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Battle for Tectron: Chapter 1- A Helljumpers story part 1
Date: 15 December 2003, 5:53 AM

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This is my first Halo fanfic. I haven't played much of Halo, but what I did play caught my attention and my interest. My friend gave me the book Halo: First Strike. I read it and learned more about the plot. I searched the web for Halo fanfics and found this site. I read several and decided to write my own. I wanted to write about the realistic people of the UNSC instead of the superhuman Spartans. If my info isn't actuate please email me and let me know. Thank you.~ Helljumper~
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1703 Hours (Military time). September 13th, 2553 (Military Calendar)/ The New Era bank in the town of Kingston on the planet Tectron in the Aureas star system.

Private Marcus Whitman leaned into the doorway and fired his MA5B assault rifle at the Covenant Grunt walking down the hallway. The little creature screamed as the bullets ripped through its flesh. It dropped dead. The Hell jumper unclipped a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and threw it down the hall. He leaned against the wall and listened at the explosion and the sound of screaming Grunts dieing in pain. He turned around and faced the rest of his team. Everyone in the room was dead except for his commanding officer Lt. Williams. The Lt. sat against the back of the room holding the plasma wound in his chest. Blood pour through his hands as the Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) officer tried to fight death. Marcus slid across the room to his CO while keeping his rifle pointed at the doorway.
Lt. Williams started to gasp for air. It was clear that the plasma blast had probably punctured one or both of his lungs. He struggled for oxygen that his lungs could no longer hold. He stopped gasping and slipped into death's arms. The private looked around the room at the fourteen dead members of his platoon. He had served with these men for almost two years and it was a shame to see so many good men dead. Marcus looked at his dead CO as the Lt.'s hands relaxed from his chest and fell into his lap. The Hell jumper's officer ranks caught Marcus's eye. He reached forward and pulled the rank off and slid the gold bars into his pocket.
Before he had the luxury of grieving for his fallen comrades he heard the voices of Covenant Elites in the stairway down the hall. The ODST crouched his way over to the door and looked down the hall. It was empty except for dead bodies of Grunts. He thought to himself that it was not a good idea to stay in this room. The private stood up and put the butt of his M95A assault rifle to his shoulder, pointing it down the hallway. He stepped forward slowly and as quietly as he could. He reached a T intersection with a door on his left and one on his right. He stopped for a moment to listen.
The arm of blue colored Elite tossed a green glowing ball at the private from the end of the hallway. The ball arced and landed less than a meter away from the marine. Marcus's instincts took over as he relised that this as a plasma grenade. He broke through the door on his left into a room that was an office. In the center of the small room was a desk probably of an executive. The marine ran towards the desk and jumped. He slide across its smooth surface knocking off stacks of paper and landed on the other side as the grenade exploded turning the room a shade of green light that disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Marcus sat up against the wall facing the desk. The space was tight, less than a meter. He pulled his rifle into his lap and took out the magazine. He put the half empty magazine into the ammo pouch on his equipment belt and replaced it with a full one. The ammo counter on his rifle now read 60. He knelt behind the desk with his rifle on top of the desk pointing at the doorway leading into the hallway. His pulse was racing and the adrenaline in his blood caused him to be ready for anything. The blue armored Elite walked down the hallway with its plasma pistol pointed down the hall towards the room of dead marines. It walked into Marcus's view and stopped. The young marine kept quiet hoping that it would just pass by him. If it didn't he was ready to end the alien's life.
The Elite motioned with its free arm for the rest of his unit to proceed forward. It turned to the open door on its right just to receive twenty bullets. The first twelve rounds impacted his shields and overloaded them. The last eight tore into the creature's body and penetrated vital organs. The force from the bullets knocked the alien into the wall and it slide down to the floor leaving green blood on the walls.
A grenade landed next to the dead Elite's body. Marcus slinged his rifle over his shoulder and ran towards the window on the right of the room. He knew he was on the first floor and that the window led to a driveway. He broke through the window shoulder first and landed on his side and round twice before stopping. The grenade he threw exploded followed by the moans and screams of the several Elites and Grunts he had just killed.
The marine didn't waste anytime on the ground. He sprinted to his feet and ran down the driveway away from the main street. The driveway was five meters wide and could hold up to four hover cars parked back to back. Lucky for him there weren't any cars here. At the end of the driveway was a ninety degree bend to the right leading to an alley. The ally ran behind several buildings on the town's main street. It was only a meter wide with doors on the marine's right every twenty meters or so. He stopped at the second to last door before the alley led to side street. He unslung his rifle and aimed it at the door. With his right leg he kicked the door open. It swung to the left, hit the wall and bounced back. Marcus moved in its way stopping the door and cleared the room with his rifle.
The building was once a restaurant. The inside was burned and destroyed by several plasma grenades. The Covenant forces had probably marched through the small town tossing grenades into the buildings to kill anyone hiding inside. The restaurant was divided into two dining rooms separated by a small wall that was three meters long and two meters high. On the right was a door probably leading into the kitchen. Marcus eased the door closed and locked the bolt on the top so it wouldn't swing open with the wind. He took a good look around the charred interior. Most of the furniture was destroyed except for a table against the dividing wall. He crawled under it and sat so that his back was against the main wall and that his body was hidden behind the dividing wall. He held the rifle in his lap and took out the magazine. He reached into his ammo pouch and took out the almost empty magazine he had used back at the bank. The ODST began taking out the bullets, and then proceeded to put them in the magazine he had had in his weapon. He slapped the almost full magazine back into the rifle. The ammo counter now read 58. He also had only one full magazine left.
The lack of ammo didn't make Marcus feel very safe. If he had only grabbed some magazines from the dead members of his platoon he would be better off. The marine removed his helmet and ran his hand over his UNSC Marine Corps. regulation haircut. He relaxed his muscles and allowed his body to return to homeostasis. The adrenaline had kept him going for the last 3 hours as he and his platoon tried to hold the bank from the Covenant. He hated wearing the M83 tactical helmet. He laid it next to him. The weight of his armor began to hurt his shoulders, legs and chest. To ease the pain, the Helljumper started unclipping the connecting armor plating on his chest and back. The armor was a light weight version of Titanium A. Incorporated in the armor was the battery and communication equipment that every marine carried. From personal experience, Marcus knew that the heavy armor did little to protect the marines from plasma fire. His platoon was a good example.
He unclipped all of his armor and laid it next to him. Sweat started to pour down his face from the high heat of the planet. Marcus unbuttoned his green combat blouse and took it off. Underneath it, he wore a matching green t-shirt with the letters ODST on it in black letters. He figured that if he was going to die, he would die comfortable. He rolled up the sleeves of his T-shirt revealing the tattoo on his right arm. It depicted a marine standing over the dead body of an Elite.
The lost of the twenty pounds of armor allowed Marcus to flex his muscles. When he had joined the UNSC Marine Corps he was kind of chubby but boot camp quickly changed that. His drill sergeants must have been impressed by his performance because they recommended him for ODST training. Another three months of training included urban warfare, parachuting from a Pelican, and how to repel Covenant boarding parties from UNSC ships.
Marcus reached into his right cargo pocket and pulled out his ODST black beret. He held it in his hand and massaged out all the creases in it. The beret contained the ODST emblem. It was a circle with two crossing swords and a parachute in the middle. He pulled the Lt ranks out of his pocket and held them in his hand. He wasn't sure why he had taken the gold bars from Lt. Williams. The marine pinned the ranks onto his beret the way that ODST officers do when they wear their dress uniforms and berets. The beret found itself on Marcus's head.
The room started to grow dark as night started to engulf the town. If he was going to get out of this town alive, he would wait until it was darker and then try and sneak through town. During his platoons combat briefing, he had noticed that there was a UNSC airfield about ten klicks north of the town. There was no way that he could make it to the airfield on foot before dawn. Because the planet Tectron was smaller than Earth, the days and nights were shorter.
He let out a sigh as he relaxed his body even more. He was tired and wished he was back aboard the UNSC carrier Twilight in orbit over the planet, sleeping in his bunk. His daydream was broken by the sound of gunfire raging in the main street. The marine emerged from under the table and looked out the front of the restaurant. Three marines ran pass the building that Marcus was hiding in. They stopped, knelt and fired several rounds down the street. Plasma fired was returned. The plasma landed around the marines melting the stone street with flashes of green light.

Battle for Tectron: Chapter 2-A Helljumper's story part 2
Date: 16 December 2003, 7:00 AM

One of the marines was hit by a plasma bolt and fell to the ground dead. The other two began running down the street and turned the corner. Marcus ran to the back door that he had first entered. He unlocked the door and dashed out into the alley. He saw the Marines run pass the alley. He ran to join up with them. He exited the alley and was now running behind the two marines. Plasma blasts hit a wall next to Marcus. He stopped knelt and fired at the Elite that had fired at him. The Elite's shields fluttered from the contact with bullets but soon gave out. Bullets entered the alien's torso and it soon dropped dead.
The two marines who were running had stopped and faced Marcus. They were surprised that he was out of his armor and was wearing an ODST beret instead of a tactical helmet. They saw Grunts down the street and fired at them. Marcus used the covering fire to catch up to the other marines. After the Grunts were dead, the three marines ducked into another building. They proceeded to the back of the building and out the back into the alley.
"Thanks back there," commented one of the marines. Marcus faced the two tired marines. He noticed that they lacked the ODST emblem like the one on his beret anywhere on their uniforms. They were regular marines. The Helljumpers were trained to believe that they were superior to the average marine, and in theory they were, but in combat everyone was equal and everyone could die. The marines noticed the Lt bars on Marcus's beret. "I mean thanks back there, sir." The marine corrected himself.
Marcus looked at him strangely and then remembered that he was wearing the officer ranks. It was weird to him, that another marine had just called him sir, but it felt kind of good. "Its ok marine, what unit are you guys with?"
"We are with Fox company, 308th infantry battalion stationed abroad the USNC carrier the Defender of Life, sir." The other marine said after regaining his breath.
"Where is the rest of your unit?" Marcus asked.
"We were dropped in by Pelican on the west side of town to hold the main road into town. The Covenants used the field on that side of town to land Wraiths and a battalion of infantry. We mined the road to town and took out most of their Wraiths but that's not before they mortared most of the western part of town and most of our company. Our CO and our first sergeant were killed. Our platoon leaders ordered us to fall back into town. First platoon held the school and second platoon held the mayor's office. The Covies hit us hard and fast. They killed all of first platoon. We tried to hold the mayor's office but we couldn't. Our Lt was killed and our platoon sergeant ordered us to fallback before he died. We followed our squad leader down main street, but he was just killed back there."
Marcus took in their story. He didn't know that the Defender of Life was in space above the planet, but he concluded that it must have arrived to help the Twilight. Marcus asked the Marines, "Do you guys have names?"
"I am Private first class Thomas Gaius, sir."
"I'm Private Julio Castro, sir."
"I'm second lieutenant Marcus Whitman. It's good to meet you guys. I started to believe that I was the only marine left alive in this stinking town."
The other two marines laughed and then stopped. Julio worked up the courage to ask Marcus the same question that they were thinking. "Sir, where is your platoon?"
"I'm with Bravo Company, 21st ODST battalion stationed aboard the UNSC carrier Twilight. My platoon was sent in to assist the evacuation of bankers from a bank not too far from here. Our transport Pelican left with the noncombatants and promised to return to pick us up. The Covies attacked. Everyone in my platoon is dead. I barely made it out."
"What do we do now, El-tee?" Private Castro asked, while he loaded a fresh magazine into his assault rifle. Marcus was now regretting taking the Lt. William's ranks. These two marines were now looking at him for leadership. He asked himself, what would Lt. Williams do? The answer popped into his head. The battle hardened ODST officer would tell the men to set up ambushes and try to slow the Covenant progress through the town. This won't do. The enemy was too numerous and they won't last long in a firefight. If only they had some Warthogs, he would suggest that they head to the airfield. He decided to relay this information to the marines. Private Thomas quickly replied. "We saw several Pelicans fly over the town heading up to the north. They had Warthogs attached. They were in a descending formation, they had to be landing. It couldn't have been more than five minutes ago."
"We should start heading north. We'll stick to the alleys and try not to engage the alien bastards unless we have to." Marcus said as he scanned Julio and Thomas's faces for their reaction. They nodded and readied their weapons.
The three man squad navigated through the town doing as Marcus had ordered. They passed several Covenant patrols without any contact before reaching the town square. It was an open area with a statue of an unknown man in the middle. Marcus figured that he was probably the town's founder. There were no Covenant patrols in view but Marcus didn't like the idea of trying to cross the open area. He figured that they could run but even that was a risk. His squad hid in a building facing the square. Thomas was covering the back door and Julio was covering the front while Marcus peeped through the window trying not to expose too much of his head.
The sound of Pelican thrusters could be heard throughout the town. Marcus looked to the sky to see three military green Pelicans flying in a V formation. From his view, the three Pelicans were small but growing larger as they approached from the north side of town. Plasma fire ignited the sky as green streaks of plasma flew towards the Pelicans. The lead Pelican took a large plasma bolt to the cockpit and blew up. The other two broke formation trying to avoid the Covenant antiaircraft fire. The Pelican on the right received a plasma blast to its right wing and started into a descending spin. It crashed into a building and exploded into flames. The last Pelican tried to gain altitude but took a shot to its tail. Smoke trailed from the wounded dropship as it started to fall through the sky. It flew towards Marcus's position. The pilot tried to slow the descent of the Pelican by reversing the thrusters so that they pointed straight down to the ground, but it wasn't enough. The dropship hit the street and slid twenty five meters before it collided with the statue of the town's founder and stopped.
The dust settled allowing Marcus to see the downed dropship. He knew that he had to get to the troop transport and check for survivors. He turned to his squad. "Ok listen up this is the plan," he began. "Thomas you cover the left side of the street, and Julio take the right side. We'll haul ass to the dropship. I'll go inside and check for survivors. Use the Pelican as cover and fire at any Covies that you see." The other marines nodded. With the way these marines fought and obeyed orders, they could have easily been Helljumpers.
Marcus dashed through the door followed by Thomas and then Julio. His rifle was slung across his back as he quickly covered the distance between their former hide out and the crashed Pelican. He reached his objective before the other two since they were running with their rifles pointed down the two sides of the street. Marcus entered the Pelican through the side hatch. The interior was illuminated by a dim red emergency light. The troop bay was empty. The Pelican must have dropped off its cargo and was probably returning back to space.
Gunfire and plasma fire erupted outside the ship. Julio and Thomas were trying to defend their position. Marcus entered the cockpit to find the unconscious pilot. She was leaning over the controls but still strapped into her seat. The ODST checked her pulse, she was alive. He released her straps and pulled her out of the seat. She was small and light so he lifted her up onto his right shoulder and headed out of the dropship. Julio and Thomas looked at him. He nodded towards an alley on the opposite side of the street. They ran to the alley. Thomas was the last to enter as plasma fire grazed by him. A lucky shot hit him in the shoulder. He screamed in pain and grasped the wound with his hand.
The squad continued running down the alley before dipping into another building. This building was once a dress store. The three marines ducked behind the counter that stretched along the right side of the store. Purple triangular light penetrated the store and moved across its four walks. The light moved back and front before it disappeared. Julio looked up once the Covenant flashlights were gone. Two Hunters walked away from their new hide out. They were lucky. With none of the marines having grenades, the Hunters would have killed them quickly.
Marcus laid the pilot down on the ground. The female Warrant Officer started to come through. Her eyes opened revealing beautiful blue eyes that stared up at the Marcus. She rubbed her head and started to move. She sat up against the wall and looked around at the three marines. "Thank you," she said to the man who had just saved her life.

Battle for Tectron: Chapter 3
Date: 18 December 2003, 2:16 AM

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2004 Hours (Military Time). September 13th (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier Twilight. In space above the planet Tectron in the Aureas star system.
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The bridge of the UNSC carrier Twilight was a pentagon shape. In the front of the room were two large, connecting windows that meet the left and right walls of the room at a hundred and fifty degree angle. The back wall connected the two sides and contained an elevator on the right side and a large sliding door on the left. Computers and large monitors stretched from the walls with several UNSC personnel positioned at various stations. Navigation personnel typed in commands and read data from the meter high instrument that projected the large holographic map of the Aureas star system in the middle of the control room. The commander's chair is stationed between the holographic map and the large windows of the Twilight's bridge.
Commander John Hilton stood in front of the large windows looking out at the beautiful surface of Tectron and the empty blackness of space. The planet was eighty percent water with only two large continents on opposite sides of the planet with several small islands scattered around the vast oceans. He let out a deep exhale and walked back to his commander's chair. On the right arm of the chair was a flat screen monitor that showed the location of the other UNSC starships in the system. He reflected on the current situation.
Initially his carrier was the only ship in the system assigned to defend Tectron and its valuable resources from the Covenant. The people of Tectron supplied the UNSC with a large amount of Titanium A which is used as armor for all UNSC vessels. The Office of Naval Intelligence had discovered that the planet contained a rare substance they called Coveium which the Covenant use to power their spaceships. It was beyond our knowledge on how the enemy harnessed the power from these stones, but the fact that they did meant that Tectron would be a target.
Soon after the Twilight entered the Aureas system from Slipspace, a Covenant troop transport ship jumped into the system and entered Tectron's orbit on the opposite side of the planet from the Twilight. Before the Twilight's squadron of Longswords could destroy the enemy vessel it had already deployed its full load of combat troops, Wraiths and Banshees onto the planet. In response, Commander Hilton deployed the four battalions of marines and two companies of ODSTs from the Twilight to assist in the evacuation of noncombatants from the planet. The overwhelming Covenant ground forces captured the majority of Titanium A mines and all of the small towns that dotted Tectron's two continents. As of two hours ago, the only confirmed area that the marines still controlled was an airfield north of a town called New Era and firebase Delta located on the east coast of the small town. It was unsure how long the marines around New Era would last since the town was in enemy hands.
During the course of the ground battles, the UNSC carrier Defender of Life, and the destroyer Justice arrived to assist the Twilight in protecting the planet. The spaceships positioned themselves in a triangular formation around Tectron and deployed recon drones into the Aureas system to scan for incoming enemy ships.
Hilton turned his head to the left where First Lieutenant Carson sat looking at three monitors and typing in commands. Carson was in charge of the carrier's weapon systems and the twenty four squadrons of Longsword fighters. "Carson, Weapons status?" he ordered.
"MAC turrets are online and can be fully charged in thirty seconds, sir. Squadrons Alpha through Romeo are on stand by for launch. Squadrons Sierra through Zulu can be deployed with five minutes notice, sir."
"Excellent work Lieutenant." Hilton replied. In front of his chair was the damage control station operated by second Lieutenant Lisa Daily. Her station was a large monitor with a layout of the Twilight which she could rotate and zoom in and out to perform her duties. Next to Daily's console was communications officer David Pletal. He had a headset on his head with a microphone positioned near his mouth. This several monitors contained wavelengths of various radio frequencies used by the UNSC and the Covenant. Even though no one has been able to decipher the Covenant language, being able to pick up their transmissions gave an insight into the number of ships and importance of possible plans.
"Lieutenant Pletal, paint me a picture of what is happening down on the planet."
"Sir, the airfield was under attack, but Captain James was able to defend his position. He lost a good number of his company, but marines from other units all over the continent have been finding their way to the airfield, thus replenishing his numbers. He is confident that he can hold the airfield. Firebase Delta hasn't been discovered by the Covenant forces yet sir. They have also reported picking up marines from other units. We have several squadrons of Pelicans on surface assisting in extracting marines from behind enemy lines. They are operating out of the airfield, sir." Hilton was pleased by the young officer's explanation.
Commander Hilton only had a company of marines left on board the Twilight to defend against enemy boarding parties. The UNSC's fleets were engaging Covenant forces at Reach and wouldn't be able to help in what the Admirals of the UNSC would classify as a low priority mission. As long as he was able to maintain space superiority in this star system, Tectron was still in human hands.
On the right of the commander's chair sat the ship's navigator Captain Marshall. His station consisted of several radar monitors and the controls to maneuver the millions of tons of metal known as the Twilight through space. Hilton turned to the navigator to see the twenty eight year old naval officer staring at a radar monitor. His facial expression changed and he looked at Commander Hilton. "Sir, a Covenant cruiser has just jumped into the system at one-three-niner." The officer's voice was calm with a hint of fear and excitement.
Hilton's quick and tactical mind analyzed the situation. A cruiser contained no fighters, or ground troops, but instead had powerful shields and large plasma cannons. The time it took for the cruiser to exit Slipspace and root power to its main weapons would take between a minute and half to two minutes max. Hilton didn't want to take the chance of allowing the cruiser to become combat ready.
"Carson charge MAC turrets one, three and five and ready Archer missiles for launch by my command."
"Aye, aye sir." Carson responded typing the commands into his console.
Hilton turned to the small holographic disk on the arm of his chair. "Juanita my dear," he said as the figure of a woman appeared in a holographic form. She was the ship's AI. "Juanita create a firing solution on that Covenant cruiser, then forward the solutions to Carson's console and to the Defender of Life's weapons officer."
"Yes sir," she responded as numbers and equations crisscrossed her image. "Done sir."
"Sir, MAC turrets one, three, and five are online. Archer missiles are loaded and ready to go. Firing solutions are loaded, and all weapons are ready to fire on your command sir." Carson exclaimed. The commander nodded, and Carson pressed a red button on his console.
The turrets fired large explosive rounds at the enemy cruiser. The projectiles screamed through the empty space leaving behind a white trail of smoke. The first MAC shell impacted the cruiser's shells and exploded in orange flames spreading over a quarter of the ship's shields. The Covenant ship remained undamaged. The second round impacted in the center of its target. The shields fluttered but remained active. The third shell impacted towards the rear of the vessel causing the shields to collapse. The force of the impacted tore away protective armor. Twenty Archer missiles impacted the cruiser moments later. Greenish blue flames spurted from the ship's hull as internal and external explosions occurred.
The bridge crew of the Twilight observed through the bridge's large windows at the explosions which looked like colorful popping balloons. The explosions ceased and a zoomed in view of the cruiser appeared on a large monitor hanging from the roof of the bridge. Covenant cruisers were known for having massive amounts of armor around their reactors which protected them from exploding. Hilton knew this and ordered Carson to launch the Longswords of Alpha squadron to investigate the damage. The ship was "dead in the water" but there was always a chance that the crew could still be alive to transmit information. Hilton ordered Alpha squadron to fire on any remaining communication equipment and to patrol the area for any escape pods or dropships.
The kilometer of twisted and burnt alien metal floated through space away from Tectron. Hilton didn't like the idea of having an alien vessel in the star system, harmless or not. He ordered the pilots of Alpha squadron to return to the Twilight. The Twilight's commander turned to the ship's AI. "Juanita, load a firing solution for Archer missiles to the cruiser's reactor. Wait until the ship drifts to the maximum range of the missiles, I don't want that explosion affecting any of your sensors or electronics. Then load the solutions to Carson's console."
"Carson," Hilton began. "Fire when ready,"
"Aye, aye sir." Carson responded.
Hilton could have easily ordered the AI to fire the ship's weapons, but he always like to give that power to his human crew. As a student of warfare, he knew that morale was a powerful tool. He liked to make his crew feel like they were needed, even though Juanita was able to operate every function of the ship herself.
"Pletal, send a message to the Defender of Life and the Justice. Inform their respective Captains to prepare all weapons systems and to monitor their recon drones. If as much as a centimeter of enemy metal enters in this star system I want to know." The young officer replied with a yes sir and transmitted the orders on a private channel. Hilton stood up from his seat and walked over to Lt. Carson. He put his hand on the young man's shoulder.
"Good job today son."
"Thank you sir, but may I ask you a question sir?"
"Ask away Lieutenant."
"Sir, I could have calculated the firing solutions myself sir. We don't need that AI to do the work."
Hilton knew how the officer felt. He hated using the AI but he understood Juanita's purpose. "Lieutenant, I am confident in your abilities, but the reality is that Juanita can do the calculations in a quarter of the time that it would take you. I value everyone in this room and I wouldn't change you guys for the universe." Carson nodded and turned his attention back to his monitors. He respected his commander and knew that Hilton was right. Juanita spoke into Carson's headphones. The Lieutenant entered commands into his console and pressed another red button. The Twilight shuttered as another twenty Archer missiles fired from their pods and flew into the blackness of space. After a minute, there was a huge explosion in the distance as the missiles made contact with the cruiser's reactors causing it to detonate and destroy the enemy vessel completely.
The commander returned to his seat and ordered Bravo squadron launch to search the wreckage for escape pods.

Battle for Tectron: Chapter 4
Date: 23 December 2003, 4:55 AM

This chapter is kinda of boring only because it is setting the background for the next chapters which will include lots of action.
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2237 Hours (military time). September 13th (Military Calendar)/ New Era field north of the town on the planet Tectron in the Aureas star system.

      The squad of three marines and a naval warrant officer arrived at the LZ. The sight caused warrant officer Paula Mitchner to close her eyes and turn away. The field was littered with the dead bodies of marines that her squadron of Pelicans had dropped into the LZ less than an hour ago. The field was a quarter of kilometer wide and a half a kilometer long, the marines had no cover.
      Marcus assumed that they must have been ambushed because there were only a few bodies of dead Grunts and Elites around. He looked around for the platoon's three Warthogs. There was a fog which made visibility to only thirty five meters or less. One of the ATVs was turned upside down and on fire. Another one lay on its side with plasma holes along its undercarriage. The third also lay on its side but received minimal damage. Marcus pointed to the vehicle. Julio and Thomas nodded and made their way over to it slowly, watching out for any kind of moment.
      Julio was still in his combat gear and armor, but Thomas had learned the hard way that his armor was useless. His right shoulder was bandaged in white medical gauze with dry blood on his plain, green t shirt. He had gotten rid of his armor back at the dress store and instead of his M83 tactical helmet he wore a green Marine Corp cap.
      Paula knelt next to a deceased marine who died from a large plasma wound to his chest. Marcus walked up behind her and knelt. He guided his hand over the marine's face and closed the marine's eyes. A tear ran down her face but was stopped by Marcus's finger. The ODST reached into the fallen marine's ammo pouch and produced three full magazines. The ammo found itself in his own ammo pouch. The two stood up and made their way over Julio and Thomas.
      The two marines had flipped the Warthog onto its four wheels as their comrades arrived. Marcus inspected the vehicle without finding anything that would stop it from working. Paula climbed into the passenger seat while Julio and Thomas climbed into the back with Julio manning the chain gun. Marcus sat in the driver's seat and handed the warrant officer his rifle. The motor hesitated at first but soon roared to life. Its wheels turned and propelled the Warthog forward into the forest away from the town and towards the airfield.
      The road was wide enough to hold four or five Warthogs driving side by side. On the left and right was a seemingly endless dark forest. The lights from the ATV allowed Marcus to take a good look at Paula. She was pretty with her brown eyes and brown hair that stretched to her shoulder. Technically she was a higher rank than he was but as far as she was concerned he was a Lieutenant and thus on the same level. She didn't have to salute him or call him sir and he knew this. Paula wore a green flight suit with black combat boots and a pistol on her hip.
      The vehicle wined through the forest road for bout thirty minutes before it stopped. Ahead, the road was blocked by a M808B Scorpion Main Battle Tank and a Warthog. The turret of the tank and the chain gun of the Warthog faced down the road towards Marcus's squad. Marcus eased the ATV forward before stopping in front of the tank. He dismounted and walked towards the marine in the road block Warthog. The marine noticed the gold bars on Marcus's beret and gave him a salute. Marcus returned one of his own.
"Welcome to Last Hope airbase, sir."
"Where is your commanding officer?" asked Marcus.
"He is in the HQ set up in that old hanger."
      The marine pointed to a large structure behind him. It was a cylindrical can cut in the middle and laid down. It could easily fit two Pelicans back to back. The Helljumper returned to his Warthog while the roadblock marine tapped his Warthog driver's head to move out of the way. Marcus eased the vehicle pass the road block and into the field that contains the airfield. The base was surrounded by mountains in a semicircle arc and the forest comprising of the other half. There were two hangers positioned back towards the mountains with a runway running down the middle of the field.
      Marines were digging fox holes and filling sandbags on the perimeter by the forest. There were several anti aircraft .50 cal machine guns set up around the hangers and many more set up facing towards the forest. Marcus noticed ten or so Pelicans parked on the runway with engineers in red and yellow jump suits completing repairs and refueling. By the second hanger were twenty Warthogs parked in three rows. Scorpion tanks roared up and down the field taking up tactical positions facing the forest. Marines constructed sandbag structures around the tanks.
      Marcus's Warthog pulled up to the front of the HQ hanger. There was a sandbag wall in front of the entrance with a chain gun attached manned by four marines. The squad climbed out of their ATV and entered the HQ. It was lit by long florescent lights hanging from the ceiling. Not far from the entrance was an arrangement of desks with monitors on them with wires running across the floor up the walls.
The group approached the man who seemed to be in command. He faced the group. They stood at attention and saluted. The middle aged man returned their salute and extended his hand to Marcus. "Welcome Lieutenant," Marcus shook the man's hand.
"Thank you sir,"
"I'm Captain James of Dog Company, 349th infantry Battalion from the carrier Defender of Life, and you are?"
"Second Lieutenant Marcus Whitman of Bravo Company, 21st ODST battalion stationed aboard the UNSC carrier Twilight, sir."
"I didn't know warrant officers were being assigned to ODST platoons," the Captain said jokingly.
"None of these soldiers are from my platoon, sir. I kind of just picked them up on the way."
"Well, at the other end of this hanger is an infirmary, see to it that your marine," the Captain said referring to Thomas. "is taken care of. Pelican pilots are set up in the other hanger. You and the other private can stay here."
      Thomas and Paula saluted Captain James and left. Marcus started to feel uncomfortable wearing the officer ranks. If the Captain wanted to check, he could easily find out that Marcus was just a private. This would result in a court Marshall and punishable by death for impersonating an officer in times of war. He considered confessing but decided not to.
      Captain James motioned for the two marines to take a seat at a table with a map of the area on it. "Earlier, my company was hit hard by the enemy. I lost most of my men including my executive officer, and my platoon leaders. We were able to repeal them and forced them to retreat back to the town. From the reports that I've been getting from the naval boys over head, we're losing this planet. This base and firebase Delta on the east coast are the only ones left," the officer paused. "Most of the men here are from other units that had this encampment as their fallback point. We have twelve Pelicans assigned here to carry out extractions of other units stuck behind enemy lines. We also have five Scorpions here from a Calvary company that was cut off, the Pelicans flew them here not that long ago. The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm appointing you, Lieutenant as my XO."
      Marcus looked away from Captain James. These ranks were getting him in trouble. This battle hardened officer was going to put the lives of many marines in his hands. The thought of confessing raced through Marcus's head but was ignored. Thank you sir was all that he said.
"Good, now I want you to meet up with my company First Sergeant. He's over at the armory checking on supplies. Oh, the armory is in the next hanger along with the fly boys. Any questions Lieutenant Whitman?" Marcus paused and then replied. "I would like it if Private Julio Castro here and Private Thomas Gaius would be assigned under direct command."
"Granted, now check in with the First Sergeant Lee. Afterwards I want you to check on the marines preparing the perimeter and take any measures you find suitable for bettering our defenses. I don't know how long we have until the enemy attacks. I'm going to get on the horn and see if we can get any supplies."
      Marcus and Julio saluted the Captain and started walking down the length of the hanger. They reached the opposite end from the HQ where the infirmary was located. Fourteen marines laid wounded on military green blankets. Medics were hooking up IVs and changing dirty bandages. Thomas sat against the wall of the hanger as a medic was changing his bandages. "How you feeling Thomas?"
"I'm good to go sir."
"Good you are now under my command. Grab your equipment and meet me in the next hanger. "

Battle for Tectron: Chapter 5
Date: 28 December 2003, 6:51 AM

The sun was rising as Marcus and First Sergeant Lee inspected the encampment's perimeter defenses while Julio and Thomas strolled close behind with their rifles slung over their right shoulders. The sergeant pointed out the various aspects of the defenses and the several lines of fox holes and trenches that the marines were digging. As the man spoke, Marcus nodded his head, giving the appearance that he was agreeing, but in reality he noticed that the defenses were weak.

The airfield was rather large, which caused the limited number of marines, numbering around two hundred and sixty, to be spread out rather thin. The first line of fox holes were positioned ten meters from the forest with two marines in each hole. The second line consisted of trenches made one meter wide by twenty meters long with marines trying to construct more. Various sandbag walls and structures were constructed in odd locations with machine guns set up facing towards the forest. Six large antiaircraft flak guns were positioned around the runway and hangers with sandbag walls around them.

Marcus didn't like the idea of the flak guns being so far away from the front lines. The marines and tanks had no antiaircraft cover and this disturbed him. In addition, he hated the idea that the majority of the base's defenses were pointed towards the forest. The Covenant probably knew this after their last attack, and would most likely attack from the air. He could see the enemy using Banshees to knock out the antiaircraft flak guns and the grounded Pelicans, while their U-shaped dropships would drop troops close to the hangers and totally flank the majority of the marines.

Marcus's mind started working tactically as he stood by the runway and started redesigning the camps defenses in his head. He would lessen the amount of marines stationed near the forest and make more sandbag structures and walls near the hangers. The majority of machine guns would be moved back to around the runway. Marcus took the clipboard from Lee and turned to a blank page. He started putting down his ideas down onto paper. If the marines could cut down the size of the airfield, they would be better able to hold it. The flak guns would need to be protected, so that they could protect the marines.

The fake Lieutenant drew the airfield with the Pelicans moved from the right side of the camp to the direct middle. The flak guns were put in a circle around the hangers and the section of the runway with the Pelicans. He drew trenches and sandbag walls with machine guns set up around this circle. Marcus concluded that if the circle was kept tight and secured, the Covenant dropships wouldn't be able to drop their troops. This would force them to land down the runway to drop their troops. If they land Wraiths, the Scorpion tanks would be able to destroy them before they could become combat ready.

When he was done, he over looked his drawings. He was proud of himself. His mind started to wonder as he started to remember the members of his Helljumper's platoon, but he put the thoughts aside. He turned to the First Sergeant. "I want you to prepare the defenses like this." The clipboard found itself back in Lee's hands. He over looked the draws as Marcus explained himself and his thoughts. At the end, Lee saluted Marcus and walked over to a group of low ranking sergeants and corporals and started to modify the defenses.

The guilt and worry in his heart from the gold bars started to upset him. Julio and Thomas walked up to Marcus. "So what's the plan El tee?" asked Julio. "Can I tell you guys something?" The Helljumper's mind raced with the pros and cons of telling the two marines. He wasn't sure how they would respond. Would they rat him out to the Captain or would they just play along? He decided to put that decision in their hands.

"Sure, El tee, what you thinking." responded Thomas.

"Guys," Marcus paused giving himself one last chance to pull out. "I have to tell you guys a secret." He lowered his voice so that only Julio and Thomas could hear him. "I'm not really a Lieutenant. These ranks are off of my dead El tee back at the New Era bank."

The facial expressions of the two marines changed as they absorbed the confession. Thomas clearly didn't know how to accept the data and turned to Julio. Julio was nodding his head as if agreeing to the voice inside of his head. "Marcus, what do you want and expect us to do with this information?" Julio asked. The ODST was taken back.

"If I'm found out, they'll courtmarshall me and then execute me."

"The question still remains, what do you want us to do?" Julio dropped the respect of adding sir so this speech.
"Just follow along. The Covies are gonna attack this base sooner or later. With the defenses that Captain James had set up, we'll just lose and probably all die. My plan is better, because it takes into account attack from the air."

"Yea, I did notice that it was better."

"Just act like I'm a Lieutenant in front of everyone else especially the Captain and the First Sergeant."

"Ok Marcus, we'll do it but only for two reasons. First, if you are found out, it won't affect us in any way. Second, you did save our asses back their in town."

By night fall, the airfield's defenses were almost ready the way that Marcus had planned out. The three marines sat against the outside of the second hanger eating meals ready to eat (MRE). The camp was silent as the majority of the marines were sleeping wherever they laid their heads. Earlier, the Captain had complemented Marcus on improving the camps defenses. The commanding officer was working hard on the COM to get his men everything that he could, from ammo to medical kits for the medics.

0349 Hours (Military Time). September 14th (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier Twilight. In space above the planet Tectron in the Aureas star system.

Commander Hilton sat in his chair as Second Lieutenant David Pletal gave his hourly update on the marine's situation down on the planet. The Covenant hadn't attacked either of the two marine held bases, and this worried Hilton. He assumed that they were preparing for a large attack, or that they were spread out so thin over the planet's two continents that they wouldn't be able to attack. Secretly he prayed it was the second one.

After the destruction of the enemy cruiser they hadn't sent any other ships into the Aureas star system. The battle for Reach must be drawing their full attention. Hopefully, the fleet was giving the Covies hell. Hilton allowed his gaze to wonder out into the black void of space. The quiet white lights from distance stars on a never ending black drop seemed to focus the commander until Lt. Pletal got his attention. "Sir, the Defender of Life has sent us a message on the COM, their recon drones at the edge of the system have detected a Covenant fleet heading this way."

Hilton responded in a calm manner. "Patch the video feed from the drone onto the main monitor." The communications officer typed in commands into his console and then looked up at the huge screen hanging from the ceiling of the bridge. The screen showed static at first but then the view of the enemy fleet appeared. Hilton could make out a carrier, two destroyers, and a heavy battle cruiser. The crew of the bridge began to whisper to each other. The commander knew the topic of conversation, the heavy battle cruiser. The Covenant only had one or two of these, but that's all they needed. In the early days of the war, a heavy battle cruiser had taken out six UNSC cruisers and two carriers in a matter of a few hours.

Little was known about this Covenant vessel, but combat data showed that it was two kilometers long and half a kilometer wide. Its shields were believed to be impenetrable, and it hosted twelve large plasma cannons. Hilton knew that there was no way that the Twilight, Defender of Life, and Justice could take on the enemy vessel.

As if she was reading his mind, Juanita appeared on her hologram disk on his chair. "Sir, at their current speed, they'll be within firing range in five hours and twenty three minutes."

"Thank you Juanita, standby for my orders."

"Yes sir, but remember, that the Twilight and the Defender of Life have a combined total of one point four million noncombatants from Tectron on board."

"I know."

In reality, this fact had escaped his mind. He could not risk the lives of so many people, especially that many civilians. His options raced through his mind as the bridge crew carried on their tasks waiting patiently for his command. First, they could evacuate the marines from the planet and jump out of the system before the Covenant ever entered firing range. Second, they could fight the enemy fleet and all die for the cause. Hilton hated this idea, eventhough his military pride and honor tugged at him to make that decision. Finally, they could extract the marines, fire on the enemy and then jump out of the system. This choice would result in damage to the UNSC ships, if not total destruction.

The weight of command sank down on Hilton's shoulders. What should I do, raced through his mind. Whatever he choose, he had to make a decision soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus, Thomas, and Julio were awakened by the sound of explosions all around them. Banshees flew over head firing plasma bolts and fuel rod guns at the marines, killing some. Flak guns fired into the sky hitting two Banshees which blew up in a burst of blue flames. Marines ran for cover, jumping into fox holes and trenches. The squadron of Banshees circled around the airfield trying to destroy the flak guns. Two more enemy aircraft were destroyed before a flak gun was finally knocked out.

The sound of machine gun fire, and the screams of wounded marines filled the air. The Banshees were being knocked down one by one as twenty U-shaped dropships approached across the forest and turned away from the marines' defenses and towards the abandoned area of the runway. The enemy was proceeding as Marcus had expected. The dropships released their load of Covenant troops and a few Wraiths.

Marcus signaled with his hands for several marines to man the Scorpion battle tanks. The engines roared to life as the large military green tanks rolled towards the massing enemy down the runway. They fired their shells into a high arc that smashed into several Wraiths and destroyed a dropship. The remaining Banshees swooped in and fired on the Scorpions. Two tanks were knocked out before the flak guns got a lock and finished of the last of the Banshees.

The enemy troops stormed up the runway towards the humans' perimeter trenches. Marcus, Thomas, and Julio jumped into the nearest trench. Marcus aimed at a blue armored Elite and fired half a magazine into the creature. Its shields failed and it was tore to bloody pieces. Machine guns opened up on the attacking Grunts, Jackels, and Elites. Plasma bolts were returned, killing the marines in the trenches.

A machine gunner next to Julio received a green plasma bolt to his face which burned through his skull instantly killing the poor marine. Julio slid over to the .50 cal and started firing, killing a group of Grunts and a blue Elite. Six Jackels teamed up and connected their shields as they advanced towards the humans with several Grunts following behind. Bullets bounced off their shields as they fired their plasma rifles killing marines who exposed themselves.

Marcus yelled use your grenades to the marines in the trenches. Frag grenades flew, arced and landed by the line of Jackels. They exploded killing the blue aliens quickly. The wave after wave of Covenant troops didn't end as more and more dropships bought in enemy reinforcements. Marcus's lines were becoming depleted as the enemy kept advancing. Julio's machine gun had run out of ammo and he was back to his assault rifle. Marcus was quickly running out of ammo himself. He looked around the encampment for some sign of hope. He started to wonder where the Captain and First Sergeant were. They were probably in the HQ requesting assistance from the navy boys in space.

The enemy was now a hundred meters from the front lines. Marcus quickly analyzed the situation. There were probably twenty or so marines left on the front lines with another hundred and fifty manning the second defensive line and behind sandbag bunkers. Marcus looked over his left shoulder and noticed the Warthogs parked over by the second hanger. He yelled at the top of his lungs for the first line to man the Warthogs. Julio, Thomas, and Marcus rushed out of their trench and sprinted to the nearest ATV. Thomas reached first and took the drivers seat, while Marcus took the passenger's seat. Julio climbed into the back and pulled back the bolt on the chain gun, loading a round into the chamber.

Seven Warthogs roared to life and moved towards the aliens. Chain guns fired wildly into the Covenant ranks, cutting them down. Marcus's Warthog received a plasma bolt to its front left tire, which disappeared as it melted away. The vehicle stopped and turned sideways. Thomas and Marcus hoped out and ran to the side facing away from the enemy and continued firing their MA5B assault rifles. Julio's body shook violently as he continued to squeeze the trigger of the chain gun.

A U-shaped dropship lifted off after unloading its platoon of Grunts and flew towards the human controlled hangers. It received and dodged flak gun fire before it crashed into the HQ hanger. Marcus watched as the building exploded, killing everyone inside. The situation was now worst. He was now in command of the remaining marines. Looking back at the runway he noticed the Pelicans sitting on the runway, well protected by flak guns and machine guns. Turning to Thomas, he spoke. "I'm thinking that we should retreat in those Pelicans. We can't hold them off forever."

Thomas nodded, showing that he agreed with Marcus's idea. Julio hoped down from the back of the ATV. The barrel of the chain gun was smoking, and it was clear that it had run out of ammo.

Battle for Tectron: Chapter 6
Date: 8 January 2004, 6:42 AM

Chapter 6
      A group of three marines, with their weapons slung across their backs, ran over to the burning debris that was once the airfield's Headquarters. They began to dig through the rumble as plasma fire and gunfire roared around them. Flak guns shook the ground as they shot their explosive shells at incoming enemy dropships and Banshees. The marines had discovered the bodies of the naval technicians that were once operating the various communications equipment. First Sergeant Lee's upper body was dragged out, and it was clear that he was dead. The men continued their search for Captain James' body, but were quickly starting to lose hope in finding him alive.
      Under a large support beam laying across an old computer mainframe, a hand was seem. A member of the search party, crawled over to it, and knelt beside the hand. A finger twitched, startling the marine. He yelled for the other two, who ran over quickly. Using one of their rifles as a lever, they raised the beam, reveal the body but alive body of Captain James. Two more marines joined the search party and helped to drag out their commander's body.
      Marcus leaned around the side of the Warthog and fired three rounds into an approaching Grunt who died instantly. He was met with several plasma bolt just as he ducked back. The blasts hit the ATV, melting away centimeters of metal. Julio and Thomas sat with their backs against the Warthog and looked at Marcus for leadership, who looked back at them. Looking at Julio's battle hardened face, he noticed the small microphone that extended from the private's helmet.

"Julio, open a COM to all the marines, and Pelican pilots. Tell them to start evacuating the wounded and the navy people down here. Find me a pilot brave enough to come out here and rescue our asses."

      Julio nodded and put his hand to his helmet, activating the COM. Marcus looked back at the airfield and saw the pilots dash out of the second hanger and rush over to their dropships. Medics carrying the wounded on stretchers also made their way to the Pelicans.
      The Covenant had forgotten about Marcus and his men as they waged war on the airfield. They were gaining ground, but at the cost of many of their soldiers. The first line of trenches were abandoned, but the second line was holding strong. The enemy's U-shaped dropships kept bringing in more troops closer and closer to the marine held section of the runway.
      The wine of the Pelican's engines filled the air as they charged their engines in preparation for take off. Three Pelican's took off and flew upwards towards space. Another one rose vertically and then proceeded towards Marcus's position. Plasma hit the hull of the Pelican, leaving plasma burn marks. Marcus looked over at Julio. "It's warrant officer Paula Mitchner." Marcus nodded and signaled for the the marines to provide cover fire.

0553 Hours (Military Time). September 14th (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier Twilight, In orbit above the planet Tectron in the Aureas star system.

      Communications officer David Pletal, looked up from his console and turned to face Commander Hilton. "Sir, the Covenant are attacking the airfield. The HQ has been destroyed. I'm picking up various signals from the marines' COM gear. Captain James is badly hurt. Wait," Pletal paused and put his hand to his headphones. "A Lieutenant Marcus Whitman has ordered an evacuation. ETA for the first Pelicans are twenty five minutes."
      Hilton absorbed the information before responding. "Clear docking bay five A, and have the Pelicans dock their. Send several medical units there. Launch a squadron of our remaining Pelicans to evacuate Firebase Delta before they get attacked." Pletal responded with a yes sir and turned to relay the orders.
      Juanita's image appeared on the holographic disk on the commander's chair. "Sir, the Covenant fleet will reach firing range in two hours and seventeen minutes."
"Thank you Juanita," he paused as an idea emerged in his head. "Juanita, would an EMP from a Shiva nuclear warhead be powerful enough to knock out an enemy heavy battle cruiser's shields?"

"You have as much knowledge about a Covenant heavy battle cruiser as I do."

"Do you think it is a possible?"

"The force is known to knock to disable the shields of several large Covenant warships. It may be possible. May I ask what you are thinking?"

"When I have it all worked out Juanita, I'll let you. I would like you to coordinate the evacuation of Tectron."

"Yes sir."

      Warrant officer Paula Mitchner's Pelican landed smoothly aboard the Twilight. She power down the engines and switched off all the electronics. A sigh escaped her mouth as the adrenaline in her blood started to disappear. Her hands found their way to the harness release tab and pulled. Free from her chair she swung it around to face the troop transport bay. Exhausted marines piled out of the dropship except for Marcus. He walked over to her. Leaning against the doorway to the cockpit he spoke.

"Thanks for saving my ass back there."

"Someone's has to bring you jarheads in and out. Consider it payback for saving me."

"So I guess we're even."

"I guess so."

"We'll I'm going to check on Captain James. The higher ups will want a full report."

"Yea, I have to debrief with my CO. Then I have to take a shower."

"I feel you on that one. Maybe I'll see you around." It was clear that he was flirting with her.

"Sounds good."

      Julio and Thomas waited for Marcus to exit the Pelican. Once he exited, the trio made their way to the blast doors and left the docking bay. Marcus was familiar with the layout of the Twilight and navigated the hallways with ease. As crewmen and marines passed by, they would salute him and he would return a crisp salute. It made him feel good, but the reality hit him as the three marines found themselves outside of the Medical Bay. He wondered if Captain James was fine, but he wondered who the first person he would have to confess too.
      The double doors to the Medical Bay opened and the marines entered. The white lights reflected off the clean white floors nearly blinded Marcus. He had to allow his eyes to adjust. Doctors and nurses with blood stained uniforms were tending to the wounded marines, as the screams of grown men filled the room as more and more were bought into the large room. Marcus looked around for Captain James but didn't see him. A nurse walked by with a blood stained white scrubs.

"Excuse me miss, do you know where Captain James is?"

"He is over in the corner. The doctors are still working on him. I suggest that you come back later." The nurse replied as she washed the blood from her hands.
      The three marines exited the room and stood in the hallway. He wasn't sure what to do next. His platoon leader would usually leave the men in their bunks after a mission and return a few hours later. He never told anyone where he went. Before he could wonder for too long the voice of a woman rang through the Twilight's intercom system.

"Will Lieutenant Marcus Whitman please report to the bridge. All able marines that served on Tectron are to report to Auditorium five A for debriefing and bunk assignments." Marcus looked at Julio and Thomas.

Battle for Tectron Chapter 7 : Caught
Date: 15 January 2004, 6:59 AM

      It didn't take Marcus long to reach the bridge, but he was told to report to a briefing room down the hall. The room was in an oval shape with an elongated oval table in the middle with ten chairs positioned evenly around it. Several flat screen monitors were set up around the room along with holographic projection equipment embedded in the table itself. Whitman sat at the side of the table facing the doorway. He placed his beret on the table and sat at the position of attention. This arms laid straight on the armrest of the chair and his back was straight two inches from the back of the chair. He waited.
      After twenty minutes of sitting in the painful position he rested his back against the back of the chair. He waited. Twelve minutes later he felt the ship shake softly and knew that the Twilight had entered Slipspace. Questions raced through his mind, but he knew the answer. No matter how many Covenant the marines killed on the ground, the Navy boys could never win in space.
      He rubbed his chin and looked down at the dirty ODST t-shirt he was wearing. It was okay for him to be out of uniform down on planet fighting the enemy but not aboard a UNSC ship. Oh well, nothing he can do about it. Someone wanted to see him. He reflected on the words that came over the ship's intercom. The female voice had asked for Lieutenant Marcus Whitman. Was he caught or did no one take the time to check. This wasn't possible. UNSC policy required a roll-call after every mission. Was this the reason why no one had come to see him? Were they taking roll-call now?
      Before he could think up an answer, the door to the briefing room slid open and a medium height man entered. The man wore the all black marine dress uniform with several rows of combat citations and medals hanging from the right side of his jacket. On his head rested the ODST black beret and emblem along with his rank. Marcus snapped to attention and the saluted the Colonel. The officer walked over to the table and pulled out his chair. Before he sat he returned Marcus's salute.
      The two men sat facing each other. The Colonel produced a folder and laid it out on the table. He scanned several sheets of paper before looking at Marcus. "I am Colonel Jackson, commander of the marines stationed aboard the Twilight." Whitman had never met the man, but knew that he existed. All marine officers included the deceased Lieutenant Williams would meet with him before and after every mission. The man paused to review some more paper before closing the folder and thoroughly looking over Marcus. He eyed the ODST beret on the table along with the gold bars. Colonel Jackson relaxed and spoke with a low tone in his voice.

"Under the United Nations Space Command military law three dash sixty eight dash two, impersonating an officer in a time of war is punishable by death. Are you aware of this marine?" His voice contained no hint of the importance of the matter at hand.

"I am aware of this, sir."

"Why did you do it?"

"No excuses, sir."

"I see," Colonel Jackson stared at Private Whitman as if he was reading the Helljumper's soul. "Why did you decide to change the airfield's defenses?"

"Sir, I noticed that the defenses were weak," Marcus paused to search for any reaction on the officer's face before continuing. "Captain James and First Sergeant Lee positioned the marines in a formation that excluded the possibility of the enemy using dropships."

"How did you know that the Covenant would use dropships?"

"It was a hunch, sir."

"I see," The Colonel paused again. He tried to read Marcus but he couldn't. The marine was honest. "Are you aware of UNSC military law article eight dash twenty two dash one?"

"I'm not aware of that law, sir."

"This article allows a commanding officer in a time of war to forgive any breaking of military code by their subordinates. After reviewing the stories of the marines you bought back and speaking to Captain James, I am willing to over look this infraction. You are a leader and we are running low on good leaders these days. According to military protocol, I can not promote you to the rank of Lieutenant but instead I'm willing to give you the rank of Master Sergeant. Since Lieutenants are hard to come by, I'm giving you a platoon. Now, you will be the platoon leader at this rank and you'll have a platoon sergeant."

The Colonel paused as Marcus absorbed the weird information. Whitman nodded and Colonel Jackson continued. His voice hardened and became more serious. "If you tell anyone about this, and I hear that marines are putting on the ranks of their dead Lieutenants, I swear that I'll have you stripped of your rank and executed with the quickness! Are we understood marine?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Marcus replied quickly almost screaming
like when he was at boot camp.

"Do you have any questions?"

      Marcus paused as he thought. The images of this dead platoon members crept into his mind, but were quickly pushed aside.

"Sir, will I be in command of a Helljumper platoon?"
Colonel Jackson hesitated and leaned back further into his chair. "Orbital Drop Shock Troops are... You will be commanding a platoon of regular marines. They are formed from the survivors of Tectron."

"What about Helljumpers, sir?"

"You haven't heard son... We lost Reach," he paused for a moment. "Your platoon is bunked in rooms B six and B seven. I want you to remember three things about being a leader. First, a leader is responsible for everything that his unit does and fails to do. Second, the mission and your men come first. Third, lead by example, never ask one of your marines to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. And lead by example means wearing the full combat uniform and armor. I know from experience that it can not stop a plasma blast, but it is better than nothing and it brings unity to the Corp. Now, I have business to take care of. Any request before I leave?"

"Sir, I would like Private Thomas Gaius and Private Julio Castro assigned to my platoon."

"I'll see what I can do," Colonel Jackson stood up and Marcus followed. They saluted each other. "Helljumpers are going out of style. The Corp doesn't believe that we are needed. Wear your beret everyday and even in combat... Before I forget," the middle aged man reached into his pocket and produced a small box and slid it across the table to Marcus. The marine opened the box revealing two sets of Master Sergeant ranks.

"Thank you, sir."

"See to your men Master Sergeant Whitman."

"Yes sir."

      With that, the Colonel exited the room. Marcus sat back down in his chair and took the time to reflect on the conversation he and the Colonel just had. Reach was destroyed. Millions must have died defending it. Hundreds of thousands of those were marines and twenty thousand were ODST.

Battle for Tectron: Chapter 8
Date: 21 January 2004, 7:16 AM

2100 Hours (Military Time) September 14th (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier
Twilight, exiting slipspace into the Dorus star system.

      The Twilight exited Slipspace followed by the Justice and the Defender of Life. The UNSC vessels moved through the black void of space towards a lush green planet with three grey moons circling it. They decelerated and entered a triangular protective formation around the planet.
      Captain Hilton sat in the commander's chair of the Twilight holding his head in his hands. He reflected on the men he had just lost back on Tectron and the news that Reach was glassed. He had served on the former UNSC stronghold and had many friends stationed there. The UNSC's third, fourth and sixth fleets were destroyed in the battle. Those ships that survived jumped out of the system when the order to retreat was giving by Vice Admiral Casey. Communications officer David Pletal interrupted the Captain's thoughts.

"Sir, picking up a communiqué from FLEETCOM... The retreating forces from Reach are heading to this star system. Vice Admiral Casey's flagship the Lunar Eclipse will be the first to arrive. Their ETA is eight days. We are ordered to stay here and hold our position until he arrives."

      Hilton didn't respond but instead lifted his head up. His hand glided over the buttons on the arm of his chair. He pushed one and Juanita appeared on her holographic disk. "Yes Commander Hilton," she said with her Spanish accent.

"Juanita, I want you to see to the evacuation of the civilians from my ship. Find a suitable landing zone down on planet to set up a colony. Unload all extra supplies, building material, and some engineers. You have six hours."

"Aye, aye sir." The AI's image disappeared.

      The door to the bridge opened a figure wearing a black uniform appeared. Colonel Jackson strolled up to Commander Hilton with his hands behind his back. He stopped in front of the commander's chair, snapped to attention and presented a crisp salute. Hilton stood, and returned the salute. The two African American officers shook hands afterwards.

"How you doing John?"

"Considering the obvious, I'm fine. How about Leon?"

"I lost a lot of my men back there."

"I know," Hilton paused. "We received a communiqué from Vice Adirmal Casey. I have a feeling that we are going back to Tectron. The UNSC needs a victory right now, and this could just be it. I want the marines to start training down on planet... When I receive more information I'll keep you up to date."
"Yes, sir," Colonel Jackson saluted and left the bridge."


1000 Hours (Military Time) September 16th (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier
Twilight, defensive position over the planet Manugis in the Dorus star system.

      Master Sergeant Marcus Whitman stood on the low stage in the auditorium looking at his watch. He wore his green combat uniform with his, recently polished, black ODST jump combat boots along with his beret. Strapped to his right thigh sat a standard issue M6D pistol, the way that only Helljumpers are allowed to wear the weapon. Whitman fixed his uniform and checked for any lose threads that he could see. Once the Helljumper finished with his self check, the large double doors to the room opened.
      The sound of marching boots filled the air as the twenty nine other members of his platoon marched into the room. They filed into the five rows of seats and stood at attention in front of their chairs. Sergeant First Class Richards was the last to enter the room and closed the door behind him. He marched up to Marcus and saluted. "Master Sergeant, fourth platoon reporting as ordered, Master Sergeant." It was unusual for the veteran platoon sergeant to have to refer to his platoon leader as Master Sergeant, but he adapted to the situation. There were rumors circulating about how Marcus became a platoon leader, but he preferred not to seek the truth.
      The platoon leader returned the salute and told his men to have a seat. The members of the platoon sat in unison. Marcus's eyes scanned the faces of the men under his command. He had only been their leader for three days now and he was still learning their names. He recognized the two platoon corpsmen Paul and Steve along with the two snipers Mike and Raynard. The names of the others were still unclear.
"Good morning marines."
"Good morning Master Sergeant," the platoon said all together.
"For the last two days we've been hitting the weigh room and going over weapons and basic inventory. Is there anyone here who needs any piece of equipment."
      The men were silent. They admired how hard Marcus fought and bargained with the ship's quartermaster to get his men everything they needed from playing cards and extra socks to S2 AM sniper rifle ammo and field medical kits.
"Good," the platoon leader continued. "Before we start today's discussion on squad based tactics, does anyone have any questions in general?"
      The room was quiet as the men of fourth platoon sat at their seats. A marine in the third row raised his hand.
"Speak marine," Marcus said as he moved to the center of the stage.
"Any idea on our next mission, Master Sergeant?"
"Actually, I don't know anything. The brass is keeping everything quiet. All I know is that we are getting our asses kicked in this war. I think we're going back to Tectron, but that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. Any other questions?" The marines whispered amongst themselves but no one raised their hand. "Good lets get started."
      Marcus pressed a button on the podium set up on the low stage. A holographic disk on the floor in front of the stage snapped to life and flashed several times before it was a constant beam shooting up into the air. A few seconds passed and the image of Grunt appeared.
"This is a Covenant Grunt. These are their basic form of infantry. These little creatures are weak when alone, but in a large group or with an Elite, they are aggressive. They carry weapons such as plasma pistols, needlers, and plasma grenades. Killing them is pretty straight forward, they don't wear armor or have shields. Just shot them. Depending on where they are hit, one of these will take between one to four rounds."
      The marines showed their agreement by nodding. Marcus pressed another button and the holographic image of a Jackel appeared. "This is a Jackel. These bird like creatures carry reflective shields on their right arms. The circular shield is roughly a meter in diameter. Who here knows to kill one of these?" Marcus scanned the crowd. A marine in the back row raised his hand. Marcus nodded to him.

"You fucking grenade the little bastard," the other marines laughed. "If not then lay down covering fire and flank the alien fuckers, Master Sergeant."

"That's correct private. These creatures have only been known to carry plasma pistols. When in a group, they like to form a kind of phalanx by over lapping their shields. A grenade of a Jackhammer rocket will take care of that. Now moving on," the image of a Hunter appeared. The marines grew quiet. Many of them had never seen the large alien before. Its bluish gray armor glowed green as the image charged its large weapon on its left hand that seemed to be attached. "This pretty little motherfucker is a Hunter. Its armor can deflect small arms fire easily. On its right arm is a large shield and a large fuel rod canon attached to its left arm. They travel in groups of two, we don't know why, but they do. So if you see one, there is another one around. The Covenant uses Hunters to guard important structures. Because they are slow, so they can't keep up with regular enemy infantry."

      The image rotated showing the back of the large Alien. "This orange section is the Hunters weak spot. Because this area is so sensitive, it isn't protected by armor. A few well placed rounds in this area will kill it. The hard part is getting around to its back. A team can strafe while another team flanks it."
      Before Marcus could continue, the double doors to the auditorium opened. He noticed the four men who entered. "Officer on deck." The marines snapped to attention. Colonel Jackson, Captain James, Thomas Gauis, and Julio Castro stood in front of stage. Marcus saluted the officers and they returned his salute. The Colonel walked up to Marcus and whispered in his ear. Whitman took a step forward. "Sergeant Richards, take charge of the platoon. Move out to bunks for weapons cleaning, company inspection in ranks at fourteen hundred hours in hanger C three."
      Sergeant First Class Richards called the men of fourth platoon to attention and marched them out of the auditorium. The large double doors closed leaving Marcus, Colonel Jackson, Captain James, Thomas, and Julio. The Colonel had the men take a seat before speaking. "How's the platoon going Master Sergeant?"

"It's going fine sir."

"I found these two," referring to Thomas and Julio. "Assigned to the Quartermaster aboard the Defender of Life. They've been reassigned to your platoon. Pick two members of your unit and transfer them to Bravo company second platoon."

"Yes sir."

"Now to the matter at hand," Colonel Jackson pulled a data pad out of his jacket. He connected it to the auditorium's holographic display, and the image of a planet appeared. "This is Manugis, the planet we are currently orbiting. The one point four million evacuated residents of Tectron are down on planet setting up five colonies. Now for your mission," the image of the planet zooms in on a mountain range near one of the colonies marked by a red triangle. "We are receiving a signal from a cave embedded in these mountains. The signal is being broadcasted on a Covenant bandwidth, but we can't connect the code to any enemy language that we know. Your mission is to enter the cave and discover the source of this transmission. Any questions Master Sergeant?"

"What kind of support will my men and I have, sir?"

"Your deploy Pelicans will drop you platoon off and make an immediate dust off. They will stay on station at the colony when you need evacuation. If things get hairy down there, I want you and your men to bug out back to the LZ and call for air support. A squadron of Longswords will be waiting incase you need them."

"Thank you, sir."

"Any other questions?"

"No sir."

"Good, don't inform your platoon of this mission until you are aboard your assigned Pelicans. I don't want this information leaking down to the civilians. If they hear that the enemy is down on planet, and we aren't doing anything about it, they'll riot... Just be careful. Remember, if you make contact with the enemy just bug out and call for air support."

"Yes sir."

"Sergeant First Class Richards is a good marine. He's seen more combat than any other marine that I know. That's why I assigned him as your platoon sergeant. Listen to what he has to say, but remember that you are in command."

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