Teutonica: Black Birds

Epilogue

Radek didn't make it.

When we hit I blacked out, sure that I was dead. But he took the fall, his size and wings dispersed the force enough to give me a chance.

I woke up to the sound of his voice repeating the same words over and over. It sounds ironic but that told me he was gone. I'd killed a lot of Ravens and I knew that voice was prerecorded and stored at his neural hub, providing an aftermath report in case his body was found.

"Beine: beide gebrochen,
Rippen: sechs zerschmettert

Wirbelsäule: intakt, stäbchenbeschädigt

Lungen: rechts kollabiert, intakt gelassen

Arme: gebrochen
Flügel: nicht reagierend

neuronales Netzwerk: nicht reagierend
Gehirntätigkeit...." The little speaker continued speaking in his voice.

I crawled off his chest and winced at the pain that shot up my arm, sprained.

I would gave laughed at how good my deal was compared to his, but I just couldn't.

He had died with his eye closed, a gaunt smile on his lips. Radek...

I sank to my knees and layed my head down on that cold chestplate I'd grown so familiar with, holding back sobs.

Survive for me.

He was right, I picked myself up the best I could, barely managing to tear my eyes from him.

A snow covered hellscape greeted my sight.

The ground was littered with the broken bodies of hundreds- no- thousands of Hawks and Ravens as far as I could see. They must have fallen out of the sky when Icarus struck.

I saw Commonwealth soldiers moving through the bodies, shooting any still alive.

Did you know that the ones who could move one wing flapped them like a grounded bird on its back? That the ones that could tried to crawl away to anywhere that wasn't here?

I could have crossed the entire field and not once would I have to step on the snow.

So many dead and dying, and we never gave a single one a chance. Just the soldiers moving casually from one broken soldier to the next, putting down men who couldn't fight back.

I shambled forward, shell shocked, stumbling over the bodies that were scattered about like dropped rice, until I tripped over a certain Hawk that still lived.

I scrambled up and then looked to the obstacle, surprised.

There lay Roach, just looking at me with uncaring eyes, he said nothing, only looked. When he opened his mouth only blackblood came out and coated his scarred armour with ink. I could only stare back wide eyed as he hacked up his last ounce of life, never breaking contact.

And then he was dead like the rest.

I should have felt something, maybe satisfaction, maybe disgust, but there was nothing. I felt empty without that Bat around, I could only grieve.