Shadow  heard  Ranata.. as he  and Kat were reaching the   remaining Hermes  fighters.

  In  ALL COMs  he said...LC  to  Beach ehad... any fighters   ready to take off... Look for Pilot  beracon the  the  South and west of the  ridge... we have a kitten on the run down there...pick him up,,,, watch for patrols...

  Cross's shuttle    left     and  settled down over the    wall   , about 200  yards  from the   wall.

    the troops    disembarked  again to wait  for the shelling to start...and  end...

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

  Lyri  Shouted into the ALL COMs...Everyone , back  , we got to get out of the city... MOVE IT!

 Nifty said... I got  16...

 Keep trying kid....    the two snipers   provided over watch   as they waited for the   tin cans  to  return.

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

 Shade  was  whirling and Grinding  like a shredder  machine   The  Pick was   covered with  red blood that at  bits of pur0le  in it.    he  let Henry pick him up   as they headed back to the Shuttle...

 Maria, Fired her   Carbine  with one  hand  while Helping   Maygin get up...come  Muchacha ... Shade  will not be happy if  we left you behind

 Will and Cora    moved     behind   Henry as the  fired   at the stream of Humans  boiling up from the Hole in the street... it  was butchers  work. Mindless  zealots  with no armor  and only tools  for weapons... but there were alot of them.

 Vaka      walked   right next to  henry  firing  down range...

 Frakas  made sure  the   angel woman and child  made it to the shuttle

  Lirg  was kneeling on the top of the shuttle   picking off some who decided to  come down the shuttle's  street.

 Stoly had the shuttle  fired  up.,,he sent   37 MM rounds   down the street, just to  remind  the enemy , it might not be wise to  come down that way.

 Hemsly and    Brooks  came   at the     holed from   there  east and west... holding up hands  for the fire  to  stop,,,  the  two    ran passed  , dropping    satchels  into the    hole   as the  fired  at the    closest   humans  with sidearms...  they  Kept  running   to their opposite  side  yelling...FIRE IN THE BLEEDIN' HOLE

       they sprinted  to the others    as the Hermites   fired   at those  who  poured out in front of the    demotechs  as they  ran by.

 There was a  roar  as the street lifted   High into the air... and Fire  belched    into the fare.. dozens of   Humans , on fire  , flew into the air.. they screamed on the way  up....on the what down.. and  even as their bodies broke  on the debris.. two other guts  ,  shot up in the  arm  100  and 200 yards away   from    drop.......

  Supe looked  around....we should get get out  before those  shells  start coming!

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

 Frans  said  into All COMs,Did Shade Make it!...and  Maygin?

 we'll hear soon enough... Fucking   AI ... they could have  reached   Liste... fucking   Jumping  around   and all that  weapons..were the fuck where they!... we would have been better   off having the stem  kids   save her, at least they would  have  tried...

 Shadow... ease up...

 Tell it to Liste...

 Meari pulled her team back to the shuttle asap, using their jump jets to get there fast.

 Once her team was back she said," B Squad AI back in shuttle ready to go." Meari would check the others for wounds or hits and they would wait.

 NA-CE smiled at Frakas and as soon as Shade and Maygin where clear she went over to check them out going to the one with he more serious injuries first. " Ok lets see how bad you two are shall we."

Tarja would curse and swear at being ordered to withdraw when they should be advancing before waving for the team to fall back. They would reach the shuttles in a few minutes and mount up ready to go where they were needed.

Mila was uyapping defiance but following Her Human as he hustled back to the shuttle with Shade.

Roy could hear the conversation over the all-COM channel..."The AI were exactly where I told them to go, Shadow.  Larry and Freddy were faster than the AI would ever be, and THEY weren't fast enough.  You wanna be pissed at someone, blame me, hot-shot...I'm the one who came in with only one shuttle of troops."  The testy edge in his voice might not have had anything to do with Shadow's criticism of the rescue efforts, but there was no way to tell, other than the troopers that had been around him would have noticed that his face hadn't changed expression much since he heard that Liste hadn't made it.

 The shuttles touched  down  outside the  wall.  If  Shadow heard, he didn't answer.  Lyri  and   Cross   ran over to  Roy's  shuttle. Cross asked..   we going back in after the shelling...right?

 Lyri was  More  about Shadoe, and then turned her   attention to Maygin. asking  NA-CE...It looks like they need to  get the beach head?  or   Med tech On the Hermes?  watch's  your call.

 Larry and  Fredie  were anxious , they  looked around, Looking at Shade, and looked around some more.
.................

 After Shadow's COM to see who was going after Ranata..  he added...Everyone  who did  fill up... go back and get food water and  Ammo.. I want you all back in the sky when the  shelling stops... I'll be here...

....

 Then the  Panzers  opened  up. Thier  88s sending  round chugging through the  air   until that sound  ended with an explosion.. every third  round was Thermite


  Hach    had the  visor of his head gear up, as he watched, in vain to see if he could see a shell...Going to be a hot  town in the old  town tonight

 Dashing into the closest building, as shells started falling, he glanced about looking for a spot that would provide protection from shrapnel.

Roy bit back an irritated response, knowing it was just frustration.  All things considered, they'd been incredibly lucky, so far, and losses for the infantry had been lighter than could reasonably be expected, and had been lucky for a long, long time.  But the pendulum swings both directions, and it was bound to happen at some point that they'd lose people they went out after, and take some serious casualties.

"They're done for today.  Let's get them back to the beachhead, and if there's a med-evac heading for the Hermes, they should be aboard it."  He looked at Shade, expecting a disagreeable reaction, and his tone hardened into that non-negotiable range as he added, "I'd rather lose them now for a day or two than push my luck...or theirs...and lose them for an extended period."

He looked over at Cross.  "Ask the boss."  He jerked his head in Hack's direction.  "I'm sure SOMEONE is going in, because you can't claim you've conquered a place until you've got uncontested boots on the ground, and I'm pretty sure the capitol is the last place Hack would leave with any remotely plausible claim to be contested territory.  But whether it will be us or a few sticks of drop-ship troopers is another question, altogether."

”I want status reports for suits and ammunition now!” Tarja barked as she strode down the ramp with the dark look in her eyes making it clear that she was less than happy about the entire situation. Upon seeing Roy she would pause for a moment clearly wanting to say something before continuing on, though whether this was down to deciding that she needed to calm down first or the simple self-preservation of an experienced soldier knowing that it wasn’t wise to vent to a superior was unclear, with her instead opting to find somewhere for her people to safely regroup before they were called back out again.

Henry put Shade down.

"Not sure if you need a medic or a mechanic, but we'll get you sorted out, don't fret."

He went to make a fuss of Larry and Freddie, telling them how well they had done.

 NA-CE treated the both of them as quickly as she could, " We need to get them to the beachhead, from there we will see, but they should be ok if we get to the beachhead soon."

 NA-CE worked on Maygin and Shade to get them as good as she could by the time they get to the beachhead.

 Lizzy had eaten had some water took a potty break and headed back to her fighter, to see if she could help out fix it or just load belts. Once her fighter was all set she got in and hit her comms," LC I am ready to head up want some company Sir. Is there still a missing pilot can I help?"

   ALL COMs ...O'Connor... we have the Cat  down..he's on the  run, look for his green dot.. get some one  to cover you. I'm on overwatch  until the  shuttles  get to the beach head

  When beach head he saw  the three  shuttles headed to  the Beachhead. He  and  cat Followed

 Lizzy lifted off and replied," Already done Sir." Lizzy then flew up and comm'd Nikki," You ready to cover me Fury I am going to get the Cat pilot."

 Lizzy then followed his green dot and headed for the down pilot, she sent a comm," Pilot this is Lizzy I am coming for you there is a clearing about a mile from you, I will pick you up there ok."

The shuttles  Landed,   Shadow and  Kat  Just after them. all  around the city of Jerl. panzer  88's sent   rounds  chugging  across the  sky.  a good sound to hear, if they are on your  side.

  Shadow    ran  towards the Shuttles, Kat after him  as well as  several Pilots who saw him run.

    Henry and NA-CE  fussed  over  Shade   and Maygin.. Maygin explained to them  as they got on a hover cart..Verians  are More  Metal then flesh. silicon based for the most  part, but  we do have...what some  would call.. 'human' Bio strands  that  keep us alive.. as a person, and not a device.... Shade is  More human then  metal, mostly because   of both his Udenese  back round  fused  with Human DNA . His   skin is   stronger  then humans, but more supple  that Verians.

 we all have  Bio-stands that serve as  tendons  and the  like. our  organs  aren't much different. but they are more protected.

   Shadow looked over the  scene  and listened. Maria  was   distraught, as she hovered  near, Noth Maygin an  Shade...he heard laughter in the med tent,  and  could see the Med tech  he bitched out before 'holding court' with some  Female med etch...and began to stride towards  them... frans  and Flores      tried to intercept  Him...what the  fuck are you doing!...

 the Med tech  stood up, embarrassed as some of the   ladies  backed off, others  giggled.I'll Have You  Know, LC..I am a Captain....

 you are less then Larg shit!...you'r  a captain because you're a  Civi...all of you  Patch  people up! that's Your  godsbedamned  job!

 You can't  Give orders here... the man was desperately trying to save  face ion front of those  he  figured he could share his bed  with.

  The a Soft Voice, with a very hard   edge  said......I can..... a  Tall woman, Black hair lime green eyes  that spoke of some Angel  backround, with her  8  Med techs   with  uniforms  from the Med  Tech  vessel  stood.. I am Major  TA-LI...of the ESN  Cardinal..what is your  name...Captain?

 He looked  shocked standing between   Shadow and  the major.Captain Cliss, Ma'am.. I am a..

 I know  excatly, what y9ou are  Captain... You are to  be  moved... to the   City  of  Grinne  it is  100  miles to the  west of here... The units of the ESN  that are there, are  Ape folks, Humans  and Naragrans. It would be to your....betterment. That you ar not  as sloppy there, as here. The Apefolk  are in charge of that  siege, they have little in the way  of  following 'chain of Commnad".. so... we only get caustically lists... never   lists for those   underperforming in the  face  of battle..Good  Luck to You..

4 guardians escorted the Captain to a waiting shuttle, She turned her  head to Shadow. Captain Si was....unhappy with the treatment you recived. and there seemed to be a lot  of dead, ..after..reaching the beachhead. She sked me , through channeles  of  course. to have a Look... Might i have a Look at you wound...?

 he looked  at the  Melted   hole in his chest plate,Maybe Later,,we have   other  wounded  we need to get to  The Hermes...

  The Captain Nodded.They can go up in my BU... send  anyothers....

 frans  piped up...Liste!

 I have a Pilot that died  as  well.a'am..its not often we  recover the body of a pilot. I would like to see that she makes it to the Hermes.

 Of course.. get  them and anyone else who need to go up to the BU  now...LC?  when the Sun goes  down..I want to check that wound...

 with a Lazy Salutealready  done, ma'am....  Shadow     give   Shade a  Hug,,  an  maygin a  Pat on the leg..COM me or  have Stefi COM me..

   as they  left  Larry  came up to Shadow  and Thumped his  tail...Freddie was there, his head  low.hey guys... good  job out there....you can eat them all,,, You'll get more..soon..

 The major  split the  giggle girls   up as she  and her teams   took over shouting orders and suddenly the   Med tech tent was a machine, instead of a tent.

 Shadow   moved out of the tent   to let folks work and headed to the Mess  area to get a drink.

 NA-CE helped Maygin and Shade into the Med Tech tent," We will do our best, and thank you for the information."


 NA-CE listened as the Captain was dismissed, she went up to the Major," Ma'am I have Maygin and Shade here their physiology is much different do we have anyone who is an expert in Verian or Udenese anatomy and physiology? " NA-CE would get them both settled and ready to be worked on.

 Meari got a report from her team and reported it to Tarja. They made their way out of the shuttle, Meari and Tarja found a place for the A to set up at the beachhead and tried to relax for a bit.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:36, Sun 11 June 2023.

m The  Major Looked at   NA-CE.There is  only one Verian Vessel in the  Fleet  right now,, Not  counting the  drop ships. Lt Simmons   has   done work  On  both Shadows, I am confident in her skills.

"Still here.  have pilots signal but no visual in ground clutter" she kept looking but not circling to give him away.  "there hostiles approaching the area" she prepared to scrafe them.

In reply to Lizzy O'conner (msg # 1006):

Ra'Na'Ta' heard the news and the location. He dropped down on all fours to cover the ground faster. "This one hearrrs and This one is heading towarrrds it now, Lizzy." He kept moving as fast as he could.

"Dammit!" On hearing that Ra'Na'Ta' was s hot down again, Madison wheeled  back in the direction of his last known  location. "Ra'N'Ta', I'm coming back. You better be alive or I'll kill you." His fighter was off scope but his green beacon showed. He announced his position a moment later, Madison came under heavy fire. "Sorry partner, I'm blocked by enemy fire. Lizzy will have to get you."

 Lizzy came flying in, like a madwoman, she said over coms," No problem Madison I got him and will get him safe and back up in no time." Lizzy came in and slowed down and came hovering into the clearing, she landed fast, and opened her cockpit," Get into the jump set I can go faster than you on the skids, get in and hang on." If Lizzy sees any bad Angels she will take them out with her heavy pulse.

  Lizzy can see   scatter   angels shooting at her,  pulse  rifles  flashing and   splatting her   aircraft.

 she  all sees. Yenti   charging up  from a bit  further  west and are  engaging some of the  Angel regulars.