Categories > Cartoons > G.I. Joe > The Call to Duty
The Call to Duty
0 reviewsBubbleGum Crisis, GI Joe xover: Lt. Sylia Stingray is charged with forming, training and leading a Covert Ops unit within GI Joe
0Unrated
Introduction: This fic, and which I hope to become series is a BGC/GI Joe x-over, with one slight difference is that this all takes place within the GI Joe storyline. I decided to do this fic, since I can only presume that Sylia did receive some form of military training prior to forming the Knight Sabers in the BGC OAVs was one of my reasons for producing this fic. In this fic I picture Knight Sabers as a Covert Operations unit attached to the GI Joe team. I want to try to make this fic as realistic as possible by researching Army field manuals on a myriad of subjects, which include the subject on battle stress. One thing I want to do this fic and possible series and tried to show how each Knight Saber deals with the stress of war and combat. Please send any comments to Ltcmdrschmitzer@yahoo.com
Bubblegum Crisis is property of AIC/Youmex
Toshimichi Suzuki and Kenichi Sonoda created Bubblegum Crisis
GI Joe is Property of Hasbro and Marvel/Sunbow entertainment all rights reserved.
Nick Fury and other related names are property of Marvel Comics All rights reserved
Gundam and all related names are property of Bandai and Sunrise
The Call to Duty
"Personally I don't go for this 'behind the lines' nonsense. As far as I'm concerned a soldier's job is to wear his uniform and kill the enemy"
General Worden (Ernest Borgine) "The Dirty Dozen"
Lt. Sylia Allison Stingray relaxed on the porch of her home in Norfolk, Virginia with a cold ice tea. Her last class she conducted before she went on leave was a rough one. She let out sigh as she thought of the lives she had changed over the course of six months. The men and women she had made, and those she had broken. Closing her eyes, she could picture the dejected faces of those she had cut; Ones who just didn't cut it were booted out in disgrace. Still, she had push her trainees to their mental breaking points to see who got what it takes for Special Ops. The Army cannot afford weakness, especially in Special Ops. All this had her started thinking back to the Middle East.
Her Ranger unit was charged with a mission to investigate if a mid east terrorists group had the capability to use nuclear weapons. Tracking these terrorists through the desert was no picnic. Any normal man would go nuts hiking through the endless sand dunes of the desert. Upon the discovery made by the Rangers, that these fanatics not only had nuclear capabilities, but also gain possession of chemical and biological weapons through the terrorist organization Cobra. That is when everything went apeshit; Cobra troops got the drop on Sylia and her unit despite all the precautions they took to avoid detection. Sylia was also close to being capture, but she was able to make a break for it. Her West Point training told her to get out of area, and either go for reinforcements or just cut her losses. To hell with her West Point education, she was going to try getting her teammates out of there. But her CO was already dead; the terrorist leader had him beheaded for being a spineless American dog. For that the bastard was going to pay, her CO took her under his wing and taught her how to be a leader. Despite rescuing four of her squad mates, to this day, she kicks herself for deciding to leave the rest behind but they were already goners. Those terrorists just let those soldiers bleed to death in the poorest of prison conditions. She still has nightmares about the mission.
After rescuing four members of her squad, she killed the terrorist leader with her handgun; then commandeer the truck carrying the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to their extraction point, which the devices can be disarmed by trained personnel.
The front door closed, bringing Sylia back to present. She turned her head to her brother Mackie, who sat next to his sister in a deck chair. "So, how's college going, Mackie?" Sylia opened to her brother.
"Fine. I just finished all the necessary math courses to get into MIT's engineering school; I was planning to go into either automotive engineering or robotic engineering. Since I like working with cars, but also robotics is an expanding field." Mackie told his sister.
"True." Sylia answered before taking another sip from her ice tea; she was glad Mackie was not screwing around in college; sending him to MIT was costing her a fortune. But with some wise investments, she has made and the nest egg their father left to them before he past away helped pay the bills for both West Point and MIT. Fortunately, West Point was paid through her income tax.
"Anyway it's good have you home, Sis." Mackie gave a smile to his sister before walking back inside. Sylia continued to sit out on the porch for a little while longer. Fifteen minutes later, Mackie walked back onto the porch. "Sis?"
"Yes, Mackie?" Sylia responded in a very relaxed tone of voice.
"There's a General Abernathy on the phone for you." Mackie answered, he had a concerned look on his face, because he thought his sister was suppose to be on leave.
"Abernathy?" The Lt. asked with a feeling that this wasn't a social call. Mackie only nodded
Lifting herself from her chair, she walked into the house. "I'll take the call in my study." Sylia walked through a spacious living room and through the double doors leading into her study. It could be said that Sylia was a highly educated person; Her study had several large bookcases along the walls of her study, containing books from the classics of literature to most of the sciences; from military history to politics and more. Once at her desk, she picked up her phone. "General, what can I do for you, sir?" Sylia asked, knowing that he was running a security risk calling her at home, it must be important.
"Lieutenant, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I know you're on leave, but I have an assignment for you that is an A-1 priority. I need you to come in ASAP...." Sylia felt disappointed as she listened to the gravelly voice over the phone. General Abernathy didn't need to say much to get his point across; a quality that Sylia liked about him. The voice over the phone softens, "I'm sorry that I had cancel your leave, Sylia. But this is an important assignment. There will be a Tomahawk waiting for you at Norfolk Navel base tomorrow morning." The General's voice had an air of finality
"I understand sir." Sylia quietly said, then she slowly hung up the phone just as Mackie walked into her study. He could see Sylia dropped her head into her hands. The first leave she has had in almost close to a year and she was only home for a week and a half.
"Sis? Is there something wrong?"
"Mackie, I'm sorry but my leave has been cut short. I have to report to the helipad at Norfolk Navel base tomorrow morning," Sylia looked at Mackie very dejected, "I'm sorry we couldn't spend some more time together. But I have to go." She added. Mackie looked at her, by his facial expression, he understood.
Sylia wished she could tell her brother about the secret missions she performed in between training classes. Most of her service record went unknown. That meant if she died during one of those missions, if would have been recorded as a training accident. Most of all the commendations and medals she received, she could never wear due to their classified nature.
Mackie was the only family she had. When Sylia was 3, her mother died of cancer about 5 months after Mackie was born. Tragedy reared it's ugly head again, Mackie was a junior in High School and Sylia was a freshman at West Point; their father died in a plane crash. Faced with the choice between her studies at West Point and her career in the military or handle all her late father's affairs and assume legal guardianship of Mackie; but Dr. Raven an old family friend offered to help Sylia with her father's estate and look after her brother, he owed her late father a debt. Also Sylia had a career and her own life ahead and should be allowed pursue it.
Sylia walked out of her study, then upstairs to her bedroom to pack. Picking up the remote control on her nightstand she turned on the Fox News Channel in time for the "O'Reily Factor," a program where the host is allowed to speak his mind and tell his guest to stow the usual Washington spin doctoring to answer questions. Unlike that crap program "Twenty Questions," and the idiot host Hector Ramirez; the son of bitch always enjoys doing hatchet job on the military for the sake of ratings. Sylia had the displeasure of being interviewed by Ramirez; the slimy bastard kept taking her statements out of context and mincing her words. Nor did she care for CNN, due to their slanted news reporting. Especially, when it came to reporting on President Clinton. Sylia never held any respect for a president who would have no compunction for using the military to divert the American public’s attention from his affair with an intern in the oval office. Also, Sylia had no respect for a president who was a draft dodger so he would not go to war, but does not care sending other soldiers to die for the sake of his legacy. She knew when Mackie turned 18 he had to register with selective services; if his number came up to be sent to a place like Kosovo, she would do everything in her power even falsifying orders if she had to, to make sure Mackie would get a non-combat assignment. There was no way in hell she would allow Mackie to be killed in some godforsaken place, so President Clinton could save his career from being tarnished by a sex scandal.
Twenty minutes later, Sylia almost done packing, placing her laptop and the necessary accessories into a carrying case. Also, she checked her briefcase to make sure she had the necessary clearance papers and her ID badge. With packing complete, Sylia went to bed early, since she planned to get up at 0500.
At 5 am, Sylia's alarm went off. Getting out of bed, she showered, put her uniform on, and then proceeded to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and read the morning paper. Leaving for Norfolk Navel Base, Sylia had Mackie come with her, not only to say good-bye but to drive her Mercedes back home since shore patrol can be an utter bitch about leaving her car on the base for an extended period of time. With a quick flash of her ID card got her past the front gate, she proceeded towards the helipad where the Tomahawk she had to take was in the process of refueling. The pilot walked up to Sylia while she picked up her briefcase from the back seat of her car, then slung the black carrying case containing her Dell laptop over her right shoulder.
"Here, I'll take those son." The pilot offered Mackie when he was taking her suit bag and suitcase out of the trunk.
"Lift Ticket, can you put my bags in the Tomahawk? Also I would like a minute alone with my brother." Sylia told the Tomahawk pilot; placing her briefcase to the ground, Sylia removed her sunglasses. Looking at Mackie she said to him regretfully, "Well, good bye Mackie." Sylia was not really a 'touchy feely' person but she couldn't help hugging her brother good bye. Mackie naturally return his sister's affections.
"Take care of yourself, Sis." Mackie told her as they release each other from the embrace. Picking up her briefcase, then putting her sunglasses back on, Sylia walked towards the Tomahawk. After Sylia was onboard, Lift Ticket fired up the engines; the rotors picked enough speed to lift the twin rotor helicopter off the pad; Rising higher into the air the Tomahawk headed east.
Placing her briefcase on her lap, Sylia removed two hard cover books from her brown briefcase. The books were, "The Tank in the Attack," by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and the "History of the Norman Conquest." Removing her bookmark in the book by the Desert Fox, she started reading, just to give herself something to do during the flight.
A few hours later, the Joe known as Clutch waited near his parked VAMP jeep and watched the Tomahawk touched down on the pad. With dust and dirt swirling in the air caused by the chopper blades, Clutch covered his eyes until Lift Ticket turned the motor off. After disembarking the Tomahawk, Sylia with Lift Ticket right behind her, carrying her luggage approached Clutch. Out of pure gut reaction, Clutch saluted the Lt., "Lt., General Hawk wants to see you ASAP. I'll drive you to the base."
"Okay, Clutch." Sylia replied before she nodded to Lift Ticket to put her suitcase and suit bag into the VAMP. The Lt. and Clutch climbed into the jeep and the driver revved it up.
Pressing down on the gas, Clutch drove the VAMP as if he was in the NASCAR races. Sylia cringed in fear as he performed exceptionally dangerous hairpin turns around Mauler tanks and rows of oil drums as he sped trough the motor pool. "Clutch! Slow down you idiot! I don't want to meet General Hawk in the form of confetti!" berated Sylia, just as Clutch peeled out nearly hitting a Wolverine armored missile launcher tank.
“What’s the matter Lt? Don’t enjoy living life on the edge?” Clutch laughed when he saw Sylia holding on to her seat for dear life
“No,” came Sylia’s reply, “I just had my entire life passed before my eyes, and I’m not too fond of the ending!”
On the way to the base administration building, Sylia's speed demon driver zoomed the jeep through a hospital zone. Sylia saw a soldier on crutches in the middle of the road, but Clutch also saw the wounded person and casually turned the wheel to swerve away from the soldier with the busted leg. "You FUCKING MORON!" The trooper who was nearly put into the hospital a second time yelled as the VAMP sped away. At the entrance of the administration building, the Vamp came to a sudden screeching halt, which almost gave Lt. Stingray a case of whiplash.
"Next time I need a driver, I’m going to suggest either Cover Girl or Steeler," mumbled Sylia upon climbing out of the jeep. Her legs felt like jelly as she touched solid ground. "Clutch take my luggage and my laptop to my quarters, and I want them there in one piece, or you will be scrubbing the latrines until HELL FREEZES OVER!" The Ranger told her driver with a very severe look in her eyes, Clutch gulped in fear when he got the message.
Once walking into the office of General Clayton Abernathy, aka General Hawk, Lt. Stingray snapped to attention and saluted the superior officer in front of her. "Lt. Sylia Stingray reporting as ordered, sir."
Hawk rose from his desk and returned her salute, "at ease, Lt." Hawk told her; with an extended hand he offered Sylia a seat. General Hawk was a man in his early to mid 40's with jet-black hair and a gravelly voice. He wore forest green and olive drab camouflage pants, a brown dress shirt and a leather aviator jacket with a chest holster. Hawk's personality was that of a stern father figure, he knew when to administer discipline, and he was a person to go to if you're having problems.
"I'm sorry to call you off your leave, Sylia."
"What is the assignment, General?" Sylia asked absently brushing her hand through her hair.
"I want you to train and command a covert op team to...."
"You called me off my leave just to train a covert op team!" Sylia said in a raised and annoyed tone of voice, since she spent the last six months training recruits for Special Ops.
Despite Sylia's outburst, General Hawk remained absolutely calm. "I was just about to explain is that we need an elite unit to infiltrate Cobra installations to gather intell on anything that Cobra is cooking up or any rescue missions that would be consider too dangerous using the whole GI Joe team."
"I'll take the assignment without hesitation. But on one condition." Sylia told her superior, Hawk only nodded in agreement. "I choose who I want on my team. That means I want complete access to all Army records active or inactive."
"Why inactive records?" asked Hawk with an arch eyebrow
"There might be some who want to reactive their commissions. But I'm looking for specific qualities and talents." Sylia explained her reasoning, which the General couldn’t argue with. Then she became silent for few moments. Hawk noticed Sylia wanted to say something, but was unsure. Sylia was didn’t really know how to react to this, on the one hand, she was surprised to get her own command, but on the other hand, privately she did held doubts of her own command abilities after facing a military tribunal for her actions during a mission in Cambodia
"Is there anything else, Lt.?" Hawk asked with concern in his voice.
“Yes sir, I remember going before a military tribunal for my actions during a mission in Cambodia….”
Hawk interrupted before she could finish, “You were cleared of those charges, Sylia.”
“I know, sir. But the judgment of that tribunal was that I would not get another command position.”
“Sylia,” Hawk began in a soften voice, “You had no choice, and it was very difficult decision. You didn’t know one of your subordinates was mentally unbalanced, for what he did you had no choice but to shoot him. I’m willing to give you your own command again.”
With that, Sylia stood up and towards the door, “Thank you, sir,” she said quietly. When she does assemble her new team, it will be a standing order that her subordinates will follow the Rules of Engagement and the Articles of War to the letter or else; under any circumstances she will not have a repeat of Cambodia. This was a promise to herself.
An hour or two later, in her quarters Sylia sat on the couch typing away at her laptop on the coffee table. Before she went to her quarters, she paid a visit to Mainframe for the necessary passwords for accessing Army personnel records at the Pentagon. Since space was at a premium on the base, she had to share her quarters with the Joes Lady J and Scarlett. Taking a break from her work, Sylia walked over to a small kitchenette to make herself a pot of coffee. Sifting through thousands of Pentagon records, Sylia came across three records that stood out. Files of Asagiri, Romanova and Yamazaki caught her attention, and these three might be the ones with the talents and qualities she was looking for. Next morning she filled out a requisition form to have those files sent to her, and then getting General Hawk's approval to approach these three individuals.
Late afternoon, Hawk and Lt. Stingray were going over the files she received from the Pentagon. After flipping through Yamazaki record, he placed it on the desk, and then proceeded to read Asagiri's. Sylia noticed that he had a look of uncertainty on his face. "Is there a problem on this one, General?"
"Hmm, according to her file, Asagiri regarded as a loose cannon; possessing a vile temper." Hawk replied as he closed the file. "You are aware of this, aren't you Lt.?" Hawk asked with inquisitive expression
"I know, but she is a good combat soldier, sir. Her ability to use a machine gun can't be questioned. I feel, with the right motivation, she can be quite affective." Lt. Stingray replied simply, she had to deal problem troops before and Asagiri wasn't going to be any different.
"Okay Lt., this is your baby. You go get 'em." Hawk approved of her choices.
Standing to her feet, Sylia saluted General Hawk. "Thank you sir. General, I would like to request that Lift Ticket accompany me on this mission; it would be easier getting them out here. I rather not go through the hassle with commercial flights."
"Granted. Carry on soldier."
Standing at attention, Sylia saluted Hawk again, "Yes sir."
Bubblegum Crisis is property of AIC/Youmex
Toshimichi Suzuki and Kenichi Sonoda created Bubblegum Crisis
GI Joe is Property of Hasbro and Marvel/Sunbow entertainment all rights reserved.
Nick Fury and other related names are property of Marvel Comics All rights reserved
Gundam and all related names are property of Bandai and Sunrise
The Call to Duty
"Personally I don't go for this 'behind the lines' nonsense. As far as I'm concerned a soldier's job is to wear his uniform and kill the enemy"
General Worden (Ernest Borgine) "The Dirty Dozen"
Lt. Sylia Allison Stingray relaxed on the porch of her home in Norfolk, Virginia with a cold ice tea. Her last class she conducted before she went on leave was a rough one. She let out sigh as she thought of the lives she had changed over the course of six months. The men and women she had made, and those she had broken. Closing her eyes, she could picture the dejected faces of those she had cut; Ones who just didn't cut it were booted out in disgrace. Still, she had push her trainees to their mental breaking points to see who got what it takes for Special Ops. The Army cannot afford weakness, especially in Special Ops. All this had her started thinking back to the Middle East.
Her Ranger unit was charged with a mission to investigate if a mid east terrorists group had the capability to use nuclear weapons. Tracking these terrorists through the desert was no picnic. Any normal man would go nuts hiking through the endless sand dunes of the desert. Upon the discovery made by the Rangers, that these fanatics not only had nuclear capabilities, but also gain possession of chemical and biological weapons through the terrorist organization Cobra. That is when everything went apeshit; Cobra troops got the drop on Sylia and her unit despite all the precautions they took to avoid detection. Sylia was also close to being capture, but she was able to make a break for it. Her West Point training told her to get out of area, and either go for reinforcements or just cut her losses. To hell with her West Point education, she was going to try getting her teammates out of there. But her CO was already dead; the terrorist leader had him beheaded for being a spineless American dog. For that the bastard was going to pay, her CO took her under his wing and taught her how to be a leader. Despite rescuing four of her squad mates, to this day, she kicks herself for deciding to leave the rest behind but they were already goners. Those terrorists just let those soldiers bleed to death in the poorest of prison conditions. She still has nightmares about the mission.
After rescuing four members of her squad, she killed the terrorist leader with her handgun; then commandeer the truck carrying the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to their extraction point, which the devices can be disarmed by trained personnel.
The front door closed, bringing Sylia back to present. She turned her head to her brother Mackie, who sat next to his sister in a deck chair. "So, how's college going, Mackie?" Sylia opened to her brother.
"Fine. I just finished all the necessary math courses to get into MIT's engineering school; I was planning to go into either automotive engineering or robotic engineering. Since I like working with cars, but also robotics is an expanding field." Mackie told his sister.
"True." Sylia answered before taking another sip from her ice tea; she was glad Mackie was not screwing around in college; sending him to MIT was costing her a fortune. But with some wise investments, she has made and the nest egg their father left to them before he past away helped pay the bills for both West Point and MIT. Fortunately, West Point was paid through her income tax.
"Anyway it's good have you home, Sis." Mackie gave a smile to his sister before walking back inside. Sylia continued to sit out on the porch for a little while longer. Fifteen minutes later, Mackie walked back onto the porch. "Sis?"
"Yes, Mackie?" Sylia responded in a very relaxed tone of voice.
"There's a General Abernathy on the phone for you." Mackie answered, he had a concerned look on his face, because he thought his sister was suppose to be on leave.
"Abernathy?" The Lt. asked with a feeling that this wasn't a social call. Mackie only nodded
Lifting herself from her chair, she walked into the house. "I'll take the call in my study." Sylia walked through a spacious living room and through the double doors leading into her study. It could be said that Sylia was a highly educated person; Her study had several large bookcases along the walls of her study, containing books from the classics of literature to most of the sciences; from military history to politics and more. Once at her desk, she picked up her phone. "General, what can I do for you, sir?" Sylia asked, knowing that he was running a security risk calling her at home, it must be important.
"Lieutenant, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I know you're on leave, but I have an assignment for you that is an A-1 priority. I need you to come in ASAP...." Sylia felt disappointed as she listened to the gravelly voice over the phone. General Abernathy didn't need to say much to get his point across; a quality that Sylia liked about him. The voice over the phone softens, "I'm sorry that I had cancel your leave, Sylia. But this is an important assignment. There will be a Tomahawk waiting for you at Norfolk Navel base tomorrow morning." The General's voice had an air of finality
"I understand sir." Sylia quietly said, then she slowly hung up the phone just as Mackie walked into her study. He could see Sylia dropped her head into her hands. The first leave she has had in almost close to a year and she was only home for a week and a half.
"Sis? Is there something wrong?"
"Mackie, I'm sorry but my leave has been cut short. I have to report to the helipad at Norfolk Navel base tomorrow morning," Sylia looked at Mackie very dejected, "I'm sorry we couldn't spend some more time together. But I have to go." She added. Mackie looked at her, by his facial expression, he understood.
Sylia wished she could tell her brother about the secret missions she performed in between training classes. Most of her service record went unknown. That meant if she died during one of those missions, if would have been recorded as a training accident. Most of all the commendations and medals she received, she could never wear due to their classified nature.
Mackie was the only family she had. When Sylia was 3, her mother died of cancer about 5 months after Mackie was born. Tragedy reared it's ugly head again, Mackie was a junior in High School and Sylia was a freshman at West Point; their father died in a plane crash. Faced with the choice between her studies at West Point and her career in the military or handle all her late father's affairs and assume legal guardianship of Mackie; but Dr. Raven an old family friend offered to help Sylia with her father's estate and look after her brother, he owed her late father a debt. Also Sylia had a career and her own life ahead and should be allowed pursue it.
Sylia walked out of her study, then upstairs to her bedroom to pack. Picking up the remote control on her nightstand she turned on the Fox News Channel in time for the "O'Reily Factor," a program where the host is allowed to speak his mind and tell his guest to stow the usual Washington spin doctoring to answer questions. Unlike that crap program "Twenty Questions," and the idiot host Hector Ramirez; the son of bitch always enjoys doing hatchet job on the military for the sake of ratings. Sylia had the displeasure of being interviewed by Ramirez; the slimy bastard kept taking her statements out of context and mincing her words. Nor did she care for CNN, due to their slanted news reporting. Especially, when it came to reporting on President Clinton. Sylia never held any respect for a president who would have no compunction for using the military to divert the American public’s attention from his affair with an intern in the oval office. Also, Sylia had no respect for a president who was a draft dodger so he would not go to war, but does not care sending other soldiers to die for the sake of his legacy. She knew when Mackie turned 18 he had to register with selective services; if his number came up to be sent to a place like Kosovo, she would do everything in her power even falsifying orders if she had to, to make sure Mackie would get a non-combat assignment. There was no way in hell she would allow Mackie to be killed in some godforsaken place, so President Clinton could save his career from being tarnished by a sex scandal.
Twenty minutes later, Sylia almost done packing, placing her laptop and the necessary accessories into a carrying case. Also, she checked her briefcase to make sure she had the necessary clearance papers and her ID badge. With packing complete, Sylia went to bed early, since she planned to get up at 0500.
At 5 am, Sylia's alarm went off. Getting out of bed, she showered, put her uniform on, and then proceeded to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and read the morning paper. Leaving for Norfolk Navel Base, Sylia had Mackie come with her, not only to say good-bye but to drive her Mercedes back home since shore patrol can be an utter bitch about leaving her car on the base for an extended period of time. With a quick flash of her ID card got her past the front gate, she proceeded towards the helipad where the Tomahawk she had to take was in the process of refueling. The pilot walked up to Sylia while she picked up her briefcase from the back seat of her car, then slung the black carrying case containing her Dell laptop over her right shoulder.
"Here, I'll take those son." The pilot offered Mackie when he was taking her suit bag and suitcase out of the trunk.
"Lift Ticket, can you put my bags in the Tomahawk? Also I would like a minute alone with my brother." Sylia told the Tomahawk pilot; placing her briefcase to the ground, Sylia removed her sunglasses. Looking at Mackie she said to him regretfully, "Well, good bye Mackie." Sylia was not really a 'touchy feely' person but she couldn't help hugging her brother good bye. Mackie naturally return his sister's affections.
"Take care of yourself, Sis." Mackie told her as they release each other from the embrace. Picking up her briefcase, then putting her sunglasses back on, Sylia walked towards the Tomahawk. After Sylia was onboard, Lift Ticket fired up the engines; the rotors picked enough speed to lift the twin rotor helicopter off the pad; Rising higher into the air the Tomahawk headed east.
Placing her briefcase on her lap, Sylia removed two hard cover books from her brown briefcase. The books were, "The Tank in the Attack," by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and the "History of the Norman Conquest." Removing her bookmark in the book by the Desert Fox, she started reading, just to give herself something to do during the flight.
A few hours later, the Joe known as Clutch waited near his parked VAMP jeep and watched the Tomahawk touched down on the pad. With dust and dirt swirling in the air caused by the chopper blades, Clutch covered his eyes until Lift Ticket turned the motor off. After disembarking the Tomahawk, Sylia with Lift Ticket right behind her, carrying her luggage approached Clutch. Out of pure gut reaction, Clutch saluted the Lt., "Lt., General Hawk wants to see you ASAP. I'll drive you to the base."
"Okay, Clutch." Sylia replied before she nodded to Lift Ticket to put her suitcase and suit bag into the VAMP. The Lt. and Clutch climbed into the jeep and the driver revved it up.
Pressing down on the gas, Clutch drove the VAMP as if he was in the NASCAR races. Sylia cringed in fear as he performed exceptionally dangerous hairpin turns around Mauler tanks and rows of oil drums as he sped trough the motor pool. "Clutch! Slow down you idiot! I don't want to meet General Hawk in the form of confetti!" berated Sylia, just as Clutch peeled out nearly hitting a Wolverine armored missile launcher tank.
“What’s the matter Lt? Don’t enjoy living life on the edge?” Clutch laughed when he saw Sylia holding on to her seat for dear life
“No,” came Sylia’s reply, “I just had my entire life passed before my eyes, and I’m not too fond of the ending!”
On the way to the base administration building, Sylia's speed demon driver zoomed the jeep through a hospital zone. Sylia saw a soldier on crutches in the middle of the road, but Clutch also saw the wounded person and casually turned the wheel to swerve away from the soldier with the busted leg. "You FUCKING MORON!" The trooper who was nearly put into the hospital a second time yelled as the VAMP sped away. At the entrance of the administration building, the Vamp came to a sudden screeching halt, which almost gave Lt. Stingray a case of whiplash.
"Next time I need a driver, I’m going to suggest either Cover Girl or Steeler," mumbled Sylia upon climbing out of the jeep. Her legs felt like jelly as she touched solid ground. "Clutch take my luggage and my laptop to my quarters, and I want them there in one piece, or you will be scrubbing the latrines until HELL FREEZES OVER!" The Ranger told her driver with a very severe look in her eyes, Clutch gulped in fear when he got the message.
Once walking into the office of General Clayton Abernathy, aka General Hawk, Lt. Stingray snapped to attention and saluted the superior officer in front of her. "Lt. Sylia Stingray reporting as ordered, sir."
Hawk rose from his desk and returned her salute, "at ease, Lt." Hawk told her; with an extended hand he offered Sylia a seat. General Hawk was a man in his early to mid 40's with jet-black hair and a gravelly voice. He wore forest green and olive drab camouflage pants, a brown dress shirt and a leather aviator jacket with a chest holster. Hawk's personality was that of a stern father figure, he knew when to administer discipline, and he was a person to go to if you're having problems.
"I'm sorry to call you off your leave, Sylia."
"What is the assignment, General?" Sylia asked absently brushing her hand through her hair.
"I want you to train and command a covert op team to...."
"You called me off my leave just to train a covert op team!" Sylia said in a raised and annoyed tone of voice, since she spent the last six months training recruits for Special Ops.
Despite Sylia's outburst, General Hawk remained absolutely calm. "I was just about to explain is that we need an elite unit to infiltrate Cobra installations to gather intell on anything that Cobra is cooking up or any rescue missions that would be consider too dangerous using the whole GI Joe team."
"I'll take the assignment without hesitation. But on one condition." Sylia told her superior, Hawk only nodded in agreement. "I choose who I want on my team. That means I want complete access to all Army records active or inactive."
"Why inactive records?" asked Hawk with an arch eyebrow
"There might be some who want to reactive their commissions. But I'm looking for specific qualities and talents." Sylia explained her reasoning, which the General couldn’t argue with. Then she became silent for few moments. Hawk noticed Sylia wanted to say something, but was unsure. Sylia was didn’t really know how to react to this, on the one hand, she was surprised to get her own command, but on the other hand, privately she did held doubts of her own command abilities after facing a military tribunal for her actions during a mission in Cambodia
"Is there anything else, Lt.?" Hawk asked with concern in his voice.
“Yes sir, I remember going before a military tribunal for my actions during a mission in Cambodia….”
Hawk interrupted before she could finish, “You were cleared of those charges, Sylia.”
“I know, sir. But the judgment of that tribunal was that I would not get another command position.”
“Sylia,” Hawk began in a soften voice, “You had no choice, and it was very difficult decision. You didn’t know one of your subordinates was mentally unbalanced, for what he did you had no choice but to shoot him. I’m willing to give you your own command again.”
With that, Sylia stood up and towards the door, “Thank you, sir,” she said quietly. When she does assemble her new team, it will be a standing order that her subordinates will follow the Rules of Engagement and the Articles of War to the letter or else; under any circumstances she will not have a repeat of Cambodia. This was a promise to herself.
An hour or two later, in her quarters Sylia sat on the couch typing away at her laptop on the coffee table. Before she went to her quarters, she paid a visit to Mainframe for the necessary passwords for accessing Army personnel records at the Pentagon. Since space was at a premium on the base, she had to share her quarters with the Joes Lady J and Scarlett. Taking a break from her work, Sylia walked over to a small kitchenette to make herself a pot of coffee. Sifting through thousands of Pentagon records, Sylia came across three records that stood out. Files of Asagiri, Romanova and Yamazaki caught her attention, and these three might be the ones with the talents and qualities she was looking for. Next morning she filled out a requisition form to have those files sent to her, and then getting General Hawk's approval to approach these three individuals.
Late afternoon, Hawk and Lt. Stingray were going over the files she received from the Pentagon. After flipping through Yamazaki record, he placed it on the desk, and then proceeded to read Asagiri's. Sylia noticed that he had a look of uncertainty on his face. "Is there a problem on this one, General?"
"Hmm, according to her file, Asagiri regarded as a loose cannon; possessing a vile temper." Hawk replied as he closed the file. "You are aware of this, aren't you Lt.?" Hawk asked with inquisitive expression
"I know, but she is a good combat soldier, sir. Her ability to use a machine gun can't be questioned. I feel, with the right motivation, she can be quite affective." Lt. Stingray replied simply, she had to deal problem troops before and Asagiri wasn't going to be any different.
"Okay Lt., this is your baby. You go get 'em." Hawk approved of her choices.
Standing to her feet, Sylia saluted General Hawk. "Thank you sir. General, I would like to request that Lift Ticket accompany me on this mission; it would be easier getting them out here. I rather not go through the hassle with commercial flights."
"Granted. Carry on soldier."
Standing at attention, Sylia saluted Hawk again, "Yes sir."
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