CHAPTER 1: THE LAST OF THE BRAVE
The staff officer was engulfed in nicotine smoke as he was doublechecking the discrepancies between reports when his train of thought had been broken by the sound of obnoxiously loud footsteps. Major Cobar swung the door open walking into the room as if he owned the place. Even the floorboards underneath him sounded like they were creaking an apology.
"You called, sir?" The Major said as he threw a lazy salute that the staff officer didn't bother to return. "Yes, I called. Could you please tell me what kind of message where you trying to convey with this report?"
"What do you mean?" The Major asked with his voice practically drenched in sarcasm. Jan was growing increasingly tired with the low-class upstart and started reading the combat report which almost fell apart in his hands.
"The part where you say: 'The main gun of the M1000 Grizzly appears to have been built from carboard as its main gun feel apart upon the first shoot.' And another favorite of mine 'I enjoyed greater mobility when I was tied to a wheelchair then in this coffin.' End quote." Jan let out a sigh before continuing. "Care to indulge, Major?"
"What is there more to say, sir? Apar from the lack of any ingenuity in the tanks design." Cobar snarked. Jan was not in a particularly fine mood this morning to butt heads with the idiot, so he merely gestured for him to leave. "Dismissed." Cobar left dumb smile on face as he slammed the door shut.
Jan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. In his opinion the Major had come to represented everything wrong with the UNCS summed up in one person. Arrogant, brash and unprofessional a byproduct of a generation gone to hell or the loosening of UNCS standards as the war went on. Either way he couldn't care less. What he was concerned about however where the conflicting reports of the scope of Covenant forces that were present on the planet. One report suggested that militia units had engaged only a small recon team while the other implied that the force was a part of a much larger asset retrieval operation. The thing that made things even more unsettling was the fact that these conflicting reports where both supplied by none other than the Office Of Naval Intelligence. Shady practices had come to characterize ONI in the past few years. Enormous and seemingly unjustified increases in budget, the absorbing of all rivaling agencies and not to mention the out of nowhere SPARTAN super soldiers. Jan knew his place however. He was not in a position to ask too many questions and clash with ONI. Not with the Covenant knocking on the doorsteps of his home. So, for the time being he suspended his disbelief and took another whiff of smoke.
Cobar marched out of the office feeling quite pleased with himself. One of the perks of the job was the ability to walk all over militia officers regardless of rank. Though personally, he didn't have much against them. They were just ordinary people living in the wrong time. That's why he was here. To get the job done right. He concluded as relayed directive No. 21
Lana nearly fell off the platform of the thing as it made a sharp turn to the right. The Keddle was an uncanny looking vehicle. Being longer than most troop transporters and mounting an absurdly large anti-material cannon awkwardly sticking out of it. Apparently, it was used during the war with the insurrectionist to break through enemy lines and drop off troops. That is if anyone was left standing on the dammed thing. Not really suited for combat with the Covenant in anyway, but nobody conscripted ever expected to see conflict with extraterrestrials in their lifetime, now did they? She thought as she looked at the hard-faced young men and women of her newly formed squad. She couldn't help not to smirk at the idea that these people with their weird facial tattoos and dyed hair where the last thing standing between the Covenant and its path into the inner colonies. Lana felt as if someone was gazing at her and looked up to return the stare. It was the sergeant. She, along with the rest of the rank in file militia, had been recently given an extra stripe to accommodate the rapid military expansion. Hardly justified as she was boring as mud and about as inspiring. Before she could mutter anything comprehensible the Keddle came to a dead stop and Lana immediately jumped off the platform.
The Spec Ops commander was filled with anticipation. As fortune would have it a chance to secure a place on the Great Journey had presented itself. To this end he had been delegated the signature honor of being the first strike team to assault the human city. The grunts and elites under his command made their way to their coffin shaped pods as he placed his Type-51 Carbine in his. The screen flickered and the elites begun reciting the Write of Union in synchronization
All who walk the blessed path will find salvation, even in death.
Out of darkness, these blades will light our way.
Glory and honor guide our ascension.
On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons.
The true devotee honors our name with actions, not words.
Victory is secured not from the throne, but from the frontlines.
With this sacrament of blood we journey into the divine beyond.
The words echoed in his mind as they unwittingly evoked a weird feeling of nostalgia in which he found comfort. His entire life had been leading to this point. And he would not fail.