Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or mentioned in this draft, and am most certainly not making any profit off of it.

Chapter 7

Hawke needed a break from the action for a moment. It wasn't because of fatigue, but because there were a few things that he needed to get right in his head. He knew where he stood on the issue of Sturm, and about how the admiral felt about the dark lord, but he needed to figure out the advisor's perspective quickly. This was the turning point of the war. The beach led directly to a very wealthy and industrial section of Black Hole, well behind enemy lines. It would take Sturm a long time to get any serious forces to this sector, which meant that if they could secure the sector, they could very well break Sturm's back. But there were some very valuable pieces of equipment involved: Md. Tanks, Artillery, Mechs, and other things that would be dearly missed if they were lost. If the advisor wanted to deliver the coup de grace to the Confederacy of Black Factions, he could very well do just that in this battle. However, if he wanted to completely ruin Bolt's chances of defeating Sturm, he could do that just as easily. Hawke pulled out his Red 9 pistol from his coat pocket and checked the action. It was ready willing and able. If the advisor made any wrong moves, Hawke would deal with him personally.

-----

Personally speaking, the admiral was glad to have his army all to himself; not that he didn't enjoy the advisor trash Sturm's fleet and Hawke making Sturm's forces on the landing embarrass themselves. It gave him time to think. Anyone with a brain could see that there was some tension between Hawke and TA Seymour, but Henson couldn't be sure if they were being straight with him or not. He was convinced that there was a traitor on the ship, but he couldn't decide who. The advisor seemed to understand Sturm really well. Was he working for Sturm? If he was, he was doing a good job of hiding it. He had destroyed a sector fleet; something that must have hurt the rebel armies pretty bad. And what about Hawke? He was another closed book. He, like the advisor seemed to be proficient at handling Sturm. A message from The Shroud brought him back to Wars World. He decided not to worry about the traitor. Gripping his uniform belt, complete with a .38 caliber standard issue revolver and a saber, he told himself that he could handle either of them.

-----

The advisor had finally found out about Sturm's game. He sat at his desk with his twin Luger pistols laid out. He knew that Hawke was working for Sturm; he reached that decision when he saw Hawke taking the beaches as quickly as he was. Sturm was letting Hawke work his way up to the stronghold overlooking the beach. When Hawke had "secured" the CP, Sturm would move in with more forces, capturing not only the admiral and himself, but also forcing a surrender that would break any chance of winning the war. The admiral wasn't in on it, but he wasn't exactly playing by the rules either. Seymour knew that things would turn ugly before it was all said and done. He loaded six magazines for his Lugers; three for each one. He was glad that he had his two best friends there to help him. At least they had never turned their back on him.

-----

The meeting had begun once again, and The C.O.s of Green Earth were excited about sharing their newfound knowledge with the rest of the committee. Nell announced that the meeting had restarted.

"I believe that Eagle and Jess have some information relevant to the matter previously dealt with," Nell said.

"After doing some research," Eagle said "we have found that the person whom Sonja was talking about." He pushed a button on the GE console, and a picture of a GE admiral. His uniform was similar to Jess' uniform, only it had an admiral insignia, and he was wearing an admiral cap and his signature dark sunglasses. Twin Luger pistols hung at each of his hips. The guns were silver with black handles.

"His name is Admiral James Maxwell Seymour. He started out as a weapons designer, but was soon given a commanding position due to his ability to detect weaknesses in military equipment and exploit psychological blind spots in enemy commanders. He has a doctorate in Engineering, which explains his technical knowhow. His psychology doctorate was useful in understanding and defeating enemy commanders. His training in genetics remains a mystery, though it was thought that he did some research in Bio Organic Weapons or B.O.W.s."

"Sounds like one seriously bad dude," Jake said.

"He does seem to possess quite a mixture of specialties" Nell said thoughtfully

"He had received several medals and had also been knighted for the defense of a major port city that the Queen had been visiting from a mystery foe. It was later concluded that they were more than likely mercenaries."

"So the dude is known as Sir Seymour?" Jake asked.

"No," Jess explained, "It's Sir James, or Sir James Seymour."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I'm a Dame, or a female knight. Why do you think Javier keeps calling me Dame Jess?"

"Because he's old school."

Eagle cleared his throat, bringing everyone back to the matter at hand. "At any rate, we have identified our mystery commander. Maybe now we'll be able to find where he is. If we do that, then perhaps he can share a few of his trade secrets with us."

Lash had been quite throughout the entire meeting, looking preoccupied. But now she seemed to be taking an interest in the way the meeting was going. "What makes you so sure that he's still alive?"

"Because he was only eighteen when he began his career as a weapons designer," Jess explained

"Seriously, that young?" Sonja asked. "He must be a true genius in every sense of the word."

"There is a word used to describe someone with such skill: Wunderkind. It literally means 'wonder kid' or child prodigy" Jess said.

Lash spoke up again, "Have any of you served with or under him? Anyone know him personally?"

"I served under him near the end of his career" Jess said. "When he was an admiral, he promoted me to the rank of Division Commander of his armored divisions. He also personally pinned a medal on my uniform and shook my hand. While he did this, he told me that he had never seen anyone with such potential, and wished me luck in my career. I still have a photograph of him shaking my hand, and I treasure it dearly."

"You served under him and didn't even know who he was?"

"He didn't give orders directly to his field commanders," Jess explained, "so there wasn't much face to face with him. He was more of a distant figure that you recognized, but never really knew. Nevertheless, I had seen his capabilities and I can honestly say that I tried to emulate his brilliance in my tank tactics. He was my greatest inspiration."

"So you didn't even know him. That's pretty sad. If I had anoth…ahem, if I had an opportunity to really get to know him, I would pounce on it."

"Sadly, I was never given that opportunity. About a year after I was promoted, he seemed to disappear. I heard that he was honorably discharged, but he still had many years of service left in him so I found it hard to believe. What I wouldn't give for the opportunity though."

-----

Throughout the meeting, Sonja was focused on the picture of the young commander. She was taking in every detail of his appearance. She tried to look into what type of person he was. There was no questioning his intellect, but was he a humble person? Was he a kind person? The dark glasses prevented her from looking into his eyes. Then she heard Lash's comment about getting to know him. Did she almost say another opportunity? This puzzled Sonja, and she looked at Lash. Do you know him from somewhere? A long lost friend or relative, perhaps? Lash noticed Sonja staring at her.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

Sonja blushed as everyone turned to look at her. "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Admit it, you where just admiring my beauty," Lash said striking a pose.

"Well, I reckon I should be goin'" Grit said standing up. "Ole General back home has probably got a list of stuff for me to take care of. I swear, Olaf keeps me busier than a one-legged man in an ass kickin' contest."

"Agreed," Nell said. "I feel it is time to adjourn the meeting for now. We will meet next week to explore the matter further. Eagle, could we trouble you to spend your week trying to locate our new best friend?"

"It would be my pleasure. I would very much like to speak with him myself."