The Return of Reinhardt

On the ground, Reinhardt seemed to have regained his awareness of what was going on. In a full echo of sound and blurred vision, a high-pitched scratch roared around his mind as dust and shrapnel scattered everywhere. The pulse grenade had exploded near his trench and the impact of the explosion knocked not only him down, but also sent his helmet flying straight into a column that shattered into pieces that fell just a few meters away.

As he regained his hearing, he began to hear the sound of gunfire, orders to retreat, and explosions, and he came to the immediate conclusion that the moment had arrived sooner than he had expected. In a moment of hyperfocus, everything around him froze and he started to remember the reason why he had joined Porpax, he glimpsed the memories with his daughter, and he revisited a moment of his childhood when life was light, peace reigned between empires and the people abounded with fortune and collaboration. In a mental backflip, he went from the past to the future and began to envision the ensuing, cold dystopia he was about to let form if he didn't resist the enemy's surprise attack on his platoon.

Seized by a defibrillation shock to the heart, he fell back to the present. He regained his balance and knelt with one fist on the floor as he clenched and unclenched the other, feeling the most complete control of every nerve ending in his body, his heartbeat increasing in rhythm and his adrenal glands releasing a strong dose of adrenaline through his bloodstream which made him feel all his training come to head. In an instant, he looked around and mapped out his strategy for the next few moments, but before acting, he looked down and closed his eyes. Everything went dar, the sound of gunshots stopped and music began to play with the greatest harmony he was ever able to feel, taken by a cathartic inspiration, he opened his eyes and saw thousands of musical notes of all sizes floating around that scene of conflict as they radiated the purest of cyan blues.

In an agile ascent, he took the deflector shield staff from his downed colleague's hand, activated the device, and a semitransparent blue diamond-shaped barrier appeared on his arm. With his torso bent, he ran through the trench, crossing a treble clef and other notes as he dodged obstacles with the most agile of the kickturn jumps. He climbed the slope at the end of the trench and on one side saw his allies retreating through the streets of that city dimly lit by flames while on the other he saw an open field with different squads of enemies advancing in complete synergy a few yards away. He immediately knelt and rooted himself to the ground like a stone colossus, covering his entire body with his shield and starting to receive countless shots that were reflected and turned into more and more musical notes on impact.

He closed his eye one last time and causing an anomaly in time, he immersed himself completely in the music, floating through those words in the dimension of his mind that said a lot about life and that moment.

"And now, the end is near and so I face the last act, my friend, I will speak plainly, I will state my case, of which I am certain, I have lived a full life, I have traveled any and all roads, and more, much more than. that, I did it my way."

As he delved deeper, Reinhardt completely lost himself in that perfect symphony. The saxophone sound intensified, the horn sounded velvety, the piano captivated and the heart was strengthened with the courage of all the musicians that ever lived while pushing any fear aside.

"Regrets, I have a few, but on the other hand, too few to name, I did what I had to do, and I kept doing it without exception. I planned every course laid out, every careful step along the trail, yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew, when I bit, more than I could chew, but most of all, when there was doubt, I devoured and spat, faced all of that and I stayed on my feed, and I did it my way."

He felt as if his life had reached the moment of purest, lightest unity, for all he could have done, he did. He knew in his core that those he tried to save were saved in the end, those he tried to love felt loved, at last, those he tried to satiate felt relieved in the end, and those he tried to teach learned without equal.

Time passed like a broken clock and with his eyes closed, he couldn't tell if he would live that song forever or if when he opened his eyes, he would have to face his end. As the song ended and the vocals were hidden, he remembered that track was just one of several that lived inside the many records that inhabited his heart. He opened his eyes and all the notes flickered one last glow before disappearing completely as he realized that a lot of time had passed. He looked around and saw that no enemy remained, for, in a complete act of inspiration and honor, his platoon had formed a formation around him and resisted the attack by eliminating all threats.