Chapter 1 - Praesidium
September 1st, 2544 (14:56 Hours – Military Calendar)
Ulterin System, Miridem
Aboard the UNSC Churchill
:********:
Duncan had trouble recalling the exact details of his rushed briefing on Reach after they had all been herded onto the Heavy Cruiser UNSC Churchill. He only remembered a brief summary. The Covenant were laying siege to the inner-colony world of Miridem, and the entire 7th Battalion was now attached to one of several Naval Task Forces being sent to the system as a quick reaction force.
While the Navy reinforcements contended with the Covenant in space, the ODSTs would be deployed to the planet to assist in evacuation efforts across the territories.
Now the ODSTs were already in their drop bays awaiting deployment. Shortly after their arrival in-system, the four Heavy Cruisers, each ferrying one of the sister companies of the 7th, split away towards their individual targets. Alpha and Bravo Companies were bound for the eastern hemisphere while Companies Delta and Echo were headed for the heated west.
Bravo was tasked with assisting UNSC evacuation efforts taking place on the continent of Vitre in the Matin Province. Their target was the Provincial capital of New Memphis. From what reports they had received on their way here, the city and the rest of the eastern hemisphere had been relatively spared since the west was taking the brunt of Covenant attention. But that intel was three days old and there was no telling how incorrect it was now.
"Let's go ladies and gentlemen." Garrison said over comms. "I want eyes and ears open. We'll find out the situation groundside and assist how we can. If you see anything walking on two legs that isn't human, you know what to do."
The doors to the drop bay opened, revealing the turquoise atmosphere of Miridem. It was a 200 kilometer drop to the surface that they had to cover in 5 minutes. On the Lieutenant Colonel's order, the pods shot out of the Churchill and rocketed through the outer layer of the exosphere in a fine spray.
Duncan watched the cruiser fall away through his viewport. The jarring departure was quick and the numbing sensation in his stomach that always ensued from the drop made him slightly giddy. It wasn't so bad. He'd realized that he had gotten used to the feeling of falling through an atmosphere at the speed of an ICBM. It was an experience that few ever encountered, let alone got used to.
He saw distant flashes of light in the space above the western hemisphere. The silvery tracers of MAC Rounds impacted glimmering shields and the blueish purple comets of plasma torpedoes headed for UNSC frigates. Explosions went off on both sides as the invading Covenant fleet engaged the 12th and 15th UNSC Expeditionary fleets. The latter were being joined by the QRF sent from the Epsilon Eridani Defensive Fleet after holding out for the better part of several days.
While Helljumpers, Marines and Army Troopers got to work on the ground, a planet's ultimate fate depended on whoever held control of space. In that regard, the Navy was the most critical factor in this fight. As far as Duncan could tell, they were losing. He spotted the dead husks of scores of human ships and even less Covenant wrecks. The ratio of losing three human ships for every one of theirs always held true. But at the very least they had succeeded in containing the Covenant's advance to the west. He only hoped that reinforcements like the Churchill would be enough to flip the dynamics of the battle in their favor. It was critical that they did considering the planet's importance.
Miridem was one of a dozen inner colony worlds that were major strategic nexuses in the economic connections between not only Earth and other inner colonies, but also the outer colonies in the Perseus and Scutum Centaurus Arms of the galaxy. It was among a short list of major inner colonies like Camber, New Carthage, Actium and of course, Reach whose continued operation as financial strongholds and hubs of manufacturing were vital to the UNSC war effort. It represented a massive link in the chain that was humanity's chances for survival. By proxy, its protection was of the upmost priority.
That meant both sides could expect a fierce fight. The thought, for a moment, made Duncan consider taking out the rock from Harvest in his pocket, hoping that holding it would bring him some comfort. He forced himself to focus on maneuvering his HEV.
At two minutes and thirty seconds left to hitting dirt, Garrison had them assemble into a Diamond Formation. It was better than the normal Wedge Formation since it spread them out more, making it easier for them to land in the condensed urban environment. It also gave them more leeway in how fast they reached the ground.
Duncan made sure to steer clear of Yuri as he rocketed through the atmosphere at nearly double the normal reentry speed. The ODST yelped and hooted over comms, hellbent on reaching the ground first. The Staff ignored him, leaving everyone else to watch him go.
Duncan decided to ask at one point how the madman was pulling it off without exploding. He replied with a rudimentary burst of ecstatic Russian. Duncan mentally kicked himself, remembering it was useless to try communicating with him when he was like this.
"Just ignore him." Heck sighed. "He'll stop before he starts cooking."
"He might not look it but he's probably the best HEV pilot we've got in Bravo." Nova noted.
Yuri's comm crackled. "Spasibo za pokhvalu!"
"Oh yeah?" Nova huffed. "Well, don't get used to it."
The ODSTs knew they had entered the Troposphere once they started punching through the stripe-like Cirrus clouds that caked their viewports in a layer of ice crystals. They quickly evaporated from the pods' sheer heat, creating a sizzling noise in the interior.
At 3 kilometers left, they deployed their drag chutes. At 2 kilometers, the drop zone came within sight.
It was noon over the city of New Memphis. However, the way fires raged and large blue explosions detonated across the cityscape gave the impression that it was evening. The more the clouds pulled away, the more they unveiled blocks of towering skyscrapers and other buildings both gridded and honeycombed by girthy streets, wide boulevards and lengthy highways.
The city was expansive at 400 square kilometers. The lands immediately surrounding it were predominantly comprised of terraced grasslands that rippled out from the settlement like a splash of water. The grasslands rose up into encompassing hills covered with denser forestry the further out one went. While a number of highways leading out from New Memphis managed to cut through the hills, the majority of the outskirts were forested areas, although Duncan spotted a few dozen isolated suburbs within the woodlands.
Aircraft zoomed through the airways. Scores of Longsword squadrons broke off to engage their sleeker counterparts in the form of the teardrop-shaped Seraph Fighters. The sky was filled with the snaking exhaust trails of ASGM-10 Missiles and Pulse Lasers with the occasional flash of heavy plasma cannon fire. Longswords torched by plasma plummeted out of the sky with smoking cockpits and Seraphs skewered by missile explosions spiraled down in fiery corkscrews towards the streets. They crashed into buildings and exploded, adding to the growing flames rising up across the city.
At current, Bravo's objective was to reach the western side of New Memphis to link up with the 211th Expeditionary Marines' 1st Battalion at their FOB within the area. To get there, they had to go through the dogfights first.
Duncan prayed under his breath that neither the friendly nor enemy starfighters that zipped past crashed into him. While the Longswords spotted the incoming batch of ODSTs and veered off well in advance, a significant number of Seraphs didn't spare them the same courtesy. Multiple starfighters fired their pulse layers at them, destroying some pods while ploughing through others, outrightly obliterating them. Duncan watched at least 9 HEVs suffer that fate. 1st Platoon was skillful enough, or lucky enough to avoid losing anyone to the Seraphs, prompting a collective sigh of relief over comms.
The city came up fast.
"1-Actual to 1st, we'll link up at the fire-station…there." Captain Harper placed a Navigation Marker on a building below. Duncan was amazed she could pinpoint a specific location when coming in at terminal velocity. He was barely keeping his eyes from rolling into the back of his head because of the speed. He winked his acknowledgement light alongside everyone else.
At 50 meters the braking rockets engaged, giving Duncan the customary kickback effect. He tried to steer away from a corporate building for the split-second he had before reaching the ground. It didn't work. The HEV punched through the top floor, tunneled through several more before emerging clean through the other side. It sent him tumbling into an end-over-end spin, causing the world outside his viewport to cartwheel past. He held his breath and closed his eyes until the ride ended in a teeth-grinding impact. He felt the pod bounce like a basketball, skid a few meters then finally come to a stop.
He opened his eyes again. The interior was virtually dead. Displays showed static-riddled images as sparks flew out from flickering keypads. Everything was virtually offline. Even worse, he was dizzy.
"Why am I so bad at this?" Duncan grunted, pulling out his MA37 Assault Rifle and clipping it to his harness. He found some solace in the fact that the explosive bolts still glowed green. He punched them. There was a beep in response followed by a strained groan of hydraulics then a negative sounding beep after that. He tried again with a similar result.
Then it finally dawned on him that gravity was pulling him forward. No, not forward but downward. He groaned at realizing that the world wasn't oriented wrong. He was. His pod had landed facedown, meaning that a solid slab of asphalt was between him and getting outside.
Thankfully, the sound of someone knocking on the side of his pod spared him the frustration of the situation but amplified his embarrassment at being found like this.
"You okay, rookie?"
The Russian twang of the voice told him who it was.
"Nah, I'm stuck."
"I don't understand why you suck at this so much." Yuri said it less like the insult that it would've sounded like normally and more as an objective view of the problem.
"You and me both."
"Don't worry, I'll give you tips next time we drop. For now, let me help you out before pod becomes coffin."
The irony of Yuri offering him drop-tips wasn't lost on Duncan at all. He heard footsteps walking from the left side of the pod to the right. "Alright, I'll rock pod enough for you to blow hatch. I'll tell you when."
"Got it."
Duncan felt his squadmate push the pod, causing it to sway to the side like a waterborne buoy. Then the sound of a distant explosion caught his ear. It was followed by a high-pitched whine that grew closer and louder with each second.
Yuri's voice turned frantic. "UuuugggGGHHH!"
"What's wrong?"
There was suddenly a final, strong push that revealed a glint of light through his viewport as the pod shifted.
"BLOW BOLTS NOW!"
Duncan quickly punched the explosive bolts. The force of the hatch's ejection launched the pod into the air. As it twisted, he finally caught a glimpse of the street he was on.
Time slowed to a crawl. He saw Yuri leaping towards him to get out of the way of a burning Seraph streaking down the road, headed straight towards them. Yuri hopped into the pod with him, causing them to roll to the side and out of the way.
Time sped back up again.
The Covenant fighter touched down and careened through the street, crushing columns of abandoned vehicles and throwing some into the air. Duncan and Yuri were lucky enough to bounce into an alleyway. Once the pod stopped, they leaped out to watch the destruction taking place.
The Seraph left a long wall of blue flames and burning car wrecks in its wake. Some of the buildings had also caught fire. The two ODSTs warily turned the corner to train their sights on the downed fighter. It lay another 100 meters down the road from them.
Yuri nodded to Duncan. They sidestepped out of the alleyway while keeping their weapon sites trained on the wreck. They advanced towards it, stepping over flaming debris and vaulting over crumpled vehicles.
They covered 95 meters quickly but gave the craft 5 meters of open space. Nothing moved save for the indigo flames that raged across the hull.
"Looks like our Flyboys bagged this one." Yuri declared with pride. He took a step closer and spat at the fighter. He remembered too late that his visor was still on. "Oh."
Duncan shook his head. He remembered the fire station and saw that the NAV marker was another 115 meters further west. "We should get goin-"
A hissing noise made both ODSTs snap their rifles back up. A rectangular opening appeared in the starboard side. It slid apart, allowing the familiar form of an Elite Minor to fall out. It hit the road a few meters below.
Yuri and Duncan carefully split apart and approached it from two separate attack angles. The Elite's fingers twitched. It looked dazed. Then it tried to get back on its feet.
They opened fire, riddling the alien with metal slugs and caking it in its own blue blood. There were no shields to protect it. It groaned under the fire then fell on its back, coughing up more blood.
The Elite, which they assumed to be the Seraph's pilot, lay with arms sprawled out. Its mandibles kept moving, almost like the legs of a dying cockroach. Duncan got closer to discern if it was saying anything. The Covenant were known for declaring adamant curses in English at their enemies before they died.
Sure enough, the Elite turned to Duncan and gave a roar of defiance. He flinched, backed away then saw Yuri stepping forward unabated. The trooper crouched down beside it. He was uncomfortably close, so much so that the Elite could've easily grabbed him if it had the strength. Yet it seemed capable of little else except roaring at Yuri next, and both seemed to know it. The trooper watched it bellow at him for several seconds then suddenly whipped out his pistol and jammed the barrel inside of its open jaws, shutting it up. The creature recoiled a bit, then started trying to bite it in two. Yuri pulled the trigger.
A spray of purple brain matter bathed the tarmac. Duncan watched the Elite's dark eyes close. Its head lowered slowly and gracefully to the ground.
Yuri held up a finger to his visor. "Shhhhhh…that's for almost roasting me and Irish."
He got back up and walked past Duncan.
"Let's go."
Duncan looked down at the Elite a few moments longer. Then he forced himself away from the sight and jogged after Yuri.
:********:
Duncan and Yuri linked up with the rest of 1st platoon without further incident. Then they were on their way down an empty highway with a quietness that was occasionally broken by the sound of distant fighting.
While weaving through the throngs of abandoned cars, Duncan got a chance to admire the beauty of New Memphis. The city had a structural norm that was common among the more prosperous inner colonies. It was a modernized version of Art Deco architecture, a stylistic design that found its initial popularity in the artistic revolutions of the 1900s then experienced a resurgence in the colonies in the late 2400s. The bulk of New Memphis' Skyscrapers, Apartments, Industrial Buildings and Business Offices paid homage to the style with their smooth and sharp walls, stylized chevrons, window strips with decorative spandrels and ornamental panels. There were even a few stained-glass windows depicting historical figures from both Miridem's past as well as Earth's.
If New Alexandria was a city of gems, New Memphis was a city of bronze, silver and gold. Duncan figured it had been the kind of place that, in another life, he would've taken Erica and Noah with him on a vacation to.
1st Platoon made its way across the city. Ahead they could see rain and thunderclouds cresting the skies, headed towards them.
Along the way they ran into 2nd platoon who crossed over to them from an adjacent highway. Then they started running into civilians. A growing tide of men, women and children flowed in the opposite direction in a terror-fueled haste. After another 300 meters spent wading through the masses, they reached their destination.
The Marine FOB that Bravo Company was sent to assist occupied an ovular plaza. Hastily setup oliver tents marked their presence. Around a company's worth of Marines were apparently stationed here. Yet half of them were being tended to on stretchers or occupying black body-bags in long rows. The other half were busy manning sandbag fortifications placed at strategic positions. Still, Duncan saw dozens that perked up at the sight of their arrival, flashing hopeful grins and pointing them out to their comrades nearby.
"Looks like the cavalry's arrived." The Staff said.
"Looks like we're the cavalry." Joels added. "Let's just hope the Covies don't have any."
The rest of Bravo were already stationed around the square on standby. That meant that the Lieutenant Colonel was likely here as well.
"1-Actual to Neptune-Actual, 1st and 2nd platoons are here, over."
"I copy." Garrison replied. "One minute, I'm speaking with the Battalion Commander. We'll be moving out soon."
"Understood sir."
Harper ordered them over to one of the outbranching highways where 4th platoon was waiting. 4-Actual gave them a nod as they strode over and setup a standby position on the curb.
The ODSTs alone were forced to stand against a massive influx of civilians streaming down the highway. The outpouring of humanity was far greater than what they'd encountered earlier. The throngs carried bags or children while flowing past. They flooded around the FOB like a stream around a rock then continued past.
Duncan took a moment to consider the fact that he and nearly 250 others were about to head in the direction that thousands of people were desperate to run away from. He couldn't help laughing a little at the insanity of it. They were shock troopers. Their whole job was to go where no one else dared to in order to accomplish what no one else would deem possible. By extension, insanity was less a hinderance and more an occupational requirement.
Soon he spotted the Lieutenant Colonel wading through the tides of civilians like an armored lifeguard. "Alright Bravo, I'll fill you in on our marching orders on the way. For now, let's get moving."
Garrison used his TAC Map to set a NAV Marker about 700 meters further west. 1st and 4th platoons swiftly followed after him, sticking close to the sidewalks to avoid the onrush of locals.
Garrison made the announcement over Company Comms. "Alright, here's the rundown people. Since the Covenant showed up over Miridem a few days ago they've been sending scouting forces ahead of the main show in the west. After the first assault, they setup pockets of occupation throughout the city. It's giving our fellow Jarheads a hell of a time organizing major evacuation efforts anywhere and the bulk of the locals are getting caught in the crossfire as a result.
However, the Covies have recently started concentrating in the western area. The 211th Expeditionary's got its 1st Battalion trying to hold the bulk of the forces there. They're buying time for the rest of the division to isolate and knockout the pockets of Covenant deeper in the city. As for us, we'll be reinforcing 1st Battalion's Zulu Company. They've been dishing out a beating all night in Sector 6 at Montague Square. If they fall, chances are the defensive line will cave as well. If that happens, we'll lose the entire sector and have to kiss goodbye to any hopes of holding New Memphis. Long story short, let's not keep them waiting."
Duncan put the pieces together to form a solid mental picture of the situation. It was straightforward; they simply needed to hold the line. Yet something told him it wouldn't be that easy. He traced the source of his worries to the soft spray of rain that began to fall on the city despite that the dark rain clouds were still some distance away. He didn't know why, but if felt ominous somehow.
The troopers carried on for another 5 minutes. The other platoons moved along adjacent highways while the 1st and 4th advanced down their own path.
An overarching street-sign came up reading another 100 meters to Montague Square. They were getting close.
More civilians were fleeing through the streets but there were thankfully less of them the closer they got to their objective.
Deaks spotted it first by sighting through the scope of his SRS. "Montague Square, dead ahead."
Duncan used his visor's magnification to spot it over the running masses. It was a circular area with 8 step-like sections that elevated before plateauing around a large fountain. On top of it stood several marble statues. What caught his attention, however, were the walls of sandbags ringing the square. The bulk of the Marines standing behind them were concentrated further west, firing at some incoming targets. The blue and green plasma fire and flashes of pink needler rounds hitting the sandbags gave him a good idea who they were shooting at.
"Looks like Zulu Company's still kicking." Garrison said. "Let's give them a helping hand, people."
The ODSTs had started to move in when Deaks spoke up again, having spotted a different threat coming from above.
"Sir! We got Seraphs, 10 of them incoming!"
Everyone's attention shifted up to the 10 distant dots in the sky that grew closer at an alarming rate. They were flying in low, skimming the tops of buildings.
Garrison figured it out before anyone else. "Bombing run! Troopers fall back and take cover!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation, The ODSTs pivoted on their heels and retreated, dashing back into the shadows of surrounding buildings. 1st Platoon took cover behind the support columns of a nearby apartment complex. Duncan peeked out in time to see the squadron of Seraphs roar over Montague Square. Each one dipped and released a single shining pinpoint of sapphire light that elongated into a lance of fire.
Plasma charges.
The Seraphs pulled away, leaving their charges to hit the ground, explode and expand outward as an immense wall of blue flame that travelled forward at 300 kilometers per hour. He watched the entirety of Montague Square simply disappear beneath the inferno.
It became so bright that his helmet failed to polarize. He dipped back behind cover as the air around him heated to an unbearable degree. One of the charges continued on down their highway, engulfing fleeing civilians and vehicles alike. He hugged the support column to avoid being pulled in by the thermal expansion which subsequently created a secondary suction effect that drew in air from all around. He saw people who'd avoided the initial blast get swept off their feet by an invisible hand and pulled into the flames.
After a few seconds, the artificial hurricane subsided. Once the winds had died down, the ODSTs were out, sifting through burning wreckage to save who they could. The tricky part came from trying to avoid the barrier of fire that divided the highway down its length. Out of dozens of charred bodies, there were few that moved. The wounded that they managed to reach fell silent seconds later.
Duncan felt ready to gag at the familiar smell of burnt flesh wafting through his helmet's filters. He tried ignoring it. But he couldn't ignore the way flecks of ash peeled away from the bodies and went airborne, or the tarmac that was melting beneath his boots.
Garrison ordered them to head for the square, mostly because those who'd fallen victim to the plasma charges died quickly and quietly. They looked like streaks of black statues lying on the ground after being birthed from the demented imaginations of a macabre sculptor.
But the Marines had suffered even worse. Arriving in the square, more of a circle really, they didn't find many Marines. That wasn't because they'd managed to escape. Rather, it was because all they found of them were their carbonized "shadows" etched into the stone. Their imprints showed some standing and crouching behind sandbags whose contents were slowly crystallizing into glass. Others showed rectangular shadows on the ground; whether they were stretchers carrying wounded or body bags containing the dead, no one could tell for sure. All they knew for certain was that Zulu Company had been flash-vaporized before their very eyes.
While 1st platoon navigated through the lanes of flames left by the bombing run, they overheard bursts of gunfire. They circumvented the fountain whose statues had been reduced to bubbling mounds of slag hidden behind a wall of steam.
They found a single Marine firing a heavy machine gun.
Duncan couldn't tell his rank by his shoulder insignia since the entire right side of his body was on fire. He kept shooting in sporadic bursts while shouting like a wild man down at the enemy, ignoring that his gun was so overheated that it faintly glowed. They chanced getting closer and saw that he was tearing through the bodies of four dead Grunts. Beyond them was a highway leading further west. It was filled from side to side with dead Covenant: Elites, Jackals and Grunts galore alluding to long hours of fighting. Even so, the Marine kept shooting them, allowing empty casings to rain down on the ashened remains of several torched comrades lying against the sandbag wall that surrounded his gun.
Harper pointed towards him and clenched her fist twice. The troopers understood and trained their rifles on him, just in case.
The Captain took a few cautious steps towards him. She tried calling him. He didn't seem to hear her. The second time that she did, he stopped firing. They'd started thinking he'd heard her when he suddenly keeled over, his unburnt side landing on the red-hot barrel of the turret. They could hear the hot metal sear his face.
The fire from his body spread to the gun. Harper waved everyone back. They stepped away just as the flames began cooking off the rounds inside. The weapon exploded, shooting out active 7.62 millimeters that pinged off the cobblestones of Montague Square.
Praesidium – Protection