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COURAGE

The helmet is stifling. His breath isn’t supposed to be condensing on the inside but the seals separating the lower part from the upper are broken. A glancing blow from a Titan-type, half an hour ago. The helmet saved his life.

“Da-damn.” He huffs and puffs, sliding down against the wall. The thermal regulators have to be broken too. It’s far too hot. Around the corner, he can hear more stomping, shooting and exploding. It’s a skirmish, that’s for sure, and it doesn’t sound at all like it’s going well for his side. Not enough explosions and metal cries, too many liquid, wet sounds.

He adjusts his grip on his rifle, old but solid. He’s alone, his receiver broken. Have the soldiers around the corner tried to contact him already? It’s not like he can tell. Maybe they pinged his channel, asking for help, over and over again, and gotten no answer back. Do they think he’s a traitor? A sick man just standing there without helping, a coward?

He is afraid. Really, a lot. But he can’t hide like this forever. He shouldn’t be cowering at all. He should be out there. Helping his comrades. He could die in the process. He probably even will, like the rest of his squad. Blow up and pierced like swiss cheese. But he had been forced to accept that after joining the forces. War was war and war was Hell.

His transmitter is still more or less in one piece. He thinks so anyway. He’s just a grunt. He turns it on, selects the general frequency and hopes it works. “This is Red-Three from Omicron-Red-Team. I’m engaging and…I’ll draw their fire for you.”

He’s only been nervous like this twice before. Just before he’d asked out Maria as his girlfriend, the first of firsts, and when he’d told her he was enlisting, that they needed to break up if she wasn’t willing to accept it. It had taken a whole lot of courage to go through it too back then.

He rounds the corner screaming.

***
Sufficient Velocity’s Contre La Montre thread. 10 to 15 minutes to write something on daily prompts. Courage for this one. Nameless protagonists are kinda fun.