Author Note: I like to think my beta reader thearizona. i also like to think everyone who favorite and follow this story i also like to think Spartan298, all the others for their reviews and ideas for other chapters for the story. i like to think everyone who has reviewed this story. Spartan298, , and KiloActual and Loyal ODST and De4thKnight for their ideas and using their own halo characters which will appear in later chapters. if you would like for your own Halo character to appear in the story PM me. If you haven't reviewed this story please do so i appreciate all the reviews, favorite and follows.
The Battle for the United Kingdom
Part 1
London, England
24 hours before Colonel Heath-118 and the rest arrived in Manchester, England.
Six UNSC Army soldiers were inside the security station that guarded the entrance to the UNSC National Museum in London. They've had nothing to ever since they took over for the last guards as their job was to care of the visitors coming into the museum, but due to the invasion, there are no visitors. They were now there to make sure that if the Covenant attacked the city, didn't get any important relics from within the museum. The soldiers assigned to the museum for this watch were First Sergeant Barnes, Staff Sergeant McKay, Sergeant Dave, Corporal Sandman, Corporal Bane, and Private First Class Linda Walker. They were playing poker when they heard explosions outside. They come out of the security station to see a Covenant ship appear right above Buckingham Palace.
"We're totally fucked now," Private First Class Linda Walker said.
"I don't want to die," Corporal Bane whined to the others.
"We're all going to die man," Sergeant Dave said. First Sergeant Barnes and Staff Sergeant McKay turned back towards the three FNG's and tried to reassure them, even though it was pointless. They watched as Banshees, Phantoms, and Sprits left the Covenant ship before running back into the security station to grab their DMRs. They hurried back out and that was when the Banshees decided to strafe the area. First Sergeant Barns pushed two of his fellow soldiers out of the way of deadly plasma, but he wasn't so lucky. His buddies rushed to his side, but he was already dead by time they reached him.
"I'm going to kill every last Covenant I see," Staff Sergeant McKay said. They looked up and saw drop pods similar to the ones the ODSTs use, but bigger, falling from the sky. The drop pods touched the ground and out came Brutes. The Army soldier's fired at them, aiming for their heads, but more pods kept dropping. Four Warthogs, along with an armored vehicle, appeared with London Police Force on the sides. The Warthogs were only equipped with the miniguns, but that still kept the Brutes from overwhelming their position. They started to hurry the civilians into the museum and as soon as the Brutes got themselves organized, that is when the trouble began. Many of the London Police Officers were cut down by the Brutes. A War Chieftain appeared and broke every bone in one of the Police officer's body before bringing his foot down onto the young man's head. His partner fired round after round into the War Chieftain, revenge for the death of his partner and best friend on his mind. Finally, the War Chieftain dropped dead just as he ran out of ammo in his M4A9, a variant of the old American M4 carbine that had been upgraded to hold 76 armor-piercing rounds. He reloaded and nailed two more Brutes, ten Grunts and one Jackal whose back was to him. They were pushed into the museum by the Brutes, who were joined by Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers. The Grunts were easy to kill, but they attacked in large groups ranging from 6 to a couple hundreds and sometimes a couple thousands. A Brute flung a Spike Grenade at Sandman, but he ducked and it hit a pillar behind him, showering him with shrapnel. "Mother Fucker!" He yelled and fired his MA5B at him. The Brute fired its Spiker at him, but misses him before Sandman killed him. They entered the museum and closed the huge iron doors just as several Brutes ran into them. Though just before the doors fully close, a spike from one of the Spiker hit Sandman in the shoulder. "Fuck, after being shot at by these things and not getting hit, I'm the one that gets hit just as we get to a safe location?" He said. One of the civilians was a doctor and she used the soldier's med kit to remove the Spike from his shoulder. Staff Sergeant McKay walked up to the wounded soldier.
"How is he doing doc?" McKay asked.
"He'll live, I removed the spike but it wasn't easy."
"Thanks doc," he turned to Sandman. "Can you still fight?"
"Sarge, it will take more than that to stop Sandman," he replied with a smile on his face. The Sarge had a smile on his face too.
"We need to secure the museum against any Covenant intrusions," Staff Sergeant McKay said to him.
"Sir yes sir," the UNSC Army soldiers replied. They went through the museum, checking every entrance. Staff sergeant McKay went over to the sergeant in charge of the London Police Force that answered their call for help.
"Thanks for the help, those Warthogs really saved our bacon and I appreciate it a whole lot. I'm sorry about your fellow officers though; I know how it feels to lose people." He said.
"Fuck you soldier boy, we're stuck in here while those things run around our city killing everyone they see," the Police officer said.
"We don't know that, but if they are killing every one, then we will fucking find a nuke and destroy that ship hovering above our city." He paused to collect his thoughts. "Now we need to secure this building and there's a lot of area to cover and we're going to need every son of bitch we can get, including civilians, to help keep the Covenant from getting in here. Now if you're finished bitching, let's do our jobs and see if we can all return home to our families in one piece. First let's go get a head count." Staff Sergeant McKay counted five soldiers including himself, a dozen Police Officers, six museum security guards and three dozen civilians. He was surprise to find out that a majority of the civilians were kids. Staff Sergeant McKay knew that the museum had Covenant weaponry in glass cases, so he went over to them and broke the cases. One of the museum security guards just stared at him. "What the fuck are you waiting for? Break the other cases, we need the weapons." He checked out some of the Covenant weapons and some were depleted, but others still have some power left in them. He gave them to the older civilians as a couple of them were older vets of the Human-Covenant War. One of them was an officer in the UNSC Navy so Staff Sergeant McKay saluted him.
"Sir, if you wish to take over command, I'll give it to you sir."
"No, sergeant I'm retired, you're in command but we'll give you all the help we can?"
"Thank you sir," he replied. "We need to patrol the halls of the building and keep the entrance secure. The weak point is the loading dock so I want three people guarding that entrance." He looked at one of the police officers who was holding a gun bag. "What do you have in their?"
"It's my custom sniper rifle. I have an awesome scope that has night vision, thermal, and just a regular scope. I can see targets with the thermal scope through solid objects. It has a 12 round magazine and I have six extra magazines." The Police officer told him and Staff Sergeant McKay looks at his name tag and sees that his name is T. Jenkins.
"Alright Jenkins, I want you on the roof watching the enemy, but be careful they will have their own snipers. Sandman will be assisting you." T Jenkins and Sandman headed to the roof. McKay divided the team up so they could patrol the museum. McKay had been trying to reach other units, but no communications were working, not even the hard line. "What the fuck, we can't raise anyone outside of this museum, not even over the hardline. We are completely cut off from the rest of the world."
"Fuck, that's serious," several of the others who heard him over the coms replied.
"Jenkins report, what's going on outside?"
"The Covies are massing a huge force outside and they have already surrounded the museum and are constructed barricades. They have tanks out there."
"Fuck me, once those tanks start to fire we'll be completely fucked," Sergeant Bane said.
"Yes sergeant I know," he said. The Covenant started to attack so everybody with a gun fired onto the Covenant infantry that were attack. They beat the first assault back, but the Covenant attacked again. Shades fired at the museum windows to try and keep the human's heads' down, but a few rockets hit the Shades and silenced them. The second assault was also beaten back with zero human casualties. It was then that the tanks started to fire their plasma mortars.
Buckingham Place 1 minute after radar detected a Covenant ship:
Buckingham Place Security troops looked up and saw the Covenant Battlecruiser hovering right above them. All of a sudden a beam came down in front of the gate and a dozen Grunts and Jackals descended with around twenty-four Elites. The Queens Guard and other security forces stationed nearby opened fire and the first assault is a complete slaughter. The battlecruiser fired around a hundred drop pods which heading for different areas of the city, but fifteen headed straight for the palace. More Covenant troops descended from the ship, along with some Hunters. The Hunters destroyed the vehicles. The drop pods crashed into the palace walls, breaking through. Several security guards were there to meet them, but they weren't expecting the Elites who overwhelm them. The surviving soldiers outside of the gate began retreating while auto-turrets cover them. However, they had no clue that Sangheili Spec-Ops had used the drop pods to gain entrance into the place and were making their way to the control room. The Palace Security stood no chance. The Queen's Guard were busy outside dealing with the Covenant troops disembarking from the hovering ship. Luckily, a dozen Orbital Drop Shock Troopers on leave were touring the palace when the Covenant decided to attack. They headed towards the armory, but were stopped by one of the guards. They took matters into their own hands and knocked him out and retrieved weapons and gear before they headed to the control room to make sure it stayed secure, since it controlled all of the palace security measures. They saw dead Queen's Guard and Buckingham Palace security on their way, with a few Covenant bodies mixed in, but only four Spec-Op Elites. They went around a corner and spotted two Elites. They opened fire, dropping him with their overwhelming firepower. The second Elite turned towards them and opened fire, but missed. They tossed a flashbang, blinding the Elite and he too is taken care of. They proceeded on and encounter a few more Elites, each one quickly dealt with. They're joined by a dozen or so of Queen's Guard. They saw the Elites trying to gain access to the control room and opened fire on the Elites, taking care of them. One of the Queen's Guards knocked on the door and gave the password. The heavy doors opened and they all rushed inside. "Lock this place down," the guard said. The operator nodded and tapped on his computer screen. "Lockdown in 14 seconds." The Queen's Guard were forced back into the palace or else get locked outside and heavy doors sealed the entrance. Elsewhere, other heavy doors sealed all doors and windows, placing the palace is lockdown. They began clearing the place of any Covenant stragglers. The Covenant drop pods had mostly crashed through windows, but with them now sealed, they wouldn't be able enter the palace that way. Covenant soldiers were still pouring off the ship and they surrounded the palace. The people inside the palace knew it was only a matter of time before the Covenant would cut their way through the plating, so they began preparing barricades. They could hear the plasma fire hitting the palace walls.
Forty-Six Minutes after the Covenant invaded the United Kingdom:
On the outskirts of London England was a UNSC Army installation which covered two acres and was surrounded by abandoned buildings. Several minutes before the Covenant began their attack on London, Staff Sergeant Eric Haze took a deep breath as he left the barracks to make sure that the soldiers on duty hadn't fallen asleep. He had just lost a game of poker to some privates and lost all his pay for the month. He had been in the UNSC Army for 5 years and had never fought the Covenant and he couldn't believe it when he heard that the Covenant has invaded Earth again. All UNSC forces were on high alert, but so far no Covenant have attack England yet. Most of the soldiers' stationed at the military installation were new recruits, along with about a dozen veterans from the first Human-Covenant War. Since almost everyone station at the installation were new, including officers, they have been doing endless drills practicing different scenarios in case the Covenant ever attacked the United Kingdom.
Major Tom Mason was one of the veterans from the first Human-Covenant War so command place him in charge of the Army soldiers in London. Major Tom Mason was a member of the 2nd Special Forces Division in the Human-Covenant War but that was back when he was a colonel. He was a highly decorated soldier during the war. After one of his missions against the Covenant, he went up to his commander after his orders had cost the lives of half his company and blew the man's brains out. HighCom could have had him shot but they didn't, but of course Colonel Heath-118 came to his defense. He will never forget the Spartan who save his bacon twice. A squad of Army Special Forces under the command of Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson was assigned to his command. He's glad they're not at the base right now. He just came out of his own barracks with the other officers of Bravo Company sleep. He is part of the UNSC Army 18th Division stationed throughout Europe. After the first war with the Covenant, HighCom decided that every city throughout Earth would be defended by a small detachment of troopers. He knew that there was a large Marine base outside of London and an Army airbase in Scotland. He remembered fighting the Covenant and how hard many of their species were to kill and the sacrifice of the Spartans, but now the Covenant were back and having only attacking Alamo Base, Fort Augusta in the URNA, and a few other locations, he got this feeling that they were just getting started. He saw something appear from the sky and he recognized it immediately as a Covenant ship, but the ship wasn't powering up weapons at all. He headed for one of the bases four towers and grabbed the binoculars from a private watching the skies for Covenant ships.
Most of his men were still in their bunks except for a small number of soldiers making sure the vehicles were ready to go at moment notice or on guard duty. He saw Phantoms, Spirits, and Banshees being launched so he ran into the headquarters where his fellow officers were drinking and playing cards, not knowing what's going on until their major comes in yelling, "Covenant Ship over London! We have Banshees and drop ships inbound." Everything is quiet for a moment they all thanking it's a joke that the major is playing on them. "What, you stupid son of bitches thinks I'm fucking kidding! Why you don't take a look outside for yourselves then?" They went outside and saw the Covenant ship.
"Holy Fuck," they said together. The major looked at his fellow officers who didn't have a clue what to do.
"I want everyone awake and armed, get those Triple-A batteries online and get the MASS Driver online. I want soldiers equip with Rocket Launchers on the walls and fire teams in the logical approaches to the base on the ground. Get in contact with the Marines, we're going to need some help." Several of the veteran NCOs were already awake and gathering the men and sending them straight to the armory to gear up. Major Mason hurried to grab his rifle from the armory and the Triple-A batteries began firing just as the major walked it to the armory. He takes his DMR from the weapons rack before grabbing some fragmentation grenades. "Hurry up, I bet the Covenant will turn this armory into a huge powder keg. Now get everything out before they destroy it or we won't be able to help any civilians!" He ran out and headed to the motor pool to get every vehicle they had out of it before the Covenant could destroy it. The installations Artificial Intelligence fired the MASS Driver at the approaching dropships. That is until one of the covenant ship's armaments turned towards the base and turned the MASS Driver into molten slag which then fell onto the armory and part of the installations walls. "Check and see if there are any survivors and I want those damn Banshees taken out now!"
His men go to work; and even though they were green, thanks to the endless hours of drills they did what they had to do. The skies were full of Covenant aircraft. Banshees speed around the base, looping and diving to avoid being hit by the rockets, but the Triple-A batteries tracked them and destroyed them. The commander of the Covenant forces orders his troops to deploy further away from the base and for the Banshees to return to the ship. Major Tom Mason knows that they won't be able to hold the base from a large Covenant assault. He can hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance, apparently the London Police Force was putting up a good fight. They managed to save a large portion of the weapons and ammo from the armory before it was destroyed. They even mange to salvage a couple of Wolf Spiders. They only vehicles they had were Warthogs, 2 Scorpion MBTs, and three APCs. The APCs were heavily armored, having gun ports for the infantry inside, several large caliber guns, a cannon for dealing with enemy armor and on top of that they can hold eighteen men apace. A voice appears over the radio from an officer in the London Police Force, but the officer wasn't talking to him.
"Be advise all officers in London we were evacuating the civilians to the train stations so they can escape to the countryside but the Covenant are proving to be a pain in the ass, therefore we are going to form a perimeter around the central train station that all trains pass through and send them out different directions. We need help from any UNSC personnel in the city." Major Tom Mason took a minute to think about what to do; according to the reason why they were station in London was to protect the civilians if the Covenant attacks, he decided to help the London Police Officers. They heard gunfire outside of the base so he knew that the units he has out there were engaging the Covenant. He ordered them to fallback and board vehicles because they were leaving the base. He told the A.I. that once they leave the base, to level it and gave her the password that allowed her to complete the final command. They left the installation as fast as they could and he wasn't surprise to see the Covenant outside of the base waiting for them, but they wouldn't, and didn't stop. The two tanks were clearing a path for them. They destroyed four Wraith tanks, three Revenants, and numerous Ghost, Prowlers, and Choppers. The gunners on the Warthogs fired and the troopers in the transport hogs open fire while the drivers ran many Covenant troops down. Soldiers equipped with rockets fired at the Hunters that tried to block their paths. Once they were a good way away from the base, it detonated and incinerating any Covenant troops near it. They headed in the direction of the central train station. They had encounter small resistance from Banshees and a few Covenant vehicles, mostly Ghost and Choppers when they were joined by a squad of marines on Gungooses.
Elsewhere, Staff Sergeant Malesia Meyer was in her apartment enjoying some time off when she heard explosions. She thought it might be some terrorist causing some problems until she turns on her screen and sees a shot of the Covenant Battlecruiser hovering above Buckingham Place. Reports were saying that the UNSC and London Police Officers were working hard to repel the invaders. She knows for a fact that the number of the UNSC soldiers within London were extremely light as most were outside of London and Manchester so the only real defense London had been the Queen Guards and the London Police Department. She went to the window and watched a flight of four Banshees fly pass her window with several Sparrowhawks chasing them with four additional Banshees behind them. She knows that the UNSC have setup small arms lockers around the city to arm the inhabitants in case of an enemy attack. UNSC Marines were assigned to guard them but she has no clue where they were. She goes over to the gun cabinet that she has in her apartment and inside were weapons from the 20th and early 21st Century which have been handed down through her family. She grabs magazines for her M1911 and AK-47 and loads the weapons. She exited her apartment and some people were outside of their own apartments so she told them to get back into their apartment and lock the doors. She was headed down the stairs when she heard another explosion which sounded much closer. She exited from the apartment building to see a battle erupting around her apartment complex. The Queen's Guard were putting up a hell of a fight.
The Tower of London is close to her and the triple-A batteries were firing non-stop. Phantoms and Sprits were dropping off troops and vehicles. She spotted a Warthog with a lone soldier operating the gun until a Hunter blew it apart up. A squad of Covenant soldiers were moving towards her position so she headed back upstairs. A few civilians trying to cross the street were eliminated by a gang of Brutes. A Brute Captain ordered the squad to check the buildings for hostiles. They entered Staff Sergeant Meyer's apartment complex as a Wraith pulls up outside supported by two Spectres. The Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes began entering the complex and when they broke into the apartments she could hear the screams of the occupants, then only silence. She even heard gunfire from some residence's shotguns. A Grunt was climbing the stairs and she used the butt of the AK-47 to smash in the Grunt's skull just as a second Grunt appeared behind the first, so she shot him in the head. A Brute spotted her and fired up at her, missing by inches. He told the others to follow him as they chased after the Staff Sergeant. She entered the floor her apartment is on with the Covenant were right on her heels. She entered her apartment before spinning and nailing three Grunts and one Brute before they could open fire at her. Somebody exited from their apartment so she shouted a warning, but it was too late as a Brute filled the civilian with spikes before she moves further into her apartment. As a Brute entered she killed him with a headshot and took cover as additional Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals entered. All of sudden she heard gunfire and the sound of breaking glass.
"Ma'am were you alright?" She heard before getting up and seeing four Spartans standing in her apartment.
"Yes I'm fine, thank you," she replied. "There are more outside."
"There were more," another Spartan corrected her.
"Ma'am we're evacuating all civilians in this area to the nearest train station," another Spartan said.
"I'm not a civilian," she replied.
"We're well aware of who you are," the same Spartan said.
"Who are you?" He didn't answer. "I ask you a question Spartan." He still didn't answer. "Spartan, who are you?" He still didn't answer her. They left the apartment and as they get outside she heard vehicles pulling up. Major Matthew Baker got out of one of the APCs and one of the Spartans went up to him.
"Nice work lieutenant commander this area is secure for the moment," he said to the Spartan Team Lance CO.
"Sir, some of these people require medical attention. Apparently some of the Brutes decided to rape a few of the women while they watch their love ones, including the kids, being slaughtered."
"We'll make them pay," Baker replied. When Staff Sergeant Meyer exited from the building she saluted the major and identified herself. "You're not the only UNSC soldier on leave we've encountered." He said before turning to a lieutenant. "Lieutenant, get this trooper a proper weapon and some gear."
"Yes sir," the lieutenant replied before handing her a DMR and some gear.
"Where did you get all these weapons sir?" She asked seeming all the extra weapons they had with them being handed to civilians.
"We have raided all the small-arms lockers along our way and have been drafting civilians to help us take the city back." They moved out once the last civilian was loaded. A Mantis moved ahead of them along with Spartan Team Lance.
Onboard the Covenant Battlecruiser hovering above London, the Sangheili Shipmaster was received reports from the surface when a Sangheili General looked at him. "What your orders shipmaster?"
"Have our troops take up positions around any target that may hold Forerunner Artifacts and in areas the humans may use to take back the city," the shipmaster said.
"What about the civilian population?"
"Let them leave; we'll need them after we take this planet. These are the orders of the hierarchs."
"As you command," the Sangheili General replied.
