Point Guderian, AKA Selfoss Strip Mine
October 9th, 0700 Atlas Time, 2552
It seemed that the enemies defenses at Point Guderian had been aimed almost entirely at keeping opponents from attacking from the ground, with very little attention given to the air. By deploying via Drop-pod, it was readily apparent that Onyx had taken them completely off-guard. Panicked screaming and gunfire filled the air as soon as Ben exited what was now clearly the Enemy's Barracks. The report of energy weapons also sounded loudly, a worrying reminder of the Enemy's capabilities.
The door led to a large balcony, overlooking a large rectangular courtyard lined with large concrete structures. The Courtyard itself was filled with a variety of heavy machinery, presumably relevant in some way to mining or refining of Dust. Somewhat surprisingly, none of it seemed to be in working order.
It seemed that Ben's pod had managed to land away from all of the fighting, as he couldn't spot anyone else in the immediate area, Grimm or human alike. He did see several airborne Grimm in the distance, although they didn't seem to have any interest in him. It seemed that for the moment, he was alone, even as the sounds of battle seemed to completely surround him.
"Interesting, it appears we have landed in an advantageous position. I wonder why there are no hostile defenders here?" Curie pondered.
"I imagine they're all on the way to the emergency staff meeting at the defenses." Ben jokingly answered, listening as an explosion sounded in the distance. "Which way did Sergeant Meadows land?"
"Approximately two-hundred and thirty meters northeast, I shall place a nav-point." Curie answered. Shortly afterwards, a small red arrow appeared to point over one of the other buildings. "I suggest we take a shortcut through the storage building that's in the way."
With newfound direction, Ben climbed over the railing and dropped off the balcony onto the ground. Once he landed, he tried to keep close to the wall of the barracks as he moved, figuring that at least the poorly-painted wall would break up his silhouette, whereas the machinery in the courtyard was too far out of the way to be useful as cover.
As he got closer to the building that stood in his path, he felt a sudden feeling of foreboding. He paused, and scanned his surroundings again, wondering if he had subconsciously spotted something out of the ordinary, but his examination yielded nothing.
"Is something wrong?" Curie asked, noticing the oddity in his behavior.
"Just a gut feeling-" Ben got most of the way through saying, before he spotted a glint of light in one of the upper-story windows of the building before him.
His training kicked in immediately, and he dove to the ground, but the Sniper had already taken his first shot by the time that Ben's instincts kicked in. The Sniper's bullet impacted his visor, knocking out well over half of his energy-shield. He stifled a swear as he scrambled back up to his feet, narrowly avoiding a follow-up shot and breaking into a sprint.
The building is the closest cover. Ben realized, but sprinting directly towards the Sniper without any sort of cover was suicidal.
The Sniper took a third shot, which grazed nearly harmlessly across his right leg, barely even scraping his shields. Ben responded by aiming his rifle without breaking pace and firing a long burst of suppressive gunfire towards the window, which seemed to deter the Sniper long enough for him to reach the base of the building. He pressed himself up against the wall as flatly as he could, trying to avoid the Sniper's line of sight.
"What the hell did he hit me with?" Ben calmly asked as he took a cautious glance upwards, confirming he was out of the Sniper's firing arc, protected by a thin rim of concrete that lined the edge of the building.
"A ballistic firearm, with an unprecedented velocity for Remnant's weaponry. I strongly suggest we investigate further, I will contact Lieutenant Jorge for permission to pursue the target." Curie replied, worry evident in her voice.
Well, we sure as hell won't be able to evacuate the slaves with a live Sniper in the area. Ben thought, raising his rifle and slowly creeping towards the open double doors of the building. Regardless of his next objective, he would still need to clear the building.
Selfoss Strip Mine, Heavy Equipment Storage, Third Floor
October 9th, 0705 Atlas Time, 2552
Major Garrett genuinely couldn't remember a time where he had been more scared. He'd seen some truly gruesome things in his career, from his teammates being devoured before him during his training at Atlas Academy, to his limited tenure as a Specialist in the military, where he had failed to rescue his subordinates from White Fang custody, and witnessed the truly terrible fate that befell the prisoners. More recently, there was the fact that the Schnee Dust Company, whom he'd enthusiastically left retirement to help defend, was actually running a brutal slaving operation behind the scenes.
Of course, he'd heard the rumors, but he had assumed that they were just accounts of racism that were blown out of proportion by zealous newscasters, more interested in their ratings than any sort of journalistic integrity. Of course, the one goddamn time he took a gamble on the conspiracy theory being false, it was actually true.
And now I'm being chased by a bulletproof lunatic who can run as fast as a car, all of our defenses are offline, and we have Grimm inside the perimeter, Brilliant! He thought bitterly, throwing his rifle up the ladder and onto the roof, before climbing up himself and bolting the hatch shut. Couldn't these Alien jackoffs have waited one more day until I got a chance to solve all this crap myself?!
Ironically, his previous military connections had earned him a position of prestige and admiration long before he actually showed up for assignment. Had he known exactly what he was signing up to defend, he would probably have either spat in the face of the SDC recruiter or shoved his rifle up their ass, maybe both. But instead, like the optimistic dumbass he was, he signed up, thinking that maybe he could do some good against the Alien invaders.
He bolted down the length of the roof, moving at maximum speed by using his Aura's massive mobility enchancement. Once he reached the edge of the roof, he took a quick look at the gap between the Heavy Equipment Storage building and the neighboring Refinery building, a twenty-foot gap, easily. In one move, he launched himself into the air and landed on the roof of the Refinery without any issue. Without an Aura of his own, the Alien would be unable to cross the gap.
A loud slamming sound echoed from behind him, he turned and raised his Sniper rifle, and spotted the helmet of the armored Alien peek out from the ladder. He took a poorly aimed shot, which would have miraculously hit its mark, had the Alien not managed to duck out of the way.
Garrett was lucky, lucky in the sense that his semblance was combat-based. Not only that, it had a high application to the type of work he used to do for the Atlesian government. Through the use of his semblance he could give his bullets a boost in speed. Of course, that had the added benefit of making them more powerful upon impact. His opponent had managed to duck out of the way, but beyond that, he had actually taken one shot directly to the head. It wasn't impossible, he had seen people with their own semblances that cold counter or even the lucky guy with absurd aura reserves. It was rare though, and yet the first alien he had encountered appeared to be one of those kinds of people.
Figures. He bitterly thought.
He cycled the bolt of his rifle and turned to flee further down the refinery roof. He was well aware that he was poorly equipped for close or even mid-range combat, with only his rifle and a low-quality combat knife that he'd pilfered from one of the dead Atlesian Knights. He had briefly considered taking its pulse-laser rifle, but he had decided against carrying the extra weight, a decision he now regretted.
He ran across the roof of the refinery, making it around halfway to the other end of the roof before the first bullet hit him in the back. He had taken a grazing hit earlier, which had given him some indication of just how badly the Alien bullets hurt, but this was a direct hit into a muscle. It felt like he'd been hit with a red-hot sledgehammer, causing him to involuntarily stumble forwards. Falling proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it freed him from several other bullets that flew over his head, although several more continued to hit him as he got back to his feet.
I can't stand up to that kind of firepower, I'll have to switch routes. Garrett realized, before throwing himself off of the roof. He hadn't had proper time to aim his fall, but luck was on his side, as he crashed through the skylight of one of the refinery's single-story extensions, and pulled himself back up to his feet.
Recognizing that the Alien would have had to jump the gap to follow him, he elected to use the time he had bought to put some difference between it and him. He bolted down the hallway that followed the refinery's coolant line before he heard a loud crash, accompanied by breaking glass behind him. He turned and saw that the Alien had followed him through a window. He fired off another poorly aimed shot, which missed its target, before sprinting down the coolant service line at full speed.
The Alien let off another short burst of gunfire, and Garrett suffered another two hits from the Alien's machine gun before he was able to round a corner into another service tunnel, which would lead to the main defense line.
This is just not my day... He thought, redoubling his pace as he heard the Alien continue to follow him.
Point Guderian, Main Defense Line
October 9th, 0709 Atlas Time, 2552
Four Beowolves danced around one of the watchtowers, diving in and out of the line of sight of the guard manning the station. Despite the guard's best efforts, they were unable to score a good hit on any of their targets. With no warning, a torrent of gunfire suddenly swept the base of the tower, killing all of the Beowolves in a matter of seconds. One of the tower's supports met a similar fate, topping both the building and its occupant into the snow roughly.
"Heh, that's good to know." Jorge commented to no-one in particular, noting the lackluster quality of the defensive structures.
His drop pod had tunneled its way rather brutally through one of the evergreen trees, the same kind that made up the vast forests of Reach. He only allowed himself a moment's nostalgia, as he had a lot to do. He quickly set about ripping apart the enemies defenses from the unique angle he had been offered while he made his way to the Rendezvous point, following the makeshift path that was offered by the enemies Defensive Line. It seemed that the trapped Helljumper had landed somewhere else on the Line, but still in Jorge's relative proximity.
Jorge spotted a trio of SDC soldiers running through the open, who were attempting to reach the Defensive Line from a series of concrete structures. He paused, took a steady grip on his weapon, and unleashed a terrifying barrage of gunfire. The 12.7mm High-Velocity Explosive rounds created a storm of shrapnel and bullets that the enemy soldiers were unable to avoid. Even as they returned fire, he kept up his barrage, before long, the three opponents lay dead.
Hmm, seems that some of these guys are tougher than others. Jorge thought. I guess Aura doesn't work so well for everyone.
A burst of light flew past him, burning a deep gash into the snow behind him. Jorge turned to face the source, and saw that the SDC soldier who he had thrown from their tower was now firing at him with a laser rifle. Jorge gave a barrage of suppressive fire as he positioned himself behind better cover, the wreckage of some strange four-legged battle robot, which had been rendered inoperable by Curie.
Before he could peek out of cover to deliver another burst, some kind of flying Grimm that resembled a lion with wings swooped down and grabbed the SDC trooper, who lost grip of their weapon as they were pulled away. Jorge took the liberty of ending both threats with a slightly longer than average burst of gunfire.
They're like Buggers, but worse... Jorge thought, disturbed by what he had seen. At least these ones don't have plasma pistols.
Jorge's motion tracker alerted him to several more flying contacts above him, and he quickly realized that the flying lion had not come alone. At least half a dozen of its kind circled at a low-altitude over him. One of them attempted to dive on him a quick burst of gunfire from Jorge that ensured that it was dead before it hit the ground. The rest seemed to recognize the threat he posed, and dove as a group, attempting to overwhelm him from various angles.
Forcing himself to use short controlled bursts, Jorge tore two of them apart before turning to blast apart a third. The remaining three surprised him by pulling away before they landed, before proceeding to spit balls of fire at him. One of the fireballs missed, but three hit their mark, dissipating over his energy shields with minimal damage.
Jorge gave a mild huff of annoyance as he retaliated, killing the remainder of the flock with little effort. Before he could continue along the SDC's defensive line, his helmet's communication system alerted him to an incoming transmission.
"Onyx, this is Dominion, requesting SITREP." A man's voice came through, who Jorge recognized as Ensign Gillespie.
"This is Onyx Actual, we've landed and engaged the enemy, but we're still regrouping. No sign of the packages so far." Jorge replied, not allowing himself to be distracted as he blew a smaller Grimm, some sort of canine, into a fine black mist.
"Affirmative Onyx, move to eliminate all enemy resistance. Be advised, congestion will delay air support, Excalibur estimates fifteen minutes till arrival." Gillespie said.
Huh, I guess the Sparrowhawks are in high demand. Jorge thought. "Onyx copies all."
"Good hunting, Dominion out." Gillespie stated, before the transmission ended.
UNSC Dominion, Bridge
October 9th, 0715 Atlas Time, 2552
The Bridge of the Dominion was no longer filled with idle chatter or muttering, all Winter could see was focus and professionalism. Even when outright searching for flaws in their actions, she came up empty, although that could also be attributed to her lack of experience in the Navy. She had always been a soldier on the ground, sword in hand as she led forces into battle, not a spectator on the Bridge of a warship.
It's fascinating seeing a battle from this angle, especially given who's doing the fighting. Winter thought, noting how the faint report of the Dominion's point defense guns was audible even from the Bridge.
The view out the front windows was rather lackluster, as Commander Richard had ordered the whole ship to remain in the clouds as it moved into position to support some of the Marines on the ground. Despite their serious crimes, Winter found herself somewhat sympathetic towards the Security Forces who would be faced with the behemoth, they would probably surrender at the mere sight of the vessel.
I would worry about the fear attracting Grimm, but we've already done that. Winter thought.
The holotable on the bridge offered a unique perspective on the battle, a representation of the Dominion was surrounded by tiny red dots, which represented the Grimm. Every time one of the dots ventured too close to the Dominion, one of the guns fired, and a split-second later, the dot vanished.
"Lieutenant Gage, order batteries Delta through Foxtrot to switch to salvo fire." Richard ordered, keeping his focus strictly on the battle.
"Aye Sir." The Dominion's weapons officer reported, he'd come across as a bit shaky to Winter, but he seemed to perform his duties serviceably and professionally as he relayed the order. Moments later, the sporadic reports of gunfire from the ship's underside began to organize themselves into volleys.
"The bulk of the Grimm will stay back once they recognize the danger your ship poses. They're not the smartest, but they do possess a degree of self-preservation." Winter interjected, noting a pause in the gunfire.
Richard hummed with deep thought. "So they're probing us, seeing what we're capable of before they make a decision."
"More like, seeking the path of least resistance." Winter added. "It's less intelligence and more practicality. As long as your guns can keep firing, they shouldn't pose a serious threat."
Bradford replied, as one of the other Bridge officers waved Richard over. "The Dominion won't need to refuel for decades, so power isn't a concern, and we've certainly got a surplus of ammo, the Grimm are the least of our worries."
Winter raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you worried about? Does it have anything to do with the soldiers you tossed out of the ship in low orbit?"
Bradford waved his hand. "You're about two-hundred years late to being worried about that, drop pods are statistically safer than dropships. Although, by the sounds of things from Point Guderian, the SDC sure weren't expecting it."
"Forgive me if that seems quite reasonable, we don't throw our soldiers out of spaceships to deliver them to the battlefield around here." Winter said, making her unease evident. "Regardless, what is it that has you worried?"
"Our strike craft." Bradford simply replied, pressing a series of buttons on the holotable to bring up an additional dozen or so blue dots, which danced around the Dominion, occasionally attacking the Grimm and retreating to avoid being overwhelmed. "The Grimm have formed this sort of bubble around us. Our attack craft will have to fight their way through."
Winter was somewhat surprised "Can your weapons not shoot that far? Atlas's lasers could certainly hit them."
"They can, but that's not the issue. The point-defense system is made up of coilguns, just like the main cannon. The power that charges them up generates a lot of heat, and in the atmosphere our rate of fire is going to have to be lowered in order to keep the barrels safely cooled." Bradford explained. "We could fire them at low power, but we would lose most of the impact, it would be a waste of ammo."
Winter paused for a moment. "Maybe not... consider this. Sergeant Meadows said that you were surprised by the density of the Grimm, correct?"
"That's correct, our weapons commonly over-penetrate the enemy." Bradford confirmed.
"So even if you cut the projectile's speed down, it's likely to still cause considerable damage, especially given the size of the cannons in question." Winter proposed.
"...I think I see what you're getting at." Bradford said, before turning to the Weapons Station. "Lieutenant Gage, order battery Delta to fire at half power, let's see if we can extend our rate of fire a bit."
"Aye Sir." He reported, before relaying the order.
At first, Winter didn't notice any differences in the holographic display of the battle. Bradford however, did seem to notice something.
"I'll be damned..." he muttered. "Have a look off the port side, your strategy is working."
On a closer examination, several of the Grimm contacts that were further away were starting to vanish, coupled by a noticeable increase in the gunfire of the ship's weapons.
"Lieutenant Gage, order all batteries to half power. Tell the Gun Captains to fire at will!" Bradford ordered, before turning to Winter. "That was some good thinking on your part, thank you."
Winter quietly nodded, having deeply mixed feelings as she watched as the Grimm contacts began to disappear by the dozen. "I'm just doing my job, Lieutenant."
Point Guderian, Meadows's Crash Site.
October 9th, 0718 Atlas Time, 2552
It wasn't hard to pick out which bunker the Helljumper had crashed into. Chunks of concrete and rebar had been blasted out of the structure with the same violent force that had splattered its previous inhabitants into a slurry of viscera on the floor. By the time Jorge arrived there, several of the ODSTs had already established a strongpoint.
"Good to see you, Lieutenant!" Fairfire shouted as he approached. "Haven't seen Ben yet, but everyone else is here... well, except Meadows."
"What's the matter, isn't he still in his pod?" Jorge asked, as he climbed up into the defensive structure. It had originally been a slightly elevated half-circle bunker, but Meadows had plowed a hole through the back of it, slightly lessening its usefulness.
"Well yeah, but... just look." Fairfire awkwardly said, leading him to see what had happened to the Sergeant.
Getting stuck in your pod was a famously feared fate by any sane ODST. There were a million things that could go wrong on landing, and Meadows had experienced several of them at once. His pod was embedded face-down in the concrete floor, almost completely submerged.
"Did he land like that?" Jorge asked, wondering how the man had survived at all.
"No, actually, he's kind of... sinking, just really slowly." Fairfire explained, and Jorge quickly noted why. The concrete that made up the floor of the bunker was still wet, indicating it had been poured recently. "I don't know if you have a plan to get him out, but-"
"Yeah, hold this for me, would ya?" Jorge said, handing Etilka over to Fairfire, which seemed to offer a degree of burden even to the ODST.
With his hands freed, he dug his feet into the more solid elements of the floor and grabbed onto one of the edges of the pod. With a grunt of exertion and a considerable degree of effort, he began to lift the drop pod out of its tomb.
"There's no way he's actually gonna... Oh." Yu commented, silencing herself as the pod suddenly jolted.
"Hey, whatever you guys are doing, keep doing it, it's working!" Meadows added on TEAMCOM.
Taking a moment to steady himself again and lifting with his legs, he gave another harsh pull, causing the pod to shift again, more harshly this time. Once more he lifted, and the pod shifted again, coming to a relative halt even as he released it. He had lifted it around thirty centimeters out of the concrete, and with one final motion, he rotated the pod so that part of the door was facing upwards. Fairfire and Yu joined in afterwards, and they managed to flip the pod around so that the door faced up towards freedom. Although the pod still remained in its ditch, it was now at an angle that Jorge could rip the door off of its seals and pull the beleaguered Helljumper from his coffin.
"Jesus Christ." Yu commented, with a mix of fear and admiration at Jorge's accomplishment.
Jorge retrieved his weapon from a stunned Fairfire, before turning to Meadows. "You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks." Meadows said, reaching down once more into his pod to pull his rifle free. "I stuffed everything else in my rucksack, I'm good to go if you all are."
"Not quite yet, Ben's still not here." Fairfire replied.
Jorge was somewhat surprised, had he and Curie gotten sidetracked? That seemed unlikely, any Spartan worth his armor would stick to the mission first, which left him only without an answer.
He patched a line through to Ben on his TEAMCOM. "Sergeant, what's your status?"
There was a noticeable delay in his response. "I've engaged an enemy Specialist by the Barracks Complex, a Sniper. I can't safely disengage, we may be late to the rendezvous."
"Stay put, we'll come to-" Jorge began, before one of the ODSTs let off a long burst of gunfire.
"We've got company!" Fairfire added, grabbing a position behind better cover.
Jorge turned back towards the Barracks Complex and spotted several enemy soldiers approaching their bunker, some out of cover and some who had already acquired good firing positions. He turned his own weapon to face the new targets, and let off a long burst of suppressive fire that stopped their advance.
"Grimm, coming in from the rear!" Meadows called out, taking an opportunistic shot at a smaller Beowolf, decapitating it with a three-round burst from his battle rifle.
Jorge frowned with resignation, advancing would be impossible like this. "Disregard my last, Sergeant. Eliminate the Specialist and proceed with the mission, we'll link up with you when possible."
"Yes Sir." Ben replied, a hint of exertion in his voice as Jorge ended the transmission.
Jorge gave his HUD a quick inspection, confirming his weapon had plenty of ammo for the coming battle. The rest of the ODST's began to open fire, which the SDC forces returned in full. Bullets and blasts of energy impacted all around him, with a stray bullet ricocheting into his shoulder plate, which barely even touched his energy shields.
"Good thing I brought slugs." Fairfire muttered with a hint of displeasure, unloading and reloading her shotgun to counter the opponent's range.
Jorge used some of the damaged fortifications to his advantage, positioning Etilka to rest on a barrier as a means of helping with the recoil. It seemed that the heavy machine gun's powerful rounds offered a suppressive effect even on the confident, shielded humans that he now faced. More importantly, they could penetrate most of the shields with only a short burst of gunfire, provided he could hit his targets.
Jorge elected to focus his efforts on the human targets, figuring that his suppressive capabilities were not matched by any of the ODSTs weaponry. But the enemy quickly dug into small ditches and whatever hardcover they could find, creating a serious problem. The ammunition he had loaded was intended to wear down shields and kill soft targets, not penetrate concrete barriers. Moreover, Etilka lacked the precision necessary to hit small exposed limbs and heads, meaning the enemy was starting to return fire.
Really wish our marksman wasn't in Sickbay right now. Jorge thought, recognizing a solution would be needed. "Corporal, put a rocket through that structure!"
Jorge marked the offending building with a HUD indicator, a small concrete shack offering cover to a small group of enemies. Yu shouldered her rocket launcher, positioning carefully to ensure the potentially-lethal backblast would be launched out of one of the bunker's windows.
"Backblast clear?!" Yu shouted, following the protocol regardless of what she knew, safety was a high-priority when operating a SPNKR.
"Clear!" Fairfire confirmed, firing another spray of flechettes towards the enemy to keep them occupied.
"Firing!" Yu shouted, with an unmistakable hint of excitement.
A lance of smoke and fire erupted from the end of Yu's launcher, accompanied by a deafening blast of sound that caused Jorge's ears to ring momentarily, even in Mjolnir. The rocket crashed into the shed and blew it away in a spray of shrapnel, fire, and heat-fueled pressure. All of the enemies taking shelter behind the building were flung away, most of them in pieces.
"Excellent shot, Corporal." Jorge noted, Yu didn't respond as she drew her Silenced SMG again.
"I need some help over here!" Meadows shouted, a sense of urgency in his voice as he began to fire more rapidly.
Jorge grabbed his gun and made several long steps over to join Meadows, immediately seeing the source of his concern. The Grimm were quickly becoming more numerous, with dozens approaching from outside the perimeter. Occasionally, some of them would randomly explode, courtesy of the SDC's landmines. In the distance, Jorge could make out the silhouette of a massive creature in the rear, the same black shade as the rest of the Grimm.
Another elephant. Jorge realized. He'd killed several of them in the deserts of Menagerie, and he had learned their weaknesses. "Focus on the little ones, kill anything that gets close!"
"Sir yes Sir!" Meadows responded, as did the other ODSTs who were focused on the Grimm.
Jorge positioned Etilka again, and purposefully targeted any of the Grimm with an abundance of bone armor. He had learned earlier that their armor was valuable for bouncing projectiles, but vulnerable to explosive rounds and particularly susceptible to shaped charges. Where the ODSTs might have trouble killing something heavily armored, like a Boarbatusk, his powerful ammunition coupled with the high-caliber could kill it with little effort.
He worked his way outwards, starting with those Grimm that were closest. Anytime a flying Grimm showed up, he would momentarily adjust his fire to cut it out of the sky, before returning to his work on the ground. The Grimm had the diversity and versatility of the Covenant, but very little of the intelligence. Their animalistic appearance coincided with their appearances, as their behavior tended to mirror the animal they made a mockery of.
"Brace!" Fairfire suddenly shouted.
Jorge knew better than to hesitate, even if he couldn't see the threat, it was best to trust his teammate's judgement. What sounded like dozens of heavy projectiles collided with the bunker, causing it to shake under the extreme forces. One of them must have struck Jorge directly, as a substantial bite of his shields were torn away as a large impact knocked him to the floor. It lasted only a second, and he could hear some of the ODSTs groan in pain.
"Get yourselves up!" Jorge shouted, resecuring his hold on his weapon as he examined what had happened.
Dozens of giant black feathers had been embedded in practically every available space of the bunker, like dozens of black javelins. Jorge spotted a shadow of something large fly across the floor as he quickly realized what had just attacked.
"Nevermore, big one!" Fairfire called out. "Yu, break out the launcher and kill it!"
"Yes Sir!" She urgently replied.
Jorge noted that the SDC forces had stopped their assault. He looked and saw that they were now firing upwards at the large Grimm as it came around, although he wasn't sure what kind of effect their weapons would have on a bird the size of a Dropship. An ear-splitting screech filled the air as Yu pushed past him, her launcher shouldered.
"Ok, you cocky son of a bitch, my turn." she muttered, before she aimed down the scope of the launcher. "Wait, bastard's doesn't have a thermal signature!"
"Try motion-tracking." Jorge suggested, which she quickly did.
"Alright, clear backblast!" Yu shouted, as soon as the area was confirmed clear, she placed her finger on the trigger. "Firing!"
The missile screamed into the sky, pursuing the Nevermore at several times the speed it was flying, carving a line of smoke through the air as it ruthlessly chased its target. The Nevermore seemed to recognize the threat posed by the missile, as it tried to dodge it at the last minute, but the missile turned faster. The explosion was magnificent, sending chunks of disintegrating bird flying in every direction.
"That's right you ugly bastard!" Yu shouted, accompanied by a hearty cheer from the ODSTs.
Jorge allowed them only a brief moment to celebrate their victory, only because it seemed that the SDC forces were stunned by the young Helljumper's display of force. "We've still got a job to do, grab some cover and kill whatever's left!"
The Mercenaries resumed firing as soon as the ODSTs did, while Jorge used his superior firepower to shred the remaining smaller Grimm. The Goliath would still need a few minutes to approach with its own band of smaller Grimm, which would offer them a moment of rest in between the fights.
With the full force of Onyx focused on the Mercenaries, it didn't take long for them to be pushed back, inflicting heavy casualties as the enemy routed to their Barracks and the Mine proper.
"Cease fire!" Jorge ordered as the last enemies left their line of sight. "Reload and run an equipment check, we've got a brief moment so let's use it!"
"Anyone hit?!" Fairfire asked. "I can't see Kilo on my Status monitor, anyone see him?"
"He's KIA." Yu sadly interjected. "He got hit with a bunch of the feathers... tore him apart."
"You check the body?" Fairfire quietly asked, Jorge noted her response was delayed.
"I was kind of busy!" Yu snapped. "You want to go look for a pulse, be my guest!"
"Stow the bellyaching Marine!" Jorge interjected, noticing how the conversation was going. "We can mourn later, right now, the mission takes priority."
Yu gave a curt nod, joined by Fairfire, who gave a slightly more somber nod.
"Now, get yourselves set, we've still got contacts coming." Jorge said, looking at the still-approaching Grimm.
Point Guderian, Cafeteria
October 9th, 1222 Menagerie Time, 2552
Chasing the Sniper had led Ben back to where he started, the cafeteria of the Barracks. Curie had predicted that he was using it as a place to hide, ready to shoot at Ben from the balcony at a moment's notice. He'd taken the long way back around, hoping that he would be able to catch him off guard by attacking from an unexpected angle.
He had kicked the door down trying to get the drop on him, and only succeeded in startling the squad of SDC soldiers who had taken shelter there. Thankfully, there was plenty of cover, lending him the capability to feasibly fight all of them at once.
"Take cover, right side!" Curie called out, Ben quickly took her advice and dodged the Sniper's round by millimeters. Dozens of less impactful bullets and blasts of energy embedded themselves in the concrete support column he was sheltered behind. He returned fire, but it was to minimal effect due to how badly he was being suppressed.
"Source?" Ben asked. He unholstered his plasma pistol and began to overcharge it offhandedly, holding his rifle with his other.
"Salad bar, aim for the fire escape." Curie quickly answered. Ben poked out of cover and confirmed that Curie had once again been correct as he let the bolt of plasma fly. The Sniper only barely managed to slam the door in-between him and the deadly bolt, the plasma melted through the door, but it's tracking capabilities had been lost and it was rendered moot. "I'll track him with the security cameras, deal with the others."
"Warn me if he's about to take a shot from outside." Ben replied, noting the few windows dotted around the cafeteria. He holstered the plasma pistol and let it cool, drawing a fragmentation grenade in its place.
The squad of mercenaries seemed to have some competent training, as they had deliberately spaced themselves out to avoid a grenade being able to hit them all. Forced to pick between two clusters of enemies, he decided the most ideal target for the grenade was the kitchen, which he could access via the same windows that the enemy was using to shoot him from. Once the grenade was thrown, he used his rifle to cover the exits.
The grenade exploded in a cacophony only amplified by the small enclosed space it detonated in. He was unable to see what was happening inside, but he must have accidentally ignited a natural gas line, as there was visibly far more fire than there should have been. One of the soldiers managed to escape the firestorm, only to be cut down by a hail of gunfire from Ben's rifle.
He continued to trade fire with the enemy, using his rifle as the Plasma Pistol could only handle a handful of overcharged shots, which he intended to save for the Specialist. Ammo still wasn't a major concern, but he was burning through the magazines on his magnetic holsters at an alarming rate, and reloading with the magazines in his rucksack would take more time.
"Ben, we have a problem. I've lost access to the Enemy systems, I can't track the Sniper." Curie said, more confusion in her voice than worry.
"Did they lock you out of the system?" Ben asked, unsure exactly how they could have done such a thing. He didn't let talking interrupt his fighting as he eroded the aura of another mercenary, before putting one final round in his head to keep him down.
"No, they haven't, it's as if we're being jammed... wait..." Curie said, before coming to the same realization that she had caused Ben to have. "Something big is on the motion tracker, somewhere above us."
The Mercenaries, however, had no warning of what was coming, as they were all focused on Ben. They remained ignorant even as when the giant, radio-blocking Grimm crept it's way into the cafeteria, using the hole offered by Ben's drop pod. Their first true warning was when it pounced on their squad leader and messily devoured him in two bites, his already-damaged Aura no match for the creature's powerful jaws.
Immediately, the other soldiers turned their attention to the beast in a complete panic. With their focus divided, Ben was left with a golden opportunity to kill them all with ease. But despite every bit of his training telling him to shoot the enemy in the back and finish off the lizard later... it felt wrong, somehow.
Every threat has to be eliminated... but the Lizard can die first. Ben thought, pausing to reload and replace his magazines while he had the chance, before swapping to his plasma pistol and readying an overcharged shot.
"I do not believe that is going to kill it." Curie warned.
"No, but I'm hoping it'll burn a hole in the armor." Ben replied, unleashing the bolt of superheated plasma, aimed squarely at the Grimm's giant head. The shot was made easier as the Grimm was also distracted, both by the SDC soldiers and the support columns that stood in its way.
Immediately after impacting, the plasma fused itself to the Grimm's armored head and began burning its way through the bone plating. The Lizard tried in vain to scrape and shake the blob of molten matter from it's head, but it was useless, the plasma just kept burning. Once the bone layer was melted, the plasma began to immolate the Grimm's flesh, causing it to panic and screech incoherently as it ran around the cafeteria, before it unceremoniously dropped dead. Curie said something in French that Ben didn't understand, but the general sense of disgust and shock was conveyed fairly well.
Yeah, plasma's an ugly way to go, especially if your head is made of ceramic armor. Ben thought. The remaining mercenaries were left stunned and disturbed as they watched the beast dissolve into thin air, giving Ben an idea.
Ensuring that his shields were fully charged, he took a step out of cover and charged another bolt of plasma, aiming it squarely at the Mercenaries. Every ounce of their training and discipline had evaporated along with the Grimm, and all of them turned to face the armored warrior they had been fighting. Ben turned on the volume-amplifier in his helmet's microphone, and took a deep breath.
"Drop your weapons, now!" Ben shouted, ready to immolate any of them if they decided to refuse his offer.
They thought about it for only a moment, before one of them threw their pulse laser rifle to the ground, who was quickly joined by the other three. All of them raised their hands and walked out of cover.
"Good decision." Ben said, nullifying the charged bolt and reholstering the plasma pistol, returning back to the assault rifle he was far more comfortable using.
As he disarmed the four surviving Mercenaries and handcuffed them with some of his microfilament bindings, he switched off his microphone to speak to Curie privately. "Curie, can you get a bead on that Sniper now that the Lizard is dead?"
"I have access to the systems, although I do not have a visual on the Specialist. Stored footage from a minute and twenty seconds ago shows him entering the mine itself." Curie answered.
"Keep your eyes open, he might try to sneak back out and catch us off guard." Ben replied, well aware that a loose Sniper was a threat no matter where they decided to hole up.
It didn't take long to bind all of his new prisoners, and disposing of their weapons was made all the easier by the raging inferno in the kitchen. The mercenaries offered nothing in the way of resistance, one of them was even whimpering slightly, which disturbed Ben a little more than he cared to admit.
"Curie, can you get us a line to the Lieutenant?" Ben asked, keeping his eyes on the surrendered soldiers, even if they seemed compliant, caution was always necessary.
"Certainly, one moment." Curie responded. "There, encrypted and stable."
"Onyx Actual, this is Ben. We've lost contact with the Specialist, he retreated into the mine." Ben reported.
The response was delayed only momentarily, in the distance, the ambient gunfire intensified. "Understood, what's your current status?"
"Just finished up with a squad of mercenaries, and one of the radio-intercepting Grimm, I managed to take four prisoners." Ben stated.
"Good, you'll have to come to us, we're wrapping up with the Grimm now." Jorge replied. "We're still at the rendezvous point, make it fast would ya?"
"Yes Sir." Ben said, before cutting the transmission and turning to the prisoners. "On your feet, we're moving out."
Schnee Manor
October 9th, 0725 Atlas Time, 2552
Being urgently awoken by a member of his personal security team was not how Jacques had intended to start the day. Learning that the UNSC had already begun their anticipated attack was even worse. He quickly joined some of his senior staff in the impromptu command center that had been assembled in his basement.
"It's an absolute bloodbath, we're in danger of losing all three of the Whollapeg mines." One of the technicians reported, speaking to one of the officer's Jacques had placed in charge of his airfleet.
Another officer walked in, closing his scroll with a shaking hand. "I just got a call from the executive manager at the Selfoss Strip Mine, he says the enemy fell out of the sky in small pods and annihilated any sort of defense, I've gotten nothing from Major Garrett."
"Two fast-movers just shot down an entire supply shipment from Svalbard, I'm trying to get more information now..." Another technician reported, only adding to the chaotic nature.
Some professionals these lot turned out to be. Jacques grumpily thought, before clearing his throat and turning to one of the guards.
"Private, would you kindly fire a round into the ceiling? I need everyone's attention." Jacques asked, keeping his demeanor perfectly neutral.
The guard complied, and fired a single gunshot into the ceiling. Immediately, everyone went silent, before turning to face Jacques.
"Thank you, private." Jacques said, only receiving a silent nod. Jacques picked one of the officers out, looking for the least panicked one. "You, tell me what's going on, cut straight to it."
"It's a massive assault Sir, at least six of our mines have been assaulted so far-" The officer reported.
"Make that seven Sir, I just got a report from the mine at Pavelgrad, their under attack by the alien starship!" One of the technicians interjected, although given what he had to say, Jacques was willing to let it slide.
"The alien mothership?! They've brought it down to the ground?" Jacques asked, not believing his luck.
"Yes Sir, reports say it's colossal, and it matches the descriptions of our intelligence. Pavelgrad... is requesting permission to surrender, Sir." The technician stated.
Jacques' response was immediate. "Absolutely not, tell them to stand their ground, we will be sending support!"
"Affirmative Sir!" The technician replied, relaying the message.
"What airships should we send, Sir?" The naval officer asked, thankfully understanding Jacques' plan.
"We may never get another chance like this, send everything you have, we may have just found a way to end this war!" Jacques replied.
The Officer immediately began to carry out his orders, as the rest of the Command Center began to resume their tasks. Privately, Jacques had his concerns about his plan. If the aliens were confident enough to bring their spaceship into a position where it could be attacked, they must have had good reason.
No matter, we have to fight. Even if the odds are stacked against us, we can't give in. Jacques thought, although his doubts remained prevalent.
Author's notes: I'm gonna do something I haven't done in a little while and respond to a guest review. I haven't included all of it, as it's quite long (but very well structured and makes some excellent points, filter reviews by chapter 31 if you wish to read it) and these notes already pad the chapters more than I like, you'll notice many of the previous chapters AN's are gone as a result.
But this guest raised their concerns over the UNSC being able to activate their auras. For the boring loreless answer, it just makes the story (and especially the fights) more interesting. If anyone but a Spartan dropped with one well-placed bullet, but anyone that they fought against had energy shields (along with the other numerable benefits of aura), it doesn't just even the odds, it tips them so dramatically in favor of the aura-wielder that ground combat for non-spartans is suicide.
That being said, I still find Spartans who can also use a fully-powered aura to be disinteresting, as they just become do-everything characters. Readers of the original Men From Onyx will remember that Ben's Aura (and more subtly, his Semblance) was disproportionately affected by his neural augmentations, leaving it as effectively a non-factor in battle. Jorge may not have those particular augmentations, but his aura was similarly meaningless.
But that's all boring as hell, you want to hear the science behind it, the reasoning, and I'm nothing if not a sucker for lore, so let me share my reasoning. Simply put, the genetic differences between the UNSC humans and Remnant humans are negligible and unimportant, as Aura's relationship with science (particularly genetics) has been... questionable. Pyrrha outright states that Aura is the manifestation of one's soul, and I mean, come on, that just says it all.
So that raises the question, if it's not related to genes (or really any sort of science), what the hell is it? Well, until someone rips the physical Aura out of another person in RWBY with their bare hands, I'm gonna have to guess it's a spiritual thing. Remnant is obviously no stranger to unusual and non-newtonian/euclidean occurrences, so people having souls doesn't really seem like that much of a stretch to me (think of the cafeteria fight in volume 2, that shows off what kind of physics Remnant is dealing with) . And if the UNSC humans couldn't use Aura, that would imply they don't have souls, which I'm just gonna outright refuse, plus there's plenty of lines in the Forerunner trilogy of novels (which I rarely source from, admittedly) that says they do.
So how do you pull it out of someone with a machine? How do you measure it scientifically?
Speculation Time: There's no way in hell that Ozpin had nothing to do with the Aura-transferring machine, I'm just saying. It even did that same magical glow that we see him do in the volume six flashback. As for measuring it, well, if a weapon can act as a current for aura, why not a remotely operated machine? Bear in mind, we've never seen an Aura-sensor be used on a consenting individual, it is entirely likely that without someone's wishes, you cannot measure their Aura.
So why didn't the UNSC discover it?
Because they couldn't use Aura in normal space or Slipspace. Remnant's galaxy is located in neither of those locations, and it's unique cosmic circumstances (some of which I plan on exploring in the future) permit the activation of one's Soul as a defensive and offensive weapon.
I hope you found this answer at least somewhat satisfying, unnamed guest. And I am very glad to hear that you are enjoying the story. I hope my own response came off as politely as I intended.