IMPORTANT NOTE: I have added some things that a future military organization would do or have that Bungie and 343 didn't know about when they first made Halo. Some additions are reactive armor and multi-spectral camouflage. However, I will keep the…oddly exposed Warthogs' turrets, but will have gull-wing doors added to them. The logic here being that speed and rapid and unrestricted dismount overrules the added protection of modern MRAP's seeing as the Army Troopers, Marines, and ODST's who operate them already have excellent body armor themselves. The Scorpions will keep their two-man crew and co-axial HMG, with the driver being the vehicle commander. None of the vehicle upgrades will be present like they are in Halo Wars.
Chapter 2
Location: Planet Dyonisis, Delta Xi System
Date: January 22, 2524
Time: 0500 Zulu
"Marines gear up!" Lieutenant Samantha McCoy called out to her Marine platoon from where they were unloading their gear off of their Warthogs and the large dropships that had brought their unit down to the planet along with their vehicles, "Squad Leaders on me!"
Standing beside the young Marine second lieutenant was a man each Marine Sergeant groaned at seeing. In a suit of dark gray fatigues and unique armor and helmet was an ONI Captain. ONI always meant something bad, and starting out the campaign with a run for ONI is a bad sign of things to come. So the three Sergeants and the platoon Staff Sergeant stood with their helmets under their arms before their platoon leader just waiting to hear what sort of chore ONI wanted them for.
"Gentlemen this is Captain Lynch, Office of Naval Intelligence. We've been ordered to give him a hand," she said with a grumble, turning to the older man, "Captain, care to brief us?"
"This way Lieutenant, Sergeants," he said calmly, moving towards a small hangar that was being worked on by some engineers to get some fortifications up in front of the entrance, "Clear the hangar gentlemen."
The engineers saw him and saluted without a word and walked away to the Elephant that they were using to move around the concrete barriers that would have made the hangar a fortified position. So with the engineers gone the five of them walked over to one of the walls and the ONI captain laid down a small palm-sized holographic projector which hummed to life and projected a 3-D image of the terrain they were headed towards.
It was on the coast, with the ocean out to the East with a sheltered bay housing a small village in the back of it. It was no more than two dozen buildings hugging the gravelly beach. There were several small plots of land between it and the thick pine forest with a ridgeline overlooking the town with a road cut from the terrain going into and out of the town running north to south. A large number of fishing vessels, some being decently sized, were docked at the wooden docks where the only seemingly commercial area of town was. The rest were low houses randomly placed among a great many trees growing in yards and on the grassy medians. Many had some orchards lined in their own private plots.
Highlighted near that village was what appeared to be a small farm, nestled next to an old dam built across a large creek in a steep gorge to the west of the village with power lines feeding along the gorge to town at a power distribution center near the docks. This place was where their objective was located.
"This is the village of Albacore, population four hundred, give or take a few dozen. It's about five klicks north of here," Captain Lynch said to start their briefing, "And this is the Perch Creek Dam next to this farm just a klick west of Albacore. This is ONI's only presence on the planet. Its codename is Outpost WAYPOINT. It might not look like it but ONI had an undercover field office stationed here tapping into the Innies' communications all this time. A week ago we lost contact with our two agents stationed there, we're presuming they've been captured or killed but the AI operating the equipment there is still active and transmitting. Our mission is a simple one, get to that AI and its equipment before the Insurrection finds it."
"I'm assuming that we're also clearing this village and the dam to maintain appearances, am I right?" Lieutenant McCoy asked.
"That and the Innies have what our intelligence believes is a sizeable number of drones operating from this village. From what we've seen," he said calmly, tapping on his wrist controller to bring up a 3-D image of a drone aircraft with propeller in the rear with two forked tails and rockets mounted on the winds and a camera underneath its nose, "They've begun operating them by adding floats to the underbellies and making them seaplanes. The damage they can realistically do is minimal but they can sure use them to coordinate and recon our positions."
"So we move to the village, clear it, and then retrieve the AI and secure the farm?" McCoy asked.
"In a nutshell Lieutenant," Lynch responded evenly.
"Sounds easy enough," her Staff Sergeant, a grizzled old veteran by the name of Harvey, grumbled under his breath, expecting more than something this easy.
"It would be, but there's a hitch," Lynch replied, holding up a hand, "This dam is home to a sizeable presence of URF militia. These aren't locals with guns at this location. These are some offworld fanatics with blood on their hands, call themselves the Vengeance Brigade."
"I've heard of these guys," one of the other sergeants growled, "They claimed credit for ambushing a Colonial Guard unit on Arcadia after kidnapping and murdering the governor."
"They're nasty alright," Lynch responded, tapping his wrist controller again to zoom in on the dam, "Our orbital photos show they've got quite a few vehicles. Mostly a mix of technicals and Warthogs with some high end small arms and maybe some Scorpions have been seen coming and going from a garage here on the northern end of the power station near the dam."
The hologram changed to highlight a box on the northern end below ground that led out to a parking lot that was fortified with hesco barriers a single small guard tower, and concrete barriers to supplement the tall concrete and razor wire tipped wall already in place. Aside from the main sandbag surrounded guard shack at the entrance were a pair older concrete buildings that were probably power distribution buildings of some kind. A jungle gym of metal spires and frameworks sent out a quartet of electrical cables held up by metal spires along the only road that led to the facility. Even these buildings had sandbags stacked high along their whole perimeter and had concrete barriers in front of their doors. They were along the tall wall that had a metal staircase making its way down to water level.
The whole facility wasn't all that large, the dam itself measured in at about fifty meters wide and twenty meters tall. At its base was the power plant, with two turbines, one on each side of the gorge built of the same worn concrete and built into the sides of the terrain to limit exposure to the harsh elements. What buildings it did have exposed were circular, built atop of one another along the northern end like a triple layer cake with a central control room sitting atop a rocky outcropping on level with the garage itself. Each building's roof was also a balcony for the building below it, with the water gushing out of the last two largest buildings closest to the bottom. On the dam itself there were roadblocks situated around the cylindrical buildings with hesco barriers, concrete and steel barricades, and curls of razor wire with one or two vehicles keeping their presences felt.
"I sure hope you don't think one Marine infantry platoon can take on a force like this," McCoy stated plainly.
"Not to worry, we'll have air support from a Vulture and armored support from a pair of Scorpions."
"Now that's what I like to hear," one of the sergeants said calmly, "But…how many militants are we looking at?"
"In town there's more than likely no more than twenty or thirty, mostly locals with captured military grade light weapons and no vehicles. As for this spot here, our intel says there's maybe fifty to eighty of them and our thermal images support a similar number. More importantly, some of those morons have posted on social media that their leader is present at that location," Lynch stated plainly, hitting another button to bring up the image of a single petite black-haired woman wearing a patchwork of antiquated armor with a red beret, "Rosa de Villenueva, calls herself The Amazon. Her parents were Insurrectionist leaders before a UNSC airstrike killed them eight years ago so she hates us."
"Enough to start her own terrorist group it seems."
"Yep, she's got a thing for executing hostages herself with a machete,"
"Nice chick," one of the sergeants grumbled.
"ONI wants her dead or alive. Preferably alive," Lynch informed them, "But it's not pivotal to today's mission, her and her little boy band are a secondary objective. After all, they made the mistake of being placed on an island."
"If we've got tanks and air support it'll be a cakewalk," McCoy added, getting nods from her squad leaders.
"Glad to hear it Lieutenant, ONI would like to get this mission off its chest. And an HVT on the report will give us a trophy to hold up to press. Meet me at the front gate in ten minutes."
"Okay then, squad leaders, brief your Marines," McCoy commanded as she turned to her men who saluted the twenty-three year old lieutenant.
The Marines fell out as their ONI supervisor picked up his holographic projector and stowed it before putting on his helmet. Outside it was beginning to snow lightly, making the conditions that much more treacherous for the numerous dropships of all sizes coming and going with troops, vehicles, and equipment. Already over a thousand UNSC Marines were on the ground, pushing inland, and securing a larger foothold on the island, not allowing the Insurrectionists to recover from their sudden attack from orbit with the entirety of the 312th ODST Battalion. Hundreds of Warthogs along with dozens of Scorpion Tanks and Cougar Armored Fighting Vehicles were rolling out to whatever objectives they were assigned to. The unit in charge of the capture of this island was the 146th Marine Regiment, a veteran and storied unit like the others within the task force on this campaign.
The 146th was already pushing out, with the chattering of machine guns and the popping of rifles being droned out every so often by an explosion from either grenades, rockets, or the heavy main guns of tanks. Sparrowhawks and Pelicans zoomed over the battlefield, lining up rocket and gun runs or pin point missile strikes as Shortsword bombers roamed the skies, ready to drop their ordinance. There were even twelve M145A1 "Rhino" 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzers positioning themselves to prepare to take on fire missions within one of the parking lots along the northern fence. Each of them, like the other UNSC vehicles, was colored with a winter woodland pattern of dark greens, whites, grays, and browns upon a full mesh-like sheet of multi-spectral camouflage.
The light of the new day was already starting to glow slightly off in the distance as morning fast approached. The massive forms of two UNSC Frigates hovered above the island, their guns firing every so often as targets became available. All in all, it was a classic example of a campaign of rapid dominance, or shock and awe as it was known to the media, who were also here as well, placed at the main control tower where several reporters were being followed by their semi-autonomous camera drones, hovering in front of them as they went about their jobs.
The Marine platoon split up into its three squads after Lieutenant McCoy gave them a simplified mission briefing. Here the sergeants gave them a more detailed brief, and ordered them to leave their more personal gear, and loaded up with extra ammunition for their rocket launchers and small arms along with an additional drum of fifty caliber rounds and rockets for their triple barrel anti-tank rocket Hogs and anti-air missile Hogs. Thankfully their platoon guide, Sergeant Holiday, was an expert scrounger, and had contacts throughout the supply chain to get them all the ammo, rations, and equipment they might need. He'd even secured additional packs of medical supplies for their single M832 Medic Hog. As they were preparing two M808B Scorpions pulled up next to the group Warthogs with Captain Lynch standing on the lead tank.
"We ready Lieutenant?" Lynch called out as he hopped down from the tank.
"Yes sir, just getting our gear stowed."
"Very well, our air support is on station now, and will shadow us to the east over the water at an altitude of five hundred feet. I'll ride with you in your command vehicle if that's alright."
"As long as you're not looking to take tactical command of my Marines we'll be glad to have ya," McCoy said, nodding to her unarmed Warthog sitting second in line of the convoy of eleven Warthogs.
"Not planning to," he said with a chuckle, "The only time I'll take charge is when we reach my objective."
"Roger that," McCoy said calmly as she walked towards her Warthog where her platoon sergeant was already seated in the driver's seat.
The two seater Command Hog was outfitted with several powerful radios and no turret, the vehicle was a basic model, being a platoon command vehicle and not a more complex company command Warthog. And it sure wasn't a battalion command vehicle, which was normally a modified Elephant which served as engineering vehicles or command vehicles for the battalion to division level. But, it did the job so long as her driver didn't put it in a direct field of fire.
"Our designation is Anvil, the tanks are designated Tiger, and our air support is Warlord," her Staff Sergeant said, and saw the appropriate labels find their way onto her Blue Force Tracker with their objectives out to the north.
The town was designated X-Ray, the ONI location was designated as Yankee, and the dam was designated Zulu. There was a black dot on their HUD's map with the word "Dismount" on it, where they'd leave their troop transports behind and maneuver on foot over the ridgeline to an overwatch point into the small village. On the village itself were three segmented diamonds with the times underneath them. These symbolized enemy infantry presence. It didn't surprise her, there were roadblocks set up at both ends of town with old trucks, dumpsters, and anything else they could get their hands on. In the middle was a sandbag and hesco barrier fortification with a pillbox in the center built around a statue at the only major intersection in town. It made sense there'd be some hostiles there.
"All stations this net comms check," McCoy called out on her radio after slipping on her helmet and pulling a balaclava over her face to add to the warmth her fully sealed helmet gave her and the rest of the platoon. She activated her night vision, getting the classic green tinted view that the device gave her.
On her HUD she got blue winks from each vehicle, seeing as they were on a convoy net, they'd go to platoon net when they dismounted. She took a tablet stored under the dashboard of the Warthog and traced out her convoy's route to the dismount point, staying along the main road that was already been secured by Marine units pushing northwards.
"Convoy, Anvil Six, route highlighted on HUD, all vehicles roll out," she said calmly and saw the red brake lights turn off as the convoy started moving, "Warlord, Anvil Six."
"Send it for Warlord Anvil Six," the voice of their air cover called out in response.
"Warlord convoy is oscar mike to Objective X-Ray, interrogative has the airspace been secured enough for you to get eyes on the convoy's objectives?"
"That's an affirm Anvil-6, Sacremento is jamming hostile anti-air with ECM and we are at altitude where no small arms can do any damage,"
"Roger that Warlord, mark all targets on Blue Force."
"Interrogative, are we weapons free on any targets at objectives?"
"Negative Warlord," McCoy immediately snapped, "There are confirmed civilians at Objective X-Ray and Objective Yankee is needed intact and Objective Zulu is a dam, if it goes catastrophic damage will be caused to civilians downstream. If hostiles are not in the objective areas feel free to engage after you PID your targets."
"Roger that Anvil-6, we're beginning thermal scans."
By now the convoy was pulling through the main gate of the captured airbase. There were MP's shuttling them out as they drove along the road. They were moving at a good clip, but were slower than normal thanks to the tanks in their midst which weren't nearly as speedy as the smaller Warthogs. The force drove along the road with lights off to avoid any mortar or artillery attacks from the Insurrectionists who were launching random rockets or mortar shells at the UNSC-held territory. They passed burning hulks of a trio of technicals with the bodies of at least fifteen Insurrectionists laid out in the ditch covered by white tarps with a pair of MP's in a Warthog going through their identities.
They passed through a small village with a burning M841 "Cougar" Armored Fighting Vehicle crashed against a house. More bodies were being tended to by other MP's and several civilians lifting them into flatbed trucks with ODST's looking over them on the roofs and balconies of a few buildings and at the road blocks still intact in town. The convoy also saw the pillar of flames that had consumed a school building in the only large town in the immediate area as they passed it and turned north, moving along the coast so their guns would be facing the only way they could be shot at. The glimmering of the ocean was barely visible as the snow continued to come down in a light drizzle.
Their trip was quiet, with only the distant sounds of combat coming to their ears. But they managed to reach a small gas station along the coast with its lights still on and a single civilian car and a single pickup truck parked in front of it. Beside the small gas station was a small garage with a lift in it and a small house behind it. They could see a single old man standing behind the counter as he watched the large convoy come to a stop in front of the building. He then watched with worry on his face as the three transport Hogs and the passengers of the other Warthogs dismounted and the two Scorpions pulled ahead down the road and came to a stop.
"We move on foot from here," McCoy yelled out as she stood on her seat, "Lock down the troop Hogs, leave 'em here."
"You heard the eltee, secure those vehicles!" her second squad's leader, Sergeant Zhou, yelled loudly.
However the ONI captain sitting in the back of the command vehicle noticed something through the window. The old man behind the counter was eyeballing them. Through his golden Recon helmet's visor he made out the man turning around, and looking back at them before picking up a phone. Captain Lynch then rapidly hit a button on his right wrist and then twisted a knob which blocked and jammed all radio and wireless telephone communications within a hundred meters. He smirked as he jumped off of the Warthog and saw the man looking at the phone and try dialing again.
"Lieutenant, we've got ourselves a lookout in there," he said confidently, calling over a pair of Marines who saw what he was pointing at.
"That piece of shit," Lieutenant McCoy growled before stomping over to the door behind two of her Marines.
"Drop the phone!" of the Marines immediately yelled as they aimed their MA5B's at the man.
"Hands where we can see 'em!" the other commanded, thumbing his safety to check to be certain it was off.
The old bearded man hesitated before he stepped backwards, and then they all saw the semi-automatic shotgun sitting on a rack above a pegboard full of cigarettes, tobacco, and cigars. They had a good idea of what he was going to do.
"I can't be taken alive," he whispered with desperation in his voice, "You don't understand what they'll do to my family."
"We can help with that," one of the Marines calmly stated.
"No, you can't."
"Don't do it pal," Lieutenant McCoy said, holding a hand out to try and coax him not to do this. Her eyes spotted something on the shelf next to her, some powdered donuts. So she picked a couple bags off of the shelf and held them up for him to see, "I saw these when I came in, they're my favorite. I was hoping I'd be able to buy some because we hadn't had breakfast. I can't do that if you don't let me."
The man looked at her with softening eyes, but just sighed.
"I'm sorry."
Then the guy looked her in the eye and shook his head. His mind was made up and he was not going to be changing it. So with one all-too-slow move he turned and made a grab for the shotgun. But as he turned his back and reached up both Marines opened fire. Instantly several five point five six millimeter rounds ripped into his upper back, poking neat holes into the blue plaid jacket he had on. The rounds were fatal, and the old man collapsed in a heap with his hands knocking over dozens of packages of product.
Immediately there was a scream from a door off to the right that read 'Employees Only'. All three of them instantly charged towards the door and stacked up next to it. Lieutenant McCoy signaled them to kick it down, and the front man did just that, and charged in to see an older woman being held with a pistol to her temple by a younger, larger man with an old Fritz style helmet with a pair of night vision goggles flipped up on it. Everything he wore was colored black except for a red sash tied around his helmet. He had a black balaclava on so the only thing they could see were his eyes.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Innie said with a sneer, "Wouldn't want to have the little old lady get hurt now would we?"
All the Marines growled at him, enraged at the blatantly savage individual. But as he said that he had grabbed her around the lips to emphasize his point. This was a mistake, for when that opportunity presented itself the tough old bird took it. She grabbed his left hand and held it firm and then chomped down on it. He yelped in pain and pushed her away, exposing himself to the three Marines in the little store room. They didn't miss a single shot.
A half dozen shots from each of them ripped into the patchwork of armor under the ammunition vest he wore before he could grab the DMR clipped to his vest. He crumpled backwards, falling unceremoniously onto the tile without a noise as the Marines and bullets followed him down. The old woman bolted from the store room immediately, running out to where she knew her husband had been. Her wailing at the sight of his body on the ground humbled every one of the Marines outside, even the lone ONI Captain who had seen it all unfold.
"Clear that house," McCoy silently ordered, knowing that it was more than likely empty.
One of the Marines at her side nodded and left, but the other one stood there, frozen at the sight of the old lady cradling the body of her dead husband. She too couldn't tear herself away from it and it was only the motion of someone entering that snapped her out of it. Captain Lynch had entered, a DMR in hand.
"Marine, go," she whispered, forcing the other man to leave as she followed him only to stop next to Lynch.
"You said that we didn't have to go after these bastards today?" she asked him in a barely audible whisper.
"That's right."
"Fuck that."
With that declaration she left the building, with Lynch right behind her as the Marines reported the house was clear. She took a peak at her Blue Force Tracker and saw that the red marks had been updated, six marks for vehicles had been placed within the town along several more infantry and vehicle markers near their other objectives. They couldn't tell if they were just technicals or a damned tank by these markers alone so McCoy called into their overwatch air support.
"Warlord Anvil-6," she said with the anger still evident in her voice.
"Send it Anvil-6," the same voice from the Vulture overhead called out.
"Interrogative what sort of vehicles have you gotten eyes on in our objective areas?"
"Wait one," the person said before getting back to her, "Three times technicals, one times Rocket Warthog, and two times Cougars at the entrance to town have been located so far inside of Objective X-Ray. One times technical at Objective Yankee. And one times Scorpion, four times Warthogs, and one times Cougar at Objective Zulu."
"Okay Warlord, if the vehicles at Objective Zulu begin moving down the road to engage friendlies light 'em up at your own discretion. Make sure they are well clear of the dam before opening fire."
"Roger that Anvil-6," Warlord responded with a bit of cheer in their voice, "Warlord standing by."
"Copy that," she said before turning to her Staff Sergeant, "Staff Sergeant, we need to get someone up here to look after her," she said, nodding to the woman still with ther body of her husband.
"Already done," he responded with a subtle nod.
"Very well, let's get moving. Those Innies are already waiting for us."
"Well eltee, let's not keep those bastards waiting shall we? Marines, we're rolling out!"
"Tiger, your tanks will lead convoy, roll out," McCoy called out, "Squads to follow by the order!"
The two tanks rolled forward, their big engines spewing wisps of black smoke as the clacking of their tracks overpowered the sound of most everything else. The ground rumbled so much that the Marines could feel it through their boots as they walked in two single file columns behind the tanks alongside their own Warthogs which only had their drivers and their gunners still inside. They were moving at a slow jog, up the ridge towards town, which they could now see on their mini-maps on their HUD's.
"Alright convoy halt," McCoy said on the radio, knowing that they were getting close to contact, "First squad peek over the lip and get eyes on the town. Warlord says two Cougars are waiting at the town entrance."
She got a wink on her HUD from her first squad's sergeant, who pointed to one of his fireteams to move to a sandstone sign with the name 'Albacore' embroidered on it on the left side of the road, signaling to travelers what town they were coming up to. The five Marines crept up to it, ducking behind it and poked their weapons over it and around the sides with the fireteam's Automatic Rifleman popping his bipod and aimed down at the village.
"Anvil-6, Anvil-1, have eyes on two times Cougars on both sides of the main street into town. They are active, both turrets are looking up the road at us. Also have eyes on a lot of infantry moving around town trying to fortify their positions."
"Are they exposed?"
"That's an affirm," the sergeant said calmly as McCoy tapped into his helmet camera feed.
What she saw was not unexpected, the light of the town exposed those vehicles easily. They were painted over with a stylized red wolf head on their noses right below the driver's position. They were void of the cloth multi-spectral camo that her own vehicles possessed and almost shined orange thanks in part to the early morning sun. They were just behind a wall of trailers, cars, and dumpsters moved to the front of town and just in front of what looked to be a small water tower. She saw several individuals sprinting between cover with sandbags, pieces of wood, or anything else that could been used for cover. She saw that there were at least a dozen infantry in a mix of the all-black armor and helmets of the Vengeance Brigade to the mix of civilian jackets and clothes of the townsfolk, more than likely forced into fighting the UNSC on the threat of harm to themselves and their families.
"Tiger-1, carefully move to hull down position and engage those Cougars, time now."
"Roger that Anvil-6, engaging hostiles."
The tank lurched forward and then stopped as the turret's ninety millimeter gun tracked onto one of the Cougars and then loosed a single round from over five hundred meters away. The loud concussion of the powerful weapon kicked up a low cloud of dust all around the vehicle, scattering the falling snow coming down around them. It was a simple point and shoot, and the excellent targeting system of the M808B did its job to perfection. The round sliced through the armor plates just behind the left front tire of the six-wheeled vehicle with a loud bang and a brownish gray cloud jetted away from the Cougar below. It was followed by a loud explosion as the ammunition inside cooked off, blowing open every door and hatch in the vehicle as orange flames reached out like a jet engine as yellow flashes erupted as the explosive rounds exploded inside and the missiles on the turret also exploded.
Black smoke rose quickly as the Cougar burned hotly, and was followed by a second concussive SABOT round lancing through the nose of the second Cougar. The infantry within the immediate vicinity weren't really killed or wounded by impacts of the rounds but as the second Cougar followed a similar destructive pattern to the first they were all just struggling to get their bearings. With both armored opponents down Lieutenant McCoy had ordered an advance and weapons free call to her platoon and the rebels in the town instantly ducked into the nearest cover and pointed their weapons up the road and fired at the first thing they could see. Unfortunately for them that was the two Scorpions rumbling down the concrete road.
Heavy and light machine guns now let loose from across the town at the UNSC Marine convoy that was now letting loose as one by one the Marines' Warthogs rolled over the hill and started driving along the length of the ridge towards their objective. Bullets snapped and as the gunshots echoed back with louds pops and strings of rattling from anything firing in an automatic burst. The convoy was a very large target, but the armor and glass on the UNSC vehicles brushed aside the small arms fire with little trouble. The drivers were on the left hand side of their vehicles, totally in cover, but that didn't stop them from flinching or ducking as a round snapped over their heads or slammed into the side of their Warthogs. Another advantage was that the cut out section of road had a tall lip to it with a steel barrier to prevent cars from careening down the ridge into the thick woods, so they were in solid cover already, with the Insurrectionists really only getting fleeting glimpses of their targets coming towards them.
The Marine infantry were ordered to stick to the shallow ditches on the sides of the road and suppress the village defenses. With their IFF identification software in their helmets they were seeing plenty of targets in the town. Most Innies were taking cover in the buildings and fortifications to the south, popping out to fire their weapons before ducking back again for fear of being shot. The machine guns on the tanks and Warthogs were firing in short bursts, pecking away at the randomly appearing enemy militants.
Lieutenant McCoy had allowed the convoy to pass, only ordering her vehicle forward to stay ahead of the rocket and anti-armor hogs in the rear. She saw her Marines moving forward hunched over along the lip to the right in defilade, standing to peek over the sides through the pine and spruce trees in front of them. They were still slightly out of effective range, and were wanting to conserve their ammunition so it was really up to their DMR's to take the shots until they got closer.
"Let's get out here, Corpsman pull your Hog up here and stay in cover" she ordered her Staff Sergeant and the three Corpsmen in her platoon with their medical variant of the Warthog, and then turned to the Captain Lynch, "You wouldn't mind sticking with my Hog would you?"
"Not at all," Lynch said calmly, looking out over the town with a pair of range finders.
He was remarkably calm from what she could tell, standing almost straight up in the bed of her vehicle looking out over the town, marking targets on their Blue Force Trackers for all to see. He was certainly not dead weight, just the opposite, he was actively trying to aid in their operation.
Definitely not your average spook, Lieutenant McCoy thought to herself as she jumped over the metal railing and then dove onto her belly against the dirt bank to look out over the town.
Her scan revealed very little, just a few enemy infantry popping out of windows, from behind buildings, and from anything else that would classify as cover. She did get one piece of satisfaction at seeing an Innie firing away with an M247H fifty caliber machine gun get popped in the head by what she assumed was one of the three DMR's in her platoon. The man's body crumpled on top of the weapon, sending a burst of fire skywards as it was pushed up to aim at the sky.
"Anvil-6, Tiger-1 we're about to lose our cover here," the voice of the first tank's commander piped up on the radio.
"Roger Tiger-1, We'll split into our squads for the main assault. I want Tiger-1 to skirt around the town with Anvil-1 and establish a blocking position to the west in case more Innies decide to join the battle. Tiger-2 will move down the main street with Anvil-2 clearing the western side and Anvil-3 clearing the eastern side of the street. Do your best to parallel one another in your advance," McCoy called out.
Blue winks on her HUD signaled that they understood her perfectly, and she saw the first Scorpion lurch forward off of the road over a stand of bushes on the grass median, knocking over a light post in the process. She about reprimanded the driver for unnecessary destruction of property but held her tongue. Instead she signaled her platoon sergeant to follow as she got up and mad her way down towards the rest of her platoon which was now moving forward very quickly. Several snaps from a machine gun caused both of them to flinch as they moved along the berm and made a conscious decision to stay just a little bit lower on their little sprint.
They both reached the rear end of third squad which was moving forward at a fast walk with their Warthogs covering their advance with heavy fifty caliber rounds slicing through the trees. She saw that each fireteam was cresting the berm to move in cover through the trees down the steep slope one by one to start clearing the buildings which were by now just two hundred meters away. She knew she shouldn't be with third squad in its more isolated position away from the rest of the platoon's other two squads and leapfrogged them. As she did that a sickening metallic pop caught her attention as one of the Marine grenadiers lurched back like his head had gotten hit by a sledgehammer.
"Fuck!" the man yelled as he felt the top of his helmet, patting around to feel where he'd gotten hit.
"You alright Marine?" she asked, ducking down next to him, examining him herself.
What she saw was a silver gash was present where the 5.56mm round had ricocheted off the top of his helmet. The young Marine was wide-eyed and dazed at the forceful impact.
"I'm still green eltee," he said, rolling onto his hands and knees and crawled back with the rest of his fireteam putting fire down onto a house where the shot had come from.
"Don't stick your head up so far next time," she joked as she patted him on the head from behind before moving on down the line.
Both Marines then reached the front of the convoy as second squad began its sprint across along with the Warthogs which began spreading out so they all had clear field of fire. Only a few shots were fired at them as they advanced in three rolling wedges alongside their vehicles. She saw her first squad and their vehicles being led forward along the sides of town, firing into windows and barricades, scaring the Innies into headlong retreat further into town as they closed in. She signaled Staff Sergeant Harvey to follow her forward. She planned on staying with second squad due to its central location in the battle.
She could now almost feel the heat of the dying off fires from the two Cougars still burning at the front of town. The lead Scorpion crashed through the hastily constructed barricades, crushing sandbags wooden pallets, and a pushing aside a concrete barrier in the middle of the road. With entry into town secure two of the Warthogs, an anti-armor Hog and a gun Hog, peeled away to support third squad. She could now see several bodies of enemy militants amongst the front barriers as second squad began clearing the first two buildings as the two of them reached the barricade and ducked down.
A concussive blast roared out from within the low, mostly underground and circular shaped, house to their left as a single fireteam tossed in a flashbang after kicking smashing in a window. She saw them from above as they rushed into the kicked in door built at the foot of a staircase below ground level. Shots echoed out as they were fired upon by a single hostile within but their own fire dealt with him soon enough.
"Eltee, this house here hasn't been cleared," Harvey called over to her, tapping her shoulder and then pointed at a house to their right, built into a low hill with sandbags and a table arranged in front of the door with sandbags in the windows.
"Let's clear it real quick then," she nodded and tucked her rifle to her shoulder and moved forward, aiming at one of two windows next to the door.
Both of them rushed to white face, careful not to slip on the ice-covered deck below the lip of the balcony above it. McCoy aimed her rifle through the window, seeing the lit interior of the house's living room with the couches untouched but saw a single head pop up from behind the kitchen counter in the back of the room and identified it as one of the fanatics by the red painted dome of the fritz helmet.
"At least one inside, flash it out!" she called out.
"Roger!"
Harvey kicked in the door and then ducked back behind the wall and tapped the button on a flash bang grenade before tossing it well into the room. A trio gunshots tore at the doorway from within as the grenade went off, and McCoy stood back up and aimed through the broken window, firing at the kitchen counter where she knew one hostile was located. The other NCO burst in, rifle raised and caught sight of their target in a hallway down past the counter with weapon raised and fired at him with expert precision. The four rounds caught the Innie first in the upper arm and then into his chest plate which took the rounds as best they could, but another burst from the Marine NCO caught him again, this time, right at the base of the neck and in the upper chest, severing his spinal column. He crumpled down against the wall onto his side limply, dead before hitting the ground. The lieutenant charged into the room, following Harvey down the hall in the event there were any other Innies within the building. They came to a staircase that led down and carefully made their way down into the main area of the house. There they came to a warm, garden-looking area with a few rows of vegetables growing under the warmth of sun lamps mounted in the ceiling with several doors arrayed around it.
"UNSC Marines, anyone here?!" she called out.
"Let us know now," Harvey yelled as well.
McCoy pointed to the closest door, and once ready pulled it open to reveal a small bathroom, empty of life. Moving on they opened another door, revealing a child's bedroom, with a pair of bunkbeds and toys scattered on the floor. Then they heard some talking behind a door behind them on the other side of the room. Walking carefully to the door McCoy decided to give them an opportunity to give themselves up.
"UNSC! Show me your hands, we know you're in there!"
The talking then hushed immediately, and then right before she was going to signal her Sergeant to kick it in someone called out.
"We're civilian! Don't shoot!"
"Come out of there, hands where we can see them!" Harvey ordered, and then motioned McCoy to back away from the door.
"We're coming out," the man's voice said , worry evident in his voice.
The white door opened with a squeak and then two pairs of hands reached out, followed by a man with a goatee looking back and forth to see the two Marines aiming their rifles right between his eyes. He then looked back and inside and ushered the others inside to come out.
"It's okay, their military."
He then walked out, wearing a normal looking hoodie and jeans. Behind him came a young woman holding a small child walking beside her tight to her legs with one hand in the air.
"Against the wall please sir," McCoy said calmly, relaxing her stance at seeing that it was just a normal family.
"I-I have a pistol in my belt," the man said calmly, "I'm not a rebel. I just wanted to defend my family."
"Okay thank you for tell us sir, but I'm still going to have to take it for my safety," McCoy said, moving forward to pat them all down and saw the man, raise his hoodie to show them a revolver in his belt loop.
She took it out, tossing it to Harvey and then quickly patted down all three, being very careful with the little boy staying very quiet and very close to his mother.
"Alright," she said to them, "Stay down here where it's safe for your family. Lock the door and wait for UNSC personnel to come and clear the area."
"Okay," the man responded, and moved to shepherd his family into the main bedroom. But he was stopped by McCoy before he went inside.
"We killed an Innie upstairs, better not let your child see that."
The man just nodded as his face went white at the knowledge a dead body was in his house as he shut the door and locked it. With that the Marines checked one last room, saw nothing was in it, and ran back upstairs and then outside. Her HUD was showing that the platoon had made rapid progress, already having seized most of the town's southern third with no casualties.
She walked out of the building to see that her command vehicle and the medical vehicle had pulled up to her position.
"So far so good," Captain Lynch called out to her from where he was driving her Hog, "They're falling back or surrendering faster than we're advancing."
"We've still got a long way to go."
Well this chapter was getting a bit long so I decided to cut it off here and pick up where it left off next chapter. Thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed it, if you didn't leave a review telling me what you think I can improve on or if you have any suggestions.
Next Chapter Preview: Warm-up's over, time for a real challenge, courtesy of the United Rebel Front.
