Chapter CLIII: Trial by Combat
February 29, 2548 (UNSC Calendar)/two months later
UNSC Flawless, in orbit above LV-426, Zeta Reticuli System
"So, you guys want to be the best?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your chance to earn some respect from me and your fellow Helljumpers!" I said loudly. Nineteen men and women were sitting in front of me wearing only their undersuits. I was the only one outfitted with full battle armor in the room. It gave the impression off power and superiority. "Covvies have overwhelmed friendly ground forces and have set up several different communication jammers as well as spires. Standard invasion procedure. From what little intel we can gather local Army is holding out against the covvies in major populationcenters. Fortunately for us, major population centers are all smaller than one million."
The holograms and specs on the screen showed images of the biggest city in the planet, Water Oakley.
"Drone information is scarce and satellite imagery is non-existent. As heartless as it may sound this is a perfect opportunity to test Five. Al, if you will?"
"Thank you Lieutenant," Al said, his avatar popping up on the holo table. "There's very little information, but we can tell that there are two primary enemy concentrations in the cities of Water Oakley and Hope. The enemy force surrounding Water Oakley has a pair of corvettes floating overhead, supplying them with vehicles, ammo, and support when needed. That is going to be our primary target."
Al made several different bad-quality pictures appear on the screen as he talked, showing us the two enemy ships and the main enemy encampment.
"And that's it," I said, smiling broadly. "We drop and cause some mayhem before everyone joins the party. Ideally we're going to disrupt ammunition and troop transports by ambushing some convoys and if we're really good we'll blow up one of the ships. TA/FS Squad will do their job by acquiring targets and intel on them, you are to keep your heads low and make as little noise as possible. There are six of you, it shouldn't be too hard. Caboose, you got that?"
"Crystal, " he replied.
"D/HW Squad will provide cover for my squad. Pavel, I want you to find a nice perch where you can provide machine gun support in case we need it."
"Lieutenant is that it?"
"Why PFC Novak, yes it is." I smiled again. "Nobody every said it would be easy."
"Otherwise we wouldn't be Helljumpers!" Pavel yelled loudly, eliciting several cheers and oorahs.
"Now armor up, we drop in ten."
"VSF!" I yelled the moment my pod door opened. "Converge on my position!"
I had purposely directed our six pods towards a rear-echelon patrol. I hadn't been lucky enough to squash one of the grunts with my pod, but Novak and Hoff had. It took exactly three bullets to bring down the remaining grunts.
"Countoff!"
"Two!" Novak said.
"Three," Mobuto said.
"Four!" Livingston said.
"Five!" Hoff said.
"Six!" Sandor said.
"Good," I said as soon as everybody was close enough for me to slap in the back of the head. "See that hill over there? That's our target right now, we need a high vantage point. Mobuto, Hoff, you two take point. Novak and Sandor on the sides, I want those DMRs ready to fire. Move up."
Halfway up the hill I opened a line to the two other squad leders. "Pavs, Caboose, status report."
"We're all good, enemy patrol heard us land, took care of it," Pavel said. "You're moving up to the hill, right? We'll set up there as soon as you move up."
"Everyone fine, we're hauling ass. So far we haven't come across any hostiles."
"Good, keep it that way."
The hill had a short cliff on the other side that would protect against any direct assault. It was part of a ridge of sorts that ran the southern side of Water Oakley and was thankfully littered with boulders.
On the other side of the hill, however, we had quite a sight. To our left there was the great glorified village of Water Oakley in all its glory. It was half-bombed to shit, with gunfire and explosions audible all the way over here. To the right there was a purple ship that happened to be hovering above a Covenant encampment. It was still fairly dark and we could see the blue and purple lights leading from the camp to the city outskirts. Convoys full of ammo and troops.
"We got lucky, we don't have to go through anything to get to the convoys," PFC Ryan Hoff said quietly. "What do you think El-tee?"
"See those dark shapes running the length of the road?"
"Barely," he replied.
"They're watch towers," Corporal Marvin Mobuto said.
"That they are," I agreed. "Most of them are within sight of one another and they're probably crewed by a pair of grunts and a jackal sniper, maybe an elite too."
"So, which one are we attacking?" Lance Corporal Takacs Sandor asked.
"Don't be so eager," Corporal Andrea Livingston warned. "You get shot in practice matches a lot."
"Quiet," I said. "That one right over there. It's the closest one that doesn't have another watchtower within visual range."
"Sounds good," Mobuto agreed.
"Girls, you two go around the left. Marv and Hoff take right. Sandor, you're with me down the center."
Without an actual spoken command we broke off the squad and started moving down hill. The sun was rising to our east, so we weren't exactly visible. We still took care to hide as much as possible while keeping a ranged weapon on the jackal sniper on the target watchtower at all times. It shouldn't have been necessary, the jackal was resting with its back against us and its beam rifle propped up next to it. There were three grunts, two of which were sleeping and one of which was trying to stay awake while manning the turret. The turret in question was aiming away from us.
"Perfect," Sandor muttered.
"Shh," I told him. "Girls?"
"We're green," Novak came in.
"Guys?"
"And we're there," Hoff said.
The former all-state quarterback sounded like a typical high school jock right down to the slightly conceited tone. The guy had been one of the best in Paris IV and had been courted by professional teams ranging from Earth to Reach. That is, until he was on the bad end of a particularly rough tackle that broke his knee and femur in several spots. He hadn't been able to afford the top-notch medical treatment and so his career prospects ended. Instead he joined the Corps, where he got his leg fixed for free as well as a steady job with decent pay that also had a high risk of brain injury.
"Listen, I want you to keep your sights on the jackal and on the gunner."
"Done," Novak and Hoff replied at the same time.
"Sandor," I replied. "There are two sleeping grunts down there, you see 'em?"
"Yup."
"You take them, the ones on the tower are mine."
"Got it."
"Wait for me to go up the grav lift."
He nodded and propped his rifle on a rock while unfastening the strap on his knife. I quietly stood up form my crouch and slowly walked towards the gravity lift. I stepped through it, wincing slightly at the whooshing noise as it lifted me up in the air. I landed and the platform rocked slightly, drawing the grunt's attention.
Before it could even squeal I bashed its head in with my rifle. I followed its body down to the ground and saw Sandor stab a grunt through the throat down on the ground before moving to the other one.
I turned to face the sleeping jackal and gripped its throat tightly. The jackal woke up and struggled against me, but I kicked its rifle away from reach. I drew my knife and showed it to the jackal, taking pleasure in its shocked eyes, before driving it through its temples.
"Clear," I said releasing a breath.
"Clear," Sandor echoed. Had his psych profile said that he was most definitely not a sociopath I would've thought his voice held some glee in it.
"See any movment?"
"Negative," Hoff said.
"Girls?"
"No movement," PFC Livingston agreed.
"Ok, I Miri, I need you up here on the tower. Hoff, move back with Marv until you can see past that twist in the road. Livingston and Sandor are ground level, hide the bodies and set up."
Everyone took position and I pressed my back against the wall next to the turret. "Hoff, you spot anything coming through give us a heads up."
Two minutes later I got a call from Pavel. "Frank, we're all good and set up, we see you from here. If you need support we can provide it, might not be accurate though."
"Friendly fire?"
"Nah, we're pros."
"Excited about all the big guns?"
"You have no idea."
"Well, here's to hoping you don't have to provide any support."
Pavel chuckled and cut the channel.
"I see something coming up," Hoff warned. "You're not going to like it."
"Never do," I said. "What is it?"
"Infantry column, platoon sized. Five elites, major plus minors. They've got a pair of Spectre support vehicles."
"Gunners on the vehicles?"
"Grunts for crew on both of them."
"That's good," I said. "Miri, Hoff, target the gunners, everyone else target the elites. Sandor, and Livingston, I want you to throw frags at the column as soon as they are walking past us or they realize that something's up. Let's surprise the motherfuckers."
It wasn't long before I could hear the shuffling of feet and humming of anti-grav engines. The grunts made barking noises and the jackals screeched to one another while the elites simply walked quietly with their backs straight and their weapons on their hands. I took a quick peek and saw the colorful column walking towards us. They didn't look alert, the grunts were occasionally walking on all fours and the elites were swaying from side to side despite their attempts to keep a professional and intimidating appearance.
"You got them?" I asked.
"Target locked," Hoff muttered.
"I got him," Miranda told me, lying prone next to me.
"Sandor?"
"Frags primed and ready to throw. One on each hand."
"Good," I said, nodding. "On my mark."
I waited patiently as the aliens moved up. They didn't say anything, they didn't shout out a command and most certainly didn't fire at us.
"They're right next to us," Livingston said, worry on her tone.
"Easy Andrea," I told her, using her first name. "Easy…"
One of the elites barked out a phrase. I heard it a second before my in-helmet translator did its job. "You! In the tower!"
"Now," I ordered.
Two gunshots rang out and I saw the grunts manning the turrets on the Spectre's collapse to the side with holes through their heads. There was a brief moment of shock and surprise. Nothing could be heard other than the echoes of the two gunshots. The spell was broken when four separate fragmentation grenades detonated, sending shrapnel at high velocity in all directions. The first few unlucky bodies served as cushions, absorbing and stopping the metal shards as well as mitigating the damage.
Then everything went to hell. I left cover and grabbed the unusual trigger-handles of the plasma turret before aiming at the elite major, its shields already flickering from sustained gunfire. The hot plasma peeled away at the energy shields in seconds and then melted through its armor and skin in turn. One of the elites tried to get its underlings to form up and return fire, but a few seconds of automatic plasma fire to the face quickly put an end to that.
"Goddamn!" I exclaimed when the turret overheated right on my hands. I jumped back as a pair of needles shattered against the walls next to me and took another step back as Novak carefully switched targets, nailing grunts with headshots.
"Need help?" Pavel asked me.
"Nah, we're good," I grunted, getting back up and firing with my rifle. "Only a few left."
The grunts had died like animals and the elites hadn't fared much better. The last survivor of the whole group was a jackal that propped his back against a rock and raised its shield. All the squad fired at him and its shield soon overheated and disappeared.
Hoff got the honor of putting a bullet through its brain.
"Now what?" Sandor asked, jumping back to cover. "Hide the bodies?"
"I suppose we'll also wash off the blood, right?" Livingston replied.
"No, drive the Spectres next to one another, block the road. We need to get a move on, someone must have heard that."
As soon as the two support vehicles were placed next to one another and booby-trapped with C-12 we left behind a field of corpses and a bloodied dirt road. It was truly an encouraging sight. We had barely been here an hour.
"Pavel, you've got AA?"
"Dana's got the Spartan Laser," he replied over the radio. "And our MGs should be more than enough to drive away any Banshee that gets curious."
"Ok, I want your squad to come down here and hold this part of the road, you hear me?"
"Should be fun. You want us to leave survivors?"
"Not if you can avoid it." I looked around the position we had just been holding. "As long as they don't use heavy armor you should be able to hold this curve. If you're running low on ammo feel free to retreat uphill."
"We can always commandeer enemy weapons."
"Right," I replied. "You can do that."
"We're on our way."
"So, what's the plan El-tee?" Miranda asked me.
I shrugged. "Right now we're going to take out one or two of the nearest watchtowers until we get a target from Caboose and his squad."
"Why do you call him Caboose, El-tee?" Hoff asked.
"Yeah, that's a good question," Marv nodded in agreement.
"You can ask him," I replied.
"No thanks," Marv replied. "He'd probably stab me with something."
"Sounds like Caboose," I agreed. "Shh!"
"What is it?" Miranda asked.
"You hear that? Banshees."
A few seconds later a pair of the fliers flew directly overhead, going away from us and the outpost that we had wrecked.
"They see us?" Sandor asked, raising his rifle and pointing it at the sky.
"Probably not," Livingston told him. "We need to keep moving."
Five minutes and a quick improvised plan later we found ourselves hiding to the sides of the dirt road, a second watchtower forty meters away from our position. Unfortunately for us, this one had an elite commanding a larger squad as well as a currently empty Ghost.
"Elite in your sights?" I asked my marksmen.
"Yeah," they replied.
"Grunts?"
"We got them," Marv assured me.
"Watch the gunner," I said for the second time. "Fire."
The elite took two steps back as a burst from my rifle and one bullet from each DMR hit its shields, draining them completely. I fired a second burst while Hoff and Miri aimed at and killed other targets. The elite fell to the floor with three neat holes in its forehead. This time, however, the enemy had high ground and superior numbers and started firing on us. Their lack of a leader was what did it for them, as they lost cohesion and quickly started getting killed.
One grunt survived and attempted to make a run for the Ghost, somehow avoiding the hail of automatic gunfire. It hopped on the recon vehicle and started speeding away.
"Hoff?" I asked the man.
"My pleasure," he replied.
A single shot rang out and the grunt fell to the side, with the purple hovercraft sliding a few more feet before stopping. I saw the grunt twitch and try to crawl away on the ground.
"You missed a spot," Miranda taunted her counterpart.
Another shot rang out and blue grunt blood spray-painted the back of the Ghost.
"There, all good," Hoff told her. His tone was dangerously close to flirtatious, but I couldn't really see Miranda being interested.
Shit, was that jealousy?
Nah, call it protectiveness.
Yeah, protectiveness. Sure.
"Secure the area," I said. "Make it quick."
My men spread out and started combing through the surroundings for surviving or hiding grunts while I stood in the middle of the road and opened a line to Caboose. "Caboose, come in."
No answer.
"Caboose, do you copy?"
Still no answer.
"I can see you're goddamned life signs and the covvies wouldn't jam their own encampment. Answer me."
Again I got no reply.
I rolled my eyes and opened up a small screen on my HUD that displayed what his helmet camera was seeing. Caboose and his squad were currently hiding in some tall grass as a bunch of elites walked by. Seemed like an interesting situation. The five elites were all majors and had only plasma pistols, maybe they were on a break or something similar.
"Damn," I said. "Just make it quick."
There was some struggling and some kicking, but the unsuspecting elites had no chance when six Helljumpers jumped on their backs and drove sharp knives through their unarmored necks.
"Nice," I complimented. "That looked almost rehearsed."
"Thanks Lieutenant," Caboose said, wiping his blade on his victim's skin.
"No problem. Got any high-value targets?"
"So far we've tagged a vehicle depot as well as a small bunker complex. They're both too armored for us to take them out. We're looking for high-ranking personnel but Zepeda can't find anything."
I looked up towards the Covenant corvette hovering a few kilometers away from us. It was only a couple hundred meters in the air, but its presence seemed looming and dangerous. I knew the Flawless or any ship in the battle-group could handle it with relative ease. A single MAC shot and it would be gone, but for us it was a veritable juggernaut of death.
"If you find anything let me know."
"Willco," he replied. "Over and out."
While my team finished up with securing the area I took a moment to observe the rest of the sky. Odds were that by the time we left this planet I would never be able to see it again. It wasn't the same blue as Reach, but it was close enough that you wouldn't see the difference unless you looked for it. The most impacting thing in the sky was the large moon that orbited LV-426. It was large enough to grant itself a ring of debris around it. I bet that meteor impacts here were common enough to warrant their own insurance companies.
Hey, maybe a meteor would hit one of the Covenant corvettes. Wouldn't that be nice?
"Area's clear," Marv announced.
"Good now-"
"Lieutenant, do you read?" AL came in, his avatar appearing on a screen in my HUD.
"I copy Al, what's up?"
"Command's getting itchy, the Admiral's got the sky under control, but he wants to drop of troops as soon as possible."
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"I agree, but he wants as much intel as possible before sending in the Marines."
"Tell him we're working on it. If he gives us half a day we'll tell him the position of every covvie bastard on the area."
"I know Frank, but they are worried about letting more people die. They opened an uplink with the Army HQ on the ground, they're past their breaking point."
I sighed. "I understand. You think they can drop regulars on the city, bolster up the defenses and then have the rest of the company drop in behind enemy lines?"
"They've been toying with that plan, but the Flawless can only fire one shot at a time. If one of the corvettes survives it could throw everything it has at the city."
"Al, correct me if I am mistaken, but there are at least two more ships on the battle-group."
"Seven, actually."
"And where are they?"
"Hunting down a pair of destroyers that went off to destroy mining outposts in the asteroid belt."
"Huh."
"Indeed."
I thought about it for a minute. "Listen, here's what we do. You have the admiral drop us one of those nuclear-tipped SPANKrs…"
"The Personal Guided Nuclear Munitions Launcher."
"Yeah, the PGNML. You drop us one of those in a supply pod, we close in on the closest corvette and blow it apart at the same time you blast the other one to kingdom come."
"Nuclear ordinance for a single platoon? You're aiming a little bit high Frank."
"Pass the message to the ship's AI, have it tell the admiral."
"I am very capable of transmitting the message myself."
I smirked at the AI's offense. "Very well then. What'd he say?"
There was a slight pause before he replied. "He's thinking about it."
"Prognosis?"
"According to his body temp and psych profile I think he's going to agree to it. In fact, I am ninety-six-point-seven percent sure about it."
"Are you allowed to use the bridge cameras?"
"The ship's AI and I have an understanding."
"Got it."
"Just got the word," Al said. "He agreed. I need you to paint the location."
I turned on the laser designator on my BR55 and aimed at a position fifty meters away from me. I looked at my squad and they nodded before I clicked the designator.
"Receiving coordinates…package away."
Like little kids we all looked up to the sky to try and spot the blur before it landed. We all saw the orange flashes as the supply pod broke atmosphere and then followed the black case as it fell to the surface. It hit the ground a lot harder than a regular HEV would've and lifted a ton of dust around it.
"Sandor, you like big things, go get it."
"Overcompensating much?" Livingston teased.
Marvin walked up to me. "That probably drew some attention El-tee."
"And I thought that came with the job description," Hoff scoffed.
"Things change," Marv told him. "Now what?"
"We need to close in on the enemy ship," I told them. "The SPANKr rockets don't have much fuel in them."
"How much?" Miranda asked.
"Half a click should do. Miranda I want you scouting ahead of us. Hoff and I will take the flanks. Everybody else stay in formation."
Miranda nodded and took off without another word while we waited on the devastated covvie watchtower.
"Looks clear so far. Enemy camp's about two miles away."
"They're going to see the contrails," Livingston warned.
"We're going to have to haul ass."
"Did Pavel ever tell you about that time we ran like seventy-six kilometers in less than a day only to find our safe haven half-glassed?"
Silence.
"Cool story, now stop bitching Marine!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Move up," I ordered. "Miranda, let us know if anything is out of the ordinary."
I didn't like the feeling of not having the possibility of any backup whatsoever. I could always count on at least having the opportunity for backup or actually being the backup. I was starting to feel pretty lonely down here. The terrain was rocky and jagged, we had to go down ditches and up small hills before getting to our position. When we got within range I ordered the squad to halt.
"Al, we're there."
"Got it, Flawless is targeting the other corvette."
"Will it be able to tell?"
"They don't know we're here yet. They haven't even bothered with turning their deep scanners on."
"Ok. Who wants the honors?"
Five hands went up. Hell, even Miranda seemed eager at the prospect of sending a couple hundred covvies on their great journey.
"Hoff," I told the former quarterback. "Your ball."
"Thanks El-tee," he said, smiling.
Sandor tossed the launcher to Ryan and he sat down. Unlike the regular M41 SSR this launcher in particular was a single tube with a button for a trigger on top. It could fit one rocket at a time and was collapsible, much like a telescope. Other than the trigger it had a small scope on the left side and a handle near the front. It was supposed to be mass produced and sent everywhere, but the SPANKr was more effective than it and almost as cheap. It was good for when you wanted to be quick on your feet.
"Ready," Hoff said. "Nuclear missile is armed."
"Just curious Lieutenant," Miranda started. "What's the yield?"
"It's a MFDD," I told her. "A modified Fury tac-nuke. Blast radius should be about 1.2 kilometers."
"So we better jump behind a rock as soon as he fires," Sandor said.
"Wise words," Marv agreed.
"Target is locked," Hoff said.
"Al, you got that?"
"Loud and clear."
"Fire, fire, fire."
"Firing," Hoff said and clicked the trigger.
"Nuke away," I echoed, just in case Al missed it.
"MAC strike incoming," he replied.
The MAC strike was impressive, the trail of light that the heavy round left behind it seemed to cut the sky in two. The explosion that rocked the corvette from side to side also made a sizeable explosion on the ground as the Covenant ship exploded from critical systems damage. Half a second later the nuke collided with the other corvette. Fortunately, I was already with my back against a boulder and I only heard the explosion.
"Hoff, care to see your handiwork?"
He left cover and hollered. "Direct hit, the corvette is toast. I mean, it's completely gone!"
He was right. The blast had all but disintegrated the enemy ship. Only a few parts of the purple hull were still there, and all of them were falling to the ground, splattering the alien encampment underneath.
We took advantage of the mayhem and sprinted away. No doubt that some Banshees and maybe even a Phantom had been dispatched to our position already. The carrier in orbit overhead also took immediate advantage of the chaos and confusion, opening its hangar bays and launching every last Pelican filled to the brim with troops. With them also came Albatross and pods filled with bigger vehicles and more equipment. This was going to be fun for the regulars.
"How many kills do you think that made?" Hoff asked in between breaths.
"One," Marv replied.
"Ship class," Sandor furthered.
I smiled. "Don't worry, you get used to it."
"How many ships have you brought down El-tee?" Livingston asked. She probably meant it as a joke.
"By myself?"
Al's voice came through the radio before anybody could comment on that. "Frank, regulars are already away, you should be seeing the dropships in a few seconds"
"Got it, our orders still the same?"
"Negative," he replied. "Simulations show that the Covenant will likely send its remaining troops towards the city in order to have better protection and to keep the section of Water Oakley they are holding."
"UNSC troops would've stayed inside the ships, wrecked as they are," Hoff said.
"They're irradiated," Novak told him.
"One of them isn't," he muttered meekly.
"You're to report on their movements, recon for the regulars."
"I've already got Caboose doing that," I told the AI.
"In that case I guess you should regroup with Gunnery Sergeant Klaus and wait for the rest of the company. You'll be attacking the enemy from the rear, cripple their command center if possible."
"Roger that, then we'll wait."
"Understood. Over and out."
I was starting to get some minimal radiation readings on my suit. The fury was one of the 'clean' nukes, but it still packed enough radiation to kill anybody who lingered for too long. We'd have to move out of the way while we waited. Thankfully the wind was pushing the dust cloud away from us and the city, no doubt it was one of the main reasons why the admiral decided to go through with the use of nuclear weapons so close to a friendly city.
"Pavel, you got all that?"
"Loud and clear, Frank," he replied. "We're still holding our position, but enemy troops will start coming through any minute now."
"Understood, fall back to the hilltop and await our return." I switched channels to Caboose. "Your team ok?"
"Shaken up but good," he replied. "Still marking enemy high-value targets, mostly communications equipment and some light AA."
"Keep doing that," I told him. "We'll probably link up with you in a day."
"Lieutenant," he said as he cut the line.
For the first time in ages I allowed myself to consider the possibility of this engagement being a short and quick one that would end in a swift victory for the UNSC.
"Heads up," I warned.
Almost a hundred Human Entry Vehicles slammed into the ground, spaced about ten meters from one another in a carefully coordinated pattern. The high-speed impacts lifted some dust and made small craters, but otherwise nothing was stirred. After the sound faded away the hatches started opening and ODSTs in full battle gear emerged from their respective pods.
The area was already secure, but they still fanned out in order to establish a perimeter. A few of the ODSTs came across the two-thirds of my platoon currently with me and bypassed us with a nod of acknowledgement. Once the atmosphere had become less tense for the new arrivals I stood up from my position and moved towards the slightly larger command pod. Already three other figures marked as officers on my HUD were moving up.
"Two's all accounted for," Yas said when he arrived.
"So's Three."
"And Four," dos Santos said.
"Five's good as well." I looked around. "Well, save for Caboose and his squad, but they're fine right now."
Captain Hayes nodded and yanked her assault rifle from its spot on her pod before tapping a button. A couple of slabs of metal extended from the sides to form two tables and she yanked an AI chip from the pod before putting it on her helmet. "Al, light the tables up."
The pod's tables lit up to show a tri-dimensional map of the surroundings. We were next to a small ravine and all the Helljumpers were already digging out their pods and rolling them towards the steep ravine walls. We would be holing up in there for maybe an hour before we came up with a definitive battle plan.
"Al," Hayes said. "Show me current enemy positions."
"Done," he replied.
The holographic displays changed to show a larger area. The city could be seen near the edge of the map, half of it was tinted red with markers showing large concentrations of aliens or important enemy positions. The rest of it was in blue and displayed UNSC assets in green. We were four kilometers from the closest enemy and even more from the closest friendly. Excellent conditions for creating some mayhem.
"Castillo, patch Konstantinov through."
I nodded and opened up a channel. Caboose's picture appeared on one of the tables as he started talking. "Sir."
"Staff, I need you to be my eyes and ears for this op. What can you tell me?"
"Not much that isn't already on the board, Sir. The Covenant is pissed, but the little ones don't seem too happy that their only way out of the planet was destroyed. The elites are keeping them in check, but morale seems to be low."
"Armored?"
"Plenty, Wraiths and Spectres are all over the place. In fact, I think that they have a lot more than any force this size should. Maybe the cruiser left them some before going away to blow up asteroids."
"That would explain the large size for this ground force," Lieutenant Weller said.
I nodded in agreement. "Two corvettes wouldn't be able to carry this many aliens by themselves."
"Are they watching their rear?" Hayes asked Caboose.
"Yeah, patrols here and there, nothing too heavy, but enough to warrant some attention."
"How's combat in the frontlines?"
"Pretty heavy," he admitted. "Seems like both local Army and our own intel underestimated the numbers of the Covenant on the frontlines. There were a bunch of them there."
Hayes nodded and zoomed in on the enemy positions, marking the targets that she considered priority with red squares. She marked a pair of AA guns large enough to stop a frigate from coming in through the atmosphere but not big enough to shoot out into space. Hayes also circled a Covenant forward operating base. It was bulbous and reminded me of some sort of insect, but it didn't look to be a buried Scarab just waiting for the chance to kick our collective asses.
"So we've got three high-value targets that are within range," Yas observed.
"All of them are bound to be heavily guarded," Weller said.
I examined the position of the two AA guns. They were far back enough from the frontline that anything shy of a Rhino or specialized artillery wouldn't reach them. I was also pretty sure that there were a few pulse laser turrets hidden somewhere to shoot down missiles.
The enemy command post was a different story, it was further within the enemy lines and it was one hundred percent guaranteed to be swarming with covvies. The only way to destroy that one without any casualties was to sneak in some good-old fashioned high-explosives and even then it was a high-risk op.
Guess who was going to be running that one…
"The Covenant has Banshees running sorties along this routes in addition to other combat missions, they knew were up there and are afraid of an assault from the rear or sides." Al shifted the map to show the Banshees flying. "Intel has them flying in groups of three to five. Phantoms and Spirit dropships are being used as close air support, but they're not being deployed in large quantities," he went on. "Most likely afraid that they'll be shot down. So far we haven't managed to break into their communications, let alone de-encrypt them, but hopefully we won't need to."
"Well, that's an intelligence goldmine compared to the stuff we dropped here with," I muttered.
"You're welcome," Al said. "They want us moving as soon as possible."
Hayes considered that for a moment. "Understood, we'll be going in…Yas?"
"Company can move out in five minutes if needed."
"Make that fifteen minutes," Hayes stated. "Who's commanding the Marines?"
"Overall operational command goes to Lieutenant Commander Becker, Captain Galván is in charge of the units in the frontline."
"He likes getting his boots dirty," Hayes said approvingly. "Ok, tell your platoons to get ready and load up on ammo, we're going to be marching here and then we'll break off to attack the objectives." The Captain looked around before folding the tables up her pod. "Al, I want you to come up with three hundred different battle plans and run them through simulations. After you're done with that I want you to give me the top five."
"I can only run two fifty good ones with this suit's processing power," Al replied. "As ashamed as I am to admit it."
"That'll do," Hayes shrugged off. "Get started on that. Castillo, what are you waiting for?"
"Nothing sir, No excuse," I replied, turning around and leaving with the rest of the platoon lieutenants.
The sun was starting to set on LV-426, we were getting ready to join an urban battle that was raging a few miles from our position. Tonight was going to be a busy night.
Thanks to SilasWhitfield for proofreading this chapter.
So, I must start another one of my notes with an apology for the delay in between updates. I'm sorry for the delay in between updates. I've only got three more exams to go in two days and that'll be it. I might've failed math, but I honestly don't care since my teacher's a bitch.
I think you guys know my own story better than I do. When I named PFC Kyle Sutton I didn't even consider Scarecrow into the equation, but seeing as you guys got so excited about it I can change that and write him to be his brother or some family member. What do you guys think? As for the Halo universe name, it is Marvin Mobuto, a Marine from Halo: The Flood. Look him up in halopedia and you should know why I decided to add him into the story.
This is the first time we've seen Frank's new team in action and I promos you that it won't be the last. There'll be plenty of badassery on all sides and I intend to step up my game. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me you figured out what I'm referencing in this chapter. Please.
RobbieLexington: happy belated birthday, hope you had a good one.
Everyone else: thanks for reading and for all your reviews, be sure to tell me what you thought about this chapter.
Stay strong.
-casquis