He stirred. Things felt incredibly wet and stiff. The thumping sounds of gunfire filled his ears and drummed in his chest. Was he on a battlefield again? No part of him hurt, thankfully, meaning he'd passed out from something else. He felt the thumping of rocket artillery and the thunder of the UNSC's main tank guns, as well as the thundering feet of the advancing Rapture force. He woke as the air from his lungs was knocked out by an explosion and he felt himself thrown into the mud.
His wide eyes caught sight of Rapi sliding town to help him to his feet as the rainy, muddy battlefield around them ran red with blood. His Executive Officer screamed at him, then grabbed his hand and tried to drag him up. She ducked and visibly yelped as what looked like a heavy plasma round singed the top of her head. The man, seeing that, scrambled to his feet and grabbed his rifle out of the mud.
Bullets and plasma guns zipped over their heads. Two Marines trying to cross over the muddy trench on a plank bridge fell, gunned down. Amidst it all, Alyosha slowly, but finally started to regain his hearing. Though they were ringing, his ears finally registered Rapi calling out to him, "Commander! Are you injured!?" as she poked out and fired a burst from her personal rifle. Ducking back into cover, she started looking him over.
"No!" He replied, ducking behind cover, then demanded, "What the hell is going on!?" as confusion struck him. Where were they? What was even going on? Why was an entire Rapture battalion advancing on their positions and-He ducked as shrapnel from a tank ahead blowing up nearly hit him in the face. He swallowed emptily, tasting both mud and blood in his mouth as he saw several more corpses lining the trench wall. Marines and Nikkes alike.
"Raptures pushed us the moment we stepped foot in that old minefield to clear a path!" She replied as she held him close, the ground ahead suddenly boiling as plasma and particle beams struck it. Another Marine behind them fell, face-first into the mud. Alyosha scrambled to grab him and drag him over toward the,, only to turn him over and see he was dead. He gasped, while Rapi told him, "They've got us zeroed with plasma mortars and every weapon in their arsenal out here!" and acknowledging the dead man with a bullet between his eyes with a nod.
Peering over the lip of the trench, the Commander saw Anis and Neon at the front, with Chief and the Lucky Strikes. Niner's MG continued spewing lead despite her bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds and missing half her face. Pinne bled beside her, firing her shotgun as best as she could even though blood foamed at her mouth. Sammy, the poor girl, lay sprawled out on the edge of their cover, her coolant leaking into the mud and painting it scarlet. Layla died just as he managed to sneak a peak at her, while Delta was cradling a wounded Signal, trying to tend to her wounds despite the tears streaming down the girl's face.
In the distance, in the ominous fog lifted by the gunfire and steam wafts of explosions amidst the rainfall, Alyosha could make out the baleful, burning red glares of the machines out to kill them, intermixed with the flashes of guns and the second-sun-like boulders of plasma they were hurling at them. As one of said artillery rounds landed, it landed upon a Scorpion tank. The armor melted and the crewmen, both the one on the MG and the one inside the tank, flash-vaporized, the tank exploding.
An Oryx fired its 30mm autocannon. It'd thrown a track in a ditch nearby, but it still fired, its crew probably wounded. UNSC Artillery and tracers replied to the enemy's own mortars. Another Marine dropped in a ditch next to them, wounded, with Alyosha pulling him into cover as Rapi fired her rifle. Alyosha was stunned to see it was Sergeant Johnson that had been wounded, grabbing onto his half-melted chest armor and speaking hoarsely, "Sons of bitches got me again..." before looking at the Commander and putting a hand on his shoulder. He told the boy, "Give'em hell, Commander..."
"MEDIC! Fucking... MEDIC! GOD DAMMIT, GET ME A CORPSMAN!" Alyosha cried to the rear line as more figures moved through the mist behind them, then grabbed onto Johnson and half-begged, half-ordered the man, "Stay with us, Sarge! Please, just hang on tight 'till MEDEVAC gets to us! We're gonna get you outta here!" and he held onto him... Please, please, make it...
"I ain't makin' it outta this one, kid..." Johnson's grip tightened as he grew more and more pale. He looked the boy in the eyes and offered him a kind smile, his usually bright, white teeth stained by his own blood, then begged him, "You keep'em safe... All of'em... I know you got this..." and then, his hand went slack, head falling back. His hearing was gone again. He stared at the corpse of the usually bombastic Sergeant-Major, laying there in the ditch with congealing blood foaming in the corners of his mouth. He held onto the man still, shaking him and calling out to him, though all sounds went quiet now. Only the ringing in his ears made itself heard.
Another shot rang out that hit him in his helmet, nearly knocking him out again. He stumbled, but held on, gripping onto the Sarge. He started voicing again, "Sarge... Johnson! Johnson, wake up!" before trying to shake him awake. He kept screaming even as a hand grabbed at him, trying to get him off. He screamed to the point his throat started to hurt.
Rapi grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him to face her. Though she had tears in her eyes, too, she yelled harshly, "He's gone, Alyosha! He's gone! I'm sorry!" before swallowing emptily. She slammed his rifle into his chest and said, "And we'll be too! We need you! Give us orders! Please!" to which the boy gripped the weapon and looked around. He looked forward, toward the Chief and the other advancing Spartans and Marines who were trying to get them out of this ambush. To Anis and Neon fighting beside them.
He swallowed and nodded, then realized they had to move. They had to fucking move if they wanted to survive. He gathered his wits, feeling his throat was still hoarse, but it didn't matter. He spoke weakly at first, "Advance...!" Then swallowed as he felt the weight of his feet nearly stay him in place. He shook off the confusion, grabbed Rapi by the arm and ordered, "ADVANCE!" only to flip his com on and bark, "ALL UNITS, THIS IS COUNTERS ACTUAL! ADVANCE AND BREAK US OUT OF THIS FUCKING AMBUSH!"
He scrambled over the edge of the trench and ran to Chief's side, then tapped him on the shoulder. The Spartan looked at him and Alyosha finally noticed in the thunder and lightning that the man's armor had been damaged and his shields flickered. Regardless, he thought, then ordered, "Chief, grab whoever's mobile and move! We gotta push if we want any sort of hope of MEDEVAC!" then turned to Delta to try and yell at her.
He paused as he saw Signal, lifeless... Delta cradled her body, weeping as he looked at the man, but she knew what he was to ask. Setting the corpse down and closing her eyes, she picked up her rifle, her rictus of pain turning to a glare of fury, not at him, but at the enemy. Hefting her rifle, she racked the bolt and cleaned the mud off its sides, then nodded.
The other survivors kept firing until the light faded from their eyes, too. Niner was sniped. He saw her head snap back, then fall into the mud, her gun, already melted, falling silent as steam wafted from the warping, red barrel. Pinne scrambled to her feet despite her injuries, then racked the pump of her shotgun and fired slugs. The Spartan and Commander began leading the charge, armor beside them and infantry moving up. Kelly advanced to their right, firing her shotgun.
Alyosha almost froze when he saw Commander Keyes's corpse farther ahead, surrounded by the dead Redguns, a bullet through her skull. He grit his teeth and willed his heavy legs forward, rifle in hand as he fired and pushed forward. Tracers and plasma rained around them, replied to by cannons and machine guns. Two more Marines died, than another three. Bisenti, Jenkins, Dubbo, poor fucking Stacker and Shevchenko. They pushed forward still.
IFFs continued to thin on his HUD as Rapture numbers only ever-welled. Even as they reached the front-most line, the No Man's Land where even Rapture corpses resided, they were still far less numerous than the dead of the UNSC and the Nikkes that had come around. Anis cried out, "This is nuts! This is fucking nuts...!" as they pushed ever-forward. Neon remained stoic, silent, however.
Chief and they stopped next to some Rapture corpses and the Spartan was about to speak to Alyosha... Only for a plasma round to strike him right in the chest. The concentrated blast pierced the man's chest armor and sent him tumbling to the floor. The rock that had anchored Humanity's newfound will to survive, the very man that had given Alyosha more hope than he'd ever had in their victory, fell to the floor with a heavy thump, his visor cracked.
Alyosha started hyperventilating, his heart-rate spiking suddenly. The Counters, Delta and Pinne beside them, gasped, too. The Commander dropped to his knees, then screamed, "CHIEF!" as he tried to tend to the man's wounds. He used biofoam to try and seal the caving wound, but saw that the Chief's lungs, now visible through the melting armor and skin, had failed. He scrambled to remove Chief's helmet, then called out, "Chief, stay with us! PLEASE! I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!"
Chief clamped a hand onto his shoulder and shook his head, blood flowing from his mouth as his breathing grew ragged. He spoke to the boy, "Keep... Them... Safe..." as he looked him in the eye. The Spartan then fell, eyes staring up at the black, clouded sky. Alyosha held onto his hand, still, feeling the weight of the reinforced gauntlet pulling his hands down into the mud.
He leaned over the man and choked, then looked over to the helmet. Dragging the weighted, broken metal toward him, he turned it around and retrieved Cortana's chip, only for it to snap in his hands. "No... No, no, no, no!" He began to pray to the heavens, to anyone listening to him as he grabbed onto the Chief to try and wake him up, wailing like a child that lost his father, "CHIEF! PLEASE!" before breathing heavily. He turned his head toward Kelly and cried out to her, "KELLY! KELLY! THE CHIEF!"
The woman turned toward him, then scrambled to her feet and ran his way. She stopped, standing as she saw the corpse. Her shotgun fell to the floor as he moved next to the Chief, taking his hand and speaking, "John...? John! JOHN!" and shaking him. Her own voice was filled with desperation.
"We have to get him a medic...!" Alyosha begged as the Counters and Delta turned to fire. Delta fell next, however, a plasma blast obliterating her. Pinne fell, sniped through the forehead, splattering them with bloody mud. Alyosha saw Kelly wasn't moving and yelled, "KELLY!"
"THERE'S NO MORE FUCKING MEDICS!" She replied, desperate. She picked up the corpse in a bridal carry, adding, "All of the frontline medics were killed...! I'm not even sure the rear line's still working, but I can try and make a run for i-" and...
Alyosha's eyes shot wide open... A needle round pierced the side of Kelly's helmet, sending the Spartan to her very shallow grave next to the Chief. The boy scrambled, falling onto his back and covering his mouth. He'd wanted to scream again, to yell for Fred, or Linda, or Sam, or... Someone to help them. He looked up at Rapi and showed her to give him a hand as he grabbed his sidearm. Warm tears welled in his eyes, washing mud and blood from his face alongside the rain. He spoke, "We gotta fall back...! We gotta go back to the rearline, see if..."
"There's no time!" Anis called out, then fired a missile, "We're... Surrounded!"
"KEEP FIGHTING!" Neon cried, though she, too, was desperate as she fired her shotgun, "We... W-We'll make it! We always do, somehow!" Then she turned to Alyosha and asked, "Right, Commander?!"
Alyosha didn't even have time to answer. Neon fell, her head blown open by a plasma bolt. Anis gasped, then let out a shrill cry, "NEON! NO! YOU BASTARDS! COME ON HERE AND I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL, YOU HEAR ME-" only for a volley of needler rounds to cut her down next. The grenadier fell next to her friend, dead on the spot thanks to the Supercombine.
"Anis... No...!" Rapi whined, her voice hoarse, then stood up, ordering Alyosha, "Commander! Stay behind me!" and she fired her rifle defiantly. Alyosha fired, too, at the figures in the mist, advancing toward them with burning eyes and hatred-filled marches. Their bullets struck around the pair. For a while, it almost seemed like they were missing on purpose, but no. As both Rapi and Alyosha went to reload their respective firearms, another gun cocked.
Rapi hefted her rifle again, trying to aim her launcher, then froze as the IFF tag appeared on her HUD, corrupted, but still hers. She spoke, "Stel-" only for a bullet to zip through the mist, striking her clean between the eyes, sending the corpse falling over onto her Commander. The gunfire ceased as thundering steps filled the air once more, the crackling of the fires of the battle audible around them.
Time had slowed all of a sudden for Alyosha. Coolant painted his face now, red like the blood of a human. On top of him lay a corpse, now. He felt its weight and it was obviously a Nikke. His brain almost refused to register it, though. He looked to his left, to see the dead Neon, headless. Anis, her body torn open by needler rounds. The Chief and Kelly, dead beside one-another and, in the distance, Fred and Linda and the other Spartans. Behind, he'd left Johnson and his team and the Commander. A thundering explosion reverberated, shaking the very ground.
He started to tremble, his pistol beside him. He didn't want to look. Didn't want to admit it to himself. Yet, as the marching steps of the alien came to him, he was forced to. Hair of a pink the likes of which the man hadn't seen before, almost ginger, a skin soft and smooth, though now running with blood. Beautiful ruby eyes, empty, staring up at the ceiling. A mouth agape. Her uniform was black, bloody, stained.
A bullet hole between her eyes.
He yelped once, his ability to vocalize even the smallest sound leaving him immediately after. His arms wrapped around Rapi's corpse as he pulled her toward him, cradling her. He managed to utter out a weak, "R-Rapi... No... NO...!" as he looked at her. As all the deaths from before now caught up with him and as the death of the person he'd confided in the most in his life as a commander hit him on top of them all, he began to cry.
It wasn't a hard cry. It wasn't loud, or obnoxiously sharp. It wasn't harsh. It was quiet. A sob that signaled the release of the pressure. He cradled Rapi in his arms and swung back and forth as the Raptures, damn them all to hell, surrounded him. Footsteps filled his ears next, however. He ran his hand through the hair of the girl he'd trusted... The girl he'd loved, who now lay dead in his arms. He caressed her cheek, then grit his teeth and put his forehead against hers, closing her eyes.
A gun cocked, forcing him to look up. His eyes shot wide open. Every time he blinked, it was a different figure. A Mass Production Nikke he'd fought beside, or a Nikke he'd worked with closely, like Mighty Tools's own, or Archangel, or so many others he'd met. The form settled on one Nikke, her helmet missing, blonde hair soaked by the rain. Though where her usual blue eyes would have been, a pair of scarlet ones, filled with fury, glared at her brother.
"S-Stella...?" He whispered, stunned and noting the pistol aimed at him. Behind her, a dozen more taller figures resided, ghosts of the past, terrifying new monsters, new enemies. Heretics. They urged her on, voices muffled, their forms a blur. She put her thumb over the hammer and cocked it back, pressing the cold steel on her brother's forehead with an almost serene smile. He didn't do anything to oppose it. He had failed his duty...
Stella spoke to him, almost like she understood, "It's okay... Rest, Aly..."
The gun's hammer hit the pin...
And Alyosha jumped awake, screaming. Cold sweat ran down his back as he scanned his surroundings. He saw he was i nhis room, a set of unfinished paperwork laying on the desk. The soda can he'd forgotten to throw away. Light peered through the shutters on his windows, barely open. His heart continued to race as his breathing grew ragged, tears flowing on his cheeks like rivers.
He heard the door open incredibly fast, then a familiar voice, though filled with such concern, he barely recognized it. "Commander!" she yelled out, her red eyes wide as she stared at him. He stared back, dumbfound, mouth agape. She approached him quickly, knelt in front of him and asked, "What happened? Are you okay?" as she looked him over. She swallowed, then said, "No bruising... You're sweating a lot..." then she checked his temperature.
She yelped, however, when the man pulled her in for a hug, burying his face in her shoulder. Stunned and blushing, she was about to comment, but the door hissed shut behind them. Sighing, she spoke, "Are you okay...?" only to gasp as she heard him whimper. Narrowing her lips, her blush fading, she felt only worry. Wrapping her arms around him, one hand on the back of his head, she spoke softly, "It's okay... I'm here. You had a nightmare."
He nodded, sobbing quietly. She sighed deeply, caressing the back of his head gently as she told him, "... It happens. You've been under a lot of stress lately, so it's understandable..." And she held him close, "I don't know what you had a nightmare about, but I, Anis, Neon and Stella are all right here. If you want to rest, we can take over from you for the time being."
He swallowed, then spoke, "That'd be good... Thanks, Rapi..."
She smiled, then sighed deeply and stood. Taking a napkin from his desk, she wiped his tears, then, gently, she pushed him down onto the bed after standing up, tucked him in and said, "We'll be working with the Chief in his office..." and the look of relief on the man's face spoke a million words. He slowly faded off back to sleep. What could he have dreamed that led him to be in this state?
Rapi didn't know. She took the forms and walked outside, to the sight of both Anis and Neon staring. She shook her head and whispered, "Let him sleep. We'll deal with the paperwork..." to which the two girls nodded. As they walked, however, Anis was trying to figure out what to ask about the Commander, like 'how was he' or 'what happened' or 'was he okay'. Really, anything. Neon was the same.
Rapi had noticed it, too, to her credit. She simply told them, "He had a nightmare... I didn't ask what it was about, because I figure we owe him that much privacy for now, but it must've been bad..." which caused the other two to wince, understandably enough. The Commander had been under a lot of stress, just like Rapi had said. That meant he needed his rest.
And deserved it, too...