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It took a few seconds to confirm that the marine lieutenant also knew what was going on. Apparently, he’d also set up a command post somewhere in the flotilla, and was receiving the same surveillance data that you were using. But as it turned out, both of you had a fairly similar idea on how to handle the developing situation.
You drew a lot of strength from the unit that was assaulting the engine room. The two remaining squads were halved, with one continuing with its mission and the other one being ordered back, along with all but two members of the squad that was escorting your alien “prisoner” to the hangar for extraction. Of the 18 men that you were recalling, ten would reinforce the hunting unit, while the other 8 would harass the enemy squad that was heading for the armory and try to delay them. Finally, the last two soldiers with the prisoner were ordered to head for the aft-port hangar bay, where they could be evacuated without risk of being caught up in a firefight.
Speaking of your foothold hangar, the Lieutenant had an interesting idea on how to deal with the inbound assault. Essentially, you’d use two squads in tandem to draw the enemy squad onto a knockout punch. At the time, you had your doubts, as holding a prepared defensive line would give a lot less of a chance that you marines would be killed or injured. But you trusted the LT’s idea, and found your faith in him rewarded.
The plan called for the hunting squad to push the covenant squad from behind, spurring them forward. Before long, the enemy unit ran into the main deception of the plan. A fake series of two or three man picket positions, staffed by one of the hangar garrison squads, was set up in front of the enemy squad. These <span class="mu-i">’pickets’</span> were only there to fire a few shots before falling back, giving the enemy the impression that their momentum was allowing them to over run the hangar’s defenses. And in turn, making them move faster, and be less cognizant of the fact that they were being drawn towards the corridor where one of their sister units had been wiped out by a pelican’s heavy nose gun.
Unfortunately, a few of the men in the <span class="mu-i">’picket’</span> positions were too slow, and caught a plasma bolt or a needle in the back before they could get around the next corner. But if anything, their sacrifice just emboldened the enemy squad, which charged ahead almost heedless of the danger. When the unit reached the final corridor, they almost completely ignored the obvious blood on the walls. And only a couple of them in the tail-end of the unit spotted the damage to the back-wall that could only have been caused by a vehicle-mounted cannon, and linked it to the sound of burning thrusters in the hangar.
>Cont
