1459 Hours, October 20, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Sol System, Earth, Kenya, Logistical Support Area Anansi
Alarms were screaming across the base. Servicemembers ran in chaos to their stations to help in any capacity. The ground forces were placed onto red alert following the Home Fleet's engagement with the Covenant earlier in the day. Quick reaction forces were mobilized to prepare for an invasion and the UNSC were ready to fight for Earth. It was no drill, the Covenant were deploying forces onto Earth's surface, the capital world of Humanity. A Covenant carrier had settled over New Mombasa's Uplift Nature Reserve and dispatched combat units throughout Mombasa. The UNSC prepared their response by using local assets and whatever they could grab to crush the Covenant. It was not going to be another Reach, every servicemember was ready to die before the capital world fell to the Covenant.
An Orbital Drop Shock Troops Combat Element Team augmented with the 104th Marine Expeditionary Unit as an ODST Special Purpose Force prepared to join the fight. An Office of Naval Intelligence Section One officer from the Bravo-9 Division named Lieutenant Vilda Stenbeck relayed what information she had to the ODST Combat Element Team. Sangheili-led forces were present in both Old and New Mombasa, the UNSC was responding with a quick reaction force from the UNSC In Amber Clad along with force multipliers from the 104th MEU.
The Combat Element Team was known as Nomad 02, it hailed from the famous 105th Shock Troops Division, 9th Shock Troops Regiment, 10th Shock Troops Battalion, G Company as a Scout Sniper Element Team. Lieutenant Vilda Stenbeck served as the Operations Officer for the team and began making preparations to insert the team into the fight. Her interest was drawn to Sector A of New Mombasa and she worked quickly with her superior to get the team in.
The ONI Officer hailed from Reach and grew to hate the Covenant following the glassing of her homeworld. Countless other worlds were glassed before, but her homeworld made it personal. Same for the Element Leader of Nomad 02, Staff Sergeant Samuel Gwozdz. He hailed from Sigma Octanus IV and learned his parents were killed during the invasion; the Covenant showed no mercy in their genocidal campaign against humanity.
Lieutenant Stenbeck brought Nomad 02 into ONI's Command and Control Center to outline the plan she drafted up and the mission. Deploy to New Mombasa's Sector A to conduct surveillance and observation along with battle damage assessment of the sector as well. Their infiltration was going to be a Dropship 77-Troop Carrier flown by two ONI Officers from Bravo-9's aviation group. She informed them the Covenant were targeting the Maglev Train Network across the city and the spreading of Covenant forces towards Old Mombasa.
The Lieutenant knew the ODSTs were more than capable to conduct the mission she outlined for them. Her only concern revolved around the insertion of the team since the Covenant was already active in the area, chaos of the situation made her hopeful for a safe insertion. Extraction was going to happen once the battle was completed and it consisted of using whatever vehicles they commandeered.
Her final warning came with a concern about civilian behavior, how there may be an opportunity of crime. It was common to see during an invasion since mass panic brought the worse out of people. Lieutenant Stenbeck placed an emphasis on the safety of the team first then on the civilians. She hated making that decision but needed to so the ODSTs knew what to focus on. Staff Sergeant Gwozdz didn't waste time, he knew what needed to be done, especially after being against the Covenant on different colonies.
Wrapping up the briefing, she informed the team of their callsign name and the team identification. Ultra became the official callsign and SMO Nomad was the official team identification across the UNSC BattleNet. Special Missions Operation teams was a designation for ODST teams who served under ONI in a combat theater. Nomad 02 was still with the 104th MEU as their primary assignment, Vilda took the team for temporary duty with approval from the MEU Colonel prior to the breakout in Mombasa.
Lieutenant Stenbeck became Ultra 01 and Staff Sergeant Gwozdz took Ultra 02 since he was the Combat Element Leader and Chief Scout Sniper. Following the conclusion of the briefing, SMO Nomad ran to the team room to grab whatever they needed. The team already had their equipment on when the Home Fleet engaged the Covenant because they didn't know where the Covenant was going to bring the fight. No ODST from the 105th Shock Troops Division went into the fight unprepared.
Inside of SMO Nomad consisted of Sergeant Mathilda Dufort who served as the Chief Scout Observer, she worked as the spotter for Samuel and served as the Assistant Element Leader of Nomad 02. They been working together ever since they joined the 9th Shock Troops Regiment in 2551, they were considered the heartbeat of Nomad 02. Corporal Darrick Ferguson served as a Scout Observer to Corporal Oriana Osterberg, the two were reassigned to Samuel following the Battle of Reach.
The average age of the team was 27, a rarity for an ODST fireteam by 2552. Most either moved up or died, not many stuck around for the ground combat against the Covenant. Deploying to Mombasa was going to test the team's strength in a stressful environment, almost nothing was bound to go their way. In all of the years where a war has been waged, plans got thrown out the window the moment chaos hit. It was up to the individuals on the ground to make the right decision to get their team out alive while accomplishing the mission.