After about an hour of drinking Murphy had relaxed enough to rest his head against the rock behind them. "It would be faster if you just looked into my memories.. I won't resist this time. Just… be quick."

Morrígan had not expected the firey and resilient human to be so vulnerable but took the chance without further prompt. She grabbed his right hand with her left and felt herself seeing the past through Murphy's own eyes.

She saw Murphy and his squad run down a street, checking their corners as they moved. The unit came up to a building and took breach positions at the door. Taking a moment to listen for anything, the squad leader nodded to the pointman who used a shotgun to blast the hinges off the door before kicking it in and moving into the room. Murphy was the last inside and checked a room to the left. 

The calls of clear came through before they regrouped to move into the basement. His squad leader and he were the last downstairs and that's when the men already there triggered an explosion that rocked the building and sent Murphy back up the stairs from the shockwave.

Ears ringing and black spots in his vision, he struggled to his feet, nearly tripping down the stairs as blood ran down his forehead.

As his hearing returned he could hear screaming and loud yelling. Rifle raised, he carefully moved downstairs. Only to find his squad laying in various states of dismemberment and death. With the squad leader trying to save a survivor. But just as Murphy moved to help the CO, the man stood and cursed. He grabed the fallen man's dog tags before grabbing the others and moving to speak with Murphy. 

But as he approached Murphy three men burst into the room from a hole in the basement wall. Before the CO could react he was shot in the back of the head by a shotgun slug, blowing blood and brain matter across Murphy's face and stunning the young Infanteer. His instincts kicked in and he opened fire on the hostiles, killing two men before the third attacked him from behind, wrapping their arms around his neck. 

Murphy lurched backwards, forcing the man into the wall to break free of the chokehold and tried to bring his rifle up to gun them down. Before he could bring it to bear however the enemy combatant kicked from his hands forcing him to resort to Melee. He moved in to punch the man in the face but his opponent caught his fist and punched him in the jaw causing him to trip over debris and land on the floor next to the body of his squadmate. 

He stared into the soulless eyes of his friend and lost himself in an adrenaline and fear fueled rage. Grabbing a wooden table leg that had been blown apart by the explosion he waited for the fucker behind him to get close, before rolling over and smashing it into their knee, causing them to scream. Getting to his feet he swung again and knocked the man to the floor.

The man tried to get up and started begging for mercy in broken English as Murphy kicked him back to the floor but Murphy hit him in the face, and again, and again, and again. Until the table leg snapped in half and the terrorists skull was a mangled pile of flesh, bone, and blood.

It was as Murphy began to come down from this berserk high that his mind began to process what happened and effectively shut down. He numbly moved to his COs body and grabbed their tags and the tags of the others. Grabbing his fallen rifle he limped his way upstairs. Once on the ground floor he collapsed in a corner and radioed for backup. Breaking down into tears the moment the confirmation comes through.

Before Morrígan had a chance to process what she had seen, the scene shifted to another. Murphy walked along a desert road staring at the ground and walking agonisingly slowly as he kept watch for anything that looked suspicious. Behind him was a convoy of three humvees and an LAV III. He carefully gestured for the driver of the lead vehicle to halt as he bent down to inspect a shard of metal sticking out of the sand. Breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only a broken piece of some car or truck. He stood up to gesture for the convoy to keep moving but was stopped when one of the men in the middle humvee cried out.

"RPG!"

It happened quickly, like a match to gas. One moment the lead vehicle was in front of him, the next he was on his back and the vehicle was scorched and ablaze having been struck by the explosive weapon. Murphy rolled over and tried to get up as a second RPG struck the jeep in the rear of the formation. The shrapnel impacted his helmet and some cut his face, but nothing serious was done.

He pushed himself to his feet and fired in bursts in the general direction of where the enemy fire was coming from. Moving behind the LAV as its autocannon pounded the ridge above them. It's familiar thump thump thump as the gun fired was a comfort in the chaos. For as long as that gun was firing, they would drive the enemy back. That was when one of the survivors climbed out of the burning wreck of their jeep. Crying out for help, Murphy tried to move towards them but had to duck back into cover as bullets struck the dirt next to him. Forcing him to listen to his comrade burn alive, the crying for help began to turn into calls for the young man's mother.

He fired blindly around the side of his cover and when he thought safe enough, he broke from his spot and ran towards the burning man. Too late, as by the time he got there the man had been burned so badly that the shock from the pain had finally been what put him out of his misery.

Murphy clenched his fists tightly and punched the side of the burning vehicle. He heard the Sergeant behind him giving the order to fix bayonets and charge the enemy position while the LAV suppressed them with its autocannon. Pulling his combat knife from his belt and locking it into place below the barrel of his gun we waited for the gun to open up.

Thump Thump Thump Thump.

Murphy and five other soldiers broke cover and charged up the hill that the insurgents had been shooting at them from. The gun stopped shooting only seconds before they reached the top so as not to hit them.

Murphy was first to the top and crested the hilltop, he spotted a pair of men with rifles who were still cowering in the dirt. He wasted no time in shooting them. A round in the chest and head each to make sure they were dead.

He heard whimpering from his left as the other soldiers got to the top and began to sweep the area. One of the insurgents had taken shrapnel to the leg and was clutching it in pain. Murphy watched his comrades move out and they found a few dozen more RPGs and two more insurgents hiding in the rocks. They didn't last long under concentrated fire from the experienced and well trained Canadians.

Murphy turned to face the wounded insurgent who was looking at him with defiance and pain. Murphy glared back. "You killed my friends."

The insurgent spat at him and said something in Arabic that Murphy assumed was an insult. In response he placed his boot on the bleeding leg causing the man to stifle a scream. "Orders are to bring survivors alive for questioning."

The man looked almost hopeful at that, believing that he would live. Saying something again before Murphy again put pressure on the leg. Kneeling down to the man's level Murphy pulled the bayonet from the end of his rifle and held it in his hand. "It's a shame we didn't find any survivors."

The insurgents face went from hope to teffied to angry and he started to scream at Murphy. Only for Murphy to slash the man's neck with the blade. Cutting his vocal chords and severing the jugular. "Choke on your words. And beg for mercy from your god. Because you wont get any from me you subhuman filth."

Murphy flicked the blood from his blade and wiped it clean on the dying man's clothes. Standing up and sheathing the blade he radioed in to the Sargent. 

"No, survivors sir. ETA till backup arrives?... understood sir. Regrouping at the LAV."

The ancient woman was rather surprised at the callous and brutal action coming from the man who had claimed to defend his people. But she was far from opposed to it. She felt her respect for the man grow slightly as the scene shifted once more. 

Murphy lay atop a building overlooking a long street with civilians walking around and a patrol unit walking down the street. He watched individuals through the scope of his sniper rifle, looking for anything or anyone suspicious. It was as the point man was about halfway down the street when Murphy spotted a woman and a child who was running around. The woman had some kind of long wooden box and kept looking from the child to the patrolmen.

"Be advised, woman and child fifty metres to your North, woman has suspicious box."

He felt his stomach tighten when the woman called the child over to her and opened the box. Handing the kid something that he couldn't quite make out. "Woman is handing the kid an unknown object. Please advise."

He heard the officer in command of the patrol reply. "Use your judgement. If you think it's a threat to us then take the shot."

"It's a child."

A pause. "I hate this too, but it's us or them."

Murphy felt sick but couldn't disagree. He eyed the child and muttered to himself. "Don't go towards them… please don't go towards them…."

His heart sank when the kid started running towards the patrol. "Forgive me…"

He pulled the trigger and the child dropped like a sack of potatoes. The woman ran to the body of the child as the patrol brought their files up having heard the shot. Instead of going to check on the child like he had hoped. The woman picked up the object from the child's lifeless hands and brought her arm up to throw it at the men in the patrol. Murphy didn't hesitate the second time and put a bullet through her head. A moment after the woman dropped, a small explosion detonated from the object she had tried to throw.

"Threats…. Eliminated…"

Murphy felt something inside him die that day. And swore to not hesitate again. No matter what the target in his sights was.

Having observed mortals and used their morality and attachments to their families against each other countless times. Morrígan knew that the act of killing a child would weigh heavily on those of sound mind. And as much as she reviled in committing such acts. She could understand that it would affect the man beside her greatly. Once more however, the scene shifted to another.

Murphy was running with another soldier while ducking rock outcroppings as bullets tore all around them. "This is bad Lieutenant. I can't raise anyone on comms."

Murphy grabbed his subordinate, a young woman, moments before they stepped onto a landmine. "And now this. We aren't even supposed to be here."

Murphy remained silent and simply moved around the mine. He tapped the younger soldier and pointed at an opening between the rocks. "Take position there. We're going to ambush the ambushers."

The woman nodded softly and moved towards the rocks while Murphy ducked in behind a waist high rock and put the landmine in his rifle's sights. "C'mon you bastards."

The two Canadians didn't need to wait long as the sound of several men running the way they came from. Murphy saw the first one gesture for the other five behind him to watch out for the mine and kept moving towards the Canadian position. But just as the third man came up on the mine, Murphy pulled the trigger and shot the explosive device. The detonation eviscerated the two closest to the mine and showered the other three in shrapnel. They cried in pain as the woman came out of cover and gunned down the one in front closest to her. Murphy took aim at the one in the back trying to run and shot him in the back of the head. The last one dropped their rifle and raised their hands in surrender.

Before Murphy could say anything the younger soldier took a step too close to the man and was caught in an explosion as the insurgent detonated an explosive somewhere on his body. He watched as the woman was sent flying and landed in a heap a few metres away.

"Corporal!"

Murphy waited for the smoke and fire to clear away and listened closely for any more potential hostiles that may be closing in on them. When nothing came he broke cover and ran over to his fallen comrade. Pulling her over so he could check her wounds he frowned deeply when he saw that her abdomen had a large shard of jagged metal sticking out of it where the bullet proof vest failed to cover.

The woman slowly started coming too, having been knocked out. "L-lieutenant?"

Murphy kept silent as he tore open the woman's medical kit and pulled out the gauze and the sanitised dressing to cover the wound around the metal shard. Wrapping it tightly he gave her some painkillers to ensure that she didn't go into shock. "What… what happened?"

Murphy sighed softly. "The last one had a bomb vest. Detonated it when you got close."

"Oh…"

Murphy tried to call for med-evac on the radio but nothing but static returned. The woman looked up into the sky and coughed slightly. "LT. Look at the moon. It's funny, I never noticed how beautiful the moon is here. Do you think anybody noticed?."

He eyed her as he held her upright, using his leg as a makeshift pillow.

"Stay quiet, the bandage is in place but you're still bleeding."

The wounded soldier ignored him and spoke again. "There's something I've always wanted to know. Your call-sign. Ghost. What does it mean?"

Murphy ignored the question and tried to urge her to focus. "Stop talking. You've got to hold tight until the med-evac gets here."

The woman winced slightly but would not be deterred. "You finally have an excuse to show that you care and... let me ask you something. Just one last thing. It won't hurt, I promise. What was I to you?"

The man felt his throat tighten slightly for a moment. "What do you mean? You're a soldier. A soldier with a promising future ahead of you. You're...a soldier."

The Corporal's retort was immediate. "And you're a ghost, aren't you?"

Murphy was caught off guard by that. "What?"

The soldier in his arms coughed again. "Feelings pass right through you, don't they? So cold and unforgiving in every choice you made in battle. Pure soldier. I think that's what let us trust you so-"

The lieutenant cut her off. "Don't talk, save your strength."

The Corporal closed her eyes for a moment "I don't need it."

Murphy did not like the implications of that. "Come again?"

The woman opened her eyes and stared into his own with a soft smile. "I need you to be strong. Strong enough to do what you've never done in your life. Can you be strong enough to allow yourself to be—can you just be human? not for your sake, for all of us. If you would just allow yourself to feel something... maybe you wouldn't be a ghost any longer."

The lieutenant couldn't say anything in response to that and felt as if the last piece of his soul had shattered as he watched the light fade in her eyes.

He felt rage, fear, sorrow, and resentment. At everything and himself. It all boiled over as he screamed to the sky while clutching the body of his friend.

A few minutes later, having calmed down. He rested the woman's head atop her helmet and took her dog tags and rifle. He stood from her body and began to march away towards the nearest friendly FoB. He stopped for a moment and looked back at the fallen woman with regret before turning away and continuing his march.

Morrígan withdrew from his memories and saw the man beside her, pain evident on his face as he continued to speak.

"I made up my mind that day. The night I let my platoon die. I looked up at that moon and something died inside me. A conscience is something that gets in the way. That's all a soul is. An obstacle. Something to overcome. I can't atone for failing to protect them."

The Eldritch woman looked into his eyes and felt a pang of… pity? No… empathy? Is this what that felt like? She didn't know. She frowned to herself and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "You sound like one of my kind. One of the few who have come to question the why of what we are and the reason behind their actions. You have endured more than many mortals and yet you continue to press on."

She tightened her grip slightly to comfort her company. "You possess an indomitable will and a fire in your heart. Do not turn away from your past, do not lament your failures. Use them, let them fuel your evolution into something greater. Survive and grow stronger so that what you have experienced will never happen to you again. That is how you atone."

Murphy looked over at her for a moment and then back to the bottle in his hand. Tilting his head back he downed the last half of the bottle and tossed it into the empty box. "You're right. I need to keep pushing forward."

He stood up and offered her a hand to pull her up as well. "Will you help me do that? Guide me to become stronger? Teach me how to be like you?" 

Morrígan looked at the offered hand for a moment and then back into Murphy's deep blue eyes. Hard and set on this course regardless of what she said. But she saw a hint of something else in those eyes. Hope. That such a feeling was directed towards her where she was used to being the destroyer of such tripe was odd. And yet she felt something stir in her heat at the idea that someone was hopeful for her guidance. 

The Depthborn nodded firmly and grasped the Canadian's hand firmly and pulled herself up with his aid. "I will, you will be my…" she searched his mind for the words. "Apprentice."

Murphy nodded and smiled softly. "I'll have to take the time to teach you how to fight like one of my kind as well. You may be strong. But if you are going to be spending any time around humans you need to be capable of fighting without using your more obvious abilities."

The ancient woman frowned slightly before sighing. "Very well, I shall indulge your lessons. If only because there is little else to do here. But the longer we remain here, and the more we fortify and grow in strength. The more likely your world is to be caught in the crossfire."

Murphy sighed. "I know, but if I do not stand and fight then I spit on the graves of my friends. Even if it is a lost cause, I would sooner see my world go out in a blaze of glory than simply abandon it for my own safety."

Morrígan smirked slightly at his response. "There's the fiery soul I like. We shall see if that fire grows, or is snuffed out when the whelps come crawling to your shores."

Murphy crossed his arms and frowned. "I'm not concerned. After all, you're going to help me kill them."

The woman scoffed at him. "Yes yes, don't get smug with me."

The human chuckled and looked up at the ever growing fortress. "Come, let's get started on this training of yours. It will give us something to do while we wait for the citadel to be built. Which will be nice because I haven't slept in an actual bed in months."

Morrígan simply nodded and gestured for him to follow her. Her body began to glow with distortion energy and she turned to face him. "Let's begin."