They all belong to JE. Unfortunately.
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Chapter 26
The first phase of Special Forces training was a lot of down and dirty hard work. Forty days of pure exertion. I was put to the test with map reading, land navigation and small unit tactics. Our base camp was located at Camp Mackall, about thirty five miles away from Fort Bragg. I excelled in the small tactics part of training and my superiors decided to make me a weapons sergeant. I've all but given up on ever hearing my real name again; most of the guys call me "Little Falcon" after what my dad said at basic training graduation.
My second phase of schooling was additional training in becoming a weapons sergeant. I traded in my Camp Mackall home for one on Fort Bragg. Damien and I made up the sniper team, me being the marksman and Damien being the spotter. No one would ever believe that I've become so in tune with guns, seeing as I was so afraid of them before. It's gotten to the point where I feel naked when I'm without a weapon. My instructors tell me it's normal.
We didn't see Murphy or Tuck during this phase because they had other specialties to work on. Murphy was working on becoming a medic sergeant and Tuck getting more training at being a Special Forces engineer.
Here we are, just one phase away from being full fledged Special Forces soldiers.
This last part of training is the qualifications course. Its four weeks of grueling field training, made to give us some idea of what would happen in a realistic situation. Most soldiers know this as "Operation Robin Sage". Unconventional warfare, Isolation, air operations, special operations. Pretty much all of our previous knowledge and training is being tested.
Tuck broke me of my thoughts and started chattering. "I hear our instructor and guide for the Q course is a real bad-ass. He's supposed to be the best of the best."
Damien laughed. "I bet he's not as good as Little Falcon."
I grimaced. "What have you been smoking Reynolds? I'm good, but I'm not that good. We'll see what this mysterious bad ass thinks."
Everyone laughed. "You can't be all bad, they made you team leader!" Murphy said slapping me on the back.
I'm pretty good at what I do, I won't deny that, but I'm definitely not the best. My spidey sense has helped me more than once.
We were all currently all lounging outside a training facility at Fort Bragg waiting for our mysterious leader to come out of the woodwork. My spidey sense was going off like crazy and it began to bug me. There couldn't be anyone here that was out to get me. I began to call bullshit to my own senses when a person I wasn't too fond of walked out of the building. Fuck, I was hoping she flunked out of her part of the training. Jessica Thompson came waltzing toward us and stopped and sat beside Damien on the bench.
My fists clenched at my sides and I gave her a glare. It's not that I'm claiming Damien as mine, because we're only friends, but I have a bad feeling about her and don't want her anywhere near him. In our first part of training she breezed through the training without doing any actual work. We were all convinced she was sleeping with one of our instructors. It was really pathetic.
Sensing my hostility Damien left his seat at the bench and came over to stand near me. "How about a song Plum?"
Out of all the guys Damien is the only one to still call me Plum or Steph.
I think a few songs would cheer me up. We've been singing our way through training. It was against the rules but we didn't care. As long as we were completing our tasks and doing a good job I didn't see any reason why we couldn't.
"Ok, what do you wanna sing?"
All the guys started throwing out suggestions and Thompson interrupted. "You two are so juvenile, you shouldn't be messing around."
"Shove it Thompson!" said Tuck. "You're just jealous because Little Falcon can sing and you can't."
"I don't think so" she spat out and continued sitting by herself.
Reynolds gave me a smile and a nod, letting me know to follow his lead. I trusted his song choice, we had similar tastes.
"How
you doin' young lady
That feelin' that you givin' really
drives me crazy
You don't have to play about the joke
I was
at a loss of words first time that we spoke"
I recognized the song; it was "Promiscuous girl" by Nelly Furtado and Timberland. I joined in immediately.
"You're
looking a girl that'll treat you right
You lookin' for her in
the day time with the light
You might be the type if I play my
cards right
I'll find out by the end of the night
You
expect me to just let you hit it
But will you still respect me if
you get it
All I can do is try, gimme one chance
What's
the problem I don't see no ring on your hand
I be the first to admit it, I'm curious about you, you seem so innocent
[You
wanna get in my world, get lost in it
Boy I'm tired of running,
lets walk for a minute"
By now the guys were clapping and whistling while Thompson was in the background scowling. I danced around some of the guys and ended up rubbing against Damien while he sang at me.
"Promiscuous
girl
wherever you are
I'm all alone
and it's you that I
want
Promiscuous boy
you already know
that I'm all
yours
what you waiting for?
Promiscuous girl
you're
teasing me
you know what I want
And I got what you need
Promiscuous boy
Lets get to the point
Cause we're on a
roll
Are you ready?"
We were interrupted by a booming voice. "What the hell are you soldiers doing?" yelled our instructor, Sergeant First Class Pennington.
He continued on. His yelling made Lula's rhino mode sound like whispering. It was deafening. "I know you all are the best at what you do, but could you please act like it for once? You're guide and instructor for this phase of training will be here any minute. Show him you can all be adults."
Thompson cut in with a smirk on her face. All that was needed was her sticking her tongue out at us. And we were the ones that were childish?
"I told them it was juvenile sir, but they wouldn't listen." She said.
He looked at her with a pain face, obviously annoyed. "Oh can it, Thompson" Pennington said.
I inwardly smiled. Us one, Thompson zero, score!
He continued. "Ok ladies and gentleman, I want you to go to your quarters and straighten up, your new leader will be with you shortly, and for god sakes Little Falcon, keep the singing to a minimum, this new guy is a no bullshit kind of guy, he won't tolerate anything but being professional."
"Yes, sir!" I said trying not to laugh. How bad could this guy be? I've been through worse.
We all went to our quarters. It was just a large barracks room with a bunch of cots. There women's and men's showers at the far end of the room. We lived together comfortably most of the time. My bed was beside Damien's, at this stage of the game they didn't care if Thompson and I were with the guys or not. There weren't separate quarters for the guys and girls.
I didn't have anything to straighten up so I helped Damien clear his area. He just had some extra shirts hanging around so we folded them. While we were waiting Damien broke into song again. Fuck, all we need is for Mr. Mysterioso to come in and hear us singing then give us extra work.
"I
ain't got no money
I ain't got no car to take you on a date
I
can't even buy you flowers
But together we be the perfect soul
mates
Talk to me girl"
I guess my heart ruled over my head because I sang along anyway.
"Oh,
baby, it's alright now, you ain't gotta floss for me
If we go
touch, you can still touch my love, it's free
we can work without
the perks just you and me
Thug it out until we get it right"
In my haze of singing I didn't realize everyone had shut up and were at attention. Fuck, our new fearless leader must be here.
"Now that I have everyone's attention, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Lieutenant Manoso and I'll be your instructor for this phase of your training."
Hmm, funny, I could have sworn I heard him say "Lieutenant Manoso". What are the chances of it being Ranger; I slowly turned around and gasped at what I saw. I think my luck just ran out.
Chapter 27
Ranger's POV
I've spent the last few months preparing for my new assignment. I was a little shocked at where they sent me, I had no real experience at training soldiers, but here I am. I was told I was getting a highly marked group of men and two women. Women weren't usually allowed to enlist in the Special Forces but I was told these two were the best of the best and couldn't be passed up. I entered Pennington's office prepared to start work. "Good to see you Pennington, it's been a long time."
He laughed. "It's good to see you too Manoso, sorry to pull you out of your life like this but this group of soldiers are amazing, and I thought it was best to have them trained by the best."
"It's no problem man; it's better than being stuck in the middle of the jungle or desert somewhere, which is where they usually send me. Tell me about the group.
He sighed. "There's Murphy, he's the group Medic, don't underestimate him, he's stronger than he looks. Then there's Tuck, he's a good ole southern boy, but he could do some damage, he's our go to engineer. One of the women, Thompson, is a real brown noser, but good at her job as communications sergeant. Watch out for her though, I hear she was fucking one of her instructors in phase one."
I groaned at that comment. I wasn't in the mood for women throwing themselves at me. I was already having trouble getting Stephanie out of my head.
He continued on. "There are a few other guys that you'll meet and they're all up to par, but the two best I have are Reynolds and Little Falcon. Reynolds is our spotter and Little Falcon is our team leader and marksman. I haven't seen anyone that good since you, Manoso. She's a real piece of work. She's smart and funny, even sings, plus she's gorgeous to boot! Don't underestimate her either. She likes to have fun and kid around with the guys, but she's an excellent marksman and an even better leader."
I thought for a moment. Holy shit, I wonder if she had any relation to Falcon. "Is she in any way related to Falcon? I can't see how she got that name?"
He smiled. "She's Falcon's daughter. No one's seen him for years and he all of a sudden shows up at a basic training graduation with Eagle of all people. He gave an amazing speech and then welcomed his daughter "Little Falcon" into the Army. It was bizarre."
I had only heard stories of Falcon, and from what I hear he was the BEST. "Unbelievable, I guess it's going to be a long few months! I'm going over to see the runts now, I'll check back in with you later."
He laughed. "Good luck Manoso, you'll need it with this group!"
As I was walking into the barracks building I heard people singing. So this is what Pennington was warning me about. Who ever it was they sounded good, but I couldn't let them know that, I had to put on my blank face and make them respect me from the start or they would walk all over me. I walked in and said "Attention" as loud as I could and everyone started formation, everyone except the woman singing. She had her back to me and was oblivious to my presence. Who did she think she was?
I guess I finally got her attention because she stopped singing and turned around.
"Now that I have everyone's attention, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Lieutenant Manoso and I'll be your instructor for this phase of your training."
I wasn't prepared for who I saw when the woman turned around. Stephanie. What the hell is she doing here? I immediately slammed on my blank face hiding my shock.
I could see the surprised look on her face but she slammed down a blank stare of her own. She's good. She walked up to the head of the group and came to attention.
"Introduce yourselves everyone." I said trying to play it cool.
Stephanie was the first person to speak. "Sergeant Plum Sir or most people call me "Little Falcon." I'm team leader and Marksman."
I was stunned. Not only is she in the Special Forces but she's also Falcon's daughter. How could I have missed this? I tried to listen to everyone's replies as they went down the line but I was too stunned with shock. I got enough to know everyone's names but that was it.
I dismissed them quickly and requested the presence of Sergeant Plum; she had a lot of explaining to do.
"I'd like to have a word with you outside Sergeant Plum."
