Chapter Seventeen: Shield

Time Unknown, July 3, 2561. In Formation Near UNSC Transport Ship Face the Stars, En Route to Sanghelios. Day One of the Enemy of My Enemy

The past several months hardly seemed real to Hawk. Through everything he and Cooper had endured as a couple over the years, he never could have predicted the series of events that had led them here, now.

She'd cheated on him with Ethan. Broken up, moved out, been demoted, and now...somehow, despite it all, they'd taken the first few steps to finding their way back to each other. It made him happy, and excited, but also apprehensive in some ways. Everything that came next would be a test for their relationship - to see if a reconciliation could really work. And admittedly, it had been great so far, but he knew they were still in the early stages. A lot could happen between now and the eventual outcome he hoped they'd achieve.

He also couldn't deny that a part of him was still hurt by what had occurred. Finding out about the kiss, along with Cooper's distant behavior on Puget, had been a tough blow - and once they'd gone home, the separation and the trial had just...exacerbated that. Cut it all open while the wound was still plenty raw. It had taken some long, hard thought into Natalie's remorse and changes to overcome that; to arrive at the idea that their marriage was perhaps salvageable after all, if they both wanted it enough and worked hard enough to save it.

As of now, he didn't regret his choice. He'd been much happier the last few weeks than he'd been during the miserable months they'd spent apart. In that time, he'd realized the damage they'd both done to each other, to their family, and he'd become ready to forgive his wife. But that didn't mean that the nagging thought that somehow their second chance might fail, too, didn't sometimes pop into his head.

Often at the worst times. Like now.

"Buddy, you gotta stop thinking about your girl," the major heard over the COM then, and he startled at first. Then smiled a bit.

"I can't," Willis replied, the giddiness clear in his voice. "I think I like dating my wife, man."

His best friend and wingmate, Captain Brandon Heat, snorted. "Well, just remember, she's got the wandering eye now."

"No, she doesn't," Hawk replied firmly. "Things back on Puget just...got out of hand."

"I know." His friend sighed over their private channel. "And if you've decided to forgive her, I guess I will, too. If I remember right, she stood by me through some pretty hard stuff as well."

"She did. She was ready to be your only pal after you almost killed me, so just...keep that in mind."

"Roger that. But if divorce is ever still on the table, I'm choosing you."

"Yup. Good to know."

Willis sincerely hoped it didn't come to that. He liked to think that he and Cooper were past that possibility now - or, at least, that it was further down the list. Only time would tell, though.

He did his best to rid his mind of the thought and, as he always did when he took flight, placed a gloved finger on the picture of his family taped to the cockpit. It was then that he noticed that Natalie's side of the image had been folded over to exclude her - something he'd done a while ago, in anger. He fixed that now, smoothing out the photo with both hands before returning to the task they'd been assigned.

Sit and wait for the Swords to arrive, he thought to himself as he and his air wing idled in space. This shouldn't be boring at all.

Even though nothing was going on yet, Hawk thought it couldn't hurt to hail his pilots. "Ladies and gents, this is Flight Leader. Looks like we're on light duty today - just wait and watch. Still, keep an eye on your boards and send a ping right away if anything seems out of place. Talon out."

The major glanced at his console as acknowledgment lights winked green. Finally, in order to pass the time, he decided to open a private channel to his wife, still aboard the Face the Stars.

The first thing he heard her do was release a bored sigh. It almost made him chuckle.

"What?" he said to her. "Are they there already? I didn't even see their shuttle fly out to dock yet."

"No," came Cooper's equally amused reply. "Just getting antsy, I guess."

Hawk grinned wide, exaggerating his tone. "Don't be. This'll be the smoothest transfer you've ever overseen in your career."

They bantered back and forth a moment longer before the brief conversation ran out. Willis was sure she had plenty on her plate right now, so he didn't push. They hadn't even said goodbye to each other before Hawk had flown out here with his air wing. He couldn't remember that ever happening before, regardless of how busy they were - a testament to the fact that no matter what, things still weren't quite where they used to be.

"Hey Talon, you seeing this?"

"What's that, Snoopy?"

"Well...look," his friend answered. "The Elites' ship is just sitting there."

Major Hawk furrowed his brow. "No fighters out yet?"

"No, sir. Not that I can see."

"That's odd."

He double-checked what he was seeing on his boards, then decided to tell Cooper. She in turn relayed it to the Stars' CO, Captain Dakhati, but Willis frowned when it was clear that the naval officer didn't share their trepidation.

Fine, Hawk decided. I'm taking matters into my own hands, then. Ultimately, it was up to him to keep his men and women alive.

"87th, this is Flight Leader. Prepare for possible engagement, and let's start fanning out."

Even as he pushed forward gently on the controls of his Broadsword, Hawk began to feel in his gut that he and Heat were right. There was nothing normal about this - they were here to board a friendly Sangheili vessel, for God's sake. The fact that the ship in front of them hadn't immediately signaled its ID to them was already a red flag. Now that the contact protocol the species had agreed to wasn't being followed...it left no doubt in the major's mind that this was a trap.

And that was before Seraphs suddenly began pouring out of the hangar bays, directly in front of and underneath the ship.

"This is good, right?" Heat said over their connection. "I mean, they're supposed to deploy their detail before - "

"No," Willis responded almost instantly. "It's not them." He switched to the general channel, making sure the personnel aboard the UNSC ship could hear him, too. "Stars, it's not the Swords!" he shouted. "Everyone, you're free to engage! Let's go!"

The first enemy streaks of plasma filled his starry field of vision then, coming awfully close to the right flank of his air wing's formation. That was enough for Hawk to issue his next order, only to his pilots this time.

"Split up by squadrons and return fire, now!"

Rapidly, whole sections of his air wing began peeling off and joining the fray. Two crafts on the side weren't fast enough, however, and became the first casualties of the fight. Hawk saw the twin explosions in his peripheral vision as he maneuvered.

Shit.

None of them had been expecting this. That much was clear.

Always hope for the best but anticipate the worst, he thought, surprising himself with his pessimism. It was new. It's what happens when your iron-clad marriage of fourteen years nearly breaks.

And it's what his craft almost did as well, as a hot lance of plasma came at him in the dark, forcing him to rapidly jerk his controls out of the way.

"All right, bogie," he said to himself in the cockpit, concentrating fully now. "Let's do this."

"I got your back, brother," Heat told him via COM.

"Always," Willis returned.

Hawk knew that beyond taking the Seraphs out, he also needed to keep them away from the ship. So he quickly pushed his controls downward, sending his Broadsword rushing away from the Seraph attacking him, hoping it would go off course and follow.

It did.

Willis smirked. "All right. Now we're talking."

Quickly he jerked the controls again, sending his F-41 into an elaborate spiral. It was a move he made in anticipation of the Seraph opening fire on him again - and he wasn't disappointed.

Never fly straight down when you've got the enemy on your tail, he recalled from flight school. The g-forces were another matter, though, and he knew he couldn't handle much more plus the spinning, or he'd puke and pass out. That's where Heat came in.

"Ready, Snoopy?" he asked over the COM.

"Ready!" his wingmate yelled.

Willis took in a sharp breath as he spun gracefully out of his final turn, then suddenly flew up. It confused the Seraph, just long enough to make the pilot realize that Hawk was no longer in front of him, and by the time the alien tried to correct course, Heat was on its six. The major watched on his boards as the enemy craft disappeared from his screen an instant later.

"Woo!" Brandon whooped. "The dynamic duo is back, baby!"

Hawk smiled, too, but still chided his friend. "Save it, Heat. We've got plenty more to go. Let's make sure they don't get through to our ship."

"Yes, sir."

Despite the circumstances, Willis had to admit that a part of him was glad to be back. There was nothing quite like dogfighting in space for a seasoned pilot.

As always with fights like these, he put his Broadsword through the paces, chasing after Seraphs just as often as he flew past them to get them to follow – eventually outmaneuvering them for the kill. Sometimes he'd blast them into debris with a single well-placed shot, and others he and his wingmate took them down together, a one-two punch that was impossible for the enemy to overcome. They'd been flying together long enough that in flight, at least, they'd almost become an extension of one another. It was a synergy not many other pairs had, and part of why they were among the best.

Hawk had just boosted past his latest target, only to loop around wide and turn back. The Seraph pilot was smart, though, and tried to fly up at him to meet him, hoping to catch him off guard, but Willis's thumb was already on the trigger of his missile suite.

"See ya."

A brief but brilliant flash of light emanated in front of him where the Seraph had been just a moment ago. It went from white to soft blue to gray before the darkness of space returned, showing him only purple wreckage on his flight path now. He flew through it before hailing the rest of his pilots.

"Squadron leads, sound off," he called out.

"Stars is fine so far, Flight Leader!" his XO, Captain Connor Adrian, replied. "We're taking 'em down, slowly but surely, and no one's gotten through so far."

"Excellent. Let's keep it that way."

Willis checked his boards again and found himself in a momentary reprieve. He took a deep breath after the insane rush of the last several minutes and pressed two fingers against his family's picture. You're safe, he thought as he glanced at his four kids, smiling back. And so's your mom.

Or at least that's what he thought. The next sound he heard – a shrill alarm from his console – came with a flashing red light, and sent his pulse skyrocketing. Without even realizing it, he yanked on his controls and sent himself immediately into a zigzagging flight pattern, thinking he'd been locked in on. But that wasn't the case, and it became apparent when he saw no one was chasing him.

Oh, no. No.

That meant the Covenant ship itself was gearing up for an attack.

Hawk scrambled to get back on the COM to his air wing. "Everyone disperse, now!"

In the moment he thought of Cooper, too, but he wasn't quick enough to warn her – or to send a message to the Stars' bridge. He just had to trust that Captain Dakhati would react fast enough.

All he could do was watch as the enormous salvo sped towards their UNSC transport. His heart rate spiked again, thinking of the pilots who'd be vaporized in its path – and the fact that Natalie might become a victim as well.

But she didn't. Because apparently, Dakhati performed a miracle; he'd gotten the Stars to move in time. The enemy round missed.

Willis sagged against his seat for a long second. Luck really was on their side. That was close, he thought to himself. Way, way too close. He opened his mouth to call out to his wing, but Heat's voice flooded the COM.

"Oh, shit! Talon, the ship's gearing up again. Second salvo coming in hot!"

Major Hawk had no time to react, as two Seraphs came swooping in just then, another huge, brilliant flash speeding past them in the dark. He maneuvered to his flank, away from the blast and away from the smaller enemy crafts gunning for him. From this position he could no longer see the UNSC ship – but seconds later, he found out the hard way that the second salvo had indeed found its target.

He'd just blown past the first Seraph, now part of the growing mass of debris out in space, when his Broadsword was forced off course by an intense wave of energy. He grit his teeth and held onto his flight controls tight, stabilizing the craft again shortly, but his heart pounded even faster.

That hit, he thought in alarm. Natalie's –

"Cavalry's here!" Heat called out then, and Hawk saw him jet past in his own craft, easily destroying the other Seraph that had been tailing him. Willis released a tiny sigh of relief, but it was short-lived.

"Snoopy," he said to his buddy, his voice nearly coming in gasps now from the fight. "The Stars got hit. We need to - "

"Willis."

The single word cut through his wingmate's transmission, and sent both warmth and anxiety rushing through Hawk at once. It was Cooper. She was okay.

But their ship very clearly wasn't.

"We've been hit," she announced, confirming what he already knew. He started to respond as much, but her voice sounded different. It was tense and trembling. Something was off.

"Natalie? What's wrong?"

It took her a while to respond.

"Uh, nothing. I'm just…we're just…"

"Cooper?"

"Well…I'm not exactly in the ship anymore. Our deck was breached. Some made it, but others..." He heard her swallow and go on before he could reply. "We need your guys' help, Will. Without any cover out here, we're - "

"Fucked," he finished, and he was surprised when she managed a strained chuckle.

"Yep. Yeah. So…send help."

"Already on it."

He was also surprised at how calm he sounded during their exchange. He certainly didn't feel that way on the inside. His wife was currently out in space. Even with his love of flying - and of zero-gee combat especially - he couldn't imagine that wasn't frightening.

And it was going to be tough to coordinate a rescue now as well, with a space battle between ships and starfighters going on at the same time. But Natalie and her Marines are in trouble. We'll find a way.

"87th, this is Flight Leader," Hawk said over the general channel then. "Stars, you're receiving this as well. We've got a group of Marines out in vacuum near the ship. Kilo and Victor Squadrons, form up around 'em and keep those Seraphs away from our friendlies. Do it quick, and do it now. The rest of you, stay on course."

As acknowledgment lights winked green on his console, Willis tried to hail his wife again.

"Natalie? Can you still hear me?"

"Yeah," she said, though her voice already sounded fainter. "I don't want to waste oh-two on conversation, though."

"Right. How long do you have?"

"About ten minutes left, I'm guessing."

Willis shut his eyes tight at the information, but somehow managed to keep his voice steady, for her sake. "Okay. I just wanted to let you know that we're on it. We've got your six."

"Thanks."

He took in a deep breath. "And I know you won't admit it, but I know you're scared. It'll be okay." He softened his tone even more then. "I'm here, Coop. You're not alone."