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Post by Orin on May 11, 2011 14:30:41 GMT
Orin turned to Brandon’s father. He was an aging man like Orin himself, only he seemed about 5-7years older. Orin had so many questions to ask both Brandon and his father, and he knew he could not ask them all. Orin couldn’t decide where to start! The man in front of him was the key to a flood of knowledge that would come in the form of the scientist, Elliot Danver. Orin had escaped Hunters, killed Hunters, traveled from one solar system to the next, and even helped destroy a Hunter base, yet he couldn’t in this moment speak. Finally, Orin gathered his thoughts after a long moment of silence and asked,
“Where. Is. Elliot. Danver.”
That question had plagued Orin for so long. He had wanted to ask it but couldn’t for fear of APM or Hunter spies. Now, in the safety of the Sunfighter traveling back to Apothos, Orin had said it. The man, Brandon’s father, spoke, “That...is a difficult question.” Orin felt momentarily hopeless...Did this man really know where the scientist was? Yes...the man spoke again, “This is something that I have indeed tried to figure out myself. For years, I searched for the answer to this question. First, I looked through the earth alliance (the group Danver traveled to Arcia with). Then I searched the AU (the group that I thought he joined after the earth alliance fell apart); apparently, he never made it to the AU” Orin gulped: He knew there was only one faction left. Brandon’s father continued, “...and then I searched the APM. That was quite recently too.”
The man chuckled, “That’s how I ended up on that rock back there. The Hunters were going to kill me because I had learned that Elliot Danver now resides, against his own will, with the APM.” Orin felt relieved. He finally knew where Danver was; now, if he could just get the scientist. The man continued, “Danver is a renowned scientist and inventor. If you have an idea, he could probably make it into reality. I was looking for him so that he could help me and AU better fight the APM. Why were YOU looking for him, Orin?”
Orin was caught off-guard a bit. Obviously, the man was suspicious that Orin might have diabolical plans for Danver. Orin opted to tell as much of the truth as he deemed safe, “My father back on earth worked with Danver. When Danver left with the earth alliance, my father continued working on a secret project, and this book...” Orin withdrew the small book resembling a dictionary, “...contains that world-changing secret. In short, if Danver gets this book, both my mission and your mission to help the AU will be more than accomplished.”
Silence permeated the Sunfighter. Everyone aboard the ship thought of the importance of their new mission. They knew that they had to get that book to Elliot Danver and then get both back to the AU safe and sound. If they failed, the APM could destroy the AU. Brandon’s father spoke, “Well then, I suppose we need to get Elliot Danver. Though, I should warn you. Your feats at the Hunter’s base were like taking candy from a baby compared to this mission...” “What do you mean?” Orin asked, not being able to imagine anything harder than what they had just done. “I mean that Elliot Danver is guarded by the entirety of the APM force. To get him is to defeat the APM army.” Brandon piped up, “So what are you saying?” “I am saying that it is impossible to get Danver through force. Even if we managed to beat back the APM and get to Danver, the APM would have killed him by the time we could try to rescue him. Think of it as a hostage situation: the APM would like to have Danver alive, but they do not need him. If we make a move, they’ll kill Danver in mere minutes, and the AU will be doomed.”
“So what should we do?” Asked Brandon. It was an obvious question to which there was no obvious answer. Everyone aboard the Sunfighter was deep in thought. As fighting men, each one wanted to resort to some kind of militaristic plan, but that wouldn’t work. Finally Orin spoke, “I have thought about this situation for a long time. Since I entered this system, I have entertained the thought of ‘What if Danver is captured by the APM?’. Every single scenario that I cam up with ended the same way: Danver died. Save for one.” Everyone on the ship was listening intently now.
“A trade-off” said Orin. Immediately, he could see the dissatisfied looks on Brandon and Mr. Jacobs’ face. Yet, neither one said anything. There really was no other option. Danver was nestled deep in APM territory on Apothos. Even with the help of every fighting AU soldier, a military approach couldn’t work. Finally, Orin continued, “If we can find something that they need more than Danver that we have, we will be able to organize a trade-off. They will try to double-cross us, I am sure of that. We will have to be ready. But, how do we contact them?” “We hack their communications.” Brandon stated. “But, how?” Orin asked.
The Sunfighter neared Apothos’ atmosphere as Brandon said, “Let’s just say we still have some friends left on Apothos.”
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Post by Brandon on Jul 20, 2011 2:22:01 GMT
It had been a long trip for Orin, Brandon, and Brandon's father, but not long enough for some of them. Brandon could tell the whole ride that Orin was thinking about something. The room was filled with a tense feeling. They had all remained silent the whole ride, but now they had finally arrived on Apothos.
Brandon pulled the ship very close to the tall buildings in the slums of Apothos. He finally saw the smuggling headquarters and steered the ship towards it. Slower and slower he went until finally he landed the Sunfighter in the hangar. Orin finally looked up at Brandon and spoke for the first time in hours. "Aren't you going to tell the others we're here?" Brandon had that evil smirk on his face. "But that would be too easy. Let's have a little fun with this." Brandon knew that the alarms would be going off upstairs, but he wanted to mess with Lucius, the Fletchers, and the other smugglers.
They made their way up the staircases very quietly until finally they reached the correct floor. They came to the final door, and suddenly they heard panicked movement on the other side of the door. Brandon had them get out of sight. Then Brandon pulled out his pistol, which was empty, but cocked it. Then he yelled out, "This is the APM. Come out of that room with your hands up." No response came. "Very well. We will enter by force." Brandon rushed into the room. He dropped to the floor as a few shots rang out and he started to laugh. Lucius and the others stopped firing and stared incredulously at Brandon. Brandon was laughing hysterically. "I got you guys so bad. You should've seen you faces.''
Eventually (after many apologies), they all gathered together to plan their next move. Brandon's father spoke first. "All right. First of all, we have one piece of the puzzle. We have the book. Bad news: they have Danver." Kurt spoke up, "So how do we get Danver?" Brandon's father looked at him. "Good question. You can't just go in all guns ablaze. I suggest an exchange, then you can get Danver and escape with him and the book." Daniel looked up suddenly. "But won't the APM try to do the same?" Brandon spoke this time. "Exactly our problem. We can do it but we'll need a backup plan. We'll get some AU backup for this mission. So simply, we go in, get Danver, and get out. Everyone in agreement?" Everyone agreed. A few hours later everything was set. The meeting would be the next day in an area of the suburbs of Apothos. Everyone went to bed early so they would be ready for the next day. Orin found Brandon wide awake though. Brandon was inspecting a number of knives and small arms. Orin entered and put his hand on Brandon's shoulder. "What you up to?" Brandon turned his head to look at Orin. "Getting ready. I don't trust those APM jerks at all. Best be ready, even if we have backup coming." Orin nodded in agreement. "We will be ready; and hey if we go down we go down together." Brandon breathed a deep sigh. "Alright let's do this."
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Post by Orin on Jul 24, 2011 16:00:56 GMT
Tide of War 1-6-3
After a much needed rest, the group awoke the next morning. They crowded around the transponder Frank had set up to receive uninterrupted transmissions from the AU. A voice cracked over the speaker, “Morning gentleman, I have received word that you have a very important opportunity to attain the scientist Elliot Danver. Is this true?” “Yes, General Harrison,” answered Daniel. “I also have been informed that you have arranged a trade-off?” “Yes sir, a man on our team here has a book, the APM want it badly. We have arranged to trade and we will making the trade later today.” Kurt responded. “I have already contacted some AU sleeper agents on Apothos, they'll be meeting you at the trade. You may never see them, but if something should go wrong, know that they are there to back you up. Keep your wits about you. Almost no one knows that this trade-off is being organized, if you fail, news will never reach the AU troops. Harrison out.” The general cut the transmission.
“Well,” Frank said, “I guess that settles it! We should start getting ready.” “Do we have a plan?” Orin asked? “I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.” Brandon said and then continued, “For me it is kinda obvious, the APM are going to try to kill us at that trade-off.” “We have to be prepared for a flashpoint conflict.” Daniel said and then, after seeing the inquisitive looks from others in the room, he continued, “A flashpoint conflict is a battle that happens in an instant but is very deadly. An ambush basically.” Lucius turned to the others, “Where is this trade-off taking place?” “A crate yard in the slums, why?” Brandon asked. “Well, if it's big enough, I could get to a crane or something and provide sniper support.” “I am sure it'll be plenty big, as a matter of fact...” Daniel got a satellite view of the crate yard on the computer and started pointing at the screen as he continued speaking, “That crane there, you should be able to get up inside of it no problem,” Kurt interjected, “And, there! Behind that stack of shipping crates, that stack has got to be at least 4 or 5 stories high. We could land your ship there, Brandon.” “It would certainly be easy to access there, wouldn't it?” Brandon said. “Yea,” Frank said, “the meeting would be taking place right there,” he pointed to an opening in the shipping yard, “Right next to the Davidson Steel company's shipping crates. Your ship would only be about 100 yards away.”
“That settles it!” Brandon said. “We arrive later tonight and be ready. Frank, you haven't moved the armory have you?” Frank chuckled, “No, it is right where it has always been.” “Good, I may need to pay it a quick visit.” Later that day Orin was alone with Brandon in the armory. Brandon was loading some clips when Orin walked in startling him a little, “Dang, you are way too quiet. Where's Daniel, Kurt, and Lucius?” Brandon said. “They're loading their gear in the Sunfighter and doing some final checks. I actually came in here to thank you.” Orin said. Brandon looked a little inquisitive as Orin continued, “No one has helped me since I got to Arcia save for you, and I definitely wouldn't have made it this far without your help.” Brandon put down the magazines he was loading and spoke, “Well, you helped me save my father, but I helped you survive on Galthos; so, I guess we're even. Although, I do have one more favor to ask ya'.” “Yea?” Orin asked. “You gotta promise me that no matter what happens during this trade-off, you do exactly what I say, okay? I can't go losing any more friends or family, then I gotta go steal 'em back again, got it?” Brandon said. “I promise, and thanks again.” Orin said.
Brandon jumped up and grabbed a large duffel bag with a lot of ammo and gun clips inside and hauled it out of the armory, all the while yelling, “Alright people! It's go time; get your stuff loaded up and let's get this show on the road! I'm getting' tired of waitin' around here!” “Alright, alright, already!” Frank yelled back, “Keep your pants on! I'm just gonna grab my stuff.” The two smugglers laughed at each other, then Brandon said, “Frank, I am gonna need you to stay in the Sunfighter and keep 'er warmed up; she'll probably have to ready in a moments' notice.” “You got it!” Frank exclaimed. Moments later the group was in the Sunfighter, ready to go. Frank started the ship's engines and turned to Brandon, “She's ready.” Brandon looked at Frank and said, “I couldn't have asked for a better comm's officer or friend...” “Aww, you're gonna make me cry...” Frank said sarcastically. “Alright Frank, enough's enough. You know the drill, PUNCH IT!” And with that the ship exited the hangar and began gliding toward it's destination.
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Post by Orin on Jul 29, 2011 16:15:34 GMT
Tide of War 1-6-4
A few moments later, the Sunfighter touched-down behind the large stack of shipping crates in the crate-yard. The group was already equipped with their weapons and ammo, just in case they ran into trouble right when they stepped off the ship. Brandon stretched his arms in the air, "Well, that was a longer ride than I expected." The group stepped out of the ship leaving Frank inside to keep it running. Brandon turned to Frank, "Don't leave this ship for anything, you hear me? No matter what, you stay here, we can't risk them taking the ship." "Got it," Frank said, "I'll keep the ship ready." "See ya' in a few, " Brandon said as the door to the Sunfighter closed behind him. Brandon caught up to Orin, "You ready?" "Yea," Orin said, "I just got a bad feeling." Kurt and Daniel slung their weapons over their shoulders as Brandon said, "Alright, let's do this thing"
The group traveled through what seemed like a maze of crates and and giant shipping containers. It was dark out and only the light available was from the shipping yard light posts. Daniel turned to Lucius who had been quiet most of this time, "Alright, this is your stop." Daniel pointed to a large crane, "Have fun climbing that. Once you get to the top, you should have a clear view on the meeting area. I pray that you won't have to use that," Daniel said looking at Lucius' sniper rifle, "...but if you do, make every shot count, use your suppressor to hide your position, and shoot the enemy not us. Friendly fire is not the way I had planned to go." Lucius retorted, "This isn't my first mission, Daniel. I think I can handle it. Besides, if I do poorly, I can just blame it on your training, right?" Kurt turned to Daniel, "I think we should have punched him a couple more times..." "Alright, alright. I'll go provide over-watch...good thing I'm not afraid of heights...." Lucius said as he started climbing the crane.
Daniel and the rest of the group continued on. Upon nearing the shipping yard, Kurt turned to the rest of the group and said, "Where we stand now is our choke point. If we get over-whelmed, we'll only have to fall back to here." The area he spoke of was only about 6 feet wide and had giant immovable shipping containers on either side. Being along their possible retreat-path, this seemed like a good area for a fall back plan. "We can regroup here if things go badly, and use these smaller crates for cover." Daniel pointed to some metallic crates, each about the size of a truck engine and probably just as thick. Brandon turned to Orin inquiring, "Do you have the book?" "Of course...How could I forget?" "I was just wondering...here we are." Brandon said. The group rounded a small set of shipping crates to find a large open, outside area about the size of a warehouse, strewn with smaller crates and shipping trucks. It was like a small parking lot of sorts. ON the other side of the lot stood a group of ten men, all soldiers dressed in jet black armor. Each had a mask covering their entire face with dark visors covering their eyes. Their identities were completely hidden and in the middle of their group stood a man in plain clothes; he seemed a little scared. This man was Elliot Danver, the scientist that the group was after.
"Wait here, Kurt you come with me," said Daniel. "Let me have the book." Kurt said to Orin before going over to Daniel. Orin reluctantly got the book from inside his trench coat and handed it to Kurt. Kurt and Daniel began walking toward the middle of the parking lot, halving the distance between their group and the APM. "I don't like this, we're already outnumbered..." Kurt said quietly to Daniel. Meanwhile, Brandon and Orin stood quietly separate from Kurt and Daniel. Brandon turned to Orin, "Why are we trading the book again? Don't we need that?" "They don't yet realize just how important Danver is to that book and also, they can't kill the book but, they can kill Danver, can you see that?" "Okay, yea, I understand." Brandon replied. The APM sent one soldier with Danver to meet in the middle. It was standard trade-off procedure. Daniel handed the book to the soldier at the same time as Danver walked over and stood next to Kurt. Kurt looked at the soldier and said, "You have what you want, and we have what we want, pleasure doing business with you." The soldier remained silent as Daniel and Kurt turned to begin walking back to the group just as the APM soldier did. That's when they heard a sound.
When Daniel and Kurt neared the group a small click, almost inaudible, reached their ears and the ears of Brandon and Orin. That click was followed by a metallic sound, like a metal ball-bearing rolling across the pavement. Daniel and Kurt looked down at the ground as a small metal cylinder rolled past them and came to an abrupt halt only 3 feet from Orin and Brandon and about 2 feet from Daniel and Kurt. In a moment, they all knew what it was. Brandon exclaimed, "Is that a...." "FLASH!" Daniel yelled followed by the loudest boom and most blinding light anyone in the group had ever experienced. Everyone dove to the ground, blinded and disoriented. It was only by luck that Brandon, Daniel, and Kurt staggered behind cover before bullets began flying everywhere. The APM troops were unaffected by the flash because of their masks. Orin however, did not dive to the ground. He pulled his shotgun from his coat and aimed it at the APM troops. Pulling the trigger, he unleashed an explosive shotgun round that landed in the middle of the APM soldiers killing three and wounding another. Then he grabbed a confused and disoriented Elliot Danver and dove to cover.
Brandon, Kurt, and Daniel recovered from their disorientation and began returning fire. Rounds flew off of metal crates everywhere; every soldier there had to be aware of deadly ricochets. Kurt flew up from the set of crates he was behind to fire both barrels of his double barrel grenade launcher into another group of APM soldiers. Brandon also returned fire, throwing a grenade and firing burst after burst from his P97. Daniel peeked his head around the crates he was behind to see a lot more than ten APM soldiers. Now there were almost forty. They had been hiding out in some of the giant shipping containers and were still coming out of the containers. Daniel managed to fire a couple rounds down range injuring two of the APM soldiers and killing another, but every APM soldier that was incapacitated was replaced by two more. Orin fired another explosive round from his shotgun and then loaded in some metallic slugs to help increase the killing range of the weapon.
The battle continued for a good fifteen or twenty minutes with fire being exchanged almost constantly. Brandon peered over his crate to see some of the APM soldiers falling without any apparent cause. That's when he remembered: Lucius. The sniper had been working over time to drop as many enemies as he could. Just then over Daniel's comm came Lucius' voice, "Daniel! Are you guys alright?! I've been trying to keep you guys some cover up here!" "Yea," replied Daniel yelling, "I think we're all uninjured. Just keep up the cover and let me know what you see." "About that..." Lucius said seeming a bit worried. "What?!? What is it?!" Daniel demanded as he fired his X7 at a group of APM troops just emerging from another shipping crate. "I would fall back if I were you! I mean RIGHT NOW!" Lucius yelled back. Brandon overhearing the chatter on his comm shouted over the gunfire, "What do you see Lucius, we NEED to know!" Lucius replied, "Dreadnoughts."
Over a towering group of shipping containers appeared three dreadnoughts and they were already letting down more APM soldiers into the parking lot. "NOW! We have to fall back NOW!" Kurt yelled and shot up from behind his cover spraying a hail of bullets at the APM. Everyone else did the same as the group retreated to their choke point. Lucius shouted over the comm, "I can't cover you guys from there!" Kurt yelled, "That's OK! Just take out the soldiers crossing the parking lot! They'll be in the open!" "Copy." Lucius said back as he began picking off some of the soldiers coming down ropes from the dreadnoughts. However, despite his excellent aim, he couldn't put much of a dent in the APM soldiers' numbers. The rest of the group was now at the fall back point unleashing everything they had at the bottle-necked APM soldiers. "We can't keep this up for long!" Orin shouted as he put down his shotgun and pulled his pistol, "I am out of ammo in my shotgun!" "Same for my X7!" Daniel yelled drawing his machine pistol and firing off a few rounds. "We can't turn and run, they'll shoot us in the back!" Elliot Danver exclaimed who had been hiding behind cover all this while. "We have to get back to the Sunfighter before they flank behind us!" Brandon said just as he was struck in the leg by a ricochet bullet. He fell to the ground, but only for a moment, and was soon back up on his feet returning fire.
"Are you OK?!" Orin exclaimed seeing blood poring from Brandon's wound. Brandon didn't say anything of his wound, instead he turned to the rest of the group and said, "Leave." Daniel ducked behind the crates and yelled, "What?!" Brandon shouted back, "I said, 'LEAVE!'" Kurt, firing off a few rounds, shouted "What?! We're not leaving you!" Brandon grabbed Kurt and pulled him only inches from his face and shouted, "I am too wounded to run, I'll only slow our retreat back to the ship. Either we all die here and the APM get the book and Danver, or I cover you and you guys escape! TAKE YOUR PICK!" "I vote escape." Danver muttered. Kurt looked at the ground for a moment, he thought, then said, "Alright, but I am not gonna be the one to tell your father what happened." Orin patted Brandon on the back and said, "Thank you, this is the ultimate sacrifice." Brandon grinned and said, "At least I can take a few of them with me! Alright, on three you guys go and I'll cover. 1...2...
[TAGGING BRANDON]
Not sure what you have planned, but I hope this helps. Good luck man.
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Post by Brandon on Jul 29, 2011 21:13:14 GMT
"Three!" The rest of the group bolted from their position. Brandon dove out from his position and rained bullets on the enemy soldiers. He cut down 5 of them before they started to hesitate. The soldiers were trying to find cover until reinforcements came. Brandon took cover and used his radio. "Frank, you there?" Frank's voice came back through the radio. "Yes Brandon I'm here and so are the others." Brandon fired a few bullets from his cover. "Take off now." Frank sounded worried. "But there are dreadnoughts...and..." "I DON'T CARE! LEAVE NOW! I'll take care of them. And Frank..." "Yes?" "Don't forget her." Frank started tearing up. "I...I won't."
Brandon knew what he had to do. He changed the frequency on his radio. "Charlie 4, Charlie 4-you're fire mission A-ok!" A voice crackled back through the radio. "Copy. Coming in hot." With that, Brandon reloaded his gun, checked his other weapons, then stepped out as a barrage of fire came from 5 AU helicopters that had seemingly come out of nowhere. 2 of the dreadnoughts went down in the barage of missles and a wall of flame took out many of the APM soldiers. But more reinforcements were arriving.
The APM soldiers who remained charged forward towards Brandon once the barrage of fire was over. Brandon stepped toward them and fired. 12 soldiers were down before Brandon ran out of ammo. He threw down his gun and pulled out his two pistols. Shot after shot went off. 10 more soldiers went down. Now the APM knew he was out of guns. They forgot they even had guns and just charged forward to subdue him. Brandon smiled. "Come and get some!" All of a sudden, one APM soldier went down with a knife in the middle of his forehead. Then another and another. Brandon was weaving his way in amidst the soldiers cutting them down one by one. He'd throw a knife at an oncoming soldier then pick it back out as he walked towards the next one. The soldiers couldn't believe what they were seeing. Some ran. Some fought. But Brandon wasn't stopped. He was getting minor wounds as he went, but now adrenaline was kicking in. He kept fighting. Brandon thought he might make it when he saw him. Brandon couldn't believe HE was actually here. He lost track of everyone else and threw his largest knife at the man. It struck the man he had targeted when suddenly he felt a stinging sensation in his shoulder. Then another in his leg. Then his chest. He'd done it though. He was sure of it. He fell to the ground and saw the Sunfighter blast away. They'd made it...
Orin and the others had watched the fight from above. They saw Brandon fall to the ground injured. Then he didn't move. Orin stood stunned. Lucius started to stutter, "He can't be.... maybe he's alive?" Orin turned towards him. "He's dead guys. Face it." Orin had a single tear running down his face. "He's...dead."
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Post by Orin on Aug 1, 2011 16:12:06 GMT
Tide of War 1-6-6
Hours later, the Sunfighter was out of Apothos' atmosphere and into space. The whole ride had been a quiet one, for everyone had just lost a dear friend. No one had dare speak, but questions burned inside everyone soul on that ship. Mainly, the questions were: Was Brandon's sacrifice in vain? Was this mission really worth it? After even a longer silence, Danver finally spoke, "Orin, what did you trade for me?" Before Orin could answer, Kurt replied, "The book". Danver seemed shocked, "Wait...you didn't trade the only thing we needed for that device, did you? Orin! We needed that book! That was the ONLY thing we needed! I mean, sure, I am thankful you rescued me, and, true, I could probably understand what your father wrote in it, but now the APM have it, and we HAVE to go back and get it! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" Danver was livid. Even in his old age, the scientist still knew how to throw a temper tantrum.
Orin tilted his head toward the ceiling, "Calm down; obviously, dad didn't tell you..." "Tell me what?!" Danver was even more tense now. "He obviously didn't tell you that the real book never existed in Arcia." Now everyone had stunned looks on their faces as they peered through tired eyes at Orin. Orin continued, "The REAL book, is in here." Orin tapped the side of his head and then went on, "I remember when my father first thought of the idea for the first perpetual energy battery. It was the key to the next thousand years of technology. He didn't have the resources to flesh-out the idea, but the AU did. He was sympathetic with them, and he knew that they could use this technology to fight the APM. But..." Orin sighed and drew in a stuttering breath. With teared eyes, he spoke, "...the APM got to him first....but not before he had taken measures to protect the technology, his life's work. That's when I got his book and started running from the APM and the Hunters. Whenever I had downtime, I would read the book."
Orin continued, "When you read the same book over 1,500 times in your life, you keep bits and pieces of it in your head. But unlike most others, I had a gift. Instead of keeping bits and pieces of the book in my mind, I kept all of it." Daniel and Kurt looked at each other with faces that were almost stunned. "When I was confident I had all of it memorized, I torched it. It was hard because it was the last piece of my father that I knew, the last piece of anything that I knew. It had to be done though, and I did it." Danver spoke apologetically but also inquisitively, "Then, what did you give the APM?" "Something I think they needed..." Orin said.
-At the APM high command-
A soldier walked in the commander's office speaking, "Sir, this is the book we've so longed for. I feel the greatest gratitude that I could serve you for this mission." "Let me see it," the aging commander, no longer able to see live battle, ran his fingers over the book, "All these years, too bad we couldn't get Danver too. Oh well, we don't need him." The commander let his fingers pry the cover from the first page of the book. "Finally, the moment we've been...WHAT?!" To his surprise the commander didn't find text in the book, no what he found was more than infuriating: little dots on each page, raised so that one could run their fingers across them...Braille. The commander screamed, "GET THOMPSON IN HERE NOW!" A few moments later a soldier wearing a tag with "Pvt. Thompson" inscribed on it entered the room. The soldier walked with a cane, but it wasn't because he had weak legs. The commander spoke as he placed Thompson's hand on the first page of the book, "Thompson, you will be doing a great service to the APM by telling me what this means." "Yes sir," Thompson said and then ran his fingers across the page. "Well, Thompson, what does it say?" the commander anxiously asked. Thompson spoke, "Sir, it says 'The Holy Bible, King James version, presented to....Orin....love dad."
-Back on the Sunfighter-
Danver breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, I trust, Orin, that you didn't give them anything that would win them the war. I am going to go check on Frank; he's been alone the whole time, and he's the pilot. Thank you for rescuing me, all of you." With that Danver headed to the piloting room of the Sunfighter leaving Orin, Daniel, and Kurt in the back lounge. Daniel and Kurt were still a little shocked at what they had just been told. It seemed that Brandon's sacrifice was not in vain, though this only lessened the pain of loss a little. Kurt got up, "I am tired, and I need to sleep; today's just been a little much." He let out a yawn and sauntered off into a back room to sleep, leaving just Daniel and Orin to talk things out. The lounge remained quiet for sometime, until Daniel looked up at Orin and realized for the first time since he had ever known Orin, the man didn't have his sunglasses on.
Daniel peered at Orin for a moment. Then he looked at Orin's eyes. He saw something he had only seen a few times before. Orin's eyes were foggy, with a light blue hue. Then he started to put two and two together. Orin always wore sunglasses, his eyes had an unnatural hue, and he always had a blank stare. Daniel spoke slowly, "Orin, I would like to forget the battle, but there's one thing I can't get out of my mind." Orin replied, "Go on..." "When that flash-bang went off, how come you didn't dive for cover? If anything, you stood and fought. You didn't stumble around, you didn't waver; instead, you saved Danver, and, if anything, your aim became even more accurate. Why?" Orin faced straight at a wall and said nothing. Daniel thought to himself, you can't be blinded if you're already....
Orin's voice broke the momentary silence, "My father made these sunglasses for me when I was little. He said they'd help me see the world in a different light. Well, he was wrong, I wouldn't be seeing the world in any light. I was born without sight, but when one of your senses is removed, another is amplified. In my case, it was my hearing. I can literally create a mental picture of my surroundings just by the ambient noise in the air. The frames on the sunglasses, though my father didn't know it, amplified this ability by directing those vibrations right to my head. I could almost see, but then again I couldn't. The louder the noise the better, that's why when the flash went off, my aim became better and I saved Danver. That flash created the clearest mental picture I have ever had; the closest I've ever come to seeing. The only trouble I seem to have is when it is raining, it's hard for some reason when that happens." Orin tilted his head back, "My ability is called echo-location; it's not science fiction, it is real. Most but not all blind people develop it; I was born with it. Because of this..." Orin's eyes teared up again, "...my own father never knew I was blind. He thought I just wanted to learn how to read Braille. I kept my secret from him because I knew that if he found out, he would try to fix it, the only thing that made me different from other people."
Daniel sat shocked, "You mean to tell me that you have done all this: avoided the Hunters, saved Danver, evaded the APM....and you're blind?" Orin crossed his arms, "Didn't you ever wonder why my rifle had no sights on it whatsoever? Didn't you ever think to question the fact that I always wore sunglasses? And even then, did you ever wonder why never looked at anyone when I spoke?" Daniel answered, "I...I don't know what to say...." Orin stood and spoke softly, "Say nothing. But remember that no matter what happens, no matter what disadvantages you are given, no matter what the situation, and no matter what the drawbacks....you can succeed. I am living proof of that." Daniel sat stunned. Orin began to walk out of the room but turned and said, "Oh and Daniel, don't tell the others..." Daniel spoke, "You have my word."
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