(( after sgauttle dcks, vans Loaded)

the until  was split   with Lyri in one Van, Roy in another.. as the  traveled   Lyri COMed

 Last time  we  went to  'Why Not" we  had  to  kill some folks who were  supposed to be on out side?

Roy looked at the comms message and grimaced.  "Yeah, I know, but that was before Gresh was involved.  Until we're inside and meeting with him, we're just a bunch of mercs that got hired to handle some cargo...anyone there wants to make trouble for us, we handle them according to our cover story, for now."

  Puling up in the  alley, the  doubles   door s slid Open, there was a slightly over weight  security  guard/

  'bout time you got here... kids  are waiting  for those  new  figures

  the   unit   grabbed    boxes  as well as the Crates  from the Labs  and   took them 'down to storage.

  Gresh was there  will a  skinny human  guy ,maybe  25  years old  with glasses   and  a pocket protector.

 Ahh...Spencer!... so.. early  Pyroc gets  the  Largran...is tat it?

Roy grinned at the metaphor.  "Well, you know...last time we went out, half our targets were packing their bags to get off the station because the Hermes had put in to port.  So, I figured we could maybe catch them off guard by getting in a day ahead..."  He shrugged, and added, "If I could spare the personnel I trust to do the job, we'd load up a little transport with a hit squad that would just randomly revisit old locations and clean house...really give them fits to have a Delta Night hit them when the Hermes isn't even in that quadrant..."

  the   crates  from the  Hermes  were loaded on a small rail train, now  unlike those from the old  Mining  days. A trooper  sat in the  chair of the Motot and   , when given the  nod, Road  down the    tunnel in the direction of the ESN  Fleet HQ.

 It must be of Some Comfort to be  in the Home of The Delta Fleet once  more.. i noticed the Home defense vessels  are out a  good 500,000 miles   , to make sure  the Fllet can be  close  for  loading, Unloading and shore leave.

 he  began to walk as he motioned with  his  only lower  arm...But you  have  come , to see your Marks,..Thos e   Toys you have brought.  the station has  recived  many laods of them..they are sellign very well, as people add to their  Collections

 On a  self  Lit' table there were  3 Picture.. an Occui...a Nivarain  and a   Roussian

 usinging his  upper right arm, he pointed at  the Occui..Nolte  Femal , she comes  from an off world family that  traveled between  Nivar  and   Roussa ,,she is  said to have her  hands in slaves, we cannot pin point that yet...she is , however  running  black Market..mostly to smaller  Colonies..she gouges prices... so far  we can't  cannot charge her  with anything big enough to  stop her.

 Logis.. Nivarian of  a High House there. His  father was one of the  ones behind the ambush you called 'The Alamo'..he was killed in the Shelling that followed. Logis took over... he  is   trying to  sell Largs  to the EDT, and Earth..Earth doesn't want largs there.. but the EDT wants them... I supposed? to fight yours..one of his vessels  was found to have  30  slaves  of  various  races, none older the  15 orbits...he claimed the ship was stolen from his company..and?it   was marked that way..but the pirates we  executed, did not have the kind of Creds that would have enabled them to  run the vessel as they did.

Gresh's lips  curled,Tak!... The  Roussian  piece  of  tarbeast  offal... He is here as a diplomat ... but he  is also working to undermine  some  of the treaties  with lesser places...His  family  was the  main  slavers  of their  kind, but  enough  separation of   evidence ..except this...

a picture  of a little Sanri  Girl. that would be  about  8 or  9 in human terms.she was found  with some others  children after the Delta   fleet  turn Roussa Wort crap..she  saw  Tak and screamed  pointing for all who saw.. that he was that man who attacked her ship... Provost Marshal, Feeten of the Burain   groups..  had  Tak locked up and set a trail...During the  Night  The Girl..her  name  was Dirst..was  killed . There was no mistake  that a roussian blade  made the kill, but  Tak walked as  there were no others  to pin him to slavers and piracy..

 These Three are  workign with..if they are not members  themselevs..The EDT...They are tryign 5tomshift focus from Roussa's activities... They must  die..and  any of thier  inner circle  you may colect along the way...Tak..must die  regardless of the success  of the   other marks.

Roy nodded, his eyes locked on the images, memorizing details of their marks' appearances.  "What do we know about their current accommodations?  What kind of structure, how much security, any extra details of note about their properties?"

 Gresh  moved the  pictures  aside and   lit up the ' Vinyl Dumbbell Shape  " of Fuji station.

 The Occui, like  Opulence . He  has a manor in the  Uppers, way at the  e4nd  or  the beach It has   2  floors   that people  see... but it has
 one floor  Underground, it  tapes into delivered  Tunnels. Its  his escape  tunnel..there are wheeled   vehicles that Travel  down there,  as hover
 cars tend  to smash into   the roof!.. He has somewhere between   20-25 people  up there..12 of them Occui... looking at Vaka, he says,Can you kill your own people?

Vaka  snorts,These?  are not my people... These people around me..are ..MY..people.

Tak and Logis have Ho9mes near each other, here...in the Lowers.. They are close to the  west side of the   Stem Entrance... we think the homes are linked by the underground, Much like us  with  ESN Fleet HQ... Rumors have it , that Tak and Lugis are lovers.. They have  nearly 50  people    between the  two of them... They do not look like  servants. they are   too well disciplined to be servants . it is  said they have  a place in the stem  that they deal out of.. FUJISEC, has not  found it..there are some  compounds  we let work, because   , we often sieze good  coming in that the  Station  can use.. we might Burn on slave hole a Month though

Roy looked at the maps, scowling thoughtfully.  "Do we have maps of those tunnels?  Be nice to block their escape before they even realize they need it..."  He rubbed his chin for a moment, adding, "Make it look like the initial attack is coming at them from the tunnels, flush them out of the house and let snipers take them down as they come out the doors."  He glanced over at Cross and grinned a little.

"Be even better if the groups hitting from the tunnels had some kind of livery or patches...something that IDs them...when we hit Tak and Logis, make it look like the initial assault is being done by Femal's people...reverse that when we hit the Occui.  Give any potential survivors good reason to try and take each other out as revenge.  We can decapitate the organizations, chew up their upper ranks, and let the lower ranks ravage each other for a while."

He grinned at Cross and added, "That's the thing about these greedy bastards...you can never be sure when one of 'em decides they want YOUR piece of the action, as well..."

   Cross chuckled, I like those ideas. But you know   what i like better. is killing them myself.. that way i know that the Job gets   done

 O'day  says, them Tunnels.. wouldn't  take  much  to drive a  van  or  truck  into the  tunnels  and wreck them,  cause  a ruckass, may be a wee fire?..smoke .. Then  they  decide to Bail.. if the  decide to stay in fight..well..dead is dead, it  depends  how hard ya  wanna  work on it?

 Hemsly says..I ', thinkin'  a vave  or   car,,  run it  right through  any  gauards. so's they start shootin'.. the    the C-10 we  packed in there, we  blow up.. Kill ' bunch of bad   folks, destrou thier escape, so's  they have  ta  run away.

 I  would not   mind  sniping   people  who come out...it is  easy. lirg  smiled

 LT Hirr  Looked  at Yotolia..we could be   waiting on the  Grounds.. they would not   think of  Felrites   pouncing on them

 NA-CE listened she wasnt a strategist, high ranking Enlisted or an Officer, she was just a combat med tech, she just paid attention, tried to burn the marks faces in her mind and she listened carefully about the intel of the marks. NA-CE would just listen nothing was directed at her, and she has never been here before, so she wasnt going to add anything unless asked.

Yotolia looked up to Hirr with a nod before reaching into her hoody to rub at her ear and hummed to herself. She shook her head visibly before piping up. "Do we know if they hold the captives in the tunnels? Would be bad to blow them up if the goal is to save as many as we can no?" She asked still rubbing her ear as she looked to everyone. "And what if in this time of ruckus, they decide to dress these slaves up as them to flee, and the sniper starts shooting?"

Yotolia wasn't a hundred percent that what she was asking would happen, but she had seen plenty of earths old films of such situations happening that she couldn't hold her tongue on the possibility,

  Hemsly  shrugs...we  save folks  when we  can..we  can't  save them all..This is  wet works.. we are here to  kill them threee and anyone who helps them

Roy gave Cross a feral smile.  "I thought that was a given.  The rest of this is just dressing on the salad, so to speak...odds are good, in both locations, there are so many people involved that we're not likely to get them all..."  He gave a shrug, and added, "I lack Shadow's appetite for wanton destruction, or else we'd figure out some way to just deliver air strikes on all the locations and then go in and mop up any survivors.  But I don't know how we'd get a torpedo bomber into those areas effectively.  So, the plan is to give them a scare...the more carnage you lay down on the way in, the scarier it is.  And, hopefully, the boss at those locations panics and makes a run for it, with the loyal troops standing rear guard.  It's like using a dog to flush game out of underbrush so you can get a shot at it."

He shrugged and added, "But if there's another way out, or too many of them make a run for it at the same time, we're likely to miss someone.  So, I'd prefer them thinking it was one of their own that did it.  We get them pointing fingers at each other, they'll still be shooting at each other long after the Hermes has moved on...Gresh's people won't need to burn anywhere near as much effort because they'll be shooting at each other...even if they don't manage to kill each other effectively, that will still be like sending up signal flares for Gresh to know who's still out there and how active they are.  And if they give enough lead time, his people will be standing on the sidelines and throwing rounds into the mix to up the bodycount without advertising that they were there."

He looked at the others who'd chimed in.  "I like Hemsly's option better.  We get the benefit of the blocked escape, AND they're immediately under attack and know it.  This is one of the rare times that we want them to know someone's there to make trouble.  And I'm thinking maybe four snipers per location...so, we'd need six or eight where the Nivarian and Roussian are so close, because we need to cover both at the same time.  Four to launch the attack and cut off their tunnel escape.  Everyone else is either on the grounds or right outside when things start going boom, and they have two jobs...spotting for the snipers, as far as picking targets, since they'll be close enough to notice right away if the mark exits the building, and trying to quietly take down as many more as they can.  If the initial wave of...well, let's just call them rats, for a multitude of reasons...if they get shut down and the initial assault team finds that they're meeting heavy resistance, the snipers can move in closer, and the infiltrators on the grounds can move into the buildings and hit the resistance in a flanking move, while the snipers make sure they don't get outflanked and caught unaware."  He looked around at the group.

"Plenty of work to go around.  Everyone gets a piece of the action."  He turned to Yotolia.

"Collateral damage is always a risk.  We try to minimize it, but it happens.  Tunnels would be a bad place to keep slaves, because you don't want to clog up your secret escape route with a bunch of enclosures, so not much chance of that...and I'm betting that they're more interested in trying to get away from the known threat of someone attacking than they are in taking the time to dress up slaves as decoys.  If I'm wrong?"  He shrugged.

"At least the slaves get a quick, clean death, instead of wondering how long it is before they end up on a Demon dinner plate or incubating Creshian hatchlings that are going to eat them alive from the inside out.  One of the reasons we came early, though, is because they might think of that kind of a precaution AFTER they hear the Hermes has docked, because they know there's a chance they're going to be targets.  So we're hitting them before they get the announcement that the Hermes is coming to Fuji...before they've had times to set up countermeasures against a Delta Night."

  Gresh  looks  around the  table...The  Rossian and the  Nivar, are about a Mile or so a way...if the entrance to the stem  wouth be  a   clock, and the entrance is  12:00..they would be  at 10;00..If  all yournpeole what to hit them  first, we can send  watchers  to the Uppers, to watch the Occui.

 Cross  and O'day both Shrug...sooner  we start, the sooner they get dead.

 Jax  smiled a bit...Nifty said,we  don't have to do anythign stupid like  warn the  boss  bad guys,,right?  if  we  see them, we can drop them, right?

 Lirg says..so? how do we go...

Roy looked at Nifty in consternation.  "Why in the world would we want to warn them?  That's the whole purpose for coming in early, so they don't get any warning. If they're really lucky...IF...they'll have heard that the Hermes is still a day or so away, so they might be shutting down some operations, pulling people in and spreading people out, trying to get a head start on Delta Night...but the pattern's been established, and we saw that the last couple of times we went out.  The Fleet docks, there's a big event of some sort, usually a ball, and THEN things go bad for the bad guys.  So they're not too urgent about clearing out or digging in until the Fleet docks.  We know, because we've caught them in the act the last couple of times, now."

He grinned, and added, "Welcome to the wonderful world of covert operations.  Playing by the rules here means fighting dirty, and there's no longer any such thing as "gentlemens' rules"...anyone who insists on using them is just asking to catch a bullet between the eyes or have someone drop a grenade on you while you're at the doorstep delivering your warning message."  He shook his head and added, "We've had people, here and there, try using a warning as a ploy to flush out the bad guys...it's never worked particularly well.  You want their first warning to be the fact that some of their guards have mysteriously gone silent...or, in the case of what we're planning tonight, something blew up right at their back door.  The whole idea is that, by the time they realize we're there, it's already WAY too late for them."

He glanced over at Lirg.  "Our usual method of deployment is via generic, unmarked hover van, unless there's some specific reason to try it another way.  We've had a few people try hovercycles in the past...problem with that is, hovercycles are enough of a rarity that the sight or sound of one attracts attention.  Hover vans?  People hardly even look twice.  Probably need four...the assault team needs one to load up with explosives, plus one for extraction if things go really sideways.  Infiltrators can be dropped off in the vicinity, but it'll be easier to have the snipers paired off with a van for each pair.  Each sniper teams drops off infiltrators, and then moves to find their position to sit overwatch and wait for the fireworks to start.  If the infiltrators need extraction, one sniper team has enough room in a van for all of them, so they can swoop in while the other team provides cover."

He grinned and looked around at the group, which was decidedly heavy with snipers.  "What we need to decide is, who goes in with which team?"

  Nifty seemed  happy he could just shoot folks and not worry about  being a foolish hero.

  Hirr  smiled  at  Roy,you should have  had  Angel, AZ-EL come, she is  very good sniper  as well

 They all waited for the  marching orders  while the  Demo team set up the 'bomb van'

Roy glanced around at the group, noting that Hemsly, Brooks, and Karson had all effectively assigned themselves to the assault squad by virtue of wiring up the van.  "Cross, O'Day, go with the Demo team.  After that van they're rigging goes up, they're going to need some extra firepower."  He gave a gesture with his hand, indicating they should at least move in that direction, and then scrutinized the rest of his team.

"Lyri, you and Lirg are Sniper Team One.  Zob and Nifty are Team Two.  The rest of us will hit the grounds just after the van goes up."  He indicated himself, the two Felrites, and Vaka.  He looked at the two Felrites and the Occui.

"We want to keep things quiet and not advertise our presence...UNLESS one of our primary targets shows.  If that happens, see if a sniper team has a shot.  If not, do whatever you need to do to eliminate that target, no matter how much noise it makes."  He gave a nod, and patted one of his machine pistols.  "Got it?"

 NA-CE listens and pays attention and will wait for her orders, she was medical backup she presumed, but she would wait for further orders.

  The groups  began to  spread out Lyri said...Drop us off at the fire escape on  the  west side of the tallest Building on the west side of  our  Mark's places.. we'll get to the  roof  and   spread out there...

 Zob and Nifty  would  do the East side  of the  two mark's buildings...

  Hemlsy   and  brooks  finally set  up their  trigger  wires. Karson  spliced them together.  He handed   Triggers outHemsley , You  have the clearing  charge..  when   any guards   show  up, you   Trigger them, the   array will  send  some  C-1o  cubes  at them and Go off.. Brooks... your  trigger will  send the   Van   at top  speed   into   whatever    is in front of  it... when  it  crashes... I hit  my  triggers, that  should Blow up the  dors.. and cave   some of the tunnel.. if they have other  cars  parked there,  the fires and explosions  should fracture  the Powercless... No one will be using that tunnel for week.

Roy grimaced slightly.  "I had envisioned you...both sniper teams...keeping the vans and dropping us off...but we can go the other route pretty easily, I suppose."  He'd rummaged through his gear bag, selecting what he needed for this particular operation...his sniper rifle would be staying behind, as would the assault rifle...but both machine pistols and the Verian hold-out pistol were going with him, along with his kabar and kukri.  His plan, personally, was for mobility and concealability...he was willing to sacrifice a little firepower.  If there was anything the machine pistols couldn't take down...well, that's what the snipers were for...

He turned to Gresh.  "Anywhere in the vicinity of those homes that it would safe and innocuous to park a hover van?"

  Lyri looked at Zob, who shrugged.we can  do that?..  both teams   just land their   vans on the  roof  top , towards the  back... Zobs Van  can drop you off  in the  alley in front.. and go to thier  Roof.

 Twitch  will guide the bomb van to the   tunnel..She is not to go in.. she will  Guide  you.. tell you  were the closest exit is, then go  into the streets in case she is needed..Is is  12?  there is no need  for her  to be in a Tunnel that will be blown up.

 Hemsly  nods...Right then?  I'll drive....

a chorus  of  .NOOOOO..was heard, Karson took the  bomb van driver  seat.

As they headed for the various vans, Roy caught up with Karson and Hemsly.  "Now, this shouldn't need to be said...but it's you two, so I'm going to say it."  He didn't wait for a response.

"You be sure and WAIT until the sniper teams are in place before you light the candles down there, okay?  I don't want our marks sneaking out the front door because you got too excited and popped off before we've got the exits covered.  Do I make myself absolutely clear?"  He wasn't angry...but there was no doubt that he was not just joking or teasing.

  Karson looked a6 Hemsly..Hemsly nodded.. Just have them COM us   when they are  ready..when we get  both, we'll enter the Tunnel..

A  thin  grill  ith  short hair, she  looked like a Nivarian/human half breed. I'm supposed  ta  take   some people to the  exit  tunnel near the   stem?  M'name's  Twitch? she was dressed  like a stem kid, except her  pants  were more  durable, and the   long sleeve  pull over  , didn't have  holes. a weapons  belt  was  diagonal  across her chest, with  Largran 'luger' type  side  arm and  three  ammo pouches for  Mags.

 Karson   nodded to Hemsly  and he waved   the kid to follow  them..looking at Roy.. Karson added,I'll COM when we are there.... I'll COM  when the snipers both  call in..annd  I'll COM  when we enter.....Once we are in..the first  explosions  will be  that array , to clean out  or  force retreat... anything afte rthat  will be  the  Van and  the  triggers..

  Lyri's  van lifted  off , headign  to the  west..staying street level  until they were a good  4 blocks  away, then  rose  into the  air to get above the lights., but below the  main traffic streams.

  Zob waited  for Roy  and Karson took his     Van  to the   north east.... Zobs  van would be , more or less in the same direction. save  for  dropping the  ground team off.

Roy gestured for the girl to go with Karson.  He looked around, taking a deep breath that was almost a sigh as the vans scattered.  One day, we won't need to do this... he told himself, without truly believing it.  If that day came, it wouldn't be in his lifetime.  There was always someone greedy enough to try and screw over their entire race...or the entire APF...for personal profit.  And unfortunately, it seemed like some of them were always charismatic genuises who could win over the 'true believers' that didn't like the way things were being run.f

He gave a small shake of his head.  "Okay, Zob, let's hit it.  Don't want to leave those guys sitting at the tunnel mouth waiting on us..."  He gestured for his team to head for the remaining van, where Nifty had already laid claim to the front passenger seat.

   10 Minutes...Lyri and   Lirg  where  on the  roof   with their weapons searching.. the  Grounds  of the Nivarian  mark.

 Long Shot in place.. 8  cars on the  law.. whole bottom f;loor  is  lit up.. Wolf  says  the   Roussian hpouse   looks the  same.

.........

15 minutes  after leaving.

 Nifty  here.. dropping off   some pedestrians   now....

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

 18 minute s after leaving..

Switch here.. we are at the Opening with the Guide, The Guide  will leave  when  we  enter..

 ..............

2 minute  after    Bomb check in

 we  are in Place..  Temper  sees.  4  guards  walking arpound the   cars on the front Lawn...

...

 we  see the same... light guards   for a big wheel party?

Roy nodded as the comms calls came through.  "Copy that...stand by..."  He muted his comm for a moment.

"Okay...when we hear the boom, Hirr and Yotolia get in or over the fence whatever way is fastest for you.  Liggins, you and Na-Ce are with me, we're going to be walking down the street like we're out for a nice evening stroll or something...keep it looking innocuous until the last minute.  Let's go..."

As he headed for the main street between the houses with the two women, he commed, "Hot Shot's a go.  Send in the party favors..."

 NA-CE listened closely and then was excited as they headed for the marks. She was dropped off and then Roy said she was with him, she gave Vaka a smile when he left, and she walked with Roy and Liggins down the street. She had her weapons hidden.

   Vaka  walked  down the street, he  kept to the  outside , away from the fence ..you think, how many   bad people we kill, in everything  we do...and there are always more? how do they keep popping up?

 liggins  snorted..No matter what Race, what planet, what country. there are always  those who are weak of  mind, or black of heart, who will side  with evil , if they think they will get value  from it, and they care not, who gets  hurt. we have seen it on earth..everycoutnry?...at least out here, its  easier to understand  why aliens  do it.

 Hirr   gave a hiss at that,there  are those who should not be who they are, they are so dark inside  they  can't use the excuse that they were 'tricked"  . they  want to be   on the side of evil... we have  culled many of our  own, for just that.

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

 every Minute. Lyri or Zob  would  say the count of  guards..it never changed...

Then the word from Karson..Little guide is off and running..said something up us  having  back up..there are two hatched  for us to use..we may have to use the  one  two block back.. i want to use the one  1 block back... it  comes  down to the Blowback...Hemsely?

 right....so..on  3..the   array  goes  off......1.......2........3....

inside the Tunnel   the van 'drove  down  with  Brooks steering with a Vidboard.. there were two Guards  and   4 fancy  Hover cars parked, two on each side of the   doors..  they saw the van coming  one man lazily held up  his had  for it to  stop..that's when the array  went off... the cubes of   C-10  bounced   around   and the triggers swent off  5 seconds later.. the Explosions  tore the guards  apart, Blew up  on car  , which Blew up the Nex  car.. the power cells  fracted.. the other  two  cars  burned.

 My turn..got a  clear path for that  door...

 he might have been hasty, but considering the   plan the   Van ,m it didn't matter  much...just..missing  dead  center,  the   impacted  Buthe Door the Powercell fractured  and Karson hit the switch.. from where they were, Zob and  Nifty  saw  a  Down of  Earth and  dec plates    rise, then   fall as the tunnel collasped.. lefting a  somokign carter  and   hundreds of  alarms going off  from cars and Buildings.

 Nifty  Grinned as he  sighted in on a Guard...Zob did the same..Nifty  fired   and   the  Man's chest  blew out  his back

 Lyri called into the COM...show time!  her   rifle  coughed , a second later  a  guard  at the west  end  of the Building, flew  back into the  flowers..

 The two Cayts  headed for the   inwrought  fence , climbing over with ease.

"C'mon.  They've got this one covered, let's get over the fence for the other one..."  He jogged to the fenceline of the other property they were looking at, dropping into a crouch with his hands cradled to boost the other three over the fence.

"Let's go, we want to be on the ground and ready before they make it out of the building!"

  There was the   sound  pof a Hatch spin  a block away.. Hemsly and the rest of their  team came out..

  There was  a  cry from the west  as Lyri's  team took out another guard... the  cats  were on the ground headed to the last two.

    Roy and his folks  mounted th fence..two round   zipped  from Zob's  roof.. one guard  went  down...an some gu  coming-out the   main  door, was  splattered  over the foyer, someone slammed    the door  shut

 Lia  and Catty on the  way,, we are going tio srt  to hit  windowns....

 ...  there  is one guard  let.. Temper  tagged  a guy comign out the  door

  we'll coming out the  hatch way.. smoke and fire  below.

"I'm not one to opt for Shadow's preferred techniques...but in this case, if you can't get in safely, torch the place.  Once we go inside, we lose sniper cover and we also face odds anywhere between ten to one and twenty-five to one.  I'd rather light up the furniture and pick them off as they stagger out of the smoke..."  It wouldn't be fast...but with the emergency exits below blocked, if the structures were on fire, there weren't many viable options to get out.  And most living beings would rather take their chances against a sniper bullet than be burned alive...

"When you get out of the hatch, back up Cat.  We've got more firepower on the ground here."

Yotolia followed behind Hirr closely, mimicking her movements, as they moved, stopping when she stopped. The young ferlite watched the vet for signals or signs of what she needed to do. Her heart was pounding with some excitement, as she started feeling the nostalgic feeling of an early morning hunt, and she smiled to Hirr as she waited for her orders

 Hirr Pointed  to One Guard,  who was watching  the skyline, trying to  find out where the  shots were coming from, She was  hidden mostly,, by a hover  car.

   The second  one, closer to the  Main doors  had turned his Group rifle towards   Roy and his group as the were scaling the fence.Go...Young one,, The Male  who is facing across the  way..Kill it. before it  can bring   down any of our  people.. I will Kill the one talking into her mic......GO!

 not  waiting  for an answer, Hirr  crouched down as she sped  towards the   Car, Leaping over the  Hood  and  surprise her female prey, two  gaggers  shaped  like  curved  fands came down as the  woman screamed...but the scream was  short...

  two  big  windows  on Hirr's end of the home shattered  as  sniper  fire  slammed into the  house grade  meta glass, breaking it  and  causing  screams  from within.

 Hemsly's Group   came over the  Fence closer to  Hirr and Yotolia's  side.. Brooks  was on the  COMs..movement behind the homes one or two people   going out the Back way..

 Cross  said,well  spilt  between the Homes, see if we can  run them down..

They was  a louder  sound  from   Zob and  Nifty's  roof a second  later  a  scream was heard  as one of those who ran out   then   back fell with  thier  leg missing from the  thight  down..the scream of  pain and  terror echoed..

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

 Gresh  said into the OPs  COMs...we have  blocked alrams. but it will only stay that way for 15 minutes, then the  AI will reroute  the  alarms and we cannot stop that...

 NA-CE followed Roy, she got over the fence fairly easily and then got her weapon ready as she waited for their next move.

without a word Yotolia drew her blade from under the hoody and was gone as soon as the order was given, rounding the back of the car before rushing over to her prey reaching him as Hirr dispatched her prey. He was suddenly turning towards Hirr from the loud yet brief cry from the female. Yotolia lept from the shadows and onto his back before he could aim properly and proceeded to stab him in the neck swiftly as her body weight pushed him down

After boosting the others so they could (hopefully) make it smoothly and swiftly over the fence, Roy turned and jumped up, catching the top metal bracing and pulling himself up to catch hold of the spear-tip decorative elements that made up the top section of the fence.  With a hold there, he got a foot up onto the brace and levered himself up to leap over the top and drop to the grass beyond with an easy roll that brought him up in a kneeling position.  "Move on the house...Vaka and Liggins first, Na-Ce and I will provide cover.  When you get in a position that you can cover us, we'll move up to you.  Go, fast!"

  Both  guards  were   down, Hirr  hissed to Yotolia,...Take  Creds... take  weapon if you need one..take enemy COM..might  be useful,,, head
 to  edge  of  window, do not  look in , incase snipers fire.

  From the Home on  'roy's  side". the garage  Door  opens  and  a sleek black  hover car started to  exit  the  Garage.. Nifty called  Zob's name  on the COMs... there were two muzzle flashes, but  only one  'loud' sound, something hit the car's  metal glass  windshield..It must have  been 'fighter grade' as it  only  cracked  a bit.. but something   else  hit  , near the same  spot  , shattering most of the  glass on the  drivers   side, and coating the rest  with Greyish Blood... the   hover     nosed   down  and  ground  across the  drive  way  and  stopped . a  Human looking woman got   ou, scream is she was covered in the Blood. Cros s  dropped her   as his   people   headed   between the homes,  Hemsly broke  off towards  Hirr  and Yotolia,... Brooks  broke   for   Roy's   home..Karson , Cross and O'day, ra ran Between the homes, looking    for the rear  entrances..   O'day  dropped on of the  people who tried to  follow  a person from Hirr's  side.. a  women  was on her knees  crying as she  stood  near  a  body had been dropped  by  zob.  Karson  simply  gunned her  down . Karson, Cross  and Oday, spread  out and had a  semicircle facing towards the  street.

Cross  and  Karson  saw a Muzzle  flash from Lyri's building, and a strangled   scream was hear near the rear Fence..Lirg said...There  are not  any more runners  on outside building...

Zob  said none  on this side....there is  smoke  coming  from the end of the  house, closest to the attached  Garage.. there must be an entrance to the Tunnel  we blew..

 the glass  broke  near the window  by the main doors of that house.. a scream followed by more screams as Nifty said..Dammit!... i Hit the Upper  leg, that mark stood up!..

Lyri came on the COMs,It works..  you shot   something  with  that hole puncher.. those in side  see the Blood  and damage makes  them terrified.. between that  and the loss  of that tunnel..they should be getting really scared, the  Bodies in the back yard   helps too... Shoot anything that moves in those windows..

At Taht Moment , floodlights came on around the houses... Lyri   Took one out  Close to Hirr... Hirr  used  her SMG  to  take out the  Middle on.. Cross and O'day too out   lights  on  either house   that covered the 'middle'  Zob took out the Light  hear  Roy's team at the end on the street  side. that  covered the  area  between the homes  and the street..

Lt Cross  called out. Purposefully, not using the COMs...DAMN NICE OF THEM..HELP LIGHT UP THE AREAS..NO WAY PEOPLE CAN ESCAPE NOW!

When Vaka and Liggins were in place, Roy moved up, angling for the garage.  He had some ideas...but first he had to see if there were extra power cells there.  If not...well, it wouldn't be the first time he'd improvised...

 NA-CE Could  see  people moving  around  it the  House that was  closest to the Hull. Some one flipped  a couch over , to  try  to cut  down on the  View    from the  windows   The  was a  bit of glass shattering, and scrams  of  Fright but not  pain.  She  saw  Roy try to  get to the garage.

 As Roy  made his  way a shot  from deep in the garage  snaped out.. Roy was hit, but in the leg, it  didn't seem  too bad, more of a surprise.  a shot. that had to be from Nifty, since the rifle  was a bit more quiet, it  the  second car in the garage,  there was  swearing from inside  and a burst of   automatic   spayed  out, not really coming close to anyone.

Nifty said..two different colored  bursts ,,a rifle or carbine..the other  an  SMG..I'm saying at least two people in there..

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

Hirr    rolled  a  grenade to Yotolita ,Throw  in window  as  i fire...  Hirr stood  up  and  fired   two burst into the  remains of the Galls..more  shouts  and screams  from within..

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

Out  back there  were  weapons   fires..but they were   quick and short... Cross   could be heard on the COMs  saying  ' Dumbasses '.

 Hemsly  reached the front  door  of the  house  that  Hirr and Yotolita were at.. he set charged on either  side of the  doors  and one in the Middle.. he  then hustled   back to the  car closest to the door.

 lIggins  and Vaka   fired  some  rounds  into the   picture  window   of  Roys  Building.. there  was a bright  flash from  the   upstairs over top of the  living room. Liggion  cried out  and   Pain.. Vaka tried to search the two smaller  windows   as he moved to Liggins... but a loud round and  quiet round. zipped into  each   window , a Voice  screamed.. Vaka   called  softly into the  COMs..we need a med tech!

"Rat bastards..." Roy grumbled.  The time for speed was over, it was time for firepower, now.  He pulled out one of the machine pistols as he angled to put structure between himself and the car, creeping up to the corner.  "I'm going around the corner...anyone pokes a weapon out, put a round through them," he said into the comm, before he dropped to a crouch, grimacing as the move pulled at the tender spot created by the hit he'd taken. It didn't seem to be bleeding...or, at least, not yet, so he pushed it to the back of him mind.

He spun around the corner on one knee, staying low and banking on the idea that whoever had taken the panicked shot that hit his leg wouldn't have the presence of mind to watch for someone coming around the corner with their center of mass lower than usual.  The muzzle of his weapon would have been visible just a fraction of a second before he came far enough around the edge to see what he was shooting at, but the moment his eyes fell on the car, he pulled the trigger, spraying .30cal rounds into the vehicle in a gesture that was part being thorough and part overkill in response to getting shot.

 NA-CE followed and stayed with Roy, she opened fired when she had a target but she stayed behind cover when she could. Then the call over the comms came Liggins was hit and Vaka called for a medic. NA-CE first said to ROY," Are you ok do I need to check you out before I had over to Vaka and Liggins?"

Yotolia nodded to the first order, patting the body down for any valuables before grabbing the riffle, she was just hoping for a grenade when Hirr rolled her one, and with a smile, she grabbed it up and held the pin waiting for the signal, and as soon as the shots were fired she tossed the grenade into the window then ducked behind the wall covering her sensitive ears.

     there  was  swearing from the Garage.. one  voice..sounded aliean,. called for the door  to be open  another    frired from the back 0of the  car.. rounding   zipping around   Roy...



damn door  is   too low  for me to get a shot  deep  enough... Nifty  said..a second later   there  was  a  chunk of  metacrete cracked  from the round, juast a yard inside the door...

 ...
 Yotolia's grenade went Off, Now there was  screams  of  pain and fear

Twitch's  small voice  came on the COMs...The  black Vans  dropping down from the  traffic  stream.. I think they might have  Help coming in..

Hemsly said..we got these  cars  oput here... be nice  if them folks didn't have anyone to save.

Roy was getting annoyed by the persistence of the panic-fire coming back at him.  He ducked back around the corner to replace the spent magazine with a fresh one.  "Hardly a scratch, go help someone who really needs it!" he said to Na-Ce.

When he poked around the corner the next time, he had a different tactic in mind...

He focused his fire on the most likely location of the power cell.  He might regret it...an explosion this close would be like getting kicked in the chest by a horse, but he hoped the house would contain the blast and channel it out the open door and back into the house through the door at the back.  But he didn't have a good shot at the jackass in the back of the car that kept shooting back at him.  Prone to the ground this time to present the smallest possible target and expose himself to the least concussion if his plan worked, he pushed out to get a clear angle of fire, pumping rounds into the structure of the car, and then rolled back out of the line of fire.

  Rounds  slammed into the  car in to  Garage. The Power cells  were normally  set in the   middle ,between the  driver and  the  passenger  seat, up front.

Roy could see the tell tale  lit  blue   smoke from a  'cooking' , damaged  powercells

 ..........

 Hemsly  smiled  at   Yotolia  and Looked over at Hirr..Hemsly was grinning, Hirr tilted her  head  and  , then  ducked... Hemsly   triggered the    door charges. The Explosion was  big and  Ground  shaking, the  door  fragments  and  frame   where Blowen inside like  some Massive shotgun  Blast

 the closest Van  seemed to  want to land between the houses,   and the  concussion caught the diver  by Suprise ,  sending  it  into the   end ( living  room)  wall of the  Roy's  Building  Cross   ha d  his people drop to the  ground, looking like dead  folks.

 Lyri   said... Hey Ornage Temper...use that  portable cannon on those other   three  Vans... Lirg  will  as well.. Nifty..you and   I keep looking  for bad  guys to pop.

Yotolia quickly drops her hands from her ears to the rifle after the door is blown and checks its safety before looking over to Hirr, signaling she was ready for her next task, pointing the rifle a bit towards the door just in case anyone was about to run out the door.

"Hey, one of you with the shoulder cannons...see if you can put a round or two through the power cell in this vehicle.  I think I've cracked it, but it's taking its time cooking off and I'm sick of these assholes shooting at me.  You may not be able to see the back seat, but if you can blow the cell, it doesn't matter who's in the back seat..."

He swapped magazines again, grousing to a dead mic, "I shoulda brought some grenades..."  He'd thought about it...but it seemed a little too "Shadow" for the kind of operation he was hoping to run.  He was paying for it now...

 Nifty  COMed  back .Big Guy has  that  corner.. we'll switch. I'll try to  shoot  them Vans..

   The Second  Van dropped down  in the 'back yards. Not  taking notice  of the  few bodies  back there,  The  Back opened , the   doors  opened. 6  Black  suited  troops  began to run to 'Lyri's  house'   they  made it about  half way , when cross  Karson and  O'day stood Up and  fired  their  SMGs  the  other  two Vans  split to the east and  west.  The   one  to the east   hovered over the wall  where the   ground ha d  sunk in from the  tunnel blast.

 Nifty  laughed, swung his  rifle   to  the  east, waited  a  Heart  beat  and  Fired, flingers  moved   like a humming bird , racked  another  shell and   Fired a again... The  Van  jerked a little...

Brooks  , who was   at the other end  of Roy's car   working to make a   pair of  cricket Balls  for   Roy...you missed?

 wait for it....

  the  nose of the  van  started to nose   down..slowly at first...then faster..  then something started  to make the   van rolled  halfway, the drivers  door  opened  and a headless  body  fell  dropping like a rag doll  into the  'crater'.. the  sideways   van dropped    down about  3   feet short of the Garage  and Blew up, sending  shards and Bodies .. flames did  start to Lick up the  east end of the garage  wall.

  Karson  had  Move d away..Bleedin'  kids! he handed  Roy the two   cricket  balls right?... No   use the left   button for this ball..and the right..no ..wait..the other.. gods  be damne dkid  droppign vans  down on us.. Just throw  both the  damn things  and hit  both buttons!

Vaka  yealled into the COMs. I...I  stopped the  blood... she need help!

 NA-CE nodded at Roy and replied," Ok Roy I will be right back." She then made her way to Vaka and the injured trooper, she would get her gear out and go to work," Ok where were you hit?"

   Liggins  was  pounding the  grass,My thigh..left...it was  a hard  round..

 Vaka   wiped his hands on the grass, then  brought up his weapon to cover them.the  Bullet went through,, i tried to stop the blood..i was goign to faom it, but i was  afraid of  debris...if it would have been a regular battle  filed  i would have

"Listen, Kid, next time you decide to get artistic with a vehicle, make sure none of your people are near the crash radius, okay?  If that thing had circled in the other direction and been a few meters further out, I wouldn't be here anymore to bitch at you about almost getting me killed.  Got it?"

He rolled his eyes slightly at Karson's instructions...he had no intention of throwing it.  That would look too much like a grenade, and the guys in the vehicle might try to escape.  Instead, he leaned over far enough that he could reach around the corner and rolled the thing like a croquet ball, sending it on its way with a practiced flick of his wrist.  He repeated it with the second ball, waiting a couple of seconds for it to roll in as far as it was going to go, and then mashed his thumb down across both buttons, rolling away from the opening as he did.  The last thing he needed was to have the mouth of the garage collapse on him, what with two 'cricket balls' AND at least one damaged power cell inside.  He was not going to get buried in a pile of rubble...

 Nifty   was  quiet for a space,sorry  Big S... how  did  i know   two guys without heads  could  dive bomb you?

  If he was going to say more , there was no chance  , the  Garage  Blew up  as if a  Torpedo ship  nailed it  , with a direct hit. The  additions   vanished  in   wood, metal and mortar .  Karson  and   Roy    huddled behind the   car  in the drive  ways, for a second  it  threatened to flip over   on them but slammed back   down, the   whole passenger  side  burnt to add  to the   Pusle   impacts and hard ammo  holes

    The remaining  Air  van  started  to  veer  away,  Lirg  swung his   rifle  and  fired  as  quickly as his claws   cloud   slam a new  round into the chamber..  Four  shots.. 4  hits.. two   in the front passenger  side.. two in the box in the rear.. the Van was  going down towards the   Hull  behind the   homes,  it was out of  control, slamming into the    fence   and  stopped  by the Hull, the  back doors  flew opened in impact , tossing   6  Bodies  out  that  hit  , bounced  and didn't  move.

  from Inside the Building  that  Roy just blew  up the garage, a  voice, the husky sound  of a Roussian ,Are you all Mad!... the organization will kill you and your families!

  O'day ran to the   scattered bodies  in the back  and put a round   with his sidearm in each head, as he gathered  weapons  ,m power cells  can creds.

 one person took the bait  to step out the door to try to Kill O'day,  Cross made her  headless in a second.

 Hirr  gave Yotolita    a motion with her  hand    to 'sit  tight.. the  furniture  was  burring from the grenade  blast, it would not be long before  the people inside had to make a choice...Yotolia  , did  see  a  human pointing a  Pulse rifle  in their  direction as he was on the  floor  peeking out of the   burning doorway.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:59, Fri 16 Feb.

NA-CE checked out her thigh and see if the bullet went through or was still in her leg. NA-CE worked as quickly as sge could to remove the bullet if she had too and patch her leg up.

 Ok doesn't look to bad let's get you fixed up. NA-CE also gave her some pain meds but she could still fight using them.

Yotolia signaled Hirr, of the human she could see, and motioned for Hirr to step back before taking the neck of her riffle into the paw and raising it towards the man before taking a shot at him and pulling herself back against the wall quickly.

Roy shouted back.  "Who do you think sent us?!"  He could have added more...he, for one, didn't have a family left so it would be pretty damned difficult for anyone to kill them.  But he was there to kill people and create doubt, not tell his life story.

"If he shouts back, see if you can keep him talking," Roy said to Karson.  Machine pistol in one hand and the Verian hold-out pistol in the other, he pushed himself up into a crouch and moved closer to the house, angling to see if there was a clear path through the ruins of the garage, or if he'd have to locate some other way inside.  He didn't want to actually enter the residence, if he didn't have to...just get a clear shot at whoever was inside yelling out.

  The Voice  came  back.. there  were Moans of pain , and the sounds  of  women crying.. if this is a power play , you're timing is off. Rumor  has    it that the Delta Fleet is coming in next week... you should have waited  until they took  people out , for you to make your move!

Karson yelled back,The delta Fleet, they  just step on Maggots... We   are just collecting debts.

 Roy  could see the   wood/metal  doe  to the hose from the   Garage  was batted    and leaning  in.. several  chunks  blown  out  , giving  some  p[roetection. any one who wanted in would have to   fight the ruined door.

 Roy saw  the top half  of the  guy who was shooting   at him ..the dead stare, and  blook from his mouth and  nose, the  bottom half of his  body had  been pinched off  , by the hover   car slammed into him  another hand near  the  door  peeked  out from debris.

 ...
 Yotolita    heard the    Human  yell in pain..but no other  noise. after her  shot.  Hirr  opened up  with  Burt  that dropped a woman who tried to run past the window, cause  more screams  from inside the  building

Roy muttered into his comm, "Hey, Switch...got any more of those softballs handy?"  He didn't want to advertise where he was--hence the muttering--and he was aware that someone could be monitoring their comms.  Not likely, as they'd seen no evidence of anyone approaching Beth's level of competence...but it was still possible.  And as such, he didn't want to tip their hand.

"I've got what's left of a door, just begging to be relocated..."

   Broks answered,Yeah....got two more.. I marked them this time.... i slip up next  to you.. Brooks   slipped up  closer to  Roy...

  Kid  can't  drop no  vans on us here... I think he's  frssh out of them..

  Man?   you  knocked  down one  Van a litle to close  and people get all uptight!

 ..I know   I'll  regret  this...but he has  a point? he didn't know where it was going to  fall, and you didn't   waht a  air drop of  6   EDT  troopers behind you..

 see?... You know, she shoudl be  ..HOT...shot...

 and...there is is...

 from the back  yard   Cross said..  our  trigger man   tossed some   flatbread  by the kitchen  doors  back here  at each house.. if they start  pouring out , we'll give  them a reason to  not wat to,

Gresh came on the   COMstwo more Minute s we have to release the  alarms.. my guess it goes off right away.

"No time to waste, then..."  Roy threw the rolled-up explosive through the fractured remains of the door, and looked down at Karson.  "Fire in the hole!" he called out, using an age-old phrase indicating it was time to detonate ordnance.

"That oughtta be one helluva flash-bang," Roy commented drily as he ducked to avoid the blast, making reference to a common nickname for concussion grenades.  It would, indeed, be a flash-bang of sorts.  A flash-bang on steroids.  Like, angry adult Pirloc steroids...

 NA-CE patched up Liggins and got her combat ready, she then gathered her gear, smiled at Vaka and headed back towards Rot to cover him.

     when Broks  triggered the  cricket  balls,  the  Inside of the    Houe  erupted  in  light , explosions and screams, the second started to  sag in  some,, and  fires  were starting to burn.. Moans  and screams for  help can  from is  side.

   Outside, some one  tried to make a break out the Kitchen  door..Karson   triggered  his 'discs'   and  Peo  flew  sideways  and  Back isde   with  thier legs   gone drom  the knees on  down

 Hirr  Looked  at Hemsly..I thought you were the   'blow stuff up' person. are you goign to blow stuff up..

 Hemsley   titled his head.I just Blew up the door!

 Yes..This i have seen..that door?  will never  bother us  again..now..perhaps. you might be making people dead this time..

 Hemsly    started   rolling    C-10 Muttering something about 'no wonder  me  Ma never wanted a  Cat..."

 after a minute or  so .... about the   time karson's  discs  went off.. Hemsly  ran    to the  window , tossing in three   things   that  looked like sausages

 he   triggered them , and the Living  room  explosed   Scream were cut   sure, while others   screamed  in pain.. half of a womans  body   was draped over the window  seal,,her  eyes   staring   at hemsly, in death.

 That is being , much better...now.. less  people we have to kill with  weapons.

  Twitch COMed again...Sticky says   4    FUJI  Sec  Vans  are being loaded..  they should be  were you are in 5 minutes... you should not be there..in 4.

"Copy that.  Hot Shot, start a four-minute countdown, call out every thirty seconds.  Time to go see if we got what we wanted in there..."  A pistol in each hand, he headed to the shattered remains of the door, watching for any sign of anyone moving or looking to poke a weapon out and ready to shoot anything that looked even remotely threatening.

 Hirr  Nods  to   Yololia,we go..shoot  any one  not us...  Hemnsly follows  the Cats in, he ehads to  the  battere d Kitech,  setting up  Cooking Oils  that he  suts  holes in teh plastic.. they drain slow, but will reach the fires  soon.

 3:30 and counting.. Lyri Moves   to her vam=n and starts it  up..Lirg  move to her  spot  , looking for strays, Until he calls Him over.

 Zob does the  same.. with Nifty   watching  down the  street  away from the   Hull,,the massive entrance to the Stem about  1/2 mile away.

  Roy  Enters   With  brooks...  Karson is  with Cross , as O'day   points to    Roys    House.. and larson   esplodes the Discs  outside the  door.. that  part of the house  behinds  to have  flames licking up the  walls.

 Yotolia   finds   3  Nivarians.. they were blown apart.

 Hemsly   Dumps  some hard  candies  from  a  Bowl into his pocket,The  Young cat  found  3  bodies.. one looks like the Mark.. they have weapons, I'm grabbing  a short carbine..never saw its  make before..hard  ammo to boot. turning to the felrites,  , see this rifle?.. you see any more , grab them

 Roy    found the  Roussian a bit  easier, the   Purple   elongated head, was  have smashed.. there were two others  as well. the rest of the bodies  were humans.

 Lyri  said...3:00 and counting.

"We got the Roussian.  On our way out, let's not give them any more time to look for us than we have to."  It wasn't the surgical precision that he preferred, but on the fly with a small crew and two targets at the same time in separate buildings required a more direct approach.

"If anyone's got anything that will point the finger at one of the other groups on the station, leave it behind.  I'm sure they've got eyes in FujiSEC, whatever we can do to get the rumors flying is just going to serve our purposes later."

And then an idea struck him.  He pulled his kabar, and carved a crude rendition of the design from the patch their transport operator had shown them into what was left of the Roussian's forehead.  "That oughtta get some tempers flaring..."  Part of him wanted to go through and give all the bodies a cash-slasher treatment, but that wouldn't fit with the image they were going for...it would fit a gang hit, yes, but they didn't have time and the groups they were hoping would get blamed for it also wouldn't have time, and would know that.

"Let's clear out, clock's ticking fast."

 NA-CE got back to Roy and would fire at any bad guy she saw move but she followed Roy stayed close as they began to clear out before Fujisec got there.

 The Nivarian House  was starting to Burn, as  the oil  reached the burning carpets.. Hemsly  waved  the  everyone out , carrying the  weapons and what mags  were  on the  people who were dead.

  Vans...  will meet you at the  Main Gate?  the   SEC is  coming from   the  southwest.. No lights on our  Vans..

  Nifty hopped into the  back, as  Lirg did the  saw  with Lyri . the Vans  dropped  down , moving to the  Gate...2:00 and counting..I can see their head lights..

 Karson, Cross  and  O'day ran  between the Houses  ...Going to be alot of sorting out for them, when they see those   vans and  who the bodies are ..

yotolia looked to Hirr and then nodded before inching her way closer to the doorway again holding her rifle up in the ready position, only breaking to grab and pull the pulse rifle out of reach of the body and towards Hirr, just in case she only maimed him, then readied her rifle once more to scan the room as she entered.

She heals back a cough with a gag at the smell of burning furniture and the stench of burning flesh. no matter how hardened a warrior was the combination of the smells would get to anyone. She scanned the room for survivors, ready to put down any opposition

Roy hurried to the vans as their extraction proceeded without any opposition.  "Once we're all in, rush out about a quarter mile and then drop in with the rest of the normal traffic.  No need to have our driving drawing attention..."

Keying his comm, he reported in, "Okay, Big Guy, looks like we got 'em both, and I etched a little something on one of the bodies to tell them Nolte sent us.  We better hurry if we're gonna get there before any retaliation hits...can you vector us in to avoid crossing paths with the local constabulary?"

  The Vans   merged into the  heavy traffic flow  heading to  the  Uppers.

 Lyri  COMedLights on , Zob. we  want to look .Like every one else... Id  Boss man says  to  get  down  on the dec, will shut out lights off and  drop..otherwaise. we  are commuters.

 NA-CE followed Roy into Zob's shuttle, she took her seat and she looked to see who was in this shuttle as well.

  Gresh  came  on the COMs,Delvery  Vans  almost always  turn to the  Port side , when entering, then  head down or above the   streets   headed  to the Mountain amd   such ..leaving open air for  military and   Civi persoanl traffic.. make that turm for   6  blocks, Trun up the street towards the  Mountain... two black from the Mountain   turn to theb starboard..until you reach the beach  road... drop  down to street traffic .. The  Occui has  his  place  near the Hull... he  has a tall fence.. a gate to the   port  and starboaard  sides.. two builings..on his for  cars  with  Visitor rooms  above  the lower  section..and a  trwo story home  with a  laanding pad on top...he has  people.. we know he has   the  30 you are pewrmitted  for a civi business person... i would assume he has  more then that,

Roy nodded as the directions were relayed, even knowing that Gresh couldn't see the gesture.  It was a subconscious move on his part, instinctive.  "How's our fireworks supply?" he asked, knowing that Karson and Hemsly had been pretty liberal with the high explosives on the last operation and he suspected there would be a need for more of it coming up.

"Any chance you can send someone to hook up with us to resupply?" he asked.  He still had a few magazines left, he was sure the snipers still had plenty of ammunition left, but he didn't know about the explosives.  "And, hey, Hot Shot...it's my turn to be high cover and your turn to go in..."  Unless, of course, she hadn't thought to bring anything more than her sniper rifle...it wasn't exactly conducive to infiltration...

   Lyri   replied..Yeah?   hey   'Home Town" i need a greaser  with  a muffler.

 The demo  guys  woulkd be happy  with one mor e 10 pound Block, they  could divide  3  ways.

Gresh  waited  a bit.. the vans  were  another  2  minutes from leaving the  Stem, In thier various Vans, Jax  and Nifty looked  down at The  Stem..flashes of  weapons fire  could be seen, but not anywhere near the rate   as most Stations

gresh  finally came  back...you people  are hungry...stop in  at  'Hal's  Hoagies", they have a  drive  through order window, and you'll pick your order up  in the back...sandwiches  are good too!

As the vans proceeded to the designated pickup for their 'order', Roy busied himself in the back of Zob's van.  Not knowing for sure the nature of the operations they'd be going on, he'd come prepared for a variety of possibilities.  Sniping meant the machine pistol would stay in its holster unless something went VERY wrong...it also meant his assault rifle would stay bagged up.  It could shoot straight enough for basic marksmanship at the ranges involved...but he wanted precision, and penetration.

And that meant he was busy putting together one of the Barretts that Gresh had scored for him, oh-so-long ago.  With four magazines, he the had forty rounds.  Twenty of them were conventional .50cal rounds, which were devastating in their own right...the other twenty were Raufoss rounds, which he'd save to use if they had to penetrate some kind of sheltered position.  He'd been able to penetrate the metaglass on a Demon shuttle with a couple of them in the past, he was pretty sure he could handle just about anything short of a station bulkhead, and while their target had connections, he doubted the connections were THAT extensive.

He'd wait to put the barrel on the thing until they were about ready to disembark...the van wasn't crowded, necessarily, but a fully assembled Barrett would take up an indecent amount of room...

 NA-CE repacked, and resupplied her med kit and got ready for the next place. NA-CE sat down and just watched a professional put together a lethal instrument of destruction, she watched and learned.

  There was  a very pretty   Girl at the Window..  Lyri leaned over  and said,HiYa!   My Van and the One beh8nd me are here to pick up a preorder  for a  Party. Its  some  big thing? should be  going on, well after  the Light  Go Out.

  she smiled, with a Giggle,I am soooo jealous!..  Its been a long Time  since i got to go to a party Like that... Please  Pull  around the back to the service   entrance, and  they'll have your  order.

  Lyri smile d and Move d ahead,  When Zob pulled up, she didn't even  Flinch  at  seeing a demon..Nifty. in the Front  seat  had his mouth open and eyes  wide..

 Please  follow  your  fiend's van, your order for your party   will be brought out... she  looked at Nifty  and  gave him a  playful, shifting of the eyes.

  Zob Nudged   Nifty...Nifty's  Voice   went  high until he cleared his throat...Hey?..Is there any chance you are part of the order!

  Zob's head just dropped and he gave it a  shake with a sigh.

 well.... I have to work tonight  and tomorrow  Night... I understand  that  the   Fancy offcier   will have a beach party  the next day..we can sneak into the beach party, Lots of   us do when  the Fleet is in... she wrote something on a Hal's  Hoagie napkin...That's  My COM... COM  me sometime tomorow  and  we can meet while all the  Big wheels do thier Ball...

 It was then , Nifty realized, from the  bit of grey in her  skin, That thi girl was a long time resident of the Stem. Jax  and   Sneak and the rest of thier pack  were Losing that 'metal tinge'..This gril must have only been  out of the Stem  for a year or so.

 Tahank you..um... he looked at   the  napkin..,,,,,Silver.... I will do that...

 Zob  elbowed him again.

  Um... My name is Nifty....

she smiled....I will look forward to that...Nifty...

Zon pulled away  and   signaled for the turn Lyri was making,I am so embarrassed...have you ever went out  with a girl before...

Nifty frowned...she  surprised me....

 how?

she was nice  to me.

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

 The vans   pulled  around to the service  entrance..  the door opened     as the Back doors  of the Vans  opened. Three  coolers  for each  van  were slipped In, The    Older man with a messy apron  and whit  baseball cap went through the Motions  od   having Lyri  get scanned for the   goods.

 Thank you  for your  order, Miss...  what we did  was, one  cooler  has   a block of the dessert with  fixings  to be added.. one   cooler  had  assorted  entrees  for those   who like  , longer Hoagies... The  third  cooler  has fun food you can toss about... They are Limited. in all?  but when you  have a varirty, i'm sure everyone will find  a ....few  servings.. they like

  the  doors  closed  and the  man whacked the side  of  Lyri's Van. and they pulled a way...

Roy grinned at the descriptions, tucked into the back of Zob's van.  Explosives, ammo, and grenades of some sort, he surmised.  He took a look inside the coolers, to verify.

As he started looking through the cases, he said, "Now, see, Nifty, that's kinda your whole problem right there in a nutshell.  Your pickup lines are so over-the-top that almost no woman with a sense of self-respect is gonna say yes...because you're not approaching them as a woman, you're approaching them as some kind of physical asset to be exploited.  The young lady at the window took you up on it, which leaves me wondering whether she sees you as a good time, or as a potential way to get off the station and onto the Hermes.  Or it's just possible that she's used to guys seeing her as an object and doesn't mind...kids from the Stem don't get a whole lot of experience in respect and sensitivity."  He shrugged.

"But because you have a bad approach, you're constantly getting shot down...so you expect to be shot down, and when it doesn't happen, you no longer have a plan for how to proceed.  If you'd stop approaching women as prospective bed-warmers and start approaching them as people to get to know, and actually have some confidence that they might want to get to know you, you'd get shot down a lot less often.  Unless all you're actually interested in is a roll in the bunk with a nice piece of ass...in which case, you should talk to Steele...I mean, he's a dick, but he's also probably the Hermes' champion when it comes to getting women who don't know him to go to bed with him."  He snorted softly and added, "He's probably so good at it because once they get to know him, no woman wants to sleep with him, so it's the only way he gets any action..."

 Nifty  shook his head,I don't like LT   Steele. he.makes me lok like  i have manners!. Besides. the LC  don't like him much. I don't like anyone the  LC don't like.. They always seem to be.... i dunno? Bad folks.

Cross, shrugged,Not al the  time  , kid.. he messed up two of my people when we showed up, , just because   they gave him some hassle on the beach.

O'day  shrugged,you get what you pay for..'eh?  Didn't see  be   stickign  my ehad  in a Lion's  mouth..not  real smart.

Jax   gave a shrug,older Stem Kids,..we  get a 'feel' for folks..who is  a mark..who is a set up..who is  'bait'... I trust the LC's feelings .. but..sometimes, the   Bad  folks  are Just dumbassess..

 Liggins snapped..hey!..watch your mouth!

 Jax  merely  gave her  a thin lipped smile..all i know?... I didn't  get a broken leg at a beach party, becaus e i  thought i  could rough up a  'pilot"

 Cross    nodded  as he   took a couple  more mags   and   put the empties in the  cooler.

Roy waited for the exchange to quiet down before he redirected things back to his point.  "You don't like Steele...but you hit on women in the same way he does.  I think it works for him because he's so obvious about the point that he's ONLY looking for a warm body to share his bed, and nothing more...for some people, that's enough.  But your pickup lines have the same kind of feel to them.  I don't think that's all you're looking for, because of the people you use them on...not the kinds of people that typically jump in the sack for the sake of mutual relief of a frustrated libido."

He shrugged.  "I could be wrong, and that is actually all you're looking for.  Doesn't matter much.  But the point is, for someone who doesn't like Steele, you're dangerously close to walking in his footprints."  He gave a grin that was a little tired and a little sad.

"You've found someone who reacted well to a pretty obvious pickup line.  You've gotta make up your mind now how you're gonna go forward with her, because you're probably gonna need the time between now and when you meet her at the beach to figure out what you're going to do.  You going to treat her like a self-propelled sex toy?  Or are you gonna get to know her and let her get to know you?"

I know.... I know... But ..look? I'm  somewhere   around the   age  of  19..maybe even 20.. None  of the ladies  treat me like  a guy..I'm..like a kid?.. and I  don't  want to  hit on younger  chicks,,that's ...I dunno...stealing  eggs  from the nest?.. We  can't all be  lucky
 like Jax...  he motions  to Jax.

 Jax   was  checkingHe's  right SM... I'm  Damn lucy , me and Sneak got together... never  happens  if  we  don't almost get killed   on Etna...  each Mage to  make sure they were capped off...

  Lyri came On the COMs  Ok?  Off to  see they  Occui of   Oz...Follow  the  dec plated  road...

 Lyri's Van Lead...Zob Fiollowed.

Roy grinned.  "The biggest reason the ladies treat you like a kid is because you've got over-eager puppy energy radiating off you like a cracked reactor core.  I know you grew up in pretty hard conditions, so this might be a hard concept to process...but good relationships are something to be savored.  You come across like you're running around trying to grab up relationships like they're spilled candy and you're afraid the rats are gonna get them before you do or something.  I get it...you're young, probably wasn't a whole lotta opportunity when you were guarding gates for Gresh, and you aren't used to that kind of attention being a serious option...if you were lucky, someone was making jokes about, "If you were just a few years older..." and now that you are, they aren't around."  He smiled and shrugged.

"But the ones worth having around?  You don't lure them in with pickup lines.  You just be yourself.  Jax got lucky, sure...but Jax also didn't spend a lot of effort trying to lure Sneak into hooking up with him.  He was just himself, and she saw that and decided that was something she wanted more of in her life."

He chuckled and sat back, finishing his checks on the Barrett.  "But that's something to think about after we're done.  If we were going after a Porcine instead of an Occui, I'd say we're gonna huff and puff and blow the house down, but that's the wrong fairy tale."  He keyed his comm.

"I'm gonna have to change vans when you disembark, Hot Shot...we don't want three quarters of our cover fire together when we go in..."

   The  two  vans  went  down the road..  Nifty as checking his optics.

    lyri  pulled  off  away from the   shore  road and  three  blocks  later   went  down an  alley when they came out of the alley, there  was a couple   bars there.. Music  loud .. Lyri  got  out  and waited  for  Roy

 she looked through her Bino and handed it to Roy..  there   is a bridge over that causeway...leads  to  that    mound of   ground  where  his house if...that cause  way? look to the   beach side..it  has  a gate and  a fence... now?  most folks  would think that's to keep stuff out... I'm thinking its  to keep things....in.

 however ..hover vans    can easily   go over that cause  way?..anyone   on  foot...has  to use the   bridge.....

Lirg   and Nifty  came over  as well.I think we could easily  hit them , with the weapons we have , from the Mountain..then..he  has to  leave by that bridge...

 Nifty used his  rifle scope...  why not  just   fly   as high as the Mountain, and   fly over the  river thing,.. land in the  back?..  Zob   could sit  back   and  target anyone  caomign across the  bridge... and if there are Hungry things in the water, they can't swin it  either... um..by the way.. i ..um..can't  swim..

Roy looked over the situation.  "Well," he drawled slightly as he used binocs to try and get a better image of everything, "it's a good bet that they've got hover vehicles, so blowing the bridge will only contain some of them.  It'd be a good idea to put two snipers up on the mountain...set down on the far side, split up and come around either side until his place is in view.  That gives that team a better assortment of firing angles and makes it harder for any potential counter-sniper action to locate them...especially if they're only firing one or two shots and then moving, but that might not be necessary.  If we put the other two snipers on rooftops out here...get them a view into the grounds, but have them spread out a little bit, too...Zob, take a look around and see if you can find a couple of buildings, preferably at least one has easy access to parking, or else has somewhere to kind of conceal the van so it's not standing out from the surroundings to draw attention to that sniper's position."

He thought back for a moment.  "Gresh said this place was tied into the tunnels, as well...if we can hit it the same way, that cuts off the hidden escape route and forces them to go out via hover vehicle or across the bridge.  So...rig the bridge, we can remote-detonate when or if people are on it.  Same with the tunnels...hopefully our pyromaniacs have some good radio-trigger detonators or something similar.  Blow the front gates to start the ball rolling, make it look like a small squad trying a frontal attack so they're willing to send people out to try and stop the attack.  Wait, say, fifteen seconds to blow the tunnels, so they realize they HAVE to go out the front.  When they start coming out to engage the group at the gates, bridge-side snipers open up on them.  Hopefully, they try to sneak out the back to circle around the house, and the mountain-side snipers engage.  I'm thinking me and Lirg on the mountain...we've got the most fieldcraft training, least likely to be seen.  I'll stand by with the anti-materiel rounds to take down any hover vehicles that try to make a run for it."  He looked at Lyri.

"I'll leave it to you to coordinate how you want to use the assault group, whether you keep them all together or have a few infiltrate the perimeter to get them in crossfires...I trust your judgment."  It was still going to be a messy operation.  "We should also see if Liggins is mobile enough to go in with the ground team...if not, we can have her in a van on standby to evac if things go sideways or if we need to chase down any surprises."

 Lyri points at LigginsLets make this  easy... no matter how you feel, you  run the van that takes  the SM and Lirg to the mountain... You'll already be    ready to move them , or get us...

 Lets put  Zon    in  the second van  with the  rear doors   facing that bridge. That howitzer he has  can reach the  House, let alone the  Bridge...,,  Nifty  and Jax  will sweep  up the right side  with  hemsly , cross  and O'day... I i'll sweep up the left with Carson, Brooks and Jax,,  Na-Ce and  Vaka   can move up to that charging station, that is ..well? more or less in the Middle and they can aid  whichever  side needs  help

 Hey?  Home Boy.... what do you know about the  tunnels...

Gresh came back...loking at the  plans now..from  FUJISEC.... one   follows  under the   bridge  and Under the Mountain..don't know what happens then, has to be   a hatch to get inside the Moutain   and come out one of the Lab tunnels?.. one  tunnel   goes   under the sea, to the   that shore  by the Metaglass.. and  the other  one   leads  to  the Hull in the other direction

 Lyri frowns  as she looks  at roy

"We'll have to send them in under the bridge, that'll be the easiest access without having to hunt around on the Mountain."  Roy was speaking into the comm, getting the message to Gresh as well as to Lyri.  "Find the nearest access point on this side of the bridge...from there, you'll have to vector them in to the house access as best you can.  We don't need to blow both tunnels, unless there's two different access points from the house and grounds...we just need to find the correct side-tunnel that leads to the house, and make that impassable."  He grimaced slightly, and added, "We might need to acquire wheeled transport of some sort...that's gonna be a long walk with the timetable we're dealing with, and like you pointed out, hover vehicles have a nasty tendency to scrape the roof."

He grunted, and quipped, "Shoulda brought at least one pilot along, they could fly a van steady enough to make it in there...lock the autopilot on slow and point it down the right tunnel and let the thing go straight in with a load of explosives in the back and that would mess up their escape plan.  But I know I'm not good enough to manage that...don't know about anyone else in this group..."

 NA-CE was all repacked and she listened to the plan and nodded when she was in the group heading to the middle which made sense the Medic could go to whatever group needed her faster. She just waited then Roy brought up piloting a hover van, " I am not a pilot I am a medic I have steady hands if you want me to give it a try Roy?" She hoped they were being informal still.

Roy shook his head.  "A hover van in those tunnels is a really damned narrow margin for error, and I won't risk our only field medic on a gamble.  I'd rather steal a regular ground car...hell, we could probably just buy one from someone down here if we wanted to...the Hermes has a slush fund for stuff like that.  But it would fit the scenario for it to be stolen..."  He shrugged.

"I appreciate the offer, all the same.  But it takes more than steady hands...it's that pilot instinct, thinking in three dimensions and doing what is basically tight-formation flying.  If something goes wrong, they're going to already be doing something to adjust for it in less time than it would take you to identify which control you needed to adjust.  And depending on how paranoid this Occui is, there could be plenty to go wrong."

Keying his comm again, he asked, "You don't happen to have any wheeled transports that could mysteriously turn up as stolen property, do you?  Something that couldn't be traced back to you?  Preferably something big enough to block a tunnel when it breaks down..."  A hover van would be just large enough...but if there was something like a delivery truck, a little larger than a hover van...well, they could stop up the tunnel just by parking the thing strategically and disabling the ignition, or putting a thermite charge on the engine block and letting it melt through...

  Gresh  grunted a  few times through the conversation. The tunnel to the   Port side.  'ends' in the port side of the   Mountain..there are a few bars and such there...we don't know where it  comes out, according to this map..but there are   'people holes' for access....The tunnels to the  starboard  side where the Mega  glass is , is  , maybe, 300  yards longer..there  are no access points   accept the    end on the shoreline  by the Metaglass, and one in the Middle for service.... the Middle tunnel leads  right into the  heart  Moutain..there  are several   entry points under the Mountain..the labs   use it  to realease  ne hybrids  of  fish and other  water creatures. And...if  i understand  it right.. some   containment  areas   for other  creatures.

 I could have  one of  my...younger  associates meet you with a hweeled   vehicle,,  you would have to take it to a vechile access point?

Roy nodded..."It'll be worth the time spent waiting on the vehicle to not be waiting on the demo team to hike in there to where they need to go." Roy looked around, spotting an apparently innocuous establishment to use as a landmark. He relayed the name, and continued, "We're about two hundred meters closer to the beach...he can meet some of us here."

He turned to Liggins.  "Let's load up and get Lirg and me up on the backside of the mountain...we'll need a little extra time to scout out good positions, and if we're on station early, we can start surveillance of the property."  He shifted his gaze to Lirg.

"Feeling sharp of eyes and steady of hands today?" he asked, with a wicked grin on his face.

  There was  a slght  swish of Lirgs tail...Hyrians  always  are  sharp of eye.. we have  found, 'steady of hand" is not our fault..the target sometimes moves  to much! he grins a wolfie  grin.

  Liggins   got the   Van ready, they  loaded  anything left over  into  Lyri's van..she did  keep an extra pair of grenades  for herself , in  case  she needed them.

   Lyri got the   demos   folks, Jax, and Nifty, Hirr  and Yotolita, Craoss  and O'day, as well as Vaka  and  NA-CE together.

  we  wait  for the  vehicle .. they  we'll spread out.

 Liggins  took off   with  Roy and  Lirg

Roy double-checked his gear.  The magazines weren't as easy to carry with him not in standard military gear, but a couple of satchels and some extra belts had them secure enough.  "Remember, we're supposed to add to the panic, not start it," he said to Lirg as he was re-checking the security of the optics...

"Of course, if the occasion warrants a change of plan, we'll improvise...but we don't want to alert them to trouble before the tunnel team gets a chance to block the escape.  So, we get out, split up and find our perches, and we take stock of what's happening and look for potential weaknesses."

He paused his activity, and looked up.  "That said, if the mark is in the open before the tunnel team goes, take the shot.  Getting the mark is more important than creating mass panics.  With that kind of compound, and that many security personnel on staff, it's not implausible that she feels pretty untouchable on her own property.  If we're lucky enough for that to be true, our job is to shatter that illusion and touch.  HARD."

  Liggins    went  back down the  street , and  around the  fence.. The   first gate   she went  two.  the guards looked over her, and peeked in the back to see Roy and  a Hyrian.

 what the 9 hells..

 Look?  we're on shore  leave , we  just brpugh  a few load s of  the new actions  figures  to the   toy store in the lowers? These two argued about who is the best  shot... there  is  Bounties  on those  'Ape-bear' things..right?.. so...  we're gonna  see who  is the best shot  at something that can fight back..

 fuckin' mercs...you know  how  nasty those things  are. They ship out  the ones  they have been testing in the  labs  and drop them off on Aqra  and the 'E  twins'   what's the prize ?...


 Liggins    eyebrows  go up and down  as she bites her lip and says..me... The two guards  look at Roy  and lirg. Lirg just grins  his  wolf  Grin...

 The lead  Guard   just says...Fuckin' Mercs... just..just..go through..if you park that  thing, park it on a trail, don't crush  and   bushes, there might be something living in it that the egg heads  monitor...

the Door   slammed , and the pounded the    side, Liggins  went over the gate and  dutifully  followed  a  trail   that switched  back up the  mountain. finding  a place  on the 'compound side of the  Mountain' to settle the van  down.

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

   Lyri  was  shaking her head  as she sat. As a   sniper, she had the patience , but depending on someone  she didn't know , wiped alot of that away.

 then  a small Vocie   came on the  COMs to them...Hey...Lady... your  ride is here..  it is  at the  "Bouncing Bare" strip joint... I'll wait for   10 minutes and  move....

 Lyri send  Hemsly  with  Cross and O'day.....go..  set  it Up..  do what you have to  to  close that  tunnel....they'll have  to   escape under the  moutnain,   or go way the 9 hells over there by the Metaglass... no where to run , unless they  are going to go the   whole   10 Miles of  Metaglass  and  tree to get to the lower   and  of the  beach.

  they  went. ..

 Lyri  said  Ok..now... me and Karson  to the   east.. towards  the beach..... Nifty   and Jax to  the  west  towards the Hull  and Cross...Cross, you link up with Nifty  after you're done... Brooks , You  stay  with  NA-CE ,Vaka, Hirr  and Yotolia..... see if you can  find  a 'person  hole"..if you find one that leads  from  that   Compound  to the  Mountain , drop a  few pounds  of C-10 inside   , it may not   bring the tunnel  down, but it should force them to use the  one that leads to the   Metaglass

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


 Cross    and his team   fund a bright yellow Road    cleaner,  with   steel bristled   on a rotating   'mouth'   siting in the cock pit  was a...12?  year old  kid.Hi... I'm   Scrounger..  This   thing here  will Block up the Tunnel..we have to go  back about  a Half  Mile to go in? you guys  can Hope in the back....

Hemsly looked at Cross and O'day,so?  I kid  can drive a machine like this, an' you folks won't let me drive  a hovervan?

 it took them about  8 Minutes   to   get to the  entrance.. two other  Kids  were there, came out of the Bushes  from either   side   and   hacked the passcode.. the   doors opened   and the   cleaning machine  entered..every now and then the   top of the   cab would scrap..  Scrounger would straighten the  machine out..This  hear is a  middle sized  machine... there are smaller ones that are supposed to be used..and Bigger ones  for the streets that won';t  fit... Mr Gresh says you needed to Block  the tunnel...this  will do it.. if you wanna go the  whole way to that
 tunnel from the rich Occui's place..we have  about   3 minutes if i keep going...

 keep going... Fist to  all whom may be concerned... the tunnels is defiantly going to be blocked..roughly  3 Minutes until  we  reach target area... will advi8se   when the balloon goes up.

Roy grimaced after they'd passed the checkpoint.  "Well, now we need to bring SOMETHING back down the mountain with us.  That, or else they're gonna think we're absolutely shit with rifles...which I'm okay with."

He chuckled darkly and said, "We should bring something down, and when they ask who got it, you claim it," he suggested to Liggins.  "When they ask who gets the prize, you can tell 'em you get both of us...at once.  That'll really leave 'em freakin' out over what mercs do in their downtime..."

  Lirg  snorts   as  he   walks  to the east  to   find  something to  stand on. or behinds...That may prove to be   a bad  choice. They might   like those thoughts, and  wish to join us?... I am Buy on Lyrian...

 Liggins  asked..he's Joking... right?....Right?

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

  Hemsly  says...we got   the way in.. we're gonna  drive  right  down to the  Occui's  tunnel  gate... This  Kid here..know's  how  to  drive the street cleaner....  we'll tell you  when  we are ready to blow it..

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

 Lyri  looks out over the area...don't  see   any guards.. we  could  just..walk across  the  bridge like were  were sellign Girl scout cookies..

 Nifty came on...no?   That's a mistake... Samrt  rich guys , have a guard or two..maybe  a Wort  or Larg..or  even  a Dog, k most people don't  give up good  eating to have a  dog as a guard..... anyway If they only have  guards.. they'll be  seen... two or mor ein a group.... if they have camras  and   auto guns..they'll have a  couple  guys  for show.... The  real smart  Rich guys. make it look like there isn't  anything.. that  means  auto guns...trip wires and Pressure plates...

Roy shrugged.  "Don't know if he's joking or not.  Don't care.  It's his business, not mine.  But even if they wanted to join, she can always say she's got a thing for mercs...thinks station Security is too clean-cut for her tastes."  He chuckled, and added, "Or we could just go a completely different way out and never have to talk to them, although that assumes they don't share information with any other guard posts, and that would just be stupid of them..."  He shrugged.

"We could always bag one and say it was a tie.  Or, hell...I don't mind being declared the loser, either.  I mean, we've got a cover story that will explain the noise of any gunfire.  I just know, if I was the one running that post, I'd be suspicious if a group of people who are supposed to be professionals who earn their living with weapons went up there and shot a bunch of times and came back with nothing.  So we need to cover our exfiltration with a story that's at least as outrageous as the one we used to get in."

 NA-CE stayed with Vaka and Books, she then began looking for possible passageways into or out of the compound.

   Hemsly COMed  back... alright all, we're  about  ready... Get  your noisemakers  ready, the party is ready to start!

   a few moments  went  buy, Hemsley and his group    sent the street cleaner  heeding  at  full speed, from 100 yards  away from the  gate that lead to the Occui's  tunnel. The vehicle  slammed into the  gate, Hemsley hit  the trigger..

........

  The  Ground  and dec planting the ground  covered   rose  into the  night, as if it were a macabre air  Bubble,, and it  stayed  that  way. Inside the  Tunnel was  a  massive  explosion.  it   causes  the  channel to create  a small Tsunami , the   rolled over the   Bridge  and  Out into the sea...  the   west side of the  Occui's   Building   sagged,  windows  Blew  out  and screams were hear, with the  other  2/3s of the  house , seeming Ing  intact.

  Two   people came  running   out  of the agging structure.. the  door s  were openig   at the Main entrance

 Nifty  said...Now  its  a party!   air  cars were being    brought  around to the  main entrance, as  people  of  every race  know , dressed in Finery, ran out.

Roy had settled into a spot on the mountainside, a large stone giving him cover from the direction of the Occui's house and leaving him a small channel to rest the Barrett in, with the bipod set up for stability.  "Eyes on...waiting for the party to come around the back..."  His cheek rested against the rifle, his head angled so both eyes were away from the scope so he could see clearly.  If and when he saw potential targets, he'd drop down behind the scope and go to work.

  It  didn't  tale Long..Zob  snet  a round down range that hit a Body guar  as he went  to open the   door   for a women..the Woman  felt  as  Nifty hit her in the back of the neck..

    Hemsly  and his  croup   were headed  west. to try to get to  the smallest strip of  water that they might be able to  reach the   Occui's  Building, 1/3  of the building   on their  side, was tilted  as it was undermined, and flames began to  poke out of the first floor  windows

  Lirg   said softly into his COM..there  are three   people with  long rifles on the roof..they think they are not seen, but the fire from the west wing, lights them up a crack from his  rifle  sent One of them flying back , the target's   weapon flying from its hand.

 Hirr, and Yotolia   moved  up slowly towards the bridge. Lyri Covered them.. she dropped   some one in a suit  who was running , eyes  wide  in fear.. he died  before he reached the Bridge.

 Jax  said...Let the Next one    go across ...we will know if its bobby trapped.

Vaka  and  NA-CE moved  up  to the   next car  for cover...  the 'island -like '  property  was  now at a disadvantage...lit  from their  side , they couldn't see  well in the  dark of the 'rotating  night'.. outside the   island.. those  would see   the building very well .   Liggin  had the van  running , but slightly behind  were Roy sat,  with  no lights .  people started to get into the  cars.. One  car   lifted off , before a women was all the way inside and she  fell from 20 feet,  Nifty's   bullet hit her , about  time she  hit the  Ground...

  The hover  car made it  across the channel,, Zob  shot  from a mere 100 yard s away,  the driver's   window  vanished    screams  were  heard  as the    car  nosed  dived into the road  near the bars.

  Roy could see the  two wheo were left trying to  spot  where the shots  were  coming from.. two more   cars  were rinsing into the air.

Roy put crosshairs on the rooftop shooter to his right...nothing fancy, center-of-mass with a standard .50 round.  The size of the round, combined with its velocity, would relocate half the man's innards on its way through, either catastrophically shifting them inside his body from the hydroshock effect, or else pulling them along behind it.

He let out a breath, and in the pause between heartbeats at the end of his exhale, he squeezed the trigger.

 NA-CE had her machine gun out as she and Vaka took cover behind a car, NA-CE would see how far it was from the car they were hiding behind and the house, she wondered if she could throw a grenade that far. She also looked fir any movement or bodies and she would open fire if she had a good shot.

     Roy's Target Flew  just as far and  Vanished   as it hit the  roof.. the other  sniper  was  searching for who shot  his  comrades

  NA-ca  figures  its  about  30 yards  to the next cover..then its  all open..the  House is a good  150 yards  away from where she and Vaka  are..  two   cars   head  towards them  trying to gain Height.

  Nifty  said   sternly into his  Mic...sw a flash of  Purpple in the   house, heading to the  east..... I don't know how many Occui are in there..but it  could be the bad  guy..

 NA-CE opens up with her MP 40 into the hiver car and if it gains height, under the engine itself. NA-CE will also ready a grenade in case one of the hover cars gives her an opportunity to throw it, after she shoots, and the cars keep coming.

Roy adjusted the couple of degrees it took to put the other shooter in his sights, and gently squeezed the trigger, sending another .50cal projectile of doom downrange.  The man on the roof would never even hear the shot...he'd be dead before the sound got there.  "Rooftop's clear, if you notice anyone in windows, call them out...Lirg, you've got overwatch on the backyard.  I'm shifting to heavy artillery..."  He slipped out the standard rounds and slotted in a magazine of the Raufoss rounds.  As shocked as the last shooter on the roof had been, he could only imagine the confusion and panic that would come around when people in the house started getting taken down through solid walls...

"Give me a level and how many meters from which side of the building, guys...we'll see how well these things do with residential structures..."  Considering the original incarnation of them had been designed to penetrate and hit effectively through concrete walls, unless the Occui had finagled construction out of bulkhead-grade alloys, he was pretty sure he could hit anything inside...

  Lt  Hirr  and Yotolita  were up the closest...and she had  to duck from SMG  Fire ...There  is being.. a pers  at the  fare  west  window that  isn't Buring, they as  on the left side of the window wall.. they have SMG..

   Zob..  Hit  the nearest  Hover  car to  him.. he fires   twice  , without  hardly aiming . the  heavy  rifle  rips through the base of the Hover  car,, and  it veers  off to wards the beach, Slamming into the  Hover  car to the west was getting away.

 Lyri shouted to everyone...Kill every one! kill the Damn cars!\

 Nifty didn't even hesitate, sent  a round into  the drivers  door  and the  car  didn't move  while some one on the other  side  was screaming.

 Hemsly  and his  group  hopped across  the   channel and  we  making their  way across the   hull.

Roy made a best-guess approximation of where the window in question was, and squeezed the trigger.  "If I didn't hit the shooter, the round should be coming out through the wall, tell me how far off I was so I can adjust fire..."

He kept his eye on the scope, looking at the gaping hole in the back wall of the house where the round had gone in, ready to adjust the crosshairs according to the instructions he got.

   Roy's round  slammed through the wall   a  man with an SMG  had   just moved to   fire ...randomly   in Hirr's  direction.. The  Fellow   turned and  looked  stunned at the   wall.. Yotolita amd Hirr  fired   at the window, causing the  gut   to  jump back out of habit,  and was in front of the hole... The Back of the Hull lit  up from muzzle  flashes   As  Hemsly's  team  started to gun down those who 'went out the back'

 Bloody Shame, such good  lookin' women gotta be  gunned  down,'cause they made  the  wrong choices..

 Lyri   fired   at the west most   car, she  hit  something in the   underside   and it  trailed   black  vapor. and  started to lose   altitude  as it  veered off to the  west , more.

 Gresh Voice  came on  COMs...FUJISEC-Uppers has been told  to  stand  down  for  20 minutes... you have that long to finish up...

  Nifty was using his rounds , like he paid for them himself.  Shots  at drivers windows  or  the Hoods of the cars  to try and damage something in the  engine.

 Zob hit  a black  hover  car that had  plenty of  'shiny' on it. his round  did  something  and  flames  began inside the car.. voices  were screamign  as the   fire grew  remarkable  fast,, and those trapped in side   caught fire.

 Vaka  Looked  up  and said to NA-CE...see? they should not have those  bars in cars.

With no calls for adjusted fire, Roy concluded the gunman in question was done.  It looked like foot traffic coming out of the house was contained...he started looking for hover vehicles or even regular wheeled traffic that was trying to escape the area.

"Twenty minutes, copy that," he replied in the comms.  "Give us another reminder at ten, then at five, but I think we'll be out of here by then..."

   LT Hirr  and Yotolitia  got   up, the  Gun man peaked  around  and  fired   ay them, both  Felrites   took some round  in the  arms and shoulders

  they  went   down and   behind the Car  again. The     Gun man ducked   back to the Hole   that roy had  made again.Ahhh!!!... His  parents  were not legally mated!...

another   Van, Dark Blue  with no lights  was  zoomed towards the Building.. the   OPs  crew only knew it was there, because it had to  fly over  them to get there,-

 Lird   Fired  fired a  stot  at the eastern most wing of the  House  and   crcked the glass...  Lirg  called over to Roy...The Meta glass  is thicker  on the east end of the building

"Hmmm...Let's see how thick..."  Roy put crosshairs on one of the windows to the east and sent a round in at a shadow of a figure moving around behind the glass, watching to see if the round penetrated or just detonated against the metaglass.

 Roy's  round  hits  the   window that  Lirg  had  hit, the  Glass   'blew inwards '  as the  round  did its  work.

 Lirg fired  again. The fellow or one of them  that was moving around , instinctively    looked   at the  window, and his chest vanished


  Can some one   take care of the   fellow   where Roy  shot the House...maybe>  shoot person this Time. I am thinking the house   will not hurt us any longer!

Roy's annoyance was thinly masked.  "Well, I DID tell you to call out an adjustment on the fire for me.  How far, which way, is he from where the round came through the house?"

   Hirr  COMed back,he  went back   to the hole you made.. do you not hvae rthe Fancy optics  on you big long gun! We are  Also needing
  Med tech.. Yotolita   had  hole in  arm,   I  will foam it..but i rather  have Med Tech check for bone splinters.....

 Following that was Cross...Hey?   Twitch says  there is a Maintenace shuttle under that   'shore line  along ,  Hull that  runs to the  Shore  by the Metaglass, he  says  they  use that tunnel to hide  from SEC..and they can  sit on that shore  forever , because  no one   checks on there, unless a Cruise  goes out there.  Some one wwent  that way... what  do we  do? we can  run along the  shore and get that, but that's  on the long side of a Mile?

"Yeah, I've got some nice optice...but there's a HOUSE in the way.  These optics only see through so many walls..."  He put the crosshairs back on the same entry hole the first round had made, more or less in the center, and sent another round flying as he mulled over Cross' new dilemma.

"Liggins?  Can you fly dark out of here so the guys at the bottom of the hill don't see that you've left us up here?  Get down there and round up Cross and one or two others to go check that out?  It'll be a helluva lot faster than having you leg it over there, Cross..."

 NA-CE and Vaka where firing into the house and car area where NA-CE heard the call for a Med tech. " Doc here where are you located, Vaka and I will be right there."

  Roy's   rounds went through the   same  hole that was a bit darker then  it  was, and suddenly, he could see the  lighted  room  and the   man with the SMG was  splattered  across the room.  a few screams were heard. noy  as many as before.

  Nifty said .. I think all the  scaredy Rats are dead... lots  of  bodies out side that dor... Hemsly   got some out  back  too... I guess the only  people  left are  fighters..

 That  time..you have shot him, I do not think he needs  shot  again....   We are  by   red car.. both are hit ,Young one is hurt worse.

 Liggens...on my  way, I'll go across the  same   place  they  did  and  catch up....

 Jax  got on...all stations  are built the same, more or less?... the  access  tunnels  come  from each end of the Metaglass  there will be Hatches     about 100 yards  from the ends of each side..there are no tunnels inbetween.. they'll have  to pop out the Hatcg and   run the  whole  2-3  Miles  to the other Hatch..The Hatches  with   be  behind 'rock formations' they use  to make it look nice... I would look for  fast  boats  or ships headed to the   Metaglass....um... its not a good idea  to get into the water where the Metaglass is?..bigger creatures that help  eat things the  eggheads  drop in the water,  will attack  rather  quickly... They have  Nets about  500 yards from the shore that keep out the big hungry creatures...also? if   you would  find you way at the Bottom..that isn't good either..there are water  creatures who 'clean' the  sea... you can see them on tours.. they'll  suck up anything  that isn't a plant.

 wonderful...really makes me  feel like swimming now... no oneever  told us that , all these years?

 no one  expects people to go  swimming  where the water  is 1200 feet deep! the water  at the Nets  is  about  700 feet, where
 we play it  is only about 20 feet at the deep  end where the Buoys are.

Roy made a sweep across the house with his scope, sending another round in where he saw something moving inside the house.  "I'm gonna give a look along the beach and see if I spot any panicky runners..."  The distances Jax was describing were practically point-blank for the weapon he was firing, although there was certainly more distance between his perch on the mountain and the house they'd just redecorated with extra ventilation.

"Anyone on the ground who isn't going on a beach excursion or patching holes in the kitty-cat pool toys, start moving in.  We need a sweep of the house and verification that the target's down.  You see any sign of trouble, call for fire-support, we've got plenty of reach-out-and-touch-someone available on every landward side of the place."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Thu 14 Mar.

  All Roy  could see.  was  Cross  leading  Hemsly and the others  down the  20  yard  wide   dirt  and  grass that serves  as the  'side  shore'   the   'shore' in front of the Metaglass  was 50 yards  wided,  and Mostly   cand  with  some  tufts  of   reed-like grasses  and some stone formations.. the   Metaglass shore was always a great place  for people  to sit  and sun and be  by themselves.
 no one  was  on that shore line....yet

  Nifty and  Zob  Moved  up to  a car a few 6yards  from where  NA-CE  was Patching  up the   cats.. Vaka  was  taking Pot shot s at the  house. anything  some one moved..

 Gresh['s Voice:; <Aqua>6 minutes  .you  should see the   FUJISEC   cars and Vans  rising   near the  entrance to the Stem<   /Aqua>

 Liggins   stopped   everyone  got in  But  Brooks  who , Liggins  dropped  off on the lawn and he ran towards the  House...Going  to  try to remind them , they should   stay in the House!
  it  took a  minute  or   two but   somethign  that looked like Bolos   twirthed  through the   air and Landed on the   eastean  eade4 of the House.. the   chain  stopped the   Ends  from going anywhere.  after  a heart beat or  two.. 4 Bright, Blue/white  flashed  lit up the  night   and the  rood   caught  fire  at  those    four  holes m dropping down into the Building


 I can see the  FC  v trucks  comign as well... they won't make it... Brooks  said.. as he  ran    to the back   and  shot  any one  moving...

 Lyric  called out.., I'm  getting oue other Van  get   our  folks out of there..

 Nifty  says...I see a bunch of   huamsn, one is on fire... one dead Sanri...a litle purple person, it has long hair so we'll say that's a chick?..

Zob, looks through his Scope..I see the  same...  the  mark must be in that tunnel.. He wouldn't  think we know about that.

 NA-CE worked on the cats to patch them up as best she could and made the call if they had to head to a van and wait or they could still fight.

Any of those humans still up and moving?" he asked, still sweeping the area, but moving back more to focus on the house and switching to enhanced IR scans to see if anyone was moving behind the walls facing him.

"If they are, make 'em lay down..."

  Brooks    said into his mic... No one  But the Burning  guy.. hes  screaming.. I sorta  want to let him  do that, Its  not a big step from this  to Loyalty feasts.. if  I'm wrong  , I'll apologize  to him when i get there.

 there was a burst of  an SMG   and  a man in a  suit  was  laying on the east  side, , Jax   ha d brought him down.

 Liggins had the Van half  way to the  Metaglass

......

Lyri said ,OK.. Fujisect will be here   in a few more  heart beats..  we should pack  up and Go?

"I hate leaving without knowing that the target's taken down, but we can play the hunch that he went to ground in the tunnel and work on that.  Start clearing people out from the premises...cats first.  Once you get everyone off the grounds, go check out that tunnel.  Lirg and I can lay low up here if we have to, and get picked up later on the far side of the mountain.  Everyone at the house get within sprinting distance of the cats and keep cover fire on the house so the van doesn't get bagged."  The dissatisfaction was plain to hear in his voice.

"Liggins, after your group reaches the metaglass, keep a low profile.  Make sure that tunnel's clear, then take the most obscure, unobtrusive route out of there that you can, and try to blend in with normal traffic.  It's gonna take a while for SEC to sort out what's happened at the house and that will hopefully give us all time to disappear into the woodwork."

    Lyri  ha the others   in the van..  well?  we  don't know  if  anyone got out that Middle  tunnel that goes under the bridge..we  do know  people  are  using the seaward tunnel to  head to the Metaglass ... the  FUJISEC  is   closing in on the Mounting, I'm going  down the
  beach  road..for  1000 feet or so and make a   right  to the Mountain.

 I stopped , were  about  1/4  mile  from the  Middle of the Metglass.. we;re  dark.. cross and the other   are waiting  at the Hatch  way.. we'll ley you know  who come out.

 Lirg fluffed you his   shoulder and  hunched close to a  rock, to look like a Boulder..I am  watchign the Building.. the Burning man has  fallen.. i see no movements out side..or what i can see in the windows.

Roy kept his scope on the building, watching with the thermal optics to see if he could spot any motion that was hidden from Lirg.  "Gotta love incomplete intel," he muttered, not really worrying about his mic being open.  "Woulda been nice to have it clarified that they had two other tunnels they could take, it sure as shit sounded like there was just the one, to me..."

He took some comfort in the fact that, even if they had missed the target, things had been chewed up enough that Nolte would have a hard time getting her operation running at capacity again.  On top of that, if the 'evidence' he'd planted at the other site filtered through the right channels, the Occui would have a hard time even staying on Fuji...

And a thought dawned on him.  "Hey, Home-Slice...you ever considered the option of putting bounties on some of these people and letting other bad guys do this work for us?"  That was spoken loudly and clearly enough to be obviously intended to be heard on the comm channel, as opposed to just being low background noise.  The idea would require some extensive work to hide where the money was actually coming from...but it might be worth trying, if for no other reason that keeping the EDT fronts from getting complacent.  It would be hard to focus on doing business when any new business contact you made could actually be someone looking to cash you in...

  gresh    answered, never  have given it a thought.. Might  ave millins of  creds  by not havign buildings burning down.. I thought your Dark Walker stayed  home?

 Lyri Giggles.That's a new one...

 Cross    says.. were   are  using these  rocks for cover.. 6 people came out of the   hatch..  they are heading   across the   shore ..i would assume the  other   hatch  the Tunnel kid spoke of...we are goign to  wait  about a minute..maybe  two, to make sure  there isn't any one in the tunnel..shoudl ahe brough a Larg, we  could ahve let it  Run back to th hosue and eat anyone in the tunnel

 O'day says.....eh!  we 'ave  a bleedin  boat headed this  way  is dark, but  from here the light  picks up it s flashes... Think i might be a rescue boat?

Roy gave a quiet grunt.  "Don't do anything to the boat yet.  Not likely, but it COULD be totally innocent.  But if the people leaving the tunnel start getting on, light it up and burn it down.  Keep someone watching that tunnel, though...see if anyone else pops out, or make sure whoever's got the boat doesn't get clipped by someone from the tunnel."

Seeing no additional signs of movement from the house, he shifted to pan slowly along the metaglass shore, trying to pick out where his people were, as well as the boat and the tunnel-runners.  If the boat was in range, he could solve that problem for them with a trigger-pull...

  As Roy looked over the   shore line, he  count  just barely make out the van.. he  had a damn hard  time  finding  Cross and the others , But he could see  6 People  running, 2 women in dresses  that were slowing them  down.. 4 men about 20 yards ahead of them.

  The   Boat was  making good  time, but  it ran to not produce a rooster tail.. from what   Roy  could discern , there was a  human at the wheel and Two Occui in the stern

Keeping his scope on the boat and following it, Roy said quietly (to avoid jostling the rifle and scope or shifting his eye off position), "I've got the boat...Human driver, two Occui passengers at the stern.  If they make landfall and people start boarding, I'll take out the boat.  You all mop up afterwards."  A grenade from the shore could probably take out the boat just as reliably...but it would reveal the presence of Cross' team and alert any armed personnel that they had company, whereas a long-range anti-materiel round would just make the ship go boom without tipping anyone off about where the round came from (not that they'd be in much of a position to do anything about it, anyway...)

As he watched, a couple of thoughts dawned on him.  "Lirg, while you're watching the house and grounds, stay alert for anyone who might be approaching the area.  I don't think anyone would connect our presence up here with what's happening down there, since they saw people on the grounds, if anyone's alive to tell stories...but there's a chance that some overachiever in station SEC will send someone to check on us, just in case..."  He quirked a little grin, mostly to himself, and added, "Plus, there's a chance that one of those bear-things that was the cover story for us coming up here might actually come poking around...so keep some situational awareness, even if your eyes are busy."  And take your own damned advice there, Sarge... he reminded himself.  It would be easy to develop target fixation, blank out everything except the boat in the scope...but he couldn't afford to do that.

    Lyri  COMs,we have a  building between us  and the Mountain.. let us  know  when you want Evaced

   ........

  Cross COMs...our own Tunnel kid s say  the lead runner  has  about   a half mile Until  he reached the 2nd Hatch.. so far, no one has   tried to ope  this hatch

"Lirg...any sign of motion down there?  If nobody's moving, come round him up, Lyri."  He paused a moment, focused on the boat.

"By then, we should have a pretty clear notion whether this boat is there to pick up their buddies, or just enjoying the night sky as up-close-and-personal as this station lets most people get."

 FUJISEC are  coming over the Mountain, they have FC  with them. There  are  MedTech Vans... Lyri said  as  FUJISEC, split  and   some  when to the seaward  side, some went to the  Hull side,

 Lirg COMed ..  I am moving down the seaward  side , when i  reach the fence , come get me....

   Out   On  the sea, one of the Occui   climbed up the  stairs  to stand  By the pilot. The Occui used a  handheld  Light, to flash  three   quick  flashes. Then re peated it.

From the  Metaglass shore  there was a flash of a tiny light, the boat started to  veer towards the South.

   Karson  said ,I can use   what  i have left of  My C-10 , drop it in the hathc  way and seal it,, the blow  back  should  take  care of  anyone   100 tards or less from the hatch...but it will make a noise...

"Hang onto the C10 until the very last thing...when the boat's done and the people who've already left the tunnels are down, then you can seal it.  But once the boat goes up, the rest has gotta happen fast, because you can bet FujiSEC is gonna hustle right over there to find out what's exploding right next to the metaglass..."

He let the crosshairs wander over the boat, trying to decide where the powercells were most likely stored.  Propulsion was in the back, and, traditionally, fuel was kept close to the motor, but anything could be possible...

Finally, he settled on a target...he couldn't be sure he'd hit powercells, but if he killed the boat's motor, it would keep them from going anywhere and Cross could mop up if he needed to.  He let the boat continue towards the shore, tracking along with it as it moved in closer.  If it stopped and started taking on passengers, that would be the time to fire...the boat wouldn't be moving more than a couple of inches up and down in the water, he could be more sure of his target that way.

"That's it, boys...just ease on up to the shoreline and let those runaways start climbing on board..."

   bouncing  slower as the Boat   geared   down,  it  swung it s   bow to  fact to the south. One of the Occui  Tossed  a    rope with a  Grapple  and  the   lead guy caught it, hauling on the   Rope to bring the  Ship  closer..

  the  Pilot of the boat was  yelling something and Pointing.

  when it  was close   enough the    two Occui   dropped   a boarding ramp down for the group to  begin to  board.., off in the distance  the   western  'corner ' of the   beach  was lit up  , by the  Burning  Building  and   JFUJISEC    landing on the lawn

 NA-CE was in the Van tending to Yotolia, " You got hit pretty good, you are out of any combat, but you will be fine a few days." NA-CE will make sure she has Yotolia patched up as best she can do down here and get her ready for transport.

Once it became apparent that the boat was, in fact, there to retrieve the escapees from their target zone, Roy got down to business.  As the boat came to a halt and the boarding plank was set in place, he settled crosshairs on the boat's transom, where the motor was most likely housed, and in that space at the end of a breath and between heartbeats, he squeezed the trigger...

The round would take a few seconds to arrive, and in that time, Roy cycled the action on his rifle with almost-mechanical efficiency, his head and the rifle barely shifting off the target line, and when ready, he sent a second round downrange to follow the first...and then waited to see if more rounds would be needed after that...

As it turned out, the second round wasn't even needed.  The first round found the powercell for the motor, and the back end of the boat erupted in fire.  There was no telling what damage the redundant second round added.  Roy was peripherally aware of bodies flying from the boat and some on or near the plank getting blown backwards, but he couldn't say for sure what had happened.  He'd leave that for Cross and the others to assess.

"Okay, boat's no longer a problem.  Mop up FAST, because SEC will almost certainly go looking to see what blew up that close to the shell of the station..."  He ejected the spent shell, and then the magazine, switching back to standard .50cal ball ammo, saving that particular round for a later excursion.  "I'm still on overwatch, but try to approach from an angle, instead of straight toward the mountain.  If I have to send a round downrange, I'd hate to have a friendly-fire incident because it went through the target and hit one of you guys..."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:08, Fri 22 Mar.

        The Human who had  lead  the  running  Human who led the 'escapees', carried  an SMG   Like he   was born with It, he  waved  the   next two people  onto the gang plank.. One  Occui  greeted then  Holding out a Hand to help them,, the other

 The other   Occui had a  sniper  rifle  of his  Own.. he was looking out  at the Burning  building, Bringing the    Rifle, up to use the optics... Then his head  jerked towards the  west...  whether  he saw the  muzzle  flash, or  saw  something  else on the short, it  did matter.. bhut the time the  superheated nose started to glow... The Occui couldn't  even warn  anyone.. the  round  Hit Housing  of the  Engine... it  wouldn't be  a  herar5t beat before the Power cells shattered The  Back of the  Boat, the two Occui and the Man and woman who  were Boarding , disappeared  in  Bright  white   explosion, Plastic, body parts  and meal  flew every were..The  Pilots   legs  were  shredded   from the  back of his thighs   down,  the rest of him fell screaming into the  water, the   Nose  of the    boat  rose up, the  pointed   down, water   seeping into the holes below  dec... The  leader  Jumpe d and   rolled over towards the Meta Glass.

  Cross  and His people  Opene dup   on the last of the  escapees.. Cutting them  down  , with Little  care of  who   they were or what race.... Karson wave d Ja x Back   with Him.. as he   wired  ...almots..all his  C-10...

 OIK  Kid.. I'll toss it in when you open it.. slam   it  shut  and   Pin the  wheel.. as soon as it Goes In..

    Jix  shifted the  SMG  a  bit   as he turned the hatch, it was  frightening how  easy it was   for Jax  to Know who the   hatches worked,,But  years  in the Stem would  do that... Karson  was  ready to  set the  timer  for  3  secs,  he would trigge rit  as the Hatch was open....The  Hatch  Opend..OCCUI!!!!...  Jax   shouted  as the   Occui  Opened   Fired    , Jax knees  buckled NOW..NOW..I...CAn'T  HOLD...

  The   block  went in, Karson   jumped on the   Hatch    and  spun  the  Wheel....an anguished scream into the Head   sets...MED  TECH... THE mark....  the   explosion  shook the  shore  from the  hatch to  half  way towards  the  burning  home...He's hurt Bad... bad.... Med tech.

   Cross and  Oday Looked  back  as they heard Karson scream..  The Leader  held Up his  hands...You folks are  Good.. I can't wait to meet who..  Cross  cut the   man  down where he stoof.. and took his  SMG..

  They could hhear  Cross...gods  be damned... fucking  Tunnel bitch .. should have Know  the Mark  wouldn't  come out... This is on me.. Gte the Kid to  the   shuttled...  : Long Shot..were  Gonna  buy some toys...... we got  to get him back.

 Jax  Gasped   but  didn't  cry out...  Oday said,he's  not   graoning or  anyhting..amybe  ..not too Bad..?

 Nifty said in even tones...Ypu learn , you can't  scream or  Moan in the Stem... enemies  find you...Stem rats  find you...some of those big assed bugs.... we can't  scream out..can't even ask for help. 'casue you might get you Pack hurt

Decades of mental discipline were put to the test as Roy heard the sounds of Jax taking fire, completely unable to do anything about it.  His jaw muscles clenched tightly, and tension could be clearly heard in his voice as he responded.  "Get him back where you need to.  If he's too serious, we can rendezvous somewhere and let our company sawbones give him a once-over, but I think we're better off hurrying home instead of trying to work out a meet-up."  The tone was crisp and controlled...anyone who'd worked with him for a while would recognize it as a kind of "there's no time for all the profanities I have in mind right now" tone that he resorted to when things went sideways.  The profanities would come later...

"Long Shot, I'm moving out.  If you pick up Lirg before I get there, home in on my comm and come pick me up.  We're done here, it's time to clear out."

  Lirg  COMed  back...I am In.. Toy Place  has  med tech   in bottom part

 .......

   There was a sound behind   Roy.. two black uniformed  men stood there  with carbines..look what we  got here.... damn god  thing  they sent  us for  some more  drinks ..Don't  work Bud..your Creds  will go to a  good   cause....we'll try to Make it quick and...


 two cracks  for    Fujisec   heavy Pulse rifles     sounded, and the  Unarmored  men dropped.. Roy turned to see the gate guards smiling. one  pushed the  bill of his ball cap up...So i says to  my Buddy here... No way that chick is gonna mess around  with both of them...and we  sorta  keep and   eye on you with a   Rifle tag.... when we saw that little piece of shit's  house  lighting up..we figured  it was  you people....

 The taller  man said.. we used to Be  Hector... but they don't  keep , invalides . so  we  got  SEC  job  for the Mountain...Not like being on a warship  though. Better get Movin'  Buddy... and Good work... lots of bad stuff   went on that place, and   FUJISEC can only

 NA-CE was all set with the cats and was ready to pull out when she heard Jax got shot, and they called for a med tech. " On my way,'  NA-CE looked at her driver and said," We need to get to Jax now, medical emergency." 

 NA-CE would hang on and make sur ethe cats where good as they hopefully headed to get Jax.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:35, Fri 22 Mar.

 Lyri   said To NA-CE, Their  Van is  Going to  make their  way to the   Toy store, we  will  follow them to  Stem  , when we
 meet up  we'll transfer you to their  Van... Right now both Vans  gotta  get  out of here..

 Switching...Liggins... when you enter  the Syem.. settle on the  " Green" side , just passed the   'reclaimed ' sections.. we will transfer  Med tech to you...

 Already Done...  we are  following the    shore lie to the  South...... will meet you on the 'Green' side...

   As Roy Got  In, Lyri drove , high enough to  be  above  wheeled   vehicles  or  low moving Hover  cars.. but  not  high enough   to be  about the lower Tier  of  Hover traffic.

 anyone looking  back would see FC  trying to knocked  down the  Fire, while vend   drew the smoke upwards... two  FUJISEC  cars  where skimming   10 feet  above the  water,  heading for the wreckage of the boat.

Roy gave a sly grin to the two guards.  "In my defense, she was the one who came up with the story.  At least now we don't have to worry about how we're gonna sell it on the way out.  But your timing is perfect."  He smoothly broke down the Barrett and stowed it in the bag in a matter of seconds.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta catch my ride.  Keep up the good work!"  He gave a quick wave before turning to proceed down the slope until Lyri caught up to him with the van.  He climbed in easily, extending a hand for Lirg to help him up before the van had settled completely.  "Let's go...lucky for me, we've got some friends in FujiSEC who took care of the two EDT scouts that found my location, but we shouldn't bet on there having been only two of them."

As the van accelerated, he keyed his comm again.  "Hey, Toymaker...you have access to service rosters for the local gendarmes?  There's a couple of guys in FujiSEC that I think you should check out as some possible recruits for starting your own black-ops unit here..."

 NA-CE nodded to Lyri and added," Ok get to his van as fast as you can I dont know how badly Jax is hurt." NA-CE got her med pack and stood by the door to transfer to the other Van when they got close enough.

  It took  10 Minutes for the Vans to reach the stem...but that  time, two  FUJISEC Patrol boats were closing in on the  Metaglass area where  the boat  was burning.

      Krason  looked sicked to  Death,  Cross  didn't look much happier..  NA-CE   was   hustled over  to  that Van.. Lyri snapped at Liggins,Get to the Toy Store, Go full speed... They'll be waiting to take him down into their Med tech area.

 as the Two Vans   lifted off.. Lyri  said   to Roy...I never thought  i'd say this..but it would be  damn good to have  Steffi here!

 NA-CE got into the Van and immediately went over to Jax and checked him out and his condition.

Roy was silent for a moment, before he answered.  "She'd be bitching about all the collateral damage, before we even started...but yeah, right now, it'd be really good to have her here."

He took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.  "He's a tough kid...don't know how long he was a Stem kid, but he was doing it long enough to be the one in charge of his group..."  Roy couldn't really consider them a 'gang', even if that might have been what they called themselves...that particular group had been scrapping to survive, and most gangs were out looking to exploit the weak and frail, not take them in and keep them alive.  "He's not going without a fight, and between Na-Ce and the facilities Gresh's people have put together, his odds are gonna improve dramatically over the next half hour or so."

While he sounded like he truly believed that, he also sounded like he needed to say it out loud to convince himself it was true...

  Lyri's  eyes  were Glistening...she  said  softly  in a  choked  voice...a Pack....they call themsleves  a pack

   Nifty was  sitting behind the  driver..he said,..Jax... I talked to the Kids  from His pack,when i got here...they said how  the  Gangers  were sending them to  pilage a downed  suppy truck.. ahd  Jax   was  trying to give the loads  to  cary..but snipers   got  most of them...  The ones who are  on The hermes.. said.. " Jax  won't  'sert you"..i don't sound like much..but to us  Stem Kids..its  the highest  compliment  you can get.

 NA-CE was able to patch up the thigh wound and that would be no problem. The side wound was the problem one it might have gone as deep as two ribs, Jax was in trouble and NA-CE she needed help. " Have Gresh's people have the med center set up to go, the thigh wound will be fine but this side wound is pretty bad. Get us there 5 minutes ago please." NA-CE would use all her skills and knowledge to keep Jax alive until they got to Gresh's medical bay, she worked her ass off doing everything she could to make sure Jax made it to Gresh's alive.

 after  flying low over the    old buildings in the Stem , the  two Vans  popped  out    and  ,ade a    beeline  over  roof tops to 'Why Not"..  as the Vans     settled into the alley behind the  store. all the lights  went out  around them  for a block or  two, went out.

 in the  darkness the doors   opened  with a  dim red Light  as two ESN  Med  techs  came out   with a  hover  cart, they  work  a store smock over their  tunics.   once every one  got inside.  the  doors  where locked  and  Jax  taken down into the  basement, passed the  COM Room.   the  fall at the  'sea end"  of the Building ,skid open, revealing  there    tables    and a Med  tech  supply   cabinet. as well as some over head swing lights   , sink  and  a Disposal... there were a stack of Black bags near by.

 Jack  was placed on the  table, the Two Med Techs Looked at  NA-CEwe  will assist you?  we are...limited in our  skills, we  just graduated two months  ago..Mr Gresh signed us  up for here.

  Lt   Hirr lifted  Yotolia to one of the other Tbales..Take  care  of Young  Human first...  the Cub  is stable, and    I have had  worse  wound  wrestled with  He Gava  while we trained.

 Karson started   at them as the  Med Techs  closed  around  Jax. I screwed up SM...  The Occui8 waited so damn long.. I  should have throw  a Bisket in there first.... i ...i just didn't  think..

 Cross  wasn't  any less unhappy..I messed up as well... with   the Boat  taken care of.. and the people gunned down, i figures  the Mark died in the house.

 NA-CE went in with Jax and the two Med Techs, NA-CE got a better look and it was worse than NA-CE had origially thought, this was out of her league they needed Stefi. NA-CE then had to decide yes Jax could be saved, she had a couple of choices, the Hermes was 8 hours away, she didnt think Jax would hang on for that long, Fuji Med Tech was 5 minutes away and they should be able to pull him through.

 NA-CE then wasnt sure if he would even make it then, NA-CE wished she had some of the Angel serum on her, but then she said loud enough for all in the area to hear, and she made sure Roy could hear her, he was the one that would basically make the call. " Gresh do you have any Blue Angel Serum, his wounds are too severe for me to handle, the Hermes is too far way, Fuji Med Tech is only 5 minutes away. Again his wound is way beyond my skill I dont know how long he will last, the serum would be our best chance, if Gresh has any that is, if not then we get him to FUJI Med Tech ASAP."

"There's plenty of blame to go around..." Roy answered bitterly.  "I mean, he should have known to keep the hatch between him and the tunnel opening, it would have given anyone in the tunnel a much smaller target to hit and he'd have had the metal hatch covering his body.  We all got a little complacent on this one...victims of our own success..."

He looked over as Na-Ce pronounced her prognosis, and grimaced.  "If we take him to Med Tech here, we've gotta have a cover story for how he got injured.  Every medical facility in existence keeps track of serious injuries like gunshot wounds and we can't just go in there with no story about how he got shot."  He waved off the statement as soon as he finished it, adding, "That's no reason not to take him, though...I can think of at least four plausible stories in the time it'd take to get him there."

He looked at Gresh, waiting for the Sanri's answer as to how to proceed.

  Gresh frowned,Taking him to  ESN Med tech, would  certainly, link him to the actions this night...

  Claire?  do we have any of the Blue serum left?

  Yes, Sir there is One Vial ..but if  we use that, what about injuries to our people?

 Gresh turned and  snapped at her...He ...IS..our  people....turning to   NA-CE,,,are you able to administer it? I would hate to wste it, if you did  not  know how...

 NA-CE looked at Gresh and replied," Yes I know how to administer it, it will save his life easily, but he will suffer greatly as he heals. Also between us Gresh but I can replace that vial and add a few when the Hermes arrives."

 NA-CE turns to Roy," Roy I will give it to him, we will need to restrain him. I will only do it with your agreement Roy, or we rush him to Fuji Med Tech, your call Roy." NA-CE will keep checking Jax's condition, they needed to make a decision soon if he was going to make a full recovery. NA-CE would also see if Jax was awake so she could ask him as well about the serum.

Roy grimaced.  He, out of everyone in the room, really understood what she was saying.  "We're treating this like it was any other field-expedient situation.  We've learned enough tonight to know that we've got some friends in FujiSEC...but tonight wouldn't have been necessary if we didn't have more than a few enemies, as well, and putting Jax in Fuji Med-Tech, with injuries they would have to report to Security, is painting a giant bullseye on his back for the entire time we're on the station, as well as any time we may be back."

He looked at Gresh, then looked over at Na-Ce.  "The risks of the medication are lower than the risks of exposing his involvement to Fuji EDT sources.  Give it to him."

He looked over at Karson and Cross, the two who'd expressed regrets for not keeping him safer.  "Help me strap him down...this isn't going to be pretty..."

As he started securing Jax to the table, he looked over at Gresh.  "We've got an ample supply on the Hermes...I'm sure Stefi can be persuaded to leave a few vials here, provided they'll be carefully secured.  This is not something we want falling into enemy hands.  While there's a chance the Angels may have shared their herb-lore and med-tech with Empire allies, I'm betting that they could never get the massive tree-trunk out of their asses far enough to deign to share anything of the sort."  He glanced over at Na-Ce and gave a humorless grin.

"Present company excepted, of course.  We know not all Angels are enormous pricks..."

 NA-CE nodded at Roy and said," Yes please strap him down good, we dont want him hurting himself. This will not be pretty if you wish to leave before I start go now." NA-CE made sure everything was all set, Jax was ready and strapped down, she got the vial from Gresh, prepped it as needed, then got it ready to inject Jax.

 NA-CE smiled at Roy when he said she was excluded," Yes I know many of my race our total assholes, but you humans have the baby eating EDT dont you?" NA-CE giggled but was ready to inject Jax.

 NA-CE looked at Roy and said," Ok here we go everyone." NA-CE then injected Jax and then watched over him as the side effects and healing began.

  Jax  was  Tired.. he ,,just wanted to sleep so the pain would go away. The straps  weren't as  think as the straps on the Hermes ..    Carson   grabbed on leg  to help  hold it  down, Cross the other  As Roy grabbed his arms, Jax looked    with weary eyes   at him...sorry...SM... if..if..i don't make it back..there..is a box in my locker..give...it....to...sneak.... he drifted off..

 NA-CE inject the would  area,,, the  blue  fluid  was like a creature,  spread  and covering  the torn and burnt edges..then came the  pain as the  wound being to rebui8old  and slowly. Ever  so slowly close..the   exposed  ribs  getting  covered  with 'bone"..  tissue  growing together    to   build from the inside out..

 Jax's eyes Opened in pain and Surprise..    his neck  muscles  and veins  stuck our  as he held back the screams that wanted to come..

 Nifty  watched   leaning on his    rifle,, he looked  sad  and worried... Lyri watched    with her  eyes moist and a tear coming down her cheek.  30 minutes or more..  The Young  Troophe...is  determined....er   fought the  pain and the healing.. Gresh Looked over  at Roy..he is...very Determined...

 Lt Hirr   was peeking around Hemsly, she  said in  her  cat-like  whisper..he should have  been a Felrite.

  Jax  finally  went limp.. the wound was mostly closed and still closing.. Jax's breaths  came in deep rises and falls of his chest.

 NA-CE watches she wish she knew a way to make it easier on humans, but Jax was healing well. She didnt see any complications so fa but she would pay close attention while the serum heals him. " It looks like it is working I dont see any problems but I will stay by his side, I say at least an hour before we can move him. Thank you Gresh." NA-CE would nod at Roy, Jax was going to be ok. She continued her work until Jax was ready to be oved.

Roy's face was an expressionless mask as Jax endured the treatment, holding the young man's arms to prevent him from hurting himself with the convulsions that would happen if he broke free of the restraints.  Only his eyes betrayed how concerned he truly was, and how well he understood just what it was Jax was enduring...

When Jax finally relaxed as the serum had done its job, Roy sagged for a moment, leaning against the table as he heaved a deep sigh.  "He'll be okay, now...he's gonna be ravenous as a larg when he wakes up.  His body's burned a massive amount of energy.  A little sleep to recharge his batteries and plenty of breakfast to re-stoke the fires, and he'll be good as new tomorrow morning."  There was an odd blend of relief and bitterness in his voice, but there was no mistaking that he was glad Jax had endured.

He looked over at Gresh.  "We need to get an assessment...verification of how our targets fared against our efforts.  I don't much care about the total bodycount, although it would be good to have some idea in case the Admiral has some words for us...but I want to know for sure if we got everyone we went after or if someone slipped through our fingers."

 Gresh nodded,I will call into the   FUJISEC, and have them   send us   the  count... It may take  an hour  or so, depending how the field teams  do.

he  left to make the  calls at the COM  station

  Cross sat down  and shook his head..I have never saw that..... don't knw what that is.....but it sure hurt  him..

Hemsly snorted,Folks  die from that, if they can't  take it.. LC says, its  like  getting  hurt, in reverse..all the pain ya  had  when   it happened,, hurts   just as  much as it  goes 'backwards'.. Ain't that right, Angel lady>

 NA-CE was happy Jax pulled through, and he should be fine, she was so happy but just showed her normal look. " Yes some high protein food is even better." NA-CE smiled then moved closer to Roy and whispered," From your looks and actions, you have gone through this yourself haven't you?"


Then they talked about the serum, NA-CE said first," First off this never happened, you didnt see me use anything got it. As far as what it does to humans, Hemsly is pretty right on. The serum was designed for healing severe wounds on Angels. Now Humans and Angels are similar but also quite different in many ways, so the serum is extremely harsh and slow because it takes longer for the human body to metabolize the serum." NA-CE stopped for a second and said excitedly," Damn that might be it if I can find a way for the human body to metabolize it faster it would be like with Angels about 10 seconds of pain then all healed basically."

 NA-CE smiled then added," Sorry about that been working on trying to make it safer and easier on humans." NA-CE did another full check of Jax to make sure he would make a full recovery.

Roy nodded but said nothing as the comments were made...and only gave Na-Ce a knowing look when she observed that he appeared to have endured it before himself.  "She's right...that stuff is beyond Top Secret.  Basically, if you've still got a pulse and enough strength to endure it, that can heal damned near anything.  But while it's working, you just might actually wish you'd died, instead."  He looked back over at Na-Ce and added, "You probably don't want to make it too easy for us to metabolize...Humans can be really stupid about putting ourselves in dangerous situations.  One of our best insurers for survival is the thought that we might not survive something.  Knowing stuff like this is out there takes a little of that edge off...you know you can get hurt pretty seriously and still make it.  But knowing that it's gonna hurt like hell is a great persuasion against getting too cavalier about getting yourself hurt in the first place."  He gave a tired grin that spoke volumes about the fact that he knew, first-hand, about that aspect of it.

"We also have no idea what the long-term effects of using it may be...whether it's like amped-up Angel Food, or if putting your body through that stress creates long-term side effects that could multiply with repeated uses.  There's no good way to test it, either...it's only been used a very few times on Humans, and that started relatively recently.  And I don't know anyone sadistic enough to administer it just to measure the wear-and-tear it puts on a Human body...or anyone masochistic enough to volunteer for that kind of testing."  He gave a humorless grin and added, "This stuff is literally the most extreme of measures...when it comes down to using this or someone getting Last Rites."  While religious rituals like Last Rites had long fallen out of use with the general populace of Earth, the term lingered on as a euphemism for dying.

He looked around the group again.  "So, no talking to anyone about it.  Pretend you don't know it even exists, and for the love of all you hold dear, do NOT casually put yourself in a position to find out what it's like to get treated with it.  Am I clear?"

 Nifty  saw on the crate  still leaning on the barrel of his  rifle,,looking  at Jax...I...I don't think   I could have went through that.. I ...I  don't Think  Sneak should know about that...

 Lyri   fuzzed   Nifty's hair as she went to where the  coffee  pot  and   fridge were..you go on enough  runs like this.. you'll be getting patched up as well.

Hemsly snorted,especially if you have  head cases  who try ta get  themselves killed  , along with their mates!

 Gresh returned, Handed Roy a  sheet of  printout paper...all the  marks  are dead... The Occui's body  had to be  put in a jar to get the DNA  readings... But..there is a Bonus. One of the Men  in the Occui's hose  is a ....I guess?...A SGT  for  Lady V...we don't know if he was here  to help, or seeking help....FUJISEC is  checking out his   'path' through the entrance to the stadium, I have to bet he entered from a docking lock, in the stem.. they only reclaimed  about 500 yards   from each end.. it will be a few years  before the  stem is  clean..They have  all those   docking   locks  at the  'top' of  The Stem as well..  Hermes  will be  here  in a little better then  5 hours.

Roy nodded.  "That's good news.  I feel bad enough having to put Jax through that...but if he'd gone through that and then we missed one of our marks..."  He shook his head, the scowl on his face saying plenty about how disturbing he found that thought.

"And I'm sure that guy's not the only bonus in the mix, but that's a pretty hefty one.  Catching someone like that is one of the reasons I wanted to come ahead of the Hermes."  He grimaced slightly, and continued, "You can bet that he'd have been on his way off-station as the Hermes was coming in...they might all have been, for that matter.  I like that Delta Nights scare the bad guys into going to ground, and I think it's effective even if it wasn't doing much more than showing bystanders that EDT and the rest of Lady V's personnel are scared to be out and about whenever the Fleet's in port.  But we're going to get our best results if we can hit them when and where they aren't looking for us."  He looked over at Gresh.

"What we need is a covert strike group...either one that can stay on-station and do the dirty work that FujiSEC can't or won't tackle, or one that can bounce around between carrier-stations and colonies and keep Lady V and her minions guessing about where they're going to be hit next.  The ideal lineup would probably be everyone in this room right now...but we're needed for other duties on the Hermes.  So, people with similar skills...and the history to show that they're going to stick with the job, even when it gets painful and dirty."  It was clear he was more than merely 'suggesting' such an organization.

"I know a guy who used to be really good at finding all kinds of weird stuff, and getting it where it was needed even when there were some pretty hefty obstacles blocking the way.  I bet he could find the kind of people to put together a reliable team like that..."

 NA-CE nodded to the SM in his response," I see your point, but I can at least try to minimize the chance of death though, I must try to do that as a healer." NA-CE did understand his point if it was easier they would rely on it more and be sloppy and not as focused, lose their edge of being afraid to die. If that method was almost worse than death it would be a deterrent that is for sure, NA-CE understood, so she would now just work on increasing human survivability to the drug and not its painful consequences.

 Gresh gave his report on the marks and NA-CE was also very happy they got them all for Jax's sake. NA-CE was almost hoping they got one alive and they didnt want to talk, she wanted to practice some knew torture technics she read about, cause as much pain as inhumanly possible with minimal lasting physical damage on the patient.

 NA-CE listened to the rest of Gresh's report and Roy's response, she waited for Gresh to respond to some things before she said anything about the special team idea.

  As jack started to stir, Gresh  looked at the time in the Bunker's  clock box.well.... The Hermes is  die  in 4 Hours, If  we stuck you all on a shuttle  you would  meet them  2  hours out.. do you want to do that..or  wait it Out..

 Lyri Grins...if  we wait it out.. I want to COM the Captain to leave the  dress picking open!..

Gresh chuckled , his deep  voice said, with some mirth ...you will have  about  3 hours   before the ball starts , once the Fleet comes in..  If it take you longer then that to pick a fress... you should stay home!

 Lyri  had a comic frown..I guess Males are all the same, no matter how many arms they have!

 NA-CE checked her patients they were all fine they didnt need to rush back to the Hermes. " All three of my patients will make a full recovery, no medical need to head back to the Hermes, but I agree with Lyri if we wait, we need to keep the dresses open and yes all men are the same no matter the race it seems."

Roy raised an eyebrow at the comments about all men, but offered no response on that front.  Instead, he asked, "I thought the Captain got all of you dolled up further in advance than this...but then again, my experience with the dressing party has been limited for having to shuffle schedules to cover for all the female personnel who would normally be scheduled but have gone to get an Angel-silk gown from the Captain and a makeover."  He shrugged, and added, "Makes sense it wouldn't be too far in advance...don't want people running around and spilling stuff on their priceless finery or screwing up their immaculate makeup before the Ball..."

He looked at Lyri.  "Your call, Master Chief.  I prepacked my dress blues so they could be brought down when the Hermes docked, so I don't need to run back there for anything in particular."  He shrugged and looked over at Gresh.

"Had no idea how long this was going to take, so I planned for it taking too long instead of being over ahead of schedule."  He turned back to Lyri.  "I may not need to go back, but I don't really have any great burning desire to not go back, either.  So I defer to your judgment on this one."

  Lyri looked  at NA-CE  and the others,we will be  fine , if  we  return to the Hermes  when it  docks., Just like  we  left? taking  some supplies in. then those of us who are going to the ball can get ready and  go though the  Red carpet thing.

 he nods to Jax  who was sleeping comfortably,Sneak will be glad to see he is  in one piece

 Gresh gave a snort,we can do  that we will laod  up some crates  of  37MM  ammo from the factoies  Below the lowers.... it will look natural.

 NA-CE smiled and replied, " That sounds great to me, Jax might be up by then but that was a big jolt to his system. How will we handle it if he isn't up and moving on his own, do we have a plan for that?"

 Gresh snorted...the   crates that carry the cases of 37MM rounds  is like a coffin.. if he cann  walk, we'll empty one    and send him up in a box....we did that many times with spies  on privateer  vessesl

 well, we have..let's see here.. 1 hour  and about  10 minutes  for the Hermes  to  dock.. that gives us  2  hours  to get ready for the Ball...if  we pull this off, any  bad  guys in the woodwork  will wonder, just who  blew everyone up?

Roy grinned at Na-Ce.  "That's the easy part.  If he's not up and ambulatory yet, we can just take him to Shadow's condo...walk him in with a story about him not being able to hold his liquor.  That, or stuff him in an ammo box and take him back aboard the Hermes, but I think I'd rather give him the time to recover before Sneak finds out he was wounded."

He looked over at Lyri.  "The whole objective of coming in ahead of the fleet was to catch them off-guard and have them wondering if there's more than just the Fleet in operation.  He grimaced, and added, "<blue>Damn...if I'd thought of it earlier, and if we'd known who the targets were, I'd have had Beth send an anonymous payment to another one of Lady V's associates here on station...hidden just enough to not look like it was a planted payment, make it look like they'd been paid a bounty to go take the others out.  Would have been an even better set-up than leaving tokens on the corpses."  He shook his head and shrugged.

"Guess that's for next time..."

 Hemsley  nods  as he listens,yeah..Mix it  up is  good, Right?  Tokens  this  time.. payments on the next one. might even 'tie them together.. they'll be looking' at  each other  all cross eyed!

Cross  was looking down fuckign  Occui hiding in a hatch way..all the mercs  and such . and that almost takes the Kid out..range at  Jax  sleeping..

 Occui  sitting tight...here... Vaka  said a bit sternly

Zob  grinned.

 Nifty  said,..he means  bad guy Occui..they can't be smart or they wouldn't be bad guys.

Roy shrugged.  "At this point, all we can do is learn from it...like, when you pop a hatch like that, keep the hatch between you and the tunnel.  It's not a guarantee of safety, but it's a helluva lot harder to seriously hurt you shooting through a station hatch that's theoretically designed to seal atmosphere.  Or, if it's a hatch design that won't let you do that, like a sliding hatch, make sure you've got someone covering the tunnel when you open the hatch."  Pragmatism was a survival mechanism...

"Bitching about it won't change what happened, and dwelling on it will just make you that much more jittery about it the next time a situation comes up.  Figure out what could be done differently, what would have yielded better results, and make that your SOP going forward."  He looked around the group as he spoke...and then got an impish grin as he looked at Vaka.

"But you've gotta admit, your kind can be sneaky little bastards when they want to..."

  Cross   went to get a cup of coffee, he said over his shoulder, well..over the  course  of the  operations   I have been involved in, I would say the losses  we  suffer, compared to what we have dished out. Is....very accptable..

 as he Turned  and Looked at the wounded, Thought Hirr  seemed to be  unaffected , save  for a wince  now and then..or?  was that a  'cat' face.. he shrugged as he added,But.. when a good trooper  gets  hurt, or killed, the  numbers don't matter too damn much.

a  Young girls  with a 'why Not" collar work shirt came into t....Hermes is  40 Minutes out  , Mr Gresh....SM  Spencer.he back with a  headset on..

 NA-CE monitored Jax and his recovery and checked on the two cats as well as they waited for the Hermes to dock. NA-CE did acknowledge Roy's excellent ideas in case Jax wasnt up and about when the Hermes docked. At this time NA-CE wasnt sure if he would or not, it would be close.

 NA-CE looked at Cross and replied," In my eyes any loss or our side is too much but I am a little bias I guess, I want to heal and save them all. I do agree with you though, the loses we do suffer in these raids are very low considering the damage we have done to the bad guys."

 After the girl spoke NA-CE began gathering up and packing up her gear and getting all her patients ready to move out. When she was ready NA-CE went back to Jax's side, she felt horrible she couldnt repair his wounds without using the drug.

Roy gave a shrug and a saddened smile.  "'Acceptable losses' are only acceptable in the abstract.  The moment it becomes someone you know, or even worse, someone you like, it stops being acceptable.  You have to learn to work through that, anyway.  People are gonna get hurt...it's the nature of what we do.  Some of them may even get killed.  If you start worrying too much about preventing that, nothing ever gets done.  But it's also important to realize that anyone you send into action is an unacceptable loss to someone, or else you get careless about your losses."  He grimaced, and added, "That's one of the ways you recognize good officers...they try to minimize the risks while still maintaining enough momentum to actually get the job done.  It's one of the reasons I know we have better officers than the Empire, EDT, and Lady V and her minions...we don't try to solve every problem by throwing waves of lives at it."

He looked over at Na-Ce.  "What's his prognosis?  If he's likely to be up and about before the Ball, we should arrange transport to the condo.  If he's going to be down more than, say, three hours, we should get him back to the Hermes so they can monitor him while he finishes recovery."

 NA-CE did a full check of Jax then replied to Roy," He will be ready to go, but I suggest he act as a foreman, there will be no heavy lifting for awhile."

  The girl comes  back again....... Mr  Gresh?  The  Hermes  is   20 minutes  or so out from docking,   some of the supply shuttles  and  trucks  are  heading out to the   docking arm. It would be best  for our Vans  to be there.

Gresh Looked at Roy,she's  right?  If  we  wait longer, it might look too obvious,  load  up your people  and get into the Que. You will have, carte s marked by the  Young Lady's  company that is  helpi8g provide  ammunition for the Fleet..

Roy gave a nod.  "Do me a favor?" he asked Gresh, and nudged the bag with his sniper rifle and extra gear brought along for the operation.  "Send that to the condo, addressed to me...package it as something innocuous.  So sense hauling it back to the Hermes when we're going to need it again after the Ball, and no sense giving any observers a clue that some of us made it here before the Hermes."

He turned to the rest.  "Let's mount up.  Gotta get the ladies back to the ship so they can doll up for the Ball..."  He gave Lyri a mischievous grin and jerked his head in the direction of the door they needed to exit to follow Gresh's instructions.

 NA-CE helped Jax get ready for the journey, and she stayed very close to him, just in case something went wrong.

 They started  to  head towards the   Vans, as Gresh called for another  delivery Van, from a different company, to take  gear to the  Hotel,

   Cross and KArson were near to Jax  as  NA-CE helped  him towards the  vans. Your  Girl Gonna be upset  when she  see's you got  hurt?

  No?  I mean. we have seen each other  hurt, sometimes really bad, in the Stem,  we didn't have  ESN Med techs to put us back together . if she  starts  freaking out because  i get hurt, it will be time for her to get a head scan... he  abed   towards Roy , Hemlsy  and some others... we all , from Roll and Can on up to me and Sneak, outlived most  Stem kids...Me  and Sneak are  trying to  Pay  the  ESN  back. There is  no reason , for us..NOT..to use  our new life, to help kill bad  guys, for whatever Motivation you want...

  Hirr   was  helping Yotolita,The Pup has  heart of Felrite! This is good  for Hermes

 Lirg snorted,He is not a Pup..he is  full member of pack..many packs!..

Hemsly   walked with  Roy Funny how some one who had 'nothin' is willing to fight fer everythin'

in front of them Lyri  was looking at the Ladies and  smiled,There's a good bet, I'm not ever having kids?  So..If a catch that bullet with my name on, I want my angel silks, divvied  up among the other ladies.

 Nifty Looked at her, and she  waggled her  finger at him.....stop thinking like that!

 Niftly looked surprised...I didn't say anything!

 people laughed. Jax  groaned as he laughed. they entered the Vans,  and were headed to the Lowers  Docking arm, w=that was  The Hermes  Berth

Roy grinned at Nifty.  "Smartest answer you could have given," he commented drily.  He looked back and Hemsly and replied, "I think the people who had little or nothing often make some of the most dangerous ones on the battlefield, because they know all too well what they have to look forward to if they lose and survive.  I mean, let's face it...you look at how Lady V and the EDT marshal their own forces, and you know that if they end up coming out on top, they're gonna bleed everyone dry just to pad their pocketbooks a little more."  He shrugged.

"Not saying that you can't be dangerous if you come from wealth...Lt. Frans is enough proof to shoot down that theory, once she got her head squared away and realized who the enemy really was.  But she's never going to fight with the same kind of ferocity that the LC does, because she's never known what it's like to have someone trying to keep you under a bootheel."

He grinned over at Jax, and added, "And while I'm sure Sneak's gonna be okay with news that you got wounded, she probably doesn't need to know just how bad it was.  Does she?"

 Jax  grinned,Yeah?  If this  shook her up, She wouldn't  be 'Stem". I think Dice was seeing someone  from one of the hermes   civies..and there was a fight, because  some one didn't like  Roll getting out of school.  Dice got sliced up by the older kick. Runner took the Guys  knife
 and jammed it in his  right thigh...They came to  Sneak's house , she has  some   derma  foam and Paste... the  girl Dice  was seeing  broke up with him then..she  didn't like he  got cut up...so?  some  folks can be squimsh.

 They Loaded up , Hemsly just grinned at Jax  and Gave  Roy a pat on the back.