CTF

Wargames III- Capture the Flag

USS Explorer-B
10:33 Standard Earth Time (SET)
2193

The General took his first step outside the VTOL Shuttle transport onto the Explorer-B's deck. He sniffed the air; walking out of the hanger bay, Brigadier General Jim Brungess remarked under his breath that it must have been the fuel's fumes. Entering the bridge, almost like out of a memory, Jim saw familiar faces almost immediately. Commander Vaughn grinned and pointed to the captain's office. A smile appeared Jim's face and with a nod thanks to the Commander, the General walked into the captain's office.

Walking in, the General was a little startled from the loud music blaring away in Captain Mansel's office. It was amazingly enough that it was an opera piece that the Captain was listening to, which sounded an awful lot like Mozart's Requiem. The door closed behind the General. The Captain seeing General Brungess in the reflection of his window he currently was starring out of turned around and shut off the music. Jim stood there for a moment looking around seeing what was the same and what was different.

"I didn't think Mozart's Requiem was your style, " Jim noticing the dimly lit office.

"Only when situations suit it, " Mansel obviously upset.

"I assume then you've read the report about the 14th Fleet's untimely demise… And Conrad."

"Chris Conrad was a hellishly stubborn man to deal with or convince. I might have as well threatened to sleep with his wife."

"As I can recall that is also not a part of your style. Not to say that Alice wouldn't have minded it in the least."

"Your right, it's not my style." He smiled. "But I could still try." He gestured to a waiting chair. "Sit." Mansel sat down in his own chair behind the desk and threaded his fingers. "So what brings you here to my side of the galaxy?"

"Actually, it somewhat relates indirectly to the events with the 14th," the General started. "C & C Story thinks you all need to step up the training exercises.   More work with the simulators, stuff like that," he added.

Mansel frowned. "Why are you even telling me this? I wasn't even with the 14th."

Brungess gave Mansel his famous 'Don’t give that BS' look. "Bloody lucky for you then. Now then, Story wants the whole Fleet to go through some training exercises   The ships that do more for the UNSF, like the Stealthlon and the Explorer, are to go through one mass exercise."

"What kind of exercise?"

The General grinned while taking out cigar and lighting it. "Why your favorite game of course, Mansel. Capture the Flag." He crossed his legs while seated. "Your gonna love who you are pitted against and I know you & him have needed to bury the hatch for some time. In a way this might prove to be that chance, Captain."

Mansel looked up with a mixture of intrigue & intimidation upon his face. "You got my attention, Jim. Now lets hear it." He grinned.

Brungess grinned. "The whole exercise has been orchestrated in light of what happened to the 14th. CENTCOM wants this done to avoid any repeats of the 14th's catastrophe. Though it is widely known that Conrad wasn’t ever going to be a match against an Imperial battle group commander. " The General sighed, somewhat exhausted from his long trip to the Explorer.

"And where do you fit into all this? And why my ship?" Mansel asked, grin gone replaced by a more professional intrigued look on his face.

"I am here as your Army attaché and I am also here to help ya drink all of your Root Beer," Jim explained, feeling almost indisposed from exhaustion.

"No Boy! Not my Root Beer!" Mansel exclaimed, relieved to see that Brungess had not lost his social spark to military life.

"So," asked Mansel, very intrigued now, "I take it that the Stealthlon is involved somehow." He nodded to himself as he thought this over. "Ally?"

General Brungess shook his head. "No, of course not, Mansel; you're smarter than that. A team with the Explorer and the Stealthlon on the same side… That’s an Alamo kind of scenario for the opposing side… They wouldn’t have a chance."

"True, that’s why the UNSF is still effective." He rested his elbows on his desk. "You said other noteworthy ships were to attend this exercise." He paused. "The Foch-C? They're up and coming."

The General nodded and smiled. "Along with the Black Sea. Lets face it, those carriers are going to be the death of cruisers like yours and Blackbird's in the next few coming years. I believe the Imperials demonstrated that enough for us on the poor 14th Fleet. So to see how our carrier commanders do, we are going to put them with the big guns to see how they do."