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An Old Storage Building West of Corbulo Academy, Mid-Evening
Joy-Zero-Seven-Zero's POV
"How was your first day of teaching?" she asked upon seeing Alex enter the building.
"Interesting," Alex replied as he took off his ODST helmet. "Status?"
"Daisy and I have finished setting up our base of operations," she replied, looking around to the assembled hardware that they'd been given. "We're tapped into the security grid of the Academy. If anything sets foot within range of the grid we'll know about it."
"Don't be so sure. We still don't know the limits of Covenant science or how good their soldiers are," Alex said, reminding her of the advantage the enemy had over them. "For all we know they have some way to make themselves invisible to the security grid."
As much as she wanted to call that possibility paranoid, she could not.
Far too little time had passed since the people of Harvest had first encountered the Covenant for ONI or UNSC scientists to be able to discern much about what was possible for them. This was because there were so few witnesses and far too little scientific information upon which to formulate anything but conjecture. Still, they were faced with a very real threat to humanity and so they acted as best they could to counter it.
"What about Daisy?" Alex asked as he joined her before the portable computer setup.
"Still scouting the surrounding woods," she replied, recalling Alex's orders regarding SPARTAN-Zero-Two-Three. "Since it's daytime she's had to exercise extra caution in order to not be seen."
"I take it that since you didn't interrupt any of my classes there's been no sign of Covenant presence so far?" Alex asked as he began to familiarize himself with the degree of coverage the Academy's security grid provided.
"None. Either they're active somewhere else on the planet or they haven't arrived yet," she replied, recalling the few times Daisy had checked in with nothing to report.
"Or they might not even be coming," he said as he continued to work. "While this is a possible target, we have nothing to confirm it. We have our orders though. Until they decide to pull us off this assignment we will give it our all."
"That goes without saying," she said, remembering how the Chief had trained them to always do their best.
It was another ten minutes before Alex finished his familiarization with the coverage of the Academy's security grid but she knew that his work wasn't done yet. Her friend soon got up and moved over to the holo-table where, with a few tapped commands, he brought up a map of the Academy and everything within twenty miles of it.
"What're you doing?" she asked even though in her head she had a few theories.
"If the Covenant attack and their goal is to kill as many humans as possible, then one of the first things they'll do is cut off any means of escape." He highlighted certain points on the map before moving onto others. "That means the spaceports and the space elevator of the Academy. If the past encounters between UNSC ships and Covenant ships is any indicator, unless we have at least a five to one advantage over them conventional evacuation will be impossible. The space elevator is a stationary target that they can destroy with a single shot. The transports at the spaceport have the capacity to carry a lot of people but not the speed or maneuverability needed. We need a third option."
While she did concede that both obvious means of getting the planet's population to safety would be primary targets of any population attack, she wasn't sure they were so faulty that a third option would be needed. If the Covenant ships appeared far enough from the planet, there might be time to get at least a few shiploads of people off world. The rest could be sent up to the space station that the elevator was connected to, where there'd be shuttles as well as civilian ships that could be used to at least buy time for UNSC reinforcements to arrive. At the moment only UNSC Hannibal was in orbit but, according to their mission package, there were three other ships within one hour of the planet by slipspace jump. Another two could feasible arrive in three if needed but she had her doubts as to whether or not a ship-to-ship battle would last long enough for that.
"What do you have in mind?" she asked, deciding that so long as it didn't interfere with his duties, Alex could do what he liked.
"We need a location that will allow us to compensate for the enemy numbers, have durable shelter close by and a clearing large enough for a Pelican to land," he replied as he continued to survey potential locations. "The first will allow for small numbers to hold them at bay by forcing them through a bottleneck. The second will be a place for the civilians to hide from air assault and, if we're lucky, it'll be deep enough to keep them safe from ship bombardment. The third will be our linchpin since Pelicans are fast and maneuverable enough to make it into orbit."
"There are almost twenty-five hundred people at the academy. A Pelican at most can hold fifteen, assuming that every seat is filled and five more are standing," she said, doing the mental math in her head. "That would mean at least a hundred and sixty-two Pelicans to get everyone out at once or that many trips by a single Pelican. It'd take too long."
"Not if the UNSC Aegis Fate drops from orbit and hovers close enough to the ground to take on passengers," Alex said, bringing up a summary of the ship on the holo-table. "It's one of the ships that could make it here in an hour. This class of ship isn't usually brought into atmosphere but the design specifications imply it's possible."
That would do the trick.
Assuming that the area usually assigned to Warthogs and Scorpion battle tank was emptied entirely and every single space available was crammed with people, they could load quite a few people in.
Not everyone, of course, and definitely not the totality of the Academy's residents, but a great deal.
Even if they eliminated the Academy faculty and focused on the students, they'd still require at least two ships to get them out, with each one filled to absolute capacity.
"I'll contact Colonel Abernathy and request that at least two Charon-class frigates be less than an hour away from Circinius IV. If we're lucky it'll be two more on top of the Aegis Fate, allowing us to get pretty much everyone out," she said as she began to mentally fabricate the request in just the right way.
"Don't. Contact Doctor Halsey or Chief Mendez on Reach," Alex said, not looking away from the holo-table. "Colonel Abernathy's animosity towards our team makes it less likely that he'll even consider the request, much less send it up the chain of command. With Doctor Halsey or Chief Mendez it'll be taken seriously and with a little luck we'll get the ships we ask for."
"It'll also get us even more animosity from Colonel Abernathy as well as trouble for ignoring the chain of command," she pointed out, knowing that on missions they were to answer to the officer who briefed them and failing that General Black since he was the head of the Academy.
Reaching out to the two people every SPARTAN-II trusted instead was NOT proper protocol.
"If Circinius IV is the Covenant's next target then we'll let the number of people we save explain our actions." Alex said as he spent a greater amount of time than before on the latest location. "If they don't then there's a good chance no harm will have been done and all we'll get is a slap on the wrist."
"It's a bit of a gamble," she said even if she agreed with the two possible outcomes.
"Risk is our business. It's what soldiers deal with on every assignment," Alex said as he expanded the area that'd caught his interest. "We take the risk so others don't have to. If this risk leads to more lives saved than lost, then it's worth taking. If it doesn't and no harm's done then it's not worth wasting time on punishment for."
Ignoring the rules to do the right thing. Typical Alex.
"Found your fallback point?" she asked as her team leader brought up increasing amounts of information on his special location.
"Possibly. Most planets selected for colonization aren't perfect right off away. Terraforming is needed and tapping into any local resources helps lower the cost of construction afterwards," Alex replied as his eyes took in everything. "Than means mines, quarries and sections of local vegetation cleared. Like this one."
A color photo holographically display appeared in the air for her to look at.
"A little over ten miles from the Academy," Alex said, pointing at the map next to the photo. "It's bit of a run but if they're maintaining military fitness standards, the cadets and the faculty should be able to make it."
"You're planning on having them run there? No transport?" she asked, feeling her friend was making it harder than it had to be.
"The Academy doesn't have a lot of Warthogs on base and bringing more in would raise too much attention among the student body and those faculty members without the necessary clearance," he explained while working. "I've requested that General Black find a suitable site for urban warfare war games for my classes but even that won't allow for more than a bus or two. If the Covenant attack, we'll likely have little if any warning and certainly not enough time to get enough ground transport from the closest city. That leaves running."
He had a point.
Outside of certain people at the Academy, no one else knew that they were a possible Covenant target and that's the way the UNSC wanted to keep it. In fact, everything about the Covenant was nonexistent to those outside of a very high level of authorization and, since Harvest was the only planet attacked thus far, news about them could be contained. The UNSC and the UEG didn't want to risk chaos breaking out by letting the existence of the Covenant become public knowledge, so doing anything suspicious like making evacuation preparations or getting additional security wasn't an option. The only way that additional transports would be relocated to the Academy would be if those in charge realized there was no point in maintaining the secret any longer.
That'd likely be when the Covenant ships showed up in the system with a clear course set for the planet.
"I'll have Daisy scout the route and see if she can plant some surprises for uninvited guests," she said, absorbing the topographical information of the area into her mind. "They'll probably need to be tied to radio detonators rather than pressure sensors or trip wires. Less chance of being set off accidentally by locals."
"Leave the ones furthest from the Academy on pressure sensors," Alex said, reading through the information being displayed. "I'll ask General Black to declare that area off limits. If the Covenant have any sort of signal jamming devices, they'll block the detonator signal."
She'd think about it.
Alex's reasoning was a little paranoid but it also containing some logic.
Two qualities found in most good soldiers.
Corbulo Academy Courtyard, Two Days Later
Alex Zero-Six-Nine's POV
"Something caught your eye, Lieutenant?" Colonel Mehaffey asked, noticing him looking at something.
That something was a squad of cadets that he remembered teaching marching across the courtyard, singing the usual marching songs. This was nothing new since it was a common enough practice at military academies both for fitness as well as for punishment. However, from what he could see, Cadet Lasky lagging behind the rest of the squad in a way that implied his body was having trouble keeping pace with the others. Some might mistake it as fatigue but he'd seen enough of that during training on Reach prior to their enhancements to know that wasn't the case. Reaching out with his empathic abilities, he could feel that it was something else as well but he was no doctor and emotions could only tell you so much.
What Cadet Lasky's emotions were telling him was that the young man was feeling a mix of resignation on top of the sharp edge of defiance that he'd seen spark up during class sometimes.
He hadn't really given the young man much thought since this was a temporary assignment and it was unlikely that he'd see the future soldier ever again.
Now, though, he felt mild concern.
"That squad there: who are they?" he asked, nodding towards the squad.
"That is Hastati Squad led by Officer Cadet Orenski. They're something of a problem squad," Colonel Mehaffey replied, sounding and feeling disappointed. "They're a fresh batch of recruits led by one senior cadet."
"What's the problem?" he asked, mildly curious.
"Well, Vickers is a hothead who prefers to take the direct approach to most problems. Chen is from Earth so he doesn't have a lot of ways to connect to his fellow squad members. Sullivan has a hobby of hacking into classified files he thinks we don't know about. Tchakova's mother is ONI and expects her daughter to do the same," she explained, sounding like she knew the issues by heart. "And then there's Cadet Lasky. His brother was a former graduate and managed to get into the ODST. He was aboard a Pelican that was shot down by Insurrectionists on Andesia. His mother is Colonel Lasky, who apparently isn't the most caring mother."
"I take it by how you said Lasky's name that he's the main problem on Hastati Squad?" he asked, filing the information provided for later use.
"All cadets when they first get here have a rough time getting used to the sort of discipline we instill here but they get used to it. As they learn their skills they get sharper and their bodies more able to handle the strain of combat," she replied as the topic of discussion disappeared from sight. "Lasky was like that, too, in the beginning and, while his estranged relationship with his mother might've been a sore point, it didn't affect his studies all that much. Since his brother died, though, he's become moody and defiant. I think he blames the UNSC for his brother's death."
"He thinks the UNSC should've tried harder to make peace with the outer colonies before the Insurrection began?" he said as the cadet's comments in class now made sense.
"And because the negotiators didn't try hard enough, the Insurrection broke out, leading to the death of his brother," she said, sounding pleased that he'd caught on so quickly. "Since then he's made repeated efforts to find nonviolent methods of resolving situations during combat exercises and disregards orders that don't give those methods a chance. As a result Hastati Squad has the lowest combat scores in the Academy. He's also making enemies with his opinions, both in his own squad as well as with the rest of the cadets. I know he can be a good soldier and so do a lot of the other teachers but he doesn't. He thinks the only reason he's here is because his mother's not giving him a choice."
He was no stranger to some of those issues, training to be a SPARTAN had exposed him to all of them, so he couldn't hold it against the cadet for feeling the way he did. However he could hold it against the Academy cadet that he was causing trouble for others with his actions. Throughout Chief Mendez's training he'd learned how all it took was one person to lead an entire group to disaster, and if Cadet Lasky took his problems with him when he left the Academy, people would die.
"I'll talk to him about it," he said, deciding that he'd find the cadet once classes let out for the evening.
"I hope you have better luck than me. I've been trying to reason with him all year to no avail," she said, sounding like she'd owe him one if he succeeded. "Now you said you had some security concerns?"
"Yes, Ma'am. While I understand that this location does not warrant security past a certain level, I believe that steps should be taken to make the Academy siege ready," he replied, knowing he'd have to word things carefully. "As you know this school is currently occupied by the children of several important UNSC and ONI officers, any one of whom could be used as leverage by the Insurrectionists. While current security measures might be enough to deal with their civilian members, I'm sure you're aware that UNSC members have defected to their side in the past. A properly trained team of them could render the defenses here useless."
"What do you propose?" she asked, sounding neither for nor against increased security.
"Portable armored barricades set up at choke points around the main buildings capable of being activated by both faculty and students. M41's placed on all four corners of each rooftop," he replied, pointing out the locations as he spoke of them.
"Aren't you going a little overboard?" she asked, sounding a little incredulous. "If the Insurrectionists were planning anything that'd need M41's and armored barricades to stop them, the Academy would already be shut down and the cadets sent home. Even if we didn't shut down, we don't have the manpower to effectively hold this location against a threat that serious."
Point.
He'd hoped that the faculty member would just evaluate his requests based more on the feasibility of acquiring and installing what he'd asked for rather than the probability of being needed. From the standpoint of current credible threats to the Academy and its residents, the upgrades to local security that he'd suggested weren't justifiable. They could also fall into the same category as Joy's suggestion about acquiring more transport vehicles for the trip to his fallback position. If his additions were greenlit by General Black, the students and the uninformed faculty members would know something was off and begin asking questions.
"Perhaps then just the M41's mounted on collapsible tripods and concealed within equipment crates until needed on the rooftops?" he asked, hoping to at least get her support for that upgrade. "It's the one thing any Insurrectionist infiltration team wouldn't be expecting and it might be enough to get them to surrender quicker."
"I'll take the matter up with General Black but, unless you can provide compelling evidence, I doubt he'll approve the changes," she said before looking at her watch. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach."
"Of course," he said with an acknowledging nod.
Seeing the woman walk away, he chastised himself for potentially creating suspicion where there hadn't been any before. He'd spoken with Daisy about her scouting missions of the immediate area and he hadn't been happy with the possible scenarios that came to mind. Putting aside the possibilities where the Covenant settled for orbital bombardment or other forms of death from above, the Academy was not set up to provide satisfactory defensive points. If the enemy landed troops so that they could eliminate humanity in a more personal manner, the materials used in the buildings and the layout of the campus would make defending the central campus area difficult. He'd already seen the video feed attached to John's report about the events surrounding Sam's death, so he knew Covenant weaponry could melt through Mjolnir armor.
That meant that the body armor worn by security forces already stationed at the Academy and even the ODST armor he was wearing at the moment wouldn't fare any better. The stone and concrete walls about the campus might be enough to take two or three direct hits in the same spot but eventually they'd burn through to the people on the other side. Glass would be nothing. Civilian metals would be nothing. The gaps between the buildings and the lines of sight that existed would make anyone defending this place an easy target.
As a result of his findings he'd wanted to make it easier to hold back the Covenant ground forces in order to give the cadets and faculty more time to escape.
Sadly there was a limit to what could be done so long as the existence of the genocidal aliens remained limited to General Black and his team.
How can I do better? How can I improve our odds? he asked himself as he began to make his own way towards his class involving urban warfare.
The only answer he could come up with was to make his little training sessions in the urban area General Black had managed to find for him something that happened every three to four days. If he could increase the skill and strategic thinking of the cadets even by a little, it'd increase the odds of them being able to defend themselves should the Covenant attack.
He'd have to be hard on them to get the desired results but, if his brothers and sisters could do it before their enhancements, then he was sure the cadets would manage.
They'd have to.
The Woods Surrounding Corbulo Academy
Late Evening
Daisy Zero-Two-Three's POV
"So what do you think?" Alex asked, lightly gesturing with the barrel of his MA37 assault rifle.
Looking at the area, she immediately noticed the stone rock face that extended fifty feet up and formed a semi-circle around the area they were in. There were hand and footholds scattered about it, meaning that it was not impossible to climb up but it would require someone with experience to do quickly. There were a few scattered outcroppings of stone but less than half of them were tall enough to be called adequate cover even for the average UNSC soldier. To the right side of the rock face there was a mining tunnel that, according to Alex's information, extended a full three miles down and had apparently been used to harvest titanium ore. While it'd been almost completely stripped bare, records indicated that there were still trace patches of it throughout the tunnel. The clearing itself was fairly large but she wasn't sure if it'd be clear enough for what Alex had in mind. A Charon-class frigate, while not the largest UNSC vessel, it was still pretty big.
As for the bottleneck entrance to the area leading to the rock face… she had concerns about its strategic effectiveness with regards to what might happen.
"What happens if the Covenant climb up on the sides and get behind us?" she asked, pointing to where the rock face dropped close enough to the ground that most humanoids could get onto it.
"They won't," Alex replied, not sounding concerned. "As soon as we get here I plan to have snipers and spotters at the top of the rock face. Their job will be to keep enemy forces from taking the high ground while eliminating enemy commanders once identified. Joy will be one of them."
That pacified her somewhat since Joy was one of the best snipers of the SPARTAN-II program. If Joy was up there the enemy would need to flood the low areas with troops in the hopes that one of them would succeed.
Looking at the top of the rock face, she looked to see what cover, if any, would be available for the snipers since retaliatory fire was inevitable once their positions were identified. She didn't like it since, from what she could see, even if the snipers were prone there wasn't anything substantial to hide behind or make incoming fire less likely to find its mark.
"The snipers will need more cover," she said, pointing out the flaw. "Any shooter with skill would be able to hit them."
"Don't worry, I have that covered," Alex said, sounding like he had something in mind.
She almost asked what but stopped herself, deciding she'd rather not know in case it backfired on him later.
"It's not ideal but it's also not meant to be permanent," Joyce said, submitting her opinion of the location. "It only has to last until we've gotten as many people off planet as we can."
She agreed with the SRS99 wielding SPARTAN on that point.
She'd already surveyed the entire area surrounding the Academy, both to familiarize herself with the area as well as to find locations suitable for various strategies and tactics. One of the first things that she determined conclusively once she was finished was that there was little if anything that could stand up to more than one hit from the plasma weapons of the Covenant. From what Alex had told her, the Academy grounds weren't much better off but, provided enough advance warning was given, it might hold for a little while.
All in all there was no way that the Academy could be repurposed into a fortress without the requisition of significant resources and sufficient time.
General Black, while not being the obstruction she was concerned he'd be, had only grudgingly agreed to the placement of M41s on the rooftops of the main Academy buildings. Two crates of ammunition would be allocated to each gun, providing each location with sufficient rounds to put a sizeable dent in advancing enemy forces. However the man had also made it clear that if the Covenant did attack, his first priority would be to evacuate as many people up the Tether as possible. Alex remained silent on the matter despite having spoken to both her as well as Joy about the likelihood of the Tether being a prime Covenant initial target. She could only guess that he'd decided not to press his luck with the head of the Academy by proposing his fallback plan and that meant this venture tonight was to improve his proposal for later delivery.
She was about to say more when a chirp through the com-gear in their helmets, indicating that there was an incoming transmission.
"Rogue Team this is General Black. Please respond," General Black said, causing everyone to drop the fallblack plan for now.
"Sierra-Zero-Six-Nine here, sir," Alex responded, bringing his MA37 up into a ready position. "Go ahead."
"The planetary sensor net just picked up a blip entering the atmosphere five clicks northwest of your position. Current sensor data does not support that it is natural phenomena," General Black said with full command authority. "Given the reason your team was assigned here, I am ordering you to the estimated point of impact to investigate. If you find conclusive evidence that it is Covenant in origin you are to notify me immediately and then eliminate all hostiles in the area. Is that understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Alex replied just like they'd been drilled to respond by the Chief. "Rogue team is on the move."
"Good. Sending the impact coordinates to your HUDs," Black said before a waypoint popped up on the helmet HUD's navigation display. "Good hunting."
"You heard the man, team," Alex said, looking at Joy then at her. "Let's move."
With that the three of them broke into a steady running, making for the impact coordinates as swiftly as they could without wasting needless energy. If the object was just a Covenant probe then Alex would likely have them destroy it or order Joy to hack its systems to disable it so it could be transferred to ONI for analysis. However if it turned out to be a Covenant scouting force, termination of all members was of course mandatory since to let them live for too long could result in intel being sent back to their leaders.
If evidence was discovered to suggest that a transmission of some sort had already been sent before they got within weapons range, all hostiles would still be eliminated but they would also notify General Black immediately.
The sooner the man could get the evacuation underway the better because fighting the Covenant was not a wise strategic choice.
Following standard combat travel protocol, she kept her M45 Tactical Shotgun pointed down and away from her team but made sure that she could have it up in a second. With all the team training sessions she'd been in with Alex and Joy they'd all pretty much settled into the combat roles that suited them best. Alex took the lead, giving orders and making sure that the enemy focused their attention on him so the rest of them could position themselves properly. Joy hung back, taking out high value targets while being the metaphorical eyes in the back of their heads when a hostile tried to take them from the rear.
As for her she was meant to break up any attempts at a coordinated counterattack while moving in and out of cover quickly enough to be very difficult to hit. Her weapon meant that she would have to get close in order for it to be effective but, according to her knowledge of the area and the coordinates of the impact point, cover should be readily available.
How well the cover would stand up to Covenant fire was unknown for the time being.
With the enhanced speed of a SPARTAN-II they managed to get close enough for the Mjolnir sensors to touch the impact coordinates and immediately red contacts popped up. Alex raised his hand, signaling for them to stop moving before silently ordering Joy to head for the best elevated location close by. Next he told her with hand signals that he would move to the right of the impact zone while she would move to the left. Flicking the coms switch inside her helmet to signify that she understood her orders and would obey, she did just that.
Without further delay Rogue Team divided to move to their selected locations before waiting for the signal to attack.
What would that signal be?
Alex opening fire and taking out whichever hostile looked to be most important of the entire group.
Joyce Zero-Seven-Zero's POV
Placing herself into a steady and proper prostrated position for a sniper, she looked at the red contact blips representing enemy soldiers, burning their movement speed and paths into her memory. Closing her eyes, imagining the likely layout of the impact area starting with the depth of the crater and then moving on to the damage caused by the impact, before finally how the enemy would likely be moving. Using all the information that had been provided on the Covenant she tried to pair what had been in John's enemy analysis report with the movement of the red contact blips. Once she believed that she had an accurate image in her mind of the target area she opened her eyes and looking through the scope of her SRS99.
Immediately she spotted several distinctly nonhuman forms but most of them were out of focus so she quickly doped her scope to bring them into focus.
It didn't take long and, once her hand was back in proper firing position, she evaluated what she saw so she'd know who Alex would attack and where her first shot should go.
The first one to catch her attention was a tall alien with a split jaw wearing an ornate helmet with incorporated blue lights matching the ones on its shoulder pauldrons. It also had armor on its torso and fragmented armor on its limbs with minimal gaps in between. She didn't think that she'd have any trouble putting a round in those gaps and the mouth was completely uncovered from what she could see.
However she didn't let that go to her head.
If Covenant ships had energy shields, it was feasible that their troops likewise had a form of energy shielding to compliment the protection their metal armor provided. Should that be the case, she'd need to find out quickly how many shots it'd take to bring down those shields so she could eliminate the target.
Moving her rifle ever so slightly she inspected the other hostiles.
There were two bird-like aliens, one on either side of the one with the split jaw, with armor covering only their torsos and legs, leaving everything else exposed. One was armed with what looked to be some sort of pistol or submachine gun but it had several pink crystals sticking up out of its top casing. Their movements suggested excitability or hyper awareness, meaning that they would be the quickest to lay down fire on her position after her second shot.
The last three members of the enemy party were apparently the runts of the bunch, being only four feet tall and wearing some sort of tank on their backs connected to masks that covered their faces. The weapons they wielded looked to be a pistol as well but of a different type than the one wielded by the bird-like alien since there were no pink crystals peeking out of the top.
All in all she felt pretty safe in classifying this group as a scouting party since they seemed to be a little too lightly armed for direct combat. If the weapons of the small ones and the bird-like ones were anything like UNSC weapons, they were pistols or small submachine guns at most. Not the sort of thing you brought when you planned on taking on a large number of enemies or prolonged confrontations.
If this was indeed the case then they needed to take them down before they could report back to their superiors that humans were present on the planet they'd landed on. It was still unknown how big or how small a human presence needed to be before the Covenant would dispatch ships to begin the extermination. If they did the job of proper scouts then they'd wait until they'd at least scouted a thirty klik radius before transmitting a report to their superiors. That meant that if they could kill this enemy group swiftly enough, they could at least buy some time before their comrades felt assets should be deployed to investigate the 'disappearance' of their scouts.
Time that could be used to evacuate civilians and perhaps prepare a 'warm welcome' for the Covenant forces that came looking.
Adjusting her aim so that the first shot she fired would be through the head of the first bird-like alien, she chambered a round and waited.
BBRRRRPP! BBRRPP! BBBRRRRRPP!
As soon as the bursts of automatic fire from Alex's rifle shattered the silence of the wild she took a deep breath, held it and then fired her first shot. The hundred and fourteen millimeter round crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, blowing a hole in the head of the hostile and causing it to drop to the ground. She waited only long enough to confirm the hit before moving to her victim's friend but, just as she fired, an energy shield popped into existence, blocking the round. There was a shift in color of the energy shield and she took this to mean that it had lost some of its strength, so she sent another round at it, successfully seeing it disappear and exposing the last of the bird aliens. To the creature's credit it did get a chance to return fire with its weapon but its shots were random and just in her general direction.
One shot later and the last bird-like alien was dead, allowing her to shift her gaze to the smaller ones but, from what she saw, she needn't have been concerned.
CHOOM!
CHOOM!
CHOOM!
Daisy was using her shotgun to good effect striking down the small ones one after another while using the surrounding area effectively for cover between shots. From what she could see the weapons the little ones were armed with were capable of damaging the trees and the rocks Daisy took cover behind but they were not able to pierce through them in one go. So long as her sister SPARTAN kept this in mind and didn't linger, the tiny terrors wouldn't last very much longer.
Alex, on the other hand, seemed to be facing a real challenge.
With some sort of energy blade the helmeted alien was countering Rogue team's leader step-for-step and, while some assault rifle shots were getting through, they were bouncing off a personal energy shield, confirming one of Doctor Halsey's theories.
Deciding where her aid was best served she adjusted her position so she could focus on the largest alien as well as the area around it in anticipation of its movements. Chambering a fresh round she followed her new target's movements with her crosshairs to get a feel for them as well as to learn when her best chance to fire would be. Once she had the tempo of its movements down she waited until it paused in its efforts to use its energy blade to block a burst of fire from Alex's assault rifle and sent a shot of her own aimed at its head. The round hit its mark but the energy shield did not go down as she'd hoped, but rather flared violently before once more vanishing from sight as it had with Alex's shots. Not waiting for it to decide to run or duck behind cover she chambered another range and sent it at her target, this time aiming for where she figured its spine would be.
This time the shield definitely failed, leaving only armor to keep the alien safe and, according to John's report, their ammunition was quite capable of piercing it.
Normally this was a sort of situation one would expect the large alien to make a run for it until it could affect repairs to its shields or until the combat topography was more in its favor. To her surprise, though, it actually increased the zealousness of its attacks, looking as though it was determined to take as many of Rogue team as it could with it before it died. Keeping her composure despite this disturbing development she tried to reacquire the target but its movements were savage, instinctual, and aggressive, drastically increasing the risk of friendly fire landing on Alex. Her rounds were armor piercing high velocity types that'd been sent to make sure she could pierce the enemy's armor, but if it went through too well it could come out the other side and hit Alex.
She could tell that her friend was trying to put some distance between himself and the alien to allow her to take it out but whether the hostile realized his intent or was simply that determined to kill him she did not know. It was then, though, that Alex showed a side of himself that she didn't like when, instead of retreating or trying to go around the alien, he instead charged right at it, assault rifle blazing. The alien brought up its energy weapon to block the rounds that would've hit vital areas, however that was what Alex had been counting on from the beginning. With a leap so high it was only possible for someone with Mjolnir armor and SPARTAN-II enhancements, the team leader of Rogue team soared over his opponent at speed, remaining well out of effective weapon's reach at all times. His efforts did not end when he touched down but rather continued as he immediately went into a roll upon landing, putting even more distance between him and the alien.
Thanks, Alex, she thought as she lined up a center torso shot even as the alien began to turn around to resume its onslaught against Rogue leader.
BOOM!
With one shot a hole was made in the alien's armor and, judging by the blood spray in back, the round had gone right through. This brought the alien down to one knee and there were definite indications that she'd damaged something vital internally, but it was still living and still looking like it wanted to fight. Was this alien some sort of berserker or, as the sole message they'd received from the Covenant implied, some sort of religious zealot? She certainly hoped that there weren't many of them in the enemy army otherwise they were in for in for an even tougher fight than she'd originally theorized.
Even from how far away she was she could hear as the alien said something in its native language and, judging from the passion in each word, it was still full of spirit.
Fortunately Alex and Daisy knew how to take care of that.
A coordinated attack with both shotgun and assault rifle quickly finished off the last of the aliens, apparently leaving them free and clear.
She used the word 'apparently' because there was currently no clearly defined edge to Covenant technology or detailed information on the composition of their scouting teams. For all she knew there could still be one or two hostiles in the area with both of them invisible or under some sort of holographic cover to conceal their presence. Using her scope she began to look about every tactically sound spot within fifty yards of where the other aliens had been, scrutinizing every spot for signs of concealed enemy presence. One after another came up clear until, in the end, she had no credible reason not to give the all clear click with her helmet's internal com-switch.
Daisy gave hers a few moments later and then Alex provided his.
Rising from her prone position she advanced towards the rest of her team but kept herself on edge just in case.
"General Black, this is Sierra Zero-Six-Nine. Do you copy?" Alex asked, tapping into his helmet's communications gear.
"I read you, Zero-Six-Nine. What'd you find?" General Black asked with a fairly strong signal.
"Confirmed Covenant presence. Seven hostiles. All terminated," Alex replied as they looked about the impact sight. "One small vessel that brought them here but doesn't look like it'd have taken them anywhere else afterwards. Maybe something like an ODST drop pod."
"Meaning there's likely to be someone coming to pick them up eventually," General Black said grimly since the man likely knew that this solidly put the planet from a probable target to a certain one.
Unless the Covenant was truly heartless when it came to their scouting parties, there was no way that they'd have left this bunch to live out their days in exile. Even without any sort of communication to confirm the presence of humans, a missing scouting team would at the very least warrant a follow up investigation team of higher quality. It was only logical. Once that ship arrived, it'd be plain as day that humans lived on the planet and an invasion force would follow.
"Return to your temporary HQ," General Black ordered with the seriousness the situation required. "I'll meet you there for debriefing. General Black out."
"You know what this means, right?" she asked, arriving to stand next to the others.
"Yeah. My fallback plan just went from paranoid preparation to a necessary option," Alex replied before shouldering his assault rifle. "Let's get moving, Rogue team. Double time it!"
Putting action to word the three of them made for the building that'd been set aside to be their temporary HQ at full SPARTAN speed. Keeping their presence a secret didn't matter anymore.
The Covenant were coming and they had no idea how much time they had to prepare.
Rogue Team Temporary HQ, Three Hours Later
Alex Zero-Six-Nine's POV
"We might not have as much time as I'd thought," General Black said via the holographic vid-screen from the holo-table. "I sent a follow up team with an expert in engineering and space travel to the impact sight. He confirms that the Covenant forces came here in a craft designed similarly to an ODST drop pod but with much greater range, not to mention limited propulsion capabilities. Without a slipspace drive of its own there's no way it came here without help."
"That means there has to be at least one Covenant ship in the system already that the craft launched from," he said, completing the train of thought. "If that's so then why hasn't it attacked? For people determined to wipe out humanity, they aren't very enthusiastic about it."
"It's possible they have orders to wait until they hook up with additional forces," Joy suggested from her position next to the table. "According to the report provided by Staff Sergeant Johnson, they had a ship in orbit that could've easily bombarded the surface to wipe out the human population. Instead they chose to send down troops to exterminate the population in person."
"So either the crew of the ship that sent the craft lacks sufficient numbers for the job or lack the skills to be trusted with the task?" he proposed as he considered various scenarios. "The scouting party could've been intended to gather advance intel for the attack. It's too bad no one knows the Covenant language well enough to fabricate a false report. Might make for some interesting possibilities."
"Indeed it could ,'Donner', but since that isn't the case we'll have to make do with what we have." General Black said, sounding like he would've liked to spread some lies too. "I'm ordering a complete lockdown on all communications off world. Nothing in or out. With a little luck they'll assume this to be the work of their scouting party and it'll allay any concerns they might have. If not then at least they won't know that we know anything leading to them making mistakes."
"Might I recommend, sir, that the backup ships waiting in nearby systems move closer to decrease their response times once the fighting starts?" he said, wanting to maximize the odds of the evacuation being successful. "Depending on the size of the reinforcements the Covenant ship plans on receiving, we may need them to buy time for the evacuation."
"I was under the impression that SPARTANs were made of sterner stuff, Zero-Six-Nine," General Black said, sounding disapproving of the recommendation.
"We SPARTANs can handle ourselves, sir, and the soldiers stationed on the planet can no doubt acquit themselves well in a fight," he said, trying to make it clear his idea wasn't born of cowardice. "Nevertheless, it has been proven that, in a ship-to-ship fight, the Covenant have a distinct technological advantage over our ships while we can barely scratch one of their ships. There'll be little point in holding our own on the ground if we get backed into a corner because they've cut off our escape routes."
"Agreed," General Black said, satisfied that his concerns were for nothing. "I've already sent a request that the ships an hour away from here via slipspace be moved to half an hour away. However the impression I got from the initial reply was that there was concern that Covenant sensors might be sophisticated enough to pick them up if they got too close. My request will still be considered but we should plan for the possibility that the Hannibal is all we'll have for at least an hour."
Not good.
Ever since he'd arrived at the Academy he'd spent a portion of his free time running simulations, both in his head as well as on the holo-table, to see how long they'd last if the Covenant attacked. With what he'd had then he put the best case scenario at forty-five minutes if they stood their ground and almost an hour and a half if they retreated to the limited cover that the woods provided. After he'd come up with his fallback position he'd gone through the best ways of escorting the Academy population there, then holing up until evac arrived. With all the variables that needed to be considered it was impossible to come up with a definite number but, assuming that they were able to get everyone armored up and armed before the enemy surrounded their position… five hours. Tops.
Now that he had an idea of what they'd be facing and multiplying the numbers of the scout forces to an extermination force.
They'd be lucky if they managed three.
"I've asked the Captain of the Hannibal to move his ship into orbit directly above the Academy as subtly as he can. The moment the Covenant makes their move he'll deploy two thirds of his ODSTs to the surface to defend the Academy while we evacuate up the space elevator. The Hannibal will defend the top of the tether as long as they can," General Black said, keep his tone even. "Once the reinforcements arrive and get the enemy's attention, transfer of cadets to the Hannibal will begin, filling every shuttle and Pelican to capacity before sending them over. We'll keep doing that until it's no longer safe to do so or the Hannibal is at risk of losing its ability to jump to slipspace. At that point the Hannibal will depart until another opportunity to ferry over evacuees to an available ship appears. I'm not going to lie to you, SPARTANs, we're not going to be able to save everyone."
"We understand, sir," he said grimly, knowing the realities of the situation. "Without more definitive intel on Covenant ship capabilities, evacuation options are limited. That being said though, sir, I believe it would be a mistake to use the space elevator once the Covenant ships enter firing range."
"Explain," General Black ordered, sounding like he wanted the reason to be a good one.
"Based on available intel on the Covenant, they've made it pretty clear they want all humans dead. If they plan on attacking this planet, it's only logical that they would act to cut off all means of retreat in order to make sure no one escapes," he explained, putting his thoughts out for the officer to hear. "Targeting the space elevator and the spaceport would be among their top priorities. The elevator wasn't designed to take hits from plasma weaponry so I doubt it'd take more than one hit to bring it down. That being the case, the second we have reason to believe they're targeting it, we should abandon it as a means of evacuation."
"Without the space elevator evacuation is impossible," General Black said, not completely opposing the facts but rather pointing out the lack of alternatives.
"Not necessarily, sir. The Charon class frigate Aegis Fate is an hour out by slipstream and she's rated for atmosphere," he explained, laying out his fallback plan, "Rogue team's scouted out a fallback position with ample room for her to set down. Provided she empties her bays and no one minds being packed tight, we can get a lot of people out. More if the higher ups can reposition another Charon or two close enough to make a difference."
"Is the position defensible?" General Black asked, looking like he was considering the option.
"A natural bottleneck, sir, with a rock face at our back and an elevated position for snipers," he replied, laying out the advantages of the location. "There's also a mine entrance deep enough to provide some protection from ship bombardment if it came to that. Miners used to pull titanium ore out of it and there're still some bits in the rock."
"Ten miles out?" General Black asked with some recognition.
"Yes, sir," he replied promptly.
"I know the place. It's a good place to hold up," General Black said, sounding like he was leaning towards accepting the fallback position. "But ten miles is a bit much for a running firefight. What makes you think we'd even make it that far before Covenant forces cut us down?"
"Two things. First I can have Daisy utilize what's in the armory to set traps and explosives on either side of the route to the location. We'll stay on the road and the Covenant will likely try to come at us from the sides, walking right into the surprises," he replied, emboldened by the possibility of his plan being accepted. "Secondly, the additions I suggested be made to the rooftops of the Academy. If the ODSTs from the Hannibal can keep the Covenant's attention on them long enough, it should give the rest of us a big enough lead to make it. Most of us, anyway."
"Most of us?" General Black asked, showing that he might have an issue with that part.
"Sadly this is war, sir, and with the current restrictions involved directed at keeping knowledge of the Covenant out of the public consciousness, we will lose people," he replied, making it clear he wished for more but realized that that was impossible. "With such large group of people to relocate, the enemy won't need to bother aiming. They can just shoot into the crowd. Short of getting some APCs relocated here, the best we can do is make sure there's a set of armor for everyone, as well as some kind of weapon."
"I'll see about having the Hannibal send down any surplus armor and weapons they might have while making it look routine. We can call it a training exercise to show the cadets what real armor feels like," General Black said, sounding like he hoped things wouldn't turn out too poorly. "At first light take Hastati squad up the road to the fallback position. Keep them at the pace they'll need to go in order to reach it alive. I'll let their squad leader know that they can forgo the cryo phase for this exercise."
Made sense.
Hastati squad was considered by many to be the weakest in the Academy. Finding out how well they could maintain the required pace, as well as how long they could manage it, would give him a realistic ETA. Once he had that he could make educated guesses for how long it'd take for Covenant forces to catch up to them as well as when they'd arrive at the fallback position. Depending on how quickly the Covenant forces could catch up to them, he might have to place Joy someplace with the best view of the road and have her slow them down.
One way or another, the time for preparation was drawing to a close.
Hastati Squad's Locker Room, Morning
Chyler Silva's POV
"Good morning, Hastati squad," Lieutenant Donner said as he walked deliberately before the squad. "Today, at the request of General Black, we're going to be doing something a little more… vigorous… than just sitting in class. In order to give you a more realistic idea of what soldiers who fought in urban environments went through, you will be putting on real military armor, carrying real military weapons and moving at combat pace until I say otherwise."
That certainly explained the containers that'd been placed in front of their lockers.
She and the other members of the squad had been surprised when there'd been no zero six hundred wake up call for their final combat exercise of the term. When they'd been summoned to their locker room two hours later they found their guest instructor in urban warfare standing alongside squad leader Orenski and received yet another surprise.
If this pace kept up, everyone was going to be on edge.
"Your armor and your weapon loadouts have been determined based on your combat scores and your accuracy on the shooting range. The same has been done with your armor," Lieutenant Donner said, nodding towards the containers. "You've got ten minutes to get armored up and your weapons primed for use. I'll be waiting outside."
With that the ODST, already armored up and armed, left via the building's exterior door, leaving them to deal with the change in their usual routine.
"You hear him, cadets!" Orenski declared in her usual drill sergeant tone of voice. "Armor up! We got TEN minutes and you will NOT embarrass me by making me late in front of an ODST lieutenant!"
Snapped out of their surprise, they moved to the containers in front of their assigned lockers and popped them open. Looking inside she could immediately tell that the armor inside was a few levels above what they usually wore for combat exercises. Their usual armor might have looked like the real thing but they were not made out of the same materials. They were only designed to handle the stun rounds and, via an internal system, simulate the likely damage of a real round. The same with the helmets: they were imitations of the real thing meant only to give cadets a glimpse of what they'd experience after they graduated.
Reaching into the container she pulled out the torso armor, first throwing it over her head before securing each strap until she was certain that it wouldn't bounce about or come off. Next came the pieces for her arms and legs meant to prevent disabling shots while allowing full range of necessary motion. Last came the helmet that concealed the entire face and more comprehensively protected the head than the usual academy headgear. As soon as it was connected to her torso armor, a line of light panned from the top of the visor to the bottom before the HUD popped up, showing the motion tracker in the lower left and a blank weapon slot in the upper right.
It was as she saw the bottom of the container that she beheld something she had not expected to see. The MA5Dassault rifle was nothing new since it looked almost identical to the ones loaded with stun rounds, with the exception of a few differences likely to accommodate the real ammunition. What did surprise her were the three M9 HE-DP grenades and the container of bio-foam, all of which were attached to an equipment belt. Lieutenant Donner hadn't been kidding when he'd said that they would be using real UNSC gear for this exercise.
Looking at the others, she could tell that they were meeting the new armor with a mix of excitement and intimidation since it was likely a lot sooner to be wearing it than they'd expected. As for weapons they'd each been issued, it looked like she was the only one that had anything resembling what they were used to. Squad leader Orenski had a XBR55 Battle Rifle, Vickers had a M90 shotgun, JJ had a M6D Magnum Sidearm, Sully had an M45 tactical shotgun, Dimah had a M6F handgun and Lasky wielded a MA37 Assault rifle. It was truly a varied selection of armaments but, to her recollection, they were the weapons her teammates got the best accuracy ratings at the range.
"Yeah! Now this is the real deal!" Vickers exclaimed, sounding like he was pumped for what lay ahead.
She had to admit that a part of her was liking the new gear and, when she saw the weapon and the ammo counter appear on her HUD, she knew today was going to be a day of firsts.
Once everyone was armored up and had their weapons at the ready they moved briskly in line out of the exterior door to where Lieutenant Donner was waiting for them.
"A little under ten minutes. Good," Donner said, holding the same battle rifle as Orenski. "As you get more familiar with the gear, I expect you to get armored up quicker. If an enemy force were to attack the Academy you'd likely have less than five minutes to prepare. I expect each of you to work towards that goal and, for the more ambitious among you, beating it. Now fall in behind me and keep pace!"
With that Lieutenant Donner fell into a pace that she'd call a light run, taking them to the northern road out of the central Academy grounds and into the one that snaked through the surrounding woods. The first thing she noticed as she ran was that the combined weight of the armor, weapons and spare ammunition were definitely heavier than what they used during combat exercises by ten to twenty pounds. It made running more arduous but she was determined to do the best she could to graduate from the academy with the highest marks possible.
She didn't look at the others but she could hear them and, while it sounded like they were managing to keep up, it sounded like Tom was having some difficulty breathing. Nothing that had her overly worried but she would suggest when they got back that he work on his cardio training and proper breathing technique. Soldiers could be dropped anywhere, from their enemy's doorstop to several kilometers away, and be made to reach a specified waypoint within a very specific timeframe. This meant not just maintaining a certain pace but also making sure you weren't exhausted by the time you arrived.
It was about twenty-two minutes later that something happened that she hadn't anticipated.
Out of nowhere a place of plywood the shape of a human popped up from the ground vegetation.
"Hostile right!" Donner yelled just like they did when an opposing team member appeared.
And just like they'd been trained to do they adjusted the aim of their weapons and opened fire. The target shook under the barrage for a few minutes before falling back down.
"Tip number one cadets: ammunition is not infinite. You keep pulling the trigger, you WILL use it up," Donner said as he resumed the pace they'd been going at. "Unless an opportunity to resupply is imminent DO NOT waste your rounds. Fight SMART."
It was a common sense rule but it was one that a lot of cadets forgot. They often thought that, since they weren't really on the battlefield, they didn't need to worry about things like running out of ammunition since there were no real consequences.
In a real firefight, running out of bullets made staying alive a lot harder.
"Tip number two: you're on a team. ACT like it!" Donner said, sounding perfectly fine at the pace they were running. "Each one of your weapons has a different effective range. Battle rifles: medium to long range, maxing out at nine hundred and fifty meters. Shotguns: close range. M6D: short to medium range. MA37 assault rifle: medium range. Remember this when future targets pop up. I only want to hear the right weapon for the right range firing when the hostile shows itself. UNDERSTOOD?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Hastati squad yelled in response to their teacher's question.
From that point on their actions became more structured, more defined, as one or two of them fired while the others kept their eyes focused on the areas where their weapons could do the most good. From what she could tell there were no patterns to where the targets would pop up or when they'd reveal themselves, meaning everyone needed to stay sharp and be ready to shoot when necessary.
It was when they were a little over forty minutes into their run when a new target sprung out of the bush, revealing itself to be a Warthog with a machine gun mounted on back.
"Hostile vehicle. GRENADE!" Donner called out, no doubt waiting to see who'd make the throw.
By this point, though, they'd all gotten a feel for the lieutenant's preferred method of doing things so it was JJ who took a grenade from his belt and threw it at the wooden Warthog. When the explosive detonated not like the paint filled ones they'd used in their training sessions but like the real deal used to kill large numbers of Innies, all of them were shaken.
"Try to drop it a little closer to the target," Donner said, once again pulling them into a steady run. "Grenades do their damage via concussive force and the fragmented casing propelled at lethal speeds. They do no good if the target is not close enough. This goes double when used against lightly armored targets."
It was a little over twenty-five minutes later that they reached an open area that looked like it'd been used as either a quarry or mine years ago. When Donner came to a stop and there were no visible targets anywhere within eyesight, she felt satisfied to say that they'd reached their destination. Relaxing her grip on her weapon a bit, she let her gaze drift over the rest of the Hastati squad to find that they looked as tired as she felt at the moment. Whether it was the distance or the presence of unexpected targets this exercise had been more taxing than their usual combat exercises.
"Eighty-two minutes. Not bad, cadets," Donner said as he put his weapon into a more relaxed position. "Keep in mind that this is the pace and enemy encounter rate for an area where enemy presence is considered light. Assuming we have the time, I intend to show you how hard you'll have to work when things get REALLY tough. Odds are you won't make it on the first try, or even within the first five tries, but as long as you work at it you will get better."
Her mind shook a bit when she tried to figure out what a really tough run would be like but she reassured herself that they wouldn't be expecting her to become that proficient right away. They were still cadets, after all, freshmen, even, so they likely had until graduation to become good enough to handle the tough stuff.
"Now take twenty minutes to rest up and hydrate," Donner said as he pulled an open cooler out from behind a large rock fragment. "When we run back to the Academy I expect you to shave at least three minutes off your time."
She only just managed to keep her groan of dread on the inside.
The others didn't fare quite as well.
Rogue Team Temporary HQ, Late Afternoon
Daisy Zero-Two-Three's POV
"So what's the prognosis?" she asked after Alex had a chance to sit down.
"From the moment of departure to arriving at the fallback point it took Histati squad seventy-six minutes. That was their best time," Alex replied as he took his ODST helmet off. "Assuming the other squads match or undercut that time, the soonest we can expect to get there is seventy minutes if we don't plan on leaving anyone behind."
"Not great but not bad either," she said, remembering the time the SPARTANs set for a ten kilometer run before their enhancements. "Now all we need to figure out is the top speed of the fastest Covenant soldier and we can figure out how quick they could catch up to us."
"The shorter ones won't be a problem to get away from," Alex said, referring to the ones with tanks of some kind strapped to their back. "The birdbrains look like they might be good sprinters but that's only over short distances. Their legs are too frail looking for anything more long term."
"That just leaves the big one that gave us a bit of trouble," she said, remembering the sole alien species left from the scouting party. "I'm thinking at least three times as fast as an ODST at full sprint."
"If you're right then they'd be able to get to the fallback position in under five minutes from the Academy," Alex said, not liking how that sounded. "Assuming that the cadets and the faculty don't outdo themselves, it means that the ODSTs from the Hannibal would need to hold their attention for at least seventy-two minutes just to make sure everyone gets there."
"Then we'll have less than five to prepare for their arrival," she said, finishing the train of thought. "Depending on the size of the force they send our way and the armaments possessed by both sides, we could last an hour or half an hour."
"The soonest the Aegis Fate could get into the system and descend to the fallback position would be an hour and a half," Alex said, not sounding happy with what his mind was telling him. "Unless we figure out a way to buy another thirty-five minutes, they'll be showing up to pick our bodies up for burial."
"More booby traps along the route?" she suggested, knowing a few improvised devices she could place along the route.
"No. Once they realize that the forests aren't safe they'll stick to the road or call in air support to solve the problem," Alex replied, shaking his head. "Once we've safely escorted the faculty and cadets to the fallback position, we'll take on the enemy forces at a safe distance from the survivors. Keep them focused on us for as long as possible."
"Three against an army? Almost sounds fair," she said with a smirk, remembering some of Chief Mendez's training scenarios with similar criteria.
"We'll wait until the last rescue ship's about to leave before pulling out," he said, not following her optimism. "Best case scenario is we manage to get two ships loaded and away before the Covenant ships realize what's going on and decide take more aggressive action to stop us. Once that happens, our odds of escape'll go down dramatically."
"Yeah. Ship to ship fights put too much in the Covenant's favor," she agreed, imagining how things would likely go.
"Then I hope that the requests for more Charon frigates get approved," he said as he began to access the latest intel through the computer set up. "Otherwise things are going to get messy."
Sadly true.
If only the Aegis Fate managed to make it to the fallback position, the question of who'd be the ones to be saved would become a big issue. Friends, teachers and students could very well turn on each other as their desire to live overrode whatever bonds they might possess. If they started fighting amongst themselves, it'd only delay the departure of the frigate and give the Covenant more time to kill them all.
She knew it was a poor appraisal of the Academy residents but it was a scenario that needed to be considered. If it turned into a free for all, where all of them fought against one another to get aboard the Aegis Fate, they would need a means by which they could restore order. They would need to snap them out of their frantic desire to survive and make them realize that infighting would only hasten their deaths. Hopefully by that point they'd be able to appeal to their better natures. Many of them had been soldiers, some of them were likely parents, and it was the protective instincts of both that she hoped would convince them to do the right thing.
Prioritize the survival of the cadets over themselves.
Fortunately psychological warfare was also a part of their training on Reach so all she'd need to do was gain an understanding of the personality archetypes of every member of the faculty. Once she had that information, she could begin designing just the right sequence of dialogue and actions to hit the right notes in the adults. She hoped she wouldn't have to use it but better to have and not need than need and not have.
Fortune favored the prepared.
Three Days Later, Evening, Rogue Team HQ
Joyce Zero-Seven-Zero's POV
"It's time," she said as the automated mechanical arms aided her in putting on her Mjolnir armor. "Hannibal's long range sensors have picked up movement on the edges of the system. It's still too far out for a positive identification but the last communication from the UNSC before the system was shut down did not indicate any other ships would be arriving."
"Even if there were, they'd have already made contact," Alex said as his armor came together one piece at a time. "As soon as we're armored up we move to join the rest of the evacuation party."
"You're thinking that the Covenant will try a short range slipspace jump?" Daisy asked as the last of her armor fell into place.
"It's a surefire way to take the Hannibal by surprise, letting them get the first volley in," Alex replied as his helmet began lowering itself. "Depending on how many ships attack, the Hannibal might not be able to return fire."
"They'll give as good as they get," she said as the HUD of her helmet went active. "They'll do their job."
"Yes, they will," Alex said, stepping off the armor assembly platform.
She and Daisy followed suit before walking over to their makeshift armory to choose an appropriate load out for what was about to happen. She, of course, chose a SRS99 to begin with since one of her primary objectives was to keep the Covenant forces as far from the Academy residents as she could. However she knew that, one way or another, matters would devolve into a much closer fight so she chose to go with two M7S submachine guns that she promptly attached to her thigh holsters.
Turning to the others she saw that Alex had chosen to go with a XBR55 Battle rifle and a M90 CAWS but that was hardly any surprise. From the moment they were first given firearms to hold her best friend had preferred weapons that gave him multiple tactical options. The battle rifle gave him the option of attacking either at mid or long range while the shotgun would make short work of anything that got close enough to attack him physically.
Daisy, on the other hand, had chosen to keep things close quarters with a trio of weapons that would help her with her choice. First a standard issue UNSC combat knife that, while primitive, could still be used to great effect, especially against those who'd underestimate its potential. Next came a M6D Magnum Sidearm that, while small, could inflict serious damage even against armored foes, hopefully making it enough to harm even the toughest Covenant soldier. The final choice, the one slung on her fellow female SPARTAN's back, was an M90 shotgun that would make sure anything that came after her would quickly come to regret doing so.
They all added three M9 grenades just in case the enemy came at them in numbers too great to be taken down quickly enough.
Without a word Alex led them out of their HQ and moved to the largest building on the northern edge of the Academy's central area. Her suit's audio receivers were conveying to her the descent and disembarking of the ODSTs from the Hannibal from their drop pods, reassuring her. With the Covenant ships yet to make orbit, never mind deploy forces down to the surface of the planet, so there was still time for the newly arrived forces to position themselves strategically. With the M41's on the rooftops manned while those on the ground took up defensive positions behind the best cover available, the hostiles would encounter strong resistance.
Especially since General Black had surprised them by relocating the front blades of several bulldozers to the open areas of the central campus. Made of strong metal, they would hopefully provide adequate cover against the plasma weapons that would soon be brought to bear against them. Their arrival had caused quite a stir amongst the students as well as those faculty members that hadn't been in the loop about the dangerous developments, but 'classified' was the only answer delivered. It wouldn't last long, this denial of answers, but then it didn't need to.
All would soon become clear.
"Here they come," Alex said causing her to look to the south.
Moving towards them was a massive body of people and sadly, from what she could see, only those on the periphery were armed and properly armored. They had not been told of the results of General Black's request for surplus armor and weapons but apparently the Hannibal hadn't had as much to spare as she'd hoped. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised since the total population of the Academy was seriously larger than the crew compliment of the Hannibal and their contingent of soldiers as well.
It would've increased the odds of more people surviving but there was little point in dwelling on what could not be changed.
"Daisy, you take the right, Joyce the left and I'll protect the rear," Alex ordered just as the lead members of the group got close enough to where they could see the three SPARTANs. "Hold fire until the enemy is within effective shooting range. Focus on officers and those that look like they have long range weapons. The safety of the cadets and the faculty are paramount. Understood?"
"Understood," she and Daisy replied with a nod before they both moved to their assigned flank positions.
She could tell right away that the population of the Academy were thrown a bit by the appearance of her and her fellow SPARTANs. This was to be expected since, not only were they taller than any normal human being, but their Mjolnir armor was such that they probably looked like robots. She remembered cartoons that she used to watch with Alex that often featured heroic robots and she had to admit that there was a resemblance to Doctor Halsey's armor design. However she hoped that they would recover from their shock quickly since focusing on the three of them rather than their surroundings would only lead to needless deaths.
"Keep it tight cadets!" she said in a tone that she hoped would be familiar yet also command compliance. "We're moving out of here!"
This seemed to do the job for most of the group but she could still see several curious ones glancing at her and the other members of her team. Turning away from what she couldn't do anything more about she kept her SRS99 in ready position while splitting her attention between what lay ahead and to the left of the group. Even with the vision enhancements available through her helmet, she couldn't see too well what lay ahead and it was only getting worse the further they went from the central buildings of the Academy. The lights on each of the helmets present might provide some illumination but it also made it damn easy for the Covenant to target them.
Fortunately Rogue team had an ace in the hole.
"Long range at two'o'clock!" Alex declared through the com-link between their suits.
Without any pause, thanks to years of training as a team, she dropped to one knee, brought her SRS99 up to look down its scope and aimed it in the direction Alex had indicated. It took her only seconds to spot the movement that was NOT vegetation and, after adjusting her aim to a lethal area, she pulled the trigger.
CHOOM!
A faint squawk from the direction of the motion confirmed that she'd hit a hostile and that it was one of the bird-like Covenant soldiers.
It was a closely kept secret amongst Rogue team, half of their own will and half an order from Doctor Halsey, that Alex possessed empathic abilities. With his mind alone he could sense the emotions of others and with practice he'd gotten pretty good at pinpointing where they were coming from even if he couldn't see the source. Doctor Halsey had worked with Alex diligently in order to develop this ability and now it was going to pay off.
Not only was it going to overcome the problem of their limited visibility but it would also have a psychological effect on the enemy forces. The Covenant no doubt felt safe hiding in the darkness, shooting at prey that didn't know where to retaliate, but when Rogue team strongly indicated that that safety was an illusion it'd shake them up. The uncertainty born of this incomprehensible development would make them reluctant to get too close, leaving them only with the security that long range attacks could provide. Depending on how many alien sniper rifles they were equipped with, it'd lower the number of casualties since any other type of weapon they might have wouldn't be very effect at long range. A stray shot might land but it'd be more out of luck rather than intent.
How long would it be before the Covenant forces scrounged up enough courage or determination to move in closer?
Hopefully not until AFTER they reached the fallback point and set up a respectable defense line.
"Mid-range at nine'o'clock!" Alex declared, causing Daisy to adjust her aim with her M6D before spitting out three shots once she acquired her target.
When she didn't hear the sound of a dying hostile she looked in the direction indicated and saw what looked to be a humanoid energy form pop into existence before vanishing.
It was one of those tri-jawed aliens.
Alex acted on this information and brought his XBR55 to bear, firing a volley of his own that popped the personal energy shield before bringing down the alien.
"How're you doing this?" one of the cadets asked in awe.
"Part bleeding edge visual package in our helmets, part classified material you're not cleared to know," she replied, providing an answer that would satisfy most.
"Cool!" the cadet exclaimed, making it clear he couldn't wait until the 'package' became standard issue.
"Mind on the job, cadet!" she snapped, seeing that the teenage guy was one of the ones armed as well as armored. "We can handle things for now but if the enemy numbers get too high, you'll need to step up."
"Do you know what they are?" the cadet asked, at least partially moving his mind back to the task at hand.
"I can't give you any details but I will say that they've officially moved the Insurrectionists to the number two slot on the UNSC's list of threats," she replied, figuring that it was safe to at least provide that much.
Seeing as how the cadet was gripping his assault rifle tighter and began to actively look for enemies, she had no regrets about what she'd revealed.