CRUSADER: NO REMORSE: I dream of living

In the tank. Blue water. The tubes. Calm. Serene.

Memories. Thoughts. Not mine. Pumping into my head.

Rifles. Pistols. Explosives. Spider mines.

Unarmed combat. Rolls. Dodges. Tactics.

Red armour. Black visors. Gold symbol on my chest.

Identity? There is none. Just me. Who is ‘me’?

I dream of living. Of life. Of breathing. Out of the tank. Away from the tubes.

I see myself. Standing with my brothers. Fighting the good fight. Saving the world.

I do not fear death. Only not living.

So much I want to see. So much I want to feel.

This is not life. This is waiting. But soon. Nearly there.

But now there is fear.

Alarms. Fires. Gunfire. Panic.

The red armour. Black visor. Gold symbol on the chest. Are they a familiar person?

They’re approaching me. Raising an RP-32 rifle. Fires into me.

Kills the tank and the tubes. Tank is gone. Tubes are gone.

Nothing but me. Limp against the sharp edges.

Silence. No more dreaming. Only darkness. The end.

I never feared death. Only not living.