Advertisement
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up,
it unlocks many cool features!
- >The year is 2552
- >Humanity is at war with an alien alliance known as "The Covenant"
- >We are losing
- >The Covenant have burned our worlds, killing billions in their genocidal campaign
- >Now they have breached the inner colonies, their leaders hunting for our homeworld with their own fleets
- >One such group has found the rich inner world of Ballast
- >The small fleet's largest Covenant ship, a 5km-long Assault Carrier, has breached the world's defenses and attacked the mega-city, "New Madang"
- >Initial reports confirm major damage and heavy civilian casualties
- >Now, Military Leaders of the "United Nations Space Command" have prepared their response
- >Teams of highly-trained "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" are ready to assault the carrier from navy ships in low orbit
- >This is a near-suicidal mission, but these troopers are the best of the best
- >And saving New Madang could mean saving Ballast from becoming glass
- >You are "The Rookie"
- >You and three others of your five-man team are sitting in hell's waiting room
- >While you're getting some sleep, the others members, whom you barely know, are lounging around a holographic map of the city
- >Private Rarity starts off by calmly saying, "It seems the Navy has given it their all."
- >"Better late than never." Cheerfully adds Lance Corporal Pie
- >Corporal AJ slams his helmet down on the map
- >"How 'bout you show some respect, Pinks."
- >"Just sayin', Jack. They missed one."
- >"No, they left it for us."
- >It's then an alarm sounds, the one all helljumpers recognize
- >A moment later, two more soldiers enter the room
- >One is Gunnery Sergeant Rainbow "Blitz" Dash
- >The other is new, a stern-looking woman with black hair and a purple highlight
- >Your sergeant announces, "You know the music, time to dance."
- >Everyone looks to the new girl, and Pinkie whispers, "Now there's a spook..."
- >"Pods. Now."
- >Everyone but you, still sleeping and oblivious, grabs their helmets and heads for the rack of assorted weapons
- >Rarity moves to Pie's side and tells her, "Is she wearing /any/ armor?"
- >Pinkie causally responds, "Hey, spooks get their privileges."
- >The Lance Corporal notices AJ grabbing a suppressed smg
- >"Pft, seriously?"
- >"Well, we're gonna be 'n close quarters."
- >Pie offers him a shotgun, "Exactly," which the Corporal pushes away
- >Dash and the new girl, Twilight, finish their small argument before heading across the room
- >Blitz points to the row of drop pods, telling Twilight, "Second to last, right next to mine."
- >"Mm, cozy." says Pie, and asks as the Gunny approaches, "You gonna tell us her name, Blitz?"
- >Dash yanks the shotgun from Pie's hands, "/Mis/ Naval Intelligence."
- >The shotgun is slammed back onto the rack, "Our new boss."
- >AJ mutters "Oh brother." under his breath
- >"So check your mouths, find your chairs..."
- >Dash grabs a sniper rifle and shoves it into Rarity's arms, "And get SET, for a combat drop."
- >As Blitz walks to the pods, Rarity looks down at her rifle
- >"And just what am I supposed to with this /inside/ a Covenant ship?"
- >Pie rolls her eyes with a grin, grabs her weapons, and walks over to you
- >Still asleep, you can't do anything as she open-palms your helmet
- >With a yelp, you fall off of your stack of crates and land on the metal floor with a crash
- >You quickly pick yourself back up, and are met with a grinning Pinkie
- >"Wake up, buttercup."
- >AJ pushes her aside, and you watch the demo expert run to her pod for a second
- >You then snap right back to the Corporal, who tells you,
- >"Relax Rookie, she don't mean nothing. Besides, now's one of those times... it pays to be the strong, silent type."
- >AJ hands you a suppressed M7, and you accept it, letting him go to his pod
- >You turn to yours, which you were sleeping right next to, and lock the weapon next to your seat
- >You climb in, and the hatch swings down as soon as you're set
- >The pods then are spun around, the bottom of the Naval ship opening up to the dazzling red of a sunset
- >The two screens on either side of the hatch light up, showing Blitz and Twilight
- >Twilight calls over your squad comms
- >"Latest intel reports Covenant troops are pushing towards the ONI Alpha Site."
- >"And you're telling us this why?"
- >"I'll tell you once we're on the ground."
- >A countdown starts, and your helmets polarize
- >Blitz yells out to everyone,
- >"Pucker up, Marines! I sure as hell ain't hosing out your pods!"
- >The rows of other ODST pods in front of you begin to blast down, and you hear a familiar beeping
- >You grip the pod's flight control sticks as tight as you can
- >The countdown reaches zero, and you're launched down to Ballast's surface
- >On the way down to the clouds, you all get the sight of a UNSC frigate torn in half, debris floating all around
- >You hear Pinkie state, "I take it back, Navy got its butt kicked."
- >Blitz asks her, "Hey Pinkie, remember when I told you to shut your mouth?"
- >"Yeah?"
- >"Consider that a standing order."
- >One of your teammate's pod rockets down just in front of you, and you see a cloud of over 200 drop pods descend into the lower stratosphere
- >You notice that your team is pretty far away from the group
- >As you break through the clouds, Blitz reports,
- >"Captain, fifteen klicks off the deck."
- >You now see the burning costal city, with the carrier hovering just over it
- >Twilight then says something none of you expect,
- >"Stand by to adjust trajectory. On my mark,"
- >"What'd she just say?" asks AJ
- >"Mark!"
- >You instinctively activate your thrusters, using the two joysticks to move your pod with the Captain's
- >"We're way off course!" notes Pie
- >"We're heading exactly were I needed to go." states Twilight
- >"But we're gonna miss the carrier-"
- >"Battlecruiser!" yells AJ, "One o'clock, high!"
- >You look up, and emerging from the cloud cover is one of the smaller, more numerous Covenant starships
- >This one looks heavily damaged, and is almost free-falling from the looks of the fire and smoke coming out from everywhere
- >The Navy sure did a number on that
- >You then realize it's heading right for the assault carrier
- >To make matters worse, you see an electric-blue flash arc across the capital ship
- >"Radiation!" yells AJ
- >Pie asks, "The Covenant just set off a nuke?!"
- >Twilight answers fearfully, "No, the carrier's going to jump... It's a slipspace rupture! Evasive-"
- >A blue sun appears out of nowhere
- >Someone reports, "EMP! Losing power!"
- >Blitz manages to yell out, "Stabilize, then pop your chutes! We're goin' in hard!"
- >Someone's pod in front pops it chute, but the move slams the SOIEV right into yours
- >The collision almost rips your hatch open, but by some luck you grab onto it's handle
- >Now you can only hear the roar of the wind
- >Your vision becomes blurry as your pod spirals out of control
- >You can't breathe
- >Your heart is racing
- >You can only think about holding onto the door and not blacking out
- >You spin more and more until a skyscrap-
- >You are Anon, New Madang Police Department
- >You stay in your little hole of debris as you try to regain your hearing
- >Spots still dance around your vision, even with your eyes closed
- >You aren't sure who set off that explosion, but it probably doesn't matter
- >It's just destroying the city faster
- >Blinking hard, you open your eyes and look up
- >The whole city is washed in a bright blue, with tiny particles spreading out from the epicenter of the blast
- >You were spared the worst of it thanks to the inner-city's walls being over two stories tall
- >As you look at the lighted skyline, you notice two pieces of-
- >Wait, that ain't debris
- >One of the falling black pods ricochet off the Dresden Tower
- >Straight at you-FUCK!
- >You duck back into your hole, hear a heavy *SMACK*, and catch a glimpse of the pod skidding down the street
- >You listen as it skips again and crashes into something
- >Fatally curious, you climb out and peek down the lane
- >A shitton of dust was whipped up, but you can see what looks like a small drop pod resting against the wall down at where the turn is
- >Isn't that the one drop troopers use?
- >Yeah, you're sure of it!
- >You run down the street, not really checking your surroundings since your pretty sure the Covenant ain't around
- >Doesn't matter now because you have an ODST to help you out
- >You slow down when you near the pod and notice movement in it
- >You then realize the whole thing's upside down
- >Shit, how're you getting him out of there?
- >Your question's answered when the hatch simply falls off, and the black-clad trooper falls out
- >He tries to do a backwards summersault, but instead lands hard on his back with an "Ah!"
- >Right in front of you
- >"It works great-oh..."
- >He notices you staring down at him
- >You can see your dirtied, stubble-ridden face in that visor
- >The trooper flatly tells you, "Hey there." his grainy voice a little muffled by his helmet
- >You hesitantly reply,
- "Uh, hey."
- >"Huh? Oh, no, it's just a civie."
- "Sorry, sir, or tro-?"
- >The marine quickly points a finger at you, "I ain't talkin' to you."
- "Wh..."
- >As the ODST picks himself up and walks to his pod, you realize he must be talking to his buddy that came down with him
- >Nice going, ya fucking idiot
- >"Hey, you a cop?"
- >You look up from pinching your nose and utter,
- "Y-yes?"
- >The trooper tilts his head slightly
- >"Huh, shouldn't you be helping everyone get out of here?"
- "Well, actually I'm trying help a friend of mine. He's at-"
- >"Is he in that direction?" He points northeast, and you nod
- >"Good, 'cause my Captain's trapped in her pod that way."
- >The trooper, now with a battle rifle in his arms and a sleek, black magnum at his side walks up to you
- >You must look like a twig compared to him
- >"You got a weapon?"
- >You pat your holster
- "Magnum. G variant, but it's empty."
- >The ODST pulls out a few extended mags meant for her fancy magnum and hands them to you
- >"Here. They're penetrating instead of semi-explosive, so they're shit against shields."
- >The trooper doesn't wait for you to thank him or even load a mag before he starts down the street
- >You should've known he'd have his own agendas
- >At least he's given you ammo and'll kill a few of the Covies in your way
- >Still, you hope your friend's holed himself up in his workplace
- >You have a feeling this guy's gonna leave you in the middle of a firefight
- ---
- >The two of you meet your first Covenant roadblock two minutes later
- >It's just a small squad of squat, methane-breathing Grunts, all meandering about in a little MG nest they set up at a T-junction
- >Their leader, a hulking Brute in a light-blue combat harness, has its weapons holstered and its back turned towards you
- >You finally catch up to the trooper, who's crouched just at the corner a grenade's throw down the street from the aliens
- >He looks to you as you crouch beside him
- >"We have to punch through them. I'll take the big guy and you take care of the little shits."
- >You ready your magnum, whispering
- "Got it."
- >You aim for the Grunt nearest to the heavy plasma MG while the trooper grabs one of his three frag grenades
- >Once he primes it with a click, he hurls it right at the Brute
- >Damn, he has an arm
- >The pineapple lands right at the Brute's feet
- >A moment later the blast rips through its armor
- >A nearby Grunt loses an arm and is thrown into the wall
- >You start to shoot at the rest, and they begin to panic from the sudden combat
- >The Brute, while bloodied and without its helmet, is still standing
- >No surprise to you; you've seen those things take several bursts of small arms before going down
- >The best way is to-
- >*BR-R-RT*
- >A quick burst from the battle rifle, and the now-brainless Brute is brought down
- >By then you shoot the head off of the last Grunt
- >There's a moment of silence before the ODST stands up
- >"Not bad for a cop." and he starts to jog down the clear street
- >You run to catch up, huffing out
- "Thanks! I had practice!"
- >Hey, at least you're not completely useless
- >The two of you run through another alley and down another street without incident
- >Gunfire, both ballistic and plasma, near and far, surround you
- >The marines aren't giving up on this city easily
- >While you try to figure out how the firefights are going from their sound, the trooper is talking to his friend
- >It sounds like the Captain is still trapped, but you can't really know for certain since you doesn't know what channel they're using
- >You could ask, but you're a little busy running
- >When you're forced to stop and wait for a massive city-section door to open, you puff out
- "H...hey."
- >The trooper finally looks at you as you lean heavily on the wall
- "W-what frequency are you using?"
- >"You got a radio?"
- >You tap your ear
- "Com-bead. Haven't used it for hours, though."
- >"Alright, here."
- >The ODST presses on that small antenna on the side of his helmet, and your bead starts to beep
- >You switch channels just as the door opens up to a firefight
- >The street angles down after the door, and the large open conduit that the road leads to is lit up with tracers and plasma
- >The both of you quickly move to one side of the street, where the sidewalk remains level and ends at a balcony
- >A lone marine is crouching behind cover, while a few of her squadmates are down below
- >They're all being pinned down by two bases of fire
- >To the left is a continent of Grunts led by Brutes
- >To the right is a small squad of purely Brutes led by a golden-colored Brute Captain
- >And sprinkled throughout all of that are a few small, skinny, and birdlike Jackels armed with mid-rangeed, green-beam-spewing carbines
- >The two of you run up to the side to where the lone marine is
- >She sees you coming and you can see a momentary look of relief on her face
- >When you get to her, she tells the ODST with a gravelly voice, "Trooper, we're pinned down! Use these buildings, flank the bastards on the streets!"
- >"Roger that. Hey cop!"
- >Christ, you still don't know each other's names
- "Yeah?"
- >"Grab what weapons you can find get a base of fire going! Try not to get capped by those Jackals!"
- "Sure, but where-!"
- >He's already gone
- "Goddammit..."
- >While the marine tries to shoot down at the advancing cluster of Grunts, you look around
- >There's a dead Jackal with a carbine at his side that you passed
- >No, the marksmen'll get ya
- >You look around the balcony and, to your luck, is a tall crate lined with guns
- >Five assault rifles and a shotgun, perfect
- >You run over to grab an AR, just as your com-bead crackles
- >A woman's voice asks, "Blitz, location?"
- >"Blitz" answers, "Almost there, what's wrong?"
- >"Multiple hostiles closing in on my location."
- >Her voice turns shaky
- >"Listen, if I don't make it-"
- >Blitz doesn't like the sound of that
- >"Woah, hold on! We're coming!"
- >"Too late! They spotted me!"
- >"Dammit, no! Sparks! Talk to me!"
- >Nothing
- >"Come on, officer, we need to clear these fuckers out now!"
- >With suddenly-found determination, you respond
- "On it, sir!"
- >You rise over the plants lining the balcony and spot a handful of a Grunts running out in the open, hoping to rush the suppressed marines
- >You quickly aim and fire a burst
- >The rounds rip through the cannon fodder, and they immediately falter
- >Another burst sends the survivors running scared back to their Brute masters
- >The beasts simply kick and shoot them, forcing them to fight you
- >You start to shoot at the Brutes themselves when you see a purple-white light out of he corner of your eye
- >You look and your heart skips a beat
- >It's a Jackal aiming right at you
- >*BR-R-RT*
- >The alien's beaky head snaps to the side and the body goes limp
- >Blitz's got them flanked
- >The rest of the Jackals try to address him, but the helljumper noted each of their positions beforehand
- >He starts to pick them off one by one
- >Emboldened, the marines down below begin to shoot at the distracted Brutes
- >Their armor gets chipped away as they run for cover, and the one commanding the Grunts goes down from concentrated fire
- >You simply hang back and take pot shots at the remaining fodder, who are now freaking out from the loss of their leader
- >With the Brutes now suppressed and the Jackals eliminated, you watch as Blitz and the marines charge forward, priming grenades and readying shotguns
- >That's when the a pair of golden-plated Hunters come clanking down an adjacent street
- >One of the marines notice and yell out, "Aw shit, Hunters!"
- >The marines now have their attention divided
- >All of the grenades meant for the Brutes are now lobbed at the Hunters
- >The ensuing explosions stop the armored Hunters for a moment, but now they ready the heavy plasma cannons on their arms
- >It's the marines' turn to panic and scatter as the aliens fire
- >Two huge streams of green and blue plasma fly through the air
- >One unlucky marine gets clipped in the shoulder
- >He screams as his arm is torn off violently, the hot plasma melting through his armor
- >The remaining marines are forced to leave him and assault the Brute's position: the wreckage of a truck pushed up against the balcony on the other side of the conduit
- >Luckily Blitz was busy with that
- >A second grenade tossed over the truck forces the Brutes to dive out of cover
- >Still advancing, Blitz tosses his third at the aliens now trying to get back up
- >The explosion rips them up, killing one outright and tearing off the armor of the rest
- >It's then the marines being chased by the Hunters show up
- >The still-reeling aliens only get a couple of inaccurate shots off before being taken out by tri-bursts and buckshot
- >Blitz turns to the marines, maybe to thank them, but then he sees the pair of walking tanks
- >You hear him complain over comms,
- >"Hunters? Dammit, no! I don't have time for this!"
- >Said Hunters start to charge up their plasma cannons
- >A quick burst from your AR plinking on their armor interrupts them
- >They turn to you, up on the balcony, and even from this distance you feel a need to move
- >You don't need to, since Blitz and the marines open fire
- >"Go for the orange spots in the back!" yells one of the marines, "That's their exposed flesh!"
- >Unfortunately, the Hunters turn back to them and charge
- >The assembled soldiers scatter again, this time in an attempt to surround the pair
- >Except for Blitz
- >You see him run off past the Hunters and toward another set of big doors
- >You waste a moment deciding on if you should stay and help the marines
- >...nah it looks like they can handle it
- "Hey, Blitz! Wait for me!"
- >One of the Hunters go down as you get down from the balcony and run across the conduit
- >Yeah, the marines have it in the bag
- >As long as they don't let the last, now-enraged Hunter get close enough to smash any of them
- >Thankfully for you, the trooper is again forced to stop at the doors
- >He tells you in an annoyed voice as he reloads his battle rifle,
- >"First off: it's not Blitz. It's either Gunnery Sergeant Dash or, if I'm feeling generous, Gunny. Got it?"
- >Caught off guard, you simply nod
- >"And second off:"
- >The doors slide open to reveal a clear street
- >"Nice job."
- >That makes you stand there for a second, dumbfounded, before following the ODST down the street
- ---
- >Down in the plaza, in front of the entrance to a subway station, you find another drop pod
- >You can't see if anyone's inside, but it's apparent there was a fight due to the half-dozen alien bodies cooking in the sun
- >A bunch of Grunts are milling about the plaza, plasma pistols and needlers in-hand but not raised
- >One is about to attach what looks like an explosive charge to the pod
- >*BR-R-RT*
- >Nope
- >As you open fire, you get a mixed response from the aliens
- >Some panic and run into the station, flailing their grey and calloused arms
- >The ones who shoot at the two of you are quickly taken out
- >With the plaza clear for now, the Sergeant makes his way down the stairs as you stay back to cover him
- >A couple of the Grunts who ran found their balls and ran back out of the station, but a pair of precision shots with your magnum stops them dead
- >You're turning out to be a pretty good shot with this thing
- >You head for the crater's steps as Blitz takes out his fancy magnum and enters the station from the side
- >A few squeaky cries and gurgles later, the Gunny reappears from the front and heads for the pod
- >He's already trying to pry open the hatch when you get there, rounding a piece of spiky debris that must've fell from somewhere
- >Just as you put your rifle down on the ground to help, Blitz heaves the hatch off
- >He only finds an empty seat
- >The two of you look to each other in confusion
- >A second passes and two particular things happen:
- >You hear something rise behind you
- >Blitz says, "Aw, shit."
- >You realize you are about meet your death and instinctively turn to it
- >It's a floating blue ball with tentacles
- >That's all you can see when the Sergeant grabs and throws you backwards
- >You trip and fall to the ground, rolling, only to stop when Blitz falls on top of you
- >Flat on your stomach, you look up to see the pink ball flare out with spiky black armor
- >It lets out a shrill, almost electronic screech as you notice the damaged UNSC helmet attached to one of its tentacles
- >Blitz, cursing wildly, finally gets his magnum off his thigh and starts shooting
- >The thing has shields
- >A shotgun blast from the side nearly depletes them
- >You all turn to see another ODST appear from behind the drop pod
- >He loads another 8 gauge shell with a satisfying *che-chick*
- >Recovering from the shot, the thing shrieks again before its armored "head" tentacle gets blown to bits
- >The ball drops like a rock onto the ground, and the new helljumper greets the two of you with a small wave
- >Blitz waves back before getting back up
- >He turns and starts to help you up when you hear a whine
- >It's increasing in pitch
- "What the-"
- >Blitz realizes it's coming from the alien a second before you do
- >"Get down!"
- >He tackles you and sandwiches you between his armored self and the concrete
- >The wind is knocked out of you
- >Before you can take a breath to protest, the alien explodes in a pink fireball
- >Heat and light washes over the two of you for an instant
- >As the air cools and the ear-ringing subside you lay there, crushed under 150-some pounds of composite armor and toned muscle
- >Blitz finally gets off of you and takes a knee
- >You take the time to get some air into your lungs
- >"You okay?"
- "Yeah, yeah. Almost had my ribs smashed, but..."
- >Blitz shakes his head before pulling you back onto your feet
- >While he walks over to collect his rifle, he asks the new trooper
- >"What the hell was that?"
- >You walk over to your MA5, which was flung a ways when Blitz tossed you
- >"You ever seen one before?"
- >The trooper stays silent, prompting Blitz to take his helmet off
- >"Hey, Pinkie. Did you turn deaf?"
- >Pinkie, who has a chest lined with shells and a lot more grenades than usual on his belt, shrugs
- >"Ah, I see."
- >You look to Blitz-
- >Woah
- >When you think "Veteran Orbital Drop Shock Trooper" you think grizzled, grey-haired, and aged
- >Blitz is clean-shaven and has a goddamn rainbow for hair
- >He looks younger than you thought, too
- >That youthful face is now showing a hint of annoyance
- >"Permission to speak."
- >You then hear him whisper, "Smartass."
- >You look to Pinkie, who's visor depolarizes
- >"No, I don't know what it was,"
- >/She/ sounds young too
- >Did the protagonist's squad drop in your city?
- >"but it was gonna paste your asses good. Just like it did to the Captain."
- >You look at where the new alien exploded, and chunks of blasted armor were embedded all over
- >Damn, you were all lucky to not get any shrapnel
- >Blitz walks over to one piece stuck in a pillar
- >"Yeah, maybe."
- >You're kinda agreeing with him on that
- >No one's really dead until you see the body
- >"Have you heard from Rarity? Jack?"
- >"Negative." answers Pie
- >"The Rookie?"
- >The new trooper simply shakes her head
- >Still not sure if you should say something, you look back to Blitz
- >He has his hand to his chin and his eyes to the ground, stuck in frustrating thoughts
- >His eyes (which are pink, or magenta, but definitely artificially-colored) slowly look up to meet yours
- >There's an awkward second before the helljumper points to you
- >"You said you were helping out a friend?"
- >You nod, suddenly put into the spotlight
- >"Where is he?"
- "Well, he's over at the ONI Alpha Site."
- >Pinkie asks, "Didn't the spook mention that before we dropped?"
- >Spook?
- >Blitz glares at her for a moment before saying, "Yes, she did."
- >You turn to Blitz, slightly confused
- "Wait, what exactly is your guys' mission? If it isn't a secret."
- >Both of the troopers look to you, before shrugging
- >Pinkie answers, "It kinda was."
- >"But now I think it involves the Alpha Site, so that's where we're heading now."
- >Blitz replaces his helmet and readies his BR
- >"Alright Officer, it's your lucky day, 'cause we're coming with you."
- >You can't help but feel slightly relieved
- >As long as they don't drag into too hectic fights, you should be safe heading over to your friend
- ---
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement