Olive Ward

**Olive "Ender" Leah Ward** *(RN: OW-06-1-10-738389)* was the second-in-command of the Glory Militia and a former Inurement prisoner who became the second person in history to escape. She was one of the most influential leaders during the beginning years of the Omnikin Occupation, establishing the Operation 612 and saving hundreds of lives and colony artifacts from being destroyed.

Olive is the protagonist in the book *Inurement* and the short story *Daughter of Glory* in the Tales from the Border anthology.

## Biography

### Early Life (2413-2423)

Olive was born in a makeshift hospital in an unknown village on the planet Midway. Her mother nearly died in childbirth, only being saved by an emergency blood transfusion and the very last of the villages pain killers. She was an extremely tiny baby, being premature, and she had breathing problems. She spent the first 2 years of her life in the hospital until her parents-fugitives with high bounties on their heads-unknowingly lead the authorities to their village and they arrested anyone they didn't murder. Olive's older brother, Sterling, took her and hid in a cargo container, keeping her quiet by giving her a sleeping aid.

Olive grew up in Parrish, a poor and nearly abandoned town on Midway. She was raised by Sterling in a one bedroom wooden house with a hole in the roof above the kitchen. She never attended school, and stayed home alone, doing chores and keeping quiet while Sterling worked. During the winter of 2320, she rescued a raven with a broken wing. While retraining it to fly, a neighborhood boy grabbed it and snapped its next and threw the bird at her. She told Sterling, and he told her "I'll take care of it."

On June 1, 2323, a "new face" in Parrish recognized Sterling by his resemblance to his father. They contacted the same group who raided their village and they tore through Parrish until he and Olive were apprehended. Olive was ten when she learned her brother's real age-he was 15.

### Cornovis Educational Facility for Orphaned Minors #41 (2423-2426)

Olive and Sterling were taken to Eris on a transport ship, where they were placed in a Cornovis facility. Their heads were shaved to rid of lice, and they had ID numbers tattooed to their right cheeks. They were separated into different buildings and only ever saw each other at mealtimes.

Olive would never speak out loud, and received many reprimands for not responding to questions and not participating in the mandatory classes. However, her testing proved she had extraordinary vocal skills and a high capacity for learning. She was noted as difficult and was sent to spend much of her time in "special" classes, which was a term coined for the sessions where doctors would take dangerous and illegal measures to ensure the education of their students. These measures included psychological and physical experiments, and sometimes, in severe cases, cranial surgeries and brain alterations. Olive spent so much time being psychologically manipulated that she forgot most of her memories including her identity. She was released after a sympathetic doctor forged her papers and was taken into the doctors secret therapy sessions for kids who were wrongly treated.

Olive vaguely remembered the therapy sessions. She was eventually allowed to mingle with her age group again and return to regular classes, but she never engaged in conversation and only spoke when spoken to. This was around the time when she was told her brother Sterling had been transferred to another facility and the chances of ever seeing him again were minimal.

In spring of 2326, the authorities brought of group of runaways to Olive's facilities and she found a close friendship with Todd O'Massey, Delia Bandsman, and an alien named Corra Rell'iak'a. On June 12, 2326, all four used fake registration numbers to enlist in the army.

## Physical Appearance

Olive had long, white blonde hair that had been shaved once when she had lice and a second time on admittance to Inurement. She had olive green eyes, after which she was named, and pale skin covered in scars from various sources. She was 5'10" and weighed approximately 103 pounds. She was told she had her mothers face shape and her fathers eyes. Sterling and her were nearly identical despite there being a 5 year age difference.

She has a total of 8 tattoos. On her cheek is the faded ID number from Cornovis EFOM #41; across her collarbone she has "To hell with you" in a vine like font; between her boobs is a design Todd drew; her inner left arm holds a quote Candida Walters told her: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world"; her right inner arm contains her Inurement ID and tracker; another one of Todd's designs lies on her upper back, and across her knuckles is her nickname, Ender Ward.

One of her scars, the angry red one marring her back, is from an unknown surgery.

She is often seen wearing black jeans, a tight tank top, and either loose a button up shirt or a too-big jacket over the top. She either wears her lace up boots or any other shoe she can find. She has no real sense of fashion, only caring about movement and utility.

While in Inurement, she wore the basic blue Tee and loose pants required for all the inmates.

## Personality and Traits

Olive spent her childhood and the beginning of her teen years as a mute. She chose to be mute because she simply did not like interacting with people. She started to talk after her experience in the Psych Rooms, and eventually was rid of her childhood habit.

She was mostly perceived as rude and opinionated. She was insanely headstrong, to the point of being reckless and a act first, think later attitude. She had said multiple times she doesn't like people and avoided most social situations. She never cared what people thought of her and did what she wanted regardless. If someone was in her way, she'd incapacitate them. She was argumentative, prone to violence, and was skilled in questionable areas such has stealing, hacking, and cheating. She was street-wise, and also extremely book smart. Whenever she went to school, she excelled.

During her time in the army, and later the Glory Militia, she was often chosen for solo stealth missions. She worked better by herself and usually refused any kind of help. In the Glory Militia, when they planned raids, she would run off and create a "distraction crime" and that brought a good portion of the authorities her way. On her last mission, she was shot in the back and fell into the rubble at the bottom of a dilapidated building. She had deliberately fallen as an attempted suicide, but the authorities retrieved her and took her to Inurement where they miraculously healed all her injuries.

Her sense of humor was dry and sarcastic. Most people she knew found it offensive.

Under her hardened exterior, she was deeply caring. She felt strongly about the causes she fought for, always standing up for what was right. The only people she had ever let see her entire being were Todd O'Massey, her brother Sterling, and Allison Wendell.

## Trivia

* She couldn't swallow pills, hated to be photographed, and was fond of tattoos.
* While she was named after the color of her eyes, her mother's mother was also named Olive.
* Her nickname "Ender" was given to her in the army for her knack to end conflicts.