All rights go to their owners As I own nothing!
If I were caught in any sort of emergency, I would want a Warthog to be my ride. As those things are fast, rugged, and usually carry enough firepower to get you out of any situation in one piece: Anonyms UEG service member
"3 o'clock high," Leon called out the target for Alice as she swung the turret to meet this latest threat.
Then with a quick burst from the chain gun, the enemy Zero fell from the sky.
"Add another to the kill count. Leon, how long till we're at Sunrays position?" Alice inquired as she swung her turret around.
"Right…about; NOW!" Leon said as he took the Hog into a hard turn.
As they turned Alice could now see the convoy come into view. It was not the largest one that Alice had ever seen, though it did weld a lot of firepower for its size. As it was made up of over four Wolverines, two Scorpion tanks; one of which was in its anti-air configuration and finally there was a fleet of Warthogs supporting them. Action both as a screen for the larger vehicles, as well as the eyes and ears of them with the bonus that they could be used to transport the ground teams to the extraction point.
It was a solid force, to say the least, given the mission profile as a recon in force.
Even so, Alice could see that the convoy had taken a savage beating while fighting their way to their position. As most of the vehicles currently present were sporting new battle scars, but thankfully it did not seem to affect their combat capability in any capacity as they continued to provide cover while the last of Sunray wounded were being loaded into a troop Hog.
"Alice to 042; we're at the rally point and just falling in, over," Alice reported as they approached the idling vehicles that were taking in the last of Sunray wounded.
"Good to hear your voice, Alice." The unmistakable voice of Red Actual came over her COMs. "Fall in with the rest, we're pulling out once we've finished loaded up" Jerome informed her of the current situation.
"Understood Red Actual; Alice out." Alice then took a moment before she opened a private circuit to Leon.
But before she could speak; Leon gave her a wink with his status light as brought the hog into the open that had been made for them in the armoured formation.
"That's the last of them! Alright, team let's get the hell out of this hornets' nest." The voice of the lead Scorpion driver came over to the COMs.
"What about the object Sunray found?" August inquired. "We simply can't leave it here to be recovered." She did have a point.
A lot of time and energy had been spent on defending the cylinder from them. That mostly meant that it was valuable to their enemy in some unknown capacity and since they could not take it from them. The next best course of action would be to deny them it instead.
"099 is right, all teams open fire on the cylinder. Leave nothing behind for the enemy to recover." Jerome gave the order to destroy the cylinder.
"You heard the Commander. Light it up!" The driver of the Scorpion said as he opened the cylinder.
This was quirkily followed by others that could bring their guns to bear as they started to pull away. For the first couple of seconds the rounds simply bounced harmlessly off the cylinder's outer shell, but with a well-placed shot from Douglas Gauss cannon did a noticeable dent appear in the cylinder.
Upon seeing this, the rest of the group shifted their fire to the opening that Douglas had made. As they continued to fire into this seeming weakness in the outer shell until a round from the Scorpion's main cannon finally breached the cylinder and made its way inside the device.
At which point the cylinder started to glow with sparks of blue, red energy as the relief team took off.
"I think we pissed them off." One of the troopers riding shotgun in one of the Warthogs commented as the air attacks picked up once again.
"Hold them off until!? WOW!" The voice was then cut off by an extremely strong earthquake that threw off everyone's driving.
"Jerome, you better take look at this…" The subdued voice of Douglas came across his COM circuit.
From his driver's seat, Jerome looked back and saw in the far distance as the cylinder from earlier was now glowing red as it started to sink into the ground. Just as Jerome was about to radio this into the Spirit of Fire the ground shook so violently that one or two of the Hogs on the edge of the road scrapped into the buildings. Now looking back to where the cylinder had been, Jerome could not see it other than a bright red glow spot where it had been moments before.
All the while Jerome's gut told him that something bad was about to happen.
"Red Team what's happening down there?" The voice of the Spirits Captain suddenly lit up their COMs.
"Sir we're currently en-route to our extraction point. But we're meeting heavy resistance." Jerome informed the captain about their current situation.
"Understood Jerome, we're also picking up unusual seismic activity in the area. Be careful." But just as Cutter finished saying that a gizzard of lava unexpectedly came out from under the street!
Thankfully, Jerome's Warthog was not in any danger; still, that could not be said for the Wolverine right behind him. As Jerome then watched as molten earth washed over its main launchers. Thankfully, however, it survived that thanks and part due to its titanium armour, though it had been reduced to that of a glorified armoured personal carrier.
Still, the fact that the ground around them was now spewing molten rock was extremely alarming, as more of the pillars of fire and death started to rise across the city.
"Jerome, we've been cut off!" The alarmed voice of August then came over his COMs.
Jerome swung his head over in time to see as August Hog barely stopped in time to prevent itself from falling into the new fissure that had opened right in front of them.
"Understood August; attention to all units we'll have to reroute to make it to the extraction point." But just as Jerome said this did the buildings around them finally spring to life.
What followed this was a complete and utter mess. A large horde of desperate people poured out of all the nearby buildings with one thing on their minds; highjack the stopped vehicles to procure a way for them to escape the city with themselves and their families.
This quickly lead to the whole situation devolving into a confused brawl, as UNSC personnel fought back the crowds with bullets, blades, and brawn to hold back the crowds that were quite latterly throwing themselves at them.
"We can't stay here! We have to-AHHH!" The scream of the Drive filled across the COMs as he was then dragged from his vehicle.
Cursing under his breath as he threw another person from his Hog, Jerome looked for a way that the convoy could escape this mess. He then spotted one in a partially collapsed building that if fully brought down could potentially be used as an escape from this mess.
"New target marked. Bring it down, team!" Jerome called over the COM as he scared off a small part of the mass of humanity with a burst from his rifle.
But unsurprisingly it was only the two Scorpion tanks that meant his call. As everyone else was too busy fighting off the horde of civilians to be able to bring their weapons to bear. Thankfully the two tanks were enough for the job, as the Sundevil with its autocannons cleared off anyone too stupid to attempt climbing onto the other tank.
This left the other Scorpion free to unload into the marked building with its main weapon. It did three times and was rewarded for its efforts with the sound of falling concert as their new escape route was made.
"All troops follow the Scorpions! They've cleared a new route for us!" Douglas called out, as what remained of the convoy slowly fought its way towards the escape that the tanks had made for them.
"The captains not going to like this…" Leon muttered into his COM once they were clear.
As Leon could only guess Cutter's reaction to what would be had taken place only minutes before.
"We can explain it to him later Leon. Right now, we need to! Unknowns coming in from behind! Look, sharp team!" Douglas then called out the new contacts as what remained of the force prepared for another desperate attack from the city's residents.
But instead, they found another wave of enemy aircraft barreling on their position. As they used the rising ash clouds for cover so that they could get close enough to dive-bomb them from the burning skies.
As if to add to this another earthquake came ripping throw the battered formation; they all then watched in both awe and horror as a pillar of smoke that had been bellowed from the city center then exploded into a magma storm that reached at least three hundred feet into the air!
It was at this point that Jerome knew that he could not put it off any longer as he had to inform the Cutter about the unfolding situation. As Jerome then opened a line straight to Spirits Captain.
"Captain, we have a situation down here." Jerome remained calm as he said this as if this were a usual check-in.
"We read you, Jerome. What is the current sitrep?" Cutter asked so he could get a better idea as to what the hell was going on the ground side.
"Sir, we've ran straight into an active volcano. I'm requesting immediate extraction." Jerome informed the Cutter as if this were a routine check-in.
As the line when quite for a moment, Cutter tried to verify was Jerome was telling him. Taken aback by how calmly Jerome had reported this, still Jerome did not notice this as he was too busy trying to stay alive.
"Understood Jerome, be advised we won't be able to give you that extraction immediately." Cutter then informed the current commander of his ground forces.
Jerome understood what the captain was saying to him. Even so, Jerome needed more information as he had set up two rallying points for the Pelicans to fall back to in case something like this happened.
"Captain, can you confirm that the Pelicans are still on station to extract us?" Jerome inquired as he then swerved the Hog to avoid a large hole that had opened in front of him.
"Negative Jerome, they were forced to cut and run once the air attacks started." Cutter updated Jerome on their current situation.
"Understood Sir, how far out are they now?" Jerome inquired as he needed more information as to how they were out.
Because depending on the answer Cutter gave Jerome, he might be forced to find another way of evacuating his troops from the city.
"They're currently holding in geosynchronous orbit above the city. Currently just out of range of enemy air cover." Cutter informed Jerome about the current status of his easiest extraction.
"Understood, is there any chance that they can come around and extract us?" Jerome asked as this would be the easiest and the safest way of getting the entire task force clear of the unfolding disaster that was currently caught up in.
"Wait one," Cutter said as he then ordered a line to be opened to the nearest Pelican on station. "Pilot, are you able to perform an emergency extraction of our ground forces?" Cutter then inquired, as he then mentioned the latest sensor reading from the area.
The situation did not bold well for his ground forces. Also adding to the fog of war was the fact that despite the interference starting to clear up, the fact that volcanos were now erupting and throwing hundreds if not thousands of tons of ash and highly charged particles into the atmosphere did not help Cutter's situation in the slits.
But from what he could gather, it looked bleak. Between the volcano, enemy airpower, and the general environmental factors: Cutter got the response that he had been expecting.
"Negative command, the skies are too hot." The Pilot's answer came as no surprise to Cutter.
This made the next question obvious. As they now had to figure out how they were going to clear the skies so that the Pelicans could move in for an extraction of their ground forces.
"Understood Pilot; any ideas as to where the hostile aircraft are being launched?" Cutter inquired, as he knew that the Pilot would have a better idea as to where they were located.
"Sir, I can advise you that I spotted what looked like aircraft carriers currently sitting just outside of the bay; sending visuals now." The Pilot informed Cutter as one of the displays lit up.
On its Cutter could now see the strange-looking ships; with jet black double hulls and aircraft of unknown make sitting atop them. They were not of any navy that Cutter was aware of. Then again that did not matter as these unknowns were standing between him and getting his troops out safely.
"Weapons, spin up the MAC. And get me a targeting solution on those carriers." Cutter started to bark out orders before another voice spoke up.
"I would advise against that Captain." The voice of the Spirit resident Professor cut into the COM circuit, "As a MAC strike could easily destabilize the volcano, causing the whole thing to collapse upon itself." Anders informed him of the possible consequences of this action.
"Would an Archer missile strike work?" Jerome then inquired, as he knew after that they would be looking at using a Shortsword strike.
And honestly, Jerome did not want to risk Shortswords in this kind of operational theatre given the current environment. As he was not an expert on the Shortswords' internal systems, still Jerome would wager that the volcanic ash and the strike crafts engines would not mix. And even if that was not the case, this was not the most ideal situation for them to be deployed in.
So, using them would be a last resort option, as he did not want to waste any of the now irreplaceable strike craft. Thankfully for everyone involved, this did not happen, as the Professor spoke up.
"Yes, though I would warn the captain not to simply carpet bomb the area. As it could easily cause the disaster we're trying to avoid." Andres warned the captain, who understood what she meant.
Because as you can imagine, doing this kind of operation around an active volcano made these things a nightmare alongside having troops trapped inside of it. Well, that was a different beast entirely; even so, Cutter had faith in his bridge crew was more than up to this challenge loaded out in front of them.
"Understood Professor, Pilot can you feed me the exact positions of these carriers? As the Spirits targeting systems are having difficulties acquiring targeting solutions with all the ongoing volcanic activity." Cutter then asked as they were still having issues with their sensors.
"Can do Captain, sending you the data now." The Pilot said as one of the bridge's crewmembers confirmed this.
Now all that was left for Cutter to do was address Jerome. As there was precious little that he could do for him and the troops' ground side other than give them his moral support.
"Jerome, we'll have that extract out to you as soon as we can clear the skies," Cutter informed him.
"Copy that, Captain; we'll be waiting on that extraction," Jerome said this with such a degree of confidence that it seemed to board on that of arrogance.
But that is just to show how much faith Jerome had in CO to get them out of this impossible situation.
"Just keep your team alive until we can get you out of there Jerome, Cutter out," Cutter said as he then cut the link.
Still, that was easier said than done; especially in a city that was rapidly falling apart around them. But it was not like it was going to be forever. As they just had to hold on until Cutter could punch a hole in the enemies' air screen to allow the Pelicans to get through.
Even so, Jerome had no illusions as to how the troops would take this news. But Jerome knew someone would ask the question, in fact, a private COM channel for him had just opened.
"Jerome, you got an ETA on that extraction?" The voice of Leon came over the COM.
"No 011, the skies are too hot for them to attempt a rescue. We'll have to wait until they can make an opening." Jerome informed Leon.
But it became obvious someone had overheard/listened in on the conversation, as one of the drives from the lead Hog chirped up.
"Then they better make it quick, as this place isn't going to last much longer!" The drivers said, as a loud sound of an explosion suddenly rattled throughout the entire city!
Taking a glance back, Jerome could see another tower of molten rock starching the skies above them. This one, however, was a lot bigger than the last one he had seen, and it was an indicator that the volcano was getting ready to blow!
And he was not the only person to think that this was the case. As the voice of Spartan-042 once again came across the convoy's COM lines.
"Heads up troops; we've got more movement behind us, stay sharp!" Douglas made the call out as weapons swung to meet this approaching threat.
But this was not something anyone was expecting. Because instead of finding another wave of enemy aircraft; they found themselves facing a motley collection of what would have passed as vintage vehicles racing towards them.
"Tighten up our formation! Don't let them slip into our convoy!" One of the drivers called out.
Still, this was easier said than done, as another powerful earthquake ripped through beneath them as more fissures appeared in front of them as molten rock started to spew forth from the ground beneath them. As the whole convey tried to avoid this sudden hazard, thus allowing civilian transport to slip into their racks causing untold chaos.
As they slammed into, cut off, or otherwise tried to ensure their survival at the expense of everyone else around them. The results of which were not pretty, as Alice was forced to open her chain gun to save a troop Hog, while at another moment another Warthog was forced down a side road.
With the way, many other similar instants happened all over the convoy. Even Jerome was forced to take part in this mess, as he then forced one of the cars off the road. Cursing under his breath, Jerome opened his COMs.
"Teams, status report!" He barked, as he needed to know the full extent of this mess.
Slowly but surely, all remaining teams reported in. And the picture that Jerome was getting from them was not great. As most of the convoy was now scarred into small pockets across the city, taking whatever roads were still open to them. All the while they were contending with wild and undisciplined civilians trying to make their escape.
"Understood, Douglas, Leon, August you have local command," Jerome informed his fellow Spartans alongside local lead units.
With that done, Jerome turned back to his dilemma. As he knew that despite these best efforts, Jerome knew that they would need some way of quarantining their efforts so that they could get the scattered convoy back into an organized column.
And Jerome knew the only way to do that was to get help, so he opened the COM. But when he finally got through to the Spirit, he was surprised to find that it was Anders who answered.
"Professor, I was expecting the captain." As Jerome said, he then turned to avoid crashing his Hog into another car.
"He's a little busy right now. So, I'll have to do for now Spartan." The Professor apologized, but there was no real need as Jerome could easily get what he needed from her as well.
"Professor; I have troops that have split off from the main column. I need help getting them back to the main formation." Jerome did not sugarcoat the current situation.
Anders needed to know what was happening ground side if she was going to help him.
"Understood Spartan, how can I help?" Anders inquired because she was not entirely sure how she could help him.
Though she did have an idea as to what Jerome might ask of her. Anders still wanted to be sure she understood what he wanted from her.
"Anders; I need you to set waypoints to guild them back to the main force." Jerome laded out what he needed in the simplest terms.
"I can do that. Still, I cannot make any promises that I can get them all back to you. As that whole area is extremely unstable Jerome." Anders informed him of the latest sensor data from the Spirits arrays.
"I'm not asking for miracle Professors. Just do what you can and see if you can get someone from the bridge to assist." Jerome said as he cut off another car beside him.
"Understood Jerome; let the captain know as soon as I'm able." She assured the Spartan, whose troop lives she now held in her hands.
"Thank you, Professor, also one other thing," Jerome asked as he had to know this.
"Make it quick Spartan." Anders said getting straight to the point.
"Any idea as to how much longer we have till this thing pops?" Jerome inquired of Anders, as he wanted to know how much time he had to play with him at any rate.
"I can't tell… But I would say from what I can gather; I would say five if not ten minutes tops barring an unforeseen event." Anders informed the Spartan.
"Understood Professor; 092 out." Jerome then cut the link.
But as he did so, the world around him was shaken by another powerful earthquake, while the sounds of explosions could be heard around him. For his part, Jerome could not tell whether this was the Archer missiles from the Spirit of Fire doing their work, or it was the volcano simply moving a step closer to the catastrophic eruption that would follow once it finally popped.
Not that it mattered, as Jerome's gut was telling him that it was now make-or-break time. Also adding to this feeling was the alarming number of fissures, magma bombs, and a whole other assortment of hazards that came with being this close to a volcano eruption.
As it was plain as day to the Spartan that they could not afford to linger here any longer, Jerome once again opened his COM.
"Captain we're out of time! Enemies air cover or not we need that EXTRACTION NOW!" Jerome called into his COM but was only met with silences as molten fragments started to rain down upon his Hog.
As chunks of ash and rock quickly followed suit, and with it, a general sense of panic started to set in. With the convoy starting to lose what little cohesion it had left a general sense of every man for themselves started to set in. Thankfully, however, both tank drives did not seem to succumb to the sense of panic making their way through the ranks. Then again, they were sealed into their vehicles and were not experiencing the worst of the volcano's current effects.
Still, Jerome did not expect it to be long before they tried to find their escape. And if that happened then there would not be a chance for an orderly evacuation, but instead a desperate mad dash for safety. This was what Jerome wanted to avoid at all costs, as he knew that they would lose any chance of rescue in any capacity. As he then opened a COM directory to the Pelicans in orbit over the city.
"Pilots were out of time! I am requesting an immediate extraction on my location!" But just as Jerome finished saying this sounds that mimicked thunder could be heard.
Not knowing what this meant, Jerome was about to repeat his order to the pilots in orbit above the city when his HUD chipped. Taken aback for a moment, Jerome then checked and found that his HUD had a new waypoint marker.
But Jerome paid much attention to it, as he had more pressing matters to deal with. As another strike group of enemy aircraft barreled out from one of the nearby ash clouds.
"Hostiles; coming in at Three, Seven-!" Jerome was in the middle of calling out their positions when they exploded in brilliant fireballs that lit up the ash-gray sky.
Upon seeing this and knowing what this meant, Jerome immediately opened his COM and was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Sorry for the wait Red Actual. Do you still need that pickup?" The welcomed voice of Bravo-029 pilot came across Jerome's COM.
As he and a small number of Pelicans came barreling out of a nearby ash cloud. A most welcomed sight given the current state of things around them, as another blast from the volcano could be heard around them.
"Better late than never Pilot; be aware we're going to be doing a moving extraction," Jerome informed the pilot.
The most dangerous form of extraction was only performed when stander methods were deemed too dangerous. And given their current environment: Jerome believed that this qualified as one of those times.
"Understood Spartan, just be aware this is going to be a little dicey." The Pilot informed him.
"Dicey or not pilots, we don't have the time to play around with. Just be ready to get us out of here!" This came from August, as she started to bring her part of the column into position for the pick-up.
"Understood Spartan, just be ready." The Pilot said as he brought his drop ship in for this dangerous maneuver.
She watched them with eyes not her own as they escaped the burning city.
Even so, the Overseer made one last effort. As she sent whatever plane she had left to stop them. But it was a futile gesture as they were quickly either beaten off or shot from the sky.
This now left her with the only option of retreating. As there was nothing more, she could do her, but as she started to do so, the Overseer could not help but maul over her mistakes that had led up to this point.
As her errors of judgment had cost her, even so, what she had set out to accomplish had been achieved.
As the city was ablaze and was even now sinking to the sea floor. All the while she had managed to keep 'her' identity hidden, if only barely. As she had been forced back out of range, leaving her unable to react in time when those insects had destroyed the artifact.
The Overseer gritted her teeth over this fact. As that artifact had made all this possible, but now it was nothing more than molten soap in the planet's mantle now.
This plus all the other unexpected setbacks made this failure loss string all the more.
As she simply could not replace it like the ships she had lost today. That meant going to her 'Benefactors' if she wanted a replacement, and honestly, that was not a conversion she was looking forward to having. As she knew what they might do to her for losing that device, still it was not all bad news.
As she did at least have something to trade in exchange for it. As she knew her 'Benefactors' well enough if she explained what had happened to her in such a way that she did not take most of the blame. Then she could get what she wanted without facing any of the consequences of her earlier blunder.
Even so, by doing that she would admit her failure. The Overseer then turned to look at the blazing sky of the volcanic hell she had helped to unleash, as her momentary sense of satisfaction was overtaken by the sting of failure. Knowing what could have been if things had events played out differently.
"If only you hadn't shown your face. Then I could have burned them all to the ground along with this god-forsaken city. Damn you… Yamato." The Overseer muttered to herself as she sailed/skated her way towards friendly territory.
That is all she wrote; I hope that you enjoyed it.
Not much to say, other then I hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Anyway, until next time have a good one.
