Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [70]
sir,” he said. “It’s good to see you guys.” He approached the Warthog. “You’ve got a working radio in that thing?” “I—I’m not sure,” Corporal Harland said. “Who’s in charge here? What happened?”
“Covenant hit us hard, sir. They had tanks, air support—thousands of those little Grunt guys. They glassed the main barracks. The Command Office. Almost got the munitions bunker.” He looked away for a moment and his one eye glazed over. “We pulled it together and fought ’em off, though. That was an 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 my report.”
The Private shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. The hospital was the first thing they hit. As far as who’s in command . . . 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 and wavering heat in the distance. “They’re in fire-fighting suits to keep from burning up. They’re recovering weapons and ammo.”
“Understood,” Harland said. “Fincher, try the radio again. See if you can link up to SATCOM. Call in for 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 and Alpha HQ . . . and wiped them out. We’ve repelled the enemy from Alpha site, but our casualties have been nearly one hundred percent. We have wounded here. We need immediate evac. Say again: we need evac on the double.”
“Roger, Corporal. Your situation is understood. Evac is not possible at this time. We’ve got problems of our 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.”
Fincher ran the diagnostic. “It’s working,” he said. “I’m getting a ping from SATCOM.” He licked his
lips. “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 many planets 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 and
whispered, “They better send a whole regiment down here.” A handful of other Marines returned to the bunker. They had salvaged ammunition, extra rifles, a crate of frag grenades, and a few Jackhammer missiles. Fincher took the Warthog and a few men to see if he could 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?” Harland didn’t turn toward the man. He covered Cochran with another blanket. “I don’t know. Can you
fight?” “I think so.” He passed Walker a rifle. “Good. Get up there and stand watch.” He got out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff,
and then handed it to Walker. Walker took it, shakily stood, and went outside. “Sir!” he said. “Dropship inbound. One of ours!” Harland grabbed his signal flares. He ran outside and squinted at the horizon. High on the edge of the
darkening sky was a dot, and the unmistakable roar of Pelican engines. He pulled the pin and tossed the smoker onto the ground. A moment later, thick clouds of green smoke roiled into the sky. The dropship turned rapidly and descended toward their location.
Harland shielded his eyes. He searched for the rest of the dropships. There was only one. “Onedropship?” Walker whispered. “That’s all they sent? Christ, that’s not backup—that’s a burial detail.”
The Pelican eased toward the