Of Power and Influence [revived] [Rated PG-13]

[Toothache]

Ok, I know I kinda didn't post further chapters, but that's cos real life stuff prevented me having enough time to work on this. Now, things are easier, so it'll be a breeze.

So anyway, welcome back to this, my second attempt at a fanfic, Of Power and Influence. I've got the prologue and first couple of chapters done now, and will be expanding on this as I work through it. It's a bit of a slow start, but it'll be worth it.

I've cut down on some of the harsher themes I was going to deal with here to make it acceptable for PG-13, but it won't be an easy trip.

Prologue - In need of some R and R

"Ready, Private Hobbs?" said the sergeant. He looked carefully over the young man's face, which seemed to hold concern and doubt upon it. However, as soon as the sergeant spoke to him, he immediately stood to attention, not showing any signs of his previous fears.

"Sir, yes, sir!" came the eager-sounding response from Private Terry Hobbs. Terry knew this was going to be the toughest test he'd faced so far since joining the Kanto Army.

"That's what I like to hear, private. I'll take your Pokeballs for this test, if you don't mind."

"Sir?" Terry wasn't expecting that. He knew this was an obstacle course where you had to avoid Pokemon in order to get to the end, but he had always had his Pokemon with him in case he needed them. How was he supposed to do this now?

"This is a test of your own physical ability, not that of your Pokemon, private. I'll take good care of them for you, don't you worry." The sergeant said that last line with a slight level of sarcasm, which was duly noted by Terry. Reluctantly, Terry unhooked the pair of Pokeballs from the belt at his side, and handed them over to the sergeant.

"That's it. Now stand over there and get ready."

The sergeant had pointed to a gate, which lifts up and down. Terry walked over cautiously, looking over the area in front of him carefully. It was a mock-up of a war zone, with damaged buildings and broken fences and other
obstacles in his way. He could also see the target, a few hundred yards in front of him, where Terry was supposed to run to complete this task. He couldn't see any sign of an opposing trainer, or their Pokemon either. Ambush, was the first thought on his mind, and Terry steeled himself for what was about to come.

The sergeant noted the determination on the private's face, and gave the order.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted. At the same time, the barrier that was in front of Terry raised, and Terry immediately ran forward, eyes darting left and right for the first sign of anything moving.

He spotted something almost immediately coming up on his right, a Pokemon he identified as a Houndour. Seemingly from nowhere, a voice shouted to the Pokemon "Houndour, Ember attack!" With that, Terry immediately started to roll, as a small flame immediately appeared in the dog-like Pokemon's mouth, growing for a moment before it was shot out at Terry. Thankfully he timed the roll right, and the jet of flame shot over where his head was. Not stopping to let the Houndour have a second shot, Terry pressed forward.

"Vaporeon, Ice Beam!" The voice this time came from above, and as Terry passed near a run-down building he barely noticed as the beam of ice shot down from an upstairs window. Acting on instinct, Terry leaped to the side as the beam narrowly skimmed his arm. He risked a glance back, there was no sign of the Houndour that attacked him earlier, but that worried Terry more as he did not know where it was.

"Tangela, Vine Whip!" This time the shout was from ground level, and Terry was immediately surprised by something in front of him. Had he not been looking back he would have noticed the small pile of tangleweed was actually the Pokemon Tangela, trying to conceal itself as tangleweed. On command, the Tangela immediately shot out a pair of its many vines, wrapping themselves around Terry's right arm and right leg. The Tangela stood up, bracing itself to hold the private in place, stopping him from reaching his goal.

With his free arm, he grabbed hold of the vine on his leg, and pulled at it in order to release it. Tangela vines were stronger than they looked, and it took all of his might to get the vine loosened enough to free his leg. He threw the vine back at the Tangela, which distracted it enough for him to free his arm. After that, he ran past the Tangela, leaping another attempt by the Pokemon to bind his legs as he passed.

"Kecleon, Slash attack!" A Kecleon? They don't usually appear in Kanto, thought Terry. He looked around for a moment, slowing down in order to receive a stealth attack. He knew Kecleon had the ability to make themselves invisible, apart from the pattern on their chest. It didn't take Terry long to notice something that reminded him of what the Kecleon's pattern usually looked like, which was trying to conceal itself along an alleyway to his left. Terry smiled to himself, they are getting easier towards the end, he thought.

He made his way along the right-side of the road, relaxing a little as he knew where the Kecleon was... or so he thought. Leaping from the side of the building, something appearing mid air as Terry was struck on the chest by a Kecleon's slash. What the... two Kecleons? he thought. Distracted, he didn't notice another Pokemon appearing from behind, ready to strike.

"Smeargle, Double-Edge!" The Smeargle leaped up and charged into Terry, full force into his back, almost knocking him over. The Smeargle looked a little dazed after charging so hard at him, but stood up after a few seconds ready for the next order. Terry was completely confused for the moment, but noticed the goal wasn't too far off.

"Kecleon, Wrap him. Don't let him escape!" The Kecleon shot out his long tongue, grabbing Terry once again by the leg. Terry risked a look behind to see what at hit him, even though he had heard the attack order for the Smeargle. It suddenly dawned upon him - the Smeargle had painted the Kecleon pattern on a wall nearby, and the early order was meant to make people see the fake. Now that he thought about it, Terry noticed it was a little too obviously positioned... but now wasn't the right time to be distracted. Terry snapped back into focus, and grabbed hold of the Kecleon's tongue, pulling hard at it in order to release himself. After a few seconds he managed to pull the tongue away from his leg, and he started to move forward again, starting into a run, and side-stepping the Kecleon's tongue for a second time.

This time, both Kecleon and Smeargle seem to be following him. He was urged forward by this, knowing he was nearly there. Unfortunately, he seemed to be running into a trap. The Houndour and Vaporeon from earlier stood in front of him, apparently having run ahead without him noticing. With the pair behind him, and two in front of him, and buildings either side, Terry seemed to be trapped. He stopped running, and readied himself for the next attack, approaching the pair in front of him cautiously.

"Finish it. Houndour, Vaporeon, attack!" Once again, the Vaporeon let loose a stream of ice from his mouth, aiming straight forward to hit the private. At the same time, the Houndour charged up its firey Ember attack and fired it forward. Terry had expected this, and immediately sprung forward into a midair somersault, letting both attacks collide with each other and disappear in a flash of ice melted by flame. This flash also distracted all the Pokemon there, which gave Terry enough time to run past both the Vaporeon and Houndour and reach the goal.

The shrill sound of a whistle was heard, and the Pokemon immediately stood down. Terry breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad to be out of that situation in one piece. The sergeant walked from out of a nearby building, holding some sort of microphone in one hand, which Terry assumed was for giving the orders for the Pokemon, and a stopwatch in the other.

"Hey, well done, private! That's a new course record."

Terry stood attention and beamed. "Thank you, sir."

"At ease, private. Here's your Pokemon back." The sergeant handed both of the Pokeballs back to Terry, who was glad to have them back. He attached them both to his belt again, and as he looked up he saw the sergeant addressing his Pokemon.

"You did good guys. He was a tough customer alright. Ok, everyone back to your places, one more to go." All the Pokemon run off to whatever hiding places they had in the obstacle course. As Terry walked out of the large room, the sergeant watched him go and smiled. "Oh yeah, he'll be a fine soldier. Alright, next!"

-------------------------------------------

Terry leaned back in his cabin bed and smiled, pleased with himself. Of course, he was glad to be out of there in one piece, apart from the cuts he recieved from the Kecleon's slash, which the doctor said would take a few weeks to heal. He glanced down at his chest, looking at the bandaged that were placed across them, wincing slightly. It didn't hurt straight away, or even as he recieved it, but the longer it was there, the more it seemed to ache.

Entering the barracks was Corporal Matt Warren, the postman of the Kanto Army. He placed several letters around the barracks, on the top of the soldier's bunks, and handed one to Terry as he passed.

"Mail for ya." he said, then carried on handing the rest of the letters out. Terry looked at the handwriting, and immediately recognised it. He opened the letter and read it to himself.

It read:

Dear Terry
How are you? I've got some good news, they finally hired me at ONBS! I'm gonna be working with someone called Marcia as a camerawoman, but hey it's a start. In the meantime, Mom's not doing so great. The doc has said she'll be ok, but she doesn't look it. He's got her on some pills or something, I dunno if they're helping. Mom's talking about getting some sort of herbal treatment, said the doc doesn't know what he's talking about. I just hope she pulls though. Mekka's doing fine, he's looking after Mom when I'm not around. I've just been so busy lately, I've not always had time to be there.
Anyway, write back soon. When are you gonna visit?
Love, Helen.

"Who's Helen?" piped up a cheeky looking face. This face belonged to one Private Rod Surge. It was well known he was the nephew of the great war hero Lt Surge, who now ran the gym at Vermillion City. As such, he often got a hard time, but that was because he was expected to do well. Rod however would rather be goofing off, and didn't seem interested much in pursuing a military career.

Terry folded up the letter and put it away in a drawer near the bunk. "She's my sister. She lives out in Orre, working as a journalist."

"Is she pretty?" he inquired, hopefully.

"Rod, I'm not setting you up with my sister. Anyway," Terry smiled, "she'd probably eat you alive."

Rod sighed. He knew he didn't have the best of luck with girls, which made him more determined to have one, and perhaps a little desperate.

"Besides, Mom's really sick and Helen's keeping busy, so she's almost all alone. Apart from her Skitty."

"What's a Skitty?"

"It's a cat Pokemon," said Terry bluntly, as if everyone knew that. "Didn't you know that? It was part of our Pokemon ecology lessons, 'Wildlife of Hoenn'."

"I think I missed that lesson." Rod shrugged.

"Doesn't surprise me." Terry frowned.

"Anyway, why not go see her, if you're that worried? I'm sure you've got a few days leave booked up, make the most of them. I'll even come with you, keep you company, what do you say?"

"I'd rather get bitten by an Onix than spend time with you." Terry grinned.

"Hey, I'm not that bad, am I?" Rod protested.

"But you have got a point, I've not seen Mom since she moved to Orre."

"Well there you go. I'll go have a word with the duty sergeant, shall I? Save you the trouble of getting up. Besides," he gestured to the bandages on Terry's chest, "don't you need some R and R anyway?"

Terry looked down at the bandages for a moment, then back up at Rod. "Yeah, maybe. Alright, you talked me into it. I just hope you behave yourself."

"Trust me." Rod smirked.

"I do hate it when you say that..."

 

[Toothache]

Chapter 1 - Over the Waters

It is two days later. Rod had made arrangements to get time off, and the good news came back within a few hours that they were both granted leave for up to 12 days if needed. A rather grumpy Terry had meanwhile started packing for the trip. Terry was grumpy for two main reasons; one, he was a very active person and didn't like sitting or resting much, but he knew moving too soon before the attack heals could make things worse, and two, as much as he got on with Rod, spending too much time with him tended to give Terry a headache as constantly talks, usually without knowing when to shut up. Terry could see himself having a miserable trip despite getting to see his mum and sister again. But with his mother being ill, Terry was still a little worried.

He checked once again everything was ready. Change of clothes, razor, utility knife, yeah that was the main stuff. He stood up slowly, easing himself into an upright position in order to minimise the pain. He was about to pick up the bag and go when he remembered one thing - his Pokemon! Terry shook his head, then stepped over to the side desk where a pair of Pokeballs lay. He mentally cursed himself for thinking of them as an afterthought, then picked them both up and was about to attach them to his belt when Rod appeared in the barracks.

"You all set?" Rod called over as he entered. Rod was sporting an army green rucksack and, like Terry, was wearing his combat pants and shirt. He looked at Terry looking at his Pokeballs, then checked his watch. "Hey, we ain't got time for that, the shuttle to Vermilion is due in a few minutes." Terry, coming back to his senses, wordlessly clipped the Pokeballs to his side then picked up the rucksack by his bunk.

"Hey, you ok man?" Rod asked. Terry smiles a false smile, trying to hide his doubt. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's go." Terry walked alongside and little behind Rod as they made their way out of the barracks and towards the army camp entrance. Thinking to himself, he was checking the Pokeballs of Rod, who appeared to have three attached to his side. Stopping just outside the guardpost, the pair are blocked by two of the other army recruits, neither of which were familiar to Rod or Terry. They both sported Lieutentant pips on their sleeves however, which outranked the two privates before them.

"Where are you two going?" they asked, almost simultaneously. Rod took out a set of papers and handed them to the nearest guard, who looked over it carefully.

"Just gonna spend a few days with family, while I heal up. Rod, I mean, Private Surge here, he's coming to stay with us."

"Ok, General Tarin mentioned something like this. " The lieutenant holding the papers handed the papers back, gesturing to the guard inside the guard tower, who raises the large bar blocking the front entrance. Almost on queue, Rod and Terry both raise their right hands in salutes, which was mirrored back by the two guards. The two privates then carry on through the gates as they lower behind them, slipping into an army march.

Within a few minutes, Terry and Rod had arrived at a nearby jetty, where a high-speed boat was waiting nearby. The pilot, who was leaning against the side of the hull, stood up on seeing them approach and smiled.

"Yo!" he cried out, waving one arm. "Took you long enough, I was about to go."

"Sorry." replied Rod. "Army procedures slow things down. Anyway, we're here now. How are you?"

"I'm alright. Don't come out here too often, so I'm glad of a different route. Who's your buddy?"

"Oh this is Terry. Terry, this is Captain Mill."

The captain raises a hand to shake Terry's, but operating on instinct Terry raises his hand to his brow in a salute.

"Hey, you can knock that off now. We're not at camp any more, relax a bit will ya?" Rod protests to Terry, then turning to Captain Mill. "Don't mind him. He's just not the social type."

"I see. Well, glad to have you aboard. Should be only about 15 minutes to Vermilion. Where are you off to anyway?"

"Orre." Terry spoke up for the first time in Mill's presence, who promptly raises an eyebrow.

Just then a faint sound was heard, which seemed to grow louder and faster. Both Terry and Rod looked in the right direction immediately, spotting the army helicopter flying into the base at speed. The sound slowed down nearer the base, and then disappeared into the trees as it landed out of sight. Rod frowned, commenting to himself "Wonder what's going on?", but Captain Mill still seemed to be distracted by what Terry just said.

"Orre! Ye're not sailing with that old coot are ya?" Mill asks? Terry gets the feeling Rod and this Mill character seem to know each other fairly well.

"Garit's an old friend of my uncle, even if he is a bit cuckoo, he's going to Orre and that's the only ship that is today."

"Cuckoo?" Terry frowned. He did not like the sound of where this trip seemed to be going, things were getting worse and worse.

"Let's get out of here. I'll tell you a bit about him on the way." Mill said.

Rod looked back once again, thinking of the helicopter that passed. "Before they call us back for duty. Well, me at any rate, you're still injured."

"Don't remind me." Terry sighed. Captain Mill loosened a rope and threw it onto the deck of the small boat, as Terry and Rod both climbed aboard. Mill followed just behind, then slipped into the cabin and started up the engine. The boat slid backwards for a few feet, long enough for Captain Mill to put on a bit of power to turn it around and speed off.

Running hard onto the dock, one of the guards from the base entrance appeared, stopping as he saw the high-speed boat jet away across the water towards Kanto's mainland. He frowned, realising even if he shouted they were already too far to hear him, then turned and started running back towards the camp.

-----------------------------

A few moments ago...

The army helicopter slowed down as it neared the helipad, then took the descent to the ground with almost seamless piloting. Out stepped an obviously high-ranking army officer, wearing heavy decoration across his left breast, and an obviously well-pressed uniform befitting such a title. He looked to be in his late 40s, with heavy set build and a thick moustache. Appearing just behind him are two lower ranked officers, both wearing similar uniforms but with less decoration, and each is armed with a machine gun.

Stepping out from his office, General Tarin strode out to meet this man who dares come without warning. He looks across, hiding his surprise at seeing an High General of the Kanto Army, but says nothing until he is spoken to. He stops in front of him, giving a salute which was returned by the High General.

"Are you in command here?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"Not any more. I have orders here from the Commander in Chief himself. Gather all your men together for roll call ASAP." The High General held in his hand some official looking papars, which he handed to Tarin, who briefly looked over them. Just by glancing at the covers, Tarin recognised something and could not hide his surprise any longer. He frowned, but looked to his side where the main entrance was. He barked orders out to the two guards standing there.

"Lieutentant Rakim, go to the dock and see if you can stop those two leaving. Lieutenant Hayim, organise roll call immediately."

As one of the lieutenants rushed off towards the jetty, another went into the guardpost, lifting a microphone. Over several speakers placed around the camp, Hayim's words could be heard:

"All soldiers, report for roll call immediately. This is not a drill, repeat this is not a drill."

Hayim repeated the call once, then returned to his post and stood back in his place.

 

[Toothache]

Chapter 2 - On to Orre!

The high speed boat slowed as it approached Vermilion Harbour, with the engines being cut by Captain Mill just before they reach it. The boat stops near the pier there, and a sailor immediately comes across to be greeted by Captain Mill who comes out the cabin holding a rope, and he throws the rope to this sailor who ties it down. Terry and Rod both get up and grab their rucksacks, departing from the boat.

"Thanks for the trip." Rod says. Terry matches this by giving him a "Yeah, thanks," before departing.

"Don't mention it guys. When are you back in town?" asked the captain.

"About 10 days from now."

"Alright I'll see ya then. Even if Garit is a mad old coot, Orre's only a couple of days away at full sail, I'll bet even he couldn't mess that up."

"Thanks." Rod chuckles. Both wave him off, Terry fighting the almost instinctive urge to salute him. They make their way further up the pier to a larger ship, which is loading some cargo onto the side of it by means of a large crane. Along the side is the words 'Goldenrod Gem' emblazoned in navy blue. Rod takes a look around for someone, catching the eye of one of the sailors near the cargo, he steps over.

"You seen Garit around?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, he's onboard checking everything over before we depart. Last coupla boxes to load then we're off. You two the pair he's taking with him?"

"Yeah."

"Great. I'm Varib, the navigator. That mess over there," says Varib, pointing to the crane operator, "is Carib, my brother. He's also the cook." On first glance, the family resemblance is not very evident. Varib is a tall muscly sort of chap, where as Carib seems of a slight build. Both sport long red hair. Rod walks back over to Terry.

"This is our ride. Guess we get aboard." The pair of soldiers walk up the plank leading onto the deck of the Goldenrod Gem, looking around for any sign of a captain.

"Avast ye! Who be invading me deck? I'll keelhaul the pair of ye!" comes a cry, then stepping out of the cabins comes an elderly old sailor, with a long black beard and a monocle in his left eye, followed closely behind by a Machop and a Krabby.

"It's me, Rod!" Rod exclaimed.

"Rod? Young Rod Surge? Why, last time I seen ye, ye were only knee-high to a Beedrill! Good to have ye aboard. And is this your friend?"

"Yeah, this is Terry. Terry, meet Captain Garit."

Terry raised his right hand to try and shake it, which was immediately met by Garit's left hand. Terry, confused, switches hands and shakes. Up until now, Garit had been keeping his right hand behind his back.

"Tch, ye'd find out eventually." he says, then shows his right hand to reveal - a hook, where the hand should have been. "Lost it to a Sharpedo, many moons ago. Viscious things they are, if ye're unlucky enough ye may just see one."

A dull thump can be heard below, then the crane is slowly raised from the large loading hole in the deck to the pier level.

"Careful with that stuff will ye?" shouts Garit over the deck, which is met by a pair of voices shouting "Cap'n!"

"What you taking to Orre anyway?" Terry asks, curiousity getting the better of him.

"Something dark and mysterious, and if I told ye I'd have te kill ye!" Garit says with glee, for a moment holding a straight face before bursting into a weezing laughter. "I be pulling ye'r leg, it's a shipment of Pokeballs." Terry didn't seem impressed by the attempted 'humour' and just gave the captain a wry smile.

The crane is once again raised over the heads and onto the deck of the Goldenrod Gem, and lowered into the hold. The crane is raised out again and stops for good. A few moments later Varib and Carib appear on deck.

"That's the last of em." Carib exclaims.

"Right then. Let's be out o' here. Varib, raise the anchor, Carib, fix the sails. Once we're away, show em their cabins, eh boy? Machop, give him a hand will ye."

"Machop!" says the Pokemon, who follows Carib to one of the sails. Varib moves to the front of the ship to a winch, and starts pushing with what seems like a lot of effort, dragging the heavy chain and anchor out of the water. Between Carib and the Machop, they manage to tilt the sails in the direction of the southwards wind, which took them out of the harbour and into the sea. Carib ties the sail in it's new place, then moves over to Rod and Terry.

"Cabins are this way." he says, then leads them into a nearby door. A few doors down he stops near one door, and pulling out a set of keys unlocks it. He does the same with the cabin next door to it.

"Which one you want?" Rod asks Terry, who shrugs and replies. "I dunno." Rod points to the left door and says: "I'll have this one then."

"Right." Carib says. "Feel free to make this place your home, although I wouldn't recommend going into the engine room, not unless you wanna few less limbs. Lunch is in an hour, we usually have our food out on deck. I'd better get it ready then."

"Gotcha. I'm gonna dump this stuff down and relax for a bit. How about you, Terry?"

"Might just chill out on deck."

"Right, see you in a bit." Rod wanders into his chosen cabin. Terry opens his and has a look around. The place is spartan, with no furniture apart from the bed. Obviously they aren't used to having guests, as he noticed the floor was dusty. He dropped the rucksack down from his back, then closed the cabin and headed back to the outside. Varib was there, looking over the bow and he turned and grinned cheesily when Terry appeared.

"Hey kid." then, upon noticing the Pokeballs at his side, raised his hand and started throwing a Pokeball of his own up and down nonchelantly.

"What do you want, a battle or something?" Terry narrowed his eyes, the adrenaline starting to flow through him.

"See, my brother Carib, he thinks you army lot are all great trainers. I however, think you're all muscle. Think you can prove me wrong?"

Terry, now smiling, lowers his hand to his side. "I might. What you got?"

"Oh, no. I'm challenging you, so you show me first." Varib stops throwing the Pokeball up and down, and gets ready to throw it for a battle.

"Thought you'd never ask. Go, Venonat!" Terry threw one of his Pokeballs, releasing a Venonat who looks across at Varib with it's large eyes. Varib sneers, and throws the Pokeball in his hand. "Almost too easy. Go Zubat!" The Zubat appears, flapping to hover in place a few feet above the deck.

"Ok Venonat, give it some Supersonic." Terry shouts.

"Zubat, Leech Life." Varib gives the order to his Zubat, who is faster and immediately sweeps down to bite and suck at Venonat. Venonat although a little hurt, seems unfazed by this, and opens its mouth, seeming to shout something at the Zubat, but to the two trainers, no sound appears to be coming out.

"Heh, you missed!" Varib shouts.

"Oh really? Check again." Terry points out, and it seems he was right. The Zubat looks around, almost aimlessly not being able to percieve the Venonat even though it is right in front of him, spinning around to do a 360 degree roll in the air before colliding into the deck. The Zubat gets up and slowly attempts to get back into the air, still seeming to be disrupted by the Supersonic.

"You see, Zubat relies on sound because it can't see, and the Supersonic attack is a focused cone of sound, too high piched for us humans to hear, but easily loud enough to confuse your Zubat." Switching from lecturing to Varib, to his Venonat, he commands: "Right, while he's still a little dazed, Stun Spore!"

The Venonat leaps into the air and shakes his body over the Zubat as it tries to get up, sprinkling him in a powder that seems to slow him down further and cover his wings, making it harder for the Zubat to fly. Zubat crashes back into the deck and hurt itself further.

"Ok, time to finish it. Give it your Confusion attack."

"Confusion?" Varib cries, but it is too late. Venonat's eyes glow in a psychedelic hue as psychic power is channeled forward into the Zubat's direction. Zubat seems to be hurt from an invisible blow, and fails to try and get up, lying there on the deck, beaten.

"Zubat, return." Varib raises his Pokeball and sucks up the Zubat with a red beam of light as it disappears back into his Pokeball. Then, looking at Terry, he says: "Guess I was wrong about you military types." He chuckles, then looks over to the cabins. "Carib, he was always a better trainer than me. If you want a real challenge, give him a go. But don't say I didn't warn you, I got the muscles but he's got the brains."

"Heh thanks. I might just do that." Terry smiles, his confidence seems to be regaining. "Venonat, you did good. You rest now ok?" Terry raised his Pokeball as the Venonat disappeared inside it.

"See ya later." Varib says, then steps off towards the cabins in search of a Revive for his Pokemon. Terry looked over at the waters that lay ahead. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all. Not as bad as, back then...

---------------

Lots of mysteries going on, it seems. Why does Terry doubt his abilities as a trainer. What event caused this? What event caused a sudden change of routine at the army base? Find out some of the answers to these, and probably a few more questions, in the next installment of 'Of Power and Influence'