1650 hours, September 16th, 2542 (UNSC military calendar)
Bhaakto Victory Gardens, Bhaakto City, Equatorial Plains Province, Alluvion
Ravager Squad was ready for this. Most of the squad had been wounded during the boarding of the Covenant battlecruiser above New Ghent, and the Sergeant had fallen while disabling the ship's self destruct. They ended up spending a couple of months recovering, but now they were all ready and eager for some payback.
Having inspected her Phaeston rifle and found no faults, Nialla removed the ammunition block, replacing it with one made of tungsten. She had learned from her last encounter with the Covenant to never underestimate the thickness of Elite armor. Her mind still occasionally flashed back to her bullets harmlessly glancing off the Ultra who'd cost her her squad, her best friend, and most of her limbs. In light of this, her decision to undergo full cybernetic reconstruction had been an understandable one. When she'd recovered she'd been sent to the front lines on the fastest troop ship available and given command of a squad of elite Armiger troops.
Kelnara was the Ghost-class Armiger of their squad - a young, pretty-looking, fast-moving (and even faster-talking) turian who was one of the most brutal fighters among the Armigers. She had been a squad leader once, but she was demoted for executing batarian slavers with a knife and making it take longer than it should have. This had put her career on hold, and made advancement in the Hierarchy impossible. Inspecting her Daedalos shotgun, she turned to glance at her new Sergeant.
"So, Nialla. You ever going to tell us how you lost most of your body?" she said snarkily, but with a confusing undertone of both viciousness and concern. "My helmet is marking you as 70% cybernetics and implants. You have more metal in you than most sexbots."
Yeltis, the squad's Saboteur and designated marksman who was checking the M-12 Amar rifle in his lap for faults, turned to glare at Kelnara in annoyance, "C'mon Kel'. Think about what you say. That was bad form, and beyond rude." He paused. "Even if we're all curious."
Yeltis was a quiet and simple turian, one who was content with his citizenship tier and genuinely got a kick out of being an Armiger. He had been in the squad for ten years, and refused every offer of promotion.
Nialla didn't rise to the bait. She was filling the role of a Sergeant named Seltarius, someone these Armigers respected. Unfortunately, he'd died in battle, necessitating a replacement. None of them had been deemed ready to advance a citizenship tier, which had made it necessary to find an outsider to lead Ravager Squad. Nialla had been chosen in light of her duty on New Ghent.
Next there were Gelvod and Gelnis, a pair of large male twins that looked both identical and incredibly bland, towering a head above most other turians. They had been born with conjoined brains and separated later in life when their fundamentalist mother had lost custody of them. The two spoke little, mostly preferring each other's company, and mostly focused on their role as soldiers. On the battlefield, the two were a thing to behold: both equipped in Havoc armor and wielding Phaeston rifles modified to fire heavy rounds, they worked as one, systematically eliminating anything that stood in their way. The two also refused to rise above the squad level, as they both lacked the social skills necessary for such task, and insisted on staying together.
This was the Ravager squad: four turians who all couldn't or refused to advance further up the ranks and so had instead been put in a unit that could make use of their skills. And Nialla had been put in charge of it. She would have to do her best to win their trust, and fill the shoes left by the late Sergeant Seltarius.
A large ball of plasma flew overhead, splashing over a building and melting its top floor - the work of the dreaded Wraith mortar. The turians had quickly learned to respect the raw killing power of the Wraith and its ability to wipe out whole squads from up to two kilometers away. Even in hardsuits mere proximity to the blast was fatal, and the usual pyjak-holes and bunkers didn't necessarily offer adequate protection due to the way the weapon worked.
The ground shook with from impact of superheavy artillery shekks, and the sound of heavy weapons fire could be heard across Bhaakto City's ruined suburbs. The ODSTs had ranged ahead to stall the Covenant while the defenses of the city were being prepared. Turian airmobile and mechanized forces were assisting the humans in taking on the Covenant heavy armor, but they were taking heavy losses in the relatively open terrain of the plains. Nialla occasionally caught glimpses of the main battle happening to the south-east of their position. The remaining Coalition armor in the area had moved ahead to engage the Covenant, scattered in battlegroups over a stretch of front almost twenty kilometers wide, maintaining wide dispersion where possible. They were engaged in a fighting retreat, firing on the move at the Covenant armored vehicles that closed in on the city.
There was no massed wave assault, no reckless charges; this was a well-coordinated Covenant offensive. Massed plasma mortar fire took out defensive strongpoints from a distance, as Seraph fighters and Banshee attack craft hunted tanks. There were even reports of cloaked Elites using anti-tank charges to attack lone vehicles. The turian and UNSC forces had a better armored doctrine in general, but the Covenant was compensating for this with an abundance of air power. The skies lit up with anti-air fire from both sides.
Meanwhile, squads of Jackals with carbines and beam rifles ranged far ahead, their tactics a crude facsimile of small unit tactics employed by the Coalition, led by a single Elite Minor each. The turians, not used to subtlety from the Covenant, were taking heavy losses from these kinds of kill teams. But the main Covenant force did not advance - not yet. They were softening the defenders up, sending skirmishers to find weaknesses in the city's defenses, while the Covenant artillery cleared the way for a general advance.
As the Coalition scrambled to reinforce their position, their second echelon forces and dug in on the boundary between the riverside districts of Bhaakto City proper and the spread-out low-rise southern suburbs, supplemented by special forces. Their orders were to keep an eye on the enemy scouts and skirmishers, prevent them from gaining ground and buy time as the engineers demolished buildings, mined the streets and bridges and set up killzones.
Ravager Squad had been attached to the 13th Palaven Legion's 8th Jump Infantry Company, which was deployed to Bhaakto Victory Gardens - despite what the translation software suggested, the place originally used to be a small park and only later was turned into an actual victory garden by some enterprising civilians a couple years ago. The 8th company was digging in on a small artificial hill overlooking the park, while the Ravagers were holed up in a ruined cafe near the southern boundary wall. Their position allowed them to control the southwestern approach. So far things had been quiet in their sector.
A message came in suddenly over the radio, on a UNSC frequency. "Mayday, mayday, this is Sergeant Avery Johnson of the UNSC 8th Marine Regiment. My bird is down and we're surrounded by Covenant. Requesting assistance."
"This is Ravager One. We read you, Sergeant," Nialla responded. "What is your situation, soldier?"
"Marine." Johnson corrected. "We've just fixed our radio. We are under siege by Jackals. We're holed up in the Pelican wreck. Requesting EVAC. Transmitting coordinates."
As the human rattled off coordinates, Nialla brought up the TACMAP, considered her options and decided that she and her squad were best suited to rescue these humans. They were certainly the closest friendly unit available.
"We're coming to assist. Hold your position."
"Don't need to tell me twice. Johnson out."
Closing the channel, Nialla raised a hand to draw her squadmates' attention. "Ravagers, with me. There's a crashed Pelican just over the horizon that needs our help. I'll call it in to Command."
With that, she transmitted a text message to Command, "UNSC distress call detected, grid 014 by 232. Ravager Squad moving to investigate and assist."
A second later, an error message appeared on her HUD, and she cursed the Covenant jammers.
UNIT UNDER JAMMING. LONG RANGE COM UNAVAILABLE. MESSAGE CACHED
The message would eventually get through. It would pass from soldier to soldier via short-range transmissions, each hardsuit storing the message in a cache that would be uploaded to the nearest messenger drone when it hovered overhead or transmitting it directly to Command when communications were reestablished. Turian warfare was dependent on information, and therefore there were many different ways to transfer it. Even her own implants were right now storing several messages and attempting to pass them on further.
At least the identical message she'd sent to the 8th Infantry Company's command post had been acknowledged almost instantly by their tactical VI, and the company HQ would have no difficulty reporting it in to Command, as they were tapping into an old optic fiber line.
Nialla leapt from cover, engaging her thruster pack and jet boots, and soon the entire squad was bounding across the streets at high speed. They blasted through the ruined suburb at ground level, dodging burnt wrecks of human vehicles and making sure to avoid heavy fighting.
A couple minutes later, their target came into view. The Pelican had crashed into a two-story building, the second floor having collapsed atop the dropship. Only the rear of the human craft remained visible, the massive tail boom jutting out of the rubble pile. The troop bay door was open; one could see gunfire coming from inside; zooming in, Nialla could see a human in a hardsuit manning a heavy machine gun on a pintle mount. Other humans were taking cover behind the rubble piles around the wreck.
There were two squads of Jackals skulking through the ruins around the crash site, climbing up rubble piles, peeking out of windows, firing from manholes and the rooftops. Carbine rounds and needles hit wreckage around the gunner, but his suppressing fire was preventing Jackals getting a bead on him and his compatriots for now.
Ravager Squad was approaching the fight from the side; Nialla made a series of hand gestures that her suit translated into commands and transmitted on the squad channel. Flank to the left. Jump up. Fire from behind. Ravager Squad followed behind her in a wide V formation, circling around the area, then boost-jumping up a building, careful not to skyline themselves too much. The roof was caved in, but there were broken walls on the top floor that would pass for cover. They took position, ready to fire.
"Deploying a recon drone," Nialla said. She unclipped a small recon drone from her belt and released it into the air. It was a spherical device, equipped with a small eezo core, a trio of tiny lift fans and a pair of multispectral cameras. It was also equipped with a holographic shroud to avoid visual detection. Fortunately, the Covenant didn't seem to equip Jackals with thermal imaging equipment, and the drone's fans were too quiet to be heard over the sounds of combat.
Seconds later, the drone was giving them a bird's eye view of the area. At the same time, the squad VI also tracked weapon fire and highlighted the combatants - or their likely position if they were obscured from view. Combined with the gun camera feeds, the squad's IFF transponders and the data human neural interfaces transmitted, this resulted in a pretty accurate tactical map. As soon as it was uploaded to the squad's tacnet, she transmitted the data to the UNSC soldiers as well.
"Thank you very much, Ravager," she heard the human sergeant say a few seconds later. Immediately, the humans' fire grew more accurate, and the Jackal numbers started to drop. Nialla took that as her cue.
"Engage," she ordered and opened fire. Her target was outlined red against the background on her HUD. Exposed and unarmored, it never stood a chance, and a second later the wall behind it was splattered with gore, courtesy of shredder rounds. The rest of her squad joined in, catching the aliens in a crossfire. After a couple of them engaged in very short-lived sniper duels with Yeltis, with predictable results, the rest of Jackals turned tail and tried to run. Some of them were caught in the open and gunned down.
The fight now over, Nialla jump-jetted down, landing in front of the humans guarding the wreck site; a couple of them actually waved to her before assuming a defensive stance once again. The humans were dressed in their new hardsuits, painted in UNSC green and marked with human symbols and emblems that Nialla did not know the meaning of (the translation software wasn't much of a help, either). With a thought, Nialla brought up their biometric data; while a few of them were reading suit damage, there were no major injuries. Needles and Carbine rounds didn't leave many wounded, only corpses.
The leader of the humans - a Staff Sergeant A.J. Johnson, according to her HUD - got off the turret and walked up to Nialla. "You're a sight for sore eyes. We didn't get any response to our distress calls. I need a sitrep."
"Covenant is setting up jammers through the city to disrupt communications, we're reduced to short range transmissions and messenger drones. What remains of your regiment is either burning up in orbit, back on the transport ships, or somewhere else on the planet."
"Covenant caught us with our pants down," Sergeant Johnson admitted, chomping down on a sigar. "We'll stick with your squad until we get back to our lines. What's the plan?"
"We'll pull back to the 8th Jump Infantry Company's position and hold the Victory Gardens," Nialla offered. "You could stay with us until communications are restored."
"Works for me. I'm not to type to say no to dangerous alien ladies," he replied with a grin. At that, Nialla chuckled; the human had charm.
"No, you just screw them, Sergeant," one of the Marines cut in. "We all know what you did with that asari!"
"Damn right I did, Private," Johnson said. "Sergeant Johnson leaves no woman wanting. Now, ma'am, please lead the way to the Victory Gardens."
"Understood, Sergeant. I'll arrange our extraction," Nialla nodded. She glanced at the HUD; the messenger drones were in range. She opened the channel.
"Command, this is Ravager-One. We have rescued a UNSC unit. Requesting EVAC at grid 014 by 232."
A few seconds passed; no one responded. Nialla repeated the transmission; once again, no one responded. Instead, she received an error message in bright red text on her HUD.
BATTLENET DISABLED. REPORT TO LOCAL COMMAND
A split second later, she received a text message.
ACKNOWLEDGED, RAVAGER. BATTLENET DOWN. REPORT BACK ASAP - LAMBDA-3
Lambda-Three was the callsign of the 8th Jump Infantry Company. Nialla turned to her squadmates, who just nodded gravely.
"We're walking, humans. BATTLENET just went down. Let's hope it's temporary."
-
The trek back to their previous post was uneventful. The combined squad moved in the ruined streets together, covering each other and avoiding direct confrontation with any substantial Covenant force. They could still hear the trademark hiss of plasma mortars and the report of Coalition artillery firing in retaliation; in fact, going by the sound, the battle was only intensifying. As they approached their destination, they could see buildings sagging and eventually melting under the sheer power of Covenant bombardment.
Nialla still couldn't raise Command on the long-range comms, while the updates from the 8th Jump Infantry and their neighbours became more urgent in character, advising that the Covenant was now on the move. She was starting to get worried.
"It is not normal for the Covenant to be like this." Johnson spoke over the radio. Evidently, he had his suspicions as well. "They should have attacked already, not spend this much time softening us up."
"What if they knew they needed to soften us up?" Nialla wondered out loud. "We've got a good defensive position. Why not bomb us first?"
"I've been fighting the Covenant from the very beginning," Johnson mused, "and I have never seen them be this cautious." He looked at his armored gauntlet contemplatively. "I guess they don't like Marines being able to survive a few plasma shots and are adapting. This new gear is quite nice, but now I have to wonder what the Covenant will pull out of their asses or whatever orifice passes for one, next. They don't like being on the backfoot."
With that sobering thought in their minds, they reached the Victory Gardens. The alleyways lined with cabbage and vegetable patches in flowerbeds told the story of locals doing what they could to supplement their rations over the last few months. The squad also got a good look at the defences their hosts were preparing.
"Damn, you guys work fast," Nialla heard one of the humans comment. Glancing at him, she brought up his IFF. Apparently, his name was J. Passalaqua. "You been here for how long, an hour?"
Indeed, the 8th Jump Infantry had been busy. While their role in the order of battle meant they were relatively light on hardware, they made up for it with sheer enthusiasm. Most of the buildings that were still standing on the near side had been collapsed; the rubble would channel any attackers into a killzone, which the company furnished with buried motion sensors, landmines and a few sentry guns. The trees, supplemented by a mish-mash collection of portable barricades, both of UNSC and Hierarchy make, provided a plenty of cover. Nialla could also make out machine gun nests on the gently sloping hill, and she was sure they had an auto-mortar battery stationed on the hill's reverse slope, if she remembered the order of battle for jump infantry correctly. The surviving buildings on the far side provided plenty vantage points for snipers, and the whole setup would ideally buy enough time for the reinforcements to arrive.
They reached a ruined pavilion, where a squad of soldiers were hurriedly scarfing down some ration packs from a crate, occasionally glancing at the ruins beyond. Nialla checked the nutrient levels in her storage tanks. At her current rate, she wouldn't have to worry about food for a week.
"You hear that?" Sergeant Johnson suddenly asked.
"Hear what?" Nialla asked in confusion. She couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary, even with her enhanced hearing.
"The bombardment stopped." Johnson stated bluntly.
"All units, we've got hostile contacts closing in from the south. Open fire!" the company commander suddenly cut in over the radio.
At that, Nialla snatched up her rifle, ran outside and took position near a ruined human car, patching into the company's TACNET. The turian soldiers of 8th Jump Infantry rushed to their positions, just as the first wave of Grunts closed in. The defenders opened fire immediately, a veritable wall of metal ripping through the attackers and stopping the charge cold. It was over in a minute; the friendly casualties were negligible.
There was no second wave.
An awkward silence stretched as the defenders intently scanned the ruins, looking for more Covenant attackers. To the east, the battle for the main highway was intensifying as more and more shells and plasma were hitting targets 8th Company could not see; however, there was no sign of an attack on the Victory Gardens besides the doomed first wave… except the Covenant almost always committed. A horrible realization dawned on Nialla: the Covenant sacrificed a few dozen Grunts so that the defenders would reveal their firing positions.
"Artillery strike imminent! Take cover!" Nialla screamed into the radio, broadcasting in the clear even as she hit the dirt and rolled down into a drainage ditch. Unfortunately, the warning was too late: not a second later, the first plasma bolt streaked down from above, immolating a pavilion and the squad that holed up inside, even as the rest of the defenders scrambled to jump into their pyjak-holes.
It was raining plasma; the Covenant must have had a company of Wraith tanks on standby. Nialla curled up, pumping all available power into her kinetic barriers and waiting for the bolt that would kill her. Environmental alarms blared in her helmet as the suit tried to keep the heat at bay. She could see vitals flatlining and transponders vanishing from the tacnet one by one.
Then the bombardment abated, and Nialla peeked out only to see what had to be two hundred Jackals and two dozen Elites moving forward (the headcount courtesy of company VI). They were advancing in groups, one squad laying down cover fire as the others advanced.
The surviving defenders opened fire, dropping a handful of Jackals. Unfortunately, these Jackals seemed to have better training and reflexes than their brethren at the crash site, and they wasted no time taking cover as their marksmen started headhunting for any turian or human poking their head out of cover, IFF signals steadily winking out. For a moment, all seemed lost.
Then a miraculously surviving automatic mortar opened up, forcing the Jackals to hunker down. The surviving Coalition soldiers immediately seized the opportunity and beat a hasty fighting retreat towards the command center, darting from cover to cover on foot or with the help of jump-jets, intent on making their stand there. A heavy machine gun opened up, unleashing withering fire downrange and covering their withdrawal.
Even then, some Jackals still poked their heads up, and their aim was apparently still good enough to hit even rapidly moving targets, as Nialla found out. One bound, and a purple beam speared a human, punching right through the barricade he was taking cover behind. Another boost-jump, and the mortar fell silent. Just as she approached the command center, a particle beam lanced out once again and took the head off a turian right next to Nialla. A second later, a message appeared on her HUD, courtesy of company VI.
SENIOR SURVIVING OFFICER/NCO: SGT NIALLA. TRANSFERRING COMMAND AUTHORITY.
WARNING: VI STORAGE IN DANGER. TRANSFERRING TO HARDSUIT.
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.
At that, Nialla looked around and noticed that the company's command post, just a few dozen meters away, was gone, only a blackened crater remaining in its place. The landline connection to Command was gone as well. She compartmentalized that fact away; dwelling on it would be no good. Instead, she opened the channel...
Messenger drones still active and in range. Good.
… and sent a transmission.
"Command, this is Lambda-Three. We are under attack; heavy losses sustained. Requesting fire support at our position, danger close. Marking grid 015 by 234 for artillery support."
Her answer was silence. She repeated the message; still silence. Nialla would have gone pale if she could. Command had clearly been taken out of action by something; either that, or the communications networks in this part of the city were disabled.
Another biometrics readout representing one of the soldiers now under her command winked out; the machine gun fell silent. Now the Coalition forces in this sector consisted of a full Armiger squad, an understrength UNSC marine section and a badly depleted jump infantry company that at this point had less troops than a platoon.
Nialla felt conflicted: on one hand, they'd be abandoning their position. On the other hand, without heavy weapons or support they'd be overrun in short order. Gritting her teeth, Nialla turned on her radio, transmitting on the company's assigned frequency, "All units, fall back to the river. I repeat, fall back to the river! We'll regroup with the forces there."
They dropped grenades, their fuses set to proximity detonation, and broke into a sprint.