New Alexandria, Eposz, Reach – August 23rd, 2552 – 1537 hours
The dazed supersoldier woke to the unmistakable sound and the violent shake of a ground-based mass driver being fired at a target. He unlocked his armor, tried to stretch his aching limbs and tuned into the UNSC ground COMs.
"-- request FPF sit-rep."
"Negative Two-Six, corvette's still coming!"
"Copy Four-Zero, firing FPF-two, -- shot."
He looked up at the sky just in time to see a second tungsten MAC slug screeching across in the direction of the hovering corvette, the shot exploded in a spectacular fashion against the hull but all it did was slightly weaken the corvette's extremely resilient energy shields, which had turned a slight orange in color.
"Damn! How do you stop that thing?"
The Spartan knew that it was basically unheard of to fire MAC rounds in atmosphere, let alone above a heavily populated city like New Alexandria, he also knew that the situation was becoming more dire by the minute if they were willing to do just that. He slowly got on his feet, detached the DMR that he holstered on his back and scanned the surroundings.
They had crashed in an intersection across the bay from the starport, the wreckage of the badly damaged, burnt and now wingless Falcon was still smoking but most of the flames had died down. He rushed over to the wreck and found the body of the pilot, the cockpit glass was all but gone and it was clear that he had been flung out from the cockpit on impact, he collected the pilot's dog tag and looked around for the Corporal and his teammate. Fortunately, Petty Officer Second Class Pablo-A321 had survived the impact by locking his armor and was just getting up when Five found him near the destroyed port side door.
"You alright?" Five asked as he walked over to him, still sweeping the surrounding area to make sure it was clear from any threats.
"Yeah," Six replied as he unholstered his assault rifle and did the same. "limbs are a bit stiff but it's sure as hell better than having them broken."
"The pilot's KIA."
"What about the Corporal?"
"Unconfirmed."
The two Spartans now satisfied that the area was clear, for now, inspected the wreckage more closely, looking for any salvageable supplies and the Corporal. As they dug around the twisted hunks of burnt debris surrounding the rear cabin area, they heard a succinct but noticeable sound of pain emanating from deeper inside. Upon closer inspection, they saw the outline of a human form, lying on his back and pinned in between the collapsed bulkheads. Five lifted the collapsed roof and bulkhead out of the way while Six reached in and pulled the man out of the pile of wreckage.
The Corporal was breathing heavily, his combat BDU was stained with blood and his helmet was nowhere to be found, blood was drizzling out of a sizable wound in his chest. Six pulled a biofoam canister out of a health pack still attached to a bulkhead, inserting the nozzle and injecting the foam into the wound. The Corporal momentarily writhed in agony as the foam worked its magic.
"We should link up with the rest of the evac teams, most of them in this sector are probably heading for the starport." Five announced as he checked his TACPAD on his left forearm.
"Agreed, let's move before more Covies show up." Six replied as he helped the Corporal back onto his feet.
The small fireteam moved through the abandoned streets with Echo-Five taking point and the Corporal limping along with the help of Echo-Six. They were heading due east, making their way to the South Harbor Bridge, latest tactical data showing a staging area where evacuation convoys were being escorted to the starport on the other side of the bridge.
Five held out a closed fist signaling for the team to stop, they were next to one of the many skyscrapers in the downtown area, about six blocks away from the bridge, opposite the building was an elevated Maglev station. With another wave of his hand, the Spartan signaled for them to take cover behind a raised roadblock. Peeking over the roadblock and looking down the sights of his DMR, Five scanned the station, spotting the three Jackal snipers armed with Beam Rifles keeping watch over the area.
"Three contacts on the train platform near the railings." Announced Five through the COM channel.
"Three targets on tracker confirmed." Replied Six.
Gently resting his index finger over the trigger, Five aimed the DMR at the forward-most Jackal's head. Squeezing the trigger, the Jackal's head exploded in a mist of purple blood, the body lurching back and hitting the platform with a dull thud. Almost immediately, the two remaining Jackals fired their rifles in the general direction of the shot, the bright purple beam instantly giving away their positions. Five moved left and landed another headshot. The third Jackal managed to land a shot on Five's helmet, draining his shields instantly. He ducked into cover and waited for his shields to recharge.
"Six, one more target, right next to the stairway landing."
"Copy that."
Six holstered his MA37 and retrieved a grenade launcher which he had prior salvaged from a dead trooper. He took aim and fired a single grenade up onto the Maglev platform, the shriek of the Jackal was cut short as the grenade detonated and pieces of shrapnel and body parts rained onto the street below. After making double sure that the coast was clear, the fireteam continued on their way to the bridge staging area. Aside from a small detour to go around a crashed Maglev as well as taking out a few more Covenant patrols, they reached the South Harbor Bridge with otherwise little difficulty.
The staging area was a little more than a temporary sector command center as well as a makeshift triage area located under the bridge east access ramp. Currently it was filled with army troopers running to and fro attending to various needs along with around fifty civilians climbing aboard transports. After sending the Corporal on his way to get checked out in triage, the two Spartans made their way to the SCC. The SCC was basically a big, prefabricated, gray, metal and concrete box with an array of communications antennas on the roof and a medium-sized power generator slapped onto the side. The inside was packed from floor to ceiling with computer terminals and COMs equipment with a central console showing a holographic 3D map of the surrounding area as well as the known location of all UNSC forces in the area.
The Spartans approached the commanding officer of the SCC, First Lieutenant Andrew Bukowski, who was currently in a discussion with several troopers who'd be leading the convoy.
"Sir, Spartans reporting for duty." Six said to him. Lieutenant Bukowski and the troopers all looked up at them, with a pleased smile, he spoke:
"About time you guys showed up, the convoys here have been getting hammered all day by Covenant. I want you," gesturing to Five, "to join the next convoy, which leaves in five. And you," gesturing to Six, "will join the next convoy out."
"Yes sir." The two said in unison, as they headed out of the SCC, Five gave Six a small nod before joining the imminently departing convoy, taking up position as the gunner of the lead escort Warthog. There were a few surprised murmurs from both civilians and Army troopers alike about a Spartan joining them. He didn't pay them any mind, he was here to do his job and he was going to do it well, no matter what it took.
"Convoy Delta Two-Nine, cleared to proceed to evac point." The voice of the SCC COMs officer rang through the channel. The convoy of four escort Warthogs and seven transports then moved out of the staging area and onto the bridge.