This is a direct sequel to Chapter 8: Earth: 2552: "Dive." Unfortunately, in order to understand this one, you'll have to read that one. Sorry.
Sydney, New South Wales
Australia, Earth
11 November 2552
1303J
SgtMaj Chislon Godwin, Command Staff, H&S Company, Sydney Defense Force
Siege of Sydney
Tink tink… TINK!
Spiker rounds smashed into the concrete just behind him as he frantically crouch-dashed forward. Bouncing off the wall at the far end, Godwin snapped up his shotgun and fired off two shells in rapid succession. The eight gauge frag rounds slammed into the lead Brute, bursting the alien's power armor and causing it and the two Grunts it was with to immediately dive for cover.
"Mathis!" he yelled as he dropped to one knee to top off his shotgun with buckshot. "I need a grenade, right here!"
He pointed with two fingers, placing a Waypoint directly over the Brute's position. With all the gunfire, there wasn't any verbal confirmation, but a split second later, a forty millimeter grenade came plummeting out of the sky like a mortar, landing directly onto the Covenant's position. There was a cry of alarm that was abruptly cut off by the explosion, which sent metal fragments and chunks of flesh up into the air. Godwin didn't hesitate.
"Cover me!" he yelled as he tucked his weapon under his arm and charged forward. Reaching the lip of the crater, he snapped up his shotgun and began slamfiring the weapon, hosing down the entire crater with double-ought buck and finishing off the three wounded aliens moaning pitifully at the bottom.
CRACK!
Godwin ducked as a Spiker round whizzed over his shoulder.
FWOOZ! FWOOZ!
A volley of plasma bolts followed and Godwin glanced over the crater to see another company of Covenant infantry a hundred meters downrange advancing toward him. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold his current position as it was too exposed.
Ducking his head, Godwin turned around and ran back to the wall, yelling, "Marines, break contact and fall back!"
His two guards hurriedly climbed to their feet – their battles rifles spitting out a few last rounds – as they turned to follow Godwin. They reached the wall the exact same time three troop Warthogs pulled up with a screech and began disgorging out an entire section of Marines.
"Gunny. Gunny!" Godwin yelled, grabbing the gunnery sergeant leading the section and pulling him close. "I want you and your section to secure this breach! Do not let the Covenant break through! We took out their support weapons, but you got a company of Covies advancing on this position; I'll wrangle up some reinforcements for you, but you hold your ground, come hell or highwater! Is that understood!?"
"Got it in one, Sergeant Major! Alright Marines, find some cover and spread out! MOVE!"
"You two, on me!" Godwin barked at his guards. "We're headed back to the Command Bunker!"
"Aye, Sergeant Major!"
Tossing his weapon into the backseat of the Warthog closest to him, Godwin scrambled into the driver's seat.
"Hurry it up, Devil Dogs!" he screamed as he jammed down on the accelerator. The 'Hog immediately leapt into motion, nearly causing his guards to fall out as the powerful all-terrain vehicle took off across the shattered ground and back towards the city.
Or, at least, what remained of the city.
Sydney was a moonscape. Given the city's prominence as both the political and military capital of humanity, the Covenant had thoroughly bombarded the area from orbit within days of their arrival to the system. Unfortunately for them, the UNSC had twenty-eight years to prepare for such an event and as such, most of the critical infrastructure needed to run the war effort had long been relocated underground. So, while the city itself had been devastated, the military and political complex had mostly survived to remain a thorn in the Covenant's side.
"Keep an eye out for aircraft!" Godwin yelled over the howling wind as he turned onto what had once been a major highway, but had since transformed into a crater-filled debris-choked funnel. Dodging around wrecked vehicles and bomb craters, Godwin sped towards one of the many hidden entrances that led towards the Command Bunker. "How we lookin'?"
"We got enemy aircraft at our three o'clock, maybe seven kilometers out!" Mathis reported without lowering the binoculars from his face.
"This our daily bombing run?"
"Not sure, Sergeant Major; I think they've got a couple of dropships with them."
"Might be attempting another air assault on one of the outpost!" Godwin guessed, before yelling over his shoulder, "Private Holst! Get on the horn and alert all stations: enemy dropships spotted over Sector Seventeen, headed towards the coast! Destination, unknown, but all outpost are to watch their backs!"
"Aye, Sergeant Major!"
"Keep an eye on them, Mathis!"
Godwin shoved the accelerator down even further and watched as the numbers on his speedometer climb. With the Covenant maintaining air superiority over all of Greater Sydney, any vehicles moving on the surface ran the risk of being quickly bombed out of existence in short order. They had to get underground. Now.
Consulting his HUD, Godwin quickly turned the 'Hog onto the nearest exit ramp. Leaving the highway behind, they sped straight down the road toward the tunnel that laid at the other end. The entrance loomed ahead like a cavernous mouth.
"Sergeant Major! We got two Banshees turning in our direction! I think they just spotted us!"
Godwin didn't bother responding as he slammed down on the brakes, pulling the Warthog alongside the tunnel entrance. At some point during the course of the battle, the entrance had taken a direct hit, causing it to partially collapse. It was still accessible, but not for vehicles. They would have to proceed the rest of the way on foot.
"Dismount! Move!" Godwin roared as he leapt from the Warthog.
He scrambled over the debris as the shriek of Banshees filled the air and glanced over his shoulder, only to see two green flashes.
"Shit! INCOMING! GET INSIDE, NOW!"
Without waiting for a response, Godwin took off running down the tunnel. About halfway down, he skidded to a stop in front of a large metal sliding door and wrenched it open. "Marines, MOVE!"
Holst and Mathis hurtled through the doorway as the fuel rod cannons came screaming in. They slammed into the abandoned Warthog, causing it to go up like a megaton nuke. The explosions ripped through the tunnel entrance and Godwin felt his eyes widen as a fireball shot straight towards him.
"Fuck!" he yelled as he slammed the door shut, but not before enough flames had passed through the threshold to set him ablaze.
"Sergeant Major! Are you okay!?"
Hands began grabbing at him to try and put out the fire, but Godwin angrily shoved them away.
"Get the fuck off me!" he snarled. "I'm fine. Sealed ODST armor, remember? Let's just get out of here before the Banshees come back around."
As if to emphasis his point, the tunnel shook and the howl of the Banshees echoed though the air as the aircraft shot by overhead.
Patting himself down, Godwin limped to the end of the passage where a single elevator car sat waiting. Punching one of the only two buttons available, he grabbed the hand rails to steady himself as the car lurched into motion, quickly descending below the surface. The elevator shaft suddenly shook, and all three of them reflexively glanced up as the rumble of plasma bombs reached them.
"Fuck," he heard Mathis mutter. "I guess that's another entrance scrapped."
Godwin grunted in agreement, having already scratched the location off his HUD.
There was a mute ding and the doors slid open. Godwin stepped off the car, only to find himself facing the business end of a heavy machine gun turret. He paused, mid-step, as he waited for the operator to recognize him.
"Oh, shit, friendlies!"
The machine gun was immediately pointed away as the Marine operator leapt to attention. "Sorry about that, Sergeant Major!"
"As you were," Godwin barked, hardly fazed by the potential friendly-fire incident. "Lance Corporal, Private: secure this entrance!"
"Aye, Sergeant Major!"
Without another word, Godwin took off down the corridor in the direction of the command center. "Make a hole! Marine coming through, make a hole!"
The corridors were filled with military personnel from all branches of the military as well as civilians seeking shelter from the marauding Covenant aircraft above, but they all quickly scrambled to get out his way. Whether they were doing so because they recognized the hurried air that surrounded him, or were just intimated by the sight of a heavy armored ODST trooper barreling towards them, he didn't know and frankly didn't care; all he knew was that within a matter of minutes, he found himself approaching the personnel guarding the entrance to the command center. Without breaking stride, he flashed his ID at them, and the guards quickly parted to allow him passage.
"Who do we have available that can reinforce Outpost Three at Phase Line Gold!?" he demanded to know the moment he was inside. Of the dozen or so technicians frantically working at their stations, none but two looked up at his shout.
"Task Force Wolfe is in reserve, Sergeant Major," one reported.
"Good. Send them out."
"Er, Sergeant Major, TF Wolfe just got pulled off the line not even twenty minutes ago. Their commander isn't going to be happy about being forced to redeploy so soon," the other technician warned, only to shrink as Godwin glared at her.
"You tell Warrant Officer Wolfe, from me, the tactical operations commander of Sydney's Defense Forces, he's got one of two choices: either he and his Marines can get their asses over to OP-3 and die on their feet, or they can die lying on their cots when the Covies finally overrun us because he didn't want to do his fucking job. Clear?"
"Aye, Sergeant Major," the technician meekly replied.
Immediately dismissing her from his mind, Godwin turned to the room at large. "Give me a sitrep!"
"Seraphs have collapsed the tunnel over Entrance Eleven, burying it; its no longer usable," someone immediately reported.
"Phase Line Purple has been completely overrun, but all defending forces were successfully able to conduct a fighting retreat to Phase Line Silver. Still figuring out the butcher's bill though."
"Casualty list from yesterday actions, Sergeant Major," another technician said, handing Godwin a data pad as they walked past.
"Any word on our relief?" Godwin demanded to know.
"They're moving down the coast as fast as they can, but last reports indicated they got halted by heavy Covenant action just outside Newcastle."
"Sergeant Major Godwin?"
Godwin glanced at the technician who called out his name.
"The Admiralty wants a debrief."
Godwin grunted in acknowledgement and started to turn away when he noticed the technician was looking at him with an expectant look on his face. "What, now?"
"Er, no Sergeant Major: I told them you were out inspecting the line, so they said to call them 'at your earliest convenience.'"
Godwin suppressed a sigh. "I'll deal with it in my office."
Barely hearing the acknowledgement, Godwin walked over to the small closest that was his office. Shutting the door behind him, he tossed his data pad onto his desk and slid into his chair. It was only then, in the privacy of his office, did he let out a loud groan of exhaustion.
It had been nearly four days since he had walked off that stupid submarine that had saved him from what was let of Mombasa on the coast of east Africa. Four days since he had entered this city and discovered that he was the highest ranking Marine with an infantry MOS. Because of that, he had been promoted and made commander of tactical operations here in the city despite his protest that, as an ODST, his expertise laid with small unit tactics, not large scale combat operations. Still, as an ODST, he wasn't one to shy away from challenges and had reluctantly accepted his promotion.
…And had regretted it ever since as these last four days had been some of the most difficult he had experienced in his entire career. Admittedly, it wasn't as if he had much of a choice; as both the last stronghold of the UNSC and the homeworld of humanity, Earth was it. If Earth were to fall… well, humanity's defeat had been inevitable for many years now. At least this way, Godwin could make the Covenant pay in blood for every square centimeter they tried to take.
Scrubbing his eyes, he decided he had let High Command wait long enough and reached out to activate his communicator. As he waited for the connection to go through, he absentmindedly glanced at his data pad-
- and froze upon reading the first line.
…SS Seahorse lost with all hands…
For a moment, all Godwin could hear was white noise, and he quickly re-read the data pad to make sure he had seen it correctly the first time. Sure enough, the words didn't change.
…SS Seahorse lost with all hands…
For a moment, Godwin wasn't sure how to react. As far as deaths go… as a veteran ODST in the war, Godwin had lost people far more important to him than the crew of the Seahorse, including most recently, his entire ODST company to an EMP over the skies of Mombasa. And, truth be told, it wasn't like he really knew the crew of the Seahorse; the journey from Mombasa to Sydney had only taken a couple of weeks during which the crew had been mostly busy with their own duties, leaving Godwin to himself.
And yet…
The words Corpsman Maggie had said to him when he first board the submarine echoed through his mind. That, once a colony was lost to the Covenant, it was usually the submarine crews that were the last humans standing. Somehow, he abruptly realized, he had taken those words to heart on a subconscious level. That the moment he had stepped off the Seahorse and onto Sydney Harbour, he had fully expected himself to be the first to die, and the crew of the Seahorse to be the ones to read the report about his death. And strangely enough, that had given him some comfort, the idea that, even when everything was said and done, when Humanity's last light was finally extinguished, there would at least be one ember of hope, one surviving piece of humanity that could grow back into a blaze, still remaining – however small – just below the ocean's surface.
But now that hope was gone. And… Godwin wasn't sure he knew how to feel about it.
"Sergeant Major?"
Godwin twitched as he looked around wildly, only to notice that in the time he'd been distracted, the connection had been established, and now sprayed out in front of him were the holographic displays of what remained of the UNSC Security Council, including its chair, Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood. Who was staring at Godwin with a small look of concern on his face.
Feeling himself flush ever so slightly, Godwin shook himself off. "My apologizes, sir, I was… distracted. Admirals, Generals, as requested, the situation in Sydney is as follows…"
As Godwin continued with his brief, he tried to shove all thoughts of the Seahorse to the back of his mind, but as he did, he suddenly called up a half-remembered story he had heard once in his youth regarding submarines, specifically: the legend of the Eternal Patrol. Among Old-World Navies, there was a tradition that if a submarine were to be lost at sea for whatever reason, she and crew weren't considered dead but rather, "on Eternal Patrol," and their names would be retained on the rolls, waiting for the day they finally returned to port.
Gone, but never forgotten.
Godwin wasn't normally an indecisive man, but he suddenly knew what he had to do. As soon as the Admiralty was done with him, he was going back to his room to light a candle, to help the show the crew of the Seahorse their way back home. Then, he was going to turn his full attention back to the defense of Sydney, this time with the intention of killing as many Covenant as possible. Because, as every ODST knew, it wasn't just their job to jump feet first into hell-
- it was to make sure it was damn well crowded before they got there.
General Notes
I came across the concept of the Eternal Patrol when doing a bit of research on submarines for chapter 8. The parallels between that and Halo's "Spartans never die" are unmistakable, so much so, I wonder if the developers and writers were actually inspired by the submarine community. Whatever the case may be, I thought I would try and write a chapter around it.
I also thought I would take the opportunity to explore a bit of Sydney's role during the Battle of Earth as its one of the few places explicitly mentioned in canon as being attacked by the Covenant (specifically, it is said the city was "severely devastated by the Covenant") during their 2552 invasion. As you can see, I've taken the liberty of calling it "The Siege of Sydney." Sydney is important in canon because, as mentioned in this chapter, the city serves as the primary headquarters for the UEG (humanity's civilian government) and host to the UNSC Security Council - also referred to as "High Command" or "the Admiralty" - the governing body of the UNSC (humanity's military arm.)