General Rivers was positively stunned to hear that. General Gun reacheddown and lifted the thing’s skull. It was larger than his, and witha snout and teeth like some kind of ancient demon.
“We will not forget what happenedhere today, and we will always remember the story of the heroesof Ekati Alpha, and the warrior that tookthe head of our enemy in battle.”
He then handed the skull back toher. Lieutenant Fletcher winced andnodded towards it.
“Lance Corporal. Consider your promisefulfilled.”
Valentine felt relief wash over her, and even as her armour began to losepower, she felt a wave of euphoria as if a great weight had beenlifted. She’d slain the beast, one of the creatures that had beenthe cause of the deaths of so many of her friends. And she hadfulfilled her promise to her dying mother.
“This is coming back with me,”she said, nodding to herself, and thentried to walk away.
“Did I hear that right?” General Rivers asked.
CaptainOlik shrugged, but Lieutenant Fletcher answered him.
“The Lance Corporal had been on along journey, like all of us. This iswhat she needed. Vengeance was hers, and God help anybody that getsin her way again.”
General Gun reached out to helpas Valentine’s systems began to fail, butthen Sergeant Jablonsky and Private Kallias grabbed her, taking theweight.
“It’s okay,” said Kallias, “She one of us, we’ve got her.”
They limped away slowlytowards the waiting dropships. Leavingthe commanders standing before the burning remains of the enemyship.
“Another glorious victory for the Alliance,” said CaptainOlik.
“Perhaps,” said GeneralRivers, “Let us hope this final battlebrings an end to this war. There’s something an old Earth generalonce said about a battle such as this.”
“Spartan? He always had something to say after a fight.”
“No. It was a Britishgeneral called Wellington. After a longand tortious battle, he said two things. The first was that thebattle was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in yourlife."
“He was not wrong about that,”laughed Olik, “We very nearly lost thisone.”
“And the second?” asked an intriguedGeneral Gun.
General Rivers’ visor flickered red as explosions wracked the brokenship, perhaps killing many more of the survivors trapped within. Headjusted his posture and then looked back to his oldfriend.
“Nothing except a battle lost can behalf so melancholy as a battle won.”
THE END
