. 02

On the other side of the world throughout the US Steven's wife and family all had a dream of him passing on to the other side. As his wife awoke with tears in her eyes, she could feel his lips on her still, as that very moment her phone rang and it was Steven's mother she told her about the dream she and her husband had just had about Steven, she dropped the phone and began to ball, regaining her composure she listened to her story. When his mother finished she told her about her dream and they both began to cry again, they both knew he was gone. The next day came the call she knew was coming, she felt as ease after the call.

Three weeks after that she went to the base to confirm her husband's body and saw his smile as well as the lip stick on his face. She asked them if that was a joke they said it wasn't and that they tried to clean it off and cover it with make up but nothing worked, when she got home she remembered that everybody had kissed him. Just days after her husband was laid to rest his letter arrived covered in his blood with a note wrapped around it, which simply said, "He got to say good bye to all of you." She smiled as she read his last letter and smiled as she looked at the back of it and saw a name, Private Henri Bordeaux U.S.M.C., she prayed for his safety and vowed to meet him one day to get an explanation.

***********

When Henri cast that spell, the Great Destroyer felt magic he hadn't felt in a long time coming from Earth of all places as he rushed to the place of the spell, he listened to the chant. He smiled it wasn't a spell per say but a prayer of peaceful passage and final wishes. Death sent for Gabriella and when she arrived he had her go into the man's mind and saw all those he loved, she linked their dreams together and listened to the words of passing from Henri and called for his wife. The Great Creator came and looked at the scene with curiosity, her husband had never shared a parting with her.

She asked, "Honey, why am I here?"

Death replied, "For him" as he pointed to Henri and he continued, "He called me to give that man safe passage and a final goodbye. Is he not one of our candidates?"

The Creator answered, "He is, but not high on my list. Why? You're not thinking of testing him? Even you can see that he has seen too much of your world my dear, he is all but dead on the inside. I know that Eilistraee is very fond of him, but still we have so many better candidates."

Death knew his wife was stuck on a more pious person and she had only one candidate left on her list, so all he need to do was prove Henri was a diamond in the rough and his wife would cave like she did with the dinosaurs.

He reached into Henri's memories and pulled them out placing them on the wall like they were watching a movie, as he did Henri shivered and looked at Death, but he couldn't see anything. Death pointed at the images and said to his wife, "If he is so bad then what about them?" As images of Henri carrying his injured sister to the hospital. They watched as they saw him sending them to France to be with their grandparents and other relatives, as he stayed behind.

The Creator rebuked, "Anybody would care about their family and this was before the war."

Death showed him images of Henri sending his pay to his family in France, even to this day he send 25% of his pay to them. Next he showed his brother the 2 adopted children and the circumstances behind their adoption. He pulled up the image of Kirara now with her beaming smile, then he showed her at age 9 when Henri saved her. He showed how she was living before meeting Henri she was starving and stealing in order to live, she was never seen smiling and was so angry at the world. He showed how Henri had caught her stealing some of his unit's supplies and instead of turning her over to the JSDF, he made her work for the platoon as a runner and would give her extra rations, this was the beginning of a friendship that was more like a brother than a father when his platoon got ready to move out she didn't want the only person to care for her since her mother died and begged with tears streaking down her face for him to stay with her.

Next came the image of Yuuya today firmly locked around Henri's leg with eyes that sparkled with curiosity and a hint of mischief. He went back to the day Yuuya was born and showed the pregnant woman who had been shot in the shoulder and was bleeding out while giving birth, just before she died she begged him to make sure her son got a good home, she pleaded with him to bury her near the ruins of Mochinoesugahra shrine. When Henri's eyes met Yuuya's he knew that this was the second member of his family, he buried her in the shrine as she requested and carved her name into the tree along with a wish for her son that he made up for her. He has sworn that when Japan is free he would take Yuuya to see his mother, so he can know exactly what happened to her and why he was taking care of him.

Death looked at his wife and asked in an almost pleading tone, "Is this not enough for you to agree that he is the best choice?"

Creator sighed at her husbands attempts to sway her and said, "I still think he is damaged goods. I mean how will he feel being away from them? The priest is clearly a better choice."

Death smiled, "You mean the alcoholic and lolita lover, this man will lead them to ruin, the Drow alone would feast on him and then what? You need a warrior to survive them let alone lead them to the surface. Trust me Henri is the best choice he is a survivor and he knows the horrors of life who better to protect it, besides his companions can help him with hunting those souls that try and flee."

The Great Creator sighed and knew her husband would keep her here with time slowed to a crawl until she caved. They both knew they were almost out of time, she agreed with her husband. The test was simple will he respect others and their ways or would he do what was in his best interests. The test would be to leave a set of Samurai armor and weapons in the shrine at Mt Iimori if he stole it they would take the priest if he didn't they would make him the guardian as the other gods called him, when in fact he was the keeper of the codex.

***********

As I was watching the road for my unit, I felt a chill run down my spine like someone was watching me, I turned around and swore that somebody was looking at me but I didn't see anything. I heard the fall of boots behind me and turned to see the sergeant and some of his men walking towards me with serious looks on their faces, this wasn't good it never was. The sergeant asked me what I really did and why, for once it wasn't bad maybe his luck was changing. I told him that I asked death to ease his suffering and to let him say goodbye to his loved ones, what they saw was his death mask, they were certain he died happy with no regrets and was being judged by whomever he believed in. As for why I told them I have seen too much death already and if drawing deaths gaze upon me so he could rest in peace then that makes the risk worth it, besides it wasn't like I thought I would live through this.

I asked them if they had any paper and I wrote a note and wrapped it around the 1st Lieutenant's death letter, he was old school so I asked them to put my name on the back of the envelope. They asked my for my full name and when I told them my full name they all gawked at me one even said the 'old warrior' is Casper, I never knew that 28 is old. The sergeant and his men agreed that if they ever heard me calling for help and they were close they would pay me back in kind, for what they thought was a miracle they had just witnessed. I refused and told them if anything happens to me and your Lieutenant's wife comes looking for me tell her what you saw today. We were interrupted by the squelching of the com in my ear and heard, 'mother' asking for me.

As I met back up with my unit, I couldn't hide my Cheshire grin and 'mother' gave me the 'I give' look. He filled all of us in on the plans and how things had changed and changed they had. Apparently during the night the North Koreans had moved onto the 138, the road we were on and planned to launch a counter offensive long it and in the gap between the Army units at Taramicho and the other Marine units near Kakoi and that was why were on the 138 just south and a little west of Taramicho as ears and eyes. They used their artillery barrage to cover the movements of armored units toward Hananki that coupled with the clouds and jamming of the drones kept our intelligence blind while they made their move. Now, we had Cav. units on standby and over lord as the AWACS were called dialed in, we were told that movers and shakers were holding cap, which meant we had fighters and most likely A-10's if not Longbows.

We were going on to Mt Iimori and would attack at night, for that meant nothing but with new people in the unit it makes night operations much harder to do and rsiks more lives. 'Mother' was still upset at me for breaking his orders and stuck 'meat' with me as my sixth sense, I guess he thought I would be careful with a new guy around. I even received the 'no Rambo shit' speech, to which I gave my best 'they drew first blood' impersonation of Stallone that sounded awful with my French accent, but made everybody laugh including 'mother.' We had known each other for the better part of 5 years, every time he would finish his tour go home for a month only to be called back here time and time again after the second time they pulled that he asked to be stuck with me if I was still alive. I guess he didn't really mind that I gave him gray hair, that and he was the only person I would even bother talking with I knew the others would do their time and get out never to be seen again that is if they lived that long. We had a love, hate relationship every time he loved to get promoted which I hated and I loved getting busted back down which he hated and honestly if it wasn't for the war and my willingness to stay I would have been kicked out of the corps, but when you have a person who wants to be in combat you let them get away with a lot more.

We climbed into hummers and rode off to the base of Mt. Iimori which was being pounded pretty good by MLRS and Paladins even old warhorses like F/A-18's were pounding it. We grabbed a few hours of rack time while we got replacements for those we had lost in this mornings attack. When we got up and dismounted, we saw the most shocking sight our new 2nd Lieutenant 'mother' was briefing the replacements, as I saw the FNG's looking at them with disdain, I chuckled internally they had just become blooded jarheads and lost their FNG title in my eyes at least they were no longer virgins, I had popped another cherry or two. 'Mother' walked over to me, I smirked as he walked towards me, he told me to grab 'meat' and two others and stalk to the top. I was about to protest because as a private I wasn't supposed to be leading anything except his privates, however 'mother' told me he was making me a sergeant which I thought was impossible, but he explained that I had more than enough experience and I had led before, plus he told me to grab my carbine because team leaders weren't used for special roles like sniping.

I grabbed my Mk-18 plus 3 clips and put a suppressor on and grabbed 'meat' and two of the new guys, when 'mother' told me that they had come from other units and weren't FNG's. I told 'meat' to be on my 6 so close that if I stopped he would fuck me in the ass, I honestly didn't feel like listening to 'mother' bitch and moan, everybody who know said we fought like a married couple. I grabbed freshly charged mic's and goggles and headed in to the thick woods that covered Iimori this made sniping impossible for me and justified me switching weapons. We started up Iimori 45 minutes before the rest of the platoon, because we were stalking our advance would be much slower and the plan was that we would approach from the rear undetected while the rest of the platoon and for that fact the entire Marine Corps would draw their attention as the assault on Kakido would begin 2 hours from when we left. By the time we got to the top it was pitch black out and a perfect night to launch an assault, we donned our night vision goggles and got ready to attack.

As the naval bombardment began, we snuck out of the tree line looking for targets of opportunity and found nothing. Fuck was the first thought that came to mind, they have dug tunnels into the mountain as we looked and looked for the entrances to those tunnels and found nothing. I looked around and saw that the house that the monk or monks lived in had been destroyed and that most of the temple was gone as well, the only thing standing was the shrine part of the temple. We headed to the temple and I told the others to wait outside while I looked inside, as I walked in with my weapon at the ready and finger over the trigger guard, I swept from left to right and back left as I made my way to the shrine. In the shrine to my surprise I saw a complete set of samurai armor and weapons sitting on their display and covered in dust, but no sign of the enemy.

I heard the unforgettable sound of Kalashnikov's firing, I raced out of the damaged temple as fast as I could. Outside I saw my team on the ground but not firing, they were all pointing their weapons in the direction that 'mother and the others were supposed to come from. We bounded to the tree line just in case we were spotted, we saw the flashes from the firefight and with our night vision and saw a group of 6 men trying to get on the flank of whomever they were fighting. I knew I could get to the other team, but I needed my team to cover my back in case there were more in the area.

I informed my team of my plan and we dropped our packs I left both my RSG and mk-18 with my pack as I pulled out my ka-bar and had my pistols, I took off my goggles I had enough light from the flashes to see well enough. We made our way down the hill to behind the enemy team which had taken a diamond formation with three men getting into firing positions with one wide to my left as a feeler closer to his units and one to my right as another feeler and one high facing towards us. My plan was simple I would take out the feelers and sweeper my team would then open up on the three firing on the friendlies, I knew this would work but take time I was very good at being quiet, got top marks in avoidance in boot, and letting my team focus on just those three would be much easier for all of us. I looked to my left and saw 2 of my team in position and gave me a thumbs up to my right a saw 'meat' giving me a thumbs up as I slinked off towards the sweeper with a smile, this guy was new and it showed he stood on one side of the tree and took out half his field of vision and gave me, my route to kill him.

I came from his blind side and was literally on the other side of the tree as I slipped behind him and grabbed his mouth and slid my ka-bar at a 45 degree angle into the soft spot at the base of his skull and when it was all the way in I turned the knife killing him instantly. I set him down quietly and slinked off to the feeler on my right, keeping an eye out for any more feelers, I had the advantage because his eyes were focused more to his right looking both down and up that I had a clear approach to his back, I froze when I heard him talking to somebody on his com. I doubled back to where the sweeper was and stood hunched down with my back to the tree as he walked by going to the other feeler who was walking towards him.

My plan was fucked, I saw how far they were and had to act fast before they caught on I spun round the tree and ran behind the first feeler threw my hand over his mouth and doing just like I had to the sweeper as he fell I pulled the ka-bar out and threw it hitting the other sweeper in the Adams Apple and drew my 9 as I double tapped him chest and eye. I knew I had given us away my 9 wasn't silenced, I saw three dead to my right it looks like my team opened fire when I threw the ka-bar, I grabbed my ka-bar and headed back to my team as I walked up I saw that the two new men were covering me to my right and that 'meat' was covering the other side. We heard the firing die down as the other firefight ended just as quickly when we freed their flank. I heard the sound that every soldier hates again, but this time it was the call of 'corpsmen' and I knew the voice it was one of the men from my platoon even worse I knew it was one of 'mothers' men, I ran to the sound of the shouting and slid down next to my worst night mare, 'mother' had been hit.

I did everything I knew to stop the bleeding as the corpsman took over, he gave me 'the look' as my dearest friend of 5 years a man I loved like my own brother was going to die as tears streamed down my face, my emotions were as raw as raw could be. If he was going to die I would send him off like I had the 1st lieutenant earlier, it worked once it would work again and besides he deserved it.

I asked, "Mother, what is your real name?"

He knew why I was asking and said, "Martin, it is Martin why?"

His eyes were wide with terror as I said, "When this is all over and I have a child of my own I will name him Martin after you my brother, he will know all about his name sake, I swear it before god."

I performed the ceremony exactly the same as I had for the 1st lieutenant and saw him smile as he passed and knew his loved ones had the chance to say good bye to him, I owned him that much.

I got up with murder in my soul and felt a rage fill me like I had never known as I walked over to a North Korean who was getting medical attention from our corpsmen. I pulled out my 9 and put one through his heart as my anger seethed. I might rot in Leavenworth for murdering prisoners of war but death had become me as walked off towards the dead North Koreans and put rounds in them, 'meat' ran up to me to try and stop me, I grabbed him and slammed him into a tree my 9 behind his ear I could almost taste his fear. I felt a hand touch my shoulder as I whipped around to kill this bastard, I saw Gunny Smith from another platoon his unit was backing up our assault and came to reinforce us, he was looking at me with those 'I know eyes' that he had, I swear he should have been a priest the way he could disarm anybody with them.

I let 'meat' go and held out my hands in front of me palms up and together with my gun on my finger saying, "I give."

He looked around and said in his Texas drawl, "I might burn in hell for this, but I didn't see anything, marine."

If one man spoke up he would go to prison with me as I told him, "Don't, I have given everything for Japan and I am only in your marine corps because I want it free. You are not going to rot in Leavenworth for me, I am dying here the only reason I have lasted this long is dead over there."

He shook his head and said, "Nobody here saw or heard anything,right? Besides you have a platoon to lead, I need your know how and leadership, 'mother' would want you to take care of them. If you feel guilty then you can confess later to a priest or nun hell I bottle for all I care, but for now I need you and so do they, so cowboy up marine."

I looked around still wanting to destroy everything, I saw it in the eyes of my fellow marines they all agreed with my desire for revenge, I said trying to hold back my rage, "Until, we get new people, I will protect them only because he would want me to."

As I walked off I called my platoon of the 2nd battalion 4th marines 3rd platoon as I looked at them with disdain and said, "Let's destroy shit."

When I got up to the temple grounds I looked at my platoon of the 40 men that I had started the day I had a squad left from 40 men to 14 in less than 24 hours. I reformed the teams and sent 1st and 2nd teams to watch the approaches up the steps and one facing the 138 from the bombing we could see the 251 and the bay as we watched armor and helo's race by and heard the sounds of fighting coming from Kakido, the remaining team was at the temple or should I say the remains of it as back up. I heard the com squawk and was told that spotters and a 155mm were in route, I looked back to the temple and remembered what was inside. I was going to turn them over to the Japanese authorities, because I knew the spotters would steal the things inside ti wouldn't be the first time, if not the gun crew would, I walked to the temple as I told 'meat' about the incoming helos and to make ready.