(( continue... Invasion of Paradise ))

 Sam moaned in pain as the Tech worked on her, her head was spinning and she said," Hi I am Sam and all three hurt like hell."

 Then they got Sam onto the hover cart and she waited to see what they would do next.

  They  quickly   moved off to Med tech  with Sam.........

   The other Med tech  treated beth as   he was able  then  flef  her  with one  arm pasted  and  wrapped. They haven't heard the last from me.. they frizzled   the hair   at the back of  my helmet...

 Orria  Giggled  as  she    reconnected   the  new screens  and  started to fire   them up  two angels  were alive   that surrendered..  Hack greeted them, they looked  confused...

 somethig  wrong, LT?

 You...you  are short...

 hennigns   and Morris    chuckled at that.. Hack smiled..I'm  6' 1".. that isn't a bad  height  for a Human...of course? no height is  bad.. My LC is   5-10 5-11..and he's kikced  more people then you might have seen, in you , lon..long life.

 Now?  before the next  group of your foolish friends  come to visit...where did you get the Plasma  to  fill that  shutle  with..and?  we have  heard there were a few more?

 The  Ensign  looked at the LT  , they both looked to hHck.

 I'll make this easy?... If  we  win? it won't matter  one damn what you told me, Unless you lied, then i'll feed you to our largs...

 Gregor  popped up and thumped his tail the angels snickered..Hack knocked on the smaller , helmeted head.  Leo  came up, at least three times   Gregor's  size....We have a  whole unit  of these hard core tropers.. and the  Alpha is begger then this one..he's eatig peole on your flag ship, right now..as are a half dozen other  largs.

 now? if  we lose..it won't matter what you told  me anyway..right?.. But for me, I want to know where the plasma  came from, since its  supposed to be the only damn thing, in this  whole war, that  no one is supposed to use... now? Skyth and Qarl have  Plasma. and demons have been know to have it...how the  the Angels get it..

 the  angels looked   stern for a Moment , until Leo opened his  mouth to show the   three  rows   of  needle and saw edged  teeth.

 The LT  said...The Qarl made  a deal with the most high. The  set up a plant  in the north Pole, we can manufactures close to 100  tons of  weapons grade  plasma a day...

 Morris  , whose  voice  was a bit   cold,what did the Qarl get out of it....

  Paradise  would  not  step in to aid the Skyth, nor would we aid  the APF  when there were Qarl interests..

 Rivets..get to   ground crew to  take the shuttles   to the  spin and lock them down,  we';; check them out later..right now  we need to   clear  the  deck  secure  these  two
 by the scaffold.. if they become, less they  quiet.. that is what will happen... he pointed  to  Homer, as   Roll took of  the   beasts  head   gear and  the larg took larg bites out of an angel, while dropping bits of  armor   to the  dec...

 Cash slashers  were  scanning wrists of  dead enemies  and tossing them out the air lock..

 The Angels  went away  with Man  and two rookies  to get   zip tied and chained

  Machines  came in...  he was sent to the back to make sure the dec was cleared, and   crews doubled up to get his  aircraft  ready.

  Hack and Hennings  climbed the  Scaffold  and looked at the   'big screen'..

 what do you make of this... i mean? they can be  regrouping..but , to what end,?

 Beth , send   that Pic  to Lilly, ask her if she can get a count....

 already one , sir.

 There is only one , logical place for them to go? and That's the Sol system. if they go to   The  Demon's  system, they  might  as  well put on chains...  The Skyth  now have two planets, and you can damn well bet that the  Angels there are getting treated  worse, then if the demons had them... we'll hve to  watch them.. they can get refills  for thier fighters
 from  the  homeworld, we can only get  what  the forge  ships  can  fix.

 Captain Morris  says from below,<Brown>They may be massing what they have left, to hit   us while  we  shell the planet,  then  try to engage   as we send  troops to the surface</Brown

  Hack frowned..we'll see  if they have a cchange of heart as we  sent thier offciers  back to them.

 Hennings  chuckled.

Izzy would pause to examine Beth’s hair before returning to job of reconnecting and monitoring the comms for the assault teams ”tell me about it, though yours doesn’t look too bad, trim the ends and get a few of the colours redone and you’re good to go, I had to get a whole new style…and I lost half an eyebrow, though thankfully it grew back” Izzy spoke with a near manic level of cheerfulness with her clearly trying to hide how worried about Sam she was.

After getting the comms systems running after the damage it had sustained during the fire fight, Izzy would check in with the three assault teams before speaking again ”It sounds like the bridge and engine room have been secured, with most of the Angels having surrendered…but the mid ship team is still encountering resistance”

Mila trotted at Her Human's heels as he roamed around checking on all the largs, checking them over after the last flurry of combat and encouraging them to maintain vigilance.

 (( after  the  order was givien.  ))

 Raven's   patched flight entered. there were  not as many as  had left.... The Felrites  began to land.

   Captain Morris  had one of the  troopers  hold    his   Binders, as he tok the   Disc  from the pilots, and gave them  new ones  to  place in their machines.   Raven  headed for the  Drink table to get a cold  drink hs elooked at Dana , shaking her head. This  wasn't   easy.. who knows  how  many more  times  we'll have to do this

a  Voice  came  down from the  Scaffolding...At least  one  more  time , LT  Raven... when we invade the surface, parts of  our fleet  will  seek to  eliminate the rest of the Angel Fleet. The Skyth  who have Joined the fleet will be  hitting the surface with the rest of us. to add some fear and hopelessness  to our attack..

  Raven looked  up as she finished her   drink and picked up another...we have to take a look at the Pilots  we lost.... we are going to be a bit thin...

 we have some  more  fledglings  coming over  thr  Emmie's transports, Most are from Fuji, the rest  are from Astra..

 Green kids...going to fight in Atmo, against one of the oldest races  in The Black.

 It will be   rough, and that's  not  just talk...  I had  considered  consolidating flights, but we need Numbers. so... they kids get to earn combat pay a little sooner then they thought

 Raven  took her  drink and walked  away...I hate this  war....

 Hack said  softly,Not  as Much as  I

 Ensign  Six  came over  to get a drink...congrates, this was your second  Jump off? You made the   '2 jump off' mark.  Dana  said

  Six  nodded slowly..  as she held herself  as though  she was  cold..we...we ..lost   so many......

 Dana  gives her a hot  coffee, and  rubs her  back,Maybe  now..you'll understand the LC a bit more. trying to  keep you  people  alive,  until  all the  experiences , seep  in..

C Flight landed Justin bringing his kite in last; after taxing to the assigned bay ahe chambered out. Handing his guncam disk to a trooper and replacing it with a cleaned one. Heading to the table Justin grabbed some sandwiches and a brew.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Thu 06 Apr 2023.

  Fran's  flight stayed on station  and   Foster's  flight and Fitz's flight  returned with the shuttles and the Morningstar.

    Lyri's shuttle  landed   first. pulling all the way up to the edge of the  taped  walk way.  for them to Unload the wounded.

   several    med techs  with Hover carts  stood   ready,  two guardians faced the  static  field as  if they expected  enemies.

 Paskins  was placed on the , Eric ,a LT Med tech who was, more or less, Stefi's 2nd in command,  called out   as Andruss  laid Paskins on the hover Cart...we need some one  to open this  sardine  can so we can work on him..follow us to  med tech!

   Hipper's  suit  was opened ,  and he was placed on a  cart., one  Med tech entered the shuttle  to  back the bodies , to be added to the pile.

a few others  were walking wounded  and they followed the hover  carts. The carts that weren't sued,  got ready as LT Corr's  shuttle laned  and they began to sort out  Dead   and wounded.

 The Admiral's  and Captain Morris  checked out the  troops coming off the  shuttles , offering encouragement  to the wounded. and taking note of those  who did not make it.

The Young Guns  came out of the  shuttle loaded  down with Angel steel weapons as they  carried them to  the QM  for processing, each of them now, sported  a  brand  new weapons belt that had  angel steel sidearms, no one seemed to mind.

---->>>>> From Med Tech

 Sam limped onto the Hanger Dec, her chest was bandaged, her arm in a sling, she limped up to the Warroom and then said to Beth and everyone else in the area," Hello I made it through, but I will be in my quarters tomorrow hopefully I can rejoin everyone then after I get checked out by Stefi. Just wanted to let you all know I was ok and will be fine, just sore as hell."

  beth  sat down   on her  chair  and Looked  down the steps to  Samwell... i don't know what's going to happen, we  got , at  least. 4/5s  of the enemy  Fleet out there.. But   The Admiral wants to bring the pain to the Angels  before   they whittle us  down too much.</Pink

she shrugs ( and winces).<Pink>Going to be   'all hands  on dec' next jump off

——> Paradise

As soon the ramp descended Tarja would start moving her wounded people out of the shuttle and towards med tech where she was met by a lieutenant wanting help with the suits ”I will show you how to open suit…follow me trooper, now is time to learn about suits” Tarja said in her usual blunt, businesslike tones, waving for Giles to follow her into medtech, trusting Meari and the rest of the squad to return to the compound and see to their suits in her absence.

——> Med Tech

 Meari comm'd Tarja," Let us know status of both as soon as possible, I will bring the others to the compound and get to repairing some of our suits."

 Meari then said to the squad," Great work again squad we went against Angel Elite and we all hope Paskins pulls through." Meari will then lead the rest of the AI to the compound to get out of their suits and work on damage reports for their suits.

------->>>>>> From Paradise Space

 Lizzy would wait until Stavros and Nikki land and then she would land and head to park in her berthing. " Great job out there guys, much better performance Rookie you did real good out there."  Lizzy would park her skeeter and then power it down and pop the canopy.

 She would grab her disk and then jump down and giving a damage report to her ground crew.

 Sam smiled at Beth and the Admiral and replied," I will go get rest until you need me, I will be ready for the next jumpoff if Stefi lets me that is. I will be in my quarters if anyone needs me." Sam then limped towards the lifts to the Officer quarters.

Izzy had been quietly monitoring the comms noting the return of two of the assault teams, watching as a pair of the new armoured troopers were taken to med tech; one under their own steam, the other carried.

Hearing the sound of Sam’s voice she would stand to look over the top of the monitors, finding Sam swathed in plast and slings standing at the foot of the tower ”Sam! You had me worried there for a minute, I take it Stefi got you all patched up? Maybe I could come over later to see how you’re doing…if you’re feeling up to it that is” Izzy babbled excitedly, clearly overjoyed that her friend was doing ok, if a little pale ”…but yeah you should rest, you look about ready to fall over…I…I’ll see you later Sam, I’m so happy you’re alright”

All fighters were  landed, except for frans  flight  and  Shadows  m , they would land After Stoly's  shuttle landed.

  AP-Lo was taken to greet  The board , Hack Smiled,welcome to  The ESN  351  Hermes .. I am Admiral HAck.. this is Admiral  Hennings, Captain Morris,    Captain   O'Rielly..and that?  Is Flag Captain  Si

 AP-LO turned to see  Captain Si strutting towards them in he light boarding armor, she  carried her helmet under her  arm, she  had a dark smile...AP-LO..welocme to The Hermes. I should  think you never  thought you would be here.

 AP-LO couldn't answer  as he stammered at First. Hack explained...LOUDLY.. to  HenningsGE-FI  tried to shop his daughters around.. Nil's sister  even made a run at Shadow  after he beat the  9 hells out of her 'Suggested"... Nil was   Suggested  to  AP-LO in an Arrangement  with AP-LO's family... needless to say, it didn';t take. after  we met in San Deigo.

Looking   embarrassed,  AP-LO  looked at  Hack.That sword  cut both ways  . Admiral Hack.  How could i want a mate who  dealt  with earth primates and..

 Captain Si's   free arm  shot out like a   Cobra, slapping   AP-LO and sent him to  the Dec.Those  'Primates' all have   blood of angles and  many other APF  races in them, from the tests and interbreeding,  You should watch your mouth  when you are stand in my Dec!


Getting up , even more embarrassed, AP-LO gave  Si a surprised looks   , turning to  Hack, as the Admiral said.I am surprised, AP-LO.. MY LC has taken two such slaps  from Nil, when she thought he 'over protected her' in battle..he didn't fall down.

 Hennings added,Spencer's  shuttle  is landing Now,..Frans and Shadow's  flight  will be in and  all the   chicks  will be back int he barn.

even as he spoke  the  shuttle landed   ,   Shade  Bleeped at Med techs  for Larry..Roll , Disna  and   Puskie  ran over to  help Larrh out of his   suit and head   gear.  The flight landed, Shadow the last,, as the Pilots  walked over to hand in discs  and get new ones.

Henry stayed with the 'Hanger Dec largs' whilst the 3 Larg Masters ran over to see to Larry.

Mila whined and Henry patted her.

"Larry is tough, girl, he'll be all right."

  The other  Largs    padded over  By henry and where greeted  by th 'Dec largs".  some had   pulse  wounds and patched up suits.

 Freddie    Nudged   Henry and   Mila.. Rol loked  stricked  as the  got Larry out of his suit.,  Disna  checked the 'middle shoulder'  he talked soothingly  to larry...  Hemsly whistled  for Shadow, who came  running over  through the mass of   fighters and crewmen.

     Looking at larry as Disna said,Shoulder  wound. Middle shoulder, not  as  bad as  a front or  back shoulder.

 Shadow  took a  knee  by  Larry patting his snout.well, what does  that  mean ?

 Disna looked  at Shadow.he'll be fine..but... if  we  want him  on the Jump off tomorrow..well...

 Larry.... you want to fight tomorrow, or  do you want rest.. He  Nudged   Shadow and thumped his  tail.

 Zob!, Nugest, Get Larry to the Black hanger...I need to see stefi  and...

 Shade  came off the  shuttle    and held up a closed  fist,Never  Mind, Get hi to the Black Hanger

  The other  largs  watched   was Disna  zipped up his   med-tech kit.. and followed.

   Hack  Called over...LC...SM?   I'd Like  you to meet  AP-LO...

 Shadow gave a Nod,Aye Sir, Once   we patch Up   Larry, I''ll report...  Crew before  enemies , sir...

 Carry on...

AP-LO looked disgusted,he is taking care of a Lizard, ebfore meeting a a High Admiral of  the Paradise  fleet.

 Si snorted,You are nothing more then an  enemy to the LC. Larry is a crewman and a friend...

Zob stepped off the shuttle only to be met with a request from Shadow, "Can do" he would then escort those needed to the black hanger.

-----> Zob and friends to Black Hanger.

Henry welcomed and inspected the other largs as they arrived, a bit of fuss and a word for each one. He helped them off with their helmets, put out water, and treated any wounds that they had.

 Lizzy handed over her disk to Captain Morris and said," This was a rough one and it isn't over sir." Lizzy smiled at Captain Morris and then headed over towards the warroom tower and Izzy.

 Lizzy headed over to the Warroom tower, she saw Izzy talking with a pretty wounded Sam. Lizzy knew if Sam was out of commision Izzy might have to keep working. Lizzy will look over and wave to Izzy and she says to Sam," Oh my what happened Sam."

 Sam smiled at Izzy and replied," Oh yes that would be great I would love the company. Yes Stefi did a great job hopefully fully ready to go tomorrow morning."

 Sam smiled as Lizzy came up worried about her injuries," I will be ok thank you Lizzy, we got attacked by some Angel Officers probably going for the Board and Admiral Hack. I am just glad I had armor on, and they weren't using bullets."

 Sam smiled at everyone, she saluted the Admirals who where a little distance a way, and then limped off towards her quarters.

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

------>>>>>>>> From Paradise Space

 NA-CE went with the cabinets from the Angel med tech to their Med tech.

---->>>>>> To Med Tech with cabinets

Roy grimaced as Larry was extricated from his assault armor.  He'd foamed the wound, himself, but knowing first aid for humans didn't necessarily translate perfectly to treating largs, and he took note of what additional work Disna did, making a mental note to set up some times to sit down with the larg masters, and Roll, and talk about some of the intricacies of larg physiology and treating wounds.

As soon as Shadow asked whether Larry wanted to go again tomorrow or rest, Roy's grimace deepened, as he realized what Shadow was suggesting.  He had some idea of what this was going to do to Larry...assuming the Angel serum worked on the larg the same way it had on humans...and while he had no doubt that Larry would survive it (unlike some on the crew who might be subjected to such treatments), it was not going to be a pleasant experience.

He dropped into formation with the group taking Larry to the Black Hangar, pausing to look back as Admiral Hack called out to them.  The look on his face made it clear what he thought about meeting a high-ranking Angel official...especially right now...and he just nodded and jerked a thumb in Shadow's direction when the LC made his response.

”I’m just happy you’re still in one piece” Izzy replied, with her not wanting Sam to feel the need to rush back into action and risk exacerbating any unhealed injuries. With the arrival of Lizzy, Izzy would offer her fiancé an adoring look as she called down to her ”hey beautiful, you coming my way?” before giggling, glad to see Lizzy back on the Hermes.

 " Wow you where unlucky but lucky as well, you took hits heading to the Board, Sam our tank." Lizzy smiled and was very happy Sam would recover.

 Lizzy then smiled at Izzy and said," Hell yes, how are you guys holding out, I know your busy especially with Sam hurt, I just wanted to come see you and tell you I am ok."

     As  Roy, Shadow, and   those with them   returned.. Nugest   went to find   the other  he normally   Hangs with as  Shadow gave him a  pat on the back. The Ape-man  smiled  and went on his  way.

  Arriving  at  The  congregation  of  Brass,   Shadow salutes the Admirals  and Captains, but failed  any such attempt  to AP-LO.

 This is    LC  Shadow, and SM SPencer,  Gunny SGT  Zob...

 AP=LO, Naturally looked at the officer first...So? LC Shadow? You do not   salute Officers of  higher rank, from  your  opponents ?

 You are an Enemy  AP-LO. that is all, your rank is   only  worth something  to those  of your  race. To mean, You are  slavers, who used your  Tech  to enslave humans
 to the point of  worship. Then? we you needed us, revealed the truths of  The Black. To compound that,  You  joined the very enemy you asked us to fight!

AP=LO snort,Your  race  is nothing  by  barbarians... you use   those races who were  under you   as far as tech.

 we never  led them to think we were Gods.. we  have  raised the Gava   into the  world of Tech, teaching them, helping them, and now they can fight back, instead of being  sports  food.... Naragrans are far smarter then you or  I. But  people cannot see past their    bodies...Burians  you  left to their own devices. We  aided them  and  they have become  as strong an allie  as the Sanri and Occui.

so? you will forgive  me If  I am not   , overly pleased to see you alive.

 AP-LO looked like a cross  between  embarrassed and angry.  He Looked to  Captain  Si   who seemed to be smilign at  The LC's  lecture.

 The Angle Admiral looked at Roy and Zob...I suppose you feel the same   as ...this... officer? he waved  a  shooshing  hand  in Shadow's  direction.

Zob showed little emotion he was more disinterested in AP-LO then anything but he did show a odd amount of restraint from his usual self as he spoke, "How i feel is none of your concern Mr AP-LO" the words coming out in a very nonchalant manner.

Roy snorted softly.  "Do I find you to be a manipulative bastard with all the charm and personality of a rectal cavity?" he asked, as though restating Shadow's explanation in simpler terms...but he didn't bother answering his own question.

”It’s quieting down now that the assault teams are back and the Angels are withdrawing” Izzy replied as Sam made her way to her quarters ”…I suppose a lot of it is down to them and whether they decide to have another go or let us approach and land troops” she continued with a shrug with not wanting to voice the possibility that Angels might simply surrender and sue for terms, not that she thought that was likely to happen ”I’d best get back, I’ll come and find you when I’m cleared to leave…until then stay safe beautiful” she said blowing Lizzy a kiss before sitting back down at her station.

 AP-LO looked   more  disgusted, then Angry after  Zob, Roy and Shadow  spoke their   piece.

 I have heard  Rumors of  you...Shadow. They say that you are a war criminal...

 Shadow  Laughs  as  Does Hennings,   Rivets  grins, Captain Si smile  and   Hack , with Morris  shake their heads  with grins.

 Lets  straighten this out..right?  I am the biggest war crimminal .The empire  ever  faced.  I Killed    Lady V's   Niece in front of her  eyes, and fed the body to larry.... I can'  tell you how many EDT  folks i kiled...and  the kills weren't meant to be clean... a month or so a go,   We captured Some SSN leaders as well as their Wing Commander. All of them where over the rank of Captain...now?  AP-LO..you do know what you have to do, to  make that rank...

 But Angels take part as  well, AP-LO.   I had them  remove all their clothing..while the WC  was strapped down  on a Table...and they were forced  to  slice  and  eat the WC. Those who did not comply  where  shot and tossed out the   Static  field..... after   30 Minutes  or  so of  screaming  and choking  and vomiting.. we through them all out of the static  filed...

 he looked at the Admirals  who sorta looked at their boots.War Criminal?  I guess? But no one in the ESN aver  ate a kid .  The  Loyalty feast has the  main course alive, so they can have the pleasure of the fear and pain  as well as the meal...I Like to give back to my enemies, what they  force on others....and i try to make it hurt...just..alittle More.... when i get on Paradise? I won't treat enemy angels
 any different, since you folks were the  people   we 'looked up' to. .He eyed  AP-LO who was clearly unsettled  by  Shadow  speech,I'm getting a  Soda...  Again his salutes to  HIS people were crisp. nothing, for AP-LO..

As Shadow went to the Table, AP-Lo looked at  the others, and said,he's....He's   a madman... he is  worse then any Demon  I have met!

Zob chuckled, "I like to use the term creative myself" he then turned his attention towards the Brass, "I will leave you all to it, hopefully you find some creative fun way to make our *guest* here *comfortable*" he then turned to leave and patted Roy on the shoulder, "Have fun sir"

With that said he gave a salute to the brass minus the angel guy and went off to find his daughter who at this moment was far more important then some soon to be dead angel.

 Lizzy smiled at Izzy and replied," Yeah but we could ramp up at any moment, yeah the Angels next few decisions will decide how bad this gets for them." Lizzy smiled and replied," Oh you know me I will, you stay safe your area seems like it took more damage than my fighter did. See you soon." Lizzy blew Izzy a kiss back then got out of the way she saw the Angel Admiral and just shook her head. " I thought I smelled something rotten."

  Shadow   took a  Sandwich and a soda,  Dana, was glad  to see him  back,,, Sneak was looking over    at Jax  and  the other 'young guns' after as they neared the  Table, after dropping off the captured Angel weapons

   Tyhe LC  Just jerked his  head  to her  and she grabbed  Sandwiches  and  soda   and hurried to greet them

 Beth came  down the scaffold  to sit  at the bottom step  Shadow gave her  a sandwich, Dana gave her a  soda..You got  Nicked Up?

 Yeah?  Just like the  Goodfellas  back home. excpet they used hard ammo.. The Angel creeps  don't understand stopping power.

  AP-LO looked  at Shadow  sitting on a crate with a  , wounded, woman with muticolored hair.That  Cannot be... That..that..Chiled is your  Tech Witch??

 She's not a child. she  is  less then a year younger  then our LC. They are from the streets of New York..along  with Admiral Roles  , whom you will meet soon. They , in a way, are  what Stem Kids would evolve  too, if people didn't  keep kidnapping them  for various  purposes..

  Hennings  said,she has  matured the last 6 years... she doesn't wear the heels,  nor the flirt dresses  , unless its to a party.. She is , easily.. the best  at what she does.

  there are  angel  grand children, who are older then her!

Ra'Na'Ta' brought his ship into the hanger and looked around before getting out. He was uncertain of who or what he should even do at this point. It was more chaotic than he would of thought, but then it was just after a battle. He got out of the ship with the few belongings that he brought with. He placed his sword at his side. He once again looked around took a deep breath. "This one wants to know which hairless one he is to see first now that the fighting be done to let them know This one is here?" He said to no one in particular just for anyone to hear and tell him.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:59, Sun 09 Apr 2023.

one of the crew chiefs  pointed to the Scaffold...way across the   hanger,That guy sitting with the  gils  with the  colors in her  Hair? That's  LC Shadoiw , he;s out  wing Commander, and, he was  the flight  leader of the aircraft you came in with...... The Black man a  little shorter the the Admirals there,  That's Captain Morris, he'll check you in and get yoiur   quarters

Ra'Na'Ta' listened to the man and looked in the direction. He made sure to mark each of them. "This one thanks you." He took his leave and made his way tot he people he was directed to.

Ra'Na'Ta' looked at the one called Captain Morris, then touched his paw to his forehead and bowed. "This one is Ra'Na'Ta' Abada of the Felrite Puuride. This one wishes to know what This one is suppose to do next and where This one can find his quarters at? This one has need of food as well."

 Captain Morris  Returned the  Salute.Welcome  Ensing Ra'na'Ta...I Am Captain Morris. I am the Adjutant . I work  with LC Shadow   when  we set the flights, and sorties and such, we also  confirm or   deny kills for your records

 he turns,   This is  Admiral Hack, The Hermes is his Flagship...Admiral Hennings... Captain  O'Rielly, who is  InCharge of the Hanger dec. Captain Si. She is the  Flag Captain of the  Fleets  as she sits in the command  chair of the Hermes. This....fellow ..is  AP-LO. High Admiral of the Paradise Home fleet.  All those  mentioned , gave nods  of acknowledgment .

  Come to the Table  they have varius sandwiches,  since the  rec dec  and Messes  are such down during   Jump offs. they walk a few yards

  LC, Old boy.  We have  the new pilot  that came in with you..

 Shadow   put his  half eaten sandwich next to beth, in its  wrapper, and wiped his hand extending  it..Welcome board  the Hermes  Ensign. Lt   Ariv should be around, there are a few  Felrite pilots  and troopers  on this  ship..you have to make due  with
 hot or cold sandwiches right b=now. But when this is over  we'll have a 'After party'..
 Captain Morris  will  set you up with  your quarters.

  Yes , well..  I wil let him eat and  drink first.... Ensign?   you see that   metal shed   pass the flightlines.. That's my  office.. the Kill boards  and Flight listing are posted there..howvere..I will have to see what the butcher's bill for this  will be...So? Get  something to eat, as it were, and  come see me.. He gave a Nod  and walked off  down the taped of    walk way. in the Middle of the  hanger   was chaos as  the  battered  grounds  crew,  welded  , melded  and  riveted  plates in. Cowlings popped opened   for   new belts   of 37 MMs.. fresh  power cells  were   put in  and olds one  sent to the chargers.

     Ranata? This is Dana,  She , along  with Sneak  and Amy  volunteer  to  have  food  and drink for   the hnager folks   when we  jump off,  they  may have as many kills  assome of the grounds crew.

  Dana smiled at  Ranata , the short . pixie type   cut of her brown hair  made her look a bit  younger, but..with Angel  food, who could tell well  Ranata?  we have    'hogie' style  sandwiches, with differant meats and   such in, we have a gamma  wave here to heat them up?

——> Med Tech

She would enter the compound with a weary look on her face as the rest of the team busied themselves with the necessary repairs to their suits as well reloading the weaponry in preparation for the next assault ”Velta, how are you feeling? Tarja would ask the petite Estonian woman, who was in the process of carrying the half empty ammo drums away to be refilled ”I feel good Corporal”
”Good, then get Hippers suit prepped your going on the next assault” Tarja responded, with a grin appearing on Velta’s face as she gave an enthusiastic already done and salute, over the moon to be back on the team after being on the sidelines for the last two outings ”Inga! Head down to med tech and salvage what you can of Paskins suit”
”Right away…um…are you alright Tar?” Inga asked with a concerned look, having spent enough time with Tarja to recognise when she was bottling things up. There was a moment of hesitation before Tarja quietly responded in Finnish ”not really…I’m afraid that I might have condemned a man to a painful death…Paskins he’s…he’s not good” she said with Inga offering her a sympathetic look as she replied in the same language ”It’s not your fault, you did all you could for him…now go and clear your head, ok?”  she said before heading off towards med tech to try and salvage what she could of Paskins suit, Tarja meanwhile would head to her cage and climb out of her suit.

After putting in a request for a replacement suit, she would take a moment to alter a few settings on the paint machine before beginning to prepare her suit for the next assault.

”yeah we may as well paint a big sign saying High value targets please shoot here” Izzy had sighed before settling down to work.

Exhibiting a level of multi-tasking that most would envy, Izzy would sit at her station with her headset on listening to the comms chatter as she used some kind of design software on her vidboard, pausing every now and again to input something into her station before continuing with what she was doing.

In reply to hanger Dec (msg # 39):

Ra'Na'Ta' gave his salute to each he was introduced to. He then came over to the table and looked at what was there. He shook his head looking at the hoagies. He nodded to him and looked at the shed marking it, then turned back to the table. "This one wishes to know what this hoagie thing is. It looks like meat between bread, but you hairless ones put strange things on it too.  This one has not had hairless food that often, but has tried it. The taste is different to This one. This one does not mean to offend, if This one did. I apologize. This one would rather just have meat, for now."


Ra'Na'Ta' thought for a  moment as he looked at the one called Dana."This one would like to know what was meant by as many kills. This one thinks that he is saying your food is bad. Is this one correct in that thought?"

Ra'Na'Ta' stood there looking at the food now a bit unsure, as he looked at those eating at the table.

 Taja...

  Andruss   was   frownign when he  finally sat  down on a   stand on stool, sipping  some  coffee.

 he  tossed his hypo Spanner in his box.   with a  sigh.

 Morgan chuckled  at him...Hey? You should be  happy?  wait  until we hit the dirt?.. then you have to wash you  mech as well as fix it!

  Tarja  gets  a COM  from Stefi...

  This  is LT Stefi.... Hipper  will recover.. but i have  my doubts  about  him making the next jump off. His wounds are  neat bad  enough to juice him.... Paskins  is......going through.. his treatment I will up date you soon...

 ...................

   Dana  smiles,  and  shakes her head,  Not our Rec Dec  food. never had   anyone die there yet..i mean? they have, because they crossed the LC or something, but never from the  food!

  These  are breads..  the  roundish ones   are  rolls... the  skinny ones, flat bread... not much difference. I prefer the rounder ones... depending on what you like...we have  Fush salad -like thing, we would  call it tuna  fish, but here aren't any  Tuna  with in Light years of us...most of these are  either  grown in the farm Tubes, or  Aura  or  Fuji. or some other Carrier/station...there are meatballs and cheese..or  with not cheese.. there  are   hoagies  with sald stuff in, and meat..or no meat..steak-like  meats,,  chicken like  meats.. and  there are  sauces  and such   as well as seasonings  to your
 tastes.. we do have  some feltirte salt, and other seasonings?..There is Soda , Coffee
 and various  teas... But? the Rec dec  can't cook  right now, so everything is sandwich -type stuff.


  Shadow  says   as he motions  for Beth to hand him his..This  is  called a 'club"..it has  meats  and  veggies and cheese..i put  mayo and salt and pepper on it.. It comes down you your   tastes.

 LT  Ariv   came over  as soon as  some one  reported the new 'cat'.

  Ahhh..You are  being the  New one, Yes?... I am LT Ariv,    I am  first of Feltrites  to join  Hermes   pilots... LT   Hirr  is  here some where, She is first to  lead Felrite troopers... If yioub be needed  to understand  strange was of  Humans,  un roll your  Vidboard, it will explain things   in Felrite way, so you are Not  Confused  by Human 's odd words..

 He   will fly with You this   Jump off.. or does he fly with Felrites?

 Shadow  and to chew  a bit before  he said,Well.. we are getting a fresh  batch of Pilots.. who knows  if they  even have  more the  10 hours  flight time. let alone  Combat... But this is  going to be 'all hands on dec... they'll feed us replacements  when we need them.... So  Ranata,  Do you want to Fly with Ariv..her  flight  has    Felrites, but mixed in  Human folks  because  Zolth wanted to keep  pilots  on thier homeworld... i feel  we may get more Felrites, even if we lose  this battle, because Paradise  isn't going to be in shape to attack anyone, except maybe raiding Convoys.

Having reloaded her weapons and replaced a greave which had taken a glancing shot, Tarja had been perching on her tool chest drawing on a scrap of paper with a pen in an attempt to relax and clear her head whilst she ran a diagnostic program when her comms unit went off. Answering it far too quickly she would listen as Stefi updated her on Hipper and Paskins condition, with it being much as she’d expected ”ok please tell me when…treatment…has finished” she replied before getting up and heading back into the main part of the compound.

Spotting Andruss she would quietly walk over to where he was and take a seat beside him and rest her head on his shoulder, still carrying the sketch she had made ”hey…how is mech? She working for you?”

 Meari was out of her armor working on reloading it as well as the other members of the team when Tarja arrived. Meari looked at Tarja, she had an idea of what she was talking about, they most likely had to use the serum on him, then one they gave Frakas, Will also got a dose when he took the blade for the Admiral, there where many other cases she didnt know about for sure.

 " Tarja you gave him a chance at a full recovery, I believe that is what he would have wished for himself and any of us. He is strong physically and mentally he will pull through, by the Purple clouds of Uden he will pull through." Meari then said something in Udenese that sounded absolutely beautiful and not typical of Udenese prayers it was highly emotional compared to the normally very cold emotionless prayers of the Udenese.

 Meari then went to work on her suit to make sure it was fully ready for the next jump off.

  Andruss..gave her  a pat on the back as he puy yjat arm around her,well?  I can use the  Creeper,  , but not  with  the Minigun . I'd  have to go in  with  flame and Pulse... I can use the Back up  with all three..b ut..well.. its not like the creeper.

...........

Ra'Na'Ta' touched his forehead to his paws. "Jobal kha'jay trevan (Bright Moon friend).This one is Ra'Na'Ta' Abada. I am honored to be in the firsts presence." He gave her a paw to his forehead salute. "This one is sure he will need your guidance. The hairless ones have many strange customs. This one tried to understand, but too many to make sense of."

When she asked about who he flies with he looked at Shadow. "This one will fly where This one is needed. It is why This one is here."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:50, Mon 10 Apr 2023.

Finishing up his post Flight duties Justin sent Alison a text to let her know he was back. Not knowing how long the Flights would be stood down before being sent out again Justin thought watching an oldies from one of those California Producers might be reasonable filler.

Roy gave Ap-Lo a grin that verged on feral.  "You only say that because he's not on your side.  I would rather have Shadow fighting beside me than any ten Demons...including Sergeant Zobaich, and that's REALLY saying something."  His expression took on more menacing overtones as he added, "You call him a war criminal...that could be considered high praise, considering the abominations and atrocities the Demons have perpetrated and the fact that you've chosen to fly under their banner rather than stand fast under your own.  When the criminals are calling someone else criminal, even by their standards, you know he's getting to them."

He snorted softly.  "Kinda puts gaping holes in that facade of cool detachment that your kind have been trying to keep up.  Sure, you're one of the oldest races in the Black...but in my experience, there are only two types of things that truly live up to the title of 'Old.'  There's those that are so deeply rooted and so strongly forged that they seem to stand strong in the face of everything...even time."

He gave Ap-Lo a measuring gaze, a hint of a smirk creeping across his face.  "And then there's those that have so eroded, usually from the inside, that they're ready to collapse and implode with just the right touch of pressure.  And your kind has been slowly imploding for a long time, now..."

  with a lok of shock, AP-L0, seemed indignant  to be  talked to in such a way, by a Non-Com.

  Hack chuckled   softly  at Rpy's  comment   and  nodded to the SM,Go get rest  and  food, SM. I'll be  making an announcement shortly.. But  first... I have to make good on a debt

  Ariv Nods to Ranata,we will   see what Shadow   , LC  says..I may depend on the   new pilots  and  how long they have   flown in the black..Yiu should  try, Steak..it is goof
 meat , you can get cheese..

 Hack waved the rest of the board  with him, Shade  Pushed  AP-LO  along  as if he  were nothing more  they  a hireling.

  Shadow    shrugged and followed  along.., Beth sighed  and went backup the stairs, as she  nodded to Izzy   to  start   the Monitors

   Hello  again,  Most high, regardless of whether  you choose  to answer  me, I  am making this announcement .. I really don't care  if you  answer, Nor  do i even care if you hear it... But you whole  world  is hearing it...and will see  if.  I like to keep my word, this helps   maintain respect...

 with his COM he told   Beth what vids to send...Here   we have the replay of the  ships you call Limbo... you can see the panic  and fear. people screaming, children  crying... and these? these  folks   followed you blindly, their   belief in you to the point of  zealots...and then..you killed them...  the destruction was shown.

 Killing helpless  prisoners, Is  not the  way to 'scare me off"  , Most High. Instead, it makes me angry, and   then i must seek vengeance ... so..Please...  watch..or  don't  watch..but its happening,  I wanted   2800  Officers, LTs  and   above...  we  seemed to
 have harvest  53oo,,,,

 so.. Consider  the  extra   folks...interest on account.  Captain  Grillmor? if you please..

 the vid   was from a  fighter Vidcam.. an captured  Angel  transport  flew   over the Capital ...Captain Grillmor  here... Static  feel off,  doing   the gator  death roll...

Now a camera  showed  officers   who had their  arms    zip  tied, the ship  rolled to the   starboard   side  and the officer  began to scream    as they slide  towards the carbo bay doors.. Legs  kicking  as  they  could not use their  hands.., about  2000 feet above the  capitol..then the  bodies   slipped out int the Atmo... falling  with the  beautiful  building rising  up, faster and  faster to greet them.

  screaming Bodie s burst like  ripe melons on a hot sidewalk, The transport   rose  back into the  black

 Now? Most  High..you have  2  hours  to  surrender, unconditionally  or we are coming down there, and Turn  Paradise  into  a brand new   ESN/APF  colony...

 that was murder, of   Angel who blood  is  more important they yours!

 well.... maybe we'll just   slide  down now..

 no...maybe the Most High will answer

With the arrival of Hack and the board Izzy would hurriedly place the vidboard on her lap to one side with its screen still showing, to anyone that cared to look, something that resembled a Delta winged aircraft albeit without a cockpit. With a few keystrokes she would have a connection to Paradise up, with her silently giving the admiral a thumbs up to signal that the camera was rolling.

She would quietly listen as the admiral spoke grimacing slightly at the footage of the mass executions of both the civilians at the hands of the Angels and the Angel officers at the hands of the ESN.

Once the admiral had finished she would cut the feed, before turning around in her chair to face Angel behind her ”Perhaps you should consider reading up on some Earth history, then maybe you would understand that we generally take a dim view on anyone that starts spouting off about the purity of bloodlines” she said with her suspecting that had they read a few history books then they could have avoided this entire situation entirely.

  Admiral Hennings,   gave  Izzy a nod, then a shrug,One thing to remember, Ensign. Those  books started with the seed of the book written by zealots and fanatics. As the  sadistic  overseers  watched   people   run about the desert, or start wars, in the names of those they  thought  were gods. ..or... for that matter   Demons and such..

 looking to AP=LO...niether side, thought  hujmans  would reach the point  where we could curise the stars. Even our Allies  would have  doubted it. But here  we are.. and now were are on  our  own Crusade. To sert things  right in The Black.

 You are  but children in  The Black, blundering around, You do not  know  what evils are out here...

Captain Si spoke up as she nodded to   Izzy as well.No where, In what i have been taught, is there the  doctrine, of 'protecting  Earth'  over the eons, earth was nothing more then a site to  gather materials, water  and   breeding samples..

 You are quite Beautfil Nil Si,,it was that  beauty that  made me want you at my side... or..under me...

Captain Si   stiffened, her  eye brow  narrowed..  Admiral Hack said...you are getting  close to the  Edge there, AP-LO.. there was no humor  in Hack's Voice.. Hennings and Rivets   stepped away. from the Admiral... AP-LO  didn't seem to see, nor  care the deadly  look in His eyes  as he  added to Nil...

 How did your  own breeding  experiment  work out?,  Could your not  Human hero Perform en.......

 Nil bared her  teeth as her   fist Balled  up,  But  AP-LO never Got to  Finish as  Hack's   round   house   caught the Angel  on the Side of the head, sending him to the Dec, The then Admiral on him, flailing  away.. Shadow turned to   grab  the Admiral ,  Rivets grabbed    Shadow in a bear hug...Ahhh..no ya  don't laddie, You get to beat on bad  folks all the time.. ye  shouldn't begrudge the Admiral

   Nil   watched , her  chest  rising and falling   with  deep breaths  as hate filled  eyes   focused on AP-LO who was too dazed  to   even protect himself.

 Hennings  watched  for a Bit, Shadow stopped  struggling, but Rivets  Held on..  SM?.... when you feel the need,  Please  Remove    Admiral Hack from our  Angel guest.

Zob had moved up to be with Orria up by the vid screens upon arriving he heard the commotion with the angel prisoner, "Well that didn't take long..." he shook his head and pulled up a seat next to Orria, "How you holding up?" he asked knowing its been a rough few hours.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:01, Mon 10 Apr 2023.

There was a bit of a shrug in response to Admiral Hennings reply concerning the early wars of religion and how the Angels had had a hand in them ”true but I was thinking of our more recent history; The war of Independence, World War Two, the fall of the Soviet Union, examples of how one group of hairless apes overthrew another group that had been oppressing them…plus it would have shown them how damn good at war we are!” she replied before watching the scene  between the admiral and AP-LO unfolding before her ”Mr AP-LO for a supposed superior being you know fuck all about humans…perhaps if you’d taken the time to research us mere humans you would have learned that insulting a human’s partner is a good way of losing your teeth!”

Tarja had paused when Meari had spoken to her, an uncertain look coming to her face as she replied ”I hope so…I just kind of wished I could have spoken to him first, treatment is…risky…and painful” with it clear that she was less than certain as to whether she had done the right thing ”…on plus side Hipper is recovering but won’t be ready for action so I told Velta to prep his suit” she continued in a weary voice before listening as Meari uttered a strangely beautiful prayer in what she assumed was in her native tongue before continuing over to Andruss.

With her head on his shoulder and his arm around her shoulders Tarja would nestle in a little closer to him, frowning slightly as he spoke of his mech ”That sucks…I know how much you like her…is there much left to do?” she asked, unsure as to how long it would be until the next phase of the campaign.

Ra'Na'Ta' had just grabbed a piece of steak when the commotion took place. He dropped the steak and instantly went into a aggressive stance his claws out and a snarl escaping his lips. He looked to Lt Ariv. "This one would like to know if This one should kill the thing under the Admiral? This one would not mind, though if the thing insulted his mate, then he shall have the pleasure of avenging his mate." He did not relax his stance and his tail twitch rapidly his eyes never leaving the thing under the Admirals assault.

  Andruss  shruggs,  The hardest  thing, is  me trying to get the  belt  gears  to work and  the new  generators  to accept the links.. the old one was pounded to  the 9 hells. The  easiest think it  to   replace the arm...  then try to   get the  synch . That could take too much time as well.. The fastest, easier thing, is  to  just ride the back up...

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

 Ariv   took a bite of her hoagie,I think that Admiral Hack is  using this  to lessen his  build up energy, he  only  got to shoot a few enemies that dared   enter our  Dec.. The other Officers  do not look  concern.  Ans. Captain Si is a Female, so she is used to  the Hunt  as our  feamles are.  Admiral Hack, meverly  beat her to the  attack.

Ra'Na'Ta' looked at the one under the Admirals beating and with a toothy smile. "This one has never tried the thing. This one wonder how it's flesh would taste. This one wonder if after the Admiral is done beating it if This one  could play with it? The battle and now this little beating had made This one hunt surface once more."

Ra'Na'Ta' was down on all fours his lanky, powerful body stretching flexing his claws. He was eying the one being beaten like a mouse to be played with, as a chatter escaped his mouth.

Arib  cleared her throat, its   sounder  like a bit  of  a growl,you are Pilot!..Get up...you make my fur  turn light....

  LT  Hirr  came By , titling her head at Ranata...Is this   one of your   Ariv..he  seems  , most eager to pounce...

 He does not underatnds   yet,he has  come from homeworld. Human leaders  do no9t   always share thier  kills.

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

 Beth frowned...I want a shower, and I want  painkiller... can't  we  just  shell the  nine hells out of them for the next 6 or 7 hours?


  Orria  Looks Up at Beth....

 No? You and  Zob go do something. I'm  fine, and anyone  i want to spend  time with  is right here.

 Orria looks at Zob.. we   got   attacked  , there are a couple   Angels down there  by the  QMs... But the fighters kept most of the Shuttles away.

Ra'Na'Ta' took a deep breath and got up. "This one is also a warrior and sometimes the old ways take This one. This one apologizes for allowing old ways take his soul."

 Tbe   two females    chuckle,It is  fine, One  must see that Hmans are  not Felrites.  others, like Sanri or Occui they know us.. we have Nivarians on Ship who  work with  largs an some are trooeprs. they are..how to say..getting to  be at ease with us., Gava. they are   fun,  Ariv says.

  LT Hirr  adds,many times, SM spenser  pairs us  with  Gava,, they are  eager  and  like to hunt.. It  is  good they meet the huimans. as the Empire , meerely used them for  hunting fod.

Roy nodded at the direction, seemingly unconcerned and taking his leisurely time about it. Finally, when Ap-Lo appeared on the verge of blacking out, he stepped in, catching Admiral Hack's upraised fist.

"Save your energy, Sir.  He won't feel it if he's unconscious.  And it could be an effective message to send to their 'Most High', his chief admiral mumbling incoherently, all bruised and battered by a lone Human...no sense wasting the opportunity just yet..."

 The  Admiral got  Up, Dana  tossed  Roy a  towel for   the Admirals, bluish-red   stained hands..

 The Admiral was  catching his  breath,yes, Thank you  Roy... I gotta  say..that felt  damn good..

Rivets let  Shadow go. Shadow frowned..Caotainb Si loked  down with  Disgust at the Battered AP-LO

 I suppose   we should call a med tech?

Shadow  put his hand to his mouth, but  spoke  softly.....med tech...med tech please..

 Captain Si gave him a  wry smile  as she  called out....MED TECH!

Roy's face quirked a grin.  "Gotta say, Admiral, that first haymaker was a helluva shot.  That might have even rattled Zob...although I wouldn't want to find out."

He looked down at the bludgeoned Angel, his facial expression souring to match the look he might give if he found larg droppings unexpectedly.  "This is why you always try to get intel about your target before you kick the hornet's nest...if you're going to try and provoke a response, you've gotta make sure you're ready to deal with that response.  And you've gotta be a special breed of dumbass to shoot your mouth off without being prepared for someone to come at you for it."

 Shadow chuckled as he looked over  at Ap-Lo...I huess AP-LO  was used to Earth  folks  comign to his   aid. Instead, an Earth man, caused  him  to ..NEED..Aid.

 Rivets   huffed,All I know, is everyone gets   fun punching  folks  but me.. i need  to hit one of them, fer what they do  to me Hanger Dec!

In reply to hanger Dec (msg # 59):

Zob glanced off at the angel bodies near the QM, "I'm glad you are safe, if you wanna stay here and help Beth i can go and grab us some sandwiches and hang out here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:15, Tue 11 Apr 2023.

 After her talk with Izzy, Lizzy went to her fighter and checked it out, see how the repairs where doing and if she could help out.

”Could you not cannibalise arm assembly from back up?” she quietly suggested, thinking that it would be easier to remove the entire arm assembly from the backup and hook it up to Creeper, then Creeper’s arm could be repaired at their leisure. Assuming of course that the components were as plug and play as the Finnish mechs had been ”I meanwhile am try to clear head…tried sketching but better at nature” she said holding the sketch for him to see. It was a little rough and ready having been quickly drawn with a biro but it was clearly the Mech / AI compound with a pair of figures that were most likely intended to be Morgan and Andruss working on a mech and a tall female figure carrying an ammunition drum that was almost certainly Meari ”Is not very good…so I come to sleep on shoulder instead…how long do we have you suppose?” she asked as she dropped the sketch that she was so disappointed in onto the table beside the coffee pot.

 Orria Looked up at Beth, she  was   leaning back  in her chair,  eating   he hoagie, and  had a soda, Beth  didn't look over  concerned.

 I don't think then Need  me, But    , Unless  we  go home,  we might as well stay here? You may know  more  then me , what is going to be happening.

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

 Andruss  smiled  at the sketch,They say,Artists  are their own worst critics. You should  save  the sketches  you  make, This war can't last forever... and you'll have  memories ? maybe  even publish them  in a book for   generations down the road to see
 and read about. Be a good thing, to have  a warrior's view , then just some  pencil neck behind a desk>

 He  jerked a  thumb over his should  to Scaffolding, when   The Admiral says  its   time to go, I guess... I think he's waiting for something,
.................

 Frans  Came Over to Ranata,hello  Ensign, I  am  LT Carole  Frans.  I am  the #2  Behind Shadow  for the  Wing Command . It will be a bit of a mess fior you right now, but things wioll calm  down, one way or the other. Did you get your  Quarters yet?

----->>>>> from Black Hanger

 NA-CE  ran onto the Hanger Dec near the warroom and asked,Someone call for a Med Tech?NA-CE looked around and saw the Angel Admiral in pretty bad shape but she looked at Admiral Hack and Captain Si, Oh I guess I am here for it, are all of you ok, did you injure yourself Admiral Hack?

”I not know about artist…I just do it to relax and unwind, never considered other people would want to see sketches” she said retrieving the sketch from where she’d placed it and giving it another look, having never considered the idea of creating a sketchbook for after the war. Truth be told she hadn’t given much thought to what she would do after the war…probably find another one to join. Just like last time.

At the mention of the Admiral waiting for something in order to decide when they would next go out there would be a slight nodding of Tarja’s head as it rested against his shoulder ”I guess he is…you really think people would want to see my sketches?”

  Andruss  nodded  slow his cheek rubbing  against her head.people are interested in things  they cannot  do, or cannot  take part in? Look at Captain lightening? If a big show, Big Movie thing, because  it  helps people   see the war, even though they are a bit romanticized  by it... Documentaries  int he Vid houses.  Books, Magazines and toys... Yeah?... Just think of all the APF races there  are,  what if  1...in  every  1000, wanted to see/buy a  book of sketches  by some one 'who was there"... doesn't  always have to be the war stuff  either...animals  no one has seen because they do not live there?

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

 The Admiral  smiles a  bit sternly,I am Fine. AP-LO may  need some  foam  in his cheeks  and Nose though.. I heard and felt  some cracking...

After finishing her sandwich and soda, Madison stood up and stretched. She looked down at Flores wondering.

"Do you know how long we have? I think I want to sneak in a shower and a nap." She looked around the Hangar Dec at all the activity. "This one is so different. Multiple waves, so much coordination. Well I guess it's not every day you invade Paradise, huh."

While looking around, Madison noticed a new arrival. A Felrite pilot standing with two other pilots. "Excuse me, Candy. I want to meet the new guy."

Walking over to Ranata, Madison waited for a break in his conversation then offered her hand. "Hey there. I'm Madison Perry. I guess you're a new arrival? Me too. Just in time for a heck of a jump off, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Tue 11 Apr 2023.

 NA-CE smiled at Admiral Hack," Sorry I had to ask it is my job sir, I saw the blood just making sure." NA-CE turns and looks at the Angel Admiral and begins to access his injuries and then scan him and figure out what she was going to do. NA-CE checked to see if he was even awake and did her examination, and basic treatment.

 " Hey Paradise scum are you awake or are you to good to be treated by a Blue Moon Angel."

AP-LO  was dazed,, his  cleeks  were turning a  crimson-purple. Much like   Caucasian  folks would turn black and blue.

    Lippen was  waved over   By Hennings, she  brought PVT. Absko Duilla   black man with a thick  congo accent, PVT  Bob Banks 'Banker' and  American  who had  a Chicago  accent.

   Bob Banks  lifted     AP=Lo...Comon..Angel Boy   lets  get you  into  a  sat out of the way...

 Absko snorted,<Brown>Maybe..it is not good to live for so long.. they get..brittle...</Brown Lippen over watched  as they   Sat AP-LO onto a  crte  his back against the  mobile  barriers.

 Lippen  over watches this  and jerked her head to AP-LO  for  NA-CE  to work on him...see what you can do.. he doesn't have to like  it, he  just got to be put  back together.

 NA-CE smiled at Lippen and replied," Already done." NA-CE does her best to put his face back together as best as she could using everything at her disposal. She wanted him to be able to speak and breath two major points.

Ra'Na'Ta' looked at the woman who came over. "This one did not get their quarters Lt. Frans. This one allowed his instincts and old ways to take him for a moment seeing the fight and the strange goo from the thing."


Ra'Na'Ta' picked up his piece of steak and sniffed it. He then took an bite of it and began to chew. "This one would enjoy it more if there was more blood in it." He still took another bite of it and chewed waiting on her response.


Ra'Na'Ta then noticed another woman coming over. She introduced herself and held her hand out. He looked at her strangely at first and tried to remember the hairless ones rituals of greetings. He nodded remember it was a hand shake. He pulled his claws in a bit more, then shook her hand allowing his paw pads to gently brush her hand. "This one is Ra'Na'Ta' Adabda. This one is glad to meet you. Yes, This one is glad to join a fight."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Wed 12 Apr 2023.

"Hi Ranata." Madison noted how Ranata spoke in the third person. "So you came right in the middle of a fight. Which flight are you in?"

Ra'Na'Ta' shrugged. "This one does not know. He jumped into a flight escorting the shuttle. This one put a few holes in his prey, then moved around from formation to formation. This one has not been given a flight to join yet. This one will go where he is needed. This one wonders which one you were flying? This one also wonders why the hairless ones are so smelly. This one does not mean to offend." He wrinkled his nose which was twitching the whole time he was near the food and everyone.

Madison laughed, but then raised an arm to sniff her armpit. She was a little sweaty, but not too stinky. But who knew what the Felrite could smell. "Yikes! Way to make a girl feel self conscious. Um, so yeah, I'm in B flight. I'm a wingman for LC Shadow along with Candy Flores."

”Ah Captain Lightning, yes I struggle to watch them…I either spend entire film pointing out faults or they remind me of things that I would sooner forget” Tarja replied having seen a pair of episodes before deciding to avoid them entirely, though she could understand the attraction for people who hadn’t been there to watch and enjoy them. Carefully folding the sketch she would place it into one of the pockets of her coveralls, with her continuing to quietly speak as she does so ”…perhaps I will give this some more thought” she said deciding that she would at least get a second or even third opinion of her work from other people she knew suspecting that Andruss may be a little biased in her favour.

Giving AP-LO a despairing look as he was dragged over and propped up in a corner to receive medical treatment from a reluctant NA-CE, to whom she would offer a bit of a smile, Izzy would look over at Beth as she spoke ”I can cover while you go and get something from Med tech for your shoulder…It’s not like we’re busy right now” Izzy offered, not that she could do anything about her getting a shower. Something that she herself would very much like.

 NA-CE works on the Angel Admiral and she isn't being nice about it. She fills and foams his face, and then said,I need to reset your nose it will hurt. With that NA-CE snaps his nose back in place smiling at causing this scum pain.

 When she was done she turned to the board,He is good as I can put him together sirs, are my skills on gathering information required?

  Candy   was  Talking to  Shadow, after finally  catching him.  he  Followed him mas he  Kept  walking...How  Many did  we  lose?

  Too   many...

 Dammit  Kray.... stop walking...

  he stopped   at the scaffolding, a  few paces  from the Brass.Candy....

 what about Vosts... she   got  killed...

  we  can look at that   two ways... She  was  either Disobeying orders... or she was a hero.. I think  Captain Morris  will write uop the last one.

 what about the invasion.. we're gonna go in short?

 Worse... we're getting  a  new batch  of flying Fast Food...

 Geez..... Is Raven Taking them?

 I don't know...   I'll have to see what Captain Morris  says when they  get here. And hope they know how to get out of cockpits  without hurting themselves...

 Most of them will die!

 There's a good bet. But alot of us  might die...from the looks  of it, the only thing they  kept building were  fighters.. The Demons  might have had  them  on some kid of 'no Cap ship' clause, in their treaty....we're gonna have a chalk talk as  soon as the infants arrive..

  AP-LO  wheezed a bit... You are a bit  intuitive, for an earth Primate, Shadow. One of the reasons  we  signed the pact, was to start building CAp ships  again... however,,we have   Angel  Elite supervision, as they are the    ones  who  talked  The Most High into signing, because of that clause...

 ..Prinate!  Candy snarled.

 You should have  fixed you Cap ships... Blast doors that don't close, it appears  gunnery drills weren't used off.. our Gunners  got of  3 shots  to your one? Heavy Pulse  guns   were  6 to 1...even the torpedo  were   even up with your  Heavy Pulse... you know  how hard it is to Load a Cap-ship class Torpedo!

AP-Lo   nodded, or  tried to..he looked like a broken bobble head.There were about  20 ship captains who were loyal to me... I..Planned on taking them   and  harassing  ESN  and Delta fleet  holdings and transports..but the new  pact kept me here.. Any of those   ships  would be more then a Match for  The Hermes, but your Admiral's ...under handed  attacks , damaged  or  destroyed , most of them

 Candy snorts...Underhanded?  I guess that's Angelese   for ' i got out smarted"

 Beth   came  down the  stairs   witha   Gentl pat on the  back to Izzy,You headed to Med tech?  I'm going there, then to SEC  to see what the Butcher  Bill is..

 I'm goign  as  far  as  Cap-tain Morris.

 Candy  Frowned   as they left, it was only then she noticed   Beth's shoulder and shook her head.

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

 The Admiral held  up a Hand to NA-CE, he listed to  the  exchange  between Shadow, Candy and the   High Admiral.... Then he  shook his head  to  NA-CE...Carry On  , NA-CE..make sure all the walking wounded  at  taken care of, and no one is hiding  anything, so they don't  miss the Jump off.

In reply to hanger Dec (msg # 69):

Zob thought about it and just nodded, "Yeah probably for the best we just hang around here get some food... as for whats gonna happen i can only assume we are gonna drop troops on the planet and take it over... and that is gonna be a bloody battle"

He then looked off towards the food table, "Let's get some food shall we?"

NA-CE smiled and replied,Already done sir. NA-CE gathered her gear, got ready to leave and said,You have underestimated the APF Paradise coward I hope I don't see you alive again. unless it is to have fun. NA-CE then headed out into the Hanger Dec checking anyone who was wounded except Beth.

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 80):

Ra'Na'Ta' shook his head. "This one did not mean you. This one meant all of you. Felrites have sensitive noses. This one was told that hairless ones use things to mask your natural scent. This one did not mean to offend you. This one was simply stating what he had been told and can smell."

Ra'Na'Ta' nodded when she spoke of being a wingman for them. "Yes, This one tagged along in your formation. You fought well. This one can see why you fly with them."

Justin headed to the Med Dec to get his cuts and bruises checked out. Slipping into the Triage waiting area he greeted the desk attendant provided his details then took a seat in the waiting area.

In reply to Ranata (msg # 87):

Madison nodded, understanding what Ranata meant. It was kind of a revelation to realize that it was deodorant he found so smelly. In her case, her natural scent to come through loud and clear. The deodorant and lavender soap had long since worn off. But it was possible, or even likely that the he could still smell them. "Well, no offense taken." She popped a smile.

"Thank you, Ranata." Her smile came back. It was flattering to hear a complimented to her combat skills. It was flattering to hear any compliment, but after being smelly, at least she knew what the Felrite appreciated. "It was chaotic out there, but since your still with us, I imagine you did pretty well yourself."

"Has anyone shown you around yet?"

"Interesting, how any of those ships would have been more than a match for a ship that has gone toe to toe with multiple Demon ships and come out on top.  If your ships were so damned good, why'd you have to sign the pact?  If they were really that good, you should have been able to tear the Demons up like tissue paper, since they've had a thousand years of improvements and we still chewed them up..."

He shrugged.  "Not only internally corrupt, but delusional and living in a dream-world of past glories."  He looked over at Captain Si.

"Do Angels have any history of dementia?  That would explain a lot..." he asked, gesturing at Ap-Lo like the Angel was a hopeless mess that couldn't be sorted out.

Tarja would remain in her position beside Andruss for several moments, silently contemplating the possibility of a life in art rather than warfare, before tilting her head ever so slightly to the side and quietly asking ”so what about you? Do you have plans for after war?” wondering if he had given it more thought than she had.

More feeling than hearing her comms unit Tarja would fish it out of her pocket, hoping that it would be Stefi with some good news concerning Paskins and wasn’t disappointed ”Thank you that is good news, I will inform team…please send him to quarters until sufficiently recovered for duty on Hangar dec” she replied not wanting a still injured Paskins reporting for duty. After sending the message to Stefi Tarja would offer Andruss a relieved look ”It is looking like Paskins will pull through…though I suppose I should see techs about way of patching holes in suit, dermafoam doesn’t really work” she said straightening herself up into a sitting position, deciding that she ought look at finding something productive to do. At least until she knew what they would be doing next.

 Andruss  pointed at Kira  and  Morgan.Those two? have  out lived  most every  Mech Rider in the Fleet. Rivets, has even more timed  derved, but he worked on mechs  rather then rode them, I  Think it is  wiser for  mne to lok from Jump off, to Jump off. I do not have any talents to speak of, so there isn't much of a legacy  for me to leave.

He Nodded  with a bit of a  smile,at least  you didn't lose  any  AI during these last  2  trips.

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

 Captain Si shook her  head,I beleive  the  angelk food  keeps that at bay? But one , must consider  who the oldest of  us  react.. we die , like  any other  Race. It just takes us longer.  I have never  seen  an 'elderly'  Angel, I assume   we may see some   when we invade.

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

 Izzy gets an Urgent  COM  from the Paradise  planet.

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 89):

Ra'Na'Ta' shook his head. "This one downed 3, of the ships that he knows of, and disabled one. They did not seem to well trained, in This one eyes. They seemed more desperate than trained. This one has not had a tour of This one's new home." He picked another piece of steak and began chewing on it as he waited for her response.

In reply to Ranata (msg # 93):

Madison boldly took the seat across from Ranata. "Go ahead and finish your lunch. After you're done, I'll show you around. Assuming we both survive the next round, you'll know where to go when you get back."

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 94):

Ra'Na'Ta' gave her a curious look taking another bite from the steak. "This one is not sure what you mean by next round. Is the one that the Admiral beat up going to try getting revenge on him? Does this mean This one will get a chance to play with him this time?"

Ra'Na'Ta' popped the rest of the steak in his mouth and chewed it with a toothy grin thinking he would get a chance to fight now.

Madison cocked her head at Ranata's curious reply. She couldn't really tell if he just had a strange sense of humor or if he really didn't understand what she meant. And his use of the phrase 'This one', just made his response a little harder to interpret.

"By next round, I mean the next jump off. The next mission." Maybe She decided clarifying was the safest way to go. If she sounded like a dope for not getting his sense of humor or something, she could recover from that. "At least I assume we'll be going back out. So yes, I think you'll get another chance to fight."

"So, no offense, but since your speaking English, instead of say 'This one' to refer to yourself, you could just say 'I'. It's really much easier."

Roy gave a long 'hrmmmmm', looking back at Ap-Lo.  "Well, I guess that rules out dementia.  That just leaves delusion...which, oddly enough, seems to be a trait that is fairly common across all the species we've encountered, regardless of how old they are as a species or how 'pure' they regard their blood as being..."  He didn't say it outright, but the implication hung in the air...despite Ap-Lo's insistence that Angels were a superior species, they suffered from at least one common flaw shared by many 'lesser' species...

Having managed to persuade Beth to go to medtech, if only long enough to get some painkillers, Izzy would receive the incoming call from Paradise ”Admiral I have an urgent incoming call from Paradise, shall I put them through? Or should I let them sweat awhile longer?” she asked with a mischievous look in her eyes when she suggested leaving them on the line ”…I have also just been informed that we have reinforcements for the SM and LC inbound” she continued, directing the statement more towards Roy so he knew to expect fresh troopers imminently.

There was a bit of a frown when Andruss spoke, especially concerning his talents and legacy ”that is not true, that footage you took on Bura was incredible!” she said feeling that it was worthy of being a hobby if nothing else, though cameraman capable of keeping a bird flying at high speed in the centre of the screen would certainly find work if it was something he wanted to do ”Yes, it is good…testament to armour I think? Though close call with Paskins” she continued, hoping that once word got out about their exploits that they would no longer be considered a novelty unit.

After telling Andruss that she would see him later and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, Tarja would start making her way towards the tech labs only pausing when she found Meari along the way ”Sergeant Meari, I have news from med tech, treatment was success and Paskins is on the mend, though he won’t be fit for duty just yet”

 Hack looked up  at  the dec  clock,n 5  minutes, then answer. I don't know what they can say to stop  what's about to  happen,  But we'll see...

a   Ragged AP-LO  said...WHAT...is  about to happen...ADMIRAL 

 Sometime tomorrow... The 80 some ships of the delta  fleet that can still fire  will  Pound Paradise  from orbit...that  includes  4  Skith Vessels  who can't wait to  Pull the trigger..... then, after  a barrage  of  4-5 hours... The fighters    lead in    the assault  shuttles  ... The..Colonel Cummings makes it rain with millions of   ...very angry... troopers landing and spreading over what is left of  Paradise... Image this , Admiral AP-LO...all those years of holding  zealots in transports, thinking they were going to see  Paradise..and now, every damn race in the APF is  going there  for free.. well..almost free.. the price  for admission is gunning  down Angel defenders.. I rather  Hope, The Most High survives , I am eager to talk to him, face to face.  He is  THE SINGLE, entity  that could have  ended this, long before   we even saw a  real angel

 Yu know what will happen to our peoples...a few months  after this is over, there will be  Angel Halfbreeds.... even the best  Troops  cannot  resist such things..

 I'd Like to think our people will rein themselves in, but that doesn't  mean they won't find some one there   who they bound with. And the Angel blood, will become like Earth's.. You can just about see those on earth, who have  more   Angel Blood  in them, then Demon blood, we'll have to see   how  Paradise  handles all that, since they never had  much thought  of what  they did  to earth, with 'miracle babies' and such.

 you don't care?

 In a word...NO. But to quailfy that statement, I am eager for  our people to   get to Libraries and Labs the Angels  have, and learn  what was hidden from us. You cannot  expect people  to gacvie a damn, abiut a place they were never  permitted to see...now...and the future, It will be an Open world

 And... The Angels  will pass.... he said sadly.

 No...well..not if they get with the program. paradise  will be a  Colony for  the APF.. but , i am most certain, The APF  will  want  leaders who will  step in line with the APF. No one wants   genocide  against the Angels, but...It the Angel's play now, They thought they were  clever, and Mighty, Now they are  going to be taken to the woodshed.

   Hack Looked  at a BU   that was  settling into a transfer position...Ensign? Call Shadow, and the SM  to greet our new  heroes...

 Rivets  was already getting his people   to sent across the Boarding Tunnel. Shoey  and three troopers   stood  back   in case those   Coming aboard, truned out to be...'less the  friendly'

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 96):

Ra'Na'Ta' gave her a strange look. "This one is sorry for sounding strange to you, but in our culture there is no I as you say it. We use This one or our name, since we are all born in a pride and there are many cubs. We do not single out oneself. Does this makes sense to you?"

He looked at her then said. "This one does understands what you mean now by rounds. Our flight was called hunts."

"Okay, sorry. Like I said, no offense meant." Madison didn't really see the semantic difference 'I' and 'this one'. She got what he was saying on the intent. Or she thought she did. The Felrites wanted to use language that conveyed there were part of a group and not just an individual, but to her it was a distinction without a difference. The word 'I' wasn't some pronoun that asserted individuality. It was just a way to specify oneself. But t Ranata was okay using all the extra syllables, that was his call.

"Ya know, hunts is a good word. Better than rounds I think. So, before the next hunt, let me show you around so when you return you know where to go. Did you even get to drop off your stuff to your quarters?"

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 103):

Ra'Na'Ta' again gave her a toothy smile as he leaned down to look her in the eyes and actually purred. "This one is glad that you like the hunt and you did well in it. This one will hunt by your side and know This one will enjoy it. Sadly This one has not yet. This one came from the ship right to the food. So, This one would be happy for that tour, if you still wished to give it."

With a content smile, Madison popped up from her chair. "Alright, let's do it. This is the Hangar Dec. You know that, but we might as well start at the beginning. Follow me."

Leading Ranata towards the elevator, Madison paused in the open space right before it.

"Okay, that door on the right is Med Tech. Hope you never have to go there. I did once, but it was a hangover. The door in front of us is the Security office. That's another place you don't want to have to visit. And up that ramp are the Tech and Bio-Tech Labs. Honestly, I have no idea what they do in there."

"Okay, next up is the Rec Dec. That's the place you really need to know other than your cabin. Are you ready?"

To Rec Dec

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 105):

Ra'Na'Ta' followed her his tail gently swinging nodding as he pointed out the places. "This one has had the hangover." He again smiled at her shaking his head in understands.  "This one too hopes not to go to either place. This one does like a good fight tho, so who knows." He gave a throaty laugh and was both a laugh and a mixture of a purr.

Ra'Na'Ta' followed her tot he rec dec.

TO RECK DEC

 Captain Morris  and Shadow   stepped out of the   shed  to  greet the   transfers  comign  over  from the BU.

.....

   as the   transfers  entered,   Shoey told them to line up as Pilots  or  crewman. Captain Morris  stepped  up, Shadow off to the side of the 'pilots'.

 He began to  call out  names.. Troopers

SGT  Balker  Wiscoff, mechs

SGT Vic  Able Male Human

SGT Chuck Wheat  rifleman

CPL Dilke a female  purplish Occui

CPL  Sunny Plains   a woman rifle man

CPL Talsh  Samri  Male  ridleman

CPL Nunni  a Female  Nivarian


Pilots

LT Sivk  Hyrian Male

LT Kravi Occui male  green/blue  skin

EN  Bat  Maskin  Huamn amle

En Grady  Frobes  balck human male

EN Sergi Vostoc Human male  Russian

En  Twaney Casker a feamle human

EN  Holst  a Male  Burian  trooper

 when   Morris was   finished, he saidaccording to the   report. You are  all from  vessels that  were destroyed , you happened to be   on assasult teams  or in the air..

  SGT Vic  Able raised his  arm...I have one, Gramps.  when   do we get to meet the   Ladies of this  ship?


 CPL Sunny Plains  rolled her   eyes  and  shook her head.

As Madison and Ranata waited for the elevator, Shadow and Captain Morris happened by. Madison saw an opportunity.

"Excuse me, Sirs." She flagged the two senior officers down. "I'm sorry for the interruption. I was just showing Ensign Ranata around. Would you happen to know his cabin assignment?"

After she got an answer "Thank you, sir. Again, my apology for interrupting."

Now really to Rec Dec

Roy was literally just a few feet away from Hack when the news of the new transfers was announced.  The ensign looked quizzically over Hack's shoulder at him, and Roy raised a hand to acknowledge he'd heard.

"Time to go see what kind of dumbass cannon fodder they've stuck us with this time," he muttered, barely audible, and turned to walk off in the direction of the docked BU, giving Captain Si a nod in departure and utterly ignoring Ap-Lo.

He arrived as the names were being read out, his gaze swivelling to fixate on Sgt. Able.  "Crack another one like that, and I'll introduce you to our CMO right fuckin' now, Sergeant.  Those bars on his uniform mean he's addressed as 'Captain', and if you call him Gramps again, you'll be reading the size of my boots in the bathroom mirror when you brush your teeth...IF Captain Morris doesn't knock them right out of your head."

He walked over to Able, looking him up and down with an icy appraisal, still clad in his boarding armor.  "Someone explain to me what asshole promotes a walking uncircumcised cock like this to Sergeant, please..."  He raised a hand and shook his head, looking at the rest of the troopers.

"Belay that.  Don't waste the time or the breath."  He looked back at Able.  "We're gonna find out, in a few hours, if there's an actual fighting man hiding under all that shit between your ears.  Until then, you keep your piehole shut and your hands on your own hardware, or you'll miss the jumpoff because Stefi had to reverse your cranial-rectal inversion."

After getting some food and spending time with Orria he let her get back to her duties helping out with coms, it was then he noticed the new recruits so he grabbed a sandwich and a soda and plopped himself up on a crate to watch the fresh meat get ripped a new one by Roy.

'No wonder the angels and demons think humans are lesser's when you got idiots like this guy that amount to Pirloc feces' he thought to himself with a amused chuckle as he munched down on his meal.

  As Maddy asked,   Captain Morris stooped a Moment. he  printed out a  slip of of paper  and  handed it to   Maddy   with   Ranata's   quarters  Number on it... Rooms are being emptied out  now. he should be  able  to  take his gear  there in 15 minutes or so.. Max and Stiffy will be there,  for him to ounch in his numbers.

Then the headed to the people comign off the   boarding Tunnel, from the BU.

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

   Captain Morris  did  eyed the fellow  coldy, the fact that he didn't say anything   was a testament to   Roy and Shadow , and their  handling of such people.

  Most of you are from the  Baboon and Pitbull... Your aircraft has stayed with the Vessels you landed on,  the assault shuttles  went  to  those ships who lost  shuttles ... Troopers    You will find your  names in the Non-COm section, rooms are being cleared now... there are  sandwiches , cold drinks  and hot drinks near the scaffolding, LC  Shadow?

 Shadow stepped  up,  it was not a  hard core  Military stance  as he looked over the Pilots,we lost, over half  of the  'brand new, out of the box' piltos this last  jump off, and they were  on Home  defense...a few others  got  knocked  down  in  furballs. Normnally, new folks stay to guard the  ship, while   the Vets  go  and get dirty. This is  an 'all hands  on Dec'...thing. I will be giving a briefing , after i get the word from the Admiral. best get your heads  screwed on  right and tight, if you want to come back.

LT Sivk   stood  straighter, the Hyrian   spoke...I am here to fight and  Die  for the Hermes  and the APF....

 Grady Forbes  rolled his  eyes,  Shadow  stepped up to Grady,,Grady suddenly  stood straighter.LT Sivk?   Your  are ...NOT..here to  die for the hermes and the APF...As one  famous  Earth  general sad " you are here to make Angels  die for Paradise....

 The other pilots  looked as   though they were running that thought through their heads.  Shadow looked at Grady..grady was ram rod  stiff..I do not know what, in ,  Lt Sivk's statement  you found  distasteful, But by all the gods who were ever   thought up. You better get your ass with the program. I will not  tolerate  actions   that disrespect  ..ANYONE..  Grady Flinched. on this boat. You want to stay alive, then   you become a Hermite...the leash is  almost , non-existent , as  to how much you think you can get away with....

 Then, stepping back and looking  at the group as a whole.I won't  bother  to  spell out rules  right now, Those of you who survive, will get the rundown after this is over.

..........

 SGT Able   looked at Roy was the  SM  tore i8nto hi, The man's face  was red,  the other troopers  ,  stared  straight away, it was obvious, they knew the  drill  and  didn't want dragged into an idiot's  attempt to be funny. CPL  Talsh   cleared his throat and the  Sanri asked.

 will we  get to go  down on the planet? I wish to avenge   those  i served with On the Baboon...
........

 Zob  sat  the    troopers  on a carte by the last assault  shuttle. Orria  was up on the scaffold  working with Izzy.

 a voice  next to Zob, was Hemsly.....ya know. I got  me Bloody ass beat by the LC some 4 years ago..mabbe more? I  ain't never forgot that. I wished  i was never the guy who was pushed to 'see what they were made of"...not because i got me ass kicked, But because i am ashamed now, after seein' the Likes of you all in action.. even   Shade, showed me  alot.  Shadow nor Roy, ever  mention my ass beating... But The SM stopped Shadow short. of  sending be out of the serve...an' he didn't have some of the dumabsses who went throughthis boat... The SM and  LC..they are fed up...but here are always gonna be those  folks..right?

”Already done sir” Izzy responded before continuing her work for the requested five minutes, during which time she sent a quick message to Shadow informing him of the reinforcements that were arriving, before opening the comms channel so that Admiral Hack could speak with whoever it was from Paradise that so desperately wanted to speak with him.

 Meari was working on her armor and responded," That is excellent news, I told you he would pull through, you made the right choice. I will inform the others, my suit is almost fully repaired and reloaded."

 Lizzy was working on her fighter with her grounds crew, she couldn't believe Vosts disobeyed orders but saved the Hermes but paid the price with plasma. That was only for traitors like her father.

 Lizzy would look around too see was missing from the grounds crew and from the pilots, at least which fighters never came back. This one was going to be rough, it already was and there was more to come, unless they surrender. Lizzy would love to get married in a beautiful Paradise Garden.

 Once Lizzy's fighter was all set she heard a newbie Ens. Six is the one that blew up Vosts's plasma pod, she wondered if she should talk to her. Lizzy wanted to be more than just a pilot she wanted to be the best and lead them to victory. If she wanted to be considered a good leader she should check on the other pilots, plus it was the right thing to do.

 Lizzy walked around the Hanger Dec looking for the newbie Ens. Six, her blue max on display even in her armor.

”You did, yes, it is good you were correct” Tarja replied, relieved that Paskins would recover ”I am heading to tech lab to see if they can make something to patch suits, maybe team should meet for drink when we are dismissed” Tarja suggested, suspecting that they could do with the downtime after the pair of boarding actions.

After giving Meari enough time to respond if she wanted to Tarja would continue heading towards the labs, noting the fresh arrivals as she does so.

——> Tech Labs

 NA-CE made her way around the Hanger Dec checking on troopers, making sure no one was hiding anything so they wouldnt miss going to Paradise. She made her rounds and headed back towards the warroom area.

  Admiral Hack  waved  Hennigns  and Captain SI  over to the scaffolding to talk to the  screens.

 A Black Uniformed  Admiral was there.Good Evening, Admiral Hack... and Admiral Hennings? As well as the ever  beautiful  Nil Si..

 Nil Si-Hack

 The Admiral wave his  hand giving  a  chuckling smile.Yes , Yes , of  course. But  you know the ways of  our people, taking mates  where we see them...

 Hack   chuckled himself,Alright  BS-MK lets  get away from you lack of  female companionship  and get to what you called   about, I have a  few Million Metric tons  of
 ordinance to drop on your planet..so? lets  speed  this up. I  am axious to   see what [paradise looks like

 I'm afraid  we cannot  permit aliens on our  world, Adamirl, The Most   High would  wish to smite them

 Hennings  laughed out loud.

 Where is  'The Most High", or do i have to deal with his Balck Unifromed underlings?

 BS-MK  flinched at this, but tried to  stay even keeled.Admiral hack, we  both know the  cost will be high for both of us, and in the end, You will not Possess Paradise....You will be weakened  and  Qer La Cal  will loosed her navy on you.

  The Admiral   Nodded   with  a shrug,I have  considered  this scenario,  if that would happen, we would have to pPull Back to the delta  Quad, and  permit the Skith to have   all three , of the Paradise  Systems   worlds.

 BS-MK looked  surprised.

 what?  Turnabout is  fair play, is  it not? I we  cannot take Paradise , You can't possibly think we  would let you  alone and  rebuild?  No. we'll let the Skith  finish
 their collection of Paradise    worlds, and   they'll let us come to visit when we  like

 BS-MK didn't  say a word.

  Now? You can surrender, unconditionally,  and everyone, including  The Most High" over the rank of Captai  will be  sureedner to  The Fleet  for  execution...or? we  can come down there, we'll beat the hell out of   you, and , have less people to execute.

 Your crimes  against the Humans  and  the betrayal  of the APF  forces, has earned    Paradise  , the Hatred  of  The Black... This is the Day, BS-MK. They Day Paradise falls, one way or the other.

 You leave us no choice, But to fight...

   Hack smiles a dark smile,one chocie..... you don't  take it, it isn't my problems, when the Dust clears, there will  either be  APF folks ruling Paradise, or Skith.

 Then.. I will see you in Hell, Admiral...when should we expect you...

 anytime, now, as soon as  our  damaged  ships are  able to set up to shell you...I think they deserve  a pound of flesh....

 he waved his hand  to cut the  feed...

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

  The  Admiral   waved  for the MIC.ATTENTION, DELTA  FLEET. ON MY MARK WE START THE cOUND  DOWN CLOCK, FOR 6 HOURS.... EVERYONE EAT AND REST... WEARE ALL ABOUT TO SEE WHAT PARADISE LOOK LIKE.

"We will deploy where the Admiral feels we'll be the most effective, Corporal," Roy answered, without removing his eyes from Sgt. Able.  He paused a moment, boring into Able's soul with a thousand-light-year stare, then stepped back and began moving along the ranks of the new troopers.

"In this particular case, the odds are high that we will, in fact, be going planetside.  But no matter where the Admiral sends us, you will have plenty of chances to make Angels face the butcher's bill for what they've done, Corporal.  The Hermes is the tip of the spear...if the Angels have trouble, we'll be causing it."

The PA burst to life with Admiral Hack's announcement, and Roy nodded.  "Jump-off is in six hours and change.  That means you've got five hours to get your gear stowed in your new quarters, get something to eat, and maybe get a little acquainted with your new home.  Hopefully, most of you will survive to need that information, but we've already lost a lot of people, and I hope none of you are arrogant enough to assume that you deserve a better fate than them.  Fate doesn't do 'deserve', most of the time, and acting like Fate owes you anything at all is usually a fast path to a gruesome death around here.  Get that shit right out of your head, RIGHT NOW, if you've been dumb enough to let it start growing there.  Your best bet at surviving is understanding that you are constantly one sick twist of Fate away from death, and accepting it, and doing your best to make your life matter for something while you've still got it."  There was tired resignation in his voice, discussing issues that he'd been over more times than he cared to remember.

"Sergeant Wiscoff.  Report to Chief Ambermoon...she's in charge of the mech detachment.  She'll give you your assignment.  I'm not sure if there's an extra mech available currently or not, and if not, she may farm you out to someone else until such time as she has a mech available for you.  Be smart, don't bitch about it if she does.  None of us have the patience to deal with it, and we've all got more important ways to spend our time and energy."  He nodded to the Sergeant.

"Does anyone have any more CONSTRUCTIVE questions?" and his eyes locked on Able again as he asked it, daring the man to make a fool of himself again.

Justin took a break from loading rounds into  belts to tap away on his hand held Justin listened to the latest announcement. When it
ended he refocused on the hand held his fingers darting over the keyboard in a flurry
This message was last edited by the player at 04:26, Sun 16 Apr 2023.

   Shadow  had a Buzz on his COM, and Looked at it, then shut it off.all you pilots, go find your  quarters, I want you all back down here in 4  hours...

 Grady   stammered,  The Captain  said  we could rest and....

  Shadow turned on Grady,Did  he say how Long....Ensign?

 No..But  we need...

 what you need to understand, is the Hermes   is one Giant Gatling  cannon, and we are  all Rounds  on the Belt.... Regardless  of  how  self centered, or stupid  you may be...The Admiral would like you all to    Return, so he could load you up again... The SM  and   I are just bigger bullets. So , Ensign Grady, there will be a refurbished  fighter from the forge ship waiting  for you..you need to get down here. get familiar.. and get your   craft ready..

 That's the dec Crew's  job!

 Shadow lost it, and Not in a good way... He   Grabbed  Grady    buy the back of the Neck and Pointed  at the  scattered fighters all over the  Hanger  dec..some  had  one  person doing things, some had  3 or 4..some...had  no one...What do You see , Grady?

Grady was surprised A Shadow grip and the ease in  which he  pulled him..s..s..some  craft are getting worked on...

  The   Shadow   turned to the   Bow  wall where the most of the plastic bags were stacked...He shoved Grady into the Bags, it  took Grady  , only a second to realize  what was in the black bags.

 There are two Types of bodies in those bags, Grady... troopers  and  Dec Crew... they fought off  the boarders, and theses  folk weren't as lucky as others.....so? with the lack of dec  crews.. We  pilots have to help out..Load  some  belts, even load  our weapons. What you don't see.. are  bags for dead pilots.... the pilots you have come  here to replace are atoms in The Black..So.all pilots, report back here in 4 hours...

 The  Pilots started to pick up their gear

 Chuck Wheat  whispered harshly,what an ass hole....

 Sunny elbowed him, but just caught his arm.

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

   Stopping by the mechs.  SGT  Wiscoff  Put his bag down and saw  Chief   morgen , master chief  Ambermoon, and  Andruss  tending to mech Please to excuse? I am SGT  Balke Wiscoff. I rode  mechs.. buy we lost our   two we had. I am , new transfer.. SM, says   you would tell me what i can do..Da?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:05, Sun 16 Apr 2023.

 Lizzy  found  EN Six  seated  by her  aircraft, slowly   putting  rounds into  a belt. she  sniffed from time to time  as she worked, there were already  4  full belts  on the dec  by her.

In reply to hangerDec (msg # 120):

Kira who had been fiddle farting around at her desk looked up not expecting to see a new recruit of all things, "Not often we get fresh bodies here SGT, please come take a seat at my desk and will take care of the formalities" she said making a motion with her hands to the empty chair at her desk.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Sun 16 Apr 2023.

Finishing up with his belt Justin tidied up the ammo cases handing them to the available deck crew. Giving them an apologetic smile at not being able to be more useful Justin thanked them and headed to his cabin to get some rest and prep for the next assembly, and sending Alison a com lteeing her know about the change in available time.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:45, Sun 16 Apr 2023.

 Lizzy walked up to Ens. Six, " Hello Ens Six, I am Lizzy nice to meet you, Vosts was my wingwoman before she got in trouble. How are you doing Ens I heard you had to do something pretty rough." Lizzy sat down and started loading a belt as well as she waited for Six to reply.

  Wiscoff Nods  to Kira  as he  sits  down.I last  rode  Mech  for 1st  Jump off here.. My mech was lost in a counterattack by the  engine room, so i have been Rifleman

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

  En Six looked at   Lizzy, then back to the Belts...She was  screaming.. is was in pain  and callign, crying for help... they...they pushed her off the  Dec!... They told us  to  blow up he pod.....I couldn't handle the screamign...pleading..so i shot the Pod...

 Lizzy put a hand on Six's shoulder and sat next to her and replied," You did the best thing you could end her suffering, I heard the comms she saved the Hanger Dec but the plasma got inside, I have witnessed what Plasma will do first hand watching my father's execution, you did what every pilot here would want you to do. This war sucks but we have to do everything we can to win it, she was a hero and you ended her suffering." Lizzy spoke kindly, and caringly with a loving heart to Six, but also a little cold talking about the horrors of war.

In reply to hange (msg # 125):

Kira nodded as she wrote a few things down on her data pad, "How much experience do you have with the current model Gremlin mechs SGT Wiscoff?" she asked wanting to get a feel for how green he might be.

  Wiscoff shook his head,Never  got the   Master Chief. They were  being sent  down the line. Oldest  ships  first., There might only be  100 of them in the whole fleet at the Moment., Can't be too much differant they the Old  Guard..right>  Just have to learn  the balence  and controls.

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

 Six   just nodded......they just...pushed  her out into Black..like..like...trash.... then i had to shoot her...

 Nikki COMed   Lizzy, she was going to  spend  time with  Haely and Mitch in her  quarters.

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

  Shadow  walked away towards the aircraft to see which birds were hurt the worst.

 Grandy watched him go   as the trooper  and Pilot s   go ready to find their  quarters..Big Hero!.... throwing   pilots   into  the fire like   kindling..he doesn't give one  damn.... I'd like to see him  on the field with out that Oak Leaf on..

 Sunny says,will you shut the 9 hells up.. The static  field  isn;'t that far away..

In reply to hanger (msg # 128):

Kira shook her head a bit he was very green but she could work with that but there was next to no time to get him up to speed with only 6 hours before jump off, "Unfortunately they are quite a bit different much more streamlined with its weapon systems being interchangeable in the field and hydraulic systems" She then sent a request out to Rivets for permission to do a quick walkaround outside by the VIP landing pad to get the Rookie up to speed if he didn't get accustomed to the new mech he was likely to die when they hit Paradise.

The COM came back to Kira...aye, Take   him up to the  spine, do go down Hull, incase we get into action, ebfore time.

Kira read the message and stood up from her chair she was already grabbing her gear, "Sgt head over to the QM's and get your boarding armor then get back here on the double you will be taking spare Gremlin 3" she then pointed to which one that was before continuing, "We are going for a walk on the spine to break you in so double time it!"

She then looked over to Morgan and Andruss once the Sgt went to get his issue, "Suit up you two we going for a quick walk on the spine to break in the rookie" she then prepped her mech and secured her gear before climbing in the canopy.

  Andruss nodded, and  opened the   spare Gremlin he was using.

  Morgan   smiled  as  he slipped back into his armorMake sure he has a tether, He's not goign to know how  to react to those  jump jets.

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

 Shadow stalked through the fighters, he would stop  and check the   craft with no one on them, then ask question of those who had  more then one person working. he  walked  past the  aircraft that  Lizzy sat with  En Six. he watched  for a few Moments, then went to his  aircaft  to begin to load  belts Himself.


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

 Shade Got Supe to pull the  Angel steel Blade out of  his Armor.  Supe handed him the weapon back  and   Shade  bleeped  as his eyes  turned  green.

 Magin said,.... the Ambassador is   glad to have this, it is goign on the wall in his room where the  'one-eye' Blade   is.

Supe smiled,Just don't  collect too many  thigns like that. The Law  of  averages  can be  bent, but never broken.

 Lizzy tried to smile at Six and replied," Well they had to get the pod off the Hermes before the plasma spread, she wasnt trash she was unfortunately a casualty of everyone using plasma but us. It was a bad situation in this horrible war, she saved the Hanger Dec but because of the blast well you had to do a horrible thing. You made through and now we have another 6 hours before we go again. Are you going to ready and in the right mind to kick Angel ass Six?"

Roy overheard the exchange as the group dispersed.  "You really wouldn't, Ensign..." he commented drily, looking over at the pilot with an amused smile on his face.  "See how many kills are next to his name up there?"  Roy gestured toward the kill board, where Shadow's name was plainly visible at the top.

"That doesn't include any of his kills on the ground.  He's probably killed more men in hand-to-hand combat than the next five pilots, combined, have confirmed kills--and that doesn't include the large-scale incidents, that's just the up-close-and-personal, "dance on the point of my knife" stuff.  Pretty sure it would take him all of about five seconds to have you eating your own ass."

He nodded in the direction of the corporal who'd told the pilot to shut up.  "I don't know if she's actually just smarter than most of you, or if she's had enough experience to learn it...but you really want to try and get a clear picture of just who it is you're lookin' to pick a fight with.  If you live long enough, you'll learn that anyone in a position of authority on the Hermes earned that position with a lot of blood and sweat...and for most of 'em, the blood was someone else's.  Come find me on the Rec Deck sometime...if you survive long enough...and I can tell you some stories about the LC that'll give you a real pucker-check about pissin' him off."  He looked at Grady for a moment...then gestured for the Ensign to get on about his business.

  Six  sighed a bit , wiping her  eyes   with the wrists of her hands,I don't think i can get that out of my head, hearing her  screaming crying out for help... until...she was gone..

 I'll be ready when the Balloon goes up.

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

 Grady Looke d at  Roy with  sorta wide   Eyes, , Sunny grabbed him and Pushed him along, Roy could here  her says,That's a Marine telling  you, not to fight with  a Navy officer..how many Marines have you heard sat crap like that... Get you head on straight. You're  going to   be   in  a meat grinder  in  less the  6 hours...

They walked    up the walk way   and to  the lifts.

 Hennings  came over to Roy with a bit of a grin...You have to wonder what being  out   in space  does  to some  peoples  heads...

 oh? Roll just COMed from teh Balck Hanger.. Larry is  up

With everyone dispersing Zob found himself at a crossroads on what to do for the next 6 hours but one thing was for certain going home wasn't gonna be a option and watching the big screen down in the black hanger seemed like a suitable way to spend the down time, "Excuse me Rivets sir just figured you may want one of these for the victory party later on" he gave him the last of his Cuban cigars that he held in a storage case in one of his side pockets.

  Rivets looks at Zob, his face lights up, a big grin spreading across his face.well...Thankee, SGT  Zob...Ain't gonna  jix it though, I'll wait until the APF  flag is up on Paradise., Or  if the fleet breaks even, when  the Skith  raise their own flag.

  a call from the   Hanger  Bay  shouts, $  fighters, coming in from the forge ships!..

  Giving  Zob a pat,That gives us   8 countin' the other   pool craft. we'll have a  couple  after we get them new ones in theirs. Gott  check them out , make sure they are in good shape, but they have to be better them some of  our we are fixing up.... This is all Hands  on Dec laddie, Just like the one-eyed   planetstation.

 Lizzy looked at Six and replied," Yeah I dont think you ever ill, we all carry something like that through this war, it what happens after that defines you. Honor Vosts on the next jump off and kill as many of them as you can."  Lizzy gave her a pat on the shoulder and added," If you ever need to talk come find me ok."

 Lizzy knew Six was having a hard time with it being new and Lizzy thought Six might not make it on the next jump off, but Lizzy really wanted to help her deal with what happened.

 Lizzy smiled at Six and headed for the Board area looking for Admiral Hack.

In reply to hanger (msg # 132):

Once the Sgt returned with his issue Kira instructed him to get inside the mech and get ready to go, "When we get out to the static field you will be tethered to us for safety purposes until such a time where i feel you no longer need it" she then pressed a few buttons and her canopy lit up green, "Lets move out, we don't have much time to practice before the drop off"

She then lead the team out towards the spine of the ship so the rookie could get his feet wet.

-----> Kira and team to space 4

——> Tech Lab

”ok team on me!” Tarja would call as she entered the compound carrying the box of MF-13, which proved to be heavier than it had looked in the tech labs, wanting to address to the entire team…or at least those that were present. Setting the box down on her desk she would remove one of the cans and hold it up for them all to see ”This is MF-13, it is self-activating metal foam, and it is used for sealing holes in armour…each of you is to carry a can from now on for battlefield repairs” she said before giving them a brief explanation as to how the foam worked before continuing to address them ”…also you will notice when you respray suit that right gauntlet is now red, this is sign that you have seen combat, have been blooded, it is badge of honour and represents the blood you have spilled and blood of comrades that has been spilled…I am proud of you and I feel we have proved that we are soldiers to be reckoned with and are not novelty unit to be derided…now…prepare suits we have planet to take”
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Mon 17 Apr 2023.

In reply to hanger (msg # 137):

Zob chuckles as he turns to face the aircraft, "I always wondered what it would of been like if fate sent me down the pilots path instead" as quickly as the thought came he dismissed it, "Gonna be honest Rivets sir it feels a bit strange as a Demon to be in this fight ready to take paradise from the Angels"

  Rivets  turned  as Paradise  was  mentioned...You Know? the first Bunch of us that left earth to fight were  shoved into those   Angel transports. they took us to Moon base, we
 got  our gear, like fighters  and  mechs, and they took us to Mars..

 he  shakes his  head   as he turns back,They had Angel offciers  with us, and we weren't aloed to   use   Demon weapons.. once   we stated   knocking  Demons and Lizards  down, the Angels started giving us  heavy Pulse,  but we saw what hard ammo did, so  the  brass said we'd  use both

 Then, they started  Buildin' our ships... Admiral  Hack was just an LT, and  god Bumed up to Commander He done alot of sneaky things, bringing certain people aboard, we have a couple  aircraft that we shouldn't have  in The Black Hanger

 Them Angels.. they still said , only certain people  could come to their   planet, others..maybe some day.... well?  someday us here

Roy was about to respond to the comment about space doing stuff to peoples' heads, when Hennings continued, informing him Larry was up and about.  "Let Shadow know.  I'm headed down there."

He wasted no time, making a path across the deck towards the Quartermaster 'shack' and the Black Hangar entrance.

In reply to hanger Dec (msg # 142):

Zob nodded as he glanced out the static field, "I understand sir well you can trust me to give 110% down there... at the end of the day Paradise will be ours" he then gave a pat on Rivets shoulder, "I need to square away some gear for the jump off so ill see you in 6 hours sir"

------> To Tech Labs

 Meari sat with the AI group and listened when Tarja was done she responded," That is pretty cool, that should work well for emergency patching." Meari takes a can, stores it on her armor then says," Ok everyone we have like 5 hours before we invade Paradise get some rest, food, whatever you need this will be a hard fight."

Having given her address, such as it was, Tarja would leave the team to get whatever repairs were required done before they left to get something to eat and some rest in the time they had left. Having only received cosmetic damage to her suit and already installed a new drum of ammunition Tarja would get up and head over to where Meari was ”I am thinking of getting drink and something to eat on rec dec, would you like to join me?” she asked, with Andruss having disappeared with his mech sometime between her heading towards the tech labs and getting back. She also felt that she should try and get to know Meari a little better, with the Udenese woman having several similar traits to her own.

Endre   sat down by  Shadow  as  he helped load a belt, and he was giving a  rundown on the  fighters  that were being repaired. He  said that Rivets would   check out the  New ones before   Captain Morris  started to hand out  Numbers.

  Shadow got a COM  from Admiral Hennings  , about Larry and   got up...Larry's up, I gotta go see him,...

 I'll finish these up, then i'm doing a fighter by fighter check on powercells..

Shadow to Balck Hanger>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 Meari smiled at Tarja and replied," I would but Tarja the Rec Dec is closed down during jumpoffs, the power cells and fires used for cooking could cause serious damage in a fight."

 Meari got up and added." They do have sandwiches and drinks over by the Warroom. We could go there got something and chat Tarja."

Tarja would sag slightly at Meari’s response ”so much for getting hot meal” Tarja sighed before silently adding well…at least it’s not MRE’s with her nodding in agreement to Meari’s suggestion of a sandwich and a chat ”ok, let’s go” she said before heading towards the scaffolding tower.

They would walk about half way before Tarja broke the silence and started talking, with her naturally veering towards the topic of work as a starting point ”Planetary landing is to be tough…especially with two down, hopefully they let us operate with mechs and not split us up…are you knowing what Paradise is being like, you ever been there?” she asked curiously, with it clear that she was interested in hearing more than the tactical details. After all this would only be the second alien planet she had visited.

 Meari smiled ad replied," They have a gama wave they could heat up a hot sandwich possibly." Meari walked with Tarja and when she spoke Meari listened and responded," Yes this one will be rough, yes I hope they keep us together. No I have never been to Paradise, I dont think they like non Angels visiting."

Izzy would wander down from the tower in search of something to eat and a drink, stifling a yawn as she went. With the others away and uncertain as to whether she was permitted to leave just yet she decided to make it quick, with her asking for a chicken sandwich, or at least what she assumed was chicken, and a very black cup of coffee. After receiving her food she would give the girls at the food tables a weary smile and a thank you before turning to return to her station.

There was a disappointed but understanding look on Tarja’s face as she was told that Meari had never been to Paradise. That not many people were allowed to visit at all, something that she found utterly baffling ”well…maybe they let us have downtime on planet after invasion?” she suggested, though it would be an entirely different experience to that of their time on Bura where they were hailed as liberators, not conquerers as they would be here. Nonetheless visiting Paradise would be an experience like no other.

After queuing up behind a truly tiny and decidedly frazzled looking woman in what must be custom made armour, Tarja would get herself a sandwich and a cup of coffee before looking for somewhere to sit down and enjoy their meal ”Andruss thinks I should make sketchbook for after war, he says that people would like to see my drawings but I am not sure if he is only saying that because we having sex?” she would say in an uncertain tone of voice as they walked towards a stack of crates near the base of the tower.

" Yes we might be able to look at whatever is left after the shelling. Dont expect a very warm welcome after we just took their planet." Meari got a sandwich and some water and found a place to sit with Tarja.

 Meari smiled and replied," Well that sounds like a great idea may I see your drawings Tarja, and I will tell the truth."

 Lizzy walked up to the board and said mainly to Admiral Hack but to all the board that was there," Sirs this has been bothering me, if plasma has been outlawed by everyone why are we the only ones NOT using it in combat. Everyone we fight they use plasma, look what happened to Vosts."

 When NA-CE was done checking everyone still on the Hanger Dec, she decided to head to Med Tech to restock her medical bag for the landing on Paradise.

---------->>>>>>>>>> To Med Tech

”Yes, I suspect we’ll be keeping our own company” she replied, imagining that their leave would be confined to whatever beachhead or forward base they had and that the locals would be kept away by armed sentries, with shopping and sampling the local cuisine being well and truly off the menu.

When asked by Meari if she could see her drawings there would be a slight pause, with Tarja still a little surprised that people wished to see what she had always thought to be sketches made for her own benefit and enjoyment, before she carefully placed her coffee down beside her and fished the sketch she’d shown Andruss from out of her pocket ”I have better sketches back in quarters…this was done whilst diagnostics was running” Tarja explained as she held the sketch out for Meari to take. Drawn in black biro on a scrap of paper torn from a spiral notepad, the sketch was a little rough and ready but clearly showed the view out of Tarja’s cage; with a pair of male figures working on mech, Tarja’s improvised desk with its clutter of tools, manuals and paperwork, and a very tall, muscular, female figure, that was most likely Meari, carrying a drum of ammunition ”so…what do you think?” she asked after a few moments before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

After being shooed from the Med by Steffi Justin strolled over to the Buffet and commed 'Care for an impromptu Snack' to Alison

 Beth  came  running  down the    taped walk  way, ,Thanking herself  for  getting rid of heels as he   Deck  shoes   added    down the  ramp way to the Scaffolding.

   Admiral Hack!... I am getting a  feed   from  those  Angels  who  do not  follow  the  Most  High... their code name is  'Fallen Angels"

Hack turned  and  mumbled,,, Of  course they are... Put it one all Screens

  The Most High, sat on a throne..and  he spoke of   Barbarians and  Unbelievers    coming to defile Paradise...he droned on about Angels   fighting for thier lives, and  the planet... scenes  from  the  Skith attacks  On  Paradise 2  and 3 were graphic.  battles deaths and even executions... It  was a dark time for  both worlds..

 Then and  Angel  whon had Blue and green lines   pained on his  face... split the screen... even as  The Most High droned on..he showed Picture of   Angels beging given weapons, some of the  captured   Demon weapons.. the angles  were very old, some  very young  as the Vid  came  zoomed in on the innocent faces who...really..had  no idea  what was going on.

 if you can hear me , Admiral Hack...please  save is from The Most High... The Angel Marins  and Navy will fight... but when you   come to the  surface,, The Most high will  have  everyone  with weapon try to   kill yiou all, which means.. you wil have to kill them... Admiral.. My  name    is  KA-NE... i   lead those  who would be fee... we  try to send the  to the Moons....Please..Admiral.. you must save us  from  slaughter...

 Hack frowned  and Looked around the  scaffold.. there was  still 2  hours before  Jump off...

 he waved to Orria   who opened the  ALL-COMs. ALL HANDS FLEET WIDE.... PLEASE  LISTEN TO THE BROADCAST WE ARE ABOUT TO MAKE..... 

 Hernes..... all crew  who will be in the invasions report to the   Hanger Dec... Troopers  seek out  SM Spenser.. Pilots  , Report to LC  Shadow....

  Beth send    Sam a COM....hey..Chikie, if  you can sit, and your fingers can move..get down here.

 .......................

  Hack  got    the Ladies to sent the Broadcast.. ready.How long can you  feed through thier Newworks...

 with us  three?.. maybe  40 minutes.. if san comes  down, maybe   an hour... we can only Modulate  so many things  from up here... if we were on the surface,  we could take it over...

 We may have to do this.....  show the  APF/ESN  insignas , play KA-NE's  Plea and the Vids..... Then i will  give   them a speech...of sorts..

 Already done... Lets get  thisnLadies, time's running out

From Observation Dec

When the doors opened on the Hangar Dec, it wasn't hard to spot the flight suits of the other assembled pilots. Madison tapped Ra'Na'Ta's arm.

"Over there. You'll probably get your assignment now."

She proceeded to the pilots group waiting for Shadow's instructions.

From Observation Dec

Ra'Na'Ta' nodded and followed her. He could feel the excitement and energy coursing thru him. He took a few breaths to calm the hunting spirit in him. It was not time yet, for that. He stood next to Madison and waited.

-------->>>>>>> From Officer Quarters

 Sam came limping onto the warroom she walked up  and said," Lt. Robertson reporting for duty." Sam put her weapons down by her desk, and went to work. Her left shoulder was sore but she would get through. She took over her comms and gave everyone the thumbs up. Sam would be fine as long as they weren't attacked that is.

  Frans  was   Gathering the Pilots  bu  Hanger  door  3 , the stern most  doors on the hanger

   The  Six  and the couple pilots  left from her   group sat  together on the Dec, The  New guys   where in a clump by themselves as well.

 Raven  Talked  with  frens   as she  waved pilots  , and Indicated   them to sit

 Captain Morris and the   Board  Gathered by the scaffolding,  Shadow  , Roy , Roll and the Larg Unit   came pouring out of the   lifts  like  some one   knocked over a  box  of  pet geckos.

  Shade  and Dusj were  sitting   by the   food tables

 Hack  just pointed at the screens   as they played    KA-NE's  vid... when it  was   done, he asked  beth...How Long do i have?

  from  this seconds.. 38 minutes...

 If  I don't  finsih fast enough,  Cue me at 5, so you can disconncxt  and it will look  like  we  Chose to... I'm ready... cue me..

 Beth checked the other Ladie s and said......3....2....1  you're on...

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

 The Vid you have all saw, is from your own people. I have no idea why they sent  this... But  let me tell you what is going to happen..AGAIN... Shortly.. there is  going to be a rain of ordinance , that  Paradise  has  never before  seen....Then, our people will come... they will come  to  kill  any Angel who stands  against u


 Those Pictures of lf kids  and Kids? That's  not going to stop us. when   you  Knowingly signed up  to  join the empire, where that same  kid  would be  on a platter. screaming  for you to stop hurting him..

 He nods his head slowly...On earth? we  would say 'tough shit'... You don't get to terrorize the rest of The Black for thousands of years, and  not have to pay the piper... we are the  debt  Collectors ..and  we are taking full payment

 I want the  Most High, and everyone in his inner circle  delivered to me, Dead or alive

 if there is  are 'fallen Angels"  Mark yourselves  and  help is get rid of the Elite, and any other   foes  of the APF..Non Combatants .. mark yourselves as well..but don't  betray that  gift. Nivar did that, and  every enemy we have faced  has  paid the price.

 for those  innoccent who are about to die, You have my regrets...but it can't be anyworse, then laoding yur own poeple onto transports  and sent  at Tribute , to the Demons.. I'll be seeing you soon...

 he signaled  Beth Cut the main feed.. 7 minutes  to spare,

 Hack   lookedm over the railing  at Roy and Shadow...sort out   you people..its  summer  time where we are going.. Shadow? remind them , this is atmo..

"Do we have a specific target, Admiral?  Or are we just being sent down as general skirmishers?" Roy asked.  "The answer impacts how I sort my people out and what assignments I give them."  He glanced over at Beth and added, "Can you arrange some general intel for me, updated for the bombardment and its effects?  So we know more or less where we're going and what kind of terrain and environment we're going into.  Need to know if I can use snipers, or if I just need to equip them as riflemen...and if I'm using snipers, where to deploy them and how to protect the area."

Henry and Mila were, as usual, with the largs. He moved amongst them, checking them over and making a fuss of them, especially Larry. Mila capered around wagging her tail.

Izzy had just about returned to her station when the message from Paradise arrived, with her giving her sandwich a longing look before beginning to work on getting the feed up and running with Beth. When Sam arrived Izzy would offer a weary smile as her friend limped back onto the tower and took her seat.

     Hennings   Brought over his  Vid Board..  Hack   jumps down from the railing to  stand  with them , as Henning begins. Shadow grabbed  anther sandwich as he  watched the board and  Listened.

  From what we have seen, thus far, and it  cost us  a shauttle  and  a  fighter,  as we flew   two of each  for recons.... other   Flagships   are doing, or have  done, the   same thing...

 Major  cities  are  build    round  with high walls... don't know why they needed walls...but they have them...near as we  can tell, they a roughly 20  feet high.  Doesn' matter   much, when you can drop troops in with  shuttles.

 he brings up a map that shows  Beautiful trees, and a  wide   sparling   blue river. he  adjusts the  view  so the City is in the Middle...

 This is   Jerl, The Capitol city. We think  The Most High is  Hiding in there, and we assume , below the  surface. Captain Si says, there are extensive passages  and  such  below all the  cities,  , thier  Industry  runs  underground, to help preserve the  environment. There are, indeed   factories  and such  on the surface, but they  seem to be in  , more barren lands. Since Captain Si is the  Only Angel on this boat  from  Paradise, we have to  assume she knows what she is talking about. he smiled a bit at  Admiral Hack  who nodded with a slight smile.

Now , there is a mountain  range , with   this  divide  here.. The  City was
 build   , so that the River splits the  place in two, we assume the water and Solar are the main drivers   for energy  , they use  for  their power , of  all sorts.. The river is roughly  a mile  wide, The Circumference of the city is  close  to 8 miles. ... Now...with Jerl as the center of the  clock  face... the  river  runs   from 9:00, to 4:00... The Mountain range  runs  from 7:00... You  will not   it has   4  roads at the  North , south  , east and West .. those  are  wide roads...on earth...maybe  20 lanes... don't know why the need  roads that wide. But the  the views  we have  show them to be , in near perfect shape...

 Rivets speaks up...well  them   roads  and the round  cities.. its almost like they are giving us a  Bulls  eye  fer  the ships's guns..

 Hack  nodded,This cities  must have  been built the way there  were, going back  100's of 1000s  of years. when they , may have fought  each other, like we do on earth, and  Hover cars still need   ways to   drive... they aren't very good at  going over Mountains.

 Hennings shrugs  and   agrees, then  he  has two  yellowish   squares  one at  3:00...one at 10:00 These? are bases... from what we can discern  from the  recon  pics,  the one at 10 :00  Is   the Marine  base.... the other at 3:00  is   an airbase... again, what recon pics  we git show everything  from fighters  up   a strange aircraft, they call Gunboats... we are trying to find out  more  about the Gunboats.. our  Prisoners, Not  including AP-LO, have  said they are   Four  Man aircraft  with   twin Heavy pulse  guns fore and aft  and  to each   side.. The Pilot  fires  the   guns on the  bow, there other  three crew are Gunners ..They could make  life  miserable  for  Cap ships,  . Destroyers, sloops and Corvettes   could be  brought  down by them, depending   on where they attack and how much of a  pounding they dish out.. they are  rather   Long, we assume they can carry
 bombs and such. They have never seen  deep space , because  their  size   isn't worth the space for having less  fighters. They  do   send them into space, so we can expect to see them harassing the Cap ships.

  each ship should  Keep a  flight of   fighters for home defense then...I should think?

 Hack's  half  smile    agreed  with  Captain Morris,Nil said, that they have  small outposts  along  the    mountains. by small they are  taking, between  100-400 troops  with some  shuttles thrown in, they have   walls as well, and they have  armor. She  said, the 'tnaks"  for  want of a beter  word, are a big bigger then  our  Panzers,  they have no smaller one,  but armor  cars  are about the size of our Stuarts. The   armored  cars  use heavy wheels, the  Tanks  are Hover capable, though? how  high they can get in the air is unknown

 Hennings  Looked at  Shadow  who ahd  just taken a  bit of his   club sandwich.. he frowned  at the LC..

 I'm listening, Sir..gott  eat now so i can address my pilots  while they  eat..

 Hennings  shakes his head  with a bit of a smile..here  are two things  we don't know...  how many AA  guns are stationed  about, and  how many Ground troops   they  can send at us.... one would think they are Infinate? But i don't think so... sooner or later  they might  just  have some ones Granpa  with rifle and soem  kid with a slingshot..

 The other thing  we do not know,  is ....if.... There  are  'Fallen Angels". That Vid  we got, i reapted  over their  airwaves   for two reasosns... one? ist to show   everyone down there, we  recived it, the  second is  to get them to contact us. Now? This is the most important thing    you two have to convey  to you people..... we have to give the  'fallen Angel" things  a try. If they prove false? then we'll be stackign alot more bodies  they any one , ever, in the History of  The Black... if there is a resistance group, like this. Not  only , can they  add to our  manpower, but it will give us people to put in place  ocne  we take over

 I say?   What  should happen if  we are repelled...

 Hack looked up , his  eyes  cold m his face grim.Then we shells  that ball of  dirt, back to whatever stone age they had.. and?  if this  does not work out to capture  Paradise Prime. They  we  give it to the Skith..

 Hennings looked uneasy.

 Paradise   2 and 3 are a horror  show. The  Skith have a deep, deep  hate  for the Angels, that boarder on their hate for The Qarl..They won't  wipe  the race out  completely, but there aren't going to be  enough of them to sail The  Black on a whim. Should  we   conquer  Prime,  we will set  folks  and place and have a military Prescence. but we will also have  Angels in the Government , and we will dissolve their   treaty with  the Empire...  Angels from Prime will be  permitted  to do commerce  and such. but they will be  watched, very closely....but? we have a ways to go

 here it is , by the Numbers then...

1.... shelling   bases, the city  and the  Mountains,  there are two  ships  per major  city.

2...  Fighters    go  down to try to clean up as many    aircrafts  as  they  are able and secure  a Cap over  a  beachhead..

3... Shuttles  will be launched the same time the  fights  launch, then , they will proceed to an area  we will mark later, once we see the safest place is to set up.

4... once the beach heads  are secure. Ground  troops  will move towards the  cities,  which?  we hope  will be battered  enough to  have  us  attack  with out  a sustained  siege

5.. Because of the River.. we have  two  Cap ships  attacking the same   city, One from the North, one from the south. Bronberry's  troops  will come in from the north, ours, from the south . What nwe hope to do, is flush those  who do not want to  fight... to the east and west...
6... needless to say, this won't be clean... you will have  people who want to surrender.. you'll have   zealots who  will try to take as many of us  with them , as they are able, ..and you'll have the poor  folks in the Middle...who want to protect their   homes, and their lives. However this ends,,, one thing you can be certain, anyone who is  a friend of Paradise, will hate us  with a passion, and those who  hate  angels, , we will be the Biggest  heroes   in The Black.

 That's the best we  got.... Get your  people fueled  and ready

s everyone broke off,  The Admiral approached  Henry.Ok? Doc. If   we win this thing, you'll have   so downtime to explore, however, if we fall on our  face., you might never  get to see it... do you want to go down with the assault teams? or do you want to wait  Until the  all the noise stops.

 Shadow  had   half is sanwich helf  and a fesh can of soda... he  walked over to the Gathered  Pilots.

  before i begin, get a sandwich and a drink... we don't know  how long we are going to be  in our  aircraft, when you are ready, I'll start the briefing, but don't take too long... The Balloon is going up sooner then we thing.

   pilots    scurried to the   tables, while others had foreseen this  and where already eating, even if not hunger  at the moment.

Henry considered.

"It's more a case of can I be useful during the assault? If Mila can help, or I can help with managing the largs, then I'll go."

Given that they may be in for a marathon haul, Madison walked over and picked through the sandwiches to see which she would like the best. She said to Ra'Na'Ta', "Pick a good one. This might be our last meal, so get something you'll enjoy the most." She was very selective with the limited selection. Once she had one she liked, she waited for Ra'Na'Ta' to return to listen to the LC

  As the  pilots    sat  dow on crates or the  Dec, Shadow    Punched up things  on his  Vid Board , transferring it to  the  Vid  screen  above the   door., he  crumbled up the  wrapper  and  tossed it out the  static     field  and wiped his   hands on his   thigh armor.

 right?  So lets start off  easy... We are going into  Atmo....Atmo means Gravity.... it also means , storms,  mountains  and  sun, and  clouds.. You screens will be  very important. You have to  keep your  wings as best you can.  You take hits? there is going to be more of  an effect o your fighter... wings  will have less stability  when they get holes  in..Flame outs or damage to your  engines  mean you  might have to crash Land..... he turns to Frans...

 Carole? What  do you do  when you are going  down....

 Frans stps up, looking at the other  pilots  as a school teacher might  do..didn't matter if they were from the ' first 24'..or  brand  new with the tags still on.

 When You are going  down,    You head  for the reach  area... there  will be  columns of Blue   smoke at  the Beachheads... that is were we  will land to relaod,  get food  and rest...  In the   cash, yoru  aircaft  won't  make it, you get as low  as you  are   able,  Pull the Pod   Cords   and make  sure you  Pod  is facing  towards  'our lines"  the ejection will   send you  100 to 500 yards   away from your aircraft... you get out... Get you  Kit.. Hit  your COM track button  and run like the nine hells towards out lines. she stepped back,  Shadow  spoke again.

 All you  who have  run the Tunnel run? You know you can do it...Run when you can, fight when you have to, but always  he to the Blue Smoke... you reach ground troops, they'll pass you along to get you to the beachhead... you report in  and  we'll see about another  aircraft

 He looked  at his   Vidboard, then up...If you can land your  fighter,  they climb up... But  set a grenade with the   pin out  and  wedged   where  the power cell is, behind the Jump seat, then close  the  canopy to about  2 Inches...Recover  teams understand this, and they will know  how  to  get in with out  setting off the grenade...enemies  will open the  cockpit, that  causes the  Jump seat  to  slide back, the grenade  will set off the power cell, and the  aircraft will blow...  it leaves a crater  about  3  feet deep and a blast radius close to 100 yards..

 we  know nothing   of the plants and animals down there... we know  there are stuff we can eat, and stuff  we can't Captain Si isn't even versed  very well, because she was  sent  away from earth with her  father, before she could walk.. Just assume  anything you see can kill you, and we'll sort out the rest through trial and error. But I know this? and its a fact... if you see a creature, animal or  bug, and you aren't sure.. Kill it... dead thing can't hurt you.

 IF!..... something happens  that  a creatures seems to want to communicate to you..then let it  live.... Gava and Naragrans have proven to be  smarter then most  other species  who used them  for  food...

 now?  Our  Job, is to   head down when the shelling  ends.... we  will Knock down   fighter, shuttles.. Anything with the  Angel insignia  on... there  are two bases  in our  AO... we  will strafe  them... 4  roads   lead into that circle there on the screen?... we want to  control that  south Road...Athena's people  will try contain the North  road... the east and west roans  lead to the bases... we are hoping  troops and such will try to escape  to those bases, and we can finish them  , either on the way, or once they get there. We have to sweep the   Mountains..we'll be responsible  for those   to the  south...There are outposts, spottign devices  and   AA  in those mountains,  so we'll blow up  what we are able...we'll be in the air  Until dark...so  get what rest you can now, but stay on the hanger dec..

 One last word, for tactics.... This is Atmo... You need to  have  height.. don't  let an enemy  force you too low, the plane  will kill you as easy as  an enemy Fighter., or AA gun.... for those of you who use the Shadow  screw, We know   Angels  break off  left and right, Not  High and Low, as the Empire  do, but...incase they have  'guest fliers'.. you leave the  one  that dives or  goes low, take out the aircraft that goes high Our  AO   is  to have good weather  for  the next 24-36 hours... but  cloud cover will probably come in during the night. Its been a while since  any of us  fought in rain or  snow.


   when we hit  Atmo,   we'll fly  as a flight  to do our strafing and such. if we end up in dogfights, then you break with you  wing.. Flight leaders   can fly Solo, but its  not recommended   to do for very long... I hope to  get alot of them  to chase me... if you see me being the Pied piper and you don't have a target... feel free to knock them down....another thing..Listen to  the COM chatter.. if you hear our  ground folks needing help, then you report it and  break off to help them.. Its amazing  what a pass or  two from a fighter plane , can do to enemy troops..Those  Of you who don't have  your Numbers  yet, Sit  tight. Captain Morris and I will finish things up in a moment...any questions?

Justin sat on a crate with the others of C. Listening to the brief as he munched on a stack of sandwiches. Occasionally pausing to take a sip of hot chocolate.
This message was last updated by the player at 00:08, Sat 22 Apr 2023.

 Lizzy grabbed another sandwich after she went to the bathroom and got some more water as well. She took a seat and listened to the LC.

 Lizzy understood the plan and yes flying in atmo was a lot different then in the black. Lizzy nodded at the LC when he was finished, she then headed over to her fighter when she was done with her sandwich and did another check of it.

 Meari smiled and looked at the sketch, she giggled at her likeness and replied," I think it is very good Tarja you have some talent, I would love to see more after this jump off. I agree you need to make a sketch book to keep them I think you could sketch how the APF/ESN really acts." Meari smiled and handed back the sketch obviously very impressed with Tarja's sketches.
This message was last updated by the player at 23:59, Fri 21 Apr 2023.

Ra'Na'Ta' nodded to Madison and grabbed 3 huge chunks of steak. He stood there listening as he chewed on the meat. He nodded from time to time with the comments and understood what was expected. He knew he had to wait, but a thought struck him and he stepped forward. "Sir, This one would like to know will they use ppprrrisonerrrs as shields and do we still strrrafe?"

  Shadow   looked at  Ranata, he gave a shrug,whatever Humans  and APF  folks they may or may not have down there. Well? there  are  almost certainly, considered Dead. Those humans the blow up in those 'limbo Ships', they  weren't  just grabbed  yesterday.... the Bottom line is this. We are  going to  take that ball of  dirt, and if we can't, the Skith will finish the Job.. The only prisoners  i will try to save, is if  they use fleet prisoners, and even at that, we have to  weigh  and measure the cost..if we...even one time..alow  an enemy to use  an innocent as a shield, then there  will be  1000's  and 1000's used  from that point onward. If they know , that we won't  pause...that we will strike, then they will lose that much more hope...It is Harsh, but it the type  of  war  we've  been handed, and  By every god  that was  ever thought up..we  will make certain, we are better at it then them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:21, Sat 22 Apr 2023.

Ra'Na'Ta' nodded understanding and stepped back. He knew that what he said was true and that there could be no weakness shown.

 There was  a  beep on the speakers

 Attention, this is Captain Morris. The   Flights  have been set.. please check the  flight   boards  New Pilots , check you numbers.  it  deeped off.

  Shadow called  out.You heard the  Man,  Fledglings  Check your  Number, find your flight, and   everyone , wing up if you don['t have a  wing already..

At Captain Morris' announcement, Madison tapped Ra'Na'Ta' on the shoulder. "Come on. The assignments are up. I'll show you where they're posted." Leading him to the flight board, she read down the list, tracing along with her finger.

"Woot, look at that. You're with me. Ensign Ra'Na'Ta', Flight B. High five." She held up a hand. "I'll wing with you if you want."

 Sam had smiled at Izzy and said quietly to her," I will be ok I am just sore as hell, but you guys need me for this I will be fine Izzy."

 Sam listened to her comms then began scans of the planet and the bases they where going to hit and looking for juicy targets to hit from space to demoralize the Angels. Sam also sent out her decryption to try and find any hidden Angel comms.

”Thank you, I always used to sketch to pass time and relax…never considered it possibility of career” Tarja said as she took the sketch back from Meari and returned it to her pocket, clearly surprised and just a little overwhelmed by the praise. With the fact that Meari said her work was good carrying more weight than Andruss as Meari didn’t strike her as the kindof person that would lie in order to massage someone’s ego.

When the Admirals announcement came Tarja would quietly listen from where she was sat with her coffee and sandwich, concentrating on his description of the terrain in and around the city ”This is going to be painful…roads will be death traps, mountains will be tough to crack as will soldiers in underground…yes…this will be painful” Tarja quietly said to Meari once the admirals had finished speaking and the pilots had departed for their own briefing. Sighing she would finish the last of her coffee before getting to her feet ”Come on, it is time we speak with Sergeant Major and learn where we are going and what he wants of us” she said signalling that she wanted Meari to come with her as she walked over to Roy ”Sergeant Major I wish to speak to you concerning upcoming operation and what role Armoured Infantry are to play” she would politely ask once Roy had acknowledged her presence.

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 179):

Ra'Na'Ta' followed along and when she said they were in the same flight he was surprised. He placed his hand within her reach for the high five. "This one would be honorrred to be yourr wing. This one is surrpprrised. Did you loose ppilots in the last fight, which is why This one is in yourr flight now?"

”I know…just…don’t push yourself too hard ok?” Izzy quietly said offering her friend another weary smile as she carefully unwrapped her sandwich ”…Lizzy being out there causes me enough stress without me having to worry about you too babe…I’m going to start going grey!” Izzy exclaimed with a bit of a giggle, though the look in her eyes said she wasn’t entirely joking.

 Meari smiled and replied," You are very good, I think this sketch is great and cant wait to see more Tarja, you do have talent. I think you know me well enough I only speak the truth." Meari's cold combat voice lightening up a little, as she spoke to Tarja, who she considered a friend.

 " Yes that is all true, I think the biggest thing is how bad the shelling hurts their defenses and the command structure they have left as well. No one said taking Paradise would be easy but I believe we can do it." Meari said moving more towards her cold combat voice again.

 Meari got up and responded, "Yes I will accompany you to talk with the SM, I do wonder what he has planned for us, love to go after the Arrogant asshole in charge if we can find out where the coward is hiding." Meari followed Tarja to talk to Roy, she waited for Roy's response to Tarja's initial question before adding anything.

 Sam giggled and replied," I am sitting at a desk typing and listening to coms, and running scans I dont think my wounds will affect my performance in those tasks in any way but if we are boarded again, I will take over comms and you shoot now my wounds will affect my shooting, fighting and running away abilities. So unless we are boarded I will be just fine Stefi patched me up pretty good." Sam then concentrated on her comms, scans and her attempts to find any hidden messages or bases on Paradise.

 Lizzy finished her final checks and then found a place close to her fighter to get some rest as they awaited the time to go and take Paradise.

In reply to Ranata (msg # 182):

"We lost pilots all over the place, but I think they just moved some around. Don't second guess it." She shrugged. "Come on. We have to do our inspections. I took some minor damage in the last round. It was no bug deal, but I need to double check every system. This is going to be a long fight and we're probably going to get beat up a little."

Madison went over to her Skeeter. "Mine's right here. I'm going to do the external checks. Where are you parked?"

Zob stood there and listened to what Hack had to say before nodding and finding a spot by the food table to wait for the word to mount up he was already geared and ready to go as he sipped on a soda.

In reply to Madison Rae Perry (msg # 187):

Ra'Na'Ta' nodded and followed. "This one as well took a few shots, but nothing that This one worrries about. This one is just two down frrrom you overrr herre." He pointed at his ship and he made his way over to it. The ship had a few odd holes in it, but nothing major, with no leaks. He had hoped that they reloaded his armament or he would need to deal with that. He slipped his arms back into the flight suit and climbed in, then began to do the system checks.

  Shadow called  all the Pilots  together  as the  saw the  Plante  below, starting to get Bigger in the   Hanger  Bag  doors.

  Shadow Pointed to the  Planet What you are seeing, is  every single Delta  Fellt ship is   Positioning to shell the planet ... Every ship, the Damaged ones  have    Moved up to be Gun Platforms, they will also use thier Fighters   as home defense  for the  Fleet, because there is no way in the  9 hells  those Angel Caps ships  are  going to   'just watch, The torpedo  craft in outs   fleet as well as destroyers , corvettes and sloops  are   going  to Harrass The Angel Vessels

we have captured  some  Angel vessels, they will also be used  as  Gun platforms, to shell their own world. EVERYONE...down there know what's  going to happen in  about  30 minutes....so  we aren't surprising  anyone

 Now... we got  2 kinds of  NFGs  here... we got  fresh packed  pilots from the  Astra..and we got some  pilots  who  survived their  ships  being  killed...Now You will note your Number on your tail Fin.... that's  your  number...it  will follow you to   the Void
 when you die..

 Grady  asks..why can't we  Pick our Numbers.. we did on other ships...

 I'll Tell you why, MR...Grady... We were first, Not the gods  be Damned hades, to  strike  the Demons, of the   God Class Cruisers   launched... so.. the  1st 24  picked a  Number  from 1 to 24..and  the numbers  were added  for each new  pilot...It will stay that way, until The Hermes   dies.... But i want you all to understand, the  1st 24... we were on this  boat, when it  slipped its moorings   from the orbital finishing  Docks.. Now... we have been out here   for a tad  over  6 years...so?  don't  be thinking  you know more then us...for that matter, for  anyone who has   double digit Fin  numbers.

 Its  a hard  life out there, once  to  slip through the Static  field, and no matter how cocky, or how  good    you think you are...that life out there is  Cold  and heartless....Isnt  that Right, Ensign  Six?

 Her  eyes   got  wide , then narrowed ...her eyes  wet and red.

 I;m Sorry Ensign Six? I didn't hear your  answer, the   other NFGs  want to know?

 Shoulders heaving and tears  dripping  down her cheats.. she  gritted  and Teeth  and launched her self s  at Shadow... Shadow  , effortless   leaned    and put a shoulder  into her, Lifting her off the   Ground as she pounded  his   back and Kicked her legs...

 they are  waiting for the  Answer   Sis... is it not   cold and hard out there...

 She  stopped  and was sobbing...YES!!! yes...all the gods  be damned... yes....

    Shadow  put her   down on her  feet.. she tried to Kneel, guy he forced  her to stand... she looked at him , chest  heaving... a wounded , yet hopeful  gaze at him. he didn't  take his arm from around her, so her knees  couldn't betray her...

 His  Voice  was softer now, but  carried...we hada Pilot... En Vosts.. she almost washed out  on E-1.. her  nerves gave out... we had a few of them over there years... Vosts  went out, thought she was supposed to be  grounded... she  stayed with The Hermes... that was good..right?  and  extra bird in the  air... but the   fucking angels  used   plasma   fire  ships, to try and  destroy the    Hermes ...  we were spreads thin,  and some got through the outer  ring, while some of us   protected the  boarding parties... She  came off the   spine... Gun  CAMs  show she missed her  first shot.. and she got closer.. she didn't  Miss  and PODed out , almost as soon as   she  pulled the  trigger... she aimed her Pod   to the hanger, as  you should do  when you can... but..she was too  close. the Plasma covered her  Pod and leaked in...It got to her, trapped in her  Pod. She .....was removed from the Dec... Captain Morris  aske dfor  some one to destroy the POD. because.. once   Plasma  gets on you..well.. you have to cut parts off.... Ensign SIX....Finished her... his  arm   squeezed her a few times.

 She  looked up at him as she wiped her  eyes...

 we have traitors  before.. I just killed one on E-1... we also had  a pilot  turn coward, and Not  finish a traitoe, ebcause   she  was realted... Ground  troops  rescued the traitor, though, at the  time the Gava  thought they did  a good thing... it could have ended there,had the Pilot  had   the  guts to kill the traitor  right hen and there... to be fair, she kliled the traitor later, but..the coast had  already been paid....

  I... want you to understand the difference...it should be...DAMN..easy  to kill a traitor.. I kill enemies all the time, and i enjoy it.... But   Six?  Had to Kill a hero.. That hero was dying, , from  what Captain Rivets said, they couldn't touch the
 POD,, and she was  screaming...the Pod  had to be gone  before the power cell went off.. and we couldn't just left her  be eaten to death..I wish  a Vet would have been close to do the Job.... But Ensign Six was  closer... Vosts? never knew what hit her  hen the
 lights  went out..but she had to know  that plasma  wasn't going to stop...

 He let Six  go she hung onto his arm a moment.. Plasma  was outlawed by the APF and ESN, years ago..yet, The Angels  used it..i am sure they'll use it   again...Now... Ensign Six?  Life in the Black is what... Six?

 she drew herself up and  said...Cold and Hard , LC!

 now?  after   this who  action was just described, from  the Gun CAMs  i reveiwed  with Captain Morris.. who is to Blame, for what happened to  Vosts?

 Six  looked  ...surprised...for a moment...The Angels! if they  didn't use the Plasma, Vosts would have made it... the POD  would not   have beem  covered in Plasma...!

  That's right, Ensign  Six. Now... knowing  all this, what are you prepared to do?

  she   squared her shoulders...KILL EVERY FUCKING PARADISE ANGEL THAT COMES INTO MY TARGET MARKER>>>

 That's right  Ensign  Six... your    instructors said  you were smart.. Know i understand   why..., you may sit  down, Ensign..

 She turned  and  Hugged  Shadow,,, a fist beat his  back  twice, a thankful smile     and she went to  sit  By Raven. Raven smiled  and winked at Shadow

 OK folks, go sit with your flight  mates.. I kinda think we'll be saddling up   pretty soon...

 frans  and   Flores  came over...didn't you flunk psyche ?  ?

 naw?  I just didn't  make honors...

 Flores   shook her head,anhd you know she needed that...how?

 She has  Guts and drive...maybe too much..but she's in it to win it... she  just had to be reminded, that no matter how harsh her action was, no action at all, would have  doomed   Vosts  to a fate worse  then the death that  would  save her from the pain....and more Importantly , she had to know why it happend..and?  She smart enough to understand  that....I feel bad  for  any Angel bastards   she meets out there today...

 Both women looked at him Cocking their heads to one side,yeah..that's not true..I  who  she sends  every one she meets  into  the ground  m with their fighter on fire... get with your  people...

a  quick hug from   Frans as she went to her  flight, Flores  and Shadow  walked to  their  flight.

Roy was gesturing for the ground troopers to gather around as Tarja walked up.  "Have a seat, I'm giving everyone the rundown and when it's finished, you'll know about as much as I do," he said, gesturing to the crowd.

He turned to face them, three shuttles' worth of personnel, plus the hangar deck defensive teams.  "Alright, settle down and put a lid on it!" he called out.  As people sat down and focused on him, he continued.

"First off--YES, we are going planetside.  Where, exactly, remains to be seen.  What exactly we'll be doing when we get there remains to be seen.  Current plans are for orbital bombardment, followed by waves of fighter attacks...and THEN we go in.  If we're lucky, they'll be dropping us inside the city walls...why the cities have walls, we don't know, but based on past experience, I'm guessing because Paradise has some decidedly unfriendly indigenous life forms and the Angels put up protection against them, so if we land outside the walls, don't trust ANYTHING as harmless."  He paused for effect, looking across the assembled group.

"Next point--there ARE Angels down there who are trying to fight back against the ruling elite.  Their faces will be marked like the one in that broadcast a little while ago.  If you see one, do NOT assume they're friendly!  We've seen the Angel leaders throw enough bullshit to not believe they'd try marking themselves to try and blend in with opposing forces.  Don't assume they're hostile, either...those are gonna be the people in charge of the planet after this is all over and it will be a helluva lot easier to keep them on our side if we haven't blindly gunned down a bunch of them.  This is gonna be a tough one...but use your best judgment.  I mean, if we're shooting at people and they're shooting at the same people, that's a pretty good indicator of where they stand.  If we're not engaged and run into them, demand that they lay down their weapons, take note of their reactions, and respond accordingly.  I'd say, even if they turn out to be hostile, take them prisoner because we can try and get intel out of them...but I also know that's not always a viable option on the battlefield, so I'm trusting you to use your own judgment."

He shrugged, showing his resignation to circumstances that were less than ideal and utterly beyond any of their control.  "As for what we go after when we're on the ground?  That will be decided based on battle damage assessments from the bombardment and fighter attacks.  We WILL have fighter cover overhead, and if you find yourself facing a situation, sing out and the LC will have someone buzz the enemy formation.  Probably a good idea to take a healthy supply of smoke grenades.  If we're lucky, we'll get tasked with chasing down their "Most High"...but at this point, we're not even sure if he's even still in the palace or if they've taken him to ground somewhere to try and ride out the battle.  Our part of this fight is going to be EXTREMELY fluid and subject to update at any moment, so don't get target fixation and keep your posture flexible so we can shift gears when we inevitably get retasked with a different mission than we started on.  It's all but a guarantee it's going to happen, I'd say."

He paused again, looking at Tarja and Meari, and then at the mech personnel who were present.  "Mech and Armored Infantry are going to be ready reserves...when we run into something that bogs down the advance, you get sent in to break up the logjam.  That will, in all likelihood, change once we're on the ground, but for now, that's what I want you to plan for."

He looked at the crowd again.  "Snipers!  You're not gonna like this...I know, because I don't like it...but plan on being riflemen and sharpshooters this time out.  We don't know enough about where we're going to deploy and what will be there for sniper roosts to plan on sniping for cover, so we're gonna need you packing assault rifles to provide extra firepower.  That means taking more magazines than you normally pack, as well...plan accordingly."  He managed to look almost apologetic about it as he gave another resigned shrug.

"I'd recommend everyone load up on frag grenades.  Each shuttle should have a couple of people with breaching charges, just in case we need them...demo techs should take whatever else they feel may be useful...WITHIN REASON.  I know you'd love to have a few hundred kilos of C10 to play around with, but we don't have the available arms to carry it all.  If you can't carry it yourself, and it will significantly impair someone else's ability to operate alongside you, leave it here.  I'd rather run out of demo gear and have the extra rifles firing."

He held out his hands in a 'that's it' gesture.  "That's as much as I know, plus a little bit I'm anticipating but don't know.  If you've got specific questions that need answers, you're welcome to come ask, but get your gear squared away, because we're loading in just a few minutes and launching right on the tail of the fighters.  Don't be late, even if it's because you're asking questions.  We've never known everything I wanted to know, going into ANY operation, and this isn't any different.  We have a vague plan, and it will become refined as the situation resolves itself."  He gave a curt nod.

"That's it.  Get geared up and loaded and let's be squared away before they start giving us the standby for launch.  Go..."

Justin moved with the others to thir respective Flight assembly points. Justin greeted the newcomers with a hand shake and friendly smile.

 Lizzy smiled at the LC, she tried to help Six deal with what she had to do to end Vosts heroic suffering, damn he was good, he did great she just hoped she helped out Six as well she seemed like a good pilot who was now on a search and destroy all Paradise Angels.

 When they were dismissed Lizzy went to Six, put a hand on her shoulder and said," Lets kill as many of those bastards as we can for Vosts, at the after party we will have a drink in her honor ok. Vosts was a hero she did it right it was the fucking Angels that used plasma, not you or me. Now get your head in the game and lets kill those bastards." Lizzy gave Six a hug and headed for her flight looking for Nikki and who was going to be their third if they were going as three this time out or was it just goings be Nikki and her.

Henry gathered all the largs and sat with them to one side where they could hear Roy's talk. Mila sat with them, the white fur standing out amidst the dark scales.

------>>>>>> From Med Tech

 NA-CE arrived and took a seat about a minute before Roy started his speech. NA-CE listened and she didnt have any questions because basically they had no clue how things where goin gto go until they started happening, so she would be ready for anything.

In reply to Justin Kase (msg # 192):

Ra'Na'Ta' shook the mans hand and gave him a nod. He then turned his attention to Madison. "Madi'son, This one is curious on what ourrr orrderrrs arrre. Does This one escorrt the otherrr ships orrr does This one shoot anything that is not one of us ppprrrotecting the Herrrmess orrr both? Will some be spplitting off to head to the mountains? This one figurrres therrre will be a brrriefing forr all, yes?"

With Roy informing them that he was about to begin his briefing for the ground forces Tarja would take a seat and listen to what he had to say. Although unfortunately that the plan hadn’t progressed much further than them landing within the city she did at least learn that the Armoured unit would be acting as a QRF and would be used to punch through the enemy lines where they were thickest, with Tarja making a mental note to have the team load up on explosives and possibly even close combat weapons.

When it came time for questions Tarja would calmly raise her hand before speaking ”Is there plan for mountains around city? Because if I was defending city I would site artillery up there and have them trained on those wide roads…roads make for ideal killing fields…I would also have most of forces positioned in underground facilities ready to cut off and destroy separated enemy units” she said having noted from the admirals brief that the cities industrial facilities were underground making them an ideal place to shelter from both the bombardment and the fighter sorties. Theoretically it would also allow the Angels to move around the city undetected and pop up without warning, though she had no idea if that was even possible or if the Angels would be smart enough to position artillery up in mountains where they could hide from prying eyes and rain death upon those within the city.

In reply to Ranata (msg # 196):

Madison shrugged, throwing up her hands and letting them drop. "I don't know. I hope we have a briefing where they give up more specifics. Honestly, they suck at that. Since we're in B flight, we have the advantage of just following Shadow. I just go with the flow and get orders as we go. It feels like it's disorganized, but somehow it all comes together. I expect we're going to clear defending fighters from the skies. But we'll see."

  Horns  Blew on the Hanger Dec....all hands to  battle stations...bombardment starts  in ....3......2........1...

  Shadow stood  on  the   nose of his   fighters and whistled    whirling   his  hand over his   head to Mount up.

the Hermes  shook   when Hard  Ammo and  torpedoes left the ship...

Ra'Na'Ta' Looked at Madison nodding. He then heard the horns and seen Shadow giving them the mount up. He touched his paw to his forehead and then saluted Shadow. He turned to Madison. "Good hunting wing mate. May the moon shine on you and not yourrr ppprrrey."

Ra'Na'Ta' mounted the ladder to get into his ship. He looked once more at Madison nodding as he closed the cockpit. He then went thru his prelaunch check and waited.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:45, Mon 24 Apr 2023.

It was time. Again. The alarms sounded and the lights flashed. Madison tossed Ra'Na'Ta' a 'told ya' look with a lopsided grin. "Here we go." She didn't have a special cultural blessing to respond to his, So she just nodded. "Thanks, You too. Good hunting." She didn't want to sound like she was mocking him by saying anything about the moon. Hopefully not saying it was also not offensive.

Clambering up into her cockpit, she performed her last minute pre-checks and fired up her engines. Now it was just a matter or waiting her turn to launch.

Roy turned to Tarja as she asked her question.  "Typical response for such situations is to let air cover chew them up, or allow orbital platforms to lay down fire on positions outside our perimeter on the ground.  We're not going to be out on those wide roads much, especially if they manage to drop us inside the city walls...and, to be perfectly honest, we haven't seen much to indicate the Angels even utilize artillery.  Their tactics have always indicated a direct-fire mindset, and given how long it's been since anyone invaded Paradise...literally tens of thousands of years...I don't think they've even considered the option of setting up artillery to fire on the surface of their own world."

He shrugged.  "Regardless of whether they have or not, I have faith in the LC and his pilots to make a royal mess of any emplacement that tries opening on us.  And we'll have the Morningstar circling overhead...our own private Angel of Death, ready to rain hell on anything that tries shooting anywhere close to us.  Captain Nilsson is REALLY good at making a mess of enemy positions..."

The battlestations alert sounded, and Roy nodded, raising his right hand in the air with his forefinger extended, moving it in a circling motion, indicating that everyone should move as fast as possible to be ready for launch, before he made his way over to where the QM had set up tables for the ground troops to requisition grenades, ammo magazines, or power cells for their weapons, replenishing his loadout so he could get back to the shuttles and ready to take off.

 Meari got up and got everyone into armor, loaded up and ready to go, when the shuttles where ready. Meari had her boot knives in her AI boots and her swords on her back. When she was ready she helped everyone else and when they where ready they lined up and waited for Tarja to move out. Meari would also grab extra grenades and put them in a side pouch.

" Ok team lets get ready to kick Angel ass."

 NA-CE went towards the same shuttle she was on with the SM and waited for everyone else, she also grabbed two extra mags, and 4 extra grenades.

 Lizzy climbed into her fighter, did her startup and fired up the engines and did her pre-launch checks. When she was all set she said on comms to Nikki," Ok Nikki ready to kick some ore Angel ass, remember atmo this time." Lizzy got ready to take off when it was her turn.

She would listen to Roy’s response with it still clear by the end that she was still concerned but not unduly, and certainly not scared with looking like someone that was fully aware of the dangers and was already working on ways to circumvent it ”I am used to thinking like defender…in terms of Motti and find it hard at times to understand that not everyone uses that doctrine” she slowly explained, hoping that he understood that she expected the worst to happen so she could prepare for it and that it wasn’t cowardice or defeatism ”when fighting winds up underground call us, we’ll teach them to skulk like rabbits” she said with a feral grin before snapping off a quick two fingered salute and departing for the QM’s table.

Striding up to the table laden with grenades, belts and magazines she would grab the attention of one of the technicians before speaking ”I need close combat weapons for team, the bigger and heavier the better”

Henry saw that the largs made it to their assigned places. He still wasn't quite sure where he and Mila was supposed to be. Someone would tell him in due course.

 Admiral Hennings  saw   Henry and  crossed over to him...after  we  secure a beach head, The Admiral's going  down.  You'll go   down with him, to   help secure the b4each heads, and see what you can dig up  for  your studies... If  we turn  Paradise prime over to the Skith. there  won't be any Angels to study

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

 The troops  were   headed to their  Shuttles,  Lyri and Nifty still took their   sniper rifles... Figuring, once they had  an OP  set up they  could  keep enemies  away.

  crates  of grenades and 50 cal  ammo form the shuttles  where Loaded .

Shadow  sat on the   edge of  his cockpit  , flicking through the  switches  as he leaned he said into his into his coms.59. minutes and counting, check you ammo meters, and O2...  make sure your crash kit has  what you need.

Her discussion with the technician had been brief, but successful. With Tarja striding into the compound and depositing several wide, leather bandoliers designed to be worn by the larger humanoids serving within the APF. such as Hyrians and apefolk, and several machetes that had been procured once upon a time for use on jungle worlds but hadn’t seen much use. Truth be told they were more tools than weapons, designed for cutting through heavy vegetation or removing tree limbs with the saw blade on its back, but it would make light work of combat armour too especially when swung by a power armoured trooper ”get your gear together! I do not know exactly when we are going down or where to, but we need to be ready to go when called and expect heavy resistance!” she called as she selected a bandolier of grenades and machete, before turning towards her suit ”…Bjarne! Get technicians armed and armoured we are liable to need resupply for this one!” she continued as she made her final checks before climbing into her armour with its freshly painted urban camouflage and scarlet gauntlet ”…it is time we teach Angels who should fear who”

"Yes, Admiral."

Henry had fleeting thoughts of the 'already done' popular with the troops, but it just didn't seem appropriate for something that would happen in the future!

He went and settled in his usual place.

 SGt  Vic Able, who was  , more  or less in charge of the  transfers  until they  were abosrbed.

  He Apraoches   SM Spencer,SM?  will we be going  down to  the surface, or  are we  Home defesne?

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

 In the Mech , AI  section.  SGT   Wiscof sats,Comrade  Ambermoon... hao many troopers   are your support> Or  do we we carry own goods? he  had the last spare marked  with red stripes  for his rank

Roy turned to Able, holding out a hand at the troopers who had already gotten their gear in order and were in process of boarding the shuttles.  "Sergeant...these people have fought and bled beside me for months or even years.  Every last one of them has demonstrated to me that they are not only competent soldiers, but they're tough sonsabitches who are going to take every hurdle thrown at them and keep going."  His arm dropped to his side, and he asked, in a somber tone, "How can I tell any of them they have to stay here so I can give their spot on the ride down to someone I haven't even seen run a lap in the tunnels, much less in live combat?  They've paid for the right to ride down there."

While his tone was gentle, it was also obvious that this wasn't a negotiable point.  "Any sergeant worth his stripes would rather go into battle with troops he knows and trusts, no matter who else is waiting in the wings.  It's a raw deal for you, I know, because you got thrown into this with no time to demonstrate just how capable you or your people are.  For now, you sit home defense.  There's a chance we'll call for reinforcements, and you may find yourselves coming down anyway, and there's a very good chance you'll see combat before we do, if the Angels decide they're desperate enough to try and board our ships.  Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope your assignment is dead boring and routine as hell, because it means the Angels have already given up on trying to take any of our ships, and that means they're in the process of giving up everything else, too.  But, for now, you all help make sure we have a ship to come back to."

  Hacks   Voice  rang out across the Hanger,Saddle Up!, Move out!

 Shadow  closed his  cockpit,   started   engines  as  ground  crew  pushed away  tools  and carts and   ran back to the   starboard  side.

Everyone!.. rise  Up  and   form up over the spine.. make   damn sure  you stay between the Guns, last thing you want to do is be in front of a  Cap Ship Class weapon, when it goes off.... By the Numbers!

    shadow flew  up  and  rose  Stright up, followed by the rest of his  flight, The Frans's  flight, and the others  according to their  Numbers. Raven and her  NG  flight  went last.

 The Shuttle   did  the    same,  and  move  back to the stern.., Paradise  looked  super massive  as they floated  above  it.. streaks of  weapons  fire shot   down, Criss crossing the   Atmosphere..

 Now... the  fleet needs  beach heads...  we need to clear   troops and  vehicles , as well as  sweep the  mountain range, and then hit   the southern part of the  roads  and the  base to the east... Athena  has  the base to the  west and  things to the north.. of any of you are squeamish... now's the time to   go back to the Hanger   dec and grab a mop. because  we don't want you our here  fighting. This is  it... The Piper   is finally finish  playing, and we are coming to collect the payment

Being last of C Flight to launch Justin thrust from the Hermes banking hard climb over the row of guns. Adjusting his Flight to link up with C and join the other Flights of the 351 Squadron.

Falling into her place in the procession, Madison followed Shadow out and on to the spine. She spoke to Ra'Na'Ta' on Comms

"Okay It's by the numbers, Ra'Na'Ta', That makes us last. Stay behind me and take your place on my rear."

Ra'Na'Ta' followed his wing mate out and listened to her instruction. He touched the comm. "This one will follow yourrr rrrear and keep it safe. May the moon shine brright  on ourrr hunt and the moon be darrk forr ourr enemies."

 Meari suited up then got the whole AI team ready and when the shuttle was ready Tarja lead the AI group to their shuttle for their visit to Paradise." Ok everyone we will be the first invading force to walk on Paradise in centuries upon centuries. They acted as Gods to the people of the black then betrayed all of us by first cowering to the Demons for 2 thousand years and now siding with them. Well everyone lets go kill some gods shall we."

 Lizzy checked everything and then lined up her fighter for take off. She saluted and then when it was her turn she headed back out to Paradise space one last time, and she will get to see Paradise up close and personal.

----->>>>> To Paradise space

 NA-CE boarded the shuttle she was on the last two ties and stayed close to Roy. This would be her first visit to Paradise as well, and she couldnt wait to see these smug Angels who think they are the greatest lifeform in the black even over other 'tainted' Angels as they called them. NA-CE couldnt wait to kill as many of these Paradise Angels as she could and save as many of her allies as she could.

 NA-CE double checked everything as she was ready to go.

 Sam along with everyone in the Warroom area heard Lizzy's mayday and that she podded out. Sam quickly traced the pod's beacon and waited for Lizzy to turn on her personal one once she got out of the pod. Sam will wait until she has a fix to say anything to the board.

 Sam did look over at Izzy knowing she would be going nuts until Lizzy was safe, but the LC was one his way with hi flight to get Lizzy.

 Captain Si's Voice came over the  COMs just as    Nikki  landed and Popped out of her cockpit.We have a Pilto  down, south of the Airfield...The Pilot is now a runner.... Nikki looked up at the PA screens   and slammed her helmet  into her seat...

 NEW HYDROS!.. check  for other  thigns..Get me out there.... while they  did  that, and had the   cowlign opened, Nikki  got a fresh belt out  and switched the partly used  belts out.

 Beth? Have the Shuttles go   down now.. it may help distract the enemy a bit...

 Already Done, Admiral Hack! she   beeped  Stoly... Head  down  to the Plain, make  some Noise,  Colonel Cummings  will be dropping two full drops  ships  to    aid  in attack and set up the Beach head...

 Stoly answered,Already done!.. Lets  go Hermes!

 Sam finally got a fix on the pod and Lizzy's personal beacon, " Sirs, Ma'am I have a location on Lizzy's pod, and her. She is moving pretty quickly towards the river." Sam was surprised it seems those tunnel runs are really helping Lizzy out right now big time.

Henry heard 'Pilot down'.

"Can Mila and I help?"

Karl had decided to swap out the HESH magazine...while the rounds were supposed to be effective against standing structures, it didn't feel right to use the situation for experimental rounds.  Too many lives were facing high odds for him to not stick with something tried and true...the usual combination of fragmentation rounds for anti-personnel and high explosive for maximum carnage on emplacements and vehicles.  The change-over had gone smoothly, and he'd been ready to go when the alert had gone off.

The Morningstar slipped out of the static field right behind the shuttles, dropping into its standard cover position for the formation as they descended toward the planet, scanning for signs of Angel targets once they penetrated the outer layers of the atmosphere and the ionic distortions created by their high-speed penetration of the planet's protective envelope of air and magnetic fields.

Henry got the beacon information from Sam and hustled Mila onto the departing shuttle.

Upon hearing Lizzy’s mayday call, Izzy would freeze as she was gripped by a paralysing fear that wasn’t helped by Maddy likewise saying she was going down meaning that the woman she loved and one of her few friends were going down. Upon hearing that they had both managed to pod out to safety Izzy would force herself to start moving again, hers moving mechanically across the keyboard with it obvious that it was taking an extreme amount of effort to keep herself under control and continue with her duties as tears silently started rolling down her cheeks.

 Sam was monitoring their coms and said to Izzy," Izzy they both are safely at a clearing the LC is picking them up, I will keep you posted. Izzy we both now Lizzy is to fiery and stubborn they will both make it I can feel it." Sam then went back to work she could tell Izzy was taking this hard. Sam also hoped Madison made it, she was fun even though she got her in trouble on Bura she wanted both pilots to be safe.

 Sam then said to the board," Sirs, Ma'am both downed pilots have reached the clearing the OC is going to pick them up I will keep you informed."

    Beth  said in a stern, but no harsh Voice. Sakura..... There  are thousands of  fleet peole down there... Not  just ours. We are the Flag ship..you must focus. If Lizzy makes it  out, great..if she fals,  , you can grieve later...

 Orria looked over   and  gave Izzy a  short nod.In her  short life, it was rare  for good things to happen.

 Hack Looked up.. Put the LCs   COMs  on speaker   so we can here them.  SGT Shoemaker!...Get another team  to go down.

 Sam replied," Already done sir." Sam put the LC's comms on speaker. Then she said," Sir I just got a comm Missy is sending down to refurbished fighters with kid pilots for Madison and Lizzy." Sam winced a little from her injuries as she worked hard and tried to stay focused, she knew Izzy was worried but Beth was right they had to do their jobs they could deal with whatever happens after it is all said and done.

 Sam smiled and then Said, looking at Izzy with a smile," Lizzy and Madison have landed at the shuttles with the LC's fighter Sirs, Ma'am."

”I know…I’m sorry” Izzy sniffed, scrubbing at her eyes with her cuffs in a vain attempt to hide her tears before continuing to work and trying her best to focus on her work. She just hated knowing that her fiancé was in danger and that there was absolutely nothing she could do to help her and to make things even worse she had to sit there and listen to it.

Once Lizzy and Maddy were back at the shuttles with the marines, Izzy would breathe a sigh of relief with her finding it far easier to focus knowing that Lizzy was safely back in a fighter.

  Admiral Hack  called  up to Beth...I want a shutted fromt eh drop ship over here to  take me and a Team  down

  Roll looked at  Captain Morris...Doc  henry  left to go down with Mila.. There  isn'r any more Larg masters  to tell the largs who to eat?

 Morris   chuckled,well..first off.. The Largs will know  who to eat...but Most important , we  Have a Cadet Larg Master   right here.. and the Largs listen to you . I think you will  help protect us

    when the  shuttle  showed  Up,  The Admiral, boarded  along with  4  troopers, the  ramps closed   and the drop ship shuttle  zipped down to the LZ.

 Sam listened to all the cross talk and finally reported to the Board," Sirs, one of the kid pilots is bringing the 19 fighter to the LC, Lizzy and Madison are back in the air in fighters. The Admiral has landed at the shuttle area and they are beginning to build a beach head. The LC is still on foot at this moment as well." Sam then went back to her coms and scans. She did try to see if she could pick up any special coded Angel messages as well hoping she might discover something to help them.

 Sam gave the board an update," Ok the LC is back in the air with a kid in the jump seat, Lt. Kase had to pod out and landed about where Madison's pod landed. Lizzy picked him up and droppd him off at the beachhead. Lizzy is back in the air again sirs."

Alison  was lead  down to the QM. to draw  armor  and a  weapon, she  chose a Pulse rifle. the Guardians    stayed  close to her  as Captain Morris  said to them.

 A Bit odd, for all this, wot? But  the hermes  need  people  to fight, the rest of  us are here to defend...

 Gregror  looked up thumping  his tail, as he sat near Roll.

 Though one must acknowledge , that some  of the crew are more eager then others..

Beth  COMed all COMs.... The Cap ships  are  coming,  don'[t  know why the 9 hells  they waited  until we  pounded the planet into pudding...

 I Thin that means we'll be getting visitors..Guardians.. Its time to  'man' up...if your  feelings  abut  not  killing some  one , unless they try to harm  a med tech or
 wounded.. then thing of this... protect  the ship, because there  are a few  hundred
 civies   down there  who need  you to kill enemies...failure to do so, will be viewed
 as  'cowardice  under  fire'.

 Roll and 'his  largs  were ready, He looked  up at Alison,Don't  worry lady.. The largs  will keep you safe

   Beth, Orria, Izzy and Sam  listend to the Cross talk   even  as the   enemy  Cap ships  were heading towards them... Flights  of shuttles  Lead the Cap ships. and the  invaders  only had token forces of   'home defense  fighters..."

   Hennigns      waved to   Beth.. and she Opened All COMs.. Attention...Delta  Fleet... what ever  fighters  and torpedo planes we have in the  ari... target the shuttles coming in, most ship   have their assault teams on the ground... this could get  real messy....

 When Beth switch back to the Feeds...

 LC..Stavros has been  coolected  by  the Drop ship troopers.... it seems they may get to   Lt Kase...  Lizzy..is..um..down again, near the air base.

 Rivets  looked out  as he saw the   Angel Capships coming.gonna be a long  row to how..eh?

 Captain Morris   have a twitch of a smile......its like that bloody Football game the LC plays?....  you run the same play , more then once? especially , it it  works.

  In the center of the  Capships that approached.. there  were  bright  explosions...  the ships  turned a bit   darker and  seemed to float , out of  control...

 What's that, then?

 Hennings  nodded with satisfaction...all teh fleets  torped craft  linked up with  Admiraal  Roles's  EMS  ships... They are now  pounding them from the rear, hitting the  engines  with Ion Cannon fire  and  torpedoes... By the time they figure  out what is going on,  the Delta   fleet will collaspe on them..

 Collasoe? i thought we wrre all shellin' the 8 'ells out of 'em..

 ... we didn't  need the whole  fleet for that... Delta 1 and Detlta 2 handnled the invasion and  shelling...  3 and four, get to have  ship to ship fun..

 Sam smiled and reported," Lt. Kase and Ens. O'Conner have been recovered, Lizzy is being escorted back by Tarja and Meari."

  Beth Added,Stavros Spartran has  been collected  by the Dropship people and   being escorted back to the Beach head......Missy from the Forge ships  said, they are  sending  down  6 more refurbished  ships, and have two left...and another two  should be  ready to go in an hour.

  Rivets   called out... in the distance   two enemy cap ships   and  turned , by the force of  explosions, sending them off course  , through inertia, they collided    and  exploded,   both breaking in Half .

 But there  were shuttle groups  breaking off  to zero in on  Delta fleet vessels...

 Hennings   called to the Gunners...How soon before they are Under  out guns and we can't hit them?

  Master  Chief  Frix Here, Admiral Hennigns...  we have a windon of  two Minutes   to shoot at shuttles... then we can touch them, they are purposely  flyign    lower... The Capships  are  in range as of  now,.

 Very Good  , Master Chief... Fire  at will on the CAps ships... try to knock down the   leading shuttles.. if there are any shuttles packed with Plasma, it will be the leaders..

 Aye, Admiral  Hennings, Fire  at will. Already done


 a few seconds the Hermes shook as Massive torpedoes  left the tubes  and  Cap ship Grade Heavy Pulse  fired... the Hard Ammo   sizzled off ito the   distance... soon the black as   kress crossed    with   AA guns, both manned and automated... some shuttles  Blew up other   went 'deeper'   and would approach the  Hangers  at an angle.

 Captain Morrs  called out  in crisp  words...standby to repel  boards... no prisoners,  Unless they lie  face  first on the Dec   with hands on thier ehad.. this...is not...a moment for us to be...cordial!

”Wait…you mean she’s been shot down…again!?” Izzy replied to Beth uncertain as to whether she should be worried or angry with her instead settling on baffled ”…Is…is that normal?” she asked, not really knowing what constituted as normal in the life of a pilot with her hoping that someone a little more knowledgeable would step in and explain it to her so she knew how to react.

With the enemy shuttles drawing ever closer Izzy would take a moment to put on her headgear and check that her carbine was close to hand, ready for if the shuttles reached the hangar dec.

 Beth shook her head,Astra was Like that. a few Pilots   had to get new rides. Shadow  lost one  trying to cover Eckles.. but..in the   end   they torched the  Red Birds and had a fish fry....

 But? to answer your  question... , normal  they  just vanish in a  flash of  light and a big boom....

Orria  spoke up... Miss Lizzy and Ms  Nikki had to  run away from things on Roussia

 People began pointing  at the  hanger  bay doors... Hennings  had   called it  right..the  shuttles   blew up  sending Globs of  Plasma  outward.. one  for the troops  shuttles was enveloped in the  goo, and the   Shuttles   started   to  bend away,  Until it  impacted on the Hermes.   blwoign some plates off  and  Killed  everyone on the shuttle.. but that didn['t stop the rest.

 Sam gets Nifty's feed, she plays it for the board and then sends a copy to captain Si on the bridge, " Captain Si I was told to send this to you Ma'am."

   After moment, Captain SI  says to Sam...

  By all the gods..... Those  are what pour people  call Yenti.... they are  offspring of the early Humans , before   there was enough Angel food  on earth to help 'sterlize' the  uncompilable  DNA  strains... They have  thick  hair  or  fur, some are large some are small..some are brutish, others  as  smart as any other race...  The  'unworthly' we sent out into the  forests  to either  die, or live   on thier  own...they formed  groups, then colonies.. They  may the be single  race in the Balck, that hates  Angels  more then  the Demons. On eather, even i our time there.. any Yenti that were produce  were dropped
 in the nearest wilderness... Jungles, swamps  forest, Mountains..anywhere far  from humans. They are  in  the same class  as the Apefolk  as they bred amount themselves for  'ppurebred' Yenti, and  other Half  Yenti when they captures male or  females from other  races.

 Sam relays this to the board and sends it to Admiral Hack on Paradise.

"Well...yeah...ok...I certainly don't want that!...But...Twice in one day does seem very unlucky" Izzy responded Still keeping half an eye on the static field as the others meanwhile examined footage of the Yenti that had been encountered "Are they...dangerous? I mean are they liable to attack us?" she asked curious to learn whether they had found a potential ally or yet another enemy.

  beth  snorted a bit with a slight grin....she got shot  down  2 times... she going up again ? that sounds like good  Luck..Bad  luck is when you get shot  down.....period.

  She Added...well? that's   up to the Yenti things.... if they don't like us, they'll attack  and the fleet weil be  full of  fat and Happy largs!

     They were under the Guns  now..stragglers to the rear  got  shot up..one was destroyed  , but the   2nd  row  of   Shuttles were about  to   land in, or on the Hermes.

The  starboard side, ships  Guns  were firing at an Angel Cap ship... though no one  could see, there would be no other  reason for those  guns  to fire.  Ground  crews  and  SEC  as  well as the Conscripted  Guardians  and Dr  Verault, went  behind  the barriers  and crates..

once more the Med tech closed  its blast doors  to 3 feet above the Dec.. the  engine  room seal doors  from the inside. all the  door  guards   watched and Listened  for  boarding teams

 Beth called out...Maybe  Orria  and   Roll should head to the Black Hanger?

 I'm not going! My largs  need me...and the people need my largs!

 I am staying,  i have been through this before..and i can shoot  my sidearm...


The Angel assault  shuttles  only had  twin forward firing  Heavy pulse.. But they  fired from 500  yards  away  sending  Heavy Pulse into the  Hanger Dec , some  folks  died..calls  for  'Med tech ' echoed through the Hanger..shoey send  Mann and  Lippen to the   spine of the  Hermes  with a  squad  of  troopers...

he turned to the Guardians,welcome to the war... you are about to shoot those weapons in Anger for the  first time in your careerm rather then just defensively... every angel you drop? Is one more  Hermes  person who lives..

 Sam said," Sirs I have messages from the LC and the WC from the Blue Death." Sam played the messages and waited for a response.

  Hennings was  getting ready  for the first  shuttles   to hit the hanger Dec.

  send the   Target area to the Fleet,  I want every ship who can  spare   the time. to pound that Mountain  range until its a canyon!

 The first Shuttles  came in hot,  screeching across the   Hermes dec plates . It was  hard to decide if the Angels  were stupid, or just didn't have the practice... when the ramps came  down, Angels were  gunned down before they could reach the Hermes  dec.. The Shuttle  Pilots  fired their  fix  forward   guns  wildly.. blowing up crates  and unlucky grounds  crew.

The second  wave of  Shuttles  slid   in, crashing into the first  one. The troops  got out  firing, a few of them died, but the others hand  cover   from the  Shuttles.

 Hennings  Called  back...SEND THE LARGS

 and  it was that Moment.. Rolls suddenly Knew.. he was a  larg master. Every Larg turned their heads to him.. and   he  yelled..ATTACK!!

 The Angels   then, knew what fear was  as the speedy  creatures   zipped through the bodies  and  wreckage .. tear off Limbs   and  crushing heads  with thier  augmented   Larg helmets.

 Alison saw a Guardian on the left side of her, lose the  whole top half of his  body as he took a direct hit  from a shuttle  gun.  the htird  wave of shuttles hit, and more  Angels   poured  out, fewer  dying   when the  came out of th ramps.

The  QM  had two of his people  with   anti armor rocket launchers. take thier  time  and systematically   fire into the  Cockpit  windows  to the shuttles, Blowing  up  the   pilots, guns  , ot  both.

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

 Onm e the scaffold  the Ladies watched Roll send the Largs into battle, captain Morris  , calmly  fired  with his carbine,,each bullet  was  aimed, each was precise.. and  each dropped  an    Angel as helmets   shattered.

  Beth  said  , in a matter of fact tone...I guess its  a matter  of   , do we have more bullets then they have  people.

 Sam replied." Already done sir." Sam sent the coordinates to the fleet and Henning's message. Sam then tried to monitor the area, and scan it to see what happens.

Feeling more than a little exposed in their elevated position, and wondering not for the first time why they didn't use the actual war room, Izzy would slide from out of her chair and onto the floor where she would find a modicum of cover behinds the monitors and desk as she continued to work.

Should the enemy start drawing nearer she would start firing back with her carbine however from what she had seen so far they were more comical than terrifying, looking more like an am-dram group that hadn't rehearsed enough than a boarding party "Keep your head down Sam, you've got enough holes in you already!" Izzy would loudly call across to her friend so as to be heard over the gunfire below.

One Angel  trooper  with a Heavy Pulse  gun     jumped on the  Nose of a second wave  shuttle .. he sprayed the Area from  the mech area  to almost  down to the  QM's

  Beth was Nicked  and started  to swear...Some One  Kill that  Bastard  now! Shoey  threw  a Grenade that  Blew up near the   aggressive  angel it  brought  him  to his  knees  which allowed, Homer and Callie  to  Jump and scramble up the  nose  of the   Shuttle  and tear the  Angels  apart, he was let screaming   with   No arms on the    shuttle, like some Ghastly hood ornament.

 I HOPE YOU DIE SLOW, YOU BASTARD!  Beth   snarled  as she  routed  COMs  to the    Fleet as they  needed support  ....The  Hernes  starboard  Guns  were still firing.. the shake of a Torped    was enough to tell folks there  must be an Angel Cap ship near.

  Alison  and a second Guardian went  down....The Guardian   was dead.. Alison was hurt rather   Badly.. Roll looked over  at  Her, and Yelled...MED TECH  PERSON!!!

  Sneak and Dana ( dana  had some   Plast on her left thigh. where  a hole  was  burned through her slacks., they Pulled Alison  back   Dana  comforted her  as    Sneak   Moved  in front of them, and   fired  Bursts  from the SMG  she had acquired  over the years  as she fought on the hanger Dec.

 Sam did keep her head down but she kept working and manning the comms, her body was sore but she would push through it to get the job done.

Taking a hit in the same burst of fire that nicked Beth, Izzy would give a squeak of shock and pain in response. Despite her armour having taken the brunt of the shot Izzy knew there would be a nasty bruise at the top of her thigh ”shit! That stings!” Izzy hissed through clenched teeth as she took up her carbine and started to return fire.

 Beth   called out.... as the Battle raged  on the Hanger Dec.Reports  say the   shelling is having  an effect  of enemy fighters  over   10 d8ifferant cities!... they are getting less  fresh  fighters..

 why do a i feel there is a 'Bd news is" coming up.. Hennings  asked.

  our fighters  are getting beat up, so is Athena's... Lizzy's showing  Yellow   as are  3  other fighters...


 there was swaering aat thier luck..but there was noting they could  do, and they had thieir  own problems  right  now.

   a third  wave  of shuttles    rammed  into the    Second  wave.. there was a steel  wall  now of   Shuttles.. angels   were  getting killed  less  as   'line of sight was cut down.. snipers  were picking off    one at a time.. One  Burian fell to his   death as an Angel  rocket launcher  hit  him , Just  above the  Middle  doors,

 Largs, Including  an incensed Gregor, Prowled the  shuttle wreaks  ..The QM  troops    were just at the Bow  end  of stern end of the  Hanger dec, as the  blew  up another  of the shuttle's  pilot  compartments... Angels   would  scream and  disappear  was   gore shot up , and was  flung through the air   as  a larg  took an  angel from jutting out, like a Moray Eel...

 Med techs   got   Alison and several others,    as the ran with old fashion stretchers, since   hover carts   would be too easy of a target.

 Angels  didn't use  Burners,, but they  had forced open the  VIP entrance   , they were met  by  the  Passage  way  and Lift Guards, all thankful for  Shade's   invention of 'stand up   barriers.

 Beth   opened  a box   by her   desk  and shoved  it  to  the other ladies.  Orria was   quick to Pick up on it, as she and Orria  tossed  grenades.., they  might  not have  the arms that  regular troopers had..but they really,, didn't  need to throw  that far... explsions   send  some   Angels to the  Ground..others , wounded by the frags... they  ad 22  left in the box.

 Izzy  saw that the    first  wave of   shuttles had  burning or smokign cockpits.. the send  and thrird  wave, couldn't  fire thier  forward   guns because they smached into the waves before them.

 the ...almost..1/2  Mile of hanger  dec was  about  split in half, but the    sprawled   shuttles..angels were formign  Up  and  had begun to look for snipers  in the rafters...at least 100  angels were Now   spread out   firing at the dwindling Number of  Ground crews  and  SEC...

 Captain Morris said  in the All COMs...Its a Bloody good thing the Largs  still have Roll to  commnad them..they might  all be dead other wise..

Roll just said, in a meek  voice,when i hadda  fight to live,, i did it from hiding palces... Largs are better then me  at fighting and Hiding, so, they are eatin' alot of Angel legs..

 Sam is doing her comms, then she gets a mild hit but damn she was getting beat up this battle.

 When Beth brought out the box of grenades, Sam aimed for what she thought was the power cell of a shuttle in the back and threw two grenades in that area hoping to cause some serious damage. Sam then went back to work, she was extremely sore after throwing the grenades her earlier injuries still bothering her.

Firing short aimed bursts, Izzy would attempt to thin down the horde of angels that were occupying the hangar dec with the only blessing being that the first wave of shuttles were masking the guns of the second and third ”Guys…I think we could do with some reinforcements here” Izzy would call over shoulder as she took another pair of glancing hits to her armour, suspecting that she was going to be black and blue after this…assuming she survived that is.

As the grenades were produced Izzy would join the others and throw a grenade of her own before ducking back into cover, though not before giving the mech compound with its sandbag wall an envious look, with those inside having seemingly built their own little Alamo.

  Beth  had a  round  that    spun her helmet off  her   head, she slammed into the  railings    on the starboard  side..

  She  Got Up  enraged , if not shaky..  The  Angel who shot here  was  staring right  at her   with a hateful Grin... before a  pair of arrows   seem to  grow  from his   body,,one  in the armor  break at  his thigh and  waist. the  Other   In   his Neck, he toppled to the Dec,

 That was great shooting Up there.. Lets  try to get them..BEFORE..they kill us!

 her  helmet  had a big melted  gouge in it.This is  why Humans and largrans  use  hard ammo.... I shouldn't have a head left... she  rebuckled the head gear on as  wisps of  steam  drifted from the  mark.

   Her voice  was softer   as she  began to  route COMs  again...we don't have   back up... Shoeys  got  people  here  and Rivets  people are here, and the QM...Stefi sent   5  people from Med tech..two are dead   and  Doc  Ally  was carted away.. Right now  the officer's dec  is under attack    at the VIP   entry.. The Bridge guards    and passage way  people    are securing the    Engine room and     cutting off  the  Lifts... The  Civis   are Locked  down  with their Militia   waiting for  some on to   charge  down their ramp way..

she Looks to the left...we got  two waitresses  fighting, and One of them   was taken to Med Tech, the one that's left  is a stem kid  with a SMG... I'll put  my creds on her..and   a Kid  who can talk  to largs  is  probably our  best weapon..

Looking out over the dec, many  orange  Jump suits  were lying on the dec. some with Holes  in them as big as her helmet.

Orria asks..Couldn't a  Drop ship land on top the hermes? One  drop ship would be enough guys to stop them from  getting  down the Captain's Lift?

 Beth stopped.. and Looked  at   Orria...I...I..Never thought of that!....

  She  sent  a COM, to  Col Cummings...Colonel Cummings? This is Lt Morrow  of the  ESN 351  Hermes ..we   have been Boarded, and  do not have  back up for  crew we are losing.. The Angels have breeched the  VIP   lift... couold you send a Drop  ship  to clean the Bugs off the Windshield?

 ... Ah...  Good Day to You Beth,..Rather Fine  day  for  an invasion..wot? he heard her out  and said.The Plato is   right above you waiting  to send troops to the   ground..  I'll have them help clean you   bug problem.... Cherrio, into the  day!

 beth  shakes her  head with a small  smirk...Sam..  let Hennings  know we have help comign.... Izzy... COM  Captain Si  and tell her  troops   will be  landing on the spine...I have to get these  coms  back in line before   we lose a ship or two!

 Orria?  You a damn  genius

Orria  smiled.

of course we sent the entire marine contingent Izzy quietly despaired before popping up over the monitors to fire a pair of quick bursts which sent an Angel sprawling to the dec. At the suggestion that they call in some drop troopers Izzy would give Orria an approving look, impressed that she had come up with a solution whilst under fire, before crawling over to her workstation and putting a call through to Captain Si  ”Captain Si, we have ESN drop troopers inbound to land on the the spine! Repeat, we have friendly drop troopers landing on our spine!” Izzy said, shouting down to be heard over the gun battle raging on all around her. She would utter a litany of insults in Chinese as a pulse round takes out a nearby monitor before popping up out of cover and firing back in return. Hoping that Lizzy was having a better time of it than she was.

 Sam kept low as she worked on her station, she took another grenade from the box and threw it towards any group of Angels, and then sent a message to Hennings," Admiral sir the Hermes has help coming, dropship troopers on the way."

Captain Si acknowledged ,Very  well done... that  may  make things a tad  bit more  managble. Ask SGT Shoemaker to give  me a sit Rep of  our people  down there.

 Beth   chuckled coldly...I could tell her that... there  are asses being kicked all over the hanger, and not all of them , are  Angel asses!

 Roll  was shooting into his   jury rigged headset.  He  had smoke marks on  the  Bits of armor  the QM's people  managed to make for him.. But he looked more angry then scared   Rivets   and   just thrown an Angle  troop out the  Bow most hanger bay doors, after swinging   the angle around  But his feet....  Rivets was wounded in a couple  places , but raged as he  shot at anything   wearing the metallic  angel colors.

 Hennings, who was also wounded a bit,  was  firing  from a  crate..  Gregor hand   just   Jumped om the back of  a  angel who tried to   jump on  Hennigns  waving an Angel  long knife.....she  sscreamed  for almost a  full Minute as  she tried to kegt   Gregor off her  back,  then she well,, still alive  and bleeding out  with her spind   stickign throigh  her  suit as  Gregor  went to find somehtign else to kill.

 The Admiral  answered  Sam...That's good  News......Thank you... his eyes shifted to the slowly  dying   angel...I'd  end it for you now? But i can't spare the  ammo...and?..quite fankly..i want you to suffer..think of  all you homeworlders, who were shipped off to the Demons....I hope they greet you, in the 9 hells.....

"Already do...EEP!...STOP SHOOTING AT ME!...Already done ma'am" Izzy said, squeaking as another pair of pulse rounds narrowly missed her followed by her already done being punctuated by gunshots from her own weapon.

Changing the channel on her comms unit she would try and contact Shoey on Captain Si's behalf "Sergeant Shoemaker, Captain Si would like a sit-rep" she said whilst trying to make herself as small as possible.

   Shoey   COM on his  com. I have   SEC    spread out  around with frounds  crew   to  help defend... Roll has  largs  runnign everywhere. and ..I have to think some of them are  Just plain, eating the  first bad  gys they come across..... We have  trans fers on the Dec. i don['t know how many of them are still alive QM is  is Pullign  rabbits out of a hat from his  stores... I guess short story is.. they   aren't gain, but they are here.

Beth  Was  tried.. a  1 hour name   was worse  then no sleep...  They lost contact with some ships,,and she  had to ask  other ships  why.., all of this  with  enemies knockout  out monitors  and shooting up the scaffolding...

”Roger that sergeant, give em hell…Captain Si our people are holding the line but the enemy are showing no sign of letting up” she said to Shoey  before quickly switching channel to Captain Si to pass along the message.

With Beth, Sam and Orria doing their best to man their stations, Izzy would grab another grenade and send it sailing towards a pair of Angels sheltering behind a stack of equipment, before opening fire on another Angel that was getting uncomfortably close to the scaffolding with her carbine.

   Roll was  shooting into his COMs  on his Bobbling helmet.  Largs  , with their   'augmented   jaws',  were tearig off limbs    and  , the larger  largs  Crushing  head gear..

  A Female  Angel   Grabbed Roll as  he stepped out     shoot his newly acquires sidearm at  and Angel who tried to hurt tess... she  shook    Rol like a rag  Doll..  Captain Morris  started to make his way over to aid  him,..when the shaking stopped... the  angels  face   had her eyes  wide in surprise...

 she Looked down.. a stern faced   Roll , still held  under his   arms  looked her in the eye..,she lowered her eyes  to see Roll  twist the   'sword' he had,, and   wiggled it  back and forth on the way out...Mr Shadow  says.. Hurt people more on the way out, then on the way in...

 she dropped   Roll as she   tried to grab  the wound, that had   red-blue  blood  spilling like a broken tap... she  fell to her  knees. Tess's  tail  hit her  hard  enough  to  sent her  into the  smoking  Bow of  a first wave  shuttle.

    Sneak      moved  dlose to Roll,, she now  directed   any  weapons  fire  she had , to anyone  trying to  get close to Roll.

,,, another  shuttle     was  swinging around  to 'back in to the   hanger  bay  There  wasn't a clear  path  for any bigger guns,  so the snipers and to ho to kill some  Angels  from the rafters... that is Until it Blew up.

 Outside  , the Morningstar was  cruising  slowly  past the Hanger  doors,, the  Automated  weapons    firing   40 MM grenades  and   50 cal  rounds into the   areas the Angels  had thought  were  safe  from attack..

  Angels  died , most inn surprise..   snipers added to their   panic  as they fired  at those  trying to  find shelter..  SEC  trooper s    Mobe d up to the  first line of   shuttled     shooting any angel they saw  moving, even those who tried to surrender..

 Rivets Roared, almost  manically YE  STEP ON ME DEC, KILL MY PEOPLE  AND HURT ME HANGER? YE  DUNNA GET TO SURRENDER ! ..it  took  10 minutes  after   the Morningstar made its  first sweep.. the send  sweep  was barely needed.

 Hennings   got Up from Under  an Angel he had hand to hand with.. he hand a deep wound in his thigh, that he  foamed,  GET THE  FIRST  BAY  CLEARED  FOR THE MORNIGSTAR!.. CASH SLASHERS, CLEAR THE ANGEL DEAD AND TAKE ANY AND ALL WEAPONS..SEARCH THE SHUTTLES  FOR MED TECH SUPPLIES AND  AMMO, THEN GET THE TRACTORS TO PUSH THE WRECKS OFF THE DEC!

 Rivets  wasted  not  Time,  using a  Machete, he  cut off  arms   and threw them in a pile   , as he tossed out the angels.. wounded flight crews,  scanned the   arms  and tossed them out  of   fed them to eager  Largs. Roll moved   around ,, he fussed  and worried over  the LArgs  who had been hit  by weapons  fire., cleaning the wound  with water from the table  and using  foam  and Plast for their   deeper wounds.Poor little largs... those angels  are  bad bad  people!

 Admiral Hennings?  The Zeus  reports  5    angel  caps ships, a pair of them  damaged , head on course for the Sol Sysetm....

 Tell the Zeus to let them go... we'll se them again  when we have to visit  Earth,,, have  them  send     half the fighters from thier section  to aid the  troops at the various cities... the other half   are to   be air cover for the fleet...though?  i don'[t think there  will be any more shuttles  for a while.

 Already done.....  Ladies.. orria  Contact     the  troops on the spine, get a sit rep....  Izzy, contact Shadow get a sit rep, the cross talk is  all over the damn place... Sam..Contact   Admiral Hack and see what we need   to do for them? I'll   Check with Apollo
 to see  how their  section is doing...

 Sam relaxed a little when the Morning Star seemed to bail them out and hit the Angels hard from behind. Sam then responded to Beth," Already done Ma'am."

 Sam opened a secure Sam coded comm to Admiral Hack, " Admiral what is the situation down there, we are clearing our bays of defeated shuttle attacks, is there anything the Hermes or the fleet can do for you sir?"

 The  Admiral   answered Sam,we need  fighters.. soon. Our  aircover is  getting   beaten up.. we  need fresh   wings  coming in!

 Sam turned to Beth and said," Ma'am, Admiral Hack needs fighters soon, they also need fresh wings coming in, they are getting beat up pretty good Ma'am."

  beth   frowned in anger and concern...Apollo?    send   any spare   aircraft  you have to Jerl, and   aid    Athena and Hermes  wing. in the air battel, we need to get some    Ground   support.

 Apollo  WC here..  sending some  aircraft from Various  vessels,,   we don't have any stand by aircraft left..

There was a grimace from Izzy, but she would give a curt nod before patching through to Shadow’s comms, relieved that no one was shooting at her anymore since the arrival of the Morningstar ”WC Shadow, this is the Hermes what is your wings status?” she asked in a professional, if not especially friendly voice, ”…Repeat, WC Shadow what is the status of the air wing?”

.. The wing is down  by half...  we are  trying to cut out strays from the furball,  to limit any of them  trying to give   air cover to the  bad guys... the   replacement  aircaft helps.. but we are losing Pilots, wounded or dead.. we need some fresh  faces down here.

 she could hear cross talks  from the   Hermes  Wing.. at least one was a  short lived  scream

”Roger that Shadow, The Apollo is sending some ad-hoc flights your way, hang tight” Izzy responded, having overheard Beth’s conversation with The Apollo’s WC ”The air wing is doing its best, but they’re battered and in serious need of reinforcements” Izzy quietly said to Beth and the others, wondering if this was perhaps one action too many and that the air wing would be crippled after today’s events.

   Shadow answered...The sound of  Pusle  blasts  hitting metal...Understood..what ever they send  down, is more then  we have!.. Shadow  , out...

 orria  looked   at her screen from feeds  from the shuttles...  what is he doing?

 Beth   shook her  head, her voice tense... he is leading   fighters  away from the  air war... and  our people   are  getting rid of them, he is combining that   with a  strafe run on those angels... and even their own folks that miss him,,are shooting up  Angels,,its  a game that can't last,,

 Hennings    walked over to the scaffold. AO=LO  watched  in horror  as   angels   had  arms  cut off and tossed into the  black..That is no  way to treat your parent race!

 Hennings  winced  as a blood covered  mend   tech worked on his   thigh.  the admiral  tossed the  thigh armor onto the hanger  dec, it was useless  now. A race  that experiments with their 'children' , has no room for protest... welcome to  Total war, AP-LO.... If I were you, I'd  hope   the Delta fleet  wins, because   The Admiral isn't going to sail away, he'll open the door  and Invite the Skyth in...

 Lucky used the tractor to  push  three shuttles  out into the  Black..one of them hand two wounded  angels in..but?  that's the way it goes, they had to clear the dec   for  the Morningstar, and  any of  the Hermes  aircraft , that may have to return.

As soon as the bay was clear, Karl deftly spun the Morningstar into a landing, using maneuvering thrusters to back into the bay.  "Crank it, boys, the Angels are hitting us in a counterattack and I wanna get back down there and make lots of Angel widows and orphans!"

The ground crew, to their credit, had started working on getting the reloading equipment accessible as soon as the shooting stopped and were bringing it out as fast as Lucky was clearing the deck with the tractor.  Bloodied and bandaged, they worked quickly...it was easier, for several of them, because everything had been built to their own specifications.  Empty magazines were pulled, fresh magazines were slotted into place and weapons charged, and one crewman ran over to the Morningstar with a can of soda and a sandwich.

By the time Karl had eaten the sandwich, the empties were gone and reloading had begun.  By the time he gulped down the soda, the crew was buttoning up all the access panels that had been opened for the reloading process.

"Give 'em hell, Sir!" the crew chief called out, signalling the crew to clear for launch.  As soon as the last man cleared the area, he gave the signal, and Karl eased out, hitting thrusters the moment he was past the magnetic screens and the ground crew was protected from the engine blast.  The ride down wouldn't be as precipitous as his race out of the atmosphere had been, but he wasn't wasting any time getting back down...

 Sam heard a message and said," Sirs, from Admiral Roles, they have eliminated the Angel fleet more or less, 7 destroyed, 3 captured and 4 ran away towards the Sol system."

  Hennings  nodded  with a smile to Sam  as his leg continued to be worked on.   That just goes to show you,  Oliver has   good judgment when it comes  to people.. Shadow, Roles  and Beth..Lyri..Specner... all came in  to start the ball rolling... I was on earth as part of the board  for  almost  2 years.. Bale and I got out of there, just in time... No Cap ships, means free  reign  in The Black

 Morris had a Bottle of  water..   Roll sat  down by him..  the Med tech that worked on  Hennings, worked on the boys  arm, a nasty  Pulse would on his  left are.. he didn't even pretend to cry..

 Hey kid? You're pretty tough...

 Roll shook his head,  the helmet bobbled  around.. naw,,, we usedta  bet bitten my Stem rats  bigger the  Gregor? or get  cut on  broken  pipes  when we sneaked through stuff... This  hurts, But its not as hurty  as those other things..

 The largs  all Gathered  around  where   Roll was.. some lying  down.  some sitting as  they watched  for Movement from the  scattered  Angel bodies.

 tender   gathered around the Hermes like Lamora around a shark..  Lucky get pushing    shuttles ( and bodies) off the  hanger    dec..while other s    used   brooms  to      push the debris off the  dec, in preparation for any fighters that would  come back.

  ..............

 ships  COMs  were slowing  down not, the active  COMs  were not  all on  Paradise.

With the comms chatter starting to settle down and the remains of the enemy fleet withdrawing, Izzy would take the opportunity to examine the scorch marks on her armour, noting with some relief that none of them had penetrated though she could already feel the bruises underneath ”why is it that I get shot more whilst on the hangar dec than when I’m in the field?” she asked no one in particular, curious as to why the supposed desk job was more hazardous.

Retrieving her vidboard from where it had fallen and dusting it off, she would continue working on the designs for her drone between Comms messages. It was too late for it to be of any use now, but maybe she could get it finished for the next operation.

 Orria   looked  at  Izzy...The Bag  guys  know  what a COM array looks like... so they attack it..

 Beth agreed,On the ground, OmniCOM operators  are a big  target, hauling that   Feed-bag sized   unit on their back, even then?  the enemy has to recognize it , when the see it..

 Heninngs   limped up the stairs..  Roll was  down  on the dec, fussing over  wounded Largs , and  rubbing the  heads  after he took off the Bloody head  gear and began to clean them.

 Send  ALL COMs.. make sure the Admiral and the Angels  pick it up... Hermes is  secure.. enemy Fleet  routed,, surving  ships  ran to the Sol Sector.... Hnager  Dec  operations   will be  back with in the hour

 Sam set up the comms and made sure everyone could hear it within range. Sam sent it then said to the Admiral," All set sir message sent to EVERYONE."

 Morris   looked  up from where he was  watching Roll and the Largs.  the message  was   sent , to demoralize the Angels?

  Hennings   smiled at  Sam  as he  watched   some of Beth's  techs  replace Monitors  and   try to add some   plates  around the   Monitor supports .

  Well Washington?  We don't know what the  Demons  did. but from what we have heard, no demons 'invaded' Paradise.  they might have had  some  down there for  signing pacts and whatever, but we have just brought a shooting  war to the planet. all the  APF  races
 walking on their   soil.. cities shattered  by bombardment, people killed by the  1000's
 and now? their   Navy has been , all but vanquished. They had to hear it from us, which makes it hurt more, because they think they intercepted  our   COMs.

   Captain Morris    turned back to the hanger   Dec. Lucky was pushing the last  shuttle, into the  Black, the first two bays were almost clean.

AP-LO looked  up at Hennings,you are worse then the Demons, you cast out my people's bodies  with out the rites of the  dead....

 Hennings  laughed  a pure , Honest Laugh... AP-LO looked angry..Yes? because...why? AP-LO?  Their souls  won't go to heaven? he chuckled   on the verge of  hilarity

 Its  Much better  for your people to be loaded into   shuttles  and sent to  Hel, where they would be   eaten, and   bred with? I'm sure the Demons  made sure your rites  were adhered to?  Now..all those Humans, and other  races  you brought here..abducted,  and did your own tests  and breeding with..   I'm sure you made certain all their   rites  were conducted...right?

 the chuckled  darkened Your people though the Humans would be  good cannon fodder. and..maybe  even  have the demons   try to sign  treaty with us... You never  dreamed, that Humans  would  rise, and gather  all those  species you left for Dead, and become a force in The Black. we're all grown up now  AP-LO , and  there is nothing worse  then a vindictive , angry Human, who finds out  they were made a fool of..

 AP-LO  watched   body after    body  scanned or cash slashed  and tossed into The Black. he lowered his head.

Although what Beth and Orria said made sense it didn’t mean that Izzy had to like it ”we’re going to have to start lining the tower with ballistic shields or sandbags or something” Izzy suggested with a sigh as she continued to work, listening as the announcement was made that the Angel fleet was retreating and the air wing was pulling back for the night.

  Beth chuckled a bit... Sometimes  , I think its good they try to kill us... they forget about the people who have weapons!

 Roll looked up...Is Mr  Shadow and Mr  ZOB ok... how 'bout   the SM...and Doc  henry and Mila?

 Dana  came  walking down the  taped area, her left arm  a  sling, she  arrived  at the tower,there are alot of   bags in the  Med tech....  That new lady  Doc  and  one of the new pilot s are  in recovery.. , Stefi said  they 'd  have to see what goes on from here.

”I mean…I guess so…it’s just feels mean them targeting the four smallest people in the fleet” she sighed before leaning up to look over the top of the monitors to see Roll ”Well I’ve just heard some chatter that Roy and Henry have gone with the Admiral for a meeting so they’re ok…and Shadow has just landed with Lizzy and the others…I haven’t heard anything about the others, though in this instance no news is good news” Izzy replied with a sympathetic smile knowing how he must be feeling ”I guess we should think about calling it a day and get some rest? Do you want to stop over at mine tonight Sam?” Izzy would ask, with her wanting the company seeing as Lizzy would be staying at the beachhead tonight.

 Sam smiled and finished up what she was doing and said,Yes I will go change and shower and treat my wounds then head over ok Izzy.

 After that they closed up for the night and Sam said goodnight and carefully got up, feeling the pain when she did and made her way to her Quarters.

------->>>> to Officer Quarters.

   Beth stood up , she  wasn'tmplease at the Hits   her station took, but  she  has been around long enough to know that the grounds  crew fared far worst  then they did.

   Looking around  , she pointed to th tech ...who was now her senior  tech  after the lost  the  last one..I need   three more Monitors  hooked up, once they are set,you folks  get food and rest...

 Orria? Got to  Doc  Henry's  Lab , you can get some rest there, and help them take  care of Cookie?

Orria  first , shook her head.I can Help and..

 I know you can, and you have been doing so for a while..what i need you to do, is rest up , so when the  Jump off  comes tomorrow, you are in top shape. you can have your Vid board  ready, incase your Dad calls...

 Orria nodded and slowly walked  down the mobile stairs...You need rest too...

 I'll get  rest.. either in the Black  Hanger or   SEC,,,,as soon as the Monitors  are set up.

 Orria   went off  towards SEC, to  go to  Doc henry's.

  Hennings  was gettign assessments  from al over the ship, The dropship troopers that came down from the spin    were  set up in a  empty VIP  room near the  VIP Lift. a few were still on the drop ship to keep an eye on the spine.. The rest where helping set up portable  barriers and  help load  scrap onto the  carts that the Forge  folks were taking to the forge , for melting when  the battle was over.

 Hennings   stopped  and Looked at Roll.. he hand a dermaplast  patch on his left shoulder  and he was  sleeping   against Tess, who had a protective tail wrapped  around him. Captain Morris   came up, a small smile on his face.Never thing that child..if you can still call him a child, was directing   largs  to attack  and  remove enemy assets...

 Hennings  nodded slowly his own quirk of a smileHe  almost got  sent away, if not  for  Mortica taking him in?

 Morris  gave a sad nod,he was...is... loyal to his pack. we have not heard from her  in quite a while....But he's not  Going anywhere..Jax, Sneak,, The SM and LC..and..most of all, Larry, wouldn't  stand  for it.

 he has a place to live, he has people around  to care for him, and , he has largs.. I don't see anyreason why we would have to ship him of to Med tech ships to get placed  with some colonists...

 there was a soft chuckle,again?  I want to be there, if some  resource  officer suggests  to the people I mentioned, that they want to take him to a 'better Home". I'll make  certain to have Med tech ready..

 They  both   laughed  Hennings  Put   a drop cloth from the Ground  Crews  over  Hin  as Tess turned her head  and watched  the  Admiral, a tiny movement of her tail that showed  'a thump'

   Morris continued on towards   Rivets  as he was  calling   for  some aircraft to be brought to  The Hermes.

 Hennings   went up to the    Monitors and saw  Beth asleep on her   keyboard.. The tech said  softly..We are  about  done , Admiral..did the tests  everything is hooked up.

 very Good  , Chief,,, go get your food  and rest.. I  stay on watch here.

 begging your pardon, Admiral? but  won;t you need rest?

 Me?  I'm just a spectaor , Chief. but  I'll get  rest here in a chair

 The chief  looked at  the  pulse  scorches on  Hennings   armor. he gave a wry smile and Salute,as you say, Admiral Hennings.....have a  quiet night...

a lazy return of the sharp salute,Thank you Chief... carry on.. another   drop cloth was placed around Beth,, Hennings  had  an over head  feed from  Karl, and would watch that until he nodded 0ff.

 The Beep from an Incoming COM  from Admiral Hack, woke  Henning...  Bryce?   In  30 Minutes or  so Have Beth  Link us up with then Yenti.. they   I'll give a  lay out to the fleet on what we are going to do... Thanks!

  Hennings    nudged  Beth.. she  looked around , bewildered.Beth? Get cleaned up and refeshed, .. The Admiral needs you to Link the  Yenti  with the fleet and then get the COMs  going for  the Admiral's  address to the   section leaders.

 I'm Good, just have to shake off...

 no?... his voice   was all but a whisper.you are beth Morrow... those  people on the  Dec, whether    they wear  Jumpsuits or  armor. wil be lokign at you... if you  look fresh and ready, they'll try to be fresh and  ready . I hate to sound old fashion...but  a strong female   presence  is  needed to get the  Men out there something to protect , that isn't a giant Tin Can in space.

  Beth Nodded,,,  and  left quickly   jogging towards  the SEC.

  Hennigns  sat back, Roll was  awake  and  went to the bathroom.. the largs  were taken  with him to   the Lab where their 'larg boxes' where.

  seeing  so many different races  on the hanger Dec. Hennings  shook his head.all we need is elephants, and we could  be  this generations Hannibal

 menahile, beth sent  COM  alarms  for   Sma , Izzy and Oria..( tower in 30)

  Beth   walked   down the line, fresh  faced  , clean uniform  chest player  and  leg armor  on, she  carried her head gear.

  walking up  the steps  of the mobile  stairs  she   sat  down..ready to Connect the Yenti  , Admiral Hennings...

 Orria   was  running  down the path, Val made sure she was cleaned and Brushed as well.