"Are they dead? Did you kill them?" with Antonio and Jane
FROM A MEME I NEVER REBLOGGED LMAO.
From thick stormclouds above the earth of Nyrox Alpha, torrential rain falls to cleanse the equatorial forests from the blood which had been spilled within the once beautiful grounds. Where trees and shrubbery had dominated the landscape, the bodies of the fallen lay scattered alongside the hollowed wreckage that had once been the war machines utilised both The Autocracy of Tritilian and The K’byak Hegemony. With both warhosts both leaving the skies of Nyrox Alpha at the conclusion of planet operations nearly 8 days prior, it had only been a matter of time before scavver parties would arrive and relieve the dead of any worthwhile equipment.
Despite a desire to keep his distance from the conflict at hand, an unrelated contract had boughten the mercenary Antonio Vazquez to train a group of freelance commandos. In spite of an otherwise perfect lesson, and a stealthy escape from the battlefield, a rival from another faction within Antonio’s guild had arrived with mercenaries from both the Autocracy and the Hegemony. While Antonio had survived the attempt on his life, he could not defend the lives of the students under his wing. Exerting himself more and more as the commandos fell, Antonio falls to the ground in a crumpled heap as the life bleeds out of the final hostile contact.
In the single day before his armor’s remaining systems forced Antonio into suspended animation, the mercenary drags himself to the bodies of his fallen comrades. Storing their dogtags in a hidden compartment in his armor, Antonio offers his final goodbyes as he takes steps to protect their legacies. The carrion birds and scavvers could strip what they could off the commandos, but they would not take the identities of the fallen. Resting himself against the hull of a bombed out APC, Antonio does nothing as darkness overwhelms his senses.
When sensation and color return to Antonio, the mercenary finds himself still in the forest, still undner the rain of Nyrox Alpha’s quadruple moons. However, the din of fires and the moans of the dying are replaced by a soft, soothing, and familiar voice. From underneath his polyadmantine helmet, a smile forms as brown irises make out the shaky profile of Jane Geibbs. Under normal circumstances, Antonio would have smiled at the aspect of being awoken by his blood bond, yet this was not right. With his students dead, and his body strained from the rigours of combat (three broken ribs, a shattered right forearm, and bullet fragments in the weak areas where his armor had shattered) any sense of warmth was swallowed by a sense of overwhelming emptiness: a pyrrhic victory.
Raising a left hand to undo helmet latching, Antonio finds his sluggish hand prodding away at the latch for a second before Jane’s hands swat Antonio’s manipulators aside. Undoing the pressure seals at the sides of his helmet, Jane pulls Antonio’s helmet to reveal bloodshot eyes and cracked teeth. Staring up at Jane, an awkward, knowing silence is shared before Antonio hears his blood bond growl a single inquiry.
“Are they dead? Did you kill them?”
For a single moment, Antonio finds himself taken aback and completely stupefied by Jane’s tone. Akin to one of a cornered predator, Antonio had never known Jane to harbor such intensity in her tone or demeanor. Refocusing his eyes, Antonio realizes Jane’s trembling is not the fault of Antonio’s concussed vision, but the byproduct of Jane’s caged emotions.
“Are you o-”
Before Antonio is able to complete his inquiry, Jane restates her inquiry, impatience injected harshly into her tone.
“Are they dead? Did you kill them?”
Startled by Jane’s tone, and unusual aura, Antonio nods softly, and uses his head to gesture to the carnage surrounding the pair.
“I did.”
Antonio’s words leave his lips as little more than a hoarse whisper, filled and fuelled by a reluctant sadness, Antonio nods as crimson tears begin to stream down his face. With the battle long over, and the dust settling, Antonio finally allowed himself to feel the full weight of anguish that came with the loss of his pupils. While the time for healing and recuperation would come at with the passing of time, Antonio would utilize the moment alone with Jane to weep and mourn, for their tears to fall with the rain on Nyrox Alpha.
@variative