I do not own Halo. I only on my OC's and this story, Halo belongs to Bungie
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest with all the excitement of a young kid on Christmas opening up a present. Free falling in a small pod that's barely bigger than a hunter, covered with a paper-thin amount of armor that won't do anything against incoming plasma fire and with the fact that the pods chute might not deploy and end up killing me… oh yeah. How could I NOT be excited? I looked left and right in the pod, looking out the windows. There were a couple of black silhouettes in the background, my men and woman in their own individual pods. I nodded my head in approval; everything was going as smoothly as a freefall drop from 10,000 meters in orbit could be.
I suddenly heard a Crackling sound of white static, and a screen a little bit to my left lit up. A helmeted head popped up, and although I could not tell who it was, the name on the bottom of the screen told me exactly who it was, even though I could tell who it was just by the way the helmeted figure held their head. Pvt. Grey. Grey nodded her head at me before I heard her voice spring to life inside of my helmet.
"Sir, permission to speak freely?" Her voice sang into my ear.
Pvt. Grey… always the one who needed the most reassurance on these missions. She was always the quiet one, brave but meek. She had the sweetest voice I had ever heard, and I often fell asleep to her singing when we were on missions, even though I had never told her and she never knew I listened. Thank the UNSC for bio-genetic cocktails that enhanced my hearing.
I turned towards the image of her and smiled softly behind my helmet. "Permission granted."
If this had been an open channel, I would have denied her request to speak freely. Yet this was a private channel as none of the other ODST's faces were shown on the blank monitors.
"And drop the 'sir' shit Grey. I'm not too big on formalities, you know that." I grinned softly at her.
I don't know why, but I always viewed her as one of my sisters out of the Spartan program. Maybe it was the fact that she actually saw a person behind this black visor, a human being with feeling and wants and needs just like anyone else.
Nodding her head, she whispered "Yes sir- I mean Alex." She was also the only ODST who knew my real name, and the only one whom I trusted enough to let her know that.
"Okay… I know that this is a big mission, and that I need to focus all of my attention on the pending objectives and keeping the squad and myself alive, but I have this feeling that I can't shake. I have lived a damn good life, and I won't be afraid to die here if I have too, but I feel like there is something missing. Like I am somehow empty, and nothing I do can get rid of this feeling. Do you have any ideas or suggestions on what I should do, Alex?" She finished her speech with a mere whisper, hints of desperation creeping into her voice.
I sighed. Distractions like this were dangerous and if everyone's focus wasn't on the mission, then that person might slip up and everyone could die. That's why I tried to help my men and woman as much as I could. I had made it clear to them that my figurative door was always open to them, and if they had problems that they could not solve on their own and they needed help, then I would help them to the best of my abilities.
Shaking my head ever so slightly at this, I asked her, "What exactly is this feeling Grey? Do you feel sick about it, or is it just a nagging feeling?"
Being in touch with my emotions more so then the rest of the Spartan II's made me unique in many different ways. ONI saw this, and so they deployed me on missions that required more…. Etiquette than the usual run and gung-ho tactics of my brothers and sisters. I took psychology lessons and I was more or less a counselor. I was able to talk to and sympathize with civilians, and I was able to deal with them in a way that made my brothers and sisters a bit envious of me. In fact, the only other Spartans I knew of that were like me were, Jorge-052 and Flynt-101. Jorge was reassigned to a squad on Reach a couple of years ago, and Flynt was the only one who I never really found out where he left too.
"Alex… it's a twisting, biting feeling in my chest, one that makes my chest tighten and my heart beat quicker whenever I see two people kissing or hugging. What is wrong with me?" She questioned me, her voice starting to tinge with fear.
I sighed again. I knew exactly what her problem was. She was lonely, simple as that. 'Great… of all things, of all possible syndromes that she could be suffering from, she had to be suffering from loneliness and depression.'
Flashback
It had been two years ago, when I first noticed some strange things about my squad. For instance; I had been walking back to my room in the barracks after been given a two hour debriefing on my last mission, when I heard a groan coming from inside one of the rooms. It had sounded pained, so I had immediately opened up the door and stepped inside. And there, on one of the bunks, was Sgt. Drake and Cpl. Frailaa having sex. They had both stopped and stared at me, wide-eyed and mouths open in shock. I had just stepped out of the room, closed the door and continued on my way to my room. Contemplating what I had just seen.
Another incident, was when I had been on guard duty for watching over the camp on one of our missions. I heard a bunch of hushed voices in the bush, and finding it strange that there were people in the bush and not in their tents, I stealthily made my way through the shrubs and plants, and came upon another site. Pvt. Kenneth and Pvt. Gabby were making out in a small clearing. "Kenneth, I don't think that we can continue doing this. I want you so badly, but it's not right for us to do this." "I know Gabby, but… it's not fair, I just want to be able to love you and hold you, but the damn rules insist that we can't."
After seeing that I had quietly slipped back to camp, pretending not to notice their shadowy silhouettes when they snuck back to their respective tents.
After that mission was over, I had called a general meeting for all of the ODST's and insisted that all of them had too attend. They had all lined up, standing at attention and gazing straight ahead. The fact that I had not put them at ease was unusual and it showed on their faces, as I saw a flicker of fear on Pvt. Kenneth and Pvt. Drakes faces.
I glance at each and every one of them before I addressed them. I had also taken off my MJOLNIR armor for this, so they could see that I was being serious.
"Attention ODST's! You might be wondering why you are here. You might be wondering, why you can't watch your porn right now, or why you can't stare at your ceiling and slip slowly into madness." I barked at them, secretly grinning on the inside.
A few of the assembled ODST's chuckled weakly with laughter, but it died out pretty quickly under my sharp glare.
"Now, it has come to my attention that there have been a few… incidents of improper relationships and fraternization." I rumbled, and I saw Pvt. Kenneth and Pvt. Drakes faces go pale. "Now, I want the ones who were at fault to step forward right now. Don't even think of hiding because I know who you are. Step forward now and you will get off easily. Stay back…. Well I guess you'll find out what will happen then won't you?" I let the veiled threat hang in the air, and crossed my arms and waited. A minute ticked by before both couples stepped forward; Sgt. Drake and Cpl. Frailaa as well as Pvt. Kenneth and Pvt. Gabby. I looked at them before nodding and ordering, "As you were." They fell back into line and I continued to glare at them.
"Now, the rules state, that fraternization is clearly unacceptable, and that any and all persons at fault are to be split up into separate units or even on too different planets." I spoke with authority in my voice, and I saw both of the couples exchange panicked looks with each other before gazing straight ahead with worried eyes.
I suddenly grinned at them with a warm smile and told them with a humorous note in my voice what I was just waiting to say.
"I say, fuck the rules! No one is going to live forever, and no one is going to go through live without feeling for someone. In the UNSC, those feelings are wasted and repressed. I disagree with that! No one should have to repress their feeling of love, and I am certainly not going to court martial anyone for acting upon these feelings. ODST's I am telling you right now that if you want to have a relationship with someone in the squad, go right ahead, for you have my full authority and approval!" I roared out the last part, grinning widely at the ODST's.
All of them let out shouts and hollers of jubilation and excitement, high-fiving each other and grinning widely. The two couples that I had addressed looked at me with thankful looks in their eyes. But I had to wrap this up before my squad drew the attention of the entire base.
"ODST's!" I bellowed, getting everyone to shut-up and pay attention. I grinned. "Enjoy yourselves!"
All of my ODST's came to attention, snapped of sharp salutes and roared as one. "Thank-you, sir!"
That was a memory that I was never going to forget.
Flashback ends
Snapping out of my memory, I glanced to the image of Pvt. Grey who was waiting patiently for my answer.
"Well Grey, what you are suffering from is something that only you can fix. I can't tell you how to fix it, because it has never and never will work if I tell you what to do. You are suffering from loneliness." I smoothly answered her question, and I could sense that she was going to speak, so I cut her off before she could.
"You are not suffering from people loneliness or camaraderie loneliness, but rather companion loneliness. The kind where someone special to you will hold you tight or will stand by your side when you are most vulnerable. And like I said, only you can fix this, do you understand Grey?" I asked of her, secretly hoping that she would.
I waited for a few long and painful seconds before I heard her sweet voice again, this time laced with confidence. "Got it Alex, thanks." She said and then terminated the private channel.
The temperature inside of the pod was getting hot, according to my suits temperatures, and I hoped that the ODST's internal suit temperature regulators kept them alive.
Everyone's faces appeared on the blank monitors, and so did their bio signs. Everyone's heart rate was slightly accelerated but it all appeared inside of the acceptable standards. I checked my own and my own heart rate was slightly accelerated as well, but I figured that much out already. A sudden beep caught my attention and I hit one of the buttons in the pod. An altimeter popped up and showed me that we were already half-way down through the atmosphere with the numbers clicking down rather fast. I eyed the readout and nodded in confirmation. We were going to hit the dirt pretty quickly and I wanted to ensure that all of my men and women were ready to fight.
"ODST's! Equipment check, sound off!" I ordered into the comm, hoping everything would go all right.
After hearing all 10 of my men and woman sound off, I then proceeded to relay to them my orders.
"Okay, we are going to be hitting ground pretty quick so here are your objectives. When we land, you are to immediately sweep the area for incoming hostiles, and if you see any, you are cleared to engage on sight. If you encounter too heavy resistance, fall back to rally point Alpha" I said, marking it on my Tacpad. "Second, we are to breach the covenant refueling station and wipe out any resistance. We will then proceed the main core room, and arm your C-12 explosive charges on the main fuel pipes. Finally, we will fall back and regroup at rally point Bravo and once everyone is there, we will proceed to Evac point Zulu three" I ordered, pinging a beacon at the Evac point. Highlighting a mountainous route, I marked it as red. "This route probably has snipers posted everywhere so we will not be going through there." I then highlighted a forested green area and advised them "This s probably the best route for concealment. If anyone has any objections, speak up now." I finished, waiting for any sort of question or complaint.
There were none.
Nodding to everyone, I then looked back to the altimeter and saw that we were only 3500 meters high now.
I grabbed the chute handle and spoke into the comm, "Everyone, deploy your chutes on my mark."
Everyone's face disappeared on the monitors and I received green acknowledgment lights on my HUD (Heads Up Display).
I counted down the seconds to what I estimated would be a good height to deploy the parachutes.
3…2…1…
"Mark!" I barked into the comm, and yanked down on the chute release handle.
The chute deployed with thumpand I was viciously thrown side to side in my harness due to the sudden deceleration. Looking out the window, I saw the same thing happen to everyone else's pod. All of the chutes deployed successfully and none snapped.
I sighed in relief and grinned to myself 'At least no one is digging an early grave today…' I thought to myself.
However, as I looked out the window, my mind raced at what I saw. There were dozens of shade turrets, and I could see some of them starting to track our pods. Eyes widening, I yelled into the comm, "Everyone, break chutes and perform evasive maneuvers!"
I hit a red button at the top of the pod, and all I heard was a snapbefore my pod suddenly started to accelerate again. I grabbed onto the pods control handles and yanked them to the sides. The pod responded with a jolt, and moved to the right as I was pushed roughly to the left inside of the pod. I couldn't see anyone out of the windows, but I could only hope that they were doing the same thing. I heard screams and cries of terror over the madness of what was happening, but I was unable to pinpoint who exactly was in trouble and with what. Suddenly, bright blue and hot red plasma flew by the windows. I jolted the controls to the left this time and was promptly tossed around inside of the pod had is juked left.
The altimeter on my tacpad just whistled the numbers by and I could see that I was only 600 feet up. I ignited the mini thrusters on the bottom of my pod with a few taps on the pods interface screen, and the pod groaned in protest, the sound of tortured metals shrill screech erupted into my ears. The pod slowed but not enough. It was going to be a hard-landing. 300 feet… 200 feet… 100 feet… CRASH!
The world jolted around me and it felt like my organs were thrown against a brick wall inside of me. My world was spinning and I could see stars, but I still punched the pods emergency releases to open up the hatch, and they the small charges placed by the door blew up, exploding the door outward and away from me. I released my harnesses and stumbled out of the pod.
I could barely see, and think, and I just only resisted the urge to vomit. I shook my head and tried to clear my vision, but it only helped a little, doing nothing to aid the pains in my body. Reaching down to the trauma kit at my thigh, I reached in and pulled out a Stim shot. I pooped the protective covering off, and injected the needle into one of my leg ports, grimacing. After I had fully injected the needles contents into my body, I yanked the needle out and threw it away. I waited only 3 seconds before I gasped and shuddered as a sudden energy boost flowed throughout my body. Once my vision cleared, I jogged over to my pod and grabbed my MA5B from the wall beside the seat. I checked it quickly and sighed in relief as I saw no signs of damage, praying that everything else worked. Running a suit diagnostic, I was immensely relieved to see that my suit was fine and in perfect working order. I quickly made sure my weapons were working, and then I turned on my shields, hearing the audible hum as the suit charged them.
It was only then that I heard the sounds of gunfire in the distance. I heard the high pitched whine of a plasma rifle, the staccato report of an MA5B firing in short bursts, and the Whump of a grenade. I tried to raise my ODST's on the comm, but it wasn't until I saw the bio signs of my teammates that were static filled that I realized that we were being jammed. My motion tracker was working fine however, so I looked towards the source of the fighting, and then sprinted in that direction.
It was only when I ran into a pair of hunters that I knew this mission was going to be tough.
Hey guys, its me! Lol, anyways here's a new chapter for all of those who read and review. Special thanks to those readers who did review. It really brightens up my day when i see a review, and even more so when it is either complimenting or constructive criticism. Plus, they help me catch mistakes that i would normally never see on my own. So once again, thank you to those who reviewed!
Review please!
