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October 23, 2552 (Military Calendar)

15:58 Hours, Earth Time

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers

72nd Company and 11th ODST

Squad 849 and "The Squad"

Location: Sol System

Luna Quadrant, Earth Space

Covenant Cruiser Dissolute Justification

Grounded

"Veronica, is there anything you can possibly do from there?" Buck asked from across the cabin. Captain Dare's response rang in Eric's ear, "Negative, Buck. There are no friendlies in the area, but we are trying to divert whatever I can to your position. I'm sorry."

He could hear the worting of M'tar in the cockpit as he was supposedly trying to negotiate a stand-down on the other side of the troop doors. His volume was getting progressively lower as the conversation went on. Eric shifted his grip on his rifle as he contemplated whether it was a good or bad thing.

The tension was palpable as the soldiers in the cabin shifted quietly in anticipation and anxiousness. A scaly hand tapped his shoulder pauldron from behind. He half turned to face M'tar, who said, "Human Sergeant, I have spoken with my relative, the Shipmaster. He has agreed to a trade." Buck walked up behind the alien and spun him around, saying, "And what sort of trade would that be?"

M'tar looked between the Eric and Buck for a moment, then replied, "A trade that would save your lives, Human. But you must open the doors and hide the demon that is on board, the shipmaster was clear he would open fire if this ship was deemed a threat to his crew."

"And why should we trust you on this?" Buck stepped forward, less than a foot from the thing. "Why would you do anything to help humanity?"

The Sangheili looked him straight in the face and said, "The Jiralhanae your sergeant and soldiers seized me from were not slaughtering the Sangheili in your city for rivalry's sake, but instead by order of the Prophets. The Great Schism is at hand, and my kind does not even know. Believe me or not, Human, but if the Sangheili are gone, then your kind stands no chance against the armies of High Charity. But if my kind goes to arms against the other races of the Covenant, then both our kinds stand a chance for survival. That is why, Human. Not for your benefit and pleasure, but for the survival of my species."

Eric watched Buck nod slowly, then turn to Dutch and Rookie. "Get her hidden," he said as he pointed at the Spartan. When the two troopers pulled her back from sight, Buck then palm the door control. The troop bay doors lowered with a Clunk. Outside the dropship were rows of armed Elites and Grunts, and a pair of Hunters, whose weapons were as raised. Between the Hunter pair was a Zealot class Elite in gold armor. There was a moment of silence as both sides waited for the other to make the first move.

The shipmaster made the first motion as he barked something to the hunter pair, who lowered their assault cannons mounted to their arms. Immediately afterward, the rest of the troops in the hangar lowered their weapons as the zealot took a step forward.

Beside Eric, M'tar took a walked to the edge of the troop bay and looked over at him. "Human Sergeant, I have convinced him to let your soldiers leave as if this never occurred. I pray that if we meet again, that it will not be as foes, for you have shown honor when not expected. Fight skillfully and honorably with that blade, make its past owner dignified in its use. Walk the Path, wherever it may lead you, Human." With that, M'tar hopped down to the deck of the hangar bay and loped up to the shipmaster, who nodded at M'tar and motioned to an alien on an upper deck. The clamps around the phantom were released and the dropship's antigravity drives settled it into an easy hover five feet above the deck.

Buck hit the door controls and turned to yell into the cockpit, "Mickey, let's get out of here while we still can!" The doors sealed shut and Eric felt the floor rumble as the drives propelled it out of the hangar and back into space. Once they were well clear of the cruiser and sure there were no tails chasing them down, the troopers in the bay relaxed.

"Shit, that could have ended much worse." Jason said as he removed his helmet and set it on the floor. Eric set his rifle down as Buck retorted, "Could have ended better, Corporal. ONI is going to be furious that we lost an asset and have nothing to show for it. Though surviving with our lives intact is better than being dead."

Eric took off his helmet and nodded at Buck, "Gunny, I wouldn't say we have nothing. We still have helmet cameras and a lot of footage for them to go through. Plus we still have the Spartan in one piece. It wasn't an entirely wasted venture." Buck smiled as he sat down on the floor. "Sergeant, I like how you think."

Eric glanced to the back of the troop bay as he noticed the flickering of lights in his peripheral vision. The Spartan was coming to. She rolled over onto her hands and knees and made a sudden, jerking motion toward the ground with her entire body. Quickly, her left hand went to her helmet and ripped it off. He rushed over with the others. As her helmet came off, vomit spilled out from it and slopped onto the deck. She continued retching onto the floor for about fifteen seconds. Immediately after wiping her mouth with the back of her gauntlet, she snapped to her feet and grabbed her helmet. "Where am I?" she said.

Beside Eric, Rookie let out a soft laugh and said, "Back with the living."

*\\\\\*/*

Before the phantom a large, black UNSC cruiser materialized out of space. Eric's jaw went slack as he realized the size of the prowler named Point of No Return. This was easily five times the size of the largest ONI prowler he'd heard of. Behind him someone whistled loudly. Sitting in one of the oversized seats meant for an alien much bigger than him, Mickey raised his hand to his helmet and called back, "I am receiving, Point of No Return. Guide us in."

Eric turned around and tapped Dutch on the shoulder, who moved aside, as he walked back to the troop bay. There Brandy was keeping an eye on the Spartan, who was wiping the puke from the inside of her helmet with a towel she had pulled from a hard case on her left thigh armor. "How's she doing?" he asked Brandy on a private comm channel.

She shrugged. "Hasn't said much. Only person she's spoken to is Jason. Even then, she hasn't said much. You'd think she'd be more comfortable with other soldiers." He stepped forward and glanced back at her and said, "Maybe she is fully aware of the hatred between helljumpers and Spartans and is doing her best to not piss off the Gunny. Technically he is a higher rank than her by Marine Corps standards." She gave a hair of a nod back.

He stepped up to Jason and the Spartan and held out his hand. "Petty Officer," he began with a nod as she took his hand, "how's the stomach?" The Spartan's had was much larger than his, but the handshake was not as bone-crushing as he first expected. A smile crept across her pale face. "Better now that it's all out, Segeant. Corporal Broward was telling me of all the trouble you ODSTs went through to bet me out of Africa. Thank you." Eric glanced at Jason and then back to the smiling Spartan before him. The two looked a lot alike, except the fact that Maria had about a half a foot of height and at least fifteen, maybe twenty years on him. He filed that in the back part of his mind before continuing the conversation. "It was a day that we worked hard for our pay. Glad to see you made it." He let go of her hand and looked over at Jason. "You seen this ship we're docking with yet? Biggest prowler I've seen or heard of."

Jason nodded at the Spartan and walked up to the cockpit. Eric turned back to Spartan 062 and said, "I'm not going to be an dick about it, Petty Officer, but it was a pain in the ass to get you out of that city. We almost died several times trying to get you. I thought all Spartans were either killed at Reach or on the other side of the planet. What's your story? How did you wind up in that city?"

The Spartan straightened up a minute amount and dropped the smile. "I was injured shortly before the Battle of Reach and was pulled from active combat as a result. I served ONI on temporary assignment. Officially I had retired from service. When I healed up, I 'came out of retirement' and tested out the newest MJOLNIR armor, which I'm currently wearing, at Seongnam, Korea. Shortly after that, the Covenant arrived at Earth and I opted to go to New Mombassa to fight the Covies on the ground. What I was sent to do is classified, along with most of what I've told you. Does that make it worth you risking the lives of your squad to get me? Are we on the same page?"

Eric nodded and took his helmet off. "Yeah, the bad blood's been spilled. We're good now. I wanted to know where you stood about us ODSTs. Good to meet you, Spartan, I'm Sergeant Eric Segraves."

The Spartan relaxed a tad and the smile came back. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sergeant. I'm Maria 062. Thanks for picking me up down there. Sorry I couldn't awake for the withdrawal. I would have killed to see the look on that split-jaw's face when he was told to carry a 'demon.' I owe you troopers."

Behind him, Buck walked into the bay and called, "Pack it up, we're docking in half a minute." Eric smiled and patted the Spartan on the shoulder, which was just about at his chin height. He walked over and picked up his rifle, checking the safety and letting it flip over upside down as he gripped the bottom hand-guard.

Once the dropship entered the docking bay of the Point of No Return, the doors on each side flipped down. Once it set down on its antigravity drives and lowered itself to rest on its chin gun and back fins, the troopers hopped down onto the solid metal of the deck. Behind them the Spartan thudded to the deck. Around them, men in different uniforms, some technicians, others mechanics, some officers rushed around the hangar on various tasks.

Out of the crowds, a blonde woman in a black ONI officer uniform walked up to them fast, holding a datapad in her left hand. Her nametag said Dare and the rank of captain. From the look of it, she was sleep deprived and did not look pleased. She stopped before Buck and said, "Buck, it's good to see you made it. You troopers need to follow me to the debriefing. Spartan, you are to report to deck 5B Room 881." She turned around and began walking off toward the back of the hangar. Eric followed her with the rest of the team out of the hangar, down a corridor, and to an elevator. Maria continued walking down the corridor and gave his team a nod farewell as she passed. Once everyone was in the elevator, Dutch asked, "So, Captain, ONI has you at a desk now?" Dare looked over at him and smiled, "Yeah, I'm between jobs at the moment." When the elevator reached the correct floor it opened and Dare exited. "This way, it's not too far." About thirty seconds later, she turned left into a large conference room. She pointed into the room, "Take a seat troopers and wait for Major Ramsey and Admiral Parangosky."

Eric and the rest of the troopers took a seat in the tables. He leaned his rifle against the table as he took off his helmet. On his left, Jason sat down and dropped his pack on the floor. On his right, Buck sat down and popped off his bucket as well. Across from him, Mickey said, "Wow, a full blown admiral! Guess we're getting the special treatment!"

Beside him Buck ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "Yeah, but it's Admiral Parangosky, the Director of ONI: the very type of special treatment that could end our careers… or worse. Keep a lid on what you say to her. From what I've heard she's the person you do not want to cross." Mickey's smile disappeared at that statement as the door's clicked open.

"Admiral on deck!" Dare called as everyone stood up to attention and saluted. Through the doors walked in a short, elderly woman who was using the aid of a cane. The woman returned the salute and replied, "At ease troopers." She turned to her left and nodded as a tall, lanky man with ginger hair walked in.

The man who walked in, Major Ramsey started the debriefing, "Troopers, it's good to see you came back in one piece. Now, let's get into this. The Spartan is being put through diagnostics and her own debriefing, you all saved her life. Now, according to Captain Dare, when three of you were separated, you picked up an asset that is no longer with us. Care to explain, Master Gunnery Sergeant?"

Buck straightened slightly and responded, "The asset, a Sangheili Major, was lost to Covenant forces when our ship was intercepted by a Covenant Cruiser, Sir. Upon seizing him, we were released by the interceptors. Sergeant Segraves captured as much as he could on his helmet camera, Sir."

Major Ramsey looked over at Eric and said, "Is this correct, Sergeant?" Eric nodded as he pulled the chip from the back of his helmet and offered it to the Major. "Yes, Sir, this should have all the recording information from the past forty-eight hours. That should include what was recorded through my rifle's scope." Ramsey took the chip and inserted it into a slot on the conference table. The table's top cleared to display his helmet camera view from the operation start. When the video began to play, Admiral Parangosky cleared her throat and said, "Major, I believe our technicians can dig through that on their own. In the meantime, these troopers would maybe like a moment to sit down and relax in comfort for a bit. They already know what is on the video. In the meantime, I will take my leave." As she reached the door, she turned and said, "Troopers, keep up the good work. ONI will be watching."

Major Ramsey straightened up and replied, "Certainly, Ma'am. Captain, take this chip to IS and get it processed ASAP. Gunny, you and your men are dismissed. Sergeant Segraves, I would like a word with you. Your squad is free to go." Dare grabbed the chip and filed out after the admiral with Buck, Mickey, Dutch, Brandy and Jason.

Once the door slid closed, Major Ramsey looked over at the him. "Sergeant, in your own words describe for me what happened on that Covenant ship." Eric cleared his throat, "The Sangheili, M'tar Vadamee traded his captivity for our freedom. Simple as that, Sir. I have no idea what would have caused it to do that." Ramsey nodded and replied with a smile, "Fair enough, Sergeant. Your father would be pleased to see you now, I bet."

A chill went up Eric's spine, "I wouldn't know, Sir. I haven't seen or heard from my parents since I joined the Corps and was transferred off Earth to defend the outer colonies. They didn't even show up to my graduation from ODST training. May I ask why you brought them up, Sir?"

Ramsey took a seat and kept smiling. "Your father and I served as Corpsmen before the Covies showed up. Back when we were young men fighting Innies. We were attached to the same Marine unit during the Insurrection. He took a bullet to the leg for me during one of our deployments. He must not have ever told you. When you joined the Corps, your father asked me to find any information on you I could. So I have scanned through all the casualty reports that have come in from the last three years for all three of you by his request. Then all of a sudden, you and your friends are all three ODSTs and seemingly breezing through ranks. So I can say that it is a pleasure to finally see the person I have been keeping tabs on for the past three years alive and well. Oh, your squad will departing for Afghanistan as soon as that data from your helmet camera is copied. I wouldn't want to keep you three from some rest. The temporary quarters for your squad is on deck 3F Room 82."

Eric nodded and said, "Thank you, Sir. My father never mentioned you before. May I ask where my squad needs to go to meet up with the 72nd? The Earth is nowhere yet won."

Major Ramsey's smile disappeared instantly. "No one has told you, Sergeant? There are no survivors from the Seventy-second Expeditionary. You three are all that is left. Your squad is to be transferred and dissolved into the 2nd ODST Battalion. I was under the impression that you were aware of this when you were sent back into New Mombassa. I am sorry, Sergeant."

The news hit him like a shotgun to the chest. "Understood, Sir. Will we be leaving by shuttle?" Ramsey stood up and said, "Yes, a shuttle will take you and your squad back to earth where you will meet with your new unit. You are all dismissed. Captain Dare will return your data chip to you once it is processed. Once again, my condolences."

Eric stood up and grabbed his belongings as he headed out silently. Outside, Jason and Brandy were waiting for him. "Did he mention your parents as we walked out?" He nodded. "We have new orders. Once my helmet footage is done, we're off to Afghanistan." He began walking down the hall to the temporary quarters. From behind him, Brandy said, "It'll be good to link back up with the rest of the 72nd." He stopped in his tracks. She bumped into him he stopped so fast. "What's wrong?"

He turned around and sighed. "We won't be linking up with our old unit in Afghanistan. We're being dissolved into the 2nd ODST. As of now, there is no 72nd ODST."

Brandy looked dumbfounded. Jason took off his helmet. "Eric, What do you mean there is no 72nd?" Eric sighed again and said, "There are no other surviving members of the 72nd. We're all that's left."

Jason put his hands on top of his head and turned around exhaling slowly. "No," Brandy started, "there has to be some sort of mistake. There's no way that all two hundred ODSTs were killed. It just can't be."

Eric straightened up and said, "Regardless of casualties, we have our orders. We're ODSTs, and we never turn down orders or missions. So snap out of it." He picked up his things and put on his helmet, to hide his face of shock. He walked off with his squad behind him in silence, mulling over the fact that he was one of three that were left alive.