#individual releases in favour of a complete set and as i wasn't in LOVE with the series i refused to double dip... patience finally

[mariocki]

Katy Manning, in her second screen role (see her first here), as Julia Dungarvon - full-time typist, part-time coffee shop waitress, and member of more than one love triangle - in Man at the Top: The Prime of Life (1.4, Thames, 1971)

[sirro85-blog]

Humans are Space Orcs:

Part 3

For my readers of Human, Frell or Ilun origin the clearest way I can describe Pelcar-3 is as a trading port, the entrance for many goods and travellers with different species and cultures interacting, for other races please see the appendices for appropriate analogy. It has all the hallmarks of a trading port, the ability to buy or source anything, those willing to sell anything for a price be it information, substances or themselves, prostitutes of a dozen species rubbed shoulders with scores of mercenaries , traders and pilots.

The other similarity Pelcar-3 shares with those ancient ports is the crime, both organised and random; so, when 3 dead Flet were found in an empty drinking establishment no real outcry was raised. When a Flet was found tied to a street bench the local security assumed the Flet, so often hired muscle were engaged in a possible criminal struggle for control. Several more Flet bodies were discovered over the course of several days but when 8 more Flet bodies were found at one time more interest was paid, these Flet were better equipped and certainly appeared healthier than the normal criminal underclass, these bodies had the hall marks of Flet military and while no insignia were found or acknowledgement was forthcoming from the Flet Imperium the risk that a Flet hit squad had been eradicated on Pelcar-3 was a concern.

Like the cities of Earth and Ilun wealthy individuals did not live in the port but cared about it's business, indeed two of Pelcar-3's moon's provided accommodation to some of the wealthiest denizines of the galaxy. Security was increased and all armed groups or individuals were searched and monitored on their arrival to the planet.

The residents of Pelcar-3 went on with their lives untroubled, including those of the human mercenary unit known as the Dark Horses, especially now they knew all armed individuals were being monitored on arrival. Life inside their armed and defended compound was broadly unchanged although after several years of getting to know humans I can tell you that under the surface things were not as they seemed.

A peculiar human affliction is the release of stress through physical exertion and particularly unique is the common requirements for that physical exertion to involve others. These could involve acts of love making although after I was informed I was not allowed to observe these acts and take notes no matter the frequency of the events I had to turn my attention to the second physical interactions, sports.

Team games happened frequently, "B-ball"; "Footy" and "Rugby" all occurred regularly however most frequent of all were the activity called "Sparring" this involved getting into a large square and attempting to beat your opponent into submission, there were various standards to these submissions and until the recent events with the "Kittys" -as the Flet were known as a derogatory- the standards were observed and no real harm or injuries were caused. However as the days stretched this changed. The first victim was Captain Dorman who received a broken arm at the hands of Captain Wolf.

Sergeant Panther broke Barbie's jaw in three places; Riflemen Buckets and Ocampo had to be pulled apart and when Knickers choked Captain Becca out something in itself I had not seen before her celebration while standing over the limp body of her friend was savage and animalistic.

It reached a head when Major Kovac sparred with Captain Wolf something that apparently happened very rarely, it was seen as an event by the humans, wagers were placed and almost all those not on duty turned up to witness it.

I have seen both the Major and the Captain face enemies and inflict precise focused injuries while keeping their own wellbeing to a premium. In this bout they appeared to forget this, both appeared to abandon form for all out assault, and both were soon bleeding and injured, Wolf appeared to have several cracked ribs and Kovac was limping badly, I feared they may kill each other before the end which infact came suddenly, Kovac and Wolf sprang apart for a moment and then as they closed Wolf tried to target Kovac's injured leg and was driven back, the larger man threw him to the floor appeared to dislocate the Captain's shoulder before ending the fight with a single punch.

Staff Sergeant Frank King stopped the bouts after that, the accelerated healing methods they had available to them may have meant the two officers were back on their feet in a few days but "Staff" wasn't willing to treat anymore self inflicted injuries.

The sudden loss of their distractions seemed to focus the humans again. The NCOs barked out orders and had their men drilling and practicing at all hours, the officers were regularly meeting late into the night and arguing.

"We've got friends across the damn galaxy, half the council owes you personal favours damnit! We aren't on our own here." Captain Becca said, tears standing out in her eyes.

"Those favours are turning a blind eye to our acquiring off market explosives or allowing me to fortify this building without needing to apply for planning permission. I'm not sure they'll start another war with the Imperium for me. There are favours we can call in but first we need information, which means calling in our first few favours, contact any low level council members you know and find out what the Galactic Council knows about the Flet politics. I'll contact the Ditiri, see what those criminals know." Kovac said calmly.

I saw a certain level of obsession from the soldiers surrounding me over the following few days, men repeatedly checking and rechecking their weapons, rifles being cleaned; magazines rebombed; and blades sharpened. Kit was packed and checked and repacked and personal items were pulled from pockets or from round the neck, kissed or checked and replaced and all the while the Sergeants and the other NCOs prowled the lines, experienced eyes scanning for any mistakes. Sergeant "Fluke" Glover put his whole troop on basics because two foot lockers were found unlocked. Sergeant Panther had her's running laps and doing press ups at two in the morning.

By the time a second meeting was called the Dark Horses accommodation was a highly strung military fortress and for good reason, on three separate occasions armed Flet were caught within rifle range of the buildings, their bodies dumped in the warehouse districts across Pelcar-3.

"They're still getting through to us, we're not safe here." Dorman insisted, "when they workout Hemmings and Richards are in their eyries they won't be so obvious about scoping us out."

"In the meantime I have information," Captain Gillespie interrupted, "from what we've been told, the target on your back is politically motivated. The Royal family of the Flet Imperium are not the absolute rulers they would like to be, the heir that you killed on some battlefield was by all accounts very popular and by first whipping up anger and sympathy for her death and then setting you as the target they hope to show that they are the political entity that can give the people what they want."

"Easy if they're the ones telling the people what it is they want in the first place," scoffed Becca, "same as our lot used to do with immigrants and foreigners and all that crap..."

"Alright Bex, not right now." Kovac interrupted, "so it's just one faction, does that mean we have allies Gilly?"

"Hardly, they won't want to be seen assisting the enemy," Gillespie said with a sigh.

"However, take away the head of that faction, or get them to back down in some way..." Captain Wolf began.

"The people I spoke to said that could work, the Flet are always looking for outward enemies to stop infighting and backstabbing, take out the leader of the faction and the whole party will fall apart trying to claim the top spot." Gillespie finished.

"We'll need more information, Becca you and Dorman need to work your contacts, get us names and details, we need a target, probably 3 or 4." Wolf started hurriedly.

"Head of a faction!" "Targets!?" Becca stared around her, "are you forgetting this is the head of the royal family of the Flet Imperium, this isn't going to be possible."

"Bec, it'll be alright, the Major will come up with a plan, remember what they used to say in the 88th?"

"Slick drills, quick kills, fight hard and if all else fails put your faith in Kovac," Becca said with a faint smile.

"To be fair they said that mostly about me getting my hands on embargoed liquors," Kovac said awkwardly.

The meeting went on with minor details being hammered out, I drifted away to observe the base, cursed by my form of existence I found myself helpless when it started.

Sinsi was the commander of the Hyte of the Flet Imperium, she watched as her 5 Hyte silently scaled the walls of the human compound, until this moment, forced to use the dull soldiers from the allied military factions the royal family had not achieved success in killing the target, now though with the Hyte the Galaxy's finest assassins finally being employed the task would be complete.

The snipers high above the compound had been identified and steps had been taken to avoid detection from their omni-goggles, the human sentries were good but Sinsi's pride were better, even with the whole of the Imperium to choose from finding recruits was nigh impossible in a whole generation maybe a dozen would start training, that 6 had survived to form this pride was considered a blessing indeed.

They closed with the first sentry identified as unavoidable, a flash of claws and the body was quickly hidden, humans would not smell the blood as acutely as Flet. They closed with a second soldier, as Keerdop's claws raked down the soldier darted aside, raised her rifle, Keerdop realised she must silence the weapon, that instinct cost her life, as Keerdop clawed at the hands holding the rifle, and tried to silence the soldier, the bayonet mounted on the rifle drove into Keerdop's throat. At the same moment claws tore into the soldier's flanks, "Tell 'em Knickers sent you," growled the human.

Appalled that one of her sisters had fallen Sinsi was forced to calm herself as her rage told her to maul the human's body, she stopped, the human and the Flet were dead, secure the mission, she gestured for the two bodies to be hidden. "Humans are quicker than you think they are", the lesson taught first and first forgotten. Now they were close, the room they wanted was close, 5 Hyte closed on the room, no mistakes this time, the door opened silently and with night vision a human could only hope for Sinsi saw him, asleep in bed beside a female of his species. She advanced on preternaturally silent paws till she was standing over the humans, a Hyte sister at her side.

Two clawed arms flashed, the female human reacted, to what, Sinsi could not tell but the human moved suddenly pushing the male off the bed she stood up on the soft bedding, Sinsi took a moment to marvel that such small, few limbed creatures could be considered a danger, no natural protection and this one had fur only on her head the rest was covered in nothing but the tender pink skin. Sinsi flicked a wing out to disembowel the naked female, to her astonishment the human stopped the blow and then flexing her body rose in the air to plant both her feet into Sinsi's chest.

Sinsi crashed backwards, stunned at the power in these small forms, her sister had fared no better, Kovac the target had picked her up and thrown her much larger frame at those in the doorway. Realising the chance to employ claws had slipped by Sinsi drew her power lance and fired a bolt at Kovac who, like a coward dived for cover behind his bed before rolling into the adjacent room.

Sinsi advanced with Loirwa and Truvay all with power lances drawn, the finest shots in the Imperium would hit their target once he dared to show his face. However Loirwa was waylayed by the naked human female who had rolled off the bed and now charged hammering her lowered shoulder into the Flet's abdomen. They both crashed into the nearby wall and as the winded Flet bent double the human's skull collided with the Flet's descending chin, their was a sickening crack as Loirwa's head snapped backwards impacting the wall and the human planted her knee repeatedly into the Flet's groin. "Humans do not fight like us with tooth and claw, to them all of their bodies are a weapon", another early lesson and so easily disregarded. Distracted that another Hyte sister had been bested by the diminutive humans Sinsi only had time to call out a warning to her sisters as the target appeared round the door frame and opened fire with one of the human "pistols". Truvay recoiled as her power lance shattered as the human bullet struck it.

Sinsi realised the sisters at the door were under attack. She gestured at Truvay to kill the human female who had finished stamping on Loirwa's windpipe. She opened fire on the Major who had to dive clear of the bolts as they shattered the wall he stood behind, Sinsi gave Truvay a quick glance, the human female had found a weapon but it was not one known to Sinsi as part of the human arsenal, approximately 300mm long it was pink and appeared to be buzzing due to some vibration, made of a soft rubber-like material it bore a striking resemblance to a part of the anatomy of the naked human male. Whatever it was the human female was using it to provide extra reach, dodging blows from the Hyte and repeatedly stabbing the Flet in the vulnerable areas inside her limb joints.

Sinsi sprayed another hail of bolts into the next room and turned to see the Human diving out of reach and throwing the long pink shaft at Truvay, as the human rolled to her feet Truvay landed a blow that threw her across the room and into the wall, the human struck the wall a metre from the ground and fell heavily, "Kovac," she whimpered.

The target gave his position away by opening fire the bullets were wayward however and did not trouble Sinsi as she turned her lance and fired multiple bolts, the human had to throw himself flat to avoid them and this put him almost at Sinsi's feet. Truvay's collapse made her pause and she realised why the bullets had been wayward, that was when she saw the sisters holding the door had both fallen and then she remembered the lesson her old master had been so keen to teach her, "Kings and generals may fear our blades but the assassin should fear the cold efficiency of the professional soldier." She understood it as Kovac pulled the trigger.

As a species made mostly of gas and energy it is hard at times to watch the tactile galaxy interact, but never in my existence of Millenia have I tried so hard to intervene as when I watched the Flet's Hyte assassins try to murder Kovac.

Major Kovac staggered naked into the hallway, stepping over the dead Kitty assassins, "They had to take out some sentries to get this far. Find them, are the sentries OK!? Dana! Becca's hurt, go see to her, Wolf give me that bloody blanket I'm naked."

In minutes the bodies of the sentries were found, it was to my great joy that Knickers was found to be alive, terribly injured and weak but alive.

Humans do not appear as impressive as some other xenotypes in this galaxy but what is never taken into account is that for all their day to day weakness they can produce immense strength when excited, they may lack the speed of some races but they can combine what physical speed they have with prodigious speed of thought and action and most of all humans do not fight like those born with natural weapons, without claws humans turned their whole body into weapons.