Chapter 24: Fields of Fire
"Fire Archer missile pods five through eight!" Vivian belted, standing upright at her station. "Give me the charge of those MAC guns!"
"Ninety percent!" Lieutenant Bassot shouted, his fingers racing across his terminal.
"Ma'am, damage control is reporting fires on Zero Deck in the barracks," Solak reported calmly, monitoring his own screens. "They're already on it but they're requesting nonessential personnel in the barracks get to the hangars."
"Approved," Vivian ordered. "Koroma, patch me in to Batavia."
"Aye, ma'am. Connection secure, go ahead."
"I'm Alone, Batavia," Captain Kelly said, his voice shaking. "We took a bad hit to the bridge here. Half my staff is wounded and one of my MAC guns is in-op. Damage control is on it but I think we're going to do more harm than good if we stay in this fight. Requesting permission to pull back to the far edge of the system for repairs."
Vivian ran her hand over her face and exhaled heavily.
"Permission granted, get out of here, Batavia."
"Roger, I'm Alone, we'll try to get back in as soon as we can. Out."
"Koroma, patch me in to Determined Guardian, now."
"You're linked, Captain."
"Determined Guardian, I'm Alone. I told you to get out of the kill zone!"
"I'm Alone, Determined Guardian. We're getting swarmed by enemy fighters and my engines are damaged," Commander Alastair replied in a stoic voice. "We're limping at half-speed to get out of the CSO-class ship's range but it's steaming from the orbital shipyard."
"Determined Guardian, I'm Alone. Hold your course. I'm coming in." Vivian sat down. "Lieutenant Sosa, I'm plotting a course to take us against the CSO-class ship. When you receive the coordinates, take us in at full-speed ahead."
"Aye, Captain."
Vivian looked back up. Sirens were wailing and red lights were flashing on many of the terminals. Ahead of her was a massive debris field with many hulks already burning. A large Covenant, CAS-class assault carrier was still breaking up, its hull shattering into millions upon millions of blackened hulk. On the right side of the debris field, UNSC Best of the Best stormed through the wreckage and delivered a heavy MAC blast against a burning CSS-battlecruiser. The shot ripped the bow off from the rest of the ship. Both sections began drifting and secondary explosions blossomed all over the hull. At full speed, the Halberd-class destroyer then rammed the Covenant shipyards defensive CAR-class frigate amidships. The vessel heeled to one side, as if it was capsizing. When the destroyer cleared it, a swarm of Archer missiles pummeled the ship. Gouts of fire sprouted over the hull followed by large secondary explosions.
Covenant Seraph fighters flew by, pursued by Longsword interceptors. Yellow cannon shells tore through the darkness of space and mingled with purple-white plasma pulses. Fire from the I'm Alone's point-defenseweapons systems arced throughout the debris field. To starboard, the Batavia loomed out of the debris. The ship was badly damaged; there were large, blackened plasma burns across the titanium battleplate and there were several sizable holes in the surface hull. Longswords formations flooded from its hangars and began harassing another Covenant CAR-class frigate. Detonations bloomed all along the hull. From a hiding spot among the more dense locations in the debris fields, UNSC Lion's Den appeared and delivered a fatal MAC blast to the enemy ship. Pieces of the hull began to blow away and soon the ship began to deteriorate.
As the I'm Alone broke through the debris field, Vivian saw Determined Guardian dead ahead. The two ships passed each other port to port. The Paris-class frigate was heavily damaged as well and Vivian was surprised the ship had not exploded yet. As Alastair said, there were Covenant Seraph fighters and hordes of orbital Banshees around it. Blue and purple plasma bombarded the hull. The distance closed between the two ships, point-defense blocks turned their guns, and soon hundreds of starfighters began to explode. Most did not burn up; instead they were broken apart by the masses of cannon shells striking them; it was more like a series of puffs as metallic clouds of dust spread out in all directions.
Ahead, Vivian saw the massive orbital shipyard. The sprawling anchorages were empty save for a few of the damaged CAR-class frigates which managed to return to port. White and yellow lights ran around the cylindrical center space station which the anchorages and repair facilities all branched out from. Coming away from it was the massive CSO-class supercarrier. Gaping, black holes in the ship's hull indicated previous, unrepaired damage from MAC blasts. Smaller holes, which looked like smears on its hull, were left by Archer missile pods. The closer the I'm Alone got to it, the larger it beame.
Vivian gritted her teeth and her hands curled into fists. Months of slipspace jumps had brought them to their destination with nearly the desired results. Over the brief lapses between slipspace travel and cryosleep, the battlegroup dueled with the pursuing Covenant ships, keeping their distance, whittling down their shields, and causing more damage than they received. The operation was running smoothly until the remaining Covenant ships, the supercarrier, one assault carrier, and one battlecruiser, finally threw in the towel and jumped out of the pursuit. After a brief reconnaissance mission, River Styx confirmed Vivian's theory: they returned for repairs to the local shipyard. An all out assault was planned and the battlegroup jumped with high spirits.
Instead of finding the damaged ships bearing the brunt of the battle, Vivian's battlegroup found themselves swarmed by the CAR-class frigates. While their heavy tonnage ships could win most engagements with the Covenant frigate, the sheer number in close proximity negated their MAC guns. UNSC and Covenant ships danced around each other, narrowly avoiding collisions with one another in the fray. Each time one of her ships broke away to line up a shot, it was forced to use emergency thrusters to evade multiple plasma blasts. Her officers improvised, ramming enemy ships, giving other ships time to fire.
By the time they dealt with the majority of the frigates, their ships were lightly damaged. While the heaviest Covenant ship received repairs, the other two finally rejoined the fight. The frigates bought them time to close the distance and once again it was a run-and-gun fight for the UNSC ships. Most of the UNSC ships lacked turrets for close-range ship-to-ship engagements while the heavier Covenant ships were equipped with similar weaponry. I'm Alone, Batavia, and Determined Guardian all received hits in the opening damage. At one point, Captain Kelly purposefully steered Batavia broadside of I'm Alone and took a salvo from a CSS-battlecruiser's plasma turrets. MAC blasts, plasma torpedoes, SHIVA nuclear warheads, Hornet mines, energy beams, and hordes of starfights clashed. What was left of the Covenant defense fleet was a burning field of wreckage. But with Determined Guardian and Batavia out of the fight, Vivian found herself for the first time in her career unsure if they could come out of this one alive.
She could see similar expressions in the faces of her bridge officers. Each one took a brief moment to glance back at her, trying to find courage in her posture, requiring affirmation the commanding officer knew how to get them out of this one. Vivian didn't know what kind of expression she wore but she hoped it gave them what they needed.
"Captain, both MAC's are at full charge. Waiting on your go," Lieutenant Bassot said.
"Hold weapons," Vivian said and turned her gaze towards Decatur. The AI projection was standing with his flintlock pistol drawn in his right hand and his saber held in the other. His shoulders were hunched as if he were waiting for an enemy to attack. "Decatur, scan that ship for its weakest points. Some of the damage we caused earlier might give us an advantage."
The AI flickered.
"Ma'am, aside from the prow, the weakest section of the ship would be its center, where amidships and the stern meet. However, none of our weapon systems will be able to hit it from this angle. Our damage from earlier has weakened its hull integrity by twenty-seven percent and appeared one of the ship's engines is heavily damaged; it can proceed only half speed and will be unable to perform pinpoint turns."
"It's slower than us," Vivian said. "But it's more heavily armed than us. We could try to get above it or below it, but the amount of plasma it could throw at us would negate our speed advantage. Update on emergency thrusters."
"One emergency thruster left, ma'am: starboard side, stern section," Decatur reported.
"Ma'am, one of the enemy frigates is supporting the main ship," Tsang reported. "It's above our degree plane right now to cover it."
Vivian examined the projection on the large tactical display on the port side of the bridge. The enemy frigate was over the Covenant supercarrier and was slowing to match its speed. Decatur performed another scan and found that its repairs were unfinished as well. It moved sluggishly with damaged engines. With the frigate present, Vivian knew if they tried to advance to an upper plaine the frigate could take them under fire. Again, she found her movements limited and if they couldn't maneuver, she knew the I'm Alone would be destroyed.
She looked ahead at the ships and then back at the display screen. When she looked at the tactical display on the starboard side, she saw a bird's eye view of the system. Batavia was still withdrawing to the outer edge and Determined Guardian was trying to catch up. Lion's Den was repositioning in the debris field and River Styx was keeping a low profile just outside the planet's gravity well. Best of the Best, still to the far starboard of the I'm Alone, was just completing a turn and heading towards the enemy station. The readouts beside it indicated its MAC gun was eighty percent charged and its hull integrity was high even after the ramming action.
"Lieutenant Koroma, establish a comm link with Best of the Best, ASAP."
"Aye, Captain. You're green."
"Best of the Best, I'm Alone. I have visual contact with one CAR-class frigate. Confirm you have it on scan, over."
"I'm Alone, Best of the Best. Confirm, we have an enemy ship on scans. Adjust trajectory. We have visual on it," Captain Slater responded in his gravel tone. "MAC's guns almost good to go."
"Negative on MAC. Wait for my command to fire. Sending coordinates for another ramming attack. Adjust elevation above its plane and come down on it from above. Hit the forward section to force it down."
There was silence from the other end of the comms for a few moments. Sweat trickled down Vivian's brow and temples.
"We're on it, I'm Alone."
"Roger. Koroma, get me River Styx."
"Good to go, Captain."
"River Styx, I'm Alone."
"River Styx here, send your traffic. Over."
"Arm one Shiva-class nuclear missile and launch at these coordinates only upon my command. Fall into formation with I'm Alone behind us and follow my wake." Vivian's fingers danced across the keyboard and sent the data along. She heard Captain Rundstrum chuckle a little.
"Audacious Captain," said the ONI officer. Vivian frowned and shook her head.
"Just do it," Vivian growled.
"River Styx copies."
Vivian inhaled deeply and looked ahead. Both Covenant ships were steadily closing in on her.
"Keep holding weapons, Bassot. Sosa, reduce speed, hold course. Decatur, prime the emergency thruster, keep me updated on their weapons range."
"Of course, ma'am. One-hundred seventeen seconds until we are in enemy's range."
Vivian looked at the starboard side tactical display again. Best of the Best was already on a much higher elevation and was beginning to turn downwards towards the Covenant frigate. Weapon systems on both enemy ships were beginning to flare.
"Everybody ready at their stations, monitor your data, get ready to execute a high-speed turn," Vivian said, then hit the engine room intercom. "Lieutenant Commander Burgess, I need you to funnel all available power to the reactors. Anything but essential systems and the MAC's. I don't care if you need to sap some of the point-defense blocks. Get as much energy as you can."
"Aye, Captain!" came the reply.
"Sosa, I'm sending you maneuver coordinates. On my command you'll put the I'm Alone into full ahead, as fast as this ship can go. I'll fire the stern-mounted emergency thruster and we'll swing the ship around."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Weapons, hold for my command."
"Aye!"
"Decatur, put a time display on my station."
"Of course, ma'am."
Vivian watched the numbers count down. Ninety seconds, eighty seconds, seventy, sixty, fifty. Ahead, the supercarrier's weapons were flaring brighter, the plasma glowing white-hot. Above, the frigate was taking no evasive maneuvers; like the supercarrier, it was focusing on the bait. She looked back down at the screen; twenty seconds, ten seconds, five.
"We're in enemy weapon's range!" Decatur cried.
"Sosa, hit it!" Vivian ordered. The I'm Alone lurched towards the enemy ships. So many Covenant weapons fired it looked like multiple waves of plasma were barreling towards them. Vivian slammed her fist on the final emergency thruster key. There was a tremendous bang which made the ship shudder and the hull vibrate. I'm Alone's stern swung to port, causing the bow to swing to starboard. Throngs of plasma crackled right by the bow, scorching some of the glass. Moments later, the ship found itself facing the supercarrier amidships at nearly point-blank range for the MAC's. "Cut engines!"
I'm Alone's shuddering ceased but her momentum carried it on for some distance. For a moment, Vivian considered reactivating the engines to maximize the damage from a collision but the I'm Alone eventually began slowing. Above, she watched Best of the Best descend at full speed on the frigate; it's elongated prow smashed into the top of the frigate's bow. The impact forced the smaller vessel downwards.
Vivian stood up. "Best of the Best, give them everything you've got!" At point-blank range, the destroyer fired its MAC. The shell did not explode and instead plummeted through the frigate and smashed into the top of the supercarrier. Archer missiles swarmed out of the pods and began hitting both the frigate and the larger Covenant ship. "Best of the Best, clear off, now!"
The destroyer cut its engines, disconnecting from the wrecked bow of the frigate. After righting itself, Slater fired one of his emergency thrusters, reactivated the engines, and sped his ship away. Meanwhile, the frigate was unable to correct its downward velocity and the ship collided with the Covenant supercarrier. Armor plating buckled and the smaller ship's bow began to crumple against the heavier ship's hull. Fires broke out and secondary explosions appeared over the hull.
Vivian pointed at the enemy supercarrier. "Bassot, fire the MAC's!"
"Firing, shot!" he cried. One after the other, the four MAC rounds cut into the supercarrier amidships. Each one caused successive damage, widening the jagged hole appearing in its hull. Above, the frigate was falling apart and finally its engines detonated. A blinding white-purple flash enveloped the vessel and when the shockwave faded only its burning wreckage remained. Across the top of the supercarrier, huge chunks of its armor plating were gone. Pieces of the frigate's hull continued to collide with it and jam into the plate.
"Sosa, sending coordinates, take us over it," Vivian ordered. "River Styx, sending firing coordinates. I've left a big fucking hole in the side of that ship. Fire the Shiva into it on my command."
"Roger, waiting for your go ahead."
The dying ship disappeared underneath the I'm Alone. Vivian sat back in her chair, her trembling hands gripping the arm rests. Everyone continued to monitor their stations but she could see the sweat on their temples in the lowlight of the bridge and hearing their ragged, relieved breathing. Vivian looked at the starboard side tactical display and watched the blue projection of the I'm Alone draw farther away from the lingering red outline of the battlecruiser. Once they were away, she finally breathed.
"River Styx, fire," she said tiredly. After running a hand over her face, she turned to Decatur. The AI was smiling at her pleasantly and after a moment she found herself able to return the expression. "Activate stern cameras, please," she said.
A new window appeared on her screen. For a few moments, nothing happened. River Styx was already far away from the enemy ships. Then, there was a bright flash inside the enemy battlecruiser. It shuddered, its armor plating began to ripple, and then a plasma fireball engulfed the center. When the fireball finally disappeared, the midsection of the ship was nothing but dust and debris. The stern's engines began to detonate and the bow began to burn up as it tumbled away. There was nothing left of the frigate.
Everyone on the bridge, save for Sosa and a few others, jumped to their feet, pumped their fists into the air, and cheered. Vivian, more relieved than excited, allowed them to exalt in their victory for only a few moments. "Settle down," she said, "back to your stations. We're not finished here yet. There's a perfectly defenseless shipyard that needs to be destroyed."
"Aye, Captain!" everyone shouted.
"Best of the Best, that was some damn fine flying," she said through the comms. A window opened up on the port side tactical display. Captain Slater appeared, strong-jawed and square-faced. Despite his stern gaze he offered a satisfied grin.
"Same to you, I'm Alone."
Another picture appeared and soon the blonde-haired head of Rundstrum appeared.
"Fine flying but as per usual, ONI steals the show with a stylish killshot," he bragged. After chuckling to himself, which caused Slater to roll his eyes, he smiled into the camera. "Well done, Captain Waters. I think somebody's going to be in for a big shiny medal, or even a promotion, at this rate. Can you see the posters at the Navy recruiting depots?" He swept his arm from side to side. "The Navy's new poster girl, Vivian Waters, an officer who can turn defeat into victory! I think enlistment numbers are going to explode right through the roof. Maybe they'll make a movie and—"
"Are you finished, Captain Rundstrum?" Vivian asked flatly.
"I had a few more but I'll save them for the cocktail party, I suppose," he said. His tone shifted and he offered a resolute nod. "That was one hell of a maneuver, Captain. Damned good flying."
"Thank you," Vivian said, hesitated, then lifted an eyebrow and grinned. "The UNSC Navy appreciates ONI's assistance in this operation."
"Ooh, you shouldn't say things you don't mean," Rundstrum replied and then cut the video link. Vivian looked at Slater who shook his head.
"ONI lapdog," he muttered.
"River Styx is still on the comm link," Vivian reminded him. Slater snorted.
"I know," he grunted and cut his own video link.
Vivian sat back down and began typing on her terminal.
"We're attacking the shipyard. Comms, get me on the battlegroup channel. Tsang, draft coordinates for line formation."
"Go ahead, ma'am."
"All available ships proceed to coordinates, form up for shipyard assault."
It wasn't long before Lion's Den and Best of the Best fell in with the I'm Alone. Batavia and Determined Guardian were both still holding off to conduct what repairs they could perform. Vivian ordered all starfighters and attack craft to disengage from their current targets to attack the shipyards. The Covenant starfighter threat was diminished and could be dealt with by the ships' point-defense systems. Vivian watched as large formations of starfighters began flying towards the shipyards. Explosions began to blossom all over the anchorages. Connecting rods, repair machinery, and bridge links began to break apart. Missiles and rockets tore into the central space station. One after the other, the formations peeled away after exhausting their ordinance and began returning to rearm. Once the three ships were in range and the fighters were clear, Vivian ordered the ships to fire at will. MAC rounds tore chunks out of the space station and the shipyards began to explode. What few CAR-class frigates remained in the orbital yards were destroyed; secondary explosions rocked their hulls and chunks of the plating tore away. Some collided with other parts of the anchorage and with the station itself. The UNSC ships did not stop firing until the entire yard was nothing but twisted, burned metal. Punctuating the attack, the space station exploded.
Before the cheering began again, Vivian ordered Tsang to scan the system.
"Ma'am, I'm detecting a surface element on the planet below. Escape pods and dropships evacuating from the space station are heading planetside."
"Should we send the Marines in?" Commander Solak asked. "Our targets were the ships and the repair station. Our mission is complete. The ground element is helpless without them. We can just leave them there."
"Our mission is to kill the Covenant," Vivian said sharply. "And the war won't be won until we kill them all. It'd be unwise to pass up unsupported targets of opportunity like that and who's to say when a reinforcing Covenant fleet will arrive and pick them up? Those troops could be taken to another battlefront and could end up killing a lot of humans."
She took a breath. "Monitor your stations. Keep the Longswords rearmed and patrolling the system. I don't want us to be surprised by a counterattack. Solak, you have the bridge. I'm going to check on the wounded."
"Aye, Captain."
Vivian left the bridge, descended the elevator to Zero Deck, and passed through the halls. Some sections were unscathed but in others hull paneling was broken or disrupted. Exposed cables sparked and some lights were not operating. Engineers and damage controlmen worked diligently to repair it all. The barracks was hard hit and many of the cabins suffered from electrical fires. Medical personnel were still evacuating some of the wounded who had second and third degree burns on their hands, arms, and faces. She found two Hospitalmen and Gunnery Sergeant Frost helping one man out of a badly hit room. Immediately she rushed over and began to assist, taking up the Marine's left leg.
"Put him on the stretcher," one of the Hospitalmen said. "Easy, easy."
Burn cream already coated the man's face and biofoam was injected into deeper wounds. He was breathing steadily but was shaking. Once the wounded Marine was placed on the litter, Vivian took up the back right rung while Frost took the one in front. "One, two, three, lift!"
Together, they carried the wounded Marine across Zero Deck to the medical bay. Frost looked over his shoulder as they jogged along.
"Captain, are we clear? Did we win?"
"Yeah, the Covenant fleet in this system is burning," Vivian said. "We've got enemy troops heading planetside, though."
Frost didn't say anything. They passed through one of the entrances to the medical bay. Vivian's eardrums were barraged by an orchestra of screaming wounded men and women. The first bay was filled to capacity by personnel with burns from plasma or electrical fires. Others had deep shrapnel wounds from pieces of the hull that received heavy damage and sliced into the interior halls. Others had broken or missing limbs. Passing throngs of medical teams, they went into the next bay and took the litter into one of the chambers. They were greeted by Jasmine, who's white coat had black and red bloodstains on it.
"No, no, no!" she said, "take him to surgery immediately!"
Two other Hospitalmen took over for Frost and Vivian. The pair caught their breath in front of the chief doctor, who continued to order personnel around. When Vivian managed to meet her gaze, all Jasmine could do was shake her head. Looking around, Vivian saw her personnel in various states of agony. People with burns, gashes, and breaks, bravely taking the anguish of their wounds. Some screamed, others shed tears, and more than a few called out for comrades, mothers, or for their god.
She clenched her fists, narrowed her gaze, and grimaced.
"I don't think the Captain's making the right call," Moser said at the end of the Pelican's troop compartment.
"Worst thing we can do is go out there when we're all fucking emotional," Knight said, "we gotta go in clear-headed otherwise more Marines are going to get killed."
"She wouldn't send us if she thought it was a bad move," Grant offered.
"Oh really? You sure about that, mate?" Maddox grumbled. "Tell you what, she's either riding high or she's not thinking straight."
"Hey, hey!" Frost said from the front of the Pelican. "Last time I checked, you're Marines, not a fucking bunch of whining little babies. Whatever the Captain points at, we kill, understand? Get aggressive, Marines."
"You wouldn't mind if Steele moaned like that," Moser complained. Frost looked at him sharply.
"Yeah, you always laugh when he does it," Grant added.
"From him I can deal with it but not the rest of you, so unless you're going to talk like Marines shut your fucking mouths, check?"
"Check," everyone replied glumly.
Frost checked his MA5B over again just as the Pelican broke into the planet's atmosphere. Maddox went over the radio one last time before drawing his M7. Grant and Moser were both armed with MA5B's with forty millimeter grenade launchers attached in lieu of a flashlight. Langley was equipped with a lighter MA5C, while Bishop and Knight carried BR55's. The former had his M90 slung over his shoulder while the latter's M52B was augmented with weight servos to carry his M41 launcher.
"Thirty seconds!" Jasper called from the cockpit.
"Thirty seconds!" everyone shouted, gesturing with an inch of space between their thumb and forefingers. As the Pelican leveled out, Frost stood up and went into the cockpit. Jasper and Pajari were both focused on their controls. Below, the ashen planet proved not to be entirely desolate. Ahead, Covenant dropships were still hovering above the ruins of a half-glassed city. Concrete ruins protruded against the cloudy sky and piles of rubble filled the streets. Overhead, Longswords swooped in and began firing their cannons. Phantoms began exploding in midair or catching fire as they descended to the earth. Then, three formations of Shortsword bombers followed and carpet bombed the Covenant drop zone. Many buildings collapsed and plumes of concrete dust flew skyward.
Frost returned to his seat, got back into his harness, and looked at his squad.
"Get tactical, Marines."
He looked at the rear of the Pelican. Isha, the crew chief, held up three fingers and then lowered each one. He hit the button on the rear hatch, light flooded in, and the Marines stood up.
"Go, go, go!"
The squad rushed out of the Pelican. As the dropship ascended, they turned and began charging through the outskirts of the city. The entire 89th MEU was dropping in force; hordes of Marines ran together in waving battle lines like from wars long past. Warthogs and Scorpion tanks rolled out of Albatrosses, turned, and began firing. Demoralized and wounded Covenant were everywhere. Elites with missing limbs struggled to find weapons, Grunts wandered aimlessly, and Jackals were still trying to form up. Gunfire rippled along their lines and swathes of the Covenant were cut down.
As they advanced deeper into the ruins, plasma fire began to come at them from all directions. Marines began falling, riddled by blue and green plasma bolts. Others exploded into clouds of pink missed or twitched and fellow over as an accurate, crystalline needle round struck them in the head. Roiling blue plasma grenades were flung over piles of rubble and hastily erected purple barricades. Those who didn't scatter in time or found the grenade stuck to their armor disappeared in a flash of blue-white plasma.
Frost and his squad fell in behind a Scorpion. As the machine gunner rattled away at soft targets to their front, the main cannon destroyed clots of any troops embedding themselves in the rubble. Each time it fired, Frost's ears rang and the blowback from the gun was so intense he nearly lost his footing. A trio of Skirmishers sprinted over the rubble on the left side of the street to try to close in for hand to hand combat, but he leveled his MA5B and squeezed off half a magazine. Just as they fell, Grunts clambered to the top and began firing plasma pistols.
"Contact left, contact left!" Frost shouted. The entire squad turned and opened fire. "Grant, forty-mike-mike!"
Grant loaded a shell into his grenade launcher and squeezed the trigger. A plume of smoke went up and several Grunts were thrown back by the blast.
"Contact right, anti-tank!" Bishop shouted. Frost whirled around. Five Grunts were lining up their sights on the Scorpion. MA5 and BR55 bursts cut them down. The final one to fall managed to fire as it did; instead of hitting the tank, the green burst of plasma bounced off the grenade and flew into a squad of Marines right behind Frost's. Those who weren't vaporized in the blast tumbled away with plasma burns. Screaming, they fell into the arms of corpsmen and other comrades.
Frost turned his attention forward again, his pace steady with the tank. Briefly, the Scorpion halted as another tank with supporting infantry came out of a side street on the right and took the lead. Just as they began moving again, more plasma fire erupted from alleys, side streets, rubble piles, and even the second and third story windows of the ruins. As a trio of men were wounded by rapid-fire plasma from the left, Frost stopped to locate the turret. A Grunt operating a plasma turret was in the open window of a bridge between two buildings.
"Knight!" he shouted. When he arrived and crouched, Frost pointed at the window with the flat of his hand. "Turret, second floor!"
Knight slung his BR55 over his shoulder, loaded his M41, and aimed. Frost tapped him on the shoulder. "Backblast clear, fire!"
With a whump, the rocket whizzed through the air and smashed into the window. When the dust settled, the turret was gone. "Good hits, keep moving." Frost turned back to the rest of the company; many squads were keeping beside or behind the tanks while others flanked through the buildings to clear them. "Keep moving!" he shouted, waving his arm. "Keep moving!"
"Enemy tank, front!"
The cry send shivers up Frost's spine. He looked past the leading Scorpion and saw a Wraith glide onto the street. Luckily, both Scorpions fired and were able to destroy it. But a second appeared and fired. One huge cloud of white-blue plasma hit the leading Scorpion directly. The gunner had his head torn off by the velocity. When the second plasma mortar fell on the Scorpion, the main turret erupted in flames and exploded off the main body. A moment later, the engine exploded. The hatch was thrown up and the drive tumbled out, on fire. Shrapnel from the exploding tank caught dozens of Marines behind it and they fell down screaming.
Before the Wraith could fire again, the second Scorpion halted, fired, and managed to knock it out. Frost, his squad, and more Marines pushed up. "Corpsmen up, corpsmen up!" Frost screamed. He slid onto his knees beside a wounded man, took out his first aid kit, and injected his wounds with the biofoam canister. By the time the corpsmen finally moved up under fire, he had spent the contents of his can.
"Frost!" Lieutenant Conroy called. "Take your squad up the left flank! Support the tanks!"
"Check!" Frost yelled. "On me, First Squad, we're moving up!"
Hugging the left side of the street, killing Covenant stragglers and wounded, and monitoring the windows, Frost and his Marines continued moving. Through an alley, Frost watched Warthogs tear down the next street over, their chainguns thundering away at targets.
A squad of Grunts appeared, led by an Elite. "Contact front!"
The squad dispersed among the rubble for cover and began firing. Gunfire cut down the Grunts but the Elite retreated before its shields broke. It ducked behind a column. Frost was reloading when it jumped back out and threw a grenade.
"Grenade!" several members of the squad shouted and scattered. Frost sprinted forward and looped around the left side of the column. As he did, the Elite swung its plasma rifle at him. He ducked low, drew his knife, darted forward when the alien tried to hit him again. As he did, he swiped his knife across its ankle. Roaring, the Elite collapsed onto its injured leg. Before it could recover, Frost jumped onto its back and plunged his KA-BAR knife into its neck several times. When he withdrew for the final time, the Elite slumped forward and gurgled its last. Just as he stood up, Frost felt something tackle him from behind. A squawking Skirmisher held his head down with one hand and began to hit him in the face with the other.
Another body ran into the Skirmisher and knocked it off Frost. When he looked up, he found Moser beating the alien's face in with the butt of his MA5B. Just another Skirmisher came sprinting towards him, Frost drew his M6C and emptied the entire magazine into it. It fell, dead, right beside Moser.
"Reloading," Frost grunted. "You good?"
"Good to go," Moser said, "You?"
"Green. On me," Frost ordered as he picked his MA5B back up. They went back to the column and crouched. The Scorpion was rolling forward and more infantry were drawing ahead. Ahead was a large pile of rubble that nearly blocked the road. The Scorpion stopped just in front of it while the leading Marines clawed their way on top. Just as they came over, rapid-fire plasma began slicing into them. Wounded Marines fell down the slope of rubble while others jumped back down. Others went prone, returned fire, and began lobbing fragmentation grenades over the rubble.
Frost's squad rushed up and began collecting the wounded men. Again, they began filling their wounds with biofoam and applying pressure dressings. Suddenly, pink rounds began flying from the upper windows of the half-destroyed church on the right side of the road. "We need to get those snipers," Frost said, "let's go Moser!"
The pair rushed across the road, stacked up next to the entry, and Frost peered in. He could see Jackals armed with Type-31 rifles leaping from the broken archways and edges of the blown up rooftop of the aged church. They would fire down at the Marines and then relocate to another spot. Frost ducked back out. "We've got three on the upper left, two on the right," he counted. "I'm going to break left and draw their fire. You pop them as they show themselves. Watch your field of fire."
"Check."
Frost inhaled sharply and dashed into the ruins. He took cover behind a column on the left side just as a series of pink needles peppered the opposite side. Then he heard the deep report of Moser's BR55; after two bursts, both Jackals fell from their perches. Needles began bombarding Moser's position and he took cover. Frost rushed out, turned, and began firing sweeping bursts up at the jackals. Screeching and squawking, they took cover and tried to return fire. But Moser again shot them down with his rifle. "Clear!" Moser shouted.
"Clear on motion trackers," Frost said, monitoring his blue HUD helmet attachment. He went back to Moser's position and looked out. The Marines were clear and pushing over the ruins. A Scorpion rolled over the main blocking position and began firing directly into Covenant positions. Warthog engines revved and came down a side street adjacent to the church, flanking the Covenant defense.
Frost turned to Moser to tell him to move out, but found he was walking into the church. Nothing was left of the pews, stained glass, or even the altar. At the very head though, there was the half-destroyed sculpture of many Saints. After hesitating briefly, Frost followed him into the church. He turned as he did, ensuring there were no more snipers above them. "Moser, you good?"
"People came here once for quiet or for prayer," he said as the noise of battle faded outside. "These are houses of peace, not a place where wars should be fought." He sighed sadly and looked over his shoulder. "Tell me we'll make it right one day."
"You know we will," Frost replied firmly. Moser suddenly took off his helmet, knelt, and clasped his hands together.
"I know you're not a man of faith, but would you join me just for a moment?"
"We still got Covvies to take care of out there," Frost said despite the slackening battle outside.
"Just for a moment. A little quiet never hurt anyone," Moser said without looking at him. Frost sighed, walked over, and knelt as well. Setting his MA5B to the side, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. At first, he felt silly and out of place. But when he breathed in deeply, he found he couldn't smell the arid concrete dust stench or cordite. Sounds of battle seemed eerily distant. Despite his rapidly beating heart, he felt strangely calm.
Needles hit the ground around him. Frost quickly rolled to the side, picked up his MA5B, and aimed. A single Jackal was rapidly firing its Type-31 at him. He aimed and squeezed off three short controlled bursts. Bullets thudded into the alien's chest and it fell to the floor.
"Fuck, that was close. You okay, Moser?" Frost asked, still aiming his weapon. "Moser?"
He looked to the side. Moser was lying on his back and clutching his throat. Blood was seeping through his fingers. "Moser!"
Frost shouldered his rifle and dug into his first aid kit. His biofoam canister was empty and all he had was a pressure dressing. He pried Moser's fingers away and a jet of blood poured out. "Aw fuck, fuck, fuck. Hang in there, Moser, you're going to get out of here man. Corpsman!" Frost screamed as he applied pressure to the dressing. Blood continued to come out and stain the dressing. Moser gurgled terribly; blood began to come out of his mouth. He reached up and clutched the collar of Frost's M52B body armor. "Hold on, Moser, I've got you. Help's coming." Frost activated the SQUADCOM. "This is One-One, I've got a man down in the church, get a corpsman and a little here, ASAP."
"Roger One-One, dispatching corpsman," Conroy replied.
"They're coming, man, they're coming, don't worry. You're gonna be fine. It's not that bad. Not bad at all, I've seen a lot worse." Frost smiled weakly. Moser's eyes were dimming, his actions were becoming sluggish, and he was gulping less and less. "Stay with me. Come on. Come on. You're going to be fine. Corpsman! Man down! I need a fucking corpsman!"
He looked back and saw the squad burst through the entrance. Everyone rushed over and began gathering around. The corpsman slid next to him.
"Move your hands," he ordered. Frost looked back down at Moser and saw he was still. His hand dropped from his collar and his eyes were blank. The corpsman began treating the wounded, looked Moser, checked his pulse, and sighed. "Sorry, Gunny."
"What do you mean sorry!?" Grant yelled. "Work on him! Do something!"
"He's gone, Lance Corporal," the corpsman said.
Everyone looked at one another, wide-eyed. Tears welled in the corners of Grant's eyes. Just as they began to run down his cheeks, he dropped his MA5B, keeled over, and hugged Moser's body. He buried his face into his chestplate and began to sob. As the corpsman prepared the litter, Frost sat back weakly and lowered his head. The squad hung their heads and wept.
Words: 6,649
Pages (Google Docs): 16
Original Font: Garamond
Original Font Size: 12
Original Line Spacing: 1.5
Author's Note: Well, I'm back! Apologies for being gone for all these months, progress on finishing Marsh Silas: Inquisitor took a lot longer than I thought. But now I'm back and I'll resume work on I'm Alone: Exalt. A few notes on this chapter: I originally thought to include the sequence Vivian thinks about in which they first start battling the Covenant ships. After some thought, I decided not to include this because the chase sequence would have just been too cumbersome to write; jumping in and out of slipspace, some quick fights, and steady damage is just too cumbersome for an entire chapter. I cut the earlier part of the battle to cut down on the overuse of phrases and terms as well and to focus on the highlight of the action than the full sequence. Basically, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but in all, I wanted to cut the cumbersome aspects of this writing.
I'll be back to posting at least one chapter a week. I'd really appreciate though if you could check out Marsh Silas: Inquisitor, I'm very proud of that story and I consider it my best to date. Also if you're interested, I have more original prose and poems going up on my DevianArt profile, RadiationSoap, as well as an edited, revamped version of the original I'm Alone. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
Alright, comment responses and I'm outta here!
Comment Responses:
Qrs-jg: Yep. I wanted some heavier tonnage ships for Vivian's battlegroup so they could not only engage in but also win in decisive ship to ship engagements. As we saw here, they won't always get out of the fight unscathed. And Decatur is a lot of fun to work; some chapters he's a real character and other times he's more of a functional aspect of the ship. I like that balance, it suits him, but his dialogue and chipper attitude are a lot of fun and we'll see more experience with him over the course of the story. Thanks!
SaltySieger59: Love your username, by the way. A very apt question. Yes, the course of the story will take the characters through the length of the war and will partake in some of the clashes that players have experienced in the game. However, they will have their own story and adventures within those timelines. However, they won't be close to the end of the war until the planned fourth installment of the story. But hey, you got anymore questions, feel free to ask and I'll fill you in. Thanks!