Orion Starstation: The Orion Lounge

[Guest Commander Hamblin]

I walked out of Blades office as quickly as I could, while at the same time trying not to look like I was in a hurry. 'YES!' I thought triumphantly. He probably didn't know. He had debriefed me, then when I mentioned the Supreme Commander, he had just been interested in him.

I walked down the corridor as quickly as I could. In fact, I was almost running. I had a fear in the pit of my stomach that I was suddenly going to hear a loud voice come down the corridor shouting "HAMBLIN! GET THE HELL IN HERE AND EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!"

I quickly shot into he turbolift and said "Orion lounge, quickly!" The doors closed and the 'lift started it's journey to the Orion lounge. I leaned back against the wall, tired from my brisk walk (I hadn't exercised in ages) and surprised I had managed to make it to the turbolift.

After a few minutes, the doors opened again, to reveal a corridor which looked exactly the same as the one I had just been in. I walked down it, turned a corner, and entered the lounge. It seemed to have gotten quieter since I was last there. There was a nice looking woman talking to the SC. There were some more Galcom officers sitting round the bar, drinking and talking. Even the marines were keeping their voices down, which was a surprise.

I almost bumped into some guy who looked to be in just as much hurry as I had been to get out of Blades office. He turned the corner and dissapeared. I decided to ignore him and have a few more drinks.

So, I sat down at the bar, ordered another water, and drank. And drank. And drank some more, until I was starting to get a little bored.

So, I activated the station's intercom and said "Hamblin to Ensign Keeler." Ensign Keeler was assigned to the Galatea as the navigators mate. He was to learn the ropes from my nav officer (And to a lesser extent, my helmsman) while in a combat situation. He turned out to be alright, despite the fact that all around him the bridge was exploding (Or seemed to be exploding) from the battle that was raging once every ten minutes.

"Keeler here, go ahead sir." The young man responded.

"Ensign, erm..., you doing anything right now?"

"No, just reading. Why sir?"

"Well, erm...I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me for a drink. What do you say, eh?"

"Er...sorry sir. I would rather just carry on reading. Didn't get much of a chance in Procyon, you understand sir."

"Erm...yeah, I understand. Carry on then, Ensign."

I then contacted nearly every member of my crew, in an attempt to get them down here so I wouldn't look like some loner just sitting here having a glass of water, which was rather lame. All of them, ALL OF THEM, were busy working, or doing something, which ment they couldn't spend time with their CO. Oh well, I guess a Captain can't really intermix with his crew any more, can he? Well, I can't anyway. 'Man, I really should stop spending so much time on that ship.' I thought.

So, I carried on drinking, and decided to try to listen in on some of the other conversations that were going on. It probably wasn't considered 'proper' conduct for a Commander, the captain of a billion galcred Battlecruiser, to be eavesdropping in on other people's conversations, but I really was quite bored...

[Supreme Cmdr]

quote:

---

Rattler, I kinda like that. You sneaking in and blending in the lounge is cool. Just the kind of thing you'd expect from an Insurgent with forged security clearance papers. However, for the sake of clarity, you cannot use any of the information you read here, to your advantage, if this RP ends up in a Procyon skirmish that you will most likely be involved in. The same goes for the rest of you.

Meanwhile, just so you guys know, we're all headed for Procyon after the briefing. My upcoming post will signal the exit from the Lounge. From that point on, it will be in-ship related posts, tactical, combat etc.

Oh, we need more commanders and especially a primary Empirian, Vesperson and some Insurgent commanders, in the fray.

---

[Joseph Bosch]

Great SC i'm looking forward to the battle and i hope we get the commander to play all sides

------------------

Commander Joseph Bosch

GALCOMID: 76645

Ship:GCV-Obenbone

Quote: "Orion home and Soul i guard you"

ICQ:24625094

[Ben Zwycky]

[rp]Karen went on to talk about all the things that had happened to her since she had last seen him, including her relationship and eventual engagement with Robin Closeman and some of the amazing things she had seen during her time on the Svoboda. Her relaxed, joyful and maternal manner also enabled her to ask (and get answers to) questions that no-one else would dare ask the Supreme Commander of Galcom. She wasn't one to harbour any sort of grudge against him, she hadn't really regarded their dinner together as a date, just a nice evening out with a nice guy who happened to have a very difficult job to do. (She often didn't appreciate the sort of impact she had on the lives of the men around her. She would never try to use her looks as a means of influencing people, she just naturally broke down barriers.)

The conversation eventually came round to the current situation.

"Don't talk to me about the Empirians and Vesperons! I mean why can't they ever learn to settle their differences? Especially the Vesperons after the hammering they took last time! What are they thinking?"

At that moment, Commander Zwycky entered the room, looking even more worn out than Karen, and went straight to the bar.

"Orange juice, ice and lemon."

"Sure you don't want anything stronger than that?"

"Nah, wakes me up and gets my mind going without destroying any brain cells."

He took a gulp and gave a sigh of satisfaction before turning round to see who was around. As his view reached a table at the back he nearly dropped his glass. He took a second look. And a third. He rubbed his eyes and took another. It was! Karen sitting next to the SC having a friendly chat! She looked up from her conversation, noticed Ben, smiled at him and beckoned him over. He was very confused and stayed where he was. She beckoned him again, mouthing, "come on!" He started over very anxiously, not sure what to do or expect. He was socially backward at the best of times, but this...[/rp]

that gives you about 20-30 seconds of conversation between the question and when she notices me, if you want to use that.

------------------

Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda

ISS Fleet

http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda

"Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

[Blades]

The plan would procede in three parts.

Part one. Take a very deep breath. Exhale a few seconds later, clear throat confidently then return to normal breathing.

Part two. Approach the enterance to the GalCom lounge, allow the double doors to whoosh open and step inside, look around casually for the Supreme Commander and try not to draw unwanted attention from his 'eager' new recruits.

Part Three. DO NOT MAKE A TOTAL TIT OF ONESLEF IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE LOUNGE.

Parts one and two of this plan was a fairly routine and simplistic affair. Pulling off the third part was somthing that Fleet Commander Blades wasnt particually good at accomplishing.

It wasnt that he was a complete incompitent (Although this had been suggested by several officers in the past) but with all the insanity of late, with the Chikuma affair only recently resolved, the sudden (Not to mention completely unexpected) promotion to Fleet Commander and the 'difficulties' in Procyon, he was both overworked and highly strung.

Add to that the unexpected and, being completely frank, unwanted addition of the Supreme Commander himself on the station, he was fearful that his next few moments as Fleet Commander could also be his last.

What he couldnt understand was why he hadnt been notified of the SC's arrival. Ok, it could have been deliberetly left out of station records for security reasons or maybe (In actuality, more likely) that his staff were so inept (Or confused with his reorganisational efforts) that it had simply ..... slipped.

He decided there and then that he should quickly modify and impliment his own 'Special' organisational talants that served him so well during his time as a file clerk at GalCom HQ.

Such fond memories .....

Dismissing this startlingly easy slip down memory lane, Karl 'Blades' Savage proceded with parts one and two of his plan and tried to keep the rising panic in his gullet from ruining his efforts to pull off part three.

Spotting the SC furthin in the lounge, he once again took a deep breath and made the first, tentative step towards him ......... and right into the path of a lounge waiter that the had failed to see.

Moments later, once the crashing of plates and smashing of crystal glasses had ceased, he glanced round and noticed, with utter horror that the entire room had gone silent and every head in the lounge had turned to face him.

Including Supreme Commander Karl Reines.

And Karen.

Karen? Karen! KAREN KAREN KAREN !

Just about then, part three of his plan went completely ass over tit.

Things were about to become even more interesting.

*** Sorry, couldnt resist throwing the Karen complication into the hot pot as well. Do what you will, I'm just along for the ride ***

------------------

Fleet Commander Blades

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

GALCOM ORION Fleet

'For Queen and country'

ICQ#43692958

[Joseph Bosch]

Just sitting back watching the rest of the lounge go about its thing Bosch started his way over to the bar to get himself a stronger drink when Fleet commmander blade arrived and soon after crashed into the staff here.At that point i turned to the commander and kinda saluted just before i say the look on the face of the fleet commander oh brother was it shocked face well i might as well hand the commander afew towels to dry off with

I handed the commander afew papper towels from the bar as i said "Here you might want to dry off sir"

------------------

Commander Joseph Bosch

GALCOMID: 76645

Ship:GCV-Obenbone

Quote: "Orion home and Soul i guard you"

ICQ:24625094

[Guest Commander Hamblin]

I watched as Fleet Commander Blades walked into the bar...and at that moment the water came flying right out of my nose. I nearly fell off my stool laughing as Karl Savage, the man put in the well respected position of fleet commander, made a complete arse of himself. He crashed into a waiter that he had failed to see.

I had noticed his arrival in the lounge, and rather than warn him about the waiter, I decided to watch and alleviate my intense boredom by seeing what unfolded.

Luckily, all eyes were on him at that moment, so I quickly regained myself and managed to stifle the laughter...for now. I only hoped that he hadn't noticed it. 'It could hurt my chances for promotion' I thought.

Then, of course, goody two shoes Commander Bosch came up to him, gave him an awkward salute that looked like he didn't mean it very much, and offered him some paper towels.

I quickly turned around, unable to hold in my laughter any more. I laughed as hard as I could, but also as quietly as I could before quickly turning around and regaining my composure.

I watched with eager eyes to see what would unfold next, hoping that I wouldn't end up on the floor laughing, and making me look like a completely inconsiderate arse hole in the process...

------------------

Commander Hamblin

GCV Galatea

Orion Fleet

"For I dipped into the future, far as human eyes could see. Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be..."

[Guest Cmdr Josh Dilvorn]

Dilvorn had heard about the place from his nav officer, she had said it was one of the best bars in the Terran quad. Dilvorn had never been much of a drinker, but he figured this was one of the better ways to aquaint himself with some of the other GALCOM commanders. So here he was, outside the GALCOM lounge. "Well, I guess I'd better go in" he thought to himself.

The doors slid open and Dilvorn stepped inside and almost ran straight into another commander. He sidestepped to the left. His left foot landed on one of the plates that had fallen to the floor and began to slip out from under him. To couter this Dilvorn put his right foot forward, but the wet, polished floor had zero traction and slid out from under him. Lying on his back he looked up and saw a commander standing adove him with a handful of paper towels. "Hi, Cmdr Josh Dilvorn, GCV Conquest. Could you pass me some of those?"

------------------

GCV Conquest

ISS Fleet - Tactical Support Arm

"You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone"

ICQ: 12159264

[This message has been edited by Cmdr Josh Dilvorn (edited 11-02-1999).]

[Guest Neath Southern Skies]

You guys move so fast, I'll have to cover about 10 minutes of time already...

[rp]

Looking through my half full glass, I noticed an unknown figure rise from the corner of the room opposite the door. Thoughts slowly congealed through a hazy memory, "Must be a new guy, although he seems to be very comfortable around the place."

Keeping one eye on the figure, I signalled the barkeep over.

"Who's the new guy walking past the SC?"

The barkeep shrugged, "No idea, but he drops in occasionally. Pays his bills in cash, so he's a good customer."

"Thanks." Looking him over, I didn't recognise the ship patch, but then, with the amount of ships being cycled through the shipyards, it would be impossible for one person to keep track of anything.

Turning my head to keep track of him as he left the bar, I saw him look around once more in the SC's general direction. Looking over that dame he's talking too probably.

Ah, well. If he's here he must be legit anyway, but then... no, I'm just getting paranoid.

Then again... "Cmdr Robertson to GCV Southern Skies, are you there Miranda?"

"Here sir, what can I do for you?"

"I'm probably being paranoid again, but can you keep a log of all ship movements for the next 3 hours? Including IFF."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"Yes. See if you can get an update on current personnel records, there seems to be a new fleet commander I don't recognise. And also see about getting those system upgrades, I don't want Launch control fragging out again next time we're in a firefight."

"Done sir, see you on shift."

... some time later ...

Having ordered a second drink, soda this time, I heard a loud crash and the breaking of glass behind me.

I couldn't help but laugh, another commander had just crashed, not just bumped but crashed, strait into a waiter; completely destroying every glass on the tray. Wait a second, that's a FLEET commander!

Trying to stifle laughter just made it more obvious, but luckily, I'm not the only one in the room.

He must be here to informally see the SC. I don't recognise him from the current files (reminder to self, update the ship's personnel files), so he must be recently promoted.

Maybe something's in the air? A project! I love projects!

[/rp]

Hope I didn't step on anyones toes.

------------------

Commander Robertson

GCV Southern Skies

"Shoot first, then shoot the survivors!"

[This message has been edited by Neath Southern Skies (edited 11-01-1999).]

[Blades]

Once again, Fleet Commander Blades had brought unwarrented chaos to an otherwise peaceful place.

It reminded him of the time he was held captive on an Insurgent vessel some years back, where he couldnt prevent himself from losing his sensibilities and insulting the already mildly neurotic Commander Hasenu. He did this without fully realising the peril he was needlessly throwing himself into, so it was an appropriate memory to recall at this most troublesome of times.

Taking a handful of napkins from a rather beamused looking junior commander, he immediately began to brush himself down from the assortment of beverages and food stuffs that now coated his (until now) pristeen uniform.

Quickly, he apologised to the antagonised waiter and after a moment of nervous fumbling, managed to maneuver himself away from the approaching clean up staff and over towards where the Supreme Commander and Karen were sitting.

During the brief moments it took for him to make his way from the accident location to his intended targets, a miriad of thoughts drifted through the Fleet Commanders buggered brain.

The first of these thoughts was not the utter humiliation of having to approach the most revered military figure in the human controled galaxy after trashing a large breakfast order, but more to do with how he was going to face Karen six years after 'accidently' signing the commital orders that had her brother put under psyciatric care for more than 6 months.

Pah .... it wouldnt be a problem. It was a joke, and it was years ago .... she wouldnt remember the myschevious young admin temp at GHQ's medial center. She couldnt be expected to recall him as being one of her brothers greatest tormentors during his time as a junior doctor.

Hell, all those pep pills and caffeine substitute patches couldnt really have influenced his sudden nervous breakdown and utter psycho freak out.

And even if she did, it was the young ensign Karl Savages duty to sign those commital papers ...... even though in all probability it was actually his mistreatment of her brother that prompted the violent fits.

But she didnt know that .... at least not for sure ...... well, maybe not for sure ...... possibly she knew ....

Whatever the case, fate had granted Blades a valuable get out of jail free card, and one he would whap out in a second should he need it.

He out ranked her.

Putting these thoughts aside, Blades stepped up to the table where the two officers were conversing and saluted his CIC.

"A good morning to you, sir." he started. "And may I be the first to officially welcome you to ORION HQ."

For a nervous few moments, Blades held his salute. After a further few moments of being irrationally nervous, he concluded that the Supreme Commander of Galactic Command wasnt going to salute back. However, what he did notice was a curious expression on his chiefs face. It was somwhere between ammusment, disbelief and contempt.

Fortunately for Blades, the ammusment seemed to be the most prominent expression on his face, and as it slowley broke, the SC gestured with his hand and uttered a few pschye shattering words.

"You, ah, you have somthing ...."

Again the Supreme Commander gestured at him. More specifically, he gestured to his face.

A cold dread enveloped Blades soul. His carefully pre prepared onversational set pieces, such as "Gee, isnt it a coincidence that we both have the same first name?" or "Gee, isnt it a coincidence that we both spell our first names with a K instead of a C?" withered to nothing as the slow realisation dawned on him that a small remnant of the breakfast platter had decided to adhere itself to the corner of his mouth without him ever noticing.

The expression 'Egg on face' had never seen so apt.

------------------

Fleet Commander Blades

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

GALCOM ORION Fleet

'For Queen and country'

ICQ#43692958

[Ben Zwycky]

Hmmm, Karen seems to have had more of a past than I thought. I must speak to her about that sometime

[rp]

As Ben was halfway to the SC's table, he heard a large crash behind him and turned to see a pile composed of fleet commander Blades, a waiter, a breakfast platter and a fair amount of broken glass. He froze in amazement. This day was just too full of surprises already. He began to think 'Is this my chance to escape?' then corrected himself 'No, the SC and certainly Karen would notice.' He just stayed where he was to see what would happen next. Fleet commander blades hurriedly mopped himself down with a few napkins given to him by a young commander Ben had never met before, then attempted to walk over to the SC's table with as much dignity as he could muster. This was pretty difficult given what had just happened and also that his cleanup operation had left a little to be desired, missing a particle of egg at the corner of his mouth and as he walked right past, Ben got a good view of the small fragment of bacon that was still determinedly clinging to the hair on the back of his head.

Ben found himself transfixed by the piece of bacon. What should he do? Should he reach out and try to remove it without anyone noticing, or pretend he couldn't see it? After a wrestle with himself, he decided he needed to remove it. He slowly walked over to where fleet commander Blades was still attempting to come to terms with being told about the piece of egg, trying desperately not to look at the back of his head for too long. He desperately tried to think of some sort of natural gesture he could do that would enable him to move his hand within striking distance of the offending particle.

As he approached, Karen smiled at him again then turned to the SC,

"Karl, can I introduce you to my Commander, Ben Zwycky?"[/rp]

Sorry Blades, couldn't resist that, but at least I'm a partial distraction.

------------------

Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda

ISS Fleet

http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda

"Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

[Guest Commander Hamblin]

I had taken the decision to stop drinking any further. I was making a mess of myself from too much water coming out of my nose, and my nose had begun to hurt from too much water flowing through it.

Some poor guy had gotten caught in the mess that Blades had created, and fallen flat on his back as well. I chuckled, trying desperately not to end up on the floor as well, laughing my head off.

I continued to stifle my laughter as I saw that Blades not only had a rather large piece of bacon hanging from the back of his head, but he had an egg splattered right on his face.

I watched as he tried to remain dignified and walk over to the SC. His salute also just made him look even sillier, and I could barely contain myself.

The icing on the cake was another Commander, one I didn't know, tried desperately to get close enough to peel the bacon off of his head. Just as he was about to, it seemed the woman at the bar who had been talking to the SC introduced him as Commander Ben Zwycky, and the poor man had to stand there, unable to get to the bacon.

I had to leave immediately, or I would end up drawing attention to myself. I could barely contain it. I got up to try to walk quietly out the door, but I couldn't help but catch a sidelong glance at the bacon stuck on Blades head. As I saw it, I couldn't help myself, and I just burst out laughing as hard as I could, and as loud as I could, unable to hold it in any more. Blades, Commander Zwycky, the SC, the woman who was with the SC and everyone else stared at my obviously rude outburst.

I was laughing so much I was almost crying. When I finally stopped, after what must have been ten minutes of complete silence (Except for my laughing) I looked around at everyone. The entire room was completely shocked at my outburst, and I couldn't blame them. The only thing I could do is stand there and wait to see what would happen...

[Guest Cmdr Josh Dilvorn]

[rp]

Dilvorn slowly rose from the floor and began wiping himself down with paper towels. He then checked himself completely to make sure he had no bits of food hanging off him like that poor commander that was over near the SC.

It was then that he noticed everyone was staring at the commander who had burst out into a fit of laughter a few minutes earlier. So in an attempt to break the ice Dilvorn walked over to the jukebox and cranked up the music, starting with one of his favorites from the late 20th century...

[/rp]

I thought a bit of 'classic' music might distract everyone from you Hamblin

------------------

GCV Conquest

ISS Fleet - Tactical Support Arm

"You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone"

ICQ: 12159264

[Joseph Bosch]

Bosch handed out the papper towels to the commanders and left the bar to see his ship before leaveing the station.

------------------

Commander Joseph Bosch

GALCOMID: 76645

Ship:GCV-Obenbone

Quote: "Orion home and Soul i guard you"

ICQ:24625094

[Supreme Cmdr]

The commotion kinda broke the monotony of the evening as Karen and I turned around to see what it was about. Figures.

Just as I was about to resume conversation, my commlink unit went off. As I checked the message, I noticed that several cmdrs did the same. Well, thats it, briefing time.

..ok, Karen, I guess thats it, we'll resume this later. I'll probably see you at the briefing over at MISCON. Be careful out there

With that, I walked purposefully out of the room to freshen up for the mission briefing scheduled to start in 30 mins.

Here we go again I thought.

[Guest Ron Wallin]

"We've lost contact with Insurgent One, sir. He's jumped out of the system. Tracking puts him on his way back to Spectre HQ," Comm's reported.

"Your orders, Cmdr?" The XO questioned.

"Negative. He's safely on his way home. Relay to one of the others along the way. He still needs an escort, but we're more useful here."

Two systems away, the stars shifted slightly as a cloacked Warmonger increased her speed to meet with and track a very important P21.

"Roger, sir, the MinuteMan reports visual confirmation of a single P21 and is in pursuit."

"Good Comm's, now get me that data feed from the device he left inside Orion."

"Sir, I'm not showing a frequency for any such device."

"Try this list," Akira passed the Comm's Officer a few of the frequencies and crypto codes he knew Rattler to use.

"Yes, sir. Receiving and decoding transmission. Standby..."

"Broadcast over the bridge speakers, Comm's. Crew, I want you to catch anything I miss." The chaos poured from speakers around the bridge of the ICV Nevermore like so much line noise. "Comm's filter for known Tagets of Opportunity."

"Roger, sir. We have three target's sir. Cmdr. James Hamblin of the Galatea, Fleet Cmdr. Karl "Blades" Savage, and... Sir, you're going to like this. It seems that the transmissions are coming from a bug planted on one Supreme Cmdr. Karl Reines." With that the bridge went silent.

"Filter the SC, Comm's., and pass the entire recording on to R&D. I want to know what's happening there." Comm's knuckles turned white and she made a definite move to calm herself. A high pitch tone pierced the bridge speakers and was cut off as quickly as it started.

"We've lost the connections sir. It seems someone near the SC brushed the bug to the floor."

"Play me the last few seconds before we lost the connection."

"{buzzing}...ok, Karen, I guess thats it, we'll resume this later. I'll probably see you at the briefing over at MISCON. Be careful out there..."

Akira rubbed his chin. Hamblin just returned from Procyon, there are probably others in this room from the same...

"Comm's get that recording to R&D ASAP. Nav, plot a best speed course to Spectre. Pilot, you are cleared to jump at your discretion. I'll be in my quarters.I have some static to poor over."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Rang the entire bridge crew as Akira left his command chair.

------------------

Cmdr. Akira

ICV Nevermore

Spectre, Command Staff

Base Commander, The Dojo

Official Tester

Battlecruiser Series

[Guest Neath Southern Skies]

[RP]

I looked down as my commlink went off. Hmm... general briefing in 30 minutes, compulsory attendance.

Funny, I'm not assigned to Orion fleet, so I wonder what it could be about? I hope it's not another one of those "We know you do BAD THINGS while operating alone, just don't get caught," speeches.

Having a look around, I note several other commanders doing the same thing, including the SC. Is he giving the briefing or attending it? I guess I'll find out shortly.

[/RP]

------------------

'Neath Southern Skies

Commander Robertson

GCV Southern Skies

"Shoot first, then shoot the survivors!"

[Guest Matt Stryker]

*RP*

"What do you mean there's no coffee, all I want is some coffee?" The voice belonged to Commander Matt Stryker, he was unusually irritated it seemed but that was only to be expected.

The Barman smiled slightly and shook his head, "No coffee, tis a hard thing to find, only Earl Grey."

"Tea, again, if I drink anymore of that tea. I'll start suffering premature hair loss."

It was then that his commlink went off, shattering his concentration and interrupting his ire.

"Briefing, wonderful, not only do I return to the station with an almost wreck of a ship, now they expect me to..." He trailed off, and looked around the lounge.

His eyes fell upon the Supreme Commander, and he shook his head. He fell silent and glared at the liquid in the cup.

. o O (When this was over he was going to request a new ship, one that came with a coffee machine and a decent engineering crew)

For now he was content to watch the scene unfold and prepare for the Briefing.

*ooc* Thought I'd join in the fun...

[Ben Zwycky]

[rp]During the distraction of someone bursting out laughing, Ben took the opportunity to grab the piece of bacon and tug it free. Unfortunately, it was stuck to his hair a bit more strongly than it had first appeared, and it took a few of Fleet Commander Blades' hairs with it. Blades turned angrily towards Ben to ask him what on earth he thought he was doing, when he saw the hairy piece of bacon and his face fell again.

He seemed to be almost on the point of tears, when Karen's maternal instincts took over. This day would be the final proof that she had recovered from the terrible events that happened all those years ago. This was the man her brother Mark had written to her about so often, who had always plagued him with practical joke after practical joke well after the point when Mark found it funny, eventually driving him temporarily insane. She had only met him a few times, but she hardly ever forgot a face, especially one who had had such a profound impact on the lives of people she cared about.

When Mark's course of psychiatric care was completed, her other brother James had taken him on a cruise of Galcom space as a celebration. On the third day of the cruise as the tourist ship entered Nevuela, it was attacked and destroyed by raiders before it could be evacuated, and both of them were killed.

She had long since known that holding a grudge against someone would only end up causing more damage to everyone involved, especially to herself, and so she resolved to try and forgive everyone who wronged her and do everything she could to repair any damage to the relationship. This would be the greatest test of that decision, and it had taken an enormous amount of will power, but with the help of her faith she had managed to forgive him. Up until now she had never faced him. Now she was able to look at the man who had (albeit unintentionally) caused the death of both her brothers and see a man who had made a few foolish mistakes but needed some help now. (The events of the last few minutes had helped her in that respect.)

She took hold of his hand and crouched down slightly to look into his eyes.

"Hey. It's OK. It happens to all of us sometime. Come on, sit down."

Just as conversation was about to restart, lots of commlink units went off, including those of the Supreme Commander, Fleet Commander Blades and Commander Zwycky. They all checked them. Mission Briefing in 30 minutes.

The SC said his farewell, "..ok, Karen, I guess that's it, we'll resume this later. I'll probably see you at the briefing over at MISCON. Be careful out there."

She replied "You take good care of yourself, and say hello to your brother for me. Bye."

Before he left to get cleaned up for the briefing, Ben turned to his Comms Officer, "Looks like we might be heading out again soon. You going to be ready for that?"

She looked back at him with a peaceful smile. "Yeah, I think I could take another tour."

And so a large number of the patrons of Orion Lounge went their separate ways, and the latest episode in the history of this institution began to fade in its memory.[/rp]

------------------

Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda

ISS Fleet

http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda

"Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

[Guest Commander Hamblin]

The music played in the backround, helping take some of the heat of my situation. I walked slowly back, preparing to try to walk out of there quickly, when suddenly my commlink unit went off.

I didn't have to bother checking it, though, because everyone else checked theirs and found out there was a briefing at MISCON.

I felt relieved, and wasn't afraid to show it. At least everyone else would concentrate on work, and forget about me. Well, in fact, a few of the people weren't very surprised at my outburst, and probably just thought of it as something to relieve the bordom.

I noticed Commander Zwycky managing to peel off the bacon which had caused my outburst, and he showed it to Blades.

I turned and headed out of the room, not bothering to apologise or anything for my outburst. I was going do a bit of quiet reading for about fifteen minutes before walking about a bit. I was hoping to alleviate my intense feelings of embarrasement by doing these things, and hopefully at the briefing, I would be able to concentrate on work.

I arrived at the Galatea after about ten minutes. 'Well, I'll have to skip my little walk' I thought. The transporters were under repair, and with the amount of shuttles going back and forth between the station and the huge, cavernous bay where the Galatea was hanging, held in place by forcefields, it was hard to get space in one of the Galatea's docking bays. I decided that I would find somewhere to read on the station.

So, I quickly ran to my quarters, trying to dodge the repair teams and all the wiring and conduits lying on the decks. When I arrived, I got my book, and ran back out again, before checking the time. I had told the shuttle pilot to wait for me to get my book.

When I finally got back to the station, I only had ten minutes of reading, so I decided to just hold off reading the book (In case I read for too long and lost track of the time) and I more or less wandered near MISCON, where the briefing was to be held, still holding my book as I had nowhere to put it.

Note: Incedently, this book I talk so much about is actually 1984 by George Orwell. I'm assuming that by the year 3000 (I think. Erm...what year IS this in the general BC3K RP timeline?) there will still be copies of it.

------------------

Commander Hamblin

GCV Galatea

Orion Fleet

"For I dipped into the future, far as human eyes could see. Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be..."

[Joseph Bosch]

After arriving on the bride of the GCV-Obenbone commander Bosch's comlink went off telling him about the brefing at MISCOM.Sitting down in the command chair bosch let out a sigh knowning it had to be about procyon and that his ship will finely get its worth of combat time out there.Bosch looks to his crew.

Bosch:" I want this ship ready to leave the station in 25 mins and i want our radine and plutonium up to 200"

After givening his command he went down to his room to gather his family items.There where only two items his family requested he wear when he was commanding his ship and they where his titanium military saber witch he always wears at his side then the Orion pin he wears next to his command bars.After suiting up and getting a datapad he heads off down into the station to meet up with the other commanders

------------------

Commander Joseph Bosch

GALCOMID: 76645

Ship:GCV-Obenbone

Quote: "Orion home and Soul i guard you"

ICQ:24625094

[Guest Commander Hamblin]

I walked past the doors to MISCON for what must be the tenth time.

'Well, still no one here, guess I'll have to walk by ANOTHER ten times' I thought.

I walked to the end of the hall, turned right and went down the corridor, before turning right again, walking down that corridor, turning right again, walking down that corridor and turning right once more before going past the doors to MISCON for the eleventh time...

------------------

Commander Hamblin

GCV Galatea

Orion Fleet

"For I dipped into the future, far as human eyes could see. Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be..."

[Guest Matt Stryker]

Just as Hamblin was making his way for the Eleventh time, Matt Stryker strolled around the corner, looking as per usual, irritated and tired, his last Patrol had not been good. Sometimes he wished he was back flying the Interceptors instead of ordering them.

He stopped and regarded the other man with a slight smile, nodding.

"Commander."

[Guest Commander Hamblin]

I walked past the MISCON doors for the eleventh time before noticing someone else walking up to them. 'Finally!' I thought.

He was yet another unknown Commander to me (I didn't know many of them anyway.). He, like Commander Bosch, had the air of being inexperienced in command, always looking for a new challenge, but somehow it semed more subdued on this Commander, as if he also had some of the experience of older Commanders with the rash impatience of some younger ones.

"Commander." He said.

I turned to him. "Commander, erm...I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

I extended my hand, but it had my book in it, so I extended my other hand. "Heh, sorry, just doing a spot of reading before the briefing begins. Haven't had much of a chance to do so recently."

[Joseph Bosch]

As the two commmanders outside of MISCON talked i turned into the hallway and marched over to the doors and the other commanders and just noded to them as i just waited for the rest of the others to arrive.I held the helt of the saber at my side to pass the time as i only had one thing on my mind and that was to learn what the mission will be about.

------------------

Commander Joseph Bosch

GALCOMID: 76645

Ship:GCV-Obenbone

Quote: "Orion home and Soul i guard you"

ICQ:24625094