Cpt Janson, I. Day 1, 2000 Hrs

Aboard the UNSC Ardennes, a company of ODSTs were conducting a last minute briefing over the engagement on Victory's surface. Captain Ian Janson outlined as much relevant information as he could regarding the oncoming drop. They were short on time, as the Ardennes was hurrying to the drop coordinates in an attempt to eject the Helljumpers while under fire. Templar Company would drop within the vicinity of Firebase White, reinforce UNSC forces operating in the area, and engage and destroy all hostile forces.

The ship's captain spoke over the intercom just as Cpt Janson finished his briefing. "Attention Templar. We are five minutes from drop. I repeat, five minutes from drop," he said.

"Perfect timing," Janson told his men, "Report to your pods; prepare to drop."

The ODSTs entered their SOEIVs and awaited the drop. Altogether, Cpt Janson had three platoons of 26 men each. Including himself, his RTO, his First Sergeant, and his XO, Templar Company had a total of 82 men and women. Each platoon was broken down into four six-man squads, with each squad member being specialists in various mission-critical skill sets. While these squads were all perfectly capable of operating autonomously, the drop onto Victory would be conducted in force.

Janson stood within his command HEV, sending different objective markers, nav data, and waypoints to the separate platoon leaders. The lieutenants would then separate the information and assign various objectives to the different squad leaders in their platoon. The Ardennes began to shake and rumble as it dodged Covenant fire and maneuvered into position above Victory City. The drop was within a minute now.

Cpt Janson keyed his comms with the First Sergeant, 1Sgt Eldris. He said, "Take us down, first sergeant." He, Ron Eldris, and dozens of ODSTs in their company had been in the service for a long time. Often, the display of bravado before a drop was necessary to ease Trooper morale and to rouse the men into a fighting spirit.

Eldris, a tall, dark, and imposing man, spoke over company-wide comms to the entire unit. "Troopers!" he announced in his deep, British accent, "See you on the ground, or we'll see you in hell! Good luck and Godspeed!"

Seconds later, Cpt Janson began the drop timer, a three-count beep that would initiate the deployment of the ODSTs. Just as he started it, the Ardennes shook violently. The hull shrieked loudly as an explosion rocked the entirety of the ship. To the Helljumpers' horror, flames began to fill the drop bay, engulfing the bow-end of the room. Troopers were cursing and screaming into their squad comms one second, and then the next, they were roughly ejected into the upper atmosphere of Victory.

Janson couldn't see the burning destroyer Ardennes above them save for a few pieces of the hull drifting away from the ship. However, he could see a Covenant cruiser in the distance. It began to accelerate directly towards them. Flashes of purple and blue energy emerged from its port and starboard, attempting to collide with the HEVs descending rapidly towards the planet below. Janson didn't see any of his pods get hit. Then, as suddenly as the battlecruiser had begun its approach, a large, fast-moving kinetic round struck the ship directly from below. It exploded violently, tearing itself apart amid countless secondary explosions.

By now, the HEVs had begun to pierce the atmosphere, burning hotly as they descended. At the proper altitude, they deployed their drag chutes. The sky was dark. Their pods lit up across the night as they dropped through the clouds. Janson watched the ground become larger and larger before touching down with a loud thud.

Outside, he had seen from above a chaotic engagement taking place. It appeared as if Wraiths were assaulting a dug-in UNSC position within a fiery no-man's land. From the ground, there was nothing but a darkness that was frequently pierced by the booming flashes of explosions not too far away. Activating his VISR, Cpt Janson grabbed his BR55 and stepped out into the night.

All around, the noises of shouting and gunfire permeated the battlefield. He sprinted towards the fighting, all the while scanning around him for contacts. Seconds later, Janson picked up friendlies moving to his right. Seeing their CO, two ODSTs rallied up with him as he ran forward. He motioned for them to follow him and they fell in. Cresting a rise, he dropped to a knee, zooming into key locations with his VISR.

Directly before them was an extensive trench line. Marines in defensive positions held out against a sustained Covenant attack using bunkers, machine guns, mortars, and landmines. The Wraiths kept up a near-constant bombardment of the trenches. That was disrupted however, when the Helljumpers had landed. Out in no man's land, within the trenches, and rallying directly behind Cpt Janson, the ODSTs violently engaged the Covenant attackers.

Janson quickly lost contact with the ODSTs who had landed beyond the trenches in the middle of the enemy. He focused his efforts on finding his platoon leaders and getting them to report in. Keying his helmet comm, he said, "All Templar leaders, this is Templar 6 Actual. Radio check, over."

"This is Templar 7," Eldris responded, "Loud and clear 6 Actual."

There was no response from the executive officer or first platoon's leader.

After a short pause, 2nd platoon responded, "Templar 2. We read you 6."

"Templar 3. Lima-charlie."

Cpt Janson tried once again to contact first platoon. "Templar 1 Actual, this is 6 Actual. Radio check, over." But there was no response. "Templar 1-7, this is Templar 6. Radio check, over." Nothing. "Damnit!" he cursed quietly. Turning to his left, he noticed one of his squad leaders. "Staff sergeant! Get your men down to that trench and reinforce those Marines." The Covenant infantry were beginning to advance again.

The staff sergeant nodded and said, "Roger that sir." Then he turned to an assembled group of roughly ten ODSTs. Motioning for them to follow, the staff sergeant led the men down into the fighting.

On Janson's right were the two ODSTs he had picked up when he first landed. Recognizing one as a sniper named Berg, he called out to him and motioned him over. Corporal Berg moved over and took a knee beside his CO. Janson pointed out to the far right and said, "Take a position about 200 meters to our right and provide overwatch for the defensive line."

"Yes sir," Berg said, and taking his companion with him as a spotter, the ODSTs disappeared into the darkness.

Focusing on locating first platoon, Cpt Janson activated the NAV data in his VISR, hoping to locate elements of first platoon in the field. Before he even got the chance to thoroughly scan the area, a woman's voice contacted him over his radio.

Her voice was panicked and urgent; gunfire pervaded the background. She said, "Templar 6, this is Templar 1-2. 1-6 and 1-7 are KIA! We are surrounded and under heavy fire!"

Janson stiffened up, scanning for her location as he responded, "Templar 1-2 what is your current location? Over."

"We're out in the buildings. North of the DZ!" Her name was Staff Sergeant Leslie Banks, usually a very confident and disciplined Trooper who had had plenty of experience in the company.

"Do you have a grid 1-2?"

The battle continued below as he waited for her response. Eldris had managed to find him and was coordinating the rally point for the rest of the company. Banks got back on the radio, "I'm a little busy 6! Standby!" The sounds of battle echoed furiously over her end of the static.

"1-2, calm the hell down Trooper. Send a beacon out over the net, that's all I need."

For a moment, there was no response. Janson simply watched the battle down below. The ODSTs were effectively taking out the Elites leading the charge, disrupting the morale of their lesser troops. Banks finally responded to him. "Sent," she said briskly.

Her location blinked on Cpt Janson's VISR map. He looked out in her general direction. A fierce firefight was taking place among the burning city ruins. Janson got back on the radio, telling her, "1-2, fall back to a defensive posture. Once we beat back the assault, we're coming to get you. Hang tight until then roger?"

"We'll do what we can 6. 1-2, out."

Janson turned off the VISR map and observed as his Troopers assembled who they could and moved out to their individual objectives. Already, several squads had reported successful missions, having seized key objectives across the battlefield. The Covenant troops were in disorder, and the Wraiths now lay smoldering from heavy weapons fire.

Lowering itself from the sky, a Covenant Spirit attempted to make a landing in the field. Rockets from several ODST positions pounded the dropship simultaneously. It listed slowly to the side before turning all the way over and crashing violently to the ground in a bright blue flash. Several Banshees swooped in low and strafed their positions in retaliation, firing plasma cannons and fuel rods into the Helljumper ranks. Cpt Janson ducked behind a berm for cover, but the booming of AA guns from Firebase White to the rear informed him that the Banshees wouldn't be repeating their run.

With the Covenant attackers successfully driven off, Janson gathered up the few squads that had completed their objectives and were idle. Leading them to the front, he took 20 ODSTs out into the no-man's land. First platoon was isolated behind enemy lines; he was going to personally see to it that they made it back to friendly territory.