Chapters Knuckles stood with the platoon, in front of him stood the canines from Canus and behind were fellow Equestrians. As they stood waiting for their leaders, Knuckles saw his uncle Shining Armor talking to General Delta from Canus and his subordinates. The girl in front of him turned around and faced him. "Hi, I'm Kilo and this is Vesper; we had gone to a military school back home. What's your name?"
"Knuckles Mac Shadow, Mac Shadow is a combination of my parents' names; Star Shadow and Big Mac. I grew up on Sweet Apple Acres and why I'm here is because my uncle and a grandfather on my mom's side were military and an uncle on my dad's side was serving by died with honor serving with an officer from your native land."
"That is one lit story bro" as he looked at the squad next to them but part of the same platoon he saw who spoke." "Heya, I'm Jules and this here is Whiskey; I'm a rocker and a college dropout, Whiskey is a drafted bartender and former employee at a nightclub where DJ-Pon3 is a patron and main performer." As the group talked their eyes turned to the group of officers coming toward them. Jules leaned over and whispered into Knuckles' ear.
"I feel sorry for the bastards who get Corp. Zulu, Zulu is of our Special forces known as the Fire Fangs! 250 confirmed sniper kills and wicked temper or so I'm told. Lt. Foxtrot and Sgt. Echoes are tacticians and skilled hand-to-combatants; Foxtrot is an artillery soldier while Echo is an extraction tactician. 2 Lt. Tango is a demo expert and bio-chemist...she also a skilled pilot."
"Dang it!" Exclaimed Knuckles as Zulu took her spot at the front of his squad line. Zulu's head jerked toward him and she stormed over to his position.
"Got a problem with me kid? Guess what? You're stuck with my hot mess until training is over.....THAT IS A FUCKING LONG 8 MONTHS! So if I were you I'd learn to get along with me....got it!" Knuckles nodded his head and as Zulu walked to the front she punched Knuckles in the arm as she began the short trek. Knuckles noted that Zulu's ear twitched and noted as well that Kilo's eyes for a split moment shifted from hazel to green. Oh dear God, he had thought as he realized that he might get caught in the crossfire of these two women.
As Knuckles lined up with his fellow platoon and squadmates to receive their standard-issued firearms, he saw Kilo and Zulu chatting as if they knew each other already. The other women, Echo, Whiskey, Jules, and Foxtrot chatting away and he also noted that an officer named Tango eyeing Foxtrot. He felt like some of his fellow cadets were related. He was finally handed his gear, he was handed a fine bolt action 30-06 rifle and a semiautomatic 40 cal. hand-gun. As they moved to their barracks to clean their pieces Whiskey swept the room with her rifle and it had barely grazed the snout of Zulu and swept past the nose of Echo and Foxtrot who had just walked in.
"698th platoon! Outside...Now!" As the cadets scrambled outside Knuckles tripped on his shoelace and collided with Zulu; the pair tumbled onto the dirt and a wolf named Asher looked down and made a crass comment.
"He Mac Shadow! While your down with her show her what a good time is like." Zulu kicked Knuckles off and rose to her feet quickly and lashed a Kevlar-reinforced glove outward and it made contact and there was the sound of bone breaking.
"Cadet Asher...that will be a fifteen-kilometer run for you! Sgt. Echo, Lt. Foxtrot take this boy to the track and make him run...and no water for him!"
"Gladly Corp. Zulu" was the reply from Echo. Knuckles apologized for where his hands had landed and he felt awkward as he felt the eyes of someone on him and some laughter. The other guys in the group got nailed by Foxtrot and were dragged off to do one hundred squats with eighty-pound packs. It was just Knuckles and one other canine named Yankee. Yankee was a quiet fellow but he and Knuckles were already proving to be the more respectful lads and they felt lucky at the moment to be able to stay the other young women of their platoon. They tried to show off some but only get shown up by Kilo and the others in the way of speed and agility and move overall stamina endurance. Zulu had pulled Kilo aside and Knuckles saw signs of banter. Yankee tried to flirt but got brushed away with jabs albeit playful.
Four months later
Knuckles and his group were on the firing range and Knuckles had terrible close-range shooting scores. A cease-fire was called and Zulu blindfolded Knuckles and began to blow into a shrill high pitched and almost sub-sonic whistle. His ears picked up the sound and his mind visualized the target and he let a three-round burst fly...the rapport was deafening but his three shots had hit the center. He heard orders being given and the sounds of gunshots rang out and he focused on the sound of the whistle and he made every burst land about two to three inches from the center. As he stood up he carefully cleared his rifle and then drew his pistol. As he fired the brass from the four clips that he had, he heard Kilo comment, "Damn he's good, I'd love to know how Corp. Zulu thinks to utilize his echolocation to his advantage. I bet Jules, that Zulu will have him train under her for the special ops and train as a sniper."
"Kilo girl, I would wager you have a crush on him. I see how your eyes change color as Zulu flirts with him in front of you." Knuckles felt awkward as he realized after four months he had a crush on Kilo.
Partners
As the group got paired up for the remaining six weeks for a survival exercise Knuckles was the odd man out and as Shining Armor was about to pair Knuckles with Sgt. Echo; Corp. Zulu requested to have Knuckles as her partner.
By this time Knuckles was being trained on how to be a sharpshooter and use his new standard-issue sniper rifle.
It was now winter and the last two weeks were survival week. As Knuckles heard who got paired up, his heart sank ad he was the odd man out. "Knuckles..." Gen. Delta began, "I will pair you with Sgt. Echo."
"Parden me General, but I will be Knuckles partner."
"So be it Corporal" was the succinct reply. Knuckles felt a playful shove from behind him.
"C'mon Mac Shadow, let's get our shit together and prepare for the sub-freezing temperatures and our frozen hell."
"Right behind ya' Corporal Zulu." As they packed their gear Zulu tossed Knuckles a flare gun. Knuckles opened the chamber and freaked out as he had seen that it was loaded.
Right Hours later
"Corp. Zulu ma'am, can I ask a personal question?"
"Out here Knuckles, it's just Zulu so what's the question?"
"Are you and Kilo an item? I ask because the interaction between you seems to be closely knit and it's just that you're protective of her."
"We're not an item, Kilo is my kid sister and I vowed to my folks that I'd protect her...if you hurt her, I'll put a bullet through your nostril!"
"I know you will and can, I still remember that three thousand foot candle snuff shot you did on the gun range. The wick wasn't even touched. Another thing, why are you not down in Klugetown dealing with the revolt?"
"My last mission I miss calculated a shot and it killed an ally, the bullet tore through his neck and nailed my target behind him. It was a hostage situation and I failed."
"You did your best, is it true that you have 250 confirmed kills? One last question, why are you so harsh with me, and when no one is paying us any mind you take some steps to be flirtatious?"
"Hell! You're kinda cute and it's fun to see Kilo get jealous. Besides, you remind me of the ally I shot...your uncle Shining Armor may not be thrilled that I told you but I was the reason your uncle on your dad's side of the family did on the field."
Knuckles sat stunned, it would explain how and why Zulu pulled him from general infantry to special ops and her incessant critique of his aim and calculations for range and distance. Knowing how his uncle was, he guessed that his uncle yelled for her to take the shot and not hesitate. "Did uncle order you to 'take the damn shot'?"
"Yep, just like that." That night it was raining and it was ten degrees below zero, luckily they had found a cave with some dried wood in it. As they are their ration of food for the night, Zulu gave Knuckles a small pepperbox pistol.
"Your uncle found this at a bazaar and told me to give it to you once you joined the ranks and tell you that if you fuck up the loading measurements he will ask the gods of war to break your wrists when you pulled the trigger."
"That is my Uncle Grit for ya'! He taught me how to shoot with a sixty-caliber musket from the Equestrian-Bison war era. That hurt like hell!" Zulu was laughing at an image of a six-year-old colt shouldering a gun like that, then falling on his ass.
Final Day
As Knuckles and Zulu trudged in the knee-deep snow, Zulu cursed as her ankle twisted and her face planted. Knuckles and Zulu froze as they realized that the flare gun had fallen out and was buried in the snow. Taking a shotgun that he had been carrying he slammed a flare into one of the 2 barrels and fired. With night getting colder and a helicopter on the horizon they hoped that the pilot saw the flare. Within a few hours, a rescue party came and retrieved them. Icicles hung from Knuckles' ears as Zulu was lifted to the chopper.
Knuckles and one of the rescue party hiked back to the base a distance of about eight miles; the trip only took two days to complete and Knuckles saw Kilo trying to convince her sister to use crutches. The ankle sprain turned out to be a torn ligament. Knuckles convinced Gen. Delta for the duration of Zulu's time for the injury to heal that he had a rank higher than Zulu's so he can place the order for Zulu to rest up since she was ignoring everyone else. Delta turned the request down because he knew that Zulu would still disobey. At any rate, however Zulu recovered and still drove Kilo crazy by flirting with Knuckles, the latter retaliated just to see Kilo's eyes change colors to the degree of her jealousy.
Eight hours after being dropped off at the end of the truck and then having his gear hurled into his balls, he and Zulu looked for shelter after getting untied. "So...Zulu 250 confirmed kills is that an accurate record?"
"Yes, it is, and number 249 I nailed from a helicopter from 1500 feet up and with my bird flying in some mild to heavy turbulence. The round I used was a High-explosive round...so I blew him up...if you are curious I was aiming for his head and I ended up shooting his cock, or so I was told by a ground unit."
"Why do you flirt with me on base and every chance you get? I saw the general glaring daggers at you."
"What? Can a girl ignore some sexy boy when she sees him? Jk, I do it because you're cute and that it drives Kilo crazy." Knuckles wondered why the pair were so close but wasn't gonna ask.
Knuckles and Zulu trudged along and found a cave in decent size and checked it out; it was clear and they made a shelter of it. Zulu had managed to form a door for the entrance and built a fire. Knuckles melted some snow and boiled the water. Their rations just required water and salt and knuckles whittled out some spoons to use.
On day number 3, Knuckles gently trudged onto a frozen pond and chipped a hole into the surface, and let down a line to fish. He caught a couple of catfish. The day as a whole was uneventful.
Day number 7 was hell! The wind howled as a blizzard swept through the region. Over their coms, they heard that other team's had to bail early for some mishap or other. One team, Knuckles looked at Zulu she was nervous, Kilo and her partner Tango hadn't checked in. All of the other pairs had checked in. Finally, Kilo called in and they were okay.
Day number 9
The blizzard made it hard to walk and Knuckles and Zulu had to resort to hunting. They bagged a couple of Snowshoe rabbits and are them. Knuckles so very badly wanted to know why Zulu was so protective of Kilo and if they had known each other in the past since they seemed to be comfortable with each other.
Day number 13
"Corp. Zulu ma'am, can I ask a personal question?"
"what's the question?"
"Are you and Kilo an item? I ask because the interaction between you seems to be closely knit and it's just that you're protective of her."
"We're not an item, Kilo is my kid sister and I vowed to my folks that I'd protect her...if you hurt her, I'll put a bullet through your nostril!"
"I know you will and can, I still remember that three thousand foot candle snuff shot you did on the gun range. The wick wasn't even touched. Another thing, why are you not down in Klugetown dealing with the revolt?"
"My last mission I miss calculated a shot and it killed an ally, the bullet tore through his neck and nailed my target behind him. It was a hostage situation and I failed."
"You did your best, is it true that you have 250 confirmed kills? One last question, why are you so harsh with me, and when no one is paying us any mind you take some steps to be flirtatious?"
"Hell! You're kinda cute and it's fun to see Kilo get jealous. Besides, you remind me of the ally I shot...your uncle Shining Armor may not be thrilled that I told you but I was the reason your uncle on your dad's side of the family did on the field."
Knuckles sat stunned, it would explain how and why Zulu pulled him from general infantry to special ops and her incessant critique of his aim and calculations for range and distance. Knowing how his uncle was, he guessed that his uncle yelled for her to take the shot and not hesitate. "Did uncle order you to 'take the damn shot'?"
"Yep, just like that." That night it was raining and it was ten degrees below zero, luckily they had found a cave with some dried wood in it. As they are their ration of food for the night, Zulu gave Knuckles a small pepperbox pistol.
"Your uncle found this at a bazaar and told me to give it to you once you joined the ranks and tell you that if you fuck up the loading measurements he will ask the gods of war to break your wrists when you pulled the trigger."
"That is my Uncle Grit for ya'! He taught me how to shoot with a sixty-caliber musket from the Equestrian-Bison war era. That hurt like hell!" Zulu was laughing at an image of a six-year-old colt shouldering a gun like that, then falling on his ass.
Final Day
As Knuckles and Zulu trudged in the knee-deep snow, Zulu cursed as her ankle twisted and her face planted. Knuckles and Zulu froze as they realized that the flare gun had fallen out and was buried in the snow. Taking a shotgun that he had been carrying he slammed a flare into one of the 2 barrels and fired. With night getting colder and a helicopter on the horizon they hoped that the pilot saw the flare. Within a few hours, a rescue party came and retrieved them. Icicles hung from Knuckles' ears as Zulu was lifted to the chopper.
Knuckles and one of the rescue party hiked back to the base a distance of about eight miles; the trip only took two days to complete and Knuckles saw Kilo trying to convince her sister to use crutches. The ankle sprain turned out to be a torn ligament. Knuckles convinced Gen. Delta for the duration of Zulu's time for the injury to heal that he had a rank higher than Zulu's so he can place the order for Zulu to rest up since she was ignoring everyone else. Delta turned the request down because he knew that Zulu would still disobey. At any rate, however, Zulu recovered and still drove Kilo crazy by flirting with Knuckles, the latter retaliated just to see Kilo's eyes change colors to the degree of her jealousy.
Author's Note
More details mat be written in at some point
Lieutenant Foxtrot, 2nd Lt. Tango and Sgt. Echo were forming a team for recon in Klugetown. Whiskey, Jules, and Kilo were picked for the reconnaissance mission. This of course left Vesper, Yankee and Knuckles behind. The trio saw their commrades off and then were taken to the gun range for firearms practice. Knuckles still getting trained as a sniper and still missed by a mere two inches. Vesper was nearby on the shotgun range and was nailing it with ease. Yankee aimed a signed out revolver and was working on proficiency with the field piece.
Klugetown at 1300hrs
Kilo, Whiskey, and Sgt. Echo were posted on the western side of the city noting that the traffic on that end was mostly trucks and other vehicles. Jules, Lt. Foxtrot and 2nd Lt. Tango observed the coastal side of the city. Gathering Intel as they moved toward the center of the city counted the number of troop insignias and brigade and platoon number markings. When the two teams met up they counted about twenty different troop insignias and company or brigade numbers. They estimated about fifty thousand soldiers roamed the city. It was Sgt. Echo who was supposed to be observing what buildings had the most guards but failed to alert her squad mates that the building in front of which they met up and was flying the flag of a mercenary army. Dressed as locals they chatted, Jules nudged Whiskey who in turn nudged Kilo; Jules had spotted a reflective glint of sunlight on a small glass object from an apartment building near by.
Tango and Foxtrot soon realized that they were being a bit conspicuous, "Echo you and Jules head west! Whiskey you'll be with Foxtrot! Kilo with me and we will head for the docks. At all costs we have enough Intel for now but we need to become scarce." They broke up and slowly as possible left the spot where they had met. A shot rang out and a scream, out of sight of each other, Kilo and Tango knew that Foxtrot and Whiskey were in the clear as they spotted them duck into a pair of doorways in an alley. Tango and Kilo had turned a corner already. Tango cursed, "Damn you Echo! Can't you not be observant for once!" A second shot rang out but no scream followed, "That second shot was a lethal hit for sure....fuck! Kilo head for the docks and if possible reconnect with Foxtrot and Whiskey......I'll see if I can see if get to the others and see if they both live in the hand of the enemy or if they've fallen!"
Tango backtracked, she saw Echo crawl to cover as she heard subsonic rapports. Jules lay about fifteen yards behind a small sedan. Echo saw Tango and looked worried, bolting to Jules she grabbed the girl and hurled her into a car and began driving; Echo stood and limped through allies and held her side arm ready to kill. The mission was a failure, finding library she posted a random blog post that she knew Zulu knew what it meant and she hastily went to find a place to hold out until she could get the bullet removed.
Home side
"I can't believe you fucked up this poorly! Lieutenant Tango, I put you in charge, what the hell happened?"
"General sir, I had given Echo the job of counting the buildings with the most guards and she didn't warn us that we stood in front of a main HQ building and that it had at least one sniper covering the front."
"General Delta, Captain Shining Armor, send me in for Echo!"
"Corporal, are you sure you're ready for the field again?"
"I am, besides general I'm the best shot we've got...Knuckles will be my spotter and by back up. Vesper and Yankee will be my ground cover and recon team. For this rescue job to work..... I'll need to be able have free reigns and a kill who ever policy in place."
"Fine! Remember Zulu, if you fail I'm nuking Klugetown to hell and I'll raze it to the foundations and I'll make them all burn!" Shining Armor took the others and formed another recon mission; this time he was going to lead it.
Klugetown 36 hours after failure
They learned where Echo was being held, it was an old town home with a courtyard that was surrounded by a low brick wall. It was behind this house Echo was being held. Zulu and Knuckles set up a position and got sighted in, Zulu cursed for about two minutes. "Bastards! Hasn't your fucking whore of a mother teach you not to strike a bitch you assholes!" Knuckles with a pair of binoculars observed the scene below them. He saw Echo chained to a post and lintel frame getting beaten with rods; Shining Armor and his team were preparing for an attack. He lay on his stomach by Zulu and whispered his concerns.
"They need a distraction for this to work well....should I go and distract them?"
"Shining Armor is gonna kill me if your mom and dad don't beat him to it....what the hell do something but remember when we get Echo all hell is going to break loose and we may not be able to get you out.....not with a full team." Knuckles nodded and made his trek down the backside of the hill and worked his way to the street. All eyes saw Knuckles in his civilian clothes stroll up with a carton of eggs. He began to toss them at anyone he could easily hit.
Zulu through her rifle scope chuckled and forgot that her mic was active and when she saw Knuckles moon the guards and she chuckled again when she saw that Echo recognized him but didn't show it. At the very least Echo acted disturbed. "Dumbass!" Zulu softly spoke, "Nice butt to bad Kilo doesn't have my vantage point."
"What the hell sis!" Kilo hissed through the headset. Zulu chuckled as the guards got busy with Knuckles and shining Armor and his team got Echo and booked it out. It was going so smoothly until Knuckles began to run frantically.
Zulu aimed her rifle down the street and saw several squads of soldiers running down the street. "All troops get out!" Knuckles still in the street became aware of bullets flying over his head and bodies hitting the asphalt. He stole a nearby motorcycle and sped down some side streets. Zulu broke her rifle down and and slid its carrying tubular container over her shoulder She hit the street and and began to run.
"Zulu we got Knuckles and where the hell are you?"
"Forget me just get the fuck out of here!" She saw a military officer and his aid climbing into a car, Zulu drew her silenced pistol and shot the both of them in the head and took their vehicle. The vehicle had a full tank of gas and she slammed it into drive and made her way to the border.
18 hours later
Capt. Shining Armor and Gen. Delta and the others had Sgt Echo tended to and waited for Zulu to show up. Zulu was known by her people as one who could survive anything. It was about noon when Zulu appeared with a self bandaged forearm. "Just a small scratch from a bullet grazed me, so how's Echo?"
"Doing fine, I want the paperwork for every single bullet you fired by 0700!"
Zulu moaned, that would be paperwork for twelve 30 round clips for her Walther and 48 rounds of brass from her rifle. Cursing and swearing she went to her desk to account for her spent brass.
Knuckles was back on the farm on administrative leave for the holidays, he had just came home from a grocery trip and saw his parents smirking. "Son...you lucky boy, why didn't you tell us that you found a girl and were close enough friends to be invited to a holiday party!"
"You ready mail? I did tell you about Kilo, I didn't even know she'd invite me anywhere, let alone the whole family."
At the Party
Knuckles and his family were met and greeted by Kilo and Zulu's parents, Kilo gave him a hug before Zulu could. Zulu caught a glimpse of an ear piece in Zulu's left ear, and the glint of steel through the thigh high slit of her red dress.
"Running security?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Zulu hissed, "If my dad finds out he won't be happy. With so many dignitaries here, we are running a tight ship." Kilo and was making her rounds of greeting guests, their whole squad was there, even the princesses were there.
1 on 1
Knuckles after the party had been in full swing, found Zulu alone on a terrace looking into the night sky. Nervously he approached, "Hey captain, whatcha doing by yourself?"
"Nights like tonight reminds me of a distant memory. You and Kilo trigger the memory, when I was her age I knew a dude and he was great and all but I found out he was cheating on me and I broke up with him. I guess seeing the two remind me of what could have been. Take care of her and be loyal....I don't want to see her get her."
"Of course I will captain.....there is a guy in the financial department of the Equestria Army Reserves of your interested, his name is Zephyr Breeze."
"Yeah I know him, he's asked me out a time or two but told I wasn't ready just yet."
"He gets you, he and Rainbow Dash of our air defense has rejected him for some reason, any ways I assume your dad hadn't found out yet?"
"OMG! Not yet, he hasn't and I plan to keep it that way."
The pair talked for a few moments when Zulu drew her gun and stormed into the main room where the party was transpiring. In walked a fellow who looked at Zulu as if he knew her. Knuckles backed away but was ready to jump in.
Conflicts
"Zulu old friend! Is this how you greet me after all these years?"
"It is when I am dealing with a traitor! Give me a damned reason I shouldn't put the full 20 rounds into your cheating corpse Oscar? Where is that whore you cheated with?"
"Jasmine didn't mean anything to me and I dumped after I realized my mistake."
"Don't lie to me! I kept tabs on the both of you!" Zulu then gestured with her gun toward Knuckles, "this young man has been better to Kilo than you were to me! I'll give you 10 seconds to get out before security tries to get this gun from me and I put 20 rounds of hollow point into your fucking spine!"
Oscar turned and ran, he just cleared the door when Zulu shot his buttock. "Keep going! Next time your show your face in this house.....there will be a bullet in it!" Knuckles followed Oscar to his car and confronted him.
"It takes balls to come back here, I heard the whole story just moments ago. If I were you...." Knuckles kicked Oscar in dick and then a left hook to the jaw, "...never come back again!" When Knuckles went inside he found the party commenced but Zulu was gone. Kilo told Knuckles to look in their old shed in the back yard.
Knuckles found Zulu where he was told she'd be, "I suppose I'd be a fool to actually carry through with my threat if he does come back here, but I damn sure might!"
