17 Days later aboard the UNSC Challenger

Private Oliver Mason: Medic of the UNSC

Oliver peered inside his khaki coloured bag that had a red cross on the front with white surrounding the cross, making sure he had all of his medical equipment and supplies he would need for the mission ahead.

The mission in question was explained to Oliver and the rest of his new platoon a couple hours after Oliver had been introduced to the platoon. In an hour they were to head to a makeshift hospital which was currently under assault, and help the wounded escape. After, they would make a full retreat aswell.

The area around the hospital was dense with trees and shrubbery, not allowing the covenant to easily pass through in large quantities which was why the base hadn't been destroyed already. The severely wounded had already been evacuated, with only the walking wouded and small number of marines left behind to draw fire.

This had all been explained to the marines who were all in the process of getting ready. Oliver checked inside his bag one last time and then made sure all of his armor platings were positioned correctly. Some of the other marines in his platoon were literally shaking in their boots from the nerves. Oliver, being the only besides his commanding officers to have combat experience knew sort of what to expect but it didn't help whatsoever, if anything making them worse.

He slung his med bag over his shoulder and turned to exit the small sleeping quarters that had only one bunk bed when he noticed Isaac, the marine he was sharing the room with looking quite pale and was visibly trembling.

Isaac was a friendly type of guy and despite Oliver not wanting to socialize after what happened to his old platoon, him and Isaac had grown to be good friends. Not wanting to see his friend have a panic attack he asked him "Are you alright?", even though he knew well he wasn't.

Isaac looked up at Oliver with fear in his eyes. Ignoring Oliver's question he opened his mouth, moving it slightly with no noise coming out but after a couple seconds he spoke, "How.. how bad is it? Is it really as bad as what they have told us? Or w-worse?".

Looking at the state of his friend he decided it best to lie and then pray it wouldn't be as bad as his last mission. "It won't be that bad, our orders are to pretty much hold for ten minutes and then retreat. I promise nothing will happen", Oliver told him.

Slightly reassured, Isaac nodded his head. Giving a weak smile he said "Ok", in a tone just above a whisper. The shaking was less noticeable, only those with a keen eye being able to see his shivers.

With new found energy Isaac hopped off the bed. He started gathering his things before saying to Oliver "I just got to get my things, I'll meet you down at the hanger bay."

Oliver nodded his head in agreement, turning to leave to the hanger bay himself. He walked slowly as he was in no rush. His journey was halted briefly when he noticed a large viewing window. Outside the window was a dismal sight. Large covenant ships were inside Reach's atmosphere, further destroying the battletorn surface.

He had already seen the hundreds of covenant ships before, but couldn't help get saddened at realising first hand that they were losing Reach, losing the war. He shook his head trying clear his mind and think positive.

After a fairly inactive and boring walk he had made it to the large hanger bay which held three pelicans. At the back of the hanger there were seats and a couple of crates with some of his platoon seated on them. Beside that was a moderate sized weapons rack holding battle rifles, assault rifles, magnums, a few shotguns and sniper rifles and even a large portable heavy machine gun that looked too heavy for most men to be able to lift up.

After selecting his weapon of choice, a battle rifle, he began to walk to the area where his platoon were settled when he heard footstep heading towards his direction.

He turned around to see a red faced Isaac who had presumably ran all the way to the hanger bay. He wiped the sweat out of his eyes and off of his forehead. He took a few seconds to catch his breath, which also made face less red revealing more of his natural tanned colured skin.

"Hi", he said casually as if he wasn't tired at all.

Oliver simply responded "Hi" before they both shared a small laugh. The rest of the platoon hadn't noticed them as they were too busy laughing and chatting amongst themselves aswell.

They took a seat and continued chatting between themselves as more and more of the platoon slowly trickled down to the hanger. Once the last man had hastily made it to the area the rest of the platoon were seated, a green light overhead turned on and a bell noise was made.

At the same time their commander had strolled around the corner. He stood there for a moment, just staring at the marines. All of a sudden he started shouting at the soldiers. "Well? Are you just gonna stand there marines! Move it! To the pelicans, now!".

Not wanting to get on the bad side of the fierce sergeant, the marines quickly stood to attention. They stood in formation before quickly splitting into two groups and filing into the two pelicans that were to take them to ground. Oliver and Isaac had naturally ended up in the same pelican as they had been seated next to each other. The sergeant, luckily was on the other pelican.

The pilot did some last minute checkups. He checked with the other pelican that they were ready for take off. After confirming that they were ready to go to ground, the engines roared to life. The other pelican took off first but was quickly followed by the one Oliver was on.

Reach's Atmosphere

There was very little noise during the flight, the silence only being broken by an occasional cough or by someone checking their weapon.

The silence was abruptly broken by one of the pilots yelling "Oh shit! The other bird has been hit!". The other pilot quickly followed with "Were going to have to land now before whatever hit that pelican hits us!"

The marines had overheard almost all of the conversation. Frantic button pressing could be heard from the cockpit. Their efforts were in vain as seconds later a loud bang could be heard coming from the right side of the pelican. Three marines who were not buckled in flew out of their seat onto the ground.

The pilots were struggling to regain control but to no avail. One of the pilots leaned his head over to shout back at the marines.

"Buckle up and brace for impact! It's gonna be a rough landing!"

The marines who were not already properly secured did not need to be told twice. Oliver looked over at Isaac and he could see his knuckles going white from clenching onto the seat so hard. His eyes were clenched shut and he was murmuring something to himself that Oliver couldn't make out.

Oliver's mind was racing. He was thinking of his family, friends and life as a whole. "Why do I have to die like this?" he wondered helplessly to himself. He knew he should try and calm himself, so he took a deep breath, relaxing a little. "I'm not going to die", he told himself confidently, his voice not wavering at all.

He put his hand on Isaac's wrist which caught his attention. "It's okay. Were gonna live", he stated as if it was fact, he voice having such reassurance that it partially rubbed off on Isaac.

His grip slighty loosened on the seat and his eyes were no longer clenched shut. He still hadn't sorted himself out enough to be able to properly speak, so he just nodded his head. He still had his own mental war he was fighting but Oliver's words had comforted him.

The pilot at the front screamed "Landing!", and mere seconds later the pelican smacked off the ground hard before being weightless again. A second later the bird crashed into the foot of a small cliff, sending an ear deafening boom through the passengers followed by the screeching of crushing metal. Flames arupted out of the engines of the wings and under the cockpit.

Oliver sat there, out cold after hitting his head on the metal interior, beside a barely consious Isaac.

Real Plasma: Thanks for the warning, I'm going to try my hardest to make it gradual and for it to make sense. It really does mean a lot that you like my story as you are one of my favourite authors, so thank you.

Kivdon: You right, especially with the fight scene. I've tried slowing it down and took more time for the characters. Thanks again for helping me out with my story.

Merecor: Thanks!