Battle: Actium

by Ian Otter

Before the Fall of Reach, the Battle of Actium was one of the bloodiest land battles of the Human-Covenant War. Experience the fighting through the eyes of those who fought, and died, in her defense. (Companion piece to my other story, Missing in Action) (Abandoned.)

37. Chapter 37

Thanks for all the reviews guys, glad to see you're all as excited as I am to have Battle: Actium return!

Thor, you and I appear to be of similar minds, though we differ slightly. I had a "chart" written up with my thoughts, which I had been saving for my other story, but I'll go ahead and post here so everyone can kind of see what I'm thinking (at the end of the chapter.)

As for this chapter, well, originally, I had intended this to be two chapters, however, given that entire chapter is just one giant info dump, I decided to combine them and make it one large chapter; that way, we can get through it relatively quicker.

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Chapter 37

High Orbit, Actium
May 7, 2545
0152

Lieutenant General Athena Miles

The D96-TCE "Albatross" heavy dropship rattled and shook as it made its descent through the atmosphere, causing some of the Marines onboard to look up in alarm. Lieutenant General Athena Miles was not one of them. As commander of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force, Athena had cut her teeth leading combat Marines into battle during the early Insurrectionist days, many of which had been conducted under heavy fire; after all that, what was a little turbulence when compared to flak so thick, one could walk across it?

Instead, she continued to focus on the debriefing she was currently receiving from one of her subordinates.

"The city of Byzas falls within the area of responsibility of the Army's 53rd Armored Division," her subordinate, Colonel Qasim Ghaani was saying. As commander of the 88th MEU, the only one of Athena's units to be able to make it into the city yesterday, what he had to say could prove to be invaluable to Athena's understanding of the situation as it stood at the moment. "As such, any units that got deployed to the city instantly fell under their command: Colonial Militia, Provincial Militia, other Army divisions… even us. The moment we arrived on the surface, my Marines were deployed to where they were needed most; essentially, we were being used to help plug in the holes that had formed in the Army's defensive line. As a result, there is no concentration of any Marine unit larger than company-size anywhere in this city."

"As for the Army, it's a clusterfuck down here, to put it bluntly, ma'am. Actium is the garrison planet of the 53rd AD, and they were in the midst of resting and refitting when the Covenant attacked. As such, a lot of the units they have listed on their official TO&E either don't exist, or simply weren't in position when the Covenant made landfall. So, while the Army was able to form a rough defensive line across the entire city, a lot of that is ad hoc; as far as I can tell, there is no coherent command or control higher than battalion level. Regimental, brigade, or even divisional command: none of that seems to exist right now. Fact of the matter is, I'm not even entirely sure whois overall in charge of this city's defense."

"Then who made the decision to cease further landing of reinforcements into the city?" Athena demanded to know.

"Deputy Commander of the 53rd, Brigadier General Lysander. Though he did so at my urging: the last thing we needed was for more Marines to get dumped into this fucking mess and add to the confusion. With all due respect, ma'am, I don't want any more fucking reinforcements, at least, not until we, at bare minimum, have some sort of coherent chain of command. It's gonna suck for the men and women holding on at the front, but they're just going to have to deal with the situation with the resources they have on hand."

"You did the right thing, Colonel," Athena assured him. "There's no point in deploying any more elements of 9MEF, at least not until we can be assured they'll be utilized properly. Which they will be: as of thirty minutes ago, I've been appointed commanding officer of the entire northern flank, which will include the defense of the city. That's why, the moment I establish my HQ on the northern edge of the city, I want the highest ranking Army officer to report to me immediately, this uh… General Lysander. Or whomever he's reporting to."

"Well, I do believe he's currently reporting directly to NORTHCOM, so he's currently the highest-ranking officer on the ground. With that being said, ma'am, I'll be sure to inform him of your orders as soon as we're finished here."

"You do that," Athena agreed. "Rest assured, Colonel, order will be restored shortly after my arrival. Now, let's move onto the other elephant in the room: the Covenant. What do we know about them right now, and how are they responding to the situation?"

Ghaani sighed.

"Well, ma'am, I have to give it to the Army at least," he admitted. "While they apparently don't know how to run a war from the divisional level or higher, ironically enough, their tactics at the small-unit level are on fucking point. As soon as the Covenant made landfall, every single Army unit, from the battalion level, all the way down to the individual fireteam, immediately launched a counterattack, hitting the Covenant with everything they had. Part of the reason why there're so many fucking holes in the line was because too many Army units got wiped out trying to attack Covenant forces head-on. The upside is, the attacks badly disrupted the Covenant's command structure, preventing them from really getting a footing. As far as my S-2 can tell, the Covies are as confused as we are."

"Furthermore, there appears to have been some sort of…" Ghaani hesitated. "Hell, I don't even know what to call it: situation? Disruption? Event? About midday, I started receiving reports that a large chunk of the Covenant forces had broken off their attack in order to go searching for something inside the occupied sections of the city. What they were looking for and to what extent they spent looking for it, I don't know, but it certainly helped disrupt their momentum. The search appears to have been called off for now, but rather than continue their attack, the Covenant have settled down into defensive positions. It's been mostly quiet all night, aside from the occasional infiltration attempts and artillery duels."

"As to what they're doing, I gave orders for all scout sniper and recon elements to deploy earlier this morning, plus the Air Force has been running recon flights all night and into this morning. Intelligence is streaming in and MCIA has worked closely with ONI to process it all, though if it's alright with you ma'am, I'd rather wait until you're on the ground before presenting it to you."

Athena looked up as her senior enlisted advisor, Sergeant Major Brian Osterman III, held up a small holographic note that simply said, 'Landfall, 5 mins.'

"We're about to make landfall," Athena reported over the radio as she nodded her thanks to Osterman. "We'll discuss this further once that happens; in the meantime, have General Lysander prepared to report to me in fifteen minutes. That is all."

"Aye, aye, General. I'll see you on the ground. Out."

Athena calmly put away her radio and made sure she was fully strapped in as she felt the power in the Albatross' engines begin to surge as they began their final approach to the landing zone. She made sure to switch her headset back over to the channel the pilots were using to communicate; however, she wasn't paying attention to a word they were saying as her mind was too preoccupied with everything she needed to do the moment she hit the ground.

Her first priority was to get her headquarters up and running as soon as possible; given everything Ghaani had just told her, having a command center where all communications could be routed through and where decisions could be made would make a world of difference in the coordination and reorganization of the various units deployed inside the city right now. And reorganization of everyone under her command would be especially important, given that she knew for a fact that the commanding officer of UNSC forces in the system, Admiral Lukas Spaatz, was pushing for the ground units to begin a counterattack almost immediately, while the Covenant were still at their weakest.

"Attention all crew and passengers: we are one minute to touchdown."

The pilot's voice cut through Athena's thoughts and she looked up as the sound of the landing gear getting deployed filled the air. Nodding to herself, she began checking the area around her, making sure she had all her stuff as everyone around her did the same. She could feel the dropship rapidly decelerating and it wasn't long before the pilot's voice returned over the intercom, saying:

"Landing in three… two… one… touchdown!"

The ship trembled slightly as it settled onto the ground. Almost immediately, Athena undid her restraints and climbed to her feet, making sure to grab her BR-55 battle rifle that was mounted in the rack next to her. Technically, as a lieutenant general, Athena had no need for a rifle as the chances of her seeing combat were slim to none. However, her possession of a rifle was more symbolic than anything; a reminder not just to herself, but also to her staff, that they were all Marines. And that no matter who they were, what position they held, or how high up the chain of command they sat; all Marines were, first and foremost, riflemen. And they had to be ready to fight for their lives if the need ever came.

For now however, there would be no fighting needed as they were still some ways away from the front. As the ramp lowered, Athena took a deep breath, then confidently marched off the ship and took her first step onto the surface of Actium.

The first thing that struck her was the cold. According to weather reports Athena had reviewed before leaving orbit, it was the middle of winter on this hemisphere of the planet. As such, this early in the morning it was almost negative ten degrees Celsius. Even with the winterized jacket she was wearing, Athena had to fight the urge to shiver from the cold. As petty as it sounded, Athena knew given the chaos on the ground, she couldn't afford to show any weakness.

The second thing that Athena noticed was that the sound of artillery firing in the distance filled the air. It was heavy stuff too, 155mm or 203mm, or even a combination of the two. It must have been Army batteries; she didn't think any of her heavy artillery units had made it to the surface just yet. Who, what, or where they were firing at she didn't know, but as long as they were shooting in the direction of the Covenant she found she didn't really care. It just went to show: while the fighting may have slowed for the night, it hadn't completely ended.

Then there were the sights. The combined might of the UNSC Army, Marine Corps, and various militia groups had managed to stop the Covenant before they were able to reach this far north, so the damage wrecked was nowhere near comparable to the devastation that the southern half of the city had undoubtedly seen, but even then it was clear to her this sector of the city had undergone minor artillery and aerial bombardment. The damage was mostly cosmetic – destroyed windows, the occasional bits of shrapnel pockmarking some of the walls – but it was there.

Finally, there was the smell. The heavy scent of gunpowder and ozone wafted up on the breeze coming from the south. Along with it came the aroma of blood, fear, and death. If Athena hadn't known this entire area was one giant warzone before arriving here, then the scent alone would have been enough to inform her of that fact. If there was one thing Athena had learned over her many years of service, it was that while the sights and sounds may have varied depending on location and who was conducting the fighting, the smells of battle always remained the same.

Athena took a moment to allow her brain to process all the information her senses were giving her before turning her focus to the task at hand and looking around. Standing near the edge of the landing pad were two figures, and even in the dim light cast by the engines of the Albatross, Athena could recognize one of them, while the other she did not. The figure she recognized was her chief of staff, Colonel Chantin Pasang, who she had sent planetside several hours ago in order to establish a headquarters for her. The other, however, was very clearly a civilian as he was wearing a full business suit and tie, complete with some sort of metal pin attached to his lapel.

Curious, Athena headed in their direction.

"General Miles: welcome to Byzas," Pasang announced, snapping to attention as Athena approached.

"Colonel," Athena replied in greeting before turning her attention to the civilian. "Who the hell is this?"

Before Pasang could say a word, the civilian immediately spoke up.

"General Miles," he began, and immediately Athena could tell he was some sort of politician, based on the oily way he spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Benito Garibaldi. The good people of this city saw it fit to elect me, as their mayor last year, a position which I hold in – "

"Uh-huh," Athena immediately interrupted. "What do you want?"

Garibaldi looked startled at Athena's bluntness, but recovered quickly. Standing up straighter, he quickly adjusted his tie before announcing in an official tone: "General Miles. On behalf of the city of Byzas, as well as her citizens, I wish to extend a full-hearted thank you to you and your Marines for their service in protecting this great city. As a token of our appreciation, my cabinet and I are prepared to do whatever you need of us in order to aid in your defense of this fine city. Anything you need, General, you need only ask."

Athena raised an eyebrow.

"'Anything?'" she repeated.

"Anything," Garibaldi confirmed.

"Good. Then I want you to take your family, as well as whatever remains of your cabinet, and get into that Albatross," she pointed to the aircraft she just departed from, "and leave the planet."

Garibaldi looked shocked.

"But… General…" he began to protest, but Athena swiftly cut him off.

"Mayor Garibaldi, I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but this is a military matter, and this entire colony is under direct UNSC control," Athena explained. "As such, I don't need you, or any other politician for that matter, to authorize anything: I already have all the authority I need. What I don't need, is a bunch of civilians getting in my way. So, if you would be so kind, sir, Captain Knight here will ensure you are able to evacuate the colony safely."

Garibaldi looked uncertain.

"General," he began, "but with all due respect, I was former UNSC Navy, and I know the captain is always the last to leave the ship."

"A very noble sentiment, sir, but one that is unfortunately misplaced," Athena informed him. "Fact of the matter is, you're a civilian now, and you will better serve the UNSC by not being here. Captain Knight?"

The commanding officer of her security component, Captain Knight, took a step forward. "Sir? If you would follow me?"

Looking simultaneously worried and relieved, Garibaldi nevertheless didn't resist as Knight led him away back towards the Albatross.

"Apologies, ma'am," Pasang said to Athena as soon as Garibaldi was out of earshot. "He was already standing here by the time I arrived."

"Hmm?" Athena distractedly replied, her meeting with Garibaldi having already been pushed out of her mind. "Oh, that. No matter. What's our status, Colonel?"

Pasang straightened. "Headquarters is up and running already. Colonel Savage is waiting for you in the command center. If you'll follow me, ma'am?"

Athena nodded and followed Pasang as she led them across the landing pad and towards one of the buildings that sat nearby. In a past life, it had clearly been some sort of police station. However, since the Marines had moved in, the entire facility had been transformed into a fortress. Marine engineers and Navy Seabees had worked on reinforcing the building with all sorts of sandbags, Hesco barriers, razor wire, and metal gun shields; to the point the building would be able to withstand several direct hits from artillery or aerial bombs. Meanwhile, Marine network systems specialists had spent the time adding onto the station's already extensive communications and surveillance gear, as to allow Athena uninterrupted transmissions to her troops on the frontline. At the same time, a number of AA batteries had been established on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding her command center, while Marine military police officers stood guard at every entrance, rifles and machine guns at the ready, prepared to defend the headquarters with their lives if need be. All in all, it was clear this station was about as ready as it was ever going to be for anything.

Marching in straight through the front doors with the rest of her staff in tow, Athena took a moment to remove her helmet before continuing down the corridor, passing through various checkpoints, all without once stopping. She followed Pasang as she lead the procession towards the center of the building which, based on the amount of cables running across the ground, was where her command and control center had been established. The doors leading to that room were guarded by an entire squad of twelve Marines, commanded by a single staff sergeant, all of whom immediately snapped to attention before reaching out and opening the doors for her.

"OFFICER ON DECK!" someone yelled out and Athena could hear everyone immediately leaping to their feet and snapping to attention as she came strolling into the room.

"As you were!" Athena barked, and her Marines quickly relaxed, allowing her to take a look around the room.

Clearly, this room had once been the central dispatch center for this precinct, as the walls and floor had already been covered in screens, displays, and radios. However, after the Marines had moved in, the room had been filled to the brim with electronics and other devices: holographic screens, massive radios to communicate with the fleet in orbit, live satellite coverage, maps, tactical displays, et cetera. Basically, everything and anything Athena would or could need to help her run this war.

Monitoring all this information was a veritable army of Marine and Navy technicians. Sitting at their stations with their officers hovering behind them nearby, they watched and listened. Likewise, yet more technicians worked on processing the vast amount of intelligence streaming in, dissecting and disseminating it in such a manner that Athena would be able to use it to make tactical and strategic decisions later.

Standing amid all this barely-controlled chaos, was the commanding officer of her headquarters group, Colonel Evan Savage.

"Ma'am," he greeted with an incline of his head as Athena walked up to him.

"Colonel," she replied. "What's our status?"

"We're green across the board," he reported. "Command center has been secured, and all stations are currently up and running."

Reaching out, Savage grabbed a couple of data pads that had been sitting on a nearby desk and handed them over to her.

"Latest SIG and SAT intelligence on current Covenant positions and composition," he explained. "Compliments of Colonel Ghaani. Also, as requested, ma'am, casualty reports from the UNSC Army, Air Force, and various Colonial Militias."

Athena nodded as she took the offered data pads and took a quick glance at the casualty listings. Listing every single casualty the UNSC had taken in this city alone in the last thirty-six hours by name, it had also been color-coordinated for her convenience, with yellow representing those that had been wounded in action, orange representing those that were missing in action, and red representing those that had been killed in action.

There was a lot of red.

"Thank you for this, Colonel," Athena said as she lowered the pad and glanced at Savage. "What's our status out in the field?"

Savage shook his head.

"Still a cluster, ma'am. Situation hasn't quite been able to pull itself together since you and Colonel Ghaani spoke over the radio ten minutes ago." Savage paused, before leaning in close. "If you don't mind me saying, ma'am, based on everything I've seen so far, it looks like you're going to have your work cut out for you."

Athena mentally sighed.

"Well, that's what we're here for," she declared.

"Let's get to work!"

xxx

Fifteen minutes later, Athena found herself sitting alone in the small office that had been established for her, knee-deep in paperwork.

"...Norbert, Butz G. Warrant Officer. 3rd Squadron, 300th Air Cavalry Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 53rd Armored Division, UNSC Army: KIA. Noreen, Benjamin. Staff Sergeant. 5th Battalion, 42nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Thracia Army: KIA. Norén, Lisbeth. Specialist. 131st Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 222nd Airborne Division, UNSC Army: MIA...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Athena reached out and paused her data pad at the sound of someone knocking on her door. She'd been studying the Army's casualty list, trying to figure out exactly what she was working with, and the amount of casualties the UNSC Army had taken in less than one day of combat was staggering. It was no wonder they had needed the Marine Corps to come in and reinforce their position.

"Enter!" she called out, and the door opened to reveal Pasang.

"General Miles," Pasang began, "a Brigadier General Lysander, UNSC Army, here to see you ma'am."

"Send him in," Athena commanded, and Pasang opened the door fully to reveal a man wearing the battle dress uniform of the UNSC Army standing on the other side. At Pasang's nod, the Soldier smartly marched into the room and as the door firmly shut behind him, the Soldier snapped to attention and fired off a sharp salute.

"Ma'am, Brigadier General Janus Lysander reporting as ordered," he barked. Athena calmly returned the salute.

"At ease, General," she ordered and Lysander immediately assumed an 'at ease' stance, allowing Athena the chance to study the man standing in front of her in detail.

Lysander was an older gentleman, probably in his late fifties or early sixties, though it was hard to tell nowadays due to modern medicine allowing general-grade officers to serve far longer than they historically were able to. His salt and pepper hair was cut short in a high and tight style, as per UNSC military regulations; however, contrasting his meticulously maintained scalp was the five o'clock shadow he had on his chin, giving him a sort of rugged and "salty-veteran" look. Which, Athena figured, was probably the point.

To add to the accoutrement, much like everyone else around Athena's command center, Lysander was clad in a set of body armor, but not completely: while he had his vest on, he was missing his pauldrons, his lower body armor, had on a set of tanker boots instead of the standard armored combat boots that was typical of most UNSC military personnel, and he had opted to wear a simple patrol cap adorned with the single black star insignia of a brigadier general in lieu of a helmet. Furthermore, while Lysander was armed, unlike the rifles which Athena insisted her staff carry with them at all times, Lysander merely had a sidearm, which he wore in a shoulder holster positioned just under his left armpit in a similar fashion to the way Athena had seen most UNSC tankers carry theirs. All in all, Lysander appeared pretty much exactly the way she expected a general-grade officer in charge of an armored division to look.

"Have a seat General," Athena finally commanded, and watched as Lysander pulled out the small folding chair in front of her desk and sat down. She leaned forward on her desk. "My name is Lieutenant General Athena Miles, commander of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force, and now general in charge of all UNSC forces within the northern half of this city and surrounding areas – the so-called 'northern front.' I asked the highest-ranking UNSC Army officer to report to me and seeing as you're here, I'm assuming that's you."

"As far as I'm aware, ma'am," Lysander immediately replied. Athena raised an eyebrow.

"'As far as you're aware?'" she echoed.

"The Army is… in a bit of a disarray," Lysander noted somewhat sardonically. Athena snorted.

"Yes… I've noticed," she said, gesturing at her data pad which still displayed the Army's casualty list. She could see Lysander's eyes flicker towards it, but he made no comment. Athena put her hands together.

"So, no doubt, General, you've heard about the general strategic briefing and planning secession Admiral Spaatz has called that is to take place in less than an hours' time. The purpose of said briefing is undoubtedly to plan the upcoming operation that will see the Covenant landing site crushed beneath our heel, in which the forces currently positioned in this city will play a crucial role."

"No doubt, ma'am," Lysander agreed. "Especially given our close proximity to the landing site itself. Guess that's what happens when the Covenant only attempt to break out in one direction: the south."

Athena nodded.

"Of course," she said. "However, in order to formulate a proper plan of offensive, I need to know what I'm working with. If it was just my Marines, this would be simple: 9MEF's ground combat element is primarily composed of Marines from the 21st MARDIV. En route to Actium, we were assigned another two Marine combat units: the 88th MEU – which had been en route to Newsaka to aid in the evacuation taking place there – as well as the 103rd MEU, which has yet to arrive in system."

"However, with the suspension of the delivery of further reinforcements to this city yesterday, only one of those units was actually able to make it to the surface: the 88th. Twenty-two hundred Marines and Sailors in one task force; hardly enough to conduct a major offensive."

"Especially against the Covenant in urban warfare, ma'am," Lysander agreed.

"Which is why I'll be needing to rely heavily on the Army for support," Athena explained. "Now: I understand your division, the 53rd AD is currently stationed in the city. However, after yesterday's losses… well, I'm trying to figure out what your current combat strength actually stands at. Care to enlighten me, General?"

Lysander grimaced, and instantly Athena had a bad feeling about the situation.

"It's… complicated, ma'am," Lysander reluctantly began. "First off, you have to understand, it's barely been four months since the destruction of Draco III, in which the 53rd suffered heavily: we were still trying to pick up the pieces when the Covenant invaded. Of my three combat maneuver brigades, only the 2nd could have been considered 'at full-strength.' Unfortunately, they were performing brigade-sized maneuvers down in Graham Quarry – which is just south of Byzas – when the Covenant landed right in the middle of our AO, essentially cutting my division in half. As of right now, 2nd Brigade is completely offline, with all communications severed, and in fact, has already been transferred out of my control."

"As to my other brigades, 1st and 4th, neither of them were even at fifty percent allocated strength when the attack began, however 1st Brigade most certainly had it worse: the Covenant landed right on top of them, as they did with 53rd Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion. As of right now, both units can be considered 'annihilated' as the majority of the command staff of both units have become casualties – including Major General Alexander Gilbert, divisional commander."

Athena grimly nodded. She had been wondering what had happened to Lysander's CO. Now she knew.

"What about 3rd Brigade?"

The look Lysander gave Athena caused chills to go down her spine, and she immediately regretted asking.

"There is no 3rd Brigade," Lysander grimly declared. "Vast majority of 3/53 never made it off Draco III; they got burned along with the rest of the colony. That's why we have a 4th Brigade. Which leads me to another problem: 4th Brigade is made up of surviving personnel from the Draco III Colonial Militia, more than seventy-five percent of which weren't even tankers to begin with…"

"Prior to being summoned here, I was attempting to consolidate my remaining forces into one, single, combat brigade; however, my troops and staff officers are scattered all over the city," Lysander admitted. "Along with the loss of both the division command and the entire divisional staff, my 4th Brigade commander was killed in action, while his XO was critically wounded in action; 1st Brigade CO was on leave on the other side of the planet when the invasion began and won't be able to rejoin us for another day at least, while his XO was killed in action. The commanding officer of my sustainment brigade, Colonel Menteith is still alive, but last known position was somewhere behind enemy lines whereas the CO of my combat aviation brigade hasn't been seen since the invasion began and is now being considered 'MIA – status unknown'. While the commander of my division artillery, Colonel Bemis, is still alive and well, that's only one of my six field commanders I'm supposed to have."

He paused.

"There's going to be a lot of promotions today," he noted with a hint of sarcasm.

Athena resisted the urge to sigh. That… was a lot worse than she had expected. She knew the situation was bad, she just hadn't realize the shortfall was actually with the command staff, and not the troops on the ground. That explained why there was virtually no coordination above the battalion level: if Lysander's report was accurate, then practically all the field-grade officers that were responsible for ensuring the uninterrupted flow of communication between units had all been killed or were missing in action.

"What about pulling staff officers from other units? I understand the Army was able to deploy another division to the city prior to our arrival?" Athena began, but before she could even finish, Lysander was already shaking his head.

"The 222nd Airborne Division, yes: they were deployed to the city yesterday. However, their situation is worse than ours, if you can believe that. First off, they weren't an intact unit to begin with either: they were in the middle of being returned to their garrison planet of Skopje for refit after two months of heavy fighting on Newsaka before they were re-routed here. Because of that, they were at the bottom of the list for in-theater resupply and as such had not received any replacements for their losses. From what I've heard, they barely even had enough weapons and ammo to refit their soldiers, and thus had to pull directly from the Air Force's armory. Which may have contributed to the disaster that occurred in orbit…"

Athena looked up at that. "What disaster?"

Lysander sighed. "Exact cause is unknown, but somehow a Covenant boarding team was able to slip past the Navy's defenses and make it onboard the UNSC Stanisław Skalski, the Air Force aircraft carrier that had been transporting the majority of the 222nd. While the Covenant were eventually repelled, it wasn't before several hangars were overrun, including the one the airborne command staff had gathered in, in preparation to be deployed to the surface. Losses were… extensive."

This time, Athena couldn't resist the urge. She reached up and began massaging her temples.

"What about the various militias: what's their status like?" she asked, doing her best to keep the annoyance out of voice.

"Largest unit in the AO was a battalion and the brigade HHC from the Thracia Provincial Army's 506th Military Intelligence Brigade. However, their CO, Colonel Gregor Paxton, was last seen minutes after the landings began, attempting to attack the Covenant forces before they had a chance to get organized. He hasn't been seen or heard from since, and is now considered 'MIA – presumed KIA.'"

"Only other significant militia presence would be half an infantry battalion from one of the Actium Navy's Naval Infantry regiments."

Athena grunted. "And what do we have for air cover."

Lysander paused.

"In terms of Army aviation assets, unfortunately most of our airframes were destroyed on the ground. As such, I've gone ahead and converted most of my combat aviation brigade into infantrymen to try and fill the voids left in the frontline. Fortunately, the 222nd still has about three-quarters of their allocated aircraft intact, so we'll be able to rely on them instead."

"In terms of the UNSC Air Force, I know as per SOP that most of the combat groups of the No 112 Air Division were transferred to ODC to assist with the battle up there. In terms of assets around here, Actium Air Force had their gunships up in force; however, all of them were grounded the moment the Covies parked a cruiser over the city. So, I'm not sure how many survived. Air Force assets don't get integrated with the Army at the division level," Lysander admitted. "That's what the Army Aviation Branch is for."

Athena mentally sighed. This was part of the reason she severely disliked working with other military branches. Unlike the other branches, the Marine Corps was almost entirely self-contained, possessing their own ground, air, and logistical assets. While they weren't always available, being part of the same organization meant the groundwork for being able to coordinate their actions together on the fly had already been laid. Whereas, with say, the Army and the Air Force, it took time to determine what was needed where. And right now, time was not on their side.

"Alright, first thing's first: we need to interface with the Air Force and see what sort of assets they're willing to dedicate for our usage," Athena began ordering as soon as she came to a decision. "I believe I have enough time to deploy at least one more Marine unit in time for this counterattack, and I can have 9MEF's air combat element, the 12th Marine Aircraft Group, deployed to the surface to provide us CAS and air cover, if need be. Though, ideally, that's something I would like to avoid as I would rather have one of my combat regiments on station instead: by the sounds of it, General, this city could use more combat troops."

"Agreed, ma'am," Lysander immediately replied. "While I have every confidence in the fighting ability of my men, fact of the matter is, all my troops are currently in the field; I have no reserves."

Athena nodded in understanding. "In terms of organization, I want to reorganize the entire frontline into temporary battalions based on geographical location as opposed to different branches and MOSs; I'll pull some staff from the 9MEF H&S group to fill in the missing field officer positions, at least until we're able to conduct a more thorough reorganization of all units currently in the city. These mixed units are no doubt going to cause confusion in terms of logistics, however the ability to coordinate the actions of all elements involved in this upcoming offensive will be worth the drawbacks. Especially since, if we're not able to destroy the Covenant in the next few days, there's a good chance none of it will matter."

"In terms of fire support, how much artillery support do you have, General?"

Lysander gave a wicked grin.

"That, is the one thing we do have," he announced. "All of the divisional artillery was able to survive relatively intact, plus, with Colonel Bemis still in action, fire control is still very strong."

"How many guns? Give me numbers."

"Well, in the Army, most of the battalions assigned to the brigade get attached directly to the maneuver elements to support their operations. However, there's still the heavy artillery battalion in operation: one battalion of three batteries each, with each battery possessing six howitzers. So, a total of eighteen 203mm M145A 'Rhino' self-propelled howitzers, with plenty of ammo, ready for immediate tasking."

"Good," Athena grunted as she made a note. "In that case, I'll have the 88th MEU's artillery battery temporarily disbanded, and its personnel transferred over to the infantry. A hundred and twenty Marines; not a whole lot, but if we can't get one of the Marine regiments onto the surface in time, then every rifle is going to count. Colonel Pasang!"

The door to her office opened, and Pasang poked her head in. "Yes, General?"

"Find out who's in charge of the Air Force component around here, and get them on the radio immediately. General Lysander, have all your logistical units begin pushing up as much ammo and weapons as they possibly can to the troops on the front so that they'll be ready to step off once this offensive begins. Afterwards, I want you, and Colonel Ghaani inside the command center with me, pouring over a tac map so we can determine the most optimal way of reorganizing the frontline into new battalions. I want an actionable plan ready and in my hand to be able to present to NORTHCOM by the system-wide briefing at zero three hundred hours, which gives us exactly twenty-six minutes. That's not a lot of time, so let's move people!"

xxx

"Are we ready to begin?"

Athena looked around the table where she had gathered her essential staff to attend the briefing alongside her. Members included: Colonel Pasang, her chief of staff, Colonel Ghaani of the 88th MEU, her senior enlisted advisor, Sergeant Major Osterman, her G-2 and his aide, as well as General Lysander and his staff were all in attendance.

When no one spoke up, Athena glanced at her Marine technicians standing nearby. "Then let's begin. Activate."

Athena resisted the urge to flinch as the hologram activated, and she suddenly found herself somewhere else. Even though there weren't any identifying marks, she instantly knew where she was: back in orbit. Specifically, the main assembly room aboard Heliopolis Station, where the system-wide brief was to take place. She looked around.

Aside from the personnel she had brought with her, whose images were being cast next to her, there were also all sorts of officers from all four service branches around; as every single officer in charge of a division, division-sized equivalent, or larger command that was expecting to see contact with the Covenant within the next thirty-six hours had been ordered to attend this briefing. Needless to say, the area was pretty crowded. Furthermore, as each general-grade and flag officer had been allowed to bring whatever personnel and staff they had deemed necessary for their operations, the room was practically filled to the brim with uniformed service members.

A few of the people were physically present aboard the station, however the vast majority were holograms as people were calling in from wherever their headquarters were located. This was primarily done for two reasons: one, it would have been too time-consuming and too much of a hassle to try and shuttle all these people to the station, and two, it would have been too dangerous to have this many commanders in the same room – after all, if the Covenant somehow caught wind of the meeting taking place and managed to destroy the station, the confusion caused by the sudden loss of the system's top military command would be devastating.

Fortunately, security wasn't something Athena needed to worry about, so she automatically began looking around the room, trying to figure out who was present. Some of the officers she recognized - for example, her executive officer of the 9th MEF, the commanding officers for both the 21st Marine Division and the 12th Marine Aircraft Group, as well as the commanding officer of not just the 103rd MEU, but also all four Marine regiments assigned to the 21st MARDIV – however, most people Athena did not know, which she couldn't help but find rather annoying, as she was going to have to work alongside many of them in order to win this battle.

Fortunately, Lysander seemed to immediately pick up on the source of Athena's aggravation, as he leaned forward to quietly speak to her.

"That's Supreme Commander of all military forces on Actium, General Jason Langley, UNSC Army," he whispered, while pointing at one specific individual sitting across the room. Athena looked at where he was pointing, and nodded when she spotted the man in question.

"Yes, I remember him," she whispered back. "General Langley was the one who appointed me commander of the northern front. However, who's the four-star general sitting next to him?"

"That's General Robert Fields, UNSC Army, and commanding officer of Actium Northern Command, which is the command responsible for the entire continent of Hellas, in which the city of Byzas is located."

"Hm. Nice to put a face to a voice. However, he looks somewhat familiar: do you know if he's worked with the Marine Corps before?"

She could hear Lysander shrugging. "He could have, though I don't know too much about him: all I know is that he was commanding officer of the Vesuvius District of the Army Corps of Engineers before being promoted and transferred here."

Athena silently nodded as she made sure to try and memorize Fields' face; as her direct reporting officer, Athena knew they would be working very closely together in the next few days.

"What about the woman sitting just off to his right?" Athena asked, nodding at the redheaded lady wearing the three-star insignia of a lieutenant general.

"Lieutenant General Mabel Valerien, commander of the XIV Armored Corps, of which the 53rd had been a part, at least until this morning. I believe as commanding officer of the largest ground unit in the south, she's been appointed the direct field commander of the southern front: essentially, your counterpart."

Athena made a mute sound of acknowledgement as Valerien happened to look in her direction, and Athena reflexively lifted her hand in greeting, a gestured that Valerien was quick to return.

Turning away from the other general, Athena continued to scan the rest of the officers, and as she did, she happened to realize there was a pattern to the way the room had been set up: everyone appeared to have been divided by the various fronts. For example, those that had been assigned to fight in the north were all clustered around her – mainly the Marines of the 9th MEF, as well as the Soldiers of the 53rd Armored. Whereas, directly across from her, clustered around General Valerien, were the commanders who were expecting to take the lead in the south – that group appeared to be made up primarily of UNSC Army officers.

Sitting equal distance between the two groups were Generals Langley and Fields, both of whom would clearly be the commanders in charge of the ground theater of this battle. Looking across from them, on the other side of the room, Athena spotted a large cluster of Air Force and Naval officers and concluded she was staring at the officers in charge of the space and orbital theater of the battle.

"I assume those are the officers in charge of the UNSC fleet currently sitting in Actium's orbit?" Athena whispered, jerking her head in their direction.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lysander glancing in the direction Athena was staring at, and bobbed his head. "Yes, ma'am, appears to be."

"Recognize any of them?"

"Well, the four-star Air Force general sitting in the front there is General Tevita Iqbal, commander of the Fifty-Second Tactical Air Force, and is ultimately responsible for all UNSCAF assets in the system, including all ODPs in orbit. The admiral sitting next to him I believe is Admiral Azouz Amarchih, commander of Sixth Fleet, which is garrisoned here."

"I thought this was the garrison for the Nineteenth Fleet. At least, that's who the Albatrosses who brought us down to the surface were assigned to."

"I think elements of the Nineteenth were passing through the system when they got roped into this mess. But I'll be honest, ma'am, I don't know much about the Navy's operations," Lysander admitted.

Athena snorted. Fair enough.

Before any more questions could be voiced, movement near the entrance to the room caught Athena's eye, and she spotted a single master chief petty officer come walking into the room. Unlike the other people, Athena didn't need Lysander's help in identifying this man as she knew exactly who he was: Force Master Chief Petty Officer Kojo Massoud, the senior enlisted advisor of the entire system.

"GROUP!" he bellowed, his booming voice easily cutting through the buzz of conversations in the room. "A-TEN- HUT!"

Immediately the scraping of chairs filled the air as the entire assembly climbed to their feet and snapped to attention. Moments later, the commander-in-chief of the entire system, Admiral Lukas Spaatz himself, came strolling into the room.

"Be seated!" he barked at the now silent room. "Let's get started."

Athena calmly returned to her seat and as she did, she noticed Spaatz taking up a position in the center of the room, where he was joined by four other figures: a woman wearing the uniform of the UNSC Navy, a man wearing the uniform of the UNSC Air Force, another man wearing the uniform of the UNSC Army, and a hologram of an anthropomorphic hare or rabbit. She figured the rabbit had to be the avatar of Spaatz's aide-de-camp, Kanin, while the three others sitting with him were the section chiefs of their respective service's intelligence agencies.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending on such short notice. My name is Admiral Lukas Spaatz, UNSC Navy, and I'm commanding officer of FLEETCOM Sector Twelve. For those of you who are unaware, yesterday, at zero nine hundred hours Juliet on the sixth of May, standard military calendar, a task force consisting of nine Covenant warships jumped into the system. They were quickly joined by thirty-eight other warships. Through the combined efforts of the UNSC military and the Actium Colonial Militia, we were able to halt the Covenant efforts to seize control of the colony, though not before they were able to obtain an airhead on the surface. As of four hours ago, Covenant forces ceased all offensive activity and assumed defensive positions, surrendering the initiative and thus granting us a chance to eliminate all Covenant presence on both the surface and in this system. The goal of this meeting is to determine exactly how we will be able to accomplish those objectives."

Without warning, a small green light appeared, and Athena looked around for the source, only to see Valerien had hit the button to indicate she wanted to talk.

Spaatz glanced in her direction.

"General Valerien?"

"Pardon the interruption, Admiral, but I did have a question: with all due respect to you and the intelligence community, how can we be certain that the Covenant have indeed surrendered the initiative, and that they aren't attempting to provoke us into going on the offensive and lure us out of our defensive formations? Based on historical precedent as well as personal experience, the Covenant have proven time and time again that their military doctrine is based solely around the offensive. It seems rather unlikely they would suddenly change that mentality here and now."

Spaatz nodded, then glanced at the naval officer sitting beside him. "Captain al-Cygni?"

The woman stood up and cleared her throat.

"Captain al-Cygni. ONI, Section One," al-Cygni said, introducing herself. "To answer your question, General, ONI was able to intercept a communique sent from this invasion force to… somewhere in deep space. While the entire message has not been decrypted, ONI, with the assistance of AFIC, was able to interpret some of it. According to what we were able to glean, the reason for the sudden halt in offensive action is that it appears as though some sort of political or religious leader - we're not entirely sure which, as the word doesn't directly translate into English – was assassinated on the surface of the colony during combat operations."

"Given what we know about Sangheili 'honor' practices, the loss of such a leader would cast great dishonor on whichever Sangheili is in charge of this invasion. As such, we can surmise one of two things has happened: either the invasion commander has been relieved of command, or he committed ritual suicide in order to save face. Either way would result in a tremendous disruption to the Covenant chain of command, which is why we are confident that this is not a ruse."

Valerien nodded, and al-Cygni sat back down. Spaatz opened his mouth, but before he could say anything –

"Why is this the first we're hearing of this?"

All eyes turned to the speaker, General Iqbal, who hardly seemed perturbed at suddenly being the center of attention.

"Pardon, General Iqbal?" Spaatz replied. "I'm afraid I don't understand the question."

"This assassination operation," Iqbal elaborated. "If ONI had intelligence regarding the presence of a Covenant high-ranking political or religious leader, why was no effort made to capture said leader, and use the creature as a bargaining chip? Or, at the very least, interrogation or intelligence?"

Athena glanced at Spaatz and his intelligence chiefs. As much as she disliked the tone Iqbal was using when addressing his superior officer, she had to admit she was curious as to what Spaatz had to say, as this was the first time in her many years of service fighting against the alien invaders that she had even heard about a Covenant leader being high enough on the chain of command to warrant the removal of a Covenant field commander. Especially in the midst of an active invasion.

"General, with respect to my colleague," the Air Force intelligence officer sitting next to al-Cygni suddenly interjected, "the usage of the term 'assassination' might have been too strong of a word to use, as we're still not entirely sure how this Covenant leader was killed. He may have been killed by accident in say, a vehicle crash or by a stray artillery shell."

"Given the context of the message, I think it's pretty clear the Covenant believe that this 'Minister' of theirs was deliberately targeted by UNSC forces," al-Cygni interrupted, sounding mildly annoyed.

"The full message has yet to be fully decrypted, so there is no context. Therefore – "

"To answer your question fully, General," Spaatz abruptly spoke up. "If there was an operation to assassinate a Covenant political leader, it was conducted without the knowledge or approval of FLEETCOM headquarters."

There was an intake of breath from somewhere behind Athena, and she glanced over her shoulder, only to see Lysander was quickly typing away at his TACPAD. Moments later, Athena's data pad began buzzing, and she glanced at it to see Lysander had just sent her a small file. Opening it, she stared, not quite understanding.

"What is this?" she whispered.

"It's a requisition request for half a platoon of infantry and a squad of combat engineers," Lysander replied.

"Yes, I can see that; why'd you send it to me? This is too low level for me to meddle with; send it to one of the battalion commanders."

"It's from yesterday," Lysander explained. "And I thought the same thing until I noticed who it was sent by."

Athena raised an eyebrow and curious, she checked the source of the request. Strangely enough, there was no unit or command associated with the request, only a very high-level authorization code. The code itself she didn't recognize, however it could only have come from one place: Special Operations Command. She immediately leaned forward.

"Admiral," she said aloud, attracting the attention of the room. "One of my staff yesterday received a requisition order for half a platoon of paratroopers and a squad of combat engineers from an unknown source inside SOCOM. Could this have been the source of the assassination team?"

"'Infantrymen and sappers;' sounds more like someone was conducting a smash and burn op," someone commented, and Athena took note of the speaker: General Fields, commander of NORTHCOM. Interesting; if Fields didn't know anything about this request, then that meant it didn't pass through him. Which also meant whatever this black ops team was doing, they had been trying to operate on the down-low.

"Plus, it also seems unlikely SOCOM would use conventional troops for an operation of this magnitude," Valerien pointed out.

"Perhaps it was a target of opportunity they ran across during the course of their mission?" someone else suggested, but before the speculation could continue, Spaatz raised his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to need you to focus at the task at hand," he barked. "Let's stop worrying about the minutiae, and start concentrating on the bigger picture here. Regardless of whether that leader was deliberately assassinated by UNSC forces or not, one thing we can be certain about is that embedded in that message was undoubtedly a request for more reinforcements."

"Due to a general lack of information regarding Covenant fleet movements," Spaatz continued as he threw a glance at al-Cygni, as if the lack of information was somehow her fault, "we can't be certain when these reinforcements will arrive. We do know, however, that it will take some time; estimates place it at being three full Actium days before we start to see the Covenant attempting to reinforce their gains here. That means we've got a very small window to execute any offensive action and eliminate all alien presence, at least on the surface. And for that, I turn to Supreme Commander of all military forces on Actium, General Jason Langley."

General Langley climbed to his feet with a sigh.

"At approximately ten hundred hours Juliet yesterday, the Covenant were able to obtain an airhead on the surface of Actium," he began and a holographic image of the planet abruptly appeared in the center of the room. "They made a single landing, here," a red dot appeared on the image, "in the southwestern and southeastern districts of the city of Byzas, whereupon they began deploying armor and infantry, supported by close air support. Estimates from INSCOM suggest the Covenant was able to deploy something in the realm of a hundred thousand troops; an entire Legion. Within the last thirty hours of fighting, INSCOM estimates perhaps as much as a third of that number were rendered casualties by UNSC forces. Our objective for the next one hundred and eight hours, as defined by intelligence from ONI, is the removal of the remaining two-thirds."

"The overall strategic objective of this operation is the complete and utter eradication of Covenant forces on the surface. Our hope is that with the destruction of the Covenant airhead, we also eliminate their reason for being - and that with the complete loss of their ground component, the invasion fleet sitting in orbit will be forced to withdraw." Langley paused and looked around the room. "However, it should be made clear – and this cannot be overemphasized – any withdrawal on the part of the Covenant would be temporary at best. Make no mistake: the Covenant have our address, and they will keep on coming until we're all dead. With that being said, even a full thirty-six hour grace period would allow us to evacuate even more civilians and critical war components, as well as give High Command the opportunity to reform our defensive line and send us more reinforcements."

Athena sat up as the long term effects of such a move occurred to her. One of the biggest problems the UNSC was having in this war wasn't so much the technological disparity between the two sides, but rather time. Time, the bane of all human existence as there never seemed to be enough of it, and this war was no exception.

Due to the relentless nature of the Covenant, the UNSC had been put on the defensive for far too long. As a result, they simply didn't have time to do certain things. Things like: finishing the relocation of the civilians that were evacuated off colonies that had been destroyed. The reconstruction and reorganization of crucial war manufacturing factories. The implementation of new tactics and technologies that had been pioneered and invented as a result of this war. Even allowing the UNSC military to actually stand down from full alert for a full twenty-fours would be a relief. If the UNSC had the time to do at least one of those things, perhaps the war wouldn't be going as poorly as it was.

However, if UNSC forces were somehow able to bog the Covenant down in this system… if they were able to slow the Covenant advance to a crawl… or even halt it… maybe, just maybe, the UNSC would finally get the time it needed.

But of course, that was a long-term strategic objective that would not even become a remote possibility without successful implementation of the first step, which is why Athena shook herself out of her thoughts and turned her attention back to the center of the room. General Langley had sat down, and General Fields was taking his place.

"Elimination of the Covenant airhead will be conducted via a simple strategy," Fields began. "UNSC ground forces, under NORTHCOM's direction, will conduct a hammer and anvil operation that will sweep through the entire city of Byzas. Given the geography of Byzas – with the Haemus Mountain Range running parallel to the city in the west, and the Euxime Ocean to the east – our attack can only come from either the north or south directions."

"Therefore, ground and air forces in the south – aka: the 'Southern Front' – under the command of the Army's Fourteenth Armored Corps will establish a 'U' shaped defensive line that will act as the 'anvil' of this operation. Meanwhile, forces in the north – aka: the 'Northern Front' - under the command of the Marine Corps' Ninth Expeditionary Force, will advance southward through the city proper, driving the Covenant forces out of the city and towards the anvil."

"If this strategy sounds familiar to some of you, that's because it is," Fields admitted. "We attempted to conduct a similar operation at about mid-day yesterday a few hours after the Covenant made landfall, however the operation was never allowed to begin, due to a lack of sufficient ground forces in the north. However, with the influx of Marine reinforcements, we believe that the operation will be successful."

Fields punctuated his statement by glancing in Athena's direction and giving a single nod.

"General Fields, is there a name to this operation?" Spaatz suddenly asked.

"Ah, yes, sir: Operation: SUDDEN PURGE II."

"Well, we can only hope," Spaatz noted. "Please continue General."

"Thank you, sir. Leading the forces on the Southern Front," he continued, "will be UNSC Army Lieutenant General Mabel Valerien. General?"

Fields sat down, only to be quickly replaced by Valerien.

"Thank you, General Fields. Uh, due to recent deployments to both Draco III and Newsaka, unfortunately, there is actually only one of Fourteenth Armored Corps' assigned divisions currently present on Actium: the 53rd Armored Division, which was unfortunately stationed north of the city and cut off from Corps headquarters fairly early in the day yesterday," Valerien reported with a barely noticeable wince. "As of right now, the only UNSC Army unit actually present in at the south would be the 2/53, which for this operation has been temporarily reflagged as the '53rd Armored Brigade Combat Team.' Most of the Fourteenth Armored Corps strength will be drawn primarily from the Actium Army, most notably, the 7th Cavalry Division."

"As the 7th's primary function is COIN operations, they're not equipped for a full-frontal assault against Covenant defensive positions. As such, we will not establish our anvil on the southern edge of the city. Instead, we will implement it some twenty klicks south of the city limits. Yesterday, Army soldiers were able to retain control of the crucial town of Newington. The town has since been fortified, and will serve as the keystone to the anvil."

"Once the Marines in the north are able to drive the Covenant out of the city, they'll be trapped out in the open, where gunships from the Actium Air Force, as well as massed artillery, will be able to eliminate the survivors with ease. General Langley?"

"Are there any questions so far?" Langley asked as Valerien sat back down.

"It sounds like this operation is going to rely heavily on the Marines," Iqbal suddenly said, and Athena couldn't help but bristle at the sneering tone in his voice. "Do we really think those Jarheads are going to be able to succeed?"

"Why don't you ask them?" Langley turned to Athena. "General Miles?"

With a mute grunt, Athena climbed to her feet.

"The Marine Corps is fully prepared to do what we do best: kick alien ass and take names," Athena boldly declared. "However, our current issue is that there's not enough infrastructure to allow the deployment of the majority of 9MEF's forces; mainly, her ground combat element, the 21st MARDIV. We are in the process of bringing down one of the combat regiments from orbit, the 77th Marine Regiment, however one regiment alone is not going to provide enough striking power, so we'll be relying heavily on units already positioned in the city."

"I'm not concerned about the fighting prowess of the men and women that have been reassigned to my command; by all accounts, despite being outnumbered, outgunned, and completely caught by surprise, they were able to stave off the Covenant advance with little to no external help; a testament, perhaps, to the leadership of their command." Athena gestured in Lysander's direction.

"My main concern is, however, the implementation of command and control, as over twelve field and general-grade officers became casualties yesterday."

Athena paused as a series of murmurs immediately broke out amongst the crowd at that, and she couldn't help but sympathize. With the war, receiving reports about enlisted and junior-grade officers becoming casualties was, unfortunately, becoming par for the course. However, despite the brutality of the fighting, it was still relatively rare for field or general-grade officers to join that list. Given that the vast majority of this crowd was made up of field and general-grade officers, as well as a number of Navy flag officers, the news probably hit just a bit too close to home for some people.

"Alright, settle down people!" Spaatz snapped. "Continue your report, General Miles."

Athena shrugged. "Well, sir, there isn't much more to say. I'm in the process of transferring a number of officers from my headquarters group to act as battalion and brigade commanders, but seeing as how leading men into the field isn't something the majority of them have trained for, coordination is… well, to be blunt, it's going to be shit. But! We will be supplemented heavily by air support from the Actium Air Force. So, as long as the UNSC Air Force is able to keep the Covenant Navy off our backs, we will be able to succeed in our objective."

She couldn't help but direct that last statement in General Iqbal's direction, who merely smirked in response.

"Yes. Well, this seems like a good time to discuss what the Fleet will be doing while all this is underway," Spaatz noted. "Admiral Amarchih?"

Athena looked away from Iqbal as the man sitting nearby him climbed to his feet.

"Yes, well," Amarchih began in heavily accented English. "Ideally, the Fleet's goal is to work in close conjunction with the ground forces. The Fleet's hope is that by pressuring the Covenant on the ground, the Covenant Navy will be forced to chose between supporting their Legions – and therefore putting themselves in a less than optimal position to defend themselves – or holding their ground against our naval attack – therefore abandoning their Legions to die."

"The best-case scenario is if the Covenant try to do both – defend their landing site and hold their positions - as that would divide their forces and allow the Fleet to defeat each component in detail. However, the Fleet's projections are less than optimistic about that option; after all, the Covenant aren't stupid. They know if they were to lose all their ships, then it doesn't matter if their Legions are able to resist our attack - without a presence in orbit, their ground forces would be left cut-off and isolated."

"Therefore, realistically, the Fleet's prediction is that the Covenant will hold their position in the hopes they'll be able to withstand the Fleet's attack long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Fortunately, the Fleet has a plan to address this, and will do so – as they say – by 'taking a page from the Covenant's book.'"

"Just prior to their establishment on the surface," Amarchih continued, "The Covenant had been attempting to attrition the Fleet utilizing hit and run tactics: jumping in, focusing all their firepower on one ship in the hopes of disabling or destroying it, before immediately withdrawing. The Fleet will attempt to replicate a similar tactic by dividing the various destroyer squadrons of both the Sixth and the Nineteenth Fleets into separate 'wolf packs.' These wolf packs will prowl the edge of the Covenant's perimeter, and upon seeing a target of opportunity, will strike like lightning before withdrawing."

"Perhaps the Covenant will pursue? In that case, the Fleet's main striking force, code name 'Task Force Whiskey,' will be on standby, ready and prepared to exploit any opportunities the Covenant may inadvertently provide. If the Covenant choose not to pursue, then it is the hope of the Fleet the wolf packs will eventually attrition the Covenant to the point where the Fleet is simply able to engage the Covenant forces directly."

"The Fleet's current dilemma is that, due to technological limitations, our ships aren't able to make the same micro-jumps the Covenant are able to. To compensate, the Fleet will instead be utilizing a series of predetermined jump coordinates, as calculated by smart AI Kanin," Amarchih paused and glanced at the anthropomorphic rabbit avatar standing next to Spaatz, "as well as computing power borrowed from Actium colony dumb AI Superintendent. Unfortunately, while said calculations are being compiled, both Kanin and the colony Superintendent will be unavailable. However, it is the hope of the Fleet that with these calculations, our ships will be able to somewhat replicate the prior actions of the Covenant."

Then, without another word, Amarchih quickly sat back down.

Athena's attention was drawn back to the center of the room as Spaatz stood back up.

"As everyone should have realized by now," he began, "much of the success of this operation hinges on the ground component. Therefore, General Fields, I ask you: how soon do you estimate before your forces will be ready for launch?"

Fields glanced at Valerien, then glanced at Athena, who shrugged. Athena had already done her homework: she had already submitted all of her requirements and estimates to NORTHCOM HQ prior to arriving at this meeting and based on everything she had heard so far, nothing had really changed for her part. Ideally, she would have liked to put off the attack for at least a couple hours, if only to have the chance to deploy even more of the 21st MARDIV to the surface; however, Athena realized that may not have been possible as the longer they stalled, the longer the Covenant had to prepare their defenses. Therefore, if Fields decided to attack right this very moment, the Marines would make do, as they always did.

"Ideally, sir, I would like a safety margin of six hours in order to move more forces and supplies into position," Fields finally said. "Specifically: bring more CM units up from the south, as well deploy more Marines onto the surface. However, under the circumstances, sir, I believe three hours will have to suffice."

Spaatz nodded.

"Are all Commands in agreement?" he asked.

Athena glanced around the room for dissent. She wasn't expecting anyone to actually speak up and was thus completely caught off guard when Iqbal abruptly stood up.

"Yes, General?" Spaatz said and even though they had only just met, Athena could tell the man was suppressing a sigh. "You have an objection."

"In fact I do, Admiral," Iqbal declared as he stood up straighter. "I've been listening to this briefing, and it would appear as though our entire strategy could be summarized as such: throw enough bodies at the Covenant hope that will suffice."

Fields abruptly leaned forward, looking annoyed. "General, with all due respect, sir, I object to that serious miscategorization of everything we have just covered. The strategy we just discuss is far more complex than…"

Fields slowly trailed off as Spaatz held up his hand.

"General Iqbal, if you had issues with our current strategy, I would have much preferred you have raised them at the beginning of this meeting, rather than the end. However, as you are one of the supreme commanders of this system, I'll allow it for now," Spaatz said. "In meantime, I trust you have an alternative strategy in mind?"

"I do," Iqbal boldly declared. "Instead of relying on a bunch of half-wit ground pounders who aren't even capable of counting to ten – "

Athena automatically bristled when she realized Iqbal was staring right at her when he said that.

" – why don't we leave it to the Air Force to deal with this situation?" Iqbal finished, not a little bit smugly.

Spaatz immediately held up his hand to forestall any arguments from any of the ground commanders. "Elaborate."

"Our goal is to kill the Covenant. Keep the Navy in place to hold back the Covenant fleet, have the ground forces hold their position to prevent them from wandering into my line of fire, and give me half a day. After eighteen hours of non-stop carpet bombing, I guarantee the Air Force will have this situation under complete control by then. At a fraction of the time and human cost it would take to allow the ground forces to accomplish the same thing."

Athena couldn't help but let out a loud, derisive snort at that, however it was lost in the background as all of the ground commanders had immediately broken out in murmurs at Iqbal's bold statement.

"Quiet on deck!" Spaatz snapped, and the room quickly fell silent. Athena watched as Spaatz threw a warning glance at all the ground commanders in the room, including her, before turning his attention back to Iqbal.

"That's a rather intriguing proposal, General," he began, "in the sense that, I would rather avoid taking unnecessary casualties if possible. However, there are some noticeable flaws in your plan that become immediately apparent when considered further. For starters, experience has shown air power alone is not enough to guarantee the death and destruction of all Covenant ground forces – "

"So, send in the ground troops to sweep through the pieces after the bombs have finished falling," Iqbal loudly said, though he immediately fell silent at the stern look Spaatz gave him.

"And we cannot guarantee this because of the sheer amount of infrastructure located under the city, of which the Covenant have already infiltrated," Spaatz continued as though Iqbal hadn't said anything. "In order to clear those areas, we would need to send in ground forces anyway. However, at that point, the city would be in ruins, giving the Covenant the opportunity to dig in among the rubble in such a way that not even your bombers would be able to remove them from. At which point, the battle will stagnant, and we would be unable to secure a victory before the arrival of Covenant reinforcements, whereupon we would be trapped between two forces."

"Therefore," Spaatz concluded, "I do not agree with your assessment that saturation bombing alone will result in victory, and that it is my belief that the arsenal of the Air Force should be used in conjunction of a ground offensive. Does anyone else object?"

Spaatz pointedly stared at Iqbal until he sat back down, whereupon he turned to glance around the room. When no one else spoke up, "Very well. H-hour for Operation: SUDDEN PURGE II will be at zero six hundred hours Juliet. General Fields, whatever you and your forces need, contact FLEETCOM HQ directly and it will be provided. That is all. Dismissed."

And just like that, the meeting was over. Athena glanced around to make sure no one needed anything from her specifically, before pressing a button. Suddenly, she found herself back in her headquarters as the hologram dissipated.

"Typical Air Force," she grumbled as she climbed to her feet. "When will they learn that air power alone has never won a single war in the history of mankind?"

"It certainly is ridiculous, ma'am," Lysander agreed. "The Air Force always seems to wonder why all the other service branches are needed, and why they simply can't have the entire defense budget to themselves. Yet, the moment their airfields are threatened, they're the first to demand the Army come and save them."

"Almost like the Army, in some ways," Athena mused. "They're always trying to absorb the Marines on the justification that, 'they can do what we do! At a fraction of the cost!' Yet, talking to most Army generals, and they don't even know what – "

Athena paused, before glancing at Lysander. She had honestly forgotten she wasn't talking to one of her Marine subordinates, but one of said Army generals.

Fortunately, Lysander didn't seem to mind.

"There's certainly some truth of that, ma'am," Lysander allowed. "Some of my compatriots… well, let's just say I wonder how they obtained their commissions in the first place."

Athena grunted in agreement, however, glanced at her watch, she realized she didn't have much time to continue this course of conversation. Turning to the rest of her staff, she began barking out orders.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have three hours to prepare for this assault, which is more than we expected, so I want to start seeing some results," Athena barked. "General Lysander, interface with your artillery director as well as the Air Force and begin designating targets for a pre-assault aerial and artillery bombardment; let's take out as much of the Covenant defenses as we can before we have our Marines and Soldiers march into the meat grinder. Colonel Pasang, Colonel Savage: I want you two to work together and create for me a plan that will be able to deploy the 21st MARDIV to the surface in the most efficient and effective manner. I want at least the 77th Marine Regiment, with maybe 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 38th Marine Regiment on the surface by H-hour to at least act as the Northern Front's reserves. Sergeant Major Osterman? I want you on logistics; I want all units about to get thrown into battle equipped and armed with all the weapons and ammo they could possibly need, and then I want you to make sure there's going to be enough to sustain them for the rest of this operation, no matter how long that may be. Move up supply depots if you have to."

"Alright, let's move!"

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* Note: there are some aspects, details, and commands that didn't really get much of a mention in this story, specifically that belonging to the Air Force. I'll deal with them in another chapter; there's already too much information being provided in this chapter and any more, I'm afraid I'll be losing people (if I haven't already yet.)

- MCIA: this stands for Marine Corps Intelligence Activity. As the name implies, it's basically the Marine Corps equivalent of ONI

- UNSC Stanisław Skalski: this ship is named after Polish Air Force commander General Brygady (Brigadier General) Stanisław Skalski who, during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, shot down five German planes, making him the first Allied fighter ace. After the fall of Poland, then Pilot Officer Skalski would flee to Romania and from there, eventually make his way to Britain where he would join the Royal Air Force. During the course of the war, he could claim at least thirteen more kills, making him Poland's highest-scoring ace of WW2.

After the war, he would return to Poland and rejoin the Polish Air Force, eventually achieving the rank of General Brygady (or Brigadier General in English.) He died on 12 November 2004, at the age of 88.

(The name of this ship was used in an earlier draft of MIA; however, I ended up changing it after I rethought how I wanted the naming convention of Air Forces to go.)

- Units: As with the 53rd Armored Division, the 9th Marine Expeditionary Force, the 21st Marine Division, and the 77th Marine Regiment are all canon units. Everything else is not.

- Company, Field and General-grade officers: in the US military, officers are divided into three groups: Company-grade, field-grade, and general-grade.

Company-grade officers are your basic officers: 2nd lieutenants, 1st lieutenants, and captains. These are usually the guys you see in the movies leading troops into combat.

Field-grade officers are your majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels. At this level, outside of special operations and pilots, most of these officers are going to be sitting behind a desk as it's no longer their job to fight and see combat. In fact, if lieutenant colonels (majors are on the edge) are seeing combat, then you know something has gone terribly wrong.

Finally, general-grade officers are, as the name implies, your generals: brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals, and generals.

(The Coast Guard and the Navy, on the other hand, use slightly different terms for their officers. They are, as follows

Junior Officer (ensign, lieutenant, junior grade, and lieutenant)

Field-Grade Officer (lieutenant commander, commander, and captain)

Flag Officer (rear admiral (lower half), rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral)

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Organization

I realize there have been a lot of names and units thrown out in this chapter, which can be confusing, so here's a small chart. (Note, these are only units that have been mentioned in the chapter; there are a lot more elements involved but it's confusing enough already)

Chain of Command (Top to bottom)

FLEETCOM Sector 12 (Ambracia System) – Admiral Lukas Spaatz

Actium Unified Ground Command – General Jason Langley

Actium Northern Command (NORTHCOM) – General Robert Fields

Subordinate Units

FLEETCOM Sector 12

UNSC Navy Sixth Fleet (6th FLT) – Admiral Azouz Amarchih

UNSC Navy Nineteenth Fleet (19th FLT) (elements) (Amber's parent fleet)

UNSC Air Force Fifty-Second Tactical Air Force (52nd TAF) – General Tevita Iqbal

NORTHCOM

No 112 Air Division (112 AirDiv) (Zelda's parent unit)

Northern Front

Southern Front

Northern Front (9th Marine Expeditionary Force) – Lieutenant General Athena Miles

UNSC Marine Corps

Northern Front Headquarters Group – Colonel Evan Savage

21st Marine Division (21st MARDIV) (not on the surface yet)

38th Marine Regiment (38thMAR RGT)(not on the surface yet)

77th Marine Regiment (77thMAR RGT)(not on the surface yet)

88th Marine Expeditionary Unit (88th MEU) (Adel's unit) – Colonel Qasim Ghaani

103rd Marine Expeditionary Unit (103rd MEU) (not in the system yet)

12th Marine Aircraft Group* (not on the surface yet)

* something to note: in the USMC, this would actually be called a "wing," however for this story, I've decided to flip the structure a bit to make it more like the RAF system, so a "group" is now bigger than a "wing" (so it would go squadron – wing – group.) More on that in a later chapter.

UNSC Army

53rd Armored Division (53rd AD) – Brigadier General Janus Lysander

222nd Airborne Division (222nd ABN) (Moss' unit - see Missing in Action)

Thracian Army

506th Intelligence Brigade (506th MIB) – Colonel Gregor Paxton

Southern Front (XIV [Fourteenth] Armored Corps) – Lieutenant General Mabel Valerien

UNSC Army

53rd Armored Brigade Combat Team (53rd ABCT) (Tariq's unit)

Actium Army

7th Cavalry Division (7th CAV)

197th Sustainment Brigade (197th SB) (Marcus' parent unit – not mentioned in this chapter but in chapter 1, and only thrown in for completeness)

Other notes

A "Marine Expeditionary Force" is roughly equivalent in size and structure with an army corps, though with more aircraft integrated at a lower level; numbers are about the same: roughly 14,000

A "Marine Expeditionary Unit" is roughly equivalent to an army "brigade combat team" in terms of maneuverability and unit integration, though it's only about half the size in terms of personnel (2,200 vs. about 4,000.) Though, obviously, with integrated weapon systems (more aircraft in a MEU versus a BCT which has more… well, everything else,) output and strategic effectiveness is about the same.

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UNSC Special Operations Command (Otter verse, obviously)

UNSC Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)

- Army Special Air Service (SAS)** (role: Counter-insurgency and special reconnaissance)

= (later) Army Spartan Teams (like Noble Team)

- Marine Corps Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) (role: Elite light infantry; basically, the UNSC equivalent to the US Army Rangers*)

- Navy Special Warfare Group (SWAG or also colloquially known as SEALs***) (role: HVT raids and unconventional warfare)

= (later) Navy Spartan Teams (like Blue Team)

- Air Force Air Parachute Commandos**** (role: Air traffic control and special operations weather technicians)

UNSC Special Operations Command (SOCOM)

- Army Special Forces aka "Green Berets (role: Foreign Internal Defense and Security force assistance)

- Marine Corps ODSTs (kind of like how the USMC Force Recon has a "green" and a "black" operations, with "green operations" focusing more on general light infantry action while "black operations" focus more on direct action and unconventional warfare) (I imagine ODST fireteam "Alpha-Nine" from Halo 3: ODST would be a "black operations" unit)

- Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) (Direct action)

- Air Force Rescue Squadrons (Pararescuemen aka PJs)

* I imagine the UNSC Army would have some ranger regiments, but unlike their US Army counters, their role in SOCOM would be taken by the ODSTs. Instead, UNSC Army Rangers would be "special operations capable" units that act as shock troops for the Army only, similar to how the USMC Force Reconnaissance battalions work in modern times, or how the US Army Rangers operated during the Vietnam War.

** I'm choosing to go with the name "SAS" as opposed to say, "Delta Force" because of several reasons

1. SAS is more historic, being founded in 1941 vs. 1977, thus making it arguable the first modern special operations unit.

2. The SAS is and was the inspiration for many similar units, including the US Army's Delta Force itself. This is evident by the number of units in modern times that either go by or use the nickname the name "SAS," or adopt a similar motto (Who Dares Win.) The list includes:

- (obviously) the British Special Air Service (SAS)

- Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR)

- New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS)

- Zimbabwe Special Air Service

- Rhodesian Special Air Service (until Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980)

- French Army 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (commonly referred to as the "French SAS" because the unit is descended from the Free French Army's 3rd and 4th SAS of WW2 and currently uses the same motto)

- Belgian Army Special Operations Regiment (descended from Belgian's 5th SAS of WW2, currently utilize the same cap badge and formerly, at least one unit (1st Parachute Battalion, disbanded in 2011) used the same motto)

- Hellenic Army 1st Raider/Paratrooper Brigade (currently uses the same motto)

- Israel's Sayeret Matkal (modelled after and uses the same motto)

- US Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (modelled after)

3. (In my opinion) the SAS is better known, though admittedly, this has probably changed within the last few decades.

*** The name "Navy Special Warfare Group" is kind of a blend between the South Korean and Philippine Navies' special forces units ("Navy Special Warfare Flotilla" and "Naval Special Operations Group," respectively.) Originally, I was going to just call them "SEALs" after the US Navy SEALs just because I imagine most people would be familiar with who and what they were, therefore saving me from having to explain, but then I changed my mind as I decided I rather liked having a more "generic" name for the group.

That being said, as both groups were heavily influenced by the US Navy and are in fact, sometimes unofficially known as "South Korean SEALs/Philippine SEALs," I figured the same would apply here. Therefore, the official name of the group is "Navy Special Warfare Group" or "SWAG" for short, but they would be better known by their nickname of "SEALs." (So, in other words, I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too.)

**** The name "Air Parachute Commandos" is the English name for the French Air Force commando group, the "Commandos parachutists de l'air." Why'd I choose to use this name as opposed to anything else? Well, I try to have influences from other national militaries simply because making the UNSC a "United States Military clone" can get boring after a while plus, personally I just think the name is a bit cooler and more indicative than the USAF equivalent of "Special Tactics Squadrons." Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing them in the least bit, just "special tactics" always makes me think of police SWAT teams, and not military.