Two dark forms crawl up to a chain link fence. One produces a small cylindrical device, holding it to the metal links. A small laser blade emits from the device, making short work of the primitive barrier. They crawl through quietly, eyeing their intended dark.

They silently cross the cement avoiding spotlights and weary guards atop watch towers. They press up against the wall, setting C-4 explosives before moving on. One whispers into his minicom unit arranged over his ear, "Man, I wish the LoB were inside, that way we can take out two birds with one blast." "They wouldn't be around here. They are too busy with stealing from Spanky Willy's Redneck Liquor Barn and waiting for the home video release of Midgets and Mules II. Man! You ever hear them go on and on for hours about how that movie should be nominated for best Cinematography?! They will convince you to the death that "Sweaty Munckin" is the best supporting actor they have ever seen!"

They both shutup quickly as a guard strolls over head. They continue around the building, setting the C-4. They knew this would be a good building to hit. Very crucial to this organizations survival, plus it was very poorly defended.

The two go back the way they came, silently crossing over the cement and back through the fence. "That was easy enough", they grin as they climb onto their silently motorcycles and speed away. One hits a remote button on the way out.

_____________________________________________

Meanwhile, gathered around a table in the ABL war room.

"What was that!" Chaser9 yells out as a loud roar violently shakes the room. "Hit the deck!" screams Qball, throwing Brit under a table.

The rumbling ends as a staggering Sliding_Capt_Bridger wobbles into the room. "They got the Mess Hall and Kitchen! We are doomed men, DOOMED!"

"They got our supplies of burgers, beer, and pizza?! We can't go on without our grub!" Qball79 sobs on the floor.

Brit raises off the ground, dusting himself off. Chaser asks, "What does this mean?" Brit turns to Chaser in a very serious tone, "This means we lost the bid..."

The contracts were ready, the Swiss bank accounts were ready, the winners about to be notified, and ...
---------

Yeontoo sat at her desk as her bosses were talking about the ease of last night's operation.

"The messhall? You blew up their messhall? What's so important about that? Why didn't you blow up their ammo thingy instead? Or kidnap the leaders or something?"

"Without consultation with the BFA, stategically important targets and missions had to wait." Sabre-Edge answered with a smirk.

"Then why..." Yeontoo began, confused.

"This one was a freebie, a statement" SE said as he walked into the other room.

"An army moves on its stomache Y. Those supplies aren't veiwed as strategically important, but without food..." Jorge's voice trailed off as SE exploded.

"You crashed the pod Jorge?"

"Not me!"

"Then who..."

Two set of eyes turned to a stuttering Y.

"I can explain! See? There was..."

As Yeontoo explained to Sabre_Edge and JorgeCis what happened to the pod, one of the panels came on. All eyes turned to the screen. Behind an ornate mahogany table, a smiling dellyone and PoliteSliderFan dressed in all black sit in large comfy leather chairs. PoliteSlider has a comm around her left ear.

"Ladies, so what's your answer?" asked Sabre_Edge as he sat down in the chair in front of the screen. JorgeCis and Yeontoo also pulled up some chairs.

"Well your offer is tempting, but we're sorry we have to decline," replied dellyone.

"Decline?" asked JorgeCis.

PoliteSlider answered, "Yes. Declined."

Yeontoo shot off some questions quickly. "What? Who do you work for? What faction?"

SE turned to Yeontoo and his look told her to be quiet. "That was a very generous offer. Why did you turn it down if I may ask?"

A smile came over dellyone's face. "Generous yes, but we did receive an offer that how shall I put it... more generous than yours."

"What? More generous. Explain," asked JorgeCis.

A wicked smile flashed on both PoliteSlider's and dellyone's faces. "We are not at liberty to reveal which side, if any, we have joined. But... we will entertain any offers passed to us," dellyone said. A few seconds went by as that last comment sunk in.

"That's the standard official answer - neither confirming or denying. How come you two never seem to give a straight answer?" inquired Sabre_Edge.

PoliteSlider and dellyone both had that ‘Who me? Not me’ look.

“Ambiguity is the key to success. I say something and let the person interpret it anyway they want. That way I never reveal too much information for any surprises ahead,” dellyone answered cryptically.

“By the way that was an awesome way of explaining away the ease to which we got into one of your bases,” commented PoliteSlider.

“A dream. Yes, it was. Wasn’t it,” replied a smiling Sabre_Edge.

“We didn’t want anyone to know that we had clones. Besides we were testing how well your team was good at infiltration,” JorgeCis added.

dellyone smiled back. “We were testing your defenses and they were pretty lax. I hope your real base has better security than that.”

“Yes, a lot tighter than that. You passed our test so we offered you a spot on our team,” a smug SE answered.

PoliteSlider responded, “But you failed ours. That was one consideration that we had to take into account before making our decision to decline… Can you hang on a second?” PoliteSlider turned all her attention to her comm and was listening intently.

“What is it?” asked dellyone as she watched her nodding.

“Our team is asking for a green light. Are you gonna give it?” PoliteSlider queried.

dellyone’s eyes lit up. “Green light it now.”

“Green light. Repeat green light,” PoliteSlider said over her comm.

An uneasy Sabre_Edge asked, “What are you green lighting?”

“While we were chitchatting, my team just surrounded our target. I just green lighted my team to attack your base. I’m surprised your perimeter alarms haven’t sounded off yet. Like I said lax security.” A self-satisfied smile appeared on dellyone’s and PoliteSlider’s faces.

“What!!” screamed JorgeCis and Sabre_Edge. Both leaped out of their chairs and ran to the control panels. JorgeCis looked at the perimeter security cameras while Sabre_Edge checked the interior defenses.

Yeontoo started to get up also to see what she could do. “Yeontoo, they don’t need your help. Talk to us,” asked PoliteSlider. She nodded and sat back down.

“Security cameras show absolutely nothing,” a confused JorgeCis said as he nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’m going out to check. Keep checking the interior defenses,” SE said as he ran out of the room.

“Is your team really out there or not?” asked a nervous Yeontoo.

dellyone and PoliteSlider began to giggle. “If we were attacking your base, do you think the both of us are gonna miss out on that?” asked dellyone.

Yeontoo smiled, but she had to be sure. “Of course not. So there’s no one out there then.”

“Nope. We just wanted to talk to you. Girl talk. Besides the guys won’t want to hear this anyway.” PoliteSlider stifled a giggle.

“K. Shoot,” Yeontoo replied.

dellyone moved forward asking, “You got pictures of Sabre_Edge’s and JorgeCis’ clones with their heads shaved?”

Yeontoo looked around the room and saw JorgeCis busy at a panel. Yeontoo got up and went to her desk to retrieved a large manila envelope. She sat back down. “Promise not to mention this to the guys.”

“Promise,” they answered in unison as they both tried to contain their laughter.

She undid the metal clasp and pulled out two 4X5 glossies of a horribly shaven JorgeCis and Sabre_Edge. All three broke out in laughter.

“Good job Yeontoo,” PoliteSlider said between laughs.

Yeontoo calmed down enough to say, “The poor guys were screaming for another way to get that beret and doo rag off their head.”

They laughed for a few minutes and wiped the tears from their eyes.

“Hey how come neither of them have berets or towels on?” asked PoliteSlider.

The mere mention of towels caused dellyone’s eyes to glaze over. A goofy smile appeared on her face.

“We don’t have to wear either one of them. A perk for being a merc,” Yeontoo replied. “I think you better snap dellyone out of her dreamland. Just look at her.”

PoliteSlider looked at dellyone, smiling like an idiot, then elbowed her in the ribs. “Hey, sorry my mind was wandering. Where were we? Okay, since you showed us those pictures I’ll tell you something, but keep it a secret. Promise.”

“Sure.” Yeontoo was hoping she was going to reveal which side they were working for since she showed them the pictures.

“Okay. We work for…”

“There’s no one outside! I should have know…” screamed Sabre_Edge as he entered the room.

“Shut up! They were gonna tell me who they work for!” yelled Yeontoo.

“What?!” both JorgeCis and Sabre_Edge yelled in unison. They both ran to the panel with the two laughing ladies.

“Nah. We just wanted to see something and thanks to Yeontoo we saw it. Thanks Yeontoo. Watch your back.” The screen faded to black as they heard the two ladies laughing hysterically.

“What are they talking about?” asked JorgeCis.

Sabre_Edge looked down and saw the photos. “You showed them these. Man, we’re gonna be laughingstocks.”

“Well, I … um… I can explain,” stammered Yeontoo.

“It better be good,” added JorgCis.

“I was thinking that if I showed them these photos they would tell us who they work for,” Yeontoo responded.

“Yeah. That’s a good idea.” Sabre_Edge commented. “I just hope that they weren’t recording the transmission.” That statement caused unpleasant thoughts running through their minds.

I know we're at war and all, but that was absolutely hilarious, man!! I'm still laughing at that...


-darkslider

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/545/19658