07-10-2018, 04:23 PM
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Death wasn't a hard concept to understand. At least for the likes of the soldier one got over the aspect of death. Well, some did, while others were traumatized about the horrors that they saw during their time in the war that they were stationed in. There wasn't really much one could o to help a soldier that didn't want their mind repaired, and there were some instances in the future where there were still suicides as soldiers tried to get away from the horrible things that they were doing. It was a little bit easier around that time just because of the fact that they weren't attacking other humans this time during the beginning of the Great War. They were no longer fighting amongst each other as they had been, and instead, they were focused on the primary threat that could easily wipe them out if given them the chance. What they were killing were just aliens. They didn't have the knowledge to know if this new species was capable of having family bonds with one another or even if they cared about their teammates. They seemed to be willing to kill one another at a moments notice if they refused an order.
Something a human wouldn't really think of doing. Washington didn't have nightmares of the aliens that he had ended up killing. But there were times when he thought, what made them different compared to them? They were all fighting because the aliens had started the war by trying to destroy Earth. But what would happen if they won the war? Would they still be fighting each other? Washington had been drenched in the blood of his teammates and his own. Explosions would easily rip a human apart without giving them the option to feel any sort of pain. It was horrible, and the first time he happened he was pretty sure he vomited right then and there at the horror. But one could become desensitized to this kind of stuff. There was no reason to really be concerned with the aspect of death. The soldiers that did survive the war didn't think about what would end up happening to them in the future. Instead, they would think about the next mission and what they could do to survive and ensure the survival of the human race. Washington never had to get over the death of a friend before.
He never really had friends while he was in the UNSC after all. He wasn't there to make friends either as he was there to attempt to save his family from the extinction that the aliens were pressing to their throats. There were of course bonds that formed between him and some comrades, but he immediately cut those bonds once he realized that he could potentially see them die. Cutting said ties would mean that he would never have to deal with the pain of loss. The only one that he had ever lost in his life, was his father. Washington having been too young to even realize what had been happening and once he was old enough, it barely made a difference on what he thought about he world. Of course, he felt a little bit of grief here and there, but those feelings didn't stay long when he realized that he was going to go into the same military that his father had been in. Just because Washington had cut off the friendly bonds that he had with others didn't mean he didn't care about them. He knew the capabilities of his squad and what they excelled at and what they had to work on. They were HIS responsibility.
They all had families that they wanted to return to or the loved ones that they wanted to hold again once they got out of the military. And they trusted his leadership to help them get there, and they would willingly follow his orders. He can't save everyone though, and he remembered the faces of those that he used to go on missions with. To finally see what it was like to watch them die in front of him. It was a horrid feeling, but those memories weren't the type of memories that had haunted him. It was the memories of what happened to his former teammates in Project Freelancer. The only two he knew that was killed during his time in Project Freelancer was Georgia. The Freelancer having died during an accident with a jetpack, which Washington didn't know the entire story and everyone refused to tell him every time he asked. Next was Agent Utah. The other male having died while using equipment in the field, equipment that couldn't be run without permission and was extremely taxing without the help of the likes of an AI to even run said equipment. It was horrible to find out, but he had never really been close to any of them.
He trained with Georgia at least twice in firing practice, but from there he didn't personally know the guy. He had to admit that the guy was an asshole to those that were lower than him so maybe he deserved to die. However, thinking back to his most recent teammates, he wasn't sure how to feel about anymore. Did some of them already know what the Director was doing? Had they willingly betrayed all of them to probably save their own skin? He didn't know. Did he want to see any of them die? Before having Episolon inside of his head, he would have said he really cared about everyone there. Hell, he had stayed next to Agent Maine's side when he had gotten shot in the throat and went into surgery. He didn't know if his friend was going to survive, and he was left with that doubt as other Freelancers came to see how he was doing. Washington cared about them. He didn't want to see any of them die. They stuck their necks out for each other while at the same time caring for their own pride if it came to it. Now, Washington didn't care if any of them died. He couldn't trust any of them because he didn't know which were on his side and which were against him.
He knew that if he told Carolina that he was planning on going back to Project Freelancer, she would kill him on the spot. She knew the truth now and there was no hiding it. Even if he tried. He had no choice but to go back in order to get his freedom back. That truth would probably end up pitting the two against each other. For the first time, and Washington was pretty sure he would die if he didn't come up with a method. Anyway, Washington wasn't all that unfamiliar with death, but the last thing he had expected was for someone to die while he was here. Yes, he had was watching a cat die, but she was more than just a cat that lived in this place. She tried everything in her power to understand those that she came across. That much was clear. Washington had wondered if he had been the cause of it. If a Freelancer knew that they were here and were 'bonding' with the civilians, it could have been a warning sign. Having been made by either Wyoming, Texas, or even South. Considering that Carolina had said that Agent Maine had stolen her AI's before arriving here, it only told him that Maine would also become a threat too.
They should be more than capable of taking on the likes of a domestic cat in battle. As soon as Suiteheart died, Washington wasn't sure what to think. So he didn't. He shut off the remorse he usually had and simply returned to his work. He gave his condolences for their loss, but he didn't know Suiteheart well enough to think that he would be welcomed at the likes of her burial or whatever they were going to do with her corpse. Washington then went on patrol after that moment to see if he could find any traces of Freelancer activity. He didn't, and it was a dead end. Being a soldier meant that he wasn't trained to help those that were emotionally broken. He wouldn't even know where to start, so he thought it would be best to let everyone alone to grieve. Not much had happened in the past two days. His mental and physical health had gotten a lot better as everything was starting to calm down a little bit. He even got promoted. Not like he cared. The armored smilodon had only returned to the Observatory to get something to eat before going on his daily patrols again. It was in the afternoon after all and that's when he planned on going out. The lights in his suit were always on as he was walking, thoughts going through his head on what he was going to do once he was done with patrolling. It was then that he saw someone walking through the entrance of the Observatory. Where he was walking to get out of. Washington at first didn't realize who it was and kept walking, until the familiar figure actually clicked in his head.
Wait. What?! Washington stopped himself in his tracks, his golden eyes widening behind his visor as he was standing at least 10ft away. He had to be hallucinating. Which he knew he struggled with. But this? Everyone else around in the Observatory had turned their head and obviously was seeing the white domestic cat in the front of the base. This couldn't be real. And yet he was still an animal at least. Washington seemed dumbfounded and confused for several moments before he was finally the first one to approach Suiteheart. Probably not the first person she wanted to be approached by but he wanted answers. A frown was hidden behind his helmet as he stopped at a respectable distance from the domestic cat. "H-How...." Was how Washington spoke in the beginning before shaking his head trying to get his act today. "I watched you die? There's no way you can be alive." There was doubt in Washington's voice when he spoke. He didn't believe what he was seeing, and he certainly wasn't going to physically touch her to see whether or not his paw went through her. Anakin was some kind of being, Washington still refusing to believe that the guy was a ghost, and was fairly translucent. Washington still didn't really understand the aspect of vampires and what they were capable of, having not received any sort of examples to prove that what they were saying was completely true. Agent Washington would feel a whole lot better if someone just told him that he was hallucinating. That would make more sense than... whatever this was. "speech"
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