Chapter Forty: Dent in the Armor

Although my body protested as I did so, I ran my hand along my side and reached for my pistol, still lying on my stomach on the ground. I wiped the blood off the scratch on my face with my sleeve and brought the gun up, aiming it downrange at the aliens.

"Marines, if you're...up and mobile, open fire!" I barked.

Staff Sergeant Joshua Porter led the defense by stepping slightly in front of me and letting loose a long burst from his SAW, chewing up the first several Grunts who tried to attack. As their bodies fell more took their place, and that left us with the Jackals and single Elite to deal with.

At this range and in my position, my pistol did little to stem the tide. I fired off a succession of half a dozen rounds, each seeming to get more off target than the last. Frustrated, I finally moved to push myself up off the ground again. This time, maybe thanks to adrenaline, I managed better and got up on one knee, giving me a more suitable vantage point to fire from. Now when I squeezed off a trio of bullets they hit their mark, landing right at the heart of the closest Grunt on approach with the final one grazing the Elite's shield. It bounced off so in lieu of being able to use any more powerful firearms myself, I thumped Porter on the helmet.

"Josh, aim for the Elite! I'll try to tackle the rest!"

The staff sergeant nodded and quickly adjusted his aim, while I tried to do the same. For me it was harder than it looked though, since my body protested everything I did now that I was back on my feet. I felt my head still swirling a little too from the hit-and-tumble, but I was able to overcome it and adjust for it as the skirmish kept on. With only two of us currently able to fight back, I knew this was a life-or-death scenario we were facing. I had to help Porter out until the other Marines recovered enough to jump in.

With that thought in mind, I quickly realized our only hope of stopping the ex-Covies before they reached us and we were overwhelmed was to toss a frag. I took my pistol in my left hand then and grabbed onto a grenade with my right, tugging it off my belt. I pulled the pin and yelled out, "Staff, duck!" and let it fly.

The resulting explosion was close, but when I opened my eyes again to assess the damage, I could see it'd done its job. Two Jackals lay dead in the tan dirt, their blood arranged in an almost circular splatter around them. The blast had also caused the Elite's shield to fail, which was the real plus - now all we had left was him and one last Jackal to take care of.

Bringing my pistol back up, I looked behind us and saw a few of the other Marines were jogging up now, holding their weapons to bear. While Porter continued to lay down the heavy fire, I turned to the closest one and said, "The Elite, Marine! Get 'im!"

With the extra aid the brief skirmish was over in seconds. The Jackal was dispatched fast by a final round from the PFC next to me, and Porter and the others sent the Elite where it belonged - in hell - a moment later. It was only then that I started to really feel the pounding in my head, and a few sharp little stings coming from my face and arms since I had my sleeves rolled up in the heat.

Staff Sergeant Porter came to look me over once the perimeter was clear.

"Ma'am, you've got a small cut on your face and a couple more across your arms. Are you still feeling okay?"

I let out a snort. "Not as good as I normally do, but not bad. I don't think we need to call Doc for this." I glanced behind us. "I just need to find my helmet and rifle after all that. Anybody else hit?"

"Eliot," the PFC beside us, Rigwurst, replied, his voice a little shaky. "Colonel, I don't...I don't think he made it."

Looking back at the 'Hog, several feet away now, I noticed a body slumped in the front seat. Corporal Eliot had been our driver.

"Dammit," I muttered under my breath, starting to head towards him. "Let's go see if he's still alive."

The PFC and I raced over, all while Porter instructed the remainder of his squad to watch over us. When we got there, I pressed my fingers against the corporal's neck first, although it seemed pretty clear to me from seeing his injuries up close that he was a goner. I needed to make sure.

I stood there for a good minute, still breathing hard myself from the sprint and the fight, but concentrating hard on determining if there was a pulse. I watched as the blood oozed down the corporal's dark face from a gash on his shaved head, planted there from a large shard of glass that had broken off the windshield from impact. There was another one in his gut, slowly beginning to coagulate now. I knew even before I let my fingers slip off his carotid artery that there wasn't anything we could do for him. Corporal Eliot was dead.

PFC Rigwurst seemed to get the hint, too, and he quickly touched a hand to his helmet. "Son of a bitch," he murmured. "Goddamn, Ellie. Why'd it have to be you?"

I didn't have to ask if Eliot was his buddy - that much was pretty clear. And I'd lost enough friends myself to know how the PFC was feeling. I leaned over and gripped his shoulder in reassurance.

"I'm sorry, Private. You did what you could, but this isn't something we could've stopped."

Rigwurst gave a snort. "Right. The shitty roulette of war. After this mission's done I'm out, ma'am. No more."

The young Marine walked a few paces away then to collect himself after the death of his friend. I stood there a moment longer wondering just how long it was since the private had joined up, and how much of his contract he still had left. I wondered too why it was that for some people it took just one taste of battle to want out, while many, if not most, of the Marines I'd worked with over the years couldn't even think of another way of life - myself included. It wasn't that this line of work was the best, not with all the horrific scenarios it had to offer, but it was simply what we did and what we knew.

I really realized then that for me, I'd always want to be the one leading my Marines - regardless of the hardships. I just didn't trust anyone else to do it right.

Shortly after I found my helmet and DMR among the wreckage - thankfully intact - we walked past the group of Storm we'd just killed to continue on our way to the LZ. I decided to take point since my head didn't feel like it was spinning around like a top anymore, and somewhere in the carnage I heard a noise.

It sounded like something that was trying but failing to breathe past the blood in its lungs, and I turned and looked to find that one of the torn up Grunts at my feet wasn't dead. I didn't feel any sympathy for it, not after everything that had happened during the War and even here on Khan, but I figured the safest thing for us to do was put it out of its misery. I momentarily switched my grip on my DMR to my left hand, pulled out my sidearm with my right, and fired a bullet into its head, silencing the gurgling gasps.

Staff Sergeant Porter jogged up beside me then, glancing down at the dead Grunt I'd just shot. "Ma'am? Where to next?"

"Same stop as before, Staff. Let's head over - and we'll try not to get blown up this time."

Just like everyone had been telling me lately, the old LZ was a mess as we approached. Since our group was small we managed to more or less stay below the radar amid the chaos, but there was so much going on up above and on the ground that it was difficult to negotiate the safest route in. After contacting the nearest Marine commander we were able to get an escort into the heart of the lines, getting us out of the main action as much as we could. There, I found one of Major Brewer's subordinates speaking with an agitated woman - Doctor Jill Leedom.

"Ma'am, please, as I've said before: the location you're trying to reach isn't safe, and my CO hasn't allowed us any detachment to - "

"Lieutenant, do you even understand what we're doing here? I need to get to that cave on the beach. Now!"

The young Marine officer attempting to converse with the head scientist, First Lieutenant Houston Frye, looked relieved as ever to see me. "Oh, good. Colonel, I'm glad you're here. We're having some...difficulties defusing the situation with the doctor."

"What's happening now?" I asked, slinging my DMR behind my back as I looked from the scientist to the lieutenant. "And why do we have the whole damn Remnant army on top us over here?"

Lieutenant Frye opened his mouth to answer, but it was Leedom who replied.

"I believe I know the answer to that question, Colonel. Your subordinate is being greatly unhelpful in allowing me to test that theory, however. Even though in many ways, it could be more important than what we discovered in the ruins."

I snorted. "I kind of doubt that, but I'm willing to throw you a bone. What do you think's here?"

Doctor Leedom fixed her gaze squarely on me as she spoke. "You remember when you ordered the ruins to be detonated? Without us ever having been able to finish investigating the new portal we'd found?"

I could tell Leedom was keeping the details scarce in front of the lieutenant - most of what we'd spoken of in the underground chamber was highly classified. "Yes."

"It's related to that. And I'd like to show you what I mean. It could be the key to why the Storm are suddenly so interested in this area."

I thought it over for a moment. I knew from experience that with Leedom, and with my own mother, that once they got an idea in their head, it was hard to dissuade them that it could be wrong, or wasn't worth the sacrifice to test. Scientists like them simply had to know for themselves. And in this case, I felt it might be to our great detriment not to go take a look. Obviously, the Storm were here for something - and I was just as curious to find out for what.

"Okay," I said. "You'll get me and my security detail, Doctor. Everyone else is busy trying to keep the damn aliens from landing on our heads and overwhelming us. You've got thirty minutes to show us what you have." I looked at the Marine next. "Lieutenant, now that we've got this settled, you return to the lines. We need as many troops out there as we can to hold them off."

"Yes, ma'am."

As I followed Doctor Leedom to where she thought she needed to be, with Porter's squad in tow, I kept my sidearm in hand in case we ran into anything unexpected. We should've been pretty safe here, but relying on a weapon was always better than relying on what you thought should occur. Things never quite seemed to work out as planned, so I wanted to be ready for whatever we got thrown at us.

"So what is it exactly that we're looking for?" I questioned after a while.

"I wanted to tell you sooner, Cooper, but the presence of the lieutenant made it tricky," she replied. "The Storms' sudden interest in the opposite end of the island made me think. I no longer believe the tunnel to the Earth portal we found beneath the ruins was the only route in, Colonel."

"Oh. Shit."

That would definitely explain a lot. And we knew from when we'd first found the main chamber itself that there was at least one other tunnel from the beach that led there. Maybe there was another that we'd missed.

"By my calculations on the Storms' inbound trajectories and the main focus of their assault, I believe I've gotten a close approximation of where the entrance should be."

"Somewhere along the shore, I'm guessing?"

"Precisely," the head scientist responded. She gave me a look. "I can see the family resemblance in you. You get your smarts from your mother."

I snorted a second time. "Maybe. My dad wasn't a tool, either. He was in command of his own ship when he died. Saved most of his crew with his sacrifice." My voice went a little low then. "I just wish his heroics hadn't cost the rest of us so damn much."

"Is that why it bothers you as deeply as it does?" Leedom asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're always acutely aware of what your decisions will mean when you make them - not just for those directly involved, but for you, and for those around you. Is it because of what happened to your parents? It sounds to me like you found their deaths too high a price to pay."

I frowned as I walked. Now wasn't exactly the time I wanted some scientist going through my head like a shrink. I shut down that line of conversation quickly. "Damned if I know, Doc. I don't have a PhD in anything. Let's just get to beach and see if what you say is true."

Though it was difficult to get there from the cliffside, we reached the beach about fifteen minutes later. Down here I was taking no chances - I holstered my pistol and brought my DMR to bear again.

"Josh, check the area and form a perimeter," I ordered. "No telling what we could've missed."

Leedom and I stayed put until I received the signal that the coast was clear. I nodded and started to move ahead once more, with my aide and his Marines and the scientist following behind.

Being back on the beach felt strange. I couldn't hear much besides the waves crashing on the shore close by, so I kept my eyes peeled more than usual, relying on my vision to alert me to trouble since my hearing, for the most part, was out.

"So where did your calculations take us, ma'am?" I asked Leedom.

She pointed up ahead. "There, about forty yards from here. We should see some sort of cave or tunnel entrance."

I followed her instructions and moved forward, stepping carefully through the wet sand, but not slowly. I could feel the tiny rock particles giving way under my boots, a stark contrast to the packed sandy dirt on the ridge. It made it difficult to maintain sure footing.

When we finally reached the spot Leedom had indicated, I paused and glanced up - only to find more of the same sheer cliff face. I looked back at the doctor.

"Well, it's not here, but it's possible your aim was off a bit," I said. "Want to take a look around?"

"Oh, yes. I'm sure it's here somewhere. I know it."

While Porter's squad kept up the perimeter as before, I tagged along with Leedom, pulling security and helping her in her search at the same time. By the time we finally spotted the small crevice, we'd been looking around for ten minutes.

I think we'd been expecting a large, obvious tunnel entrance like before. This was more like a jagged crack in the rockwall. Doctor Leedom approached it with confidence and tapped at it, leaning in to peek through.

"It's here, Colonel," she announced then. "I'm sure of it."

"They'll have to invent some really small ex-Covies and people to get through, though..."

I stepped off to the side and opened up a private COM channel to my brother. I knew exactly what was needed here.

"Natalie?"

"Hey, Trav. If you're not busy, I need you for a project. How soon can you get your demo team to this location?"

"Six, maybe eight minutes."

"All right, do it. I think we may have found something pretty big here, but we won't know until we can get inside. And let's just say the door isn't too...size-friendly."

Travis chuckled. "So basically what you're saying is, you need me to blast a hole to get you guys in."

"Yup."

"Okay. We'll be right there."

"And Travis?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful. There's been a shit-ton of activity in our sector up there."

"I know. Don't worry, sis."

I always worry, I thought to myself as I cut the connection. I have to. Look at all the shit that's happened...and what we're up against now. Instead of voicing it, though, I tried to push the thought away and returned to business.

"Ma'am, I'm sending my demolition team over now," I imparted to Leedom. "Today's your lucky day - you get to meet yet another Cooper."

Travis arrived faster than I'd thought he would, which was good since it meant we didn't have to stand around waiting too long while Marines fought, bled, and died up above us. I was itching to get back into the fray where I felt I belonged, but knew that for now I was needed here and that this was just as important - maybe even more so. If Doctor Leedom was right and this really was another way into the tunnel that led to the portal to Earth, we needed it shut down yesterday.

As he approached with his team, my brother nodded to me first, then glanced at Leedom. "Ma'am, I'm Captain Travis Cooper. We'll be opening this baby up for you this morning. I'm sure you've met my older sister the supreme ground commander already."

Doctor Leedom smiled. "Travis Cooper. It's very good to meet you."

"She says she knew Mom," I explained to him. "I guess they worked together on some projects a while back."

"That we did," Leedom said. "She was very proud of her baby boy."

Travis's face went red. "Well, not a baby so much anymore, ma'am. And it's hard to be proud when you're dead." He shifted his focus to directing his Marines with gestures then, but kept up the conversation. "I'm not as put-together as my big brother Mark, not as venerated as my late older sister Jenna, and not as accomplished as my sister Nat here...but I'm a year older than our little sister Allison, and I pack a mean punch. Just ask the enemy." He grinned. "By tank, by rocket, by giant bomb, you name it. If it's got a big gun or a big explosion attached, you can bet that was me."

"He's also very theatrical," I added dryly. "Trav, just rig the break for us, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am. Already on it."

We continued keeping watch until my younger brother signaled that everything was in place. All of us retreated to a safe distance for the detonation, then waited for the debris cloud to dissipate a bit until we could return to where we thought the tunnel would be.

Sure enough, Leedom had been right.

"Shit," I breathed. "Here it is."

"Still believe science has little to offer us, Colonel?" the doctor said. "We should move in now, quickly. The blast won't go unnoticed."

"Right. No argument there. Travis, you get your guys to watch the entrance. Porter, you're with me. Let's move."

"Yes, ma'am."

I had the staff sergeant venture in first this time, followed by me, Leedom, and then the rest of his squad. I was surprised at how similar this place looked to the tunnel to the underground chamber we'd found on the beach several weeks back, when we'd first landed on Qamar. There were automatic lights installed in this one as well, although the first few were blown out and non-functional thanks to the explosion. They came on suddenly further down the passageway, startling us at first.

"Don't get too jumpy," I said over the COM. "They're just auto-lights. Keep moving forward."

Acknowledgment lights winked green and we continued on. The tunnel seemed to get colder the further we went in, but at the same time, somehow the compactness made me think maybe this wasn't as long as the other one had been. It certainly didn't extend all the way to the opposite end of the island. It wasn't long before we wound our way around a corner and the passage opened up into a room.

"This is it," Doctor Leedom told us. "The tunnel ends here. We've made it."

I looked around as the remainder of Porter's squad filed in with us, expanding out across the room to cover all possible angles. I held my rifle raised too as I took in the sights - it was like a much smaller version of the large chamber beneath the ruins. Circular, with no other obvious points of entry. Of course somewhere there used to be one, but it was covered beneath several layers of rubble now.

When we'd determined that there was no immediate threat, I pointed to cave walls and turned to the head scientist. "Doctor, this is your area of expertise now. Do we even know for sure this portal's still active?"

"Yes. My team and I checked ourselves before the other entrance was blown. Do you see the symbols on the walls? They're glowing."

I noticed it now, though it was hard to tell with the overhead lights on. I suddenly grew more determined to see this through.

"Okay. Looks like it's here then, right where you said. You know what that means, ma'am. I need to get rid of this tunnel, too."

"No!" Leedom exclaimed. "There must be another way. Please, Colonel. Give us just one day to explore. We can't even know what we might find - "

"I know what we won't find if I get this thing demolished - hundreds of dead Marines, and possibly even civilians. I can't allow something like this to stay here, Doctor, knowing how many ex-Covenant are out there clamoring to get inside so they can take a quick trip to Earth. And let's not forget the Prometheans, either. You know if they get wind of this, they could stage a whole planet-wide invasion."

As if the human homeworld hadn't been through enough already, what with the Covenant and Flood tearing it apart during the War. No, I didn't at all feel inclined to put Earth, the place where Willis and I had raised our kids the last few years, in harm's way like that. When all this was over, I was hoping to return to my family in our own house - not see it go up in flames along with everything else again.

I started to walk out when Leedom halted right in front of me, blocking my way.

"Colonel, what can I do to convince you that taking just a cursory glance around this place is worth it?"

"I'm not sure you can, Doc. I've lost a lot of people over the years on hedged bets. I won't do the same with my men."

The head scientist went quiet then. "This isn't about your parents at all, is it? It's about your child. The one you lost."

"What?"

"I read your file, Colonel. I know you suffered a miscarriage late into the war. The commanders at the base where you were stationed put the post in danger for a shot at gaining more knowledge on the Flood...and you lost your baby when the Covenant nearby subsequently attacked. If ever you'd feel the ends didn't justify the means - "

I'd had enough of her manipulation now. And her mention of my loss was more than I could take. I stepped up closer with fury in my eyes, a warning. "Don't. Don't you ever use that against me again. I'm here to look out for my Marines and for the people of this planet - and the people of Earth. I'll always do what's best for them. This is not worth the risk."

"Cooper, no matter your loss, you know that sometimes that simply isn't true. What your mother discovered about the Flood...all of it is what helped us defeat them five years ago. Without that, we might still be fighting them today. Or worse."

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that. But I wasn't in a place to be able to acknowledge it at the moment. I brushed roughly past the scientist and headed out of the chamber, my aide and his Marines in tow.

When I got outside, I pulled Travis aside immediately and said, "Trav, I need you to go rig the chamber in there. Now. If the doctor argues, you tell me and I'll get an armed guard to escort her out."

My little brother gave me a look. "Nat, what - "

"I said now, Captain. I'm tired of getting my orders questioned. Just do it!"

"All right, all right! Calm down. I'm on it."

While he got to work, I took in a deep, steadying breath, then used my datapad to make a call to the mainland.

"Yes? This is Javier Laraza speaking."

"Laraza, it's Cooper. You know that ship we were talking about last night?"

"Yes, Colonel. You have need of it?"

"The brass has approved your proposal. I just got word a few hours ago. We need you to bring that ship in ASAP. I'm ready to get this thing done."

I practically heard the smirk in his voice. "Very well. I'll tell my men to get it into position. Notify your naval commander that we are about to begin."