Operation: TIDAL FURY

by BIG Z1776

A planet in the Outer Colonies has fallen to the Insurrectionists, and the UNSC wants it back, and they're gonna get it back. But the URF is waiting for them to try. Follow the brave Marines, ODST's, and Army Troopers as they fight to retake this planet from the grasp of the Insurrection.

1. Chapter 1

Operation: TIDAL FURY

Chapter 1

Location: Planet Dyonisis, Delta Xi System

Date: January 21, 2524

Time: 0230 Zulu

MISSION BRIEF: OPERATION TIDAL FURY

CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET

On December 25, 2523, at 0600 Zulu Time, Insurrection forces launched coordinated large-scale assaults on primary population centers, UEF government centers, and UNSC and CG positions on the planet Dyonisis. Local Colonial Guard formations surrendered, fled, or pledged their loyalties to the enemy. UNSC and ONI forces were left surrounded and outnumbered, and at 0945 Zulu began evacuating the surface of the planet, leaving the majority of the planet within URF control. Light casualties have been reported amongst military personnel and civilian news outlets on the surface report a total breakdown of civil services and absolute anarchy in the initial days of the Insurrection takeover. Casualties amongst civilian populations have not been confirmed by ONI.

On January 12, 2524 UNSCDF massed a Task Force at Reach for immediate offensive operations made up of the UNSC Aquila Carrier Battle Group, 25th Marine Expeditionary Force, and the 312th ODST Battalion. The objectives of the Task Force are the successful seizures of the planet Dyonisis' population centers and strategic locations, capture or kill any URF leadership, and the destruction of all URF weapons, equipment, and facilities.

ONI has determined that there are potentially over fifty thousand hostile gunmen. These fighters have access to modern and civilian grade weapons and stockpiles of ammunition left over or handed to them by turncoat Colonial Guard armories. Colonial Guard airfields had in their inventories several hundred D77-TC "Pelican" Dropships, UH-144 "Falcon" Helicopters, AV-14 "Hornet" Gunships, and a large force of automated F-99 "Wombat" Drone Fighters. The enemy also has in its possession numerous Warthog LRV's and its variants, M808 "Scorpion" Main Battle Tanks, and artillery pieces and missile systems and hundreds of technicals mounting heavy machine guns and autocannons.

Expect fierce resistance. URF propaganda videos posted to social media have shown that they have heavily fortified the major cities and local militias have set up defensive outposts in each town and village. These fortifications are a mix of military steel or concrete barricades and Hesco Bastions, modular buildings and towers along with sandbags, trenches, minefields, and anti-tank barriers (Spikes and Ditches). There are also images of improvised airfields hidden in the vast forests and weapons and equipment stores located in civilian occupied areas.

The plan of operations is as follows:

Establish orbital supremacy.

Engage and destroy hostile aircraft and airfields to pave the way for Marine and ODST forces to land on the planet with airstrikes on hostile strongpoints.

Re-take UNSC bases in the countryside to act of Main Operations Bases and establish FOB's on strategic high ground and conduct patrols into hostile territory and sweep for URF forces and destroy them or force them to withdraw.

Once a secure landing site is secured three UNSC Army divisions will be landed to support the 25th MEU in sweeping the planet.

Drive hostile forces towards the cities, surrounding them and destroying them in detail.

Once all population centers are declared secure move into the mountains, where the original URF presence was located, and destroy what hidden bases can be found.

Mop up remaining URF presence and gather intelligence on what other activity is planned.

The UNSC Marine Assault Ship Okinawa was one of six sisters floating in a loose formation above the planet below them. Around them were four destroyers and seven frigates escorting both they and the UNSC Carrier Aquila, which had a sizeable force of Longswords and Shortswords out on CAP or preparing to be vectored to their targets on the planet. Aboard the Okinawa were four thousand five hundred UNSC Marines and nearly six hundred elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers of the 312th ODST Battalion, assigned to the 25th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Marines and ODST's got along alright, both units had been together and had worked together on several campaigns throughout the Outer Colonies, which was a rarity in the normally testy relationship between ODST's and the rest of the UNSCDF.

The units were doing all sorts of activities that they needed or wanted to do. Some of the officers were in briefings, the Marines were checking their equipment, training, or just shooting the breeze, waiting for the announcement to made that their time had come. Each unit had been briefed on the situation, and what they might be facing on the planet below them, and they were not in the least bit impressed. Respect for the Innies was something that no self-respecting serviceman or woman would be caught dead showing to their foes. The stories, much of it propaganda, had been so well ingrained into their collective consciousness that not one of them would mind killing their foes en masse.

But for the last week that wasn't necessarily what they'd been doing. The only fighting had come from the Navy, more specifically the Aquila Battle Group's Longswords and Shortswords launching fighter sweeps and airstrikes on Insurrection targets on the planets. But the effectiveness of their strikes had been too little in terms of real effect at best. The magnetic signatures of the planet made pinpoint strikes difficult and fouled up the complex navigation and targeting equipment on the UNSC warbirds and Insurrection electronic counter-measures had been far more effective than the UNSC cared to admit. And this meant that the Marines and ODST's were going to have to fight it out on the ground to get anything really important done.

This didn't mean that the UNSC forces had been accomplishing nothing. The pilots of the fleet did manage to wipe the skies of the dozens of F-99 drone fighters that had been originally used for the defense of the planet from the people who used them now. But the Hornets and Pelicans had been moved from their normal airfields and only a handful had been shot down or bombed on the ground. The Innies had been moving them back and forth in between farm houses and warehouses within the cities and villages to prevent their destruction. And the search for them had seen eight Shortswords and three Longswords shot down in the past week of operations thanks to a complex air defense system defending the cities that had been handed over to the Innies largely intact.

It was this revelation that had led to the stepping up of the invasion time table the UNSC had originally planned to follow. In a few minutes the 312th ODST Battalion was going to drop into battle, their objective was simple; take and hold a UNSC airfield on an isolated island to the south of the main continent. The unit was currently prepping its equipment and going over their final assault plans. The Okinawa was carefully moving its massive hull over their target by moving into low orbit, adjusting itself to be able rain down the over six hundred HEV pods that would be transporting the ODST's to the surface.

And right now, each company was in its own briefing in the large drop bays of the Okinawa, holographic projections of their individual objectives laid out before them. They were all either kneeling, sitting or standing around the projection table which had a full view of the town they were about to assault. It was a relatively decent sized town built on the southern sea-side. It was on a downward slope with a grid-like setup with a few large public squares all of it centered around the docks with several dozen large and small boats.

"This, is Secmes, population of two thousand five hundred and twenty-one at last census," Major Lucas Vega, the commanding officer of Echo Company called out to his troops, "This town is our objective, as it's the main road hub in the immediate area of the Kingdom Airbase. It is quite obvious, even to the Innies, so they've positioned the better part of three hundred gunmen in this town."

"Aw…that's not enough for targets sir!" one of the men called out, getting a few laughs and cheers of agreement.

"My thoughts exactly my Corporal," Vega chuckled, "Anyway, these Innies are predominantly URF and locals, mostly fishermen, farmers, herders, and stupid idealist students. No turncoat Colonial Militias have been sighted in the area. But they've got plenty of firepower ripped from the airbase warehouses, which serves the dual purpose of being the island's main armory and military vehicle depot. But they've got our shit tagged up and will be using it against us. They're even using these fishing boats as gunboats patrolling the coastline and ferrying troops and equipment."

On the holographic projection a set of red lights lit up in the exact shape of the vehicles that they had seen thanks to the propaganda footage of the Insurrection and their own orbital photos. There were three larger ones in the shape of M808B Scorpion Main Battle Tanks, and several dozen other vehicles of different sizes and shapes. Some were Warthogs, others were pickup trucks and flatbeds, all of them uniquely modified with general purpose and heavy machine guns, or single autocannons mounted onto the flatbeds with makeshift armor plates around them.

"We've counted three Scorpions, fourteen Warthogs, and as many as thirty-seven other vehicles. But it's tough to pick out the technicals from the civilians so there might be more or there might be less," Vega shrugged as he hit the next button, causing several more spots to light up red. One was just outside of town at a T-Intersection, and others were at each of the three other entrances to town and one more in the center of town, "They've got checkpoints and strongpoints set up at each road entrance and in the center at the town hall which is their secondary headquarters on the island. They're fortified with H-Barriers, sandbags, steel and concrete barriers, and dirt mounds with machine guns and sentries with the Scorpions driving around between them. And all of this is ours to just completely fuck up."

Quite a few smiles and chuckles responded to that little declaration.

"We'll deploy with each platoon driving along each avenue of approach from the woods outside of town. Weapons platoon will be here, in the center, it's the largest and most fortified checkpoint where the only Scorpion outside of the main square is located. First will be furthest west, with second on weapon's east flank with third going along this coast road. We'll be sweeping each and every building, so heads on a swivel, watch for civilians. You find some civvies get them into the cellars or basements or anywhere safe and move on."

"Sir, we'll also have Sparrowhawks on standby when the airspace is cleared," his JTAC piped up.

"Alright roger that, platoon leaders, if you need CAS go ahead and request it directly from JTAC and he'll bring the rain. And that's it, just a normal town sweep, a bit heavier on hostile vehicles as this is their QRF so we'll be heavy on AT."

"Alright Helljumpers," the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Fellows bellowed over the intercom to the company drop pod bays, "T-minus two minutes. All units get set for a combat drop."

"Troopers! The honor of first blood is ours!" Major Vega yelled out as his men stood up and grabbed their weapons, "First platoon, you're up!"

"Hoorah!" the first platoon called out, and rushed forward with weapons in hand.

The thirty-six men and women of the first platoon charged forward, holding their mix of assault rifles, DMR's, and SAW's across their chests attached the buckles on their armor within their large silver pods before taking their seats. Seeing as this mission was supposed to be a hot insert stealth was not necessary and the ODST's had chosen their more powerful full-sized weapons, including rocket launchers for dealing with vehicles and fixed positions.

The last of the first platoon troops got into their pods and their platoon leader and platoon sergeant checked each pod two by two before shutting them tight and then they themselves sat down and then sealed their own pods and then the line of HEV pods jolted as the rack they were on move up and into the open launch bay besides four other such racks that were there or moving into position. Next came the second platoons of each company, and the third platoons with the company headquarters alongside them. Beside them were the racks of the 312th Battalion HQ detachment, with Colonel Fellows and his staff inside.

Each set of pods was programmed with a set of coordinates to aim for, all of them practically on top of their objectives. Two of the five companies, Able and Bravo, were assigned to taking the air base itself, aiming to land within the interior perimeter walls and then rapidly sweep the base of the Innies within. Charlie Company was assigned to taking a ridgeline that overwatched the base and had a radar and SAM installation installed upon it that had been responsible for the downing of two Shortswords in the past week. Dog Company was assigned to taking a small village on the other side of the ridgeline that rested along the only road leading to the airstrip, itself built on some reclaimed land connected by a landbridge to the island. Lastly Echo Company was assigned to attacking a larger town on the coast at the foot of the ridge that was the main road hub on the island and one of two operating dock facilities. The most important objective was the elimination of that SAM battery and radar installation that would allow Marine reinforcements to be landed with heavy weapons and supplies to continue the attack and then sweep the island to act as the main base of operations for the coming campaign.

As he sat in his pod Major Vega saw the faces of his platoon leaders on split screens to his left and right, and looked down to see the black face of the planet below, sprinkled with a dusting of lights thanks to the poor light discipline of the URF curfew. And directly beneath the feet of the more than six hundred ODST's was an island no bigger than a hundred and fifty square kilometers. But on that island were supposed to be over a thousand rebels, armed to the teeth and itching at the chance to face off against him and his Helljumpers. His HUD had already activated, with programmed neural interfaces that allowed him to open tabs to Blue Force tracker, access the helmet cam of every one of his men and women, ACE reports from the armor of both he and his company, and map everything out within inches of their positions.

He had each one of his troopers' pods highlighted with their ID's, showing them as one of several signatures. The writing over each trooper was organized as part of the military ID system. The first part was Echo, signifying their company. Next was one of four numbers, one, two, three, or four (four being the weapons platoon) signifying which platoon they were part of. After that was a dash and a second number set, the options being one, two, or three (six being the exception with the platoon leaders), and this signified what squad these men belonged to. And immediately next to them were alphabetical symbols, the options being 'A', 'B', or 'C' signifying the fireteam that each man was part of. There were seven other tags on his HUD, Echo's five through eleven. This was the company headquarters which was made up of Echo-5, his messenger/driver, Echo-6, the company commander, which was Major Vega himself, Echo-7, his Property NCO, Echo-8, the company Gunnery Sergeant, Echo-9, the company first sergeant, Echo-10 the company XO, and Echo-11, his JTAC (Joint Tactical Air Controller). The six men would follow him around from platoon to platoon during the assault as he commanded his troops, acting almost as a separate flying fireteam of the most experienced troopers and officers that would keep the rest of the company moving forward, giving advice to the rest of the company as they moved through the operation.

Major Vega knew that the advice that his staff would have to be giving would be at a minimum more than likely. His men and women were ODST's, the best of the best, and they were only facing Insurrectionists, a bunch of anarchists, farmers, and, at best, militia traitors who didn't have the slightest understandings of discipline or tactics. They had top of the line armor and weapons with the most advanced HUD's and Information Sharing Systems that money could buy. And they had the element of surprise along with a pinpoint strike that had hit the power generation facility for the whole island so no lights.

"Omega-6 to all units, drop in five," the voice of the battalion commander went out over the radio, ringing in the headsets of all of the ODST's, "Remember your training, stay loose, and we'll all be alive tomorrow morning. God's speed."

"All units in three, two, one," a voice said over the radio that belonged to the battalion battlefield A.I. He was an appropriately named Class C "Dumb" model by the name of Major Winters after the World War Two war hero from Easy Company of the American 101st Airborne Division's 506th Infantry, "Drop, drop, drop."

At the third 'drop' a wave of blue lights shot into existence as the rocket motors on the top of the HEV pods lit up, one by one, and each began steering minutely towards their objective in platoon-sized formations, staying well apart during the entry into the atmosphere. Each pod shook and rumbled as each man and woman held onto the immobile joysticks on their arm rests for dear life. The orange glow around their small rectangular and triangular windows lasted for a few moments as the pods entered the atmosphere. The ceramic skin on the outside of the pod was burning away, and Vega knew that this was where he was going stand the highest chance of getting killed, second only to their pods' rocket boosters failing and then "digging his own grave" with the impact.

The ODST's could see one another's pods glowing in an orange ball of flame as they entered at the same time, keeping their formations thanks to the calculations of Winters. Although Major Vega couldn't necessarily see where it was his troops were without looking up. UNSC doctrine dictated that the unit commanders hit the ground first so they could immediately coordinate their troops and prevent the kind of chaos that got men killed in combat.

Then, at three thousand feet each HEV pod's chute deployed, although the chute itself was actually the top panels of their vehicles, popping off on a titanium bar and acting a drag-type chute. This slowed their descent quite a bit, and kept the pods upright. But impact at this velocity was still instantly fatal, and the next test was coming up.

By this point the companies had separated into much tighter platoon formations, with flight paths tracking to predesignated landing zones for each and every pod. Small rocket boosters on the hulls of the HEV's triggered to life, their blue short-lived pulses sending all of them to a supposedly safe landing zone three hundred meters away from the town on the other side of a wooded creek that would provide excellent cover from the town and the enemy within it.

And then to each ODST's absolute relief their pods' boosters fired, slowing them with a powerful jolt, letting each of them know that they'd made it through one more drop. The ride was still incredibly rough, and the heat of the entry itself was still suffocating within their cramped pods. None of them dared to let go to stop the rattling of their weapons and equipment on their chests and belts until their pod hit the ground and they could get right into the battle. But the firing of the rockets didn't last long, and Major Vega felt his pod smash into ground with a powerful jolt and a split second after that he was bombarded by the cold wind chill of the sea breeze on this frigid island after his door flew off.

He leaped out of the pod, bringing his Assault Rifle to his shoulder and swept the immediate area in all directions. He flinched away as the pods of his company headquarters impacted all around him. He very nearly had to duck as one pod door zipped right over him, crashing against a frost covered pine tree. He saw and heard the bangs of the pods impacting all around him as he saw the forest up close for the first time. Thankfully it was thick, with pine trees covered in patches of snow and frost thanks to the upcoming winter on this planet. The bite of the cold night air was made even more chilly thanks to the extremely hot interior of the pod he had just exited.

"Major!" the voice of his JTAC, Lieutenant Wilson, called out on the radio as he ran over to him alongside two other ODST's of his HQ section. To his right he saw two other ODST's with Assault rifles raised come running over to him, he saw the 1st Sergeant and Gunnery Sergeant ranks on their shoulders and recognized them immediately. All of them kneeled down in the hard cold ground after leaping over a long-ago fallen tree and kneeling behind it alongside the major and the PFC and Corporal beside Lieutenant Wilson.

"We all down?" he asked as his XO ran over and kneeled next to him, offering his hand, which Vega took in a hearty hand-shake, a common ritual after a drop.

"Look like it sir, no contact from town yet. But they definitely saw us coming down on top of them," his XO reported, scrolling over his HUD and breathed a sigh of relief as all of Echo Company was present and accounted for. In the distance he could hear the popping of rifle rounds and chattering of machine guns as the ODST's waded into battle on the airfield and on the ridge to Echo Company's northwest.

"All companies company report status," the voice of Colonel Fellows called out over the radio.

"Able-6, all boots down, in contact with hostiles," the radio crackled as the first responses came in.

"Bravo-6, all boots down, one wounded, in contact."

"Charlie-6, one pod ate it, in contact."

Major Vega winced at that declaration. When a pod 'ate it' that meant that the pod had survived the entry into the atmosphere but its rockets hadn't fired, or fired enough, and the ODST within had smashed into the ground, killing them instantly. It was the most feared outcome for a drop that any ODST from the greenest to the oldest operators.

"Delta-6, all boots down, moving to Objective Ranger."

Now it was Echo Company's turn, "Echo-6, all boots down, moving to Objective Park."

"All companies roger that, proceed oscar mike," Colonel Fellows said calmly, shrugging off the fatality one of their companies had already sustained.

"All Echo's proceed to your objectives," Vega called out on the radio to his platoons.

Blue lights flashed on his HUD as he got the confirmations from his unit and moved with his company HQ up the low slope to the crest where it thinned out right above a trickling stream with ice and snow patches arrayed along the gravelly banks. He flicked his night vision on, seeing his vision go to a stark contrast in quality as the outlines of the buildings were outlined in yellow and he saw the flashes of red on his HUD as Innies went scrambling around town, rushing to prepare for battle. He also saw that every light in town had died, thanks to the EMP pulse that had bombarded the island's power generators beforehand and his company was definitely appreciating it. He could see all of the checkpoints into town from here, and saw that each was manned, and the one in the center of town had the menacing shape of a Scorpion tank turret poking above the H-barriers in the rear of the blockade.

"Echo-4, Echo-6," he called out, signaling his weapons platoon.

"Send it for Echo-4," Lieutenant Carrol Hathaway called out.

"Be advised I've got eyes on a tank at your objective, recommend that you light it up with your AT."

"Copy that Echo-6, I've got a man lining up a shot now."

He heard off to his side someone yelling out, obviously the rocketeer in question.

"Backblast clear!"

"You're clear!" someone else yelled that he could barely hear through the forest.

"Rocket!"

A loud bang and then the accompanying hiss of the rocket motor going off ripped open the quiet of the night as the single powerful HEAT round flew from the dual barrel rocket launcher and then immediately plowed into the bottom of the Scorpion's turret as it began traversing. The round penetrated the armor plating, and a cloud of smoke and dust instantly sprang away after a slight flash. Immediately after that came a powerful explosion sending shrapnel and orange flame skyward through the blown open access hatch on top of the turret. A shell from the ninety millimeter cannon slammed through the trees harmlessly as the round in the breach of the gun cooked off. Major Vega didn't have to tell them that the rocket had done its job and the tank was down as he saw the crew hopped out of the tank. This, in concert with the 'weapons free' order drew several gunshots from his company which ended up missing the operator as he'd just slunk off of the titanium hull on his belly like a snake.

But his time would come, as the ODST's of Echo Company were now all firing on the town. Red tracers were racing towards their targets in the night, answered by only a few Innies who'd already been on watch with more joining them, popping off rounds from windows and from behind cars and buildings. Most of them just blind fired, firing their rifles or machine guns by holding them up or out, exposing only their arms and hands, refusing to put themselves in danger. It was a classic sign of military incompetence seen on battlefields across the UNSC, and it was a pain in the ass.

"All platoons, push forward, can't let them get their shit together," Major Vega commanded as he ran below the crest, moving behind first platoon which was firing away with aimed single shots from their rifles and controlled three round bursts from their SAW's.

He got blue winks in response on his HUD and chanced a look over the crest from under a fallen tree resting on a boulder and his HUD highlighted a single large flatbed truck come backing out of a large shed with a single barreled M202 Autocannon mounted on it behind a box-like turret of steel. And this makeshift gun truck immediately began firing away. The heavy slugs slammed into the pine trees above the ODST's bursting as they contacted the trunks, shattering them and making it rain down with shards of wood and fractured limbs as several trees that had been hit creaked and groaned as they fell over. The loud snaps of the heavy rounds were definitely different to the ones coming from the enemy infantry and made every ODST near it tuck himself into the cold wet pine needle strewn ground.

"Echo-1 there's a fucking technical at one nine zero! " Vega roared over the radio as he pulled his rifle to his shoulder and immediately began engaging it, firing at the passenger-side door and window which was welded to a metal plate with a slit in it.

"Frag it!" he heard from a squad leader as the low thump of an under-barrel grenade launcher firing off to his right answered his order.

The forty millimeter round struck to the left of the vehicle, sending shrapnel into the rear tires and sending sparks off of the vehicle's armor plates. The vehicle's turret traversed, and fired again, this time far more accurately, sending high explosive shells into the ground near Major Vega as a second and third forty millimeter round fired from first platoon. The first round hit the vehicle right in the cab, peeling it open, killing the driver and wrecking the engine while the second round hit just below and to the right of the turret, igniting the fuel tanks and several ammo boxes.

"Nice forty mike-mikes Echo-1," Major Vega said gladly as the vehicle was now engulfed in flames as two men tried climbing over the metal turret to escape the flames. He aimed and fired at them with his rifle and was not surprised to see the first one get riddled with bullets from a good portion of first platoon and he and his staff and collapsed back into the turret as the second one went limp after being struck in the head and flopped down, bouncing off of the vehicle and landing limp on the ground with flame licking at his leg.

Another pair of explosions sounded out as he saw a Warthog drive forward into the street near third platoon and saw a pair of grenades launched at it, impacting short as the fifty on the back opened fire. But it was only a split second of fire, as such a vehicle was a bullet magnet and the window and turret were lit up by several SAW's and rifles, shredding the tires and killing the driver and gunner. With that threat gone he could now see his men start advancing at a sprint in squad or fireteam sized elements. His men had to charge across an ankle deep stream or across one of several small bridges with small concrete barriers in place as checkpoints. He'd already seen each one instantly cleared in the first few minutes of the engagement, their defenders either cowering down in fear, mowed down bolting for the town, or just shot outright.

"Echo-6, this is Echo-2," his radio crackled over the sound of gunfire as he carefully picked his way along the firing line as more and more ODST's were moving forward as the first leading elements reached the town.

"Send it for Echo-6," he responded.

"Interrogative are we cleared forty mike-mike and grenades in town?"

"Negative there are civilians in town, unless you can PID your targets' immediate vicinity hold on grenades. Use flash-bangs to clear rooms."

"Roger that Echo-6," his platoon leader replied, disappointment evident in his tone. In urban environment grenades, especially the launched variety, were a soldier's best friends.

"Let's move up with second platoon to the town and start clearing it out," he ordered his staff, who nodded and then followed their leader to the edge next to a fireteam laying out covering fire.

"Cover us we're moving across," his XO commanded, patting the SAW gunner on the helmet who in return gave them a thumbs-up.

"Crossing!" each member of the staff yelled as they ran across the line and charged into the open.

Vega led the way, as a good officer always does, and winced at the cold water that splashed onto his boots as he ran forward, trying hard not to slip on the wet and icy rocks. But he made it across, and aimed right for what appeared to be a greenhouse where a single fireteam had already moved up to. So he ran forward and slid next to the metal walled greenhouse right next to the fireteam leader who he could hear through his helmet talking on his own squad-net.

"You need to move it up, more guys are coming from behind you and a big grouping like this is asking for a grenade or a rocket to be popped at it."

"Don't think the civvies would like their vegetable garden blown up," one of the troopers called out with a laugh.

"No, so let's go fuck up their McDonalds," their team leader said in response, pointing at the double golden arches on top of the building just to the left of the greenhouse, as another fireteam was already clearing the house to their right.

"We'll cover you," the Major called out, patting him on the shoulder and then signaled his staff to provide covering fire.

"Follow me!" the young corporal yelled out, and the four ODST's sprinted across, and a burst of fully automatic fire from an assault rifle in a building fifty meters past the McDonalds opened up on them from across the parking lot.

But the burst was poorly aimed, and the red tracers pounded into the ground, kicking up dust and the only damage was the loud snaps of the supersonic rounds passing nearby the ODST's. This didn't last long, as the seven ODST's of the company HQ saw this and opened fire, letting loose on the Innie in the building. Major Vega didn't know who among them scored the kill shot, but saw the guy spin behind the window as the round impacted his shoulder, more than likely wounding him and he ducked down as the fireteam got up against the painted brick wall of the McDonalds.

At the same moment another fireteam got into cover behind the greenhouse and Vega made an instinctive move to clear that building.

"You men cover us, we're clearing that building past the McDonalds, there was at least one of those fuckers engaging friendlies, we're gonna make sure he's down."

"Roger that sir," the fireteam leader responded and signaled his SAW gunner to take a position to cover them.

"Moving!" Vega yelled out as he sprinted across the open ground to the McDonalds first, where he saw the first fireteam entering through the back door after blowing it off its hinges with several shotgun blasts. His own team took no fire as they made it across and jumped over the low hedges around the drive through before quickly moving along the wall to a point where he could see the small strip mall in front of them.

He could see that it was small, with only three businesses present as part of the small building. One was a dentist's office, another was a diner of some kind, and the third was a barber shop. Each was part of the same building, a white plaster and concrete block with a large patio overhanging the sidewalk with circular columns holding it up, if only for aesthetics. The majority of the store front was glass, except for the window that had shattered after Vega and his group had lit up a single gunman.

"Alright, XO, you take Echo's nine and ten to the first business, I'll take Echo's five, eight, and eleven to the second and we'll start clearing that building. There shouldn't be any civilians in there at this time of night so anything in there will be hostile. Whoever clears first will move through that alley and breach into the rear of the third store and the other team will breach through the front."

"Okay copy that we'll cover you sir," his XO responded and followed his senior officer to the building as the group split up once they reached the building without incident.

Major Vega allowed his Gunny to breach into the diner through a window with a swift kick of his boot and followed he and his messenger/driver into the restaurant. The four ODST's encountered no resistance at first, but as they split into pairs going down both isles of booths a pair Innies jumped up from behind the bar and from the kitchen window. But the ODST's had seen them coming thanks to the untrained manner of the enemy contacts. They'd popped up and then brought their rifles up and around then aimed at the ODST's. This meant their targets were well into cover by the time they fired their first shots.

"One behind the counter, the other in the kitchen," his Gunny said calmly, having gotten a real good look before diving into an isle at the halfway point in the restaurant.

"Gunny you take Park to the left while Wilson and I suppress them," Vega ordered immediately, "Go!"

The Innies had paused to reload and ducked down as two of the ODST's stood up and fired from a hunched over position, and ripped into the metal and wood counter where one of them had been firing from. The other two ODST's ran to the left, sliding to the end of the counter and the youngest of the duo peeked his rifle around and fired a quick four round burst into the space where he knew the enemy to be. He could hear the bullets impacting the unprotected Insurrectionist's body and took a quick peak and saw what could only have been described as a teenager no more than fifteen or sixteen years old wearing a hunting jacket and black beanie with a cheap ammo vest for recreational airsoft or paintball play. He saw the teen move his head slightly, looking at the black armored trooper as he softly coughed up thick red foamy blood and then went limp. But he didn't pay the bleeding teen's body any mind and followed his NCO to the swinging door of the kitchen. At the same time he did that another burst of fire erupted from the kitchen, aimed right at the door, creating five circular holes at stomach level and then another burst fired from the same window as earlier.

"Two of them, one in front of the door, the other by the window. We'll flash it out and then breach, I'll take the front you take right," the older ODST commanded calmly as he pulled out the small cylindrical device and tapped the button and prepared to release it as his younger counter-part did the same and went to the window where several gunshots were still firing from.

"Ready," he responded and got a nod and a 'go' from the NCO.

He then popped it in through the window, hearing the frenzied yelling of another teenage voice as he rushed to the side of his comrade who'd held open the door before tossing the weapon inside. Two loud bangs and the accompanying flashes of light rewarded them and they rushed in. The Gunny caught sight of his target, an Innie wearing a dark blue vest, stolen from the local police station and aimed for the red baseball cap on his head instead, and made it even more red with two shots as he saw his younger counterpart get his second shot a kill with a single shot center mass into a young girl who dropped her weapon after the shot penetrated her stolen Kevlar vest and writhed on the ground clutching her stomach and the ODST's could hear her pitifully crying in pain, ignoring the UNSC troopers in front of her. The young Corporal instinctively moved to finish the job, aiming at her head, but hesitated.

"I-I can't," the young NCO said quietly as he aimed his rifle, he'd never killed before now, and certainly never shot a girl. So it was tough, as it was for any soldier.

"It's alright kid," his comrade said, before calling to Major Vega, "Sir, we got a wounded one."

Vega walked in with his JTAC, who was carrying the Combat Life Saving Kit in the HQ detachment tonight and he knelt down and switched on his speakers to talk to her after he yanked away a single grenade hanging off of the belt on her jeans.

"You'll live, but it will hurt quite a lot."

"Give her something for the pain," Vega ordered him as he stood over her as he was handed pair of flexicuffs from the young corporal, "You're lucky you're alive kid. That vest saved your life. We'll bandage you up and restrain you here. A medic will be around later after we finish up."

The young girl nodded, her eyes still shut tight as she was still in quite a lot of pain. Major Vega roughly pulled her arms up and away from her bleeding wound and yanked the plastic restrainers on behind the aluminum leg of the table alongside pans and pots. After he opened up her Kevlar vest the JTAC injected her with some biofoam which got a sharp cry from her as it was poured on and then tightly wrapped with a bandage which satisfied the ODST's who prepared to move on after he hit her with a shot of morphine.

"Bullet barely penetrated. She only got a few fragments, so long as a medic gets to her within the next hour or two she'll be fine," the lieutenant said nonchalantly, confident he did his job well.

Vega could see his messenger's posture relax visibly as they prepared to go out the front door once they checked the rest of the kitchen and saw no one else inside. After seeing that the other half of the HQ element was already in the alley Vega led his team to the dentist office, checking through the window and saw a blood trail from where one of his men's bullets had found their target. He carefully made his way through the broken window, wincing as the glass crunched beneath his feet. But the sounds of battle were now loud enough that someone with excellent hearing would not necessarily notice it.

His HUD followed the blood trail, lighting it up in red and following it to a restroom just off to the right, and saw that it ended right under the only door there. He saw his team understood that their quarry was in there and stacked up, aiming right at the door before Vega kicked in the cheap plywood door. They didn't see anything at first but their foe didn't hold his nerve, and charged out into the open from the bathroom stall, pistol in his left hand as his right one was held against his chest, a bloody set of paper towels pressed to it like the ones scattered on the ground. He got off a single shot before his team riddled his body with a handful of close range rounds that tore apart his military style coat and caused him to just collapse onto his back, arms outstretched as he fell with blood staining the white tiles in a quick forming pool.

"Bathroom clear," Vega sounded out before following the JTAC to the swinging door when they heard a several automatic gunshots fire.

The JTAC quickly turned right around the corner and saw a single Insurrectionist with an M247 General Purpose Machine Gun firing from the hip with the gun hanging from a homemade sling as he fired at the back of the hall. The JTAC shot him in the back, cutting through the backpack on his back along with spoiling his dark brown leather jacket. He stepped forward and then felt his weapon grabbed and then forced up against his throat as he was pushed against the wall of the thin hallway. An Innie had been in an office doorway he hadn't seen and then leaped upon the ODST.

However the rebel didn't see the looming figure of the other three, and the closest one was Gunnery Sergeant Lucas, who snapped his rifle up and clubbed the heavily bearded man right in the side of the head, knocking the individual to the ground. Once there both he and the JTAC fired point black into the guy's chest, finishing him off. After checking a storage room and three examination rooms the ODST's correctly surmised that the building was now clear. Only now did Major Vega tune back into the larger battle.

His Blue Force Tracker told him his ODST's had suffered no casualties aside from one man wounded by shrapnel to the hand and another hit in the shoulder by a sniper that was still pinning down an entire street for the time being. But his platoons were advancing steadily and methodically, clearing out what his HUD was telling him was a twenty percent of the town's total area. None of his platoon leaders had called out on the company-net which was good. But he saw eight gray symbols on the map for vehicles that been knocked out or were not operating, only one of them a tank. So he knew his men were either capturing or destroying enemy vehicles with relative ease but the battle was far from over.

"Echo-6, Warlord, how copy?" his radio crackled as he got the call from the pilot of the Sparrowhawk gunship that was seemingly deployed already.

"Copy you five-by-five Warlord," he called out in response, a smile on his face knowing their air support had arrived.

"Roger Echo-6, Warlord is inbound with two times Sparrowhawks to support Echo. ETA two mikes."

"Roger that Warlord," Major Vega responded, "My JTAC will coordinate on all CAS requests."

"Copy that Echo-6."

Major Vega walked out through the broken window as his team walked out as the popping and chattering of the gunfire from rifles and machine guns continued on unabated. The battle was still in full swing as he and his HQ unit carefully jogged over to the corner just short of the street. He saw a fireteam running down the street, rifles and machine gun to their shoulders as they passed five or six buildings before stopping at a house. The group's leader checked a window but a flash from a rifle shattered the window and the man flinched down before standing back up and firing a fully automatic burst into the window. The other ODST's ran past him and kicked in the door and a loud bang as a grenade went off inside. But his HUD didn't indicate that anyone was injured, and a set of shots must have put the resistance in that house down.

"Oh shit! Tank, that's a tank!" someone yelled from in front of him as two ODST's scrambled off of a balcony on a house and got into cover.

"Scorpion at one-eight-zero! One two zero meters and closing."

"It's got a lot of infantry behind it and a technical," someone else said as the tank came up over the hill and Major Vega got his first look at it.

"Wilson! Get Warlord on that fucker!" Vega ordered his JTAC who proceeded with calling in the air support.

And within a few seconds the first missile impacted right into the engine block beneath the turret, cooking off the entire vehicle which lurched into the air four feet in the back and crashed down with the turret blown nearly ten feet into the air and smashed down on one of the engine nacelles and rolled onto the ground. Fire illuminated the more than twenty Insurrectionists who had followed the tank like a human snowball effect and were now without the only thing that they'd believed would make them safe.

Vega and every other ODST was now picking them off with expert precision, letting loose at anything that moved as the truck in the back of the back spit out tracers from the M247H fifty caliber machine gun mounted on the bed at the inky black of the night. But Warlord picked off the vehicle with a squeeze of the trigger and ripped the vehicle apart with a line of red tracers from the dual chin mounted thirty millimeters cannons on the aircraft. Although the ODST's couldn't see it, aside from the yellow flashes of the HE rounds striking it, the vehicle was eviscerated along with any other infantry that turned and ran as the ODST's advanced down the road once more, picking off several wounded Innies who weren't going to make it, and stopping to clear a bar that had a SAW open up on them from within.

Vega got up to an alley and looked down the decline of the road, seeing it dead-end at a line of tall buildings that he knew were three story apartment blocks. A full squad was already breaching the building and he looked to his HUD to see that two of his platoons had already made it most of the way into town with only the docks and main residential area remaining.

Another explosion further into town where he knew the police station and primary Insurrectionist fortifications were signaled the cataclysmic destruction of the final Scorpion in the town and a long series of cannon fire signaled the end of either a lot of vehicles or a lot of infantry.

"Be advised Echo-6 Warlord has engaged and destroyed one times Scorpion and eight times other armed and unarmed vehicles in a motor pool near the police station," his radio signaled, informing him of what it was his air support had accomplished.

"Roger that Warlord, interrogative: do you have eyes on any more hostile infantry?"

"That's an affirm Echo-11, we have eyes on many infantry groups still milling around the center of town, request permission to engage with guns."

"Negative Warlord, we have confirmed civilians in town, can't risk civilian casualties."

"Break, break, break!" Warlord called out, obviously seeing something really important, "Be advised Echo-6, Warlord has eyes on large number of enemy vehicles breaking from town along the beach. Believe enemy may be pulling out of the AO."

"Warlord engage, take 'em out!" Vega instantly yelled out, hearing the dual ducted air fans pass overhead as both AV-22 Sparrowhawks charged after the retreating rebels and tore into them with rocket and cannon fire.

The horizon flashed and glowed yellow several times as it intermingled with the thick black smoke rising from a dozen places throughout the town and now several columns began rising from outside of town. The ODST's didn't have that great a view, but they could see the Sparrowhawks working the rebels over back and forth along the beach, disabling every vehicle from front to rear until they were all either stopped or burning on the gravel beach, and their occupants began to get picked off one by one. The massacre was a godsend for the ODST's, rarely did the Innies allow themselves to get caught in the open like that and usually stuck to difficult to access urban environments or the most remote regions that the UNSC couldn't reach with such powerful gunships or large ground forces. They'd be able to count the bodies later, but they were quite certain that by the number of explosions and how long the Sparrow hawks took there must have been quite a few of them.

"All platoons continue advance, looks like the Innies tried hightailing it out of here with a lot of their vehicles so we shouldn't be facing too many more," Major Vega called out, eager to push forward with this new momentum at their backs.

He got winks of confirmation as he looked at his tacmap and saw his troopers continue their advance. Satisfied with the rapid progress he scrolled over to the other objectives. Alpha and Bravo were still in contact at the airfield, and were just now getting to half of the base, although they had yet to secure the main barracks area. But they'd suffered seven wounded in action, two quite severely according to the red on their names and ranks. Charlie had taken one dead already in the drop itself, and hadn't suffered any more fatalities but had taken two more wounded. But their objective was all but secured. Delta was nearly identical to Echo, no fatalities and four lightly wounded, but they had taken their objective. Twelve Sparrowhawks were now patrolling the battlefield with a pair of Pelicans circling high overhead, just in case they were needed for medivac.

"Echo-6, Echo-4, be advised we've got a few Innies starting to surrender sir," Lieutenant Hathaway called out.

"Roger Echo-4, do you have a count on hostiles surrendering?" Vega responded as he ran up to a very large domed greenhouse right behind the large but thin apartment building.

"Wait one," she said before hopping onto her platoon net and then came back after getting a solid figure, "Echo-4-2 has nine Innies in custody."

"Roger that, secure your prisoners and bring them to my position at this big fucking greenhouse. Task a fireteam with it and stay clear of the advancing frontline."

"Copy, 4-2-Bravo is escorting prisoners to your pos."

"Let's check this greenhouse, see if it's been cleared first," his XO suggested, lining up next to the glass entrance to the large public building.

"Breaching," their property NCO called out, the Sergeant pushing in through the door with rifle and grenade launcher brought to bear. A single assault rifle burst caused he and the XO to duck down behind a desk as Vega and the other two NCO's rushed in as well weapons blazing.

They could see four or five different individuals firing from the other side behind a counter past the rows of privately planted vegetables and flowers and behind a pair of small trees planted in large pots at each entrance to the dirt floor. They popped just their weapons up and fired, aiming blindly, scared of being hit. None of the rounds were really coming close to hitting the ODST's who were pumping a lot of lead into the concrete barrier at the end as they too advanced to their own barrier. The whole thing was circular, going all the way unbroken with stacks of fertilizer, pots, garden tools, and large bags of potting soil stacked like bunkers.

"XO, take Sergeant Dunphy to the left, I'll take Corporal Park with me to the right. Wilson you and the Gunny give us some cover," the Major commanded as another ODST fireteam burst in, running to the sounds of gunshots, "Hold it!" he yelled to the ODST's, "Go around, come up from behind! There's an entrance to the greenhouse back there."

"Roger!" the Sergeant at the head of the fireteam responded and ducked back outside as his SAW gunner laid out a burst of fire to cover them.

"Go!" Vega commanded, moving hunched over with his rifle aimed from the hip, looking at the deserted makeshift barriers real quick before continuing to hug the concrete countertop. He could hear the gunfire of his other men pounding away at the hostiles' barriers, taking large pieces out of it before he heard a forty millimeter go off right against it, the fragmentation round blowing a small hole in the wall in the middle.

Vega saw the IFF tags of other ODST's he'd ordered around the building show up right to the right of the door and Vega saw an option reveal itself. So he switched to Echo-2-2's radio frequency and called out to the fireteam.

"Two-Two-Bravo, flash 'em out, see if we can't take them prisoner," he commanded the ODST's.

"Roger, flash in five," the Sergeant responded instantly, having already decided to flash the enemy beforehand, although taking them prisoner was not what he'd had in mind, "Flash out!"

In the moment the door swung open and a pair of flash bang grenades was rolled into the room where they were noticed by the Innies. Shouts from behind the counter greeted the grenades which went off and the ODST's stormed in, shining their flashlights on their rifles at their opponents. Eight ODST's rushed forward, aiming at individual targets, all seven of them on their knees or on the ground, weapons aimed down or dropped entirely as they tried to recover. The yelling of the ODST's didn't quite register as they blinked away the white blindness in their eyes to be confronted with the barrels of assault rifles aimed at them.

It was now that Vega was glad he'd ordered them to capture these Insurrectionists, as they were all just teenagers, the oldest of them probably not even old enough to buy a beer. And each kid obediently and groggily put their hands in the air and dropped their weapons, scooting back against the wall. Each had on a jacket or hoodie with some hats and a single police helmet with the visor removed. They'd all been given police Kevlar vests that were all way too big for them. Especially the only one that was wounded.

He was the smallest of them, and he was curled into a fetal position with both hands holding his leg which had a piece of rebar from the blown apart concrete sticking out from his calf. He was now heard wailing in fear and pain and every ODST, no matter how much experience they'd gained over their years of service, could really stomach this. The boy couldn't have been more than twelve years old and they all just stared, almost in shock before two of their number pulled out their own emergency first aid kits and got to work. And Vega finally got his senses back and started giving commands.

"Secure these prisoners," he ordered to the other two fireteam members who nodded and began roughly grabbing each kid and forcing them to their knees against the wall.

"Fuckin' Innies," his Property NCO growled, seeing the youngest kid get held down by the medic as he tried working on him.

"Secure their weapons Sergeant," Vega said calmly as he walked over to his XO.

"Damned kids, they're fighting us with goddamn kids," the man growled as he ripped a stack of shovels from their place against the wall in frustration.

"Friendlies comin' in with prisoners!" a voice called out as more ODST's made their way into the greenhouse.

Vega looked over, seeing the green outlined forms of four ODST's walking in, roughly shoving nine Insurrectionist prisoners along. Most were military age men, with a couple old men and a single military age woman among them. The ODST sergeant for Echo-4 saluted the Major who returned it half-heartedly as his men lined the prisoners against the wall next to the kids they'd already captured, brutally kicking the back of their knees to force them to the ground if their speed didn't suit the troopers.

However Vega saw one of the kids do a double take when he saw the adult Insurrectionist next to him and Vega saw him whisper to the adult who in return hissed something at him to keep him quiet. The kid hurriedly snapped his gaze back forward, hoping none of the ODST's saw that. But they had, and Vega himself stomped over to the older man wearing a black beret with the white fist emblem of the URF and grabbed him by the handle on the back of his armored chest piece, a stolen bit of UNSC armor and yanked him back and one of the other ODST's shined a light in the guy's face, revealing a fully bearded man in his twenties or thirties.

"Who are you?!" Vega snapped loudly over his speakers, but the man's gaze held to the black visor of the ODST major and he just smirked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the man laughed.

Vega then stood up and signaled two ODST's to hold him firmly and then Vega turned and roughly grabbed the teen by his hood and his vest and almost threw him in front of the man as two ODST PFC's grabbed him, one holding ripping the guy's beret off and tugging on his hair as a third held a flashlight to his face.

"You recognized him kid, who is this?" Vega demanded, grabbing the boy by the back of the neck so he was facing the bearded man.

"I-I don't know…" the boy whimpered, averting his eyes from the death glare of the older rebel.

"You're lying," Vega snarled, gripping tighter.

"I swear!" the kid yelled.

"Tell me now while you have a choice!" Vega growled, again, wrapping his arm around the kid's neck.

"Don't say a word," the man lowly grumbled.

"Shut up!" his XO snapped, firing a shot from his Automag into the guy's calf causing him to scream in agony as the other ODST's held him firm.

"You see?" Vega whispered, "Think he's bad? Think he's tough? But look at him now. He's someone you all feared, isn't he?"

"Y-yes…"

"He's the guy making kids fight us?" Vega whispered, but the boy hesitated, "Isn't he?!"

"No!"

"Then who is he?!"

"Colonel Jamal Prescott!" the boy yelled finally, "He-he's the commander on the island."

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Vega said with a much more kind voice as he gently released the kid and stood up ruffling the long brown hair on his head, "Take him to the roof and get a Pelican to pick him up."

"Yes sir," his XO responded, "you two, on me."

Another ODST moved the boy back against the wall as Vega now noticed that the gunfire had subsided outside, with only a few potshots sounding out. He checked his tacmap, and saw that the rest of the company had seemingly taken the town with the only resistance coming from the school building at the middle of town.

"Alright, I think we've got a PCP now, Park!" Vega called out, signaling his messenger/driver.

"Sir."

"Take two of these men and get that girl we patched up at that diner and bring her over here," he ordered before turning to the other six ODST's, "One of you guys got a stretcher?"

"I do sir," one of the SAW gunners piped up.

"Alright take him and one more and go get her."

"Thank you sir," the man said as if a weight had been lifted on his shoulders and tapped one of the other ODST's and ordered him to follow.

"HQ on me," Vega called out, signaling the other three ODST's of his HQ unit to follow him out the door and see what else needed doing, "Echo-6, all stations mission status?"

"Echo-1 is clear. Hostiles fell back to the docks, we're clearing to the lighthouse to cover Echo-2."

"Echo-2 confirms, clearing docks now, encountering light resistance."

"Some of them are willing to surrender, see if you can get them to give themselves up if you get them cornered," Vega called out as he ran down a street towards the school building.

"Roger Echo-6."

"Echo-3 is still in heavy contact at the school, they've got it fortified pretty heavily."

"Echo-4 has cleared to the docks and has captured what's left of the motor pool and the police station."

"Roger Echo-4, move to assist Echo-3, explosives are cleared for use on the school building, should only be hostiles in there at this time of night."

"Copy Echo-6, moving to provide fire support."

Almost immediately after that a handful of forty millimeter grenade explosions signaled that the ODST's had really taken the lift on grenades to heart. And perhaps they'd taken out a bit of childhood fantasy on getting to blow up a school. But it didn't take long before Major Vega got to where the school stood upon a large grass lot scattered with pockets of snow near or underneath several evergreen trees along the sidewalk leading to the school itself. He could already see dust settling from the explosions of the grenade launchers from his own troopers settling.

One had started a fire within the building if the orange glow and smoke pouring from one of the second story windows was anything to go by. He could see several teams of ODST's advancing as lines of tracers pummeled the building from across the street. A pair of Warthogs were out front with the bodies of three Innies on the ground and another laid hanging from the passenger seat of the one in the rear. But before his troops got inside the building a tremendous explosion stopped them. The school's entire science wing was engulfed in a massive orange fireball. Secondary explosions sent a multi-colored array of flame shooting from the roof as the flames spread and smoke rose from the building in a sickly black plume visible for miles. The entire town was glowing a dull orange from the intense flames that caught the tinder box of a building on fire within moments thanks to the help of a powerful southerly wind from the sea.

Insurrectionists burst from several windows and doors to escape, firing wildly as they tried escaping. But over seventy ODST's were waiting, and mowed down those who raised their weapons. Thankfully for many several of the troops yelled at them to come on out with their hands up and to leave their weapons to the flames or face instant death. Over thirty chose to surrender unlike a dozen or so of their comrades who were sprawled upon the lawn letting them know what faced them if they tried anything.

Major Vega had watched from a distance, letting his platoon and squad leaders command their men. And he was proud, especially seeing the roster on his HUD blank of the ultimate black mark of KIA. By now gunfire was absent, replaced by ammunition going off that had been stored within the school by the Innies. He checked his HUD one last time and breathed a sigh of relief to see that his objective had been accomplished. The town was firmly under UNSC control, and he wouldn't have to write any letters tomorrow morning. And to finish off this mission he heard the battalion commander over the command frequency call out.

"All stations this net, index, all objectives secured, mission complete, mission complete, mission complete."

There we are guys, just a long super-realism combat chapter to start off this story I'd had milling around in my head from time to time. Thanks for getting to the end of this really long chapter guys and to those of you who hit the review, follow or favorite buttons you also have my thanks. Now for my Author's Notes and I do suggest you read these as this is rather important to this story.

I WILL NOT HAVE THE COVENANT OR FORERUNNERS IN THIS STORY. END OF DISCUSSION.

I might however have a Spartan Team make an appearance once or twice for some Spec Ops type missions. Now to some changes I will make with this story. A lot of you will ask about why these UNSC units had AV-22 "Sparrowhawks" as their air support rather than Hornets. My response is simple. The Hornet to me always seemed analogous to our Little Birds, small agile, and more meant for special operations than being a mainstay for combat air support. And the Sparrowhawks seemed more like Apaches or Cobras, more heavily armed and armored for dealing with air support to the frontline. And I will also be using a somewhat modified version of the organization, radio, and terminology terms for the UNSC. It will be based on the USMC and US Army's own practices as that is my primary source of information.

This story will also be primarily action oriented, kinda like a cheap popcorn action movie here in the USA, done just because…'Merica that's why. It's a ton of fun writing this, and I'm hoping you guys will enjoy it too. And I would also like to thank the 506th IR, an Arma 3 Realism Unit for providing the properly demonstrated radio protocols and general military simulation that I primarily refer to when doing these types of action scenes.

Next Chapter Preview: The Marines land and get into the fight.