We watched.... we watched for thousands of years. We watched our creation, the one which we released upon them. They thought they were gone; then they came. They battled each other. They battled for years. Our creation dwelled upon them, and they banded together. Forever, they were proud; until finally, we decided to show them the their true origin.
New Chapter:
June 8, 2560
Samuel Gator raced through the forests of this God-forsaken planet. Bullets and plasma zipped about as he ditched his Warthog and dove into the icy trees. He had absolutely no idea what was happening, but knew he had his MA5F at his side. His olive hands gripped the handle, and he fired wildly behind him. A screech tore the night apart. Jackals, he thought. He ducked behind a tree, and regained his senses.
Sam was twenty seven years old. Born on Daolio in 2533, he enlisted as soon as he was of age. He and a friend had been scouting the area when they were attacked. Sam had olive skin, black, deep eyes, and his mask covered it all.
He sighted through the scope, and took aim at an approaching Jackal. A round whizzed into its skull-shattering the head. The other Jackal looked Sam in the eyes. The Corporal pulled the trigger, and it fell to the ground. Recently, Jackal pirates had banded together to fight the HEA (Human Elite Alliance) for rights. He and his ship had been taken to-what was this place’s name? Sai, he thought. They had been taken to Sai for crushing this rebellion. So far, they weren’t doing well. He called on his radio, “David, are you there?”
A crackled reply came, “Yea... but I can’t... get up!” David cried in agony.
Sam ripped through the trees to the Warthog, where David was stuck under the truck. Sam dragged him out, and set him on the passenger side. David had pale white skin, reddish-brown hair, and whole bunch of attitude against the Jackals, or any alien, for that matter. He was one of the few survivors of Sigma Octanus VII. Both were ODST scouts, trained hard to the core, in a familial way.
“We better get...” David grunted as he applied bio foam to a wound. “going...before those...bastards get back...”
“Don’t worry,” Sam hit the pedal to the medal. “we’ll be back in no time.”
Admiral Nicholas Woodsman stood, telling his speech to the HEA Headquarters staff.
“....and the Jackals have almost complete control of Sai. I think we should just evac every single colonist from the planet, then orbitally destroy Jackal emplacements.” he finished.
Woodsman had a long mustache, typical of Admirals in the UNSC. He had a long reputation against the Covenant, and used to command the destroyer Hit man. However, he had been relieved of command when they failed to protect Reach. Hit Man was soon lost afterward. He never liked ONI: they were an un-ethical, un-organized, group. They had no sense. But they commanded him. So, he followed his orders.
“But that would just be giving them the planet,” A Sangheili Zealot rose.
A roar of approval echoed through the hall.
“Aska,” Woodsman looked the Elite in the eyes. “what do you propose?”
“Send in ground teams with heavy weapons,” he said simply.
“We don’t have enough.” the room was silent. “I think we have an answer, then.”
He triumphantly exited New High Charity.
June 20, 2560
“Doc,” Sam inquired worriedly, “is he gonna be okay?”
“Sam,” Danielle commanded in a semi-stern voice, “stop calling me Doc. My name is Danielle.”
“Okay,” Sam replied sarcastically, “Danny.”
Danielle was average; blonde hair, blue eyes. Samuel had taken a liking to pissing her off. However, Danielle was not what she seemed; when Sam and David weren’t off scouting (or even if they were), she saved their asses more times than were planets the Covenant had glassed.
She also despised The Covenant, both the Separatists and Loyalists. Once, she had taken on an Elite single-handedly and won by breaking its knee; which might seem easy, but they had knees on the BACK of their legs, making her go all around and then kick his ass. The Elite had been dragged off in disgrace by his comrades, struck with fear.
Danielle wielded an MA6LA Assault Rifle, equipped with a scope, that allowed her to deal with patients and Brutes at the same time. born on Daolio with Sam, Corporal Salvoski had a little hint of a Siberia accent; note of her Russian heritage and pale skin.
“Sam, just stop call in her names. On my account, she’s saved our asses more than once.” Sam’s squad leader, Fredric, interrupted.
Fredric was special; he had gone through some ORION augmentations, meaning he was stronger and faster than anyone except Spartan IIs, who didn’t exist except for a few living on Earth. He even wore Mark III MJOLNIR powered assault armor, instead of the standard old ODST combat suit.
Well, since they were ODSTs, they got even better armor; MK II MJOLNIR armor. It was well outdated for Spartans, but since Fred was the last one, it really didn’t matter, because it was a hell of a lot better than ODST battle suits.
Others existed in Sam’s squad, too; Jake, Ryan, Ida....
Jake was the squad’s heavy weapons manager. He had brown-black hair, green eyes, and a lot of humor. He held an MA6A Assault rifle, the brand new prototype. He was one of the few that didn’t have glass for a homeworld; Sai had been captured, but rather used for its supplies of rare Covenant minerals.
This mission would be for him, cause he had been born on Sai in 2536.
Ryan was Gamma’s engineer. he handled the Scorpion tank, and the M835 troop hog. All of the squad was prototype. All brand new, yet Ryan could still fix it. he had dirty blonde hair, and was born on Harvest after the retaking of the planet.
Ida was the squad’s sniper. She wielded a modified SRS9909C83 Tactical Sniper Rifle. Ida had long, brown hair, gray, steely eyes, and an undying hatred for Jackals. She was sitting near the med bay’s surgical table, cleaning the old hunter scope. She never failed them.
The med bay was clustered with IVs and tools and benches and tables... plus a central solar generator, where David’s table was backed up to the core. A door was a few feet to the left of Sam; leading into the lounge for the platoon.
“Okay,” Danielle said enthusiastically, “David, you’re all patched up.”
“Let’s go find Ryan and Jake,” Sam grabbed David’s arm, the one free of a crutch, and led him into the lounge. Jake was inspecting his AV rocket launcher, and Ryan held a small welder.
Ryan’s deep voice echoed through the dusty room from one of the old couches, “Any news, scouts?”
“Not much,” David replied with a grunt, “but they do have some pretty advanced weapons!”
“When I saw them, they only had Carbines,” Sam looked at David, smiling.
“Well...you aren’t the victim of a bad sniper!” they all laughed.
“Yea,” Fredric held his two SMGs, “but did you find anything?”
“No,” Sam spat arrogantly.
They sat there for a while, until a call came across the intercom.
“First platoon?” Admiral Woodsman’s voice blurted past the TV and chairs, “suit up!”
All the soldiers grabbed weapons and armor, running off to the Air Pad.
Chapter 3
June 21, 2560
0140 hours
The Pelican had been riding for three hours now. The early blue sun of Sai glazed the surface. Trees and rivers flowed through the planet. The wind whipped through the cold morning air, over the frozen tundra. Ice and snow covered half the place; from Covenant glassing. Squirrel-like animals called Doas began awakening.
Sam peered out the cargo bay. Frozen coastline was staggered with icebergs floating aimlessly through the ocean. He held his MA5F, checking its clip was full and was unjammed. Everything needed to be perfect; the assault on the Jackal Command Center required absolute silence, meaning no reloads or unjamming ‘till they were in the facility. The ‘Hog clung to the back, with its Gauss Cannon (so OP! lol) and the two extra seats.
“Five...four...three...two...one...drop!” the pilot dropped the Warthog simultaneously with the ODSTs.
“Good luck down there,” he called through the radio.
“I’m driving!” Ryan hopped on to the wheel.
“Shotgun! Jake climbed to his side.
Ida took the cannon, Sam, Fred, and Danielle hopped into the back seat.
They drove on a suspiciously smooth path, past a small pond and followed the river for around an hour. Forerunner structures dotted the surface of the planet, giving away a hint of Covenant presence. Up ahead, some trees looked as if they had been smashed into the ground. Some metal and the tail of a Phantom could be seen.
“Is it the Elites?” Danielle studied the yellowish green craft.
“Doubt it,” Sam sighted through the scope, and voiced his opinion, “they don’t have a colony anywhere near these parts.”
“Wait!” Danielle whispered urgently, “it’s not a Phantom!”
“What is it, then?” Fred questioned him.
“The Jackals are probably using it to lure us in,” she answered, pondering. “making it look like a Pelican or ship crashed here.”
“Everyone out.” Fred jumped out. “We’re going in.
Large explosions blasted in front of Sam. He fired at the Jackals, cowering behind their shields. Obelisks of Forerunner artifacts lined the hallway in the center of the command center. In the middle lay a large object. It was a landing pad, but they were inside.
Sam picked his way through the dead bodies. He touched a button near the pad, and realized it was a hologram generator. A figure in a floating chair was saying something in Forerunner. Sam turned on his translator:
“...and must light the path as we have tried before! Tread the Path to divine salvation! May the holy rings guide us on our quest!”
“Look how loco he is,” Danielle appeared next to him.
Sam was about to answer when the door flew open behind the pad, revealing more Jackals. He fired blindly at them, and threw a grenade. Their shots bounced off his slim body suit's shields, and he took Danielle with him behind cover. Sam aimed at the lead Jackal, one with a green yellow shield, similar to the Phantom. The armor piercing rounds tore its midsection apart, spattering the gray walls of the large dome room with gore.
Danielle fired at another Jackal with a red shield, and ripped its head off. Sam stood and took three other’s knees. They stumbled, and one fell off the edge of the platform into a dark abyss. He killed the other two. Suddenly, his rifle was knocked from his hand. Too far! he thought, trying to grab it, but to no avail. He unholstered the M7H at his side, and capped the Jackal who had shot at him.
Another jumped at Danny and the Corporal with an energy cutlass, swinging wildly. Sam flung his knife into the creature’s chest, stopping it cold. He snatched his rifle, and watched as a rocket from Jake obliterated the rest of the Jackals.
Ida rested her sniper rifle on her back and said, “Let’s find out what’s here and get out,”
“Good point,” Ryan holstered his SMGs.
Ryan touched another icon on another board of characters, and a map of the Milky Way and another galaxy bursted into the room. A beeping icon appeared on Sai, and another on De Ma raee’, a multi-species world.
“Lets get this back to HQ,” Danny pulled off her black and gray visored helmet.
A new voice echoed across the room.
“You won’t be going back.”
Chapter 4
June 30, 2560
4th sleep cycle (Covenant calender)
Triumphant Voyager Destroyer class-Separatist Battleship
Ship Master Nuka’ Foram’ stood on the command deck of his Destroyer and looked out over his crew.
Nuka’ had a valiant service record of long campaigns against and with the Humans. He had a scar across the left side of his face; covered by his pearl-white armor. He had participated in the glassing of Reach, the Jackal Rebellion, the glassing of the Brute homeworld, and many others. Now, he was orbiting around this human colony; one glassed by the putrid Jackal species. His job was to eradicate the Kig-Yar infestation of the planet, and uncover the supposed Forerunner artifact hidden there. His commando squadrons had already discovered a possible dig site, and the humans had apparently been there. He hoped that the devious Kig-Yar had not raided the relic; it could contain information vital for helpful technologies, as the Covenant were a more imitative rather than innovative species.
“Hefaree’,” Nuka turned his scarred left cheek towards his senior NAV Officer, “plot us over the relic site, and lower the gravity transport.”
“Sir, I may have to disengage the Slipspace drive so we can land more steadily,”
Hefaree Mora glanced up from his work.
“Do it!” Nuka shouted from the command deck.
Mora had been with Nuka for a long time, and he followed his orders to the letter. His bottom mandibles had been clubbed too many times for him not too. He just hoped that his gut was correct.
Yes, IT IS short. But... I had no time!
Tank > Banshee