Chapter 4 - Vermis
May 8th, 2545 (07:25 Hours – Military Calendar)
Aquilla System, Actium
High Mediolanum, Republic of Pavia
:********:
High Mediolanum's three Premiere Walls were more like bulkheads than actual walls. Their reason for being went back almost 50 years ago when in March of 2501 a magnitude 9.6 earthquake struck the northern continent of Treviso.
Early at dawn the citizens of High Mediolanum's coastal district awoke to siren alarms and the sight of an overly exposed beach. Those that stayed long enough, or just failed to escape, were the first to see the 30-meter tall tsunami that came racing up the coastline shortly after.
While the city's natural inclination meant that the upper part of the eastern capital was relatively safe, the same could not be said for the lower areas.
The flood came several kilometers inland before stopping. Entire city blocks disappeared beneath the raging waves. Even the inhabitants of the neighboring islands of the Gulam archipelago weren't spared as the waves engulfed the causeways, cutting off their only escape. Like much of the coastal area the majority of the islands were also submerged.
In the immediate aftermath, local law enforcement and CMA elements attempted a large-scale rescue operation involving four Phoenix class colony ships and every available aircraft from air bases in nearby High Estonia and New Eretria. Though many were saved from the water, an estimated twenty-thousand people were never recovered, their bodies presumably taken back out to sea or buried deep within the newly formed ground as the water receded. What remained were swaths of destroyed buildings and ten times as many persons left homeless from the destruction.
In the wake of the tsunami of 2501, the city council announced architectural improvements that would help protect the citizenry from any further threats from the sea. It was a welcomed reprieve to locals, especially considering the findings of a CAA geological survey of the Trevesian and Pavian tectonic plates which met beneath the Strait of Per Ciridium. The 2503 survey's findings predicted another series of earthquakes in the next 80 years that would dwarf what had happened in Treviso.
The Premiere Walls took ten years to build in congruence with the reorganization of the city's urban development. The walls' gatehouses were outfitted with massive lift platforms not only to assist with day to day traffic, but also to help civilians evacuate from the lower areas to higher ground.
Duncan had studied up on all that history on the way over. He wondered why it came to mind now. Perhaps it was because like those locals, the ODSTs were also facing a tsunami of their own, not of water, but of sprinting boots, overloaded plasma pistols, squawking beaks and mandibles that split four-ways to roar pronouncements of death on all humanity.
They were coming, thousands of them, ranks upon ranks of Grunts, Jackals and Elites descending on a force less than a quarter of their size.
Retreat was their best option. That was what Duncan thought.
The Colonel thought otherwise as he came in over the Battalion's comms. "This is Neptune-Actual! All hands prepare to repel the enemy! Setup defensive positions in your sectors! Company Commanders get your heavy armor in place! We've got two minutes before that wave hits so get it done! We either hold this wall or we lose the city! Let's move troopers!"
The world beyond the 1st Premiere Wall became a cacophony of running boots beneath a rising Covenant battle-cry. Hundreds of ODSTs sprinted across the cobblestone promenade to occupy defensive positions behind halted traffic lanes of Überchassis, trucks and other large vehicles. They peered out over their hoods to set their gunsights on the incoming counterassault. Right away two layers of defense were created across the promenade for each of the four Gatehouses in the battalion's possession. They arced from left to right around the buildings themselves to form a semicircular phalanx of rifles and heavy ordinance. While riflemen formed the bulk of the ranks, the less guarded areas were manned by Rocket and Grenade Launcher teams planning on using the apparent weak points in the formation to lure the enemy into designated killzones. Meanwhile, more troopers maneuvered across the Gatehouses' outer balconies and platforms. ODSTs slipped into the seats of Shade turrets left on the rooftops that had been so generously gifted to them by the structures' previous defenders. Four individual sniper teams setup their SRS-99s on the rails of each of the balconies of the four gatehouses. At the same time, nine newly acquired Wraith tanks turned about on the lift platforms to face the enemy, two with Alpha, two with Bravo, three with Delta and two more with Echo.
Everything was in place in less than thirty seconds.
Epsilon was running across Gatehouse-15's lift platform to join up with the rest of Bravo when the Colonel gave his next order.
"Listen up 7th Battalion, I want Demolition Teams in those Covenant pipelines! Use light C-7 to get inside and plant M168s! Set them to remote detonation! Buy the teams the time they need to plant those packages then await further orders! Double-time it!"
Nav points appeared on Duncan's HUD, dropping on more than a dozen pipes that trailed over the premiere wall, across the promenade and into the Residential district.
Garrison switched to Bravo's company comms. "Epsilon, Guardian I want half your teams running the demolition op! Make it quick!" The two nearest pipelines running between the district and the wall were highlighted.
The squad leaders flashed their acknowledgement lights and started breaking their groups into fireteams.
"Ep-2, you're up." The Staff said. "Ep-6, 4, 9 and 10 will tag along."
"On it, sir." Nova replied and sprinted towards Pipe-2 which ran along the base of the wall. Rico, Hector, Mito and Renni were close behind. At the same time Guardian's demolition teams broke left towards Pipe-1.
"Ep-3 find a spot. Make sure nothing gets close to Hotel-3 and 7. The rest of you on me." Duncan, Zack and Yuri followed the Staff off the platform towards Bravo's defensive lines.
Deaks glanced back at the two Wraiths as they hovered into their firing positions. He nodded off to the drivers and moved to one of the gatehouse's lower balconies nearby.
The Staff's fireteam took up a position at a large flatbed next to squad Hotep. Duncan went prone next to Zack behind one of the rear wheels and peered down his rifle sights.
By his best guess they were looking at around 1,000 enraged Covenant soldiers charging towards Bravo alone. A similar situation was playing out across the promenade for Alpha, Delta and Echo companies facing forces around the same size. They were easily looking at an entire Covenant Brigade that outnumbered them four to one. Although he wasn't deeply religious, he couldn't help looking up to the morning skies and hoping someone was up there watching over them. He sorely hoped that it wasn't the Covenant's gods since they were the whole reason humanity was in this mess to begin with.
A low thump reverberated through the air. Duncan peered back to see Nova's fireteam standing to either side of a smoking hole atop Pipe-2. It was only once they on top of it that he finally got a sense of how large the pipes on the 2nd Tier actually were. They were at least four meters in height by four in diameter. He watched them use ropes to begin rappelling down through the newly made hole into its interior.
He refocused on the intersection that connected to the promenade less than 50 meters away. The Covenant were quickly closing the distance between them. At reaching the intersection they began splitting off into two outflowing rivers of infantry, although notably without any vehicular or air support. The same couldn't be said for the ODSTs as the nine wraiths were the first to open fire.
Across the line the energy mortars whined through the air and arced down to splash over the enemy ranks. Many close to the impact simply evaporated or were sent flying along with dismembered limbs and disemboweled bodies. But it wasn't enough to stop the living tides from surging forward with renewed ferocity.
At 40 meters ODSTs of the 7th Battalion opened fire. The ensuing wall of lead went after targets both on the ground and in the air, cutting down Grunts and hammering the shields of Elites while tearing a growing number of Drones flying just above them to pieces. Still they kept coming, flowing over piles of their own dead that were steadily increasing.
At 30 meters the shades on the gatehouses began belching out strafing bursts. The frontmost forces seemed to melt under the plasma barrage. The combination of the assault rifle fire breaking their shields and the impact of their own plasma helped eat away the stronger Elites. The rocket and grenadier teams fired in perfect harmony, sending dozens of 40-millimeter grenades bouncing forward beneath a fusillade of 102-millimeter surface-to-air missiles. The Covenant's frontlines briefly disappeared behind a curtain of fire and smoke, then reappeared as they reformed to move past the splotches of steaming blue gore and armor fragments at their feet.
The goal wasn't necessarily to stop them from getting close. All of it was rather to help knock the wind out of the counterassault, and they were doing just that.
At 20 meters the thunderous crack of SRS-99s rang out. Snipers began targeting Elite Majors and Officers across the lines, spearing them with arrows of high-powered lead. Snipers of all four companies sifted through the crowd after finishing off one target as they worked their way down the ranks, terminating the enemy's leadership one bullet at a time. The job became easier since the advance slowed, making it less troublesome to spot the higher ranks.
By then the Covenant forces were shooting back. Plasma and needler rounds rained down on the troopers from pistols and rifles, scorching their cover and nailing a number of ODSTs. Both sides were close enough for grenades to be exchanged and the lanes of traffic along with the increasing trade of fire brought the aliens' advance to a steaming halt.
Duncan was running through his fourth magazine as he targeted the vulnerable lower bodies of the incoming aliens next to Zack. He prioritized the shield Jackals since their energy barriers deflected anything less than a leg-shot. He had just finished putting half a clip through the skull of an Elite when the one rushing past it hurled a plasma grenade his way.
It landed on the wheel between him and Zack. They both rolled out of the way just as the explosion blew out the rear axle, causing the vehicle's bedding to collapse onto its side.
The persistent minor leaped on top of its side to fire on them. It never got to pull the trigger as a stream of bullets ripped away its shields and cut it down. Nova and Renni helped them to their feet as Hector and Mito peeked over the flatbed to take out an encroaching pod of Drones. The rest of the squad quickly joined in.
"Ep-2, report." The Staff said, pumping a shotgun round through a Drone's abdomen.
Nova finished off a duo of antsy Grunts while ignoring the green bolts of plasma zipping past her. "We're all set sir. Ep-6 has the link."
Rico gave a confirmatory nod to the Staff as he fired another grenade into the Covenant's ranks.
"Ep-1 to Neptune-Actual, charges are in place in Pipe-2."
:********:
Colonel Garrison used the third balcony of Gatehouse-15 to multitask, getting a good tactical view of the action unfolding across the promenade, coordinating the individual platoons where needed while slipping rounds through the helmets of Elites with his DMR. Even further he listened to reports from the demolition teams coming in one after another. The online status of each M168 demolition charge appeared in the upper left corner of his HUD. So far, they were at '63' charges. With Epsilon's most recent update they were sitting at '70'.
"Update received, Ep-1. Good work. Now hold down your sector. We'll see if we can ride this out."
Yet he wasn't certain they could. The reason he had the charges planted was really as a contingency plan in case they were overrun.
Few if any reports had made it to him from the 22nd Battalion. Their units had mostly gone radio-silent while those that were still responsive gave conflicting and disordered views of what was happening deeper within the Residential District. So far there had been no news of Colonel Taylors.
Right now, the 7th was the only other UNSC presence in High Mediolanum. If they lost the 1st Premiere Wall then the 22nd's fate would be sealed. But what other choice was there?
There was no way to bring in Battlegroup Indigo since the Tyrant AAs still posed a threat. That cut out the possibility of sending for reinforcements.
The only silver lining here was that the Covenant weren't throwing any air units at them. He understood why: the pipes. They wouldn't risk accidentally bombing them, even at the expense of their infantry. That gave him his present idea of killing two birds with one stone.
The M168s planted in the pipes running across the embattled promenade were really just the keys to the city's ignition. If the 7th was forced to retreat then he would set them off. His guess was that whatever was inside of them was semi-flammable given the reports from some of the demolition teams. While the charges had some bang to their buck, the real blow would come from the chain reaction that might follow. He estimated the detonations would set off kilometers of pipelines as the fluid within was set ablaze. It would take out the counterassault and destroy the interlined Tyrants. All the ODSTs had to do was retreat to their gatehouses. That way they would stave off being overrun and open the door for Battlegroup Indigo. But it might also destroy portions of the wall along with parts of the city given how extensive the pipes were.
They would essentially have to destroy High Mediolanum to save it. It all depended on whether they could hold the line here or not.
Garrison was suddenly thrown from his thoughts when a handful of the M168 icons went offline. He scrutinized it as he reloaded his rifle. Another handful winked off seconds after, then another, and another until slightly more than half of the 70 charges were offline.
He immediately linked to the Battalion's comms. "ODSTs, listen up! Our charges in the pipes are going dark! Demolition teams, I want you to investigate! See whose causing trouble in there! Everyone else hold your ground!"
He flipped over to Bravo's comms. "Hotel, Goliath, Guardian and Epsilon get teams back in there to check it out ASAP!"
After a moment, the squads flashed their acknowledgement lights then pounced on the order.
:********:
Duncan fell several meters before splashing down up to his waist in a thick greenish-yellow sludge. The smell reminded him of sewage mixed with dead animal and some new scent he wasn't fond of.
His VISR mode bathed the dark passage in a faint green light. A quick scan down both lengths of the pipe showed the immediate entry area was clear. He turned to the hole in the ceiling and gave the thumbs up. The two silhouettes standing on the topside nodded and leaped down into the sludge.
The three ODSTs started on a quick wade through the liquid, their weapons up. They scanned the shadows for any signs of movement as their VISRs peeled away the dark.
"The second time doesn't make it any better." Rico griped. "This place still smells like a bilge, and I'm being nice about it."
"I don't think you need to be nice." Renni interjected. "It's the Covenant. With them we're paid to insult and assault, isn't that right?"
Duncan laughed under his breath while searching for any signs of movement. He had to admit she had a point.
Rico chuckled as well. "You don't seem like you mind it Dama Rubia. You ever clean bilges on a Paris-class before? You're giving me that impression that you were a swabbie in your past life."
Renni sighed. "I wasn't a swabbie. I'm not blonde either. It's just the streaks."
"Oh-ho-ho, you speak Rico, do you?" Rico said as he scanned the walls. "You a native speaker or what?"
"No not native but I like to learn. What do you think? Am I any good?"
He held out a hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "So, what were you then, huh, if not a swabbie then what?"
"…I was definitely something better than a swabbie, although I don't think I'm much better than one now."
Duncan spotted a splash ahead and stopped. "Movement."
Rico and Renni moved to either side of him. They watched through their gunsights as a Hunter worm emerged from the shadows. It slithered over the swampy surface towards them. They stepped aside to let it past. The lone organism stopped at a fist-sized piece of sludge, coiled around it and began burrowing ravenously into its mass.
Duncan resisted the urge to vomit as they proceeded onward. In little time they ran into more worms. Smaller patches of them maneuvered through the fluid to convalesce around pieces of solids. They looked like parasites feeding on the walls of an intestinal tract. The idea wouldn't leave his head that that was exactly what this was. They were filtering the fluid, breaking it down into smaller pieces until it returned to a liquid form. Yet the question remained as to why.
"Ep-6, how much further?"
"The first charge should be…there, right there." Rico pointed to a circular object on the upcoming wall. They dashed over to it, forcing worms to swim out of the way.
"What…happened to it?" Renni asked.
Duncan wasn't sure either. Neither was Rico. None of them had ever seen an M168 so expertly taken apart. The charge's hexagonal outer casing was gone, allowing them to see the internal components. The activator as well as the fuse and charge were still there. However, the power source was completely missing.
Rico checked it over but couldn't wrap his head around it. At length he shook his head. "I don't know what did this-"
A distant splash made them swivel their weapons back down the pipe. Duncan took a few steps further down to check it out. He noticed the worms swimming away as the fluid rippled towards him.
"Irish," Rico said warily. "You see something?"
He didn't answer as his attention was quickly taken over by the sight of two hulking silhouettes that were slowly rising from the depths. "Contacts, two of them, ten meters and closing."
Renni and Rico came back to his side, guns raised.
The pair of titans came close enough that the VISR mode made out their distinctly humanoid shapes. Slowly their hulking forms came into full definition. Both were headless figures comprised of writhing worm colonies that came together around pieces of solid sludge to form legs, arms and central torsos. They released multivocal groans and charged forward.
The trio backpedaled and opened fire. The 7.62-millimeter bullets cut through their bulky frames, buffeting them but not stopping them.
"Target the sludge!" Duncan said and homed in on them. Rico and Renni did the same, blasting away the core pieces within the forms. The targets quickly turned into weak points that broke apart under sustained fire, causing parts of the figures to collapse. Rico struck out their arms, Renni blew out their legs and Duncan helped finish them off with three-round bursts to their center of mass.
The vulnerable worms quickly swam away from the collapsing figures until they were completely dissolved.
The ODSTs kept moving down the pipe now on guard for more of the Hunter forms as they made for the next charge. It came up on their left. Even that one was taken apart with its power supply missing. A similar motif of theft was also evident on the next three charges left partially taken apart. What they did find were more Hunter pairs that ran into them along the way. A tact of targeting the fluid composites on the limbs and main body earned them quick victories over groups of two and three at a time. Still, they were gradually becoming more frequent.
As they were busy gunning down another pair the Staff comm'd in. "Ep-1 to investigation team, status?"
"It's the worms in the pipes sir." Duncan answered. "They've started merging into larger forms and defusing our explosives."
"They must've started acting up after we left." Rico added. "I don't remember them being like this when we first came in. These little alimañas were just waiting for us to leave."
"We're clearing them out now sir." Renni said.
"Can you confirm the worms are the ones doing it?" The Staff asked.
Almost to answer the question the trio came upon a small, grated platform hanging just over the surface of the fluid. On it was a Hunter form that stood right in front of another charge. One of its 'hands' elongated to latch onto the exterior of the device.
Rico switched on his external speakers. "Oye monstruo!"
It got the alien's attention and it turned towards them a moment before being battered by three streams of assault rifle fire. The amalgamation quickly fell apart under the barrage. It took a final step back before tumbling into the fluid.
The form had already dissolved by the time they pulled themselves onto the platform. A quick examination of the device by Rico was met with a relaxed sigh from the demolitionist. "Ella no está herida. We're good. Looks like two of the other charges are okay as well. We're still in business here but who knows how long that'll be for."
"Is there any way to make it so that they can't dismantle them?" Renni asked.
"Nah, nada-…actually." Rico reached into his rucksack. After a second of rummaging he pulled out a bottle of tactical thermite spray. He sprayed the silvery brown substance over the device until it was completely covered in a thin layer. There was a faint crackle from the substance as it hardened. "The pyrotechnic composition should keep it safe while assisting with the exothermic redox."
"Can you put that in English?" Duncan asked incredulously.
"Hace una gran explosión."
"…Close enough."
Before Duncan could report their progress the Colonel's voice shot through the Battalion's comms. "This is Neptune-Actual, all hands retreat to the gatehouses! Don't get swamped out there! Lay down covering fire for full tactical withdrawal! I repeat, all forces withdraw!"
That wasn't good. Duncan knew it long before the Staff checked in a second later. "Ep-1 to 6,8 and 10, looks like we're out of time! Get back topside, move!"
"Rog-" Duncan stopped mid-reply as Rico tapped his shoulder and pointed. He followed where he was pointing to the rest of the pipe that they hadn't reached yet. The fluid there was rippling towards them, waving forward at an increasing frequency.
They aimed their weapon sights down the passage.
What they saw was a silhouette that vaguely reminded Duncan of an earthworm several times the size of an Amazonian Anaconda. The Leviathan was comprised of thousands of Hunter worms and adjoined fluid composites. It was less than ten meters away yet it was covering ground faster than they could possibly hope to.
Duncan's mind switched to autopilot. He drilled a full magazine of automatic fire into its form with Renni and Rico doing the same. The bullets were somehow enough to elicit a momentary halt from the creature. It bought them enough time to leap from the platform and run for all they were worth in the opposite direction. Yet the sound of slithering continued, letting them know that the worms hadn't given up so easily.
Vermis – The Worm