A/N: Well hello there! For those of you who are here looking at a story you've never heard about, I'm DLTA BOT and welcome to my little corner of insanity. This is story is a little side project I decided to write. It's related to my primary story, Wrong Place, Right Time: A Hero's Story, which is a Fallout 4/Halo Crossover. It isn't what I'd consider canon (if that's a word you can use for a fanfiction), more a quick feel good story. I don't think it's thematically in line with the main story so take it as a bit of fun. If you're familiar with the main story, you'll know the main characters go through a lot. This was a nice little break for Damon and an opportunity to write something with him in the Halo Universe, in a fight with the Covenant. All that being said, welcome to this little aside, I hope you enjoy your stay. Leave a review if you're so inclined and, as always, enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Chance of a Lifetime

Nate smiled nervously as I stepped into the Molecular Relay bay.

It felt strange to carry a BR55 again. It was… comfortable. The weapon wasn't exactly the same as the ones I was used to; it used a short-stroke gas piston instead of gas impingement. The bolt and bolt carrier had likewise been revised. Jackson said it would provide lighter recoil and lower wear. I never had an issue before; the rifle was designed to be fired by standard infantry, not SPARTANs.

They probably just wanted to see if they could make a better rifle.

Other than that, it chambered 9.5X40 like any BR55 variant, it accepted the BR55's magazines, and anyone looking at it would think it was a BR55. The suppressor was nonstandard but I carried one with a suppressor for years. They weren't too uncommon.

Same went for the M6S clamped to my hip. That wasn't part of my standard kit. I'd carried them at times and considering the setting, both weapons being suppressed would be a positive.

Besides that, I only had water, basic explosives, and ammo.

"You still excited?" Nate asked.

If I thought about it? Probably.

"I'll worry about that when the mission's over."

The smile disappeared as his face grew stern. "Understood." He frowned. "Just… remember to take some time, alright? You've been thinking about this for a long time. Don't rush."

I nodded. He was concerned. That was understandable. There were a lot of things that could go wrong and that's before the fighting starts.

Nate walked back to the control panel where the techs were working, probably double-checking their parameters. This would be the first live test.

That made me nervous.

Focus. I have no information going in.

My armor's storage had no record of the attack. Why would it? It wasn't like I could provide any intel; I'd been five at the time.

So I'd be operating blind. I only remembered we'd been in the town's community center, the Covenant only had infantry and transport, and Kig Yar, Unngoy, and Sangheili were the ground forces that made it into the building.

While I didn't remember much about the town, I could probably find the community center.

One thing that did concern me was fighting more competent combatants. I'd spent the last year fighting the threats the Commonwealth had to offer. Those weren't the Covenant. The closest I'd had was fighting Maxson and the Brotherhood.

I'd spent the previous two weeks while the system was undergoing testing drilling with the Coursers. They were the best individual fighters in the Commonwealth.

They weren't Sangheili.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Memories of previous fights against Elites drifted through my mind. I'd killed one shortly after my first deployment when I was younger, weaker, slower, with worse equipment, and eight years less experience.

They were tough and disciplined. The more senior ones were well-trained, too.

They weren't SPARTANs.

Fighting Fourier, Amanda, and Liam, even in drills, was harder than fighting a Sangheili. All three of them were great fighters but they didn't beat me.

When they didn't cheat.

After another deep breath, I opened my eyes. Nate was standing at the control station. He positioned himself so he could look through the door to the bay.

The ex-soldier picked up a microphone from the desk.

"Comms check." The audio came through my helmet's speakers. It was nice to have my armor functional again.

"I copy", I replied.

"Suit diagnostics?"

"Green."

Credit to the scientists and engineers, after several teams, one responsible for each system in my armor, spent about three weeks using the schematics my suit had stored and their fast-prototyping facilities, they felt comfortable effecting repairs. Letting them disassemble my armor wasn't pleasant considering it was designed 300 years in the future. The only ones who'd done it since I received my new gear were my two technicians.

They knew what they were doing, though. Everything was functional again.

Having my motion sensor back almost felt like cheating after going so long without it.

"Relay controllers?"

I pulled one of the two small, black boxes from the pouch on my thigh.

"Affirmative."

"Back up batteries."

"I need to focus, Nate."

He frowned. "Alright. Transit in…" he looked down at the tech in front of him. "20 seconds."

Despite my previous statement, I felt a shiver run up my arms as I checked my homemade Battle Rifle.

This was exciting. I couldn't let that get in my way. I think it's safe to say more was riding on the next day or so than any other time in my life.

"10 seconds."

There was nothing left to check and no more preparations I could make. My armor was functional, my weapons were reliable, I put as much as I could remember together, and I drilled as best I could with the available resources and opponents.

I settled into a high crouch with my rifle at the low-ready.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

My world flashed white, my ears rang, my stomach did a flip, and it felt like I'd just been tossed a klick into the air.

Then it all vanished.

My vision cleared, my ears stopped ringing, and my vertigo vanished. I'd gone through a dozen transits in the two days before to make sure I was acclimated to the Molecular Relay's effects.

It worked.

I was standing in a clearing, a treeline to my left, and a large grassy field to my right. I knew it would wrap around behind me. Across about 20 klicks of the grassy field was a city, small by my standards but larger than anything I'd seen in a year. The buildings were all concrete and glass. Unlike Boston, these were undamaged, standing tall in the distance.

Towering above the city was the space elevator. I didn't need to look to know it would already be ferrying citizens to the spaceport for evac.

Ahead of me, a little more than a klick, was a town.

Everything was peaceful for the moment. Wind drifted through the waist-high grass with a gentle swish. The sounds of the distant city and ongoing evacuation couldn't reach this far. The town was quiet, too. No one was there; they'd all be heading for the evac.

It was mid-morning, the sun hanging lazily in the sky behind the city.

Two emotions pulled my mind in two different directions simultaneously.

Excitement and dread.

We'd planned the best first-contact scenario: wait until everyone was back and beginning to establish their defenses. It would limit time for questions they would obviously have about a SPARTAN showing up to defend a small town on a random, strategically pointless planet. It would also allow me to coordinate their defense.

Shoving those emotions as far away as I could, I started for town. The high-speed rail station was on the east side, closest to the city. I'd wait near the community center which, I think, is near the town's center.

There should be enough time to do a little recon before everyone returns.

It was small, no more than two dozen buildings, all of them below three stories. They were a mixture of prefab concrete structures and old-school wooden construction. There was a hill overlooking the town to the south. Houses were perched on the road up and near the top.

We lived… I think about halfway up. I didn't recognize any of the houses. Should I have? I was only five…

Later.

Even though I knew the attack took place during the day, in my mind, it was always dark out. Maybe it was just a child's imagination. The night was always scarier when I was a kid.

As I slipped through the town, taking stock of the potential bottlenecks, ambush sites, ingress, and egress, I couldn't stop myself from wondering. This was another lifetime: my past before everything went wrong.

The town was… nice. Small, quiet, far enough from the city to feel on its own but not isolated. The grassy fields and healthy-looking forests were serene.

One of the few things I remembered was everyone knew each other. The town- I didn't know what the town was there for. My parents had been in the militia, that's where they met, but they'd both retired shortly before my sister was born. I didn't know what they'd done after that.

I can ask. A grin crept across my face.

Again, I pushed the thoughts away.

The community center was in the middle of town, with an outdoor court on the east side, a small pool on the north side, and grass on the other two. It wasn't large, two stories and square, 30 meters each side. That would be enough space for everyone in town to fit and small enough for them to defend. These people were former militia; they'd know the principles of a rudimentary defense. The building was a good choice.

Circling the concrete prefab structure, I noted three ground-floor entrances, five other windows, and 10 upstairs windows. I could work with that. Concrete was very good for disrupting plasma fire and, without buildings directly abutting it, there would be no blind approaches. The north approach was weakest but that still had several windows overlooking it. Nothing could get within 50 meters without being spotted in the open.

A plan pieced itself together in my head as I looked back toward the city.

It was unthinkable I had this opportunity. I couldn't change what happened to me, Li's people made that clear. If I succeeded, I wouldn't be transferred into whatever life I would have had. My actions here would, according to them, produce an alternate timeline with its own Damon, and I would need to transit back to my- well, not my world.

I looked up at the blue sky above.

No, this wouldn't fix my past. It would give this version of me a chance I never had, though.

If that's all I could do I think, like with Shaun's gift to Nate, the knowledge a version of me existed that would get to live the life I lost was enough.

And if I could keep this timeline's version of my parents from needing to make the sacrifice mine had for me-

I swallowed hard.

A spark flared against the blue sky.

It was something I'd seen all too often.

The ventral beam of a Covenant cruiser, 50 meters of superheated plasma, lanced through the air and slammed into the space elevator a dozen klicks overhead. The beam stayed focused on the long, narrow structure and I counted five seconds before it burst through the other side.

If any platforms were in transit and below the rupture, they'd be careening back toward the ground, and into a hardened bunker underneath. They were racing the elevator's collapse.

10 minutes until everyone was back. Time to get in position.

X

"Patrick!" Selina shouted. He was already moving, running back toward the train they'd just gotten off. She had Damon's hand and Patrick was carrying Kris.

Patrick had been pointing out the space elevator's ribs to their daughter when whatever Covie ship overhead fired. They both saw the ventral beam's ignition and the bluish-pink plasma struck the elevator. They needed to move. If that collapsed with them still in the city, they wouldn't need to wait for the Covenant to glass the planet. They wouldn't have time to get to one of the underground shelters, not with the entire city heading for them. Their only chance was to get back out of the city.

The plasma beam strike was oddly silent. It had hit the tower far overhead. The sound would take a while to reach them.

The station's platform was anything but silent. People were pointing up at the bluish-purple beam as it hit and burrowed through their only escape from the planet, screaming. They all knew the Covenant was attacking the planet.

Seeing their lifeline cut drove that home.

A vice clamped around Selina's chest as she watched the beam burst from the south side of the elevator.

Since Hatch was the furthest town from the city, they were the last to arrive. The station wasn't far from the base of the elevator, swallowed in the shadows cast by the tall, concrete, and glass towers that made up the city's heart. The train was a newer model, capable of 350 kph. If they left now, they'd be out of the way well before the structure crashed to the ground.

Also working in their favor, Hatch had only been established five years prior. Including kids, less than 60 people lived there. That meant, despite the rush from everyone to get back on the maglev, it was moving out of the station less than a minute after the elevator ruptured.

Since the train had 4 cars and was built to handle 400 people at a time, they all could fit in the front car.

Selina hadn't seen the Covenant in action, there was a reason she was still alive. They'd all gone through the training programs the UNSC built for local militias. She knew what they could do and she knew their MO.

A few people living in Hatch had seen the Covies in combat. Craig, a former UNSC marine, was one of them. He hadn't joined the militia when he was discharged. He didn't want to and no one could blame him. Craig moved in with his brother, Zach, and his partner two years prior. Nice guy, probably too nice to be in the Marines.

He was sitting near the front of the train car, elbows on his knees, head in his hands.

They all knew what that meant: they were screwed.

The train was silent as it whisked them back toward Hatch.

Even all the kids on the train were quiet. The rail-to-rail windows gave them a fantastic view of the elevator as it began crumbling.

Damon was squeezing her hand. He was trembling.

Selina swallowed hard. What was she supposed to do? They didn't have a UNSC detachment to defend the planet; that's why they put resources into standing up a local militia. It was relatively large and well-equipped for a militia but this was the Covenant. Their Warthogs, Wolverines, squad of Scorpions, and squad of Hornets weren't fighting a Covenant force.

Patrick stood next to her, staring up at the elevator. His face was blank and that only meant one thing: he was pissed.

It was the face he gave her whenever she was about to get an ass-chewing.

His old service pistol was strapped to his hip. She didn't bother telling her she wouldn't need it. No one would question him having it. Even though they'd been out for almost eight years, everyone in the militia knew who they were.

It was always a point of aggravation that she was a steadier hand than him. Kicked his ass in the course-drills too.

Movement from the front of the train caught her attention and Selina turned to see Craig standing on the seat where he'd been sitting a moment earlier.

"Everyone", he said. He didn't have to raise his voice; they were all still quiet, looking at the elevator.

"UNSC doctrine for an inner colony attack is they will be sending a task force to combat the Covenant as soon as a distress signal goes out. We're less than a day's jump from the nearest base. Distress signal would have gone out an hour ago; that means we need to keep our heads for less than 20 hours. The militia will buy some time; they're dug in and those hinge heads'll have to fight street to street. As soon as we're back in town, I need 10 people to come with me to the community center and we'll start prepping it to hold out. Everyone else, get all the guns, ammo, and water you have."

No one responded. They all knew that was a long shot. Like, jump off a cliff and land in a thimble, long shot.

What else were they supposed to do?

"I know a lot of you were in the militia and it sucks to hear our friends will be dying to buy us time but…" he closed his eyes and cleared his throat. "This is the Covenant and everyone has to do whatever we can to beat them. For us, that means surviving." Craig opened his eyes. "Sometimes whether you survive is about luck. It sucks, I get it. We can't waste what the militia's about to do for us, though."

Selina looked at Pat. His jaw was set. It hurt to hear that.

Glad I'm not the only one.

Brown, Helen, Stu… so many friends that- she knew were about to die. If the Covenant attacked a decade sooner or they didn't finally decide to have kids, they'd be back in the city, getting ready to fight.

Luck, right?

"I hear you", Selina called. "We'll do whatever we gotta."

"Yup!" she heard Steven call from behind her. "Me and Lisa will help get set up in the community center."

"Same", Rena said.

Half a dozen others replied in kind. There was still a lot of quiet in the train car. Not everyone was on board.

Yet.

"I'll get our kits", Pat said.

Selina nodded. "Kris and Damon should be alright in the community center while we get set up."

"The Covenant is coming", Damon said.

Her heart pounded in her chest so hard it made her wince.

"Yeah, Day", Selina said, "they are."

Damon puffed his cheeks. "Don't call me that."

Pat smiled. For some reason, he hated that nickname.

He set Kris next to Damon and put a hand on each of their heads. The smile faded and he might have been trying to hide it from them but she knew his tell. The way he pressed his lips together ever so slightly was a dead giveaway.

He was scared.

"We'll get 'em. Then the UNSC will come and we'll get a ride out of here."

"Kris", Selina said, "make sure your brother sticks close to me when we get off. We're going to the community center and Dad'll meet us after he runs back to the house. What do I expect from you two while we're busy?"

"We can mess around but we better not get in anyone's way", Kris recited.

She nodded. "Good. That's double right now, get me?"

They both nodded.

"Get the MA37", she said as she felt the train begin decelerating.

Pat cocked an eyebrow at her. "It's all coming."

"You really think we'll need that much?"

"Selina…"

She grinned. "It's a lot to carry…"

"It's a half-klick from the house to the community center."

"Hey", Steven said as he stopped next to them. "I've got some extra gear, Jay's gonna stop by my place to grab whatever anyone else needs. Are you guys good?"

Selina turned to the older, bald man. He was the town's unofficial mayor, not that a mayor would have anything to do in Hatch. His old, worn t-shirt, jacket, and jeans looked the part too.

"Yeah, we still got everything."

"I figured." He glanced down at their kids and a frown flashed across his face.

"Thanks, Steve", Pat said.

The shorter man nodded. "Just- you know- I don't-"

"We know", Selina said and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You don't have to say it."

He tried to smile but it didn't reach his eyes.

As he walked away, Selina caught a glimpse of Hatch out of the side window.

"Is he sad about his kids?" Damon asked.

Selina closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. "This child…" she muttered.

Pat beat her to it. "Damon, you're on the Rule for the next half hour."

The young boy grunted angrily.

It wasn't until then Selina noticed her arms were trembling.

They were under attack by the Covenant. What were they supposed to do? The UNSC had spent the last 25 years getting its ass handed to it. There were 30 able-bodied adults and another 25 kids, half of them younger than 12.

I can't think like that. Damon and Kris can't afford for me to think like that.

But it was true. The Covenant. How many families just like hers were glassed by them? And she thought she would be any different?

The train slowed to an almost seamless stop at the station and people started disembarking.

"Kris… change of plans; take your brother to the community center", she said, doing her best to control her voice. "I'll be there after we talk."

Kris nodded and took Damon's hand. Damon was big for his age. Kris was three years older than him but he was already taller.

Even so, he dutifully followed her off the train with everyone else.

After about 20 seconds, the only people left on the train were them and a few other stragglers.

Pat turned to her, his eyes wide.

Selina felt her own eyes fill with tears and they pulled each other into a hug. Pat was shaking, too.

"We gotta get through this", she whispered.

"Can we?"

"I don't know, Pat. I don't- I don't know."

They stood there for a good 30 seconds, holding each other. They both knew, in a few hours, they'd probably all be dead and there was nothing they could do about it. Either they'd die defending the town, or they'd die when the Covenant glassed the planet. It didn't matter which.

That thought was terrifying. Especially since that meant Kris and Damon would die, too.

Selina sucked in a deep breath. "But you know", she said, drawing herself away from Pat, "we're giving it our best."

He bit his lower lip. "And if that isn't good enough?"

"You know what my answer is."

"Selina, this is Kris and Damon."

She nodded. "I know. My answer's the same."

Pat swallowed hard. "Alright."

They turned to walk off the maglev. There were three others on the train, one of them was Lenny, their neighbor. The guy was young, barely 20. He'd moved to Hatch because he wanted to be out of the city. He liked hiking a lot and would usually stay out for days at a time. He wrote, too and it didn't take long for his short stories to become a regular part of the town's entertainment. He had a running story about explorers in the style of an old 'American Western' and would send out a chapter every week.

"Lenny, come on", Selina said, offering a hand. He was sitting on one of the acceleration couches, staring out the opposite window. "You don't gotta do anything but at least come to the community center with everyone else."

"I don't mind dying here", he muttered, his already soft voice almost completely quiet.

She shook her head. "We're gonna do our best to survive this. We have to try."

"I'd rather have a peaceful death."

"We'll come back later", Pat said quietly. "Let's get set up first."

Selina frowned but nodded.

They left the train and Pat turned right to head up toward their house while Selina went toward the middle of town.

How long would the militia buy them? A few hours? Nah, it had to be more than that, right? Even if the Covenant landed a full assault force, the militia was 10,000 people, a lot of them former-UNSC. They'd be fighting through the city. That had to be good for something, right? There were a lot of civilians still in the city, a few hundred thousand, at least. They had to hold out. Just long enough for a UNSC task force to arrive.

20 hours.

She got to the community center a minute later and could hear people inside getting ready.

20 hours that's-

Movement.

Selina whirled to the left. She didn't have her sidearm but she could at least-

She froze and her jaw hit the pavement.

It wasn't Covie but it might as well have been one.

The UNSC loved to tell everyone about their unstoppable supersoldiers. According to everyone she knew, they'd never lost a single one in combat.

That sounded like bullshit to her. They were fighting the Covenant; everyone lost something to them.

Hell, with how much they liked talking about them, she wasn't convinced it wasn't all propaganda. She'd never seen one in person, after all. No one she knew, even the former UNSC, had either. Of course, they knew people who had. They knew ODSTs who supposedly worked with them. A few had been at PR events with them.

A friend of a friend saw one on a base somewhere but they couldn't remember when or where.

Well, that myth was busted then and there because what was jogging toward her from the south side of town couldn't be anything but a SPARTAN.

For one, it was huge. It was so big she could tell, even from 100 meters away. It was wearing some kinda blue and black full-body armor that looked like it weighed as much as a car. Unless that was fake, no normal person was moving around under that much weight.

What the hell was a SPARTAN doing in Hatch? Weren't they supposed to be extremely rare?

The enormous soldier slowed to a walk about 20 meters from her and held up an armored hand.

It was… waving.

Why did that seem so strange?

"I'm SPARTAN Polk", it- he, the voice was clearly a man- said as he approached. "I've been tasked with defending outlying areas until UNSC reinforcements arrive. I'd like to speak with whoever's in charge."

It came to a stop a few meters from her and, sure enough, the SPARTAN was enormous. She felt like she was looking straight up at him.

Too many emotions rushed through her to tell what was what.

A SPARTAN! A real-life goddamnSPARTAN! Did that mean Craig was right and a UNSC task force would be on the way? SPARTAN Polk said there would be UNSC reinforcements and- and there was no way the UNSC would leave a SPARTAN out in the cold.

And if the stories about SPARTANs were true, this guy would be as good as having their militia!

"Ma'am?" the SPARTAN asked.

"Uh- yeah- please, sorry, come inside!" Selina turned and hurried toward the door. "No one's really in charge, you know, it's a small town. Craig Hanson was a corporal in the UNSC. He's who we're following for this one. Most of us were in the militia, so we've had training but he has experience fighting the Covenant."

The words came tumbling out so fast, Selina didn't recognize the sounds of footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. She swung it open and stepped through, followed by SPARTAN Polk.

"Holy shit!" Craig snapped. Selina finally realized she was still talking and stopped mid-word.

The fire room through the community center's front entrance was a lounge with an assortment of chairs and couches. A large skylight overhead let the morning light in.

Even through the thick beard, Selina watched as Craig's face drained of color. "Wha- you're- where-" he managed to shut his mouth before any other disconnected words fell out.

"Yes, I know", the SPARTAN said. "I'm SPARTAN Polk. I'm tasked with defending outlying areas. I don't have time to reach any of the other towns."

"This is Craig", Selina hurriedly added, motioning at the tall, slender man. "Like I said, he's in charge."

Craig stared up at the towering soldier. "I… well… not to be disrespectful but what's a SPARTAN doing here? Is there a UNSC detachment on planet we don't know about?"

"Sorry", Polk shook his head. "I'm not permitted to say."

"… Okay but… the militia… could use your help a lot more than us. You can use our maglev to get downtown."

"The militia will hold against a direct assault. They're dug in against ground forces and I can't assist against orbital bombardment. The maglev stations are additional points of ingress into the city center; if the Covenant can put troops directly in the city, that will compromise their defenses."

"Then they need to shut them down!" Craig shouted. He turned back down the hall he'd come out of. "Jenny! Get someone on comms, tell them they need to shut down the maglev network!"

"Are they controlled from a central location?" Polk asked.

Craig shook his head. "I don't know."

Polk glanced over his shoulder and out the front door. "I'll remain here for security. If the Covenant can reactivate the network, our only alternative will be to deny them access." He looked back down at Craig. "Can we send the train back to the city?"

"Uh… I don't know if we can do that from here without someone being on the train. What about the other towns? There are five of them. You can't be everywhere."

"Have the militia recall the trains from each town before shutting the network down. If the Covenant gains access to the network control, it will slow them down."

Craig nodded. "Okay, yeah. What about us here? What do you want us to do?"

"Is this everyone?"

"No. Most people are gathering supplies."

"Continue your preparations, then", Polk said. "We'll wait for the rest."

"Uh…" Craig frowned. "We should probably let them all know about you. I don't think anyone needs more surprises today."

The floor started trembling and Polk turned to look back through the door. Selina followed his gaze-

The space elevator. It had crashed to the ground on the far side of the city. A huge plume of debris had been launched into the air. It hung just under the sun.

It must have happened just after they got inside and the shockwave finally hit them.

"Cover your ears", Polk ordered.

Selina did, clapping both hands over her ears, as the tremor grew into a shake that felt like an earthquake.

A split second later, a long, loud roar split the air, the sounds of the dying space elevator finally reaching them.

It subsided to a dull drone after a few seconds and she pulled her hands away.

"… holy hell", Craig muttered.

Polk looked back at them. "We're on a clock."

Craig nodded. "Yes sir."

10 minutes later, everyone from town was crammed into the front lounge.

Outside… they could see drop ships falling through the atmosphere toward the city. Anti-aircraft batteries and launchers met some. A lot made it to the ground. It was too far to hear but everyone knew the militia was engaged.

Once word got out a SPARTAN was there to defend Hatch, everyone's attitude shifted like a switch had been flipped. Instead of the encroaching dread of certain death, there was an air of excitement.

Not only would they maybe make it until the UNSC task force showed up, they all got to meet a real-life SPARTAN. That was something most people in the UNSC never did let alone a tiny town on a random planet.

As for their preparation… there wasn't much to do. They established primary and fallback positions for each part of the community center. It was concrete prefab which, on top of being cheap and easy, was incredibly durable. They didn't need to reinforce the building, not that they had anything to do it with.

There were 32 able-bodied men and women, 27 had been in the militia. Two, including Craig, had been UNSC but didn't join the militia. They organized into eight fire teams, each was responsible for one corner of a floor.

Contrary to what all of them thought, Polk opted not to take command of their defense effort. Not directly, anyway. He did lay out a general plan, though. It, unsurprisingly, placed most of the combat burden on him.

"The worst sightlines are to the north", Polk jerked his head in that direction. "If a Covenant force assaults this town, any competent commander will use that to advance once they identify this position. Present a strong resistance everywhere else to draw them to that weakness, I'll ambush them there. You're all trained on static defense?"

They nodded.

"That's our militia's focus", Selina said.

Polk looked down at her. She could see herself in his golden visor's reflection.

"How many of you have been in live combat?"

"… Just me and a few other UNSC vets", Craig said quietly.

The SPARTAN nodded. "Take your cues from them. Trust your training but understand this won't feel anything like that. If you drilled like you should, the repetition was there so you don't have to think about it. If you aren't scared now, you will be when the Covenant shows up. That's the worst time to make a decision. Don't second guess, go with what you know. Static defense requires a cohesive force; you make a mistake, you put everyone else in danger. There are no heroes today. Your job is to survive until reinforcements arrive. Am I understood?"

An undrilled chorus of "Yes sir!" came in response.

Selina's heart fluttered with excitement as the towering soldier turned back to Craig, who was standing beside him. He was so calm and collected.

No duh, he was a SPARTAN.

If- maybe the stories about them were true. If they were, he'd fought the Covenant plenty. He knew what to do, they just needed to do what he said.

… Maybe that was blind optimism but she was holding onto it with everything she had. If she didn't-

"You ready?" Pat asked, offering her rifle.

She took it from him and slipped the sling over her head.

"This is crazy", she muttered. "How did this happen?"

He grinned, amused. "No idea. Talk about luck."

"I don't know if we're lucky. The Covenant are attacking."

"We're fighting a war against them", he nodded at Polk, "he is luck."

Selina took a deep breath and checked her rifle. It was loaded, the chamber was empty, and it was on safe.

"We'll survive until the UNSC gets here", Selina said.

"If we're lucky enough to get a SPARTAN to help, maybe we'll get lucky enough for that too." He motioned toward the stairs at the back of the lounge. They had the second-floor northeast corner with John and Lisa. "Ladies first."

She stole one more glance back at the armored titan as he talked with Craig. Polk spoke with such authority, it was hard to believe he couldn't get them through this. He was everything a younger Selina imagined a SPARTAN would be… before she decided they were probably propaganda. Now that had been proven wrong, the wonder and amazement was back.

He's got us. We're good.

X

My heart was pounding so hard* I had to perform breathing exercises to calm it. Goddammit, I didn't think my mom would be the first person I'd find when they came into town. I have no clue how I kept the act together when it felt like every muscle in my body was made of jelly.

Even now, 15 minutes later, I had to focus on relaxing to keep my arms and legs from trembling. We still had a fight to get through and they didn't need to see the SPARTAN shaking. They needed to be calm now because, when the fighting started, they wouldn't be.

Speaking of that, this was the first time I'd ever been grateful for the air of invincibility that surrounded SPARTANs. Sure, the maglevs were a vector any defense would have to consider but the idea the UNSC would task a SPARTAN to defend a single outlying station, especially one this small, was bullshit. My explanation had also been bullshit.

Thankfully, none of them seemed concerned about that. They were probably too relieved I was there to question it.

There were a couple good reasons to stay out of the city for now, though. The Covenant would be sending an initial wave of seraph fighters down to soften up any air defenses followed by phantoms. If we got back on the train as soon as the shockwave passed, we'd be caught in the fighting. With the kind of warfare that was about to commence, there was no way I could ensure 60 people's safety.

Then there was the consideration… how the hell would I explain my presence to the militia there?

No, we decided it would be best to keep my footprint as small as possible. There would be an investigation after this but it wasn't like they could find and punish me for my actions.

"I doubt it", I replied to Craig. "They'll be trying to move fast to join the main assault and they won't count on serious resistance. You probably won't have to worry about sniper support."

He still hadn't donned any gear; he spent the entire time the others were preparing, talking with me. From what I could gather, he'd been part of a standard infantry unit. He did most of the talking but, unlike many of the 'veterans' I met (mostly in the Commonwealth), it was inquisitive. He wanted to learn and he was experienced enough to know what questions to ask: force type and distribution, potential numbers, armaments, objectives, combat doctrine, and timeframe. While Craig knew he didn't have the knowledge to build an effective defense, it seemed like he knew enough strategy and tactics, given more information, to do it.

The guy was sharp.

"So we're looking at a fast, basic attack with high-volume fire once they ID our position."

I nodded.

"It won't be an armored column since that would be a waste of time but they might have light vehicle support."

"Affirmative", I replied. "I can handle those. Just hold this position from aggressing foot soldiers."

Craig frowned through his thick, well-kept beard. "With all due respect, I… are the stories about you guys true? That seems like a lot for you to do."

"I don't know most of the stories. I can handle it. Lying doesn't do anyone any good."

"... Alright. I gotta go make some changes to our plan. I appreciate the info."

He shifted, about to start walking away, when he froze. I could almost see the moment his muscle memory took over and he drew himself to attention.

This is… unnecessary.

The former marine snapped off a surprisingly crisp salute.

"Sir! Thank you, sir!" he barked.

As awkward as it felt, I returned the salute."At ease, corporal, I'm not your commanding officer. All I want from you is to keep your people safe."

Craig lowered his hand but remained at attention. "SPARTAN Polk, when the Covenant hit the space elevator half an hour ago, I thought I was a dead man. I left this war behind just to get caught up in it again. You're giving us a chance. Words can't express what that means."

I nodded. While it wasn't new to hear that, something over the last year changed about what I felt when I did. Every time I heard someone say it now, a spark of pride flashed through my chest. I got to give people that hope.

Even if the attention and how people treated me at times bothered me, that was one thing I wouldn't change.

"Copy that. We'll get through this. Get your people in position, we don't know when the Covenant will show up."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Craig pulled a sharp about-face and marched away.

A thought occurred to me: did my parents feel the same way?

I grinned. It felt strange to think that.

Using my former handler, Polk's last name as my cover was amusing. If they somehow made the connection though, it would probably cause him some problems at ONI.

That was reason enough.