[ WP ] Give me a story where the good guy wins , but the victory is unsatisfying .

The final 4, that was what their commander had called them. They had been orphans, raised from infancy under his watch, bred and trained to be his disciples. He watched over them, fed them, took care of them, even loved them. As far as the other units were concerned, there was no need for excessive and useless interactions between commanders and their disciples. He was different though. He understood that teaching them love and companionship gave them something to bleed deeper for. As they grew older, he christened them with the name final 4. In every training exercise, in every mission, in every place where heroes were needed, they were always the final 4 left standing. And today, they were the final 4 left standing infront of their commander, as enemies. The government had explicitly avoided sending them on this mission because they did not trust their judgement to do what was necessary and bring the commander back dead or alive. That their emotions would prevail and he might slip through their fingers. With every other tactical group having been beaten down however, they had no choice... the final 4 were called. The oldest, Final Terra, the oldest, called out to his commander, standing inside the confined space of the old Ghanaian facility. He demanded to know if the allegations against his commander were true. The commander would not answer. Final Blaze, the youngest, was in a fury. He lurched forward and attacked him, not being able to land one hit as the commander constantly evaded them. Final Aqua and Final Thunder stood watching, until Blaze was hit back into them and they caught him. Screams of betrayal, Screams of anger, of lost trust and faith filled the room. He took a deep breath. The commander took a step back and slumped into the wall behind them. Sending them had defeated no part of him but his will to keep fighting. They were his children. That was when he told them. The leader of a rebel alliance in the Ghanaian military was about to come into possession of a nuclear weapon, and with little to lose he was going to use it to initiate all out war, and use his forces amidst the chaos to gain control. The only way to stop him was to infiltrate his ranks, earn his trust, and be present at the transfer of the bomb to be able to stop him. His body was on the other side of the wall the commander told them. He had killed him after the coordinates to the bomb had been given. But now there was no going back. He was now publicly known as the number two of this organization, and to end the threat of this organization, it's members had to know that they had been completely beaten, not betrayed, lest some other member think himself worthy of taking over and resuming where their true leader had been gunned down. The commander stood up and readied himself. He and the final four knew what they had to do. Blaze, Terra, Aqua and Thunder, hardening their hearts, fought forward without holding back, to honor their commanders mission, and to show him that they were ready to continue his legacy. When they returned home, they told the government that his body had been lost in the jungles of Africa, where in specific they did not know. The world coronated them as heroes, as defenders of the nation against their treacherous commander. Upon return from the continent, they had taken his body to the private strip of land that the late commander had owned, having been given jointly to the Final 4 in his will. Once his body was within the flowers and the dirt, they stood endlessly staring at him. Not being able to speak, for what words could encompass their love for their commander, not being able to cry, for how many rivers were enough to fill before the tragedy of his loss was over. The traitor to the world, the hero to his children.
