Location: High Charity: Habitation Area
Date: Nov 2, 2552
A day like no other was unfolding on civilian habitat level of the Covenant's capital. The artificial wind howled, blowing the dust and debris from the pock-marked field that had once been a glorious garden. The Covenant army was fighting back one of the rarest things ever seen. A human UNSC boarding party. This party had one thing that no one had ever expected, a SPARTAN, but this was no regular SPARTAN. He was a Series I SPARTAN. A member of the long since disbanded project, this lone fighter had been found free floating in space in a semi-intact cryostasis tube with a small solar generator. The pod had been ejected when a stellar class cruiser had come under fire, and could no longer assure the safety of its crew or its cargo. At this time, the cruiser had ejected its cargo, and all crew on board. Now this man has been awaked by a group of marines and ODST's from the ship he had been being transported on.
On the field, the marines and ODST's were pushing forward, trying to capture as much of the sacred city as possible as they awaited the arrival of their comrades in arms aboard a newly constructed and near completely pirated ship that resembled a Covenant capitol ship. During the fight, the SPARTAN had been fighting well, holding his ground and helping the men push back the Covenant troops. With each foot they gained, the soldiers grew happier and had begun to aim more recklessly. Amongst the Covenant troops, females and their children with running in terror trying to escape the battle that was engulfing what had once been a place of serenity and safety. Soon the SPARTAN saw something in the corner of one area, a female elite who had been forced into a corner of what had once been a twelve foot tall walled area of the garden. The marines who he had been fighting alongside had not realized this, and had thrown a fragmentation grenade. This was one of the most powerful handheld weapons at any soldiers dispense, and was capable of sending shrapnel and a wave of heat in about a five yard radius. Unfortunately for this female, she was well within that five yard radius. At this sight, the SPARTAN was split. He knew the Covenant and all species of their alliance were aiming to end his life, and the lives of his fellow soldiers. But as any good soldier knows, there are rules to war. These rules forbade harming non-combatants let alone women and children. With only a few moments left, the SPARTAN did the only thing he could think of to help the trapped elite. He put his body in the way of the explosion, and hoped his shields and armor would absorb enough of the blast that they would both survive this encounter. As the grenade exploded no more than a mere two feet from him, the only thing he could think of was why he was doing this. It was in this moment he flashed back to a memory that seemed so unimportant at the time that he had almost entirely forgotten it. The memory was of his training, the year had been 2493, two years after he had been forced into the original SPARTAN program. He had been paired with two other children at the age of 6. This three member team was to be tutored by a veteran of a war which had broken nearly all of the conventional rules of war. This war had been the Third World War. In this war, no one had been left unscathed. Man, woman and child alike had been slaughtered as humanity waged its largest war against itself. This war had erupted over the simplest of all things, religion. The veteran who had taught this SPARTAN had always spoken of what he had done in this war. He spoke of the savagery's and the atrocities he and his fellows had committed. He had taught this most likely soon to be dead soldier that no matter what, above all else he should strive to serve and protect. Civilians should never have to become involved in a war no matter what the reasons. It was then he realized why he was doing this. Now he only hoped he could uphold the teachings of his tutor. With this final thought he snapped back to reality, and saw the yellow flames of the explosive within the grenade approaching him. Shields, armor, padding all gave wave to the immense power of this single item no larger than a grape fruit. And it was at this moment that he heard a scream unlike any other as the female elite behind him cowered trying to use his armored body as a shield. With that, the SPARTAN blacked out.
End Chapter
Sorry if it seems a bit jumbled. My first piece :P . Been proof reading it for a few days trying to get it all right. Hope you enjoy!