Before Dawn PART 1
Memories. 001 Zack
It was twelve-o-clock when I last remember her. My mom that is. I was Eleven at the time too. But that's another story.
7:15 AM 7/29
My Name is Zack. Just Zack, if I have a last name, I don't know it. My age now is. Well I don't know. I think tomorrow is my 25 birthday.
"You ready Kid?" The admiral said from across the van. Yeah, we're at war. Sort of. It's hard to Explain. Basically, about 200 years ago we meet these, things called Rawin. And well, they weren't too friendly. We defeated them about 150 years ago. And for those 150 years we've been cleaning up. That's O.P.D job. My job. Oh, O.P.D. is Operational protection Division. We go in when we hear a call of a Rawin infestation, or of one of they're bioweapons. "Kid? Did you hear me or have you gone deaf?" Admiral asked, on edge. We're all on edge. Recently we apprehended a Rawin smuggling oparation. Belive me, that's a feat in it's own. The Rawin are stupid. I mean, stupid, with capital letters. The Chiefs were about as smart as an acorn. Smart aren't they? Rawin tactics are good though. Like a Velociraptor's. Most of them involve a distraction at twelve-o-clock, then they flank you at three and nine thirty. Then at the last moment you find out that the flank was the distraction and the main force kills you.
"Hey, Zack." Faya says. "You okay? You seem out of it." Believe me Faya should be a gymnastic, or a model. "Yeah I'm fine." I say. She feels my forehead. "No, you're not. You have a fever. Albeit a small one." She responded.
"Your siting out then." Admiral said. "No I'm going." I protested. "No you're not. Doctors orders." Faya said. Yeah she's OPD's head doctor. "Fine. But." I said looking at the new recruits. "Heh. Hotshot's in trouble" Keith, a new recruit, said. "Shut it, probie." Admiral said. "Sir." Keith sputtered.
Well. I'm not going then, so I take out my Ipod touch and started to listen to my favorite station.
"Listen, what we know for sure right now, is that there are twelve hostiles. And two friendlies, our mission is to get them out. That is it. It is only a recovery Mission." Admiral said. The normal brief, nothing suspicious. "Only problem is the bio-weapons, looks like they are some new prototype. I'd say AC4-909." Admiral said. "No, no looks more like DN5-643. Maybe XF3-212." Camra, he's our Rawin expert on their tech and Tactics.
"Alright, sending in probe bot now." Camra says as he presses a button on his plasma screen. "Let's see. We should have Video in five minutes sir."
"Good." Admiral stated bluntly, "We better have it up." I think it was AA2-263 that he rewrote to be a "probe bot" as he calls it.
"Don't worry sir. I'll get it up." Camra said, just as the video feed came up. "See, I told you. Okay, now. Lets see, yeah definetly XF3-212. see that mounted Ion Cannon?"
"Yes Camra, I see it. Can you jam them from here?" Admiral asked. "Can a bulldog rip your arm off?" Camra asked. "Yes, but I don't see...." Admiral started.
"I think what he meant, sir. Is that he can." Faya said. "Oh, I knew that." Admiral lied. "No you didn't." Faya and Keith said in unison. "Okay, your right. I did not have a clue." Admiral said, with a tint of sarcasm, "Can we get on with it. Jam th..."
"Already have sir." Camra said, "Jamming them as we, well you, were speaking. Have fun." Admiral gave Camra an angry look before getting his supplies, "Watch him kid, make sure that tech whiz doesn't do anything stupid."
"Sure thing," I said, "I always do enjoy watching a geek have a panic attack over some dead body on a screen."
"Hey," he said, definitely angry now, "I'm being serious."
"Light up on him," Faya said, "This is the first mission he's siting out." Admiral then steps out of the RV. "I know."
"You'll do fine. If all else fails watch us." Faya says before kissing me on the cheek and following the Admiral.
`"You gonna wash that again?" Camra asked after the rest left. "Not funny Camra." I said, flustered a little. "Hey, I'm just saying." Camra said. "I see how you look at her. We all do." Yeah, I like her a little. So what if she technically is one of my superior officer? She's that good looking. "Oh shut it." I said, a little defensive.
"Oh?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "On the defensive are we? So you do like her?" I give Camra a nasty look before returning my attention to the monitor. "Hey, I don't blame you," He responded to my look, "She is on the attractive side of women."
"What did you say?" I asked. "I said she is attractive. Nothing wrong with saying that, right?"
"Hey, Camra come in." the Admiral said just seconds before I opened my mouth to say.
"Yeah, I guess." I respond. Okay, just to clarify things, I do not have a crush on her. Crushes are for third graders. and for immature idiots. Not me. I got my High school diploma with four years of strait 'A's. Of coarse she probable got strait 'A's all her life. Then again, I don't really know much of her past. Or Camra's for that matter. Both Camra and Faya came into the O.P.D. at the same time, both as Refugees.
Memories. 002 Faya.
I'm Faya Valentine. I was born January 4th, 0127 NE. I don't take snubs, especially from people under me.
7:22 AM
"Why did you kiss him?" Keith asked. "You like him?" I give him an angry look, maybe there was a little embarrassment in there. Maybe. "What? No, we're just friends." I said, putting my hair behind my left ear. Okay, I don't like him. At least how Keith thinks. Okay, I might like him that way a little bit. But that's it. "Yeah, that's why I kissed him. Besides, it was on the cheek. So that doesn't count."
Oh and I didn't get strait 'A's all my life, I did have a couple of 'B's and 'C's, but the rest was 'A's. "What are you talking about back there?" John, the admiral, asked. "Nothing." I answered. "Good, 'cause we're almost in. Hey. Camra come in." John said through the walkie. "...guess." I heard Zack say, I wounder what they are talking about. "Oh hey Admiral. What do you want?" Camra asked. "Are there any hostiles near the south-southeast entrance?" "Okay, let me switch to thermal Imaging of the whole area and...." Camra began, "Ah, yes one is down the hall then two are around the corner in a small room to the left. Then further down we have the Friendlies and the rest of the hostiles."
"Thank yo..." John started. "Hey! Don't touch that. It's very expensive!." Camra said to Zach. "Oh, sorry Admiral, I forgot to turn it off." Then Static. "ou." He finished. I could here Keith snickering. "Hey." I said to him, "Knock that off, I case you don't know. This isn't one of your games rich boy."
"Sorry miss." He said, "Do I really have to take orders from her Admiral? I mean, she isn't even Military." I give him an angry look at that remark, "Technically neither are you Keith."
"Really?" Keith asked. "Yes, that's right." John responded. "We are part of a different government organization. And that's COA."
"What's coa?" Keith asked, "I've never heard of it."
"COA, is just it's unofficial name," John explained, "It's really COwA, or Central Off-world Agency. Under direct control of the president." I decide now would be a good time to smile, smugly. Because as head medical 'officer' I'm at the same rank as the other generals of the militaristic OPD.
God, I wish I didn't sign up for this. Then again, I wouldn't have meet Zack. Well, he is kind of cute, in a spoiled military nut kind of way.
"Looks like he was right," John said, "The doors open, put your masks on, I'm gassing them."
"Did you hear that," Camra said, apparently he turned the radio back on. "He gasses everything."
"Just procedure Camra." John said, "We have to." I can imagine Camra rolling his eyes. "Just procedure." He said in a mocking tone, "Everything is a procedure to you Admiral, 'This is a procedure,' 'That is not part of the procedure,' Jesus Christ, lighten up a little will ya?" Wow, even without Zack, everything is the same. Same Camra complaining to the Admiral, same admiral yelling at him. "Dammit Camra! I told you to shut up about that. Or I'll ring your neck." Admiral yelled. And then Camra reminds him, "No you won't, 'cause if you do it'll take you three months to understand the codes I put up to gain control of the bots."
"Uh...can we get on with the mission?" Keith asked, confused, "Or are we just going to...." Then Keith's arm blew off. "The hell?" Keith said before collapsing. I check his pulse, "He's dead."
"What happened? What's going on?" Zack asked through the radio. "Keith is dead," John said, "Dammit Camra! I thought you said it was safe. Aren't you jamming them?"
"...over." Camra said, "Yeah I am, only problem is they some how found a way to change their signals. So I've had a hard time keeping them jammed. Your on your own sir."
"This is Commander Frogen,"Commander said, He's the only person 'officially' above me "What is your status? why do I read here in CC196 that one of your unit is down?"
"This is Admiral John-Parra," John said, worried, "It appears that they can't be jammed anymore. He was shot down."
"Oh dear, well then, this is bad." Commander said worried, "How are they capable of such an action?" I chime in on this. "They have a new prototype, XF3-212."
"Well that isn't good. Right?" Commander asked. "No, it's not." Camra intervened.
1:00 PM
"Um." Zack said. "What," I questioned him. "are you doing?"
"Nothing." He said. "I was just wondering if you knew anything about Camra."
"Oh..." I said, looking down sort of disapointed. "No I don't. Just because we joined at the same time doesn't mean I know anything about him." I emphasize anything. "Oh, right." He said as he sat down. "Sorry for asking."
"What are you doing now? Don't you usually sit with them?" I said as I waved toward table filled with guys. "Yeah," Zack said looking away. "But that got boring."
"What do you really want?" I ask, giving him a quizzical look. "Um...well," He said still looking away. I was wondering...."
"Will Faya Valentine, Zachary, and Gerthin "Camra" Dogtho please report to the Commanders office." Some one said over the base's intercom.
So, we get up and start headed over toward the commander's office, 'cause we all know what happens if we don't.
1:32 PM
"You called?" Zack says as we step into his office. "Yes," The commander said, "I did. Sit down." We do so. "I know that you didn't know Keith very well. But..." Ugh...It's going to one of those meetings. He's going to drone on about how much of that brat Keith helped this organization, and that he'll be missed. For God's sake he died, that's it. He DIED that is all. It's not like other men haven't died. The only reason we are here, having this conversation, is because he was the son of some rich asshole that got lucky. Now I'm not saying that the pay here isn't good, it actually is rather good. 34k a year is definitely better than most places
I look over at Zack, who is looking back at me. "He doesn't really think we are going to go to that asshole's funeral? Right?" He whispered to me. "God, I hope not." I whispered back. "Oh you two and Camra when he gets here are being reassigned." Commander said with a strait face. "WHAT!?" Me and Zack said nearly at the same time. "Your bluffing, right?" Camra said after he walked in. "We are being reassigned?"
"No I'm not." Commander said. "I wish I was though. You three are a great asset to this company. But the military doesn't agree, you two are going under screening." He said pointing to me and Camra. "What? Why are they going under screening?" Zack said. "Because they need to be screened." Commander said. "Honestly they should have been screened the moment they stepped on this base."
"Really?" Camra asked. "I didn't know that. Is every one screened?"
"No." John said catching us off guard. "Only the refugees." He said, giving Zack a look. "And the people closest to them."
"What are you looking at me for?" Zack asked him. "Apparently there is a rumor going around here that you two slept together." John said waving his hand at Zack then me. "What?" I said surprised "There is no way I'd sleep with that...that military nut. EVER." I yelled at John, a little flustered. "Hello," Zack said waving his hand at me, and sort of blushing. "I'm still here."
"I don't care. In case you haven't guessed yet I don't like you that much." I blurt out of my mouth before I can think.