Location: UNSC Forward Base - Outer Colony World
Date: May 12, 2534
Time: 0630 Hours
It had been another year. Another endless cycle of deployments, firefights, and losses. The war didn't stop, and neither did we. But in that time, everything felt different. The faces in the squad had changed—again. The rookies that Alice and I had trained were gone, replaced by fresh soldiers. And the weight of that churn—of lives lost and forgotten—was heavier than ever.
I leaned against the cold metal wall of the barracks, staring out at the base as the early morning sun began to rise over the distant mountains. The quiet before the day's mission settled over the camp, but my thoughts were far from the coming battle. They were with her. With Sam.
She was gone. It had been almost a year since the message came through. The one that told me she had died during childbirth. I'd read the words over and over, unable to believe that after all the fighting, after all the things we'd survived together, she was taken by something so… normal. I hadn't even been there for her. I was halfway across the galaxy, fighting in another nameless colony while she struggled alone.
I closed my eyes, willing myself to shake off the familiar wave of grief that rose up. The sadness wasn't fresh anymore—it was something colder now, something that had settled deep into my bones. But it never went away.
The war didn't stop for grief. It didn't stop for anything.
I hadn't even had time to process what it meant. The baby had survived, I knew that much. They told me it was a girl, but I'd never seen her, never even heard her name. She was back on Earth, with Sam's family. And here I was, still out here, still fighting.
"Cass, you alright?"
I opened my eyes, glancing over to see Alice standing beside me, her helmet under one arm, a concerned look in her eyes. She had always known me better than anyone. In the year since Sam's death, she hadn't pried, hadn't pushed me to talk, but I knew she was there if I needed her.
"Yeah," I muttered, straightening up and forcing a tight smile. "Just… thinking."
"About her?"
I didn't answer, but I didn't need to. She already knew.
"Mission starts in an hour," she said softly, her voice gentle. "You ready?"
I nodded, though I wasn't sure if I was ready for anything anymore. But there was no choice. There was never any choice.
Location: UNSC Drop Bay - En Route to Deployment
Date: May 12, 2534
Time: 0730 Hours
The Pelican shuddered as we descended toward the battlefield, the familiar rumble of the engines filling the drop bay. Around me, the rookies checked their gear, their movements mechanical, their faces set with grim determination. It was their first real combat mission, but they didn't know what was coming. Not yet.
I tightened the straps on my armor, my eyes scanning the bay as I tried to focus on the mission ahead. But my mind kept drifting, kept pulling me back to the past year. To all the things I hadn't had time to think about.
I was tired. More tired than I'd ever been. Not just physically, though the endless deployments were starting to take their toll. It was something deeper—an exhaustion that came from watching so many people die, from feeling like I couldn't save anyone. Not my fireteam, not Sam, not even myself.
The war had become a blur of missions, of faces that came and went, of battles that blended into each other. I'd lost count of how many times I'd seen my fireteam replaced—rookies coming in bright-eyed and hopeful, only to be carried out in body bags weeks later. I was losing track of names, faces, everything.
It wasn't just about the Covenant anymore. It wasn't even about winning. It was about surviving long enough to make it to the next battle.
Alice sat across from me, her expression as hard as ever. She had been through as much as I had, but she held it together better. She always had. Her fireteam was gone, replaced again just like mine, but she didn't show it. She didn't let it break her.
I envied that.
"Ten minutes to drop," Doss's voice came over the comms, pulling me back to the present.
I nodded, forcing myself to focus. The mission was simple—hit a Covenant outpost on the far side of the colony, clear it out, and move on. Simple, but nothing was ever simple in this war.
The rookies were silent, their eyes locked on the ground as the dropship descended. They didn't know yet. They didn't know what it was like to lose everything. But they would. Soon enough, they would.
Location: UNSC Drop Zone - Covenant Outpost
Date: May 12, 2534
Time: 0745 Hours
The Pelican touched down with a jolt, the ramp lowering with a hiss of hydraulics. The heat of the desert hit us as we stepped out, the air thick with dust and the distant smell of plasma burns.
I raised my rifle, scanning the horizon as we moved into formation. The Covenant outpost was less than a mile ahead, a cluster of alien structures nestled in the rocky cliffs. We knew they were dug in deep, but that was nothing new. We'd faced worse.
"Bravo, take point," I called out, signaling for my fireteam to move up.
The rookies moved quickly, fanning out into a loose formation as we advanced. Alice and Alpha Fireteam were just behind us, covering the rear.
As we moved closer to the outpost, I could feel the familiar tension building in my chest—the anticipation before a fight, the knowledge that at any moment, things could go wrong. The Covenant forces were waiting for us, and it was only a matter of time before the shooting started.
I glanced over at Alice, who gave me a curt nod. We both knew what was coming.
"Remember," I said, my voice low but firm as I addressed the rookies. "Stick to the plan. Stay close. We get in, we get out, no heroics."
They nodded, their faces grim. They didn't know it yet, but nothing ever went according to plan.
Location: Covenant Outpost - Perimeter
Date: May 12, 2534
Time: 0800 Hours
The first shot rang out just as we reached the perimeter.
Plasma bolts lit up the air, sizzling past us as we dropped to cover. The Covenant forces were dug in, just as we expected, their turrets and infantry waiting for us at the outer defenses.
"Return fire!" I shouted, my rifle kicking against my shoulder as I squeezed off a few rounds.
The rookies were quick to react, their movements sharp as they returned fire. But I could see the panic in their eyes, the uncertainty. This was their first real taste of combat, and it was nothing like the simulations.
I ducked behind a boulder, my heart racing as plasma fire slammed into the ground around me. For a moment, all I could think about was how many times I'd been in this exact situation—how many times I'd crouched behind cover, watching soldiers fall around me.
How many more times could I do this before it broke me completely?
I shook off the thought, forcing myself to focus. There wasn't time for reflection, not now. Not with the battle raging around us.
But in the back of my mind, it lingered. The weariness. The grief. The sense that no matter how many missions we completed, no matter how many battles we fought, it would never be enough. The war would keep going, and we would keep losing people.
And I was so damn tired of losing.