0115 Hours, October 21, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Sol System, Earth, Kenya, Sector B, Palace Hotel
SPECWARCOM ordered Playboy to pull his team out ASAP, a Covenant cruiser looked like it was going to glass Sector B. The last bridge out was still guarded, but the Roo would be able to punch through. There were no other ways off the island unless they swam or commandeered a boat.
"What's your effective range Panther?"
"3,000 meters with the SRS and 3 klicks with the M99 on Earth."
Sam knew Playboy was checking in case they needed to do anything. Even if they worked together before, Playboy wanted to keep everything up to date. Especially since they were on a different planet.
"You're under my command and SPECWARCOM until we get back to Mission Support Site Omega.
"Roger, I can work with that. Sure Nomad can as well."
"Good. I can teach you how to do things right."
It didn't take long for Nomad to pack their gear and make their way towards the Roo. Playboy made sure to keep security for the area high since extraction was always dangerous. With the Covenant owning the airspace, everyone was itching to get out of town.
The situation at the bridge was evolving into a very dynamic and complicated problem. If they made enough noise, the Covenant was going to send out more units. The bridge also proved to be a crucial point of information for the Covenant as well. It seemed to be the most likely place for the UNSC to launch an assault. If the Covenant lost control of the bridge, the UNSC would punish them.
Sam knew they had to make the right amount of noise to not alert the Covenant forces nearby. Yet, at the same time, loud enough for them to get through without getting killed. He theorized the plan involved a form of distraction and games to throw the Covenant off. If they could do it for long enough, the Roo would slip through with no issues.
"Who does Playboy have contact with?"
O looked at Sam as he pushed his SRS into the supply section of the Roo.
"Platoon Commander. And probably an operations officer from Joint Special Operations Task Force – East African Protectorate if that exists by now."
"And we had ONI. That seemed weird."
"Probably. But V was probably in communication with someone from JSOTF – EAP. We didn't see that line of comm."
"Would've been nice to have someone else besides V."
"Say that when you get to lead a combat team. V makes it easier. At least we don't have to manage three different people in a combat theater. All I need is one and then have V do the rest. Say what you want about Black, but they know how to manage us shitters."
"Yet they still do the shit at ASTRONAV."
Sam nodded at O, he knew the shit at ASTRONAV was something he wasn't a fan of. He rather not know about it.
Once Playboy made his way to the Roo, the rest of the Rangers joined him and began preparing the vehicle. With thirteen people squeezing into the Roo, comfort was the last thing on their minds. They wanted to get back to MSS Omega and call it a night.
"What's the plan for getting across the bridge?"
"We're going to disable their communication equipment then distract the Covenant long enough for us to slip by. When they get comms back online, we'll be long gone."
"What's at the bridge?"
"Your average mechanized platoon. No Wraith, but we got some fast movers. Roo can handle fast movers."
"Figured. Anything else?"
"Unknown. We're not able to gather a lot of intel from our location. We need to move in before we decide to execute."
"Works for me, where do you need Nomad?"
"Not sure yet. We'll figure something out. Load up, we're getting out of this shithole."
Sam signaled Nomad to load into the Roo. It didn't take long for the ODSTs to hog the best seats and leave the Rangers for what was left. He enjoyed the glares from the Ranger team as Sam settled next to O. Nothing made him prouder of Nomad than being a pain in the ass to the Rangers.
It didn't take long for the Roo to head towards the bridge. Speedy was on the wheel and hitting driving lines around corners. Sam quickly learned there was another reason why Playboy gave Speedy his nickname.
"Drive it like you stole it, Speedy."
Playboy made sure to smirk at Nomad as Speedy threw them around. It didn't take Speedy long to get the bridge in sight. The Rangers went to work on gathering intelligence and communicating with Playboy on what they were seeing. It was a textbook example of doing vehicular force reconnaissance.
Sam sat back and let the combat team do their work, Playboy hadn't given them a task. He hated waiting. Math and O shared the same frustration of not having anything to do. Even though there were only three ODSTs, they were qualified to do anything at hand.
"Pullover. Let's dismount. Bring the M99, I want to punch a hole into something. Panther, you're with Preacher."
Playboy signaled for the team to head out and into nearby buildings. Preacher grabbed the M99 and signaled for Nomad to follow her. Sam was glad he was going with the M99 Stanchion. He wanted to take out something if she gave him the chance.
On top of a local news station roof, Preacher set up her M99 as Nomad moved to set up their nests with her. Sam readied his SRS and began scanning the Covenant base for anything he could pick out. The Rangers made usages of their Bees and gathered close-target intelligence by infiltrating the base perimeter and seeing what was inside.
"Panther, we got the comm node insight. It's behind the motor pool, you should be able to see it from where you are."
"Got it, Playboy, want me to work with Preacher on engaging it?"
"Yeah, take it out. We'll engage once you got it down."
It didn't take long for Sam to recognize the comm node and find a way to take it down. They stuck out like a sore thumb in human cities. He took note of the base to locate the weak point and exploit the area. It was going to be an easy takedown for the SRS.
There wasn't anything special about the area, it was a simple platoon-sized force standing as security. Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts made the ranks with support from Ghosts and Spectres to act as transportation. Supplies were scattered across the area, Nomad made a note about how sloppy it was. They could take advantage of the area and confuse the enemy further.
"On target."
Math stared through her spotting scope and took note of anything out of the ordinary. The wind was oddly calm for them despite the air traffic in the area.
"Nothing to worry about. Fire when ready."
Sam flipped the safety off and prepared himself for another shot. He knew the Rangers were depending on him to take out the comm node. After steading his breath and clearing his mind, Sam pulled the trigger. The bullet disabled the comm node and Math relayed the information to Playboy.
"Hit. Node down."
The Ranger team went to work on disabling the remaining Covenant forces. The Ghosts were ripped to shreds by the Roo's gun and an M99 Stanchion round hit a Brute, blowing its entire torso off its legs. Sam looked over to see Preacher smiling, he knew she was excited to be using such a weapon.
Covenant targets began returning fire from behind barricades and trying to target the sniper positions. Sam located on Brute and put a round through its head. Watching the wall behind the Brute get painted with its skull was a beautiful sight. Other snipers worked with their teams to take out any major threat then ceased fire.
The short firefight against the enemy was over before Sam was able to think critically about what happened.
"Patrol coming from the left. Looks like they're investigating. Two Spectres, take it easy."
Sam took Playboy's update to wait for the situation to develop. The Covenant didn't know where he was. They had the advantage for the time being. Playboy threw two targets towards Nomad, giving Sam and O a chance to engage the enemy. The Rangers wanted to make the best usage of the extra scout snipers they had at their disposal.
"Nomad, engage those two when you're ready."
Math went to work on assigning the two targets and gave Sam the Minor while O got the Major.
"O, you ready?"
"Yeah."
"Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Wait for them to get closer. I want the Rangers to clean up the party once we start it. We'll go on my mark."
Sam continued to focus on the Minor as it walked towards the post. It wasn't going to be long for the Brutes to stumble onto their dead comrades. Math knew how to handle such situations; it wasn't her first time.
"2…1…Mark."
O hit her target clean and took the head off the Major. Sam followed by taking out the Minor with his own shot. With the two confirmed kills, the Rangers opened fire on the Covenant as they tried to regain control. Rangers moved in on the dead Covenant troops and put insurance rounds into the dead enemies. The Rangers made sure the Covenant were dead.
"Clear. Regroup on the Roo."
Sam flicked the safety on and took a breath. O was busy packing her rifle up as Math put her spotting scope away. It didn't take Sam long to gather his equipment and head towards the Roo along with Nomad.
Back at the Roo, Preacher and the rest of the Rangers began stashing their equipment away as Nomad arrived. Math knew they weren't going to get the preferred seating she wanted. Playboy was willing to give them something better.
"Once we get over the bridge, Old Mombasa is the wild west. Covenant is there in force, but we're still looking at a lot of unknowns. The Covenant still has a blackout across the sector we're pushing through. Plus, a cruiser is above so we're going to play it slow."
"Where do you need us?"
"You're going to be the lead scout with Preacher on foot. If we see contact, you're going to be the one to locate them and provide target analysis. My kids will be the QRF to you."
"Works for me. What are we looking at in Old?"
"Out of date structures and so forth. Covenant recon patrols. The usual."
"Lead the way."
Being the lead scout team, Sam and Math sat next to the left side hatch while Preacher and O sat on the right side. Speedy worked on making the drive up the bridge slow as Playboy worked with the sensor operator on any targets. Once they were clear, Speedy shot the Roo into Old Mombasa.
"Damn, it looks like an outer colony."
Sam looked at Math as the two zipped by architecture from the 25th century. It was weird to see old buildings on Earth.
"Yeah, watch the sectors."
Speedy made sure to slam on the brakes after Playboy tapped his shoulder. The sensor operator picked up something and the Roo turned silent.
"What do you got?"
"Airborne patrol. Can we disappear underground?"
"Yeah, we got a tunnel ahead. Speedy, put us in."
Speedy took off towards the tunnel and Playboy kept an eye on the situation. Sam glanced at Math and the two prepared for a quick dismount. Once inside the tunnel who knew what was going to happen.
In the tunnel, Playboy took note of the situation and waited for the airborne patrol to pass by. Once the sensor operator gave a thumbs up, he signaled for Nomad to dismount and do a forward observation. Once Nomad made their way out of the vehicle, Math took the lead forward with Sam close behind.
Looking out, Sam looked at the cruiser above and studied the configuration before looking around the rooftops. The cruiser wasn't going to pose much of a threat since they weren't a large force. If anything, the cruiser was going to send out reinforcement. Sam studied the remaining environment and heard the airborne patrol heading towards New Mombasa. It wasn't going to bother them.
"Clear."
"Rog, we're moving to you."
The Roo arrived and Playboy popped the hatch for Sam and Math to make their way back into the vehicle.
"What are those?"
Playboy gestured at the ID tags Sam had in his pocket.
"ASTRONAV ID tags. Black iced the personnel and I'm going to give it as a gift to the person who authorized it."
"Brilliant. I want to be there when that happens."
Sam nodded at Playboy and made a mutual agreement to work it out. They wanted to put the armchair warriors in their place at any chance.
"ONI killed the ASTRONAV personnel?"
Playboy shot a look back at one of the Rangers who asked the question.
"We got a mission. Let's focus on getting out of this shithole. Then we can figure out what happened."
Pushing their way forward, Sam continued to keep a close eye on the buildings. Even though the city was evacuated, they didn't want to be caught off guard. Speedy slammed on the brakes again once Playboy tapped him on the shoulder.
"For fuck sakes Speedy."
Math glared at Speedy as he returned a smirk.
"He's nicknamed Speedy for a reason."
She rolled her eyes at Preacher and looked out to see why they stopped.
"That cruiser is getting a little too close for comfort. We're working on a route to be out of its glassing shot. We're working on an alternative route. SPECWAR is routing us one, but they're telling us to go back towards New."
Sam stared at Playboy and looked at the route data on a nearby screen.
"Lovely. Who the fuck created that route?"
"Logistics sergeant."
"Want me to grab something from NAVSPEC?"
"Nah, we'll figure it out here. Keep that idea hot though."
Sam stared at his HUD to see Ava had fed him an alternative route. He threw the route on a nearby pad and tossed it to Playboy.
"NAVSPEC was eavesdropping. You got an idea from Ava."
Playboy looked at the route and tossed it to Speedy.
"What do you make of it?"
"Works for me. Keeps us out of the glassing radius. It's better than the log sarge we been working it."
"I'm for it if you are."
Playboy looked back at his team after hearing a shuffle.
"Got something you want to say?"
"We're really using NAVSPEC intel?"
"Speedy likes the route."
"Yeah, that's reassuring Speedy likes it. But it's ONI intel and they're ones for not giving a shit about recce teams. No offense Nomad."
Sam glanced at Playboy then back at the Corporal. If anything, Sam knew how to validate the route.
"It's a Dumb AI analysis. Ava has been operating on pure mathematics and statistics to create the most reasonable outcome. If she were Smart, I'd be worried like you. This has no personnel changes to it. Straight from the AI to me."
"But it's still ONI."
"Yeah."
The corporal sat quietly and stared at Sam. He surely didn't enjoy the ODST being in the vehicle and handing intel off to the Rangers.
"Alright. If this works, I will be glad."
Playboy tapped Speedy and they made a right to avoid the glassing radius. Sam glanced at a display to see they were under a cruiser and well away from the glassing radius. It didn't take long for Speedy to hook a left based on the route calculation and send the Roo flying down the road.
They continued to shoot past buildings that were still on fire or crumpled to the ground. After the Scarabs did their work around Old Mombasa and the collapse of the tether, there wasn't much standing. It was easy to pick out the destroyed Covenant infrastructure and material, the hideous purple stuck out like a sore thumb. Even with the short amount of fighting, the UNSC was successful in fighting the enemy.
"Wonder what would've happened if the UNSC actually stuck around."
Math glanced up at Sam after muttering to herself, she knew he heard her.
"The same thing would've happened now. The Covenant was going to overwhelm us and get what they wanted."
"Shame. I was thinking we'd have a grand battle since it's Earth."
"So did I. Seems like Mars and Titan got some good scraps in before the Covenant hit us."
"Yeah, should've gotten a Mars assignment."
"Don't count Earth out yet. We're on the capital world after all. Whatever the Covenant has coming for us, should be grand."
Speedy turned the Roo onto a highway and Sam caught a glimpse of Covenant activity on the road.
"Slow it down."
He continued to stare at the monitor and enhanced the image to pick out a sniper's nest. The floating tower was easy to see on the monitor. Sam wondered why it didn't show up on the sensors. But he could care less, they had a target to engage.
"Dismount."
Nomad made a quick exit onto the highway and met at the front of the Roo. They weren't surprised to see vehicles scattered across the road. It made good cover for them, but also the Covenant. The sniper's nest sat at an interesting position. It overlooked the major intersections while having the high ground.
"Sniper's nest is about 800 meters from our position. It's on top of a building and has a good view of everything happening around here. If we want to get past undetected, we need to take it out. The best option is to gain higher ground, but that will take a lot of time. If we engage it from here, we need to make sure it's a kill shot."
"What's the plan?"
"We got good cover down here. If we've been spotted, I would assume there would be more activity. But it seems not. We need to play it smart. Here's what we'll do."
Sam grabbed a datapad and began drawing a rough plan. With him on the M99 Stanchion and utilizing the Bees, they were going to sync a shot through the material. The only problem was getting close enough for a Bee to deploy. Preacher offered the idea of using the Hawkeye from the Roo to help. The long-range reconnaissance drone was bound to become the best solution.
Preacher went to work on getting Hawkeye up and running while Sam took her M99 to prepare for engaging the sniper's nest. He was excited to finally put his hands on the M99. He watched Hawkeye shoot out of its storage and raise high enough to see the sniper's nest. Math placed a tablet next to her spotting scope to study the feed and find the target.
Putting the rifle on the hood of the car and setting it up to get an angle, Math sat next to him and was guided onto the target by Sam.
"Synced with Hawkeye?"
Sam glanced at the M99's portable computer and saw Hawkeye was synced with the M99.
"Yeah."
Hawkeye continued to study the target and feed intel back to Preacher. Ballistic data was confirmed by both Math and Preacher, giving Sam the best information to engage the target.
"Ready to engage."
He flipped the safety off and double-checked the data before Math gave him the go-ahead.
"Mark."
Sam pulled the trigger and heard the beautiful sound of the M99 as it discharged one round. He studied the poor Jackal sniper who exploded on contact with the round. The sniper nest had a large hole punched into the material. The Jackal was taken care of with ease. Nothing was going to be a threat in the area.
"Holy fucking shit. That's gnarly."
Math laughed at the state of the sniper's nest.
"That Jackal doesn't exist anymore. Holy shit Sam! You blew that fucker back to the ICW!"
O was excited at the very least. Sam was glad to see some life in her after what she'd gone through inside of New Mombasa.
"Yeah, that fucker didn't know what hit him. Damn, that felt good."
"Yeah, no shit."
Sam packed up the M99 as Preacher recalled Hawkeye. She smiled at Sam as he handed her the M99 back.
"Nice shot Panther. Let's get back to MSS Omega."
Playboy offered a helping hand as Nomad packed themselves back into the Roo. Speedy didn't take long to send the Roo hurling down the highway and into the suburbs surrounding Mombasa. Before leaving, Sam looked back one more time to see the city burning and covered with Covenant, it looked like any other city the Covenant invaded.
It was easy to get frustrated with the decision making made by the higher-ranking officers. They had their reason, but Sam knew there was strategic importance to New Mombasa. It seemed like giving the coastal city to the Covenant was a short-term defeat for a long-term plan to slow down their efforts around the EAP.
It was a dream come true, they made it out of Mombasa. Nomad made it out of the shithole. They survived a tether falling, an atmosphere slipspace rupture, and countless amounts of enemies searching for something. At the very least, they survived. The mission always changed on them, but Nomad prevailed.
"We'll be back."
Sam looked up at Playboy to see him staring back at Mombasa. Deep down, he knew Playboy was right on every count.