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Shadows of an Empire: Chapter 3
Posted By: tsukahara10<st.krueger@comcast.net>
Date: 29 September 2006, 9:18 pm
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Chapter 3: Assault on Outpost Foxtrot
2248 Hours, March 30th, 2561 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Near Outpost Foxtrot, Beta Cassiopeia III
Markus hit the zoom on his nightvision goggles. All he could see was trees. The installation was supposed to be somewhere in those woods. He decided to climb up on of the trees next to him to see if he could get above the canopy and get a better view. Once at the top, he zoomed in again and searched for the building.
What do you see, Major?" asked Captain Hector Garcia of Sierra Company.
"No sign of the building itself," Markus answered. "But I do see several guard towers. The roofs are barely visible, so they must be just below the canopy."
"How far away are they?"
"About half a klick north. Those guard towers probably have searchlights and heavy weaponry. If we stay quiet and in the shadows, Tango should be able to take them out with its rocket jockeys."
After another glance around the area, Markus descended the tree and tried to think of a plan. He called over to Captain Steve Waters of Tango Company to join Garcia and him.
"So what's the plan, Major?" Waters asked.
"I'm still thinking about it, but I've got a tentative idea," the Major said. "We've gotta do this with minimal friendly casualties, so stealth is key. Waters, once we get closer, do you think you can position your rocket jockeys to take out the guard towers all at the same time without being detected?"
"We can maneuver into position without being detected, but once we fire, our cover will be blown."
"That's all we need, Captain. Destroying the guard towers will draw them out into the open, so we will need to stay hidden and pick them off as they come out to inspect the damage. Once they retreat back inside, Tango will hang back and stand guard to make sure no rebel reinforcements get near, while Sierra infiltrates the installation. Everything from there on out is ad lib. I'll take any ideas if you guys have them."
"That sounds like a good enough plan to me," Waters replied.
"Garcia?"
"You're the boss, Major. Let's do this."
"Alright boys, let's move out."
The Marines silently approached Outpost Foxtrot. Markus turned down the brightness on his nightvision goggles so he could see the search lights from the guard towers. His goggles amplified light so much and so well that they made it look exactly like day time despite the fact that Beta Cassiopeia had set nearly four hours ago, and searchlights are hard to see during the day. Several lights darted and weaved along the forest floor. About eight guard towers surrounded the large pill box like structure. Markus halted the troops when he saw a search light pass fifteen meters in front of him.
"Waters, get your men into position," he whispered. "Stay out of sight."
Markus took a knee and surveyed the area some more. About fifty rebel soldiers patrolled the area. They would have to be taken out shortly after the towers. Infiltration wouldn't be easy. The building looked like an old World War II pill box above ground and only had one entrance. It looked just large enough to hold only an elevator to the underground labs and armories. If there was a stairwell, they would have to go down that, or risk going down in squads.
"Tango in position," Markus heard Waters in his helmet's radio.
"Fire on my mark," Markus replied. "Three… two… one… mark!"
Two volleys of sixteen rockets streaked from the trees to the guard towers. Within seconds, the area went dark. Markus turned the brightness of his goggles back up, and he could see the rebels' movements clearly. They were panicking, obviously not expecting this attack.
"Open fire!" the Major yelled.
The rattle of gunfire filled the air. The bright flashes of tracers streaked in every direction. The rebels dropped like flies as they tried to return fire. The Marines had the advantage of nightvision and using trees as cover, so the rebels were just blindly shooting at shadows in a forest. They had no chance of defending the facility from the outside and eventually they retreated back inside. In a matter of minutes, Tango Company surrounded the outpost and Sierra was prepped for infiltration.
"Sir, they've locked the door," Markus heard the familiar British accent of Lance Corporal Buckingham, or Bucky as was usually called. "It will take a couple minutes for me to decode it."
Damn, Markus thought, that will give them time to regroup. We have to work fast.
The Marines impatiently waited for Bucky to unlock the thick titanium-A door. The first squad was ready to go in, rifles in hand, safeties off. When the door finally did open, the squad rushed in, but the ground level was empty. The only things that stood out were an elevator and a stairwell, as is common in all UNSC installations. Knowing that taking the elevator down would be risky, the entire company poured down the stairs. Markus hid himself in the middle of the group so as not to make a prime target of himself. He knew he was close to the bottom when he heard gunfire down below him.
The rebels were smart and left the lights on. For this nighttime operation, the Marines wore black camo, and were easy to see against the white walls of the research facility. So when the Marines reached the bottom and realized their situation, the first thing they did was blow out the lights and increase the brightness on their nightvision goggles. Once again, the Marines had the advantage of darkness. Unfortunately there wasn't much cover in the hallways of the facility.
The dark corridor flashes like a strobe as fully automatic rifles at either end fired round after round down the hallway. It wasn't long before the rebels retreated around the corner and the Marines pursued them. Any doors the Marines encountered, they sent squads in to clear.
"We need to find the generator and shut it down," Major Gundersen said to Captain Garcia. "Get your best stealth squad together and put them on it."
"Yes, sir" Garcia said.
Sergeant Hank Adams and his squad quietly made their way through the brightly lit hallways of Outpost Foxtrot. Their new camouflage generators hummed just below the audible range. The light bending technology they stole from the Covenant allowed them to walk through fully lit, crowded hallways undetected so long as they didn't touch anyone or make a sound. Fortunately, Adams and his squad hadn't run into any rebel soldiers since they left the main force of Sierra Company.
The squad came to another stairwell and made their way down to the bottom of the installation's two levels. Before opening the door at the bottom of the stairwell, the lead Marine halted the squad. Each Marine had all the latest sensors, like motion trackers, and heat sensors, built into the heads up displays of their helmets, so they always knew if enemy contacts were close. They constantly had a hybrid visible light/heat vision display on their HUDs so they could see the invisible members of their squad as well as see normally to distinguish friend from foe.
"Movement on the other side of this door," the lead Marine whispered.
"Place a shaped charge on it, Schumacher, and direct the blast through the door," Sergeant Adams quietly replied. That should take out some of the rebels as well as distract them, he thought.
Private Brad Schumacher took a canister of C-7 foaming explosive and shaped a small charge like Adams ordered in the center of the door. He then placed small charges on the hinges and the lock to blow the door down. He placed electronic fuses in the charges and backed away from the door. He waited a few seconds and detonated them. The center charge blew first. A small flash erupted from the charge and shouts were suddenly heard from the other side of the door. A split second later, the rest of the charges blew and the door flew several meters into the corridor crushing several rebels when it landed. The Marines fired in while smoke still filled the air. They could hear dull thuds as bodies hit the ground.
When the smoke cleared, the hallway was empty save for the dozens of rebel bodies strewn all over the floor. The explosions and the hail of bullets the ten Marines unleashed was enough to clear the entire corridor. The Marines then advanced down the hallway, carefully stepping over the bodies. They came to an intersection, checked the crossing hallway and continued forward.
Where is everybody, Adams thought. There has got to be more resistance here.
As if on cue, a group of rebel soldiers rounded a corner ahead of the Marines. Adams, at the head of the squad, held up an open hand to silently tell his squad to hold their fire and take cover. They didn't want to engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary. The Marines pressed themselves back against the walls and quietly watched the rebels run past.
This is going to take too long if we stay together, the Sergeant said to himself. Once the rebels were past and out of earshot he addressed the squad, "We need to split up individually. Check every hallway and every room unless the room is specifically labeled. If you find the generator figure out how to shut it down. Blow it up if you have to. We will regroup back at the stairwell once the power is out. Just remember, do not engage the enemy unless you absolutely have to."
A hushed, unison, "Yes, sir!" came from the squad members as they split and went their own directions. Adams continued down the hallway and around the corner the group of rebels ran around. Several doors lined that corridor. He quickly and quietly walked along and checked each door. Many of them were barracks.
This place sure has a lot of barracks for so few soldiers, he thought. He came to another intersection and quickly took a step back as a column of rebel soldiers jogged past. Why does that happen every time?
When the soldiers passed, Sergeant Adams turned down the hallway they had just come from hoping they came from the generator area. This hallway had several research labs with windows to watch the experiments, but Adams didn't take the time to peer in. He needed to find that generator fast. He continued down the hallway and found that it was a dead end but there was a door at the very end. He started to notice a slight humming the closer he got.
This has to be it, Adams said to himself. He noticed a large amount of heat coming from behind that last door, but no movement. He opened the door and found a small fusion core about ten feet high and six feet across. He went around to the back of it and found a small access panel. He opened it and turned the dial that said "Master Control." As soon as the dial reached "Min" the lights in the facility flickered off and Adams boosted the brightness on his nightvision.
Markus heard several curses from the rebels forces when the all the lights went out.
"Split up into squads!" Markus shouted. "Get every nook a cranny! This place must be wiped clean!"
This was too easy, Markus thought. The rebels had been unprepared and lacked the appropriate equipment such as the nightvision that gave the Marines the overwhelming advantage. The operation was a success: quick capture of the facility with minimal UNSC casualties. The installation and the weapons it contained would be under UNSC control in a few minutes. Maybe the UNSC had a chance to stop the rebellion on this planet after all.
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