[Invasion] (Finished) [TomSefton] London Calling

[Helix Nebula]

A team of four UNAC troops, Sgt. James Harker, Pte. Jarvis, Pte. Abbit and Cpl. Johansson, were aboard a dropship flying through the abandoned skies of Greater London- Below they could see burnt cars, crumbling buildings and destroyed tanks and other military equipment left over from the first day of the Invasion.


"Arite' lads!" The scottish pilot of the dropship said, "Our landin' site, be rite' o'er there. I dare not take ye' any further, on the risk of 'em bloody aliens shootin' me bird down, eh?" The dropship flew for another minute or so, and then descended to a small clearing in the middle of a small impact crater, created by the aliens' orbital weapons on Day 1 of the Invasion.


"Good luck now, lads."The soldiers got off and as the dropship lifted and left, the UNAC men found themselves in the ruins of what once was Chaplin Road in Wembley- On the outskirts of London. "Bloody hell.." Pte. Jarvis said, when the team looked upon the once flourishing metropolis, that now was but a pile of rubble- car wrecks and dead bodies. On the horizon, the group could see an unnatural collection of pitch black clouds, hovering above the heart of London and where they were headed; Westminster City.

 

[TomSefton]

Harker gave a series of hand signals as the dropship spat the men out onto what was left of Chaplin Road, they moved to the edges of the crater, raising their weapons, staying alert. The sergeant spoke into his mouthpiece, giving the VTOL a quick, aprreciative wave, 'Thanks, pilot. We'll radio back if we're needing evac. If not, we'll be back here.' He scrambled up the side of the crater, looking around. Most of the road was intact, but the cars were all burned out, and the houses which were left peppered in scorch marks and bullet holes. He cradled his own weapon, checking the readout for any warning lights. His finger played over the saftey catch.


'Right, guys. From hereon in, I want total radio silence unless it's necessary. Vocal's fine, just keep it on the down low. Understood?' The soldiers gave a rough collection of affirmatives. Satisfied, he pointed a flat palm out to the end of the street, at an intersection with a main road. 'If we head East a little way down there, we'll hit the railway just off'f Wembley Central. We can follow the tracks all the way down to Kensal Green. When we're there, we can get back onto Harrow Road, and follow it pretty much all the way to the old MilCom building, over at Horse Guards. Any questions?'


He shouldered his pack, taking a sip of water from a tube attached to the rucsack's shoulder strap. 'It'll be three hour's march, but we'll be avoiding a lot of the densely populated areas. HQ's guessing that's where the aliens are concentrated.'


Private Addit wiped his brow, pointing towards the black clouds. 'What about those?'


'Oh. That's where we're heading.'

 

[Helix Nebula]

The men easily made their way through the now desolate and abandoned streets of Northern London, without encountering any problems along the way. Once they had reached the end of Union Road, the team hopped down onto the railroad and started making their way south. They managed to walk a fair distance, before the Sergeant halted the group with a hand signal. All of them dropped down and took cover, as they saw a pair of unknown alien beings or machines surrounded by six alien soldiers, that appeared much better armed than the 'Slugs', seen before.


"What now, Sarge?" Pte. Abbit whispered.

 

[TomSefton]

'Damn it!', Harker whispered viscously, and shook his head. After swearing a few times under his breath, he took out a pair of digital binoculars, training them on the aliens down the track. '100 metres. It's close. Too close. We've got no chance, but keep eyes on. If they attack we'll have no choice but to...Abbit. Get the camera and take a few shots of them, command'll want to see this.' The young trooper nodded, pulling out a small, rugged camera, and began taking snaps of the strange machines. The sergeant zoomed in a little further, wondering what the things were. He then turned his attention to getting them out of there. He swung the binos round to the south, where was an industrial estate-cum-factory, which had once been home to McVities' Biscuits. The chainlink fence that seperated it from the railway was barely in place, full of holes and with whole missing sections. The concrete beyond was littered with the remains of wagons and cars, that could cover the squad.


He spoke in a whisper, just audible by the soldiers. 'Right, got the pictures?'


'Yes, sarge'


'Right, that fence over there...see that gap, down from the first lorry, quarter left?'


'Seen,' the men replied, nodding.


'We'll have to make a dash for it, there's no way we're getting bounced this early in. Just have to wait till they're not looking.'


'What if they look this way?'


'Well, we run.'

 

[Helix Nebula]

It was intense as the team got up from cover and ran towards the abandoned industrial complex, as fast as was humanely possible and then some. Once off the railroad, they ran a bit further and took cover behind the burnt shell of a truck, where they waited for a handful of minutes- Just to make sure they hadn't been noticed by the alien squad. After five minutes of waiting and all hell not breaking loose, the squad got up and moved on. They were forced to head down south-west, along Acton Lane as many of the smaller roads branching off were blocked by car wrecks and rubble from collapsed buildings.


After a short walk, the four men found themselves in a tight situation. Both available roads, had alien forces on them- Further down south on the Acton Lane there was a squad of alien soldiers and along the suburban Wesley Avenue, there were several slugs. The team could try to sneak past the aliens or engage only one group, though in both cases there was a risk of them being spotted - Or, they could double back and try to find another way around, risking another encounter with the previous alien squad.





(Red lines = Road/path blocked by wreckage, rubble, etc..)

 

[TomSefton]

The sergeant was quick to act, issuing the hand signal for a quick halt, and, after a hasty glance around, jabbing his hand in the direction of appropriate cover. The men crawled into it, and Harker had them ready their weapons, the squad split between the aliens further down Acton Lane, and those at the entrance to Wesley Ave. He had stashed his binoculars into a pouch on his load-carrier, instead pulling his assault rifle rifle up into his shoulder, scanning each squad in turn. He pulled out his GPS unit, calling up a map of the surrounding area. He dragged his little fingernail over the screen, acting as a makeshift stylus, cutting off the streets he could see were blocked off. He took a quick appreciation, and gave his orders.


'Right, we'll have to attack the invaders off Wesley Ave. Take a moment to pick your shots, this will have to be quick.'


The men nodded. There was a faint whisper of 'Yes, sarge,' from one of them.


'We'll attempt to move through their position...get ourselves down Harold Road. We can head down North Acton Road from there, then we'll head South, meet the railway at the cemetery.'


Harker hefted his weapon back into his shoulder. It was fitted with an underslung grenade launcher, a semi-automatic model with magazine of three grenades, plus one already loaded. He tapped a chunky switch on the side of the rifle's sight unit, and with a slight whine as the laser range-finder activated, a second cross hair appeared down scope - for his grenade. He aimed for the ground at the feet of two of the alien soldiers.


'Ready.'


He squeezed the trigger, launching the explosive with a pop. His squad followed suit, opening up on the invaders, ready all the time to run for the terrace street ahead of them.

 

[Helix Nebula]

They were lucky, and caught the Wesley Ave alien squad completely off guard, as the grenade launched by the Sergeant instantly took out two of the slugs. However, next thing they knew Cpl. Johansson was hit by one of the Slugs' projectiles and before he could even react, his entire shoulder was blown to bits; He was dead in seconds. Both of the remaining aliens turned on some form of personal shields, and were difficult to take down- Even with all three of the remaining soldiers firing at them.


In the end the Wesley Ave squad was completely dead, but the aliens' shields had delayed just enough for the squad down Acton Lane to take notice and they were already charging towards the UNAC troops, firing off shots towards the humans. More misfortune followed, as before the team could run into the cover of the suburbs, four more alien soldiers appeared from behind the corner - Possibly a patrol that had heard the gunfire. "Oh shit! Oh bloody hell, oh shit! What now Sarge!?" Pte. Jarvis shouted.