Episode 4 -- Wardogs
Hawk's Point of View
The team discovers a resistance group in Sector 24. Their leader, an old friend of Hawk's, is convinced that the war is lost and is planning to lead her team to Eden II despite the fact that the place is considered a myth. She invites Hawk to join her as Hawk tries to convince her to stay and fight Dread.
~*~*~*~*~
Eden II.
The mere mention of the word brought to mind a land rumored to be a mythical paradise with tall trees, green grass and clear running streams, with soil so rich and fertile that any seed would grow into an abundant crop, where someone could actually get bored.
For a few moments, Hawk thought that retirement sounded pretty good. Sleeping late, going fishing, growing vegetables, growing bored in paradise... he couldn't blame Vi for getting out of the fight. It had been a long road for both of them, ever since the Metal Wars. Years of fighting, continually on the move, scavenging for everything from food and water to fuel and parts -- it took its toll on people. That kind of constant vigilance bred exhaustion from which there was no time off except one: fading away like old soldiers do.
Yeah, boredom was sounding better and better by the minute.
Then there was Vi. Some of the old feelings were still there; there was no denying that. Seeing her was like old times, reminding him of more hopeful times when the wars didn't seem doomed to failure.
Before the Metal Wars, life was simple. Hawk met Joanna who was the best thing that ever happened to him. Then they were blessed with Mitch and Katie, and their lives were happy. He had it all. Then the Metal Wars began. He had something to fight for, a reason to not give up. He wasn't alone. There were so many soldiers fighting the machines, but Dread took every bit of their lives away. His home town of Dalworth was destroyed, his family killed, communications were lost and civilization fell. It was the not knowing that was the worst. For a long time, no one knew who was still alive and who was still fighting, and no matter how much he was hurting or how angry he was, he still had a purpose. Jon had lost everyone and everything he'd had and needed him, there was still a war to fight and people to rescue. It kept Hawk busy, and he didn't have to risk or unlock his heart.
Then there was Vi. Over fifteen years, and she still looked as beautiful as the last time he saw her. The thought of her made his heart beat a little faster. Those feelings were definitely there. Vi, alive, warm, and now far away. Sometimes, years didn't weaken the heart or the memory. It had been many years since Hawk had felt that way about anyone, and the feeling wasn't unwelcome.
However, the revelation Vi had seen immediately but Matt had been unaware of proved the point that he really must be getting old to not see what was right in front of his eyes.
~*~*~*~
The day before
"Come with us, Hawk. With me. We're old soldiers. It's time to fade away," Vi begged.
The idea that he could stop fighting, just lay down his arms and take up the hammock and rocking chair -- it would have been so easy to say yes, so impossible to say no. Here was a piece of his past that still held a large part of his heart. Going off to Eden II with her would mean a second chance for both of them.
Before Hawk could say anything, Cherokee rushed into Vi's room. "Colonel, scanners have picked up a ship headed this way."
Ship? Vi rushed to the scanner, her face set in grim determination, with Hawk a half-step behind. If they had another fight on their hands... "This configuration doesn't look like any known dread craft. Looks more like one of our old TFs."
That was good news. Hawk sighed in relief. "It's the captain. I must be getting old. I completely forgot to check in." He hurried out of the cave into the open ground for a clear transmission. "Power on."
He felt the usual electrical surge every time he powered up his suit. Yeah, it felt good to suit up, impress the Wardogs a little bit. Even Cherokee wanted a suit like his. "Hawk to jumpship."
"Hawk, are you all right?" Jon's worried voice answered back.
Yeah, that was Jon. Always worried about everyone on the team. "Sure am. I've got someone I want you to meet. Home in on my suit."
"We're on our way."
Hawk turned back to Vi and Cherokee who were still grinning like Cheshire cats. "So who was that?" Vi asked him.
"Captain Jonathan Power."
Cherokee's smile faltered. "Wait a minute. Captain Power himself?"
Ah, not only did the suit impress, but his boss did as well. "You've heard of him?" Hawk asked.
Cherokee gave Hawk a punch on the arm, perhaps testing the strength of the armor. "Who hasn't? He's been giving Dread even more trouble than we have for years. How do you do that flying around in an old TF? Those things were ancient when the Metal Wars were in the headlines."
"We've got the best pilot around. Oh, one more thing," Hawk said in a low voice, "whatever you do, don't say one bad word about the ship, especially about her age or us getting a new one. Our pilot takes meticulous care of that ship, and she takes it personally if someone insults it."
~*~*~*~*~
"Hawk!" Jon yelled as Cherokee escorted him and Jennifer into the cave. He looked around, seeing the rugged soldiers carrying their weapons at the ready. "Everything okay?"
"Fine, fine." Hawk answered as he walked over to Jon. "I want you to meet Colonel Vivian Tucker, commander of Wardog Company. She and I fought together in the Metal Wars. Vi, this is Captain Jonathan Power and Corporal Jennifer Chase."
Vi shook hands with her 'guests,' a surprised look on her face. "Captain, it's good to meet you. I see you have to put up with this old war bird these days, huh?"
"Somewhat," Jon laughed. "I take it he hasn't changed much?"
Vi smiled. "Not much. Little older, little grayer, little more forgetful..."
Hawk cleared his throat. "Let's not talk about my age either, okay?" he prompted Vi. Then, to Jon, "The Wardogs are heading out pretty soon. They've got a way out."
Jon and Jennifer glanced at each other when they heard that. "Heading out?" Jennifer asked.
Vi nodded. "We're going to Eden II."
~*~*~*~*~
Vi laid out her plan step by step for her guests. It was well thought out, meticulous and planned to the last detail, but it all hinged on one thing -- that Eden II existed.
Finally, Vi summed up her explanation. "We'll rendezvous with the Eden contact here in one week." She pointed to a particular point on the map.
Jon shook his head. "You'll never make it. Dread has that entire quadrant sealed off. Let us take you to the Passages. You'll be safe there."
One of the Wardogs, Heiko, disagreed. "Vi will get us through in time."
"What if there is no Eden II?" Jennifer asked. "What if it is just a myth or a trap?"
"Then we'll find someplace else," Vi answered. "It's been a long, hard war for us. War's over. We lost. We could keep fighting, but earth is run by the Dreadheads now."
Hawk understood the sentiment, but he could never follow it. Declaring defeat while there was still one breath in his body was not something he could do. "Captain, talk to her. Tell her it's suicide."
Jon looked at Jennifer. Both were speechless. What could they say?
"Save your breath," Vi told them. "We've been through a lot worse to get this far. We're going to take the chance, no matter what happens." She leaned over and gave Matt a kiss on the cheek. "Take care, Matt," she whispered as she walked off.
~*~*~*~*~
Hawk knew there would be no dissuading Vi. He knew her far too well for that. Even if he couldn't talk her out of it, he could at least help her with whatever information he had about the quadrant, point out where Dread units were on the map, any kind of troop movement he knew about. He hurried after her as soon as Jon and Jennifer left to catch up with Scout and Tank.
"So that's the famous Captain Power," Vi commented as she folded up some maps and stuffed them in her backpack. "He's a bit more laid back than I expected after fighting Dread all these years. And that corporal, isn't she a little young to be a pilot?"
Hawk nodded his head. "Aren't they all young?"
"And getting younger all the time," Vi agreed. "Sometimes, I feel more like a den mother than a commander. Or maybe a dorm mother. How old is she?"
"The one rule that has stood the test of time is never ask a lady her age," Hawk laughed. "To tell the truth, I don't know how old she is. I don't think she knows either."
"So what's the story there?"
That question took Hawk by surprise. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't notice the looks between those two? There's something going on," Vi told him.
Looks? What looks? "What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, Hawk, you're not that old. You can't tell that there's something going on between those two?"
Going on? Okay, maybe he was getting older and the hair on his head was a little thinner, but he never had trouble seeing what was right in front of him.
Vi laughed. "Oh, Hawk, before one would answer, they'd look at each other like they were trying to decide what answer to give. There's some kind of unspoken communication going on. You haven't noticed?"
"No," Hawk answered truthfully, but if there was something going on between Jon and Jennifer... what behaviors had Hawk observed that would support that? He thought... "I guess that explains a few things. Lately, Jon's been taking Pilot with him on more missions. He's teasing her about the ship a little more these days, but I thought that was because she understood the jokes better these days --"
"So there might be something there?" Vi asked.
"Yeah, there might," Hawk answered, "but I don't think they know it yet."
Vi's eyebrow raised at the thought. "Really? Why not? Don't tell me he's hiding behind the rule that fraternization is against regulations between commanders and subordinates. We're far beyond that stage now."
Were they? Jon did have a rather lax command structure, but there were lines he didn't cross. "Maybe we are, but it's not as cut and dried with them. She's learning how to deal with feelings and Jon buried his a long time ago. It's a long story, and there's some history they'll have to deal with."
"His?"
Hawk thought for a moment. "More hers, to tell the truth."
"Well, I love a long story," Vi told him, "but I seem to remember that you were good at condensing a tall tale." She smiled as she placed her backpack on the ground and sat down.
Hawk laughed. "Okay, long story short, Jon's father was killed by Dread when he was fifteen. Jon was focused on stopping Dread any way he could. He studied and improved the power suits, developed friendships and trading relationships with towns, recruited other groups to fight in the Resistance that he would have liked you to do, looked long and hard for the right people to put on the team -- it became his life. There wasn't much time for personal feelings. There was the occasional girl he'd meet, but there was nothing serious or long-term."
"Sounds like a lonely way to live," Vi commented.
"In some ways, it was. Then, one day, we met Jennifer. There's another long story -- "
"And the short version?" Vi prompted.
Hawk sighed. It wasn't a secret, but they didn't casually talk about Jennifer's past. "Jennifer was a Youth Leader in the Dread Youth, found out everything she'd been taught was a lie and she risked her life to get away. Escaping almost killed her. By the time we found her, she was on her last leg."
"Wait a minute," Vi held up her hand. "I didn't think it was possible for a Dread Youth to break the brainwashing."
"It's not supposed to be, so you can imagine how we felt when we met her. Here was this scared girl being chased by clickers, being saved by who she'd been told was her sworn enemy, exhausted and about to pass out from her wounds, and none of us had any idea what to make of her."
Vi thought for a moment. "But she's a member of your team. How did that happen?"
"Not overnight," Hawk told her. "She didn't know anything about being human. She didn't known music or poetry or dancing. It was a while before we even saw her smile. While we were helping her understand what it was like to be human, she was telling us what it was like to raised in the Dread Youth. No parents, no love, no physical contact, no music or art. It was all duty and routines and those blasted litanies Dread had them recite. She's devoted a lot of time to learning all the things Dread denied her all those years, and we're there to fill in the blanks. She's come a long way, and it's been a rocky learning experience for all of us."
"It must have been difficult for all of you, especially with you being the Resistance and her being Dread Youth."
Hawk nodded. "It was. She's been through a lot in the time we've known her. She's stronger than anyone I've ever met. Fearless. It would take a woman like that to get Jon's attention and keep it, but her life has been so restricted, she's still trying to find her way."
Vi started giggling.
"What?" Hawk asked.
"I'm guessing you and your other teammates will have more to talk about now than just baseball scores," she joked.
~*~*~*~*~
The day after
Walking through the corridors of the Power Base, Hawk mused on lost loves, conversations, new revelations...
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there had been hints. He should have known that something was developing between Jon and Jennifer. For whatever reason, he hadn't noticed. Maybe he didn't want to. They lived in a perpetual war zone. Any mission could be their last or one of them might not return. They all lived with that one fact that there might be someone missing at the dinner table someday. Developing romantic feelings for anyone was a risky proposition at the best of times. For those two, at this time, the risk was even greater.
He heard something up ahead. Quietly, he walked until he could see Mentor 's computer monitor. Sitting there, Jon and Jennifer were engaged in a game of chess. The late night games were becoming something of a routine for them.
"Check," Jennifer said. "And I'll have mate in three moves."
Hawk saw 'that' look between them again. That's when he knew for certain. Jon and Jennifer didn't realize they had a look like that. He also knew when three was a crowd and wasn't going to interrupt them.
"Think so?" Jon asked.
"Definitely. See if you can get out of this predicament if you don't believe me," she dared.
Amused, Hawk turned around and started to walk back down the corridor, but turned back at the last moment. Yeah, there was that look again that neither one of them knew they shared. Maybe the heart knew what the mind didn't know to admit? Hawk had been lucky. He'd loved two extraordinary women in his life. One, he lost to the war. The other, he let go because he had to fight in the war. It wasn't over, not for him. He had to make a choice, and his choice was to stay and fight.
Hopefully, the two people playing chess in the control room wouldn't have to make a choice like that.
Then, to himself, he said, "They're young, Vi, but they've got time to work things out."
The End