As the marines,Spartan, and Elite settled down for the evening, many thoughts ran through their tired minds. When do we get out of here? Is that Elite going to kill us in our sleep? Is Alan really okay? Meanwhile, Alan himself was perfectly fine, and in the process of mending his armor.
"Damn thing is so hard to fix out here in the field, I'll be lucky to get the system to stop giving me damage reports on a little dent like this. Ugh, I give up, I'll let the engineers back at the base look at it. Hm, wonder what lecture they'll give me." This led to him chuckling at the thought of being yelled at by the engineers, and the medical staff. He also fondly remembered the extra attention and care the female members of the staff gave him, and how they always cooked meals and special treats for him. These thoughts brought up memories of someone he once cared for deeply, but she had died early on in the war.
"Man....I miss her a lot sometimes.."
"Who is this....woman... you miss?" Asked the usually reserved Chui.
"Someone I knew very well and cared about. She died early on in this godforsaken war we've been fighting. Don't worry, it wasn't one of your kin that did this. It was a damn Brute. I was dragging Chris out of the line of fire after he got a spiker round in his leg, and she was giving us covering fire before her gun jammed and a brute charged her and stabbed her with the blades on the spiker, then made a show of hoisting her in the air and throwing her into a wall. She was dead the moment she hit it..." Alan stated this in an unusually sad and somber tone, especially for him.
"That is terrible, I'm sorry the Brutes and their allies are so...brutish and uncivilized." Chui replied.
"Eh,not your fault, buddy.. Chris and I both got enraged, and we ended up killing 50 brutes on our own, first with our weapons, then by taking theirs and beating them with them. I broke the legs of the one that got her... and Chris blew it's head off with a shotgun. Unfortunately, we had to evac soon after... We got to bury her body,though, because I...I carried her to the dropship...and we gave her a final salute before her body was sent back home."
" I must say I admire your prowess, and your determination to help an ally, but I am also sorry for your loss."
"You know something Chui? You're not half bad at all. How about a handshake?" Alan said in a more cheerful tone.
"What's a handshake?" Chui asked, clearly not knowing what a handshake was.
"It's like a sign of trust, and for us, I guess friendship too. Here, like this" Alan said as he demonstrated
"So, what do ya say, Chui? Friends?"
Chui took Alan's hand in his and shook it.
"Friends, Spartan"
