1 March, 2538 (UNSC Calendar)/
New Alexandria War Memorial, Reach, Epsilon Eridani system
The sky was dark, the rain bucketed down and the entire crew of the UNSC Artemis' Dispute stood at attention in complete dress uniform. The mood was grim as The Last Post was played by a lone trumpeter. In the last campaign on Jericho XXI, the crew of the Artemis' Dispute had suffered severe casualties in the Covenant's relentless assault on the planet. The UNSC had won the first battle, but like so many times before, the Covenant arrive en mass and eliminated all resistance. The crew were quickly ordered back to the ship with only 48% of them surviving. In sympathy of the crew's losses the UNSC held this memorial service to commend the bravery of those soldiers who had given their lives to protect Earth and all her colonies. The crew of the Artemis' Dispute and three other ships had come to the event, all suffering significant casualties during the campaign.
Eric couldn't help letting a tear roll down his face as he remembered what happened to Ken, whom had died under his leadership. The Sergeants and Commissioned Officers had given him their condolences after the escape, knowing full well that it was his first death under his command.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tina having a tear roll down her face as well. The two had become close, even if merely to gain some form of comfort from the loss of their squad mate and friend, but had blossomed becoming a couple of sorts.
The Last Post had ended and the twenty-one gun salute started to sound out.
"Attention!" the twenty-one soldiers in a perfect line stood straight.
"Raise arms!" they raised their M392 Designated Marksmen Rifles at a forty-five degree angle.
"Fire!" they fired off three shots in perfect unison.
Eric lowered his head in respect of the fallen, so many had died, had suffered, had given everything asked of them and more just to give humanity a chance. The Spartans weren't the true heroes of the war. The men, women and children who had given their lives so that others may live were the heroes. And they deserved more than his respect, but the whole of humanity's respect.
Viper was dismissed but being Spartans meant that they didn't get any leave. The rest of the crew, save the Captain and the ONI liaison, were left on Reach while an entirely new crew manned the ship on her next patrol.
The trip in the pelican back to the Artemis' Dispute was quiet. Everyone had despair written all over their faces. Trisha still hadn't said a word, Peter had become overly aggressive Alice and Tina had become emotional wrecks, and Eric had guilt eating at him every second of everyday.
Life had sucked for the Spartans of Viper team, but they were exactly that, Spartans. And Spartans never give up.
The pelican docked and the Spartans all stood, save Peter who had been standing the entire time, even in the zero gravity, and walked into the hangar.
"CPO Eric A-498 to medical ward immediately" the ship's A.I. said through the loud speakers.
"I'll see you guys in our quarters" he said before leaving the hug he had given to Tina.
He walked the hallways until he came to the medical ward, nodding to people he had never seen before as he went. When he walked in and went to the front desk, he told the receptionist/nurse that he was called up and she directed him to a room he was unfamiliar with. The was two recliners facing each other, carpeted floors, maroon walls and fake windows with fake forest scenery behind them. In one of the lounges was an elderly looking man who had a clip board and a pen in his hands.
"Ah Eric, how nice it is to finally meet you, I'm Dr. Derrick Phillips. Please take a seat" the elderly man said gesturing to the other seat.
Eric went over and sat, puzzled as to what this might be.
"Now Eric, I'm going to have to ask you a few questions, you know regulation stuff. But first, I want you to tell me about yourself"
"Uh, this is a psych eval isn't it" Eric said, a little unnerved.
"Yes, we believe you may be experiencing some trauma due to the last battle you were involved in"
"Understatement of the fucking century, no, that's not quite right. The fucking millennium."
"Well I'm not sure I understand what you're saying"
"I'm saying that yes, I'm traumatized. Who wouldn't be when they saw one of their closest friends, hell, he was family, one of their family members head explode. It detonated right before my eyes. His brain matter splattered my visor. Of course I'm fucking traumatized. But don't think that makes me a liability. If anything, it makes me kill them will more aggression, with hatred, with fucking vengeance. They will pay. All of them. And I will be the one who ensures justice is rained down on them in the fucking hellfire of lead and shrapnel I fling at them. No I'm going to leave, and I expect there won't be any problems regarding this pointless interview in the future" Eric bellowed, rage filling his every bone.
Before the good doctor could even reel back in shock, Eric had left. His destination; the gym. He stormed in and immediately walked over to the punching bag. Still in his dress uniform, he punched the bag with everything he had. The modern medicine and bone growth injections had healed his broken hand, but that wouldn't have stopped him from doing what he was doing. His flurry of punches were faster than the fastest jab a normal person could do and more powerful than a professional kick boxer could kick. He punched until the punching bag had broken at the connection point of his fists. Then he was calm, finally calm. He turned to leave to see two armed marines, MA37s aimed at his chest and trembling in their boots.
"Uh, hi guys. Watcha' doing with the guns" Eric asked rubbing the back of his neck with his bloody hands.
"someone called security, claiming a freak had gone crazy and was gonna' kill everyone" one of the marines said, sweat absolutely pouring from his brow.
"Oh, I guess I did get kind of crazy. Um, sorry for any inconvenience, I'll be going to my quarters now" Eric said before leaving the petrified marines behind.
He made it to his quarters in record time and opened the door.
"Holy shit Eric what happened to your hands" said a worried Tina who came over to inspect his injuries.
"Psych eval, they pushed the wrong buttons" he said shrugging it off.
"Oh god you didn't-"
"No no no no, I punched the shit out of a punching bag, some people got scared and called security, can you believe that? I actually scared people to the point that they feared for their lives. I'm not only a shitty leader, I'm a fucking monster too" Eric said starting to get riled up again.
"Hey calm down, you're not a monster and you're a great leader. Just please calm down" Tina said.
He nodded, kissed her cheek and thanked her before changing and going to bed.
A/N: ok guys, short chapter i know. but try writing a funeral memorial thingy and a psych eval in the one chapter and have quality.
i meant to address this last chapter but to the anon reviewer know as 'ollie' the reason he doesn't feel anything for killing the covenant is pretty much because they are a collection of aliens whose only purpose in life is to annihilate all sentient life in the galaxy. im not sure about you but i would feel no remorse for killing them.
finally i would like to say, thank you to those of you who have reviewed. and PM me a picture you guys would think will be a suitable cover for this story
-Emo Kid