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“Spartans,” Eric spat. “They’re not even human. Freaks are what they are.”

It was not an uncommon ODST outlook: a suspicion of the faceless, armored men who’d started to show up on the battlefield.

I didn’t argue with him.

“Besides,” Felicia said, “it took them a long time to enact the Protocol. Almost like they wanted the Outer Colonies out of the picture.”

“That’s . . .” Ludicrous, I started to say. But I halted, remembering my own rage when it was first announced. “. . . hard to believe. But it still looks bad. And the result is . . . what it is.”

“We put in our years, and we’ve been used up. We’re getting tired. And there’s nowhere to go home to,” Felicia said.

“And because we’re Colonial Military transfers, our pensions are still technically CMA, not UNSC. Since the CMA doesn’t exist anymore, the pension funds were raided to build destroyers. No one is sure if the politicians will be able to find anything when we all start coming out of the system. If we live that long.”

I felt the weariness in their voices. It was there in mine, too. Deep into my bones. I’d used up almost two-thirds of my life fighting.

And all I’d seen were losses.

Despite ONI propaganda films, and shore leave, and binges, I still felt that emptiness.

I realized Felicia and Eric were staring at me. Studying me. Feeling me out.

“We’re going on some sort of snatch-and-run operation,” Felicia said. “I just got word from the brass. We’ve found something the Covenant is squatting on.”

“What is it?”

“Some sort of artifact in the ground. Who the hell cares? What in the past is going to save us now? What’s important is that this is going to be our last mission,” Felicia said. “We’ve given our service. We’ve fought hard. The only thing stopping the Covenant is our being able to keep the location of Earth secret. The UNSC’s just using us up on the ground like throwaway pawns.”

“All that matters to the UNSC is Reach and Earth anyway,” Eric said. He sounded so bitter. I’d gotten the sense that the explosion had changed him even more, despite his role in the UNSC; it was something he’d taken out of necessity, not human patriotism.

Felicia continued. “The artifact the aliens have dug up this time is near a small city, which I’ve done some research on.

“There’s a major bank in the center, with vaults. They’ve got gold and platinum ingots buried down there, and the Covenant invasion happened quickly enough that it’s all sitting down there. Right now.”

I looked back and forth. “What, you want to steal it?”

“Steal it?” Eric spat the words. “It doesn’t exist anymore, Gage. It’s about to be glassed. The UNSC wants us to snatch the alien artifact or destroy it. No one gives a crap about the gold.”

“We could retire,” Felicia said. “Go back to Earth, and lay back comfortably. Something the UNSC could never offer us.”

I took a deep breath and looked down at the scuffed floor of the Pelican.

Eric chimed in. “We’re still going to attack the Covenant and bring back the artifact. We’ll be following orders. But we’ll be coming down with one extra Pelican. We blow the vaults, load the gold into ammunition chests, load the Pelican, and come back to the ship.”

“And then what?” I asked.

“Then . . . anything you want,” Felicia said leaning closer, more aware of the scar on her face and the intensity in her eyes than ever. “I know a transport headed back to Earth. I figure, I might as well see the mother planet before I die. Where you guys go, that’s up to you, but I was hoping we could all go together. One last hurrah.”

One last hurrah.

“We’ve put in our years, Gage. How much longer before it’s some random Jackal sniper that takes us down? We’ve been putting our damn lives on the line since we were just kids. Kids. It’s time to grow up. When was the last time you talked to a civilian?”

Too long, I thought. Too long. “How many more are involved?”

“With you, we can do this,” Eric said. “Felicia can assemble them all into a team for the snatch-and-run;