Hey guys, welcome to the revamped Spartan Fall! So a few things first, happy Thanksgiving! Second, sorry about the lack of updates on my everything, between this, Skyrim Remastered, Battlefield 1 and Rainbow Six Siege, I've been busy. Third thing, I have editors! You guys likely remember that not having some editors or someone to read over what I've rewritten, these are guys I know personally and are big Halo and RWBY fans, so expect more concestiany. Anyways guys, let's get going!
"Dialogue."
'Character Thoughts'
"Radio communications"
Sierra 034's log, date 03-27-2528. We're still fighting over Harvest, and well, nothing noticeable. Jorge had the great idea of sending a phantom with a nuke, into an assault carrier via the gravity beam. Blew the whole damn thing up nicely. Of course, the covie's weren't so happy about that. They're still chasing us. Anywho, it's been about three years since we entered the war, three years since Chi Ceti. We somehow managed to lose no one and destroy a Covenant ship. However, we've all been split up, Red Team is on the Spirit of Fire. Black Team is working for ONI, shocking, and then us, Blue Team, John, Kelly, Jorge, and I, are fighting Covenant on Harvest. We landed two years ago at Alpha Base near the north pole.
We've been steadily working our way south. In Vigrond, there is a major UNSC forward operating base there, seeing how it's the largest city closest to the capital of Utgard. However, we lost Winterstein to the west of us. Several battalions of Covenant are moving towards Vigrond, a major battle is gonna be there, and we're still about a day's journey from the city. While on the move, we've found several civilian convoys, we didn't have anytime to bury them. All we could do was grab any IDs and move on, though, most were all skeletons by that point. We're gonna be hunkering down in a village called Gandvik. We're gonna hold up there for the night. We may be spartans, but the Covenant are better night fighters, Kelly nearly found that out the hard way. Anyway, this is Spartan Arc-084, signing out.
-Flashback, 11 years ago-
It was several days since Jaune was taken from home, and he was greeted by a beautiful site: they were over a planet. Upon first glance, it looks mostly dominated by mountains and hills, however if you looked close enough, you could see cityscapes with one or two very tall towers reaching into space. Besides mountains and cityscapes, there was also the occasional flat lands, likely plains covered in farms. If he wasn't scared out of his mind, he would've been smiling. He was shaken out of his thoughts by someone putting their hand on his shoulder, looking at him, it was the same man who took him away from his family, his sisters. His home in Arcadia.
A few hours later, he, and a lot of other children were on a planet. And all of them were following some man into a room. In the room was two women, though one was blue? 'What?
"Please have a seat, all of you." The woman said.
"Per naval code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into UNSC's special project code-named ORION-II, also known as SPARTAN II. Your parents are gone. The planet Reach is your new home. Your fellow trainees are your new family. Each of you has been hand-selected and called to serve. Your bodies are already faster and stronger than other children, and we are going to make them even better. Chief Petty Officer Mendez, escort them to the mess hall, feed them and get them to bed."
"Trainees, fall out!" The man, now known as Mendez commanded. They all got up and walked.
-End flashback-
"Arc! Arc!" Some yelled. Jaune was shook out his thoughts by his teammate.
"Sorry Kelly, lost in my thoughts." Jaune said.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" She asked.
"Remembering our first day on Reach. In the program." Jaune said. The both chuckled at that.
"Yeah, we all remember that day." Kelly said.
"What day?" Another spartan said.
"Our first day Jorge. As trainees." Jaune said.
"Ha, I remember that. John does too." Jorge said.
"Yeah, cost half of the class our dinner." Jaune said, chuckling.
"Yeah, we were all pissed." Kelly said, smiling.
"At least he made it up to us." Jaune said.
"Yeah, he did. Made sure all of us made it back on our first solo assignment." Jorge said.
"You mean the one where we ambushed those poor marines? Where he was the last one on the pelican?" Kelly asked.
"Yup. Nice calls by the way." Jaune grinned.
"Ha, ha smartass." Kelly said. Everyone simply laughed.
"What are you all laughing at?" The final member of the team asked.
"Kelly's owl calls." Jaune said.
"Oh, that. Heh. I remember that." He said.
"Yeah, Mendez nearly had your ass after that mission John." Kelly said.
"Nearly, Halsey vouched for me." John said.
"Yeah, she wasn't wrong in her decision either. You're hell of a leader." Jaune said.
"You're not bad yourself Arc. Though, right now, we have several covenant patrols in the town." John said.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Kelly asked.
"Most of the buildings were either rubble or in flames, so best bet is we walk into the city." John said.
"That's it? No special moves or anything?" Jorge asked.
"No, they know we're here, and they will be hunting us. The sooner we find cover, the better." John said.
"Alright, I'm in." Jaune said. The four spartans moved forward. Jaune had his DMR while John and Jorge had assault rifles and Kelly had a shotgun. Jorge would've been using a turret MG, but was forced to leave it during their last firefight, so he simply grabbed an assault rifle off a fallen marine. Moving into the town, they passed a public garage, where they could hear several grunts on the first floor, and several more and an elite on the second floor.
After clearing out the garage, they could could see the city, most of it was in flames, with the northern section of the city having been hit by the remains of a covenant, now classified CSS Class Battlecruiser. It's remains were covered in scorch marks caused by entry into the atmosphere. There were also lots of holes in the hull, most having some amount of purple flames coming out of the them. In the skies, covenant banshees dominated the air, with the occasional phantom as well.
"Fresh kill from the fleet." Jorge said.
"Yeah, though how many other ships were downed by this one?" Jaune asked.
"Let's get moving. John said.
"We'll head to that tower, seems mostly stable and not in flames." John said.
"Yeah, might be crawling with covies though." Jorge said.
"Then we simply clear them out." Jaune said. After moving towards the tower, it was clear that a firefight had occurred there.
"No, Kelly, move ahead and scout out the tower." John said.
"You got it." Kelly said.
"Hey John, there's not any UNSC assets in this area, are there?" Jaune asked.
"I don't think so, there may have been in some pelicans flying overhead." John said.
"That would explain the covenant activity then." Jorge said.
"It would." A new voice said behind them. Kelly.
"Kelly, nice of you to join us." John said.
"Someone has to watch you boys." Kelly teased.
"See anything unusual?" Jorge asked.
"Aside from covenant troops around their ship, no, nothing. They're pulling back to the ship." Kelly said.
"How much you guys wanna bet they know we're in the city?" Jaune asked.
"That hasn't stopped them before though." Jorge said.
"Maybe, their command leadership is down or incapacitated or something." Kelly suggested.
"Regardless, catch up on some rest, we move out at 0735." John said.
"Seven hours from now. Who has first watch?" Jaune asked.
"I think you just volunteered yourself." Jorge said.
"Alright, see you in two hours Jorge." Jaune said.
-Six hours later-
"Find the humans!" A low growly voice barked.
"Sounds like hunter-killer teams." Kelly said.
"Yup, we need to get to moving. Get Jaune and Jorge up."
"We're up. Not exactly easy to sleep with that outside." Jorge said.
"How long have they been at it?" John asked.
"All night. Though I think they're looking for marines or ODSTs." Jaune said.
"Just another night in Gandvik, starting to freeze over." Kelly joked. Jaune looked over and saw a marine, 'sergeant, but no name.' He was holding a picture. Him, and his three children. Good luck dad, bring honor to the Hafner family! Wait, is that a bear in the picture?
'I'll get this home to them. I promise.' Jaune thought.
"What you got there?" Jorge asked, from behind.
"A picture of a family, gonna get it back to them." Jaune said.
"Heh, well not gonna stop you there. They deserve to know. Any idea where they could live?" Jorge asked.
"Well, it looks like they live in a icey area, so not much to work on." Jaune said.
"Well, at least it's something."
"Come on guys, we gotta move." Kelly said.
"So, what's the plan John?" Jaune asked.
"Simple, we look for holes in their lines and push through." John said.
"Sounds simple enough." Jorge said.
"Well, what are we sitting around for then? We got covenant to kill." Jaune said. Jaune was the first one out the building, several grunts were to his left, under a street lamp. Jorge was the next one out, watching his right. John was next out, moving to the other side of the street, then followed by Kelly.
"What's the plan?" Jaune whispered.
"Where are the elites?" John asked, silently.
"No idea. Only saw those two." Jaune answered.
"Five more, coming in on our flank." Jorge whispered.
"Alley, on me." Kelly said.
"Into the alley, quietly." John said. Kelly was the first in, followed by Jorge, John, then Jaune. Jaune quietly closed the gate behind them. The rest of the team was on the other side of the alley when Jaune heard something. Raising his DMR, he closed on the sound. "I'm hearing something back here, permission to investigate."
"Permission granted Arc, stay safe. Meet us on the other end of the street to the west." John said.
"Copy." Jaune said. He entered what looked like an electronics shop. There was still a surprising amount of stuff still there. However, he wasn't alone. He heard a sound, a jackal, at least two. Slowly moving closer, he saw them. They were charging their weapons and wrist shields. He closed on them before striking. He pulled out his knife, and quickly stabbed one of the jackals. He left the knife in it's neck and grabbed the other jackal quickly snapping it's neck.
"Jackals neutralized." Jaune said.
"Copy that. We're halfway down the street. Shit! Elite patrol, stay outta sight." John warned.
Jaune didn't bother to respond. He simply grabbed his knife and one of the plasma pistols and a wrist shield. Finding a secluded area, he attempted to activate it. After a minute of messing with it, he got it to activate, the shield activates and covers his torso and the lower section of his head, The plasma pistol was fully charged. He quickly deactivated the shield and slowly creeped out of the building. Poking his head out the door, he saw the patrol of elites. One major and five minors. Too many to take on, even with his new toys. So he took no chances, he slowly moved back through the electronics shop, and to the next building.
'Gun store?' The UNSC allowed private citizens to own certain weapons in the outer colonies to protect them against pirates and insurrectionists. They were also allowed non-lethal weapons such as tasers or pepper spray. This store was one of the few that sold lethal weapons. Mostly likely for game hunting, if the deer heads were any indication. However, his DMR was simply used to high of a caliber, a 50 cal, compared to guns in the shop used .45 and .308. Slowly moving through, he saw the edge of the street, and the elite patrol.
"I'm at the edge of the street, in store. Where are you three?" Jaune asked.
"Other side of the street inside a building. Do you have eyes on us?" John asked.
Jaune carefully looked around in the building on the other side of the street for the rest of his team. He switched over to night vision to look further in, he sees Jorge. "I see Jorge." He answered.
"Understood. Is the patrol still there?" John asked.
"Affirmative. They stopped at the intersection." Jaune said. Looking around, he saw several more elites join them. Then a group of at least twenty grunts led by an elite. They started talking their native language. "Several more elites just joined the patrol and a patrol of at least twenty grunts are there as well. They're talking about something." Jaune said.
"Too many to take on all at once, hold your position." John said. Jaune didn't even bother to answer them.
"Is there anyway around this mess?" Jorge asked.
"No idea. Anybody have a map?" John asked.
"Negative." Kelly answered.
"Nothing over here." Jaune answered.
"Same here." Jorge said.
"Shit."John said.
"Ok, where would I put a map of the city?" Jaune asked.
"Near a major residential or commercial center." Kelly answered.
"Ok, where's the nearest one?" Jorge asked. Silence answered him.
"I see a problem with this plan." Kelly said. Just then the two patrols split up. One going down the street where Blue team just came from and the other going down the street they just came from.
"The patrols are moving out. The elites are moving down the street we just came from, the grunt patrol are going down the to our east, over." Jaune said.
"Understood. Hold position." John said. After waiting a few minutes, the patrols were out of sight.
"We're clear." Jorge said.
"Regroup on us Arc." John said.
"Roger." He quickly ran over to the other side of the street to the rest of the team.
"What'd you got?" Kelly asked, noticing Jaune's new toys.
"Plasma pistol and a jackal wrist shield." Jaune said. Jorge simply whistled.
"Nice catch Jaune. Any others?" Jorge asked.
"The other ones were depleted. Caught them charging their gear." Jaune said.
"Let's get moving Blue team." John said. The four spartans slowly moved through the city, looking for the quickest way out. While moving through, they found a section from the space elevator that was connected to the capital. Just one ring out of many, resting in the middle of the city.
"Found something." Jorge called out. "Looks like a map of the city." The city was shaped by a large, capitalized b. The northern section was an industrial area, though not yet completed. The westernmost side of the city was a residential area that moved down to the southernmost section of the city. And finally, a commercial section that made the middle third of the city. Between the commercial and residential zones was a river that moved from the east to the north in a large L.
"The northern part was wiped out by the downed ship, and the western part got hit hard by one of the space tethers support rings." John said.
"Good thing we're moving south then." Jaune said.
"Yeah, but over a bridge. How many covenant are gonna be on it?" Kelly asked.
"Plenty, if they're determined to find us." Jaune said.
"Question is: how determined are they?" John asked.
"I think we should get the hell out of this city. The sooner, the better." Jorge said.
"Agreed. Let's move." John said.
"So how far do we have to go?" Kelly asked.
"In total? About half a klick (A/N for those that don't know, 1 klick is 1 kilometer)." John said.
"Well, let's not waste anytime then." Jaune said.
The team of spartans slowly moved through the city moving through the buildings and alleys to avoid patrols. When they got to the bridge, the sun was just starting to raise over the horizon. Using the shadows for cover, they reached the river.
"Ok, of the two bridges, one is down and the other looks really sketchy." Kelly said.
"Anyone care for a swim?" Jorge joked.
"How sketchy Kelly?" John asked.
"Weeeell. Looks like something happened there. Maybe a firefight, or something crashed there. If the downed phantom is to go by." Kelly said.
"That all?" John asked.
"Nope. Looks like it's snuggled nicely into one the columns under the bridge. Don't know how an extra 2 tons will do to it. That and fire damage it all over the bridge." Kelly said.
"I have eyes on the bridge. She's not wrong." Jaune said. "Which side are you seeing Kelly, left or right?"
"Left."
"I have eyes on right, looks like it's still intact. Might hold our weight." Jaune said.
"Alright, Jorge, you and I are going first. Arc and Kelly watch our flank." John said.
"Copy that." Jorge said.
"Acknowledged." Kelly said.
"We got your backs." Jaune said.
Slowly, John and Jorge crossed the bridge. Though it groaned a little it held.
"Won't lie, scariest 200 yards yet." Jorge said.
"Alright, Kelly regroup on Arc and on his go you two cross." John said.
"Copy." A minute later Kelly came down in front of Jaune. "Ready?"
"Ladies first." Jaune said. Slowly, Kelly and Jaune followed the path John and Jorge took. They then regrouped by destroyed wraith.
"Ok, it's official, there was someone else here before us." Jaune said.
"I was thinking the same thing. Unless we did more damage when came through here." Jorge said.
"We came in from the east, and we haven't been on this side of the river." Kelly said.
"Alright." Jorge said.
"Let's get moving. I want us to be there before the covenant decide to attack the forward operating point in Vigrond." John said.
"It's at least another 20 to 25 klicks to our south." Jorge said.
"So the sooner we get out of this city, the better." Jaune said.
"I agree." Kelly said. The team moved out. Picking up the pace out of the city. Not before long, the team was on the outskirts of the city.
"Alright team, double time to Vigrond." John said. The four spartans started running. Most of the distance between the two cities was mostly forest, that moved over hilly terrain and broken up by creeks and streams.
-Three hours later, outskirts of Vigrond-
When the spartans crossed of a hill, they saw the city and noticed something: fresh fires. The covenant had got there first. The city was, while mostly covered in rubble, still had several intact two and/or three story buildings still intact. In the center of the city was the UNSC FOB the spartans were trying to reach.
"Spartans?! Thank god you're here. Colonel McAnderson wants a word with you." A marine yells to the spartans. Moving through the city, the spartans could see the extend of the defences: at every other intersection was a road block with MGs and rockets. Driving around, patrols of mongooses and warthogs with MGs. Around the FOB was a wall of sandbags about ten feet high and at least three feet thick. Though upon closer examination, it's actually a layer of sandbags, then massive plastic tubs of water, then another layer of sandbags. Inside the FOB was a field hospital, an armory and a mess hall. At the very center was the command center with communications access with the fleet currently fighting it out in orbit. "Colonel, the spartans are here."
"Spartans? What are you doing out here?" Colonel McAnderson asked. He was a built man around 6 feet tall and with a standard UNSC marine officer's uniform on.
"We landed at Alpha point 12 months ago sir. We're ready to assist. Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117. Petty Officer First Class Sierra-087, Warrant Officer Sierra-052, and Petty Officer First Class Sierra-034." John said.
"I didn't ask about your mission Master Chief, I'm just thankful I have some more manpower." McAnderson then gestured over to a holotable at the center of the command center. "The covenant made a determined assault from the east about ten minutes ago. We held but barely. I want you four to head to forward defenses there and link up Captain Roosa and provide any assistance you can, but make no mistake, we cannot hold that line. If my marines start pulling back, you assist them. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" The four spartans said.
"Good. Dismissed." McAnderson said, giving the spartans a salute with Blue team giving one in return before leaving. The quickly ran to the front line. Running there, they ran past scores of marines covered either in bandages or some kind of cloth, or even in a body bag. Eventually, they found a marine who was giving orders, he had the bars of a captain.
"Captain Roosa?" John asked. The man in question turned to see the four spartans, his mood seemed to lift, as did other marines.
"Sierra-117, McAnderson gave me a heads up, we could use the help. I'm down to 150 men. I had three times that number about twenty minutes ago. You missed the first attack, that was ten minutes ago. I've got no armor or air cover." The captain started walking while giving an indication for the spartans to follow. "When we landed, our orders were to land in the capital city. But the whole god damn city's gone!" When they got to where they were going, it was an observation tower. In the distance, what was once a lively city, was nothing but wasteland. The ground was glass, the hills that were around the city flattened with the city. What wasn't glass was firebombed by the intense heat of the plasma.
"What happened to the city?" Jorge asked.
"ONI calls it 'glassing'. Orbital plasma bombardment. We're lucky they didn't move this way." Roosa said. Just then his radio went off.
"We got incoming! 100 meters out!"
"It's the second wave!" Rossa yelled into his radio before turning to the spartans. "I need you four now!" The four spartans quickly ran out of the tower before running to the front. When they got there sandbags were assembled in the road, with lines of rubble guarding the flanks.
"Spartans! Separate yourselves as you see fit!" A marine yells.
"Alright, Jorge, find a HMG that's not gonna be missed, Arc, find some middle ground, I'm gonna get us tuned in to these marines comms then fight in the street. Kelly, run interference, harass anything that gets inside the defenses" John said.
"Copy that." Jaune said. He didn't stay around to hear Jorge and Kelly's response, he saw the best spot was gonna be the remains of a three story apartment complex. Quickly running up the stairs he ran past several marines before he reached a collapsed room where he got roof access. He crouched behind an air conditioning unit.
In front of him, collums of grunts and jackals were gonna be in the first attack wave. Followed by elites and more jackals. The final attack wave was armor and more elites. "Chief here, we're in their comm system."
"Captain Roosa can you hear me?" Jaune radioed.
"I hear ya spartan, what didda got?"
"I got eyes on the attack waves. First wave gonna be grunts and jackals, followed by elites and jackals, and a final wave of armor and elites, over." Jaune said.
"They threw the same stuff at us last time, but I appreciate the heads up." Captain Roosa said. "All units, fire at will" Soon after that order, the whole line lit up with tracer fire. Jaune picked his targets, then fired. He tried targeting commanders, however, grunts don't appear to have a dedicated command structure, not like the elites. So he just fired on the closest enemies.
Knock, knock. "Friendlies! Hold your fire!" A female marine yells. Jaune looks behind him to see said marine with a box of ammo.
"One of my guys saw you coming here with a DMR and my DMR guy got his head blown off, you're gonna need these more than us."
"Copy that, Sierra-034." Jaune said.
"We'll be downstairs if you need us." She says before running off. He goes back to his scopes to see the attack wiped out.
"We got second wave incoming! Hold your ground!" Captain Rossa yells over the radio.
The second wave comes in led by elites. Just as about a dozen cross the line of woods outside the city, several go down instantly from sniper fire.
"We got a breach! Sector Foxtrot Four!" A female marine yells.
"Sierra-052, with me." John yells.
"Right behind ya Chief" Jorge responds. Below him, Jaune can see several squads of elites firing on marines below him Training his rifle down, starts firing on the elites from above. Just as several look up to fire at him, a grenade explodes killing several and removing the shields of the rest. Jaune quickly headshot the remaining covenant that weren't gunned down by the marines.
"Thanks for the assist up there! We're oscar mike to the building to your left." A male marine yells over the radio. Jaune quickly fires on several jackals trying to climb the building on his right. Without any protection, they're quickly killed. He quickly reloads then fires on more jackals climbing over the sandbag wall. Just before he fires on a group of elites about to climb the sandbag wall, HMG fire tears into them, draining them of shields, allowing him and another shooter to finish them off.
Then the wraiths open fire. Large blobs of purple plasma lob overhead and onto what was left of the defenders on the sandbag wall.
"Third wave is pushing forward!" Jaune quickly fires on to several of the gunners on the wraiths, drawing their attention to his building.
"Sierra-034, we got elites storming below us!" The marine from earlier yelled.
"We're about to have wraith problems here in a second. I'm on my way down." Jaune said, running back the way he came, just as a blob of plasma lands right where he was, collapsing the roof section. Jaune runs into a room he saw had marines in it before he ran up. They were still alive.
"Marines, let's get downstairs." Jaune said.
"Copy that spartan, we're right behind you." A male marine responds. The seven of them quickly go down to the second floor, where they find the rest of the marines fighting off elites.
"Grenade!" Someone yells before several of the elites explode.
"We need to get out this building and to the second line!" The commander of the marines. "Spartan, we'll get moving, are you coming with us?"
"I have no where else to be sir." Jaune said.
"Good. Ruiz, Jackson, go with the spartan and find a route out. The shorter, the better. The rest of us, we're going down to the lobby downstairs. Now move!" The lieutenant, by his bars, commands.
Jaune and the two marines, each with an assault rifle, move downstairs, they enter an area that was under construction.
"Any ideas?" A marine asks."
"Nope, nothing Jackson. What about you spartan?" The marine asks.
"Are there any metros in this area, or any sewers?" Jaune asks.
"No metros that we know of, but there might be a sewer access around here somewhere." Jackson asked.
"Then let's find it." Jaune said. After a few minutes of looking, one of the marines found it.
"Found one sir!" Jackson yelled out, just before he exploded followed by purple crystals flying in all directions
"We got contacts!" Ruiz yelled.
"Find some cover and open fire!" Jaune commanded. The marine crouched behind some piled up bricks while Jaune leaned up against a concrete pillar. Plasma and larger purple crystals started impacting the area around them.
"Spartan! What's your status?" The marine lieutenant asked.
"In a firefight sir. We found a sewer access next to a building under construction, one block away.! Over!" Jaune yelled.
"Copy that! We're on our way towards you!"
"Copy that. Ruiz, what's your status on ammo?" Jaune asked.
"I've still got plenty sir! Two grenades!" Ruiz yelled back. Jaune pulled out one of his.
"After my grenade explodes, throw yours." Ruiz simply nodded and pulled out one of his grenades. Jaune pulls the pin on his grenade then throws his grenade. About a second after he throws it, it explodes. The marine, wasting no time, throws his grenade, quickly followed by an explosion and the sounds of elites and grunts dying. Jaune pokes his head and DMR around and fires on the last remaining grunts while the last elite is killed by the marine.
Then the chain link fence behind them destroyed by a plasma blob, allowing several more grunts to flank them. Ruiz takes a needle to the leg, causing him to go down, screaming in pain. However the few grunts that did come through were quickly killed. Jaune then quickly ran over to Ruiz.
"Will I be ok spartan?" The marine asks, through gasps of air.
"You'll be fine marine, just stay with me." Jaune said. "Lieutenant, Jackson's dead and Ruiz is injured, over?"
"We're right here spartan. Corpsman, take a look at him." The lieutenant then looks at the manhole. "This our way out?"
"Yes sir." Jaune said.
"Well, let's not waste any time then, everyone down the hole. Spartan you watch our backs." The lieutenant said. Slowly, the marines started going down the hole, the first few taking Ruiz with them. Eventually, it was just Jaune up top. He started making his way down, moving the manhole cover when he was in.
"Alright LT, what's the plan?" A female marine asks.
"Alright, Joda, Hermann, stay with Ruiz, spartan, you're up front, the rest of us will watch our flank. And here, take this." The lieutenant throws Jaune an assault rifle. "It's gonna be better down here than that DMR." Jaune simply nodded and took point. Moving slowly, he crept through the sewer, listening for any contacts that may show up. He also had his nightvision activated, allowing him maneuver through the dark.
Bang! Bang!
Jaune stopped dead in his tracks, listening for anymore sounds that was coming for the sewers. The next Jaune knows, his instincts are kicking in and he's diving away from an energy sword. The elite in question yells something, and three more energy swords activate, closing in on him. Jaune quickly throws a grenade at the elites draining their shields. He then open fires on the elites. One was quickly killed, while the others dived for cover. Jaune quickly got up and ran over for any available cover. After crouching behind some pipes, he quickly fires on one of the remaining elites, killing one and forcing the other two pull back. Behind him, several marines join him.
"Watch your corners, we got elites with energy swords" Jaune warned. One the marines got to his left and another to his right, with the remaining two watching their backs. One of the marines must've seen something, cause he opened fired into the darkness. The bullets contacted the elites energy shields causing him to glow allowing the rest of the marines to fire and kill him.
"Nice shooting marines, now let's find that last elite." Jaune said. The marines appeared to perk up from the spartans comment, along with new found determination. They moved very slowly, both Jaune and the marines had their night vision turned on. Jaune spots the remaining elite and fires on him, downing his shields. The marines aren't slow to respond and fire on the elite. However, the elite had a plasma rifle, so when the marines fired on him, he fired back. The marines dove for cover, however one was hit and his body slumped down to the concrete floor.
"Mason's down!" One of the other marines yelled. Jaune grinded his teeth together and charged the elite. Since the elites shields were down, Jaune went to kill him with his knife, which he did. Jaune grabbed the elite's left arm, turning him to his right while slashing his throat with his knife. He knew he hit the elite when purple blood gushed out of the elite's neck.
After making Jaune sure the area was clear, he turned to the marines. "You" He said pointing at a female marine. "Stay here with, him." She saluted him, and moved to an area near the fallen marine. "The rest of us, let's move out."
"Anybody know when we're supposed to go back up?" One of the marines asked after a few more minutes.
"One more intersection, then go up a ladder." Another marine said.
"We're here." Jaune said. "I'll head up first, keep our street access secure."
"Copy that, we'll be down here sir." One of the marines said. When Jaune reached the surface, he saw they were behind the line.
"Spartan! What are you doing down there?" Jaune turned around to see Captain Roosa.
"I was helping a squad move through the sewers." Jaune said, standing on the ground and standing to attention.
"Where are they know?" Captain Roosa asked.
"Right here sir." The lieutenant said behind Jaune.
"Lieutenant Price, nice to see alive. What's your strength?" Captain Roosa asked.
"About thirty men, six dead and twelve injured." Lieutenant Price answered.
"Alright. Spartan, Master Chief is regrouping his team a block from here, Lieutenant Price, get your men above ground and rally on the building to our left. I'll have men come to take the dead and wounded." Captain Roosa said.
Both of them saluted and Jaune ran off to find the rest of Blue team. After a minute of running, he found them.
"Where were you Arc?" John asked.
"Went underground, helped marines get behind the lines." Jaune answered.
"Well done. The first line has been completely overrun and everyone has been ordered to hold the second line." John said.
"Well let's get to work then." Jorge said.
The spartans moved out, Jaune finding an elevated position while John and Jorge were below him. John with his assault rifle and Jorge with an HMG. Kelly had ran off somewhere further up the line. Jaune found yet another patch of high ground, this time a large pile of rubble with some cover on top. Jaune quickly saw several wraiths simply erased by missile fire, killing at least a dozen elites with them. Below him, Jorge started firing on elite and jackals in front of Jaune. To his right, Jaune could barely see Kelly running inside covenant lines, confusing and splitting units in an effort to find her.
Jaune quickly took aim on a group of grunts and just as quickly killed them all.
'Reload'
Jaune then took aim at a group of elites that Jorge was firing on. He fired on the elites with no shields, letting Jorge down the elite's shields. John then started firing on several elites below Jaune.
"Arc! Do you see the elites below you?" John asked via radio. Jaune looked over the edge, only to have plasma bolts greet him. The fire continued, the covenant troops hoping to hit the unfortunate human or humans above them.
"Too much fire, can't get a clear shot!" Jaune said back.
"Copy that. You got jackals near you!" John shouted. Jaune didn't even have time to respond, at least five jackals climbed over the edge to his right. He quickly rolled to another set of debris while grabbing his assault rifle. He fired on the last jackal up, catching him without his wrist shield active. The remaining jackals fired on Jaune, forcing him to take cover. Jaune pulled his last grenade and magnum. He threw the grenade at a wall behind the jackals causing it to bounce into the middle of the jackals. Two of them saw Jaune through the grenade and dived out of the way and other two didn't see the grenade, so when it exploded, it killed them. Jaune quickly stood up and killed the two prone jackals before they could get back up.
"Jackals down." Jaune said over the radio.
"Nice work Spartan, the covenant are in full retreat and we held the line." Colonel McAnderson said over the radio. Jaune then jumped down to where Jorge and John were.
"So what's the plan now John?" Jaune asked.
"We hold here with marines. We go where they go." John said.
"Sounds fine to me. Better to keep these men and women alive. Tired of being out here alone." Jorge said from behind Jaune.
"Agreed. Some new faces will be nice." Kelly agreed.
"Spartans, get back to command center." Colonel McAnderson said.
"Let's get going Blue team." John said. The four spartans quickly ran back to the command center, ignoring the looks of hope from the marines. When they walked in, they were greeted by a hologram of Fleet Admiral Preston Cole. When the Admiral looked at the spartans, they saluted him.
"Spartans, glad to see you're still with us. I've got news. No major fleet details, but you're being supplied. New armor right out of the factories, as well as new gear. However, one of you is being reassigned up here. Sierra-087, that'll be you." Admiral Cole said.
"How long till the fleet gets here?" John asked.
"We just entered slipspace to a nearby star system, the reinforcing fleet is another week out." Admiral Cole replied.
"Understood Admiral, we'll be holding here." John said.
"One other thing, McAnderson, ONI wants to know when you're gonna retake the capital."
"I would try to retake it," He then put a holomap of the city of Utgard. "But the covenant glassed it, there's nothing there to take." McAnderson replied. Cole just sighed.
"I was afraid of that. What's your current location?" Cole asked.
"We are here, in the city of Vigrond, we have established a forward operating base there. We just repelled two covenant assaults. I don't know how long we'll be here." McAnderson said.
"Alright, I'll be back as soon as we can. Cole out." The hologram of Cole then disappeared.
McAnderson then turned to the spartans. "I need scouts, which is your best?" Kelly simply raised her hand. "I need you to recon this location to our west." The holotable then changed to a hilly area with a small village surrounded in forest and creeks. "I haven't been able to recon this area since we arrived. While we have no armor, we have heavy artillery, this area is about 500 feet above us. It's the highest ground around here."
"Understood sir." Kelly replied.
"There's a quartermaster here, next to the barracks, get resupplied then head out." Kelly saluted then left. "Sierra-052, I want to head to a defensive tower near on the west line, your HMG is best suited there. Master Chief, you'll stay with me, I could use another officer in here. Sierra-034, find high ground on the western and dig in." The three remaining spartans saluted, then went to their jobs.
"Isn't it odd that McAnderson would want John in his command staff?" Jorge asked.
"Yeah it is, I thought ONI wouldn't allow that?" Jaune asked.
"Well, I haven't seen any ONI operatives, so, he can get away with it?" Jorge said, though he was unsure.
"Maybe, not our asses on the line." Jaune said, Jorge couldn't help but chuckle.
"You right. Good luck out there." Jorge said.
"Good luck up there." The two spartans shared a laugh, then headed off in different directions. Jaune then found an intact three story building. On the street, there was no indication that there was war here, it was strange. No destroyed cars or military vehicles, no blood stains on the ground or even debris on the ground. The only indication of war would be the destroyed buildings around the street.
When Jaune entered the building, it was a warehouse for sure, tall shelves, which some still had crates on them. Jaune entered an office area, looking for a way up the building. Eventually, his persistence paid off, a maintenance ladder that led to the roof was found and he started to climb. After he got to the roof, he saw there was a pelican landing site. He continued to look around the roof for a good firing position, eventually, he decided on an area that had two air conditioners on two sides. With some sandbags, this could be a great firing position. The rest of Jaune's day was sending a request for sandbags, a sniper rifle and ammo, then setting them up when they finally arrived.
"Audio log time stamp 1622 hours, date 03-28-2525. We arrived in Vigrond around five hours ago, we missed the first covenant attack, but got here in time to help repel the second assault, I don't think the covenant were expecting some spartans here, so they had a surprisingly smaller force. Fleet Admiral Preston Cole left the system earlier this afternoon, he said that a reinforcing fleet is one week out. I think we need leave and distract the covenant, but these marines need our help. I'm just happy they dug in here. We're in relatively friendly territory and know the terrain better than them. But the covenant, they know how to hide their armies better than us. Kelly is out on recon while Jorge and I are on the western front. John is in Colonel McAnderson's command staff, much to our surprise, whether or not this is a wise move is yet to be determined.
Right now, I'm currently dug in on the top of a three story warehouse, snuggled in between two air conditioner units with the middle having a line of sandbags. When the next attack wave comes, I'm gonna put my sniping skills to the test. For now though, some r and r. Been thinking about Reach, and Remnant, at least I think that my birthworld's name. Reach is my homeworld now, not Remnant, though, can I blame them?
My most clear memory from Remnant is of a woman with waist long black hair with a sword and mask of some kind. She keep talking about a daughter? It gets faded there. I remember her giving me some sword training with my father and eldest sister. She was tough but, it was worth it in my opinion.
Anyway, not much else to talk about, most of us are just preparing ourselves for the next assault, and there's not a whole lot we can do to stop that, just dig in and prepare for the worst.
