This is my contribution to RT's Community Day. Enjoy!
Richard Simmons stared at the recruitment tent, warring internally with himself. A small, logical, and extremely terrified part of his brain was telling that this was a bad idea. He was not cut out to be a soldier. Joining the army would not fix any of his problems. This could only possibly lead to him dying on some unnamed planet light-years from home. It wouldn't make his father respect him any more.
Still, another part of his brain helpfully supplied, it's not like it could make things worse. He'd already been kicked out. Not officially, of course, but dad had made it pretty clear that he didn't want Simmons hanging around anymore. Simmons dad just didn't understand. He didn't want to stay in school because he was afraid of the "real world". Far from it. AI theory just took a long time to learn. Once he was done with school, though, he could help the UNSC in ways he never could as a regular soldier.
He'd thought his dad would be proud of him when he got accepted into that program. Finally, all the work, all the years in college were paying off. He was going to do it. He was going to learn how to make AIs. His dad hadn't been proud, however. He hadn't been happy about Simmons' accomplishment. All he'd heard was eight more years of school. It had been the final straw. He'd told Simmons that if he didn't cut the nonsense and get a real job, he'd be out on his own.
So now, here he stood, staring at a UNSC recruitment tent, hoping he wouldn't throw up from how nervous he was. He told himself he was doing this because he cared about humanity, and that he wanted to help fight. He knew the truth, though. His father had never cared about anything beside the war. He'd grown up hearing about the battles his father had fought and the second and third hand accounts from his great grandfather who had fought in the first battles against the Covenant. He knew his dad had secretly hoped he'd join the army some day.
Richard Simmons sighed. He knew he was doing this for the wrong reasons. He knew it was a bad idea. He knew it wouldn't change things between himself and his father. Still, he'd made his decision. He was going to stick with it.