A/N: Well, here we are. If you've been following my story over on the Halo/Star Wars section, you'll know what kind of quality story you're getting. If you've never read my work before, I think you'll enjoy it.
Whether you like what I've written or not, please review my chapters. I'll only get better by people telling me what they thought was wrong and what they would like to have included. Hell, if you give me a good enough idea, you're suggestion just might make an appearance in the story!
So please, pull up a chair and get comfortable.
DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters created by Bungie Studios/343 Industries, nor do I own any of the characters or settings created by Irrational Games/2K Australia. I do, however, take credit for the original characters I create.
The space surrounding Requiem, the impromptu base of operations for the Forerunner military commander Didact, was tranquil. The stars silently twinkled in the distance, the B V-type star's heat radiated throughout the Epoloch system, and the Covenant Remnant fleet prowled the area around the Forerunner Shield World.
Like sharks waiting for their next meal, the Remnant fleet circled the area in front of the artificial planetary body. The Remnant, a splinter faction of the former Covenant Empire still loyal to their worshiping of the Forerunners as gods, were led by the Sangheili radical Jul 'Mdama. With 'Mdama commanding from the CAS-class assault carrier Blinding Fury, the Remnant fleet ruled the emptiness of space surrounding the artificial planetary body.
Suddenly, disrupting the serenity surrounding Requiem, a Slipspace rupture off the starboard side of a CCS-class battlecruiser appeared and disgorged the massive UNSC Infinity. The Infinity, a three mile long warship and the pride of the UNSC Naval fleet, decapitated the unfortunate Covenant capital ship before any other Covenant ship knew what had happened.
When the Covenant finally realized what was happening, the Infinity had launched ten Charon-class light frigates and scores of F-41 Exoatmospheric Multirole "Broadsword" Strike Fighters from her underbelly to engage the Remnant fleet of ships and Seraph fighters. As the light frigates and fighter ships went toe-to-toe with the Covenant, the Infinity moved into position close to Requiem, and began her mission.
Operation: LAND GRAB, where hundreds of D79H-TC Pelican dropships filled with Marines, ODSTs and SPARTAN-IV fireteams would be onto the surface of Requiem to eliminate any and all Covenant and Promethean threats, clearing the way for Infinity science teams to set up research facilities.
Onboard one of these Pelicans was Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck. Buck, second-in-command of Echo Squad of 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 7th Shock Troops Battalion, stood at the cockpit door of the Pelican and looked over his team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.
First was Corporal Taylor H. Miles, better known as Dutch. The Close Quarters Combat specialist, Dutch was a kindhearted Marine who would go above and beyond to help any of his squadmates. Although a CQC-specialist, Dutch was much more comfortable utilizing the M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle.
Checking the sights of his M7S Caseless Submachine Gun next to Dutch was the ODST only known as the Rookie. Buck didn't know much about the young soldier, other than that he was able to survive the streets of New Mombasa after the Slipspace Event that leveled the city in 2552. If anyone could not only survive in a Covenant-infested city for an entire night, but openly fight back, then they had the Gunny's respect.
On the other side of the troop bay was Lance Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Aju. The uppity trooper was an artist with a sniper rifle, possessing skills that would rival those of the SPARTANs. If only he knew when to shut up, Buck wouldn't always be so pissed off with him.
Sitting beside him was Private First Class was Michael "Mickey" Crespo, the Jack of all trades in the squad. Not only was the young man the team's demolitions expert, he was also the unofficial pilot. Basically, you put anything in the kid's hands, there was a good chance he could kill you with it – intentionally or unintentionally.
Stepping out from the cockpit was ONI Captain Veronica Dare. Since taking control of the squad prior to the failed assault of the Prophet of Regret's assault carrier during the First Battle of New Mombasa, the ONI spook had been place in permanent command of the five ODSTs. If the Office of Naval Intelligence wanted intel on a highly-dangerous location, they were the ones sent in.
As the Pelican shook from evading the Seraph fighters, Dare nodded to Buck.
"Alright, listen up ladies," started Buck, walking towards the middle of the troop bay. "Our mission is to secure the map room of Requiem. Based on advanced recon drones, the map room – known as the Cartographer – is heavily guarded with close to a dozen Covie squads and a contingent of armor."
"What's the make-up of the enemy," asked Dutch.
"Mixed bag; mostly Grunts and Jackals, with Elites in command positions and a couple of Hunter pairs. As for armor, mostly Ghosts, with a few Wraith tanks." The ODSTs groaned, but Buck put up his hand to silence them.
"What kind of support are we getting," asked Mickey. "I'd rather take a couple of steps on land before getting mowed down by a Ghost or something."
The Captain took the opportunity to field this question. "Covenant vehicles and Hunter pairs are being prioritized by command for Broadsword and Longsword bombing runs, before we roll in with Warthogs, tanks, standard Marine infantry, and SPARTAN fireteam Ivy."
Romeo groaned. "SPARTANs? We have to work with SPARTANs on this op?"
"We don't have to," said Dutch, slapping Romeo on the knee. "We get to."
Romeo's view on the SPARTANs was a common one amongst the ODST branch of the UNSC. Long before the SPARTAN Program was made public, it was a long held belief that the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were the best of the best in the UNSC military.
To Buck, though, as long as they were human and weren't Innies, he didn't care. The more humans taking down Covenant baddies, the better.
"Dutch is right; we'll need all the firepower we can get if we want to evict those bastards from the map room," said Buck, closing in on Aju. "So I don't want to hear any of that shit on the ground, you get me?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
"I think someone's a little pissed about their kill stats going down," joked Mickey, before getting an elbow to the gut from Romeo.
Static belched in Buck's radio-piece; it was the pilot of Pelican X-Ray 387, Lieutenant Sadie Fellows. "Attention passengers, we're going to be experiencing some slight turbulence as we enter the Forerunner object. So please strap yourselves in, and make sure all tray tables are in their up-right and locked position." The Pelican began to shake upon closing in on the entrance portal. "We'd like to thank you again for choosing Pelican Airways, where the comfort of the passenger always comes first."
The dropship began to shake violently, as the Marines calmly strapped themselves in.
"Alright, this is it Troopers," Buck shouted into his helmet comm. "Once we touch down, expect plenty of enemy resistance. I want everyone's heads up, eyes open, fingers on the trigger, and we'll all get out of this in one piece."
The ODSTs of Echo Squad shouted Oo-rah in unison. Dare opened a private line with Buck, as the Pelican continued to violently shake. "You think they're up for it?"
"Are you kidding? These guys are some of the best soldiers I know. If there's anyone to get the job done, it's them."
"I know, I just don't want any screw ups. We need this to take this Cartographer and hold it down if we want a tactical advantage over the Covenant."
"Understood, Veronica. Understood."
As the shaking lessened, Veronica turned to Buck. "Don't call me that."
"What, I'm not allowed to call you Veronica anymore? When the hell did that happen?"
"Once I took command of your squad, Gunnery Sergeant."
"Now wait just a damn second," Buck said, anger in his voice rising. "You never took command; you were given it. Against my wishes, I'd like to add. So as far as we're concerned, you're only here to get intel. Keep your head down, and stay out of our way." The Captain cut off the comm channel, and polarized her visor.
Buck sighed, and looked over at the Rookie slumped over in his seat. "Hey Rookie, you up?" The Rookie, only a Lance Corporal, gave a silent thumbs up as the vibrations came to a stop.
The roars of jet engines streaked past overhead, signaling the beginning of the bombing run before fun really began. It wasn't long before the squad heard a series of loud explosions ripping through the air. In an instant, the visors of everyone's helmet polarized until not a single face was shown.
"Not gonna lie," said Mickey. "But I really wish we were fighting some Brutes today."
"You kidding," asked Dutch. "You'd rather take on a berserker BK than a split-chin?"
"A dumb berserker BK. Give me one of those over a hinge-head with a plasma sword any day of the week. You can kill big and dumb easier than smart."
"What about one with a Grav Hammer?"
"Yeah Mick," said Kojo, slapping the younger Marine on the back. "Next ape we see with a Hammer, I'll invite him over so you two can play Whack-A-Mole."
"Can the chatter, Troopers," said Dare. "We're landing in five."
Buck felt his stomach lift as the Pelican decelerated. He heard the familiar sound of the Pelican's GAU/53 70mm MBHRC Autocannon lay waste to whatever Covenant were foolish enough to face it down.
The entry ramp opened, flooding the troop bay with artificial sunlight and the sounds of gunfire. The ODST squad, along with scores of Marines from several other dropships and Fireteam Ivy, sprinted onto the foreign soil of the Forerunner world and were immediately under fire from the Covenant that survived the initial bombing run.
The grassy canyon the UNSC forces were dropped into was nothing short of breathtaking. The rock and canyon formations reminded Buck of shore leave in Colorado or England, while the pond water looked crystal clear. And if you ignored the Forerunner indentations and flickering lights high above, the clear-blue sky looked like it would back home.
Buck, however, couldn't let his mind focus on the beauty of his surroundings; only where the enemy was and how to out-maneuver them. As plasma bolts and crystalline needles whizzed by him at alarming speeds, Buck and the squad took cover behind one of the many smoking husks of a destroyed Wraith tank.
The Covenant had set up multiple turret nests along the high ground, and were keeping the initial surge of Marine forces pinned down in open field. Meanwhile, gravity platforms were hovering along the ridge, giving their Jackal snipers the high ground they needed to pick off any absent-minded soldiers. He wasn't sure how many Hunters were left, or even if any were left, but he kept his eyes open for any sighting of the behemoths.
As the plasma turret nest continued to hammer away at their cover, Buck poked his head out the side to get a good look at its position. The plasma turret, known as a Shade, was manned by a blue-armored Elite, so a single headshot wasn't going to be enough to take it down. The turret was also surrounded by a group of Grunts of mixed ranks.
Buck, quickly brought his head back into cover, and signaled Crespo to bring his M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Assault rocket launcher. "Sixty-degrees north-by-northeast, two o'clock high," Buck said to the PFC. "Don't fire until I give you the signal."
"Got it," Mickey proclaimed, moving past Buck to the very edge of the cover. Buck then crept his way over to the opposite side of the tank, and peeked around again.
Over a thousand feet away, the Gunnery Sergeant saw two more turret positions pinning down one quickly-dwindling Marine platoon. Luckily, these two were operated by gas-suckers, while they were under the command of an Elite clad in dark green armor.
Buck opened a comm-line with Romeo. "Romeo, three targets for ya. Ten, maybe fifteen-hundred yards away. Two gunners and the split-chin running the show." Kojo crawled on his stomach to an exposed area of the tank and looked through the scope of his 99-Series 5 Anti Matériel sniper rifle. "Come on, Buck, give me a challenge or something."
Buck smiled, then turned to Dare. "Any word from Fireteam Ivy?"
"They were dropped off a few clicks behind Covenant lines to secure the back entrance."
Buck then saw ten small red dots on his HUD closing in on their position. Buck activated his VISR, and saw eight Grunts and two Elites highlighted in red. They were slowly coming their way towards their position, weapons raised and ready to make their first kills of the afternoon.
"Dutch, Rookie, toss grenades over the top! We've got baddies coming in hot!" As Dutch and the Rookie pulled a grenade from their belts and lobbed them over the squad's cover, Buck counted down in his head. Three… two… one. "Now! Let 'em have it!"
As Mickey swung around the edge of the Wraith and successfully unloaded both rockets on the nearest turret, Romeo scored three consecutive headshots on his targets thousands a feet away. Meanwhile, as the M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose grenades detonated amongst the group of Covenant, Buck climbed over the broken Wraith and rained fire on the remaining targets with his MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System assault rifle. Its 7.62x51mm ammunition blasted through what was left of the Elite's weakened shields, and tore gaping holes in its body.
Dare finished off the Grunts with precise headshots from her M6C/SOCOM pistol, and the initial landing force of Marines pressed forward. Bullets, plasma and needles filled the calm afternoon air, as the UNSC began pushing back the Covenant occupation force with ease and speed, and Buck's squad was spearheading the charge.
By the time the UNSC forces reached the entrance to the Cartographer room – a massive structure whose sleek and stainless-metallic design greatly contrasted the natural setting of the canyon – a detachment of M12 "Warthog" Force Application Vehicles and M808B "Scorpion" Main Battle Tanks were deployed to fortify the outer defenses of the canyon range. Buck was thankful for the armor, as he knew the Covenant surely weren't going to just let them have this position without trying to take it back.
The interior of the room was similar to previous Forerunner architecture; sleek, straight lines, very geometrical, technology mixed in with the natural environment, and filled with their Sentinel security robots. They weren't engaging the Marines, though, so there was no reason to be alarmed.
As Buck and his squad approached the terminal, a door opened on the back side of the room. The squad raised their weapons, and a massive Hunter collapsed through the entrance, armor smoldering and a hole the size of a grav-ball punched clean through its midsection.
Through the door stepped one of the SPARTAN-IVs of Fireteam Ivy, carrying a smoking M363 Remote Projectile Detonator grenade launcher. Its armor was a forest green color with a silver visor, and it was wearing the EOD variant of the SPARTAN armor. Two more SPARTANs from Ivy entered through the door, one wearing the Stalker variant and wielding an M45D Tactical Shotgun, while the third wore the Commando variant and carried an M395 Designated Marksman Rifle. The Commando SPARTAN approached Buck, and gave the Gunnery Sergeant a firm salute.
"SPARTAN Jovan Parsons, of Fireteam Ivy," the super-soldier said.
"Eddie Buck, Echo Squad, 10th Shock Troops Battalion." Buck replied with a lackadaisical salute of his own. "What the hell took you guys so long?"
"We got held up by about a hundred pissed off Covies, plus a few Hunter pairs, no big deal." SPARTAN Parsons moved towards the Cartographer terminal, while placing another grenade on the launcher. "So what kind of slop did you guys fight through?"
"Oh, not much. Just your standard Covenant defensive unit; Grunts, Jackals, Elites, plus a few tanks and plasma turrets. You and your boys can check out the graveyard out front if you want and see for yourselves."
"Thanks, but no thanks. Maybe later though." Parsons motioned towards the SPARTAN in the Stalker armor. "See what you can do, Etan."
SPARTAN Etan rushed over to the terminal and started tapping into the hard-light control panel. He rapidly tapped the panel, and grumbled in frustration. "For Christ sake, the damn Covies jumbled everything when they tried to put up a security wall," said the SPARTAN in his thick Australian accent. "It'll take some time just to clean this mess before I can even start to access the map."
"How long is a while, SPARTAN," asked Buck.
"Five, ten minutes tops." The SPARTAN continued to tap at the hard-light panel.
Buck, somewhat annoyed at the answer, quietly walked away to get a feel for his surroundings. As he was checking a stack of crates for anything useful, he quickly turned around with his assault rifle raised and searching for a target. He could've sworn he felt something brush against him, but there was no one in the general vicinity of him.
"Dutch, you see anything," Buck asked into his COMM, keeping his rifle raised.
"That's a negative, boss."
"Well keep your eyes open. I've got a bad feeling about this place." Buck slowly backpedaled, trying to keeping his eyes open for anything. He saw a red blip on his motion tracker appear and quickly disappear. Buck froze in place when he swore he saw the air ten feet away from him shiver. "Hey Parsons, tell your buddy to get that map online; I don't think we're alone in here."
On the opposite side of the room, where a squad of Marines were guarding the entrance, a plasma sword materialized out of thin air, and sliced through each of them with ease. Another Marine was picked off, and quickly silenced.
Buck's COMM channel was soon flooded with the panicked cries of Marines.
"Where the hell did Charlie Squad go?!"
"I just saw something over by the walls!"
"Has anyone seen Brinks? She was just here a second ago!"
"They're everywhere! Jesus Christ, they're fucking everywhere!"
A blood-curdling scream forced Buck to turn off his general comm-line. He was just starting to head back to his squad when he bumped into something. This was impossible, because Buck was nowhere near a wall or pillar. Buck quickly activated his VISR, and outlined in front of him was a towering split-chin.
The Elite knocked Buck to the ground with a back-handed slap, knocking his assault rifle out of his hands, and activated its energy sword. The blade hummed with the energy coursing through it, and the tips of the blade were pointed directly at Eddie.
With a guttural roar, the Elite reared back, and his brain exploded. Bits of bone, brain matter and blood sprayed Buck's visor, and he rolled out of the way before the dead Elite crashed on top of him.
"You alright Gunny," asked Romeo, rifle barrel aimed at where the Elite's head was.
"Ambush," shouted Mickey. "Spec Ops hinge-heads!"
Buck regained his feet, and quickly grabbed his MA5D. "All Marines form up in the middle! Everyone back-to-back! Let's move it, people!"
Scores of energy swords clashed to life, and the once calm Cartographer was now a hellish battlefield. The Marines huddled into the center-most part of the room, and unloaded at the sight of shimmering air.
Buck managed to dodge an Elite's swipe of the blade and put half a clip into its back. "Dutch, where's the Captain? Where's Veronica?"
Dutch unloaded his entire SMG clip into an Elite before throwing a grenade. "She's with the SPARTANs trying to figure out the security!" Buck silently swore and sprinted towards the control panel, where Parsons and the third member of Fireteam Ivy were valiantly guarding Etan and Dare as they tried to access Requiem's map. "Gunny, on your six!"
Buck barely had time to turn around and raise his weapon in a blocking position before an energy sword was brought down upon him. He moved back just in time, but the blade cut clean through his assault rifle, forcing Buck to discard it. He reached in his holster for his M6C/SOCOM pistol, but the Elite was faster.
The energy blade was lunged clean into Buck's chest – in the area of his heart – and he was lifted high in the air. A few well-placed shots by Parsons took the Elite down, but Buck crashed to the ground. Dare, having witnessed the whole event, rushed over to his side and called for a medic.
Buck's vision clouded before turning to black…
Visions of white fluffy clouds against a pristine blue sky faded in and out before finally coming into clear view…
A/N - Yes, I'm aware the name of Buck's squad was never given. And yes, I know what Company, Platoon, or Battalion his squad was given was never mentioned. I figured I would take some creative licenses and expand a little on Buck's squad.