No Gods, Nor Masters

Italica Part 5:The Rooks Have Arrived!

"Doctor Halsey, are you on this net?"

"Yes, major. This is Halsey. Go ahead."

"Good news, ma'am. We're ready. Orbit and Groundside."

"Ahead of schedule. And our UN friends?"

"Also ready."

"Contact General Hazama and his officer cadre, then... Go on in. Full speed. Let's end that battle before it properly begins."

"Aye, ma'am!"

Gunfire raked the battlements, forcing the Marines and SDF on top into cover. Kurata had to shield himself from the amount of lead the enemy was spitting at them, swearing to himself in his language, before asking the UNSC Marine next to him, "Just when the HELL did they bring this much heavy kit up!?" as he peeked and shot two shots. The Marine next to him, one carrying a Battle Rifle, let out two bursts, then ducked as a round hit inches away from his face.

"I don't fuckin' know, man," He replied, reloading his battle rifle. Poking out again, he opened up on the enemy and spoke over Radio, "HITMAN-3-ACTUAL, ENEMY FORCES ARE IN CONTACT ON THE EASTERN GATE! Looks like they're bringing in siege equipment here! And it doesn't look too fucking pretty for us!" then ducked back into cover. His ammo counter read the weapon was half-full. He poked out again, without firing this time, before reporting as he hid again, "Counting four, maybe five ladders!"

"Hold the line, Corporal, don't let them overwhelm you." Richard spoke, the ring of gunfire audible through the com. "We'll send reinforcements if possible, but you must hold the line."

The man swore to himself, then replied, "Copy... Eastern Gate, out," before running, hunched-over, toward their machine gunner and tapping him on the shoulder. The Japanese soldier carrying an M249 SAW turned toward him, to which the British-born UNSC Marine ordered him, "Controlled bursts! Aim for the troops carrying the ladders!" and pointing out the squadrons of soldiers carrying what looked to be metallic ladders, tall as the walls.

One of the team's snipers started popping off at enemy units, taking out some of the ladder carriers as a Marine carrying boxes of ammo ran forward. The machine gunner opened up as well, controlled bursts of three and four rounds leaving the barrel of the weapon, the heat around it causing the air to distort. Legionnaires tried to utilize their shields to cover their brethren, but failed, taking rounds in the chests, legs and the likes as 5,56 and 7,62mm punctured through plate armor and wooden shields.

The group ducked as an SRS sniper round rang through the air, the round ricocheting off the side of the battlements and damn-near giving the machine gunner grunt a heart attack. The soldier crawled back and repositioned, looking terrified as rounds started flying again. The man gasped, however, watching as a Japanese UNSC Marine ran forward, her sniper rifle in hand, before sliding into position and slamming the bipod of the rifle onto their cover.

She scoped in the enemy's snipers and fired, all within a second of setting up. She ducked, repositioned and fired again, dropping a man with a Jackhammer launcher, then again, going for an officer. She stopped beside the Marines and SDF, speaking in Japanese to Kurata, "Your Lieutenant needs you at the North gate, Sergeant Kurata. Sergeant Tomita and the others have been sent to defend the town square and our CP there."

He nodded in thanks, then stood up. Ikari then looked to the soldier beside her and said, "I have our backs. Stavrov will also be coming in to support us. Add to that our corpsman and we should be fine here, for now..." as she scoped in the next target:One of the bastards carrying the ladders. She shot, turning his head into mist and his helmet into a blooming steel flower, took another shot and killed another man before growling and reloading her weapon. "They just keep sending bodies to bring those ladders up..."