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Part One: Hard Landing
Posted By: Cassus Falco<reillycarroll@bigpond.com>
Date: 2 April 2006, 1:58 am
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>>Report of Commander J. G. Huang on the First Day of Operation September
>>For Fleet Admiral Harper, classified 'Eyes Only'
>>On July 27th, 2552, the city of Blue Horizon, home to an Office of Naval Intelligence base was attacked by Covenant Forces. On this day, five UNSC ships, cruisers Kyushu and Crockett, carrier Majestic, and destroyers First Light of Dawn and Shenandoah, engaged seven enemy Covenant vessels, with the assistance of local privateers. By the end of the day, all but one Covenant ship had been destroyed. The remaining vessel, apparently packed with Covenant troops, made landfall on Blue Horizon. There reasons for this are unknown, as the ONI base was ultra-classified. It is believed, before this incident only two hundred people knew of its existence, and its even less knew of its true purpose.
>>The space battle was short and decisive. The Majestic was almost immediately severely damaged; half of its mass was lost, and its reactor core was soon to overload. Captain James Woolf launched all lifeboats, saving as many of his crew as he could, then accelerated his ship into the Covenant formation before his reactor overloaded. When the ship did explode, it took two Covenant cruisers along with it.
>>Another Covenant cruiser was disabled by joint fire from Kyushu and First Light of Dawn, but at the cost of Kyushu. A fourth Covenant vessel was boarded by a team of Marines from Crockett, who planted a Shiva tactical nuke, destroying it, its crew and, unfortunately, the Marine infiltration team. The fifth enemy vessel rammed Crockett, dooming it. Thankfully, its entire arsenal of vehicular weaponry was evacuated aboard its squadron Pelicans, while 352 crew members evacuated aboard Bumblebee lifeboats.
>>With the destruction of all but two UNSC, Captain Timothy Sinclair-Alexander, commander of First Light of Dawn, developed a plan. He evacuated everybody from his vessel onto Shenandoah and accelerated his ship towards the largest enemy cruiser.
>>Unfortunately, his ship was sideswiped by the other remaining Covenant cruiser. It was destroyed, at the cost of his life.
>>Shenandoah was overtaken by the remaining cruiser, which, surprisingly, did not glass Blue Horizon, instead descending to a position about a kilometre above the city. Shenandoah landed among the outer suburbs and all troops aboard took up positions under Operation September.
>>The Covenant cruiser disgorged a seemingly unlimited array of vehicles and troops, while Marine units began to evacuate civilians from the city.
>>Then, at exactly 1030 Hours, the Covenant attacked the UNSC strongpoint at Plaza of Serenity, commanded by Marine Captain Julie Teresa Smith, as part of a coordinated Covenant assault against all UNSC forces in the CBD of Blue Horizon. However Plaza of Serenity is notable, because this was the location of the only entrance into the ONI base.
1030 Hours/ July 27, 2552 (Military Calender)/
Aboard Pelican Hotel 156, above Blue Horizon, Alpha Caridanis IV
First Morning of Operation September
Blue Horizon was a beautiful city; in the mid-morning light its tall glass and metal, ultramodern skyscrapers and towering spires normally glittered. Normally. Any other day. But not on the 27th of July, 2552. Thick smoke obscured the sky, falling dust turning the normally blue sky a hazy orange-brown, as buildings, as underground, cross-city traffic tunnels, as the very people themselves burned. Covenant troops stormed countless apartment blocks, as their frightened residents ran for their very souls. Covenant vehicles, from small one man Ghosts, to massive plasma mortar Wraith tanks, swarmed the streets, the plazas, the burning city gardens. While the battle on the ground, and to some extent under it, was still being fought, the battle for supremacy of the skies was all but won. Hovering above the city, like some foul spectre of death was a Covenant cruiser, the only one to escape the battle in space. Shaped like a mighty figure eight, with a widened aft and a tapered fore, it just sat in the air, surrounded by clouds of dust and smoke, its gravity lift descending to the Covenant staging grounds, the ruins of Blue Horizon's central business district and space port, far below, where hundreds of zealous soldiers waited to march upon the bedraggled defenders of the city.
However, on the other side, where the city still stood, relatively unmolested by the Covenant, a United Nations Space Command cruiser, a two-kilometre long weapon, had landed over the low-income suburbs. The last surviving ship of the squadron that had fought valiantly, fought so well a dangerous and costly battle, the UNSC Shenandoah, named after a river on the North American continent of Earth, rested among the warren-like concrete blocks of residences, as Marines left for aboard large Pelican-class dropships, upon which were loaded Warthog jeeps and Scorpion battle tanks, as well as the Marine platoons carried aboard.
One such Pelican, codenamed Hotel 156, loaded with a M808B Scorpion and two squads of Marines lead by Captain Julie Theresa Waters, sped over the urban sprawl, towards the embattled CBD, towards the large, open Plaza of Serenity, where a contingent of local police and citizens who had been unwilling to leave the city were fighting a holding action against the invading alien zealots with their outmoded weapons.
The Pelican spun about as it flew over a deserted public swimming pool, the water still in the concrete basins covered in a thick layer of orange dust, and fired all its thrusters, propelling it along an open highway, over the heads of three Warthogs in triangular formation, towards a crossover bridge upon which stood hundreds of frightened civilians, waving signs bearing anti-Covenant slogans.
Julie looked down past the Scorpion, at the highway zooming past, her keen green eyes probing every nook and cranny. She smiled wryly.
She wore the Marine olive green combat fatigues. Her long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, hidden beneath her uniform and her helmet, the green eyepiece of which fell down over her left eye. She was gorgeous by any standards; thin, athletic, well tanned and perfectly proportioned. She had a great body, and was the ire of many other women in Corps. She held a personalised, sawed-off M90 in her right hand, while around her left she had wrapped a thin gold chain to which was affixed a crucifix; more of a good luck charm than a religious ornament. In a holster strapped to her waist was an M6D pistol, and strapped to her ankle was a small hunting knife. She took off her helmet with her left hand and slid the necklace into a pouch, placing the helmet back on her head. She turned about, bracing herself on a bulkhead as the craft banked to the left. She pulled herself down the Pelican's troop deck towards the cockpit. The troop deck was crowded with eighteen Marines, most of whom were checking their weapons or their armour. She patted the youngest member of her small platoon on the shoulder as she passed. Private Lance A. Wallace smiled nervously back.
She got to the forward end of the troop deck and stepped through the door into the cockpit, where Lieutenant Carrie Allen sat, flying the Pelican, beside her lover and navigator Lieutenant Cameron McDowell. Julie knew them both very well, having served with them both throughout her career.
Julie put her hand on Allen's shoulder to announce her presence.
"How long until we get to the plaza, Lieutenant?" she asked.
Allen smiled. The woman's eyes were hidden behind the reflective lenses that came down from her helmet. "About two minutes, Captain, without any creativity. But, if you want me to I can get you there in one."
"Permission is given, Carrie." Julie said. "Just get me there. I have and itch in my trigger finger."
"Aye, aye sir."
Julie turned about, looking back into the troop bay. There were four troops on the left, five on the right; the closest to her being her second-in-command Lieutenant Michael Richardson, armed with an MA5B Assault Rifle, and Lance Corporal Tyson Dubois, also armed with a MA5B. In a line down from Richards were Lance Corporal Lynette Davies, the platoon's best sniper, armed, fittingly, with an S2-AM Sniper Rifle, Chief Oscar Lewis, the COM. Man, armed with a shotgun similar to Julie's, Privates Arnold Nguyen, the platoon's back-up medic, armed with an Assault Rifle. Down the bay from Richardson were Corporal Felicia Hernandez, the team's actual medic, and Private Chet Li, armed with an MA5B, Ali Abu Bashir, the platoon's demolitions guy, and Private Wallace, the rookie and the platoon's heavy weapons operator.
She raised her voice to shout above the roar of the Pelican's engines. "Alright Marines, one minute until we reach the plaza. So suit up and get ready, we're going in hot. Li, Nguyen, you're in the Scorpion. When we land, you two are going to take the Scorpion behind the barricades established by the police and civilians in the plaza, while the rest of us will spread out and take out as many Covenant as we can. Remember, this is a holding action until we can mobilise everyone into the city. And, don't forget, if we give these bitches our lives, lets give them hell before we do. Whaddya say, Marines?"
"Hoo-rah!" Nine voices cried.
Over her earpiece, Julie heard Carrie's voice. "In visual range…" she trailed off just as Julie spun about. "Oh God, Hunters! Hunters in the plaza!"
Suddenly, Julie was blinded by a flash of pure green light, then deafened by an unholy roar and screams of tearing, boiling metal. Her face was assaulted by a wave of heat, her ears attacked by the screams of a man. She threw out her hand and braced herself against metal, thinking it to be the wall of the Pelican.
She heard shouts and the cries of Carrie, and then felt the gut-wrenching forces of gravity. The Pelican must have been hit, and badly.
"No! Cameron!" the voice was Carrie's.
Blinking away the bright light that blinded her, she made her way towards the cockpit. Before she walked through the door, she glanced around. Her Marines lay around the troop deck but they appeared to be alright, even though, past the Scorpion, the world was spinning rapidly. Julie finally walked into the cockpit.
What greeted her was a scene right out of a horror novel.
Carrie was screaming, her hands pulling the controls upwards in a fruitless attempt to pull the Pelican out of a deadly nosedive. However, the other side of the cockpit had been turned to slag, everything; McDowell, his ejection seat, his controls and part of the right wing had been completely destroyed as the craft corkscrewed towards the ground. Through the cockpit viewport, Julie could see the plaza.
The concrete ground had been pitted and scored, littered with bodies. From this altitude she couldn't see whether they were human or Covenant, but she most certainly could see the pair of Hunters standing in the middle of the square, surrounded by a cadre of other Covenant troops, their fuel rod cannons charging.
"Come on, Carrie!" she shouted, tugging on her friend's crash webbing. She judged they had about five seconds before the Pelican ate dirt, but if they got to the troop bay they would survive. However, Carrie refused to budge merely screaming with rage and loss.
She punched the cargo release control and the Scorpion fell away, into an abandoned street behind a middle-class apartment block.
With heart-breaking finality, Julie turned away, leaping into the troop bay as the Pelican rammed nose first through a low office building, crashing through concrete and glass before coursing into the plaza with a loud thud and a sickening crunch.
Julie's world went insane.
All at once Marines left the troop deck, flying up into the ceiling or into the walls. Weapons left hands and blood sprayed across the troop deck. The heavy weapons cabinet, containing the small platoon's potable rail gun turret. It seemed as though it took an eternity, but within milliseconds, the platoon had been dumped unceremoniously to the floor of the troop bay.
"Is everyone okay?"
The voice was Richardson's, shouted over the crackle of flame.
"Hernandez is unconscious, but she seems fine." Wallace barked back. "I'm fine, though."
"I'm okay!" Dubois shouted.
Julie ignored the rest of her squad, hefted her shotgun and ran towards the aft of the troop deck. She poked her head around the edge of the Pelican and saw something that made her blood run cold. The plaza was a square of open concrete lined by beautifully carved fountains. It was surrounded by generic looking office buildings, the closest of which seemed the best for her squad to take cover in. Unfortunately, between there and the Pelican's ruins stood a team of Covenant warriors.
Richardson appeared at her side.
"What are we going to do, ma'am?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the Covenant warriors.
Julie took a moment to size up the opposition. Four Covenant Elites, each armed with a plasma rifle, three in blue armour, one in red, surrounded by eight Grunts, all clad in bright orange and all wielding either plasma pistols or needlers, and two light green coloured energy-shield equipped Jackals.
"We can't stay here, Michael. We'll have to fight our way through." She spun around. "Davies, Li I want you to take out the Elites." Davies and Li nodded, lifting their sniper rifles. Julie ran to the portable turret, and pulled it onto her shoulder. "When I give the order, every grab anything you can. Wallace, Richardson, you cover us. We're going to run into the nearest building, we'll set up a command post inside." Waters watched as her soldiers grabbed ammunition weapons, and Felicia's unconscious form. "Once I reach the building, I'll set up the turret and cover the rest of you."
She walked back to the edge of the Pelican.
Davies and Li set up their rifles, putting the red armoured Elite and one of the others in their sights. Wallace and Richardson lifted their MA5Bs and lined up the Grunts.
"Go, go, go!" Julie shouted.
Five Marines ran out of the Pelican, bolting the fifty metres towards the building, dodging enemy plasma fire, keeping their heads down as the four other Marines covered their retreat. Julie was the first to reach the building and kicked open a side entrance. She spun about and flopped to the ground, placing the turret in front of her.
Two of the Elites were dead, as were four Grunts. Thankfully, none of her Marines had been killed during the run to the building.
Julie quickly set up the turret, spraying machine gun fire at the rest of the Covenant soldiers, taking out the other Elites and two more Grunts within seconds, painting the four remaining enemy troops with electric blue blood.
The first Marine past her was Dubois, carrying a rocket launcher and as much ammo as he could grab. Next were Bashir and Nguyen, carrying Felicia between themselves. The rest of the Marines left the safety of the Pelican, running towards the building. Julie finished mopping up the squad, but, just as she did, the Pelican evaporated in a wash of green light; fuel rod cannon fire. Finally Wallace and Richardson reached the side of the building and ran into the hallway that stretched behind Julie. Seconds later, as the destroyers of the Pelicans, two massive Hunters, appeared, Davies and Li reached the door Julie was guarding and ran down the hall after Richardson's retreating back.
Julie poured fire at the encroaching Hunters, but the powerful bullets just bounced off the aliens' armour. To her horror, she saw their built-in fuel rod cannons charge, green energy building up, getting ready to spray a stream of superheated plasma energy.
She pulled the turret away, just as the Hunters fired.
Green energies ripped away the wall and the doorframe.
Julie leapt back, shielding her eyes from the sudden brilliant light and the blistering heat. She heard mortar and concrete crumbling and saw the roof crack and splinter before giving way.
And her world went black.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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