He hated this part. The waiting. The time before a mission where time had no meaning. You had nothing to do, no plans to draw, no weapons to clean, nothing to occupy your thoughts, but the waiting. He sat up slightly, his bodysuit stretching slightly, and stared out of the viewscreen, noticing how pale he looked in the smooth glass. Earth lay beneath, her deep blue oceans, vast arctic tundras, stretching deserts, mountains, rivers. The birthplace of humanity, now stretched across half the galaxy. He wasn't from earth, and up until now he had never been deployed there. The war hadn't dictated that. The war that he had served in for nearly 30 years. He sighed.
"Christ, Sab, we're almost 40" He mumbled, smiling pensively.
A tall woman, pale-skinned and fair haired, with piercing hazel eyes, looked up at him from her bunk, switching off her datapad, 'no doubt checking on John and the others' He thought to himself.
"This surprises you?" She asked, tilting her head slightly, curious
"Well yeah, think of all the others that didn't make it this far, all our friends. Even a Spartan's luck has to run out one day, right?" He queried
"I know, I miss them too, Jake" She said, sitting up on her bed, scratching her head "But you forget something, we're here. Well, most of us" She pointed at his left hand at the advanced prosthesis replacing his ring and middle fingers. "How's that keeping?"
He flexed the digits gently, making a fist "Great, those nanobiotics on board the Priscilla were a god-send" He looked at his watch, saw that it was almost time, and sighed. "Well then, looks like we'd better go suit up, drop's in 45 minutes" He got up, stretching his tall, athletic frame before slipping on his boots.
"Let's go down to engineering then, I heard they weren't happy about the assemblers being shoved in their way, but ONI rules supreme around here" She grinned, slipping on her own boots
They walked briskly along the UNSC Say My Name's corridors, missing hurried Navy personnel, service bots, and even a group of over-eager ODSTs marching around the corner.
"Move it squids" The squad leader barked, seeing only their plain Navy jumpsuits, barging past on their way to the aft launch bays.
They sidestepped them, playing the part of two ordinary ensigns, all be it unnaturally pale, 6 foot 10, dominating figures of ensigns.
"Some people just have no manners" He said, shaking his head "Helljumpers are all crazy"
"No arguments here" Sabina said, continuing her pace. "Come on, we've got 35 minutes left, and the suits take 20 on a good day"
They marched down the grey corridors, emergency alerts blaring out of the PA, arriving at a boring door, noticeable only for the new Level 6 security keypad on its surface, Jake punched in his code, and the door retracted with a hiss. They walked in, moving towards the hulking machines in the corner of the room, looking like industrial washers. In reality, they were more expensive than half the ship they resided in, and each one could assemble a full set of Mjolnir Mark VI armour in a little under 25 minutes.
"Did Tech programme these already?" Asked Sabrina, checking a bright blue display on the side of her machine.
"Think so" replied Jake, checking his own for the correct figures "Looks like we're good to go"
They stepped into their respective pods, and a series of motorised armatures began to quickly assemble the 300 kilo armour systems around them, slotting each piece into its place like a huge, matte-black, armour-plated Jigsaw puzzle. By the time that the machine had done its job, they stepped out, the sound of their footsteps heavy and metallic, looking more like an armoured vehicle with legs than human beings. Jake checked over Sabina's armour, noticing the odd angles and trademark angular helmet of an ODST armour system.
"Wow" He whispered, his voice magnified by the helmet's PA system. "They really made this thing look like an ODST, didn't they?" Their CO had been very insistent on having them look as normal as possible, and with a large-scale assault by ODSTs on the Covenant Capital ship that hung over the city of new Mombasa imminent, it was decided that they should disguise their distinctive armour as that of the Helljumpers.
Sabina depolarised her visor with a series of blinks, looking happy to be in armour. "Well, as long as no one looks too closely, we'll just blend right in." She had a point, Jake thought, although from a distance, they would look ordinary, up close any marine worth his pay check would notice the bulkiness that accompanied the heavy protective gear.
"It'll do" Jake said, checking the mission timer now visible on the top right of his HUD. "We'd better get going, 5 minutes until drop, aft launch bay, tubes 17-C and 17-D." They left the room, marching along, turning heads and eliciting a few whispers of "Spartans". Jake switched his chat to TEAMCOM.
"Well well, we're certainly boosting morale" He said, smirking behind the visor. Opening an access hatchway leading into the launch bays.
Sabina flashed back a response, one burst of signal that translated to a small flash of light in Jake's HUD, signalling her assent. She was getting excited, he could tell.
They arrived at the launch bay, dozens of tall cylindrical tubes rising out of the floor, a single HEV pod nestled in each tube, awaiting its occupant. ODSTs were milling about, securing weapons inside their pods, fastening straps on their armour, checking the latest intel on a large hologramatic projection of the battle zone. It didn't look good. A small covenant fleet had slip-spaced in, destroying several MAC defence platforms before heading to New Mombasa, Africa and halting above the city, deploying ground troops, killing thousands in their genocidal campaign. And so, UNSC FLEETCOM had decided to send in the Helljumpers to neutralise the carrier.
"How many of these guys will come back from this" Sabina suddenly spoke over TEAMCOM, sounding indifferent.
"At best guess, maybe 60%" He replied, no emotion in his voice. It was plain and simple math. Some of these men would not make it back, they were ODSTs. "Oh dear, it seems we've drawn quite a crowd" He remarked, as ODSTs stopped their tasks to stare at the heavily armoured figures moving towards the back of the bay.
No one stopped them, but all of them stared, some with a sort of reverence, some with fear, but most with a weird form of passive-aggressive indifference, snorting derisively as they passed. They made it to the end of the bay, and appraised their customised weapon selections.
"What do you reckon?" She murmured, picking an M7S caseless submachine gun, checking the sights "I like this one, all rounder, like me" She grabbed a MA5D, a handful of magazines, and a few grenades, affixing them to various hard-points on her torso
"I'm thinking something for the job" Jake spoke, selecting a 99C S2 rifle from his own rack, sliding the bolt back, slipping in a fresh magazine, and flipping the safety on. He attached the rifle to his back, the magnet in between his shoulder blade grabbing hold of it with invisible hands. "And of course, our old friend" He muttered, retrieving his own MA5D, stocking up on ammunition.
He looked around, noticing all 50 of the ODSTs had walked over and now stood still about 5 feet away, helmets on, visors opaque. He nudged Sabina's shoulder. She turned around so that they both faced the wall of Helljumpers, their backs against the wall.
The matte-black gauntleted hands suddenly snapped to their heads, their legs snapped together in attention, saluting. Jake and Sabina returned the salute, towering over them by a good foot. They stayed like that for a few seconds, then the whole group moved off, returning to their jobs, many of them clambering into their pods.
"Well, that was rather unexpected" Sabina said, stowing her equipment into her pod, securing weapons and ammunition into the compartments.
"Indeed" Jake replied, already climbing inside his pod, his gear safely stowed. "Hurry up, Sab, 3 minutes to drop" He reminded, checking his HUD. "Here we go" He tapped a few buttons on the inside door of his pod, and the segmented hatch closed around him, sealing him inside his own coffin, as the Helljumpers had become known for. He heard Sab's pod hiss shut a second later, and they both felt the mechanical arm grasp the top of their pods and swing them around, their small viewscreen now facing a blank metal wall.
The small displays flickered to life, one showing Sab's helmet as seen from the front, another showing Captain Muller's face, and shoulders from the bridge of the Say My Name. His voice, amplified by his helmet's speakers, rang out throughout the barrage of HEVs.
"There was once a wise man who once said that there is never a good war, and that there is never a bad peace. I remind you of the lives we have lost, friends, family, whole worlds glassed off of the charts." His eyes saddened "This has not been a good war. We have all spent most of our lives fighting these aliens, this genocidal force of power. We have safeguarded our home planet's location until the last man, and yet still they come. Things are bleak." He smiled, a rare move in an officer in his position "But we will prevail. They fight for their masters, but we fight for survival. We will claw at every scrap of hope we can until these bastards are destroyed, obliterated from the galaxy, and we might have a chance to rebuild"
He straightened his lapel, looking at his intel screen. "I've been told my HR that I'm not allowed to do this for PC reasons, but gentlemen" He looked straight into the camera "God speed, and give 'em hell" His display winked out, and the pods began to move, lifted into position into the launch tubes.
"I'll see you down there, 415 East 71st street" said Sab quietly, looking into the camera and making the signature 'smiley face' greeting that all Spartans share.
"Going COM silent now, pulses only" Jake replied, returning the gesture, his heart pounding with adrenaline. He loved this bit.
The deep booming of his pod being released into the launch tube resonated through his body, and seconds later, he felt his entire form forced upwards, struggling against the harness as the sudden acceleration lifted him up, his display screens flickering, his armour barely contained, rattling the buckles slightly. He grimaced through stretched lips, glad that his visor was polarised. His viewscreen suddenly lit up, letting poorly filtered sunlight pour in to the tiny pod, blinding him momentarily as his enhanced eyes adjusted quickly. Earth rapidly filled his view, its cloud formations dancing with pulses of light, plasma fire criss-crossing the sky beneath him.
He hurtled towards the city, spotting dozens of other pods at similar altitude, all streaking downwards, beginning to enter the atmosphere, they began heating up, trailing vapour behind them. He checked his pod's stats, 95% integrity, it'll do.
As they got closer to their target, Jake saw the city, a grey-beige metropolis of soaring towers and low level slums, dominated by the smooth, pearlescent, purple Carrier that rained death onto the streets, it's curved bulbous surfaces menacing to even the most battle hardened Spartan. As he watched, he noticed a ripple of distortion wash over the craft, crackling, causing lighting to strike the nearest buildings. His heart sank, knowing what was coming next. He jammed his finger onto the broadcast button.
"All UNSC HEV pods, that carrier is about to jump, inside the city, you've got to pull your chutes now!" He yelled into the mic, hearing nothing back but static and occasional garbled voices. He saw a few pods around him shoot up, their emergence brakes pulled, but the vast majority continued onwards, heading to the now rippling ship. He frantically looked at his TACSCREEN readout, and was relieved to see Sab's pod heading to their agreed drop zone, not on the carrier, but in the city, right next to their RV. He adjusted his pod, making sure he was on course, then fired his emergency boosters, shooting down faster towards the ground.
He suddenly tasted iron in his mouth, and looked up towards the carrier, only to be blinded again by bright, heavenly light issuing from it. He looked away, catching a glimpse of an angular shape moving at high speed towards the ship, dwarfed by its size. The shockwave hit him then, knocking his pod slightly off course, only saved from missing his DZ by his last second adjustments. The emergency brakes, unable to stop him with his increased speed, fired, and snapped off, leaving him with only the rocket boosters to slow his descent.
He closed his eyes, relaxing his jaw, preparing for a rough impact, silencing his pod's speed alert, activating his armour's locking system. Buildings flashed past him, and he was forced into his seat by the sudden deceleration caused by the rockets, the g-forces almost causing him to pass out, his vision dimming. There was a screaming of alarms, the clang as his pod hit a street sign, then an almighty, bone-jarring crash as he struck the side of a building, his pod buried in the 3rd floor. His entire body was crushed inside his rigid suit, and he passed out, brain starved of oxygen.
High above him, the enormous carrier winked out of existence, throwing off a wave of brilliant light, carried with it the key to winning the war, hiding in its nacelles in a small UNSC Frigate called In Amber Clad