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The Siege of Zion Base; Part Two: Siege - Chapter 8
Posted By: Scimitarex<scimitarex@omegacell.net>
Date: 17 February 2004, 10:03 PM
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Part Two: Siege
Chapter 8
1350 Hours, December 8, 2552
Sinai Star System, UNSC Test
Facility, code name: Zion,
planet Genesis, Quartermaine
Airfield
Eileen had been shell-shocked at first by the initial assault. The Covenant attack had destroyed planet-wide communication stations to disrupt the defense of the city so quickly they hadn't had any chance to respond. This had only lasted a few minutes as the backup systems came online and communication was partially restored, after which the confusion cleared up instantly as orders were issued and fighter craft at the base were scrambled for the defense of the city. Eileen had quickly readied and gotten into her Skyhawk JumpJet and went through her preflight checklist in record time.
After less than one minute she was in the air with her squadron flying to fend of the landing troop transports and their escorts. As she neared the city she could see plainly the shape of the Covenant battle cruiser and frigates that were descending through the atmosphere toward the city's northern border. Banshees and Seraphs, the Covenant's space superiority fighters, were escorting Phantoms and drop ships into the city for the invasion; it was her job to stop them.
As she approached she could see the Seraph's purple, teardrop shaped hulls glistened in the failing light, and the Banshee's anti-gravity pods glowing with orange light from the tips of the spoke-like wings. The larger Phantoms dotted the sky with their bulbous, purple-reddish hulls and light blue landing lights.
She switched to her squadron's frequency on the TACCOM and issued orders to her flight. "Talon group, you are to engage and destroy the drop ships and troop transports at any cost. Hellfire group on me, we're going to provide cover for Talon and keep those escorts of their backs."
"Acknowledged, Hellfire leader, engaging troop transports," said a voice over the frequency. It was Talon leader, Isaac Dalton. He was her second in command and leader of Talon squadron, a subsidiary of the 351st Airborne Division. He was a very capable pilot and was taking his squadron headfirst into the fray, as ordered.
The Skyhawks of Hellfire squadron ignited their afterburners and zoomed into the space above the city. The Banshees immediately turned to engage them, but the Seraphs broke formation to engage Talon squadron.
Franklin armed her Scorpion missiles and fired two of them toward the Seraphs as she broke and dove toward them, away from the Banshees. Her missiles impacted the lead Seraph, whose shield shimmered a few times, then blossomed into a ball of purple and blue flame. She had barely enough time to brake and dodge the plasma coming from the Banshees, who had settled in behind her and had fired their plasma cannons, streaking at her with a hot, blue glow, at her unprotected flank. Plasma melted through her jet's armor plating on contact, but didn't do enough damage to cause any significant problem.
Her wing-mates covered her flank and fired their 50mm cannons at the Banshees, keeping them from getting a decent target lock on Eileen's fighter, however, she was still forced to break her attack on the Seraphs and took evasive maneuvers to avoid plasma fire. Her wing-mates were finally able to get locks with their Scorpions and fired them at the Banshees, which could not evade the missile's tracking warheads. The Scorpions impacted the rear of the lead Banshee disabling one of the Banshee's anti-gravity wing pods. The craft spiraled out of control down into the city to explode into the side of a skyscraper. The other Banshees broke formation to avoid the missiles tailing them. One flew down through the tops of the buildings below and managed to lose the missile, but the other Banshee pilot wasn't as fortunate. He wasn't fast enough to avoid the missile and it collided with his port side, obliterating the cockpit and pilot.
Eileen was now free to engage the Seraphs without having to dodge plasma fire from behind. Her squadron formed a flying V pattern and protected the lead fighters who launched their missiles and fired 50mm rounds at the Seraphs who were attacking Talon group.
"Get these guys off of me!" yelled the voice of a Talon pilot through the TACCOM. Eileen saw a NAV point mark the location of the pilot and saw two Seraphs firing plasma torpedoes at him from behind. She dove and fired two ASMD-11 tracer missiles at them to take them down. The Seraphs, unlike the Banshees, were equipped with energy shielding and it took several attempts to take them down.
She looked on as the Seraphs launched two torpedoes each, seconds before their shields collapsed under her fire. The 50mm shells broke through the shields that her missiles had weakened and tore through the craft's armor like paper. The Seraphs exploded and fell, flaming though the sky, to the ground below.
But it was too late, the torpedoes, though now unguided, were still too close to the Skyhawk pilot and one impacted his right wing, which melted completely under the intense heat. The pilot screamed as he ejected just before his craft exploded. Eileen cursed. At least he survived, she thought.
The remaining four Skyhawks of Talon squadron continued toward the drop ships. Once they were in range they fired their ASMD-11 missiles and autocannons in unison, sending a wave of destruction toward the drop ships. The missiles impacted the purple metal hulls of the troop transports, rending metal and annihilating the troops within. Ship after ship went down under the onslaught, falling from the sky into the city. The drop ships returned fire as best as they could, but they only managed to destroy a handful of the human fighters with some random, well placed shots from their under-slung plasma turrets.
There were hundreds of drop ships, and Eileen knew that they couldn't hope to destroy all of them. Her squadrons were reduced by a fourth by now, and more waves of enemy fighter craft were heading in from the battle cruiser's position.
She spoke into the flight's COM channel, "All right, people, another wave inbound, lets give them a first class trip to hell."
She and her flight broke and engaged the new waves head on. She fired a missile at the lead Seraph and timed her autocannons to hit the fighter just as the missile did. The missile exploded, taking down the energy shield, just as her cannon fire impacted the cockpit, tearing thought the pilots and armor. The ship exploded and the craft that were following it had to break formation to avoid impacting the debris from the explosion. Her wing-mates broke to into separate engagements with the Seraphs and Banshees, while continuing to protect the pilots of Talon squadron.
She eased back into a tight loop and got a view of the city while upside-down. There she saw some of the drop ships landing in the city squares and parks of the city's northern borders. She couldn't help but wonder how the battle was fairing on the surface, she wondered if it was as fierce down there as it was up in the lower atmosphere.
She hoped they could hold the aliens long enough to begin evacuation procedures. She hoped they would make it out of the system alive.
She shrugged the thought off and turned back to the battle at hand.
# # #
At that same time on the ground, Ebyo and his team had just set down in a cloistered urban neighborhood to the east of the Covenant's main landing zone. Ebyo and his team exited the craft in a small park bordered by trees and small buildings used for housing. Their cloaked craft, unseen by the human's forces, had slipped down without notice, and luckily, there were no human forces occupying the immediate area.
Ebyo stepped off the invisible landing ramp and moved swiftly to find cover near a small, square building on the clearing's western edge. His team moved silently behind him, and took positions to protect from possible ambush. Ebyo looked around to take in his surroundings. To the south of the clearing the skyscrapers rose into the sky behind a small grouping of medium height buildings built into a small hill. Beyond was a series of streets that lead into the city proper.
"Move toward those buildings near the city's edge. Transport: you are clear to leave, find a good spot to stick yourselves and keep on station," Ebyo signaled.
The ship silently lifted off and left to carry out its orders, while his team got up and moved under cover towards city. Ebyo took point with the Brutes to either side of him, and 'Labadee bringing up the rear in a diamond formation.
Once they had got to the edge of the city, Ebyo turned on his tracermap and consulted a tactical overview of the immediate area. He saw that the secondary force leading toward the planet's main facility was making its way southeast while the main body of troops was plowing itself through the middle of the city towards the command center in the center of the city.
He signaled 'Labadee to his side and showed him the overview. "What do you think? Where would the human be?"
'Labadee scrutinized the readout and nodded his head. Finally he spoke, "Assuming he is not at the main facility, he would most likely be engaging the main force if given a choice. However, if he was not able to reach the interior of the city before it was cut off, we must assume he is engaging the secondary forces here, heading to the southeast toward the facility which he would have encountered first."
Ebyo agreed, he knew that even a formidable warrior would fend off a threat that was closest to his position first, rather than bypass them to a larger objective. "I concur, I believe we should head in that general direction and see if we can catch him off guard while in battle, or in transit to a new objective after he has finished with his current one. However, he is by now in his armor. He will be ready to fight us if he becomes aware of our presence. We must be as careful as possible"
'Labadee nodded and replaced himself back to his former position. Ebyo lead the group into the city, while keeping themselves hidden in the streets, strewn with debris and damaged vehicles. They moved from the smaller buildings at the edge of the city into the interior where the towering skyscrapers darkened the streets by blocking the setting sun.
After a few minutes of traveling without any signs of military forces, they finally started getting closer to the main battle. They drew their weapons closer and prepared for anything that might attack, while traveling under off-ramps, through streets, alleys, and through buildings and garages.
The Brute's superior hearing made them stop and Ebyo stopped with them followed by 'Labadee. They assumed a defensive position near the corners of two building that led into an alleyway, while the Brutes sniffed the air for something.
"What is it?" asked 'Labadee, his hand on his active camouflage generator.
Damacus sniffed the air and crouched. He looked at Ebyo and shook his head. "I heard something, then smelled a human. I am not certain but I think they are near to our position. I do not think they are aware of us."
"Good," replied Ebyo. He signaled them to continue. They kept aware at all times, though they still saw no sign of humans anywhere. They kept traveling into the city; they were nearing the secondary invasion corridor.
As they approached they saw that the Covenant forces were making their way across a bridge spanning a small gulch that dropped a few hundred meters. Their only options to cross it were either to cross with the main force heading over the bridge, to find another way around the whole rift, or to find another bridge entirely. He was more inclined to find another bridge, but that would take time. If they met up with the main force, they could secure a vehicle for transport, and pose as part of the main force. Of course, they couldn't let anyone in the force know who they were, and his weapon was a dead giveaway, as only the most highly ranked commanders even knew about it's existence.
He decided they would find another way and take the extra time, but he was going to have 'Labadee find and "borrow" an unused vehicle from the forces in the back of the column that were still waiting to get across the bridge.
'Labadee activated his camouflage and made his way from their place of hiding towards the bridge. He was approaching the bridge from the right and spotted a group of vehicles that were waiting for pilots to arrive. He saw a ground craft, a Shadow, and made for it. He climbed aboard and activated the hoverpods that made the craft float. It had space for a driver, and a gunner, plus one or two more could hang off of the sides if they so wished. He made his way back through the streets to Ebyo's position, carefully avoiding anyone or anything that might raise an alarm.
After 'Labadee had returned, Ebyo climbed into the passenger seat beside the 'Labadee, the driver, on the left. Damacus manned the plasma turret in the back of the vehicle and Varadel climbed onto the side and grabbed a handhold to ride along.
"I have an idea I think you might like, Commander," said 'Labadee. If I were to take my camouflage unit and link it to the main engine pod, it can feed off of the backup energy packs and increase the power output. In theory it would be powerful enough to fully conceal the vehicle. We could then move faster, while still retaining an element of stealth."
"Do it," replied Ebyo. To his knowledge none of the Covenant's Engineers had done this before because it was deemed not needed in practical combat situations. However, this situation called for such a vehicle and he was glad 'Labadee had thought of it. After a few minutes of labor, 'Labadee activated the device and the vehicle, along with them inside of it, disappeared into a bubble of bending light.
Ebyo found a route with his tracermap to another, smaller bridge and started a course along the rift's northern edge heading west. A few kilometers later, they found a small civilian bridge, barely wide enough to permit passage. However, they had some difficulty crossing it as the bridge was strewn with debris and abandoned vehicles. They had to get out and physically move large portions of debris from their path before they could continue.
Once they had finished, they moved on towards the interior of the city. After the crossing, they headed back toward the main bridge over which the Covenant force was traveling by traveling down small by ways and on ramps.
He could see it was a two-leveled bridge, the main armor vehicles on the upper level and the Covenant's infantry on the lower lever making their way through the streets. The humans were being beat back severely; they had fewer numbers and were unable to hold the crossroads in front of where the bridge merged back into one street.
Ebyo signaled for 'Labadee to stop the Shadow. He stood up and activated his monocular scanner, to survey the battle ahead. From where he was, with the vehicle stopped near a street corner, he could look to his left all the way down the street to see the crossroads being held by the humans. He could wait here until he caught sight of the human, or he could risk getting closer to the fight and take a chance at being discovered.
Just then, a large explosion rocked the metal canyon of the buildings around him. Then another, and another. He immediately demanded that 'Labadee pilot the Shadow back to the small bridge, which they had just crossed. Once back on the bridge, and without his vision being obscured by towering buildings, he could look east and see the larger bridge from where the explosions had come. A small force of humans; a tank, several soldiers with high-explosive weapons and a small number of regular infantry had somehow came in from behind the Wraiths and Shadows near the front of the bridge and were destroying them from behind, exploiting the weaker armor in their largely unprotected flanks.
They had circled up to the upper level using a smaller bridge connecting the upper level to a large street on the city's side. The Covenant force commander must have overlooked it or it wasn't big enough for the Wraiths to traverse safely.
The person commanding the human's forces must have seen this and saw the opportunity, even though it would have placed him at grave risk, being caught in the between two forces of armor vehicles. His only protection was the fact that the Covenant couldn't shoot his small force from the position of the bridge. He couldn't quite see the whole, smaller bridge from his position, he being on the western side, and the bridge on the east. However, he could tell that the bridge curved up to meet with the upper level, and the large body of infantry on the lower level had no idea of what was going on above them besides hearing large explosions.
Ebyo had to admire the plan. Brilliant, he thought. The bridge is low enough that he can simply retreat down that same path whenever he wishes, and our forces can't touch him unless they follow him down, right into the guns of his men waiting at the edge of the small entrance.
Then, he had an epiphany: This is the work of the Immortal One... it has to be! No other commander would be as brave and courageous.
He had found his prey, now it was only a matter of setting a trap, and snaring it.
# # #
John was immensely satisfied with the way his raid had worked. He had came up behind the Wraiths and Shadows, and his anti-armor Marines had leveled them with their rockets. The tank had come up behind them and was fending off the advancing vehicles that were further behind the forward force. All the while they could retreat at any time without taking return fire.
"Excellent, men," he congratulated the Marines over the COM. "That's enough, they have enough debris to clear that they will be stalled there for a while and we can regroup at the crossroads for a counter offensive." John smiled; this would give the Marines some much-needed breathing room. He switched to the TACCOM to speak with Winsor. After a minute of static, he finally got through on the channel. "Sgt. Winsor, I bought you a few hours or breathing room, get some reinforcements here on the double."
"Good work, Master Chief," replied Winsor. "I just called the reinforcements in. We're getting more armor to hold the exit of the bridge. Also, Longswords are being scrambled from Quartermaine Airfield to the east to blow the bridge as we speak. That'll keep those freaks at bay for quite awhile. They're going to blow every bridge spanning that rift."
John closed the channel. At this rate, the Covenant would take a lot longer to reach the facility, at least a few hours, and at most a day. In any case, they only had a short amount of time to evacuate the planet, or else they were all as good as dead.
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