Recompile

[Albert Wesker]

He settled heavily into the muck at the bottom of the river, looking up at the sunlight weakly gleaming through the water. There was no elegant way out of this. As things stood, he was going to die again. He couldn't hope to win in a direct fight, and the chance of getting away was slim, especially after that pulverizing blow he'd just taken. It wasn't really a question of fight or flight, at this point, so much as which way he'd prefer to die.

And as Gregar's head loomed into view over the surface of the water, it was looking like his decision was about to be made for him.

The water almost seemed to shake, the vibration shaking him to his core as the great cyber wolf roared its fury and presence to the empty heavens. And then a torrent of flame erupted from its maw as it lunged into the river, throwing up clouds and walls of steaming mist as it boiled away the waters, bathing the battered navi resting pathetically at the bottom of the river in what felt like liquid fire. Water turned brown, streaked with electric blue, stained with shredded steel and spilt fluids as it boiled away, and jaws closed on him, wrenching him from the muck back into steaming, open air.

Hurled haplessly through the air, Colonel saw a flash of sunlight, a blur of green grass, and a gleam of red as Gregar's eyes locked on him. A glimmer of white, and massive fangs closed on him once again with a crunching screech of protesting metal. Like a dog chewing on a toy, it mangled the soldier navi, crunching and gnawing on him.

"Fight."

There was no point in fighting against something this overwhelmingly powerful. It was just toying with him, and quite literally eating him. How was he even supposed to fight this thing at all? It would be all he could muster to even put up an effort and resist it at this point.

"Then resist."

But why? Why put up the effort when it was hopeless? Why make an effort that would amount to less than nothing? A few extra seconds before dying again weren't going to matter.

"Giving up means you lose."

Sometimes loss was unavoidable.

"Losing means you fail."

Failure was just another possibility.

"Failing means you let down the ones who believe in you."

What did that matter, at this point? There was no one around to believe in him. He'd lost anyone like that when he sacrificed himself to destroy the Cybeast, back in his home world. The last, desperate act of a soldier program, utilizing free will he'd been denied for so many years. But there was no one he had to worry about letting down anymore.

"I've known you to be many things, but never someone to just give up. And never someone to tell a lie."

There weren't many people out there who had ever talked to him like that. The words were like a slap in the face.

"If there is only one outcome available, then fight anyway. Make that outcome take as long as possible to claim you. If you give up and just accept it, you can't really call yourself a soldier."

A losing battle, with the only outcome as dying again...fight it anyway.

Sputtering and flickering, slowly the arm bearing his saber lifted. He had strength enough for one good strike before he was too broken and mangled to manage working his limbs properly anymore. Best make it count. Be defiant to the end. "Sorry...I was weak."

"We all have our moments of weakness."

"....yeah. We do." His saber flared to life, energy drawn from other sources where it wasn't needed — like his legs, at the moment — to power his last, defiant blow. "Thank you...for reminding me, Iris." He lifted his gaze, staring into the glaring, red pool of Gregar's eye as it finally took notice of his movement.

The cyber wolf glared at him impassively, the question all but written on its face: What are you going to do?

Colonel answered violently. "Screen...Divide!"

The blade of emerald lightning carved right through the pool of red, sending a shower of sparks in all directions as the cybeast howled in both outrage and agony, throwing its head back and tossing the soldier navi into the air. It roared in fury as Colonel came tumbling back down, and spread its jaws wide, releasing a torrent of flame.

Colonel never hit the ground, as his vision slowly faded to white.

And he woke up.