April 10th,1993

Sonata Jackson boarded a 1960's Americana styled bus and headed to Fort McClintock which is home to the Third Infantry "Green Diamond's" Division and a Basic Combat Training.

The military bus stopped outside of a two-story brick building and the door opened and a Drill Instructor got on board and told them to pile up outside in lines of two with the men on the right and women on the left.

The two groups were then separated by odd and even numbers and they were taken to be processed and taken to the barracks where they'll be living for the next thirteen weeks.

***

Out on a field.

The Drill Sergeant had two soldiers with him and behind them were two weapon racks one with a wooden rifle and a twenty-round box magazine and the other one with an aluminum alloy rifle.

The two soldiers went and got one rifle each and stuck them out.

"This is the Semiautomat Service Garand," said the Drill Sergeant, "And this is the X16. They'll both be your new best friend while you're here."

The Semiautomat Service Garand came out in 1960 a year after the American, United States Rifle, Caliber 7.62mm and the X16 came out in 1967 and it came out after the United States Rifle, Caliber 5.56 but both Semiautomat Service Garand and X16 fires the 7.62x52mm LB rounds which is the standard rifle cartilage for the Blister Canyon-Lava Falls- Little Bird Defense Force and Blister Canyon-Lava Falls-Little Bird Entries.

The trainees including Sonata got their weapons with Sonata grabbing a Semiautomat Service Garand.

The Drill Sergeant yelled at them to double-time it over to the obstacle course which they did.

***

At the obstacle course, they saw a group go before them.

"We can do better than that group," said Sonata, "Come on let's show them what we can do,"

A Military Policeman opened the wooden gate and allowed them to go and they ran the course almost flawlessly where a member did break his leg but they didn't leave him behind unlike the group that went ahead of them who left a member behind all tangled up in barbed wire.

They made it through and made it to a General Armed Light 2 and a 1/2 ton 6x6 truck and they got on and rode to the firing range while the previous group had to run for leaving a team member behind and that was their punishment.

***

At the firing range

The Drill Sergeant told them to get two boxes of ammo so they did where each box had two twenty-round box magazines & the Drill Sergeant told them to get in a box well-firing lane which they did and the Drill Sgt told them to load their weapons.

All of the trainees did and the Drill Sergeant told them to fire but with the ones with the X16s shouldn't spray and pray but fire in semi-automatic to conserve ammo.

Sonata was the best shot ever due to back to back each bullet hit through the bullseye not adding she conserved her ammo over the rest even with a semi-automatic weapon they somehow sprayed and prayed.

It wasn't long until the Drill Instructor blew a whistle and grabbed Sonata and a few others to continue while the rest worked on their terrible aiming to be at least minimum acceptable for the Little Bird Army.

Sonata hoped they wouldn't be sent to West Germany where their aim could start World War Three by accident with three idiots playing "Hot Potato with a Mk 3 Fragmentation Grenade".

***

Over at the demolition range.

There were two captured Soviet Vehicles from the Korean War and the Second Korean War and Sonata due to being the most athletic and fit type not adding she did play sports and was the most athletic kid within the town she was born and raised in.

Sonata got the Satchel Charge and placed the timer for nine seconds and she ran like a bat out of hell whereby the time she got back to the viewing place she ducked and the Satchel Charge went off.

They then went to the Heavy Weapons range and there were three Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62x52mm, M1989's with each loaded with one hundred and twenty-five 7.62x52mm rounds.

They shot at the targets with two firing full ammo with Sonata firing in five-round bursts to conserve ammo of the one hundred and twenty-five belt link whereby the time Sonata got to to reload to the second belt link the others got to the third or forth link belts.

The Drill Instructor scolded them for wasting ammo where there's going to be situations where ammo is going to be scarce and he scolded Sonata for firing in bursts because some armies attack in human attack waves where full auto may save her life.

***

They moved on to the mortar range and the mortars were more tricky to use than the machine guns but got it done and then they move on to the first aid station.

***

At the First Aid Station.

None of them had any experience with first aid or any medical experience so a combat medic who's a veteran of the Second Korean War taught them the basics.

***

At the barracks, it's night almost at lights out.

A fellow trainee asked Sonata how it is to be a religious person.

Sonata replied, "Being an Almighty Believer? I hated every second here. But they don't stand for the pledge of allegiance, stand for the national anthem, if drafted for wars they're conscience's objectors. We don't vote, prohibit premarital sex, homosexuality, adultery, smoking, drunkness, drugs, blood transfusions. They don't do anything fun. Not adding they abhor interracial relationships, don't want people in their groups to have an outside relationship with other people in different religions and don't want people to have relationships with atheists. Members get married at the age of fifteen and families are expected to have huge families. They prohibit sperm and egg donations saying "It is what God doesn't want,". I had a friend who she was fifteen she has gotten married to our pastor's son and his son was thirty-four and he got arrested by the cops later that week for child marriage which is a capital felony on this country. Heck our religion is patriarchal and men are expected to be the final say in everything but my father wasn't in that cult and still isn't. But women are seen as caretakers, have kids, do hard work and have the final say if the husband isn't around. But they're expected to have children. Heck in the early years of the religion members got arrested for tax evasion which soon was gotten rid of because the law comes down hard about that. But they also got rid of draft-dodging where it usually got their members hit by a twenty three-inch wooden baton, a twenty-four-inch side-handle polycarbonate nightstick, hit by water from a high pressured firehose, bit by a German Sheppard or hit in the eyes with mace if not shot by beanbag rounds or temporarily lose hearing and sight from a flashbang. I didn't want to take part in it and they hate me for not opening up my legs when I turned fifteen because I was a social outclass who did sports and didn't show up for their Sunday church things. Not adding they want a non-counterbalance of food eating where they want us to eat the same fruits and veggies for eight months out of the year and for the remaining four months we can eat meat. But no one enforces that and eats what they want. But they expect is to have big families as well. yeah, the woman who brought the religion to the town I came from had forty-three kids with thirty-four of them being sons and the remaining nine being daughters. They prohibit anything they consider we think is fun as non-fun. Like how there's soldiers they'll hate you for being a G.I. but I'd say one day they're going to get karma. Yeah President Bill Waterson may believe in freedom of religion. But I know they're adrift in the sheltered harbor of his patience but he probably cannot tolerate it of them running amok and probably send in armed G.I.'s to get them to simmer down or so, But in my town once a month all the women in the religion have to sleep with the pastor. Heck, they encourage their followers to do child abuse where punishing your child by hitting them with a belt is one thing but whipping their ass for no reason. Heck, my mother whipped my ass for eating a hot dog with chili on it on a Friday night. And my mother made Chili every other Thursday but my father was a better cook. Also final thing. You aren't allowed to get sick and if you got sick or hurt then they would blame you for pissing off God. And I got hurt every day not adding when I was in high school I broke my leg and even though my mother kicked me out she told me that it was my fault that God is mad at me. I may have broken my right leg but I had a bully in high school and I'd still whooped his ass in front of his friends and the whole school too. But the Almighty Believers don't even celebrate holidays not even birthdays or anniversaries nor days like Parents day. My father always took me to see his family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and on Independence Day in April on the ninth, and well we could celebrate Holloween as well, New Year's both eve and day, Labor Day, Marti Hras, Valentine's Day, Palm Sunday, St. Patrick's Day, Good Friday, Easter, and April Fools. Sometimes I think if I or my two older siblings are related to the pastor and he is a sick fucko."

The Trainee didn't know where to begin so he apologized for bothering Sonata and went to his bunk.

The lights went out and Sonata just laid there staring up at the wooden ceiling and slowly drifted asleep.

For the following Thirteen weeks. Sonata did the basic training which was hard but that didn't stop her. But unknown to her or the other trainees that the Little Bird Armed Forces have Special Forces scouts and they see who they think will fit into the Special Forces role and Sonata was chosen.

***

July 11th, 1993

Sonata was in the barracks with the Drill Sergeant called Sonata's name and said that she's "11M" where she'll be assigned to the Fourteenth Infantry "Empire" Division a Mechanized & Motorized Division which is camped in Southwest Germany near Leipzig, Germany near the Iron Curtin.

Sonata was about to leave to go to Western Europe when she was stopped by an Army Officer in an dark olive green trousers, black loafer shoes, a white buttoned-up shirt, a dark olive green army service jacket, and a dark green garrison hat.

He offered Sonata a spot in the Fifth Special Forces Group where the downside is that she'll still make her seven-eight dollar a month allowance where it's actually one hundred and fifty but seventy-two is taken out for housing.

Sonata accepted and the Colonel told her that he'll arrange the transfer but she should get prepared to head to Camp Thunder. Which is home to the Fifth Special Forces Group.