Mettle of Honor
Trapped. Trapped alone in a pod. The drop was a failure. Stuck in a reentry capable coffin with nothing but his MA5C, his M6D, and his armor. The pod couldn't open. He could do nothing but think about how he got into the predicament.
July 7th, 2559
The UNSC Grapes of Wrath was a Black-Cat class ship, and had been taking part in the battle over the planet Roost, which had been under attack by a small Brute fleet. The Grapes of Wrath was not designed for combat. Rather, it was made for the sole purpose of stealthily transporting squads to and from their destinations. Therefore, the decision made by Captain Darius Hunter to aid in the battle was not well thought out.
After less than ten minutes, the ship was damaged beyond repair. In a moment of panic, the Captain made a blind jump to the nearest star system.
Captain Hunter wasn't known for his prowess, or for his frequent disregarding of regulations. He was known for smoking. Not one member of the ODST squad onboard had ever seen him without a cigarette. Thus, Hunter was known to most as "Smoker".
While he did have a tendency to screw the rules, he had never caused a casualty before, and he intended to keep it that way. He would get the Helljumpers off his ship even if it killed him.
It was only after speaking with the leader of the squad of Helljumpers, a Gunnery Sergeant Devonshire, that Captain "Smoker" noticed the destination he had plotted. He ordered the ODST squad to gear up and be ready for anything.
With multiple small holes and numerous missing plates, the Grapes of Wrath exited Slipspace. There was a great depression on the hull from a particularly crafty Seraph, and the Slipspace drive was leaking coolant. The damage done to the ship was nothing compared to the carnage the Black-Cat intruded on.
The squad had just entered the Battle of Sanghelios.
Both factions possessed numerous ships, with the Brutes holding a slight numbers advantage. This did not matter to the Sangheili, for they had the advantage of experience in ship-to-ship combat.
There were no formations or patterns of the ships. The Humans had a hard time distinguishing which ships belonged to which faction. Only the friend or foe indicator told the Captain which ships were his allies.
Captain "Smoker" told the Helljumpers to finish their preparations and board their pods. When abandoning ship, most people go to escape pods. An ODST prefers to go feet first. The five Helljumpers climbed into their SOIEV drop pods and waited for launch.
The Grapes of Wrath was crippled, and the Captain knew it. The ship was drifting on an intercept course with an advancing Brute assault carrier, and "Smoker" was ready for the Grapes of Wrath to make its last delivery.
He launched the pods to the red planet and walked to the engine room. His data pad started a countdown until collision.
1 minute
The Captain entered the engine room and observed the massive puddles of extremely flammable fuel and coolant.
30 seconds
He lugged the only Shiva nuclear warhead into the room and primed it.
20 seconds
He lit his last cigarette and took a deep drag as he pondered the impact he will make in history. He wondered if children will laugh at his nickname when they read it in their textbooks.
10 seconds
He said a prayer and wished the Helljumpers luck.
5 seconds
The ship burst through the Brute's shields as the Captain watched the red tip of the cigarette in his hand.
2 seconds
Captain Darius "Smoker" Hunter flicked the cigarette into the pool of fuel surrounding the nuke.
The destruction of the UNSC Grapes of Wrath from within the assault carrier's shields nearly tore the ship in half. The resulting chain reactions within the ship finished the job.
Unfortunately, the loss of the Brute ship left only the smallest of dents in the outcome of the battle. Through witnesses from the ODST squad and nearby Sangheili Shipmasters, the sacrifice would be remembered and recorded for history.
Meanwhile, five dots raced through the battle towards the alien planet. It was nothing short of luck that none of the drop pods were struck by weapons or debris. The Helljumpers quietly set up an RV point in case they were split up and spent the rest of the drop in silence.
Things went wrong for the newest member of the squad when the HEV's entered the red atmosphere. The Corporal did not share the good luck of his squad mates. He had the misfortune of meeting a Seraph fighter, whose pilot was also lacking in luck. The pod drove through the fighter, and the Corporal yelled as the pod strayed off course. The drag chute failed to deploy on time, and he could do nothing but watch the clouds race by and the mountains rising into view.
The drag chute and the landing jets deployed at the same time. Those were the only thing that stopped him from dying on impact, especially because the hatch side of the SOIEV was angled slightly towards the ground; an angle that would usually be followed by death.
Luckily for the rookie of the team, his pod struck the side of a hill. Unluckily, it also rolled. He was knocked unconscious from the impact of the landing, so he was spared the spinning view of Sanghelios. Not that there was much to see through the blur. The beach he landed on was nothing special, appearing to be almost exactly like the beaches that surround lakes on Earth. The forest, though, was astonishing. Every single tree was taller than a three-floor house, yet the trunks were only about as thick as the Corporal himself (which isn't saying much).
The drop pod eventually stopped rolling, settling right in between the water and the forest. It came to a rest laying on its hatch. If he were awake, the Corporal would've had a great view of the sand pressed against the window.
About an hour later, he let out a groan as he came to. He opened his eyes and felt something drip down between them. He lifted his head, but the action felt strange. The ODST realized that the pod was laying down on its front. The window revealed nothing but sand. His restraints were the only thing keeping gravity from pulling him down. Knowing it would be useless, he armed the explosive bolts and hoped they would flip the pod over. No luck. They fired, but had no effect due to the weight of the SOEIV on the hatch.
The Corporal shook his head and pulled his helmet off. Feeling the blood on his forehead, he knew the bucket had saved him from a lethal head injury. He let it drop to the "floor" of the pod door of the pod, since that was down, and settle there. His beacon was already activated, and he could do nothing but sleep while his squad was hopefully looking for him.
Trapped. Trapped alone in a pod. The drop was a failure. Stuck in a reentry capable coffin with nothing but his MA5C, his M6D, and his armor.
And there's chapter one. There's more to come, a lot more than my previous story. I had a bit of fun with this, as you may have noticed with the references. Yes, there are a number of subtle references throughout the chapter and the rest of the story. Can you find them? Remember, I can't post more chapters unless I get reviews.
Bler