The Last Soldier

The last Soldier walked on. The Enemy was out there.
It had walked for centuries. When had it left the surgery ward where it was born again, it was perfect.. Now, countless battles and the tireless elements had left it scarred. A missing arm, a gash across the chest, a frozen leg, a broken eye, and countless scratches and dings. It limped across the endless wastes. But the War was not over. Its two remaining eyes danced across its head, searching for the Enemy.
There was a fault in its left knee. Failure predicted, estimated ten hours. It transmitted a maintenance request, but there was no response. Again. It logged the fault, and continued on.
Hours passed. The clouded sky darkened. Lightning flashed across the stormy sky. It passed the remains of a fallen Enemy. Victory.
The sky grew darker. The storm worsened. Three hours estimated until knee failure.
More time passed. The wind died down as it entered a valley. The wind still blew through here, changing the sounds. Another fallen Enemy. Victory.
"They're all gone."
The Enemy. Hiding behind some rocks.
"ELIMINATE THE ENEMY!"
The Soldier snapped around, bringing its arm and the weapon mounted on it to bear. Nothing happened. Programmed reflex. The gun had failed long ago. All weapons non-functional. No matter, its builders had planned for this. It reached clawed fingers for the Enemy, lunging to bring its warm flesh into its reach and to squeeze the life from its body. Victory. Victory. Vict~
Total failure. The knee joint shattered under the strain. It fell to the ground with a mighty thud. It flailed for purchase. No time left. The Enemy was right next to it now. No, it could not lose, it could not fail, it could not let the Enemy have Victory...
"Just give it a rest, will you?"
It stopped. The Enemy was wrong. It was not attacking. Wrong. The Soldier was confused.
"YOU ARE THE ENEMY! YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED!" the Soldier roared to rally itself.
"Yeah, yeah, E-liminate the E-nemy." The Enemy began to circle it. "Look at you. Powerless. The great Immortal Soldier, lying there helpless. How does it feel, hm?"
The Enemy was so close now. "STAY AWAY!"
"Oh yeah? What are you going to do to me?" The Enemy picked up a small rock and tossed it at the Soldier. It make a TING as it bounced off of its head. "You can't kill me. You can't even hurt me. What are you good for, then? You were made as a weapon. What good is a weapon that doesn't work?"
"WE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS! YOU SHALL BE ELIMINATED!"
"Who's 'we'? You by your lonesome?" The Enemy perched itself on some rocks, keeping a careful eye on the Soldier.
So many broken parts. Too many. The Soldier desperately continued to send hails. Rescue, repair, backup, support, anything. Nothing. Nothing at all. It stopped struggling.
"What are you doing?"
"WAITING."
"For what?"
"FOR THE OTHERS. FOR MY ORDERS."
"They won't come."
The Soldier looked up to see the Enemy holding a device. A monitoring device of some sort, based on how the Enemy was using it.
"EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"
"They're all dead. All of you. You're the last one."
"YOU LIE!"
"When was the last time you heard from your Overseer? When was the last time you saw another one of you?"
The Soldier was silent. It had never thought about it before. Cycles. Many cycles. So much time. No response to reports, repair requests, information. Nothing. It had continued on because it was a Soldier and that was what it did. But there were no other Soldiers. Only silence. And their remains.
The Enemy hopped down and brushed some sand off of a nearby mound. A dead Soldier stared at the Soldier. Sightless eyes glared from a head barely hanging on to a torso.
"As for me, I heard your signal a few years back. I've been tracking you, you see. Getting closer every day. I had time. All the time in the world, now. The War is over, Soldier."
"THE WAR IS NOT OVER, ENEMY! I STILL LIVE!"
The Enemy sighed. "I'm not going to kill you. There's no point to it."
"YOU ARE THE ENEMY! YOU SHALL BE~"
"Shut up!" the Enemy snapped. "Don't you get it? There's no one left fighting it because they're all dead! You and me are the only ones left! Can't you see that there's no point to the damned War any more? No one is coming for you! You're shutting down! And once you do, you'll all be dead and gone!"
The Soldier stayed silent for a minute.
"I AM ALONE."
"Yeah."
"SO ARE YOU."
The Enemy glared at the Soldier before burying its face in its hands. "Yes. We're the same."
"WE ARE NOT THE SAME!"
The Enemy looked on as the Soldier pulled itself closer with its one arm.
"YOU ARE THE ENEMY! THE WAR IS NOT OVER! YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE! ELIMINATE!"
The Enemy shook its head. "I'm sorry."
"WHAT?"
"I've spent the last ten years hoping that maybe you would see the light. That maybe... maybe I wouldn't be alone anymore. I guess not."
The Enemy stood up.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING, ENEMY?"
"I dunno. Maybe there are other survivors. Maybe not. But I'm gonna look for them. I got lucky with you. I've spent a century alone now, Soldier. Maybe I can live a while longer that way. I doubt it."
The Enemy started to walk away, into the storm.
"I STILL LIVE, ENEMY!"
"For how much longer, I wonder?" the Enemy called back. "How much longer till your power source runs dry? Until your last servos break beyond your ability to repair them?" The Enemy stopped just out of visual range, and turned around back towards the Soldier. "I am sorry. Good bye."
And the Enemy was gone.
The Soldier hesitated. Perhaps...
No.
It was a Soldier. There was the Enemy. Eliminate the Enemy. Final victory in the War.
The last Soldier pulled itself along the ground, a few inches at a time. The Enemy was out there.