Hey guys, I'm back with another project. This time, however it's a project that I've actually worked on in the past. As you can tell, the vote came back for a revamp of the story, which frankly I'm kind of thankful old one wasn't my best work, and this is a chance to start anew. A new title, new main character, the whole works. So without further ado, here we go:
The Year is 2552.
Humanity is at war with an alien alliance known as 'The Covenant'.
We are losing.
The Covenant have burned our worlds, killing billions in their genocidal campaign.
Earth is our last bastion, a carefully guarded secret.
But not anymore.
A Covenant carrier has breached Earth's defenses and attacked the African Mega-City, New Mombasa. Initial reports confirm major damage and heavy civilian casualties.
Now, military leaders of the 'United Nations Space Command' have prepared their response. Teams of highly-trained Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are ready to assault the carrier from navy ships in low orbit.
This is a near-suicidal mission. But these troopers are the best of the best.
I was woken up with a sharp blow to the chest. In an instant, gone was the nap I had been craving for so long, and had only just finally achieved. With a grunt of pain, I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and my vision came into focus. It seemed that I had dosed off in my pod, waiting on the order to come down that we were being dropped. Standing in front of me was Romeo, one of my new squadmates. His black hair was regulation buzz cut, and his armor had a blue paint on it. He was holding a sniper rifle, in fact based on the angle at which he was holding it, that was what had struck me.
"Wake up, buttercup," he said, his face having a smug grin plastered across it. This didn't last long as another of my squadmates shoved him out of the way. This one had his helmet on, his armor had an orange paint on it with a white skull and crossbones painted on the center of his chest.
"Relax, Rookie, he don't mean nothin'. Besides, now's one of those times where it pays to be the strong silent type," the trooper, Dutch said as he handed me a weapon. It was an M7S sub machine-gun. I took the weapon and slammed it into the magnetic hold beside my seat in my pod. Dutch gave me a nod of approval before he turned away, headed for his own pod. With that, the door on the pod slammed closed and sealed with an audible hiss.
Maybe I should explain a little bit about what's going on, get you caught up to speed.
My name is Lance Corporal James Durant, or The Rookie as my new squadmates so affectionately call me. I'm an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, or ODST for short, and at this particular moment in time I was sitting in a SOEIV pod hanging a few miles above the city of New Mombasa. Others in the UNSC Marines get sent ground side riding cozily in the back of a Pelican class drop ship. Troopers like us get dropped feet first from orbit in a titanium coffin. There's a reason we're called Helljumpers.
As my pod slowly rotated a hundred and eighty degrees, the various screens in front of me came to life. My vitals, the pod's hull structure, various conditions both inside and out of the pod, every single bit of information I could ever need for a drop was all right there in front of me. Near the top of all the displays, two video feeds flickered to life. The one on the left was broadcasting Gunnery Sergeant Buck, the leader of my squad, while the one on the right was some woman wearing some armor I'd never seen before. The word DARE was painted in white across her forehead. Probably some spook from the Office of Navel Intelligence based on how customized her armor was.
"Latest intel reports Covenant troops are massing beneath the carrier," the woman said.
"They're pulling back? Why?" the sarge asked.
"We're not gonna find out way up here." With that, my pod came to a halt. A hatch opened up beneath my pod and the others. There was nothing below us now but a free fall to the planet's surface. I took a few breaths and gripped the controls on the end of my seat. This may not have been my first drop, but there's still nothing that can truly prepare you for it.
"Troopers! We're green and very, very mean!" the sarge said. With that, the pods began to drop away from the ship. There was a beeping countdown, and then my pod detached as well. My stomach did summer salts as I plummeted toward the Earth's surface. The view was something else though. I could see the Orbital Elevator with ease from here. Several wrecks of UNSC ships were floating out there too. Many of them were still on fire, little more now there hunks of metal in orbit.
"I take it back, the Navy got it's butt kicked," Romeo's voice crackled over the radio.
"Hey Romeo, remember when I told you to shut your mouth? Consider that a standing order," the Gunny replied. We entered a cloud bank, and I scanned the various screens. Everything was registering as normal, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary for a combat drop.
"Fifteen klicks off the deck," the Gunny reported. We came out of the clouds, and the city was sprawled out below us. Hovering over the center of the city was the massive Covenant ship.
"Stand by to adjust trajectory. On my mark," the woman said.
"What did she just say?"
"Mark!" With that, my pod suddenly shifted. From what I could see outside, so did the rest of the squad's. We weren't headed toward the carrier anymore, but rather a totally different part of the city.
"We're way off course!" one of my squadmates, Micky said.
"We're headed exactly where I need to go!" the woman countered.
"But we're gonna miss the carrier!" I watched as a pulse of dark purple energy washed over the hull of the carrier and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
"Radiation!" Dutch shouted.
"The Covenant just set off a nuke?" Micky asked. A huge sphere of dark purple energy appeared off the bow of the Covenant ship, and I felt my eyes grow to the size of saucers as I realized what was going on. The Covenant ship was going to jump, inside the city.
"No, slip-space rupture, you need to..." the woman started, but was cut off as the ship entered the sphere and vanished in a flash of light. In an instant, a massive explosion sent a blinding white light outward in all directions, engulfing the city and us in the process.
"EMP!"
"Deploy your chutes, we're going in hard!"
One of the other pods slammed into mine, cracking the glass and threatening to tear the door clean off. I grabbed the handle with my right hand and held on for dear life. If this door was torn away before I reached the ground, I was dead, period. The screens were all flashing warning signs All of the pod systems went dead as the pod spiraled out of control. I couldn't see anything but that white light outside of the pod. Even the radio descended into static as I lost contact with the others.
Then the pod slammed into the ground, and everything went dark.
I slowly came to with blurry vision and a pounding headache. All I could hear, aside from a roar that was slowly fading, was the slow beeping of the pod's pulse signal. The door of the pod slowly swam into view. All of the screens and windows were cracked, and both of the video feeds had nothing but snow.
Speaking of snow, there was actual snow on the outside of the pod. Actual snow, and pine trees, neither being things I'd expect to find in East Africa. I blinked a few times as I tried to get my headache to go away. If I had a concussion, this was one hell of a hallucination. Reaching up, I grabbed the release handle and gave it a yank.
The pod door hissed, and then violently exploded away from the pod itself. It rebounded off of a nearby tree before sticking straight up and down in the snow. Instantly cold air rushed into the pod, but I didn't feel it thanks to my armor. It wasn't until I started to climb out of the pod that I realized I was on my side.
Bracing myself against the pod, I climbed out into the snow and looked around. I was on a mountain side, with a flew flurries floating down from a gray sky. From the looks of things, the pod had impacted somewhere higher up and then slid down to where it was resting now against the base of a tree.
Taking off my helmet, I took a deep breath, sucking in as much as I could. The frigid air did wonders for clearing my head. I looked the helmet over, and finding no flaws in it I focused on my reflection in the polarized visor. There was no blood, no indication that I had severe head trauma. Sliding the helmet back on, I scanned through the frequencies on my comm, listening for any UNSC broadcasts of any kind. All I got was static.
The radio was working fine, so either I was out of range or there was a lot of local interference. With a sigh, I decided to focus on what I could actually work with. I had the M7S with four full mags, an M6C SOCOM along with a five spare mags, three fragmentation grenades, and about three days worth of rations.
I could only hope that where ever I was, there was a UNSC outpost here. There as no way of knowing where I was exactly. My brother, Kyle, charted slipspace nav courses for a navy frigate. According to him, when it came to slipspace, things got...weird. Without a proper course plotted, you could wind up anywhere.
So there I was, standing virtually anywhere in the universe without a single clue on what to do next. I gathered the weapons and supplies before setting off down the mountain side. Staying by the pod wasn't going to get me anywhere, and I figured going downhill was bound to lead me somewhere. The compass that was built into my helmet's visor indicated that I was headed west, although toward what I didn't know. All I could see was that I was in some sort of mountain range, and the lower in elevation I got, the warmer it got.
Wherever I was, it wasn't winter like I originally thought. There were still pine trees, but the snow vanished, which was lucky because I quickly came across a small logging road. Okay so there were humans here, that was a good sign even if they weren't friendly. Personally I'd rather take the Insurrection over the Covenant any day of the week and twice on Sunday. At least they were human.
I'd been walking for hours, following the road and continually heading west as I went. I was getting lower and lower in elevation as well. As dusk began to set in, I noticed a light appearing on the horizon ahead of me. It wasn't the orange and red of a sinking sun, but rather a warm gold color. It was the lights of a city.
Picking up the pace, I trotted to the top of the next ridge and took in the sight below me. There was a city sprawled out below me. The sky scrapers sitting at the city center were all lit up and aglow like massive pillars of diamond. Beyond the city scape was the city, with the edge of the far horizon panted a dark red as the sun sat.
This was nothing like the mega cities I had been in before. The sky scrapers were much too short, not stretching up to edge of the heavens. Also, none of the cities I had ever been in had airships flying around them. If I had to guess, this was probably some small remote colony world that the Covenant had either missed or bypassed for some reason.
None of that really mattered to me. All I wanted to do was find either someway to contact the UNSC or secure some transportation off world, or preferably both. Rather then follow the road into the city, I veered off and headed into the woods, the night vision on my helmet doing wonders to outline the trees around me as I went.
I may have preferred the Insurrection over the Covenant, but that didn't mean I was going to take any chances. Despite the alien threat, the Innies still hated the UNSC with a passion. Getting their hands on an ODST would be a hay day for them, and a very unpleasant experience for me. Needless to say, I was going to remain undetected until I knew as much as I could about this place.
As I emerged from woods on the edge of some kind of track, I deactivated my helmet's night vision. Power needed to be saved, and frankly there was enough moonlight that I could navigate fairly easily without it. At the far side of the track, I could see the lights from some kind of big building. It looked like a mansion or an estate of some kind. I figured this would be as good of place to start my intel gathering as any.
Stepping out onto the track was an instantaneous regret. I was suddenly blinded by headlights, and in the space of the blink of an eye, there was a horn and tires squealing, followed instantly by me being struck by something large and metal. I flew about a dozen yards before landing in an ungraceful heap before settling on my back. My armor took the brunt of the impact, but it still hurt like hell.
Sitting up a bit, I could see that a car had struck me. It wasn't any model that I'd ever seen before. It was black, not as sleek as your standard civilian car, and looked built for speed. I let my head fall back so that I was staring up at the night sky overhead. Despite being the supposed best of the best, I was wiped out. Having a combat drop go wrong, hiking down a mountain, AND being hit by a car? There are somethings that training just can't prepare you for.
A young woman appeared in my view. She had porcelain skin, raven black hair, and bright green eyes. The look on her face was one of worry and concern.
"Oh spirits, I didn't see you, are you okay?" she asked. Her voice sounded muffled and far away, like she was talking to me with my head underwater. With a groan, my head fell back against the ground, and I blacked out.
"I don't know, Asami, your roadkill keeps getting more and more complicated," Korra said as she looked the form over. She'd received a frantic phone call from the heiress, urging her to come over to the Sato Estate right away. When she'd arrived, she'd been escorted by a servant to a sitting room where she found Asami, Mako, and Bolin all standing over a man wearing black armor.
At least, Korra thought it was a man. It was impossible to tell with how thick the armor was, hiding any and all forms that might have distinguished a gender. On the coffee table beside the couch where the man was laying was several strange looking bits of gear and a backpack of some sort. Bolin was currently looking the backpack over, trying to find a way to open it.
"Thanks for coming so quickly," Asami said. Korra wasted no time in going to the man's side. If he was hurt, they needed to get him out of this armor so she could get a better look at him. The problem was, this wasn't any kind of armor she had ever seen before. The armor that the metalbenders on the police force vaguely resembled it, but that was a very big vague.
"Alright, we need to get this stuff off of him if I'm gonna look him over," Korra said. With that, herself, Asami, and Mako began trying to take the armor off. They didn't get very far, finding that the armor was far more complicated then it looked. Mako was the first to have some success, managing to take the helmet off.
The man's face was something of a surprise to everyone in the room. His face, despite being a sickly pale color, resembled someone who was peacefully sleeping. His black hair was a buzzed close to the scalp, and what looked like a burn scar sat on his left cheek. A few scars ran down over his forehead and eye as well, looking like something with claws had just barely grazed him. Overall, despite his scars he was actually somewhat handsome and youthful, not looking much older then themselves.
"He doesn't appear to be showing any signs of trauma, the armor might have taken most of the impact," Korra said as she bent a blob of water from a bowl and pressed it to his forehead.
"Where did he come from anyway?" Mako asked. Being a cop, it was his job to ask such questions.
"I don't know, he just stepped out in front of me on the track," Asami replied.
"You think he's an Equalist?" Bolin asked, "they did like their dark colors."
"No, whatever this is way to advanced for the Equalists. Besides, they haven't been active in months." Asami said.
"Either way, we need to get the rest of this armor off of him so I can see if there was any damage to his ribs," Korra said before returning the water to the bowl. Suddenly, his eyes flew open, causing Korra to take a hasty step back in surprise. They were a chocolate brown color, and they darted about the room, taking in every detail as quickly as possible.
"You're awake," Asami said, relief in her voice. The man didn't say anything, but rather continued to lie there and watch them, his body tense like a cat ready to pounce.
"How are you feeling? We tried getting this off so we could get a better look but we couldn't figure out how," Korra said, motioning to his armor as she spoke. Again, the man remained silent as he watched her intently, like he was trying to determine if she was friend or foe.
"What's your name? Can you understand me?" the Avatar asked, deciding to change tactics.
"James Durant, 11282-31220," he finally answered.
"Okay...James, can you tell me if anything hurts?"
"James Durant, 11282-31220," he said again.
"Why does he keep saying that?" Bolin asked, confusion on his face.
"It's a tactic soldiers use if they're taken prisoner and interrogated. You repeat your name and service number over and over so they can't get anything out of you," Mako explained.
"James, I know you're probably confused right now, but I can promise you that there are no enemies here. I'm a healer, and all I want to do is see if you're mid section took any damage from the car," Korra said. James scanned the room again, eying each of the occupants warily. Finally, after several moments of silence, he motioned for Korra to come closer.
"Help me sit up," he instructed. Both Korra and Mako helped him sit up into a sitting position. James' face scrunched up in pain as they went, but he made no noise in the process. Once he was fully upright, he took a few breaths and ignored the beads of sweat running down his forehead.
"Alright, you start by pulling on this strap here..." he started before spending the next fifteen minutes instructing them on how to remove the armor plates and the body suit underneath. When they finally got his bare chest into view, it was clear that the armor hadn't fully protected him from the car. His ribs were an ugly black and blue, almost green color.
"That doesn't look good," Korra said before bending the water from the bowl again. Instantly, James' eyes went wide and he started to slide back.
"What the hell?!"
"Relax, tough guy, this will make you feel better," Korra said as she started to move in on him. In a flash, James was off the couch and over the coffee table. His M6C appeared in his hand and was leveled right between Korra's eyes. The Avatar froze, while Mako's fists burst into flames and Bolin had his fists ready as well. Asami just took a few hasty steps backwards, knowing there was nothing she could do in this situation. The firebender was ready to roast the man alive, but hesitated. None of them knew what the weapon in his hand was, but the way he moved and handled it made it clear he thought very highly of its capabilities.
"Stay the hell away from me," James said as he took a few steps backward toward the entrance to the room. Korra returned the water to the bowl and held up her hands, taking a few cautious steps toward him.
"Listen, James, calm down," she said, her voice calm and sweet. He didn't even so much as budge on moving his weapon.
"I don't know who the hell you people are, but you're sure not UNSC," he said.
"What's a UNSC?" Bolin asked. James didn't answer, but continued to back away slowly.
"James, we're just trying to help you," Korra said, her voice keeping it's calm tone. By now, the man was at the door and reapplying the bodysuit with his free hand.
"Just stay away," he warned before he kicked the door open with his boot and disappeared into the hallway outside. Things in the room were quiet for a few moments before Asami had a phone picked up, telling the estate security to lock the place down.
"We need to find him and show him we're not a threat," Korra said as the heiress hung up the phone.
"And how exactly do we do that?" Mako asked.
"I don't know. But I get the feeling he won't go down easy. The faster we do this, the less people will get hurt."
And there you have it, the first chapter of the redone series. I decided to go with The Rookie as the new main character for a few reasons. 1: I was not at all pleased when I learned of his fate after the end of the Human-Covenant War. So I figured I'd give him a new fate, one that's a little more befitting of a playable Halo character. 2: the former main character, Spartan B170, wasn't going to pan out as a good character. Spartan IIIs, particularly at this point in the timeline, are a pain to keep canon. The fact that B170 had survived up until the Battle of Earth and was even in position to wind up fighting like he did was questionable to say the least.
This isn't even taking into account the fact that a fully armored Spartan would flatten almost any enemy they came up against in the Avatar World. But an ordinary soldier, an ODST though? That's more of a fair fight.
Enough of my ranting. Drop a review, leave a PM, let me know what you liked or didn't like, and I'll see you all next time.
