Author's Note: Another new chappie for you all. ;-) Hope you like it and reviews are awesome!! Peace!
Chapter Thirty-Four: Sucker Punch
1416 Hours, February 20, 2552. Phase One, City of Cote D'Azur. "The Fall," Planet Sigma Octanus IV. Day Five of the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV
Things were going downhill fast.
We did have a few pluses: in just two days, Bravo Company had managed to bring its dismal figure of securing twenty-five percent of Quadrant A to seventy-five percent. And, thanks to Captain Kingston's leadership skills, morale was high despite the bad news, and casualties remained low.
But Europa Base was still out of contact.
Not only that, but we'd had our first victims: two dead, both from second platoon. And now, the Marines of Bravo Company had gone eighty-five hours without sleep, and a little over thirty-one without food. For the four top officers, including me, the figures were even worse: one hundred-two hours without sleep, and thirty-nine without food.
The situation was dire, but Kingston kept us motivated and together. He knew our chances were slim, and he'd told his officers as much. But, somehow, he was also able to give us a glimmer of hope, and through that kept our drive to come out on top strong. We fought harder and fiercer than ever, and the rate at which we'd been gaining ground recently proved it.
More than anything, we were all determined to live.
Unscrewing the cap to my canteen, I took a long drink of water to chase down the stims Doc Reynolds had given me. With Covenant crawling all over most of the city, there wasn't any place safe enough for us to get sleep yet. So for now, the officers relied on pharmaceuticals to stay awake and alert. If the Covenant continued harassing us in between clearing buildings, the whole company would soon have to use the same treatment.
"How's that working out, El-Tee?" Reynolds asked me after a few minutes. This was the first time I'd resorted to the stimulants, per Kingston's order.
"Well, I don't feel like I'm going to fall flat on my face with exhaustion anymore," I said, giving him a half-hearted grin. Until the pills took their full effect, that was all I could manage.
"Remember the side effects, ma'am," the medic warned.
"Same shit as always, right? Headache, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting?"
"You can't take these indefinitely, Lieutenant. Eventually, you'll have to sleep."
"The Covies are sure making that hard these days."
I remained seated after Petty Officer Reynolds had administered the drug. Closing my eyes only briefly, I suddenly thought of someone I hadn't thought of in years: Ethan.
I wasn't sure where the thought had come from, really. The medic hadn't listed "random thoughts of a past event you'd repressed deep in your subconscious" as one of the side effects. And yet, my mind drifted to just such a place.
Maybe it was because the situation was rapidly unraveling, and I needed to come to terms with my past before I went on to the afterlife. That was my best guess.
Whatever the case, I had devoted years following the ordeal to forgetting all about it. In fact, I hadn't thought about or talked about Ethan for close to six years. It was amazing how efficient the brain was at making horrible experiences disappear in the recesses of the mind.
But, somehow, there they were again: the months of pain, tears, and fear. Ethan's stinging hands and sharp words. The world I'd escaped from a long time ago slowly bubbling back to the surface…
"Lieutenant, are you feeling all right?" Reynolds asked.
"Huh?" I said, realizing the petty officer had spoken. I opened my eyes to find him crouched in front of me, looking at my face with concern.
"I asked how you were feeling, ma'am. You're really pale all of a sudden."
"I am? Don't worry about it, Doc, really. I'll be fine."
Reynolds didn't buy it. "If you throw up the pills, you'll have to take them again."
I laughed nervously. "Trust me, Doc. This has nothing to do with---"
I turned my head away from the medic and puked.
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"Cooper? Are you ready to tackle the next building?" Captain Kingston asked over a private COM channel a few minutes later. Against my own wishes, the medic had informed Kingston that my body hadn't taken too well to the stims. Reynolds had given me a second dose, however, and so far these were working out all right.
"Yes, sir," I replied.
"Take the auto manufacturing facility just across the street. Second platoon's been observing the area for the past fifteen minutes, and there seems to be quite a bit of activity in there. Can you handle it?"
"Send me in, Captain."
"Ok. I'll be with third platoon, clearing the underground parking garage a few blocks up. Second platoon will be a block away, taking care of the group of houses there. Let me know as soon as you have the facility secure, Lieutenant, and I'll give you further instructions."
"Yes, sir."
"Kingston out."
The captain closed the channel, and I opened a new one in its place. "First platoon! This is Lieutenant Cooper. We've got another assignment, a factory right out front. Third squad will infiltrate from the side door, first will come in from the back, and second will maintain position outside and snipe from the third floor of this apartment complex. Questions?"
The COM filled with empty static.
"Let's get to it, Marines!"
While I watched my platoon maneuvering as I'd ordered, my thoughts returned to Ethan. Instead of remembering the hell he'd put me through, however, I remembered the good things that had happened once he was out of my life.
"I promised you the day Ethan was arrested that I'd always be there for you," Willis had said to me nearly five years ago. "And now, it's time I make good on that promise."
Then he'd gone down on one knee and proposed to me.
Funny thing was, if it hadn't been for my ex-boyfriend, maybe Willis and I wouldn't be together. Or if we were, we wouldn't have the same closeness we shared now; my husband was still the only one who knew about that dark part of my past. I'd also probably be no different than I'd been back then: vulnerable and helpless. Thanks to Willis, I'd become anything but in the years following the tribulation.
"Screw you, Ethan," I whispered inside my helmet, grinning. "I'm over it."
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Walking up to the outside of the factory, my motion tracker lit up with several red dots. Gripping my battle rifle tight, I leaned against the door of the back entrance, listening and waiting. I held up my left hand, signaling first squad to standby.
I quickly and quietly slung my rifle on my shoulder and drew my silenced pistol instead.
Pfft. Pfft.
Shooting two rounds from the weapon, one for each part of the doorframe, I blew off the hinges of the entrance. I holstered my pistol and pulled back, raising my leg to kick open the door…
And I remembered my dream.
If that's the way I depart from this life, then so be it, I thought. I didn't hesitate to finish the motion I'd begun.
The plasma and needle fire started coming my way almost immediately. I barely had time to get my battle rifle back in my hands before I had to dive to the ground. Third squad was supposed to already be in position on the other side, but it seemed something had delayed their arrival.
Lieutenant Hillburn's squad was always late for one reason or another, and one day that was going to get me killed.
Crawling between rows of large pipes and other mechanical equipment, I was able to get closer to the red dots currently unloading on me. I reached for my web belt, still lying half-prone, and tried to rip off a grenade.
My hand came back empty.
I looked down and saw a lone plasma grenade hanging on the other side of my belt. I'd used up all my grenades these past few days, and the alien one had come my way courtesy of a dead Grunt. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to use my last explosive here or not.
Before I could make up my mind, the rest of first squad showed up around me. Now backed up by allies, I peeked over the edge of a huge black pipe and fired off precise bursts with my battle rifle. Finally, I was able to see the group of Covies exchanging fire with us…and what a big group it was.
"Dandh, Garian, come with me," I ordered, motioning with my gloved hand for them to follow me. "First squad, keep the enemy pinned until third squad arrives."
Acknowledgment lights winked green all around, and the two corporals and I began making our way through the maze of machines. While crawling a few yards away, we came upon an AI terminal. I tried to get Corporal Garian, an electronics expert, to hack it, but the terminal was busted. So much for that plan.
The two junior noncoms and I had reached a side door, located just past the AI terminal, that looked like it led to a raised section behind the attacking Covenant.
That was our in.
I ordered Garian and Dandh to take up positions behind me, and I took point as we cleared the doorway and the two small office rooms beyond. No aliens were lurking in either room. It can't be this easy, I thought to myself as I grabbed the doorknob on the opposite side.
"Bravo Company, listen up!" a voice suddenly shouted into the company-wide COM channel. Only Kingston was supposed to have the frequency to that channel, and yet the voice addressing us was female.
Graham's sudden access could only mean one thing.
"This is Lieutenant Graham! The captain is down! I repeat, Captain Kingston has been incapacitated! As executive officer of the company, I'll be taking charge of Bravo at this time. The captain is not dead, but is unable to perform his duties due to a severe wound. He has not yet been stabilized. Continue your missions for now and standby for more orders. Graham out."
For a moment, I simply stood there, motionless. Captain Kingston, our intrepid leader, had been wounded? I could hardly believe it. Looking back, I raised my faceplate and stared at my two subordinates.
"You guys hear that?" I asked, my voice revealing none of the fear I suddenly felt.
The two men nodded, clutching their weapons tightly.
I narrowed my eyes and jerked a thumb in the direction of the side door that would allow us to surprise the enemy. "Then let's go get the fuckers who did this."