Memories Of The Fallen Part I: Meeting of Friends

Subject: Memories Of The Fallen Part I: Meeting of Friends 04/04/13, 09:24 am

--Unspecified Date Within Haven War; After Adachi--

It rained during the funeral. Inside Haven no less. It was as if the whole shield world wept from within for the fallen, for the soldier who was being buried by his comrades, his friends, his brothers and sister in arms. While the sky weeped however, three soldiers in particular maintained their composure, their faces carved from stone. Though they buried their friend, they did not cry, they did not shake in grief. There was no room for it, not anymore, not after all they had seen. War, in all its horror, had hardened them. Even as the three gun salute commenced, the most they could manage was a salute. Hand to their temples, they saluted their fallen friend, and saw their brother off. It rained without....and within that day. For while they never showed it, the three comrades weeped inside.

After the funeral, the three soldiers took a transport up to Alpha Base, on the surface of the shield world. Half a klick from the north entrance of the base, was a small collection of civilian buildings. A very small town, it was a place for off duty personnel and soldiers on shore leave to gather and relax. There was a bar the three freinds went to, the "Drunken Sentinel." The bar was where they had shared many drinks with each other, even with their fallen friend. Walking through the front doors, they found that the place was quiet, subdued even. Almost all the occupants were there for the same reason: to raise a glass to the dead.

Silently, they found an open booth over in the corner and sat down. The waiter came by, took their orders and came back with three beers. They raised their glasses, a toast to their friend. "To Kevin McCann," they said in unison, and then drank. For a while, all they did was drink in silence, while the oldest of them, a tough man in his middle years by the name of Thomas Johnson, silently reminisced about his friend. Unlike the other two soldiers, Tom and Kevin went back long before ever coming to Haven. And as he sat there, mourning the loss of his friend, he went over once more just how they had met, the events that lead to them being friends.

--25 Years Ago, Alpha Aurigae System--

2528, two years after the Battle of Alpha Aurigae. God.....that was one of the most mind numbingly terrifying moments of my life. Me and around a hundred other people all crammed into a bunker, while we waited for rescue or the scorching heat of a Covenant glassing beam. The Covenant.....we had only heard about them three years before, after Harvest was lost and news of the UNSC mounting a counter attack was spread across the colonies. The whole colony was just consumed in fear, many of us convinced that the aliens would find us and turn us into so much molten glass and slag. And when they did come, the nightmare became true....but I guess we're going a little too far back here. Long story short, after the attack was repelled, the colony was still tense, though optimistic. We also had a moderate military presence, the marines stationed here holed up in their field base out by the city limits.

My day had started....well, as any day starts. With a fight. Okay well maybe this isn't how most peoples days start, but with me.....it sorta came with living in this part of town. This part of town, was basically a slum district, rife with crime, drugs, gangs, the usual. And at that time I just happened to be part of a gang. Our name wasn't the most creative or original (Tiger Claws) but it was something we rallied behind. This weeks fight had been with a rival gang, their name one I had forgotten over the years. Why we were fighting was equally clear, though I guess at its core, it was just a stress reliever. Everyone was so sure the Covies were coming back and it had us all wound so tightly that a single spark was enough to cause a nuclear exchange. Go figure. Now, what I can still remember from the fight was a guy coming at me with a broken bottle, the shards gleaming in the moonlight. But I had been practicing, and managed to disarm him without killing. I wasn't much of a killer, not for lack of stomach or anything, but the guy was a kid like me. Humanity had just started fighting a war against advanced aliens who were committing genocide against us. We get reduced to killing our own kids, we're no better than the Covies. The fight ended soon, or at least that was how I remembered it. In all honesty, the details weren't that important, save that one of our guys got his knuckles torn open, another had a broken nose, and I got a black eye for my troubles. We were on our way out of the park when the police arrived, their cars having been silent on the approach and only now activating the light and siren combo. We scattered, and I wound up on my own. Yay.

Running from the cops is never a fun experience. They have cars, their officers can be just as fast as you, and they have weapons like those stun batons. You're never given enough time to catch your breath, and losing them is a pain in the ass, especially when you have those damned A.I.'s watching the city. Suffice to say, I had to run through a shopping district full of crowded people to lose the cops. Fast they may have been, but running through a crowd was not their strongest suit. It was mine though, and I managed to put enough distance between myself and them that for the moment, I was safe. Still, I took refuge in an alleyway, hiding behind a garbage dump just for good measure. Unfortunately.....the spot was sorta occupied. There was a grunt of surprise, and I found out that there was another kid there, same age as me, not exactly hiding so much as sleeping beneath discarded news papers.

Last edited by Razgriz on 26/04/13, 09:35 am; edited 1 time in total

"Whoa!" the kid shouted, clearly surprised. I clamped a hand down over his mouth, shutting him up. I held a finger up to my lips, a shushing gesture. "Listen man," I began to say quietly, "I'm just hiding from the cops and don't want any trouble. But make a sound and I will kill you." Okay I wasn't really going to kill him. Beat a man to a pulp sure, that was in me. Killing them....nope. Not cold anyway. The kid nodded though, despite my hand covering his mouth, which I slowly withdrew. I took a moment to get a better look at the kid, taking in his features: ruffled brown hair, tanned skin dotted with some freckles, and dark green eyes. I sat back against the wall next to him, with a foot of space between us. It seemed like the cops were well and truly gone, so I leaned back against the wall. "Sorry about that," I told him, sincerity in my voice. "Just didn't want to end up in jail was all." He eyed me, wary of me. Good, meant he had brains and knew not to trust someone immediately. Still, wouldn't hurt to make introductions, so I held my hand out to him. "Names Thomas." He eyed the hand for a few seconds, then reached out and shook it. "Kevin," was all he said.

"Alright Kevin, glad to meet you." I let go of his hand, and snuck a peek around the corner of the dumpster. All clear, so I stood up. To my surprise, so did Kevin. "Hey.." he began, "can I come with you?" That certainly caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting that, so I blinked at him. "Uh, what? Why?" He looked nervous at first, but I saw his determination, and it turned into courage. "Well, I just hate living out on the streets like this....and I figure you owe me one, for letting you hide here."

Oh great....an extortionist. Still, he had a point even if he didn't really own the dumpster. So I looked at him and said "Okay. Just be warned, this isn't exactly the four seasons we're staying at Kevin." He seemed to accept that, and walked with me out of the alley. Now, here's where some details about my own personal life should come into focus: I had a home, until my dad died in an accident and since he was a single father and there was no legal guardian, I became a ward of the state. As you can probably tell, that didn't last very long or turn out so well. Life on the streets, at least alone, was short lived once I joined the gang, and we had something of a home in a worn out building. One of the boys in the house had enough smarts to get the lights working again, and food mostly came in from one guy paying for fast food. I didn't know where the money came from, and I never did ask. If I did and found out, I would never have really stayed there, or brought Kevin with me.