V1-026

*It disheartens us to see our two Commanders' actions, and we do understand; they will be dealt with, and we hope the injustice done to you will be repented.*

*After some discussion, we all agree that we wish you to continue your story from where you left off with our Commanders. To understand your personality and mindset, we need to see your side of the Requiem.*

Five voices spoke perfectly harmoniously into the minds of Nile, Renton, and me, but instead of finding it strange, I only found it annoying.

Still, knowing there was no other way, I sighed, then bowed my head and did as they asked, allowing the Elders full access to the memories they wished to view.

Between my actions and the words of the Elders, Renton stiffened in his seat next to me.

He hated this story nearly as much as Kris did, and not only that, but one of our worst memories was soon to happen in the story I was forced to narrate.

---

**8 years earlier, Late 2017**

Upon returning to the Apartment, with our loot in hand, we separated and went to get dressed; however, unlike me, who was done in less than five minutes, Renton had been taking forever to get into his uniform.

As often as we had been drilled on putting the uniform on and taking it off, it still took my brother a full thirty minutes before he came back downstairs, fully dressed and ready for battle.

Since it had taken me practically no time to put mine on, I filled the remaining half hour by cleaning the weapons that had been fired today.

It was common practice to clean a rifle or handgun after being discharged; by this point, it had become second nature to me.

But it was to be expected that my brother took his sweet time in getting ready. It was common knowledge that Renton was the lazy brother who would always drag out everything he could.

Rolling my eyes as he came down the stairs to show off for Tristian by striking a couple of action poses for him, my attention drifted from the broken-down rifle on the table before me to the TV.

Examining the timer on the screen, which read Five hours 23 seconds, a thought popped into my head that should have come to me when the timer started.

Putting down the bolt carrier I was working on, I pulled my sleeve back and synced up my watch timer with the timer on the TV.

The only other person Awake was Tristian; Chase and Carleigh had gone upstairs and fallen asleep.

As it turns out, all the excitement was just too much for them, which was understandable.

"Uniform looks good on you, Renton; you look like an adult now instead of the little runt you were before you joined the military." Pausing his statement, Tristian glanced at me as I pulled my sleeve back to cover my watch and continued cleaning the rifle parts.

"But after what I've seen you and Renton do, y'all are on a whole other level now. It's weird because I still see you two as my little brothers, the same twits that would try to take me down with wrestling techniques…."

Wearing a bitter smile, Tristian patted Renton's shoulder while my brother sat down beside me to aid in the cleaning.

"Now look at you two in your matching uniforms. Hiya, you're well; for lack of a better phrase, killing machines." Tristian was lost deep in thought and pretty much just thinking aloud.

"We aren't on another level, you know," I said, looking up from the rifle at Tristian.

"The only thing that separates us from you is that we know how to react to the situation. I'm still the same Dean I have always been, and Renton is the same lazy doofus too." I grumbled without much emotion.

Digesting my words, Tristian thought for a few moments before he responded.

"You don't see it, do you, Dean? Just stop and look at yourself. Two years ago, instead of cleaning a gun, you would be playing cards or, at the very least, complaining about card games.

"Two years ago, you would be scrolling the internet looking at upgrades for your drone to get some cool videos for your Viddtube channel."

"Now, instead of all that, you used that very same drone to gather information about what was going on outside so that you could choose your next course of action."

"On top of that, I haven't seen you react to killing those people, whereas two years ago, when you hit that dog with my car, you freaked out after you killed it."

"In contrast, you of the present shot and killed humans, and you sit here cleaning your guns without remorse." The more he spoke, the darker his voice became, and it was clear that Tristian was getting angrier with each word.

I sat silently for a full minute while Tristian was red in the face from practically yelling as he vented.

"They were going to kill us; I chose my own life, our lives over theirs." When I finally spoke, my words were harsh enough that Renton looked up from cleaning at me.

I didn't bother sugarcoating it for him and spoke my mind freely.

"I have changed in that aspect, I suppose, but only in the sense that I can now make the necessary decisions to get us out of any situation alive." Turning in my chair, I faced Tristian, only to find his expression crumbling.

"What happens if you need to escape something and me, or my brother and mom can't keep up? Will you just leave us behind?" Trembling as he spoke, Tristian continued.

"You know I won't be able to keep up if we have to run away from something. Would you ditch me or do me the service of putting me down like an animal?" His words made me cringe.

"No… I would try to save us All, even if that means we end up in an unfavorable scenario." I was trying not to show how shaken I was by his comments and struggled to keep my voice firm and filled with confidence.

The Truth was if it came down to saving Renton and me, I would choose us over Tristian, and it scared the ever-living hell out of me.

What had happened? When did I become so cold and heartless? I couldn't say anything in response; it was then that I realized he was right; I would leave him.

"Tristian, don't take this the wrong way, but he would leave everyone if he had to. I had to accept that he would even leave me behind in some situations." Feeling how awkward the conversation had become, Renton chose that moment to add his two cents.

"Bullshit, I wouldn't leave anyone behind; NO MAN GETS LEFT BEHIND REN!" Slamming my hands on the table, causing several rifle parts to scatter, I stood up and clenched my fists defensively.

"Neither of us would like it, but in war, there will always be hard decisions that will decide if someone lives or dies, but at the same time, I know that if he were leaving me behind, he would have a DAMN good reason to do it and that there would be no other choice." Instead of refuting me, Renton ignored my comment and continued speaking directly to Tristian.

Heaving a sigh, Renton pushed back his chair and placed the barrel he was cleaning down before looking between Tristian and me with a solemn look on his face.

"I admit both of us have changed since entering the Corps; I can't say how much, but I know I, for one, have changed. I feel the same, but it's like a switch in my head flipped whenever I enter combat; all I see is the goal or objective we need to complete and the path to get there." Renton explained as he stood up and walked toward Tristian, no longer feeling like cleaning.

"Dean calls it warrior mode, where we only focus on the objective on hand," Renton stated with a light laugh, breaking the tension between Tristian and me.

"Don't worry; we aren't going to be leaving your cripple ass alone, scrub; although we have different mindsets, I refuse to leave a brother to die," with that said, he grabbed Tristian's shoulder and dragged him to the couch before staring into his eyes until Tristan was so uncomfortable that he began chuckling awkwardly.

Soon enough, the two of them were laughing for some unknown reason.

Meanwhile, I wasn't amused; realizing that if it came down to it, I wouldn't think twice about leaving Tristian behind had unsettled me greatly.

But when it came to Renton, it was a different situation entirely. I trust him to know how to get out of a problem without my help, but Tristian's disabilities would hinder us if we had to move.

"Must you guys be so damn loud all the time? Don't you know some of us are trying to sleep?" Chase said while rubbing his eyes tiredly.

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