Of all the members of my family, only one was ever considered to truly take after me.
The war changed for me when Madeleine got herself embroiled in a shady ONI black op. Sure, Preston was in the Marines and Alex was the first officer on a good ship, they were the ones I thought were vulnerable. That's where I watched for signs of your meddling. Maddie though? Well, that came out of nowhere. At that time, my granddaughter was listless, arrogant, and vain. As was her right as a teenager, of course. I suppose that is why I let my guard slip, and you pounced on that opportunity without so much as a moment's hesitation.
Before I knew it, she was living in my apartment in Sydney, attending an ONI feeder school, and all on your personal dime. The moment she boarded my ship with you in the skies over Skopje. I knew the game was up. I didn't belong to HIGHCOM, anymore. I belonged to you.
Maggie's passing broke my family and it cost me my son… but it was Maddie throwing in with you that made me stop and take stock. I've lost my wife, my son, my best friend, one of my grandchildren and thousands of men in the course of this damned war. Loss, by comparison to this, is easy. It's a natural process, you mourn, cry and break down, perhaps. Life, of course, goes on.
Seeing what this war did to a person so like me, so young and full of potential, changes the way that you think about yourself. It opened my eyes to new regrets, regrets that I will hold until the day that I die.
So, when you ask me what I think about my Granddaughter, and the choices she's made, it wasn't just the fact that she is so much like me that unnerved me.
It's that she is so much like you, as well. - Fleet Admiral Joseph Harper, during a recorded conversation with Admiral Margaret Parangosky aboard the UNSC Point of No Return, in 2551.
}{=}{
September 30th 2551:
The skies above Solar Fields, Meridian
05:58 hours local time.
Maddie was in freefall.
Getting fired into the surface was every bit as terrifying as it sounded and her body flooded with adrenaline as the SOEIV rumbled and shuddered. Her body bounced and groaned, ached and yawed as it tried to wriggle free from the restraints. Maddie's fingers clenched the straps as she fought to keep herself stable.
The world was small to her, as though life began and ended with her pod as it collided with Meridians atmosphere and pierced it like a hot knife through thick and resistant putty.
She could see the glow of re-entry and her heart pounded like a drum inside her helmet. This made even Walsingham seem a bit distant, as she focused on her breathing, and on orienting herself on the battlefield below as it streaked forward.
"Alright Fox! Listen in!" Denning said loudly, "we go in hard and fast. You know your sectors and your grid-points. If you don't then you better pray the split-jaws find you before you find me."
"Hoo….ah!" Came a rally of hardy ODST voices.
"Sir?" A voice asked.
"Yes, Cho, how can I help…"
Sergeant Cho of second platoon had boarded a pod near Maddie and she could track its descent.
"Picking…" she said fuzzily, "...interference."
Maddie's stomach lurched as they passed through the cloud layer.
"Walsingham, what's going on?"
"Interference, Ma'am. There must be a jammer located in our AO." He stated flatly.
Brilliant.
The clouds receded and Solar Fields came into view. The mighty River Sol was currently flanked by two charging UNSC armoured divisions, firing as they bundled towards the city's flanks.
The pod shuddered and glowed green as a nearby SOEIV exploded into orange light as green AA rounds streaked past the window. Only static could be heard on the radio as the silent dance of death played out above the skies of Solar fields. Maddie could only grimace as round after round pulsed by, striking pods around her. In the confusion, she lost her bearings and tried to focus on the terrain, which was now rapidly approaching at great speed towards her.
"Walsingham, track our descent if you can, I'm going to need an approximate location when I land."
"Aye ma'am"
There was a thump from above as the stalk extended from the top of her pod, and Maddie craned her head to look. Above her, ODST exploded and swooped through the sky, most of them passing through the unexpected barrage, but many of them falling prey to the chatter of AA fire. She looked around as the pod glowed hot from the heat of falling through the atmosphere and watched as one round raced through the sky. It tracked her perfectly, and she held her breath, ready to die as it missed, clipping her stabilizer stalk and sending the SOEIV spinning off course.
She grunted, roaring as she fought the controls. She knew they were only designed for minor course corrections but she had no choice; her vision blackened as she fought to stay awake, the G force increasing as she neared the surface.
She must have hit 50 meters because the reverse thrusters deployed to slow her. In this unstable state, they just sent her pod wobbling further off course.
Her eyes were open just long enough to see herself fly hatch-first into a hedgerow, slamming her forward with a painful and roaring jolt.
The world around her was quiet as she gathered herself. Her breathing was ragged and panicked but she smiled. She was still alive. Maddie thanked God's grace and popped the hatch, sending it flying out of the hedge and into the adjacent field. The cool air rushed her and Maddie shuddered, grabbing her DMR and pistol from the rack and looking about.
Walsingham engaged VISR mode and whispered. "I believe we are here." he said, "but it seems the Covenant are able to jam our communications, Ma'am."
Maddie sighed and peered out of the pod; the map showed that she was way off course by almost a kilometre.
"Set a waypoint. Are there any pods nearby? Covenant patrols?" she said, jumping out of the massive hedge and landing neatly on the wheat below.
"Two, Ma'am, shall I add them to your map?"
Maddie nodded, "yeah, I don't think I should be abandoning my men quite yet."
"My thoughts exactly, Ma'am" he replied, wryly.
Maddie holstered her DMR on her back, there was no indication that she had been spotted and no one was shooting at her yet, so she figured stealth was the optimum strategy at that point. Two additional waypoints hovered in her view and she elected to follow the hedgerow away from her towards the furthest pod, loop back, and continue on to the rally point. Hugging the hedge-line, Maddie moved slowly and methodically along the edge of the field, checking around her constantly for signs of life. Behind her, gunfire and AA fire could be heard in the sky, it was distant, but she paid attention all the same. As she reached the corner of the field, she saw a gate, which she vaulted with ease, and found herself on a long stretch of road, flanked by thorny rows of shrubs and flowers.
As she walked down the road, she saw a glimmer in the distance, it wasn't fair off, only a quarter kilometre from her position. Her first hope was that it was someone from the first pod she was hunting, and that the moon was glinting from their visor. Maddie thought better of it and dropped to a knee, removing her DMR and sighting the glimmer.
She sighed as a Kig-Yar walked down the path with two grunts waddling in tow. She searched for a crevice to hide in and waited almost ten minutes in the shrubs as they sauntered along their patrol route, talking about inane garbage as Walsingham translated their gibberish into English.
The war axe sat comfortably in her grip as they approached, with her pistol in the other. The grunts had moved in front of the jackal, which suited Maddie just fine as she uncoiled herself, letting them pass before slinking out into the street, stalking the jackal.
She raised her arm, her muscles taught beneath the recon gear, and slammed it sharply into the back of the creature's head with a loud squishy crack. The grunts turned in time to see it slump to the floor, axe poking out the back of its head. They looked up, and spotted her barrel.
Maddie fired twice and without hesitation, slaying them dead before they could even yelp. As she knelt down to loot their plasma grenades, Maddie reflected, it had been four years since she killed her last alien and she was impressed with how she had slipped back into the guise of a cold and ruthless killer with such ease.
Her head froze.
Movement. Behind her. In the blink of an eye, she'd spun in place and pulled her pistol level with her eye as an ODST emerged, his hands in the air.
"Don't shoot!" He said, hissing quickly, in case the enemy was nearby.
"Identify yourself." Maddie asked, her voice deadly serious.
"Duggan, Private, third platoon fox company!" He said, jittery.
Maddie lowered her gun, noticing that the trooper didn't have anything on him.
"Where's your kit, Duggan?"
"Trashed, Ma'am" he said, pointing behind him, "my pod took a nasty c-, uh, dick, of a rocket as my thrusters kicked in. Blew my hatch clean off. Sent me flying into the bushes."
Maddie nodded, holstering her pistol. "Take my rifle, Private, and grab a plasma pistol." She said, handing them to him as she clipped one to her thigh.
"A Covie gun? What for?"
"Our comms are jammed, Private." Maddie said, tersely, "Covenant Pistols can be supercharged and will knock out most of their own tech, if we come across it we'll need them."
Duggan seemed offended regardless, as Maddie yanked the hatchet from the back of the Jackals head.
"Plus, you can never have too many guns."
"Hoo-ah, Ma'am." He admitted.
"Good. There's another pod not far from here, we need to check it out and head to the rally point."
Duggan nodded and cocked the DMR. Maddie didn't want to give it up but she was trained in infiltration, and Duggan seemed a little nervous. So, Maddie led the way, slipping back through the gate and hugging the bushes the opposite way around the field, avoiding a patrolling group of aliens, led by a split-jawed elite that had taken a special interest in her pod, inspecting it like it was an archaeological marvel.
"Where do you suppose they came from, Ma'am?"
"I'm not sure, but that's two small patrols we've come across."
"You think there's more nearby?"
"Well, we're behind their lines Private, so logically…" she replied, crouching low as the hedge thinned a little.
"Oh." Duggan replied, following her lead.
God. Give me a break.
"This your first campaign, Duggan?"
"Yes ma'am. As an ODST anyway. I did a few tours with the marines but they're always by your side. Never been on my own before. Have you? This is your first op, too, right?"
"Duggan?" Maddie sighed.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Try to relax."
"Oh." He said, as if he hadn't realised what he was doing. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it." Maddie said as the made it across to the field. Walsingham's beacon showed the location of the next pod, in a farmhouse nearby. As they pushed their way through the hedgerows, Maddie realised that the casualties were going to be high. These tree lines were impenetrable natural defences, and could cloak snipers and turrets with ease. The road signs pointed the way, with a little help from Walsingham, and Duggan followed dutifully until they crested a small rise, crouching as they reached the top.
"See anything Ma'am?" Duggan asked, laying a little too close for Maddie's taste.
"Not from here," she sighed. She zoomed in with her helmet and scanned for a good overwatch position. There was the water tower, but it was too close and too exposed to be useful. Then, she spied a tall and sturdy tree that was well hidden from the other side of the field. There was clearly some activity in the farmstead, with shadows and alien warbles emanating from that direction.
"Can you climb trees, Private?
"Ah, now that's something I can do, Ma'am." Duggan said, crawling back from the crest of the hill.
Maddie watched as he crouched low, running as fast as he dared towards the tree. It gave Maddie a chance to collect herself, looking up at the sky towards the rally point, where bright green AA rounds spattered the sky, and gunfire lit the night l around her. Duggan signalled with his hands the old-fashioned way, which impressed Maddie. She hadn't expected the Private to be able to do that and she sent back the counter signal and rolled over the hill and scrambled down the slope.
"Walsingham, how local are the comms?"
"We should be able to contact Duggan, Ma'am."
Maddie sprinted towards the farmhouse, running hard and fast across open ground.
"Duggan, what do you see?"
"Oh, hello, Ma'am." He said from his position deep in the brush. "They're trying to break in. Looking very distracted to me."
"How many?"
"Uh… five. One big guy, three little bastards and two of the birds."
"How close can I get?"
"All the way, Lieutenant. Seems like they're distracted by the poor guy locked in that pod?"
Maddie watched her HUD as Duggan tagged the five assailants as they tormented the trooper inside the pod. She slowed as she reached the garden, slipping over the gate and towards the old rickety barn.
"Lt? There's a ladder on the right-hand side of the building, you might be able to get a better look from there."
Poking her head around the corner, she could see it, hidden behind a stack of loose pallets and old bits of timber. It was cold to the touch but she climbed it swiftly and gracefully, always mindful of her silhouette. Her long and slender body might not draw too much attention but she'd been trained to never take anything for granted and it showed as she slithered onto the roof with quiet ease.
"Okay, there don't appear to be any others." she whispered. "I'm going to contact that trooper, Duggan, stand by."
Walsingham patched her through.
"Can you hear me in there? Don't react, but I'm on the barn roof in front of you."
"...g-got it, I can see you."
"What's your name, trooper?"
"Sergeant Grayson, ma'am, is that you, Lieutenant?" he asked, relaxing.
"It is, are you ready? Myself and a fellow trooper are ready to fire."
"As I'll ever be, Ma'am."
"Good." she said before switching channels, "Duggan?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Take out the Elite when I pop his shields."
"On your go." he said, coolly.
Reaching for her thigh, she un-holstered the covenant energy pistol and charged it. The weapon warmed and glowed hot as the green shot locked as it charged. The light made one grunt turn but it was too late. Maddie shot the Elite in the back, its shields bursting as the rest of them panicked, startled by their leader getting shot.
Three DMR shots rang out, the first crunched into the Elites head, spattering blue blood over the unsuspecting jack stood next to it. The second missed, and the third smashed through the alerted grunts mask, tearing it and the little alien's chin from its face.
The Jackals returned fire at Maddie as she rolled away, taking her pistol in hand as she scrambled into a crouch. More shots rang out as Duggan exchanged fire with the three survivors.
The pod hissed, and the hatch thundered across the yard, sending one Jackal flying as Grayson burst out of the pod, drilling a startled Jackal full of holes as Duggan's DMR fell silent and Maddie executed the remaining covenant before dropping elegantly from the roof.
"Good work, guys. Duggan, get over here." She said offering a hand to the Sergeant.
"Thank you for the assist, Ma'am."
Maddie shrugged and looked about, orienting herself as Duggan dropped from the tree and began to jog towards them.
"No worries, Sergeant." She said, watching the sky glitter dangerously in the distance. "We seem to have landed the furthest off course."
Grayson nodded, "yeah, rally point Alpha is about a click and a half to the east, away from the city."
The City.
Maddie could see it from here, its looming great big skyscrapers and covenant infested defences lit the world alight as the 7th and 4th armoured divisions threw themselves against it.
Somewhere in there, CDS is hiding something.
It took a surprising amount of discipline to stay on mission but she had to prove to Parangosky that she was capable and trustworthy. So, she turned back to the rally point and sighed.
"Let's get moving before the Covenant realise that their patrols are dead. We skirted a patrol on the way here, so they're bound to have heard something." She noted, walking towards the gravel track that led to the rally point.
The two men nodded and followed her lead, trailing behind her as they moved into a small drainage ditch to hide their movement. They believed themselves out of earshot, and normally they would be, even the Recon helmet couldn't pick their voices up.
But Walsingham was inside their heads.
"Glad you made it, Nuggs." Grayson said, reloading his weapon.
"You won't be getting rid of me just yet, Sir."
The Sergeant chuckled, "I would have thought Miss Naval Intelligence would have clipped you for sure."
"She almost did, Sir." He joked, "but I charmed her so much, she decided to spare me."
Maddie smiled to herself and stopped in her tracks, making the pair of them jump a little.
"Nuggs. Would you take point?"
"S-sure, Ma'am" he stammered, jogging to the front.
They trudged on, the ditch might not have had flowing water in it but the ground was soft and the mud built up on their boots. She let the pair of them stew in her apparent omniscience for a while before turning to the Sergeant.
"Sergeant Grayson."
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Does Captain Denning forget a lot of his soldiers' names, or is it just yours?" she asked, genuinely. Captain Denning was a bit of a wildcard in this whole operation and Maddie needed to know more before she could predict his actions.
"I don't think he forgets anything, Ma'am."
You don't? "
"No. Captain Denning knows exactly what he's doing. He plays games, always looking to progress up the ranks."
Maddie considered this for a moment, "have you served with him for long?"
He shrugged, "not too long, Ma'am. Long enough to get a read on him though."
"I heard he has favourites."
Grayson nodded, "Sergeant Davenport and his squad. They're thugs, if you don't mind me saying, Ma'am."
"How so?"
"Well put it this way, Davenport believes he has real control over the unit because Denning will turn a blind eye to what he does."
"What's in it for Denning?"
"Control. Davenport, even as a Sergeant, has the unit lock and step with Denning regardless of the Lieutenant in charge. Davenport can sabotage every man in the unit to protect Denning's reputation."
They slowed as gunfire became more distinct.
"He's an enforcer." She whispered.
"Exactly, Ma'am." He replied, frustrated. "Sergeant Tansie is too soft, he'd never challenge Denning on any of it so he gets left alone."
"And you?"
"I tried once, which is why my name gets forgotten, and my men appear in the infirmary with inconsistent stories and dubiously acquired black eyes."
Sergeant Davenport had been a coward on Skopje, but he had never been a bully. She could see at the time that he had no remorse for what he did to Ellen but this was something else.
How could a man fall so far, in such a short amount of time?
Maddie was annoyed at herself for asking the question. Especially when she had changed just as much in the same amount of time.
The more intelligent question is what made him get worse? What happened to him that stopped him from going back to the calm and reassuring soldier she had met at the crossroads near her house all those years ago?
It was an interesting thought, but one that she would have to suppress until it became relevant. Right now, she needed to find the rest of third platoon.
She looked about, as Duggan slowed, raising a hand and bringing everyone's attention to the matter at hand.
"What do you see, Private?"
"Covenant checkpoint, Ma'am, a-and some friendlies!"
Maddie came beside him and surveyed the area. The Covenant had set up a checkpoint on the intersection, held by a centrally placed shade turret, manned by an Elite and a swathe of little grunts and Jackals. The men that Duggan referring to were laying in an irrigation ditch, which only provided cover because it was night.
And it won't be for long.
She thought, looking out across the plains to the faint blue glow coming from the horizon. The intersection itself was on a man-made rise, giving the enemy the perfect position to hold a lot of ground with relatively few troops.
Her mind raced, her team was in cover, and could reasonably provide one shooter with cover during a protracted fight. The Elite in the shade seemed amused, peppering the soldiers with fire lazily as he tried to kill them slowly. Duggan was proven as a marksman, and Sergeant Grayson had rank, she could send Grayson over, rally them. Hit them from three sides, just like they had on Skopje.
A Delgado run on foot. Risky, but what else can be done?
"Okay" she said, relaying the plan to the pair of them. They both listened intently, leaving her with the impression that this might just work. Ideally, she wouldn't risk herself for the job of main distraction but the rank and file needed to be shown that she was willing to levy the risk and bear the burden of leadership or they wouldn't follow her orders. That was why Davenport had fallen apart all those years ago, and she was beginning to like the pair of them, despite not knowing them for long.
"When I open fire, make a dash to them, wait ten seconds for Duggan to open up and lead the men onto the checkpoint." she concluded, before taking in the rise ahead of her.
She moved slowly, avoiding the light and made for the greasy rise. The surface was dewy and slick like an oil spill but Maddie was well trained, and slithered up the slope and onto the road. She watched the Jackal assigned to guard the flank lazily toy with his rifle but Maddie paused, checking for any surprises before hauling herself onto the road and darting across. She reached the other side after a painfully long dash and slid neatly down the bank and into the adjacent field. Here, the wheat was long and gave her plenty of cover. In no time, she had silently crossed into the neighbouring swampland and skirted the edge, all the while keeping her pistol close at hand.
The gun continued to fire at the men pinned in the ditch and it made her acutely aware that time was running out. She spied a thicket that might work as a defensive position and crawled towards it, rolling tidily behind it before popping back up to see if she had been spotted.
Nothing… Good.
She readied the plasma pistol, unclipping it from her belt and feeling the wight in her hand.
"Walsingham, got any targeting software? I don't fancy missing."
"Negative Ma'am, but I do believe you can hit it, your accuracy at this range is in the 97th percentile according to my available data." he said, whispering.
"Okay." Maddie nodded, compliments from a computer were always gratifying. After all, only raw data mattered to them.
She charged the pistol, it glowed, brighter and brighter. Something moved at the checkpoint, as though it were waving.
They've spotted me.
She focused, as warbles and shrieks emanated from the checkpoint. The bolt fired, and Maddie watched it sail into the distance. She tracked it, watching until it burst over the Shade and knocked it out of commission. Her hands moved automatically as bursts of pink, blue, and green erupted overhead. She pulled out the pistol and returned fire, ignoring the enemy rounds as she focused the sights of the gun at the aliens, scrambling about in confusion.
She fired three times, bringing down a grunt, before the elite hopped out of the turret and roared, charging down the slope as Duggan opened fire on the enemy. The Elite paused and Maddie reloaded, picking up the plasma pistol and charging it as her foe faltered, deciding whether to help its men or not.
Maddie made the choice for him, sending a green bolt sizzling into his armour, cracking the shields open with a raging cackle of dissipating electricity. Again, she aimed the pistol and fired. This first flew into its shoulder, the second and third pierced its gut and leg, and the last one finished it off as Maddie grinned into her helmet.
Now, gunfire erupted from the other side of the rise as the others engaged, charging the hill as Maddie continued to pick at the enemy, harassing a jackal behind a shield until it was shot from behind. Rounds continued to burst around her but she ducked most of it. A grunt, not willing to die quietly, unleashed his needle gun into the thicket, the rounds exploding around her in a furious and stinging frenzy. One definitely grazed her arm as she threw herself to the ground, scrambling for a tree as the skin on her arms burned red hot and grew sticky.
Maddie panted like a wounded animal, waiting for more to come. Nothing did, however, and she poked her head around the tree, searching for any sign of the little vicious creatures that wanted her dead.
Luckily, there were none to be found, and Maddie saw a trooper waving her over. The fight hadn't lasted long, she had made sure of that but it had tired her. Her arm was sore and she was already reacquainting herself with the feeling of being in the thick of fighting, trudging through the gloopy muck of the swamp with a careful and deliberate pace. Duggan helped her up the embankment and she thanked him, turning her gaze over the men in front of her. In all, she was leading about half a platoon, made up of bits of her platoon as well as Katya's.
"So, who have we picked up, Grayson?"
"Sergeant Baker's squad landed on target. The rest are my squad, his and a couple corporals from Second."
"And Sergeant Tansie?"
"Unaccounted for, as of right now."
"So, it's just me, you, and Baker."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Right, okay." she said, "Platoon, listen up!"
The men took a knee, surrounding her as she rattled off her command's.
"There's a jammer in the area preventing us from talking with command. Now, we cannot deal with this until we link up with the rest of the company, so we will move to the original objective along this road. I will lead the way, with Sergeant Grayson. Baker, take our six."
"Yes, Ma'am." he replied, gruffly.
Maddie nodded, standing tall as the sun finally peaked into the sky, casting its golden rays over the flat grasslands of Meridian. Maddie knew that things would only get tougher but she allowed herself a moment. Meridian's days were numbered but, in that moment, the sun looked timeless as it spread across the horizon.
Maddie felt honoured that she got to see it.
God knows I won't feel the same way in a week.