Welcome to the prologue of yet another story idea I had. Seriously, I have a mind that comes up with too many things. This story focuses on a wiser, more skilled Grif, as he tries to shut down Project Freelancer. I'm sorry if this is a slap to the face, RvB: Reach and Origin Story fans, but I seriously can't think of the events for its next chapter. Anyways, please enjoy this story, and please review or PM if you want to express your opinions.

New Alexandria, Espoz

Planet Reach

August 27, 2552

Dexter Grif

The onslaught was endless. Every time one of the ODSTs killed a Covenant soldier, two more took their place. Their ammo was low, half of their men wounded or killed, and the Covenant had began to glass the planet.

"Fuck!" a trooper screamed, and Corporal Dexter Grif of the ODSTs watched as Russel, a fellow ODST, got skewered by a sword-wielding Elite Ultra.

Before the alien warrior could get his kill off of his blade, a glowing ball stuck to his face, and the Elite roared before Grif's grenade incinerated his face. The blade deactivated and Russel dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"Someone get on the radio, now!" their ranking officer barked.

"Yes, sir!" a younger ODST replied, but before he could access the radio, a suicide Grunt put himself between the trooper and the radio, screaming some Covenant battle cry and blowing himself, the radio, and the ODST to oblivion. Now Grif, his ranking officer, and a female Army trooper were the only humans left in the city.

"Sir, we've got to go!" Grif told his sergeant, but there was no response to him.

"Sir?!" Grif looked to see a needle buried into the officer's helmeted skull.

Son of a fucking bitch.

Grif rose from his cover, firing two BR bursts before ducking back into it. The rounds hit a pair of Jackal Snipers in the head, powering through their skulls and blowing purple-black blood and brain tissue out of the backs of their heads. Behind him, the trooper held a lance of Grunts and Elites off with a handgun and a plasma pistol, shorting the shields out then popping their heads.

"Good work, trooper!" Grif called to her, changing cover spots and killing an Elite Minor in the process. After he shot down a team of Grunts, Grif turned around to see a needle round fly into the trooper's abdomen, exploding a few seconds after striking its target.

"No!" Grif yelled, dodging plasma fire and needle rounds to reach the now-dying trooper. Putting his arms under her armpits, he dragged her to a destroyed Warthog, which was flipped onto its side, making it a perfect cover spot for the wounded trooper. After laying her down, Grif told her he'd handle the Covenant and he returned to the fight, his BR and a Plasma Pistol in hand.

And handle them he did. After an hour, the entire Covenant battalion was torn to shreds by the black/orange Helljumper, and he had found an intact Warthog to escape New Alexandria before the glassing beams hit them. After driving to an empty small town, he picked up the trooper, bridal style, and took her to the clinic.

"Is this one good?" Grif asked her, indicating a bed in the corner. She hacked out blood and nodded, and the ODST set her down on it, removing her wasted armor. He pulled a canister of biofoam out and applied it to the hole the needle made in her abdomen, again, but unlike last time, the wound didn't seal.

"Ummm, I'll go find some better medical supplies, so, you should just hang on." Grif stood up to go find better remedies when the trooper grabbed his hand. Looking at him with half-closed gray eyes, she shook her head.

"I'm not gonna make it. The needle round did too much damage."

"No, it didn't." Grif tried to reassure her, but she shook her head again, beckoning him to her side. When he knelt down, she removed her helmet, revealing her long, wavy brown hair.

"Just... make sure my family knows what happened." The trooper went to remove her dog tags, only for Grif to do it for her. The trooper watched him read the tags, then place his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll let them know, Holly."

"Thank you, Corporal."

"I'm Dexter Grif. You might as well call me by name."

"It doesn't matter. Just... kick their asses." Holly shuddered, finally succumbing to her injury after almost an hour after sustaining it. Silently cursing himself, Grif looked out the window of the clinic. The Covenant had just finished glassing the city and were moving into the other parts of Reach.

Those sons of bitches aren't getting away with this. I'm gonna kill every last one of them.

Grif closed Holly's eyes in respect, picked her up, bridal style again, and took her around back. After setting her body down, he retrieved a shovel from another house and began to dig, trying to see if that last conflict could have had a different outcome. After he finished digging a good hole to lay his brief acquaintance down to rest, he decided on what the outcome was: Either they all died, or Grif was the sole survivor.

So much for being a good team... He finished Holly's burial and picked up his BR to perform a 21-gun salute, remembering his team's losses.

Hal.

James.

Grant.

Russel.

Sarge.

Whoever the other CO was.

Staff Sergeant "Sarge" wasn't killed, but he was suspended or some stupid shit for practically no reason, which was why the new officer was made his squad leader. And Grif felt that if Sarge was still the leader, then the massacre he went through would have never happened, and Sergeant Holly Caboose would have been able to return to her family.

And now I get to tell her family what happened. "I'm sorry to inform you that your daughter was shot and killed by a dick-headed Jackal Sniper while she was fighting on the frontlines."

He could already hear her parents crying and screaming in grief while he tried to comfort them. Thanks to a photo the skilled Army trooper had in her softcase, he knew what her family looked like and how big it was, and it was huge.

"Seventeen girls and one boy. That's a lot." Grif thought out loud, getting into his Warthog. "Correction: Sixteen girls and one boy. Holly was what made it seventeen."

As he started the engine and drove off away from the glassing beams, he had one thought in mind: if the stupid UNSC command court-martialed him for some stupid reason, then he was going to go insane. But hey, he might find Sarge.

Sorry this is so short, but this was written way back when Red vs Blue: Reach was in its concept days. Essentially, this is meant to be a darker AU of Red vs Blue, as the Reds and Blues will lose other people along the way. Anyways, this is a prototype of sorts, so if you like it, I'll work on it. If not, I'll discontinue it. Anyways, until next time, then.