Location: New Damascus, Research Facility - Central Lab
Date: July 5, 2531
Time: 0820 Hours
The world felt like it was moving in slow motion.
Allen was lying on the ground, barely breathing, his chest rising and falling in shallow, ragged gasps. Doc worked frantically over him, her hands slick with blood as she tried to stop the bleeding from the massive wound left by the energy sword.
I was kneeling beside him, my rifle forgotten on the floor, my hands shaking as I held Allen's arm. His skin was cold. Too cold.
"Stay with us, Allen," I whispered, but my voice cracked, the words barely a breath. I didn't know what else to say. What else could I say?
Behind us, Fumble and Slink were holding off the remaining Covenant forces, their weapons echoing through the lab as they fought to keep us alive. The sound of plasma fire and human gunfire blended into a distant hum, as if it were happening in another room, another world. Right now, all I could focus on was Allen.
His eyes fluttered open, just for a second, but there was no recognition in them. Just pain. His mouth moved, but no words came out.
"Doc, he's—" I started, my voice breaking.
She didn't look up, her face grim as she applied more pressure to the wound. "I know, Casper. I know."
It was all too much. The smell of burnt flesh, the blood pooling on the floor, the silence in Allen's chest as his breathing slowed, became almost imperceptible. This couldn't be happening.
Not Allen.
The world snapped back into focus with brutal clarity when Doc stopped moving. She knelt there, her hands still pressing against Allen's wound, but her eyes said everything. The look of defeat, the realization that nothing could be done.
I felt something break inside me.
"No… no, no, no," I muttered, shaking my head as I grabbed Allen's arm tighter, as if somehow that would keep him here, keep him with us.
But he was already gone.
Doc slowly pulled her hands away, her face pale. She wiped her blood-covered fingers on her uniform, but the bloodstains didn't come off. It never would.
"He's gone, Casper," she said softly, her voice hollow. "I'm sorry."
The words hit me like a freight train. I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes, but I didn't let them fall. Not yet. I couldn't. Not here.
My hands trembled as I reached down and grabbed Allen's dog tags, the cold metal slipping between my fingers as I gently pulled them from his chest. The chain caught on his armor for a second, and I had to tug to free it. The sound of the tags clinking together echoed in the quiet of the room.
I stared at them, the weight of those tags suddenly heavier than anything I'd ever felt before.
I slipped the chain over my neck, feeling the cool metal rest against my skin, and for a moment, I was frozen. Everything felt unreal. Allen was gone, and I was still here. The thought made me sick to my stomach.
But there was no time to grieve. Not yet.
Location: New Damascus, Research Facility - Central Lab
Date: July 5, 2531
Time: 0830 Hours
"Casper, get ready to move!" Slink shouted from across the room, her voice cutting through the haze.
I looked up, blinking back the shock as reality came crashing back down around me. The battle wasn't over. The Covenant forces were regrouping outside the lab, and we were trapped in here with no way out. Allen was dead, but the mission wasn't. We couldn't let this place fall.
"We've got to go!" Fumble yelled, reloading his SPNKR. "They're bringing in more troops—we need to fall back to the secondary objective!"
I stood slowly, my legs unsteady beneath me, but I forced myself to focus. The dog tags around my neck felt like a constant reminder of what I had to do. Allen wouldn't want us to die here. He'd want us to finish the mission.
"Slink, cover our retreat!" I shouted, my voice sounding foreign in my own ears, hoarse from emotion. "Doc, stay close to me. We're getting out of here."
I could see Slink glance back at me, her face tight with emotion, but she didn't argue. She raised her rifle, firing controlled bursts at the Covenant forces pushing through the doorway.
I grabbed Allen's rifle from the floor, slinging it over my shoulder. It felt wrong to leave him here, but there was no choice. He was gone, and we had to survive.
We moved fast, retreating through the corridors of the facility as the sounds of battle echoed around us. The Covenant wasn't giving up—more troops were flooding into the facility, and I could hear the distinctive growl of Elites as they ordered their forces forward.
"We can't hold them off much longer!" Fumble called out, his voice strained as he fired another rocket down the hallway, the explosion rocking the walls around us. "We need a new plan, fast!"
I was trying to think—trying to push through the fog of grief and focus on the mission—but every thought was clouded by Allen. I could still see him lying there, still feel the cold weight of his dog tags around my neck.
But I couldn't let that stop me.
"Secondary objective is the secure data terminal," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "We fall back there, secure the data, and call for extraction."
Fumble looked at me, his eyes wide but full of respect. "You're calling the shots now, Junior?"
I swallowed hard, nodding. "Yeah. I guess I am."
Fumble gave me a quick grin, even in the middle of the chaos. "Then let's get it done."
Location: New Damascus, Research Facility - Secondary Objective
Date: July 5, 2531
Time: 0845 Hours
We reached the secondary objective—a heavily fortified data room buried deep within the facility. The walls were lined with massive servers, all connected to a central terminal that glowed with the eerie light of UNSC tech.
"This is it," I said, catching my breath as I scanned the room. "Slink, set up defensive positions. We hold here until we can extract the data."
Doc moved to the terminal, her hands already flying over the controls as she began the process of securing the files. "This is going to take a few minutes."
"We don't have a few minutes," Fumble muttered, already watching the door as more plasma fire echoed down the halls.
But we didn't have a choice. We were pinned down, and the Covenant wasn't going to let us leave without a fight.
"Get ready," I muttered, raising Allen's rifle as I took cover behind one of the server racks. The weight of his dog tags felt heavier than ever.
The mission wasn't over. And we had to survive. For Allen.