- UNSC Frigate, Happy Go Lucky, In orbit of Reach, August 30, 2551
The Happy Go Lucky slowly came around Gamma Station and finally came into sight of Reach. It was still around 0400 hours and it was a good day. There was a lot of ships around today, probably for some brass party.
Captain Onus stood in front of the view screen of the observation deck and looked at the fleet formations and the marvelous landscape of the UNSC planet.
He turned around and walked towards his holo-table. He clicked a button and an area the size of North America appeared on the screen. He kept zooming in until he came on an area the size of his ship was all that was left. He saw tiny waypoints pop up and have little numbers and letters under them. He held down another button and started to speak.
"All ODST teams are cleared for launch. I repeat, all ODST teams are ready for launch." he said. Today was the start of the next cycle of training for ODSTs and today was the first practice drop for them. It was a paintball match between Alpha Company and Beta and the first team to eliminate the other teams would get some R&R for a week before training.
"Roger Captain, all ODSTs are go." said Sergeant Gregory Schmidt. Schmidt was one of the ODST trainers and he had been a good friend of Onus's ever since Sigma Octanus IV when he commandeered a Warthog to go and save Onus from Alpha Base's destruction.
On the table, one hundred tiny little blips started to fall towards the planet. On the other side of the table, some other little blips were starting to come out of cover and mount Warthogs to drive towards the falling ODSTs.
"Hmmm, time to see if those Marines are as good as they are supposed to be." said Onus as he turned and strolled to the bridge.
-Over Reach, SOEIV, August 30, 2551
The HEV was flying through space. He looked out the tiny view port on the hatch and saw the sprawling landscape. Sergeant Schmidt was reading some plans of attack submitted by the ODSTs that were spread out around him in space. He picked one that had the first platoon distracting the Marines below and the rest attacking from the right. He sent it to all of the other SOEIVs and then braced for the HEV to hit the atmosphere. In moments, it hit the atmosphere and he felt the parachute deploy. He briefly felt a sensation that he was being pulled apart. The rapid deceleration threatened to rip the helmet right from his head. He looked at the in-pod temperature and saw that it was above 105 degrees. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead and he raised an armored hand and wiped it off. He looked out the screen again and saw he was a few hundred feet from the ground. The reverse thrusters kicked in and he felt like he was going forward and backward at the same time. He was about to take a pain reliever pill when he hit the ground.
He heard voices outside. He polarized his visor to help him see in the new light of the planet and then looked out the view port. There were two Marines with M7 Paintball SMGs and they were closing in on his pod. He clicked all the buttons to release the door and watched it explode outward.
The pod door hit the first Marine square in the chest and he was knocked out. The second Marine raised his gun to open fire on Schmidt but an ODST came out from behind a bush and fired his paintball Assault Rifle.
Schmidt crawled out of the pod and started to help his fellow troopers out of their pods. After 99% of the ODSTs were out of their pods and ready to fight, Gregory took his Sniper Rifle and put the M6C on his thigh holster. He went to the supply SOEIV and took the Mongoose out of it. He started to drive it and a spotter hopped on the back. He started to drive towards the enemy base while the rest of the ODSTs were content on jogging there. He spotted a good sized ridge and started to drive over towards it. Those Marines didn't stand a chance.
-Zulu Station, 1 km from the SOEIV drop zone
Lieutenant Richard Sikorsky paced the room and looked at the holo table before him. It showed some of his Marines taking up defensive positions and readying Machine Guns to fire on the ODSTs. Which reminded him, he flicked the map over to them and watched them moving towards Zulu. He ordered some Longswords to drop some paint bombs on the enemy and also some Warthogs with paint MGs to move out and find the enemy.
Sikorsky pulled the slide on his M7 and walked outside. There was a blur of activity as Marines were readying for the due battle. Some Warthogs and Pumas were starting to roll out. The Puma, the newest addition to the UNSC Mobile Divisions, was a cross between a Warthog and a Mongoose and was faster and has less protection than a Warthog, but still retained an MG.
A corporal dismounted a recently returning Warthog and ran up to him.
"Sir, the ODSTs are moving up on two flanks. I spotted two of them on a Mongoose. They will be here in 10 minutes." the young Corporal said in a hurry. Must be from Texas or Oklahoma.
"Alright, tell all under your command to take up defensive positions and to make sure they have a copious amount of ammo. We aren't going down easy." replied Sikorsky. With that said, he hopped in a Warthog and was drove off towards a guard tower to be a spectator to the battle.
-Half a kilometer from Zulu Station, Ridge G45E
Sergeant Gregory Schmidt was looking through the scope and was currently looking at some Marines mounting a Warthog when the spotter tapped his shoulder plate and pointed at some Longswords flying overhead
"What are they doing Sarge?" the spotter asked.
"No idea." Schmidt said as he zoomed in at 2x on the Longswords. They started to drop some bombs but instead of a massive explosion, there was a paint splattered everywhere. At least 10 ODSTs were hit and were heading to the safe zone. The Longswords flew back to base and Schmidt returned to looking at the enemy recon teams. A Marine was alone and taking a smoke and the nearest Marine to him was at least 20 feet away so Schmidt opened fire. He got hit right in the chest. He looked around and started to curse. The spotter started to snicker. The other Marine turned around, obviously surprised, and saw his buddy down and burst out laughing. When Schmidt shot him in the chest as well, he wasn't very happy though. The rest of the Marine squad ran back to their Warthogs and drove back to base.
"All teams-report" Sikorsky said into the radio.
"Alpha Platoon is ready."
"Bravo Platoon is ready!"
"Charlie and Delta Platoons are ready." said all of the commanders. Since Sergeant Sikorsky was the commander of Foxtrot Platoon. He assumed that Foxtrot was ready too.
"All teams have the green light to fire. Light 'em up!" he continued. Little black blobs flew out of the trees and hit the outer defenses. The pink balls of the Marines were not as much as the black, but they were still there. Schmidt fired rapidly at a Warthog that swerved towards Alpha Platoon. The gunner was hit first, then the driver. However, the passenger jumped out and ran towards the nearest ODST and shot him in the visor with his M6D. The ODST had a pink faceplate now so he was stumbling around. Schmidt went to shoot him when the heard shouting behind them.
"Sniper! Shoot him!" a Marine yelled. The Warthog's turret swiveled towards them and it opened up on the spotter first. Schmidt grabbed his M7 and ran towards the Mongoose. The bullets were pinging off the vehicle but none hit him. He turned while driving down the hill and shot some bullets up towards them. He did a sharp turn off the ridge and free fell 15 feet on the 'Goose when it hit the ground. His teeth clenched but he didn't taste blood. He kept driving until he found some members of Delta Platoon using a captured MG on the Marines across a field. He dismounted the Mongoose and shot a Marine who popped up with a Battle Rifle.
"Status?" Schmidt said to the Marine nearest to him.
"Good sir. We've been pinned down for about 15 minutes and we're low on ammo. I don't know how we are going to get through this one." the Private First Class said. Schmidt unclipped a paint grenade and threw it towards the enemy barricade. They all jumped up and ran to another barricade. The ODSTs shout them in the backs and them moved up to their now vacant barricade.
"We're only a quarter of kilometer from Zulu, let's do this." Schmidt said to the rest of the ODSTs.
-Guard Tower B5, Zulu Station
Sikorsky shot an advancing ODST with his M6S and looked for the rest of his squad. The Marines next to him were setting up an Machine Gun for use by Sikorsky but until then, he had to use this sidearm to shoot the ODSTs.
Sikorsky looked around the battlefield for any more ODSTs. All he saw were numerous groups of them moving up on the base and a bunch of black covered Marines. Three Marines wee holding a barricade but not for much longer. Sikorsky glanced over at the Machine guns progress and saw that it was operational. He side-stepped over to it and pressed the "fire" button. Instantly, pink blobs filled the sky. Sikorsky grinned as an ODST was gunned down with the pink. Then, Sikorsky heard something.
"Hands up, Lieutenant." said the ODST. Sikorsky sighed and tossed his paintball gun to him. Another ODST climbed the ladder and took off his helmet.
"Heh! Looks like you lose again Lieutenant." Schmidt said as he flipped on his communicator.
"Yes sir. They'll do." he said.