Chapter 7: Leading the Way
Marine Defense Line
"I can see a Wraith tank in the plaza around the corner." Sam motioned for Paccone to come look. "It has a good firing position on this entrance, so it's definitely a no-go."
Over the past hour, the human/Covenant coalition had been slowly trying to push the loyalists back away from the line, with some degree of success. Caught off guard, the loyalists were sent reeling and the defending forces managed to advance to the edges of what was once New Mombasa. However, it would only be a matter of time before the loyalists regrouped, so pushing them out of the city altogether was imperative.
"Any other way around?" Paccone asked.
"I think…" Sam peeked around the corner again. "If we use this alley, we could have one of our own tanks flank it."
Paccone nodded. "Wrall, you think you could squeeze your way through."
"To hell with that, we'll just bust the whole damn wall down if we need to."
With that, Shiela rumbled down the alley. Things were quiet for a few minutes, until Sam saw an armor piercing round suddenly zip through the air. The projectile slammed into the side of the Wraith, punching through one side and straight out the other with little apparent effort. Taking the initiative, one of the friendly Wraiths rushed around the corner, plasma mortar blazing. It managed to catch the stricken Wraith's crew by surprise, as they were attempting to evacuate their wrecked vehicle. The hot plasma reduced both crew and vehicle to a burning cinder.
"That was a lot easier than I thought." Paccone scratched his head.
To the left, a building exploded and began to crumble, sending Jackals and Brutes flying in all directions. The surprised advance force quickly turned to see what was going on. Out of the smoke, Nicole and a straggled squad of Marines and Grunts emerged.
"Left flank is secure." Nicole reported.
"Oh yeah, it's pretty secure all right." Kumi emerged from behind Nicole, short on breath. "We pretty much reduced most of the cityscape there into a pile of rubble. No real chance of any Covenant getting through there in significant numbers."
"Officer on deck!" A Marine shouted.
The mixed group turned to see a rather large convoy of human and Covenant vehicles pull into the plaza. There were a good number of Scorpions, Vipers, Warthogs, and their Covenant counterparts, along with infantry to back it up. At the head of this convoy was no other than Karla herself in her signature Warthog.
"Well, there are only two reasons why such a respected officer like Karla would be bother to come to the front lines." Paccone remarked. "She's either come to personally congratulate us for our hard work, or she's planning to make us do something incredibly stupid and suicidal."
"Good job men," Karla smiled, and then glanced at the Covenant, "and whatever you like to be called. We've managed to push the loyalists back, but there's only one thing left we have to do."
Karla dismounted her Warthog and pointed towards a knot of buildings just outside of New Mombasa. They were not human buildings, but a collection of Covenant buildings.
"From the intel we've gathered, that's where the loyalists are staging their attacks on us." Karla continued. "We take it, we effectively stop them in their tracks."
Many of the Marines and even the Covenant looked around and began muttering curiously. Another push? They were beginning to question their orders.
Not wanting to lose any authority, Karla explained further. "Look, I know that none of you want to do this, I understand. Hell, if I could, I would've just been content to let you all stay here and weather it out. However, this isn't the case, and unless we want to be knee deep in Covenant, we have to take them down hard and fast." She pointed to the target again and continued, "I expect all of you to be prepped and ready to move in two hours."
"Well, she certainly knows how to keep us busy." Paccone shook his head.
Covenant Forward Position: "Glittering Jewel"
Troop Commander Daedalus grimaced as he read the incoming reports. Against all expectations, his attack force had faltered and not only failed to break through the heretic line, but were completely repulsed. His forces were in danger of actually being pushed back right here to his headquarters. This was completely unacceptable. Such failure would earn the displeasure of Grand Inquisitor Lazarus, and ultimately the Prophet of Truth. Daedalus scanned his tactical reports again, and noticed that some of his forces had abandoned their positions in the face of the enemy and pulled all the way back to Glittering Jewel. Seething with fury, Daedalus picked up his force pike and stormed out of the command bunker.
Outside, Daedalus caught sight of the straggled convoy of Maliki's remaining forces. He stepped in front of the convoy, forcing the entire line of vehicles to shudder to a stop.
"I demand to see Unit Commander Maliki!" Daedalus yelled at the top of his lungs.
"I regret to inform you that Maliki was slain in battle." One of the Jiralhanae stood to attention. "I saw that the heretics were beginning to gain strength, so I took the initiative to pull back what forces I had and to regroup here."
"Yes…" Daedalus nodded. "What is your name, soldier?"
"Squad Commander-"
Daedalus never did find out the Jiralhanae's name. Without hesitation, he had swung his force pike around, cutting off the squad commander's sentence as effectively as his head. Watching as the lifeless head rolled across the ground, Daedalus turned to face the rest of the unit.
"Let that be an example for those who think cowardice is the way out! By the grace of the Prophets, you will return to your old position immediately and hold against the heretics!"
Suddenly, plasma and artillery began raining down into the compound, destroying vehicles and scattering panicked troopos. Daedalus took cover and realized what had happened. The heretics had taken advantage of the weakness of the line and were now boldly attacking the Glittering Jewel.
"All forces mobilize!" Daedalus yelled to his forces, "For the glory of the Covenant!"
Covenant Habitation District 67
Paccone and Alvarado's squads looked up to the heavens as they saw the faint traces of plasma fire arcing through the sky. More plasma began to appear as the defenders fired their own retaliatory strikes, creating a rather dazzling light show.
"Pretty." Sam grinned as she looked at the sky.
"Be quiet and keep moving." Paccone stepped over a pile of rubble. "We don't know when the Covvies will try to come back and close this gap."
Nearby, Shiela and fellow Scorpion tank Rockbiter sped down the road at full speed, flanked by a quartet of Warthogs and a dozen Wraith tanks. The Covenant here had abandoned their position so quickly, that some of their equipment was left behind intact. They hadn't even bothered to take the time to booby trap the area to slow down any potential enemy advances.
At the head o the convoy, Karla could see the edges of the Covenant compound, and the defenses being quickly erected.
"Wrall! Niven! Put some long range fire onto that line and keep them scattered!" Karla yelled.
The twin Scorpion cannons roared as they launched tank shells and machine gun rounds. Tracers zipped at the Covenant defenders, scattering them and weakening the already faltering defenses.
"All units move in!" Karla yelled.
A line of Warthogs and Ghosts shot forward to spearhead the attack, guns and plasma cannons blazing. The defenders responded with light weapons fire, which failed to break up the determined charge. By the time the infantry and armor had caught up, the first line of defense was already in shambles, with loyalist Covenant lying dead or dying and heaps of equipment left torched and burning.
Scanning the interior of the compound, Karla could see troops rallying around a single individual. It was a Brute hefting a rather massive pike.
"You know this guy?" Karla asked Mako, who was sitting in a Ghost hovering next to her Warthog.
"No." Mako shook his head. "But you should not underestimate Jiralhanae. Like you humans, they prefer physical weaponry, and Jiralhanae that possess large melee weapons are often of very high stature."
"Well well, we've got ourselves a target." Karla gazed at the distant Brute. "Take 'em down!"
Both sides began to open fire on one another. Preferring a slow, controlled advance, the Marines lagged slightly behind the separatist Covenant. However, it could have just been that the Marines were a little more content to let the Covenant absorb some casualties. Karla suspected it, but really had no proof.
"Is it me, or does it look like everybody's just sticking back in cover?" Kumi pointed to the other Marine squads taking cover behind piles of rubble, providing sporadic, long range fire against the loyalist Covenant positions.
"They're the smart ones." Paccone grinned as he dove for cover.
Sam and Leo were already hastily setting up their sniper equipment.
Meanwhile, Karla growled as she saw her Marines lagging behind. Of course, they were looking to provide long-range cover fire rather than having to engage in a melee assault. Hell, even the tanks had opted to stay at range.
"How troublesome." Karla muttered to herself.
Currently, the only assets under her direct command nearby were her other three Warthogs, one of them carrying Nicole, and Mako.
And to hell if she thought she could rely on the separatist Covenant around them.
"Arbalest Two Three Four, we're going straight in. Keep moving and blast whatever you can."
"Roger that." The three Warthogs quickly accelerated, guns blazing.
Karla loaded her rifle and motioned for Williams to move in as well. He nodded and stepped on the accelerator. Tarin began powering up the Warthog's LAAG.
The fighting was fast and furious. Ghosts sped in and out of the vicious melee, firing plasma in all directions. Individual infantry began engaging each other as well, attempting to dodge enemy fire as well as the heavy volume of vehicle traffic.
"We've got fuel rods to our right!" Williams yelled.
Tarin swung the LAAG around to a pair of Jackals attempting to draw a bead on them. The gun's electric motor revved for a brief second before spitting hundreds of rounds in the air, tearing the Jackals apart. Arbalest Two sped by, lending support fire with its mounted gauss gun. Karla caught sight of Nicole in the passenger seat, picking off Brutes with deadly accuracy.
"Watch it!" Tarin screamed.
Karla turned to see that they were headed straight towards the apparently high ranking Brute she had seen earlier. For a moment, she thought that her Warthog would smash it flat onto the ground. If only that were the case.
Instead, the Brute leapt into the air and landed on the hood of the Warthog, forcing it to nose down in the dirt. Williams body snapped forward, bashing his face into the steering wheel and knocking him out cold. Tarin was flung from the rear and hit the ground rolling, only to find herself on the wrong end of Daedalus' force pike.
"Shit." Tarin breathed.
Suddenly, Daedalus caught something on the corner of his vision and was barely able to block the plasma sword aimed straight for his head. He turned to face his new attacker, surprised to find that it was yet another pesky human, rather than a Sangheli.
"You're one ugly son of a bitch, aren't you?" Karla readied her sword.
Daedalus powered up his force pike and pointed it straight at his adversary. "You shall pay for your insolence, human!"
Daedalus charged, force pike at the ready. However, the human ducked his swing, rolled to the side, and began firing her pistol. The rounds stung rather badly, but they caused no serious damage.
"What did you expect to happen?" Daedalus laughed, "Your pitiful weapons cannot harm me."
"Wasn't the plan, stupid." Karla grinned.
There was a distant crack and Daedalus felt a sharp pain in his shoulder before realizing that he could see his own arm lying on the ground.
"Damnit Sam, you were supposed to shoot him in the head." Karla growled in her radio.
"Sorry!" Sam replied, rather embarrassed at her inaccuracy.
"Well crap, what do we do now?" Tarin stared at the Brute, who was apparently unphased at the loss of its arm.
"You go see if Williams is still alive." Karla nodded to the Warthog. "I'll take care of this big stinky gorilla."
Daedalus charged again, ignoring the fact that he was missing his left arm. His remaining one could still wield the pike, and that was all he needed.
Karla deftly sidestepped the Brute's pike as it swung it down. The weapon slammed into the dirt, sending small shockwaves through the ground that made Karla's teeth rattle. Karla then lunged, stabbing her plasma sword straight into the Brute's gut. Unfortunately, that tactic apparently wasn't enough to put down a Brute for good. The massive alien roared and swung its fist out, catching Karla in the chest and knocking her back. She also lost grip on her sword, which was still stuck in the Brute.
"Why can't you just die!" Karla gasped as she tried to get back up. It felt as she had been hit by a truck.
"My death will come when the Prophets decide it." Daedalus coughed and picked up his force pike.
Karla looked around. This certainly wasn't good. Like an idiot, she had banked all of her chances in a single kill shot, a really stupid mistake. Her rifle was lying on the ground a few feet away, just out of reach. Her sword was in the Brute's belly, and her pistol wouldn't do much more than annoy it. This was not going to be fun.
Suddenly, a Ghost popped out of nowhere, slamming right into the Brute and crushing it against a Wraith carcass. The Brute's eyes widened and popped out of its sockets as its body was crushed by the sheer force. Not even a Brute could survive that.
"What took you so long?"
"Ghosts are notoriously hard to steer at high speeds." Mako walked up to Karla's side. "Plus I had to make sure it would stay on course."
"What did we miss? Tarin also came up to Karla's side, supporting a dazed Williams.
"Nothing really."
Arbalest Three pulled up to the straggled group. The fire was beginning to die down and become more sporadic, which meant the battle was beginning to wind down.
"You okay there, Captain?" Arbalest Three's driver asked.
"Still alive. What's the situation?"
The driver looked around and said, "Well, the 'good' Covvies managed to push the 'bad' Covvies out of the area. The bastards ran off so fast they left behind a good deal of equipment just sitting here."
"Good." Karla activated her radio and announced, "All units, move forward. Firebase Sherman is now open for business."
Grand Citadel
Grand Inquisitor Lazarus snarled as he read the reports coming in. The heretics were now quite literally at the gates, trying to break their way into the last bastion of hope on this planet. If only those accursed Sangheli would just kneel down and accept their rightful place. Lazarus grunted and looked at the senior Jiralhanae commanders in front of him.
"I am disappointed in you." Lazarus said coldly to the assembled commanders. "I was almost convinced that all of you had the necessary faith and conviction to see this period of transition through."
The Jiralhanae looked at each other nervously, wondering what Lazarus was trying to get at. They were quickly interrupted when Lazarus slammed his mighty Demonhammer on the floor, cracking the metal plating and sending shockwaves throughout the room. Suddenly, the chamber doors opened and two Jiralhanae Royal Guards poked their heads in to check the commotion. When they saw that it was only the commanders that were in danger and not the Grand Inquisitor, they pulled their heads back out and closed the door.
"What I get in return is a bunch of fools!" Lazarus yelled, his eyes and Demonhammer blazing. "Through your ignorance and ineptitude, you have let the heretics corrupt this glorious planet and risk them fouling this holy ground!"
"But Grand Inquisitor," One of the commanders stood up, "The unexpected arrival of the humans has-"
The Jiralhanae never had a chance to finish his sentence. Lazarus' Demonhammer swung down and slammed his head into the ground. Blood and bone fragments flew in all directions like an exploding watermelon, causing the other commanders to wince.
Still drunk with rage, Lazarus glared at the remaining commanders, his eyes blazing.
"They are only mere humans! They should not make any difference in how this conflict is prosecuted. They are worthless bugs, just like the Sangheli!" Lazarus pointed to the door. "I will be returning to my quarters. By the time I get there, I expect to see that you have assembled all available forces and are pursuing those wretched heretics off this planet!"
The Jiralhanae all nodded and quickly exited the room. To any other species, the sight of Jiralhanae running scared was a very surreal sight. However, in the presence of somebody as great and might as Grand Inquisitor Lazarus, it was an everyday occurrence.
"So," Lazarus growled as he gazed out of one of the Citadel's wide observation windows, "What is your next move?"
Firebase Sherman
"I'm going to get to the top of that tower and plant this on top of it." Karla said, pointing to the Citadel and then to the UNSC Marine Corp flag she was holding.
"Good luck with that." Paccone smirked. "Tell me if you need someone to carry that for you. It looks pretty heavy for you to be carrying around."
Karla's eye twitched, but she didn't respond. Sam, who was nearby and overheard the conversation, turned away to hide her laughter. Leo merely sighed and shook his head.
"I don't understand." A Sangheli turned to Mako, "The inferior has obviously insulted his superior's honor, yet she does not chastise or execute him."
"It's a Human thing." Mako shrugged, "I don't think even they can fully understand."