The Wavering Hawk [ENGLISH]

P1-The Fall

The cold wind of February whirled in the air.

There should be a cold breeze of winter with icy wind swept across our faces from time to time. But the flames of war set both heaven and earth ablaze.

People scattered as their buildings collapsed and the fireball of air-weapon crashed onto the land. They were screaming for help, begging for mercy, but all they got was nothing but painful death.

The light of Thunderpulse split the sky in a shocking bright white light. The sound of its strike to the ground sent the tremors of terror two miles away.

"Neil!" Faraway, I could hear someone called. "Neil, what are you doing?!"

There is no need to turn to know whose voice that was. There was only one woman that would call someone fearlessly like that in spite of every situation. On the corner of my sight, some men struggled to pull a woman off the battlefield. And unlike the rest of the humans, that woman insisted she should stay to help the others escaped. She would stay until she makes sure no one left behind, including me.

"Neil, please tell me you're not doing what I'm thinking!"

I set up my gaze upon the blood-red sky. The shadow of Leviathan haunted the blazing sky. Around her, tens of planes and jet rained it with bullets passing by.

"Get her out of here." AKX, a semi-automatic gun, was safe on my back. I turned to one of the men that hold Reana back. "Do it even if you have to die."

"Reana, you heard him! Let's go!" One of the volunteers pulled Reana away. "We can't be here any longer!"

"We can't leave him!" Reana lashed. "Neil, you're with us! This isn't your fight! You don't have to do anything! You've done enough!"

She was right, my rational mind, the one that once dominated me, talked. On one side, Reana was right. There is nothing I can do anymore. But the rest of it, she was totally wrong. Especially the part of 'This wasn't my fight'.

"I'll stay." Then looked at those men and the plane that would bring her out of here. "You've finally arrived at the right hand, Miss Mellista. You're saved. I have fulfilled my promise to Bryan."

Ignoring her protest, my eyes wander.

There was nothing but despair. People dying. Soldiers clashed. Two planets at war. As a soldier, I just had to kill all enemies to end this war. As a Martian, I just have to let these Humans died. They would just die in the end, one way or another. They would just repeat the same mistake all over again.

So, what is the point of saving them?

"Whether we would be a success or failure in the end. Nothing remained constant." The smile Reana showed when she gave me that opinion, suddenly resurfaced. "We could just try. That's why there is hope in this world."

The grip on my gun tightened as I turned, looked at Reana for the last time. Her beauty was disfigured with blood, sand, and dust. Still, I could see the ray of life in her eyes hadn't perished yet and I wanted that hope never disappear from her.

"Giving everyone's hope? No exception? Wow ... that would be wonderful." Another face resurfaced in my mind. "If that happens, you could be a true hero."

How could someone as kind as her ... boron in this era, where nothing happened but bloodshed?

"Reana...." Every time I looked at her and called her name, something strange always stirred up inside my stomach. Like an electric saw. "Please be careful."

Something was coming. I looked up at the sky where the sound came from. Fear crawled on my back as this inexperienced body sensed an alarming danger coming closer. Then I saw it. Something fell from Leviathan. It crashed the ground like a meteor.

"Look out!" I shouted but there was everyone that didn't make in time.

They were blown away. With one arm, I shielded my vision from storming dust and soil. An uneasy silence warped us. I peeked while readying my gun.

An Alliance's soldier, with black armor suit that covered even his face behind alterium alloyed steel. The badges of an eagle holding a shield and flags shone on chest and epaulet of two silver stars insignia stood out on his shoulder.

"You look terrible." A familiar sound came out of that black helmet in the crappy voice of a mini-speaker. He didn't lift his visor, but I could recognize that voice everywhere. "Siding with humanity brings you nothing good, it seems."

"Yeah." I aimed the gun at him. "You look fine as well, Uriel."

Uriel wastes no time. Without a second thought, he pulled two daggers out of his belt.

"Last chance." He warned me as the alterium change in his grip. The living iron re-structure and re-shaping itself to a bigger version of itself. "Surrender or die."

"T-the knives are changing!"

"I've never heard any of that before! God, what is that?"

Uriel chuckled. "You sealed your mouth, I see. Good."

"Don't push me, Uriel. I don't want to betray anyone." I told him. "I just want to stop this war."

"This planet didn't even support your silly ideas," Uriel said. "And humanity was destined to be doomed anyway. There's no point of—

"There is." I cut him. "As long as there are people who ready to be starving for others, there is a possibility."

"You're gambling on lowest probabilities." Uriel snickered. "Just like Humans."

"And you laughed," I told him. "Just like Humans."

The daggers turned into a double edge gigantic spear. It heightened that of a Human with each of the edges was in the size of a mini-gun.

"I was told to bring you back alive," Uriel said. "But no one told me to bring you unscathed."

He swung his dagger and the weapon turned into gigantic double-spear mid-air, attacking me in a blink of an eye.

***