Prologue: Death of a Hero
The day started out as any day in the year 2563 would. Colonel Joseph Porrier awoke and walked over to his bathroom, he took a piss and gave himself a facial shave. He wiped his chin.
"Like a baby's bottom."he said to himself. He pondered what to do today and then thought of something. He went over to his telephone and called an old friend. He called Lieutenant Kevin Rabazzo, his old war buddy.
"Hey, Its Joe, is Kevin there?"Porrier asked the wife of Rabazzo. He listened to the words coming out of her mouth ans she was concocting an excuse as to why her husband couldn't come to the phone. He hung up the phone and went to the door, he opened it. He descended the stairs and saw one of his neighbors.
"Mrs. Callahan," he tipped his Red Sox cap. "Fine day today, no?"he asked the woman.
"No, way."."she said to him.
"What?"he asked
"Well, you have on a vintage Boston Red Sox hat."she said.
"And..."he asked
"Well, they haven't been around for almost three-hundred years, since they moved to New Providence."she continued.
"Well, its what I got for the war." he told her. They parted ways. He thought to himself..."God, what a Cosmo.-tech can do to a seventy year-old woman..." His mind echoed, he was only forty-two years, though life expectancy these days was at about 128.
He went to his car, a Warthog M831 TT. This variation of a warthog, could sit eight people including himself. He got in and drove out. He arrived at Rabazzo's place of living. It was a two story apartment complex. Rabazzo received a lot of money for retirement and pension. He was the landlord. The people upstairs were nice, thought Porrier.
The Colonel walked to the door, and without knocking the door opened. Francis Rabazzo was standing at the door. She held a laundry basket.
"What do you want?"asked the wife of his former comrade.
"Well, Franny I called to have a day with my best friend."said Porrier.
"He's helping out at home today,"she said her eyes had a fire inside.
"He helps out everyday come on Fran, I need to hangout with the man who's LIFE I saved."Porrier said, he put emphasis on the word life.
Kevin walked to the door, towering over his wife at seven feet tall. He looked at Porrier, then at his wife, then at the laundry basket. He pulled out his orange shades.
"Let's roll."he said sliding his glasses on.
The two went to a golf course, and started playing. They got in free, it was free for any veteran of the human-covenant war. Porrier started off the game, driving one to the sandtrap before the first hole.
"Damn, those always get me."said Porrier.
"No trouble friend, I shall emerge victorious anyways."said Rabazzo.
Porrier took aim for his next shot and out of the corner of his eye saw it. It was an unknown projectile, and he threw himself at Rabazzo knocking them into the sand trap in which his ball was.
They fell into the sand trap, which was the worst place for Porrier. It had skimmed his back, cutting him open. He fell into the sand which got into his cut. He screamed loudly.
Rabazzo looked up to see what was firing at them. A beast, about six feet tall, with a curved beak and what looked like an ancient gladiators' helmet walked towards them. It had shiny green armor with a yellowish sheen on. The creature took out a boom-a-rang-type weapon and threw it. Porrier rolled out of the way and the weapon missed by inches. He jumped to his feet to face the creature.
He got a couple of blows in before his knuckles cracked from hitting such a surface. He cried out before being broken in half by the beast. It then propped him up on its shoulders and jumped high in the air, dropping Porrier.
As he fell, his life basically re-capped. He saw his daughter, his wife-divorced. He saw the Spartans, the Master Chief. He saw an elite, and a brute, and then the grass coming up on him quickly. He impacted and was buried a couple feet beneath ground.
Then, the brown of the dirt turned red, then black. He was dead.
"HOLY SHIT!!"screamed Rabazzo. He saw the beast jump again, but this time wings sprouted from its back and it flew off.
Rabazzo sprinted towards the Warthog. He hopped into the drivers seat and pulled away. He got to his house, it was a pile of rubble. He drove to Porrier's apartment. Once again, rubble.
"They killed, everything."said Rabazzo.
He drove towards the U.S. border. It had also been destroyed. He surveyed the wreckage and tears swelled in his eyes.
Finally he made it to a place where people were still alive. He got to the nearest military building.
"We have to move, NOW!" he said as he burst through the door.
"What?" asked the guy sitting at the front desk.
"Where is your commanding officer?"asked Rabazzo.
"Well that would be Corporal Watts."said the kid at the desk.
"I out-rank him, I'm a lieutenant."said Rabazzo.
"Well then," the kid asked "What are we up against?"