Halo: Untold Stories of an ODST

Chapter 2 : Deployment

Date: 23rd December 2534

Gunnery Sergeant Blanc Black

Aboard UNSC Destroyer Ancient Might, orbiting Jericho VII of the Lambda Serpentis System

I put on the last piece of my armor. Damn, the ODST armor is uncomfortable when you are not used to it. I don't get how ODST veterans can go for days or even weeks in full armor. Anyway, being only recently enlisted in the 105th ODST Battalion means that I only got the default ODST armor set with no modifications. The guy at the armory told me that after I have fought in, or survived, a few engagements then the UNSC will allow modifications for "better operations in the field". I thinks it just means that the UNSC don't want to waste armor on "rookies".

"Officer on deck!" I snapped to attention and remained in salute position.

"At ease soldiers." Major Aver returned the salute. " As you guys realized, we have a new soldier in our midst. Gunnery Sergeant Black here is an experienced soldier in the field with "outstanding leadership and marksman skills" as his file indicates. As such, he will be put in charge of the Recon/Support squad in the platoon as some of you might know what happened to Lt. Collins."

I tensed up. Since I joined, I have been getting to know everyone and my roommate, Lance Corporal Gills , had told me what happened to the previous leader of Recon squad. Apparently they were in an alley planning the next part of an assault when a cloaked elite shot him with a needle rifle from three stories up. The elite was quickly dispatched by the sniper on patrol from the squad but Collins were already helpless. The needle penetrated his neck and shattered into microscopic shards. Hell,they didn't even have a complete body to bring back for funeral detail.

I shook myself as I saluted the squad, noticing some whispering here and there from its midst. I had a sudden vibe that some of them were hoping I would die in the first mission.

"Party's over, ladies. You girls can gossip after this. Back to serious business." Everyone in the deployment room tensed up. "At 0500 hours yesterday, the Covenant discovered the Lambda Serpentis system and immediately hailed for reinforcements. As of today, they have a force of ten frigates and a carrier in orbit of the planet Jericho VII. In response, the UNSC has deployed five destroyers to assist us in the evacuation of civilians. We,however, are going in to do the dirty job."

"Recon will go in first and secure a LZ for the air guys to drop off Delta Company. After which, Anti-Vehicle will drop in followed by Special Forces. Recon will drop in half an hour; drop time of AV and SF will depend on how long LZ clearance time will take. Recon, suit up. AV and SF take a break. Black here will take over."

I took a look at my squad. The squad is comprised of 5 men including small squad. I have read all their files and even used my rank to "clear" some black ink. First we have Corporal Linus. He is listed as the top hundred marksmen in the whole UNSC, like me. Sergeant Charles and Lance Corporal Kon are referred to as "explosive loving maniacs". Surprised why they are even in Recon instead of AV. Lastly there is Staff Sergeant Santos. He is a close-quarters combat specialty, meaning melee and shotgun. Well, I'll have to think of callsigns later.

"Well, you heard the man. Suit up, Recon!" Everyone scrambled to do weapon check and some armor up. I personally went to the armory to get guns. Some smart guy up there has conveniently thought of putting the armory smack next to the deployment bay to save deploying ODSTs time. I walked in, showed my identification to the man, and went to the weapon racks. There were many weapons held on the racks, most of which are familiar to me. However, there is one that caught my eye.

" What is this rifle here?"

"Oh that, it's the new sniper R&D sent over. Its not field-tested yet but I think they will be happy if someone did it for them. It's designated as the SRS99 AM/SB."

SB usually means "shortened barrel" and increases accuracy and power but also increased recoil, theoretically.

"I'll take it along with a Oracle 10X scope, a M6G pistol with KFA-2 X2 smart-link" I didn't need ammo as the deployment room has ammo crates for ODSTs but the only weapon they have is the MA5 rifle, although they have ammo for any gun that you can find in the armory, including rockets and grenades. UNSC logic. Provide ammo but you have to pay for the damn guns to do your job.

"I'll charge it to your pay."

I grimaced and left the armory with the guns. Fucking UNSC are overcharging us for the guns. The M6G cost me nearly twice than what I could have brought them off any gun shop in Reach,even with that KFA-2 X2 scope. Not that there are many left ever since UNSC started devising laws against civilian gun merchants. I picked up twenty clips for my SRS and slung them in a bandolier and ten clips for my sidearm, stuffing them in the utility belt. Following which I picked up a frag grenade, as many flashbangs as I can keep and a incendiary grenade just in case. I also strapped a combat knife to the holster on my chest armor plate.

" Recon Squad will be dropped from orbit in T-Minus five minutes. All involved personnel please report to drop bay" Criss,the ship's "smart" AI reminded us. She was unlike any other smart AI, she likes to communicate with us and joke around, acting like any other fellow soldier in the Marines,that's why everyone on the ship enjoyed her company, rather than keeping to herself and doing her pesky calculations.

"Sir, reporting for duty." Kon saluted me. I saluted back and told him to wait for the rest. In two minutes time, everyone was here and ready to go. I told them the plan of action.

"Santos will take point, Kon and Charles will follow up and finally Linus and I will hang back to provide cover should anything happen. Now to your pods ladies!" Everyone stood at their pods, strapping in their weapons and equipment at the side before fitting in. I put in M6G at the holster at my thigh while placing the SRS at the right side weapon holder before finally standing into the pod.

" How do we go?"

"Feet first into hell!"

"Damn right we do."

I smiled to myself. Traditional phrase that we Helljumpers supposedly said before dropping off from orbit. I knocked twice on the pod's cover to signal to the engineer to launch the squad and off we went. I have never dropped from orbit before and thus I was looking around through the pod's cover. I could barely make out the silhouette of a Covenant frigate before we started entering atmosphere. The pod started heating up tremendously and I can feel myself sweating even with the ODST armor's climate control system.

"Sergeant, come in" Criss' voice called out over the comms.

"Yes?"

"There has been change in the mission objective. Command has new intel and orders from FLEETCOM. A certain Major has sensitive information about ONI work in this area but his plane has been shot down by Covenant AA placements. FLEETCOM has ordered that the first ODST squad that has boots on the ground to extract the Major, if he is still alive, if not, try to retrieve or destroy the information to prevent it from falling into Covenant hands. LZ clearance has been transferred over to SF squad. Copy?"

"Solid copy, Criss. Black out."

I unwillingly relayed the information to my squad and all of them acknowledged. I hoped that this wouldn't go wrong. Venturing into enemy territories to extract a personnel or to retrieve sensitive information make me wish I had more people on the squad. However, we are Helljumpers.

We are the best.

Hey guys, ReaperActual here. I thank the first 25 people that read the first two chapter that I wrote. It was a great encouragement to me seeing how fast my story was read. Anyway, most of the information was from Halo Wikia so thanks to them. If you guys have any character that you want me to put in or someone to die (muahaha) as well as any impressions,mistakes or good parts this chapter have feel free to PM, review or follow.

ReaperActual , over and out.