Chapter 4: The Fall of the Northern Bridge

Russel Tinnier sat in the Pelican. The LZ had been taken that night. He looked around, and saw a friend of his, Thomas C. Mayer. Thomas sat next to him.

"Hey man, how 'bout when we get off this Pelican, we stay next to each other, and protect each other?" he asked. Thomas's voice sounded calm and friendly, it gave Russel hope.

"Ok cool." Russel said putting his tanned tightened fist in the air. Thomas hit his knuckles against Russel's as they both said,

"Knuckle touch." and laughed heartedly. They knew that even games wouldn't last forever. The pilot lowered the bird, and the hatched opened slowly. A Marine private was standing there ready to take the fifteen men to their positions. There were another thirty Pelicans landing, and a Marine private assigned to take each payload to the frontlines, and swap them with wounded men. Russel and Thomas slowly stood up, and filed out of the bird. Gunfire could be heard from all around, along with the Covenant's battle cries. Small explosions could be heard, as Hunter's fuel rod guns blew massive holes in the Marines' ranks. The Marine private, Russel now knew him as Private Caio Zanato, shouted back to the Marines exiting the Pelican,

"Alright, I just heard there was a massive Brute attack just after you get off the Northern Bridge. They need more ammo, and men. You guys need to take the crates of ammo, and your asses down there ASAP." The private was scarred, as any sane man would be, and his voice did not hide it well. Russel and Thomas turned back to the Pelican, and helped form a line. A Marine still in the Pelican, slid a box of ammunition off the Pelican, and into the hands of two Marines, who would run it to the Northern Bridge. While they were running, another two marines stepped up, and ran it down to the frontlines. When Russel and Thomas were handed a box of ammo, they heaved it up, and quickly ran it towards the Bridge.

On his way to the Bridge, Russel could see the sun rising over a war torn battlefield. The once great city had been taken to ruins, by the First Battle of Mombasa, which Russel served in, but this was awful. There were dead men still lying in the craters. Buildings that were still mostly up in the Fight for the LZ, had been completely demolished by the grenades, mortars, Hunters, and Pelicans. Russel came by a huge hole, at least ten feet in width and eight in depth, and looked in while he still had the ammunition. The hole was filled with the mangled bodies of dead Marines, and Covenant soldiers alike. A Marine was standing by the hole, and poured gasoline over the bodies. He then lit a match, and threw it in. He watched respectively as the bodies burned.

"Why do so many brave men have to fight for such a cruel species to live?" the man asked himself as he picked his MA5K assault rifle up, and turned back to the fight. Russel almost dropped the ammo when he saw the terrible, frightened faces of the Marines. The man had been right with his question. It made Russel think about all the battles he'd ever fought in. Russel discarded the thought to the back of his mind, and hurried along to the bridge. When he arrived, the other Marines from his Pelican were there. He saw a tall man, with a cleanly shaven face, and deeply inset brown eyes, walk towards Thomas and him.

"I guess you're from the new Pelican." The man said.

"Yes sir. We are." Thomas spoke up before Russel could; he was still in shock of the burning Marines.

"Alright, set the ammo down, and get yourself loaded up. Youv'e just entered Hell and the only way to leave, is to kill them Brutes, and take this Bridge." He said.

"Yes, sir!" Russel shouted this time. The man picked up an M5C pistol, and turned to walk away. Just then, he turned around and said,

"By the way, I'm Corporal James Dessen. I've been appointed the Ground Commander as of this morning. You won't see it in any books, though. I appointed myself. Nobody seems to mind though." With that, Dessen turned back around, and took up a position behind a smashed wall. He popped up, and shot a Brute, point blank, in the face.

Russel picked an MA5K assault rifle out of the crate, along with three clips of ammo. He also picked up four grenades, and two plasma grenades. Thomas picked up an SMG, and a M19 SSM Rocket Launcher. Thomas also picked up four extra rockets. His rocket launcher had all six shots loaded in the clip. Along with these, Thomas picked up four grenades and one plasma grenade. They both ran to the portion of the upright wall where Dessen was at, and shot at the Brutes. Wave after wave of Brutes came over the Bridge. There bodies piled up so much, that it made a wall of protection for the Brutes. They would let the bodies build up, and make a ramp, and they would then proceed to charge over the bodies, and add themselves onto the cover. Russel threw a plasma grenade at the Brute onslaught, but it did nothing. There were too many Brute forces. After half a day, and keeping the Brutes at bay, a Hunter group made its way through the Brute carnage. At the center of the Bridge, they stopped, leveled their guns, and charged their fuel rod guns. The Hunter on the left swept a powerful blow at the Marines. It started at the center of the bridge, and it moved its gun across the left of the battlefield. The Hunter on the right, started at the center like it brother but instead swept its powerful green plasma towards the right. The blow was devastating towards the Marines. It had made their day's victory against the Brutes mean nothing. Of the three hundred and fifty soldiers at the start of the day, only two hundred remained from the constant waves of Brutes, and the Hunters had just taken fifty more soldiers from the fight. Thomas wouldn't let the Hunters take any more lives. He aimed for the unsuspecting Hunter head, and shot two rockets at it. The smoke streamed after the projectiles, as it hit the face of the Hunter. Thomas quickly reloaded the rockets, and shot another two missiles at the lumbering beast's companion. They both fell, three seconds after the other, and the Brutes began to roar in anger and rage.

At 13:30, Dessen ran to Russel and Thomas.

"I need you two to take down that bridge! We'll cover yah from back here. We just got the 12.7mm three-barreled machine guns from a drop off ten minutes ago. You need to take that bridge down ASAP." Dessen shouted to the two men over the noise of the warfront. He pointed sternly at the bridge as he talked. When Dessen finished talking, he handed Russel a small time bomb. They both nodded, and looked at their target. It was as long as a three lane road. And quite thick as well. The machine guns were mounted, and the men rowdie ran towards the center of the bridge. The bullets, plasma, and rockets streamed by their heads. When Russel and Thomas made it to the center of the bridge, Thomas crouched and took aim at the charging Brute force. Almost half disappeared behind the cover of their newly formed wall, and took aim. The machine gun turrets turned, and kept the Brutes ducking for cover. A desperate Brute force ran head over heels at the two men on the beaten and battered bridge. So many Brutes had charged that they finally made it onto the main bridge, and began shooting at Russel and Thomas. Thomas shot a rocket to the left and a rocket to the right of Russel. Half of each side fell, only to be replaced by more Brutes. There must have been ten thousand dead bodies on this bridge, and Russel was intent on not becoming one of them. He finished the preparations, and timed it for two minutes. As He turned and ran back, he unloaded a clip on five Brutes. They fell instantaneously. Russel and Thomas ran towards the Marines on their side of the bridge. They both threw their remaining three plasma grenades, and started on their regular grenades, when a Brute grabbed Russel. He fell to the ground, and turned to shoot at the Brute's face. It was too late. A man grabbed Russel, and threw him towards the Marines. He rolled onto the dirt, and slowly stood up. His leg was broke. Just then, a huge explosion range out, and a sudden flash of light appeared. The machine guns started their humming which grew in speed as they warmed up. The light cleared, and the smoke began to settle. Russel and Thomas turned back, to see their objective complete. The Marines hollered, but did not cheer like the day before. Instead,

"Hoo-Raw!" could be heard through their ranks. Russel looked for Dessen, but couldn't see him. He asked a fellow Marine,

"Hey, where's Corporal Dessen?" Russel asked now becoming worried.

"He saved your ass back their. He's gone." The Marine replied solemnly, and frowned.

"Oh." Was the only thing Russel could say. He hadn't even known the man for over a day, but he was a great commander. The Marines would be in ruin for quite a while. It was the worst thing possible, since there were more Brutes entering through the trenches.

The battle raged for only half a day, but over two hundred and fifty men had lost their lives in those eleven hours. The only monument of human existence, the Bridge, had been demolished, and the Marines leaderless. Hundreds of thousands of Brutes were dead, and blown to high heaven. Where will the Marines look for leadership?