Reach. The impenetrable wall of the Eridanus System, was falling. What was once considered the pinnacle of the U.N.S.C.'s military might was slowly being slowly and methodically crushed by the might of the Covenant. On top of a cliff overlooking a human settlement stood a lone figure; a monument to its race's technological prowess. The figure was so still, many would have confused it for a statue had there been anybody there. But this figure was no statue, it is a warrior. One of humanity's guardian angels in this genocidal war they were locked in, and as far as he knew, one of the last humans left on the forsaken planet. The Covenant had been purging the planet for the past several days. It was genocide. It had only been a few weeks earlier that the soldier, or as his comrades called him "Parasite", had been enjoying a little peace in being stationed here, but he was proven wrong. He was experimented on as a child by the U.N.S.C., and he was given the ability to absorb energy; be it heat electrical, or even nuclear. He can then convert it in to other forms of energy with the help of a converter in his armor, and then release the energy explosively. At the age of 19, he escaped the testing lab he was kept at. He knew nothing about the outside world. Only able to fight, he returned to the only thing he knew. War. When he signed up, He was instantly placed in the 105th. ODST's. Needless to say, he was the most closely guarded military secret. Yet he was abandoned here, just like the rest of the inhabitants of Reach as soon as the Covenant reared their ugly heads. The only ones left on the planet, were smatterings of soldiers and civilians, and even some Insurrectionists. Off in the distance, shots could be heard, and Parasite wanted to move fast if he wanted to save the soldiers that were fighting. He looked over the edge of the cliff, and decided to risk it. Taking a few steps back, he started running, and as soon as he reached the edge, launched himself off of the precipice. Rolling in to his landing after the bone jarring drop, he began sprinting off in the direction of the settlement he lived in, and where the shots were coming from, only to hear the sounds of battle dying off. Hoping he wasn't too late, he began running faster than he already was. After three minutes of nonstop sprinting, Parasite slowed as he neared the edge of settlement.
When he got within one hundred yards of the township, he stopped to recon the area. He started sweeping for movement, when he spotted a squad of Elite Rangers looting the bodies of the dead. He was disgusted at the sight of the aftermath of what happened. Men, women and even children lay in the streets dead, unceremoniously shot in the Covenants' religious and fanatical zeal. He had to take them out before they noticed him, and where he was, he would be spotted soon. He crouched down and started creeping stealthily between the blackened and burnt shells of houses and small businesses. While moving along as stealthily as his great bulk allowed, he picked up anything he could from dead soldiers. He couldn't take on the group of Elites with just his Kukri. Parasite couldn't believe his luck as he happened upon an M45 Tactical Shotgun, an M6D Magnum Pistol, and a grenade. As he grew closer to the area where the squad of Rangers was, he found two Grunts watching the area that led to where the Elites were. Pressing himself up against the wall, he began silently sliding his Kukri out of its sheath. Grabbing up a stone from the ground near him, he hurled it in to the burnt out shell of a hydrogen fuel cell station he'd been pressed up against. Smiling under his polarized, reflective visor, he watched as one of the startled Unggoy went inside to check on the disturbance, and crept in using the other doorway. When he neared the diminutive cannon fodder of a creature, he plunged his knife straight through the crown of his skull, covering his hand in neon blue blood and slightly deformed the bone with the force of the blow. The other grunt came in, apparently to look for its comrade, which had just died a silent, brutal death. With the speed that could only be matched by the Spartans, he threw the knife with all his might towards the head of the oblivious Grunt, making the sound of an axe being driven in to the trunk of a tree. The Shock Trooper leapt over the counter of the station to retrieve his knife, which came out of the methane breathers' skull with a slight squelching sound. Wanting to take care of the far more dangerous Elites, he silently crept out of the station, and rounded the corner of the station, back to where he was when he spotted the Unggoy, and continued on towards the Elites' position.
As he neared them, he could hear them chatter in their guttural dialect, and tried to guess what was happening from the tones of their voices. He gathered that the battle must have been largely in their favor, as they were shouting excitedly with each other. He kept moving until he was a building away, and started moving with exaggerated slowness, like a lion creeping up on its prey. Then, he started forming a plan to take them out one by one. He had to act now, while the element of surprise was still his. The squad of Elite Rangers was just around the corner of the building he was using for cover. At the moment, they had not noticed him, but it was only a matter of time. He needed to act fast, and neutralize them, or they would be alerted by the fact that the Grunts had not recently checked in. He quickly took inventory of the weapons he had on him, and was scolded himself in his head for not doing an ammo check. His shotgun only 2 shells and his M6D Magnum only had one magazine of ammunition left. Even though the odds were clearly not in the Spartans favor, he had to come up with a plan.
The soldier took a quick scan of the area and, content with his plan of action, he ran over it again and again in his head to cement it there. Thankful that his helmet speakers were muted, he whispered, "Alright you alien bastards, let's dance." Silently, he pulled the pin on his last grenade, hoping the Sangheili were not aware of their surroundings. After 2 seconds, he slammed the grenade against the wall to activate its pressure fuse, and tossed it around the corner in to the middle of the group. As soon as it detonated all of the Elite's shields flared out of existence save one. Parasite then rolled out from behind the building, knife in hand, and threw said knife to embed it in to the skull of the Ranger nearest him. Before the others could react, he sprinted towards them to cover as much ground as he could to increase the lethality of hi shotgun. As the first Ranger hit the dusty ground dead, he leveled the shotguns muzzle on the Sangheili that was closest to him, and fired, the full force of the 8 gauge shell landing square in the middle of the Elite's chest, taking the alien down in a pool of its own blood and gore. Rapidly switching targets and racking the pump to chamber a new shell, the Spartan then aimed at the head of the third Elite, and fired, tearing it's head off in one fell swoop, killing it before the previous one even hit the ground. With no more of the precious shells, he threw the now useless firearm at the fourth Ranger to distract it, and brought up his pistol, firing all eight rounds in to its chest, to making sure to hit the species multiple hearts. The last Ranger was still stunned from the shock wave of the blast, and was trying to stand up to fight back. Parasite wrenched his knife from the skull of the first alien, and rapidly strode up to the last survivor. With the force of a Semi Truck, he decked the Elite with a vicious hay maker. The Spartan then lifted the Elite to its knees, and started to drain away the Sangheili's shield. After the life saving shield had flared out of existence, Parasite swiftly drove the knife in to the Ranger's neck, severing the Sangheili equivalent of the Carotid Artery and Jugular Vein. The Elite was still struggling to escape, but it was all in vain, as the ODST had become an unstoppable force at that point. Sickened by the species cruelty, he viciously twisted the knife, and tore it out of the neck, almost severing it. The Shock Trooper was beginning to be covered in the purple blood of his foes blood, and stepped back to get out of the arterial spray of the gruesome sprinkler.
Sheathing the knife, and holstering his pistol, Parasite began searching the corpses of the elites for weapons, and thanking no one in particular at his luck. He found two Plasma Rifles, and one Needle Rifle with three magazines worth of needle ammo. After his looting session, he began shutting the eyes of the soldiers who had been mercilessly executed after their extended firefight with the Covenant, and relieved them of their weapons. He found a DMR, six magazines, and 4 magazines for his pistol. After finding a rag in the street to clean off his armor, he began planning a way to get off of the planet. Parasite realized that he couldn't stay in the settlement for very long, as the Elites would have probably radio checked by now, and the higher ups of the covenant were probably going to send in reinforcements. After gathering all of the necessary equipment, he started walking, hoping to find a ride off of the place he once called home. Parasite remembered that there was a U.N.S.C. dry dock within 40 klicks of his position. Plotting his course, he set off in the direction of the dry dock, hoping that there was a ship waiting to evacuate military personnel. He had to get off of this planet. He would find a way, or die trying.