altitude and Duntan watched with wide open eyes as it blossomed in a brilliant explosion, shattering pieces in all directions.
Duntan took a deep breath and ran his hands over his eyes and for the first time in a long time a genuine smile appeared on his lips , “goodbye dad…goodbye mom, I’ll never forget you. I miss you and love you.”
With those last words a surprising calmness and relief flowed through him before the lights all around him switched off and he was thrust into utter darkness once more. Duntan’s first assumption was that he was no longer among the living, but the weight pressing down against him just below his waist assured him that he was still very much alive. For a moment he didn’t know where he was or what had happened to him, but the memories of the explosive shockwave came back to him quickly.
He moved his hands slowly at first, making them into fists as he assessed his situation. His body was stiff and ached almost throughout as he tried to move a little. Duntan’s mind tried to pull him towards the sweet embrace of sleep almost as soon as he started to try and open his eyes, but he willed himself to focus. There was no time to rest. His Federation was at war and he needed to do everything within his power to help in that effort.
His continued determination was rewarded with the appearance of two slits of light as his eyes began to open. It also became apparent to him that almost instantly the pain throughout his body had subsided into nothingness and the urge to rest dissolved with it. Duntan was puzzled, but quickly realized that his combat suit had probably sensed his discomfort and had administered the proper medication to keep him fully functional. He was actually relieved that someone was looking out for him, even if it was a system designed with the directive of helping to keep him in top fighting form.
This same system was also designed to constantly monitor all of the suit’s sensors and inform the wearer of any dangers within the surrounding environment, as it now did with a rapid vibration on Duntan’s right shoulder. The veteran soldier’s muscle memory reflexes took over without second thought and his right hand shot out to point him wrist-mounted DRF emitter into the distant direction of the simulated vibration, the speed of which assisted by the exoskeleton suit’s muscle-like fiber network, even before his eyes had time to snap open. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus properly, but he was thankful for the wait as he registered the green “friendly” IFF icon within his visor display. Inside Duntan knew that the armor suit would never have let him discharge any of his weapons at a friendly soldier, though it was still encouraging to him that he was in full control of his body and reactions once again.
“Sir, are you alright?” Duntan heard through his TacLink as he turned his head towards the direction of the approaching figure and saw another soldier running towards him.
As the figure presented itself, t he colonel’s visor identified him as Captain Weslow Fuentes of the Federation Army Air and Space Command and brought up the pilot’s profile in the HUD. The confirmation allowed Duntan a momentary respite from his sudden awakening. He pulled his arm back towards him, allowing the two focusing prongs to retract back into their wrist mount as he deactivated the directional repulsion field emitter.
It took several seconds, but the captain’s question finally registered inside Duntan’s mind. Frankly he should have never survived a crash of such magnitude, but against all odds he had. Thinking about the statistical probability of the event was not highly productive at the moment, however, as there were more pressing matters to deal with, so Duntan pushed the thought away. His combat armor was not so deterred, though, and read his thoughts on the subject. A diagnostic window opened in his visor and started to
Duntan took a deep breath and ran his hands over his eyes and for the first time in a long time a genuine smile appeared on his lips , “goodbye dad…goodbye mom, I’ll never forget you. I miss you and love you.”
With those last words a surprising calmness and relief flowed through him before the lights all around him switched off and he was thrust into utter darkness once more. Duntan’s first assumption was that he was no longer among the living, but the weight pressing down against him just below his waist assured him that he was still very much alive. For a moment he didn’t know where he was or what had happened to him, but the memories of the explosive shockwave came back to him quickly.
He moved his hands slowly at first, making them into fists as he assessed his situation. His body was stiff and ached almost throughout as he tried to move a little. Duntan’s mind tried to pull him towards the sweet embrace of sleep almost as soon as he started to try and open his eyes, but he willed himself to focus. There was no time to rest. His Federation was at war and he needed to do everything within his power to help in that effort.
His continued determination was rewarded with the appearance of two slits of light as his eyes began to open. It also became apparent to him that almost instantly the pain throughout his body had subsided into nothingness and the urge to rest dissolved with it. Duntan was puzzled, but quickly realized that his combat suit had probably sensed his discomfort and had administered the proper medication to keep him fully functional. He was actually relieved that someone was looking out for him, even if it was a system designed with the directive of helping to keep him in top fighting form.
This same system was also designed to constantly monitor all of the suit’s sensors and inform the wearer of any dangers within the surrounding environment, as it now did with a rapid vibration on Duntan’s right shoulder. The veteran soldier’s muscle memory reflexes took over without second thought and his right hand shot out to point him wrist-mounted DRF emitter into the distant direction of the simulated vibration, the speed of which assisted by the exoskeleton suit’s muscle-like fiber network, even before his eyes had time to snap open. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus properly, but he was thankful for the wait as he registered the green “friendly” IFF icon within his visor display. Inside Duntan knew that the armor suit would never have let him discharge any of his weapons at a friendly soldier, though it was still encouraging to him that he was in full control of his body and reactions once again.
“Sir, are you alright?” Duntan heard through his TacLink as he turned his head towards the direction of the approaching figure and saw another soldier running towards him.
As the figure presented itself, t he colonel’s visor identified him as Captain Weslow Fuentes of the Federation Army Air and Space Command and brought up the pilot’s profile in the HUD. The confirmation allowed Duntan a momentary respite from his sudden awakening. He pulled his arm back towards him, allowing the two focusing prongs to retract back into their wrist mount as he deactivated the directional repulsion field emitter.
It took several seconds, but the captain’s question finally registered inside Duntan’s mind. Frankly he should have never survived a crash of such magnitude, but against all odds he had. Thinking about the statistical probability of the event was not highly productive at the moment, however, as there were more pressing matters to deal with, so Duntan pushed the thought away. His combat armor was not so deterred, though, and read his thoughts on the subject. A diagnostic window opened in his visor and started to
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