A/N: I don't own anything from Halo, Red vs Blue, or any of the Band of Brother references.
Leonard had been surprised how fast he'd become used to the feeling of a drop. It had been almost a year since his first drop but now he didn't even notice as his pod was released. He no longer feared the long wait until his pod started to slow. He didn't even notice when he entered the atmosphere. His bones didn't feel like they were going to shatter as his pod hit the ground. As the front hatch jettisoned Leonard had his SMG up and ready to fire. The area was clear of any targets though two other pods had landed near by. Leonard jumped out of the pod grabbing his supplies. As he moved across the field he was joined by Steve and Allison. They hopped a fence and slid into a ditch beside the road. They moved along the ditch soon joined by Keith and Andrew. The ground was soft under their feet as they moved along the ditch. Ahead they could see the rising smoke undoubtedly coming from their target. The main big city had been captured by the loyalist a few days before and they were now taking back the surrounding smaller towns. Leonard halted as they reached the edge of the town and the ditch ended connecting to the sewer.
"How far are we from the rendezvous point?" Leonard asked looking back at Keith. Their pods had landed in the wrong place. They had been dropped in the outer farming area, though there was nothing left of the wheat fields. They'd been burned right away by the covenant when they'd invaded.
"About a mile and a half north." Keith replied. "Though the only way there is through a ton of open field. We'd be sitting ducks."
"That's not the only way." Leonard corrected. "We're just lucky that the Lieutenant gave us the full layout of the town." He said bringing up the layout on his HUD. "Andrew, help with this grate." The two marines pulled off the grate to the sewer tossing it to the side. They moved into the underground tunnel with Leonard in the lead and Steve taking the rear. Leonard lead them through the maze of underground passages stopping at one of the short tunnels that lead up to a man hole. "I'm going to check that we're on the right path." He said before climbing up the ladder and pushing the man hole cover up. He peeked out glancing around for any land marks. He spotted a wraith tank surrounded by a patrol group. Leonard set the cover back in place. He moved down to the others. "We're on the right track." He reported. He then led them onward. They removed another grate and exited out into another ditch.
"Now, how far are we from the rendezvous point?" Leonard asked once they were out of the sewers.
"It's right on the other side of the road." Keith replied. After being sure that they wouldn't be spotted the five soldiers moved across the street and slid into the ditch.
"What took you so long?" Winters asked as he spotted the five. "We've been waiting forever for your asses."
"Sorry sir, we were dropped a bit farther then anticipated. I did find out that there are some wraith tanks." Leonard reported. "Exactly how many I don't know."
Winders nodded. "We'll need to take out those wraith tanks. We can't make
our ground assault until they are neutralized." He paused for a moment. "What is that ungodly sent?"
"Sorry sir, that's probably me. We had to use the sewers to get here." Leonard explained.
"Maybe you and Alpha team would like to make another trip down there." Winters said though the tone of his voice made it obvious that there was no choice.
Fifteen minutes later Leonard, Allison, and Steve stood waiting for the boom. It followed a few seconds later as a dull thud that shook though the sewers nearly dislodging the manhole cover. Leonard connected his radio to one of the metal pipes that ran along the top of the sewer. They had already made a connection to the rest of the team though the same pipe before they had set off. "This is Alpha team reporting in."
"I have you Alpha team. What's your status?" Winters asked over the radio link. "How many tanks have you taken out?"
"Sir, mission is completed. The last of the wraiths have been destroyed." Leonard reported.
"Well double time it back here. We're going to make our assault on the town." Winters ordered.
"Will do sir, Alpha team out." Leonard replied cutting off the connection. "We're heading back. Be ready to charge into hell." He ordered. The others nodded and followed Leonard as they made their way out of the sewer. They had found five wraith tanks and one by one had set explosives in their path. The black cases they had put the explosives in had matched perfectly with the roads and the lookouts hadn't seen them till the wraiths were over them and they became a ball of fire. They joined back up with the rest of the troops waiting in the ditches outside the town.
"Alright, Church, You'll take Fisher, Brigs, Willson, Sorn, and Smith with you. You'll take the East side of the city. Everyone else is with me. We're going to take the West side." Winters ordered.
"Yessir." The soldiers chorused. They split up into their two groups to wreak havoc. It didn't' turn out to be as fun as Leonard had hoped. It turned out to be mostly just checking that buildings were empty. Without the wraith tanks the forces in the area were no match for the ODST. They ran into only two brutes before making it to the court house that was where the two teams were to meet up. They now sat taking cover behind chest high walls.
Lorie moved over to where Leonard was taking cover. "Sir, we have a problem." She reported.
"What is it?" Leonard asked as he glanced around his cover at the courthouse. There was a pair of shades stationed at the front of the building keeping them away from the entrance.
"Lieutenant Winters had been injured. Korton and Borm are moving him out of the town for safety." She reported. "He said you were in charge."
"I'm confused, where's the problem in this?" Leonard asked but there was no reply. "That's what I thoughts. Alright, I've looked over the building and I have a plan. Lorie, go tell Allison to get over here." The marine nodded and then moved off to get Allison. "Once Allison gets here I'll tell you the plan." Leonard said turning to Steve who was beside him. "What's wrong?" He asked noticing that Steve was looking at him confused.
"Why were you looking at the building? Not to mention you came up with that plan rather fast." Steve replied.
"I always come up with a plan. The Lieutenant always asks me for a plan." Leonard answered. Allison arrived and he laid out his plan. Allison and Leonard moved off to gather their teams and get to work.
Four minutes later the teams had moved into position. Leonard had long ago established steel, sapphire, and cobalt teams and he always used them in his plans. It has taken him weeks to get Allison and Steve to stop asking why he'd chosen those colors but they eventually gave up. He never wanted any of his fellow ODST to find out about Blood Gulch. Sure he'd complained about Tucker and Caboose but he'd never told them he was part of blue team. He was still ashamed of having been fooled for so long, for not having questioned their command, and for not having cared. He found it odd that he'd gone from such a boring job to where he was. Sure the sewer he stood in wasn't much better then Blood Gulch but as soon as the thermite paste finished burning a hole in the ceiling above him he would see more combat then he'd ever seen in that canyon. The mission timer on his HUD ticked down to 45 seconds. As soon as the light diminished Leonard climbed up the ladder to the glowing red circle in the steel. He set his back against the steel and pushed up. The place came loose with a snap and he set it aside. He pushed it the rest out the way away from the hole and looked around. Once he was sure the area was clear he motioned down to his team. He pulled himself up into the room moving over into the shadows. Keith and Natalie followed him melting into the shadows with him. His mission timer clicked to 15 seconds as Leonard moved his team forward to wait outside the main entrance. From the looks of the place it was their main base of operations. It explained why the building hadn't been destroyed when the loyalist had arrived. Five brutes stood around a single rectangular desk that had most likely been taken from a different room. The brutes all spoke in hushed voices pointing at the table where they had likely laid out a map. Leonard's mission timer clicked to zero and the soldiers moved forward. Just as the brutes were turning toward the three soldiers the class dome above shattered and Steel team dropped down. The brutes were distracted long enough for Steel team to drop down to a safe level. They disconnected from their lines dropping down onto four of the brutes. With the barrels of their dual SMGs flat against the beast's necks they emptied their weapons.
Leonard took his chance as the brutes were distracted to activate and stick the final brute with a plasma grenade he had grabbed off a killed grunt. Steel team scrambled to cover as soon as they'd finished, just in time to avoid the blast of the plasma grenade. Keith and Natalie had aimed their fire at the grunts that manned the stationary guns splattering the turrets with blood. The fire kept the jackals who were taking cover behind the series of columns near the entrance from returning fire. Leonard flashed his green status light twice giving sapphire team their cue. He moved and kicked the table onto its side as he and the rest of Cobalt team took cover behind it and got as low down as they could. Gun fire filled the room as sapphire team moved through the room. Once they firing had stopped cobalt and steel team joined up with sapphire team. After sweeping the building the injured soldiers were brought in and the courthouse was turned into a medical
bay.
Leonard sat beside Lieutenant Winters who had a rather bad wound on his side. "So what's next sir?' Leonard asked. They couldn't go on without their CO.
"You tell me soldier." Winters replied. "I'm too injured to continue. Sucks this is how my last mission had to end with you."
Leonard looked at him surprised by his words. "What do you mean your last mission with me?"
Winters took a deep breath before he replied. "You couldn't have thought I was going to stay with the team forever." Leonard looked away frowning. He knew that Winters wasn't going to be a part of the team forever but he didn't want to admit it. "Church, I'm promoting you to the rank of Sergeant, the paper work is already going though. You'll be in charge of the team. You have to complete the mission and recapture the city."
"Are you sure about that sir? I mean I don't know if I'm ready?" Leonard asked. He had to admit that after Blood Gulch he'd been a bit afraid of being in charge.
Winters sighed and shifted to ease the pain in his side. "You need to stop doubting yourself. You've been their leader form the start. I've kept myself distant from them, always used their last name, and never treated them as anything more then subordinates. I don't think I've ever once heard you call them by their last names." Winters said pausing to take a few deep breaths. "You captured this town. Now you just have to do it on a bigger scale."
Leonard nodded. "Yessir." He said before standing up. He exited the courthouse. Allison and Steve soon joined him. "You're both being promoted to corporals. I'll push though the paper work after we're done." He informed them. They quickly saluted him and they joined up with their team. The solders had all replenished their ammunition and were ready. Leonard looked up at the city and felt almost over whelmed. As their leader he no longer had the luxury of showing it. "Alright, here's the plan." He began.
As Leonard looked down at the New Jerusalem city that was under loyalist attack he felt that same feeling of being over whelmed. They were low on ammunition, lacking steel team, and way out numbered. Leonard took a deep breath before speaking. "Alright, here's the plan."
~End chapter 11~
A/N: Please read and review.
