AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Howdy! The initial episode of Season 8 airs on Cartoon Network here in the USA within 24 hours, and I'm excited!

In honor of this event, I am posting the next chapter of this soldier tale. Thanks to RandomDragon2.0 and Willow Julien/Falk for your great comments on the previous chapter!

In the chapter below, Skylor and Jules' secret relationship is discovered...


Chapter 52 - A Colonel Contrives

Two weeks later…

In the middle of a cold, dark January night, Colonel Doolverr stumbled back to his quarters, with the moon lighting his way. The Purple Army officer didn't drink to excess very often, but today he had received good news today which made him want to celebrate with his lieutenants. He had received word that his first grandson had been born.

The baby was the offspring of the colonel's daughter and that pansy husband of hers. Doolverr had produced no sons of his own, so he now had an opportunity to teach this brand new scion what it meant to be a man of Doolverr heritage. Yes, he would make sure that this new grandson would grow up to be strong, ambitious, disciplined, and loyal to the King, and the lad would be taught that anything - or anyone - who posed a threat to the Kingdom of Ninjago should be severely dealt with.

Feeling a little dizzy, Doolverr paused against the side of a residence building to clear his head before proceeding on to his own quarters. He stepped into the shadows, for he did not wish to be seen exhibiting weakness in any way. He didn't really expect to encounter anyone at this time of the night, but he only trusted a handful of people. Consequently, he never bothered to socialize with most of the other officers and didn't care to learn who lived in what building.

He was surprised when, amid the quiet, deserted row of officers' residences at this time of the night, some movement a few dozen yards away caught his attention.

One residence door opened, allowing the interior lamplight to slightly illuminate the entryway, and a man stepped out.

Is that an enlisted man? the colonel wondered. He's wearing the hat of a rank-and-file soldier. What's he doing coming out of an officer's house?

Then he saw the man turn around again to face the doorway which, by this time, was filled with the figure of a...woman? To Doolverr, it appeared she was clutching a blanket around her body and, judging by the bareness of her exposed shoulders, the cloth was the only thing she was wearing. The man and the woman kissed.

The woman's long hair flowed freely around her shoulders. Seeing that the color of her tresses was red suddenly jolted the colonel into realizing who he was looking at...

Skylor! The daughter of his best friend Chen.

But who was the man to whom she had just bid goodbye before she closed the door?

Doolveer held himself still in the shadows as the man walked past him with a spring in his step.

The man was Sergeant Brossette.

The colonel remained hidden until Brossette was gone, and then he proceeded on his journey home, incensed at what he had just observed. As he stumbled along, he became angrier.

Oh, this will NOT do! Doolverr would not allow his best friend to be dishonored by the reckless actions of his immature daughter, who was already engaged to a rising star in the Purple military. Yet here she was, fraternizing with that lazy swamplander. Egads! He's not even an officer! And if that wasn't bad enough, the sole offspring of the commander of the entire Third Division might find herself in the family way, and Chen's military career could be tainted with shame. People would question the leader's ability to control a whole division if he could not control his own child.

As Doolverr reached the door of his quarters, he resolved to put a stop to this liaison as soon as possible.

And he knew how he would do it.


The next afternoon…

Jules hadn't intended to visit the registration building today. In fact, in an hour he was planning to travel with Skylor around the countryside outside the walls of Kryptarium Prison.

She had told him she would create some official military reason why the two of them needed to use horses from the stable, when in reality they were simply going to go for a leisurely ride before sunset and spend some private time together. Once again she was bending the rules, one of the traits he loved about her.

Because their relationship needed to be kept a secret - she had not yet officially ended her engagement to Jake, and neither of them wished to attract undesired attention from Purple soldiers nor Yellow prisoners - their opportunities to enjoy each other's company were limited, so Jules looked forward to being with his new love any chance he got. Cho! Co! The times he had already spent with her were absolutely fantastic, especially the late winter night hours in her bed, where her soft, voluptuous body kept him warm and satisfied.

But this afternoon, as he was finishing up his daily office duties, one of Colonel Doolverr's lieutenants found him and informed him that the colonel wished to see him immediately. The lieutenant had practically dragged him along by his arm as he escorted Jules to the colonel's office.

The lieutenant and the sergeant walked past the registration building's sentry and into the main room which, as usual, contained only a few wooden chairs. Jules tried not to think about the terrible treatment of his friend Smith, which he had witnessed in this very room.

The men walked through the main room and reached the interior office. Colonel Doolverr and the other lieutenant were sitting on either side of the desk, having a conversation.

The lieutenant rapped on the office's open door. "Brossette's here," he announced.

Jules saluted. "You sent for me, Colonel?"

"Yes, I did. Take off your coat and hang it on the hook over there. Men," he said, addressing the lieutenants, "why don't you go out and...do something else for a half-hour while Brossette and I have a talk. And take the sentry with you."

"Yes, Colonel," the men replied, smiling like cats who had swallowed canaries. Obviously there was some sort of secret that they knew about and Jules didn't, but they had never included the sergeant in their little inner circle, so Jules was used to being the outcast. They left.

Jules and Doolverr were now alone.

"Sergeant, let's step out into the main room while we talk." The colonel motioned for Jules to precede him.

Once they entered the main room, the colonel took a wooden chair and placed it so that it faced the fire in the fireplace. "Have a seat, Sergeant," he said to Jules. The Purple enlisted man slowly complied. Doolverr remained standing, hands on his hips.

"Sergeant, I had you brought here because I wish to tell you something about Major Amber."

Oh, no! Is he thinking about transferring her to another location?

Doolverr began to pace in front of Jules. "Sergeant, I don't know if you know this, but Major Amber's father happens to be General Chen, the commander of the Third Division," he began.

"Yes, sir," Jules responded. Skylor herself already told me that.

"And her father and I are good friends of each other."

"Yes, sir." I remember you said that, the day you bullied Skylor into hurting Smith.

Doolver began to walk behind the seated Jules. "Now, being friends with General Chen, I feel I have a duty to watch over his daughter."

Get to the point, peeshwank.

Doolver was now behind Jules, out of the sergeant's line of sight. "And we can't have Major Amber's reputation soiled by a lowly lazy swamplander."

Oh, so this conversation is all about trying to stop me from seeing her! Well, I don't know how you found out about our relationship, but Skylor is a grown woman who can make her own choices!

Before Jules could turn around and remind the colonel that Skylor was an independent adult, a burly arm wrapped itself around his neck and began to strangle him.