PFC Andreas, D. Day 1, 1330 Hrs.
Private First Class David Andreas watched the Covenant corvette climb higher into the sky. Shells of bright blue plasma rocketed down onto the city below. Then several streaks of blue fire hurled down to the west, impacting Bravo Company's AO. Like Bravo, Andreas and Alpha Company had spent the majority of the morning evacuating any remaining refugees too stubborn to evacuate to the space port any sooner. Their area of operations had been a massive apartment complex to the east, just outside the mountain highway leading north out of the valley. They had cleared the complex in record time and were holding their position, awaiting orders before becoming transfixed on the spectacle they now saw before them.
As the corvette continued to gain altitude and fire upon the city, a bolt of golden light shook the clouds over the southern end of the valley. The lightning round rocketed through the corvette's midsection at high velocity, shattering it in half amidst a thunderous explosion. The trees swayed from the sheer force of the explosion, and the ground and windows shook and shattered. The corvette, now burning blue, yellow, and purple, rapidly descended upon the valley. Its crash was equally as thunderous and earth-shaking as the weapon that had brought it down. The tail end crashed lower into the valley, erupting in flames and secondary explosions, while the front half landed directly east of them, carving a path right through the apartments Alpha had cleared earlier that day.
Their CO, Captain Ragland, called his platoon leaders together. He had received orders from Colonel Baker to seize, secure, and defend the corvette's crash site and bridge. He briefed his men as quickly as he could, for the Covenant would soon be rushing for the objective as well. Alpha Company was made up of three platoons and their weapons attachments. 1st was to move up the left flank and secure a perimeter along the north of the crashed ship. 3rd would move along the right flank and secure the south end of the ship. 2nd would push directly into the wreckage, kill or capture any survivors, and maintain a defensive position from inside the ruins. All of the machine guns and sniper teams would take up overwatch positions in the apartment complex, providing cover for the rest of the company while they conducted the assault.
In short order, the briefings were disseminated throughout the ranks, moving downwards from lieutenants to platoon sergeants, to squad leaders, then team leaders, and then to the lower enlisted. The Marines took all essential gear and left what they didn't need back at the company staging area. Soon, they were in position and ready to move. Cpt Ragland gave the order, and the men were underway, moving hurriedly but silently through the neighborhood streets, scanning every corner and rooftop they came across.
Andreas was the anti-tank specialist in his squad. He was a big man in his early twenties, so he was easily able to carry both his MA5 and a full combat load alongside the loaded M41 slung across his back. PFC Vang, a short and young eighteen-year-old, carried four rockets in a pack across his back. PFC Gonzalez, a rifleman, was the only one who didn't carry extra gear. Their team leader was LCpl Gordon. He led them into the shadow of the burning and ruined apartments with calm and competence despite his young age. Along with the rest of 2nd platoon, they cautiously began to sift through the ruins of the corvette.
All around him, flames swirled and rose. Andreas found that he had to be mindful of the wreckage above him too, as drops of flame and small, burning pieces of metal occasionally crashed down around the Marines. Torn and mangled alien bodies lay scattered everywhere. The Marines kicked at and thumped each body with their rifle muzzles, secretly hoping that the bodies would stir so that they could find reprieve in personally ending their lives.
As soon as they entered the corvette, 2nd platoon began to split up, first by squad, then by fireteams. Eventually, Gordon led the team to a defensible position on the far side of the ship. The hull had been torn from the ship on two decks, providing a decent view of the highway on the far side of the crash site but managing to give the Marines enough cover at the same time. Their platoon leader coordinated the security of the Marines throughout the ship, placing the machine guns and snipers who had moved up to join them throughout the ship and into adjacent buildings. Meanwhile, Cpt Ragland and another fireteam secured the bridge.
The team waited while the leadership scoured the ship's control room. Every Marine remained silent, intent on defense. Andreas wondered how long they would have to remain in this position, and he knew many of the other Marines wondered the same thing too. They did not enjoy being on the defensive, but their orders were to hold the crash site. He knew the Covenant were out there, stalking amidst the buildings within his field of fire. The distant booming of artillery and gunfire echoed around him and the others. Somewhere, Marines were in the middle of the fight of their lives, but Alpha's sector was quiet. Too quiet.
Gordon crouched beside Andreas and Vang. "Keep your eyes on that tower on the ridge," he said, pointing to a skinny building rising above a small but dense treeline atop a hill, some long distance away.
"Do we know if any hostiles are coming Lance Corporal?" Vang asked.
"No. Just keep scanning your sector and do your job Marine, okay?"
"Ooh-rah."
The Lance Corporal stared out silently for a while, then he said, "We're waiting on some specialist to retrieve the ship's nav data. I know you're getting tense, but keep doing what you're doing. Then hopefully we'll pack up and move out. I don't like being here anymore than you."
Andreas nodded his head in agreement. He considered himself lucky to have a smart and no-nonsense team leader who knew how to do his job. In fact, the majority of Alpha Company was highly competent, and he was proud to be a part of them.
"I'm gonna check on Gonzalez," Gordon said after another pause. He slid away and moved to the Marine's position and assessed him and his field of fire.
Then a Pelican flew overhead, coming in low and setting a rush of air and jetwash against the flames it passed over. It quickly decelerated and hovered over the wreckage, but from where Andreas was he couldn't see it. As soon as it was above them, the squad leader's radio quietly chattered. He whispered something to Gordon, and Gordon passed it on to his fireteam.
"Keep your eyes open," he said. And as soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of plasma slammed into the hull beside him.
The stretch of buildings across the highway began to light up with flashes of green and blue. A heavy barrage of plasma fire hammered at the Marine positions. Upon their left and right, 1st and 3rd platoon returned fire heatedly. 2nd, taking the heaviest volume of fire within the ship, returned fire as best they could, but the majority of their fireteams were pinned down by the Covenant's heavily focused fire and the support provided by hastily erected plasma turrets.
Andreas hefted the M41 onto his shoulder. Checking quickly to see that his back blast was clear, he loosed a rocket into the distant structures. It shot out of the launcher with a hollow pop. The round hit the corner of a building where plasma fire had been coming out of a second story window. A boom reported the explosion as Andreas observed an orange and grey ball of heat rise into the air. Many more streams of fire and smoke propelled toward the enemy, followed by similar explosions. All the while, the machine guns and support-by-fire platoons kept up a steady stream of suppressing fire.
The firefight kept on for the next minute, several Marines were killed or wounded, but they couldn't determine the amount of damage they were inflicting upon the Covenant soldiers. Both sides exchanged even and heavy amounts of fire across the deserted freeway. Gonzalez had been shot in the head from a carbine. Gordon checked his vitals briefly, but he knew better than to expect the Marine to have survived such a fatal shot. He quickly grabbed the fallen man's ammo and distributed it to the rest of the fireteam. By now, Vang had given up his pack to Andreas so that he could reload the M41.
The Pelican that was hovering overhead had been shot down as soon as it moved in to the crash site. Three lightly armored ONI Recon operatives managed to leap out of the downed bird as soon as it began to spin wildly out of control. The demise of the pelican was brought on by a flight of three phantoms which now hovered over the crash site and the ONI agents. The three quickly descended into the corvette's wreckage, making their way to the bridge and linking up with the CO.
Andreas heard the squad leader's radio above the chaos of the firefight. "Break, break, break! Immortal Actual, this is Immortal Recon, you have Covenant soldiers landing atop the ship, break. Phantoms are holding station and engaging Immortal elements. We're engaging – doing the best we can, over."
"Recon, Actual copies all. Immortal 2, move to engage boarders."
"Immortal 2 copies." The squad leaders began to run back and forth between their teams, telling them to pick up and be ready for a close quarters fight. The battle continued to rage outside, but already, Andreas could hear gunfire on the above decks as the machine gun teams battled the Covenant soldiers. Third squad was the closest to the upper deck, and they were the first to engage the ambushers. Andreas' squad, first, moved their way towards the aft of the half-ship and found a way upwards. They linked up with a detachment from 3rd platoon coming out of the nearby ruins to help.
The upper deck was a mess of gunfire and bodies. Third had suffered near-total casualties, and Andreas' squad leader could find none of them still around to continue the attack. Second had begun to engage the enemy elsewhere as well, and their lieutenant, Immortal 2, was with them. As they moved up the deck, a plasma grenade erupted behind them, taking out a Marine from 3rd platoon. A Zealot-class Elite emerged from behind a damaged door and began wildly attacking Marines with an energy sword. Two more Marines were cut down before the combined fire of both squads brought the single attacking Elite down.
Soon, they began to take heavy fire from down the hall. Marines dropped down either to the ground or behind wreckage and began yelling, "Contact!" Three shots from a needler hit the squad leader directly in the chest. He fell to the ground gasping while his squad returned fire and attempted to retrieve him, but the needles shattered and burst, sending a red mist exploding from his chest before he died. Down the hall, Grunts and Jackals kept on the pressure, but the Marines fearlessly advanced into the enemy, MA5s firing all the way.
They moved from room to hallway to chamber to hanger, clearing out Covenant and helping whatever other Marines from 2nd platoon they could find. Corporal Kawakura had taken charge after Immortal 2-1's death, but when he led the squad around a corner and opened fire on an Elite, he was struck multiple times by the Elite's plasma rifle. Mortally wounded, he kept firing until they had cleared that hall, and then he eventually died despite what medical care the squad could give him. Gordon was then in charge, and he pushed everyone on in the vicious close quarters fighting. By the end of it, second squad, Immortal 2-2, was combat ineffective after having lost more than half of their men. Their own squad, first, had taken losses as well. Their squad leader and senior team leader were KIA along with two other Marines in the squad, and more than half of the survivors were wounded in some way or another. Of the detachment from 3rd platoon, only three still remained with them.
Andreas heard the radio buzz to life again. It was Cpt Ragland. "2-1, this is Actual."
Gordon pressed the talk button and replied, "Go ahead Actual," just as Andreas unshouldered his M41 and moved to the opening of the hanger they had holed up in. Outside, the firefight continued on, although the high volume of fire had died down to more concentrated bursts and potshots. The Phantoms overhead kept an aggressive watch over the downed corvette like wild animals having cornered their prey.
"2-1, move to the bridge. We have three guests need an escort off the ship, how copy over?" Andreas brought his M41 up, sighted a phantom, and fired off a rocket. It struck directly beneath the transport and exploded within the troop bay. Shaking about, the Phantom pulled up and flew unsteadily to safety. The others circled around and began to rain plasma down upon Andreas' position. He let loose a second rocket and caught another Phantom in the nose, severely damaging it and destroying its turret, but the frontal armor kept the alien craft airborne and still dangerous. Andreas took cover before he could be hit.
Gordon had flinched in surprise when Andreas first fired the rocket launcher, but he composed himself and keyed his mic again, "Good copy Actual, 2-1 is moving to the bridge to provide escort, over."
"Actual, out."
The team leader waved his non-firing hand into the air and motioned towards the general direction of the bridge. "2-1, let's go." The rest of the Marines they had picked up along the way carried on, moving to pick off any stragglers from the attack. 2-1 at that point consisted of Andreas, Vang, Gordon in Bravo fireteam, and five other Marines that made up the squad's Alpha and Charlie fireteams.
When the Marines reached the bridge, the three ONI personnel met them and were ready to go. Andreas couldn't help but feel intimidated and a little spooked in their presence. They wore black uniforms and ODST chest plates but with no shoulder pauldrons, and their faces were obscured behind high-tech Recon helmets. One of them shoved a small hard case into a pack on his back and readied his suppressed M7. The other two were ready to go, and a rather lean, tall one approached LCpl Gordon and said with a distinctly received pronunciation and a woman's voice, "That man with the pack, he needs to get it out of here. Got that Lance Corporal?"
Gordon nodded, the least bit unfazed with having to interact with ONI. He said, "Got it ma'am. Where's your LZ?"
"We're going to break out from the cover of this corvette and push 300 meters west," she replied.
"That's no good ma'am, we'll be exposed the whole way. Frankly, we can take out the Phantoms with the rest of our M41s and have the Pelican pick you up on top of the corvette."
"No. That was the primary LZ; it's too hot. We're headed for the secondary one." Before he could protest anymore, she added, "I didn't ask for your opinion Lance Corporal. You just need to do your job and get us to where we're going, got that?"
"Roger," he grumbled, "We're ready to move out when you are."
After reloading on ammo and explosives, Andreas followed Vang and Gordon out. The three ONI agents fell in behind them and the rest of the squad picked up the rear. They left through a massive tear in the ship's hull and maneuvered their way through the rubble of the heavily damaged apartment complex. MA5s chattered in the distance around them, coming from the far side of the ship. Sniper teams should've been on the rooftops to support them, but the phantoms had either picked them off or drove them into the buildings.
As soon as they stepped out from the shadow of the ruins, a Phantom swooped in and hovered over them. A grunt swiveled a side-mounted plasma turret in their direction and opened fire, loosing a torrent of white hot plasma in their direction. While the Marines took cover, Gordon yelled to Andreas, "Take that bastard out!"
Andreas complied. He took a knee, popped out from cover, and with a whoosh, he sent a rocket flying straight into the Phantom's troop bay. It struggled in the air for a moment, then PFC Andreas fired another rocket which struck the side of its nose. The Phantom lost control and altitude, crashing into the side of a building and sending a rain of metal and colorful fire to the ground below.
"Ooh-rah! Nice shot man!" Vang screamed.
"Pick up. Let's move," Gordon ordered.
As they advanced down a wide alley between two apartments, Vang began to push ahead of the squad. He sprinted to a side corridor and cleared it, scanning it for a brief second before pushing forward. Continuing down the avenue, one of the ONI operatives announced, "150 meters to extraction!" And as PFC Vang pushed forward, a beam of purple energy suddenly pierced him through the chest, having been fired from a building to their 11 o'clock.
"Sniper!" the Marines yelled as they took to cover. Another beam fired into their midst, taking out the ONI agent who had counted the distance to the LZ. Everyone scattered, ducking into doorways and behind pillars. Andreas and Gordon rushed forward to a truck and took cover behind its vehicle bed. The sniper continued a stream of light harassing fire, while several meters directly ahead, a line of Jackals advanced with shields abreast and plasma pistols firing.
"Stay down," Gordon told him, "I need to get a grenade into them." He took a frag grenade from his pouch and primed it, but the second he peeked out to throw it, a barrage of plasma peppered his position. He cursed, then ducking, he tossed the grenade out blindly. The ensuing explosion was followed by several inhuman screams, those of which sounded like the dying screeches of a vicious creature. The plasma fire, however, kept coming, and the sniper kept up his harassment.
Andreas motioned to Vang, whose limp form lay out in the open. The pack of rockets was still on his back. They could have been damaged by the beam rifle, but they could have still been intact. Gordon nodded; it was worth a try. Taking out another grenade, the LCpl tossed it out blindly. It went off, taking out a few more Jackals. Andreas then rushed from cover, using the small amount of dust that had been kicked up as cover. He grabbed the dead Marine's body and dragged him behind the truck, opening the pack and reloading his M41.
Two Marines from 2-1 had cleared their way onto the fourth floor of an adjoining building and now had eyes on the sniper. They fired at the Jackal's position from their window while Andreas readied his launcher. The sniper fired back taking off the arm of one of the Marines and causing the other to duck out of sight. At that point, Andreas had already sighted the Jackal in his M41's scope. He fired quickly, and the rocket blew out the entire section of the wall it struck. A small shockwave washed over them from the explosion. The sniper fire ceased, and the Marines picked up and advanced.
Gordon shouted, "I need a frag out front."
"Gotcha!" another Lance Corporal replied, priming and tossing the grenade into the midst of attacking Jackals. The Marines braced for another explosion as the Jackals were cut to bits by the shrapnel and force of the explosion.
The two remaining ONI agents at the rear, as well as two Marines that were defending them, soon came under fire from the 6 o'clock. The tall, female agent called Andreas' team leader over the radio. "Covenant lance at our six. We need to move forward now," she said. Her voice was controlled and professional, but Andreas could pick up a hint of urgency.
Gordon keyed his radio, "Move up. We're clear up here." The four personnel at the rear broke contact in tandem, bounding backwards towards Gordon and Andreas and alternatively laying down suppression. Several bolts of plasma flew at them, but the rate of fire was too slow to overcome their retreat. As soon as they made it to the rest of the squad, everyone began to push forward.
The other Lance Corporal, one of the escorting Marines, and the two Marines in the building stayed back, guarding the rear and tending to the wounded man. Andreas, Gordon, the two ONI operatives and another Marine from their squad accompanied them. Several Banshees flew over head and attempted a gun run on them, but the tall apartment buildings prevented the air attack from having any serious effect.
When they reached a small clearing with only a few two-story buildings around them for cover the female agent stopped. "Hold here. This is the LZ," she said, getting on her helmet comm and calling in a Pelican, "Hotel 2-0-5, this is Shadow 1, we're in position at LZ Bravo. Waiting for pick up, over." She was silent as the Pelican pilot responded to her on her comm, "Roger, possible enemy activity at pick up site, over." Another moment of silence; the rest of the group pulled security, staying as alert to their surroundings as possible. Towards the downed corvette, the battle continued with both sides still locked in a grueling stalemate. She spoke up again, "We don't have time for that. Our package is high priority so get your ass down here pilot!" Another moment passed and the pelican could be heard descending from above.
It landed over some raised terrain ahead of them and the ramp dropped. The crew chief reached out to the other ONI agent who carried the package. As soon as he stepped aboard, movement in a nearby building caught Andreas' eye. Before anyone could act, a fuel rod streaked across the clearing and exploded against the pelican's left engine. Another fuel rod hit it in the exact same spot. Andreas opened fire with his MA5, the rounds picking apart the window the Covenant had been firing from.
For Hotel 205, the damage had already been done. It quickly lost thrust and sunk to the ground. The ONI agent and the crew chief both tumbled out of the back. Andreas kept up his fire, but as he hit his mark he saw energy shields flicker in the dark of the window sill. Moving to cover, he began to reload while Gordon picked up his sector of fire. The Elite brandished the fuel rod gun high and fired again, this time into the cockpit of the Pelican, vaporizing the two pilots as they struggled to unclip themselves and exit the vehicle. Soon, the building to the front end of the Pelican began to rain plasma upon the LZ.
The agent known as Shadow 1 cursed as she rushed to her reeling partner and kneeled beside him. They and the crew chief returned fire. The three Marines maneuvered to the left and got on line. Andreas took a knee behind a tree and ducked as a fuel rod sailed above his head, exploding against the building a ways behind him. He raised his M41 and fired his last rocket into the enemy position. The barrage of enemy fire quickly decreased, and Gordon and his other squadmate bounded forward and pressed the assault.
As the two Marines advanced, a red Elite leapt down from the second floor of the structure beside them. It fired a long burst of fire into the back of Gordon's companion, killing him instantly. Andreas rose up and watched as Gordon grabbed at the Elite's plasma rifle, but it simply raised a leg and kicked him several feet away. Andreas brought up his MA5 and rushed the Elite, firing wildly. He drained its shielding by the time he closed the distance, but at such close range, the Elite knocked away the PFC's assault rifle with ease. Clenching his fist, Andreas punched the Elite dead on in the jaw, sending it stumbling. The large Marine and the Elite then wrestled briefly, before the alien warrior kneed Andreas in the chest and, picking him up by the neck, tossed him down onto his back. Before it could continue its work however, automatic weapons fire ripped apart its armor and flesh, eliciting an inhuman scream and sending its bloody and limp body falling backwards onto the ground.
Shadow 1 stood over Andreas and helped him up. Gordon picked up his assault rifle and moved over to them. She said, "This situation's just gone to hell. Command won't risk another Pelican. Lance Corporal, you can take your Marines and fall back to Alpha Company now."
"What the hell are you gonna do now ma'am?" Gordon asked.
"I've got my mission to do," she glanced out towards the space port, far in the distance beside downtown, "My teammate and I are going to get there one way or another." She walked briskly over to her waiting companion, who rose up from a knee and made ready to move out. With a nod to the Marines as they passed, the two ONI operatives hurried off down the hill, heading towards the denser parts of Victory City where the fighting was heavier.
Andreas looked around and assessed the condition of their fallen comrade. He looked at Gordon and shook his head, taking the man's tags and ammo. LCpl Gordon helped the shaken crew chief to his feet, and they headed back to link up with the rest of their squad and Company.