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Rise To Honor - Part 24: Honor
Posted By: Shadow<Shadowolf16@aol.com>
Date: 4 September 2002, 3:03 am
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He quietly contemplated the situation in his head as the ship quickly jetted forward towards the minimum safe range. They said that if they got beyond that, the Covenant would detect him, and shoot him down before he could destroy their generator. He looked out the main bay hatch which was wide open. He thought of Geb. It was all his fault. Why was he selfish enough to make Geb come along with them and fight in this war? Why? He had been selfish. If he was smart and the right person, he wouldn't have asked any of them, and would have just gone on his own. That would have been the right thing to do. The best thing to do. But he made the wrong choice, and now Geb was dead for it. He hated himself for it. He hated himself for screwing up. Speaking of screwing up, he couldn't screw up in this last, final shot. He just couldn't. There was no other option other than being successful. Surviving was not an option. It was not a possibility. He was going to die. But there was no fear. Only adrenaline and regret. He regretted his life. He had screwed it all up. He could have been a vigilante or something that helped the military stop the Covenant instead of fighting against their own race for money. Hell, he could have even joined the military. But he didn't do either. He became an assassin instead. A hired gun. Nothing more. He regretted having failed Geb. He regretted having not been there before for mankind. He had regretted almost everything. But it could not be changed. And it was going to be all over now.
The jerk woke him up from his contemplative slumber, and he looked up. He heard Cal yell from the cockpit.
"Shadow, I'm going to miss you man. We're at the drop off. Good luck, and we'll never forget you."
"Thanks Cal. May you live in peace after this war is over."
"Goodbye."
He looked to the open bay doors. They were up really high, near the clouds. He guessed that Cal wanted to give him enough time to shoot the generator. The enemy base as a whole was very visible, but the generator itself was impossible to see without a scope. He unstrapped the rigged sniper rifle, and made sure the parachute was ready. A parachute was very low tech, but the RC had nothing else. So he'd have to make do. He activated his COM system.
"Shadow, you know that will be destroyed with you. But for some reason, I feel an obligation to helping you with the destruction of the Covenant."
"Congratulations EVA, you learned honor."
He pressed a button on the COM system, and heavy rock music started. He nodded to Cal and jumped out. He was immediately hit with the powerful winds that rose and dropped over the forest. He was blown around in the air as he fell a ways. He watched the dropship slowly disappear as the fell towards the ground. After wrestling with the wind for a few seconds, he righted himself up and pulled the cord on his backpack. The pack immediately sprung open, and his drop was almost completely stopped by the parachute. His shoulders felt the pain and the pressure as the parachute fought the hard winds that were pushing him down. He grasped the rifle with both hands, and activated the scope. The winds were extremely powerful, and when he finally got the generator in sight, he couldn't get a good shot in. The winds were too powerful. He lifted the rifle up above his head to rest his arms and then locked it back in place between his legs. The scope still shook, but it was a little better. He finally got the generator in his sights and was about to fire, but he could hear the sounds of plasma rifles. He faltered just for a second, and looked down. He immediately saw a burst of plasma bolts heading his way. He used his weight to pick up some movement and momentum. As a plasma bolt headed straight for him, he lifted his legs and swung backwards. The plasma bolt laced his chest, grazing his skin. He could feel the sting and smell his burning flesh, but he looked again as another plasma bolt sailed up. He ducked his head as far as he could, and the bolt missed. But it tore a hole right through the parachute. The hi-tech parachute immediately went to work and activated the second layer of fabric to keep him from falling down to the ground. He sighed a relief and was about to go back to his sniper rifle when he could hear more shots. How DID they know he was here? Was he in their radar range? He didn't know. But the nevertheless, the bolts still zoomed by him, whether he could account for it or not. Bolts upon bolts tore through the parachute, and the lines began to go slack. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he would get caught up in the lines and the parachute. He'd land safely, but he wouldn't be able to fire. How COULD he do this? He had an idea. It was suicidal, but he was going to die anyway, wasn't he? He pulled another, smaller cord from the other side of the pack and the parachute lines immediately ejected from the pack. Instead of a slow fall, he began to tumble at amazing rates. Now he would get a shot in without getting tangled up. More plasma blasts zinged by him as he struggled to steady himself. Two bolts both zinged through his right leg, tearing it up. He winced, but never yelled out and still tried to right himself up. As he did so, he caught sight of his COM system and the numbers it read on alititude. 1,000 and falling. He had no time. He needed to fire now. All his anger, all his frustration, all his madness, all his sadness. All his emotions. Everything he kept within himself during the past hours were released at this point and time. He used all this emotion to finally get the willpower to right himself up. He cringed at the pain of another bolts hitting his shoulder. They must be snipers. No other Covenant weapon could fire that accurately. He locked the gun between his legs again, and tried to lock on the generator. But without the parachute, everything was a blur. After a second of trying to get it, he finally hit the scope on the dot, and EVA stabilized the lock for him. No matter what now, the rifle was locked. He took the moment to say one sentence.
"For my sins! FOR HONOR!!!"
(Fall back on me, and I'll be the strength I need, to save me now, just come face to face with me. Stay in place you'll be the first to see, me heal these wounds, STEP DOWN, STEP DOWN, STEP DOWN!!! I'm not breaking, DOWN!!!! CAN I BREAK AWAY! PUSH ME AWAY! MAKE ME FALL! JUST TO SEE ANOTHER SIDE OF ME!! PUSH ME AWAY! YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT I SEE!!!! THE OTHER SIDE OF MEEE!!!!!! GOOOOOOOO!!!!!)
With that, he fired the blast, and the shot hit straight home, right into the generator. His life flashed before him. Everything flashed before him. His life as a kid, with his family. His life in the military, a hell to him. Their escape, his life as an assassin, his arguments with Geb, the most recent battles of his, the battles in the city, Geb's death. Everything. After the shot, everything seemed to occur in slow motion. He saw the casing crack and the fiery explosion pop out. He watched from a distance as the explosion consumed every Covenant soldier in the area: even the snipers that were firing from the edge of the base. He watched as the trees became larger, and more detailed. And finally, his legs slammed into a tree branch. He felt the extreme pain and the crunch of his legs snapping like twigs. He landed on the dirt ground with a thud, watching as the fiery explosion consumed the forest. He had done it. He had saved mankind, at least for now against the Covenant invasion of Earth. He watched as the fire came closer and closer, and more and more detailed in front of his face. The heat brushed up against his face. The fire became more detailed and more articulated as it came less than 500 feet in front of him. It consumed everything near it. Trees, animals, even Covenant. Everything. He smiled, for he knew he was going to die with honor.
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