- Sergeant Murph
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- Noble Legendary Member
He looked at me for a moment, baffled, then his eyes widened. "Sol!" he laughed, embracing me. I knew the boy to be the happiest creature in existence. Never had I seen him truly unhappy, not even when he was injured.
"How you been man? It's been so long!"
"It's been three weeks."
"Yeah, but you wouldn't believe the crap I've been through. It's really pretty rough down there."
"Are we stationed at the same outpost?"
"Yeah, man. Listen to this, though. The coolest part is that they have a Spartan. And not just any Spartan, mind you. This is the Master Chief Petty Officer 117."
The image of the Demon flashed into my mind. I remembered him laying a punch onto Regret's face. I remembered the feeling I had gotten when I first caught a glimspe of the mysterious gold visor, reflecting on the deaths of my brothers. I wiped the memory from my mind, nodding.
"Will we meet him?"
"Probably not. I haven't even seen the guy yet. I would imagine he's got enough on his hands right now."
I nodded, then looked around the ship.
"Where's Anderson? And Cholahee and Sikanoy?"
Burns nodded. "They're already down there."
"Will they be stationed with us as well?"
"Probably. Anderson’s an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper now, believe it or not. He’s the leader of his squad," Burns laughed. "I can't imagine what its like falling through space in a tiny cramped drop pod. He seems like the one who would do that, though. He's been asking about you, by the way. He wanted to know how you were doing up here."
I laughed. It was so typically Anderson to worry about me while I was safe inside a space station with guns bigger than mountains. He was just like my father, always checking in to see what was happening.
My father.
My dead, disgraced father. I couldn't imagine what life would be like if he was alive. Would he have been proud of me for joining the Humans? Probably. He was proud everything I did. Just another reason why it was so hard without him. I felt a rush of anger and sadness. Why did he have to leave so early in my life, and why did I take the harsh, torturous beatings for it? The image of Janerus entered my mind. The filth. If I ever met him again I would tear his head from his shoulders! And then there were the other Honor Guards that had betrayed him when he needed them most. Monsters!
I calmed myself, strapping myself in to the seat beside Burns and drifted asleep.
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They came to our planet.
They came to our planet like nothing was wrong, like they could storm on to our turf and take us away. They deployed Spirit drop ships from the sky. Truth broadcasted his message from the ship, echoing throughout our world.
"As the Great Journey draws closer, we lose infantry faster than ever! That is why we have come, Sangheili. Another loading of younglings is necessary. We shall train them to become warriors of the Covenant. Do not be frightened, young ones. All shall take part in the Great Journey, then we shall have peace."
I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around at my friends. They're eyes filled with horror. We had seen it coming, but not like this. Not so sudden. We stood there, looking at each other. I glanced up at the ship that seemed to tower overhead. Somehow, I knew there was someone, anyone, staring back into my eyes. What was I going to do? I could not hand myself over so easily. I took off toward my home, moving my feet fast across the hot sand.
I burst through the door, screaming.
"Mother! Mother, where are you? They're taking us away! They've come! Mother?" there was no answer. Where else could she possibly be? The door opened behind me. I whipped around. There was my father. His red battle armor was spotless, as well as the orange Honor Guard headress and shoulder spikes. His Energy Stave was slung around his back.
"Come with me," he gestured, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shook him away angrily.
"Father, they've taken her! They've taken mother from us!" I screamed frantically, leaping up and down. He lowered his head and sighed, resting his hand on my shoulder again. Once more, I shook it off.
"The same has been done with most mothers. They have been taken for relationship purposes."
"What does that mean? What does anything mean?"
"It means they can't risk her getting in our way. They want us to focus on religion and religion only. They have disposed of any loved ones that are of no use."
I stared at him, shaking my head in disbelief. His eyes showed the most pathetic sympathy. Did he even care?
"No. No, she's not dead. You're a liar. You're all liars!"
I pushed past him and ran out the door, flinging myself into the sand. My eyes overflowed with tears, and I could feel the sanity slipping away from me. Nothing made sense! You didn't kill a woman because she was a loved one! It was madness!
I grabbed handfuls of sand and threw them down, sobbing uncontrollably. I heard my Father's footsteps swelling into the sand. I stood up.
"I'll leave. I'll run away and never come back."
"Where would you go?"
"Anywhere!" I swung around, my eyes beaming into his He tried to raise a hand to calm me down, but I wouldn't listen. "You're all demons! I hate you! I hate every single one of you, and I don't want to be a part of this! I'll kill the Prophet's, I'll kill them all! I'll slaughter them all, one by one!" I screamed, falling to the sand again. My mother was gone. What was next?
"You cannot run from an empire, my son. They will find you, and they will kill you if you refuse to come carefully."
"I hope they do. I hope they kill me just like they killed her."
"That's a horrible thing to say!"
"I don't care! Let them call me a heretic, I don't care. I'm done. I want to die," the words slipped from my mouth. I looked over at my Father. He was holding back tears, shaking his head and mumbling to himself. There was a short moment of silence, then he spoke.
"If you feel so strongly about this, I shall object to it. It is not right, what is being done today, although it is not right to put your life on the line. I will guided you through these times, my son. Together, we can survive this war."
I broke into tears again, embracing my father. My head rested on his shoulder, the last image of my Mother sticking in my mind.
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[Edited on 10.17.2008 4:47 PM PDT]