Initiation Part 2
OCTOBER 2552
Sirens echoed through the ship, the call for all crewmen to get to their stations and prepare to fight. Boots beat against the metal floor of the hallways as the soldiers ran to gear up. The words 'prepare to drop' lit up the walls, guiding the marines to their lockers. Calls of "Helljumper, Helljumper, where you been?" was met by a response of "Feet first into Hell then back again!" The troopers raced through the hallways, knowing every second mattered.
Running ahead of the male soldiers was a lone female marine. She pulled her locker open and reached in, collecting her gear and starting to suit up. The way that she saw it, life was fairly simple. If you were at a dinner party and were asked what you do, you had a choice. You could say: "Oh, I file paperwork for a living." She secured the last of her armor into place and moved toward the line of drop pods. She was welcomed by the shout of a teammate, "When I die please bury me deep…" which was finished off by another teammate with "…place my MA5 down by my feet!"
She moved into her pod and settled into place. The other way you could reply was: "I'm an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. I fall out of the sky in a ball of fire, and then kill every sonuvabitch from Hell to breakfast." The female marine secured herself and watched the light. She could feel the adrenaline running through her veins, preparing her for the fight ahead. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at the sensation. Because if she was asked what she did, she certainly knew her answer. The light turned to green, and her world started to fall.
The pair of Warthogs bounced over the ground, speeding away from the Covenant forces as their gunners laid down fire behind them. The Admiral was huddled in his seat, clutching the AI container tight to his chest, terrified. The driver of the Warthog on the other hand was trying to remain fully focused on his driving. Still the officer beside him was getting to be a distraction. "Just hang tight, Admiral Kovalic," the driver tried to soothe, hoping the man would calm down. "Your ride off-world's three klicks south of the base. We'll be there in no time."
The words seemed to bring no calm to Admiral Kovalic. His eyes rose to the sky and the Covenant ships above, spotting lines of fire as several objects dropped down from out of orbit. "What the Hell is that in the sky?"
The driver looked up and the fire suddenly slowed, the outline of metal pods becoming visible. "Sir," the marine said with an edge of relief. "That's the cavalry."
There a ray of hope brought by the sight of the pods, but it vanished as the roar of a Brute pulled the men's attention to the road ahead of them. They turned around in time to see a Brute Chieftain slam its gravity hammer down and send the second Warthog flipping through the air. Their jeep passed the foe and the gunner in their turret turned to fire on the enemy. The machine gun rounds just pinged off the ape-like alien's armor and it roared in rage. With surprising precision the Brute hurled its hammer, slamming it directly into the gunner and sending him flying from the jeep. The force sent the Warthog skidding and its tires lifted from the ground. They rolled, the driver being thrown from the jeep to his death, and the vehicle finally coming to a stop on its side.
Admiral Kovalic climbed out of the passenger's side onto the dirt. "Oh god…Oh god…" He tucked the AI container under his arm and tried to move around to the front of the vehicle. "Oh shit…Oh shit…" The Admiral looked back and could see the Brute standing tall not far away. The alien stopped, looking to his right slightly.
The drop pod slammed into the ground, just missing the Brute by inches. The ground cracked under the Chieftain and he was sent flying. The Brute returned to his feet, grabbing his hammer and swinging around to face the new foe as the door of the pod was ejected.
Lance Corporal Sarah Palmer stepped out of the drop pod, assault rifle blazing. "Hey there," she greeted casually as she fired on the Brute Chieftain. Behind her visor she was grinning, because there was one thing that was absolutely certain: Sarah Palmer was an ODST, and she loved her job. After twelve tours of duty, and having served on eight major planets, she'd fought every kind of Covenant and she would face down any one of them without a moment of hesitation.
The assault rifle fire kept the Brute back, but Sarah knew that it wouldn't be enough to take the enemy down. She decided that she'd take a more direct approach. She stopped firing and ran forward, racing toward the Brute head on. It swung its hammer and Sarah jumped, tucking her legs up so the weapon passed under her. When she landed it left her facing the Brute's side and one of the weakest points in its armor. Sarah jammed the muzzle of her rifle into the joint between the plates and under layer, and unloaded into the alien. She emptied the clip and the Brute fell to the ground, dead.
"All right, there's that then," Sarah said, moving on to the next task at hand. She clicked her radio and made contact with her team leader. "Lance Corporal Palmer to Bossman. I'm on the ground awaiting…"
Sarah stopped as she heard a voice not that far away pleading. "No! Please! I have a family…" Sarah rolled her eyes, amazed that anyone thought the Covenant cared if they had a family. The only thing the Covenant cared about was killing humans.
"Bossman here, Palmer. I see you—" Bossman replied over the radio. He didn't finish as Sarah cut him off.
"A moment, Bossman. Kinda busy all of a sudden." Sarah moved quickly toward the man, spotting the stripes on his uniform and the number of Covenant bearing down on him. "Admiral," Sarah said, getting the man's attention. She pushed him back behind the Warthog, and ducked behind it herself as the Covenant opened fire. Sarah set her back against the bumper of the jeep and readied her gun. "What's brass doing running around out here? We heard you'd been evac'd." The fact that the Admiral wasn't where he should've been might mean that something had gone wrong and they hadn't been told. Wouldn't be the first time that they hadn't gotten up-to-date info, but the sooner they got updates the sooner they could adapt.
"I have the base AI," The admiral answered, clutching the case to his chest. "It couldn't be allowed to be destroyed or to fall into…"
Sarah scowled, knowing she should have expected this sort of decision that the eggheads made. They always thought that their AIs were worth getting good soldiers killed, and were so afraid of destroying them. Still, she had a clear task now. She had to get the Admiral and the AI off the planet, and fast.
"Oh no! Look!"
The Admiral's words pulled Sarah from her thoughts and she turned to see the Chieftain she'd thought she just killed on its feet again, roaring in anger. She could see the fury in the Brute's eyes. "Seriously?" Sarah said, slightly annoyed. She opened fire with her assault rifle and the Brute backed only a little bit. "Come on! Die already!" She hated how stubborn Brutes were. They just didn't want to give up living very easily. Sarah stopped, deciding that they didn't have many options and she was going to just go with her first thought. "Rock and a hard place confirmed," she said to herself as she pulled out a grenade and armed it. "Admiral, get ready to run toward the Brute."
"Toward it?" The Admiral sounded absolutely terrified, but Sarah was in no mood to put up with cowardice.
"Yes, toward it," Sarah confirmed, tossing the grenade behind them and toward the Warthog. "Away from the grenade." Sarah grabbed the Admiral's arm and pulled him toward the Chieftain. "Now! Go!"
"You're insane!" The Admiral complained, but he followed behind Sarah as she moved toward the Brute.
"Trust me. It helps at a time like this." Sarah didn't really think she was crazy, rather preferring the term fearless. The grenade went off, launching the Warthog into the air. It flipped a couple times and slammed into the ground behind them, wheels down. "Back to the Hog, Admiral." The Brute bared its teeth and growled, starting to move forward. Palmer pushed the Admiral toward the back to take the gun. "Get up there and keep you head—" Sarah's was cut off and lost in a cry of sudden pain as two needler rounds struck her; one impacting her hip and the other piercing her chest armor, scarily close to her heart. She cursed whatever shot her, finding it unfair that she'd be hit by someone she wasn't even fighting.
Still, Sarah had a job to do, so she pushed past her pain and climbed into the Warthog. Her father used to always tell her that pain was all in her head. Sarah hit the reverse as the Brute raised its hammer, managing to avoid it just in time before it slammed down where the vehicle had been only moments before. The Brute bellowed and Sarah tightened her grip on the wheel. She'd told her father she thought he was wrong about pain. Her father had also told her that revenge never feels as good as you think it will. She loved her father and he'd taught her a lot - but she thought he was wrong about that as well. Sarah gunned the jeep and slammed into the Brute, finally finishing it off. She proceeded to run over the nearby Grunts as well, as she was sure it was one of them that had shot her, just for good measure.
"Palmer to Bossman," Sarah said as she radioed in to her team leader. "I found Admiral Kovalic out here—"
Sarah was cut off as Bossman interrupted. "Kovalic's alive?" Sarah hadn't known he was thought to be dead. "There's a ride waiting for him just south of you. Sending the coordinates now."
"Thanks Bossman." Sarah cut off her radio and turned the jeep to head toward the coordinates that appeared on her HUD. "Admiral, you in one piece back there?"
"I think so…" the Admiral replied hesitantly.
Sarah looked down to the needles that were still sticking out of her armor, glad that at least there wasn't one more; otherwise she might not still be moving. "That makes one of us at least," she muttered.
