Chapter Twenty-Four: Into the Cold Dark Night, Part Two
0417 Hours, September 28, 2552. Near the Town of Lienz, Austria. "The Two Brutes," Planet Earth. Day Forty-Nine of the Invasion of Earth
Hiking through a small forest as the early morning wore on, Bravo Company and I made our way quickly and quietly towards the 21st ODST Battalion's location. Now that we were less than a kilometer away, I could hear the sounds of a Scorpion Main Battle Tank's cannon firing its 90mm shells at some unseen target. I had a feeling we were about to arrive right in the middle of a heated fight, and so I was thankful that at the very least, we were no longer being trailed by enemy air support.
"Bravo Company, stay sharp," I ordered over the COM channel, keeping my voice low despite the fact that I was speaking inside my sealed helmet. "We're almost there, and it looks like they've started the party without us."
I waited for acknowledgments, then opened a private channel to second and third platoon's COs. "Frederick?"
"Yes, ma'am?" the young lieutenant answered promptly.
"I'm going to be moving up to third platoon's position, so I can assess the situation up ahead before we jump into the fray. Dean, tell your Marines that Atom and I'll be coming up on their six. I don't want any accidental bullet holes in my chest armor. Or his."
"Yes, Captain," Lewis replied.
"Good. Cooper out," I finished, quickly cutting the connection. Turning to face 'Kuatee, who was marching silently beside me, I gave him a nudge and said, "You're with me, alien boy. Let's move."
The Elite scowled at me, clearly unimpressed by the new nickname I'd bestowed upon him. "It is insulting enough that you humans insist on shortening my name to that of the tiniest particle of matter. But to strip me of my rightfully and honorably earned name entirely…" He lifted his carbine ever so slightly as he moved to follow me, giving me a look of pure loathing. "You walk a very thin line with my race and I, Captain. Others would not have been so tolerant as I."
Feeling horribly uncomfortable in my soggy socks and muddy boots, I grimaced while walking. "Yeah, well, you don't call me by my name, either," I retorted. "Ever think of that?"
Atalom 'Kuatee scoffed as we began to advance beyond second platoon's line of sight. "You are still but a child, human. You are yet undeserving of such a high distinction."
"I'm twenty-five years old, Atom. I don't know about you guys, but for humans I'm hardly a kid anymore--got one of my own, in fact. And just to let you know, I've more than fucking earned my name."
It took me a moment to realize what I'd let slip.
Oh, God, I thought to myself. Please tell me I didn't mention my son to a former Covenant soldier. And one who happens to be this close to hating my guts, no less.
"You have an offspring with the pilot?" the Elite said in surprise. When I didn't reply, he asked, "He is your mate, is he not?"
I whipped around fast, jabbing a gloved finger right at the alien's chestplate. "If you so much as twitch the wrong way when you're near him, I'll empty this whole clip into your head without hesitation, Atom. He may trust you, but I sure as hell don't." Well, not completely, anyway.
Turning back in the direction of third platoon, I could've sworn I heard a hint of amusement in 'Kuatee's voice when he responded.
"Yes, he is most definitely your mate," Atom confirmed. "Though I do not understand--"
The Elite never got to finish what he was going to say, as several lances of pink crystal suddenly came tearing through the brush on our right. Instantly diving for the ground, I glanced over at Atom from my prone position, thinking he was done for with all those needles coming at him. But when the rounds impacted his armor, they simply caused it to shimmer with a translucent shielding of some kind. The enemy needles bounced off and burst harmlessly, save for draining a bit of his shield's energy. Damn, wish the UNSC gave us some of that stuff, I thought.
But now wasn't the time to get distracted by wishful thinking.
Quickly holding my weapon to bear in the direction of the shots, I squeezed the trigger of my battle rifle and loosed two three-round bursts into the greenish darkness. I was immediately rewarded with several high-pitched yelps, but whether I'd actually managed to hit the Grunts or only frighten them was anyone's guess.
Checking my motion tracker as I crawled forward to investigate, I saw the sensor on my HUD gradually light up with more red dots the further I went. By the time I could actually see one of the Grunts with my night vision-enhanced eyes, there were eleven separate blips on my display.
"Atom, move up behind me," I whispered, aiming the barrel of my BR55 battle rifle at the Grunt in front of me and firing a single burst into its stomach. The small alien's abdomen ripped open as a trio of bullets went through him, and bright blood erupted like a broken fountain from its middle. The Grunt didn't even have a chance to make any noise as its guts spilled out onto the grass; he was dead before he hit the ground.
While I was glad that I finally had a confirmed kill, the report and muzzle flash from my rifle allowed the rest of the group to pinpoint my position in the brush. A hail of needles and charged plasma bolts quickly filled the air around me, puffing up chunks of dirt as the enemy rounds burned and sliced the surrounding foliage. I kept myself as low as possible the whole time, trying to crawl beneath the thick blanket of Covenant small-arms fire to a better position to shoot back.
In the meantime, I could hear Atom letting loose with his carbine, injecting even more boiling plasma into the area. I watched for just a moment as he dropped three Grunts in quick succession, then got up to a kneeling position and pulled what looked like a malformed boomerang from a pouch on his belt. Though I was curious to see what the object was, I was too busy providing the Elite with cover fire at the moment to find out.
"Captain, what is going on?" Lieutenant Dean Lewis's voice suddenly filled my helmet while I dispatched a couple more Grunts. Noticing that I wasn't responding to his call, my best friend became much more urgent on his next attempt. "Captain!"
"Wait one, Lewis," I replied curtly.
I continued to pull the trigger of my weapon even during the short transmission, this time bringing down an unshielded Jackal before I realized two more were headed for me. Crap, time to get moving, I thought when the volume of fire coming my way began increasing again.
"All due respect, ma'am, but I can hear the engagement even without my helmet's amplified pickup. And not only that, Captain, but we've got a nasty little situation up ahead, as well. There is a Scorpion tank here that is being blown to bloody scraps by two Ghosts and an enemy Wraith, ma'am."
"Be there in a sec, Dean. Just stay out of it for now, and wait for me before you continue forward."
I fired at a second Jackal during our brief conversation, barely managing to roll out of the way as the alien used its last second of life to send an overcharged plasma round at my face. Completing the roll, I breathed a small sigh of relief as soon as I'd dodged the alien round. After Heath, I knew exactly what kind of damage those often-lethal bolts could do, and a month in an intensive care unit wasn't an event I was itching to relive.
Once I took out the Jackal, I glanced to my left at 'Kuatee to see how he was faring. The Elite now had his carbine slung across his back, and he was using a plasma sword instead to slice and dice his opponents. Although I would never admit it to him, I was pretty amazed at the alien's combat skills: three slashed and bleeding corpses lay in the grass behind Atom as he moved swiftly onto the next target.
Damn. Willis sure wasn't kidding when he said Atalom was an excellent fighter.
Even so, I knew I had to concentrate on the Covies before me rather than 'Kuatee's actions.
I was still firing off my battle rifle and keeping an eye on my motion tracker when a geyser of dirt, grass, and various plant parts suddenly exploded to my right; my sensor showed that there was only one Covie left now, and I figured it must be the patrol's leader. Experience told me it was an Elite, but then I remembered that that couldn't be the case any longer--and that left only a Brute as the probable suspect. As I rose slowly to a crouched postion and moved forward through the foliage, Atom confirmed my suspicion.
"I suggest you exercise extreme caution, Captain. The Jiralhanae is carrying its dealiest weapon," Atalom 'Kuatee warned.
"The wha--?" I began to ask, but my inquiry was interrupted by the whoosh of an incoming grenade.
Throwing myself to the ground for the third time this morning, I wrapped my arms around my helmet and waited for the wave of heat and shrapnel to wash over me. When it was finally over, I thanked God I was still alive and quickly jumped back to my feet.
Because the Brute's grenade had torn through the brush in front of me, I could now see where the Covenant warrior was hiding out clearly. Running for the huge beast before it could spot me, I aimed down the sights of my gun and pulled the trigger three times.
The first set of bullets hit the Brute on his left shoulder, blowing off a chunk of dark brown flesh with a spray of violet blood. Burst number two pierced the alien's thick hide just below its torso, and this time he let out a loud, pained roar as he fixed his attention on me. I could see the fury in its eyes flare up just before my third burst cracked the Brute's chestplate.
The combined nine rounds should have killed him, or at least incapacitated the alien to allow me to deliver the coup de grace. But unfortunately for Atom and I, all we had now was a wounded and very pissed off Covie.
Looking me dead in the eye with rage written across its face, the Brute chucked its Brute shot and revealed a second weapon instead, a spiker. I tried firing my rifle at it a fourth and final time, but my clip had suddenly run dry.
Dammit! I thought frantically to myself. Why the hell does this always happen to me?
But there was no time to contemplate the fairness of my fate. Standing before a furious Brute with a spiker leveled at my head, I ducked below its first salvo of rounds while Atalom snuck up behind him. It was only as the Elite drove its white-blue blade clear through the Brute's back that the Covie's trigger finger twitched again.
I was too close to the Brute to avoid the short burst. Thankfully, most of the spikes went wide because of the way the Brute fell when he died, but four ended up coming right at my helmet. Three of the enemy rounds struck the hard exterior of my helmet's shell, knocking me to the ground with my head spinning.
The fourth, however, actually broke through my visor where it opened at the bottom, and I let out a scream as the sharp spike wedged itself into my cheek.
My COM channel to Lewis must've still been open, because I heard his panicked voice call out "Cooper!" almost instantly.
Taking in ragged breaths and pressing a hand to my jaw, I could taste copper in my mouth as my wound started to bleed profusely. I involuntarily swallowed some of the blood and nearly gagged before 'Kuatee arrived at my side.
"Foolish, idiot human! Rushing a Jiralhanae in such a reckless manner!" the Elite spat. And then, without warning, he roughly pulled my helmet off my head and jerked the spike out of my cheek.
An awful, searing pain shot through my wound in a flash, and an agonized groan escaped me despite my efforts to contain it. "Jesus Christ, Atom..." I rasped, suddenly breathing hard in both pain and astonishment.
Far from being sympathetic, the Elite simply snorted in disgust. "Do not invoke the name of your deity, Cooper. This is your fault and yours alone. Now get up. The Jiralhanae is dead, but we must continue on to your third platoon." He stuck out his hand to help me up.
"I'm...going to fucking kill you one day, Atom," I growled as I grabbed his hand and let him haul me to my feet. Holding one of my hands against my cheek to slow the flow of blood, I managed to ask, "And what the hell is a jury Hawaii?"
"I believe you humans call them 'Brutes.'"
I shut my eyes momentarily against the throbbing on the left side of my face, feeling warm blood ooze slowly through my gloved fingertips; I didn't reply to 'Kuatee's statement, but bent down to pick up my discarded rifle instead. Slinging the weapon on my shoulder once I'd slapped in a fresh clip, I looked over at Atalom. "Gimme my helmet back, alien boy. Dean is probably placing the company on some kind of red alert, so I need to talk to him before this gets out of hand."
"You realize it will not offer you much protection now, yes?" The Elite said as he handed the item over. "The faceplate is cracked where the spike went through, and the top of the left side is dented from the others."
I snorted. "Yeah, well, we don't exactly have a supply depot here. It'll have to be enough."
I tapped the side of my helmet with my hand as I spoke, surprised--and more than a little relieved--to find that it was still in working order. I quickly radioed Lieutenant Lewis and informed him that I was ok, then motioned to 'Kuatee to get moving. We were fairly close to third platoon's position now, but I didn't want to get ambushed by another roving Covenant patrol; after all, this skirmish hadn't gone so well for me, I decided as I rubbed my sore spot through the helmet.
And there's yet another scar I'll have to get removed, I thought. I couldn't wait to get to third's medic so she could patch up my cheek; the seeping blood was making my face itchy.
Fortunately for the Elite and I, the remainder of our silent march to third platoon was uneventful. We reached the platoon's rear about ten minutes later, and once Petty Officer First Class Erika Calden had fixed up the side of my face, I ordered third to forge ahead once more. The subtle rumbling of the Scorpion tank was gradually getting louder, so I figured we were finally near the distressed Helljumpers' lines.
The sudden explosion of a Covenant mortar round unceremoniously assured me I was right.
"Never far from trouble, are ya, Captain?" Second Lieutenant Laura Hillburn cried above the noise.
"Just like old times, El-Tee," I hollered back.
As third platoon emerged rapidly from the forest through a hail of Wraith tank blasts, a desolate scene greeted us all.
Old mountain homes lay in various piles of rubble and debris, their stony facades reduced to a fine sand from the constant Covenant bombardment. On the few buildings that had somehow escaped total destruction, harsh black scorch marks and holes peppered the structures. The situation reminded me almost instantly of first platoon's approach to Cote D'Azur, except mercifully, there were no dead and dying civvies to handle; a month and a half into the invasion, the civilians that had once lived here were long gone by now...one way or another.
"If you feel like heaving, Hillburn, make sure you don't do it in my direction," I joked to my former platoon XO as she ran up beside me.
The young officer quickly shook her head. "No, ma'am," she replied. "Got it all outta my system on Sigma Octanus, Captain."
"Incoming mortars, third platoon!" Lieutenant Lewis suddenly bellowed through the COM. "Everyone get your bloody heads down, now!"
Hillburn, Atom, and I lunged into the grass just after Lewis's transmission ended, gripping our helmets and weapons at the same time. A huge sphere of blue plasma came hurtling to third platoon's area seconds later, and for a terrifying moment I thought we were finished. Through some error in the shot's trajectory, however, third was spared as the massive round landed short of its target. Lying prone in the grass, I waited until the ground stopped vibrating before I stood up again.
"Third platoon, this is Captain Cooper! Head for those fortified positions behind that farmhouse while they recharge!" I ordered over the company channel. "The rest of Bravo, be advised: enemy armor as soon as you exit the forest. If you're at a safe distance, stay put. If you're not, then come after third platoon when it's clear. Is that understood, Marines?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Bravo Company chorused.
"Then let's do this, Bravo. Lewis, move!"
My best friend's platoon followed right on his heels as Dean sprinted for what I assumed was the 21st Battalion's hideout. I kept stealing glances at the Covie Wraith as I ran through the open field, trying to gauge how long it would take for it to be able to fire again. If the tank regained function now that third was halfway to the farmhouse, we were cooked.
Kaboom!
I almost lost my footing as our friendly Scorpion tank suddenly came into view and loosed a cannon round at the Wraith. While both of the armored vehicles were smoking from close calls, the UNSC tank certainly looked the worse for wear; judging by the two destroyed Ghosts on the far side of the field and the small fire glowing in the back hatch, the Scorpion had already done its share of fighting for today.
"Keep moving, third platoon!" Lewis yelled into the COM channel. But the two tanks had begun duking it out once more, leaving my company and I relatively unnoticed.
"Captain Schaeffer, this is Captain Cooper of the 603rd," I said on the general channel, trying to hail the ODST's acting commander before we reached their lines. The last thing I wanted at this point was an ugly friendly fire accident. "Please respond."
The excited reply came a moment later. "Captain, this is Schaeffer. Holy shit, Cooper, is that really you? I don't fucking believe it!"
Even with a painful wound and a tank battle going on around us, I couldn't help but grin. "Told you I'd return the favor some day, trooper. So I'm making good on my promise."
"I'll say! This is definitely a helluva coincidence, Cooper."
"Yeah, Schaeffer. Listen, we'll have time to talk later, but right now we're busy trying not to die out here!"
"Right! Let's hope those tank boys can take out that Wraith, and then maybe we'll finally get a breather!"
As we spoke, several more enemy mortars made it past the Scorpion tank before third platoon and I were able to reach the Helljumpers. That meant a lot of trips and hard falls along the way, but my Marines and I kept going until we made it.
Looking out across the field with my rifle's scope from behind a pile of sandbags, I could see the UNSC tank was just about finished. Come on, you guys, I pleaded, trying to get my breathing under control after the long sprint. Take the bastards with you. Don't let 'em slaughter you for nothing.
Kaboom!
Shoop!
Third platoon and I watched in helpless horror as both tanks fired at each other at the same moment. Standing transfixed beside me, Atalom 'Kuatee gasped when the two huge rounds each hit their intended targets.
The Scorpion tank exploded first, sending a large column of black smoke swirling into the night sky. My Marines and I held our collective breath after that, waiting to see if the Wraith would turn on us or if it had been damaged in the battle as well. They were the longest milliseconds of our lives, but they were worth it: not a second later, the Covenant tank burst into a bright blue cloud filled with purple metal.
I heaved a long sigh of relief, then opened a COM channel to my company. "Enemy Wraith tank neutralized, Bravo. Advance forward to this position, which I'll be marking on your HUDs momentarily." Placing a highlighted marker on their maps, I sent third platoon's position to the other Marines of Bravo so they could join us. While I waited for them to arrive, I asked one of the nearby Helljumpers to direct me to Captain Henry Schaeffer.
Dressed in black and dark gray battledress and armor, the ODST blended in perfectly with his surroundings; even up close, it would have been difficult to see much more than his outline without night vision. "Good to see you again, Captain Cooper," the captain said. We shook hands, and then he gestured broadly at the piles of sandbags that made up the barely camouflaged encampment. "Well, here's our base of operations, as you can see. Not much, but it does the trick. And now that we've got at least a few minutes of peace, I can show you around if you want."
Hefting my battle rifle in my right hand as I checked its load, I said, "All right, Schaeffer. But do me a favor and cut the act. You sent out a pretty desperate-sounding transmission earlier, and I know you wouldn't do that for no reason." I lifted my visor and gave him a look. "What's really going on here, Captain?"
Schaeffer squirmed uncomfortably for a second before he raised his own faceplate. Suddenly staring at me with a look of exhaustion and defeat in his deep blue eyes, I had to glance away after a moment; his expression reminded me of the last harrowing days we'd fought together in the battle of Cote D'Azur--an event I'd been trying to forget for months.
Finally, the captain sighed and said, "We've been on Earth for about two weeks now, Cooper, and we've already spent about ten days in and around whatever small town this is." He offered me a rueful smile. "We like to call it Hell. Fondly though, of course."
I smirked as I folded my arms across my chest. "Of course."
"Anyway, been here ten days, like I said, and the Covies haven't let up their attacks at all. It's just been Banshees and Ghosts and Wraiths and all sorts of crazy shit coming at us nonstop. We were down to half-strength as of this morning, and Major Andreas was killed a couple days ago, too." Henry paused and shook his head, lowering his gaze to his boots. "Till that Scorpion tank showed up, we hadn't received any aid from anyone. And nothing but pure luck brought you our way." The Helljumper looked up at me again. "I honestly have no idea why the Covenant want this place so damn bad."
"Any ideas? There's gotta be something valuable about this town for them to fight this hard over it."
Schaeffer nodded. "Don't I know it. But I just can't think of a single thing they'd want here." He looked pensive for a moment. "Though there is something strange over there that--"
"Natalie!"
I turned around quickly at the sound of my name...especially since I knew exactly who the voice belonged to.
Lifting his faceplate as he approached, Willis grinned at me. "Glad to see you're in one piece, Coop. When Lewis told us you took a hit..." My husband suddenly trailed off when he noticed my cracked visor and the bloody bandage covering my cheek. "Natalie, what happened to you?" he asked, his voice flooded with concern.
While Willis was busy fretting over me, I noticed Captain Schaeffer eyeing us with confusion. "Will, I'm fine, and I'm really happy to see you're ok, too. But you are breaching about a million regs right now, Lieutenant."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, ma'am."
The Helljumper stepped forward then. "Who're you, Marine?" he asked Willis.
"First Lieutenant William Hawk, sir. Captain Cooper is my wife."
"Huh." Captain Schaeffer gave me a questioning look, and I shrugged.
"Long story," I said simply.
"Yeah, and if there's one thing we don't usually have time for around here, it's catching up," Schaeffer replied. "So, Cooper, what I was saying earlier..."
"What is it, Schaeffer?"
He frowned. "Well, I guess it's easier if I show it to you. Then you can see if you can make any sense of it, 'cause we sure can't." The captain motioned towards 'Kuatee, who was hovering nearby. "Bring him along, too. Maybe he'll know a little more than we do."
I nodded, calling the Elite over as Schaeffer, Willis, and I set off. It didn't take me long to realize that the ODST was leading us back into the forest, just ahead and to the right of the lines.
"Covies apparently found this a day or so after we got here, and they've tripled the size of their attacks since then," the captain explained. "Therefore, I'm willing to bet it's something real important to 'em."
We followed Captain Schaeffer about thirty meters into the trees before he came to a halt in front of a large pile of decomposing matter. The stench was horrible.
"Damn, sir. This your little science project?" Willis asked, pinching his nose and grimacing to make his point.
"No, Lieutenant. Don't know what the hell it is, really. Sure looks funny if you ask me, though."
The body was badly decomposed after so many days, but as I glanced at it, I found the corpse to be vaguely familiar in shape.
"Seems almost like a Brute to me," I said. "Except it's a cream-gray color and it's chest is..."
"Uh, missing?" Willis supplied.
"Well...yeah."
Without consciously thinking about it, the three of us suddenly turned to 'Kuatee for his assessment. And much to our surprise and alarm, the SpecOps Elite looked...
Scared.
"Atom, what the hell is this thing?" I asked slowly.
Atalom looked deliberately around our small circle at each of us, his expression grave as he reluctantly answered.
"It is the parasite, humans. The doom of all the species in the galaxy."