Ellis stood at the rear of the Pelican, leaning against the closed bay door. He cradled the sniper rifle carefully, careful not to bump the zeroing dials. They probably wouldn't change with the caps on if you hit it with a hammer, but better safe than sorry. The Pelican rocked slightly, flaring out to touch-down. "LZ looks clear!" The female pilot said cheerily. "I'm bringing us down."

Riley felt the Pelican lower, then hold. The red bay lights flickered green. The bay door lowered with a hiss. "Ellis! Double time!" The Captain called.

He was already moving, running up the ramp, which was only half lowered. He leapt from the drop ship and brought his sniper rifle up, scanning the area. "All clear, sir!"

"Ok! Let's move!"

The Marines flooded out of the drop ship, spreading out to secure the area. "Sir! Permission to secure an observation point on the hill side?" Ellis called.

"Get up there and give me a sit-rep Ellis."

"On it sir."

He took off at a jog, rifle barrel bobbing with each step. He scrambled up the hill, then paused at the ridge to take the area in. There was a valley about five hundred meters out, where a forest began. Ellis hopped over the ridge and slid down behind a rock cluster. He rested the sniper rifle on a boulder and took the area in through the scope. It was breathtaking wilderness, untouched and serene. He raised a hand to his comm-set, which was intergrated into his helmet. "All clear for as far as I can see, sir." He reported.

"Excellent work Corporal. Well done. We're advancing to the right, on the higher point of the valley. Get here and take point."

"Rog' sir. I'm moving up."

Ellis hefted the rifle and slid down the steep hill, saving time and energy from just running. He took off at a run, weaving through rocks. He was careful to take in his surroundings as he went, making sure the area was in fact clear. He saw a Marine up ahead. He slowed his pace, jogging to the platoon. A few Privates and a Lance Corporal nodded at him as he passed. He made his way to the front of the formation, where the Captain was. "I'm on point, sir?"

The CO nodded. "You know it."

Ellis trudged along, scanning the treeline. He watched as a flock of birds took flight from the trees. They were huge, with a wingspan of at least three meters. "Look at that." One of the Private's called.

"Shut it Emerson. And get your sorry ass back over here." The gunny growled.

The Private meekly stepped back towards the platoon. "Hey gunny, I thought West was your favourite victim. Don't tell me your laying off him. That's out whole mess entertainment." Brown called from near the rear.

The gunny grunted. "I'm saving him in case we get cut off and need food. Now shut the hell up and watch our flanks."

Ellis grinned and swept the treeline again. Still no movement. 'Another boring deployment.' He thought to himself. 'Bah, it's probably for the better. So many bloody rookies.' The only NCO's in the squad were the CO, gunny, Corporal McKinley and himself. Added to the fact that there were only six Lance Corporals, the other forty two members of the platoon were Private's. True, some of them had seen action before, but there were still to many greenhorn's for his liking. "Can't wait to be back on the Foreshadow..." One of the Private's grumbled.

"What, you think it's going to be quiet? Nah man, twenty bucks says we'll be engaged within two hours." Another replied.

"Twenty bucks? I'll take that action." The first replied, casually checking his MA5D.

"Uh, boss!" Ellis called, holding up a fist to signal the platoon to a halt. "Did CIC mention anything about Forerunner structures here?"

Ellis, the CO, gunny, McKinley, Brown, West and a cluster of Private's surveyed the opening to the structure. "Uhhh... Are we going down there?" West asked nervously, his eyes darting around the shadows.

"Shut it," Gunny growled, "I think I might be willing to make an exception and allow you to go on point, smartass."

"Jesus," West replied, furiously. "What's your problem with me?"

The gunny ignored him and walked down into structure, switching his MA5D tactical light. He swept the light across the shadows. "Well, I'm going to go out a limb here and assume this is clear." The gunny said sarcastically.

The structutre was one big room with a lift in the center, a pillar on each corner of the area surrounding the lift. Ellis moved carefully onto the lift. The floor was made of what could only be described as glass. It was about a meter thick, and slightly slippery. But the disconcerting thing was the fact it didn't reflect light at all, appearing not to be there. The lift tunnel descended as far down as Ellis could see, and obviously further. "Ellis? Get your ass back here. I don't want to be left with just one Corporal."

Ellis stepped back towards the rest of the squad. "Anyone want to volunteer and go down there?" He asked, slightly unnerved.

No-one responded. "Well, if you ladies won't go down there, we might as well mark it and head back to the platoon," The gunny said. "Anderson! Get on the LRC and inform CIC. West, give him our map reference."

"Ellis! Get your ass back up to..."

"Sir! Incoming emergency message on the E-Band... No wait... General emergency alert on ALL channels!" Anderson interrupted.

"Play it!" The CO said immediately.

"All hands, all hands, situation is Arizona: Red, repeat, Arizona: Red! General quarters, man your ba..."

The transmission cut off into static.

"Shit. SHIT."

That was West. The CO paused for a split second to consider their options. "Ellis! Get to the platoon, now! I want everyone back in this structure!"

"Sir!" Ellis yelled, taking off at a sprint.

He burst through the treeline, the platoon looking startled at his sudden entrance. "PLATOON! Fall in ON THE DOUBLE!"

For an NCO, Ellis didn't shout a lot. So when he did, you could tell shit was about to hit the fan. The platoon looked stunned for a second, before snapping into gear. They took off at a run towards the treeline. The CO cut in over the coms. "Ellis! We've got ODST pods incoming from the Foreshadow! Can you mark their location?"

Ellis raised a hand to block off the suns glare. He could see the Foreshadow in orbit... But those things didn't look like ODST SOEIV's... They looked like...

"Sir... Those aren't pods... Those are lifeboats." He whispered numbly.

Ellis watched the pods begin to enter the ring's atmosphere, fire streaking behind them. "Shit. Sir I can't track them, their moving to fast."

The CO cursed. "Get back here, now. We're going to hole up, set up the long range comms, and gain contact with those lifeboats."

"On my way."

Ellis walked backwards slowly, his eyes on the lifeboats. He turned and jogged back to the Forerunner structure, gripping his SRS tightly. He was more alert, his senses heightened. A deafening crack sounded from somewhere high above. 'Lifeboats breaking the speed of sound.' He realised. He glanced up to see a lifeboat roar over him, several kilometres up. He searched the sky for the Foreshadow, but she must have been blocked by the clouds. He saw the structure ahead, with a dozen Marines arranged around the entrance, rifles up. The other Corporal, McKinley, stood with them. "CO wants you up back. Organising search parties I think."

Ellis nodded. "Thanks."

He stepped past the Marine line and approached the CO, gunny, and Anderson, listening intently to the long range coms. The CO turned to address Ellis as he approached. "Ok Corporal, here's what we know. The Foreshadow was hit by an energy protection beam, similar to those used by the Sentinel's on the other installations. Thing is, it was huge and vanished so quickly they couldn't track it's origin. The Foreshadow is crippled, with the rest of the fleet pulling back to a safe distance. We've got ODST's, Marines, Naval personnel, and even the rumour of a few Spartan squads down here. So, I want you to take a few of our boys, and locate any survivors. Try and get them back here, so we can organise a counter-attack. Understood?"

"Yes sir. Who will I have with me?"

"Unfortunately, we can't spare as many men as I'd like. You'll have Lance Corporal West and Private's Emerson, Green, Hollis, Davis and Murphy. That's as many as I can give you son."

Ellis nodded. "Thank you sir. Should be plenty."

Rightio guys. This is my first fanfic :D so please make sure to review, good or bad, and if you like the story so far, follow :D next chapter will be a bit more plot development and introducing some more main characters aside from our Marine sniper :D *cough* Helljumpers *cough*