Stories from the Sigmaverse/Holdout

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Casbah City, Tribute 3 days after drop

"Clear!"

Two black-armoured figures darted across the rubble-strewn street, keeping low as they ducked into the next building. The ground shook slightly as an explosion erupted a few blocks away. As a third man edged out, weapon raised, a group of frightened civilians made their way across in single file. There were nearly two dozen of them, mostly children with a few adults that had been around for supervision when the attack began.

"Keep it going people, we're almost there!" called the trooper bringing up the rear. Like his comrades, the man's armour had seen some wear and tear; the chestplate was heavily scorched from a near-miss with some plasma fire. The civilians hurried into the building as ordered, allowing the team to move in and assess their situation.

"Mal, how are things looking?" the trooper called as he entered. "We far from the LZ?"

"'bout a klick, more or less. Comms are still a mess, though."

"Check the emergency channels. We'll hold out here for five and move on."

Master Sergeant Ash Mitchell strode over to where their group of civilians were huddled. It had been nearly three hours of constant walking through the besieged city since their last engagement, and it was clear that they were all exhausted. Fear of the Covenant was the only thing keeping these people going. Of the forty Orbital Drop Shock Troopers that landed in Casbah several days ago, only five remained in Mitchell's squad. Private Bill Cross was quietly conversing with one of the civilians in an attempt to calm the children down, while Corporals Mal Roberts and Taylor 'Dutch' Miles watched the exits. Lance Corporal Jones had already set up his sniper rifle in a nearby window, and was checking down the street for incoming Covenant troops.

"Okay," Mitchell announced to their escortees. "We're almost there, people. Just rest up for a few minutes and we'll be on our way. The Spaceport isn't too far."

Privately, he doubted their chances. Three of their number had been lost to an ambush earlier, though none of the civilians under the ODST's protection had died yet. Mitchell's squad had been unlucky enough to stumble upon the survivors of a school trip in the early hours of the morning. With evac sites either packed with people or under fire, he wasn't about to abandon a bunch of kids to the Covenant. The youngest of them were barely four years old.

"Sarge," Jones called from his position. Mitchell ran over and crouched by the marksman, who pointed towards a group of diminutive figures making their way down the street. "Scouts."

"Shit. How many?"

He didn't have to check down his rifle's scope. "Enough to overtake us if we move."

Mitchell sighed, checking the ammo counter on his rifle. "Fire when they get close enough to notice. I'll get the civvies out of the way."

Jones nodded, and re-adjusted his scope. The other ODST motioned for Dutch and Mal to take up positions before motioning for quiet from the civilians.

"Right," he whispered, addressing the kids most of all. "We've got a little trouble. I want everybody to move as quickly and quietly after Private Cross here, okay? We'll tell you when it's safe to come out."

Cross might have been the youngest in the squad, but he was a quick thinker. Grabbing his weapons, he waved for the group to follow him into the adjacent room. From the looks of the building they'd holed up in this place had once been a bar, so the trooper was able to lead his charges into a basement area used to store alcohol. Mitchell's COM buzzed after a few seconds.

"Got 'em secured down here, Sarge. Only one way out, though."

"We'll manage. Get up here, Private. All hands on deck for this one."

Jones had already fired on the incoming aliens by the time Cross rejoined them. His first shot downed an enemy Elite that had joined the scouts, forcing the Grunts into a blind panic that allowed the troopers to take them down in seconds.

"More incoming!" yelled Dutch. The burly ODST ducked as a torrent of plasma fire smashed a nearby window to pieces and several more foes came lumbering out of a side alley. They were soon taken care of with a few well-placed bursts from Mitchell's rifle, the troopers had just shaken a hornet's nest.

"Jones, Mal, get upstairs!" Mitchell reloaded his rifle. "Everyone else, get a good line of fire on the main road and watch your ammo. Dutch, get that door blocked."

Mitchell's intuition soon proved right as two Banshee fliers screamed overhead, followed closely by a pair of Phantom dropships. After loosing a few plasma bolts towards their building, they descended over the street and began deploying infantry right into the ODST's killzone. While Mitchell was unsure if they were aware that their soldiers were dropping to certain death or simply didn't care, it soon became clear that the sheer number of Covenant troops would overwhelm them before long. Some of them were already ducking into cover and taking up positions to return fire on the Human squad.

"Ash!" Mal called over the squad's TEAMCOM. "Long-range COM just came online. If you wanna get through to command, now's the time to do it!"

Sighing with relief, Mitchell ducked below the window and pressed two fingers to the side of his helmet as the COM channel opened.

"This is Master Sergeant Ash Mitchell of the 105th. My squad is pinned down and needs immediate assistance; we've got a large group of civilians under threat too. Please respond, over."

He hoped that had gotten the message across. With the UNSC's forces in disarray across the city and the ongoing invasion of Reach in the same system, he was sure that his own team weren't much of a priority in the grand scheme of things. Still, he had to hope against all hope that someone out there heard their call. He managed to take down two incoming Jackals before reloading, and rolled out of the way as a plama grenade exploded dangerously close to his window. As Mitchell clambered to his feet, a voice crackled through over the COM.

"Copy that, Master Sergeant. We're diverting one of our assets to you now, over and out."

That was it. No identification or description of their backup, just a promise that it was on the way. It was better than nothing. The others had heard it, too. An Elite had smashed through the barricade Dutch had erected by the front door, and was greeted with two shotgun blasts from the Corporal in response. As it fell, the Grunts behind it squealed and scattered as the trooper tossed a grenade through after them.

"Hah!" Dutch laughed as the aliens were blown to pieces. He wiped a few flecks of blue blood from his skull-painted helmet before levelling his M90 once more. From above, the loud cracks of Jones' sniper could be heard between lengthy bursts of assault rifle fire from Mal Roberts. While the dropships had taken off, having dispensed their cargo, more aliens were making their way over the corpse-strewn street towards them. Just as Mitchell lined up a shot, two lumbering figures turned the corner, prompting the trooper to swear loudly as their weapons began to charge.

"Get down!"

Mitchell threw himself to the floor alongside his comrades as two streaks of green energy blasted through the wall and vaporised their cover in an instant. The trooper could feel the heat as the stream of incendiary gel passed above him. By the time his ODST's had opened fire again the remaining Covenant forces had begun to regroup and were pressing towards their building. A large, feathered alien - A Skirmisher - leapt through a nearby window and levelled its Needler towards Cross.

"No!"

Not having the time to grab his weapon, the ODST hurled himself at the alien, taking it down as the first needle streaked past Cross. It squawked in surprise and attempted to push the trooper off, snapping towards Mitchell's neck with its beak. Grunting with effort, he headbutted the creature and threw it to the side. As the Skirmisher scrambled to get up, Mitchell drew his sidearm and shot it in the head. Dutch helped him up, having just finished off a trio of Grunts that were attempting to clamber through another window.

"Sarge, we're losing ground. Think we should get the civvies out?"

Their building was a shattered mess. Just about every window had been blown apart by gunfire or explosions, and the advancing Covenant would just keep pressing until their weapons and bodies were exhausted.

"No choice," he muttered, grabbing his half-loaded Battle Rifle. "Get 'em moving out the back door, double time. Don't wait for me."

"Right." The Corporal rushed off into the back room, keeping his head down as a few plasma bolts streaked past.

"Jones!" Mitchell called up to the squad's marksman. "Can you get a shot on those Hunters?"

The trooper's rifle fired thrice. Peeking out into the street, Mitchell saw one of the massive creatures topple. The other let out what could only be described as a roar despite its lack of a mouth, and began to advance, shield raised. As Jones reloaded, it fired a single bolt of green energy that impacted the top floor. The two troopers cried out for a moment as an almighty crash erupted from above.

"Jones, Mal, what's the situation!?" Mitchell shouted, already moving to the stairs. Cross stood nearby, blocking access into the back room as Dutch escorted the civilians out from the basement.

"Not dead yet, Ash," Roberts coughed through the COM. "Bastards took out the roof. We're heading down now."

Slightly relieved, Mitchell did all he could to fend off the next wave of Covenant troops. Armed with little more than plasma pistols, the Covenant Grunts charged straight in, many not bothering to fire on the troopers in their attempt to overwhelm them. It was the Covenant's willingness to field so many troops as cannon fodder that worried the veteran trooper, forcing Mitchell further back by the time Roberts and Jones descended to assist him.

"Where the hell's our backup!?" Jones called as he booted away a half-dead Grunt. "Thought they said it was nearby."

"That's what they said," came the reply from Mitchell as he peered towards the slowly-advancing Hunter. It was moving towards them at a sluggish pace; perhaps it was waiting to savour the kill, or was merely acting cautious after the death if its comrade. A scream from the back room cut through his momentary reverie as he and the others retreated. Cross had already gunned down a pair of Grunts that were clawing their way through some windows, though that was enough to horrify the already-frightened children that were clambering out of the basement. A few tried climbing back down, only to be pushed forward by the others.

"Keep moving!" Mitchell roared, silencing the kids as he pointed towards the back door. "If we stay here we're dead. I need you out of here now!"

Thankfully, they listened. With three ODST's holding their ground at the door, Dutch and Cross were able to escort the remainder out into a back alley that was Covenant-free for now. One by one, Mitchell and his comrades backed off into the room, slamming the door behind them as the Hunter finally heaved its way into their building. He shuddered to think what would happen if it caught up with them.

"Right, we're on a straight run to the LZ. Move!"