_Ghost's POV_
"Sarge... Look at the moons. It's funny, I've never noticed how beautiful the moons are here... Do you think anybody noticed?" The young marine asked, looking at the distant moons with her red hair plastered on her face from the sweat in her helmet. "Stay quiet... The bio-foam's working but you're still bleeding." My voice had a tumbling effect, echoing across the hills where bodies, both human and covenant lay strewn in mingled patches of blood.
I looked at her, a single flow of blood from her lip, a reminder that she was still bleeding out. This woman had attracted my attention from day one, she accompanied me when I was promoted to Sergeant when nobody else would. She was the only one who accepted the ghost of a man that I am today. I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I forgot she was there until the young woman spoke up.
"There's something I've always wanted to know... Your calsign... Ghost, what does it mean?" She questioned, a vacant expression set on her face. "Stop talking, you've gotta hold tight until the med-evac gets here" She can survive this right? My heart wanted to say yes, but my brain firmly said otherwise. "You finally have an excuse to show that you care..." She said softly. "Let me ask you something... Just one last thing, it won't hurt I promise." She paused and my eyes anxiously searched hers. "W-what was I to you?" She looked at me intently, as if my answer were the only thing she needed to survive. What was I supposed to say? That she had always been important to me? That I needed her? I redirected my focus on the young woman in my arms who was slowly losing blood by the moment, the warm liquid dripping off my hands.
"What do you mean, your a soldier. A soldier with a promising career ahead of you. You're..." I trailed off, realizing my blunder and immediately feeling guilty. I grudgingly continued. "A soldier" I mentally winced at her reaction, a barely noticeable scrunch of the eyebrows, her eyes watering and glimmering with tears unshed. "And you're a ghost, aren't you?" She said, causing my gut to clench and my blood to run cold. "What?" I barely managed to utter out that one phrase in my shock. "Feelings just pass through you don't they?" Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, a look of determination set on her face.
"So cold and unforgiving in every choice you made in battle... pure soldier... I think that's what let us trust you so-" "don't talk save your strength." Her voice truly was wonderful, something like that of an angel. Unfortunately, I couldn't allow her to use her natural gift for fear of death... And the truth. "I don't need it" I mentally blanked at this statement. "Huh?" Was all I could gather to reply back as she closed her eyes. "I need you to be strong, strong enough to do what you've never done in your entire life" Her eyes opened, still fiercely determined, while tears now threatened to spill down her face. "Can you be strong enough to allow yourself to be... can you just be human?" My gut clenched and I started to feel somewhat faint.
"If not for your sake, for all of us. If you would just allow yourself to feel something..." My grip tightened on her, desperately holding on to her as if it were a two way life-line. "Maybe you wouldn't be a ghost any longer" Her head slowly started to drift down until her form became limp in my arms. My mind started to panic, causing my arms to shake and nearly lose their hold on the woman. Something warm and liquid started to trickle down my face, and I screamed towards the sky, enraged and broken by grief. My foolishness had not only killed my platoon, but her too, and by killing her I had killed myself. The cold shell that the woman had worked so hard to thaw was slowly returning. I pulled her broken body close and held her, tears cascading down my face.
I took a deep, shuddering breath and repressed the grief down, all the while knowing it would haunt my dreams. Lowering her head, I directed my bleary eyes onto her face. So peaceful, even in death. I expected to break down at the sight, yet I found that I only felt numb. Placing one of her hands over her chest, I noticed a small set of exotic red flowers clutched in a loose fist. I reached over and pulled the other hand to lace her fingers together over the small cluster of flowers. I lifted her head up to slide my satchel underneath it, almost as if she were only sick and resting. Were it not for the fair amount of blood staining both of our clothes, I might have believed it. I took her helmet off gently and pulled the data chip out of the back, sliding it just behind my chest plate, only to toss the helmet aside as I stood. She had only joined the corps because I had. She had wanted to be closer to me, while I had brushed off her advances. She wanted to give me a small set of flowers as a token of adoration while I sent her to her death.
I stepped back, looking away, as I gripped the sling to my rifle in a deadly squeeze. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I started walking to the edge of the clearing. I argued with myself on whether or not I should take a last sparing glance. Looking back was the worst mistake of my life, for when I did, I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
_Third Person POV, Algolis_
A deafening explosion blocked off the marines view of the incoming banshee, and smoke replaced the blast radius, further hindering their vision of the alien vehicle. The banshee slid out of the smoke, tendrils flicking behind it as it charged a blast from its fuel rod cannon under the cockpit. A slight whine came from under the vehicle as a light built up under the cockpit, building into a blur of different hues. The blur of ionized plasma streaked towards the speeding vehicle below, impacting on its tail section and exploding with a screech of metal. A large fiery flash erupted from the warthog, quickly followed by smoke and the husk of metal flying out of the smoke.
A second Warthog sped past it on the small gravel road, firing desperately at the alien pursuer which expertly swayed to the side and dodged each round. The flying machine quickly barrel rolled to the side, releasing a high pitched whine as it rolled. Different shades of light emanated from the underside of the cockpit, a loud thump resounded as a bright light started towards the ground vehicle. The ball of roiling plasma made contact with the side passenger, a large green hued explosion of light followed by a fireball of destruction and deafening roar from the explosion.
In the distance a fairly large passenger ship's engines screamed as it and it's Pelican escort prepared to take flight. A marine taking cover behind a damaged warthog fired wildly at the planets covenant attackers, plasma peppering the rocks and damaged frame. A man with coffee brown skin and standard green armor ducked low and ran up to the damaged vehicle, rifle carried like a duffel bag under his arm. "Dammit man, what're you still doin' here? Command has declared a full retreat!" The man shouted over the sounds of war around us. "We can't pull out! The civilians may be on their way out of here, but there's a corps of engineers still out there and I'm not leaving em behind!" The younger man shouted, an angry scowl plastered on his face while he readied to stick his gun out and fire. "It ain't up to you. Cole Protocol has been enacted, lets move it!" he barked as a loud bang resonated near them, a plume of dust and rubble raining down on them as the leading man turned towards a hangar.
"The shuttles…" His voice much more subdued, almost far away as the large transport ship lifted away, not 100 meters away until a lance of plasma sheared through its hull. Gouts of flame spewed from the gaping hole as the ship roughly descended to the ground, smoke trailing it heavily. The flaming shell hit the ground, fire billowing to the sky as a loud shock-wave resonated through the ground. As the flames flew higher and died down, a covenant phantom passed by with a small grunt manning a single plasma cannon, the gutteral barks overpowering the sound of the weapons occasional high pitched wail. "This fighting keeps up, we're gonna be as good as dead." The dark skinned marine said, wiping the soot off his face and turning slightly. "We gotta stick it out, pray they can get us some evac. Lets go." He finished his sentence and turned around. The man looked up expectantly. "Who's left behind?" "What?" The young man replied in a daze. "Answer me soldier what's the name of the group!" His questioner barked as closer high pitched pricks of noise echoed throughout the hills.
"It's the Hades core! They're in hangar 1030 and they say their not leaving 'til they destroy the prototype of some weapons system!" The young man shouted, a desperate look on his face. "The demolitions squad…" A distant look plastered itself on the mans face as he turned his gaze towards a distant hangar. "I should have known… Ghost" He said as machine gun fire desperately licked out the front of the vast aircraft hangar, in a valiant last ditch effort to halt the advancing aliens.
_Ghost's POV, Algolis_
I waited while the machine sealed my helmet on securely to the suit. "Activation complete" The machine displayed readouts and winked off to show the HUD. Glowing red metal spread it's heat along the door to the hangar, signaling the aliens advance to my location. The suit went through its start up procedure as the door blew apart in a flashy haze. My helmet beeped and I moved my arms, dashing forwards and ripping into the first alien within reach. I raised an eyebrow at the speed and maneuverability. Bringing my right arm up, the suit's right arm flipped out a handle as the guns barrels started spinning. I grasped it and fired into the other aliens, using short bursts of hell to rip the invaders into shreds. A loud bang sounded from behind me and I turned, noticing the flash of a small rifle. The audio filters adjusted and allowed two marines' conversation to be heard.
"If the Cole Protocols been enacted, why the hell are we stranded on the front line" A blond marine shouted angrily. "We're pinned down here, and now the sarge is missing... Were screwed" He finished halfheartedly. "Nah, we were sunk from the beginning" The prone, raven haired man fired his rifle quickly and lined up his next shot.
"What?" The first man nearly dropped his weapon upon the news. "On his last assignment our fearless leader let his entire platoon go down. They got wiped out in a single firefight" He fired again. "Sarge didn't even flinch" The man said, a hint of loathing in his voice. "Yeah, well I guess that's why they call him a ghost then, isn't it? And why the brass always picks him for the demolition ops, because hes not even human!" The young man screamed as plasma threw up rocks and debris over him before exposing the sniper, scorched from the waist down. The blonde rushed over and propped the man up, shaking his shoulders frantically. "Come on don't die on me! Come on!" He shouted as the sniper gulped in a breath of air. "I can't believe these sons of bitches left us behind!" The injured marine shouted in fury.
"This is it..." I noticed a small group of covenant eyeing my still suit hesitantly from their positions. Bringing my 105' to bear, I fired the cannon into the group as high pitched screams filled the air, followed soon after by an explosion. Dashing toward the small duo, I activated the suits built in VTOL thrusters and rocketed in their direction. I slowly eased off of the throttle once I passed over the pair, landing gracefully in front of them. Silence replaced the snipers groans as the blonde spoke up. "I can't believe it..." "Oh my god! Its the prototype suit, but who the hell's driving it!" He yelled. "Ghost to Hades Corps... Fall back immediately..." I noticed a large party of covenant forces in the vicinity, setting the suits targeting systems to work. "Ignore the covenant I'll hold them off... Nobody's dying here..." Standing for a moment, I allowed myself time to think briefly. "You heard him. Lets go..." The young man stated in a daze from the turn of events which he had just witnessed.
"You idiot, he's not supposed to be testing that suit, hes supposed to destroy it!" The injured sniper spat out venomously. They obviously weren't moving anywhere anytime soon, so I quickly dashed forward, using the suits powerful legs to hop over to the largest enemy in sight, a Covenant wraith. A series of rapid high pitched wails rang out atop the vehicle as I reached to the suits thigh and pulled a small tube. I quickly pushed the button and slammed the small type-18 claymore into the hull, jumping clear of the impending explosion. "Can you hear me sergeant? What do you think your doing? Your orders are to destroy the suit and all related data. You are disobeying direct orders!" A rather stand-offish Naval Intelligence officer shouted into my headset as I jumped to a new clearing in the surrounding landscape.
A purple blur sped past and I spun to get a lock on it, the HUD beeping as a spinning square formed on the vehicle. "No sir, I am following my orders." I said as the alien craft sped towards me, the undercarriage of the vehicle glowing with intense green light. "Explain yourself!" The irate officer spat into my headset. I paused briefly to explain my situation. "I have destroyed all the data, and I am using the time left on this suit to safely evac my people..." I said in finality as I brought the arm mounted gun to bear on the swooping vehicle and opened fire, sending a storm of hot lead into the cockpit of the alien craft. Plasma passed by and barely missed the suit as the small vehicle caught fire, quickly crashing into the ground and spraying flames in a large radius.
The suit took fire from behind and I deployed the bubble shield, swinging the cannon around to face the enemy assailants. "I'm not leaving until every one of my men are safely off-" I started to say as the officer shouted and I opened fire on the enemy. "That is not the plan! I am ordering you to stand down and-" "there is no other choice..." I said as the rounds struck home and turned the elite soldiers into gore on the rocks. Watching the blood splatter dredged up memories of the past soldiers, most notably the one who took a few needler shards to the leg and died in my arms. "The mission can not be jeapordized... And I am still responsible for these marines..." I finished and the officer screamed in my earpiece again. That was the day I swore to myself that I would prioritize the lives of my men over the mission.
"Wait, seargent! Ghost! Listen to me!" He yelled as I painfully remembered that clearing, a beautiful young woman cradled in my arms, bleeding out her last moments. Me screaming out the rage and grief as the woman died. "I lost my entire platoon that day... Every one of my men... And that's when it happened... That's when I truly became a ghost... Just a shadow. Surrounded by death..." I said, my arm mounted cannon pasting the enemy into bloodied chunks of armor and limbs. I continued this as I swept the gun back and forth, annihilating the enemy soldiers while they attempt to fire back. "The suit has a staggered countdown... In order to trigger final detonation, the suit requires a voice command..." I said while turning and firing a single rocket at a wraith, enveloping it in a large ball of flame and debris. "You designed it that way for a reason didn't you?" I asked over the coms, though I already knew the answer. This prototype had been designed with few flaws, the fusion reactor set to blow out 300 megatons of nuclear power once detonated.
Another banshee swooped in, attempting to destroy my suit with its fuel rod, my bubble shield taking the explosion and dissipates as I raise the recoilless rifle on my shoulder. Firing it once and jumping to the side as the ONI officer spoke, realizing exactly what I had implied. "Ghost..." He said as I fired the cannon twice, the 105 mm slugs streaking towards the flier and impacting on its hull. The banshee wavered for a second and exploded in a hail of shrapnel and fire. "Just get my men off this planet... This is ghost, over and out" I said as I shut the coms off and spun around to face more enemy combatants. My suits lock on sensors beep as I fire up the VTOLs on the suit and steak towards the enemy. I fired two rockets which streamed towards a banshee and exploded, one streaking past the enemy and into the distance.
I looked over and fired another rocket which penetrated a second flying vehicle and exploded soon after, leaving the enemy craft to wobble and eventually explode in a storm of fire and smoke. A covenant phantom hovered near me and fired its plasma cannons while I gracefully dodged the super-heated energy. I fired up the rear thrusters and landed on the phantom's front hull plate, firing my cannon three times into the control panels location. Kicking off of the craft, I activate my thrusters again attempting to get out of the blast, instead getting caught in it and being brought down swiftly.
I landed perfectly on the ground as my shields took the force of the explosions. I whipped around to see a group of soldiers approaching, fuel rod cannons spitting forth their own firestorm of projectiles. The bubble shield I had been using collapsed as I dispatched a small squad of grunts along with their elite master. My arm brought the mounted cannon to bear as it revved up and spewed lead into a group of elites, turning them into purple paste on the ground. I slowed the cannon and looked over.
An elite firing his weapon was sliding down the slope towards me as I dashed towards him and minced his face with a single strike from my arm mounted weapon. A lone hunter caught my attention so I fired my shoulder cannon into his shield, blowing the alien into a shredded pile of gore in seconds. Plasma fire hailed down on my shields like rain as I waited it out, using my bubble shield and holding the suits armored gauntlet to somehow deflect fire.
Something bright and blue arced into the shield and attached to my gauntlet plate, followed by a whine, a quick flash of blue light and extreme heat. I felt the suit tumble, skid and roll in the air before grinding to a stop on the rocks, an agonizing pain registering where my shoulder would be followed by the realization that there is no arm there.
Mass footsteps and guttural barks echo through the night air as pain shoots through the now bleeding stump of my arm. "What's the matter ghost? Why can't you move?" I say absentmindedly as memories come flooding back to me. The marines red hair, the roses I so carefully arranged in a peaceful position with her corpse, the feeling of brokenness that accompanied as I turned my back on my only piece of humanity I had left. 'I made up my mind that day... The day I let my platoon die... I looked up at those moons and something died inside me...' A nagging voice said and continued in my head. 'A conscience is something that gets in the way... That's all a soul is, an obstacle... Something to overcome...' Then the final round hit home "I can't atone for failing to protect them..."
As my thoughts snapped clear, I saw the transport and pelican escape unscathed. I sit up, groaning with the effort and allow the suit to identify the approaching enemies. A display bar showing multiple digits all at zero as a voice indicator speaks. "Countdown complete. Voice command required, please speak the voice command exactly as displayed" I lifted my eyes to the screen, reading the ironic words before me. Be Human, the exact words she said to me before she died. Painful memories resurfaced, bringing on fresh waves of self pity and guilt. I cleared my throat to speak. "Voice command authorization... Be Human" I heard a beep and felt oddly at ease with myself, maybe now I can see her face once more without guilt. A loud thunder enveloped my view as the shields gave out and the 300 megaton explosion filled my screen. I felt as if my body were tingling and I was suddenly aware of my environment changing to that of grey metal carved with strange glyphs.
Suddenly a glowing blue ball with two metal disks to each side floated into my field of view. Frozen in shock, I could only watch as the glowing orb spoke. "Hello Reclaimer" It continued to speak as I slipped into unconsciousness.
Edit: details, grammar and sentence structure.