Chapter Eleven: Wounded Pride

0702 Hours, May 22, 2561. UNSC Chariot Naval Air Base, Desmond, Regent State, Planet Mars. Inner Colonies. Prologue to the Enemy of My Enemy

After my usual workout, I spent a good twenty minutes pulling my colonel's insignia off all my uniforms, replacing it instead with the old silver oak leaf of an LTC. The eagles I placed in a small box at the back of my closet; I didn't want to be reminded of what I'd achieved, and what I'd now had taken away. It was too hard to face.

Later I said goodbye to Chief for the day, leaving him in the care of a dog sitter again, and headed for base.

Dressed in my battledress this morning, I felt more like myself than I had in a long time. I came to a stop and handed over my credentials to the MP at the gate. He scanned them with his datapad, passed them back, and then waved me through.

"You're clear, ma'am. Have a good day."

"Thank you, Sergeant."

I drove through the base's narrow, winding roads until I reached my regimental office, which overlooked one of the large PT fields. I adjusted my cover before leaving my car, and got a number of salutes as I walked across the grounds, which I returned. Once inside the building I made my way to the end of the corridor, and that's where I finally stopped and took a deep breath.

The insignia of the 52nd Combat Regiment - my regiment - was pressed into the center of the door, with our unit designation above it, and the words "Commanding Officer: COL Natalie Cooper" in a removable nameplate just beneath it.

My heart dropped as I stared. It was yet another reminder of the fact that I'd been busted down a few days ago.

I swallowed down the hurt and went inside. Everything was exactly as I'd left it before deployment, and that made it hard to come back here as well - because nothing else was the same. I dropped my bag in the corner, then took a seat behind my desk and noticed the family picture framed beside my COM console. It was Willis, and me, and all four of our kids - including a smiling baby Logan - all looking well and content. That was the hardest thing of all to see. I quickly turned the photo outward, facing it away from me. I couldn't take all this heartache and reminders of what I'd lost all at once.

Thankfully, before I got too involved in the past, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," I said, and Major Brewer made her way inside.

She stopped before my desk and saluted. "Colonel. Welcome back."

"Thanks, Dani." I returned the salute and gestured at her. "At ease. It's good to be back."

My XO relaxed her stance, then smiled nervously. "To be honest, I'm just glad the top job's no longer mine. I don't know how you managed all this when you were pregnant with your son, after Charleston and Savannah."

I chuckled. "Not easily. But you do what you have to."

"Yes, ma'am."

"How far along are you now?"

"Eleven weeks. Still on the early side, but things seem to be going okay so far."

"And how are you feeling?"

"Well, the morning sickness isn't fun. But it's starting to abate now."

"Good to hear." I leaned back in my chair. "So, what's the scoop? I'm ready when you are."

"Yes, ma'am. I've sent the report to your datapad with the details, but the short of it is, we're readjusting well now that we know for sure you're back. On the ONI side, though, I hear the brass is scrambling at the moment to find a replacement for Commander - uh, Lieutenant - Ackerson. After the trial, I mean."

I nodded. "Not surprising." Spooks weren't a dime a dozen, especially so many years after the Human-Covenant War had ended. It would take time to replace Ethan.

Brewer's expression changed then. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. I know the results probably weren't...what you were expecting."

"I don't know what I was expecting, truthfully. I guess I'm lucky in a way that I received the punishment I did, and not something worse." Which I had no doubt would've happened if I'd been found guilty of adultery instead. I could've been a major right now, with no command and tossed into a brand-new unit - or thrown out of the Corps entirely. As upsetting as it was to find myself demoted, I had no illusions that it couldn't've been a lot worse.

"Well, I just...I know what Caleb went through when you guys got back, and I can't imagine going through the aftermath of something like that alone. I...can understand a little of why you felt the need to turn to someone."

I shook my head. "Still doesn't excuse what I did. But thanks. And thank you for agreeing to testify for me, by the way."

"Of course."

"Anyway - the regiment? Where are they now?"

"Field exercises, ma'am. In the woods a few klicks from here."

"Well, Major, in that case, I suppose we should go drop by," I said with a small grin.

Brewer's face lit up, too. "Yes, ma'am."

Once we'd donned full gear, including helmets and armor and weapons, a driver took Brewer and I to the training site in one of the 'Hogs. I could already hear the weapons fire and occasional explosions as we pulled up by the rear formation. As soon as the young PFC came to a halt, I turned to face my second-in-command.

"We'll take it from here, Dani. Stay safe."

She nodded. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'll keep myself out of trouble."

The driver waited for her to dismount, then was about to push forward at my signal when Brewer tapped hard on the side of the vehicle, stopping him.

"Yeah?" I asked.

She leaned in close to talk above the noise, rifle already pulled down off her shoulder and in her hands. "I forgot to tell you that Harris's replacement, Major Murphy, is here now, Colonel. He should be further ahead at the CP, if you wanted to meet him."

"I do. Thanks."

My XO nodded again, and then we were off once more.

Shortly after dropping Brewer off, I heard her announce over the COM that we were inbound. Some of the live-fire training closest to us died down for a bit, but on our flanks, the remainder of the Marines continued, and I had to admit I sort of basked in the sounds of combat momentarily. It'd been a long time since I'd been in the thick of things - not since Puget, in fact. It felt good in a way. Familiar.

Finally, after driving through the forested area and the slightly bumpy terrain underneath, we reached a small shack that I guessed was the designated command post for this exercise. I got out, thanked the driver, and brought my rifle to bear as I spotted some enemy holograms in the distance. They were far out, yet still within range, and I finally got to fire off a few rapid bursts at them with my DMR. They quickly fizzled out of existence, and I slung my rifle back over my shoulder as I jogged to the door.

I was immediately met with stares when I pulled off my helmet, followed by salutes with only a slight delay. Major Wayne Mullen, commander of my buddy Oliver's 904th Infantry Battalion, stepped forward first.

"Colonel Cooper. Welcome back."

"Thank you, Wayne. How are we all doing? What's going on?"

"Major Brewer sent us out on field ops today after PT," he answered. "The whole 52nd is here. Doing some combat training in wake of the recent rumors about some shit going down on Sanghelios."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What shit?"

Mullen shook his head. "You'll have to ask the spook about the specifics, ma'am. I just know there's been word from the brass that they're looking to send a unit out sometime soon."

At that I frowned. Ethan had been right about what had happened on Puget. The rebels had indeed retaken the portal site with the Prometheans...and it sounded like they might have even already put it to use.

I ran a hand over my hair in frustration. "Fuck."

"There's no orders out yet, ma'am. Brewer just wants us to be prepared."

I nodded, but given everything that had happened lately - between me and Willis, and the kids, and the trial - I honestly couldn't even wrap my head around having to deploy again right away. We hadn't even been back two whole months yet.

"Anyway, as I'm sure Dani told you, we finally got our replacement for Major Harris in," Mullen went on. He pointed at the door. "He left a second ago. He should still be out back."

I gave the major another curt nod in acknowledgment, then went to look for Murphy. I was surprised when I nearly walked right into him - he was busy crouching on the ground, pulling grenades out of a crate.

"Major John Murphy? I'm Lieutenant Colonel Natalie Cooper, your CO. Welcome to the regiment."

He turned around slowly, looked up at me through his visor, and gave a snort. Eventually he stood, two frags in one hand with his submachine gun in the other, barrel pointing down. He lifted his chin at me, but didn't salute.

"Formerly Colonel Cooper?" he asked. I noticed he had an Australian accent.

"That's the one."

He snorted again. "Heard you had an affair with one of your ONI operatives. Thankfully not the married one, although you yourself are. So why should I trust someone like that in the field?"

I had to admit, I didn't have an answer to that. I swallowed, putting my hands on my hips as I looked at the ground.

"I'll admit that I've...made some mistakes as of late." I glanced up again and met his gaze, noticing his eyes were blue. It was just about all of him I could see with all his gear on. "But that business is my own, and it's over and done with now, and it wasn't an affair. As for the rest, I'll have to earn your trust. Nothing I say will change your mind until you see how I work."

Murphy thought that over for a long moment before nodding. "Fair enough. You regulars always did have poor discipline anyway." He still didn't salute me, although he did hold out his hand now. "Jack."

I took his hand and shook it.

"I'm sorry about...Major Harris, was it? The man I'm replacing? He sounded like a good bloke."

That brought up way too many feelings I just didn't have the emotional inventory to handle right now. So I settled for a simple reply.

"Yes. He was."

I missed my former battalion XO a lot. Shawn had been a good friend of mine, and a damn good Marine. He'd died a hero, trying to rescue the remainder of the prisoners in the rebel facility Cal and I had been held at for weeks. Laraza had caught him, though, and shot him point-blank in the head, execution style. The rebel leader had broadcast it for everyone in the facility to see, so I'd been witness to the horror even if I hadn't wanted to be. Just another reason we needed to find that bastard and lock him up again.

At my words, Major Murphy just gave a nod of his head. "Too bad he's gone, then."