He is gone. He did what he could...And now he has gone to meet his kin. I can't judge him for that. the remainders of humanity are finishing each other off in their final fight - it is not his war. I hope he was able to forgive us...Me. For what we did to his brothers and sisters. His mother and father.
Prologue: D6
Perspective: Artyom
The force of the fiery explosion shook the ground in front of the D6 main chamber. Finally the waves of the Communists had halted; the now burning flame trooper was evidence of that. Our initial walls had been breached, but their advanced stopped at our last line of defence. The main command chamber right behind us served as a grim reminder that we had nowhere to fall back.
Enough bullets and that bastard was bound to die.
The dead flame trooper’s body gave a dull thud as it landed on top of the pile of his dead comrades. It was as tough as taking down that tank. That armour he wore could only resist so many shots in retrospective. His death gave us a short period of relief.
The Communist push had been halted. Waves after waves of soldiers had fled into our killzones. Dead bodies littered the floor to the point where one could not see the concrete beneath. On the left side laid the remains of their tank as well as mangled tracks from its gruesome end.
“Huh, well looks like we did it,” chimed Miller from my left side. “Great job everybody!”
Miller, our leader, the man who led us for the past few years, stood alongside us. His body was encased in the standard Ranger armor, which was covered in blood. No part of his body was without traces of Soviet blood. Even his greying beard had flecks.
As soon as Miller finished speaking, a roar of voices rose from beyond the wrecked gate. The Soviets weren’t done yet. I cranked the bolt back on my Preved sniper rifle. The bullet casing clanked loudly against the sound of the hundreds of casing littering our feet. If the Soviets didn’t let up soon then we would run out of ammo. The Communist continued to rally beyond our sight, their cheers echoing down the tunnel.
“Listen up, people,” Miller started as he turned to face the last of the Rangers, “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it did, so … fuck. ...The facility is rigged for demolition - I gave the order back in Polis. Now that we’ve lost D6, our only option is to destroy it.”
The ‘Oorahs’ of the enemy had ceased halfway through Miller’s little speech. It was deathly quiet now. The only sounds coming from the killing field in front of us was the hollow crackle of the still burning fires.
Ulman spoke immediately after Miller, “Count us in, sir. What the hell, nobody lives forever.”
His wise words were being drowned out as a foreign noise began to resonate throughout the tunnel. It was almost like metal grinding on metal … shit.
“What the hell is this?” Miller yelled as he faced the frontline. The rest of the Ranger squad came to the same realization as me.
“Shit! Not again!”
“Baaack! Fall back!”
An armoured train burst through the wreckage of the first one. The dull metal sheen illuminated by the fires as it plowed every inch closer to us. Time stood still as that monstrosity barreled into each dead Communist body. It was tossed them aside like rag dolls. That too would be our fate.
Everyone began to retreat as far as possible. The only place we could go was the command post behind us. It would not be enough. This would be the end of our stand at D6. What was once ours would be under Communist control.
As the train smashed into the last barricade before reaching us, I could only utter one word.
“Фак.”
~~~~~
A high pitched ringing forced a moan out of me. It soon faded to the sounds of someone yelling orders of some kind. It made little difference to me. My eyes fluttered open to a blurry image of my right arm outstretched, against the floor, luckily still attached to me. I quickly became aware of the rest of my surroundings. My body was laying on the floor next to a lone control panel. Sparks were flying haphazardly amongst the wreckage that the Communist train had created, while voices were shouting orders behind the ringing in my ears.
I moved my head lazily off the concrete flooring. Trying to get a sense of direction when I heard his voice.
“Save your voice, Kirillov. Here, there are only dead Spartans ...”
Korbut.
The bastard that orchestrated everything that had happened. All the deaths of the past few years were on his hands. The сукин сын that had caused this entire war. How I wanted to wring his neck with my hands.
Everything about the man screamed typical bad guy. It was as if he was plucked out of a story book. His spotless uniform clashed among those who had blood soaking their armor. That deadeye of his seemed to pierce through anything, the blood coloured socket created fear in his victim’s mind.
“Ha ha. I feel a bit like Xerxes ...” He continued, “what an unforgivable waste of men and resources … so many good soldiers lost. And for what? Polis Station? The Council?”
Miller was propped up against a wall. Blood poured out of what was left of his legs. Almost the entire leg beneath the kneecap had been amputated in a rough procedure by that train. The pain he felt must have been unbearable, yet Korbut continued to drone on with his victory speech.
“Ah well … all are cleansed by the fire of Revolution.” It seemed Korbut had just noticed Miller laying on the ground. “What a pleasant surprise — Colonel Miller! … Or, what remains of you ...”
Miller sucked in a deep and ragged breath before speaking. It wasn’t in defiance of Korbut, it wasn’t some honour phrase made by the order. No; it was my last order. “Artyom … it is … time ...”
I knew what I had to do. As Miller collapsed from the pain, I dragged my way towards that control panel that I had first seen. I knew what it was; Miller had shown it to me before the battle started. From everything that me and Miller had witnessed together, I still thought the man didn’t trust me. If only I had known how wrong I was.
“And who might this be? Ahhhh … the resourceful young man. Tell me, Artyom, ‘Savior of the Metro’... where are you going?”
Under my mask I gave him one last smirk. My hand was rested on the knob to which the demolition sequence would begin. With a slow and methodical twist, the knob was activated. The surprise that resided on Korbut’s face was one which not even a picture could do it justice. It was the first time that I had seen such terror in his eyes. It would also be the last time.
The ground began to shake all around, concrete dust and debris descended from the ceiling. I brought myself to my knees and peered out over the Communist forces for the last time, rubble falling from the ceiling as the initial detonations began. I lifted my head to the ceiling, staring at the concrete as if it would turn into a beautiful portrait. With dying strength I shut my eyes.
Flashes of events passed in front of my eyes; the Rangers, my night with Anna, my friends, everything that happened while I resided in the Metro. A final memory surfaced, and the world slowed to a stop.
“Don’t be afraid! There’s nothing to be afraid of now!” It was my mother. Her face enlightened by the brightness of the pre-apocalyptic sun. I couldn’t remember what she had looked like until now … and now … she was as beautiful as ever. Her smile gave of the feeling of warmth; of being home.
A creeping white light illuminated around her face. It was if a halo had appeared around her; a halo that she deserved. The light seemed to slowly consume her face, eating at the edges. Her features began to lose shape until there was nothing in her place but that light, and it was beautiful.