Karl slowly opened his eyes to the dim lighting of early morning. He let out a gentle yawn and sat up, his first instinct to look around and check his surroundings. He looked to his left and his right, and scooted around and looked behind himself and then in front. He then got up and stretched then walked over to his platoon. He looked around at all the sleeping soldiers and saw that a private was awake. He then recognized the private as Private Brandon Fergus, a good kid in Karl's opinion.

He walked over and then sat down next to the private. "Morning Sergeant." He said monotone. "Morning Fergus." Karl responded. "Sergeant, you got family back home?" He asked with some jump in his tone.

"Why of course I have family back home Fergus. If you don't have family 'back home' then you are an orphan." Karl said quietly, to not wake up the others.

"Never thought of it that way, do you think we will all make it back?" He looked at Karl, almost like he could see through Karl's visor.

"If you fight hard, move fast, every man and woman in this platoon will survive. The man that got wounded yesterday sat still." Karl responded whole heartedly.

"Never thought of it that way Sergeant, thank for the reassurance." He said softly.

"No problem, just make sure you kick ass and take names." Karl smiled under his visor and put a hand on Stevenson's shoulder and stood up.

Fergus nodded as Karl walked off around the rest of the platoon. He kicked everyone in the side and quietly said "get up" to everyone he passed. He then walked over the Stevenson who was already awake and eating MRE, which Karl would have guessed was his breakfast.

"Okay L.T. What's the plan today." Karl said seriously as he kneeled down next to him.

Stevenson swallowed the food he was chewing then looked up at Karl. "We are going to find more of those landing zones and take them out, one by one until the UNSC landing fleet gets here."

"So, we are getting reinforcements?" Karl asked.

"Yep, it's going to be a war zone here in a few days, maybe about 2 to 3 weeks there will be marines and Army here alike." Stevenson responded as he took another bite.

"Copy, I'll get the men ready sir." Karl said as he stood, this time he felt a jab at his ribs and grunted.

He shook off the pain and walked to all the men. He walked over and quietly said over comms, "Gear up, we are moving out in 30 minutes, eat your breakfast ration and stretch, it's going to be a long walk."

Karl stood around making sure to keep an eye out as everyone was eating and getting ready. As he looked up into the sky he saw a phantom fly overhead and into the distance. Luckily they were covered somewhat by the tree line and it seemed the alien craft did not spot them. He kept looking around until one by one the other men were done and started to stand up, ready for battle. He looked over all of them, tall or short. Skinny or muscular, they all had one thing in similar. They were all soldiers ready to fight.

"Here is the deal guys." He heard Stevenson's voice over comms. "We are going to get an medivac for Peacock, we are going to set a LZ for the pelican that will lift him out of here and back to orbit."

"Alright let's go. Set a perimeter around." He said and then everyone listened.

Karl decided to stick with 1st squad of the platoon. He kneel'd next to the sergeant and looked at him. "Hey, hey, Kuhn, what's up?" He said in a cheery tone.

"Ah nothing much Joker. Just sticking with your squad while we wait for the evac." Karl said in his usual, not so cheery tone. He was called Joker because most the platoon thought he was a psychopath considering he let out a small chuckle every time he killed an enemy.

"Coolio, thought we could have the platoon bad ass in our squad, it's an honor." Joker said happily and looked over at Karl. "No primary?"

"Nope, lost it when the grav hammer flung it into the middle of god damn nowhere." Karl said begrudgingly.

"Well fuck, that sucks, you good with the mag?" He asked.

"Yep, killed more with this thing throughout the entire war than the navy has killed covie ships." He said with some humor in his tone."

"Haha I bet, I was never in the war. But I have seen combat before, one of the few in this platoon." Joker said and chuckled at the end of his sentence.

"That's good, we need some seasoned men in here." Karl nodded to him.

"Thanks, I always li-" They were cut off by the sudden flash of a needle wizzing past them and hitting and sticking into a tree next to them.

"Covies! Direct front! Bearing 190!" Joker screamed to his squad and pointed his rifle forward.

Immediately the squad machine gunner started to open fire, suppressing the woods and slamming into everything that got in the way, trees or flesh. Karl ducked behind a log they were hiding behind and made sure his magnum was chambered, which it was. He popped up from cover and took aim down the optics of the magnum, finding the head of a jackal with a needle rifle. Karl pulled the trigger and countered the kick with all his might, as the pistol jerked he quickly saw the jackal's head jerk back as half of it's face was blown right off it's body.

Karl then took aim at another target, another jackal. He did the same thing and the jackal suffered the same fate, except it didn't even squawk as it fell to the jungle floor. Soon after what seemed like hundreds of grunts started to run out of the forest towards them.

"Jesus fucking christ!" He heard a random private scream. "Fuck em up Kova!" He heard Joker yell, then he watched as the machine gunner turned and started to unload rounds into the grunts, blooding flying every where and screams of pain as bullets ripped into them. Karl popped up again and unloaded the rest of his magazine into the charging grunts.

"First squad, what's going on over there!" He heard Stevenson's voice worried over the comms.

"Hundreds of covies! Too many, we need support." Joker yelled back.

"Solid copy, sending second squad to assist!" Stevenson said and then got off comms.

Karl loaded a new magazine into his magnum quickly and cleanly then popped up again and shot a few more of them. But what came as a surprise to him was the giant green ball of a fuel rod cannon flying towards them. "Cover!" Karl yelled as it flew towards them. He jumped away and covered his head as the fuel rod round smashed into the log and blew it in two pieces and shards of wood and plasma flew all over the place.

He looked over and saw the Corporal Kova didn't budge, he sat with his machine gun now prone and started opening fire again. This time shooting into the area the fuel rod came from. Karl crouched and aimed his magnum where it came from to see a brute chieftain. 'Not another one' Karl thought and frowned. He then shot a few rounds into it which harmlessly bounced off of the shields it had.

Karl sighed and deployed his energy sword and stood up. Joker looked at Karl. "Kova! Covering fire for Sergeant Kuhn, now!" Joker yelled, "Yes sergeant!" Kova screamed over the gunfire and aimed towards the grunts again and started firing at them, suppressing them.

Karl took a deep breath and started sprinting towards the brute, which had spotted him. It aimed the fuel rod towards Karl and fired it. Karl reacted quickly and rolled to the side, dodging the explosion that hit where he just stood. He stood up again quickly and charged towards the brute, going as fast as his legs could take him. He saw a rock in perfect position to propel himself onto the brute and ran towards it just as another fuel rod smashed behind him. Karl ran to the rock and put one foot on it and then pushed himself hard and the next thing he knew he was a few feet in the air. He held the sword to the side and put his legs forward, kicking the brute onto the ground and Karl landing on top of him.

He stabbed the sword onto the brute's chest, eliminating the shields with a hiss. The brute growled and punched Karl in the side, already where he was bruised. Karl grunted as he flew off the brute's chest. Karl quickly sat up and saw the brute grab some sort of spear off it's back and deploy it, almost like an energy sword except it was a spear, it looked pretty terrifying to Karl. The brute started to circle Karl and he started to circle it, waiting for someone to make a first move.

"Petty human, you cannot beat me." The brute said in broken English, his booming voice over the sounds of combat.

"Say that to the one I killed yesterday you fucking animal." Karl growled as he charged at the brute. It expertly swung the spear at Karl, which Karl quickly blocked and used his other hand to unsheathe his knife and quickly stab it into the brute's leg. It roared and then grabbed Karl with it's other hand and threw him a few meters back into a tree. Karl let out a scream of pain as his back slammed into the tree. He sat up and cracked it and instantly felt better. But the brute was already charging him and he quickly rolled out of the way as the spear sliced the tree, completely cutting it down.

As the tree slammed into the ground behind him Karl got up and slashed at the Brute's leg and he heard the loud hiss sound as the sword cut it's leg armor but not it's flesh. Then the spear was already coming at him which he blocked quickly. Karl swung at him again and this time the brute side stepped and stabbed at him, Karl was too late and the spear went straight into his abdomen. "Fuck!" Karl screamed as the burning pain entered his body. Karl quickly slashed at the brute's arm with his sword and heard the sickening hiss and burning flesh as he completely cut off it's arm.

Karl quickly pulled the spear out of his stomach as the brute roared in pain and held it's arm. Then suddenly he felt himself get picked up and thrown at least 10 meters and slammed into another tree. He yelped in pain as he felt his back hit yet another tree. He got up, this time his back hurting more than he wanted. He looked over to see who had thrown him and saw a second brute chieftain.

'Ah fuck me.' Karl thought as he picked up his sword that fell out of his hand and deployed it. The brute charged him full speed, more than what Karl liked and swung at him with a great sword style of energy weapon. Karl rolled out of the way and slashed at it's leg, the hiss symbolized he had hit something. He then heard the roar as the brute turned and swung again. Karl barely blocking it with his own weapon, but the force pushing him down. Then already another swing at him. He rolled out of the way on the ground as the sword smashed into the dirt.

Karl jumped up and blocked another attack from the brute and then used his own attack on the brute's leg. His sword hissed loudly and he could smell the burning flesh as his weapon entered the brute's upper thigh near the hip. He the quickly pulled it out as the brute kneel'd and stabbed it into it's throat. The sickening hiss as it burned the flesh. Karl then swished the sword to the side and decapitated the large brute.

He breathed heavily and bent over on his knees. The pain in his back and abdomen unbearable. But as he looked up to walk back because the gunfire started to stop he heard a roar and all the sudden he was taken off his feet and flying hundreds of meters. He couldn't help but let out a scream as he flew off a hillside and slammed into the ground and immediately started to roll and fly out of control. Slamming into any object his body could hit.

He felt his head slam into a rock and his visor cracked, his HUD now going wild, red lights flashing and critical messages every where. Karl felt his back slam into a tree and he groaned in pain as an all too audible crack sounded. He groaned as the pain shot through his body, and kept rolling. He tried to move his legs but couldn't, he used his arms to try and gain control of himself. His body still flipping and flying all over the place. He felt his hand finally catch something and grabbed hold of a loose root.

He took a breath and scanned his surroundings. Once again trying to move his legs, they didn't move. He looked up and saw how far he had rolled down the hill, probably hundreds of meters, it would take hours to climb back up, especially without his legs. He looked down and saw a small stream below himself and his energy sword sitting next to the water on the sandy bank. At this point it would be better to go down than up so he started to slowly climb down, trying his legs every few seconds, but they seemed like noodles he couldn't move.

He moved slowly, every movement he made almost feeling like a car hitting his back. He made it to the bottom and felt the soft sand on his back and heard the quiet sound of the creek flowing through this valley. His cracked helmet making it hard to see anything, but he didn't want to move. He just laid there and gently stroked the sand with his fingers. The feeling something he had never felt before and it was wonderful.

He looked around and his eyes fell upon his energy sword again. He slowly flipped himself, a surge of pain going through his back again. "Ahh! Fuck!" He couldn't help but yell outloud. The pain was unbelievable, his back, his abdomen and almost every bone in his entire body felt like he had been hit by a moving train. He placed his elbows in the sand and started to drag himself to the sword, his legs moving like small weights behind him. He got to it and picked it up, he placed it on his belt and then looked at the river. He dragged himself to the side, the sound of it very peaceful and calming. He grabbed his canteen and slid off his helmet, tons of sweat and small scratches with blood flowing out of them. Glass from his broken visor digging into his skin.

He put his face in the water and washed off his face, the cold water feeling like heaven to his feverish face and open wounds. He used his hands to rub his face, getting the glass out of his face. He took his face out then laid back on his back, it felt much better than laying on his stomach. He looked up into the bright blue sky, it had a few white clouds here and there, he swore one was shaped like a sky scraper. He grunted as he moved to grab his first aid kit.

He took it and quickly took out a morphine injector and stabbed it into his arm. Immediately he felt the pain start to fade and let out a sigh of relief. His head gently moving around, looking at his surroundings.

He took hold of his helmet and put it back on, his HUD now completely off. But he could try the comms. He gently tapped the button on the side of his helmet, "Kuhn to platoon, Kuhn to platoon..." He said in a voice he had never heard himself have before, it was shaky and almost like he was nervous to talk to a girl, or if he was freezing to death. "I read you Kuhn, where the fuck are you?" Stevenson came over the comms. "I-in some valley, with white sand next to a stream, I can't move my legs... I'm s-stuck sir. I'm sorry." Karl felt his voice become shaky, like he wanted to cry. He couldn't help himself but thoughts of himself never being able to do anything again fled his mind, becoming a vegtable, he never wanted to have to be like that.

"I'm so sorry si-" Karl was cut off by the sound of a soft voice. "It's okay Kuhn, we are coming to get you and we will bring you home." Stevenson said in a caring tone. "Y-yes sir." Karl cut off comms and continued to stare up at the bright blue sky. It reminded him too much of Berlin, damn he missed that place.

He kept gently caressing the sand he loved how it felt between his fingers. He had never felt sand, he had never been to a beach before. He loved how it felt and wanted to feel it the rest of his life, however long that was. He felt his eyes become heavy and tried to keep them open, almost like his body wanted him to sleep, it wanted him to go into the darkness. For the first time in his life Karl had no control over his body, like it was finally all too glad to take over because he was weak. It reminded him of a King being attacked by a lord because the King was losing power.

He chuckled at this and had a stupid smile on his face as he thought about a puny lord being able to take down a poor King because the King was a dumb ass who somehow fucked up real bad, and how ironic the thought was. He sighed and just watched as clouds moved by, staying awake for as long as he could. He felt like crying so badly. He couldn't control it, but he kept it back because he knew it would only make it worse, because crying makes your body jerk and stomach move, and it would hurt too badly to cry, then he would cry more.

He watched each cloud pass and tried to guess what it could be, it reminded him as if he was a kid again, paralyzed looking up at the sky, something he had always admired. He had always dream't going into the vastness of space, his dream came true, but the cost was his life, he had signed a contract with the devil as soon as he had joined the ODST. He had known the costs, but he did it anyway. Now a 30 year old man, not married, no kids, his only loyalties had been with the UNSC, never to a spouse or girlfriend or even his mother and little sister.

He felt some regret flow into him, how he had never tried to live a life like a normal human being, then he thought how if he was a military man with a stay at home wife, what if he had died? Like his own father did and left his family alone, nothing but a widow and fatherless children. He realized then his relationships with Soya probably meant nothing, or maybe it did have some value. A human and an alien was probably never heard of before. He sighed as he thought about it, all he could do right now was think, something he always enjoyed doing.

He then heard the quiet hum of something flying, whether it was UNSC or covenant, he didn't care, they would probably think he was dead anyways. But as it came into view and the engine was louder he saw the outline of a human ship, it was a Falcon. flying low along the river, it was probably searching for him. As soon as it was about 100 meters away it started to slow down and go at a vertical hover. It then started to slowly come forward towards him. He looked at it as best as he could, only making him want to go home worse.

It came to a halt about 10 meters away along the bank of the river and landed, the propellers kicking up dust and dirt. He then watched as two marines jumped out with a stretcher, the marines having red and white vests, meaning they were medics. He looked and watched them and two more marines jumped out, this time being ODST, and he could tell they were from his unit. As the medics neared they put the stretcher down and both of them went over and kneel'd next to him.

"Can you talk sergeant?" One of them asked in a hurry as they slid off his helmet and put a neck brace on him.

"Y-yes." He said in a weak croaky voice, almost like he forgot how to talk.

"Can you tell us your injuries if possible?" The same medic asked as they gently picked him up and placed him on the stretcher.

"Legs, they won't work. Stabbed in the abdomen, everything hurts." He said just as weakly.

"Alright, thank you sergeant." They picked him up and brought him to the falcon and put him in, strapping himself onto the stretcher and then strapping it down on the falcon.

He recognized the two men in his unit. It was Garrison and Laroche. they just looked at him, he had never thought of himself in this position. Laroche and Garrison nodded to him and then held onto handles as the Falcon lifted to the air. It flew quickly a few hundred meters above the jungle canopy. Karl watched as best he could since his neck was stationary. He then saw the USS Viper come into view. It was out of orbit and in the planet's atmosphere.

At this point Karl couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and finally let sleep overtake him now that he was safe and back in UNSC hands. As he drifted off he hope that it would all be over soon so he could be back in action helping these men that he had been traveling with the last year or so, he sure would miss him while he was getting fixed up.

Unknown amount of time later:

Karl's eyes opened slowly. He could feel that he was on a soft bed. He looked around the room he was in and he could tell it was an infirmary. The white walls and medical machines. He looked down and saw he was under some covers. He sighed and saw his arms on his sides, with several tubes jabbed into them. He once again tried to move his legs, they still didn't move. He started to panic, knowing everything that had happened was real, and he really was screwed.

He heard the machine beep a couple times and a nurse quickly walked in, a young woman wearing a normal medical gown. "Mr. Kuhn, please don't panic, a doctor will be in soon to explain everything to you." She said softly.

Karl nodded and calmed down a little, but was still very on edge, and somewhat angry.

The nurse smiles warmly and then leaves the room. A few minutes of sitting still after and a doctor, maybe in his fifties or sixties walks in, wearing a UNSC officers uniform under a doctor's coat with a name patch that said 'Green'.

"Good morning Sergeant Kuhn." The doctor said as he looked at a tablet and seemed to type a few things into it. He then took a seat in a chair next to Karl.

"Morning sir." Karl said as he looked at him with a slight frown on his face.

"No need to be grumpy." The doctor looked at him and smiled.

"How long was I out for doc?" Karl said somewhat weakly, he rubbed his throat and felt how dry it was.

"You were out for two and a half weeks in a medical coma, we had no choice, the few surgeries we did fixed several broken bones in your arm and about 4 broken bones all long your leg. But they are healed now." The doctor said and smiled.

"My legs, why can't I move them." Karl said with his frown still apparent.

"You are... paralyzed. The spine we were not able to fix. I am sorry. We are looking into it to see if we can do something." The doctor said, his face somber, like he just told Karl his family was murdered.

Karl clenched his teeth and clenched his hands. His face scrunched. "Okay, yes sir." He said as strongly as he could.

"You served the UNSC well enough boyo, I am sure there is more you can do for them, but other than that you cannot do anything for a long while." The doctor said softly, "But as I said, there is a small chance we can still do something." He smiles.

"I understand. Can I just be left alone." Karl said as he relaxes a little.

"Yes of course. Just call me if you need anything." The doctor sits up and walks out of the room.

The room was completely quiet, other than the soft beeping of the medical machine tracking his heartbeat. He looked around the room and saw a small note on the desk, he picked it up and also saw a water bottle. He took that as well and opened it and quickly chugged the whole thing down, he then tossed it into the trash can next to his bed and looked at the note.

He read through it.

Karl, it's Sarah, I got a call while I was at the embassy, me and Soya heard about your injuries and came by, we knew you weren't awake but it was nice to see your face again, but I hated how beat up it was and when we were told you were not able to walk Soya started to cry. I'm not even joking, like full on cry. She seems to care for you very much. When you wake up let us know so when you get released from the hospital we can take you to your new house. That's right your new house. It is a high rise apartment in the center of Berlin, but don't worry it has an elevator so getting to your apartment is no worry. Thanks to your service and hard work the UNSC decided to hand it to you on a golden platter. Lucky. Well, call us when you wake up, we will take you home.

Love,

Sarah Brandy

p.s. Visited your parents and told them the news, they were sad but glad you are alive.

He put the note down and rubbed his temples, he had a blistering headache, probably from being dehydrated. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting thoughts freely into his mind to keep himself calm. However long this was going to take Karl knew he had to power through it, no matter what. He did not want to give up, he would fight this fight like he did in every combat situation, with prowess and strength and mental positivivity. Although this was not combat, he would treat it like it.