Kenneth Bruner sat nervously in his seat. His muscular arm was twitching as the multi-million dollar spacecraft he was riding in flew over a quiet Kansas field. He had hated flying ever since he joined the Marines. The whole concept that a 25-ton piece of metal could fly was mind boggling to him. It was rather funny, actually when he thought about it. Here he is, a 6 foot 3 inch tall man, who could bench well over 300lbs, scared of a simple flight.
Kenneth was a second year marine in the 1st Marine Division of the US Armed Guard. He had led a quiet, if unimpressive life up until this point. Growing up in east Harlem had made him very street smart and savvy, and he learned many valuable lessons there. He had grown up in poverty, but he had a loving mother that did her best to ensure that little Kenny (as his mother referred to him) went to school each day and maintained at least a B average. By the age of 12, Ken's brother, David, had been shot and killed in a bitter dispute with a rival gang. This sent shock waves through Ken's family and was the eventual cause of his departure from Harlem. At the age of 20, Ken left New York and headed south to Atlanta. He had lived in Atlanta for a little over a year when he joined the Marines looking for a job that would allow him to use his street smarts and have fun doing it. The military seemed like the perfect alternative to an everyday job. After he had completed the grueling basic training, he was sent to Africa where he was on street level patrol keeping an eye out for terrorists and roadside bombs. The United States had been at war with Zimbabwe for three years, with no end in sight. It seemed like everyone in the Zimbabwe wanted nothing more than to kill any foreigners that made their way into the war-torn country. It was around this time that the Space Marines discovered Halo and the legend of the "Master Chief" was born. Ken had read about the infamous Master Chief but had never met him. He was somewhat of a celebrity in the Marine Corp. before he annihilated Halo, but now he was known in every country of the world as a hero.
A loud crash suddenly awakened Ken from his daydream. As Ken opened his eyes, he saw all the Marines in the ship huddled around windows, peering down to the ground below. As Ken made his way to the windows, he saw a bright flash from the windows. He looked outside and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of comet-like objects pouring out of the sky onto the ground below. They had a strange blue glow about them, and when they hit the ground, a large plume of smoke and dust appeared, followed by a bright red explosion. The smoke was creating a thick fog, which eventually became nearly impossible to see through. This didn't help to calm Ken's already jumpy nerves.
As he walked back towards his seat to sit down, the captain of the ship came over the intercom and told everyone that they needed to be seated. It was about to get bumpy. Ken sat down and buckled up as the ship began to shake and rattle violently. He could still see faint flashes out the windows and the lights dimmed in the ship. They did this so that the captain could preserve power for the engines. He had always hated the part of the flight when the lights went down to a mere glow of white light. Ken tried not to let the situation get the best of him, but the ride seemed to be getting worse. He could hear the pilot and co-pilot arguing over what to do. The pilot seemed to want to try and find a safe landing spot, while the co-pilot thought that rising above the clouds would be best. They both seemed risky to Ken. If they landed, they risked being hit by one of the large blue objects that were flying through the air, but if they continued to fly, the smoke would more than likely choke out the engines.
Before Ken could worry himself anymore, a loud bang shook the entire ship and all of its crew to the core. It sounded like they had been hit. A second bang seemed to come from the engines, and a large flash followed. Ken reached down and picked up the parachute that was strapped under his seat. As he grabbed it, he looked and saw the other Marines grabbing theirs as well. As soon as he had placed the parachute in his lap, a clearly nervous pilot came over the intercom and said that they were going to have to bail. Ken's worst fears had been realized. He was going to have to jump out of the back of a speeding spacecraft, all the while worrying about these mysterious blue comets that were still flying by them. Before he had the chance to worry more, the back door of the ship opened up revealing the true severity of the situation. It was unlike anything Ken had ever seen.