2Lt Grey, M. Day 1, 2200 Hrs
Lieutenant Matilda Grey watched the industrial district burn from within her Warthog. Her supply convoy had been halted due to reports of an ongoing attack near Firebase White. The attack happened to be taking place right along their route. She considered turning the entire convoy around and taking another path over a few hills to their south, but it would've been a nightmare to maneuver her fifteen vehicle convoy back through the destroyed, cramped, burning streets of Victory City. When they saw drop pods descending in the distance, she decided to have the convoy hold position until it was clear to move.
They were in as much of a defensive stance as they could put up. Every vehicle sat still with their lights and read-outs powered off. The entire column was in the middle of a deserted street; nobody liked it. Marines scanned the glowing darkness around them with their bare eyes. Grey found it ironic that for a platoon of truck drivers whose sole purpose it was to deliver supplies, they themselves hadn't been supplied with proper night vision equipment. The only personnel who were issued night optics were the drivers and squad leaders.
Sensing her driver's trepidation, she picked up the vehicle's radio and spoke into it. "Viper 6, Viper 6, this is Gypsy 3, over." Beside her, Gunnery Sergeant Grimes tapped his foot absently on the floor of the Warthog. Turning back to their gunner, Lance Corporal Park, he told him to keep his eyes open and keep scanning his sector.
Viper 6 responded, "Gypsy 3, this is Viper 6. Send your traffic, over."
"Viper 6, is your sector cleared of hostiles?"
"Roger that Gypsy 3. We are clear of hostiles for the time being. If you want to push through, now's the time, over."
"Copy that Viper 6, out." She nodded at GySgt Grimes, who nodded back and shifted the Warthog from park to drive. Grey switched the radio to the platoon net and said, "All Gypsy 3 victors be advised, Viper is clear of contacts. We are oscar mike. I say again, we are oscar mike."
Engines began to rev as the point vehicle led the convoy away from their stationary position. Out of all her vehicles, she only had three M12 gun Hogs. Her command vehicle was one of them, and she placed the other two at the front and the rear. The rest of her vehicles were of the M831 variant, the troop transport. Except they were transporting crates of medical supplies and ammunition instead, and the troops on the back had to find enough room to squeeze in among the cargo.
They continued along, driving through the dark. The streets were deserted. Past the next block, on the other side of a line of medium-high buildings, they would hit a dirt road that would take them south to Firebase White. As they came up to the buildings the convoy ground to a very sudden, instantaneous halt.
GySgt Grimes slammed on the brake. The Warthog stopped just short of colliding with the transport in front of them. The Marine sitting on the backseat of the cargo bed in front of them breathed a sigh of relief and peered around the ammo boxes to find out what was happening. The other vehicle occupants in the convoy began giving out orders to their Marines to watch their sectors and stay frosty.
Lt Grey keyed her helmet radio. "Gypsy 3-1, what's holding us up? Over."
"Uh…it's nothing Gypsy 3. Some friendlies were crossing the road. We're oscar mike again."
"Roger that. All Gypsy 3 victors prepare to move."
The convoy set out once more. As they rolled by the buildings, Grey looked over her driver's side and saw a group of six ODSTs moving down an alley. One of them was eyeing the convoy as his companions walked past. Then, shaking his head somewhat mockingly, he turned and disappeared into the shadows.
Rolling down the dirt road, Gypsy 3 saw the remains of a massive battlefield. Fires burned sporadically in the no-man's land, and bodies and twisted metal covered the ground in various states of ruin. Whatever houses used to remain in the wide-open stretch of earth before them were now nothing more than husks of debris having been leveled consistently by artillery. The Marines tried to keep scanning for threats, but the sight of it all drew the majority of their attention while driving through.
Soon they came up to a system of trenches. Marines and Helljumpers sat silent and still within them. The road turned south and the convoy followed. On the far left side of the earthworks, a large bunker stood between the road and the trench. Thick sets of barbwire crossed the road, held in place by removable sticks or rods dug lightly into the ground. On the other side of the road was a small wall and then a smaller system of trenches. A Marine manning the makeshift gate came out of the bunker and lifted the end of the wire, walking it over to the far side of the road and pulling the gate open for Lt Grey's convoy. They continued through and Grey nodded to the Marine as they drove past.
The road to Firebase White was nothing but dirt, sand, and the occasional clump of grass. When they pulled up to the rudimentary-looking base, they had to wait while the gate was opened for them. The walls of the base were roughly ten feet tall. Reinforced barriers, packed with dirt and rocks, supported the inside perimeter, rising just a little below the height of the main wall. The barriers also allowed for defenders to climb on top of them and defend the walls wherever they needed to. The gate before them was guarded by a pillbox, a small tower, and a gatehouse.
On the inside of the base, artillery guns fired nonstop while Marines rushed about their duties on the ground. Several landing pads were present, with medevac Pelicans transporting the wounded out. Two large Scythe anti-air guns stood imposingly, one positioned at each end of the firebase. The structures in the base were tents, either made of canopy or the composite metal used for more long-term UNSC encampments. All tents were dug in a couple feet below the earth and reinforced with sandbags and barriers.
Gypsy 3-1 brought the convoy to a halt in front of the supply tent, where the Marines stationed there directed the vehicles into parking spots around a small lot. Without wasting any time or being told what to do, Lt Grey's Marines leapt out of their vehicles and began to unload everything they had brought with them. Nearby Marines with no tasks at hand rushed up to help, carrying supplies into the large tent beside the lot.
The supply sergeant came up to Lt Grey. He was a short man with dark hair who wasn't wearing his headgear. He had the beginnings of a beard, and the hair on his head had grown longer than what would normally be allowed. He said to her, "It's a good thing you got here ma'am. The Covenant just hit our forward position hard. We expended just about everything keeping them back."
Lt Grey responded, "No problem at all. We brought enough 120 millimeter shells for the guns to keep firing for another day. If you need any help distributing the chow and ammo to the line companies, I'd be happy to help you do that. In the meantime, I think we should unload the medical supplies for the aid station first."
"Right. Uh…we'll be fine with the distribution. Each company will be sending their own Hogs to pick up ammo. I'll just need help documenting the supplies we received."
She nodded, reaching into her Warthog, pulling out a small datapad, and handing it to him. "Here's a manifest of the supplies. Copy it from here."
"Thanks ma'am."
"Those Helljumpers…" Lt Grey started, having just remembered seeing them in the trenches.
"Those guys saved our lives. They dropped in just in time."
"I didn't know they would be coming in," she said, "Will there be enough ammo for both them and the battalion?"
The supply sergeant paused, pursed his lips, then he shrugged. "We'll make do. I'm gonna have to take them into consideration when we hand out the supplies to each company." He looked at her appreciatively. "Glad you pointed that out. I would've completely forgotten about them."
Grey shrugged. "Don't mention it.
She didn't want her people to stay at Firebase White for long if they didn't need to. Seeing as the Marines there were holding up well enough on their own, and that Gypsy 3's mission objective had been completed, Lt Grey told her platoon to mount up. In proper order, the Warthog convoy turned about and drove to the gates. As soon as the large metal doors slid to each side within the walls, the Warthog column rolled out onto the dirt road.
Once they return to headquarters, another mission would be waiting for them. As a result of all the heavy fighting, the only effective way to transport enough supplies without having to make multiple runs was to transport it all at once. Her convoy was more vulnerable to attack that way, but it kept the Marines from having to make endless, never-ending trips from one dangerous position to another. At least, it should have.
They had been running convoys nonstop for the entire day. Before the battle began, she would only need to send out three or four Warthogs on resupply runs, and that was only if Pelicans hadn't already resupplied the Marine positions. It surprised Grey how quickly the supplies were used up now that the battle had begun. The Marines were expending a vast amount of ammunition in so short a time in order to just to keep the Covenant at bay. They were expending themselves too. Medical supplies diminished as the casualty rate rose, and it rose quickly during the first day.
Departing the trench line, Gypsy 3 maneuvered along the unsteady dirt path, heading west and eventually hitting the hardball road. As they passed the line of buildings marking the end of no-man's land, Grey managed a look to where she had seen the ODSTs earlier. Nothing stood there except for the shadows of the surrounding buildings. Off in the distance, the fighting continued in the industrial district. Pillars of flame rose high and illuminated the night with a violent, orange glow. Turning back to the convoy, Lt Grey decided to focus on her Marines and getting them back to base.