Prologue
0800 October 20, 2552(Military Calendar)
In Pursuit of the Prophet of Regret
"Cortana, is there any way we can figure out where we're goin'?" Commander Miranda Keyes asked the A.I from her command seat aboard the spaceship In Amber Clad.
"I'd attempt to tap into the Covenant networks, but we may be found out. Right know Regret thinks we're just a harmless piece of debris." The construct replied from within her cyborg's helmet. The Master Chief looked over at Sergeant Avery A.J Johnson, who was about to speak, but silenced himself when he heard Keye's voice through the intercom.
"Okay. All personnel to Class C stations. I want all available airmen at their ships ASAP. Also, prepare first platoon ODST for immediate launch, and second and third on standby. I have no idea where we're headed, but I doubt it'll be friendly." Keyes ordered.
As soon as Keyes gave the order, first platoon readied themselves. Corporal Vito Targett grabbed his P-545, a futurized version of the P-90 sub-machine gun, his m6c pistol, and 4 fragmentation grenades. He loaded his gun as he moved towards his pod.
"How'd you score that sweet gun, Targett?" asked Private Mancini.
"Gunny made it for me for savin' his ass back on Omicron 8," Vito explained.
"Well I'll just have to pull his ass outta the fire, too!"
"Don't count on it, son," Gunnery Sergeant William Mitchell exclaimed as he walked in the room. "First platoon ready to roll, Commander," he then said through the intercom.
"Good, standby until further orders," Commander Keyes replied.
"Yes ma'am,"
"Alright boys, there's no way to tell how long it'll be until…" Mitchell started, but was interrupted when the whole ship shook due to rapid deceleration. Vito looked on through his open pod as Mitchell stood silent. Finally, after a few moments, he spoke;
"It's go-time! We'll have some help on this one." He said as the Master Chief walked in.
"Hey, sir, you know where we are?" asked Mancini.
"Halo," replied Cortana.
Before he knew it, Targett's pod was launched from the ship, like it's been done dozens of times before. However, this time was uneasy. He only heard rumors of Halo; that it housed a creature that turned humans into monsters, that it could destroy the whole galaxy, that the ground was made of acid. He hoped that the rumors were false. He could handle the Covenant. He could fight them on his own planets. But he had no idea what atrocities Halo held, and he didn't want to find out. He checked his data. Altitude: Good. Speed: Good. He noticed the air-brakes opened a tad late, but that should be alright. As he was gaining closer to Halo, he looked in the LZ screen and saw old ruins appear next to a lake. As he neared the ruins, he could make out plasma turrets dotting the hills. They began to fire upon them. A few blobs of plasma hit his pod, one denting it in close to his face. One shot hit his air-brakes, and after a few more, he lost visual. He saw his Altitude was decreasing rapidly. 300 meters………200 meters…….100 meters …90 …80 …70 ...60 ...50 ..40 ..30 ..20 …10…
He awoke, hours later in his crashed pod. He pushed the button to open his hatch, which went unlocked but sparked. Vito kicked it out and rubbed his head. He was nowhere near the ruins he saw earlier. He stepped out of the pod.
"At least the ground's not acid," He said to nobody. He tried his radio.
"This is Corporal Targett, com in… This Corporal Vito Targett, ODST first platoon, anybody read me…Damn,"
He then checked his biometer. It read that he was dead.