Mortal Reveries: 'Til Death

“Hey there beautiful, wherever you are, I hope things are going okay.” Bentley Morris sighed, looking into the recorder’s lens with heavy, sad eyes. Behind him, the angry thuds of Brutes pounding at the Pelican’s door reverberated through the dropship. His hands were tight around the CQS48 Bulldog in his arms, as if he had the stomach to use it when the time came. He barely qualified at the range with anything other than his MK50, the shotgun had been his co-pilots, but the man he regarded as his best friend was already dead, neck snapped in the cockpit.
Everyone in the dropship was dead actually, everyone besides him. 
“I don’t know if you’ll ever see this, but I’d kick myself if I didn’t leave something for you. I just want you to know, I was wrong about what I said before I left. I was scared of the way things were changing in the galaxy, I didn’t think I could bring a kid into that. But I was wrong, I promise.” It hurt to say, he thought about her face, the way tears had welled in her eyes when he’d shouted down the idea of them ever having children, and how much of an asshole he truly was. Tears were in his eyes now.
“We’d be great parents, I know we would. You’d be the greatest mother there’d ever been, I need you to know I really mean that.” The hatch began to give, and he heard the brutes roar in excitement. They were hungry, they were going to devour them all, rip him apart while he was still alive. Fear turned his stomach, but he kept his eyes fixed on the camera.
“You’re the best thing to ever happen to me Esperanaza, you always have been. I thought my life ended when I was fifteen for the longest time, when they burned home. But no, my life didn’t really begin until you sat down next to me and held my hand while they flew us away. You didn’t even know me, you just knew I needed someone, you just knew-” His eyes darted to the hatch as the metal began to twist, and he gulped hard, finger slipping down over the shotgun’s trigger.
“God you always just knew,” He chuckled. “I love you more than anything in the world, I hope that if someone finds this, they make sure you know that. I’ve thought about you every second of every day. I miss you so much, and I’m sorry that I’m not gonna make it back to you. I know I said I would, but,” Light peered in as the hatch began to give, alien laughter filling the air as ravenous Brutes anticipated fresh prey. He’d give them something to remember them by, at least one of them, that he promised.
“We swore ‘til death do us part, love. This is parting. Don’t you dare live your whole life hung up on me okay? You live, you be happy, I’ll see you again on the other si-,” The hatch gave and he dove for the recorder, ending the feed as he stashed it into a cranny in the cockpit rolled into cover. The whole Pelican seemed to shake as the first one stepped inside, laughing menacingly.
“Come out come out, little human.” It taunted. Fear should’ve kept him frozen, but pounding adrenaline forced courage into his veins, and as the steps came closer, he readied himself for one last act of defiance-
The crack of a rifle split the air, the sound of splintering armor, pulverized bone, and sprayed flesh filled the dropship. Whatever it was had gone in one end of the ape and out the other, slamming into the glass of the dropship’s cockpit, a wispy contrail in its wake. The Banished outside flew into an uproar, but more gunshots followed, and the sound of death came after. What in the hell was going on?
The cacophony of battle raged on, and Bentley finally noticed he wasn’t dreaming, and he wasn’t dead. People were fighting out there, fighting to save him. He had no right to do any less for them. He found his courage, shouldered the Bulldog, and rounded the corner. Light poured into the Pelican’s bay, half-lighting what had would’ve almost certainly been his tomb. But through the brightness, he made out a figure with its back to him. Hunched behind a glowing shield, with spindly limbs and frills, it didn’t take long to recognize it as a jackal.
He squeezed the trigger, and nothing happened. Was it jammed? Had the electronic safety not disengaged? What was wrong? 
The creature began to turn, and an inquisitive squawk left its beak. Bentley didn’t have time to think, he rushed it head-on. The Jackal was faster than him no doubt, but he wasn’t leaving anything to chance, and as it moved to level its plasma rifle, Bentley slammed into the avian full force. They tumbled out onto the dirt outside, and Bentley scrambled to get his bearings, only to receive a hard bash from the jackal across his face.
Instantly he felt the pain and howled, his nose crunching beneath the weapon and spurting blood. The Jackal cawed angrily, and through dazed eyes he looked up at the alien’s maw and realized this was the end. It snapped up its pistol, then exploded in a shower of gore, its head vanishing in the wake of another wispy contrail.
He wasn’t dead? He wasn’t dead.
The pilot sighed hard, and let his head hit the dirt, and eyes drift skyward. He didn’t realize just how truly alien the place was until he saw it from the ground. Flying in, it was just a big circle, and once you were over it, the ring was just a very strange planet. But looking up as the structure simply reached into the sky, further and further before it began to curve back around, it made Bentley feel small, in an awe-inspiring kind of way.
“That was bold.” The voice called his attention away from the vista, and to the shadow looming over him. It was a massive thing, staring down at him with a single red eye, covered head to toe in armor, bar the limbs made entirely of metal that was. It took him a second to process this was not death, clad in silver and blue armor, but a savior offering an outstretched hand, a Spartan.
His eyes flicked back to his ship, to the bodies in the hull, to his message to his wife, tucked away inside. Part of him wanted to go and take it, but as he looked back to the Spartan, he saw the twisting wreckage of humanity’s fleet and the red hulks of the Banished overhead. There was every chance that if he went and took it now, he’d just have to record it again or die before he could. It was better there, he’d said all he needed, he’d just muck it up if he tried a do-over.
Bentley looked to the Spartan, and took the outstretched hand, the metal prosthetic wrapping around his flesh and bones and pulling him to his feet.
Blood of course fell from his nose like a waterfall, running over his lips and dripping off his chin, his nose about as broken as one could make it before losing the damn thing. Bentley’s balance faltered and he staggered, but his savior steadied him. It was only then he saw the others. Two more Spartans, one wearing ODST styled armor in a medley of dark green, yellow, and red, whilst the other’s armor was covered in camouflage patterns. That one hefted the sniper rifle he owed his life two twice over.
They weren’t alone either, at least a half-platoon of Infinity personnel, marines, crewman, a handful of army troopers, and even an ODST, all stood with the Spartans over the fresh-made corpses of the Banished.
“Come on pilot, wars not over yet.” The first Spartan clasped his shoulder and gave him a nod. Bentley returned it. The Spartan was right, they weren’t even close to done.