Author's note: This is a little story that`s been brewing in my head for a bit. I've taken some inspiration from the song Hero of War by Rise Against. It`s going to be a short one but I just had to put it out there.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters belong to Ms. Collins and the concept is all Rise Against, though it`s been tweaked to suit my purposes.

Name: Cato Rikerman
Age: 40
Title: Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Special Forces Squad Commander, United States Marine Corps
Marital Status: divorced
Children: 2 (1 boy, 1 girl)

That's pretty much my life in a nutshell. I was what they called an army brat. My father, a proud soldier, told me all my life that the best way to see the world and get paid for it is to join the army. It was the best job in the world. People respected you for representing your country. And all you had to do was carry a gun. Yeah. Right.

My dad was my hero for the longest time. He was the best dad a boy could have. So naturally, I wanted to be like him. As a result, from the time I was 5 until I was 30, all I wanted to do was serve my country and make my dad proud. So, I trained.

As a kid, I took up wrestling and martial arts. When I got old enough, I started training with weapons and weights. Dad even took me to the base to train so that I could go through the basic training exercises. The day I graduated high school, I enlisted. I was 18.

I received my orders to report to the Base so I could start basic training two weeks later. They cut off my hair and that's when my career started. After about a week of training, the trainers started commenting on my natural abilities as a soldier.

"Who taught you to shoot like that, Cadet?" That's what they called us recruits...

"My father, Sir." I belted out in the same tone as my Commanding Officer.

"Well done, Cadet. Carry on."

"Sir, yes, Sir."

And it went on like that. We were taught how to make our beds, how to shine our black leather boots, how to shoot, how to march, and a whole lot of other stuff. After the first two weeks, one of my Commanding Officers mentioned that I might be Marine Corps material. So I decided to apply. I went through a bunch of tests and skill evaluations and was accepted.

Though my father was Army through and through, he was so proud of me. We all knew that being recruited as a Marine this early on in life was a feat.

So my training went on. The Corps had me finish my basic training and then called me to one of their bases for more Marine training. Twelve weeks, twelve agonizing and grueling weeks later, I officially became a Marine. I was one of the best of the best, the cream of the crop.

My first year was spent mostly in the States, going on various training missions across the country. I also went to Germany and Canada for some training exercises. My squad was made up of the best recruits in that year. Seeing as we learned how to fight together, we became friends. Three of them became close friends: Clove, Marvel and Thresh.

We started fighting in our second year as Marines. We were sent abroad for short missions in which we always succeeded. We were the best! And since I was the leader, I was the best.

I climbed through the ranks quickly and soon I found myself the Squad Commander. I was a Sergeant at 26. I was the youngest one in the Corps.

Nothing could stop me and I couldn't be happier.

I was recently married to my high school sweetheart, Annabeth Gardiner. Everybody just called her Glimmer though because she'd always loved shiny things (and most of the time wore them too). We were also expecting our first child.

I was on top of the world.

Please review and let me know what you think!