I don't own Halo, Bungie does. I only own the characters, excluding those mentioned in any game, book or comic copyrighted by Bungie or 343 Industries or Microsoft.

Also, if you feel compelled, I have opened up a twitter account for my FanFiction stuff. E_J_C_Graves

October 17, 2551

13:43 Hours, Reach Time

Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Training

Trainee group 35408

Drop Training 3

Live Jump 1

Ship: UNSC Winter Hawk

First Drop

We drop in five… four… three… two… Drop! There was a sharp jolt and rapid acceleration downward. The small pod he was in grew hot as it passed through the outer layers of the atmosphere. He looked over at the small screen which held the temperature of the pod; it read the temperature as one hundred five degrees. Sweat started to form and bead on his skin. He looked forward outside of the door of the pod. He saw the blue sky and green land of Reach. It relieved him for a second or two. He had trained for the last two years for this day, his first jump. He began to feel nervous as he imagined all the horrible metaphysical situations that could occur at the time. What if his drag chute didn't deploy? What if his reverse engines didn't fire? What if? What if….

As he thought of this, his pulse spiked. A second later he heard the crisp voice of his drop instructor, "Hey, Corporal, keep it cool over there. Don't start to panic. If you want to become a Helljumper, you'll need to overcome your fears. Remember only the best of the best become ODST's. You've made it this far through training, don't bug out yet." The Trainee sucked in his breath, held it in for a moment, and released it.

Then he was calm. Well, as calm as a person can be when plummeting at terminal velocity downward toward a planet's surface. He looked out again through the door and looked out at the sixty other pods freefalling with his. Once again he heard the voice of the instructor, "Okay. Everybody, release drag chutes in four… three… two… deploy!" The recruit punched a button on the touch panel and felt the shock of a metal alloy chute pulling on the air around his pod. Almost instantaneously it felt as if his stomach would fall out of his body because of sudden deceleration. This loss in speed was caused by several rockets fixed to the bottom of the pod firing upward. The Trainee's bones started shaking with the bump of the chute and the thrusters. He gripped the small steering handles hard enough with his hands, he thought they would break. A few seconds later the pod touched down with a loud CHUNG! The Trainee watched his helmet's faceplate turn dark. He knew this was to allow his eyes to adjust to the sunlight outside more readily. The Trainee tapped the touch panel again and his pod's door jettisoned outward with a hiss and a bang. The Trainee grimaced under his helmet as his pod's door nearly hit another recruit and his instructor. His instructor walked over to the Trainee at a rapid pace.

"Oh, Crap. There goes my chance of being an ODST." Thought the Trainee as the instructor stood face to face with him. "Corporal," started the instructor as he turned and pointed at the pod door lying on the ground, "was that your pod door?" The Trainee's throat went dry as he looked down at the door and back at the instructor. He tried to swallow, but he couldn't. So he spoke slowly, "Yes sir. That is my door." He dreaded what the instructor was going to say next. As the instructor opened his mouth to speak, the trainee cringed a little, but the instructor said something very unexpected. The instructor said, "Next time you pop the door off, look for friendlies. Those doors can injure or possibly kill any unsuspecting alien that gets in the way. The same applies to humans. So, next time watch out. By the way, smooth landing, Corporal." Underneath his helmet he had a face of disbelief. He had just gotten a compliment from an ODST.

He stood there for a second and watched his instructor walk away to help out another marine who couldn't pop his door off. The Trainee looked up at the blue sky and grinned. He didn't move for about a minute, he just stared off into space. Being proud of himself, he strolled into the middle of the clearing where they all had landed and waited for his next order.

He didn't have to stand there long, because the instructor walked to the middle of the clearing and told everyone to group around him. The Trainee thought he heard something out in the distance, but ignored it. But just to be sure, he looked down at his right thigh and checked that his pistol was there. The instructor waited for everyone to regroup and took off his helmet. He motioned for all of them to do the same. When he saw everyone's face, he spoke, "I have to say that I'm impressed with what I've seen today. For the first time I had a first drop with no deaths or major accidents. But I hope you marines didn't think you were gonna get off that easily. The main base here on Reach is about seven mile east of here. I think that you guys need to burn off that adrenaline, so a healthy jog is in order." As he finished the last sentence, the sound the Trainee had heard grew into the growl of a warthog. A green door less warthog approached from a path that had cut through the trees of the light forest surrounding the clearing. The Trainee recognized it as a transport model, because of the lack of weapons and the big open seats in the back. The two men in the 'hog hopped out of the vehicle and shook hands with the instructor. The men wore the armor of ODSTs except for the helmets. The Trainee ran his fingers through his coarse, close cropped, brown hair and scratched his head as he wondered what trick the instructor was going to pull on them.

The instructor reached into the back of the 'hog and pulled out a megaphone. He spoke clearly into the device, "All recruits, fall into two lines and follow the warthog to the base." On that note, the instructor hopped into the back of the warthog and watched the younger marines with a grin.

The Trainee put his helmet back on and ran to the front of the right line. He was the first to make it there. Everyone fell in behind him and the recruit next to him. The run to the base was actually enjoyable, except for the instructor wanting them to keep pace with a warthog going seventeen miles an hour. The Trainee liked the ODST armor, it was lighter than the bulky standard issue UNSC Marine Corps armor. The Trainee grinned even wider underneath his helmet when the Instructor started naming off "today's specials" at the Mess Hall on base.

The instructor had them run all the way to the Hall, as it was called. He stopped, congratulated them all and told them tomorrow's assignments. As the rest of recruits walked into the Mess Hall, the instructor stopped the Trainee. He led him over to the warthog and introduced him to the other ODSTs. "Meet Lieutenant Peterson and Colonel Roberts, from Squad 849," the instructor told him as the Trainee saluted them. Colonel Roberts spoke first, "Corporal, we have been keeping up with this batch of trainees and we have found that they are all excellent, but not extraordinary with their prior achievements… That is except for you, son. You have a spotless record, with over a hundred and fifty confirmed Covenant kills in the short three years you have been in the Corps." Lieutenant Peterson was the next to speak, "You have the skills to become an ODST, but you haven't overcome your fears yet, according to your instructor. We will be watching the rest of your training drops, to see if you improve in that area. If you do, you might have a job as an ODST. Keep up the work, Corporal, and you might become one of the best." With that, the Major put his hand on the Trainee's shoulder and was answered with a swift salute and a "Yes sir! Thank you sir!" The instructor dismissed the Trainee and proceeded to talk to the other ODSTs. The Trainee went into the "Hall" with a grin the size of a battleship. The Trainee had both passed his first drop and was going to be monitored by real ODSTs for the next few months. He had never been happier in his life.