Author's Note: Whew! Sorry about the long wait. No excuses, just took a while to get out.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Anything But Routine

"Laraza's here," Willis commented once I'd returned to our quarters. He was sitting at the expansive desk in the room - awkwardly tall for a human - with his datapad in hand, which he now set aside. "Now I know why you were so quiet last night when you got back."

I didn't respond right away. I'd just come from a strained conversation with Majors Mullen and Murphy in the makeshift CP, on top of my long chat with Sennu this morning; I wasn't exactly in the mood for more talk. Instead I stepped past his chair to my sea bag, where I'd dumped my helmet, gloves, rifle, and some other gear I'd need for the patrol. Even more so now after the briefing, I was anxious to get down to the real work.

As I was stashing stuff away in my web belt and cargo pockets, hunched over my bag, Willis got up and stopped in front of me, arms folded across his chest.

"Natalie?"

I glanced up. "Yeah?"

"What are you planning on doing if you see him?"

"Willis, please. Let's not do this now."

"What are you going to do?"

The sudden tightness in his voice told me he was upset. I finished up with the few things I'd be taking with me, then stood and released a heavy sigh. Finally I put my hands on my hips and lifted my gaze again, and our eyes met.

We stood there a moment before I surprised him, leaning in to kiss him full on the lips. Though confused, he kissed me back.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to," I said softly.

He furrowed his brow at me but said nothing, until I turned away.

"Cooper - "

"I promise I'll try to stay safe. We should be back soon."

And with that, I hefted my pack and left the room.

After checking in one last time with my battalion commanders - and Mark - about the state of affairs around the keep, I met with my XO by the entrance. I felt a little bad about how I'd left things with Willis, but there'd be time to talk about any apprehension he felt when I got back. For now, I needed to get out of my head for a while and just do.

"We all set, Major?" I asked Delaney as I pulled on my helmet, and he nodded.

"Ready to move at your command, ma'am."

"All right. Let's go."

We took off in the opposite direction of the keep this time, away from the field we'd landed in the night before. Now in the daylight, I could see and appreciate the landscape of the Elite's homeworld – or at least this part of it. It was beautiful, all green grass and clear skies, with a surprisingly temperate climate. It made it hard not to think about my talk with Sennu; I imagined how differently the war may have gone if we'd known more about the Sangheili back then. I didn't think it could have been completely averted, but maybe our species could've allied sooner. Saved a few planets and billions of lives. We'd never know.

"Colonel? Can you hear me?"

Delaney's voice over the COM finally drew me from my thoughts.

"Go ahead, Major," I responded.

"I was just saying things look pretty calm out here, ma'am, considering last night." He hesitated then. "If you don't mind me saying, you seem a little distracted."

I gave a short, self-deprecating snort over our shared channel. "Not intentional. I was just thinking about my meeting with the lady of the keep this morning."

"Oh, yeah? What'd she say, if I may ask?"

"Got a tour of the place. Saw a lot of their kids and their gardens. I mean, if you'd told me ten years ago that this is what the Elites were like at home, I would've laughed in your face."

"Wow. That sounds…"

"Different than everything we ever imagined about them?"

"Yeah."

I gripped my rifle tighter in my hands as I walked. "Well, I definitely never would've thought the Sangheili would make better allies than members of our own species."

"Copy that, Colonel."

As we continued the march I found myself surprised at the lack of activity as well. This was unusual, especially considering we now knew Laraza was dirtside.

"Stay sharp, Marines," I said over the COM. "Things aren't likely to remain like this."

I watched as the troops ahead of us began to move more slowly. We were back in the woods for now, but I could see that some of Delaney's Marines had already made it to a clearing up ahead.

For a while nothing happened. I felt the warmth hit me as soon as I stepped back into the sunlight.

And an instant later, one of the men beside me was sniped through the head.

I heard it and felt it rather than saw, and maybe that was worse. There was an echoing ping as the bullet entered the Marine's helmet and then exited, and the piercing of flesh when it went through his brain. His blood sprayed onto my uniform sleeve and all over the ground.

I immediately threw myself into the grass - and before I even landed, Gunny York was on me, shielding me from any more shots.

"Major, what's our situation?" I yelled into the COM channel.

"Rebs, ma'am! They've got eyes on the field!"

A second crack sounded, and another Marine, further ahead in the column, dropped.

Gritting my teeth, still under much of York's weight, and I shouted, "Delaney, move them forward!"

"On it!"

We could move up or back, but we couldn't stay here. And I wasn't about to order a retreat just yet. The only other option then was to run straight through the small field.

"Up, up!" I said to York, tapping his side hard, and he finally rose to a crouch and pulled me up.

Ahead of us, Delaney's whole point column was rushing towards the incoming fire. More Marines began to fall.

Through it all my heart pounded in my chest, more due to fear than the run. I felt like I'd just made an enormous mistake. We could easily be slaughtered out here.

"Colonel! What do you want us to do?" my XO shouted.

"Just make it to the trees!" I called back.

Of course that was easier said than done. A bullet whizzed past my head, making me duck as I ran, but I didn't slow my pace. My hide was on the line so I didn't dare. Instead I zigzagged, holding my rifle tight to my chest, my security detail surrounding me as best they could as they, too, hoofed it to the line of trees where the forest resumed.

I didn't really register much as I ran, other than the urgency to move forward and get to safety. That singular focus was shattered once I actually made it to the trees, and one last shot hit the earth right behind me.

That was two close calls already.

I paused then, breathing hard. We were out of sight again, but I knew that wouldn't last.

Delaney was beside me in short order.

"Ma'am, whatever element of surprise we had just went out the damn window."

"I'm aware of that, Major." I shook my head, frustrated. "And we can't rush back out there, either."

Shit. We needed to get a good look at what was left of the temple and its surroundings. But the rebels were clearly not going to make this easy – especially since they had reinforcements waiting in the wings now.

This recon had just gotten a whole lot trickier.

I keyed the COM as I went down on one knee, detail around me. "Marines, stay sharp and hold for now."

Seeing our dilemma, Caleb jogged over as Delaney's men formed a perimeter at my order and fanned out.

"Colonel, I think I've got an idea on how to circumvent this without risking the whole battalion."

I gestured openly with my arms. "Let's hear it."

"Send me out to get a good read," he said. "We weren't expecting so much resistance this far out from the temple. I can at least give you a better look of what we're up against, without us getting shot."

I snorted. "But you'd be the one getting shot."

"Yes, ma'am. But just one person's going to be harder to spot."

"Cal, I can't – "

"Let me do this, ma'am. Please."

Releasing a sigh, I wracked my brain for a moment and honestly didn't see another way. The woods only lasted for so long, and then the entire battalion would be exposed again. And time was of the essence – they knew we were here, so we couldn't stay parked for too long. I just needed to know what was out there before deciding on a plan of action. "Okay, Commander. Go."

Lloyd nodded and took off. I exchanged a quick glance with Delaney then, who only stared back. Neither of us knew if this would work – or if I'd just sent my best friend to his death.

Waiting wasn't my MO, and so I found it hard to essentially sit on my laurels while I waited for news from my buddy. It was getting hot underneath my uniform jacket and armor, so I rolled up the sleeves and then pulled up my helmet's visor for a moment, wiping the sweat off my face. Even the silence was stressful – I knew if a single shot rang out, it'd likely mean something horrible for Caleb.

I felt like I didn't even breathe again until amazingly, he came back unharmed.

"All right, Colonel," he said, crouching beside me with his rifle in his hands, barrel pointed down. "I've got a fix for you. But you're not going to like it."

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

He let out a sigh. "They've got this end of the forest painted. That's a given. However, that also means most of their resources are aimed in this direction. They've got their six covered as well. But their flanks are wide open."

I frowned. "That's got to be by design. Why would they do that?"

"Lack of resources? Even their new unit wouldn't give them the numbers for a heavy defense on all sides. That's our only shot at getting through to the temple and taking a look."

I mulled it over for a moment. It sounded like a good in. And that was exactly why I didn't trust it.

I keyed the COM then, decision made. "Delaney, it's Cooper. Keep half the batt here in reserve. The rest of us are going to flank around. Our spook says we've got an in, but after that clumsy entrance, I want all our bases covered."

"Yes, ma'am."

My frown deepened as I used my HUD to bring up a small map of the area. The woods extended all the way out to the right, but then to move forward, we'd be exposed once again. The left approach was worse, with the treeline ending in a poor location. At least I won't be putting everyone in harm's way again, I thought.

"Marines, we're on the move. Head through the trees on the right flank. We'll have cover most of the way there, but then our asses'll be hanging in the wind, so get ready."

Acknowledgment lights winked green and I replaced the map with normal vision again. I wasn't entirely convinced this would work – but I was confident it'd be our best option.

While my XO stayed behind with half of his unit, I moved forward with the rest, Cal included. I was counting on the rebs not wanting to make any rash moves and avoid a full-on assault on the woods. So we had some time, even if it'd be brief.

It wasn't at all how I'd wanted this to go. But now that we were here, I had to manage the hand we'd been dealt.

Opening a private channel to my XO as we moved, I said, "Major Delaney?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"See if you can keep the rebs on your end on their toes. Do not risk anyone. But get some sharpshooters on the line by the trees and have 'em take a couple shots. If nothing else it might keep their heads down, and hopefully focus their efforts there."

"Understood."

Not long after I heard gunfire at our back, the sharp cracks of sniper rifles echoing through the forest - ours this time. I hoped the small distraction would work. The rebels knew where Delaney's group was, but not that we had splintered off - and were currently headed for their weakest point. It was a definite gamble. One I prayed would pay off.

When we got to the edge of the trees, I almost let out a sigh of relief when I heard the grin in my buddy's voice.

"We're good, ma'am," he said over the COM. "The guards the rebs had on this end must've been waved off to focus on the front. Looks like they're spread very thin out here."

"Excellent," I replied. "Let's move."

We still kept our wits about us as we ran quickly through the field and into enemy lines. My heart was pounding in my chest throughout the maneuver, but it finally died down again as I realized we'd made it.

Up ahead, I could see the ruins.

"Goddamn. They fucking leveled this place."

"We've known that since Mars, sadly," I replied. That's how this whole thing started.

"Yeah, but...shit. It's different seeing it up close."

Cal was right. I'd seen pictures of the place before the rebs had arrived, while we'd been in transit. A once-beautiful and grand ancient building was now nothing but a huge pile of rubble - broken chunks of architecture and Sangheili history just lying in a field. I found myself getting angry at the scene before me, and I wasn't even an Elite. Why our fellow humans had chosen to do this - to start yet another war with an enemy turned unsteady ally we knew was formidable, when we were already fighting each other - was beyond me.

Finally I sighed. "Instead of being grateful we didn't all become extinct eight years ago, here we are - poking at the hornet's nest."

"Ma'am?"

"Nothing, Commander. Let's keep going."