Mission: Polus

Chapter Four

𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒: 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑥 𝑉𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛
𝐸𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟!

Date: June 11,2152

Location: Skeld

Time: 5:00pm

"Alrighty gang, it's time for the grand tour of our ship, the Skeld!" Captain announced as we all got to our feet and grouped together. "Now, I know what just happened back there set us down in the dumps, but look at it this way: This is a beginning to something new, something spectacular! Who knows what's out there, waiting for us to discover in the infinite abyss of space? The possibilities are endless!" He first led us over to a huge room with tables. There was a vending machine and a snack bar. "This is the cafeteria! This is where we eat our three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner!"

Captain then led us to a room with huge machinery. There was a huge seat with a hologram, with guns that pointed outwards into space. "This is Weapons, where we load the ship's weapons and shoot asteroids to defend ourselves. That's right people, there will be many asteroids trying to hit us, but we'll be alright as long as we know what we are doing!" Veteran nudged me and smiled. "Oh man, I'm gonna enjoy this." He made gun signs with his fingers and pretended to shoot out at imaginary asteroids, which made me chuckle. 𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑠ℎ, I thought to myself. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑒-

"...And here's Navigation, where we navigate our way through space!" Captain's loud voice interrupts my thoughts. I blink and stared at the large steering wheel and mini radio. "Man, this would be a great place to sit back and jam out, right Bro?" Stoner jokingly punched Bro as he nodded. "Yeah brosef, we can blast all sorts of beats, like Drake and Migos." Mother cleared her voice and looked at the two, annoyed. "Absolutely not! I don't want my children listening to your gangster music. We don't need them running around swearing like sailors on here!" Bro rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll only blast the kid-friendly versions."

Next, Captain led us to the storage room. "Here's where we supply most of our loot! None of this stuff here is really for any use, but hey this floating box looks neat!" He gently tapped on the box, which rotated for a few seconds before floating back to the way it was before. Mr. Cheese looked at The Gentleman and smirked. "Wow, this would've been a great spot to stuff my Cheddar plushies, huh Gentleman?" The Gentleman rolled his eyes. "Mr. Cheese, I don't understand why you feel the need to constantly bring up your pooch all the time! I'm sorry to say, but he won't be coming back anytime soon. You've seen what happened back there, everything was destroyed!" Mr. Cheese's smile instantly vanished at the reminder. His eyes began to water as he whimpered, "W-well, he's still alive. In HERE!" He cried as he pointed to his heart. He then ran away crying, leaving The Gentleman feeling like complete garbage. "Wow dude, way to give someone a reality check" Veteran said as he shook his head. "Yeah, oh my god." I said, giving The Gentleman a look.  Ignoring us, he ran after Mr. Cheese. "Beanie boy, come back! I didn't mean it, I swear!"
•
•
•
After Captain showed us the rest of the ship, we were all pretty tired. There was just so much to take in, with many different tasks and tools that it made my head spin. All the rooms seemed pretty cool except for Electrical, which gave me the creeps. It was so dark inside that I could barely see anything. Veteran agreed with me, saying that he'd rather stick his hand down a clogged toilet than having to work there alone. We made a promise to go in there together, so it wouldn't be as scary. Captain clapped his loud hands together as we reached a stairway. "Alright gang, I'd say it would be a good idea to turn in for the night, don't you agree? That brings us to the last part of the tour!" We followed him down the steps and gasped to see various rooms, each with a glowing outline. "These will be our dorms. We will pair up in 2, since there is 10 of us and only 5 rooms." Veteran quick held my hand and raised it for everyone to see. "Dibs on bunking with Player!" He cried as the others seemed to already know who to bunk with. Captain and mother looked at each other, since they were the only ones left. "You don't mind bunking with me Mother? I promise I'll try to be a reasonable room mate." Mother smiled. "I don't mind, just as long as your ok with having two children stay in the room as well. Timmy and Franklin are well behaved, so you don't need to worry about noise and ruckus, ain't that right boys?" The boys nodded and smiled. "Ok then, it's a deal!" Captain smiled as he turned to the rest of the crew. "Let's head off for the night, feel free to roam around and make yourself at home, see ya in the morning!" Everyone said their goodnights and went into their dorms, where the lights automatically clicked off, signaling it was time for bed.

I sat on my bed and slipped off my suit as I waited for Veteran to finish using the bathroom. The room was pretty large, with two separate beds, a closet, a TV and bathroom with a shower. I played with my beanie until I heard the bathroom door open. "Hey man, whatcha up to?" Veteran asked as he wiped his face with a towel. "Oh nothing, just remembering my family and stuff." I felt him sit next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I feel you. It almost feels like a dream, right? One second they are there and the next they disappear." I continued to look down, twirling the beanie in my hands. "Yeah..."

Veteran sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Y'know, I lost both my parents in the Great War about two years ago." I turned to him, eyes wide. "No way....I-I mean, I'm really sorry for your loss. They must've been wonderful people." Veteran chuckled a bit and nodded. "They were. My mother and father loved me a whole lot, and they have always been there for me. Mom was a top chef and taught me how to make gourmet dishes while dad was an army general, who trained me for battle at the age of 9. I never had time to make any friends since I was always busy training and cooking, and no siblings cause my parents thought I was already a hassle to take care of, so I was pretty much alone. It wasn't so bad though, my parents seemed to always have time to keep me company. We'd have Game Night Fridays where we'd play video games together until midnight. Those were the best times." He lied back and stared out the window filled with stars, the light illuminating his face. "However, all that changed when the Great War started. Mom developed breast cancer and passed, which left dad and I in a deep depression until we received word that the Draven, a rebellion army, were planning to take over our city. We had to move to dad's army base so we could train and fight more with his troops. On the day of the war, Dad and I fought all day and night, nonstop. I remember the whole scene: Blood and bodies where everywhere, filled with screams and gunshots. Sure, I was traumatized by what I saw but that didn't stop me from helping the remaining troop and my father shoot down the Draven. Towards the end, I remember dad turning to me, saying we were gonna win this thing together until some idiot shot a flying bullet and it went right through his skull. Knocked him out cold right there..." Veteran's eyes glistened in the dark as he recalled the scene. I took a tissue and handed it to him, while gently rubbing his back as he continued his story.

"God, I remember breaking down in tears and feeling my whole world crumble as I saw dad's lifeless body. An unrecognized rage filled inside me as I immediately began to shoot everything ahead, not caring how many Draven were running and shooting at me. I shot like I never did before, killing at least three people at once. My troop and I fought so well that we wiped out all the Draven in under an hour. My troop was supposed to celebrate our victory, but after word got around that their leader was dead, we lost the mood and decided to hold a funeral for all the lives we lost. I remember all the soldiers were comforting me with the best they could. They stayed by my side the whole time, even after the funeral. They took me in and took care of me, becoming my new family." Veteran wiped his eyes and smiled a watery smile. "In the end, we did celebrate though. Because that's what dad would've wanted: to watch us celebrate our well deserved victory."

I could tell Veteran was about to cry so I pulled him in for a hug as he held me back, sobbing onto my shirt. "Well, my father told me when all people die, their souls float up to space and form into a star." Veteran sniffed and blew his nose on a tissue. "R-really?" I nodded, turning a little as I pointed out the window. "Yep. He said all of our loved ones are up there, watching over us. They may not be physically right next to us, but they are always there, looking out for us and making sure we are doing ok. I bet our parents are just in front of us in star form, waving hello!" Veteran smiled and chuckled as he waved out to the stars. "Sup Player's parents, Mom and Dad?" I chuckle along as I waved with him. 𝑂𝑘, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑒, I thought to myself. I then blushed, embarrassed. 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑢𝑦, 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑖𝑡!

"Uh dude, are you ok? " Veteran asked, making me snap out of my thoughts and blush even harder. Thank goodness it was dark or he would've seen me as red as a tomato. "Y-Yeah! I'm ok, I'm just getting sleepy, that's all." I fake yawned as Veteran nodded, looking a bit dreary himself. "You said it man, I'm getting a bit woozy too. Let's go to sleep now, and talk tomorrow." I nodded, still blushing as we both crawled into our beds and pulled over the covers. I closed my eyes before I heard Veteran's voice again.

"Hey dude, before we sleep I just wanted to say: thank you for listening to me. I never opened up my past to anyone, and you helped me feel a lot better." I smiled at him, feeling pleased. "No problem man, I'm glad I was able to help."

Veteran smiled back. "Night, Player."

"Night, Veteran."