Chapter 10: Shock and Awe

I love times like this, just to get the hell out of that damn office is worth it, thought the man as he crouched behind a massive pine tree. This entire area was filled with a group of giant pine trees that darkened the sky. The one he was hiding behind was over 8 feet in diameter, and reached over 150 feet into the sky. Seeing no movement ahead of him, Daniel signaled for the trainees to move up on his position.

The tall leader of the Protectors watched as the squad stealthily made their way to him. No sound broke the forest silence, except those of nature. Damn they're good, real good, he thought to himself.

The first one to reach him was Jake. He was as big as an oak tree, and just a tad smaller than Bear from Alpha squad. His blonde hair came down to his shoulders instead of the cropped cut many of the protectors preferred. His hazel eyes showed a highly developed intelligence, which made sense as Jake read everything he could get his massive hands on.

With a photographic memory, the big man was like a sponge, and read every book on warfare tactics in the sanctuary's library. Jake easily weighed 300 lbs, all muscle and heavy bone with very little fat.

What surprised Daniel was how quietly the big man moved. It was a mild irritation when he just seemed to appear behind you, he's scared the shit out of me too many damn times, that boy is just plain sneaky, thought Daniel.

Jake nodded at his Commander and then squatted down behind the tree to await the others.

Ash came next. The redhead had slicked down his almost florescent hair with a film of mud before they started out into the woods. No one called him carrot top more than once if they enjoyed eating solid foods. He wore a traditional flat top that glowed like a beacon in the night if left uncovered.

Ash slipped along from tree to tree with no noise. His green eyes were always roving, searching for movement from the hidden enemy. At 6'4" he was not small either, weighing in at 220lbs, but he looked small compared to big Jake. Hell everyone but Bear looks little compared to Jake though, Daniel thought.

Ash winked at Daniel and slid down by his best friend Jake. He grinned, poking him in the ribs. "I saw a damn limb you broke back there Bigun," he whispered to his friend.

Daniel smiled at the quiet conversion. So Jake broke a limb huh? Hell that's better than I ever did on my last mission before our squad graduated, he thought, as he watched the third member moving from tree to tree as she approached.

Cathleen or Cat was not a pretty wallflower. She wasn't fat, just built with a lot of natural muscle. She was 5'10" with black hair and deep blue eyes. Her friends found her furiously loyal and outspoken, especially if you tried those old pick-up lines on her.

She had to break a few noses on some of the more hardheaded young men during the first year of the academy. Her hero was the quiet man in the Alpha squad named Jet. In fact, Jet had persuaded his father to take her as a student once he had achieved the rank of Master.

Master Oshi had found Cat an entirely different type of student than his quiet son. She was always questioning his orders, wanting to know why something had to be done this way or that way. It drove the normally centered Master Oshi to distraction, which was an achievement in itself against a Samurai Master.

His wife softly reminded him one night after another difficult day with his new student, "My husband, I may not be a sensei, but I think the problem is that you're trying to train the girl the same as you would a boy. Her nature is one of curiosity, unlike Jet who simply did as his father told him." Oshi's wife of 40 years had hit the nail on the head, and he thanked her well that night.

So the lessons had continued with Master Oshi taking the time to explain the concept behind his orders to Cat. And she began to blossom once she knew the reasoning behind the moves. Cat began to improve at a drastic rate. She took the lessons her sensei taught, and began to invent counter measures of her own, to her Master's astonishment.

In four years she had mastered everything her sensei could teach her, and had even expanded on his teaching to learn outside the traditional box. He was one of the few people allowed to call her Cathleen. Everyone else walked with a limp if they were dumb enough to push their luck.

The beautiful but deadly Cat slipped down next to Jake and Ash, admonishing Bigun over the broken limb also.

They waited for the last member of their squad to appear, since he was the rear guard for today. Although it was not necessary for today, they still kept up the practice.

"Where the hell is that boy?" Daniel finally asked after a few minutes had passed without their fourth showing up.

"He was right behind me Commander. I don't know what's taking him so long unless he ran into real trouble back there," Cat answered, looking back.

"You'd think a damn injun couldn't get lost in these woods," grinned Ash.

A pinecone thumped down on the ground by the group. Of course they all looked up to see the dark face peering over a limb twenty feet above them. Fox grinned down at his comrades, and pointed out ahead of them. "They are moving this way Commander. I don't think they have us located yet, so we can ambush them here if you'd like," he whispered down to Daniel.

Daniel, the most experienced commander of the Protectors in the last 60 years was dumbfounded. How in the hell did that boy get up there in the first place? he wondered.

Fox was the last in a long line of Blackfeet Indians that had been in the original group of survivors. The rest had slowly integrated with the other races thoughout the years. His father and mother were almost still full blood and named him after his great great grandfather Fox Who Walks Quietly.

He was just a smidge over 5'10 and tip the scales around 180lbs. His raven black hair was just past his shoulders. It was kept it out of his dark brown eyes by a camo headband. Fox slipped down through the branches and dropped quietly beside the rest of them.

"Damn sneaky Injun," Ash said, grinning at his best friend.

"I could have a bright red scalp hanging in my lodge tonight paleface," Fox replied, grinning back.

"Focus people, we've got an ambush to set up," Daniel ordered. "Fox, you and Jake take the right flank. Ash, you and Cat take the left flank. I want the rear door closed before we move on them. No stragglers allowed, got it?" he asked. They all nodded and moved silently to their new positions. This is their final test, and ought to be pretty interesting, Daniel thought, grinning.