In reply to palace (msg # 918):

With an attentive smile on her face Isobel would listen as Shadow spoke, noting the sudden change in personality and demeanour now that the camera's were on hims, wow he really has done this before she thought to herself as she politely thanked him when the media's role was mentioned "you just mentioned how important you feel the rest of the crew have been to your success, is there anyone in particular you feel is more deserving of praise than yourself? an unsung hero?" she asked, once again politely listening to his answer before moving on to a question he had no doubt been asked a million times before "Now we've all heard the rumours and we saw you with all those lovely ladies as you disembarked, some of whom are with us right now..." she said waving a hand towards Flores, Beth and Abby, with Tali quickly adding footage of them to the interview as she did so "...but tell us, other than your daughter is there a special lady in LC Shadow's life?"

Unsurprisingly Lizzy was her usual bubbly self with her first speaking excitedly of the palace and the party before then mentioning that she had decided to change her last name to O'Connor before then throwing her arms around her in a hug with what looked to be tears in her eyes "hey it'll be fine, you'll always have me to back you up" she said, gently rubbing the bare skin of her back in a comforting manner. To be honest she wasn't overly sure what had caused the tears, but then again Lizzy seemed to be all over the place even at the best of times so it was often best just to roll with it and wait for her mood to bounce back on it's own.

With the arrival of Karl, Harry would take a step back so that he could talk to Lizzy, watching as the redhead threw her arms around him in a hug leading Harry to suspect that Karl, much to her annoyance, was going to become a permanent feature in Lizzy's world. However before Lizzy was able to be whisked away to the dance floor she would receive a comms message saying that there was some kind of a problem with Melia. Needless to say Harry was happy to help as Melia had seemed a lovely, if slightly messed up, girl though that did mean she would have to leave Will by himself for a little while "Sorry baby, I'd better go and help sort this out, I'll be back as soon as I can" she said to Will with an apologetic smile before following Lizzy outside.

They would find Melia outside clinging to Zob's arm as she cried her eyes out "ok Melia love, let's get you to the Ladies room so we get you calmed down and cleaned up" Harry softly spoke to the poor girl before shooting Zob a look that said if she found that he was the cause of this then there would be trouble.

Zob looked to Harry and Lizzy before looking down to Melia on his arm still crying, "I came out and told her that I had feelings for her and she did the same and she broke down into a hot mess... and I... i don't really know what to do, it's why I asked for your help"

Zob didint understand emotions as well as Lizzy and them did hence why he asked for there help in this matter if this made Zob foolish well he didint care only thing that mattered at this point was Melias wellbeing.

As Zob explained the situation of how Melia had been reduced to tears, Harry would give Lizzy a sceptical look to see if she was able to follow the logic behind the situation "O-kay...just so we're clear you told Melia that you liked her, at which Melia then said that she liked you and then burst into tears...that's what you're saying happened?" yeah that didn't scan right to her, because although she couldn't claim to be any form of expert in her experience when two people said they liked each other there was generally a lot more laughing and hugging...this is looked more like Zob had just told Melia that he'd eaten her puppy! "Ok never mind we'll deal with that later, for now let's just get poor Melia sorted out" she said placing an arm about her shoulders so as to extricate her from Zob's arm and get her into the relative privacy of the ladies room where they would be able to her side of the story.

 Lizzy looked at Zob and then at Melia and from what Melia had told her earlier she did have feelings for Zob. Melia had no idea how to handle these emotions. Lizzy smiled looked at Harry and said," That sounds about right to me Harry, Melia has feelings for Zob but doesn't know how to deal with them."
Lizzy will help Harry carry Melia to the Ladies room to help her get her wits of herself. Lizzy smiled at Harry and said to her," Thank you for helping you are the best."

  Shadow  shook his head, there was a bit of  a LAugh  as he looked   off to the side  for a second to collect his thoughts, then back at the CAM,..yo scan around this  room Everyone  in an ESN  or EMS uniform is a hero...twodays  from now?  when the Civie s come down.... You'll find more  heros..none  of  which any one knows thier  names ....

 Now   For  Me?   You can Look at CAndy  Flores  here, and  Kat Losky... some media  call them 'my shield  Maidens.', but they aren't..they are Sword Maidens.. either one  could have a flight  of thier  own... and, I dare say, be a WC on another ship...

 Flores smiled  held herself up a bit straighter,

 Argie, Nate, CArla  and Sofie?.. that's the Ground crew  for My flight... I don't  get off the Dec  without them... and each  Flight has a crew just like them<.../DarkGreen>

 <DarkGreen>We Got   Cat Price, Stefi Simmons, Meila Kristensen,  and a whole Unti  of Med techs that put us back together  when we get broken

 ..Let Me put it  this  way,  Isobel?.... can you tell  which   which part of  your  CAM  Bot is most important?.. Or do you need them all, for it to work?..Just think of  that CAM as the Hermes, and  all the parts inside.. are the crew...

  The was a bit of a twitch in Shadow's  demeanor , he recovered in a split second,well.....  Its  Common  Knowledge that Bura  was   where  LAdy died. She was, the best friend  i had on the Hermes.... because of Verian, transference, tech. She was locked in side that Hammer  IV..so she left to help the Burians... and  was....
 his  eyes  narrowed  just a bit,assassinated  by an EVOL Traitor... who, as fate  would have it...  a dark smile grew,..also died here, our  last  battle  on  the planet.

 then   he shrugs off the  darker  pall that settle don him like some one taking  off a hat,..There was a special   lady here  for a while, but , duty called  and she is no longer   in the Fleet, but ....fighting the good fight else where... I understand  she has since married... and, I believe  either  has a child, or is expecting... I do not  here much from the  rumor mill...
 Then, almost aggressively he waved  to  the three ladies.. Flores. recognized   his  'play  and   stepped forward  right away  as  if   peeling over to take out  a Fighter on his 6... Beth was , maybe  a 10th of  a second to recognize the  change in his voice.

  Abby looked at the two. like   she was Confused but  followed  , dutifully.

 ..Now thses Ladies ,  are, Bett Morrow...  CAndy Flroes  and   one of a newest  Pilots, Abby  St Clair  , Carmiachel .    Beth has  Known me  since  Highschool,  M Candy was at the Academy, a year behind..... Thus  far, they do not have  a  person  that has claimed them as a partner.. Beth rolls her eyes, Flores   just  gives a  wry smile.

 ..but they   are Among My Closest friends  on the ship... Somewhere in the MAss of  people is  MAsterChief  Lyri  Mullins, she is another...now?    Most of the LAdies  on  the ship seem to like me...  you would  be fooling yourself  if you said there  weren't that don't?.... But   as   far as  a 'one and only'.. that will happen  if it happens..right now?.. I am Lucky  enough to have   a few  hot LAdies  who  don't mind  being around me.

Melia had finally graduated from ugly sob crying and had shifted to much quieter tears sue nods in response to Zob's statements and then Lizzy's. She allows Lizzy and Harry to pull her away and escort her to the ladies room whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

 Lizzy will cradle Melia's head on her shoulderand say to Zob," You did nothing wrong she is just having a hard time dealing with her emotions we will help her out, Thank you Zob for calling me to help."

 Lizzy will say as they bring Melia to the Ladies room," Melia hun it is alright to feel this way we will help you sort things out." Lizzy turns to Harry and says," Melia has a hard time figuring out her emotions we just need to help her out."

 Lizzy seemed right at home helping people it almost seemed like her calling if she wasn't such a damn good pilot. Lizzy smiled at Harry, Lizzy seemed so happy to help, so happy to be needed, Harry could see this all over her face.

Once again Isobel would have that attentive look on her face as Shadow answered her questions with her wondering whether the trio women he'd called forward realised that their reactions to his comment about not finding the one and only had been captured on film "Well it's been a pleasure talking to you LC Shadow and no doubt we will cross paths again in the future, but for now I'll let you get back to the party, thank you for your time" she said with a smile as she shook his hand before then calling for Tali to cut the feed.

As soon as the camera's were no longer rolling Isobel would lose the cheerful smile and voice and relax into something a little more genuine "thanks LC, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this, I know there are things you'd much rather be doing" she said, glad to have got at least one of her required interviews out of the way "so...um...these ladies are all friends of yours then?" she asked in an almost nervous voice, the cheerful, overly confident reporter replaced by a young officer who was a very long way from home.

Karl wat hed the two ladies hurry off together and turned to look at Will with a shrug.  "And just like that, we're left behind..."  His face broke into a wide grin.

"Let's go find a drink, or something...I hear Shadow has introduced Burians to the fine art of the sno-cone and milkshake, maybe we should find someone and see if Burians get brain-freeze from drinking their milkshakes too fast..."

They would lead Melia back inside and down a short corridor to the ladies room whereupon Harry would retrieve a fistful of toilet paper from one of the stalls and hand it over to Melia "here you go love, dry your eyes" she softly said, glad that Lizzy was here, as comforting crying women was way out of her comfort zone.

Lizzy on the other hand seemed perfectly at home with the situation and appeared to be more than happy to help the poor girl "ok Melia it's just us girls in here, can you tell us what happened?" she gently asked, curious to see whether what Zob had told them was correct, not that she'd know what to do if that was the case but with any luck Lizzy could deal with those minor details.

  Will nods, I never know what's going on, sometimes?  I think Combat is easier...  he  follows   Karl to the     great crowd  around the  Tables .

 Mila   could Be   seen  It  the remnants of  an Ice cream Cone  some one  made her..

 LArry  started   Pitifully at the food  table, as most  Burians  and a lot of  ESN  folks  gave him a wide  berth.

 Gorgo   was coiled up by LArry, some how  figuring it was safer   with him, then the  crowd of people.

 The      Stall guy from the Hermes, and  one  form the Athena  worked witht eh     Chefs... sometimes   berating them like a drill SGT,  sometime  givign them a pat on the  back  as   Milkshakes  started  to   get lined  up  on a  set of  stainless steel Cold trays.

 The guards   still, furiously , ground up   ice  for sno-cones while helping  staff , poured  flavoring, of choice, on the confection before    a happy, or  confused  Burian would walk away.

 Hover  carts   with  more...whatever..milk  were  coming from the entrance to the  kitchen, the  people moved like they were trying to repel  boarders.

 One of the   Hermes  stall folks came over to Orria   and Shade, handing them  each a milkshake..  she took thier    'almost' finished  Sno-cones   with  Shade  giving her a  thumbs  Up  and  put  a 10 Cred  bill in her hand.
……………………………………….

  Mitch  looked at  Nikki  and  said,..you Know?    each of the Flagships  have  rooms here in teh palace... I.... didn't  check mine out   yet, but...maybe a little  later... we could find out  where  my quarters  are... see  what Burain Vids are like?

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

 Shadow looked    at the LAdies, As  I said?  Beth  and  Candy?  well.. I'd  trust them with  my life..., damn fun to hang out with too.. Now Abby here? she's fresh out of the box  from Fuji Academy, we're  trying to  smooth out some of the wrinkles   her and her flight mates  collected ... I have a  feeling, we won't have to do  that any longer.

 LA-DS came over. she seemed a bit stern...what have you done!....  Many people are goign to the Food tables?

 Shadow looked over  his shoudler..  Shade and Orria  raised their Milkshakes.

 ..Look.... Chairman?.. YHou can't have  a party with out  icecream?... and you are seriously short on  soft drinks?

 .. we have plenty of  the  ..um..softer  drinks.. they are for the young ones  and...

 he Held up a Hand, she  tilted her  head and gave him a dangerous  look.. Beth  and Flores  Giggled..Abby  just stared..this  was  a  chairman!

 ..you have   great food...great drinks... but  some   folks  Like  Hot  Coffee... and Teas.... some like softdrinks..some..alot..like Milkshakes...

 Shade  Toddled over  and Offered up his Milkshake to the  Chairman..

 Go ahead... you won't get a  Verian  diease ..

 the girls  laughed  again.

  LA-DS shipped the   shake , her eyes   were wide.....this is very...very good!

 Shadow  winked   at Isobel then said,wait until they start adding Flavors.... this  will make the party  all the Better, as long as your people can keep up with the demand?

 The chairman handed Shade  Back  his shake... Shade    have a green eyed  smile and Bleeped a few time as he ehaded back to Orria.

 ..He says you  dress is Very Nice...

 Beth and Flores  groaned.

 The Angel chairman Blushed a darker  green....you will thank him for me.. Now?.. I must go ..um... check to see that my people are shaking enough Milk...

  Before you go?    This  is   Ensign Isobel?... She is reporting on this  very important  event... perhaps you could  spare a moment?

 LA-DS looked at the    crowd by the     sno-cone-milkshake  area.Um... yes, if  it is  quick..I must see to those shaking milks..


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

 The Admiral   walked over   and watched the  crowd, he   waved to a    chep  my the meats  and  asked   for   three boxes    with some   steaks.. the greenish Burian Beef  was handed to him, and the Fleet Admiral , crouched  down , by a Hungry  LArg, Flying Snake   and a  Doggie that just finished  her icecream.

 ..here... enjoy..and  don't  turn any food  down, you'er not gonna get much better    off world  food then this!

 LArry Thumped his  tail and  began to   eat.. Gorgo  sniffed and began to   take  bites.. , mila  moved sloer to them  and nibbled at hers.

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

  Some  fast Music   came on, with   alot of the LAdies , incuding   the CAptain   were doing  'shuffle-type' line dancing..workign  with  Burians    as  they all laughed at attempts  to join the  'smoother   Humans'...

 a few SAnri   and   Occui  ladies  joined in as well, witht eh Sanri  lookign pretty good at this.

   Morgan and Kira walked down the  path    steppugn    through a GAte of  sorts  that was  made  by combinign   plant growth  with  stone.

   In the 'square' There was  Music  and alot of lights.. people  were  moving  towards there as well as  Movign away... many  who moved away   carried    Drinks in metal Bugs or  wodden mugs..  some folks were et up , here and thier , playign  music  as   folks tossed  Creds into a  bowl or Hat..Bars and Inns  were , very well, lit up.. though it was gettig close to 'closing time', it was a fact, that no shops would be closing  the next three days..not with hundreds of thousands  of  fleet folks ( and their creds! ) coming  down!

  Jax  and  Sneak  stopped by a  stand  where  a  Burian  female  was showing     jewelry,  the metal was  fine  sliver,  and the various gem work,  was  native Burian  gems

"Might just have to do that" she gave Mitch a wry grin "But it does depend on a few things as well.  Have a few things I need to get cleaned up while I'm here" she twisted her lips slightly to indicate it was serious and personal.

Kira was kinda awestruck with everything going on around her the music and the stalls of wares being sold, she tipped the people playing music 20 credits before spotting Sneak and Jax at a jewelry stand, "These are really nice I like the rings" she said as she walked up along side them to look at the jewelry.

   After clearance was granted, The Immigrants Song de orbits through the thick Burean atmosphere and settles onto one of the outlying landing sights, it’s hulking frame always struck Garrat as being suspiciously similar to the old German U-boats of World War Two. Indeed, Garrat often told his crew that if several of this design were available they could utilize the German wolf pack tactics in naval battle with devastating Effectiveness

Oh great a politician, because that's exactly who I want to spend my time talking to Isobel silently groaned as Shadow dropped her in it "of course, I promise I won't keep you long" she said, forcing a smile back onto her face, with the fact that the woman wanted to be somewhere else not boding well "ok I'm just going to ask you a few quick questions, all you have to do is speak to me, don't look at Tali and don't worry about censoring yourself and if at any point you wish to stop the interview please say so, ok? and in three...two...one...Hi this is Izzy Sakura once again live from the Burian palace and with me now is LA-DS, may I just say this place is simply breath-taking and that the Burian people sure know how to put on a party" Isobel spoke in a cheerful voice as she wave her hand to indicate the palace around her "now for the people back home could you quickly outline your role within the Burian government" she asked, hoping to find a way of making this interview interesting because of all the people she'd wanted to speak to an unknown Burian politician was very low on her list.

Zob watched as Lizzy and Harry took Melia away to the womens restroom. He made his way a bit further out to look at the courtyard area he reached into his pocket and pulled out another smokewood cigar and lit it up, it always helped him when he was stressed out.

'This is gonna be a fun trip... i swear im getting over my head with these things' he thought to himself as he took another long drag off the cigar.

 LA-DS did not seem  as  'used to' talkign to   a reporter  as Shadow.

 The LC  stepped  back with a  Grin  as  Isobel  was handed off to the  Chairman.. Beth   draged Him to the Floor...I wanna  dance!...

 Flores  followed..Abby stood  there a Moments, then trailed    as she looked over the  'talent'.

 …………

 ..I am the  3rd Chairman.. I oversee  the needs pf the people...   we are making sur e  the  foods are spread out  over  are people..that the housings   is there... and that the Mating is up tpo standards  to keep our population  growing.. the    100 years  or so that the Empire  was here.. has  cost  as many/..many people

 Her  eyes  followed    Shadow  as  Beth dragged him away...

 ..I , Myself need to mate soon, I have  yet to have offspring.

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

 Mitch watched the      floor   thin out  more  and More , while the  crowd  grew , more and more  by the food  tables...well..whatever is  down at that far end?. is freeing up the  eats and drinks  down this  end?.. lets go! he asked  more then told.
....................

 Val, it  seemed , was a very very good  dancer. She did better, of course, with   earth style  dances... but she  picked up on some of the Burian  steps, rather  quickly.

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

 Nina  watched   , as   The Admiral had the three beasties  a bit away  from  crowd.. he  was  petting Larry and Mila, he seems a bit cautious  with Gorgo.  Morris  and Nina   were picking over  some food,..the Admiral, does   keep himself in tune  with his people...

In reply to Lizzy Maris (msg # 938):

Once in the bathroom it takes Melia a bit to calm down to sniffles. Accepting the paper she wipes her face and blows her nose.

Still breathing heavily she sets out to explain,

"So I was standing around the edge of the  dance watching. The Burian SGT MAJ thought to ask me to dance. When we went to the dancefloor I saw Zob looked upset, and I thought it was me he was upset about.

So I cut out after the first dance because I didnt want to lose my friend. Then he told me he wasnt mad he'd been jealous, and he liked me... I... told him I like him too after I made the connection... then I ruined everything by losing control and crying like an idiot. Then I couldn't stop which only made it worse"

She blows her nose again, taking a few shakey breaths and shivers and shakes a little as her body releases the stress and starts to settle down. Her face is a mess of smeared makeup and puffy eyes.

 Dusk and   Tiek  came back after the Dance..   Dusk  went to get a Milkshake  , Tiek   watched her  move off.

 he was selecting   foods  when he  saw  Lyri   eating a 'sandwich' that  she made from  some  Burians Bread  and , some kind of  meat, she   was told  was Burian beef.. even the  'mustad-like' things  were greenish grey.

  as he looked  over the   foods  and Picked  some for himself, leaving the breads behind, he  slowly Mentioned to  Roy as Lyri slowed her chewing to eye him down.

 ... I did not have the time, to mention it before.. Dusk is so.... enthusiastic .. it seems to be child-like ..like all humans... not very  mature in some insights..

 Lyri was lowering her plater  , he  chewing  almost stopped.

 .. I can see , from  her father's  antics.. and her... he almost spit the word,...'brother'... that she needs   some  more Verian Influence ... The Warlord, is   after  all.. one of the First Halfbreeds in our linage. She has her purpose to serve of  course...being   more animal then  Verian...

 his voice  drops   down,... I would like very much to test this dirty Fighting....It could be.. refreshing...

Roy gave a dangerous grin.  "Oh, I'm sure we can arrange something.  Not here, though...the Burians have gone to a helluva lot of trouble to make a nice party.  Wouldn't want to spoil their efforts."

He was a totally pretty sure Lilit would gladly teach him everything he needed to know about dirty fighting, once she heard he didn't think Dusk was Verian enough.  Roy figured he likely wouldn't even need to mention that the lieutenant thought she was more of an animal than a Verian...but he would.  She needed to know that an officer in such a position held her in such low esteem.

But Roy also had some ideas he wanted to try with 5he light-blade training knives Lilit had introduced to the Hermes.  He thought it could be very educational for the lieutenant to get a lesson or three from a lowly human...and he kinda wanted to do the teaching, himself.

"Excuse me for a minute, would you, Lieutenant?"  Without waiting for a response, he stepped over to Lyri and pulled her aside.  "I think I need a dance with Lilit...and it should look like it's her idea.  Not right away, but definitely before the ball ends.  She needs to hear about this.  Can you set it up, while I keep indulging the lieutenant's ego, and keep him distracted?"  There was a hard edge in his gaze that showed, to some extent, just how seriously he took this.

 Lizzy smiled, and said,"Melia I do that all the time , ask Harry once I start I can't stop it for bit. Now you just relax and let Lizzy work her magic.

 Lizzy reached into her right garter showing a lot to both Melia and Harry, her red lace panties where not hard to miss. She pulls out her emergency makeup kit.

 Lizzy would touch up and blend her makeup,  she did it before so it was easy for her to make her makeup look great again, but she had nothing for her red eyes though.

 When Lizzy was done she smiled and showed Melia and Harry, and Lizzy thought to herself, damn I am good. "Okay now you are presentable shall we go are you okay Melia, go dance and talk with Zob, I owe Harry and Karl dances so don't worry about me."

Silently cursing Shadow's name she would listen as LA-DS described her role, finding it to be just as dull as she'd expected it to be, not that she could say as much "well I have to say it sounds like you have are responsible for some rather important work, especially with the new fleet being constructed" Isobel said with a smile that was starting make the corners of her mouth ache. It was at this point decide to cut her losses and end the interview before things got any worse, but not before getting a little payback on Shadow by seizing upon the Green Angel's final comment "well LA-DS as we have just heard from the man himself, Shadow doesn't currently have a special lady within his life and as Third Chairman I feel you would have a better claim on him than anyone else...especially considering the hospitality your nation has shown the ESN tonight" she said before holding her hand out for LA-DS to shake "...I'll let you get back to the party LA-DS, it's been a pleasure speaking to you" she said before signalling for Tali to cut the feed.

Deciding that the last thing she wanted to do was spend anymore time with LC Shadow and his friends, Isobel would depart for the drinks table for another glass of wine. It was as she was doing this that she would speak to Tali in a casual voice "Tali, be a dear and delete the final section of that interview would you" with a smug smile on her face that said that Shadow wasn't the only person that could play silly games.

   LG01 Families, Venders, and representatives started climbing off the packed transport.  The Burian merchants were going to make a tidy sum off delta fleet but the merchants from the fleet support crafts would bring items that the colony didn’t usually have access to and the Burians were more than willing to buy now rather than order in and wait months.  Three of the CB refitted Mechs had been completed and were helping unload, the neutral Largan was operating Garrat’s Mech.  Missy Was sitting this one out but provided two rental hover bikes to get to the ball in.

      And so Garrat and Teela arrive fashionably late.