Hero of War
Chapter Playlist - 'Hero of War' - Rise Against
Chapter Two
Soldier in the Dark
In this life, we are either kings, or pawns… emperors or fools.
A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it's flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
There is a time… not one that can be found in two hands on black numbers, or by looking at the sun. But somewhere, somehow, the time for every person comes down to two choices. Both are right, and wrong at the same time… and it's impossible to make it with a blind decision.
Her father had always said, that war does not determine who is right - only who is left, and despite what those eleven words meant to anyone else, for her… it was a statement to live by. It was a path that overall, was the hardest, and the easiest to choose from. Rory knew not what he had come to believe in his short lived time, but what she would like to think, is that if he were with her, he would feel the same.
War is and always will be the depth of the sea, the limits of the sky, and the blazing scorch of a dead man's worst nightmare. It wasn't sugar coated, it wasn't a video game, where if you failed, you got a second chance. It was a whole other world full of frightening and scary aspects. War… was simply war.
Rory had lots of links throughout her time, and at the ripe age of twenty, she had seen and done enough around her to know that sometimes, one person just isn't enough… so she created more. She created a person, an identity for every place she ever settled in, every country she ever felt was worth staying in, and despite the hardships and the solitary life she was forced to live, there was no doubt that in her years… she had got around.
Josephine Wilcox, First Petty Officer with the Canadian Coast Guard. Samantha White, active personnel on the American Air Force. Danielle Jones, British Royal Navy, and Natalie Smith, the U.S army.
Rory had dedicated her life, in honour of her father, and her father's father to different lines of service. And because of who she was, had gotten around and been in more regiments and platoon's then anyone ever would, not that she would tell people that… but it still meant something to her. If Paladin's couldn't find her, they couldn't hunt her, and the more people she surrounded herself with, the harder it was to pick her out.
At this point, she was retrieving wounded soldiers in a third world country for the US, they were trying to aid with peacekeepers and cadets set up everywhere, but an outburst had broken the line of peace. Rory was a retriever as she would like to call it. In lines of wounded soldiers, she would steel away to a place no one could see her… and without a gun, knife, or army of troopers, she would save those just out of reach for everyone else.
In her line of work, the pride, the power, and the strength was everything to everyone. If you were last, you were lost… but with Rory's help, there were few in the meantime that had been lost on her watch. Sadly… saving another life doesn't actually account for your own. As a matter of fact, saving a ton of lives doesn't exactly get you off the hook either.
Despite her best efforts, Rory had to tell herself from the start, that with time everything would fall apart. Weather it would have been the day after, or the week after. Nothing can last forever.
When the Paladins finally found her, she was in a Middle Easter country with the peacekeepers. Rory thought that for once, a war amongst another could never exist. That the men and women in black trench coats with electrical weapons would steer clear of a war they were not fighting, and stick to their own range. But Rory was wrong. They would search far and wide to find her, simply because, though they didn't have her name, or her work, or where she lived, they still had sensors. They still had those small, defenceless, life taking devices that could sniff out a jump within the mile, and lucky enough, rouge jumpers had picked her side of the world to run in.
She was saving the life of private John Dare after her had been shot in action and was deemed impossible for anyone to reach without being harmed themselves. Upon returning him to base, she had been promised another bravery award, and unexpectedly, been told that there were others there to see her, and they would not leave without speaking to her.
Rory knew for a fact who these people were. Simply because she never had visitors, and anyone that knew enough about her or wanted to speak with her was in her army regiment already, so they didn't need permission to ask of her presence.
She ran to a secluded piece of area first, behind an old pile of rubble and ruins. From there, she picked her handy switchblade and made a small cut along her palm. Wincing, she then pulled off her helmet, and her suited armour, throwing her vest over the other side of the small wall into the pile of blocks and rubble, then dripping blood onto her helmet, she dropped her larger gun next to her head gear and picked her first five destinations.
With each jump, Rory could feel herself falling farther and farther away from her last life, and trying to imagine a new one. She quite liked the odds of being a peacekeeper, and she knew that Canada would take anyone with a past history of war experience. But somehow, she had ended up back in the Middle East… maybe thinking back to memories with the American Army when she had been stationed before.
As she looked around, she quickly straightened out her clothing and took a deep breath of the hot desert air. The smartest idea would have been to leave her dog tags, so then if the Paladins would have found them, they would search for the same name over and over again, and leave her new identity in the shadows. But never had she left her dog tags behind. They were memories, symbols, and the faint reminders that no matter how many people thought her power was a curse, she knew that with the lives she had saved, it was one of the greatest gifts ever given.
Rory was walking the desert of Chechnya, she could remember the place by it's familiar power lines… not that she hadn't seen many in her time, but the odd and abandoned look gave her the same chills each time.
"Hey! Hey you!" a voice called out as she immediately pulled out her smaller pistol, knowing that with the right shot, it would kill anyone she aimed it at. "Come on soldier, aid the wounded, follow your honour… anything like that. Just get me out of these damned lines!" the voice yelled again. British, a cockney accent from England… not something she heard every day.
Rory had adapted to many accents over the years to fit her personality and her identity, but she was born just outside of England. Sure, she had been moved around a lot to keep out of the reach of the prying Paladin eyes, but the familiar twang in the lost person's voice was no stranger to her.
"Good Afternoon to you also sir." she called out, looking around as she approached the power lines, knowing the sound of the voice was radiating from that direction.
"Enough with the social meeting of the day soldier, I want out of here." he called out. And for the first time, she considered leaving the rude Brit to defend himself out here.
Rounding the corner, she saw the person and found that it was in fact a man, caught in the thick electrical wires. Luckily, it wasn't just anyone… it was a face she recognized all to easily from past experience… a jumper. She could tell from the way he faded in and out as his body sensed danger and he tried to jump away from the strong currents.
"Griffin O'Conner… thought out of everyone you'd be the last to die in a… predicament, such as this one." Rory sighed, stepping towards him as he tried to stop jumping, shock clear on his dirty face. She knew anything and everything about him, in fact… she knew anything and everything about a lot of jumpers.
Just because she hadn't exactly chosen to adapt to their way of life the same as they did, it didn't mean she never kept tabs on any of them. It also meant, that even though she was a soldier that had vowed to protect people, she wasn't afraid to kill for her own kind either. Paladins had caused more then enough trouble for jumpers around the world, and the cocky and confident ones she could care less… but the innocent lives Paladins claimed every year in their sick obsession was enough to drive anyone mad.
"Good for you, you guessed my name… now get me the hell out of here!" he cursed and wiggled more, causing the electrical wires around him to singe his clothing with another painful shock.
"I wouldn't move so much jumper." she stated coolly as he sighed, then turned to look at her with a bemused expression.
"Alright Paladin… if you think I'm just going to sit here and let you…" Griffin started to have a fit of curses and anger, but not before Rory could cut him off with her small chuckling.
"You honestly think I'm a Paladin?" she asked as he smirked.
"Obviously a new one if it's taken you this long to try and kill me." he stated cruelly as Rory sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "That's a nice cover up too, an American soldier… pretending you protect people when your actually just taking innocent lives."
"I'd watch your next move O'Conner. And obviously you must be some kind of stupid if you think that I'm a Paladin." she sighed walking over to the small building and taking a seat in the shaded sand, wiping her hands off on her dirtied pants.
"Your not a jumper." he pressed as Rory simply squinted against the sun and smirked up at him.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because I would know. I knew every jumper and every experienced Paladin. In my opinion, I think your just a teen who's a little to smart for her own good."
"I think you should get out more often."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, and haven't you ever heard of being nice to the person that's so gracefully come to your aid."
"You haven't aided me yet kid." he spat as Rory sighed and shook her head.
"An ordinary kid can't fly under the radar." she smirked. "Tell me Mr. O'Conner… Daniel Jones, first Master Paladin, 2001... Ever find out what happened to him and his team?" she asked as Griffin just sat solid and unmoving. "Melinda Kassel and her secret team of four… how about them?" Rory wondered again as she rose to her feet and paced back and forth.
"Kassel had a team of three," Griffin cut in pointedly as Rory just looked to him and smiled.
"Jacob Kassel Jr. joined the ranks two months before death." she stated coldly… "Team of four." she added in after. "Ever wonder what happens to those Paladins who disappear from radar, who never return from their missions?"
"That could be anybody… a freak accident… So what?" Griffin cut in after a moment of silence.
"Hide and go seek is a game well played in our world Griffin, and weather David Rice and his little girlfriend Millie have put you on a time out or not, is really non of my business, but I'm just saying that if you want to get smart about the situation… your best to place your poker face forwards and start sneaking the aces… because this is a game of cards, and weather or not you hold the right ones is all up to you." Rory smirked and turned away, knowing that in helping an experienced jumper, her trace would be everywhere for everyone, and who's to say they won't find her again?
"So your just going to leave me here?" he called out disbelievingly. "I thought you were suppose to save people!" he yelled.
"I save people Griffin… not our kind." was all she said before disappearing.
What Griffin didn't know, was that what she said was the truth, and a lie. Rory was cold hearted and bitter based on what had happened in her past, to her family, friends and life… but that didn't mean she didn't know. Know how to save people, how to care… even if in this life her caring got people killed. She did what she did for her country and for others so they could have what she misses having.
But what Rory left the jumpers to, was non of her business. Rarely did she aid the likes of a jumper unless it was one of a young teenager or helpless victim. If jumpers abused their gifts to the extreme, then they could face the penalties like she had once upon a time… they could feel the pain like she still does.
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By the way, the italic part at the begining was like a past taste of Rory's life... so encase you were wondering.
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