Author's Note: Whew! It's been for friggin' ever, right? Well, thank you all for your patience as I've dealt with a number of pretty big real life things since returning home, and here's the next chapter as a belated Christmas present. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen: High Tide

This is where you earn your pay, Cooper.

I could almost hear the late Oliver Hayden's words in my head as the world came undone around me. If I hadn't been in Kenya five years ago at the close of the Human-Covenant War, facing both the Flood and the Covies with shrapnel wounds in my right arm and nothing but pistol ammo left in my clip, I would have thought this looked like the Apocalypse. As it was, this was a damn good impression.

Seeing all that we were going up against now, it didn't even surprise me when a hot lance of boiling plasma impacted the sandy dirt several meters away. I turned back to face the wide-eyed Marines who'd gathered around me.

"Don't just stand there, Marines! Let's move! You want to get out of here alive, we fight back! Now!"

Of course, that was easier said than done at this point. Despite all the measures I'd put in place against it, the Storm had caught us with our pants down, truly - and the ship we'd called home for the last few months, the Suave Affair, was gone. It was a miracle we hadn't all been glassed out of existence by now, too - though one glance up at the sky was enough to wish we had been. It would've been a quicker, cleaner death than what we faced now.

Stop it, Cooper, I thought to myself. None of these thoughts were helping. Taking action would.

Another loud whoosh came from above then, and I looked up to see a Banshee swooping in low at us, on the attack. Gripping my DMR tight against my chest, I shouted, "Marines, hit the deck! Banshee coming in hot!"

The group around me and I threw ourselves onto the tan dirt of the island and promptly covered our heads with our arms in the open, just in time as the enemy craft made its run. More large lances struck the ground, sizzling as they left smoking black craters in the ground. I heard several screams go out behind us - Marines who hadn't been as fast or as lucky as us. They were vaporized in an instant, caught up in the tightly directed conflagration that was plasma. Having been struck by it myself before, I shivered at the sounds.

And then a few seconds later I was back on my feet, pushing myself up from the dirt, weapon in hand. I was upset at the loss of a handful of my troops, but in a full-on invasion like this, I knew I couldn't expect to come out with no casualties. And I still had two whole battalions of men left to protect.

So even in the midst of the hellfire around me, I opened a COM channel to both the 8th Engineers and the 904th Infantry, hoping to turn things around as fast as I possibly could. "Everyone listen up! This is Lieutenant Colonel Cooper! Major Warfield, right now this is your show! Get your Marines assembled and let's get our defenses going! Heavy weapons up front! Tag as many of those damn Banshees as you can! Sharpshooters, watch for incoming Phantoms landing troops and nail 'em when they jump out! 'Hogs and tankers, move!"

I wasn't expecting much of a reply from the major, but the simple grunt he gave over the COM at my orders was even less than that. For some reason he still seemed to have a bone to pick with me, but obviously at the moment that was the absolute least of my worries. So long as he followed my commands and did his utmost to keep his men alive and repel the oncoming Remnant soldiers, that was enough for me.

"Harris, I need your men on the move, too!" I continued, bringing my rifle up now and looking through the sights for targets. "Leave two squads by the entrance to the ruins to guard the scientists and that's it! We need all hands on deck for this and I can't risk pulling any squadron off their flight right now to get us reinforcement!"

Being Marines we all understood Navy lingo as well, and presently that seemed most appropriate. Seeing the amount of traffic in the air above us, I knew Willis wasn't going to be able to spare anyone to go get us Major Brewer's battalion from our staging area on the mainland. At least for the moment, we were going to have to brave all this on our own - and worry about getting additional troops and supplies out here later. If we survived.

I ducked then as another Banshee came hurtling in overhead, lighting up a good chunk of Qamar with superheated green orbs of energy that pounded mercilessly into the dirt, sending up geysers of brown sand around us. This time, though, it was answered by a huge kaboom coming from the 904th's attached Scorpion tank. Two quick shots within seconds of each other somehow found their mark as the alien craft flew low, the first making it spark blue and white, the second completely obliterating it out of the sky. I grinned wide momentarily as a few of the Marines beside me whooped loud, only to find my heart sink again when my radio crackled.

It was my husband.

"Colonel, this is Talon in the skies. Be advised, you've got Banshees and Phantoms incoming. I repeat, Banshees and Phantoms inbound."

His words were strangely calm, but in his own way I could tell that what he was seeing up there had him anxious. I knew part of it was fear for my safety, and his brother's, but the rest was probably just what we were all feeling - something between stark terror and adrenaline. Our ship in orbit had just been destroyed, and now the Storm were on our asses en masse. Not the kind of fun most of us were into.

I'd been expecting an attack like this from the ruins. Instead, they'd come in from right where we'd decided not to look. Even after all these years of fighting them, it seemed the ex-Covies still managed to pull out some surprises once in a while - or maybe, more often than not.

As the other Banshees' cannon rounds kept hitting the ground around me, I replied to Willis, "Thanks, Talon! We know!"

I suddenly found myself having to sprint now to keep ahead of the strikes - same as Warfield's Marines around me. The Storm were hitting us damn hard right out of the gate, with everything they had. Up here on the open ridge of the island, with very little cover, that was the worst possible place to get caught. We needed our air support to take out more of the enemy before they had a chance to bomb us, or we were going to get liquified pretty fast.

Mixed with that somber knowledge was worry for Willis, and his pilots. But the truth of it was that if they didn't help, we'd be dead soon.

"Major, we need those ships off our tail!"

"Hold on, Cooper! We're working on it! The whole damn dome is full of them!"

"Get more support! From the Ex!"

"The Ex jumped, Natalie! We're all you've got!"

"Son of a bitch!"

That was the moment I wondered how any of this could get any worse. The only thing we needed now was another assault from the Prometheans teleporting out of the ruins or wherever the hell they were coming from, and have the human rebels on the mainland get after our reserve battalion there at the same time. Then this whole coordinated circus of "kill the UNSC Marines" would be complete.

Again, I had to remind myself that these thoughts weren't helping. So instead I pulled out the last ace we had up our sleeve - a new arrival from the Excalibur, and something I'd insisted on being brought to Qamar directly from the ship on the first day. One of them, in any case.

"Mantis-one, this is Colonel Cooper," I said over the COM then, taking in lungfuls of air at a time as my boots pounded the dirt. "Is your apparatus ready?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the operator returned. "Tell me where to set this bad boy up and I'll start wreaking havoc, Colonel."

I wanted to snort but it wasn't possible with all the oxygen I needed for running at the moment. "Aim your guns up, Captain. That should do the trick."

"Understood, ma'am. On it."

Checking out the view on my HUD as I ran, I saw the Mantis wasn't too far away from me - a little further behind and to the left. I heard it begin to stomp around, then just as quick start to let loose a barrage of machine gun fire - all targeted at the sky.

"Yeah!" the captain shouted. "Bring 'em on!"

The loud rattling noise of the heavy weapon was nearly drowned out by everything else going on - dogfights in the air, bombardments on the ground, Storm troops being disembarked on the island at an alarming rate. Every so often I could hear the sharp cracks of sniper rifles going off from somewhere on my six, backing us up as the rest of us charged headlong into the battle. It probably wasn't the best of strategies, but right now it was all we had - and I had a feeling that the Mantis was about to make up a good portion of the difference.

The rattling continued as we ran, lungs heaving and adrenaline pumping, towards the nearest Phantom that had just let off another dozen ex-Covenant onto the ridge. I had my gun up already and was ready to fire, but I couldn't use my scope while I sprinted. Instead I squeezed out an only partially aimed burst, one right after the next, and saw one of the Grunts drop to the sand in a messy spray of blood. Pretty impressive for the distance and the lack of a steady target, but what the Mantis did was so much more.

As an M41 rocket streaked through the air at the departing Phantom from one of our heavy weapons Marines, the Mantis behind us targeted the bulky troop carrier too. In seconds the rocket hit, blowing off a good chunk of the alien craft's purple armor on its flank, while the Mantis's machine gun drilled away at the rest. The Phantom was already sparking a heartbeat later, until a final rocket - from the Mantis this time - finished the job in a brilliant detonation just above us.

The force of the shockwave picked me up off my feet and sent me and several other still-running Marines straight into the dirt on our backs. I could only hope it'd done the same to our newly landed enemy.

But right now, even that didn't make its way into my top five concerns just yet.

Oxygen completely escaped my lungs when I hit the ground, like a giant hand had just beaten it right out of my chest cavity from behind. I tried to groan from the sudden impact but couldn't, head swimming for the longest of moments as my body seemed to ache in every place and my lungs burned. When my vision finally resolved into something recognizable - and while I desperately sucked in my first breath in what felt like minutes - I saw a familiar face in front of me.

"Ma'am? Colonel Cooper? You all right?"

The first time I tried to speak sent me into a brief coughing fit. I hadn't realized in the moment that so much sandy dirt had been kicked up around us in the blast. Finally, I replied hoarsely, "Yeah. Yeah, Josh. I'm okay."

Holding his SAW loosely in his lap while he crouched next to me, the staff sergeant gave me a look. "Sure?"

I coughed again, still trying to clear my lungs of the crap in the air. "Jesus...Christ, Porter. All that's left of the damn Storm in the galaxy appear to've just arrived on our doorstep, and you're worried about me?"

"Ma'am, I just - "

"I said I'm good. Let's go."

I picked myself up off the ground now that I could breathe normally and brought my DMR rapidly to bear again, looking for the alien targets that had just emerged from the Phantom we'd shot down. Meanwhile, I could hear the Mantis and rocket teams still doing their jobs behind us, deterring anymore Banshees from swooping in too low for the time being. That, at least, was a relief that was especially welcome - and it helped out my husband and his squadrons as well. I'd have to ask Willis again soon about their status upstairs - although I supposed that was plenty apparent from the way things were going down here.

"Shit, Colonel. I never would've expected this - even though I really should have," a voice to my right said then. I turned and saw Lieutenant Caleb Lloyd jogging up beside me, his battle rifle in his grasp. "Dammit. I was so stupid. And now the Affair is totally gone - "

Sparing the ONI operative a glance, I replied, "Don't beat yourself up too much, Cal. The blame lies with me, too - and every other senior officer aboard both ships who didn't even think of the possibility. We were so damn focused on the portals and those new Promethean bastards that we didn't even stop to realize the Storm might just pop back in the old-fashioned way."

"I just...I'm a spook, ma'am. This is my job, to account for everything beforehand, to know how and when to strike first and best against the enemy. I guess the novelty of what we found down there, in the ruins...it really distracted all of us."

"Yup. Hell of a tactic the Remnant bastards chose to employ." And dammit if it hadn't worked.

The talked ceased then as we both chose to let our guns do it for us, aiming at the oncoming rush of Storm troops left behind without support by the sudden explosion of their Phantom up above. But I knew that that brief window of good luck wouldn't last long, even with the Mantis still loudly stomping across the island ridge. As much of a badass machine of utter destruction it was, there was still only one of it, and tens of continuously incoming Banshees and Phantoms to take out.

After sinking one last burst into a shield-covered Jackal, dropping it quick from the slight indentation on the side of its shield, I keyed the COM again to my Marines. "Heavy weapons, don't stop firing! Keep reloading and aim for the skies! Tankers, head on a swivel! Support the ground troops and blast the air when you've got a close-range target coming in hot! Mantis-one, do your thing! Everyone else is back-up!"

Acknowledgment lights winked green across my HUD as I ducked to reload, the spent clip hot in my hands from how fast I'd fired it off. I tossed the used magazine away and pulled out a fresh one from my web belt, slamming it home and cocking the rifle just in time to catch an Elite in my sights.

The alien looked about ready to go off on one of my Marines, a corporal up at point with his two dead fireteam members beside him. The young serviceman looked to be injured, cradling his side as he tried to sit up from the ground, failed, and settling for pointing his sidearm at the tall ex-Covie. He got off at least half a dozen rounds, but even at that range, the bullets did little more than cause the Elite's translucent shield to shimmer.

In a panic as I brought up my own gun on the alien, I shouted, "Porter! Back that Marine up, now!"

"Yes, ma'am! On it!"

Together we rattled off a series of bursts, Staff Sergeant Porter moving in closer even as he sprayed a barrage of lead at the Elite. Its shields sputtered and failed in seconds against the onslaught, and with a final burst of gunfire from my DMR, the thing was toast. The formidable alien dropped to the dirt with a dying warble, its armor riddled with bullet holes and deep purple blood streaming from nearly all of them. I decided it might've been a little overkill on my part - but if it resulted in saving the life of one of my men, it was worth it.

I keyed my COM a third time as soon as the encounter was over.

"Corpsman up! Doc, get your ass over here on the double, we've got a Marine down who needs help!"

I ran over to the wounded corporal as I spoke, reaching him soon after Porter did. My aide crouched down beside him, much as he'd done a few minutes ago with me, and put a hand to his shoulder.

"Josh, it's okay. I got this," I said. "Watch our six, there's still a shitload of ex-Covies dropping in."

"Yes, ma'am."

Quickly dropping to one knee myself as I held my DMR tight against my middle with one hand, I leaned towards the injured Marine with the other and looked him over. There didn't seem to be much blood, but something was clearly causing him a world of pain. "Where're you hurt, Corporal?"

"My leg, ma'am," he responded tightly. Then he winced. "I screwed it up coming after this dude - " He indicated the Elite. " - and next thing I know, my ass is in the sand and I can't get up. I think it's broke."

"Could be, Marine." I squeezed his shoulder, relieved he was going to be okay and didn't seem to have anything life-threatening going on. I'd lost too many already, and this was only the start. "Sit tight, I've got Doc coming for you."

The corporal winced again. "I will, ma'am."

I remained crouched beside the young non-com for another moment, but turned my attention to everything going on around me instead. Storm craft were still coming in from seemingly everywhere up above, deploying more troops and dodging heavy ordnance from both the tanks, rockets, 'Hogs, and Mantis on the ground, as well as our squadrons up in the air. Once on the island's surface, Marines and Remnant troops fought for control at each point of contact, engaging in fierce clashes with weapons fire that enveloped the landscape...when the screams of those getting hit or seared alive didn't bleed through.

Like I said, damn good impression of the Apocalypse.

I shut my eyes tight for a second as I crouched there and took in a deep breath, trying to shut out all the noise so I could think. The battle for Qamar was far from over; I knew these were just the opening shots. It was going to take a lot more bullets and blood to get things stable again. And the destruction of the Affair was a loss I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around just yet, let alone think of the long-term ramifications of being without it forever and having the Excalibur disappear on us, too. The situation here had suddenly become about as dire as they came.

But I knew we had to keep fighting - to hold Qamar, to keep the scientists safe, to keep the civvies on the mainland from dealing with this.

And to survive.