Just a short little Remembrance Day themed story, enjoy!
I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.
Was it Worth it?
It was over. We had finally won the war, but I couldn't help but wonder at what cost our victory had come.
Sure, I was just as happy as the next person that we had won. We had overcome the enemy after all, but the celebrations, the cheers; it all seemed so... hollow, like the victory itself.
It was a hollow victory because my heart was still had a gaping hole in it after the final battle, even the lives I had taken after I had seen all of my close friends and even fellow squadron members meet their end, made me feel even emptier than before.
It stung, knowing that I had killed another living, breathing being. They probably all had families they were hoping to see again. Now, now I know that I'm the reason why some kids might never see their parents again.
Maybe it was because of these thoughts that I found myself standing in front of their graves – the graves of my companions.
I never thought that I'd ever have to deal with death, we were all still so young, and to the vast majority of us who fought the war, death seemed to be the last thing on our minds.
But then, during that final battle, my naïve thoughts left me. I realized that we weren't truly invincible. I'm still not totally sure how I managed to be the one who survived out of all my friends and allies. Yes, others survived as well, but as soon as I saw the first person in our army to be shot down by the enemy, somewhere deep inside of me knew I wouldn't be going back home that day - at least, not whole anyways.
And my gut feeling was right. Up until a few days ago, I had never fought to kill anyone; the thought had never even crossed my mind. It had all been a game to me then, and now? Now I knew it was more than a game, it was reality.
In reality there was death, sorrow, and suffering but I couldn't help but smile when a small colourful bird landed on one of their gravestones. The particular marker it landed on, that was the on that belonged to my friend that loved everything about life, and could always see even the darkest cloud's silver lining. They were always the one that made our lives colourful in between missions.
I couldn't help but wonder if they were in my place right now, if they'd be able to find that lining, or if they'd even be looking for it.
I could almost hear them saying, "Sure, we didn't all make it out, but-" But then their voice faded away, along with any message of hope in my time of silent remorse. Remorse for the friends and companions I had lost, but also for the lives that I had taken, and the repercussions of those actions.
Looking about the small terra, I decided that it was a nice final resting place for them and all, but I wasn't totally sure if they'd choose it if they had the choice. Compared to their rambunctious and joyful ways, and their bright out look on what life had to offer them, I decided that this lonely small terra was just that – lonely.
There was a tree or two, and in one lived the colourful bird that was still looking at me with curiosity from a top the grave it stood. Other than that, there seemed to be no life on the terra besides another few birds, the only noise here being the wind filtering through the leaves of the trees.
Closing my eyes, I remembered all of the good times we had shared together on this small chunk of earth, we had come here all the time for picnics, and laughter and fun was always in abundance then. Yep, this place was too quiet now.
Looking at me once more, the bird cocked its head to the side as it regarded me before it flew back into the trees, singing a soft melody once it landed. Smiling at the bird, I silently thankful for it breaking the uncomfortable silence the terra now held.
Paying my silent respects for my friends once more, I took my right hand and placed it over my heart as I looked to the clouds above where just a week ago, we had flown our skimmers, as oblivious as can be to the coming tragedy.
Sighing as I let my arm fall limp to my side once more, I stepped away from their graves and made my way down the slope to where I had parked my skimmer. Mounting it, I prepared to take off, but something compelled me to look back one more time.
Looking up at the top of the knoll, I saw the colourful bird resting upon the same marker once more, but this time several other birds had joined it, just enough of them for a bird per tombstone. Smiling inwardly, I knew that my friends would never truly be lonely on this terra; after all they had each other, and the birds.
But as I flew away from the small terra that just penetrated the cloud cover, I couldn't help but consider the thought again that had been running through my head the past few days.
Was it worth it?
Well, this was a random idea that kind of popped into my brain today, I hope you all like it. Like the summary says, I didn't put any names in here for a reason, we don't need names to be able to identify with this character's loss and battle scarred life.
...Lest We Forget...