Chapter 7: War Council
Shress La'Vdamee POV
Shress awoke to the sound of pounding feet and the mingling of different alien voices, all shouting and talking over each other. She glanced at the side of her tent and saw that it was not morning yet; there must be something wrong, very wrong.
She quickly got up, equipped her armor, grabbed her blaster, and headed outside.
All of Holy Retribution was engulfed in chaos.
Sangheili were barking orders, Kig-Yar were in disarray, while the Unggoy were entangled in various tasks.
Shress tried to learn what was going on, but everyone was too engrossed in their tasks to pay her any attention.
It wasn't until she violently roared at a squadron of waddling Unggoy did anyone notice the irate Zealot.
"Soldier," She snapped, "What is the meaning of this?"
The leader of the outfit, a large Unggoy with a red pack of methane, pushed forward and said, "Demons, Mistress! There are demons in the mountains! They just destroyed all of our defense posts. The commander doesn't know how they found us."
Shress felt cold sweat starting to break from her skin.
'Demons? Was it Michael? Did he come this way rather than leave like my message told him to do?'
Shress was still processing this when she heard the challenging war cry of one of her people. Soon, all of the Sangheili, Kig-Yar, Unggoy, and even the camp's twin Mgalekgolo took up the thunderous cry and roared their blood lust into the dark skies.
Out of routine, Shress tilted back her head and roared as well, passing the message that there was a major battle upon them, and for the first time in her life, she felt pity well up inside her.
Six POV
ONI Sword base was in a frantic state by the time Jun and Six returned from their late night recon. An army and their machines were being assembled in the early dawn light—soldiers were gearing up, Scorpions were being loaded, and Falcons were being prepped for long term engagement. The signs of imminent combat were all too clear to the Spartans.
The battle-tired Recon Bravo team barely sat down when a fully armored Carter walked toward them and said, "Six, Jun, war meeting in Sword's conference room, now."
The two super soldiers didn't even have time to eat breakfast, but they didn't complain as they shook off what little exhaustion they had and followed their commander back into the base. They walked through the maze of hallways and stairwells, the signs of the previous Covenant siege still seared into the walls. The briefing room was at the very top of the fortress. With the elevators still out of commission, it took a while for three Spartans to make it to the top.
On the top floor was a room full of high ranking officers, aside from the Spartans of Noble team and Doctor Halsey. Six felt his blood boil at the sight of the doctor, but he kept his anger in check, knowing he was really irritated at himself for being caught in the first place due to his sloppiness. Halsey just casted the blue clad Spartan a passing glance before returning her focus to the table the group was assembled around.
The table was projecting various holograms; part of it was showing the face of Colonel Holland, while the rest of the table was showing an image of Reach from high orbit.
Noticing the presence of the two Spartans, the Colonel nodded to them and said, "Noble Three, Noble Six, good of you to join us, I expect the two of you needed some rest after last night."
It was Six who answered, "That sounds good, but we're ready for another fight if we are needed, sir."
The Colonel sighed before saying, "That's why we are 's another fight coming." He turned his attention back to the others in the room and said, "You all heard bits and pieces of what we found, but I expect you want to hear the whole story from the source." He looked at the two Spartans again. "Would one of you gentlemen like to take the floor?"
Before Six could speak, Jun stepped forward and said, "I'll do the explaining sir."
The holographic image on the table changed to the photos that Jun and Six took of the newly discovered enemy territory.
The first image was of ghost towns and old settlements along with the mutilated corpses of their former occupants. The officers shifted in their seats, uncomfortable with the show of bloody violence, but Six saw in Noble Team's eyes the determination to reap vengeance upon the ones who were responsible for the massacre.
"We thought the settlements in this area were silent because they didn't like UNSC occupation," Jun explained, "A dark settlement." Six nodded along, the dark settlements were where most rebels hid from the UNSC government.
"However, after we saw and followed an enemy aircraft, we found our way to the settlement and found this." Here the green Spartan waved his hand at the image of the human carcasses, "Among the settlement were various military arms, confirming that they were either rebels or smugglers."
The scene snapped to another picture: two cases filled with assault and battle rifles.
Jun continued, "After… recovering the stolen contraband."
Emile then let out a badly concealed snort.
"We made our way deeper into the unknown zone where we encountered this," he finished as the image changed again
The crowd stared intensely at the strange tower before them. It was nearly thirty six feet tall and pulsed like a heartbeat, illuminating the area with its eerie indigo color.. The image was disorientated; proof that whatever the thing was, it was messing up human tech as they moved closer to the tower.
"We believe this is a Covenant Jammer, this is what was making us blind to what was really going on in the area, which turns out to be this."
Jun gestured toward the holographic image, showing the final image Recon Bravo snapped before falling back. Once the image registered with those present, the reactions were easy enough to predict.
The hardened UNSC officers gasped, Noble Team's faces hardened, and Doctor Halsey only raised an eyebrow.
The scene spread out on the table portrayed a Covenant invasion army, ranging from one thousand to three thousand occupants. There were huge anti-air turrets set up around a large tower that seemed to stretch into the sky for miles, its purpose unclarified. Yet what gained the center of attention was the image of a lazily floating Covenant Corvette over the armies below, clearly indicating heavy land and air superiority.
This surpassed all of the base's assumptions. This wasn't a small scout force; this was an invasion. The number of Covenant and the size of their weaponry suggested they were determined to stay.
Nobody could see through Six's polarized face plate, allowing him to display an ashamed and somewhat angry face.
'Did Shress know about this? Of course she did; she is a Zealot. I knew she wasn't alone but I didn't expect there to be an army here!'
Six felt betrayal, anger, and shame building up inside him, but chief among the torrent of emotions he was feeling was sadness.
He admitted to her that he felt like she was a friend, and yet here she is hiding a secret that was bent on killing him and destroying all he was fighting to defend. He tried to be angry at the Elite, but instead of anger there was a deep stinging sensation that he could not fully identify.
"I know this looks bad," Holland continued, bringing Six out of deep thought. "But Noble Two and Auntie Dot have already come up with a plan of engagement." He turned his gaze to the table and calmly said, "Dot?"
An unseen AI began talking in an emotionless voice, "The disruption from the Covenant Jammer has prevented us from identifying their forces, but we are able to compute that the central spires in the center of the Covenant camps are beacons."
"Beacons?" a young Sergeant asks, his name read E. Buck on his ODST armor. The sergeant's face flushed with embarrassment and he looked down at the ground, avoiding everyone's eyes.
"Correct, Gunnery Sergeant Buck," replied Dot with her blank tone. "All logic suggests the signals are being broadcast to a larger Covenant force, allowing them to home in on Reach."
"Which means we need to take the squatters out before their friends get here," Holland interrupted. "If they are no longer broadcasting, then there's no way the additional Covenant forces can find us, the plan calls on nothing short of an all-out assault."
The view changed to the terrain surrounding the region Six and Jun just finished scouting.
"We'll gather all our forces here." Blue marks appear on the far corner of the map. "Warthogs and Mongooses will speed ahead while the Scorpions hang back." The blue marks shifted forward as the Colonel spoke. "When we engage the enemy, we break off the spear head." Here the images of Warthogs and Mongooses split apart, equal numbers heading to the right and the left, save the tanks that remained to engage enemy forces.
"This is designed to lure the Covenant out of their defensive positions, to try and handle the tanks, which they believe to be our primary weapon while the smaller vehicles flank their positions. The Scorpions will be under command of Lt Colonel Debits, while Noble One and Noble Five provide some air support from above," Debits and Carter locked eyes, nodded, then turned back to the table.
"Alpha team," the group that split off to the left was highlighted, "will move on through the plains, and they'll be led by Commander Wilkins, Captain Nimadi, and Noble Three and Four." The two named officers glanced nervously at the Spartans before returning their gaze back to the presentation.
"Bravo team, will have the much more difficult part of the mission. The narrow canyon roads and high walls will provide perfect ambush sites, but in order to engage the enemy camp and provide large scale air support, we must take down the anti-air batteries, called 'Tyrants', surrounding the area. Locations were pinpointed along the rim of the canyon. "Commander Gizmot will lead this assault, with Spartans Noble Two and Six providing additional support."
Holland paused before looking everyone in the room in the eye before stating, "This is an all or nothing plan, men. If we fail here, then all of Reach will fall as well. The war will begin at ten-hundred hours. Soldiers, get ready and good luck." With that, the transmission ended, leaving the room in semi-darkness.
-UA-
Six awoke to Emile tapping his helmet.
"Man, you are tired. You didn't even hear me coming," Emile said in a teasing voice.
Six didn't respond, what Emile said was true. He had no idea how, or why, but suddenly all of his senses had gone dull, like an overused knife.
'Did Shress have something to do with my blunt senses?'
"Anyway, you and Jun only have fifteen minutes to eat, thunders rolling out soon." Emile finished before walking away.
Six sighed and looked at Jun, who was dozing next to him on the cold cement floor in the atrium, head propped up on a sandbag. Six reached towards him, but his hand shot up like a cobra breaking from cover and caught Six's hand.
Jun opens his eyes and turns to Six, "You really are losing your senses aren't you, Six?" he asked teasingly.
Trying to save as much pride as he could, the Spartan decided the best way to do so was to remain silent at the remark.
The courtyard was empty, but from his vantage point he could see the tanks, warthogs, and Mongooses all rallied outside the gate. The smell of diesel clouded the air, and dust shrouded the base in a dirty fog. UNSC Soldiers walked among their machinery, hefting equipment, loading rounds into their magazines, and reloading their rifles.
Six looked up and watched as fourteen Falcons flew overhead, heavily burdened by additional firepower, all heading in the direction of the massive army.
Six frowned slightly as he counted the had three more birds than a few hours ago. He returned his gaze back to the field, did a head count and discovered they had additional forces.
Jun walked up to him and asked, "Something wrong?"
"Where did these extra fighters come from?" Six asked—more to himself than to Jun.
"They're reinforcements from Castle Base." The scout replied, shifting his attention and gesturing above him with a hand. "The birds are from Grafton. She's coming into orbit as well as the Saratoga and London."
Six nodded before asking, "Are those the only ships we have?"
"More are inbound from other systems. You would think we're defending Earth or something."
"Well, Reach is just a few light years away from Earth, so if Reach falls, Earth will too."
Both Spartans became silent as they acknowledged the gravity of the situation. Unconsciously, they both reached into their pockets and brought out energy bars and silently ate them, too anxious to stomach anything bigger.
"We should get down there," Jun finally said before putting on his helmet. Six watched as additional VTOL craft arrived before placing on his helmet and following Jun.
They walked all the way to the gate and passed through. Up close Six was amazed by the mighty force that was assembled within the small hours of morning. But he knew that this wasn't enough to beat any Covenant army.
It hit him then; this would be his first major battle; the first where he's directly involved. In all the battles he attended, from Jericho VII all the way to his anti-insurgency missions on Mamore, he was never part of any major engagement like this. He was always skimming around the field of battle performing lone wolf missions or behind enemy lines performing sabotage or assassination missions.
He soon felt fear flood through him, not for his life, but for the lives of the men he was working with. He only fought with a team for a few weeks. Here he was preparing to engage the greatest threat the people of Reach have ever faced before, fighting not as a lone wolf, but as part of an army that depended on cooperation.
Something he was keenly aware he wasn't the best at.
'Of course I can do this,' he thought to himself in an attempt to calm his nerves. 'I'm a Spartan.'
"Hey Lieutenant!" A large voice he knew well said, drawing the Spartan's attention.
Six turned, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flying towards him. Out of reflex, he caught it before giving the object a quick glance. It was a large bulky gun, a 40 mm grenade launcher. Suddenly Six became emotional as he thought of Sergeant Gunther, he wasn't the first infantryman he met, but he was one of the bravest, volunteering to ensure none of his boys would take part in a dangerous mission.
'Now his men are going to fight, and possibly die today,' Six wondered to himself.
Six looked up and saw it was Jorge who threw the weapon at him. A silent exchange went between the two, before the larger Spartan smirked. "You might need that, Six. No silenced magnums out there after all."
Before the lone wolf could respond, a Falcon landed a few meters away in a dusty field, spraying pebbles and sand in different directions.
"My ride's here." Jorge grabbed his machine gun lying at his feet before he nodded to Six, "Best of luck to you, Lieutenant," before hunkering away to the waiting helicopter.
"You too, Jorge," Six said before he grasped something that just crossed his mind, none of his teammates had ever called him by his first name.
'Maybe they still see me as a rookie.'
Then his radio buzzed and he heard the seasoned voice of Holland, "Men, mount up!"
Six checked his time, 0900 hours. They needed to leave soon. He scanned his HUD and saw his Warthog was located in the middle of the massive reaction force. As he walked towards his appointed military truck he passed a lot of Troopers and infantry. Most of them were already injured from the previous engagements, various scars and burns identified them as veterans. As he walked among them, Six saw different emotions: bravery, sadness, fear, and anger.
So many feelings, so many people. It unnerved him; he had never been in such a great throng of people before, all of whom had different moods glued to their faces. He couldn't wait till this was all over; he was only able to put up with a team of five at maximum.
Finally he arrived at his Warthog, where Kat and a young Lance Corporal were already waiting. Kat was calmly reading her data pad while the infantryman had his eyes closed and was whispering under his breath, probably saying last minute prayers.
Six sat on the passenger's side while Kat sat on the driver's side.
"Kat." Six said in greeting.
"Lieutenant." Noble Two replies back plainly. Six sighed within his suit, again no name.
The two sat silently in the front seats of the vehicle before, without moving his head, Six decided to tease his fellow Beta company Spartan.
"Try not to crash it this time."
His only response was a punch to his shoulder so hard, it broke his shields. Six idly noted that the tech-savvy Kat didn't even turn her attention to him, returning to tapping away on her datapad with the same speed of her lightning fast jab.
'Looks like her prosthetic is functioning properly…'
Ignoring the punch that would have killed a man, Six glanced back at the single Marine that was to accompany the two supersoldiers on what was possibly the biggest ground engagement in the history of Reach. His name was written on tape and stuck to his chest plate, C. Lin.
Six thought about exchanging greetings, but the boy was so deep in his prayers it looked as if he was in another world.
'Just like Shress.'
Six felt himself shiver, as he remembered that Shress would undoubtedly be in the battle ahead. He hoped he wouldn't have to face her, and surprisingly enough, he found himself also hoping that she wouldn't be killed.
'Maybe I should pray,' the Spartan thought to himself, before the thought came to a screeching halt when he realized something.
He had no idea where to even start with something like that.
Six returned his attention to the Corporal behind him when the idea of just asking the trooper came to mind. The Spartan almost couldn't believe he was doing this, but before he could second guess his actions, he gently nudges the Marine with his hand.
"Huh, what?" Returning to reality around them, it took a moment before the trooper focused his eyes on the Spartan in front of him.
"Lance Corporal Lin?" Six asked, making sure he got the boy's name right.
"Y-yes sir?" He replied in a small voice like a child being caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do.
'This is the person I'm supposed to be asking for advice?'
Remembering all the lessons he learned from his brutal training on Onyx, the Spartan almost turned around right there. The boy was exhuding weakness, but in the end, Six remembered why he turned around in the first place. After a long moment of awkward silence, the augmented supersoldier let go of his pride as he asked his question. "Do you think you could pray for a friend of mine?"
"Oh." The Corporal said, clearly taken off guard by the request, "Um, ok, what… What is their name?"
Six glimpsed at Kat, making sure she wasn't paying attention before leaning in close and saying in a whisper, "Shress."
"Shress?" asks Lin.
Six nodded in confirmation.
"Ok, but… Why don't you pray for your friend… Sir?" He responded quickly, clearly confused by the request.
Six shrugged and said, "I think my hands are too bloody for something like that."
Six was surprised when he saw Lin smile, "Ah, sir, no hands are too bloody for the grace of the Lord."
"Uh, right," Six said before turning around, pondering the young soldier's words.
Kat was still tapping buttons on her pad; her eyes were still on the screen when she asked, "Who's Shress?"
Six felt himself go pale under his armor before just saying, "A friend."
Kat frowned and turned to look at Six, but before she could say anything a voice over the comm ordered, "Ready engines!"
Kat replaced her helmet and revved the engine, other vehicles replied by doing the same. Soon it looked like a dust storm was originating from the mountain. Six scanned the area, making sure everyone was in their armored cars, nobody was in the way of the Scorpions, and that the choppers took to the skies.
"Forward!" The command finally came, and like a metallic cavalry force, the grand army of Reach moved forward, going at over a hundred miles an hour as they raced into the open arms of the enemy.
Behind him, Six could hear Lin praying again, and he was sure he heard Shress' name mentioned. At the sound of that, he looked in the direction they were heading and prayed.
'Please, please to whoever is listening, God I guess. Please may Shress not get caught up in all this—or worse…'
Six sighed If he saw Shress today, he knew he would have to kill her. For the first time in his whole Spartan career, he wondered if he had the nerve to pull the trigger.
'... In my way.'
-Author's Note-
Hi everyone!
Sorry for the delay, but school is starting up again and sadly homework Fanfic. My editors had this done a bit ago and just got around to fully poking and prodding it before posting.
Thanks for sticking with, and if you are reading this and also read Songbird, please know that I think about that fic every day and am currently just stuck on a scene that WILL NOT BE WRITTEN. It's honestly making me mad that it is taking so long, but know that I'm still trying.
-PyreElegy