The Stand of New Llanelli
Chapter 1- Prologue:
1600 Hours, April 23rd, 2546 (UNSC Military calendar). Outskirts of New Llanelli, Brunel System
"All units, this is command. Recon drones and scout teams report heavy Covenant troop mobilisation on all sectors. All personnel are to report to designated battle stations immediately. Happy hunting marines, command out."
Corporal James Stewart peered through the scope of his BR55 battle rifle and mentally sighed for what seemed like the millionth time of his life. As he surveying the blackened battlefield that was once lush grassland, looking past the lines of barbed wire, burnt out vehicle husks, craters and glassy patches, he could just about make out an indistinguishable mass of moving purple that stretched further than his vision could register, and heard the unmistakable din of an army of thousands preparing for war
Oh the Covenant are definitely up to something, he thought, way to be subtle.
Yet something worried him, the Covenant might be stubborn in their choice and execution of tactics, but they weren't dumb or stupid. If they weren't even trying to hide the fact they were about to attack, it meant they either couldn't, or didn't need to. Neither of the options gave James much reassurance. Furthermore, command rarely used adjectives in their transmissions, hence the description, "mass covenant," didn't bode well with him.
We barely managed to hold the line when the Covenant decided to "probe" our lines yesterday, how the hell are we going to survive this? His gaze swept over the multi-coloured blood stained battlefield, they had managed to make the brute led army pay dearly for their attempted offensive yesterday if the carpeting of Covenant corpses on the floor was any indication, but their swarm like tactics had left the battalion only 70% combat effective. It had gotten so bad that brutes and hunters had managed to clamber into the trenches, and it was only the quick thinking of the Captain and his clever use of warthogs and CQB tactics that managed to push them back, and prevent a massacre that would have lost them their first line of defence. Thanks to the Captain and the heroic efforts of 1st battalion, 22nd Marine Infantry regiment, the successful defence of the suburbs of New Llanelli meant tactical control of the city was still in UNSC control, and thus, one of the last remaining UNSC strongholds of the colony world of New Llanelli was still standing.
Why who would anyone name a planet after the capital city of said planet? That's just confusing, he mused.
He was jolted from his thoughts with the arrival of a familiar blonde sliding into position next to him, a M392 Designated Marksman Rifle strapped on the back, half- dragging half- carrying a cart neatly stacked with DMR, BR ammunition and several fragmentation grenades.
"Lancaster, as graceful as ever." he quipped as he bent down and began stuffing BR magazines into his bandolier. "Enjoy your nap sleeping beauty whilst I was holding the fort?"
Sophie Lancaster rolled her grey eyes at the taunt and turned her flushed heart-shaped face to glance briefly at him, before restocking her ammunition supply as well. "Shut it James, I had to drag this all the way from the second line." She paused for a second before adding. "Besides, I had to throw in more BR ammo to account for all the shots I know you miss." A smirk creeping onto her face as she said that.
James raised an eyebrow. "You're one to talk, at least I don't miss my shots on the battlefield AND the ones I take in the bar." He retorted.
"You sure you don't miss in the bar? Because I kind of remember that fit chick you tried to hit on..." She feigned a thoughtful look. "Hmmm I suddenly can't remember what happened, do you?" She asked with an innocent look on her face.
"Don't remember," he quickly muttered. Time to change the subject. "Have you seen Sarge?"
"He's back with the LT discussing something." She replied jerking her head towards the direction of New Llanelli. She looked towards the mass of purple. "Activities increasing, they are going to attack soon." She muttered in a grim tone.
James nodded, his face set in a tight grimace now. The banter just a few seconds ago was forgotten, his mind now focused on the huge battle he knew was about to start. However, his deep thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his com crackling to life.
"Stewart, Lancaster, what's your status, over."
"Gunny, this is Stewart. We're both green and good to go, have visual of at least a regiment of covvies, what's our orders sir?"
"You aren't the only one noticing that Stewart. Right now, the whole of 1st Battalion is to defend this Suburb front. B Company has the damn pleasure of being assigned the middle, with A and C covering our flanks. Since you both are the platoons marksman, I need you two to hang back a bit but stick close to us. Lancaster, you're on offensive duty, Stewart- defensive or counter marksman. You know the drill, mix it up, relocate if need, the usual. I'll call you both for direct support if need."
"Yes Gunny." This time it was Lancaster that spoke. "What support do we have?"
"We've got the barbed wire, machine guns and rockets from D company and roughly 20 hogs, 3 tanks and limited artillery and air support." He paused for a second. "But we won't need to use them, won't we marines?"
"NO GUNNERY SERGANT WE WON'T." They both screamed in reply.
"Ooh- rah! That's what I want to hear. Now eyes down range and fingers steady marines. Gunny out."
As per any Covenant assault, the attack began with wraiths shooting their brilliantly glowing spheres of death high into the sky, which slammed down into emplacements and defences. Luckily, UNSC forces were dug in, so casualties were relatively light, only losing several unlucky marines, two machine gun emplacements and one warthog.
Next came the grunts and choppers charging across the field, plasma and spikes flying everywhere, some hitting unlucky marines. Banshees swooped down from the skies, staying true to their name with their infamous shrieks.
Yet 1st battalion refused to cower and responded with a wall of lead and rockets. Banshees dropped from the sky, shredded to pieces from hundreds of assault rifles and rockets opening up. The brute and grunt charge was stopped in its tracks by an invisible wall of lead, killed trying to make a suicidal charge across terrain with barely any cover. James opened up with his battle rifle, targeting enemies with heavy weapons. A grunt with a fuel rod stuck on the barbed wire was first to go, a clean headshot that stopped it mid-step. Sophie knocked brutes off their choppers with her DMR, grinning in satisfaction as one of the bikes continued on without its rider and ran over an unlucky grunt.
Yet this suicidal charge had not been done in vain. A handful of brute choppers had managed to evade the storm of bullets and reached the trenches, although they were killed in the end, they took several marines with them. Grunts arced fuel rods towards the trenches, killing some and injuring many defenders. The forlorn charge allowed the remaining Covenant army of more brutes, jackals, grunts, wraiths and spectre reinforcements to stream forward.
The battlefield quickly descended into chaos as the might of two armies clashed like a sledgehammer impacting a metal wall.
For Stewart and Lancaster this was a target rich environment that they thrived in. She would take down brute squad leaders, depriving them of leadership and stopping entire advances, and let machine gunners and rifleman further forward to take care of the grunts. He meanwhile would watch for jackals that were harassing friendly forces and watch her back for counter snipers, it was a game of wits and speed that he thrived on.
"Soph, you've got a brute with a bead on you, your 11 o clock." He said, pushing her down roughly just as she was about to come out of cover. "Bait and I'll take him out."
She nodded and popped out of cover for a second before ducking back. Two carbine bolts whistled past where she was.
The three shot burst of the battle rifle rang thrice. "Brute Chieftain down, you're clear." Immediately the firepower from the covenant slackened at the death of their leader. Yet this was only temporary and the intensity picked back up quickly after.
Minutes turned into hours as the battle continued. Warthogs, tanks, artillery were deployed in response to the constant flow of wraiths, banshees, spectres and ground forces. Yet the ferocity of fighting from both sides remained the same.
"LANCASTER, PIORITY. Grunt fuel rod and Brute with a brute shot next to that destroyed wraith. I've tagged them for you, take em out or drive them away, they've got a MG team pinned down."
"Yes Gunny, I see them, switching targets." She realised it was quite a priority task as the silenced MG was allowing Covenant forces to stack on the flanks. "James cover my back." She added.
"Got you soph." Duck down after you take the shot, you're attracting a lot of heat."
The gunshots of the DMR were barely audible over the cacophony of the battlefield but the effects were seen. The brute fell backwards, five neat bullet holes drilled into his head; the grunt didn't fare much better with its left eye shot through and methane mask punctured.
Immediately, Sophie dropped on to the floor. Half a second later, three different carbine shots flew past where her head had just been.
"I got them." James said, leaning out of cover. His battle rifle rang out in succession."Confirm three jackals dead, we are relocating."
"Copy Stewart, good job both of you."
Stewart sighed. It's not going well, he thought. Theoretically speaking, their defensive, attrition, fighting- from- hardened- defences warfare should be relatively easy, after all they had the advantage of terrain and position. Any normal enemy would have given up or tried another strategy ages ago, unfortunately, they were fighting the Covenant, who made up their lack of tactical knowledge with unlimited numbers.
Already, he could see this taking their toll. 1st battalion was quickly being withered down and only 70% of all units were combat operational at this point. Him and Sophie were now constantly being targeted by enemy marksman and snipers, making their job increasingly difficult and risky, he had nearly lost his head the eight time already. Their battalion had used up their artillery support and was down to one serviceable tank and a handful of battered warthogs. The battlefield that was once devoid of cover was now littered with husks of vehicles and numerous deployable covers, making the Covenant's assault much easier. This could not last much longer, not without support.
They moved to another section of the trench. He slid his body along the top edge to keep a low profile and looked down the scope, cursing when he did.
"What is it?" His partner asked, busy reloading her DMR.
"Another armoured charge, spectres and choppers accompanied with more brutes and hunters." He cast a tight frown. This might not end well. "Oh and a scarab."
"A SCARAB?! Ah bloody shit" He watched as her chest sank- her equivalent of a mental sigh. "How come command only gives us two dozen hogs and three tanks to take fight against two Covvie regiments and their armoured battalion? Where the hell's our support?"
James nodded but didn't reply. It was the same story everywhere since the war started. Humanity outgunned in space, air and on the land. It was only on water where they had a clear superiority, but those battles were too few and too insignificant to count towards anything.
"B Company, this is Captain Lee. We are pulling back, squad leaders you have your assignments. Good luck men"
"2nd Platoon, fall back! Heavy Weapons last ones out, everyone else double time it, NOW." The Sergeant all but shouted.
As the UNSC marines scrambled back. The Covenant, sensing a weakness, surged forwards, closing the gap between them and the trenches. Machine gunners didn't dare stop firing, pelting the advancing enemy in a storm of lead, but even that wasn't enough. Hunters and Wraiths fired magnificent blue green bolts of plasma, the deadly salvos arcing in the darkening night sky and silencing many guns forever. The remaining Scorpion MBT was struck by two plasma bolts and ceased to exist in a loud explosion that briefly lit up the night.
Brute choppers smashed into the remains of the first line of trenches, although the brave rocket infantry and machine gunners had dented their numbers, the surviving brutes were merciless, decimating fleeing troops and crushing what remained of the heavy weapons forces.
But luckily, the retreating rifleman units had managed to fall back to their second and third lines by now, and together, opened fire at once, momentarily stopping the brute advance. The remaining 3 serviceable warthogs fired continuously, providing cover and buying time for what surviving heavy weapons units to fall back and regroup.
The second and third trench lines were less developed than the first line and James and Sophie found themselves regrouped with the remains of second platoon.
"Gunny, why are we stopping here? There's a damn scarab moving up and you know we can't hold them with what's left of our forces."
"There is support on the way Menez. There's a team of Spartans who have just infiltrated enemy lines with a Havok tactical nuke deep. We need to hold this position to provide a distraction."
"By the time that nuke detonates there won't be anything left here to distract that scarab with!"
"Can it marine this is bigger than all of us here." The Gunnery Sergeant said angrily and knocked him hard on the head. "That centre serves as the headquarters for covvies leadership, the staging point for several battalions filtering in and has a corvette hovering above it. It's crucial that we TAKE IT DOWN." He shouted, grabbing him by his armour and shaking it roughly. "Who cares if we all die here? I'll gladly die here if it means giving this planet and city a sliver chance at survival. So load up, point those barrels down range and lets show these so called brutes, what it means to screw with humanity. OOH-RAH MARINES."
"OOH-RAH." Came the reply of dozens of rejuvenated marines.
"That's what I want to here, everyone replenish grenades and ammo loads. Gunners stack center, marksman and snipers deploy to the flanks, everyone else spread out. Prioritise jump-jets and targets on deck."
As James took up position along the sides, he was joined by his familiar blonde friend, looking dishevelled and fatigued as she jammed a DMR clip into her gun.
"Looking beautiful even in the face of death, princess."
She snorted. "Still a million times better than what you could ever hope to look like."
The corner of his lips flitted upwards. "Maybe so, but at least I look somewhat human. I mean, you kind of resemble some sort of animal."
She swung her head round to glance at him. "Did you just indirectly call me a bitch? Wow, went from princess to dog in less than 10 seconds, no wonder women don't dig you."
He paused for a second, should he go for it? He had a good response but he wasn't sure if he should go there...Ah screw it, we're all going to die anyways.
"Well, that's not what your sister thought last shore leave." He grinned at her shocked look and wide eyes. "In terms of looks, usually the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but I guess you're an exception."
She remained silent for a lengthy period before groaning. "Oh really funny, you don't even know my sister."
"Nope, I don't."
"Real mature James." She rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm sort of worried that they aren't going to let you past those pearly gates with that maturity levels and manners."
"Worried about me?" He looked at her with a curious expression. "I'm more worried that they won't let YOU in, mate."
"And why's that?"
"Too ugly." He replied sniggering. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shake his head, a small smile threatening to burst into a larger one on her face.
He looked down range at the steadily advancing scarab. Just a little over 500 men, all armed with light weapons and a handful of rockets against a monstrous scarab. Numbers were useless here, the main cannon could wipe out 1/5 of their number in just one strafe. Maybe if we shoot the rockets at the same time...
"Hey Lancaster." She looked up, a questioning look on her face. "It's been a good run hasn't it?" He asked.
"Aye, a great run." She replied ruefully. "Great to have you along, shame we can't make a cup of tea right now."
He chuckled as they both shared a laugh. It was a platoon-wide joke of the two British marines adoration of tea. The two marksman had hit it off amazingly well from the beginning, developing a strong friendship of banter and sarcasm that was strengthened in and out of battle.
And now it's all about to end. He watched as the scarab advanced ever closer.
"1st Battalion, this is Major Woods. All units open fire! Aim for the right leg joint."
The roar of 500 rifles split the night sky, tracer rounds flashing across like shooting stars. But the Scarab continued onwards, shrugging off the rounds like they were mere raindrops. Rockets flew out of their tubes, but many missed at such extreme range, the ones that did hit failing only scratched the armour plating. Then, the scarab stopped, and with a familiar whine, charged its plasma beam.
James watched in shock as the plasma beam vaporised much of the western units. In the blink of the eye, a hundred plus souls extinguished. He could only gasp as it continued forward undeterred.
"MARINES OPEN FIRE, STOP STARING AND SHOOT THAT RIFLE GODDAMN IT"
The sound of the Sergeants voice jolted him out of his daze and he joined his remaining comrades, pumping round after round of lead into the area around the Scarab's right knee joint. A second wave of rockets flew into the air, this time all of them managing to hit the target.
Miraculously, the scarab buckled, its right knee joint giving away to the sustained lead and metal storm, forcing it to self-repair.
But unfortunately for the scarab, it did not have time to do that. A flight of F-99 UAV's screamed through the airspace, unleashing deadly missiles that slammed into the remaining joints of the crouching beast. The anti-air guns spewed plasma into the air as it tried in vain to intercept the nimble aircraft streaking past and circling for a second pass.
Somehow the numerous streams of plasma managed to clip one of the F-99's wing and it spiralled out of control. Unluckily for the scarab though, it spiralled and crashed onto the Scarab's main plasma cannon, igniting the fuel and explosive payload in the Scarab and in the UAV, and thus destroying the venerable assault platform.
And as if on cue, a flash as bright as the sun ripped across the landscape, signifying the detonation of a nuclear weapon and the destruction it would wreak.
Then slowly, the startled marines of 1st Battatlion, 422nd Regiment gave a victory cheer.
They had won, for now obviously, but they had won and survived. A smile began to break out on Jame's tired and weary face. He looked over at Sophie, a similar smile cracking on her face as well. Death claimed many lives today, the extent of their loss would hit him later. But for now, he basked in the afterglow of victory, as he leaned back to watch the mushroom cloud blossom over the world of New Llanelli.