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“Covenant hit us hard, sir. They had tanks, air support—thousands of those little Grunt guys. Theyglassed the main barracks. The Command Office. Almost got the munitions bunker.” He looked awayfor a moment and his one eye glazed over. “We pulled it together and fought ’em off, though. That wasan hour ago. I think we killed everything. I’m not sure.”
“Who’s in charge, Private? I have a critically wounded man. He needs evac, and I have to make myreport.”
The Private shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. The hospital was the first thing they hit. As far as who’s incommand . . . I think you’re the ranking officer here.”
“Great,” Harland muttered.
“We’ve got five guys back there.” The Private jerked his head toward the columns of smoke andwavering heat in the distance. “They’re in fire-fighting suits to keep from burning up. They’rerecovering weapons and ammo.”
“Understood,” Harland said. “Fincher, try the radio again. See if you can link up to SATCOM. Call infor an evac.”
“Roger that,” Fincher said.
The wounded Private asked Harland, “Can we get help from Firebase Bravo, sir?”
“No,” Harland said. “They got hit, too. There’s Covenant all over the place.”
The Private slumped, bracing himself with his rifle.
Fincher handed Harland the radio headset. “Sir, SATCOM is good. I’ve got theLeviathan on the horn.”
“This is Corporal Harland.” He spoke into the microphone. “The Covenant has hit Firebase Bravo andAlpha HQ . . . and wiped them out. We’ve repelled the enemy from Alpha site, but our casualties havebeen nearly one hundred percent. We have wounded here. We need immediate evac. Say again: we needevac on the double.”
“Roger, Corporal. Your situation is understood. Evac is not possible at this time. We’ve got problems ofour own up here—”There was a burst of static. The voice came back online. “Help is on the way.”
The channel went dead.
Harland looked to Fincher. “Check the transceiver.”
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Fincher ran the diagnostic. “It’s working,” he said. “I’m getting a ping from SATCOM.” He licked hislips. “The trouble must be on their end.”
Harland didn’t want to think of what kind of trouble the fleet could be having. He’d seen too manyplanets glassed from orbit. He didn’t want to die here—not like that.
He turned to the men in the bunker. “They said help is on the way. So relax.” He looked into the sky andwhispered, “They better send a whole regiment down here.”
A handful of other Marines returned to the bunker. They had salvaged ammunition, extra rifles, a crateof frag grenades, and a few Jackhammer missiles. Fincher took the Warthog and a few men to see if hecould transport the heavier weapons.
They filled Cochran with more biofoam and bandaged him up. He slipped into a coma.
They hunkered down inside the bunker and waited. They heard explosions at an extreme distance.
Walker finally spoke. “So . . . now what, sir?”