Given the recent success of the game Helldivers 2, it's hard not to see the similarities between the "Helldivers" in that game and "ODSTs" from Halo. Given the parallels, I thought I would try my hand at a "Halo-ize" version of Helldivers. So here's my humble attempt.

UNSC Fifth Winter
Low-Orbit, New Llanelli
22 February 2553

Capt Nabil Djavadi, 7th ANGLICO, 15th Shock Troops Battalion

On Incident Response and Investigation (IRI) Duty

" – GENERAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS. ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! THE ROUTE OF TRAVEL IS FORWARD AND UP TO STARBOARD, DOWN AND AFT TO PORT! SET MATERIAL CONDITION ZEBRA THROUGHOUT THE SHIP! ALL ODSTS, REPORT TO YOUR PODS FOR AN IMMEDIATE DROP!"

Captain Djavadi raced through the corridors, his armored boots barely touching the metal deck as he headed straight for the drop pod deployment deck, i.e., "Hell's Waiting Room." Dodging around a couple of Navy technicians doing some last minute checks, he threw himself into his SOEIV, where his weapons and gear were already set up and waiting for him. Slamming his hand down on the master ignition, he hurriedly began strapping himself in as the pod powered up, the door sliding shut. At the same time, all the screens inside his pod flickered to life, and all of them started flashing the same three dreaded words: "FLOOD OUTBREAK DETECTED."

"All pods, we are T minus sixty seconds to deployment," the Navy ATC sitting in the control 'tower' reported over the radio as Djavadi quickly checked over his pod, making sure all systems were good to go. The voice of the ATC disappeared, only to be immediately replaced by Major Ironside.

"Charger Company, sound off in sequence for equipment and status check!" he roared.

"This is 1st Platoon, ready and waiting!"

"2nd Platoon, green across the board!"

"3rd Platoon, awaiting orders!"

Djavadi tapped his mic. "ANGLICO, standing by."

"Company Command, prepped and ready," Ironside finished. "All Charger Company elements are confirmed ready, break. Control, this is Charger-Actual: we are 'go' for launch."

"Copy that, Charger," Djavadi heard the Controller tersely reply. "FifthWinter is moving into final launch position. We are T minus forty-five seconds."

"Copy that, Control."

The whine of electrical motors filled the air, and Djavadi reflexively glanced up as his pod began to rotate into position.

"Right," one of the platoon commanders said as all pods were being slowly lowered into final launch position. "Now that we're all assembled, where's the fire, Major? What's this about the Flood, sir?"

"So," Ironside began. "As all of you know – or should know - we're here in this system because a week ago, potential signs of the Flood were detected on the surface of this planet. In the wake of the firing of the Ark, that shouldn't have been possible, so a joint UNSC/Covenant science team were sent to the surface to investigate. About half an hour ago, they went radio silent. Roughly fifteen minutes ago, the Marine garrison at Whiskey Outpost reported they were under heavy attack by a massive wave of Flood."

"Three guesses as to what happened to the science team," someone sarcastically muttered and Djavadi bobbed his head in agreement. He, like most of the ODSTs in the company, had been fighting in Kenya when the Flood had first made their appearance. As such, he, like most of the company, knew exactly how fast the Flood worked. And how dangerous they were because of that.

"Our mission is simple," Ironside continued. "We go in, secure Whiskey Outpost, clear an LZ for follow on forces to arrive, and then purge the planet of Flood."

"Hang on, sir," someone else interjected, "if our ultimate goal is to purge the planet, why are they sending our asses down to the surface? Why doesn't High Command just nuke the site from orbit? Or better yet, make our 'allies' glass the area? After all, they seemed pretty quick to do so during the war…"

There were murmurs of agreement at that, and Djavadi cocked his head, eager to hear the answer. Unfortunately, the answer Ironside provided only seemed to raise more questions.

"Don't ask me the details 'cause I don't know 'em, but apparently High Command tried to do that back in '46. This site we're about to hit has already been subjected to four separate MAC cannon strikes,had a Shiva nuke dropped on it, and then the Covenant glassed the area. Yet, somehow, the Flood are still here. Which means, either the Flood arrived after the strikes, High Command made a mistake, or this infestation goes a lot deeper than anyone knows. Whatever the case may be, that's why Command is sending us in: to make sure the job gets done properly this time."

"All Troopers, we are T minus fifteen seconds."

All conversation immediately ceased as the bay doors below their feet slowly slid open, revealing the vastness of space, and Djavadi felt a chill pass through him as he inhaled sharply, trying to keep his nerves under control. As an air winger, Djavadi was used to high speed dives and crazy evasive maneuvers, but there was a world of difference between doing strafing runs in his Hornet and falling out of orbit in naught but a metal egg.

"All Charger elements, we are T minus ten… nine… eight…"

Djavadi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Here went nothing.

"- three… two… one… DROP!"

Djavadi felt his heart immediately drop to his stomach and he was forced up against his restraints as his pod was ejected from the Winter's hold at high speeds. The SOEIV began a race towards the surface of New Llanelli, joined by nearly a hundred other pods. Glancing upwards, he watched as the Fifth Winter flew by overhead, the Orion-class assault carrier growing smaller and smaller by the second as it peeled away to join the rest of the joint UNSC/Covenant fleet sitting in orbit around planet.

"All call signs, this is Charger-Actual," Ironside announced over the radio. "All pods away; we're in the pipe. Three minutes to the DZ, break, break. Platoon leaders, lock all pods onto the outpost – wait, shit; Whiskey Outpost just fell off the grid."

Inside his pod, Djavadi grimaced. According the TO&E chart he had on the outpost, the base was supposed to be manned by roughly a hundred Marine military police officers from the 3rd Law Enforcement Regiment. If the outpost was off the grid, chances were high all the Marines who had been posted there were either dead, or wished they were. And if they were dead, then…

"All Platoon leaders, divert to secondary DZ. Lock all pods onto new drop zone coordinates."

There was a moment of hesitation.

"You mean the DZ that's currently swarming with the Flood?" one of the platoon commanders asked, sounding slightly incredulous and Djavadi glanced at his HUD to see that, yes, the DZ they were headed directly for was covered in red dots indicating hostile forces.

"Yes," Ironside bluntly replied. "All pods, lock on. Captain Djavadi? Make us a hole."

"On it, sir!" Djavadi replied, glad for a distraction as he pulled out his TACPAD and quickly scrolled through the many call signs loaded on its database until he found the right one. "Archangel-6 to Big Daddy; do you copy Big Daddy?"

"This is Big Daddy, we read you five by five. Go ahead."

"Big Daddy, need an ordnance drop; me and the boys are headed planetside and we're not expecting a warm welcome. I'm transmitting the coordinates of our DZ to you now; requesting times one BLU-327 strike on aforementioned coordinates. Target is light infantry in the open. Pave the way! You're cleared hot!"

"Copy, Archangel. One 'x' BLU-327, five hundred kilogram FAE strike on designated coordinates, cleared hot. We are rolling in!"

Djavadi's pod's proximity alert let out a small shrill a split second before a UNSC Navy C709 "Longsword" fighter dove straight down through the center of the ODSTs' formation. As the fighter roared past Djavadi's SOEIV, he noticed the ordnance bay doors on the Longsword's ventral hull were open, and a large cylindrical bomb with rocket boosters attached to its base was emerging from the hold.

"Bombs away, bombs away, bombs away."

The Longsword immediately peeled away, breaking parallel to the planet's atmosphere. The bomb however, continued along its path for a few seconds before the rocket booster ignited, propelling the bomb straight down to the surface. Djavadi watched as the projectile grew smaller and smaller until –

There was a small flash of light, barely visible to the naked eye, then a massive orange bubble seemed to appear out of nowhere. The bubble rapidly expanded, the shockwave tearing across the ground and ripping apart anything that might have been in the way. On his HUD, Djavadi watched as a good chunk of the red dots simply vanish. "Big Daddy, Archangel, good effect on target, break. Charger-Actual, DZ has been cleared!"

"Copy," Ironside coolly replied. "Alright Charger Company, we're going in! Pop your chutes and aim for ground zero! And get set for a hot DZ!"

Djavadi immediately shut his eyes as the drogue chute erupted over his head, causing the entire pod to lurch. Things began to rapidly heat up as they descended through the atmosphere and the turbulence made Djavadi feel like he was stuck inside a washing machine on full spin. He didn't think the ride could get any worse but somehow, it did; as they passed through the upper atmosphere, they immediately slammed into the dust cloud still hanging in the air following the FAE explosion. Tiny chunks of debris and soot slammed into and ricocheted off the SOEIV's hull like bullets. A loud CRACK filled the air and Djavadi cracked opened an eye to see one small pebble had hit his door with enough force to leave a small fracture in the outermost layer of the reinforced window.

But the worse had yet to come.

"Approaching burn stage! Brace for deacceleration!"

The deafening swoosh of his retrograde rockets firing drowned out all other noises, and Djavadi watched as the numbers on his altimeter rapid tick downward. Twelve hundred meters. Seven hundred meters. Four hundred meters. One hundred. Fifty.

"IMPACT!"

The pod plowed into the ground, the impact causing Djavadi's teeth to rattle and nearly causing him to bite his own tongue in half. He didn't feel any pain though because at the exact same time, there was a loud buzzer while simultaneously, the door to his pod was blown outwards off its hinges. Safety harness automatically retracting, Djavadi seized his rifle and hurtled himself out of his pod only to immediately be confronted with –

- something. Based on reports and his own first-hand experience, Djavadi knew the Flood worked by infesting a host and then rapidly mutating it, but the creature in front of him had been so badly mutilated, he couldn't figure out what the baseline being had been before the Flood had gotten its tentacles around it. The Flood form was crawling around on the ground, letting out inhuman screeches of pain as swamp-green blood squirted out of its many wounds, yet it was still alert enough to turn its 'head' in Djavadi's direction and let out a roar.

Djavadi promptly shot the creature twice in the head.

"Rest in pieces, motherfucker…" Djavadi muttered as the Flood form let out one final exhale and slumped to the ground.

"SECURE THE DZ! Fan out! Let's go!"

Giving the corpse one last kick to make sure it was truly dead, Djavadi turned and sprinted for the edge of the drop zone, running over freshly overturned dirt and body parts alike, all a result of the FAE strike. Unlike conventional high-explosive bombs which mostly relied on fragmentation for its killing power – of which had limited effect against targets that lacked a central nervous system - FAEs or fuel-air explosives worked by propagating the overpressure blast wave commonly found in all explosions. By using a combination of aerosol fuel and atmospheric oxygen, FAEs could extend both the duration and intensity of the blast front resulting in any light material – such as flesh - caught in the area of effect to literally be torn to shreds. Against Flood combat forms caught in the open with no cover? As Djavadi and his comrades had discovered in Africa, the results could be absolutely devastating.

But FAEs alone weren't enough to halt a Flood outbreak in its tracks.

"FLOOD!" the cry went over the radio. "Flood is regrouping to our east!"

Djavadi threw himself onto the ground for cover – joining the rest of the ODSTs assembling there - and leveled his rifle, his VISR outlining all approaching hostiles, even through the smoke and dust. Dozens of targets immediately appeared on his HUD and he nervously licked his lips.

"OPEN FIRE!"

The sound of dozens of battle rifles firing immediately split the air as the Marines opened up with everything they had. Spent bullets casings quickly began piling up on the ground as the rounds sped downrange, instantly devastating the first rank of Flood. At once, a loud, bone-chilling howl filled the air as every single Flood combat form in the area turned in unison and began charging the ODSTs' line.

"HERE THEY COME!"

Djavadi dropped his crosshairs over his first target and promptly opened up. Fighting the Flood was always so different from fighting against the Covenant. Unlike the various species that made up the Covenant's ranks, the Flood had no sense of self-preservation, and would continuously charge their enemy, even in the face of overwhelming firepower. Conversely though, Flood forms were far more resilient than anything Djavadi had ever faced, requiring far more bullets per target to put down as there was essentially no such thing as a wounded Flood.

"LEAPERS! UP HIGH, UP HIGH!"

Djavadi's head snapped up to see some Flood from the back ranks were leaping over the heads of their comrades in order to close the distance that much faster. Hurriedly racking the charging bolt on his rifle, he fired on one of the leapers, catching the creature midair and halting its forward momentum. He continued to unload on the Flood, even as it plummeted to the ground, tearing chunks of flesh off with every trigger pull. Yet, despite nearly emptying an entire magazine of 9.5mm rounds into the creature, Djavadi could still see the Flood form writhing on the ground, struggling to stand back up.

"KEEP POURING IT ON! MAKE SURE THEY CAN'T GET CLOSE!"

"DJAVADI!"

Djavadi barely managed to avoid flinching as Ironside grabbed his shoulder. "Sir!"

"Whiskey Outpost is three kilometers in that direction!" Ironside bellowed, pointing in the direction of the Flood. "We're gonna have to fight our way through the Flood to get there, but we're gonna run out of ammo half a klick in if we do it like this! I need you to do your job; start calling in fire support and clear the way!"

"Aye, sir!" Djavadi yelled back as he attached his weapon onto his back. Activating his HUD, he simultaneously pulled out his TACPAD and grabbed his radio. "Morning ladies and gentlemen, this is Archangel-6 calling to all UNSC call signs on this net. Who do I have with me today?"

"Morning Archangel, this is Hurricane 1-1, reporting in."

"Wildcat 2-5, standing by to provide support."

"Archangel, Bayonet Flight on approach from the north…"

As various UNSC call signs started reporting in, their names also started appearing on Djavadi's HUD, listing not only their numbers and flight composition, but also their loadouts, allowing Djavadi to know exactly what sort of ordnance he could call upon.

"Alright, all pilots, this is the current situation," Djavadi announced. "I've got a shit ton of bad guys between my position and Whiskey Outpost. I need snake and nape on station, ASAP. Stack up at every five hundred meters and stand by to be vectored in. Approach direction for all aircraft will be north to south, so keep an eye out for that."

"Major, sir! Flood getting a little too close for comfort!"

"Djavadi, why aren't things on fire yet!?"

Djavadi ignoring the cries as he hurriedly designated three spots on his mini-map, then scrolled through his list until he found the correct call sign. "Archangel to Oddball, requesting airstrike on concentrations of Flood combat forms in the open. Strike positions one, three, and five with six times Mark 207 bombs. Attack direction south, you're cleared to engage."

"Copy. Locked on target, TOT, twenty seconds, over."

CRACK! CRACK!

Djavadi instinctively hit the deck as the familiar snap of bullets passing by overhead filled the air, but unlike during the war, these rounds were aimed directly at him.

"Watch out! Incoming fire! Flood got their hands on some assault rifles!"

"Take 'em out!"

Djavadi could hear the retort of a battle rifle, followed by the sound of a grenade launcher, but his focus was on the growing roar of an approaching jet engine. Looking up into the distance, he spotted a single Broadsword fighter jet on approach.

"Archangel, Oddball: bombs away, bombs away, bombs away."

There was a loud roarthat temporarily drowned out the sounds of fighting as the Broadsword made a pass over the battlefield, then –

Boom. BOOM. KABOOM!

- the world started exploding as six bombs landed in rapid succession, walking parallel to the frontline from left to right. Flood forms were sent flying in all directions as the shockwaves picked them up and hurtled them across the field like a giant had scooped them up and negligently tossed them over its shoulder. At the same time, shrapnel cut through the crowd like a scythe through wheat, staining the ground with brownish-green blood.

"'NADE THE BODIES!" Djavadi roared at the Marines surrounding him, even as he spotted a number of pod infector scurrying across the ground towards the prone bodies, intent on revitalizing them and bringing them back to life.

"Djavadi!"

Ironside appeared over his shoulder. "That was a good strike, but I need you to bring it in closer!"

"Closer, sir?"

"Closer!"

"Roger that!" Djavadi confirmed as he turned back to his radio and glanced at the next call sign. "Hurricane, Archangel, set up for a rocket run: I want 110mm HE Anvil rockets on positions two and four. And bring it in closer! Come within a hundred meters of my position, over!"

"Copy. I'm inbound, thirty seconds."

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

A trio of unguided Anvil rockets slammed into the ground, taking out a Sangheili attacker form and two smaller figures standing nearby. A split second later, the battlefield was lit up as another Broadsword ripped by, dropping flares as it did. Djavadi immediately glanced up at Ironside, only to see him shaking his head.

"No, you're still not getting it! I want a creeping barrage of airpower! Keep taking out the front ranks of the Flood so we can advance!" he commanded.

"Ah," Djavadi said, finally seeing what Ironside was hoping to achieve. Turning back to his radio, he barked, "Wildcat, Archangel: requesting an immediate napalm strike. Need you to burn out the Flood's first line. Drop those canisters within fifty meters of the FLOT."

"Copy. Might want to get your head's down, this is going to get a bit toasty."

"INCOMING!" Djavadi immediately roared at the Marines surrounding him. "We got nape comin' in, and it's coming in close! Get your head's down! INCOMIN- "

BABWOOSH!

An entire wall of fire abruptly erupted directly in front of them! Demonic figures seemed to dance in the fire as the red-hot flames rapidly expanded outwards, greedily consuming everything in its path: flesh, metal, even oxygen. Among the fire, Djavadi could see Flood forms crumbling to ash under the heat, leaving barely enough biological matter for even the Flood to revive. And while he couldn't feel the heat because of his sealed ODST armor, he could smell the acrid scent of petroleum, even through the filters of his enclosed helmet. It smelled like… well, it smelled like shit, to be honest.

"That's it, that's what I need you to do!" Ironside triumphantly roared as the flames slowly died down, leaving the Flood's front rank decimated. "Keep at it. MARINES! ADVANCE!"

"Oorah!"

Djavadi joined the rest the company as they surged to their feet and began advancing across the ash-strewn field. Despite having already lost three-quarters of their original number, the Flood howled and pressed their assault, continually running headlong into the wall of bullets the ODSTs were putting up. Pointing at the largest cluster of Flood, Djavadi placed a navpoint and called out, "Archangel to Bayonet: need a strafing run. Hit 'em with your guns!"

"Rog. Guns, guns, guns!"

BRRRRTTTTT!

The bark of a Broadsword's twin autocannons filled the skies. As the 35mm shells came thundering in, they plowed into a number of Flood forms that had coincidentally chosen that exact moment to leap up and forward. The shells caught those forms midair, causing them to explode and strew body parts down onto the ODSTs below, like some sort of necrophiliac's piñata. Looking up, Djavadi spotted one chunk headed straight for him, and he hastily dove to the side as the piece landed on the ground with a sickening splat. Glancing at the part, Djavadi expected to see an arm or a head but as it turned out, it was neither.

It was, in fact, a Pod Infector, which, upon landing, immediately turned and began scurrying straight towards Djavadi.

"Oh, fuck!" Djavadi yelped as he scrambled to draw his sidearm, but he had barely grabbed hold of the grip when the Infector lunged towards him, and all he could do was stare in horror as the massive, squid-like monster the size of his torso reached for him.

BANG!

Without warning, the Infector unexpectedly exploded as a bullet passed right through it! Djavadi knocked onto his ass as a wave of ichorous blood and gore splashed over him, covering him from head to toe in goo.

If it were up to him, Djavadi would have laid on the ground, panting, for however long it took to calm his racing heart. But he wasn't given the chance as a pair of gauntleted hands grabbed him and hauled him upright.

"Captain. Djavadi! Are you alright?" Ironside yelled at him, concern evident in his voice even though his visor was polarized.

Djavadi glanced at the ground where what remained of the Infector laid, smothering, and he shuddered. "I think so, sir."

"Good. Keep moving! Objective is in sight!" Ironside noted, gesturing beyond the Flood, where the prefab walls of Whiskey Outpost were looming out of the dust. "Marines! Finish off these stragglers and get inside!"

Releasing Djavadi, Ironside turned to his men to direct their fire against the last half-dozen Flood remaining. For his part, Djavadi only watched – as he tried to catch his breath – as a volley of grenades landed among the feet of the Flood tearing them to shreds. Anything that survived that were quickly finished off with rifle fire and within a matter of minutes, the field was clear of all hostiles.

"Area cleared!" someone yelled.

"To the Outpost!" Ironside immediately barked. "Double time it! Captain Djavadi, what's the status on our air support?"

Shaking his head, Djavadi tried to get his mind back into the fight.

"Most of my pilots are close to bingo fuel, sir; they're going to need to refuel and rearm soon," Djavadi reported. "But I still got one flight left."

"They got napalm?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then have them burn the field; make sure the Flood can't recover any of them," he ordered, gesturing at the bodies strewn across the field.

"Aye, sir," Djavadi affirmed. "Archangel to Oddball: drop your napalm on the battlefield. Burn the bodies and then RTB, over."

"Understood, Archangel."

He gave Ironside a thumbs up who immediately yelled, "Marines! Let's move!"

Djavadi took off for the outpost. Behind him, the sound of Broadswords screaming in filled the air and as they incinerated what remained of the battlefield, he took a moment to think of the people who had been, before they had been mutilated and violated by the Flood. He could only hope that by cremating their bodies and preventing the Flood from using them to cause untold horrors, all those unnamed victims would be able to rest a bit more easily in the afterlife.

Entering the outpost was just a matter of walking through the front gate. Outposts such as this one were designed to be both easily transported and rapidly assembled. As such, the entire facility consisted of five buildings – a command center, a barracks, a galley, an armory, and a few outhouses – all of which was surrounded by a two and a half meter tall metal wall reinforced by sandbags and gabions. The outpost was defended by four guard towers – one at each corner – while access was controlled by a simple ECP, all of which should have been manned by armed Marines.

However, as expected, the entire facility was abandoned, but based on their surroundings, the Marine garrison had not gone quietly into the night. There were signs of fighting all over the place: bullet casings littered the ground, blast scoring marked the walls, and blood – both human and Flood – was splattered all over place. But no bodies, and knowing what he did about the Flood, it wasn't hard for Djavadi to imagine what had become of them.

"Fan out," Ironside ordered. "1st Platoon, sweep around outside the perimeter. 2nd Platoon, secure the guard towers and the ECP. 3rd Platoon, clear these buildings, but give me a squad: Company Command will clear the command center." He glanced at Djavadi. "Let's get this outpost back onto the grid."

Djavadi nodded, taking the moment to quickly swap the partially loaded mag in his rifle for a full one before following the rest of the command staff as the rushed towards the Command Center. The metal doors leading into the center were lying on the ground, having clearly been destroyed by a forceful breach. Weapons raised, the ODSTs cautiously entered the small room, but a quick but thorough sweep revealed the area was just as empty as the rest of outpost.

Ironside gestured at Djavadi, whom immediately walked over to the main control panel. An abandoned MA5C assault rifle and the gas mask from a MOPP suit was propped up against the desk and laying on the seat, respectively. Both were sticky with blood and Djavadi tried not to think about the fate of their previous operators. Shoving the objects aside, he sat down in front of console and began typing.

"Accessing the mainframe," he announced out loud, only to immediately hit a wall. "Hm. Looks like the garrison managed to lock out the entire system before they fell. Major, I need your command override."

Djavadi shoved himself away from the desk as Ironside walked over and quickly typed in his access code.

"We're in," Djavadi announced, sliding back to the computer as the entire system started rebooting.

"Good. Reconnect us to the bee-net and signal the Fleet to start sending us our reinforcements. Have them land in the open field just south of the OP."

Djavadi moved to execute Ironside's orders, but just as he started typing, an alert appeared on the screen. "Shit. Shit! Sir, we have a problem: seismic sensors have picked up on massive amounts of underground vibrations headed straight for us from the north! ETA to contact, seven minutes!"

"What!? More Flood!?" Ironside exclaimed. "How many?"

"Computer indicates maybe several hundred…"

Djavadi and Ironside exchanged a look.

"We're gonna need more firepower," Ironside declared. "I'm contacting Fleet Command to see what I can wrangle up. In the meantime, call in a resupply and let's start reinforcing this outpost!"

"Aye, sir!" Djavadi quickly switched channels on his radio. "UNSC Fifth Winter, this is Archangel, do you copy?"

"Go ahead, Archangel," came the reply.

"Winter, I need an immediate resupply on Whiskey Outpost: automated turrets, defensive barriers, the works. I also need an immediate weapons drop; level five REQs or higher. I've got a shit-ton of bad guys headed straight for my position, so I need this resupply ASAP, over."

"Copy that, Archangel: deploying Pelicans and Herons to your location now. ETA, one minute."

Djavadi looked up as Ironside turned to him. "Fleet's sending us a destroyer to back us up. You have full control. Get some where you can direct their fire."

"I need someplace high!"

"Climb the communications tower on top of the command center. Ladder in the corner, go!"

Attaching his rifle onto his back, Djavadi mounted the ladder and climbed to the roof where he found himself at the base of the outpost's communication array. He started to climb that until he found a small platform roughly halfway up. Settling himself in, he looked around. Already, D20 "Heron" heavy lift cargo ships were on station dropping off M5 "Talos" automated base and siege turrets to help protect the base and augment the ODSTs' firepower. At the same time, ordnance pods and resupply canisters were being dropped by a Pelican directly into the center of the outpost. Charger Company's first sergeant and a couple of other ODSTs were already there ripping them open, revealing they were filled with all manner of crew-served weapons, ranging from simple M247 "Gimpy" machine guns, to short ranged NA4 flamethrowers, and even more exotic weapons like ARC-920 railguns. All of this was on top of the small arms and grenades the ODSTs already had on them. And if that wasn't enough firepower to hold the Flood back…

"Archangel, this is destroyer, UNSC Midnight Sun, holding station thirty klicks above your position, standing by to provide support. Do you copy, over?"

Djavadi looked up at the sky until he spotted the warship hovering high in the air. At this distance, even as large as the Halberd-class destroyer was, it appeared to be nothing more than a black dot in the sky. Still, Djavadi couldn't help but feel a sense of relief upon seeing it. With the firepower of an entire warship at his fingertips, on top of the fighter jets streaming back into the AO, Djavadi and the rest of the ODSTs just might survive this.

"Sun, this is Archangel, I read you loud and clear," he replied. "Thanks for stopping by and lending us a hand, over."

"Don't start buying us drinks just yet, Archangel," Sun warned. "Let's make sure you make it through this… Archangel, wait one, we're picking up a signal… Seismic disturbances! Archangel, be advised, we're picking up surface seismic disturbances two klicks due north of your position, over."

Djavadi immediately raised his rifle and peered through his scope in the indicated direction. Sure enough, a cloud of dust was rising into the air as a sinkhole began to form.

"Copy that, Sun, I see it," Djavadi declared. "Break. Archangel to Charger, I got eyes on a possible Flood breach two klicks north of the OP. Can you confirm, over?"

"Confirmed," came the immediate reply. "Sensors confirm, those are hostiles. Archangel, you are cleared to engage!"

"Copy that! Archangel to Sun, seismic disturbance confirmed hostile! Target that hole! We need to use that as a chokepoint and keep the Flood boxed in for as long as possible because if they spread out, they'll be impossible to keep contained! Requesting immediate fire support; hit with 'em with Archers!"

"Copy. Locked onto target, missiles away."

Contrails filled the air as the Archers departed from their VLS pods embedded in the hull of the Midnight Sun and sped towards the surface. Technically, Archers were anti-ship missiles and as such, were optimized for armor penetration, not light unarmored infantry targets in the open. But as each missile came equipped with a two hundred and fifty kilogram warhead, optimized or not, it ultimately mattered little to a target as small as a humanoid figure.

The missiles slammed into the ground at hypersonic speeds, the impact barely strong enough to set off their fuzes. Nevertheless, the explosion sent plumes of smoke billowing into the air which unfortunately had the side effect of preventing Djavadi from seeing what sort of effect the ordnance was having on the Flood, but he didn't see them pouring out of the hole, he figured it had to be a good one.

"Good effect on target!" he yelled. "Hit them with your tertiary batteries! ASGMs!"

"Copy. HE equipped ASGM-10 missiles in effect. Missiles inbound."

A volley of smaller but no less effective missiles saturated the area. Through his scope, Djavadi was frantically scanning the area when he noticed movement near the top of the hole. At first he thought it was just dirt being churned up by the explosions, but as the figures began to form silhouettes in the dust, he realized Flood forms were beginning to emerge from the ground.

"Sun, Archangel: got eyes on Flood emerging from the hole," he announced. "Need you to repeat, I say again, repeat fire mission, over."

"All missile batteries are reloading."

"Then give me a Gatling barrage!"

"Copy. Engaging with forward ventral Rampart turrets... Archangel, be advised: we've been authorized by Strike Group Command to use whatever means necessary to contain the Flood threat, up to and including MAC rounds. We are in a position to use said rounds; we could plant one into the breach and collapse the hole, over."

Djavadi felt himself sitting up straighter at that. "Sun, acknowledged. Wait one, break. Charger, Archangel: sir, we've just been given authorization to use MAC rounds in atmosphere. I have one primed and ready to use right now. Request permission to plant one in the hole, over?"

"Negative request," Ironside immediately barked. "That MAC may just bury the Flood instead of killing them all outright and if we gotta to fight them, I rather do so on the surface then underground. Just keep pouring it on!"

"Got it, break! Sun, save the MACs, just keep pounding them with conventional weapons."

"Understood. Re-engaging with Archers."

Djavadi glanced downrange. Whether by the explosions or their own actions, the hole was slowly expanding, making it more and more difficult to keep the Flood boxes it. Already he could see dozens emerging onto solid ground, undeterred by the barrage of 50mm cannon shells raining down from above.

BOOM! BOOM!

Through his scope, Djavadi watched as the led combat form – a human attacker form – take a shell to its upper torso and exploded into ludicrous gibs even though it was no where near the intense bombardment Midnight Sun was generating, and he glanced down at the outpost walls to see the base's newly deployed automated siege turrets had just become active. Though they weren't the only ones. Even as Djavadi turned his attention back to the Flood, tracer rounds began streaking across the field as the M202 machine guns mounted on the Talos turrets also began firing, filling the air with bullets.

"All call signs: the Flood are now in the open," Djavadi announced over all channels, even as the sound of gunfire intensified as the ODSTs began to add their fire to the conflagration. "I need all pilots on full alert; I'm going to be vectoring in fighters here shortly, which means things are about to get extremely crowded, so watch your fire. All call signs, confirm order, over."

"Midnight Sun copies all."

"This is Bayonet, that's an a-firm."

"Oddball here: understood."

As a hail of affirmations came rolling in through the radio, Djavadi took a deep breath…

… and then began to direct fire where needed.

"Hurricane, this Archangel: I need a Broadsword airstrike on position one zero six…"

Bombs, rockets, missiles, shells, bullets, and napalm all plummeted out of the sky in a highly coordinated orchestra of death, with Djavadi as the conductor. Explosions and shrapnel and fire ripped through the ranks of the Flood, leaving the ground covered in craters, ash, and blood. The amount of power Djavadi had under his direct control was unprecedented: with nothing more than a wave of his hand or a pointing of his finger, he could cause entire platoons of Flood forms to simply vanish into the ether. The feeling was awe inspiring, euphoric, and completely unknown as during the war – outside a few notable exceptions – the UNSC never was able to maintain the air and space dominance necessary to provide this level of support. From his position on top of the array, if he could see it, he could kill it, and that thought sent tingles down his spine even as he realized he would never experience an event like this again. And as that thought, that realization, settled into his bones, for a brief moment he almost felt like weeping.

POP! POP! CRACK!

Djavadi was forcefully dragged back down to Earth by the sound of bullets ricocheting off the railing beside him, and looked around wildly before zeroing in on the source: the Flood, proving once again they were more than the mindless beast they appeared to be, were shooting at him with whatever weaponry they had salvaged from the former garrison of Whiskey Outpost. Whether they were drawing from the memories of their hosts or simply came to the logical conclusion, they had clearly made the connection between a single Marine sitting by himself in an elevated position and the airpower wrecking havoc on their ranks.

Scrambling to his feet, Djavadi lifted his rifle and immediately returned fire, striking the Flood several times. Blood oozed from their wounds but they didn't even so much as flinch, and Djavadi cursed, wishing he had had the foresight to grab one of those heavy support weapons before climbing up here. There was a slight pause in the incoming fire as the Flood stopped to reload, and Djavadi seized the opportunity to grabbed his stuff and scurry around to the other side of the comms tower in an attempt to give himself more cover. Unfortunately, he knew it was a temporary solution; now that the Flood had a lock on his position, how long would it be before they brought heavier weapons to bear?

"Archangel, Charger: underground sensors indicate majority of Flood ranks have made it to the surface. You're cleared to take out the hole. Cut their legs out from beneath them!"

"Copy!" Djavadi yelled. "Sun, take out the hole! Shut it down!"

"Acknowledged. Weapons, load up fragmentation round, single coil charge. Lock on target, safeties off. Ground troops, be advised, engaging with MAC in three… two… one… engage, engage, engage."

There was a flash of light, one so bright, Djavadi could still see it even as his visor went full opaque, and white noise filled his ears as his helmet automatically sealed to prevent his eardrums from getting blown out. Even at the lowest power setting possible, the MAC round still hit the surface with the force of a small tactical nuke, and while most of the explosion was contained underground – which protected the outpost from total annihilation - the entire world yawed and shook as the blast front caused the ground to literally ripple like waves. The Flood, numerous ODSTs, and even a couple of the automated turrets were sent toppling to the ground and for a moment, the fight was abandoned as everyone involved stopped what they were doing to just focus on riding out the storm.

As a pilot and orbital drop qualified Marine, Djavadi was used to the effect of unstable maneuvers and high-g forces against his body and as such, was quickly able to regain his bearings following the blast. Surging upright, he quickly surveyed the battlefield. A massive crater now sat in the place of where the hole in the ground once was. Meanwhile, the Flood that had been closest to ground zero had all been vaporized, however, several hundred Flood forms still occupied the field and they too were quickly recovering from the blast. But, with all the Flood – or at least, the vast majority of them – now on the surface, Djavadi was free to call in every single one of his fighters and have them simultaneously drop whatever ordnance they had left on the field. The coordination it would take to accomplish while preventing his fighters from accidentally hitting each other would be intense, but the result would be –

"All UNSC aircraft, clear the airspace."

…what?

"What the fuck!?" Djavadi exclaimed out loud as his fighters began disappearing from the AO while the Sun started flying back into orbit. "This is Archangel-6: who the fuck is taking away my air support!?"

"This is Starfire-Actual," an unknown feminine voice replied. "Authentication Tango Bravo Niner Six Five Quebec One Three."

Djavadi quickly typing the code into his TACPAD to see who he was talking to, and immediate blanched when he realized he was talking to Rear Admiral Richards, commander of the Expeditionary Strike Group Four and overall head of all UNSC forces in system.

"Ma'am!" he reflexively blurted out. "With all due respect, Starfire, but why are you taking away my air support? We're still in heavy contact!"

"Unfortunately, son, when the Sangheili decide to do something, even I can't stop them. And I rather there not be any friendly fire incidents," Richards drily replied.

Djavadi opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but then paused when he noticed the area around him seemed to have picked up a red glow. He instinctively looked up.

"Oh… shit…" he whispered as he noticed a massive Covenant ship descending through the atmosphere. His radio suddenly crackled, and growling voice sounded over the channel.

"HUMANS. CLEAR THE AREA. WE SHALL DEAL WITH THE PARASITE."

"Holy shit," Djavadi yelped as he saw the weapons on the ship begin to power up. "EVERYONE! GET DOWN! GET- "

Djavadi was cut off when the Covenant ship abruptly fired, and he watched with his mouth hanging slightly open unloaded its full range of weaponry on the field below. Entire sections of the field simply disintegrated – along with anything standing there – as plasma torpedoes bombarded the surface while plasma bolts targeted individual Flood forms. At the same time, plasma lances swept the field, burning anything that remained.

During the entire time of the fusillade, all Djavadi could do was just stand there, watching, equal parts astonished and horrified. This was not the first time he had seen an orbital plasma bombardment. This was the first time he had one land so close to his position and yet, not be directed towards him, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. On one hand, there was no doubt the plasma weaponry was far more effective at eliminating the Flood than convention UNSC explosives as not only did plasma kill the combat form, it also destroyed the biological tissue, make it impossible for the Flood to revive. On the other, watching this unholy broadside uncomfortably reminded him of the many, many worlds that had suffered through such an event, and the countless humans who had been murdered directly by the Sangheili on behalf of the Covenant.

Thus, it came with some relief when the barrage abruptly ended, the entire field now covered in glass and ash, and the acrid scent of ozone hanging in the air. He scanned the field, but not a single Flood form remained.

"HUMAN SHIPMASTER, THE PARASITE HAS BEEN PURGED. YOU MAY PROCEED WITH YOUR WARRIOR DEPLOYMENT."

"Thank you, Shipmaster," Richards replied, sounding wary. "Starfire to Charger: Task Force 'Jackalope' is en route to your location, ETA, five minutes. As soon as they touch down, you are to execute 'Clean Sweep' Protocol, over."

"Copy that, Starfire," Ironside replied. "Gentlemen, you heard the lady: check your weapons and prepare to move out."

Djavadi nodded to himself in acknowledgement as he silently gathered up his equipment, exhausted by the events of the day. As he glanced over the still smoldering field, he was suddenly struck with the realization that, despite everything he had seen, everything he had experienced, he still wasn't sure who was worse: the Flood…

… or the Covenant.

Canon Notes

New Llanelli: this is a canon colony. It is the homeworld of Anthony Madsen, one of the SPARTAN-IV members of Fireteam Majestic from Halo 4's Spartan Ops (he and fireteam leader DeMarco were the ones who tried to hit on Sarah Palmer upon arriving on the Infinity before they realized who she was.) In canon, the colony was attacked and glassed by the Covenant in 2546. There was never a Flood outbreak here, either during the war or after; that's a plotline that I created for another Halo fanfiction that I write several years back.

ANGLICO: this is an IRL USMC construct. Standing for Air Naval Gunfire LIaison COmpany, it is a "special operations capable" unit tasked with coordinating artillery, navy, and air fire support for ground maneuver units. They are somewhat analogous to the USAF's "Tactical Air Control Parties," aka, "TACPs." Technically speaking, at the battalion level, they're actually called "Firepower Control Team" or "FCT," but I thought ANGLICO sounded cooler.

15th Shock Troop Battalion: this is a canon ODST unit, however there's no indication they actually fought at the Battle of Kenya, or the Battle of Installation 00. Nor is there any indication they ever encountered the Flood.

UNSC Fifth Winter:this is a canon ship. It is an Orion-class assault carrier that first appeared as part of the Halo: Outpost Discovery experience.

General Notes

Given the importance of "Stratagems" in Helldivers 2, I tried to make them the focus of this chapter, as opposed to the actual fight between the ODSTs and the Flood. At first, I wanted to match the Stratagems to their potential Halo counterparts, which sort of worked for the Offensive "Eagle" Stratagems (though I had to make up some ordnance of my own, most notably the BLU-327 fuel-air explosive,) but it quickly fell apart when I reached the Orbital Stratagems. For example, originally I envisioned the "380mm HE Barrage" and the "120mm HE Barrage" to be Archer and ASGM-10 missile strikes, respectively, but I quickly realized that while 380mm is a massive caliber for tubed artillery (380mm is 15inches; for reference, the last battleships the US Navy ever operated – the Iowa-class battleships – were armed with 16 inch guns,) for missiles – especially anti-ship missiles – that's actually quite tiny. That, and guided missiles usually aren't classified by their diameter like tubed artillery is. So I quickly abandoned that idea.

I made the Flood the enemy in this chapter firstly because all my other stories focus on fighting the Covenant and I wanted to mix things up and secondly because based on all of the streams and YouTube videos I've seen of Helldivers 2, it seems that the "Terminids," which are a bug-like alien enemy similar to the "Zerg" from Starcraft or the "Tyranids" from Warhammer 40k (or, you know, the Pseudo-Arachnids from Starship Troopers) are the most popular enemy to fight against. Whereas in Halo, the Flood seemed to be the closest we have to the traditional "insectoid" enemy. (Well, we also have Covenant Drones, but I don't find them as interesting.)