The sun was hidden behind a cascade of grey sky. A thunderous storm deluged its warm summer rain upon the decrepit city, trapping the cries of the dying men within it. Lighting of pure blue and white blazed across the bleak backdrop, as flashes of gunfire danced between buildings that used to rise to meet the sky. Now, like millions of soldiers who stood defiant, they crumbled against the crushing power of those who were devouring the planet and its inhabitants. 

Amongst the skyscrapers, the shops on the lower streets, the alleys, and forgotten plots. Millions of men and women fought off against a force of unprecedented aggression and ferocity. Heavy gunfire penetrated the once peaceful city, but now it had become light, scattered, and hollow. What was once just a few voices of pain, frustration, and powerlessness echoing throughout the city had become a symphonic reverberation of torment that turned into a beautiful song for Death.

Sergeant Genut was disposed on his back as he glared at the sky, his helmet still showing his surroundings in a lime green light that suffocated the natural beauty of the environment; it was only a digital image that failed to grasp the chaotic emotions that flooded not only himself but the others that had fallen around him, he was not the only one that felt the void embrace of nothingness and the unknown.

Time slowed and stood still as water poured from the pallid sky, landing upon his armor and splashing against the foliage next to where he had fallen. His body, showing the final stages of his life, let his head fall to his left side, where he saw a flower rising from the ground like a proud warrior to meet an advisory. He tried to reach for it, but his dying body refused his call to move and did little more than keep his final lover, Death, at bay for a few moments more. A red warning signal flashed in the top right of his Heads-Up Display. Showing an image of his armor and a redundant warning that it was too damaged to save his life.

His helmet shielded his face from the falling rain, but he could hear it, and he thought he could feel it as it dripped and flooded the chest cavity of his armor. Water started to mix with blood, drugs and healing get that ran through his armor to keep it working, to keep him alive. it would prove to be inadequate.

He kept his gaze on the flower that swayed and drooped as the rain fell on its petals, while it might bend or jounce because of the force of the water, it never fell. He smiled a little; he knew he wouldn't be able to stand as mighty of the flower as it was now, but he had been able to face the rain with pride and dignity with his brothers in arms, his Marines.

In the distance, he could hear elephantine footsteps closing toward him. Even amongst the heavy rain, the sound of armored boots pierced through the vail and sent his suit systems into a frenzy of warnings. The boots that approached belonged to no friends and could only mean one thing. His intuition was confirmed when the boots stopped and was followed by several gunshots. A few more steps and more gunshots, each one getting closer to him.

He felt trapped, hopelessness crushed over him like a waterfall. He struggled with all his might to stand, to face his adversary, but his body could not respond to his desperation. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to face this demon that moved towards him. He tried to face his fate and change the outcome, but today, fate would win.

As the footsteps came closer to him, he felt an unexpected warmness and was overcome with a deep peace as everything fell silent. He could no longer hear the screaming of men dying, the rain, the gunshots in the distance, or the boots. He let himself breathe and looked at the flower, focusing on its details. He wondered what it looked like—not this green-skewed presentation of it from his helmet, but its real natural beauty.

He took a deep breath and let peace fill his lungs. During the last moments of his life, he was joyful that he had found one last beautiful thing in the world. Abruptly, he fell silent and still forever, never hearing the gunshot or the cling of the bullets' shell hitting the ground; he just saw a simple thing, a flower on a battlefield between millions of warriors that wanted nothing more than victory, to decimate their foe on a battleground and to march home victorious. Now, he met his demise amongst the city that, much like him, used to stand with such vigor and pride.

Sargent Genut, Terain

Status: Killed in Action

Date: 2246/5/5

Action: Defense of Temple Prime

Planet: Temple Prime

Notification to next of kin: Delayed