Chapter (34) Just Like Me (4)

(Mc Pov)

30 minutes after Operation: SMASH AND GRAB began

"Distance to the target is 10 miles. All pilots are advised that in the surrounding area of the Type-27 Anti-Air Cannons, the terrain is loaded with Anti-Air Shade turrets. This will be the most challenging part of the mission. Stay fast and maneuverable otherwise, you will be shredded by plasma bolts" The Rear Admiral informed as we neared the target. To check the surrounding scenery I dipped my right wing low so that it was pointing towards the ground and my jet wasn't flying horizontally but instead diagonally.

(Type-27 Anti-Aircraft Cannon)

(Anti-Air Shade Turrets)

And sure as shit he was right. I looked down only to be greeted with tens of plasma bolts wrapped in white flames making their way toward me. We couldn't climb any more in altitude otherwise we would be unable to accurately guide the bombs to hit their targets. Therefore I gave the simplest and best order I could with the given situation and knowledge I had.

"Incoming, plasma from below all Warthogs and wingmen scatter. Proceed with bombing runs on your designated sector. Maintain evasive maneuvers and watch out for any surprise aircraft looking to take a pot shot with a fuel rod shot," I quickly spat out over the team comm before switching to the comm between me and my wingman," We have heavy fire approaching my three o'clock and your nine o'clock. I will bank left you go right then form up into-" I wasn't even able to finish my statement to my wingman.

*zzzzzt*

*BOOM*

*BANG*

One of the Type-27 Anti-Air cannons from the back was able to get Warthog Two in its crosshairs the moment he began to bank right. It shot a heavy plasma bolt dead on at the underbelly of the Eagle. No amount of armor on any fighter would have prevented total annihilation for my wingman. The bolt tore straight through the belly of the craft and went out the other side without even slowing down. The jet erupted into flames and explosions due to the round hitting the ammo cache. My wingman and his gunner were dead on the spot and turned to ash before they even knew what happened

"Shit, Warthog Two is gone," I informed over the STRAT COMM.

The Rear Admiral sighed over the comm before he responded, "Huhh… You lost your wingman Ace. You are in deep with no cover from the other members of your squadron. For every tactical reason you should pull out because the odds of you pulling off this mission and coming back alive have taken a major hit," He paused and sighed again, "Huhhh... Still, you have pulled off one miracle today already. It's your call to continue or to call it off,"

I didn't even take a moment to consider. If I gave up now then Warthog Two's sacrifice would have been in vain, and we would be worse off than we began. Though I may inadvertently save my life by giving up, 'When have I ever been one to give up? I may be stubborn and never known when to quick, but above all else I am a persistent fucker,' Confirming my thoughts I replied to the admiral with little to no time in between.

"Negative, I am going in" I simply said before executing an Aileron roll into a sharp descent. Another crazy plan of mine, getting closer to the guns that were shooting at me. To counteract the close proximity I bumped up my speed from four hundred miles per hour to around six hundred and fifty closing in on Mach one.

Of course, this plan only worked due to my reflexes and the fact that in the cockpit gravity didn't affect me much thanks to the system. Otherwise, I would be suffocating for most of the maneuvers I was doing. I dodged, rolled, and sent out short bursts of thirty millimeter at any major obstacle blocking my way, Covenant or natural I was cutting through a path.

Then I smiled. In my line of sight was the big three-legged plasma cannon. I began climbing a bit, still shaking off any plasma bolts fired from behind. I had navigated the mountain range without getting hit, I am sure that pissed the alien freaks off.

I was about two hundred feet off the ground and closing in on the gun fast. I did a quick calculation and lined up the bomb camera on the main body of the gun. I had it in sight and pressed the release on a two-hundred-pound smart bomb.

The ovular cluster bomb soared through the air on the camera and landed in between the turret and platform that the legs connected to. The AA gun was immediately taken out of commission. A plume of white and purple fire erupted and the cannon of the weapon was ejected from the blast of it, the weapon core going critical.

"One down proceeding to the next target to the east," I informed over STRAT COMM. I sharply banked to my right and easily pulled seven to ten Gs of force. Though I didn't feel anything.

As I got closer I did the same as before. Evading all plasma bolts and carving my way with bullets. I again switched to the smart bomb camera and dropped the two-hundred-pound bomb. I got another direct hit and the same as before the AA gun.

"Second target up in smoke. Focusing on the final AA gun"

I turned my jet around toward the direction of the final AA gun and immediately changed my original plan. It seemed our scans of the Covenant defense positions were outdated because not only were there far more Shade turrets guarding this final one. But the cannon was up-armored; the core that would be spat out at the bottom was shielded by additional armor, same with the gap.

Thinking quickly to come up with a solution I decided on a hail mary that would keep me out of harm's way, and take out the cannon. "The last target is too tough. I am switching to rockets to take it out from range," I said explaining the actions that I would carry out next. I switched my firing mode over to my ASGM-4 Rocket pods and launched four rockets at the joint of one of the legs supporting the gun.

The rockets immediately took off from the underside of the wings of my Eagle. They flew straight and were unobstructed as the red and yellow fire burnt from the tail of the munition. Sadly, only two of the four rockets managed to hit the joint of the cannon, while the other two kept traveling past the cannon and ended up hitting a hillside exploding and sending dirt into the air. Luckily, the two that reached the target were more than enough to get the job done.

The two rockets smashed into the joint in a flurry of smoke and red flames. The impact was something the weak point of the support structure couldn't handle. The leg snapped off and the cannon fell over like a chair missing one of its legs. It tipped over and fell flatly as grunts and jackals were running away from it. Once it hit the ground it sent dust into the air before it exploded sending a plume of white hot flame.

"Objective completed Gamma four's Anti-Aircraft cannons are offline. Squadron, what's your status, over?" I asked as I began pulling back out of the area that was continuously spitting out bolts of white plasma. I also began to climb into the sky in order to increase the distance between the turrets and me.

"This is Warthog Three, Gamma Two is clear,"

"This is Warthog Six Five got grazed by one of those AA cannons and had a fire on his flaps. He returned back to the staging area. We managed to knock out our AA guns in Gamma Three as well though,"

"This is Warthog Seven. We had an easier time. We have been clear in Gamma One for a couple of minutes now and have pulled back,"

"Gamma Five's are down for the count, Warthog Nine and Ten are pulling out as well,"

"Warthog Twelve just dropped a bomb on our last gun Gamma Six is cleared of AA- cannons,"

After getting confirmation that the AA weapons are out I addressed the squadron, "Solid Copy, all Warthogs pull out and escort the drop ships and landing procedures, over" I then switched over to STRAT COMM, "Admiral all AA guns are out of commission you are free to enter the atmosphere and begin landing troops, over"

…

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(3rd Pov)

Sitting in the command chair positioned in the bridge of 'The Reliant' Rear Admiral Arthur Randal let out a sigh of relief hearing the good news. "Well done Spartan you saved a lot of people. All Pelicans the light is green. I say again you are free to begin the trip to the planet's surface. Long Swords begin engaging incoming Covenant Seraphs and Short Swords begin bombing runs on those AA turrets," he called out a flurry of orders to aircraft pilots.

"Frigates FFG-209, 273, and 192 you are to begin unloading armor and other support craft," He gave a final order to three frigates in the battle group. He had them drop off the armor on the ground to provide a source of immediate relief. While the other tanks and vehicles would be transported to the system through pelicans and other shuttles.

As he was giving orders he was also paying close attention to the readings sent out by a probe on the far side of the planet monitoring the Covenant Space force. Both to begin finding targets that he planned to pick off when they were separated from the main force, and to give him a heads up in case the Flotilla moves to engage the Battle Group.

…

..

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(Sergeant John 'Ghost' Rogers Pov)

"Our mission for the beginning ground invasion is to take out a Covenant heavy armor staging area," I said to the men and women huddled around me for the mission brief. Their faces showed the seriousness of the mission, "We will be going in with a Platoon from the forty-first shock troopers and will be permanently ending the staging area's operations," I said emotionlessly.

"That's it? Only another Platoon of ODSTs? Is the Admiral trying to get us killed!?" spoke out one of my communications officers.

"What the fuck they can't possibly think that we can accomplish this. Did we get put on the admiral's shit list?" said one Marine.

"Sarge I know the ODSTs are some of the best but come on. There has to be easily a thousand covies in any given staging area and that's not even counting their vehicles," I was told by a Corporal.

Slowly outrage broke out amongst the men and women in my platoon. Many were angered at the fact I accepted the mission while others were lamenting the fact that they were being sent to their deaths. "All of you be quiet," I loudly spoke over all of them in a cold tone, "You are soldiers. Your job is to fight for humanity and even lay down your life if it calls for that. Don't forget you made that choice and accepted the risks the day you signed up. So stop acting like children and stand straight like the soldier you are,"

I got a couple of snorts from the Marines in my platoon. However, most stood silently and listened to my words with silent fury filling their faces. Their backs were straight and they stood with a scowl and glaring eyes that bore holes through me as if their gaze were the rifles they held.

"Yeah we did, but we also weren't told we would be led to our deaths by an unfeeling ghost either," whispered a Marine. I couldn't pick out who said it, and I also didn't address it but instead continued with my brief.

"None of you let me finish. Alone the Admiral knew that we two Platoons alone would be unable to complete the mission. We will also be assisted by a Spartan on this mission," I paused after to let my words sink in.

A look of shock filled their faces before they began eagerly discussing the news.

"Which one do you think it is!?" asked one Marine to his friend beside him

"Man, I hope it's the tall one. Those legs just do something to me," one Marine said….strangely.

"I don't know I saw the black-haired one in the gym and the glare she sent me made me shiver in a good way!" said another…weird guy.

"Be quiet," I once again loudly said putting an end to their interruptions, "We will be going down to the surface in the fourth wave of Pelicans. Once we touch down we will begin a ten-mile hike to a cliff face East of sector Gamma four. After we reach the cliff we will link up with the Spartan and ODSTs that will be dropping in through drop pods,"

There were a couple of groans from them once I spoke about the ten-mile hike. Some were disappointed when I said that the Spartan would be dropping in and not flying in the Pelican. A couple of questions came in from different Marines about equipment and the terrain of our hike. Eventually, they were dismissed and fanned out to gather their gear and spend whatever free time they had left before the mission.

I looked around because I expected Sherry to approach me once again as she does after every mission brief. She usually nagged me about going easier on the troopers and showing some empathy, and every time I told her that I wouldn't apologize and that they were adults and above all soldiers, so they should act as such. In turn, she would get angry and stomp off with my blatant disregard for their feelings. Strangely, however, she was nowhere to be seen, it seemed that she wouldn't be talking to me for a while. Which I was fine with because it was better that way.

It's best for everyone that they don't gain any attachments, because once those attachments eventually die you won't feel anything. Then you can simply just focus on the task at hand and nothing else, and be just like me.

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Another Chapter

No chapter tomorrow and probably none friday maybe one Saturday. I plan to make another large chapter that will be focused on the landings and close air support. Then it will be the prelude to the staging area raid and will show his new Mark IV. I changed my mind on the armor I will give him for Mark IV and instead decided to just go simple and old school.

That's about it song of the day is "Sidewinder" by Avenged Sevenfold

I hope you all have a blessed day and I will See You Star Side