"We all have a story, somewhere we come from.

Something that has happened to us, Sometimes it seems like the end of the world.

Then you wake up and as you look around you have no idea where you are.

Not remembering what happened to you is almost as scary as facing down an entire covenant battalion.

My name is Hawkeye B-137 and this is my story."

SPARTAN III Program, Beta Company

NAME: Hawkeye B-137

AGE: 20

GENDER: Female

MOTHER: Adelane Kingsdale (Deceased)

FATHER: Damion Kingsdale (Deceased)

Chapter One - Museum of Horror

Hawk had originally been born with the name 'Sofia Kingsdale' on the planet 'Coral'. She wasn't on the planet for a full year before her parents began traveling
again. They raised her 'On the road' in a sense, they took her with them to different planets where they helped those who were stuck in refugee camps with nothing.

A woman in her late 20s stood at a Security checkpoint waiting for clearance to go through. A UNSC Marine stood in front of her examining the paperwork she had provided. He looked over the identification a few moments before looking at the vehicle, in which sat a male driver. Turning his attention back to the woman he did a double check over the ID.

"Can I ask what business you have here in Newfort?" "Humanitarian aide for the refugee camp" "I'm sorry Ma'am, but unless you are on official business I can't let you into the city." "Humanitarian aide is official business" "Not anymore, It was deemed unnecessary for smaller Refugee camps." The woman scowled a moment before turning to the car in a signal to the man.

Getting out of the jeep the man in the black jacket and black pants walked to the marine. He flipped open his badge holder to show the man his ONI credentials. "I have somewhere to be, Corporal. Unless you want to explain why I missed my meeting."

The Corporal stared a moment before handing back the woman's ID, "I apologize, sir. I didn't mean to hold you up."

Getting back into the jeep they began driving down the road into the city. Adelane let out a sigh as she looked at her husband "You can't just go flashing a high level security clearance badge around, Damion. People will start asking questions."

He let out a sigh as he watched the road "I don't have time for all of these security checkpoints." He grumbled as he pulled the jeep into a parking garage. Once in a parking spot he turned the jeep off and looked into the backseat. A young girl with soft auburn hair sat fast asleep with a fabric bag clutched in her arms.

Adelane looked at her husband a moment before getting out and opening the back door. Gently undoing the child's buckle she picked her up out the seat, "I'll be back."

a man in a suit watched as adelane laid the child on a sleeping bag he had set out in his office. "How long do I get to hang with Sofia this time?"

"Three days max" She said as she brushed hair out of Sofia's face "Info suggests high levels of activity in the Byuum tunnels."

"Careful, scientists have been disappearing from there. No trace."

"Tony, don't even start with that horror movie nonsense of yours." She looked at her watch breifly before standing up "Damion is waiting in the jeep, I gotta go." She began towards the door and just about closed it then turned to Tony "No sugar!"

He nodded softly "no sugar, got it." With the girl's mother gone he sat down at his desk to finish his paperwork.

The Kingsdales seemed to live a life of humanitarian aid, helping in places of need. a few months after turning 5 the family was in the city of Newdale on the planet 'Meridian' when the covenant began attacking the city. They invaded the city with masses to exterminate the people and then search for forerunner tech.

Looking for a way to get his family off the streets Damion went towards a nearby museum. What he didn't know is that he would be placing his family in even more danger. His choice for a hiding place put the them in the direct path of the covenant invasion force. Upon entering the building they went down into the 3rd basement level with the early Dinosaur exhibits.

The young father led Sofia into a room and knelt down to her level while holding her by the shoulders, "Sofia my darling, Daddy has to go make sure that the aliens don't come down here. I need you to stay with your mother, okay?" Her father gave her a soft smile before giving a kiss to her forehead

"I'll be back soon, I love you." He stood and gave his wife a short kiss before running back the way they came. Half an hour went by before they heard anything at all. Unfortunately it was the sounds of the covenant that came echoing through the hallways.

Adelane grabbed the young child and shoved her into the tall grass of an exhibit. She glanced at the doorway before placing her finger on her lips in a 'Shhh' motion. Her mother put a hand on the girl's cheek in a loving manner just as something yanked her away from the child.

The sudden motion made Sofia Jump in surprise before she scooted back farther in the exhibit. She peered out at her mother as this giant creature held her up in front of it. Strange noises came from the creature's mouth, as if it was talking to her. It was one of those strange creatures that her parents referred to as covenant. The creature activated a blue glowing sword and stabbed it into the woman. Agony and pain crossed over her face as the blade seared into her chest cavity.

Sofia tried her best to stay quiet as she was instructed only for a whimper to escape from her throat. The creature looked over towards the exhibit looking for the source of the noise. With one swift flick of the blade the woman's body was flung to the ground with a sickening crack on the hard concrete floor. The young girl's lip quivered as she looked out at her mother's body. As the giant alien walked closer it drug the energy sword on the ground slowly behind it. It raised the glowing sword about to strike her down when loud gunshots cracked through the air.

She closed her eyes and covered her ears in the fear that it was all over. A few moments later she opened her eyes slowly to see the elite's body leaning over the edge of the exhibit.

An armored soldier with a gun was checking the rest of the room before he headed towards the grass of the exhibit "Hey little one, you okay?"

The Terrified child nodded softly in response and was about to crawl out when she heard gunshots out in the hallway. Another ODST entered the room with a man before taking cover behind the doorway. He pulled a black box from his pouch and flipped the switch with a quick shout "Fire in the hole!"

The building rumbled from an explosion and a dust cloud went down the hallway. The ODST waited a moment before looking back into the hall. He was gone only a moment before returning to the room "We just lost our escape route but that should buy us a little time."

The 1st ODST set down his rifle and pulled off his helmet as he turned his attention to the child. shoved the elite's lifeless body out of the way before reaching out to Sofia "Come on, let's get you out of here."

She looked at him a moment then turned her attention to her mother's body. The trooper followed her eye line and saw exactly what she was looking at. "She's in a better place" "Really?" "Yeah" He held his arms out to her and she slowly walked toward him. He embraced her in a hug before brushing the hair out of her eyes "We won't let those ugly elites hurt you." He picked her up and brought her out of the exhibit.

The second ODST seemed to be arguing with the man he brought into the room. Discussing options and how something was top secret. Just then the building shook with an explosion. The man grabbed his keys "Follow me!"

Aker, the 2nd ODST took point as the man guided them through the halls to what looked like a utility closet. He tapped the wall three times and a rectangular piece of wall rotated until there was a keypad in it's place. Aker stepped closer seeing a small ONI symbol on the keypad "Is this...?" "Classified" The man said cutting him off "Speak of anything you see down here and you will be tried for treason."

O'Brian held the child in his arms tightly as a slight tremor shook the building "Could we please just get down into the tunnels?" He didn't like being up here very much while the covenant was trying to break into the building. The ONI man glanced at them before punching a long key code into the pad. The door opened with a hiss revealing an elevator that most likely went deep down into the 'Tunnels' that they spoke of.

Everyone stepped on board and the doors closed them in. Setting Sofia down he took his helmet off once more and crouched down in front of her "You are one brave little girl" He said trying to cheer her up.

"No... I'm not brave..." Her lip quivered as she tried to hold back her pain.

O'Brian put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her "You know, You remind me of my little girl." Sofia blinked at this new information which seemed completely off topic to her, "really?" The ODST nodded with a soft sad smile "Yeah, about your age."

"whats her name?" This was starting to take her mind off of the current situation.

"Elizabeth. Everyone called her Lizzy though." He paused having blocked so much of this information in the past. "She's up with her mommy in the place where your mommy and daddy are."

"What happened?"

"I was training on Reach when my home planet was attacked by the Covenant. The planets surface was melted to glass and I couldn't save them." He brushed the bangs out of Sofia's eyes "I wasn't able to protect my family, That said I will do my best to Protect you."

A soft smile came onto her face as he pulled her into a hug. The ONI man cleared his throat "I'm sorry to break up this touching moment but we are almost to the tunnels. You might want to be ready." O'Brian gave her a quick smile before standing and putting his helmet back on. The doors opened revealing a dark room with a few doors. The ODSTs exited the elevator with guns at the ready and as soon as they did the lights came on.

Aker looked back at the ONI man "alright, where do we go?" "take the second door" they did as the man said and opened the door. After checking if the coast was clear they motioned for both Sofia and the man to follow. Heading down a short hall they came to another door on which had a keypad. Once more the ONI man stepped forward and opened the door.

After what seemed like an hour of walking they came across an office like area that had multiple office rooms. They crossed into the center on the room when plasma bolts shot at them from the opposite side. The ONI man went down immediately with a wash of green plasma to the face.

"Cover me!" O'Brian yelled as he scooped Sofia up into his arms and made for one of the offices. Aker fired at the small group of covenant as he backed up towards the room that his partner went to.

O'Brian set Sofia down next to the desk as Aker got into the room and hid on the side of the doorway.

Sofia took cover behind a desk as both the ODSTs aimed their guns at the door. As soon as the door flew open they began firing on the creatures that tried to enter. A ball of glowing blue light was flung through the doorway and landed near Aker. The ODST quickly dove out of the way only to get caught by a Plasma bolt to the chest.

He laid on his side clutching his chest in pain. O'Brian took only a brief glance over at his fallen comrade as he continued to shoot the Covenant in the doorway, "Aker! Don't die on me!" All he got in response was a groan of pain from Aker.

Hearing how close the fallen ODST was to the desk, the child peeked out at him. His pistol had fallen from it's holster when he dodged the grenade. The weapon a few feet away from him. O'Brian shot the final creature in the doorway and waited with his gun trained. Bodies of Grunts, Jackals and a few elites littered the doorway. The ODST kept his sights on the door as he slowly walked over and checked on Aker.

The ODST stared down at his comrade for a moment before looking to the child under the desk. He was about to head over towards her when Pink crystals shot through the air and hit him in the chest. After 5 impacted his chest they shattered very explosively. He was thrown against the wall right behind him and slid down into a slumped position. Sofia scooted closer to the desk as she heard the jackal creeping into the room.

It crept closer to the two ODSTs on the floor before looking around From what she could tell it didn't know she was there. A tickle in her nose made her cringe as she tried to ignore it, until the sneeze just came out.

The jackal raised its needler at the desk looking for the source of the noise. Just then O'Brian who had a little life left in him weakly grabbed his pistol and fired a shot to get the alien's attention. Using the distraction she crept around the desk and ran for the door. The jackal turned it's attention back to the child as she was a more interesting target. She looked back at it and suddenly slammed into cold metal where the doorway should have been. She almost fell back from the impact when something grabbed her.

Armored hands grabbed her by the shoulders as an alien looking robot crouched in front of her. It was using itself as a shield, Protecting her from the creature in the room. A few gunshots and heavy footsteps could be heard before her protector stood up. The visor was mirrored making it so she couldn't see the face of the one with the green robot armor, which seemed unique in their color and design. Looking over she saw that there were two others that looked the same that were checking on the fallen ODSTs.

She felt terrified but at the same time she thought they were the coolest things ever.

Next time on 'Unfit for Duty':

"What's your name?" "I'm Hawkeye"

"I wanna be like them one day. I'm gonna stop them from killing people." "That's good to hear, because they are recruiting. You're a perfect match."
"count me in."

Author's notes: To the Editor who is deathly afraid of large bugs :D

Kyle Walked into the office and slung his jacket over the back of the chair "Sorry I'm late sir, I got cornered by a giant bug. This thing was gnarly!"

"How'd you kill it?" "An ODST flushed it down the toilet." "You're quite a spartan..."