"Kannon!" Sami barked at him as he was walking up to where she and her troops stood.
Kannon ran quickly up to Sami and stood at attention. "Yes Ma'am."
"Do you know what time it is Kannon?" Sami asked in a shout.
"Um. No." Kannon said looking around.
"I'll tell you what time it is Kannon! It is five past five! You are late!"
"But Ma'am, it's only five minutes."
"Five minutes Kannon!? In my line of work if you are any more that half a minute late you are too late! By that time your comrades are dead. Being any more than 1.5 minutes late means that they're dead and you're about to join them. Do I make myself clear!?"
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"
"You will always be early to roll call or you will run along-side the truck. Is that clear Kannon?"
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"
"Now get in line." Kannon scurried over to the front of the line in front of a big, mean looking soldier. "We go by rank Kannon, right now your standing in front of my second in command. You were the last in my regiment and therefore have not established a rank among my squad yet. Get to the back of the line." Kannon hurried to the back of the line. Seeing that everything was all right Sami continued. "We are heading up to where the factory in Orange Star used to be to see if we can't sort this out any more. We'll leave in fifteen so make sure you're packed and ready for the trip. You're dismissed."
Sami headed over to the truck where she already had her equipment while the other seven and Kannon walked off to building where all their stuff was stowed. Once inside the guys went to their individual lockers and opened them.
"So, new guy, what do you think so far?" The guy next to Kannon asked.
"Sami sure is going a little tougher on me than I expected." Kannon stated.
"Don't worry 'bout it, normally she's not that tough. I think she's just doin' it to straighten you out a little. No offense or nuttin' but you sure were cocky when you first got here," he then extended his hand. "They call me Art P.G., I specialize in explosives."
"Nice to meet you," Kannon said shaking his hand.
Art began pointing out guys around the room and explaining them. Each gave a little wave as he said their name, "That over there's Mech-Mike, he's specializes in the heavy duty equipment. Over there's Roll Over, he's a tank expert, almost as good as Max too. See that guy in the corner, we call him Wiz Kid, he handles all the computer hacking and stuff like that. That's Ms. Sile right next to him, she knows just about everything to do with missiles including how to get the most out of them. Double E is standing over there; it's stands for Eagle Eye. He's our sniper but we also use him for recon a lot. That big guy that you stood in front of earlier is Cap, short for captain, ya know? He's good at pretty much everything. Don't worry he's fun to be around once you get to know him, just don't cut in line and you'll be Ok. The truth is that this is one of the bigger Special Forces groups on the planet, but somehow we make it work. By the way, what do you specialize in?"
"Well, uh," Kannon said as he tried to think of something impressive to say. "I'm an excellent CO."
Everybody in the room started cracking up. Kannon's face turned beat red and he quickly turned back to his locker and continued packing up. Art leaned on Kannon for some support as he laughed, then he regained his composure and said to Kannon, "Bud, anybody can be a good CO, all you have to do is lead people around. How 'bout you give up the 'I'm important' and actually tell us what you like to do."
Kannon turned towards Art and looked at him and wondered whether or not he should risk being laughed at again.
Art read his mind and reassured him, "Don't worry, we won't laugh again."
"Well, the truth is that I don't really like to do anything in particular. I'm just a soldier really, that's just what I do."
"Don't worry. By the time we get done with you you'll have something you specialize in too."
***
Everything had been loaded into the back of the truck and everyone was now sitting back there on the benches with the exception of Cap who was driving. The guys had accepted Kannon into their little group and he now joined them in a game of black jack. They had stacked up some backpacks and used that as a table. Sami sat in the corner silently going over the maps some more. They drove all night and only stopped twice, once to change drivers so that Cap could get some rest and the second to refill the gas tank. They arrived at the site the following morning around nine o'clock.
Sami hopped out of the back of the truck and walked over to a CO who had stepped out of his tent to greet them.
"Good morning Ma'am!" The CO said cheerfully and saluted.
"Good morning to you too Mitch." Sami said with a returned salute.
"I guess you've come to take a look around?"
"Yep."
"Well, if you have any questions, give a holler." CO Mitch said as he retreated back to the shade of his tent.
Sami headed back to the truck where everyone was unloading the stuff and setting up camp. She grabbed her stuff and started to set up her tent. A minute later Cap had finished his tent and had started familiarizing himself with the surroundings. Kannon watched as Cap walked away then turned his gaze back to Sami who was still unpacking everything.
Kannon turned towards Art who he was bunking with and whispered to him, "I was just wondering, why isn't Cap the CO of this regiment?"
Art turned to Kannon and gave a little laugh. " 'Cause then the best soldier would be stuck second in command."
"What do you mean? I've been watching Cap and it seems to me that he gets everything done faster and more efficiently."
"That may be, but Sami's still a better fighter, strategist, and politician. Did you see how she just walked up to that other CO and started talking to him? Cap doesn't like talking to people he doesn't know. He's kinda shy."
"Really?"
"Yep."
Kannon glanced back at Cap. "Maybe, but I still can't believe that Sami's a better fighter than him."
"Believe it. I can remember the first day she was transferred to out regiment."
***
Nell had led Sami into the Special Forces Training Room only a week after Vip was relieved of his command over the regiment. The truth was that all the time Sami had spent running the death challenge had strengthened her and, in Nell's opinion, had made her good enough to enter the Special Forces Training Program. Nell was excited about it, if Sami made it in she would be the first female ever to go through Special Forces Training. Sami was a bit afraid of going into SFT. She figured it might be like being under Vip's command.
"How are you doing Hachi?" Nell said approaching the man with a rag on his head.
"Great." He said with a smile as he turned around. They saluted each other. "Is this the new recruit?" He said turning to Sami.
"Sir, yes Sir!" Sami said snapping into attention.
"My your rather tightly strung, aren't you? No need to be so formal right now though I do appreciate it." Hachi said with a smile. He then whispered to Nell, "A tad petit don't you think Nell?"
"She only looks it, she's a lot stronger than she looks." Nell whispered back.
"Well, are you ready for the entrance test?" Hachi asked turning back to Sami.
"Yes Sir."
"You were signed on for CO special training so it's a bit more than what other people have to do." Hachi began.
Nell looked up at Nell in shock. Did Nell actually think that Sami could be a good CO? It made Sami feel a lot less intimidated by the other tough looking guys who were around the room. If her role model believed she could do it then Sami must really be able to.
Hachi smiled as he saw the look of surprise on Sami's face, he had figured as much. "Well then, let me explain it to you. It is comprised of three parts: the written test to test your knowledge of equipment and procedures, which you already completed and I am proud to say you received the second highest test score in the history of the test (don't worry though, you were only out scored by me and no one can blame you for that), the Obstacle Course to measure your physical ability, and finally the War Field which will measure your ability to command your troops and strategize. Are you sure you are up for the challenge?"
"I will try my hardest Sir!"
"Good!"
"Hey Kid! Don't worry about beating this record," one of the guys standing on the sideline said. "Cap got's this record locked up tight." He jerked his finger over to a big muscular guy sitting over in the corner.
The guy's cheeks seemed to turn a little bit of red and he turned his face a little but the sternest on his face stayed where it was. Sami noticed this and decided that perhaps he wasn't really as tough as he looked.
"Don't let them discourage you," Hachi said putting his hand on the girls shoulder. "He still hasn't been able to beat my record so he can't be the best, right? So just go out there and give it all you got."
These words comforted Sami. She lined her self up at the starting line and got ready. It was a big obstacle course filled with everything from crawling under barbered wire to scaling the wooden wall to walking down a narrow board over a mud pit. Sami smiled, compared to strict running that she was accustomed to this looked more like a playground.
"Ready?" Hachi called. Sami nodded. "Set… Go!"
And Sami was off. She sped through the course. She went under, over, and around every obstacle like lightning. Everyone was astonished at her speed except Hachi and Nell who were smiling to themselves. As she went through obstacles she realized how much CO Whip had accidentally improved her abilities while he was attempting to discourage her. As Sami darted across the finish line Hachi hit the button on the stop watch and stared at it.
"Well I'll be." He murmured to himself in surprise.
"What is it Sir?" Sami asked as she panted from the strenuous work out.
"Well you gave me quite a run for my money there! I must say that's the closest anyone has ever gotten to beating my record. Had you gotten across that line a half a second earlier you would have beaten my record!"
"What!" The boy from the sidelines exclaimed. He marched over to Hachi and stared at the stopwatch. "Are you sure you timed her right!"
Hachi straightened his stance stood right up to the boy and gave him a down wards look. "Are you questioning my ability to use a stopwatch?"
"No! No sir!" The boy said quickly and slinked away.
"What do you think Cap? After all, it was your record that you beat." Hachi called over to Cap.
Cap looked up in surprise and quickly straightened himself in his chair. He looked up at Sami then at the floor. "I, um… uh, I…"
Hachi gave a little grin, "Spit it out Cap. Do you think she did better then you?"
"Well, yeah, after all she did get under the wire really quickly where as I usually have a hard time because of my size. And I don't think I could have gotten up that wall as quickly as she did. So, um, yeah." He gave a quick glance back up at Sami and then returned his gaze to the floor.
"Very good Cap. I'm glad to see that you can pick out your weaknesses and the strengths of others like that. I think you'll turn out to be not so bad a CO after all."
"Uh, thank you sir." His cheeks looked like they reddened a little. "May I head out to the caf for lunch now? It's about that time."
"Sure, you're all dismissed." Hachi sighed as he turned around. Sami caught him say under his breath, "'Wish I could say as well for his people skills though," but she decided not to pursue it.
***
"Yo! You guys gonna get stop chatting sometime this millennium and help us look around?" Sami called from out near the road.
"Woops! We better not get her angry. She doesn't like people messing around on the job," Art said as he got up from the tent that he had finished while he was talking.
"Was that it?" Kannon asked.
"Of coarse not! There are lots of other things that happened after that. If you're bored later on tonight while we're in the tent I'll tell you. But for now we better get working."
The troop looked around all day and could come up with nothing. As dusk neared Sami found Double E out near the road. The tall, angular man was staring down the dirt path that had led to the factory.
"I was wondering if anyone else would notice it." Sami said as she approached him from behind. "I was starting to wonder if I was going crazy.
"No, ma'am," Double E said. "I will take the liberty to assume that you've asked all the questions I have, such as how many vehicles have came through here since it happened."
"Yep, I asked him about that. His regiment arrived here on two buses. They sent one back report the incident to HQ. Then we arrived here."
Double E looked at the road. "Unfortunately that adds up. And the wind factor?"
"I thought of that too. He says that there is practically no wind that goes through here on account of that mountain." Sami said jerking her thumb towards the giant peak that rose above them.
"I guess that's why you're the Commanding Officer of this troop, you tend to spot those things."
"Thank you E."
"I'm still wondering how they got that thing out of here, though. It's far too big for any amount of copters to be able to tow without crashing into each other, not only that but they would be sure to have awoken the men here."
"I believe that I have the answer to that, but I'll wait to see if anyone else finds anything."
No body else did. Mech Mike, Cap, and Ms. Sile had searched the woods for tracks of some kind but found none. Art, Kannon, and Rollover had searched around the edge of the mountain for anything but could find nothing. Wiz Kid had busied himself talking to the troops that were stationed there. He too came up with nothing.
"So basically we have zip." Wiz Kid summed up.
"Not true. I had found out many things from studying the map and you all have confirmed it."
"What!?" Rollover exclaimed. "Are you telling me that you could have told us when we got here what happened and we didn't have to waste the who day looking for nothing!?"
"No," Sami said flatly. "I needed you all to search as hard as you could because I feared that the map's might not be accurate."
"So, what did happen," Kannon asked. This was starting to become like a "who dunnit".
"Well, back while the war was going on I was talking to Sonja trying to gain some more info. She informed me that the Black Hole Army was designing amphibious landers. I---"
"I don't get it. What does that have to do with anything? We would see the tracks from it. It's not like they could pick it up with a lander anyway."
Sami's right temple looked like it was going to explode. "Kannon! Do you want to run along side the truck tomorrow!" She screamed at him.
Kannon shrunk back and quickly said, "No Ma'am."
"Then don't interrupt me while I am speaking!" She took a deep breath and continued in her normal voice. "Now where was I? Oh, yes. Like I was saying, it turns out that they weren't making them tracked. Instead they were going for something completely different. They were going to make a hover transport. I think that---"
"A hover transport! Is that really possible?" Kannon interrupted again.
"Kannon! That's strike two!"
"Sorry Ma'am. I'll shut up now."
"I think that they gave these factories the ability to hover."
"Do you mean that they put big old jets underneath it when they built it?" Cap asked.
"Exactly!" Sami said, glad that everyone understood.
"But wouldn't it make too much noise? I mean to lift something that big would require a really big engine." Rollover pointed out.
"Not really," Sami said. "I've been inside one before. They are really sound proof. You could be getting shelled and you would never know it. Not only that but since it probably only hover a few inches off the ground the jets were probably up some from the ground and the outside walls of the factory could buffer that sound too."
"What makes you so sure that it was a hovering capability that allowed it to get away?" Wiz Kid questioned.
"Because the only tracks that are on the road are tracks from us and the regiment that is stationed here right now. The rest of the road looks like it had never been driven on before. E can vouch for that fact. Not only that but I talked to the CO here and he says that there is hardly any wind up here and I checked the weather archives and there has been no rainfall here. Besides, you guys admitted to finding nothing else." Sami explained.
"Well if the jets were strong enough to lift that thing and blow away the tracks then why didn't it blow away the regiment too?"
"Because of those." Sami said pointing. The factory had been at the base of the mountain and six walls separated the factory from two other facilities that were blocked in on either side. "The regiment always stayed in those facilities."
"So that's it. We can radio HQ in the morning and tell them everything." Ms. Sile said with a yawn as she polished off her glasses. "As for right now I think that we should all get some shut eye. Do you agree Sami?"
"Sounds like a good idea." Sami agreed.
Everyone went to their tents to get some sleep. When all was decidedly quiet Kannon sat up and whispered to Art. "Yo, Art."
"Yeah Kannon?" Art said from the darkness.
Kannon was surprised that Art was still up. He reached over and turned on a small lantern that lay beside him. "You said you would tell me some more about what Sami did to all of a sudden become a top ranking CO."
"Do
you really need to be told even after what she did today? I think that pretty
much explains everything."
"Well sure that covers her
ability to plan and second-guess the enemy, and from that story you told
earlier today does show she's a lot quicker than Cap. It's just that I don't
see how she could ever be better than Cap. I mean, after all Cap looks like he
was made to be a CO and Sami, well, she just looks like some kid that was
picked up and put in command."
"Fine,
I'll tell you about The Skirmish."
"What?"
"Just hush and keep quiet."