A/N: For the past few weeks, I have been writing for the Star Wars Setting, and then while updating a story, I saw one of my stories gained a review asking me to continue. To show all the readers of Left 4 Red and Blue that I am still alive in the genre (All 7 of them ;() here is a small one shot idea I had a while ago but never published.
Every day was the say here. The sun doesn't move, the clouds stay rooted in their place. Even the Reds have a routine attack every two weeks. Our entire lives here run on routine, and we are OK with that. But for me, today is anything but routine. On this day, 4 years ago, the remnants of the Covenant attacked my home planet of Ceti 6. While it was taking place, I was on board 'The Avatar' nearly 4 parsecs away. Their was no way to get there in time to save them, and everybody on board knew it. Still, my captain knew that if anything else, we could catch the bastards responsible for this. We did, but by the time we got there, the surface had been galsed by the powerful plasma cannons on board the ships.
My entire family, save my brother was on the planet. That was the day I left, and joined the meaningless Red and Blue war. I wanted to make sure that my little brother didn't have the same fate befall him as our family. I had hoped to tell him in person, but the dame bureaucrats had gotten to him before me. The week I was scheduled to deploy, I got a letter from him, telling me what to expect from the soldiers. Most people under-estimate my brother, Caboose, but he can be border line genius under stressful or sullen moments.
But enough about my problems, right now I am just waking up and believe me. I am not taking any Bullshit from the team today.
Finding my way from my room to the kitchen, I saw that only Tex was up yet. I wasn't surprised not to see Caboose, him subconsciously knowing what day it was. But Doc and Sister were usually up, but I guess I should be grateful they weren't.
"Morning Sunshine." Tex commenting on my obviously depressed state.
Tex was the one person who would not hurl insults at me throughout the day because she respected me. She could also tell what manner my mood was in, so when I was in a bad mood, she stayed out of my hair. I was the only one who presented a threat to her.
"Hey Al" Replying.
"Whats up, this isn't your normal shity mood?"
Normally, I wouldn't say any thing to anyone other than my most trusted friends. But then again, Tex was one of them.
"Tex, do you know what day it is?"
"The 21st?"
"Yes, the same day the Cov-"
"What up my Cracker friends" Tucker yelled, making me want to stab his face off.
Thankfully, I didn't tell Tex about my secret. The bad news, Tucker woke the whole base and that included Church. Now, there are many types of people in the world; those who can get out of bed normally, upset, angry. Church was his own category. I.E; Don't ever wake him up or he'll rip your fucking head off.
"God Dammit Tucker, I swear, If you wake me up ONE MORE TIME, I WILL RIP YOU FUCKING BALLS OFF, AND FEED THEM TO YOUR KID!!"
"Blargh?"
"Yeah, YOU!!"
"Morning Church." came the group reply.
"Fuck You all." came the counter-reply.
Just then Caboose walked into the room, quiet as a mouse for reasons unknown to all but me. So quiet in fact, that Church didn't even see him when he turned around to go back to his room.
"God Dammit, watch it Caboose!"
My mind reacted quicker than ever before. In the short three second time span, my brain had formulated enough to send me into a blinding rage, than to jump Church and proceed to beat the living shit out of him.
"Don't you dare fuckin talk to him like that today you asshole, HEAR ME!!"
By the time I was done, everyone in the room was staring at me, amazed at the beating I had giving Church. Knowing my strength, he probably had at least four fractures and two broken bones. Tex was the first brave enough to speak.
"Dessmond, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Turning to face her, I saw fear. Pure fear in the eyes of one of, if not the most powerful bounty hunters in the galaxy. This did not go unnoticed by the others. While Doc was treaty Church, Caboose quietly dismissed him self. The next few words I spoke to her were so filled with hate, it scared even me in retrospect.
"On this day 4 years ago, my entire family was killed. I got there just in time to watch the killers flee. I spent months tracking them and when I found them, I boarded their ship and killed each and every life form on the ship, slowly and painfully. The shear amount of blood pooling around the vents would be enough to make Satan himself fear me. I destroyed an entire Capital Ship full of one of the most powerful factions in the world by my self with out a power suit. What makes you think I won't do any worse to you?"
No one spoke a word. And that was good, because had they, I would have probably killed them then and there. I quickly went to check on Caboose, and found his door open. Inside was Caboose, sobbing into his pillow. I walked over, trying my hardest to calm down after my previous excursion.
"Hey Caboose."
That was all I had to say. He proceeded to cry into my should for the rest of the day. I didn't stop him, he needed this, we needed this. We just sat there, waiting for the day to be over. No one bothered to check on us. They stayed out of my way for a while afterward. But Church didn't hold a grudge. He was surprisingly sympathetic to us, and even apologized to me after the fact.
I learned one thing on that day so many years ago.
"Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves."-Phaedrus