A message comes in for Sam from the sol system.  Confirmed, the Sky Hag is on its way.  It has a manifest stating it is transporting fruit trees from mars to Bura and returning with a shipment of melons.  The Hell raisers have taken the place of some of her regular shuttles.

(Flex)

  Sam would confirm to Garrat that she had a track on the Sky Hag and Sam would send a Burian vessel to meet the shuttle as soon as they were out of Sol space.

 Sam would also track the Spartan shuttle as well and see how the ships she sent to check it out were doing.

 Sam would set up any responses on her comm special channel.

  The  Burians  contacted SAm, SAm relayed the message,  4  Burian Cap ships  and  destroyer were  cruising   5000 miles  inside the Delta line of the Delta  funnel.

  The Spartan shuttles  was    being closed in on, as a transport from the Sol System. The  ID  and  company name was the 'Pasta Lines", that featured  a bowl of  pasta with  many worlds  in it, instead of meatballs.

  The  shipping lines  are part of a  group of EDT sympathizers, who smuggle in things  for the Empire, mostly   people.  form slaves, breeding or food.

------>>>>>> From Officer's Quarters

  Sam walked into SEC smiling, she went to her desk and immediately checked on the Sky Hag and the Spartan's Shield to see where they were and their status. " Hello everyone, anything going on?"

  Word  comes in from fighters  ESN Atom.....Sea Hag Sighted, we are escorting her to  The Hermes... 4  Fighters  from The Atom. and Two  torpedo craft. shpould arrive in  2 hours.

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

 another message  was  in her files, from an 1hour ago..."  we are heading straigth away , to Bura,,, we have a total of  14 live children now, and  4  who are dead  by in freezers. "

 Sam would send bck to the ESN Atom," Excellent ESN Atom, thank you for the update we will be ready for the Sky Hag." Sam then Comm'd text message Captain Morris," Sir the shuttle Sky Hag will be landing in about 2 hours, there will be supplies and the children from the Texas rescue please be ready fir their arrival, and if it is ok after my shift I might come down for some tea, do you have any Burian tea Sir?"

 Sam read the message and sent back," Understood head straight for Burian space and escorts do not slow down until you are safe, thank you excellent work."

 Sam was happy both situations were being taken care of, she will put in Burian medals for the crew and Captain who captured the Spartan's Shield and rescued the children. She would monitor the spaceways for anything unusual as she waited for new messages.

 Sam got word the Sky hag landed and everything was unloaded, Sam sent work to Garret that everything was received thank you. Sam would then track the Spartan Shield and see if it was in safe space yet, she also contacted where they were going to land on Bura so they would be ready to receive the rescued children she didnt know their medical status.

  Sam gone  a COM, telling her the   Spartan Shield  was   entering  Bura   Atmo now. all the  kid  who were  alive are still alive.

 ' Going back  out  to seek and destoyr  now  ma'am"

 Sam received the comm and smiled, she replied," Great job thank you and good hunting."  Sam was all smiles as she sent a comm to Bura to make sure the proper people where there when the Spartan Shield landed. Sam will investigate the Spartan Shield and try to find out if that EDT asshole bought any more ships or if she could find any other connections tracing from what she could find on the Spartan Shield.

  The Admiral Entered the  SEC,  Shoey stood Up... ADMIRAL ON DEC!

 Hack waved   every  one  down,At Ease, as  you wre...

 He pulled a  chair Up to Beth's  DeskAlright Bethh,,, got  some  work  for you to  do...

 Aye Sir...?

Hennings , Roles, Bale,  Morris  and Rivets  entered.  salutes  and such as Admiral Hack go back  to business...

 Begging your pardon, Admiral Hack. Shouldn't we do this in the war Room< ?/Pink>

 This  will be  fine... some messages...but they need to be  sent...just...right...

  <Pink>I Sir? already done, what are we doing..

 The  Admiral unrolled his  Vid board,..they  first one...uncoded..to Astra...it  should  say.."   Fleet is moving, send your  gifts.. they will see us and should fall in.."

 Roles  looked at  Hennings  , then to the others...Uncoded?  Every one if  the Quad  who has  an ear  out , will pick it up....

 Yes... yes they will...

Beth   speaks the words  as  Hack spoke them.. the  COM was off and running. She gave a nod to  The Admiral.

 ....The second one goes to Zolth. .."..splitting   Astra  and Zolth... any gifts you have send them along.. they should see us and fall in...

 Beth  sent  it , when she was  done  she Looked at Admiral Hennings   who have her a  wink and a smile.

 Now?  This to the Blue Moon... Tight  band and Coded... "   Delta  Fleet ready to
  knock on the door, Please have the Light on for us.."

  Beth sent it....That one should be safe, Unless they have some one my level...

  Last One..use relays. if you have to. It goes the  D=SGT....I mean..Captain Hunter.... it should  say..." Big Party starting  soon. Eliminate  any all   enemies   or those who gibe them aid..good luck...

 Lyri looked at The Brass...so..huntr is going to be dropping  bad  guys and their lackys?

 something like that.  Sol System is a problem, because  Earth has  Humans...   we need to eliminate as  many  Humans, Angels and  empire   folks on earth as we are able... everyone that is dropped  , is one less reserve  for  the Sol System Fleet...  Captain Stoly   put a hole in Texas... The Govenor   and a hell of alot of  Big Cred Backers   got  roasted  alive or shot down, and that Base Stoly Blew up   contained Angel fighters  and  shuttles... But that's one state... people need to start dropping all over the world, so the Sol System Crews worry about Home

Admiral?  do you think we  will lose  to people  when the  time comes to entering  the sol System..

  everyone looked  at  The Admiral, he  just  raised his hands in a helpless gesture,every one has  seen..either first hand, or on Vids, what we did to Other races , when they stood  with the Empire..Earth cannot be treated any different. The Only difference is, those   units  and handfuls of    people who do not what the Empire..

 In the end, The fleet has  traded , fighting  for one  world  and some colonies, for fighting  for many worlds  and even more colonies

 But? that is the elast of our worries right now..

COMs  lit Up...Astra  Here.... Gifts  are on their  way... good Hunting...Astra
 out

  Beeps  and  Zolth  answered,this is being, Zolth  Alpha... goodies   on way... hope they  serve you well... Zolth Alpha out..

  then The Blue  moon..... 'Blue  Moon'  here.  lights will go on in 6 hours... it will be nice to see you once more.... Blue  Moon out...

  the  last COM came in...captain Hunter... we have word  that Captain Stolyarev  is  in  New York. Are people In  Hamiton an nova Scotia will help us   interrupt shipping and  flights. Chinese groups a have lost half their pepe , due to  turncoats.Austrailia  is all but  free.. there   are  battles  being waged they... Angels seemed to have backed off from there...we have  some inside people who will  end  Keel construction  on the two newest SSN  vessels , the ones  in New York and Utah

 Must go now.. we are hitting a three ship supply convoy in the North sea..big haul if  we can get it..Hunter out..

 Hennings  smiled a  firm smile<Royalred>,Damn good people y learned  how  The Balck works, faster then most.</Red>

 he  tapped his COM... Nil. make your announcementhe received  an  Already done, and the Brass turned to the  Monitors.

 Sam smiled and then saluted as the rest of the Brass came in. Sam listened and also monitored her comms, and her vids as she wondered exactly what the Admiral was up too.

 Beth  answered the COM about  the Pilot...SM? Did you  get   Max's  COM? what do we  want to do?

It was just as Beth started asking her question that Roy's response to Max sounded on the comms.

In the Morning, the SEC  had  duty personnel working,  When Roy came in, she   handed him the paper  work  for Vosts.

 It must be a thing, right.. Harry.. Vosts, a couple   troopers  , who hadn't even been on the  ship long, I guess they don't make them like the used to.

   I love  Shadow to death> but he screwed up with  Lynch, should have taken her  wings After the One-eye  Jack planet-station... Vosts should have  been sat  down
 for a head check.

  Maria   shrugged,we're all  out here, Si? Does not matter if he works or not. As long as you can kill more bad guys, then you kill good  guys

   Beth   taps the   Computer,we will be with in shuttled range of The Blue  Moon in a few  hours... The Admiral  will be sending  a special  mesage to paradise.. I can't wait to
 hear it.

Roy skimmed the report, having seen similar incidents before.  "That's the thing about being in a shooting war...you can't take the time to really run everyone through their paces to weed out the ones who aren't going to cut it.  You need bodies at the front, so you do your best to give everyone the basics they need to survive, count on the front-line troops to give them the rest, and pray they've got enough fortitude to stick it out."

He gestured at the report.  "Not everyone does.  And, sadly, a lot of the ones who don't also lack the good sense to speak up as soon as they feel they can't cut it anymore.  Even then, I don't know how much it would help.  There's a fine line between a little self-doubt that gives way under experience and the kind of doubts that leave you folding under pressure.  If she was a trooper and came to me saying that she wasn't sure she could make it, I probably wouldn't pull her off the line...just give her a pep-talk and assign her a battle buddy to keep a close eye on her."

He shrugged, and added, "Even then, you still have people who've just decided that they're going their own way, no matter who else gets caught in the fallout zone.  I'd rather this than kicking a hornets' nest in battle and getting her fellow pilots caught in a shitstorm they weren't prepared for.  We saw how well that turns out..."

He looked at Beth, his expression that of a man with an unpleasant duty.  "She was one of Shadow's...make sure he's notified about it, go ahead and give him the report.  Contact Stefi and see if there's any update on her condition first, so he gets a clear idea of what just fell in his lap.  If Stefi didn't find anything suspicious, I feel like it's a disciplinary matter for the LC, not a Security matter."

 will do. All suicides or attempts  as  such, does fall under the ehading of a crime, that's why it starts here.

 Lyri chuckled,Lynch did it twice.. O'connor caught her  by the static  field, then she  played the   whole 'gun on the wing' thing..

Sent  to Shadow.. He won't  be happy

Roy scowled.  "I think Lynch probably did it more often than that, those were just the blatant attempts.  You look at how she screwed that last op on Everest...that was damned near suicide, all by itself, and who knows how it would have turned out if we hadn't come in as reinforcements.  She also damned near drank herself into a coma a couple of times...

"He gave Beth a nod at her report.  "I wouldn't be happy, either, in his place, but he needs to know about it...make sure it's an isolated case, see if there's anything else that needs to be done in association with it...revise any plans he's got for upcoming action as she's taken out of flight rotation...either adjust tactics to make up for being a pilot down or decide if he's gonna bump a pool pilot into her slot, and give the poor bastard a chance to fly a few times with his squadron and wingman before someone kicks the pan into the fire and it really counts."  There was an edge to his voice...he knew what was coming, more or less, and he couldn't keep concern from coloring his tone.

"Helluva time to decide she can't cut it...just in time to throw a rookie in the meat grinder..." he muttered, mostly to himself.

  When   Sam returned to SEC , and listened  to the chatter   about  disturbed pilots and such

 she would see that the kidnapped kinds  from the Corvette  had landed on Bua,... and the  Shuttles from earth have been delivered, but she would have know that by  walking out the door  and seeing the activity 2/3  of a mile away.

all that remained to confirm, were the Kids from earth, and  if they reach a point of safety.

 (Next Day coming back to SEC)

 Sam had returned the next morning to SEC and went right to her computer, as the SM came in and they talked about Ens. Vosts and what had happened to her and also brought Harry back up. God she was so happy she didnt get involved with that nut case and she got sent away before anything could happen between them.

 Sam checked everything and was happy the Kids from the Spartan Shield made it safely to Bura, the shuttles where delivered, and then she began to check the status of the children saved by Stoly on Earth, she hoped they were close to being safe as well.

<=== from Hangar Dec

As Nikki entered she found Maria first. She sat her helmet on the front desk and signed in quickly to make a repost "Got some heavy-duty criminals about.  Some have a burr up their butts about Roll and Largs.  Buncha taggers writing ugly things on his door in the civie section" she wrote out the report quickly.

She'd then after finishing the report submit it and head back to the flight line and go check her 'Skeeter'.

 Maria  frowned,  Beth swore.

 why pick on the little   amigo? he does not hurt no one who does not hurt him..

 beth  was COMing  Roy,Jealous. he has a  job, heck,  he's  getting trained,, LC and Zob show up  at his house sometimes. Sneak and Jack are like his big brother  and Sister.. some of them purebred Civis  don;t have none of that...and the Ex  Stem kids, they are part of  Roll's pack.. sooner or later   they are going to  get caught, and it will hurt.

  SM?  Nikki filed a complaint, people, most likely kids, but you can never tell, are marking up  Roll's  house.

 Maria  says,don't we have to  go through  the MAyor, for  civi things?

 Beth's fingers looked  like a  centipede or  go pills...The Screen came up...

 House  29:... rented  by  Lt  Mortica. house , as  chikd,  Roll. listed  as ESN Cadet  LArg master,

 The house is rented  by a Hermes offcier, a Hermes Cadet resides there, the  tagging  is focused on  Mortica  and Roll..so that falls under the SEC.

"I know.  I go there with Haley and help make sure the house is tidy and clean.  That he has things for him to make meals out of and such.  He is a great kid" Nikki said.  "And the housing in the civie area is still aboard the Hermes, so untimately it is under the SEC.  Roll cleanse it off, but he should not have to, and deal with those bullying him"

Roy walked into the SEC office, scowling at his comm.  "It's bad enough we get cut off from resupply from Earth...that's where some of our best academies were.  At least, before all the best ESN officers jumped ship and headed somewhere else.  But I'm not putting up with horseshit like this."

He looked over at Beth.  "What kind of surveillance cameras do we have in the area?  If we don't have anything that's already in place, I want something installed that watches that house.  I want to find out whose mewling hellspawn is doing this, and make them sweat...HARD."

He looked over at Nikki.  "You filed the complaint...is it still there?"  Knowing Roll, it could go either way...the kid would short himself on sleep to clean it up, or he'd leave it for later while he went to take care of the largs.  "Time to remind these privileged little snotrags that the ESN watches out for its own..."

There  are  2 SEC  CAMS , one   over the entrance that looks  down the  street to the  end, and on on the  end, that looks up towards  entrance.. that back one is a little  worthless because of  tress that are planted in the   park cover.

  These are the Best   stills i can pull from the CAMs, the  people  come from across the street. but its hard to tell if they met there, or  ...that's where they came from.


 The Pics  show 4 figures, 3  taller then Roll, but shorter then most adults. One  taller  figure  could be an older  kid, or an adult.

even with a  zone, there was no way to see  faces, with  the pull overs they had. It was plain to see, they did not  know, or care, about the CAMS

 she  ran some films  very fast..and stoped,This is  last night, say?  12:30 AM... Roll comign back from some where....  The film showed the  Boy  walkign slowly to his home, as he walked up the stoop stairs , he  stopped, his shoulder drooped  more., then he just went in...

"You can see where he has tried taking some off before...so this is not the first time they've struck" she said "I made sure he had a good hot breakfast.  Not sure if he's going to clean it or go to feed the largs" she said honestly.  "I know he's had a few problems with the kids from the school.  Haley might know with who, she is at the school now" She knew Haley was close to Roll.  If she did not know she could get it out of Roll who was responsible.  She also thought of the earlier school incident "There was a problem at the school some time ago.Roll was supposed to help with largs, 2 boys.  Hoace something and a friend tried to prevent Roll from doing his cadet duty.  they might be 2 of the taller kids.  Both are bullies to a lot of stemkids.  Zob was there"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Mon 13 Feb 2023.