August 24th, 0421 Local time, 2552

The Colony of Concord, Hill 934

All things considered, Sergeant Xavier Meadows was having a rather shitty morning. It started at two in the morning with some Covenant artillery bombarding his platoon's position on Hill 934. The shelling lasted for almost a full hour, before the infantry started charging up the hill with a ferocious alien battle cry. Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and even a pair of Hunters.

Thankfully there was still half a Platoon of ODSTs left after the bombardment and the earlier fighting, and half a Platoon of ODSTs was a force to be reckoned with. Covenant blood ran down the hill in rivers, bones splintered, flesh burned and Grunts exploded as their methane tanks ignited. Heavy Machine Gun fire combined with the steep slope and liberal usage of explosives by the ODSTs meant that the Covenant paid for every meter of ground with a dozen troops.

When the battle was finally done and the gunfire ceased, the Covenant had yet again been driven back. The exhausted defenders of Hill 934 continued to wait for reinforcements, which seemed less and less like a realistic prospect as the frontline continued to close around their hill. Thankfully, their rear was secure, so they weren't completely encircled. But ODSTs were shock troops, meant to be used on the offensive, not to hold solitary positions. And their ever-growing casualties meant that their unit's strength diminished with every battle.

Currently, Meadows was sitting in a foxhole, holding his battle rifle in a stern, professional firing position. After the previous few hours of constant fighting, he wasn't afraid to admit he was stressed out, and he was paranoid the Covenant were going to come back.

"Meadows." A voice said from behind him, sounding equally exhausted.

He turned around and saw one of his squadmates, Corporal Yu Sato. Her dark purple accented ODST armor was caked in layers of mud, She'd taken her helmet off, revealing her face was just as dirty as her armor.

"Hey Yu." Meadows said, facing forward again to watch for any more hostiles.

"You can probably relax, you know. The Covies won't be back for a while." Yu said as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah... I know." Meadows said, finally lowering his rifle. "I'm just, a little paranoid, ya know?"

"Can't say I blame you." Yu said in agreement, before offering him a nutrient bar. "Here, I noticed yours are all gone."

"Thanks." Meadows said, removing his helmet before taking the offered food.

Meadows didn't complain, as he was only just now realizing he was absolutely starving. His first bite out of the bar confused him, and Yu noticed the shift in his facial expression.

"Granola?" He asked, somewhat doubtfully.

"Yeah, we're out of the good stuff." Yu said, with a hint of complaint to her voice. "Normally I wouldn't mind them, but they keep changing the recipe, and this one tastes like cardboard. I heard Bravo one-three still has a couple of the good ones, maybe we can trade for them."

"Hopefully." Meadows said, hoping that he hadn't lost his cigarette ration somewhere during the battle. He didn't personally smoke, but they were a valuable trading commodity on the frontline. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Yu replied, with a half-hearted chuckle as she realized the irony of the statement. "Just like you actually, a bit stressed, although I can say it certainly cheered me up when Fairfire blew that Elite up with one of his own grenades."

Fairfire was their Staff Sergeant, and the leader of the surviving ODSTS. She had been next in the chain of command after the Lieutenant was flash-vaporized along with most of the Command Fireteam.

"Yeah, that was funny." Meadows said, allowing himself a brief chuckle. "How's everyone else?"

"Fairfire took a plasma bolt, but her armor took it." Yu reported. "Nathan's fine too, his sniper rifle broke, but he found one of the old Stanchions to replace it. Some poor Army Trooper isn't getting their favorite toy back anytime soon."

"Whose bright idea was it to give Nathan a coilgun?" Meadows asked jokingly.

"I dunno, but every time a Jackal sniper thinks it can line up a shot on us it ends up exploding." Yu said, a bit of levity in her voice as she probably imagined one of the avian predators being torn in half by a Gauss slug.

"What about Erik?" Meadows asked. "How's he doing?"

Yu looked down to the dirt with a miserable expression on her face. "He got melted by a wraith blast about an hour ago, at least it was quick."

Meadows nodded solemnly, he hadn't known the man well, but another dead Helljumper was always worth mourning.

"It's just us four left in our fireteam then..." Meadows said, dread seeping into his voice.

"I'm sure we'll get reinforcements soon." Yu said optimistically. "Command wouldn't just leave us here, even if they wanted to, this hill is too damn important."

"Heh, that's a little morbid, but still, I admire the optimism." Meadows said. "I don't even have to ask how Fairfire's taking this whole situation."

"Oh she's been having a blast." Yu said. "I've never seen anyone stare down a Hunter like that, I'm amazed she's still alive."

"Yeah well, maybe she'll tell us how-" Meadows began, before he was interrupted by a sound they both recognized. A truly alien noise unlike any other, the sound of a Wraith Blast soaring through the air.

"Ah shit." Yu said before the blast hit the empty foxhole right next to them, sending mud and plasma everywhere. Yu was lucky enough to avoid it, but Meadows got hit with a tiny glob of plasma that stuck to his leg, thankfully the plate took most of it, but he felt himself get noticeably hotter. He quickly threw his helmet back on, before firmly grabbing his rifle and grabbing a better stance.

"Looks like they're back!" Meadows shouted over TEAMCOM.

"Yeah, I noticed, thanks for the observation." Fairfire responded in an unimpressed manner over the radio. Meadows could hear inconsistent gunfire and the steady whine of plasma firing from the other side of the hill. "Nathan, Ultra coming up at eleven o' clock, kill that bastard would you?"

Seconds later Meadows heard the sound of a coilgun slug breaking the sound barrier multiple times over.

"One less split-lip to worry about." Nathan reported.

"Meadows, Yu, get over here! We need the firepower!" Fairfire shouted over the radio. "The Turrets will cover your position, just hurry the hell up!"

"Wilco." Meadows replied before he and Yu stood up and began the short sprint to the other side of the hill.

They were forced to take the long way through the trenches, avoiding plasma, shrapnel, bullets and more on the treacherous journey to the other end of their defenses. They passed by more ODSTs, but could not stop to offer any help, as Fairfire had made it very clear where they were needed. When they finally arrived at Fairfire's position, they found her operating an AIE-486 Mounted Rotary Gun, with Nathan entrenched a short distance away, taking shots at the oncoming Covenant infantry, creating a deafening thunderclap with each pull of the trigger.

"Where do you want us?" Meadows asked, forced to yell over the gunfire.

"Right here!" Fairfire yelled as she paused her firing to lob a grenade. Moments later, an entire squad of Grunts exploded, their methane tanks only adding to the fireball that claimed several more Covenant lives.

"Got it!" Yu said, taking up a position in the trench and opening fire with her Assault Rifle.

Meadows took up a position that covered an area Fairfire's turret couldn't aim well. His first burst knocked out a grunt that was charging with two plasma grenades primed, the live explosives fell to the ground and blew up the rest of the Grunts around it. The rest of his magazine was spent eroding the shields, armor, flesh, and finally the skull of the Elite Major that had been leading the Grunts. He could feel bolts of plasma roar over his head, his visor polarizing itself to keep his vision clear.

Fairfire was doing her best to handle the ravenous onslaught of grunts with her turreted machine gun. She plowed through belt after belt of ammo, the barrels of her weapon becoming red-hot as she mercilessly tore entire squads of Grunts to ribbons. The Elites leading them began to suddenly drop as Nathan sent a supersonic tungsten projectile through their heads, helding to relieve some of the pressure on the rest of the squad. But as the Covenant got nearer the incoming fire got heavier, and the ODSTs found it harder to stick out of cover in order to get accurate shots.

"Damnit, we're going to get pinned!" Yu shouted as she reloaded.

"Not for long we're not!" Fairfire shouted. "Grenades, on my mark!"

All four of them ducked into cover and primed a frag grenade. This was a strategy Fairfire was rather fond of, and Meadows could see why. The Covenant didn't seem to comprehend the idea that the humans were willing to take such risks during a battle, but the results were well worth the lost initiative.

"Mark!" Fairfire shouted.

All four ODSTs poked their heads out of cover, and four grenades flew through the air before landing at the feet of the incoming Covenant forces. The ODSTs got back into cover before the grenades detonated, blowing over half of the attacking force apart. Meadows could feel the shockwave from the blasts and shrapnel peppered the ground around him, the screams of aliens filled the air. The plasma fire continued for a few seconds, before it began to relent.

The four ODSTs popped out of cover once more once the shrapnel had died down, before unleashing a hail of gunfire on the survivors. The unshielded enemies who were already wounded died extremely quickly, and only the Elites proved to be any sort of challenge. But with already weakened shields, they quickly joined their fallen brethren. The ODSTs jeered at their dying enemies, unsympathetic towards the plight that the aliens had gotten themselves into.

Serves them right. Meadows thought. "That one's for Erik, you rotten bastards!"

The few survivors quickly realized the assault was a failure and began to retreat, with the ODSTs taking shots at whoever they could as they ran. As the Covenant stragglers reached the relative safety of their lines, the defenders got back into cover and took stock of the situation.

"So much for us getting a break!" Meadows said in between deep breaths.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Nathan added.

"Quit your bellyaching! If you want a break, Then make your preparations for the next wave and damn well earn it!" Fairfire sternly stated. Meadows could tell that even though she spoke with passion and energy, she was just as exhausted as the rest of us.

Nathan chuckled. "Yes Mom."

"I didn't take you as the type of guy who'd call another girl "Mommy" Nathan." Yu jokingly said.

"Hey now, that's a very different-" Nathan began his own joking response, but found himself interrupted.

"Shut up you two.." Fairfire said, before getting on her radio and checking around the rest of the line, seeing if everyone else on the hill with them was still combat effective. While she did, Nathan poked his head out of cover to see what the covenant were doing, using his rifle's scope to see them better.

"They're regrouping on our side, if only we still had those mortars, we could do some real damage right about now." Nathan reported, a hint of frustration in his voice at the lost opportunity.

"That's a sniper rifle is it not?" Yu asked.

"Yeah, why?" Nathan replied.

"So Snipe them!" Yu said like it was obvious.

"I can't, these assholes don't know how to stop... wait." Nathan said. "Ma'am, I see the wraiths, there on our side."

Fairfire put her conversation on hold and looked at Nathan. "How many?"

"Four, plus another thing I don't recognize, looks like a bus." Nathan said.

"That's a Shadow." Fairfire said as she took up a spotting position for Nathan.

"Should I shoot?" Nathan asked.

"No, the rest of the platoon needs breather." Fairfire said. "If you take a shot, they might resume the bombardment."

"How badly is everyone else doing?" Yu asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Badly, apparently we have even more wounded after that last fight." Fairfire said, her voice also accented by worry. "We need the time to get them out, and as long as they aren't bombarding us we'll be fine."

As if on cue, the wraiths all fired a blast of plasma that slowly soared through the air towards them. All of them heard it and dived back into cover. The wraith blasts missed them, and they sent even more mud and blobs of plasma soaring through the air.

"You just had to open your mouth!" Nathan shouted. He poked his head slightly out of cover to fire at the Wraiths, but even the large anti-material Gauss Rifle proved insufficient against the thick armor of the Wraiths.

"Quit your bitching Private!" Fairfire said, before getting on the radio and trying to raise Command for support. Meanwhile, the Wraiths continued to bombard their hill.

"They're coming again!" Nathan called out, before ducking back into the trench. "Looks like a bunch of jackals this time."

"Cover me, I'll try and raise the airforce!" Fairfire shouted back.

"Yu, get your launcher!" Meadows shouted as he popped out of cover and started firing at the jackals as they approached. These ones had shield gauntlets to protect them, but their hands were exposed, a vulnerable weak spot Meadows exploited. It was hard to deliver a kill shot, but at least he was doing damage.

Nathan popped up next to him, using his powerful rifle to the fullest. Unlike Meadow's battle rifle, each shot from Nathan was more than enough to tear the arm off a jackal. Unfortunately the shield wall stayed strong as it steadily advanced towards them.

After a few seconds, Yu returned with a rocket launcher. She got next to Nathan and took the launcher's safety off.

"Backblast clear!" She called out, checking to make sure she didn't fry anyone with the plume of hot air she was about to create.

"Clear!" Meadows and Nathan called out before the first rocket soared out of the launcher. The rocket collided directly with a jackal's shield, most of the shrapnel was ineffective, but the force of the blast and the actual explosion killed quite a few. A hole was blown in the shield wall, revealing a horde of grunts behind the jackals. The second rocket knocked out what was left of the jackals, with the survivors only interested in covering themselves

The grunts quickly realized their cover was gone and began to fire and advance. All of the ODST's were immediately pinned down under the barrage of shots from needlers and plasma pistols.

"Fairfire, we're pinned!" Yu shouted.

"Working on it." Fairfire calmly replied, in spite of the plasma whizzing by over her head. "Shortswords are inbound, won't be more than five minutes."

"We'll be dead by then, do we have any ideas?" Meadows asked.

"Grenades?" Nathan suggested with little certainty in his voice. All of them knew that throwing a grenade into the shitstorm of plasma above them would probably just melt it.

"No good." Fairfire shook her head. "We'll have to use the mines."

"What?" Meadows asked. "We have mines?"

"Fougasses, remote detonation, their built in along the barbed wire." Fairfire said as she pulled one of many detonators from her belt. "We dug them in but I hoped we wouldn't have to use them."

"Good planning." Meadows said.

"Nathan, poke your head up and tell me when they reach the wire." Fairfire said.

"With all that fire? I've got a better idea." Nathan said.

Using a small piece of broken glass as a mirror, he managed to peek over the trench without getting vaporized. "Ok, wait a moment..."

"Nathan, this plasma isn't getting any cooler!" Yu protested.

"Wait..." Nathan repeated, adjusting his makeshift mirror for a better angle. "Now, Hit it!"

Fairfire hit the detonator and the fougasses exploded, spraying shrapnel and smaller explosives into the covenant line. Some of them must have had incendiary mixtures judging by the amount of fire, which only added to the carnage. Grunts died by the dozens, and the surviving Jackals were blown apart. When the gory display was finished the Covenant were once again routed, this time with less than a tenth of their initial assault force. The ODSTs took potshots at the survivors, claiming several more alien lives as they ran.

"Good, that'll keep em' back for a while." Meadows said, unable to resist the smirk of satisfaction from a job well done.

"Hopefully." Fairfire said as she admired her handiwork.

"You'll jinx it you know." Nathan said looking at Meadows.

"I ain't gonna do it twice in a row. Besides, they have no reserves left, what do they have left to throw at us?" Meadows said.

"Their Wraiths?" Yu suggested. "The auto-turrets on those things are nasty..."

"Up that hill? I'd like to see them try." Fairfire said, as if taunting the Covenant to try.

But the aliens would never get a chance to answer her challenge, as a flight of Shortsword Bombers flew above their hill at supersonic speeds. Meadows never even saw the ordnance they dropped, but it was enough to completely obliterate the Covenant's positions at the base of the hill. The whole hill let out a hearty cheer as the Wraiths smoldered and the Covenant were wiped from the face of Concord.

August 24th, 1304 Local time, 2552

The Colony of Concord, Local UNSC Command Post

As the sun rose over the muddy trenches of Concord, the final Helljumpers made their way off of Hill 934. They were replaced by a far larger unit of Army Troopers, who were more suited to handling the prolonged Siege the Covenant intended to put the Hill through. Staff Sergeant Fairfire felt a bit of remorse for leaving the Hill in such disastrous shape, but she was confident that the Troopers would be able to patch together what defenses they had left behind. What little remained of her Platoon waited outside the Firebase and rested, while Fairfire was debriefed by the Army Colonel in charge of the area.

She felt more nervous in the office of a superior than whenever she was in battle with the Covenant. However, to call her nervous at all would perhaps be inaccurate, as the word simply did not suit her. Still, she did feel a sense of unease as she relayed everything that happened over the past week on Hill 934.

The woman at the desk in front of her was some no doubt terribly important Colonel who's name escaped Fairfire at the moment, and she listened intently to what Fairfire had to say. She uniform lacked the grime and dirt of Fairfire's undersuit, but the exhaustion in her eyes and the used Stimpack on her desk suggested that she'd been just as busy as the Helljumpers.

"-Once that was done, we received orders to head back here. We gathered what was left of our equipment, our dead and wounded, and let the Army take over." Fairfire said, wrapping up her retelling of the events earlier that day.

"I see." The Colonel said, entertaining Fairfire with a nod to show that she was listening. "What about your casualties?"

Fairfire did her best to resist a grimace, and succeeded in maintaining a degree of professionalism. While she personally wasn't all that fond of formalities and pleasantries, she had learned that superior officers typically didn't share that sentiment. "Our Platoon was really put through the meat grinder, we only have eight active personnel... including myself."

"What about the wounded?" The Colonel asked, her demeanor notably shaken somewhat by the heavy casualties.

"11, none walking." Fairfire answered. "...For what it's worth, I'm sorry I don't have better news to give you."

"Well I'm afraid that makes two of us." The Colonel said with a hint of regret. "Since our hospital ship is off doing some no doubt terribly critical ONI bullshit, we're left with only the reserve units for field hospitals. Look, long story short, it's going to be a little while before I can get you some replacements."

"Oh, I see." Fairfire said, unable to hide her disappointment.

"I do have some good news for you." The Colonel said. "There's an Army Lieutenant with some hefty connections who wants to talk to you, apparently he wants you and what's left of your team for some kind of long-term assignment."

Fairfire was very surprised to hear that. ONI wasn't particularly fond of using Helljumpers for anything other than bait, so she was a bit nervous as well. "A long-term assignment?"

"Hey, don't look at me, these ONI jackoffs don't tell me what I'm allowed to eat for breakfast, let alone operational details." The Colonel said, with a hint of bitter frustration in her voice. "On that note, I'm not allowed to be here for this. Let me know when you're done."

The Colonel pressed a button on her desk, before standing up and leaving the room. The holotank on the desk activated as soon as she left, it didn't show a hologram, but a voice played nonetheless.

"Hello there, Staff Sergeant." The voice said. "I already know who you are, so allow me to introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose."

"Uh, hello Sir." Fairfire awkwardly replied. "What's the occasion?"

"I have a need for a Special Forces unit to help with a project of ours." Kurt explained. "I've been searching for quite some time, and I believe your Platoon would fill that role nicely."

Fairfire flinched, apparently he hadn't been brought up to date on recent events. "I'll warn you Sir, my unit currently consists of 8 men, and I just got told I'm getting no reinforcements." Fairfire said. "I'm afraid you'd be getting a squad, not a Platoon."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kurt said, his voice giving a sense of genuine regret. "However, my request still stands. You and your squad have a lot of accomplishments under your belt. Your counterattack on Algolis caught the eyes of some very notable people."

Fairfire nodded, even though the man couldn't see her, she remembered the event well. It was a last-ditch desperate effort to buy the UNSC Marine Corps of Engineers more time to deny the Covenant some critical assets. They'd dealt an unexpected blow, and bought the Engineers enough time to apparently bring one of the Prototype Mechs online, which promptly smashed whatever was left of the Covenant line. The poor bastard had died in the process, but he'd bought plenty of time for the Marines, Helljumpers, and Civilians to evacuate.

"I like to think we've done some impressive things." Fairfire said, doing her best to be modest. "But if you need some Coffin-Jockeys, you'd have worse places to look than us."

"I'm happy to hear that." Kurt replied. "I have a special operative who'll be completing their training soon. Originally I was planning to slot them in along with some of the Marines on Hardscrabble, but your unit offers me a better option."

Well that's vague. Fairfire thought. "With all due respect sir, I'm going to have to ask for more details."

"Of course." Kurt said. "Our operative is a Spartan, and I need some experienced marines to have his back while they get accustomed to the field."

That put Fairfire's favorite emotion into her head, excitement. She never had fully subscribed to the rivalry between the ODSTs and Spartans, anyone who could fistfight a Hunter and win was well worth respecting. Some of her squadmates certainly had their doubts about the Spartans, but Fairfire was more than willing to do a bit of convincing if it meant having a Spartan in her unit.

"A Spartan you say?" Fairfire asked with a grin. "Well now, you certainly know how to make a convincing case."

"In my line of work, you need to be able to talk to people." Kurt vaguely said, but he seemed satisfied with her answer. "But back on topic, you would be assigned to a new unit tasked with reinforcing critical points along the frontline, so expect plenty of heavy action."

"Sounds like fun." Fairfire said, now fully convinced. "Well, if you still want us, you'll have my signature."

"I've read your files, Sergeant, and what I read impressed me. Just between you and me, you would have made a good Spartan." Kurt said.

"Thank you, Sir." Fairfire said, accepting the compliment. It felt genuinely weightful for reasons she couldn't pin down.

"Now then, you'll be leaving Concord aboard with one of the ships in orbit. You and your team will have a few months of either Shore Leave or Logistical Duties, it'll be some time before we speak again." Kurt explained.

Damn Lieutenant, you already had me convinced. Fairfire thought. "Understood Sir. I'm sure my men would appreciate some time off of the frontline."

"Well that's very good to hear. I'll have the Colonel reroute a Dropship for you, the ship you'll be stationed aboard is the UNSC Dominion."

"Understood Sir, was there anything else?" Fairfire asked.

"That was all, Staff Sergeant. Remember, this conversation never happened, but feel free to share this information with your team, and only your team. You're dismissed." Kurt said, before the holotank deactivated.

Fairfire left the Colonel's office only to find her talking with the rest of her team outside. The rain had let up, and the star in the sky was shining a bit more brightly.

If it weren't for this morning, I'd say it's a wonderful day. Fairfire thought.

"Good news everyone!" Fairfire enthusiastically said. "We just got a vacation!"

"Really?!" Nathan asked, seemingly caught a bit off guard.

"Jesus Christ it's logistics duty and shore leave Nathan, we aren't going to the goddamn Circus." Fairfire said, dampening his expectations.

"Awww, but you promised you'd take us!" Nathan jokingly said.

"Oh hell." The Colonel interjected, knocking them off of their unprofessional shenanigans. "Now I have 8 less ODSTs to hold this sector."

"Sorry ma'am." Fairfire said, with a genuine bit of sympathy. "I got an offer I couldn't refuse, I'd share the details but... well, you know."

"Classified." The Colonel guessed. "Alright, have fun wherever you're going. Hopefully you do end up getting a vacation though, you've certainly earned it."

"Thank you, Sir." Fairfire said, it was nice to get some recognition for the mountain of corpses they'd left behind."

"You're too kind." Nathan added jokingly.

"Shut up private." The Colonel replied, but she clearly didn't have much sternness behind her words. "Anyway, I'm going to go get some coffee, I have a meeting with someone at 1500."

"Don't have too much fun without us!" Fairfire shouted as she walked away.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" She yelled back.

Yu chuckled. "She's great, I hope she lives."

"Me too Corporal, me too." Fairfire voiced her agreement.

After around an hour of waiting and explaining what was happening to the rest of her team, a Pelican arrived to take them to the UNSC Dominion. Before they left, they all got to take brief showers to wash off all of the mud and grime from Concord. It was nice to finally be clean once again, and it was even better to be in the Troop Bay of a Pelican, heading somewhere safe.

"So where are we going first? Italy?" Nathan asked somewhat jokingly.

"I'm not sure, but as long as I don't have to see any more mud, blood, or Covies, I'd be happy with anywhere." Fairfire replied.