Sorry, guys! I meant to delete a different story but accidently deleted this one. So, here it is again.
Dominic listened to the pelican's roar as it flew gracefully through the air. The sound of men's chatter filled the passenger compartment of the drop ship along with the explosions outside. One hit dangerously close to the ship, making it swing wildly and fly off course.
He opened his eyes quickly and gripped his restraints as all the loose items, including his ODST helmet, flew around the compartment. The other ODSTs yelled loudly as the ship once again regained control but was hit again. This time it wasn't as wild and the pilot kept good control.
Dominic couldn't believe they were sending troops into an area so hot this way. He would've thought they'd drop them in; in their HEVs.
After the war had ended, Covenant brutes were continuing to make problems for the UNSC. Mostly small attacks on supply frigates or colonies. But, the UNSC was trying to assure humanity that the threat was gone and the attacks made that difficult.
So, HIGHCOM made the big decision to send in several hundred ODST teams to the brute home world to destroy them once and for all. The Sangheili also agreed to send in some of their troops to help. But, the rest of the marines were needed to keep order in the highly unstable UNSC.
Their mission: to locate and help the fleet target major cities all across the planet. They would then use the Sangheili ships to glass the cities until the brutes were defeated. Their leader had said that the brute home world had several, vital resources that humanity needed and didn't have. Should they led the Sangheili glass the entire planet, the resources would then be lost.
Dominic, was one of the thousands of ODSTs sent in to attack them. He was told the planet was very earth-like with a good climate and temperature. But then again, it was crawling with hostile aliens, so he wondered how good it could possibly be. He was also told there were several hundred volcanoes and lots of volcanic activity. That would make for an interesting battle.
Another explosion rocked the ship back and forth violently, shaking him from his thoughts. He watched as the back gate and attached warthog were blown off and they were exposed to the planet outside.
It was nighttime and raining heavily and soaked the tropical forest underneath them. They could the mortars of several anti-air wraiths as they fought to bring down the troops. One succeeded, and they watched a pelican plummet down into the trees.
Dominic up from the scene just in time to see his helmet fall out of the pelican, disappearing among the trees. He sighed and gripped his battle rifle fiercely as the ship was hit once again, this time, severe damage was noticed.
The left engine was blown out and the pelican then turned violently to the left and down toward the trees. Dominic and the others yelled as they watched the forest disappear and was replaced with the rainy sky above them.
Dominic clenched his eyes as the ship crashed among the trees and he lost consciousness.
"Dom! Dom, wake up!"
Dominic opened his eyes slowly and realized he was upside down! His eyesight was blurry and unfocused and ringing was the only sound he heard. He felt hands tugging at his restraints and then a curse.
He started to focus and saw one of his teammates pull out his knife and start cutting away at them. First his left side, then his right, and then he felt himself drop quickly and into the arms of his friend.
Once again he found himself in a blurry sea and fought for focus. The ringing was subsiding and he could hear his friend talking to the ODSTs around him. But more importantly, he heard gunfire.
"—push them back! Rico, Mike, help me with Dom!" Then Dominic felt several hands set him down against the back of the pelican. He could see that about half the people who'd been on the pelican were dead, the rest were fighting brutes hidden in the trees. Again he heard his friend and then knew the voice.
Captain Felix Marksman. The commanding officer of his four-man ODST team. The rest of them were Lance Corporal Rico Múnez, Sergeant Mike Rotman, and Corporal Dominic Rostad. He smiled now as he remembered them. He remembered hearing Rico and Mike's names, so they must still be alive.
A brutes stick grenade then flew toward the men, landing on the ground in front of the soldiers in the downed ship.
"Sticker!" someone yelled loudly. He watched all of them duck behind a crate they'd moved over in front of the opening as the grenade exploded, sending the spikes flying through the air. He last remembered seeing that crate strapped to a wall, the very one he was sitting against.
He looked next to him and saw where they'd cut the straps and had pulled it away to used for cover. Another explosion outside the ship woke him again.
"Ah, crap," he muttered to himself as he crawled over to one of the bodies. He pulled off the man's helmet and made sure it wasn't too bloody before putting it on. The HUD was still working and showed about six red dots in the trees in front of him. Crouched, he moved over to the crate and joined his teammates in firing at the monsters. Mike looked at him and smiled as they fired together.
Dominic used his HUD and aimed carefully at the aliens and then let loose a barrage from his weapon. The bullets struck the creature on the head, denting its helmet and hurting it badly. Again, he fired and hit the creature in the head. The monster's helmet flew off and it roared in defiance. Dominic smiled slightly and cut the roar short with three bullets placed perfectly in the brute's mouth, not even chipping a tooth with his accuracy. The monster tumbled to the ground but Dominic was already focused on another target.
After several more minutes of the fighting, all the brutes were lying dead in the mud. Dominic stood in the upside down pelican and looked at his teammates and the other surviving ODST.
Felix stood as he reloaded his weapon and immediately started barking orders. "Okay, listen we've got to get out of here. This place will be swarming with brutes." He then pulled out a pistol and fired at the hinges on the crate and flung it open. Inside, was extra ammo, armor, and food. "Alright, this is good. Take all the ammo you can carry. Each of you grab three days worth of food and if you need new armor take it. Who knows how long we'll be here and I don't think we'll ever come back here."
Felix grabbed his own food and then stepped aside to let the others grab their own food and supplies. Dominic replaced his bloody helmet with a new one, grabbed a suppressed M7S Case less Submachine Gun along with lots of ammo for both his weapons, and then grabbed his food.
Silence filled the compartment of the dead and living. The pounding rain outside was the only sound…
… until the flight radio in the cockpit crackled to life. Dominic stopped along with the others and listened.
"—under fire—coming in hot—going down—reinforcements…" the radio then crackled loudly and the mixed reports were mixed with the sound of static. Then, a weak voice sounded over the radio, suggesting it came from the orbiting fleet above them.
"All units: we will be continuing to drop in reinforcements and vehicles. The Sangheili fleet is right behind us and you'll be seeing them soon. Remember your mission, find their cities and get their coordinates. The future of humanity depends on you, good luck. Signing off."
Then static was the only noise.
The other men looked at Felix silently as he watched the rain outside, and then turned toward them. "You know our mission," he said quietly. "We find their cities, and destroy them." Then, he turned toward the rainy forest outside. "So let's go."
