Disclaimer: I do not own any working titles associated with Bungie, nor do I own Halo or any of its characters, they are, and always will rightfully be the property of Bungie and Microsoft. All main characters in this story are my own, created, inspired and developed by myself. I do not plan to sell or profit from this title. It is purely for audience's reading pleasure.
October 20th, 2552
UNSC Frigate Judgment
Earth Orbit 1500 Hours
Captain Akira Takashi of the UNSC frigate Judgment stood on the bridge, gazing out the view port at the remains a Naval defense ship in Earth's orbit. The ship had been torn in half by cruiser's main cannon. Debris from two defense platforms drifted, incinerating as they touched Earth's atmosphere. A single Covenant ship lingered over the city of New Mombasa. "We're too late," said the shaky voice of Akira's operations officer. She looked at the young lieutenant with a blank expression. It was time for her to act.
"No," she said in a relaxed, confidence inspiring manner, "we've actually made it in before closing time, people."
"Care to elaborate, captain?" her executive officer, Williams, said with a smile in his face. Akira knew that he trusted her judgment well enough to rely on it in this situation.
"The Navy took out most of the invading fleet. There's only one ship left, most of the OD platforms are still operational, and they look as if they've already started preparations for launching a counter attack from space." She sat down next to the ops lieutenant. "It's okay to trust your own eyes, but don't let them be the only source of your judgment, Lieutenant Stone."
He nodded. "Yes ma'am."
Akira gave the man a pat on the shoulder as a sign of reassurance. "Everyone, on your stations. Eyes fixed to your monitors. We've got this down, people. We've practically got them on the run. Don't let the fact that an alien cruiser made it into Earth's atmosphere intimidate you. That was a last resort on their part. They know we won't fire anything heavy down on them while they're in one of our cities." She stood back in the center of the bridge. The bridge crew knew that a system diagnostic was underway. "Weapons."
"Go."
"Communications."
"Go."
"Operations."
"Operations; go."
"Telemetry"
"Go."
"Outstanding. Master arm. Keep the MAC gun cool for now. I want all ground units on station for deployment. I want all Pelicans loaded up with every single Marine they can fit in. Get ODSTs locked, loaded and in their pods now. I better not see one, tank, Warthog, Marine or Helljumper on this ship after the next fifteen minutes. Am I clear?" She was replied with silence and a few head nods of the crew. "Good because even I wasn't clear I don't care about your opinion anyway." There were a few laughs among the bridge crew, which came as a slight shock to Akira. She wasn't expecting to lighten the mood, just that she would spark confidence and get the crew moving. She just rolled with it.
"Williams," she turned to face the stern XO, "The shock troops. We're dropping them into the hottest side of hell. I need you to brief them on what to expect. If some of them want to back out from an orbital drop and take a pelican down--"
"Ma'am," he said, cutting her off as he looked down the corridor, "these are Helljumpers we're dealing with. I don't think you'll have to worry about any of them backing out."
Private Ethan Wilks stood alone on the isle's shore, just gazing at the blue waters on the horizon. He closed his eyes as he breathed in the pure clean air and fell back on the warm sands. It had been almost a year since he had been in such a paradise. The sound of a musical symphony surrounded him. He didn't know where it was coming from, nor did he care. All that mattered was that he was able to enjoy the peaceful moment. All of the sudden, he felt a sudden surge, which caused him to jerk forward, pulling him out of his dream.
"Hey, Wilksie!" came a feminine voice, "You awake?" Ethan strained his eyes through the opaque visor that shielded his face. Even before he saw her, he knew the voice belonged to PFC Kate Vansen, a member of his newly assigned team. Nothing much about them was known to Ethan, seeing as this was his first day serving with them. He was recently selected from an off-world training site just in time for the Judgment to get it's recall order to Earth.
"I am awake," he replied, depolarizing his visor, "No need to shout."
She smirked. "Right...Well when you're done lounging in your pod feel free to join the rest of us. You know? Briefing?"
He set his head back into the seat, making a loud clunk with his helmet. "Alright."
Ethan hauled himself out of the Human Entry Vehicle and followed Kate. She was just under his height of 5'8" and had dark red hair. He couldn't tell much about her build with the coverage of the standard vacuum grade armor issued to the ODSTs.
She stopped and turned around. "Ahem."
"What?"
"Your eyes are wandering."
"How the hell would you know?"
She smiled. "O-o-o-h don't think that helmet can keep me from reading your mind."
"Don't flatter yourself. We just met." Ethan forced himself to keep a straight face, even though he knew he had just made an ass of himself. Kate was able to hold her smile as well.
"Wilks! Vansen!" The two snapped at attention as they heard the call from their team leader. "Stop screwing around and fall in! We got ten minutes, not even."
"Sir!"
"Sir!"
The rest of the team stood around the holographic display of New Mombasa. "You two 'get lost' or something?" said Ryan Shepard, their marksman.
Kate laughed. "Oh yeah. I was all over that."
"Hey, knowing you, I wouldn't hold it far past ya."
Ryan had already geared himself up with a suppressed S2 AM rifle and all the ammo that he could carry. Though he hadn't been around long enough to judge many of them, Ethan could tell that this Marine was that cliched, smart-mouthed, kill-them-all type of squad mate. He shrugged off the nothing conversation and adjusted his focus to the briefing table.
"Stow it, people," said Sergeant Tanner, their team leader. "I don't want to waste anymore time than we have to." He panned the holographic display over to an overhead view that centered the Orbital Elevator into the middle of the table. The sole, inanimate Covenant carrier was just stationed there above the city. Blue lines traced down from the representation of the Judgment in orbit, representing pod trajectories. "Here's what we got. The moment the Covenant touched down on Mombasa, they started digging in, setting up anti air emplacements, spreading patrols throughout the downtown area. Civilians have been evac'd for the most part, but check your fire anyway. People do live here, and I'm sure some aren't willing to leave just yet."
"Their funeral, not ours," one ODST said.
"True, but that's not the kind of outcome we're looking for, now is it?" The nameless Marine put his head down for a moment. "If you'll let me finish. Our objective," he pointed to three locations that highlighted red once he touched the pad, "is to take down Covenant AA emplacements that they have set up around the outskirts of the city. We're assigned to take out these three, surrounding Kiyabako plaza. After that, all teams will regroup here on East One-Ten highway and continue across the bridge into the downtown area."
Ethan cocked his head. "Why don't we just drop into the downtown area and take the carrier now?"
Tanner took his hands off of the table and stood up straight. "Like I said; AA set-ups are restricting us from aerial incursions to the downtown sector. That means no air strikes, no orbital drops until they're knocked down."
"Does anti-air not mean anything to you, rookie?" said Wierbowski, the team's demo man.
"Enough. Wilks has been assigned to our team for a reason. Anyone has an issue with that, you will take it up with me. There's still a fight happening on the surface. So, until it's over, he's with us. Understood?" There were a few slight nods among the team. "Good. Double check your gear, find your seats."
Ethan turned around towards the part of the launch platform containing the weapons. He nudged his footlocker open with his boot and took out his customized MA5C. It had a single-shot 8 gauge chamber underslung beneath the primary barrel. Though it was a shotgun, the barrel didn't stick out farther than that of the rifle, seeing as it was meant more for firing slugs rather than buck shot. In addition to that, the assault rifle itself didn't have the standard tactical display fitted inside the bulky hump on the top. Instead, both had been replaced with a utility rail that held a reflex scope. It was the perfect weapon for him. His skill in close quarters situations earned him the weapon. As he smacked a magazine into place he heard a pair of armored footsteps against the steel grate approaching him.
"Hey, um..." Kate's voice said from behind. Ethan kept his focus on his gear but gave her the respect of his attention by glancing over his shoulder. "Don't listen to what some of the others might say. They're just--"
He smiled. "It's alright. I've heard it all before."
She nodded. "Right. Well I'll see you planetside."
"See you there."
He watched her walk away to her drop pod. Ethan had practically no time to get familiar with his team. The only ones he was able to really talk to were Kate and Ryan. He at least knew that they didn't mean anything by what they said. Truth was he didn't even know what to expect of any of them in combat. It was only hours ago that he and a handful of other recruits were transferred onto the Judgment. Before that he was still in a training station. Timing was on his side, that is depending on how it was seen from his perspective. He wanted to get into the fight, but he still felt that it was rather early for him. Right out of training and into the meat grinder. He didn't exactly know what to think about his odds. Memories of training were all that flashed through his mind when he tried to think about it. He racked the action back on his weapon and as soon as he released it, the satisfying click pulled his mind back into game.
Williams stepped out onto the launch platform. The black-haired, 6'4" officer towered in his own little spot behind the ready line in the launch bay, still wearing full dress uniform from the ceremony on Cairo station. The drop pod platform was a sea of jet black armor and blue tint helmets, save for the occasional paint schemes on some soldiers' plating. Typical gung-ho dogs of war, he thought. An evil? Maybe. But if they were, then they were a necessary evil. He cleared his throat, hoping that the sound was loud enough to capture the attention of the massed soldiers. It worked apparently. He had the room's entire attention.
"We're short on time, so I'll try to be quick about this." Williams shuffled to his left a bit, keeping his hands behind his back. "As you all know, the Athens and Malta defense stations were destroyed when the Covenant first arrived here, providing a single Covenant ship with a straight shot for Earth. It's stationed itself above the heart of New Mombasa." The sentence was followed with murmured curses among the troops. "Focus, guys. I know things just look like they're getting worse for us but that didn't stop us before. We're going to try to launch squads as close to the AA batteries as possible without risking you falling in range of their fire." Williams felt his stomach sink for a moment. He only hoped that what he was about to say didn't put them under the impression that he had doubts.
"Which is why I'm to inform you that you have the choice to whether to take the trip down by drop pod or by Pelican, where you will be acting as support as we push deeper into the Covenant occupied districts. It's your call, people. Good luck. Feet first."
While the other ODSTs went to their pods, Wilks just stood there, staring for a moment as the Executive Officer left the launch platform. Despite the bad news that Williams had delivered, there was something about his voice that Ethan found inspirational. Any man who could capture the attention of a talkative group by use of a throat sound deserved some credit. "Whatever," he said to himself. Just as he was turning to enter his pod, he saw Ryan still looking off at the blast door exiting the room. "Ryan." Wilks didn't get an answer. "Hey...hey!" He snapped his fingers. The sniper finally looked over. "What's up? You've got a look about you."
Ryan looked away at the door and then back at Wilks. "That guy never says feet first." Such things were usually seen as an omen to Marines, especially lower ranks. Ethan didn't necessarily believe that sort of thing but he got a kick out of it.
"Well fuck..."