Camp Sunrise: Embracing Death
Posted on 02 Apr 2023 @ 12:51pm by Major Porter Wallace
Edited on on 03 Apr 2023 @ 10:23am
Mission:
M3 - Into the Deep
Location: Korix, the Island
Timeline: (After Camp Sunrise: Excelsior)
1280 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure
Lightning crackled and snapped, illuminating the boiling clouds overhead as the Pyrryx ship disappeared into the gray. Leaning against the wall from the building he’d just escaped, Wallace watched it go with his one good eye with bitter relief. “Good-bye,” he whispered.
Moments later the ship came hurtling back toward the ground. Wallace pushed himself off, stunned at the sight. A fireball erupted on the side of the volcano. He felt his whole being dropping along with the shuttle, almost sending him to his knees. Despair rose up to consume as he silently prayed to whomever would listen. Another flash in the sky and he saw the trailing aft section of another craft disappearing into the cloud layer. Was that a Starfleet craft? It must be. It had to be. They were okay. They were okay.
He wiped the rain and blood from his face, flicking it off. At the end of the short street, the Pyrryx emerged from the doorway to the building. Its blood-red cape was all but torn away from the explosions, although its armor was only scuffed and dented from Wallace’s furious close-quarters attacks, but that was enough to disrupt the etchings from playing tricks with his eyes. Good. Wallace’s eyes weren’t what they used to be.
They stood staring at one another, like two prize fighters waiting for the final bell until Wallace craned his neck to check the roof tops, looking for the governor’s still living minion.
When he was satisfied that it wasn’t going to come at him from a blind spot, Wallace pulled the med kit from his satchel, flicked it open and pulled the second yellow pill out. He threw the pill into his mouth, bit down, and immediately felt a cool tickle coursing through his extremities. Bending over he picked up the pickaxe from the ground where it had fallen. He tested its weight. The smart play was to play it safe, keep running and take his opportunities. But he was already beyond worn out. Ibis was away and there was no need to run.
“Honestly, that you’re almost indestructible came as a genuine surprise. I should have guessed though. One or two of you and your beasts have kept an entire planet at bay, so shame on me.. But now you get to find out what I’m like when I have nothing left to lose,” he announced to his opponent. “After all, this is just shits and giggles for me now. I’m dead however this turns out.”
He took a breath. I love you, Ibis. With that thought, he let go and embraced death and a feeling of serenity washed over him.
Wallace charged.
He slumped against a wall and slid to the ground. The Pyrryx’s minion lay several feet away where it had fallen, the long boning knife sticking out from its neck. He already knew that it was a pyrrhic victory. The thing had surprised him by dropping on him from above when he fled into the courtyard at the center of the complex. The fight with it had been purely instinct and he wasn’t exactly sure he could piece the various strikes and counterstrikes together in a narrative that made sense, but the thing was dead and he was finished, too.
The evening’s fight had taken its toll on his body. His shirt was in shreds from half-dozen lacerations that had torn into his chest. The pin Ibis gave him was hanging by a literal thread. He was fairly certain his right arm was broken and maybe a few ribs. All of this would’ve been bad enough, but the minion had deeply lacerated his right side during their first fight (he looked at the wound and could see the white of rib bone) and opened his leg up from the knee to his hip in this latest round. Pulpy muscle and tissue poked up through the three-inch wide gap. His heart was picking up pace and he’d started to feel cold. Wallace didn’t think the chill had anything to do with the storm raging around him. It wouldn’t be long now.
The Pyrryx limping into the wide plaza pulled Wallace’s attention away from his mangled leg. He may not have killed it, but he’d at least injured it. His tactic of slashing away at the joints - knees and elbows, it never allowed him to get close to its neck - seemed to have paid some dividends, though he couldn’t know for sure how injured it was. Not bad for a few minutes of work.
He’d lost his grip on his pickaxe during the melee with the minion and the handy tool lay ten feet away, too far for him to move leaving Wallace with only one last weapon. He pulled the satchel from his body, breaking the last remnants of its strap, and reached inside. His fingers wrapped around the grenade. The Pyrryx moved closer.
Without the pulse of battle, his impending death loomed in his mind. Wallace’s body began to shake and tears welled up in eyes. He furiously brushed them away; no. No. No tears. Ibis was alive. Olivia alive. Ikemba alive. He was sure of it. He had nothing to mourn. It was a good death, as Klingons say.
He looked toward the sky so he wouldn’t have to see his executioner’s slow march towards him. The rain still pummeled the ground below. Too bad. He would’ve liked to have seen the stars one last time. Maybe even catch a glimpse of a shooting star and pretend it was Ibis and the kids leaving the atmosphere. Bound for home.
Home. The tears threatened to come again. Wallace searched his brain for something to focus on and began to recite the first lines he could think of. His voice faltered at first, but slowly became steadier as the words flowed out.
“I vow to obey the laws of the United Federation of Planets, to defend its security, and abide by the principles it stands for. I vow to obey lawful orders given to me, but, in good faith, question orders which are antithetical to these oaths. I vow to obey the principles of non-interference and uphold it with my life if necessary. I vow to seek out new life and new civilizations. I vow to defend the weak and protect life.”
As he finished, he looked down and toward the Pyrryx whom he thought should’ve been much closer to him by now, but it looked like it had been engaged by a trio of Marines. Curious.
God, he was tired. Where was Ibis? Oh, that’s right. She’d taken Olivia and Ikemba to get water. Jimoh and Rachel were coming over for dinner. He needed to get his dress uniform pressed or else Laura would never let him hear the end of it. Was Elizabeth coming, too? It felt like forever since he’d seen his wife.
Wallace felt someone carefully lower him to the ground. That wasn’t right: he needed to get up. Dad had asked him to help Marcus change the tires on his baby brother’s red bicycle, the one with the yellow flames. He needed to do that.
No, not that. Ibis had told him something important before she left. He couldn’t think of what it was. Well. She’d just have to remind him again when she came back. Right now he just needed a rest.
Wallace closed his eyes.
