Author's Note: Finally, a new chapter! Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Forty-One: A Test

When I ducked back behind the building, I realized my private channel with Willis was still open. There was dead air for a moment, then, "You have a plan?"

"Yes," I answered, then frowned. "Well, not yet. But I will. Give me a sec."

I brought my battle rifle to bear again, only to find that the Sangheili storming the keep were even closer now. That was bad, but also a good thing - it meant they were finally in range. "Marines, open up!" I shouted. "Now!"

I pushed forward at the same time as the Marines around me did. With the Wraith out of the fight, we were now free to maneuver better. To defend the keep. We got as far as the dirt-and-stone entry yard when another loud explosion rocked the earth.

"Cooper!" It was Willis again, this time even more alarmed. "Watch yourself! We've got two more tanks incoming!"

Shit. "Acknowledged," I radioed back, keeping my voice steady. "Try to keep 'em busy. We'll deal with the infantry headed our way."

"Got it."

"And, you know...whatever you can do to thin the crowd without hitting any friendlies."

"Will do, Colonel. Flight Leader out."

I dropped to one knee behind a stone sculpture then. I knew from the common assembly room how intricate Sangheili art could get, but this was a strangely simple piece. A black spire that shot straight up. Not sure what it said as a statement, but I did know it made some pretty solid cover as our former enemies attempted to obliterate us.

While I heard the friendly aircraft in the air and the low, reverberating whir of the Wraiths far away, I focused on the Elites up ahead. Shots were fired from their carbines and plasma rifles, and a few at the front even wielded swords. The twin-pronged, bright blue blades hummed as they approached, still being drowned out by the live fire around them. I took aim at one of the swordsmen first - they were getting closer, and I knew from experience that one of those blades to the gut would easily be fatal. Plasma burned, but having your guts ripped open by a burning blade of light - that was something else entirely. It was how my second baby had died, back in Ecuador. Something I'd never forget.

The enemy Elite's shield flickered as my initial burst did little more but slow down his run. He growled, upset at the setback, then turned his eyes on me and roared. His glowing plasma sword was in the air now and he moved at an astoundingly fast clip. I stood my ground, keeping my gun trained on him as I fired off three more bursts. Finally, his shield sputtered out and purple blood burst from his side as the armor-penetrating bullets found their target. He fell with a warble, then went silent when my final burst went straight through his helmet.

Once the Elite was down, I took in a breath and said, "Willis, talk to me," as I reloaded. In the meantime, more plasma potshots were puffing up the dirt just a few meters ahead. One down and a million to go, I thought.

"I'm here, Cooper."

"Good. What are the ground numbers looking like?"

"Enough," came his matter-of-fact response. "Two battalions' worth at least. Plus those tanks..."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Well, I'll definitely have to eat my words now."

"What?"

"My brother warned us about this - the Sangheili civil war. That it was headed here. I didn't believe him yet. I didn't think - "

A hot, glowing plasma orb impacted just to the left and behind me. Thankfully, everyone else had moved up now as well. It hit the same courtyard with the fire pit we'd just vacated. No casualties, but enough to remind me that I couldn't stop to chat. We needed to get back into this.

"Do what you can up there, Will. Cooper out," I said, and cut the channel. "Gunny York? I'm tagging my position."

It was high time I reunited with my security detail. From there, figuring out where to place the others would be easier, since I wouldn't have to worry about getting shot at while I studied the map on my datapad for a moment.

Before we got into the thick of things, I heard a group of half a dozen Marines run up to me at a low crouch - full gear on, weapons out.

"Ma'am," Gunnery Sergeant York said as he held his rifle tight across his lap, barrel down, and crouched beside me. "We're in position."

I nodded. "Excellent. Any reports yet on where these other Elites came from? How did they get past our defenses? And theirs?" I gestured to our own keep's Elites, maneuvering on the far side of the field.

York shook his head. "Don't know, ma'am. No word yet. Could've been a collaboration or a serious security fuck up - someone overlooked something vital. Either way, the fight's here now, ma'am. What do you want us to do?"

Instead of answering him directly, I looked across the way for Torran.

"Colonel?" York repeated.

I finally glanced back. "Can you provide me with cover fire, Gunny?"

"Of course, ma'am, but what - "

I tapped him curtly on the shoulder. "Then do it."

I gripped my rifle tight and took off right into the fray. I could hear York and several others yelling something unintelligible behind me, but I was already ducking and weaving through the hail of plasma pulses and bolts and grenade bursts. Dirt kicked up beside my boots several times in just seconds, and I felt a sharp heat streak across the air by me more than once. Yet somehow, I made it over our Elites' side.

I was breathing heavy as I dove butt-first behind another awkward sculpture, right beside Torran's most seasoned Elites.

"Colonel Cooper! What are you doing here?" the keep's commander asked, sparing me a quick sideways glance while he fired straight ahead. "You could have been killed!"

"Well, yes. But I wasn't." I paused just long enough to take another breath, then said, "Does the keep have any other entrances or exits I should know about?"

"Yes!" he answered, a little too loudly. Maybe he thought I couldn't hear over the noise, although my helmet's audio mix took care of that. "We have many - including the one underground that Sennu escaped in."

"Underground?" I asked, excited by the prospect. "How many?"

"We have two passages to distract any fighters - aliens, or Sangheili from rival keeps. One is the true route that our keep's leaders take to escape. The other crosses the underbelly, but does not go anywhere. They can get trapped and - "

"Holy shit, Torran. That's great! How do we lead them there?"

"It is not simple, human. It will take - "

Another explosion buried his words and tossed up debris over the sculpture, covering us in dirt and stone and hot ash. I ducked along with the Elite leader, then wiped the front of my visor when it was clear. "In case you haven't noticed yet," I said to him, "we're out of options right now. Unless you want my husband to level this place with fire above to keep them from advancing, we need a good plan on the ground."

"I...agree, Colonel." He clicked his mandibles, then said, "I will show you. Come with me."

I nodded and looked behind me, to my security detail on the other side. "Marines, suppressive fire. York, move everyone up!"

Torran and I took off first, leading the charge to the underground entrances. I assumed we were going to one of the fake ones – the ones the rival Elites could get lost in so we could eliminate them more easily. The plan was that seeing us flee for an alluring position would get our enemy to follow us there. Only problem now was getting them to care about a handful of us when the bulk of our forces were still at the main gates, trying to ensure the keep wasn't overrun.

That's where some more manpower behind us might help.

I entered the command channel again as I dodged and weaved through a storm of plasma fire. Again. "Murphy, this is Cooper. Please respond."

"Major Murphy here, ma'am. By your command."

"Maintain position at the entrance and keep 'em out! We've got a plan for the rest – just hang on."

"Roger that."

"Mullen, you're backup! Move up on the left. See if you can find a way to get your batt to outflank 'em!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Delaney?" I tried my XO again, hoping he'd be able to respond this time. There was a crackle and a delay, but finally, I heard his voice on the other end.

"Ma'am?"

"You're with us! I'll give you a marker to follow on your HUD. We've got to lead the other Elites this way!"

"Understood!"

It wasn't a great idea to go into battle alongside my XO, for security reasons, but his batt was the closest to the underground entrance Torran was leading us to. I felt confident at this point that it wasn't a ruse to get me alone and betray us – he was flanked by only two other Elites from his own group, and very shortly, there were going to be a lot more of us than him. The realization felt pretty good – it meant he trusted us fully now.

"There is a secluded field on the left where two statues stand," Torran said to me as we simultaneously fought and ran. "That is where we will lead my fallen brothers. It is a small but sacred space – they will not find anything amiss, and they will be enraged if they see you there."

I frowned for a moment. "Me?"

"Humans."

That made more sense. "Okay. So we get these guys inside and then what?"

"We shoot."

Worked for me, and it meant I wouldn't have to send Willis over for more air runs, which this close could potentially destroy the buildings in the keep – putting us and our ally Elites at risk. Willis had done his part softening up the targets before their arrival. Now that they were in range, on the ground, it was up to us.

"Will?" I radioed.

"Yeah?"

"Try to keep the tanks engaged. Then get in touch with Murphy's batt on the ground. A few of the other Elites and I are…we're going to try something."

"What - "

I cut the channel off so we didn't waste any more time. I couldn't explain what we were up to yet. I just needed him to know we'd take over the rest from here.

When we made it to the statues Torran had indicated – something like a small altar in a break in the trees, if altars allowed for aliens the size of Sangheili to fit through and congregate. We finally stopped running and stood, awaiting the troops who'd follow. I'd assumed it would be few at first, the curious. But I was wrong.

I pointed to York as he moved up and said, "Get behind those statues, Gunny. Now."

"Colonel, what about - "

"Now. That's an order."

As my security detail maneuvered, I ran across to the second statue in a low crouch, weapon up, to position myself next to Torran. I looked up and down at our surroundings, then back at the altar, where my Marines now stood in place in the shadows. Nothing screamed "door" or "entrance" to me upon quick glance. I wondered fleetingly if this was going to work.

It was far too quiet.

"T…"

"Yes, human?"

"Where is everyone?" I asked. "Did they come after us?"

Torran tilted his head. "Wait. They will never allow your kind to come here unopposed."

The seclusion of the altar, the position of the trees, seemed to momentarily shut out all sound. The only thing I could hear from here were the rumbling explosions from the Wraiths and, more rarely, our air support – my husband and his pilots doing what needed to be done. But I didn't notice much else. Most of the sounds of battle were blocked out here, and what was left was only muffled vibrations in comparison.

A simple, single moment of calm as we sat anxiously in the field. Right before reality returned, and all hell broke loose.

"First group is up," I said, raising my rifle once more. "Let's go!"

Hot bolts of plasma cut through the trees before we saw the alien warriors that accompanied them. It was like deadly streaks coming at us straight from thin air, although we knew the other Sangheili were there. I shot through the trees even though I couldn't see the enemy yet, hoping to take some down before they knew what was going on. Before they reached the glade and we led them inside.

Unfortunately for Torran, I knew the statues were probably not going to make it. I knew that even though he'd been the one to lead us here, that loss would be great – to him and Sennu and their people. I regretted that. But right now, I had to make sure we lived to feel bad about ruining something important to them. Lives would always come first, in my mind. Apparently Torran felt that way as well, or he wouldn't have sent us here.

The streaks of hot light came in faster now, closer. I fired off burst after burst from my rifle, aware I'd hit something when a bolt in that direction stopped coming, but more and more took their place. It dawned on me that I wasn't sure how prepared we were if the majority of the attackers had decided to come here now, just because my detail and myself were present. I didn't think Torran's plan accounted for that many enemy fighters at once.

"Get down!" he suddenly yelled, and I was brought out of my automatic combat and back to the task. I ducked low in the knee-high grass as he threw out a plasma grenade, sending it sailing into the center of the group headed for us. I watched as a few of the Elites rolled away and growled, but inevitably, in the tight space, not all of them managed to get far enough away in time. The two that were left let out an anguished warble, knowing what was coming, realizing their fate, right before their bodies blew into wet pieces towards the sky.

It stopped those two, but it made the enemy Elites around them even more determined.

The three who'd escaped the bloodbath by rolling out of the way looked back, saw their comrades in chunks, and turned back to us with rage. Pure fucking hatred.

"Vile, ignorant race, and the foolish traitors who harbor them!" one cried out. It wasn't in English; I could tell by the motions it made with its jaws. It was in Sangheili, translated by a small device inside my helmet. "No mercy. Never mercy! You will all die!"

I knew enough about Elites after all these years of fighting that I hadn't been expecting a different reaction. Still, that only made me double down and sink my boots deeper into the soil. I was determined as ever to hold this ground. And to ensure Torran's plan went off without a hitch.

"Get ready, Marines," I said under my breath into the COM.

The Elite closest to us in the trio that had survived suddenly threw its weapon aside and roared, igniting his plasma blade at his side. Others behind him did the same...and then he lunged, growling and sprinting right for us.

And in the blink of an eye, his body burst towards the sky in a giant rupture of purple blood.

I looked around, almost startled, and saw it was happening elsewhere in the field, too – enemy Elites coming at us from the right, the left, the center, taking a few steps forward and just…ceasing to exist. Warbles, cries, roars. Blood and guts and torn armor and dirt and debris hitting the air all at once. A spectacle of gory chaos. It occurred to me then that this area was actually a mine field. One Torran had known about and set up.

"T," I said over my shoulder. "What - "

"Your brother!" our ally called out. "Commander Cooper knows our species well."

He was prepared, I thought.

I couldn't put the whole puzzle together right now, as we still fought to gain control. I had to focus. But this task now seemed much easier, knowing that the bulk of the forces that followed us were walking right to their deaths. It wasn't enough to stand by and watch, though. We had to help. Eventually, the Elites behind the first ones rushing in would know the field was booby-trapped and unsafe – and the ordnance my older brother had placed in the dirt would run out.

"Well, hats off to Mark for thinning the crowd," I murmured. "And thanks, Torran, for leading us into this clearing without blowing us all up."

Torran chuckled – a deep, awkward sound, coming from an Elite. "You are welcome, Colonel. You are our allies now. You live in our home. We will not allow you to come to harm."

When the skirmish in the small field was over – or at least, when the number of enemy fighters on approach had stymied – all I could do was let out a sigh of relief. It was hard to think it was all over in just twenty-five minutes. Twenty-five minutes of hard-fought bloodshed, so that we and our allies could live.

Instead of staying crouched I just sat in the grass, leaving my gun in my lap as I leaned back on my arms and looked through the trees at the pinpricks of sunlight. I wondered fleetingly if this was something I'd ever get to experience and enjoy in peacetime – just sitting down quietly in the sun, staring at the sky. Maybe with my dog and my kids at my side on Mars. Not in a field on an alien world, surrounded by bodies, blood, and by the smell of explosives and burnt flesh, metal, and earth.

"You fought well, human," Torran said, coming up beside me again. "Do you need to rest, or are we ready to move on?"

"Probably should," I said, eyes closed. "Move on, I mean. I can still feel the movements on the ground. The fighting isn't over yet."

"It is not," Torran acknowledged. "But if we are to succeed, we must attempt to repeat this on the other side. That will thin the invasion force enough to push them back."

I sat long enough to release a controlled breath, then opened my eyes again. I grabbed my rifle and stood. As my security detail emerged from behind the twin statues – now marred and melted in spots by the heat – I gestured towards the altar with my left hand. "So did you just make all that up to get us out here? That thing about the underground passages?"

"No," the Elite commander said, shaking his head. "We did not need to use it, here, in the end. It may yet prove useful on the other side, however. At the second site. They may not fall for this twice."

"And my brother knew about this all along?"

Torran gave me a look. "Your brother arrived on Sanghelios many months before you and your men, Colonel. He has lived among us for some time. He knows many things about our people you do not, although Sennu says you have made a great effort in acquiring knowledge about our culture in the time you have had here. Even for an accomplished fighter among your species, Cooper, there is always more to learn."