Chapter 3
"All weapons systems have turned offline, and by the sounds of it, ninety percent of the personnel are dead, or dying. We're evacuating the bridge crew now so we can-"
VOOM! I saw a giant red-hot laser come shooting out of the alien craft towards us, and I thought I was about to die. The laser, however, hit the bridge behind Delrio and the great light nearly blinded me, while the noise of the burning destruction reverberated through my ears. Delrio crashed to the floor unconscious, having been hit by debris. A wall quickly sealed out the vacuum of space that the laser exposed us to, but not before one of my ODST was sucked out into the deathly grip of space. I had no time to grief however; I reached down and grabbed Delrio under the arm, and gestured to Loche to help me. Ears still ringing, and my vision still blurred, I tried my best to give the order to move towards the direction of the hangar, which housed the Pelican drop ships.
After shaking off some of the ring in my ears, I comm'ed in the Odyssey's AI system, "Computer, where is the nearest planet fit for survival?"
"Right under The Odyssey, it is a class C habitable planet; removal of oxygen converter masks not advised, the planetary atmosphere is very high in methane concentration."
After waking up from cryosleep, I hadn't once thought we might be above a source of matter- let alone a planet; this was sheer dumb luck, and I was thankful to whatever or whoever was watching over me.
"Computer, how many operational Pelicans are left in the hangar?"
"The hangar is no longer functional, it is sealed due to excessive vacuum and free floating debris- zero operational pelicans in the vicinity." I stopped in my tracks abruptly, and repeated my question, "Computer, are there any operational Pelicans on the Odyssey?"
"There are no operational Pelicans aboard the Odyssey."
The silence spread through my company like a plague; the dread we all felt mounted, and I apprehensively asked the next question: "Computer… Are there any operational vehicles that can get us to the surface of the planet?"
"ODST drop pods are still primed and ready to launch- fifty three are offline, thirty seven are online."
I looked behind me at my team, who all nodded in an almost forced agreement. They were all technically ODST, but none of them had ever actually made the jump before. Even I had only done it once before, and that seemed like enough jumps to me, but I was willing to go forward with this to save my life, and my team's life.
I changed our direction to the right, leading us to what may possibly be our doom. On our way to the pods we encountered a few of the smaller hostiles, which we quickly put down, and continued to make our way to the chamber. Arm still tightly around Delrio, who was stirring slightly, I moved forward a little more quickly so as not to prolong our inevitable fate. Drop pods were dangerous, and have a 20% fail rate. Only four of five ODST soldiers land after passing through the atmosphere on average, and after landing, encountering any enemy of the UNSC is a whole new scenario, with risks being presented at every turn. One or two members of my squadron are not going to make it down to the unknown planet, and they know it. Unfortunately, it's the only option we have.
The drop pod chamber was already open, and some of the pods were missing, suggesting that some of the other ODST on board the Odyssey also jumped to the planet below.
"Ulysses squad, whatever happens, don't scream, because it'll be the last thing we hear before you splat." My team laughed briefly, but were all probably frightened, just like I am. I let Loche slip away from under Delrio, as Delrio now seemed to be coming to, as he was automatically moving his legs in a slow walking motion.
"Rylan… The bridge… You have to def… We need to…" Sinking in and out of semi consciousness, Delrio blathered on, while I opened my pod. It had room for me, and another person, but the second seat was an emergency seat that was highly advised against in its use. The whiplash from the ground impact alone can kill anyone not buckled in properly. I busied myself with Delrio first, and when I lowered the helmet onto his head, he looked at me with glossy eyes, but spoke to me in soft determination.
"Rylan… Everything was destroyed… We didn't know how to react… Their technology, their firepower… So much for that old western movie ey?" He closed his eyes, and laid his head back as far as he could, "We tried to take it on but… Nothing we did could break through its armor. It's nothing like we've ever seen before."
"I might have a theory, but I'll save it for when we hit the ground, yeah?" I buckled in the rest of Delrio's torso to finish, and I closed the pod to start procedural protocol.
Opening up a channel, I comm'ed to Ulysses squad; "This is Lance Corporal Rylan Jacobs of the 43rd ODST squadron comming to the rest of Ulysses squadron, do you read, start roll call."
"Alpha one checking in."
"Alpha two checking in."
"Bravo one checking in."
Nine others roll called, and then there was silence. I realized that two of my team was missing form roll call, and then realized with a pang that they had both been KIA. Biting back my emotions, I continued protocol; "Now begin pod assessment, and make sure the primary propellers are operational- finish by locking in."
"Alpha one locked in."
"Alpha two locked in."
"Bravo one locked in."
After the rest had finished, everyone was set and ready. All I had to do now was sentence Ulysses to hell.
"Computer, how long is our jump to the planet's surface?"
"Ulysses squadron's jump will be approximately forty point three miles from your starting position. Maximize safety by making sure the propellers are operational, and the side thrusters are fueled up."
I nervously bobbed my leg while I waited for my pod's diagnostics report, and once I was clear, I stopped all movement. I felt frozen in time, as I moved my mouth, and said the longest sentence of my life.
"Computer, commence drop."
"Acknowledged."
The siren that signaled the pod dropping commencement started to blare outside in the chamber, and I opened up the security camera on my dashboard to watch for any possible intruders.
"Dropping in ten, nine, eight, seven…"
I saw movement outside the chamber door.
"six, five, four.."
One of the big brutes came bursting in through the door, seemingly laughing as he drew his white sword, and charged at one of the pods.
"three, two…"
A scream from the next pod over resonated through the chamber, and I closed my eyes.
"One."
KSHHH! The pods detached from the main frame of the chamber as the vacuum doors opened underneath us.
"ODST!" I felt my pod fall with a sudden whoosh, "See you in hell."
