===Storyboard Monday, August 06, 2012 2:58:46 AM - 8/8/2012 6:60am===
There was a great banquet held on board The Unrisen this cycle to celebrate the glory of winning the first major battles against The Marauders. They struck a massive blow against us at first, but splinter groups managed to disrupt three of their capitol ships.

The Unrisen itself was the carrier that provided support for the ops. A massive vessel, capable of housing over 1,000 fighter-class, 200 bomber-class, 50 science-class, and housed eight massive plasma cannons, several hundred laser pods and over fifty shrapnel cannons. With a crew of over 100,000 people, it was one of the finest ships in the entire fleet.

TDS was on board, having just recently sent out as part of the next search and eliminate. Our target was the relay stations that provide communications for The Marauders. We were given great accommodations.

Gunner: “Now this’s the life, baby!”
Eagleeyes: “Yeah! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”
Crystal: “Hard to believe that we’re in the middle of a massive battle…”
Velitha: “Yeah. Let’s not forget why we’re here, we do have a mission to plan out.” I decided to go first with a basic run down. 3 arrays that need to be taken down, with a central main base. The area has heavy shielding, but we can breach their shields with EM droppods.
Velitha: “I’m thinking we drop here, and…”
Eagleeyes: “Nonono, that’ll never work. If there’s a chance of lookouts here, the whole place will be on lockdown”
Gunner: “We can flank ‘em from here!”
Ryven: “This tower’s position means they will surely see us if we approach here. We could drop here instead and…”
Eagleeyes: “Which could work, but it would take too long, once the first array goes down, the other 2 will have reinforcements.”
Crystal: “She’s right, as usual.” She sighed. “No matter how you put it, there’s too many lookouts, and too much ground to cover.” I walked away, pacing a bit near the window looking down at the planet.
Velitha: “What if we started to drop in one place, but we separate upon reentry? They might be spread too thin to cover everything at once.”
Anathema: “I dunno how I didn’t think of that…”
Velitha: “We’re one step closer, we just need to…” Just then I was interrupted by the intercom:
“Velitha, you have a guest requesting permission to see you, a Ms. Spectra?”
Velitha: “I’ll be there in a minute.” I paused. “How... did she find me here, I thought we didn’t leak this info?”
Anathema: “We didn’t.”
Velitha: “I better take care of this. Keep refining. I want to hear all the details when I get back.”

I walked out of our suite. There was yelling in the distance.
Guard: “Hey miss, you can’t go back there, HALT!”
Spectra: “Velitha! A fancy party… and you never invited me?! Humph, I’m insulted.” The guard came running after her.
Velitha: “It’s ok. She’s with me.” After a bit of talking with the guard, he returned to his post.

We held each other, and had a nice long kiss. I could feel the tension melting away, all the pressure of the planning fading away.

Velitha: “I’m sorry for not telling you. The moment I found out, they shipped us off. But, how did you get here?”
Spectra: “Hah! You think I’m going to miss a party? Parties are good for trades after all. And you know what I say, more the merrier!”
Velitha: “Mmhm…” I nodded, and looked at her as if I knew she was avoiding the question.
Spectra: “Fine, fine. I’m here because we’re resupplying the Unrisen. We’re the nearest suppliers this side of Faseeshia who aren’t involved with the fight verses The Marauders.”
Velitha: “You’re neutral? How interesting.”
Spectra: “Well, my sponsors and company are…”
Velitha: “I understand. War always puts ties and loyalty to the test.”
Spectra: “Yeah. Anyways, what are TDS up to this time?”
Velitha: “If I told you, it would spoil the fun.” I know that if I told TDS’s mission, there could be a chance for leaks. Even from Spectra, to The Marauders.
Spectra: “Aww… No fun.”
Velitha: “Sorry to be a killjoy.”
Spectra: “Then com’on! We have a ship to sightsee!” She grabbed my hand and we ran. Predator informed TDS that we would be awhile.

We ran up 3 flights of stairs, all the way to a large deck that oversaw several more floors of The Unrisen. We reached a balcony, so we could see many decks and the crew, all scurrying about. They were setting up for the banquet. It was split into 3 massive rooms connected via the middle doorways. Each room connected to the hangars on the sides, and the quarters were small and simple.

Spectra: “Wowww, reminds me of the meetings at Epleniox.”
Velitha: “I remember that. Grand halls for meetings of the entire planet cluster.”
Spectra: “Fate-of the-world style. Too important, too… all-at-once for my liking.”
Velitha: “And yet… seems like this is going to go down just like it.”
Spectra: “Yeah… when will they stop warring for once, and just get along. You don’t have to ally to have peace.”
Velitha: “I agree. A little tolerance goes a long way.”
Spectra: “Yep.” I paused.

We stared at the setup for a few more seconds before heading to look out the window. Protected by a shield, and a backup, just in case. It was around 4 inches from the window to the border, to where the walls around it. So many stars and a nice, red sun nearby.

Velitha: “Smell that? The food is cookin’. If only all my other missions could have briefings like this.” Spectra: “And my trade negotiations too.” We laughed.
Normally I would have said something to keep the mood going, but I couldn’t help but feeling…
Velitha: “Something on your mind?”
Spectra: “It’s nothing.”
Velitha: “The last time I was told ‘it’s nothing’, I got called for being an asshole.” She kinda laughed… it was a decent bluff.
Velitha: “You know I’m going to pick at it until you tell me…” Just then, over the intercom: “All personnel, report to the halls for the banquet. I repeat, all personnel, report to the halls for the banquet.”
Spectra: “Let’s gooo!” This time I grabbed her hand first, and for that split second I could tell, it relaxed her. And of course, we ran down as fast as we ran up.
Velitha: “Just a second, I need something first.”
Spectra: “Hurry up, I don’t want to be late.”
Velitha: “Relax, one maybe two minutes tops.”

I ran in to grab my glasses. I figured now would be a good time to test the new prototype. I also checked back in with TDS.

Velitha: “So whatddua got?”
Ryven: “Nearly the perfect plan.” They explained the details. A smaller 5 phase plan: Landing, Pathfinding, Avoid Detection, Disable, Exit… and disabling the shield generator if we got the chance.
Velitha: “Excellent. Nice nutshell. We’d better get going, that food isn’t going to eat itself. Also, now would be a good time to test out the new glasses. And see how Pred likes the new tracker algs.”
Ryven: “Indeed.”
Gunner: “Let’s do this!”
Velitha: “Green Lenses good, yes/no?”
Crystal: “Yes!” They all nodded.
Velitha: “Good”
As I finish working on my hair, Crystal butts in.
Crystal: “You know, about 3 outta 4 times, Spectra’s somehow shows up…” I chuckled
Velitha: “I can’t help it if she shows up. She goes where there’s business to be had.” She softly nodded, head down.
Velitha: “You know, you hate her… you should sit across from her, and watch her every move. If you still think she’s not sincere.”
Crystal: “Hmph, maybe I will.”
Velitha: “Hazzah it’s settled. Let’s go.”