Becoming An ODST

by Luke Ryan - Writes

This is a story that follows a small group of UNSC Marines that are in training to become ODST's. How will they cope and how many will succeed, What challenges will they face on the way and how will they handle an unexpected turn of events. Disclaimer : I do not own 'Halo' and/or anything in its Fictional universe.

ODST's, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.
To be an ODST you must not be the best, you must be better than the best.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! Don't get pinned, keep moving, get up to that wall, go, go, go!" Fifteen marines rush out from the woods east of the town and sprint towards a wall that has been ripped apart from gunfire and explosions, there is a slight fire on the opposite side of the wall that they are heading to, the morning frost making almost everything in sight glisten in the new morning sun, the smell of freshly cut grass is in the air is almost calming until the green grass becomes painted red as bodies of slaughtered civilians lay lifeless. "Price get ready to take your squad far left and give cover to Dex and his team as they push up the middle, you should have a clear sight on them all the way until the far side of town, My squad, get on my six, reload and get prepped to move out, you have 15 secs until we move."

Everyone begins to move into their positions behind their squad leaders while quickly and efficiently reloading, awaiting the signal to move, "NOW, MOVE!" All of the marines jump into action, Price takes his squad all the way to the left around the back of 'bright' hill overlooking the left side of the town, they move up and take up positions on the hill. "Jack, set up with your sniper on that ridge, you will be our eyes, take Bear with you just in case, your call sign will be 'Eagles' now move" Price whispers, Jack and Bear crawl slowly and quietly across the frosty grass, it slowly begins to crack under their weight as they move up, they arrive at a spot that is slightly in a dip to help conceal their position. Price and the other two in his squad, Spike and Twitch move down and regroup with Dex's squad on the west side of town. While Price was getting his men into position on bright hill Dex and his men had made their way through the North side of town moving from east to west, quickly and quietly to not draw any unwanted attention. All of a sudden their coms light up as an update from Alpha squads leader comes in "This is Alpha leader, we have made it to the South side of town, we are about to enter compound 'Echo' and set up over watch, Eagles keep switched on, Strike team be prepared, you move on my mark, but eyes open we could have contact at any moment, over" Alpha moves into the building, all five of the team quickly searching and clearing all of the rooms making sure the compound is secure.

A few moments pass as the marines go over the plan one more time, Dex points out the route to the rest of the strike squad one last time "OK, so we all know what we are doing, we move down Macworth street until we get to Roy's Avenue, but be cautious as we enter it starts tight but opens up into a small courtyard, that is a perfect ambush point, but it's the quickest route, at the end of the avenue we will take a right onto Church Road, the target building is the seventh on the right, two before the church, Alpha will meet us at the house coming from the South side, it's zero six forty two we leave at zero seven hundred so hold tight and keep frosty till then." "Alpha to Eagles, we are moving at zero seven hundred, what is the situation as of now? over" "Alpha this is Eagles, there is no movement, in and around the target building seems clear, it seems too quiet, over" "Ok Eagles, hold tight not long, over"

The eighteen minutes pass seemingly taking hours, "Come on it has to be seven already, what is taking so long, have all the clocks stopped?" Ghost snarls impatiently, "Button it Ghost, it will be time when it's time" Dex replies, Price follows quietly with "Now everyone check your guns, make sure they are good to go, coz' if shit hits the fan then we will have to fight our way out, make sure you have full mag's in easy to reach places, you don't want to be scrambling to find ammo, we can't let the commander down again today."

The time arrives, its zero seven hundred, the morning frost still lingers in the air, the sun gently touches their armor and the slight breeze pushes the leaves from one side to another, it all goes quiet, just before the crackle of a radio message comes through "This is Alpha leader, mission 'Bull Run' is a go, get moving marines and let's get this over with, do this right and I will buy you all a round on me when we get back", Alpha team break out of the house and start making their way towards the target compound, their footsteps gently kissing the gravel covered dirt road, their armor slightly clunking in the dead silence of the morning.

The strike team leave their position and slowly start making their way down their route, first down Macworth street then quickly switching to Roy's Avenue, just before they get to the courtyard Spike and Twitch scout it out, Twitch moves back to the group and leads them on, they move into the courtyard and take up positions, Price, Spike and Twitch keep heading through the rest of Roy's Avenue and head down Church road, as they get to the target compound Alpha squad emerge from around the side of the house, both teams stack up on the door as they hear gunfire coming from Dex's Charlie squad's location in the courtyard, "Bravo leader to anyone in Charlie, do you read, over" Price whispers down the radio, nothing but static returns from the radio. "Alpha to Eagles, do you have eyes on Charlie? Over.", "That's a negative, we have seen no movement over." The commander whispers "Objective first then we will see what has happened to Charlie, on my mark," he takes a deep breath "Three, Two, One, Mark!" The marines burst into the compound, quickly searching the bottom floor rooms quickly and efficiently, "Price to Eagles, we have swept the ground floor and we are continuing to move upstairs and sweep the first floor, how copy?", "We hear you Price, make it fast, over." The team continue searching the house room by room, they crash into the master bedroom of the house and find a data card on a dresser, Price picks it up and places it into one of his pouches then rapidly sends a message over the radio, "We have the package and are on our way out, we will head out the way we came it, do you copy Eagles?", "We hear you Price, be cautious on your route back, Charlie has encountered a lot of hostile forces and they are struggling to hold their position in the alley, they need support now, we are giving them cover but we will run out of rounds soon, get there step on it!", "Price, you heard the man let's move, double time." The strike team moves out of the compound and head back down to Roy's avenue.

As they spot Charlie, they see Dex get hit multiple times, the strike team rushes in to give support to Charlie, "Price, we can't stay here for much longer, we are going to have to move and soon!, everyone get ready, we are leaving here in ten seconds, everyone get a fresh mag, don't forget to check your corners and use your head." Doc and the Commander pick up Dex as all of the marines start heading out of the avenue pushing back resistance every step of the way, "Price to Eagle, Fire at will, take out as many of them as you can, you will have to support us all the way out of here", "Eagle to Price, we hear you loud and clear, we will clear you as much of a path out of the town as we can, just stay along the planned route, over."

The marines make it to the end of the avenue without much more of a fight with Dex being their only casualty, "How is he doing Doc?", "Not too good Commander, he can barely breath, we need to get him out of here fast", "Price, Wolf, Twitch, take point, clear a path, everyone eyes open and keep them covered, we aren't loosing anyone else today!" Price, Wolf and Twitch move into Macworth street, slowly moving down the street with the rest of the group following closely behind they meticulously scan every inch of the street, from the dark space under vehicles to the edges of every rooftop, as they reach the end of the street they set up getting prepared to cover the main group out of the town, Wolf moves to the left of the street, Twitch moves to the right of the street, Price moves in behind Twitch, the three cover their sectors as the group quickly but quietly moves out of the town and back to the staging area on the West side of the town, as they get there Doc and Commander gently lay Dex on the floor, the rest of the squad cover Twitch, Price and Wolf as they move from their covering positions and rejoin the group. "Commander to Eagles, bug out and meet us at the staging point, over" "We are on our way Commander, Eagles out" The sniper team slowly make their way down the hill and through the still frosty grass back to the staging area.

"Welcome back Eagles, our job here is done, everyone let's move out" Commander orders, Doc lifts Dex to his feet, Dex places his arm around Doc's neck to help support his weight and then splutters "Damn Doc, these stun rounds suck, I can barely feel my chest" "They should wear off with in next hour or two." The Commander quickly adds "Well then Dex don't get in the way of all those rounds next time then" A voice blares from the town and surrounding area "Training exercise 'Bull Run' complete, score nine hundred, maximum possible score one thousand, targets eliminated fifty of fifty, casualties 1 of 15" "We did good today everyone, from what I have been told Price is buying everyone a drink, but before then, I want all of your combat reports and visual recordings filed ready for review, it's zero seven twenty four, I want them by ten hundred, the quicker I get them the quicker you will have the rest of the day to do as you desire, to a certain degree as always." The fifteen marines retire into the barracks, Price looks over to Ghost "Hey, what got into you today, you knew the plan and orders, it's not like we had to wait for long?" "I don't know sir, it won't happen again" Price stares at Ghost and snaps "No, it won't…" The Commander quickly interrupts "OK everyone, don't forget I want them on my desk by ten hundred, now get out of my face ladies."