Chapter 21

Location: UNSC Never Forget, Debriefing Room

Date: July 5, 2531

Time: 1030 Hours

The debriefing room felt cold, sterile—the kind of place where nothing could touch you but the weight of duty. The harsh lighting and blank walls did nothing to soothe the exhaustion etched into every corner of my mind. I sat at the long metal table, Alice on one side of me, Sam on the other. The three of us sat in silence, our eyes heavy with grief, our minds replaying everything that had happened on New Damascus.

I still had Allen's dog tags tucked beneath my armor. I could feel their weight pressing against my chest with every breath, reminding me that I carried more than just my own burdens now. I carried his memory. And Fumble's.

The doors slid open with a hiss, and Lieutenant Cole walked in, his face set in a hard expression that made my stomach tighten. He looked over each of us as he took his place at the front of the room, his gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than the others.

"Beta Four," he began, his voice sharp. "I've read the reports on New Damascus. I know you've been through hell, and I'm not going to pretend that losing Allen and Ramirez doesn't hurt. It does. But that's the war we're in. We fight, we lose people, and we keep going."

I felt a flash of anger flare up inside me, but I bit my tongue. What did he know? He hadn't been there. He hadn't watched Allen fall. He hadn't seen Fumble make his last stand.

Alice shifted beside me, her hands clenched into tight fists on the table. I could feel her tension, her frustration. She wasn't going to let this go without speaking up.

"With all due respect, sir," she said, her voice sharp but controlled, "we didn't just lose people. We lost our squad leader and one of our best soldiers. They weren't just casualties. They were family."

There was a moment of silence as Cole met her gaze, his expression unreadable. Then he gave a slow nod, acknowledging her words.

"I understand that," he said, his tone softening just slightly. "And I'm not dismissing what you've lost. But we don't have the luxury of mourning right now. The Covenant isn't slowing down, and neither can we."

Alice looked like she wanted to argue, but she held back, her jaw tightening as she settled into silence. I knew how she felt. Every word Cole said felt like a weight pressing down on me, but there was no denying the truth in it.

I glanced at Sam, who sat quietly beside me. She hadn't said much since we got back, but I could see the strain in her eyes, the heaviness of what we'd been through etched into her face. She was holding it together, but just barely.

"Your mission," Cole continued, "was successful. The data you recovered is being analyzed now, and it could prove critical to the war effort. You did what you had to do. And that's why Beta Four is still here. We'll regroup, rearm, and get ready for whatever comes next."

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle over us. "But for now, take some time. I'll give you 48 hours before your next briefing. Use it wisely."

With that, Cole turned and left the room, leaving us alone with the silence and our thoughts.

Location: UNSC Never Forget, Barracks

Date: July 5, 2531

Time: 1100 Hours

Back in the barracks, the weight of everything felt heavier. The walls seemed to close in, the air thick with the unspoken grief we were all feeling. I sat on my bunk, staring at the floor, my mind replaying the last moments of Allen and Fumble. It felt surreal, like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.

Sam sat across from me, her medkit resting beside her. She hadn't touched it since we returned, and I could tell she was struggling to find the words. She was always the one who patched us up, kept us going, but this—there was no patching this.

"I don't know how to move forward from this," Sam said quietly, breaking the silence. "We lost both of them. How do we keep going?"

I looked up at her, my throat tight. I didn't have an answer. I didn't know how to keep going, either. But I knew we had to.

"We just… do," I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. "We don't have a choice."

Alice was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She hadn't said much since the debriefing, but I could feel her emotions simmering beneath the surface. When she finally spoke, her voice was softer than I expected.

"You're not Cass the rookie anymore," she said, her eyes meeting mine. "You're one of us. You've earned that."

The shift in the way she spoke to me, the way she called me Cass instead of Junior or Rookie, caught me off guard. But it felt right. It was like a marker of everything that had changed. I wasn't just tagging along anymore. I was part of this. Fully.

"Thanks," I said quietly, unsure of what else to say. It didn't feel like enough, but I hoped she understood.

Sam glanced between us, a small, tired smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You know," she said, her tone lighter than before, "Cass kind of suits you. I like it."

I managed a faint smile, the weight of the nickname settling into place. I wasn't sure how to feel about it yet, but it was a step forward, and right now, that was all I could ask for.

"We'll get through this," Alice said, her voice firmer now, like she was convincing herself as much as she was convincing us. "We've been through worse."

I wasn't sure if that was true. Losing Allen and Fumble felt like the worst thing that had ever happened to us. But she was right about one thing—we had to keep going. Together.

"We'll figure it out," I said, my voice steadier than before. "One step at a time."

And as we sat there, the three of us bound together by the weight of our shared loss, I knew that no matter what came next, we would face it together.