Author's Note: Forewarning, this story is going to be a bit of a slow start. I am warning you now, because the first three chapters at least won't really have anything to do with combat or the military, that comes later. I suppose you could skip them because I ultimately can't determine what you will find interesting or not. Other than that, this story is a prequel to my Red vs Blue story "Through New Eyes,". You don't need to read it to understand this one, so don't worry about being lost. This story is only vaguely tied to Red vs Blue by a couple of characters, I expect this to seem more Halo by nature. In fact I almost put it in the Halo fanfiction, I suppose that's for you guys to decide, unless you don't care.

This story will be well out of my comfort zone since this is the first time I'm writing something without the guidance of the original source material. Instead I got accept the setting with a lot of other settings and plot lines to choose from as well as a bunch of war films that I could perhaps use as reference. This is definitely a new experience for me and I hope I do a good job. I also hope you readers enjoy. Please don't be too harsh, I'm in unfamiliar territory, might need some help from time to time.

Disclaimer: I don't own Red vs Blue or Halo.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

*Noise*

Intercom

Military time is 12 plus civilian: 7:00 PM = 1900

[Author's Note]

"So you thought you might like to go to the show."

This Is Where We Start

July 6th, 2546

Earth, humanity's birthplace. An astronomer from back in the 20th century said it best, that pale blue dot, that's home, that's us. It's been a long since I had last seen her and she is as gorgeous as when I left.

[Play track: Medal of Honor: European Assault OST: "Dogs of War"]

A lot of people have asked me about what I did during the war, my answer is the same every time. Each one of us may have our own personal reasons for why we joined, but I can guarantee everyone of us could tell you what I will tell you now. We fought for what was right, for humanity. I hate war, and I always will, but I understand why we must fight.

We as a race throughout our existence has looked up to the stars and wondered if we were alone in this universe. On February 3rd, 2525, we got our answer. What followed was a war that would test our resolve and our will as we are slowly stripped of everything we have. We are outgunned and outnumbered by them, The Covenant. An ancient conglomerate of religious, zealous alien races, and they have every advantage over us but yet, we keep fighting. Through every loss as each of our worlds burn, we still keep fighting.

What other choice do you have, if we give up, we will die, if we fight would probably die. The choices are not that much better, but it's enough to keep us going, though I think we all feel the same, I feel we all know we are losing. If you are going to die, are you just going to let it happen, or are you going to fight it with everyone you have, fight it kicking, screaming, and clawing with your finger nails?

This war has cost us all so very much and I am tired of fighting. I look around me and I see all the faces of my fellow soldiers, they keep changing. Among those I see, what kills me are the ones I can't see. They are the lucky ones, they don't have to live with the things those like have to carry on with.

[End track]

As I walk down the street of this neighborhood, I can't help but feel off, out of place. The neighborhood is exactly what you would expect from a middle class suburban area. Right now it is currently 8 in the morning, the sun was slowly starting to rise and I could still see the morning dew on everything. It was peaceful, quiet, but most of all it was empty. For the entire block I could not see a single soul, there weren't even any children playing around.

It was a small community from what I could tell, and it had deep support for the military if the UNSC banners hanging from the house and flags in the front yard are anything to go by. Amount the flags, every so often I could spot another one waving with them, it was white with a thick red border and a bright gold star in the center. This war has cost every single one of us so very much and this small knit community is a prime example of this. I also know full well my presence will only add more grief and sorrow to an already demoralized people, me, a tall man walking down the street in full dress blues, anyone who knows the significance behind this will all have one question on their mind: "Who's not coming home?"

Today marks the 10th year I had been at war. For ten years I had fought and bleed and watched everyone around me die for what was before me. This town carries with it a haunting peace and beauty of a world untouched by war and all its costs. As I continue to walk down this street I can't help but notice how unsettling all this is. It looks as if the people here don't even know what's going on, as if they don't know that a war is going on. That is until you look into there eyes, in there you will find it, that look of fear no matter how small, that fear and knowing of the current situation our race is in. An anticipation for the inevitable battle that will arrive onto their doorstep, all this peace…it's going to end, and they all know it.

As I pass each house, I could see that the entire street was lined with the gold star, all except a few every now and then. Currently, I am in the former state of Texas and in the city of Austin. Though many of the citizens, including me still consider ourselves Americans, we actually aren't. The United States of America stopped existing as a political power long before this century. I would put it somewhere between the second American Civil War and the union of the USA, Canada, and Mexico into United Republic of North America. Still, that being said, there are still several former states that refuse to give up their name as their identity, Texas is one of them, and so is the state I am from, California. Shame I never got to visit this place as a kid, it's a real nice place.

I finally come to a stop at a large house at the end of the street with no gold star banner. I pause for a moment and notice that my heart was attempting to jump out of my chest, I take a deep breath and then proceed to slowly walk up the driveway. In reality this happened within a span of at most, fifteen seconds, but for me, it felt an eternity as I slowly walked to the door. It felt as if I was on death row and I was waking he long mile straight to my death.

The grass was bright green and I could tell that the flowers in the garden were new due to the disturbed dirt that was still fresh. The only things that weren't new were the hedges at the edge of the yard which acted as a border between this house and the next. In the middle of the sea of green inside a planter surrounded by fresh roses stood a small evergreen, it rose to the height of the front porch and stood proudly in the sun acting as the houses watchful protector.

As I reached the front porch, I stopped again, I noticed how weathered the wooden flooring was and worn welcome mat at the foot of the door. I looked up and saw the faded walls that were at one time pure white but now looked aged and had a yellow tint. As I stood there paused, I could feel my heart slow down but with it came a feeling of guilt, sadness, and shame which hit me like a ton of bricks. My shoulders started to slump, my head bowed slightly, and I closed my eyes shut in order to keep the tears from coming out. I slowly pull out the letter in my back pocket and I take a long look at it.

I wish right now I was anywhere but here. I wish the reason I was here wasn't to tell a child why their parent wasn't coming home. How can some put themselves through that, be the one who has to love with the fact that they loved while their friends didn't, and now they have to be the ones to confront their fallen comrades' families. The army gave me a set script that they recommended I follow but I know full well that I would stumble on no matter how many times I go over it in my head. The military can drill as many scenarios into your mind in an attempt to prepare you but no training is ever going to make you ready to face war and what happens because of it.

"Here we go," I murmur to myself as I lower the letter, raise my head and straighten my back. I take a deep breath and put on a straight face and then walk forward and proceed to knock on the door three times. I then take a step back and wait patiently for it to open. I heart starts to pick up once more as I could feel the vibrations of rotates from the other side of the door, my throat goes dry and I take another deep breath in anticipation for confrontation as I watch the doorknob slowly turn and the door slowly opens.

*beep-beep* *hssss* *gasp*

My eyes jar open and I am flooded with a blinding white light and my ears are met with a ringing new noise. I then fall forward onto the cold metal grating in front of me and proceed to vomit up whatever the medics put into the formula that they injected into me before I went into cryostasis.

As I quickly gather my bearings, my sight and hearing return and I manage to take a good look around me. To my left and right I can see many other soldiers, sailors, and crew man in a similar position that I was with some variations in between as well as medical personnel in full uniform interning us to make sure nothing went wrong in the thawing process. I take a few deep ragged breaths as I slowly climb onto a bench and lean onto a pillar for support as I regain the rest of my bearings. I let out a tired groan as I try to stretch out my sore muscles and I then lean back and close my eyes.

July 6th, 2536, UNSC Midway, 10 years ago:

"Name?" I hear a voice ask, I open my eyes and hovering above me to my left was a medic with a data pad in his hand.

"Lockett, Jonathan, A." I reply.

"Rank?" He asks.

"Staff Sergeant."

"Last four?"

"7140."

"Blood type?"

"O POS." The medic nods as he marks off another box.

"One more thing," he says, "Are you experiencing any loss of breath, burning in the lungs, loss of sight or hearing, or loss of motor functions?" I tell him no. "And are you feeling light headed or otherwise anything that should be of note, any blisters, rashes or anything of the sort."

"No," I shake my head. The medic nods and turns away from the pad.

He turns to me and says "That concludes it, your vitals show green across the board sergeant. You cleared to go. "

"Thanks," I reply. He returns a nod and then walks off the other tube. After showers I found myself in the shops chow hall, or the dfac as us army folks like to call it. I found myself not really hungry, but with good reason. Today was the day I would finally see combat and I was dreading every passing minute. Most people would be excited, which is fine, but they should be wary, if the stories of fight my the Covenant are anything to go by. It doesn't matter what training I've been through, nothing is going to prepare me for what is about to come.

"What do you think?" I hear someone ask me, breaking me from my train of thought. Confused, I look up across the table to the one who asked the question. It was a short, well, shorter than me, lean man with chestnut colored military cut hair and light beard amber eyes.

"Jay-Lo what do you think?" he asks holding out a catalogue on bathroom floor tiles, "What you think I should do?" I stare at him blankly, then back at the catalogue, then back at him. I then give him an incredulous looked topped with a shrug. I looked at him apologetically since I hadn't really been listening through his dilemma. The man returns my response with a deadpan stare. He then turns to the others sitting at the table and asks "You guys got any input on this?"

A towering black man sitting to the first man's right grabs the catalogue and says "Here let me take a look." He scans through the catalogue for about 20 seconds and then shows the first man the catalogue and says "She wants 'Pale Pink' right?" Chestnut nods, Tower then continue "Go for it, I think it'll really bring out the color when the sun hits it in the morning. It also has this reflective glow that will really make you feel healthier and younger plus it'll give off this retro feel that which could add some real class to the look." Everyone's eyes were soon upon him.

Another man, this one taller than Chestnut with golden blonde hair high and tight style and goatee to my left, slightly surprised and slightly disturbed says "I find it a little disturbing how a man your size is this descriptive on pink."

Tower Rolls his eyes and retorts "You know pink use to be a boy color right?" He then glances at me and comments "Besides, Jay-Lo isn't going to be much help, he looks preoccupied."

"Speaking of that…" I hear a voice to my right say before I'm grabbed from said shoulder. I turn and face the voice revealing a tall muscular woman in her late 20s, she had sandy blonde hair tied in a bun behind her head. Her sapphire blue eyes here staring directly into mine and with a worried tone she asks me "Hey Lockett, you alright? You've hardly spoken a word this morning..." she glances at my tray, "Neither have you eaten much."

"Here let me see, hey Jay-Lo," another voice calls, I then feel hands on my head as it's moved to reveal a bald Hispanic man with glasses. "Lockett," he calls again, "Just nod your head if you can hear us. We know you're alive." Not wanting to cause more concern I quickly do as he says. Glasses nods and then sits back down, but I notice Sapphire eyes was still watching me with an unconvinced look.

Blonde turns back to the Tower and asks "Let me take a look?" Tower hands Blonde the catalogue and Blonde. "Hmm…" Blonde muses, "It actually doesn't look that bad." His eyes then narrow, "Uh….Danny?"

"Yeah?" Chestnut asks.

"You're putting the tiles in yourself right?" Blonde asks.

"Um no?" Danny replies, "I mean, it's not like I know how. Why?"

Blonde shows him the catalogue and says "These tiles cost fifty credits each."

"The fuck?!" Danny cries snatching back the catalogue.

"Yeah, I'd advice not hiring someone for this. This is going to be way too expensive for you man," Blonde sighs. "Probably should either find something cheaper or do it yourself...or both even."

"You tiling the whole bathroom?" I ask finally.

"He speaks!" laughs sapphire eyes.

Danny looks back at his notes and answers back "Yeah, the floor, walls, and shower."

"Damn," I breath, "Yeah, Josh is right, you need to go for cheaper."

"Why?" Danny asks, "How much is it to hire someone?"

"Depends," sapphire eyes replies, "When I had the bathroom in my house done it cost me 12,000. An average bathroom would cost you at the very least ten thousand."

"Ffuucckk," Danny groans and buried his face into his hands. "Josh is right , this really is too expensive."

"Well look at the bright sight," reasoned Tower, "At least now you get to try something new." Before Danny could retort, he is interrupted when someone takes a seat at the table.

They first thing we noticed was the food tray piled high with pretty much every food option they were serving for breakfast. What was surprising to us was the person positioned behind the try. She was a slim asian woman in her late teens, she had a pale skin tone with a light rosy complexion, she also had sharp brown eyes which were brought out by her obsidian hair. Not the kind of person I would normally expect to see eating the amount she was...never mind the rate she was eating. The looks she was getting from each person at the table ranged from surprise and confusion to humor and disbelief. The look increased when she picked up her tray and started literally shoveling the food into her mouth.

"Looks like someone's enjoying herself," sapphire eyes snickers, Obsidian hair doesn't even spare her a glance. "So unlady like," she teases.

Obsidian hair, with a mid range English accent retorts "Oh piss off, I can eat how I please." Just then another woman, this one tall, fiery red hair cut into a military style cut joins our table.

When she spoke, she had a light New York accent, she grimaced slightly and then chuckles "Hey Hawk." Obsidian hair turns and faces the newcomer. "If you eat any faster you're gonna die choking on your food long before the aliens even come close enough to fire a bolt of plasma at you," the ginger taunts while taking a seat to Hawk's left.

"I don't think I am currently in the mood to care right now," Hawk retorts lazily. "This is the best food we've had in months and if I do end up pushing up daisies than I will die satisfied that I died eating all I could."

"Well than good luck keeping that perfect little waistline of yours," red taunts once again.

"I'll be fine," Hawk replies. She then takes a moment to observe her lower torso and says "Pretty sure I could use a few pounds given how petite I am." The ginger groans and gives up trying to annoy Hawk.

"You know," Josh comments, "Hawk does have a point."

"Which part?" Danny asks.

"She's right about the food being decent," I reply adding to Josh's comment. "They always tend to give out edible food right before they send us somewhere dangerous with a high chance of death."

"Like the death penalty?" Danny asks us.

"Could be," I nod.

"Well actually," Josh interjects and I look over, he turns to me and says "It's a given if they start handing out stuff like ice cream and cake." I then nod in understanding.

"The more edible the higher the chances," I comment.

"Exactly," Josh nods while taking another drink from his cup. Everyone just glances at us and themselves as the mood seemed to drop to a more depressing tone.

"Thanks for killing the mood," sighed Glasses.

"Oh we do what we can," Josh grinned.

Sapphire eyes then points and says "Oh look icecream." Hawk snaps at said direction followed almost immediately with jumping up and flying off to said direction."

"Guess we're screwed now huh?" Tower asks both Josh and I.

"Oh yeah," Josh nods cheerfully.

With her hands in her face, red groans "I'm gonna need more coffee." She then gets up and walks off to the coffee dispenser.

With my arms bracing up my head, I turn to Sapphire eyes and I say with a bemused tone "You did that on purpose didn't you."

"Maybe," she giggles.

Assembly Area:

After breakfast we had a briefing on the mission that lay before us. We were then issued all our supplies and equipment as well as our chute before we reported the assembly area and lined up ready to board. Nearly everything was in place, we were all about to take a leap of faith both figuratively and literally. All that was needed was a greenlight from our company commander before we could start boarding the transports. Just then, the company commander steps up onto the stage.

"Charlie Company!" he hollers, "Listen up! Horseshoe formation around me. There has been a change of plans." Everyone is dead silent as we wait anxiously for him to continue. "The skies over our current landing zone has just been hit by rain storm and the whole area over the city and surrounding areas are socked in with rain and fog and high winds over the drop zone. The invasion has been canceled and we are being put on a 24 hour stand down. No jump tonight!" Right as the commander finishes, the whole company explodes in groans but as is extinguished as quickly as it was born. The commander continues "The jump has been rescheduled to tomorrow afternoon at the latest! All of you report back to the CQ! Drill sergeants take charge.

And thus we were forced to delay the day of our judgement by one. All of us were there stuck trying to find things to keep us occupied until tomorrow. Some of stayed in their rooms doing whatever. A good portion of us went to the auditorium where a movie was being played. Me? I found myself walking into the observation deck. I let out a tired sigh as I walked up to one of the mirrors and stared at the planet below us. All I could think about was tomorrow and everything that could go wrong. I was so deep in thought that I failed to notice that I was no longer alone in the room.

"I thought I might find you here," a voice rang out from behind me. I look behind me to find Sapphire eyes leaning up against the doorway.

"Hello Church," I softly greet.

"Room for one more?" she asks. I motion for her to go right ahead. Church walls up to the spot next to me and leans her back onto the rail. I see her pull out a cigarette and a lighter and she lights one off. She then takes a long look at the planet, she then turns and asks me "Think it's clean it up?" I squint my eyes to see if I could get a better look at the storm clouds below.

I shake my head and answer "Nope." Church looks to me and back to the window a little longer.

She then turns and shrugs saying "I think it's clearing up." She then checks something on her wrist pda, turns to me and says "You know it's seven back in Austin , five in LA.

"Happy hour," I muse.

"Yep," Church nods cheerfully, "Happy hour. Grab a couple of drinks."

"Have an early dinner and then hit the movies?" I offer. Church lets out a soft laugh as she takes another drag.

"Civilized place for civilized people," she sighs while reminiscing.

I then softly chuckle and she looks and me confused and asks "What's up?"

"Oh nothing," I reply, "It's just that I literally got here….maybe five minutes ago." I then ask curiously "Was this the first place you looked?"

Now it was Church's turn to laugh, "I know you way too well Lockett. I know you like to think and the best places are the quiet ones. Also…." Church turns around and faces the window and nods at the planet "You sure can't beat the view."

"I can us a few years down the road looking back at this….pivotal moment in our lives. A moment which will live us until the end of our time," I muse, "For better or for worse."

Church looks at me questioningly and murmurs "You sure are sentimental aren't you." I shrug, and she laughs and says "You should have been born 600 years ago." She then puts out the cigarette, "You'd fit right in I bet." Her smile fades a little and she asks me "Nervous?"

"Would be lying if I told you no," I reply honestly.

"You're not having second thoughts are you?" Church questioned.

I snort "Even if I did it's too late now." I then lean closer to the railing and my face softens and I grow a little more serious and growl "It's now or never."

"Just know I'll be with you every step of the way," Church tells me while patting me on my shoulder reassuringly. "Just don't steal all the kills will you?"

"Better keep up then," I challenge.

Thus the choice was made and I was now on a dark pathway bathed with blood, walking ever so slowly to that faint white light at the end of the tunnel. The battle ahead of me would come to define me as well as give me a drive that would push me through the worst years of my life; but before we can get there, before we can reach Blood Gulch, I must take you back to the beginning, to where it all started….to how and why I built that wall.

Author's Note: This is the first chapter to a new story I am writing. This is just something I really wanted to do, a story I just wanted out there. If you find yourself liking this then by all means go ahead and keep reading. Updates to this story will take me quite a while as I am basically pulling stuff from my head, excuse me of some battle scene seem familiar, my originality can only extend so far. I will try my best to balance this with my duties in the army, but I don't know yet. See you guys soon hopefully.

P.S.: One more thing, I don't really want write out accents phonetically and I don't think it looks that nice on paper. English for example, the accent is a bit more than work to write out when comparing it to a New York accent where I only have change a couple things. I would prefer it if I didn't have to write it out, let me know if you either want having it written out or if you wouldn't make mind just imagining a character's accent.