Yet, he didn’t feel ready. Training had been grueling and difficult, he was meant to be the best and on top of his game at all times, yet, he wanted to live a little first. Sadly, Mal didn’t realize this until his patch had already been sowed into his jacket. He wanted to go home. Two days after being shipped off, he knew that his family reunion would have to wait. He was going to war. Mal had a reputation to uphold, ODST’s were the best of the best. Just his presence demanded attention and respect, and he loved that.
That day though, it didn’t feel right. It had been quiet for days, and his sergeant didn’t say much. In his mind, Mal knew something was wrong. Command hadn’t been receiving anything on the Coms, but we passed it off as some electrical disturbance. Yet, Mal couldn’t shake the feeling that something far above his vision was watching him, waiting. Then, with much anticipation, the Coms sent out a message. However, much of the warning had been butchered do to frequencies being mixed due to multiple Com towers sending out different messages. His squad had become a bit ansy, and Mal could see it with they way the acted and tried to pretend like something wasn’t out of the normal, but, Mal knew to believe in his instincts instead of listening to the sergeant say it wasn’t anything to be afraid of.
His instincts were right. Right before weapons testing one last warning pinged on the Coms, this time much clearer. It warned that something had invaded much of New Jerusalem and was destroying many of the cities. Many of Mal’s squad members gasped at the sound of the man on the Com scream in distress and the static that ensued afterwards. Something big was happening, and now everyone was freaking out. Upon realizing of the looming terror, Mal’s intuition had proved to be right on the money, and that feeling unnerved Mal. Suddenly, a flash of purple and blue ripped through the middle of the camp. Whatever was attacking the cities had found Mal and intended on killing everyone there. Without any sense at all, Mal watched as the beasts ripped and tore through the mass of of unsuspecting soldiers.
Mal’s mind told him to fight, but he could only stand there and watch. Curious on who or what those things were, and what ever they were, they were definitely not human. More like humanoids or aliens, with there mangled bodies and odd looks and textures. Some of them looked like lizards or snakes with there scales, but others looked more sinister and ape like. What ever they were, Mal had not seen them before. It wasn’t long before the tens or twenties of soldiers had all been killed or were wounded before one of the more smaller, hunch back aliens had spotted him and warned the others. With their attention based solely on him, Mal ran, ran as fast and as long as he could. He didn’t look back to see if those vile beasts were following him or to see if anyone had made it out with him. Mal had never been more scared in his life, he didn’t know if they were going to find him or what they were going to do to him if they did find him, but he knew what they were capable of and that scared the hell out of him.
He ran until every muscle in his body told him to stop, yet he kept running. He wanted to get as far away to those monsters as possible. That was when he got the best news in his life, his radio that had been built into his helmet, let out a glimmer of hope. A civilian evac Pelican had touched down a few kilometers away from his current position. He continued to run until he could see the Pelican in sight, then as he walked anxiously to the Pelican, one of the troops guarding the ship stopped him and asked what regime he came from, but Mal just walked right past him. Mal didn’t know how far away the enemy was, but he didn’t want to stick around to find out. Once on board, he yelled at the confused trooper to get his -Yoink- on board and told him the story. The trooper looked shocked, not because of his story,but what Mal did to get where he was, he let his team die, and that was worth any punishment the UNSC could dish out, but Mal didn’t care, it could have been him getting left behind, it could have been him getting gunned down by those alien -Yoinks!-, he could have died. Or so that’s how he wanted to see it.I didn’t want to be a coward, but he also didn’t want to die, so he made up his mind to flee, and look where it got him. A one way trip out of the hell hole he had known for only two days.
In the end, Mal was sure to make up for it. He thought it would be an honor to die by the hands of the enemy, but as long as he knew what the enemy was. He’d rather die a hero, then the coward he proved to be. He was going to change his perspective, only after a warm shower and a nice dinner. His fight was only beginning, and he knew there was plenty of fights to die in, so he smiled at the chance to one day be reunited with his lost friends. This wasn’t over, not by a long shot.
Mal leaned into his seat in the Pelican, he could have sworn that the seat was the softest thing his -Yoink- ever sat on, or so he thought. Mal let out a sigh as he watched the area behind him get smaller and out of the distance, he could see dark clouds brewing and the faint outlines of odd shaped objects hovering right over the burning skylines of one of New Jerusalem’s most prominent cities. All that history burning away and becoming ash. Mal felt the urge to cry building up on the sides of his eyes. He fought it for as long as he could, but was overcome by too much grief and sadness. What had he done? The events slowly burned into his thoughts once again. He could never forget their faces. Mal took off his helmet and covered his eyes with both of his hands, and began to cry. Why did they have to die?
