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Chapter 3 Section 1: The Fallen
0603 Hours November 16, 2553 (Military Calendar)
Atlantic Ocean Enroute to New York City, U.S.A

The Master Chief had been rather laid back since he had left New Mombasa, Kenya just eight hours ago. During that time he had taken the opportunity to get in some rest in from the six hard hours of fighting he had to endure. During his rest five more fully loaded Pelican dropships had met up with his ride and flew as a convoy over the Atlantic.

Cortana spoke up and tried to wake him. " Chief we have a hour left of flight time get up. " She said. He was out cold and gave no response. Cortana gave it another shot and again the Chief did not wake. " Fine Master Chief you don't want to get up, then I guess I'll have to help you. " Suddenly the Chief was jolted by a small electric shock in his back. As he jumped out of his seat the marines inside the Pelican stopped and took a quick look at him. They wore rather confused looks on their faces as the Chief retook his seat.

" You didn't have too do that Cortana. " He said.

" Yes I did. You wouldn't wake up7, so I improvised. " Cortana responded. He frowned for a moment at the thought of her being able to cause him harm when he wouldn't respond. " Chief you've had several hours of sleep now and I've recieved a full briefing from the Brass. Plug me into the cockpit's holotank and I'll show you what is in store. " The Chief got up out of his seat and passed through the Pelican's weapons locker and into the cockpit. The pilot turned to the Chief and then back to the blue ocean ahead of them.

" Good to see you finally woke up. " the pilot said. " Name's Lieutenant First Class Marner Chief and he's Junior Lieutenant Ellerman. " The man said gesturing to the co-pilot. " We're your lift until we get off this rock. The ship's name is Omega 74. "

" What do you need Chief? " Ellerman asked.

" Cortana says we need the holotank for a while. For briefing purposes. " the Chief replied.

" Have at it. " The Chief went to the pojector without hesitation and plugged Cortana in. Her " normal " form was projected as the Chief turned the tank on.

" Been to long since I've been in one of these things. " Cortana said. She disappeared and a rotating hologram of New York was brought up. Sections glowed red, green, and blue signifying threat level. " Chief the city we are currently headed for is New York. Population was roughly 13 million until the Covenant set up shop. A UNSC division of standard marine ground forces, the 103rd, have already reached the city's ports and are already in heavy fighting. The green sections of the map represent where that fighting is occuring right now." About a fifth of the map lit up with a bright green. " We'll be the reinforcement for that unit. Expect alot of fighting today, I heard you'll have to stay until after the majority of the mop up is complete. "

" Any word if enemy armor is in the area? " the Chief asked.

" Yes Chief. Intelligence shows about a two divisions of Covenant armor are scattered throughout the city. Don't worry the 103rd has anti-tank weaponry waiting for you ground side. " Cortana said reassuringly. The Chief still didn't like the odds he would be going up against. " What we need to do when we reach the ground is to make our way into downtown and to the city center where you are to confirm that the airstrike that was delivered two hours ago did what it was supposed to do. "

" What would that be Cortana? " the Chief asked.

" Wiping out all data relevant to the human star charts located there. Unfortunately it seemed that the system wide initation of the Cole Protocol failed here. So it's our job to get it done. "

" Anything else? "

" Yes you are too reconoiter the area and see why the hell the Covenant would spare that much armor. Other than that, no, not yet. I'll brief you when new information arrives. " The Chief was a bit disappointed. He had to do another clearing of data the hard way like he did when Reach was conquered. Reach the Chief thought, the name and the memories associated with it tore at his heart and mind. So many lives were lost that day. Too many friends and allies. The Chief put his thoughts away and mentally prepared for his mission. There wasn't any time for the luxury of emotions. He patiently waited as thirty minutes passed while he examined the holographic map and put it to memory.

" Ten minutes till drop! " Marner yelled. The Chief looked up from the hologram and out in front of the drophip. He hadn't bothered looking at the city before the short briefing and was amazed at the size of the place. New Mombasa was big, but it paled in comparison to this.

The city was huge with towers reaching above the clouds. It lit up as dawn rapidly approached and showed off its glistening surfaces. Then there was the other feature that was very visible now, war. The six Pelicans pushed it to full speed and made it to the outskirts in good time. He took a quick look out front and saw the landing zone, an seven lane shipping road. The street was already littered with human bodies, impact craters, and trashed vehicles. The Chief grabbed Cortana and traded the Jackhammer launcher for an M6D pistol instead.

The six dropships fired their autocannons ahead of them and tore through several Covenant infantry that were holding the area. Enemy fire immediately came towards them and one of the dropships setting down was hit in the port wing engine by plasma flak. Orange fire shot out and again it was hit in the troop bay as it spun out of control. It flew forward and slammed its nose into concrete and steel. It slid for several meters and came to a screeching halt. Two marines came crawling out of the wreckage with third degree burns all over their bodies. The screams of the two men died out as the weapons' locker inside the dropship bursted outward with fire. Bullets over heated and were set off, while explosives blew the ship apart into a million smaller fragments.

The remaining five ships set down unloaded their troops, then lifted off to find a safe location. A wave of human flesh, armor, and hot lead went down the seven laned road. Plasma and needler fire flew towards the humans and made several contacts. Already casualties were rising on both sides. The screams of the wounded could be heard faintly over the staccoto report of the battle rifles. They were launching an assualt on a Covenant weapons depot. Crates of supplies were stacked along the sides of the road and were carefully guarded by four Shade turrets and at least a platoon of experienced officers and standard infantry.

The Chief took up the middle and rushed down the street firing his rifle at a red armored Elite that was giving orders to a team of Grunts. It took an entire magazine to drop its shields, but a quick follow up shot from his pistol to the head solved that problem real quick. He fired six more rounds and killed the Grunts that were running to the north side of the street trying to gain some cover behind a flipped over car. Methane sputtered out of their punctured breather masks as they grasped at nothing and fell to the ground taking in normal air coolapsing their lungs. He fired the last of the ammo in the pistol at a Jackal and reloaded his weapons.

After his rifle was set he suddenly felt the air around him pop and the temperature around him spiked. The shields had been dropped by an overcharged shot from another Jackal. He quickly sought cover and avoided a firestorm of plasma pistol fire that came his way. A tipped over vehicle was nearby so he hid behind it and waited for his shielding system to come back to full strength. As he leaned his back up against the car he looked back over to the marines. He had moved too far forward for them to effectively help out. He cursed himself for not remembering they weren't Spartans and the marines for being unable to keep up a little better.

There was a clammering of hooves on the other side and the talking of stressed out Jackals. He saw that his motion tracker had targets at ten meters. He grabbed a frag grenade and rolled it around his cover. The grenade suprised the unsuspecting Jackals as it detonated and sent schrapnel into their bodies. The Chief was confident that the group was eliminated he ducked his head around the other end of the car and ducked back when he saw a flash of light come right at him. The corner was hit, glowed orange, and melted away. The Shade turrets were firing down on him.

" Chief can you give us some covering fire? " the Master Chief heard over his radio. He looked back at the marines again and saw the group that was heavilly pinned down by two turrets. One of them was waving his hand. Their cover was red hot and turning to ash quickly. The Chief nodded and stood up over the car and leaned on it.

He fired on the turrets that were giving them a hard time. The incoming plasma fire lightened up on the marines as the Covenant troops fell one by one. He swapped magazines and every survivng marine capable of moving ran forward.

It was an amazing spectacle as human flesh was properly coordinated towards the enemy. Two rows of ten troops went up the sides of the street while the main force of roughly twelve scattered in the center. Their fire was staggered to allow maximum efficency of ammo usage. Yet as efficent as they were the Covenant had a counter. The remaining six Elites were all red-armored officers that had the support of about twenty Jackals and ten Grunts.

The Covenant broke up into groups centered around a Shade turret each. Jackals crouched and locked shields as Elites towered over them, while Grunts were supporting the guns taking out the bodies as the gunners fell dead in their floating turrets. Six men were hit after the Covenant had reorganized and all but one had been turned to carbonized bone fused with steel plating.

One of the rear line marines saw the men that were hit and vomited. Realizing one was still alive he ran for him and dragged him over between two nearby warehouses on the south end. Smoke came off of the wounded marine and a long blood trail was made from where he was hit. The man who had dragged him over screamed for help.

" MEDIC! I NEED A DAMN MEDIC OVER HERE! " he yelled. One of the medics that advanced with the rest of the infantry turned and rushed back. He ran in a zig-zag pattern avoiding incoming weapons fire. He slid over to the pair and dropped his sub-machine gun and tore off his backpack.

The medic said, " Help me take his armor off! " The two quickly began to detach the armor plating all over his body. The medic tore open the wounded man's shirt and saw the injury. He was lucky he was alive, he had only been hit twice by the stationary guns and with only one or two of the plasma lances from both. Bright red blood was leaking out of his chest from the three holes that scarred his flesh into blackness.

The medic grabbed the dogtags and checked the blood type. A-type, standard blood he carried around with him. He threw the dogtags back down and opened up a pouch that contained an IV stand. He propped it up and grabbed two units of A-type blood and put them on. After unraveling the IV line he grabbed the wounded man's right arm, wiped away some ash causing great pain, and put the line in. He tore the tab on the two units and blood flowed down the line and into the body.

" There's not much I can do for him. We need too tape him up and call for a med-evac. " the medic said digging into his backpack once more. This time he pulled out a roll of medical bandages, tape, and a canister of bio-foam. He tossed the healthy marine the bio-foam and began wrapping the bandages around the upper torso. The nozzel was stcuk into each hole and the foam was injected.

The wounded man screamed again as he felt a burning sensation go through his body. He began to move violently and slipped into unconsciousness. The wounds were quickly wrapped and taped off. The medic reached into his left chest pocket and pulled out a syringe and inserted into the man's other arm. Slowly injected the fluid into his blood stream and pulled back when it was in.

" What was that? " the other marine asked looking up. The medic threw the needle away and wiped off his hands on his uniform.

" I gave him a few CCs of morphine for when he wakes up. He'll need it. " the medic responded. He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small metal disk. He tore off the flaps that guarded the adhesive of the device, put it on the wounded man's shoulder. and turned a small switch. A single blue light blinked on and off. It was a tracking device for the med-evac to find him. He repacked the loose articles of supplies, grabbed his weapon, and gave a quick check of the wounded man. " Think you can keep an eye on him while I'm gone? "

" Yeah. I'll make sure he gets out of here. " The medic nodded and went back towards the infantry line. " Hey hold on. " the marines said. The medic turned around. " Thanks. " He nodded and ran to the battle that was coming to an end up ahead. It was nearly a hundred meter run.

He passed by blood splotches of both humans and Covenant. A few scattered bodies were here and there and thousands of pieces of brass glimmered in the light of the rising sun. The gun fire was more human now than Covenant and was still as loud as it was when he was some distance back. When the medic finally made it to the battle he ran into the Chief.

The Master Chief was in the process of allowing his shields to come back up from being hit by several needler rounds. The bar turned blue again on his HUD and he sprung out from his protection. His rifle had been slung and he had grabbed a plasma rifle along the way. When he jumped out several marines followed him and ducked as they went. The Chief fired the plasma weapon and knocked out two yellow shielded Jackals before having to wait for his shields to come back. However the threat had been effectively neutralized and only the dying remained of the Covenant line.

" Area secure. " Cortana said over the COM line. The Chief was busy gathering a few new grenades and a new plasma rifle.

" Roger that, " a sergeant replied. " Marines fan out and dig in. We'll be here a while. " The marines acknowledged the order and fanned out and into nearby buildings. If anyone had looked from above all they would have seen were corpses and no sign of the UNSC presence that hid there. Exactly what they would need.

" Cortana which way to the city center? " the Master Chief asked. A NAV point came up. He looked at the distance and felt his energy drain for a moment. He had to move to the west ten kilometers. " Long walk. " he commented.

" Not really. " Cortana replied. He was confused and then heard a few engines to the right of him. Between the warhouses and other buildings came five M17 ATVs or better known as the " Squirrel ". The Squirrel was a small one man four wheeled vehicle that was extremly fast and agile. Only problem was they didn't have their own mounted gun. Instead if you had a weapon like the M7C or another potentially one handed weapon you could at least have some defense. They came bounching over to the Chief's position and came to a dead halt in front of him. One of the marines jumped off and saluted the Master Chief.

" Private Roberts, 103rd Infantry Division, Sir." the marine said. He then gestured to the ATV. " You can use her only if you promise to treat her well. " The Chief nodded and got on the four wheeler. He punched the engine and headed west at top speed.

" Chief, I've received some good news from up stairs, " Cortana said. " Ten of our ships just jumped into our system. Six destroyers and four frigates, all carrying ground forces. I've been told there are even some units that wish to come here directly when they reach Earth orbit. ETA is twenty minutes. " The Chief was glad to hear that there were volunteers. Generally volunteers fought much harder than any other soldier. The Chief liked that.

As the Chief sped ahead three kilometers and had zero contacts until he heard the tell tale sign of a Banshee. He looked up and behind and the saw the flier coming fast. It flew overhead and went past the Chief as he tracked it with his eyes preparing to go off course. After it flew in between the towering structures and came back with friends. Two more Banshees accompanied it and fired down on the Chief. He swerved back and forth to avoid the incoming plasma blasts. They passed over head and turned for another run. The trio swooped in low and fired their fuel rod cannons at the Master Chief.

The explosive shots hit behind the ATV and delivered enough force to send the vehicle flying. The Chief was forced off and hit the ground hard. His shields had been stripped away by flying debris and sparks flew from his armor as it dug a light scar in the road. He shook himself off and watched as the fliers flew past him. He looked down and saw a small back road where they would be unable to get to him. He took the alley and ran to the far end.

The sound of the fliers grew louder as two others had come in to find the Chief. He stopped at a T-junction in the alley and melted into the shadows on the right. The sound of the Banshees died out and the low pitched voice of an Elite shouting out orders was heard instead. He watched his motion tracker, he had sensor contacts. Three were coming in at twenty meters. Ten meters. Three meters. The Chief showed himelf around the corner, primed a plasma grenade, tossed it into the tightly packed group, and ducked back behind the corner. A cry of fear, an explosion, and then silence.

The Chief armed his plasma rifle and slinked around the corner. Only two corpses remained and a sea of blood took the place of the other. He looked around satisified and walked out with his weapon at ready. His helmet had barely stuck out when he was suddenly fired at on both flanks. He jumped back as if he had been suddenly hit by a shock batton. The Elites were holding their ground and were waiting for him. Knowing full well there wasn't a chance of taking on both he had to change his tactics.

The Squirrel was visible from his position. The entire back end had been melted away and the gas tank had been torn in half. Amazingly it had not gone up in flames when it was hit. The Chief was thankful as its entire fuel supply had been spread out in about a twelve meter diameter. Close enough to the opening for the alley. He fired a shot upward and quickly aimed at the gas spill. He had sensor contacts and the two Elites were coming in for the kill. He waited until their bodies were barely seen and then fired.

The fuel ignited and knocked out the majority of their shields. Quickly he aimed for the red armored officer on the right and fired a sustained burst at the Covenant warrior. The remaining shields died out and the plasma tore through it. It died firing its weapon knocking out the last sliver of its allies shielding. The Chief changed targets and fired eight rounds killing the blue armored opponent.

He checked the weapons, gathered another plasma grenade, and went to the Banshees. The trip would suddenly get a risky speed boost, and the Chief was willing to take it.

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