**ACTION** Operation Derring-Do

Dean's leg was soon removed of it's additional member, and he and Phil got into the Raven, to take Phil up to the deathstar. As the Raven lifted off, in a cloud of dust, Jay saw a GELF coming out of the forest. "Hey! Hey!" he yelled.
"Yes?" replied the GELF, in a perfect Ionian accent, that made Jay wonder whether it was Dean in a gorilla suit.
"Don't forget, it's invasion time. We need your help in getting our ship back!"
"Yes, we will be ready in 3 of your human hours."
"Hmm... we shouldn't be much longer than that..." Jay tailed off, he thought of the shambles that was called the "Blue Dwarf Navigation and Piloting Department", "Ok, we might need a little more time.", he said, he didn't add the last part of the sentence that formed in his mind: 'like a few weeks...'
Jay turned away from the GELF and, turning on his comm mike so those who weren't there would hear as well, he shouted at the assorted BD crew members who were doing miscellaneous tasks: "RIGHT! GEAR UP FOR INVASION! We're going to take the Blue Dwarf back by force. Pilots? Claim your aircraft from the theme park! Everyone else? Queue up for the landing party!"
"What do you mean?" asked Keto, as the pilots all rushed off to bagsie ships, with the exception of Kochanski, who had already lifted off in the Enterprise.
"It's simple, all crew members who aren't licensed to fly will get into the Raven. We'll knock a hole in the side of the BD and Dean'll land you guys in it. You then have to kill the bugs on the ship, whilst we deal with the ships outside."
Keto turned, "Hang on, how you going to make the hole in the side of the Blue Dwarf?"
"Dean." said Jay
"Oh." said Keto
"Yes." said Jay.
"Do I have to..."
"Yes." said Jay.
"Oh." said Keto.
"Good! Glad we got that sorted." said Jay.
"One question." said Keto, "Where is the Raven right now?"
"Well, we just hardened up it's front end for teh collision, but right now it's taking Phil up to the Deathstar. Oh, speaking of death...." said Jay,
"Yes?" asked Keto, somewhat flummoxed by the course the conversation had taken.
"You medical bods are all in the Raven for now, but when the party lands? 1 of you is to stay in the Raven in case one of pilots gets hit, then Dean'll fly you over to them and, well, you do the best you can, ok? I don't want to lose anybody."
"I'll ask the staff who's going to volunteer not to be killed... I mean, umm..stay on the Raven."
"Good!" said Jay, clapping Keto on the back, "That's teh kind of positive thinking I like to hear! Now get ready!" and Jay turned back to his clipboard as Keto walked towards the crows of people waiting for the Raven.
 
"Where is it?" asked one of those waiting to get on the Raven.
"I can't see it!"
"Well, we're standing right in the middle of the clearing where it's going to land. We'll see it soon!" added another.
"There it is!" yelled Tara, pointing up and being dazzled by a flood of light that came from the ship as it came towards the landing spot.
The crowd burst into applause, mainly becuase Dean had made the journey to the Deathstar and back without any crashing it had seemed. Just then a voice came over a megaphone, ringing out across the clearing.
"Umm.. could you guys move? I'm trying to land."
The crowd scattered, running wildly in the fog of dust that the Raven's engines were kicking up as she lowered herslef gracefully to the ground. The Raven touched down, but the engines didn't stop.  The main doorway into her cavernous central compartment opened, and the crew surged forward out of the forest into the Raven. Inside, Dean told Jay that the landing party was ready, and in reply Jay said that the pilots had all claimed their ships, and were just checking in.
Dean saw that all those were meant to be were inside the Raven, and so the huge bay doors motored shut with a grinding of metal and the Raven sat, ready for launch.
 
She was still waiting an hour later, as now the GELFs had decided to be late to the party. Dean had had to re-open the doors on both sides of the central bay area to let some air run through and cool down the crowd of bodies, who were still selecting weaponry. Dean was sitting, feet up on the dashboard, whilst Jay sat and fumed in the cockpit of his chosen ship, an X-Wing fighter from Star Wars.
Suddenly Jay got the message that the GELFs were waiting in orbit, and he simply said "GO!" over the intercom and ships leapt up into the sky from all over the theme park. Dean was caught by surprise and knocked his coffee onto the floor as he thumped the reheat button, and the Raven's engines noise increased to a deafening roar as she slowly lifted into the sky. Just then there was a shout through the cockpit door. "FOR GOD'S SAKE! SHUT THE DOORS BEFORE WE ALL FALL OUT!"
Dean silently thought "whoops", yelled "SORRY!" and gave the command for teh doors to be shut, and with that the Raven surged forward to join the rest of the invasion fleet in orbit.
 
"Alright guys?" said Jay, as the ships assembled in orbit, "Zero hour. I expect plenty of acts of derring-do, remember, we're fighting for our home here!" and with that, the X-Wing leapt forward, seracing towards the blue dot in the distance, the rest of the crew's ships and the GELF ships close behind. The Raven hung back, languidly waiting for the rest of the ships to draw the flak, so it could make its 'attack run' un-molested by the bugs' ships. Finally, when he saw flashes in teh distance, Dean knew it was time, and the Raven, with the crew on board, headed towards their home, but they were uneasy, as it all hinged on this final battle...
 
Dean "Derring-Do" Thomas
 
<Alright guys, get posting! The smeg's about to hit the fan! Let's get our ship back eh?>