Updated Part One

I've made a few changes to part one, after a few ideas presented themselves to me (thanks to BBM for her help as well). So here's the updated first chapter.
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-Martial Academy, 4:30 AM; October 21st, 2002-


(Unknown character) *enters dormitory room* Hey DJ! Wake up…we need to get over to the mission office quick if we want to get assigned to that job in Ireland you were talking about! Come on!

(DJ) [just waking up] Ugh…just a minute Jake. *groggily sits up* I don’t think that mission would have been claimed this early. It’s only, what, *looks at clock* 4:30 in the morning? You’re the only cadet that would be up this time of the morning.

(Jake) Should I have not woken you up? You were the one talking about how great the Ireland mission sounded last night. I just wanted to make sure we got it. Consider this an early birthday present for you! Now come on, let’s go already!

(DJ) I don’t know how you do it Jake…I’m still dead tired. Tell you what: you go on over to the mission office, and I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’ve just got to get my things together first.

(Jake) Alright. *exits room and jogs toward the mission office*


[4:35 AM]


(Mission office aide) Yes, the mission in Ireland is still available.

(Jake) Great! I’d like to accept it, along with DJ.

(MO aide) I will need to see your ID cards to make sure you both have proper clearance for this assignment.

(Jake) Ok. *hands aide his ID* DJ should be here in a minute…

(MO aide) *takes card and enters it into computer* Alright, Jake, it looks like you are all set.

(DJ) *enters the mission office* I’m here. *walks over to counter and gives ID card to aide*

(MO aide) Good morning. *enters card into computer* Ok, you’re ready to go, DJ. I’ll print out two briefing reports for you.

(Jake) Yes! This should be a good one.

(MO aide) Just don’t forget that you’re still on assignment…this is a serious mission. Ah, your reports are ready. *hands reports to DJ*

(DJ) Yes ma’am, we won’t forget. *turns to Jake* So, when do you want to leave? It’s about a four-hour flight if we get a good speeder.

(Jake) It should take us about half an hour to get our gear ready and sign out a speeder. How about we leave at six o’clock? That way we’ll have a little extra time to do stuff before we leave.

(DJ) That sounds good to me. *Hands Jake one of the briefing reports* I’ll see you in an hour or so. *DJ and Jake leave the mission office* *as DJ is walking back toward the dorms, he suddenly stops* Oh no! Melody! *facepalm*


[5:30 AM]


(DJ) *finishes packing things up and walks to the lounge on the west side of the academy, near the ladies’ section* I hope she won’t mind this too much. I can’t believe I forgot about taking her out tonight…I’m so dead. *arrives at the lounge, sits down at one of the tables, and pulls out his breakfast* Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.


[5:45 AM]


(Girl) *walks into the lounge and over to the table DJ is sitting at* *smiles* Morning, DJ! I hope you have a good reason for dragging me away from my dreams.

(DJ) *gets up and gives the girl a hug* Hi Melody! I’m sorry for waking you so early, but it is for a good reason, trust me. *both he and Melody sit down at the table, and DJ hands her a cinnamon bun out of his bag*

(Melody) My favorite! You must have something important then. Is it about tonight?

(DJ) I’m afraid so. You remember the Ireland trip Jake and I were talking about earlier, right? He signed us on to it this morning…

(Melody) He did?! But what about our dinner?

(DJ) It completely slipped my mind until I got out of the office. And you know how it is…no backing out now.

(Melody) *sighs* I know. Well, you owe me one now! I expect an extra-special dinner when you get back!

(DJ) *smiles* Definitely. Thanks for understanding…I really appreciate it.

(Melody) I know how much you were looking forward to this. I also want to do another training session with you afterwards, just so you know.

(DJ) Let me think about that one… *pretends to look in an organizer* Yup, I think I can pencil you in! *laughs*

(Melody) *giggles* Yay! It’ll be fun, I promise! I’ve been practicing, you know.

(DJ) Can’t wait! *pager goes off* Woah, I’ve got to head over to the garage pretty quick. I’ll see you when I get back!

(Melody) Alright. Just promise me you’ll be safe, ok?

(DJ) I promise. *squeezes Melody’s hand and gets up* Love you!

(Melody) Love you too. *smiles*

(DJ) *waves* Bye… *leaves the lounge*
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[9:10 AM] -Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean-


(Jake) I can’t believe you managed to get us one of the proto-experimental speeders! This thing’s going almost 900 miles an hour!

(DJ) It is pretty incredible, isn’t it? At this rate, we’ll be there half an hour early. That should actually give us time to pick up souvenirs or something for once. I can’t remember the last time we’ve been able to do that! I definitely have to find something for Melody after this morning.

(Jake) I know! They really keep us on a busy schedule with these things, don’t they?

(DJ) They sure do. Hey, since we’re almost there, we ought to go over the mission details again just to make sure we don’t forget anything. First, we’re landing just outside Letterkenny, where we’ll meet our contact for the mission. We’ll be debriefed, and then transported to the basic area of the bunker we have to find. They haven’t found the actual location because of some sort of radar jamming, I guess. Not to mention it’s a heavily wooded area.

(Jake) Then, we scout out the area around the bunker, disable any security measures they have, and look for any alternate entrances. And then we infiltrate from the least guarded entrance.

(DJ) If we find that infiltration via their entrances doesn’t work, we may have to create a way in. The group we’re meeting has already planned for this and will be providing us certain tools to aid us in this possibility.

(Jake) I hope you mean explosives. Because that would be awesome!

(DJ) Haha, that it would. At any rate, once we get inside the bunker, we’re supposed to enter negotiations with the leader. We’ve been asked to keep the casualties to a minimum, in order to learn as much as we can from them. This is one of the key cells in the AETO, and the information we get from this op could be vital in saving thousands of lives.

(Jake) Yeah, I understand. Just try not to be too serious, DJ.

(DJ) Fair enough. I just want you to not be too reckless at the same time. Alright, time to initiate the landing sequence…we’re almost over land now. We’ll be on the ground in less than five minutes. You ready for this?