got the chance to say anything Shadow, no doubt drawn by the sight of Lizzy rushing over to see her, would walk over to speak with them with it clear that Izzy was trying really hard to be civil ”That’s the plan” though it was also clear that she was less than convinced about whether she could achieve this.

After lining up with the others Izzy start off at a run in an attempt to keep up with the others before slowing her pace down to something a little easier for her to maintain, giving her a better chance of reaching the finishing line.

  The   leaders were rounding the   oort stern side  now.. 80% of  the  runners  were more the half  way across.. the last  20 percent    was a bit behind Halfway
 Shadow    geared   down a bit  to take a  quick lok across the ship , then began to  to sent himself up for  his     sprint the last Half  Mile  The walkers  were   just past Amidships.  Admiral Roles Joined the walkers.

Rolls  urging the    playful, Thor along. gregor had   run  with the Big largs

Shade was a bit ahead of Lilit..Dusk a bit behind her, , both siblings  were pushing hard....Lilit seemed  angry, that the LC was so far ahead of her.


 Beth Taked into her  headset...You should see them  .....hey?  Question  from you.... all  stuff i get from  Bura says they are setting up  a defesne fleet, that can go out and strike  at Pistes  and Raiders...  Whan if Sarah doesn't call you back?

a bit  back from the leaders. Supe and  Hodden were having a personal  race  to see who  would finish  first between them..

  to show off a bit,  Supe began a chant, picked up by others...

  I SIGNED  UP , TO JOIN THE FIGHT..

a few voices joined in.

   WITH THE HERMES SHIP I SAIL THE NIGHT

More and more Voices

  IN THE EMPIRE< WE STRIKE FEAR

even the Admiral joins in

 BECASUE  THEY KBOW THE TIP OF THE SPEAR!

 SOUND OFF  351

 Supe repeated it  again as the  charged down the Ports  side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:33, Mon 18 July 2022.

 Sam watched and saw the runners coming into view," Yes Beth I see the leaders now." Then Beth asked a question that Sam might not be called back for some time and ehr work here was vital. " Well I guess you are stuck with me then, thats if you want to keep little ole' me around, I just found out Beth I am part Burian Moon Angel." ." Sam giggled as she saw more of the runners.

 Meari lost a lot of time but she put it into high gear and pushed herself on the 3rd leg to make up some distance she wanted to beat her Grandmod so bad. She found a good solid gait and began to move much more fluid as she made up ground quickly.

 Lizzy was feeling it, a really good strong pace and she was towards the front of the main pack when it happened. She just put her foot down wrong, and her momentum was thrown off and Lizzy twisted her ankle bad and hit the tunnel floor hard. Lizzy just screamed out " FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 Lizzy didn't hesitate, she got right back up, Thompson in hand and began running harder using all her will power for her to finish this run hard with a sprained ankle that Lizzy just put out of her mind. Everyone could see the pain on her face, and she had a very noticeable limp in her gait but damn it she was going to finish this tunnel run as strong as possible, unless she was ordered to stop of course.

After finding a comfortable pace Izzy would stick with it even if it did mean she fell behind most of the others with her trying really hard not to flinch whenever someone suddenly appeared within her peripheral vision. After getting around three quarters of the way around the course Izzy would suddenly pick up the pace so as to make up some of the distance between her and those at the head of pack. It was then that she would hear the scream.

Even had she not recognised Lizzy’s voice it was easy to pick out the limping pilot with her not finding it too hard to catch up with her ”Damn it Liz, you’re going to cripple yourself running on that!” she said, clearly annoyed to see her running on an injured leg, however knowing that she was unlikely to persuade Lizzy to stop would instead go for plan B ”ok, come here and put your arm about my shoulders” she said, looping her arm about Lizzy’s waist in an attempt to keep the weight off of Lizzy’s foot. It would severely damage their times and finishing positions but at least they should both finish and without Lizzy crippling herself in the process.

 Lizzy was tuning out the pain she had to run for her life that what this training was all about. Lizzy too the quick breather and then said," Hey I might pod out injured lets see if I can still save my life injured, I got this Izzy trust me. Plus Stefi will fix it up for me." Lizzy then grinned down gave Izzy a pat on the should and then pushed herself on pure willpower on the last section to the finish line.

 Yes Lizzy looked visibly hurt and was limping but she kept pushing thanking Izzy but she had to know if she could do this if it happened out there, so Lizzy dug deep and pushed that last section on a twisted ankle.

Coming into the third leg, Madison was feeling almost good. Maybe it was the medicine, but the pain she felt earlier seemed to have vanished, or at least she was temporarily numb to it. Whatever the case, her pace was strong and she was already halfway through the exercise. That was when she recalled her friend and running partner's cleverly cynical refrain. Victoria would say, Halfway means that for every miserable step you already took, you have to take another miserable step. Madison laughed because in her mind halfway meant she was closer to her goal. It was the difference between counting up or counting down. For Madison, two legs of this run were done, and the third was already underway.

The problem with catching up was that Madison hit the traffic. She felt good, and she wasn't going to slow down for slower runners. Navigating through was always an issue because some people just didn't like to be passed. They probably didn't mean anything by it. It was most likely just instinct to stay ahead of the pack, but it still meant that they were in the way. Navigating around those obstacles force some delays, but by the end of the third leg, she still made decent time.

”yeah and if you screw up your leg by running on it they won’t let you fly! And don’t be so sure about Stefi fixing it, she might leave it to teach you a lesson!” Izzy retorted, clearly annoyed by Lizzy’s s foolish stubbornness, not to mention the fact that she would be the one that would have to look after if it went badly ”…also if you get hurt in the field we will come and get you, I will come and get you!” she continued, easily keeping pace with her in her current condition.

 Lizzy will look to the LC, comms for Beth or Stefi on if she should stop, she knows they can all see her and no one told Lizzy to stop so she replied," I will keep running until I am ordered to stop I must get to safety." Lizzy was pushing it and giving it everything she had she didn't want to bow out she wanted to make it the whole way. " Just please let me try to finish it Izzy I have to do this for me." Lizzy slowed down and Izzy was easily able to keep pace," Izzy run with me help me get to safety." Lizzy was in pain, but she was pushing through it all those lives her evil father took, he deserved his fate. Lizzy ran hard with determination that said nothing was going to stop her now.

    running down the  port side straight away..they could see Sam watching, and watching the screens, The Front  Folks   were  Getting   ready to   round the corner , for the 1.2 mile sprint to the finish line, Shadow Purposely allowed Captain  SI the  Inside   track as he   stayed out   side.  sprinting for all he was worth.. It felt  damn good to let loose!

 Larry  , Mila  and the Largs  were   already nearing the  Starboard  Stern for thier  second Lap... The Largs  would stop  when some one told them too.

The walkers    were turning the   corner on the  starboard stern...  Roll was a good  50 yards  behind them  getting  Thor to try to scamper.

  Hodden Pulled Up   she sworte   and Hobbled  as her    Angel turned  , rounding the  bend.. she griamced  and pushed towards the  Finish line..Supe slowed up   but she snapped...DON'T YOU DARE!!

 and Supe kept  running.

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:31, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

Roy struggled to find his pace...he wasn't running poorly, compared to the group as a whole, but he was definitely not on his best form.  He was, however, close enough to Lilit to be able to give her some flak...

"Hey, Warlord, it must suck to see the guy you think is such an inferior officer just casually running away from you..."  There was jostling and jarring around him as the pack of runners tried to navigate without tripping over each others' feet...but so far, no one had gotten hurt...

And then he heard Lizzy yell out, and could overhear Izzy making some kind of argument with her.  "It's a training exercise, Sakura!  If you can move on your own power, you're expected to do so, and Stefi's set up to treat injuries.  Worry about your own performance, Lizzy's proven she can take care of herself!"  He was yelling half-over his shoulder as he opened up distance on the injured pilot...which didn't really help his pace any.  But, like he'd told the other SEC troopers, he wasn't worried about people beating their past time, just proving they had the fortitude to give a solid effort...and that should apply to himself, as well.

With Lizzy insisting that she finished the run by herself, and Roy adding his own opinion that Izzy should concentrate less on helping Lizzy and more on her own run, Izzy would give a sigh of frustration ”fine, have it your way, let’s get this show on the road” with her instead keeping pace with Lizzy as best as she could, ready to catch hold of her if it looked like she was going fall, till they reached the finishing line.

Once she had crossed the line she would head over to the coolers and collect a pair of water bottles for herself and Lizzy; who if she had any sense would be on her way to see Stefi to get her leg checked out with Izzy hoping that she had caused any further damage to it by finishing the run.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Tue 19 July 2022.

 Shadow watched the Runners  Come In, he  sipped  a water  as he   Hive Five  those who came in Directly behind him.

   He   Pointed at Hodden, and to Stefi, The Chief Med tech had  to  med techs with her.. Supe  helped Hodden over to them  after  Hodden  crossed..

 When Lizzy  came Limping in  he pointed her towards  the Med techs  as well


  Shade got a  Fist Bump as he  cross ,  getting a water  from Sneak.   They stood there  and  Watched   As Lilit  came in towards the resr of the Middle and Dusk   trailing with others..

  Shade Bleeped... Shadow  Grinned at Lilit glared at him...Wow? Warlord?..seems like  i beat you....you  know..by....like a bunch Shade Beat you. By a Good  measure...

 Dusk came in  puffing, and angry..I can run better   then this! I am Very Much Embarrassed...

  Don't be? its  just  , your ship must not provide the opportunities  to have  combat  ready  crews?..somehting, As Flag Captain, you can work on.

 Lilit   stood   after she  and Dusk received  water  from a  'chuckling' Shade.You were Lucky..nothing More...

 Lucky? You bet.... I have more of a  worship for luck then any one has  of  any  god  ever thought up?..I am Lucky to be on this ship... to have  the Admiral as  my leader..and  to be gifted  with some skills...and smart enough to keep improving on them...and..Warlord?  I beat you by a quarter mile of luck....Shade  could have walked in and Beat you  once he rounded the Bend...so..yeah?.. luck?

 Captain Si interrupted him..You let me take the Inside  on the   home sprint...  she was a bit insulted...

 Yes I did... One of  our  Runners   hollered  and I took a look back, but it didn't slow  my sprint from Port to starboard..

 Hack caught a water Bottle from Hennings,, he    gave Shade a slap on the back...I tried Damn Hard to Catch Shade... big difference  between  now and a year ago,

 Hennings  GrinnedI beat  Nil!!.. I'll  enjoy that for  a while...

 Captain Si gave him a  frustrated   smile..Yes..enjoy that until next time!

 Shadpw looked at Zob...Got ya this time.... he grinned.

After crossing the finish line right behind Shadow he went over and got a water he glanced at Lilit and shook his head, "You didn't stand a chance" if they responded he didn't care to dignify it with a response instead focusing his attention to Shadow, "I won the last one so its fitting you take this one back, seems to be a thing us trading off"

 Meari pushed herself at the end and just barely beat out Lilit and tied Vaka. " Very good run Vaka." She smiled at Lilit and said," I even caught you after the belts slipped, it was a good run Grandmod." Meari was proud of her run, she finished about the same but only the second time adding the 30 cal and its belts weight.

 Lizzy pushed herself happy Izzy ran by her side, Lizzy made it across the line and quickly got a water from Izzy, " Thank you now lets see how bad this is." Lizzy then limped over to see Stefi and the med techs. " Thank you for running with me Izzy, you did really good." Lizzy was very happy Izzy ran it showed her maybe she was in this to win it like she was.

The fourth leg. Being in the end stretch gave Madison a direct goal. The frustration at having to slow down in the last leg of the run already had her charged up, but being so close to the finish pumped her motivation to the next level. She had been gaining, but for this last bit, she dumped every bit of juice she had been holding in reserve. Sprinting, she moved to the outside to avoid any potential obstacles and kept her mind fixated on the finish line. There were so many people already there. Shadow and Zob stood out. She wasn't going to let either of them see her not giving it everything she had.

Gritting her teeth Madison leaned into the last few dozen paces. She was an arrow, moving with purpose and a target and hoping she didn't crash into anyone. She didn't. She flashed across the end line, making it a few steps then tumbling to the ground in exhaustion. Rolling onto her back, Deep breaths failed to bring in enough air just yet so she lay unmoving, just staring up at the ceiling.

Much like she had anticipated, Billie choked in terms of performance. Why was the tunnel run so challenging for her?! It was frustrating that it seemed like no matter how hard she pushed herself...or how hard she trained for it...it was a struggle. When she finished, she placed her hands upon her head and walked around, trying her best to get her breathing under control.

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:32, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

  Shadow walked over to Maddy... shot down an Aqra Fighter Pilot who looked like that , after he crawled out if his Pod...Welcome to The Hermes...

 Flores  finished  to the back of the leaders , but well ahead of Maddy,cut her a  Break, LC...

 your times were off....

 what..I mean..maybe a little  I..

  don't worry about it.. make damn sure you  get your numbers next time..

 he looks down  on Maddy...Largs should be   comign   around the bend soon.. they won't  stop.. wouldn't be  fun to   get  run over  by  a unit of  6 legged   Mini-saurars..

Roy was thankful to have the run over, when he finally crossed the finish line.  It wasn't that he was tired...he could easily have kept going for another two or three laps.  It was just that his coordination never really settled in for the run...maybe I spent too much time on my feet down there...

He strode over to where Stefi was checking on the walking wounded, listening to the prognosis on Hodden and nodding to himself.

Madison groaned. The LC was right, she didn't want to be trampled by Largs. But she couldn't tell if he was being nice or critical. It didn't really matter, she needed to move.

Rolling over, Madison pushed herself up to her hands and knees and then made it up to her feet. She heard Candy's voice, but it took her a few minutes to find her.

"Hey girl." She ambled over to Candy "Well, I made it to the end. That first leg really sucked though. After that the pain went away. But I just know I'm going to feel it in spades tomorrow. How'd you do? I heard LC say your times were off."

  Stefi   read the  scanners  and said..Both have  sprains. we'll  give them a shot and  put the  "L" brace on.. they can't  do much more then walk  the   next  24 hours.... Hodden was already getting her  shot.. she   sucked in her breath and Looked at the med tech  , like she was going to punch him out.

 The Med tech  showed Lizzy and Hodden how the 'L Brace' worked.  4 rods   that   the  foot went into  with the  Heel an the back, then a  dial to close the bars  tight  for   support down the ankle and   along the foot.

  Stefi flicked a  wrist,..YourTurn, carrot  top....


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

 Flores  Nodded  as she  handed Maddy a Bottle of water,yeah?  I   am normally in the front of the Middle.. i was back of the Middle....

 Shoey called  ' LARGS!!!"

 the beasts   came around the corner,  Larry barely in front,  , he was  pushing  through his injuries  from the  Spider  thing  fight. gregor  wasn't   doing  bad... the went passed the finish  , continuing down the   starboard side..

Madison accepted the water, cracking it open and swigging it. "Thank you. So what now? I want to do something before the soreness creeps back in."

 Lizzy smiled at Izzy through the pain, but she did itm she proved to herself if she pods out and hurts her ankle she can still save herself that meant a lot to her, thats why she had to finish. The tunnel runs were not a game for Lizzy they were the difference from etting home safely or ending up in a body bag.

 Lizzy sat down with Hodden and put her brace on, when it was her tie for the shot, Lizzy laughed at carrot top and said," Ok Stefi give it to me, so about 24 hours good as new?"

 Sam watched and took notes, she did see Hodden and Lizzy get hurt but both pushed through to finish the run, Lizzy went a full section on her hurt leg, she did notice Izzy staying with her that made Sam smile. Sam kept monitoring the runners until they all made it across the finish line, Sam did keep tabs on the Largs and fury Larg Mila.

     as the    last runners  came in..Huffing and  Puffing , some on knees  or leaning against the Bulkhead.. Shade walked to the Middle of the  Bow   straight away  and   Talked  as Loud  as he  could.

 Good  Job. We didn't have  any  quitters  up here  today..... we  did have to Injuries  , but 'Madam Needle' is taking care of that.

some  folks Laugh,  Stefi shot him a lok and shook her head.now?  As  Harsh as it sounds.. those injuries were a good thing.. it won't shelf them very long..yet? they made it through... as a troper, or a Pilot.. if your  down and injured.. you know you can do this..you either pushed through..or you saw  othes push through, and that little bit of Knowledge and   push back despair..

  other then  that..Dismissed  get stuff to drink and eat... we have  replacements  something tomorrow....

 After the talk, he moved  to the startign  Line to run an extra lap.. Shade  followed him over... others   were heading down to get out of thier  sweated stuff  and hit the rec Dec.

 Dusk    jogged over to  Shade  and Shadow.. Lilit  watched...Shadow said,Warlord? We're takign  another lap... if you want to join us, I can run backwards?

 Lilit Just Glared  as she went down the stairway.

  Shade  Bleeped.

 hey? if  she can be snide to me..i can be sbide to her..she gets what she pays for..

 Flores  Gave Maddy a  gentle   pat on the shoulders...I'm doign another Lap... see you later.

 Beth was recording the   stats, tthen Breakign down her table.. Orria  Helped with the cables.Orria loked tired, but she was  closing  in on 10 oe  11? she was startign to fill out , and it  was obvious she had been running on her  on, on the track at the football field.

Henry came in near the back of the pack. For him it was sufficient to make the circuit, he wasn't a runner.

He made a fuss of Mila, who was capering around as if she hadn't run a step, then looked round for Larry.

"Did you take it easy like I told you?" he asked the larg, checking out the half-healed injuries.

 Meari smiled got her 30 cal and lined up with the LC, Shade, and Dusk. Meari smiled at Lilit and said," I am doing another lap Grandmod I guess you are not going to try again? " Meari nodded and smiled at the others ready for her second lap.

"Another lap?" Madison groaned. "Alright. I'm not letting you do it by yourself. But if I die along the way you have to sing at my sendoff."

 Sam recorded everything and then began to break down her table and secure everything, she thought Izzy actually did pretty well and seemed to help Lizzy after she got injured. Sam was smiling as she packed everything away.

   Larry Stooped Only for a   few  bits of  fussing from Henry, He  Nudged hi  with his    nose  with the 'larg Smile'. He  and the other Largs Lined  up with Shadow , Thumping their tails, making sounds  like Mindless bass  drummers.

  Flores    Gives Maddy a   grin... I know  just the  song..what do you say to a drunken Pilot.earlie in the morning'

  Hack and the brass  waved to Shadow as the  went down the stairs..Sneak Lined up to  Run along with  'the Young Guns , Except  Giles, who was    Just coming in with the walkers.

 a very  Tired , but seemingly happy, Thor   Padded up to Henry   Looking up and Thumping his little  tail.

 beth  Lined up  she wasn't carrying anything...Nothing to loose  right?  and Shadow  can buy me a shake on the rec dec..

Madison laughed. "I don't think I've heard that one. After this morning I know what I'd say. Good job dumb ass. But maybe you can sing it while I'm still alive so I know it ahead of time." She grinned.

Henry rubbed Larry's head. Running didn't seem to have done him any harm.

"Go on then," he said as the larg turned to line up for another lap.

Then Mila was in his face, all smiles and wagging tail.

"You too? Maniac. Go and run, then."

”I did alright” Izzy replied with a shrug that said she personally didn’t think too much of her performance. She’d done ok and that was about it, with the main thing being that she had managed to finish and hadn’t hurt or embarrassed herself in the process.

After handing Lizzy one of the water bottles she would follow her over to where Stefi was and listen as she explained how the brace worked, smiling when she referred to Lizzy as “Carrot Top”. Once the examination was over and some of the others had begun a second lap, Izzy would take a drink of water before saying ”Well I’d best get Carrot Top here back to our quarters for a shower and a change of outfit…I assume the brace is waterproof?” she said with a mischievous grin before directing the final question towards Stefi. She also figured that she and Lizzy probably needed to have a talk after this morning.

 Lizzy smiled and said," You did better than alright, you ran and made it, thank you Izzy."

 Lizzy smiled and replied," Yes carrot top here needs a long shower, so just walking for 24 hours right no other restrictions Doc?" Lizzy smiled and after Stefi told her anything else she would take Izzy's hand and head for their quarters.

   Stefi told the Brace wearers...

  You can take it off for a shower or bath... you have to have  a sock   on so the bars  don't  run you too much.. you trun that dial  to clamp the ankle and foot, until it feel as it does now..when it starts to loosen , as the   swelling goes  down?.. make it tight.. DON'T..keep it off  for more the  15-20 minutes.

 Shadow and Volunteers   ran again, Once more the largs and Mila   we  growing smller and smaller  as they went down range.

  Shade  Bleeped...

  no way, Buddy. even with two extra legs, I'd never be that fast.

Granmod left?

 Yeah... sometimes, you  jsut know  when your  bested at something...some folks quit..some try harder..

 Sneak  took off fast, she had her  waitress shorts and  T-shit on..The  Young  Guns, Incuding Shade  Cashed  after her.. Shadow  just had a brisk pace going.

 You're not chasing  ahead?

 whe  we  round the  port stern?  I'll see  how much of a spirtn i can get in, this lap is  for exercise, the    home strech..yeah.. a sprint  as  ahrd as i am able.

 Sam quickly secured everything and showed up next to Beth, " This might look ugly but the med techs are staying right. So can anyone join the party I just hope I can make it a full lap." Sam knew she was no athlete or runner but if she was going to bad mouth Izzy for not running, she better run too. Sam then took off as good as she could, she knew she would do most of this run, on sheer willpower.

    Beth Grinned...esaier fro us, we just have  side arms...

Aideen appeared   as  well ,her red hair plastered  down from her  helmet..I'm bloody runnin too!

 Maria  who joined   says,You know? You do nto have to..Si?  Our LC Amigo knows you are not like the  compadres  you came with..is this  right, LC?

 Yeah?  they are headed  for the Pit...not a good place to be..they have a very...very..low opinion of   traitors  and   wasted  space.... They do have largs there... they need  feeding...

Roy lined up for the second lap, thoroughly dissatisfied with his first one.  The results wouldn't matter...conditions were different, not as many bodies to navigate through, and he'd already run one lap so he was warmed up...but he didn't feel like he could walk away with the marginal performance he'd turned in.  Another lap would tell him whether it was just a lapse in focus and concentration, or whether it might be symptomatic of something else that he needed to see Stefi about.  For all the benefits of Angel Food in their diet, he still had human genetics and there were conditions that could still impact his physical condition...or mental, for that matter.

But he'd make sure it was something worth looking at, before he started getting Stefi to do a workup on him.

He let the youngsters take off at their pace, concentrating on running his own race...if he caught them, so much the better, but he wasn't racing them.  He was racing himself.

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:33, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

With Stefi delivering the final instructions on the braces and how to re-tighten them, Lizzy would take her hand and confirm that she did indeed want a nice long shower after the run ”Ok Carrot top let’s go” Izzy said with a giggle as she turned and led her towards the hatch that would take them out of the tunnels and towards the lifts to their quarters.

——> Officers Quarters

 Lizzy smiled at carrot top and added," Yes Izzy lets go but I did it, I made it I am very proud of that." Lizzy then limped with Izzy back to their quarters.

---->>>>>>>>>>.. To Officer Quarters

 Sam came out strong running she felt good and made a very good pace with her short legs. She was giving it her all just like everyone was supposed to do, she would run with Beth until Beth pulls away from Sam.

Madison thought she was in shape, but the pace set by the LC and Candy was much faster than she was used to. She was able to keep up, but only by pushing it hard. It was almost as bad as the timed run. But she wasn't going to be thought of as a slacker. She wasn't going to do the minimum. If this was the pace, she was going to run it or pass out trying.

  As they  rounded   the   port  stern, Shade Bleeped..Dusk  said YES!

 Yu two can't beat me?..My Legs  are lobger.. and? Lets face it..I'm 100  human..

  beeps filed the air.


  Lease?  Father?Race  us...

  Ok..from here to  a bit past Amidships..then i start sprinting..  The sibling took off  hard  and Fast...

 Flores Giggled..That's a bit lead?...

 Yeah? I should catch them half way across the  Bow  Beam... if not? well..they'll be pretty happy..

   they were moving at the brisk  pace.. he let them get about 3/4 down the  port side.. they were  1/4  down..  Then  Shadow Sprinted...

  Dammit  Kray!  and she  sprinted.. Followed  by Aideen.. the  Young Guns  and Sneak  had  Dusk and   Shade  catch up to them, then they saw Shadow pounding down the  tunnel and they began to run harder.

 Mari    chased, but she knew she wasn't catching Didn't stop her  from running harder.

 behind them came the Charging largs...

"Shit! Really guys?" Madison was already running hard when Shadow took off and Candy followed. "Fine! I don't have anything else to do but take pain killers for the rest of the day." She was talking to herself, but she leaned into the run and pushed as hard as she could. She couldn't catch up bit she could make it so she didn't fall behind.

 Meari runs hard to try to catch Shadow, Shade and Dusk, she will give it her all and go as fast as she can. " Letes go Madison pull out all the stops." As Meari ran past her with all her heavy equipment.

Mila was happy running with the largs. Her white fur stood out against their darker hides and her gait was different - they ran 'flat' with all six legs pounding the ground in sequence, she bounded with her four legs going like a blur underneath, fore paws then hind paws, and the tail streaming behind.

 Sam gave everything she had at the end, she was going to finish actually pretty well, not with the others but she thought she was doing awesome, she just dug down deep and gave it her all for the finish line.

   as they Finished ,  Shadow passed   Dusk, then Shade and  finished well ahead of  the siblings.  Flores   was Just a head  of  Dusk , but   geared down  and   Shade passed her.

  Maria  was   Last.. maybe   30 seconds behind the 'next to last' person. Aideen   finished behind Dusk and  was  Hunched over  breathing heavy.

   The largs  Zipped  past   with Mila.. and Shadow  shouted after them...THIS IS YOUR LAST LAP...THEN REC DEC!,,

 Sneak and the Young Guns  finished  between Aideen and   Maria.. though , one suspects, none of the yoiung guns wanted to pass Sneak

 beth wasn't too far ahead of  Maria..but she geared down about the time  Shadow started his sprint.

At Meari's added encouragement, Madison found some more strength. She put aside the fatigue and the pain in her joints and focused on the short distance between her and Candy.

"Okay, Meari, let's do this." She reached over and tugged Meari's arm a little as she accelerated. Candy was just a few steps ahead now, and she wanted to touch her shoulder as they finished.

Longer step, push, breathe, longer step, breathe... Just a few inches. A big roar... Got her!!

A step before the finish, Madison got a hand on Candy's shoulder actually pushing slightly, not pulling at all. Once across, she let go, and slowed to a stop. This time she managed to not collapse, instead lest leaning overs and supporting herself with her hands on her legs. Looking up she saw Meari already across the line.

"Good job Meari! Woohooo!!"

 Sam pushed herself at the end and finished a little behind Beth and walked a t bit to get her breath." Oh damn that was rough, but I think I did ok for my first time."

 Meari smiled at Madison and replied," Thank you, good jo yourself maybe your next run you can carry my 30-cal?" Meari chuckled at Madison and went to the others," Excellent I am going to go change and turn in for the night good evening, all."

    Shade  and   Jax  grabed the remaining cooler,, they handed out  water bottles to those who did not have any, some lighten thier Load.

  Shadow    Whistled Loud   for the  Largs.  He grabbed   Beths 's table,  Nifty grabbed Sam's

 the others  Followed  along. maria   chuckled at Meari..Muchacha? did the run, tire you so?..it is  only closing  in on dinner!

 Shadow  smiled a bit  as the LArgs   howled in answer to his whistle.well? Maddy? You aren;'t on  the groiund this  time?

Aideen   drank deep from the water..Right   hard  doing it twice...

 when I'm on my own.. i do  3 laps.. addign to the distance of  my sprints..but?  I do that  for   POD outs, to stay in shape, and for football.

"Okay, good night, Meari"

Looking around, Madison spots Mila coming in with the Largs and a tiny woman whom she hadn't yet met.

"Hi there," Madison went over to the woman with silvery hair. "I'm Ens, Madison Rae Perry. I don't think we've met. Nice to meet you?"

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:45, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

Roy snorted softly at Aideen's observation.  "You've obviously never been in a real front-line ground battle.  Three miles is a cake-walk.  We had to do fifty-mile runs in full combat gear in boot camp.  Two laps is just a warm-up..."

 Shadow  smiled at Roy  as he saw the  surprised look on Aideen's face. Our  Bot came , the  Instructors   said, anything  more the  a mie, you're retreating..

 Shadow shook his head,there is also  escaping and Survival..you'd be surprised how  long  runs  like that can be.

 Shadow  ect>>>>>>>>>>> Rec Dec.

Roy grinned ruthlessly as they cleared out of the tunnels.  "Now, see, the guys that do fifty miles?  When those one-milers run their mile to try and get clear of the combat zone and get a chance to regroup, they find out the fifty-milers are right on their heels...and still ready to fight.  There's a lot to be said for not giving your enemy enough room to recover, but you should only try it if you know you'll still be good to fight when they stop running...or you won't be so beat-up from the run that a surprise counter-attack on your flank completely floors you."

He shook his head, and added, "Anyone who thinks running is only useful as a defensive tool doesn't understand military history..."

 Sam was getting her breath she hadn't run like that in a long time. Sam looked at Madison and replied in a winded voice. " Hello Ens Perry, I am Lt. Samantha Robertson, Com Tech, Tech Wizard, Code Breaker nice to meet you. That was my first time doing the run, wow it was harder than it looks." Sam giggled but she was very proud of her nonathletic self for doing so well.

 Sam rolled up her sleeves some too cool off and Madison could see her nasty wrist scars and the number branded into her forearm.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:46, Fri 22 July 2022.

  Meari smiled at Madison and replied, "It is getting late but maybe a quick stop at the Rec Dec are you two up for it Madison and Sam?"

Mila was trotting around looking for Her Human. She'd not expected Him to run again, but where was He?

Upon being invited to the Rec Dec, Madison nods "Sounds great, let's do it." Madison turned to Candy "Hey, Candy, Rec Dec?"

 Sam smiled and replied," Sure let's head to the Rec Dec for a bit and how was your first run Madison?"

  Flores   Nods  with a bit of a smile,always ready for the rec dec...

"Oh Gods, Samantha, it was... " Madison stopped herself. "Um. Do you go by Samantha or Sam?"

"So, first, I loved it. But it was hard to get started. The first leg was tough, but I picked it up after that. I thought I was in good endurance shape, but apparently I have some work to do to keep up with this crew. Then, if that wasn't punishment enough, I just did it again. All day I've been sore and hungover from excessive partying last night. That's another story. I feel okay now, but I know this will catch up with me. So all in all, It was memorable." She grinned. "How did you do?"

 Sam smiled and replied to Madison," I go by Sam, that is good for you pilots it is a matter of survival, there are many pilots who podded out behind enemy lines that say the tunnel runs saved your life, like Lizzy she hurt herself but continued to prove she could make it even injured which will help her if she pods out behind enemy lines again. It usually is memorable but yeah next time hopefully you have more warning so you can be more prepared."

 Sam giggled and replied," It wasn't bad for my first time, I don't think I have ever run that far before, I am more of a desk jockey and behind the scenes person, but from my time I actually did really well. I have only been in real combat once, and fought a little on the Hanger dec a few times repelling boarders."

--------->>>>>>>>>>>>> To Rec Dec with Madison, Candy and Meari

 Meari smiled at Madison, Candy and Sam and said," I will meet you there I need to stow away my gear I will meet you on the Rec Dec."

--->>>> To Rec Dec via, QM and quarters

To Rec Dec >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:46, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

——> Non com quarters

After getting further directions from the guards on duty near the officers quarters, a part of the ship she didn’t want to hang around in too long, Tarja would find the entrance to the tunnels and make her way inside and look for the others.

  In 40 minutes  after he leaft the  Hanger dec, Shadow arrived with his  Crashkit, SMG and his  Light  boarding armor on.

 he held his head gear in his  Hand  as he waited  for  the rest of the recuits.

 Howe and Foster showed up. Brivet and  Chatty Smith, Frans was there..her  eyes  a little red  . Mara  followed her up the stairs.

 he  watched his   COM, to see when the new folks would arrive.

---->>>> From Hanger Dec

 NA-CE walked into the tunnels in her full gear with her medical bag. She saw the LC and the other trooper Vanska the Finan. She began stretching and getting to run.

  The Troopers   came  up  , Mixed with the Pilots . Ensign TA-RA  Dropped her  SMG...twice...

 Shadow picked  it up the second  Time as she looked up at the  slightly taller LC.  Fussing  with the Sling, he  set it over her  Shoulder...Its called a Shoulder sling... that's  how you use  it, or over  your head, but you'll have to fuss  with the length to  use it.... it is not a  Purse strap...

 ...aye... Sir....

 Ensign Reglis and  Trooper Benson arrived at the same time... They Both looked  at Shadow and grinned at each other.

 Shadow looked up from his COM as he noted their timesSomething is Funny?..Lets hear it... either of you..now...

 Reglis gave a  stern Smile...You did not read the  Files?... I am a distance  runner... I ran in the  Madrid Marathon twice before  i went to  Barcelona  Academy...I lettered there in distance  and  ran  5 Ks for fun...

 Shadow  gave a twitch of a smile,I ran from St Petersburg to  Iraq ..i have  had  more the  a few  runs... running from enemy ground troops..or running after them, either  way i had to run...how many Marathons  did you win?

 None..But I placed....

 DEAD..... that's what you place if you POD out  on turf and have to  get to our lines, or a pick up point... if you don't win that race.....you lose your life...

 Benson   chuckled...Then Why the Bloody  9 'ells  would ye be chasing  'bad Guys"

 Shadow   Turned  to him, he nodded with a smile...so we got us  two?.. nice..... I chase them to Kill them Trooper.... sometimes to get close  enough to Gun them down.. some times to  get close  enough  drive a Trench knife into them and twist it on the way out...and some times.....every so often...its to beat them to death..

 Seeing   Roy  enter,  The LC  waved to the  tape on the Ground that said  start...some one  had  drawn a skull on either side of the word.

  Now, this is  just a special run for you folks.. we don't have the Cams  and timers  set up..but we won't need  them... The Trooper  and the Pilot that comes in Last...has to run another Lap with me... The Pilot who comes in first of the Pilots.. will get  the  first slot of those missing  fighters we have...

Ensign Taki  said...what of the rest of us?

 Captain Morris  and I  will sort you out...better give me something to be impressed with, so i remember your names..

 There was  Fussing  grunts  and a kid's  Voice saying. "get up there!"  one  by one largs  arrived, Including Gregor  and  a very wiggly Thor who was 'air thumping' his tail as Puskie Held him.

 Larry  and the   LArgs  Passed Shadow  as he rubbed   each and every head, including, Gregor ,Shadow  laughed  and Smiled..

 These  are LArgs....for those who do not know.... They are a Unit  unto themselves, but under the SM's  banner... LArry  Is  the Leader..Freddie  is  Number 2...they will  most likely Lap  us  2 or  3 times.. except for this one.... Now , These Nivarians   are Puskie and Disna..they are LArg Masters.. and this Guy here is Roll..a Cadet Larg master......every....single..one..of these  members  have killed enemies...face to face.. even this one... he  held up the Wiggly Thor..he ripped the throat of a Roussian who tried to kidknap  Doc henry's  wife...... The Little CAdet  Largmaster  has   killed a few enemies  with a gods be damned  bayonet sword while defending the Hanger dec  with his  Largs who were entrusted to him, while the rest were on Jump off.......

 They are  Smart...Largs are..and Loyal...don't  do anything  stupid..because...if they take offense, not one of us here can stop them from  tearing you to ribbons..

They  why are we bloody  runnin' with them, then?

 They Like to run...and they  need to know what kind of idiots  they may have to fight alongside..

 Get ready.. you hold your weapons Like you're  running in the field..head gear on..and you run hard....

He Looked to Roy  for  any  'encouragement' he might give.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:12, Wed 03 Aug 2022.

 NA-CE listened and lined up, she heard about the Largs and she thought they were awesome and huge advantage on the ground. She would have to learn how to take care of them as well. " LC Sir who would I talk to to learn some techniques on patching up the Largs in the field sir?"

  D9isna  and Puskie  our  Larg Masters  from Nivar..but they have 'seen the light' of our way of   training Largs..I could go into  some stories about thier Massive  Studs, and LArry  taking one out when he was alot smaller then he is now...I guess the best way to say it? They Don't need trained like animals , they need trained like   crewman

 NA-CE smiled and replied,Yes sir that's why I was asking for training to help our Larg crewman in the field Sir.I have seen vids and reports of the Larg troopers thry are amazing. NA-CE stood at attention at the line waiting for the run.

Roy turned a baleful look on Reglis and Benson as he moved over to stand by Shadow.  "It's like talking to a gods-be-damned bulkhead, except the bulkheads are actually useful," he said in a scathing tone, before turning to watch the largs stream past.

At Benson's comment, he turned the scowl back on again.  "We run with them, Trooper Dipshit, because they are part of our team and we train as a team, because we operate as a team.  If you're going to panic and shit your britches when half a ton of larg sprints past you like you're standing still, I need to know so that I don't stick you anywhere that your failure is going to fuck up our operations.  And since we have a long history of infiltrators trying to get into the Hermes ranks and getting busted on their first tunnel run because they can't control their verbal diarrhea, we also have them run as an extra security measure.  Because if any one of you is stupid enough to pull a weapon and try and use it on anyone else in the tunnel, there is nowhere you can escape from these largs.  If you're lucky, they'll just bite you in half.  If Larry or Freddie are feeling playful, they'll use you as a ragdoll chewtoy...you'll still be alive, but gods help you, you'll be praying for death."  He stepped up to Benson, and added, "And you better save your breath, Trooper...you're going to need it.  If I feel like you're half-assing this run, I'll have Tess or Gla start nipping bits of you off to give you that proper "Dear God I'm running for my life" incentive.  And you've got a helluva lot more than one lap to run, today..."

He turned his withering gaze on Reglis.  "Nobody here gives half a shit what kind of running you USED TO DO," he said, in crisp, cold tones.  "Unless you were running marathons in combat armor and full gear, NOTHING you have done before prepared you for this.  And if you get too cocky thinking you're good at this, keep in mind that THIS is nothing like running over uneven ground, under live fire, with enemy troops chasing you that would just as soon eat you as shoot you.  So piss on your Academy racing record and fun-runs.  You pod out in hostile territory, ENSIGN, and a 5K fun-run isn't even a good warmup for what you have to do to survive."

He raised his voice, so the whole group could hear it.  "THIS run is to give us an assessment of what you're capable of.  If you're a fast runner with no stamina, we need to know.  If you can run all day but could be chased down by a crippled Mull, we need to know.  You think you're good?  You prove it, right here and right now...but until you cross that finish line, I don't want to hear JACK SHIT about what kind of runner you THINK you are.  What you did in the past doesn't matter at this moment...the only thing that matters right now is what you do over the next three miles...and if you're slacking, or you've already managed to prove yourself so thick in the skull that you need more work, the next few miles past that.  Run your best run.  Give us an honest look at you.  Our operations and your survival depend on that."

He turned back to Shadow.  "Whenever you're ready, LC..."

 Shadow Grinned as he  slipped his head gear on..Rihgt!...On You Mark.....get set....GO!

at 'GO' the  largs  fired out  like  green-blue  pulse   bursts, before the troopers and  Pilots   could gasp, they were almost  50 yards  down range and keeping smaller by the heartbeat, Shadow took off..various troopers  and pilots took off at jagged intervals..all suddenly away that the LC was eating up yards One larg was  way behind everyone..Thor leaped and  padded and stopped and did it  again and again, While  Roll urged him on..

 Disna  stopped at Amidships  on the starboard side... Puskie was at the  'clubhouse turn" on the port side

Dressed in winter camouflage and carrying whitewashed weaponry Tarja stuck out like a sore thumb with the snowshoes and Russian greatcoat attached to her pack only further illustrating that she had been fighting a very different war when she’d last worn her combat gear.

After watching as the pair of idiots proceeded to dig themselves an even deeper hole, Tarja would line up with the others relieved to hear that they weren’t being timed on this occasion as she was out of practice due to her recent change in duties. When the signal to start was given she would set off with the others before dropping into a steady pace that would see her around the course in a decent time.

 NA-CE shook her head at the idiots and one a trooper, she expected a pilot or two they were always a little different and head strong, but a trooper that was bad.

 NA-CE lined up in her gear with her German SMG, her armor and her medical gear and ran as hard as she could when the LC said go. At this point she just dug in and ran as hard as she could.

  Reglis   took off  hard..he  was only a step behind  The LC..Benson, howeever, was struggling considering his load out was more the  a Pilot's...

 he was  ahead of  Most of the  trooper..but they were Gaining.  As they neared the Starboard stern , turn.. LC said....Hey..Pisto... you look   a bit winded...

 This  is  what... One  Mile, LC ?....  he huffed...I will catch you at the end..you will see....

 will I?.... let's  see......  The Shadow took over  on a sprint...the sprint  was there, to demoralize  the  new Pilot.. who just gawked  as the LV, still holdign his weapon  like he was on the run... sprinted... eating up  10 yards  for  ever 2 taked  by Reglis.

 TA-RA and the others  didn't  notice  until they rounded the   bgend and  saw Shadow  heading off into the distance....That...that is..outstanding! The Burian said.

 Benson's  Mouth Gaped.. he though Reglis  would beat the LC... there wasn't much of a chance now...

 NA-CE pushed herself, her gear was pretty heavy adding in her medical gear, but she was not going to finish last. She was actually right with Benson, and she had even more gear than him. She saw the LC take off and knew he wasn't losing this race, but NA-CE's thoughts wear on doing her best and making a respectable run.

Roy had kept himself on pace with Benson, just to see for himself how the trooper would perform...he couldn't see the expression, but the body language told him of Benson's surprise as Shadow opened up his lead on Reglis.  Breathing easily and seemingly barely exerting himself to maintain the pace, Roy commented drily, "Like I said, Dipshit...you're in the war, now, and nothing you've done before this is worth a damn.  Hope you remembered to skip that meal before the run..."  He was literally jogging, step for step, right beside Benson as he spoke, and as he finished, he shifted gears, moving past the easy jog of a trooper trying to cover open ground to the more determined pace of someone moving into contested territory and knowing he needed to find cover before he found the enemy.

"Don't leave me waiting at the finish line, Benson!" he called out, as he began opening up distance, as well.

Maintaining her steady pace, Tarja was seemingly unconcerned by the other runners overtaking her, with adopting the pace of someone that knew they had a long way to run and couldn’t be exhausted when they got there, with her laughing when the two idiots were left in the dust by Shadow. When they passed the halfway mark she would glance either side of her to see the pair technicians keeping pace with her, dressed in their winter camouflage, and with a slight nod of her head they would accelerate to a pace that eat up all of the lost ground with them breaking into a run  at the three quarters point. They wouldn’t finish first or even in the top three but they would finish well and show up a large proportion of the new recruits in the process when they finally crossed the finishing line.

 NA-CE stayed with Benson as he kept fighting then the SM pulled away and NA-CE used her background in the Blue Moon Angel Spec Ops, to dig deep and give everything she had. She beat Benson by a decent margin but did not catch up to the SM but made a good impression on her first run at least. NA-CE was trained well and was in best physical condition she could be. Once across she said to Benson," Oh wow you got beaten by a Blue Moon Angel in a run Benson. Don't be cocky just do your job the best you can give 100 percent at all times, and I think we will be fine here on the Hermes."

 by the time the   'group' was  around the port stern, the Largs   came charging past..even Gregor  wasn't   too far  behind the Bigger  Largs... Roll and Thor  we just nearing the  starboard stern.

   Shadow   Spirinted hard to  the finish   and    walked a bit when he was done to  see would  Come in next.

 Reglis was  stumbling  about 100 yards  from the port Bow  turn.. Benson was  gasping   as Roy  reached Reglis  and passed him..

(from enlisted quarters/hangar dec)
Almost late Jug and her squad in their gear, some had taken off already.  Jug called her charge and the Gava began running to catch up and pass a few.  she was watching who Shadow and the SM might have a beef with.

After crossing the line Tarja would slow to a stop with the angel medtech having beaten her by only a few yards "You run fast for medtech...we could have used you at Hattuvaara" Tarja said in heavily accented English, delivering the compliment with the barest hint of a smile "is good to meet someone that doesn't run mouth...I am Corporal Tarja Vanska is is pleasure to meet you" she said offering the Angel woman her hand to shake with it never hurting to make friends with a corpsman.

 NA-CE ran hard, and the Fin new corporal almost beat her, but she barely beat her out. " Thank you very much, I am an Angel we are usually a little stronger an aster than your above average human and I did just barely beat you out."

 NA-CE cooled down some from the run and then held out her hand to shake Tarja's hand," Corporal NA-CE Blue Moon Angel, also member of the Blue Moon Special Forces and a med tech."

"Come on, Marathon Man!" Roy barked out as he passed Reglis.  "I'm barely even breathing hard and you can hardly stay on your feet.  Did they reduce distances in the marathon since I left Earth?"  He didn't wait for an answer, keeping up the ground-devouring pace and leaving only the echoes of his strides and taunts for Reglis.

When he got to the finish line, he didn't pause...he turned around and ran back.  "Stay on your feet, loudmouth!" he barked at Reglis as he passed, running back to where Benson was laboring.  Adopting an angled stride, so he was part-way facing Benson, he started running back to the finish line again, this time stride for stride with Benson.  "Step it up, trooper!" he barked out.  "If you could run your legs half as well as you run your mouth, we'd be across the finish line and well into your second lap!  Move those rock-stompers!  LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT!!!" he roared at the laboring trooper.  He continued the harangue in similar tone until they finally reached the finish line, where he grabbed Benson by his gear harness and pulled him face-to-face.

"You got two minutes to get your wind back, then you get your ass back on the line and start again!  Got me, Trooper Dipshit?!!"  It was obvious that, until such time as Benson managed to redeem himself, he'd already earned a nickname from the Sergeant Major...

”Ah…special forces that explains much…on skis I would still beat all of you I think, yes?” she said with that same hint of a smile as she shook NA-CE’s hand with a firm grip.

They were joined by Reglis and Benson shortly after their meeting but the pair were quickly rounded up by SM Spencer and sent on their way again with a tongue lashing they wouldn’t forget in a hurry ”Idiots” Tarja muttered as she watched the pair being led away for their punishment laps, with the rather severe bun in which she kept her dark hair in making her look like a disapproving school teacher. Turning back to NA-CE she would give the Angel a bit of a puzzled look before quietly asking ”Dipshit…is slang, yes?” with her not having encountered the term before.

 Cornwall  and  Reglis  came in last for the Pilots... Reglis  was about  2 yards ahead of Cornwall.

 Benson struggled he had  a strciken look on his face..half seemed to  be shocked, the other half seemed to  be lookign for mercy.

 Trooper  LAne  Bren, the Taller  Balck woman came in  a few steps behind Benson..

 Shadow  motioned  to the small cooler, there were  2 dozen bottles of  water( to start) Shadow  had  one... as he sipped he said..everyone geta bottle...  if you don't  finish it  , mark it some way and set it off to the  side..if you kill the bottle  crunch it up and lay it by the Cooler..

 Now? Reglis?..You get to run again, and  So does Cornwall...

 what!

 shut up Cornwall..you came in last... reglis  gets to run again , because i need a  distance running Buddy... Right   mr  5 k ?

  SM? Troopers  are yours  Bren came in Last... My Buddy Benson already has  his  future  in the tunnels set..right?

 as he spoke the   Largs passed the starting line  , starting thier   3rd lap, not even looking  back....

 he pointed to the starboard  side... Disna gave him  a Thumbs up, while Puskie did the same from the other side.Out there is a stem kid...had nothing going  for him except he had a damn good pack.... he came here.. no one wanted him, as the others  got adopted...so our resident Vampic adopted him...she's away?.. so  we all sorta look out for him... But he  did the tunnels  this last  year and change..and  focused his heart on  finishing..then took car of Largs..and he's out there...RIGHT NOW... seeing to it that Larg Pup gets  the idea  that he has to run, to  be with his  pack.... if any of you can have  the heart that kid  has... you will be decent Hermites...

 The rest of you did well.... go ahead  and go to the rec dec.. you have a 'welcome aboard' meal coming...  the  two Pilots  i mentioned..Line up... SM.. your  people  are  under your orders.

  Disna! You can take the LArgs  down when you're  ready...

 Disna Laughed  as he looked  down range, the largs vanishing into the distance...The Pack won't leave without  LArry...LArry won't leave   if you or the SM is still here... they can use the run.

 The rest of yo9u may go... Lets Go  Reglis...and pray to all the gods you know, that  Cornwall doesn't beat you..Cornwall? you damn well better beat Reglis...

  placing his   half  of a bottle of water  down, he nodded to the two pilots....Lets Go!

 and they took off..

 NA-CE smiled and replied," Ahh for my running ability, yes, we trained hard, so this was very good for me as well. Oh I bet you would I have never been on ski's. I am still learning everything about human cultures and your past. I believe it is slang yes or I would legally change my name." NA-CE laughed and smiled at her new trooper friend, she watched as the others came in and asked," So what was in those crates and what is your special project?"

"Ah good...something else for me to remember...English is so confusing" Tarja replied with a sigh when NA-CE confirmed that Dipshit was indeed a slang term and not a very good one, though she supposed it was a suitable moniker for the man in question. It was then that the Angel would ask what was in the crates and what it was she was doing causing Tarja to hesitate between doing her duty and not wanting to insult the woman with her eventually replying "I am military advisor for experimental project involving small group of Hermes crew" with the words sounding as if she had rehearsed them for such an eventuality...which she had "Sorry I cannot say more...I need to speak with certain people first and see how they want to handle things" she added in an apologetic tone, wanting to trust her but knowing that in this instance that she needed to follow protocol.

Feeling a little uncertain over what to do next Tarja would gesture towards the cooler full of water "We should get drink...then you can tell me how Blue angel came to join fleet, maybe?"

Jug and the other gava made good time on their run.

 NA-CE giggles and replied," Humans are confusing." The Angel listened and she was no stranger to secret missions and orders and understood and moved on like it was never asked, oh yes, she was Special Forces alright.

 NA-CE walked over to the water bottles and got one out for each of them and replied," Well A Blue Moon Angel like me has worked hard and helping saving lives and ending the lives of Empire scum. When the Paradise Angels basically gave us up to the Empire, we fought back and the APF has helped us gain our freedom and I come to the tip of the spear to help the cause and kick some ass and fight in the honor of the Blue Moon Angels." She was trying to act more human, and she pulled it off pretty well, but still a little cold.

Hearing NA-CE’s response Tarja couldn’t help but nod in agreement despite being of the same species with her at times struggling to figure how other people could interact with one another so effortlessly, with the current language barrier doing little to help matters.

Taking the proffered water bottle with a polite thank you, Tarja would have a mouthful of the blessedly cool water before listening as NA-CE explained how she came to be here, with the treatment of her home planet having similarities to her own home and it’s recent history with the only real difference being that NA-CE had pursued a military career and sought to improve herself and embrace the challenges as opposed to Tarja who had had a military career thrust upon her ”I was conscripted when Russia invaded my home…when war ended I volunteer to work with research team and here I am” she said, skipping over the simple fact that she hadn’t known what to do with herself or how to make a life without the military.

 NA-CE looked at her and replied," I am sorry you were not given that choice to serve."  NA-CE takes a moment she truly looked upset you were not given the choice to serve, and then adds," I am glad you are on the Hermes now, here you will make a difference at least that's what all the stories and hype tell us right." NA-CE decided to go with humor to move forward, she liked Tarja very much, A woman very much like herself but shorter and not an Angel.

 NA-CE looked around and asked, " We were dismissed I was going to go to my quarters shower and head to the Rec Dec they said first Hermes meal is on the LC order whatever you want. We could meet there and talk some more. Plus, I need to see if the SM or Medical or the Blue Angels wish to speak to me as well.

 TA=RA and Taki stood by the stairs, they wanted to leave..but  not unless the LC was there.. so they sipped their water and waited. Finns and Hopps  sat against the  wall wiping  thier heads. after taking their head gear off.

 with less people..the Tunnels  sounded  eerie .. then the scrambling of   claws  tapped on the  metal dec p[lates   and the   sound  of  snorts  and   Growels  as  LArgs  Jockeyed  for   Position.. once More the Pack ran past..Gregor  was really tired  but  trailed altered them with determination.

 about  3 Minutes  Later, a sweating Roll came  around the  Corner  with a really tired Thor.. the wee  beastie   jumped.. scampered and walked  , on and Off  as  Roll kept talkign to Him.. finally the   little Larg  fell across the finish  Line  and Roll gave Him a Big  hug, the  little Tail thumping up and down..   then he  pulled  Thor over to the corner to have a   wateer.. he had a beat up pan in his back pack , pouring water  in , for  Thor to dribnk out of  as he drank a bottle himself.

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

  Lets  Go!!! Shadow  shouted   as they rounded the  Port -stern,one and 1/2  Miles  and you're done..PUSH IT....

The Pilots    were stuggling and that was a Fact... Shadow  didn't  to see to gibve  one damn as he pushed them harder

 Benson and Pickens  struggled  as well.. Pickens had  saved  some   energy the  first lap..but  it was evaporating as  Benson  staggered  and  ran

Tarja would see the sympathetic look in the other woman’s blue-green eyes at her mention of conscription with her looking more genuinely about it than Tarja was ”There were few good choices at the time…I serve in army or become refugee…besides I was considering national service anyway” she stated before taking another mouthful of water.

It was then that NA-CE would suggest that they met up on the rec dec after getting cleaned up, seeing as they had now been dismissed ”yes I need to speak with SM too, but he is looking…busy” she said briefly turning to watch as the SM disappeared down the tunnels with his luckless charges and the still running largs before turning back to NA-CE ”…yes, I think you have good idea, let’s meet on rec dec it will be good to talk and I need to practice English” she said with an affirmative nod before turning and heading towards the hatch out of the tunnels.

——> Non-com quarters

 at the end of the second  Run, Shadow  took  note of the  Pilots and tropers   when he  finished the 2nd   run..Tapping a few things into his  Com,

 He  wnet Over  to Thor  who was  Laying there   slowly thumping his tail, m he knelt  down  and  rubbed  the little noggin. ..he  did not  quit.. he  walked  alot..but he didn't  lay  down or nothing!

 Shadow  Nodded,That's because you were there to help keep him going, stopping him from quitting , that helps when you are By yourself, to ko you can do something..

 The  other LArgs     getting close  again, by the time the 2nd  Run  was through...Are  Right Larry..you guys  are done, time for eats and drinks on the rec dec.. i don't have enough water up her for you guys..

 Freddy  and  Stee   Nizzled  Shadow as he  rubbed thier head.

 Disna  said,its is odd  for Largs to  like people outside thier  LArg Masters...

 well?  Twi ideas  i have?... one  is... They are treated  like crew, so they act like crew?..I dunno?... the  2nd is... LArry likes  me, so  they figure  i'm ok?... if LArry didn't like me, i may have vbeen eaten a while ago?.... But..to be fair? Larry would have been the one  who  ate me..so the point is  kinda  moot.

 Gather up you  empties and such...lets head for the rec Dec...

Shadow  ect>>>>> rec dec.

Light flex time

"Bren, on the line!  Benson beats you again, and you'll be doing a third lap with him, as well!  Anyone else who wants the extra training, fall in and get moving!  Lucky for all of you, the only ones whose results count for anything on this one are Bren and Benson!"  He stepped up to the line, and took off running when Shadow called the start, at a slow, steady job, bellowing "encouragement" at Benson and Bren which consisted of roughly equal parts insults, profanity, and disparaging commentary about their dismal performance, with a few gratuitously graphic descriptions of Largrans eating captured troopers to remind them what was at stake.  Benson, naturally, got the lion's share of the attention, and despite the non-stop nature of Spencer's haranguing the pair, he seemed to barely need to deepen his breathing...a fact that he added to the diatribe about halfway through the lap, pointing out that the pace wasn't even enough for him to start breathing hard.

Benson began staggering after the second mile, Bren was only doing slightly better.  About two hundred meters shy of the finish line, Benson stumbled and fell, barely catching himself from plowing face-first into the deck.  "GET UP, DAMMIT!" Roy barked out, standing squarely over Benson's fallen body.  "Right now, you are endangering other lives, trooper!  Someone's gotta come back and cover you, and you're not contributing to cover fire!  If this is all the usefulness you've got in you, I should send you to the Delta Colonies right now, so you can settle into your pansy-assed routine without endangering REAL combat troops!"  Roy knelt down, shouting in Benson's ear.

"Get your ass off that deck and your legs back underneath you and give me the rest of that lap, Trooper!"  Visibly laboring, Benson heaved himself up off the deck, starting into the run with a stagger forward that had him struggling to get his legs underneath his torso.  Wobbling forward, still under a verbal barrage, his unsteady legs carried him ahead until he dove, head-first, across the finish line...and promptly threw up.

Bren had finished well ahead of him.  "Catch your breath, Trooper...then clean that up and go get something on the Rec Deck."  Roy turned to Bren.  "You damn well better NEVER lose to this jackass again, Trooper, or I'll run you the same way I ran him.  I don't care if you have to start spending an hour every day running with a full pack on, you NEVER LOSE TO HIM AGAIN."  He turned to the rest of the personnel who were still there.

"Right now, Trooper Dipshit here is the lowest man on the totem pole.  Based on his performance here, I don't know if I'd even trust him guarding the Hangar Deck, much less using him for any sort of boarding team or attack action.  You lose to him, YOU ARE THE BOTTOM RUNG.  Got it?!!"

He didn't wait for a response, before he walked over and helped haul Benson up off the deck.  "You'll breathe better standing up...lean against the wall if you need something to help keep you balanced."  The tone of derision was gone...he was now giving constructive advice.  "Next time, keep your mouth shut until you know for sure you're actually better than the guy you're chewing on...and for the love of all the gods, don't shoot your mouth off to someone with a decade of combat experience beyond anything you've ever faced.  There's a reason the old-timers have lived this long, and it has nothing to do with the media commentary about their cushy lifestyle."

End Flex

After Benson had finished cleaning up his mess, Roy ushered him off the deck.  "That advice I gave Bren, about spending an hour every day running?  Be smart for you to do the same thing.  I'd start out on the track, until you can run the entire hour at an easy jog in no armor...then transition to running the tunnels in combat gear.  Right now, you're a battlefield liability, although not the worst I've had to deal with...but the fact that you got back up means you've got some fight in you, and that means there's hope you can be salvaged into a decent trooper...as long as you're willing to shut up and put in the work."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:40, Tue 23 Aug 2022.

Jug and others made decent time as they ran and even passed a few.  of course, they were prepared for this by previous runs.  Only by their stature and length of legs were they considered 'slow'.  They still ran all out.

——> Rec Dec

Accessing the ships schematics through her HUD Tarja would lead the squad of armoured troopers into the tunnels via the quickest route so as to spend as little time as possible in the ships p-ways. Once they were inside the tunnels she would place the two canisters of training rounds onto the floor “Load us up please Inga” Tarja asked the blonde Swede, having left Bjarne to continue setting up their area on the hangar dec ”All suits are currently carrying 5mm gatling guns which have internal ammunition feed, there is no reloading in the field so watch your ammunition, there is back up pulse weapon on left arm but it lacks the power of main weapon…now watch Inga load suit, you will be expected to do this” she said before turning and crouching so that Inga could open a panel in the back of her armour and feed a belt of bright blue training rounds into the weapons feed before closing it up again.

It was as they were waiting for all of the suits to be loaded that Tarja would tell them how to use the HUDs targeting system and fire the various weapon systems using a series of microswitches within the gauntlets, though needless to say there sere no mini rockets loaded for obvious reasons ”Sergeant Meari, grab those targets and come with me…the rest of you take five” she said collecting half of the “pop up” targets she’d brought with them and waiting for Meari to get the other half before heading down the tunnels at a run.

With there being no danger of them running into or stepping on anyone Tarja was able to really open up and demonstrate what the suits were capable of with her throwing the targets out at random down one side of the tunnel so that the magnets would latch onto the floor, wall and even the ceiling as they went. Switching over to a private channel she would speak to Meari as they set up the course ”So what do you think? This is good feeling, yes? Like being superhero, though must be careful not to let it go to head” she said as they ran, pausing to throw another target before continuing ”how do you feel about taking orders from corporal? Is problem?” she asked waiting to see how she would reply.

 Meari grabbed the targets and followed Tarja down the course tossing the targets anywhere they landed. Meari did listen too all the instructions and was doing pretty well she thought.

 Meari enjoyed pushing the suit and liked how it handled so far. " Yes, it is very good so far the suit is great, I cant wait to get one the fits correctly." Meari then smiled and replied," You are squad leader you know the suits rank only goes far on the Hermes I have no problems taking orders from you Tarja."

Tarja would chuckle over her comms at Meari's mention of a bigger suit as she flung another target "yes, you must be feeling like the small fish in the can" she said as she continued to run, being sure to warn Meari to slow down when they approached the turns because although the suits were fast in a straight line they didn't corner well, and even with impact gel crashing headlong into a bulkhead was going to hurt. With Meari then confirming that she had no problems taking orders from her Tarja would mentally sigh with relief "That is good...because I would very much like to keep you within unit" she replied as they returned to the start point.

Switching back to the groups comm channel she would slow to a walk before addressing the recruits "OK, form into teams of two" she said waiting for them to pick a partner before continuing "Each team is to make a single lap of the tunnels and shoot all of the targets they encounter, the team with the fastest time and highest score wins...everyone understand?...Good Conrad your team to go first...GO!"

 Meari chuckled at Tarja's joke, and she also slowed down to make sure she could make the turn she pushed it a little to see how the suit performs. " Yes Tarja we will be fine."

 They returned to the group and Meari stood to the side as they got the teams set up. Meari will watch Conrad's group she will time them using her comms, unless she finds a way on her hud to time them. Meari will wait to see if Tarja wanted her to join a group, but Meari thought Tarja had great faith in Meari's combat abilities.

One by one the teams would depart to take on the course, with Inga monitoring the hits sustained on the targets using a program on her vidboard. With Meari being the odd one out due to how the numbers fell Tarja would walk up to her, pausing to shout encouragement as Belle’s team returned with the highest score so far before speaking to her ”you and I will have to do run together…unless you would rather ask one of the others to run with you, you need to practice with weapons as well” she said not wanting Meari to fall behind training wise or have it appear that she was showing favouritism by giving her a free pass ”Suit weapons do not fire like normal rifles…also I want to see if you are as good as I think you are” she explained as the penultimate team departed.

 Meari nodded at Tarja and replied," Let's do it together Tarja." Meari smiled and replied," Yes, we will see, and I hope I am Tarja.

 Meari then Went and did the course with Tarja, Meari was faster, given her size and abilities, but Tarja was right she missed the first target the aiming was different. After the first target she treated the gatling gun as an extension of herself and then after that she barely hit the next one. Then she was dead on with the final targets, she felt very good when she came into the finish line a little ahead of Tarja but not by much, Tarja's skill with the suit kept her close to the raw power of Meari.

 Meari stopped and then said to Tarja," Yes you were correct much different at first but I think I got the hang of it as I went. Excellent what now Squad Leader."

---------->>>>>   Officer's quarters

On entering, Alison noted Meari, along with one of the newer personnel, about to trek the tunnels.

In one way, it was a relief;  because she definitely needn't compare her own attempt to that of an over six and half foot tall Udenese.   That would just be ridiculous, she reflected, while waiting for Justin to join her...

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

"Good, then let us begin" Tarja said purposefully walking to the opposite side of the tunnel than she'd ran it previously so they wouldn't have too much of an edge by knowing where the targets were.

Setting off at a rapid pace Tarja would use the inbuilt targeting system to good effect with her barely having to slow her pace as she moved her arm to line up on where the computer told her to fire so as to compensate for the speed at which she was running. Having run courses such as this before she was able to keep half an eye on Meari's performance impressed by how her raw power allowed her to keep pace with pace her, with her also seeming to get a hang of the suits targeting systems fairly quickly.

Knowing that their score would be good, if only for no other reason than her prior experience and training Tarja would slow to a halt at the finishing line, unlike Velta who had forgot to slow down and had overshot the finishing line by around a hundred yards "you did well for first time Meari, hopefully you can still do better" Tarja replied before switching to a group channel to address them all, deciding to take a leaf out of the LC's book "Good you all did well especially Belle and Meari...Now teams will run again and this time get faster times and higher scores, if you do not you will run again" she said in a voice that said she expected them all to do better, not because they had done poorly the first time but because she expected the best of them "...I want pairs to communicate with each other, co-ordinate strategy, I need you all to being able operate as individuals in the field, to take command of squad should you be called to do so...Velta your team goes first...oh and try to stop this time, yes?" she said with a bit of a chuckle.

It was as Velta and her partner set off that Tarja would notice the arrival of somebody else in running equipment. Wearing a full suit of powered armour Tarja would tower over the woman as she approached her, with the suit easily adding an extra six inches atop of her normal height of 5'8" with Meari meanwhile looking like a giant "Can I help you? We are currently running training exercise" she asked the woman with the speakers making her voice sound harsh and metallic.

 Meari smiled and replied," Thank you Tarja, I will always do my best." Meari smiled and watched the others she took mental notes and then it was her time to go again. This time as she went around with Tarja, they communicated together to both get done faster and get better overall scores. They worked extremely well together they both didn't miss a target and had the top two times. They came in about the same time because they were working together to maximize their effectiveness.

 Once Meari was done with that lap she would then push the ones that were still running the course to so their best and work as a team. She would have anyone who didn't beat their first score go again until they did. Meari saw Tarja walk over to Lt. Case a pilot and the new Doctor Shrink. Meari smiled at the Doctor and then got back to work looking like a monster in the armor making her over 7 feet tall and powerful looking even more than before.

"As ready as I can be," she assured Justin, with a wink.

Returning the Commando Sergeant's smile, Alison regarded the woman in power armor, once addressed.  Although Med-Staff, she was also a commissioned officer, and it wasn't her first encounter with someone wearing such.

"I wasn't aware of any official scheduling, which may be remiss on my part.   Pilot Kase here," she indicated Justin, "usually does his circuits around this time, and I was going to have a run with him.  It wasn't our intent to interfere."    She paused, then added:

"I'm Lieutenant Verault -- Alison -- of the Med Division.  I'd offer to shake, but..." she smiled, looking at the oversize gauntlets of the armor.

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This message was last edited by the player at 12:58, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

”Corporal Tarja Vanska, Armoured Infantry, is nice to meet you…don’t worry I would be gentle with you” she replied sounding just a little amused by Alison’s rather understandable refusal to shake her hand, taking absolutely no offence to it. At Alison’s query as to scheduling Tarja would hesitate for all of a heartbeat before cautiously responding ”There was no official scheduling, I was told that tunnels were free for squad to train in…I have 48 hours to get them up to speed for wargames on Bura” she said hoping that she would understand that there weren’t many places where a squad of power armoured infantry could practice run and gun tactics, with the sound of gatling guns echoing down the tunnels, sounding very much like someone undoing a zip.

With the arrival of the pilot Alison had introduced as being Justin she would frown at the mispronunciation of her name with patiently replying ”is pronounced Vans-ska” with it clearly not the first time she’d had to make such a correction before addressing his question ”is squad training in preparedness for Bura wargames” she said, hoping that the pair of officers weren’t going to cause her any problems.

 Meari was with the troopers doing their last runs as Tarja talked to the two Lt.'s. Meari looked over and wondered what was up, she just continued watching and directing the rest of the squad.

In reply to Tarja Vanska (msg # 196):

My apologies Vans-ska; I presumed the last A was silent. Justin corrected as he assessed the power armor the squad was wearing. Vans-ska. Judging by your equipment; it appears you're reviving the Mec unit.

Alison smiled when Tarja corrected the name;  "I can relate!  People slaughter my name pretty routinely," which Alison had pronounced like Vair-ault.

"That's a Finnish name, I believe?  It's good to meet you, Corporal and I do remember, now, having heard the APF was bringing in someone to fill that position.  I can promise, we'll give you folks plenty of space.  Or, if it will be a disruption to your work, then we could come back some other time?"    She glanced to Justin, knowing just how dedicated he was to doing his circuits.  Hopefully, the squad leaders wouldn't mind...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:11, Sat 27 Aug 2022.

She would give Justin a hand gesture to indicate he wasn’t to worry about it and that no offence had been taken over it, with her sighing when Alison pointed out that she regularly had the same problem ”yes, English is…confusing…There are many words I struggle to say correctly” she said finding how the same letter would have different sounds or could even be silent and not said at all to be highly confusing with her confident that had Alison not introduced herself that Tarja would have also butchered her name ”Yes, I am Finnish, I previously served as Jaeger in Finnish army…have you visited my country?” she asked curious as to how Alison knew her name was Finnish.

It was then that Justin would ask his follow up question about the suits and whether they were reviving the previous unit ”I am here to set up Armoured Infantry team to work alongside existing Mech squad, though understand that I am not first to use powered armour on ship…many discussions were had between R&D team and Admiral as to purpose and capabilities of unit before they were permitted to join fleet” she explained, clearly hoping that she would be more successful than the previous attempts which had failed somewhat spectacularly.

With Alison clearly trying to be accommodating Tarja was reluctant to simply tell them to go away with her not wanting to get on the wrong side of anyone. But conversely them training together was perhaps unwise ”is not that so much as safety concerns…hold thought” she said before switching channels so as to speak with Meari, switching the speakers off so as not to be overheard ”Meari how is team doing? Has everyone beat or close to beating score?”

 Meari was just watching the last group to try come back in. Meari watched and smiled and said," Very good." Then Meari got the call from Tarja," They are doing great and yes they have all beaten their original scores Tarja. Shall we continue or take a break?"

In reply to Tarja Vanska (msg # 200):

Noting Vans-ska's reaction and subsequent comments Justin waited for the Doc to have her discussions before suggesed they starting their circuits.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:20, Sun 28 Aug 2022.

Tarja would consider whether to continue or not for a few moments before responding to Meari "No, lets call it a day...get them to tear down the course then we'll return to Mech area" she deciding that they'd done enough for now and deserved a break. Having made her decision Tarja would turn back to Alison and Justin and turn the external speaker back on "Give us a few minutes to tear down course and then tunnel is all yours" Tarja said, waiting to see if either of them had any more to say before she went to help the others.

In reply to Tarja Vanska (msg # 200):

She smiled, "The so-called 'happiest country in the world.'  I probably should've have gone there by now, but haven't. To become a doctor, you need a lot of course credits. Comparative mythology -- particularly how it laces up with Terran history -- is a favorite. Studying that led to interest in the cultures, the people, who made the myths."

Once the team began to tear down, the issues became moot, and thus she told Justin:  "Okey doke; let's get to it, shall we?"   
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Sat 27 Aug 2022.

”Perhaps before the fucking Russian’s turned up” Tarja growled in response to the happiest country in the world comment, with the fingers of her right hand flexing like she was preparing to hit something ”maybe after tour of duty you should visit? The countryside we have left is truly beautiful” she added, after snapping out of her sudden change in mood, speaking wistfully at the memories of the forests and mountains of her homeland.

With the pair getting ready to start their own run Tarja would head down the tunnel and start retrieving the targets before linking up with the rest of the squad and leading them back to the mech area.

——>Hangar Dec

In reply to Dr. Alison Verault (msg # 204):

Justin nodded. Starting down the tunnel at a steady moderate pace. Taking smaller strides to allow the Doc to keep.acce and get into a running groove.

 Meari replied to Tarja," Already done Tarja." Meari then got the squad to gather up their gear clean the place up enough, and then follow Tarja with the squad to the Hanger Dec.

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

In reply to Justin Kase (msg # 206):

Alison bid brief farewell to Tarja, and then joined Justin in beginning to trek the Tunnels.

"So far so good," she assured him.  "Though I realize you're limiting your stride some, for my sake.  Such a gentleman," she winked.   Though didn't doubt he wouldn't cut back too much, and that this was going to prove no small test, for non-field crew like herself.

In reply to Dr. Alison Verault (msg # 208):

Good to know... Justin replied adding Only doing my bit Standard 30" Corps running pace. affording her a cheeky grin. Justin chatted with the Doc as the pair leisurely jogged around the circuit
This message was last edited by the player at 03:19, Mon 29 Aug 2022.

"So, what was your experience like when you did this the very first time?"  attempting to get a better idea what it might be like for her.

In reply to Dr. Alison Verault (msg # 210):

It was extremely difficult, near on the hardest thing I'd done to that point. I resolved to finish the run. As the LC points out, any Flier who is able to survive a crash land in hostile territory need to know they have a chance.

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This message was last edited by the player at 13:02, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

Alison blew Justin a kiss when he departed, sighing a little after.

It probably was just as well...and she sure as hell didn't want to try this alone.

So thinking, she turned to make her way out of the tunnels, walking now at a leisurely pace.  In truth, she had plenty of admin and other work to catch up on;  tasks she'd deferred while spending time with him.   And now was a good time to go and get caught up, while he was helping the LC prep for Bura.

And Bura was exciting; she literally couldn't wait for whatever adventures her shore leave might hold for her.  She very much planned to make the most of it.  Especially so, with the right company...

------>>>>>  Dr. Alison's Office

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This message was last edited by the player at 14:40, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

From Madison's Quarters

On the announcement, Madison had put on her full flight gear, armor and weapons and went to the tunnels after going by her Skeeter to get her kit. If she was going to run, she was going to bring with her everything she would have if she crash landed. She was one of the first to arrive, with only Justin there ahead of her. She gave him a polite but curt smile and nod, then did some exercises to warm up and stretch. She wouldn't have time to do that in a real situation, but if she was crash landed, she would be warm from the anxiety of combat and full of adrenaline.

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This message was last edited by the player at 13:04, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

---->>>>>> From SEC next Day

 Sam came into the tunnels carrying her equipment she had one person with her but Sam was pushing her meager strength to carry everything had. She stopped at the entrance put everything down and took a breather.

 She then had her helper go set up the tables she needed, Sam saw Madison and Justin she waved and then grabbed about half her gear and carried it to her table spot almost a mile away.

  Shoey  entered  the tunnels  with a dozen or so other Vets.

 Lyri   was the Last,  she   was buckling her chest plater, her 'cheerleader' pin showing as  all the other Ladies  who had one//  a few Haret beats  Later, Scarlet popped up from the   hatch way and  shouted...OFFICER ON DEC!

 Captain Si Entered the Tunnels    followed  By the Admiral,   and Admiral Hennings.  BAle  and  Captain Morris arrived , but they wouldn't be running.. they would do a walk though.

 Beth  was setting  up her table on t e port bow side... al then way across  , Sam   would Have her   Table. With Orria  to help spot
  Shadow  came  up, followed  by a line of   Pilots. some looked eager, some  were just smiling, others  looked like they  wanted to head to Med tech.

 not longer after  cam  Grite, along  with  Nugest, Lirg, Frakas and Vaka...behind them were Shade, Shadow   and the  eager  horde of Largs, with Shadow  Carrying   a wiggly Thor.. Roll  followed up   behind   Gregor  to make sure he wouldn't fall down the   ladder.. the largs  scampered  eager to the starting Line,  spinning a bout  and   ramming each other   with their   Snouts, Until Larry Growled  very  loud, and they all settled in, well,.. except  for Thor  who tried to Jump of Tess's tail with she moved it.

Shadow  began...welcome to the Tunnels...One lap is a bit over  3 miles... just a bit over a half mile from  side to side, and  a bit over a Mile  down the slides.Shortly the rec dec ladies will be  bringing up coolers with  water and sports drinks....Tow things? Those Ladies are not your servants,,, they will hand you a bottle, but  do except them to 'walk it over ' to you...and ..if you have  the tiniest  flicker of a brain cell...do not  abuse them. The ones who volunteer here. are always the ones who volunteer on the   Hanger  Dec, during  Jump offs...I'm certain all of them had to may a kill from time to time...Any new folks here, you want to test me.. that's the way to do it.. you'll understand when  you wake up in med tech... Don't hurt the Larg Pup, there is not
 coming back from that, and I won't even Try to  get larry to stop the  blow back.

 as we  wait  for others..let me say, that if  Sam or   Beth see that you were not   putting out?..you'll run another lap with me... and if i beat you...you will run again.. that goes  for  anyone here..

Ensign Six  Spoke up,I want to see you make the Admiral or Captain run... new guys laughed..vets did not. Before  Admiral Hack  could  saw anything, Captain Si  stepped  forward and pointed to the wings on her chest... right above it was a cheerleader pin.

 Oilver  and  I are  Both  Pilots... This  is Shadow's  operation, if we do not perform, we will run. He will not have to force us.

Zob arrived with Shoey and the others he was decked in full kit as usual per Tunnel run instructions, "Morning" he said doing his best to be polite and giving a small smile towards Madison.

When Zob came over, Madison gave him a finger wave. "Hey there. How are you feeling today. I don't think I've even seen you for like a week."

Zob walked on over and stood next to her, "Hello Madison its good to see you, feeling a little guilty to be honest in retrospect i shouldn't of lost my composure and break the SGT's nose over there the other night on the rec dec" he pointed in the direction of Sgt Grite, "We both have been pretty busy so its to be expected, perhaps after this you would care to hang out and catch up on things?" he offered.

Madison raised her eyebrows in surprise. She wasn't expecting Zob to ask her out after having been so distant. She had already resigned herself to the idea that they would be casual like he said, but it still felt good.

"That sounds nice, Zob, thank you. I'd love to catch up. Of course, I will probably run twice like last time and be dead tired after. But at least this time I'm not going in hungover and beat up."

Zob chuckled, "That is always a plus, we can get some lunch on the rec dec and perhaps after we can go down and see Rex in the hold, i think hes grown a liking to you"

------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>> From Hanger Dec

 Meari walked in after Grite and wached him and the other new transfers for SEC. She stretched out  and got ready for the run, she had her Medium armor, her normal weapons and her 30 cal with 4 belts.

Roy arrived shortly ahead of Shoemaker and the crowd of SEC personnel, opting to stand off to one side, unobtrusively, and make mental notes of who showed, who didn't, and whose attitude was likely to need major adjustment before the end of the day.  A grin flickered across his otherwise expressionless face when Larry called the largs to order...It's getting to the point where the largs need more room to run than the pilots do... he observed silently, part of his mind mulling over just how that situation might be addressed...

Jug and the rest of the Gava entered with a couple of Felrites.  Thier appearance was a bit sweaty already.  Jug moved to Shadow and Roy "Forgive appearance please.  We were practicing combo moves and landings with Felrites help>" most knew the Gava were 'fine tuning' thier being thrown landings and flips to better thier weapon skills.
After correctly saluting them and the big brass apparent on dec they got into line up with SEC group.

Mila danced in and capered around with the largs until Larry growled. Then she sat quietly, looking around.

-------->>>>>> From Med Tech next day

 NA-CE came into the tunnels and began to stretch, and she had her full med pack with her. She looked around and smiled at the SM as she got ready for the run.

------->>>>>>>> From Hanger Dec

 Lizzy hopped and skipped into the tunnels smiling and then she began stretching. She looked like she was about to go to a party instead of at least a 3 mile run. Lizzy walked over to the new pilots, she smiled then she said seriously," Welcome to the Hermes, I will just say this I had to pod out on Roussa, what a shit hole if it wasnt for these tunnel runs I would be dead, Nikki and I had to run for our lives for extraction. This run isnt punishment IT will save your life trust me." Lizzy then smiled again and skipped to the starting area ready for the run.

    The 'young guns'  came up in a pack, laughing  and  joking  until they saw  all the brass there, they  quickly such up as the  put  the coolers they carried  down, , Sneak and  Dana   carried one up  as well,, behind them  Supe, Hodden, Minnet and Tucker   carried coolers, with   Supe and  Hoden carrying  two.

 G rite, Move  towards   Roy.. the  Iron Guard  stood  near  Roy as  well... Grite said, perhaps a bit louder then he should have..Those human Children? ;look too young to be  combat troops...

 Cross only said,..They have  had training, You and I will never have. and they are learning something everyday...

he nodded to  Roy  as Nifty  checked out the Lady pilots,  Jax  helped   Sneak set up her coolers

  as  the   Half  Mile span  at the Bow began to fill. Shadow  Announced,We have a lot of people here.. we  will run Stagger starts,,, Beth and Sam are recording you time and efforts, don't worry if some one passes y0u,  But if you're like me, you really hate when some one passes you..We're going to  let the Largs  go first... Cadet  Roll will be running with the PUP.... DON'T  hurt  the pup..  Once we start,  settle into  Groups of  30 or so... Beth  will  give the   people in front of you 1 minute head start... If you can  over take  another Group, that's great... start sorting yourselves out..

 Sam was all set up and sent signals to Beth and the LC she was ready and all her cameras were up. Sam had her vidboard with everyone's name, and it will have starting time and ending time and a place for Sam to make notes on the runners. " We are all set over here LC."

Mila stood up, wagging her tail and eager to be off.

Missy shows up with the LG 01 people, they seem to be split into two groups. They will wait for the second heat.

  Shadow  walked over to Missy, he greeted  here then turned to the people , he was trying to get a head count.

  The peole you see around you, are one of two thngs. They are  either, Vets...or fresh out of the box. They are going to one  , at least, One lap around the  ship...a total of three miles., they carry the  gear they will have in battle.. You folks   will wait until  all the  Hermes folks go, then we'll start you in your  own group.... warnig ehre... You don't make  the time, we co9nsider  acceptable, you'll run again... you want to take part? you foolw the  Rules....  at the starting Line sits the larg Unit  and  a Gog...they run as well... There is a kid in a Uniform there.. he will be runnign with the Larg pup... don't hurt the Pup, you'll get  eaten, and i won't even  try to stop it.. the  Tunnels  are  20 yards
 wide. about   18 high..if you can't  stop from stepping on a Wiener dog sized  Larg, you deserve to get eaten...

 He  Points  to  Missy...use your COM. scan thier  faces  and  let Beth  upload them in the tracking program, they get over to the starbaord  side  and  do the Same it  with  Sam.

 Moving to The Piltos , Ensign Six  was  looked at  Shadow  and he simpley said,where's your  head gear?

 Its By the Cooler..

 Its by the cooller........

  WSir..its  by the cooler , Sir...

 Put  it on, we run with what we would be running with   if we Pod out, or had to evac a  roward base...

 But..I...

 NO!..Stick it on your head, Or  I'll make your were  Nugest's head gear, it should  fit around your shoulders..

The  Apeman Laughed, the   windscreen of the  helmet was wet and dripping from his breath.

Six Put the head gear on.

 as he loked at the other recruits, he stopped at  a Male  Ensign. he pointed  at the Name.

 Spartan ? we had a  captain of  a merc Corvette  by that name  about  4 years or so ago, had a kid in his  crew and  couple  ..lets  say..pirate types... they did a  good  job seeding  Morrow buoys   and  letting Nukes lose on Hyria.. You any relation?

Spartan grins before removing his cap and showing a destinct scar above his ear.

"That was the man who gave me this scar sir. It was my brother. God rest his soul"

  Shadow's half  smile fade a bit,;rest his soul'? did he die? if so? do you know how?

 Frans Listened as well as Foster and Fitz, their flights covering  Tomas Spartan on those runs.

"Last message we got was that he got captured by rival smugglers sir. Broke my mother's heart. Ever since we have assumed he was killed, because we never heard anything again. My brother was a weird guy, but he messaged mom and dad every week... So his silence told us he either died or was... I don't know..."

Spartan tries to keep a straight face as he answers, the memories clearly painfull to him.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

  Shadow  nods a bit to him, the other pool pilots look at Stavros, like they  didn't know him before

 Shadow says, just work hard and  and  study the films of   SSN and  Angel aircraft,  the rest you should have learned  in the academy. get your  gear on...

 he moved to  the table where beth  sat, he whistle over to  Sam, then  Yell  for Larry..LARGS UP!..... GO!

 the   largs  took off  with  clatter of claws on the hard dec,   Roll had   Thor  running  about as  fast as   Thor   could  run, but..well.. it  wouldn't last, that was a fact.

 Frist group of Pilots!.......GO!

3  sets of pilots. three sets of   Troopers,  then the Brass..  The Pool Pilots  and the   new  Troopers took off together,,,, with Roy and  Shadow .   Beth   gave them  2 minutes,,and had Missy's people line  and, and they went..

With memories of his brother suddenly surging his brain Stavros haf a hard time focussing on the task at hand. Still he ran as if his life depended on it, not wanting to fail now and be relegated back to cargo freighters. This was his time to shine.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:42, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

Alongside the other pilots Nikki moved quick and quiet.  Not the speediest, but did do her best.  Like many of the long termers running she gave it her all.  She even called out a jody drill tune.

Roy gave Grite a sidelong glance.  "Remember what I said on the Hangar Deck, about serving staff from the Rec Dec having more kills?  That'd be her," he said, nodding in Sneak's direction.  "That one..." and he gestured at Nifty, taking a moment to give a minute shake of his head as the kid ogled the female pilots..."He was a sniper defending the compound of one of our dark-ops assets when I first set foot on the Hermes.  I'm not even going to try and guess how many kills he has.  And Jax has been fighting for his life since before I ever made it into space...somewhere along the line, he accrued his own gang of Stem kids and kept them more or less fed and healthy...at least, healthy by Stem standards.  One of our combat teams came across his gang pinned down by some people we were after in a firefight...the kids were making a good showing of it, considering there were only maybe four or five of 'em who had any sort of firearm, but it was obvious what would happen if our people didn't intervene."

He shrugged.  "He made a good enough impression that the sergeant leading that team offered to bring the whole gang back here.  Most of 'em were really young, got adopted by Civie families, but Jax was old enough that he wasn't really interested in becoming someone's kid to be taken care of.  We don't know for sure how old he actually is...that never got encoded on his chip, or if it did, the chip got corrupted somehow...but he was old enough that I felt comfortable offering him a spot as a Marine."  He paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"He hasn't given me any reason to regret it.  He was a better Marine, starting training, than any of these jokers that just came in, and he's got a year or so of solid experience."

He turned his head slightly in Grite's direction, without looking away from the crowd, as the pilots lined up to start running.  "I wasn't joking when I told the newbies that EVERYONE on this ship has paid their dues.  Hell, the kid running with the largs?  He's got close to ten or twelve kills...including one that was right up close and personal, saved LC Shadow from being ambushed.  Don't let yourself be fooled by the young faces and easy laughter...these kids are stone-cold killers, when they have to be.  And they've been doing it almost all their lives."
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:51, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

Stavros settles in at a steady pace, trying to stick with the other pilots. No words, he just settles at the task at hand while trying to avoid being overwhelmed by audden memories.

Mila took off at a dead run, ears and tail streaming in the wind of her passing as her paws pounded the deck plates, quieter than the largs but the click of her claws still to be heard.

 Lizzy lined up with the first group of pilots, she started off a little slow but she was pushing herself and hopefully she would get into a groove.

 NA-CE got her gear ready and then when it was her group's time she took off as fast as she could pushing herself, to run as fast and as long as possible.

 Meari lined up with Grite and the new recruits, Meari wasnt running for her she would run to push the newbies especially Grite. As she was about to start she thought she heard her comms go off but then her group was off, she ran with Grite and acted like a drill Sgt pushing the new recruits holding her 30 cal.

 Sam helped log in Missy's groups, and then when the LC said go, she began her tracking of the runners and scanning her vid boards typing like a woman possessed.

Tired from earlier workouts Jug and the Gava used the run as a bit of a cool down. Still, they kept up a strong pace.  Jugs braids flowed out from under her customary dude rag and helmet she sported.  Braids looking like a mass of living snakes, the bits of sharp metals clinking bumpily as it moved.  The other Gava falling behind her.

Missy scanned her groups. The first were a group of seven mechanics.  The work worn hands and the stained overalls a few of them wore gave them away.  But some were wearing jogging clothes.  Missy had a few firm comments about them not bringing their work gear while the pilots have to run in their flight gear.

     “Watch them boys.  This is regular training for them.  Any one who doesn’t make the grade is on back rotation and may have to stand by while others fly their ships.”

    The other group were the ten scrapper academy students.  Pretty much high school age.  There were six boys, four girls.  All but two of the boys were wearing collision armor.  Armor designed to protect against drifting junks of steel.  The thick metal bars could take huge crushing force but was worthless against armor.  Four of the boys and two of the girls had a forest green trim on their suits with numbers like sports uniforms.  Many were hitting Hermes football players up for Autographs.  While the pilots have a general air of Distainlike they didn’t want to be here, the scrappers were anxious and ready to go.

“Okay, you all signed a waiver on the Largs.  Some of you treated it like a joke.  It’s not.  Larg 101 The Largs are treated like dumb animals by the rest of the fleet but they are not.  They are sentient, they just don’t have a language that can be translated by they chips that we put in them….yet.  Do not insult a larg or anyone they care about.  Do not get physical with them or anyone they care about.  If you approach them , do so with respect and check with a handler if they have one first.  Follow these rules and not only will you be safe from them, nothing will be allowed to harm you.  That’s why they are part of this team.

 Lix, the  Skith  Ambassador    entered the tunnels  as the  groups  were starting to Run, He spotted   Beth's hair , walked over  and asked,Is this a normal training, LT  Morrow?

  Beth looked up are the  first of Missy's  team's  began to run.Yes  and No, Ambassador.   The new batches always run, so the LC and SM can see what they have to work with. Pilot s have to run, because they don't train the same  way troopers  do...the troopers  volunteer... Shadow has the pilots up here on their own from time to time...as for the largs? all you have to do is  mention 'run', and they're  ready to go.

Shadow and  roy  took off with the last ' Hermes  group' Shadow was trying to eat  up   yards..

 Captain Morris , General Bale, are  walking behind   Roll , who is  watching over the Larg Pup... if you want to walk along?

 I think i shall, thank you... the skith  jogged up to then, then settled  into a  walk, even as Dusk appeared , a bit of  dark eyes  showed  as she ran to try to catch up to the others..

  Morgan  and Andruss ran with the  trooper, they each carried  a  healf  pulse   gun, bt wore the  light armor they wore in the  cockpit.

 No use lookig for her , Lad. She knows were  running. She either wants to take part, or she doesn't. They sure as hell could sue it...

Andruss    jusr gave a firm  Nod  as they  ran with the 3nd  group of troopers.,

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

 By the time the last group of Missy's  group started, rthe LArgs were already  roundng the  starboard-stern, turn...Shadpw was working  his way through the  2nd group of  Tropers, his eyes on his pilots..



  you would have to be a fool, to think the  New folks  didn't  understand, that shadow was challenghing them  as he got off  to a decent start. but his strides became longer  and fast   as they  neared the  port stern  turn.

 Ensign Six  was already gasping  and she had  barely reached   amidships!

Kira had her shotgun and light boarding armor she was pretty fast and agile being able to cover ground fairly easily, "From this point onwards will be making these runs mandatory..."

Roy started off strong...not fast, by comparison to many of the veterans running, but with a solid pace that ate up ground quickly.  Coming up on the first turn, he got jostled into a knot of slower runners, that took him off his stride, although he recovered quickly and maneuvered around them, stretching his pace a bit to catch up.

It was on the far side of the ship, opposite the starting line, that his pace really picked up, making up for the ground he'd lost and then some and breaking away from the group he'd started with and starting to work his way through the group ahead of him...

 Lizzy seemed to hit a super high level on the second leg and was kicking ass, but she didnt know how long she could hold up but she gave it everything she had.

 On NA-CE's second lap she had problems with her med pack and had to take time to secure it and then she ran as hard as she could, to make up lost time and to always give it her all.

 Meari ran with Grite and the other new troopers, pushing them and acting like a mean, going to kill you drill Sgt carrying a 30 cal and 4 belts.

   Ensign  Six  was  getting frustrated, , by the time she  turned the  corner to head to the starboard side..WShadow was over.. Giles  half  way  down range.. being chased  by other  fast  folks, Including the Admiral and  Captain Si.

 Shade  was  moving well, strong strides, but  it was plain he wasn't  finishing in the top group

SGT  Tvin, the occui of the  fresh troops was running  hard, and  was barely  2 yards  ahead of  Shade. Tvin's look  told  anyone one watching, that the last 1mile or  so would be  really rough on him...Shade, looked   strong, if not  a bit slower then most.but his dark grey eyes  showed his intensity .

 Jax was   well ahead of the  other Young Guns, Jumping Lion  struggling to keep up Giles  was a bit  back of  them.. Nifty was  pushing, but struggling

  Lyri  slowed  down a bit  and said,Hey , Kid? you gonna let a Lady Sniper  smoke you... I told you to hit the track or the tunels on your own...

 Nifty  tries to smile.....yeah.. well... i was  always  sitting ormlying  somewhere  when i shoot...

 That's your  old  life.. this one..slow  folks get eaten.. she grinned  and  started  running hard  again,   Nifty  shifted his rifle and   tried to pour on what little he had to pour.

 Grite   was  moving well.. but he couldn't seem to  gain  much.  the other new  folks were lagging behind the troopers... the... LC   he  has  Light  armor..i have  mediujm..he  has small...SMG.. i have assualt  rifle..he would not be so  far ahead  if he had...my..weight.

 Sam was going ballistic, from screen to screen watching runners to see how hard they were pushing, she kept notes as she watched the runners. She would also look for any idiot moves or weapons about to be drawn.

Larry and Freddie  were Out in front of the  other Largs.. Homer  was trying to  catch them, the other Largs were running hard, but  seem to keep in a Pack. Gregor weaved in  and out trying  not  to get stepped on. Mila  was     a coupe  doggie lenghts  ahead of the   pack... but the  3 Males   were  charging  down the   strabiard  side  , like   green-blue  missles

  The  walking  folks  were just nearing Amidship,  while   Thor  was getting the hang of  running, rather then Loping or hoping..  Roll stood on the  inside of him, , Incase  any  runners   migh  fall over him..but?  even the slowest runners where  rounding the bed to head to the starboard side.. so  Thor seemed to be  pretty  safe

Zob was just pounding down the track like the armor weighed nothing as he passed Grite he said, "I'm wearing heavy armor and a heavy pulse gun quit making excuses and move your ass SGT" he said ass he bolted down the track catching up near Hack.

Madison headed out strong, for the first lap. She was feeling well rested and strong, easily keeping pace and staying up toward the front of the pack. She had no idea where her energy or stamina was coming from, but she was sailing through.

There was a bark of sarcastic laughter.  "Sergeant Grite...are you saying that all it takes to make a Human better than an Udenese is a few extra kilograms of mass?  Because that's sure how it sounds..."

Ah tunnel runs...she hated them yet enjoyed how it made her push herself at the same time. For a time there, Billie had thought that she would never be that great at them...even accepted that as her lot in life but instead, she found that she had a pretty good stride. Now to hope that she could continue that momentum through.

  The Iron Guar  ran hard, they were  starting to   slip ahead on g the  Middle  trooper  pack...Pilots  were  strung out  along the  way.

 Some   trying to catch  Shadow, some tying to  get there  times better, and  some hoping they won't finish last.

The new  Pilots struggled, Astra academy  had PT, but it was  rudimentary , since their whole  focus was to get  people in the air.

...........

 Larry and   there Largs were  rounding the corner by Sam, as   Shadow  broke past some of the  other  runners  and  rounded the   stern ended, he just shook his  head as he saw the last  larg  turn the corner..

.........

as the  walkers walked, Roll was a good  60 yards  ahead as he encouraged the   Larg Pup. Lix  said,

 He seems very devoted tomthe Largs, for such a young, human cub?

 Hennings  caught up to them and walked,You don't know the half of it. Stem kids , live for the pack. The worse thing to do...or  have  happen to you , is be 'serted. That means you  left one of your own to their own devices, or  you pack didn't care about you enough.  The Stem kids on board this ship.. have a strong  pack  feeling. The Hermes is their Pack, and they have smaller loyalties  whether it  be the other Stem Kids, Largs, or certain people

 Thgis is not  so, with most humans?

 Morris gave a snort,Sadly, Ambassador, there are those who think only of themselves, sometimes, that leads to lost people...we try to address that as  early as Possible.. that is why all New People  must run the tunnels the first  few times, To make sure they  see the others working, and gain a sense of Team, or even family, depending how deeply they dive into it.

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

 Missy people   shruggled ..and that is putting it  Nicley. a few of them looked 'more fit' then others  and were ahead of them , but  well behind the  'new guys'

 the other  group weren't  moving much faster  then the walkers, and barely held the lead they had for  the staggered starts. Rolland Thor were slowly passing them

 on Mechanic called out,hey kid? why bother..he's not  fighting anything soon! the other mechanics  laughed.. Thor Looked   back , as if he was sad.

 Thor  Killed a  Roussian egg plant guy on the hanger dec, when he tried to take, Can's  new mommy away.. and he was smaller  then he is now!...

  Thor seemed happy with  Roll's answer and started to bound  forward a bit faster.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:14, Fri 20 Jan 2023.

Stavros plods along as best he can, falling behind pretty quickly. Still, despite his lack of speed he doesn't slow, just keeps going at his own pace. If his older brother Tomas had taught him anything in their youth, it was to never give up. Like the fable of the hare and the tortoise, the tortoise could win races if he just kept at it.
He was sure though that Shadow would probably have him do a second lap, but if so, it would be at as steady a pace as he did the first.
What he lacked in pure speed, he made up in reslience after all.

As Missy’s group took off, the mechanics stayed together and set a conservative pace.  A good plan as they were middle aged men who were more used to cranking torque wrenches than jogging.  They weren’t doing well, but they had obviously planned to do their best thinking it would be enough to out do the “soft stick jockeys.

     The cadets varied widely.  Three despite their youth couldn’t even keep up with the old mechanics. Two weren’t even the ones weighed down by the collision armor.  One on the other hand actually ran with them. Her collision armor was heavy and new but her youth more than compensated for it.  One of the mechanics seemed to be her father.

     The other six cadets were all wearing the forest green collision armor and did much better.  They started off as a team running almost in formation eating the deck at an admirable pace.  One just couldn’t keep up though he was trying his best.  A glance between them and two of his team mates lessened their pace to stay with him while the three strongest runners surged ahead.  In time The slowest teammate urged the other two to MoveOn and represent the team. When they refused he said, “this is great on the gravity field, but in space you’re going to have to be able to leave me behind. The mission needs to be done, and the mission is to represent the team in a run with the bigwigs.”  With further convincing he got them to leave and set their own pace.  He gave it his all, and crossed  the finish line with his buddies cheering him on, some even meeting him partway along the last stretch to finish it with him...And catching him when he collapsed in exhaustion.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Fri 20 Jan 2023.

Nikki ran well.  Not outstandingly, but well.  She realized she had set a rather more 'casual' pace.  right concept, wrong tune.  When in her music she upped the beat and pace.  She knew Shadow would not settle for a jog when a dead out run was needed.
Marines, she thought, gotta luv'em.  she did one specific for them then would pick it up another notch after that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuBCzBGkmU4   (0:37 start to 4:45)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EnSqnccMyY
(tried finding this by dead peaches)

   people crossed the  lines.... Bet  had  a   Vid Board on the  wall that  showed  the  times  for the   runners..

 some of the new guys..even those  from E-1.. stumbled a bit under the weight of thier  equipment.

 some  runners  swore at 'Just missing" other   knew they would have to run again..

 Cadet Roll... get the   Largs and the Fur Larg some water, they are going again, because they want to..

 Already done  , LC!   Sneak helped  him set up a  trough , of sorts   that the   bests  gran  on the  Outboard  wall.

 Grite  stood before .LC Shadow.. I think  you have it easy to run, yes?..we  shoud  run fairly

 Shadow gave a chuckle I have you a good half mile head start\

 You carried   less  weight than many of us...

  OHHHHHHHH...  alright, who esle feels like that?

Almost all the   AI , E-1 and  the recent   folks  did.. Ensign Six  was  one of them.

  Hemsly  called out...don't bloody do it!, Its a fools  errand  and that's me sauin'!  Luke Forth from the  Iron Guard  gave him a fist  bump.

 Shadow waved to them to get a drink, alright. take off your armor,  your tunics, and  your weapons...

  He pointed  at Supe,Give  me that  60....  Supe  frowned , he took Shadow's  SMG  .

  Alright.. things have changed...all these fine  folk thinks they were over Burdened,  I guess that was the reason  they couldn't  come in under time..So?  first the largs  will take off.. Then me  and these fine folks  will take off.

 Roll said...I'm keeping   Thor out of the  run..i had to carry him, most  of the way  across the bow?

 Anyone else that wants to run for  fun, may do so..those  who came in under time, and  want to leave.. go ahead.

Aidenn, the red head from the EMS said..I'll run again...

 Morgan looked at Adruss.. they fist  Bumped and lined up again

The Young Guys  lined up, with Shade and Dusk,, Nifty made sure he was  close to Aideen..who just sorta  of gave him a look and shook her head.

 Disna   set the Largs o and Mila off   ..By the way?.... any of you who cried  about why you were so  slow?... i any one of you I pass? has to do another  lap in full gear..

 Lirg, Nugest and Frakas  lined up again, Vaka   in front of them

 Then Shadow's  rgoup  took off..when they reached  Amidships, all the  other who were  running for  fun, took off

Pointless post
This message was last edited by the player at 12:44, Fri 29 Sept 2023.

Seeing others start a second lap and noticing Kray Shadow ahead of the pack Stavros sighs. If they all do another, and with himself coming in late, one and one is clearly two. Settling in his slow rythm he trots on, set on doing another lap. Slow, yes, but even slow gets you there. Falling more and more behind he starts to list off all the fighter engine parts in his mind, a method that he knows keeps his thoughts well away from the distance he still has to go.
He'll get there, surely.

Zob didint take his armor and weapons off he kept them on for the sole purpose of proving his point, he then lined up and when the signal was given he took off like a pirloc out of hell just pounding down the tunnel with everything he had.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:35, Sat 21 Jan 2023.

Mila took a drink, then danced in a circle at the thought of another run. So much fun. When the largs were sent off, there she was, all fur and claws, hurtling along with the rest of the pack.

 Lizzy was doing awesome and had a great time going, but when she hit the last leg of the run, she got a horrible cramp in her left leg, she didnt stop she just clinched her teeth and ran through it. Her time was horrible but she made it and then tended to her cramp when she was done. Lizzy knew she would have to run again her time wasnt good.

 She watched and heard Grite the new Udenese Sgt complain about the gear Shadow was wearing compared to his. Lizzy shook her head and added," Oh boy good luck with that, you could run naked and he could be carrying 200 lbs and still beat you Sgt."

 Lizzy then lined up for her second lap and gave it everything she had left.

 NA-CE didnt bother dealing with others antics, she just ran as hard and as long as she could, she did ok, but she knew she didnt make the time cut. She knew she would ahve to dig deep and run again. She got some water and then when it was time to run again NA-CE was ready and then took off not caring about the others Shadow would deal with them she wanted to do her best.

 Meari stayed with the new recruits not worrying about time but concentrating on turning these recruits into Hermites. Meari finished and then Grite spoke up, Meari shook her head and then said to Grite," You better run with everything you have because you still wont beat him, but you better give everything you have. You will learn now run like your life depends on it."

 Meari lined up again and said," Ok Grite lets see what you really have inside you." Meari then gave everything into the run and took off not worrying about the recruits this time.

 Sam was working hard keeping track of all the runners, when the first lap was done Sam sent the runners and times of anyone she had that was less then the required time.

 Then am quickly switched over to the next lap and restarted the times as the second lap continued.

  Missy's  people were held  back  until the  groups  had  left .  Roll sat  by   Beth  with a  tired  Thor, who had his head on the boy's legs , the largs   eyes looking around.  Disna  had  rung to amidships, and was now walking back to the start.

 Puskie, had  run to Sam's side, then  jogged  about to Amidships there and waited,. The Thundering  horde  of Largs  were Just  rounding the  stern heading towards Sam with Puskie  yelling encouragement to  get them to  run that 'tiny bit' faster.

 Shadow  didn't come in at the lead, but he did  spend  some time  Backpedaling and yelling at all those who seemed to  do eyerolls, or seemed to  give stares of disapproval to those who ran  past them.

 When they  Finished,  those   who came i ahead of the others, were vets. Not  surprisingly, those who did  real  well, were those   who, voluntarily , ran  the second lap.

 The  Larg unit was slurping  up water, while  Shadow looked over the  Group as he drank a fresh  powerade . he  was sweated up   a bit, But looked rather fresh, compared to some. Handing  the weapon  back to  Supe, Supe  switched  him for the SMG.

 Grite was bend over a bit, his skin glistened  in sweat which looked like  an orb  in a nightclub as the shifting  skin tones  were  highlighted  by the sheen of sweat,

 Well... The LArgs  will do another Lap, because that's what they do. This exercise is  over,  I am pleased  to see, there were no rock Heads   who need to run a 3rd  time... we'll see how al you new folks perform, next run..

 Look around you. see  your shipmates, you all went through this, most of them have been through this more the  you know, But its  improtant  , If you are in  an aircraft and you see the  troops on the ground, they are no longer then dots  moving through the  trees, or colored markers on your screen..they are peope you ran with and work beside.   And when...

 He stopped  and titled his  Head as Captain Si giggled, and   Both  admirals smiled  others took up to giggling  and smiling as  Shadow turned to his right. Aideen stood next to him Smiling and Nodd her head,  her  red hair  plastered dwon from sweating inside of her  head gear.

 He loked at her...more laughs, she Looked at him...Keep talkin' LC,  You're  doin' great!  more laughs... as  Shadow stared at her,  her face started to get  closer to the color of her hair,she  pointed to the troops...I..Um..will just be..um..over there,,, more laughs.

 There was a sigh  as Shadow tried to regain his lecture  stance..well?...what i am trying to say, You  have seen the Brass  run with us, and Not  just a token run, but push hard.. you have seen our younger Members   push, and beat, odler  crewmates,who might have more battle experience, but....not...survival  experience.

 some folks have  duty, not everyone can be  missing from thier posts,  those who show up on down time, tell you everything you need to know, about that  person....and , there are those who try to  come up with reasons not to be here...and that will tell you everything you need to know about them

 The AI  troopers  were  still breathing hard, then had to run before   as part as SEC, or whatever new unit was trying to make a stab and being, a  part of  The Hermes assortment of weapons.

Andruss   lowered his head,  Morgan gave him a whack on the back.

 Alright, with the Admiral's Permission, I invite you all to the Rec dec, for  something to eat and drink... SEC  folks, help Sam and Beth with tables and equipment,  everyone else, grabs  coolers,   Empty the   uce    by the drains...  Admiral?

 Hack Nodded,Those of you  on duty, Take a Half  hour  on me, before you report nback,  thsoe  not on duty? well..its you time...well done...and? I hope you newer folks  learned   somethign about  hard work, and the reasoning behind it.., peopel  grabbed  coolers , dumping out the ice  near the  drains caps, largs   eagerly  licked them up crunching  them.
......................

 As people moved to the entrance , Flores yelled,You coming, LC?

 I'll be there in  a bit...  he  crouched  down  by the largs, some just sat there looking around, a few thumped  tails and got  head rubs..You guys  get one more lap, then we have to leave, maintenance  guys wil be up soon.

 Thor  left out a tiny  howl

 he wants to run  , Mr LC? but he won't make the whole Lap.

 Shadow  chucled  and Handed  Roll his  SMG,well, he can still run with us...right...

 Pickign up the littler Larg,  the  LUck got thor  to hook his  claws into  his back pack...Ok Thor..we  run, and when we reach the starboard side  where  Sam normal set up? you have to run on your own... Lets go Largs!

 Tess  Gave  Shadow a Nudge, thumping her  tail and the   beasties  were off,  a Happy, and a bit Heavy   Larg Pup  looking around  as he was  jostled on Shadow's   back, The LC's hands  half  Thor's  front  claws..  Roll was grinning as he ran beside them.. Gregor  tried to  stay with them, by the lure of  running with the pack was too much and he  took off  down the   tunnel  to catch the pack


 The Admirals, Captain Si, Morris  and Bale stood with Beth as they watched  the  Largs go with a bouncing   Pup on Shadow's  back.

 Hack just smiled .

Zob felt pretty good about the results of this run he proved his point and made Grite look like an idiot, as he walked past Shadow he gave him a fist bump as well as Shade and Aideen before making his way over to Madison, "Shall we get something to eat?" He asked her hoping she wasent to winded from today's exercise.

After the first run Missy addressed her mechanics.  “Okay, judging by your performance I can assume that you no longer see the pilots as “soft”.  If you’re still feeling that way you’re free to run a second time, and then scrimmage against them on the football field.”   None of the mechanics seemed interested in this prospect.  “Good, No, I’m not saying that you’re incorrect with some of the other ships in the fleet. You saw how the new recruits did. Hermes however is the spirit tip of the fleet. Her people give their best. Therefore they deserve the best. It is my intention to Provide them with that every chance I can get. That’s why I hired you, if you’re not up to the task I do not need you. If you are then you will make a name for yourself here that will follow you for the rest of your days. There’s a shuttle waiting to take you back to the LG01.  Be on it, you have yet to earn the right to walk on the Hermes.”

   She turns to the recruits who did poorly.  “ We refer to the LG 01 high school as the Academy. We try and turn out good mechanics and good warriors by training early and offering experiences our youth won’t get elsewhere.  You just made our program look like a glorified high school with delusions of grandeur. All of the cadets here today are training for the pilot program, a program we’re trying to expand and get accredited. You just hurt us. I should talk to your instructors about making you do more of your work in the aerotrim, to the shuttle with you.

    She turns to the girl who ran with her father.  “ You could have done better, much better, however you came here wearing the collision armor of your new friends, take time to run with your family, and support of them. I pride myself on making my people my family. Your virtues in this area speak much. I know you haven’t been here long but keep working at it.  You have built a good foundation. Please go take care of your father. He’s a good man, I just needed to make sure his head was in the right place.”

Missy moves on to the team member who slowed the others down.  “Cadet, how long have you been with the team.”

“Three weeks ma’am.  I still get Queasy on the gravity field but I haven’t thrown Up in the air we are weak. I’m also landing my turn arounds pretty regularly now.”

    “He May not be the best we’ve got but he’s been working really hard ma’am.  He earned the right to be here.”


   Missy Looked at the interrupting Player moment, Then back at the first Cadet. “You’re part of the team, yet your words on the run tell me you’re more focused on being a pilot. Why are you spending time on the team?”

The Cadet seemed to be getting a little nervous from the constant questions.  “Um, it was something Instructor Teela said.  If you fly alone you have to keep looking over your shoulder.  It’s hard to rack up kills and you might be the one killed.  As a team you set up kills for each other and not only do you win, you also have the added reputation of coming from a unit that wins.  That’s also making space safer and protecting more people you might care about.   The team Also trains me forgo wrenching directional changes that I will find in the cockpit, but not in the simulator.”

   “And how are you at the simulator?”

  “I’m getting better.  I enjoy the classes on alien tactics.  It’s fun to see what I can use and what weaknesses I can take advantage of.  I even came up with a countermeasure for the shadow screw…well it works on my classmates at least.”

    Missy raises her hand.  “ Don’t talk to a porcine about the tactics, we suck at them.”

    She looks at the rest of the team, if you’re up to it you have earned a second run. Including you“ she looks sad the slow Cadet. “If they offer for you to stay and spend time with him on the rec deck, you’re free to accept. I will send the show for you later. Perhaps they’ll even let you try some of the Sims.” She looks again at the slow cadet.

    “Like the rest of the mechanics running isn’t my thing. But I would be honored to attend this last laugh with you guys. After all, a supervisor should never be unwilling to do what she asks or people to do.”

    The team agrees, and they run.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:48, Sat 21 Jan 2023.

During the first lap, Madison thought she was doing so well. She got through the first leg ahead of most of the pack, but the exertion caught up with her about three quarters of the way through the second. By the time she entered the second mile long stretch, her legs felt so heavy that the toes of her boots dragged the ground, causing her to trip and fall right as she reached the turn for the last half mile. At first she thought she twisted her ankle. As everyone passed her in the turn, she had to loosen her boots to check, but everything ended up looking okay. Instead of calling for a med unit, she just pulled the laces even tighter to give more support, then ran as hard as she could in the last stretch. With the extra effort, she managed to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

But after all that, she still didn't make time. So when the second run queued up, she put herself right there and went with everyone else. This time, she was less ambitious, just keeping with the main body of runners.

-----

Finishing the second lap like she started, Madison walked around to cool down until finally stopping near a bulkhead to lean again. She was exhausted, but not as wiped out as she could have been. Her ankle was fine too, but just breathing still seemed the wisest activity.

As Madison slowly came down, she noticed Zob coming her way. At first she didn't think much about it. She noticed whenever he was around, but he didn't always notice her. He had made it clear that he wanted their relationship to be casual, and - mentally speaking -she was at peace with that. But she still felt a spike of excitement when he came up and asked her to hang out.

"Um, sure." She thought if she was hungry, but decided it didn't matter. "I think I 'm feeling okay. I might have messed up my ankle, but it feels okay now. I guess I'll find out when I get this boot off. Are we going to the Rec Dec?"

 Lizzy started off slow still recovering from her cramp but once she got into a grove she ran a very good, hard second run to show she would always give everything she had during tunnel runs because she knows it saves lives, like her own.

 Once she finished the second lap, she cooled down and sent a comm text to Izzy," Izzy my love, just got done with the run, I am going to change and shower, where are you ?"

----->>>>> To Officer Quarters.

  This time Meari wasnt playing around this time, she smiled at Grite and said," Now see if you can beat me Grite."

 Meari started a little slow for her but better than Grite, she then pushed herself carrying her gear and 30. cal. She did a great run and handedly beat all the newbies.

 When she was done, she waited for Grite to finish and just shook her head.

 NA-CE pushed herself for the second like she has never pushed herself before, she dug deep and performed better, but she needed to work on her physical skills as well as her medic skills.

 NA-CE finished she was glad she did better but she was going to work hard to get even better. She got some water and then cooled off before she would head for her quarters to change and shower.

----->>>>>> To Non-Com Quarters.

 When the second lap was done Sam packed up her gear and got a few people to carry it back, Sam grabbed her pulse rifle and a med kit and got onto the line.

 Sam set up her comms to monitor her and time her run. Sam then started but she wasnt use to this and started off pretty slow but then her strong will and determination and then started to kick ass and Sam just went as fast as she could for as long as she could. She slowed down but for someone who looks like her she had a very good time.

 When Sam finished she got a water and then smiled at the LC and gave Larry a big head rub. She then went back to work helping to secure all the equipment.

"I'll run as I am.  gear or not when you crash or pod out...you got what you got" she lined up to run then took off with them when time came.

Missy made a fair accounting of herself but soon had to drop out pretty quickly and continues at her own pace.

The team still did well but we’re a bit slower this time.

The young lady who was running with the slower team mate takes time to run near Shadow.  She seems to be starry eyed about the Largs, but only the added weight of the pup allows her to keep up with him.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Sun 22 Jan 2023.

  The Largs  were long Gone, Save for the  Pup on  SHadow's  back. Shadow  wasn't  going to catch largs, and he wasn't going to catch them with a 100 lb larg on his back

 The brass    waited  , perhaps to see  if Shadow  could  do the whole lap  with   Thor on his   back,

 perhaps it was just to see  who left , the fastest, and who stayed  around Aideen decided  to run  again, , Flores  saw that, and decided to run as well.

 Beth shook her head at that, and  just left with a  satchel of Vid Boards.

  Puskie watched the LArgs  , Disna  was  by the troughs. for the LArgs to get water  when they were Finished .

 Largs    bounded  across the finish line  and went  to the  trough, some of the smarter  Largs went to the piles  of melting  ice   and licked them up as well.

 It would be a good   6 Minutes   before Shadow  rounded the   starboard  side, there  he Put  Thor  on the Ground and   a  tired Roll chased  after him. Then Shadow     ran   along with them.

 Flores  and  Aideen  came around the   corner, Looking more , looking  more like Roller Ball then running a lap.

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 287):

Zob nodded, "Will hit the rec dec first and get some lunch, afterwards if your ankle is up to it will pay a visit down to see Rex" when she was ready he would walk with her to the rec dec.

-----> To Rec Dec

Jug and the other Gava after working out, then running took the water offered to the runners with gratitude.  hearing some could go Jug offered that option to her squad mates.  She was staying and running.  They followed Jug whothen smiled a bit.  her heart felt the honor they chose to follow her.  They then ran the extra laps as others did.

Roy didn't run the second lap, opting instead to watch the newcomers running via the monitoring gear that was set up.  After the lap was finished, with Shadow once again coming in well ahead of any of his detractors, Roy stepped up to where they were all gasping for air and had sweat rolling off their bodies like they'd been in a shower.

"Like I said...nobody here cares how good you were, wherever you were before.  You're starting from the bottom and working your way up.  The fact that you all made it around a second time?  That speaks well in your favor."  He waved for them to head for the Rec Dec, while he turned to help Beth get her gear packed up and ready to move, easily moving around with the encumbrance of the boarding armor he still had on.  He merely chuckled as the largs took off for a third lap, with Shadow following them with Thor clutching to the backpack Shadow was wearing.  "He's not going to be able to keep doing that for too much longer...no idea how fast largs grow, but Thor's going to be too big to carry before we know it."

Madison nodded. "That sounds like a good plan." She picked up her pack and rifle. "Lead on, big guy."

To Rec Dec

In reply to Lizzy O'conner (msg # 288):

Message for Lizzy O’Conner: “Hey babe hope it went well, I’m currently on the Rec Dec working, see you soon XOX”

Stavros just plods on, his mind listing all the parts of a jet engine while he works his way through his second lap. Soon he doesn't see anyone around him anymore, fearing he is going to finish dead last, but still very much intent on not slowing to a walk.
Involuntarily his mind drifts to Shadow's words...
Tomas Spartan, is he related?
They knew his brother. Could it be that he is still alive? But then why had he not contacted the family for four years? So many questions...

Mila ran with the largs, then crunched some ice cubes until Shadow and Thor came into sight. She then ran back to join them, wagging her tail, and acconpanied Thor to the finish line.

When Shadow finishes the Cadet watches the pup and asks if she can pet it if the opportunity presents itself.

Devros isn’t dead last.  He finds himself Paced by That head mechanic lady from the LG01 forge ship.  She’s not doing so hot herself but she encourages him. “Come on, you’ve got this big guy.  Let’s push it a little harder and see if we can shave a couple of seconds.”  Her words could just as easily been for herself, but it did seem a little easier to be running with someone.

     Shadow   Motioned to Roll...You have to  ask the Larg Master? I just  carried Thor  to  let him get into the tuneels the  second time.

 Roll nodded,You can  pet him, they like their  Noggin rubbed...

 Thor   looked   around  a happy Larg smile

 Disna and Puskie  Got the largs   Movin down the ladder..the  most unfavorite part for  any of the largs.

 waving sneak off from the last Cooler, Shadow grabbed it,.. Rec dec time, their Larg Master.... Missy? if you're not  in a hurry,  ypour people can take part as well, they ran, its your  Call.

 Rolled nodded  ,already done , L C, ..as soon as she is  done petting  ,me and Thor  will be there.

>>>>>>>>>>>> Rec Dec..or where ever  folks went.

 Sam helped Beth pack up after her run, she helped as much as possible and then headed for her quarters to change and shower.

----->>>>>>> To Officer Quarters.

The cadet nodded and thanked Rolls after a brief pet, “I will not hold this fellow from his after run snack.”

Missy thanks Shadow for his hospitality and follows the other runners to the reck deck.

Nikki stopped running when the others did.  She held hands on her knees and leaned on the tunnel wall to catch her breath.  as everyone was breaking up she would go get a quick shower and ready her gear.  She knew Haley would beon the RecDec or with Doc Christie, so she did not worry much.


===>Officers quarters

After completing his second lap Stavros goes to gather his belongings and decides to go and try to figure out his assignment and living quarters. Figuring he will probably need a commanding officer to help him with that, the first step is the hangar deck.

--->Hangar deck.

sore, sweaty, and hungry, Jug had the gava file out when their run was done.  They would go shower and change then go eat on the RECDEC.

===> non com quarters

——> Hangar Dec

Tarja would lead the team through the ship to the tunnels access hatch where once inside she would immediately begin to run, setting a quick but manageable pace to get them warmed up and comfortable with the suits, making a single lap of tunnels before coming to a stop once again close to where they had started.

”Hipper, Conrad go and set up two sets of targets at three different range bands then come back” she instructed having picked the two of them at random. As the two of them set off at a jog with the same targets that she and Meari had used previously ”listen up! Those who picked napalm step to side, you are going second…the rest of you will step up to firing position marked on HUD two at a time and will have two minutes to hit as many targets on your side as possible…once everyone has had turn person with lowest score will do a lap…any questions?” Tarja said as a pair green markers would appear on the map on everyones HUD.

She would give everyone chance to speak up and more importantly for Hipper and Conrad to finish setting up the course before continuing ”Meari! Belle! You’re up first” she said with the two of them having chosen the gatling lasers. Waiting until they were both into position Tarja would call for them to open fire.