JAG: The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)Prologue 1:Author's Note: This is an alternate timeline.Harm's Viewpoint: COMNAVAIRPAC was my boss...we had known each other for a long time...from our training at RAG when I was a wet-behind the ears nugget and he was a Lieutenant Commander. He's now a three-star based out of North Island and I'm on his staff. We've been hearing about the possibility of hostilities with the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, for the past few years now. It's not a situation that I want to consider, but our new President has been throwing around the idea of a pre-emptive strike and believe me, nothing scares this military man more than the thought of nuclear weapons being thrown into the mix.And it seems to me that nothing scares my boss more than the idea of nuclear weapons too. Because if they get tossed into the mix, nothing's going to come of it...other than total devastation. It's not something that I want to contemplate. I had my run-in with a suit-case nuke, some psychopath sailor in Bangor in '95 (if it had detonated, it might have made a small bang, but Meg, Kate and I would have been subatomic particles; vaporized in the blast) and I swear that Meg and I had to pretty much ditch our private things in the nearest trash bin and go commando all the way back to VOQ (See JAG: S1 Brig Break). That was too close of a call and I don't want to repeat the experience. Neither does Meg.When the Pentagon decided to toss our salty rears in Sunset Valley, we didn't know that there was a top secret project going on at Fort Gnome (Named for the late great Lieutenant General Herbert Conrad Gnome, United States Army, formerly of Special Operations Command and before his death, commanded the Special Projects Division). All I knew was that Animal wanted to show us where he and Meg were going to retire to...a large 60x60 estate...in the toney Sunset Heights on Summerhill Court. Little did I know what was going to happen.

The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (the Reboot)Prologue 2Harmon Rabb Jr.: It was highly evident that things were "out of the ordinary" in Sunset Valley as we were picked up by a taxi and shown to the property...which was still under construction at the time...with about roughly two weeks to build. While workers were till working on the fence, Mac and I were able to see that there were a lot of things going on at one time; especially inside the structure. From the outside, it was just a plain small squarish building, with not much to see... but as one looked in deeper one could see that there was a significant structure hidden from view.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ruJGZ7uLyoo/WkXSqAirIuI/AAAAAAAAIRg/1fMzDrnMR2AojIVneAAskB2NukmwhcLEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25281%2529.jpg There was a gate which buzzed you in...and the entrance was not visible from the gate, in fact, it was blocked off by the entire body of the structure. My hackles started to raise, this was definitely not an retirement home like Animal had told me that it was. What exactly was he and Meg up to? That's what Mac wanted to know too.https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GP2k_RkDi_0/WkXTJ12Y4yI/AAAAAAAAIRo/jzfS_wh8Q48h-rTUlKE1w64wQ_gUX0IxACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25285%2529.jpg "Welcome, Colonel Mackenzie, Captain Rabb... Lieutenant Commander Harriet Sims-Roberts chirped cheerily as she disappeared around the corner of the building where we managed to see her go in through a set of double doors.I saw Animal standing by the oven, looking over at some waffles cooking. I asked him suspiciously, "What's going on? What's the big mystery?"He just nodded and told me to wait. "We have a lot of things to do." And then I saw SECNAV Edward Sheffield, Gibbs and another guy who I didn't know. Plus there were a few civilians that I hadn't even known were in the what I now presumed to be a bunker. Things were starting to add up big time and my blood started to run cold.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zep9PHDgsX8/WkXUY11_mqI/AAAAAAAAIR4/cVRDlJdRgzU26lk5f3hlwPEBI_ULignyACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25287%2529.jpg "Where's Bud and Harriet?" I asked, "What happened to his continuing therapy on his leg?" Animal looked up at me. "Evidently, Commander Roberts finished up his therapy on his prothesis leg. He seems to be functioning on all cylinders. Captain. In fact, if you want to see him, he's in the gardens doing some gardening with Harriet and trust me, Captain, if you knew what I knew about what's going down...I'm certain that we're going to need someone capable of gardening. In fact a lot of someones." That ominous comment didn't reassure me any.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OAIuc9LRo88/WkXVR-9vxSI/AAAAAAAAISE/yY0XFJH_wnAaZVypGim1uckwyYLWRDl-QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25289%2529.jpg The bunker was cavernous. Three floors and a top partial floor below ground...and this place was designed to take a serious bombing. Somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 10MTs. I wasn't liking what the preparations foretold.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vyuxxcuU7Oc/WkXWA5ViqvI/AAAAAAAAISc/JA-g8Y1uxToHR-CzgjxvLv7CfoRfhuy7QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252819%2529.jpg The people who would be caught outside were no better than doomed. If what the preparations were foretelling were accurate. In fact, just the fact that SECNAV was told to be here was sending eery chills down my spine.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-58fqhymrRfo/WkXWw8FoOUI/AAAAAAAAISo/jmhtxtqED1gCEN-VexeNt5HbXofSIiTLACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252821%2529.jpg ...and not even a day later, the headcount added yet another member of the Sunset Valley civilian population to the crowd.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HruKLAYwS8g/WkXXFRUKXvI/AAAAAAAAISw/LMmOnLm8qi8tSBkXvHnnEK8ipWn3TjjJgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252823%2529.jpg It didn't seem as though SECNAV Sheffield was worrying too much. In fact, he was busy trying to do trickshots on the pool table and of course getting a rather painful result: being beaned in the head by a cue ball. I don't know how anyone can think of playing games at a time like this...https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jMw-hJOtVHw/WkXXiTJvs6I/AAAAAAAAIS8/8fbhPBb2AMQrZqxt1pm7pA8rUNswLnDpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252828%2529.jpg Everyone bedded down...with the understanding that it was going to take a lot of preparation before this bunker would be ready to be really and truly inhabitable. As Animal said this, he looked over at me as if to ask me silently if I was up to the task. Well, if it meant dying in a nuclear conflagration versus surviving, I'll pick the latter every time. "Count me in, sir." I piped up."We're going to have a meeting towards the end of the week. We'll be getting monitors installed on Tuesday, so that we can be kept ahead of the situation." As the ranking admiral in the building, Vice-Admiral Nakamura was the head military boss, 2nd in military command was RADM Chegwidden. And we were duty-bound to protect the Secretary of the Navy who was in line of succession to become President should the unthinkable happen and we lost our head of state.I had realized that Animal had called every single one of the people he cared about to the bunker. And then on top of that he'd called in certain civilians as well...who would help rebuild the world...if it did happen. Surely humanity wasn't that stupid enough that they would start a nuclear war?Or were they?

The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)Prologue 3River McIrish: I knew for a fact that things were not going to go well today when I saw the old bald guy come out with an enormous frown on his face. On top of that he was dressed in his Navy uniform. That spelled trouble with a capital T. I was playing the piano...but I could hear him grumble to that guy that my eyes always seem to gravitate towards. The Asian guy. He's got that air of quiet dignity and doesn't seem to say much. He just goes ahead and does what needs to be done. I had no idea the bald guy was so high-ranking. He had a metric plum-ton of gold braid on the sleeves of his Navy jacket.https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4gly2E8OMw/WkaUILJVsOI/AAAAAAAAIU4/gxJK-rfKO9MgpYbt3R3kPG_LnXDBj7ngwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252838%2529.jpg My jaw nearly drops when I see the Asian guy come out of the bathroom, with an identical disgusted frown on his face as he sees the new group of people in the building.Evidently they are townspeople that the military has designated are necessary to the rebuilding of society. This is some scary news that has been floating around the bunker. Quiet whispers of the possibility of nuclear war. We've been selected to continue on humanity should it come down to the whole world being destroyed by nuclear weapons. In a ways, I'm thankful that Mom, me, Bebe and others have been selected, but I'm still saddened for the people who lost the chance to survive...if what they are saying is true and that the town is going to be incinerated by a nuclear firestorm.If I thought the old bald guy was decorated...the Asian guy was even more so. But I doubt he'd notice a little brown-haired waif like me...and drats...he has that ring on his finger. I wonder who the lucky woman is.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U-TTXUiyAM8/WkaWRzY7L-I/AAAAAAAAIVQ/_73A76fKUqYnd_5SWaqDxRY4b4Jt41O6gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252841%2529.jpg The Asian Vice-Admiral (I think) walks over to the old bald guy and comes to a stop right next to him...practically in an identical position...I don't know how these military guys move with such precision that they can come to a stop right beside someone mirroring their steps so that they move as one. It was like staring at a set of bookends. I heard the Vice-Admiral audibly snarl, "AJ, what the **** did they drop in my nicely maintained building?" I guess the old bald guy is called AJ, though I'd be too scared to call him that to his face. And what startled me is as I thought the old bald guy was the highest ranking officer in the group. But evidently the Asian guy outranks him, obviously with the one extra stripe on his sleeve. AJ replied, "I don't know, sir... All I know is that SECNAV made a suggestion...that we needed more manpower in case the balloon goes up... We can't save the whole city...but we can save what will become the core of a new society." I don't know what they meant by balloon, but it's probably not the thing that floats around the sky over Sunset Valley and it doesn't sound good. Evidently the Asian guy wasn't impressed because he growled audibly, ""I can't see it through all the grimy sleazeballs, I'm seeing floating in front of my eyes." and it was a definite confirmation that the Asian guy outranked the old bald guy because the old bald guy said, "Yes, sir."https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2MXedqxLVMA/WkaYDoPi0_I/AAAAAAAAIVc/BnNsZ-SwTPUFn-k-Y8dac0m5lUQKA_lrACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252842%2529.jpg It was at about this point that Madison Van Watson looked up and went, "OH Hey, look...some Navy guys..." then realized that her mouth had excreted her words and she got the expression of "Oh...flark...".https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pokqzOjEJBE/WkaYY4Kr9KI/AAAAAAAAIVg/SXCMExRIra8XtC0GUjFUs7sfzczf45pawCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252839%2529.jpg What they were staring at with so much disgruntlement was at a gaggle of people milling around the computers like a group of geese, squawking with joy at electronics. The two admirals looked like people who were used to immediate discipline and order and this kind of noise and disruption was tantamount to throwing a rock in a still pond. They didn't like it at all. https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_pKz1emSEY/WkaZb2Ng2II/AAAAAAAAIV4/K-yCzXL-uFAgwLME0dKfndcZMOrb1hQ_wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252845%2529.jpg There seems to be a lot of really handsome older men here. And frankly the guy in the white shirt, even with his hair somewhat white, was one of them. His nose was a prominent feature on his face. And from what the Asian admiral referred to him, he was called Dwayne. I didn't catch his last name. He said, "I just got a call from CINCPAC...he says things are heating up in the Pacific. Two tin cans got hit with Yu-8s. Completely unsalvageable. Had to evacuate all hands and then sink them so the Chinese couldn't get their hands on them." That didn't sound good at all...And the Asian admiral's eyes narrowed in anger as he queried "CINCPACFLT OK?" Dwayne responded to the query with a nod. "CINCPACFLT was in Oahu when it happened. He wasn't visiting the battlegroup.", The Asian Admiral nodded, "Good. We can't lose our men like that, how many casualties?", Dwayne replied, "162 combined from both ships."https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jRWaBpp-i7s/WkacC3CYiZI/AAAAAAAAIWM/d5iIXceyHMkBWsa_U-RiRGBuUFa6zV5EQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252846%2529.jpg The Asian admiral looked over at AJ and at Dwayne, "It's time these slack-turds got with the program." and strode over to the milling group of gabbing townies.

The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)Chap. 1 - Revelations: Above and Beyond the Call of DutyRiver McIrish: The Asian admiral stood for a long time; from what I could see from the straight stiff-backed look to the stance of his body, he didn't look happy at all. And I swear I could feel the angry heat coming off him from where I was sitting at the concert grand piano.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oRdp95RVsuk/Wkasg-V4OyI/AAAAAAAAIWc/wAEY-etjsEsFWcyyIRU45CvRFI12oaR-gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252847%2529.jpg Stiles McGraw known for being the irreverant "funny guy" grinned and said amiably, "Hey, there, Navy guy..." Oh...oh... That was the wrong thing to say.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AIfU-NZjx4c/WkatELbKbxI/AAAAAAAAIWo/Pq80kynPIJYKj2fnJEgYkM1EkCJMt14RwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252848%2529.jpg Oh, was it ever the wrong thing to say, because the Admiral whipped his head around so fast his brain probably got whiplash and stared daggers at Stiles to the point where I think there was a wet spot accumulating down the front of his pants...at just about groin level.https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lIr87PqJEx4/Wkatg6HRJZI/AAAAAAAAIWs/C7960sTk6wEqlltpysJQ98yxh-OjVOvPgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252849%2529.jpg Not a word out of the admiral at all, other than a cold expression of shut the flark up if you know what's good for you...https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yvbk3G_ItlY/Wkat6UM_iqI/AAAAAAAAIW8/jSBTB2b5xO0l_QLf9icyYYnTxpK7U1bMgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252850%2529.jpg When he did speak it was with a frosty clipped tone, "You will address me as sir. When you speak there is only two words that should slip out of that slimy piehole you call your mouth: one is "YES"...the other is "SIR!" Do I make myself clear?"https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WVO4qmgq4yA/Wkaul8-OArI/AAAAAAAAIXE/VBfwIcLK5p427YtVZJq3JZmNIMhxKxg-gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252850%2529.jpg Stiles looked petrified. He went to rub his nose that instantly looked as if it about to run...rivulets of snot. The admiral focused in on him, "You'd best put that arm right by your side or I'll BREAK IT OFF! You're in the military NOW, not in a daycare!"https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KxulS04Z9vY/WkavDzBxrqI/AAAAAAAAIXI/d3WocgVoU_sIj0kPqryWj2rsoXstORmBACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252852%2529.jpg Poor Stiles McGraw, he looked thoroughly confused and unhappy, I think the thought in his mind was, "What did I sign? What did I sign?" After all we did sign a contract to be here in this facility...and considering what the alternative was, joining the military...was a better alternative than roasting alive in a nuclear furnace. Well... Welcome to the Navy or the Army or whatever this branch of the military was going to be.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ne24BU55OxU/WkavZz_lDFI/AAAAAAAAIXU/lFPuTSmia9kAb67rp5TPliCsUEN2Z1cxQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252853%2529.jpg And then the admiral focused on the face of Jared Frio. "You have a problem?" the admiral sneered at Jared, presumably with an equally angry looking face. "No..." Jared replied and was going to say more when the admiral gave him a crazy-face look and said, "Oh, you do, sweet-cheeks. You got a major problem on your tail-end, ME. And you'd better wipe that face clean and give me a dead-pan stare...because if you don't I'm going to smack that sneer clean off your face."https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--b5sY56t8c4/WkawvFuqCAI/AAAAAAAAIXk/HABKgo7WbloezabjA7Fpk60s2TJ_zJBIQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252855%2529.jpg "What's your name, pretty-boy!" snapped the admiral. "You look like the best part of you crawled down the crack of your mama's hind-quarters; made out with a pug and ended up with YOU."https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f5vCWjpFYg8/Wkaw52WEwbI/AAAAAAAAIXo/owa7Zye9d4stb6UoOjSh5I-v6G90G7NGwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252856%2529.jpg The admiral sneered at Jared, "You look like YOU got a problem with authority, son, Best not try that with me. Or I will break you down to your basic components and then see if I can reconstruct you into a gerbil."At least Jared, even if he didn't remove that sneer from his face, had the semi-intelligence to keep his mouth shut.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GCBxMpYcCTc/WkazG92mckI/AAAAAAAAIX8/s5l0XO6FTowum9vsXrmJwrQ3Gv1eQUQQACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252858%2529.jpg ...and that was when the other admiral jumped in. Holy Mother of God...Jared was in for it now...https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bqKoZyoxZ_E/Wkazqt4oRkI/AAAAAAAAIYE/2KDug4lr2b8UaJEjt9uSdwqfG9aAFpVeACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252858%2529.jpg "Son..." that admiral addressed Jared Frio sharply. "You want to take on this man, don't you. You think he disrespected you? Well, let me tell you something...Mr. Frio...and you'd better listen good."https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YtARvWj3vqE/Wka0BfRYl-I/AAAAAAAAIYM/eP63wmOMo5kTNPf2zXItiyCZmaJBUCZ8ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252860%2529.jpg "You see that little blue ribbon with the five stars?""You realize that they don't give that ribbon to just anyone. It's the Medal of Honor. This man went up against 60 North Koreans trying to extract a fallen squadron-mate off a mountain top in North Korea. He walked away...THEY DIDN'T. My colleague investigated the Medal of Honor citation.https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-35LCBfnrM5o/Wka0lGcQoxI/AAAAAAAAIYU/aa6ISpJ5ZlUQSDb-9CfKLHxGxu3L75n-wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252859%2529.jpg Stiles at that point looked up at the sky in supplication. "Oh, crud...Jared, you just plummed off a Medal of Honor winner..."https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DrH_BIRCeRc/Wka02n5-coI/AAAAAAAAIYY/Cx61f5bW3u4cKjJPSX9tfob-UE1DQoNGQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252862%2529.jpg Without even sparing a look at Stiles, the other admiral said, "Son, you don't win the Medal of Honor...this ain't some 4-H fairground award...you RECEIVE...the Medal of Honor. For most people this isn't an award that they want. They just went above and beyond the call of duty. For the love of their fellow man. To make sure that they got home. And some of those who have received this Medal never made it home. The man facing you today is one of the ones who did. So you, Mr. Frio, may not like him, but you'd better flarkin' respect him and wipe that sneer off your face."https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2dyvBdndFs/Wka15NAGj9I/AAAAAAAAIYk/xaSOn5gBa0wKOoV3q6X3qbstrdA8xkRSgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252864%2529.jpg I could almost hear the gears turning in Jared Frio's head as his mental processes churned the data over in his head.https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A4Ecv-k2kJU/Wka2IxxogOI/AAAAAAAAIYw/RH1dimXGGVI1trM3wNwQJed2GH5gnJMUgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252867%2529.jpg "Input: 60 North Koreans vs. 1 Naval Aviator on the ground. He walked away...They didn't...that's euphemism for dead... 60 dead North Koreans...vs 1 very alive Naval Aviator...who is right in front of me right now... Computation Calculated... result...This man is deadly. And he doesn't like me..."https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B9zLxWGsK5o/Wka2IzRNxGI/AAAAAAAAIYo/E4cbo_UcRKYSrLEau7NM2iYGiGDnmPQRACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252868%2529.jpg "Oh..sheepturds... I'm sooo dead..."

The Mushroom Cloud ChroniclesThe General Fit Hits the ShanRiver McIrish: Oh, the joys of Basic Training...or at least the best that the two admirals could come up with. Whether it was the intimidation factor or the fact that these two could make the walls shake with just the pure vocal projection of their voices... "FALL IN!!!!" was roared at full volume. And those of us with any sense of brains "fell in..." to line. Most were quaking in their boots, shoes, sandals or whatever we had on our feet...in my case...I had just crawled out of bed and directly to the piano...so I didn't have much on. But I fell in...https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b08ZHqo4kCo/WkcecCKBmsI/AAAAAAAAIZA/xPL7Q6y0h3YNgCKu6S97fJ7k9gMX8HKFwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252869%2529.jpg No one moved, our synapses were too scared pee-less to even twitch even a 32nd of an inch. But these officers honed in on the slightest miscue. And the second person to be the focus of the vice-admiral's ire was Cycl0n3 Sw0rd. He strode up to Cycl0n3 and stopped nose to nose, nut to nut. "What's your name, Roachclip?" the vice-admiral snapped looking over from one side to another to see if anyone laughed; if they did, they'd be in front of a dragon breathing fire. Nobody did...not even Parker Langerak, even as a young man just aged up from teen, he stared straight ahead not even twitching a muscle. https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6dsBXQSs6PA/WkcgSJ108pI/AAAAAAAAIZU/ibM8ScN8DsISOmEMiZ0hTsDISoTtjlU7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252872%2529.jpg "Uh...Cycl0n3 Sw0rd, sir.""How the flark do you spell that?" the admiral growled ominously. "Your Momma not like you?"https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ponvWqxn4Ns/WkcgfsauVuI/AAAAAAAAIZY/L3JG9lvDTPQQtw2gyJOlnKrWD0pb3gNEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252873%2529.jpg "No sir, I called myself that...it's Leetspeak..." Cycl0n3 stammered then stopped as the admiral glared at him.https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ao5GZ6sQV8/WkchazXeOmI/AAAAAAAAIZk/B5qv-lDuresFC_PtlT2B_U3eStk9RPvjgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252874%2529.jpg "You gotta vision problem, son, sensitivity to light?""No...sir..."Cycl0n3 stammered."You'd better get those shades off your face boy...before I knock 'em off and reduce it to it's component parts. GET 'EM OFF NOW!!!https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcTKeQ0EDKo/WkcipMGmrmI/AAAAAAAAIZ0/lqP51da52N0ngc4BoPtRW8d7eBDQN6cqgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252882%2529.jpg At this juncture, Connor made a big mistake...and coughed...audibly.https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a8iHfvA0RGk/WkcjJxfjk1I/AAAAAAAAIaA/MfIQeensHlEnUUCbfiW7bKrZCP7x_ihEQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252885%2529.jpg If I were Connor Frio, I certainly wouldn't want to be him right now. Not with the vice-admiral's laser like focus aimed directly square at his forehead.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8-fTaUXcvug/Wkcjkodg6sI/AAAAAAAAIaE/s1t2kWv2vRc7Cm9qBdel1XKIY_Z97O32ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252888%2529.jpg "Nice beard you got, Frito Junior..." the admiral glared at Connor Frio who looked absolutely petrified. "I almost mistook you for a toilet brush. Maybe I can tip you headfirst into the toilet and get the grunge out that accumulates under the rim. Would you like that?""No, sir!" Connor Frio barked out, standing motionless. "No, sir, I would not..."https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ak7IRYiJbMM/WkckTPjtDYI/AAAAAAAAIaQ/3AsqrvuVdlcB6oOrIDHDtlsbe8wZqh2AwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252889%2529.jpg "Lose the beard, Frito Junior. When you fall in tomorrow morning I expect your face as smooth as a baby's rear-hole. Do you understand me?!""Yes, sir!"https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RGiENxNfZt0/WkclPQ0jZVI/AAAAAAAAIaY/mH7-654gcTgjWES2oRJZOBqACkZNdOT8QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252891%2529.jpg With this psychopathic drill-instructor breathing down our neck we were too petrified to move.https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K1m5IpOIonE/Wkcnxxbl0rI/AAAAAAAAIak/f8U5YM3-s4sjN3qhov8NQ97iyGPumZ_VQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252893%2529.jpg "So, Ms. Sekemoto...oh, I'm sorry, MR. Sekemoto. I couldn't tell...you look like a girl...with that hair... GET RID OF IT!!!!https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qDGRhGVGKNE/WkcoGKhxtWI/AAAAAAAAIao/BEid-UQ4M_MskZXn2w5Y_oeNoukgg-ukwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252894%2529.jpg Needless to say, it was quite the first day.

The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)Chapter 3: The ReasoningCaptain Harmon Rabb, Jr,: The primary role of a drill instructor is to create chaos and stress - the reasoning behind that is the fact that soldiers and sailors will have to operate as a team under such stresses in combat. In the training scenario, a drill instructor uses intimidation and yelling to induce the stress response in the recruit so that he/she conforms to working as a team or cracks under pressure and quits. We are faced with a situation unlike any that we have faced before. Knowing that we are pawns under the nuclear umbrella and that we are less than one and a half minutes to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Thus we are applying pressure to these recruits like they haven't seen before. It is absolutely necessary.Now that I know what we are up against, I know exactly why we are so hard on these recruits. These are the people that we have to rely on with each other's lives. We have to know that we can depend on them in times of crisis. None of this application of stress is meaningless.But it still doesn't stop me from cracking up when I see Animal give River McIrish a good once over when he is shocked to see the attire that she "formed up" in.https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xqykNj1-kaU/WkfYypMAGMI/AAAAAAAAIa8/-sB6GHzScC0ZetGdPDIq8A-vMoeIlWKmQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252895%2529.jpg "Cadet McIrish, you look like you just had a morning romp in the hay; you look way too happy for 1200hrs. You look absolutely disheveled. Did you just crawl out from under the bed?""No, sir...no romp in the hay, sir... but I did crawl out of bed, sir. Was just playing the piano when you called us into formation, sir!""THAT WAS NOT WHAT I WAS ASKING, CADET MCIRISH! I ASKED IF YOU CRAWLED OUT FROM UNDER THE BED! Because that's what you look like!"Sir, No SIR!"River McIrish: I may be getting screamed at by him, but it certainly doesn't dampen my infatuation with him. OMG...close up out of the corner of my eye, I can see his ribbons on his chest and my god, does he ever have a lot of them...https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ooH-k_2X0jo/WkfdtlIxEkI/AAAAAAAAIbI/tJ2u6Qt_HaIhMFGABtzS0jUxRfCzK0o_wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252896%2529.jpg Captain Harmon Rabb, Jr,: (coughs)Well, getting back on point...Animal proceeds to char Leighton Sekemoto even more. "You will have a high and tight by 0500 AM, Mr. Sekemoto so that you don't confuse the living plum out my drill instructors or you will be made to clean out the toilet with your head. Do I make myself clear?!" and Leighton yells out a petrified, "Sir, Yes, Sir!!!""You sound like an baby squirrel...grow a pair!!!"Animal's roar is painful even to my ears from across the bunker.It's at this point that Meg gets up from the computer and flashes me an evil grin across the bunker. She and Animal are matched up way too well. They have an equally evil sense of humor as she proceeds to swap outfits from her red nightie to her Captain, JAGC, uniform...and marches forward to Madison Van Watson and hones in on her very apparent weakness. "Cadet Watson, you are on half rations and you'd better get your plum on that machine until you are at the proper weight for cadet training... THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO, Cadet Hatch!!!" It may have been cruel to single out Cadets Van Watson and Hatch for their extra weight, but cadets have to be at optimal weight for military training. They may have to carry a fellow soldier if they go down in battle or become incapitated in any way shape or form. The military is not politically correct, they cannot be. We don't have that luxury.https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zu8TPKDcV_A/WkfeAs9YqqI/AAAAAAAAIbQ/yyN7Gnfj6o8zRXMGckWpjJYXwCmgqyoKwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252897%2529.jpg I was handing out uniforms...to cadets and they were quickly dressing themselves and falling back in to line. Meanwhile Meg was shredding Madison Van Watson. "Maybe I should put you on quarter-ration. Looks like you need it!"https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XKto4fOcCyw/WkfecR96xAI/AAAAAAAAIbc/hALm9h6cMtY5D-cBwJ_X8PAkCXHOa2_sQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252899%2529.jpg The stress of seeing Meg at point-blank range, an intimidating scowl on her pretty face, caused Madison Van Watson to plum up big time."SIR, YES, SIR!!!"I could see Meg's ire rise a few hundred degrees, her eyes narrowed and she roared: It's amazing the set of lungs on that gorgeous blonde Navy JAG Captain. Animal's a lucky man. "Cadet Van Watson: "DO YOU HAVE VISION PROBLEMS?!!! DO I LOOK LIKE A SIR TO YOU?!!! DO I HAVE A SET OF BALLS AND A WANG?!!! Last I checked I did not. WHAT IS MY GENDER!!!? CADET!!!!""MA'AM!!!""Good, at least you sounded off like you have a pair!!!"https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cossHvqCdc4/WkfgKhZJ0VI/AAAAAAAAIbo/NZqg8nd9n8U-4DpU7FR7yBipsXx8VVLcACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528100%2529.jpg "Are you eyeballin' me, Cadet Hart?!!! YOUR EYES BEST BE DRILLING IDENTICAL PARALLEL HOLES IN THE WALL... EYES FRONT!!!!"https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4tUAn7ney0/Wkfgc8QXFsI/AAAAAAAAIbs/zsIiW2FKHmsIX1Uf7x3NZmK3FL6inUvRACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528101%2529.jpg Cadet Bebe Hart: OMG OMG OMG OMG...I'm so scared...https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cqDJbitELS0/WkfgygUxOoI/AAAAAAAAIb4/A7wxGxGd5KI03chPkM0BMO_KGeuGVqdUQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528103%2529.jpg At least Jared Frio got with the program and decided that he was about to obey any and all orders...before he got flayed by the vice-admiral. For once, Jared was smart.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-00W9YOZey7g/Wkfg-b0IXbI/AAAAAAAAIb8/wJ51fSveyzUP1FkaMM4unmwpt2j4h_sXwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528104%2529.jpg Ah...and the light of my life. Colonel Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Marine Corps, decided to come out in Marine uniform. She decided to apply an extra bit of attention to Jared Frio. "Why, Jared, you look like you want my phone number..." she said with a hint of a saccharine touch. "Would you like that? Do you think I'm attractive?""Ma'am? Um...yes..." Jared asked questioningly, looking admiringly at her. That was a mistakehttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmuIpurAwoQ/WkfhvESCygI/AAAAAAAAIcI/aT3TDb_JMs01u4ZXPYJdYujj_3WZAyChgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528106%2529.jpg "Well, Mr. Frio, you're not going to get my phone number...because Captain Rabb already has it. And you'd best get that greasy Elvis into a high n' tight...EH ESS EH PEE!!!! DO YOU READ ME?!!!""MA'AM YES MA'M!!!!"https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xAzObnKO06Y/Wkfio5xcgbI/AAAAAAAAIcY/j0aPZkfM5XIG0QnSIPBrUyzB5ANfxk9yQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528107%2529.jpg Mac turned her eyes towards Stiles McGraw who had been rotating his eyeballs in his skull looking Mac over...and bellowed. "Mr. McGraw, you'd best not be admiring my twin assets out the corner of your eye or I will run your plum around the flagpole until you dryheave your guts out!!!" Cadet McGraw's eyes clicked forward so fast I could hear them snap into place.https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tya-B03iUJ4/WkfjG2WMn6I/AAAAAAAAIcg/v3ht55bZTfkxdi7iumPqzpxPgwGBMnB7ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528109%2529.jpg And Captain Liandra Gracen, JAGC, she was such a cute little redhead whose Irish temper belied her diminutive stature. She was a cute little pixie type, with gorgeous long flowing locks that she kept tied back in a regulation off the shoulder but not regulation messy bun. She decided to join in on the action, zeroing in on Cadet Blair Wainright who had just been issued a set of BDUs and a tee that she had changed into. "Why, you look nice..." she chirped.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VwOP-ndang8/WkfkfWVTqbI/AAAAAAAAIcs/FvRGIEuip6ktInSnwxPMSTwKu8tinilwACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528110%2529.jpg "I think you and I could be best friends...Wouldn't that be nice. Don't you? Would you and Cadet Kennedy like that?"https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RDtDAKWykMc/Wkfkff5fzLI/AAAAAAAAIcw/RPNIKLJR6ko5Q4krZiutIYkuWSew601XgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528112%2529.jpg "Well...don't get used to the idea!!!" She snapped...turning off the friendly vibe and morphing into her JAGC Judicial, drill-sergeant mode. "You and I are on completely different wave-lengths. Until you become an officer, you are no where near my calibre. You'd best get squared away and understand that you are an enlisted in the Navy or Marines. And you'd best do that soon."https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qHmK1aE_KYY/WkfllGoxPkI/AAAAAAAAIc8/uHahm_2iKVQIQaYpCXYsfaKEn4eUKlJsgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528114%2529.jpg "You went to the police academy, did you not? Cadet Wainright? There they instilled military discipline in you, did they not?""Ma'am Yes, Ma'am!!!""Well, this is the police academy on steroids, you'd best get your plum together and do it fast!!!"https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BGFVK2oWrAA/WkfmAT-opyI/AAAAAAAAIdA/WsOAm0f9AqQZvv4229KLhEivwmY6tOVUgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528115%2529.jpg We didn't have time for niceties. With the world going to heck in a hand-basket, we didn't have that kind of luxury. We needed people we could rely on and if we had to break a few eggs, we were going to meld these people into the type of people that we could really rely upon...in times of crisis. Because the world was going to get a lot harsher if the politicians and higher-ups couldn't get their act together in time before the missiles got launched.

***JAG*** The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles.

NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (the Reboot)

Prologue 2

Harmon Rabb Jr.: It was highly evident that things were "out of the ordinary" in Sunset Valley as we were picked up by a taxi and shown to the property...which was still under construction at the time...with about roughly two weeks to build. While workers were till working on the fence, Mac and I were able to see that there were a lot of things going on at one time; especially inside the structure. From the outside, it was just a plain small squarish building, with not much to see... but as one looked in deeper one could see that there was a significant structure hidden from view.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ruJGZ7uLyoo/WkXSqAirIuI/AAAAAAAAIRg/1fMzDrnMR2AojIVneAAskB2NukmwhcLEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25281%2529.jpg There was a gate which buzzed you in...and the entrance was not visible from the gate, in fact, it was blocked off by the entire body of the structure. My hackles started to raise, this was definitely not an retirement home like Animal had told me that it was. What exactly was he and Meg up to? That's what Mac wanted to know too.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GP2k_RkDi_0/WkXTJ12Y4yI/AAAAAAAAIRo/jzfS_wh8Q48h-rTUlKE1w64wQ_gUX0IxACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25285%2529.jpg "Welcome, Colonel Mackenzie, Captain Rabb... Lieutenant Commander Harriet Sims-Roberts chirped cheerily as she disappeared around the corner of the building where we managed to see her go in through a set of double doors.

I saw Animal standing by the oven, looking over at some waffles cooking. I asked him suspiciously, "What's going on? What's the big mystery?"

He just nodded and told me to wait. "We have a lot of things to do." And then I saw SECNAV Edward Sheffield, Gibbs and another guy who I didn't know. Plus there were a few civilians that I hadn't even known were in the what I now presumed to be a bunker. Things were starting to add up big time and my blood started to run cold.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zep9PHDgsX8/WkXUY11_mqI/AAAAAAAAIR4/cVRDlJdRgzU26lk5f3hlwPEBI_ULignyACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25287%2529.jpg "Where's Bud and Harriet?" I asked, "What happened to his continuing therapy on his leg?" Animal looked up at me. "Evidently, Commander Roberts finished up his therapy on his prothesis leg. He seems to be functioning on all cylinders. Captain. In fact, if you want to see him, he's in the gardens doing some gardening with Harriet and trust me, Captain, if you knew what I knew about what's going down...I'm certain that we're going to need someone capable of gardening. In fact a lot of someones." That ominous comment didn't reassure me any.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OAIuc9LRo88/WkXVR-9vxSI/AAAAAAAAISE/yY0XFJH_wnAaZVypGim1uckwyYLWRDl-QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%25289%2529.jpg The bunker was cavernous. Three floors and a top partial floor below ground...and this place was designed to take a serious bombing. Somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 10MTs. I wasn't liking what the preparations foretold.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vyuxxcuU7Oc/WkXWA5ViqvI/AAAAAAAAISc/JA-g8Y1uxToHR-CzgjxvLv7CfoRfhuy7QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252819%2529.jpg The people who would be caught outside were no better than doomed. If what the preparations were foretelling were accurate. In fact, just the fact that SECNAV was told to be here was sending eery chills down my spine.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-58fqhymrRfo/WkXWw8FoOUI/AAAAAAAAISo/jmhtxtqED1gCEN-VexeNt5HbXofSIiTLACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252821%2529.jpg ...and not even a day later, the headcount added yet another member of the Sunset Valley civilian population to the crowd.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HruKLAYwS8g/WkXXFRUKXvI/AAAAAAAAISw/LMmOnLm8qi8tSBkXvHnnEK8ipWn3TjjJgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252823%2529.jpg It didn't seem as though SECNAV Sheffield was worrying too much. In fact, he was busy trying to do trickshots on the pool table and of course getting a rather painful result: being beaned in the head by a cue ball. I don't know how anyone can think of playing games at a time like this...
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jMw-hJOtVHw/WkXXiTJvs6I/AAAAAAAAIS8/8fbhPBb2AMQrZqxt1pm7pA8rUNswLnDpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252828%2529.jpg Everyone bedded down...with the understanding that it was going to take a lot of preparation before this bunker would be ready to be really and truly inhabitable. As Animal said this, he looked over at me as if to ask me silently if I was up to the task. Well, if it meant dying in a nuclear conflagration versus surviving, I'll pick the latter every time. "Count me in, sir." I piped up.

"We're going to have a meeting towards the end of the week. We'll be getting monitors installed on Tuesday, so that we can be kept ahead of the situation." As the ranking admiral in the building, Vice-Admiral Nakamura was the head military boss, 2nd in military command was RADM Chegwidden. And we were duty-bound to protect the Secretary of the Navy who was in line of succession to become President should the unthinkable happen and we lost our head of state.

I had realized that Animal had called every single one of the people he cared about to the bunker. And then on top of that he'd called in certain civilians as well...who would help rebuild the world...if it did happen. Surely humanity wasn't that stupid enough that they would start a nuclear war?

Or were they?
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

Prologue 3

River McIrish: I knew for a fact that things were not going to go well today when I saw the old bald guy come out with an enormous frown on his face. On top of that he was dressed in his Navy uniform. That spelled trouble with a capital T. I was playing the piano...but I could hear him grumble to that guy that my eyes always seem to gravitate towards. The Asian guy. He's got that air of quiet dignity and doesn't seem to say much. He just goes ahead and does what needs to be done. I had no idea the bald guy was so high-ranking. He had a metric plum-ton of gold braid on the sleeves of his Navy jacket.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4gly2E8OMw/WkaUILJVsOI/AAAAAAAAIU4/gxJK-rfKO9MgpYbt3R3kPG_LnXDBj7ngwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252838%2529.jpg My jaw nearly drops when I see the Asian guy come out of the bathroom, with an identical disgusted frown on his face as he sees the new group of people in the building.

Evidently they are townspeople that the military has designated are necessary to the rebuilding of society. This is some scary news that has been floating around the bunker. Quiet whispers of the possibility of nuclear war. We've been selected to continue on humanity should it come down to the whole world being destroyed by nuclear weapons. In a ways, I'm thankful that Mom, me, Bebe and others have been selected, but I'm still saddened for the people who lost the chance to survive...if what they are saying is true and that the town is going to be incinerated by a nuclear firestorm.

If I thought the old bald guy was decorated...the Asian guy was even more so. But I doubt he'd notice a little brown-haired waif like me...and drats...he has that ring on his finger. I wonder who the lucky woman is.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U-TTXUiyAM8/WkaWRzY7L-I/AAAAAAAAIVQ/_73A76fKUqYnd_5SWaqDxRY4b4Jt41O6gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252841%2529.jpg The Asian Vice-Admiral (I think) walks over to the old bald guy and comes to a stop right next to him...practically in an identical position...I don't know how these military guys move with such precision that they can come to a stop right beside someone mirroring their steps so that they move as one. It was like staring at a set of bookends. I heard the Vice-Admiral audibly snarl, "AJ, what the **** did they drop in my nicely maintained building?" I guess the old bald guy is called AJ, though I'd be too scared to call him that to his face. And what startled me is as I thought the old bald guy was the highest ranking officer in the group. But evidently the Asian guy outranks him, obviously with the one extra stripe on his sleeve. AJ replied, "I don't know, sir... All I know is that SECNAV made a suggestion...that we needed more manpower in case the balloon goes up... We can't save the whole city...but we can save what will become the core of a new society." I don't know what they meant by balloon, but it's probably not the thing that floats around the sky over Sunset Valley and it doesn't sound good. Evidently the Asian guy wasn't impressed because he growled audibly, ""I can't see it through all the grimy sleazeballs, I'm seeing floating in front of my eyes." and it was a definite confirmation that the Asian guy outranked the old bald guy because the old bald guy said, "Yes, sir."
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2MXedqxLVMA/WkaYDoPi0_I/AAAAAAAAIVc/BnNsZ-SwTPUFn-k-Y8dac0m5lUQKA_lrACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252842%2529.jpg It was at about this point that Madison Van Watson looked up and went, "OH Hey, look...some Navy guys..." then realized that her mouth had excreted her words and she got the expression of "Oh...flark...".
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pokqzOjEJBE/WkaYY4Kr9KI/AAAAAAAAIVg/SXCMExRIra8XtC0GUjFUs7sfzczf45pawCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252839%2529.jpg What they were staring at with so much disgruntlement was at a gaggle of people milling around the computers like a group of geese, squawking with joy at electronics. The two admirals looked like people who were used to immediate discipline and order and this kind of noise and disruption was tantamount to throwing a rock in a still pond. They didn't like it at all.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_pKz1emSEY/WkaZb2Ng2II/AAAAAAAAIV4/K-yCzXL-uFAgwLME0dKfndcZMOrb1hQ_wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252845%2529.jpg There seems to be a lot of really handsome older men here. And frankly the guy in the white shirt, even with his hair somewhat white, was one of them. His nose was a prominent feature on his face. And from what the Asian admiral referred to him, he was called Dwayne. I didn't catch his last name. He said, "I just got a call from CINCPAC...he says things are heating up in the Pacific. Two tin cans got hit with Yu-8s. Completely unsalvageable. Had to evacuate all hands and then sink them so the Chinese couldn't get their hands on them." That didn't sound good at all...

And the Asian admiral's eyes narrowed in anger as he queried "CINCPACFLT OK?" Dwayne responded to the query with a nod. "CINCPACFLT was in Oahu when it happened. He wasn't visiting the battlegroup.", The Asian Admiral nodded, "Good. We can't lose our men like that, how many casualties?", Dwayne replied, "162 combined from both ships."
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jRWaBpp-i7s/WkacC3CYiZI/AAAAAAAAIWM/d5iIXceyHMkBWsa_U-RiRGBuUFa6zV5EQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252846%2529.jpg The Asian admiral looked over at AJ and at Dwayne, "It's time these slack-turds got with the program." and strode over to the milling group of gabbing townies.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

Chap. 1 - Revelations: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty

River McIrish: The Asian admiral stood for a long time; from what I could see from the straight stiff-backed look to the stance of his body, he didn't look happy at all. And I swear I could feel the angry heat coming off him from where I was sitting at the concert grand piano.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oRdp95RVsuk/Wkasg-V4OyI/AAAAAAAAIWc/wAEY-etjsEsFWcyyIRU45CvRFI12oaR-gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252847%2529.jpg Stiles McGraw known for being the irreverant "funny guy" grinned and said amiably, "Hey, there, Navy guy..." Oh...oh... That was the wrong thing to say.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AIfU-NZjx4c/WkatELbKbxI/AAAAAAAAIWo/Pq80kynPIJYKj2fnJEgYkM1EkCJMt14RwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252848%2529.jpg Oh, was it ever the wrong thing to say, because the Admiral whipped his head around so fast his brain probably got whiplash and stared daggers at Stiles to the point where I think there was a wet spot accumulating down the front of his pants...at just about groin level.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lIr87PqJEx4/Wkatg6HRJZI/AAAAAAAAIWs/C7960sTk6wEqlltpysJQ98yxh-OjVOvPgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252849%2529.jpg Not a word out of the admiral at all, other than a cold expression of shut the flark up if you know what's good for you...
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yvbk3G_ItlY/Wkat6UM_iqI/AAAAAAAAIW8/jSBTB2b5xO0l_QLf9icyYYnTxpK7U1bMgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252850%2529.jpg When he did speak it was with a frosty clipped tone, "You will address me as sir. When you speak there is only two words that should slip out of that slimy piehole you call your mouth: one is "YES"...the other is "SIR!" Do I make myself clear?"
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WVO4qmgq4yA/Wkaul8-OArI/AAAAAAAAIXE/VBfwIcLK5p427YtVZJq3JZmNIMhxKxg-gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252850%2529.jpg Stiles looked petrified. He went to rub his nose that instantly looked as if it about to run...rivulets of snot. The admiral focused in on him, "You'd best put that arm right by your side or I'll BREAK IT OFF! You're in the military NOW, not in a daycare!"
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KxulS04Z9vY/WkavDzBxrqI/AAAAAAAAIXI/d3WocgVoU_sIj0kPqryWj2rsoXstORmBACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252852%2529.jpg Poor Stiles McGraw, he looked thoroughly confused and unhappy, I think the thought in his mind was, "What did I sign? What did I sign?" After all we did sign a contract to be here in this facility...and considering what the alternative was, joining the military...was a better alternative than roasting alive in a nuclear furnace. Well... Welcome to the Navy or the Army or whatever this branch of the military was going to be.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ne24BU55OxU/WkavZz_lDFI/AAAAAAAAIXU/lFPuTSmia9kAb67rp5TPliCsUEN2Z1cxQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252853%2529.jpg And then the admiral focused on the face of Jared Frio. "You have a problem?" the admiral sneered at Jared, presumably with an equally angry looking face. "No..." Jared replied and was going to say more when the admiral gave him a crazy-face look and said, "Oh, you do, sweet-cheeks. You got a major problem on your tail-end, ME. And you'd better wipe that face clean and give me a dead-pan stare...because if you don't I'm going to smack that sneer clean off your face."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--b5sY56t8c4/WkawvFuqCAI/AAAAAAAAIXk/HABKgo7WbloezabjA7Fpk60s2TJ_zJBIQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252855%2529.jpg "What's your name, pretty-boy!" snapped the admiral. "You look like the best part of you crawled down the crack of your mama's hind-quarters; made out with a pug and ended up with YOU."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f5vCWjpFYg8/Wkaw52WEwbI/AAAAAAAAIXo/owa7Zye9d4stb6UoOjSh5I-v6G90G7NGwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252856%2529.jpg The admiral sneered at Jared, "You look like YOU got a problem with authority, son, Best not try that with me. Or I will break you down to your basic components and then see if I can reconstruct you into a gerbil."

At least Jared, even if he didn't remove that sneer from his face, had the semi-intelligence to keep his mouth shut.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GCBxMpYcCTc/WkazG92mckI/AAAAAAAAIX8/s5l0XO6FTowum9vsXrmJwrQ3Gv1eQUQQACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252858%2529.jpg ...and that was when the other admiral jumped in. Holy Mother of God...Jared was in for it now...
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bqKoZyoxZ_E/Wkazqt4oRkI/AAAAAAAAIYE/2KDug4lr2b8UaJEjt9uSdwqfG9aAFpVeACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252858%2529.jpg "Son..." that admiral addressed Jared Frio sharply. "You want to take on this man, don't you. You think he disrespected you? Well, let me tell you something...Mr. Frio...and you'd better listen good."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YtARvWj3vqE/Wka0BfRYl-I/AAAAAAAAIYM/eP63wmOMo5kTNPf2zXItiyCZmaJBUCZ8ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252860%2529.jpg "You see that little blue ribbon with the five stars?"

"You realize that they don't give that ribbon to just anyone. It's the Medal of Honor. This man went up against 60 North Koreans trying to extract a fallen squadron-mate off a mountain top in North Korea. He walked away...THEY DIDN'T. My colleague investigated the Medal of Honor citation.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-35LCBfnrM5o/Wka0lGcQoxI/AAAAAAAAIYU/aa6ISpJ5ZlUQSDb-9CfKLHxGxu3L75n-wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252859%2529.jpg Stiles at that point looked up at the sky in supplication. "Oh, crud...Jared, you just plummed off a Medal of Honor winner..."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DrH_BIRCeRc/Wka02n5-coI/AAAAAAAAIYY/Cx61f5bW3u4cKjJPSX9tfob-UE1DQoNGQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252862%2529.jpg Without even sparing a look at Stiles, the other admiral said, "Son, you don't win the Medal of Honor...this ain't some 4-H fairground award...you RECEIVE...the Medal of Honor. For most people this isn't an award that they want. They just went above and beyond the call of duty. For the love of their fellow man. To make sure that they got home. And some of those who have received this Medal never made it home. The man facing you today is one of the ones who did. So you, Mr. Frio, may not like him, but you'd better flarkin' respect him and wipe that sneer off your face."
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2dyvBdndFs/Wka15NAGj9I/AAAAAAAAIYk/xaSOn5gBa0wKOoV3q6X3qbstrdA8xkRSgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252864%2529.jpg I could almost hear the gears turning in Jared Frio's head as his mental processes churned the data over in his head.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A4Ecv-k2kJU/Wka2IxxogOI/AAAAAAAAIYw/RH1dimXGGVI1trM3wNwQJed2GH5gnJMUgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252867%2529.jpg "Input: 60 North Koreans vs. 1 Naval Aviator on the ground. He walked away...They didn't...that's euphemism for dead... 60 dead North Koreans...vs 1 very alive Naval Aviator...who is right in front of me right now... Computation Calculated... result...This man is deadly. And he doesn't like me..."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B9zLxWGsK5o/Wka2IzRNxGI/AAAAAAAAIYo/E4cbo_UcRKYSrLEau7NM2iYGiGDnmPQRACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252868%2529.jpg "Oh..sheepturds... I'm sooo dead..."
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles

The General Fit Hits the Shan

River McIrish: Oh, the joys of Basic Training...or at least the best that the two admirals could come up with. Whether it was the intimidation factor or the fact that these two could make the walls shake with just the pure vocal projection of their voices... "FALL IN!!!!" was roared at full volume. And those of us with any sense of brains "fell in..." to line. Most were quaking in their boots, shoes, sandals or whatever we had on our feet...in my case...I had just crawled out of bed and directly to the piano...so I didn't have much on. But I fell in...
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b08ZHqo4kCo/WkcecCKBmsI/AAAAAAAAIZA/xPL7Q6y0h3YNgCKu6S97fJ7k9gMX8HKFwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252869%2529.jpg No one moved, our synapses were too scared pee-less to even twitch even a 32nd of an inch. But these officers honed in on the slightest miscue. And the second person to be the focus of the vice-admiral's ire was Cycl0n3 Sw0rd. He strode up to Cycl0n3 and stopped nose to nose, nut to nut. "What's your name, Roachclip?" the vice-admiral snapped looking over from one side to another to see if anyone laughed; if they did, they'd be in front of a dragon breathing fire. Nobody did...not even Parker Langerak, even as a young man just aged up from teen, he stared straight ahead not even twitching a muscle.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6dsBXQSs6PA/WkcgSJ108pI/AAAAAAAAIZU/ibM8ScN8DsISOmEMiZ0hTsDISoTtjlU7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252872%2529.jpg "Uh...Cycl0n3 Sw0rd, sir."

"How the flark do you spell that?" the admiral growled ominously. "Your Momma not like you?"
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ponvWqxn4Ns/WkcgfsauVuI/AAAAAAAAIZY/L3JG9lvDTPQQtw2gyJOlnKrWD0pb3gNEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252873%2529.jpg "No sir, I called myself that...it's Leetspeak..." Cycl0n3 stammered then stopped as the admiral glared at him.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--ao5GZ6sQV8/WkchazXeOmI/AAAAAAAAIZk/B5qv-lDuresFC_PtlT2B_U3eStk9RPvjgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252874%2529.jpg "You gotta vision problem, son, sensitivity to light?"

"No...sir..."Cycl0n3 stammered.

"You'd better get those shades off your face boy...before I knock 'em off and reduce it to it's component parts. GET 'EM OFF NOW!!!
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcTKeQ0EDKo/WkcipMGmrmI/AAAAAAAAIZ0/lqP51da52N0ngc4BoPtRW8d7eBDQN6cqgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252882%2529.jpg At this juncture, Connor made a big mistake...and coughed...audibly.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a8iHfvA0RGk/WkcjJxfjk1I/AAAAAAAAIaA/MfIQeensHlEnUUCbfiW7bKrZCP7x_ihEQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252885%2529.jpg If I were Connor Frio, I certainly wouldn't want to be him right now. Not with the vice-admiral's laser like focus aimed directly square at his forehead.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8-fTaUXcvug/Wkcjkodg6sI/AAAAAAAAIaE/s1t2kWv2vRc7Cm9qBdel1XKIY_Z97O32ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252888%2529.jpg "Nice beard you got, Frito Junior..." the admiral glared at Connor Frio who looked absolutely petrified. "I almost mistook you for a toilet brush. Maybe I can tip you headfirst into the toilet and get the grunge out that accumulates under the rim. Would you like that?"

"No, sir!" Connor Frio barked out, standing motionless. "No, sir, I would not..."
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ak7IRYiJbMM/WkckTPjtDYI/AAAAAAAAIaQ/3AsqrvuVdlcB6oOrIDHDtlsbe8wZqh2AwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252889%2529.jpg "Lose the beard, Frito Junior. When you fall in tomorrow morning I expect your face as smooth as a baby's rear-hole. Do you understand me?!"

"Yes, sir!"
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RGiENxNfZt0/WkclPQ0jZVI/AAAAAAAAIaY/mH7-654gcTgjWES2oRJZOBqACkZNdOT8QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252891%2529.jpg With this psychopathic drill-instructor breathing down our neck we were too petrified to move.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K1m5IpOIonE/Wkcnxxbl0rI/AAAAAAAAIak/f8U5YM3-s4sjN3qhov8NQ97iyGPumZ_VQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252893%2529.jpg "So, Ms. Sekemoto...oh, I'm sorry, MR. Sekemoto. I couldn't tell...you look like a girl...with that hair... GET RID OF IT!!!!
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qDGRhGVGKNE/WkcoGKhxtWI/AAAAAAAAIao/BEid-UQ4M_MskZXn2w5Y_oeNoukgg-ukwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252894%2529.jpg Needless to say, it was quite the first day.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

Chapter 3: The Reasoning

Captain Harmon Rabb, Jr,: The primary role of a drill instructor is to create chaos and stress - the reasoning behind that is the fact that soldiers and sailors will have to operate as a team under such stresses in combat. In the training scenario, a drill instructor uses intimidation and yelling to induce the stress response in the recruit so that he/she conforms to working as a team or cracks under pressure and quits. We are faced with a situation unlike any that we have faced before. Knowing that we are pawns under the nuclear umbrella and that we are less than one and a half minutes to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Thus we are applying pressure to these recruits like they haven't seen before. It is absolutely necessary.

Now that I know what we are up against, I know exactly why we are so hard on these recruits. These are the people that we have to rely on with each other's lives. We have to know that we can depend on them in times of crisis. None of this application of stress is meaningless.

But it still doesn't stop me from cracking up when I see Animal give River McIrish a good once over when he is shocked to see the attire that she "formed up" in.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xqykNj1-kaU/WkfYypMAGMI/AAAAAAAAIa8/-sB6GHzScC0ZetGdPDIq8A-vMoeIlWKmQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252895%2529.jpg "Cadet McIrish, you look like you just had a morning romp in the hay; you look way too happy for 1200hrs. You look absolutely disheveled. Did you just crawl out from under the bed?"

"No, sir...no romp in the hay, sir... but I did crawl out of bed, sir. Was just playing the piano when you called us into formation, sir!"

"THAT WAS NOT WHAT I WAS ASKING, CADET MCIRISH! I ASKED IF YOU CRAWLED OUT FROM UNDER THE BED! Because that's what you look like!

"Sir, No SIR!"

River McIrish: I may be getting screamed at by him, but it certainly doesn't dampen my infatuation with him. OMG...close up out of the corner of my eye, I can see his ribbons on his chest and my god, does he ever have a lot of them...
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ooH-k_2X0jo/WkfdtlIxEkI/AAAAAAAAIbI/tJ2u6Qt_HaIhMFGABtzS0jUxRfCzK0o_wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252896%2529.jpg Captain Harmon Rabb, Jr,: (coughs)Well, getting back on point...Animal proceeds to char Leighton Sekemoto even more. "You will have a high and tight by 0500 AM, Mr. Sekemoto so that you don't confuse the living plum out my drill instructors or you will be made to clean out the toilet with your head. Do I make myself clear?!" and Leighton yells out a petrified, "Sir, Yes, Sir!!!"

"You sound like an baby squirrel...grow a pair!!!"Animal's roar is painful even to my ears from across the bunker.

It's at this point that Meg gets up from the computer and flashes me an evil grin across the bunker. She and Animal are matched up way too well. They have an equally evil sense of humor as she proceeds to swap outfits from her red nightie to her Captain, JAGC, uniform...and marches forward to Madison Van Watson and hones in on her very apparent weakness. "Cadet Watson, you are on half rations and you'd better get your plum on that machine until you are at the proper weight for cadet training... THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO, Cadet Hatch!!!" It may have been cruel to single out Cadets Van Watson and Hatch for their extra weight, but cadets have to be at optimal weight for military training. They may have to carry a fellow soldier if they go down in battle or become incapitated in any way shape or form. The military is not politically correct, they cannot be. We don't have that luxury.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zu8TPKDcV_A/WkfeAs9YqqI/AAAAAAAAIbQ/yyN7Gnfj6o8zRXMGckWpjJYXwCmgqyoKwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252897%2529.jpg I was handing out uniforms...to cadets and they were quickly dressing themselves and falling back in to line. Meanwhile Meg was shredding Madison Van Watson. "Maybe I should put you on quarter-ration. Looks like you need it!"
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XKto4fOcCyw/WkfecR96xAI/AAAAAAAAIbc/hALm9h6cMtY5D-cBwJ_X8PAkCXHOa2_sQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%252899%2529.jpg The stress of seeing Meg at point-blank range, an intimidating scowl on her pretty face, caused Madison Van Watson to plum up big time.

"SIR, YES, SIR!!!"

I could see Meg's ire rise a few hundred degrees, her eyes narrowed and she roared: It's amazing the set of lungs on that gorgeous blonde Navy JAG Captain. Animal's a lucky man. "Cadet Van Watson: "DO YOU HAVE VISION PROBLEMS?!!! DO I LOOK LIKE A SIR TO YOU?!!! DO I HAVE A SET OF BALLS AND A WANG?!!! Last I checked I did not. WHAT IS MY GENDER!!!? CADET!!!!"

"MA'AM!!!"

"Good, at least you sounded off like you have a pair!!!"
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cossHvqCdc4/WkfgKhZJ0VI/AAAAAAAAIbo/NZqg8nd9n8U-4DpU7FR7yBipsXx8VVLcACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528100%2529.jpg "Are you eyeballin' me, Cadet Hart?!!! YOUR EYES BEST BE DRILLING IDENTICAL PARALLEL HOLES IN THE WALL... EYES FRONT!!!!"
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4tUAn7ney0/Wkfgc8QXFsI/AAAAAAAAIbs/zsIiW2FKHmsIX1Uf7x3NZmK3FL6inUvRACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528101%2529.jpg Cadet Bebe Hart: OMG OMG OMG OMG...I'm so scared...
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cqDJbitELS0/WkfgygUxOoI/AAAAAAAAIb4/A7wxGxGd5KI03chPkM0BMO_KGeuGVqdUQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528103%2529.jpg At least Jared Frio got with the program and decided that he was about to obey any and all orders...before he got flayed by the vice-admiral. For once, Jared was smart.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-00W9YOZey7g/Wkfg-b0IXbI/AAAAAAAAIb8/wJ51fSveyzUP1FkaMM4unmwpt2j4h_sXwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528104%2529.jpg Ah...and the light of my life. Colonel Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Marine Corps, decided to come out in Marine uniform. She decided to apply an extra bit of attention to Jared Frio. "Why, Jared, you look like you want my phone number..." she said with a hint of a saccharine touch. "Would you like that? Do you think I'm attractive?"

"Ma'am? Um...yes..." Jared asked questioningly, looking admiringly at her. That was a mistake
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmuIpurAwoQ/WkfhvESCygI/AAAAAAAAIcI/aT3TDb_JMs01u4ZXPYJdYujj_3WZAyChgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528106%2529.jpg "Well, Mr. Frio, you're not going to get my phone number...because Captain Rabb already has it. And you'd best get that greasy Elvis into a high n' tight...EH ESS EH PEE!!!! DO YOU READ ME?!!!"

"MA'AM YES MA'M!!!!"
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xAzObnKO06Y/Wkfio5xcgbI/AAAAAAAAIcY/j0aPZkfM5XIG0QnSIPBrUyzB5ANfxk9yQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528107%2529.jpg Mac turned her eyes towards Stiles McGraw who had been rotating his eyeballs in his skull looking Mac over...and bellowed. "Mr. McGraw, you'd best not be admiring my twin assets out the corner of your eye or I will run your plum around the flagpole until you dryheave your guts out!!!" Cadet McGraw's eyes clicked forward so fast I could hear them snap into place.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tya-B03iUJ4/WkfjG2WMn6I/AAAAAAAAIcg/v3ht55bZTfkxdi7iumPqzpxPgwGBMnB7ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528109%2529.jpg And Captain Liandra Gracen, JAGC, she was such a cute little redhead whose Irish temper belied her diminutive stature. She was a cute little pixie type, with gorgeous long flowing locks that she kept tied back in a regulation off the shoulder but not regulation messy bun. She decided to join in on the action, zeroing in on Cadet Blair Wainright who had just been issued a set of BDUs and a tee that she had changed into. "Why, you look nice..." she chirped.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VwOP-ndang8/WkfkfWVTqbI/AAAAAAAAIcs/FvRGIEuip6ktInSnwxPMSTwKu8tinilwACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528110%2529.jpg "I think you and I could be best friends...Wouldn't that be nice. Don't you? Would you and Cadet Kennedy like that?"
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RDtDAKWykMc/Wkfkff5fzLI/AAAAAAAAIcw/RPNIKLJR6ko5Q4krZiutIYkuWSew601XgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528112%2529.jpg "Well...don't get used to the idea!!!" She snapped...turning off the friendly vibe and morphing into her JAGC Judicial, drill-sergeant mode. "You and I are on completely different wave-lengths. Until you become an officer, you are no where near my calibre. You'd best get squared away and understand that you are an enlisted in the Navy or Marines. And you'd best do that soon."
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qHmK1aE_KYY/WkfllGoxPkI/AAAAAAAAIc8/uHahm_2iKVQIQaYpCXYsfaKEn4eUKlJsgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528114%2529.jpg "You went to the police academy, did you not? Cadet Wainright? There they instilled military discipline in you, did they not?"

"Ma'am Yes, Ma'am!!!"

"Well, this is the police academy on steroids, you'd best get your plum together and do it fast!!!"
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BGFVK2oWrAA/WkfmAT-opyI/AAAAAAAAIdA/WsOAm0f9AqQZvv4229KLhEivwmY6tOVUgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528115%2529.jpg We didn't have time for niceties. With the world going to heck in a hand-basket, we didn't have that kind of luxury. We needed people we could rely on and if we had to break a few eggs, we were going to meld these people into the type of people that we could really rely upon...in times of crisis. Because the world was going to get a lot harsher if the politicians and higher-ups couldn't get their act together in time before the missiles got launched.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

When You Look Into the Abyss...

RADM Albert Jethro Chegwidden put down the phone after the call from the Chief of Naval Operations. This was not good. There was word from the President that negotiations with the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere had broken down. On top of that, the Russians had decided that they were going to side with the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and reform the Warsaw Pact. Everything appeared to be going to heck in a handbasket faster than they thought. It was time to notify VADM Nakamura of the bad news.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CNfQ34DH5hU/Wkm_J2kCBeI/AAAAAAAAIdU/B5hXrvBhoUQbRSkWeomVBO8mzfCT8EqYACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528123%2529.jpg There were very few things that frightened military men, but the thought of the world destabilizing and then blowing up in a conflagration of which there was no escape petrified the living daylights out of this Navy SEAL.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H4KPUgnYvOQ/Wkm_mGTKhkI/AAAAAAAAIdY/IMnN5DYW9esAcNJsnQbXXSS40NWFUb5EQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528124%2529.jpg Dwayne Pride drew the short straw to notify the recruits and civilians just what they were in for. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I can have your attention. I have to notify you of our situation. Rear Admiral Chegwidden was just notified by the Chief of Naval Operations that the world situation is deteriorating rapidly. It is quite possible that we will be at war very shortly." Pride stopped for a long moment looking over the crowd with a somber face.

"We are tasked with protecting the chain of succession on the off-chance that the President does not survive a first-strike. We are protecting the Secretary of Defense. The former SecDef had an unfortunate vehicle accident and he did not survive. Former Secretary of the Navy Sheffield had now been tasked with the duties of the Secretary of Defense.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QDVzMPEMiQw/WknEn7coRZI/AAAAAAAAIdk/MqdnO0XAgV8i8-BXfYAe84YbhY6ih-GhACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528127%2529.jpg The somber faces of those in uniform informed the crowd of civilians and recruits just how serious the situation was. Pride continued, "Our task is to ensure that the line of succession remains intact until it is needed." He didn't have to say that the world situation entailed the necessity of that line of succession now more than ever. This was Continuity of Government and it meant the survival of the nation.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zGffod6cfGo/WknFt5wGksI/AAAAAAAAIdo/MWwpIOXdtAI7EbinvAYmxDW6jRAPXwEbgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528128%2529.jpg Senator Edward Sheffield, 27th Secretary of Defense, said, "Unfortunately, I have no words that can allay any doubt, fears or worries. We are in a situation where no one has wanted to be, standing at the edge, looking over into the abyss of Armageddon. At a time like this...the only thing that I have to draw strength from is prayer and do we ever need it at this time."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ko6uJo52MtM/WknIMzcKcbI/AAAAAAAAIdw/OmXZfEuGlYIhugynRCNypXVoxKR_IdsXwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528132%2529.jpg As the direness of the situation dawned in the minds of the people assembled in the bunker, there was silence. Even Jared Frio had nothing to say...his mind was spinning with the enormity of the situation that he found himself in. And there was no room for anything else but a cognizant thought that he had to get his plum together and do what was right. Everyone else was dumbstruck...with fear. But it would be far worse for those on the outside. If the Soviets didn't bring out their second more powerful nuclear weapon. There were two designed, both with an estimated yield of 100MTs. The Tsar Bomba, detonated in 1961 yielded 50MTs mainly because they did not want to test it with the full three-stage hydrogen/uranium core mainly due to the blast radius quite possibly incinerating the drop-aircraft. He certainly didn't want a nuclear weapon to land directly on top of the bunker. If they didn't, he would be safe as well as the rest of the people in the bunker. He was starting to also realize that they all had to rely on each other.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tZfE4dyK0A4/WknK7HJfY1I/AAAAAAAAId4/kHkCkYNrTB4tMQL-qyw3I-RPrDUxhr3SwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528133%2529.jpg River McIrish felt a pang of fear crawl down her spine as she comprehended just how dangerous a precipice the world was on at the moment. Did they have months, weeks...how long was it before the world burned itself to pieces. All she knew was that she was in training to become a soldier and that would be pretty much one of the few occupations left should the bombs go off and they survived.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-etH7JemHLEk/WknLtBkmN9I/AAAAAAAAId8/njY8VbIQkHAbBaXNzZOS-qPBi04AGNoZQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528134%2529.jpg Pride continued, "I'm sorry that I have nothing but dire news...the only thing that I can hope for; that everyone can hope for is that those who are in control come to their senses before it is too late.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

Taking Care of Business

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MdpBGFCnIx4/WkqAIvgSABI/AAAAAAAAIes/QN8g0IejMzUUEH0VCbqhTMqN9oMa_frAwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528135%2529.jpg RADM AJ Chegwidden: Our bunker had a lot of work left to do... but we had to have a high-command meeting so we left the rest of the bunker to their own devices, and they seemed to know that they were confined to the bunker. They knew that we couldn't afford to lose any of them, should the worst happen while we were in the meeting. It also seemed as though Mr. Frio, one Jared... was mulling over the facts that had been presented to him. It's all a matter of time to see if he steps up to the plate or not.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x8O-eLqI_5w/Wkp_KhR_PgI/AAAAAAAAIeo/BrSx_A1KdZUWdurtfTHIql3OGcOL0tddwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528137%2529.jpg My mind was still trying to digest the phone call that I had received from the Chief of Naval Operations. We were on the precipice of total war. The thought of the world going over the edge into it was unthinkable...but now completely possible. If that didn't give any person nightmares, they had to be insane.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W6GNgsysdts/WkqAu5tk1II/AAAAAAAAIe0/wju-52zHxP8KcpfJQ8PWAYyfzn5J3NzKACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528138%2529.jpg We all called this the situation room...the place that we would find out what was happening in the world. There were monitors and computers all hooked up to National Defense networks and there was three phone lines. One to the Department of Defense, one to the White House, and the other to that bunker in Cheyenne Mountain in El Paso County, Colorado provided that the Soviets didn't obliterate it into its component atoms. Hopefully, no one knew this one existed or we'd be obliterated too. Let's hope the Leninists thought this place was a shopping mall for capitalists, maybe we should put a few cars on the roof to make them think it was a parking garage...
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJtnluK30Vs/WkqCOC2sr5I/AAAAAAAAIfA/kV_DTtV-uvE0gyZBk-o9weBc-bhBgAOOgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528139%2529.jpg Gibbs and Pride were talking quietly with the vice-admiral on what things could potentially be done to improve communications with the outside...to those in the know about the state of world affairs and how soon this whole thing would kick off if we were unfortunate enough to end up not heeding the signs. It certainly was a sensitive topic meant for ears that were of high-enough rank to understand the gravity of the situation.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LX5FuASnz1s/WkqC2ZM7GhI/AAAAAAAAIfI/yjpvSy1k9vo2OP6VYWrtsEEJuHXG481OQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528140%2529.jpg One of Sunset Valley's former Air Force officers, turned transfer to the Corps was now a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines was chatting away with Clayton Webb, who was our CIA guy (even though he routinely denied it) in residence. Even though there were higher ranking members in the group than one lowly Lieutenant Colonel. It was his familiarity with Sunset Valley terrain that allowed LCOL Jack Bunch to be a part of the meeting.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--pTPbpLOXvE/WkqDrkvQlCI/AAAAAAAAIfU/v_Wr3-aPZ8EM45-SU2ykPJAeaZRNFOQuACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528143%2529.jpg It was a somber face to face as all in attendance realized the enormity of the situation at hand. This was a bit of news that was so hard to swallow that it took a long time for the impact to really hit. We all knew that we were running on borrowed time. And if negotiations failed, things would get heated: superheated to temperatures rivalling the surface of the sun.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wuLu8_PcnTE/WkqFJLCXiXI/AAAAAAAAIf0/zq8NcExD8Qg-VHE_8n90lEe_Nf3ZHE_NQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528152%2529.jpg At one point I had tasked Fiona McIrish the duty of getting skill books for the bunker library so that if things went down the way we thought, we'd have an alternate method of gaining knowledge other than to learn by trial and error. At least we wouldn't entirely be back to the Stone Age then. The other morbid thought was that if she was out and the Bomb went off, we wouldn't have lost a potential breeding female. As it was the older civilian women and men were up for the tasks of going outside the bunker to retrieve essentials such as stocking up on food and other items needed.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8vzeYmzmxo/WkqGDxMZOiI/AAAAAAAAIgA/3IAsRrZ2pNcRLjn_SwSonz86sKLEnisfgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528153%2529.jpg "Thanks for coming to the meeting" VADM Nakamura stated, grimly joking, "Not that you had much of a choice for coming here...Agent Pride here notified me about the fact that we lost two destroyers in the Pacific a few days ago. They were damaged beyond repair and the Navy had to torpedo them to the bottom of the ocean so that they wouldn't be salvageable to the ACPS. We also are hearing news about the Warsaw Pact Reformation. This is extremely bad news due to the fact that the Warsaw Pact has always had expansionist leanings and it is only a matter of time before they decide that they're going to expand westward. The fact that Russia is leaning in its nature back towards the old Soviet stance is worrisome. Agent Gibbs has noticed that there is more activity at the Soviet rocket bases in the Urals then there were before as our satellites track enemy movements. Yes, we have started going back to watching the Soviets carefully."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mN1EUN-GW1w/WkqHsIEGDmI/AAAAAAAAIgI/y0cWmwHqLPYCmkuYtByDyUxSxNB3Vl2cQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528154%2529.jpg "I'll take a moment here to introduce you to both Gibbs and Pride. Two guys that I have worked with for quite some time over the years...that's one of the reasons why I brought them on board at the behest of the CNO."
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbfWfcYhTyU/WkqIFPTpcnI/AAAAAAAAIgU/4ofhXnAtCyUwsyc7rvWhJZvXrUJdaVVyACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528158%2529.jpg "These gentlemen have been my eyes and ears in any situation that I have had in command of the Second Fleet, they have invariably kept my operations from heading south like a raft of penguins." At this I could have laughed uproariously because VADM Nakamura pointedly looked at Clayton Webb who had the intelligence to look ashamed.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aqZ09k4zx2o/WkqJAb7aKLI/AAAAAAAAIgc/bz7163HwwREbfsmT152Yd1CiziS8BQtjACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528155%2529.jpg I broke that snot-faced brat's nose once (in several pieces, mind you). Perhaps I need to do it again...if he doesn't step up and provide proper information.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pDulDBIk68o/WkqJTk7fcQI/AAAAAAAAIgg/sKWpOM_xur8-Uwbm2yr0j9Bkf0FDESQ3gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528156%2529.jpg "This is a situation that we have trained for..." VADM Nakamura stated clearly, "We have the exact scenario so none of us should be surprised. We may be disheartened that the situation has come to this, however but understand that we are not in a situation where haven't assessed the situation and have not understood the ramifications of what we are dealing with. If the balloon goes up tomorrow, I expect each and everyone of you to maintain your equilibrium and know that we are going to do everything that we can to get through this. Outside of a direct hit with a 25 MT weapon, this facility is designed to take everything that the Chinese or the Soviets can throw at us."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TnWm1-0U69o/WkqKeaAUvjI/AAAAAAAAIgw/wdhrK5apP_kULDtKXiZxHiU3MOIJpseKQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528162%2529.jpg "Unless they throw something with a larger yield than 25MTs like the Tsar Bomba...then we'll be as happy as little burrowing weasels inside our little comfy den here.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mqSkU4o2Pwc/WkqK31WUzpI/AAAAAAAAIg0/ii3nz4h6YOQctIUmXinqjZ729ydUpM_MwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528163%2529.jpg "Any questions?

None? Good... Second order of business...Clayton Webb..."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o3DQEWsog14/WkqLPHJOHRI/AAAAAAAAIg4/lIO-zXavCygJIwg9fO77cEtJvrG8uOBJACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528155%2529.jpg Oh, man, with Webb the focus of the VADM, it didn't look good for Clay and he knew it.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7GC1VkaIiI/WkqLfQzhaBI/AAAAAAAAIg8/T10hxJ1EY5Ed8yz7DBiOfCviVUXMpWnYQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528167%2529.jpg "When I ask for a situational update, Mr. Webb...unlike the incident with Sadik Fahd, it'd better not take forty-eight hours to provide me the pertinent data. Is that understood, Mr. Webb? Or you and I will be having a private discussion. There is a brig in this facility. Do you understand?
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mmzeVhDGHvI/WkqL7kh_JII/AAAAAAAAIhE/aZFSCniOOocSUIjRrejnwtZqvMyFnXxcQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528168%2529.jpg Webb was finding himself on the hotplate. Did I feel the slightest bit sympathetic towards his plight? Nawww...
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rg4cpCisgqg/WkqMa1vkFsI/AAAAAAAAIhM/EkgMsFJFl8A-ZO5Y2eGZY_n_VgJI5eO2QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528172%2529.jpg Gibbs and Pride looked over with identical amused expressions. Me, I was feeling pretty darned smug about the whole thing, while Webb squirmed under the vice-admiral's sardonic glare.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Amo75Z3YDZc/WkqM1faNpEI/AAAAAAAAIhQ/IFISWV8WxHgKwTOs8TpjKWZXE0QIS6drgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528173%2529.jpg "We still have plenty to do on this bunker so we'd best get to it." the vice-admiral finished off. "Thank you, gentlemen for your time..."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--BJ7ftgIRCY/WkqNLLkBtKI/AAAAAAAAIhY/dtoJ27K7FI4u_-EGwRnKMpxawpKD2j3yQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528174%2529.jpg "Dismissed..."
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

Frankenstein's Creations

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-03dl6LSMbqc/Wkq0LselRBI/AAAAAAAAIh8/B_NWN2zlaQcLJBxgh_q_f38cwmbmkvfVQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528177%2529.jpg Captain Harmon Rabb Jr.:We knew for a fact that there was going to be a culling of the bunker group. We had estimated that Alpha and Bravo platoons were going to end up at seven individuals a piece including the platoon sergeant. There was no way our resources could hold out if we had everyone in the group of candidates remain. The rest would be apportioned off to other bunkers for manpower or if the candidate decided to drop on request, they could rejoin the rest of the civilian population in the city and take their chances.

Animal did something that I didn't think that he would. He promoted Jared Frio to Cadet Platoon Sergeant of Bravo Platoon. And evidently Jared Frio stepped up to the challenge of commanding a platoon, because whether through fear or intimidation, he managed to cow every swinging fifth wing of them into a sense of military bearing. And to think that all I thought he'd be capable of doing was being a mess cook. Animal was perceptive and he thought that Jared had some command potential - evidently Animal was right. The other Cadet Platoon Sergeant was River McIrish who had a much tougher task considering her group of candidates was twice the size of Cadet Sergeant Frio's but she took to it like a fish to water.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FfqYb6TNbHw/Wkq0gjXhroI/AAAAAAAAIiM/PBNnIJU-jMY5DGP6KNNCWSQjfBG0R46KgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528181%2529.jpg It was with an air of pride that both new sergeants took to wearing their golden berets like badges of honor.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ReA84zIbPQ/Wkq1uD8_dTI/AAAAAAAAIiY/EaqlQosZiToYrof20erD0-mdpOmZXaJ7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528182%2529.jpg Of course Twyla Summers just would not take the position of attention and looked around...that drew Meg's ire...and she strode over to the cadet and planted herself square in Cadet Summer's face, calling over Cadet SGT McIrish over. "Come here, Sergeant...you have a cadet to correct."

"AYE MA'AM!!!" barked River and strode over to the Navy Captain.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--TWEoBvs6wM/Wkq2ScDe9EI/AAAAAAAAIic/HyuUaiSU3mUmiA47XhO6jvZu5y59ZNm3QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528183%2529.jpg All within audible hearshot, Meg's words cracked like a whip. "I want her in military bearing or she is to be made to drop on request (DOR), do you understand me, Sergeant. We have no time for a ne'er-do-well."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-po28bp9gacE/Wkq20fBi1II/AAAAAAAAIik/HZRn71yH3pwVG5JhzoedhwfyXFvK3xZygCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528184%2529.jpg "Either you get with the program, or you take your chances with the Bomb. Do you understand me, Cadet Summers."
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3EoATATcswY/Wkq3LdYjQiI/AAAAAAAAIio/7mxq6BrVI4cGExWmd1rJOq6aLKMiTqwiQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528187%2529.jpg Meg's piercing blue eyes pinned Cadet Summer's head to the wall.

Then...it was SGT McIrish's turn. "You just planted yourself on my plum-list, Cadet. And I'm going to do every thing I can think of to make you Drop On Request. All you need to do to make life more comfortable for yourself is to DOR."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAsPsU8sy0Q/Wkq3s9Ra_rI/AAAAAAAAIi4/X1AV5rMCAU0SV4HZFRfG_h23-DmPaxR9QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528188%2529.jpg "That goes for EVERY SINGLE ONE of you."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a5rlB4XWmIc/Wkq37lfwVnI/AAAAAAAAIi8/t9Scs2dFOBoBs-iFsIM_ht_Api1giQhowCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528190%2529.jpg And YOU...Cadet Summers, if you so much as step out of line one fraction of an inch...I'm going to pin your ears back and pop your eyes out of your skull!!!"
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s3z9eR_ZJSA/Wkq4RC4v4KI/AAAAAAAAIjE/QyBCDJVmVL0ovtHyS2v3M6HItwpa4mHKgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528192%2529.jpg I chose that moment to whisper to my friend, Meg, "Your apprentice learned well..." Meg was not amused.

Meanwhile Sergeant Psychopath...continued eyeballing Cadet Summers. "You're going to be begging me to DOR...why not save me the trouble? Cadet..."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TqFdQFUikAU/Wkq4vgOkn5I/AAAAAAAAIjM/-oLV2gt7aWghEHz5exKNm1V8kSDAF-N6QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528193%2529.jpg "Surely the Bomb couldn't be worse than I am..."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YYzEpcC0Iqc/Wkq47W7YlGI/AAAAAAAAIjQ/FzLLwpZzrBQZxvkstK9SoUFPv7is91C9gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528194%2529.jpg "Ring the bell, Cadet, Ring THE BELL!!!" River tightened the gears on Cadet Summers

I commented out the side of my mouth, "Hey, Meg...She's ALIVE...it LIVES..." alluding to Frankenstein's monster, created when River received the Golden Beret. Meg still wasn't amused.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w149BOsJ0jo/Wkq6VCdc3TI/AAAAAAAAIjc/Fn2uvgEntD8rrXe0ZJrFQ8fUuVrtL_iyACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528195%2529.jpg "You guys screw up just this much..." Cadet Sergeant Jared Frio roared at his cowed platoon. "You ain't going to last as long as Cadet Summers. Your fuzzy pink peaches will be grass...because I'll plant your plums!!!!"
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M6OaMMGnXjA/Wkq63e8uPuI/AAAAAAAAIjk/7g5YHXgR2t4JcgTsVoopxndoYo-U0JwBACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528196%2529.jpg Well...we had created two non-coms that were proving to be quite the quick learners with regards to making life miserable for recruits.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

Military Bearing

Captain Harmon Rabb Jr.: Two weeks later, the culling was complete. A lot of the people who were culled to make room, ended up at different bunkers, a few dropped-on-request and rejoined the civilian population to meet their fate should the unthinkable happen. And we were down to seven former civilians including two cadet sergeants who proceeded to make life absolutely H-E- double hockey-sticks for the remainder of the civilians. I'm sure it was done under the auspices of toughening them up for the days to come, but I'm sure it wasn't pleasant. But let's face it, it was certainly a lot easier on them than it was for Animal...who learned his mind-bending craft from the Marine Corps Drill Instructors who practically beat military bearing into ROTC cadets.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-39dedciR7jY/Wk1iYhZN_NI/AAAAAAAAIj4/uSCqBAJ4LyoWrLqYqutIfzi7tT_OdUKxgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528198%2529.jpg Hank Goddard was one particular scuzzy looking human being. With a soul-piece under his lip, he looked like a veritable greaseball. I took the opportunity to channel my Gunnery Sergeant Post alter-ego which I had perfected since that time I went undercover in the Marine Corps and went after him with surgical precision. "What the heck is that dead caterpillar curled up under your lip, Cadet?!!" I looked over at Marty Keaton, who was trying his hardest not to snicker. "You'd better not say a word Cadet Keaton."
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oMIKpTFgpWw/Wk1ikKnRebI/AAAAAAAAIj8/c-5UfHYce3khCIetQrJ7HLfa4V4QgyLYwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528200%2529.jpg "Are you sure that's not a caterpillar because it looks like one of the lethal ones you find in the Amazon. Maybe I need to smack it off with a two by four before it takes out half the plumming platoon?!!!"

"It's a soul-piece, sir." Cadet Hank Goddard explained.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdzpIZWevsU/Wk1iyhLONwI/AAAAAAAAIkA/lr8YTc_2tbIARDRc-Go_N8Dr2kwr9Y5fQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528199%2529.jpg "I don't give a rats smelly behind what it is, it'd better be off and flushed down the head by the next time this platoon forms up or you will be doing pushups till you throw up."
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vVxPqTO9Bf8/Wk1i_Ip3ZfI/AAAAAAAAIkE/GZaspJ6M1JUuftgXIavRKy84JScXqtVvgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528201%2529.jpg "I'd better see cleanshaven heads and faces in Bravo Platoon or you all will be running the roof. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!!!!" There was a chorus of "Aye, sir!!!" coming from the assembled recruits. Satisfying myself with another glare at Hank Goddard to drive home the fact that I was dead-serious, I about-faced and headed back to line up with the rest of the instructor cadre.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fdhFegFDeSU/Wk1jH0yymyI/AAAAAAAAIkI/t7u-IEBtAWwuKwTlFmAuRK4IE1mIZy4YwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528202%2529.jpg Commander Sturgis Turner became the defacto head of Bravo Platoon, while Lieutenant Commander Harriet Beaumont Sims-Roberts became the head of Alpha Platoon. They were the commanding officers of the platoons, to whom the cadet Sergeants would report.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1UEl7ho1YPs/Wk1jV83HdsI/AAAAAAAAIkM/5hOYlplu9EIYUbBZJm9HS5fTpRhrRZObQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528204%2529.jpg As a matter of fact, the whole platoons started looking a whole lot more military as time went on. And considering the fact that they had to do so in as short an amount of time as was possible, they were doing very well.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VKimrJvgCx8/Wk1jgdDovII/AAAAAAAAIkU/mXrvcG6avpcGVGQEJak7gYzDCBmlwySowCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528206%2529.jpg In fact, Cadet Sergeant Jared Frio was looking more and more military with a sharp salute that would have made the Gunny, who I worked with, proud if he was still around. Goodness knows where he is now, but we certainly could have used him to whip these recruits into shape, but Cadet SGT Frio is doing a darned good job at mentally brow-beating his recruits into shape, one of which included his brother.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EGzrK3gsLDo/Wk1jrz3yfAI/AAAAAAAAIkY/qK2nxI-0DMEWsKIFTCIhOHEJSFoakSXRwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528212%2529.jpg Equally mean and nasty, was Cadet SGT McIrish. With a tongue that could flay iron and a caustic Irish sense of humor that leaned towards the sadistic, she whipped the six remaining cadets in her platoon into military shape.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8TWz8s83Oi8/Wk1j4OoVYwI/AAAAAAAAIko/n97LBSmWrjkD7U_T3zL31BeG1ztU5j-qgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528217%2529.jpg All stood at crisp military attention. And Connor Frio finally shaved that mangy beard of his off his face. They were all, rapidly due to the situation, turning into soldiers that we would be able to count on in dire times...and those dire times would be here sooner than we expected.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
7 years ago
The Mushroom Cloud Chronicles (Reboot)

The Abyss Looks Back

Captain Meg Austin : It was about a week later that we got the unwelcome news...that something bad had gone down in the Pacific. Evidently a flotilla of Chinese Destroyers had encountered the Navy's 7th Fleet. Three US destroyers had been torpedoed, and the Russians had launched a their super-secret nuclear torpedo which had put the George Washington Carrier Battle Group at the bottom of the ocean. This had sparked a retaliatory action: complete, total war with nuclear warheads being readied for launch in a pre-emptive strike against the hearts of Communist China and the Soviet Union.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2KngajaRKvc/Wk1sT2IcAhI/AAAAAAAAIkw/wSUEy1x6Z0EPexevrsHKxi6m3g_AlLjUwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528220%2529.jpg I knew that my husband was shocked beyond belief because I saw him cross himself and pray. This was the news that we all didn't want to hear. Because it would mean that missiles were in the air.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o7l6-DI2rKU/Wk1sdLJPJwI/AAAAAAAAIk0/IyFQMamQOlQzRd1owN9wj0Shu5FANnt4wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528219%2529.jpg "Yes, sir...I understand, sir." My husband stated as he talked to the Chief of Naval Operations. "God speed, sir... May we live to regret this. May our God forgive what we have wrought upon his Creation." A fervent wish that we would survive the aftermath to come. As my husband got off the phone, he was pale. Everyone was dead silent as he said solemnly intoning... "We are at war..." There were murmured prayers, crying and from the men, just aghast silence as if they didn't believe what was going on...
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OeNJw48cPmQ/Wk1s_8TkCYI/AAAAAAAAIk8/ca9GfOCy7zI7gQ4dboSxIIWvgWBaGv2igCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528222%2529.jpg "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are restricted to barracks here...the missiles are in the air...May God have mercy on us..."
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gacyrskM87Q/Wk1tqEj8LuI/AAAAAAAAIlA/mjG7m9bKahkFS7rajqJMX_-ERC7XThTXgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528226%2529.jpg I couldn't help it, I needed the arms of my husband. I broke ranks...and rushed into his arms. He wouldn't let go and I didn't want him to. If we were to die here...we would die together in each other's arms.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2VSaM3UTEdY/Wk1ucMojJXI/AAAAAAAAIlQ/PAjPW8j1nq8Mjn1EYY9mKilr4sgncqbOgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2B%2528227%2529.jpg Author's Note: May this be a warning to all hawks...that the road that we are on, the posturing and foolish bravado that we are engaging in, in real life right now, could very well lead to apocalypse.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8YxfG_OYGto/WYgMVnG8rmI/AAAAAAAABRQ/4bP9rrhG7ms5StdAvV-9vcrQtS3ANBEMQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Screenshot-9-3-3.jpg