LCpl Knight, J. Day 1, 1030 Hrs

The men of Bravo Company, 1/15 Marines, 58th MEU were out on patrol again. When the seraphs started bombarding the hills north of the city, the Marines were ordered to evacuate any remaining civilians from their homes. After the initial pass of Covenant aircraft, the company commander ordered another sweep of the streets to both police Covenant activity, and to pick up any civilian stragglers.

2nd Platoon moved in a staggered column throughout an abandoned neighborhood street. With every block they reached, a fireteam would break off from the platoon for every building they passed by. The men moved quickly, forcing their way into homes, moving room to room, and shouting their presence. They found few civilians, and preferred to move fast. The longer they were moving about, the more chance they had of being ambushed by the Covenant.

Lance Corporal Joshua Knight pulled security from a ridge as the platoon finished searching yet another neighborhood. From his position, he could see the whole valley, now engulfed in heavy fighting. Already, thousands of Covenant had managed to land. Other than the corvette, a massive aerial landing came at the city from the sea to the west. Their lines were heavily disrupted, and the Covenant were everywhere. He silently bemoaned the fact that he had to be out in the open, moving about from street to street, waiting to get shot at.

His team leader, LCpl Remann, whistled tersely at him and the other members of the team. Remann lifted his non-firing hand, palm facing upwards. Then he motioned down the street where the rest of the platoon was headed. Acknowledging the signal, the team rose to their feet and fell into formation with the rest of the unit.

Over the platoon leader's radio, the Marines heard Lieutenant Lann talking with 3rd Platoon. "Warrior 3 Actual, say again over," he asked in his thick Alabaman accent.

"Warrior 2, this is 3 Actual. We're at the rally point, holding in a defensive posture northwest of the intersection. Expecting contact with Covenant, how copy over?"

"Solid copy 3 Actual – expecting Covenant, break. We're oscar mike from the east, half a klick out. I'm gonna send out a recon, check your sector for friendlies."

"Roger 2. Warrior 3 Actual out."

Lt Lann motioned to the leader of 3rd Squad, Cpl Haines. Haines and the LT discussed something for a few moments, and then the LT called the unit to a halt. Every man took a knee behind whatever cover they could find, facing outwards to provide security. The young, fresh-faced Cpl ran over to his squad, of which Knight happened to be a part of, and he crouched down beside his three team leaders. Remann then got up from the squad leader and went to his men.

"Alright, LT wants us to push out and recon the area between us and 3rd Platoon. Alpha team's gonna get the houses on the right, Charlie's on the street, and we got the left," Remann announced. Then he got up and motioned to his men, "Let's go."

Knight followed along. When they got to the first house, Remann, and PFC Hernandez cleared the building. Knight and PFC Greenholder moved up towards the second house. Unlike Hernandez, who was large, competent, and trustworthy with a heavy weapon such as his M41 launcher, Greenholder was a bit slower than the rest. The rookie PFC stopped just outside a rather slightly ajar side door, glancing curiously inside through the gap. Knight grabbed the PFC and yanked him back out of the doorway. The Lance Corporal hit the console for the door, and it slid open. Both Marines moved quietly inside, clearing the building room by room.

The top floor had lost its roof, and most of the floor was charred black. Again, LCpl Knight could see the whole valley from here. He took up a position overlooking the rest of the hill below him. Just then, movement caught his eye. Down in the trees, several hundred meters away, he spotted shapes moving through the foliage. Colorful armor and fast-moving, alien bodies stood out from the green of the hillside. They were headed towards the Marines' rally point.

Knight turned to Greenholder and spoke, "We got contact."

"Where?" the PFC asked in both apprehension and excitement.

"Down in the treeline." He pointed down into the valley. Greenholder came up to take a look, but as soon as he stepped into an open window, he was knocked flat against the wall. The LCpl was on top of him, scolding, "Hey idiot, don't go silhouetting yourself. Jackals are down there."

"Sorry."

He got onto his feet and pulled the PFC along. "C'mon let's get downstairs." Upon seeing Remann, he spoke up, "Remann, we got contact. Covenant are down the hill moving towards Warrior 3's position."

"Alright. Good job." Remann then got onto his helmet comm and relayed the information to Haines, who relayed it to Lt Lann. Then the squad leader came up to get a look at the Covenant. However, he didn't manage to see as many as Knight had – the enemy soldiers were moving too fast.

Before long, the call came in over the radio that 3rd Platoon was taking contact just ahead, and the sounds of gunfire in the distance confirmed it. Their squad, Warrior 2-3, immediately fell back in with the rest of the platoon. Lt Lann ordered them to double time it. The sounds of gunfire were becoming louder towards the front. Several explosions met their ears, and the men readied their rifles as they moved to support their allies. Then a voice from 3rd Platoon called in, "Warrior 2, this is 3. We are falling back. Covenant have outflanked us and we can no longer hold the intersection, over."

Lt Lann was decisive in his reply, "Roger Warrior 3. We're gonna push forward and hit them from the rear. Check your fire, over."

"Copy. Warrior 3, out."

As soon as he finished speaking, bursts of fire from plasma rifles began cutting into their ranks. Marines ducked frantically and rushed to cover, all the while shouting "Contact!" and returning fire. 1st Squad was at the front, returning fire and advancing towards the enemy. Knight dropped and hugged the concrete. A plasma grenade detonated in the middle of the street, showering him with debris. Several Marines rushed past him, MA5's chattering. As soon as Knight rose up to his knees to join them, he saw one of his fellow Marines take several hits and drop down in front of him. Knight recognized him and grabbed the man, pulling him into cover behind a low wall. The Marine was LCpl Christopher Nichols. Knight cursed to himself as he collected the dog tags. Nichols was KIA.

Across the street, Knight saw Remann cutting through an alley, busting through a gate and knocking over debris. His team leader disappeared around the corner. Knight looked behind him and saw the rest of the fireteam. Hernandez, Greenholder, and several other squadmates were crouched low in the grass. He motioned to them and shouted above the sound of the firefight, "Remann's across the street! We're going around, let's move!" He rose up and rushed across the road, plasma whipped through the air around him. With his body crashing against the side of a house, he looked behind and saw his squadmates fall in beside him. Nodding, he turned and advanced up the alley, and they followed him.

Behind the houses were a courtyard and a community pool for the residents who had once occupied the surrounding cluster of homes. The Marines advanced forward. Remann was just ahead, trotting along the edges of the pool. Knight spotted him and sprinted up to him, but as soon as he caught up, a Grunt rounded the corner in front of them. They both cursed and fired, their MA5's ripping the alien to pieces and tearing apart the nearby poolside decor.

As the first one fell, a much taller one came around, this one fast and armored in a dark shade of blue. White hot fire burst from the weapon in its hand, and a bolt struck Remann in the chest. It knocked him flat on his back. Knight reacted, unloading his assault rifle in a fully automatic barrage. Rounds ricocheted off the alien, and it ducked behind a vertical slab of concrete as the pulsing energy field protecting it began to diminish. The Marine ducked behind concrete of his own as the Elite returned fire. Plasma seared through his cover, peppering him with falling debris. He unclipped a grenade from his torso, primed it, and tossed it towards the attacker. The elite let out a roar before the grenade exploded. Out of the dust, several more Grunts began to appear. But seeing Knight emerge to engage them, as well as the rest of the fire team now advancing forward, they panicked and were cut down by rifle fire.

Knight went over to Remann and knelt beside him. Remann sat up, dazed. He examined his armor – a single scorched hole was formed around the center of his chest plate. Knight spoke in disbelief as he helped him to his feet, "Not even wounded man. "

Remann shook his head. "Can't let it happen again." He went over to the nearest house. "Stack up," he ordered, "We're gonna provide cover."

The Marines gathered beside the door, and when Remann opened it, they stormed inside. Quickly, they secured both floors and took up positions by the front door and windows. Hernandez, Greenholder, and Knight were on the second floor, firing at the enemy flanks from above. Four other Marines from alpha team were on the first floor, PFC Reintz, PFC Hollis, LCpl Day, and their team leader, Cpl Herndon. The other members of their squad were just outside the back door.

Knight fired a burst from his MA5, then ducked behind the walls to reload. Returning plasma fire impacted and fizzed around the window he stood by. Greenholder was at another window across the room, taking potshots whenever he could. From the next room, a heavy blast of air rocked the house, followed by a small cloud of smoke trailing from the hall. A devastating explosion from the Covenant position signaled the use of Hernandez' M41 against the enemy. Reintz began firing 40mm grenades from his M319. Knight leaned over and fired two quick bursts from his assault rifle, watching a Jackal go down in the hail of lead. Hollis and Day gunned down an Elite making a rush for the entryway. Then several Jackals and Grunts attempted to advance on the house before being pushed back.

Remann came bursting into the room yelling, "Shift fire, Shift fire! They're pushing up." Outside, Lt Lann led the Marines forward, driving back the Covenant soldiers. Knight, Hernandez, and Greenholder continued to take potshots from their position as the assault gained way. Finally, the Covenant forces were driven off.

While the Marines ahead linked up with the other platoon, 3rd Squad assessed their casualties. "Damnit, man down!" Cpl John Herndon shouted. He was crouched beside the lifeless body of PFC Reintz. Nobody had seen him go down in the chaos. The corporal, a resilient Marine, though slightly in shock, went to inform the squad leader. Haines told him to collect the tags, and then he began informing the platoon leader over the radio. Day was also with the squad leader, pouring biofoam into a small wound on his left arm.

Cpl Sanders, Charlie team's leader, examined the body. He sighed, wiping his large, dark brow. Then he turned to the squad and asked, "Who's gonna carry the 319?"

"Don't worry about it. He was my guy, I'll carry it," Herndon spoke up, walking back to the squad. He had been distraught earlier, but was calm now. He picked up Reintz' grenade launcher and all the ammo that went with it.

Now all that was left was to await the medevac birds. Then they would head back to the company headquarters. Remann turned to Knight, and Knight looked back knowingly. Knight turned back to Greenholder and Hernandez, "Alright guys, we're gonna set up an LZ. Bird's coming in." And they set about their work.