Raven Company
Chapter 2: Kwangju III part two
Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0623
Skeleton Squad moved into the radevous area and found Dog, Wolf and Raptor squad scanning the area.
"You get the guns?" Brad asked.
"You think we would be back if we hadn't" Kelly said with a smirk.
Tom chuckled and Brad glared at him, "Lets get back to HQ" he said and the others nodded before the four squads moved down the snowy hill.
Tomas was on point with James as Raptor took up the rear. They continued down to find the once active battlefield covered in blood and gore, fires and craters and ODST searching for surviving ODST or aliens, the latter being shot.
At last they made it to the HQ which had been moved to the cliffs and was now inside a large cavern for protection. The LT was looking at a map with several other ODST and conferring about something.
Raptor and Dog were sent to guard duty while Wolf was sent farther into the cave to help with wounded in the Hospital. Skeleton was waiting in a corner for the LT to finish up and brief them on their mission.
At last LT. Forge walked over to them and they saluted. "Alright first off good job on those battery's...saved a bunch of lives. Second off were not done yet, we got Intel that there is at least four or five battalions on the planet...were going to clear out the city of Akita and hold it while HIGHCOM sends for reinforcements....i want you to be our scout element and to check out the area for troop numbers"
Jayson and the others nodded and then he said something that had been on his mind, "Sir PVC John Codfish went MIA during the drop and we haven't heard from him since...has he turned up in the Hospital?"
Forge walked over to a ODST with white and red stripes. He talked to him for a second before nodding and walking back, "They found him in the middle of the action, unconscious and in quite the shape, broken leg, smashed hand and a piece of shrapnel in his upper left arm" Jackson said.
The squad thanked him and headed for the med bay that he was in to go see their comrade glad that he had survived the gruesome battle.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0636
John lay on the ground of the cave with his chest and leg armor plates off. They had told him that he had broken his leg and hand in the crash, the shrapnel had been complicated but quick to remove once they got it past the vital areas that made his arm move.
He had been in the cave for as long as he could remember. He blacked out then woke up here bandaged up and hearing blasts and screams followed by automatics firing. From what the medics had told him the company was down to 65% and a third of that was wounded. Their first battle and they were already screwed so deep that it would take a act of god to pull them out.
He remembered the drop had been before the sun had even come over the cold world and that now small bits of light were coming in from the holes that circulated the air into the cave he was laying in.
John was about to try and ask what was going on since the battle had quieted down when four figures came into the room and started looking around before seeing him and running over. He wondered who they were until they came into the light and he saw it was his own squad smilling at him.
"you are one lucky man" Jayson said as James and Rex clasped his hand and Kelly simply nodded. He got into a sitting position before asking, "So what the hek has been going on? The dang medics don't tell me a thing".
Jayson laughed and then told them about the attack on the battery and the battle below the cliffs were kelly went pale slightly when they talked about the soldier she had lost. Then with intrest of the entire group James told them of his adventure with Wolf Squad during the attack on the other battery.
At the end John grinned, "looks like I missed all the action" he said with a joking attitude as the others laughed.
"You used 300 shots before you blacked out from what the medics told us, you seemed to have enjoyed yourself during the action" Rex said.
Jayson nodded, "Might even have to put you in for a promotion" he said.
John was about to say something but Kelly put a hand to her head or rather were her mic was and looked at Jayson, "Forge wants us to head for Akita and scout the area"
Jayson nodded and the group got up to leave for the city when John tried to stand up too. He put a hand on Johns shoulder and gently forced him back down, "Oh no you don't your still inured and can't fight" Jayson said to the stubborn soldier who tried to rise again.
"im a sniper! I don't need to move" he argued.
"See ya John!" Rex said snapping his helmet on even though his face was still visible since no face plate was there.
"Take care" James said and walked off with Rex and Kelly.
Jayson sighed, "Their gonna move to the city after we secure it...i'll see what I can do to get you a sniping spot in one of the towers" he said.
John slowly stopped his efforts and nodded, "Thanks Sarge" he said quietly and layed back with a lazy grin, "Don't take to long or I might try and get back with the others" he joked.
Jayson nodded to the trooper, grabbed his helmet and headed off to join his squad.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0801
James put the binoculars down and sighed, "Still the same guard...four of those tank things, at least two dozen shorties and ten of those...what did Tomas call em?" he asked.
"Squid heads" Kelly said as they observed the front gate of the city.
"Ya about ten of them" James finished.
"ill report It in" she said and radioed HQ, "We got heavy guard over the front gate and probably just the same if not more at the others" She said into it.
James sighed and rested his head on his shoulder as he watched the gate, "ya know I miss my life before the war started...but those things made sure that is gone for good..." he said somewhat grimly.
"I miss my little sister...went on a field trip to Harvest to see a farming world and a month later we got a letter saying she was dead...burned by those murdering monsters in orbit..." she said with a mixture of hate and sorrow.
James nodded and zoomed in on the gate, "take a look at that" he said.
Kelly nodded and took the binoculars and looked through them, "What?" she asked.
"The Squid head in the middle...look at the armor color" James said.
She looked again and was surprised, "ok its red...what that mean?"
"No idea...unit maybe?" he suggested.
"Well every other squid head we met has had the same blue colored armor...wonder what the red means...maybe its a different branch like marines or navy to them" Kelly said.
"Do they even have a navy or army organization? To me it seems they just burn stuff" James asked.
"that's another thing that bugs me....why don't they just glass this place? Why invade the place?" Kelly said.
"Maybe they need more space?" he suggested again.
Kelly sighed, "Maybe...we better get back to the link up spot...its 0830" she said and tossed him the binoculars and headed for the rendezvous.
James caught the device, hooked it to his back and walked after her.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0840
Jayson and Rex were at the cluster of trees that was the rendezvous spot for the squad. They had checked the back gate and side gate and both were heavily guarded. After checking for any other way in and finding none they had headed back for the spot and waited for James and Kelly to arrive.
At last the two walked into the woods with blank stairs as they made it to them, "Anything?" he asked.
"Heavy guard" Kelly said grimly.
"Ditto" Rex said.
"Kel" Jayson said.
"On it" She said and turned her radio on and started talking into it, "Heavy guard on all gates...yes sir....yes....alright" she took the helmet off and tossed it to Jayson, "For you" she said.
Jayson nodded and slid her helmet on and heard Jackson Forge on the radio.
"Sargent...i know you won't like this but you are to take the front gate no matter the cost...Wolf and Dog will support you....a battalion is moving on our HQ and we can't hold for long....they...have.....planes...watch....your.....si-" the transmission finally died in static.
Jayson tossed the helmet back and slid his own into place, "Ok lets get on the move, Wolf and Dog are coming this way, lets go clear the rode" he said and Skeleton moved through the woods silent as ghosts.
A group of shorties were shooting at something up ahead. Skeleton moved up behind them and fired their assault rifles at the things. The bullets punched threw the armor they wore and into their skin, the shorties fell over bleeding and some missing an arm or leg.
Dog and Wolf walked up with smoking guns, after a few nods and arm clasps the three squads were moving out through the woods to the front gate of Akita.
"Whats the plan?" Brad said to Jayson after they arrived and were looking at the front gate.
"We go in, blow them up and secure the area for the rest of the company...try and secure some vehicles for the wounded" Jayson answered.
Brad nodded and took his squad to the left while Dog went to the right. Skeleton set up right in the center.
Jayson started counting, 1....2....3.....4.....5......6....7....8...9......10! he tossed his grenade with the others and a dozen grenades landed on the ground around the gate. A second later the explosions went off and screams and howls could be heard just before the aliens grenades went off from the large explosion and the forest glowed for the second the grenades went off.
When the three squads moved down the road they found craters and burning corpses and gore and blood everywhere. A few carbonized bones were laying with bits of meat on them. The tanks hulls were melted and the aliens were laying on the ground, most dead and some giving inhuman moans.
The ODST walked slowly threw the area and shot any survivors, Rex and a few others headed up onto the tanks and opened the hatches, fired a burst and dragged the dead fish heads out.
"Ok Dog secure the road, Wolf take James and Rex and go scout out the area" Jayson said before telling Kelly to tell HQ the area was secure.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0900
James scowled as the sniper hit near him again, "someone take that lizard out!" he yelled using the newest name that Tomas had come up with for the aliens they had been fighting.
Rex ducked back down as another energy bolt hit the metal road block he had been hiding behind. "the one time we need John!" he yelled sarcasticly as he blind fired were he guessed the lizard was.
Kelly sighed and looked around for Sarah. "Sarah snipe that thing!" she yelled to Wolfs sniper.
The blond nodded and fired her sniper rifle, the round hit close to the lizard's head forcing it to take cover. "Miss" she called out.
James sighed and ran at the building that the lizard had been hiding in. he ran up the stairs and into the second floor to find the thing holding a pistol out aiming it at him. Not waiting to see if his comrades were coming up the stairs he ran at the thing and managed to tackle it to the ground as its shot went wild and threw the roof.
It punched him and he knew his jaw would be sore tomorrow as he pulled his pistol out jammed it in its neck and fired. Brains and neck covered his face and helmet as he stood up.
He heard movement and turned to fire only to find Rex coming threw the door.
"Did it throw up or blow up?" the black man asked sarcasticly.
James glared at him before the two moved deeper into the building and cleared it of two shorties before walking out into the cold morning, "Why did they have to send us to a snow world?" he asked, "Why not a sunny world!"
"Because this place matches HIGHCOM's heart so well" Jayson said.
James chuckled lightly at the humor and then grew serious, "Anymore sniper nests we need to clear Sarge?" he said hoping not.
"No...were being sent to Kahuna Plaza to clear out a few machine gun nests and a tank" he said with mock happiness and started walking down the road.
James scowled and followed after his leader with Dog and Wolf.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0930
Sargent Jake Uteri fired his assault rifle until the clip emptied as his squad tried to advance, "Wheres that other squad McLeod!" he yelled as he fired a new clip.
McLeod, who had the only working radio since three were broken and the other was lost, was about to answer but a sniper shot blew his brains across the walkway.
Uteri cursed under his breath as the two other members of his squad fired at the machine gun nest before the tank in the center fired a blast, "Scatter!" he yelled and ran before the blast hit throwing him into a wall as something covered him, he opened his eyes to find he was covered in the mush that had been PVC Gherkins.
He mentally threw up from the gore and blood that covered his chest as he stood up and reloaded before checking on Corporal Elknew, he was out cold but not dead. He dragged the man into the building they had been next to before another round hit making the balcony fall down and block the entrance.
He went upstairs to check on the battle to find another three squads moving in and shooting the place up, a pair walked over to a car and fired a set of rockets that slammed into the tank sending it into the air, "Its about bloody time" he said ignoring the irony of the sentence as a sniper shot hit near his head.
He dropped and muttered about the Plaza being a sniper free area, then stood up and gave covering fire for the new arrivals.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 0940
Jayson sat behind a crushed statue as he fired over his shoulder at the gun nest, a grenade landed near him and he booked it to a car, he jumped over and moved to lay against it as plasma fire hit all around him.
"Where the hek did that company come from!" Rex shouted. After they had nearly overrun the avenue a whole company of shorties, fish heads, and lizards had shown up and started shooting.
"How would I know! Those guns are still active and Raptor squad is still MIA...get over to James and have him see if Rap is still on the left flank like they were supposed to be!" Jayson yelled over the plasma and automatic fire.
Rex nodded and ran to a dumpster that had two figures behind its metal protection.
Jayson gave Rex cover as he ran and dropped down behind the car as his rifle clicked empty. He slid a fresh clip in and started firing again before a sniper shot hit near him forcing him back down, "SARAH! TAKE OUT THAT LIZARD!" he yelled to the blond in the building behind him.
Three shots came out of the second story window and then followed by a victory cheer.
He sighed and sat back down as James ran past him to the left flank. The plasma pistols and rifles those fish heads and shorties had were still shooting at them and so far they seemed to be full of ammo, or plasma or whatever they used.
He looked up to see a drop ship coming over the roof tops and cursed, "take cover!" he yelled and tried to cover as much of his body as he could with the car as the drop ship raked the buildings and anything moving with the massive guns. He really hated the fact the things could float, since they could just stay there and fire at them but for some reason the pilots just flew off after dropping off the troops.
"twenty fish!" Sarah yelled down to them.
Jayson gulped slightly, Twenty? He didn't know if they could even take out that many...he scowled before praying he wouldn't get hit and then stood up firing a burst before half a dozen rounds came his way...followed by a few hundred.
He ducked and felt the metal of the car start to melt and soon he was running after James. He found him behind a road block shooting, behind him was a soldier with a hole threw his helmet, and a pile of meshy gore everywhere.
He choked slightly from the gore filled road before dropping down next to James. "Status?" he asked, he turned slightly and fired a burst at the enemy troops.
"Two KIA, three MIA. Gonna go check the building, cover me" he said and ran for a side door on the building facing them.
Jayson fired a full clip before following after James. He ran into the door with plasma hitting the wall and floors outside, he panted slightly as he moved up the stairs with James keeping an eye out for more Lizards.
When they came to the top of the stairs a burst of atuomatic fire came at them but missed.
"ODST!" Jayson called out and a figure popped its head up. Jayson reconized him as Jake Uteri from Raptor squad. He had a few scorch marks on his armor and bits of gory mesh all over his front.
"What took you so bloody long!" he said shouldering his rifle.
"We ran into some shorties..." James said.
Uteri nodded and looked out the window, "We better move if were gonna take this plaza" he said.
Jayson nodded, "Ok lets flank around through the buildings" he said and they turned to leave.
"What about Elknew?" he asked.
Jayson looked at the unconscious soldier that Uteri was pointing at and grinned slightly, he walked over and took part of the gore on Uteri's armor and waved it under Elknew's nose. Seconds later the marine was up and coughing.
"What the hek is that smell!" he muttered loudly.
Uteri sighed, "Gherkins..." he said grimly and followed James and Jayson.
They came to a metal access door and opened it with a clip of assault rifle ammo, then moved down a hall and to a bridge were three Lizards were guarding on the other side.
They all fired as the three things ducked and shot at them. James tossed a grenade as Uteri did the same and the first to lizards were blown in half and cut up, the last was in the ground bleeding.
Elknew ran up and unloaded a clip of pistol ammo into its head before kicking it for good measure and walking with the others into the next building.
They were in the hallway for a second before a squad of shorties started firing at them. Jayson fired a burst and cut twos heads off. James tossed another grenade and Elknew fired his pistol. Within a few minutes the entire group was dead or dieing and the hall was covered in burns and blood.
The group moved down the hall and threw two more passages and three more bridges all of which were guarded, until they were right behind the enemy soldiers. Jayson held up four fingers then three then two and then one before they all chucked grenades then ran at the gun nests.
The grenades went off sending blood and body parts into the air but they still had dozens of enemy soldiers to fight. They unloaded their ammo over and over as they got closer to the center and Wolf, Dog and Skeleton advanced with them.
After twenty minutes of taking pot shots the entire force was dead. James had a large burn on his leg, Uteri had taken a plasma shot to the arm and Brad had a large cut in his abdomen from a piece of shrapnel.
The four squads were given new orders to move on to Schneider Plaza and for all wounded were to wait there, since a few alien transport vehicles had been captured.
Brad, James and Uteri were forced to wait for the transports while the rest moved on.
Jayson shoot James hand and told him to say hello to John when he got to the Hospital and then he left with Dog, Wolf and Skeleton. They moved down the street slowly and quitly before heading down another one and a third before Rex spoke up, "Somthings wrong its to quit" he said.
Jayson nodded and the others started growing uneasy. A low buzz started growing louder.
"What is that?" Rex asked.
Jayson was about to offer his reply when dozens of bolts hit around them, they looked up and saw thirty flying..bugs wielding pistols, Jayson fired a burst at one and it fell from the sky but the plasma was hitting every where. "Scatter!" he called out and they moved to different spots.
The bugs continued shooting at them as the three squads traded pot shots at the things. Soon their numbers fell and they flew off, probably to attack another group of ODST.
Jayson walked over to one of the corpses and looked at it, "Tom...got a name for these things?" he asked.
Tom looked deep in thought before replying, "Buggers".
"How original" Jayson said and continued down the rode with the others.
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Kwangju III, 2526, November, 15, 1133
Jayson ran as the grenade landed near him and barely escaped the explosion and plasma ball that followed. He rolled and slammed into a wall before three pink needles hit over his head followed by a tank blast on the floor above him. "How did I get stuck in this position?!" he asked himself as he ran from the enemy soldiers.
He ran down the rode and turned the corner as they chased him. Plasma shots and needles at his heels.
The tank sped up with the boosters it had with the shorties and lizards right behind it.
Jayson turned another corner just before being thrown by a tank blast, he landed ten feet away, bruised and battered.
The shorties and lizards were upon him in a second running right at him as he shot at them, the tank came down the rode, plasma charging for a blast.
Just before they could get him four rockets shot out of the near by buildings and blew the tank to pieces, assault rifle rounds and sniper shots followed, they hit their marks and painted the rode blue and purple.
Jayson stood up and nodded his thanks to the other squads, he picked his rifle up and was joined by Rex and Kelly as Dog headed up the road with Wolf.
"Any word from HQ?" he asked kelly wishing their radios worked.
"Yes sir. They want us to head back to HQ in the center of the city as soon as Schneider Plaza" she said.
He nodded, "Tell him its secure...and to send pick up" he said to her and headed with Rex up the rode back to the plaza.
Kelly took a look around the blood covered street one last time and ran to catch up with her squad.