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Chapter 18

First battle of London

Part 3

Thirty minutes after the ODST's jumped out of the Pelicans:

Sergeant Cutler, a member of Ghost Company, Bravo platoon, woke up somehow he didn't recognize as he was knocked unconscious. He was hanging from a light pole so he cut himself loose and noticed his drag bag wasn't anywhere to be seen. That meant the only weapons he had were his M6S, and a Suppressed M7 SMG. He saw the rally point on his HUD so he headed in that direction. He was constantly watching for Covenant as he walked closer to the rally point when he came upon a crashed Pelican in a courtyard with Brutes, Grunts and Jackals all around it. He got closer and peeked through a destroyed Warthog. He saw a burned police officer in the driver seat and notice the bodies around him were all police officers. He tried not to barf inside of his helmet. He knew that his SMG wasn't good for long range firing but inside the Warthog he saw the perfect weapon for the job, a Battle Rifle. He knew that the Brutes were the main threat, especially if you can't get them with headshot, so he aimed at the Brute that was not near any of the others and killed him with a headshot. He didn't wait before he began firing on the other Brutes, killing all but one. The other Brute took cover and returned fire with its Covenant Carbine.

The Jiralhanae ordered the Grunts and Jackals to flank the human. Sergeant Cutler knew that if he got flanked he would be done so he ran towards the nearest building and smashed through the glass window. He headed up to the rooftop and he planted a claymore on the stairs leading up to the rooftop in case any Covenant tried to follow him up. He saw the Covenant approaching the position he had just left from multiple locations and he saw two more Brutes and an Engineer had joined them. The two Brutes were in power armor.

"Fuck," he said. "I fucken hate Brutes in that power armor, I have to shoot the fucken armor off before I can kill them." He looked at the ammo counter on the battle rifle and saw it had twelve rounds left, plus he had grabbed a spare magazine from the Warthog. He took aim at the first Brute with armor and fired. It takes two squeezes of the trigger, so six bullets, to finally kill the Brute. He fired again at the second Brute and once again, six bullets took him down and he was reloading when the return fire started to fly by his position. He crawled to another location on the roof and nailed the last Brute. He saw the Grunts and Jackals heading straight for the building, so he shot at them but mostly got Grunts since the Jackal's shield could deflect projectiles, but he manages to shoot through the weak spot in the Jackal's shields and nails one of them by the time the Covvies were inside of the building. He heard the claymore go off so he switched from the now empty Battle Rifle to his SMG. He got to where the door was and waited for the door to open, and when it did two Grunts emerged so he shot them both in the back before he picked up a plasma grenade from one of the dead Grunts and threw it inside the building.

Once the grenade exploded he entered the building and killed the surviving Grunts and Jackals. A Grunt managed to fire a plasma pistol round at Sergeant Cutler before it went down, but he didn't pay any mind to it since his adrenaline was pumping. Once the small fight was over, Sergeant Cutler grabbed the med kit from his backpack. His armor stopped a majority of the plasma, but he still needed to clean it and spray some Biofoam on it. He continued on his way to rejoin with his company. He didn't get very far before he runs into some of his fellow ODST's. The visors depolarized and he looked into their faces. There was Corporal Lee Demolition Expert, Corporal Martha Lee medic, Lance Corporal Addie Hopkins sniper, and Private Bob Stevens Heavy Weapon Specialist, they were all members of his platoon and part of Ghost Company. He knew that none of the ODSTs were green but Bob Stevens was the newest addition to Ghost Company.

"Where did you all come from?" He asked.

"We've been scouting the area near the UNSC Museum. There's a large force of Covenant there and they have Phantoms on the ground." Lance Corporal Hopkins told the sergeant.

"Well then, let's go kick their ass's and see if we can rescue the civilians that are supposed to be there." They headed in the direction of the museum, constantly watching for any Covenant patrols. They had to hide from a patrol of Ghost that was patrolling the city streets but that was all they saw, except for the bodies of the dead civilians. As they neared the buildings on the opposite side of the museum, they saw a few fresh Covenant bodies filled with bullet holes. They examined the bodies and found shell casings nearby.

"Did you see these bodies when you came through here the first time?"

"Sir No Sir," they all answered.

"Then this just happened not too long ago."

"Sir these shell casings are from MP5's and those are standard issue CQB weapons for UNSC Special Forces and Police." Corporal Lee said.

"I see something moving on a rooftop, up there." Lance Corporal Hopkins said while looking through her Sniper Rifle scope.

"Let's go check it out. Formation beta, I want eyes everywhere, I don't want to walk into a Covenant ambush."

"Sir yes sir," they said. They got into formation and made their way towards the building that Hopkins saw something move. They entered the building and were immediately surrounded with barrels pointed right at their heads. Sergeant Cutler recognized thirteen of them as members of the UNSC 1st Special Forces Division. The others were a part of the London Police Forces SWAT team. Sergeant Cutler introduced himself and his men just before a Brigadier General stepped forward. The ODST's snap to attention.

"Sergeant Cutler, I'm commandeering you and your men for a mission of great importance to the United Nations Space Command."

"Sir, what about the museum? Last I heard there were civilians trapped in there along with several of your soldier's sir." Sergeant Cutler said to the Army general.

"They are safely underground. We arrived just as the Wraiths stopped firing at the museum and we watched as the Covenant swarmed into the museum. The last report I got said that they were heading to the underground vault."

"Why would the Covenant worry about damage to the museum?"

"Can you think of any reason why the Covenant would be interested in anything in a museum?" Sergeant Cutler now knew why the Covenant hadn't destroyed the museum, there was a Forerunner Artifacts in there.

"Sir let's see what we can do to stop their search."

"We will sergeant but not during the daytime, we'll wait until nightfall," the general replied.

"Sir Yes sir," he replied. They could hear gunfire coming from the direction of Parliament and throughout the city but they've been hearing the sounds of fighting all day long so it blended into the background.

"I see your fellow Jarheads have engaged the Covenant near Parliament, that should divert Covenant forces from this location to there." They listened to the sounds of gunfire and explosions as a few Covenant patrols passed them by.

8 hours after the Covenant invaded England:

The soldiers inside the palace could hear the Covenant cutting through the doors. The Covenant managed to cut through the doors after hours of working at them. One the doors were blown open, the Palace Security Force, Queen's Guard and UNSC soldiers opened fire. The Covenant bodies piled up so high it made it impossible for more Covenant troops to enter the palace. Wraith tanks opened fire on the palace and it only took a few minutes for the Wraith's plasma mortars to begin creating breech points in the walls, some of the rubble falling onto some of the civilians and military soldiers inside.

"Get those civilians into the panic rooms." A Queen's Guard captain said. The civilians were taken to another panic room where hopefully they'll be safe. All of sudden they heard explosions outside. "What's happening out there?"

"UNSC reinforcements have arrived," a person said.

Major Matthew Baker and his men hit the Covenant forces at the palace hard before they even knew what was going on. Spartan team Lance repelled down from a building behind a Covenant gun emplacement and neutralize the crew before turning the weapon on its own troops. The gun is known as the Type-43, it looked like a shade turret but was designed to fire on both infantry and vehicles. A group of Sangheili tried to take the emplacement back but the Spartans slaughtered them. Two Hunters charged towards them in a full sprint, or what can be considered that for a Hunter. One of the Spartans with an M29 Rocket Launcher fired, obliterating both Hunter's. Major Baker's men formed a perimeter in front of the palace. He knew the Covenant would return once the initial shock was over. One of the Spartan-IVs of Spartan Team Lance noticed figures coming down the gravity lift. The warthog gunners' opened fire, slaughtering most of the enemy infantry before they even had a chance to get out of the gravity-lift. The two Scorpion's fired, obliterating any Hunters. All of sudden one of the Warthogs was destroyed. Five Wraiths, supported by Ghost and Choppers, appeared along the city streets. Major Baker realized the Covenant must've called for reinforcements, that was fine though as they would have to pull them from other areas.

Major Baker ordered his troops to open fire. The Scorpions concentrated their fire on the Wraith tanks while the Warthogs and rocketeers focused on the Ghosts and Choppers. A squadron of Banshees attempted to break the human resistance but the Wolverines and soldiers with anti-air launchers brought them down. A Revenant destroyed another Warthog before a Scorpion destroyed it, but the Scorpion was destroyed by three direct hits from three separate Wraiths. Prowlers, Shadows, and Specters advanced towards the human perimeter with Ghosts and Choppers in support. Three Shadows and a Specter were destroyed as they charged the UNSC lines; A Prowler intercepted another rocket. Major Baker ordered his men to retreat into the palace as drones came flying in and fired Needlers and Plasma pistols down at the humans. A Spartan-IV jumped onto one of the Warthogs and grabbed its M41 Anti-Aircraft gun and opened fire while an ODST covered him with his Battle Rifle; The Drones began dropping like flies. A Chopper rammed the Warthog, destroying itself in the process but the Spartan survived. A dozen Sangheili Ultras charged towards the Spartan and before Major Baker went inside he looked at the Spartan and saw the Spartan nod. The Demon killed six of the twelve Sangheili Ultras before they managed to kill him. Major Baker looked around and started organizing everyone in defensive positions, notably around the breeches before the Covenant launched another assault on the palace. They were expecting the Covenant to send Grunts in first but they instead sent in Jiralhanae in Power Armor first, followed by additional Jiralhanae without power-armor.

Several Security Guards were killed while some ran away and were shot in the back. Major Baker fired at a Brute, stripping him of his power armor and finished him off with a headshot. "Aim for the heads, their weaker there!" Baker said before a spike from a Spiker hit him in the shoulder but he continued to fire, despite the pain. A Brute climbed over the table he was using before picking him up and throwing him back several feet. The Brute headed towards him when a Spartan-IV tackled the Brute and fires is MA5B into the Brute's mouth. Another Brute attacked the Spartan but Major Baker came up behind the Brute and stuck his combat knife into the back of the Brute's neck, shutting its lights off. A Queen's Guardsman was hit in the face by a plasma bolt as he was about to throw a grenade and when his body hit the floor the grenade rolled from his hand, blowing apart a section of the barricade and killing three others Queen's Guard and several Brutes. Additional Brutes entered the palace along with Grunts and Jackals through the busted barricade. Major Baker shot four Grunts in the head before tossing a fragmentation grenade into the mix, killing eight Grunts, Jackals and two dead Brutes. One of Major Baker's men was hit by multiple spikes as others were stabbed by Brutes with their knives or using the bayonet at the end of their Spikers or Brute Shots.

A Hunter burst through a weakened wall and was about to fire until a rocket hit the Hunter, blowing the creature in two and killing a dozen Covenant soldiers who were standing too close. The human was then killed by a Supercombine explosion from a Needler. It was at that point that Major Baker ordered them to fallback. Fighting began to break out through the palace and it soon became hand-to-hand. Sections of the palace with heavy blast doors begin sealing them as they were where the panic rooms, the vault, and a few other important areas. Major Baker, three members of Spartan Team Specter, ten Queen's Guard, three Security Forces, and fourteen UNSC soldiers made it to the sealed sections before they were sealed as the rest continued to fight. Brute's stabbed them multiple times with their knives while others watched and fired at the Brutes, trying to save them but were killed in the process. Auto-turrets come online to clear the area. A Spartan-IV assisted by three Queen's Guardsman were holding a section with the auto-turrets help. They were overrun in the end as a Sangheili Field Marshall entered the palace. Two Sangheili Generals and a Jiralhanae Chieftain came up to him.

"Have you secured the palace yet?" It asked the three.

"No, the humans have sealed much of the palace and we're still mopping up human stragglers that failed to enter their safe areas. Once we finish then we will begin cutting our way through to the sealed areas," a Sangheili General said. With a nod the Field Marshall turned and walked away.

Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson and his two platoons were making their way back to London from a training mission outside of London to keep their skills sharp. Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson had been in the UNSC Army for a long time. His brother, Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, was killed in the Human-Covenant War and he was only a corporal when the Covenant invaded Earth the first time. He had heard the stories surrounding his brother and his death, but a Spartan had told him the truth and also that he was a very good friend and his death had affected everyone that had known him. He served with Major Tom Mason when the major was a part of the 2nd Special Forces Division. He respected Tom Mason since he saved his life during the first Human-Covenant War. He thought back to then, their company had been ordered to attack a large Covenant encampment along with several other companies. Their entire company, along with the others, were completely wipe out and only the then Colonel Tom Mason, Corporal Harvey Johnson, a lieutenant they called Heavy, Private First Class Terry Ervin, Sergeant Cameron, Private Mike, Private Dan, Private Irish, and Corporal Lunchmeat survived. They got to a military outpost and were surrounded by Covenant forces and had to fight off several assaults until dropships arrived to evac them at the cost of four soldiers. He remembered his teammates and those that were killed because of their commander and he believed that Tom made the right decision. His thoughts were interrupted by Staff Sergeant Ivan.

"Hey Sarge, parts of London are on fire," Staff Sergeant Ivan said. Sergeant Major Johnson looked in the direction that he was pointing and saw the Covenant ship over London.

"Fuck," one of Sergeant Major Johnson's men yelled out.

"Get ready troopers, we're in for one hell of a fight!" Sergeant Major Johnson told them over the coms. The troopers on the back of the Warthogs checked to make sure their Vulcan Machine Guns and the Guess Cannons were fully loaded and ready to go. The rest of the troopers that were not driving checked their assault rifles and DMRs. As soon as they approached one of the entrances to the city, Banshees came in firing their plasma and Fuel Rod Cannons. The drivers did some very good maneuvers dodging the incoming plasma as the gunners returned fire, knocking five of the Banshees out of the sky in the first pass. On the second pass the gunners nail six more Banshees but one Warthog was crippled and the crew managed to bail before a Banshee fires its Fuel Rod Cannon at the cripple Warthog, destroying it. The soldiers that bailed out fired at the Banshees with their assault rifles and DMRs. The other Warthogs continue to engage the Banshees, shooting more down. Two dozen Ghosts then entered the battle, firing their twin plasma cannons at the Warthogs. This forced Sergeant Major Johnson to have to make a decision to either concentrate on the Banshees or the Ghost.

"How many Warthogs do we have left?" He said into his headset. Eight drivers out of the original thirteen, including the Warthog Johnson was in, responded to the call. He told four to focus on the Banshees and the other four to focus on the Ghost. The Guess Cannons made short work of the attacking Ghosts. All of a sudden, plasma mortar blobs began landing all around them. A Warthog was nearly hit by the deadly plasma, causing the vehicle to overturn and flung the passengers clear. They rushed to retrieve any weapons that had survived the crash and luckily the Jackhammer Rocket Launcher had. A Banshee came swooping in but the soldier with the Jackhammer launcher fired and blew the Banshee out of the sky causing the Brute pilot to land on the windshield of the car, dead. Johnson switching from Banshees to Ghost and even to the Brutes that had somehow survived the destruction of their Ghosts. A Wraith fired and Johnson's Warthog was thrown backwards and he was thrown clear of the Warthog. Staff Sergeant Erin came rushing up to him.

"Sergeant Major, are you okay?" Johnson's ears were ringing, he could barely make out the sounds of all the gun and plasma fire. Finally, he could hear Staff Sergeant Erin and he had him help him onto his feet with the assistance of another trooper. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes I'm fine." The other trooper handed him his DMR. He looked through its scope and realized that the Wraiths have stop firing and he could see why, Covenant infantry were heading right for them. A private then came up to them holding a Spartan Laser.

"Hey Sarge I nailed two Wraiths and I manage to shoot down a Banshee; I guess I got lucky."

"There's no such thing as luck private, but good shooting how much charge is left."

"15% Sarge," he replied.

"Save it, switch to your assault rifle," Johnson replied. Johnson heard the crack of the teams' snipers so he knew that he had soldiers engaging the Covenant infantry. Johnson's Heads-Up Display was cracked so he removed his helmet. As he did he notices a majority of his squad were without helmets. He looked around for an exit route and he found it in the form of some stairs. They entered the stairwell one at a time. Johnson decided to lead his surviving squad towards the Office of Naval Intelligence building located in downtown London. Johnson brought up a map on the Taticompad on his wrist and leaded his squad to the nearest exit. As they entered the streets of London they saw the burned out shells of destroyed vehicles, both human and covenant. They also saw plenty of bodies', again both human and Covenant. They made their way towards the Office of Naval Intelligence and had to hide from a Covenant patrol comprised of Brutes and supported by Grunts and Jackals. They reached the Office of Naval Intelligence building and saw that the UNSC forces stationed there had put up one hell of a fight. As they entered the building they saw more Covenant bodies, along with some human bodies. They headed for the central nervous center of the building. All the blast doors had been sealed but some were cut through and others they had to unlock the blast doors manually. They saw plenty of dead Covenant troops but no humans. As they started unlocking the doors to the nerve center a voice came over the Intercom. "Who are you? identify yourself."

Hey there, it's Thearizona...you know, the beta reader? Well I hope you all have enjoyed this story so far! I know it's been a pleasure to Beta read. Well I guess I better go back to work! Hi this is Supreme Commander like he said I hope you all enjoy this story. I like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorite, and followed the story.