HALO: HELLJUMPER
By M. Cartwright
CHAPTER IV: COVENANT, COVENANT, AND MORE COVENANT
0029 Hours Local Time, July 6th, 2550 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \
Patterson Avenue, Business District A, Pearl City,
Planet Crystal
Sergeant Kevin Perkins Perspective
An explosion resounded as a nearby car went up in flames. Blue and green globules mixed with crystalline needles ripped through the air towards the two squads of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers who were in cover, returning fire. "Keep up the fire!" Sergeant Kevin Perkins commanded as he aligned the sights of his BR55 Battle Rifle onto a Jackal shooting out the window of a four-story structure in front of them. As soon as he had a zero, he worked the trigger and sent a trio of high velocity rounds screaming towards its bird-like head.
It ducked into cover just in time, the rounds impacting harmlessly somewhere deeper in the room. Perkins mumbled a long list of expletives while impatiently waiting for the Jackal to present itself again as a target. A plasma grenade went off nearby, distracting him momentarily, and he immediately regretted it. The Jackal stepped out of cover and took aim with its Covenant Carbine. It fired a couple of shots in his direction and he instantly heard a heavy thud behind him.
He ignored it for the moment and unloaded a staccato of bursts that met their mark. The Jackal's head tore apart satisfyingly and its body disappeared into the room. No longer having to worry about the enemy sharpshooter, he glanced over his shoulder to see what had made the noise. Lying on the ground in a pool of blood was Lance Corporal Mattis, his close quarters combat expert, with a hole in his stomach, chest, and visor. Perkins cursed loudly and returned his attention to the Covenant troops ahead. There was nothing he good do for Mattis now except avenge him.
"Charlie Five to Charlie Four, advise you align your men to the right and set up a base of fire on the left," Perkins called over the radio to Staff Sergeant Reid, Charlie Four's leader. "My men are spread out along the left, firing right."
"Roger, will do. Out."
God, I hope Charlie Six gets here soon, Perkins thought as he acquired a new target. A quartet of Grunts were making their way across the street towards the entrance to an alley. As far as Perkins could tell that alley would lead the small aliens all the way behind the human line of defense. He wasn't about to allow plasma to be shot up his ass. He quickly practiced snapping his weapon from target-to-target, then squeezed the trigger. Before he even saw the first Grunt go down he was already setting his sights on the next one. And then the next one. And then the last one.
Once the lead Grunt fell, he did a quick scan to make sure he'd dropped the others. With a sadistic grin as he was met with four bullet-ridden corpses, he took a moment to inspect the battlefield in front of him. With a solid base of fire in place, the Covenant were now getting hammered by an unending wall of lead. Bodies of various species' littered the asphalt and the Sergeant watched as one Grunt in particular was reduced to pulp under the combined fire of three ODSTs.
Though, somehow he knew the Covenant weren't going to just lie down and take the beatings. They had to have something being cooked up. The fact that he noticed there weren't as many Elites engaging them as there had been originally lent credence to his theory. They were planning something. He just wished he knew what it was.
Suddenly, he started noticing small numbers in the rear of the Covenant's offensive line pulling back. They rounded a corner onto an adjacent street and disappeared. Then a few more retreated. Then a couple more. Soon all that was left was a few squads of Grunts led by Jackals that had formed a quasi-phalanx in front of them. Sergeant Perkins retrieved a M9 frag grenade from one of the pouches attached to his chest and flung it over the wall of shields. There were surprised squawks from the Jackals and startled cries from the Grunts, who tried in vain to run away.
The resultant explosion engulfed half a dozen aliens in their fiery embrace. Metal fragments rained down on those not caught directly in the blast—the total body count coming up to roughly a dozen. The remaining aliens, without their Jackal overseers, broke formation in every direction in an attempt to flee. This just made them easy targets for the Helljumpers. Within just a few seconds all the Covenant that hadn't retreated fell to the humans' weapons fire and silence fell upon the street.
"Five, this is Four, you saw that, right?" Staff Sergeant Reid inquired incredulously.
"Yeah," Perkins replied, staring ahead. "I don't like it."
"Me neither. Covenant never retreat."
That was what had Sergeant Perkins worried. He about faced and approached his men. Three men and one woman; not counting Mattis since he was a smoldering corpse. Kevin sighed heavily and depolarized his visor so his subordinates' could see his face. What they saw was a young man forced to mature beyond his years. Leading a team of ODSTs in a war against a homicidal alliance of aliens forced people to either grow up fast or end up six feet under. He preferred the former to the latter.
"Troopers," he started, his eyes shifting between them, "the Covies have decided to turn tail and run. Now, I'm not an expert, but that's not normal." He had to bite his lip not to laugh. That was probably the greatest understatement of the century. "So, I elect we do a little recon. Charlie Six should be on their way over here to help us out and we know the bastards are trying to set up shop in the district. So why don't we mosey on over yonder and see what the bad guys are cookin' up for us?"
"Sounds good to me," Corporal Alyssa Deen said.
"No argument here," Private Jernigan quipped.
With a nod, Kevin accessed the overhead map of his VISR and looked for a good place to set up an observation post. Finding an office building six stories tall, he placed a blue NAV marker and uploaded the data to their HUD's. Then he ordered Jernigan to take point and fell in line behind him. "Four, be advised: we're gonna head to an OP and see what the friendly neighborhood Covenant are up to."
"Copy."
After traversing a large alley that led to the backdoor of the office building, the squad stacked up by the door and prepared to enter. Perkins gave the signal with a squeeze of Jernigan's shoulder, and as the door opened, the ODSTs charged inside. The backdoor had brought them into a short, narrow corridor with doors on either side. The hatch closest to them had a sign with stairs on it. Kevin gestured with his finger at the door and Jernigan gave him a thumbs up. They went through the door and once they had confirmed that the immediate area was clear, slowly began to make their way up the stairs to the roof.
Once at the top Perkins noted there was a door to the right that led into the executive offices and an access ladder to the roof directly beside him. He slung his BR over his shoulder and climbed up the ladder. The Sergeant pushed the metal hatch open and pulled himself onto the roof. Then he unslung his rifle and did a quick scan to make sure there were no surprises waiting for them. "Clear," he announced over the SQUADCOM, and the rest of his squad ascended the ladder.
After everyone had successfully climbed their way up to the roof, the five troopers quick-stepped over to the low wall that surrounded the roof and began setting up. Perkins settled his rifle on the wall for support and looked down his scope. Below them was an t-intersection with a long road in front of them that led all the way to a sixteen-story corporate building that the Covenant had decided to occupy. The building seemed more heavily fortified than he remembered.
Purplish-pink barricades had been erected by the broken glass double doors that led to the lobby of the skyscraper. Beyond that and at least a platoon's worth of enemy troops were an array of sniper towers suspended in the air. Surrounding each of them were squads of Covenant, Ghosts, and Wraith tanks. At the front of the enemy's defensive line were the Covenant that had just retreated from the battle with Perkins' and Reid's teams. It looked like they were gathering reinforcements for another push.
"Four, this is Five… the Covenant's been busy."
"Oh yeah? How's that?"
Perkins glanced at Corporal Deen. "Keep an eye on 'em while I'm on the radio."
She gave him the OK symbol and then lowered the macrobinoculars equipped to her helmet. He smirked and returned his attention to his conversation with Reid. "The Covenant have fortified the building we thought they were converting into a CP. Now, I think they've retrofitted it into a full blown headquarters. They got troops, vehicles, and snipers all over the place alongside lots and lots of barricades."
"Jesus Christ," Reid muttered over the comms. "Anything else?"
"Oh yeah," the Sergeant said as if he'd just had another thought. "And the friends we just made are rallying their buddies. Looks like they wanna party."
"Well, I love parties." Reid quipped.
Perkins suppressed a laugh and shook his head. "Copy that," he said with a smirk. Just as he was about to cut the connection, another voice suddenly interjected into the conversation. "Charlie Six to Charlie's Four and Five, check fire. We're on your six."
Staff Sergeant Jonathan Ward quickly crossed the open expanse between him and the two squads they'd been ordered to reinforce. He reached the makeshift perimeter the ODSTs had created and watched as Staff Sergeant Nicholas Reid stepped away from a trooper he had just been talking to and approached him.
"Good to see you, Ward."
"Likewise, Reid," he replied, shaking the fellow Helljumper's hand in greeting. "What's the SITREP?"
Reid stepped to the side and gestured to somewhere off in the distance. "Sergeant Perkins and his team are currently manning an OP overlooking the enemy position. We just got out of a firefight with some of the assholes from that area. They fell back and are apparently regrouping for another assault. The Covenant position, however, doesn't look like a CP. Perkins said he thinks it's a full blown HQ."
There was a harmony of muttered profanity from Ward's men at the news. An enemy headquarters in the city was trouble. It needed to be taken out and fast. However, if the Covenant had fortified it as well as Reid had suggested, then taking it out was going to be one tall order. By no means would it be easy and if they failed, the consequences would be deadly. Heaving a sigh, Ward nodded his head and contemplated what to do. Obviously a full frontal assault would be suicide and not just because they didn't have the numbers; they didn't have the right equipment either.
No, the trick to destroying the enemy's headquarters would be outsmarting the enemy. Finding a weakness in their defenses and exploiting it.
He could only hope that it would be that easy.
"Alright," Ward said finally, coming to a decision. "Stay here and keep sharp. We're going to head over to the OP and see this shit for ourselves. When we have a plan, I'll let you know."
Reid nodded and walked off back to his squad. Ward patched his VISR into Perkins's and followed the NAV marker to the observation post, the rest of Charlie Six in tow behind him. Once they'd traveled down the alley, through the building, and reached the roof, Ward walked up beside Sergeant Perkins and looked out towards the enemy HQ. Just as Reid had said, the Covenant had been busy. Sniper towers, Wraiths, Ghosts, ground troops, and drop-ships swooping in to drop off more. Soon there'd been a whole army of aliens down there.
But, one thing Ward happened to notice was the apparent lack of anti-aircraft weapons and vehicles by the HQ. It looked as if the Covenant expected the enemy to attack the headquarters from the ground more so than the air. Perhaps they thought that they were in control of the skies. This wasn't far off from the truth. Covenant Banshees had been hard at work to keep the UNSC's aircraft out of the area. He'd seen plenty of Banshees flying around while on the way here.
However, a handful of jets could probably sneak into the airspace undetected just long enough to execute a precision strike. It would have to be timed just perfectly or the Covenant would have Banshees on the pilots in seconds. An asset such as a headquarters is something no enemy will willingly give up without a fight. But, the only other option would be to try and assault the damn thing on foot. And that would require more troops than they had. Likely the entire company.
"You look like you have a plan, Staff Sergeant," Sergeant Perkins observed, a toothy grin creasing his features.
"I just might."
Before the sergeant could say anything more, Ward switched his radio to the company command frequency and pressed the 'talk' key on his handset. "Charlie Six to CP, be advised: I have eyes on Covenant forces establishing a headquarters on Half Mile Road. Position is heavily fortified with tanks, light vehicles, and well over a company's worth of infantry. Break."
He paused and looked out one more time to see if there was anything else worth noting.
There wasn't.
"Interrogative: requesting CAS strike on Al-Julani Mining Corporation headquarters. Transmitting coordinates now, over."
He waited for what felt like an eternity for a response. While he waited he unconsciously started to tap his fingers on the concrete partition in impatience. Sergeant Perkins glanced at him curiously but said nothing of it. For that, the Staff Sergeant was grateful.
"Charlie Six, roger," rang Captain Schruger's, Charlie Company's commander, in his ear. "Be advised: we've passed your request for air support to battalion. Standby."
Ward faced about and sat down, resting his back against the partition. He popped the seals on his helmet and took it off, placing it beside him. A wave of fresh, cool air caressed his cheek and he sighed. If their request for air support was approved by battalion and they managed to get a few fighters to take out the headquarters, there would still be the issue of the ground forces. How they were going to handle that problem, he hadn't a clue.
Sergeant Perkins looked down at him and chuckled. "Long night?"
"Yeah," was all Ward could think to say.
"So… I've been thinking."
Jon looked up at him with a blank stare. "Go on."
Perkins nodded and let go of his rifle. He knelt down beside the Staff Sergeant and took off his own helmet. Kevin Perkins was a fairly handsome man with light brown hair trimmed into a fade style cut and dark green eyes that looked unfocused. When he looked at Ward, it was as if he was looking through him; the famous thousand yard stare in action. Jon smiled weakly at him. A lot of people had acquired that look because of the war. Some further gone than the young sergeant. Personally, Ward was surprised he didn't have the same look.
He'd been through a lot.
"Even if we get some flyboys to come in and save the day, we're still gonna be left with a metric shit ton of baddies wanting to vaporize our faces." Ward nodded with a chuckle. He wouldn't have said it like that—but what Perkins said was true nonetheless. "So, the question then becomes: what do we do with those trigger happy Covies out there? And, through a stroke of genius, I think I have an idea."
Ward furrowed his brow and leaned forward a little; his curiosity piqued.
"What I'm thinking is we set up sharpshooters on this building and the two in front of us on either side of the road," he explained, gesturing to the two buildings up ahead that Ward couldn't see. "Then we send our three teams down the adjacent roads. They approach each intersection—each defensive line—and engage the Covenant troops there while the sharpshooters ice the enemy's snipers and heavy hitters. We don't begin our assault until the flyboys come in and start hitting the HQ building with everything they got. Hopefully, this'll keep the enemy dazed and confused enough that they won't be able to organize and spank our happy asses into oblivion."
The Staff Sergeant thought about the idea for a few minutes in silence. It wasn't perfect, by any stretch, but it might have been crazy enough to work. If their request was approved and the fighters swooped in and started hitting the HQ, that would cause a great deal of confusion and chaos among the ranks of the Covenant ground troops. A simultaneous attack would only add to it.
They wouldn't be able to keep that up for long, though. But, if they were able to put even a fraction of a dent in the Covenant's numbers, then the plan would be a success. And, though he didn't like to admit it, he had no other ideas to toss onto the metaphorical table. "I like it." Ward stated. Perkins smiled widened, if that was even possible, and he stood up.
"Great, I'll tell the others the plan," he said, and then with that, he walked off without another word.
Ward stood up and took one last look out towards the enemy.
They had a lot of aliens to kill.