Maddie sighed.
This is taking too long.
Every moment wasted now, was another her enemies had to beat her to the prize. Her curiosity and her ambition had set her down this path long ago but it was her need, her desire, to understand the ancient mysteries of the universe that drove her now.
For a long time, she blamed the covenant for taking away her choice. They had funnelled her into a position where she couldn't say no and where she couldn't possibly reject ONIs lure of secret knowledge and black operations. Maddie didn't blame them, though she often thought that she should. ONI were trustworthy in much the same way that you could trust a snake to bite, a scorpion to sting, or a moa to taste great in a burger. It was just how some things are, you could trust something that wasn't ashamed of its nature.
ONI lies and ONI can't be trusted.
Only the covenant was responsible for what had been beyond her control, from the loss of her home, to her friends Nicola and Ellen. Though it was easy to see that the Covenant were the cause of her anguish, she couldn't truly hate them for it. As it was with ONI, the Covenant were also unashamed of their nature. She wasn't really sure how she felt about them now. The brutes were the real animals. Whattheyhad done to the humans on Skopje was beyond barbaric. They were shock troopers pure and simple, valued by the covenant only for their brutality and gullibility. They were the only species she had not grown some kind of affinity for. They killed Nicola. She would never forget that.
She knew she pitied the grunts. They were the invariable victims of their master's brutality, cursed to the rank of cannon fodder for all time. The Kig-Yar were mercenaries, they didn't appear to be true believers so Maddie regarded them as the smartest of the bunch, she understood why they threw in with the Covenant even if she resented them for doing it.
The Elites, of course, seemed the most zealous of the bunch. Though she had only met Erun, she could tell that there was a curiosity to them that was almost human. She shook her head.
Now if only they weren't genocidal monsters.
Indeed, life was turning out to be a lot more complicated than it had seemed when she signed her sister's life away. Maddie looked to the sky. All she wanted was to pursue the mysteries of this galaxy from the Orion arm to the edges of andromeda, learning, as she often did from discipline and study.
Unfortunately, she was dogged by bad memories and old wounds. Maggie's fate hung over her like an omnipresent shroud, weighing her down like sodden clothes. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, or even find peace with her past. Instead, she felt closer to it than ever and without any of the people who might have made life easier on her.
It took a lot of discipline to keep her mind focused on the lives of her men. Thoughts of the Nazari's raced in her head. What they found, what they know, what they hid from everyone…
It was all a lot more interesting than walking through grassy fields.
Meridian was beautiful. As the sun rose above the horizon, the dewy windswept grass twinkled and danced like a sea of emerald blades. She would have liked to take in the sights, to truly enjoy the little things that made Meridian unique but time was not on her side. For years, the UNSC had access to all of the information in her head. Countless hours of depositions, scans and tests to decipher the mystery had turned up nothing and it all came down to a broadcast leaked by two cowardly CEOs. She knew that anyone could have read that broadcast.
Walsingham could have picked it up, and no offense to you or to myself but if a school project can pick it up then the covenant definitely can.
"Hello, Lt." Duggan said cheerily as he sat in the brush with Maddie, watching the ridgeline behind the platoon for movement.
"Can I help you Private?" She asked, eyeing him from under the helm.
"Baker and his squad just cleared out a pack of little ones just up the road."
Maddie nodded, "They're getting more numerous"
"Seems that way, Ma'am."
Maddie wondered if the rest of the unit were even alive. They hadn't seen anyone for hours now, and the sun was scrambling up into the sky. With the covenant entrenched here, there wasn't much the ODST could do but hope they could seize the initiative and secure their objectives.
With the sun up, and comms still down, the attack couldn't be going that well at all and whatever difficulties the 42nd were facing, the 4th and 7th armoured would be facing a dozen more. They were truly exposed on the open plains, with only the armour of their tanks for cover.
"All right, Private, let's catch up with the others. We needed to be at the objective yesterday and I don't suppose that Captain Denning will like any excuses about being late."
The young man offered a hand as he stood but Maddie ignored it, standing easily as the private retracted his hand awkwardly.
"Er, no I don't think he will, Ma'am." He said, scanning the horizon.
The pair of them walked in silence as they made their way to the rest of the Platoon. The sounds of battle rumbled and groaned around them but all Maddie could think about was the secret truth of the covenant gods.
The forerunners.
One of them had left her a gift, and planted the knowledge to find it inside her head. Everything she had done since, was in service of uncovering that secret.
The rest of the platoon soon came into view, their silhouettes marching along the road as the morning dawned and night slipped into memory. Grayson led the way as Baker and his squad caught their breath, trying to forget the firefight they'd just won.
"Baker. Any casualties?" Maddie asked.
The Sergeant shook his head, "nope, we got lucky."
"Good." She replied, walking on up to the front of the group.
Duggan trailed her, watching closely as she sauntered about the platoon, his eyes never leaving her as she worked the men. She listened to their conversations, watched their movements, and grimaced at their bovine comments regarding her occupation.
Maddie sighed as one trooper remarked that she would have made a pass at her, were she not a spook.
Maddie looked to the sky, where the Seventh fleet and the rest of the Navy fought intense battles with probing covenant battlegroups and thought of Commander Sterling and the rest of the sailors aboard the Ides; wondering if Commander Sterling ever heard comments made about him from his crew. It was doubtful, of course, naval personnel were among the most closely bonded humans in the galaxy. The way that Admiral Harper used to talk about Preston Cole was all she had ever needed to know to understand that bond.
Duggan was beside her again, now, his helmet tilted towards her. For a while, they walked like that, with Maddie pretending not to notice him, and Duggan pretending not to stare.
The Covenant presence seemed to subside as they approached the rally point but Maddie knew that they were grouped together. The closer they got to the fighting, the more roaming sentries, the more scouts and patrols they would encounter. In the last half hour, Maddie would lose a man to a jackal sniper, hidden in the fields.
In the end, they had to burn him out using plasma grenades taken from the covenant dead. Maddie had expected offensive combat to be a bit more straightforward than this but she hadn't really considered the ODST MO before. If there was a gun the UNSC could point at the enemy, the ODST were the black-market bullet. Hyper lethal, occasionally imprecise, and totally unpredictable.
This much was evident as a battle for an orchard raged in the distance.
"Duggan?" Maddie asked, bursting into life.
"Oh, um, yes Ma'am?"
"Assemble a fireteam, I want you and two others to go with Sergeant Baker and take a closer look, set up a position to provide the rest of the platoon with a base of fire." She replied, before switching on her heels to speak with the rest of the platoon.
They noticed her instantly and formed a tight circle around her. "Alright, listen in, we've got eyes on the rally point but it's under attack. Sergeant Baker is taking a team to set up a firing position to cover our advance. We will use the long grass and wheat as cover and spread our assault out as much as possible to relieve the men holding the orchard without taking casualties."
The men looked eager but Sergeant Grayson seemed a little wary as the men took their positions and entered the field with a five-metre spread between each man. He came beside her as she watched Duggan and Baker slide into a ditch with the other men.
"Ma'am?" He asked, sheepishly.
"Yes?"
"Don't you think we should scout ahead first?" He said quietly.
Maddie shook her head. She didn't want to delay further; they hadn't even sighted their first objective yet. "The rally point is under attack. If we delay, we lose our men and make our lives harder later. Get back in line and lead on."
He moved away without comment, and he struck Maddie as a bit too soft. Her men could seize the initiative and confuse the enemy long enough to push them back.
And we can finally get this show on the road.
Slowly, they moved through the field, remaining quiet, the sound of their feet hidden by the sound of gunfire and explosions. Maddie moved to the front of the platoon and approached Duggan and Baker in their position.
Walsingham scanned the horizon and began to map the approximate location of the enemy. Maddie muted the channel and spoke softly to Walsingham.
"How are we looking, Wally?"
"I'm not a tactical assistant but I would say that the odds for your plan are favourable."
"Okay, keep collecting as much data from my helmet, I'm going to try and get a better view."
"Aye, Ma'am." He replied, diligently.
Ahead was the small area that Duggan and the others had holed up in. They had no MG or heavy weaponry but they were trusted marksmen, and that was all they needed. The Covenant would be caught by her advancing platoon and her marksmen, all while assaulting the Marines defending the orchard.
As she reached the edge of their position, Maddie flashed a signal and slid into the ditch as a hushed conversation between Duggan and another Private concluded.
"...just don't get involved, Nuggs, for Christ's sake!" They hissed, "they are nothing but trouble and they'll eat you alive."
Duggan noticed her slip into the pit and said nothing as she crept towards Sergeant Baker. "We're ready Ma'am, we can open fire on your go." he said, flicking the safety off of his rifle and laying it on the mud above the ditch.
Maddie scanned the assault and held up her hand. Out in the field, Sergeant Grayson watched and waited for the signal. It was then that a great eruption of orange fire fell on the attackers, coming not from the men defending the orchard but from a platoon emerging from their opposite direction.
She zoomed, letting Walsingham get a good look. Patiently she waited, as Walsingham scanned, the platoon of men burst forward and with a vigour that put fear amongst the enemy. Maddie paused as Walsingham's analysis filtered onto the screen.
FOX COMPANY. SECOND PLATOON. LT. VOLKOVSKAYA.
Her eyes narrowed and her hand rose, the men poised to strike.
You're not having this, Katya.
She made the signal and her men attacked. She sighted a Jackal with a long rifle and took aim. The DMR kicked and the bullet soared out into the dawn, it's brass casing glinting for the briefest moment before it clinked softly into the mud. The bullet itself danced off with great speed, flying straight into the skull of the jackal, killing him with the precision she was trained for. Her men pushed on as the marksmen opened up. Their sustained and accurate rifle fire disoriented the enemy for long enough to allow the bulk of her own platoon to reach the orchard and snag cover. Giving them plenty of scope to rip the attacking covenant to shreds.
Duggan watched as his Lieutenant moved from target to target with the speed and precision of a hummingbird, her gun cracking like the attack of a viper, let loose upon the juicy neck of her foe. Maddie was in her element, slotting round after round onto the grunts, jackals and Elites that made up the attackers.
"Don't let them escape!" she shouted, "Close the noose!"
Maddie needn't have bothered, for the aliens caught in their ad-hoc web, it was over the moment Katya had played her hand.
"Let's go," she said, loudly, scrambling out of the ditch and pushing forward. she looked back to see Duggan scrambling after her as well as the private he had been speaking with and Sergeant Baker.
The sprint to the front was almost easy, as the confused aliens swiped at whatever direction each bullet came from, cut down as they tried to work out where the ODST were shooting them from. Maddie neared her men and pushed them on, dropping to one knee out in front of them and picking off a grunt as it pulled two plasma grenades from their pouches and tried to arm them.
Each of her men followed her lead, pushing the desperate creatures into a tighter and tighter circle until they finally began to run, escaping through the brushes and back to their lines. Maddie kept low and moved towards the farmhouse, hoping to be closer to the Major when the fighting subsided than Katya.
Just in case.
Then, blue fire began to rain on the orchard. It fell from the sky slowly at first, then it exploded and rocked the ground with a great shock. Maddie saw her men hesitate and look around. She wasn't where she was supposed to be.
Damn it.
she cursed under her breath and rose up tall, waving to them as she shouted above the almighty crashes of the enemy artillery.
"Get to cover!" she shouted, dashing towards the fence. Some ran for the farm house, others threw themselves into foxholes, one was incinerated by a direct hit. "Edge of the field!" she shouted, pulling a stumbling ODST to his feet and throwing him away.
Maddie put her DMR on her back and dragged a wounded soldier to the edge of the field, watching Katya's platoon take a battering nearer to the centre of the field. They'd run out first and paid the price. It seemed that Meridian's flatness made predicting enemy movement very easy. They must have known this could be used as a rally point and sighted it beforehand.
Regardless, there was little Maddie could do, as she pressed herself to the edge of the field, except to hope that they were just covering the Covenant retreat.
"Move to the farmhouse! Hug the fence!" she shouted, as her men began to make their way to the settlement behind them.
Grayson tapped her shoulder, "Ma'am, we still got guys out there in the field!"
Damn it!
"Stick with me, Duggan! You too, we're going to cover the rest of the platoon when the barrage lifts up!"
The Private nodded, looking about through his scope as the last of the covenant began to leave the field and take positions along the far edge of the melted orchard. The barrage continued as the remnants rallied, forming a line amongst the hedges and letting little blue and green pebbles zip and dash toward them. Maddie brought her rifle to bear and tried to pick them off but the thick hedgerows made for excellent cover as she cursed again, turning to the men beside her.
"We're dead if we stay here!"
"What about the-" Grayson asked
"I'll handle it, cover me!"
The pair of them nodded again and Maddie dropped her DMR, took a deep breath and sprinted forward to the nearest foxhole, sliding into it as mortar shells slammed into the ground around her.
Nothing here.
She glanced up, spotting her men in a cluster of holes about ten metres away just as mud and soil fell on her like a terrible wave of putrid water. Still, she hauled herself up, gripping the edges of the hole, forcing herself out into the open as explosions detonated around her and plasma rounds zipped and spattered by her head.
"Let's go!" she shouted, nearing the first hole. "Move or you're f-"
She flew through the air, soaring like a discarded toy into a pit. Dazed and confused for a moment she coughed and felt dampness on her hands. Immediately she was up, checking herself for injuries, looking at her hands, arms, chest and shoulders until she realised that the blood on her hands wasn't her own, but the former occupants of the foxhole. She almost wretched as the half mush, half glassed corpses, seeped into the bottom of the hole.
Maddie had forgotten just how vicious this war really was. Getting reacquainted with it after so many years was all of a sudden, a much bigger task than she had thought only an hour ago.
Okay. Up. Let's go. Your men won't save themselves.
Again, she pulled herself from the mire and forced her way up into hell itself, pulling an ODST out of the nearest foxhole, running to the next and passing on the message.
"To the rally point, now!" she shouted one final time, her body twisting, turning, ready to return. She looked behind and saw most of the ODST follow and set off in amongst the hellfire that rained from the sky.
It wasn't far; each step felt like it lasted for an eternity. Even as her long legs carried her swiftly to safety, the shells seemed to fall closer, each one warming her as she saved the remainder of Sergeant Baker's squad, sprinting for their lives back to Duggan and Grayson. Her rifle twinkled in the dirt, and she threw herself at it, pulling it to her shoulder and covering the men as they ran past her. It was easier now, the fire from the covenant had burned away bits of leaves and the intensity of their suppression increased. Tracking the rounds came easier and Maddie fired as each of them gradually pulled back, staggering their movement and covering each other until they were nearly at the company lines. They were close enough now to be out of their effective range, and hopped over the barricades set up by E Company, who respectfully nodded to some of the ODST as they passed.
Naturally, no such respect was shown to Maddie as she crossed the yard into the centre of the large farm. In fact, some outright shook their heads at the sight of her. It didn't bother her of course, but Maddie was starting to wonder how Drake had kept his cool among the rank and file when this was the reception, he got from them. The frostiness of the other squaddies was soon abandoned as she noticed the rest of her men rallying to her position.
"Good work out there, guys." she said, to a large group of them, "take five while I speak with Captain Denning."
They nodded and she turned, looking for the largest building, which would likely be the temporary command centre. The farm was massive, it was more like an industrial estate than a small farm but when you lived on a continent the size of Australia with a near perfect flatness and plenty of fertile land what was considered a 'small' farm was relative.
As she walked along the gravel, taking in the sights and sounds, she spotted Katya talking with Denning across the yard.
"Lt. Harper. Nice of you to join us." he said, sourly.
"Sir." she said, nodding. She wanted to salute, paint a target on the back of this arsehole and be done with him but her training kept her more reckless impulses in check. She wouldn't get anywhere with Denning by antagonising him.
"Lt. Volkovskaya was just reporting her manoeuvre in the orchard."
"Her manoeuvre?" Maddie asked, pointedly.
Denning looked between the two of them, sensing something was amiss.
"The Lieutenant was telling me how she led your pincer attack on the orchard. You saved our asses, to be frank, so well done."
Maddie seethed.
She took the damn credit.
She had known Katya long enough to know that the pose she struck was one of gloating and satisfaction.
Her men would have died were it not for me!
Maddie sighed, controlling herself. The helmet cams would prove otherwise to ONIs brass, but Katya and Maddie needed to show a united front or their authority as ONI operatives would be thrown into question. It was something that Katya knew full well and was a typically inspired swipe at revenge. If she knew anything, it was that this was only the start for the revenge she felt Maddie deserved.
Perhaps I do deserve it, but the mission must come first.
"It was an inspired move, Sir." she said, playing her part well.
"Indeed. Regardless, Major Seer is cooking up a plan to take the Grove and needs F Company to clear out a couple objectives before we move on the Grove with the rest of the Battalion."
"Any sign of Lt. Braeburn, Sir?" Maddie asked.
The two of them shot her an arched look but thankfully, her helmet would give nothing away.
"Not yet, but no-one from his Platoon is here either."
That didn't sound good, Braeburn was supposed to drop with the rest of F Company close to the objective, the rest of them were here, so, where was he? The fact that all of them had gone missing put her at ease a bit, that meant that they might have just swung off course.
Even still... I don't want to lose one of my only friends.
"I've sent third squad on a scouting run to the two objectives you'll be assigned to take. When Sergeant Davenport returns, he will brief me and we will finally be able to make some real progress. Intel screwed up. We should have known about the jammers. Naval Intelligence might cost us this whole operation."
He said those last words with malice and venom. Maddie wanted to remind him that they were equivalent ranks but until the mission called for them to take charge, there was nothing she or Katya could do to put this guy in his place.
"You aren't wrong, Sir" Katya replied, coolly, "but intelligence is why we are here, HIGHCOM knew this was a risky op from the get-go."
Smooth, Katya, very smooth.
Captain Denning seemed to want to argue, but Maddie folded her arms, supporting Katya without openly challenging the Captain.
"Well, in any event, the jammer is likely in the Grove, so there is little that can be done about it for now. Wait with your Platoons and I will be around with your orders soon."
"Yes, Sir." the pair of them replied, as Denning turned on his heels
It was early days, but things weren't going smoothly. She hadn't expected an easy ride but each step towards her goal seemed to come with an asterisk, and small print with a thousand caveats and issues. It had Parangosky's fingerprints all over it, and it seemed to her that this was only the start. The Admiral would never waste an asset, of course. So, Maddie knew that she could handle the old woman's games, maybe even thrive, in fact. She needed a win though. She needed to pick up Bornstellar's trail.
As Denning faded into the rabble of ODST, Katya turned to leave.
"Nice manoeuvre." Maddie stated, her arms still folded.
"Thank you," she laughed, "it was… inspired, wasn't it?"
"Fuck you."
"Aw," Katya purred, "the snake is rattled. I hope you know, but I haven't even begun to make your life miserable for what you did to me on Luna."
"Grow up, Katya." Maddie hissed, stepping close. "We both pulled some nasty tricks on each other to win. Or have you forgotten the infection you gave me?"
Katya almost snorted, "you think a prank is anything like what you did to me? To my reputation?"
Maddie struggled to think of an immediate answer. It was true that she had taken it a step further, but that was ultimately how it was always going to end. If it hadn't been her, it would have been Katya.
"I thought so." she said, darkly, "you didn't stop for a moment, did you? I hope second was worth it because you won't think so when I'm finished with you, Lieutenant Harper."
She strode away, her body was long and slender in the morning sun. As it peaked over the horizon, the morning rays fully cascaded over her as she turned to face her own platoon. Duggan was staring at her, again, the other private from the ditch saw her approach and walked away, shaking her head.
"Does something about me interest you, Duggan?" she asked, pointedly. She sounded harsh, even to herself. Clearly Katya had gotten under her skin.
"Oh, er, not at all, Ma'am" he stammered.
She was fuming and in no mood to talk but the young private had a curious air about him.
"I'm not wearing all this fancy armour because I pay no attention to my surroundings." she replied, glaring at him.
"I didn't mean to insinuate Ma'am, I was just tryna work out if you were new to ONI."
This took her back a little.
"Would you like some chocolate?" he added, producing a bar from his pocket.
Maddie almost laughed, but stifled it instead. "Don't try to bribe me with sweet's private. What difference does being green make to my authority?"
The Private seemed to shrug. "Nothing, Ma'am. It wasn't your competency I was curious about."
"Then what was it?"
He looked about, catching the eye of the other private from the ditch, who shook her head. He unclipped his helmet and pulled it off, revealing a dark haired and handsome face with a blackened eye, welting right at her.
"Your character, Ma'am. I just wanted to know what kind of girl were."
Ah. So that's what this is all about. It seems Duggan isn't quite as benign as I had originally thought.
"Does it matter, Private?"
Duggan was unfazed by her. She might have pulled rank over him but he seemed to almost ignore the fact she wasn't pleased at him.
"It might." He said, a little too cheekily for Maddie's liking.
"It's your place to worry about that, is it?" she shot back, glaring at him as he munched on his snack.
"No, Ma'am. I was just curious, is all." He said, airily.
Maddie paused, her eyes narrowing. "Well then, Nuggs," she said, condescendingly, " Keep it to yourself. Understood?"
"Crystal, Ma'am."
"Oh, and Private Duggan?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"The next time you refer to me girl, will be the last day that you have a tongue. Am I clear?"
Now he swallowed. Duggan looked as though he just realised that the furry mass that he had been prodding wasn't a puppy; it was a bear.
Maddie nodded and sighed, feeling a little claustrophobic under the helmet. She depolarised it, unclipped the buckles that attached it to her ODST suit and lifted it from her head, shaking her tightly bound hair a little as she took in the senses and sounds of the farm. The place smelled of burned sugar, the now glassed apples making for an aromatic reminder of the covenant's capacity to destroy. Maddie was thankful it wasn't a cattle farm, burned wheat and apple was a blessing compared to charred flesh.
It was the first time the men had gotten a look at her and she was quite happy with the results. Looking into the iconic recon visor, she could see that her face was a picture of health, youth, and energy. Despite faint scarring over her eye, she knew she still looked good. Looking the part was important to ONI. They didn't care about beauty, but all of their agents had to meet the expectations of those they met. It was something that both Drake and Serin had made clear to her over the years. Parangosky's own motto was 'strength through paranoia', and little made a person paranoid more than the fearsome and deadly agents of ONI.
They watched her as she surveyed the farm, watching, consuming, and speculating as she waited for things to get moving again. She was restless and eager to get moving but unfortunately, there was nothing to be done.
Damn it.
She tried not to scowl, to keep up appearances in front of the men but it was no use, she could feel her facial muscles grip tightly into a look of frustration.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed, and took solace in the fact that she would have once solved this with a cigarette but that now she had grown beyond such a crutch.
Patience takes practice, Maddie. Patience takes practice.
She sat down for a moment and forced herself to rest. There would be few opportunities for it in the following days and she had been trained well. Focusing on that made things easier as she put her helmet back on her head, told Walsingham to keep an eye out for trouble, and nodded off for a quick nap.