Agent Washington (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
schrodingerscockroach) wrote2019-07-26 04:17 am
schrodingerscockroach) wrote2019-07-26 04:17 am
Memory 2
Neutral Significant: Field Promotion
Quick Summary
Memory is from a younger Dusk. Which will be obvious after seeing himself in the mirror. Smaller, shorter, less scarred, no eyebags. He's on a military base on a very rocky and dry planet, not Earth with some of the animals looking different whenever he sees outside.
It starts innocent enough, flashes of memories through a few days, with him doing training and patrols, a lot of shittalk and snarking. Most people call him Freckles or Lance Corporal. He gets called around a lot. Pretty clear he seems to know a little of everything of how the base works. One point he really focuses on a news broadcast about flash floods next week. Then rumors about a patrol bringing in something weird. Supposedly an alien artifact.
It's two days later there's an alarm early morning. One that sends everyone running and the laidback-for-military attitude is gone. When he gets outside, there's a ship in the sky. And a number of alien species that come and attack the base. Dusk obviously one of the better fighters. He saves the Colonel after he's hurt, and both sides retreat, and shit's bad.
Dusk hears the upper brass talk. They need to evacuate the planet, but helps's days out. Colonel speaks to Dusk alone then. Talks about how the planet is going to be Glassed, absolutely destroyed. Implies Dusk would be familiar. The aliens want the artifact first and can't have it. But Dusk has a rep for getting involved in catastrophic situations, but also getting people out alive. Colonel asks him to do it again because otherwise he'll need to blow the base.
After a brief panic, he's off. He gets barricades up, orders explosives buried too deep at night, has to punch a guy to make a point because no one's seen goofy Freckles be like this before. There's another attack, it goes badly, and then it starts raining. Everything turns to mud, then sinkholes once Dusk blows the explosives. The aliens' armor doesn't help them move so well. The humans retreat into the base and Wash makes it clear nothing can get in or they're dead. And for days, this goes on. The memory skips time again, but it's very obvious Dusk isn't sleeping much. If at all. He stays on the wall, shooting down aliens. After days of this, finally they see another ship. Then another and more and small ships and soldiers start appearing.
There is a wave of hope and relief and one last hurrah as they open fire and soldiers appear to help. It's another rough battle, but eventually the aliens withdraw, hopefully long enough to get all the humans off the planet. And it's near the end Dusk spots some figures in colored armor. And yells out to the one in white about how dare he not tell him he was still alive and threatens to kick his ass. Fondly.
Before promptly passing the fuck out.
Longer version
Headcanon memory, AKA WHY THE DIRECTOR WAS A FUCKING DICK TO NOT BE DEALING WITH THE ACTUAL ENEMY.
It starts on a desert planet and Washington is YOUNG. He's also not called Washington. Everyone calls him Lance Corporal or Freckles. (Because hilarious nicknames.) Occasionally sir, but that's rare. He's just doing normal military duties, running drills, maintaining equipment, this and that. He gets pulled around a lot to help fix things and show how exercises should be run. It's clear he's one of the more talented recruits at the base. There's some weather reports about flash floods next week, the rainy season of the desert planet and everyone SO LOOKS FORWARD TO IT. =|
Also of note is the armor he's wearing is a far lighter model than what he'll wear in most memories. As well as everyone else.
Then, in the late afternoon, a squad comes back with SOMETHING. Rumors run wild, saying it's an alien artifact, wondering what it does, and all that.
A few days pass, all normal, more Lance Corporal, and Freckles. He gets along well with his fellow marines, talking shit and making jokes, gets made fun of a lot for twisty straws and his cat pictures and he gives absolutely no shits, you guys are just jealous. The base, overall, is just a basic military base. Not really that big, really just there for the few mining colonies around.
Then the sirens blare one early morning.
The shift in tension is obvious. There is fear in the air.
From there, it's a blur of motion, everyone running for their gear and weapons and go out to meet the ground forces of a VERY LARGE SPACESHIP IN THE ATMOSPHERE, and The Covenant. A mixed assortment, but the scariest are certainly the Elites, or Sangheili. They're bigger than the soldiers and ruthless and their swords are dangerous and
The fight does not go well.
It's more or less a bloodbath. Aliens die, but far more soldiers do, and finally a retreat is called.
Wash is one of the better off. His shots don't miss for the most part and he's very good at hitting OTHER THINGS that might do more damage. Like another Elite's arm to force their sword into another alien. But when the order is called, he moves back, providing covering fire. Then he sees the Colonel of the base trying to fight too and gets his leg cut off.
Being the crazy fucker that Wash is, he sees some grenades on a fallen soldier's belt and grabs them, THROWING THEM IN to make the Elite back off and he basically rushes in and out with the Colonel with basically only seconds between him and shrapnelly death.
Once they're inside, the base is under lockdown and the turrets open up on the aliens to force them back. But it's temporary. They KNOW it's temporary. The Covenant know they have them, it's all a battle of attrition now. Things don't look good.
Wash gets the Colonel to medical, the bleeding is stopped, injury treated, and when the upper command shows up, he makes to leave...and is asked to stay. To listen. Everyone talks. They know there's one reason and one reason only they're alive right now. The alien artifact. That's what the Covenant wants. If they hand it over, they're dead. But they can't win. They have to evacuate the planet, it's not worth saving, but back up is days out. That's their situation.
The Colonel dismisses them, tells them to calm everyone down, they're working on a plan.
He asks for the Lance Corporal to stay.
"You know what we're dealing with, don't you, Lance Corporal? You of all people on this base know exactly what this means."
There's hesitation. "Yes sir."
"I want to hear you say it."
There's another pause. "The Covenant worships this ancient technology. They won't jeopardize it's existence. However, once they have it, they will Glass the planet." Another beat, with the Colonel staring. "Plasma orbital bombardment. If something isn't directly incinerated, the radiation and the debris kicked up means most everything on this planet will be dead within days, and everything will be by the end of the month. They will not accept surrender. They don't make deals. The Covenant will only accept absolute extinction. Either we run or we die."
Whatever the Colonel seemed to be looking for, he found it. "You have a reputation, Lance Corporal. Three years, and five missions that were catastrophic in how badly they went. Only one of them was even a success. When they sent you to me, they said you were cursed, to keep an eye on you. But if you didn't somehow bring disaster, you were skilled enough to fill out whatever I needed in an understaffed base." He gives Wash another long look. "But there's a different way to look at your record. All the people on those missions made it out alive. In the reports, they all gave you credit for that."
"What are you getting at, sir?" He sounds slightly defensive, even if he's trying to hide it.
"I can't lead injured like this. What I can do is hold a button. You and I know we can't let those Covvie bastards have this artifact. If they get in, get to it, I have to blow this base up. And the planet will die after. I don't want to push that button. Our only hope is to live long enough for back up to arrive. Show me that wasn't a fluke, Captain.
"I-Captain? Sir, I can't-I don't-" Wash starts to protest, but the Colonel is just staring at him hard. He stops, let's the panic settle. Because he realizes what he said was true. And it's like a switch. Voice calm, controlled. "Yes sir."
He stops freaking out, he stops the jokes, and laidbackness, and he focuses on one singular goal: survive.
Soon enough Wash has the proper pin and he's going around the whole base, getting supplies, getting lay out, kind of freaking out everyone who knows him, but he's hyper focused. He gives orders as the sun sets, strangely for people to bury explosives REALLY DAMN DEEP in the ground, far too deep to even hit anything important, but he insists and even punches someone to make his point. They roll out other barricades, both things made for it, plus vehicles and tables and anything and everything with more than inch of metal on it.
The next day comes, as does the next attack. They're more braced for it, less people dying right away, but it's obvious that more Covenant will just be coming and ammo will run out eventually. Wash is out fighting, doing his best to keep people alive, and his eyes keep drifting to the sky. There's murmurs of retreat, but then it happens.
It starts to rain.
Wash orders to keep on the attack.
So they do and the rain gets harder and harder. The ground below is turning to mud, making it harder for the Covenant to move, but they still come.
Then Wash blows the explosives. Suddenly the battlefield is full of sink holes, and dozens of the Covenant ground forces are swallowed up in quick forming mud.
Wash orders the retreat into the base and then gets everyone on the walls. He tells everyone to save their shots, only shoot at what gets close because the mud and rain are getting harder, the sinkholes worse, and the heavy alien armor is making it difficult for them to get to the base and it's not getting any easier for them. Wash orders that every inch of the wall is to be watched at all times. They cannot afford an alien sneaking inside. The only reason heavy artillery isn't being used is because the aliens can't be sure where the artifact is. That cannot be allowed to change. If a person is able to shoot, regardless of injury, they are on rotation for the wall.
So, for days, this happens. In those days, Wash literally only takes one shift off when he can't physically stand anymore.
Finally, back up. UNSC and other ships arrive, engaging the mother ship and ground forces are deployed. Among them are soldiers in brightly colored armor. Cyan, and pure white, and purples.
The forces on the wall make one more push, anyone who can fire is pulled out, shooting down aliens and providing what cover fire they can. It's another rough battle, but there's less people dying, especially with those colored soldiers making swathes through the forces. Eventually, the ships drive away the Covenant ships and orders are going out about evacuation.
However, the white and cyan soldier are close to the wall, and Wash's eyes are drawn to them. Especially the one in white, watching how he moves and he gasps. "You-!" He rips off his helmet, leaning over the edge of the wall. "You SON OF A BITCH!" And the two armored individuals look at him and the one in white seems to start. "I can't believe you! You could have emailed me that you were alive, you absolute asshole! You stay right there, I'm coming to kick your ass!"
He turns to run for the entrance.
And trips.
And hits the ground and does not have the energy to stand up again. Someone is standing beside him. "Um....he'll....kick your ass later?" The other soldier calls as Wash passes the fuck out.
Quick Summary
Memory is from a younger Dusk. Which will be obvious after seeing himself in the mirror. Smaller, shorter, less scarred, no eyebags. He's on a military base on a very rocky and dry planet, not Earth with some of the animals looking different whenever he sees outside.
It starts innocent enough, flashes of memories through a few days, with him doing training and patrols, a lot of shittalk and snarking. Most people call him Freckles or Lance Corporal. He gets called around a lot. Pretty clear he seems to know a little of everything of how the base works. One point he really focuses on a news broadcast about flash floods next week. Then rumors about a patrol bringing in something weird. Supposedly an alien artifact.
It's two days later there's an alarm early morning. One that sends everyone running and the laidback-for-military attitude is gone. When he gets outside, there's a ship in the sky. And a number of alien species that come and attack the base. Dusk obviously one of the better fighters. He saves the Colonel after he's hurt, and both sides retreat, and shit's bad.
Dusk hears the upper brass talk. They need to evacuate the planet, but helps's days out. Colonel speaks to Dusk alone then. Talks about how the planet is going to be Glassed, absolutely destroyed. Implies Dusk would be familiar. The aliens want the artifact first and can't have it. But Dusk has a rep for getting involved in catastrophic situations, but also getting people out alive. Colonel asks him to do it again because otherwise he'll need to blow the base.
After a brief panic, he's off. He gets barricades up, orders explosives buried too deep at night, has to punch a guy to make a point because no one's seen goofy Freckles be like this before. There's another attack, it goes badly, and then it starts raining. Everything turns to mud, then sinkholes once Dusk blows the explosives. The aliens' armor doesn't help them move so well. The humans retreat into the base and Wash makes it clear nothing can get in or they're dead. And for days, this goes on. The memory skips time again, but it's very obvious Dusk isn't sleeping much. If at all. He stays on the wall, shooting down aliens. After days of this, finally they see another ship. Then another and more and small ships and soldiers start appearing.
There is a wave of hope and relief and one last hurrah as they open fire and soldiers appear to help. It's another rough battle, but eventually the aliens withdraw, hopefully long enough to get all the humans off the planet. And it's near the end Dusk spots some figures in colored armor. And yells out to the one in white about how dare he not tell him he was still alive and threatens to kick his ass. Fondly.
Before promptly passing the fuck out.
Longer version
Headcanon memory, AKA WHY THE DIRECTOR WAS A FUCKING DICK TO NOT BE DEALING WITH THE ACTUAL ENEMY.
It starts on a desert planet and Washington is YOUNG. He's also not called Washington. Everyone calls him Lance Corporal or Freckles. (Because hilarious nicknames.) Occasionally sir, but that's rare. He's just doing normal military duties, running drills, maintaining equipment, this and that. He gets pulled around a lot to help fix things and show how exercises should be run. It's clear he's one of the more talented recruits at the base. There's some weather reports about flash floods next week, the rainy season of the desert planet and everyone SO LOOKS FORWARD TO IT. =|
Also of note is the armor he's wearing is a far lighter model than what he'll wear in most memories. As well as everyone else.
Then, in the late afternoon, a squad comes back with SOMETHING. Rumors run wild, saying it's an alien artifact, wondering what it does, and all that.
A few days pass, all normal, more Lance Corporal, and Freckles. He gets along well with his fellow marines, talking shit and making jokes, gets made fun of a lot for twisty straws and his cat pictures and he gives absolutely no shits, you guys are just jealous. The base, overall, is just a basic military base. Not really that big, really just there for the few mining colonies around.
Then the sirens blare one early morning.
The shift in tension is obvious. There is fear in the air.
From there, it's a blur of motion, everyone running for their gear and weapons and go out to meet the ground forces of a VERY LARGE SPACESHIP IN THE ATMOSPHERE, and The Covenant. A mixed assortment, but the scariest are certainly the Elites, or Sangheili. They're bigger than the soldiers and ruthless and their swords are dangerous and
The fight does not go well.
It's more or less a bloodbath. Aliens die, but far more soldiers do, and finally a retreat is called.
Wash is one of the better off. His shots don't miss for the most part and he's very good at hitting OTHER THINGS that might do more damage. Like another Elite's arm to force their sword into another alien. But when the order is called, he moves back, providing covering fire. Then he sees the Colonel of the base trying to fight too and gets his leg cut off.
Being the crazy fucker that Wash is, he sees some grenades on a fallen soldier's belt and grabs them, THROWING THEM IN to make the Elite back off and he basically rushes in and out with the Colonel with basically only seconds between him and shrapnelly death.
Once they're inside, the base is under lockdown and the turrets open up on the aliens to force them back. But it's temporary. They KNOW it's temporary. The Covenant know they have them, it's all a battle of attrition now. Things don't look good.
Wash gets the Colonel to medical, the bleeding is stopped, injury treated, and when the upper command shows up, he makes to leave...and is asked to stay. To listen. Everyone talks. They know there's one reason and one reason only they're alive right now. The alien artifact. That's what the Covenant wants. If they hand it over, they're dead. But they can't win. They have to evacuate the planet, it's not worth saving, but back up is days out. That's their situation.
The Colonel dismisses them, tells them to calm everyone down, they're working on a plan.
He asks for the Lance Corporal to stay.
"You know what we're dealing with, don't you, Lance Corporal? You of all people on this base know exactly what this means."
There's hesitation. "Yes sir."
"I want to hear you say it."
There's another pause. "The Covenant worships this ancient technology. They won't jeopardize it's existence. However, once they have it, they will Glass the planet." Another beat, with the Colonel staring. "Plasma orbital bombardment. If something isn't directly incinerated, the radiation and the debris kicked up means most everything on this planet will be dead within days, and everything will be by the end of the month. They will not accept surrender. They don't make deals. The Covenant will only accept absolute extinction. Either we run or we die."
Whatever the Colonel seemed to be looking for, he found it. "You have a reputation, Lance Corporal. Three years, and five missions that were catastrophic in how badly they went. Only one of them was even a success. When they sent you to me, they said you were cursed, to keep an eye on you. But if you didn't somehow bring disaster, you were skilled enough to fill out whatever I needed in an understaffed base." He gives Wash another long look. "But there's a different way to look at your record. All the people on those missions made it out alive. In the reports, they all gave you credit for that."
"What are you getting at, sir?" He sounds slightly defensive, even if he's trying to hide it.
"I can't lead injured like this. What I can do is hold a button. You and I know we can't let those Covvie bastards have this artifact. If they get in, get to it, I have to blow this base up. And the planet will die after. I don't want to push that button. Our only hope is to live long enough for back up to arrive. Show me that wasn't a fluke, Captain.
"I-Captain? Sir, I can't-I don't-" Wash starts to protest, but the Colonel is just staring at him hard. He stops, let's the panic settle. Because he realizes what he said was true. And it's like a switch. Voice calm, controlled. "Yes sir."
He stops freaking out, he stops the jokes, and laidbackness, and he focuses on one singular goal: survive.
Soon enough Wash has the proper pin and he's going around the whole base, getting supplies, getting lay out, kind of freaking out everyone who knows him, but he's hyper focused. He gives orders as the sun sets, strangely for people to bury explosives REALLY DAMN DEEP in the ground, far too deep to even hit anything important, but he insists and even punches someone to make his point. They roll out other barricades, both things made for it, plus vehicles and tables and anything and everything with more than inch of metal on it.
The next day comes, as does the next attack. They're more braced for it, less people dying right away, but it's obvious that more Covenant will just be coming and ammo will run out eventually. Wash is out fighting, doing his best to keep people alive, and his eyes keep drifting to the sky. There's murmurs of retreat, but then it happens.
It starts to rain.
Wash orders to keep on the attack.
So they do and the rain gets harder and harder. The ground below is turning to mud, making it harder for the Covenant to move, but they still come.
Then Wash blows the explosives. Suddenly the battlefield is full of sink holes, and dozens of the Covenant ground forces are swallowed up in quick forming mud.
Wash orders the retreat into the base and then gets everyone on the walls. He tells everyone to save their shots, only shoot at what gets close because the mud and rain are getting harder, the sinkholes worse, and the heavy alien armor is making it difficult for them to get to the base and it's not getting any easier for them. Wash orders that every inch of the wall is to be watched at all times. They cannot afford an alien sneaking inside. The only reason heavy artillery isn't being used is because the aliens can't be sure where the artifact is. That cannot be allowed to change. If a person is able to shoot, regardless of injury, they are on rotation for the wall.
So, for days, this happens. In those days, Wash literally only takes one shift off when he can't physically stand anymore.
Finally, back up. UNSC and other ships arrive, engaging the mother ship and ground forces are deployed. Among them are soldiers in brightly colored armor. Cyan, and pure white, and purples.
The forces on the wall make one more push, anyone who can fire is pulled out, shooting down aliens and providing what cover fire they can. It's another rough battle, but there's less people dying, especially with those colored soldiers making swathes through the forces. Eventually, the ships drive away the Covenant ships and orders are going out about evacuation.
However, the white and cyan soldier are close to the wall, and Wash's eyes are drawn to them. Especially the one in white, watching how he moves and he gasps. "You-!" He rips off his helmet, leaning over the edge of the wall. "You SON OF A BITCH!" And the two armored individuals look at him and the one in white seems to start. "I can't believe you! You could have emailed me that you were alive, you absolute asshole! You stay right there, I'm coming to kick your ass!"
He turns to run for the entrance.
And trips.
And hits the ground and does not have the energy to stand up again. Someone is standing beside him. "Um....he'll....kick your ass later?" The other soldier calls as Wash passes the fuck out.