By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.
HALO 3: ODST
PROLOGUE
Humanity is at war with the alien alliance known as "The Covenant".
We are losing.
The Covenant have burned our worlds, killing billions in their genosidal campaign.
Earth is our last bastion - a carefully guarded secret.
But not anymore.
A Covenant carrier has breached Earth's defences and attacked the African mega-city, "New Mombasa".
Initial reports confirm major damage and heavy civilian casualties.
Now military leaders of the "United Nations Space Command" have prepared their response...
Teams of "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" are ready to assault the carrier from Navy ships in low orbit.
This is a near-suicide mission.
But these troopers are the best of the best.
And saving New Mombasa could be the most important mission of the war...
*
The UNSC Say My Name drifted over the placid city of New Mombasa, one of the most historical cities on Earth. Home to the first Orbital Space Tether and also houses the Office of Naval Intelligence Alpha Site, Section 2 officials only.
Though it seemed peaceful, the Covenant had broken their lines and discovered Humanity's final bastion. Earth. The Prophet of Regret, a Covenant Hierarch, is sitting pretty in his colossal Covenant Carrier over New Mombasa.
Aboard the UNSC vessel, Say My Name, is the squad of ODSTs ready to infiltrate the Carrier and capture the Prophet.
Tension was running high in the ship. The room was dimly lit, HEV Pods were lined against the walls and a weapon rack lay beside a large table that projected a hologram of the Prophet's Carrier and the city of New Mombasa.
Around the table stood: Dutch, Mickey and Romeo. The FNG, the Rookie, was slumped next to his pod, fast asleep.
*
"The Navy put up a good fight." Romeo commented.
"'Course they did, it's Earth!" Dutch replied, folding his arms.
"Better late than never..."
Dutch glared at Romeo, the squad sniper. He slammed his helmet on the table, "how 'bout you show some respect, Romeo?"
Romeo held his hands up in exasperation, Dutch wasn't the kind of person he wanted to see in a bad mood.
"Just sayin', Dutch. They missed one." He said.
"No. They left it for us."
Sirens began to flare throughout the ship, bright orange lights illuminated the room and the squad leader, Buck, walked in. He was followed by a blond-haired woman, the word DARE appeared on her chest plate.
"You know the music, time to dance!"
Romeo studied the woman who had walked in. "Hello, beautiful..." He mouthed to the squad, Romeo had a tendency to act like "a complete ass", as Buck often pointed out.
"Pods. Now." Buck pointed at Romeo, a gleam of annoyance in his eyes.
The ODSTs walked over to the weapon rack and began to chatter amongst themselves.
"Replacements?" Dare asked quizzically.
"This many years into the war? Who isn't." Buck sighed.
"At least they listen," Dare commented.
"To me. And they're not gonna like what they hear."
"Orders are orders." She interrupted.
Buck was half way walking up the steps but turned towards Dare. "C'mon, Veronica. What could be more important than that Carrier?"
"My orders," she poked him in the chest, a stern look on her face. "And Buck, call me Captain. I'll pass on that dance, but you can show me where to sit."
Veronica seemed to have a new spring in her step as she made her way past Buck, still containing silent anger.
*
"What the hell kinda armour was she wearing?" Mickey asked.
"Dunno, Mickey. I wasn't lookin' at her gear." Romeo snickered.
Dutch grabbed an SMG from the gun-rack, Romeo snorted. "Pft, seriously?!"
"Well, we're gonna be close-quarters." Dutch replied. Romeo grabbed a Shotgun from the rack as showed it to Dutch.
"Exactly."
Dutch shoved the Shotgun away from him as Buck and Veronica walked in.
"Second to last. Right next to mine," Buck pointed at one of the docked HEV Pods.
"Cosy... Real cosy..." Romeo whispered.
Buck walked over to the squad, he looked unimpressed and his brow was furrowed.
"You gonna tell us her name, Gunny?" Romeo asked sarcastically.
"Ms. Naval Intelligence. Your new boss!" Buck snatched the Shotgun and angrily shoved a Sniper Rifle into Romeo's hands. "So check your mouths, find your chairs. Get set for a combat-drop!"
Romeo eyed the Sniper Rifle. "The hell am I supposed to do with this inside a Covenant ship?"
*
Romeo trudged up to the sleeping Rookie, he raised the Sniper and hit him with the butt of the weapon. The Rookie grunted in pain.
"Wake up, buttercup."
Dutch walked over and shoved Romeo aside, he fell against his pod and cursed.
"Relax, Rookie. He don't mean nothin'. Besides, now's one of those times... It pays to be the strong-silent type."
Dutch handed the Rookie a Sound-Suppressed SMG, he holstered it inside his pod. Dutch's visor polarized and his face was hidden. The hatch of the pod snapped shut and rotated 180 degrees, fourteen other HEV Pods were docked and were about to be dropped into hell.
*
The pod was cramped and stuffy, a single rectangular window allowed the Rookie to view his surroundings and two view-screens showed Buck and Dare's faces, though they were hidden behind their helmets.
"Latest intel reports Covenant troops are massing beneath the Carrier." Dare reported.
"They're pulling back? Why?" Buck questioned.
"Well, we're not going to find out way up here." Dare sighed. Buck nodded in response.
"Troopers. We are green, and very, very mean!"
A countdown timer began: 3...2...1...
The pod began to rumble and suddenly, gravity took over. The rusty metal cage began to plummet through the cotton-white clouds.
A view of a UNSC ship, completely obliterated as only the rear-aft of the ships remained, came into view.
"I take it back," Romeo laughed. "Navy got its butt kicked!"
"Hey, Romeo. Remember when I told you to shut your mouth?" Buck asked.
"Yeah..."
"Consider that a standing order."
The landscape of the city became visible. The Orbital Space Tether was in the centre of the East African Protectorate, surrounded by large bodies of water. Regret's Cruiser was visible, also. Sitting over the city like an eagle making its mark on its prey.
"Captain! Fifteen klicks off-deck." Buck reported to Dare.
"Stand-by to adjust trajectory... On my mark..." She commanded.
There was a sudden wave of static, the view screens became a little fuzzy and Dutch's voice came over the COM channel.
"What'd she just say?"
"Mark!" Dare's voice echoed over the channel.
Dare's HEV Pod suddenly veered off-course, heading away from the Carrier. Something was wrong.
"We're way off course!" Mickey grunted.
"We're heading exactly where I need to go," Dare said calmly.
"But we're gonna miss the Carrier!"
Suddenly, a stream of energy gripped the Carrier. It sent a sudden rush of wind through the city as a Slipspace portal opened.
"Radiation," Dutch spotted.
"The Covenant just set off a nuke?" Mickey asked, clearly panicking.
"No... The Carrier's going to jump! It's a Slipspace rupture! You need to-" Dare's sentence was cut off as the Carrier suddenly disappeared into the Slipspace portal which had begin to implode.
A massive shockwave fried the inside of the HEV Pods, electrical currents began to explode around the city and the view-screens became static.
"EMP. Losing power!" Dutch said frantically.
"Stabilize, then pop your chutes! We're going in hard!" Buck roared.
Mickey's Pod was gripped by the storm and was thrown towards the Rookie's. They collided and the glass screen shattered, the pod became dark with only the sound of sirens and the constant image of flashing red lights.
The world was spiralling, fires were burning in the city, and everything had gone wrong!
The Rookie's vision became slurred, the pod slammed into the ground and the Rookie blacked out. Regret had escaped, the squad had failed...