Chapter Twenty-Seven: Last of the Group

Lieutenant Caleb Lloyd seemed to know immediately what Doctor Leedom was talking about; the surprise and recognition were clear on his face. Once again, however, like with the significance of Eridanus II, I was left in the dark. I looked from the lead scientist to the spook, hoping to read something in their expressions, but again Lloyd shook his head.

At least he addressed me directly about it this time.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but in anticipation of your question, I haven't been cleared to brief you on Requiem yet," the ONI operative said. "I realize this leaves you in a bit of a bind command-wise, but I promise I'll let you know what I can as soon as clearance has been granted."

I frowned, annoyed not because I was being left out of the loop for security reasons, but because the intelligence I was being denied could have a drastic effect on the well-being of my Marines - all fifteen hundred of them. "Has a request even been sent to your superiors, Cal?"

Lieutenant Lloyd let out a sigh, obviously unsure how much he should say. "I filed a request with Captain Rhodes just before the Affair was destroyed so he could forward it to Admiral Dartmouth for review, Colonel. I'm not sure if the message made it out or not. Rhodes himself may know, but until the Excalibur comes back in orbit...I have no way to tell."

"Great," I muttered. "Till then I'm flying blind."

"Again, ma'am. I'm...sorry."

I waved a dismissive hand at him. "It's okay, Cal. I know you're just following ONI protocol. But it's damned irritating nonetheless."

The spook gave a small twitch of his lips. "I'll leave a note for the brass in the 'questions and comments' section of their PR department, ma'am."

"Hilarious, Lieutenant," I sniped back.

In the meantime, Doctor Jill Leedom cleared her throat beside us. "There's more I'd like to impart, Cooper."

"Please," I prompted.

She finally lowered the datapad she'd been studying since we'd arrived and took a step away from her strange technical apparatus - strange to me, anyway. It also didn't escape my notice that she was with her back to the active portal now, too. Not something I would have been comfortable with, given the fact that we didn't know what sort of light-up button press might send us into outer space...but then again I wasn't one of the brains.

"I read in a report one of your Marines filed, a Captain Ashlee Sogaard with the 904th Infantry Battalion, that you discovered an underground passage along the shore that led to this chamber," Leedom said. "You wanted us to find out if there were any more like it in the ruins."

"Yes, ma'am. I've wondered that for a while. What did you find?"

"Curiously, just one additional passageway, Colonel. It's actually not far from the main set of stairs, but it's very well-hidden." She frowned then. "I'm afraid with the premium placed on discovering the destinations linked to the portals, however, we have not been given enough time yet to explore the new tunnel."

"I'd say that's the next priority then, Doctor. At least for us ground troops. It'd be nice to know if we're about to get jumped by the enemy beforehand."

Next to me, the spook gave a snort. "Which one?"

My mouth quirked in a grim smile. "We certainly have the pick of the litter, don't we?"

The lead scientist ignored us and sighed. "Very well, Cooper. We'll take your suggestion under advisement and continue our studies here; there is still plenty of work to be done with regards to the portals as well, but I understand that something like the underground tunnels are a pressing issue to your Marines. We'll do our best to gather information for you as quickly as possible."

"Thanks," I replied. "I'd appreciate it."

We shook hands again and then Lloyd and I moved off back towards the main part of the chamber, where the rest of the Marines were, still standing guard. As soon as we turned back, Caleb glanced over at me.

"So what now, ma'am?" he asked.

I adjusted the strap of my DMR over my torso armor before answering, feeling a little weary but knowing there was still lots more to do. "I need to go talk to my brother about possibly setting charges in this place, as a last resort. Go ahead and keep chatting with the other scientists if you want, see if they have anything else to add about any of the portals, or the underground passage. Otherwise you can join Staff Sergeant Porter's squad at the entrance. They can always use an extra hand."

"Got it, Colonel."

Lieutenant Lloyd left my company then and I spotted my younger brother making his way across the chamber, either still in the process of mapping things or returning to the stairs all finished. I caught him as he came around the circular room and lifted my chin at him to get his attention.

"Done yet, Trav?"

He shrugged, looking as tired as I felt. "It's a big place, Nat. Might take us some time to get it all rigged."

"It's possible, though?"

"In theory. We've found places in the walls that look structurally weak and can most likely give us the best bang for our buck if we need it. Given the stuff we're dealing with down here, though, I'm not sure how effective the ordnance might be. Alien tech can have reinforced barriers we can't detect or...something. I don't know."

"Right." I let out a sigh myself this time. "Well, if this is the best we can do, we do it. It's better than nothing. I'd rather try and fail than not give it our all."

"With you there, sis."

"If you think you need more input, I'd go talk to some of the scient - "

Something that felt a lot like the kind of explosion we were just talking about suddenly rocked the earth beneath our boots. Deeper within the chamber I heard screams, but they didn't sound like they were coming from anyone by the entrance. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the scientists.

"Fucking hell," I growled.

As soon as the light dusting of debris from the ceiling stopped pinging off our helmets, I keyed the COM and barked, "What the hell was that?"

But no one answered. There wasn't even static. My pulse spiked until I remembered that last time we were down here, the COM hadn't worked, either. I quietly cursed and repeated my words aloud, shouting this time to be heard through the room. It was one of Travis's Marines that responded.

"Ma'am, we don't know! Something just came through the portals!"

Travis and I didn't even have time to share a quick glance - both of us were off and running in an instant, heading back toward the scientists with our weapons raised. For a brief moment I marveled at the fact that we weren't all six feet under right now, buried in the ruins from the detonation. But the chamber, though ancient, still appeared to be fairly sturdy. I wondered if my little brother wasn't right in his assessment of the place - if our explosives would even work in here.

The sound of another scream broke through my thoughts and I ran faster, going at a full sprint now. "Marines, push forward, now! Cover the scientists and get them out!"

Thankfully, by the time Travis and I got there, my brother's demo team wasn't far behind. Being the furthest from the action, it was Staff Sergeant Porter's squad that still had to race to catch up.

As a couple of the brains ran past us, looking terrified as all hell, Travis and I burst ahead, loosing the first rounds of the battle on our side. I squeezed off several three-round bursts, nailing two of the robot dogs that were leaping towards us just as fast as we were gunning for them. That ended the debate of what the sudden explosion had been pretty quick.

"Jesus, Natalie! What the fuck are these things?" Travis shouted beside me while he unleashed a firestorm of bullets from his MA5D.

"Our new neighbors on the island! Prometheans!"

"What?!"

"Just keep shooting!"

I didn't exactly have the luxury of explaining things in full detail at the moment - or very much at all. Right now I had the lives of eight scientists to oversee, as well as the Marines who'd come in here with us. Our new enemy popping randomly out of one of the portals definitely took priority over filling my brother in on the stats.

Crouching on one knee as I burned through my whole clip at a fast pace, I heard the sound of thundering boots and increased gunfire coming from behind us in the chamber. It was Travis's team. I quickly gestured at my brother to get his attention and yelled, "Trav! Get one of your Marines to head topside, now! Tell the two security squads outside that we have a situation!"

"On it!"

To Travis's credit, he didn't take his eyes off the oncoming enemy or stop shooting as he relayed my orders to one of his PFCs. The Marine got the message immediately and did an abrupt about-face, hoofing it to the stairs. I just hoped we could hold off the Prometheans long enough to get our civvies out.

Seeing that there were more and more AI troops emerging from deeper in the chamber, I slipped my finger off the trigger and started to reach for a frag on my web belt - anything to stem the tide. But I realized quickly that I wasn't prepared to do anything that might damage the portals just yet - there was still a lot we needed to glean from them first. I stilled my hand and reached for a new mag instead, letting two of Travis's Marines come up next to me to cover while I reloaded.

Apparently, our new friends weren't as eager to be mindful of our surroundings.

"Natalie! Watch out!"

I turned just in time to get bulldozed by my brother, heavy gear and all. I knew he meant well but his weight was crushing, enough that the air went right out of my lungs the second I hit the ground. I landed flat on my back looking up at the ceiling, gasping for oxygen, and saw the yellow-orange sphere of light that had spooked him above us. It was the Prometheans' stand-in for grenades, some sort of contraption loaded with an EMP pulse.

"Trav, it's okay. Let me up!"

"Are you crazy? That grenade's about to - !"

Suddenly the light imploded, the wave warping through us and temporarily shutting down our electronics as it went. Travis blinked and finally released me, looking confused.

"EMP blast," I coughed out when I could breathe again. "Now please, try not to do more harm than good, little bro."

"Sorry. I just thought - "

I stopped listening at that point. His thinking had led to a lot of aches and pains for me around my old wounds - especially the gunshots. My chest was on fire and so was my shoulder, reminders that I'd only narrowly escaped a bad fate at the hands of Jackal snipers a month and a half ago.

And now, if we didn't wrap this up quick and take the fight upstairs, it was going to end even worse for us here today.

Luckily I heard a new rush of boots behind us then - Porter's squad had finally arrived.

Over the sound of all the gunfire and incoming light rounds from the Prometheans we faced, I glanced back at the staff sergeant and shouted, "Get me some fire on those bots, right now! We need the scientists secured and then we hightail it out, understood?"

My aide gave a brief nod, hefting his SAW. "Yes, ma'am!"

Once Porter established a steady stream of suppressive fire, a handful of his Marines dutifully jumped into the fray, pushing through row after row of the AI-bots to break through and search for the rest of the brains who were missing. I wished for a COM connection so I could ask how many had already made it behind our line of Marines to safety, but for now I had to rely on the simple fact that not all of them were quite yet. No matter how many were left to recover, we had to get to them.

Given my rank, it should've been up to someone else, but I wasn't about to kick back and let my men and women do all the work. Amid sharp protests from my aide and my brother, I rushed in behind Porter's Marines, tagging each Promethean fighter I could with my DMR as I went. In the meantime, the staff sergeant poured a hail of lead at the fast-approaching Crawlers, continuing to cover us from behind. I ran past one that was just about to leap up at me while I aimed at a nearby Watcher, further ahead. I ducked fast and the doggy robot suddenly sparked in mid-air from the storm of bullets, then came crashing down in a pile of singed pieces beside me.

"Keep pushing forward!" I yelled, loosing another burst of fire from my gun. "Let's go!"

Porter's Marines raced ahead in front of me, using their weapons as well as brute strength to get through. We were in the middle of a throng of Prometheans now, fighting in close quarters. The battle was chaotic as the Knights kept teleporting in and out a few meters apart, their shield/fire support drones, the Watchers, hovering over them and providing lethal cover - that is, when they weren't on the wrong end of my trigger pulls.

While I struggled to keep up with the pace of the drones above us, I watched out of the corner of my eye as one Marine pulled the trigger of his shotgun point-blank on a Knight. The most formidable Promethean took the hit and stumbled backward, but regained its footing amazingly fast and went in for a swipe with its purple blade of light. I wanted to scream out a warning but I didn't have enough time, and the Marine took the sword in the gut, his eyes going wide as the thing passed right through his middle and out his back. Now that he was dead, the Promethean Knight flung his body to the side and kept coming.

"Fuck that," I muttered in a low growl. "You're mine."

I didn't have a shotgun on me which would've served me well, but I did have another ace up my sleeve. Not knowing how the object might react to me, I picked up one of the yellow-orange orbs off the ground from a dead Knight and squeezed it in my hand, willing it to activate. Something must've worked because it started to glow, and I knew it was primed. I called out to the rest of Porter's squad to let them know it was coming, then chucked it right at the Knight.

I had to roll out of the way to avoid the incoming fire from the others, but I came up on one knee again and aimed a tight burst at the last remaining Watcher surrounding the Knight. It exploded in a shower of hot metal parts that bounced off the chamber floor, and I ducked a second time to wait out the rain of debris. It ended just as the EMP pulse burst inward, and the Knight looked frazzled for the briefest of moments. I took the opportunity to redirect my aim and fired off two more bursts. The wounded AI-bot instantly morphed into a million shards of yellow light, then disappeared.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I felt like I needed a minute to collect myself after the close call. But there wasn't time. That was just one Knight in a sea of them, and they were all pressing back just as we were trying to press forward. Two more of Porter's Marines took hits of light rounds to the chest, gut, and neck, and once they were down I realized this was a battle that wasn't going to be won here.

"I need a head count on the scientists!" I yelled above the din as I moved to let off another burst from my DMR, only to find my weapon clicking at me. My new mag was spent. I cursed and reached into a pocket of my uniform pants for a fresh one. "If we don't have someone, find them and fall back!"

Someone cried out, "Ma'am, six scientists are accounted for and are already being rushed up the stairs! I've got one in sight and one missing!"

"Who do you have in line-of-sight, Marine?"

"Doctor McGuinness, Colonel!"

"All right, get him out of here! The rest of us will search for who's absent!"

Much to my surprise, the Marine shook his head hard. "We're not evacuating McGuinness, ma'am. He's dead."

"What?"

"Took one of those light rounds through the head. It's Doctor Leedom who's MIA."

Still trying to get over the shock, I replied more quietly but with conviction, "We'll find her."

Christ, I thought to myself as I finished reloading my rifle. I was just talking to the guy not ten minutes ago. Now he's dead.

It was a testament to how quickly things could change in combat. The same thing had happened to me with my best friends, First Lieutenant Dean Lewis and Major Oliver Hayden, too. One minute they'd been my carefree buddies, sharing jokes and ribbing each other or talking about our families back home...and the next they'd been piles of carnage left behind in the Covenant and Storm's wake. Things like that I could never get used to - not even in over a decade as a Marine.

"Colonel! I've got her!"

I turned to my left at the shout and saw Lieutenant Caleb Lloyd coming through the mass of Prometheans towards us, one of his arms wrapped around an older woman's shoulder. Her face was a little bloodied from a gash on her head, but I could tell who she was - it was Leedom. I felt the relief literally wash over me when I saw they were both okay, despite the hairy situation we still found ourselves in.

"Great, let's haul ass out of here then! Marines, provide cover fire while we get the last scientist out! Then we hoof it up the stairs! Go!"

With my rifle newly loaded again, I shoved Lloyd's back as he passed me to keep him moving himself and Doctor Leedom towards the exit. Then I backpedaled, too, as soon as they were safely behind me and Porter's Marines, and motioned for them to begin retreating as well. All the while we fired round after round and burst after burst at the enemy, dodging what they threw at us and making sure our own volleys hit home. It was a study in bright flashes of light, sudden losses of our helmet electronics, rapid bursts of gunfire, and dozens of light rounds pinging off the walls and floors of the place.

Finally, though, we'd created enough distance to start running up the stairs ourselves.

"Marines, move! We need to get topside ahead of these bastards and form a perimeter! We are not losing Qamar, no matter how many come out! Let's go!"

I shouted the command as my magazine clicked empty yet again, and at the same time, I got a quick but stern look from Staff Sergeant Porter. He didn't even need to ask me nicely to be the first to run up the stairs; I already knew he wouldn't allow me to remain behind until the last of the Marines were safe, like I wanted to.

As a lieutenant colonel I'd become too valuable to really lead and fight the way I felt I should. But what pushed me forward was the thought that my Marines were probably better off with me than without.

After one last burst of gunfire and a backward glance, I grit my teeth to keep from biting out a heartfelt "Fuck you" to the Prometheans, and sprinted up the many ancient steps to the surface.