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    Short Story: Uprising

    ToryIsConfused
    ToryIsConfused
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    Short Story: Uprising Empty Short Story: Uprising

    Post by ToryIsConfused Tue May 29, 2012 10:15 am

    Hey everybody.

    I'm going to be posting the final copy of my short story, for my Creative Writing class, Uprising. To keep the original feeling I had intended for the story, I'm going to be posting one part per week, in the same format as it was written - beginning, middle, and end. I feel like this would keep the integral, section-based feeling of the plot intact, and hopefully make a better reading experience.

    Thanks, and enjoy the first part! Tell me what you all think Smile

    ---

    Uprising
    By Davey Gill
    ---
    Beginning
    “With the recent attacks about the sector, the government is currently setting its defenses on high priority. Several fringe planets have been assaulted thus far, and in particular, a high amount of weapons plants have been ransacked and stolen from. The capital city Haven has been arranging a number of military standby points, so we’ll be able to sleep safe tonight, knowing our best men are on the job.

    “While we wait for more information on where these apparent rebels will attack next, we’ll be moving over to Kate Jameson for a special report on the recent smuggling deals occurring around the planet, after this break. This is James Sven, for Haven News Network.”

    Vince Grant flicked off the holo-television and rolled his eyes. Politics. Who really cared? The government was a huge mess. It might serve them right for some people to come in and tell them how they should be running things.

    Vince looked out his apartment window down at the streets below. The capital city Haven, of the capital planet Abundante. The most important city of the most important planet of the most important government in the galaxy.

    He needed to get going.

    Vince put on his cap and headed out the door and down the hover elevator, down to the street. He waved down a taxi, and got taken to a restaurant.

    He hadn’t ever been here before. It was a seafood restaurant, which wasn’t his favourite. He glanced up at the big fish on the logo. The whole place was meant to look like restaurants on old Earth, so it was a bit odd for Vince. He entered the large, mechanical doors. They looked a bit of out of place on the seemingly antique building. There were lots of old round tables set around. Vince could smell a very distinct fishy smell, and old sailor songs played on the speakers.

    “Hey, Vinny!” A man called from the corner of the room. Vince smiled and went to sit with him.

    “Hey, Doug. It’s been a while.”

    “Yeah, how’re ya doing? Job okay?”

    “Uh… I got a new once since we last talked. I’m a technician now.”

    “Technician? Now, come on, Vinny, when are you gonna stop jumpin’ around these jobs all the time? Can’t you pick one ya like?”

    Vince waved a waitress over and ordered for himself. After she was gone, he turned back to Doug. “Guess not. None of these jobs suit me, I suppose.”

    Doug waved his hand distractedly and sipped his beer. He grinned at Vince. “Hey, man, you still owe me twenty bucks.”

    “What?”

    “Yeah, that one time you couldn’t pay rent, remember? And I bailed you out.”

    Vince took his drink from the waitress. “Nah, that couldn’t have been me.”

    Doug laughed throatily. “Yeah, whatever you say.” The waitress put down Vince’s order and Doug eyed it. “What, you’re only getting some fish? You know they got better stuff here, right?”

    “I’m good. Not a big fan of seafood.”

    Doug laughed again. “You were always a picky eater kinda guy, weren’t you? We went to that buffet once and all you would eat was the lasagna.”

    “Spaghetti.”

    “Whatever. You gonna eat that or just leave it?”

    Vince looked down at the untouched fish. “Nah, have it.” He slid the plate across the table and sipped his drink.

    There was a lull in the conversation, and Doug soon spoke again. “Hey, Vinny, you heard about all this, uh, rebel stuff?” he said quietly.

    “Saw it a bit on the news. Why?”

    Doug glanced around. “I’m kinda worried about it. When do ya think they’ll make it here?”

    Vince shrugged and stared into his cup.

    “I’m serious!” Doug said.

    Vince sighed. “I haven’t got a clue, and I couldn’t care less. When they get here the military’ll take care of them. Nothing to worry about.”

    Doug sat back in his chair, frowning. “If you say so.”

    They sat there in silence for a little while longer.

    “Hey, to pay me back the 20, why don’t you buy me a refill, huh?” said Doug, spinning his empty glass.

    Vince took the cup, smiling. “Yeah, you got it. Hey, waitress!” He lifted up the glass.

    A series of gunshots suddenly rang around building, and one of the bullets smashed Doug’s cup. Doug shouted an expletive and jumped to his feet. “Hey, what was that?”

    Vince also stood up, and then ducked back down again as they heard a loud explosion somewhere across the street. He stood up again. It was pretty much mayhem in the restaurant. People were running, screaming, haphazardly around the building. He turned around. “Hey! Hey, Doug! We gotta get out of here!”

    The two of them began their run to the door, Doug shouting colourful words along the way. “What is going on, man?” he asked.

    “How should I know?” Vince replied.

    Although he had a pretty good hunch.

    Vince kicked open the restaurant doors and ran outside. He turned to see Doug still running to the door.

    An abrupt explosion suddenly leveled the entire building. “What-What?” shouted Vince. He ran over to the smashed metal pieces. “Doug! Hey, are you there?” He started pulling up pieces of metal all around.

    He turned around and ran his hand through his hair. He took off down the street, headed for his apartment. Tons of the buildings were already in ruins, and a lot more detonating as he ran.

    Some gunfire clipped his shoulder, and with a shout of pain, he fell down to the street. He looked behind him. There was some kind of gunfight going on. The military, in their bright blue outfits, was definitely there. But who were those people in the red uniforms?

    Deciding he didn’t want to find out, Vince jumped back to his feet with a wince. He looked around, and ran into a nearby alleyway. He leaned against the wall and slid down. Everything seemed kind of fuzzy. He pulled his sleeve up and looked at his shoulder. It looked a lot better than it felt, luckily. He tore off his sleeve and then did his best to tie it tightly around the wound.

    He groaned and, closing his eyes, leaned his head back onto the building behind him.

    “Hey!” The sudden voice made him jump. He looked up the alleyway. A man in a red military outfit was aiming a gun at him. “Who’re you and who do you go and work for?”

    Vince stared at the man as everything got fuzzier. “My… my name is Vince Grant. I’m a technician. What… who are you?”

    The man looked thoughtful for a moment, and then murmured something into a transmitter. He walked over to Vince. “Okay, we should, like, get you checked out. Can ya stand, man?” He pulled Vince to his feet and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Come on.”

    “Where are you taking me?” Vince asked, dazedly.

    “We’re going to my squad’s rendezvous point. You’re in bad shape.”

    “Rendezvous point? Who are you working for?”

    The man smiled through the blood and grit on his face. “Can’t you tell? I’m with the rebels, man. I’m with the rebels.”
    ToryIsConfused
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    Short Story: Uprising Empty Re: Short Story: Uprising

    Post by ToryIsConfused Tue May 29, 2012 10:22 am

    Hello people!

    Hey, look at that, it's Tuesday! Time for the next installment of Uprising! Hope you enjoy c:

    Bye people!


    ---
    Vince grunted in pain as a medic wrapped his shoulder with a bandage wrap. The medic smiled at him. “Okay, I’m going to give you an antibiotic. This might hurt a bit.”

    Vince glared at him. “Antibiotic? What for?”

    “The Abundante military lines their bullets with poison. You were lucky the bullet just scraped you, or you’d be in a much worse shape. Haven’t you been feeling dizzy?”

    Vince nodded. “Yeah. My head hurts too.”

    “Well, that’s from the poison.” He put a needle in Vince’s arm, making him flinch. “Sorry,” the medic said, “needles are the best we can get on such short notice. None of those fancy new ‘pads’ the doctors have been using.”

    Vince didn’t reply, and waited a moment as his shoulder numbed. He stood up. “Can I see whoever’s in charge here?”

    The medic shrugged. “Not for the whole rebel group, no, but our squad’s leader is in the second room to the left down the hall. He’s going over some things with the teams right now, though, so you probably won’t get much chance to talk to him.”

    Vince sighed. “Right, thanks.” He went over to the door and stepped into the hallway. He brusquely bumped into someone on the way out. “Sorry,” he murmured.

    It was the soldier who had brought him here. What was his name again? Taylor Golds, he had said. That’s right. Sergeant Taylor Golds of D-Team. Taylor smiled at Vince. “Hey, man, feeling any better?”

    “Uh, yeah, I’m fine.”

    “Sounds good. Where ya off to in such a hurry?”

    “I was gonna go see your boss.”

    “Oh, yeah, sure. Well, you better follow me, man, I’ll take you to him. I was just off to see the briefing myself.” They took off down the hall.

    This rebel squad had apparently set up their headquarters on the second floor of an apartment building, to hide from the local troops. From what Vince had seen, most of the rooms were usually packed with soldiers, making it a pretty congested space.

    They entered the debriefing room – really just another apartment – and sat on chairs in the back row. It looked like the briefing had just begun. The Commander was surveying the room. “Men, we are going to attack the Government Capitol building.”

    He paused for effect. The entire room abruptly began rumbling with the murmuring of the rebels. The Commander smiled. “You all knew this day was coming.”

    One soldier spoke up. “Yeah, but you didn’t say it would be so soon.”

    The Commander nodded. “You should all feel privileged.” This hushed all the muttering.

    Turning around, the Commander flipped a switch on a console, and a greenish holographic map appeared. “Here,” he said, indicating a building in the center of the map - jabbing his finger into the map for emphasis - “is the Capitol building.” He pointed to a street nearby, to the south-east of the building. “A-Team, you will rendezvous here, and B-Team, here.” He pointed to the south-west of the building.

    “C-Team, you’ll assemble to the north. Remember, C-Team, you are the heavy weapons team. We’ll need you at the frontlines.” He gave a flicker of a smile and a nod to some troops in the corner of the room. “I’ll be leading C-Team myself.”

    “And… D-Team.” He turned back to the map and pointed to a street to the east of the Capitol building. “You’ll assemble here. D-Team is perhaps the most important part of the squad.”

    One of the rebels snorted.

    The Commander turned around. “Remember, D-Team, while the other teams create a distraction, it will be your job to move in and kill the primary government officials.” He heaved a sigh.

    Taylor muttered in Vince’s ear. “That’s an old boss trick. Makes it look like he’s being all sentimental-like.” Taylor looked amused.

    “This will be no easy mission,” continued the Commander, “but I am confident our squad is up to the task. Now, everybody, go and prepare. We will attack at midnight. Am I clear?”

    A loud “Sir, yes, sir!” resounded around the room, and a bustle of activity began as the troops moved out of the room to prepare for the attack. Vince, wide-eyed, turned to Taylor. “You’re going to attack the Capitol building? Now?”

    “Better now than later, man,” said Taylor. “We gotta take them by surprise, right?”

    “Huh,” said Vince, standing up and ruffling his hair.

    “You wanna lend a hand?”

    “Do I want to what?”

    “Join up, man,” Taylor said. “Grab a gun and help with the shooting.”

    “No way!” Vince backed up a bit. “Are you crazy? Are you asking me to shoot people?”

    Taylor leaned back in his chair. “That’s what we do, man. That’s what we gotta do. It ain’t ever pretty, for sure, but that’s the way things are sometimes.”

    Vince sat back in his chair. He looked at the red suit Taylor was wearing. Red. Like blood. He glanced up at the man’s face, and then his eyes lowered to the gun holstered at his side. He thought of the explosions in the street, and shuddered a bit. Still… he eyed the gun some more. It had some allure.

    Vince blinked. Hold on. The explosions. He sat up straight. “Wait a sec. You were the guys who bombed Haven, weren’t you?”

    Taylor nodded, rocking his chair on its back legs. He seemed very interested in the roof, and was fidgeting his hands uncomfortably. “Yeah, we had to surprise them. Make the military wonder where we were gonna attack next. So we hit a few places around the city.”

    Vince stared at him with his mouth agape. Taylor seemed to crumble under the stare, and stopped rocking his chair, looking the other way. “Look, man, I dunno if someone you knew got hurt. We aren’t trying to hurt nobody. Nobody innocent, I mean. That’s just what we had to do.”

    Standing up angrily, Vince raised his voice a bit. “You killed Doug. You and your group of friends. You’ve been shooting civilians. What’s the point of all of this, huh? To take out the government or kill innocent people?” Taylor looked at his feet. Vince grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. “Tell me!”

    Taylor pushed Vince off. “Leave it alone, man. Those are our orders, like it or not.”

    Vince sat back down in his chair roughly. He looked at the floor for a minute, and then returned his eyes to Taylor. “Hey, look, I’m sorry. I’m feeling pretty stressed out.”

    Taylor shrugged. “Nah, it’s cool. All of us here in the rebels kinda act like that one time or another.” He lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth. “Some of us, anyway.”

    “Were you one of them?”

    Taylor nodded.

    Vince stood up. “I’m gonna go talk with your boss.”

    Taylor spun his cigarette in his fingers. “Well, good luck, I guess. Want a cig first?” He held out the package.

    “I don’t smoke.” Vince headed into the hallway. From asking around a bit, he found the Commander in his office, which was, of course, just another apartment.

    The Commander glanced up as he came in. “Who’re you?”

    “I’m Vince Grant.”

    “Ah, the refugee Golds picked up. What do you want?”

    Vince put his hands flat on the desk. It seemed like the desk was just some office desk the rebels picked up in the apartments. “I have an issue with you killing civilians.”

    The commander sighed. “Oh, here we go. What issue might that be, Grant?”

    “You killed one of my friends in your bombing earlier.”

    “We needed a distraction. We’re low on hands. We can’t just go right to their headquarters without some kind of disruption.”

    Vince’s eyes narrowed. “You’re low on hands?”

    “I won’t claim we have the most resources in the sector. We could use any soldier we can get.”

    “Then let me join. If I join, you’ll stop killing civilians, all right?”

    The commander stared at him. “We weren’t planning on dropping any more bombs anyway.” He waved a hand dismissively. “If anyone else dies from rubble falling, that’s not our problem. Feel free to join up anyway, though, and if it makes you happy, I’ll let the men know to watch out and give any civilians a hand if they look like they’re in trouble.” He grinned and chuckled a bit. “What do you say?” He held out a hand.

    Vince heaved a sigh. “All right, you got yourself a deal.” He took the commander’s outstretched hand.

    The Commander smiled. “Welcome to the squad, Grant. I’ll assign you to D-Team.”

    ---

    Vince slumped down on a couch in one of the apartments. This was D-Team’s room. The rest of the team seemed pretty interested in him.

    One of them approached him. Vince recognised him as the man who had spoken up in the briefing room earlier. “So, what’d you do to get the Commander mad?” said the rebel.

    “What are you talking about?” Vince responded.

    “The name’s John Klein. I hijacked some of them bombs they were dropping around Haven so they wouldn’t go off.” John looked uneasy for a minute. “My wife and kids live down there. I still don’t know if they got out okay. Well, see, the boss-man found me out, right, and you’d expect to get court martialed for something like that, am I right?”

    Vince shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

    “I would,” John said. “Let me tell you, you’d expect to get some kind of thing like that brought down on ya. Well, turns out, I got a promotion. Went straight from A-Team to D-Team. Funny, huh?”

    Vince blinked. “Yeah, I guess so. Couldn’t it just be a coincidence or an error in the computer systems?”

    Taylor laughed. “Man, we don’t get no errors on those computers. We all did something the Commander didn’t like and that’s how we got in this team.”

    “How does that even work?” said Vince.

    A big man in the corner spoke up. “I know what they’re gonna do to us.”

    John rolled his eyes. “Aw, man, Bert, not this conspiracy stuff again.”

    The man apparently called Bert shook his head. “They’re gonna mess up our heads. I’ve seen it before. People go strange. Real strange. Something called neural reprogramming, or something like that. That’s what they’re gonna do to us.”

    John sighed. “Don’t gimme that, Bert.” He sat down next to Vince and threw an arm around him. He whispered, “Bert’s a little, you know.” He twirled a finger by his temple. “Messed up in the head.”

    Vince frowned. “Neural reprogramming?”

    John shook his head. “Don’t listen to Bert, man. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s always up with that conspiracy stuff.”

    Vince looked at Taylor. Taylor just smiled and shrugged. “One thing’s for sure, man,” said Taylor, “you get a lot of weirdos in this team.”
    YamiShadow
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    Short Story: Uprising Empty Re: Short Story: Uprising

    Post by YamiShadow Tue May 29, 2012 3:20 pm

    Well, so far the story is shaping out to be pretty interesting.

    The first part felt strangely sudden, when the rebels arrived. But, this isn't really something that absolutely and definitely needs to be changed. It sort of adds to the shock of the situation.

    Beyond that... I find the commander mildly amusing, yet somehow creepily blunt. The first time he speaks, he pretty much just nonchalantly states that they're going to do the biggest thing in their group's personal history. It didn't really sink in though, for some reason. Maybe bring up the Capitol building earlier? Describe it a bit, or something. A convenient time to do so would actually be when Grant looks out the window near the beginning. Not much is really described at that point. Also, despite his first line seeming totally nonchalant, his last line (which is phrased equally nonchalantly) has a totally different feel to it. Good job on that one, for sure.

    So yeah, overall I'm enjoying it so far. xD
    ToryIsConfused
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    Short Story: Uprising Empty Re: Short Story: Uprising

    Post by ToryIsConfused Tue May 29, 2012 3:24 pm

    Good to hear you're enjoying it.

    YamiShadow wrote:The first part felt strangely sudden, when the rebels arrived. But, this isn't really something that absolutely and definitely needs to be changed. It sort of adds to the shock of the situation.
    Well, yeah, not much I can do about this one, since it's a short story. I don't think it felt very odd, though.

    YamiShadow wrote:Beyond that... I find the commander mildly amusing, yet somehow creepily blunt. The first time he speaks, he pretty much just nonchalantly states that they're going to do the biggest thing in their group's personal history. It didn't really sink in though, for some reason. Maybe bring up the Capitol building earlier? Describe it a bit, or something. A convenient time to do so would actually be when Grant looks out the window near the beginning. Not much is really described at that point. Also, despite his first line seeming totally nonchalant, his last line (which is phrased equally nonchalantly) has a totally different feel to it. Good job on that one, for sure.
    Okay, I'll see what I can do. Thanks!
    YamiShadow
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    Short Story: Uprising Empty Re: Short Story: Uprising

    Post by YamiShadow Tue May 29, 2012 3:52 pm

    ToryIsConfused wrote:Good to hear you're enjoying it.

    YamiShadow wrote:The first part felt strangely sudden, when the rebels arrived. But, this isn't really something that absolutely and definitely needs to be changed. It sort of adds to the shock of the situation.
    Well, yeah, not much I can do about this one, since it's a short story. I don't think it felt very odd, though.
    More so 'sudden' than odd, is all. It feels a bit out of nowhere, but you do point towards it happening. Like I said, it adds to the shock that the character is probably experiencing, so it isn't really something I would change. xD;

    ToryIsConfused wrote:
    YamiShadow wrote:Beyond that... I find the commander mildly amusing, yet somehow creepily blunt. The first time he speaks, he pretty much just nonchalantly states that they're going to do the biggest thing in their group's personal history. It didn't really sink in though, for some reason. Maybe bring up the Capitol building earlier? Describe it a bit, or something. A convenient time to do so would actually be when Grant looks out the window near the beginning. Not much is really described at that point. Also, despite his first line seeming totally nonchalant, his last line (which is phrased equally nonchalantly) has a totally different feel to it. Good job on that one, for sure.
    Okay, I'll see what I can do. Thanks!
    Quite welcome. Hope it helps.
    ToryIsConfused
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    Short Story: Uprising Empty Re: Short Story: Uprising

    Post by ToryIsConfused Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:36 am

    Oops, missed Tuesday. Oh well, here's the last part of Uprising! Enjoy!

    ---
    Vince shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up at the capitol building. It looked more like a palace to him. It was tall and gleaming, and seemed to stretch up to the sky. He thought it could have looked majestic, if not for the gunfire and war going on around it. An explosion made the ground shudder and groan, and Vince fell over from the shock. “Vince!” Taylor held out his hand to him. “Get up, man, we don’t have no time to lay around.” Vince took his hand and was pulled up.

    He raised his gun and looked around. From the amount of soldiers here, he figured that the A, B, and C-teams had arrived. Vince turned back to Taylor. “Come on,” said Taylor. He began to run to the door of the building, firing as he went. He shot the door down. “D-Team, mobilise! Let’s move!” He rushed inside, the rest of the team following. Vince took a deep breath as he rushed into the door.

    Guards rushed into the lobby and fired at the team. Taylor threw a plasma grenade and took cover as it exploded. He rushed into the elevator and typed in a stolen passcode. The rest of the team joined him just as the doors closed. A mechanical whirring noise began and hover pads on the bottom of the elevator began moving them up. Vince turned to Taylor. “So, we’re moving up to the main government meeting room?”

    Taylor nodded as he caught his breath. “That’s right. This is it, man.” He pulled a water flask from his belt and began taking a sip.
    A loud explosion rattled the elevator and Taylor choked on his water. “What was that? We took out the guards!” He dropped his water as another explosion made them stumble a bit, knocking one rebel over. “The Commander said there would only be one guard wave.”

    “That’s ridiculous!” shouted Vince over another explosion. “Only one? Why would there only be one?”

    “Hey, don’t look at me, man, I went and said the same thing!” The elevator began falling down at a rapid pace. A loud crash was heard and they hit the bottom.

    The hover elevator was basically in ruins. Taylor pushed his way out of the chunks of metal and, with a cough, shouted, “Head count! Where is everybody?”

    It was a mess. Most of the soldiers had suffered some kind of injury, and they had a single casualty. Vince recognised the body as the big man from earlier… Bert. Vince turned to Taylor. “What happened? This is crazy!”

    “No doubt,” Taylor replied, still gasping. He turned his eyes up, and so did Vince. They were surrounded by blue-coated soldiers pointing their rifles at them.

    “Put your hands above your heads,” said one.

    One of the rebel soldiers stood up. It was John Klein. He clearly had no intention of surrendering. He raised his pulse rifle and began firing at them, swearing loudly. “No!” shouted Taylor. “Get down, man, get down!”

    One of the uninjured enemy soldiers pointed his rifle at John. Taylor cursed and shoved John to the ground just as the pulse fired from the gun. It hit Taylor in the shoulder, and he screamed as he fell.
    “Taylor!” shouted Vince. Falteringly, he pulled a plasma grenade from his belt. He shouted angrily at the enemy soldiers and, pulling the pin from the grenade, threw it at the largest congestion of the enemies. Vince turned around and covered his eyes as they were blown to pieces.

    It made him think of Doug, blowing up inside the restaurant.

    The rebels raised their weapons and fired at the surviving guards. Vince fell to the ground, still hurt from the elevator fall, and dragged himself over to Taylor.

    “What were you thinking…” Vince started, then paused and added, “man?” He sighed. “You can’t just go out there and be a hero. That’s not how wars work.”

    Taylor grinned and chuckled, waving his unhurt arm aimlessly. “Don’t look at me like that, man. What would you have done if it were me?”

    As the rebels cleaned up the last of the soldiers, Vince reached into his bag. He pulled out a medical kit and began wrapping Taylor’s arm. “Hey, man, hold on one sec right there,” said Taylor. “You’ve gotta get to the government officials. You gotta finish the job, man. Leave me here, I’ll be okay.”

    Vince paused a moment, looking at Taylor. Was he right? Was it his duty to finish what he’d started? Then he remembered sitting in the alley, dying, and Taylor coming to rescue him. He realised that he had a duty bigger than his duty to the rebels.

    “Come on, we’re getting you out of here.” He grabbed Taylor and helped him stand, putting his arm around Taylor’s shoulder. “You okay? Can you walk?”

    “I’m fine, man. Go on ahead.”

    “No way.” Vince grinned. “We’re gonna finish what we started… together.”

    Taylor grinned. “Let’s get ourselves to the meeting room, then, man. Together.”

    ---
    Vince heaved his foot up the last step of the staircase, and looked behind him. The surviving rebels were all behind him, looking up at him expectantly – all except for John, who was shamefacedly observing the floor. Vince turned toward the door, and he and Taylor pushed it open. They walked down the hallway to the end. They put in the stolen passcode, and the mechanical door opened. Inside was the government officials, all tied and gagged, with the Commander and the rest of C-Team surrounding them.

    Taylor gaped. “Commander? Man - I mean, Sir, - what are you doing here? This wasn’t the plan.”

    The commander turned to the door, the muscles of his face tensing up. “Golds? Grant?” He spat the ground. “You’re right. This wasn’t the plan. You were supposed to be dead.”

    “Dead?” asked Taylor. “What do you mean?”

    “Dead, as in killed, gone, passed on, out of my face.” His eyebrows furrowed more. “You and all those pesky men in D-Team.”

    “What are you talking about?” Vince asked.

    “You know what I mean, Grant. I’m talking about when all you back-talking boys came to me about the civilians. It wasn’t just the civilians, always, but you all had to make a big scene, didn’t you? You all had to make it seem worse than it was. That’s why you got assigned to D-Team.” His face reddened and his voice raised considerably. “That was the plan, indeed, for you all to go first and get your sorry selves killed.”

    Taylor pulled his shock pistol from his waist. “Why, you no good -”

    Vince pushed his gun down. “Taylor!” he hissed. “We can’t take all of C-Team alone. They’re the heavy weapons squad. Get a hold of yourself.” Even as he spoke those words, though, he rested his hand on his own gun holster. He would be ready.

    Taylor grunted and holstered his weapon.

    “You should listen to your friend, Golds,” said the Commander. “This isn’t a fight you can win. Tie them up.” Four members of C-Team began walking toward them.

    Vince began backing up. “Now, hold on,” he said. “We’ll come peacefully.”

    The C-Team soldiers seemed to not notice. Their eyes had a strange, glazed over effect. Vince stared at them a moment. “Taylor…”

    Taylor spat some blood onto the ground. “What’s wrong with them?”

    John gaped. “Guys… Bert was right. These are them guys he was talking about. These are those neurally reprogrammed soldiers.”

    Vince’s eyes narrowed. “It fits.”

    Taylor looked over at Vince. “Now?”

    Vince shook his head. “Can I even stop you?”

    Taylor grinned, and pulled his shock pistol from his waist. He fired at the oncoming soldiers. “Come on, guys, they’re the enemy now!” A crossfire started between D-Team and C-Team.

    The Commander swore. “You’re too late!” He turned, and pulling out his own pistol, began to shoot the tied government officials.

    “No!” shouted Vince. He tackled the Commander to the ground. “They’re unarmed, and tied up! You can’t do this!”

    The Commander cursed. “Get off me!”

    Vince pulled a plasma grenade from his belt. “Don’t move, Commander! I pull the pin on this thing and we’ll both die!”

    “Don’t do something you’re gonna regret, Grant.”

    Vince moved the grenade to his mouth and moved to bite the pin, and remembered the soldiers exploding when he threw the grenade at them before. And, again, he thought of Doug. He paused. The Commander grinned. Vince, grimacing, replaced the grenade on his belt. He stood up. The Commander did as well. “I’m glad you’ve seen reason.” He reached out his hand to put on Vince’s shoulder, and was suddenly shot in the wrist by Taylor. The Commander shouted and fell back.

    Taylor was leaning on a chair, still pointing his shock pistol at the Commander. “Don’t touch him, man.”

    Vince walked over to Taylor. “Hey… thanks.”

    Taylor shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, man. We do what we gotta do, right?” He turned around and started looking at his limp arm.

    Vince spun around. The Commander had raised his pistol and was aiming it at Taylor. Without a moment to think about it, Vince pulled his shock pistol from his holster and fired. The Commander was dead.

    Vince gasped and turned away from the bloody sight before him. “I… I just killed him.” He gripped the back of a chair and closed his eyes tightly, clenching his teeth. “Man, I feel like I’m gonna throw up.”

    Taylor put a hand on his arm. “You saved my life.”

    “I know, man, I know, but just…”

    Taylor turned Vince toward him. “Look, man, it was a choice between him or me. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He let go of Vince’s arm and walked away to leave him with his thoughts.

    Vince slumped down in the chair and put his face in his hands. He reflected for a moment. What if he hadn’t shot? He knew he’d be feeling a lot worse than he was right now.

    After a short time, the remaining government officials had been shipped out of the building. The primary leader of the Rebel group had arrived and had begun setting up the new congress members. Vince and Taylor were sitting together on a damaged couch in the building’s lobby.

    “So,” said Taylor. “What you gonna do now, man?”

    “Dunno,” said Vince. “Guess the war’s over.” He grinned. “Can’t go back home. I figure my apartment’s been completely destroyed.” The two of them laughed.

    The rebel leader approached them. “I’ve been told you two stopped your commander from killing off part of his own team.”

    “It was no problem,” said Taylor. He glanced at his limp arm.

    “Ah, yes, your arm. How’s it doing?”

    Taylor grinned sheepishly. “The medics said it might never work again.”

    “That’s unfortunate, but a necessary sacrifice. I’ll see to it that both of you get medals of valour for your actions.”

    Both of them grinned broadly. “Thank you, sir,” said Vince. The leader walked away with a proud smile.

    Vince sighed. It had been tough. It was a lot of hard work, he knew. He looked at Taylor and thought that, for all he had lost, he had gained something important. He smiled, and Taylor smiled back at him.


    Last edited by ToryIsConfused on Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:11 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Removed signature.)

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