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“Eagle-1, do you read me? I repeat, do you read me, Eagle-1?!” Pelican-1 asked frantically. “Dear liberty…”
Eagle-1 was shot down by a shot from a vox engine while trying to deliver a 500 KG bomb onto an outpost. Pelican-1 was in shock after hearing the confirmation of his wife’s death. Sure, she may have had her close calls like most members of Super Earth’s military have experienced, and he’s seen soldiers die in all sorts of ways with his own two eyes, but he never expected it to be so… sudden. Still, he had a duty to democracy and liberty to extract the helldivers safely. He was still needed.
“Pelican-1 arriving at coordinates,” he announced, like many times before, as if his wife wasn't dead. As if things will be normal for him back at the super destroyer. “Ensure that all of you are inside the extraction radius.”
As he arrives at the extraction beacon, he spots the squad of helldivers fighting off several vox engines. He fires off several rounds from the Pelican’s autocannon into several stray automation troopers whilst descending.
“Pelican-1 landing in progress.”
The shuttle touches the ground and opens the door to the passenger bay.
“Extraction’s ready, let’s get outta here! We did good today!” one of the helldivers shouts, rallying his comrades.
The squad sprints towards the shuttle, barely dodging missiles and cannon fire and clambering into the bay one by one.
“Extraction complete. Pelican-1 beginning ascent,” Pelican-1 declares as he shuts the bay doors, ascends out of the mission area and back to the super destroyer in low orbit without his second half. All the while the democracy officer congratulated them on their operation’s success.
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A half hour has passed since Pelican-1 first extracted the helldivers out of the combat zone, sitting in on a loose crate in a trance, his head in his hands, which he’s broken out of when he’s approached by a younger recruit probably barely out of training.
“Hey uh- thanks for getting us outta there,” the recruit blurts out. “I probably would have been blown to bits, if it wasn’t for you.”
“Don’t mention it, it’s literally just my job,” the pilot replies. “Besides, you guys put in the real work today. Anything else you wanted to talk about, or did you just want to thank me?”
“Uh yeah… one of the older guys in the squad told me that Eagle-1 was your partner. So I just wanted to extend my condolences,” the young man mutters out. “It can’t be easy losing someone you love like that.”
“...Yeah, a real shame she died. She was a great pilot,” Pelican-1 says in an almost cold, matter of the fact tone. “Well, I gotta get some shut eye before our next operation starts.” He gets up from the crate he was sitting on.
“Alright, see you soon. I guess?”
“Yup.”
As he walks down the hall to his room, memories of her flood his conscious mind. His pace quickens and he immediately enters his quarters as soon as he arrives at the door, his eyes begin to water. He takes off his helmet, tosses it against the metal flooring, and stumbles onto his bed. There, he begins to sob, the reality of his situation settling in. No more would he whisper sweet nothings into Eagle-1’s ears, no more would he feel her warmth, and no more would he enjoy the little things that came with being in love. He cries as much as he can in an attempt to rid as much of the grief from his system, nothing should inhibit his ability to fulfill his martial duty. It should be as if her name meant nothing to him and just another piece of script carved into the wall of martyrs. But for now though, he’ll just grieve his loss.