Chapter 1:
"We've got a Hunter pair over the ridge, I spotted five Elites as well as a platoon of Grunts, No artillery," Fi whispered to the squad. Fi, "One-Five", was the squads scout, He had the best eyes and ears of them all.
"Six-Two, get a SPNKR Launcher prepared to take those hunters out, Merc, Mega, set up a firing position to eliminate those elites. I want those MA5B's set with Shredder rounds. We all know our armor can't take any direct plasma rounds. Due, Chaos, Shadow, Cryo, focus on those grunts, aim for the head, you know the drill," Sev barked. Sev, "Oh-Seven," was the squad leader. He had the best aim with a rifle. He could hit two targets with a sniper so quickly and efficiently, you couldn't tell which had perished first.
Chaos let out a sigh, "It's always so boring taking out those gas breathers, no satisfaction in the kills." Chaos, "Nine-One," was a bit sadistic. He got the most enjoyment out of his own life, by taking other creatures lives. He was considered the squads "assassin," He specialized in Knives. Old fashioned, but effective. Even on the shielding of the arrogant Elites.
"We don't have time to dwindle, Chaot'ika," Scorch teased, " Besides, why are you complaining? I'm the one who has to suffer in this damn snow." Scorch, "Six-Two," was the squads demolitions expert. He handles all the explosives, and he is appropriately named, as his favorite method of killing, is by burning them. He is Second in command of the squad.
"Can you guys quit bitching and get a move on the op before the covenant get to us," Shadow hissed. Shadow, "Three-Two," was different, in the fact that he had no clear specialty. He just had determination. He would never give up. He would fight until every ounce of breath was squeezed from his lungs.
"Alright boys, Three-Two's right, we have a reputation to uphold, and a mission to finish. The fun is just starting," Sev motioned his hands to direct each "Theta" to their positions, and he climbed up a small cliff of snow over-looking the battlefield. He readied his rifle, and opened up the Com channel. "Com channel is open, does everyone copy?" Eight acknowledgement lights burned green in his helmet. "They haven't spotted us yet, Scorch, on three, fire two rockets at the Hunter pair, once those explosives hit, I want everyone on their targets. Quick and clean."
Scorch readied his SPNKR rocket launcher on his shoulder, and carefully aimed at his unsuspecting victims. There was no room for error here, if he missed either hunter, it'd be hell getting another clean shot on them. He brought up a small timer on each Theta's helmet. It displayed the time the rockets would impact, not when they were fired.
" Three....Two....One...,"Two rockets flew from their tubes leaving the SPNKR smoking. Scorch dropped the launcher and pulled out his MA5B assault rifle to assist Merc and Mega on the elites once the rockets impacted. Two explosions echoed off the cliff walls and orange worms flew in all directions due to the collision. Sniper fire Crackled as bullets flew over head, connecting with each elites personal shield, leaving them vulnerable to the combined fire from the squad.
Due, Cryo, Chaos, and Shadow made short work of the grunts by focusing their M6D fire on their heads. Some of the Grunts ignited as bullets penetrated their methane suits, and if the bullet didn't kill them, the flames did. A couple of the grunts attempted to extinguish the flames by rolling in the snow, however their attempts were in vain as the Helljumpers picked them off at a long range.
"I still praise the genius who designed this pistol," Cryo remarked. Cryo was the squads jokester. It was a position that used to be held by Fi, but years of combat had hardened him. Cryo was the newest member to Theta, and he still had a bit of a pure mind in him. He specialized in CQB, but he's happy to take a break from it all and just pick off the covenant bastards at a distance.
"Cut the chatter, if the covenant didn't know we were here before, they do now. Our objective is to plant two FENRIS nuclear warheads into a newly constructed Covenant factory, It's still about eight miles south of here, but we're going to be seeing more and more resistance as we progress. The Pelican will be at the LZ within two hours. We don't have much time to work, Get in the 'hog's." Sev ordered.
The Warthogs stationed behind them had been used to get them this far. All three of the hogs had been painted white, to help blend in with the snowy terrain. It didn't camouflage them much, but it was better than nothing. The first two vehicles were standard M12LRV's, essentially jeeps with turrets on the back of them. The third one, however, had been modified, and the turret was missing. Instead, there was a layer of thick armor all around the back side, making it more like a truck. The nuclear warheads were strapped down there. The Mongoose, a small all terrain scout vehicle of the UNSC, was also painted white. Fi used this to move ahead faster than the other vehicles, to report what was where, and what to target.
Due accessed a map of the area, and took a moment to create a trail on the map which would give them the most direct route to the factory. He then uploaded it to each ODST so they could access it from their "VISR." Due, "Five-Eight" was the transportation specialist. But he would rather just be called a pilot. He was trained to fly Pelicans, Longswords, Hornets, and nearly every combat ship in the UNSC armada. But just because he preferred to be in a ship didn't mean he couldn't hold his own with standard weapons.
"Alright, as you can see, I've uploaded a map to our VISR's, it shows the most direct path to the factory, although there might be some changes while we're on the road, I think this is our best course of action," Due explained.
"Did everyone get the upload," Sev questioned. All eight lights winked green. "Good, Fi, move ahead now, and report back with whatever disturbances you see. Due, I want you driving that first hog. Merc, Cryo, you're with him. Chaos, Mega, you two are with me. I'm driving," As he gave commands he inched towards his jeep. "Six-Two, Three-Two, You two follow up behind us, we can't risk letting those nukes taking a round of plasma and detonating in our ass."
The rest of the squad followed the instructions, and were moving in no time. But something was on Scorch's mind. "Why would the UNSC send nine ODST's to destroy a covenant factory on their own? Surely this was an important mission, they couldn't risk letting the Covenant have such a massive base set up so close to human controlled space? So why did they lack tanks, and air-support," These questions plagued his mind, but he forced the thoughts into the back of his head. Where he suppressed all of his emotions.
The first fifteen minutes went by silently, with no radio contact. Then Fi's light blinked red twice. The "hold up" signal. "Fi, what's the problem?," Oh-Seven asked as the warthog decelerated.
"We've got multiple contacts up ahead. At least four ghosts, and two banshees. I see two shade turrets set up and what appears to be a makeshift camp," Fi reported.
"Sir, should we engage?," Mega questioned. Mega loved his Assault Rifles. Be it MA5B, MA5C, or even a MA5K, as long as it was automatic and it could tear through covenant armor, he didn't care. He had conflicting personalties with other members of the squad, and there was much drama concerning him outside of the military, but in combat situations everyone sucked it up, because he was just as good of a soldier as them.
Sev pondered a moment, and than replied, "Fi wait up for us. We're going to bring Scorch's rocket to you, and you'll cover me and Due as we move the Hog's to the base. Six-Two, I want you to follow up slowly, by the time you arrive we should be finishing up."
"Don't you think it'd be easier to just avoid this battle all together?" Shadow had made the mistake of questioning orders many times before, they didn't have time for this now.
"Shadow! Think about who you're questioning for a moment, we don't have time to deal with your shit, shut up and follow the orders," Scorch screamed, controlling his temper was usually easy, all though his patience had been running thin recently.
"I'm sorry, I just don't want to risk screwing up the op so Sev can add a couple of kills to his service record."
Merc had heard enough. "That's it, both of you are acting like children. There are lives at stake, and you are bitching about it as if we're back in some drill. He's the CO not you," Merc said calmly. Merc rarely spoke. He was one of those "strong silent types." He only spoke when he was spoken directly too, or if he had no other choice.
As if someone had stapled Shadows mouth shut, he ceased talking. So did Scorch, and even Sev. When Merc spoke it was a sign that things were getting out of hand. Maybe they weren't the perfect squad, but when it came to combat, they were damn close.