Jason stared at the horizon. It was painted in burning buildings and gloomy, bitter cloud cover that threatened rain. Ashes, like snow, had begun falling instead. As he marched the last ten meters onto the parking lot, he could hear the chaotic sounds of conflict around him. But it was distant, for the moment. They appeared to be in a dead zone.
The sight of nearly twenty Helljumpers, clad in reflective, slick obsidian armor and securing the area, warmed his heart. As a Marine, he'd first viewed them with something like apprehension. They were madmen with no sense, or that's what someone had told him. And then, when he'd actually worked with them, his apprehension turned to respect. They weren't all madmen, though some of them could be pretty insane.
It was what had motivated him to join. He'd punched his way up the rank to Corporal and, instead of going to Sergeant when they offered, he instead opted to drop back down to Private among the ODSTs. Already, he'd kicked his way back up to PFC. And there was talk that they were considering him for a Lance Corporal position. Something he wouldn't mind. Then again, he'd have to survive New Jerusalem for that to happen.
Jason took in the superstore parking lot, packed with ruined, derelict vehicles and bodies from both sides. Too many of them were civilians. The ODSTs had set up the bare basic of a command post. Several of them patrolled around the edge, making sure the area remained secure, while the rest made camp in the center among the wrecked vehicles. Jason found Billings and the others staring into a datapad and muttering among themselves.
"Ah, looks like the rest of the party has arrived," Billings said, looking up.
His visor was transparent, revealing his grizzled face. Billings was a ten year man, the last seven of them in the ODSTs. Jason would have figured he'd have gotten a promotion by now, but heard the man had refused any rank ups to stay in the field. As a result, he was qualified enough to be a Staff Sergeant, but retained control of his own unit as just a Sergeant.
"Faulkner's dead," were the first two words out of Jason's mouth.
From his headcount, and Billings' comment that he and Paulson were the last two to arrive, he tallied five deaths in the squad so far. Too high for his liking.
Billings grunted. "Now that you're here, we can get started. Gather round, boys and girls!" he called. The ODSTs along the perimeter came in, and soon they were all gathered among the abandoned vehicles, ducking low.
"Got word from Command. New Haven is a hot spot. Still not sure why, but the Covenant have set up a big Command Post in a huge office building. The plan is to sneak in and blow up the building. Local forces are scattered and in terms of fire power, we're the most well-focused group the UNSC's got on the ground right now. Everyone else is either dead or busy elsewhere. It's up to us. That being said, I've got a plan," Billings said with a dark grin.
"From what I can tell about the building, there's five main points of entry. Two above ground, three underground. We're going to split up, get in, plant bombs and get out. Simple. Also, to you Marines who've tagged along," he said, glancing not only at the four Jason had snagged, but also the collection of others who had been discovered, "word from Command is you'll follow my orders. Now, since my orders are to kick the Covenant where it hurts, and seeing as how hard this city has been pounded...I don't think there'll be too much of a problem. Am I right, Marines?" There was a sharp reply of vicious joy.
They wanted revenge.
Everyone wanted it.
"Excellent," Billings said, his grin widening.
All he was missing was a cigar. When Billings began doling out the assigned teams and team leaders, Jason was surprised to find himself in charge of his Marines, Paulson and Hunter, an ODST scout that he hadn't gotten to know very well. Jason wasn't about to question Billings, and neither did Paulson, a Corporal, or Hunter, the same rank as Jason. He could almost taste that Lance Corporal position.
Jason had been given Team Five and pegged with one of the underground entrances. All relevant information was downloaded to his personal database. He, in turn, passed it around to the Marines, Hunter and Paulson, then gave everyone ten minutes to get ready and study up before he planned on heading out.
Jason absentmindedly filled up on ammo for his arsenal, satisfied with what he had, while he studied the data. There was an underground tunnel that connected to another nearby office building, a maintenance tunnel. That would be his point of entry. The maintenance tunnel was going to have to be accessed by an underground parking garage. Last satellite coverage of the area showed it as cold in terms of Covenant, but that probably wouldn't last.
Jason studied the map of the city and quickly realized it was going to be a hard slog. Nearly two kliks through city streets overrun with Covenant and basically no backup. Once he had his route figured out, he looked up at the Marines and pair of Helljumpers.
Hunter and Paulson were hidden behind obsidian visors. The Marines looked haggard and worn. Their armor was burned and bloodstained. Jones looked back at him with hard eyes. He'd hold. They would all hold. Until the end, however near or far that might be. Jason trusted them. Once they had their gear in place, the group began to head away from the lot.
Billings decided they should split up and attack from different sides. If they could get even two of the bombs off, it would do a lot of damage and hopefully bring the building down on the Covenant and whatever it was they were doing there.
One of Jones' Marines was carrying the bomb, a pack that held several yellow, brick-shaped C12 charges. They were lightweight, but he stared near the back anyway. One stray shot and they would all go up in smoke.
As Jason led the way with Paulson off the lot and into some back alleys, he glanced up at the sky. The ashes continued to fall like snow, and he found himself wishing for rain.
