Earth
New Mombasa, Kenya
He couldn't swear right now.
Staring down into the amphitheater, at the smoking- and very empty SOIEV that was Veronica Dare's-, Buck had nothing of that nature to say.
That was not normal for him. He was UNSC a Marine, an ODST, and an ODST sergeant, to top it all off. For Buck, cussing was generally second nature. It'd become ingrained into his vocabulary to the point where uttering a profane word came as naturally as breathing.
Not that he was dropping such words 3 times a sentence, ( or anything like that , needless to say ), but in general: If he was shocked, angered horrified, or sufficiently provoked in any way, Buck had no problem using " scrub your mouth with soap " speech.
But, at the moment, he couldn't come up with any of them.
He'd gotten a blockage in his throat, and not the kind that was stopping him from breathing.
" No-God, no. "
His own voice filled his ears and the space inside his helmet- only a whisper, but it might as well have been a shout, for all the rawness that was in it. A core of ice had materialized in the center of his spine, and more of it had seeped into his blood.
Veronica. Veronica, I was too slow...
This is on me...
Her pod was right there. He could hit it with his Magnum from here-
" Gunny ? I don't- I don't see anyone down there ".
Neither do I.
Leaning cautiously over the edge of the amphitheater parapet's guardrail, Deckard craned his neck, looking slowly left and right across the floor of the depressed area. There was a note of acidic disappointment in his voice, along with an edge of confusion. Clearly, this wasn't what he'd been anticipating either- and he'd been no fan of ONI to begin with, to boot.
" Yeah- its frakking shredded. ", he observed.
" Jeez. Door's been torn off like its made of cardboard..."
That was obvious enough. The pod looked as Buck would've expected fresh after an orbital fall: radiating heat waves, with wisps of smoke. Its armored hull was smothered in charcoal black scorch marks that stretched up and down its sides, and the aforementioned door was lying about a yard away from the rest of the SOIEV. However, from the viewing angle they had on it, there was no way to ascertain anything else.
Such as if there was anyone inside that pod.
" I noticed, mate ", Dubbo told him. " Must've been a Brute heavyweight. "
" They're all damn heavyweights, Chip ! This is bad news- "
" Look alive ! ", Buck abruptly commanded.
His boots were already moving, hitting the pavement as he set off at a rapid pace toward the top of the nearest staircase that led down into the amphitheater. Buck was done standing there, and gawking at the spectacle of a smoldering drop pod.
It was Veronica's drop pod, damn it, and if he couldn't get a visual on her from up here-
If you are anywhere down there, woman, I will find you.
" Deckard, you stay up here, watch our 6 ! Dubbo, with me ! Both of you- watch your corners. Let's go ! "
" What the- ? "
Caught briefly by surprise , the two marines took a second to react.
Spinning on his heel, Buck turned to face them.
" Dubbo ! Hurry the hell up ! ". He gestured sharply down the stairs.
" Y-Yes, Sergeant ! ".
The Aussie blinked, then entered a run, shouldering his MA5 again and switching it to full auto.
" You keep your eyes open, Deckard ! ", the ODST noncom instructed.
" On it, Sergeant ! ", the other marine acknowledged.
What he didn't add loud enough to be heard, though, was an intensely derisive: " For ONI to turn up and lend a hand ? I actually thought they might , for once..."
Meanwhile, Buck led Dubbo down the stairs, descending further into the lower levels of the sunken area. They moved rapidly, taking the smoothed tiled steps as quickly as they could without jumping them two at a time.
The ODST had his own MA5 up, and kept it scanning around the area, with a finger resting inside the trigger well.
Nothing, and nobody
Still !
He went further ahead, covering another flight of stairs.
They'd been built in stages, each flight of them ending in a short landing with a low parapet wall topped with a bare metal guardrail running along the left hand side. Less than a day ago, these same stairs would've been used by any number of the city's one million plus inhabitants on their way in or out of the sunken plaza. They'd have walked over these steps, after having enjoyed a non-military lunch or long, easygoing conversation on one of the red metal park benches that were placed against the big, ash grey concrete garden planters, which were brimming with all kinds of lush...flora.
( Plants, basically. That's all Buck could/wanted to/ say- even if he'd had more time to scrutinize them. Which he didn't )
It was a wide, sprawling area, several hundred feet across, that was essentially a park plonked down in the heart of downtown. It would've been a bustling hotspot right now, at least. Key word: would've. The arrival of a Covenant invasion force had seen to things being extremely different.
Depopulated. Vacted.
As the two marines headed deeper and deeper in, Deckard's voiced sounded in Buck's earpiece.
" Gunny-I heard something! Sounded like a...a electronic warbling noise. "
The heck ?
" What're you saying, Marine !? ". Buck stopped, and raised a fist as he reached the last few steps of the final flight of stairs, leaning into the corner of the parapet. The ceasing of the second set of clattering boots indicated that Dubbo had halted as well.
" A...warble ?! "
" I don't know what else to call it ! That's what I heard just now. Reminded me of a bird, but...electronic. A... ' WooOooo ' kind of noise. "
Seriously. What the fudge ?
No Covie I've ever run into goes ' WoOOooo ' ! What's wrong with him ?
A perflexed grimace twisted Buck's mouth. He did not know what to make of this new information.
" Deck ? What the shite are you talking about ? ", Dubbo demanded.
" No frakking clue. I know what I heard. I jus- "
" Gunny ? You ever heard a Covie make a noise like that ? ", he asked.
I've heard them roar, bellow, squawk, squeak, scream, chitter and basically imitate the whole damn animal kingdom. Except for a " warble "
So, no
" That's a negative. " Buck visually scanned the area again,. VISR mode was still off, and the noncom still found no targets presenting themselves. He'd been ready for someone, anybody- an especially sneaky Jackal, or even a cloaked Elite, God forbid- to be lurking here. However, neither of those threats appeared to be present.
So far...
So good ? We'll see...
They kept going, stepping over and kicking aside an abandoned drinks cup that someone had tossed aside during a hasty exit.
" Anything else, Deckard ? Something tangible You see anything ? "
" No, Gunny. But if it comes back, I'll let you know. "
" Take a picture ", advised Dubbo.
" Shut up, man. "
Buck huffed at the other marines' exchange. " Stay frosty, you two. "
" S- Yes, Gunny. "
" Roger that, Sergeant. "
" Good. Deckard ? You keep your eyes and ears open- for that thing, or otherwise. Acknowledge. "
" Solid copy, Gunny. "
The noncom stood, and rounded the parapet corner, onto the sunken area's floor, beckoning Dubbo to follow.
As both sets of boots began their pattern again, they wove around the benches and planters, toward the pod, which poked up over all of it. They kicked aside discarded litter and rubbish, and anything else the fleeing locals had left behind.
The metal egg of a pod was still heated enough to be giving off wisps of smoke- faint, but they were there.
It hadn't been here long. Seeing that injected more ice into Buck's blood. If the door was torn off, but the pod was clearly still smoking-
What the hell am I going to find...?
What the hell...What the hell...
" Stick close, Dubbo. "
" Yes, Gunny. "
They deftly wove their way around another planter, and then-
There it was. There was the pod.
Veronica !
Her name very nearly erupted from Buck's mouth like a striking cobra. He only barely stopped himself.
Instead, he psychically stopped, and raised another fist.
Ok. Ok, we've made it. There's still a chance.
Ignoring his suddenly racing pulse as best he could, Buck called out; " Deckard ! You sill up there ? "
" Still here, Gunny. All clear. "
" Warbling ghost come back ? "
"No. Whatever the hell it was, its still gone. "
We'll worry about warbling noises in the not-dark later. Now ? We have actual issues.
Veronica...hang on.
" Stand by. "
Buck made a knife hand for Dubbo to head left.
" Right. Moving, Gunny. "
As the Aussie headed off, Buck went to the right, circling the pod from that side.
Staring down the length of this MA5, past the glowing number of ' 32 ', the ODST noncom held back his rising tide of adrenaline. There was no telling what he'd find inside the pod, but he was going to find out. Right now...
Here we go-
" Set security, Dubbo. "
" Roger that. "
He finally came around to the opened- torn open, specifically- side of the pod, and found-
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. The pod, was empty.
Again, no cussword was vulgar enough.
Buck was staring at the utterly vacated interior, of Veronica Dare's pod, and all he could think of was how badly he'd screwed up.
" Gunny...? "
He didn't answer Dubbo.
Not Yet.
A shudder of scalding, self-directed rage rolled its way up through all of him, beginning at his boots and ending at his chest, and the urge to form a fist in either hand was strong. If he'd had one of them loose right now- if both of them weren't busy brandishing his MA5- one of them would definitely be clenched tight.
His teeth sure as heck were.
For all the good doing either of those would've done him. He'd been too slow to save Veronica, after all.
"They got her. ". Stating the obvious was something he didn't like to do, but what else was there to say ? He didn't have the luxury of wallowing right now. There was no shutting off those emotions, but Buck had to shunt them to the side...which is what he did.
Keep your head on straight. You're in command here.
Make yourself do it, one way or the other.
"...Bastards got her. "
" ' Got ' ?What kind of... ' got ' ? ". Dubbo seemed to think Buck was referring to the morbid variety.
" I mean the taken kind, marine. "
Biting back some of that anger, Buck took his gaze off the mangled SOIEV, and raised their overwatch." Deckard ! . "
" Yeah, Gunny ? "
I am not ONI. I always level with the guys I lead and serve with.
" She's not here. Repeat, she's not here. Covies must've grabbed her, hauled her off. They don't move corpses. "
God, I don't even want to go there. Show me hers, and then I'll believe it.
" They did- Wait. Wait a second. "
" Gunny. They take prisoners !? "
There was palpable disbelief with how he said it. Mixed with a few notes of unfiltered shock.
Wait. How does he know taking captives isn't what the Covies tend to do ? He told me he's as green as grass..
Who told him that ?
" Not always. They did with her, though ", the noncom replied. " Pod's empty as a church on a Monday. "
He stepped back, working his jaw back and forth, mouth creased.
Dubbo was still standing off a ways, cradling his MA5. Buck saw him direct a look at the pod, but there was no trace of him being stunned in finding out that Dare had been taken away by the Covies, rather than simply killed on the spot.
If Buck could put a name to the expression on his face, it'd be " I've seen this before. Wish I hadn't, but I have ".
You and be both. It'd be a lie, otherwise
" What- So, what do we do now, then ? ", their overwatch asked. Buck could swear he was speaking a tad faster than earlier.
" I thought this ONI agent was our ticket out of here..."
" So did I, kid. ". Buck hated watching a jarhead's hope getting torpedoed, and the one thing that didn't make it sting like damnation this time around was that he hadn't made a promise. Hadn't told them it was a cast iron guarantee that things would turn out
But, even so-
" That's our situation right now, though. If I could tell you differently I would. But you know by now: I don't lie to my men. "
" Yeah...Yeah I do. Its just that-"
" Private, I didn't lie to you, so don't lie to me back. You're scared as hell right now, aren't you ? "
Or close enough, anyway. I've been around enough newbies.
" Are you, or not ? "
" I-"
" Shit. Gunny, I've been scared stiff since I was woken up this morning by the " Stand to " call. ", Deckard finally confessed. " Been hiding it all day. "
There it is. Called it. And now he actually sounds like it, too
" I thought as much ", Dubbo interjected. There was no judgment in his voice, though- as if he'd seen this kind of thing before. That was a giveaway in of itself.
Buck glanced briefly at him. Despite being a PFC, Dubbo sounded like a noncom himself. As if he'd not only tangled with the Covenant before. Maybe even off-world, too.
" You deserve a medal for keeping an even keel. "
You sure you're a Private ? You're not behaving like one. Not like there's a uniform mold, but still-
" Fine. Sure...get me some evac, or some backup, and I'll take it. "
And that's what he'd been hoping/praying they'd get out of finally reaching the Plaza. Buck could completely defend the bitterness he was harboring. He couldn't say he didn't have any himself. But, he still wouldn't begin promising them anything- and he got the impression now that's exactly what they'd wanted. Short of something he could deliver, that was.
We're all in the same boat. All of us.
So, I'm gonna row us out of here then. If ONI can't help these two, then I'll keep doing it. Like I was. Like I always would.
" You sure as hell deserve it. So, I'm going to keep doing everything I can to get you one or both. Understand ? "
A half-second pause went by, then-
"...Yeah. Yeah, I read you, gunny. "
Confidence had returned to the Private's voice. Some of it, at least. It was enough for now, and Buck would take it.
" On me, Dubbo ! ". Buck began to stride away from the pod, beckoning the other marine to follow as he again wove around the planters, headed back to the stairs.
" Deckard ! We're coming back. Hold fast; I'll revise our plan once we've linked up. "
" I'll be here, Gunny.."
Doing a better job of holding himself together than a lot of rooks I've met. Buck reached the end of the stairs that'd brought him down and began going back up.
He'll make a good career marine. I can get them through this.
He raced back up the side of the amphitheater, quicker going up than down, with Dubbo following as close as earlier.
As they ascended, Buck found that he suddenly had renewed energy; despite finding out that Veronica had been kidnapped by the Covenant, he had not found her body lying there, in that pod. Veronica was still out there somewhere, in this city. Her mission wasn't his- it hadn't ever been- but finding her and making sure she was ok ?
That was something worth getting behind. He'd keep himself and his team alive for him and themselves, but he would find Veronica , no matter where in this town she'd been dragged off to. Buck could taste the fresh resolve.
Well, that and the genera sense of strong dryness of the inside of his mouth. It'd been a long while since he'd had a drink, and he knew for a fact that his canteen wasn't empty- or at least he was mostly sure.
There was a decent amount of burning in his legs, too-but it was nothing to be concerned with. He'd pushed himself much harder and longer than this back during the ODST training pipeline. All the psychical exertion he'd been going through up till now ? It was light exercise by comparison.
Doesn't matter how tired you get. The fight's not over. The day's not over.
Soon as we get somewhere out of the open, I'll take a few sips. Maybe.
" Deckard ! Watch where we went down. You should have a visual right now. "
" Roger that, Gunny. "
Moments later, Buck reached the top of the sunken area, and both he and Dubbo jogged to a stop, as Deckard approached them.
" Regroup ! ", Buck commanded, with a lasso hand motion.
Both Marines promptly tightened formation, as instructed, but they were careful to keep themselves from standing so close that they'd have no time to get clear from a plasma grenade getting lobbed in their mist, or that a single fuel rod cannon shot could take them all out.
Even the most inexperienced greenhorn would know how deadly those Covenant munitions were. Especially in a cluster.
" Ok- listen up ".
Right as Buck began to address them, though-
" WoooOOOwaaa ! "
Out of the blue, an electronic warbling noise sounded.
" Woah ! Gunny ! On your six ! "
Deckard's eyes shot wide open, filling with shock as he snapped the muzzle of his Needler up.
Reflexes took over 100 percent. Buck pivoted in place, raising his own weapon, all in a fluid blur of motion-
" What the shite ! " , hollered Dubbo.
- to find himself staring down something he had no freaking clue what to call.
"..."
His mouth came open, but that was all.
" Jesus- Gunny, that's it ! That's what was warbling at me ! "
Buck had no idea what on God' earth he was looking at. There was a...creature, that was hovering like a helium party balloon a couple yards away.
" Yeah. I'd bet so, kid. "
It'd emerged from out of the (very ) few un-blown out windows of the second floor of the store apartment directly across the street from the sunken area. Floating in the air a few feet outside the building, the...the thing ( for lack of a better word ), was simply hanging there. It pulled it off exactly like a balloon would-except it was...twitching.
It had tentacles. Several of them, too. They were long, wispy, and dangling gently beneath it, while also moving around every few seconds. Inexplicably, an unpleasant shudder ran up Buck's spine.
Ugh...that ain't pretty.
That summed up the rest of the thing, too. Extending from a horribly lumpy, bulbous body, the thing's tentacles weren' the only thing about it that was in motion- its head was too. Long and flexible, the thing's Cabeza was essentially a snake sticking out the rest of it. The black dots speckled across the tip of it must've been its eyes- probably.
Probably. There was nothing about this creature that wasn't weird as all heck. The fact that it wasn't shooting at them, or throwing anything at them...or spitting acid, or basically not attacking in any way was about the only thing he could say he liked about it.
Not that it wouldn't/couldn't, though. They knew jack and squat about this thing.
And Jack has left town. What the hell-?!
It was then that " it " began to drift toward them. Slowly, practically serenely ( assuming the word " serene " could be used with it ), the weird-ass alien approached them. How it was doing that, Buck didn't even bother guessing.
And warbled- yep, that was the sound, alright- loudly.
" WoooooOOOooooooaah ! "
" What...the f**k ?! ", Deckard exclaimed with a stronger color word, brandishing his Needler. " It-it looks like a mutant grape. That floats ! "
He wasn't wrong. With its sickly-purple colored skin, and its bulging, lumpy contours, the thing did resemble a viciously morphed grape. Which was floating.
" Yeah....never seen anything like it. ", muttered Dubbo, having leveled his MA5 at the bizarre new arrival.
" My selector's on full auto...are we lighting this thing up, Gunny !? "
Buck blinked. The creature's insanely odd appearance had triggered another kind of response in him.
"Hey. You're getting distracted- watch your flanks ! "
He'd already aimed his own rifle at the alien, but he took a hand off to gesture sharply at the sides of their formation. " Don't gawk at it so much that someone gets a free shot at us-"
" Hey, hey- Gunny ! Look at one of its...tentacles Its holding something..."
Out the corner of his view, Buck saw Deckard's pointing hand extended toward the alien. Aimed roughly at the rightmost tentacle-
" What ? Where? "
Buck adjusted his focus, looking directly at said tentacle now-
- and that's when he saw it.
Hang on...
Wait a second. What's- is that a-
A helmet.
The thing was holding...a helmet. An ODST helmet.
And not any ODST helmet, either. It was a cobalt blue one, with a flanged chin piece, and a burned gold visor.
Buck's eyebrows rose nearly off his face.
That's hers !
My God- that's Veronica's!
Another jolt of chilly adrenaline blasted through him. Buck would recognize that helmet anywhere. It was definitely Dare's. No mistake there.
And this...this thing had it. This creature Buck had no idea what to call had Dare's helmet. That raised a whole buffet of questions.
But, he couldn't afford to sift through all of them right now. Even if he could've, he didn't want to.
Prioritize. Prioritize.
" Hold fire ! ".
He lowered his MA5.
" Gunny ? " Dubbo did not lower his.
Deckard kept his weapon up too. Neither of them shot, but they kept their sights trained on the creature.
" Hold. Fire. ", Buck repeated.
He took a step forward.
Then, another. Cautiously.
" I don't think that's a good idea, Sarge... ". Deckard voiced his objection.
" Ditto ", added Dubbo.
" Noted. ". Buck didn't take his gaze off the creature- or the helmet.
" Stand by ".
Again, he stepped forward, working his way closer to the unknown alien. Inexplicably, Buck found himself attempting to employ the kind of tactics you'd use when meeting a stray dog- he raised a hand, taking it off his MA5, and raising it toward the alien.
Palm out, he extended his hand. To a creature, he knew nothing and zilch about.
Well, it hasn't attempted to kill me. Yet. Heck, it seems...
I don't know...shy ?
Applying " interacting with Earth animals "-logic to 100 percent unidentified alien was definitely a sketchy idea ( if getting anywhere near it wasn't, which it was ), but Buck had to be as sure as he could that this...thing, wasn't going to come at them anytime soon. As long as he could figure out if it was going to leave them alone for right now, that was good enough.
Buddy, you try anything, I will put holes in you.
But, till then...
" WoooooOOOoo...reeeeeeeeeea ! "
Buck stopped, as the creature warbled again, then followed it up with a muted screech.
Several of its tentacles flipped up and out to the sides. Somehow, that appeared to be a very xeno version of " Woah, woah- back up ! ".
Possibly.
" Hey ! ", the noncom exclaimed." Calm down ! Easy, you hear ? "
" I think...you spooked him, sarge ", Dubbo ventured to guess.
" Already did that to me when he showed up ", grunted Deckard.
" Frick, and I thought the regular Covies were ugly as sin. This guy takes the cake. "
" Yeah ? Well, speaking of spooks, we still need to find one, remember ? And I don't think our chum here is gonna get in the way of that. ". Buck turned back to the others.
" Alright, squad-"
BSHHHRA !
He was interrupted then, by the rasping roar of an M90 shotgun, from within the building behind the alien.
In spray of fluorescently bright fluids, the alien was violently jolted forward, then dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks.
" Christ on a bike ! "
That was Dubbo.
" What the hell was that ?! "
Deckard.
" What- what happened ?! Someone straight up-"
" Hey, hey ! Steady, men ! "
Buck's MA5 was up again, and his finger was around the trigger. In the span of a heartbeat, his mind had purged all thoughts of the alien- except any ones that had anything to do with who the heck had gunnned it down.
Not how weird-as-all-creation it'd looked. Not what it'd been about to do, or not do- someone had shot it dead.
God, could this day get any weirder ?! First that creature right out of a lovecraft story turns up, then-
This ! Someone used him as a clay pigeon !
" Call out ! See anything-"
Buck trailed off then.
He'd been interrupted again- by an out of the blue, high pitched whining sound that, much like the warbling from earlier, had a strong electronic quality.
And it was coming from the freshly-deceased alien.
What the fresh heck- ? Now what's going on ?!
" Gunny ?! ", called a greatly confused Deckard.
As if on cue, cyan blue lights abruptly ignited across the bizarre alien's corpse. Along with it, the electronic whining sound grew louder, and louder, reaching a fever pitch and speed.
Ok, even I know that looks like we should get clear...!
" Back up ! Back up ! ".
Buck shouted the order, and gestured at both of them to move away.
" Hit the deck ! "
He turned from the dead alien and dived to the prone position. His chest plate cracked hard into the street pavement; out the edge of his view right before he buried his head, Buck saw the other two marines also throwing themselves down as low as they could get.
Which was all highly fortunate, because about 2 seconds later-
BWOOOM !
The shockwave washed over Buck like an ocean wave.
It rippled through the ground beneath him- and then right through his armor, into Buck himself.
Even with his helmet on, the cacophony of the blast stung his eardrums. It was razor sharp- like whatever had been used to produce that blast charge was top shelf material.
Ow...!
In a half second, though, it was over. Like a thunderclap, the echoes of the explosion had already died off.
Buck had listened to quite a few explosions over his years in the field, but each of them still rattled his cranium. The noncom shook it, blinking away the onset of disorientation as he slowly raised his head from staring into the Earth.
" Marines...sound off ! "
" Anybody hit ?! "
" Ugh...no, Gunny ", Deckard reported. Buck observed him pushing himself up, digging a palm into his right ear.
" Owww...frick ! "
" All good over here... I think "
Dubbo declared his status, as he also rose. The Aussie glanced at his gloves, then pulled one of them off to examine a series of fresh shallow cuts he'd earned while so roughly diving for cover.
" Shite...ah..."
" Shake it off, jarhead, shake it off ". Buck flexed the fingers of his right hand and was pleased to find that his MA5 was still in them.
" Both of you...Look alive now ! "
Shaking his head again, Buck performed an examination of his own, checking the MA5. Finding it was still in working order, he then turned to look at the alien's remains.
Or, rather, where they'd been.
Damn. That thing-
Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. Like, gone, gone.
Indeed. All that remained, of whatever that thing had been, was a smoking patch of charred and blackened ground. Wisps of smoke curled and twisted up from it, amid scattered traces of ashes and cinders.
That alien was atoms now.
Seriously. God ? I know you work in ways we don't get, but what's with this ?! Introduce weird-ass alien to me, then it gets blown to smithereens and all quicker than you could hardboil an egg.
Can't things be simple ? Help me find Veronica, and the rest of Alpha-9.
" It blew itself up...!" Deckard pointed. " Took itself out..! "
" Since when do the Covies have explosive failsafe devices, Gunny ? "
" They don't- till now ". Buck stood, brandishing his MA5 again, still sensing lingering spots of soreness here and there from the blastwave, and diving into the ground. Not that any of it was an issue.
" Get up, you two. We got to find that shooter. Now-. "
" Gunny ! Hey ! "
Someone was shouting at him- but it wasn't either Dubbo or Deckard.
What the-?!
Buck immediately recognized that voice. It was coming from out of that window that the alien had been hovering in front of.
A second later, the voice's owner was revealed.
" Sarge, look ! Up there, second deck window ! Another trooper ! "
As Dubbo called out, with considerable enthusiasm, a second orbital drop shock trooper showed up, appearing in the aforementioned window.
The troopers's chest plate was a shade of aqua blue. His helmet had the distinctive blocky shape of the ODST sharpshooter's OI affixed to its front, and he was cradling an SRS99D-S2 sniper rifle.
My God. Of all the places to run into this guy-
Here ?
" Hey, there, Gunny. ", the trooper in the window called down.
" Corporal Kojo Agru, reporting for action ! "