- OfTheBloodguard
- |
- Fabled Heroic Member
The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!
At his command, the elevator closed its doors, hiding the Colonel away from the cold and warming him back up again. But in doing so, it thawed his mind, releasing his thoughts of the slaughter above from their icy prison in his head. And yet, there was only one dominant thought that came to him: Team Theta. And despite their large part in the base's defence, his thoughts of them were critical, almost overly so. They have to be.
Ruthless in their judgement, his thoughts continued to toil and turn over Theta's performance in their mission. He could feel indifference forming against their motives, preferring effectiveness over better reasoning. Suddenly, the plight of Sierra Company didn't concern him in the least, he was too busy forming a conclusion. And as the elevator suddenly came to a halt, several hundred metres below HAUBERK Base, he found that he had reached it. So much for ONI's plan for a "perfect unit", he thought. Let's hope the other one follows orders better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So far, they had only spend four minutes outside of the Covenant's blockade, drifting along the early morning sky in a haze of fatigue and battle-shock. While UNSC soldiers were expected to face strenuous tasks and live to fight another day, Sierra Company had taken an almost unfathomable beating up on the mountain that watched them go, pleading out for a saviour. And now, as they had the time to rest, the true effects of their suffering began to surface.
Now that the adrenaline from war had died away, a great, raw wound of defeat began to throb. The most that humanity could take from their war against the Covenant was that while their inferior technology resulted in mass losses of ships, they usually took victory in ground engagements thanks to superior tactics, even though their victories were not only scattered and costly, they were usually in vain, due to the Covenant glassing any planet they considered unworthy to live on. But this day had proved to be devastating to the troopers that had survived their earlier encounter, and their morale wasn't exactly in high spirits on the matter of their new mission.
Above all else, though, was the physical stress and trauma that had been inflicted upon them. As their mental punishment made itself known, so too did haphazardly healed wounds and a fatigue akin to that of days of combat. But, weary as they were, their Pelicans flew on towards the artefact site, indifferent to their pain. And while their progress was by no means slow, it felt all too slow for Sierra Company as the memories of those that had perished on Mt. Arphos played on in their minds. And for one soldier in particular, he found those memories inescapable.
Ever since he had boarded the Pelican, he had found himself lost within his own mind, hiding away from the bitter truth inside his memories. The events after his comrade's death had been a daze to him, people had been trying to communicate to him on the outside while he was searching for an answer on the inside. It had been like this from then onward, and it was only now that it came to him. Up to the surface he rose, as if his mind was an ocean, with the answers he wasn't sure if he was willing to accept.
She's... she's dead. The thought floated on, nothing to interrupt it as the waters around it were completely devoid of activity. That part he would have to deal with sooner or later. But other thoughts soon cast out to sea alongside it. I could have been with her...
Suddenly, the sea was no longer calm. Waves began to churn, foam seething from their tips like the anger that had now taken over. For a moment or two, he merely sat, riding the rapids of his thoughts. He looked down towards the Pelican's troop bay floor, but he did not see it. He was still too lost, the waves crashing and resounding through his head, dragging him away from peace. Bringing him back to reality, and rekindling the hatred and hopelessness he had felt at HAUBERK Base.
"I loved her," he murmured aloud. The ODST beside him glanced over, for he had not heard his squadmate talk since Sierra Company's retreat into HAUBERK Base.
"Repeat? I didn't catch that," his squadmate asked, not sure whether to be concerned or not. For a time, he did not reply. His squadmate fell under the impression that he hadn't heard the question. Just as he was about to ask again, the ODST stood up, his sights directly fixed on Theta's leader, yet his ambitions and emotions hidden by his visor. Rodney and Baldemar both tensed, even though they weren't sure if there was going to be a situation just yet.
"I loved her," he repeated, although this time, he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him. Rodney wasn't phased by the ODST, but his seemingly random comment puzzled him for a second. "You took me away from her. I wanted to be with her, but you took me away." Suddenly, it made sense. Rodney's mind quickly flashed back to the mountain, where he had helped the ODST inside. Now he knew there would be a situation, and casually readjusted his posture so that he would be able to leap up and defend himself if necessary.
"Look, soldier. I was only tryi-"
"Why?!" the ODST suddenly demanded, his hand shakily moving up to the hilt of his combat knife. Everyone in the Pelican's troop bay now had their attention fixed on him, worried that he was going to do some damage. The two ODSTs on either side of him stood up to restrain him, but he took off before they could lay a hand on him. This was a mistake, for there was barely any distance between the two sides of the Pelican's troop bay, and he didn't even have time to draw his knife before he reached the other side and came face to face with Rodney. The SPARTAN merely raised a hand, grabbing the ODST's hand and holding it firmly in place, preventing him from removing his knife and leaving him incapable from causing any harm to anyone.
Rodney put a hand on the ODST's other shoulder, and walked him back a couple of paces, despite his attempts to resist and break free. He yelled and screamed, not able to forgive the SPARTAN for taking him away from the mountain. "I could have saved her! You never gave me the chance!" Rodney sighed, pushing down so the ODST was forced back down in his seat. He glanced at the two ODSTs on either side of him, who restrained their squadmate with a nod in reply.
Rodney sat back down, eyeing the frantic trooper with a sort of sadness. He sat like that for a while, waiting for him to stop resisting. It took a while, but eventually, he calmed down, his anger slowly washing away in his head. "What's your name, soldier?" Rodney asked, although he had a feeling that he already knew the answer.
"Vienna," he replied bitterly. "Gunnery Sergeant Vienna."
Rodney nodded. I thought so. "Listen, Vienna. Despite our differences, I still know how you feel about losing your squadmate."
Vienna looked up, his helmet obscuring a scornful grimace. "Like hell you do, freak! I know your kind, you don't feel a goddamn thing! I'm not some lab-engineered conscienceless supersoldier like you, so don't tell me you know how I feel! You wouldn't know the first thing about what it's like to lose someone close to you! I bet you go through companions every other day, and you couldn't care less if they die or not!"
Rodney did his best to try and restrain himself from busting a wall through the Pelican's troop bay and tossing the ODST through it. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to find out. But even still, his hands started to clench at his sides, slowly denting the bench he was so tightly gripping. The occupants of their Pelican noticed his sudden change in demeanour, as well as the dents he was making in the metal he sat upon, and alarms started ringing in their heads.
The black armour-clad SPARTAN slowly stood up, and Vienna found himself unable to move, as if Rodney's intimidating presence was a tangible force holding him in place. Even still, the ODSTs started to apply more force in holding him back. Two steps was all it took for him to reach the other side of the troop bay, and suddenly, Vienna found himself staring up at Theta's leader. Rodney looked to those holding Vienna back for a few seconds each, as if he was trying to send a thought to them. Then, as slowly as he had made his way over, he reached out for Vienna's right shoulder, gripping it fiercely and lifting him up until they were eye to eye. Rodney reached out with his other hand, slipping it under his left shoulder and holding him in place. The ODST struggled, twisting and writhing, but there was nothing he could do to break the iron grip he had found himself caught in.
"Our team was once sent aboard a Covenant supercarrier on a mission, with two other squads of SPARTANs." His voice was deep and menacing, hints of distant thunder rumbled as he spoke. This time, Vienna didn't interrupt him. "Not only did we lose both of the squads that came with us, I also lost two of my own team that day. To this very day, those memories have not faded one bit. I feel certain that they will not leave me until the day I am taken from this life. My team are the same. I know this because it was all of us who agreed to continue on without them, and not have their places filled in our team. That is how we have continued on since then, and we will do so until this war is decided."
[Edited on 11.08.2011 1:58 AM PST]