Preparing for the Jungle
Disclaimer: Same as before…
The Pit, Officer's Quarters
Kate Todd and Conrad Hart
05 March 2002, 1015
Kate glanced over as Conrad carried a parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied with packing twine. She noticed that it was a camouflage uniform, one shoulder bearing the same circular patch with the grinning skeleton she had seen on Conrad's backpack some days earlier.
Conrad gently laid out the pants and camouflage jacket onto the couch, looking over it before briefly closing his eyes.
What's he thinking? Is he thinking of battles forgotten or unknown by the rest of the world? That's gotta be it. Kate thought to herself.
Conrad's eyes opened and he turned his head to face her, "It's my old camouflage uniform from my days in the Legion, mademoiselle."
"You packed your old camouflage uniform in your luggage." Kate asked, "Why?"
"Being on a case where we were dealing with a military unit I figured it might be needed," Conrad replied.
"How did you know we would wind up on a jungle survival training exercise?" Kate asked.
"I didn't," Conrad replied.
"So how would you have used it around here if we weren't going on an exercise?" Kate asked.
"Well, if we did any sort of other training on this base it would be useful," Conrad replied, "Like some of the firing ranges and the obstacle courses."
"I see your point," Kate replied as pulled an unmarked set of camouflage clothing and black boots out of a bag she had set down beside the coffee table, "Though the Joes were kind enough to issue me what I needed."
"This is true, however I would recommend breaking in your boots," Conrad replied.
Kate raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean break in my boots?"
"That means get your feet used to wearing them," Conrad replied, "The last thing you want when you're on your feet all the time are blisters."
"Good point," Kate replied, "So how do I do that?"
"Two ways that I've always used. Wear them all the time and soak them in water to soften the leather," Conrad replied.
"I didn't know soldiers put so much care into their footwear," Kate quipped as she sat down on the easy chair, pulling off her pumps before sliding a pair of olive green Army issue socks before putting her new boots on her feet.
"The Legion does have a say, 'March or die'," Conrad smirked, "And in the old days that meant falling behind was a death sentence as the Tuaregs would cut laggards to ribbons."
"This was in North Africa, right?" Kate asked.
"Tres bien, Kate," Conrad replied with a faint smile.
"Hanging around you is an immersion experience in the history of the French Foreign Legion," Kate smiled faintly.
"I'm glad I don't bore you, mademoiselle," Conrad smirked as he slid his light jacket and put it on the sofa. As he did so Kate noticed what looked like a knuckle duster on his belt at the small of his back.
"Are those brass knuckles?" Kate asked.
"Sort of," Conrad replied.
"What do you mean by sort of?" Kate asked, with a quirk of one eyebrow.
Conrad wordlessly reached for the item in question before drawing the blade. Kate's eyes fell on what looked like a knuckle duster with a knife blade attached.
"It's a working replica of a US Mark I Trench Knife, designed for fighting in the trenches of the Western Front," Conrad replied as he drew the weapon.
"Think it will come in handy in the jungle?" Kate asked.
"Certainly," Conrad replied, "You know how close quarters jungle fighting can be, remember? Close, like so…"
Conrad stepped closer to Kate till he was almost nose to nose with her. The former legionnaire smirked before stepping back before turning so his right side faced Kate. He took the knife in his right hand, fingers in the knuckle duster handle before throwing a right cross before stabbing downward with the blade.
After he demonstrated the punch and stab combo he slipped his hand out of the knuckle duster before handing Kate the knife for her to examine.
I'd hate to be any Cobra that encounters Conrad with that thing up close. It's either a faceful of metal knuckles or a hard stab. Kate thought to herself.
"On ne passe pas?" Kate asked as she examined the blade, noticing those words were engraved onto the handle.
"It translates into this: They shall not pass," Conrad replied, "It was a slogan of the French Army at the Battle of Verdun in 1915, preventing a German rush onto Paris."
Conrad toothily grinned as he continued, "This type of knife was designed from French army experiences in the early years of the war, where soldiers killed one another in trenches no more than a few feet wide."
"They didn't have special equipment for that kind of fighting?" Kate asked.
"Not early on," Conrad replied, "A lot of close in weapons before grenades came into the forte were revolvers, knuckledusters, staves, and knives of different kinds."
"Speaking of weapons we are heading to the armory in an hour," Kate replied, "And from there we can either eat lunch here or take our chances on the mess hall and BA's cooking again."
"AGGGGHHHH!"
At the sound of a scream Kate and Conrad rushed to the window in time to see BA running out of the back door of the mess hall. Chasing him was a man sized gingerbread man wielding a meat cleaver in each hand.
"I think that dilemma swiftly resolved itself," Conrad smirked.
"And that item is definitely not going in my report," Kate replied, "And I suppose not in yours either?"
"I think it would be safest, just in case Rachel and Baer talk again," Conrad replied.
"Do you think those two compare notes now?" Kate asked.
With a smile Conrad said, "I'm sure they do. In fact I can picture them having lunch somewhere in D.C. talking about the things we report about."
"Hopefully they give us adjoining rooms at the mental institution," Kate joked.
"I don't intend to put this in my report at all," Conrad replied.
"Neither am I," Kate replied.
"HELLLLPPPP!" BA shouted as he ran past their field of vision a second time with the gingerbread man in hot pursuit.
With a sigh Kate replied, "Should we head downstairs and help him?"
"I suppose we do, mademoiselle," Conrad replied as he headed for the apartment's front door with Kate at his heels.
The two agents ran downstairs just in time to see Daria, Quinn and Brittany, Shipwreck's Triplets, come running out of the kitchen with flamethrowers.
Kate's eyes went wide, "Please tell me I'm seeing things!"
"Not going to lie, mademoiselle, but unless I'm seeing things too it looks like Shipwreck's petite filles are running after the gingerbread man with flamethrowers," Conrad deadpanned.
"Come back here Gingerbread man!" they shouted and ran, shooting jets of flame at it.
The Gingerbread Man veered off, with the Triplets in hot pursuit. BA, meanwhile, doubled over, hands on his knees sucking down air. He was still perspiring and gasping when Kate and Conrad came down the stairs and out of their building.
"Are you alright?" Kate asked as she and Conrad headed over to him.
With a gasp BA said, "I'm fine. I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for Shipwreck's insane brood."
"Die Gingerbread Man! Die!" the shout echoed from around the other side of the mess hall.
BOOM!
Conrad and Kate immediately took off running for the other side of the mess hall in time to see that the now flame covered Gingerbread Man had exploded. The Triplets were currently congratulating each other on their success as Conrad sniffed the air.
"Gingerbread. At least the front of the mess hall smells good," Conrad quipped.
Kate glared at him before the ex-legionnaire turned and raised an eyebrow, "What?"
With a sigh Kate turned to the Triplets, "Alright you three, put the flamethrowers down. You're going to have some explaining to do."
"Yes ma'am," the three girls said.
"Wow," Conrad commented, "You've got the 'mom' glare down perfectly."
Kate glared silently at Conrad as the ex-Legionnaire raised his hands with another 'what?' look on his face.
The Triplets unclasped the straps holding the tanks of their improvised flamethrowers before setting them onto the ground. Conrad headed over to pick up the weapons and after he did so he set them down on the walkway.
"I have to admit these are good working replicas of the Flammenwerfer," Conrad replied.
"Flammenwerfer?" Kate asked, with a puzzled look.
"World War II era German flamethrower. From the look of these, it appears to be the 1941 model, or Flamenwerfer 41," Conrad replied as he examined the three weapons.
BA ran over to them, puffing and gasping, "Ah, I see you three have found my kitchen assistants' latest inventions."
"Wait, BA, you let the Triplets construct replicas of a German World War II flamethrower?" Kate asked, eyes going wide.
"Why yes?" BA replied, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Kate looked at him as though he'd gone totally screwy, "Okay, why would you do such an insane thing?"
"To help with the cooking," BA replied.
"I suppose you would need flamethrowers to bake a walking, knife wielding gingerbreadman," Kate replied with a quirked eyebrow. And that's a sentence I never thought I'd ever say.
"Actually," BA said, "It was to work with my masterpiece. BA's Souffle A La Flambe!"
"Why does that not surprise me that you'd make a dish that features fire?" Kate asked.
"Well, Wampire Veekly has said that incendiary displays are the hottest trend of the year," BA protested.
"I gather that there's a spoonful of gunpowder in said souffle?" Kate asked.
"No," BA replied, and Kate sighed with relief, "There are actually five spoonfuls of gunpowder…"
"You're insane!" Kate exclaimed. I'm definitely going to avoid the Mess Hall tonight.
"And it took you this long to figure that out?" Shipwreck interjected as he casually sauntered over and surveyed the destruction.
"So les petite filles created three rather impressive working models of the German Flamenwerfer," Conrad remarked, as he walked over, "Evidently under BA's direction too."
"To be fair they probably would have made them without BA's direction too," Shipwreck shrugged.
Kate, wisely, said nothing as she and Conrad walked back towards their shared apartment in the Officer's Quarters.
When they were out of earshot she said, "I definitely plan to avoid the Mess Hall for the next couple of meals."
Conrad smirked, "I agree, mademoiselle."
The Pit, The Armory
Kate, Conrad, and Sedgwick
05 March 2002, 1303
Conrad hefted the AMD-65 as they walked through the Pit's main armory. He racked the bolt to the rear, glancing into the chamber to ensure there wasn't a round inside it.
"No surprises there," Kate smirked.
"You'll need something a bit more substantial than your Sig," Sedgwick began as he hefted an American M4 Carbine.
Kate nodded before walking down another row and taking a Remington 870 pump action shotgun from a rack in the wall.
"Good choice, mademoiselle," Conrad quipped.
"Somebody told me that combat in the jungle is up close and personal," Kate replied before she racked the pump and glanced down the chamber to ensure there wasn't a round in the shotgun.
"Tres bien," Conrad replied, with a toothy grin.
Conrad, Kate and Sedgwick also went to sign for their ammunition from the armorer before they got in the blue government SUV for the drive to the range complex. As the engine hummed Conrad began to lightly sing, "Puisqu'il nous faut vivre et lutter dans la souffrance. Le jour est venu où nous imposerons au front. La force de nos âmes. La force de nos cœurs et de nos bras. Foulant la boue sombre, vont les Képis blancs."
"What's with the song?" Sedgwick asked Kate.
"That's an old French Foreign Legion song, Kepis Blanc," Kate replied, "Very similar to the Wehrmacht song Panzerlied."
"Bit of a history buff, Agent Todd?" Sedgwick asked.
Kate shook her head, "Spend any length of time around Conrad and you'll pick up a thing or two on Legion trivia."
"Right," Sedgwick said, "That's good to know."
Conrad parked the car in the range complex's parking lot before the three of them took their weapons out of the vehicle and approached an awning with several tables. There were several soldiers loading ammunition into magazines and Sedgwick led them to one of the tables.
Conrad immediately began loading 7.62x39mm rounds into the AMD-65 magazines before stuffing them into pouches on his loadbearing vest. Kate noticed the ex-Legionnaire was all business as he loaded the last magazine into his AMD-65.
"Ready?" Sedgwick asked, after pulling the bolt for his M4 to the rear and releasing it, chambering a 5.56mm round.
Kate loaded one more shell into the shotgun before she racked the pump, chambering a round. She saw Conrad chamber a round into his AMD-65 before nodding in affirmation.
"Ready," Kate replied.
The three of them walked towards a fenced in area a few hundred meters down the road from the awning. As they walked through the gate Sedgwick began, "Right, we'll practice individual movements and firing on the move before moving on to team movements. I'll walk each of you through the basics first. I'll demonstrate some basic reactions to contact and then you two will run through. Conrad, you're up first, Kate you linger behind me and then we'll switch."
Sedgwick spoke into a radio on his webbing, "Right, ready to go hot."
"Acknowledged," the voice of the unseen controller said from the control center for the range complex.
Sedgwick placed the stock of his M4 against his shoulder, muzzle aimed slightly to the ground and he began to walk forward slowly.
As he walked forward a plastic human silhouette target popped up. Sedgwick fired several shots in rapid succession before turning around and running.
Once he reached the firing line he removed the magazine from his weapon and pulled the bolt to the rear, ejecting the chambered round. He picked the bullet up and stuffed it into a cargo pocket.
"Right, that's an example of a movement drill called shoot and scoot. In the jungle when one patrol bumps across an enemy patrol you want to get accurate fire downrange and get the hell out," Sedgwick began, and with a grin added, "Right, Conrad, show us how the Legion does it."
Conrad nodded as the pop up target went down. He too, adopted a slightly crouched stance, his AMD-65 aimed slightly towards the ground as he moved forward, eyes scanning the brush in front of him.
Three pop up targets appeared in front of him. Conrad snapped his AMD-65 upward, firing a quick burst at the closest target before charging forward, firing as he went at the second target. He quickly released the magazine from the AMD-65 before reaching into his webbing for a spare continuing forward as he did so and riddling the third target full of holes. Then he jogged back to the firing line.
"Not bad shooting, Hart, but I think that the drill is shoot and scoot," Sedgwick said.
"You want to gain fire superiority when you run into into an enemy force. You also want to move forward and take the fight to them," Conrad smirked.
"Good points, but the drill is shoot and scoot," Sedgwick said.
"You did ask me to show how the Legion does react to contact. And it involves rapid volume fire and taking the fight to the enemy," Conrad replied, "It's worked for the Legion for centuries."
"I do see your point, Hart, but if you're in a small patrol you want to disengage sharpish," Sedgwick replied.
Conrad nodded, "However a good bit of accurate fire does make the enemy think twice about pursuit."
"That's the point of the shoot in shoot and scoot," Sedgwick countered before he said, "Right, Kate, let's see how you do."
Kate nodded as she walked down the training lane, shotgun at the ready. Suddenly two targets popped up in front of her. Kate fired the shotgun at the first target, before pumping out the empty casing and firing on the second target before she chambered a third round, firing at the closer target before she ran back towards the firing line.
"Not bad, Kate," Sedgwick said, "Though I did notice you gave that first target another shot. Why?"
"I saw I only clipped him with that first shot," Kate replied as she caught her breath.
"Good point, but I'd have sorted out the bloke you clipped first before going after his mate," Sedgwick began.
Kate nodded, "Thanks."
The rest of the afternoon consisted of them practicing team and individual movements, reacting to sudden contacts in the brush. Once they were done training Kate wiped some sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Good training, both of you," Sedgwick said, "We'll drill this some more tomorrow afternoon and get some night firing in as well."
The Pit, Officer's Quarters
Todd Tolansky and Althea Delgado
05 March 2002, 2224
"It was great to see you again," Todd began as he walked with Althea, holding hands, as they headed towards the officer's quarters, sneaking towards it from a wooded area near the back of it.
Althea smiled as she let go of Todd's hand and put her arm around him, pulling Todd close. Todd put his arm around her waist pulling her close to him.
Before they reached the edge of the woods Todd turned her around, holding both her hands before leaning forward to kiss Althea with a long, tender kiss. He felt Althea's arms slide up around the back of his neck as she pulled him closer.
He wrapped his own arms around her waist as the kiss deepened. After they parted they held each other for a few moments before reluctantly letting go. Taking Todd's hand Althea said, "I'll walk you back to the apartment building before we sneak back…"
The Pit, Officer's Quarters
Kate Todd and Conrad Hart
05 March 2002, 2234
"Well that was an interesting day," Kate began as they stood in the small garden behind the Pit's Officer's Quarters.
"With yet another of BA's recipes coming to life, Shipwreck's demented offspring making yet another weapon, and our own weapons training, I'd say yes," Conrad replied with a grin.
"Glad we made another store run," Kate commented.
"And that the base commissary is a 24 hour one," Conard replied.
Kate touched her hand to her stomach, "I'm not sure I want to deal with anything else BA cooks up for the rest of this week."
"Pun intended, mademoiselle?" Conrad replied with a smirk.
"You have an a borderline unhealthy fascination with puns," Kate observed.
"Well, mademoiselle, humor kept me sane through eight years of service in the Legion," Conrad countered.
"And I'm sure plenty of strong drink, too," Kate replied, noting the half dozen brown glass bottles of Augustinerbrau in Conrad's left hand.
"That too," Conrad smirked, "But you must be a lightweight if a beer is something you consider 'strong drink'."
"Very funny," Kate replied.
"Want one?" Conrad offered, pulling one bottle from the cardboard carton and then another.
"Sure," Kate smiled. Conard popped the cap off of one bottle with a small bottle opener on his keyring, handing it over to Kate before popping one off of a second.
Kate eyed the label before saying, "German beer?"
"Yes," Conard said with a toothy grin, "As far as Europe is concerned I'll argue all day that the Germans have a commanding lead when it comes to brewing beer."
"I'm sure the Irish, British, and Dutch might beg to differ," Kate smirked.
"I'll also add that this beer has its origins in an Augustinian monastery in Munich, Germany," Conrad replied.
"You had to play the Catholic card," Kate said with a light chuckle.
"Touche," Conrad replied with a grin.`
Kate took a pull of her beer, "Those were some interesting tactics you showed earlier."
"It's what I learned in the Legion," Conrad replied.
"Aggressive attacks and overkill?" Kate mused.
"Hardly so, mademoiselle," Conrad replied, "It is simply how the Legion conducts a running gun battle, fast, hard hitting, and with the unit commander leading from the front."
"Sounded like a bit of overkill to me," Kate said with a slight chuckle only for curiosity to crease her features when she saw Conrad place his index finger against his lips, the universal gesture for quiet.
Kate strained her ears and the small smile returned to her features as she heard two teenage voices from the nearby copse of trees.
"I'll walk you back to the apartment building before we sneak back…"
Conrad motioned for Kate to follow him past the edge of the garden, towards the copse of trees in time to see two teenage mutants walking hand in hand towards the garden and the back entrance to the Officer's Quarters.
"Busted, oh man…" Todd groaned, face reddening.
"We are both so grounded," Althea muttered.
"Not necessarily, mes amis," Conrad interjected, a small smile on his face.
"As long as you two weren't…" Kate began.
"We didn't have sex, if that's what you're worried about," Althea said.
"Certainly direct, aren't we?" Conrad mused. Well, she is Shipwreck's daughter after all.
Althea blushed as she realized what she'd just said and Kate smiled, "I believe you."
"Besides we basically want to wait a bit before we do something like that," Althea admitted, out of the corner of her eyes she could see Todd blushing redder.
"Al…" Todd groaned, "Did you have to tell them that?"
"Okay, you two, again, we believe you," Kate replied, "But it is getting late and you'd better be off to home."
"So...you're not telling Roadblock and Shipwreck?" Todd asked, shyly.
"Not at all, mes amis," Conrad replied.
"But you'd better get home," Kate added, "Separately."
The two teens nodded and Althea gave Todd a small, chaste kiss before she headed away from the Officer's Quarters, back towards Shipwreck's house.
TBC…