Diplomatic Relations

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“Rise and shine Sarge”

A boot jabbed into the side of his leg. The larger man jerked awake his eyes fluttering open. His large hands rose up to his military cap pushing the fatigue wide brimmed up. His large shoulders stretched as his hands slapped against the metal seat pushing himself up and regarding the group of men situated in the large Humvee.

“Thanks for the wake-up you sons of a bitches” Sergeant Jim Hogarth mumbled his deep voice still heavy with sleep.

“No beauty sleep could fix your face Sarge” Cole said his smile extra white on his deep dark Caribbean skin.

The others laughed as Jim casually flicked him off. The truck jostled as it hit a speed bump causing Jim to sit up straight as he pulled back on his dress jacket. The tailored blue outfit of the marine corp fit well across his frame showcasing his muscular form and large physique from all sides. His chest was awash with medals of different sizes and shapes each one a story and mark in his military career. The man was older with a dusting of silver in his hair that stood out against the dark black that made up the rest of his hair. His face was freshly shaved save for a well-manicured goatee that flirted with regulations.

“How close are we?” Jim asked checking his naval watch and peering outside. The streets of London passed them by looking drab in dreary in the rain fall. Jim wasn’t one to believe in omens but did take stock in first impressions. So far London hadn’t impressed him and he was already dreaming off the shore leave he would take back home in his beach house.

He could practically feel the warm sand.

“We’re about five miles away Sarge” Another Marine said a ugly brute of a man known as Tank “The Joint Task force Head Quarters is where we are all meeting and then were taking a Chinook down to the training grounds”

“Could have just gotten us all there and saved some time” Cole grumbled scratching at his bicep as he leaned back “Were marines not diplomats”

“They wanted to debrief us all before the exercise started” Jim replied as the Humvee turned off the long stretched of road “Be on your best behavior. We’re representing the entire U.S.A and its military. We do the exercise and its R&R time for all of us”

“Hoorah” Tank murmured causing the others including Jim to chuckle. The rest of the ride passed in silence. Jim watched as the streets of London passed by making a mental note to try and pick something up for Katie before he left.

The military procession turned another corner and suddenly they traded the wide rainy streets of London for a dark parking garage. The Humvee slid effortlessly into a spare parking spot along with the rest of the convey.

“Seems like we’re here boys” Jim said pushing the door open easily with one hand “Keep your gear stowed I’ll make sure someone collects our equipment.
REMEMBER best behaviors anyone who causes trouble has to deal with me”

“Yes sir” they all said nodding their heads.

Jim moved to the front of the group checking his matching blue pants and making sure his shoes were polished. Once he was sure he was ready he moved forward his back strong and straight and his arms pressed against his side. They followed the rest of the precession into the elevator where a man in a suit was waiting for them.

“Welcome everyone” The man said his English accent echoing off of the metal elevator car “My name is Lane Sheffield I am part of the MI6 group conducting this exercise.”

He pressed a button on the elevator and they were off. No one said a word as the elevator began its ascent not even Lane. When the elevator finally reached the tenth floor its doors slid open and Lane led them out and into a long hallway.

“The conference room is there” He said pointing at a pair of white double doors “When you step inside you should see a table with your countries flag and another one. That is where your team will sit and the team you will be working with”

“Thank you, sir,” Jim said stepping forward and beating everyone to else to the punch “Marines after me”

Jim strode forward boldly making sure he and his team were the first in. They moved into the conference room finding the table in a matter of seconds and taking their places. Jim sat down and eyed the other flag noting the union jack and smiling.

“We’re partnered with the brits?” Cole said craning his head to try and see the British team “is that good or bad?”

“We’ll see” Jim said shooting him a glare “stop flapping your head everywhere and button it up!”
 
She shuffled the papers on the desk into a neat pile and placed them in the pink coloured folder marked Joint Service Exercise SABER and stamped SECRET. She had dreaded this exercise, 5 weeks away from the comforts of her own home, sleeping under olive drab tents, that always stank of mothballs and mould. She called Flight Lieutenant Buckton on the phone and requested he come to see her. Checking over her desk and mentally ticking off items in her head to make sure she hadn't omitted anything.

There was a knock at the office door "Come in!" she called. The door opened and Flt Lt Buckton entered the room and saluted smartly. He stood to attention in the centre of the room. His youth belying his experience. He had been deployed on several operations overseas and survived a massive insurgent attack in Iraq, but carried a scar from a through and through bullet, that had pierced his left bicep. "Have you inventoried everything on the 4 tonner Phillip?" she enquired. "Yes Ma'am, we are just loading the last of the 24 hour Rat packs and we're good to go" he replied. She glanced up from her desk, her blue eyes connecting with his. "What about the advance party? Are they all set up that end?" she asked, sitting back in her chair and placing her pen in the top left pocket of her desert combats. "I believe so Ma'am. They had some issues with Comms, but that's been sorted so I'm told. I have the Op orders ready for the briefing on my desk, when you want them" he added. "Thank you, I'll pick them up on my way into the briefing room. I do hope the weather stays dry, summary isn't looking good though" she replied, rolling her eyes in disappointment. "Well Ma'am, you know what they say, if it ain't raining, it ain't training!" he joked, a smile lighting up his face. She returned his smile, a small laugh escaped her lips. "Well then, I guess we can expect a downpour!" she exclaimed with amusement. I just have a phone call to make and then I'll be with you, thank you Phillip". He saluted again, turned smartly and walked from the room.

She picked up the phone, calling the Main Guardroom. "Good morning it's Squadron Leader Percival here. Can you pass a message to Warrant Officer Brant that the meeting is set for 1130 hours today? It was pushed back by half an hour, any problems he can get me on extension 4538. I did try to get hold of him earlier, but I believe he's busy out and about on Camp somewhere? If you can contact him soonest that would be great, he's got 10 minutes to get there, thank you. She hung up. Smoothing the sides of her brown hair and checking her bun was secured properly. She walked round the desk, grabbing her beret and stood in front of the small wall mounted mirror. She put her beret on, pulling it down over the right side of her face and making sure it was shaped correctly and the badge was over her left eye. She tucked her combat shirt in neatly and checked that all her buttons were correctly fastened. Her sleeves rolled up to just above her elbows, revealing her toned and lightly tanned forearms. She was petite, but fierce, she had to be. Working in a male dominated environment, especially the military, required a thick skin. She had proven her worth in her fight for promotion time and again, even though she found she had to work harder and produce better results than her male counterparts, just to get the same recognition. Not bad for a 29 year old though, only taken her 10 years to get to this point, which given the slow promotion and cutbacks of the Military, was a great achievement.

There was a knock on the door. "Yes, enter!" she hollered, taking one last look at her reflection. The door opened and Flt Lt Buckton stuck his head into the room. "Everyone's ready Ma'am" he informed her quietly. "Righto, do you have the Op orders there?" she queried. "Yes Ma'am". "Okay then, let's get this show on the road Phillip" she smoothed down her uniform and grabbed the pink file from her desk, following Flt Lt Buckton down the corridor to the briefing room. She entered the room as Flt Lt Buckton shouted attention. Everyone sat up straight, fists on their knees. "At ease everyone" she said as she strode to the podium at the front of the room. Putting down the folder she looked around the room. "Good morning everyone! I'm Sqn Ldr Emma Percival and I am the Ops Commander for our small contingent during this exercise. Flt Lt Buckton will be handing out the Op orders for this detail and we will be meeting the other Joint Forces when we hit the ground at the other end. Well gentleman, as you know, this is a 5 week training exercise at Imber in Salisbury. The objective is to take part in Close Quarter Battle (CQB) and Search and Seizure training with foreign and domestic forces. This is a large exercise gentlemen and as long as we concentrate on our role and execute it well, then it should be smooth sailing. We will be taken by road to Hyde Park Barracks after lunch today and will be boarding the Chinook at 1500hrs.". She scanned the room again, her eyes catching a handsome face among the American military. She caught his eyes as he stared back at her intently, feeling herself blush slightly, she looked away. "Lunch will be at 1200hrs in the Officer's Mess. Everyone is to be on the transport by 1245hrs prompt. Any difficulties, please speak to Flt Lt Buckton in the first instance; he is my 2 IC and if he can't deal with it, then he will inform me. To our US attendees, welcome to the UK! I look forward to speaking with your CO once we are on site at Imber. That is all gents, let's make this a good one, dismissed!". She strode out of the room carrying the Secret folder and went back to her office.
 
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“Get a load of her Sarge” Cole said rising up in his seat as the woman came in. The other members of his squad began to stiffen and move to as all four of the American man eyed the senior british personal as she walked over to the podium. Even Jim couldn’t help but run his eyes up and down her form taking her in even as his eyes remained diplomatic. His men were right to call her a looker not that he would be so crass…

Still that didn’t mean he couldn’t get an eyeful.

“Stow it Marines” He growled letting them have their fun for a few more seconds before cutting them off “Give her the respect that’s due and listen to the briefing!”
He leaned forward listening to the directions given and what was going on. He already knew the exercise, had studied it until he knew it like the back of his hand. It was a classic war game one that used civilians and military personal to simulate an insurgency. They would drop into the city and try to hunt the insurgence’s down using both conventional and non-conventional tactics to find them. He already had a few ideas on how to make it work ideas he looked forward to implementing in the field to impress his superiors and earn the much-coveted promotion he was gunning for.

After that he would be retiring from active field work. It was a long time coming after 25 long years in the field and training men. Everything he gave up was for American and even though he was forty-five and not married he didn’t regret a single second of it.

At least that’s what he told himself.

She finished the debriefing and moved leaving the stage just as fast as she entered it. Once she was gone the procession began to talk amongst themselves with the different foreign teams chatting and introducing themselves.

“I guess we’ll meet our team later” Jim remarked rising out of his seat “Since the brits are running the show. You all go get your gear sorted and grab some lunch I will see you when the convey leaves at 1245 NONE of you will be late you hear?”
“Yes Sir!” They responded rising and saluting him before making their way out of the room. Once they were gone he left moving over to the officer’s mess along with the other senior personal. He spent a few minutes rubbing shoulders being as diplomatic and friendly as possible even as sniffed out the competition. Two of the countries would be playing the insurgency and as part of the exercise they wouldn’t know until the game started. Any one of them could be the opposition, any one of them could be the enemy.

The senior personal entered the mess hall. Jim helped himself to some food piling his plate as high as he good as his large frame slid between the men. He didn’t know what the food was going to be like in the game and so he made sure to get enough to enjoy and fill up on. Once he was sure he had all the food he could carry he went and sat down at the table marked with the British and American flags.

“Wonder where my eating partner is at?” Jim murmured looking around. He decided to wait leaning back and not touching his food. He would be polite and wait five minutes and if she didn’t come he would then start eating.
 
Entering the Mess she grabbed some food and headed to the USA/UK table, finding herself sitting opposite a Sergeant from the US Marines, the same one she had noticed during the short briefing. Placing her beret on the table next to her plate, she smiled at the faces around her. "Good afternoon everyone!" She was met by a chorus of voices, responding to her greeting. Looking straight at him across the table. "You must be Sergeant Hogarth? It's good to meet you. It'll be interesting to see what roles we will be playing when we get there won't it?". "Yes Ma'am, I reckon it will" he replied. He made her nervous, she wasn't sure why. There was an intensity about him that was palpable. Perhaps it was his size? He had a commanding presence and from what she could tell, a very domineering personality, much like her own.

Flt Lt Buckton, having collected his food, sat down at the table next to her. "Can't believe how many people are in here! Took an age to get my nosebag!" he complained, looking up and seeing one of the Marines look at him with a questioning look on his face. "Oh sorry, nosebag, slang for a meal" he explained. "Gotcha!" the Marine nodded and grinned. They had cordoned off part of the Mess for the exercise personnel. The normal waited service by the Mess Stewards only available to those on the other side of the barrier. "Well, all the admin is done. Hell of a lot of kit we are lugging to this shindig" he laughed, as he picked up his cutlery. "Hey if you guys get fed up with your Rat packs, we can trade, mix it up a bit" he was met with eager nods as the Marines continued to eat. The rest of the meal passed by with small talk and some laughter, each of them eager to get going and get it over with. Emma checked her watch, it was 1234hrs. She turned to Flt Lt Buckton "Well I guess we had better get moving? See you on the ground everyone!" she stated to those at the table. She got up, followed by Flt Lt Buckton and headed out to the transport.
 
Well that was…. Interesting

The lunch with his “partner” was amicable and short. The two of them practically ate and ran pausing long enough to be diplomatic. There was a private joke and they laughed not bothering to fill him in or even attempt to. He didn’t say anything about it letting the joke fly over his head and finishing his food. When they got up he rose as well offering his hand and nodding at them. They left after and he watched them his eyes intently following her.

This was going to be…. Interesting to say the least.

He left after them going back down to his men and gathering them. He didn’t let them know how his “lunch” went just telling them to be on their toes and be ready for anything. Soon enough they were loading up leaving the compound and driving the short drive to the chinooks. They all filed in and then they were off taken out of the air force base and on their way to the training area.

Jim prided himself on his ability to get sleep anywhere. He spent long enough in the field that he knew the value of a short cat nap. Once they were on their way he closed his eyes blocking out everything else and falling into a short slumber.
“Sarge we’re here”

Jim opened his eyes rising up and looking out the window. Outside the training facility stretched out in the middle of a large clearing. It was huge! Built from the ground up to simulate an urban middle eastern environment. A huge crowd slowly filed into the area civilians who would play the part of the “civilians” it would be the terrorist job to recruit them and turn them against the military opposition. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that and civilians being involved but he was willing to play ball…

For now

“We will touch down in five” The voice said over the headset “We thank you for flying air Britain!”

“Our allies should already be there” Jim said talking to his Marines “They will let us know if we are playing the terrorist or the opposition. If I was to bet any money were the opposition I doubt the brits would put all this together and then play the bad guys!”
 
Finding the Command Tent for their contingent, she checked that everything they needed was in there. Comms, maps, all the relevant paperwork and equipment they required. The hum of the generator outside was an annoying distraction, but they wouldn't be in here for long periods of time, so that was a blessing at least. She placed her kit bag down on the floor and let out a long sigh. Well, she was here now and had to make the most of it. She was meeting with the Commander for the US side shortly to go over strategies, firstly she needed to find out what their role was going to be. Information that had been witheld to all the parties involved in the exercise, to see how well they could adapt at short notice and preventing any of them from making anything more than rudimentary plans.

She placed two of the folding wooden chairs near the trestle table in the centre of the tent, ready for the meeting. Picking up her kit bag, she went to find the Ops tent to get their assignment, before dropping her kit off at the accommodation she would be calling home for the next few weeks. Her tent was not too far from Ops, which meant that sleep would be at a premium, as the Ops Tent would be manned and working 24 hours a day. Saying that, after a long day in the field, she could sleep through the Royal Navy Band playing right next to her and she wouldn't stir!

This was a huge exercise, tents sprawled out right up to the tree line in the distance and hundreds of personnel all milling around. She had found the showers, at least they had hired some portacabins for ablutions and they didn't have to have combat showers, that was a nice surprise. She grabbed some food in the Mess Tent and headed back for the strategy meeting. She had the envelope containing their assigned roles in her hand, still unopened. She would wait until they started the meeting, before finding out what the envelope had in store for them.

She sat down, having set out maps of the exercise area on the table and setting up the white board ready for the strategy meeting. She was familiarising herself with the various sections on the map, the location of the Armoury, the Medical Centre and the exercise area, when she heard footsteps approaching.
 
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The helicopter landed depositing the marines and the other personal who hitched a ride. Jim was the first one off taking it all in.

The exercise was meant to simulate a middle eastern urban environment. The helicopter pad was part of the “oppositions base” and was set up accordingly. The attention to detail and equipment was impressive and further showed off just what this exercise was supposed to be. They had nothing more than what they would have in the field. There was a wall that went around the structure and beyond that houses that represented the village they were occupying.

“Civilians will be entering now” One of his men said “Time to find out if we are the good guys or bad guys!”

“Get your gear ready for either scenario” Jim said turning to regard his marines “I’ll be back in a few minutes stay frosty”

“Aye Sarge!” They called out as he moved away.

He moved off of the helicopter pad and onto the dirt packed road. There were signs pointing to the command center and he followed them making sure to say hello to any soldier he passed regardless of nationality. He watched them as well noting that the Chinese and the German delegation seemed to be moving OUT of the base. It further confirmed his suspicions that they would be playing the opposition in this little game. He COULD still be wrong but he doubted it.

“Ah there you are” He said seeing the woman from earlier and moving to her. He noted the envelope in his hand and stopped in front of her.

“Our those are orders?” He said nodding at the envelope “Thank you for waiting to read it”
 
"No problem!" she replied, smiling politely. "I'm Emma Percival, but since I saw you at the briefing, I assume you already know that? We seem to have a basic set up in here" she continued, nodding towards the Command Tent. "Well I suppose we had better sit down and open this thing up and find out what our role is to be then?". She turned and walked into the tent and took a seat, placing the envelope on the table. "You can have the honour of opening it and then I think we need to come up with a strategy. My guess is that we are on the allies side, but you never can tell".

Her eyes ran over him, he was a lot taller than she was and she looked forward to getting to know him better. She hoped that this would be a productive collaboration of their two forces and the fact that she thought he was very handsome, didn't hurt either. She sat patiently, waiting for him to open the envelope, eager to get things organised for the kick off tomorrow morning.
 
“Seems we have the same thought” Jim said taking the envelope and nodding at the woman “My name is Jim, Jim Hogarth”

Without any more fan fair or wait he tore into the envelope. Inside were two laminated papers detailing their orders and objectives. Jim handed one to her the girl named Emma and then took his own out. His eyes scanned the paper a small smile slowly forming on his face as he saw their orders. They were both right they would be the peaceful occupation of the town. Their orders were to root out any insurgents and keep the population stable and happy until they managed to capture the rebels.

“We were right” He said waiting until after she read it to speak “Which means the Chinese and german delegation will be playing the rebels. I am sure general Tsun is happy to give us a run for our money”

He put the orders down on the table and glanced over at the map. The command center was outfitted with a large map that detailed the training area and the faux town. There was nothing marked yet except for the “stores” around the town and the public meeting places. It would be there job to find the rebels base and root them out. Only once every one was captured would the game be considered “won”.

“I say we go in right away and begin working on the populace” Jim said looking up at her “Appeal to them and get them on our side. We can do some good-natured things and see if anyone needs help or anything. If we can get the towns people on our side before the rebels do that would be ideal!”
 
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