- soulguard
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- Exalted Mythic Member
“The city has one primary spine; the canal.” Eric stated to the group. “From what I gather, most marine advances during the initial assault were along the roads and highways. I radioed out earlier and got a recon from the satellite thanks to HighCom. As I expected, the canal is clear and runs beneath the aft end of the covenant cruiser. Only problem is that the current is running the opposite way we need to go. Any form of watercraft would be instantly spotted. But that canal is the only way to get close. All forces that have made any type of advance toward that ship by land have been neutralized.”
The marines sat quietly, pondering how they were going to do what the entire local brigade failed to do.
“Also, there have been no signs of Elite or Hunters.” Eric added. “HighCom released info this morning that only Brutes, Drones and Jackals seem to be amongst the ground forces.”
“What’s that all about?” Wesley questioned aloud. “I thought the Elites thrived in battle, why would they miss this?” Everyone agreed.
“No clue, Private.” Eric answered. “But no matter, that makes things easier. With the Elites out of the picture we only need to worry about those damned Brutes. Their big and ugly, but not nearly as smart on the battlefield as the Elites. I don’t know why the prophets would pull the Elites off the battlefield in exchange for those stupid apes.” Eric shook his head but then realized he was getting off topic. “The canal is eighty feet deep in this section. We need to find a way to use this.”
“Perhaps you’re on to something, sergeant.” Will stated; his voice sounding off through his external microphone. The Spartan walked to the table and looked the map over. “Perhaps we don’t have to use the water way itself. This road that is running along the canal bank, does it have a sewer system?” Eric pressed a button on his data pad and a menu came up. He entered a key sequence and the map shifted to a blue print of the city sewer system.
“Says here the Environment Act of 2112, forced Port Said to install a separate drainage system runoff from the city.” Eric added. “The tunnel itself is pretty old, probably hasn’t been maintained in a few hundred years. But the map layout is recent. It was last updated in 2530. I don’t see any brakes in the tunnel, or cave ins. Look’s like you’re on to something Chief.”
“Please, call me Will or CPO.” Will stated. He didn’t want to be referenced in the same likeness of the Master Chief; he didn’t feel worthy of it.
“Will?” Eric questioned with a soft chuckle. “I guess you are human under all that metal.”
“How big is that drain?” Will returned.
“Only 5 feet in diameter, so it’ll be a tight walk.” Eric replied. “This should go smoothly and we won’t have to change my original plan. Second Platoon will run a diversion storming up the center street. Will be in the rear of their advance and break off once we’re within a mile of that ship.” Eric zoomed in a section of the city were the squad would break off from the assault. “This drain here will be our entry. It’ll be a one mile hike, and once we reach that cruiser we won’t be able to communicate. We’ll have to order an air strike before we hit the drain. That means we need to give ourselves a seven minute countdown from the moment we hit the tunnel to the moment we reach that cruiser.”
“I assume the air strike will be our cover to sneak into the ship?” Will questioned.
“Yeah, they’ll hit the exterior of the cruiser forcing all eyes up, while we sneak into the grav-lift.” Eric replied. “Once inside, we’re on our own, so our first priority is to shut down the covenant’s ship wide com system, then their docking security. Once the docking security is down we can call for platoon drops inside the ship. From their, we run the show and take full control of the vessel.”
“ONI gave me a little toy to take care of the ship systems.” Will stated. “Once inside, all I need is a computer terminal.”
Wesley quickly chimed in, “So the first half of the mission is stealth, a one mile run in the dark, and then jumping into the belly of that beast. This is going to get messy.”
“I hope you’ve all become socially connected to your gear.” Eric added. “You’ll have to carry a full pack for this.” Eric looked at Rose and noticed she was thinking heavily on the idea. Rose was physically fit, and in great shape for someone that didn’t need to be. She would workout often and ran whenever she could, but she had never run with fifty pounds of gear on her back. Of everything Rose would need to experience in combat, a full gear run would be the toughest. Her stamina would have to be controlled during the run so that she would have energy for the battle ahead. It was a hard task for someone not trained for it, but Rose had surpassed all his expectations so far.
“Is that it, serge?” Wesley questioned. Eric looked at Will, realizing that he had been looking at Rose for quite some time, and nodded. “Ok people, bag and prep. We roll in…” Wesley looked at Eric and waited for a reply.
“One hour.” Eric noted. “I’ll contact the fly boys to get an air strike ready.” The marines began to file out of the small corner room and Will was not far behind. But Eric quickly called out, “Rose, I need to speak with you a moment.”
Wesley paused as the rest of the Red Squad passed him by. Once the Spartan had passed he walked back into the room with Eric and Rose. Eric gave him a quick look and Wesley realized that he wanted privacy. He walked away and began to pack his gear.
“Are you alright?” Eric questioned. Rose lowered her head and didn’t reply. “The first time is tough on anyone, but you seem to be handling it rather well, but I know how you like to hide things. This is the only chance I can give you to open up. The next few hours will be hellish.” Rose looked up with a stern face and gazed at Eric.
“I’m not going to let you down, sir.” Rose stated calmly. “I won’t slow down the squad, if I do, then leave me behind.”
Eric chuckled, “I’ve known you far too long for you to try and pull this brave act. You’re scared, but you don’t want to admit it. We’re all scared Rose, but that’s not what I want to know.”
“Then what, sir?” Rose questioned.
“Cut the ‘sir’ crap.” Eric replied. “Something happened when you broke off with Wesley’s team last night. What happened?”
“I killed a jackal.” Rose replied. She took a deep breath and exhaled as she recalled what happened. “I thought killing would be hard, but I didn’t hesitate. If I had fought while we were in the lab, then maybe… maybe things would have turned out differently. I didn’t even try back then, and now we’re being given the hardest assignments on the front line. It’s my fault we’re here. Our chances of surviving this war are nearly zero, but I’m going to give it my all. I’m not scared of them, Eric. I’ll fight. Just tell me what to do.”
Rose had walked across the room while she talked, and Eric hadn’t noticed how close she was until he was actually looking down at the top of her head. She was practically standing beneath him. His 6 foot frame shadowed her tiny 5 foot 5 body. Eric placed his hand on her shoulder and gingerly pushed her back a few inches. He held her at arms length and looked down at her, as she softly looked back at him.
“Still trying to be the best at everything you do, aren’t you?” Eric questioned. “This isn’t college, and this isn’t a carrier goal. You aren’t trying to climb the corporate ladder. This is war, and you’re doing fine.” Eric looked up and noticed that Wesley was standing in the door. His somewhat peaceful moment was quickly snapped back into reality.
“Sir, it’s time to debrief the rest Second Platoon.” Wesley stated with a heavy expression. The sight of seeing Rose and Eric so close together, was somewhat unsettling to him. “The LT is waiting for info and we need to order that air strike.”
Eric sighed as he looked back at Rose. She was staring at him, waiting for him to say more, but he couldn’t. His duty was calling and people’s lives were depending on him.
“Rose, pack your gear.” Eric stated sharply, his tone changing back to that of a squad sergeant. “Wesley, give her a hand, but make the pack as light as you feasibly can.”
“Eric.” Rose stated. “Promise me that if I fall behind, you won’t do what you did last night.” Rose looked up at Eric and wouldn’t leave until she heard a reply. “Don’t try to save me anymore.”
“I’ll protect my squad, Rose. That includes you.” Eric returned.
“This isn’t the work force, Rose.” Wesley jumped in. “If you’re in trouble, you could die. As a squad we cover each other…”
“I don’t want anyone to die because of me.” Rose strongly stated. “Eric, promise me!”