Chapter Forty-Two: No Light in the Dark

Getting over to the other side proved faster than our rush to the first entrance. Or at least a little less impeded. We were in thick forest now, swinging wide around the keep to stay out of the main fighting. Per the plan, we'd only reappear again once we were closer and needed to draw a larger force away from the combat. In the silence, it made me think of my big brother and my XO – both of whom were currently still missing.

"York?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Any word yet from Delaney's batt? He was supposed to be there to back us up at the last altar."

"No, ma'am. Maybe he got held up?"

It'd been too long since I'd heard from him at this point. It was time to check in. "Major," I said over our shared channel. "We're on our way to Location Two. What's your posi – "

A gunshot went through the trees then, and all of us ducked at once. My heart thudded inside my chest as I brought my rifle up in the direction of the sound, wondering if we were completely cosmically fucked now, and the remaining human rebels had chosen this same moment to attack. But when I swept my weapon side-to-side, I didn't see anything.

"Step out," I yelled into the brush. "Now!"

I heard the crunch of vegetation beneath boots. Then, none other than Lloyd appeared.

"Cal?" I could hardly contain my excitement. We hadn't heard from him since he'd left the keep a couple days ago. Before he could react in kind, I slung my rifle over my shoulder and hugged him briefly. The spook gave a small smile and clapped my back once.

"Colonel Cooper," he acknowledged. "I was worried about the state I'd find you guys in when I got back. I could hear the fighting for miles, saw the explosions and the smoke. I thought – "

"We're doing okay so far," I said, trying to put his fears at ease. "Keeping the enemy Elites at bay, at least." I gestured behind me with a thumb before pulling my weapon back into my hands. "Torran and I have a plan."

"Of course you do." He grinned sheepishly. "I don't think I've ever known you not to have one, ma'am."

"We don't have much time, but before we go, is there anything pressing you want to tell me? How did your recon go?"

I watched Caleb swallow. "The other front…it's not here yet, obviously. But the rebel side of things isn't looking so hot, either."

"Numbers?"

"Not so much numbers as determination, ma'am. Which could be far worse."

"Agreed." I turned back for a second towards the fighting. "Well, Commander, looks like we've got our work cut out for us. Time to earn our pay."

"Yes, ma'am." He turned to leave then, back into the chaos, but I stopped him.

"Hey, Cal?"

"Yes, Colonel?"

"No word from Mark yet?"

He shook his head. "No, ma'am. Last I heard he was off trying to prevent this. One way or another, it's clear he didn't succeed."

"Yeah," I responded quietly. I didn't know what else to say in the moment, except it wasn't like my brother to just disappear like that and never resurface. Especially now that we could see that whatever he'd been up to had gone south.

"I'm sorry."

I nodded in reply. A tight pang of worry hit me in the chest – that I was about to find out I'd lost another sibling. But I took a deep breath and pushed it away. I couldn't think like that, not now. We still had a job to do. A part to play.

"Marines, let's move," I said to the detail behind me, as my best friend went alone into the fray.

We weren't the first to get to the small, secluded area with the statues and the altar this time. I knew because we could hear the explosions from the land mines going off before we had a clear view past the trees.

I reached out to our Elite ally before we pushed in. "T?"

He brought his head down in a subtle nod. "Yes, human. I hear that, too."

"We need to reassess," I said. "This fight is going to be different than the last."

"Do you have an idea?"

"I do, but it's going to involve our currently missing backup." I keyed the COM channel to Major Murphy. We were now on their battalion's side of the battlefield. "Jack, it's Colonel Cooper."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Do you have visual on Delaney and the 213th? Haven't heard back from him yet. I think his COM gear might be damaged."

There was a slight pause, then, "Yes, Colonel. They're moving past our lines now. Headed to your location."

"Okay, great. Cooper out." I closed the channel and turned to my security detail next. I knew this part of my plan was going to be a hard sell, but with no radio communication, I didn't see another way around it. "Gunny York?"

"Ma'am?"

I shifted my stance, holding my rifle tight to my chest, barrel pointed down. "You're not going to like this, but Torran and I are moving ahead. I need you and the rest of the team to hold here."

The gunnery sergeant opened his mouth to protest, but I held up a hand.

"I can keep an eye on myself, and I've got good backup," I said, turning back to the group of Sangheili fighters with Torran. "But since COMs are spotty, I need you here to make sure Delaney and his batt don't cross over into the field before we're ready. If they enter this area blindly, with no COMs and no markers, they'll blow themselves skyward just like the Elites. You need to prevent that. Got it?"

York was quiet for a while, then released a long sigh. "Yes, Colonel."

I reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "A whole battalion of Marines is worth a lot more than me."

"I don't know about that, ma'am. We still need our leader."

"And you'll have her. I don't plan on going anywhere."

He nodded back solemnly as I let go. Once that was done, I faced Torran again and said, "Ready."

Our approach was different this time than the last. Last time was all about getting in and setting up before the enemy got there; this time, the enemy was already here. And the fighting, at least through the large explosives my brother had left behind, had already begun. This time we formed a line in the trees, just before stepping out into the meadow, crouched and watching.

By now the Elites knew the area was deadly. I could see the remaining troops – still plenty to go through – eyeing the altar from the edge of the field, trying to figure out how to get to it before us. They thought they could save this one.

"No lure needed," I murmured.

"Indeed," Torran said beside me.

I was surprised he'd even heard me – I thought I'd said the words in my head.

But he didn't say anything else about it. Instead, he ignited his plasma blade beside me. "Their backs are turned and they don't know we're here. Let's go."

I brought my own weapon up and followed as he rushed into the lines, our ally Elites forming a second wave behind us. It seemed almost easy – our enemy had already been softened up by the mines, and those who remained had nowhere to retreat to but the rest of the perilous field, where every step we pushed them back forced them deeper into mine territory. It was face us or blow up.

For a while, despite our vastly lower numbers, we enjoyed the advantage. I fired off burst after burst from my battle rifle, bringing down a trio of Elites still clutching wounds from being caught too close to the blasts. Their less lucky compatriots hadn't escaped. At the same time, Torran unleashed a devastating flurry of attacks with his sword, slashing the other Elites across the chest and neck, burying his blade into their armor, eliciting howls of pain and destruction as he went. Purple blood splattered into the air and on his armor as he dropped one after another with their own weaponry. Torran just kept going, pushing back those who remained.

In a few minutes, I heard another quick succession of boom, boom, boom that indicated another section of the mine field had activated, claiming more of the enemy.

Not bad for an initial attack, but since we'd opted to push forward with the element of surprise, that advantage was used up fast. Quickly the enemy forces began to rally, especially once they saw how few of us there really were. And that's when the lines started to shift again.

"Watch it!" I yelled out as I saw a plasma grenade go sailing over my head. I ducked out of reflex, knowing if it'd been thrown just a bit lower and to the left, it would've stuck right onto my helmet. After that, I would've had only seconds to try to tear it off and chuck it far enough away so that it didn't burst my head open like a melon. That was a tall order, given the lack of time.

Instead, the grenade landed and detonated behind me, sending up dirt and grass all around. I knew there was more where that came from.

With a few quick bursts, I was able to bring down the Elite that had nearly just sent my head on a getaway from my body. But when I ducked to reload, I glanced up and saw Torran getting quietly overwhelmed on the right. His glowing purple-blue blade was up, swiping through the air in tight arcs and stabs, but there were five enemy Elites surrounding him now. The wave was pushing forward, trying to keep out of the mines – and keep us away from the altar. Torran sliced and swung, until I heard one of the other Sangheili growl low in their throat and knock him in the face with their weapon, sending him crashing down.

"Torran!"

I jumped into action then, slinging my rifle over my shoulder fast and pulling out my combat knife from its hip sheath. Blade in hand, I sprinted for Torran's position, seeing one, then two discharges of a plasma rifle right beside his head. My heart thumped faster; I thought it was over. I thought he was dead. But then a second later I realized all I could smell was burnt earth, not metal or flesh, so I knew he was okay. But he wouldn't be if the next shot didn't miss.

"Aaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhh!"

I didn't even know the sound was me at first. It sounded like an animal. I didn't care. It was enough to get the enemy Elite's attention away from Torran, just in time for the bastard to watch me jump on his back with my knife out and pierce the flesh between his armor and helmet. Blood poured from the wound, coating the knife and making my grip on his back slick. I lost my footing, pushed off the Elite's calves as he bent at the knee in pain, and pulled my knife out. Then I struck again.

This time, that brought him down. But it wasn't over yet.

I heard a vicious howl to my left, and then what felt like a hammer hit the side of my helmet. I fell off the dead Elite instantly, finding myself on the ground without a clue as to how I'd gotten there – no memory of the hit or the fall. Just sudden gravity, blinding pain in my jaw, and being unable to move. I tried to scramble, tried to lift my legs and roll over. Crawl away. I couldn't. Just as I'd started to, I felt something clamp down hard on my chest. His comrade's boot.

Blood swirled in my mouth. I could taste it. Could hardly breathe past it. When I blinked, I noticed my visor was completely shattered on one side. Then I felt the other enemy Elite lift me up.

"Weak human," he said, looking me in the eyes. "Small, fragile, dirt, like the rest. I will break you – then do the same to any that harbor your kind. You are not worthy of life."

I shut my eyes tight and prepared myself to be crushed. I was out of energy, out of fight. The hit had been that devastating. There was nothing else I could do.

Suddenly the flash of a plasma sword appeared, the twin prongs right above my exposed nose, glowing bright into my right eye where the helmet visor was gone. There was a curdling alien scream and then I fell into the grass again, coiling in on myself. I heard a thud somewhere behind me, of a large body dropping to the earth. By then I was smeared with sweat and blood – some my own, some of the enemy Sangheili I'd stabbed. Pain clouded my vision, as did the half of my visor that was still attached to my helmet.

The HUD sputtered and flickered. After a couple seconds I found it too disorienting and tried to pry it off. I was still struggling when a figure appeared above me.

Friendly. A Marine.

"Need a hand, ma'am?" the figure said, and then I realized the voice was Delaney's. My XO had reappeared, along with his batt. And not a moment too soon.

Amidst the chaos, I began to hear the boom, boom, boom start up behind us again. That meant we were pushing the Elites back.

It took me a moment to focus, but eventually my eyes settled on my old classmate's hand in front of me, prompting me to take it and pull me up. I coughed, expelling some blood, and shook my head.

"Can't," I said to him between breaths. "I can't, Justin."

He nodded sharply. "Then let me take over while you get yourself together."

Our eyes met for a brief moment, and I saw the confidence and determination in his eyes. He'd been waiting for this – for a chance to prove himself. He'd been at War College with me just a few years ago. I knew he was still aiming for that promotion to LTC. I'd taken him away from that path when I'd asked him to replace Major Brewer on this campaign, when he'd become my second. Now, he could take over for me and finally show his chops.

Just for a short while. Just while I regained my senses.

Still holding his gaze, I nodded. "Thanks," I said to him, my voice coming out scratchy and low. "Go."

All he gave me was a look – a quick one of thanks – and then he turned back. I watched him gesture to one of his Marines to come get me, make sure I was okay, and then Delaney brought his rifle up, muscles tensed to move.

He never saw the plasma shot coming from the field that burned a soundless, bloodless hole straight through his helmet.

That was it. That was all it took.

I knew he was gone before he even hit the ground beside me. I'd seen it way too many times in my long career. Just like that I lost a former classmate, an XO, a friend. In my shock I thought of his wife and his twin girls back home, and the fact that they'd never see him again. My heart ached and tore in two.

"Ma'am? Ma'am? Look at me!"

I blinked again and realized the image was less blurry. I'd just blinked back tears. How? I hadn't even felt them forming yet.

"Colonel!"

Reynolds. Doc Reynolds was in front of me now, my brain supplied. But it still didn't feel right. I felt myself drifting. I couldn't respond.

"Cooper!" was the last thing I heard before it all went dark.