AN: Sorry for the really long update. Just to make up for it, I've made this chapter is extra long.
Chapter 3: Defensive Measures
New Mombasa Municipal Center
"And that's the current situation." Major Mackenzie explained to the officers and men around him.
Karla noticed that the Major looked far more tired and worn that he usually did, and she couldn't blame him. Right now, being in command of elements of two Marine divisions, Mackenzie was technically performing the duties of a lieutenant general. Also, the fact that there was a shortage of officers meant that there were multiple battlefield promotions and commissions. Almost half of the officers in the room were common NCOs just thirty minutes ago, and now found themselves in command of entire platoons or even companies. Karla herself was given a small unit to command. In total, she commanded just over six hundred troops, a dozen tanks, five Pelicans and an assortment of support vehicles; a paltry fraction of what a full Marine unit should be. The majority of her division was still in orbit around Earth, either stationed on the Freedom or defending the various Super MAC stations from boarders.
However, the 405th were not much better off. Only a small number of their full division landed in the city to begin with due to fears of additional invasion attempts. Factor in the casualties from the fierce urban fighting, and both the 405th and 102nd divisions were combined into a single unit that totaled just two thousand men, which was barely a full regiment itself. There weren't even enough men to organize a decent, continuous defense line. The closest thing they could achieve was a straggled line of outposts.
However, they had one weapon that was worth thousands of Marines. They had an honest-to-god live Spartan in their ranks, and Mackenzie had enough trust in Karla to put the Spartan under her command.
Already, Karla could feel the weight of the responsibility in commanding such a fearsome soldier.
"Captain."
Karla turned instinctively. Because none of the "promotions" were official, most of the newly minted officers decided just to call each other by their old ranks.
"What is it, Krensky?"
Karla knew he was just a kid, a corporal from C Company who just happened to have enough talent for command to catch Mackenzie's all seeing eye. He was now in command of a platoon of roughly thirty-five men.
"I'm not sure if I can do this." The young corporal said nervously. "There are a lot of guys depending on me, and if I screw up-"
"Don't worry about it." Karla said softly. "There's nothing to it. Just do what you feel is the right thing and stick with it, let your men know you know what you're doing and they'll back you up. Also, listen to whatever they have to say, the info they suggest can one day save your life."
The young officer gulped and nodded nervously. "I'll remember that."
"Be sure you do." Karla said as she filed out of the room.
Karla quickly met up with Tarin and Williams, who were both waiting for her in the tower's garage, along with the rest of the Warthogs and infantry.
"Orders, Captain?" Tarin asked.
"Gather up the men and tell them to move out." Karla replied. "We're going to have to set up a defense line, or the closest thing we can get to one, to try and deny any potential Covvie pushes."
Tarin nodded and motioned for the rest of the waiting Marines to prepare to move out. The garage rumbled as dozens of vehicles began to roar to life. Deafening engines and the bright flash of headlights filled the subterranean chamber with noise and light.
"I love this job." Karla grinned.
Mason Tower
"Situation?" Paccone asked as he glanced off into the distance.
"Still the same." Sam said as she looked through her scope. "They're still too busy blowing the crap out of each other to bother with us."
"Just the way I prefer." Alvarado mumbled.
"Yeah, and- oh shit, that's not good." Sam gasped.
"What's wrong?" Paccone narrowed his eyes, but could only make out the distant smoke and explosions.
"Parts of both forces have broken off and they're making a straight dash for us." Leo observed. "Apparently, we're sitting on top of something they want very, very badly."
"Shit." Paccone cursed under his breath. "Alvarado, do we have anything in the way of reinforcements?"
"Major Mackenzie is sending up about six hundred men to secure this sector." Alvarado replied.
"Not enough…" Paccone growled. "That's easily almost two thousand Covvies headed right toward us."
"Sarge? I think I might have an idea."
Paccone glanced curiously at Leo. "Go on…"
Leo quickly stood up and spread out a small map of the city. "Well, according to the maps, there are a limited number of wide streets leading to the center of New Mombasa, right?"
"That's correct." Alvarado nodded.
"Well, if we could block off or sever some of these arterial routes here, here, and here…" Leo pointed to several points on the map. "We can basically force both Covvie units onto this single highway, since it'll be the only route left large enough to carry such large units efficiently."
"Kid, I knew I liked you for a reason." Paccone grinned.
"So how are we going to do this?" Alvarado asked.
"Simple. We grab the Pelican and as much high explosive we can get our hands on. Then we just fly to these points and blow some stuff up to block the roads. I've seen this city, and there are plenty of bridges and overpasses we can take advantage of."
Sam raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't' tell me we're going to have to-"
"Barfbag! Get that bird warmed up! We're moving out!"
New Mombasa Central Highway
"Say again?" Karla pressed her earpiece to try and hear the garbled signal.
"Be advised, there is a large Covenant force inbound on your sector." The communications officer at the other end of the signal said. "Standing orders are to dig in and form defensive positions."
"I have a feeling that this is going to be ugly." Williams grumbled nervously.
"You heard the man, we're going to have to dig in. I want barricades set up and the vehicles put in proper firing positions. I need engineers to get up here and mine the damn road, and I want every single piece of heavy weaponry we've got aiming at it. If the Covvies want to get into the city with force, they're going to have to come up here!"
Karla looked on as her Marines began to disembark from their vehicles and begin preparations for a defense. She caught sight of Nicole and went after her.
"Petty Officer! I've got a job for you!"
Richter Ave. Overpass
Sam and Leo covered their ears as a number of C7 explosives simultaneously exploded and shattered the support columns holding up the Richter Ave overpass. Steel supports squealed and cracked as asphalt and concrete were literally pulled apart by the forces involved. In just seconds, the Richter Ave. overpass and the street beneath it were just a pile of impassable rubble.
"On to the next one." Paccone said as he waved for Barfbag to land.
Central Highway
Karla glanced at her defense line with a combination of concern and disgust. Her small force had set up a roadblock along the highway, with the main line of defense centered along a ramshackle barricade made out of looted furniture and derelict cars. Her infantry were scattered about in various firing positions along the barricade, the surrounding buildings, and the pedestrian bridges overhead. Unfortunately, due to the cramped nature of the city, Karla could not use the mobility of her vehicles, so her Warthogs and Scorpions were reduced to glorified heavy weapons emplacements.
However, Karla still had one ace up her sleeve. She had sent the Spartan with Tarin and Williams to scout out the approaching forces, and if necessary, disrupt their advance by any means possible. According to the rumors and stories about Spartan battle prowess, Karla shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Just to be on the safe side though, Karla had also sent a Viper Assault APC after them for some heavy support. About two-thirds the size of a Scorpion tank, Viper's were designed to fill the gap between the heavy Scorpion tank and the light Warthog LRV. It was a fairly large, six-wheeled armored vehicle with a turret mounted at the rear, similar to the Scorpion. It was armed with a 40mm rapid-fire cannon, a pintle-mounted .50 caliber machine gun, and an automatic grenade launcher. It was fairly well armored, being able to slug off most small arms fire short of rockets and fuel rods. The vehicle itself was crewed by a driver, gunner, and commander, and could hold up to six fully equipped troops comfortably but could cram six more in a combat situation. However, due to logistical problems and over-reliance on more proven vehicles, Vipers were a fairly rare sight on the battlefield.
Karla thought that was a pity. She remembered a dozen situations where such a vehicle would have come in handy.
"Is everything set up, Lieutenant Haller?" Karla asked her newly appointed inferior with Tarin's abscence.
"Yes, ma'am." Haller nodded. "All of our men are in position, and we've basically collected every piece of furniture we could find and put it in the barricade."
"Have we been able to make contact with the recon squad?"
"No ma'am. I've checked, but we haven't gotten anything from them yet." Haller said anxiously.
Karla tried now to outwardly show her concern. She knew that Sam was somewhere out there, in the path of an overwhelming and unpredictable Covenant army.
Twin Pines Bridge
"Is this the last target?" Paccone asked as Kumi finished planting C7 on the bridge support columns. The Twin Pines Bridge was one of the major traffic arteries that bridged the gap caused by a large flood canal.
"That's right." Leo confirmed. "Once we blow it, we can get the hell out of here."
"Shit, we've got company." Sam said as she kept an eye down the street. "Looks like some sort of advance party. A bunch of Jackals, a few bugs, and some kind of Covvie I haven't seen before…"
"Where?' Paccone said quickly as he picked up a pair of binoculars.
"Down the street, coming straight at us. Those weird, furry things." Sam pointed at the odd, hulking gorilla-like aliens leading the advance.
"Shit, they've got Brutes." Paccone growled. "This can't be good."
"What the hell are they?" Leo asked.
"I really don't know, but from what I heard, they're tough bastards."
There was a distant bang as something exploded. The Marines turned again to see the advance party being torn apart by plasma fire from an unseen source. Suddenly, a small knot of to Elites and Grunts leapt out of a nearby building and began engaging the Jackals and Brutes. While caught by surprise, the Brutes quickly rallied and began firing volleys of grenades from their bizarre weapons, scattering Grunts all over the pavement. The Elites replied with a volley of heavy plasma fire that cut down the majority of the Brutes. The few that were left obviously succumbed to some kind of beserker rage and charged the Elites, using their massive, bladed grenade launchers and strength to literally tear the Elites to pieces.
"Holy shit." Leo gasped. "I think it's a good time to leave."
"Good idea." Paccone agreed. "Barfbag, set down and get us out of here."
"Sorry sir, no can do. Banshees are incoming and the airspace in your area is too hot. There's no way I can get close without getting chased by a squadron of those Covvie bastards. I'm afraid you're on your own for transport."
"Shit." Paccone cursed under his breath. "Okay, here's what we do. We'll cross this bridge first and then blow it. With the canal between us and them, it should convince the Covvies not to go through the trouble of chasing us. Then we'll just circle around and link back up with our lines."
"Best idea so far." Alvarado said. "Let's do this."
Larkins, one of Alvarado's men suddenly shouted, "Shit, incoming!"
There was a sudden blast of heat as a Covenant dropship swooped down from above, raining plasma fire down onto the exposed Marines. Two of Alvarado's men were instantly incinerated and the rest were forced to scatter. Satisfied, the dropship settled over the bridge and began to disgorge troops.
Paccone snuck a peek from his hiding spot and could see an entire squad of Brutes being beamed down from the dropships, with even more behind them.
"Kumi! Blow the bridge, NOW!"
Without hesitation, Kumi activated the detonator in her hands. There was a brief delay, but the C7 finally exploded, shattering the bridge's support columns. The Brutes that had landed were torn apart by the explosions or sent plummeting to their deaths. The rest of the Brutes that were still in the gravity beam suddenly found that there was no ground for them to stand on, and fell into the void below once they dropped out of range of the gravity beam.
"Move! MOVE!" Paccone yelled to the rest of his squad as he broke cover. "We're going to have to hot-foot it back to base before the rest of the Covvies can catch up with us!"
There was a brief but desperate scramble as the Marines packed up their gear and loaded their weapons.
"Weapons and ammo only!" Alvarado shouted. "Anything else is just going to weigh you down! Radio HQ for help!"
"Something's wrong with the radio!" Kumi responded. "That Covvie dropship must have some sort of jamming equipment!"
"Then we're on our own as always." Paccone began to sprint down the street. "Lets go!"
Already the Marines could hear the distant hum of Covenant hover engines.
Central Highway
"It's quiet." Williams said nervously as he drove the Warthog slowly down the highway. He didn't know what he was more scared of, the possibility of attack or the very imposing Spartan sitting next to him.
"Just keep driving, soldier." Nicole said. "We're not in danger just yet."
"How do you-"
"All Spartans live for is war." Tarin cut off Williams calmly. "Just listen to them whenever they say anything."
Even though Tarin technically outranked the Spartan, it was usually tradition for Marines on the field to defer to Spartans for combat advice and leadership, due to their experience and superhuman abilities.
"Whatever." Williams shrugged.
"Stop. Stop right now."
Williams brought the Warthog to a screeching halt. The Viper behind them shuddered to a stop as well.
"Orders?" Captain Mengsk, the commander of the Viper asked.
"Stay there and await further orders." Nicole replied. "We're going in on foot."
Nicole, Williams, and Tarin quickly dismounted the Warthog and carefully made their way down the highway, making sure to be near cover in case of an ambush.
"Do you hear that?" Nicole asked.
"Hear what?" Williams said curiously.
"That distant whine that almost sounds like the wind blowing. That's plasma fire. We're getting close."
Williams strained his ears but couldn't hear a thing. He assumed it was just the Spartan's superior hearing. Suddenly, he heard the distant and very familiar barking of a battle rifle.
"Okay, now that I heard."
"Do we have any units out there?" Nicole asked.
"The Captain mentioned something about losing contact with a recon team out here."
"Okay, here's what we do." Nicole said calmly as she armed her battle rifle. "You two move forward and confirm that it's our missing recon team out there. I'll run interference for you."
Tarin and Williams nodded and ran down the street, rifles at the ready. Nicole ran down the opposite end of the street, armed a grenade, and hurled it high into the air. The grenade traveled for several dozen meters before landing behind an abandoned bus and exploding. She could see pieces of Jackals flying in all directions.
With their ambush attempt foiled, the rest of the Covenant advance force revealed themselves. A squad of Jackals and a quartet of Drones suddenly appeared from behind several derelict vehicles, firing wildly at the approaching Spartan. Nicole fired her battle rifle at the Drones, instantly killing them with surgical precision. Not bothering to reload, Nicole kept up her momentum until she reached the first batch of Jackals in cover, plasma bolts splashing ineffectually off her shields. With superhuman grace, Nicole leapt over the car the Jackals were using as cover and landed on two Jackals, crushing them flat with her weight. She then quickly elbowed a third Jackal behind her, smashing its face in and snapping its head back and nearly decapitating it. Finally, she brought the butt of her battle rifle smashing down on the last Jackal, crushing its head into its chest cavity.
Seeing their comrades being slaughtered in such a gruesome fashion convinced the remaining Jackals to leave and fight another day. They quickly broke cover and backed off, using their energy shields as protection.
Unfortunately for the Jackals, their shields were only good against negating ranged fire. In a close quarters fight, they were next to useless, and it just so happened that was Nicole's specialty.
Nicole quickly sprinted forward so fast that she seemed like a blur. The Jackals, unused to seeing a human move so fast, were caught completely by surprise. Nicole used her momentum and aimed a punch at the lead Jackal. The alien brought its shield up for protection, but the force behind the Spartan's punch was so powerful, that her fist ran straight through the shield and into its cheek, snapping its head around in a hundred eighty degree spin. The last of the Jackals panicked and fired wildly, but like those under the judgment of a vengeful god, their fates were sealed.
Meanwhile, Tarin and Wiliams had pushed ahead, trying to zero in on the sound of the anomalous gunfire. Suddenly, Tarin slid to a halt, causing the slightly slower Williams to slam into her back.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"We're not alone." Tarin whispered.
Suddenly, two massive, grotesque aliens lumbered onto the street. With their gorilla-like and powerful appearance, they looked like King Kong's little brothers.
"What the fuck are those things?" Williams gasped.
"I have no idea." Tarin said with a nervous edge in her voice. "I think we should-"
However, Williams never found out what Tarin was planning. One of the Brutes suddenly turned its head and roared at the sight of the pair of Marines. The second one quickly pivoted, firing the massive cannon-like weapon it was holding.
Tarin and Williams instinctively ducked as the projectile arced over their heads, skipped off the pavement, and slammed into a nearby truck, blowing the whole vehicle to pieces.
Both Marines responded with their own volley of fire. The exposed Brutes twitched and growled as the rifle rounds impacted ineffectually on their bodies. They brought their grenade launchers to bear and fired another volley of high explosive rounds. Tarin and Williams took cover around a street corner and ducked as grenades exploded all around them.
"Put up some fire! I have to reload!" Tarin shouted.
Williams nodded and leaned around he corner, firing wild bursts from his battle rifle. With extreme precision, or an inordinate amount of luck, one of Williams' rifle bursts slammed into one of the Brute's forehead and eye, bringing the hulking beast down as its brains were liquefied.
However, the other Brute was not at all happy to see its comrade killed. It roared in rage, tossed its weapon aside, and charged Williams like a raging bull. Williams cursed and fired the remaining rounds in his clip in vain.
"Tarin, I could use some help right here!" Williams cried.
But Tarin was nowhere to be found.
There was a sudden roar and Williams turned back to face the Brute. It looked as if the beast had tripped and fallen, but for reason, couldn't get back up. The Brute roared again and started pulling itself towards Williams with its arms.
Suddenly, Tarin materialized out of nowhere like a wraith and leapt onto the Brute's back. The Brute tried to shake Tarin off, but it was too late. The Marine had her silver knife unsheathed already and stabbed it down straight through the back of the Brute's skull. The alien finally fell silent, though it twitches several times. Tarin pulled her knife out of the Brute's head and fired several pistol rounds into it just to be safe.
"You okay there, Will?" Tarin asked casually, as if she did this sort of thing all the time.
"You freaking abandoned me!" Williams yelled angrily.
"Oh stop whining. You know I wouldn't let you die or anything."
"You could have at least supported me or something!"
"Will, if there's one thing I've learned in my entire life, it's that every living thing follows a certain set of rules." Tarin pointed her thumb to the Brute corpse behind her. "If it's got legs, then it's got hamstrings. So if I cut them, it can't move. If it's got a head and I destroy it, chances are it'll die. You really think shooting its obviously bulletproof chest with a few more rifle rounds would have made any difference?"
Williams could not think of anything to say.
"I thought so." Tarin gave a rare grin. "Lets move."