Aboard Cairo Station, Marine barracks sector.

October 20, 2552

"Just another day" thought Corporal Dez Pilgrim as she lay on her bunk, staring at the metal ceiling. She couldn't wait to get on shore leave again, she had spent two monthes on Cairo Station so far. She missed her mom and grandmother, plus her little cousin back in Morgantown, West Virginia...her hometown on Earth, just below her feet. That however was not possible at the time, apparently something good and bad had happened recently. She failed to remember so she yelled "Matt, get in here. I got to ask you a question."

A guy in his early 20's walked into the room, he was about 6 feet tall, 140 lbs, had brownish/blonde hair, and traces of facial hair...which was againest ODST code. Both of them were members of the elite ODST military branch, they joined it in fear of being drafted into the normal Marines and sent directly to the slaughtering frontlines againest the Covenant or Insurgent Rebels. Plus they both wanted to get revenge on the Covenant, Dez and Matt both lost most of their families when the Covenant attacked Reach about a month earlier.

Dez shook that thought from her mind as Matt said, in a southern accent "Yeah, what do you need?"

She loved his accent, actually calling it sexy to him once, but she went straight to her question "Whats up Matt, I just wanted to know if you found out what happened recently. About those stories that Scheib's told us about."

Matt crossed his arms, leaned againest the wall, and smiled. He said "You'll be glad to know that I finally found out what happened...the truth Dez."

Dez shot up from her bunk and stood excited and nervously. Matt told the story "Well, one ship named The Pillar of Autumn escaped Reach and was shot down by Covenant ships on a ringworld, called Halo."

Dez said "Continue please" and Matt did "Well, most of the Marines and Helljumpers made it off and took over a place called Alpha Base. Master Cheif rescued Captain Keyes and they all began a 3 day fight againest the Covenant. They were winning...until it came."

Dez guessed "More Covenant I presume."

Matt shook his head "Oh no, much worse." and Dez said "Whats worse than the Covenant."

Matt explained "The Flood, a parasite like alien that turns you into a monster basically. Keyes and many comrades were taken by them. Major Silvia lead an assault on a Covenant cruiser to escape. However they didn't make it off Halo in time...Master Cheif and Cortana blew the ring up."

Matt then told Dez about Master Cheif's return to Reach, surviving Spartans, Jacob Jiles and the Rebels, and the destruction of Unyielding Hierophant. Dez paused forever and finally said "A terrible price for victory, but at least the Covenant fleet was destroyed. I used to hate the Cheif, now I really see that he just may save us all from extinction. He's all of our hero Matt."

Matt replied "Yeah I know, he's actually on this station now." he sighed "But I just wonder how long we are safe from the Covenant."

The silence was broken by the intercom, Cortana mentioned that all marines report to the bridge for the awards ceremony. The two made their way to the bridge, they were in a Pelican hanger when they meet the rest of their platoon...1st Platoon. One of them said "Hey homies, where you been at?"

A women, around their age, walked to them. She wore her ODST armor just like the rest of them, she had black hair that went down to her shoulders. Behind her, a guy said "Yeah bro."

Matt said "Just telling Dez about the Halo incident Blade."

Blade said "Yeah, really scary if you ask me."

Dez said the women "Hey Wuya, just chilling in the bunk."

Her real name was Holly, but her nickname was Wuya. It came from a cartoon show made in 2003 called Xiaolin Showdown, from the ghost villian that acted much like her. Their talk was cut short as another ODST said "Hey, come on and less talk."

Her name was Lieutinant Julia Scheib, the leader of 1st platoon. She was around 30 years old and had a German accent. She was from Austrian descent and had a famous family history. One of her ancestors in the 2020's started an Anti-Global Warming group and also got Xiaolin Showdown into fame. That same ancester was also a friend of one of Matt's ancestors at that time too, who fought in the bloody and infamous Iran-United States War in 2011.

Scheib's yelled to them "To the bridge."

Wuya heard something on the intercom, did she just hear Cortana say "15 Covenant cruisers just outside the MAC gun range."

The Helljumpers and several Marines looked out the nearest window to see it was true, but also seen hundreds of smaller craft...boarding craft. Lord Hood said on the intercom "All units, prepare for battle."

Marines and Helljumpers on all the MAC gun platforms grabbed their weapons and ammo. Dez and Wuya grabbed a Battle Rifle, Blade and Matt got an SMG. They were all then seperated as the boarding craft landed at the station and began to cut through. The 4, along with 5 other Marines, ran down the halls of Cairo Station. The entire time they heard sounds of fighting, but only seen dead Covenant and Human bodies. They finally came across several more Marines around computer consoles, guarding a sealed door leading into Pelican hangers. One of them said "About damn time someone showed up, especially Helljumpers. We need the firepower cause their about too..."

Marine's words were cut off by a hissing noise, the Covenant were cutting through the door. The Marines and Helljumpers took cover. Dez and Matt were now getting their chance at revenge, even Blade and Wuya were ready to spill Covenant blood. They heard several Grunts yappering on the other side, a Marine stepped out of cover to see what was going on. The door exploded as a plasma grenade blow it open, and blue plasma bolts cut into the Marine, killing him instantly.

A blue and red armored Elite ran into the room, followed by a dozen Grunts. Both sides opened fired at the same time, and the noise made the Helljumpers go deaf. Wuya stood up and shot a Grunt in the face with a burst of BR rounds. The Grunt fell back, its plasma pistol discharged a round into another Grunt..."Killed 2 birds with 1 stone" she thought.

Blade and Matt both fired SMG rounds into the crowd of Grunts, they fell like dominoes. Dez, Wuya, and the Marines fired at the two Elites, who were a different story. The blue one through a plasma grenade, which stuck to a Marine's leg. He screamed as the grenade detonated, the Elite just laughed. The Marine's friend responded back with a frag grenade, which blew the Elite's leg off. The Marine said "Deserve it you split chinned bastard." as the Elite bled to death on the floor.

The red Elite was different however, he snuck around one Marine and snapped his neck, cutting anothers throat. He was sneaking up on Blade when he turned around and unloaded a full clip into the Elite. The Elite's shields failed and was he fell onto the floor, blood pouring from his chest, bleeding to death like his blue battle brother.

There was a moment of silence, then Cortana "Malta, what is your status? Over." followed by a Marine from Malta station "I can't believe it, their retreating, we won!"...it went silent, the Cairo then shook violently.

The 4 Helljumpers and surviving Marines then made their way to the Pelican hanger, fighting several Covenant soldiers along the way. One Marine was shot in the face by a Grunt wielding a plasma pistol, and another was blown to pieces by a series of Needler rounds. The group finally reached the Pelican hanger, which was littered with Covenant bodies. Several Marines patrolled there, one said "Wow, you guys just missed one hell of a party. Master Cheif came in and destroyed these poor creatures. HAHA it was so exciting seeing those Grunts and Elites fly."

Wuya walked over the hanger bay window, she noticed that the Malta station was missing. She was about to ask why when several blue flashes streaked from the Athen MAC station. A Marine also noticed and said "Another victory for the big green marines guys."

The Athen's then exploded, they all felt the explosion wave. Lieutinant Scheib's said on their radio's "All ODST units on Cairo, report to In Amber Clad ASAP. No playing around either, on the double people."

A Marine in the hanger said "Oh that should be easy for you guys, just follow the bodies cause I think the Chief is heading that way too."

Dez asked "Why?"

The Marine replied "You haven't heard then, the Covenant have a bomb on this station. It can go off at any time...and vaporize us all."

Scheib's fired a burst from her Battle Rifle, knocking an Elite off the platform and falling to its death. They had to make it to Im Amber Clad before the bomb exploded. She started out with a dozen Helljumpers in her fighting group, 3 were already dead. They moved into a large atrium room, where they aided a fireteam of Marines take down a group of Grunts before moving ahead. One Helljumper took point as they moved down a hallway, when they seen a blue blade hovering in the air. The Helljumper fired a few rounds at it, but the sword thrusted forward into his gut. He yelped as a stealth Elite cut him in half.

Scheib's and the others fired, the Elite was turned to mincemeat. They mourned the gruesome death of their comrade, then moved onward to the next door. They opened it to reveal dozens of Marines and Helljumpers entering In Amber Clad, she entered as well and found Dez, Matt, Wuya, and Blade there. They all felt a jolt as the ship undocked from Cairo station and headed down towards Earth. Dez looked out of a window to see UNSC ships battling the Covenant. A Covenant ship exploded as a round from the Cairo pierced it, another one nearby was peppered with Archer Missles. A Covenant Seraph fighter flew by, followed by a Longsword fighter that shot it down.

Dez then seen a Covenant Assault carrier blast a UNSC frigate to tiny pieces, then the Covenant ship mysteriously exploded. Im Amber Clad swooped underneath it, when a thump was heard. Master Chief just destroyed the carrier with the bomb aboard the Cairo. Commander Keyes said on the ship's speakers "Attention Marines, were heading to the surface towards New Mombasa. The Covenant have made a land assault on the city. We're all going to be the lucky ones to force them out." and the ship was filled with yelling as Marines wanted to kill the Covenant invaders. Matt looked at Dez, then to Wuya and said "We're just getting started baby." and Wuya just looked at him.