- Mutoid Log
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- Exalted Legendary Member
A story about the Rookie
You've all seen the picture of the girl inside the Rookie's pod. Some have said that she is Sadie, most disagree. But that has inspired me to write this story.
During his teen years in Crisium City, Naniwa, Luna, the Rookie met Sadie Endesha, who was on a weekend trip. The two immediately fell in love and visited each other as often as they could. This is how the Rookie learned the ins and outs of New Mombasa.
However, during their happy, blissful teenage relationship, the Human-Covenant war was steadily becoming ever worse for the humans. The Covenant was burning its way towards the inner
colonies, and the UNSC had had no notable victory. The Rookie wanted to protect his happy existence, and thus decided to join the UNSC. Thanks to his exceptional physical prowess and fast, lateral thinking, he was fit for the job. His brain was already conditioned to feel good during orbital drops thanks to the routine elevator descents to New Mombasa, so he decided to join the all-volunteer Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. That was where he could make the biggest difference.
Leaving Sadie behind was a tough decision for both of them. Sadie's father, Doctor Endesha was rather protective, as he had had to deal with the loss of Sadie's mother when her daughter was just a kid. However, knowing that he was protecting her made the Rookie able to leave. His most important personal belonging was the picture of Sadie that he always had inside his pods during drops. He could detach it in the blink of an eye after the HEV pod's restraints were released on touchdown.
The battle of the Cygnus System was a disaster. Like always, the UNSC fleet's Marine and ODST forces did everything they could to win the fight groundside on the planet of New Jerusalem. They knew they could do it. But in space, the Covenant always won. Controlling the ground meant nothing if the planet was burned by the Covenant plasma bombardment. The firepower literally turned a planet's surface into glass, destroying everything. The Rookie knew this. But this time, the humans were completely annihilated on the groundside too. The Rookie walked away from a doomed mission as the lone survivor and miraculously managed to gain a spot aboard one of the last evacuation vessels. He never told anyone what had happened, for he never said anything to anyone anymore. "Posttraumatic vocal disarticulation", the doctors declared.
Over five years after his enlisting, it seemed that everything the Rookie had been fighting for was lost. Earth had been a well-kept secret for long, but it wasn't anymore. Worst of all, the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land was no other than New Mombasa. The Rookie's squad was to drop onto and capture the gargantuan Covenant Assault Carrier that was hovering over the city-center, watching over the armies it had deployed to seize the largest Megalopolis in the entire human space. The rookie now spent most of his time sleeping, and a whack with the butt of the rifle of his squadmate, Romeo, woke him up mere seconds before the drop began. Now he was back to doing what he had always looked forward to: dropping into the city of his girl. Only this time, a Covenant ship would be stopping him on the way down.
What the Rookie expected did not happen. Apparently his team was given new orders just before the drop. The squad adjusted their trajectories, aiming towards the seaside end of Mombasa island. Only moments later, it became clear that this had saved the Rookie's life. The Assault Carrier jumped into slipspace right from above the city, sucking in the pods that were aiming for it and sending the off-trajectory squad into a hard, uncontrolled landing multiple Covenant-occupied districts away from their target. But it was better than being lost in radiation aboard a tiny, unprotected tin can. Another pod crashed with the Rookie's, knocking him out cold. The shock broke loose the picture that had made it out of even New Jerusalem.
The Rookie woke up six hours later. The sun of Africa had set already, and the only things illuminating the city were the occasional intact signs and the night vision capabilities of the Rookie's helmet. All radio frequencies were empty. He had no idea what had happened to his squad. However, several beacons with his squadmates' identity tags were scattered along this part of the city, from Kikowani station and the Uplift reserve entrance to the bridge leading to the Office of Naval Intelligence building Doctor Endesha used to work in - the building is squad had been aiming for. The Rookie set off to figure out what had happened and what he could do. Covenant patrols, lead by the ferocious, gorilla-like Brutes, were around every corner. But the rookie knew how to deal with them. He was the best of the best, even if he was only human. He had made it out of New Jerusalem; he could make it out of here.