charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200
X-archive-position: 17735
X-listar-version: Listar v0.128a
Sender: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com
Errors-To: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com
X-original-sender: sommer@3rdm.net
Precedence: bulk
X-list: ffml
[The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set]
[Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set]
[Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]
After this, I shall start to write, or so the plan goes...
BTW: This C+C is a bit limeish in some places.
"Well, we're finally done," Samantha said, wiping her brow
with the back of a hand. "I've never done such physical work in
my life."
Samantha: Not counting that little gang-bang back in Akron a couple of
months ago.
"Even when you had to unload your own transport?" Katherine
asked.
"Nope. I just opened up the back and gunned the engines."
They laugh
laughed
at the image of a big transport lumbering down
the tarmac, spilling its contents out the back as it went.
They wouldn't be laughing if it was their contents that were spilling out.
"I have no idea but we better get the obvious targets under
cover." Katherine turned to look for Missy only to find the girl
standing right behind her, wearing a look of defiance.
"I'm not running anymore," Missy said in a low voice.
Then she shall be prison shortly, where she will do no running whatsoever.
Glancing between the approaching GMP vehicles and the
resolute Missy, Katherine sighed and said:
said,
"Well, at least, let's
not make it easy for them.
Oh yes. End up having everyone in the brig. Very practical solution.
"I'm glad to hear that," Nancy said with a serious scowl at
the GMP vehicles. "However, I should point out that they're
probably packing some serious firepower."
Katherine looked to Daisy. "Do any of the lasers on our
rolling junkyard work?"
Oh, fire on the GMP. That's a quick way to a an outright court martial.
Before the last whine of engines died away, side hatches on
the vehicles sprung open and a half dozen black-clad and helmeted
GMP security officers hurriedly assumed positions in front of the
hangar. For now, at least, no weapons were displayed; relying
instead on their sheer intimidating appearance to assure
cooperation.
Sgt. Himmler strode to the front of the pack. "I zee you haff been expectink
us."
Ona moved next to her Executive Officer and crossed her
arms. "The matter is closed. Lt Robins stays," she said in the
same low monotone as before. Her expression promised there would
be no compromises today.
The Major's response was interrupted by a pair of wheeled
RDF Security armored rovers stopping behind his hovercraft. The
door on one opened and a very agitated Captain O'Riley bounded
out.
Heh. Either one side or the other just lost.
"Just what the hell is going on here?" he demanded stomping
up to the confrontation just inside 13 Squadron's hangar.
"This is no concern of yours," the Major claimed in his
arrogant manner.
Heh. Now we know who just lost.
"Like hell. I let you get away with that crap before
because I was ordered to cooperate. But you're on *my* turf now.
Nobody comes on *my* base and arrests RDF people unless *I* say
so." Capt O'Riley's cubby little body shook with rage.
The Major, however, wasn't so easy to impress. "The GMP
goes where it wants and does what its ordered," he said calmly
without looking at O'Riley.
"I see. That will make things convient, since I'm about to order you and
your men to play dead," O'Reily said as his men drew their sidearms.
"I didn't do it for you," he snarled. "I don't like you
people. You made a monkey of me back at that mission." He
looked around at each of the women. "I won't forget that. As
far as I'm concerned, the sooner you renegades are off my base,
the better."
Fair enough.
Capt O'Riley paused in the open door to his rover and stared
at Katherine like he was trying to determine if she was putting
him on or not. Without a word, he slipped inside and slammed
shut the hatch.
The RDF Security rovers growled to life and quickly set off
the same direction as the GMP.
"Well, I guess you can't always choose your heros,"
heroes
"Nice piece," Nancy said, leaning against another crate with
her arms crossed. "Yours?"
Well, it is now.
Missy's expression moderated
Not sure if 'moderated' is the word to go with here.
only slightly as she unzipped
her flight suit and thrust the weapon back into its holster
nestled in the curve of her shapely waist.
Must have zipped that thing way down.
"I don't leave things
to chance anymore."
Nancy grinned, pulling up the back of her uniform tunic and
drawing her own chrome-plated Beretta. "My kind of girl."
Katherine frowned at the exposed hardware before turning to
Daisy. "And you?"
Daisy sighed. "Oh, hell." Unzipping her flight suit enough
to expose her bra, she pulled out a Glock 33 and held it up with
a shrug.
Everyone packs heat nowadays.
"Yeah, they would have gotten one shot and we would have
dropped the bunch," Gloria crowed, brandishing an odd-looking
pistol she retrieved from the top of another crate. It was so
large she had to hold it in both hands.
If you have to use two hands, it's no longer a pistol. :)
Katherine's frown turned itself on the unconcerned-looking
Zentraedi. "You stole these weapons?"
Cindy: We like to call it 'unwritten authorization' in these here parts.
Laughter ringed the group until they saw the weapon fly off
Samantha's finger. Time froze as it tumbled towards the floor.
Striking the concrete, it went of with an ear-shattering 'bang'.
The round ricocheted off barrels, steel trusses, and
concrete as the squadron ducked and threw themselves on the dirty
hangar floor.
She was asking for it. Guns are not toys.
It finally ended when the bullet smacked into the canopy of
the VF-1S, cracking it like an eggshell.
"YOU IDIOT!" Daisy screamed, springing to her feet.
"You could have hurt somebody!" Nancy added, wiping hangar
floor crap from her hands.
Heh. Like the terminology.
He started to turn onto the road leading to 13 Squadron's
area but slammed on the brakes, causing the rover to slide to a
halt. What if they *already* had Lt Robins? He cast a worried
look up the road the GMP vehicles had taken. He knew his rover
was no match for their hovercraft, their top speed was almost
double what he could coax out of his vehicle.
And what's he going to do anyway, shoot it out with them?
"I think you made him mad," Anne yelled over the roar of the
rover's engine. Turning to look out the back window, she stuck
her thumbs in her ears and wiggled her fingers. "Nyaaa-nyaaa, ya
pig!" she yelled. Turning back she grinned while still chomping
her gum. "I always wanted to do that."
Great. Throw gas on the open flame in order to put it out.
"You should have gone before we left," Gail said in a
motherly way.
"I know." Anne sounded like an adolescent who'd been in the
car too long. "It's hot back here."
Gail smiled. "I'll roll down a window."
Jeff just gripped the wheel harder. It suddenly occurred to
him exactly why he and Kay never had kids.
Yeah. They inevitably turn into teenagers. Then everyday is an effort not to
kill them.
When
Then
13 Squadron's massive hangar came into view. He urged
the rover to go a little faster. He had to know about Lt Robins.
"Slow down, dear," Gail said in a calm voice. "Whether Lt
Robins is there or not won't change if we arrive a minute or two
later."
A minute or two later? Jeff flashed an annoyed look her
way. a
A
minute or two is a life time in combat.
While not being an eyeblink to the lifespan of a mountain range. It's all in
perspective.
> "Where's Lt Robins?" he shouted.
The three turned to look deeper into the building and were
rewarded by Missy Robins stepping out from behind a couple of
crates. Jeff was a bit surprised at how calm everyone appeared.
"What happened here?" he demanded, relief calming his voice.
Katherine shrugged. "Nothing we couldn't handle."
Right. Like evasive answering is going to make him back off.
"Good job getting that junk stowed," he said. "There may be
a use for them yet."
Like target practice.
"It's a little complicated but there appears to be some
folks up in Monument City who don't like us."
Just like about every other branch of the military at the rate their going.
Further discussion was broken by the sounds of crates
falling and a sharp scream that echoed in the massive hangar.
Jeff led the charge deeper into the building until they rounded
another stack of crates to see Ona Parino pinned under some
smaller cases with Karen Crowkiller standing over her unconscious
form.
Daisy and Nancy wasted no time, making a bee-line for the
startled older Crowkiller sister.
Methinks they're jumping to conclusions here.
"That's alright," Jeff snapped. Noticing the negative
effect it had on Gloria, he modified his tone. "That's not
important now. What *is* important is we need to take care of
Capt Parino." Kneeling down next to Katherine, he gently took
Ona's limp arm. He exhaled in relief when he felt a strong
pulse.
You'd have to dump a veritech on her head to kill her.
"You take care of Parino," she said looking out the
direction Karen disappeared. "I'll handle Karen."
It took only a moment and a single glance at Katherine's
serious face to nod an agreement. After all, she was the
Executive Officer. Personnel problems fell in her domain.
Nice to see him allowing her to go through some growing pains now.
It had been a long time since Jeff had been in a weight room
but some things remain in one's memory forever.
Like checking out all the babes in their tight workout outfits.
Jeff put a hand on her shoulder. "She's going to be fine,"
he said between gulps of air. "It wasn't your fault. Don't
worry about it."
Gloria forced a painful smile, like she was about to cry or
something. Jeff patted her shoulder and felt the side of Ona's
neck. The pulse was still there and still strong. In the
distance, they could hear the welcome sound of a siren.
Nancy gently probed the inside of her lip with her tongue.
"You know, Karen's got quite a kick."
"You're telling me," Daisy replied, wincing with pain as she
tried to sit up. "Sex is out for awhile."
Nancy: What about anal sex?
Daisy: Oh, well, yeah, that wouldn't be a problem. I meant strictly meat and
potatoes stuff.
Nancy started chuckling followed by Daisy and finally Jeff.
Soon, the three where laughing freely, broken only by Daisy's
wince of pain.
Gloria continued to cradle Ona's head and stroke the
Zentraedi's hair. "Please don't die," she whispered.
Ona: I won't I intend to live forever.
Katherine searched several minutes before finding Karen
Crowkiller behind an old outbuilding near the perimeter fence.
What drew her attention was the sound of someone repeatedly
striking the back side of the old wooden building. Her feet
making swishing sounds as she waded through the knee-deep weeds,
Katherine approached with caution. Karen had already decked two
of the toughest members of their squadron.
Well, by sucker punching them.
"There's nothing to talk about. I didn't do anything to
Capt Parino but nobody believes me because I hate Zentraedi."
"All Zentraedi?"
"Yes!"
"Even Ona?"
And hence here lies the problem.
Katherine stopped and crossed her arms. "She's no different
than the rest of us; unwanted, unliked, alone. That's why she's
here. The RDF doesn't consider her or the rest of us worth
anything. They stuck us all together in the hopes we'll fail and
they can get rid of us all."
Sort of like the Dirty Dozen, except we aren't hardened criminals, and Jeff
is no Lee Marvin.
"Karen, if this is about something that happened in South
America, you need to talk to me about it," Katherine insisted.
"Please, talk to me."
"I can't," Karen whined. "You won't understand."
Karen: It involves quantum physics.
The sound of wood breaking was different this time.
Screaming in pain, Karen staggered back, her knees buckling as
she held her bloody, misshapen hand.
Oopsie. Someone won't be flying for a little while.
fighting for her life, punctuated by an occasional oath in her
native language. Only by Jeff pinning her to the gurney and
enduring her blows did they make it to the hospital in one piece.
The hospital, however, didn't go much better. Understaffed,
the facility struggled with its caseload as best it could.
Tranq her. :)
Jeff sighed and tried to turn her back towards the waiting
room. "It was an accident. These things happen. I'm sure Ona's
going to be alright."
Jeff; But if it doesn't I'll write you up on charges. No way are they
sticking me with this one.
Gloria's shoulders sagged and she turned towards the waiting
room. "I'm always doing stupid things," she said, her voice
sounding lost.
Jeff: Don't worry. It's only because you're a stupid person. That makes it
all right.
"I don't believe that. You just forget to take proper
precautions." He patted her shoulder and felt her take a deep
breath, sagging against him when she exhaled.
"I just hope Capt Parino understands."
"I'm sure she does."
Jeff; She'll probably only break a limp or two to demonstrate her
understanding.
The human explosion in the Emergency Room took everyone by
surprise. Many voices were yelling, something heavy struck the
wall and two orderlies stumbled through the door, one with a
nasty-looking cut on his forearm.
"Call security! She's gone nuts!" one yelled, looking back
in horror. "She's going to kill everyone."
I knew they should have tranqued her.
An orderly made the mistake of moving slightly, obviously
hoping to better position himself for a final rush. Ona's
reaction was swift and decisive. In a feat of superhuman
strength, she yanked the heavy examining table over on its side
and, in the confusion, scurried towards a door leading deeper
into the hospital. That wasn't good. Once through that door,
she could go just about anywhere, endangering everyone in the
building.
In what had to be a case of bad timing, a middle-aged,
slightly overweight woman doctor
"female doctor' sound better to me. Would't say 'a man doctor' after all.
stepped through the door. Ona
snatched her in mid-stride, wrapping an arm across her throat and
placing the knife point just under her left breast. Everyone in
the place held their breath.
Zentraedi would automatically employ the concept of taking hostages? I
thought Kieron was the only one innovative enough to think along those
terms.
"Okay, let's try something else," the doctor said, fumbling
in her pocket. Switching to fluent Zentraedi, she barked an
emphatic string of commands. It must have been something the
Zentraedi recognized because her grip loosened and the knife slid
away from the doctor's chest.
Popping the cover of a hypodermic she'd retrieved from her
lab coat pocket, the doctor jabbed it into Ona's thigh at the
same time she slammed an elbow into the Zentraedi's ribs.
I see this doctor has administered Zentraedi before. :)
"Nice timing, Rambo," Jeff growled.
"D'ya, how'dya know my name is Rambo?" The guy asked.
"Is she out yet?" the doctor asked while still on her back.
"Yes, doctor,"
Think Doctor should be capitalized in that instance.
"That's right, you didn't think," the doctor snapped. "You
can't take blood from a female Zentraedi's arm. It's akin to
rape in their culture.
Can't begin to guess why.
Jeff stepped closer. "Will she be alright?"
"They usually are," the doctor said with a sigh. "By the
way, I'm Doctor Nikki Takahashi and, no, I'm not related to
'her'."
Jeff: But you look just like Natasha Takahashi.
Jeff shook the doctor's hand. "Colonel Jeffrey Stuart."
Dr Takahashi shot him an incredulous look. "Not THE Col
Stuart."
"You've heard of me?"
Dr. Takahashi: No. I was just pretending you were important enough to be
famous.
"Yes. Seems she went a couple of rounds with a wall and
lost. What kind of squadron are you putting together?"
Jeff: Well, our official nickname is 'Clusterfuck.'
"A very strange one," Jeff admitted with a sigh. "They're a
little frustrated right now."
"That goes without saying." Dr Takahashi yanked a sheet
over Ona's exposed breast. "Your warrior princess here is going
to take a little nap. She's got a full load of happy juice and
will probably sleep until dinner time.
I think that's usually one word.
Why don't you go back out
to the Waiting Room while I check on your boxing champ."
champ?"
Reluctantly, he agreed and started for the door.
"By the way, I want to talk to you before you leave," the
doctor called.
She probably knows someone that can be recruited into the unit as well. :)
The ambulance soon arrived with Lt Crowkiller and Capt Fox.
Thankfully, the break was rather minor and easily set. That gave
Katherine time to fill him in on what happened while he was gone.
It wasn't the kind of news he wanted to hear. Karen wasn't just
xenophobic, she had a deep, personal reason for her Zentraedi
hatred. One that will
would
have to be addressed before the squadron
deployed. Gloria continued to hover nearby, still fretting the
eventual outcome of Ona's condition. Outwardly, she seem
seemed
They stared at each other, each challenging the other to
press the issue. Jeff was the first to break, slumping back in
his chair with a soft chuckle.
"Sorry," he said apologetically. "We're on sort of a tight
schedule."
"Understood. I hear you're going to be shipping out soon,"
she said with a smile that twenty years and fifty pounds ago
might have been considered flirtatious.
But at the moment was making bile rise to his stomach.
Jeff eyed Nikki suspiciously. "You have anyone in mind."
mind?"
"We're both a couple of old war horses that have been ridden
hard and put up wet.
never heard the 'wet' part of that saying.
She must have thought so too because she rocked back in her
seat with an irritated expression. "Don't let my interest in
your situation confuse you. I'm thinking about those girls out
there," she said, waving a hand in the general direction of the
waiting room. "I've watched too many of our side die, men and
women.
Takahashi: Even a hermaphrodite or two.
You want my qualifications? Fine. I graduated medical
school first in my class. Before the war, I worked in some of
the nastiest hell holes you can imagine,
Cleveland, to be specific.
piecing together damn
"No, I didn't know," Jeff admitted.
Not like he had it tattooed on his head or something.
"You got it, handsome," Dr Takahashi said, cradling her cup
in both hands while casting him a satisfied grin. She looked
almost demure standing like that; very Japanese in her guarded
manner. He couldn't help but think how she must have been
something in her younger days.
Even more overweight, ironically enough.
"Yes I do," she replied softly, still cradling the coffee
cup in her fingers and staring at its contents with a faraway
look. "And thank you."
Jeff stopped. "For what?"
She glanced his way, a mysterious twinkle in her eye, and
replied: "It's not important. Like I said; we're a lot alike."
His hesitation lasted only slightly longer than his
confusion over her answer.
Wonder if he slept with her years ago and forgot about it. :)
"I know what you're thinking. How can we function if
someone is working against us all the time?" He paused and
looked down at his feet, scuffing the sole of one boot on the
hard surface. "All my life, I've been taught to follow the
rules, know the regulations, and don't cut corners. Well, things
have changed. It's about time I did as well."
He turned to Katherine and said: "In my position, it's vital
I maintain my deniability. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
It's called CYA: Cover Your Ass.
The squadron members saluted as a single unit as Jeff turned
on his heel and marched back into the headquarters building.
"All right," Katherine said in a perfect command voice.
Again I don't think you need this linebreak.
"You heard the Colonel." She paused, adding a mischievous smile
and in a softer voice said: "Let's get organized."
Things are moving along very well. Already can't wait to see more. nice
interpersonal relationships as the group gows through its growing pains.
They might even get to see some action in another three chapters or so.
D.B. Sommer
--
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List---.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@fanfic.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@fanfic.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---http://www.fanfic.com/FFML-FAQ.txt ---'