"Naw man, I hear they rip out your eyes and use 'em as necklaces. Keep your pinkie bone and save 'em as toothpicks," said one of the recruits. He was telling all of the new recruits some spook stories about the Covenant. None of them actually believed him of course, they were just stories right? How could little stories be harmful to the psyche of Marine recruits, fresh out of training. Ready to be dropped off on Reach in any second.
One of the tougher looking recruits, Daniel, didn't respond to any of the jokes. He just sat back in the corner of their transport Pelican reassembling and cleaning his assault rifle. Another recruit, Benny, decided to see if he could get any conversation with Daniel. Maybe they could even become friend. "Hey, how are ya. Name's Benny," he said with a smile, outstretching his hand. Daniel only grunted back, still occupied with his firearm. Benny continued, "Yeah, I used to live on one of the Fringe colonies. Got out before it was glassed, parents were farmers. Honest folk, ya know?" Daniel looked up at Benny with startling blue eyes, a scar running all the way down his eyelid. "Do you think I care? We're all going to die and I don't need friends to die with me. There are two kinds of people in this world. Friends and killers, and killers don't need friends," Daniel said not even looking up from his gun. Benny just shook his head and wandered back to his seat.
3 hours later they were shooting Grunts that some ODSTs had left alive. The stragglers. One of them detonated two of his plasma grenades and started running towards Daniel. Daniel grabbed the little bastard by his chest and threw him towards another Grunt. A huge chain reaction of explosions started off, killing two more Grunts and leaving another mortally injured. Daniel just kept on killing, stopping only to change his clip once. When he ran out of ammo for his AR he threw it on the ground and picked up a discarded plasma pistol, scorching the bodies of fleeing Grunts. Benny saw this and thought, This guy is a cold-hearted killing machine. Thank God he's on our side.
After receiving orders to pack it up and move to a new location, Benny caught the transport to the new mission site with Daniel. They sat next to each other and didn't speak a single word until Daniel finally sighed and said, "You know something Benny? There are more than two kinds of people in this world. There are people like you, people like me, and people like the Covenant. Do you want to know why there are people like the Covenant?"
"Why?"
"There are just people who need to have their asses kicked."
This kept happening, as Benny and Daniel worked together they became closer. They started to talk more, to understand each other more. Daniel was no longer a cold-hearted killer, he was Benny's friend, his brother. After only two weeks of being on Reach fighting for it, Benny and Daniel grew a bond that most soldiers grow. A bond between survivors. Then, the Covenant glassed Reach.
Benny and Daniel were both clearing out an apartment complex that had been filled with Covenant for some unknown reason. They each took turns watching the rooftops for movements and shooting. Then, as Benny watched the skies, he saw the first beam of light strike down on Reach killing everything in its path. It was to late to move, to late to do anything. Benny and Daniel looked at each other, and then they laughed. As their bodies were turned into molten glass.