Prelude
July 9th 2553, Outer atmosphere of Victoria
An Autumn-class heavy cruiser drops out of hyperspace along with four Strident-class heavy frigates. The small fleet of ships hover above the surface of Victoria, a planet long uninhabited by Humans since the start of the Human-Covenant war. The planet has seen its fair share of Insurrectionist extremists and Covenant alike, being one of the first planets hit by the Covenant. Unknown at the time to the UNSC, the fleet sent to glass the planet was re-routed to assist in the invasion of Arcadia, leaving the planet and its human inhabitants safe from Covenant threat.
Two frigates move closer to planet whilst the cruiser and the other frigates stay farther back. The frigates looming closer to the planet come to a halt, each ship positioning themselves parallel to the planet with their bellies facing the surface of the planet. Within seconds, several pods are dropped from both ships, speeding towards the planet and leaving behind trails of red flame. The pods race to the surface of the planet, fueled by nothing but kinetic energy and the planet's own gravitational pull. Within minutes, the pods disappear inside the planet.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Autumn-class heavy cruiser; the UNSC Throne, the captain stands over a large table relaying the positions of the pods on the planet. The captain slides his hand on the table, bringing up a new holographic interface, this one showing a live 3D feed of the surface of the planet. The planet is dense with jungle with very rare pockets of desert.
"Captain Hurst, all pods have safely breached the atmosphere and have landed on the planet."
"Thank you Michael, have the ODST Teams proceed to their objectives and have Pelicans on standby." Replied the captain, in an assuring tone.
"Yes sir." The A.I dematerializes from the table and proceeds to execute his new orders.
The Captain looks and nods at the communications officer who appears to patch him through to the fleet's communication system.
"Men and Women of Victoria Tactical Task Fleet, we have arrived in the Tauri system and are hovering above the lost planet of Victoria." Said the captain over the intercom.
"Twenty years ago, this planet was invaded by the Covenant with the intent of glassing it and its inhabitants."
"As you can see, that hasn't happened, which is exactly why we're here. This planet has been void of all means of communications since the start of the war until a few months ago, when we received a distress signal originating from this planet."
"Our job is to investigate the distress signal as quickly and efficiently as possible. Make no mistakes ladies and gentlemen for there is still danger out there." The captain proceeds to his chair as the crew of the Thorne and other ships scramble to work as a year of expedition awaits them.
Thanks for reading this short introduction, I plan to do more depending on the reviews this gets.