Robotech Chronicles

by selasphorus

-post Zentraedi Hollocaust, fun little story, let me know what you think and I will keep on writing...

2. story ch 14

THE ROBOTECH CHRONICLES

CHAPTER ONE.

The moment my mind was brought back to consciousness I remember standing in a queue that entered a large military-style building which had a four- point star emblem. The RDF, Robotech Defense Force. I couldn't believe where I was, I started recalling all I knew about my past life and what was the last thing I remembered but my memories were all hazy, with no solid images. As my brains were struggling with the sudden awakening, my body followed the line until it stopped at a large counter with a lady in military fatigues and a sign above her: REGISTRATION. What? All of a sudden I not only was in a different time and place but also was about to enlist in someone else's war... "Last name", commanded the officer with one of those voices you don't want to have an argument with. I racked my mind with a name I could come up with, for my former was already lost along with my past life. I don't know why, but my mouth blurted "Hawkeye" before I could react. Maybe I recalled that novel, The Last of... whatever. "First name?" replied the woman in front of me, eyeing me curiously. Obviously I was not being discreet with confusion. "Paul." "Age?" "Eighteen." "Birthplace?" "Here." "Brasilia?" she asked, and I affirmed with a nod, at least it seemed that I was in the same world. "Birth date?" a frown started to appear in the officer's brow, she must have thought that I was retarded or something, not that my expressions were of any help. "October sixteenth nineteen seventy-four" I said. Only to regret it after she stopped typing in the computer and stared at me "What year you said?" "Well, uh, just eighteen years ago, count them yourself and you'll see." With a laugh she responded "So it is nineteen ninety five, a bad year indeed," Holly shit! If I still knew how to count then the present year was 2013, and what's worse, I did feel and looked like an eighteen-year-old. I didn't feel like I had aged or anything. What had happened to me? "Alright, move towards that door over to your right, there you will have a doctor examinate you, he will tell you what to do next. If you pass all the tests you will be admitted in to the RDF, but honestly I'm not sure if you should join, you don't seem to be feeling well or somethin'. Only because we need troops doesn't mean everybody should join." "Thank you ma'am." "Lieutenant!" Boy was she sore, I wake up in a strange place and the welcome speech is an insult followed with a reprimand. "Thanks lieutenant." And I started walking away. But I stopped the moment I heard the next man's voice behind me, it was familiar. "Jordan, Chris Jordan" I turned around and stared at him, he was a friend of mine, or rather is if he remembers me, though the name was very alien to me, it was him all right. He glanced at me with a reassuring smile even though he seemed as confused as I did. Some big guy shoved me and spat something out about hastiness but I was not listening, I was thinking on all this mess, while at the same time entering a room with a white-coated doctor, syringe in hand. I decided to think more later and follow instructions, not to mention watching the movement of his right hand and that dreaded syringe. It all went well, after the doctor I did some IQ tests, I was not found retarded as the recruiting officer might have wished. My intellect, modesty apart, hadn't left me. During the testing I was in a room full with other cadets, among them Jordan. I managed to exchange some words, only to find out that he was as confused as I, the only piece of information that he knew was 22nd of October, 2013, today's date. It seemed that this was no practical joke; we had traveled into the future, or one of the possible futures. It was very frustrating; we couldn't do anything to change what had happened, for we didn't know what had happened. So we finally resigned to our new lives and go with the flow. After the examinations we were taken to a series of booths, were we were told that we should elect our specialty in the Corps. Having tested highly, Jordan and I were able to choose from any of the options. We had a moment of indecision, scanning all the occupations that existed, but our eyes rested finally on the stand that said Veritech Pilots. Beside it there was a picture of a sleek plane, somewhat similar to the Tomcat of our era that Chris was able to recall. Next to the plane was a humanoid form, tall in comparison to the human figure pictured in it, handling a huge gun. There was a third one, depicting a morph between the other shapes. We advanced curiously towards that booth and listened to a taped lecture of the craft's capabilities. We learned that thanks to some alien technology, this machine is able to transform into three different shapes, in order for it to be prepared for any situation. We signed up immediately, we liked the idea, for it was something we never had heard of. After printing our names we followed a corporal through a series of halls until we ended up in an open patio, along with about forty other recruits; men and women alike, and most of them as young as Chris or me. There we had a brief explanation of what would be required from us, what a Veritech was able to do and how honorable this branch of the army was. We took an oath of allegiance to the Earth and the RDF, by afternoon we were all anxious to start our training. In the evening we were issued rooms for four in a long dorm, as well as our uniforms. But it was not until eight o'clock that we received our first meal. After that we were sent all to bed. My roommates ended up being Jordan, for we managed to be put in the same room together, and two other guys, last names Andersen and Gomez.

During the next weeks we were not able to rest a minute, the drill sergeant put us through grueling exercise. After the third week we started having classes in the afternoons: electronics, radio operation, first aid, mechanics, all that stuff. It was during this time that we were allowed into the library, and Chris and I started researching on the events that took place the last thirty years. It was 1995, the year I was supposedly born, that there was a world war. It was four years later that a cease fire was called for, after a large meteor felled on an island in the Pacific; further studies in secret revealed that it was a humongous spaceship. Because of this a government coalition was formed to be able to deal with any extraterrestrial invasion. This spacecraft was called the SDF-1, Super Dimensional Fortress One. During the next ten years various scientists from the newly formed RDF explored the new sciences discovered inside the ship. Probably the greatest discovery was protoculture although I am not sure what it really is, but that it works like a fuel, we couldn't find specific information about it, it seems that it is top-secret stuff. We also learned that this protoculture enabled a link between humans and machines; that's why the RDF is called so, for the discovery of robotechnology, and it explains the transformation capabilities of the Veritech. It was July first 2009, the inauguration of the new battle fortress converted ship, that an alien attack erupted what is known as the First Robotech War. The ship took off with the entire island, space folded or something, and then had a maiden voyage from Pluto back to the Earth while battling the Zentraedi. These were the aliens that attacked us, giant warriors in different shades of greens or browns, and in any other respect very similar to us earthlings. They seem able to shrink into our size, that's how one of them eventually met another human and married him, they don't seem that bad to me, or to many other people; an alliance has been made between their commanding officer, one called Breetai and our own forces, though there are some renegades out there from both sides causing major trouble. To make the story short, the war is still going on, our forces appearing to have the upper hand in the conflict. At least we are not fighting each other.

Drills and more drills turned out to be the fifth and sixth weeks of our training. By know we were conducting mock operations, though we hadn't been introduced to the Veritech, the brass wanted us to become fighters on the ground first, then we would learn to fly. By this time all of us recruits were well acquainted, Gomez and Andersen were our best buddies. The weekends, when we were allowed to explore the city's nightlife, us four would go out to bars to relax and have a few drinks. One place in particular was our favorite, 'The Storks', for it would play music that was from the last millennia, or music that was not as popular as the voice of Lynn Minmei. I did not like her a lot, though she was very popular in the RDF for she had been crucial in the initial defeat of the Zentraedi, and she was one of the reasons that made some Zentraedi join our ranks. A band usually played on Saturdays, and then the atmosphere of the place would cheer up, for they were really good. Unfortunately for them, there was little money allotted to record production, or any cultural event in general, for all the money was directed to the war effort, and they were stuck in that sleazy place. Unfortunately for us, they would not play every Saturday, we learned to cherish those special days, and coincidentally those days were the ones that at least one of us needed to be carried to the barracks, for he had drank too much. It was on one of the first outings that the friendship with our other two roommates was really formed. Feeling cocky for we belonged to the army, Chris and Gomez picked up a brawl with a couple other customers, it was not a very good idea, for the usual populace of The Storks was not the kind you liked to encounter on a park alone in the middle of the night, if you catch my drift. Besides, Jordan and Gomez seemed to have a very nasty taste; they chose the two smallest fellas in the place. All of a sudden ten other ugly looking guys with very nasty intentions surrounded us, and this was even before the first punch was made. Apparently these people didn't like us military. If it wasn't for Andersen who is a 6'4", 220-pound muscle package, and our well-trained legs to make the escape, we would not have been able to report back to headquarters. We did receive some hard goodbyes and one of them did ended up knocked out. But we were all safe. The next time we returned to that place, two weeks after, everything seemed as usual, and we learned not to fight in these kinds of places were the odds are against us. Jeffrey Andersen had a very obscure past that we dug little by little from him. He wasn't very intelligent, he barely passed the IQ requirements to be in the Veritech Corp, though nobody ever mentioned this in his face or his health would be in danger. As I had said, he was all muscle, an excellent athlete. He had built up all that dark brown mass while he was in a reformatory. He never told us what his crime had been. He was twenty two, and it seemed that he had no relatives, for he never mentioned them. He had an unfriendly disposition towards the Zentraedi and all aliens in general. It was this that made him join the RDF; besides the fact that he was given the option to join the army instead of continuing in the pen. Johnny Gomez, his mother British, his dad Portuguese, he ended up a native of Brasilia. Of dark hair and eyes, he was not a big fella, rather slim. And not very tall either, though this was an advantage for him, he was very destrious and with a small body he could achieve acrobatic feats like a cat. He was in love with computers, an eighteen-year-old wiz. He came from a wealthy family, and had a very good education, as well as access to this kind of hardware; he had lots of opportunities to develop a fruitful career, but the Zentraedi appeared in his life. His parents were killed about two years ago, by the holocaust created by the massive Zentraedi battle cruisers. Statistics showed that only thirty percent of Earth's population survived this assault. Since then, John sought shelter in various places with friends that were still alive. Living in despair for two years, it was a shocking reversal of fortune for someone that had his future laid out in silverware ripe for his taking, until he finally decided to join the army and start a career there.

On the seventh week, Friday December fifteenth, I was called into the office of our captain. The note said that he wanted to speak to me and that I should present myself in full regimentals at nine hundred hours. I barely made it on time, for I had field practice at seven and had to take a shower and groom myself, it was the first time that I was asked to present myself to our commanding officer. At the reception desk before his office, his staff sergeant told me that the captain would arrive soon, but that I should go in and join the rest. As I crossed the door I understood what he meant by 'the rest', seven other cadets were in the spacious office. I knew them all, but we were so nervous that we stood in attention for three minutes before the Captain entered the room, barely speaking for no one knew why we had been summoned. Opinions ranged from court-martial to dismissal of the RDF. As I said when he entered, with an expressionless face and a folder under his arm, I though this was the end of my career. He muttered a frugal 'Good morning' and proceeded to sit on his chair, left the folder on top of his desk and said 'At ease.' At this moment everyone let the air that had been waiting to leave our lungs, and relaxed our shoulders. He continued after a split-second pause, not noticing our reaction. "You have been summoned here because your training sergeants have recommended you from all the other cadets. Having studied each of your files and agreeing with your drill sergeants, I hereby will grant you the ranks of corporal. When you graduate in three weeks from today you will do so with that degree. And enter the RDF ranks as fully instated corporals. Though you won't be carrying the insignia until then." He waited for the news to be taken in by the cadets, then. "This generation of veritech fighters will then be split up in eight different squadrons. And you will be in charge of them. They will be five- man teams, the members will be assigned to you later in the afternoon, when your new status will be formally introduced to the rest of the cadets. Gentlemen, any questions?" People started shifting excitedly around their places, and the Captain sensing this, dismissed us all. "Well, if there are no queries then you may return to your classes as usual. Congratulations." We exited the Captain's office and went to our respective duties of the morning, we were so thrilled that by the time the meeting was called for, it was old news our promotions. If that recruiting officer could see me now... Our eagerness to enter the assembly room was not hidden, the excitement hadn't diminished a thing. As I entered the spacious room, with the walls wrapped up in banners depicting the famous squadrons of the veritech force; walking towards our assigned seats and guided by the sergeants; siting down on the chairs and looking towards the front: the large stage where the Captain and his aides were seated. Above them a large shield of the RDF staring at us all. All forty of us were there expecting the news, all eight of us expecting the good news. The Captain stood up and walked towards the microphone in front when we were all assembled. He began to address us: "Good evening. You have been assembled here for a special occasion. Your training is almost over, and soon you will depart to bases in the front and take action in the war towards the rogue Zentraedi Khyron and his minions. When this happens, you will be sent in teams of five, and at your new bases you will continue your training, but by then you will all be acting as enlisted personnel in the RDF. When you graduate from here, you will receive the ranks of Private First Class, except eight of you, the team leaders. "As you might already have heard from your fellow cadets, these eight have already been selected, according to their prowess and leadership shown during the training. They have been promoted to corporal. "Antilles, Hawkeye, Jacques, Jones, McLeod, Silva, Richardson, Wilson; please come to the front. Lets have a cheer for the new NCOs of the Army. Sergeant, proceed." There we were, six males and two females, standing in attention in the front of the room, the sergeant gave us a sheet of paper that contained the list of the four other members of the teams. As I was looking over the list, the aides started calling the cadets into their respective teams. My list contained the names of Team Two's members: Andersen, Gomez, Jordan, and Karen Buccio. I wasn't expecting Karen to be part of this team, actually I didn't really know who to expect for the fifth-man position. At eighteen years of age, she was a slender female. With dark, dark hair, trimmed short, but with style, slender eyebrows over light greenish-brown eyes, and milk shaded skin. She was I should say, one of our better assets here at the base. She was born on Malta, a small island in the Mediterranean, but only lived there for three years. Her father was a colonel and served during the civil war, until he was killed. When this occurred, Karen and her mother moved out of Malta, stayed for one year at her grandparent's house in Sicily and kept on moving settling finally in Caracas, Venezuela. She decided to pursue a career in the military like her father, apparently because all her life had been entwined with armies and wars, it seemed, to her, the most profitable thing to do. I knew Karen as a fellow classmate, she was friendly and a bit shy, but we had rarely crossed paths during the training. Once Jordan invited her on one of our Saturday's expeditions, but she declined courteously. And he never invited her again, even though he liked her he didn't try again, his pride a bit hurt. But now there she was, Karen, standing in attention along with my three roommates, who were exhibiting a mocking smile. Apparently they were quite amused that their fellow partner had taken part in this party. They were pleased though, and did offer some congratulating phrases. I liked the outcome of this, it was a neat team, all of us were friendly towards each other, even the relationship between Chris and Karen was not strained, both of them liked the idea of working together. And there was a secret agreement between the remaining three of us not joke Chris about his sizzled date with Karen. That day we all went out together, though not to 'The Storks', but to a nice restaurant-pub that Gomez knew about, and celebrated the beginning of the new Veritech Squad.

During the next week we started training as a team, getting acquainted with everyone else's' qualities and characteristics. And finally December 22nd arrived, the day that we were allowed clearance from the base, and awarded a full four days of vacations to spend the holidays with our family before we were committed to the Army the entire 365 days of the year until this war was over. Andersen wandered off to some beach, I think. He wanted to be alone for those days and we never even found out were exactly he had gone. John, Chris and I were invited to Karen's house in Caracas. An invitation that we accepted with glee for none of us had a place to go to, and we didn't want to invest all our money in a hotel room somewhere, or stay at the deserted base. Traveling by bus we spent half a day on the road. It was tiring but worthwhile, for the days in Caracas were unforgettable. Although there were signs that a war was going on in the destroyed districts of the city and the poverty reflected in the streets, we tried to forget all about it. And with Karen's mother help, we actually did. If it wasn't for that massive attack caused by Khyron and his troops over at New Macross city on Christmas Eve. But all was well in this part of the continent, and we returned peacefully and without any further entertainments from the War's side. At our return to the base, the 26th, we were led into specialization fields, each one of us would have a special training background so that the team would turn out balanced and ready for any situation, expected and unexpected, in the field. This training only lasted the week, and by the 30th we graduated. Even though it was supposed to be an important ceremony for us cadets, and that we should be excited about it, it was a sad day. The day before we were informed of the suicide attack that Khyron led towards the grounded SDF-1 and newly-built SDF-2. He and Azonia were killed, along with the famous Admiral Henry Global, former captain of the SDF-1, and all the crew of the two ships, including the destruction of both fortresses. This day was to be remembered as the final battle of the First Robotech War. But the day of our graduation we could only think of the lost human souls to those invaders from outer space. We all vowed to rid the Earth from these and all other invaders... Team Two was formally made, Corporal Hawkeye at the helm and PFC's Andersen, Buccio, Gomez and Jordan making the body. We spent the last weekend at the base equipping ourselves and packing up our personal stuff. Andersen, being the heavy weapons specialist, chose the .30 caliber light machinegun, an awesome baby who could drill holes in many conventional armored vehicles. Karen had taken the Ingram X sub-machinegun, a small weapon with massive firepower, for she was our tracker and intelligence gal. Then came Gomez who picked an ordinary M-16A1 assault rifle, he was the tech of the team, a natural for computers and electronics and all that boring stuff. Jordan took the Wolverine M-35, a similar weapon to the M-16 though this one had an automatic grenade launcher, and also a handful of explosives, he was our demolition man. As for me, the Wolverine suited me fine, as the leader I was supposed to be the jack of all trades of the team, though actually we were all almost equal, the one week that we had for our specialization didn't really make much of a difference among us. We were also issued a sidearm, which was the standard issue Browning 9mm automatic. Thus packed we awaited for the sunny Brazilian morning to arrive that next Monday, as the sky was turning a light blue from the pitch-dark night, and the VC-33 VTOL transport turned up its turbines, we entered the ramp on the back entrance to the belly of the craft. It lifted with us as the only passengers and we headed to the outpost assigned to us, the 12th Surveillance Base, in the middle of the Amazon. The sleek shape of our craft soared the skies as we pondered what our future was going to be like.

CHAPTER TWO.

The "Mom's Kitchen" or VC-33, a VTOL transport plane, speeded at an amazing mach one. It sleek, black figure was being hit by the morning sun; below, the mist-covered trees of the amazon jungle were barely seen. On some parts there was only destruction on the ground, but the fog covered all. It was to be a hot cloudless day, and the team aboard the plane was thinking how long would their ride take. They didn't get a chance to think much about it, after two hours of being airborne the pilot announced them that their destination was on sight. And a few minutes later the craft was descending on a dirt landing pad. When it had settled down, the ground crew started disembarking the cargo while the five-man squad exited the plane and started gathering their things. A lieutenant from the base approached these people. They quickly snapped into attention and the leader, corporal Hawkeye, saluted and proceeded to report as he handed a data disk. "Team Two reporting to base sir, here are the files of the members of the group." The second lieutenant took the disk nonchalantly, "Yeah sure, welcome to the 12th, I am Lieutenant Milla in charge of the Veritech Air Support of this base, though we have no fighters yet. I'll explain myself." She started walking towards the main compound of buildings, Hawkeye a step behind and then the rest of the team trailing the commander. "You see, there has been a shortage of veritech fighters and so many bases were left without a single squad, that's why you were trained as field troops, the high command didn't know if they were going to be able to give each pilot a vehicle. And so, you were part of the lucky ones, no ordinance here. Great huh? Don't worry; Major Jonsson will keep you busy. For now I will show you your bungalow, after that you are to report to the Major's office in two hours." Hawkeye started mussing about how great fate was to lead him into a depleted base in the middle of the Earth. Now they would have to squirm like worms in the soil until those at the Brasilia headquarters decided to give them a handful of mecha. He followed the small and slender figure that conformed the second lieutenant. With long blond hair and blue eyes, she seemed to Paul Hawkeye a nice commanding officer, that was the best part of them being assigned here, it seemed. Paul glanced back at his troopers, Chris, Jeff, Karen, and Johnny; they wore faces that reflected his same feelings towards the new base. Jeff shrugged his shoulders and decided that his fellow soldiers were exaggerating about their new outpost, it couldn't be that bad, or else he would make the difference. Chris just slapped away a fly and continued walking, prodding Karen to do the same, for she had stopped, ready to protest and say some blasphemous comments about the RDF, but she kept her mouth closed and continued. Johnny was only thinking, maybe on his new lieutenant. The base compound was not very big, an appropriate size for a surveillance base. It consisted of an esplanade about 40 meters long and twenty wide, and around it all the concrete buildings stood. There was the "command wing" as the people here called the only structure that had a nice camouflage paint job, not that it helped much, for it stood out among the other buildings; it looked good anyway. Here was the Major's office, as well as the communications and intelligence rooms. To its right and facing the cement patio was a slender building two stories high, which was actually small apartments, put together as the living quarters for the officers. And behind this was a similar one for the troops. It was of the same size only that at the troops hall the soldiers were put six or eight to an apartment, whereas with the officers, well they lived comfortably with four or less to a condo, for that's what they called here the barracks. They weren't that bad, there was a small living room and four rooms connected to it, the only problem was that there was only one bathroom for the inhabitants of each apartment. Directly in front of the living quarters, across the field, was the mess hall. It had the same rectangular shape as the barracks, and almost as high, though it was one floor only. In the corner between the mess hall and the command wing, were the medical facilities: a square building with a colorful red cross in the front door. And in the opposite corner, was a supply warehouse. This building had a reinforced structure for the ordinance that was sometimes stored here. Behind the warehouse and the barracks was the hangar area for the massive destroid mecha and other vehicles. And in front of the command wing, across the esplanade, were the landing pads for the helicopters; there weren't any kind of airplanes stationed permanently at the base. This was the whole base, apart from a runway being constructed next to the landing pads there seemed to be no feelings to evolve. All of the buildings were deteriorated and old, including the newly painted Command Wing. The compound was surrounded by a meager wire fence. It seemed that security was not a very important asset to this base. It turned out that because of the few personnel active here, the condos weren't as crowded as Hawkeye had thought, no wonder they called them condos. The team was assigned on one apartment of the first floor of the officers' wing. There were only three rooms in it, so Hawkeye decided to put Karen in one, John and Jeff in another and Chris and himself in the remaining room. They were spacious and well furnished, that is considering there was a global war going on. There were two slender beds in each room, with a closet and a small desk with a night lamp on top. As for the living room, there was a table for six and the corresponding metal chairs, with an old but clean sofa next to one of the walls. After organizing their new home, Paul dismissed his squad and they started to explore the base. As for him, the two hours had already been spent so he went to see the Major. Entering the Command Wing, Paul immediately understood the atmosphere that surrounded the compound. It was a relaxed base, one that was ill fitted for combat for it hadn't seen much of it. There was a security guard reading a magazine as old as himself with no weapon but the pistol inside his holster, which was hanging on the chair's back. He was sprawled on a wood chair in what appeared to be a waiting room, blocking the only hallway that extended opposite the entrance. As Paul entered, the soldier looked up with a sleepy face. "Yes?", he asked as if he didn't like to be disturbed on his duty, wondering who this new face could be and what was his purpose in the 12th. "I'm Corporal Hawkeye, I have an appointment with Major Jonsson." "Appointment! Must be important. Hey, are you new in town? I haven't seen you before. Yeah you must be new; your uniform is still pressed and starchy. Relax corp., you have arrived to heaven." The private said. "Thanks for the advice, but tell me which door leads to the Major's office." Hawkeye still didn't know how to behave in his new base, and he wanted to know the main man before taking any sides. The guard just sighed and pointed a finger "First door to the left." Paul walked the few meters to the door and knocked. Right after the knocking sounds had ceased a voice was heard from the inside, "Come in please." The corporal stepped inside and glanced into the interior of the room. Spacious, with nothing but a large desk and three spartan chairs. There was a book shelf to the left, and a barred window behind the desk. The computer screen on the desk was the only visible devise that would give away the setting to be of this century. Sitting behind the desk was the Man with the golden oak leaf insignia. On one of the chairs was Lieutenant Milla. A smile could be noticed on her face, but just slightly, in a way that you wouldn't know what to expect. She stood up and greeted the young corporal, "Well, glad you made it on time Hawkeye. This is Major Jonsson, Major this is the new veritech pilot, Corporal Paul Hawkeye." The Major was a middle-aged man with a well-trimmed beard and a square body confined in a tight uniform. Green eyes could be seen shinning below massive eyebrows, contrasting with the tanned skin. His left breast was full of ribbons. An experienced man no doubt. "Hello corp. Welcome to the 12th. I hope you had a nice flight, are you familiar with the base? I hope so. This is not just a formal introduction, for Tiffany here has reviewed your files and, well, has spoken fairly of you for a promotion to sergeant." "Actually, the Major and I have decided that since we aren't going to get any mecha soon for you and your men, we were going to have your team acting as a special operations squad. And the book states that a sergeant should be the commander of such group. So you are promoted to sergeant and your best private, Chris Jordan will now be the unit's corporal and second in command. What do you think?" Paul was astonished as he confirmed the rumors about the easygoing base. Just like that he had been promoted, without any trial or having to prove anything. He actually was going to like this place. "Sure, no problem with me," he said exited. "Alright then, over at lunch we'll give you and Jordan your chevrons. By the way, here is your mess hall assignment and other miscellaneous data of the base." The Lieutenant said, with her right hand handling over a thin manila folder. "And about your first mission," the Major continued not allowing a reply from Paul. "You leave tomorrow at first light. I'm sorry you won't be able to get acquainted with the base. Too bad, we were planning to make a welcoming party for you and your men, but we'll have to postpone it no? Lieutenant Milla will brief you today after lunch and tell you of our situation here so that you have time to sleep over the mission and brief in turn your squad." "Yes sir." Hawkeye said firmly, recovering the strict military pose the moment he heard about the work that had to be done. "We still have to figure out a nickname for your team, but I guess we'll have time later. I believe that is all, you are dismissed sergeant." "Yes Major, thank you." With this, Paul Hawkeye exited the office, hall and building. He left without even glancing at the sentry posted at the door, he was thinking of nothing, just wondering. Wondering of all the incidents, about the path his life had taken. About the oddity that he was here, in a probable future of his life. It was all so bizarre; he had gotten accustomed to this new life. After training camp, well there you just accept your destiny, so it was as if it was supposed to be his life, as if he fitted into this puzzle. But what a maze he had gotten into, he now realized, with all the relaxed atmosphere and camaraderie shown in this place, what he had been missing all along. His memory of his past life hadn't improved, he still remembered nothing. The same applied to Jordan. Now it seemed, they were put here by fate, or some superior force into someone else's bodies, a replica of themselves. At least that being was giving a helpful hand. They were doing pretty well, as far as he was concerned, in the military. So lets have some fun, he thought, enjoy the ride while it lasts.

He was strolling absently through the field when two figures noticed him and caught up, picking up his pace. It was Chris and Johnny. They had been strolling around the base looking for something out of the ordinary, but it seemed that this base was not what they were expecting. At least not what they were told in training camp about the bases of the Robotech Defense Force. The buildings weren't that old as it seemed at first glance, for they had been remodeled after the large attack on Earth by the Zentraedi two years ago. Apparently it had been a university for biological studies isolated from the world by the Amazon. Though the rain forest was given a hard blow by the war. The RDF had taken over the compound and started working on it to convert it into a surveillance base on the outskirts of the Zentraedi Control Zone. But all the action was taking place somewhere else in the continent; this base hadn't seen any combat yet. That's why the atmosphere was so relaxed and the base was almost depleted of apparatus. There were only a couple of helicopters: a Sea Sergeant, used for transportation and a Comanchero attack chopper. As well as two MBT-62 tanks and two all terrain AAR-Recon II transports. As for mecha, there were four destroids, giant walking tanks very similar to the Veritech in Battloid or humanoid form, except that these were not reconfigurable. There was one Excaliber, the most versatile of all destroids, for it has balanced weaponry, with missiles and all. Then there were two Raidar X, light and fast, with two double rapid-fire cannons instead of arms. And the last one was a Gladiator, the most human-like mecha, with light weaponry. Paul exchanged his encounter with the Major and congratulated Chris for his fast advancement in the ranks. Jordan and Gomez told him of their exploration results on the base. All the while walking towards their apartment. It was a hot day and the anxiety of the new home was beginning to wear off, especially with the idea of work for the next day. As they were strolling nonchalantly, they noticed Karen standing outside the door to their apartment, talking to an unfamiliar face. "Seems that Karen has found a new friend in the base", said Johnny, regretting his comment after seeing Chris' face. But Jordan kept on walking with no further flinch towards their dorm. As they got near them, they noticed that the strange man, middle sized with tan skin and dark features, had three chevrons over an arc in his arms, making him a staff sergeant, their superior. "Oh, hi! Paul this is Sergeant Vasquez; he is the Comanchero's pilot. He was curious on the new arrivals and wanted to greet us. How nice of him, no? Though I told him that you were all gone to wander around the base. He was telling me how nice this place is, apart from the weather and humidity. Oh sorry Jim, this is Corporal Paul Hawkeye, our team leader and PFCs Chris Jordan and Johnny Gomez." "Hi." "Hello sir." "Nice to meet you, but Karen I am no longer a corp, I have been promoted to sergeant and Chris here is now a corporal." "Hey, that's great! Maybe we can celebrate tonight or something. And Jim here could come with us." Chris was turning paler and paler; it suddenly hit the other male members of the team how great a crush he had for Karen. But the girl didn't seem to notice, besides Chris hadn't made any other attempt to express his feelings towards Karen. And now it seemed that he was about to lose her, for Buccio DID seem interested in this pilot. Chris entered the bungalow with no further comments. "He is feeling a bit tired," said Johnny, trying to excuse his mate. "Well it was nice meeting you, hope we work together in the future, I might be giving you a lift or pulling you out of a tough one in my chopper. But for now I must go and attend some business with my crew. See ya at lunch." "Yes, see you later." "Bye Jim." "Later sir." The three of them stood there for a while, watching him walk away in a conceited manner and waiting for the vain feeling that he expelled to lift off. Karen didn't notice this though, she was thinking on something else with her eyes on the middle-aged sergeant. It wasn't until she let out a sigh that the other two reacted. "Karen please, he must be ten years older than you." Johnny nagged at her. "So?" "You are spellbound, wake up. He can't be that charming." Though Paul had to admit after he said this that the pilot did seem to know his way around females. "Besides", he continued, "you didn't even notice what I said about Chris and me." "Did so, and I congratulated you didn't I? What, don't tell me you are jealous." Johnny thought of telling her about Chris' feelings, but decided not to interfere in that shaky relationship. "I'm going to take a walk." An annoyed Karen said. "No you are not private, we are going to have a small council before lunch, we came here to do our duty, you know. Where is Jeff by the way?" "Uh, sarge," Johnny uttered, "behind you." Paul turned around and noticed that Jeff had just arrived to the discussion group. "Good then every one inside for I have good and mostly bad news." The flustered sergeant said. They entered the bungalow and settled in the couch and the chairs. Jeff with a poker face while Karen had a sneering smile and Johnny just marched to get Chris who had settled in his bed. Paul took a seat in front of the couch and opened the folder, glancing rapidly first at the papers, trying to catch any important stuff and then more slowly, reading carefully allowing the four members of the team to settle down and acquire a more professional look in anticipation of the news. "Good news is that lunch is served in an hour, at one o'clock. Also that Chris here has been promoted to corporal, and myself to sergeant. For no reason at all, it seems that they give you the prize before the competition. You see, tomorrow we go out on our first mission, on ground, and it appears not to be the last. This base doesn't seem to get much action, and for that reason the brass at Brasilia has the twelfth at the end of the veritech supply list. We'll be grounded for a while. After lunch I will be briefed by lovely Lieutenant Milla, and I will tell you in turn what she said. I don't think we'll have much time for ourselves today. So put a good attitude and lets endure it a day at a time. I might be forgetting something, any questions?" "When will we get our chevrons?" "During or after lunch, I believe." "That's nice, I hope it cheers you up." Commented Johnny. "Are we alone in this mission, sarge?" Asked Jeff. "I don't know, where were you today?" "Oh I just wandered around town, couldn't find much. I was thinking on how to spend my time here. But there isn't any recreation place, far as I am concerned, meeting girls will be the best thing to do here." "Well I agree with you, I just met this chopper pilot who.." "Okay, okay time for socializing later. I just found some interesting stuff in this folder you might like to know." And so Hawkeye adressed his team members on the petty but important information, geographic location of the base, curfew hours, seating accomodations for the mess hall, who was the security sergeant, ordnance sergeant, medical officer, and such. Time came for them to leave to the mess hall. They groomed themselves, though didn't change clothes. They were still wearing the dark olive green uniforms, with the pant sleaves tucked inside their boots, as they had been taught. As soon as they left the air conditioned condo, they started to sweat and suffer from the heat, the sun was near its highest point and no shadow was offered. They hurried across the steaming yard into the mess hall. And by the time they had arrived to the double doors, they looked worse than before the grooming opperation. But again they entered a climate controled atmosphere. They didn't have time to relax though, for as soon as they entered a large ovation was heard. Every soldier inside was clapping and looking at the new arrivals, as if they were the guests of honor for that days' lunch. They made their way to their assigned table without error for the crowd guided them, letting the five young troopers pass by. Once they reached their table, Johnny noticed that one thing was missing, the food. He wispered to Paul this inconvenience, who in turn looked up towards the food bar, and continued in that direction followed by his team and a sincere laughter from the people around who happened to notice this incident. After they served their meals, broiled chiken breasts, salad, onion soup and a slim slice of lemon pie, they took their trays to their table. The commotion had settled down, and everybody was eating as if nothing had happened, except the embarassed five. Right after eating and returning the trays to the bar, the Major rose from his chair asking for everyone's attention. "As you may have noticed, we have new arrivals to the base. They conform the veritech squad we had been prommised, though it is only half of the promise, for there is no mecha for this team." At this point some giggles were heard, making the Major to express a warm smile towards Hawkeye and his men. "They will act in the meanwhile as a special opperations squad. This base was set up eight months ago. And since then we haven't had any real encounter with the enemy, either the Zentraedi or those rogue highjackers who just live to create rebelions. Anyway, I think it is a good time to tell you that there's been some movement on the nearby town, and the brass wants us to mobilize. But this is out of the main topic, lets greet the new faces, shall we?" The Major said, rasing a hand towards the new squad beckoning them to stand up. When they did Lieutenant Milla continued. "Former corporal now Seargant Paul Hawkeye, please come up front." Paul walked between the tables and the seated men up to the major's and saluted him formaly after a handshake. And was given a chevron to go with the other two that he already had. "Former PFC now Corporal Chris Jordan." The lieutenant also motioned him to come up front to greet the commander. Chris too was given a black chevron, with which he returned to his seat grasped in both hands and a big smile on his face. "PFC Jeffrey Andersen." Jeff didn't wait for her to summon him, he just stood up and walked to the Major confident of himself, with a small but visible grin. "PFC Karen Buccio." As she stood up, the male contingency of the base started cheering and whistling and clapping. With a red face of embarassment and anger Karen walked to the Major, trying to look inconspicuous, though it was a fruitless attempt, she was the center of attraction at the moment. "PFC John Gomez." After what had happened with Karen, there wasn't much to do for Johnny but to walk fast and have it over with. Though he was pleased he could greet again his lieutenant. With a big smile he greeted both officers and his face didn't change expressions until he was seated back at his table. "Hope you enjoy your stay with us at the Twelfth, I believe you will find it here to be a nice family, for that's what we are a large close family." The Major said. With this a makeshift cheer was started by the rest of the troops. And the Major started to walk out of the mess hall indicating that lunch hour was over. The five new soldiers stood up and walked towards the exit door. They were pushing their way out in a disorderly fashion. Like when you exit a very crowded movie theatre. Paul was at the end of the line along with Johnny when Lieutenant Milla called out to him. He waited for her to reach him, while John stood inconspicuously behind him, thinking if he could fit in the future conversation. "Paul, could you come to the conference room please? I'll brief you there. Good bye Johnny." With this short frase and last three words Gomez turned back reluctantly and followed the rest of the evacuating troopers. Chris waited in return for Johnny to catch up, throwing a sympathetic arm across Johnny's shoulders. "Don't worry, there'll be plenty of time for you two to get to know each other. At least he remembered your name." "What do you mean at least? She is supposed to know them, she is our commanding officer! Besides who knows if we will return from the mission tomorrow. This might have been my only time, unlike others who just sit around like a duck... man, why don't ya do something about the Karen situation. If you don't you're gonna lose her to that chopper dude." "I don't know, trully. When I am with her some kind of plug is applied to my throat and I lose my talking ability." Chris said, now walking out in the field towards their barracks. Once outside everybody had dispersed and went on to any business they were supposed to be doing, if any at all. "She made it clear to me that she didn't want to go out with me." He continued. "But that's bull! She excused herself that one time because she didn't felt like it, it don't mean she doesn't want to try it again!" "Have you talked to her?" "No, but" "But nothing, besides there are other girls left in this world." "Have it your way, see there she goes with that Jimmy fella." "Tough." "For you pall." "Hey cutesies!" Shouted Jeff from behind Chris and Johnny. As they turned around their mouths opened wide, jaws almost falling to the ground. Jeff was being escorted by two slim but plump females who looked exactly alike. Curly brunnetes to the shoulders with brown juicy eyes expanding to Jeff's neck. "To my left we have Julie and to my right Elizabeth. Say hello please and do close your mouths." The two males did as told obediently. Chris getting a hold of himself for he was the highest ranking person in this assembly. For Julie only sported one chevron and Elizabeth none. Jeff went on explaining that he had found these twins at the infirmary. They were the doctor's assistants. And all five of them got into a conversation learning more from each other. They would have stayed there talking if it wasn't for the heat, and for the fact that the girls had to return to their posts. So Johnny and Chris dismissed them while Jeff offered an escort to the medical building.

Walking again towards their barracks the two of them continued their interrupted conversation. "Damn they looked good!" Johnny started. "Yes, twice as good." "Jeffrey sure knows how to pick them. He's been here only for half a day and look at the results." "He wasn't as open at the training camp though. Besides, these two had to split one brain, they were kinda airheads." "So? That doesn't degrade their physical qualities." "Hey I thought you were interested in the Lieutenant." "The Lieutenant in particular and females in general." "We will enjoy our stay." "If we survive tomorrow." With all these distractions they hadn't noticed that in front of them four figures had arrived to the same destination. It was James Vazquez and his crew along with Karen. He had intercepted her in the exiting of the mess hall and had asked his crew to accompany him so that he wouldn't look so interested in her. His copilot wasn't all that interested in his chief's relationship, in fact he was jealous though he didn't admit it openly. Corporal Ernest Garcia was an unknown homosexual. And the weapons technician was a big dark skinned woman that almost looked like a man because of all her muscularity. Thus James felt quite protected with Ernest and Islif. They weren't talking of anything in particular. But Karen did receive the hint that James was up to something. She also noticed, now that she was acting in a cool demeanor after the shocking first impression that he left, that James was quite cocky. But she didn't mind it, for he was quite funny and entertaining. Fortunatelly he noticed the two men comming towards them, and he excused himself and his crew, not wanting a conflic to arise so early in the relationship. He had to earn the trust of the rest of the team in order for him to test the ground and make his move. They left a few paces before Chris and Johnny arived to the entrance. "Hey Karen what's up?" asked Johnny. "Uh, nothing why? Any news of Paul or our mission?" She said trying to divert the flow of the topic that Johnny was apparently wanting to trample over. "Not a thing." Said Chris at the same time that he was entering the condo. Sensing that it meant an end to the conversation, and Johnny fantacising on a nap, both privates entered the building in silence. Johnny going to his room and Karen sprawling at the couch. Chris was in the bathroom attending his own business.

James Vazquez did had something to do. He had to report to Lieutenant Milla in order to be briefed on the mission that was going to take place the next day. So he quickly marched towards the command wing, hoping he wouldn't be scolded for his tardyness.

When Paul Jordan entered the appartment later in the afternoon, his team was sitting around the small table in the living room playing poker using some dry beans as chips. Grabing the fifth chair and sitting down, he waited for the hand to be finished in order to have the undivided attention of his troops. He had gone only for two hours, time enough for Jeff to return from his wanderings and for Johnny to wake up from his nap. The sergeant unfolded a small map of the surrounding area and placed it on the table. "Okay, here is our base, in what used to be the small village of Embarcacion, of course the base is the only survivor now. We have the Andes to the west, 50 ks aprox. The nearest settlement is San Pedro to the south, 100 ks by the dirt road. The 12th is on the border of the Argentine Quadrant. North of us we have the Zentraedi Control Zone. So the purpose of this base is to stop the advancement of the Zentraedi into this Quadrant, as well as stopping any smuggling activity in the area. Jeff could you pass me a glass of water please?" After finishing half the glass he continued. "Since the suicide attack by Khyron, the smugglers and mercenaries have increased. Everybody wanting a piece of land to rule. The town of San Pedro is clear for now, we only have to protect it from invasion and make sure that no black market emerges there. But the town of Lagunillas is another matter." Paul said pointing a finger at a small dot 250 kilometers to the north, deep in the Amazonian jungle. "That's where we are going tomorrow, to explore and find out the nature of this town: If there are few or many Zentraedi, with which side it stands, and if possible find out if a black market exists. In other words, a recon mission." He paused to finish the water. "We will be droped by helicopter 10 kilometers south of the town and shall continue on foot through the jungle. Karen's pal will do the transport honors in the Comanchero. We'll be leaving at six hundred hours, spend the day there, and then return the next day through the road and see what's left of it until we reach the Pilcomayo river three days later. We will be airlifted there and return home. Any questions?" "How come we don't get a jeep or transport or something with wheels?" Johnny asked. "I don't know, either the Major wants to test us or he is playing a practical joke on us. He said that it would give the base time to prepare the welcoming party for us." "That is if we return." Chris said. "We'll worry about it when we enter the field." "When do we equip ourselves?" Jeff asked, standing up to get another glass of water for his thirsty sergeant. "In a while, I have the permits here to go to the ordnance sergeant. We can get almost anything but heavy weapons, who is dealing the cards? Karen could I get a loan to play?" They played for a short half hour, talking and joking about their doings in the base until Paul decided that it was time for them to go to the warehouse and get the ammo and other stuff. They marched towards the supply building, and after being cleared by the security guard outside they entered along with the ordnance sergeant. "Okay fellas, what do you want to carry with you, anything but rocket launchers and other fun stuff. It'll be a sore party the one you will attend. You'll have to do all the gimmicks instead of the equipment. Tough. Come on gotta do it fast for I don't want to miss dinner, Jackson is serving BBQ ribs tonight." The five men gave their wishes to the sergeant and he started bringing the cases of ammo for their guns, Chris even got half a dozen tear gas grenades and a couple of smoke grenades. But when it came for Johnny and Karen to ask for their electronic communications and intelligence equipment, well, they were disapointed. There wasn't much availability at the base, they only managed to get hold of a few things after searching the whole complex. Among the toys that they found there was a lock pick release gun which allowed the user to open any lock without damaging it; a multi-optics helmet for Karen permitting her the use of a targeting sight, an infrared sight, a thermo imager and a telescopic lens, all in the same helmet. Unfortunatelly the ordnance sergeant was allowed to release one of them, that's why Karen had it. As for the rest they received night sights. Johnny was pissed off, he managed to get a dosimeter to measure radiation, but no radar or motion detectors. When they returned to their barracks it was almost dinner time, so the team half arranged everything in the living room and took off to the mess hall. Not wanting to miss those infamous BBQ ribs that the ordnance sergeant mentioned. At the mess hall everybody took them for granted. Except for a couple of looks male and female alike at the team, who responded to some and ignored the others. The meal was as good as promised. And during the course the team chatted with more confidence with their surrounding mates. Gossiping about this and that. But immediately after they hurried back to prepare their gear and to place the new chevrons in their uniforms Getting hold of their equipment and checking twice for the new gear commisioned to be securely stowed, they felt like living tanks. Specially Jeff who was carrying the machinegun and all its ammo. But they did divide the rations and tents and other miscelaneous stuff evenly among them so that no one was going to be burdened in excess. They said good night to each other and went to sleep, their first night in Embarcacion, their first night as members of the 12th Surveillance Base. They didn't have a restless night, but they didn't dream either. Everything was calm like the sea before a thunderstorm arrives.

CHAPTER THREE.

The alarm clock sounded at exactly o'five hundred hours. And the five men inside the condo awoke with sighs and yawnings. It took them half an hour to assemble the equipment and get dressed. They were wearing the same dark olive green uniforms as yesterday. They were going to be three days on the field so they didn't mind getting them dirty before hand. Besides, they didn't have camouflaged field fatigues, they weren't issued to them. They weren't wearing helmets either, but baseball caps the color of their uniforms, except Karen who had the multi-optics helmet. By quarter to six they were already marching towards the landing pads munching some energy bars, fruit, coffee and other liquids with high nutritional value. Nobody spoke unless it was necessary. Once Jeff tried to make the team laugh with a silly comment but didn't receive positive results. It was a solemn morning. When they arrived to the Comanchero's place there was Lieutenant Tiffany Milla waiting for them. The chopper's crew was double-checking the weaponry and systems along with the ground crew. "Good morning soldiers. Nice day for a run eh? I just came to wish you good luck and see you off on your first mission. Hope there are more in the future, right! But don't put those faces, what are the Zentraedi going to say when you encounter them in this fashion, they won't like it I assure you. Cheer up!" "Thanks Lieutenant, I feel much better now." "Paul don't be so sarcastic, she is trying to help!" Karen responded for Tiffany. Turning around towards the female private, Sergeant Hawkeye scolded her, "She could do better than that by coming with us. And you don't interfere, this is a two-sides conversation, private." "Chill out Sarge everything will be all right." Trying to help, Chris said. "I'm sorry, Karen, Lieutenant. Must be the nerves." "It's ok Paul, I remember my first mission when I was onboard the SDF- 1..." "Hey you were in space with all of them! That's neat, I didn't know that, Sir." Exclaimed Johnny. "Yeah well, I'll tell you my stories when you return. So do return." At this point Sergeant Vazquez interrupted them by announcing that the bird was ready to take off. The time was four before six. They loaded their backpacks and got into the belly of the large attack chopper. It had a spacious cargo bay, for it could fit up to six inside. Once they were in, before they closed the hatch, the Lieutenant said her final good-byes to Team Two. And after the hatch was closed a green light was turned inside so that the troops could see in their dimly lit surroundings. They felt the thing powering up and then lifting. They were airborne. Staff Sergeant Vazquez and his crew maneuvered the Comanchero just above the tree line heading directly North. The helicopter moved fast, after one hour of flying, James announced in a stewardess fashion that their destination was in sight. He slowed down as Jeff opened the hatch. Islif came down from her seat to maneuver the winch for the crane. They could already see the sun in the east. The ground was twenty meters below them. Vazquez had chosen a clearing amid the rain forest for their landing. Karen and Jeff went first. She was to scan the immediate area while he was supposed to provide ground cover for the rest of them. Then came Paul and Chris, the last one being Johnny. The moment Gomez touched the ground and let go the cable, the Comanchero took off back to base. Islif waiving from the open hatch, and James doing a rocking motion with the frame of the vehicle. He was enjoying this, it seemed. Fortunately for the ones on the land, the precautions that they took were of no use. Though they still followed the ways shown in the academy. They started their march right after Paul and Karen had their bearings. Karen led the way, with the helmet on thermal mode, that way she would be able to see any living beings in the jungle. A couple of meters behind was Paul, followed by Jeff and his machine-gun. Then came Johnny with the dosimeter in hand, to find out if there was any radiation around their path. And finally Chris, all in a single line. The jungle they were traveling through wasn't that obliterated. This part of the Amazon had survived the Zentraedi onslaught, and was recovering quite fast. They were making a good time through the rain forest. Wherever they found their way obstructed by the dense vegetation they would go around it rather than through it with a machete. They could move faster this way, for the patches of thick plant matter were small. Besides there weren't many of them, and they didn't want to harm nature more than it had suffered. Birds could be heard around them, but only Karen was able to see them, they were well camouflaged. The sun rays opened gaps in the tree's foliage, creating a beautiful setting, once they saw a flock of large winged and colorful birds with long, broad beaks go by. The five were starting to cheer up. They walked and walked through the jungle over the earth and among them birds sang and creatures moved and all in all there were only five human beings there under the sun who shone with golden threads their green heads and excitement was in the air with bold expectations in their brains and anticipation in the tips of their tongues though no one talked. Each one of them was absorbed in their own thoughts. They had serious but cheerful faces for they thought this was a game. Until now it was, they didn't know what it really meant to kill another human being, or Zentraedi for that matter, except maybe Jeff who didn't talk much about it, if he had. They were young, very young. Eighteen years of age and twenty two for Jeff, wasn't a whole lot of experience. In another time and place they would have seemed too young for this enterprise, being able to point at someone with a gun and killing that person without hesitation, or even making quick decisions whenever their necks were exposed. But it seems that whenever the population is short on resources, then society calls up the younger brands, specially if it is in a hostile environment, as these five were experiencing. Like in the Medieval Ages of the history books, when a boy was considered a man at the green age of fourteen or so, of course after demonstrating skill and courage at a feat of arms. A party that these five hadn't attended, yet.

Karen motioned for Paul to stop, who did so immediately crouching and turning his back towards Jeff ordering to do the same. After Jeff came Johnny who almost stumbled over him for he was watching the dosimeter. Chris catched up with the two who were scowling at each other for the amateur blooper that they had done and turned around covering their backs. Paul moved towards Karen who was now leaning to a slender tree and looking in the direction they were traveling. She said in a low voice, but not a whisper "I think we have reached Lagunillas, look, the foliage ends there, twenty five meters in front of us, then comes a large clearing and the first building which is situated a hundred and seven meters... nine degrees to the right." All this precision was possible thanks to the targeting sight and infrared system of her helmet. "I can't see anybody from here though, there is no body heat reflected." "Good. God I wish we had camos to wear. Okay, listen up", he turned around to face the others who were now right behind him embracing their weapons with eager, nervous enthusiasm, "Karen and I will go to the top of the knoll to our left to have a better look at the town. Johnny you come with us too. Jeff and Chris, move five meters ahead and stay put, don't let yourselves be heard or seen, we don't want to be discovered and be told that we look like sitting ducks here." The five soldiers had been moving through a small ridge flanked by small tree covered hills. Apparently the town was situated in a petite valley that had been cleared out. The settlement was surrounded by occasional rolling hills covered with the remnant of the splendorous Amazonian rain forest. Its layout was determined by three roads that met at this point. One coming from the north and the other two from the south west and south east. The westerly road some kilometers after leaving Lagunillas turned northwest and arrived to Sucre. The other one went south winding through ghost towns and small settlements that were busy towns some years ago to pass through Embarcacion. At the top of the knoll Karen and Paul and Johnny now crouched. The bushes and rest of the vegetation concealed them well. They could see most of the rooftops for the buildings weren't that tall. There was a cleared area surrounding the town. And from this observation point they could now see people strolling through the streets, it seemed an ordinary quiet morning in a village. But still no banners or other insignia that could determine the alliances of Lagunillas. "It would be too risky if we just march through the main street." Paul thought out loud. "Yes but we can't make them our enemies yet, we don't know whose side they're on." Johnny commented. "It's nine o'clock now, lets march around the perimeter of the town under the cover of the jungle to see if we catch anything. It'll take us about an hour to do so." Paul said, "then we'll see how we can penetrate into the town. What do you think?" "Fine with me," "Good but are we all going to take the tour or are we leaving someone behind? If we all go we have higher chances of being detected, besides, we could monitor the area from different points and keep in touch with the radios." "True Karen but, we don't know if they have scramblers or other devises to intercept our communications, there are no antennas within sight but that don't mean they can pull a trick like that. Besides I think is better if we all stick together, they, if they are on the other side of the war, shouldn't be expecting anything from the RDF. And if we are caught then we stand a better chance if its the five of us." "I guess that means we are all gonna take the scenic route." "Yes, lets go down the hill and inform the other two." And they did, but before starting the march they hid as best they could their packs, taking only with them the ammo and other in case-of-conflict apparel. The place to where they had arrived seemed like a good place for a base of operations, besides, they meant to return here. Once again Karen took the lead, careful not to expose herself through the vegetation, and the rest followed her steps at four meter intervals in the same formation as before. They walked to their right, going east, some meters into the jungle watching for any signs that might show the affiliation of the inhabitants. They could see people milling around, but they seemed ordinary citizens, this place was a trade town and market place, the main reason for its survival after the world assault by the Zentraedi. It seemed peaceful enough. But one never could tell in these times who the people hated. Many towns had their own government ruling the immediate area. And none pledged allegiance to another unless they were conquered or made mutual treaties. Earth's society had turned into feudalism once again. After all, you could say that humanity is going through dark ages. When they reached the northern road they stopped, they had reached the town slightly north of the southeastern road, so this was the first time that they would have to be exposed. By now they had made visual contact with micronized Zentraedi, but this was a common sight too, so their opinions on the town were still neutral. The dirt road was empty, no humanoid life was visible nor detected with the M.O. helmet; Karen crossed first, leaping and running to reach the other side, once done, Johnny moved out arriving with Karen. But just when Chris was about to move, Karen signaled to stop and take cover, a vehicle was approaching. They waited until it went by, a jeep with a .50 cal. machine-gun mounted on the back but only two seated in it. The vehicle was rusty and slightly battered but the engine sounded in perfect condition to Johnny. But Karen was wrong, it wasn't one but a full convoy of trucks coming into town. They counted six small trucks that came a moment after the jeep, all in the same physical condition as the smaller car. Before the first one had passed in front of them, Paul had an idea, not waiting to discuss it, he started giving directions to Jeff. The second truck rolled. Jeff traded his machine-gun with Chris' Wolverine and Paul signaled to Karen as best he could to follow Jeff. The third truck went by. Paul repeated the orders to Jeff two more times making adjustments to the original idea and now taking comments from Jeff and Chris. When the last truck passed raising dust into the air, Jeff leaped out of covered with his borrowed weapon slung in his back and ran towards the back of the truck which was fortunately going at a slow speed, with Karen just a second behind him. Jeff managed to get a hold and climbed inside of the canvas covered cargo box. He then thrusted a helping hand to Karen who was trying desperately to catch up. But she too managed to get in. "Thanks" "No sweat, hey look, we've got ammo crates in here!" "Yes...could you explain me why we did this?" "Uh, sure, it seemed like a good opportunity to get into town, or so the Sarge believed." "But how are we going to get out, or communicate with him!" Jeff just grinned, "we'll find a way." They could see buildings now, made out of different materials, a perfect collage. Tin, adobe, concrete, wood and stone were the most common elements the structures were made out of. "Now what!" exclaimed Karen. "We get out, we could be discovered when this arrives to it's destination." "And I guess we'll be jumping, right?" "Correct." At that point the truck took a right and entered a side street in worse condition than the main road they had entered town. "We're going to get lost!" "Easy Karen, this thing is slowing down, ouch! Damn the holes in the street! I guess it's time for us to depart." "Cool, this time I go first." And she jumped out protecting her Ingram. Her body rolled as she hit the ground but stood up fast, picking her bearings and looking around while trying to look inconspicuous and concealing her weapon. It didn't come to her how bizarre a person jumping out of a truck in that fashion would look. Jeff went right after her, maneuvering the same way. "Now what." "You know, you've been repeating that for a while, can't you lighten up?" Jeff answered back while moving towards the sidewalk, fortunately for them there wasn't anyone around on this street, a mixture of cobble stones and packed dirt. "Can you get your bearings from here?" asked Jeff. "No! I didn't even bring my helmet!" "Shush, don't get paranoid." "I'm not getting paranoid! We better get out of the sight of the public" "Right, lets crash into that building, it seems like a warehouse." They moved towards the large car entrance of what seemed a sturdy building. "I was just wondering, you didn't bring any more grenades for the Wolverine's launcher did you?" "Nope, it has only the four in the chamber." "Great." "But I've got four hand grenades, and you too, so don't sweat it." Jeff tried to open the door, but he wasn't expecting to find it open, it was. The door creaked, the hinges weren't oiled but rusty. Quickly Karen entered crouching, looking here and there. It was a large place, with a two-story ceiling. It was empty except for half a dozen two meter wood boxes on one corner. There were few windows allowing some sunlight to enter and illuminate the place. On the opposite end of where the boxes stood was a small cubicle, sort of like an office. Here there was a light coming out of the opened door and the windows. But it was empty. Jeff closed the door as stealthily as possible and was about to move to the office when Karen and the noise of a closing door stopped him. Karen motioned him to follow her. She dropped to the floor and slithered her way towards the boxes.

Arturo had just taken a nice, long leak and returned to his chair at the desk of the office, he traded his AK-47 for the magazine on the table. He was expecting a cargo to arrive anytime soon. But it hadn't arrived yet and he hated to wait. Fortunately he had a nice issue of a twenty year old slizzy magazine that was in good condition. It might not have a cover or the centerfold that it advertised, but the pictures were still very glanceable.

"OK, what shall we do now?" Karen whispered. "Well, lets find out if they are good or bad guys." "And I suppose we shall go and ask the one in the booth?" "Yep, he is holding a gun." "How about if we wait here and see what happens. Apparently this town is packing a lot of firepower, and if we entangle ourselves in the path of an undesirable foe, we'll be in trouble." "We still don't know if they are bad." "Someone here is trafficking weapons, that makes him dangerous." "All right then, lets wait a while, you brought any cards with you?" "Ha, ha."

He had gone over the magazine twice now, he was even reading the letters to the editor. Were is that truckload?

An hour had passed, Jeff glanced at his wrist watch. It was almost eleven. He was getting desperate. "I say we make our move." "Lets call the boss." "And risk ourselves being detected?" "Well, yes. We are about to risk it, so lets inform Paul and prepare him for whatever is coming up." She said matter-of-factly. "You call." "Sure," Karen turned on the wrist radio, "Paul, this is Karen, do you copy." Silence. "Paul, this is Karen, do you copy." Static. "Paul, this is Karen, do you copy." "Hey luv, what's up!" It was his voice, though a bit faint. "We'll go to the party and see who we meet, I'm dating Jeff. Is that OK with you?" "Sure, but I think it is too early." "But Jeff here is getting desperate, besides it won't be crowded now." "Do you have an idea of who else is going?" "No, but it will be a wild one." "Tell him you'll call in five minutes." Jeff said abruptly. "Listen I have to go to the bathroom, call you right after I'm done." "Cool, over and until then." Then to Chris and Johnny, "This chatting was neat, do you think anyone that listened will understand us?" "Nah. I think it was well disguised" Chris said.

They too were listening through their own radios.

"What's wrong?" Karen asked. "Well, how about opening one of these boxes." "I had already thought of that, but we would make some noise and endanger our situation." "Maybe, maybe not." And so Jeff took out his knife and started carving a hole. "Shhh! Silently!" "It's the only way to know what's inside." And after a while, "It's empty!" "That was useful. I guess all of these are. Don't try to open the rest." "Call Hawkeye, tell him were are going for an interview." Jeff said not pleased with the results. "Ok," Karen turned on the radio, "Paul, it's me again, do you copy." "Hey what took you so long?" "I had trouble flushing the toilet." "So, have you made up your minds?" "Yes we'll go now." "All right, where do I pick you up?" "How about in the south and east joint?" "Perfect, we're already there with our stuff. We'll be waiting for you." "I will phone you later." "Over and out." Turning off the radio, Karen looked at Jeff. "So it seems we have to introduce ourselves." "Yes" He said with a smile. "Why didn't you tell me the boss had moved positions?" "I thought that it wasn't important." "Great, anything else you think might not be important for me to know?" "Nope." "Fine. Shall we go or make him come?" "Lets go." "Remember, we don't know whose side they are on, until then lets be polite but cautious. I will go first, you cover me." And saying this Karen snaked her way quickly to the office, followed by a crawling Jeff who was moving slower but no less alert. Karen reached the wall that separated the office from the main area and waited for Jeff to reach him. Her hand was sweating now, and her grasp on the Ingram was getting slippery, if it wasn't for the adrenaline rush that kept her hand tight and tense. Jeff reached her place. He moved to the door. He stood up and holding the Wolverine in one hand entered the office, he didn't aim at the man inside, but to the ceiling, not in a menacing way but also meaning no nonsense. Karen was right behind him. "Easy pal, we just want to talk." "Shit! who are you!?" "Stand up please." Karen said reaching for the AK-47. Arturo stood up, hands raised and face paling. "Don't worry, nothing is going on here." Karen said while she was going over the things at the desk and Jeff stood guard watching the man. "Hey look what we've got here, feeling lonely lately?" She said laughing. But then her face changed, there was a copy of an order that was supposed to arrive today, any time now according to the note. Weapons and military ordnance. "What is this?" Karen asked. "Don't hurt me, I was not the one that asked for that envoy, I am only the guard of this place!" "And for that you need this weapon?" Jeff questioned. "What's your name?" She asked. "Arturo" "Who do you work for? Don't make me turn medieval" He said remembering an old movie he had seen while in prison. "A man named Otto Moller, he is the governor of Lagunillas." "Why is he trafficking weapons?" "He's not trafficking weapons. I don't know nothing." "Please lower your weapons." said a cold voice behind them. Karen and Jeff turned around. At the door of the office was a tall, slim man. More importantly, he was carrying another AK-47, aimed at them. Both RDF soldiers lowered their guns to the floor and raised their arms. Color returned to Arturo's face as he took their utility belts from them. "So the RDF has learned of our operative." He glanced at the patches that they wore on the right shoulder, while they looked at each other, frowns on their faces. Karen was thinking fast, this guy had just screwed up, he gave the one piece of information that the were after. She tried to pull more out of him. "We don't know a thing about your government's business." "That's just too bad, I am afraid you already know too much about us. Your problem is that you ask too many questions." 'Your problem is that you talk too much' she thought. "We'll have to kill you now. Arturo take them outside and execute them." "Wait, but why are you against the RDF? We are fighting a war for you here." Said Jeff, picking up Karen's trail. "You are fighting a war all right, but on the wrong side of our interests. Come on, get out of this office." The man said prodding Jeff in the ribs with the rifle. Karen was a bit in front of Andersen, and she wiggled her left hand for him to notice, she turned around slightly to see his face, but he just smiled. They were right outside of the office when the large vehicle doors opened. This distracted Arturo, and Jeff took advantage of this by lowering his body and sending a back kick to their guard. Karen moved like lighting and grabbed the nozzle of the AK-47 turning it upwards as Arturo's finger triggered the machine. The burst was heard by the man in the office. But he reacted too late, he was already seated, relaxed and unarmed when Arturo had taken the prisoners out. His second mistake. Jeff kicked and punched the poor Arturo unconscious, it didn't take him more than a few minutes to achieve this. While Karen let go a long burst towards the unlucky man at the desk. He dropped dead. Not giving him a second look, Karen turned around towards the incomers, who by now were disoriented. Three were running towards them but another long burst from Karen's froze them on their tracks. They dropped to the ground looking for nonexistent cover. During Karen's performance, Jeff ran to the inside of the office and put on his utility belt. Karen had retreated to the office for the others were returning fire now. She was given her Ingram, though she was still firing the last bullets of the AK-47. Two trucks and a jeep had entered the warehouse with about 10 militia. Jeffrey wanting to end this fired a grenade at one of the trucks. Big mistake. The thing had crates of ammunition. The carnival had started, bullets were flying in all directions, along with pieces from the late truck. Jeff didn't think of this as a bad idea, he took hold of Karen's arm and supporting the blazing Wolverine in the other ran towards the Jeep. Two of the militia men fell instantly with the explosion, and another two were screaming wounded at the floor. The rest were taking cover wherever they could. When they reached the Jeep Karen took the wheel while Jeff jumped to the back getting hold of the machine-gun installed there. Shouting a lusty victory war cry, he swiveled the piece towards the remaining soldiers and started popping them while Karen turned the vehicle around and exited the place. "Do you know where we are?" He asked. "No I don't know where we are, I thought you had your bearings" "Well, I thought you were the tracking hot shot." "Shut up." Karen steered the wheel and entered a small cobble stone street. Once in the middle of the block, she stopped the jeep and pulled out her compass. "How about now?" asked Jeff. "We have to go in that direction" Jeff looked towards the pointed finger and followed an imaginary line, a building blocked their vision. He gave Karen an incredulous look. "It's a general direction!" The cracking sound of an assault rifle was then heard. Both of them turned around towards the direction of the sound. Behind them was an odd- colored man running towards them with an AK-47 in hand. "Time to go" and she stepped on the gas pedal. This threw Jeff off balance and down to the floor of the jeep. "Watch out, damn it you're going to get me killed!" he shouted over the roar of the engine. "Don't whimper and cover our back." Jeff pulled himself up and took hold of the machine-gun once again. He started firing short bursts at the attacker. But it wasn't until the fourth that he finally hit him. "Great, we're gonna have the whole town after us." "Then make sure we get out of here fast." "Was he a Zentraedi?" "Unless he painted himself green, yes." When Karen steered again to the left, she had to apply the brakes fast, in front of them was another jeep blockading the street, with plenty soldiers around. Most importantly, one of them was holding a rocket launcher, aiming at them. "Blast! Hit'em Jeff and good or else we're done raw!" Karen managed to shout with bared teeth. Jeff started shooting wild, spraying the whole street in front while Karen shifted to reverse and spun the jeep around. The whole street lit up with bullets flying in frenzy. The rocket was launched but fortunately the user was looking for cover and didn't aim right, the jeep wasn't hit, though that couldn't be said to the building right next to it, it erupted, pieces of adobe flying all around. Jeff lost his cool and grabbed the Wolverine while he continued to trigger the machine-gun with one hand. He shot one grenade not hitting the jeep which was already moving in pursuit but the area around it, leaving some corpses in the ground. Karen spun the jeep to the left again, taking the street they were before, and Jeff managed to send another grenade, this time aimed more carefully, to the jeep. But he didn't see the results, for Karen had gotten themselves out of the line of sight of the pursuants. He only listened with glee the end of the grenade, a big blast and then a crash. He cheered and turned to see where they were going. Karen took another left the next street, not caring about the street sign that told they were going the opposite direction. "Try to communicate with Paul while I look for the exit sign." "Roger," Jeff switched his radio on, "Do you copy Paul, this is Jeffrey." "This is Paul Jeff, what's up, what's that engine's noise?" "It's a long story, the bottom line is that we are not wanted here, we are being pursued and so we took hold of a jeep. Karen is looking for the street that will link us with the south and east road." "All right then, we'll stay put for you to pick us up. Or better yet I'll go in to town and try to guide you out of there while I leave Chris here to prepare a show for the other fellas." "But Sarge, don't go to far away from the road, or else you'd be lost too." "Yes don't worry, just keep moving and don't turn off your radios. Over." "Gotcha Sarge. You listened Karen?" "Yes I did. I hope that this idea of his does work out." She had slowed down a little to look for signs that might indicate the town's exit. "What do you mean you hope that this one will work out. We are doing just fine." "We almost lost our head's back there to the rocket, besides we are not out of here yet and I'm almost drained of all my adrenaline." "Talk to you later, we have company at six." True, a Land Rover was chasing them now, with five armed passengers shooting at them. Jeff returned the shots but neither of them were managing to do a nice direct hit, it was too bumpy on these cobble-stones, just to take off some of the credit to the driver's dodging maneuvers. The car chase was turning monotonous, with the first driver looking for a way to exit the town as fast as possible while keeping away from colliding with the buildings, and the second driver trying to shorten the distance and trying to evade the same obstacles. This went on for a few minutes until... "Hold on." Karen said as she swiveled again the wheel and entered another street, this one going south and east. "I think I found it." "Great, do you see Paul?" Jeff said in between bursts. "Oh that's right! See this is great now we have to slow down to look for him." "Got them." Jeff said not paying attention to Karen, the Land Rover was spinning around with two flat tires and a dead driver while the passengers were either holding on to the berserk vehicle or being slung to the sides of the street. "I think that's him." Karen continued. Jeff turned around and saw a lone figure 200 meters ahead running towards them. Karen accelerated at the same time that the figure started dodging bullets that came from two jeeps and a Land Rover that had just entered the road from a street four blocks behind him. "Do you have grenades left in your launcher?" "Only one." "Then don't screw up, shoot the Jeep with the machine-gun, again do not screw up." Jeff took a deep breath and his finger moved. He watched the grenade fly through the air and then hit the front of the aimed Jeep. "Yes! Now slow down, I'll pick Paul." "I can't slow down, we are going on a head to head collision here." "Just keep steady for a few seconds." Jeff took hold of the machine-gun's swivel turret and prepared to get a hold of Paul with the free hand. "Jump!" he said to Paul moments before his hand locked with the Sergeant's. Paul jumped at the same time that Jeff's powerful arm swinged him to the Jeep's back. "Ouch! Don't do that again!" "I can throw you back to the ground if you wish." "Blast! The windshield is gone, do something!" Karen screamed, a note of fear in her voice. Both men stood up and started firing at their enemies. The exchange in bullets was merciless, but because of the fact that both sides were trying to cover their asses at the same time that they wanted to destroy the other, they weren't doing much. A few fortunate bullets found their targets, but only managed to scratch some paint or puncture small holes in the body of the vehicles. Besides, dust had been raised and didn't allow much visibility. Karen drove straight ahead, playing chicken with the other jeep while the Land Rover was moving at its side. At the last minute Karen embraced herself and closed her eyes, the dust was stinging them. Paul warned about the collision, but he too looked for something to hold on to. Fortunately the other jeep steered away at the last moment. It wasn't enough though, for it still managed to give a glancing blow to Karen's. Which sent this one spinning, Karen by now had opened her eyes and after a few reckless turns was able to get control of the vehicle and continue on the road. The other jeep wasn't as lucky, it bashed the front of a small road-side house, the radiator broken and sending cloudfulls of steam. The pursuit wasn't over yet, the Land Rover made a spectacular 180 degree turn and continued the chase 50 meters behind. "Nice Karen, where did you learn to drive like this?" Paul asked, now recovered and firing more calmly to the pursuing car. "I was a delivery girl in Caracas, there I learned the trade while I earned some credits." "Cool, just don't mess up the paint any more, OK?" joked Jeff. "Shut up, I'm getting tired of your naughty comments." She said turning back to the firing machine-gun man. "Both of you cool it, and Karen look were you're going, we should be picking the rest up in no time." "Yes Sergeant." Both privates muttered. Half a kilometer after the collision Karen applied the breaks, throwing again both passengers off balance. "Now what!" Screamed Jeff. "Pick up time." Chris and Johnny had been waiting on the bushes but when they saw the Jeep approaching at such a speed they decided to pick up their stuff and the rest of the team's and prepared for the emergency hitch into the car. Chris threw a smoke grenade behind Karen's Jeep for cover. The slowing down of the Jeep allowed the Land Rover to catch up but they didn't have much accuracy, a bullet hit Johnny in the left upper arm as he was climbing inside. "Argh! It hurts!" A burning sensation speed through his body stemming from the arm. Then numbness took over the limb, causing Johnny to lose his grip on the vehicle, but Jeff catched him and pulled him over. Mayhem had erupted in this small car. "Go Karen go!" Paul shouted, not looking back to assess Gomez' wound for he had taken over the machine-gun and was firing the last rounds of its belt. "Hold on Little John, I'll pull you over." Cried Jeff, he felt as the official team's crane. Chris had barely made the jump with the rest of the gear, and was praying that his explosives would work. The Jeep moved in time and was recovering the distance between the Land Rover when one of the Rover's wheels triggered a cable which sent and exploding grenade off right in front of the doomed vehicle. This was enough for the driver to lose control, the Rover went off the road to end up crashing against a tree. Paul fired and managed to kill the crew as well as emptying the magazine of the mounted gun. Karen passed a hand through her sweating forehead and relaxed a little. Jeff finished hauling Johnny while Chris settled in the shot gun's seat. "Well done team. How are you John?" "Is it bad?" Asked Karen. "I don't think so but it hurts." "Jeff examine the wound while I put some order with the packs." Paul said. "Did you bring everything with you Chris?" "Darn, we forgot Karen's helmet. I knew we'd left something behind." "What, my helmet?" She slowered. "I though you had it." Said Johnny worrying. "Karen keep moving." Paul said. "And you private keep still or this wound will expand." "I had given it to you to carry it" Chris continued with the discussion. "How could you leave it behind?" Karen continued. "It wasn't my responsibility." Johnny defended himself. "Karen speed up." Paul insisted. "I'm gonna get you at the base. You're gonna pay. Both of you." "Ha ha, look what I've got here tucked in my pack." Chris said laughing. "Daa, I'm still going to get you." "Fool, don't joke like that." Paul scolded. "Kids, Kids" Jeff said waving his head. Jeff opened the shirt and examined the arm, it was just a clean cut, the bullet hadn't broken bone, in fact it was just a bit more than a scratch, but this was enough for Gomez to faint when he saw the bloodstained arm. "Hey Little John don't faint on me." Jeff said with a smirk. "He fainted?" Paul asked. "Yes." "Is it that bad?" Paul continued with the interrogation. "No, it's not that serious, but I have to clean it first before I can diagnose the wound's status." "Here are some salts to wake him up." Offered Chris. "No, I think it's better to tend him while he sleeps." Replied Jeff. After cleaning the wound he administered some disinfectant and gauze staples to hold the wound and then wrapped it up. He did a good job considering the bouncing Jeep. The packed dirt road was not maintained and had lots of holes done during the rainy seasons. Karen was doing 50 kilometers per hour, faster and they would be five bouncing beans in a pod.

Half hour on the road and suddenly they started hearing a helicopter's rotor. "Was your love going to pick us up early?" Asked acidly Chris. "He is not my love, and I don't know if he was, why should I know?" "Because he is your love?" Offered Jeff. "Stop nagging her about her love. I don't think that chopper's on our side." Paul said. "He-is-not-my-love!" "Keep driving Karen, Chris is your wolverine loaded with grenades? Load it. Jeff try to prop your machine-gun on the Jeep's turret." Moments later the figure of a small Howard helicopter appeared on top of the tree's canopy. It was coming from Lagunillas, apparently in a seek and destroy mission. The target was given off when it's sole machine-gun opened fire at the fleeing Jeep. "Fire! Take it down, Karen dodging maneuvers!" "Easy Sarge, this event is ancient history to us, right Jeff?" Karen answered. "That's right." Jeff answered and started shooting back, he wasn't able to place his machine-gun on the pod, his bullets were flying all over the sky, he didn't have a good brace to aim. He was keeping the chopper at bay though. It was flying just back and to a side of the Jeep twenty or thirty meters away. Chris and Paul had a bit more luck, but their short bursts did little damage to the Howard's structure. Then it happened, the helicopter's gunman got a lucky shot and sprayed the front of the Jeep and hit the right wheel as well as parts of the steering mechanism. Karen screamed, Jeff clenched his fist at the chopper, Paul cursed everyone and everything and Chris braced for the crash while Johnny was still sleeping. The Jeep ended losing control and crashing against a tree, the brakes minimized the hit but a little. Karen lost consciousness. Chris moved out of the Jeep carrying her away while Jeff did the same with John. Paul recovered fast and jumped out of the vehicle. The chopper was making a turn to finish off the survivors. The Sergeant let go a grenade. Missed. The chopper had done the circle and it was firing again, tracking the two pairs that were running away. It hadn't noticed the sole man making a stand. Paul fired the second. Missed. He only managed to grasp the undivided attention of the Howard's gunner, he switched targets. But too late, the third grenade had left the Wolverine's launch tube. It hit the cockpit dead center, crashing the glass and exploding right in the pilots face. The Helicopter flew a few hundred meters and then crashed and exploded somewhere in the jungle. "Well done Sarge!" Commented Jeff, he was no longer holding John for he had awakened with all the shuffle. "You sure got them." Chris said, he had laid Karen down and was checking if she was seriously hurt. "How is she Chris?" asked Hawkeye with concern. All of a sudden the mission had turned up to be real and dangerous. "I think she is fine, she just fainted. But she is coming back to her senses." "Yeah, just like Little Johnny here." Jeff said with a big smile to Gomez who was right next to him. "What happened to you hot shot? I thought that you weren't scared of blood." Said the Sergeant. But right then, everybody, Chris, Paul, Jeff, John and the sitting Karen, they thought of the deaths that they had caused. Right there in just a couple of hours. They had killed, killed humans and Zentraedi. They were the bad guys, the enemy. But who dictated this? These five actually had fun doing it, the adrenaline rushed, they sweated, they even allowed themselves to joke about it. This helped, the joking, it lightened the gruesome burden, made it more bearable. Everything happened so fast they didn't get a chance to breathe, let alone think of what they had just done. Until now. They were alone in the forest once more, but the world looked different. They saw nature with different eyes. This was no longer a game and they weren't invincible anymore. They were part of the war now, they had been initiated. They had their first taste of blood. Now they understood the fragile balance between life and death. "Karen, I thought you said no problem with the dodging just a while ago." Paul said trying to lighten the dense air they were now breathing. "Oh, well. You can't get it right the whole time." She responded, picking up his cue. "How about if we start moving, they might be following us." Chris said solemnly. "Right, ok troops get your bags and lets start moving." Paul said regaining control of his ex-novice squad. They walked at the edge of the road right next to rain forest to be able to hide in case of any more pursuers. The same marching order as before, but in close quarters. Karen was looking for landmarks that would enable her to pin point their position. But none had appeared yet. The evening went away, they had walked the rest of the day, stopping once for a short time to eat some lunch. They started missing the base's cooking. A couple of Jeeps passed them by too, forcing the squad to hide among the trees, apparently they were searching for them. They found a clearing suitable for setting camp, just 50 meters away from the road next to the Parapeti River. This wasn't a real river, but a large stream that ran through the late Amazon Jungle West to East for a few hundred kilometers. The road had a makeshift bridge to cross the river, but it was old and seemed that it would collapse any time. The water was polluted, it still contained some toxic residues that were harmful to humans. The vegetation on the banks was faring well though. The tents were pitched, three of them. They were the igloo variety, round, shaped like half an orange dark gray in color. John pulled out the gas stove and he and Chris prepared a frugal dinner. Karen on the meanwhile was discussing their location with Paul. Jeff was on sentry duty. "This clearing was the location of the village of Camiri." Paul stated. Karen had pulled out her area map and they were examining it. "Yes. The short ride in the Jeep saved us a good three hours. The road here shows a few more towns, but all of them appear to be in ruins, ghost towns." "How about if we blow this bridge?" The Sergeant asked thoughtfully. "What for?" "Well, those two Jeeps haven't returned this way, they either were searching for us or had something else to do. If they were after us, we can confront them without giving them a chance of escape to Lagunillas. If they were on a mission, they will have a hard time getting back. It might delay their growing arms power. And if the town hasn't sent anyone after us, by destroying the bridge, the ones after us will have a hard time catching up with us." "Clever. Do that now or tomorrow?" "I think it'll be better on the morning, once we are on the other side and ready to go just in case they are after us." "OK. Shall we start the reccon report?" Karen asked. And so they discussed a few observations on the road and the jungle, as well as on Lagunillas until they were told that dinner was ready. "What's today's special?" Karen asked. "Oh, we've got a wonderful beef broth from the can, nice and warm, with these crackers and a bowl of steamed vegetables. Very nutritious." Johnny answered. "I do miss Jackson's cooking." "What, are you stating that you don't like our cooking Jeff?" Chris flailed his arms in to the air as in outrage. "Just shut up and eat, all of you." Paul said with a big smile, the humor had returned to his team. They ate and talked and ate and stretched and ate and relaxed until their dishes were empty. "Aren't you going to eat the peas?" Chris asked his superior. "No." "You don't like peas?" Karen asked. "No I don't like peas, any trouble with that?" "Well yes, you aren't going to grow tall and strong." Jeff answered the Sergeant in a fatherly tone of voice. "I'm already tall and strong." "Ha! You're tall all right, but your limbs are quite skinny." Karen started laughing. "That's because my bones are slim." Paul said in defense. "That's true, mine are too." Johnny said. "Don't eat your peas and you won't get dessert." Chris said menacingly. "Why don't you like them?" Karen asked. "Who." "The peas." "It's a childhood trauma." "You don't even remember your childhood." Chris stated. "I just know I don't like them okay? What's for dessert?" Paul said a little flustered. "Nothing." Johnny said. "No really." "Nothing! This is all there is!" "Damn I miss Jackson." "What happened to the Comanchero hot shot? Now you're after Jackson?" Chris asked Karen. "That's what I call an undecided girl, boy that cook does now how to lure them." Jeff mused. "I just like his cooking. Besides you shouldn't be jealous, I heard that you got lucky yesterday." Karen teased. "I wish I had." Jeff continued with his mood. "Time to wrap it up. Lets clean everything and assign the night shifts. Johnny how's your arm?" "I think it'll leave a nice sexy scar." Karen observed. "Think so? It's fine Sarge, I think I'll make it." They cleaned their meal and went to bed early for the next day would be spent marching. Karen had the first shift, she sat on a decaying tree log, she thought of the people she had killed, the faces were blurry thank God. Her hour and a half passed by fast, she didn't want to go to sleep afraid of the nightmares. When the turn came for Chris to take the watch, she stayed with him for a while. They talked. They tried to reassure each other by talking of banal things. But they both were uneasy, the first time is the hardest to get through he said. Yes, but that means that it won't be the last, who knows how many lives we might have to kill before the war is over. Thanks for saving me from the helicopter. No problem, go, tuck into bed for this isn't over. She left. Chris tried to remember his past, but no help. He gave up and watched the stars, thought of Karen. The shifts changed again, and again, and again. Until dawn broke through the horizon and Johnny awakened everyone. Time to move on.

"Have you set the explosives?" Paul asked nervously. "Yes, I wish I had real ones, tinkering with these grenades is no fun." He had wrapped three grenades to each of the two poles that held the bridge on one river bank. They were aligned so that a small twig replaced the safety pins, this was tied to a string and could be released at the same time. If he only activated one grenade it would not work for the explosion of one would not guarantee the triggering of the others. Besides, it had to be one big explosion for the bridge to fall. Chris had been working while Paul stood by his side offering advice. Each one would trigger one pole, it had to be simultaneous; due to the structure of the bridge, it would be better if it was brought down good, it would be no use if it could be reconstructed fast. The other three were down the road watching out for any enemies. Chris walked away and Paul did the same. They counted three and pulled. A big explosion erupted, Paul fell to his knees, when he looked up it was all smoke, he turned to see Chris' face and saw a big smile. They had done it in their first attempt. "Let's go." Chris said, the grin not leaving his face. They continued walking all day, they passed a ghost town, its name known before the Holocaust but now forgotten. Most of the buildings were now rubble, but a few walls still stood. They had lunch there. The landscape changed from time to time, at points there was no jungle, but patches of clear terrain, at others the jungle came right on to the road to the point that vehicles would have a hard time passing by. The weather was hot, sunny and steamy, but by the afternoon a set of dark clouds covered the until then clear sky. They set up camp again at a distance from the road, they still had to be cautious even if they hadn't seen the two Jeeps yet. They had to hurry with the meal for the clouds started pouring water to them. "Nice!" Jeff said taking off his shirt. They had placed all the equipment in the tents but a couple of shovels which they had employed before dinner to dig trenches around the tents and were now keeping them at hand just in case they needed them again. He was enjoying this feeling of freedom. All the men followed suit by taking off their shirts and fooling in the rain. Karen though had to get her spare T-shirt to the tent and change. Last night's nightmares seemed to vanish for a while.

The morning broke the night and found the team ready to travel the last stretch of their mission. By late morning they reached the Pilcomayo River. The pick up time had been set at four, so they spread and relaxed on the banks of the river, everyone deep in their thoughts. The Comanchero arrived on time and picked them up. A grinning Sergeant Vazquez greeting them through the cockpit's window. "Any trouble?" Islif asked them. "Nope, piece of cake." Jeff answered her. "Good." And that was all she said during the calm trip back to base.

Arturo had been sent to Governor Moller's office to explain what had occurred at one of his warehouses. He explained that a couple of RDF soldiers had entered the place and taken him prisoner when Otto's second in command had entered and reversed the papers, but that the two managed to escape, killing his right hand and destroying lots of his ordinance. Otto swore vengeance.

CHAPTER FOUR.

"I can't believe you exposed yourselves that way!" "I'm sorry sir." Muttered Paul for the tenth time. "You endangered your team as well as the whole mission!" "Major, I think they learned from their mistakes, maybe you should cool off a little." Lieutenant Milla offered. Team Two had gone to debrief the outcome of their first mission to the Major and their Lieutenant the moment they arrived to the base. And now the five were being scolded for their inexperience. But as Tiffany said, it wasn't their fault, they had done their best. And had brought some information that was of use for the RDF base. Of course they could have done better, but these green soldiers had been assigned a tough job without any cousel. This was what the Major was thinking as he counted to ten to ease his rage. Besides, these five were intelligent and promised a lot, there was no use in scaring them. "Okay Sergeant, I think it would be better for us to assess the information that you brought us and prepare for any event that might arise from our knocking on to their door." "Yes Major." Paul was still feeling the sting that the scolding had left. "Good, then you are dismissed for now, go take a shower and some rest before dinner. You have the rest of the day free. Lieutenant, I want an extraordinary staff meeting for tonight, say 2100 hours; we are to discuss the future security measures, as well as the name for Team Two, now that they have passed their blood test. Their welcoming party will be tomorrow, we'll have to organize that too." A smile finally made its way to the mouths of the five young troopers, same old base. They exited a bit more relieved. "I thought that welcoming party was only a joke, but now I see the Oak Leaf means serious business." Jeff acknowledged. "Did you notice what he said? 'they passed their blood test' what did he mean by that. I mean, was killing some rogues and putting our necks on the rope just a test to see if we are worth?" Karen said distressed. "Well, cool blood runs through the man's veins." Chris said. "Do you think we'll become that senseless when talking of life and death after a few years on the field?" Johnny asked. "I hope not, though I believe we will, I mean, look at Jeff now." Paul observed. "Hey, what do you mean Sarge?" "Just that." "I'll have to disagree with you Paul, did you notice the twin nurses that he was with the day of our arrival here?" Chris intervened. "Yeah, that's a good example, what do you have to say about that eh?" "Hush you guys, Chris is right, we are looking at an undercover casanova here." Karen said "Shot the showers." Johnny said out of no where. "No I'm going first." Jeff said menacingly, "I might have to see someone later on." "I don't think so." Johnny said as he took off to the condos in a lighting speed sprint. "Hey that ain't fair!" And the big guy followed in hot pursuit. "Look at them, seems that they've forgoten the killing fields." Karen said scornfully. "It's just their way of coping with the situation, they are trying to put it behind, it's easier to forget, leave the field's experiences in the field, or else you'll be tormenting yourselves." "Hey Lieutenant! What's up." Chris exclaimed a bit surprised for Tiffany had catched up with them unexpectedly. "That's sound advice chief." Paul said. "Yeah well, you're learning." "What's the agenda for the next days, are we signed up for another mission?" Karen asked. "Nope, you still need some more training, specially after this mission, the Major knows now what you're lacking and will make sure you lose those flaws that you're carrying around." "Wow! He has such an insight? I didn't know I had flaws. The Oak Leaf is a heavy man." "Chris! What's that cool nickname for Major Jonsson, Oak Leaf, he's gonna like it." Tiffany said in between giggles. "Jeff made it up." "That's nice, he could get promoted for that." The three young soldiers looked at each other. They continued walking together until they reached the condo. There the Lieutenant left them to rest. The three entered their place, Jeff was lying on the couch. He had been beaten to the shower and was waiting for Johnny to get out. "Have you unpacked your gear Jeff?" Paul asked him. "Later Sarge." "O.K. but I want all the stuff clean by night, weapons and all, check up time will be just before bed time. And guys, do change clothes. Jeff you'll take the laundry to the cleaning people." "Why me? I am going next in the shower." "You can do it after the shower." "But after the shower I was..." "Going to take the laundry for all of us." Karen teassed. "Tell Chris to do it! He doesn't have anything to do!" "Hey what do you know." "Plenty." "Alright, shut up, Karen will do it for us today, and we'll work out a duty roster by tomorrow." "Why me!" "It won't take long, and no more arguing, it's final." Paul decided. Karen showed her tongue angrily at the two laughing men. "I'll have to make a note to ask for more clothes for the team." Paul said to himself as he was walking to his room, the other three were having a cushion fight.

Paul awakened from a two-hour nap. He had been last in the showers, so he had time to set the example to his team on the unpacking and cleaning of the gear. He had gone to bed right after the shower, he hadn't eaten anything for he wasn't feeling hungry. It was five o'clock and Paul was practically waiting for the day to end. He came out of his room. Chris had taken a nap too, but he had apparently left earlier to who-knows-where. Karen was sprawled on the couch, reading a book. "Hi." "Hey Sarge, sleep well?" "Yes, what's that you're reading, where did you get that book?" "Oh, this," she said waiving the piece of literature. It wasn't very thick, but had a hard cover, "it's a novel by E. B. Buxeles. Called The Year Beyond. I snatched it at the Command Wing, there's a shelf with books in it, kinda like a library. Took it after I delivered the laundry."

"Who told you about this?" "About what." "About the library and all." "Oh, the man that works the laundry machines." "That's good, did you know I like reading? I really enjoy it. How's that book?" "Start out slow, very technichal on the historical events, but it's getting interesting, it's about the end of the Global Civil War." "Interesting, hand it over when you're finished. Do you know where's Jeff or Johnny or Chris?" "No, Jeff left right after his shower, he said he wasn't tired, Johnny parted too, with Chris. Oh, look, the base has installed a phone in the condo along with a base's directory of all the numbers here." "Nice, I just remembered gotta call the Lieutenant to ask for more clothes."

"That was your Sergeant." Tiffany said. She was in her condo's livingroom with Johnny, Chris, First Lieutenant Joey Caletta, the destroid and ground commander, Staff Sergeant Nicky Lasso, tank pilot and cavalry leader as well as Tiffany's roommate, and Corporal Erick Seine, another tank pilot. Chris and Johnny had taken a walk through the base to see what new stuff or people they could find when they crossed paths with Tiffany, Joey, Nicky and Erick. They were headed to Milla's second floor condo for a beer, or two, and they invited Team Two's members. At first, Jordan and Gomez were a bit appaled, they were all their seniors, but Johnny insisted on going, besides, they couldn't turn down an offer from their superior officers. And they soon learned the no-ranks-matter-in-peace-time policy of the 12th.

"What did he say Lieutenant?" Chris asked. "He was asking for some clothes for you guys." "Well, you sure could use some more changes." Nicky said observing their outfits. Both of them were using white t-shirts and olive green baggy slacks, standard issue, it wasn't much. Aside from the outdoor uniform that they had used the past few days, and the honor suits, this was all they had. Back at Brazilia they had used blue training uniforms but they had to leave those back for the next cadets. Chris and Johnny were a bit embarased by this, for the rest of the congregated were wearing lose and confortable looking clothes, which apparently were still in the limits of the term uniform: they had their rank and unit badges on. "Nicky leave them alone, they can't help it, they are rookies." Eric intervened. "Don't worry you guys, I'll make sure that the troops under my command are the best looking here." "Is he coming?" Johnny asked, trying to change the subject. "Who's coming?" Joey asked, he was by the small fridge opeing his second canned drink, he had missed the telephone conversation. "Sergeant Hawkeye," Tiffany said, "yes he said he'd be here in a short while." "Is it only you two in this appartment?" Chris asked, it was a small two- room piece. It seemed that all of these were not of the same size. "Yes." Nicky answered. "The base is so big and it's so under populated that we are spread through out the rooms, not one of them is completely full. Five or six tops." Erick explained. "How many troops are in the 12th?" Johnny asked to no one in particular. "Three officers, 26 NCOs, and 53 troops, 82 suckers in total." Joey said returning to a chair next to the couch. "That's including rookies." Nicky added. "Ha ha ha." Chris answered the tank leader's remark, getting a grip of her behavior. "Tell us about your duties aboard the SDF-1 Lieutenant." Johnny pleaded. "Well Joey here could tell you an interesting story, he was in the SDF-1 longer than I was. Tell them about the Daedalus Manuever in the Battle at Saturn's Rings." "No not again! I've listened to that a million times!" Nicky hailed in outroar. "Yes, I don't think I could stand it one more time!" Eric added. "But they haven't heard it!" Tiffany insisted. "Yeah, shut up you guys for here it goes." Joey quieted them down, he really enjoyed narrating this story. The thing went like this: When the SDF-1 was returning to Earth from it's maiden hyperspace jump, the Zentraedi were in hot pursuit trying to take over the fortress and its secrets. One of the battles of the war took place in the rings of Saturn. The humans were in a tight situation, the warships of Commander Zeril were poundig hard on the SDF-1. But an idea occured to Lisa Hayes, then the First Officer of the SDF-1, it consisted of using the Daedalus, the "arm" of the SDF-1, as a ramming fist to puncture a hole in the flagship, and then opening the ramps to allow the destroids to open fire to the insides. It worked, and the SDF-1 managed to win another battle. Joey had been part of the destroids inside the Daedalus. "I was promoted then to second lieutenant." "Cool!" Johnny said interested in the story. "At least he didn't brag about his heroics." Nicky said. "Yeah we were spared the details." Eric added. "Shut up, you fools! You just can't admit that your superior was a war hero." Joey said a bit distressed. "Oh, don't be upset, you know we adore you." Nicky embraced the Lieutenant by the neck in a tight lock. "Quit your loving antics." Joey said sheepishly as he swinged a pillow at her. "Hey, is this the start of a pillow fight?" Chris asked interested, he had ended up in the looser's side on the last encounter and wanted to make up for that performance. "What about your experiences on the SDF-1?" Johnny asked Tiffany, not paying attention to the exchange taking place next to him. "Stop it! You are not gonna trash this place like the last time. Joey! You raise that pillow and you're dead." Tiffany shouted not heeding Johnny's request. Joey grabed the slim, small frame of Nicky's with ease and placed her at his side. They both displayed an exagerated seriousness, trying to make Tiffany cool off. Right then, there was a knock to the door of the appartment. Erick stood up to open it. "Yes?" He opened the door only half way, his head was the only thing that the visitors could see. "Hi, is this Lieutenant Milla's condo?" Paul asked, Karen behind him leaning on the metal rail. "No I'm sorry, you must've gotten the wrong adress." Erick said hiding his amusement. "Oh, excuse us. Do you now where she resides?" "Second floor but on the other building." "Thanks." And Paul started to leave. "God I can't believe that you are so naive Paul!" Karen said behind him. Erick was leaning to the door, his short, broad frame shaking with laughter. Paul turned around cheeks lit up. "Sergeant Hawkeye, I presume." Erick said. "Yes." Paul said between tight lips. "I'm Erick, and you must be...wait...Karen. Right?" "Gotcha." She said smiling. She liked the idea of her sergeant being ridiculed in that way. "Come inside please, beer's in the fridge." He said stepping aside to let them in and pointing to a small refrigerator. "Hey! Paul, Karen, glad you made it. Listen, these two are part of my personal squad, Sergeant Paul and PFC Karen. You two, this is Lieutenant Joey," he stood up, he was almost as big as Jeff, and had a tanned skin, with curly hair on top and a fine pointy nose in the middle of his face. He shook hands with the two arrivals. "My roommate Nicky," Very young, Paul thought, for a staff sergeant, she had a short ponytail of dark hair. Looked very girlish, especially because she was a short person, or maybe because of her large, watery, brown eyes. "And you've met Eric." "Hey I could've sworn that you weren't part of the same team." Nicky said to Karen, "that shirt's nice." "Thanks." Karen said, she had a blue-and-green plaid shirt opened, revealing her white custom T-shirt. It was part of her personal wardrobe. They gossiped and chatted for a few hours till it was time for dinner. They entered the mess hall together, but had to disperse to their assigned tables. Team two met Jeff, who was already sitting at the table, sipping a glass of ice tea. "It can't be, it's the very same Jeffrey Andersen." Johnny said. "The one and only." The one sitting down said. "Where were you big guy?" Chris asked. "Around." "Any cool discoveries?" "Actually yes, Karen. I was told of some springs that are about half a K from the base. They are clean and one of them is a hot mineral type. Good for swimming and relaxing. One of the recreational spots of the base's." "Maybe tomorrow we can all go there, or whenever we have spare time." Paul said. "Sure thing boss, but for now, I'm hungry." They had a nice dinner, better than the last three. And after the meal they stayed for a while there, socializing. The table next to them had Sergeant Vazquez' crew along with the Sea Sergeant's. They were mixed now. Karen was at their table, Paul had left to go to Nicky and Erick's. Jeff was somewhere else. Chris was talking to Islif and Ernest and Sergeant Josephine Elouard, the Sergeant's pilot. Johnny had hurried to the condo. He needed to go to the can and decided it was time to clean his room. After a while though, Paul decided it was time to go and reminded his team of the checking that would take place in the condo. But he was flexible, he didn't herd them at that moment. After a while everyone started turning into the appartment to clean their stuff. And after half an hour everything looked nice and pretty. They hit the sack early, by eleven everyone was under their sheets.

The mist lifted, the sky was clear but still dark. There was at least one hour before sunrise. Chilly. Arturo had his AK-47 grasped firmly in his hands. It was a suicide mission, but he had to do it. He had to kill the aggressors that entered his governor's life. He approached the dorms. He knew who they were and were they resided. Intelligence had given him that information. He approached the door of the condominium, confidence now running along with the adrenaline in his veins. He opened the door, it wasn't locked, the RDF didn't know shit about security. He walked in. There were three rooms in front of him, three doors to chose from, iny mini miny moe, catch a rookie by the toe... He made his pick, he entered. Only one bed was occupied, a girl was sleeping soundly. He unsheathed his knife with his left hand, with his right he grasped her mouth, not allowing her to scream. Karen woke up with a startle, it was dark, couldn't see who it was that had just taken a hold on her. "Up we go!" The intruder said as he lifted her out of her sheets and onto his shoulder. She screamed. Useless. The man was taking her out of the room, out of the apartment. There were lights outside but still couldn't see who it was. The only thing visible to her was the butt of the person that was carrying her. All of a sudden the man let her down on the floor, and she was able to observe her surroundings. A whole congregation had encircled the front of the condos, they were bearing torches. She couldn't tell who they were, for the light shadowed their faces. What she did recognize though was her four other team mates. They were in the same situation as her down on the floor. She felt a bit reassured. "Initiation time!" A voice shouted and a second after every throat erupted, shouting with lust and excitement. The team recognized that one voice, it was the Major's. "What's going on?" Johnny asked, he was still sleepy. "Damn I was doing fine with that dream." Jeff muttered. "Just what I needed." Chris objected to his wake-up call. "Nice pajamas Johnny." Paul said. Johnny was wearing bermuda trousers and a short-sleeved shirt. Everyone else was in boxers, Jeff slept naked, but whoever grasped him gave him the chance to put something on. Karen looked sexy with that long shirt that reached half way through her thighs. But no one was paying attention to their comments. There were two men behind each one, they didn't allow the rookies to stand up. These had a pole in their hands and a coiled rope. "Lets babtise them!" the Major shouted again, "Tie them to the poles and to the springs!" They were tied even with their attempts to resist. Their hands and legs to the poles and their bodies swinging as they were lifted off the ground. The congregation started marching and a chant erupted: Humpa, Humpa, in deep tones. Night started giving its place to dawn, the first sunrays appearing over the eastern sky. They reached the springs, and they encircled one dark pool. "All right, lets start with the ceremony." Major Jonsson said, "Give me that knife." And he was given a large blade more a machete than a knife. The faces of Team Two turned pale; their eyes seemed to pop out in fear as the Major was examining the weapon. "Nice piece, were did you get this one?" The Major asked the man who had handed the knife. "Oh, bought it back in Brasilia, in the flea market." It was the voice of Lieutenant Joey Caletta. The Major returned the blade. "It's really nice, do you think you could get me one when you go back there?" "Sure, no problem." "OK lets get started. On behalf of this honorable outpost, I, the commanding officer of this prestigious appendix of the Earth's shield and protector, shall induct these five young men and woman into our body..." "Cut the crap." Tiffany shouted from somewhere, laughter erupted. "I'm just trying to make things interesting." The Major explained. "We have found a name for the new team, 'The Storks', and thus you shall be babtised today, the sixth of January of 2014. Plunge 'em!" And so the carriers did, they cut the ropes of the five new storks, and threw them into the pool, which wasn't, they discovered, the warm mineral spring. They screamed because of the low temperature of the liquid, amid laughs from the base's personnel. When they came out shivering, they looked pretty amusing, especially Karen with that wet shirt of hers. After the clapping and cheering died they were given towels. And everyone started heading back to base. Now fully awake, the five were having conversations with the rest of the people, glad that it wasn't much of an initiation. They liked the name, 'The Storks', Paul asked Joey where they had figured that name, and he said that when they were looking at their files, this particular bar appeared. So it was decided. By the time they returned, it was six in the morning, they had time enough to change to something dry. Tiffany had asked them to go to the ordinance and domestics department to grab new clothes. She said that they could do this after breakfast, also, that their new patches would be ready by the evening. The Major had approached Paul and had told him that they had free time until five, for at that time they would have to help prepare the night's party. And that tomorrow they would start their new training.

They all climbed into a jeep: Paul, Chris, Karen, Jeff, Johnny, Josephine, Erick, Nicky, Joey, Islif, Ernie, Jim, and the twin nurses Julie and Elizabeth. The jeep was packed, Jeffrey and Joey were almost flying for they had to stand up on the jeep's back rail. The ride didn't take long, they reached the springs in a couple of minutes. It was a hot summer day and they all had planned to go to the springs to wear off the heat. The place was full of small pools connected by a web of small creeks, which joined at some point and flowed to reach the Iruya River. The hot spring was set appart from the rest, but it was still connected to the others. The water was clean and unpoluted because it flowed from an underground stream that hadn't been affected by the war, one of the precious few. The people at the base knew this, and they tried to mantain it as clean as possilbe, only two pools had been authorized to be used by the men, the hot one and another large one. Maybe another reason for the location of a base here was to protect this water source. "Disembark!" Karen said, she was driving due to the positive report from their mission, they had deemed her as the chauffeur of the party. They all left the jeep, acting childish; everyone was young, the oldest being Joey at 30 and Jim at 28, the youngest were those Storks and Nicky, who was 18 too. "Place the tape recorder on the back of the jeep." Erick said, he had brought the box from his appartment. "Shoot me, I'm hallucinating." Chris whispered to Paul and Joey. He was having an inner conflict, he didn't know if he should stare directly at the twins or be more discreet. The two girls had just taken off their shirts, revealling sculpted bodies under small bright bikinis. "Not bad." Nicky said from behind them, she hadn't been noticed by the three males. "Wouldn't you say so?" Joey made room for her to enter the conversational ring. "Paul don't be so serious, you've been wearing that frown ever since we returned from the field." "Is that so? I thought that he didn't like me." Nicky said, "Yesterday when I met you you were so serious and seemed unconfortable, that I thought: 'it must be me'." "I'm sorry, I guess it's all that responsability resting on my shoulders," he said with a worried face, then to Nicky, "I used to be more cheerful. Really, it's not your fault, though you are a bit short." "What!" She hit him playfully in the arm, a smile was seen in Paul's lips. "That's better, see, it's not such a difficult task." "Now, how about if we join Karen and James over there." Chris said. "Hey your soldier ain't bad at all!" Joey exclaimed, the four started walking to the pool. "Well, yours doesn't bite the dust." Paul said about Nicky. "Thanks Paul, but, are you flirting with your supperior?" She said. And thus the morning was spent there, all of them enjoying the water and the break.