The words "We need a hero," were on an endless replay in Private James' head.
They were the final words his commanding officer said before a set of needler bolts struck his chest and exploded, tearing the officer's torso in half. The covenant had invaded James home planet. He couldn't begin to understand why. He didn't understand why they attacked with merciless force. He didn't understand why they killed millions of people, scorched his home, and annihilated his platoon. He didn't understand why they couldn't stop them, or if the Covenant could even be. At first he wanted to charge into battle. Head on into their ugly alien lines. Side by side with his fellow marines, guns ablaze with hope and pride carrying them forward into battle to defeat the covenant. He and what was left of his forces were in full retreat when a plasma grenade detonated nearby.
Now he found himself on his back in the rubble covered street of a city he once knew. The planet's sun, blocked out by the clouds of smoke in the Covenant's wake of destruction, was James' last ray of hope to look to. He now felt abandoned… abandoned by the UNSC. The army he swore to. The army he fought for. He first requested ammo and supplies to be brought to his squad. He then requested reinforcements, and then EVAC. The only request he received a response to was reinforcements. But no one ever arrived. He cursed, believing this is the end, the end of his home… and his war. He listened to the sound of plasma weapons and small arms fire echoing all around him. The fight was still raging, but he knew his was at his end. As his eyes begin to shut, a tall dark figure entered his sight. His eyes widened as he realized what it was. One of the covenant's strongest warriors, an Elite. Its muscled figure stood in shimmering blue armor and wielded an ignited plasma rifle. The split jawed alien stared down into the eyes of its prey as James stared into the eyes of his ender. The alien clatters its jaw in a way that James took as a chuckle as it leveled its weapon at his head.
"This is it…" James thought to himself, "this is where I die and everything is turned to glass. This is the end of the line and there's nothing I can do… but where's my hero? Where is the person who is to sweep in and rescue me? To save us? Heroes don't exist anymore; they were simply myths that we created so we could still have hope. Well… where is that hope now…"
Suddenly, all the sounds of battle were drowned out by the sound of powerful rotors from above. As the Elite directed its attention to the sky, a blinding light from above shined down on them. James attempted to see what had appeared above him, but the light forced him to shield his narrowed eyes. The Elite gave one last battle cry just before a hail of bullets rained down and tore it apart. James watched the Elite's bullet punctured body drop to the ground in front of him. The light from above aimed elsewhere, giving James a chance to see just who it was that saved him. He saw a figure standing on the railing of an UNSC falcon, hanging on to the fuselage with one hand and a smoking barreled assault rifle in the other. The figure was clad in heavy military green armor. It appeared almost more machine than human. As the unknown figure leaped down from above, James finally realized…
His hero had arrived… his hero, a Spartan.