You can learn everyday

[Kalbuth]

The snow flake was spiraling down, in the blowing wind.
Slowly, it came near the tower.
It landed on the cheek of a woman laying here.



I felt a cold spike.
Pain vanished, as I regained consciousness, slowly.
"Breathe, breathe..."
It had been close, so close. But I was still alive. I had used my last Medkit, and still felt my wounds, arms, chest, and left leg. I opened my eyes. Reality check : I was laying on the stairs volley accessing to the air pad, laying in some cold foam. Snow. Ceryshen.Yeah, I was on Ceryshen, I remembered that. Seemed like a tower. Air pad. Tower.
"So I'm on the roof".

I slowly got up, and down the stairs. The corpse was there, a Terran, big, fat Terran. I got around him, heading to the door, watching the body as if it was ready to explode, my Lasher pointed right to his head. My finger was shaking on the trigger. Weariness, pain. Anger. The @#%&$! almost killed me! I kicked him, once, twice, three times.
"Take that, pricky bastard! Though ya could get me, he? Next, try it quickly, I hate being done painfully, gotta learn that. Die and die twice!"

I stopped to regain my breathing.
"Calm down. Calm down".

I still felt the effect of kilang I absorbed some hours ago. My mind was quickly changing. It was difficult to have clear ideas.Kilang, dreamwalking, made to make pain more bearable. I was one of the people who needed it. I searched my side-bag, by reflex. Empty. No more kilang, no more water, no more food. I continued my way to the door.
At this point, my formation took up, or more precisely the voice of my instructor, and reflexes came back. Stop. Observation. Reflexion. Reaction.
Roof was empty, no mine, no spitfire. I heard the growling of the turret engine in front of me, on the other side of the walkway. Nothing to be heard inside. So everything was right, finally. Or near right.

I tried to remember.
We needed this tower, in the middle of nothing on Ceryshen. It was very important...
Why?
I stepped back around the corner while I was trying to collect memory.
"Why?"
It came back slowly.
Just an Air Tower we needed to support our assault on a nearby base.
We were 4 of us hotdropped here. Seems I was the only one left. I closed my eyes trying to replay what happened. Flashes slipped through my obscured memory. Dropped. Attacked by Terran unholy grunts. Heavy fighting in basement, in the dark of the spawn room. Our hacker killed. Me, pursuing the last TR who killed Kenny. Last fight ending here, on the roof. Me, alone.

I shivered. Cold was going through my body armor. For the third time I headed to the tower door. The IFF screamed as I came by. My hand reached the hoslter... empty.
On the other side, Nanite applicator. I dropped on my knees to search in my gear. A few Lasher clips, some 'nades... and a flask of kilang.
"At least, one good news!".

At this very moment, what itched me since I was awake stroke me in force. I had lost the Link! Instead of the intense blabble I was accustomed to, I received only a persistent "scrshhhhht" in my ears.
"@#&$! NOW, I'm in deep trouble!"

Anger grew. I began to mutter curses, when the image of this Terran fatty guy drew before my eyes. Hehe, he probably had some kind of REK, didn't he?
Going over my disgust, I got to his corpse and began searching on his body.
"Brrr, not pure! Not pure! I ... hate.... touching... ya! Die in Hell for this!"
For 4 entire minutes I sought. But it was unsuccessfull. The guy was has dumb as me, and didn't get out with a REK. He received some more kicking, just as a reminder.

I watched under the safeguard. By the Ancient Powers, how high was it! Impossible to jump without breaking my neck.

"Bah, they gonna send some squad to check what happened. Or filthy Terran will come up... or did they forget me? Did they all forget me?"

I had just to wait to know it.

What happened after is not clear in my mind. I drank kilang. It seems I was in complete torpor when I decided to try to climb down the tower. I only remember feeling my hand sliding on the ice on the safeguard, and the noise. The horrible noise of bones smashed into the ground.
I died miserably, falling from the tower. It hurt. Hurt a lot, to the point no kilang can save you from the pain.

I didn't die right after touching the ground. I died slowly. Painfully. When I came back to life, I had learned my first lesson.

Do not fear pain. Do not flee from pain, or you'll end in more pain.
This I wrote on my right arm, the one shooting.

The second lesson was more usual, but I still apply it carefully : always carry a REK.

Needless to say I had many, many more things to learn.

Kalbuth
Vanu Sovereignty, Werner.



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