ODST: Hell-zone

by Abyss Kurokari

Alan Verne, one of the UNSC's best snipers, is relocated to a base on Harvest, called Crimson Peak... and something happens that brings memories long forgotten back to him. as a child he was the only survivor on the ship Righteous Cause, which was attacked by the Flood. now he must relive that horrifying experience on Harvest. rated T for mild language

1. Chapter 1

A/N: hello everyone! This is Abyss Kurokari's second Fanfiction, this one is about Halo Wars! Or more specifically, a single team of Orbital Drop Shock Troops, Alpha Company, who encounter the flood first hand, and the main character, Alan, has quite a history with them. Without further ado, let's kick this story off with a bang!

Chapter 1: The New Addition

"No, Cody, you're still the rookie."

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A single Pelican aircraft made its way across the barren terrain of Harvest, carrying the newest addition to Alpha Company. He was to be added as the sniper to the already formidable team. As the Pelican approached the base this man would call home from now on, he read over his instructions, direct from the commander of the U.N.S.C.'s operations on Harvest. His instructions were simple enough, simply join Alpha Company and assist in any combat they experienced. No more than ten minutes later, the Pelican landed at Alpha Company's home base of operations, a large outpost called Crimson Peak. As this man, named Alan Verne, got off the Pelican, he was met with two of his new team members. One very tall man wearing medical symbols, and the team's sergeant, Ann Blake.

"Alan Verne, reporting for duty." Alan saluted his superior with his mechanical arm; he had lost his arm in combat with a flood parasite. "Welcome to Alpha Company, warrant officer Verne. I'm Ann Blake. You're going to be working under my command now. If you'll follow me down to the firing range, we'll see just what you've got. Don't disappoint us."

The three ODSTs walked into the firing range, and Alan saw one young man wearing ODST armor, using a battle rifle in a very serious looking test, in a room where holograms of various Covenant were attacking him. He took the last of the elites down and exited the simulator, and walked over to the three other ODSTs. After a quick salute to Ann, he looked at the unusually colored armor of the newest member of the team… normally the armor of ODSTs was black, but Alan's was dark purple. "So, you're the new member of our team? YES! Finally I'm not the rookie anymore!" Ann adopted a serious face. "No, Cody, you're still the rookie. Warrant officer Verne here has actual battlefield experience. You don't." Cody's happiness died faster than most grunts do. Ann moved to the control terminal and called Alan over. "You're good with Sniper rifles, right?" Alan looked at the weapons lining the wall. "Yes ma'am. I've specialized in close quarters combat as well as precision weapons." Ann removes her helmet, letting her long, blonde hair fall down past her shoulders. "Alright, then pick up two weapons you've got skills with and get in the simulator. I'll start you off easy, but I want to see just how good you are." Alan picked up a sniper rifle and three clips, and a shotgun with twelve extra shells. He also removed a combat knife from a sheath that was built into his left shoulder's armor, quickly sharpened it, and put it back into its sheath. He walked into the simulator and turned around to face the control panel. Ann pressed three buttons then spoke into a microphone that played her voice over speakers into the simulator. "In the first level, you'll be dealing with jackals and grunts. Think you can manage that?" Alan simply nodded. Ann continued, "If you get hit with the holograms' weapons, you'll receive a little shock to show you where it came from. Ready? Begin."

Two grunts and a jackal appeared in the simulation. Alan took out his sniper rifle and shot one of the grunts in the head, and then the bullet ricocheted back and hit the jackal in the back of its leg. Alan swapped weapons and blasted the jackal with a shotgun shell, then dodged two shots from the last grunt's plasma pistol, and then he ran up to it, front flipped over it and shoved the shotgun in its face and pulled the trigger. Alan walked back over to the starting point, and looked at Ann, who was pressing buttons. Alan spoke up. "Take me up a few levels. I want a challenge." Ann's face told everyone she was more than a little angry at his statement. She turned the level up by ten levels, two levels higher than even she was able to beat. Alan was startled when four elites, two jackals, and two hunters appeared just meters away from himself. He pulled out the shotgun and ran up to one of the elites and blasted its face off, then another, then another… then a hunter ran at him and swung its massive shield at him, but Alan dive-rolled to the left and fired two shells into its midsection, wounding it but not killing it. Alan got to his feet and switched to his sniper rifle and fired one shot, which hit its mark, the last elite, right between the eyes. As the elite fell dead, Alan was struck with three plasma bolts from one of the jackals' plasma pistols. A surge of pain went up his back. He turned to face the jackals, and took them both out with one well-placed sniper rifle round. Then he turned to face the hunters, and just BARELY avoided a fuel rod shot. He switched to his shotgun and ran up to the hunter closest to himself and dodged a shield swing and fired two shells into the hunter's midsection, and the hunter toppled to the ground. Now only one hunter remained, and it went into a frenzy, charged at Alan, and swung its shield twice, but missed both times. Then, Alan did something unexpected. He threw down his shotgun and started climbing the back of the hunter, using the spine like extensions of the hunter's back armor as a way to hold on, and then he pulled the combat knife out and buried it in the hunter's "head", which caused the hunter to shriek in pain. Then, Alan pulled out his sniper rifle and fired one shot into the hunter's back, and just like that, the last hunter fell to the ground, dead. Alan retrieved his combat knife and walked out of the simulator. "No offense Ma'am, but why did you do that? That was more than a little bit uncalled for." Ann just walked right past him, without saying a single word. Cody walked up to Alan and placed one hand on his shoulder. "She's just upset because you showed her up. You just beat her record for levels passed on the simulator. Alan smiled to himself. If that was all it took for her to get mad, she'd likely be mad at him constantly. Cody stretched himself out and looked at his PDA, then at Alan. "Want to go get something to eat? Today's the day of the week we get to have pizza!" Alan nodded and followed Cody towards the cafeteria. As he walked he thought to himself, "This is gonna be the easiest assignment ever"… he couldn't have been more wrong.