Ottawa, National Defence Headquarters (local time: 3:11 PM)…
"So who is she?"
"Chief, we've identified her as Maria Christina Kennison," the military policeman — an Army sergeant currently assigned to the security section of Canadian Forces Support Unit (Ottawa), the support base for all military personnel, units and headquarters in the urban part of the national capital as well as all foreign embassies scattered across the planet — stated as he held up a PADD to read from it. "Age twenty-four. Last known records on her stated she graduated from Centennial Secondary School in Welland, Ontario six years ago, getting top marks in her OACs; she's one of the last people to do Grade 13. She was invited to attend McMaster University in Hamilton, but never attended classes. One twin sister, Lynn Rebecca Kennison, who disappeared at the same time; she would have gone to Mohawk College to get her nursing certificate." The young man took a deep breath. "According to Ms. Kennison, she and her sister have returned back to Welland along with their friends; there were two dozen of them that had vanished all at the same time. I was going to contact the CFNIS about this…"
"Alright," the Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer said with a nod as he reached up to adjust his glasses. He then gazed down at the orange-tan envelope the young soldier had just given him. An envelope that was used always by the Canadian Forces to contain mail. And a quick feel of the contents — the Navy chief petty officer hadn't opened same — indicated it was double-enveloped, which was normally done with anything that had a "Confidential" security rating or higher. The address on the envelope was a hand-written NDHQ OTTAWA/CDS, which was the address code-phrase that indicated this was to be delivered directly to the hands of the top soldier in the Canadian military.
Taking a deep breath, the senior non-commissioned member of the Canadian Forces blinked as he ran over what this might be about — while Canada wasn't as heavily involved in what would be normally called "the black worlds" as many of the more larger nations, especially its own southern neighbour, it wasn't the least bit ignorant of them either — he bit his lip before looking up. "Did she mention doing any cadet service?"
The sergeant blinked, and then his eyes brightened. "Yes, Chief! She said she served as part of R.C.S.C.C. Bellerophon from the earliest time she could join up right to when she graduated from high school. Made it all the way to cadet chief petty officer 1st class and was coxswain of the corps." A smirk. "She's still got…"
His voice trailed off as a look of shocked surprise crossed the elder man's face. Before the sergeant could ask anything, the CFCWO then said, "Get her in here."
A curt nod. "Aye, Chief!"
"And Sergeant?"
"Chief?"
"Do NOT speak of this person's arrival to ANYONE. Understood, soldier?!"
The Army sergeant tensed. The current CFCWO rarely used that tone of voice when it came to giving orders to subordinates. "Aye-aye, Chief," he said with a nod.
A moment later, a very beautiful woman in stylish civilians — slacks, a double-breasted blazer jacket, a white turtleneck sweater underneath, slip-on low-heel shoes on her feet — walked in, closing the door behind her. She looked barely past twenty, but if this woman was involved with the person the CFCWO believed she was involved with, that was more than understandable. Brown-haired and blue-eyed, she had a very angular, Romanesque face. Her hair was wavy, yet tapered at the back of her neck. Not particularly busty, she almost seemed waifish. But that would have been…
A quick glance to her left collar confirmed it: A metal ship's crest that bore a rampant gold gryphon on a background of white and blue wavy bars, the heraldic background always used to denote the sea. The crest of H.M.S. Bellerophon, which — in her latest incarnation — was the Royal Navy shore establishment in Portsmouth which had once served as headquarters for the Senior Officer of the Royal Navy Reserves.
But THIS badge also had three red maple leaves at the bottom of the circular, rope-embossed frame. That made it the badge of one of Canada's oldest Sea Cadet corps, which had been founded in Welland in 1918 and recently decommissioned, combined with R.C.S.C.C. Valiant in Port Colborne to reform R.C.S.C.C. Renown.
The visitor stood to attention and nodded her head, behaving as one who was not in uniform would normally behave while meeting a superior officer. "Chief."
"Miss Kennison," the CFCWO stated. "How is the Major?"
Maria smiled; the man before her had been briefed. "The last time I saw her and the others of 1 CSWU, they all were alright, Chief."
He nodded; this was the latest communiqué from the woman code-named "Ladyhawke."
Major Deannette Antonia Raeburn.
Noting that the visitor had a security pass — no doubt, the sergeant that had greeted her at the outer security checkpoint on Colonel By Drive had provided her with one, suspecting she might be important; Hell, can't ever ask a military policeman of all people to stop THINKING! the CFCWO mused as he reflected on that — he then sighed. "Come with me, Ms. Kennison," he then said as he waved to another door.
Maria nodded…
The office of the Chief of the Defence Staff (local time: 3:51 PM)…
"Training a Jewel Warrior in the middle of a damned civil war…?!"
"It was pretty rough in this case, sir," Maria explained. "The one chosen for the planet Sagittaron was, in fact, not even a native of that planet; her parents were migrants from a planet named Cylonia who were sent to observe events on Sagittaron and the other colonies of her home solar system." A chuckle. "As a matter of fact, many people would hardly classify Selina and her parents as even being 'human.'"
The Chief of the Defence Staff blinked. "Really?"
"Well, in actuality, people like her could be classified as a sort of 'cybernetic-enhanced biological android,'" Maria explained. "The Major, of course, doesn't care for that sort of thing." Which was understandable given that Dean Raeburn had been the first Allied soldier to learn of the Nazi death camps. "In every aspect possible, Selina is as human as you or I. Also, given that her planet of residence — which she sees as her true home planet, by the way — was (at the time I was dispatched through Sanctuary to bring the Major's report to you) in the midst of being economically and militarily suppressed by her sister colonies in the Helios quad-star system, she wanted to get as much training as the Major and her friends could offer before they moved on."
"Understandable," Canada's top soldier stated with a nod. "This was dated three weeks ago. According to Major Raeburn, Ms. Frankenburg was able to chase off the invading forces from the other Heliosian colonies and helped her adopted father properly establish a provisional government that now considers itself fully independent from the old 'United Colonies of Kobol.'" A hum. "Pacifist people…I can see why they would prefer to not have large armed forces. But given their resource base…"
"Mister Zarek hinted to me that he and his friends were considering giving the Cylons military basing rights on Sagittaron," Maria stated. "Despite how the people of the planet did suffer due to the exploitation of their natural resources at the hands of the more richer and militarist of the Twelve Colonies, their leaders do realise they need to promote some sort of intergalactic trade to help their economy fully rebuild and reform itself. Since the other colonies have pretty much worn out their welcome on Sagittaron, the Cylons seem an attractive alternative. Especially since the first of their kind, Zoe Graystone, is the Jewel Warrior of the Cylon homeworld, Cylonia."
"I remember reading Major Raeburn's report about Miss Graystone," the Chief of the Land Staff, the professional head of the Canadian Army — all the environmental chiefs and the commanders of the Forces' primary operational commands had been invited to this meeting — then stated. "It was the Major's first deep space deployment after World War Two and Korea; she wanted the chance to get away from Earth for a bit and putting out brushfires for our allies around the planet." A shake of the head. "Damn shame our predecessors back then never listened to her suggestions about making use of what she and her friends found on Ellesmere Island back in '54. We could have used a battalion-sized unit trained in that sort of thing. The MIBs were all for it."
"Well, back in the 'Fifties and 'Sixties, our predecessors were too damned concerned about keeping the Red Machine from marching across western Europe," the Chief of the Maritime Staff added with a wry smile. "Not to mention…"
"The whole damned mess about Unification," the Chief of the Air Staff mused, grinning.
"Amen to that," the CDS stated as he rescanned the letter; all the junior generals and admirals in the room had been handed photocopies of the original so they could see it themselves without having to pass it around. "I see Staff-Sergeant Larsden is chomping at the bit to get back home again. Do you think the Major will listen, Ms. Kennison?"
"I think so," Maria noted. "Unless another Jewel Warrior is chosen as they are moving back from Sagittaron to Earth through Sanctuary, of course."
A sigh. Major Raeburn had been administratively relieved of all her responsibilities (both full-time and part-time) as an officer of the Canadian Army shortly after the end of the Korean War. She was still listed as a member of the Supplementary Ready Reserve (under special classification due to the fact that she, as a Jewel Warrior, had been granted a sort of quasi-immortality, freezing her at the physical age of twenty-five when she found the device in a cave in the mountains of British Columbia back in 1892). The two other officers that had represented the R.C.N. and the R.C.A.F. in the War Hawks, Squadron Leader (later Major) Jessica Dover and Lieutenant Commander Heather Thompkins, were in the same boat (Jessica, having absorbed the spirit of a mystical Russian zhar-ptitsa into her body, was effectively as immortal as Dean; Heather, as a master sorceress trained in multiple wand-welding and wandless magical schools, had the potential to live the same type of lifespan as the average Avalonian). The fourth member of the War Hawks, Staff-Sergeant Martin Larsden (who had been granted mystical blessings by a wise Mi'kmaq shaman in Nova Scotia thanks to his saving the elder's life in the mid-1930s), was on the equivalent list of retired officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (during World War Two, he had been temporarily mustered in the Canadian Provost Corps as part of First Provost Company before he was head-hunted to become part of the First Canadian Specialised Warfare Unit). Because of that, the CDS could order them back to service if he had the right justification, but that really hadn't been exercised by any of his predecessors as Dean always was willing to do some black missions if requested (and if it didn't intrude on some reasonable limits she had set in stone long ago).
Yet…
He smiled. "General Lessard?"
The commander of Expeditionary Forces Command perked. "Sir?"
"Have General Matsuoka join us please."
A grin. "Right away, sir."
As he stepped out of the room, Maria tried not to give into her curiosity and send a quick telepathic probe into the minds of all the people around her. As non-magical psychics went, she was — at the time she was tested by some of Heather Thompkins' friends years ago — probably one of the most, if not THE most, powerful mind-readers alive on Earth today. It was what had attracted her to Dean Raeburn's attention; when the major was taking time off from doing brushfire jobs for NATO as well as going off-planet to train sister Jewel Warriors, she had sensed the then-teenage Maria Kennison telepathically scream out her frustration at her inability to "turn off the voices in her head" all the way from the Raeburn home just outside of Fort Saint John in British Columbia…and Maria was over four thousand kilometres away in Welland! Still, she wouldn't do it; not only would it be rude to do so (as Heather and Dean had both taught her at the time) and a gross invasion of the privacies of the minds of the people around her, but it would also break all sorts of classification rules that could see her in jail if she wasn't careful. And given that she had no legal status in the Canadian Forces in the first place, that would be ESPECIALLY bad for her.
The door to the office then opened. "General Matsuoka, sir."
Maria turned…
…and then her jaw dropped as a very pretty and tall woman in Army green walked into the room. Bearing the single leaf of a brigadier general on her shoulders, she had nothing in the way of medals on her uniform. Which would be VERY odd given her rank — people at that stage in their careers would at least have the ribbon of the Canadian Forces Decoration on the uniform — but a quick look to her face dispelled that; the woman, if she was twenty, looked even younger than that. Atop that, she had — atop the green falcon-and-globe shield badge of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command above her nametag on her right breast — PILOT'S WINGS on her left breast! Which was impossible as, thanks to Unification, anyone trained to be an aircraft pilot would these days be wearing Air Force blue, not Army green. So how…?
"You wanted to see me, General?" she asked in English with a faint Japanese accent. And THAT was understandable as she was clearly Oriental in looks, with light brown eyes and long black hair, now done in a proper military bun at the lower back of her head.
"Do you have your beret with you, Chie?" the CDS then asked.
She blinked in confusion at that odd request, and then shrugged as she reached into the small purse she had slung over her shoulder to pull out the requested headgear. Of course, as she was a general officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, the hat badge was be the cloth-and-wire embroidered special crest worn by all generals and admirals, which was a variation of the Canadian Forces' tri-service crest, but with the wreath of maple leaves below the crossed swords, eagle and anchor, forming a wide "nest" at the base of the badge in a similar fashion as to what Naval Operations officers and chief petty officers 1st class wore on their headgear. But the colour of the beret…
Not the standard CF rifle green…
…but buff gold.
The colour worn by officers and men of Canada's long-disbanded Air Cavalry regiments.
Like one Major Dean Raeburn.
Maria grinned. "General, if the Major was here, she would KISS you!"
Laughter filled the room. "Sorry about that, Chie," the CDS stated. "Ms. Kennison, this is Brigadier General Matsuoka Chie; note, we ARE using proper Oriental name format these days for people like her serving in the military. She currently serves as Chief of Staff for Outer Space Operations at CEFCOM headquarters. Chie, this is Maria Kennison, former cadet chief petty officer 1st class at Bellerophon in Welland six years ago. She's also a paranormal student of Major Raeburn's; perhaps one of the most powerful telepaths our planet's ever produced that isn't magical." Hearing Marie's sucked-in breath, the CDS smiled. "Relax, Ms. Kennison; General Matsuoka is cleared for the Ladyhawke File at the direct orders of the Prime Minister. Chie, Ms. Kennison just brought the Major's last report; herself, Major Dover, Commander Thompkins and Staff-Sergeant Larsden are currently on a planet named Sagittaron in the Cyrannus stellar cluster. I think it is time we get someone out there to go bring them home."
Chie blinked. "Sagittaron?!"
"You know of it?!" the chief of the Canadian Navy demanded.
"Yes, Admiral. Sagittaron is one of twelve inhabited planets that had been united in one political organisation — the 'Twelve Colonies of Kobol' — until about eighteen months ago, when the whole thing fractured apart because of information concerning Sagussa and the rest of the galaxy that had been brought to them as a peace effort by a race of AIs the natives of the Colonies created five decades ago, the Cylons."
"Yes, I know. Major Raeburn trained the first of that race to be a Jewel Warrior for the planet her people chose as…" A pause. "How the devil did you know about the breakup of the Colonies?! Major Raeburn's last report home was two years ago!"
Chie flustered. "Sorry about that, sir. But I just got a detailed report on that contact NORAD flashed us about, the one the ready duty ships went out to investigate under Commodore Nanase's command. The visiting ship was a Colonial battlestar named Pegasus. The ship's commander, Rear-Admiral Helena Cain, and her crew remain loyal to the old government of the Twelve Colonies, which was forced into exile on Cylonia when everything in the Colonies fell apart. The ship also has aboard the members of the Council of Advisors to President Graystone of Cylonia; they came to us to warn us of potential attacks from religious fundamentalists from the Colonies who view us as the lost 'thirteenth tribe' of Kobol and won't like the presence of Avalonians such as myself on the planet since we are quite similar to the Cylons in many ways."
"How soon can you compile a full report about this?"
"I need fifteen minutes."
"Go!"
Chie bolted to attention. "Yes, sir!"
Later…
"Damn!"
"Lucky thing Ontario was there to chase these idiots off."
A nod. "Agreed." The CDS then took a deep breath. "Admiral McFadden?"
The Navy chief perked. "Sir?"
"I'm going to cut new orders for Fort Erie."
"Sagittaron, sir?"
"Yes. It's time we brought the War Hawks home. On a Canadian warship!"
A grin. "Sir, I'll get those orders out right away. What about Pegasus?"
"Have then dock at Stadacona if they want; let one of the ships there be host ship. If they don't want to dock, have them stay close by. No flying below the restricted altitude limit. Admiral Donaldson…" — he turned to gaze at the only other vice-admiral present, the current Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff — "…I want you to contact the PMO to inform the Prime Minister that we have an intergalactic civilian delegation coming in to open relations with us; they'll want to pass it on to the United Nations so that the MIBs and the Secretary General will be informed."
"General?"
Eyes locked on Chie. "What is it?"
"I'd like to recommend we deploy Currie with Fort Erie."
Nods around the room, along with knowing grins. "Outstanding idea, General."
"There is a problem, though," the brigadier general in command of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command then stated. "Rainbow is currently training on Currie."
The CDS blinked. "You think Admiral Clark would mind a little side-trip?"
A nod. "He could be persuaded."
A grin. "Get up there. Brief him on everything; lord knows, he's been trusted with a lot of secrets, so the Ladyhawke File shouldn't come as too much of a shock to him."
A nod. "Yes, sir."
The senior officer of Canada's military then stared at Maria, who had a bit of a lost look on her face. "You'll need to catch up on a lot of things very fast, Ms. Kennison; the Major and her friends have missed out on some rather big developments since they left the planet with you and your friends six years ago. Can you contact your friends and have them come back together so they can go with you to Sagittaron?"
The former cadet coxswain nodded. "I could do that. We all know to get together at the Major's home in British Columbia if called; I'm sure Lynn's already passed on the word to the others." She then blinked. "Are you saying we're in SPACE now?! Did you all finally break open what was stored under Barbeau Peak?!"
"No, it's a whole different situation," the CDS replied. "General Matsuoka will brief you on this; we'll put her in charge of this operation."
"Yes, sir," Chie acknowledged as Maria nodded.
"Bring the War Hawks home," the CDS then emphasised as we…
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