Looking at the New York City skyline used to be an awesome sight, skyscrapers and bridges lined the island of Manhattan, showing the world that New York truly is the Empire State. However, that was in the past, before the aliens invaded. Now, the skyline was reduced to raging flames and destroyed buildings that were turned to rubble. As the Colonel and I reconned the Manhattan Bridge, I saw that the Empire State Building was no longer standing, the Chrysler Building had large holes in the side, presumably from the alien jets and their missiles. The everlasting glow of the skyscrapers lights at night was now replaced by the fires that littered the streets, buildings, and the occasional bridge. The only bridge that was still standing was the Manhattan Bridge. Unfortunately, It was being used as a logistics lane for the enemy.
Looking through my sniper scope, I saw that they had some new vehicles, a type of hovercraft. The vehicles seemed to be comprised of a light metal, it was very open and the crew was extremely exposed. There was a driver, two gunners and I guess what must have been a crew chief or co-pilot.
"Colonel, can you use the NV's and see what kind of weapons those vehicles have? I count two machine guns but I can't tell if there's anything else."
"There is, it appears that they have mortar tubes, that or smoke grenades, like that on the Abrams. Those are going to be tough to get past, even with the TOW."
He was right, the entrance was heavily guarded and there were even more troops on the bridge itself moving supplies, about a platoons worth of infantry was supported with four of those vehicles, two on each end. I had a plan however; if I could convince Wilkins then we might be able to push through without much of a problem.
"Sir, I've got an idea. Look to the right, there's a small ridge over there that we could position marksman at, there we could take out as many infantry as possible. That would throw them into confusion and force them into cover. After that we would have the Bradley take out the two vehicles with its TOW launcher, fire a volley with the 25, and then pull out to reload the TOW. That's when we would push forward with our infantry, taking out the main personnel on guard while sending a couple of men on the left walk bridge to flank the enemy. The Bradley would then have to cover from the entrance of the bridge while the infantry moved forward clearing the bridge. The snipers would constantly be giving support. When the other two vehicles attempt to engage, the Bradley will take them out with the TOW again.
"After we would wipe out the rest of the enemy infantry and we would have to quickly head for the urban environment, where we will be safe from enemy air. Will that work?"
"Yes, that will, but the only adjustment is that the snipers will have to aim for the enemy officers there those big ones that are floating around. Otherwise it's excellent, we may lose men though."
"It's the only way sir, we can't get across any other way, the Brooklyn and Triboro bridges are down and the Queensboro has at least a battalions worth of men, this Is the most practical approach, unless were gonna swim."
"So be it, let's get back to the camp and get started. We only have six hours until sun up."
"Yes sir," as I said this, I lifted my rifle and we ran back to base, about a mile away.
We got back to base in about fifteen minutes, stopping every once in a while to make sure that there was no hostile activity. We got back to camp which was really just a gas station with a big garage. The Bradley was in the garage with Hideyoshi and Sean on guard M16's at the ready.
"Friendlies coming up, don't shoot." I yelled as we moved towards the building. We entered the garage, I gave both of the guards a fist pound before heading into the main building where many of the marines were stocking up on food and water.
"Listen up! We got a plan on how we can get over to the city. Tell them." At the last part he nodded at me. I told them the plan using M&M's as a way to signify positions on my make shift diorama of the Manhattan Bridge. Matt and Frankie would be on sniper duty, Matt would be getting my 770 while Frankie would be using my brothers SOCOM 2 rifle, and we added an ACOG sight onto it for longer range combat. Rogers and I would be the flanking force, taking the walk bridge to hit the enemy in the side. We would both have M16A4's and we would also have the two shotguns in case they jumped onto our bridge and CQC ensued. Falci, Coleman, Wilkins and Sean would be manning the Bradley, Sean was acting as an extra gunner since the lieutenant needed to focus on the TOW launcher. That left my brother, Hideyoshi, Jackson, and Frederick as the main assaulting infantry force. They would all be armed with M16A4's.
"Alright, this is what we have to do to get over to the city and later the rest of the military. We may lose men in the assault but no man left behind, dead or alive. We will prevail and we will kill the enemy, they will be sorry they ever thought to invade Earth, they will be sorry that they thought to invade my beloved country. Most importantly however, they will be sorry that they ever came into the same fuckin universe as the United States Marines! They will witness what we are capable of, you don't fuck with the marines, Oorah?"
Everyone screamed their approval, even Gordon and my friend Matt who was in favor of the Navy. We fell out and got into our respective positions, Jackson informed Sean and Hideyoshi of the plan since they were on guard. That's when we all moved towards the bridge, the Bradley close behind us.
We were now ready to stage the assault, Frankie and Matt were in position and the Bradley was hiding behind a building ready to attack at any minute. The rest of us were lying on our stomachs, waiting for my command to move. Even though I was a fourteen year old kid, the Colonel wanted me to take charge since it was my plan, and the fact that he'd seen my capabilities in combat had proven my competence.
"Crash, on my command, unleash hell," I spoke into the built in helmet radio. I couldn't resist using the Gladiator reference there. "Ready up Marines, were going in a couple of minutes.
I was waiting for the officers to come out of their, uh, headquarters I guess. It was just a large box made out of some kind of tightly weaved fibers. I needed to make sure Frankie and Matt had clear shots on the enemy, otherwise we would get mowed down, not great for my first command.
"Rob, Matt here, we have visual on the commanders, should we engage?"
"Do you to have a clear shot?"
"Affirmative, Crash says the same. Should we proceed?"
As I listened to the radio transmissions, I realized that everyone here was counting on me and my decision, a kid's decision whose only experience of command was in strategy games. I was nervous, but I was also confident in the fact that we would be able to annihilate the enemy.
"Waste em," I whispered into the mike. At that moment, we heard the cracks of gunfire and saw two officers drop dead, then four, destroying their command. In their confusion, the invaders did not take cover but simply looked around for the shooters. Our marksman then proceeded to take out the enemy infantry dropping rounds down range into them until their magazines were empty.
"Fifteen confirmed kills, repositioning to a new location, send in the M2." Frankie's voice crackled through the radio as we saw them moving. I heeded her order and radioed the Colonel Wilkins to move up with the Bradley.
I knew it was almost time for our advance as the Cummins 8-cylinder diesel engine powering the IFV started up and powered the Bradley forward from behind the building. The dual TOW launcher on the Bradley's turret opened up while the driver made a drive by pushing the engine to its limits and forcing the treads to carry the vehicle at 40 mph. The two missiles hit their targets, destroying the hovercrafts in a fiery explosion of plasma. The Bradley then opened up with its .50 cal and 25mm, mowing down enemy infantry and causing explosions where there happened to be enemy cargo and munitions storages.
"Enemy vehicles are down, move it kid!" Coleman's report spurred me into gear.
"MOVE MARINES! Kill 'em all! Rogers with me!" As the Bradley retreated our team moved forward. Rogers and I moved to the left where the walk bridge was located and killed three enemies that were about to take aim. The rest of the team took cover and opened up on the enemy, dropping several more. The enemy then sent reinforcements, the ones handling the cargo transport now got into the fight. I kept running down the path as more alien chain gun fire opened up above me. I loaded a new magazine into my rifle and looked to my right where some aliens were setting up a mortar position. I opened up on them, killing three while two more returned fire. I jumped back and fell down. Rogers then came up and finished them off.
Me and the Gunnery Sergeant leaned against the catwalk and opened up on the enemies exposed flank, killing some, three or four, and forcing the rest out of their cover, exposing them to the rest of the fire team.
"Snipers are back were engaging," Crash's voice made me look back to the entrance where I could see Matt and Frankie opening up on the enemy. "Rogers keep moving, we gotta get ahead of the next enemy strongpoint!" I shook Rogers out of a bloodlust that he seemed to be in, he was yelling obscenities at the enemy and had gone through three magazines already. I pushed him forward and we kept moving, running to flank them.
Unfortunately the enemy learned that we were advancing on their flanks, three of the aliens jumped down in front of me, about 20 feet ahead of us. We instinctively dropped to our stomachs and engaged. I dropped one but the others got behind some debris that was on the walk way. All of a sudden, while one stood up to get a shot off, it recoiled and fell off the bridge. I quickly rushed up while pulling out my Benneli and jumping over the cover and the alien and shot four 12 gauge goose loads into the alien at pointblank range, cutting it into pieces.
"Guardian angel at your service,"
"Thanks Matt I owe you one." I kept moving ahead with Rogers close behind. We got to an enemy strongpoint and we repeated what we did before, attacking the enemy on their exposed flanks.
All of a sudden however, I heard a blood curdling scream through the radio.
"Man down! Man down! Jackson get over here! Fredericks hit!" I was relieved that my brother wasn't hit but I was angry that they hit one of my brothers in arms.
"Falci, bring the Bradley around, the enemy hovercraft are coming across. Quick they move fast!" Rogers screamed into the mike as the hover craft moved towards the main fire team. I heard the 25mm cannon open up on the enemy infantry while also hearing the TOW fly toward the hovercraft, killing them both. This time however, the Bradley stayed and continued to suppress the enemy, killing the hostiles. We quickly finished up and killed off the remaining infantry.
"Colonel, how'd we do?" I said into the radio.
"You did great son, but Frederick, he's paralyzed, his spinal cord was hit, we saved him but he won't be able to walk anymore."
I was in disbelief, my actions led to a man getting hit in combat, changing his life drastically for the rest of his life.
"O.K. sir, were coming up now, let's load up on the Bradley and get into the city before air comes."
Our engagement lasted seven minutes, we killed over fifty enemies and had one man severely wounded. We loaded onto the Bradley and moved into the city, brushing past the cars and dead enemies on the bridge. As we headed into the city, I heard a whoosh and a popping sound as several enemy fighters rushed overhead and destroyed the bridge, burying their own dead under the water and rubble of the bridge.
"What do we do now sir?" asked Coleman, he was scratching additional "kills" into his helmet, now up to 67.
"Now we look for civilians, and we kill as many alien bastards as possible while moving towards the mainland."
A/N: Well that's the next chapter, please read and review, I plan on using everyone's character at one point or another so don't worry your characters will be used if you have submitted them. Thank you and see ya next time.