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ODST Lead the Way by Helljumper
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ODST Lead the Way Chapter 1
Date: 28 February 2004, 2:52 AM
I'm taking a break from my series Battle for Tectron. Sorry to all of you guys that wanted to see where it is going. This college thing is taking up a lot of my time so I haven't been able to write like I would want to. I'm bringing the same kinda flavor as with my last series, character insight and development. This one is gonna be short, only a few chapters, but should be good, I hope. I'm just winging it, I don't really have a plan for how its gonna go. Comments are appreciated as you know.
0230 Hours (Military time). January 25th (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Destroyer Pittsburgh in orbit of the planet Venix in the Nubus star system.
Lieutenant Kris Davis woke to the sound of his alarm clock. His eyes strained to adjust to the darkness. They landed on the small clock emitting three red numbers on the metal wall opposite his bed. He read the numbers. 2:30 am. His brain clicked in and rushed the memory of why he was waking up so damn early. "Lights on," moments later the ceiling lights flickered on. The Lt. ran his hand over his face, twisted his torso and threw his legs over the side of his bunk. He leaned forward and made contact with the floor. It was cold to his naked feet but he put the feeling aside.
Davis took the moment to reflect on the mission at hand. He had ten minutes to get dressed, meet his platoon sergeant, and awaken his men. It seemed simple enough, for now. His head turned to face his combat gear and battle fatigues laid out inside his wall locker. He stood up, but his body pleaded for him to go back to sleep. Davis completed a series of stretches before walking over to the mirror hanging from his locker. He stared at himself, but couldn't recognize his face. This new face was hard, with several winkles. "I'm only twenty-five, I shouldn't look like this. He thought to himself before taking a step back.
Gathering his thoughts he set to the task of dressing himself. The color of the uniform confused him. It didn't contain camouflage patterns, and it wasn't a solid military green. Instead it was more of a grayish green with the brown M62 battle armor. He laughed at the title, battle armor. It did little to stop a plasma bolt, but the Corp still required every marine to wear it. Davis clipped on the various parts of the armor. Last, he put on his matching grayish green cap. On the front contained his Lieutenant ranks in black.
After his black ODST jump boots, Davis stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. Seeing everything was up to expectation he reached into the locker and produced the M71 tactical helmet-mounted display (HMD). The small, transparent green glass was connected to his cap. He folded it down so that it was aligned completely with his right eye. Blinking a few times, the marine's right eye adjusted to seeing everything as green.
Davis equipped his M6D pistol to his right thigh, the way that only Helljumpers are allowed to the wear the weapon. He pulled the pistol from its holster and pulled back the bolt loading a round into the chamber and released. The top of the gun slammed forward covering the once exposed barrel. It found itself back into its holster. The Helljumper pulled his MA5B assault rifle from the wall locker. Pressing a small button on the weapon activated his HMD. A self check list scrolled across the green glass and quickly disappeared. A crosshair appeared on the HMD. Davis moved the rifle in a circle and watched as the crosshair moved in unison with the rifle. It amazed him how the two pieces of equipment worked well together. The HMD eliminated the need for sights on the rifle and gave the view from a small camera mounted below the barrel. The AR was slung over Davis's shoulder.
Last but not least, the Lt. pulled out a plasma pistol from the locker. He examined it remembering that he had collected the alien weapon from the body of a dead Grunt he'd killed on his last mission. Davis stuffed the weapon in his left cargo pocket.
The elevator door closed and shook slightly before it began its decent. Lt. Davis shrugged his shoulders trying to adjust to the weight of his full combat gear. The elevator came to a halt on floor B-17. The large doors opened revealing a long hallway with doors embedded every twenty meters or so. Down the hall, Davis could make out the silhouette of a body. He knew who it was by the way the person was standing. The Lt. walked the distance between the elevator and Sergeant First Class Moreland quickly. The platoon sergeant gave Davis a quick, informal salute which the Lt. returned. "You ready to do this sir?" David nodded. "I guess, I'll wake first squad and you can do second squad." Moreland replied.
ODST Lead the Way Chapter 2
Date: 29 February 2004, 8:01 PM
The two men stood in front of two adjacent doors. Davis looked at the door in front of him, B-1721. He stepped forward and the door slide open quietly. Inside was dark as he entered. His eyes adjusted and he could make out the wall lockers and the nine bunks with his Helljumpers in them. Several of them were snoring quite loudly. Davis smiled to himself, "I'm glad officers have their own rooms. The Lt. cleared his throat for what he was about to do. Sergeant Moreland beat him to it, Davis could hear the yelling and shuffling of feet coming from the next room over. With the tone and volume of a Drill Sergeant, Lt. Davis got to work.
"Lights on. Get your asses up! Let's move marines, the Corp doesn't pay you to sleep! Let's go, go, go, assholes and elbows! Full combat gear, rifles, ammo, battle armor! Why are you all moving so fucking slow? We got a mission to complete and Covies to kill... Why do you Helljumpers move like regular marines? I'm ashamed! Get your shit squared away and fall into the hallway!"
The verbal assault was short but got to the point. The Helljumpers of second squad were out of their bunks and getting dressed.
Two all black Pelican dropships hurled through the planet's atmosphere. Their hulls glowed a mixture of red and orange from the high velocity and high temperatures of the dropships entry through the ozone. They leveled off and flew through thick clouds. Inside the left dropship, Lieutenant Davis began to check his parachute equipment. The troop bay was dimly lit by red light. Satisfied with his check, he looked around the bay at the other nine Helljumpers under his command. The men were busy applying camouflage face paint, checking their weapons, and parachutes.
The pilot's clam voice cut through the silence. "ETA to drop is two minutes, fellas. Check ya shit and get ready." Davis took the time to look out the portside window. It was dark but he was able to make out the seemingly endless forest below. His mind began to recall the briefing he had received concerning this mission. In just a few hours, ten thousand marines would be landing on planet to engage the fifteen thousand Covenant warriors already here. His ODST platoon's objective is to set up an ambush at a major road junction and to hold it till the 501st Calvary battalion relieves them. Depending on how the battle for this planet goes, they may never be relieved or extracted, but that's what Helljumpers do.
"ETA to drop zone, thirty seconds, good luck."
The rear ramp opened slowly revealing the darkness of night. The planet's moon could be seen shining dimly onto the forest below. Davis stood up and signaled for his men to follow. He stood at the edge of the ramp. The cold air caught Davis by surprise but it was clean and refreshing. The recycled air aboard UNSC vessels had a certain smell about it. How could those Navy boys do it? This was thought for another time, he had to be focused for himself and for his men.
The small light above the ramp turned from red to green. The Lt. turned to his men. "First to rise, last to fall, Helljumpers do it all. Feet first into Hell, see you men on the ground." With that he stepped backwards and jumped out of the dropship.
The twenty Helljumpers fell through the night sky towards a small clearing in the forest below. In unison they pulled their parachute. Davis hit the ground, bent his knees and rolled. He came up onto his knees and pulled his parachute into its bag. The nineteen other members of his platoon started to land around him. Sergeant Moreland ran over to Davis and knelt next to him. The other Helljumpers spread out and took up defensive positions facing towards the forest. The Lt. produced a data pad and entered a series of numbers. A map appeared on the screen with a blue circle on it.
"We're in the right LZ."
"What's our next move sir?"
"I want you to take second squad and move north west to this road." Davis pointed to a red line on the data pad. "Follow the road east to the junction. I'll take first squad north and we'll start to set up defenses. Try not to engage the enemy unless you have to.
"Yes sir."
Moreland completed a series of hand signals and disappeared into the forest with second squad. Davis looked around the field before signaling for first squad to move forward. The squad's sniper and spotter took the point while the medic and another rifleman took up the rear. The five others including Davis proceeded up the middle. The Helljumpers moved slowly and quietly through the forest. Every now and then the point men would stop the squad before moving forward. At one of these stops Davis took the time to look over his squad. On his left was, COM specialist Mike Williams carrying the units portable ground to space radio transmitter. Taking a prone position to Davis's right was the squad's heavy weapons team. Two of these marines carried Jackhammer rocket launchers along with their ARs, while the third carried the M73 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). This weapon consisted of two barrels with two drums of ammo on the sides. When it came to laying down a stream of covering fire, this weapon did the job. The only draw back was that the gunner had to be prone and use the weapon's bipods in order to fire it.
ODST Lead the Way Chapter 3
Date: 4 March 2004, 8:19 AM
First squad reached the road junction. Davis signaled for his men to take up defense positions in the forest facing the road and pulled out his data pad. "We're right where we're suppose to be." He thought to himself before his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet impacting the paved road. He turned to his right and made eye contact with the squad's sniper. He completed a series of hand signals. Davis nodded as he read them. Two Jackals were making their way up the road to the Helljumpers' position.
Davis held up his fist and covered it with his right hand. This signaled the Helljumpers to take cover and conceal themselves into the forest. The Lt sat with his back against a large tree and looked over his right shoulder. He could make the two aliens as they walked side by side. They spoke to each other loudly in their alien language that sounded more like bird chirps than actual words. The Jackals passed by Davis's tree, the ODST officer turned his head slowly to the left to follow the alien's path away from the T intersection.
If they continued, they would run into second squad. With the dead silence of night, the slightest sound of gunfire would echo for a long distance. Davis made the decision to neutralize the threat. He signaled to Corporal James, who lay prone behind a tree five meters from Davis. The two marines quietly slung their rifles and crouched out of the forest. They stepped softly as they crept up behind the two aliens.
Davis and James produced combat knives from their sheaths, strapped to their ankles. They approached the Jackals who continued to chat. One of them let out what could be described as a laugh. Davis held his knife with the blade pointing down and raised his two arms evenly. Corporal James raised his left arm and held the blade in his right hand with the point facing up.
The Lieutenant struck first. He grabbed the creature's beak with his left hand and forced the blade down at an angle into the spinal cord of the Jackal in between its neck and shoulder. The knife sliced right through the vertebrae and cut the spinal cord killing the alien instantly.
The second alien noticed his comrade's death, but before it could react was grabbed around the neck as James pushed the combat knife into the alien's back. The Jackal started to shake for several seconds before it stopped and went limp in the Helljumpers arms.
The two Marines dragged the lifeless bodies into the forest where they were dumped twenty meters away from the road and covered with vegetation. Davis knelt next to the alien he had just killed. He disconnected the portable shield band from the creature's arm and examined it. It was then connected to his own arm. It snapped on extremely tight causing the blood flow to his hands to seize. He struggled to get the device to loosen. The shield band relaxed and sat comfortable on his arm.
Davis walked back over to his men and produced the data pad from his equipment belt.The clock on the pad read 5:31. In twenty minutes second squad should arrive and in an hour, the invasion would begin.
While his men lay prone or knelt in the safety of the forest, Davis stood up and walked out into the road. It was paved and very wide. He walked into the middle of the T intersection and looked all three ways. As far as he could see in all three directions was darkness. The Lt. looked at his data pad. According to FLEET-INTEL, the Covenant had a base set up two klicks to the east. Orbital bombardment would soften up the base for the marines of the 68th Division to attack. Retreating enemy forces would come this way. His platoon's orders are to trap this retreating force until the 68th catches up to finish them off.
Davis found his way back to his men. He signaled for them to gather around him.
"Ok listen up Marines. We'll set up an HQ fifty meters into the forest. Drop off all extra equipment. Williams, I want you to set up the COM gear and contact the Fleet to let them know we are in position. Heavy weapons team will set up the SAW across the road facing east and long with one of the Jackhammers and extra rounds. The Covies might have armor. Set the other Jackhammer up on this side of the street. Take two riflemen to cover you. Sniper and Spotter proceed a hundred meters east and find yourselves a nice firing position. Do not engage the enemy unless instructed to. I want to know everything that comes down that road. Corporal James, you're with me at all times. Lets move Marines, the war isn't gonna wait for you."
Second squad arrived right on time and began to set up their positions. Fox holes were dug into the forest facing the road along with additional defensive positions. By 0600 hours, the Helljumpers were embedded in their fox holes. It was still dark and the only light available was the dim shine of the moon.
Davis stood in his fox hold checking the bolt on his AR. Some dirt had gotten into it and he wanted to make sure it was ready for the battle to come. Satisfied with his cleaning he pulled back the bolt loading a round into the chamber. He was nervous, but he was use to it. Before every mission he felt the same feeling, but once the action started, his training took over and he functioned on pure adrenaline.
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