wanted to live, Jon would live. Most would be happy to live for a thousand years. Jon wasn’t one of them. To him it seemed like a thousand year prison sentence. He had already seen more than enough pain and suffering for one lifetime. How could he possibly endure a millennium?
He called up a picture of his family. His wife and his two beautiful daughters. So young. Too young. Their deaths had crushed him. He had so little time to grieve. He had always been a soldier. Not knowing what else to do he returned to active duty.
He returned with a score to settle.
To say he was angry would not do the emotion justice. No words could describe the torment and fury boiling over inside him. He volunteered for anything that allowed him to kill the enemy. Deep space ops in enemy territory? No problem. Assassination of high value targets? Sure thing. Extreme interrogation tactics? Look no further. Surprising everyone, Jon beat the odds time and time again, and came back alive. He did not fear death anymore. He embraced it.
That lack of fear kept him alive. If you are not afraid to die you do not get nervous. You do not get anxious. You do not hesitate. And you do not make stupid mistakes that get you killed. Nonetheless, everybody figured it was just a matter of time, including Jon.
Then an opportunity presented itself like no other. A highly classified experiment had begun and Jon was one of a handful of pre-qualified candidates. When Jon discovered that this experiment might give him the ability to kill even more of the enemy he instantly volunteered. He turned out to be the only volunteer, and so he became the first human in history to become host to a Diakan symbiont. True to their word, the symbiont did indeed allow him to kill more of the enemy. It did so by augmenting his abilities. His strength and speed increased tenfold. His senses became so heightened that he discovered a world he never knew existed. He could see like a bird, and smell and hear like a wolf. Even his mind changed. When it came to matters of strategy and tactics he instantly saw the most efficient answer. His success rate climbed alongside his kill rate.
And then the war ended.
Jon never thought he would see the end of the war. He just assumed he would die on one of his missions. He accepted it. The war had ended, yet he still lived. And he was alone. Alone with his thoughts and with the creature. So he jumped into Black Ops. After all, even in peacetime there is war.
He became a ghost. A silent, invisible killer. He continued to wage his private war. Continued to see justice done on those responsible for the deaths of his girls. Certain that one day the time would come when he wouldn’t return. Then, and only then, his suffering would end. But that day never came. Would it ever come?
The creature became more than he bargained for. He thought it would be no more than a tool. A way to augment his abilities, like the Chaanisar did with technology. But, the creature had a mind of its own. A will of its own. It could inflict pain on Jon. Terrible pain. They worked well together in combat. So long as Jon stayed strong, everything was fine. If Jon showed any weakness, however, the creature took over and forced Jon to act. Any potential threat to Jon became by default a threat to the creature. That, it did not tolerate. It lived. It wanted to keep on living. Which meant that Jon had to keep on living right along with it.
Thankfully the medication Doctor Ellerbeck had given Jon seemed to be working. The creature stayed quiet. Unfortunately it was not permanent and Jon needed to take regular doses for it to keep working. He wondered how long he would need to take the medication. Hopefully the doctor brought enough on board.
“Commander Wolfe requests entrance,” said a synthetic voice.
“Come in,” said Jon. He turned off his family picture and settled back into his chair. The door opened and Wolfe walked into the room. She exuded strength and leadership.
He called up a picture of his family. His wife and his two beautiful daughters. So young. Too young. Their deaths had crushed him. He had so little time to grieve. He had always been a soldier. Not knowing what else to do he returned to active duty.
He returned with a score to settle.
To say he was angry would not do the emotion justice. No words could describe the torment and fury boiling over inside him. He volunteered for anything that allowed him to kill the enemy. Deep space ops in enemy territory? No problem. Assassination of high value targets? Sure thing. Extreme interrogation tactics? Look no further. Surprising everyone, Jon beat the odds time and time again, and came back alive. He did not fear death anymore. He embraced it.
That lack of fear kept him alive. If you are not afraid to die you do not get nervous. You do not get anxious. You do not hesitate. And you do not make stupid mistakes that get you killed. Nonetheless, everybody figured it was just a matter of time, including Jon.
Then an opportunity presented itself like no other. A highly classified experiment had begun and Jon was one of a handful of pre-qualified candidates. When Jon discovered that this experiment might give him the ability to kill even more of the enemy he instantly volunteered. He turned out to be the only volunteer, and so he became the first human in history to become host to a Diakan symbiont. True to their word, the symbiont did indeed allow him to kill more of the enemy. It did so by augmenting his abilities. His strength and speed increased tenfold. His senses became so heightened that he discovered a world he never knew existed. He could see like a bird, and smell and hear like a wolf. Even his mind changed. When it came to matters of strategy and tactics he instantly saw the most efficient answer. His success rate climbed alongside his kill rate.
And then the war ended.
Jon never thought he would see the end of the war. He just assumed he would die on one of his missions. He accepted it. The war had ended, yet he still lived. And he was alone. Alone with his thoughts and with the creature. So he jumped into Black Ops. After all, even in peacetime there is war.
He became a ghost. A silent, invisible killer. He continued to wage his private war. Continued to see justice done on those responsible for the deaths of his girls. Certain that one day the time would come when he wouldn’t return. Then, and only then, his suffering would end. But that day never came. Would it ever come?
The creature became more than he bargained for. He thought it would be no more than a tool. A way to augment his abilities, like the Chaanisar did with technology. But, the creature had a mind of its own. A will of its own. It could inflict pain on Jon. Terrible pain. They worked well together in combat. So long as Jon stayed strong, everything was fine. If Jon showed any weakness, however, the creature took over and forced Jon to act. Any potential threat to Jon became by default a threat to the creature. That, it did not tolerate. It lived. It wanted to keep on living. Which meant that Jon had to keep on living right along with it.
Thankfully the medication Doctor Ellerbeck had given Jon seemed to be working. The creature stayed quiet. Unfortunately it was not permanent and Jon needed to take regular doses for it to keep working. He wondered how long he would need to take the medication. Hopefully the doctor brought enough on board.
“Commander Wolfe requests entrance,” said a synthetic voice.
“Come in,” said Jon. He turned off his family picture and settled back into his chair. The door opened and Wolfe walked into the room. She exuded strength and leadership.
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