Chapter 5

Calais, near the end of training.

They were tired, battered and bruised. Wounds still had not fully healed but they were all still there. Even Bianca, the one who had a by on any extreme tests never complained or asked to sit one out. When asked about it she merely said if the team needed to do it so did she. Daniel and Danica had also been a pleasant surprise, when pairing would need to be made, the team always made them and the weak were paired with the strong in each test. No matter who they were paired with no complaint was ever heard or change requested.

In doing so they were often separated and each pair completed the test. There was an old test or two that almost every military school used to validate that their people truly were a team. It was Saturday at 14:00. the tests had gone well and the instructor told them so. He said they would be free till 06:00 on Monday. Later that evening they were taken to town a few miles away and told the ride back would leave at 03:00 Sunday morning, to have fun but be careful, they were not regular military and nothing could be said of what they were doing.

They had gone through 11 weeks of Hell; it looked like there would be training even through the Holiday. No one really cared, none had any family, only the team mattered and they would be together. They went into the pub near the base and all sat at tables pulled together and ordered rounds of drinks. Several times young soldiers and later small groups had approached the tables and asked the girls to dance, the girls politely refused. As the evening went on, several attempts were made to sit and talk to a girl while 1 or the other was away. Everyone knew what was going on, they had all seen it and been through it before, so emotions were kept in check and seats given back when the team member returned.

All probably would have been fine until a dozen men loudly came in, announcing that the party could start now, they were a Para group and this pub was now their domain. A dozen more all in uniform followed them. The team looked at each other, paid the tab and the girls went to freshen up. When they returned they all began to exit, they had seen what happens when unit groups felt they had to show superiority. When they first started they had done so themselves but they were not new any longer. They trained for a mission where killing would be the easy part, getting back quite hard.

When they got to the door, the way was blocked. One of the men by the bar said. "Old man, you can go but the Birds stay here." "They look like they need a bit of fun and if you're lucky, there might be a few pieces left for you when we get done with them." As one of the men started to grab Bianca and another started to pull Claudia towards him, several things began to happen, Danica grabbed the first man's arm, twisted it and a loud snap could be heard as she broke his wrist then his arm. He fell to the ground screaming.

The one still pulling Claudia was not as fortunate as Katerina took out both his legs with a single sweep. He fell forward and Claudia planted her knee into his face, smashing it then as he fell, stomped his head with her boot. Daniel and Serge went next to Danica and in an instant the entire team formed into a circle each positioning themselves to inflict the most damage to any aggressor. Several groups who were already in the Pub and were planning to give the team a bit of exercise that evening looked at their leader. These Para though were not part of that group.

If they had been better trained, more seasoned and less drunk, they would have recognized these were not ordinary men and women who faced them, they were trained to kill and knew no other way to respond to an attack. As now 22 bodies flung themselves against the circled team, the leader of the intended original attackers, ordered more drinks for his people and told the barkeep to call for police and medical. He knew the Paras would be in Hospital that evening, if they were lucky enough to stay alive.

He was glad his men could watch, it would be an education for them all. Even with their knives the Paras did not stand a chance against this killing machine. When the Police arrived, blood, urine and bodies covered the floor. The team was calmly seated back at their original table, each girl sitting on the lap of a team member. Danica was sitting on Serge, facing him while holding ice on his face where he had been struck by a bottle or 2. She shook her head as she looked into the face of this giant of a man. Two of the girls in the pub were kneeling by Mufti, each holding a compress to his sides where the Paras had knifed him from behind.

Bianca was wiping a flow of blood from Daniels face, small kisses being freely applied as she kept shifting her rump on his lap, soft sounds escaping her lips when she stopped kissing him.

Katerina and Claudia had gotten Med Kits from the barkeep and were applying dressings and sutures as needed. It seemed both girls had to inspect every part of the men's bodies to be certain nothing was missed.

Helga dispensed meds from the kits as she saw fit to each of the bloodied and battered warriors, she also had to inspect any covered parts; it seemed 1 or 2 of the ladies in the Pub were willing to get each man ready for them to inspect. Clothing was thrown about as naked body met naked body.

No one was near the fallen Paras. When the police came in, the squad leader told one of them that the Paras seemed to enjoy trying to fight each other and most would be better off in hospital, although 1 or 2 did not look like they would make it. The policeman looked over to the large group of men with girls all around them.

The man shrugged his shoulders saying, "Our friends were just teaching the girls how to use those Med Kits, it's nothing you would ever want to worry about."

The policeman shook his head as he picked up the fallen knives and walked out. The team was now the toast of the Pub, and toast they did as it was now past 13:00 hours on Sunday and it seemed like girls and guys were strewn across the bar floor.

The Pub was now the temporary home, bedroom and love nest for the team. It was the event that brought them closer together than anything else could ever do.

It had been under guard all morning by the same squads that had been placed there to test them. This team needed no such test and without any orders needing to be spoken the area had been sealed off and any intruder kept away. By 23:00 Sunday a rag tag team made their way back to the base, their new found guards and near naked girl fiends taking them back to the gates.

They were a mess, kisses, hugs and a few rather amorous gropes were exchanged as each helped the other stagger to a room, it no longer mattered which room as bodies fell onto the nearest bed. They were a mess, they were a team and they were together.

06:00 Monday came too quickly. No one had spoken a word that morning, girls and guys had showered and used the toilet together thinking nothing about it. Serge and Danica seemed to take longer in the shower than the rest and received a bit of joking as to her finding anything that needed fixing.

The team gathered, stood in formation as Bernie called them to attention. He walked around them, noting black eyes, cuts, bruises and stitches all over. "It seems a bunch of our finest Paras mixed it up with a bunch of ladies the other night, when their boyfriends joined in fur started to fly. I hope that they would have taken notice of a professional group like yourselves would have acted like you. Now pack up, ready all your personal things and put them in the hall, bring gear, weapons and field packs with you and line up back here in 15 minutes. We will be gone until Saturday 17:00."