Grand Plans

Grand Plans

Heather O'Leary
Elizabeth Maxwell (Logging)
Michael Donovan


It starts with one report…


Freedom Network <IC>

Message: 7/7 Posted Author
Wednesday Report Wed Aug 11 Howard K. Smith (Kadjem)


This is Howard K. Smith for the Freedom Network, and this is the state of the war today.

U.S. Military forces struck the Visitors hard in the heart of the South. The Atlanta Mothership was severely damaged when no less than 4 F-14 Tomcat's from the USS Enterprise, were able to fly into a Hangar Bay and fire full Missile Loads into the Hangar Bays, all 4 Pilots were also able to get their jets back out of the Mothership. The Atlanta Mothership was seen leaving Atlanta, and presumably has left Earth. NASA tracking stations from Alaska reported that it was on a direct course for Sirius. That brings the number of Motherships in the Earth System to 47. Remember that the Original Los Angeles Mothership was Destroyed in the first Days of the new War. The New York Mothership was turned over to White Christmas by the Fifth Column after the Last War. The Houston mothership was destroyed by US Marine Colonel Heather O'Leary back in February.

In news from Africa, the South African Resistance today was wiped out by what appears to be a new weapon developed by the Visitors. They had been rounded up, and news Reports from there show a Beam of Red Light, and the total disintegration of the Resistance Members, numbering well over 100.
That is our report for now, From the Freedom Network in New York City, Good Day, and our hopes are with you.


… and turns into a spectacular plan!


Heather O'Leary is sitting on the mats, Indian style. Her hands are resting palms up on her knees. Seems she might be meditating, or maybe, she is just relaxing after a workout. Her body is covered in a slight sheen of perspiration, which lends credence to that idea.

-OOC- Elizabeth Maxwell says, "log on"
Elizabeth Maxwell slips very quietly towards the training area, checking herself over and looking around a little bit. She's not quite smiling, but is stretching out like she intends to do something a little later on possibly.

Heather O'Leary doesn't say 'Oooommmm' or anything, but she does appear rather relaxed. She may or may not have heard the door open, but she knows someone is there, and from the footsteps, she smiles, and says softly, "Evening, Liz'Beth." Her eyes are closed the entire time.

Elizabeth Maxwell blinks a little at that, pausing in her walk towards the room, and smiling. "Um… hi…" She scratches her head just slightly. "Is my basic walking speed that recognizable, that you know it with your eyes closed?" She laughs slightly.

Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "No, but between Walking Speed, weight, and the smell of your bath soap… I'd know you even if I couldn't hear you…."

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and blushes, slipping closer and sitting herself down, settling next to you and wrapping an arm around. "Hmm… my bath soap smells that much?"

Heather O'Leary keeps her eyes closed, and nods, slightly, "Anything smelling sweeter than Sweat and Water, and crotch rot is noticeable down here…." She finally opens her eyes, and they look as pain free as they have since she got shot. Meditation sometimes works for things… seems it was that, or she just feels less pain now.

Elizabeth Maxwell shivers slightly at the observation about smells. "Ew. There's a pleasant thought…" She smiles a little and hugs tightly. "You seem to be feeling better… I'm glad." She kisses your forehead. "So, been making sure you're well enough to be doing something more than sitting around?"

Heather O'Leary chuckles, "I already did a light workout… but I made sure not to move my stomach or chest too much…." She shrugs slightly, and she relaxes her pose, laying down.

Elizabeth Maxwell starts rubbing your shoulders and back gently, nodding. "Probably for the best. As long as you're not working yourself too hard… I don't want you getting worn out, or hurt again…" She kisses your neck then as she rubs.

Heather O'Leary rolls over to let your hands work on her shoulders and back, "That feels good…."

Elizabeth Maxwell smiles, and keeps working your shoulders and back with her hands, nodding a little. "I'm glad…" She smiles, and works a little more firmly as she goes along. "You need it after the workout, I'm sure. I should be doing this for you every time you work out…"

Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "That would defeat part of the purpose of working out, dear. I use it to remind myself that without feeling some burning, there is no gain… but I won't feel the burn after this." She rests her check on her arms, which are laying on top of each other, under her.

Elizabeth Maxwell smiles a little bit and kneads your shoulders and back, leaving little kisses behind, shrugging slightly. "Well, you've burned the fat and calories, even if you don't have to feel the burning afterwards. And that's the important thing anyway. Not being sore afterwards. You can do without that part." She smiles and rubs down further.

Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, her eyes going closed. "I'll let you get away with it, this time…"

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs and keeps massaging happily. "Yes, I'm sure you will." She kisses your cheek, continuing the massage, trying to find any tight spots, to work through. "I'd be surprised if you objected, really."

Heather O'Leary chuckles, "Well, just to keep you on your toes, next time, I'll tell you no, once…. than accept it when you contiue…."

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs and kisses softly, massaging and snuggling by turns. "I don't mind if you object a little bit I guess, as long as you let me keep doing it… I just want you to feel better, is all." She massages your neck very lightly, then.

Heather O'Leary nods slightly, letting out a soft 'moan' of pleasure. She considers making things easier for Liz, by removing her shirt, but that would involve making sure no one came in, and way too much movement. "If we had a pool, I think I'd workout in it for awhile… Even in the mornings, before it gets light, it is too hot to run… and the threadmill just doesn't do it for me…"

Elizabeth Maxwell hmms and nods a little bit. "we did discuss putting a pool in, we should probably do it if we're going to, while we can still get a lot of use for it…" She gently massages, and pulls a brush, running it softly through your hair.

Heather O'Leary mms, she loves her hair brushed, when she doesn't have to do it. "Who's paying? I think we should make Tyler do it."

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit and scritches your hair, brushing it happily, and running a pick through it after now. "mmmhmm… Well, if you want that, I guess its up to you to tell him, then. They've essentially added you to the command staff, anyway, so we could just go off and do it more easily. Doubt anyone would object…"

Heather O'Leary arches the upper eyebrow, since her head is on it's side, one is higher, "Command Staff? What does that mean? More late night skull sessions, when I could be in bed with you? More making sure people are not bored, and playing with weapons?"

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs and shrugs a little bit. "I dunno. Just more say in what goes on, really. Not like any of the rest of them do much of that other stuff… well, maybe Tyler does, but he's a lot more of a planner…"

Heather O'Leary nods, "He hasn't been involved in many of our raids lately… I am wondering if he has gone soft…. but I'm not going to ask him that."

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs and snuggles a little bit. "Might be safer not to, yeah. He might do something /really/ bad if that's even implied to him…"

Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Like what? Shoot me?" She chuckles softly, "I doubt he would do that, but I really would prefer not to have a sulking Ham around."

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Well, probably not shoot you, probably something more physical just to prove he's not soft. But it still wouldn't be good for you." she kisses your forehead, brushing your hair and using the pick happily. "The idea of 'command staff' is silly anyway. They've even claimed me on it, simply for owning the base location." She rolls her eyes theatrically.

Heather O'Leary shrugs slightly, "Between the two of us, we have planned more missions than anyone else, recently."

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and nods. "Yeah… which reminds me, we need to be planning and executing some ourselves, sometime in the near future, to make sure they go off. Ham and Mike are a little too skeptical of my plans, oftentimes."

Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "Have any in mind? I'm pretty much out of ideas right now."

Elizabeth Maxwell hmms a little and shrugs. "A couple. Ham seems to think that using the offers from the next heat wave will work for the WLF mission, but after watching less local news, it sounded like depending on what we can find out, there might be a way to get more supplies…"

Heather O'Leary arches an eyebrow, "I assume you mean the Freedom Network….?" She looks thoughtful, trying to figure out where supplies would come from.

Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit and smiles. "There's finally a group we could attack with the dust, without risking planetwide disaster."

Heather O'Leary arches an eyebrow, and sounds doubtful, "You mean the Mothership that the Navy damaged?"

Elizabeth Maxwell grins a little bit. "Just a quick overtake in space, they'll be away from any reinforcements…"

Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "Sure… but an entire Mothership?"

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs and shrugs. "Why not? Worked last time. The situation is a lot different now, as well. With the Mothership going home to repair, how do you think they're keeping control over Atlanta?"

Heather O'Leary hmms, softly, "Well, they probably left a pretty large portion of their Skyfighters and Shock Troopers…. Oh, I see…." She looks thoughtful, "How many people do you think we would need? And where would we get enough of the Red Dust to use it?"

Elizabeth Maxwell hmms and continues the massage. "Depends on what all was left. I'm hoping they didn't leave a large part of the skyfighters, more troopers for situation control. Still, they wouldn't take them all, even if they did take a lot of them off. And as for the dust… hrm, that's a good question. Probably need to snitch some from Bates."

Heather O'Leary shrugs, "I'd bet they left a good 3/4's of their Skyfighters and Squad Ships to help maintain control… Along with about 90% of their Shock Troopers and Security Personnel… Which, would make taking over control of the Mothership easier, since that would leave… 50 or so Shock Troops? Maybe Less…"

Elizabeth Maxwell grins a little bit and nods. "Or less, yes." She ponders happily. "Just a little bit of dust, a little bit of firepower, at least one person who has some idea how to fly it back…"

Heather O'Leary frowns, "Know anyone who knows how to fly one of those things? I figure I could, if I knew what everything said…." Most pilots could, after a little study, figure it out, she thinks.

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit and shrugs. "Well, I know what everything says… been quite a while since I've seen one get flown…"

Heather O'Leary chuckles, "Well, assuming we succeed, we'd have a long flight back to Earth to figure it out for sure…"

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Well, if the main drives are working, we might not have quite as long a trip home as we figure. Depending on the engine damage, and repairability."

Heather O'Leary nods, "If the main drives are working, what is the chance a Skyfighter, Squad Ship, or anything else we can get our hands on, would catch her?"

Elizabeth Maxwell hmms a little bit. "It depends. The main drives are likely not working at top speed, if they're damaged, even if they are working."

Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "We'd almost have to do this in the next 10-20 hours, I think, to catch them before they get out of this system…."

Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "Most likely. We'd need to get the strike team together fast, and get up there. There's possibly a chance we could get them to stop, as well, if we claimed to be additional technical crew to help them limp it home."

Heather O'Leary nods, "Probably they would… but of course, than we have to likely speak their language… which I keep forgetting you do…"

Elizabeth Maxwell grins and tickles a little bit. "Which is good, when we want to be suckering them. It'll be easy. And think of the catch… we'll have enough time flying back to thaw everyone out, and sieze vehicles, weapons, power clips, uniforms, and whatever other equipment we can get from it. We might not be able to hold it for long, but we can certainly get plenty of stuff before a loss of it."

Heather O'Leary nods, "What would we do with it?"

Elizabeth Maxwell smiles and shrugs a little bit. "Well, if we can clean it out fast enough, we'd have to stash it up north somewhere. If not, we'll have to ditch it in a manner that makes absolutely certain the enemy doesn't recapture it."

Heather O'Leary hmms, "Well, we could always let it burn up on entry into the Atmosphere, or land it on the ocean… Autopilot it slowly to sink into the sea?" She shrugs, "Or just stash it up north somewhere, like… Oh, New York, give it to the Government, after we clean out what we want…. Mind you, I don't know if we can do it."

Elizabeth Maxwell hmms a little and nods… "The ocean might work, if it wouldn't pollute it too badly. The bigger of a mess we make trying to fight the enemy, the more problems we have later on."

Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Or we give it to someone to keep… Someone deep in the Dust Zone, where the Visitors don't dare to try and get it…"

Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "With enough anti-aircraft cover that they won't fly up and vaporize it from the air… or the weapons working to prevent it. If it's left anywhere, it has to be in a defensible location."

Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "I suppose." She still isn't sure how well the whole plan would work.

(wanders upstairs, pondering the plan still)

Elizabeth Maxwell pokes her head in and looks around quickly.

Michael Donovan is doing the couch potato thing, as people are still intent on treating him like an invalid since the ill-fated yet mostly successful raid on the processing plant. His choices of channel seem mostly nostalgic and informative in nature, as the screen flicks from CNN to C-SPAN to MSNBC…

Elizabeth Maxwell glances down at the couch, smiling happily, and slipping in a little further before she laughs softly. "Julie's still keeping you down on a couch, huh?"

Michael Donovan winces visibly at that. "Pretty much," he answers somewhat defeatedly. "You don't want to know what I've been threatened with," he tells Elizabeth in a way that suggests that even if she did want to know, he wouldn't tell her.

Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and shakes her head. "Not that she should be doing any more than you are. I'm sure you've reminded her of that already. I just wandered up from discussing a crazy idea with someone. Think we could get about 30 or so people scraped together in the next 15-20 hours?"

Michael Donovan raises an eyebrow at the sudden request. "Depends on what you need the 30 or so people for, I would think," he replies somewhat suspiciously.

Elizabeth Maxwell smiles and stretches just a little bit. "An extremely large stockpile of enemy technology is a sitting duck right at the moment, if we can get to it. The only trick is that it'd be the longest distance raid in the history of any resistance group."

Michael Donovan continues to give Elizabeth a suspect look. "How long distance?"

Elizabeth Maxwell smiles sweetly. "It's only got 10 percent of its usual guard at very most, and long enough of a distance that we could even use the dust without worry. That all adds up to making the plan quite feasible, just that it needs to be done quickly. And this time, the situation is such where we don't have to justify stripping everything out when we capture it…" She raises her eyebrows. "The trick is… if we do it in the next 20 hours, it'll still be within the boundaries of the solar system. If we wait much beyond, it'll be far enough out to engage main drives."

Michael Donovan nods absently at that, "Oh, is that all?" Her last sentence runs over in his mind again. Sitting up a little straighter, he looks directly at her, "Wait. 'Solar system?'"

Elizabeth Maxwell smiles very sweetly. "It could just be the most unexpected attack of the war, as well. So unexpected that they diverted over 90 percent of the personnel from it. Because the Navy did a good job."

Michael Donovan's eyes look ready to drop out of his head as he listens to Elizabeth go on and on. "You realize how crazy an idea this is, don't you?" he interjects.

Elizabeth Maxwell shakes her head. "It's not crazy at all, actually. We'd need to contact the Atlanta resistance really quick to confirm, but they don't expect us to do this. They've almost certainly offloaded most of the personnel, to maintain control of the city, while a bare skeleton crew at most tries to limp their ship home. And a small skeleton crew with a damaged ship almost certainly would love to hear that more technicians were being sent to help them limp it back…"

Michael Donovan chuckles softly at that. "You know, that just might work. The big question is where do we stash such a big piece of real estate? The Visitors wouldn't have much trouble tracking one of their larger ships down…"

Elizabeth Maxwell shakes her head. "No, they wouldn't. Which is why we'd have to strip it down quickly while limping it back, to get equipment and such off. We'd either have to make sure the weapons were online, and put it in the dust zone, or make certain that they couldn't get it back in a flyable condition. A lot of the vehicles will be down with the people they left to control the city, but the leftovers will still be a lot more than we have. And if you recall the start of round two, it doesn't take that many people to get one online. I'm figuring probably a couple dozen techs maybe, and enough shock troopers to make certain that none of them are Fifth Columnists wanting to steal the ship. Even if we have to ditch it ourselves, simply getting all the stuff from it is an advantage for us. Everything from the armories, as many fighters and squad vehicles as we could grab, strip down the sickbay, get as much of the computer's database as we can… we'd have to hurry, but with good luck, we could even seize the conversion chamber. We could de-convert people ourselves, if we got that."


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