(Lasky Pov)
Sitting on a stone outcropping, I looked at the Space Elevator in the distance, the setting sun an orange backdrop. I watched as the disk within the cylindrical tube glided down from beyond the cloud cover above.
The orange light lit up, mixing with the blue spring sky should have given a beautiful array of colors, but I couldn't help but see it through a shade of grey.
I stood up from my seat and began to slowly walk along the outskirts of the academy. I'd already finished my work for the week, not that it was difficult, so I had far too much time to kill. I almost wished for more work, at least then I'd have something to occupy my mind, something that would allow me to forget just for a moment.
As I moved through the center courtyard of the academy, I stopped to glance up at the tall stone statues. They were Spartans, the ancient Greek warriors decked out in their old armor, but equipped with MA5 series weapons. A statement on how war never changes, that though the weapons and armor might be different, the reasons remain the same.
'I want what he has', 'I don't like them', and many other similar phrases were the underlying bedrock for why conflicts started. 'When was the last justified war?' I wondered at least then I could find some comfort in the death, that it was for an actual good cause. That they died for what is undeniably right, and not for some material, fleeting thing.
I continued my stroll, the sun having nearly fully set and darkness beginning to fall upon the campus. Pole lights began to light up my concrete walking path, illuminating it from the growing shadow in the sky.
Eventually, I found myself back in my barracks and made my way to my room. I stepped quietly, avoiding disturbing the rest of my team. It was late, and I had an early day tomorrow, but like an addict, I found myself sitting back in my chair already inputting my password. Like clockwork, I opened up my personal files and began playing a video.
"Hey Thomas, it's a- it's been a while," my brother was on the screen decked out in his signature ODST armor. He looked to be in some kind of ruined building on the outskirts of Arcadia's Roxburgh city on the Avalon continent. The dark blue pill-shaped chest plate on his chest was weathered paint that had been chipped, and I saw some dark marks, most likely from small-caliber rounds shattering themselves against it.
But the thing that stood out above everything else, above the fact that my brother was sitting on what looked like another cracked ODST helmet, above the room that seemed to only be illuminated by a floodlight, was that Cadmon wasn't smiling.
Usually, even if he had something serious to say, he would always lead with something light-hearted, but in only this video, he didn't. "I-uh I don't really know any other way to put it, so I'll just say it: Danny's dead," he kept an even tone as he spoke, but it still sounded a bit strained. He'd always been the strong one, always avoiding crying for even the most appropriate times; he didn't even cry when Dad died. Just helped out around the house whenever mom had to be away for work.
"He died on the last drop- oh, by the wa,y I'm on Arcadia now. It's nice definitely worthy of being a resort world, but I don't think I'll be having any vacations here any time soon," he said with an expression as if he was thinking to himself, "But yeah Danny he was heading team two and it had to of been a bad thrust calculation by the computers or maybe his chute didn't deploy correctly, but he hit the water. The new guys tried telling me he was probably vaporized on impact or something that didn't make sense, but some of the older guys in the unit told me the truth,"
"According to them, he…likely drowned in his pod," he paused as he brought a gloved hand to his face as he considered, "After that, team 2 got wiped out. They got jumped by a whole mob of skinnies in the jungle; somehow they'd installed some Gauss canons and M41s in thick brush, hidden."
"And just like that," he brought his gloved hand snapping as he kept the other on his chin, "They were gone. What was left of them…wasn't much…. I made the decision to report that we found no remains. I'd doubt a widow, a mom or dad, and especially no sibling would want to see bits and pieces of their son or brother or husband or..whatever,"
He paused again and took a deep breath, visibly relaxing, "But that's life for ya. Some people just get the short end of the stick, I guess. What do you think?" he looked directly at the camera- at me, asking.
"Ah, don't worry about that. You're still a kid, still in the academy. Let me and mom handle the adult stuff for a bit longer," he said switching gears throwing his hand up, "Now I gotta say, nice play forcing me to sack my queen. And I thought I had you that time, I'm not gonna lie. Sadly we are going to have to postpone our game for a bit," he said his voice now sounding almost like it was back to normal.
"Truth is, I had Danny helping me play. I thought maybe with both of us together we'd finally be able to pull one over on you, but I guess that wasn't enough either," he said with a hint of pride in his tone.
My hands clenched as it continued to play. I couldn't look at the screen anymore. After the first time I listened to it, I was no longer able to watch the rest.
"Well, some good news then, I should be getting leave for Thanksgiving this year," he said, the mood uplifting. "I am going to come visit you out of the academy and drop in on mom. I bet she's lonely, but who could blame that workaholic," he said.
There was a voice from off-screen saying something I couldn't make out, but these final words always stung, "Hey-I gotta go. We are about to move out, we're being transported via Pelican to a F.O.B. in the dead of night. The only way to ensure the best chances of us not getting blasted by skinnies out of the sky,"
There was a final pause, "But before I go, I now kinda realize there is a very real chance of me not making it back," he half chuckled, "Heh, I understand now why the old guys say it's not a matter of if, but when. Nevertheless, if I don't make it, I don't want you to mourn me or get sad or anything. Just… think of me as some dumb kid who went out and got himself killed, leaving his family alone. Yeah, just focus on how selfish I was, not anything else,"
"Lt., you coming or what?"
"Coming!" I heard some shuffling and the sound of my brother standing up and getting off his helmet. His next words came through the helmet's built-in speaker, "Anyway, that's it for now, Little bro stay switched on, and I'll see ya Star Side!"
The video ended, and the next one began to play. I wiped tears out of my eyes as my face morphed into anger as it started. The picture was simple, a woman, my mother, in a grey uniform, was sitting at a desk with a dark background staring at the camera. There didn't seem to be any emotion behind those eyes, and I couldn't say I was surprised.
"Thomas, as of last week, your brother has been declared K.I.A. His Pelican was shot down by enemy anti-air missiles while flying a night mission. I am told he, along with the rest of his team, was killed instantly, and because there are no remains, I have decided that there will be no funeral service held. Neither you nor I can attend it; therefore, it will be a closed burial."
I had enough and stopped the video. Glancing at a corner, I sighed it was far too late for me to feel well in the morning, so I powered down my terminal and climbed into my made bed.
As I lay underneath my blanket, my mind wandered to the words Chyler had said to me earlier, 'When are we going to get our leader back?'
A part of me wanted to jump back in command again and pull ourselves out of this rut. But the greater part of me just…wouldn't.
'What's the point?' I was so tired. I was over it all, over the UNSC, over the war, over my mom, and even over life. I wanted perfect closure, no final words, no concluding statement, no point.
I stared at my dark ceiling, considering my actions, 'In Dante's Inferno, the last layer of Hell is the layer of treachery, a frozen wasteland. In Dante's mind, the worst act a human could commit was betrayal. I suppose that is the punishment I deserve for what I am doing,' I said to myself tiredly and without emotion.
I turned over, ready for sleep, when a dull thought finished my conversation.
'May my woes be many… and my days few,'
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"Summon Ship Master 'Talanree," The Arbiter ordered from his seat aboard his flagship. The artifacts of the Gods had been located in a nearby system.
The Arbiter in his floating seat waited patiently as his vocal adjunct relayed his order to one of the neighboring ships in his fleet. The Huragok floated gracefully, wiping its tentacles across multiple interfaces, its body pulsating, keeping in line with its floating brain appearance.
"My lord," a hologram lit up, showing the Arbiter's trusted lieutenant on one knee, bowing to the Arbiter. There was no disgust, no hidden feelings of betrayal, nothing but respect and loyalty in the Sangheili's form.
"Rise," the Arbiter said at once. He had no doubts of his brother Voro 'Talanree's devotion to the Great Journey and the duty given by the Prophets.
The Arbiter pressed a few buttons on the side of his command seat, sending navigational data to the Ship Master, "The High Prophets' light has illuminated the location of more of the Gods' holy treasures." On Voro's side, a miniaturized overlook of the Circinius system appeared, planets and all depicted, but one of the smaller ones was highlighted.
"You shall retrieve these relics," the Arbiter said firmly with his deep tone. "However, it has been discovered that the human filth currently dirties the holy relics." Even breathing the same air that their God's relics occupied was a grievous crime in the eyes of the Covenant.
"And so you shall be dispatched with an escort, and you shall raze their world," The Arbiter paused slightly, leaning forward as his large hands tightened with the same amount of force to pulverize concrete, "Scourge them, seek the heretics out and purge them from existence. Only that would be enough to honor the Gods,"
The Ship Master nodded, "Of course, my liege, I understand, and it shall be done," he said, now standing up straight. Ironically, he appeared to be in a similar stance to the UNSC's at-ease position.
"Then may the Gods bless your path, and I expect perfection,"
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Yo the only news I got is that this fic is being upload on SpaceBattles