- Wolverfrog
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- Fabled Legendary Member
Part 2 - Enrolment
Even as we were just emerging out of slip space, officers were parading around the bridge asking for volunteers to the UNSC marine corps. They managed to convince many of the colonists, and soon, the room was full of people signing papers swearing allegiance to earth and all of her colonies.
I hesitated for a moment, and then also stepped forward to the makeshift enrolment booths. A marine noticed me, and walked towards me, the enslaving papers in hands. "Can I help you son?" the heavily armoured man said between a smoking cigar.
"Are you here to sign up?" he queried,
"Y-yes sir", I replied, stumbling over my words.
"Hmm..." the man mused "Well, you look like you'd make a good soldier, you've gotta good, strong build, tell me son, how old are you, in earth years I mean."
He said this last part due to the fact that a harvest year passes 2/3 slower than an earth year.
"18 sir," I lied.
"Well, usually we'd run checks on you, make sure you're tellin' the truth and all that, but under these circumstances, we don't have time for that. Now, are you sure you want this son? The life of a soldier isn't as glorious as the adverts claim it is."
He spoke this last part slowly, as if to drum it into my very skull.
"Yes sir", I replied, "please sir, who are those marines in the black armour?" I spoke out of curiosity, anxious to know who had stopped me from running away, and most likely, saved my life.
A shadow crossed over the marines face. "Oh, you don't want nothin' to do with them son, they're what you call ODST marines, or 'hell jumpers' as the rest of us normal soldiers call them. They are the ones who, when battle calls, answer it with a hell of a lot of gunfire. Their actions decide a battle, they are the elite, they are the ones who kill the majority of our enemies in battle; yet they are the ones who die in battle too....".
He spoke this last sentence solemnly, as if even the mention of them saddened him to the bone. I pondered what he had just said, they kill the most in battle, yet they die the most in battle....well, if I was gonna die, I might as well take a few of those alien creatures to hell with me...
"Please sir, where would one go if they wanted to join these 'ODST's'?" the marine looked shocked, and quickly protested
"Son, in the brief time I've known you, I've summarised that you seem like a nice lad, don't waste your life with them, you'll be--"
"Please sir", I interrupted, "It's what I want to do, and no amount of persuading on your part will convince me otherwise" the soldier looked like he was going to protest again, then resigned, and mutely pointed to a booth on the far side of the room.
"Thank you," I softly said to him, and walked towards the ODST's, to my destiny. As I was walking across the room, I faintly heard the soldier say
"Good luck!", then mutter to himself, "You're going to need it......"
[Edited on 10.25.2009 7:42 AM PDT]