ODST 17-17

Prelude

My name is in my records yet I have forgotten it long ago but I am usually called Lili now. This is a personal recording of my life story from what I can remember. After this little introduction I will be putting clips from my helmet as visual evidence for you to see.

I began as a small orphan child on the streets at about 3 years old, I guess since records say I was born in the year 2511, with no home, no family, and no friends. I survived daily on rats, stolen food, and homeless shelters so as to keep alive on a daily basis. I was born on the planet Coral in the city of Dian Chao in the slums. For 7 years I stayed alive and fought as best I could against other street kids and muggers that would rather kill me for what little I had than to leave me alone. It was quite common at times for a pedestrian to come through and be dead with various riffraff on them before they could blink. I would know since at times I was one of them until that fateful day.

An old man had walked down the street and many of the older people knew him and stayed away but the younger ones of us had no clue until we got close. Most of the kids attacked him and were simple knocked out easily by him with a single hand before they could react. I watched from the shadows with my small knife ready knowing I would be dead if he knocked me out since I was hated by most of the kids for outsmarting them and getting what they had. I snuck up on the old man and am about to pounce when he turns and looks right at me making me move back just in time as his walking stick almost hits me in the head if I had stayed there.

With what good agility I had I then charged at him and slowly make progress towards him as he keeps trying to hit me with his stick until I almost have him on my knife when he drops his arm on mine making it crack. With a yell of pain unknown to me until now of broken bones I collapse as he smiles and kneels beside me and seems to pull bandages and medicine from nowhere and starts to treat my wounds. Kindness was strange and had never been given to me before until now.

After helping fix my arm he helps me up and carries me with him which I let happen knowing someone who could easily dodge my attack was someone that could kill me if he wanted to. A girl my age usually would be a prostitute if not for my ability to defend myself and with this man I somehow knew I would not be harmed anymore. We travelled through five blocks of sheer death where the older kids lived and they would usually kill people on the spot yet they stayed away from this old man as if knowing he was death incarnate. We soon reach his home which looks like an old noodle shop that is a two story building and in good condition from the look it had.

He carried me inside and lay me down on a bed that looked clean enough to eat off of and you wouldn't get any dirt with the food. For three days and nights he had me live with him where I got new clothes, a warm bath and soap, and even fresh food which made me feel like I had died and gone to heaven. On the forth morning he sat at the table and finally spoke for the first time since I had seen him.

"Hello young one, I am Quin-Pi, a teacher of the arts. Among very few have I ever had to actually had to even look at when I fight and for you I was very surprised. You seem a natural born killer and yet have no one to guide you in killing. I wish to have you as my apprentice so as let your natural talents grow if you so wish." Says the old man as he looks down at me in my bed still.

Naturally I would have been suspicious of him but having been given so much for no reason made me accept on the spot with a single nod. I had never talked before but for this man I would willingly talk and even do anything he asked so long as I could live like this.

The day then began as he started giving me the basics of some old martial arts from a place called China on a planet called Earth. He taught me in three years how to fight with anything from a branch all the way to a sword. I learned how to become a long lost fighter that had died out long ago called a martial artist. I learned so many styles and arts of martial arts that he even taught me the art of the ninja to go with it. I soon came to see him like a father and treated him with respect as I learned languages from places on earth like China, Spain, England, Russian, and many others.

I even met a man that hacked computers who taught me how to hack. He loved to teach me and I seemed to be a natural at it as I hacked my way through systems faster than anyone he had ever seen before. I loved the praise and liked being near him. Sooner than I liked I heard the police caught him and hung him though.

That all soon crumbling down when a local Gang started a fight in the streets and catching a nearby house on fire. With how the slums were and how bad the conditions were around a fire here would soon become an inferno. That day I was learning from Quin-Pi in the building when the house seemed to catch blaze almost in an instant. He gave me a bag and told me to run knowing he would be unable to make it. I tried my best but sooner than I could act he shoved me out a weak wall into the street as the roof feel upon him. Having lost what I had for 6 years I ran to one place I had heard about from people that would sometimes come to visit Master Quin-Pi. They talked of a place called UNSC and how it was a great military.

With a bag with a few clothes, some money, a small computer from the guy that was hung, and a bag of apples which the Master loved to eat. With haste I found a terminal that was hidden away from people and started hacking the system until I found someone I definably needed to help me get into the UNSC since I was young. Finding the person's address I hacked into their computer and left a message and proof that I had some blackmail material on them. I also left instruction on what I wanted and where to leave it.

Within half a day the man had done as I asked which was good since I grabbed what I needed and headed to the nearest recruiting center. Arriving at the recruitment center they asked me questions, verified what I gave them, and even explained some things to me. At the end of it they asked me one last question

"What branch of military would you like?"

My response was, "I don't care. I just wanna help."

In a year of being a regular marine grunt I found myself ahead of the others in my squad and even at times holding my own against half of them with ease. Instructors praised me and superiors watched me. In those two years I learned how to drive almost every vehicle, fire every weapon, throw grenades, and even fight under impossible odds. My scores were high than anyone in my squad and at times my tactics were insane yet worked every time.

Finally the day came when orders came for me to visit the man in charge of the facility, which I did. He told me how he liked my record and hoped I kept it up before he asked a question which changed my life.

"Would you consider joining the ODSTs? We need bright young fighters like you for them to fight against a threat against humanity. You will be training on Reach"

That day was February 19, 2551