War is hell, no matter what form it takes.
Alexis Tannar, a senior, watched in awe as the massive form of her foe drifted past her hiding place between two buildings. There were a total of six people in that tiny spot, three females and three males. The women wore crimson uniforms and carried various weapons, while the men sported cream-colored clothing under protective vests. Not that those vests would do much good against that giant.
"Target one is advancing! Civilian evacuation is at twenty-five percent. All surviving Pandoras regroup and attack. Buy us time to get the civilians out!"
That call over her earpiece strengthened Alexis's resolve. She was a Pandora... she had to do her duty. In this world, Pandoras fought those giant abominations, the Nova, in hand-to-hand battle. Their male counterparts, dubbed Limiters, acted as support units. Together, a Pandora and Limiter formed a bonded pair. These pairs were humanity's only line of defense against the Nova...
..and they were losing.
"Alright team," Alexis said in as strong a voice as she could manage. "Let's give the girls up ahead some support! We'll hit that bastard from behind and create an opening for the others to do some real damage!" The others hesitated then nodded in agreement, picking themselves up and getting ready to fight again. Alexis tossed her braided white hair over her shoulder. For some reason her hair had always been white, matching her complexion. But tonight, before this fight was over, she knew that both would be stained with mud, grime, and blood.
UNSC Ace of Spades, Contested Space...
Admiral Lucia Hartman knew when she was beaten. You didn't survive thirty years of constant war and not know when you were beat. And that's about how long she'd been fighting this war. Now, around her, the bridge of her ship was abuzz with tension and action.
They'd approached Waypoint Station, a deep-space repair platform that the UNSC had been using as a staging area for defense against invading Covenant fleets. For a couple months it had worked, but last night the station had gone silent. A modified Phoenix-class colony ship, the UNSC Ace of Spades, had been dispatched along with an escort of six destroyers, two heavy Marathon-class cruisers, and ten frigates.
At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the station. But as they approached they received no welcoming signals, no distress calls... nothing. It was as if the station was entirely dead. One of the frigates had gone in and docked with the station... and at that moment the entire station exploded. Admiral Hartman had just issued the retreat order when a massive Covenant fleet materialized behind them. Half of the human ships had been cut down the moment the alien ones opened fire. The others began tearing off on randomized trajectories. Not the Ace, however. There was no chance for that.
"Ma'am! Slipspace drive is still unresponsive!" one of the crewmen yelled as the ship shook from yet another direct hit. Their drive had been damaged during the initial assault, although no one was sure just how it had happened. What everyone was sure of, however, was that the ship's crew of over 11,000 men and women were probably not going to survive this encounter. "Wait..." Hartman's eyes darted to the crewman as he checked his screen again in shock. "Ma'am... the drive's responding... but it's giving some crazy readings. I can't promise we'll get anywhere if we use it.
"No choice," Hartman said. "If we do it, we might die. If we don't do it, we WILL die. Engage Slipspace drive, random co-ordinates. Get us the hell out of here, helmsman."
The crewman from before traced a cross over his face and shoulders then carried out his orders, furiously typing commands into his console. In a matter of moments a Slipspace rupture opened in front of the Ace of Spades and the massive warship vanished through, leaving its Covenant pursuers behind.
UNSC Ace of Spades SOEIV Bay
Down in the drop bay, a squad of soldiers was getting prepared for duty. Their Admiral had come over the intercom just as the ship jumped, ordering all hands to remain at battle stations. And so these black-clad soldiers, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, were preparing their gear and their pods. Just in case.
"Mitch, you alive over there?" one of the men said.
"Worry about yourself Doughy," came Mitch's reply.
"That's enough chatter, all of you." The words of their commanding officer, a sergeant named Davis, put a stop to the bickering before it could start. The six members of the squad gathered around their leader, all of them armed and ready.
"All hands, prepare to exit Slipspace." At these words from the intercom, yellow warning lights began to pulse around the bay. An alarm could be heard buzzing someone down the line as well.
"Alright, find your pods shitheads," the sergeant said. "I want you all ready to jump at a moment's notice."
The soldiers scrambled for their pods. At the very end of the row was a pod marked "Kinkaid, G" The smallest of the ODSTs climbed into this pod. Gabriel Kinkaid was only 19, a recent addition to the squad. His nickname amongst the squad was "Pinpoint" due to his natural talent for piloting an HEV. Now Gabe watched the door of his pod close from behind his VISR, feeling anxious like never before. He'd been on twelve missions with eight successful drops. He was still a bit of a rookie, but he wasn't usually this nervous.
Something was wrong about this mission. Very, very wrong. And he could feel it. Something very bad was coming their way...
Chevalier Combat Zone
"Give it to 'em! Let's take that asshole apart!"
Alexis heard the words coming out of her own mouth but didn't feel like they were hers. It was as if someone else had taken over and she was just along for the ride. She didn't want to fight the Nova. She didn't want to see any more people die. More than anything she wanted to run. To flee this place and never look back, hoping she'd never see another Nova.
But those wishes were contradictory. With the Nova here, people would keep dying. The only way for people to live on would be for Pandoras like herself to keep fighting. And so Alexis charged back into battle once more, determined to stop this Nova in the faint hope of never seeing another one after it.
The creature before seemed to sense her presence. It began a slow turn, and while it did so it began to radiate a sort of energy field. This 'field' halted living creatures in their tracks, rendering them immobile. Alexis and the other two females were stopped, but only until their male comrade acted. At once all three of the men behind them released energy fields. Their "freezing" countered the Nova's, allowing their Pandora partners to move and fight.
Apparently the Nova determined this to be a threat. Its attacks, in the form of large, flat tentacle-like appendages comprised of some unknown metallic substance, ripped towards the oncoming Pandoras. The trio dodged easily, but they'd made the mistake of leaving their Limiters exposed. Two of the men escaped. One didn't.
Alexis heard a scream of agony behind her. Even before she looked, she knew exactly who had been hit. She turned in time to watch her Limiter fall to the ground, his torso rolling away from his waist and legs.
"JAMES!" Her cry of anguish cut through the sound of the battle. A cold pain twisted at her insides as she ran to her partner's side, hitting her knees and bringing his torso up. She hugged her dead companion, hot tears rolling down her lovely face from her sapphire-like eyes. Incoherent screams ripped forth from her lungs.
The Nova fell to the ground, damaged by the other Pandora's assault but still undefeated. The Pandoras gathered for another strike but all froze when they heard a mighty crack. All eyes except Alexis's went upward as the sky split open, an enormous shape appearing from the void.
The Nova rightened itself while the Pandora were distracted. The creature turned towards Alexis, gathering energy about itself. Alexis finally took notice, sensing danger but unwilling to move from James' corpse. She knew what was coming: an energy beam powerful enough to tear a battleship into tiny little ribbons.
Was this how she was to die? The girl closed her eyes and waited for death, preparing to join her dear James on the other side of eternity...
UNSC Ace of Spades SOEIV Bay
"Oh... oh fuck... SARGE!"
Gabe Kinkaid had accidentally hit the launch button for his pod. Now, as he cried out for his commanding officer to help, his drop pod swung down into position. There came a swift series of low beeps followed by a higher-pitched tone. At that point his pod came loose from the clamps that held it in place. The vehicle now dropped towards the planet below, screaming along at several hundred miles an hour. He could hear his sergeant yelling at him over the radio, but right now it made no difference. He was on a collision course with the ground and there was nothing to dodge into.
Feet first into Hell...
Below him, Gabe could see a massive.. object. Its outside reminded him of a Covenant ship's hull. But this thing was humanoid... or at least, partially. It lacked legs or arms, and it seemed to have some sort of tentacles, like a giant octopus or something. Whatever this thing was, there were people around it as well. People that seemed very much bent on beating the hell out of it. He wasn't sure who they were or what the thing was, but he knew one thing for certain: those were human beings down there, and any enemy of humans was an enemy of his. And so he steered his pod straight for the large object, just as it began to glow brightly.
His HEV hit the object at a good three hundred miles an hour. He fired his landing thrusters just before impact, but that wasn't enough. His pod bounced off of the thing's hull and spun through the air, landing directly in front of it. The ODST felt his restraining harness snap under the force and he ended up crumpled in the top of his pod, which was lying on its back. Gabe lay there, dazed, every inch of his body in pain from the crash.
The door of his pod blew off of its mountings, prompting Gabe to stand up at last. As he went he snagged his weapons from the pod's mounts. He'd brought the standard ODST gear: a silenced submachine gun and a matching silenced pistol. However, his pod also contained a larger weapon that he'd convinced the weapons officer to let him 'borrow.' He left that in the pod for now, instead taking this opportunity to get his bearings.
He seemed to be in some sort of industrial area on the edge of a city. The large object had been knocked down once more by his pod's impact and several figures were moving towards it rapidly... way too rapidly. They also seemed to be... flying? Jumping ridiculously high and far? Whatever it was, he decided to let them do their thing uninterrupted.
Whatever their thing was, however, it seemed to be ineffective. The thing was getting up again, heading straight for him. He glanced back at the woman behind him. There wasn't much of a choice at this point...
Chevalier Combat Zone
Alexis opened her eyes as something crashed to the ground nearby. She watched the Nova hit the ground, knocked askew by the metal object that had landed nearby. As she watched part of the object went flying. After a moment a figure stood up from within the capsule. She couldn't tell who the person was under that armor, or even if it was actually a person. What she could tell, even through her tearsoaked eyes, was that the person was wearing strange equipment and carried strange weapons. Whoever or whatever they were, they were something new and unexpected.
The Nova shook free of the Pandoras attacking it, turning back to face Alexis and the newcomer. The newcomer clearly understood the threat that the creature posed, for he ducked back into his pod. Alexis thought for a moment he was taking cover, then the figure came back up with a large object in his hands. He rested the object, a long construct of some green metal, on his shoulder like a rocket launcher used by normal soldiers. A male voice rang out, yelling something she couldn't quite make out, then a crimson glow came from the front of the device. After a second or so a crimson shaft of light exploded from the weapon with an earsplitting sound somewhere between a squeal and an explosion. The beam caught the Nova square in the chest, punching through what was left of its battered armor and ripping its core apart. The Nova fell back, landing on its back and moving no more.
Alexis stared up at the figure as he attached the massive weapon to his back and jumped down from his pod, running towards her and the dead corpse of James.
Gabe breathed a sigh of relief as the object went down, giving the woman behind him another glance to make sure she was still alive. If that thing had a ranged attack, she'd have been in danger as well as him. And so he'd used the only thing he had that looked like it'd have any effect on the object: the M6 Grindel/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, or as he and the others knew it the Spartan Laser. He wasn't sure where to aim it, but he'd noticed those fast jumpy flying people repeatedly attacking the object's 'chest' so that was where he aimed as well. And apparently, it'd worked. The thing wasn't moving anymore. It... looked dead.
Now he was worried about the person behind him. He could see the Ace above them. Pelicans were deploying from the launch bays, heading for his position. At the same time a group of HEV pods were making a touchdown a few hundred yards off. He recognized one of the ODSTs as soon as the other soldier's pod opened: Davis. So his squad had come to rescue him... or flay him alive. Either way, first priority was the female. She didn't look like military, and so he assumed she was a civilian.
"Ma'am, you need to evacuate to a safer location." he said as he reached her. His VISR deactivated, the silver reflectiveness vanishing to reveal a youthful face, a pair of brown eyes, and the extremely short stubble of brown hair.
"I'm not leaving James!" Alexis cried out, clutching the top half of his corpse even tighter. "I won't abandon him!" A renewed torrent of tears spilled down the girl's face at the thought of her dead companion.
"You'll end up just like him if we don't move! There could be more of those bastards out there!" Gabe reached down for her arm, intending to drag her off of this battlefield. He never reached her, however.
A strange sound, like a terrifying choir, heralded the arrival of a second towering Nova. Gabriel turned around just in time to see the being materializing near where the first had fallen. The quick, agile people that had been fighting the first seemed weary and unwilling to fight... or maybe unable to continue. Even worse, his fellow ODSTs had simply... frozen. As he watched the Nova came closer, seeming interested in investigating him. Gabe was having none of that, however.
The ODST unhooked his massive laser from his armor's magnetic clasps, taking aim. Before he could fire, however, he felt himself suddenly become paralyzed. It was as if his body had forgotten how to move and all he could do was stand there, weapon up, in the perfect position to strike but unable to do so.
'I'm gonna die...' the trooper thought. 'I... I'm ready for this... I'm ready..." He felt his body straining against itself as he fought for control. 'I'm ready... I'm ready..." He felt something growing within him, something powerful. It was like a great beast struggling against its cage. 'I'm ready... I'm ready... I'm READY!..' The thought was pounding in his skull now like a heartbeat. Slowly, struggling, the ODST began to move.
"I'M READY!" he screamed, finally breaking free of the Freezing effect. "HOW 'BOUT YOU?!"
Once again, the M6 laser spoke. Its crimson beam traced its way up to the chest, the same spot he'd hit on the other one. This time the attack shattered the Nova's chest armor but didn't damage the core. He tossed the laser aside and switched to his submachine gun. The silenced weapon spat a stream of lead up at the exposed core, but the bullets simply bounced away from the being like pebbles off of a battlecruiser.
Alexis watched in awe as the man broke free of the Freezing and attacked the Nova directly, doing great damage to the creature. His weapon seemed to be useless while recharging, however, for he simply tossed it away and switched to another, less effective weapon.
A roar of engines caught her attention and she looked around just in time to see a strange craft descend to the ground. It was long and aerodynamic-looking, like a plane with stubby wings and no tail. Gouts of exhaust spewed from sixteen different jets on the craft, each set of four mounted on moving... parts? She wasn't even sure what to call the components of the machine. She could tell it was some sort of transport, however, by the way it turned its back to the Nova and began to open up.
A long time ago, Alexis had read a lot about Greek mythology. What she saw now reminded her of the Greek hero-gods of old. There were ten of them in all, beings much larger than a normal human and wearing a strange form of green full-body armor. Even the black-clad soldier seemed tiny in comparison. One of the armored beings turned its gold faceplate towards her for a moment before rushing off to join the guy in the black armor. Each of the armored ones carried a rifle, and as they ran all of those rifles spoke. A hail of gunfire went skyward, bullets ricocheting off of the Nova's armor. One of the Nova's tentacles stabbed towards the lead green-armored soldier. Alexis thought the guy was dead for sure, but the tentacle bounced off of him/her/it in a flash of golden light that spread across the armored person's body.
She didn't know how long they could keep fighting, and she had no clue whatsoever why the Freezing effect didn't stop the green-clad soldiers. But she could see the one in black slowing down again and knew that he would die if the Nova got a chance to strike at him. Her eyes went to his fallen weapon...
Gabe could feel himself slowing. The Ace of Spades had deployed its entire team of ten SPARTAN-II super-soldiers, and the warriors were somehow able to move when everyone else couldn't. But their combined fire was proving ineffective against the gigantic foe they faced. Gabe watched as another of those tentacles drew back, aiming straight for him. He couldn't move, couldn't dodge...
The sound of a Spartan Laser firing behind him ripped through the night. A third beam of red light boiled through the rain, hitting the Nova square in its 'face.' It didn't do much damage but it did knock the Nova over. At that moment the Ace of Spades turned above them, aligning its primary weapons with the creature's exposed core.
"Hold onto your teeth," one of the SPARTANs said quietly.
A massive bullet the size of a large tree trunk erupted from the ship's main gun, impacting with the force of a small atom bomb. A shockwave blew many of the soldiers, including Gabe, off their feet. Windows shattered for half a mile around from the impact, and where the Nova had lain there was only a smoking crater and a wrecked hull left. Gabe felt one of the SPARTANs catch him and put him back on his feet. He found he could move freely now, and the first thing he did was run back to the girl with the white hair.
Alexis had no clue how to operate the Spartan Laser, but she knew a trigger when she saw one. The guy in the black armor had made it look easy, and so she hadn't thought twice about picking up his weapon and attacking the Nova. However, she wasn't ready for the weapon's power. The kick alone was enough to shatter the bones in her right forearm. On top of that the weapon's roar dazed her, and the recoil knocked her to the ground. She lay there, watching a gigantic shape in the sky point down at the Nova like a massive arrow. Then, without warning, a shaft of light exploded from the nose of the shape. The blast knocked her unconscious, but she could see that the guy in the black armor was alright. That was enough for her...
Gabe fell to his knees next to the girl. Her friend was dead, but she was mostly unharmed. The SPARTANs moved off to investigate the downed creature while the rest of Gabe's ODST squad gathered around him.
"Holy shit..." someone breathed.
"Kid," Davis said angrily. "The second we get back to the ship, I'm going to skin you alive and make a goddamn coat out of you!"
"Sir, yes sir!" Gabe said quickly. "Sir, requesting permission to get this girl to her companions first, sir!"
"Made a friend already, Pinpoint?" The sergeant's voice had gone from pissed to amuse in a heartbeat. "I know a great tattoo artist if you're looking to get her name done on your arm. Chicks dig that shit."
"Sir!" Gabe's face was starting to flush a bit behind his VISR. The other ODSTs laughed.
"Alright, let's help the kid get his new buddy back to base," the sergeant said. "Any idea where that might be?"
In response, Gabe pointed towards where the other locals were gathering. "I'm pretty sure she's with them, sir."
"Well grab and go, kid. We'll cover you."
Gabe nodded and picked up his laser, hooking it to his back once more. He then picked the unconscious girl up and carried her gently in his arms. The other ODSTs gathered around him, guns at the ready. The sergeant faced forward, walking ahead of Gabe. The other ODSTs moved with him, covering his two, four, six, eight, and ten-o'clock angles. The squad moved quickly despite three of them walking backwards, and in no time at all they were approaching the other locals.
Gabe knew he'd been right the moment they got close. There were other girls here in similar red uniforms to the one his white-haired charge wore, and there were a few guys in those cream-colored getups. One of the girls, a tall green-eyed brunette with a halberd, jumped up and ran at Gabe.
"Alexis!" she cried.
The ODSTs around him tensed, but Gabe stepped away from them and brought the unconscious girl to the approaching one. "She's out cold and she's a little beat up... looks like firing that Splazer screwed up her arm pretty bad."
Two of the other girls came to join the first. They took the white-haired girl from Gabe, carrying her off towards an approaching vehicle. The first girl watched them go then looked back at Gabe. "What about James?"
Gabe shook his head. "If that's the guy she was with... there ain't much left of him. Poor girl was shook up pretty bad, too."
The girl nodded, looking somber. "Well, stranger," she said after a quiet moment. "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but I thank you for saving Alexis." She held out a hand. "We lost a lot of good Pandoras today. It brings me a little solace to know that there's one more family we don't have to break the news to."
"My pleasure," Gabe said quietly, shaking the offered hand. "She saved my ass out there too. Making sure she made it back was the least I could do." He gave the girl's hand a squeeze then turned away, shooting one last glance at Alexis before walking off to rejoin the other ODSTs.
"May I have your name?" the girl that had thanked him called after him.
Gabe stopped and turned his head back, his VISR turning silver once more. "It's Pinpoint," he said before walking off to rejoin his squad.