Madison took a deep breath, holding it for a second before releasing it. Flores was the veteran, and Madison was a rookie. Carnivorous plants and rocks sounded like science fiction, but if they existed, they would be horrifying. Still, she couldn't help but think that if this went bad, they might still end up on the ground, but with no chance to fly away after. And that's they didn't get blown out of the sky altogether.

Deep breath, Madison

Flores was the boss and the expert, so she just focused on keeping her bird in the air and doing everything to keep from being noticed.

Henry tagged along, Mila at his side, keeping an eye on all the largs in their pairs.

  As the  three Hermes fighters  pass the  100  Mile  mark and counting. The two enemy fighters  seemed to  continue thgier ehading to the South.   Flores   COMed   on the Hermes fighter channel...

 LC? Frans? Me and the wounded Birds  are Under 1000 miles to the Compound, in about  10 minutes  we'll be passing over the Ravine the enemie  came out of...there's alot of  smoke pouring up from that gash... The  shellign  must have did a number on what was down there..

 Two enemy fighters  have just passed  us... they were a bit below us, maybe  200 miles to   your   Northeast.....they don't seem to be in a hurry to get there.

 LC  Answered...Get them Safe, Candy..... and  have them Glide  as far  as they  can if they have to pod out.. remember the   man eating Trees the SM  and his people  encountered  on Bura.? or was it Astra?..anyway,  try to have them safe until   you get to a spot  where  Drop ship  troopers can recover them.

 Shadow then COMed his fighters...everyone, One Pass on the Base , then head back North..Look for those  two strays that  are coming this way...

  The   hermes  teams  went By squads... the 'scout  squad  ' went first  with  the SM, Will, Cora  and   the people from  The Spade.

  Zob  would  follow  up with the people he brought  , along with the People  from The Diamond.

  The  Club's people would stage at the breech  for   re-enforcements.

  The People  from the  Meadowlark would  stage  outside the ship to  protect the LC

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

 The Battered insides of the   shipwas closer to that of being in a cave... the  20 foot   mide.. 20 foot  high   passage  way only had a few  dorrs  ahead, all of them  to the straboard  of the vessesl,. some  lights  flickered  dimly in the diatcne.., wires  hung  down  with broken  ceilign  plates   Dangining as well, or  even  on the ground.

 There was a door on thier right..about  30 yards  from the  Breech point..another they could barely see , another  30 yards  down the  passage...


Izzy was brought up  with the SM, for reading  ..well..anyhting.

 Lizzy led Nikki and Vosts to kick ass on the fighters they would try to stay in their group and wreck havoc on the bad guys working together.

 Meari went with the Meadowlark and when they landed she got out and moved forward with her 30 cal and waited for orders. She was ready and fully loaded to kick ass.

 Lizzy fired at enemy aircraft and then she got hit hard by a AA gun. She had red lights everywhere and she lost her weapons systems. Lizzy hit all comms,This is Lizzy I just got hit hard a few Red lights but my weapons systems are off line trying to reroute power.

When the two enemy craft passed without incident, Madison exhaled a sigh of relief. She was glad Candy was right, but she was also angry. Not at Candy, or herself for questioning Candy's wisdom or even for having that moment of panic. She was angry because with her skeeter damaged as it was, she felt powerless.

More than powerless, Madison was useless. The group of damaged fighters was an easy target, and her inability to fight was putting Candy in danger. Having to retreat left the LC and those still in the fur ball that much less safe. She went over it in her head over and over. Was there something she might have done differently to not get hit by the AA fire. Maybe if she had stayed at higher altitudes, or at least not have been so aggressive so close to the ground.

Madison's rational side pointed out that changing those things probably wouldn't have mattered. AA guns can reach up awfully high, and her staying low probably put her under most of it. It was just bad luck, but her emotional side, the part of that was clawing for control, still felt the gnaw of guilt and regret.

"I'm so sorry Candy." An apology felt trite, but she had to do something. "I'm sorry I questioned you, and I'm sorry you have to babysit me. I feel so bad for all this... for retreating and leaving everyone behind. I doubt we'll be able to go back and help after repairs. What could I have done differently?"

 Flores   chuckled softly. Don't sweat it.... LC Takes care of his people ... we can
 fight if we're dead... as far as what you could have  done?..Nothing?..Sign up to work the rec dec?... you were in the wrong place at the wrong  time...That's the way if goes.

 ...Listen  to  the COMs.. you're not the only  that's coming back.

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

 Dammit.....  OK  , Lizzy, Head Bck... Nikki , escort ehr and  take Vosts with you before she shoots herself  down!

Flying as directed Justin noted the increase in AAA fire; just as a burst to his Port pelted his Skeeter with fragments. A quickly check of the console showed his steering  was damaged.  Sending a com to Steele about his situation Justin waited for a reply.

 Steele   Said...Go catch up  with  O'Conner  and Rutledge  and the new   pilot... stay  tight  as you can with them..

 LC?  We're Taking a Beating here...

 we're Takign Bits.. they took a beating...  All Hermes  Fighters that are  in fighting condition.. Rally with Me . 100 Miles  North of the Base...

 Shadow to Hermes.....

 Hermes is  here, LC want do you need... Captain Sir  asked

 I lst some  fighters, and Have  some  heading  to the LZ, we down  ,a wild guess..some  30 fighters?  others  ran away or  crashed on thier own.. we lit up the Base below.. we have damn good Gun CAM  film on it..

 Your  Question  is?

 we have no ground  troops there... we damaged the Base pretty well?.. I would Like to Pul  My   people and Have the Hermes , or another CAP  shell The base to finish it off and  20  miles around it  the   cave in the  fighter caves..

 Right.. Take Your People  back to the Compound, Shelling  starts  in 2 Minutes on  my mark.....MARK!

 alright   Ladies and  Lads,   high tail it  to the Compound... leave no straggler,, at least two fighters  together..Frans will lead, I'l stay back

 2  Minutes   took the   Hermes  wing ( what was left of it)..600 miles North.

 The  sky  was soon  dotted  with  bright  flashes of red, trailing  Dark Black  smoke  as Cap ship class  Hard   Ammo screamed  louder and louder  as they dropped.

  The Enemy looked up. Most were Oil Lords, but there were Many  Hunched  over  creatures as well They were trying to pick up dead and wounded, and put out , the white hot fires that Burned...

 They should have  ran instead...  massive   eruptions of  soil , mud  and snow Flew into the  are  , then the Ground   shuttered  under the   explosions..  another of the Tube  Clusters   was Hit, sending up aa gout of White hot  flame  50 feet in the  air, while   ground crews screamed  as they were splattered with the  stuff.. round  after  round  slammed into the  area. The Mountain  side crumbled   where the  fighters  came from,  and  soon a few explosions  as  more  shells hit those  areas....perhaps.. 1 minute worth of  shells  hitting very 5 seconds...  The     Grund   Shuttered   as a 40 mile   wide  cirle  , 'sunk into the  ground, the mountainside began to slide  into  it...., then the    sunken  ground  began, Began to  rise  like a poorly made Cake,  it  rose   to a glowing Dome, before  Bursting  apart while an ear shattering  BOOM...rocks , drik and thousands  of   burning bodies   filled the area, Landing  as far away as 100 miles..

 all Shadow said was..that turned out better then i thought..

 Lizzy acknowledged the LC and headed for the LZ with Nikki and Vosts, she comms them both," Ok guys I an beat up pretty good but I have no weapons you guys need to shoot for me if we run into anyone ok." Lizzy then checked her yellow lights and used her knowledge and experience to get her damaged fighter back to the LZ.

 Then she saw the shelling of the area and Lizzy gave a fist pump when she saw the whole area explode it was quite a site to see.

Justin acknowledged Steele's instruction arching the Skeeter away from the Battle front. 25 to 149. May I join your detachment. Over.

 Lizzy responded to Justin , Yes 25 you are more then welcome to join us.

Looking regularly out her windows, Madison banked slightly to get a good view of the terrain. She was raised in horse country, and much of it was relatively flat. There were mountains too, beautiful mountains, but the mountains here were literally out of the world. Multicolored rock from eons of geographic layering broke through the a carpet of green, dark red, and some blue made for a kaleidoscopic vista of breathtaking wonder. Despite the fact it was probably crawling with savage predators and enemy troops, the planet was just amazing.

On a whim, Madison aimed her nose camera. If she was going to fly over such a wonderful landscape, she might as well get some good high resolution footage. Hopefully the intel office would let her keep it.

  as the Compound  drew  near...LT Flores  here, I have  two wounded birds   coming in..and a few more  behind me, get your  boys and girls ready to  fix them up!

 Rodger that LT Flores... Tell them to land where the  yellow smoke is

 Already  done...... ok, Kat and Maddy  get down there I'll just  fly  top cover  until the rest of the birds  are Home

Madison saw yellow smoke rising from the sprawl of the compound. Per Candy's instructions and the protocol, she brought the skeeter around for a landing. The stick was really struggling and she couldn't get the bank she needed for a smooth approach. As she missed the mark on the first try she picked up the nose and brought it around again, this time with a wider arc. The engines didn't want to respond properly either when she slowed and gunned the exhaust. she landed it a few meters wide of where she wanted it, and the landing gear hit a lot harder. When the cockpit canopy opened she unbuckled, but had to stretch and twist to get out the shock. She knew that she would be sore from that jolt.

After climbing down, Madison waved the crewmen over and waited in a safe area for Kat and Candy.

 Lizzy was having more yellow lights; her weapons were offline and just as they get close black smoke starts pouring out the engine. Lizzy used all her skill and emotion to will the fighter in for a good safe landing as a few red lights came on as she lands and glides to a nice stop. She quickly powers down the systems before they explode on her though. Once safely powered down Lizzy pops the canopy and gets out of her skeeter too look at how bad she got hit and how close to kaboom she was.

"Atleast we no longer have to worry about ding gnomes, anymore" she said following Lizzy and Vosts.

   Kat Laded   hard her  skids  sank into the  ground  about  6 inches. Candy still circled   above as she watched   Nikki's group come in

   The rest of the   Fighter  wing was  come in a scattered  formation..some high, some low..some with smoke or Vapor.

............ from his  spot on the watch tower.. Larry  and   Admiral hack watched  the   fighter  wing some  back,, a few of the fighters    were in bad   Shade.. he relaxed a bit  more when he saw the  Whitetail Fin in the back.

 the  Admiral    rubbed  Larry's head..dammit, they're missing some
 Larry just  Burbled  as  he seemed to be  looking  at the battered fighters as well.

In reply to wreck (msg # 932):

Zob opted to check out the door on the right with his team but he wasn't gonna go any further then the initial room he wanted to stay closer to the main scouting force and not get separated should things turn bad.

He checked over the door first to see if there was traps or any fresh signs of those spider creatures if there was he would hold off on opening the door but would mark it to warn others, if no danger was immediately present he would proceeded with slowly opening the door the shotgun ready to fire.

Henry let the fighting people go first, but was close behind with Mila. Largs were ranging ahead.

 Zob sees  no  evidence of  the door being  trapped and such, it  does  appear to be Locked.

 Roy stopped the rest of the scout  team at the   second  door.. , Motioning Kira    and Morgan ahead    a fee yards with their lights on.  Will and the  others   stood  by the second door , with  Will  in-between the mech  looking  to the  bow  direction of wreck Freddie was  with  Roy, Looking up at him and thumped his tail.

 Meari moved up and stayed with Zob they made a good team and they trusted each other, unlike others Meari recently worked with.

 When they get to the locked door Meari will move back and cover the door with her 30-cal and then looking to see what they were going to do next.