Bravo Command, The Next Generation free porn video

Bravo Command, the Next Generation By: Malissa Madison Things with Bravo Command were moving quickly now since my return Ceres. I'd had a long discussion with Kim Yuna letting her know that I was ready to retire. That the new kids were ready to take our places. We'd informed the Joint Earth Government of our decision and they provided us with a list of acceptable replacements to choose from. The Council of First Beings had then given me a list to choose from for the new Commander of Star Command. We were now in the process of deciding when, to do everything to change over Command. So far no one else but us and Top knew that it was going to happen. Walking up the short sidewalk at Three AM I watched a pair of Gecko's mating on the plaque out front. The plaque was actually a Brevity Encryption Code, one that had been made by, and tattooed on Special Operations and Communications forces to show they were combat experts at coding and decoding. No one had paid any attention to it in the years that followed Vietnam. At least not until my team had become involved in planning a rescue mission. It was that very code that was being used to send the messages. It was also being sent out on the frequency of 32.10 MHz, the old frequency assigned to the MP Station in Saigon during the US involvement. I still hated the fact that everyone but Veterans of the Era refused to acknowledge that it had been a War. You didn't send home hundreds of dead and wounded every week during a police action. I smiled to myself, I was on my way to meet my newest Communications Officer and also deal with a very young Officer Candidate who was also the daughter of three of my best friends. Tawny had gotten herself into trouble at the US Air Force Academy on Earth. As I stepped inside the doors I heard, "Attention! General in the building." "Carry on, O'Brian why are there two reptiles fornicating on the Plaque?" I stepped up to his video screen and pointed to the offending creatures. "Uhhh, Ma'am," I didn't let him finish. "Since that camera is on Zoom I take it there are bets on the length of time they mate. What's the current length this time?" "H, half an hour Ma'am." I peeled a hundred Credit Note out of my pocket. "Put that on forty seven minutes," I told him. "Now where is she?" the shuttle had arrived from the Earth Triangle a half hour ago carrying my niece who had been in the Academy there. She'd been ordered to report to the ComSec Officer, who just happened to be my youngest daughter, Captain Mina Zimmer who had just assumed her position as the night duty ComSec DO. I was feeling old seeing how young the new kids around me were. It hadn't been all that long since we'd been in the cloud system. Or since my Sister Malissa's daughter Rachel had adopted the only surviving Synthetic Human/Nexie from one of their creation sites. I had a feeling it was time for new blood, but I needed to do a few more things first before I could retire, and one of those was to make sure this new Cadet graduated. "Ma'am the WOC is in Captain Z's office getting her in-briefing," he told me. She'd been made a WOC upon arrival since we were not allowed to have Cadets due to the nature of our missions. As was my habit I barged on into Mina's office, going straight to the coffee pot. After pouring a cup I turned around and faced them both as I leaned against the counter. "Ma'am," began my youngest daughter. "I'm not here officially, you can call me Momma," I smiled at her. Turning I took in the newest recruit. Her service record was laying open on Mina's desk, and I leaned over and picked it up. "Do you know what a WOC is?" I asked. "Oh god Momma," snickered Mina. "A WOC is something one throws desperately at an Angry Tiger, Ma'am." answered the young WOC1. "Very good, Do you know why you're here?" I asked. "No Ma'am," she was honest. "You my little pet are the WOC," I stared straight into her eyes. "And I am the Angry Tigress. Do you know why I'm Angry? Even a slight clue?" "N, no Ma'am," she answered a bit afraid now. "You were named after a very dear friend of mine. Major Rivers gave her life in the line of duty. You were sent to the Military Prep School in preparation to use her open nomination for the Earth, Air Force Academy. It was my understanding that you actually begged to go there, so why is your jacket full of disciplinary actions, WOC Tawny Powers?" "I didn't start all those fights," she protested. "No you didn't, I know that. But I also know that if you get thrown out, it will devastate your Father, who is also a very dear friend of mine, not to mention your mother and your second father." At mention of her mother, Joanne stepped silently into the room behind the girl. "Are you going to tell them about all this? About me being on the verge of being kicked out?" she sounded desperate. "No, I'm going to give you one chance, and only one chance. If you succeed all the disciplinary marks in here go away. If you fail, I will march you in front of your parents personally." She actually had two fathers, Jerome and Link. "I, I'll do anything. Please I don't want them to be disappointed in me," I watched Joanne step, still unseen from the office. "Mina, give her the kit." I looked at Tawny, "You have ten minutes to get your ass to the airfield and be on the bird that's ready to lift off. If you survive 'Survival Week', I'll give you a fair shot." We had a survival course set up in this universe, as well as training areas in several other universes. As I stood up to leave Mina said, "You are to report in full Camo," and handed her a package of the multi colored camouflage sticks. "Come on I'll drive you to the gate." After they left Joanne stepped out of an adjoining office. "Thank you, I know she just needs the right motivation. She's too much like her namesake." "Joanne, the only reason I'm giving her this chance is because I owe it to the three of you. Selfridge isn't going to let her off easy either. But if she can't handle basic E&E she'll never even come close to being an officer." I was brutally honest and knew that Joanne expected nothing less. Twenty minutes later Selfridge called. "Ma'am, I thought you were sending the Powers kid to me, she never showed up." "Hold on a second," I called Mina on the handheld radio. "You dropped her at the gate right?" "Sure did Mom, she ran right up and got on the bird that was getting ready to lift off." "You copy that Selfridge?" I asked knowing he could hear the conversation. "Ma'am, that bird wasn't headed to the E&E range." He said. "Oh Shit," I said realizing which bird she'd gotten onto. "You want me to call them back?" he asked. "They won't answer if you do." I said knowing they were headed into one of the Earth Parallels. "Mom, which bird did she get on?" asked Mina. "Advanced Patrol Tactics," answered her mother. "I wonder how long it will be before her father discovers she's there?" Jerome was the primary instructor, and always went along with the initial insertion then led the aggressors. They would be dropped off in the jungle in total darkness. Then at daybreak the hunt would begin. They were to avoid all contact if possible. Each one had a single red flare for emergencies. The troops on each side were armed with paint pellet guns that fired the pellets that were the same size as an M-16 bullet. Just nowhere near as powerful. At daybreak I was awakened by a phone call. "Generals quarters," I heard Top say. "Yes just a moment Jerome, I'll get her. "Yes Jerome?" I answered. "What is my daughter doing here?" he asked. "She got on the wrong bird, I'm glad you pulled her out." I said. "What do you mean got on the wrong bird, General? And hell no I didn't pull her out. I assumed that this was one of those protection type patrol scenarios we've been discussing since she wasn't armed." "She was handpicked for the E&E course," I told him. "I kind of rushed her and told her the bird was waiting for her to take off." "So this has nothing to do with the recent trouble she's been in?" the silence dragged out too long. "Ok, just so you know, she isn't getting pulled out. And I intend to see if she has what it takes. If she can handle this I intend to nominate her for our own officer training course," he told me. "If she passed the E&E course I was going to put her in there myself," I told him. "General, Stephanie thanks, I know you were trying to keep me from finding out. But her mother and I have been following her too close not to know." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A hundred miles out in the Laotian jungle on the planet Creaton Three, also designated EP4, the ten person team was questioning the sudden new arrival. "Why did they put you in with us?" "What's your name?" "Why aren't you armed?" "Are you a protectee?" "Oh man, that's it isn't it?" the group leader slammed his fist into his thigh. "They've been talkin about this shit for weeks. Escorting protectees through hostile territory." "Yeah well we better get our ass movin man. CSM Powers is going to kill us if we miss our rally points," they didn't her start of surprise. "Hey what's your name kid?" "Tawny, WOC Tawny." She didn't want them to find out who her parents were. "Ok you stay in the middle, we got thirty miles of jungle to get through. And god only knows how many bad guys between us and there." "So where exactly are we?" Tawny finally asked Gordon, the British recruit. "You're shittin me right? This is the Tawny Rivers Training area, it's named after the CSM's first wife. I figured with a name like yours you might know something about it." They'd taken their first rest break and were about to move out again. There was the sound of high powered Air rifles firing, and Gordon screamed in real pain as the paint pellets splashed across his chest. Diving to the ground she grabbed his weapon and began returning fire along with the rest, taking out two of the OpFor team. She low crawled to the front where Severs was panicking trying to figure out a move. Tawny rolled onto her back and motioned to the team. Pointing at them individually she gave silent hand signals of what she expected. They stripped Gordon's gear and ID, set the recovery beacon to a ten minute delay, then moved out under fire. Since he was technically a KIA, the OpFor would bring him back in. Jarret, the team's sniper had circled back to pick off the following OpFor. He would hit one and move. He had eliminated five by the time he caught up to the rest of the team. But not before he caught some of their unguarded chatter. "Let's get someplace we can secure Ma'am," he told her with a serious look. They'd all taken to following her lead by now anyway. So when she gave directions they followed her instead of Severs who was still at a loss as to how to regain control. They found a place that was both easily defended as well as had good safe exits. "Ok, so tell me again why they stuck you with us, and why is your Father out there telling them not to let us rest up?" "Her, her father?" several gasped. Then Severs pulled her dogtags out, "Powers, Tawny J. Shit, no wonder they're after us so hard." "No, they're after us so hard because Severs is a total washout as a Team Leader." She said jerking her dog tags from him and tucking them back out of sight. "Yeah well you're leading us now, so what's our next move?" asked Jerret "We move in threes, leap frogging up the trail till we get to this temple here." She showed them on the map. "That's a designated safe area. We can rest and recoup for about two hours. "Jarret? Good work. But I really had no idea my dad was in the OpFor. I was supposed to be in the E&E course, not this one." "Does that mean you're going to split once we hit the safe zone?" he asked and the others waited for her answer. "Hell No! I figure you're in this big of a mess because of me. I gotta get you out, right?" fifty meters away Jerome lay with the directional mike pointed at the group while he listened through headphones. A warm smile of approval spreading across his face. They got hit twice more before they made it to the safe zone at the temple, thankfully she'd managed to teach them how to spot things and how to get a feel for the jungle. She spent her down time checking on everyone. Those that had been hit were all nonlethal, which meant it was slowing them down because they had to follow the procedures on their casualty cards. "Look, once we made it here they had to back off to the two mile radius. That means when we leave we can do it without being observed," Severs tried to regain command again since they were getting ready to move out. "Ptuh, Ptuh, Ptuh," Jarret's sniper rifle coughed three shots. "Now we're unobserved," he said over tactical radio. They made the best of it and slipped past the OpFor before they knew the quarry was out of the temple. She kept them moving even after dark. "Look the rules say we can rest when it gets dark," someone pointed out. "If you were chasing a team like ours through the jungle, a team that has taken out at least fifteen of your forces would you stop at night?" no one answered. "Ok so this is how it's going to go. We stay twenty feet off the trail and low crawl. I bet they're moving in on us right now." No one argued as she led off. Every few hundred yards they would trade lead. And soon had passed up the hit teams waiting for them as well as the one moving in on them from the rear. By daybreak they were only four K's from the extraction point. "Jarret, you and Alphabet bring up the rear. Kerns, take point. We're too close to get sloppy now guys. Remember short, and fast, low and cautious." Kerns went to ground about a thousand meters out, rolling onto his back he held up four fingers then pointed to where the enemy were. She low crawled up to him then studied everything quickly. She pointed to one then signaled for him to low crawl a hundred meters out. Then motioned for the rest to follow suit. They were strung out a hundred meters apart now. And she decided to cut that in half. They needed to be close enough to support each other if the shit dropped in the fan. When they finally reached the choppers sitting in the clearing she got her people on them first then as she was stepping up onto the skid a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist hauling her inside. "Take us home guys," said her father with a smile on his face. "Warrant, you're two days ahead of everyone else." "I lost a man," she said. "No Severs, lost a man as well as his leadership status." Jerome smiled at his daughter. Severs was no longer a part of the team, especially after the way he failed to lead. "Does this mean I have to go back to that stupid prep school?" "Prep School? How the hell old are you WOC?" asked Jarret. "Eighteen in two months," she blushed. "No shit?" replied the door gunner. "I bet the General would shit a brick if she knew you were here," he mumbled not realizing that his mike had picked it up. One of the units AH-63 Cheyenne's was now cruising sideways next to them. Chief, give the SMaj your headphones" called out the pilot. "Yeah Tawny it's her in the flesh," Powers said. "I don't know, you'll have to ask your Grandma. Now I suggest you straighten out that bird and get professional." Tawny Zimmer was twenty three, and already a skilled combat pilot. Her mother's had adopted her after rescuing her during a mission. At the time she was fourteen, and helping a wounded Soldier to survive as well as hide from the drug cartel that had shot down his helicopter. Her mother was a British secretary working for that country's Consulate, and Tawny had been taken along simply because there was no other family willing to take the boy in. She suspected it was because instead of going by Thomas, he insisted on being called Tawny, and appearing in public in as feminine attire as he could get away with. When the Consular General announce he was going to be sent home, Tawny had run away. She'd lived on the streets for almost three years when the civil war had broken out and the government changed hands over night. Her mother was forced to abandon her search for the child. But then a helicopter had been brought down and the lone surviving pilot had managed to elude capture after Tawny found him and began helping him hide, when Captain Toni Zimmer and her team were sent in to locate and extract him they brought her out as well. Which brought Powers back to the present situation. Why was his daughter getting into so much trouble in the Military Prep School she had requested to go to? He'd talked about it with Joanne, her mother and with Link her other Father, and they had no explanation. Her GPA was a solid 4.0, though she tended to argue with her teachers until her views were at least heard. The sudden chatter of door guns in response to the rockets fired from the jungle below jerked him out of his thoughts and back to the present. It was the screeching of the engine failure alarm twenty seconds later though, that told him they were in deep shit. The bird was going down, there was no doubt about it. The escorting gunships were busy pouring fire into the jungle where the rockets had come from. "Tiger One, Tiger One. This is Tiger One Nine, we're going in." called the pilot over the radio as he fought to keep the Blackhawk in the air. "Tiger One, Dragon Lead, on station. Unknown size of hostile contact. Send us a recovery team." The sounds of the two gunships 20mm chain guns punctuated the seriousness of the situation. "Dragon Lead, Momma Dragon. We're sending you some help." "Break, Tiger One Nine, please respond," called out the Night Duty Officer in the command center. The phone in quarters one began to ring, and Top answered it. "Yes, can it wait, she just got in the shower?" "Sorry Top, Tiger One Nine just went in hard, three Klicks from the border," said the night Duty Operations Officer "Went in?" he questioned. "They were attacked, we've got two gunships overhead though." Something about the ringing phone didn't set right with Stephanie, she hadn't become a General by ignoring her instincts. "Top?" she asked from the Doorway. "Get dressed love, the D O is on his way." "What happened, what did they say?" she was pulling on her uniform pants. "Tiger One Nine just went in three klicks from the border. They were shot down." she was already moving towards the door, her boots in one hand. "Survivors?" she was racking her brain trying to remember which training team was assigned that number. She grabbed her portable radio as she dashed half naked out the door. "Get me two more gunships right goddamned now, we're almost out of ammo and fuel." She recognized the voice of Tawny Zimmer, her granddaughter. "Dragon, if you run one of my birds out of fuel I'll have your wings," warned the new Air wing commander. "If I leave they're history Asshole. So, Fuck Off and send me the god damned birds," she could hear Tawny's anger. Thanks to the advances in telecommunications it was easier to hear what was going on. The birds overhead picked up the signals and fed them back to base. The base in turn fed them to the appropriate Universe. They were now listening in to the live chatter. The moment Tiger One Nine called that they were going in, every Biometric Tactical radio locked into the Open Secure Transmission Mode. If the person it was keyed to was killed it would stop transmitting. Also it served as a recovery beacon for the bodies of those killed in action if they couldn't be carried out. "Dragon Lead, tell them we need Ammo and a live weapons drop ASAP," she heard Jerome's strained voice "Paintball guns aren't much good. And the minute we lose light it's all over with." Side arms and the two M60 machine guns were all they had that fired live ammunition. There weren't supposed to be hostiles in this area, but then again the were awfully close to the border. "Jarret, grab that 60. You and I are going to leapfrog. Get them and my Dad out of here the minute I frag the bird," said a familiar voice. "Where'd you get the AK?" the voice of Jarret asked. "Scavenged. We can relink the ammo for the 60's if we have to." "So that's why you made Dillon grab up all the links he could stuff in his pockets. Ok it's you and me, WOC, you lead I'll follow." "You got it. Dillon you cover the rear," she directed. "WOC?" asked Top. "You mean? Wait they just went out, they should have been out at least two more days, unless Jerome decided to pull her in when he found out she was with them." "Ops, what do we have?" Stephanie demanded as she rushed through the door still barefoot and topless. "Uhhh, Tiger One Nine was bringing in the first group. They achieved their mission two days ahead of schedule. That damned WOC took control of the team after the first fire fight. And the SMaj was real proud of her performance. He wanted to get them back instead of making them wait for the other two teams." "General, tell me they're coming home," Joanne said from the doorway. "Joanne, Jerome is with them. You know he'll make sure they all get home." on the satellite they saw the bright flare as the downed bird was destroyed. They listened to the running fire fight as Tawny tried to get everyone back to the Extraction LZ. From time to time there would be a pause they stripped weapons and Ammo from dead Bad Guys. Finally forty minutes later, two fresh gunships arrived. "Dragon Four, clear a path for them. They gotta get to a clearing before," sudden warnings began screeching and she Tawny Z said, "Shit, you guys stay on top I gotta bug out and refuel." She was the only bird still there after her wingman had left thirty minutes before when they both ran out of ammo. "Dragon Lead, Jump to Universe Three. There's a Platform waiting," called out Kim Yuna now in the Ground Forces Support Center known as Dragon Home. Next door in the signals section of the operations center Mina was busy listening to the enemy chatter hoping to give the ground unit some assistance. They were literally in a running fire fight trying to find a secure place to make a stand. It was now three hours after the Blackhawk had gone down that she heard another female voice in a language she'd not heard in a while. At least not during a field operation. "You three go around to the west, set up a holding line on the trail. When the group from the flyer gets there give them covering fire until we meet up again." "What are you going to do Sylvia?" demanded a male voice. "We are going to kill the bastards, nobody rapes me like that and gets away with it." "Momma!" Mina yelled coming through the door. "They have help on the ground. You gotta tell them to expect friendly forces." "Mina there are no friendlies there, and we gotta get those other two teams out right now." "Montanyard's, Momma." she said as she rushed for the radio. "Ain't any Damned Mong's left in that area," Daniels said looking up from the plot map. Then he swallowed hard, seeing that she'd stopped short of thrusting her fingers into his throat for the comment. Mina shoved him out of his chair and grabbed the mike. Speaking rapid fire in her native tongue she hoped that Jerome could hear her. A minute later she heard Jarret and Tawny on the radio. "Why'd you stop? Keep going," demanded Tawny. "We're cut off, take a look WOC, what do you see?" asked Jerret. "Fuck me to tears. How's my dad?" she responded. "If we make it outa here he'll be fine. Doc shot him full of morphine though." Was the answer. "Tawny, you know who this is, listen to me. Keep moving, those guys ahead of you are Montanyards. They're there to help you," Mina urged. "You better be right about this." They heard some rapid fire Montanyard yelled in the background, and then a hail of gunfire. Everyone waited, and waited. "We need O Positive on the first Medevac. And send us an extra bird to get our friends out of here too." Tawny reported. "How many Dustoff's do you need Tiger One Nine?" "We need three, and two Blackhawks," Tawny reported. The medivacs could carry six stretchers at a time. There were only ten in the team plus the five from the bird and Jerome. That meant at least thirteen casualties. But if they also needed two Blackhawks they had possibly twenty people. "Roger, on their way. Tell our friends I said thank you." Stephanie said feeling less exposed now that someone had offered her a uniform jacket. "Have our Spooks standing by, we've got them a few presents." Already the requested support was lifting off from the support platform in Universe Three. The platform was more of flying aircraft carrier, for Helicopters, fuel and ammunition. It had jumped to Universe Three at the beginning because they made huge targets, and it would be safely outside the hostile zone. When the first Medevac landed Joanne rushed out to it to see Jerome strapped down and arguing that he could, "Fucking walk to the damned hospital." "No you are not," she told him. Then she saw her daughter for the first time since she'd left Mina's office. Twigs and mud in her hair, scratches all over her face and a thousand yard stare that said she was no longer a combat virgin. "I'm proud of you Baby, you got your Daddy home." the hug was a bit awkward, when it ended Tawny said, "Go make sure Daddy lets them do their job Momma, I gotta get my people seen to. And make sure my friends are treated right." Stephanie fell in beside Tawny and Sylvia as they led their groups to the AAR Hanger. "We got chow and medics standing by for you." "Thanks Ma'am, how about a nice hot shower? And a soft bed?" "I promise the debriefing will be quick." To Sylvia she spoke slowly in Montanyard, "Thank you for your help. Anything we can do for you just name it. We'll do our best." "Who was the one on the radio?" asked Sylvia. "My daughter, Mina." The general gestured toward the hanger door where Mina stood waiting. "Tawny?" "I'll be with you don't worry." She turned to Mina, "This is Sylvia and her band of freedom fighters." Sylvia was only half Montanyard, as was Mina. The other half was obviously American. Standing back Stephanie let her daughter handle everything. Later as they were getting ready to release everyone to return to their units, and to give the new friendly contingent their own barracks Stephanie caught Tawny Powers. "Come over here WOC," she said with a warm smile. "Where were you headed to just now?" "Well I was going to go by the hospital, then go home and wait to be shipped back to school." "So tell me, did you learn anything in the last few days?" asked the General. "Yes Ma'am. I need to settle down and be more like a duck at the Academy. Maybe when I graduate you'll have a training slot here for me." Mona, now a retired Lt Col said, "I think the LT is out of uniform, don't you General Kim?" "Absolutely, do you agree General Z?" There was no pomp and glory, no fanfare. The two Generals removed the Warrant Officer Candidates rank, then quickly pinned on the brass bars of a 2nd Lieutenant. Then General Kim barked out an order to Sylvia who rushed over. With a smile they pinned first lieutenant bars to her collar points. Mona handed each a small box containing rank insignia. "You are a Platoon Team now. We'll let you handle the promotions as you see fit. Tawny, Congratulation Honey." Stephanie looked at Sylvia, "When you have rested, my husband would like to talk with you some." "But who are my team members?" asked Tawny. "You led them for the last two days Honey," she was told. It was four days later the two Generals sat in the secure conference room together with the nine leaders of the countries who provided both resources and troops for the multinational force known as Bravo Command. Those same leaders had no idea that Bravo Command had expanded, or that it had Off-World bases and personnel, they hadn't been apprised of the fact that Bravo Command had not completely returned to Earth after being pardoned. Or that they were actually communicating from another Universe. Those governments still had no idea where the new headquarters was. "So have you even told anyone in your Command yet, General?" asked Her Majesty. "No Ma'am. I don't want them coming up with reasons for us to stay," there was a sudden gasp of surprise from the only other person in the room. "I've stayed this long because General Kim asked me to." "And you have both selected your replacements from the list we all came up with together?" they hadn't even told those whose nations supported them. "Yes Mr President, all the satellite commanders are being recalled for the announcement, though they don't know yet why they are being recalled here," General Kim stated. "I still do not understand why you are both choosing to retire now," stated the Israeli Prime Minister. "It's time for new blood Sir. You must admit we've both put in way more time than expected. Besides we'll be available for advice if they need or want it." "So you are still not going to tell us who your choices are?" "No, we are not." They'd decided to do it this way since no one had told them in advance before their current positions had been thrust upon them. The conference ended and then Mina was standing in front of her Mother. "You're leaving, just like that?" "Mina, I've served my time, More than served it. And you are not to say a word about this to anyone, is that understood?" "Yes Ma'am." She saluted and stormed out of the room. "I wonder how she will feel this time tomorrow after the announcements are made. Speaking of which, what time is Toni's flight due in?" asked General Kim. "Any minute now, her father is at the air strip waiting for it. Col Mbeki will be here within the hour." Mbeki was taking Kim's place, Toni was taking mine. What no one but the two of us knew was that we were finally replacing Dominique, who had 'died' of a stroke during our involvement in helping three other races defeat a force of Skecksies backed Gender Police who were eliminating the Transgendered population to create more Skecksies. She marched into my office smartly still wearing her flight suit. "Lt Col Toni Zimmer reporting as ordered Ma'am," she saluted. "At ease," I stood up and she rushed around the desk to hug me. After a few minutes I pulled away kissing her cheek. "You look great Honey." She caught the tension in my voice. "Ok Mom how much trouble is Tawny in? I heard about what she did the other day, but Archer needs his ass kicked." "Toni, sit down please. This has nothing to do with Tawny," I motioned for her to sit in my chair. "Your daughter made us proud the way she stayed on station providing what cover she could, even after she ran out of Ammo." I gently pushed her into my chair. Then as I bit my lip I tried to find the right words. "This is hard to say, I never really thought about it you know." "Momma, no. Momma we'll get you to whatever hospital you need to go to, wherever they have the best Doctors." She began misunderstanding. "Toni, I'm not sick, and neither is Daddy." I said. "Momma, what's going on?" she was now clearly confused. "I wanted you to hear it from me before it's officially announced. I'm retiring. So is General Kim." I watched her face. "The Directors gave each of a list of suitable candidates. I chose her replacement and she chose mine." "But," she was still confused and trying to process everything. "Of our original taskforce Jerome is the only one left on active duty besides ourselves." I continued. "Oh great I get to be bossed around by some new person." She scoffed. My secretary interrupted us. "Ma'am, Col Mbeki is here." "Thank you, Richard. We'll join Him and General Kim in the secure conference room in a minute. Please have Major Zimmer join us as well." "Major is this room secure?" asked General Kim as we stepped into the room. "Yes Ma'am." replied Mina, her eyes darting to her sister as the big screens lit up from off world. I let Kim go first. "May I present General Zimmer's replacement, Col Antoinette Zimmer." Before anyone else could react I stepped forward. "General Kim's replacement, Col Mbeki," I said. "We also decided to choose a fitting replacement for General Dominique." "Lt Col Mina Zimmer," Kim announced. "Momma what's going on?" asked Mina. "Yes please tell me as well," Mbeki wanted to know. "The Generals have decided to retire. We provided them with a list of suitable replacements and they each chose the others replacement from that list. The replacement for Dominique however is a surprise to all of us. But seeing as she was also on the list we will let it stand. Congratulations, I trust the next week will be productive in getting your commands in order." They closed the conference after that. "Momma I don't know if I can live up to your expectations," protested Mina. "I don't want to disappoint you and Daddy." "The only way that you will disappoint us young lady is if you don't stop using protection, and give us another grandchild." She'd had a son before I got home from what we were calling the Ancient Campaign where Dominique's death had been faked to allow her to retire in peace with her own daughter Monique. "When is everyone going to know about it?" asked Mbeki. "As soon as you sign for your commands." I said. The actual Paperwork took three days, which was way more than it took when Kim and I were handed the new unit. It was three days in which a lot of speculation was made about why all the satellite commanders had been recalled. "I'm telling you it's something huge involving everyone. I mean look at it, they've never recalled all the satellite commanders before," someone said. "I bet they're going to open a new base." Said another. "There's a ton of high level Cosmic Encryption being used, it'd take signals a month to break it if they had even one of the codes correct." I slowly turned to face the group of NCO's, "Tell me, do you like cold weather Shipman?" I was speaking to the one who was starting most of the rumors. "It's not too bad, Ma'am." He shot back. "Good, we've had a request for a liaison to report to Antarctica," I let it drop after that. Antarctica wasn't the continent it was the Planet farthest out on the Titus Rim. The general order went out for a full assembly of nonessential personnel to assemble in the main briefing hangers at 1200, EGMT. (Earth Grenache Mean Time). Walking out on the platform I was pleased to hear the crowds grow silent. The large multi-picture screen behind me lit up with the founding heads of state. "No doubt each of you is wondering what has been going on this last week, and you are about to find out." General Kim stepped up next to me. "There is about to be a change in Command." "Several actually," Kim chuckled. We let them have a few moments to speculate. "Times have changed since the General and I took the reins of several Elite units from around the world. We've struggled to keep ahead of advancements in technology, and training. Now it is time to hand over those Reigns to the next generation. General Kim is about to announce my replacement, but first I will announce hers." Dead shocked silence followed. "Colonel Mbeki, is now the commander of the Air Assets, and hereby known as Papa Dragon." I said with a smile. "Thank you Ma'am, I will strive to always do my best," he made a slight bow. Stepping forward General Kim said, "Colonel Antoinette Zimmer, Momma Tiger, please step forward." As with Mbeki there was a loud roar of cheers. When it quieted down Mbeki looked to Toni, "Ma'am would you like to make the final announcement?" "No Jerry, you go right ahead," Toni said with a wide grin. He turned motioning Mina forward. "I give you the new Commander of Signals and Intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel Mina Zimmer." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ We kept it as brief as possible, Yuna and I had gone to great lengths to plan our exit from this lifestyle, and our entrance into retirement. Sitting at the bar in the club I watched as several lower ranked females tried their best at the pole in center stage. "Love," prompted Top. "It's time to go." "Momma won't you tell me where you're going?" Mina practically pleaded. "No, but we plan to drop in on Franky and Lisa on our way." She drove us to the air strip and she and Toni stood watching as Yuna and I taxied the old C119 Boxcar to the end before starting our takeoff run. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ An hour later, Toni's call to De Dee was interrupted by the flight operations Duty officer. "Yes LT, what is it?" she asked a pit peaked at being interrupted. "They're gone Ma'am. I already scramble SAR, and gave them the last known coordinates." He told her. "Who's gone? What was their mission?" she demanded. Mbeki rushed into the office past Richard. "Toni, oh god I'm so sorry," he began. "Jerry, I have flight ops on the phone, someone better start making some sense." She told him. The base was gearing up fast as Toni turned on her hand held multi tach radio. "Roger Chernov, you are closest to where they went down. We have tried to reach them but there was no warning, no mayday, and I damned sure don't want to tell two of our newest commanders their parents are gone." The sound of the radio thudding to the floor, marked the beginning of denial as she grabbed it back up rushing out the door. "Toni, please. You'll get in their way. Let those we've trained do their jobs." Argued Mbeki. Toni ran the half mile to Signals and Intelligence, but it was plain Mina had already heard. "Get those fucking birds in the air right god damned Now!" "Someone get me the course track, air speed and altitude." "What the fuck happened." "What do you mean there isn't any signal from the Black Box?" she was frantically trying to extract information that no one had yet. Toni wrapped her arms around her, and she began to break down. "Ma'am's, they went in from thirty thousand feet. Like it just stopped flying. The full drop from the radar took less than five seconds." "So we don't really know that they went in," Toni could hear the desperation in Mina's voice. The same desperation she felt herself. Thirty minutes later the Chernov confirmed the crash site. "We have the oil slick, and some floating debris. We are sending our divers overboard to locate the plane now. It was just an hour after sunup now, and the Chernov was one of the friendly Aircraft carriers that often assisted in their operations in our home universe. They had search craft out scanning the water for survivors. Tony called in a Search and Rescue unit from off world, one with much stronger detection technology than the Chernov's crew had ever seen. By the time the plane was lifted onto the deck, both sisters were there. Seeing the plane, the open rear ramp the lack of anything else resembling luggage it seemed hopeless. Still they entered through that open ramp. There was nothing there, no sign of struggle, no hasty attempts to get out. No fire damage. Nothing. The parachutes were still in the webbing securing them to the wall. The sea water dripping from them still. The survival raft still in its security netting beside the door. Captain Petrovski leaned down and picked up a water logged cigarette from the cockpits deck plates that was half burned away. "Who smoked?" he asked noting that it was an American brand. "Our Dad, he, he smoked Cigars though." Answered Toni. "I can't believe they're gone." "Come," he said to Mbeki. "The Colonels need some time alone." Mina reached out running her fingers over a rubber band stuck to a toggle switch. "I argued with Momma that they should have taken something newer." The tears were rolling down her cheeks. Toni plucked another rubber band from the crack in the copilot seat. "Momma always liked using rubber bands to fix things," she half laughed and cried at the same time before she realized which toggle switch the broken one was dangling from. "Mina, close the door," she waited until it was closed. When it was closed she looked closer at the rubber band. It had been melted in to. The cigarette had rubber residue around where it had been creased by pressure and the toggle switch had scorch marks from the cigarette. "Mina, stop crying," she smiled. "What is it? What do you know?" "I think Momma did this on purpose," she whispered. Then explained her thoughts about the rubber bands and the cigarette. The two moved aft to the cargo area next. Searching, it was Mina who spotted them first. Tucked behind the parachutes were three long green canvas bags. As they pulled them out and looked at them they saw, "Glider, Tactical, Rocket assisted." "Toni this is huge!" Mina was excited. "Yes it is, but we gotta stop and think here. Why would Momma and Daddy go to all this trouble?" "Because they didn't want to be disturbed?" "Exactly. Momma said she wished they could just disappear. Don't you see?" They stuffed the bags back where they found them. Still looking distraught they exited the plane. "I'm not giving up, not until I see the bodies." Toni said. "But you're right we have to keep moving forward. It's what Momma would expect of us." No one said a word as they flew back to the base. Toni remembered seeing something in one of the bottom drawers of her new desk. A pack of Marlboro's and a board with a toggle switch. The top center drawer held everyday rubber bands. When the two were alone she set up the system, then lit a cigarette before placing it under the edge of a rubber band. Two minutes later the rubber melted and the toggled was tripped by the other one. The undamaged band flew across the room. She did it again this time setting it up so the cigarette was at the same point of the crease in the one found. Seven minutes went by before the band melted in two. "They left the plane five to seven minutes before it went down." Toni said happily. Mina wrote something down on a piece of paper and slid it across to her sister. '32.10 MHz'. "That's what frequency the radio was on." "What's this?" Toni asked. "Momma and Daddy were both MP's." suddenly Toni remembered. "But Momma hasn't flown a glider in ages." "Those were the new rocket assisted gliders," pointed out Mina. "I remember the first time I ever flew on one, but it wasn't rocket assisted. I was strapped to Momma's back," she let out a little giggle. "I was so scared I peed all over her back before I realized she wasn't going to let anything happen to me." "Yeah I heard that one before, not the part about you pissing on her back though," she actually chuckled. "Momma and Daddy and Aunt Yuna used to go hang gliding a lot when they had spare time," admitted Mina. "They could have reached someplace safe, especially if they had help." "You know what?" "What?" "Let's get back to work. It's what they would expect of us." Said Toni finally. The next day Toni's wife and daughter arrived for the funeral. "Momma, why do you look like you've gotten over it already?" asked Tawny Zimmer. "Because they aren't really gone. They're all around us still." She turned to Mina, "Come on lets go have a family dinner at home." It would be the first time any of them had set foot in the house since the change of command. The smell of cigars still lingered in the air and their mother's favorite perfume. "Mina, we have to make sure Brazil gets that base fully operational. I don't want them depending on generators forever." She said. "And I want that Comm tower finished by next week." "Momma how can you be so calm with the funeral tomorrow?" Tawny demanded. The sudden flare of light startled all of them as the flame was touched to the end of a cigar. "Yes how can you be so calm," asked Top after taking a long puff. "Grandpa?" Tawny squealed as she flew across the room. "Shhhh, not so loud. Remember we're both dead," said Stephanie behind them. "Now come along everyone, dinners getting cold." Jerome, Link, Joanna, Mona, and Tawny Powers were all sitting patiently in the dining room waiting for them. The only person missing was Stephanie Noah, but she was busy running her Lounge.