Disclaimer: Halo dosent belong to me it belongs to 343 Industries and other studios. this story however is mine its after the events of Halo 3 as i saw it.
The Battle for the United Kingdom
Part 5
Dawn of Day two of the Battle of London
Over the last two days the UNSC forces had been fighting hard against the Covenant forces in London, Manchester and the outskirts of the two cities. The Spartan teams that had been deployed to London had been inflecting heavy casualties and had saved many lives, but now was time for the UNSC to counter-attack and drive the Covenant out of the cities. Colonel Heath-118, Master Chief John-117, and others were gearing up for their assault on London, England after they had managed to liberate Manchester from the Covenant so now it would be London's turn. They all know that the battle for London would be hard and that a great many lives would be lost if they fail. Heath decided that the best plan of attack would be a four-prong assault which would force the Covenant to spread their forces thin in order to deal with the UNSC forces attacking from both inside and outside of London. Heath also knew that their air support would be minimal so they had to make sure all the ground vehicles were working perfectly. Heath watched the soldiers from the UNSC Army, Marines, and even the Air Force work together to make sure that all the vehicles were fully operational and fully armed. It was at that time that Master Chief John-117 came up to him and saluted the Colonel.
"Sir, what are you thinking about?"
"Well Chief, we all thought we knew our enemy from the years fighting them but nothing makes sense so far. We all heard what the Arbiter told us about the New Prophet's plan for us and they were defiantly not glassing the planets like they did in the first war."
"Their tactics have changed, but the species haven't change or the vehicles. They may have some new species but we'll learn how to deal with them as we did the rest. Don't worry sir, we will win this war," John told him.
"Of that Chief, I have no doubt." A Marine Major approached them. He nods to the Master Chief before looking at the Colonel.
"Sir, we are ready to go." The Marine said to Heath and John who then returned to where the others were gathered.
"Mount up troopers, hell was waiting for us!" Heath shouted to the men.
"Yeah, let's go kill those Covenant Mother Fuckers!" Major Rhodes yelled.
"Time for serious payback," another soldier also said. They all cheered and mounted their vehicles. He knew many of the troopers were young and many were FNGs when it came to fighting the Covenant, but he knew that they would do their jobs because if they didn't they would die. He took one last look around Manchester as it was a major staging area for UNSC forces in the UK and they had two UNSC Frigates hovering above the city waiting to assist when needed. He boarded one of the brand-new tanks. The tank was simply known as the Rex Tank, it is like the Grizzly MBT but it had two machine-guns, one for the gunner to fire and the other for another soldier to man in a way similar to the newer Scorpions, plus the Rex had incorporated shield technology learned from the covenant before the start of this war.
Heath didn't want the vehicles to go in a single-file line as that would make them easier targets for the Wraiths, Banshees, Seraphs, and some other vehicles in the Covenant arsenal that they didn't know about to stop them. He decided that the Warthogs and Wolverines would help with keeping the tanks safe from any airborne threats while a few Warthogs, the Mongooses, and a six captured Ghosts would be used to protect against the infantry. The tanks themselves would take care of any bigger threats; that was the plan anyway, but something that Mendez taught the Spartan-II's a long ago was that few things ever go according to plan. They were waiting for the word to move out. Heath knew that timing was everything as the other two attacks groups were schedule to attack before him. A very accurate artillery barrage hit the Covenant lines protecting the entrances to the city thanks to military units already inside of the city marking the targets for the artillery. Colonel Heath-118 watched as Seraph and Banshees poured out of the ship, but he was expecting this and that was why the Anti-Air batteries were setup to defend the artillery from any airborne threats. There was also two Squadrons of Longswords and A-11s headed up to meet the attacking enemy fighters. Round Two for the Battle of London was now underway, as the units had started to approach the city under the cover of the artillery barrage.
Heath waited for ten minutes before giving the order to move out over the comms. April was monitoring the Covenant Battlenet and she told him the Covenant were sending reinforcements to deal with the other attacks and that they had no idea they were coming. The Rex tank pushed through destroyed vehicles that had been trying to flee the city, clearing a path for the other vehicles. The Master Chief was driving a Gauss Warthog and the gunner was constantly watching for any Covenant movement. The company of Warthogs consisted of four different variants of the Warthog, the Gauss Warthog, the Rocket Hog, troop transport, and the standard version. The troop transport hogs were carrying everybody from Marines, ODSTs, Army Special Forces, to regular Army infantry. The troopers were all carrying weapons ranging from Spartan Lasers, Sticky Detonators, multiple shot grenade launchers, and Rocket Launchers to the troops primary and secondary weapons. A squadron of Banshees flew over the convoy of vehicles and the Warthogs got to work taking them out. They knocked out eight of the Banshees on their next flyby and the rest broke contact, heading back to the city. Heath and John both knew that the Covenant now knew they were coming so the element of surprise was lost.
They weren't surprise to see more Banshees appear as April confirmed that the Covenant had sent vehicles to engage them; according to the satellites there were Choppers, Ghosts, Prowlers, and Wraiths on their way. The Banshees were the first to arrive and they decided to attack the convoy in waves. The entire first wave was taken out without any losses but each additional wave managed to inflect casualties on the UNSC despite each on being swatted out of the skies. They didn't destroy any tanks; only a couple of Warthogs, a capture Ghost, and a Mongoose. The rest of the Banshees continue to harass the convoy, slowing them down so the ground vehicles could arrive. Major Rhodes and Lieutenant Jack were in another Gauss Hog with the major on the gun and Jack driving with Rhodes blasting several Banshees out of the sky. A Warthog was too far ahead of the convoy when a Brute Chopper rammed the Warthog and destroyed it. The Chopper continued towards the convoy until Heath fired a shell from the Rex tank destroying the charging chopper.
Two more choppers come charging towards the convoy and they meet a similar fate. More Choppers arrived along with some Ghosts. The tanks begin firing while the Warthogs were busy with the Banshees, though some were firing on the ground units. Heath fired a shell at a Banshee and blew it out of the sky. Heath decided to lead two other Rex tanks through the attacking vehicles and deal with a file of Wraiths that had just arrived and had begun lobbing plasma at the UNSC forces, already destroying a Warthog, a Mongoose, and a couple of Covenant vehicles. They destroyed any Covenant vehicles that tried to block their paths. Three Warthogs were accompanying them, including the one driven by the Chief. The gunner on the Chiefs Gauss Cannon was killed by a Ghost that was chasing after him and his passenger was been hit in the shoulder. The Chief slammed on the breaks and the Ghost slammed into the back of the Hog, killing the Grunt instantly. As he looked back forward he saw a half-destroyed Banshee coming right for them.
"Get out of the vehicle now trooper!" The Marine jumped out as the Master Chief got on the gun and fired at the Banshee. He hit the front of the Banshee, destroying it so that it didn't hit the Hog. He looked around to see that a Rex tank was smoking and saw that the Banshees and Ghosts had taken to crashing into it to destroy it when finally, the Covenant succeed in destroying one of the Rex Tanks. The rest of the tanks managed to destroy the line of Wraiths as another one of the Rex Tanks was neutralized with the crew members of both tanks surviving. Meanwhile the Wolverines had stopped and were launching a salvo after salvo of missiles at the Banshees, blowing even more out of the sky. Major Rhodes radioed the other vehicles that weren't accompanying the Colonel to protect the APC's and the Wolverines. Major Rhodes fired his Gauss cannon at several Ghosts, getting lucky and killing their riders. A Chopper plowed through a Rocket Hog that was firing on a Wraith that had managed to evade the Rex tanks. Major Rhodes fired the Gauss Cannon at the Brute Chopper, destroying it. Two more Choppers and four Ghosts were destroyed with the Major's accuracy with the Gauss Cannon. An ODST with a Spartan Laser finished off the tank just before a Chopper blew a huge hole into her chest with its 35mm autocannons and another ODST avenged her death. Rhodes killed several Unggoy, and Kig-Yar that were firing on a group of his fellow ODSTs.
"Thanks for the assist." They shouted at him as Major Rhodes destroys another Ghost and a Chopper.
"Colonel, I'm detecting another wave of Phantoms, Sprits, Banshees and additional Covenant ground vehicles on approach," April told him, so he contacted the Chief.
"Chief, we had drop ships on approach along with additional ground vehicle. I suggest we get all the vehicles into a circle."
"Roger that sir," John said, though he could tell that John wasn't happy by his orders.
"Chief, have I ever given you reason to doubt my tactics before?"
"No sir," he answered, a hint of uncertainty still in his voice.
"Trust me Chief, this will work," Heath replied. John trusted him but sometimes his plans were just a little bit crazy, though he still carried out the Colonel's orders. John knew that the Colonel has gotten them out of worst trouble before by using old tactics that they had studied back on Reach. Even though the UNSC soldiers with them were surprise by the orders, they all knew what to do. The tanks were positioned in the middle of the circle to meet the incoming vehicle threats while the Warthogs and Armored Personal Carriers were positioned on the outside to handle any other threat. The Colonel was back with the only surviving Rex Tank. The Banshees were the first to arrive, hoping to arrive and find the convoy still dealing with the other Banshees and ground vehicles so they were surprised to see that the convoy was waiting for them, resulting in the entire wave being destroyed with no damage taken.
The Phantoms come within range of the tanks and two were destroyed before they could drop off their troops. The remaining Phantoms decided to deposit their troops outside of the range of the tanks, though they Phantoms couldn't fire on the UNSC. The Covenant infantry consisted of Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, four pairs of Hunters, Brutes, and Drones came charging straight towards the circle humans with Ghosts and Choppers accelerated towards the encircled humans as well, driving over their own troops in the process. Colonel Heath-118 was smiling under his helmet as he saw that. He knew that due to them being in a circle the Covvies would have to attack head on as none of their vehicles could fire from the side except for the Prowlers which the turret could fire to the side but they were a big target. The Ghosts and Choppers didn't have a chance as attacking head on was suicidal. After the drivers were killed there were plenty of destroy hulls from the Ghosts and Choppers litter the streets along with their riders while the UNSC had only taken a few casualties and a couple of crippled Warthogs, but the guns all still worked. Only once the surviving vehicles had turned and headed back did the infantry attack. The Covenant infantry opened fire once they got within range, but the UNSC troopers equipped with sniper rifles, DMRs, and Battle Rifles had already begun to pick them off. A Kig-Yar sniper nailed a Marine on top of a Warthog, but was quickly eliminated by Jun. The gunner position was soon replaced by Daniel and he immediately opened fire on any Covenant within range. Covenant plasma bolts and Needles hit the UNSC vehicles, but the Covenant still where not within range to throw Plasma or Spike grenades. The Covenant Infantry tried to take the circle but were quickly dealt with only eight UNSC soldiers killed and four wounded but none severely.
The surviving Covenant started to fall back with the tanks still firing on them. Colonel Heath-118 knew that UNSC reinforcements from France could be on their way. Daniel was replaced by a Marine while he went and took control over a Scorpion. The UNSC soldiers took a few minutes to catch a breather and drink some water while they waited for the Colonel's orders to continue on. Their morale was high and they all wondered how the other attacks were faring as Heath was listing to reports coming in over his command coms. The other two groups had already reached their first objective but were encountering heavy resistance. The units inside the city had hit the Covenant hard since many of them had been recalled keeping the UNSC reinforcements from entering the city.
"Colonel Heath-118, this was Captain Bryana Takenov of the Brave New World. We were sending reinforcements to aide you in your attack." Heath heard the Captain over his helmets radio.
"Captain, be advise air space around here was too hot for Pelicans."
"Copy that Colonel. We were sending them in Falcons, let's see those Tyrants shoot them down."
"Thank you, Captain," Heath replied before the connection was terminated. Heath turned to the Master Chief. "Let's get moving Chief." The Chief nodded his head and gave the order to roll out. They continue towards London but they all know that the Covenant wasn't finish with them yet.
On board the UNSC Brave New World Captain Bryana Takenov brought up Colonel Heath-118's file. She had a smile on her face as she read the file. "He's an interesting Spartan, isn't he?" Admiral Horton asked.
"Yes sir, he sure is. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know him sir?" The Admiral didn't answer as he walked away. "Sir, how do u know him?"
"He's my younger brother," Was all the Admiral said before Admiral Horton boarded an awaiting Pelican and he headed to an ONI base in the Alps. Nyx then popped up on the AI pedestal.
"Captain, we have a Covenant destroyer heading right towards us. Apparently, they know why we're here."
"Damn, get everyone to their battle stations! I want Marines at the airlocks ready to rebel boarders. We need to be ready for when those Anti-Air Batteries are neutralized so that we can deal with that Covenant ship hovering above London and send reinforcements to our boys to help deal with the Covenant infantry in the city." Alarms sounded throughout the ship as everyone hurried to their Battle stations. "Nyx, set a course towards the enemy ship."
"Aye, Aye ma'am," the AI replied.
"Mrs. Garnet, I want the MAC gun hot and ready to fire along with Archer Missile Pods A1-A30. We're going to send that Covenant Destroyer strait to Davy Jones Locker."
"Aye Aye Captain," she said. She didn't know why the captain used the old pirate saying but who the hell cared, she wanted to send them straight to hell as well. They started to approach the Covenant Destroyer and the MAC gun fired along with the Archer Missiles. The Covenant Destroyer didn't even try to avoid the MAC Shell as it returned fire. The plasma flew at the UNSC ship and the captain had the pilot try to avoid has much as he could so most of them missed with a few of the plasma bolts grazed the underside of the Brave New World shields. The MAC shell did hit the Covenant Destroyer and knocked its shield out and only twelve of the thirty Archer Missiles from the first wave hit but another wave of Archer Missiles was on its way and more of them hit the Covenant ship. This caused the Covenant Destroyer to crash into the open ocean below and it started to sink like a rock. The UNSC Brave New World then returned to its original position.
Major Tom Mason and some other UNSC soldiers had held off several Covenant attacks and since the start of the UNSC counter-attack early in the morning they had been evacuating civilians. Some of the civilians had refused to leave their homes and that was their choice if they wished to stay in the war-torn city of London. Several Pelicans had tried to deliver supplies to UNSC troops in London but had been shot down with some landing in the Thames River while others landed inside or outside the city itself. The Falcons and Phoenix's had better luck allowing most of the wounded UNSC soldiers were evacuated on the now empty aircraft. Major Tom Mason knew that they would need to improve their defense around the train station in order to survive. He exited from the train station and saw destroyed UNSC, Covenant, and civilian vehicles littering the streets. He ordered his men to begin using the vehicles to block up the streets leading to the train station. Colonel Urban Holland and his men had been assisted the Major, despite the several times Major Mason has offered to give the Colonel full command which he turned down every time.
One of the APC's that they had brought with them was known as the Defense Vehicle. The Defense Vehicle didn't carry troops as it carried weapons, ammo, and other stuff for UNSC personal to use to hold a position. It had a crew of five with several heavy machine guns for defense. They had already unloaded the Wolf Spiders and place them in the streets around the train station and one on the rooftop, which had been taken out by Banshees. They reloaded the Wolf Spiders and rearrange them so they were in a new location to surprise the covenant. They also had Gauss Cannons and other weapons that were usually on Warthogs to help them defend the station. They even had a couple of Missile Pods around the station. They started to block up the roads leading to the train station with vehicles. A sniper team was in one of the buildings spotting vehicles heading straight for the train station. Private First-Class Joseph Allen was one of the snipers in Sniper Perch One looked through his scope and saw four Warthogs and a Mongoose speeding towards the train station, his spotter was watching too.
"Quarterback, this is Hawk One, UNSC vehicles on approach, hold fire," he said.
"Roger Hawk 1, we are holding," a voice appeared over his radio in his ear. He looked through his scope again and saw Choppers and Ghosts chasing after them.
"Quarterback be advised, there are Covenant right on their ass; we are engaging." He fired and nailed the Brute on the lead chopper which caused the driver to fall off and had the chopper to spend out of control and take out three more choppers. The other snipers added their fire to the Private First-Class Allen's fire. Major Mason had his men inside of the buildings around the square in front of the train station. Some of the men were armed with Spartan Lasers and others were armed with M41SSR-Rocket Launchers. The Warthogs entered the parking lot and they formed a small square with their weapons aimed directly at the highway. The first group of Covenant vehicles came into view and the Warthogs opened up with their M41 Vulcan Machine Guns and their Gauss cannons. The Covenant didn't have a prayer because as soon as they opened fire, rockets and small arms fire tore into them from the sides. The small firefight lasted only fifteen minutes and no UNSC soldiers were killed or wounded. Major Mason noticed that those soldiers were ODST's instead of his fellow Army Dogs. A lieutenant came up to Major Mason and saluted him and the Major returned his salute.
"Major Mason, we are here to assist you in holding this position." The ODST lieutenant told him as Colonel Holland appear so they both salute him.
"What's the plan?" Colonel Urban Holland asked.
"Our orders are to lure the enemy here to weaken areas of the city so we can get some much-needed support," The Lieutenant replied.
"How are we going to lure them here?" Major Mason asked.
"We are going to use a Forerunner Artifact as bait." The ODST's told him.
"What Forerunner Artifact?"
"There isn't one but we have to make the Covenant believe there is one so they come here."
"How do we do that?" Major Mason asked. The Lieutenant in charge of the ODST attachment that arrived at the train station show him the "artifact". He told him that the artifact came from a museum in New York City and that it was a replica that they were going to broadcast the image of to every Covenant around London. He saw a Lance Corporal appear carrying a Covenant hologram projector. They activated it and the Sangheili Commander appeared from his cruiser in orbit around Earth. The lieutenant showed him the artifact tauntingly and the Sangheili General just stared at it before the transmission ended.
"Now Major Mason, we will have to fight off numerous Covenant assaults but it will give other UNSC forces a chance to take out the Triple-A batteries and to destroy the ship." The Lieutenant walked away leaving Major Tom Mason wondering if Brigadier General Read was playing with their lives just like the officer he shot during the First Human-Covenant War. He knew that now wasn't the time to think about it because they would soon be surrounded by Covenant ground troops so he went to make sure his troopers were ready for the coming fight. They had a few Gauss Cannons set up on the roofs in preparation for any Banshees that might attack. He hoped his troopers manning the guns would be able to keep the Covenant drop ships from landing and attacking them from behind, but he wouldn't know until the Covenant decided to attack from that direction. There were too many areas of approach and not enough troopers to cover them all as his fire teams were spread thin even with the ODST help, what they really needed were Spartan support.
On board one of the many Covenant Destroyers in orbit around Earth and near one of the many non-operational Orbital Defense Platforms the Sangheili Commander who saw the artifact was talking with the Jiralhanae Chieftain aboard the cruiser hovering above the human city. The Sangheili Commander had been given instructions not to interfere with the Jiralhanae operations in London, which the Jiralhanae Chieftain was persistently remanding him.
"Chieftain, I'm not trying to interfere with your operations but the humans have a Forerunner artifact in their possession which we must take from them intact." The Chieftain snarled at the Sangheili as the hatred that the two held for each other from the First Human Covenant was still there. The Jiralhanae Chieftain told him that they'll handle it before ending the transmission.
Meanwhile, Colonel Heath-118 and the others had just gotten reinforced by additional Marines from the UNSC Brave New World. The Marines had managed to land in Manchester and catch up with the convoy before they reached London. They were approaching one of the many bridges that go into London. Just before they reached the bridge they come under attack by two squadrons of Ghosts piloted by Grunts. They Ghosts were quickly dealt with and the gunners manage to only kill the pilots on most of the Ghosts, leaving the now empty vehicles for UNSC soldiers to claim. An Armor Personal Carrier stopped and deployed two squads of troopers which took the Grunts place. The Ghosts advanced ahead of the convoy to try to foil the Covenant ahead and deal damage to them before heading back to rejoin the convoy.
"I want everyone on high alert. This is the Covvies last chance to keep us from entering London." Colonel Heath-118 said over the coms and everyone acknowledged his orders. The captured Ghosts advanced ahead of the convoy. They went over a hill, and down on the other side they saw a swarm of Unggoy, and Kig-Yar heading towards them. They accelerated to ramming speed and ran many of the Covenant troops over before a group of Choppers and more Ghosts chased them off. Two of the captured Ghosts were destroyed by the Choppers' cannons while the rest fell back. The Choppers, Ghosts, and surviving Covenant foot soldiers chased after the captured Ghosts who were retreating back over the hill since the UNSC vehicles hadn't climb the hill yet; though once the Covenant vehicles appeared over the hill the UNSC vehicles opened up. Nothing survived the firepower that was fired at that hill and the UNSC continued its advance. Several Unggoy with primed plasma grenades appeared over the hill before the first group of Warthogs would reach the crest of the hill. The gunners opened fire on the Kamikaze Unggoy. They sent a brief radio message back to the other vehicles to watch out for Kamikaze Unggoy. The Kamikaze Unggoy attacks appeared out of nowhere and without warning. They managed to destroy three Mongooses, one Warthog and temporary disable another Warthog. After the UNSC got over the hill they discovered the Covenant infantry had setup a roadblock at the entrance to the bridge. As they all got over the hill John's voice appeared over the coms.
"It would seem that the Covenant don't want us to enter London. They have amassed quite a few troops." Many just laughed as Heath saw that they even had a few Wraiths. The Wraiths began firing but their plasma was falling short. The Marines and Army Soldiers were all shouting taunts at the Covenant while the Spartans remained calm, waiting for Heath's orders to open fire. That's what the Spartans were trained to do, kill any enemies of the UNSC be it alien or human. Heath remembered what Doctor Halsey had told them their first day after they had taken their oaths.
"You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies." Heath had done the best he could to fulfill that oath. He opened a com channel to all the Spartans with him and those already in the city.
"Are we ready to end the siege of London?"
"Sir Yes sir," the Spartans replied.
"Then let's give them hell Spartans," Heath said over their coms before switching back to company frequency.
"Listen up tanks, were going to clear the roadblock and once it's clear we will move onto the bridge. The Covenant are going to throw everything they have at us so we don't make it into London so we need to remain on alert always. I want the Warthogs and the tanks ammo restoked before we engage the Covenant." Marines and Army soldiers begin unloading ammo crates from the Armor Personal Carriers that were tasked with carrying extra ammo for the vehicles. A dozen Brutes chose that time to attack, but they were beaten back by the UNSC. A Marine walked over to a wounded Brute and fires the rest of his magazine into the dying Brute just as he was returning to his platoon, he fell down dead. Two more soldiers were killed by two different Jackal snipers as everybody scrambled for cover. A Marine with a sniper rifle was shaking, trying to find the snipers but he couldn't stop shaking after watching his two fellow soldiers fall from headshots. It was then that Colonel Heath came up to the Marine.
"Hey, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Calm down, it isn't your fault, but for every enemy sniper you kill you avenge their deaths and any fellow soldier who was killed by an enemy sniper." The Marine breathing slowed down and he started to calm down. "I'm going to use myself as bait, you watch for those snipers and take them out." The Marine looked at the Spartan and couldn't tell what his facial expressions were under the helmet as the Colonel sprinted off. He takes multiple hits from the Jackal Snipers Beam Rifle, Focus Rifle, and Needle Rifle but his shields were holding steady. The Marine sniper had already nailed two Kig-Yar snipers and was fixing to nail another Jackal when three plasma bolts hits the Colonel which caused him to fall hard. The Marine saw Grunts heading for him. He was fixing to switch to the Unggoy and stop hunting for the Kig-Yar snipers until he heard Jun's voice in his helmet coms telling him he had the Grunts and for him to deal with the snipers. The Marine went back to work and so did Jun. It didn't take long before all the Kig-Yar snipers were dead and the attacking Grunts were eliminated. The Marine went to the Colonel's side and as a medic came up the Colonel immediate got to his feet.
"Well that was fun." The Marine looks at the Colonel in amazement.
"Sir, I saw you fall from those plasma bolt hits."
"Trooper only two where fully charge, I wanted to see how you would act and you did a hell of a job trooper." The Marine didn't know what to say as the Colonel going down had scared him but turned out he was just playing possum. The Chief looked at the Colonel as Heath gave the Chief the smile gesture and the Chief just shakes his head.
"Saddle up," The Colonel ordered as he got into the Rex Tank and along with the other Scorpions and Grizzlies began shelling the roadblock. The Wraith's didn't stand a chance as high-explosive shells landed on top of them. Once the vehicles were taken care of the tanks switched to firing shrapnel shells at the Covenant infantry causing Covenant body parts to be blown in all different directions. The tanks moved forward slowly, still pounding the roadblock. The Fuel Rod Shades fired on the tanks, disabling one of the Scorpions before another Scorpion destroyed the Shade and another one before a lucky shot killing the driver. Another Marine takes his place and fired on the Shade, destroying it and killing the Brute operator. The fight only lasted a few minutes until every Covenant was dead. They continued on down the road and two Warthogs were ahead of the rest of the column, watching for any Covenant vehicles on the bridge. They encounter no more Covenant until they were over the water and a squadron of Banshees attacked. Three were blown out of the sky on the first pass while two more were blown out of the sky on the second pass, destroying two Warthogs but leaving the crew fine. April's voice soon appeared on the companies' freq.
"Be advised, a large force of Covenant is moving towards our location. I estimate numerous Choppers and Ghost. I'm also detecting Wraiths inbound along with more Banshees and Phantom drop ships. I'll try to contact the UNSC Brave New World to dispatch some fighter cover or see if we can laser designate targets for guided missiles." Two Banshees managed to disable a Scorpion but the guns were still operational and it blew one Banshee out of the sky. Heath knew the bridge didn't had enough room for them to fight in tight formations so he gave the orders to break formation and to make it to the other end anyway they could. The bridge had four lanes on both sides but with civilian vehicles all over the bridge, along with destroyed Covenant vehicles, it was going to be hazardous for them. The only Rex tank blasted two Banshees out of the sky. Heath saw the Covenant vehicles approach at max speed so He headed straight for them supported by two Grizzly tanks. The Master Chief knew they'll have to deal with whatever vehicles got through the tanks but for right now they could focus on the Banshees overhead. The Armor Personal Carries were the main target of the Banshees and the Kamikaze Ghost that arrived from one of the off ramps.
Two of the APCs were knocked out of action until the Marines and Soldiers were able to replace the melted tires. Several Marines and Soldiers were armed with M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launchers, Spartan Laser, and were manning the AIE-486 HMG and LAU-65 D/SGM-151 Missile Pods on the tops of the Armor Personal Carriers. They were inflecting damage on both ground targets and air targets. Major Rhodes was firing the Warthog's Gauss Cannon while Lieutenant Jack was evading Choppers trying to ram them. The Chief's hog was under attack by multiple Ghosts and he was trying to keep his gunner and passenger alive and give them targets to shoot at. The Marine on the Gauss Cannon was screaming at the Covenant but as the Warthog veered away from an oncoming Ghost, another Ghost fired its twin plasma cannons at the Warthog, which killed the Marine. The Chief slammed on the breaks which surprised the Grunt piloting the machine and caused it to slam into the back and the Grunt flew over the Warthog and landed in front. As the Grunt started to get back up the Chief ran him over and then he headed over to the APC. He got out of the driver seat and told a Marine to take the driver seat as he hopped on the gun.
The Chief gathered six out of the twelve Warthogs still operational to follow him down the ramp and engage the Covenant coming from that direction. He told the other 6 Warthogs to do the same on the other ramp as the APC's pulled up side by side to protect one another. Jun and Lucy remained to protect the APC's while Tom and Daniel follow the Chief in tanks. They descended the ramp and a squadron of Ghost appeared but they were no match for the Scorpion Main Battle Tanks. The Warthogs had already reached the bottom and saw four Wraiths and two Prowlers and so the Master Chief gave the order to attack. He began by firing the Gauss Cannon at the nearest Wraith. One of the Wraiths was neutralized but a Warthog had flipped leaving a wounded Marine. A Prowler pulled up beside the overturn Warthog and the crew exited the Prowler except for the gunner. A Brute went up to the young wounded Marine and fired his Spiker. The Master Chief screamed something but a round hit the Prowler, cutting off the Chief's scream. The Brutes turned around but were cut down by machine gun fire from a Scorpion.
Author Note: I like to thank everyone who has shown support for this story and also to my beta reader TheArizona for his contination on beta-reading and helping the story be better. Please continue to support this story.
