//Play saved Voice Message A0138? *click*
loading…
E. Golovkin said
“Hey, dad… You haven’t messaged me in a while. I hope everything’s ok…Friggin thanks for the present, dad! It’s the best birthday gift ever! I did like you said and (imitates Robert’s gruff voice) ‘intercept the package before mom gets home.’ *He laughs* When I opened it, one of the arrow tips were already broken, but I think I can fix it.”
*There is a moment of silence. The sound of two arguing adults can be heard in the background. Elijah speaks more softly now…*
“Gotta send this soon…Hey, we haven’t gone camping in a long time. Maybe when you get back? I heard they’re opening the reserve again. Don’t worry. When I’m a pro master with this bow, I’ll teach you how to use it! *Elijah laughs mischievously*. And dad… thanks for the letter. Your handwriting is really cruddy, but I read it…Miss you. There’s something I gotta tell you-“
*Sound of knocking on a door is heard followed by ‘Elijah?! Who are you talking to?’*
“What? Nobody is talking, mom. I think you’re hearing ghosts in your head again.”
*‘You think that’s funny, Elijah? Let me in right this instant you little shit!’*
“Gotta go dad! Love ya!”
//Message Ended.
Robert Golovkin was already up before the wakeup call, and the first one at the staging area when the alarm claxons went off. By the time his squad mates trickled into the small enclosure, he was already suited up, leaning next to the passageway door of the hangar bay. This isn’t a rare occurrence for the Sergeant, whose knack for preparation comes second nature. Since his marine days in Charlie Company, Golovkin was always the first one out the gate, locked and loaded. The nickname he was given, Ready, stuck with him ever since. The Sergeant doesn’t mind it, rather, he sees the title as a form of motivation. The day Robert stops living up to that name is the day they scoop up his tags from his corpse, and he’s not looking to let that happen anytime soon.
For the duration of Ghost Detachment’s arrival and prep, Ready said nothing. His body language suggested an indifference that matched that of a blue collar worker waiting to start his shift. No snide remark for the greenhorns. No chest puffing rouser to boost comradery. Robert didn’t feel obliged to do any of those things. As many of his squad mates quickly learned, the Sergeant wasn’t one for gloating; he preferred to let his actions speak for himself - out there on the field, where it mattered. He’d say the romanticism about glory and honor on the battlefield was pillow talk for civies and armchair militiamen. A way to get free drinks and a quick screw. But who was he to talk about theatricality with a sanghelli skull attached to his shoulder, and a necklace of jackal beaks tied around his neck?
He’d say that he doesn’t wear them for kicks, or for sport like game trophies to try and impress you. He’d say they aren't for you at all. Those dead covie bones serve as a message to those that glass planets and mows down innocent people, and that message is simple:
We’ve killed some too, and we're coming for the rest of you. The names and faces of the six ODSTs that were KIA came to mind, and the weight of those covenant bones suddenly felt heavier.