Ok, here a short story fragment. It's kind of a prequel to my Serenity/Halo crossover 'Into the Black, Forever Free'.

I needed something to kill the time, and writers block in my brain. It's all OC in here. If you like this or my other work, you can follow what I'm up to on my blog : .com/


Garnet, contrary to the name, was not a reddish planet. It was more green and brown. An abundance of pine and temperate forests would do that. Manning thought the place beautiful, were it not covered in hordes of covenant troops, and under threat of being glassed.

It was like a bad, repetitive dream. Every day they fought. Every day they got pushed further back. Everyday they came closer to losing yet another planet to those alien bastards. The split chin fucks and all their associates had started this war, for what?

Sgt. Liam Manning shook his head at the thought. He'd be dammed if he would live to see them reach and glass Earth. Over his dead body. He'd give his life to protect his sister, and his nephew. Mara and Eddy. He smiled at the thought of them.

The pain of separation from his twin was something he was used to by now, but it didn't make the longing go away. His nephew, Edward, or Eddy for short, was named after his good friend and fellow ODST. The kid had spunk, and was ready to join the UNSC and protect Earth, and his mom. Eddy could already fire a gun with the accuracy of any marine. It made Manning proud. It made the kids mom frown. She hoped her son would go on to a better career, such as a battleship engineer, like her.

Years ago Mara entered a prestigious school on Philadelphia called Drexel University. Before she had a chance to move from her home city of San Francisco however, she discovered her twin brother had enlisted. Hell bent and determined to make sure her brother would have the best protection possible in a ship to ship confrontation, she switched over from chemical engineering. Manning always looked on this fondly as her way of taking care of him. She was 7 seconds older of course.

What he wouldn't give to be in that sunny city playing grav ball with his nephew. No, he was needed here, on Garnet. His squad needed him. What would they do else wise?

He glanced over at the sleeping forms of about twenty men. In there were three of his own. The sergeant could pick out the silhouettes of Austin Cooper, Curt Leth, and Nikolai Ross. The fourth, Kevin Raines, was out on patrol somewhere. Manning wouldn't even try to find him if his life depended on it. You would think you've spotted him, only to have him contact your radio just to say you're looking in the totally opposite direction.

The first one, he couldn't pronounce the name right if he tried. It was old Irish Gaelic, so the medic had told him just to use the English version of 'Curt'. Leth lay up against his medical pack, right arm twitching slightly in his sleep. About a year ago he'd nearly shattered it in fight to prevent an elite from hi-jacking their Warthog. 'Good as new!' He proclaimed after the surgeries, but still got tremors every so often. The medic was dependable, loyal and great company. Nothing unsettled him. There was a brutal streak in the Irishman that had yet to be fully revealed, and woe to the one in the way when it reared its ugly head. The guy was short, but vicious.

Next to Leth, with an arm curled lovingly over his rocket launcher, was Ross. Demolitions, explosives and structural assessment. There was nothing, human or alien built he couldn't destroy. The kid had an amazingly positive disposition, and a good sense of humor. He was also the youngest in the squad. Smart too. What in the hell was he doing in the field? Manning knew ONI had to be pissing themselves over the kid's test scores. Either way, he was a joy to have, though no one would EVER admit that. A jokester through and through, Ross always had something sarcastic, or humorous to say. Comic relief he was.

Cooper was the newest, and youngest other than Ross. New wasn't the right word. It had been almost ten years all five of them had been together. He was from the desert planet of Soma that had gotten glassed years ago. The son of wealthy traders, he abandoned the path of a preacher to enlist and defend the innocent. Smart, and quick thinking, the communications expert was good to have around. He learned quickly, and no computer stood up to him for long. Good in a fire fight too. He was pretty accurate with grenades of all variety….

The forest around them was quiet. The sky was clear, and no Banshees flew over them. If ever there was a time to rest in the field, it was now. So why couldn't the sergeant get just one hour? He shifted in his battle armor uncomfortably. A small plasma burn on his leg throbbed.

Goddamn grunts….

A light static brought him out of his thoughts. His radio was crackling. It was Raines.

"Sgt. Manning?"

"I read you Raines."

"I'm coming back in. Don't shoot me."

"Roger that."

"Don't let any of them shoot me either."

Manning suppressed a chuckle. "You're green Raines."

He stood up, and nudged Cooper, and another guy named Lysta awake. They were told to go out on patrol, and not to shoot the sniper making his way back to camp.

The wind blew in from the south, and he could smell something burning. Maybe they would have to move sooner than he thought. The two ODST's left for their shift, and it wasn't long after wards that the silent black form crept up. If Kevin hadn't approached from right in front of him, Manning would have never spotted the man.

The sniper was using the fallen trees for his path. Like a tight rope walker, his balance was perfect. Ross had joked about Raines having the grace of a ballerina once. It earned him a swift smack to the back of the head.

Kevin Raines was a trained free runner and martial artist. His physical conditioning put the rest of them to shame. Manning had been thoroughly impressed by his record when considering him as an addition to the squad. Shocked was another good word for it. The sharpshooter had a thick record for a reason, a reason he liked to be kept quiet. He was big on personal business staying personal. Manning respected this. The guy also had a fearsome reputation among the troopers, with good reason. He was a top shot for the UNSC. About the only person to out do him was rumored to be a Spartan. The handful of gruesome fist fights in the cafeterias and locker rooms only added to it. You didn't beat Kevin Raines in hand to hand combat. It just didn't happen. Manning didn't have a clue what art the guy was trained it. What ever it was, it was brutal.

Raines leapt off the logs, landed silently, and made his way towards the sergeant.

"Sit down. You've been out there most of the night."

The sniper didn't argue.

"How you feeling?"

Raines turned his helmet covered head. "Tired. Dirty. Pissed."

"Pissed? Why?"

Raines sat back against a tree and stretched out his rather long legs. The man was tall. He didn't respond right away.

Manning wouldn't push him. Raines was anti-social, awkward, and tended to answer people in a laconic, apathetic fashion. He said very little, but what he said he meant.

He also was highly hesitant to answer any question not relevant to the mission at hand. That might be what this was.

Just as Manning was prepared to forget the question and tell him to sleep, Raines responded.

"They denied my commendation medal, and my bronze star."

Manning shifted to look at him. "Again?"

Raines nodded. "Yeah. Third time."

Manning exhaled heavily. He knew why. He knew a lot about the man in front of him that others would never even fathom.

"Don't let it get to you."

Raines threw up his hands in disgust. "How can I not? Nothing I do matters. Nothing. As long as I've got that red flag on my forehead, I'm screwed."

The sergeant pressed his lips into a thin line. Moments like this were rare. Kevin would never allow any one to see him showing this much emotion. It took forever for the two of them to bond to this point. Manning had a feeling he was the best friend the Corporal had.

"You know how long it took me to get my rank. But why should I get medals I've earned several times over? How dare I expect something so small. I don't want a fucking hero label, just a little acknowledgement for what I've done. Something good on my name once I kick it." The sniper brought his knees up to his chest and rested his arms on top. The rifle was still slung over his shoulder.

"I might be able to get someone with a better record than me to give you a recommendation at the next hearing. If you want."

Raines waved his hand. "No, you've tarnished your name enough for me. I'll not have some other guy too good for this war, do the same."

"If you change your mind, let me know. Eddy wouldn't mind. You wouldn't be the first problem child he's helped out, so to speak."

Raines chuckled. "Yeah, but my problems are a little more deep seated than just disciplinary issues."

"How many years you got left on the sentence?"

"Twenty six. And that fat fuck governor is at every hearing. Why hasn't he croaked from a coronary yet? He's seventy something. I guess daddy has to stand up for his precious piece of shit baby boy no matter what…."

"You've more than done your part for humanity. Jerkoffs behind desks need to be thrown out in the battle field to see what it's like." Manning muttered.

"Ha" Raines laughed in agreement. " Yeah, so they can piss their pants right before an Elite runs them through with one of those swords. And don't forget," He made quotation marks with his hand, "I haven't paid back society yet." The sniper made a motion like he was going to whack one off.

They both laughed. The longer Manning knew him, the more apparent the mans disgust with humanity was.

"Well, you know where you stand with me Kev. You're green."

"Yeah…"

Manning stood up, and put a hand on Raines's shoulder.

"Get some sleep. That's an order. We gotta move north in the morning."

"Roger that Sarge."

He watched the sniper shift for a minute before growing still.

He walked away. Liam Manning valued every man under his command. They were his responsibility, and he would take care of them. To hell with reputation. Those men were family and he would treat them accordingly. In his mind, he was already drafting his next recommendation letter…


Ok, hope you guys liked it. It was just something I jotted down in an hour and promptly posted. Read and Review!

~Akoro