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The Siege of Zion Base; Part Two: Siege - Chapter Ten
Posted By: Scimitarex<scimitarex@omegacell.net>
Date: 23 February 2004, 2:49 AM
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Part Two: Siege
Chapter 10
1600 Hours, December 8, 2552
Sinai Star System, UNSC Test
Facility, code name: Zion,
planet Genesis
So much for that air support we were promised, thought John. He and Sgt. Winsor had been told they would have Longswords inbound to take out the bridges that the Covenant had been using to cross the gorge. After nearly two hours of waiting, John was beginning to think they weren't coming at all, and started thinking of a new plan in case they didn't.
John and his team had been ordered to destroy the off-ramp they had used for their attack, so the Covenant couldn't use it. He had had it destroyed immediately without question, but that had been back when they thought the air support was moments away. The damage they had done to the Covenant's armor on the upper bridge level was severe enough that the Covenant still hadn't cleared the debris and wreckage out of the way. But it was only a matter of time before they did and resumed their movement into the crossroads ahead of the bridge.
John had pulled the tank back to defend the bridge exit from the infantry that was still pouring through the lower level into the streets. The Covenant had advanced so far that they had begun fortifying their positions with portable energy shield generators and whatever else they could find that provided protection.
Fortunately, the Marines had gotten the backup they had been promised. One more Scorpion tank, two M12 LRVs, another M12A 1 LAAV and several M12E 6 Warthog light troop transports that had brought much needed ammo and infantry reinforcements. The LTTs were loaded with weapons, ammo and medical supplies that were immediately distributed to the troops.
The tanks and other Warthogs had started fortifying the other exits to the other bridges that the Covenant had started to cross. Being caught up on the main bridge had provided a bump in their plan, and they were splitting some of their forces off towards the smaller bridges to the east and west of the main bridge the Marines were defending now. The main bridge was being defended with ferocity and determination and the Marines were holding their own.
John was busy in a firefight at the moment and needed ammo fast. He was behind a fallen slab of an over head ramp that had collapsed under the mortar fire of the Wraiths in the first minutes of the engagement. The ramp had originally connected two buildings on opposite sides of the street together. The ramp had taken fire and part of it had fallen into the street facing the exit to the lower level of the bridge and provided good cover from the Covenant troops that were still advancing. John was throwing grenades and picking off troops as best he could, but he was without backup and needed to get more ammo or he was going to be forced to retreat.
He peered over the fallen bridge remnants that comprised his cover and sighted the fortified Covenant troops near the bridge's exit. The Covenant had moved large pieces of debris into strategic positions for cover, and had set up some portable energy shield generators in between the cracks in their barrier. They had made their barrier facing toward the Marine line but at an angle so that the Covenant troops could exit the bridge with cover.
He aimed his Battle Rifle and fired at the Elites that were giving orders to the lesser infantry of Grunts and Jackals. The first Elite dropped with a bullet penetrating his skull, while the second Elite, aware that his lieutenant had just been killed, dropped behind his portable energy shield for protection. The purple energy distorted his view and he couldn't see his quarry anymore. John pulled an M9-3 flammable-liquid incendiary grenade from his belt, he looked back to where the Elite was hiding. Two blue armored Elites had taken up a position behind the energy shields with the other red armored Elite, and were not aware that he knew where they were. He armed the grenade and tossed it, then drew his rifle back up to aim.
The grenade landed behind the energy shield and the Elites screamed and leapt out of the way, exposing themselves to his elevated position on the "ridge" of his cover. Before the grenade had even exploded, John had aimed his rifle so that the Elites would run into his fire zone away from the grenade. The Elites had dodged the grenade just as he predicted and fired at them. The Elites, now aware of their mistake, tried to return fire, but were torn apart by John's Battle Rifle. Bullets penetrated their armor and destroyed internal organs as they passed through. Purple blood leaked from their perforated bodies into the street. This had all taken place before the grenade had even exploded; his reflexes had been faster than the grenade could explode. The detonation spewed fiery liquid adhesive in every direction. Grunts and Jackals ran screaming on fire looking in vain for something to put the fire out. John aimed his rifle and shot the now exposed flaming enemies one by one. Fire, blood and flesh mixed in pools on the walls and ground where they fell.
John stood up from where he had been crouched looking over his mound of concrete and metal cover and walked back to where the LTTs had brought in the supplies. He grabbed more grenades and ammo and picked up a M205 Grenade Launcher and some high-yield rounds. He was going to try to collapse part of the upper level of the bridge and try to block the lower entrance to the bridge, cutting off the advancing infantry.
He slung the launcher over his back with a carrying strap, picked up his Battle Rifle, and turned to make his way back to the crossroads. Once there, he looked at the entrance to the bridge. It was crawling with Covenant, and as he was looking he saw two pairs of Hunters making their way to the front of the line around the Covenant's Barrier leading to the right. They held their massive shields before them to absorb the machine gun fire of the Marines. The Warthog's LAAG guns couldn't even penetrate them and they advanced even further.
Finally, a Scorpion tank turned its cannon at the new threat and fired at the pair that was the furthest to the right, near the walls of a large building. The shell plowed into the left most Hunter of the pair and blew it apart, sending metal and orange flesh into the air. The second Hunter had only been damaged a little in the explosion and had been knocked off it's feet. It reared itself back up and bellowed a long, guttural scream and charged headfirst into the Marine's lines. It knocked over destroyed cars and literally threw debris out of its way. It was about to reach the line when a Marine fired two SPNKr rockets at point blank range at the advancing behemoth. The Hunter knocked the first rocket aside with a well-timed hit with his shield and it exploded behind the Hunter harmlessly, but that left his exposed chest without any protection from the second rocket. The rocket impacted and blew the Hunter in two, sending halves in opposite directions.
That only left the other pair of Hunters to deal with. John had a decision to make; he could take out the Hunters with his grenade launcher, or try to stop the advancing troops coming trough the bridge. From where he was, to the Hunter's right, their shields were on the other sides of their bodies and he had a clear shot. But if he went for the bridge, he would give away his position behind the corner of the damaged building, they would see him and turn to face him. He decided he had to stop the main body of troops, the Hunters he could take, even if they knew he was there, but he had to cause as much trouble for the Covenant on the bridge as possible.
He ran to his left, heading towards a large overturned bus for cover. Dropping his Battle Rifle, he flipped the grenade launcher over his shoulder and inserted five high-explosive rounds into the firing chamber. The weapon could hold a total of five rounds and then needed to be reloaded, but if it was attached with a fast-loading magazine attachment it could hold 10 rounds instead of five. Without the magazine attachment, it acted much like the M90 Shotgun in operation, though the grenade launcher could be used with many different types of rounds: concussion, incendiary, and HE rounds were very commonly used with the M205.
He loaded the rounds and held the forward grip tight. He braced the stock against his shoulder and sighted the bridge. He looked for the weakest points and tried to find the ones within range of the launcher. He found two damaged pylons holding the upper bridge aloft near the ramp that lead back down into the street, one on the right of the ramp, closest to him, and one on the left but further back. He aimed for the one that was further away and fired, then quickly aimed at the closer pylon and fired again. The first and second rounds flew through the air in an arch and impacted at nearly the same time. They exploded right on target and destabilized the forward, upper level of the bridge, which was still blocking the exit ramp.
But it wasn't quite enough, the pylons held. He quickly aimed and fired in the same sequence as before. This time, when the grenades exploded, the upper level gave way and fell forward, breaking away from the exit ramp onto the lower level, crushing the infantry underneath. The wreckage that was still on the forward upper level fell with it and added to the massive wall that blocked the infantry from advancing. The forces on the lower bridge were now cut off until they could clear the debris and the forces on the top of the bridge would have a hard time getting to the lower level with most of the bridge's upper level exit destroyed. They would either have to drive of the top level and hope they landed without overturning, or they would have to backtrack and find another bridge to cross.
The forces that had already crossed the bridge were now cut off. But that didn't mean they didn't keep fighting. The Elites kept the Grunts and Jackals from retreating and started lobbing plasma grenades over their cover into the Marines. Some stuck, killing some, but others were avoided or bounced off the Marine's cover.
John looked back where the Hunters had been, they were advancing directly toward the closest Scorpion tank toward the front of the Marine's line and were now in it's dead zone. The tank couldn't defend itself from the Hunters and it couldn't retreat without crushing its allies behind it. The Hunters charged and fired their Fuel Rod Guns at the tank, whose armor held, but started glowing hot red and then turned black. The Hunters moved closer and fired again. The tank's armor was now glowing orange and was starting to melt, cooking the Marines inside. The Marines and Warthogs around the Hunters could do nothing to stop these frenzied killing machines as they continued on.
John reloaded his grenade launcher and moved back into the street toward the Hunters. He fired at them from behind, causing them to suddenly lose interest in helpless prey and turned to face the Spartan. He pumped a new round into the chamber and fired at the Fuel Rod Gun that was charging on the arm of the Hunter to his left. The round hit the gun in the firing chamber right as the Hunter shot his own and the rounds both exploded at the same time, blowing the Hunter's arm off. The Hunter reared back in pain and clutched its bloody stump with his other shield-hand. The Hunter to John's right bellowed and charged, closing in for a melee attack. John had barely enough time to ready another shell as he sidestepped the lumbering beast. The Hunter ran past him and turned quickly, attempting to slice John with the long, sharp, armored spines on its back, but John was too quick. He ducked and rolled under the spines and fired a round into the Hunter's back at the exposed patches of orange flesh showing through the armor. The Hunter exhaled and fell to the ground, orange blood seeping from the deep hole in its back.
John got up and turned to see the other Hunter, the one with the missing arm, right in his face. The Hunter swatted him with full force with its alloy shield, sending John, and his weapon, flying though the air into the side of a building. His energy shield flickered and went dead. He got to his feet to see the Hunter running straight at him at flank speed. Only John's superior reflexes saved him as he jumped up and over the advancing Hunter, avoiding the spines standing up on its back. He landed on his feet behind it, turned, pulled his SMG from its holster on his leg, aimed and fired all in one quick move at the exposed backside of the Hunter. The 5x23 rounds tore through the flesh of the Hunter's weak spot, obliterating the spinal cord in its back. The Hunter reeled over and fell to the ground, twitched once then died.
John got up to see the Marines pulling back from the crossroads in front of the bridge. He ran to catch up with the main force, and called Winsor on the TACCOM. "Sir, why are we pulling back?" he asked, quite out of breath.
Winsor's response was a little delayed, then came in; "The cavalry has finally arrived. Those Longswords finally made it. Apparently they had some trouble getting here."
With that last remark the Longswords flew over head. John looked back towards the bridge, and saw the bombers firing missiles and dropping bombs at the bridges. They fell, along with the all of the Covenant forces on them, into the rift. The battle here was over. But the battle for the planet was still going strong.
John was about to climb aboard a Warthog bound for a new objective when his PERSCOM activated. "Chief? Chief you there?"
It was Cortana! Obviously she was safe if she could call him from a dedicated communication system.
"Yes, I'm here. Where have you been? I knew you had escaped the initial bombard-"
"No time," she interrupted. "I need you get to the underground bunkers below the main Zion base. I have something I need to show you, right now."
John was curious, what could Cortana have found that required him to be taken off of the battlefield so immediately. Well, whatever it was it must be important if she had called him personally.
"OK, let me check with Sgt. Winsor and find out if he can lend me a transport."
"Be quick," said Cortana. She then signed off without warning.
There were obviously more developments on this planet that were more important that continuing the fight. He found Winsor and told him what he needed. Winsor let him take one of the empty LTTs, which were useless in combat anyway at the moment. He drove off toward the base, hoping that whatever Cortana had found wasn't as bad as his mind was thinking it could be.
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