Darren certainly shows his bravery. Not only on the battlefield, but off. Unlike his erstwhile boyfriend....

It took five years of holding things inside, but Darren finally fought, and I think won, his final battle with Nelson.

The painful truth, though, is that that battle didn't win the war, and left another casualty, Alyssa, in its wake

A great story, Wrath of Magneto, and one that I enjoyed reading

Darren is a really strong character. Although it was painful it seemed he took everything in stride. His family, friends, people in general were treating him horribly, but he still managed and picked himself up and lived on. It was very admirable and I really like him.

Nelson was definitely cowardly, but fear can be so powerful, that I can empathize with him. You can't think clearly when you're that terrified. Or if you're thinking, you opt for the easiest way out. Can't blame him completely.

The ending was perfect. He finally let everyone know the truth and stood up for himself. That pain won't ever go away and saying what he said won't change anything, but at least he said his piece, rather than holding it in. Why hold it in? For who? Nelson? He doesn't have to do anything for Nelson.

Great job!

Very well done, Wrathofmagneto!

The military action was well-portrayed, and the set up all too believable. It amazed me that Darren would "take the rap" for Nelson, but it was honorable. Nelson was not. Nelson could have redeemed himself for a momentary panic by coming forward, but he didn't.

When Nelson showed up at the store, I feared he'd be "noble" again, but I was delighted that he didn't, and instead gave Neson a small dose of what he deserved. I also think he did the Fiance a huge favor.

Well done!
CJ

CJ, methinks the goat is getting senile. Wrath wrote this, not Menzo!

Does anyone understand the title of this story? Who is the real tango?

OOPS! Fixed! Sorry, I got the names mixed up.

"Tango" is the NATO phonetic-alphabet word for the letter "T". In military jargon, it refers to "target". It's been around a long time, since well before terrorists were a major issue. So, in this title, I beleive it refers to "target", because he's shooting at a "tango".

CJ

Wrong. Think more metaphorically.

This was a good story. It was well-written and realistic.

...I didn't like it though. Please don't take that personally, there's really no way I could have. I can't stand any sort of war books/movies, I'm very sick of hearing about terrorism, I've never been able to fathom why gays want to be in the military, I don't like betrayal, and I'm equally put off by revenge. However, those are all my personal tastes and opinions.

As I said, it was well-written and believable, the characters were vivid, the plot exciting, and the story moving. So very good job



Personally, I think everyone lost.


I agree that he doesn't have to do anything for Nelson, and Nelson certainly screwed up big time both in regards to the way he treated Darren and by getting involved with Alyssa, but I think I'd have found it more noble if Darren had forgiven him and held his tongue.

I will say that this paragraph summed things up perfectly in my opinion:




Anyway, as I said, it was a good story, just not a story for me.

Well done

-Kevin

Kev, your last quote from the story gives a much better idea of what the title really means. Titles are important to a story and until this title is fully understood I don't think this story can be fully appreciated. Was tango really just a code name for the targets at the start of the story?

Titles are indeed very important in my opinion as well! Personally speaking I always try to come up for a good title for my stories and even chapters, and I usually like for it to have more than one layer of meaning.

On the other hand, I don't think a good title is essential to a good story. I think to some extent that might just be our bias and preference. I've read a lot of very good stories with stupid, irrelevant titles. Some authors hate trying to come up with titles for their work. For me it's about my favourite thing

Good points Kevin, but you didn't address the core issue of what the title means.


That was perhaps the most important line in the story. Why? Because it let us know that "tango" can be applied in a variety of ways.

With the above in mind can't we see Darren as the ultimate "tango" in this story?

So much heartache with this anthology, but the prompt rather lent itself to that. I think the tragedy in this story, equal to that of what Darren went through with being discharged and betrayed by Nelson, is the five long years he endured afterward, apparently still harboring the pain and bitterness of betrayal. I read somewhere up the thread that everyone lost in this story, and I think that's true. But if Darren was able to use the run-in with Nelson as an impetus to shed some of his pain and begin healing, then there is hope.

Thank you for sharing this.

Don't confuse a good story by bringing up facts!

While there are procedures that should be followed, we all know that sometimes they're not, especially if a highly placed person exerts pressure accordingly, and no one lower down in the tree resists.

The only two solid clues to a timeline were the mention of the M40 sniper rifle which came into use during 1966, and the M9 Beretta pistol which came into use during the 1980s. I did do my research when beta-reading this story. I guess the mention of suicide bombings might have been a clue that the story was set in a more modern era, but in all honesty suicide bombings have been with us for a long time so it didn't seem to matter to me. Also, sometimes proper procedures are not always observed. Overall the story seemed solid enough to be believable.


Good point Graeme.

........Not to be trival, but the word terrorist wasn't really used until recently, giving the timeline closer to today.

I thought the IRA were called terrorists? And that's back in the 80s.

From Wikipedia:

The modern English term "terrorism" dates back to 1795 when it was used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club in their rule of post-Revolutionary France, the so-called "Reign of Terror".

.......Ok, you got me there! But I still recall that the term wasn't used as widely as today. The IRA was referrred to as the IRA, the French? they were revolutionaries.

OK, how about the Irgun? A Zionist organization that came into being in 1931. They were described at the time as a terrorist organization by many newspapers including The New York Times. One of their most infamous acts of terrorism was the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946. They were also involved in several massacres in between the time the UN approved the new state of Israel and the British officially pulled-out of Palestine.

......You win!!, (I still say Tango was about the timeline of today)

Actually, Tango describes Darren after he got caught and thrown out of the military. He became just one more tango to be destroyed.

Hehehe...You had inside information... *noogies*. The title does indeed refer to Darren.

To be perfectly honest with you, I left a few parts of the story ambiguous on purpose. I freely admit that I don't know all that much about military law, and most of my knowledge comes from the occasional episode of JAG and "A Few Good Men". The ambiguity of the story is to try to soften any glaringly obvious mistakes that I knew might get pointed out so that the reader focuses on the story instead of nitpicking.

Thank you all SOOOO much for the kind words! All kinds of ridiculous huggles go to you all. *ridiculously huggles you*. *monstrously huge amount of huggles go to Gary for all his help and support*

^_~

/me loves Bri huggles!

Brian, I was bored and wanted to read some of your stories so I read this one!

It was a good story but I had an issue with the scenario of your main character being "dishonorably discharged." I did some research into it and there has been a trend poping up in the military... Since a lot of people are being redeployed several times... like 3 or 4... some people will break the "Dont ask dont tell" rule and say, "Im gay" (even in some cases they are not) in hopes of getting a GENERAL discharge. It's basically the military letting you go.... Just letting you know.

- Andy

** So if this scenario played out with a real "war hero" as he is described more than likly his military record and service in would all be considered. .. resulting in a scenario more like the one I listed above. I know you wrote it for conflict and what not but the United States Military is more concerned with keeping bodies on front lines then with whos having sex with who .... right now anyway... lol

.........As Graeme said "Don't confuse a good story with facts!" I got massacred in the thread I should shut up!!

Mrs. Hazeltine: "Dive... DIVE" yelled the captain through the thingy.

... So the captain pressed a button, or something, and it dove. And the enemy was foiled again!

Name that movie!?

...Umm...McHale's Navy? I have absolutely no idea, lol.