1/29/25: Alright! Mission time!

A little censored language. This time SAM has a potty mouth XD.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

–

Chapter 53: The Art of War

–

A week later…

Sam was in the kitchen making decaf coffee, cursing her luck that she couldn't have real coffee. Danny had been…let's just say making up for lost time almost every night. Couple that with the intense training this past week and she was desperately wanting caffeine.

'I'm certainly not complaining,' Shade said in her head.

The goth rolled her eyes. 'You're happy any chance you get to ogle my fiance.'

'Technically he's our fiance. But you're right, his body is art.'

Sam groaned.

'I think he's stressed and it's a good outlet. He's been pretty…intense and a lot more fiery about it.'

'I've wondered that myself,' Sam responded.

'I know. I can hear your thoughts,' Shade responded sarcastically.

'Why are you so damn annoying?'

'Technically, you're the one who's annoying.'

Sam made a face, pulling her upper lip up and wobbling her head around as one would do when they're saying 'Uh huh, yeah, sure,' in a sarcastic way. Then she turned and spotted Danny looking at her like she'd grown a second head.

"F***," she said in a long drawn out way at being caught, eyes to the ceiling.

"What uh…whatcha doing?" he asked in a way that suggested he was concerned for her sanity.

"It's nothing. Shade is just pissing me off," she explained, hoping that would be the end of it.

He blinked. "I don't get it."

Sam sighed, putting her hands on the counter and leaning on it. "I can talk to Shade in my head, like she's a real person."

"Nope, still lost."

'He's cute when he's an idiot.'

"F*** off!" Sam snapped suddenly.

The ghost gave her an incredulous look. "The hell did I do?"

"Not you. Shade!"

"Wait, you really are talking to her?" he asked with a look that said he wasn't sure if he should be nervous or not.

"For Pete's sake, Danny, keep up," Shade retorted exasperatedly.

Danny looked offended, face settling into a small glare.

The goth sighed and put a hand over her face. "That was Shade."

"Since when am I engaged to two people?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Is it really all bad? I mean you get to sleep with two people at once. It's basically a threesome," Shade countered with a waggle of her brows.

Her look then changed to one of horror. "Oh my God, Shade, shut up!"

Danny's brain completely locked up and he stared at her with wide eyes. "I don't…I don't know how to respond to that."

"Please don't, it just keeps her going," she pleaded.

"Does she say things like that to you in your head?" he asked curiously. The coffee pot beeped and he went over to grab a mug for Sam.

"All the damn time," she replied with a sigh, accepting the mug with a smile.

He gave her a sympathetic look. "I don't envy you. I certainly wouldn't want the darker version of myself in my head."

Then a thought occurred to him and he eyed her warily. "Are you uhh…are you ever Shade when we're having sex?"

"No, I'm Sam," she assured him, trying not to chuckle.

"Okay good."

The way he said it made her suspicious. "Why?"

He gave her a sheepish look. "I just…well…if she's you and you're her, but it's your body and it's also her body, is that…is that technically cheating?"

Sam smacked him in the back of the head, eliciting a yelp from the ghost.

"Are you abusing your fiance?" Dash asked as he entered the kitchen, also looking for some coffee.

"He deserved it," Sam countered, pouring herself coffee.

"I asked a question! One you didn't answer, by the way," he said indignantly while rubbing the back of his head.

The goth shrugged before sauntering off to their room. As she went she yelled back over her shoulder, "Hey Dash, have you found any boobs to stare at?"

Danny glanced over to see the traumatized look on Dash's face and couldn't help the burst of laughter that escaped. He went over to the poor man whose mouth was opening and closing like a fish and lightly slapped his back. "Look at it this way, Dash: You're the only other man to have seen my fiance's boobs, and I'm not even gonna kill you for it."

Dash paled. "That doesn't really comfort me."

The ghost barked out another laugh before going to the coffee pot to switch it to regular coffee. They needed to get to the base in less than an hour and he needed some caffeine.

He made the coffee and grabbed a mug when it was done, handing the still freaked out Dash a mug of his own, before heading back to the bedroom to change.

When he entered Sam looked up. "Oh, I did something for you. I asked your mom for help because I've never been very good at this sort of thing, but I think it came out pretty good," she said as she went to the closet and pulled out Danny's trench coat. "I wish Do-hee was here because she did mine and I feel like what I did doesn't even compare."

She turned the coat so the back was facing Danny and he could see his old stylized "D" symbol embroidered in green thread on the coat. He smiled softly at her as he took the coat and looked it over more closely. "I think it's perfect," he said.

She blushed, going back to the closet and pulling out his black t-shirt. "I also did something to your shirt, but you won't see it until the time is right."

He raised a brow at her, noting that the shirt did indeed look unchanged. Sam simply shrugged and refused to comment further.

–

The pair had spent the last week training the Marines in various types of combat. Danny showed them different techniques used as a Navy SEAL and Army Ranger, and both he and Sam spent time one-on-one with each Marine in advanced hand-to-hand combat techniques.

They had also talked with Jack and Maddie about weapons designs, giving them a contract from General Hammond to sign when they consented. They were very excited by the challenge and had gotten to work immediately, though after a not so gentle reminder from their son to NOT work on them around his kids.

Jack, however, was soon pulled away from it when the 'underground railroad' was mentioned. He and Vlad had immediately offered to run it, somehow roping Dash into it as well. It was taking time to get off the ground, as they were struggling to get the word out quietly. It didn't help that the citizens were terrified and not many wanted to risk a botched escape.

Danny was sparring with a Lance Corporal while the others watched. The respect the men and women had for the ghost was immense, especially as he continually demonstrated his skills and his kindness towards them. They were beginning to know him on a far more personal level than any other officer, especially as Danny refused to eat in the wardroom and always ate with them.

Lance Corporal Rebstock was doing pretty well at holding his own, blocking and parrying hits left and right. The ghost was impressed that the man was keeping up with him, but he was flagging quickly because he was using too much energy with sloppy movements.

Finally, Rebstock wavered and Danny used the opening to slam his palm into the upper part of the man's chest just below his throat and threw his weight into it, sending the Marine staggering back. But the ghost didn't stop and forced Rebstock to the ground, hitting his back hard in the dirt, Danny's hand still on him. Several other Marines winced at the impact and there were a few "oooh's" coming from the crowd.

It knocked the wind out of the young Marine and he coughed, gasping. Danny gently patted his chest. "That's it, breathe. You're going to be taking harder hits than this; you need to learn to breathe through it and catch your breath."

"You're undefeated, sir. How do you expect us to keep up with ghost's?" Beckett asked. He could hear the apprehension in her voice.

Danny held his hand out to Rebstock, who took it, and helped the man up, slapping his shoulder lightly and nodding at him, before turning to Beckett to answer her. "I'm actually not undefeated, Private. In case you forgot, I died."

She blushed. "Sorry, sir. I…"

He gave her a light smile, causing her to blush harder. "It's fine, just a little ghost humor. Actually, the one who killed me was half ghost so she did have an edge, but Sam here," he indicated with his thumb towards his fiance standing several feet away. "She's been kicking my ass since long before she was half ghost."

"But she's so tiny," one man blurted, face going red when he realized he'd said it out loud.

Sam sent him a steely glare. "Can it, Corporal. Size doesn't matter, I can kick your ass powers or no powers."

Danny crossed his arms and smirked at her attitude. "She's not wrong. While Sam is incredibly strong for her size, it's her speed that matters. She's also really good at well placed kicks, if you know what I mean," he added, which earned him a few chuckles.

"Everyone here, especially the women, need to keep in mind speed, but also trigger points that will not only cause a lot of pain, but force your enemy to let go." Danny held up his hands and demonstrated by placing his right thumb on the back of his left hand in the middle between his thumb and index finger, further back where the joint of the thumb met his hand. "This fleshy part here is a good place to jam your thumb in. There's a nerve that runs along there and intense pressure both causes a lot of pain, and forces their thumb to disengage, opening their hand. If you can't reach the back of the hand, doing it from the palm side works as well."

"You also need to learn how to leverage your weight, and this is for any of you that finds yourself up against a bigger opponent," the goth chimed in while walking over to Danny.

She turned around and stood in front of him, back to him, and Danny put her in a chokehold. Once he was settled into a good solid stance, she dropped herself and pulled him over, flipping him over her shoulder, demonstrating the flip technique he'd shown her before their battle with the Headmaster. He went intangible as he approached the ground and disappeared through it.

There was some excitement among the Marines, as there was anytime Danny demonstrated his powers. It was still new to them and something to be in awe of.

The ghost popped back up and landed softly. "And don't be afraid to fight dirty, especially if you're in a bad situation. A kick in the nuts could literally save your life."

Danny startled, jolting back a little when Sam acted like she might kick him there. "We don't need a demonstration of that," he chided her. There were giggles from some of the Marines.

She grinned in a way that told Danny it was Shade having a little too much fun at his expense. He shook his head at her.

"Can we have a demonstration of the kind of speed we need?" Beckett asked, genuinely interested to see if she could even come close.

"I'm up for a spar," Sam responded.

"Just go easy on me," Danny joked as he squared off with the goth.

She pouted. "Aww, does that mean I can't use my swords?"

He rolled his eyes, something he seemed to be doing a lot at her lately. Shade's personality seemed to be blending a bit with Sam's, causing her to be even more sarcastic and playful than she used to be. "We're demonstrating hand-to-hand right now. And don't augment yourself with your core. We need to show them that a human can beat a ghost."

He'd barely finished the sentence before Sam bolted for him. It was the first time the Marines had seen an 'oh shit' look on the ghost's face. He had not been expecting that.

When she was just a few feet from him, he swung, his arm cutting through air when she dropped, sliding with her leg out and taking out his legs. Danny rolled forward into the fall, over Sam, and somersaulted, getting back up and spinning around to face her, his trench coat flaring out. She was already up and coming at him again.

He barely had time to block her punches as they came in a flurry. They were unpredictable as well, never going for the same spot twice, and all over the place, keeping Danny on his toes as he tried to keep up. He grunted as she landed several hits.

Finally, he managed to grab her wrist, but she spun quickly, twisting his arm in a way that forced him to let go with a growl. They exchanged another blur of punches, the Marines mesmerized by the speed with which the fight was happening.

Danny missed a parry and Sam landed a hard punch to the side of his face, causing him to stagger. The goth then jumped to her right and kicked off the flagpole that was in the center of the training yard, gaining height and aiming right for the ghost. Her legs wrapped around his neck and she threw herself backwards, yanking him over and slamming him onto the ground on his back.

He actually yelped when he hit, not having had the time to even think about going intangible. She stood, but he just lay there staring at the sky with a look of pain on his face.

"Crap, did I go too far?" Sam asked, kneeling down to check him.

He coughed once. "Don't worry, my pride hurts more than my body," he ground out.

She chuckled and helped him up, her gaze going to the Marines in surprise when they started clapping and cheering. Sam actually blushed before noticing Danny was bleeding.

"Damn, I did hit you too hard," she said as she reached up and indicated his cheek.

He touched his cheek and pulled his hand away, a small bit of ecto-plasm on his fingers. What he wanted to say died in his throat when his name was urgently called. The whole group looked over to see General Hammond quickly making his way over to them.

Both platoons and Danny stood at attention, saluting the general as he made it to them, breathing a little hard from the exertion.

"What's wrong, sir?" Danny asked, a feeling of dread seeping in at how alarmed the general seemed to be.

"Lt. Col. Sheppard is out on what was supposed to be a covert mission with his two platoons. I'm not sure how, but the Hybrid's knew where they would be and when they would be there. They're pinned down inside the city in a section your people were recently able to evacuate. I'm sending in air support, but the Hybrid's brought numbers and aircraft." He gave Danny a worried and serious look. "I know your team wasn't set for a mission until next week, but I need to send you in to extract them."

Before he allowed himself to panic at the prospect of a real battle in real war, he brought his military side to the forefront. "We'll get the job done."

General Hammond's gaze switched between the ghost's eyes. "I believe you will. Be ready in ten." He turned and headed back inside.

Danny turned back to his platoons and noted their apprehensive looks. His gaze moved from person to person, their names coming to mind as his eyes landed on each person. "The first battle is always the hardest," he started. "But we've been training for this. Your job now is to get your comrades out of there and to take out as many of them as you can. My job is to make sure you come back alive."

He felt his core clenched at the possibility of losing some of the men and women he'd come to know. "Remember everything that I've taught you." He received a round of nods. "Now, get to the armory and get outfitted. Meet me on the tarmac in eight minutes. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" the Marines said together before they all ran towards the armory to get ready.

Sam watched the emotions play across Danny's face. "Are you okay?"

"Battle I can handle," he said, his gaze still on the backs of the running Marines. "But taking young men and women into battle…that's a different story."

"You forget that you're younger than a lot of them," she pointed out not unkindly.

"But I'm a ghost," he responded as his eyes finally landed on her. "They're human and this may be the only life they get."

She walked up to him, standing a mere foot away, and reached up, hand caressing his cheek. "It's very likely that you'll lose some of them at some point during this war–you can't be in every place at once. But I know that you'll do your best. You trained them well, but now it's time for them to fly."

A pained look crossed his features and he brought a hand up to cover hers, allowing himself that small comfort. Losing someone was going to be the hardest part of being a leader for him.

–

They were waiting on the tarmac with General Hammond when his platoons showed up right on time. They stopped in formation and saluted.

"Your squads will be loading up in the Osprey's. Captain Phantom and Ms. Manson will head there with you under invisibility. The Hybrid's don't know we have Phantom on our side–they haven't seen him in weeks. I'd like to keep him in our back pocket for as long as possible," the general said. The last sentence caused nervous glances from many of the Marines.

"General," Danny started, getting the man's attention. "It was not my intention to stay out of this battle while they fight. I don't mean to overstep, but when it comes to the safety of my men and women, I won't hesitate to step in if I have to, sir."

General Hammond raised a brow, but nodded. "Understood, Captain. But I expect you to stay back unless needed for now. Now, move out!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

–

Danny and Sam were flying ahead of the Osprey's. Almost as soon as they'd taken off, they could see the choppers in the distance. As they got closer, they could hear explosions and the sound of distant gunfire.

He couldn't see Sam, but he knew she was next to him as the gentle buffets of wind her wings displaced swirled around him. "He didn't say I had to stay out of the fight," she said, knowing his hearing would pick her voice up over the wind.

"He didn't," he replied, eyes on the choppers ahead. A large part of him didn't want her to fight. Not only was she pregnant, but he still worried about her epilepsy. But a smaller part was grateful she could fight, if only to protect those under his command when he couldn't.

He didn't lie to the general, he would reveal himself if he had to.

As they approached a radius that might attract the choppers, the Osprey's broke off and went right, heading for the outskirts of the city to touch down and unload the troops. The pair followed, keeping a watchful eye on the enemy to be sure they stayed put.

Danny knew they had Harrier's in the air keeping an eye on radar so they could intercept should an enemy chopper approach, but he was still nervous. The government had only given them a few Harrier's and if Mira sent her own jets, they were screwed. The Harrier's didn't stand a chance against the F-15 or the F-35 Lightning.

Why the hell the government hadn't given them any of the F/A-18's or F-35's the Marines had at their disposal, he didn't know, but the lack of care or commitment from his country pissed him off.

He looked in the direction they had come and his sharp eyes detected the Vipers on their way to intercept the enemy choppers. That made him feel a little better.

His attention was pulled again when the Osprey's started to land and his platoons began to disembark.

He and Sam touched down, the goth becoming visible while Danny remained hidden. Once his charges were assembled in front, he shouted above the din of the Osprey's.

"I will be with you even if you can't see me. In the meantime, I know Ms. Manson isn't military, but I expect you to follow her orders as if they were mine. Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The goth looked alarmed. "We didn't discuss this," she said sharply, voice a whisper so only he could hear.

"What choice do we have?" He whispered back.

Sam was careful to keep her face neutral. "They're going to know we're here because the Osprey's aren't exactly stealthy. However, we still should try and enter the city as quietly as possible. They may know we're here, but they won't know where or when we'll show up," she said to the Marines. After a round of nods she said, "Let's move out."

The platoons entered the city quietly, first passing through suburbs before making it to more populated areas. They didn't see a single person–which was good news. It seemed Jack, Vlad and Dash really had cleared the citizens from here.

The Marines were crouched, moving as one unit with precision and grace. Sam stayed with them, leading the way. She could feel Danny as well, right next to her.

Pretty soon they started getting close to the battle. The sounds of gunshots, shouts, and explosions were far louder and more clear. Occasionally, the Marines ducked and hid as an Apache flew near in its pursuit of enemies.

The noise was becoming stifling to Danny, but he persisted. He'd endure anything if it meant keeping his soldiers safe.

Finally, the ghost tapped Sam's shoulder and whispered to her, "I'm going to scout ahead and find Sheppard."

He left without waiting for a response.

The ghost went down a few side streets, moving much quicker now. He could hear the Vipers approaching and the Apache's breaking off to confront them. As he neared the main body of the battle, loud booms and explosions overhead rattled the windows in the buildings and cars as they engaged.

He could now hear the shouts of men and women and the distinct sound of ecto-blasts. As he came around a corner, he spotted some half ghosts squaring off with several Marines, preventing their escape from the pocket of bloodshed. With their backs to him, they'd never see what hit them…

So Danny fired. He charged up ecto-blasts in each hand with just enough power to do the job without allowing his core to flare enough to be detected and sent them flying. In all, his blasts slammed into the backs of four half ghosts, ending their fight in the most permanent way. The Marines looked shocked and frightened, completely unsure as to what just happened.

Now that they were relatively safe, the ghost moved on, searching for Sheppard. Danny exited the side street into a large intersection where the bulk of the conflict was occurring–though he could hear small skirmishes down alleys and other streets as well. He skimmed the intersection, ducking when a missile exploded a few dozen yards away. He gritted his teeth; he was used to battle, but not on this scale and not so loud.

Finally, he spotted the Lt. Col. crouching behind some cement barriers that must have been there for a construction project, if the abandoned excavator and traffic cones were anything to go by. He was commanding his troops, but the constant fire had them all pinned down. The half ghost's had the advantage of not running out of ammo like a normal weapon.

Danny flew down and floated invisibly next to the man. "Sheppard," he said.

The Lt. Col. looked to the blonde Marine on his right. "What is it, Carter?"

"I didn't say anything, sir," she responded with a shrug. The pair then ducked further when a blast collided with the barrier they were behind.

"On your left, sir, it's me," Danny said, allowing his eyes to become visible.

John glanced over and simply stared for a moment. "Well, that's disturbing."

Danny swallowed a chuckle and instead said, "My platoons are on their way, as well as some air support. I just wanted to be sure of where you were so I could guide them here. Is there anything specific we should know?"

The man sighed, wincing when an explosion occurred not too far from their position. "They've got weaponry I've never seen before and it's nearly impossible to hit them with their powers. We don't have enough of the prototypes the Fenton's have come up with to even make a dent in their numbers–and there's far more than we expected."

Danny nodded, eyes bobbing in the air. "Sam is with my troops. I've been instructed to stay hidden unless absolutely needed, but she wasn't and she should have the firepower you need."

"Good. And, Captain?" John said, eyes full of pain. "The casualties are really high. Please be careful."

The ghost placed an unseen hand on the man's shoulder before leaving and heading back to his team. He found them quickly, gently tapping Sam's arm to let her know he was back. "I found them and a way to them, but it's a pretty gruesome fight."

"We already kind of figured that would be the case, right?" she replied. "Lead the way."

He held her hand and she followed him. He felt for all the world like he was leading his men and women to the slaughter, but he desperately hoped he could protect them. His core felt leaden and heavy, burdened with anxiety and fear.

They made it to the side street where Danny had cleared the enemies. It was still clear, but the Marine's he'd saved had refused to leave their comrades and were now at the end of the street, fighting towards the intersection.

A few of them spotted movement and turned to look, only for pure relief to show on their faces as two platoons worth of Marines made their way carefully and quietly down the street towards them.

The choppers were now clashing above their heads, debris and fire reigning down, causing men and women to shout and run for cover. Ecto-blasts and shots from ghost guns were pelting Sheppard's troops, their own M27's firing back but having little effect.

The Marine's were now crowding the side street, unsure of where to go. "Sheppard needs reinforcement at his position there," he said to Sam, pointing to where John was, "reinforcement over there," he pointed to a section across the street, "and pretty much every side street and alley."

"Damn, how many Hybrids are there?" she commented.

"Far more than we expected her to have," he answered darkly. "I'm going to head over to Sheppard where I can see most of the battle."

She nodded before going over to the First Lieutenants and Sergeants, directing the squads on where they needed to go. "And remember," she started before dismissing them, "Your guns won't have any effect against them directly. You need to get them close and force them into using hand-to-hand, then use your knives. They're the first batch coated with the special anti-ghost serum, so they can't phase through them."

"Understood," Lt. Ford said before heading off.

"What are you going to do?" she heard Danny ask.

She shrugged. "Probably something stupid."

"Sam–"

"You do not have to remind me that I'm pregnant," she sighed. "But you want to save as many as you can, right? Aside from you, I'm the most powerful weapon we have right now. I'm gonna draw their attention and piss them off while the Marines pick them off and retreat."

He glared, but she couldn't see it. "Fine, but if you start drawing the attention of those choppers, I'm stepping in."

"I can take out a few choppers," she countered, annoyed.

"You have a limited number of shots, and there's more choppers than that," he retorted.

The goth didn't have a rebuttal for that one, so instead, she nodded.

Danny flew over to where Sheppard was and let the man know he was there. "Man it's good to see some backup," the Lt. Col. said.

Before the ghost could respond, all attention was diverted to the center of the intersection where Sam casually strolled to the center. "Hey assholes!" she shouted. "Wanna play?"

Danny facepalmed while John's eyes widened. "She's a different kind of nut, isn't she?"

The ghost shook his head at her antics, knowing full well it was likely Shade taunting the enemy. "You have no idea."

–

1/30/25: I originally wasn't going to split this chapter, but it's becoming far more of a beast than I had planned and I'd like to keep up with my posting schedule, so I needed to split it or it was going to take too long.