Part 8: Repercussions

	Jessie moaned loudly as she began to wake up. She lifted her head,
trying to orient herself. From what she could tell, the tank had been flipped
upside down. Jessie pulled her helmet off. Her head was killing her, probably
from a slight concussion. She notice Preston hanging upside down from the
driver's seat, still strapped in. She pulled off his helmet and felt for a
pulse. It was strong and steady, though he had a gash on the back of his
head. Jessie began checking the rest of the group. Dagger slowly got up only
to fall down again. A metal shard was sticking out of his thigh. "Dammit!" he
hissed.

	"Hold still." said Jessie. She gripped the jagged piece of metal and
quickly pulled it out.

	He grunted deeply then ripped off a part of his uniform and tied it
around the wound to stop the bleeding. "Preston?" he asked.

	"Okay, he'll be out for hours though."

	"What about Cap and the Lieutenant?" asked Dagger.

	"I'm okay." replied Crow, his voice made it sound as if he was in
pain. "I think my left shoulder is dislocated though."

	"Can you walk?" asked Jessie.

	"Should be able to. Check on Cap."

	Jessie made her way through the tight quarters to find Captain Jose.
She flipped him over and noted some blood covering the bit of his face which
showed through the lenses of his helmet. "He's hurt." Jessie pulled the
helmet off, finding a deep cut on the right side of his forehead near the
hairline.

	Crow pulled something off the wall he was near. "Med-kit. Here." He
pushed it toward her. Jessie carefully bandaged his head.

	"Henderson's dead." reported Dagger.

	Jessie's head snapped around, "Are you sure?"

	"No pulse. Looks like the impact that flipped this tin can broke his
neck. He must have landed the wrong way."

	"It's awfully quite out there." said Mengele.

	"What should we do?" asked Powers.

	"There should be a ventral access hatch on this thing. We open it and
get out of here." ordered Crow.

	"What about Henderson?" asked Powers.

	"Given our wounded, we can't take him with us. I'll take Cap. Powers,
you take Preston. Dagger has the point."

* * *

	"Well, at least its smooth sailing out of here." mumbled Dagger. He
staggered ahead of Powers and Mengele. After getting clear of the hovertank,
they had discovered that the base had been decimated. In the distance,
exofleet jumptroopers and e-frames where coming toward them. They stopped and
let the troops come to them. Powers recognized Unholy standing in the bay of
hovertruck that was headed for them. He frantically pointed at them and
yelled to the driver to hurry. One of his arms was in a sling.

	Upon arriving, medical personnel spilled out of the hover truck and
began to care for Preston, Jose, and Mengele. Powers walked over to talk to
Unholy. "I'm glad you guys made it. When I saw the tank flip over I thought
that was it for you."

	"So did we." replied Powers. "Its good you made it too. Do you
remember what happened?"

	"The wall collapsed from under me. I was buried under it until the
rescue crews found me. I broke my arm in a couple places too."

	Powers was about to ask about Fugi when she noticed a body bag in the
back of the truck. Jessie looked to Unholy. He closed his eyes and nodded
solemnly. Jessie walked past him and onto the truck's bay. She unzipped the
bag. Fugi looked as if he were enjoying a pleasant nap. Jessie felt her eyes
tear up as she gently stroked his chin. "Not you too." she whimpered.

* * *

	"Do you want to talk about it."

	Crow looked up from where he was sitting to see Nikki Montgomery
standing over him. "No." he replied.

	"I'm really sorry." she said sympathetically.

	"I doubt it." stated Crow. Nikki looked shocked. Crow stood and
glared at her as he said, "Two of my troops are dead and the rest of them are
injured because of shots you and your squad fired. I don't want to talk to
you. I don't want to even see you. Stay away from me and my platoon." Nikki's
eyes began to tear up as Crow emotionlessly walked away from her.

* * *

	"Admiring your handiwork?" asked Dagger, his voice dripping with
hatred.

	Commander Hobbes turned to face him. "I don't like your tone,
Private."

	"Well excuse the hell out of me, your highness!" Dagger added a
slight bow to accentuate his sarcasm.

	"I was under orders." said Hobbes calmly.

	"So where the Nazis." hissed Dagger.

	"You're obviously still upset over this. You should try to relax and
we can discuss this further at a later time." offered Hobbes.

	"No, we need to discuss this now." stated Powers. She stepped in
behind Dagger.

	"That was an order Sergeant."

	Powers stepped ahead of Dagger and in front of Hobbes. "You are NOT
my C.O."

	"You need to back off Sergeant." ordered Hobbes.

	"What I NEED are answers. Two troopers are dead, you could have
prevented that. I want to know know why you didn't."

	"I don't have to answer to you." said Hobbes as he turned from her.

	"What about answering to Fugi and Henderson? Don't you think their
families deserve to know why you felt that their lives were an acceptable
loss?"

	Hobbes turned back towards her. "It was a command decision. And while
those deaths were regrettable, in the long run they probably saved countless
others from a similar fate."

	"And that's all you have to say about it?" questioned Powers.

	"I was faced with a choice and I made it. I won't apologize for it."

	"Neither will I." Jessie's fist slammed into the side of Hobbes'
face, spinning him like a top. She quickly grabbed and steadied him for
another blow. A clean uppercut hit with such force that it lifted Hobbes a
centimeter or two off the ground. He landed on his back, blood leaking from
his mouth and unconscious. Dagger stared, absolutely dumbfounded at what she
had done. "That was for you, Henderson and Fugi."

* * *

	"Enter." said Captain Jose. Sergeant Powers stepped into his office
and stood at attention in front of him. "You know why you're here." stated
Jose. "Before I begin, I thought you'd like to know that Dr. Rhodes managed
to get the three teeth you knocked out back into Commander Hobbes' head."

	"I could care less, sir." replied Powers.

	"I thought as much. And regardless of my feelings on the matter, you
did strike a superior officer and there will be repercussions. As of this
moment, you are relieved of your responsibilities concerning Sierra Three and
will be confined until such time that a trial can be held. Do you understand
everything that I have told you, Sergeant?"

	"Yes sir."

	Jose put out his hand. "Your weapons." Jessie slowly removed her gun
belt, held it so Jose could see that all three weapons were in place, and
gave it to him. "There are two security guards outside my office. They will
escort you to the brig. You are dismissed." Powers saluted and left the room.
Outside, the security guards were waiting for her. And after binding her
wrists, they began the long and painfully quite walk to her new cell.

The End

To be continued in 'Mind Games'