Chapter 3
Taylor's drop pod shook as it hurtled down into the blue planet. He fought back the urge to vomit. Drop pods always made him…uneasy. Perhaps it was the feeling of helplessness and smallness that you had when you were just in a small pod hurtling from space. He saw his pod enter through the atmosphere of the planet, and briefly passed through a layer of clouds. After he entered the layer of clouds, he saw the city.
The sky was a dull grayish blue, and there appeared to be a city below them. He contemplated what this place could have held. His thoughts turned to the present when he crashed with a jarring impact, which he interpreted as his landing. Dazed, he found the blast buttons, and pressed them. There was a hissing sound as gas collected to the door, and it was blasted off his hinges.
Close by, a Sangheilli Insertion pod crashed into the surface. Rather than the black egg-shaped Drop pod, the insertion pod was tall and resembled a sarcophagus. It split open, revealing its pearly black inside. SpecOps Domo Chana'Dosam dropped from the pod, then stretched. The insertion pods were cramped and uncomfortable, barely fitting a single Sangheilli. He started walking, only to have a large black object seemingly dart across his face. He pulled out a plasma rifle, and aimed it at the place where the object came from. It was a drop pod. He lowered the rifle, just to see an ODST climb out. It was Lieutenant James Taylor.
"Watch where you point that thing." said Taylor. "You could have burned my brains out." 'Dosam Chuckled.
"I would say the same to you, Lieutenant."
Unbeknownst to the two, a red glowing box was thrown nearby. It was a radar jammer. Two cloaked creatures sneakily advanced to their position.
'Dosam's motion tracker went crazy. He looked around alarmed. Where was all this coming from? He checked the sky. It seemed to be clear of drones.
"Lieutenant" barked 'Dosam. The lieutenant looked at him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We are not alone?" replied 'Dosam.
Taylor activated his helmet's Visual Intelligence System Reconnaissance, or VISR. Everything seemed normal. 'Dosam, an ally, outlined in green, and the rest of the terrain was outlined in yellow. Something caught his eye.
There were two yellow outlines advancing towards him. They were shaped like massive apes, about eight feet tall. In each of the shapes' right hands, there appeared to be some sort of object, shaped like an H. Brutes. With Plasma Rifles. I only know one type of Brute that carries a Plasma Rifle. They were Stalkers.
Taylor pulled out his SMG. He showed 'Dosam where the Brutes where. With grace, he rolled a live fragmentation grenade to the brutes.
It detonated.
At once, the revealed brutes, now engulfed in a red outline being hostiles, were engulfed in a shower of lead and plasma. In seconds, they were downed, each lying dead in a pool of its own maroon blood. Taylor turned off his VISR. He contacted Dawson
"Major Dawson. Major Dawson!" he called out through his radio.
"Yes Lieutenant?" replied Dawson
"We have been down here for about seven minutes, and we have encountered Covenant forces. We think that there may be more on this planet."
"The Covenant, here?" there was dismay in her voice.
"Yes. There's only me and SpecOps Domo 'Dosam down here. We're requesting-"
"This is Captain Caleb Sykes. We've encountered Covenant forces at our point of landing. We've been pinned down and taking heavy casualties. Requesting backup immediately!"
"It seems that Lieutenant Taylor, and SpecOps Domo 'Dosam have encountered them as well. We'll be sending them to you, along with a few others."
A few pelicans arrived, carrying about thirteen Marines. Taylor was pleased to see a few warthogs, enough to carry mostly everyone. A marine in a warthog drove up to him.
"You and the sangheilli get on. We have a lot of ass to kick."
'Dosam holstered his rifle and pulled out his Carbine. He then climbed into the side seat of the warthog. Taylor went for the gunner seat. He grabbed the handles of the M41 Vulcan machine gun and swung it around. "Let's roll!" he shouted.
The driver hit the gas and the warthogs sped off to meet The Covenant.