LCpl Knight, J. Day 1, 2500 Hrs.
It was now the middle of the night. Bravo Company had been conducting sporadic patrols throughout the afternoon. When battalion HQ, Warlord, ordered the overextended infantry companies to fall back to the downtown firebase, Bravo hadn't received word. Due to plasma bombardment and a Covenant attack, the entirety of Bravo Company's command had been wiped out. The order finally reached them when Charlie Company, callsign Chosen, had fallen back to form a perimeter around battalion and the HQ called wondering where they were.
By order of rank, 1Lt Walsh from first platoon would've been in charge. However, he was killed during an attack while his platoon was holding the road leading into the northern hill residential zones. Command now fell onto 2Lt Logan Lann of second platoon.
Lann was the commander of Lance Corporal Knight's platoon. He had ordered his Marines to complete their current patrol before telling them that they had orders to pull back to battalion HQ. Knight respected the man, who was roughly his age, although possibly a year or two older. He was decisive and competent, but the back and forth skirmishes in the north hills had drained the Lance Corporal of his motivation. Lt Lann's strategy of conducting patrols by the platoon and hitting targets and then retreating did nothing to help Bravo Company gain any solid ground, only to take it and then give it back up to the swarms of enemies they faced.
Now they were in the middle of an extensive park, in the middle of the night, lying flat on the ground with all digital displays powered off. Externally, Knight did nothing to show his discontent and exhaustion, only mechanically following the orders of Cpl Remann. They were waiting for third platoon to link up with them. Then they would head south, link up with first platoon, and then head through the city to HQ as a company. Up above, Phantoms hovered by, searching for any evidence of the Marines. They were about to be surrounded.
The entire platoon lay in a roughly triangular shape, with heavier weapons placed at the apexes. Lt Lann, his platoon sergeant, SSgt Lindelli, and his RTO, Cpl Antonov, were all situated in the middle of the formation. Knight lay directly beside PFC Greenholder facing the east. Roughly five meters to their right was PFC Hernandez and Cpl Remann. Five meters to their left was LCpl Day and PFC Hollis. Down that way, the rest of fireteam Bravo and Charlie made up the rest of the line. Warrior 2-2 and 2-1, the other squads, made up the other lines to the formation.
They had been lying on the ground for nearly an hour. Knight speculated that 3rd platoon was possibly lost or dead. They hadn't heard any gunfire from their direction, so they couldn't have been overrun. On top of that, 2Lt Daniel Percell, the platoon leader of 3rd, had been an enlisted Marine before becoming an officer. It was highly unlikely that he had gotten an entire platoon of infantry Marines lost in a suburban park. Knight was baffled, and he contemplated the issue as he watched the burning skyline of Victory City through the treetops.
Cpl Haines, their squad leader, relayed no information to them. That was because they were running at 100% noise discipline. Not a soul was to make a single sound. The Covenant were all around them; 2-1 even watched as a pair of Grunts walked by mere meters from their position. All Knight was left with were his thoughts. And the endless waiting, the dreaded thought of being found, the pitch black darkness around him, and the inability to say anything about it was driving him insane.
Then off in the distance, some one hundred meters to his front, he saw movement along a line of bushes. The glow of energy weapons signaled to him that they belonged to Covenant troops. Dragging his body forward and over Greenholder so that he could make eye contact with Remann, he signaled to his team leader, who nodded in response. Cpl Haines then silently crept up to the line to get a look, as did the platoon sergeant.
What they saw next truly confused them. The Covenant were advancing out of a line of bushes, heading directly towards Lann's 2nd platoon. The bushes were taller than the average man, about as tall as a Covenant Elite. At the very end of the hedges, the end of the Covenant line of advance, Marines slowly crept through the dark. They were headed towards 2nd platoon as well, moving crouched in a tactical column. In the darkness of the night, neither group noticed that they were actually advancing beside the other.
The Marines in Knight's squad had their rifles trained on the Covenant, but they didn't know if they should shoot or not. Knight himself was worried that they would accidently hit 3rd platoon in the chaos. As he watched them, he all of a sudden saw an Elite emerge from the hedgerow and bump directly into a Marine. They each stumbled backwards and shouted in surprise. Knight silently swore. Then Remann opened fire on the Elite.
All of Warrior 2-3 opened fire at that point, firing their MA5s on semi-automatic. The Covenant returned fire as well, although their plasma rounds flew harmlessly over the concealed Marines. 3rd platoon began attacking too while simultaneously breaking contact and rushing to the south. Hit from two sides in a surprise attack, the Covenant forces faltered. Men from 3rd platoon tossed grenades at their enemies before sprinting away. The explosions lit up the darkness for a few quick seconds as the shooting continued.
SSgt Lindelli came up to Cpl Haines and shouted into his ear, "Shift your fire to the left. Don't hit 3rd platoon!" All the while Antonov attempted to hail 3rd platoon.
Warrior 2-3 remained in position as the Covenant soldiers eventually fell back. By chance, it happened to have become a rather risky L-shaped ambush. Now the enemy was regrouping and planning to overrun them all at once. Knight kept his eyes open for the next wave to come charging through the hedges.
Behind him, he heard Cpl Haines yelling to Cpl Remann. "Who the hell told you to fire?"
Remann yelled back angrily, "Didn't you see them? They were about to start firing on each other anyway. One of them walked into a Marine."
Haines looked around at his other team leaders. Herndon and Sanders didn't see how it happened. Haines' gaze fell on Knight. The lance corporal shrugged and said, "It's true. Greenholder and I saw it too."
Haines shook his head. "Nevermind," he said, frustrated.
SSgt Lindelli interrupted them. "Forget it," he said gruffly, "Prepare to move real soon. LT's working on a new rally point with 3rd."
"Roger Staff Sergeant," they all said.
Once Lt Lann had figured things out, the entire platoon got up to their feet and prepared to move. SSgt Lindelli told first squad to lead them out. Second was to follow, staying in the middle with the CO, and third squad would bring up the rear. Knight kept his eyes fixed on their six o'clock, waiting for the enemy counterattack he believed to be coming at any moment.
He was correct. However, the counterattack didn't come from the rear. As the platoon trotted through the darkness, a pair of Phantoms closed in overhead. Plasma fire began raining from various turrets placed across the craft. Hovering directly above the retreating men, the Phantoms lowered Elites and Grunts into the middle of their formation.
Marines scrambled for cover while the Covenant troops engaged them. Cpl Sanders of Charlie team rushed an Elite. When he got within point blank range, he fired his MA5 directly into the alien's face. The sheer ferocity in the attack and the sustained fire quickly drained its shield and allowed his rounds to tear its flesh and armor apart. His Marines pushed up beside him, firing at Grunts all around them within the light of the gravity beam.
The main turret on one of the Phantoms turned to Charlie team. It fired a whitish pink blast of energy that struck LCpl Radley, a member of Charlie team, directly in the torso, exploding violently and ripping his upper body apart. The turret kept a steady rate of fire, peppering the area with explosive energy. Cpl Herndon from Alpha team fired his grenade launcher at the turret, but it harmlessly exploded along the underside of the Phantom.
Knight had taken up a position behind a nearby tree. There was too much confusion to tell what targets were what. One moment, a shadow would move in his field of vision and he would train his MA5 on it, and then the next it would fire and he would see muzzle flashes from another MA5. Then another shadow would move and he would see a plasma weapon, but the alien would be brought down just as soon as it entered his field of vision. Under the lights of the enemy craft, Charlie team engaged Grunts and Jackals at close range, using their assault rifles, knives, feet, and fists. Above, the plasma turrets along the sides of the Phantoms fired haphazardly into the surrounding trees while the main turrets pounded at the Marines below, inflicting severe casualties.
Ahead, the rest of the platoon had pushed out of the killzone and set up a support by fire position. But because the enemy forces were mixed in with 3rd squad, they weren't able to risk firing a shot. Lt Lann was shouting into his radio for Cpl Haines to push his squad out of the killzone, but Haines never heard because he had been gunned down by a red armored Elite.
Taking his chances, Knight fired into the melee with single shots. He watched a Grunt arm two plasma grenades and run at Cpl Sanders. The team leader squeezed off a quick burst into the Grunt, but the grenades went off anyway, killing him and LCpl Foye, another member of fireteam Charlie. Herndon and Remann began pulling their Marines out of the mess as more Covenant began to appear from the woods around them. PFC Grigby, the last member of Charlie team, was killed by the same Elite that killed Cpl Haines.
Knight saw Greenholder come out of the mess, running wide-eyed away from the fighting. He grabbed the PFC and pulled him behind his cover. Looking him in the eyes, Knight could see nothing but fear and despair. Despite a desire to be angry with him for running, he simply looked at the young Marine and felt sorry. Pulling him along, he led Greenholder into the woods and away from the fighting.
A grenade detonated behind them as they ran south through the park. They ran between clumps of trees and across shrub-covered paths. Knight could hear Remann shouting somewhere to their right. He led Greenholder to the sound of their team leader's voice. Eventually, they stumbled into him and the remaining members of third squad.
They took a position within a grove of trees. Remann looked Knight and Greenholder over and asked, "Are you guys hit?"
"No," Knight replied, and Greenholder shook his head quickly.
Just then, PFC Hernandez came running through the bushes. Seeing them, he took a knee beside them. Remann asked him, "Hernandez, what happened to Charlie team?"
"I don't know," Hernandez said, "It got too crazy. I barely even realized you guys had all left. I would still be out there. I'd be dead." He was out of breath, resting his rifle against his knee while he attempted to regain composure.
Knight spoke up, "Sanders and Foye got hit with plasma grenades. I saw Haines and everyone else get taken out by one of the bigger Elites."
"Where's the rest of the platoon?" Hernandez asked, bewildered.
Remann replied, "I can't reach them on comms. I don't know. Headed to first platoon probably."
Cpl Herndon, with LCpl Day behind him, came up to Remann. He took a knee and said, "Bro we can't stay here. Those Phantoms will be hunting us. The Elites too."
"Okay," Remann agreed, "Let's get ready to move."
The alien dropships now circled the scene of the battle, scanning the surrounding areas with the massive lights mounted on their turrets.
Cpl Remann led them further south until they came upon a row of perfectly aligned three story houses. Hearing a Phantom hover above, the Marines rushed towards the houses. Opening the patio door, they quietly and swiftly moved inside. The door slid shut automatically, just before the Phantom's lights grazed the house over. The dropship circled the neighborhood for another minute before finally moving on.
Hidden under tables, behind couches, and within closets, the survivors of third squad relaxed and breathed a little easier. Remann got on his helmet comm and attempted to make contact with Lt Lann again. Herndon took everyone else and placed them in defensive positions around the house, telling them to stay concealed and to hold their fire unless discovered. Then they began waiting again.
Knight had been watching out from a window on the second floor for half an hour when he spotted a single, red-armored Elite slowly making its way down the street. It held a plasma rifle aloft in one hand and was eyeing each and every house as it walked by. When began walking towards the Marine-occupied position, Lann had just managed to relay the platoon's coordinates to them. Herndon came up to the second floor to inform Knight when he saw the Elite as well.
Unslinging his M319 launcher, he looked at Knight and tilted his head towards the approaching Elite. Knight nodded, wrapping his finger around the trigger of his assault rifle and taking aim. Herndon stood up and with a hollow thump, a fired a fragmentation grenade directly at the Elite's feet. It sent it staggering and knocked out its shields. Knight then fired a long burst from his MA5, the rounds catching the Elite along the upper long, up through the torso, and directly into the head. It fell over dead from the unexpected attack.
Soon, the Phantom's engines began to echo overhead. Cpl Remann gathered the squad and led them out into the street. They jogged east through the neighborhood, eventually coming across a main road. Knight realized that it was the main road leading from the hills into the city proper. Trotting past it tiredly, they came upon Marines hidden in the dark.
They had successfully linked up with the combined force of second and third platoon. They entered friendly lines and reported to SSgt Lindelli. Exhausted, the men took a knee to catch their breath. But their rest was cut short, as Lt Lann ordered the Marines to move out.
The two platoons began heading south. First platoon was only three hundred meters down the road. They would be able to move through the city in force, and if they were lucky, Delta Company would be around that sector to give them cover and possibly a ride. LCpl Knight fell into formation as the Marines stalked through the treeline.
Exhausted, hungry, and out of breath – he kept his hopes on getting to base and rearming for a counterattack. Although he tried to forget about them, the memory of his squadmates and their deaths began to slowly gnaw at his mind. Looking over at Greenholder, he saw that the look of shock and fear had still not left the young private first class. Doing his best to focus and keep himself together, LCpl Knight pressed on.