Chapter Forty-Nine: Runs in the Family
"Saddle up, everyone," I said over the general channel. "We're pulling out. Captain Norfolk?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Your battalion stays put until Brewer's Marines are out, understood? They've been fighting here for days and you've got the fresh troops, and you're already further back. Make sure they make it."
"On it, Colonel."
I cut the connection then and turned back to my own team. It was only when Lieutenant Lloyd looked at me in disbelief that I realized I'd forgotten to tell Brewer we'd found him.
"Ma'am?" he asked, staring at me wide-eyed. "What about the Prometheans? The portal?"
"We'll have to leave it for now, Cal. I'm not losing our entire regimental camp to this. We can regroup later and finish up here."
"But Colonel...all due respect, but it'll be infinitely harder to - "
"I know that, Lieutenant. My order stands. Now let's move."
I wasn't even entirely sure if this would work. Disengaging wouldn't be immediate - it'd take some time. Even then, we'd need transport back to Cordonnes, and that meant momentarily grounding our Pelicans to load everyone up. Anything could happen back at our camp in the meantime. I just had to hope the firepower I'd left behind would be enough to at least get them through the next few hours without us.
The good news was that our aerial bombardment was finally over, which meant our route back into the main fray was considerably opened up. We were virtually unopposed until we reached the treeline once more - and there, as the thick red smoke released before was now only wisps of color in the wind, we saw the wreckage left in our Pelicans' wake. Their presence made a hell of a difference...and I hoped Willis and his remaining flyboys were doing the same back in Cordonnes.
My heart hurt just thinking about it. About him. It was a good lesson in the fact that you never knew what moment would be your last, especially in our line of work. I wish I would've been less professional the last time I saw him, and instead reiterated the fact that despite everything, I still loved him. Even though we'd no longer be married after this, I wanted the father of my children to keep safe.
But it was too late for that now.
"Go! Go!"
I hardly recognized the voice as my own as I rushed back into the fight - the opposite way, this time - and squeezed the trigger at the first Prometheans I saw. Just ahead, the Scorpion tanks that had escorted us to the portal were still firing into the horde over our heads; it'd be good to leave them up front as Brewer's men retreated.
"Sakato, I want your MBTs to cover our exit!" I yelled, bringing down two Watchers in quick succession, then switching my sights to the unprotected Knight they left behind. "Coordinate with Captain Norfolk - Brewer's men are heading out first!"
"Understood, ma'am! We've got your six!"
At that I switched channels again to my XO, my security detail chasing after me with Lloyd's team on one side, and Lieutenant Zutter's on the other. It was unfortunate for the demo team that they'd been left with me, because now we weren't even going to be able to attempt to rig the portal before we departed. It was already well in the distance.
"Major Brewer, make sure your Marines start pulling back, one company at a time. I've got our armor and Norfolk's men covering your retreat."
I kept firing as I ran in the meantime, tagging several doggy bots before Núñez could chime in with his SAW. I didn't think anything of my second-in-command not answering until I hailed her a second time, just as we came up on our Scorpions' flanks.
"Brewer? Acknowledge."
A crackle came over the COM, and another voice responded - male.
"Ma'am, this is Captain Douglas, Brewer's XO," he said. "The major's been hit, Colonel. I'm in charge of the 213th now."
He announced it over the general channel, and as soon as I had a second, I turned back involuntarily to look at Lloyd. He'd suddenly stopped at the news like he'd been hit, too.
"What's the situation, Douglas?"
"Not sure yet, Colonel, but I know it's bad. She's not conscious. Medics are tending to her now, from what I heard."
"Fuck," I said quietly into the channel. Then, more forcefully, "Fuck!"
This was the last thing I needed right now. A retreat, headed only by three captains and myself, a captain leading the squadrons upstairs, and my men at my main camp all under attack by a much larger force.
To say this deployment had tested my limits was almost laughable in its understatement. I couldn't wait for it to be all over.
"Ma'am?" Douglas prompted.
"My orders stand, Captain. Just make sure Brewer is safely evaced."
"Of course."
"Cooper out."
When the connection cut I was instantly filled with worry for my friend - and her husband, too. But until we were out of the thick of things, there was nothing I could do for either of them. Our best bet was to just do our damnedest to get out of this mess with as few casualties as possible.
It'd be harder to do now without an XO, though.
This time, I had us maneuver around the giant crater in the center of the field - it took longer, but I wasn't getting bogged down in the fighting there again. We dodged laser-focused Watchers, teleporting Knights, and zigzagging Crawlers, taking down a considerable amount, before finally emerging on the other side.
It was there, in the chaotic mess that was the battle, that I spotted four Marines clustered around one in the middle.
Brewer.
"Dani!" I heard Cal yell out, and then before I could say otherwise, he was sprinting for the small group. I cursed under my breath and followed him.
I knew I'd have to be fast - I couldn't be caught with my downed XO for long, because if I were also hit, we'd really be up shit creek. But I wanted to at least make sure she was okay before I continued on.
When we arrived and the Marines made way for us, I called out, "Get back to the lines! Just let the medic through!"
They quickly dispersed, only to be replaced by me, Caleb, and Gunny York.
My XO was lying supine in the snow, half her torso armor blown off, with jagged pieces of metal and dark blood coming out of her right side. Everything around her was a mix of black and red. Needless to say, the situation didn't look so great.
"Talk to me, Reynolds," I said then. What with being captured and all, I hadn't had much of an opportunity to see him this deployment. But he was here now, right where he always was. "How's she doing?"
Corpsman Michael Reynolds didn't take his eyes off his patient. "Not good, ma'am. Took shrapnel to the side of her gut - from an exploding frag, no less. Got too close in the heat of things. Probably didn't see it until it was too late." He sighed. "She's knocked out right now, and I'm not going to try to revive her until we've got her stable." Then he glanced sadly over at Lloyd. "If we can, sir."
I looked at my friend, too, but he was stony-faced. And that worried me more from him than any show of emotion. I reached over to squeeze his shoulder.
"She'll be okay, Cal," I said softly, and he nodded. Then I stood and turned to my detail again.
"Lloyd, you're free to stay with your wife if you'd like. Everyone else, let's make sure we clear the way for them. It's not over yet."
Not by a longshot, I thought.
Overseeing the retreat with what we had left to work with, in terms of command, was hard. But we made due, and slowly, as time passed, I could see my Marines creating a considerable gap between the forward-most Prometheans and our rear guard. Finally, it was time to order the Pelicans down and Captain Norfolk's men to pull out as well. We got to a point two klicks out for the birds to land, then loaded everyone up and left.
Sitting in the troop bay then, surrounded by my detail and Lieutenant Zutter's demo squad, I asked Captain Heat to link me for a moment into his helmet feed as he flew.
I saw exactly what it was we were leaving behind: an enormous army of AI-bots, littering the field and slowly expanding outward now that they'd been left unchecked. I worried about the implications of that, and the repercussions, but that would have to be something we sorted out another day.
For now, our focus was on our main camp in Cordonnes.
"I'm good, Heat," I said, severing the link to his helmet cam inside my helmet. "I don't need to see more."
"Okay," he answered. Then I heard him sigh. "I thought you'd want to know I just tried to hail Willis over the COM. He didn't answer."
Well, guess I'll just file that under the long list of things that aren't going my way today, I thought. Aloud, though, I said evenly, "Thanks for letting me know."
"Can I ask you what happened? He told me you guys are...I mean, I can hardly believe..."
"Not now," was all I said in reply before pulling my helmet off. I needed this time to recenter myself before we entered yet another giant clusterfuck below.
I'd known our LZ would be hot based on the reports, but I guess I didn't realize just how hot.
I certainly knew now, since our Pelican was doing all but a barrel-roll to keep out of the way of incoming salvos from enemy Pelicans and Banshees.
"Hold tight, everyone!" Heat shouted over the troop bay's intercom. "The air's full of 'em! Brace for maneuvers!"
As if we had anywhere else to go. It was a large reason why I hated being in ships, and I could feel myself starting to sweat with nerves now. I was strapped into a harness in the Pelican, just like everyone else, but somehow that didn't feel nearly safe enough when we could be easily blown up in an instant - before we even knew what was happening. There'd be no opportunity to fight back, no way to weasel yourself out of it. You'd just be gone.
It took me a while to realize that that thinking wasn't doing me any good. Instead, I just held onto the straps on my shoulders tighter, closed my eyes and tried to imagine something else to distract me.
And before I knew it, we'd safely touched down.
"Thank you for flying Air Brandon," Heat said over the COM then. "Sorry for the turbulence, and see you next time!"
I breathed a long sigh of relief as we all unhooked our harnesses and got out. Then I pulled my helmet back on and said, "Brandon? Anything from Willis yet?"
"No, ma'am," he said somberly. "I'll let you know when I do, though."
"All right. Better get back to it. I'm sure the other flyboys up there could use your help."
"Yes, ma'am. On it."
I was hopeful that the return of the other squadrons would change the tide of the fighting upstairs, at least. But for now, us ground troops faced similarly poor odds down here in the dirt. Or snow, as it were. I hailed Major Mullen first, before we even set out for the main camp.
"Mullen? It's Colonel Cooper. We've just arrived at the LZ from the portal site. Give me a sitrep."
I checked my watch then, too. It'd been just over three hours since his hail. A lot could have changed in that time.
"Not doing so great, ma'am!" came the reply, clearer now that we were closer together, and I could hear the sound of gunfire and explosions behind him. "Some areas of the camp were destroyed by their air support, and rebels have breached our perimeter on foot. There's a lot of 'em. Way more than I would have - "
He paused then, and I heard a massive detonation go through the COM. I was just about call out his name when his voice returned - fainter now, but still there.
"I'm all right! I was just saying...ah, fuck it. Colonel, we need that help now if we're going to maintain control here."
"Understood, Mullen. We're five klicks out right now. We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Roger that."
"Cooper out."
We'd landed close to the camp, but far enough out that we weren't going to be attacked on foot right off the bat. The enemy aircraft overhead is what initially worried me, but now that Heat and his squadrons were covering our ass, I was hopeful we'd make it there okay.
It was once we arrived at camp that I knew things would get really tough.
I blew out an exhausted breath. It was time to see what shape my base had been left in.
