Location: UNSC Say My Name, Above New Mombasa, Kenya, October 20th 2552
View inside a ready room in the UNSC Say My Name. The Rookie sleeps in front of a drop pod in the foreground while Mickey, Dutch, and Romeo are around a large holo-table, on which a hologram of New Mombasa and the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier is displayed.
"The Navy put up a good fight." Remarks Michael "Mickey" Crespo.
"Course they did. It's Earth." Replied Taylor "Dutch" Myles.
"Better late than never." Quipped Kojo "Romeo" Agu.
"How 'bout you show a little respect, Romeo?" Dutch countered leaning over the holo-table.
"Just saying Dutch, they missed one." Romeo gestured to the Covenant assault carrier projected on the holo-table.
"No, they left it for us." Dutch said, standing straight.
Suddenly lights start flashing and a siren blares as Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck walks in accompanied by a stranger.
"You know the music. Time to dance." Buck ordered, walking past the squad, stranger in tow.
"Hello, beautiful." Romeo whispers as the stranger walks past.
Buck looks to his squad and the back to the stranger. "Pods. Now." He order, pointing at Romeo.
As the troopers grab their gear and walk towards their pods, Buck turns to the stranger, now revealed to be ONI Captain Veronica Dare.
"Replacements?" She questions.
"This far into the war, who isn't?" He replied, watching his squad head to their pods.
"At least they listen." She said, putting her hands on her hips, examining the squad.
"Yeah, to me. And they're not gonna like what they hear." Buck replied turning to face her.
"Orders are orders Buck." Dare replied sternly.
"Come on Veronica! What could be more important than that carrier?" Buck questioned.
"My orders. And Buck. Call me Captain. I'll pass on that dance. But you can show me where to sit." She said, brushing past Buck.
"What the hell kind of armour was she wearing?" Mickey questioned as he attached Frag grenades to his belt.
"Dunno, Mickey, I wasn't looking at her gear." Romeo smirked.
"Seriously Dutch." Romeo scoffed as Dutch examined a silenced M7 SMG.
"It's gonna be close quarters." He shrugged.
"Exactly." Romeo replied, pulling a M90 Shotgun from the rack and pointing it at Dutch.
As Dutch shoves the shotgun away he looks over Romeo's shoulder to see Dare and Buck arrive.
"Second to last, right next to mine." Buck said, pointing to Dare's pod with his helmet.
"Cozy." Romeo remarked as Buck approached him. "You gonna tell us her name, Gunny?" He smirked.
"Ms. Naval Intelligence, our new boss."
"Oh, brother." Mickey muttered.
"So check your mouths, find your chairs and get set for a combat drop!" Buck ordered as he pulled the shotgun from Romeo's hands and pushed a sniper rifle into his chest.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this inside a Covenant ship?" Romeo questioned as he turned and walked to his pod.
"Hey Mickey, has the Rookie been asleep all this time?" Romeo called.
"Yeah, hey wake him up, we need to get ready to drop." Mickey awnsered from the other row of pods.
"Sure thing, I'm gonna enjoy this." Romeo smirked, walking up to the Rookie and hitting him in the back of the head with his sniper rifle.
"Uhh!" The Rookie awoke with a jolt.
"Wake up, buttercup." Romeo said, walking away.
"Relax Rookie. He don't mean nothin'. Besides. Now one of those times, it pays to be the strong, silent type." Dutch said as he handed the Rookie a silenced M7 SMG and walks away.
Stunned and with a sore head, the Rookie climbs into his pod and attaches his weapon to the built-in rack and then waits for Buck to give the signal to launch.
The Rookie feels a jerk as the hatch closes and the pods move to their launch positions and Buck and Dare's faces appear on the drop pods screens.
"Latest intel reports Covenant troops are massing beneath the carrier." Dares voice was barely audible over the radio interference
"They're pulling back? Why?"
"We're not gonna find out way up here." Dare answered as the countdown started.
"We're droppin' into hell, troopers! It's time to grow a pair!" Buck yelled over the radio as the Rookie's pod disengaged and he was sent hurtling earthward.
The Rookie's eyes widened in horror as his pod sped past the burning wreck that used to be the UNSC Siderious.
"I take it back. Navy got its butt kicked." Romeo remarked as the passed the Siderious wreckage.
"Hey Romeo. Remember when I told you to shut your mouth." Buck questioned.
"Yeah."
"Consider it a standing order." He scolded.
The Rookie drew a sharp breath as the clouds dissipated to reveal the familiar sight of a Covenant assault carrier hovering below.
"Captain? Fifteen klicks off deck." Buck informed.
"Stand by to adjust trajectory on my mark." Dare ordered.
"What'd she say?" Asked Dutch.
"Mark." The rookie's head was thrown to the right as his pod shifted.
"We're way off course." Mickey cries.
"Were heading exactly were I need to go." Dare countered.
"But were gonna miss the carrier."
"The carrier's not important"
"Radiation!" Cries Dutch as a Slipspace upture opens in front of the carrier, causing a crater on the ground.
"The Covenant set off a nuke?" Quizzed Buck.
"No, the carrier's going to jump! It's a slip-space rupture! You need too-"
"What the hell is the In Amber Clad doing? Buck interrupts as the carrier disappears, taking the In Amber Clad with it and creating a huge explosion and EMP shockwave.
"EMP! Losing power!" Yells Dutch
"Stabilize then pop your chutes! We're going in hard!" Buck orders as the comm. breaks up then fails.
"Here we go." The Rookie says aloud, suddenly jumping as Mickey's pod, now powerless, slams into his, cracking the glass screen and damaging the quick-release bolts attached to the frame.
"I already hate this mission." The Rookie remarks before hitting a building and the whole going black.