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Chapter 18: The Grind.
The next three days went by in a blur. Robert and Shannon spent most of that time split between training, and helping pull maintainance on the rest of the fighters. Their next target was going to be a pair of droneships, and they found that one of the fighter pilots on the Kilimanjaro was a runic mage that was also trained to generate singularities. They talked via comm after they launched, and they both cloaked. Keeping within linking distance, they travled to a point between the two droneships, and they went to work. Robert tapped both engines from the droneships, and split that power back out to the two mages that were linked to him. It was difficult, and he had Gerty keeping his fighter on station during the entire fight. Donovan, the other mage, had agreed to do the first ship. This went just fine, except that his cloak failed right after he popped the first ship. He realized this and ran for it while Shannon got on Robert's stick and did her thing as quickly as they could. Fortunately, with what Shannon had learned, it not only happened quicker, but they were never seen as the second droneship was compressed into a small sphere of neutronium.
When Robert and Shannon returned to the Hillary, they had also received somber news: Donovan's fighter had been fatally damaged during his attempt to flee the drones. Shannon was visbly shaken by this news, and hugged Robert tightly. "I worked with Donovan before I was transferred here. He was a good mage and an excellent pilot. His talents and his personality will be missed." Robert hugged Shannon back. "Shannon, I know that you don’t drink,. And neither do I, but do you want to go up to the Officer’s club and hang out a bit? Something happy may be going on there." Shannon agreed, and they got dressed and went on up. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay very long, because Alpha squadron was there drowning their sorrows in mourning of their lost pilot as well. They decided to try Room 55, and as they entered, they found that there was a meeting going on. Ted Jumped up and met them at the door. "Sorry about not notifying you about this meeting, as it was pretty impromptu. We figured you two would be busy with something else." Robert shook his head. "No, we were looking for something happy instead of mourning lost comrades." Ted was instantly serious. "Well, come on in, then. I can’t guarantee happiness here, but We can at least celebrate a victory here. Stromson is making an interesting announcement shortly." They quietly made their way into the main room and took seats in the back. Stromson was in the middle of a short speech.
"... While the loss of Capt. Smithy and Major Donovan Hoon from the Kilimanjaro is a loss that I know is affecting several of you, I would like to celebrate their lives. They gave their lives fighting for what we hope will be a lasting peace and added stability in this part of the universe. While it is OK to mourn, We should be celebrating their lives and the contribution to the continuing tapestry of Life." Several people nodded. Stromson took a drink from a glass on the table next to him. "The next thing I have is some very good news to everyone in the club across the fleet. The Joint Chiefs of Staff met with the political council that governs our activites and action out here this morning on Tigeria Prime. They have come to the conclusion that the war will not be won without help from the non-mundane portion of the population: They have conceded to the long outstanding request of the Tigerean Delegation that therianthorpes and the Magi be allowed to aid the cause. Effective immediately, we no longer have to hide our actions if we are in combat." Stromson tried to continue but was drowned out by the cheers from the group. After they had all calmed down he comtinued. "However, the Fleet Commander has requested that he break the mundanes in gently that there are we are more then what we seem. Even though we can move around with more freedom, we will still have to deal with the traditional mistrust by the mundanes."
"Finally, I have one final announcement before the refreshments. I'm sure the magi on board will be pleased to know that we have a Wellspring on board. Robert, would you please stand up?" Robert stood up and found that about a quarter of the room was staring back at him. An old Tigerean was staring more intently at him then the others. "I do not believe it. I demand proof." He finally said. Robert unbuttoned his shirt, and displayed the ornate symbol in dark sepia on his chest. The Tigerean was not impressed. "That would be a tattoo. Show me your power, human." With a quick glance at Stromson, who mearly nodded curtly, Robert focused and tapped the fusion plant on Gertrude's Getaway. As he did, the symbol began to glow a rich deep purple. Robert looked back at the Tigerean. "Show me your power, Sir." The Tigerean flexed his arms and they began to glow red. Robert performed the final mental twist, and soon his arms were glowing red as were two other magi of that tradition in the group. "I think that should be convincing enough." One of the other mages said. Robert closed down the taps and let the glow fade away. Stromson continued. "Robert will be working with the two flight qualified mages to work on co-ordinating attacks on the Droneships we encounter. One of the mages is a pilot on the Alpha squadron, and the other is a certified pilot attached to the maintenance team for Bravo squad."Stromson winked at Shannon, who realized that he was referring to her. "They were responsible for two of the last three capital ship kills in the past two weeks. Right now we have a total of 96 more hours before the next sorte, which should give the crew enough time to get everything repaired and ready to go. I want everyone in ready condition. According to the latest intelligence, There are two factories and three droneships that comprise the remainder of the capital ships in this sector. If we can destroy those, that will buy us probably a week or two to regroup and decide what to do next. As always, We will brief the crew before anything happens. And that should do it."
Robert and Shannon spent the next four hours talking with the various mages in the group and coming up with new and interesting ways of destruction and mayhem. They were also fed pretty decently, and by the time he and Shannon got back to their cabin it was late. Shannon talked to him for a while before they dropped off to sleep about what they would try to do at the next sorte. WHile the instand blackhole was a cute idea, Shannon was concerned that the Shivans might find a way to sheild against it. Robert idly suggested remotely blowing the power plants on the ship, but Shannon stated that the droneships typically had many small redundant power plants scattered around their ships for just such an occurance. Robert asked if SHannon had a spell that would generate anti-matter. "Thats it! We'll try that next time! I have a spell that can reverse the polarity of plasma. We'll swap the polarity of their main reactor. that should short out their entire electrical system and if nothing else make them come to a complete halt while they fix it." Robert then asked her how much energy was needed to open a gate and hold it stable. "Not much. Why?" Robert smirked. "What if we opened a gate to, say the X-1 black hole in the Hercules cluster? would that work?" She hugged him. "That's why I love you. You have this insidious sense of evil at times. We'll try that after we pop their plamsa polarity."
The next morning was spent performing more readiness work in the boarding room when Hicks came in. "I see you two lovebirds have appropriated the training pod. Any reason why?" Robert looked at him. "It's because we were partly responsible for the destruction of the last two droneships, actually. Major Ortiz has to be aboard to supervise and operate certain subsystems that neither myself or the AI can perform." Hicks looked at him oddly. "Riight, and I'm a fucking seamonkey." Shannon giggled. "That can be arranged, you know." Hicks turned his glare on her. "What, the Seamonkey part?" SHannon shook her head. "No, the fucking a seamonkey part." Robert thought it best to try and defuse this situation. "Captain, it would behoove you to back down at this point. SHe has a way of winning arguements." Hicks glared at both of them. "This ain't over yet. Mark my words." He turned and left the two alone in the room. "Shannon, I wish you would not bait him. It can come back on us." Shannon was grinning like a crazy person. "You should have said something earlier." Robert didn't like where this was going. "Why?" Shannon was barely surpressing a fit of giggling. "I cast an illusion on his penis to make it look like a seamonkey. It'll wear off after he sees it once, but still.." She dissolved into a fit of giggling. Robert sighed and went to use the comm in the privacy booth while She recovered herself. When he came out, he had a stern look on his face. "I just spoke with Ted. While he apreciates your sense of humor, he would like to stress that this was not what the intention of the relaxation of the magic restrictions was intended for." Shannon nodded. "I know, but Capt. Hicks acts like a giant dick all the time, even to his superiors. I've heard from Ted more about the troubles he has had with him and Butler ever since they stepped on board." The clock on the wall chimed noon. "C'mon fuzzball, I hear the Mess has something tasty today for lunch." Robert looked at her. "What?" She hugged him. "Honey nuts, I hear." Robert groaned as they went into the lift.
(1728/1667)
The next three days went by in a blur. Robert and Shannon spent most of that time split between training, and helping pull maintainance on the rest of the fighters. Their next target was going to be a pair of droneships, and they found that one of the fighter pilots on the Kilimanjaro was a runic mage that was also trained to generate singularities. They talked via comm after they launched, and they both cloaked. Keeping within linking distance, they travled to a point between the two droneships, and they went to work. Robert tapped both engines from the droneships, and split that power back out to the two mages that were linked to him. It was difficult, and he had Gerty keeping his fighter on station during the entire fight. Donovan, the other mage, had agreed to do the first ship. This went just fine, except that his cloak failed right after he popped the first ship. He realized this and ran for it while Shannon got on Robert's stick and did her thing as quickly as they could. Fortunately, with what Shannon had learned, it not only happened quicker, but they were never seen as the second droneship was compressed into a small sphere of neutronium.
When Robert and Shannon returned to the Hillary, they had also received somber news: Donovan's fighter had been fatally damaged during his attempt to flee the drones. Shannon was visbly shaken by this news, and hugged Robert tightly. "I worked with Donovan before I was transferred here. He was a good mage and an excellent pilot. His talents and his personality will be missed." Robert hugged Shannon back. "Shannon, I know that you don’t drink,. And neither do I, but do you want to go up to the Officer’s club and hang out a bit? Something happy may be going on there." Shannon agreed, and they got dressed and went on up. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay very long, because Alpha squadron was there drowning their sorrows in mourning of their lost pilot as well. They decided to try Room 55, and as they entered, they found that there was a meeting going on. Ted Jumped up and met them at the door. "Sorry about not notifying you about this meeting, as it was pretty impromptu. We figured you two would be busy with something else." Robert shook his head. "No, we were looking for something happy instead of mourning lost comrades." Ted was instantly serious. "Well, come on in, then. I can’t guarantee happiness here, but We can at least celebrate a victory here. Stromson is making an interesting announcement shortly." They quietly made their way into the main room and took seats in the back. Stromson was in the middle of a short speech.
"... While the loss of Capt. Smithy and Major Donovan Hoon from the Kilimanjaro is a loss that I know is affecting several of you, I would like to celebrate their lives. They gave their lives fighting for what we hope will be a lasting peace and added stability in this part of the universe. While it is OK to mourn, We should be celebrating their lives and the contribution to the continuing tapestry of Life." Several people nodded. Stromson took a drink from a glass on the table next to him. "The next thing I have is some very good news to everyone in the club across the fleet. The Joint Chiefs of Staff met with the political council that governs our activites and action out here this morning on Tigeria Prime. They have come to the conclusion that the war will not be won without help from the non-mundane portion of the population: They have conceded to the long outstanding request of the Tigerean Delegation that therianthorpes and the Magi be allowed to aid the cause. Effective immediately, we no longer have to hide our actions if we are in combat." Stromson tried to continue but was drowned out by the cheers from the group. After they had all calmed down he comtinued. "However, the Fleet Commander has requested that he break the mundanes in gently that there are we are more then what we seem. Even though we can move around with more freedom, we will still have to deal with the traditional mistrust by the mundanes."
"Finally, I have one final announcement before the refreshments. I'm sure the magi on board will be pleased to know that we have a Wellspring on board. Robert, would you please stand up?" Robert stood up and found that about a quarter of the room was staring back at him. An old Tigerean was staring more intently at him then the others. "I do not believe it. I demand proof." He finally said. Robert unbuttoned his shirt, and displayed the ornate symbol in dark sepia on his chest. The Tigerean was not impressed. "That would be a tattoo. Show me your power, human." With a quick glance at Stromson, who mearly nodded curtly, Robert focused and tapped the fusion plant on Gertrude's Getaway. As he did, the symbol began to glow a rich deep purple. Robert looked back at the Tigerean. "Show me your power, Sir." The Tigerean flexed his arms and they began to glow red. Robert performed the final mental twist, and soon his arms were glowing red as were two other magi of that tradition in the group. "I think that should be convincing enough." One of the other mages said. Robert closed down the taps and let the glow fade away. Stromson continued. "Robert will be working with the two flight qualified mages to work on co-ordinating attacks on the Droneships we encounter. One of the mages is a pilot on the Alpha squadron, and the other is a certified pilot attached to the maintenance team for Bravo squad."Stromson winked at Shannon, who realized that he was referring to her. "They were responsible for two of the last three capital ship kills in the past two weeks. Right now we have a total of 96 more hours before the next sorte, which should give the crew enough time to get everything repaired and ready to go. I want everyone in ready condition. According to the latest intelligence, There are two factories and three droneships that comprise the remainder of the capital ships in this sector. If we can destroy those, that will buy us probably a week or two to regroup and decide what to do next. As always, We will brief the crew before anything happens. And that should do it."
Robert and Shannon spent the next four hours talking with the various mages in the group and coming up with new and interesting ways of destruction and mayhem. They were also fed pretty decently, and by the time he and Shannon got back to their cabin it was late. Shannon talked to him for a while before they dropped off to sleep about what they would try to do at the next sorte. WHile the instand blackhole was a cute idea, Shannon was concerned that the Shivans might find a way to sheild against it. Robert idly suggested remotely blowing the power plants on the ship, but Shannon stated that the droneships typically had many small redundant power plants scattered around their ships for just such an occurance. Robert asked if SHannon had a spell that would generate anti-matter. "Thats it! We'll try that next time! I have a spell that can reverse the polarity of plasma. We'll swap the polarity of their main reactor. that should short out their entire electrical system and if nothing else make them come to a complete halt while they fix it." Robert then asked her how much energy was needed to open a gate and hold it stable. "Not much. Why?" Robert smirked. "What if we opened a gate to, say the X-1 black hole in the Hercules cluster? would that work?" She hugged him. "That's why I love you. You have this insidious sense of evil at times. We'll try that after we pop their plamsa polarity."
The next morning was spent performing more readiness work in the boarding room when Hicks came in. "I see you two lovebirds have appropriated the training pod. Any reason why?" Robert looked at him. "It's because we were partly responsible for the destruction of the last two droneships, actually. Major Ortiz has to be aboard to supervise and operate certain subsystems that neither myself or the AI can perform." Hicks looked at him oddly. "Riight, and I'm a fucking seamonkey." Shannon giggled. "That can be arranged, you know." Hicks turned his glare on her. "What, the Seamonkey part?" SHannon shook her head. "No, the fucking a seamonkey part." Robert thought it best to try and defuse this situation. "Captain, it would behoove you to back down at this point. SHe has a way of winning arguements." Hicks glared at both of them. "This ain't over yet. Mark my words." He turned and left the two alone in the room. "Shannon, I wish you would not bait him. It can come back on us." Shannon was grinning like a crazy person. "You should have said something earlier." Robert didn't like where this was going. "Why?" Shannon was barely surpressing a fit of giggling. "I cast an illusion on his penis to make it look like a seamonkey. It'll wear off after he sees it once, but still.." She dissolved into a fit of giggling. Robert sighed and went to use the comm in the privacy booth while She recovered herself. When he came out, he had a stern look on his face. "I just spoke with Ted. While he apreciates your sense of humor, he would like to stress that this was not what the intention of the relaxation of the magic restrictions was intended for." Shannon nodded. "I know, but Capt. Hicks acts like a giant dick all the time, even to his superiors. I've heard from Ted more about the troubles he has had with him and Butler ever since they stepped on board." The clock on the wall chimed noon. "C'mon fuzzball, I hear the Mess has something tasty today for lunch." Robert looked at her. "What?" She hugged him. "Honey nuts, I hear." Robert groaned as they went into the lift.
(1728/1667)