Downtown Casimir City, Casimir Metro, Reach
August 30, 2552, 00:21 hours
UNSC forces all across wider Casimir Metro were falling back towards the tether, a sizeable chunk of the civilian population had been sucessfully evacuated, unfortunately the escape corridor was a veritable minefield, Air Force simply no longer had the numbers to ensure safe passage to high orbit. It was all they could do to simply keep most Covenant flyers out of Casimir city's airspace.
Most civilian ships at this point had jumped away, some civilians, especially parents, a few elderly, and veterans had opted to stay behind and pick up weapons to give their loved ones a fighting chance. Their courage bolstered the crumbling morale of the Troopers, they were from Colonel Ferretti's detachment who had stayed behind to hold the pads as best they could, many needed to take only one quick glance at a 70-something grandmother staring down the sights of an MA5B to steel their resolve. Hell, many were trying to push the Troopers to fall back, to live, to fight another day. That's what humanity was all about, when things got the hardest, people were at their noblest.
The first elements of th had arrived, and they were so haggard looking and exhausted that they were simply shoved on the first Pelicans to arrive from the Navy upstairs.
So far the only thing that had let up was the rain, the only good news they were gonna get, darkness still enveloped the city in the early hours of the day, but the deep rumble of heavy fire in the distance let everyone know that the fight wasn't over, not by a long shot.
Scorpions were firing away in congruence with arty, the few Kodiaks that remained were wreaking havoc on Covenant forces, as most were dumb enough to advance on the main central avenue as it was a far more direct attack lane towards the tether. Fortunately EOD teams had set off charges along the path, making the approach difficult for the aliens.
A few Army Pathfinders had volunteered, and by few, the ones that were still alive- to remain behind and direct arty fire on hotspots as orbital uplinks at this point were all but gone.
Concealed somewhere on one of the top floors of one of the still standing massive skyscrapers, Special Forces Troopers were surgical in their instructions. Pathfinders were normally not made for FDO roles, but they made due just fine. They chuckled, for all their boasting of roaming the galaxy for thousands of years, with superior ships, superior everything, Covenant forces rarely were inspired enough to simply look up and put two and two together. Fortunately they had a way out, they were dropped off with wingsuits, just in case if shit really hit the fan. Better than nothing, and a lot less attention than a freaking Pelican pickup.
Somewhere in District IV, due west of downtown Casimir
"God damn it." Captain Best huffed with a breath under his nose as he directed his troops with a strong northward, thrice-repeated hand gesture. Survivors of the 561st were running down alleys, leapfrogging as fast as they could to make it to the evac zone at rally point Beta. About a company worth of men was all that remained of them, their two sectors had been overrun as soon as they were ordered to retreat, a few squads under their XO opted to stay behind and buy them as much time as possible for them to make it to safety. It had all gone to Hell in a handbasket not long after their CO had lost half her abdomen in an explosive spray of guts and pink crystals.
Best took a knee along with his men and women to catch their breath, things weren't going very well.
"600 meters and closing!" the surviving Second Lieutenant from 2nd Platoon notified over comms, they were in the rear guard and could hear their gutural roars as they gave chase in the almost silent city "They're gaining on us, sir! Let me stay behind with a couple of my boys!"
"Fuck no, we're not losing anyone else! Major's orders were clear. We need to get off this planet, all of us!" Best informed the Mars native over comms.
"We're not gonna make it at this pace, hoss, it's almost 2.5 clicks to the LZ!" First Sergeant Willis added in low, but alarming tone. Staring at him from the other side of the alley, his comically large moustache shifting under his nose.
Best took a moment to think and turned to a woman 10 meters behind him "Thuy, your boys got any trip mines left?"
The woman only grinned like a dog.
"Set 'em and run like Hell!" Best told the Corporal "I don't wanna send your daddy your porn collection."
She only nodded and waved at her boys to start setting party poopers.
As the rest of the survivors ran for dear life Thuy and her boys set about 10 charges along their escape corridor, each packed with an extra grenade for good measure.
"All set, bossman." she chimed in comms, huffing the words as she was running for dear life.
"I see 'em, sir!" the Martian chimed in as well and followed them as soon as they passed.
"I'm not losing another man, Lieutenant!" Best shout-whispered into comms and addressing everyone "Double time! Go, go, go!"
And his Troopers gave all they got, sprinting as hard as they could as they were being hunted by a relentless, and bloodthirsty enemy. But there was simply not enough time, the clock was ticking. 'We're gonna miss those Pelicans' Best thought to himself bitterly, but they had to try. They were already on the edge of exhaustion, many of them starving, they've been fighting almost non-stop for an entire day at that point.
They got the word not long after midnight, Overlord was in effect, that meant run, motherfuckers, run.
They still gotten off lighter than the 542nd, the left flank was all but whiped out, a few stragglers made it out in time and had gone comm-silent, the 556th had been the luckiest, that or Col. Spear knew what the Hell she was doing. Either way, the Covenant pressed a lot harder on their two flanks in the south than they did on their center, plus last he heard, Spear had gotten armored support, 'Must be nice.', he thought bitterly. It was a miracle they made it out with as few losses as they had. Best didn't believe in guardian angels, but he sure as shit-
"Captain Best, I repeat, Captain Best, do you copy, over?"
A feminine voice with a strange accent echoed in his ears as he tried his 'best' to hear her over the static.
"Repeat last, over! Repeat last!"
"This is UNSC A. I. Petra attached to SPECWAR/Group Four! You need to pick up your pace, Captain, or you and your boys will not make zhe rendez-vous! You have 42 minutes! Pelicans from the Virginia are on zhe way!"
"Copy that, ma'am." Elliot conceded in a deflated tone, closing his eyes. Then and there he made the decision that he would remember for all the days he had left in this world.
"Tell the boys to prepare to break cover, we're never gonna get there in time zig-zagging between these damn apartment blocks, make for 12th Street, and we'll huff it northeastward until we hit Ashford Avenue, should be smooth sailing from there. Use what cover you can."
"Sir!" his soldiers replied, as one quickly sprinted forward from his original position. Taking point on a street corner, the boy, a Corporal Nealy- waved them up frantically, giving the OK sign for all clear, and with as much noise discipline they could muster on empty stomachs that had been empty for over a day now they ran for one of the main roads that led directly to a major northeastward roundabout. Fortunately abandoned cars were abundant, plenty of cheap cover.
By the time the last soldiers had cleared the alleys and gotten on 12th, they heard a loud series of explosions go off from where they had come.
"Fuck, they're close!" Willis drawled "If we keep running in the open like this we'll be easy pickings!"
'FUCKING HELL!' Best lamented their misfortune and not a moment later they could hear the whine of plasma lapping at the soles of their boots.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Contact rear!"
"Get cover, get cover!" shouted the last Trooper as he was shot in the back and collapsed ungraciously, his light gone forever.
"Return fire!" Best all but screamed into comms, this was it, this was it. And a veritable horde of Grunts and Jackals poured out of the side street and alley.
The Covies didn't waste time in returning fire on the soldiers, many of whom still hadn't managed to find adequate cover.
The bastards were met with a rain of lead and steel in kind reply.
"Last mag! Last mag!"
"Take mine, Gordy!"
"Frag long!"
"Someone tell Draper to move her fat, juicy ass!"
"Eat my taint, Cotyar!"
"Gladly!"
"Shift fire! Shift fire!"
"Plug that fucking hole!"
"Clear backblast!"
"B. A. clear!"
And the SPANKr barked as an M21 antipersonnel rocket left the first tube turning a group of suicide Grunts into a pasty smear, their activated plama grenades going off in a series of pops, frying a few more of the sons of bitches.
The wall of Death seemed to stun them for a second, but only for one, as they rushed forward, not minding their comrades around them getting hosed and peppered. There were a lot of them. Climbing over car hoods, Jackal shields standing out in the dark of the night.
"Frag out!" a Trooper yelled as he tossed a 'nade, only to catch ricocheting needle shots to his feet from below a car. His screams drowned out by the explosions and rapid gun fire around them.
"Mediiic!" his squadmate shouted at the top of her lungs as she tried to drag her legless buddy away, just as a fuel rod shot vaporized almost an entire squad on their left. She threw her body over his but it was a moot point, he was gone.
"Hunters!"
"Return fire! Don't let up!" and a second SPANKr streaked down the street, detonating on the shields of one of the massive creatures.
The Troopers doubled their efforts as soon as the lumbering Hunters cleared an overturned bus in the distance, just having rounded the corner around it, bringing up the rear of the Covenant party.
"Stelios is gone!"
"I'm hit!"
"Mikah, I need a mag!"
"¡Me cago en el coño de tu madre!"
"Pull back! Shift and retreat! Shift and retreat!" by the time Best gave that order a dozen men and women were simply gone, and almost double that number in various stages of dying and dismemberment.
WORT WORT WORT echoed between the buildings, it seemed to be coming from everywhere, and a chill ran up the Troopers' collective spine.
There was a slight slack in Covenant fire, just as half a dozen Elites, wielding all sorts of heavy weapons and Energy Swords appeared on a house rooftop right above them.
"9-o-clock high! Contact! Contact!" and the Elites were on them, carving their way through disoriented soldiers, just as another group appeared on a restaurant rooftop on the other side of the street, they were boxed in.
The Elites dropped down, followed by Jackals and charged at the bigger concentration of humans in the center.
As a result of being a more inexperienced Trooper, the young soldier was shoved to the right flank on the onset of the skirmish by their squad leader, quickly turning to fire at the back of the Jackals who were following the Elites the trooper raised their rifle to fire, but two more Jackals jumped down from behind and charged, the Trooper turned panicking, fumbling with the fresh mag- dropping it to the ground, on the verge of tears now, shaking, not out of fear for herself, but due to finding out two days prior that she was three weeks pregnant.
She turned to run, get the attention of her squadmates, anyone, but everyone else was so focused on the Elites and the center push that no one noticed or heard her cries of pain, but there they were, ripping into her legs, pulling her to the ground, clawing at the straps of her armor, it was almost as if they could smell the new life growing inside her, making them all the more bloodthirsty.
As she was being dragged away the Elites concentrated their push on the center. Led by an Elite in golden armor, brandishing a long Energy Sword he bisected an unsuspecting Trooper, another getting stabbed by the Major next to him.
"We need to get the fuck outta here!"
"Mamaaaa! Mamaaaa!"
Just then Best's long range comms cracked again, but the gun fire around him was so loud he could barely make out Petra's static-filled voice, let alone her words:
"Fri-dly enga-ng! -endly engaging!"
And before Best could make heads or tails of the transmission a massive, reinforced concrete wall exploded just above the main Covenant push, engulfing countless dozens of Covies in fire and debris. Blue blood smeared and sprayed on the ground and grass everywhere, a huge, almost Scorpion-sized chunk of permacrete flattened one of the Hunters, turning it into orange paste. Smoke billowed out in all directions like a miniature pyroclastic flow, and before its bond mate could bellow in rage, 3 plasma grenades flew at its back out of the smoky shadows, it only screamed for a moment before going still and its remaining legs falling over.
"Sierra 062, engaging."
Before anyone, be it Covenant or UNSC could register what had happened, in the inky murk of night a dark grey blur of titanium and fury unleashed itself from the spreading dark abyss of smoke and shadow. The momentarily stunned Elites counter-charged, bellowing challenges, their General in gold in front and center.
Like an ancient, dark god, death had arrived, they just didn't know it yet.
"Contact."
Running straight at them with speeds a Warthog would struggle to match, the heavy cruiser on two legs smashed the first Elite in the face so hard its shields along with its helmet and skull popped like a balloon, quickly sliding on his knees under the overhead swing of the Sangheili General trying desperately to bisect him with his Energy Sword, the death machine without looking back, snagged a plasma grenade off the offending Elite's belt, activated it, and threw it casually back at him, sticking it to its lower back, jumping up again back into a full sprint and vaulting over the third Elite, sending 3 rapid shots from his DMR straight into the top of its head- just as the General was shred in two by the plasma 'nade's detonation, the last of the first three Elites dropped to the ground, leaking vital fluids like Niagara on Earth.
In a quarter of a second he turned, and re-engaged the rest, spotting the remaining enemy Elites closing in. Vaulting over a truck in a corkscrew move, out of the corner of his eye, as everything around him seemed to be floating in jello, he noticed a Trooper between two dumpsters fighting for her life and before his feet touched the ground, the two Jackals on top of her dropped dead.
A second Major simply tried to body charge him, all thoughts of graceful tactics gone after seeing his General be sent on the Great Journey. The Warrior simply slid to the side in a movement so fast he once again blurred and spun with his combat knife in hand, burying it up to the hilt in the Sangheili's neck, severing its spine, and with a swift twist of his arm, ripped it out and tossed it at the Minor firing from a distance, right into the gaping maw that was its mouth. Dead before it hit the ground.
And as these 4 seconds passed, the rest of the Covenant and UNSC forces were jolted back to reality, ignoring the Troopers, the Covenant relished the prospect of slaying a Demon.
The remaining half a dozen or so Elites charged him, giving the Army boys and gals the opening they needed, and ruthlessly they exploited it like a motherfucker.
"Troopers, on me!" Best bellowed into comms as he vaulted over an instacrete roadblock, sending metal death down range, followed suit by the rest of his Battalion, the survivors joined the fight, pushing with righteous fury, all their suffering, all their pain, all their despair, all their misery vanished in the blink of an eye when they realized just who was carving up Elites like it was Friday night at the taqueria.
"Elites, on your 6!" she chimed in his ear with a small touch of fright in her voice.
"I see them." he quickly and calmly replied.
He released the Elite as soon as he almost yanked the Minor's head off its shoulders, and before his corpse could hit the ground the DMR was once again off his back plate, sending hyper-accurate fire at the last 2 Majors and 3 Minors. He flanked to the left, trying to put distance between himself and the charging enemy, the Majors went right at him but the Minors went wide with their Plasma Repeaters. 'Sneaky fuckers.' the Warrior thought as he simply shifted and charged the first Minor on the right, ignoring the furious Majors, a few plasma rounds hit his shields, down to 90%.
Popping the shield of the Minor was quickly followed up by a shot to its head. He quickly turned to re-engage the Majors, placing them between himself and the other Minors' acceptably accurate fire. They'd have to do better than that.
The Troopers having re-engaged the Grunts and Jackals were starting to turn the tide, a squad leader from earlier body rushed a Jackal that had its shield destroyed and with a blood-curdling scream only a human throat could produce turned the Jackal's face into swiss cheese with his combat knife, before crawling on his hands and knees over to the girl lying below two Jackal corpses, he quickly pulled them off and felt for a pulse. "Thank God." he breathed in relief.
The rest of the soldiers were having a field day, their fantasies made flesh. They periodically kept glancing at the super soldier as he did things to Elites they could only ever dream of. All the stories that they heard that have been circulating between units over the years, every little tidbit they've learned and dismissed as nothing more than madness or flights of fancy, well, they all turned out to be very true. Once you've seen an Elite Major's head caved in like an empty soda can you knew you were in God's protective hands.
One man armies. Tide breakers. Before them no Covenant force could stand and live. The surge of energy and defiance it gave them was like a drug they never wanted to quit. Soldiers yelled at the top of their lungs, fury and rage etched on their faces. Not so funny when it's your mother, is it?
They watched the Spartan almost dance around and between the Elites, and once the last Major dropped, the remaining Grunts and Jackals went into a full rout. Screaming and chirping, waving their arms above their heads, some even throwing their weapons away, being cut down with Army efficiency, only a few managed to make it down a few alleys, back to where they came from.
"Hold!" Best ordered over battalion comms "Check your sectors, we got a lot of wounded."
The men obeyed as a strange, but calming silence fell over the battlefield, all that activity probably didn't go unnoticed. Some soldiers stood, some still behind cover, aiming down at the alley from whence they came, some hurrying to treat the wounded. The sounds of cries of pain and biofoam cans hissing filled the air. Most just stared at the jolly grey giant as he made his way towards an Elite, yanking his massive M11 free from its bloody mouth. He gave it a solid shake before sheathing it, swiftly turning towards the approaching soldiers.
Best and his men approached the super soldier, he quickly noticed them, fully turning and giving a solid nod "Sir." No saluting in the field. Best's HUD didn't give him much to go on, no unit, no name, just Sierra Alpha Zero Six Two, Staff Sergeant.
"At ease, soldier." the CO nodded with a big smile on his face "I can't thank you enough, you saved a lot of lives here." he continued as he looked around the street, his voice going dry at the sight of so many of his men and women laying dead.
"Was already headed your way, sir. Petra informed me as soon as she picked up the Covies trailing you, I was just west of your position."
The troopers around Best were only smiling and nodding their thanks, a few thumbs up even went up. Bloodied, dirty, sweaty and on the verge of mental and physical exhaustion.
"The 561st owes you an ocean of beer, sir." a Corporal chimed in, toothy grin.
The super solider nodded at the young man before addressing the CO and the platoon leaders around him "We need to move, sir, there's not a lot of time left. The corridor is closing rapidly."
"36 minutes on zhe clock, ladies and gentlemen." Petra chimed in on their comms "Chop, chop!"
"Right." Best concluded turning quickly on his heels, keying Battalion comms "Move out! Double time! Drop what you don't need! Move! Get the stretchers, we're not leaving anyone behind!"
"Sir!" everyone replied in unison and moved out to carry out their tasks, fortunately those that were wounded were few, the few that couldn't move were even fewer. Plasma really didn't leave survivors if it was a direct hit. At least they had plenty of stretchers to go around.
The super soldier quickly went over to an unconcious and very big trooper, picking him up in a fireman carry like he was made out of wet paper. Everyone just stared, and Best ordered them to move their asses.
They quickly made their way up the road toward the roundabout. The super soldier relented on orders from the unit CO, and placed the trooper he was carrying on a stretcher, moving rear to cover their 6. The city was eerily quiet around them, their breathing and footsteps, not to mention ratling gear far more noticeable in the silence. Only the sounds of fires, and the distant sounds of fighting could be heard, but that was presently still some ways out.
The troopers turned northward on the avenue, passing between taller and taller commercial buildings, but sticking to the natural cover of the central, long and thin park that ran down the center of the avenue that separated the to and fro lanes. They were making good time, good news for once, but still a ways to go, the street started curving slightly northeastward as they saw another, larger roundabout in the distance, a large statue of some important figure in the middle of it.
As they made their approach to the large intersection that connected 6 avenues Petra chimed in once more "Hold up, sir." at that moment Best's fist went up and dropped to the deck, everyone stopped and took a knee, eyes sharp.
"You are in luck! I've already informed zhe Lieutenant Colonel, lucky for you zhey have zhe room!" she sounded happy as she made the announcement, cryptic as ever, creating a waypoint indicator on Best's HUD, and his head immediately snapped southeastward, the waypoint was getting closer, at an alarming rate.
The main avenue was wide, and on both sides very tall buildings curved up skyward, an even wider and longer park ran down its center than on the secondary avenues. Massive redwoods reaching up, the seedlings must've been planted not long after the urban planning for Casimir city had been completed in 2398.
Best must've looked worried because his soldiers were looking at him concerned, then they heard it, coming up from the south, the telltale growl of Warthogs. Before Best could stand he saw the super soldier, Staff Sergeant Sierra 062 walk by him in a casual, almost silent stride, making more than one soldier jump with surprise.
"Geez, give a guy a heart attack why don't ya." one of the troopers breathed in his Yorkshire accent only to receive a smack upside the helmet for his efforts from his squad leader.
Best joined the super soldier on the side of the road as they watched the UNSC convoy approach at high speeds, they were in quite a hurry, their movements were concealed well from aerial threats under the massive redwood boughs.
"Holy shit, is that a Sun Devil? Didn't they stop manufacturing them?" one Trooper asked from the rear.
The first Warthogs pulled up, tires squealing on the pavement, no headlights to speak of. A smart choice given the circumstances. The convoy was long, vehicles coming up on both sides of the park, they even had a few Mastodons in the mix, they stood out from the 'hogs as their silhouettes were massive, twice the height than those of the light vehicles, looming in the murk of night, armored beasts on 6 wheels.
"Well, bless my knickers, I didn't know there was a Spartan in the A. O.!" a blonde woman in her 40's stood up in her seat on the shotgun side of the second vehicle. Leaning on the solid, framed windshield, her west Londoner accent ringing like a bell, a hard RP "You boys look like you've had one Hell of a party."
The Spartan and the CO went rigid and nodded with respect "Ma'am." they replied in unison with Best continuing.
"Ma'am, Captain Elliot Best, with the 5 6 1."
"Sierra Alpha 0 6 2."
"Leftenant Colonel Mary Spear, 5 5 6. Best we be on our way then, chaps. Hop on. Let's not dilly-dally!" she quickly said whilst keying her comms "Eddie, I want their wounded in the Mastodons, on the double!"
"23 minutes, Colonel!" Petra suddenly chimed into everyone's comms "You must hurry!"
"Copy that, Petra!" the race was on "Captain, haul ass!"
"Okay, boys! Let's go, let's go! Clock's ticking!" Best replied, whilst waving up his men towards the vehicles with a few quick hand chops in the air as he held his weapon steady with his left across his chest. "Double time, people! 23 minutes till the ball drops!" Platoon leaders quickly and quietly coordinating with Spear's men did as they were told, everyone piling on at flank speed. They felt like robbers in the night, afraid of getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar- you could cut the tension in the air.
Best hopped in shotgun in the third vehicle, while the Spartan took the M41 on the lead one from a greatful Trooper who hurried back and climbed on a Warthog further down the line.
Looking over the shot up lot of misfits as they climbed on, she commed Best as they took off towards the elevator on the northern edge of Casimir city "Our long range comms went down not long after Overlord was declared, and we've only now what, 20-25 minutes ago gotten close enough to contact command, that's when Petra informed me that you were, well, quite literally right around the corner! Not to mention Battle Group Leviathan is waiting for us upstairs! They're sending down a lot more Pelicans and air cover!" she spoke over the noise of the engine, the woman frowned, dirt still on her nose and cheeks "Where's your CO, Captain? Or for that matter, the rest of your Battalion? I know you lads were deployed on our right flank, what the blazes happened?"
"We took heavy contact, ma'am!" he had to yell a bit over the wind rushing by "They came at us hard, right when Overlord came down, as we broke cover our CO and XO went down inside of 3 minutes of each other, Major's last orders were to break contact and book it home. Our long range comms have been down, haven't heard from command in a few hours. Is command still up?"
"Last we spoke, as of-" the woman took a quick look at her watch on her right wrist "-11 minutes ago! Petra linked me to the Captain of the Virginia, the man was adamant that we're on the next wave of birds off this rock, a good third of my boys and girls are already aboard the carrier, I made sure we weren't dispersed over the entire Battle Group, and the Colonel's orders were clear, head straight for LZ Gamma! That's where they'll be waiting for us!"
"We were ordered to Beta, ma'am!"
"I know! But not anymore! 'Til further notice I'm folding you under my command! As of 11 minutes ago the Gamma corridor was still open, so we're tangoing with the Devil we know!"
"Copy that! Glad to be with you, ma'am!"
As we know, no plan survives contact with the enemy. The convoy headed at full throttle towards the tether, the clock was still counting down. 21 minutes, 20 seconds. The landing pads were just north of the tether, the one cleared for LZ Gamma at least, LZ Beta was a smoking pile of rubble, as was LZ Alpha.
The orbital elevator itself was a massive construct, even in the darkness, its height meant that it caught the Sun's light long before any surface feature on Reach did. A man-made monolith of human genius, it could be seen from almost any point on Casimir Island that was high enough. Its hard points and latches- made to shift with the tether depending on weather conditions- were easily the sizes of skyscrapers themselves. At the elevator's base lay a massive complex of buildings, docks, commercial districts and industrial zones. Titanium was one of Reach's main exports, and the elevators of Reach were used just for that purpose. Several freight rail lines from all over the island connected to it to the Casimir Tether, the ones underground had been blocked off weeks ago, those above have been severed.
The tether itself was surrounded by two concentric rings of highways designed to connect Casimir Tether by way of road to any and all destinations as efficiently as possible, unfortunately this also served as a double-edged sword, meaning ease of access for the Covenant as well.
By the time the first Warthogs in the convoy were rounding the tether on the exterior highway below, as LZ Gamma was directly north of it, they could already see a dozen or so Pelicans on the pads, their green/red signal lights blinking in the night. A few coming down, quite a few already going up. Everyone was a bit surprised to see no Covenant flyers in the area, those birds were a juicy target, loaded fat with human cargo. That meant Virginia's flyboys and flygirls were doing their jobs.
"All units within the Casimir A. O.! This is Colonel Ferretti! Most of Leviathan's Battle Group is in position and coverin' us! Longswords 're keepin' any bogeys at bay for now! Make things worse, our spotters up on Hydebarad Towers noticed a massive force comin' up straight at us, probably in the low thousands, heavy vehicles and weapons! They'll be here inside 8 minutes! Leviathan's flyboys can't focus both, so the ground work is left to us until the civvies are gone!"
Then Spear commd Ferretti directly "Sir! My battalion is all that's left ground-side in the city! I don't have enough men to hold back a force that large!"
"I still got a few boys on the ground with civilian volunteers! We don't need the enemy curb stomped, Mary, we need a delayin' action, 10 minutes!"
The silence that followed was deafening, the noise of the wind, the sea, the Pelicans, the Warthogs, everything was drowned out by it, slowly rising to a crescendo of void.
"Copy that, sir! Spear out!" she closed the comms and a moment later smashed her fist on the dashboard a few times, her driver just keeping his eyes on the road. The Lieutenant Colonel stood up in her seat, grabbing a hold with her left whilst looking back toward the rest of the high speed convoy, with the wind whiping at her blonde hair, she started drawing big circles in the air with her right arm, the convoy as a result slowed and formed a defensive perimeter outside the shuttle facilities' hangar entrances.
"Dismount!" Captain Traven ordered on comms.
The Troopers dismounted, a few staying up on the guns, scanning towards the south when they were approached by a few troopers and civilians in tow coming out of the nearest building, a hotel, his tag designated him as First Sergeant Stephan Holden on Spear's HUD.
"We're sure as Hell happy to see y'all, ma'am!" he grinned as did the others in relief.
"Gather your men, Sergeant!" and she was immediately obeyed as the man keyed his comms and waved up everyone from inside, the civilians came running out, guns in their hands, a few came to a quick halt, going wide-eyed seeing the bipedal war machine next to the Colonel.
"Traven, gather the kids!" Spear instructed whilst turning to her new XO.
"Listen up, boys and girls!" Traven yelled as he made a signal to gather around "CO has some words, consider it a prayer!"
And they all did, attentively.
"I'll make this quick and simple, sweethearts, the Covies are on the way, massive force. I need a company worth of volunteers to hold the line for 10 minutes. Anyone who feels like getting frisky take one ste-" and over 800 boots echoed on the pavement. "No wonder you're in the Army, none of you know how to count! And neither can the civvies!"
A rowdy laugh went up along the lines "I said a company, the rest to the pads, your limo to the prom is waiting, ladies! I will not have the deaths of hundreds of virgins on my conscience!" most of the Troopers nodded smiling, and started heading towards the Pelicans, the civilians really didn't need to be told twice, although a few hesitated.
"Ma'am, ve vanna fight." a Hungarian man said stepping forward, in a thick accent only a farmer could have.
She placed a hand on his opposite shoulder "And I appreciate it, sir." giving him a small smile "But I need you to live." and gave his shoulder a small squeeze "More to the point, I need soldiers with body armor and lots of ammo, not a rain jacket." she chided with kindness.
The elderly man with his scruffy white beard only nodded with downcast eyes, clearly feeling ashamed of running away from a fight, must've been a helluva soldier back in his day.
"Rangers lead the way." he smiled at that.
"Alvays." and he turned, following his friends up the ramp.
"MOVE!" the new XO bellowed and the soldiers who still remained and weren't part of the company force obeyed, double timing, as many heartfelt handshakes and fistbumps, and few deep frenchies were shared. Most of the 556th and the 561st took off towards the ramps behind the civilians, Captain Traven had to hound some of them to get them going, but they went. Orders were orders, and none of them had the heart to look back at their commanding officer.
The ones too wounded to walk were being carried away from the Mastodons, many still unconscious.
"I meant you too, Captain Best."
"Godspeed, Colonel." the man said nothing more, for his part he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, gave a crisp salute, and morosely followed his men up the ramp.
The woman continued without looking up "I'm not gonna order a Spartan to leave, but I as sure as Christmas appreciate the help." she continued as the massive block of Titanium-A from beside her did not move an inch.
"No on gets left behind." the super soldier stated solemnly "No one."
"I'll do what I can from my end, Lieutenant Colonel." Petra chimed in over the morose silence with a heavy heart in her voice "I've already closed every access tunnel, and deployed all zhe roadblocks to slow zheir vehicles' advance, but I'm not sure how much time zhat will buy us." she followed up as they heard the whine of Pelican engines flare up, and take off.
The Colonel nodded "Appreciate it, Petra!" she then turned to address the rest "All right, ladies! Positions! Man those guns! Get cover! Those bastards are 5 min-" was the last thing out of her mouth as the Spartan knocked her unconscious, quickly grabbing her and lowering her to the ground to avoid further injury. Her soldiers just stared slack-jawed at him, unsure of what to do.
"What zhe Hell are you doing?!" she almost shrieked in his ear "Are you crazy?!"
He directed his golden visor toward the two nearest soldiers "You two, grab a stretcher, take her to the first Pelican you spot. The rest of you, follow me." and with that he turned, quickly hopping up on a Warthog and ripping off the M41 on it. The soldiers just stared with awe and a slight hint of fear.
"She will be pissed when she wakes up..."
"But she'll live, and her soldiers will need her experience and leadership." the Spartan and his A. I. talked on their private channel, his helmet's speakers disabled for the moment.
He jumped from the vehicle, a full belt loaded, when his knees barely sagged as he landed under the massive weight the troopers just went wide-eyed even more so, but they did as they were told as he waved them to follow.
"S-sir, we're not manning the other guns?" one trooper voiced his concern as an almost company-sized element followed him at a hastened pace.
He turned his head halfway toward him, addressing them all, needing to shout over the whine of more Pelican engines, some coming in to land in the place of the previous ones to pick up more Troopers "Ground's too open, wouldn't last 3 minutes, let alone 10, especially with those Wraiths pushing up, no room to maneuver! Head towards the shuttle docks and take up defensive positions and set concealed charges at the entrances! The docks are like a maze, their superior numbers will be funneled!" he indicated with his index and middle finger pointing to the right making everyone wonder how he could hold an M41 with a single hand "I'll head them off and get their attention! What's a few Pelicans compared to a Demon?!" he almost laughed "They won't be able to resist!"
And he took off sprinting, the M41 in his arms. His A. I. companion spoke with a subdued voice "Just don't forget about me, ok? You'll still need to pull me from a terminal."
She had opted earlier to remain in the city's mainframe as she could exert far more control over its infrastructure, hinder the enemy, and be constantly updated on their movements.
"Don't worry." he reassured her with as much kindness as he could muster "No one gets left behind." As he got into the lobby of a very luxurious hotel, he quickly made a beeline for the stairs, bounding up 4-5 steps at a time.
"Head for the 5th floor, south-east corner suite." she advised, quickly accessing the structural plans of the building.
"Copy that." he answered, quickly making it to the 5th floor.
He burst through the door of the suite in question, it also faced toward the courtyard overlooking the large square just off to the east from it, the square basically comprised the empty 'doorway' between the hotel that lead towards the tether, the shuttle docks were directly on the other side of the hotel, north-west of it, giving the Troopers just enough time to set up.
He could clearly see them as Petra directed the hotel's external security feeds directly into his HUD, thankfully the balcony he was on had at least 60-70cm thick walls, solid cover as any- considering it would be tested against plasma weapons, and even heavier guns, but it would hold- at least for a little while. The Covies were very much in effective range at this point, flooding the square tentatively, even they knew that something was about to happen.
"Remember, short, controlled bursts, or you'll run out of ammo in a flash." she reminded.
"Been at this a lot longer than you, Petra. I know."
"Know-it-all."
"It's why you like me." he planted his feet "Let's introduce ourselves." He took in a deep, slow, steadying breath, and as he opened his eyes, the world slowed down considerably. He rose out of cover, placing the protective shield of the M41 on the parapet for extra stability in the blink of an eye, squeezing down on the spool of the weapon, sighted the first Major, and opened fire.
The M41 in his Spartan time slowly but surely started to spool up before he squeezed down the trigger, and the first 10-15 rounds tore into a very surprised Elite- and he was already focusing the second and third targets by the time the first was even halfway to the ground. The Covenant died by the dozens, every round piercing through more than one enemy combatant.
Just then- further down the avenue a massive construction crane came barreling down unto the street, right on top of the first two Wraiths that were unfortunate enough to round the corner. The highrise apartment building was still under construction. The tanks exploded in specacular fashion, incinerating at least 20 more aliens around them, and setting twice that number simply on fire, and plasma stuck like Napalm.
"Ooopsie. Did I do zhat? I love zhe smell of plasma in zhe morning!" she laughed with vengeful glee.
The explosions not to mention the crane itself hitting pavement kicked up a ton of dust and dirt, the Covies were reeling, especially since the road now was blocked for the rest of their vehicles.
"Good work, Petra!" and the M41 spun dry and just as quickly he ducked back into cover, dropping the HMG and grabbing his DMR, 6 mags left. 'More than I need.' the super soldier thought, and dashed inside the hotel suite, his shields had dropped to a precarious 35% just from the sheer volume of fire sent in his general direction, but were already back at 100% by the time he reached the suite's splintered double doors.
He made for the windowded lounge area that was on the same floor, felt like a giant aquarium, but the fires outside provided enough illumination for a good 210 degree view.
From his vantage point he could see a few more Pelicans take off, the Covies attempted to fire at them, but at that distance and murk what little shots were fired they went laughably wide.
Outside about 7 to 8 dozen or so Grunts, Jackals, and quite a few Brutes and Elites lay dead or dying, the Chieftain with them gave the order to rush into the building. Brutes were stupid as Hell, even by most generous evaluations, especially when they went into a frenzy, they were dangerous, make no mistake about it, but it was like manipulating a tantrum-throwing, spoiled 5 year old with chocolate.
The super soldier, pivoted back to where he came from into the long stairwell, his tracker letting him know they were coming up, so he simply released a pair of frags only to hear a moment later the surprised yelps of panic of Grunts before the entire well shook with a deep THUNK-THUNK.
"Guess we're not leaving zhat way."
At the same time, a dozen or so smarter Jackals tried flanking to the left through the electronics and appliance store, suddenly the TVs inside started turning on at max volume, stunning and deafening the creatures, they instinctively fired at the TVs, sparks flying everywhere. And it was just 2 minutes beforehand, when Petra had in a split instant hacked into an automatic sweeper, and used it to ram the the gas main in the store, knocking the pipe loose, and as those sparks from the TVs made contact...
A massive KA-THUNNNK rocked the store across the street that could be heard even in the bowels of the hotel "Flambéed chicken, ready to go!"
The Spartan only grinned in his helmet "That should put them in a jolly mood." then quickly switching comms to the ambush force "Lieutenant, I'm on my way. Get ready." and he exited the hotel by bursting through the 5th floor windows of the lounge that looked out towards the docks, falling a solid 30 meters, touching ground, the Covies were already at the edge of his motion tracker behind him. Most of them were still on the ground floor in the lobby, as he turned he could see them just notice him, and give chase, he sighted his DMR on a Jackal and put it down for good, along with the three Grunts behind it "If that doesn't grab their attenion, nothing will."
"Last Pelicans are away, last birds are away!" Petra announced to everyone's relief, their brothers and sisters, not to mention countless civilians would get to see another day. Hopefully.
"We're ready, sir. C-12s set at the entrances, that'll thin 'em out."
"Wait for my word, let them surge." the Spartan replied as he sprinted across the street and through the loading dock's entrance of the shuttle bay, the Covies right on his heels, as soon as he was inside he leaped for the second floor catwalk above him, pulling himself up, all the Troopers were already in positions around and above on the 3rd and 4th floor walkways, weapons aimed and waiting, about 8-10 seconds later the first horde of monsters popped their heads in.
"Open fire!" the Lt. screamed and the cacophony of lead filled the loading docks.
Then sections of wall here and there started exploding, they were getting smarter, making new angles of attack for themselves, the results were undeniable as they flooded in from every which way possible- Troopers started dying fast, no wonder, many of them had been at the edge of exhaustion yesterday but hanged on just out of spite. Looked like that previously untapped well of energy was starting to run dry, and Army was paying for it in blood.
"Cover left! Cover left!"
"Bounding!"
"Stairs! 2-o-clock!"
"Light 'em up!"
"Cyka blyat!"
"Frag! Frag! Frag!" and several flew towards the new holes, the smoke from them did more to hinder the Covenant than the blasts themselves, this was gonna go downhill fast, not smart to stick around and see it live.
"There's too many of them, Petra, exit strategy. Where's the nearest terminal?" the Spartan asked as he focused down Elites and Brutes, quickly slapping in a fresh mag.
"54.2 meters due north-north-west, 4.2 meters down. Waypoint on your HUD now!"
"We need a ride out of here." he replied as he leaped over the catwalk's railing turning north mid-fall, he hit the ground running and took off along the loading tunnel- contacting the CO in the meantime "Lt., pop it now and fall back!" and behind him a few massive explosions went off, almost collapsing that side of the building, but it was enough to create a bit of breathing space for them as the soldiers started retreating into the larger structure.
A few moments later he arrived at the designated terminal and yanked Petra out of the system, jumping back into her data crystal, which was quickly inserted into the back of his helmet "Ah, no place like home."
"Petra, anything here that'll break orbit?" as he rushed back to cover the Troopers.
"Orbit, no. In-atmo, and fast as Hell? Yes. Pinging it now, it's a pleasure yacht in Bay 04, capable of supercruise. Lifestyles of zhe rich and degenerate. Mind zhe brass poles."
He turned a corner, punching a Jackal that was standing on top of a disarmed, but very alive soldier, finishing it off with a tripple tap to center mass. He yanked the Trooper off the ground by his rig like he was a pillow shoving his sidearm into his hands, and commd the Army CO a moment later "Lieutenant, we got a way out of here, direct your troops to Bay 04, get aboard the yacht, now!" The Spartan ordered as he quickly tapped the young trooper next to him on the shoulder to turn and break contact.
"Bounding!" and the boy took off like a rocket.
"All right, everyone! Fall back! Bay 04!" the Lt. roared over comms.
The Spartan moved up to the following soldier, reading the tag on his HUD "Ramirez!" and he tapped the man on the helmet.
"Bounding!" and he was away.
He backed up slowly, using his size and shields in the corridor to cover the soldiers behind him from stray plasma rounds.
"Can you start the engines remotely?" Tom asked his A. I. as another Brute's head exploded.
"Drive and engines warmed and prepped, she's ready to pop, go!"
As soon as a quick glance at his tracker confirmed that the Troopers were gone, he turned and ran.
"The survivors are all aboard, go!"
He opened up on the gas, and Spartan time kicked in once more, plasma shots and needle rounds flying past his head at a slug's speed. Just as the umbilicals started to release and the yacht moved out he leaped over the railing at full throttle, sailing a solid 40 meters through the air and landing right on the stern deck, the paneling splintering under him. A few troopers were already in positions to cover him and return fire, fortunately the yacht was well out to sea by the time the Covies flooded into the bay firing angrily after them, the weapons really not having the range to hit them or do any serious damage, but no doubt already relaying their speed and heading.
He quickly stepped inside, following the troopers, heading towards the bridge. The boys and girls were exhausted, many of them already lying down on the floor to catch their breath, or taking a seat on the big, ruby-red cushioned chairs and sofas, many of them experiencing a level of luxury they never even heard of.
A few were crying, a few couples here and there were holding on to each other like a lifeline, some were lighting pick-up sticks, one was tapping the ignition end of his cigarette on his gun's buttstock, lighting it. Most of them just couldn't believe that they were alive.
"Spartan."
"Sir."
"Spartan."
They all nodded, or smiled, or expressed some form of gratitude as the massive super soldier walked down the corridor towards the bridge, he returned the nods.
Medics were treating injuries and burns, the telltale sound and disinfectant smell of biofoam filling the air in the lounge area. What food they found in the pantries was distributed, even a few beers and sodas, but the general order was to refill their hydration packs, yes, with water, not vodka or gin.
As the Spartan stepped on to the bridge the 2nd Lt., a young man by the name of Vincenzo Lombardi turned and stood from the table he and his surviving platoon and squad leaders were sitting around. They all stood with him, exhausted as Hell but thankful to be alive.
"Thank you for getting my men out of there, Spartan." he said extending his hand and the super soldier shook it gently, not wanting to hurt the man.
"Just a moment, sir."
He turned to the control terminal of the yacht, and yanked Petra's data crystal from his helmet, holding it close to the console, Petra jumped ship as it were.
"Step on the gas, Petra, won't be long before we get Banshees on our 6."
"Copy zhat, going for max burn." and the yacht quickly accelerated to Mach 4, Mach 5, Mach 6, and more than a few soldiers went flying or fell on their asses.
"Radar?" he looked up at a screen above their heads.
"Okay, let's see here. We're practically flying blind, all civilian uplink satellites are down, Waypoint is down, ChatterNet is on life support, zhe positioning and atmospheric satellite grid is all but nonexistent at zhis point. REACH DOC NET is also down, I haven't been able to contact Doppler since yesterday, but, from our current heading and speed, we're roughly 6 and a half hours away from the mainland. The yacht's radar is detecting a massive storm and fog bank dead ahead, a good place to hide and lay low for a while. Zhe storm's interference will give us zhe cover we need."
"So we can plan our next step." the Spartan continued for her, then turned back to the Troopers next to him "How can I be of assistance?"
The men regained their composure from the sudden burst of acceleration, looking amongst themselves before their CO addressed him once more "I know technically speaking I outrank you, but I'm giving you operational command, sir. I'm not stupid enough to not realize how my men could benefit from your experience and leadership. My men agree, and are here to witness the transfer of command."
"Are you sure, Lieutenant?" Petra chimed over the bridge's comms, surprise and curiosity clear in her voice.
"Yes, ma'am." he said looking up torwards the ceiling as if addressing her directly "I'm not the type who'll let his pride get his men killed."
The Spartan looked at every officer present, and nodded "Command transferred. Lieutenant, relieve your men, all of you, grab some shut eye. It'll be a while before we reach the mainland."
A choir of 'yes, sir'-s rang out, and they filed out one by one, happy to have a few moments to themselves. Lombardi gave the Spartan a final glance and nod before stepping out himself.
The next several hours were spent eating, planning, and for most- sleeping. A few troopers along with the Spartan sat in the massive central lounge, a holographic map of Reach on the floor between them. Well, the troopers sat, occupying every single cushion they could find, the Spartan simply stood, hands on his hips. His weight was not meant for such niceties.
"We need to get off Reach, somehow." Lombardi said in his New York accent "Unless anyone here knows of any privately owned, slipspace-capable ships in eastern Viery, please say so." the 2nd Lt. said looking around, his hands holding on to the upper crest of his chest armor for support.
As an answer everyone awake just had a morose or sullen expression on their faces. Fuck.
"All major facilities are either long empty or under a layer of glass by now, sir." a Sergeant added with his arms folded, most of them were out of armor at this point, just dirty, sweaty, and bloody BDUs.
"We haven't thought of one solution." Petra spoke in his ear.
At that the Spartan raised his head almost imperceptibly, letting her know that she had his full attention and his curiosity.
"SHIELD Base. On zhe southern shores of Big Crater Bay, straight across from SWORD."
"And how exactly do you know about it?" he asked with a hint of suspicion mixed with amusement in his tone.
"Oh, mon petit, I am a 3rd generation military-grade Smart A. I., plus, I'm a nosy and curious girl, maybe I was built zhat way, maybe it's an echo of my former self." and she winked on his HUD display.
"Petra..."
"Oh, you are no fun!" she huffed with fake offense "It's rumored to have been zhe first ONI base on Reach, decommissioned in 2431." she further explained "Rumor also has it zhat Dr. Halsey's teams still frequently visited it last year, and some hefty sums were transferred to operate a supposedly decommissioned facility." she finger quoted.
"I hope you're not expecting a century old ship to break atmo and jump, so what gives? Is ONI operating a Prowler base?"
"No, no." she smirked "What we're looking for is below SHIELD, way below." now she was sounding straight up conspiratorial "Rumor mill has it zhat there is some sort of transport facility beneath zhe mountain, and it predates the settling of Reach."
At that even the Spartan's eyebrows rose a bit under his helmet "How's that possible? Wait, were the Covenant here first? Did ONI stumble across a Covie outpost?" he asked with a mixture of annoyance and alarm "To keep something like that a secret, evidence of alien life, almost a century before first contact with the Covenant?" he was angry now "Definitely sounds like ONI."
"It does, doesn't it?" she said with no amusement in her voice "In any case, it might be our only way out of here, zhis supposed transport system might imply anything, and since we have no ship to speak of, let alone a jump-capable one. Zhis is our best bet."
"I'll inform the sold-"
"Sir?" a trooper spoke as she walked up to him, he must've looked completely out of it from the outside.
The Spartan looked down at the young woman to see a large bowl of some type of hot food and a spoon in her hands "Baked beans and sausage. Who knew rich people had simple tastes." she almost whispered, but couldn't stop herself from smiling with amusement. Her sweaty hair stuck to her dirty forehead.
"Thank you, Private." he took it with a nod. He knew they were just mostly curious to see what he looked like.
"Don't be a sourpuss, eat." Petra's sing-song voice teased "And we can share our destination with zhe rest of the zhe class."
He just breathed out his nose once "All right."
The soldiers watched as he raised his left hand to his head, and stared in amazement as the parts that held his helmet beneath his chin, and in the back at the nape of his neck slightly jumped out, releasing a small hiss of air, the man simply lifted it off his head like it was made of paper, placing it on the couch next to him. The helmet sank into the cushion more than an Army helmet did, thing must've weighed a ton the Troopers mused.
The Private who handed the bowl to him stood to the side with a small blush on her face, shoving her hands in her pockets out of awkwardness.
"Told you he was cute." her friend whispered as she elbowed her.
"Ssshh!" she shushed her sister from another mister, red as a lobster.
The super soldier beneath was surprising to say the least, in the sense of how human he looked, they were half expecting cyborg parts or a metal nose, or something. But they were just staring at a young man in his mid to late twenties, skin slightly paler than that of a Scandinavian cave dweller, brown hair in a buzz cut that had grown out a week or two's worth, thick eyebrows that were lighter on the sides, sharp, deep-set eyes that were freakishly blue, and grey, and green, depending on the light really, thin, slightly golden rings around his pupils if you looked close enough, straight nose that fit nicely with the rest of his features, a strong jawline covered in stubble. His right cheek sported a small cut underneath his eye, with a few more small cuts along his jaw. The armored collar of his suit covered the edge of his chin and jawline, coming up just below his ears and covering the nape of his neck right up to the back of his skull.
The Troopers watched the man eat in silence, quickly and quietly, in 10 seconds the bowl was empty. He placed it on the nearest table without the spoon making a sound, and just as quickly put his helmet back on, it locking automatically in place, followed swiftly by the faint pop of recharged shields. He was fully aware that every pair of eyes in the lounge were on him.
"Never get tired of seeing zhat, hahaha." she laughed in his ear.
"Okay, down to business."