ACDCrockr209
Well-Known Member
Ok, There have been a couple of stories posted here but I guess they died of or the authors lost interest.
I've decided that I am going to make one also and I want you guys/gals to join!
This story will mostly be about ODSTs and UNSC Marines, but I will only have 7 Spartans(Haloy crap a 7 refernce!!)
I'm going to start the story as soon as a get a sizeable number of people. Now while that's going on with you guys i'm going to be working on other stuff.
So Here are the spots.
ODSTs(No More Sorry)
Marines(Will take more)
Spartans(no more)
I had to cut back on the numbers, so I won't be able to take any more people, even if you cry and beg.
Good luck,
ODSTs:
Xtreme Tactics 101
Harding29
mc hammer time
Shaymin Sky
JSwift
Overlord_Ian
Gearsofhalo
IzBisch
Shade
Mjolnir Follower
Overlord_Ian
S1L3NT V1P3R
Marines:
Underdogg13--Pilot
Spartans:
IzBisch--Spartan-009
(null).exe--Spartan-I84
SPARTAN-089--Spartan-089
===========================================================================
Edited versions. Thank Null.EXE for his awesome Vocabulary!!!
CHAPTER 1 EDITED.
Arrival
"Why the hell is everyone acting like an ass today?" I asked quizzically.
"I have no clue, maybe everyone is pissed off at ya", Dutch said, grabbing a refreshment from his room before turning off the lights and leading me out of the shared bunk area. "C'mon there's something I have to show you."
"So what is it?", I asked as we walked down the corridor to the mess hall.
"You'll see dude, you'll see," he grinned back.
"Well, can you at least give me back my helmet? I don't want you to mess up the visor, I just cleaned it half an hour ago." I said nervously, watching him holding the helmet as if it were a toy.
"Relax, I'll clean it for ya if it gets dirty," he replied, placing his thumb on the visor teasingly.
"Well you better, I have seen what you do with your helmet, and trust me it ain-" Dutch interrupted me. "We're here."
"OK, so what now? I didn't come all the way over here just to look at the door." I said, watching him standing there grinning. "You know what, screw you, I'm going inside to get something to eat." I impatiently pushed past him and palmed the door open. "When you decide to join me, I'll be inside." I stormed through the door, stumbling to a halt in the oddly darkened room.
" SURPRISE! Happy Birthday!" The room burst to light to reveal the room full of my cheering squad mates.
"What the-? No wonder to you clowns were treating me like crap all day!" I said with a surprised expression on my face. "Who put you all up to this?"
"It was Corporal Miles, he planned it all by himself." Someone replied smoothly from behind me. Turning around I started, "Ha! he could even- Sir! Room, ten-shun!" I snapped to attention with everyone else and saluted the Lord Hood.
"At ease everyone." said Hood with a smile on his face. "You deserve this celebration, as well as this." he continued, removing a small box from his white coat pocket. As he began a formal recitation, the entire room got quiet. "For exceptional bravery in the heat of battle, and for continued meritorious service in the UNSC, I hereby award you the Medal Of Honor." He finished, pinning the medal on my chest pocket. "I hope to see more ODSTs like you trooper", he said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. "Congratulations and Happy Birthday!" As soon as the Lord Hood finished speaking the whole room burst into an earsplitting cheer.
"I just wish the rest of my squad was here to see this." I said quietly, looking at the medal.
"Your squad did what they had to. If it wasn't for their sacrifice, you wouldn't be here. Your squad will always be with you, I want you to remember that." Hood finished, tapping the medal on my chest before turning and leaving the mess hall.
"Damn! This is one hell of party! Why didn't I get invited?" A voice boomed out across the room, the crowd parting to reveal Sergeant Avery Johnson. As he entered the mess hall, every trooper snapped to attention, grinning. "At ease people, at ease," he said, looking around the room. "Where's the birthday boy?" Avery squeezed through the crowd and grabbed my arm, guiding us out of the group and over to a balcony by the refreshments. "So what did you want to talk about?", I said, sipping a drink I'd snagged from the table as we passed.
"Well, let's just say that you got a HUGE birthday present." Sergeant Johnson chuckled back at me, taking a puff of his now-relit cigar, the sweet blue-grey smoke wafting skyward.
"Is it a tank?" I playfully replied, taking another swig.
"No, jackass, we got you a REAL present. Its something that you can take with you everywhere". He gestured off across the base. "Let's go." As we left, Dutch caught my eye. "Hope you like bro!" He called after us.
Sergeant Johnson swiped his access card through a panel, and the heavy steel blast doors to the main hangar ground open. We entered in time to watch a Pelican complete its landing sequence, the backblast from the wing jets sending scorching air blowing in our direction. The back hatch dropped open, disgorging a squad of troopers, and to my surprise, a fully-armored Spartan.
"You got me a new squad and a Spartan?!" I asked incredulously as the ton of elite soldier, armor and weapons disembarked from the dropship.
"You wish!" Johnson grinned back at me. "He was just hopping a ride back from assaulting a Covenant outpost." He raised his voice to the age-old drill instructor's volume for this next, his voice amiably sharp. "This pasty faced gaggle of slackjawed grunts is going to be yours. You think you can all try to not embarass your new squad leader too much?!"
"HOO-RAH!" Ripped instantly from the assembled troops, now standing in a crisp line, each with a datapad in their left hand and their gear by their right side.
Collecting the pads from the group, Johnson handed them to me. "Here's their orders and personal data so you can get to know them." I snapped to attention as he turned to leave, giving the "At Ease" command only after he'd passed back through the blast doors. Turning back to the squad, I scanned quickly through the information on the first panel. "Furlong! Front and center!" A serious-looking kid with dark brown hair stepped from the line and in front of me, "Sir! Private First Class Jake Furlong reporting as ordered!"
"At ease kid," I looked him up and down, then looked through some more of his information. "Says here you're a sniper, huh? I'll save my assessment for after I've seen you on the combat range. Go get fitted for your suit and get your weapon loadout. Level 12 room 18D." I jerked my thumb over my shoulder at the blast doors. "Dismissed."
"Thank you sir!" He grabbed his gear and started toward the door.
"Don't thank me yet kid." I called after him. Looking at the next pad I frowned, then looked up at the crisp line of marines standing in the 'at ease' position. "Fox!" The man stepped forward, larger and beefier than PFC Furlong. "Sir! Lance Corporal Fox reporting as ordered!"
"Just says Fox here, you got a first name soldier?"
"No sir! Parents just called me Fox!"
"Alright, looks like I've got my rifleman. Follow Furlong down to the armory to get kitted out, Dismissed." I shuffled his to the back and looked at the next one. "Harding!"
"Here sir!" A voice squeaked from one side. Looking over I saw a fresh-faced kid struggling to get free of a pack strap he had become entangled in. I walked over and yanked him free. "Says here you've got no prior special forces training, Private Harding."
"Yes sir, I know sir. I came from Harvest." He came to an okay position of attention. "My whole family was killed when the Covenant attacked." He began to tear up a bit, so to forestall hysterics, I grabbed his shoulder. "When you're done getting trained, I'll give you a rifle and we can kill every one of those bastards. Now got down there with the other two."
"Sir! Yes Sir!" He grabbed his bag and jogged off.
I looked at the last panel in the stack, "Corporal Salem!" The man in question tore his gaze from the lines of the Pelican to respond, snapping to attention. "Sir Corporal Salem reporting as ordered!"
I made a guess, "You want to be a combat pilot huh?"
"Sir! She's a tough bird sir!"
"You have any experience?"
"Sir! I passed the piloting test with almost-perfect scores!"
"Well, if we don't drop in pods, we'll be going down in those, so it's good to know I've got a trooper who can handle them. Go get suited up with the rest. Dismissed."
I let him walk past me and out the doors before my hand came up to brush the medal still pinned to my uniform. "I hope these guys have what it takes."
CHAPTER 2 EDITED
The Begining
[All new ODST recruits report to Training Station Beta Immediately.] The intercom blared, broadcasting its message throughout the building. All of the new recruits dropped whatever they were doing and began to jog through the complex towards the indicated station, their daily regiment making the once-unfamiliar weight of full armor now just a memory. "What do you think we're doing today?" Fox queried Furlong as they met each other in the hallway. "I have no idea, I just hope we finally get to do some live fire training instead of those stupid paint rounds." Furlong replied as they neared the elevator. They reached it just in time to meet up with the other pair of the recuits. Waiting for the elevator, Fox tapped Harding on the shoulder "Did you see what the aliens looked like?"
"Yeah, they were these huge, hairy monkey-looking things with sharp teeth. They this pistol with two blades sticking out of it." Harding said, showing Fox how the size by comparing it to Fox's helmet.
Fox swallowed hard. "I just hope I can get some of them before they get me."
"Are you sure thats what they looked like?" Furlong said, incredulously.
"Yeah! I saw them with my own two eyes!" Harding replied, jabbing the elevator button over and over impatiently.
"Well, I someone told me the aliens skinny a weird-looking mouth and four-fingered hands." Furlong said, watching the elevator lights slowly reaching their floor. As the doors opened, they grabbed their gear and stepped forward, only to realize the compartment was already half-full of armored trainees. One of the troopers with "MADAY" and the single chevron of a Private stenciled on his chestplate spoke up "You guys going to Training Station Beta as well?"
"Yeah, we had to haul ass to get to the elevator. Our barracks is across the complex!" Furlong griped, signaling the rest of the recuits to get in the elevator.
"So what's your specialty, PFC Furlong?" Maday asked, checking Furlong's own chestplate to get his last name and rank.
"Sniper Training!" Furlong replied enthusiastically. "I've always like taking things out from a distance." As the elevator started to slowly come to a halt, the polite female voice of Scarlet, the base's AI, politely asked the passengers to watch their step when exiting the elevator. As the group of ODSTs disembarked, Harding ran towards a holo-map and looked for Training Station Beta. "Hey guys, we need to take this hall and then hang a right."
"Let's get going then, we don't want to be late. I'm Ian by the way, Private Ian Maday." Ian said, yanking on his straps to make sure his armor was in place. "I hear the ODST Instructor is a hardass, but I'm sure that's just exaggeration, right?"
"Those Brutes aren't going to show you the same mercy I do, Marine! Shoot them!" Sergeant Johnson barked over the roar of assault rifles. "They just keep coming from all over sir, I can't hit them all!" The marine replied, defeated.
"Well I guess you're just not Marine material then, you maggot! The entire human race is depending on every one of you sorry excuses who joined my beloved corps to DO THEIR PART! If your mother saw how you were acting, she'd beat you to a pulp herself!" Johnson glared horribly at the marine. "I saw a marine keep fighting after his arm got blown off by a Needler and you want to whine about some holograms?!" Johnson yanked the MA5C from the marine's hands. "You're done for the day! Get down to the Hall of Heroes and do some remedial PT while you reflect on the sacrifices the brave men and women who came before you. Dismissed!" The trainee snapped angrily to attention then took off at a jog toward the complex. "And you better not stop doing push-ups until I get tired maggot!" Johnson shouted after him.
The ODST recruits rounded a corner to Station Beta, only to get shoved aside by a mud-covered marine jogging back toward the complex. "Huh, wonder where he 's going with that look on his face?" Fox mused, watching the marine run around the corner. "He's probably going to the bathroom or something, just leave it alone and get inside, we don't want the DI to kick our asses for being late." Ian warned, passing through the opening into the range. As the group entered the room they saw Sergeant Johnson locking a rifle back into a weapons rack. "Why the hell are marines so scared of an 8 foot tall rhino monkey?" Jonhson asked rhetorically, chuckling under his breath. Noticing the newcomers, his laugh cut off and a metal edge came into his voice "Can I help you trainees?" he asked, arms crossing over his chest armor.
"We're here for live fire training, Sir." Harding said as he stepping forward from the rest of the ODSTs.
"The new ODST-wannabes, right. At least you can follow directions well enough to find your way here." Johnson retrieved a datapad and began typing on it. "Gunnery Sergenat Rojas' squad, right?" He looked up at them, "He will be observing my training today, so I'll go get him, you all stay here and don't touch anything! If I find one round out of place, I'm going to make you all run so many laps, your children's legs will hurt!?" Johnson yelled.
"SIR, YES SIR!" the ODSTs replied in unison. As the seargent left, the ODSTs took seats in the benches at the back of the range. "Do you think Gunny Rojas is going to be a hardass?" Furlong said, removing his helmet.
"I don't know, it's not everyday that you see an ODST with long hair running around on the battlefield." Fox said, staring at the weapon racks. "I wonder which one is mine?" He continued musingly. As the rest of the ODSTs joined him at the rack, Furlong whistled low and long. "Well hello there, beautiful!" He exclaimed, taking in the deadly lines of the single SRS99C-S2 AMB Sniper Rifle locked into the rack.
I watched, letting them have their voyeuristic moment in front of the weapons before breaking their reverie with a sharp bark. "Marines! Front and center! On the double!" The ODSTs jumped, startled, then ran to fall in, snapping to attention in a crisp line. I put them at ease with a command, then reviewed today's exercise. "I know you all have been itching for a live-fire session, and that's what's on our collective plate for the day" I grinned at them. "Furlong! Get your ass over here!" I called, unlocking the weapon rack. Furlong literally jumped over to me. "I saw your lustful eyes looking at my rifle here, now let's see what you can actually do with it." I said, handing him the rifle. As I reached the ammunition boxes, Harding spoke up. " Sir? Why are you the only male marine here with long hair?"
"Tell you what, marine, you pass this course today and I'll tell you, deal?" I passed over a set of full magazines to the almost-bouncing Furlong. "OK trooper, your opponents are Jackal Marksmen, you have only twenty rounds, so use them sparingly." I gave him a few moments to get into position, then called out "Begin!" and activated the course. Furlong calmly and deliberately put a 14.5mm round through each hologram that appeared, only pausing to drop a spent magazine and slide a fresh one home. His speed was impressive, and it didn't take him long to "kill" all of the jackal holograms. "Damn, marine, your a freaking natural!" I said over the clapping of the other recruits, waiting for the computer to spit out his score. "20 out of 20 targets down, Marine. 13 of those kills were headshots, the rest were confirmed kills. Now let's see how well you do with ranged combat at a much closer scale." I said, gesturing to the Battle Rifle I had placed on a nearby table. "You won't be up against those easy Jackals this time Marine, I'm putting you against Brutes. They can take way more punishment than Jackals because of their armor, but a hint, if you hit them in the head or neck area, their armor is weakest there." Without giving him more time than to barely touch the rifle, I activated the second program. As soon as the holographic targets appeared, Furlong jumped into action. Laser flashes simulating the Brute's burning spikes flew across the field, barely missing his black armor. Furlong saw his first target, a Brute Chieftain in its gold armor. He knew that he had to score a quick kill or else he would be counted out. "Eat this you son of a----", Furlong yelled as he raised his Battle Rifle, unloading hot lead in three-round bursts into the head of his holographic enemy. As the Brute roared and fell, Furlong cried out "I gothim!"
"Keep going you idiot! You haven't cleared the course!" My voice boomed out as I, grinning, activated a special surprise, watching Furlong race across the training area killing Brutes, Jackals and Grunts.
"This is too easy!" Furlong laughed loudly, as the last Grunt fell. "Not so fast Marine! You missed one!" I yelled. Furlong turned and saw a black armored Brute charging toward him, holding huge hammer. "Bring it you hammer wielding bastard!" He screamed in defiance. Furlong and the holographic Brute charged toward each other, the simian Brute baring its teeth while Furlong begain to unload three round bursts from his Battle Rifle. The Covenant warrior's shields dropped and the ODST recruit grinned behind his mask in triumph, sensing his win. The victory died as the weapon jammed. Cursing, Furlong threw the rifle at the holo opponent and whipped out his M6C-SOCOM, the silenced weapon spitting viciously as it chipped away armor. One round remaining, Furlong dropped to one knee and aimed carefully. The Brute closed the final distance quickly, but as it raised the hammer for a killing blow, it's savage face slackened, and it toppled backwards to the ground before shimmering out into digital oblivion. There was a sudden silence on the range, all eyes turning to me for the final score.
"Confirmed kill, Marine! Welcome to the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers!" Furlong sagged backwards in relief, the muzzle of his now empty and locked-back weapon dipping to the ground. The exultant roar of the other marines cheers was deafening.
The other recruits continued to meet the high bar Furlong had set, gaining excellent scores with their chosen weapons. Ian's close quarter combat skills were evident, with several of his kills attributed to his combat knife. Fox passed his training in short to medium range combat, his skill with an Assault Rifle remarkable. Being the wiseass as he was, Harding qualified with all weapons, although not gaining master scores with any of them. Robert score exceptionally as a sinper, as well as racking up impressive points with the M6C and M7S Caseless SMG. Salem's triumph with the M7S was his astounding ability to take down a half-squad of Brutes with a single magazine.
"This is the most exceptional squad I've seen in a long time, Sir." I finished explaining to Sergeant Johnson, passing over the training reports.
"That's some damn fine work on your part, Sergeant Rojas." The gruff Marine replied, perusing the documents before filing them in the Squad Leader's Access Folder. "You ready to lead them?"
"Are you sure I'm ready to do it, Sir?"
"I'm sure, Gunny. I've seen how you communicate with the Marines, both your own squad and the others you come in contact with. You treat them like brothers while maintaining their discipline and I haven't seen that in a long while." I nodded thoughtfully at his comment. "I'll take that as a yes then."
"Yes sir!"
"Have you thought of a squad call sign for them?"
"Alpha, as a memorial to my old squad." Johnson nodded and input the information into the DataNet.
"Squad Alpha, commander Gunnery Sergeant Rojas. It's official now Marine, congratulations." As the paperwork finished, a chime sounded and a Marine controller appeared on the screen behind me. "Sir! The Master Chief's alive and is heading back to the Crow's Nest!"
"Good to hear! We're going to need all the help we can get to turn this war in our favor and having the Chief back will lighten the load considerably." Johnson caught the look on the Marine's face. "What's the bad news, Marine?"
"Sir, there's also a Covenant cruiser closing in on the Crow's Nest, we assume it followed the Pelican with the Chief aboard. With our wounded, we are going to need some time to evacuate."
"Pass on to Fleet Command that we need to route any available transports to your position. Johnson out." He turned and looked at me soberly. "Now we'll get to see if your boys are really as hot as you say they are Gunny. You ready for Alpha Squad's first mission?"
I grabbed my helmet from the desk. "ODSTs are always ready, Sir."
Still waiting for Null to get Chapter 3 done.
I haven't started Chapter 4...Yet
-Pony
I've decided that I am going to make one also and I want you guys/gals to join!
This story will mostly be about ODSTs and UNSC Marines, but I will only have 7 Spartans(Haloy crap a 7 refernce!!)
I'm going to start the story as soon as a get a sizeable number of people. Now while that's going on with you guys i'm going to be working on other stuff.
So Here are the spots.
ODSTs(No More Sorry)
Marines(Will take more)
Spartans(no more)
I had to cut back on the numbers, so I won't be able to take any more people, even if you cry and beg.
Good luck,
ODSTs:
Xtreme Tactics 101
Harding29
mc hammer time
Shaymin Sky
JSwift
Overlord_Ian
Gearsofhalo
IzBisch
Shade
Mjolnir Follower
Overlord_Ian
S1L3NT V1P3R
Marines:
Underdogg13--Pilot
Spartans:
IzBisch--Spartan-009
(null).exe--Spartan-I84
SPARTAN-089--Spartan-089
===========================================================================
Edited versions. Thank Null.EXE for his awesome Vocabulary!!!
CHAPTER 1 EDITED.
Arrival
"Why the hell is everyone acting like an ass today?" I asked quizzically.
"I have no clue, maybe everyone is pissed off at ya", Dutch said, grabbing a refreshment from his room before turning off the lights and leading me out of the shared bunk area. "C'mon there's something I have to show you."
"So what is it?", I asked as we walked down the corridor to the mess hall.
"You'll see dude, you'll see," he grinned back.
"Well, can you at least give me back my helmet? I don't want you to mess up the visor, I just cleaned it half an hour ago." I said nervously, watching him holding the helmet as if it were a toy.
"Relax, I'll clean it for ya if it gets dirty," he replied, placing his thumb on the visor teasingly.
"Well you better, I have seen what you do with your helmet, and trust me it ain-" Dutch interrupted me. "We're here."
"OK, so what now? I didn't come all the way over here just to look at the door." I said, watching him standing there grinning. "You know what, screw you, I'm going inside to get something to eat." I impatiently pushed past him and palmed the door open. "When you decide to join me, I'll be inside." I stormed through the door, stumbling to a halt in the oddly darkened room.
" SURPRISE! Happy Birthday!" The room burst to light to reveal the room full of my cheering squad mates.
"What the-? No wonder to you clowns were treating me like crap all day!" I said with a surprised expression on my face. "Who put you all up to this?"
"It was Corporal Miles, he planned it all by himself." Someone replied smoothly from behind me. Turning around I started, "Ha! he could even- Sir! Room, ten-shun!" I snapped to attention with everyone else and saluted the Lord Hood.
"At ease everyone." said Hood with a smile on his face. "You deserve this celebration, as well as this." he continued, removing a small box from his white coat pocket. As he began a formal recitation, the entire room got quiet. "For exceptional bravery in the heat of battle, and for continued meritorious service in the UNSC, I hereby award you the Medal Of Honor." He finished, pinning the medal on my chest pocket. "I hope to see more ODSTs like you trooper", he said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. "Congratulations and Happy Birthday!" As soon as the Lord Hood finished speaking the whole room burst into an earsplitting cheer.
"I just wish the rest of my squad was here to see this." I said quietly, looking at the medal.
"Your squad did what they had to. If it wasn't for their sacrifice, you wouldn't be here. Your squad will always be with you, I want you to remember that." Hood finished, tapping the medal on my chest before turning and leaving the mess hall.
"Damn! This is one hell of party! Why didn't I get invited?" A voice boomed out across the room, the crowd parting to reveal Sergeant Avery Johnson. As he entered the mess hall, every trooper snapped to attention, grinning. "At ease people, at ease," he said, looking around the room. "Where's the birthday boy?" Avery squeezed through the crowd and grabbed my arm, guiding us out of the group and over to a balcony by the refreshments. "So what did you want to talk about?", I said, sipping a drink I'd snagged from the table as we passed.
"Well, let's just say that you got a HUGE birthday present." Sergeant Johnson chuckled back at me, taking a puff of his now-relit cigar, the sweet blue-grey smoke wafting skyward.
"Is it a tank?" I playfully replied, taking another swig.
"No, jackass, we got you a REAL present. Its something that you can take with you everywhere". He gestured off across the base. "Let's go." As we left, Dutch caught my eye. "Hope you like bro!" He called after us.
Sergeant Johnson swiped his access card through a panel, and the heavy steel blast doors to the main hangar ground open. We entered in time to watch a Pelican complete its landing sequence, the backblast from the wing jets sending scorching air blowing in our direction. The back hatch dropped open, disgorging a squad of troopers, and to my surprise, a fully-armored Spartan.
"You got me a new squad and a Spartan?!" I asked incredulously as the ton of elite soldier, armor and weapons disembarked from the dropship.
"You wish!" Johnson grinned back at me. "He was just hopping a ride back from assaulting a Covenant outpost." He raised his voice to the age-old drill instructor's volume for this next, his voice amiably sharp. "This pasty faced gaggle of slackjawed grunts is going to be yours. You think you can all try to not embarass your new squad leader too much?!"
"HOO-RAH!" Ripped instantly from the assembled troops, now standing in a crisp line, each with a datapad in their left hand and their gear by their right side.
Collecting the pads from the group, Johnson handed them to me. "Here's their orders and personal data so you can get to know them." I snapped to attention as he turned to leave, giving the "At Ease" command only after he'd passed back through the blast doors. Turning back to the squad, I scanned quickly through the information on the first panel. "Furlong! Front and center!" A serious-looking kid with dark brown hair stepped from the line and in front of me, "Sir! Private First Class Jake Furlong reporting as ordered!"
"At ease kid," I looked him up and down, then looked through some more of his information. "Says here you're a sniper, huh? I'll save my assessment for after I've seen you on the combat range. Go get fitted for your suit and get your weapon loadout. Level 12 room 18D." I jerked my thumb over my shoulder at the blast doors. "Dismissed."
"Thank you sir!" He grabbed his gear and started toward the door.
"Don't thank me yet kid." I called after him. Looking at the next pad I frowned, then looked up at the crisp line of marines standing in the 'at ease' position. "Fox!" The man stepped forward, larger and beefier than PFC Furlong. "Sir! Lance Corporal Fox reporting as ordered!"
"Just says Fox here, you got a first name soldier?"
"No sir! Parents just called me Fox!"
"Alright, looks like I've got my rifleman. Follow Furlong down to the armory to get kitted out, Dismissed." I shuffled his to the back and looked at the next one. "Harding!"
"Here sir!" A voice squeaked from one side. Looking over I saw a fresh-faced kid struggling to get free of a pack strap he had become entangled in. I walked over and yanked him free. "Says here you've got no prior special forces training, Private Harding."
"Yes sir, I know sir. I came from Harvest." He came to an okay position of attention. "My whole family was killed when the Covenant attacked." He began to tear up a bit, so to forestall hysterics, I grabbed his shoulder. "When you're done getting trained, I'll give you a rifle and we can kill every one of those bastards. Now got down there with the other two."
"Sir! Yes Sir!" He grabbed his bag and jogged off.
I looked at the last panel in the stack, "Corporal Salem!" The man in question tore his gaze from the lines of the Pelican to respond, snapping to attention. "Sir Corporal Salem reporting as ordered!"
I made a guess, "You want to be a combat pilot huh?"
"Sir! She's a tough bird sir!"
"You have any experience?"
"Sir! I passed the piloting test with almost-perfect scores!"
"Well, if we don't drop in pods, we'll be going down in those, so it's good to know I've got a trooper who can handle them. Go get suited up with the rest. Dismissed."
I let him walk past me and out the doors before my hand came up to brush the medal still pinned to my uniform. "I hope these guys have what it takes."
CHAPTER 2 EDITED
The Begining
[All new ODST recruits report to Training Station Beta Immediately.] The intercom blared, broadcasting its message throughout the building. All of the new recruits dropped whatever they were doing and began to jog through the complex towards the indicated station, their daily regiment making the once-unfamiliar weight of full armor now just a memory. "What do you think we're doing today?" Fox queried Furlong as they met each other in the hallway. "I have no idea, I just hope we finally get to do some live fire training instead of those stupid paint rounds." Furlong replied as they neared the elevator. They reached it just in time to meet up with the other pair of the recuits. Waiting for the elevator, Fox tapped Harding on the shoulder "Did you see what the aliens looked like?"
"Yeah, they were these huge, hairy monkey-looking things with sharp teeth. They this pistol with two blades sticking out of it." Harding said, showing Fox how the size by comparing it to Fox's helmet.
Fox swallowed hard. "I just hope I can get some of them before they get me."
"Are you sure thats what they looked like?" Furlong said, incredulously.
"Yeah! I saw them with my own two eyes!" Harding replied, jabbing the elevator button over and over impatiently.
"Well, I someone told me the aliens skinny a weird-looking mouth and four-fingered hands." Furlong said, watching the elevator lights slowly reaching their floor. As the doors opened, they grabbed their gear and stepped forward, only to realize the compartment was already half-full of armored trainees. One of the troopers with "MADAY" and the single chevron of a Private stenciled on his chestplate spoke up "You guys going to Training Station Beta as well?"
"Yeah, we had to haul ass to get to the elevator. Our barracks is across the complex!" Furlong griped, signaling the rest of the recuits to get in the elevator.
"So what's your specialty, PFC Furlong?" Maday asked, checking Furlong's own chestplate to get his last name and rank.
"Sniper Training!" Furlong replied enthusiastically. "I've always like taking things out from a distance." As the elevator started to slowly come to a halt, the polite female voice of Scarlet, the base's AI, politely asked the passengers to watch their step when exiting the elevator. As the group of ODSTs disembarked, Harding ran towards a holo-map and looked for Training Station Beta. "Hey guys, we need to take this hall and then hang a right."
"Let's get going then, we don't want to be late. I'm Ian by the way, Private Ian Maday." Ian said, yanking on his straps to make sure his armor was in place. "I hear the ODST Instructor is a hardass, but I'm sure that's just exaggeration, right?"
"Those Brutes aren't going to show you the same mercy I do, Marine! Shoot them!" Sergeant Johnson barked over the roar of assault rifles. "They just keep coming from all over sir, I can't hit them all!" The marine replied, defeated.
"Well I guess you're just not Marine material then, you maggot! The entire human race is depending on every one of you sorry excuses who joined my beloved corps to DO THEIR PART! If your mother saw how you were acting, she'd beat you to a pulp herself!" Johnson glared horribly at the marine. "I saw a marine keep fighting after his arm got blown off by a Needler and you want to whine about some holograms?!" Johnson yanked the MA5C from the marine's hands. "You're done for the day! Get down to the Hall of Heroes and do some remedial PT while you reflect on the sacrifices the brave men and women who came before you. Dismissed!" The trainee snapped angrily to attention then took off at a jog toward the complex. "And you better not stop doing push-ups until I get tired maggot!" Johnson shouted after him.
The ODST recruits rounded a corner to Station Beta, only to get shoved aside by a mud-covered marine jogging back toward the complex. "Huh, wonder where he 's going with that look on his face?" Fox mused, watching the marine run around the corner. "He's probably going to the bathroom or something, just leave it alone and get inside, we don't want the DI to kick our asses for being late." Ian warned, passing through the opening into the range. As the group entered the room they saw Sergeant Johnson locking a rifle back into a weapons rack. "Why the hell are marines so scared of an 8 foot tall rhino monkey?" Jonhson asked rhetorically, chuckling under his breath. Noticing the newcomers, his laugh cut off and a metal edge came into his voice "Can I help you trainees?" he asked, arms crossing over his chest armor.
"We're here for live fire training, Sir." Harding said as he stepping forward from the rest of the ODSTs.
"The new ODST-wannabes, right. At least you can follow directions well enough to find your way here." Johnson retrieved a datapad and began typing on it. "Gunnery Sergenat Rojas' squad, right?" He looked up at them, "He will be observing my training today, so I'll go get him, you all stay here and don't touch anything! If I find one round out of place, I'm going to make you all run so many laps, your children's legs will hurt!?" Johnson yelled.
"SIR, YES SIR!" the ODSTs replied in unison. As the seargent left, the ODSTs took seats in the benches at the back of the range. "Do you think Gunny Rojas is going to be a hardass?" Furlong said, removing his helmet.
"I don't know, it's not everyday that you see an ODST with long hair running around on the battlefield." Fox said, staring at the weapon racks. "I wonder which one is mine?" He continued musingly. As the rest of the ODSTs joined him at the rack, Furlong whistled low and long. "Well hello there, beautiful!" He exclaimed, taking in the deadly lines of the single SRS99C-S2 AMB Sniper Rifle locked into the rack.
I watched, letting them have their voyeuristic moment in front of the weapons before breaking their reverie with a sharp bark. "Marines! Front and center! On the double!" The ODSTs jumped, startled, then ran to fall in, snapping to attention in a crisp line. I put them at ease with a command, then reviewed today's exercise. "I know you all have been itching for a live-fire session, and that's what's on our collective plate for the day" I grinned at them. "Furlong! Get your ass over here!" I called, unlocking the weapon rack. Furlong literally jumped over to me. "I saw your lustful eyes looking at my rifle here, now let's see what you can actually do with it." I said, handing him the rifle. As I reached the ammunition boxes, Harding spoke up. " Sir? Why are you the only male marine here with long hair?"
"Tell you what, marine, you pass this course today and I'll tell you, deal?" I passed over a set of full magazines to the almost-bouncing Furlong. "OK trooper, your opponents are Jackal Marksmen, you have only twenty rounds, so use them sparingly." I gave him a few moments to get into position, then called out "Begin!" and activated the course. Furlong calmly and deliberately put a 14.5mm round through each hologram that appeared, only pausing to drop a spent magazine and slide a fresh one home. His speed was impressive, and it didn't take him long to "kill" all of the jackal holograms. "Damn, marine, your a freaking natural!" I said over the clapping of the other recruits, waiting for the computer to spit out his score. "20 out of 20 targets down, Marine. 13 of those kills were headshots, the rest were confirmed kills. Now let's see how well you do with ranged combat at a much closer scale." I said, gesturing to the Battle Rifle I had placed on a nearby table. "You won't be up against those easy Jackals this time Marine, I'm putting you against Brutes. They can take way more punishment than Jackals because of their armor, but a hint, if you hit them in the head or neck area, their armor is weakest there." Without giving him more time than to barely touch the rifle, I activated the second program. As soon as the holographic targets appeared, Furlong jumped into action. Laser flashes simulating the Brute's burning spikes flew across the field, barely missing his black armor. Furlong saw his first target, a Brute Chieftain in its gold armor. He knew that he had to score a quick kill or else he would be counted out. "Eat this you son of a----", Furlong yelled as he raised his Battle Rifle, unloading hot lead in three-round bursts into the head of his holographic enemy. As the Brute roared and fell, Furlong cried out "I gothim!"
"Keep going you idiot! You haven't cleared the course!" My voice boomed out as I, grinning, activated a special surprise, watching Furlong race across the training area killing Brutes, Jackals and Grunts.
"This is too easy!" Furlong laughed loudly, as the last Grunt fell. "Not so fast Marine! You missed one!" I yelled. Furlong turned and saw a black armored Brute charging toward him, holding huge hammer. "Bring it you hammer wielding bastard!" He screamed in defiance. Furlong and the holographic Brute charged toward each other, the simian Brute baring its teeth while Furlong begain to unload three round bursts from his Battle Rifle. The Covenant warrior's shields dropped and the ODST recruit grinned behind his mask in triumph, sensing his win. The victory died as the weapon jammed. Cursing, Furlong threw the rifle at the holo opponent and whipped out his M6C-SOCOM, the silenced weapon spitting viciously as it chipped away armor. One round remaining, Furlong dropped to one knee and aimed carefully. The Brute closed the final distance quickly, but as it raised the hammer for a killing blow, it's savage face slackened, and it toppled backwards to the ground before shimmering out into digital oblivion. There was a sudden silence on the range, all eyes turning to me for the final score.
"Confirmed kill, Marine! Welcome to the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers!" Furlong sagged backwards in relief, the muzzle of his now empty and locked-back weapon dipping to the ground. The exultant roar of the other marines cheers was deafening.
The other recruits continued to meet the high bar Furlong had set, gaining excellent scores with their chosen weapons. Ian's close quarter combat skills were evident, with several of his kills attributed to his combat knife. Fox passed his training in short to medium range combat, his skill with an Assault Rifle remarkable. Being the wiseass as he was, Harding qualified with all weapons, although not gaining master scores with any of them. Robert score exceptionally as a sinper, as well as racking up impressive points with the M6C and M7S Caseless SMG. Salem's triumph with the M7S was his astounding ability to take down a half-squad of Brutes with a single magazine.
"This is the most exceptional squad I've seen in a long time, Sir." I finished explaining to Sergeant Johnson, passing over the training reports.
"That's some damn fine work on your part, Sergeant Rojas." The gruff Marine replied, perusing the documents before filing them in the Squad Leader's Access Folder. "You ready to lead them?"
"Are you sure I'm ready to do it, Sir?"
"I'm sure, Gunny. I've seen how you communicate with the Marines, both your own squad and the others you come in contact with. You treat them like brothers while maintaining their discipline and I haven't seen that in a long while." I nodded thoughtfully at his comment. "I'll take that as a yes then."
"Yes sir!"
"Have you thought of a squad call sign for them?"
"Alpha, as a memorial to my old squad." Johnson nodded and input the information into the DataNet.
"Squad Alpha, commander Gunnery Sergeant Rojas. It's official now Marine, congratulations." As the paperwork finished, a chime sounded and a Marine controller appeared on the screen behind me. "Sir! The Master Chief's alive and is heading back to the Crow's Nest!"
"Good to hear! We're going to need all the help we can get to turn this war in our favor and having the Chief back will lighten the load considerably." Johnson caught the look on the Marine's face. "What's the bad news, Marine?"
"Sir, there's also a Covenant cruiser closing in on the Crow's Nest, we assume it followed the Pelican with the Chief aboard. With our wounded, we are going to need some time to evacuate."
"Pass on to Fleet Command that we need to route any available transports to your position. Johnson out." He turned and looked at me soberly. "Now we'll get to see if your boys are really as hot as you say they are Gunny. You ready for Alpha Squad's first mission?"
I grabbed my helmet from the desk. "ODSTs are always ready, Sir."
Still waiting for Null to get Chapter 3 done.
I haven't started Chapter 4...Yet
-Pony
