I don't own anything from the Halo series.

The Rookie of ODST 5th company Delta Squad.

Prepare to drop

The year is 2552.

Humanity is at war with the alien alliance known as "The Covenant".

We are losing.

The Covenant have burned our worlds, killing billions in their genocidal campaign.

Earth is our last bastion - a carefully guarded secret.

But not anymore.

A Covenant carrier has breached Earth's defenses and attacked the African mega-city, "New Mombasa".

Initial reports confirm major damage and heavy civilian casualties.

Now military leaders of the "United Nations Space Command" have prepared their response...

Teams of highly-trained "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" are ready to assault the carrier from Navy ships in low orbit.

This is a near-suicidal mission.

But these troopers are the best of the best.

And saving New Mombasa could be the most important mission of the war...

October 20

Delta squad, the ODST-ONI group in the 6th company (but probably not the only one), were sitting up in the UNSC Say My Name. "Navy put up a good fight," said PFC Michel ,call-sign Mickey. Corporal Miles ,call-sign Dutch, responded, "Course they did, it's Earth." lance corporal Kojo ,call-sign Romeo, huffed a little and added, "Better late than never." Another member of the team, the "Rookie", lance corporal Jacob Ramirez, sat at his pod thinking about what had happened during the last few hours. Covenant forces attacked Earth and get past the orbital defenses. Going groundside sounded great at the moment. Then Hood called, and their target was changed to the covenant carrier floating over New Mombasa. The rookie merely nodded when they got the news from gunnery sergeant Buck about the new target and the new commander Captain Dare. Miss Navel Intelligence. The next thing Jacob knew he was hit over the head with a sniper rifle. Hand going to his pistol reflexively, he heard Romeo say "Wake up, Buttercup." Romeo was pushed aside by Dutch who said, "Relax Rookie. He don't mean nothin'. Besides. Now's one of those times, it pays to be the strong, silent type." Jacob nodded and took the silenced M7/SMG from Dutch, secured it in his Single Occupant Human Insertion Vehicle and got ready for their drop. After a few seconds a green light came on and Buck radioed, "We are droppin' into hell, troopers! Time to grow a pair!" Jacob readied himself for the drop. A jolt, and the pod was away with the hundreds of others from the Say My Name. In the outer atmosphere the squad saw a wrecked UNSC ship. "Take that back. Navy got its ass kicked." Romeo said. "Hey Romeo remember when I said earlier? Consider it a standing order," Buck said with a hint of annoyance. A few minutes later they finally had visual contact with the Covenant Carrier. "Stand by to adjust trajectory. On my mark," ordered Dare. "What did she just say," asked Dutch with a hint of worry in it. "Mark," said Dare and all of the pods belonging to Delta squad veered to the left. "We're way off course," Mickey exclaimed. Dare remained unfazed saying, "We're going exactly where I need to go." Mickey continued his surprise, "But we're going to miss the Carrier!" Suddenly Dutch exclaimed, "Radiation!" Jacob knew everyone looked down at the carrier that was supposed to attack and saw a ship that his IFF identified as the UNSC In Amber Clad. Mickey asked panicing, "Did the Covenant just set off a nuke?" Dare replied quickly, "No. The carrier's going to jump! It's a slip-space rupture! You need to-" She was cut off as the radiation messed with the comms. Bucks last words still rang though, "Stabilize then pop your chute! We're going in hard!" Mickey's pod was hit by the shock wave and shot back and smashed into Jacobs pod, sending him into a spin. About 200 feet lower Jacob finally blacked out.

Tech corner-For readers who don't play Halo and don't know about anything here this is for you. It will introduce new tech in the story.

HEV/SOHIV – This pod is standard issue in any UNSC ship going into combat. Used by the ODSTs (and in few cases spartans) they allow a small elite force to clear out a landing zone for the basic troop transports. They have no cooling system giving ODSTs the moniker "hell jumpers".

UNSC – United Nations Space Command.

ODST – Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. They are the best of the best. Known by the moniker "Hell jumpers" some squad commanders take this to heart and give a small pep-talk before each drop.

M7/Silenced Sub Machine Gun – This gun is used when a squad doesn't want or isn't supposed to draw attention to themselves. This gun is deadly when in battle but doesn't make up for the fact that ODSTs are not SPARTANs.

The pistol aka the M6C "SOCOM" - This pistol holds 12 semi armor-piercing (and by extension anti-material rounds making this gun a fatal weapon in the hands of a marksman) as Buck says about it "whisper-quiet with armor-piercing rounds. Brutes might see us coming, but the only thing they'll hear is their asses hitting the ground."

The Covenant – This race of alien beings seem to worship a race of aliens known only as the "Forerunners" as gods. They seek to light the HALO rings to begin the "Great Journey".

Halo – As Sargent Major A. Johnson put it these seven rings are anti Son of a bitch machines made by the Forerunners to destroy all sentient life to destroy a parasitic race known as the "flood".

ONI – Office of Navel Intelligence.

SPARTANs – These super solders where created by training children from a young age and enhancing them so that they have superior strength, speed, skill, and, intelligence. The MJONLAR mk. VI armor has similar shield strength as an elite. There are three generations of SPARTANs I-Johnson, II-John "Master Chief."