Author's Notes: Well, here comes the REAL story now, and in reply to B.R. Wells. I will base some things off of the books, but the Thunderbolt is just my own little spin about what happened at Harvest.
Also, I'll be messing with the time a little. Karla is supposed to be in her twenties, and this is supposed to be taking place roughly the same time as the game, so disregard the 27 year difference.

Chapter 1: Battlefield Woes

August 30, 2552
 Aeola, in the Fenris System

Aeola. Such a pretty name for such an uninspiring fog world. Aeola, located well inside of official UNSC-known space, was ironically totally unknown to anybody except for several high ranking officers in ONI, two UNSC destroyers, a force of Marines, 2 billion colonists, and the entire Covenant armada. The only thing that made Aeola special from any other world was its unique orbit. Rather than orbiting around one sun, this planet simultaneously orbited around two suns in a figure 8 loop. This odd configuration of planets and stars created massive, unexplainable electromagnetic fields, which fortunately, the Covenant ships could not tolerate for some reason while human-made UNSC ships seemed unaffected. Many hypothesized that the combined magnetic fields from both suns and Aeola disrupted the plasma energy that powers the Covenant ships, though the reason why still remains unknown.

So if this uninhabited system is so dangerous to the Covenant, why are is there an armada of nearly 40 ships lurking around the fringes of the system? Why did they land such a huge ground force on Aeola? Because in orbit around the planet, a massive UNSC shipyard is, taking advantage of the protection offered by the curious magnetic forces, building what could be humankind's last hope of success against the Covenant. A very special ship aptly named the Freedom.

"Hey, El Tee!"

"Huh?" Lieutenant Karla Wellings looked up from her Warthog to see who it was.

"What is is, Boxer?"

"Captain Armbruster is askin for you! Says its important."

Great, over 300 combat missions against the Covenant, and I don't even get a scratch. Get transferred back to my home colony, and my CO gets me killed on the first day by sending me on some half-baked patrol.

"Where is he?"

"Company HQ."

"Great. Go tell him I'm on the way. And go check on second squad while you're at it. See if they got that roadblock set up on the east side of town."

"Yes ma'am!"

Wellings slammed her Warthogs hood down and started walking to the Company HQ. She really had no idea where it was, but she had the general idea that it would be over at the town hall. They always put them in the most obvious places. At least it makes them easy to find. Wellings stopped for a second and took the moment to absorb her surroundings. It's been quite a while since she'd last seen home. Even with an entire Covenant army swarming all over the place, nothing seems to have changed around here.

Aeola was home to about 2 billion human colonists. Most were scattered around the planet in small towns and even villages, and there were actually very few major cities. This made the planet seem very rural and undeveloped. Many people would've been under the misconception that having to orbit two suns would make the planet extremely hot. Actually, it couldn't be farther from the truth. The atmospheric conditions blocked out a huge amount of solar radiation, making Aeola very cool and very foggy. Everyday, it wasn't a question of whether it was going to be foggy or not, just how thick it was going to be.

Wellings continued walking through the streets. Right now, her company, the Death's Head Legion, aka D Company was stationed in the town of Kenwood, not so much as its strategic importance, but because it held a bridge that was vital to civilian evacuation. Even though there really wasn't much chance the Covvies would glass the planet, that didn't stop them from landing huge armies on the planet surface. Right now, there were only five thousand Marines in this sector, with over forty towns spanning hundreds of miles. Covering all of these locations proved all but impossible, so every town was advised to evacuate to Lorain. What made Lorain so special was that it was the largest city in the area, it had a permanent military installation, and it held the fusion reactors that were vital in powering the orbiting shipyards building the Freedom. Right now, the Kenwood Bridge was the only avenue of escape from the Covenant for every town on the north side of that river, and the stream of civilian vehicles crossing the bridge still showed no sign of ending.

As for her company, the Death's Head Legion, she was in command of its mechanized platoon. A unit exclusively made up of Warthogs. This gave the Death's Heads unparalleled mobility and speed, making them one of the more dangerous Marine units. Unfortunately, their combat effectiveness was not the result of exemplary leadership from the higher brass, but rather the lower ranking officers and NCOs who had the initiative and courage to hold the company together and salvage success from poor planning and intelligence. The unfortunate result was that higher ranking officers often took the credit for their accomplishments and used them as excuses to climb even higher up the promotion ladder.

Captain Armbruster was one such man. He made no attempt to get to know his men. He just thought up of the best way to get them all killed, convinced the top brass to put their stamp of approval on it, and send the Death's Heads into yet another suicide mission that would presumably fail, and when Wellings and her fellow Marines managed to win despite overwhelming odds, the Captain gained even more favor with the top brass, convincing them to approve even more hairbrained missions that only the craziest Helljumpers would accept. It was basically a no-win scenario for Wellings and her Marines.

At least in the Helljumpers, you died fighting the Covvies, not from stupid decisions...

"Lieutenant Wellings! Its about damn time you got here! It seems that your father's habit of being late all the time has rubbed off on you!"

...and fighting each other.

As always, Captain Armbruster was in a foul mood. Especially when he started a conversation with her. The Captain just loved sending her on the suicide missions and making snide remarks on her father. Wellings suspected that Armbruster was trying to find a way to get her killed yet make it look like his hand was behind it. Like I'm going let him do that.

"I'm sorry, but it was my sister's birthday. I was out getting her a present, sir."

"You will treat superior officers with respect, lieutenant!"

Everybody else in the room shook their heads and went back to their tasks. These verbal matches happened all the time, and interfering would just put you in the crosshairs of two of the most ill-tempered officers in the entire Marine Corps.

Damn, I wonder how Sam is doing. At least she doesn't have to put with this crap.