CHAPTER THREE: OPERATION: EUROSTRIKE

April 3rd, 2010 1600 hours Lille, France

The Covenant could not be stopped. They cut a swath through the Asian and European Defense forces, making it all the way to Paris, France without losing a single major engagement. In the USA, the Covenant had wiped out the defenders in Washington D.C, and was in the process of capturing Boston, Massachusetts and Atlanta, Georgia. Australia was no longer occupied at all by the UNDF. Millions of humans had been slaughtered senselessly by the apparently genocidal aliens. However, the UNDF was about to launch the largest counterattack in modern history.

Over 500,000 Marines were gathered in Lille, France to take back Paris and most of Western Europe back from the Covenant. Part of this counterstrike force was the 501st Commando battalion, legendary for their victory over the Covenant in The First and Second Battles of St. Petersburg, Russia. However, just before the third and final battle of St. Petersburg, they were relieved. The Third Battle of St. Petersburg wasn't even really a battle. The Covenant were tired of wasting lives there, so they launched a plasma torpedo from their ship in Hong Kong, and turned the once beautiful city into a smoldering, burnt wasteland of death.

April 3rd, 2010 1600 Hours OPERATION: EUROSTRIKE Briefing Room

General Armand St. Cyr looked over the 3 rows of OPERATION: EUROSTRIKE's commanders. While St. Cyr was the mission's overall leader, each battalion had their own commanders that would respond to St. Cyr, so he had gathered them all in an undisclosed location in Lille to brief them on the basics of OPERATION: EUROSTRIKE. "Men, we are gathered here today to discuss the basics of OPERATION: EUROSTRIKE. Any questions?" St. Cyr asked. The commander of the 501st Commandos, Commander Cody Abernathy, raised his hand. "So, general, what is the overall goal of this op?" Abernathy asked.

"To recapture Paris, a major military installation, and then to move towards Berlin, Germany, in hopes of pushing the Covenant back into Eastern Europe." St. Cyr responded. Abernathy nodded his head. "General, what will be the first battalions to reach Paris?" asked the Commander of the 501st's sister battalion, the 420th Commando battalion out of London, Ryan Cantrell. "Um, we will be sending in your 420th, the 501st, and the 163rd out of Mombassa, Kenya. As you can probably see, we will be sending in 3 battalions at a time until the route to Paris has been cleared." St. Cyr stated. Abernathy smiled. Now the 501st will really get to shine… He thought.

April 4th, 2010 0130 hours Lille, France

Private Matt O'Riley checked the barrel of his brand-new R-70 assault rifle, straight out of the crate from the weapons factory in Havana, Cuba. These little babies fire 200 rounds per minute, have a 50-round clip, and shoot 9 millimeter bullets. O'Riley racked a round into the chamber, and climbed aboard one of the 20 Black Hawks transporting the 501st to the front lines.

"So, Matt. How you liken' the new guns?" asked O'Riley's best friend and squad mate, Josh Peterson, who was also on O'Riley's Black Hawk. "Lovin' it. Can't wait to fire a clip into one of those Elites." O'Riley responded. The friends laughed as the Black Hawk finished loading and took off.

April 4th, 2010 0300 Hours Just outside of Paris, France

O'Riley shuddered as the Black Hawk adjacent from his took a hit from Covenant AA fire. The helicopter fishtailed, and crashed into a river. Peterson, manning the Black Hawks turret, fired a long burst down into a "Wraith" tank. The tank fired its mortar, and barely missed the helicopter. A plasma bolt from one of the groundside Covenant infantrymen grazed Peterson's torso, missing by 5 inches, and slammed into the interior of the Black Hawk, melting the hinges to the door into the cockpit.

Peterson screamed, but kept firing. After the heli cleared the Covenant armor column, the Marine collapsed in a heap on the deck of the helicopter. O'Riley knelt by his friend's side, and administered some painkillers and bandages. "Don't worry, Josh. You'll be fine." O'Riley said nervously. "Marines, get ready for combat! The LZ is getting' nearer!" The pilot yelled over the Black Hawk's intercom. Peterson stood up, and sat down next to O'Riley. He grimaced, but other than that and the bandage, he looked fine.

The Black Hawk touched down, and the Commandos piled out, flowed by the 16 other surviving Black Hawk occupants. O'Riley fired five 3 round bursts into an Elite, taking out its shield a fellow Marine finished the job. Once the LZ was clear, Commander Abernathy took a head count. "378. Good. Only 182 casualties so far." The Commander mumbled. The Marines formed a column consisting of 10 men across and 37 men deep, flanked by 3 men on each side, plus the Commander and his Lieutenant, Avery White at the helm.

After 30 minutes of marching and small skirmishes, the battalion reached the bridge over Paris' man-made moat, which is over 3 miles across. The Commander radioed to General St. Cyr back at Lille. "Sir, we have reached the bridge. Requesting reinforcements and the full assault force." Abernathy said into the radio. "Acknowledged. Assault forces inbound. New orders, Commander. I want you and your Commandos to take the bridge, and move into the city. We will assault from the west, while you and the other Commando battalions attack from the north. St. Cyr out." The General explained.

After the other 2 battalions arrived, the Commandos moved out. When the others came, they brought 10 jeeps and 3 tanks to pave the way. O'Riley and Peterson were assigned to "Jeep red 2", Peterson, a trained rocket jockey, would sit in the passenger, while O'Riley manned the turret in back. As the convoy started out, there was an eerie silence to the bridge. About halfway across, however, all that changed. Plasma turrets on each side peppered the jeeps, while small 'Ghost" reconnaissance vehicles and Wraiths harassed the tanks. The driver of O'Riley's jeep got hit by a large plasma bolt from one of the turrets, so Peterson fired on last rocket into a Ghost, and jumped into the driver's seat.

As O'Riley downed a Covenant "Banshee" air-to-ground fighter, easily 15 Covenant drop ships landed between the battle group and the convoy, and expelled 145 Covenant warriors onto the battlefield. The infantry attack the human line while the enemy vehicles finished off the human convoy. Peterson spattered an Elite whose Ghost flipped over, and O'Riley destroyed a manned Ghost.
"Josh! We need to get out of here, NOW!" O'Riley screamed as the last tank was reduced to slag by a Wraith. Josh nodded. "Good idea!" He responded. The Marine turned the Jeep around and stood on the accelerator, causing the Jeep to crash forward through multiple ghosts. The Jeep barreled straight towards a Wraith as it reached its max speed, 120 MPH. "What are you doing???!!!" O'Riley cried as they neared the Covenant armor. Peterson grinned. "Shootin' the moon, Matt, shootin' the moon." Peterson cried with a smirk. 'OHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIII…..!!!" O'Riley yelled as they vaulted onto and over the tank, clearing the Covenant-made gap in the bridge easily.