"Shouldn't be too far now, Lieutenant Harper." Baker noted from beside her. He was perched upon the tank chewing a ration bar as he watched her walk along, her eyes glued to the covenant intelligence like a hawk.
"Thank you, Sergeant." She replied, half listening, "you did well to capture these tanks."
"It was a stroke of genius on the Lieutenant's part, Ma'am. I had little to do with it."
"Is that so?" She asked, finally tearing herself away, "I'd be careful, Sergeant, admiration of our kind won't get you very far with the brass."
Baker snorted. "I'm a soldier, Ma'am. I do what the brass tells me but I don't do it for my career."
The man seemed almost put off by the insinuation that he might have personal goals and aspirations. Maddie liked that, it reminded her of her Grandfather. Admiral Harper always put his men first when he could. He had said his job didn't let him do it very often, which confused Maddie at the time but things were different now. They had been different for a long time now.
"Well then, Soldier, thank you for helping my colleague." She said, glad that she could hide her contempt behind her helmet.
Duggan, who was cleaning mud from his wrist plates chimed in, his curiously finally getting the best of him.
"Permission to speak, Ma'am?" He asked and Maddie knew he was smiling beneath his helmet. Sighing, she granted him permission with a delicate flick of her chin.
"I was just wondering what you were reading, Ma'am."
"It's classified." She replied, flatly.
"I know that, Ma'am." He said, amused, "I mean, are you reading that, or pretending?"
"Are you asking me if I can read Sangheili?"
Duggan paused, but realising he was in too deep to really back out now.
"Yes, I think I am."
A nearby private, the one he'd been good friends with, shook her head, expecting a reprimand. Maddie began to suspect that Duggan's cheeriness hid something more. All ODST and UNSC service personnel had some degree of curiosity in regards to ONI agents but Duggan had stuck by her like glue since they crossed paths after the drop. He didn't keep his distance like the others and he didn't seem to fear her in quite the same way.
"Bits and pieces" she lied, knowing that he wouldn't believe her for a second.
"They taught you?" He asked, nonchalantly.
The questioning was a little unnerving at this point, so Maddie decided to flip the table.
"No," she said with a chuckle, "I was raised by them, ONI found me when I was sixteen."
"ONI raised you?" He said, his mask of cheeriness slipping.
"No, the elites did, stole me, raised me as one of their own then ONI picked me up and finished the job."
"Oh, you're having me on." He groaned as Baker and a couple others burst into laughter. It was a testament to ONIs reputation that it was a semi-plausible explanation of her abilities, and it was one that, unfortunately, was more accurate than she liked to admit.
"That I am, Duggan." She said, grinning genuinely for the first time in a while, "although, it's not entirely untrue" she added, with a laugh.
Grayson, who seemed content to be left out of the conversation, walked just ahead of them, his squad on point as they approached the rest of the company. He seemed to listen and take stock as the men around him relaxed, which warmed him to Maddie as she watched him carefully.
Over the years, she'd developed a habit of watching people. It began with a teenage obsession with aloofness, and grew into an occupational necessity. Regardless, she realised she was quite proficient as she watched Grayson jog ahead slightly, his awareness highlighting a young trooper who seemed to be struggling out in front of him.
The others around her had taken to ribbing Duggan a little more, punishing him in the way the squaddies did to show acceptance. She left them to it, walking ahead towards Grayson until she strode beside him, tucking the data pad into her pack.
"Not one for banter, are we Sergeant?" She asked, nonchalantly.
The man bristled, he'd noticed what Maddie had, another pair of tanks in the distance with ODSTs manning the guns.
"I am," he replied, finally, "just not while I'm on the clock is all and certainly not when Spooks are involved.
Maddie frowned, not entirely because of the comment but because of just how far-off Katya's platoon was. The flatness of the terrain was going to be murder for much of the UNSC.
Grayson, who noticed her frown, fumbled about a bit. "Not that I meant any offense by that, Ma'am." He sputtered.
Under her helmet, she smiled, placing a hand on his back. "Sergeant, if I took offense to every slight someone made to me, I'd have had a breakdown before I finished basic."
"Good point" he said, relaxing a little.
"Besides, you're not wrong to be wary of us, Sergeant." Maddie shrugged and the man tensed a little, he seemed an emotional man for someone so capable in combat. "Where we go, trouble follows"
This made the man chuckle, to her surprise, "I always liked to believe that you followed trouble, helped me believe that you lot were a symptom, not a cause."
He looked at her, turning his helmet towards her as though he was searching for some kind of verification, a hint that his appraisal was correct. Naturally, he wasn't wrong in this case, but Maddie knew well enough that trouble followed in ONIs wake as much as they searched it out. She only needed to look as far as the SPARTAN project to find evidence for that.
"I didn't think you were so naive, Sergeant." She said, sardonically.
The trooper shook his head, "not naive Ma'am, wilfully ignorant."
That made Maddie laugh, "so you're an optimist?"
"Guilty as charged Ma'am."
"You know I think that's worse" she said, playfully, "leaves you open for a lot of disappointment at least."
"It probably is," he confessed, "but when we're at rock bottom, things can only get better, right? Being an optimist is about being good to your soul."
"I'll take your word for it, Grayson." She replied, searching for the merit in his words.
"What about you Ma'am, what's your outlook?" He asked, turning slightly towards her.
Maddie thought for a second, gazing into the horizon and the group of tanks that Katya had commandeered. "Ruthless pragmatism." She said at last.
Grayson nodded sagely, "I suppose that's a necessity for you ONI types."
"Maybe." She shrugged, noting that the unit had quietened, "but I think we will need all types of people to get us through this war, so don't get any funny ideas of cynicism."
"Yes, Ma'am" he replied, half seriously.
By now, the rest of F company was nearing. They sat on the main road out of Solar Fields in a small huddle, it was impressive that Katya had taken the tanks with as many men as Maddie had to destroy the AA guns. A tinge of worry gurgled in the pit of her stomach as she realised just how dangerous Katya could be when she really turned her sights on her. As they reached the junction where the two roads met, Denning and Katya approached, chatting vociferously about something.
"And I told you, Lieutenant" Denning spoke, loudly, "that we have a very delicate timetable, there is no reason beyond the ramblings of that private to look into the matter before we take the grove."
With a raised brow, Maddie approached, "is something the matter?" she asked the pair of them.
Katya looked as though she wanted to speak, her shoulders were hunched like a dog, its eyes glued to a ball. Rather, Denning cut her off pre-emptively, "No." he said flatly.
Maddie looked to Katya, who shook her head. Denning didn't like that the pair of them were questioning his orders and not taking him seriously, his armour seemed to steam with irritation as he reasserted himself over the rest of his staff.
"Until I have actionable proof that what the scout told me pertains to your mission, I will not relinquish command of my men to either of you. Lt. Volkovskaya, you are welcome to go alone but keep my men out of it." he spoke loudly, letting everyone know he was protecting them from ONIs interference.
So, you're no idiot, are you, Denning?
"Our orders are to hit the enemy in the flank and take the grove with E company, so that is what we will do. Harper, take point with third and fan out, we shouldn't be too far, now."
She nodded and turned, hoping that Katya would fill her in. Of course, she never did, and the Company moved slowly through the fields towards the growing sounds of fighting in the distance. All the time, Maddie was wondering if the news Katya had received was related to her mission. It ate and gnawed on her that she didn't know, she wanted to speak to Katya about it every time she saw her stalking through the long grass on her right.
After an hour, the sounds of battle grew louder and louder. As the sounds of battle sounded around them, Denning called the company to a halt as his scouts returned and he planned his attack from behind a tall hedgerow. Maddie jogged over to him with Katya in tow as the scouts made their report and Denning devised a plan. The three of them peaked through the brush at the lazily crafted defences of the covenant.
"Looks abandoned." Katya noted as she peered through the hedge with the beam rifle.
"Seer and E company's attack looks like a hail Mary" Denning said, his game face was truly on now. "And it will be if we fail to take advantage"
"So, we make it fast." Katya said, still watching the awkwardly defended covenant positions. "Sight their positions now, keep them pinned while our men rush them and then storm the road into the centre of the grove."
Denning considered this for a moment, "it's bold, I'll give you that, Lieutenant."
Katya ignored the compliment, "moving the tanks will be key, they need to be constantly harassing the front as our men push up."
"Danger close." Maddie said, "it's a risk, we should send one platoon on the attack and have the others guard and protect the tanks. That way we can minimise friendly fire."
Katya nodded, "then you're up, Harper."
Of course, I am…
It made sense; Katya could more easily direct the artillery than she could. Even still, it made Maddie doubt her chances of survival. She nodded at the pair who looked to her expectantly.
"Okay, what are the defences looking like?" she asked, trying to move past Katya's attempts to kill her.
"It's standard covenant defence." he said, pulling out a data pad, "small defensive pockets with towers and overlapping fields of fire."
Maddie looked at the map and then the positions in the field. "Okay, well there's cover on the left there, I suggest you use the artillery to confuse them and deploy second platoon to the right, here to draw their fire as we move in."
Much to her surprise, Katya agreed, and so did Denning. "Once we are into the woods, we will strike hard and fast into the grove, the tanks will be vulnerable so third will cover their left, and second their right. When we hit the centre of the grove, the area will be sunken and should give us an advantage as we press the attack. The jammers are the priority, then any guns defending the area. Shades, turrets, AA guns, whatever we find they come second to the jammers." the Captain said, matter-of-factly, his air of superiority fading as the fight drew near.
His ability to park ambition in times of conflict made Denning a shrewd operator and not to be messed with. His dirty work was done by morons and bullies like Davenport, people who have a use to him but no chance of advancing on their own. Essentially, people with nothing to lose. Denning directed everyone to their starting positions, and Maddie relayed the plan to her men, sparing no detail and being as clear and concise as she could.
"So, we're back on the frontline?" James asked, bitterly, ready to pounce.
"Yes. Captain Denning chose us for this because Lt. Volkovskaya proved herself as a tank commander, and they will play a critical role in the attack, we will do as the Captain asks and let her support us." she said, using the Captain's name to put Davenport off any sort of rebel action. Tansie and Grayson glanced between the two of them as they glared at each other. "Grayson, you're up front with me, stay close the rest of you and follow in waves." she said, moving on. "If there's nothing else, get into position." she said to her Sergeant's, "wait for my go."
They nodded and waited behind her, Maddie holstered her DMR on her back and drew her pistol, once again she'd be up close and personal with the covenant. She looked to her right, the wraiths were finished sighting their targets, humming expectantly as Denning stood tall for all of them to see. The covenant continued to laze around their post, unaware of what was coming. Denning looked to Katya, who nodded, her men positioned far off to the right, ready to serve as a distraction. Then he looked to Maddie, who, breathing deeply to control her breathing, nodded firmly in his direction.
His raised hand fell with a determined swipe and the right exploded into artillery fire. Maddie burst from cover and ran along the side of the field as second platoon began suppressing the enemy. As her feet pounded the grass, she saw Elites trying to flag the artillery, only to be blown apart from an intense volley of fire and giant blue balls of searing hot flame. Her heart pounded in her chest as a constant volley of artillery landed just in front of her, with each step growing closer and closer.
Something must have realised what was happening, now, because bolts of light streaked around her, the clack of guns from her rear guard smacked and chapped at those who tried to muster a defence. Her body moved with grace and speed out in front of her men, launching herself into the barricade of the defences as she slammed into it, ducking into cover before popping out and firing two deadly shots into the nearest grunt.
Around her, the artillery shifted, having wiped out many of the defenders it moved right, further along the line and preventing the rest of the covenant from counter attack or making any moves against them. Maddie, Grayson, and Duggan launched themselves into the area. Duggan's SMG mewled, tearing into an elite's shield before Maddie finished it off with a precise tweet from her own pistol. The position was almost clear, but the three of them had to duck as the rest of the platoon flooded the area.
"The shade!" she shouted to Tansie, "turn their position against them!"
Tansie nodded and his squad followed him through the position, moving like a well-oiled machine through the defences.
"Woo!" Duggan shouted, as the floating platform exploded into blue light.
Maddie crouched at the edge, ready to move, when a bolt of blue light streamed overhead. She turned and saw a trooper collapse in the dirt behind her. Shaking the image out of her head, she looked around to Tansie, who had taken control of the turrets and spun them around.
"Get ready to move!" she shouted to Grayson and Davenport.
Tansie opened up, plastering the enemy with purple rounds as they gave Maddie cover. Nodding to the men around her, she led the way, vaulting the barricade and running parallel to the treeline, straight at the enemy defences. She pulled a grenade from her belt and lobbed it, the blue mist of the plasma throwing up dirt and debris ahead of her as she again slid into cover. The men followed more closely this time, throwing themselves into the fray, following her lead. This position was more organised. As she slipped around the barricade, she saw the bodies of two more of her men laid out in front of her. She pushed on, grunting as an explosion threw her forward.
"Lieutenant?!" a voice called.
Her vision blurred, she could only make out a helmet, staring her down.
"Keep. Pushing." she groaned.
More shouting and voices followed; in the back of her head, she knew it was Grayson. Her eyesight began to clear but she clutched the pistol tightly.
The earth she sat on rumbled and shook violently beneath her as she pulled herself to her feet.
"Ma'am?" came a voice.
"I'm fine." she lied, "shaken is all."
After a few more blinks she watched as the tanks pounced, moving up the road and obliterating the last position as her men cleared the position.
"You still green?" Duggan asked, steadying her.
"Yeah," she said, rubbing her head.
The world seemed to come back into focus all at once. The fighting was over and the men were pushing ahead, she could see Second Platoon moving off to the right and the tanks leading the way into the forest.
It was a thin band of trees, about two-hundred metres deep, the road ran straight to the grove and around its edge, so long as they didn't lose one, they'd have a massive advantage over the enemy when they arrived at the grove itself.
"Form up!" Denning shouted from the middle tank, "Move it, Harper, time is running out!"
Maddie grimaced; she was his equal in rank. Still, he wasn't wrong. She'd only been winded it seemed, and it would take more than that to stop her. She took off after her men, jogging with them through the forest until the sound of an encampment filled their silent formation. The camp came into view between the thinning trees as she came beside Grayson, who was at the front of the formation as usual, with Duggan following closely behind.
"E company are getting hammered," someone whispered, "can you hear that?"
Maddie could, it was the sound of a massive battle encroaching on the base. The covenant was watching the treeline to their right like hawks. The fighting grew close and several elites emerged before diving into the sunken pit. It was massive, easily enough for a command tent and space for a pelican. It was sunk into the grove, a large clearing that had fallen down into a reservoir, forming a marshy surface that the covenant had built an encampment on top of using plasma shields and metallic decking.
"When the fighting starts, I'm going for the Jammer." Maddie whispered to Grayson, "Keep them off my back, okay?"
"How the helldo you plan on that?" he asked.
"Speed and stealth." she shrugged.
"Ma'am, think about this, we will take the jammer when we reach it. There's no reason to push your-"
"Noted, Sergeant." she replied, tersely.
As the Elites waited for E company to show up, Maddie watched in fascination as they stood rigidly waiting, their discipline on full display for the waiting company. She needed that jammer gone so that she could get the data appraised properly and talk to Drake. She wanted his experience right now. Everything seemed more complicated than it had all those years ago and she felt as though she was failing to keep up with expectations. Katya was certainly proving herself capable.
Positioning herself behind a tree, she waited.
Finally, she heard it, the chatter of ballistics weaponry echoed into the covenant camp and they returned fire. Denning saw his chance and ordered everyone forward and into the exploding mass of energy weapons fire. Maddie was well out in front now; she already left the clearing and was running across the road as the first plasma shells fell on the enemy. One detonated in front of her and she slid into the aftermath, falling several feet with great skill and landing deftly onto her feet without a sound.
Explosions rocked the world around her as she made her way through the camp. Several grunts ran at her as they realised that a flanking manoeuvre had been made. Giving no quarter, Maddie fired once for each bumbling Unggoy and moved on as troopers spilled into the clearing behind her. She felt bullets whiz overhead as she moved systematically, checking every corner for the enemy but maintaining a consistent pace.
A jackal spotted her, forcing Maddie to dive to her right and behind a low wall. She glanced the way she came as green plasma burned and cooked her cover and watched troopers drop into the pit from all sides. The artillery fire became more sporadic and more accurate, focusing on specific pockets of resistance as men flooded the area.
She popped out of cover and shot it in its hand. It recoiled in pain, squawking as it clawed at the purple stump that used to hold a plasma pistol. Her gun yelped and the buzzard fell backwards, laid out and dead as a trooper jogged up behind her.
"Thought you might need a hand reaching the jammer, Ma'am" said Duggan as he knelt beside her while she reloaded, "but I can see you don't exactly need it."
"Stay close." she said, getting to her feet.
They moved together through the camp, now completely overrun until they came to a small section of defences, over which towered a large set of jamming equipment. Maddie nodded to Duggan, who raised his SMG, and they moved into the clearing. Firstly, Duggan filleted a couple of grunts to their right while Maddie kicked a jackal in the back and executed it as it squirmed around on the floor. Next, Duggan moved to the jammer, pulling explosives from his belt and placing them on the jammer.
Then two Elites rounded on him. Maddie lurched, her stomach seemed to scream as she bundled the closest one over, forcing the other to swipe at Duggan with its foot, knocking him back into a wall and leaving her to face them alone.
The creatures grinned as Maddie holstered her weapon and dropped into her fighting stance, drawing the war axe clipped to her belt. If they thought she would be easy prey, they had another thing coming.
They charged forward, their hooves pounding the dirt as they rushed her. Maddie was ready for it, side stepping the wild swing of the closer Elite and slamming the blade downwards onto the back of its shoulder. It yelped and Maddie spun away, leaving the axe buried in its back. As it hunched over, the second Elite thrust its blade out, trying to skewer her as she stood ready and defenceless. Throwing herself to the side, she grunted, only to hear the Elite roar with hatred as its blade sliced through its friend's armour and poked through its thigh with a hiss. Maddie charged. Seizing the opportunity, she bundled into the Elite as it tried to dislodge the blade and knocked it over, the impact winding her as she scurried away, her lungs heaving as she hauled herself to her feet. The second Elite rolled over and tried to stand. Maddie rushed the wounded one, ripping the axe from its shoulder and pulling it down over her head, crunching it into the monster's neck with an ear-splitting crunch. Its war brother roared again as it slumped to the ground, dead. It ignited a second, smaller blade from its wrist and circled her. Thinking quickly, Maddie drew her pistol and fired seven times in rapid succession, melting its shields as it stood stunned for a moment, surprised that she was even standing. Again, it growled, and charged her. Maddie knew, in the back of her mind that she was going to get hurt.
Come on then, let's have it.
She stepped into the path of its smaller wrist blade and spun. A searing icy chill burned in her shoulder as she threw herself to the ground. The blade, acting as an anchor, pulled the great beast down with her as she rolled. It slammed over her head and onto the ground with a thump that could be heard even over the sounds of fighting. It lay there for a second, dazed. Maddie stood, picked up the blade and looked down at the Elite as it groaned. Activating it, she pushed it slowly into its chest, their eyes meeting as the life drained from its eyes. Maddie stood, breathing heavily, and she turned to see Duggan sitting against the wall of the barricades and next to him, Sergeant Grayson. Neither of them moved and she shook her head as she turned back to the jammer.
Her arm burned like it had been dipped in freezing acid or engine coolant; she tried to ignore it as she discreetly plugged Walsingham into the jammer. A timer popped up on her HUD and Maddie crouched, noticing for the first time that the sounds of battle were subsiding. Looking around, she saw troopers mopping up the remnants of the Covenant, the Elites were nowhere to be seen, all of them felled as a matter of priority. There was a loud bang as a grunt blew itself up and a series of shouts echoed about the camp.
Maddie crouched over the Elite with the wrist blade, taking its arm in her hands and twisting it, looking intently at the device strapped there. It seemed to rest magnetically upon the armour of its wielder and Maddie, grinning a little, tugged it loose. She would have Walsingham scan it to see if she could make use of it but for the moment, her mind was on the jammer. Major Seer, Captain Denning and Captain Ren approached just as the jammer crackled and hissed. Maddie pulled Walsingham out of the unit and it fried its electronics in a whizzing display of electrical malfunction. A flood of comms chatter flooded into their helmets, with some men pulling them clean off. The sounds were a mass of screaming, yelling, hopeful realisation and doomed shouting and Maddie found herself pulling her helmet free from her shoulders too as the Battalion CO approached.
"Excellent work, Harper." he said, grinning, his eyes flashing hopefully, "it'll take a while for everyone to realise comms are back up but we can finally get a real push going for the city."
"Thank you, Sir," she replied, breathlessly.
He nodded and replaced his helmet, Captain Ren of E company followed, and so did Denning. He took a long look at her and the corpses at her feet and left her to it, backing away from her cautiously as he followed the rest of the commanders. It was the look he gave her that made Maddie realise that he wasn't the only one staring. Most of F company were watching her, standing and looking at the tear in her shoulder. The blade had cut away the fabric around her tattoo, she realised, self-conscious all of a sudden. She picked up her things and stalked away, heading into the woods for some peace and quiet.
She found a nice tree to sit under, and grimaced as her wound rubbed against the thick bark. It wasn't her intention to reveal the tattoo but the men's fascination with her was a little unsettling. It might have been a particularly ornate piece of design but you could never know what was beneath it unless you knew what to look for.
Maddie sighed and put the helmet back on her head.
"Hello, Ma'am." Walsingham said, dryly.
"Hello, Wally." she replied, flatly, noticing the cool breeze for the first time as it played at the bare skin on her now exposed shoulder.
"I was unable to tap the covenant battle net from the jammer. It was a long shot but we at least managed to bring down the entire network holding our advance hostage."
"What's the damage? How's the offensive going?"
"Well, the good news is that the fourth armoured had a
more success than we have. The ODST in the region got lucky and hit the jammer within an hour of landing."
Maddie nodded, that was good news, it meant that even if the 7th were bogged down, a breakthrough was still possible,
"What's the bad news?"
"The 42nd ODST infantry battalion has taken losses in excess of fifty five percent."
Maddie's throat dried up.
Fifty-five percent?
"A-and the 7th?"
"Not quite as bad."
That didn't make sense, the seventh were fighting on an exposed plain south of the city, with no comms and the 42nd behind schedule they must have been sitting ducks.
"How did they manage that?"
"Captain Drake provided overwatch from the Enigma in atmosphere and directed fire missions for aircraft using old shortwave radios."
"Well… that's a silver lining at least."
"Indeed." Walsingham noted, "he is available and expecting your report."
"Patch him through." she said, yawning. Her fatigue was only now showing and she knew it was going to be a long time before she got any rest of note.
It took a few moments but Maddie managed to stop yawning before Drake's voice spilled into her ears.
"Maddie?" the thick Scottish accent asked.
"Don't you mean Lieutenant?" she chuckled.
"Oh, er, of course" he replied, laughing, "It's good to hear your voice. It's been a long day."
"tell me about it" she groaned.
"Are you alright, lass?" he sounded concerned.
Maddie smiled; he was struggling to treat her like just another agent. It seemed as though shed' really made an impression on the man. "I'm fine, just narrowly avoided becoming an Elite's shish kebab"
"Get yourself checked out, I can't afford to be an agent down." he replied, darkly.
"Roger that, boss," she said, grimacing.
Drake sounded unconvinced, "Lt. Volkovskaya sent me her report separately, I assume that means that things aren't going very well?"
"She hates me."
Drake laughed, "and with good reason. You were rash at the academy, and short sighted. Parangosky saw fit to punish you for it."
Maddie just groaned in reply, "I… did what was necessary."
"To win personal glory." Drake replied, not missing a beat, "the whole reason that we don't win valedictorian is to prove that we don't care about what other people think, that we are willing to put pride aside to do the job quietly."
Maddie remained silent. She knew that but… she needed to prove that she was every bit the fighter that people believed her to be. To her, it wasn't about glory, it was about meeting expectations.
"Yes, sir." she said, quietly.
"So, what have you got for me?"
Thankful that she wouldn't be made to feel regretful for doing what she did, Maddie eagerly threw herself at the new conversation, detailing her exploits as factually as possible right up until it came to the discovery of the covenant data pad.
"Hmm..." Drake noted. Maddie could hear scrambling and rustling in the background, as though Drake was surrounded by notes and was rifling through them as he searched for something, "I've had multiple instances of this cropping up." he said.
"What is cropping up?" Maddie asked, trying to break Drake from the fervent state of concentration he obviously found himself in.
"Other agents have reported that the covenant seems particularly interested in the geology of this continent. Somehow, as you suggested, there seems to be some theological interest there..." he trailed off again.
"Do you think the 'gift' is buried?" Maddie speculated, looking up at the sky to wherever she thought Drake might be.
"I mean it's possible. We're running out of time to find out though and our best lead is still the Nazari's" he paused, "that being said, Katya mentioned that first platoon reported to her a few hours ago."
"Jack's alive?" she beamed, "where is he?"
"Defending something he believes the covenant wants."
In that moment, Maddie didn't care that Katya had withheld that from her, or why Jack had seen fit to abandon his objectives.
"What did he find?" she asked, quickly, her hands trembling.
"Some kind of device. It's not enough to go on; it's worth a look at, though."
"Denning will not give up command for that." she sighed, her shoulder stinging as it sank.
"No. I doubt he will, but you can probably convince Major Seer to let you take a fireteam to go find him. I'll send a target designator and a direct line to a pilot for CAS."
"Yes sir, I can do it."
"Good. Send me the files and I'll get to work translating and decrypting them, in the meantime, keep your head down and make sure you get to Solar Fields."
"Aye, Sir!" she said grinning. Pulling herself to her feet, Maddie felt reinvigorated. Her mood was buoyed by her friend's survival. All the stress she had felt about Katya and Denning, about the mission and the urgency to find the gift… none of it was important to her as she stalked towards Major Seer.
All that mattered, was that he was alive. She would save him.
She would save her friend.