CHAPTER 19. THE ART OF WAR

That night Simba was given his PRF uniform. It was like the others except his had a golden trimming to it, indicating his high rank. He was to wear it to dinner at the mess, where Woods was throwing a party to celebrate his return. When he entered the room, several people cheered and whistled, welcoming him. He just nodded at the people swarming around him and shoved them aside. He took his seat next to General Woods. "Quite an enthusiastic group you have here." Simba said to him. Woods nodded and replied: "Yes, a few days ago there was no belief here, no morale. You changed all that, now there is not a single soul in this building that does not think we're going to win this war." Woods told him. Simba looked around; at every single table men were smiling and talking amongst themselves. The whole area had a new, positive feeling to it. The doors to the mess suddenly swung open and Nala appeared, wearing a bright red dress and high heels. No one had ever seen her that way before and all the men whistled their approval and jeered playfully, Nala gave all the loud ones a sarcastic punch on the arm.

All eyes were now on her, and she realized that. She took her place next to Simba at the table. "Sergeant Nala, if I'm not mistaken the dress standard for this event was uniform." Woods said. "My bad." She said and sat down. Woods rolled his eyes, she was one of his best soldiers and he thought he'd give her a break, but he still didn't want her to be eye candy for the rest of troops. Simba sat there stunned. "So anyway, you said you were going to tell us your story tonight." The man called Weaver said. "Yeah, so this is what happened..." Simba started and told him the long story, he told him about the traffic rush and his father's death (But was very careful to avoid saying he was responsible for it), how he was trapped in the drain, how he was saved by Timon and Pumbaa, all the good times he had growing up and how Nala found him. Woods and Weaver were amazed at all the things the guy had been through. Woods reached under the table and produced a bottle of champagne. He poured everyone a glass, and eventually reached to fill Nala's.

"None for me thanks." She said firmly. Woods raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" Simba asked, suspicious. "Not in the mood for it, I'll just stick with water." She said and filled her glass with water. Can't let him find out the truth. She thought. "Can I get everyone's attention please?" Woods suddenly shouted out loud and everyone went silent and looked towards him standing.

"Thank you, now that I have your attention, I would just like to thank each and every one of you for making this possible, throughout the years your courageous service has made me proud to know you, and it has finally paid off...I have an announcement to make...NATO has just agreed to send us support as of Wednesday!"

Everyone suddenly leapt to their feet and cheered, they also exchanged high-fives and hugs. Woods raised a hand and again everyone silenced. "I would also like to thank the man that has made all this possible for us...your king, Simba." Woods said and again everyone clapped. "I would like to propose a toast..." Woods started and lifted his glass. "To Simba...and to Victory."

"To Simba and to Victory." Everyone said and took a sip.

Later on that evening

Simba sat in the command room, anxiously waiting for General Woods. He finally entered and sat down in front of a map. "I'm going to get straight to the point, we're going to attack Scar on Wednesday, it's risky but we're going to have to rely on NATO getting to the party in time." Woods said. Simba nodded. "So how's it going to happen?" Simba asked. "Well, what are your orders?" Woods asked back. Simba realized that he technically out ranked Woods, but there was no way he could win without his experience. "Well, I'm going to leave the assault plan up to you...but I need one thing to happen. I want a small team composed of your best men and myself to go after Scar while you guys and NATO go at it with Scar's army. Don't ask why, it's just personal." Simba said. Nala had told him about how Scar had tried to rape her, and now he was going to pay for that, not to mention the thousands of innocent people he'd killed and how he had wrecked the country. "I trust you on this, from what I hear, you seem to be quite good at this...art of war if that's what you want to call it." Simba told him. "Thank you sir, we'll start arming up in the morning." Woods said and saluted him. Simba returned the gesture and left. Woods was glad Simba had decided to leave the tactics to him, leaving them to some 21 year old punk with no army experience could prove costly.

At Nala's quarters.

Nala got changed into her nightgown and got ready for bed; it was going to be a big day for everyone tomorrow. She heard a knock come from her door, she opened the door and Weaver stood there. "Oh hey Matt, what are you still doing up?" She asked surprised. "I was just cleaning out my weapon but I got bored, so I thought I'd come talk to you." He said. "Sure, come on in." Nala opened the door fully and gestured for him to come inside. "Quite a move, dressing like that for dinner." He said and sat down on her stool. "Yeah I know." She said, annoyed. "So anyway you ready for the assault? I heard that once NATO gets here on Wednesday, we're going to do the final push." Weaver told her and yawned. "Actually, I thought I'd sit this one out." Nala said, taking a pin out of her hair.

"You're pregnant aren't you?" Weaver said. Nala turned around in surprise to face him. He was no longer sitting on the stool casually, but standing up with a stern look on his face. "No I'm not." Nala lied and pulled her socks off, pretending there was no significance to the accusation. "I'm not stupid Nala, I know how close you were to Simba back at school, and I was wondering why you wouldn't have any alcohol at dinner tonight, or why you came out of the toilet block crying. It all adds up." Weaver said. Nala looked at him shocked. "Just don't tell Simba about it okay? He's the father." Nala admitted and tried to stop herself from crying. "Fine, but that's the last time I send you on a rescue mission, if that's what you do on them. No wonder why you were so late." He said and headed for the door. Nala couldn't think of anything to say.

Before leaving, Weaver reached into his pocket and pulled out a rifle silencer, he tossed it to Nala. "We need you on Wednesday, that silencer has been modified to fit your rifle. We wouldn't want junior to be exposed to the sound of gunshots at such a young age eh?" He said. "For the last time, I'm not going in with you guys, it's too dangerous for the baby." Nala argued. "You are, you've been assigned to overwatch on Simba's private squad. That should be a pretty safe and quiet job in comparison to everyone else, you know I had to pull a few strings to get that job for you, otherwise it would have been the infantry." She exhaled held the door open. "Well thank you. I'll see you tomorrow." Nala said and began to close the door behind him. "Good night." Weaver said and left. Overwatch, better than front lines. Nala thought. She still didn't like the idea of going into combat pregnant, but that was something she was going to have to deal with. She rubbed her belly and slipped into bed.