Survivor

The ashes and smoke seemed to have blocked out the sun. The only lights ODST corporal Erik Sanderson could see from within his cumbersome helmet were the sudden and deadly flashes of explosions and alien gunfire. A colorful inferno of reds, greens and blues. Erik sprinted forward on the muddy field, wildly firing his smg in hope of killing any alien invaders behind that dense, dark veil of smoke. He couldn't understand how everything had gone so dark. When he had dropped from the heavens the sky was blue. It was as if the day had darkened with the deaths of his comrades.

He could not hear his squad mates on the com channel anymore. All the brave men and women whom had become his family for the last three years had all probably died during the previous three minutes. For all he knew he could be the sole survivor of the assault. One desperate human, blindly rushing towards an unbreakable fortress of three hundred thousand covenant infantry. A couple of years ago Erik would have welcomed such a death. To defiantly cross the field of war with his comrades, fully clad in jet black armor like legendary dark knights. He would have avenged humanity one bullet at a time, and finally die standing. A hero's death. Those were his expectations when he was recruited for the ODST program. Now he felt like reality wasn't quite so glorious.

The shrieking sound of a descending banshee caught his attention. Looking up he saw the covenant aircraft closing in, leaving blue traces in the air that followed when it turned. Erik felt a cold shiver of dread as he looked for cover in the no man´s land, but there was nowhere to go. He was out of time. As he lunged forward to evade the inevitable bombardment, he felt a scourging heat hitting his back followed by a powerful shock wave that sent him flying forward.

He hit the muddy ground hard. For a few seconds he was absolutely still, then he groaned and summoned his last strength to turn his body around and lay on his back. He wiped the mud away from his visor, and noticed the large crack that had formed, obscuring his view. He made a weak effort to stand up, but it was as if his armor had turned to solid led. In the dark clouds above he could see covenant artillery fire, great blue projectiles of plasma, falling to the ground like meteors. The deadly payloads fell silently, their distinctive sounds replaced by a loud ringing in Erik's ears. His communication systems had also been destroyed, making the com channel an inaudible mess.

Even though he was alone and motionless on the ground amidst explosions and advancing covenant forces, Erik hadn't felt this much at peace in a long time. To rest now felt like a divine gift, and he felt himself coming to peace with his impending fate. Death would be solace after a life time of losses and sorrow. Never had he participated in a successful mission. For fifteen years he had always ended up alive while his comrades had fallen. His superiors had called this an extraordinary survivability. He called it luck, but he often felt it was a curse. For a moment he thought upon the useless endings of himself and his fallen friends. In what way had they contributed to humanity? Billions of human corpses piled up at the covenants feet, and it had done nothing to stop their systematic annihilation of human worlds. He shouldn't have thrown his life away. He should have gone with the refugee fleets, started a family, made the most of the live offered to him. Now he would die here alone, in the muddy ground of Reach, far way from whatever family he had left. Erik had been hardened physically and mentally to what is humanly possible, but now felt like crying.

The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his melancholy thoughts. Turning around he saw a ghostly shape slowly approaching him. The invisible entity stopped, and began to gradually reveal itself as its cloaking device expired. Eric felt a cold chill run down his spine. Standing only a few meters before him was an elite ultra, one of the highest ranked unit of the Sangheili species. Erik had fought and killed elites before but that was from a few hundred meters with his rifle, he had never seen an alive elite up close. The elite was a terrifying as well as a majestic sight. It slowly swept its gaze across the battlefield. The elite towered over Erik, standing at least two and a half meters tall. Its armor was white as snow, with some red patterns scattered around its helmet and upper body. It was clear that unlike Erik, this elite had not been rolling around in the mud.

And when the alien locked its gaze with the fallen human, a primitive part of Erik Sanderson's brain made him forget all about rest and submission. He quickly got up with renewed strength, and reached for the smg by his hip. It wasn't there. The elite had already drawn his plasma rifle, but it didn't use its weapon. It stood still, keeping its eyes fixed on the human. Erik scrambled for another weapon, and drew his pistol. He fired two shots before the elite could retaliate. Yet the alien simply stuttered slightly from the bullets, its energy shield having absorbed all the damage. Erik continued to pull the trigger but the gun only made futile clicking sounds, signaling an empty magazine. Erik lowered his pistol. He had expected the elite to shoot him right there, but to his great astonishment it didn't. It dropped its firearm to the ground. For a second of confusion he considered the that the alien might not intend to kill him, but then he recalled his theory lessons back at the academy. Elites are bound to strict rules of honor, and those principles are most important on the battlefield. That is why there had been a few documented incidents of elites not shooting unarmed soldiers. But Erik felt no relief from this fact. The elite did not lower its gun out of some sort of sympathy. It was just as dedicated to kill him without the plasma rifle. Now, instead of getting a quick death, Erik would die considerably slower and more painfully.

Deciding to fight for survival, Erik approached the elite cautiously, arms raised in a combat stance. The elite answered with a mocking sound, as if the behavior of the seemingly suicidal human amused him. It then curled its four fingered hands into fists, and advanced with great steps. Erik felt adrenaline rushing through his body, filling him with a primal sort of readiness. Erik made the first move, launching forward and aiming his fist at the elite's exposed jaws. The elite only made a step backward in order for Erik to miss with half a meter. Erik then rushed forward again, rapidly hitting armor solid as rock. In response the elite struck down with his arm in a wide arc. Erik made a an attempt to block the blow, and felt his left forearm break in the process. He fell to the ground hissing in pain. The elite slightly bent down to hoist him up by the neck, and Erik saw his chance.

As he felt a strong hand pull at him Erik filled his hand with mud from the ground. As the elite began to turn him around he threw the mud directly at the elite s face. The elite let go and took a step back, startled. It made an infuriated roar as it tried to cleanse its eyes and mouth, but it had been to slow. Erik screamed and pulled out a knife as he once again charged at his adversary. Erik gathered all his strength and thrust at the elite s face, but it blocked the blade in the last second. The elite roared and purple blood tainted both human and alien. Erik struggled to remove the blade from the elite´s hand, which had been pierced down to the handle. The elite took hold of the knife and hissed as it freed its mangled hand from the blade. When the knife was out, the elite punched Erik and sent him flying backwards.

Now Erik´s visor had even more cracks covering the visor, making it useless. With shaking muscles Erik got up on his knees, and removed his helmet. His black hair was as dark as his armor and the world around him. His sweat drenched face was covered in scars, markings of previous battles. Erik took a deep breath and sucked in the night air, thick of smoke and plasma particles. He only now noticed the other covenant who were watching him. He saw grunts, jackals and brutes, roaring out and mocking him in alien tongues. The spectators had formed a circle around him and the elite. Erik turned his attention back to his foe. The elite stared into his eyes, as if it was trying to see into his very soul. Emerald green eyes defiantly met predatory yellow ones. The elite then tossed the knife away into the night, eliminating Erik's only hope.

It advanced. Erik felt his legs buckle under him as he tried to get up. When the elite was close enough Erik once again tried to blind the elite. The elite caught his hand with ease, and threw him over its shoulder with a grunt. The other covenant sheered. The world spun around before Erik's eyes. He crashed down hard in a puddle of murky water. Erik coughed up blood as he rolled over on his back. If it hadn't been for the incredibly effective layers of his combat suit, Erik would have been dead long ago. Suddenly he felt the air go out of him and a crushing force on his chest. Above him stood a hideous brute soldier. The jiralhane had an exposed face, and less body armor then its elite superiors. It was also far broader and more muscled. Its face was twisted in an expression of sadistic delight. It roared, showing rows of yellowed teeth, and then stomped down on him again. Erik felt like every organ in his body had been crushed.

The brute lifted his foot to torment him further, but the blow never came. Erik felt himself get hit by a warm cascade of blood and then heard the brute wail in pain. The elite had joined the four mandibles were spread apart, its eyes radiated a deep fury as it breathed heavily. Its foot was drenched in red where it had made a ruin of the brute s face. The brute roared in rage, displaying his hunger for revenge. The brute leaped towards the elite, as if was a feral animal rather than a soldier. The elite rolled to side, crouching slightly as it awaited another charge. When the brute turned to attack again, the elite pulled out a small object. Suddenly a sharp sound pierced the air and a glowing blue blade appeared in the elite's hand. The brute raised a thick arm to mangle its victim. A second later there was a blue flash and a loud hiss, and the arm lay on the on the muddy ground.

The brute dropped to his knees, clutching his bleeding arm socket. The brutes roared and screamed at the elite, continuing the fight verbally. The elite walked up to the brute in silence. In a flash it had swept its blade across the brute s abdomen, spilling its entrails. The elite yanked at the lifeless body, displaying it to the rest of the covenant. The few enraged brutes who had threateningly moved closer reconsidered their actions, and stepped back in silence. The elite kept its gaze on the group a few more seconds. For a moment Erik wondered if he had been forgotten. As if the alien had heard his thoughts, it turned around and walked towards him. Blade in hand. It picked Erik up and made it face him. Erik felt like its rage was extinguished. The elite's movements were slow and smooth, the mandibles of its mouth closed.

Erik punched the elite, struggling to the last. The elite hardly reacted to the weak blows. It slowly rose its arm to ready the final blow. Erik could see the double edges of the sword staring him in the face. He punched more frantically now. He gathered all his strength in one final blow. When his fist went through the air, a sound like lightning shook the air. The elite's torso exploded in a cascade of blood, its body flying through the air as if it was made of paper. Erik s brain couldn't comprehend what his eyes had seen. He sat on the ground, panting for breath and looking around him. For a moment the covenant looked as startled as he did, then fury was on them and they drew their weapons. And hell broke loose. The sound of a thousand bullets exploded in Erik´s eardrums. The covenant fell in heaps by the unseen enemy. By instincts Erik dropped to the ground. Countless warthogs thundered past him, crashing into the covenant. Above him he saw huge formations of pelican and falcon aircraft.

By some divine intervention Erik wasn't hit by the unstoppable wave. One warthogs drove up to him, the entire front of it was covered in blood. "Holy hell", a familiar voice said. "Erik?" An ODST soldier leaned out from his steaming gaus gun, hand drawn emblems of naked women decorated his shoulder guards. "Will" Erik replied, feeling light headed. At any other time he would have given a cocky remark, but he felt that simply standing demanded all his concentration. Will got of the gaus emplacement and said something over his com channels. Erik dropped to his knees, and his squad mate and friend hurried over to help him stand.

Will glanced at Erik's bloody face. "You look fucking fabulous mate" Erik answered with a weak and wheezing laugh. "I bet" He then remembered the rest of his friends, and anxiety gripped him once again.
"The others..." He coughed. "how many else made it?" Will was silent." Erik could imagine will s face become rigid and distressed behind the visor. Will was a joker, he almost always spoke when he had something funny to say. During times like this, he had few words to work with. "I don t know." He answered. Erik knew it was a lie. The area around them became lit up. Erik looked up and saw a pelican descending toward them.

"Hey, this bird is gonna take you home Erik" Will said in an attempt to sound cheerful. "You kicked ass out there, now leave the rest to us" As the pelican hovered closer to the ground, the blazing engines stirred up dust all around them. The compartment ramp was slowly lowered down. Inside there were a dosen wounded soldiers, moaning in pain as medics walked between them. As Erik witnessed the scene, an insane sense of duty and honor overtook him, clouding his better judgement "No!" he protested as he was being escorted to the ramp. He made a weak effort to struggle against Will s firm grip. "I can still fight, I m not quitting again!" The thundering sound of the pelican drowned Erik's voice, and Will didn't hear a single word.

"Things are starting to turn now Erik." Will said. The fifth and sixth army divisions just reached orbit, and more soon the entire fleet will be here." His voice had genuine hope in it. "Before long we will have sent those fuckers back into space.. and we can have our lives back"
One of the medics urged them to hurry, and helped Erik into the ship. He needed to say something, any well picked words that would bring him closure. But Erik didn t manage to utter a single word. The last he saw of Will was him waving goodbye and shouting something inaudible. The ramp was lifted, and Will was gone. The battlefield was gone. The carnage outside was reduced to a faint rumbling sound, but the agonized moans of wounded soldiers remained.

Erik fought to keep his eyes open. As he was assisted onto a stretcher, he felt weaker and smaller than ever before. He had fled, again. When he would return to head quarters he would no doubt be welcomed like a hero, like so many times before. But he felt like a cowering animal, fleeing for safety while more worthy people die. He was disgusted with himself, and more so because a part of him was blissfully relieved. He didn't want to go back to that hell. He was starting to forget why he had to go back there at all. He felt himself growing to tired to think. His last thoughts were of his friends and the planet he left behind to burn. He felt his fear and sorrow wash away as the darkness engulfed him, and he surrendered to a long dreamless sleep.

AN# well that was my very first story, I'm really just experimenting here, so any feedback on anything that could be done better would be appreciated! There will be more of these one shots coming up, but I can imagine a single review would quintuple the writing process :) Thanks for reading! Namaste