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  • Subject: [Story] Halo: Operation Tiara (Part Four" is available)
Subject: [Story] Halo: Operation Tiara (Part Four" is available)

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

This is my first story to take place in first person view. I hope you enjoy it. Also, this was inspired by Wolverfrog's Memoirs of an ODST
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Introduction

My name is Ryan Jackson. I'm an ODST, or an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. The ODSTs are a group of elite special task forces, the United Nations Space Command's finest. We basically are the group of hardcore bad ass Marines that have the balls, the grit, and the guts to drop down onto planets from space in a titanium pod. Our missions are suicide, as if we're jumping into hell itself. In a way, I guess we are. Nearly five years ago, on the planet Harvest, a strange ship appeared in orbit. At first, it posed no threat... then it attacked. It landed troops, it killed civilians, and it kicked us off of our planet. We soon found out these Aliens were called 'The Covenant'.
During these last five years, Harvest has been turned into a constant hellzone. The UNSC battles the Covenant on a daily basis, trying to reclaim their lost planet. That's when they called in the ODSTs. We got a mission to drop down into Harvest's capitol, Utgard. Our mission was to drop into the major city, and to get rid of the Covenant forces. We were to set a nuke in Utgard's most famous tourist attraction; the Seven Space Elevators, or the Tiara.
Sounded pretty simple, considering most missions I had been on. Get in, set the nuke, get out. Easy, right? Yeah, I thought so, too...

Part One - The Drop

"So, we drop down here," ODST Captain Wolf said, pointing at the holographic map in the center of the debreifing room. "Right inside the city. If we're lucky, we'll land close enough to eachother to link up before the Covenant even knows we're there."

"And if we aren't lucky?" Eagle asked. Wolf looked up.

"Then we're going to have to compromise, won't we, Trooper?" he said, annoyed.

"Yes sir, Mr. Sir." Eagle said with his usual sense of humor. I shook my head.

"Sir, what about the nuke?" I asked.

"Mini nuke," Wolf corrected me. "I'll be taking care of it until we get into the Tiara, once there, our friend Fingers here will arm it. We set the timer, then get the hell out via Pelican dropship. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Me and the rest of the ODSTs said in unison.

"Get to the damn Drop Pod's," Wolf commaned. I followed Eagle, Fingers, and Boomer to our infamous titanium boxes. We boarded, then strapped ourselves in. "Disengage on my mark," Wolf said. "Mark."

Our Drop Pods immidiately jumped out of the Battleships hangar, and into the darkness of space.

"Everything looks shiny," Eagle reported, as his masked face popped up on screen.

"Yupp." I replied.

"All, right you all. When we land, regroup on me. Underst--" .

"Captain, look up!" Boomer shouted. I did, just to see what he was talking about. My insides clenched.

"Holy hell..." I breathed. The Battleship we had been on moments earlier had just... exploded.

"How in the god damn hell did that happen!" Wolf exclaimed.

"Two Covenant destroyers!" Fingers shouted.

"Thirty seconds until impact..." Boomer informed. I looked down, and saw the ground rushing up to my Pod. The city was huge -- one of the biggest I had ever seen. I actviated my parachute, to lessen the impact.

"Fifteen seconds." Boomer said again.

My Pod slammed through a building, then hit the the floor with a big crash. I unstrapped myself, then obtained my M7 SMG.

"Everyone there?" I heard Wolf ask over comm.

"Bucket here," I said. (I had obtained my nickname due to the fact I threw up in a bucket on my first drop)

"Boomer here."

"Fingers here."

"What about Eagle?" Wolf asked. There was no response. "Damn it!" he shouted.

"Sir?" I asked.

"We stay to our orders, we blow the Tiara." Wolf said gloomly. I lowered my head. Eagle had been part of the team, part of the family. And now, he could be gone.

"Yes sir." I replied, opening my Pod's pressurized door. I climbed out, then inspected the area. Clear.

"On me, Troopers," Wolf said. "Time to get rid of these Covenant bastards."

[Edited on 08.16.2009 11:29 PM PDT]

  • 08.09.2009 3:21 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Halo: Feet First Into Hell (pt 1 is up, thanks Wolverfrog!)

Awesome. Keep it up. 

  • 08.09.2009 3:39 PM PDT

Nice to know I'm so inspiring. Very good, I like it. Try to keep the ODSTs from sounding too chummy though, they may be friends but they're still Elite Marines.

  • 08.09.2009 3:45 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Halo: Feet First Into Hell (pt 2 is up, thanks Wolverfrog!)

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

Part Two - Out of The Frying Pan and Into The Fire

I leveled my M7 and sweeped the room I was in. I seemed to have landed inside of an old warehouse, which was completely empty.

"Okay, I found a terminal. The city's AI seems to still be intact. Incredible, considering the damage to the city..." Wolf said over comm. "One moment, I'll acess Utgard's map system and upload it to our HUDs through datashare."

A few moments went by, then a map appeared on my helmets visor. I used my neural interface to scroll throughout the city, Fingers, Boomer, Wolf, and Eagle appeared on the map as smallish orange dots.

"Sir, the data uplinked to Eagle's postion, he isn't far off from me. Should I go get him?" Boomer asked.

"He isn't far from me, either, sir. Permission to help Boomer? We can't just leave Eagle," Fingers said.

Wolf hesitated then said, "Permission granted. Bucket, link up with me. I'm one click south of your position," he ordered. I looked at his position, then minimized the map.

"Yes sir. On my way," I replied. I started making my way towards the exit, until the doors were blasted open by an explosion.

"Son of a--" I said over comm.

"Bucket, trouble?" Wolf asked.

"Yes sir, Covenant!" I replied, switching over to VISR mode. Enemies popped up onto my HUD-- a couple of grunts and an elite. I fired my M7 into the trio, taking one of the little bastards out.

"Can you handle yourself?" Wolf asked.

"Affirmitive, sir." I answered. Plasma flew by my helmet, and grazed my shoulder. I gritted my teeth, and focused on the elite. Its shields dropped, and I switched to my M6S. I popped a couple of rounds into the squidhead and it dropped to the floor. The grunt ran in fear.

"Clear," I said, popping one round into the grunts back.

"Good work, I'm about halway there. Meet up with me," Wolf commanded. I nodded to myself, reloaded my weapons, then exited the warehouse. Outside, the view was spectacular. The buildings stood nearly fifty stories high, nearly all destroyed. It felt like being in a manufactured jungle, a jungle that had suffered a hideous wild fire.

"Man... look at this place," I said.

"Enjoying the scenery, Bucket?" Boomer asked over comm.

"This place is just so big. I can't believe the Covenant did this to it," I said, running down the street. I was surprised. There was a lot less resistance than I expected.

"I wonder how many people lived here," Boomer commented.

"My guess: two hundred thousand. Harvest didn't have that much colonists," Fingers said, matter-of-factly.

"Cut the chit-chat, you three," Wolf said. I turned a street corner, only to run into the Captain. "Glad to see you, Bucket," Wolf nodded at me.

"Likewise, sir," I replied.

"Fingers, Boomer, I linked up with Bucket. What's your status?" Wolf asked.

"Uh, I just made it to Eagle's pod... man, it made on hell of a mess. Crashed right through three skyscrapers." Boomer said.

"Does Eagle look okay?" I asked.

"Uh... too hard to tell. He's just... sitting there. Atleast we know the Covenant didn't get to him. He could be outcold... or the landing could have killed him..." he said, gloomly.

"Can you get his door open?" Fingers asked.

"No. I tried, bro. I did, but it's locked down. Maybe you could override the lock," Boomer replied.

"No problem, almost there, just keep put," FIngers replied.

"Affirmitive, pull Eagle out of there. Dead or alive." Wolf said. I looked past him, and saw a pair of elites. They leveled their rifles, as they spotted us.

"Sir, down!" I warned, pulling him down as I dropped behind an overturned car on the street. Plasma filled the air right where he had been stanign moments later. I put my back to the car, and peeked out. The two bastards were advancing on us. If they got too close, we were gonners.

"Damn it," Wolf said, back also to the car. "Bucket, throw a frag." he ordered. I responded by detaching a frag grenade from my belt, and lobbing it at the two elites. It blew right below their feet, draining their shields. Wolf removed himself from cover, brought up wis BR55, and filled their heads with lead. Two less of those squidheads to worry about-- a hell of a lot more to go.

Wolf turned to me. He tapped me on the helmet, then held out his hand. I slapped it, then we pounded our fists.

"Ooh-rah," we said.

"Sir, just got to Eagle's pod. I'll see what I can do," Fingers informed.

"Damn, Covenant!" I heard Boomer announce, gunfire in the background.

"Can you hold out?" Wolf asked.

"Hell if I know, sir! We'll do the best we can, though!" he replied.

"Damn it Boomer, watch out!" Fingers said, then the line went dead.

"Fingers? Boomer? Come in! Damn it, do you read?!" Wolf yelled. I pulled my mirorred visor back, revealing my face.

"What now, sir?" I asked, gravely.

"We can't get into the Tiara alone, and Fingers' the only one who can arm it. We go after them." he said. "Damn it, their signal was lost over tactical map. But yours is still here," he said, trailing off.

"Energy spike?" I suggested, with a shrug.

"Only logical conclusion-- even if they were dead, they would still show up on tac-map..." Wolf pondered. "Come on, we're getting our Troopers back," Wolf said, cocking his BR55. I followed him down the ruined streets of Utgard. The worst has yet to come.

[Edited on 08.11.2009 3:30 AM PDT]

  • 08.11.2009 3:21 AM PDT

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

Part Three - Saved

I followed Wolf down the street, until he ordered me to stop.

"Sir?" I asked.

"Hold on," he said. I could tell he was pulling up the tac-map, so I decided to do the same. The location where Eagle's pod should be was just down the road. "Expect heavy Covenant resistace," he informed.

"Yes sir. Let's just get our boys the hell out of here-- assuming they are here." I replied. Without another word, Wolf continued down the street, Again, I followed, but within the next few yards, an explosion sounded near us. I hit the dirt, as did Wolf.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, rolling over onto my back, leveling my M7.

"Bucket, contact!" Wolf shouted, firing his BR55. Wolf was on his stomach, shooting at enemies, while I was on my back. Moments later, enemies came from behind. I sprayed them with my M7, taking a few Grunts out during the process.

Wolf tapped me on the shoulder, then sprinted to a building, crashing through the window. I followed, narrowly avoiding hot bolts of energy. I dived through the broken window, and landed on my side. I regained my footing, and followed Wolf up the stairwell. Once we were on the third floor, Wolf told me to stop.

"Hold here," Wolf said, aiming his BR55 down the staircase. I went to the door leading to the third level, and pointed my M7 at it. I brought up tac-map, and Wolf's signal disappeared.

"Sir, I don't see you on tac-map. Guess it was an energy spike," I said. He nodded, still looking down the stairwell. Soon enough, Grunts came pouring up the stairs. Wolf shot bursts into their skulls, exchanging three rounds for the life of one little bastard. I pretty decent trade.

I locked the door, and pulled up to the stairwell, beside Wolf. I sprayed into the crowd, mopping up the last of the Grunts. We waited a few moments. Nothing.

"Is that all of them?" I asked. The ODST shrugged, then reloaded his weapon.

"C'mon, let's exit through this door. No sense in going back downstairs." Wolf said, going to the door. He tried opening it, but couldn't. I pointed out it was locked, coughed in awkwardness, and he fumbled to switch it. Once it was unlocked, he opened it up, and slammed it shut again.

"Run!" he yelled, tapping me on the helmet. I stood puzzled.

"From wha--" I said, until a huge plasma blast blew the door open. I didn't have to think twice to know what was coming. Hunters. I ran down the stairwell, riding Wolf's ass rhe whole way. When we got the the second story, there were a pair of Elite's waiting for us. We avoided fighting them, and ran down a different hallway. Right was we turned, the hallway behind us filled with plasma energy.

We were running towards a dead end, and out of options. The hallway consisted of office cubicles, and on the farside there was a window.

"We're jumping out!" Wolf barked.

"But we're on the second story!" I protested.

"Try telling the Covenanr that!" Wolf said, jumping through the glass. I looked behind me, and saw the pair of Hunters charging their cannons on the far end of the hallway. Oh, what the hell, I thought. I jumped out of the window, and landed hard in an alleyway. I gasped for breath, as a doubled in pain.

Wolf tried to get to his feet, but couldn't. I looked up at the window we had just jumped out of. The walls exploded, then the two hunters emerged from the smoke. My heart raced. Wolf and I looked hopelessly as the pair charged their plasma cannons, and were ready to fire. I closed my eyes tight, ready for the worst. I heard a loud explosion, and I thought it might have been the plasma impacting Wolf, as if they wanted to keep me alive. Seconds passed, the I reopened them. When I looked, the two Hunters were nothing but a bunch of scattered worms.

"What...?" I asked, confused.

I looked around, dazed. Wolf stood above me, no, two Wolf's. Two Wolf's? That wasn't right... I must have been seeing double. One of the Wolf's bent down, and waved his hand in my face.

"Hello, anyone home?" he asked. I recognized the voice, it wasn't Wolf's.... it was Eagle's!

"Eagle?" I asked, even more confused thist time.

"Yeah, it's me." he laughed. Two more ODSTs pulled up behind Eagle and Wolf, one of them carrying a SPNKR ROcket Launcher. Boomer and Fingers.

"What does that make it, three times I've saved your ass, Bucket?" Boomer said, weilding his Launcher.

"What happened to you three?" I asked, as Eagle helped me up.

"That isn't important," Wolf said. "What is important is that we get the hell out of here." he finished.

I grabbed my fallen M7, then cocked it. I looked around at my friends, my family. The ODSTs.

I felt right at home.

  • 08.13.2009 7:18 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Halo: Operation Tiara (Part Four" is available)

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

Part Four - Uninvited Guests

"So, Fingers got into my pod, shook me awake, then we ran out of there." Eagle said, sitting down, back against the wall.

"That explains it then-- we thought you three were dead," Wolf replied.

"It's ganna take more than a lousy drop and some dumb ass aliens to kill me," Eagle laughed, removing his helmet. The team and I had come into an abandoned building, where we started resting, and discussed our orders.

"Sir?" I asked, turning to Wolf.

"Bucket?" he answered.

"How are we ganna get out of here? I mean, we were supposed to leave through a Pelican-- but the Ohio... was... destroyed," I swallowed.

"We stick to our objective, we blow the Tiara. We'll compromise." Wolf answered.

"Maybe we can get ahold of one of the Polic Pelicans here in the city, I know how to fly one," Fingers suggested.

"Sounds good to me... I ain't lookin' forward to going kabloomy with the city." Boomer agreed.

"Done." Wolf said. "We get to the station, and secure a Pelican. Once we're there, we discuss plans further more. Understood?" Wolf asked.

"Ooh-rah!" we replied.

Wolf stood up, and grabbed his BR55. Eagle unslung his SRS, and Boomer readied his SPNKR. I followed with my M7, and we walked out of the building. Right as we exited, we saw a helluva lot of Elites in the street. All of us double-timed it back inside.

"Damn!" Boomer cursed.

"What now?" Fingers asked.

"We can take 'em," Wolf concluded. "Eagle, get your ass on the rooftop. Use your sniper to take out as much as you can. Boomer, you and Bucket exit out the back and see if you can't flank those squidheads. Only use your launcher if any vehicles stroll along. Fingers and I will stay in the front, nobody fire until I give the signal," he ordered. We all nodded, then went immidiately to our positions.

Boomer and I kicked open the back door, and hugged the walls to the street corner. When I looked around, nearly seven Elites stood in the street, scaveging. As if they were looking for something.

"Sir?" I whispered over comm.

"What, Bucket?" Wolf asked.

"The Elites are scaveging the street... liek they're looking for something..." I trailed off, creasing my brow in thought.

"Looking for something? If they're looking to speed their way on to hell, we'll give them a shortcut." Wolf said.

"Yes sir." I replied.

"Everyone in position?" Wolf asked. The entire team, including myself, confirmed the Captain's question. "Open fire," he said.

Eagle was the first to let off a shot. His bullet landed in an Elite's head, and it dropped.

"Booh-yah..." he said over comm. I removed myslef from cover, and sprayed the bastards with my M7. The aliens retaliated by taking cover, and shooting their weapons. Boomer ran across the street, ducking under a turned over car. Fingers and Wolf fired from the front of the buidling, taking out a couple of the Elites. Odd, there wasn't any grunts. Must have been an Elite team of... well... Elite's.

I lobbed a couple of frags, taking one out. The last two unsheathed their blades and charged me. Eagle took out one, but cursed over comm as he reloaded. I sprayed the last, but it was nearly on top of me. My gun clicked, and I thought I was dead until Boomer jumped onto the beast, and grabbed its neck. He struggled for a second, then made a sharp, twisting motion. The Elite fell to the floor, dead.

"Four," Boomer said, panting.

"Huh?" I said, confused. He looked up.

"That's four times I've saved your life." he answered.

Wolf and Fingers pulled up beside us, and Eagle slid down a water pipe to the street floor.

"We really showed them!" Eagle said gleefully. Wolf looked off in the distance, and leveled his rifle.

"Want to show them some more?" he asked. The rest of us looked to where he had been looking, only to see another half a dozen Elites coming right for us.

"Back, inside the building!" Wolf said. We sprinted into the building and slammed the door shut. "Boomer, place some charges on the doors. Blow them when the bastards come in."

"Why aren't there any damn grunts?!" Boomer yelled, pissed off.

"I've noticed that, too. Guess they're sending the best of the best after us." I replied. Boomer placed the charges, then pulled back, taking cover behind a few crates. The rest of us got into position, too. Moments later, Elites bust down the doors. Boomer detonated the charges, taking a couple of the squidheads out in the process. Then, grunts poured in.

"Guess they are sending some of the little bastards after all!" Boomer said, firing rounds into their heads. I shrugged, then fired off some lead as well. I noticed an Elite pulling up to Fingers' piece of cover, and I ran to it, sticking to the shadows. The bastard was about to get the jump on Fingers, until I dug my blade into its neck. The body toppled right beside him, and he looked at me with a startle.

"Thanks," he said, sighing in relief. I ducked beside him, retreiving my blade.

"First rule of battle, little one," I said, with a slight sense of humor in my voice. "Don't let the enemy see you. Stealth is important. Never let the enemy know where you are." I concluded.

"Come get me, I'm right here, Squidheads! Want a piece of this, come on! I'm right here!" Boomer laughed, pulling up besides Fingers and I.

"Of course there are other schools of thought," I said, shaking my head.

"Enemy don't like it when you shoot them, figured that out myself," Boomer laughed. Wolf and Eagle were near us too, within a few moments.

"We can't stay here, there's too many! Make a run for the exit!" he ordered, spraying off a few shells. The ODSTs and I shrugged, and got out of our cover, running for the door. A bolt of plasma grazed me, but did no real damage. But, Boomer wasn't so lucky. I heard him scream in pain, as he dove out the door. He set his back against a wall.

"My stomach!" he yelled, voice full of pain. I looked at him a moment-- a huge plasma burn had taken up most of his torso.

"Oh, shi-- you'll be okay! We'll get you out!" I said, pulling up beside him. The rest of the team gave us covering fire, but couldn't do it for long.

"We have to MOVE!" Wolf shouted, reloading.

"Leave me, get out of here!" Boomer yelled, shoving me. I knocked his hand away, then grabbed him with both of my arms. "What are you doing! I'll just slow you down!" he yelled, furious.

"You know the old saying," I replied. He let out a laugh, mixed with a cry of pain.

"When you can't run, you crawl..." he said.

"And when you can't crawl?" I asked. He laughed again.

"You find someone to carry you." he answered. It was an old saying in the ODSTs, and we lived up to it well. Fingers grabbed Boomer's legs, and I grabbed his shoulders. We hauled him out of there, following Eagle and Wolf. Soon enough, the pursuit had stopped, and we were, once again, hiding. I gently set Boomer down, and looked at Wolf who was sitting miserably against a wall.

"Sir?" I asked. He looked up, but didn't reply. "Do you think we'll make it out of here?"

"I don't know," Wolf said. "I don't know."

[Edited on 08.25.2009 6:22 PM PDT]

  • 08.16.2009 11:28 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] Halo: Feet First Into Hell (pt 2 is up, thanks Wolverfrog!)
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When life gives you lemons, ferment them and get drunk.

Epic cliff hanger. Must have been an Elite team of... well... Elite's. Was my favorite part. I laughed really hard. This is so cool! I like this alot. You are getting better and better by the day. Can you check out my story the flood returns? Its on the gallery forum only.

  • 08.25.2009 6:19 PM PDT