Chapter Seven

October 21, (Military Calendar) /

Warehouse District, Brooklyn, Earth, Sol System

The silence of the night was broken by the crack of a BR55. Two grunts lay dead on the street, their light blue blood glowing on the black asphalt. The Brute minor accompanying them gave a roar of anger as the same BR fired on it.

Jace swore under his breath. He had hoped the first burst into the Brutes' head would be enough to kill it, but its damn shields had held. The Brute raised its plasma rifle and sprayed in the general direction of where it thought the enemy fire was coming from. Jace ducked back behind the truck he was using for cover. He keyed his COM, "Rookie lay down some suppressive fire while I reposition to get a better shot."

"Copy that, Jace," The Rookies voice sounded slightly bolder then it did when Jace had first met him. He was becoming a true ODST now. Derrick peered around the corner of the pillar he had been hiding behind. Raising his M7S he roared, "Eat this you big ugly ape!" flashes of gold appeared on the muzzle of his submachine gun as he peppered the Brute with 5 by 23mm M443 Caseless Full Metal Jacket rounds. The rounds didn't seem to affect the brute that much; he just smiled as the rounds bounced harmlessly off his shields. But that was all the time Jace needed; kneeling down in a crouch position he aimed his BR and fired twice.

The Brutes head snapped back from the first burst; its helmet flying off. The second shot ended its life. The Brute fell over like a tree after being cut down. "Woohoo, Yea, nice shooting Cole," the Rookie did a jump of joy. Jace made his way slowly to the dead Brute. It looked like a cross between a rhinoceros and a gorilla. He gave it a solid kick to ensure it was dead. The rookie formed up next to him, "What the hell is that? I've never seen this type of Covenant species."

Jace knelt down and took off two spike grenades the Brute was carrying. The grenades were peculiar. It was essentially an ovular head with a shaft protruding from its bottom; multiple spikes were present on the spike. Jace placed the spike grenade on the armor along his thigh. At three feet long it came down just a little pass his knees. He handed the other to the Rookie who shook his head not wanting one. Jace shrugged and placed the grenade back down next to its original owner.

"There called Brutes," Jace explained as he began to make his way down the empty street; the rookie hard on his heels, "They were spotted during the harvest campaign nearly 30 years ago." Jace halted at a corner and peered around; BR raised. Seeing nothing he moved forward, "They aren't as common as there Elite counterparts, and humans have only see them here and there since the beginning of this damn war."

"Have you ever fought them before now?"

"Yes once on the planet Sigma Octanus IV, back then we didn't know what the hell those things were; a pack of like six of them wiped out half of my platoon of thirty. It had been a slaughter feast." Jace had unintentionally stopped as he recalled the event. Carmine seeing this realized he might have asked too many questions, "I'm sorry Corporal; I bet the men you lost there were brave soldiers."

"Every single one of them," Jace grimaced, "now I'm gonna kill every fucking ape we see, with no mercy." Carmine smiled as the he followed the black ODST, I'm glad that he's on my side.

The two ODST wandered through the empty streets of the warehouse district. A few days ago; before the Covenants invasion this area would be packed with the hustle and bustle of workers, even at night. Now it was a ghost town. The big empty dark warehouses looked menacing to Carmine as he followed Corporal Cole. They didn't run into any more Covenant patrols. "It's quiet Jace, where you think all the Covenant at?" Jace moved in a slight jog as he answered, "My guess is that the Covvies already ransacked the warehouses for all its supplies."

Carmine was catching on, "So there's no huge need for them to be guarding empty buildings."

"Correct my young padawan," Jace joked. He stopped at the entrance of one warehouse and peeked inside, "It also makes these empty buildings a key place to rest in." he opened the warehouse doors slowly trying to not make much noise. But the old rusted doors still creaked and groaned as they slid open. Carmine made his way inside as Jace closed the door.

Inside the warehouse there were boxes packed high full of nothing but Styrofoam and packaging chips. The two ODST sloshed through the knee high packaging tools as if they were trying to walk through snow. Jace led Carmine towards the back of the warehouse. Jace slouched against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, "Boy, am I tired." He went into his side pouches and pulled out a candy bar. He took off his helmet and rested it between his legs. He took a bite of the candy bar and looked as if he had orgasmed; something Carmine could see through his VISR.

Jace looked up at the still standing rookie, "What are you looking at rookie? Take a seat and have something too eat." He tossed him another candy bar, but Carmine tossed it right back. "No thanks Corporal, I got something a little more sufficient."

He sat down and unhooked his rucksack. Taking off his helmet as well; he opened the rucksack and took out a MRE. The MRE or Meal Ready-to-Eat was a self contained, individual field ration used by UNSC servicemen in the field. It consisted of enough food to feed a man for one day, mostly beef, peas and rice. Carmines at the moment consisted of a Beef patty and Beef slices with BBQ sauce. Jace had had a MRE but it had been crushed when he had hit the surface in his pod.

Carmine handed him some of the beef slices and half the Beef patty. Jace accepted them putting aside his candy bar. "Thanks Private." Carmine just shook his head and began to eat.

The moon was full tonight and the moon light shown right through the skylight of the warehouse and provided the ODST with adequate lighting. Jace looked up at the moon wondering if he would see it again after tonight. "That's the thing about being a soldier," he said taking a bite of the beef slice, "You never know if you will survive to see another beautiful thing such as the moon again, you have to cherish every moment you got, because you don't know when it's your turn to bite the bucket.

Carmine nodded in agreement. This was his first deployment and he already felt like he wasn't going to make it. Jace looked over at the rookie; this is going against all my better judgment, but the rook ain't half that bad. "So rook tell me more about yourself?"

Carmine almost choked on his patty. He hadn't been expecting Jace to even talk to him that much. "Well I'm from Manassas, Reach, I lived there my whole life, I thought it was the safest place in the universe." Boy was I wrong. "I always wanted to be a Helljumper. Just like my dad, and when he passed away fighting on Draco III I was devastated." Jace listened intently as the rookie continued, "I joined the marines the day right after my eighteenth birthday. My mom didn't want me to go, said I'll end up just like my father, but I knew it was what I had to do. I left for basic a week later. I became a regular marine, but I was stationed on garrisoned planets that had both already been attacked and repelled or were just simply by passed by the Covenant. I wanted to get some action. And I got my chance when a few recruiters came by for the Helljumpers. I was first in line to become one. Sadly while I was stationed on those planets the Covenant attacked my home world of Reach. As you know it was completely destroyed, billions dead, and the Covenant glassed the entire planet. My mom; she never made it out. Manassas was hit hard and destroyed. After that I trained to be a Helljumper and I was finally assigned to your company at the last second. Now I'm here in New York City, with no clue if I'll survive another day or not."

Jace nodded, feeling sympathy for him, "I fell ya man. I don't know one person who this war hasn't affected in a negative way." Carmine looked over at the corporal, "Tell me about your life Corporal."

Jace rested his corn rowed head against his hands and leaned back; shutting his eyes, "Maybe another time Carmine, now it's time for some rest." Derrick was surprised that Jace had called him Carmine instead of rookie. "Don't worry Jace, I'll get first watch for an hour or so then I'll come wake you."

Keeping his eyes closed Jace shook his head, "No need for a lookout. There's no Covvies in this area and if there were they would have to open that door, and you know how loud that thing is." Carmine hesitated, but then seeing the logic behind that lay back down and rested his head against his rucksack. Within a minute he was fast asleep.

October 22, (Military Calendar) /

Brooklyn Heights, Earth, Sol System

The streets of Brooklyn heights were empty as any place could be. Cars park where their owners abandoned them, debris lay everywhere from the subsequent battle and plasma bombardment, and there were so many fires about that if looked at from the sky one could've swore that they were looking at the stars in space.

Yes the streets were empty; except for the fourteen black figures moving from shadow to shadow and cover to cover. The ODST of Alpha Company moved silently throughout the night. Not one of them made noise save for the occasional grunt as they vaulted over a fence or in Lombardi's' case stub their toe against a concrete block.

Bravo team led by the feisty lieutenant Aiko were assigned to head up north towards the AA gun that was located about a mile up the street. A mile up the street my ass, Lombardi muttered under his breath. They had left Liberty hospital exactly at midnight and had set off north into the night. A mile up the street would've taken ten minutes at the most to get there, they had been walking for almost an hour, and Lombardi had not gotten any sleep since the drop. This and the fact that he had slightly hurt his toe were beginning to anger him. And he began to show it.

"Ugh, Intel needs to get there head out of there ass and tell us exactly how far we have to go to find those damn guns." A couple other ODST muttered in agreement. However neither LT Aiko nor Gunny Fenix responded. The Gunny had gotten use to Lombardi's constant complaining, but LT Aiko hated it with a passion. Lombardi knew this and decided he would get a reaction out of her one way or the other.

"Nice choice LT, letting Captain Van Zandt tell you which AA gun to go after, I bet Alpha team has already gotten to theirs," he made gave out a loud sigh, "and of course I get stuck going to the gun that's farther away."

"Lombardi, do you ever get tired of bitching?" Aiko asked not even turning around. Lombardi smiled under his opaque visor, got her. "Do you ever get tired of busting my balls?"

Fenix shook his head, ah Lombardi you are going to regret that. Aiko still looked forward as she menacingly replied, "Oh I'll bust your balls alright. And your kids won't be able to have kids."

Lombardi had to hold back a snicker, "Hmm that seems like a date, dinner, movie and afterwards a good hardcore fuck. You are Japanese right? You guys like that freaky deeky stuff, yea I'm down for something like th…" The Japanese Lieutenant was quickly upon Lombardi. No one had even seen it coming. She moved with almost ninja like reflexes as she knocked him over and pinned him down. Pistol drawn at his face and her foot pressed a little to hard for comfort on Lombardi's groin plate.

"Don't you ever make fun of my culture again you little shit, or I'll cut you dick off and stuff it down your throat," Aiko hissed at him. Fenix knew this was getting out of hand, "Lieutenant, put away your gun, we have a mission to complete. And Lombardi keep your mouth shut and just be ready with those demo charges. You are our only way of blowing up those damn guns."

Aiko removed her foot and holstered her gun, "Very well Gunny, sorry I lost my composure there." She walked backed to the front of the group; the male ODST in her way giving her a wide berth. Ricky helped Lombardi up, "Hehe I knew you were going to get your ass kicked by her sometime during this mission."

Lombardi shrugged him off, "Ah shut up, that bitch is crazy." Ricky smiled and said, "Of course she is, she's Japanese. Your heard all that stuff she said about cutting your dick off." Lombardi nodded.

"Well back like five hundred years ago, during World War II, the Japs were known to cut off the genitals of U.S Marines and stuff them in your mouth, Ricky smiled, though it was invisible under his visor. "I guess those must've been her ancestors or something because it seemed to pass down from generation to generation," the sniper joked.

Lombardi smiled, "Hmm, where do you learn all that stuff?" Ricky chuckled, "When you are on leave and you have nothing better to do, sometimes only reading is available." Lombardi shrugged and the two hurried to catch up to the rest of the group.

Fenix fell in step with the fast moving Lieutenant, "Ma'am is everything alright, I know Lombardi can be sort of an asshole sometimes, but he is a good soldier." Aiko depolarized her visor and glanced over at the Gunny, "its okay Gunny, I've dealt with asshole like him a lot when I was in high school; bunch of perverts. Anyways back then I never defended myself but now I can and sometimes I get out of line." Fenix nodded in agreement, "That's tough LT, my life wasn't all that better."

Aiko nodded as she polarized up again. "Story time is over Gunny," she said in her command voice again, "the AA gun is in sight." She held up her hand halting the other dozen ODST behind them. They all crouched down. Ahead of them the silhouette of the humongous Covenant AA gun could be seen.

"Gunny I want you to take six men of your choosing and flank around to the east side of the gun, I'll take the rest and hit it from the west, wait for my command before doing anything." Fenix nodded and turned back to the group, "Essex, Li, Lombardi, Banks, Adams and Henson, you guys follow me. We are going to flank that gun from the east."

Fenix and the six Helljumpers chosen roadie ran into the cover of a nearby building. From there they moved through the building out the back into an alley way. They followed the alley; doing there best to stay out of the light of the nearby burning fires, until they came to the back of a small library. The library front was facing a large square, where the Covenants AA gun was placed.

They all crouched in a circle as Fenix went over his plan, "Alright we go in that library quiet, set up on the buildings front, but stay hidden within it." the half dozen troopers nodded. "Right lets go."

They entered through the buildings back door. The library was small; it was made even smaller by the large number of bookshelves that lined the walls and were placed in the center area. The group made their way pass the check out counter, there was a number of books that the librarian hadn't returned to the shelves yet. It gave off an eerie feeling, showing just how fast people evacuated the area when the Covenant came.

The group halted at the libraries front doors and window. Fenix took a peek through the closed blinds. Outside the AA gun stood there, looking as menacing as ever. The Anti Air emplacement stood on three legs that acted as a tripod for the barrel of the gun. The barrel was long and of a brownish orange color. As Fenix watched he saw the gun fire into the night sky. The teardrop shaped bolt flew up into the air in a straight trajectory; illuminating the whole area in a greenish glow as it went.

That was enough sightseeing for the Gunny, "Alright we got to take that gun out before we lose anymore ships." He looked out again and saw a few parked cars out in the street, "Team lets move out into the street, and use those cars for cover." Banks spoke up, "Are you sure Gunny, that'll leave us pretty exposed."

Fenix nodded, "Trust me, Ricky stay close on my ass, imma need you for this part of the mission." The sniper nodded hefting his sniper rifle. Fenix slowly opened the door of the library. He slowly crept out till he was in the shadow of the closest car. He turned and signaled for the rest to follow him. They too slowly slipped out making no noise at all and took position among the cars that littered the street. Fenix roadie ran from car to car till he was about half way across the street. Li skidded to a halt next to him, "What's the plan sir?"

Fenix didn't answer; he looked over the hood of the car slowly, and peered out at the gun. Below the gun a brute Captain Major in his golden power armor and wielding a plasma carbine, led a patrol of at least twenty grunts and another two brute minors. Up on the gun itself, he spotted a jackal sniper, armed with a beam rifle.

He ducked back behind the car and looked over at Ricky, "Jackal sniper up on top of the gun, he's your top priority, then you shift your fire to the golden armored brute, me and the others will handle the grunts and brute minor." Ricky nodded and prepped his sniper. Fenix keyed his COM, "LT, we are in position, and ready to engage on your mark." Aiko's voice crackled over the COM, "Roger Gunny, you are free to engage."

"Right ma'am," Fenix nodded at Ricky, "Go loud." Ricky propped his sniper up onto the hood of the car and sighted on the Jackal sniper. Through the magnified scope he could see the jackal. With its beak like mouth and bulbous eyes it gave the appearance of a bird.

Ricky took a breath and entered his sniper trance, after a moment he fired. The sound echoed quite loudly throughout the darkened area, it was probably heard for miles. The jackals head exploded as the bullet passed through it and punched a hole in the AA guns hull. Ricky shifted his aim towards the ground where the grunts were squeaking and shuffling in surprise and the brutes were looking around for targets.

By this time Lieutenant Aiko and the others all fired at once. Bullets ripped into the grunts and some ignited their fuel tanks blowing them up like mini fireworks. The brutes fired in quick succession; though by the trajectory of their shots they didn't know where they were firing at. The Captain Major took out a little oval like object and threw it on the floor. A golden energy shield sprouted out of the object and encased the brute within. The other two brutes got within as well, along with a squad of six grunts.

Bullets pinged harmlessly off the shield. Fenix knew that they were in trouble; it had looked like the Brutes had found where much of the fire was coming from. The shield suddenly disappeared. However this didn't affect the brutes at all. The Captain Major ordered the grunts to charge there position while the two brute minors swiveled around to engage LT Aiko and her men.

The grunts charged forward with reckless abandon, firing their plasma pistols at the ODST. But the cover of the cars was enough to stop the little green blobs of plasma. Fenix popped up and quickly put down two grunts with suppressive fire. However he didn't see the Captain Major take aim at his head with its Plasma Carbine. Ricky did.

Ricky fired once from his SRS99D. The round flew out with a white tail of smoke trailing it, and it took the brutes head completely off. "Hot damn! Nice shot," someone yelled over the COM. Ricky smiled at the kill, though deep down inside he wished that had been an Elite so he could mark it down as one of his kills.

The rest of the grunts and Brutes were finished off after a few more minutes. Not one Helljumper had been injured in the attack, a feat that they cherished greatly. The fourteen ODST came to the base of the AA gun. Fenix and Aiko shook hands as the others congratulated each other on a job well done. "Now let's blow this thing and get back to Liberty for some much needed R&R," Aiko commanded, looking over at Lombardi she said in a sincere voice, "Lombardi, dear will you please place the detonation charges on the legs of this thing so we can get outta here." Lombardi bowed and replied, "Anything for you darling." Fenix had no idea what just happened and he really didn't care he just wanted to get some rest. It had been along day and night for them all. "Everyone else set up a perimeter, lets make sure no more bad guys ruin our lovely night."

Lombardi placed the charges on each of the three legs. He then started punching in the codes for each device. He was taking a little too long for Fenix's taste, "Hurry up with those charges will ya."

"Do you want to do this," Lombardi snapped back as he punched in the final codes, "Cause this ain't a job you want to rush." He quickly ran out from under the base of the gun into the cover of the cars where the other ODST were gathered.

"That do it?" Aiko asked. Lombardi didn't respond he simply pressed the detonator in his hand. There was a big explosion. The three legs of the gun quickly fell out from under it. The barrel of the gun fell into one of the nearby buildings; crumbling it completely. Aiko nodded in approval at the demo mans handy work, "Nice, now lets get back to command, I don't know bought you guys but I need a much needed rest."

The other Helljumpers responded with nods and the occasional "Oorah" for agreement. The fourteen Helljumpers began the long march back to Liberty Hospital.

It was another hour and a half before they got back to the hospital. A majority of the building was dark because of the massive blackout the city had experienced when the Covenant attacked. What little light was from a backup generator and that was only going to the rooms that had marines with sever enough injuries they needed a machine or an IV to help them. Everybody else had to sit in the dark or use what flashlights they had.

For Lieutenant Aiko being in the dark wasn't that big of a deal, with the VISR feature on their HUD's the ODST could see in the dark perfectly. Aiko made her way pass countless marines of the relived Charlie Company. Most were sleeping, some were eating and others just sat there looking out at the wall in front of them with blank stares.

Aiko had seen that before on many soldiers. It was the thousand yard stare and soldiers usually get it after going through intense firefights and battles. Aiko had experienced it after the Battle of Reach; where she lost about a half of her company.

She walked past the battle weary marines to the 2nd floor command center. Despite it being the middle of the night it was as busy as before. Captain Van Zandt stood next to Major Harper. The two were in deep conversation when Aiko arrived. She saluted, "Captain Van Zandt, Lieutenant Aiko reporting in sir." Van Zandt returned the salute, "At ease LT. How did your mission go?"

"We successfully destroyed the Covenant AA gun sir, and we took no casualties." Van Zandt smiled, "That's what I like to hear, but we aren't out of the woods yet Lieutenant."

"What do you mean sir?"

Van Zandt motioned over to Major Harper, "Major Harper's drones picked up a large Covenant group massing in the Brooklyn Bride Park, with more on the way." Aiko looked worried now, "A counter attack sir?" Van Zandt nodded, "Yup, the Covies must've figured the last human resistance in the city is in Liberty Hospital, now they look like they planning to come at us full force."

"What about reinforcements?"

It was Harper who answered her question, "The 81st armored brigade is en route to the city now, but they are coming from New Jersey and with so many damn Covenant in the area it'll take them a few hours to get here, hopefully they make it by dawn." Aiko nodded, understanding the situation.

"So get your rest now, Lieutenant," Van Zandt instructed, "Cause you're going to need it." Aiko nodded and proceeded to leave the crowded command center. "And LT," Van Zandt called after her, "Tell the rest of the men in the company."

"Aye, sir." Aiko went around finding the remainder of the ODST of Alpha Company telling them the disappointing news. She went to the area Gunnery Sergeant Fenix and his squad sat. they had their helmets off and were talking amongst themselves. "Yo Gunny, got bad news for you."

"Are you pregnant?" Lombardi burst out, "Damn so you had sex with a guy like the Gunny here, but you wouldn't spare time for a stud like me." Ricky snickered but made sure not to let Aiko see him laughing.

Aiko ignored him and turned back to Fenix, "Looks like the Covenant are preparing a massive attack on the hospital. The attack should come by 0900 hours."

"How large is the attack force?" Fenix inquired. She spread her arms out to their full length, "Huge, you and your boys' better rest up now."

Before Fenix could answer, Lombardi smoothly said, "I'll rest up if you join me Lieutenant." Aiko rolled her eyes before walking away. Fenix could've sworn that she said something about Lombardi and fragging, but he decided to not worry about it. the thing he was more worried about was this Covenant attack.

Turning to his squad he asked, "How are you guys on ammo?"

"I'm good for another go at the bastards," Ricky said as he polished his sniper.

Lombardi lay back on the floor and proceeded to close his eyes, "I have about two more clips for my M7 and if anything I could just take up some dead marines' shotgun and use the ammo pelt around my leg."

Ricky seemed made at the statement, "Come on man, how you just going to sell the grunts out like that, they fight just as hard as we do."

"Just saying, but come dawn there is going to be a lot of dead marines and ODST."

Ricky shook his head at the comment. Although he didn't approve Fenix knew that Lombardi was right, come dawn there is going to be a lot of dead people.