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  • Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 34 up 29/08!)
Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 34 up 29/08!)

well I did it.... I read all of memoirs of an ODST in two days.

AND IT WAS FREAKIN AMAZING!!

  • 08.31.2009 5:15 PM PDT

Here's Part 35, it's quite long, but it's got just the right amount of humour and action to keep you interested, enjoy!

Part 35: Into the fiery depths...

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed as a Banshee flew literally inches in front of my HEV pod, so close that I could see the Elite piloting it within.

"Just...hold...on!" Blade shouted at us, even as a fuel rod blast narrowly missed his pod. Laser fire, enemy aircraft, insane speeds, and a horde of Covenant waiting for us below. Just another average drop in an ODSTs life.

I felt a surge as we passed through Harvest's atmosphere, and passed through the dark clouds. My communications dropped for a second as they passed through, entering the clear, night sky.

Contrary to Switch's belief, this trip had been a bumpy ride. Our decoy pods hadn't deceived the Banshees at all, they must have been using heat sensing technology. The only thing keeping us alive was the fact that our pods were moving faster than the Covenant aircraft.

That all changed though as the emergency breaks hit in, and the HEV deployed it's parachute like extension, slowing us down considerably. I could also hear thrusters kick in at the bottom of the pod, further decreasing our speed. Whilst this was usually good, as it meant we weren't going to be splattered upon impact, in this scenario it didn't bode well. I could hear the Banshees behind us, catching up. In about ten seconds or so, they'd be able to shoot down our pods.

"Sir, Banshees' on our six!" Switch reported to Blade rather unnecessarily. We all began to curse, except the Spartan, who were remaining unnatural still throughout the turmoil. Were it not for the vital signs display, I would have thought them dead.

"I know that!" Blade cried back, panic clear in his voice, "We're gonna have to bail out, now!"

I understood his order, despite the fact it made me as nervous as hell. I hit the button at the side of the HEV, and the door slid open. I could instantly feel the G-Force winds battering at my armour. I unbuckled my harness, and felt a sharp crack in my back as it hit the roof of the pod, my body pushed upward by the speed it was descending.

I gripped the searing hot edges of the HEV's entrance with some difficulty, took a deep breath, and pushed myself out.

I felt weightless doing so, after hurtling down in the burning drop pod, any other form of descent seemed slow. After a few moments of vertigo, I remembered my training and spread my arms and legs out wide. A scream tore passed me later as the Banshees chased the now empty pods, oblivious to my presence. A quick look around showed that everyone else had bailed out fine. Almost everyone...

"Sir, my pod door is stuck," James' voice echoed over the COM channel. The Spartan managed to keep his voice calm somehow, despite being chased by a squadron of Banshees.

It was hard to concentrate while falling freestyle, so how Blade managed to keep his cool and give an order whilst speeding down to the ground below was beyond me. I could see the skirmish on the ground now, and just hoped we'd land well away from it. Our target, the golden, ominous bubble, was in plain site. I suddenly realised with a start that we'd have to land somewhere near the skirmish, our key codes to the bubble shield, the Jackals, were currently speeding down to the ground below without us. Damn, I should have grabbed mine as I left the pod.

"Okay Spartan," Blade began, "Keep your cool. Have you tried smashing the door open?"

There was silence for a few moments, followed by a large metallic bang from James' end. A moment later James replied again.

"No good sir, I'm gonna have to ride this hell out. Uh oh, that's not good. Sir, there's a Banshee right on my tail!" The Spartan's voice displayed the first sign of panic, slight. Blade swore loudly. I was still painfully aware that we were flying through the air, and the ground was rushing to meet us. Another 15 seconds or so and we'd have to deploy our chutes.

"Just hold on James, you're nearly at the destination now. Just hold--"

Blade was cut off suddenly as an explosion tore through James' pod below, and the COM wave was flooded with static.

"Dammit..." Rook breathed.

Blade looked stunned for a second, then regained his composure.

"Everyone, deploy chutes now!" he barked, and I complied with the order, yanking the string attached to the pack on my back. Immediately, my speed slowed, and the camouflaged material spread out above me. I just hoped they hadn't had time to set up anti-air cannons. The Banshees were also a worry.

"James? Are you there? Report!" Micheal called over the COM line. There was no reply.

"Spartan! Respond!" Blade also called.

After a few moments, static was replaced by gunfire, and James' voice broke out again.

"I'm okay! I thought they had me for a second there, but I managed to break out before the HEV exploded. I've hijacked one of their Banshees, I'll keep the rest off you. Brown three, out."

I let out a sigh of relief, not only because James was alive, but also because we were safe from a Banshee attack. Similar exhales echoed through the COM link.

"Sir," Switch called over to Blade, "We're gonna need some new access codes, my Jackal's still in that pod below.

"Understood. Land in that forest over there, we'll ambush a patrol." Blade replied back.

"Oorah sir!" Rook, Switch and I chanted back. The two Spartans simply flashed acknowledgement lights. The forest rushed up to greet us. I just hoped it would be a warm welcome.

  • 09.03.2009 3:05 PM PDT

*******************************

I braced myself to hit the dirt, tucking my body up tight. There was no need to though, as a sharp tug a second later told me my parachute had become stuck in a tree. Why me?

"Bloody hell, it's pitch black down here. Switch, chuck one of them heat sticks on the floor nearby would you?" Rook asked, and Switch complied with the order, bringing out a long rod from his bag. With a crack, he ignited the chemicals within and dropped it on the floor. The stick provided an eerie red glow, but enough to see by at least.

The rest of my squad, and the Spartans had landed firmly on the loamy ground, even as I was flailing around high up in the air. Crap, if I cut the parachute away, I'd probably break my leg in the ensuing fall, and that was if I was lucky. Below, Blade was doing a head count.

"Where the hell's Farm Boy?" he demanded loudly, looking around the forest. I sighed.

"Up here sir!" I called down, and the squad looked sharply up.

"What in Sam hell are you doing up there lad? This is where the action is!" Blade cried up.

"Just get me down, before a Covenant patrol spots me!" I shouted back down. Looking back, I was probably panicking a little too much. But I didn't like the feeling being suspended from a branch gave me.

"Calm down son, just cut yourself loose. I'll catch you!" Blade replied back up, spreading out his arms, as if that would do anything.

"With all due respect sir, hell no! All that will do is injure you too." I explained, and Blade paused for a moment, hand on chin in thought.

"Sir, if you want, I'll get him down." Micheal murmured to Blade, who nodded.

"Sounds good. Farm boy! Micheal's gonna come up and get you!" Blade shouted up, as if I hadn't already gathered as much.

The Spartan walked up to the tree, and eyed a branch some five meters tall. Micheal bent his legs, and jumped, impossibly managing to grab the branch, which, despite being as thick as my body, wobbled precariously. A moment before it snapped, the Spartan pulled his body up with one hand, and jumped up to another branch higher up. A few moments later, he was at my level.

I felt kind of ridiculous just hanging there, but I had no choice.

"Ready?" Micheal asked of me.

I was about to reply 'ready for what?', but before I could, Micheal snapped the parachute ropes keeping me in place, grabbed me by the waist, and jumped off the branch, which was easily as tall as a building.

I screamed as I fell, I'm ashamed to admit. But before I splattered on the ground, Micheal turned onto his back, shielding me from the fall. He hit the ground, and a moment later stood up, not bothered in the slightest, whilst I lay on the ground, propped up by my arms, coughing. Blade came over and hoisted me up.

"You okay son?" he asked, real concern in his voice. I nodded weakly, "good stuff!"

I took a few deep breaths, trying to regain the air that had been forced out of my lungs. Christ, it hurt. After a minute or so, I was more or less okay, and stood up fully. I was self conscious of the fact that everyone was looking at me.

"I'm fine." I said, and they nodded. I realised my sniper rifle was still in the HEV pod, which was probably a burning wreck now. All I had with me was my side arm. Dammit.

"Sir, I'm missing my weapons." I told Blade, who nodded grimly.

"We all are, other than these pistols. We're gonna have to appropriate some from Covenant soldiers," a fancy term for smashing an alien's face in, and nicking it's weapon.

"We should...should probably turn out VISR mode on." I gasped, still short of breath. Blade nodded.

"Good call corporal." Blade complimented, as I turned on the vision enhancement device. The low light of the heat stick seemed insignificant now, as the forest was lit up. Blade, Rook, Switch, Mains, Micheal and Fin were highlighted in a clear green, whilst trees and the like were outlined in yellow. All seemed to be working then.

"Right, mine's working fine." I reported, asking Mains and Blade in turn if their's was working. They nodded.

"What the hell's a 'Visor mode'?" Rook asked, and I could sense he was frowning. I remembered that both him and Switch hadn't been able to get the new suits, they were still wearing the same ones from Reach.

"Not 'Visor', V-I-S-R." I corrected, "we got new prototype suits on the Virmire, there were only three and you weren't there. It's a low light vision mode, kinda neat actually. I can see clear as day right now."

"So what do we do then, hold on to your belts and have you lead us through the darkness?" Switch asked skeptically.

"You'll just have to make do with standard night vision." Blade lectured.

"Why does the FNG get the new tech, and we get stuck with this crappy outdated stuff?" Rook asked impertinently, pointing a finger at Mains, who shifted his weight uneasily.

"Because I said so marine! Now quit your whining!"Blade shouted at both Rook and Switch, despite the fact Switch hadn't said anything.

  • 09.03.2009 3:07 PM PDT

Switch let out a long sigh, and nodded.

"Man, I hate normal night vision. A bloody flashlight is aimed at your face, and you're blind. As soon as we complete this mission sir, you owe me a new suit of armour and a drink."

"Amen to that." Blade agreed, and turned to the two Spartans, "I presume you two have some sort of VISR yourself in that tin-can?"

"Actually sir, we don't," Micheal replied, surprisingly, "VISR technology, apparently, plays havoc with the motion tracking technology in our suits. I'd rather know where my enemies are than be able to see a little better. Besides, we Spartans can see pretty clearly in the dark anyway, and we've always got the normal night vision. We're okay sir."

"I see," Blade replied, then turned around to Rook and Switch, "why can't you be more like this fine example of a soldier? He's not moaning about his night vision!"

"Yeah, but we ain't super soldiers are we boss?" Rook retorted, causing Blade to shake his head in mock despair.

I'd noticed that Blade was being a helluva lot more friendly towards the Spartans. Which was great. Perhaps his brief stint in the URF camp had mellowed him out.

"We should move, it won't be long before dawn, and then we'll lose the element of surprise." Mains commented, and we nodded.

"Roger that, I'll take point." I agreed, putting my neck on the line.

We cut through the forest swiftly, trying to step on as few a branches as possible. I'd heard that Jackals sometimes liked to take roost in trees with sniper rifles and carbines. I wanted to keep my head firmly attached to my neck, and so stayed low.

I could hear the gunfire echoing from a few miles away, we were drawing closer to the skirmish. A patrol would be around here somewhere...

Ten minutes or so later, we saw them. A small Covenant squad, three grunts and a couple of Jackals.

"Orders sir? There's only five and we need seven to get in, one for each of us." Switch breathed, crouching in a bush. Two of the Grunts were chatting amongst each other in their native language.

"I'm sure we can have two people on one corpse and still get in Switch. Take 'em." Blade replied, drawing out his pistol.

"They're already dead." Rook stated a tad too melodramatically.

As one, we fired our semi-armour piercing rounds at the Covenant soldiers, the pistol kicking back against out hands as we did so. Two of my bullets went wide, but the third hit it's mark, impacting in a Grunts face, which imploded on itself. The other two Grunts met a similar, bloody fate. Never knew what hit them.

The Jackals were luckier though, momentarily. Just as rounds were fired at them, they turned around, brushing their rounded shields against the bullets, which bounced off them harmlessly. They jumped around, and cawed, returning fire. High powered plasma bolts surged through the air; I'd seen what they could do to a man, it wasn't pretty. I immediately took cover behind a nearby rock, although I knew it wouldn't last long against sustained plasma fire.

Thankfully, I didn't have to learn that the hard way. James and Fin had surged into action, jumping over and rolling under the fired plasma, moving faster than the eye could see. The two Spartans reached the pair of Jackals, and batted the shield away. Ouch, touching that raw plasma must have hurt. They didn't show any sign that it ad though, following up the break of the enemies' defense with both a sharp throat chop to the first Jackal, and a pistol round to the other. The Avian like creatures dropped, dead.

"Nice job." I complimented the Spartans, walking forward and appropriating the enemy weapons. I dolled them out to the rest of my squad, keeping one, after offering it to Micheal, who declined, and Fin, who said I needed it more. We were properly armed now; the ODSTs at least.

"Right, let's pick up these corpses, and make our way to the commerce centre." Blade commanded, slinging a small Jackal over his back with a grunt. Micheal grabbed two Grunts with one hand, and Fin took the remaining Grunt and Jackal.

"Okay, we'll carry the bodies, you give us covering fire with them pistols." said Blade, and we nodded. I grasped my hand around the large hilt of the alien weapons, marveling at how smooth and cold it was, despite having discharged pure energy but moments before.

The giant bubble drew closer as we made our way north through the valley. We exited the forest finally, and could see the firefight going on in the distance. It was hard to tell who was winning, marines would seem to push back the Covenant one minute, only to have Hunters force them to retreat the next.

As much as I wanted to get there and help, I knew we had a job to do, and so continued pushing on with my squad.

The shield covering the Harvest commerce centre was an oddity. It was opaque practically, and a sheer golden. The Covenant seemed to love gold, as well as purple. Occasionally, troops would rush out of it, oblivious to the fact we were going to rush into it.

We reached the very edge of the bubble, with no great incident.

"Now what?" Switch asked, breathing deeply. We'd ran at one point when a Phantom had nearly come across us.

"Now," Blade said, testing the bubble by sticking a finger in, which vanished inside it, proving the Covenant corpses would grant us access, "now you better hold onto your gowns ladies, because we're about to head into hell."

  • 09.03.2009 3:07 PM PDT

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

Awww... c'mon! I want some action!
Damn you Wolvie! Another cliffhanger!

  • 09.04.2009 1:42 AM PDT

A lot of them aren't mean to to be cliff hangers, I just end them there so I can start the next one a short while after, rather than filling in tedious gaps. Anyway, glad you enjoyed it.

  • 09.04.2009 8:17 AM PDT
Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 35 up 3rd September!)

Honor Light Your Way, Our Blood Shall Forge a Thousand Generations!

Ahh, very interesting, indeed. I can tell I will fit like a piece to a puzzel with this group. Although, I cannot post my fan-fics at the time being seeing as I just signed up for Bungie.net. Anywho, I can already tell, that you, Wolverfrog, are the very heart that pumps the blood into this forum. Well done, I commend you, and hope on reading your fan-fics in time.

[Edited on 09.04.2009 8:30 PM PDT]

  • 09.04.2009 8:29 PM PDT

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

Posted by: Xartan
Ahh, very interesting, indeed. I can tell I will fit like a piece to a puzzel with this group. Although, I cannot post my fan-fics at the time being seeing as I just signed up for Bungie.net. Anywho, I can already tell, that you, Wolverfrog, are the very heart that pumps the blood into this forum. Well done, I commend you, and hope on reading your fan-fics in time.

Not to discredit Wolvie, but there are more....
Sergeant Murph and MaxRealFlugel write great fanfics as well.

  • 09.06.2009 1:15 AM PDT

Posted by: random no337
Posted by: Xartan
Ahh, very interesting, indeed. I can tell I will fit like a piece to a puzzel with this group. Although, I cannot post my fan-fics at the time being seeing as I just signed up for Bungie.net. Anywho, I can already tell, that you, Wolverfrog, are the very heart that pumps the blood into this forum. Well done, I commend you, and hope on reading your fan-fics in time.

Not to discredit Wolvie, but there are more....
Sergeant Murph and MaxRealFlugel write great fanfics as well.


So very true. I'm more of an artery of the greater heart of the Gallery's fan fiction community.

Yes, metaphors are awesome. Anyway, I'm going to release either a part of Insurrection or True Sangheili before writing the next part of this, so stay tuned, it should come soon. I'll try finish either one today. By the way, the next part of Insurrection will have another point of view in. Awesomeness will ensue.

  • 09.06.2009 5:00 AM PDT

If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.

Wolverfrog...

I just read all of Insurrection and this in one day. Both stories are incredible. I like Memoirs better because you used new characters besides MC and the Arbiter. You have an amazing talent.

Keep up the good work!!!



  • 09.06.2009 10:06 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 36 available!) ~ 20/09

Thanks Biohazard, I appreciate it. This might be the last piece of Wolverfrog fan fiction you'll be getting for a week or two, unless I write some more of any of my fan fictions between now and Tuesday. So enjoy this. Thanks for reading, and please comment! The amount of times someone tells me they've read but haven't commented is astounding.



Part 36 - Hell's passage


I leaped through the shield, feeling like I was going to smack into it. The Jackal corpse I held, however, pulled through, and I emerged safely on the other side...

...and nearly tumbled off a icy cliff. I swore, and felt my foot lose it's grip, my body propelling me forward. I flailed my arms wildly, knowing that there was no way I'd survive the fall. Suddenly, I slipped, and began to fall.

Before I went more than a metre down though, a strong grip grabbed my belt, halting my descent. I looked up, and saw the gleaming visor of Blade looking down at me.

"You're just full of bad luck aren't you son? Ever heard the term: look before you leap?" the ODST Sergeant asked, and I couldn't reply. How could he be spouting proverbs when I was dangling off a cliff edge?

He finally got around to hoisting me up with a grunt, and I flopped onto the solid edge of the cliff, panting, adrenaline coursing through me. Blade was also lying down, likewise short of breath. I turned my head to look at him.

"Thanks." I gasped wearily, unable to say more.

"Don't...don't mention it lad." Blade replied, wheezing. Rook, Switch and the two Spartans stepped through the shield calmly, discarding their Covenant 'entry passes' and looking at us both with an odd look.

"What happened to you two?" Switch asked, hand on hips, leaning over us.

"Don't ask Switch. Just don't ask." Blade ordered, scrambling to his legs. I followed suit, still feeling sick.

"Big drop." Rook remarked, peering over the edge. It was a big drop. I didn't want to think about it. Still, I felt complied to look, and saw it: the Harvest commerce centre, situated right within an artificial canyon in the centre of the bubble.

It was huge. Colossal. As big as fifty Football fields; which made sense, considering it was the centre of all trade and produce on the planet. Not any-more though. Even from this height, I could see the battle below. It wasn't going in our favour. The Covenant were wiping the UNSC defence out, with Hunters and Elites swarming in. This was going to be hard.

"Right, we're going down there." Blade remarked, taking a grappling hook from his belt. He affixed it to the cliff, wedging it firmly behind a rock. He threw the other end of the rope over the edge of the steep drop, where it flew down, "Keep up. Spartans, you find another way down and meet us in the centre. Divide and conquer is the best policy here."

Then the ODST Staff Sergeant grasped the thick cord, looped it threw his belt, and jumped off the edge with a grunt. I ran over the edge and saw him abseiling down the rocky face of the cliff, perfectly in sync.

I, Rook, Switch and Mains looked at each other nervously, and then drew out our own grappling hooks.

"I hope we're getting paid double for this." Mains muttered, spearing the ice of the cliff edge with the sharp hook. I and the others did likewise.

"Paid? We haven't been paid in months Mains." Switch replied, chuckling. I threw the end of my cord over the cliff edge, and, after threading it through my belt, jumped off the edge.

The completely weightless feeling was eerie, until the mechanical cord slowed me down and I managed to dig into the ice of the cliff with my boots. Immediately I stopped, and heard the rest of my squad hold fast at a similar place.

"This is dodgy..." I stated, looking down. Rocks crumbled and tumbled deep into the valley below.

"Keep jumping you big girl, you'll get there eventually." Blade insulted, and I scowled, and continued to move down at a slow, steady pace.

Eventually, I reached the bottom, and unclasped the release on the rope. I feel a few feet into the snow at the bottom, and activated the heater of my VISR, which melted the snow. I stumbled to my feet, and withdrew my huge Covenant rifle, which was purple and had a long nozzle. It seemed to be more of a sniper than a rifle actually. I'd looted it from one of the dead Jackals. I noted with some satisfaction the it had a zoom, with two settings, which interfaced with my helmet. Not as good as a human sniper, but it was the next best thing.

The others dropped down next to me, and drew out their own weapons. Blade had a Covenant Carbine, looted from the other Jackal, and the others had Plasma pistols, with the exception of Switch, who had a Needler rifle.

"There it is." Rook said unnecessarily, pointing north towards the huge commerce centre.

"Thanks for the heads up Rook, we would have completely missed the thing otherwise, despite the fact it's the only thing in this valley." Switch taunted sarcastically.

"According to Intel, there should be an underground supply tunnel somewhere near here." Blade told us thoughtfully. I looked at the sheer amount of snow covering the ground, metres high.

"And how are we supposed to find it? It's a small entrance, covered by mounds of snow!" I cried, exasperated. Bladed hummed in agreement.

"You're right son. It could take us hours to find, maybe even days. Eventually, we may be forced to try a desperate, frontal assault on the commerce centre, where we may all lose our lives. To come this far, only to be thwarted by mother nature. Oh the irony, we're trying to save this planet, and the planet is preventing us from doing--" Blade began to ramble depressingly, until he was cut off by a shout 100 metres to the right.

"Hey guys, I've found the entrance to the tunnel!" Mains crowed at us, and I looked at Blade, depolarising my visor so he could see the satirical smile I was wearing. He coughed, embarrassed.

"You see Farm Boy? I told you there was nothing to worry about. You need to stop being so pessimistic, it ain't good for ya'." Blade lectured me with a completely straight face, and then he sprinted through the thick snow towards Mains. I sighed, shook my head in disbelief, and followed suit. Rook and Switch followed, laughing.

"Nice job mate." Rook congratulated Mains as we drew close to the green ODST, giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder. I patted his back, and took a look at his discovery. A large set of double doors were embedded into the ground. They were ajar, and the locks looked to have been melted; by plasma weaponry.

"Looks like we aren't the only ones try to sneak from behind." Switch remarked, and we all nodded. The Covenant were down there.

"It's times like these when I miss my shotgun. Well Rook, lead on." Blade ordered, indicating the entrance. Rook did a double take, and cried out in protest.

"What? Why me?" he exploded, looking like he was going to smack Blade one there and then.

"Because," Blade growled, "you're the Close quarters combat expert, and also, you're the one I hate the most in the squad."

"You do?" Rook asked, hurt.

[Edited on 09.19.2009 5:33 PM PDT]

  • 09.19.2009 4:53 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 35 up 3rd September!)

"Nah, I'm just kidding. But you are the CQB specialist. So get your ass down there, before my foot connects with it." Blade replied, chuckling.

"Yes sir..." Rook muttered glumly, bending down to pry one of the double doors away from the staircase it was resting upon. He flipped it onto the snow, and, taking a deep breath, descended down. The rest of us followed after him nervously. Mains was the last to enter, and he shut the heavy steel door behind him, plunging us into darkness.

Moisture leaked from the ceiling, adding to the tense atmosphere. It looked like a pretty old tunnel, brick rather than modern steel. The whole of Harvest seemed to be like that at times; traditional.

"Bloody hell, it's dark." Blade remarked, bumping into me as he said so. He didn't apologise.

"Should we go into VISR sir?" I asked.

"No, for all we know the whole commerce centre could be powered down. We should save the battery charge. Just use the flash lights on your pistols." Blade told us, and we nodded, bringing out our armour piercing side arms, the only human weapons with us. I activated the light on the bottom of the gun's shaft, and bright white light filled the narrow tunnel. The others did the same, and soon, the once dark environment was as light as day.

"Stay sharp, there could be all kinds of nasties in here." I warned.

"Good call." Blade replied for no apparent reason, crouching and moving forward.

Graffiti littered the walls of the tunnel, probably drawn by teenagers on field trips. Pipes leaked even more water onto the already sodden ground.

After five minutes, we ran into the first sign of the Covenant.

Three Grunts, accompanied by a lone...thing. The unknown alien was ape like in appearance, and looked to be even taller than an Elite. It had brown, shaggy fur, sharp canines, claws protruding from it's hands, and what looked to be primitive armour. Strangely basic for the Covenant.

"What's that thing?" I whispered, forgetting that there was no need to: I was on a secure, soundproof channel.

"Hell if I know, but it doesn't look to have shields, thankfully. Take 'em out lads. Farm Boy, you take the first shot." Blade commanded in a normal level of voice. I brought out my Covenant sniper rifle, and went prone, crawling through the shadows to an elevated spot. The ape like alien was squatted upon it's haunches, and seemed to be eating. I realised with revulsion that the meat it was gnawing on was a human leg.

Bastard. I raised the sniper's scope to my eye, and took aim, targeting the ape's unguarded mouth. It opened it's maw, preparing to take another chunk out of it's meal.

I fired, a single shot of wavy energy, which snaked towards the creature. The shot hit the Covenant ape in the back of it's mouth, and carried on through to it's brain, where it emerged out of the other side of it's skull. The gorilla alien gasped, dropping the human leg it held. It thrashed around wildly, catching one of the startled Grunts with a clawed paw, killing it. Interesting, it seemed that the creature's body had yet recognised it's brain was mince meat.

The ignorance didn't last long though, for a moment later, it fell to the ground, and my squad opened fire with plasma streaming at the Grunts, who melted into a puddle of flesh. Lovely. I hopped off the ledge, and strolled towards the creature I had killed, bending down to inspect the corpse.

"Nice shot man; the look on that things face when it felt it's brain pop - precious." Switch congratulated, coming up behind me.

"Yeah thanks, but what was it?" I replied, turning my gaze up to the ODST Techie, who shrugged.

"An escapee from the Harvest national zoo? I don't know, but whatever it is, it's new."

I rolled over the corpse onto it's back, and took a look of what was left of it's face. It did indeed, even close up, look like an ape. It was pretty scary, and not something I'd want to meet without a gun in my hands.

I noticed the rifle it had at it's hip, and removed it, lifting it up. It was surprisingly heavy, metal, with what looked like a bayonet underneath. I aimed the nozzle at a nearby wall, and fired. The kickback nearly sent me flying to the ground, as huge spikes ejected out of the end, spearing through the brick wall. This was a world away from standard Covenant weaponry.

"That's some nail gun." Mains breathed.

"Well, I'll keep it, use it, and then maybe after this I'll pass it over to ONI." I replied, attaching the weapon to a hook at my hip.

"That's if we survive." Rook mentioned.

"Shut up Rook." Blade snapped, "let's focus on getting out of these tunnels first and inside the commerce centre."

"Roger that boss."

I lifted my pistol again, using the flash light, and continued down the tunnel, wary after the previous encounter. I heard a rustling at my feet, and yelped, jumping back. I looked down and sighed in relief, it was just a common brown rat.

Before this mission was over, I had a feeling I was going to become very paranoid.

  • 09.19.2009 4:54 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

SSO the best and most fun group around, join up now you know you want to!

OMG they meet the brutes! Oh yeah great story too. I wouldn't mind the PDF file if you're actually going to make one.

  • 09.19.2009 6:02 PM PDT

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

Posted by: leeje
OMG they meet the brutes! Oh yeah great story too. I wouldn't mind the PDF file if you're actually going to make one.

QFT. When this is finished, I would love the PDF.
Nice description of the Spiker too.

  • 09.19.2009 8:57 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 36 available!) ~ 20/09

Why hello there.

Microwave ovens are quite large.

WORT, WORT,WORT!

-NUMS!

Posted by: Wolverfrog
The amount of times someone tells me they've read but haven't commented is astounding.


Your talking about me aren't you? Keep up the good work.

  • 09.20.2009 12:47 PM PDT

Posted by: me123456789
Posted by: Wolverfrog
The amount of times someone tells me they've read but haven't commented is astounding.


Your talking about me aren't you? Keep up the good work.


Haha, you, and the scores of other people who PM me with praise, rather than post on the thread. The mind boggles.

  • 09.20.2009 12:50 PM PDT

the amount of awsome in your stories is, well, awsome

  • 09.20.2009 6:13 PM PDT

Pay attention to Ras, he's more important than you think. Enjoy this, perhaps it will sate your ODST hunger. Perhaps.

Part 37 - Ras Mai'ee

I reached the top of the ladder, and lifted up the steel hatch above slightly, just enough so I could peer through to the surface. What I saw nearly caused me to fall in shock.

Scores and scores of Covenant. And not just mere Grunts, and Jackals, but Elites too, as well as the huge creatures, which I now knew were named Hunters, which had caused the death of Det. Two of the Elites, garbed in golden, splendid armour, barked orders.

"Spread out. We must pillage this temple for holy relics and information." the first golden Elite cried, and the crowd of Covenant obeyed, spreading out in different directions, down through corridors and up stairs. I could faintly hear Grunts complaining. They vanished, and all that remained in the foyer of the commerce centre was the golden Elite, sneering.

Holy temple? I looked at the cracked walls, ash covering the floor. It certainly didn't look holy to me. I slowly shut the hatch, and dropped back down into the tunnel below, where my squad awaited me.

"Well?" Blade demanded, cocking his head.

"We've got a lot of Covenant up there sir, but they've gone to search the place for information." I reported, stretching my arms. Holding onto the rungs of the ladder for so long had been rather painful.

"How many are up there now?" Rook asked, excitedly.

"Just the one. But he looks tough, he was commanding everyone else, he's got golden armour, and a sword." I replied, cautionary.

"Just him?" Blade asked, wanting to confirm what I said. I nodded slowly, "I'll be right back, stay sharp."

Blade clambered up the ladder leading to the meta hatch, and opened it. A moment later, he lunged, grasped something, and fell down.

"Got ya' you bastard!" he cried, and I realised with horror what he was grappling with on the floor. Blade had pulled the Elite through into the tunnel below. The ODST Staff Sergeant was on top of the golden Covenant officer, reigning down punch after punch. Ever blow was deflected by energy shields. The Elite roared, and threw Blade off. It stood and faced us angrily. I looked at my squad and nodded, thinking along the same crazy lines as them.

The five of us, me, Rook, Switch, Mains and Blade charged the Elite, and slammed it against the brick wall. It cried in pain, lifting it's head up.

"Pin it's arms!" Switch shouted over the chaos, but before I could lunge for the Elite's left, powerful biceps, it had already reached down to it's belt and ignited a weapon. It looked like an energy sword, but smaller. More of a dagger.

"Oh crap!" I screamed as it swiped at me, jumping back just in time. It kept moving forward with the dagger, causing me to nearly fall over. It swept the rest of my squad out of it's way with it's now free arm, pursuing me with a dogged intent.

The burning knife sailed towards my neck, and I wasted no time. I spun, somehow grabbed the thing's arm, and managed to hold it's arm in place. The Elite roared, and kicked me off, where I landed in a corner, dazed.

It loomed over me, about to finish me off. I drew out my SOCOM, shooting it. The golden warrior merely shrugged the shots off, and continued towards me. The Elite drove down with the dagger, and I rolled out of the way. Not fast enough though, for the blade embedded in my leg, and I screamed in pain.

Suddenly, a huge bolt of green plasma sailed towards the Elite, and impacted, taking down it's energy shields in a blue shimmer. It cried out in surprise, turning around, and I took the initiative, scrambling to my feet and wrapping an arm around it's neck. Before it could twist me off, I pressed the cold steel of my pistol against it's head, and realising it was bested, the Elite stopped struggling.

"Excellent work Farm Boy, keep tight hold while I tie it up." Blade congratulated, bringing out garrotting wire. He didn't strangle the Elite with it though, rather he bound the Covenant Warrior up with it, the wire cutting into it's flesh, purple blood oozing from the wounds. Once satisfied it wasn't going to escape, I released the Elite, and it tumbled to the ground in pain, immobilised. Blade bent down and roughly seized it's neck, turning the gaze of the creature towards him.

"Striking from the shadows, how very like humanity." the Elite rasped spitefully, and Blade laughed, although it was a cold, empty one.

"Very funny. Now, who are you?" Blade questioned.

"Your subordinates and you, you fight well together. Would it that my Unggoy possessed the same companionship as you." spoke the Covenant soldier, completely ignoring Blade's query.

"Bloody hell, it sounds like it's from the 12th century!" Rook remarked, "noweth split lip, wouldst thou be as kindest to telleth us what thy title and purpose in this domain doth be? Lest mine dagger curiously find itself buried in thine satanic heart."

Switch looked at Rook dryly.

"What the hell was that?" the ODST tech specialist asked.

"That's how they spoke back in the 1200s or whatever right?" Rook replied, upset by his friend's taunt.

"No, they didn't. You've been reading too much King Arthur."

"Do you mind? I'm trying to interrogate a prisoner here, and you two are monkeying around!" Blade shouted, and the two bickering ODSTs flinched, muttering an abashed apology, "Farm Boy, pass me the thing's dagger would you?"

I complied, and hefted the surprisingly heavy energy weapon, tossing it to Blade, who activated it somehow. He held the knife to the Elite's neck, and the Covenant officer grimaced in pain as it's flesh began to sear.

"What's your name and rank?" Blade demanded, pressing in a little harder. Purple gas began to sear from the cut, and I realised with a lurch that it was evaporated Elite blood.

"Ras Mai'ee, 1st Zealot of the Fleet of Holy Embarkation." the Elite gasped, and Blade relaxed the dagger slightly.

"Ras eh? Okay then, what are you doing in this building?"

"Searching...for information. We know this is not your only world human, we will find them all, and raze them to dust."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere scum. Whose orders are you here upon? Your own?" Blade asked, once again digging the burning dagger into the Elite's neck, who's eyes grew wide and mouth began to pant. I realised the plasma was probably dehydrating the thing.

"No...not mine...the Prophet of--of Regret's. I'm but--but--but..." Ras had begun to go pale, and it's mouth was drying up. I noticed it's head bean to sway back and forth.

"Blade, I think it needs water. Unless you feel like eating crispy Elite for dinner." I suggested, bringing out a water sack, and tossing it to the Staff Sergeant, who poured it down the Zealot's throat.

"My thanks to you." Ras called over to me, and I turned away, guilty that we were probably going to kill the Elite soon.

"Don't you be getting all chummy lad, this worm is a bastard. Now Elite, where are the UNSC survivors in this base?" Blade asked, his voice a whisper.

"My scouts report that they have fallen back to what you call the conference room. It is well fortified. Before you attacked me, I had dispatched several lances to wipe them out. They will no doubt nearly have reached the room." Ras explained, and Blade swore, punching the Elite Zealot in the mouth.

"What was the point of that?" I asked in disbelief, looking at the Elite who spat out a sharp tooth.

"It made me feel better. Right Ras, you're going to lead us to the UNSC, and you're going to tell your troops to stand down." Blade intoned, hoisted the bound Elite off the floor, and dragging him towards the ladder.

"Never! I would rather die!" Ras cried out in protest, although even I could tell it was all false bravado.

"Would you now? Because let me tell you freak, that can easily be arranged." Rook shouted, marching up and placing the shaft of his pistol upon the the Elite's forehead. Ras flinched.

"No! No, I do not wish to die. I shall take you." the Elite admitted, defeated. It hung it's head in shame.

"Good, good. I thought you'd see it my way. Now, I'm going to unbind your legs, but if you try anything, my sniper will shoot you in the neck quicker than you can pray to your heathen Gods." Blade told the Covenant Officer, who nodded meekly. My sniper. I guess he meant me.

I moved, and felt the heavy bayoneted weapon I had taken from the ape like alien smash into my side. I winced, and removed it. The Zealot Ras spotted it, and it's eyes widened.

"Where did you get that weapon human?" It asked suspiciously, looking at my spike rifle I'd looted.

"This? I uh, got it from an ape thing further down the tunnel. It wasn't an Elite, it had pretty thick fur." I replied, looking at the rifle and the Elite, who looked troubled.

"The Brutes should not be here. This is a Sangheili operation. This is indeed disturbing." Ras muttered, and Blade clobbered him on the head.

"No split chin, what is disturbing is the fact that you're held prisoner, with a gun pressed into your temple." the ODST Staff Sergeant growled, and the Elite nodded meekly.

"Now Rook, Switch, you climb up and dangle a rope down. I'll tie it around the prisoner, and hoist him up." Blade ordered, and the pair nodded, ascending the rungs.

  • 09.21.2009 5:26 PM PDT

"One would think it would be wiser to merely untie me and allow me to climb up myself." Ras spoke.

"One would think you'd be wise enough to shut up, but I guess that person would be wrong. Now quiet down. Lad, keep your sniper trained on it." Blade barked back.

Switch and Rook had evidently reached the top, for a moment later, two thick ropes were lowered down. Blade affixed them to each of the Elite's arms.

"Pull now!" Blade called up, and the two topside ODSTs began to yank, and the Elite Zealot rose of the ground. It was quite a funny image.

Blade hopped up the ladder after the Covenant Officer, climbing up the ladder. Mains followed suit. He hadn't spoken much. I realised this was the first time he'd seen a Covenant soldier up close. I took one last look around the tunnels, sighed, and clambered up myself.

"Lead on Elite." Blade ordered as I reached the top. Ras sighed, and plodded sadly along the corridors, it's head hung in shame. I continued after it, as did the other ODSTs.

The corridors were silent, empty. Our footsteps echoed. Blade kept a pistol attached to the base of the Elite's neck constantly as we walked.

We ran into trouble a little further along. Big trouble. Two Hunters stood guard before an elevator, and seeing the human squad, they moved into action, locking their shields and raising their weapons. Blade wrapped an arm around Ras' neck, and dug the pistol into his head.

"All right Ras, you tell those things to chill." Blade muttered in the Elite's ear.

"Let them pass H'rai, J'rai. My life is at stake here." Ras ordered, and the Hunters reluctantly stood down.

"Yeah, you move to the side, where you can't reach us. Or your leader's head gets blown off!" Blade cried, and the Hunters immediately complied, rumbling as they did so. We marched calmly towards the elevator, and just before we reached the sliding metal doors, Rook seemed to stumble on thin air, and crash into the wall with his arms out. He withdrew, and walked into the small box with us.

"Be more careful Rook..." Blade muttered, "which floor is the conference centre on Elite?"

"Third, human." Ras revealed bitterly. I hit the button, and the doors slid shut, and we rose. Rook laughed, drawing something out from his belt.

"What's that?" Mains asked.

"A little present for those Hunters. You didn't think I crashed into the wall by accident did you? I attached C4 to the wall. Listen." Rook replied, pressing down upon the detonator in his hand. An explosion crashed beneath us, and I whistled in appreciation. Ras cried out in horror.

"Smooth move..." I praised. Rook bowed dramatically.

"That was murder." Ras croaked, grieving.

"No, that was revenge. A close friend of mine was killed by two of those things. That's payback. And fitting payback it is too, kill 'em with an explosion. Det would have been proud." Rook replied, serious for once.

"Damn straight." Blade agreed.

The doors slid open, and we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a firefight. Covenant soldiers were trading fire with UNSC ones. We swore, and ducked out of sight. Blade grabbed Ras by the scruff of his armour.

"You said the UNSC was pinned down!" he growled.

"They were! They must be pushing back. I don't see how though, they were severely undermanned." the Zealot explained.

"Dammit. Rook, tie this bastard up, we're going out there, and I don't want the Elite going anywhere." Blade ordered.

"We could just kill him, save us the hassle." Rook suggested, and Ras whimpered.

"No, he's more valuable to us alive. Just tie him up, and toss him in a corner. I'll come back for him later." Blade replied after some thought. Rook nodded, and bound up the Elite.

"Nothing personal mate, except I don't trust you as far as I could throw you. Just sit tight, we'll be back for you soon." Rook taunted.

"Lock and load boys, this is going to get hairy." Blade rallied, loading his Covenant Carbine with ammo.

We charged out, leaving Ras behind us. The Covenant suddenly found themselves flanked, and cried in surprise. I hung back slightly, firing shots from my Covenant Sniper.

The Covenant forces began to thin as Grunt after Grunt, Elite after Elite, and Jackal after Jackal fell to the UNSC fire, and eventually an Elite in crimson armour shouted over the carnage.

"Fall back, we'll deal with these infidels later!" cried the Elite, and the Covenant wave began to retreat to the west, walking through an energy barrier.

"Damn it, they've gone running!" a marine on the other side of the corridor shouted. Me and my squad walked over to the resistance, "we can't get through that barrier. Lucky you Helljumpers showed up when you did, we would have been screwed otherwise."

"It was a pleasure." Blade greeted, shaking the lead marine's hand. I noted he was a Staff Sergeant; a higher rank than any of us. He had dark skin, and was smoking a cigar.

"Yeah, well, we've set up a little camp of sorts nearby. Come on, you can rest and relax, for a little bit anyway. The name's Avery Johnson. Pleased to meet you fellahs." the marine replied in turn.

"I'm Blade. To the right of me is Switch, to the left is Rook, Mains is the quiet, efficient one just behind me, and the one hanging back with the sniper is Farm--Archer." Blade introduced, and I did a double take. Archer? Who the hell was that?

"Well, just follow me, we've got med supplies and ammo you can stock up on. You smoke Blade? I've got a box of Sweet Williams at back." Johnson replied, and Blade shook his head.

"I don't smoke. Terrible habit."

"Heh heh, and I don't I know it. Right, let's get moving. No telling when those uglies will come back." the Staff Sergeant walked off, and I ran up to Blade.

"Who's Archer?" I queried, muttering.

"You. I'm fed up of calling you Farm Boy, not mention it's undignified, and now you're our designated Sniper, I feel you need a better name. So from now on, you're called Archer." Blade answered, and I smiled, pleased. Finally, a name I didn't have to be ashamed of.

"Hey, can I get a cool new name? Only 'Rook' kind of--" Rook asked hopefully.

"No; Shut up. Now come on, I'm hungry, let's go follow that Johnson guy. Mains, would you hurry back and fetch Ras for me? Keep a pistol trained on him at all times."

"Right sir." Mains replied, saluting. He ran back towards the elevator. I followed after Blade, who had begun to in turn, follow Johnson.

I needed a drink. Something strong.

  • 09.21.2009 5:28 PM PDT

Kick ass johnson has joined the party! Great story!

  • 09.21.2009 7:03 PM PDT

Awesome! Well done!

  • 09.21.2009 8:16 PM PDT

-eddy!
huh! What? It was the other guy, honest! ;)
'it was a sniper!' looks down at my sniper
uhh yeah? hes got one too. XD

wicked!!!
cant wait to see what plan johnson thinks up!

  • 09.22.2009 7:07 AM PDT
Subject: [Story] Memoirs of an ODST (Part 37 available!) ~ 22/09

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

No, Wolverfrog. I didn't get ODST either today :(

Nice to see that Johnson has joined the fray, some grammar errors here and there but great writing.

[Edited on 09.22.2009 8:53 AM PDT]

  • 09.22.2009 8:53 AM PDT

Posted by: ajw34307
No, Wolverfrog. I didn't get ODST either today :(


We can cry together. Paranoia had better not taunt us. Or else...

And yeah, Johnson will make it good. I'm pretty skilled at describing his character.

  • 09.22.2009 9:54 AM PDT

what happened to Ras?

  • 09.22.2009 2:04 PM PDT