AWD #210: Pallas Evac - Air Wing
Pallas Evac - Air Wing
Summary: Orion and her battlegroup return to Pallas to evacuate the survivors. It's not without its complications.
Date: 04/08/2013
Related Logs: Pallas Evac - Marines
Havokst Dropkickst Atalanta Agrippa Holtz Phin Warren Bennett Ygraine Maia Mahasti Winston Lleufer Arthur Fischer 
Pallas Installation
Pallas and the surrounding space.
AWD #209

Its come down to this. The Orion has even jumped away from the safety of Piraeus with the hospital ship and every single flak frigate the fleet has. Two corvettes escort the trio of civilian transports down to the surface of the red-clay planet. Out ahead of the Raptors, the local star illuminates the area and throws into sharp contrast the descending ships with the black of space in the background. Passing the lines of Vipers, everyone drops down towards the surface and the ship's radio come alive with the hoots and cries of the civilians on the ground who can barely believe the sight. Its one of the single largest evacuations performed by a fleet this small in history and it doesn't disappoint. Dozens of Raptors scream towards the surface, weapons hanging off pylons and strike teams in their cores.
This particular group is heading towards an astrometrics station at the northern end of the group of stations. Its been silent for the last three months but for one survivor who managed to get to the nearby geological site and refused to talk about anything. Last reports for her evacuation back to the Orion had her catatonic. Nobody knows or can even hint at what they might find. The Raptors all flare, coming in and settling down atop the station and the Marines beginning cutting holes and breaking the seals on the site. Radio warnings have been given for 24 hours. Maybe someone will be there to greet them. Maybe not. After barely two minutes of cutting, the plates fall away into a very large, dark storage area below.
The air is stale and smells of rot. There's no visible power sources in the rooms but the plans say its a short 9-foot drop to the floor. Flashlights will confirm this, though there are plenty of crates to climb down on. But there isn't a single sound to be heard below.
Nobody said this was going to be fun.

Lleufer is among the Marines on this bird geared up and rearing to go. As they land and the cutting is started, he's got his rifle on the shoulder strap in hand ready, his other hand positioning his goggles and checking his light is in position. 9 feet isn't much of a drop but if they are rappelling, he's ready to take his turn on a line down. Too short a drop to worry about belaying for the next man. Lleu's ears are sharp for orders, waiting as they start to move in, "Flare's sir?" The question is for Winston, since they need to move fast.

Two minutes that seem more like twenty, to Bennett. With one eye on the clock, and the other on the marine using the plasma cutter not three feet away from her, she's keenly aware of how little time they have to get these people evacuated before cylon air support swoops in. "I'll stay on the radio, in case you need us to bug out earlier than planned," she explains, voice crackling over the inter-ship comm. "Or if we hear something from the station itself."

Having landed already on the metal to drop off their busload of Marines, Maia isn't particularly sure what to expect. Starving back in March doesn't leave a very hopeful outlook for what's going to be found. The waiting game, that's all they can play. Waiting with her hands on the controls, hoping to be able to get loaded and get out, she's definitely on high alert. "Thanks, Milkshake, hopefully there's some sort of movement. Long as we don't have zombies.." Yeah, she's joking. Probably.

Arthur takes his cue from Lleufer, taking up a position opposite from the other MP sergeant. Thankfully, the normally loquacious jarhead keeps his own council and stays on guard and at the ready.

Winston grips the stock of his own rifle, every muscle in his frame taut, the unlit cigar clenched in his jaw moving steadily up and down as he chews the end. His nose wrinkles at the smell that comes up from the hole, and he peers down into the gloom. "No flares," he says. "Between the smell and the dryness, there could be flammables down there. Stick to flashlights and low-light optics." He glances around at the other Marines. "Okay. Let's do this. Vashti, you're on point. I'll drop in afterward and secure our permieter. Ynir, you bring up the rear, make sure no toasters come in after us. Let's see if we can find us some survivors. Oorah?"

Mahasti is watching, legs folding, setting up just a few critical care items incase of emergency. Strapping them in accordance to the medic's handbook. "If anything goes wrong I'll be here. If something critically needs my attention I can hustle out." she offers before the marines escape, voice soft and calm. She takes a few moments to check some medical equipment and checking her batteries for the portables. Its clear she's hoping for the best - and setting up for it.

"Raptor Group and all marine units, Milkshake." says Ygraine, toggling her comm. "I'm confirming heat signatures toward the back of the dome which means eiher somethin' is powered up or alive down there. Somethin' goin' on down in th'lower level too, but th'signal ain't clear. Proceed with caution."

Moving to get out of there as well, Fischer checks his rifle one more time, before he moves to take the drop down with the others. Readying both rifle and flashlight as he begins looking around his side of the area.

"Oorah," replies Arthur to the Staff Sergeant and prepares to repel down the hole into the station. His sister's additional info gets no spoken response, but, oddly enough, does get a nod. He's clearly focused on his job.

"Oorah." Lleufer affirms, keeping his light off and not wanting to be the only things lit up down there. He opts for the low light optics once he's down until the light's needed. They get moving and he takes up riding drag in the rear as ordered, nevermind he's a scouty sort. Lleu otherwise keep his ears on, his eyes sharp and his mouth shut as they hit bottom and proceed to spread out to look around and cautiously start for the otherside as Ygraine directs.

Dropping down it becomes apparent that this isn't going to be nearly as easy as they had hoped. The -only- light in the room seems to be coming from overhead and the shafts of illumination coming down from the Raptors. There's no sounds except their boots, nothing to see at this end of the room. There's crates there easily piled at that end and it makes for a bit of an awkward maneuver for the full squad — something easily doable when its not pitch black. Its just impossible to see anything outside the small streams of light from their flashlights. But as they move and explore the room, moving to the south end of it and towards the door, that's when they see them. Them. It might disturb the hell out of some people, but there it is. These men and women look like they have been through hell. Gaunt, pale, and dead to the eyes, a dozen people are standing by the door. Some of them are holding fireaxes, others have crowbars and one even has a baseball bat. Nobody seems to have escaped using their chosen weapon as all have gore smeared at the ends. Just when orders to drop these items might be barked, though, they drop the weapons and begin filing up towards the crates and Raptors. These people have NO inclination to stay.

"Do you have what you need for triage?" St. Clair asks Mahasti, over her shoulder. "I-" And then Ygraine's voice comes over the radio, and she frowns slightly to herself. "I suggest you prepare for the worst, doctor," she adds, quietly. Since it's clear the marines will be more than a few minutes, she takes the opportunity to pop her helmet off and ditch it in the unused copilot's seat. "Pitbull," she addresses her ECO, "See if you can get a fix and decode on that power signature. I'd like to know if our rifles are walking into something ugly."

Winston drops down after Arthur, head on a swivel and swinging his rifle around, checking corners and crannies. "Copy, Milkshake, thanks for the heads up," he says in response to Ygraine. "Let us know if you see any movement on our position." Whatever it is the big Taurean is expecting to see, it certainly isn't the mass of survivors. Such as they are. He relaxes his rifle, holding up one hand. "We're Colonials," he says. "We've come to get you out. There's a Raptor waiting topside, but we've got Cylons heading our way, so we gotta move fast. Let's go, move, move, move!" Slinging his rifle, Winston starts helping folks ascend the crates, getting them up to the hole in the ceiling. Stopping one of the survivors on the way up, he asks, "Is there anyone else down here? Any other survivors?"

Mahasti tilts towards Bennett "I have everything, yes. The worst that I care to admit, honestly, is empty raptors going home." she asserts, calmly "The best in this situation is emergency room care." she offers, the worst in her head is worse than she is willing to verbalize, apparently. "It will only take me a little longer to set everything up." she offers, voice careful as she takes a set of two tablets out to stuff in her mouth and swallow. "Did you remember to eat something small before you left, Captain Saint Clair?" she asks, a little cautiously. She seems to be properly strapping the equipment in, looking confident about it, or like she's been doing extra drills on set up. She taps one of the machines, warming it up. She takes off her medical bag, looking at the supplies she has, triple checking and even doing a few breathing exercises to keep herself warmed up but calm.

As Milkshake is speaking, Maia turns around and looks back, a fission of trepidation zipping down her back. "You know, I hope this goes better than it sounds.. makes me wish I was down there in the thick of things with the others.. but," she flashes a lopsided smile, "I like having wings to get the hell out when it's time."

Lowering his rifle a bit, while keeping it ready for when it might be needed, Fischer moves to help Winston getting the people up onto the crates and out of there now, nodding a little bit as he does. "We'll get you to safety," he offers to them. Looking around every now and then, a bit carefully at the moment.

Bennett nods crisply to the doctor, and her eyes immediately return to the console laid out in front of her. Scanning and re-scanning, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. "I don't like to eat before a mission," she tells Mahasti quietly. "Tea, usually." Tick, tock, as she switches between EM and infrared on her display with a gloved thumb.

Sergeant Ynyr (damn Welsh names) is still close to their disembark point so Lleufer likewise starts helping people up, watchful for those who look to need the most assistance. He listens to the others speaking and says little himself until he hears Winston ask his question, "Aye, what's below?" They are pretty weak and some can't manage the climb. Lleu takes a line and thwaps it to get the attention of those above, "Looping one to haul her up." His rifle slung back to hang by the strap, the Aerilon makes a bowline non-slip knot and helps the woman get started up.

Bennett is spurred into motion, of course, when she hears the thwap of something — someone — trying to get her attention. Pivoting out of the pilot's seat, she helps her backseater grab hold of the line that's tossed up, and lets him do the heavy lifting while she prepares to help those more able-bodied.

"What doin' th'part ya already got ain't enough for ya?" drawls Ygraine to her pilot. "Ya can't be at th'center of everythin', and without us, those guys can't get out. Did ya see my brother? He was th' one sittin' on th'left." Proud, proud Yggy. "I'll point him out when they load back up." She brings her attention back to the console.

"Nobody you want," one of the men tells Winston as he ascends the crates to climb up into the Raptor. One by one, the people file up into the pair of Raptors here over this room and slowly take seats. Some of these people are wounded and have old bandages attached. Some of them even look more recent — within the last day or so. All of them smell like a zoo. None of the survivors say another word, though. It doesn't take long to get them in. A few minutes. But once they are, the room is resealed temporarily for quick re-access and the Marines are left with that locked doubledoor at the end of the room. It won't take much to get past the lock, though. Just a quick touch to the pad and the internal mechanisms will allow access to the dark hallways beyond.

Winston frowns a bit. "Raptor teams, Titus. We're going in for our sweep. Keep a sharp eye out, and let us know if those Raiders get close. We don't wanna get caught with our pants down. One of the survivors said there might be more down here." He looks around. "All right, Marines. Keep your weapons ready and stay frosty. There could be anything down here. Let's move out." So saying, he goes to the door and hits the switch to open it, holding his rifle at the ready.

In the middle of listening to Ygraine, Maia chuckles. "Not the center, Milkshake, I just always like to be doing something. I am always just active, really." When you fill your time doing things, you never have to stop and think. "Your brother?" Her gaze flickers over the spot where he was sitting as if to imagine which one it was. "Hmm. Congratulations.." Ah, but then it's time to put her game face on, and she's already prepping to get out again with the precious cargo. "Heads up, let me know when the door is closed, we'll head out."

Mahasti pauses to watch Bennett "If you want, I have a chocolate peanut butter ration bar, I can split it with you." she watches the line coming up, moving to help the survivors once they are in, helping Bennett's backseater get them buckled before beginning to do the medical checks, voice soft and even toned as she examines the most serious case first. She isn't pushing or overly prodding but she is checking bandages to examine the injuries and making chart notes for who goes to surgery and who just gets a full checkup for now unless someone NEEDS her immediate attention.

Arthur takes up a position to the left of the door, rifle up and ready, eyes peeled. Almost… twitchy? What does he expect to find?

"Centerfold, we have a full bus over here," Bennett's voice crackles over the wireless. "Confirm you are ready for skids up." The sound of the raptor's engines spinning up in tandem can be made out in the background, and the slam and whirr of bolts sliding back into place as the hardseal is broken.

Fischer keeps his rifle ready as he moves to the door as well. Expression alert as he looks around, he doesn't say anything as he waits for the doors to open and whatever lies in wait on the other side now.

Bennett smiles over her shoulder at Mahasti while she gets her harness buckled up and her helmet slid into place. "Maybe once we make it back to Orion with everyone intact. You might want to buckle up, doctor. This will get bumpy."

Mahasti sits down, buckling in "That needed to be done before we take off, you know that. It tells the Orion what to do with them." she offers, working tidily and even writing on her charts, in uncommonly clean handwriting. "It also tells them what to do and saves critical time. If its all the same, I'll be going back out with you to pick up the marines - because you know, they may need immediate care and our nurses are top rate." she offers to Bennett with a chuckle.

"Ya are doin' somethin'." comes Ygraine's matter-of-fact reply. Then beaming, "Yeah, that's Arthur. He's my youngest oldest brother." She triggers the comm, calling, "Marine unit, Milkshake. We're liftin' off. Repeat, Raptors are a go." There's a pause. "Sergeant Vashti, don't be late for dinner." And with that, she signs off.

"Butch, Centerfold. Gotcha, we're all full up ourselves, up and good to go." Hearing Ygraine, Maia grins, lifting off, paying attention to the DRADIS as they head out with the cargo that doesn't smell so.. good. As she speaks to her brother, her grin only widens.

"Copy that, Centerfold. Flight, eyes on DRADIS. Let's try to stay under the radar." It probably doesn't need to be said, but Bennett is nothing if not perfectly clear. She peels her raptor off the hacked-open top of the dome with a swoop of floodlights that illuminate the surrounding area briefly before they're switched off for flight.

With their human cargo secured aboard, the Raptor crews quickly move to disengage from the colony. Seals are closed, hatches are shut, and with a slight quiver, the Raptors slowly begin to move away. For the moment, thankfully, their DRADIS remains clear. If the Cylons know they're here, they either don't care or haven't been able to muster an adequate reaction force.

The human passengers on board the Raptors are themselves in varying degrees of disarray. The stench is terrible in the close quarters of each Raptor's rear compartment; the Raptor crews themselves are protected by their flight gear, but the medical personnel aren't so lucky. Obviously these people have suffered a great deal over the last few months, and some seem to be coping better than others; while a few merely look a little shell-shocked, there's several on both Raptors who look outright catatonic and several more who are weeping uncontrollably.

And then there's the wounded. Just about everyone bears at least minor wounds, scratches, bruises and the like, but several people on both Bennett's and Maia's Raptors are significantly worse off. A particularly grey faced woman on Bennett's raptor is clutching her abdomen, tears rolling down her cheeks and teeth gritted in pain, while the man next to her holds her arm and whispers softly into her ear.

Be certain that Bennett is grateful for her flight suit and its harseal on this particular mission. There's an occasional glance over her shoulder to see how the germophobic doctor is faring— but for the most part, the woman is left to her own devices. Flying the raptor is, unfortunately, a pretty much full-time job.

Meanwhile, on Maia and Ygraine's Raptor, one of the more catatonic survivors suddenly shows signs of activity. He starts rocking back and forth in his seat, feverishly muttering something over and over under his breath even as his glassy eyes continue to stare forwards.

"Medic - " says Ygraine, when she sees at the corner of her eye that one of the more still patients has started moving. "See t'him, would ya? If he gets too distressed…" she lets it hang. The medic should know their job.

Mahasti leans over the woman, since she is sitting next to her "Here, let me see the injury. I'm a doctor. I promise to do my best." she whispers. Voice is soft and cautious, provided the woman co-operates, blood and pressure are a sign of immediate care being needed. She pulls her gloves on, trying to get a look at the abdomen injury, surprisingly Mahasti is handling the stench and human suffering with grace. It isn't worse than Picon in January. "I know it hurts to move, but I can put a topical painkiller on it and make it stop bleeding." she glances to the man "Can either of you tell me what happened?" she asks, softly, never speaking louder than absolutely necessary.

A lot can be said for flightsuits and hardseals, so true. Maia doesn't even look back but she hard sympathizes with Ygraine being there in the midst of it. Hearing Yggy talking, she does glance back and note the trouble, but she says nothing at the moment, concentrating on what is going on through the window.

As Mahasti gets closer to the pair, she can see the intricate bracelets each of them wears on their arms — they're flecked with blood, but recognizable as soma bracelets, worn only by native Sagittarons. The woman's eyes are dull and unfocused; she's clearly wounded, and her arm slips slightly to reveal that her lower torso has a bandage wrapped around it. It looks robust enough for an improvised dressing, but it appears that blood is beginning to seep through. Her companion's eyes zero in on Mahasti with no small amount of hostility, even wildness, and he madly shakes his head. "No. No, don't touch her," he replies, his voice quivering with a mix of fear and anger.

On Maia's Raptor, the medic goes to look at the catatonic man, whose voice is slowly rising. "Killers, liars, traitors…" he mutters audibly. "Going to come for us all. No, no, you're one of them. But you can't have me, no, I won't let you…" And then the medic touches him… and he breaks his trance, screaming hysterically.

You paged Mahasti with 'Saggies don't like doctors, period. Under normal circumstances, they'd probably allow her to treat such an obvious wound, but… these aren't exactly normal circumstances. It's doubtful that either of them is in their right mind.'

"Pitbull," Bennett announces calmly over the comm, "Up here with me." She reaches over to tap a few keys on the console with her non stick hand, transfering power to the secondary ECM controls at the copilot's seat. "Lieutenant Nasreen, please sedate them if they will not calm down." There is a businesslike, matter-of-fact tone to her voice that bears little resemblance to her usual warmth.

"Frak," Ygraine says breathlessly and looks over her shoulder, "Medic, ya get that man sedated." She tries to swallow her annoyance; these people have been through hell.

Mahasti pauses "If I don't touch her, given her skin color and body temperature she'll be dead by dawn, sir." her voice is soft, still. "I wish no more death for any of us. I promise I am quite human." She eyes the man "Please allow me to clean and if necessary stitch the wound. I know you do not like me and have had a hard time but this woman needs care. I respect your objections, but this is necessary care." she watches the woman "May I please care for you?" she asks to the woman, she pauses "Captain Saint Clair, I will if necessary." obviously she would prefer not to but recognizes she may not have the choice. Because she knows the couple heard Bennett, she offers "The choice for sedation is yours by action, please do not force me to do so." she aims mostly at the man, the woman afterall is co-operating.

Hearing things get a little radical there in the back, Maia also remains calm. "If it looks like it's going to be a volatile situation, I don't want you anywhere near them, Shake." Definitely taking a page from Bennett's book there, but the ECO had to be protected at all costs. Sure the people had been through too much, and Maia laid the blame squarely at the feet of one Zachary Sheperd.

Too late. The catatonic man is already rising to his feet as the medic is going for a sedative. The syringe flies out of his hand as the mad refugee throws himself out of his seat with a ragged scream; the medic tumbles to the ground and cries in pain as his assailant begins pummeling him madly with his fists. "Liar! Traitor! Murderer!" he screams at the medic, each word escaping his throat at the same time as a blow lands.

The injured woman on Bennett's Raptor isn't really doing much of anything, really; she's barely conscious and gives no indication that she even hears Mahasti or understands what she's saying, emitting only a series of muffled, pained, groans. The man's expression hardens. "I said don't touch her. You want to help us, take us home. Take us back to Sagittaron. But you, don't you touch her!" He clutches the woman protectively, hyperventilating with a wildeyed expression on his face as he scowls at Mahasti.

<FS3> Mahasti rolls Melee-5: Embarassing Failure.

Mahasti takes out a syringe and a bottle, looking at the man then the bottle, with supreme grace she begins dosing the needle « Well, we're sure as frak not doing this the whole ride home.» she pauses "Bonsoir." due to the motion and the fact she's never EVER had to do this before leaning over to attempt to hit the man in the vein on his thigh, Its a bigger target, and not as likely to swing at her.

The Sagittaron sees what Mahasti is trying to do, and his features contort in wrath. He lunges forward, a dull, curved knife in hand; apparently not everyone willingly surrendered their weapons. He slashes wildly at Mahasti as she leans in towards him; the blade slices through her fatigues, opening a line of blood on her chest. It's not a deep wound, but it's enough to drive her backwards, the needle falling from her hand as she stumbles and lands on her back. Howling with anguish, he rises to his feet and charges towards the pilot's compartment.

"Frak." Ygraine calls up to the front, "Centerfold, get us t'our dock poin so we can get these people off!" She rises from her seat and approaches not the main pummeling the medic, but the rest of the medical kit, looking for another sedation dosage.

Zoom Zoom.. Unaware of what is happening in the other Raptor, but certainly not appreciative of what's happening in her own, Maia focuses fully on the ride in, going as fast as her bus will allow her, comfortable behind the stick of the Raptor after having tried the Viper pods lately in sims. This was something she knew, she'd lived and excelled at. "Going all out, Shake."

"Flight, our ETA is.. thirteen minutes by my count. Centerfold, please inform Orion of our casualty count and—" Her voice cuts off abruptly as she catches sight of one of the rescuees lunging toward the forward compartment, from just within her peripheral vision. "Pitbull- Pitbull, your sidearm-" And then one of the other passengers is screaming, and she cranes her neck to try to catch sight of where the doctor is in all the mayhem. 'Pitbull', her ECO, meanwhile, is indeed twisting away from his console and going for his gun. "Flight, we have a situation."

The (formerly) catatonic man continues to crow and scream as his fists pummel the fallen medic. The medic does, however, finally start to fight back, twisting and rolling on the floor as he attempts to escape the onslaught; finally, he manages to bring up an elbow to block a punch. As the pair struggles, his leg shoots out awkwardly, knee catching the man in the stomach. It's not enough to knock the wind out of the man, but he does scramble off the medic, slowly rising to his feet and turning to face Ygraine. "Won't, can't. The soulless ones, they'll destroy us all! It's the end of the line!" he screams with a manic laugh as he rushes towards Milkshake.

Meanwhile, on Bennett's Raptor, they do indeed have a situation. The angry Sagittaron is rushing forward, and he reaches Pitbull just as the ECO is raising his pistol. There's no shot, however; the Sagittaron's knife drives home into Pitbull's gut, the curved blade punching through his vital organs. The ECO wheezes and coughs blood, lurching forward as his arms wrap around the murderous refugee in a bear hug as the life slowly begins to drain from his eyes.

"FRAK. BUTCH. KNIFE." and she's pushing herself back up to try to get the needle, Mahasti is a small woman. At the sight of pitbul "Asclepius give me strength." she puffs out, holding the needle with both hands to attempt a stab into the man's shoulder, plunger going down "Oh lords and ladies. Lords and ladies. Pitbull please hold on!" If the man goes down to the fast acting sedative she's likely to take the knife from him and see to the ECO.

<FS3> Mahasti rolls Melee+2: Failure.

<FS3> Ygraine rolls Alertness: Success.

If Ygraine has learned anything from the amount of time she's now spent in the gym in the rec area in the past few months, dealing with men who larger than she is (and she's a pretty tall, healthy girl) has become something she's familiar with. She lets the man rush her, braced for it, keeping the needle carefully secured and hidden in her hand.

And as the insanity continues to unfold not two feet away from her, Bennett focuses on doing what she must— even if it isn't what she wants: flying her bus. Her gloved hand closes tighter around the stick, her eyes searching for that burgeoning glow in the distance that she knows is Orion. The splatter of blood on her flight suit? Ignored. If she can't land this boat, they all die. "Doctor Nasreen, breathe. We don't have a rifle on board, so I need you to keep control of things here."

<FS3> Ygraine rolls Melee: Success.

"Thirteen minutes," Repeating it, Maia readies to inform Orion when the voice cuts off. She flicks the comm. "Butch, Centerfold. Current status?" And then there's the situation announcement. FRAK! The screaming from the back of her Raptor has her checking behind her. "Milkshake, your sidearm!" Not willing to risk her ECO. Damn. Damn. Damn. Only then does she realize Yggy is being rushed. Gods. Attempting to focus, she wills her Raptor onward while trying to keep a look out on how Ygraine is faring.

This time, Mahasti does manage to stick the raging Sagittaron with the sedative, but the man isn't going down without a fight. Struggling in the dying Pitbull's grip, he jerks madly as he feels the needle enter his shoulder; before Mahasti can inject the full dose, the needle breaks off, and he shoves the dying ECO off him while throwing an elbow behind him, catching Mahasti in the gut and driving her backwards. Ripping the blade free, he turns to face her with murder in his eyes, taking several steps in her direction… and finally, the amount of sedative she was able to inject him with takes hold. The blade slips free of his suddenly lax hand, slipping to the deck with a dull thunk, followed by his own insensate body a moment later. Pitbull's body also falls to the floor, the ECO's eyes staring blankly at the ceiling as blood begins to pool beneath him.

Meanwhile, on the other Raptor, Ygraine braces herself against the charge of the man before her, his arms reaching for her throat. His body slams into hers, but she withstands the impact. Although she's at a severe disadvantage with only one arm to fend off her assailant, she doesn't need long. He either hasn't noticed or doesn't care about the needle hidden behind her back in the other hand, and as he gibbers madly and tries to grapple the ECO, her other hand suddenly snakes out and buries the needle in his back. Within seconds, he slackens, the feverish ranting slowing to a dull muttering and then nothing at all as his strength dies and he falls to the deck.

Once they are in range for wireless contact, and not a moment after, Bennett switches her transmitter over and speaks into her radio, "Orion, Butch. Raptor flight is five minutes ETA and coming in hot. Multiple wounded on board buses five zero zero alpha, and five seven charlie niner. We will require medical and rifles on the flight deck, over."

"Yeaaaaah, that was fun." Ygraine grits the words out from betweened tightened teeth, and leaving the medic to recover and deal with the now prone patient. She heads back to her seat and goes back to work.

Mahasti coughs hard, making a pained sound, eyes a bit wide at the advancing, once the body drops, the knife is taken away and slid foreward, away, the tiny doctor grabs the sedated arms and sits on the mans' back, pressing his arms to his back with all the strength in one arm, Holding him that way so he can't get up. "I need a shirt." she offers, a sniff escaping. With her free hand she attempts to dig the needle out. "I'm okay I think." and there's a stream of Leonese chatter - likely soft prayers on Mahasti's part. "I'm going to stay like this, until we land and a marine takes him." She takes her clipboard, rather unkindly slapping it down to write 'mandatory marine surveillance' for the man with her left hand. Not the tidiest.

With relief, Maia looks back and hears Ygraine and almost slumps in her seat with relief. "Thank GODS, Shake. Are you okay back there? Frak, that was intense." Unable to resist, a soft chuckle escapes. "So, what was I saying about flying a Raptor? Never dull, is it?"

"There is a pack of zip ties, second left compartment, two from the top," Bennett instructs the doctor calmly. "We will be landing momentarily, you're doing a good job." Meanwhile, she taps the bus's reverse thrusters, swipes some blood off her cheek, and prepares to bring the heavy bird in as quickly as she's able. Grace be damned.

With the situations on both Raptors put down, there's thankfully nothing left to complicate things as the evac flight settles into a landing pattern, the shape of the Orion growing larger as they approach. One by one they set down in one of the Mercury-class battlestar's cavernous flight pods, the launch bay mechanisms lowering them down into the hangar deck. Both Bennett and Maia's Raptors land on the port side, and they're the first ones to begin unloading their cargo. Orderlies and corpsmen are already waiting to meet them; those that can walk under their own power are escorted to the infirmary, while those that can't — such as the sedated men in Maia's and Bennett's Raptor — are lifted onto stretchers and carried off. It's only after the living are removed from the ships that a pair of orderlies return to Bennett's Raptor with a thick black bag in hand; a minute or so later they emerge once more, the body of Bennett's now-dead ECO concealed inside.

Ygraine is thoroughly glad that the evac - or at least, her part in the evac - is over. Now it's business time, and once back in her seat she preps her console for counter measures.

Phin was among those milling about the hangar deck, making small talk with a deckie about the now-entirely-theoretical 2005 Pyramid season. And then the call goes up. He hoofs it quick to one of the Vipers that's being readied to launch. Up the ladder and into the cockpit, where he goes through a quickie pre-flight and gets ready to roll.

Mahasti takes a breath "I think I should, no would like to stay on, if it is alright, the marines will probably have found more of those poor people and are going to need me." she offers to Bennett, having moved after Pitbull was removed to clean up the blood, "You out rank me and its your bus." she offers, still bleeding just a little herself. Bleach even gets used. "I'm sorry it got out of hand. I didn't expect the bastard to have a knife." she takes the offending knife to put in a zip bag, and hand off to a medical member lingering, ordering it be swabbed and tested for toxins. Paranoid juuuust a little bit. Once the mess is cleaned up, she takes off her gloves, putting the rubbish into a biohazzard bag for later disposal.

Bennett has taken the opportunity — by necessity — to unstrap herself from her seat and see to the doctor's injuries while they wait for their bus to be refueled. She goes about the task with a quiet, almost mechanical efficiency; despite not being medical crew, she's served long enough in the capacity of a rescue pilot, that the basics seem to be well in hand. "Are you all right?" she asks softly, reaching for a handful of sterilised pads and gauze. "If not, please say so now; this is only going to get worse." Her dead ECO is carted off, and a trepidatious-looking ensign clambers aboard. He takes one look at his pilot, mumbles a "sir", and gets to work.

With a real, major ops going down in possible hostile territory, Agrippa was also not too far away from the flight deck and suited just in case. He had been waiting to see how the Raptor's faired on their mission, even though he wasn't on Alert Five. When the alarms go off, Punchdrunk immediately looks up towards the source of the unmistakeable sound and quickly heads to his Viper, knowing that a scramble order is just that. Each second counts.

Holtz was already seated in his own Viper when the alarm sounds overhead. A moment later, he stands up in his cockpit, wildly gesturing towards his crew chief, who hoofs it over to the fighter with Holtz's helmet and seal collar in hand. The collar is quickly snapped into place, and he hurriedly dons the helmet and closes the canopy after rushing through pre-flight and handing the clipboard back to the crew chief. His eyes flick back and forth impatiently as his fighter is towed towards the nearest launch tube.

Warren was sitting already in his viper, probably the third or fourth time he'd gone through pre-flight. It was something to keep him busy while waiting on alert, to keep his mind off the waiting. He glances over at the landing raptors and the commotion and thats when the call goes out. He grabs his helmet, sealing it tight before closing the canopy and raises his hand up pointing a finger in the air and making a circle in the air to signal to load him up.

"Milling about" is not a particularly accurate way to describe Franklin. In fact, it's not a phrase which suits her at all — largely because she's been stalking across the deck since the evac started, inspecting equipment, Vipers, pilots, and generally just being a pain in the ass, as far as the deck crew is concerned. When the call announcing inbound raiders goes out, she has little more to do than pop her helmet and seal collar on and double-time it back to her Viper. She heaves herself up into the cockpit, quickly going through her pre-flight checklist — again.

Prepared to go back out now, Maia is at her controls, glad to see the last of the refugees heading out. Once she's in place on the launch pad, she hears the alert, louder than ever. Looking back at Ygraine, she gives her a quick flash of a very non-amused smile. "Looks like you're up to bat, Shake. Ready to jam?"

Mahasti pulls off her ruined shirts, leaving the white tank top on for now "Yes, its barely beyond a scratch and some bruising. We should leave as soon as we can safely." She takes the pads thankfully and cleans the wound with an alcohol swab "I promise I am okay." she offers with a smile, "I'm a paranoid woman, if I thought I wasn't OK I would have left the bus immediately on touch down." she shows her wound to Bennett to affirm she's okay. This does mean pretty much showing her chest before just taping the gauze down, tugging her tan medic top back on once she's sure she's got it on right.

Reaching his Viper, Agrippa begins climbing the ladder so he can hop into the cockpit, one of the deckies handing him the helmet after telling him that they've doubled checked his fighter and it's ready to go. Climbing in while saying his thanks to the man, Punchdrunk begins going through the checklists himself though, making sure everything is green on his board as well, knowing that not doing so to shave some of those precious seconds could mean his death outside. With his checklist complete, Agrippa's Viper is now being moved to the launch top, set on the catapult, «Punchie all systems green. Launching!»

One by one, the aircraft handlers are shoved into launch tubes while the Raptors are raised to the flight deck. The fighters cascade out into space, their pilots each shoved back into their seats by the g-forces as the catapults fling their ships out of the tubes; the Raptors emerge from the openings to the flight pods a moment later.

Once the Colonial ships emerge from dock, the Cylon contacts blink on their DRADIS screens. Experienced eyes count at least several squadrons, perhaps even a full wing. Many of them are dancing around the Orion and her surrounding flak frigates, holding the attention of the battlestar and her escorts while they twist and turn around the incoming flak fire. However, a smaller group of eight ships, six Raiders and a pair of heavies, breaks away from the battlegroup and dives towards the surface… towards the same set of habitats that the Raiders and their escorting Vipers are on course for.

"We will go when we are cleared to go," Bennett informs Mahasti quietly, relinquishing the medical supplies when it seems the doctor prefers to tend to her injuries herself. She twists back to face forward in her seat then, strapping herself in and scanning her readouts as she runs through an abbreviated flight check. "Also, there is a spare flight suit in that compartment there. If you are remaining aboard, you will need to put it on." Why, she does not specify. And then they are lifting slowly back off again, as a flurry of vipers launch silently from the tubes.

Phin shoots out into the starfield over Pallas, veering over to form up to cover Holtz's six. All the contacts lighting up his DRADIS prompt a deep breath, which he lets out slow. Like he's steeling himself.

Mahasti smiles "Thank you Captain." she reaches to tap Bennett's helmet once, before the captain can leave, putting it on "Because I've already bled through my medical suit, I assume, and its a bit more dangerous." she gets everything sealed up a bit quicker than most of medical. She sort of makes a face at the helmet "At least it smells better now." she admits, strapping herself in to the closest to the front seat she can, watching the windows, leaning her head back against the seat after a minute, tightening the straps for a snug harness. "I took dramamine before so I'm still covered."

And into the black shoots Warren in his viper. He checks his position the DRADIS. "Well frak," he says to himself as he looks over for his wingmates, angling over to move to formation as he hits the coms.

Most of the Orion's fighters are busy defending the battlegroup, but a small contingent of the Lucky Strikes is charged with escorting the Raptors' return trip. Holtz is part of that group, angling his fighter's nose down towards the surface of the moon in formation with the rest of the little convoy. "Flight, Storm. We've got company. Six sparrows, two turkeys, headin' on a parallel course."

It doesn't take long for the Cylons to become aware of the Colonial formation also moving towards the surfacee. The heavies continue on course towards the habitats, obviously intending to strafe them… but the six smaller escorting Raiders arc away from the main group towards the Colonials.

The DRADIS lights up like a Christmas Tree when Agrippa's fighter launches out of its tube and there is a flashback to when he was flying his old Mark II over Caprica, the day that the Cylons struck first. There were many more blips that day but this is the first time that Punchdrunk has seen so many Cylons out here. However, he forces himself to focus on the mission.

Ygraine seems happiest to be in combat, for all the more perverse it is. Right away she starts calling out DRADIS contacts over the comm, and then calls out calmly, "Centerfold, we been targeted. Processin' countermeasures."

Franklin's Viper shoots out into the black, rocketing fast towards the head of the pack of Lucky Strikes. She swears under her breath at the sight of her blinking DRADIS, at the number of lights on the screen.

Bennett's bus drops back to the rear of the wedge of buses, letting Maia and Ygraine take on a more offensive posture. Her eyes are on the windscreen, and the doctor behind her — skin and all — is all but ignored as she returns to the task of flying her bird.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Toast, Punchie. Teatime. You've each got one on you. Stay close."

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Teatime, Punchie. I copy, I see him. You've one angling towards you as well and our Raptors picked up a trailer as well."

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Teatime, Punchie. Toast. Copy that. Punchie clear the raptor, we'll keep your tail clear."

Mahasti smiles at Bennett "I trust you." she offers, comfortably sealed into the suit properly by now. her hands cover her chest, body shifting to take up as little room as possible within the bird, "You are skilled." she offers, reassuringly. Her eyes are sharp, watching the windows. She is strangely calm.

[Into the Wireless] Maia says, "Dolly, Centerfold. Got one on my six, sounds like you're my man?"

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Butch, Dolly. I'm on your follow. Centerfold, negative. Not in ideal position for y'all. Covering Butch right now."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Dolly, Storm. You've got a trailer. I'm on him."

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Bossraider passes.
<COMBAT> Raider6 attacks Phin with KEW - Serious wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Raider4 attacks Bennett with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Raider3 attacks Warren with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider4 with Ecm. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Raider5 attacks Atalanta with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Maia with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Raider1 attacks Agrippa with KEW - Moderate wound to Nose.
<COMBAT> Bruteraider passes.
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Raider5 with KEW - Moderate wound to Right Wing.
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Raider4 with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Raider6 with KEW - Moderate wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta attacks Raider1 with KEW - Moderate wound to Left Wing.
<COMBAT> Agrippa attacks Raider2 with KEW - Moderate wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-7657r has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Phin has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider-4530x has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider1 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider-3525t has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider5 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider-9833b has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider6 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Phin spends a luck point to keep fighting!

Holtz swings out and brakes, settling in on the tail of the Raider hunting his wingman. The Cylon's a slippery one, though — before Holtz can match the Raider's movements and settle it in his sights, the Raider lashes out and scores a hit on Phin. Cursing, Holtz concentrates and lets loose a salvo of his own, spearing the Raider's wing and sending it tumbling into a death spiral before exploding in a shower of metal.

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Dolly, Storm. Six is clear, you all right over there?"

Phin's aim is thrown off by the wicked shot the Raider after him gets off on his frontal gunnery. His systems do a lot of blinking and sputtering, and he does some hasty internal button pushing and rerouting to try and get them back in more functional order. He cracks open his instrument panel, which does some ominous sparking in his face. "Easy, sweetheart…" he mutters. To his Viper.

And the battle is joined. Warren edges his viper in, as Agrippa goes to clear the raptors, and Atia his tail, he swoops in behind hers. A burst misses him from behind but his burst is dead on, tearing through the raiders wing scrapping one raider from the fight.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Storm, Dolly. My targeting is fried. Gimme a sec. I'm going to try and jigger…something. Other systems seem OK."

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Teatime, Toast. Your six is clear. Still got one on my six. Raptors still have have uninvited guests."

"Hold on-" That's about all Bennett has time to get out to her passenger before she jukes hard and wings the bus gut-wrenchingly to port. Slider, her backseater, is a little more accustomed to this; despite being jostled about as tracers slip silently past the airframe, he's intent on his job. A hissed curse is muttered as his jamming fails to take.

With Agrippa leading the Viper on his tail, Franklin makes a wide arc to the right, circling back around and putting the bandit on her wingman's six right in her sights. It sets off a chain reaction — the Raider fires at Agrippa, she fires at the Raider, and the one trailing her lets loose. A spray of orange cannon fire, one after the other, separated by less than seconds. Her teeth rattle - both as her Viper slices through the debris made by a severed wing and as a blast of KEW slams into her hull.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Scrag one! Punchie, you're clear."

Mahasti is smart enough to have hunkered down, and curled up tight with a tight harness. She's pretty smart about that sort of thing. Her hands grip the harness straps, instead of panicking "Just do what needs to be done, even if I go fully idiotic over here, I'm not going to go bouncing around like un superball back here." she loudly asserts to Bennett, staying as still as gravity and momentum will allow.

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Dolly, Storm. Goin' to clear Butch's tail. Stay with me."

A battle right off the Orion wasn't something Maia had been expecting, but now that she's in the thick of things, she's going all evasive. Bracing for an impact that never comes, she glances back very briefly to her ECO, flashing her a grin through the helmet. "Way to go, Shakes!" Course, her ECO was the best, Team Blonde.

Agrippa did not get out of his exchange unscathed as a burst of KEW flashes by his cockpit, the Raider that was on him leading its fire just a tad too much so that it punches through the armor of the nose of his fighter. However, Punchdrunk was able to land a salvo into one of the Cylons that is hunting their Raptors and the Viper pilot doesn't give up, sticking to the tincan's tail.

The two hulking Heavy Raiders make their pass on the installation, their KEWs lashing out with a stream of angry blue bolts. Their fire strikes home, puffs of air streaming forth as their fire vents one of the habitats to space… but luckily, no bodies emerge from the decompressed structure. One of them swings around for another pass on the installation, but the other pulls away, joining its remaining escorts to engage the Colonial ships.

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Punchie copies, thanks for clearing my tail, took a light hit but it's just a scratch. Still trying to clear our Raptor's tail."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Titus, this is Butch. We are enroute back to the LZ; ETA two minutes. Please advise if you require longer to evac."

Phin keeps his course in line with Holtz, but his weapons are decidedly cold as he tries to engage in some emergency maintenance on his targeting. The deckies probably will not love him for it. Not that they were going to love him for the state his Viper was in after that hit, anyway. So he can only annoy them to greater degrees going forward.

The escorting Raiders twist about as they continue to pursue targets; two Raiders break off to engage Holtz and Agrippa respectively, while the Heavy seems to have its sights set on Bennett's Raptor. Meanwhile, the Raptors are closing on the habitats, their earlier landing points coming into view.

Ygraine watches one of the DRADIS dots split off and focus on Bennett - she diverts a portion of her signal to attempt and assist Bennett.

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Raider4 attacks Holtz with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Bruteraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Agrippa with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bruteraider attacks Bennett with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossraider passes.
<COMBAT> Raider3 attacks Warren with KEW - Moderate wound to Tail (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Raider3 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Bruteraider with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Phin treats Viper-7657r: < Weapon (Serious): unsuccessful
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Raider4 with KEW - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta attacks Raider3 with KEW - Critical wound to Body.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Raider3 - Light wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Raider3 - Light wound to Left Hand.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Raider3 - Moderate wound to Left Leg.
<COMBAT> Agrippa attacks Raider2 with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Raider3 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider-1613h has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider4 has been KO'd!

Warren pours on a bit of speed, dragging the raider trailing him foward to give his wingmates a better shot at him without having to double back to clear him off. As he sees the others choosing targets he notices he heavy raider coming in on one of the Raptors and aims himself towards it. Just as he's pulling the trigger though rounds tear through his tail and he ajusts to miss the wors of it. His firing suffers for it though, his bursts missing the barn sized target. Way to go LT.

Undaunted by the raiders zipping about like flies hunting for roadkill, Bennett continues to guide her bus in on a stalwart course toward the landing zone. As the big bogey zeroes in on her and begins firing, she doesn't even have time to warn her crew; she reaches across her console to key in the release code for a swallow and roughly stickhandles the bus to starboard this time. Thrusters firewalled with a flare of blue, she drops toward the station in a quick descent while the raider wheels off after the blinking decoy she just launched. "Prep for wounded, doctor, we're on the ground in thirty seconds."

Phin gets more sparking for his trouble and with a muttered, "Frakit" seals his instrument panel back up. His weapons go hot a beat later as he attempts to retarget on the remaining Raiders.

The second Heavy Raider joins its companion, abandoning the compound as it moves towards the Colonial ships, its beady red eye settling in on one of the Raptors moving in to dock. Meanwhile, the first Heavy and its only remaining escort twist about wildly, moving in for attack runs on two of the Vipers.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Flight, Butch. Raptors are down in thirty seconds. There is a situation on the ground, multiple hostiles. We would appreciate some cover."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Scrag two!" A pause. "Centerfold, Storm. Check six, Heavy goin' in on you."

The sudden maneuver with the Raider has Agrippa reacting more out of instinct than anything else as he triggers a quick burst at the Raider he was chasing who flipped around before yanking hard on his flightstick to the right. This has his Viper breaking away to try to dodge the KEW fire that is coming from the Cylon that was in front of him. When he rolls back into combat, Agrippa finds that there are less Raiders in the area but one of the bigger toasters are making a run at the Raptors so he begins to dive in that vector, knowing that the other Heavy Raider is on him as he is drawing quite a bit of attention tonight.

With her own tail clear, Franklin on has her two(!) wingmen to worry about. She barrels back in quick circles to chase down Warren and the Raider on his tail, teeth clenching as she hovers her finger over the trigger, waiting… waiting… waiting… to line her shot up. It's a perfect hit! One quick blast of KEW and there's and the thing shatters like it were made of glass. Too late. Too late. It doesn't stop the fire from hitting Warren's tail.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Dolly, Storm. I got my guns back online, as much good as they'll do. You'v got one on you. Trying to get a lock."

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Frak, I'm hit. Still good to fight. Butch, Toast. Pulled the heavy off of you. Your six is clear. Punchie, looks like he's heading your way now."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Many thanks, Toast."

Mahasti nods, loosening her muscles to touch her feet to the floor, loosening her harness just lighty, looking thankful her triage setup is down "What will be, will be." she whispers, voice soft, fingers adjusting things in the back to get situated. something like 'please be marines incoming' is mumbled faintly and she's mostly ready to get to her job.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Toast, Teatime. I nailed him. Your six is clear. Flight, cover the Raptors. Take those fat bastards down."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Dolly, Storm, copy, I'm goin' for turkey two. Keep that sonuvabitch off me."

[Into the Wireless] Ygraine says, "Storm, Milkshake. Already got my eye on our new stalker."

It's been a helluva trip back and Maia continues evasive maneuvers even as she flies in hot. When Ygraine manages to suppress once again, she doesn't look back, but she doesn't speak either, hearing Storm over the comm just then. "Awwfrak.. Hold on, Shake, it's going to get bumpy."

[TAC1] "Centerfold" Maia says, "Storm, Centerfold. Copy, doing what I can. Thanks."

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Bossraider attacks Maia with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Holtz with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bruteraider attacks Agrippa with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Bossraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Bossraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Bossraider with KEW - Light wound to Engine.
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Raider2 with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Bossraider with KEW - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta attacks Bruteraider with KEW - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Agrippa attacks Bossraider with KEW - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Heavy Raider-0380w has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Bossraider has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Heavy Raider-1490g has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Bruteraider has been KO'd!

They aren't stopping. Even as a few of them go down, the wounded just either barely falter or get trampled. Up the stairway, the burst into the upstairs hall as two arrows fly at the Marines from the kill room. Two men stand there, already drawing more, but the Marines are already going to be gone before they can even get another off. Red roundel lights are illuminated in half the quarters from air pressure leaks and there's the feeling of a breeze while air evacuates the structure. This place isn't going to last much longer anyway. Behind the Leathernecks, the horde isn't stopping. There is probably just enough time to get their asses back into the insertion room then shut the door. Though.. how long is that door going to hold?

Phin's shot goes off at slight angle, as if it can't quite manage a straight shot in its present state of repair. So he misses the Raider after Holtz pretty wide. The Raider also misses Holtz, so at least it's a wash. He swoops around, from where he dogfights with the other Vipers above Pallas, swerving back to form up with Holtz for another attack run.

Arthur's rifle barks in the direction of the Grinning Loonies, striking two of them in the chest and the third in the gut. Frakking shit, though, but there are so many. Even as those fall to the floor, they're trampled by more as they come screaming toward them.

And run, run his ass he does! Lleufer keeps tabs on his teammates that none of them have gone down to the arrows of the hoard chasing them. Rifle in hand, light beaming ahead to illuminate the way, damn straight he doesn't stop to buy girl scout cookies from the archers in the former rec room, now meat locker as they charge through it. Man's on his way back to the main warehouse or whatever the frak it was they found the original hold outs still alive. "There's fight'n going on up there!" They all felt the boom of the explosion.

As promised, the floodlights of Bennett's raptor pierce through the gloom about twenty seconds after her last radio transmission, and arc across the compound where they lifted off not too long ago. The bus's massive engines kick up dust and debris in whirling eddies as she skims the tops of the conjoined buildings, hunting for her quarry below.

This time Warren doesn't miss the broad side of the barn, aka heavy raider. His cannons burst out, damaging its engine, and totally allowing Holtz and Agrippa to nail it solidly, or at least thats what he would tell people. Ofcourse no time to do that as there are more wonderful blips on DRADIS now popping up.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Titus, this is Butch. Please advise of your position; we are at the LZ and under fire."

Franklin gave the order to cover the Raptors. It is, apparently, one she intends to follow herself. She dodges the field of flotsam and jetsam they've made of the skies over Pallas, following hot the tail of one of the Heavy Raiders. A slow inhale comes from her before she whispers under her breath, "She is the Huntress. I am the Arrow." As she exhales, her fingers press down into the trigger, letting three blasts of fire loose, lighting up the sky — and her target.

All but one of the initial pursuit group has been shot down, but the final Raider isn't alone for long. Three more Raiders, one Heavy and two standards, break past the battlegroup's flak screen and charge towards the surface; the Heavy goes for one of the Raptors, while the three standards conduct a pell-mell rush towards the Vipers. The two new arrivals seem to be trying to swarm Holtz, while the holdover from the first group angles after Agrippa.

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Flight, Toast. We got more inbound. I count two new raiders, and a heavy coming in hot."

Running as well, Fischer frowns a bit as he spots the archers, and as they rush past them. "Lovely place this…" he mutters under his breath as he runs, looking around as he hears Lleufer's words. "Either that, or someone's celebrating something with fireworks," he remarks now.

[Into the Wireless] Winston says, "Butch, Titus! We're at the insertion point, we're ready for pickup! And we got company!"

Holtz curses loudly as he sees a pair of bobbing redeyes settling in on his six. He arcs away from the surface, giving himself some room to maneuver before slamming on his thruster controls, flipping his ship in a violent 180 and squeezing off a snap shot as he attempts to even the odds against him.

Winston barrels into the insertion room, waiting for all his Marines to finish coming through the door before keying it shut. Gently as he can given the situation, he sets his passenger down. "Fischer! Help me get some of these crates in front of that door! We gotta buy the Raptor teams some time to cut us out a breech!" he thunders. Putting his brawn to use, the burly Taurean starts sliding one of the crates across the floor towards the door.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Storm, Dolly. You've got two more follows. I'm going to see if I can pull one off you."

Outside the warehouse door, the horde of -very- pissed off individuals rush against it and the whole damned wall shakes. They scream obscenities, howling some rather colorful and choice words. Aren't these supposed to be scientists?! But there's a sudden silence and then the sound of metal scraping metal again. Then something rams into the center-joint of the doors and there's a moment where it appears that the whole thing opened just a fraction of an inch. The Marines, just to look at the door, know its only a matter of time before that thing is jammed open — and that time is rapidly approaching. The horde brought A Tool.

The Heavy Raider is a larger target and Agrippa is able to keep his targeting reticule on the big bertha as he fires a couple of autocannon bursts into the toaster. It punches through its fuselage and lights it up nicely with a burst from Holtz's Viper as well. There isn't much time to celebrate because another group of Cylons are descending upon them and instead of shaking the one off his tail, Punchdrunk is trusting his wingmen to clear it. Instead, he moves to intercept the new Heavy Raider who seems intent on going after their Raptors.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Punchie, Teatime. You've still got one on your tail. I'm on him."

Just behind Bennett, Maia and Ygraine are making the landing, looking for the Marine's they'd left behind on the first trip. Trying to look for any signs of life down there, and evade the life in the air still aiming at the Raptor. "Going in hot!"

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Flight, Punchie. More contacts in bound, another big bird with two chicks. The big one is inbound for the Raptors, moving to intercept!"

<FS3> Phin rolls Piloting: Good Success.

[Into the Wireless] Ygraine says, "Flight, Milkshake. We're comin' in for pickup on the marines, the heavy's sniffin' our ass. Anybody free up to help us out?"

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Shake, Punchie. I'm on the Heavy."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Shake, Storm, no joy, my hands're full over here."

Arthur keeps his rifle trained on the door to the warehouse, and if his eyes get wide as the door's center joint starts to separate, well, maybe you'll forgive him. "Sir," he queries, not taking his eyes off the door.

Phin's guns may not be in terribly impressive conditions, but he's still got some moves. Maneuvering thruster-wise, at least. He tries to weave in front of one of the Raiders targeting Holtz, to make himself seem like a more attractive target.

[Into the Wireless] Ygraine says, "Copy that, Punchie, Storm."

Bennett wheels her bus about like a barrel racer on a dime, and swoops in — nose first — to the dome where they made their initial cut with the plasma torch. The raptor's floodlights spill into the 'insertion room', illuminating whatever may lie beyond as the pilot engages the bus's magnetic clamps and drops down solidly. Mahasti may well be jostled in her seat as the hardseal is re-established. "All right, doctor, it's game time. Help me with this, please." She unstraps herself from her seat, engines still running, and begins spinning the winch that releases the floor compartment - through which the marines are about to come.

Lleufer 'll stop while Winston and Fischer deal with jamming crates up against the door. He'll take Winston's package, his turn to heft the woman up over a shoulder and start moving to take her towards the far wall whlie he's got a slight lead on the hoard behind them. "Come on! Door's not going to hold! Bus is come'n in!" His spotter light is on and blazing a ray of brightness in the otherwise dark chamber as the Aerilon does his best to run with with woman Winston had been carrying.

The Raiders on Holtz's tail are tenacious, but Phin times his swoop well. His ship passes in between the Cylons right as Holtz makes his turn, and one of the Raiders is sufficiently distracted, pulling away to target the major's wingman instead.

"Bring us in, Centerfold." Ygraine is half raised from her seat but continuing to attend her console as she locks her countermeasure system on the heavy sniffing at Team Blonde's raptor tush. Then she starts readying for the incoming to come on board once they land.

Using his entire body weight to help pushing one of those crates over to the door as well, Fischer does what he can to slam the crate against the door so they can keep the angry mob from coming at them already now. Moving back a little bit after he's done it, he winces momentarily as he brings up his rifle again. "If they don't come soon, this looks a bit troublesome," he remarks now.

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Agrippa with KEW - Critical wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Agrippa - Critical wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Thugraider attacks Maia with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider8 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Raider8 attacks Phin with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Raider7 attacks Holtz with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Thugraider with KEW - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Raider7 with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Raider7 with KEW - Critical wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta attacks Raider2 with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Agrippa attacks Thugraider with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-1222d has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Agrippa has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider-1840i has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider7 has been KO'd!

Mahasti undoes her harness, moving to do what Bennett tells her! She isn't too upset at being jostled though, thankfully. Turning the winch is strenuous for her, but she does what she can, not complaining "I'm sorry I couldn't help you too much with much else. She is at least at doing what she is told!

Winston backs away from the door, rifle trained on it. "Vashti, get up there and see if you can breech that seal. This door ain't gonna hold. Let's get to some high ground, Marines!" Into his tac-mike, he addresses the Raptor. "Butch, Titus. We're coming out! Standby!" That done, he covers the retreat for his men as he walks himself back towards the crate pile that leads to safety.

Phin goes into a scrambling evasive pattern, even doing a roll as the Raider's KEW guns cut toward his ship. It works, as he manages to keep from getting hit. He can't help but let out a very long sigh of relief as he angles back up, keeping his flying tight to hopefully continue to avoid getting shot.

"You're doing fine, doctor." Bennett's blue eyes flick up, briefly catching Mahasti's gaze before she grits her teeth and hauls the release handle up. The compartment swings out, and she reaches for the sidearm under her seat with a smooth, practiced motion of someone who is no stranger to having to defend herself in the line of duty. "Stay back, please. I will cover the marines' ingress as much as I can. Slider, eyes on DRADIS— and scan for any unusual power signatures."

Warren lines up the big guy diving on the parked Raptors. He hones in, and thumbs the firing nub sending out bursts of orrange fire. The shots, they're dead on, problem is his angle and they're really only good enough to scratch the pain off the thing. "Frak. He's still frakking diving," ofcourse as he glances out to check his six, see what the 'terrain' is like he sees Agrippa get lit up fron the rear which is never good.

"SIR, YES, SIR," Arthur, fairly shouts and, taking the stairs two at a time, reaches the sealed door. Offering a brief prayer to any of the gods that could possibly hear him over this ruckus, he unshoulders his rifle and starts beating at the temp seal with its butt.

Once landed, Ygraine speeds up the doors by manually pushing at the and then heads back to the comm, switching to the marine team channel. "Marine units, Milkshake. Back on the ground. What's your position?"

Bennett hears the steady PING, PING of their sensors telling them they've been targeted, but there is little she can do about it. "See if you can mask our signature, Slider," she calls across to her ECO, sidearm brandished in both hands as she watches and waits for the marines.

Lleufer gets to the seals and has to set his burden down. She was humming lullabys into his ear and her breath smells of rotted meat. Or maybe it's the odor lingering from the slaugher room back there. Either way, she's creepy and he's glad to be rid of her for a breath. Hands grab up his rifle and as the rest of his team comes to join him, Lleu'll start to pound at the seal with the butt stock of his rifle, "Let's" *bang* "Get!" *bang* "The…" *bang* "Frak!" *bang* "Out!"

A predatory sneer twists Holtz's features as two pursuers become one, and then thanks to his guns, one becomes none. He trips his afterburners after completing his flip, plunging through a cloud of flame and debris as the triple KEWs rend the Raider into scrap. Seeing a pair of Raiders going for another run on the Raptors, he accelerates, his Viper spiralling madly as he settles in on the tail of the last remaining Heavy.

Mahasti slides behind the side, so the armored ship is between her and and the hostiles "Yes sir." she whispers, looking nervous about the hostility. She is smart enough to keep her body a smaller target "It will be okay." she offers, her entire body uncomfortably tense from the happenings. The targetting is not helping.

Higher ground. That's an excellent idea, as Fischer climbs up with the others, every now and then glancing back towards the doors, just in case. Moving to bang the butt stok of his own rifle against the seal as well, rather forcefully. "Come on…" he mutters under his breath now.

Landed, but in the hot spot, Maia waits, her hands on the controls, each minute dragging on and on. All she can do is watch the firefight around her through the canopy or look back at Shake as she pushes open the door, not leaving her seat for anything, prepared to take off at a moments notice. Seeing the Vipers get him, she winces but remains stoically silent, waiting…
[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Scrag three! Centerfold, Storm. I'm on the Heavy. Dolly, let's piledrive this motherfrakker."

Rifles break off the buttstocks, fiberglass and bent metal going everywhere. After about a dozen solid hits, the temporary seals fail and the heavy metal pieces of the ceiling fall. Hitting the ground with a massing -BANG-. Meanwhile the horde on the other side of the door has finally started to pry it open enough to see faces and those sickening grins. "WELLLLCOME!!!" calls that voice once more. But with the seals broken, the Marines are left looking up into the Raptors' cabins and able to climb up. Time to GTFO, Marines!! Go, go, go!

Phin follows Holtz on targeting the heavy, as much as his banged-up cannons and continued swervy flying allow him to target anything. The tail he picked up, he just leaves to his dodging abilities.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Storm, Dolly. Copy that. Let's put it away."

The good news for Agrippa is that his Viper, despite just taken a full salvo of KEW fire from the Raider that was on his tail, did not have any of its critical components hits. Its engines are still untouched, as is the powerplant. The bad news is that the fuselage and thin armor has been completely shredded and controlling the now rather sluggish fighter is difficult. What's even worse is that the damage done to him, created shrapnel and one piece punched through the cockpit casing, into his abdomen from the back. There is a flash of pain and almost had the Viper pilot black out but his body fights through it and after his fighter dips for a bit, losing some altitude, it rights itself and begins a slow climb.

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Fli… flight, Punchie. I'm hit… most… most systems green."

[Into the Wireless] Maia says, "Storm, Centerfold. Copy. Just be careful up there, it's looking like a spare parts yard out here with the debris. Hope that's Raider parts."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Punchdrunk, Butch. Do you require assistance?"

Arthur, without waiting to be asked, reaches down and picks up the Singing Secretary, She of the Meat Breath, and fairly throws her in to a fireman's carry. Leaving his ruined rifle behind, he runs as fast as he can towards one of the grounded Raptor's. With any luck, it's Milkshake's but beggers can't be choosers.

There we go! Seals broken! When it's clear, Lleufer slings what remains of his rifle back on it's strap and lays his hands to the woman he'd hauled up with him. He's not as big and muscled as Winston, a leaner man. But he does his best to heft and hand up the woman before he's climbing up, "Help me with her. She's witless!" The woman's naked but for a lab coat, her hands bound behind her. She seems oblivious to what is going on, humming some lullaby. Soon as he's got her up, Lleufer clears the hole to make way for his comrades, offering a hand down to help his fellow jarheads up.
[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Dolly, Toast. Careful, you picked up a tail. Punchie, hang in there man."

Too late — once again, Franklin was too late. She's barreling after the Raider on Agrippa's tail when it lets loose on him. She hisses furiously, her fire going wide as it plummets after wingman. She lays down on the throttle, following after it with vengeance on her mind.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Toast, Dolly. I asked a toaster to dance and he took me up on it. No worries, I can dodge."

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Thugraider attacks Maia with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Raider8 attacks Phin with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Bennett with KEW - Light wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Raider2 with KEW but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Thugraider with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Thugraider with KEW - Light wound to Right Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta attacks Raider2 with KEW - Serious wound to Right Wing.
<COMBAT> Agrippa passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

Winston watches the Marines battering at the seal, tapping his foot. "C'mon," he urges as his Marines batter at the seal. "C'mon c'mon c'mon!" As the door behind them opens and the horde becomes visible, he hefts his rifle. Then the seal fails and he whoops. "All right! Let's go, Marines!" He waits for Arthur, Lleufer, and Fischer to be through before he turns and sets into a sprint for the waiting Raptors. "Butch, Titus! Here we come!" he roars into his tac-mike.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Punchie, Teatime. That you or your comm cutting out? Do you need escort back to the barn? Repeat. Do you need escort back to the barn?"

Bennett does not need to be asked twice. Abandoning her sidearm in favour of helping with the evacuation, she reaches down and helps Lleufer hoist the woman up. It isn't pretty, but she manages to pass her off to her ECO and waiting doctor, and waits for the next one. Meanwhile, the raptor shudders as it's dealt a glancing blow by a passing raider; the console briefly pings to inform its pilot of damage, but earns only a cursory glance from Bennett.

There's only a very brief pause as Fischer looks down to the madpeople down there. "Goodbye!" he mutters, before he moves to get up into the Raptor as well as it seems that they've managed to get the woman up there, and he hurries to get aboard, letting out a deep breath as he gets to the relative safety now.

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Comms… comms are green. Viper is sluggish. I can… I can bring the bird home. Get that Heavy, I couldn't."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Punchie, Storm, clear out. We'll finish the bastard off."

Phin continues to dodge, despite his attempts to jinx himself via over-confident comm chatter. He still doesn't manage to hit the heavy, his guns continuing to fire at an angle that's just slightly off. Which matters a great deal, at the speed he's moving.

Holtz's fire nicks the Heavy Raider, but the only thing he seems to accomplish is making the thing mad. It breaks off from its attack run on the Raptors and swings around, surprisingly agile for a ship its size. "Well, frak me," he mutters under his breath as he and the Heavy race towards each other head on, neither apparently wanting to pull away as they go for the kill.

Warren pulls hard on his stick, turning back towards the raider that just lit up Punchie then decided to stay for Raptor desert. He growls a bit, looking to blast the raider that just took out his other wing. His burst unfortunately misses just a little high, sailing past the raider, just before Atia tears into him. He settles in on Atia's wing, moving in with her to focus their fire.

Once all marines are in, Ygraine helps the motorized doors to close and makes her way back to her seat, pausing briefly to taptap Maia on the top of her helmet. "Let's go, let's go." she says, sliding back into her seat.

The usually aggressive Agrippa did not bank his Viper back towards the fight to chase after the Heavy Raider that he missed after answering Ygraine's comm about covering her Raptor. Instead, the heavily damaged fighter's nose is still angled upwards, slowly continuing its climb towards the direction of the Orion. Home.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Copy, Titus. Welcome aboard. Sing out once your men are accounted for, and we will dust off. Centerfold, standard defensive formation. Flight, we are skids up in one minute and counting."

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Toast, Teatime. Form up with Storm and Dolly. I'm bringing Punchie home."

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Punchie, Dolly. Godspeed. See you back at the barn."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Teatime, Storm copies. Toast, bring it in, let's give these Raptors a clear shot home, yeah?"

Mahasti buckles the woman in first when Bennett has her loaded, and even goes so far as to button the coat gently. She moves to sit the hell away from the woman, looking suspicious and untrusting as she buckles herself in "Injured?" she asks towards whoever is next to her, looking uncomfortable again.

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Teatime, Storm. Toast. Copy that, forming up with Storm and Dolly."

<COMBAT> Warren will attack Raider8 this turn.

One last shot — head on. Franklin squints into the blackness, staring at the red eye of that lingering Viper with hate. It should've exploded. It should've. There's a curse — one that possibly comes through on the comms — as she breaks off and chases after Agrippa, following so close she's practically got the nose of her Viper shoved up his exhaust. She's going to push him into the hangar bay if she has to.

While she waits, she listens to the com chatter and registers that Punchie's name is being said an awful lot. Sitting a little straighter, Maia looks up towards the sky as she waits for the loading of the Marines and the go ahead from Ygraine. Every comm transmission brings her to the same conclusion. With her own Raptor locked and loaded, she calls back, "One minute, Shakes." Firing up and ready to take off once again, eyes straight ahead, blinking rapidly.

The woman out of his and Arthur's hands, Sergeant Ynyr plops his butt down and straps in out of the way. "Thanks, Captain." That is offered to Bennett whom he doesn't really know otherwise but that's twice she's lent him a hand. Lleu hears Mahasti's question and raises his baritone to carry over the general noise, "Not sure, Doc. But she's messed up bad." His poor rifle is a waste but they got out of that hole, at least. "You OK?"

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Punchie, Teatime. Just keep her flying straight. I've got your tail covered."

[Into the Wireless] Maia says, "Butch, Centerfold. Copy, we're locked and loaded, following your lead, defensive formation. Punchie, if you hear me, by Gods you better make it back safe."

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Atalanta with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Thugraider attacks Holtz with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Raider8 attacks Phin with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Raider8 with KEW - Light wound to Right Wing.
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Thugraider with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Thugraider with KEW - Moderate wound to Left Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta passes.
<COMBAT> Agrippa passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.

Bennett swings back into the pilot's seat, leaving the business of closing up the hatch to her backseater. The engines, currently idling, are spun back up in sequence with a low whine as her console comes back to life again. "This might get a little choppy," she calls back to her passengers, mildly. And then, with a brief smile for Ynyr at his thanks, she peels the bus up and off the platform once more. Its floodlight sweeps once, twice, to make sure nobody's hanging from the landing skids, and then the thrusters fire and she swoops back up into the night— and into the line of fire. There is nothing for it.

Warren pulls hard on the stick as he's ordered off and hits the accelerator just as hard. Its a hard turn, as he moves to form up with Dolly and Storm, bringing him right in on the raider Dolly asked out to the dance tonight. Warren apparently doesn't support interspecies dancing, as he lets loose with a burst into the wing of the raider. Apparently its not enough, so he continues to try to peel him off.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Actual, Teatime. We need DC and medical on deck. Punchdrunk's coming in with a bloody nose."

There is no more responses coming from Agrippa's Viper, at least verbal ones over the comm as the pilot himself is putting all his focus on flying and not blacking out. He's bleeding and he knows it, but with a singular focus, he is able to maintain consciousness. It's certainly not flying at top speed, the pilot not even thinking about pushing the thruster lever all the way forward, and two, he doesn't want to go too fast where he smashes into the Orion on approach.

Winston settles himself in the back of the Raptor. "We're on board!" he hollers into his tac-mike. As the Raptor gets airborne, he unstraps his helmet and sets it in his lap, taking his cigar in hand with a hearty laugh. "Good work, Marines. Damn good work!" He sucks in a couple deep breaths, looking down at the Warehouse of Madness as the deck drops away. "Look here, Ares. Look here Ares! Thy soldiers have done their work this day. These bloody men our gift to you!" he intones silently. Then, he leans his bulk back up against the back of his chair, resting his head on the headrest. "Soon as we get back to Orion, first round's on me, boys," he says to the other jarheads. "Damn good work today." Of course, they couldn't hit the labs. But he doesn't say that. That part will come. Best to savor what victory as could be attained, and deal with the fallout later.

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Dolly, Toast. I'm working on canceling your dance partner. He's still back there though. Hope you got a few moves left in the tank."

Holtz trips his thrusters just as the last Heavy opens up on him. His Viper dances around the stream of incoming fire, and his own shot strikes home on the Raider's port quarter. A blossom of flame erupts on the Heavy's wing, but it's still in one piece; Viper and Raider flash by each other, and Holtz flips his ship to reacquire the target. The Heavy's bobbing red eye burns angrily as it echoes Holtz's movement.

Mahasti eyes Lleu "If she even tries to get up, you sit her back down. No Incidents. I will not treat her until I can strap her down to a bed." she half orders, half explains. "Yes. I'm .. okay." she hesitates, buckling herself back in tightly "I will be okay." she adds, watching the marines "Medical attention needed?" she asks to them, her eyes closing for a moment as she takes a deep intake of breath, letting it wash out.

Phin's guns once again go wide of their target, but he again manages to keep himself in one piece. It's the latter he stays more concentrated on, the state his Viper is in.
[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Raptor flight, Storm. If you're loaded, clear the frak out, we'll cover you."

Arthur straps himself in for a bumpy ride.
[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Toast, Dolly. I got moves, man! Thanks for the cover. I'll keep shaking him long as I can. If you need to, divert to the Raptors once they're off."

Taking some deep breaths as he moves to a seat, Fischer straps himself in as well, then leans back a bit heavily now. Letting out a deep breath as he does.

"Thank ya for flyin' Team Blonde Airlines." There's a quick look over her shoulder at the marines present, Yggy gives Arthur a brief, fierce smile as Centerfold takes off and Ygraine has a chance to review the DRADIS contacts and who's doggin' who.

Franklin's eyes flick down to the DRADIS — one and her tail, and no one to cover her. Ladies do not say those words, Atalanta. Ladies do not say those words, ever. That doesn't stop her. On the contrary, she blurts them right out as she swoops left, trying to keep the bandit on her instead of her wounded partner.

Ynyr's eying his fellows with a critical eye. Lleufer studies Arthur especially, "Na, I think we got out all right, Doc." Looking back to Mahasti for a glance, "But it was close." Winston's words and he smiles, "Drink or ten I think I could stand. Just don't order me a bloody raw steak for a month or two." Gah, what they saw down there's liable to give them nightmares for a while. They aren't out of it yet but Lleu strips off his goggles to wipe his brow and keep half an eye on their nutty rescuee woman.

Bennett's focus shifts to flying her bus, once they're airborne. Her eyes are on the windscreen, and the arcing cannonfire from friend and foe alike. "Peerless Ares," she murmurs softly into her helmet, thumb off the transmit button, "in the single strike, the killing blow, we see you.." she jukes the raptor, skipping wide of skip-hopping tracers. "..in strength of will, in battle joined in faith or fear, in an unbroken spirit, we know you." She follows closely in Agrippa's path, in the off chance he needs to be scooped out of a freefall, but not close enough to hamper his flying as it were.

Once the countdown ends, Maia fires up the thrusters and lifts off with the precious cargo. Airborne once more, Maia doesn't say another word, concentrating on getting back to the Orion and in a hurry. Well as fast as a bus would take her, taking Storm at his word. Her lips do twitch at the words from Yggy and she glances back offering a nod to her ECO. "Team Blonde," the words murmured softly. "Nice to meet you Arthur."

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Atalanta with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Thugraider attacks Holtz with KEW - Serious wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Raider8 attacks Phin with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Raider8 with KEW - Light wound to Left Wing.
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Thugraider with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Thugraider with KEW - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta passes.
<COMBAT> Agrippa passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Raider-6410o has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Raider8 has been KO'd!

Another burst is loosed from Warren's cannons. Its not a great hit, but it seems to be enough to take care of that raider. He hits the stick slicing through the wreckage just in time to see Holtz under fire from the heavy. He jams the accelerator again, moving in hard on the heavy determined to do more than just scratch its paint this time.

Holtz's luck finally runs out. A salvo of blue KEW fire from the Heavy's chain gun spears him amidships, and he curses loudly as his Viper bucks wildly under the impact. He's still in one piece, though, and he manages to land another shot on the stubborn Cylon ship as he passes. He checks his status display, and although the damage indicators are screaming and flashing an ugly red where he was hit, luckily no primary systems seem to have been affected. The tenacious Storm isn't about to give up, and he throws his damaged ship into an evasive spiral as he circles around.
[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Dolly, Toast. Your six is clear. I'm inbound on the heavy now. Lets clear this Fraker off of Storm."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Frak!"

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Toast, Dolly. Nicely done. Copy. Still on him. Storm, how're you flying, man?"

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Storm, Teatime. You better tell me you're in one piece. I don't have room on this thing for anymore passengers."

As Atalanta shepherds Agrippa back to the Orion, the Raider on her tail ends its fruitless pursuit, swinging back into the furball behind it and homing in on one of the still-fighting Vipers. Namely, Warren's.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Storm, Butch. We'll see if we can give you a hand here. Please advise if you need to eject."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "I'm fine, godsdamnit, and once I'm done with this frakker I'm gonna bring home its head and nail it to the frakking wall."

And a bumpy ride it is! Lleufer hangs on with the rest of the Marines as Bennett does her thing to fling her birdie around, and keep their arses whole, if she can. He might can hear her prayer. His gaze slips back to the doctor who looks a little bloody, "Sure you're all right? Anything I can do, Doc?"

Phin gets a chuckle out of Holtz's threats of taxidermy over the comm. He tries to line up a straighter shot, now that his tail is free. For all the good it does him. His weapons systems remain fritzy on their ability to aim correctly.

Once they're back in the air, Ygraine returns her focus to that one ornery heavy raider. "Frak with my boys, will ya." she mutters under her breath.

Bennett's bus lumbers in on a parallel course to the raider hassling Holtz, and its countermeasures pod flickerflashes several times in rapid succession as jamming protocols are initiated. Her right hand is steady on the stick, while the left switches through the damage readouts from the hit they took earlier. Minor, minor, minor. Missile pod three is experiencing intermittent power failures. Not like they have missiles loaded, anyway.

Mahasti smiles "There is nothing you can do for me in a raptor. The only thing you can do for me is not push the issue. Its very minor. Cleaning up will help. Also getting in clean clothes. Maybe my nice rack for just staying still." she offers to Lleu. She just curls her weight tighter against the seat, legs shifting, arms over her knees.

Without anything on her six, Maia just continues her forward trek, bound and determined to get there in one piece and deliver her cargo of Marines safely to the Orion. The news of the wounded Vipers all over the comms, she just continues to listen, reassured as she hears Storm's voice. Still nothing from Punchie though. Relieved Ygraine has the suppression going on she has to smile at her words, if she is able to hear them. "Get em Shake."

A sigh of relief pours out of Franklin — when the Raider turnds off her tail, when Storm's angry voice comes over the comms. "Just keep your nose up, Punchie," she whispers. "Just keep your nose up and you'll be fine."

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Thugraider attacks Holtz with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Warren with KEW - Moderate wound to Engine (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren tries to attack but has no target!
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Thugraider with KEW - Moderate wound to Weapon.
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Thugraider with KEW - Moderate wound to Body (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta passes.
<COMBAT> Agrippa passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Viper-4625l has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Warren has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Warren spends a luck point to keep fighting!

Fischer is keeping quiet so he won't disturb anything now, as he's still leaning back a bit in his seat. Looking out the window at the happenings out there, he frowns a bit, muttering something to himself.

'Maybe her nice rack for … ' Ynyr blinks at Mahasti but he'll keep his mouth shut now except to say, "All right." Sitting tight and doing nothing while everyone else is busy is not what Lleufer's good at. He cranes his head around but he's not much use on board so he must sit tight and wait it out with his fellow leathernecks.

Warren heads on in after the heavy but catches the glint of the raider coming up behind him. As he goes to fire, his Viper rocks hard as his engines get hit pretty well. Great, first his tail, now his engines.

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Frak! Engines hit. I can hold it though. Fracking raider turned back, he's on my ass."

Phin finally hits something. Through sheer force of will, and maybe some experience in predicting what particular off angles his damaged cannons want to go in. His weapons tag team with Holtz's on the hull of the heavy raider, but the thing remains operational. "Frakking beast…" he mutters.

This time, Holtz is a little more careful, and he throws his shuddering Viper to one side as the now-scarred Heavy cuts loose on him once more. The shot passes harmlessly to starboard of Holtz's Viper, and he flips end over end, leaning on his ventral thrusters to push him into a pass over the Raider. He noses down and fires, the bolts striking home but still not killing the Heavy.

There is only so much help Bennett can be, with a full bus of marines, an injured doctor, and a fairly green backseater. Running interference is a risky game to play, and she taps her thrusters to slip ahead of the firefight once she sees that things seem mostly under control. Her bus's exhaust vents flare blue as she approaches Orion's port flight pod and prepares to come in for a landing.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Toast, Dolly. We're all match-y now. Still can't put that frakker away. You should get someone to come back for this heavy's head if you get him downed, Stom. It'd look righteous on the ready room wall."

Mahasti watches the window "So much shimmering debris." is all she has to say. She does however just rest her head on the back of the seat, breathing deep and calmly, afterall there is nothing she can do within the raptor from the comfort of a flight suit. Her fingers do however press down on her chest.

[Into the Wireless] Ygraine says, "Slider, Milkshake. Start targettin' that Raider on your and Toasty's ass, I gotta keep pushin' back on the heavy. Can ya manage it?"

Bennett glances over her shoulder briefly, voice soft when she addresses Mahasti, "How are you doing back there, doctor? We're almost- ah, frak." The epithet is muttered darkly as a sharp *ping* registers they've got company. "Hold on, please." And she feeds tylium to the thrusters with a low growl as the bus falls into a defensive posture.

The combined Raptor and Viper group edges closer to Orion's hangar pods. The last pursuing Raiders remain doggedly on their tails, the Heavy still gunning for Holtz while the smaller Raider angles in for a final run on Bennett's Raptor.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "(Slider): You got it, Shakes! Targeting this motherfrakker."

[Into the Wireless] Holtz says, "Dolly, Storm. Bet your ass it would."

Mahasti smiles "Bennett I'm fine, I just need to get cleaned up and a little bit of time to lay on my back." she offers, voice calm and strangely confident about being fine. Her hands hold on her chest yet, eyes closing "How are you up there, Butch?" she asks, curiously watching around.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Punchie, Teatime. You just keep her steady. Slow down, keep your nose up, and you'll be fine. Flight, I'm headed back your way. Toast, form up on me when I'm in range."

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Teatime, Toast. Coppy that. Butch, careful one on your six."

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Flight, I think I've got an admirer. Would you care to blow him out of the sky for me?"

One last eye out the canopy at Agrippa to make sure he's in safe — or at least as close as she can get him. Once he's on deck, there isn't a damned thing she can do, anyway. Then Franklin arcs back around laying down on her throttle so she can double-time it back to the furball as fast as her Viper can carry her.

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Bennett with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Thugraider attacks Holtz with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Thugraider with Ecm. <unsuccessful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Raider2 with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Thugraider with KEW - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Thugraider with KEW - Light wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta passes.
<COMBAT> Agrippa passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Heavy Raider-2326e has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Thugraider has been KO'd!

Warren glances at his DRADIS as he notices the raider peeling off of him. "Oh no you don't you fraking toaster," he mutters to himself as he hits the RCS thrusters to flip his viper over in the opposite direction to chase after it. He hits hard on his thrusters, knowing his engines are already not happy what so ever with him. He rockets towards the raider seeing it going after the raptors, and lines up the shot. For all the great his engines decided to do getting him there and lining up the shot, its when he goes to pull the trigger they flutter, sending his shots wide. "FRAK!" he yells to himself.

[Into the Wireless] Warren says, "Butch, Toast. Working on your friend, but he's still back there. Keep evasive."

[Into the Wireless] Ygraine says, "Milkshake, Toast. Got your back."

Phin slams on his stick, in a bid to force it to aim where he wants his guns to aim. It's not like he can really do more damage to those controls at this rate. Maybe it actually works. Or he's just continuing to tilt in the right direction for his bent targeting to hit something. Whatever the case, he gets as square a shot as he's managed all night, right at the heavy raider's cockpit.

[Into the Wireless] Atalanta says, "Nice shot, Dolly!"

[Into the Wireless] Agrippa says, "Orion Actual… Punch… final approach."

How is she? Well, if it helps Mahasti's nerves — and it probably doesn't — there is no response from Bennett as she works to maneuver out of the raider's dogged sights. Twin salvos come lancing toward her bus, and are narrowly escaped with a quick jerk on the attitude thrusters. KEW fire slices past, a dazzling light show briefly illuminating the portside windscreen. Barrel rolls are out of the question, and so she sets her jaw and plods on as best she can. The flak ring, and the safety of the frigate, is just within reach.

<FS3> Agrippa rolls Piloting-4: Good Success.

Holtz and the Heavy continue their dance, Holtz scoring another glancing blow while he again skirts around a shot from the Cylon. Said heavy is so focused on him, though, that it doesn't notice the other Viper blazing in and putting a shot right into its head-dome. The battered Raider finally spirals out of control and goes up into a sheet of flame as Holtz growls in triumph.

Meanwhile, under cover of the battlegroup's flak and the rest of Orion's air wing, the first of the Raptors begin to land on Orion's flight pods. They settle down on the various landing pads, which begin lowering them down into the hangar deck.

[Into the Wireless] Bennett says, "Copy, Toast. I am doing what I can. Do you think it might be my new perfume?"

It doesn't take too terribly long for Franklin to reach their flight-group. Not now, with them racing towards her, anyway. She scans the pack quickly, eyes flicking from one bright metal hull to the next until she can spot Smythe's Viper. "Got you," she mutters as she dives into the fray to cover his rear.

[Into the Wireless] Phin says, "Teatime, Dolly. Thanks. I was starting to think that thing was immortal. Storm, always awesome to kill stuff with you, man."

The Orion's landing bay looms larger and larger in front of Agrippa's damaged fighter and the pilot is trying to keep his approach straight without too much deviation. There is a wobble in its approach and as it draws closer, one can see that the fuselage is in bad shape, the fighter's integrity barely holding together. Punchdrunk is still awake enough to make the landing though as the skids come out and it touches down without issue. The canopy is pushed open and the crew rushes to tend to both spacecraft and pilot. Agrippa is unable to rise and when his helmet is pulled off, there is bleeding from the mouth. The worst is the seat and the pilot's back, shrapnel has made a mess of it. It doe

<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Raider2 attacks Bennett with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Slider suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Ygraine suppresses Raider2 with Ecm. <successful>
<COMBAT> Warren attacks Raider2 with KEW and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Phin attacks Raider2 with KEW - Moderate wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Maia passes.
<COMBAT> Mahasti passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz attacks Raider2 with KEW - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Raider2 - Light wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Raider2 - Light wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Raider2 - Serious wound to Right Foot.
<COMBAT> Bennett passes.
<COMBAT> Atalanta passes.
<COMBAT> Agrippa passes.
<COMBAT> Holtz has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Raider2 has been KO'd!

The last pursuing Raider is first hit by fire from Phin, and finally sheared in half as a shot from Holtz slices it right down the middle. With the pursuit ended and the Raptors aboard, the Vipers follow suit, touching down in the hangar deck. A moment later, the call goes out for combat landings to the rest of the battlestar's air wing, still involved in combat with the rest of the Cylon response force; swiftly, the remaining Vipers all pile onto each of the Orion's decks as CIC begins the countdown to jump. The Cylons charge into the battlegroup, persistent even as they begin to explode one by one as they plunge into the battlegroup's flak barrier… which suddenly dies as each Colonial ship, one after the other, triggers its FTLs and jumps away to safety in a blinding flash of light.

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