Week 119 - Our Turn

The living quarters of the UNSC SPARTAN-IV Facility on Mars was quiet when news broke that the Human-Covenant War had ended. I sit down and look out my window after I finish my training for the day. The room I been assigned has three chairs and a view that lets me gaze out onto the red landscape of Mars.

Two knocks were heard from the door and I opened it. Sarah Palmer walked in with a bottle of alcohol and two glasses. “I found it in Commander Lasky’s room. Want some?” “Sure.” She pulls up a chair and sits next to me. Pouring two glasses then handing one to me.

“So, it’s over.” She breaks the moment of silence and I turn to look at her as she takes a drink.

“So it is.” I mutter to myself and look back out at Mars. I look down at the drink and look back at Sarah.

“Apparently, we’re working with the Swords of Sanghelios and backing them as they restore order to Sanghelios.” Again, I hear Sarah break the silence and look back out the window. I hear the chair pull up next to me.

“You ok?” I hear the concern in her voice and take a breath after taking a drink. I hiss at the taste and hold my drink out for a refill.

“It wasn’t a war, It was a religious genocide. Over 23 billion humans were slaughtered because of religious beliefs.” I look at Sarah and take a breath. “We weren’t something the Covenant wanted us to be and they needed to purge us from the Galaxy.” I look out the window and think about everything.

The Battles of Harvest and Vodin while I was a young Marine. The loss of friends, the roar of a Sangheili after stabbing a UNSC Marine with his Energy Sword. The sound of a Jiralhanae stomping on a human’s skull and the loud laugh heard after.

Jericho VII, Leonis Minoris, Kholo, Meridian, Fumirole, Reach and Earth. Glassing after glassing, death after death, replacements upon replacements and the lost of my best friend.

His words still screech in my mind like nails on a chalkboard. Watching Pod Infectors attack my friend in Voi, I couldn’t risk killing him. “Kill me!” I looked at him with horror. “Kill me so I can die a human!” I pick up a MA5C and aim it at him.

“I am ordering you to kill me!” I open fire and spray down my best friend along with the rest of the Pod Infectors that were swarming him. Hearing a click, I drop the gun and walked over to him. Covered in bullet holes and a confirmed KIA. I take his dog tags and add it to my collection.

There were two types of people during the Human-Covenant War, the ones who were alive and the ones who were dead. People born into a war that they would later die in, others were born in and later survived it. But, over 23 billion humans were killed.

The Human-Covenant War has changed me. From a energetic and happy teenager to a cold and quiet man, the war put hate and anger into me that I cannot comprehend.

Looking at Sarah, I take a breath. “I hope the Covenant is out there. I hope there are still some of them out there. Lying in wait for us.” Finishing my drink, I let her fill it back up.

“Why do you say that?” I smirk at her question and stare directly into her eyes.

“For 24 years, I lost friends, families, soldiers and so much more. For 24 years, I was on the losing end of a war that we had no chance of winning. For 24 years, I saw just what war could do to humanity. We were on the verge of being wiped from the Galaxy for religious reasons. Now.” I sit up and keep my eyes set on hers. “Now, we will make them pay. They will suffer like never before, they will beg for mercy and we will not give it to them. We will take no prisoners and we will execute them. Every single one of them will pay for the atrocities that were committed during this attempted genocide.” I take another breath and feel the rage building in me.

“We were suffering and now it’s time for them to feel our pain. Now we wage our war and make sure we eliminate them.” Rage, revenge and hate flow through my veins. My voice was low and each word was thought out carefully.

I break the stare with her and look out the window. “Now it’s our time to make them suffer.”

We sat in silence for a while, the door opened and I turned to see my wife Miranda. “There you are. I been looking all over for you. And hello Sarah.” I see Miranda sit next to me after pulling up a chair, excitement is charged in her voice.

She slaps my arm, glares then scolds me. “Stop brooding. Save that for later when you’re old.” I cock an eyebrow at her. “I was not brooding, I was thinking.” She rolls her eyes and shoots me a glare, one only a wife can give her husband. “Sure you were. Come on, we’re going for a walk.”

I groan and she pulls on me, a futile attempt due to my augmentations making me weigh too much for her to move me. “Fine, I’ll tell you here.” She drops my arm and sits back down.

“You lost friends and family.” I look at her as she gives me a warm smile. “Now, I know you and you know me. So I will say this in the simplest form.” I prepare myself for a lecture on not thinking negatively and how to be a be a positive individual.

“Peter, I have one request for you.” She takes my hand and rests her other on top of mine. She gives me another warm smile and squeezes my hand. “Kill them all.”