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ODST Squad 68 1
Date: 11 September 2010, 9:54 am
ODST Squad 68 Part 1: Introduction
Douglas was a well-built white English soldier. He had long blond/brown hair and gentle brown eyes. He was muscular and tall, but did not often uses these assets. He was an officer of ONI and preferred to be behind a computer than in the battlefield. But alas, he would not have this luxury in his new assignment. He was being transferred to ODST Squad 68 to be their technological officer and ONI liaison. Another talent he had was the ability to drive or pilot any vehicle, UNSC or Covenant, with extreme skill. Whenever he was put in a situation that required him to drive, he would be deadly, if a bit reckless. He would always keep any passengers alive and the vehicle functioning, while still being able to complete his objective. He was also naturally, being an ONI agent, an expert on weapons and vehicles. He would use this skill to great effect in the battle field.
His armour was based on the ODST body suit, but with many of his own modifications. Some of the main modifications include extra armour, a modified forearm to hold his trusty TACPAD, extended-EVA/hostile environment modifications and a modified helmet that had built in flashlights, cameras and a combined VISR/Night Vision System. Another thing he used frequently was his trusty M6D Magnum Sidearm or 'Magnum' as it was often called. It too was heavily modified. Apart from the already present scope it had a laser pointer, a silencer and flash suppressor, modified deadlier bullets, and extended magazines. He also carried a non-modified, standard issue M7/Caseless Submachine Gun or 'SMG', and a MA5C Individual Combat Weapon System or 'Assault Rifle'. He had many Armour Abilities including Sprint, Active Camo, Holograph, Armour Lock and a Drop Shield although he would not often put them to use.
Douglas had not yet met Squad 68, and was walking down the hall, towards the briefing room in order to meet them. He had read the ONI files and had discovered there were five members of the squad apart from him, and each had their own role.
There was the Commander, an old and war-scarred veteran named Domhnall 'Dom' MacDonald. He had what was once known as a Scottish accent and was Caucasian. He normally had a shaved head, but otherwise had blond, greying hair, and had stubble as well as lots of scars. He had no preference when it came to weapons and usually just carried whatever was standard for the mission, usually a Silenced SMG and a Pistol. He used Sprint as his armour ability.
The second-in-command and CQB specialist went by the name of Thomas 'Tom' Jones. He was a fairly young English Caucasian with crew cut brown-black hair. He also acted as the squad's unofficial medic. He usually carried typical close-quarters weapons such as; a Shotgun, an unsilenced SMG, a pistol, and an assortment of knives. He used a Drop Shield and Sprint.
The marksman was called Zephania 'Zeph' Smith, and was quite the 'lone wolf'. He was a middle-aged medium brown African with curly brown hair. He uses a sniper, usually modified to include extras such as increased zoom, a suppressor/silencer, night vision, a tripod, and extended magazines. He also wielded a DMR, a pistol, and used Active Camo systems as well as Sprint.
There was heavy weapons specialist, a young and energetic Russian, Vanya 'Ivan' Garagin. He had fairly long straight black hair and slight stubble. He mainly wields a Spartan Laser, an Assault Rifle and a pistol. He also frequently use other heavy support weapons such as a turret. He uses Armour Lock and Sprint.
The explosives expert was an American Caucasian named Anderson 'Andy' Brown. He had messy brown hair and a clean shaven face. He was very enthusiastic and often used a Rocket Launcher, a Grenade Launcher and a pistol, as well as any other explosives, such as the M168 Demolition Charge, that the mission required. He used Armor Lock and Sprint.
Douglas was eager to meet them, and sped up his walk as he approached the briefing room. As he entered he saw the squad clustered around a briefing table. The Commander was at the head of the table, barking orders, and Tom was behind him getting weapons ready. Zeph was leaning against a wall away from everyone, helmet on, tinkering with his sniper. Ivan and Andy were at the opposite end of the table, chatting to each other. The Commander caught sight of Douglas and stopped talking. "It's the ONI spook." muttered Tom. Douglas walked up to the Commander. "I've been transferred to your Squad commander," said Douglas "I am to accompany you on your next assignment." The commander replied; "We've got a combat drop in a few minutes, get suited up." Douglas went to a nearby storage unit and found his helmet and armour. He was already in his under-suit, but the rest of the squad had all their armour except their helmets on, and Douglas was eager to join them. He got on his modified armour and helmet and picked up his pistol. He then went towards the rack of weapons and picked up a SMG and an Assault Rifle. "Where's my pod Commander?" he asked. "It's the furthest on the left!" he shouted from across the room. Douglas put the SMG and Assault Rifle in his pod and then walked back over to the table where the squad was gathered. "Zeph, get over here!" yelled the Commander. Zeph reluctantly put his Sniper Rifle on his back and walked over, taking of his helmet, and stood around the table with the rest of the squad.
"Right," said the Commander, "our objective is to capture and/or destroy that Covenant base." He pointed to a small Covenant base on the holographic map. "I guess that's my department." said Andy. "If it comes to that, yes it is." said the Commander. "Prepare to drop!" he suddenly shouted as the sirens blared. Everyone rushed to the weapons rack, putting on their helmets and picking up their weapons. Everyone then got in their pods and shut the doors. Douglas secured his helmet, put on his backpack, and rushed to his pod. He clambered in and the door snapped shut. He strapped himself in and sat back as the screens in his pod flickered on to reveal the faces of the Commander and Tom. They were shouting orders, but Douglas wasn't listening. This was his first proper combat drop and he was preparing himself. The pod turned down and was lowered into space. There was a clanking noise and the pod was released. Douglas' stomach lurched as the pod suddenly dropped. He was zooming towards the planet's surface. As he entered cloud level he deployed rear drag chute and soon after his braking rockets activated. He saw the ground coming and shut his eyes. He felt like he was going to fast and was going to die.
Then he hit the ground.
ODST Squad 68 2
Date: 23 October 2010, 11:58 am
ODST Squad 68 Part 2
Douglas' drop pod zoomed through the sky, on fire from entry, and then hit a cliff. There was a huge smash and the pod ricocheted of the edge of the rocky cliff and splashed into the nearby sea. Douglas was knocked out by the impact of the crash into the cliff, and his helmet had been knocked askew. He blinked back into consciousness just in time to see the water splashing against his drop pod window. He looked down at he feet and was surprised to find they were submerged in water. There was a crack in the window and the drop pod was slowly sinking into the murky depths. He tried to get up but the sudden movement made him dizzy and he almost threw up. He sank back into the seat trying to remain conscious.
When he managed to slowly get back up again, the water was up to his knees and slowly coming to his waist. Suddenly, another crack appeared and jet of water sprung at his chest, increasing the flow of water. Douglas reached for his helmet, but it had become stuck and he could not pull it free. He turned round and pushed the door of his pod. The volume and pressure of the water meant he could not open it. The water slowly crept towards his chest as he began to hit the explosive bolts on the door. After he had hit two of the bolts, yet another crack appeared in the window and more water flooded in. He hit the third and the water reached his shoulders. He hit the fourth just as the water reached his neck, and reached for the fifth as his head went under. Everything went quiet.
There was a bang and a rush of water as the door of the drop pod flew off. Douglas got to the surface just in time and breathed a huge gulp of air before going back under the water. He took his SMG and holstered it on his right thigh. His pistol was in his TACTICAL/HARD CASE on his right thigh and he had just clipped his Assault Rifle to his back. He drew out his pistol and shot the cluster of wires and debris holding his helmet until the helmet floated at him. He grabbed it and swam back to the surface. He shook his head to dry his hair and then slipped and locked his helmet back on.
Douglas swam towards the shore which was a short distance away. After a while swimming he stopped and surveyed the beach. On the portion of shore in front of him there was a small assortment of Covenant. There were a few Grunts and Jackals/Skirmishers, an Engineer guarded by Drones, a pair of Hunters, an Elite, presumably the leader, with an Energy Sword, and two Elite-driven Ghosts. Douglas considered the situation and decided to try and slip past. He drew his Pistol and took down the Engineer before diving underwater and activating Active Camo to avoid counter-fire. His suit combined with his helmet would sustain him underwater for a fair while. He swam closer and the popped up his head. He grabbed two frags from his waist and threw them at the aliens as his Active Camo ran out. The Grunts and Jackals were taken down by this and Douglas used the distraction to get out of the water and Sprint at his enemies.
He took some Plasma Grenades from the dead Grunts and threw them at the Hunters, killing one. He quickly took down the other with SMG just as it was about to fire back. Most of the Elites had lost their shields and a few of the Drones had been killed by the explosions. He threw down a Drop Shield and sent out a Hologram to distract the ghost. His Drop Shield ran out and he rolled sideways and finished of the other Drones with some quick headshots from his pistol, before switching to his Assault Rifle and mowing down the Elites. Finally he Armour Lock-ed and destroyed one of the ghost before jumping backwards and hijacking the other one. He then zoomed off further upshore.
Zeph kicked the door of his pod off and flopped to the ground outside. He pushed himself up, shook his head and took his Sniper Rifle and DMR from his pod and then began to walk slowly away from the pod. "Is anyone there?" he said over his radio. There was no reply. He had seen a drop pod land near a large expanse of water not far from him. He clambered on to a pile of rock and looked around with his goggles. He saw some heat signatures down by the beach. He took out his Sniper Rifle, aimed at the most powerful looking Elite, and popped a headshot right between his eyes. "Good night." he muttered to himself. He took out a few more Elites before sliding down the rock pile, rolling forward and pulling out his DMR. He quickly took down the Grunts and Jackals with one magazine. He reloaded, put away his gun and walked further down the beach. He could hear several Phantoms gliding overhead, shooting their guns. He took out his Sniper Rifle and peeked out from behind the rock to see what all the excitement was about. He saw an ODST with a strange looking helmet zooming forward in a Ghost. Just as he surveyed the trooper, the Phantoms arrived and hit the ghost with all the power of their guns. The ODST jumped out and Armour Lock-ed to avoid any further damage. Zeph had seen enough. He put his Sniper Rifle on his back and ran at full pelt towards the ODST.
Douglas had been surrounded by Phantoms and his Ghost was no more. He Armour Locked to avoid any damage. The Phantoms dropped off some troops and flew away. Douglas' Armour Lock ran out and he rolled sideways. He was just reaching for his Assault Rifle when a Gravity Hammer came flying at him. The blade smacked him in the chest and he flew backwards into a rock with a minor wound. The Chieftain who owned the hammer ran over to Douglas and picked him up. The Brute took out his combat knife and was about to finish Douglas when its breath caught in its throat and it fell backwards dropping Douglas. Douglas leapt to his feet to see what had happened. In the distance he could see Zeph strolling towards him, casually picking off enemies with his DMR. "Thanks." Douglas said. Zeph grunted at him. Douglas looked at his wound. "Need help?" said Zeph gruffly. "I'm OK." Douglas replied. Douglas took some supplies out of the TACTICAL/TRAUMA KIT on his other thigh and patched up his wound. Zeph pulled him up and Douglas began to try and contact the rest of the squad. He got no luck and instead followed Zeph who had started to walk further up the beach.
Tom's vision slowly returned as he looked around his pod. He had hit the ground quite hard and felt slightly concussed. He looked outside the slit of glass in the door. He had landed in a deserted building, possibly a shopping centre or holiday complex. He has smashed through a glass roof and had landed in the concrete in the middle of the building floor. Suddenly a Skirmisher looked in. Tom quickly slumped into his seat and shut his eyes. There was a growling noise and an Elite came up to the window. Tom opened his eyes again and saw a Brute pushing aside the Elite. The Brute grabbed the door and ripped it off. Tom grabbed his Shotgun just as he was grabbed and pulled out by the Brute. He pushed the Shotgun into the Brute's stomach and pulled the trigger. The Brute's guts spilled over the floor and Tom was dropped. The Elite punched Tom to the ground and ripped the Shotgun from his hands. The Elite activated his small Plasma Dagger and went to stab Tom. Tom blocked the blade with his UA/BRACER and drew a knife, which he quickly plunged into the Elite's mouth. It roared in pain and flinched. This was enough time for Tom to draw his SMG. He pointed it inbetween the Elite's eyes and pulled the trigger. The Elite's brains were turned to mush that poured out of the hole in his head. Tom recovered his knife, picked up his Shotgun and took some supplies from his pod. He then headed off to find the rest of the squad.
Andy's pod flew through the sky and slap bang into a wall. The pod shook and began to roll down a nearby slope. Andy hit the explosive bolts and chuckled as the door exploded and was thrown off the pod. He ripped out his Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher and jumped out of the pod. Rocket Launcher on his back, Grenade Launcher in one hand, he soared towards the ground. Just as he was about to hit the ground, he hooked his Grenade Launcher onto a pole to slow down his descent, and then hit the ground with a slight thump. He grabbed his Grenade Launcher which had been wrenched out of his hands by the pole and set off to find some friendlies.
Ivan's pod roared through the trees and rocks. It was on fire and Ivan was struggling to get the door open. He kicked and made a dent. He kicked the door some more, until it was mangled enough to allow him to throw it away. His pod was sideways and he knelt up and looked out. The scenery was whizzing past. Ivan grabbed his Spartan Laser and his Assault Rifle and threw himself out of the pod. He grunted a he landed on the ground. He steadied himself,put his weapons away, and then looked up to see his pod slam into some gas canisters, blowing up in a gigantic explosion. He ten set off to see what he could find.
Meanwhile Zeph and Douglas had made steady progress and were climbing up a cliff. As they reached the top Zeph scoped the area with his Sniper Rifle. Douglas did the same with some binoculars he produced from his backpack. They saw a barren wasteland, and, far in the distance, barely recognisable, was the base they had to destroy. The base itself was protected by three tall spires that were generating a large shield. Douglas made a note to relay this to the commander when he got the chance. Zeph saw all of this also, but he spotted something else. Looking down he saw Tom. He was surrounded by Elites and it looked like he was about to be overwhelmed. He nudged Douglas and pointed it out.
Douglas turned round just in time to see Tom get beaten to the ground and stabbed to death.
ODST Squad 68 3
Date: 30 October 2010, 5:29 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 3
Tom had been surrounded by Elites and had run out of shotgun ammo. Just as he was about to reload, one knocked him down and suddenly they were all around him. He whacked one right in it's lower knees which caused it to lose it's balance. He kicked it in the stomach to which it gave a roar of pain before toppling over. He used the distraction to roll away. Unfortunately he rolled into a canyon and fell. He hit the ground and winced in pain. He tried to stand up, but the pain was to much. He worked on his leg until he could walk and then, reloaded his shotgun and putting it on his back, hobbled away.
Zeph had seen Tom rolling away and informed Douglas.
"We should do something." said Douglas.
"Agreed." Zeph replied grimly.
"You create a distraction and I'll go and look for Tom." came Douglas' reply.
"Gladly." said Zeph, cheering up.
And with that Zeph shot an Elite through the head with his Sniper Rifle. This was the signal for Douglas to slide down the hill and land a the bottom. As he landed, he did a roll and took out his Assault Rifle, and then ran past the Elites, spraying them, before jumping and landing with a thump in the canyon. Tom was nowhere to be found.
Ivan had been walking for about 10 minutes when he came across a Spirit. He tried to hide in a nearby bush but it found him. Firing its main cannon at him, it dropped off a pair of hunters. Ivan aimed his Splaser at one and fired. "Dosvedanya." he said as the shot hit the Hunter right in the back, causing its armour to fall off. Letting out a loud battle cry, Ivan switched to his Assault Rifle and ran at the Hunter. He poured bullets into the Hunter's exposed back and was rewarded with splatters of blood and roars of pain. Just as he was about to finish the thing off, its brother came out of nowhere and knocked Ivan over. He yelled out in pain as he hit the ground, dropping his weapons. Just as the Hunter was about was to finish him off, it was hit in the back by a Rocket Launcher. As it lost its armour it turned round to face its assailant. It was Andy.
"Hey comrade." he laughed as he let off another shot. Ivan had grabbed his Splaser and shot the Hunter facing Andy in the back. The shot penetrated the worms, slicing through the middle, causing the Hunter's 'head' to blow off. The Hunter toppled over and the worms composing its body split apart and fell out of the armour, burying themselves underground. "Nice shot." said Andy, who had switched to his Grenade Launcher. Andy let off a shot, which went through the Hunter's legs, bounced off the ground, hit a rock, and buried itself in the Hunter's exposed back. The weak Hunter let out a weak roar before exploding internally."Likewise." said Ivan. Andy helped him up and handed him his Assault Rifle. "Thanks comrade." he said. "You OK?" Andy asked. "I'm fine." came the response. Ivan and Andy then walked away to find the rest of their squad.
Douglas holstered his Assault Rifle and began searching for Tom. He had been walking for a short while when he heard a noise behind him. He turned round, expecting to see Tom, but instead saw nothing. "Hello?" he said cautiously. Suddenly he was hit in the back and fell over. He grabbed his SMG and aimed at the space behind him. It was empty. Just then a few spikes hit him in the leg. He cried in pain and looked to the left and saw a shimmer of camo. Panicking he shot frantically at the shimmer. The Brute Stalker lost his camo and roared in pain. Douglas ducked and hit the Brute in the stomach. He then ripped the Spiker out of its hands and threw it aside. The Brute kicked him away and took out his Mauler and shot Douglas. Douglas flipped out his pistol and shot the Brute in the head, killing it instantly. He took the Spiker and Mauler and holstered his SMG and pistol. He could sense that more were coming.
He was right. Three more Brute Stalkers came out of the shadows. He took down one with the Spiker and then used the Mauler on the other two. He threw the Mauler and Spiker aside and ran into a nearby cave mouth. What he didn't see was the Spec-Ops Elite activate his Energy Sword. He also didn't see the Elite turning around and following him.
Douglas turned on his lighting systems and looked around. Using his VISR he could see that there were no enemies around him and so walked further into the cave. After a while he came to the second cave mouth, which was right on the edge of the cliff. Turning of his lighting systems, he walked further and looked to see what was below him. To his surprise he saw a large canyon, most probably created by a lake which was once there, in which was situated a small Covenant encampment. He judged the distance between him and the floor and, judging it to be small enough, jumped. He had misjudged the distance and, as he fell, smashed into a small incline and rolled down, landing on flat ground with a thump. As he turned round to get back up, the Spec-Ops Elite jumped at him and prepared to stab him.
Out of some rocks behind Douglas, a figure came and shot the Elite with a shotgun. As the Elite jumped backwards to retaliate, Douglas turned and saw it was Tom. Tom pumped his Shotgun and turned to shot the Elite again. He turned around just as the Elite jumped out of the shadows and knocked him over. Douglas shot at it with his pistol. It ignored him and went to kill Tom. Tom pulled out his knife and slashed its stomach. It dropped its Sword and staggered backwards, roaring and clutching at its stomach. Tom grabbed its discarded Sword, jumped to his feet, ran at it and drove the Sword right through its chest. It let out a sickening choking noise, and fell backwards, dead.
Tom pulled Douglas up and looked at his leg. He pulled out the spikes and applied some Biofoam to the wound. Douglas said his thanks and then looked upwards to where Zeph had been. He was gone.
"Zeph was right there." he said worriedly.
"Don't worry, he often wanders off." said Tom.
"Hmmm." muttered Douglas.
"Come on lets explore." he said excitedly.
They walked towards the encampment, taking out their weapons cautiously. When they arrived, it was mysteriously empty. There was a Phantom docked nearby.
"Wow, haven't seen one of those before." said Tom.
"It's one of the new dropships used by the Covenant to replace the Spirit." Douglas explained.
"It's called the Phantom."
Just as he said this he was hit in the shoulder and grunted in pain. He turned around but couldn't see anything. He looked at his shoulder. It was a needle.
"Jackal Snipers!" yelled Tom.
"Get to the Dropship!" Douglas shouted back.
Tom and Douglas began to run.
"What's the point?" Tom asked as he was hit in the back by a Focus Rifle.
"We can fly out of here and look for the rest off the squad!" Douglas explained.
"How are we gonna fly that?" Tom asked.
"I can!" Douglas said triumphantly.
"Really?" came the reply.
Just then they reached the underside of the Phantom. They went into the gravity lift and Douglas ran into the cockpit.
"Know then." he said as he started operating the controls.
"I thought you said you could fly this thing." said Tom worriedly as he saw Douglas looking confused.
"I'm just out of practice, is all." he said. "Man that turret."
"Aye aye." Tom said sarcastically as he operated one of the side turrets.
Douglas shut off the gravity lift and shut the doors leaving only Tom's turret exposed. Douglas then took off, taking out the encampment with the Phantom's main gun. Then they flew out of the canyon and set off to find their squad.
ODST Squad 68 4
Date: 6 November 2010, 8:25 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 4
Ivan and Andy were walking around for a while when they came to a small came to a small building. They decided to explore, should any friendly, or indeed, enemy, forces be lurking in it. They activated their VISRs and walked in, weapons at the ready. Ivan led the way, kicking anything in the way. They eventually came to what was once the communications are of the base and Andy yoinked his helmet off and laid it down on a nearby table that was littered with radios and such equipment.
"We should try and get these working." Andy said. "See if we can get anyone on the comms."
"Good idea." replied Ivan. "But do you know how to get these working?"
"I could at least try." Andy retorted.
"OK. Just don't blow anything up." Ivan laughed.
Douglas had docked the Phantom after they had been searching for a while and was fiddling about in the troop bay. Tom was sat leaning against a wall, playing with his Shotgun absentmindedly. Douglas had taken of his helmet and it now lay discarded on the floor. He was looking around in some circuitry which he had accessed after opening a panel in the wall. He was digging through the wires and then for some reason hit the wall and sunk to the floor.
"What's the matter with you?" Tom asked.
"The communication facilities on this are rubbish!" Douglas replied.
Tom slipped off his helmet and shot Douglas a puzzled look.
"I'm trying to use this Phantom's comms to contact the rest of the squad." Douglas explained.
Tom turned back to his Shotgun and Douglas hurried off to the cockpit. Before he went he closed up the panel and picked up and put on his helmet. He mucked around with the controls in the cockpit and tried to get some communication going.
Andy had been working on the comms for about 10 minutes when he finally poked his head up and shouted enthusiastically; "I've done it!" Ivan, who had been leaning, arms folded, against a nearby wall, looked at him in surprised. Andy pushed some buttons on the main console and the radios crackled to life. He then sent out a call to the rest of the squad. They waited for a while when suddenly a crackly voice came back through;
"This is the Commander of ODST Squad 68. Any members of the squad who are receiving this please respond immediately."
Andy quickly grabbed a microphone and tried to respond. Ivan came over to see what was going on.
"Commander?" Andy said.
"Who's that?" came the response.
"It's Anderson Brown and Vanya Gargarin of Squad 68."
"Andy, Ivan! Where are you?"
"We're in a small abandoned base." said Andy and, pulling up a holographic map, told the Commander the co-ordinates.
"Good. I'll try and get to you."
There was then a yell and a burst of static.
"Commander? What's going on?" Andy said worriedly.
"Ambush! I'm somewhere around…" the Commander said before being cut off. Andy quickly traced the point of origin and copied this information as well as the recording on to a memory card. He took it out and put it somewhere safe. He then turned to leave and look for the Commander when he was stopped but the sound of another voice crackling through the radio.
"Hello? Is anyone receiving? This is Douglas of ODST Squad 68? Does anyone copy?"
"The newbie." Ivan said.
"Douglas? This is Andy and Ivan. Where are you?"
"We've commandeered a Phantom. Do you need transport?"
"Sure."
"Send me the coordinates, we'll be right there."
Douglas had finally got the Phantom comms working and had picked up Andy's signal. Andy read out the coordinates and Douglas pulled up a map. He located the coordinates as well as their current location and set off to find Andy and Ivan.
Andy shut down all the comms and put his helmet back on. He then led Ivan back outside just in time to see Douglas' Phantom coming in to land. Just as it came in close it was hit by a Wraith shot. Douglas quickly opened the Grav Lift on the underside and Andy and Ivan were pulled into the ship.
Tom gave Andy a high five and nodded at Ivan.
"Nice of you to join us." he joked.
"We've got a problem." Andy said grimly.
"The Commander…"
"The Commander?" Tom butted in.
"We spoke to him. But… He was ambushed."
"But we got his last recorded coordinates." Ivan said.
"Give 'em to me." Douglas shouted from the cockpit.
Andy went into the cockpit and handed Douglas the memory card.
"I saved the coordinates and the conversation on there."
"Thanks." Douglas replied.
He put the coordinates into the controls and then put it on auto-pilot. It was a long journey, so he decided to follow Andy into the troop bay to chat to the rest of the squad.
They had been chatting for a while when Tom raised a point;
"You need a callsign Douglas."
"Doug?" Andy asked.
"Nah." Douglas replied.
"What are you good at?" Ivan asked.
"I dunno."
"You're quite the techie." Tom said. "Hey wait! That's a good one. Techie."
"Yeah I quite like that." Andy said.
"It fits." said Douglas.
"Techie it is." said Tom.
Just then they arrived at the coordinates.
"Andy, Tom you look around and see what you can find. We'll will stay here and look from the skies."
"Sure thing, techie." Tom said to Douglas.
Douglas opened up one of the side doors and Andy jumped out, Grenade Launcher in hand, with Tom close behind. Douglas shut the door and flew upwards. A small section where the turret was opened and Ivan looked out. Tom and Andy landed, Andy in a tree and Tom right on the floor. Tom rolled and the Shotgun slid out of his hand. He pushed himself up and grabbed his shotgun, just as Andy threw himself out of the tree.
"Keep in contact." came Douglas' voice through the radio.
"Will do." Tom replied.
"Let's go!" Andy said excitedly.
And so the search began.
ODST Squad 68 5
Date: 13 November 2010, 2:13 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 5
Tom and Andy reached the ridge and looked around.
"Well here it is." said Tom.
"Deserted." Andy said, glumly.
"Sitrep?" Douglas asked over the comms.
"Trail's gone cold." Tom replied.
Suddenly Tom lost connection and there was a loud noise just as the ground started shaking uncontrollably. Douglas' Phantom soared overhead.
"Get aboard!" Douglas shouted as he activated the Gravity Lift.
Andy began to run towards the lift when the phantom was hit by some Anti-Air bolts.
"No!" Tom shouted.
The Phantom was on fire and swerved downwards uncontrollably. At the last second Douglas gained control and broke away. Suddenly a Wraith rounded the corner and shot at Andy and Tom. A few Elites were backing it up as well. The leader activated his sword and ran at Tom. Just as he was about to lunge, he was shot through the head by a sniper. Tom and Andy looked for the source of the shot. There, up on a cliff edge, was Zeph.
"Boom! Headshot." he said.
"Zeph?" Andy said.
"It's a distraction! Hide!" Zeph shouted at them as he slide down the cliff side.
He landed, put away his sniper and run towards them. He led them into a small indent of the cliff. There was another bang and a giant, purple leg smashed into the ground in front of them.
"Scarab!" shouted Douglas as his phantom reappeared.
"Get away Douglas!" Zeph shouted.
"You can call him Techie." Tom whispered.
Douglas opened his side troop door and Ivan jumped out, wielding a Plasma Turret.
"Look after them!" Douglas told him as he shut the troop door.
"Will do!" Ivan replied, running towards the others. A
A green bolt from the scarab hit Douglas right in the back. The Phantom flew away, badly damaged.
"The Commander is on the Scarab!" Zeph told them.
"I'll take down its legs and you board it and get the Commander!" Douglas said.
The Phantom came back again and with its main cannon, took down a leg. The Scarab buckled and the rest of the squad jumped into the back.
Just as Ivan got on the Scarab stood back up to it full height. The squad cleared the troop bay and then proceeded to the upper decks. There were some highly ranked Elites and Brutes waiting for them. Ivan opened fire with his turret and Andy fired off some grenades to disable any shields. Zeph climbed up to the next deck and provided sniper support and Tom sneaked away to the side to find the Commander. He reached the back of the Scarab and by the power core, being held by the throat being interrogated by an Elite, was the Commander. Tom sneaked behind the Elite and drove his knife through its back, severing its spinal cord. The Elite was instantly killed and dropped the Commander. Tom ran to him and gave him a quick check up.
"You OK?" he asked.
"Yeah." the Commander said.
"Andy!" Tom called. "We're gonna need some explosives over here!"
"Go! I'll cover you!" Ivan said.
Andy ran towards the core as Ivan and Andy continued to hold off the enemies. Just as Andy was going around the side, a Brute Chieftain landed in front of him and knocked him off of the Scarab with the blade of his Gravity Hammer. Zeph heard him yelling and slide down to help him. He was rewarded with a gravity burst to the chest, causing him to fall off as well. Tom and the Commander went round to investigate and were swung at with the hammer. They dodged and ran to Ivan. Ivan turned his fire to the Chieftain. Suddenly the scarab rocked and the Commander toppled backwards, off of the Scarab. Tom jumped after him. Ivan threw aside his out of ammo turret and ran up to the Chieftain. He grabbed its hammer by the handle, kneed it in the stomach and wrenched the hammer aside. The Chieftain roared angrily and kicked him away. Ivan got up and began punching it in the face. In the ensuing struggle it lost its helmet and began bleeding. It then knocked Ivan down.
Ivan kicked it backwards, grabbed its hammer and whacked it in the head with the hammer.
The blade ran right through, cracking the skull and killing it instantly. Ivan then jumped off.
Tom threw down a drop shield and everyone huddled inside.
"Come on Techie, you can pick us up now, we're safe!" Tom shouted.
"No you're not." came the reply.
On cue, a green bolt came from the Scarab, shattering the shield and scattering the squad.
"What are you gonna do?" Tom asked.
"Hit it." he said. "Right in the ass."
And with that he slammed the battered Phantom right into the back of the Scarab, destroying it and covering everyone in debris.
ODST Squad 68 6
Date: 20 November 2010, 11:14 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 6
Tom coughed up blood as he reached for his shotgun. He looked around but there was nothing but fire and smoke. He coughed again and felt like the smoke was choking him. He need clean air or he would die. He felt around on the ground and found his helmet. He holstered his shotgun and tried to take his helmet. It was stuck. He moved closer and saw that it was buried. He brushed off the rocks and dust on the top and pulled it out he turned it around and shook it to clear the dust and then, with the last of his strength, put it on. He sealed and gratefully breathed in the fresh supply of oxygen. He flicked his helmet torch on, and began searching for the rest of the squad.
He found the Commander lying face first in a rock pile. Thankfully, he still had his helmet on. Tom turned him over and felt his wrist. He was alive but unconscious. Tom made sure the Commander had all his weapons and then picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. He then went to see who else he could find. Suddenly there was a loud noise. Tom wheeled round, dropping the Commander and taking out his shotgun. There was a pile of rubble which suddenly exploded as Ivan burst out. Tom put away his weapon and Ivan took over carrying the Commander. Yet again they set off to find the rest of the squad.
Zeph pulled himself out of the dust and tried to get up but couldn't. His arm was stuck. He tried kicking the rock that was pinning it down off but he had no luck. He switched on his radio and sent a message to the rest of the squad for help. Tom came to a large piece of wreckage and, leant up against it, was Andy. He was moaning and coughing as he held his stomach. Ivan ran to see what was wrong. Andy's stomach was full of shrapnel. Ivan called Tom over, who came running. Tom laid Andy down on the ground and took out his medical supplies. He fixed up Andy for a while and then helped him up. Ivan grabbed him and helped him walk. They continued on.
Tom received a distress signal and traced the source. There on the ground, pinned beneath a boulder, was Zeph. Ivan placed the Commander on the ground and handed Andy over to Tom. He then grabbed the boulder and with a grunt he lifted it away. Tom gave Zeph a quick medical check and then helped him up. Zeph could walk on his own so helped Andy.
"Everyone…" said Tom. "Except Techie."
They then tried to contact Douglas on their radios but got no response.
Douglas opened his eyes and looked around. He was a mess. He was covered in dirt and blood. His helmet laid beside him, dented and his armour was in any better of a state. He tried to move but pain ripped through his body and he coughed up blood. His TACPAD had shattered and was flickering. He used it to place a beacon and the lost consciousness.
Tom received the beacon and got excited.
"I'm getting a distress beacon!" he said excitedly. "It must be Techie!"
"Let's get him" Ivan said.
"No." Tom replied. "You stay here with the unconscious and wounded. Zeph, you come with me."
"Sure." Zeph sighed.
Tom and Zeph left Andy and the Commander with Ivan and set off to find Douglas.
Zeph saw Douglas' helmet and nudged Tom.
"Techie! Techie! Are you alright?!" Tom called.
No response came. Tom ran over and found Douglas.
"This isn't good. He's in a critical state!" Tom shouted frantically.
Tom then took out his medical supplies and did what he could. Zeph radioed Ivan and told him to bring the others over. Ivan told him that the Commander had come to and was uninjured. Zeph told Tom and then leant against a rock. In a few minutes Ivan appeared with the Commander and Andy close by.
"Commander! How are you?" Tom asked.
"I'm fine. How's Douglas?" the Commander replied.
"He's stable."
"Good. We'll stay here a bit so Douglas and Andy can recuperate."
"Will do."
"Tom, look after them. The rest of you, take a rest."
Douglas slowly opened his eyes. Tom was standing over him.
"Tom?" he said faintly.
"Gently, Techie. You took quite a bit of damage."
"How long have I been out?"
"Couple of hours."
"Am I battle-ready?"
"Almost. You probably could fight, but I want your wounds to heal a bit more."
"We're getting something on the radio!" Andy said.
"What is it?" the Commander asked.
"It's a friendly base, not far from here." Ivan replied.
"Needs some help. Asking for Squad 68 specifically." came Zeph's voice.
"We'll chase it up in a bit, when Douglas is a bit better. Give me some more Biofoam!" Tom said.
Douglas then fell back out of consciousness.
Douglas got up, found out he could walk and got his armour ready. He had a quick talk with the squad and then got his helmet on. The squad got their armour and weapons ready and set off on foot towards the source of the call for help. After a while of walking they came to a partially destroyed base. There was a large Covenant ship crashed in the side and there as burning rubble strewn about. Douglas ran ahead and tried to open the front door. Zeph found a way up to the roof and Tom came to back up Douglas. Andy, Ivan and the Commander waited behind them Techie got the door open and Tom took out his shotgun and looked around.
"Deserted!" he said, lowering his weapon.
"Let's go!" the Commander said.
Zeph came down and followed them in. Douglas shut the door behind them, enveloping them in darkness. They all turned on their night vision and torches.
"It's quiet…" Andy said.
Suddenly Douglas was tackled to the ground and had a Shotgun pointing in his face.
"Get off him!!!" Tom shouted.
"Detain them!!!" someone said.
There were gunshots and shouting.
"Get off of me!" Ivan shouted.
"Jones, Smith take him down!"
"Get them squad!" the Commander shouted.
"Get the hell away dude!" Zeph yelled.
"STOP!!!" came a voice.
Suddenly bright lights were in Douglas' face.
"He's an ODST! Get his helmet off."
A rough looking man yanked Douglas' helmet off and pulled back his hair to reveal his face.
"Identify yourself!" said the man. He was a high-ranking marine with grey hair, a cigarette, and a magnum pointing in Douglas' face. "Well?"
"ONI Officer Douglas of ODST Squad 68."
"And your friends?"
"The rest of Squad 68."
The marine looked shocked and helped Douglas up, giving him back his helmet.
"I'm sorry, we're just very nervous and we had to check."
"You've got a funny way of checking, comrade." Ivan said.
"Cool it Ivan." The Commander said. "Now. You called for us."
"Yes I did, now come with me to the briefing room."
In the briefing room was a holographic map showing the base the Squad were supposed to be destroying and the shield installations surrounding it.
"What are those?" the Commander asked.
"I meant to tell you Commander." Zeph said. "Those are the shield spires I spotted."
"They protect the enemy base." said the marine. "They've been giving us trouble for quite a while. We heard you had a mission to destroy the base they are protecting. We wanted to help you and take down those Spires. We have many men, vehicles and weapons at your disposal. Please help."
"Very well." Said the Commander.
And with that they began to plan their attack.
ODST Squad 68 7
Date: 29 November 2010, 7:53 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 7
There were three spires and thus they had split into three teams; the Commander and a large squad of marines, Andy and Ivan, and Tom, Zeph and Douglas. Tom and Douglas also had to find out what they could about these new structures. And so they went towards the spires in a large convoy of Warthogs, Mongooses, and the odd Scorpion. The Commander was in the side seat of a Troop Transport Warthog driven by the aged marine. The rest of his small squad were in the transport bay. Douglas was driving a Warthog and Tom was in the side seat, with Zeph on the gun. Andy was driving a Mongoose and Ivan was in the back. As they approached the spires they heard;
"Team 1 break off!"
"Team 2 you follow."
"Team 3 go in last."
So the Commander went in first, then Andy and Ivan, and then the rest of the squad.
The Commander's Warthog approached the Spire. The aged marine put his foot down and the Warthog sped towards the protective shield. As soon as it was on the other side it broke down and the soldiers jumped out. In the distance, rising above some rocks, was their spire. They proceeded ahead and strangely encountered no resistance. "Hold back. This aint right." the aged marine said. Just then the Energy Sword-wielding Elites came out of camo and lunged. "It's a trap!" a marine cried as he was mown down. There were more marines than Elites however and they were soon beaten. One last Elite, the leader, lunged at the aged marine. The blade connected with flesh and the marine roared in pain. With one last effort he took his magnum and shot the Elite in the head a point-blank range, killing it. The Commander ran over and caught the marine as he fell.
"You're gonna be okay." the Commander said.
"No, I'm not."
"I never got your name."
"Jackson, Jeremiah Jackson."
Jackson ripped off his tags and gave them to the Commander.
"Beat the crap out of them." Jackson said as he shook the Commander's hand.
Then the hand went limp and Jeremiah Jackson breathed his last.
The Commander stood up and put the tags in his backpack and signalled for the rest of the troopers to move on. He was their leader now. They continued to the base of the spire and wiped out a few odd Grunts and Jackals which were scattered around and then went up the gravity lift and took out a few Brutes and disabled the outer shield. A Pelican swooped in and picked up the remainder of the squad and the Commander. Then some Longswords flew overhead and destroyed the spire.
Andy pulled the Mongoose into a wheelie and with a cry of "Yahoo!" he drove into the spire shielding. The mongoose flipped forward and catapulted Ivan out. Andy jumped to avoid being crushed and landed next to Ivan they got to their feet and continued on. They took down a few snipers which were hidden in the rocks outside of the spire and went on to the main structure. They jumped onto some rocks and looked over the clearing from a ridge. There were four Hunters surrounding the base, one on each side. They jumped down and attacked. Ivan mowed down and unaware one with its back to him straight away. Andy sent a rocket another one and they ran towards and opening leading to some ramps. Andy backed in and walked up to a platform at the top and gave supporting fire with his Grenade Launcher while Ivan stayed at the bottom. "You go ahead Andy, I'll hold them off!" Ivan said as another Hunter fell. Andy ran into a Gravity Lift and was sent up to the top. He was immediately tossed aside by a Brute Chieftain with a Gravity Hammer. The Chieftain raised the hammer above his head and was about to finish and off when Ivan came up just in time and shot the Chieftain to death. "Hunter's dead." he said.
Andy moved round to the control panel and rigged some explosives around the inside perimeter and the disabled the shield. He gave some charges to Ivan and told him to rig the outside perimeter as well. Ivan went to place them. As he went to prepare the last one he heard a "Bwagark!" as the Suicide Grunts activated their grenades. Ivan threw the charge on the wall and ran. The Grunts gave chase. Ivan grabbed his turret which he had leant against the wall and ran towards Andy. "Suicide Grunts!" he shouted at him. Andy finished rigging the charges and jumped backwards through a shield and onto the outside shield platform. Ivan joined him. Just in time a Falcon roared up behind them. Ivan jumped onto the bench and Andy got into a side seat. He took out a detonator and signalled to the pilot to move away. The Falcon swerved away an Andy activated the detonator. The spire and the surviving Grunts exploded violently. The second spire was down, and only Zeph, Tom and Douglas' spire remained.
Douglas sped towards the outer shield of the spire. As he drove along towards it he hit a rock and the Warthog was sent flying.
"Brace for impact!" he shouted as they flew through the shield and towards the ground. They landed and were flung out. Suddenly hundreds of bolts of plasma flew at them and they ducked behind the crashed Warthog for cover.
"How many are there?!" Tom asked.
Zeph looked with his Sniper Rifle and said;
"'bout twenty of 'em."
"Let's get them." Douglas said, readying his pistol. Zeph used his sniper and Tom went for dual SMGs. They ran at the Grunts and Jackals which were lead by a few odd Elites. Tom saw an Engineer floating overhead and went for it. He run across a rock and then jumped at it. He took out his Shotgun and blew it up. He then switched back to his SMGs as he landed. He engaged the Elites while Zeph took the Jackals and Douglas took the Grunts. Within seconds they had all been eliminated and the ODSTs continued up the path.
They came to the base of the spire and met a large battalion of Brutes supported by two Hunters. Tom went for the Hunters, Douglas for the Brutes, and Zeph provided support. Straight away Zeph killed two of the Brutes with a double headshot and Douglas shot down another one. It did not take too long to kill the Brutes but Tom was having more trouble with the Hunters. With the help of Zeph he had taken down one and was just finishing off a second. After cleaning up the last of the Brutes, Douglas ran to his aid. Eventually all the Hunters were dead and Douglas and Tom proceeded to the next floor. Zeph stayed where he was to support them. Suddenly some Elites came out of camo and attacked Douglas and Tom. Zeph took one down as soon as he saw it shimmer and Tom and Douglas went for the others. Tom took down several with his Shotgun while Douglas finished off some with his Magnum. After a while they were all defeated and Tom signalled for Zeph to form up on the platform. Zeph put his Sniper Rifle away and ran to them. When he arrived, Tom signalled that they should enter the Gravity Lift. Tom jumped in first, Shotgun at the ready, followed by Douglas, and finally by Zeph with his DMR. They came up and were immediately ambushed by Skirmishers. They were soon joined by some Drones and an Engineer that came in through the hole in the roof. Zeph engaged the Drones while Tom took the Skirmishers. The door was blocked so Douglas climbed the wall behind him and came to the control console. He took out some equipment and readied his TACPAD so he could study the structure.
Zeph was having trouble with the Drones as they were shielded by the Engineers and he could not land a headshot. Tom climbed up a small structure in the middle and jumped at the Engineer. He landed his knife right in its side and it exploded, throwing Tom into the wall. Zeph quickly wiped out the now unshielded Drones and helped Tom, who was upright again, with the Skirmishers. Most of them were taken down, but there was one who was hard to take down. It was extremely fast and agile and also had a short burst of camo every now and then. It wielded dual Plasma Daggers and wore the armour of a Skirmisher Champion, but in jet black. It decided to go for Douglas. Tom warned him and Douglas wheeled round just in time to see the Skirmisher jump at him. He blocked one blade with his wrist but the other one was plunged deep into his chest. He yelled in pain and punched it in the head. Zeph came round the corner and shot at it with his DMR. The Skirmisher blocked it with his elbow shields and jumped at Douglas again, slashing his left arm. Douglas roared and kicked it in the head, knocking it over. It skidded across the floor and hit a wall. Douglas put his foot on its chest and shot it in the head with his Magnum. He then collapsed in pain.
Tom ran over to him and took out his medical supplies. He applied some Biofoam to the slash and it healed up quickly, but it took him longer to fix the stab. Eventually he fixed up Douglas' wounds and sat him upright.
"What was that?" Tom asked.
"I don't know. I'll send the data to ONI." Douglas replied.
"Are you done with the spire?"
"Almost."
Douglas walked over to his equipment and after around a minute he put all his equipment away and deactivated the shield. A Falcon picked them up and a MAC round ripped through the spire, destroying it.
All the spires were down, and the attack could begin.
ODST Squad 68 8
Date: 4 December 2010, 10:17 am
ODST Squad 68 Part 8
The UNSC forces around the Covenant base had set up a temporary camp. It stored a small mobile armoury, a small garage to hold the vehicles as well as places for the troops to rest. The Commander looked around and saw all of this as he walked into the camp. He told the acting leader of Jackson's death and then set off towards the command centre to see what was going on. He found the rest of his squad. Zeph was sitting away from the rest of the group on the outside of the centre, polishing his Sniper Rifle. Ivan was sitting on an ammo crate watching events unfold. Andy was sitting against a weapon holder watching also. Tom was standing behind Douglas, who was speaking to someone on a screen. After a while the Commander figured out it was a high ranking ONI officer.
"…and here he is now!" the man on the screen said. Douglas and Tom reeled round and greeted him.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"I've been consulting my superior officer and he has decided that you will be the leader of the remainder of this operation. Not just the squad, but of all of the Marines here." Douglas replied.
"Well… We better get started then!" he said with a smile.
The entire squad, who were going to be the main attack force, where equipped with fresh ammo and supplies, and were given a worthy vehicle; an Elephant. Ivan manned the gun and the back and front were sealed up so only the turret and the top deck were open. The rest of the squad rode either in the bottom or on the top deck, with Douglas driving. There were several Falcons, Scorpions, Warthogs, even the odd Mongoose backing them up, as well as around 250 marines. It was a long drive to the base, and along the way they decided they would take out some of its defences. First up they would take out some off the anti-aircraft 'Tyrant' guns surrounding the area so that air support could get to them.
The Elephant stopped off as it would not really help in the destruction and instead the squad got into a Scorpion which lay within its troop bay. They opened the doors and Ivan manned the turret while Douglas drove. They took down the enemies surrounding the three guns which they had to take down and then got out to destroy them from inside. As usual they split up and Ivan, Andy and Zeph went for one, the Commander, Tom and Douglas for another, and a handful of marines for the other. They signalled each other and the run towards their respective guns to begin the attack.
The marines entered their gun and looked around. It was lightly guarded by a handful of Grunts, Jackals and two Elites leading them. The marines opened fire and were hit back at with bolts of plasma. Several marines were hit by they kept on going. Most of the Covenant infantry were dead and one Elite was badly injured. His fellow Elite was defending him but the marines wanted to finish their kill. A small group of them charged the uninjured Elite and distracted him while their leader ran at the injured Elite and finished him by stabbing his knife through the roof of its mouth. The distracted Elite lashed out in anger at the loss of his fellow and took down some marines. The others quickly finished him off however. Their leader inspected the core of the gun that they had to destroy while some of his men mopped up. The leader figured out what to do and directed his men to open fire on the shield covering the core. They did as they were instructed and shot at it. It popped and the leader tossed some grenades in the open core. He then shouted to run and the marines got out just in time to watch the gun explode into many bits. One down.
Ivan and Andy ventured inside their gun while Zeph waited on a cliff near the gun to give sniper support. Andy peered in and saw that there were some Brutes. Ivan ran in and took some down. Andy joined him and began to take some more down. A chieftain with a Gravity Hammer swung at Ivan, knocking him backwards and causing him to drop his Turret. He grabbed his Assault Rifle and shot at it. It run at him and swung. He grabbed its Hammer mid-swing and kicked it in the groin causing it to roar in pain and loosen its grip on the Hammer. Ivan took his chance and wrenched the Hammer from its hands. He then hit it with the handle with such force that its ribs cracked. Ivan took his knife and finished it off by slitting its throat. Meanwhile, Andy was getting attacked by the last Brute, a Chieftain with a Fuel Rod Gun. He was shooting rockets at it but it kept avoiding them. Andy was hit and thrown backwards and it moved in to finish him off. Suddenly it was hit in the neck by the blade of a Gravity Hammer. Its knees buckled and it fell over lifeless, with the Hammer still in its neck. Andy looked up to see where it had come from. It was Ivan. Ivan recovered his turret and shot the shield covering the core away. Andy shot a couple of grenades, as well as rocket for good measure, into the core. It exploded violently and threw Andy and Ivan into the wall. There was a loud beeping and Andy and Ivan began to run. Andy stopped and looked around just in time to see it explode and crush Ivan. Andy run to the wreckage of the gun and began to pull bits away to try and find Ivan. He called out his name but got no response. At that moment Zeph appeared, panting. He had seen what had happened and had come over to help try and find Ivan. He then joined in the search. Andy found his turret and threw it aside. It then occurred to him to look under where the gun had been so he began to dig. He found Ivan's helmet. He called out for Ivan again but got nothing. There was a loud noise that sounded like a person coming out of Armour Lock and an arm burst through the wreckage. The arm pulled itself up and, dragging himself out of the wreckage, was Ivan. Andy ran over to him and gave him his turret. They then joined Zeph and walked towards the Scorpion where they would meet the rest of their squad.
The rest of the Squad were currently walking into the last gun. They encountered no resistance.
"This aint right." Tom said in a worried tone. Just as he said that a Brute Stalker shot him in the back with its Mauler. He responded with his Shotgun.
"Douglas! You focus on destroying that core and Tom and I will deal with these guys!" the Commander ordered. Douglas obeyed him and rolled away, sending out a Hologram as he went. He took down the shield with his Assault Rifle and was about to go for the core when his helmet was ripped off and his mouth covered by an Elite in camo. It dragged him away with its wrist mounted Plasma Dagger pressing against his neck. It tingled but did not damage him. Tom and the Commander finished off the Brutes and turned round to see how Douglas was doing. They saw what was going on and the Commander ran to try and stop it. The Elite barked something in its language and lightly slashed Douglas' shoulder, making him grunt in pain. The Commander took the message and stopped. The Elite slowly twisted the blade into Douglas' shoulder which made him cry out in pain. The Elite laughed at his pain. The Commander threw his weapons down and shouted at the Elite to let him go. It ran at the Commander, still holding Douglas by the neck with one arm, and hit him hard in the head with the butt of his weapon, knocking him out. It then threw Douglas on the floor and kicked him in the stomach. Douglas winced and it laughed at him. It then violently picked him up by the throat and shoved him into a wall. It drove its blade in a slow, torturous manner into his stomach. He moaned at the pain. It then went to slit his neck but Tom ran up behind it, spun it round and stabbed it several times in the stomach. Tom roared in anger and slashed its chest before driving his knife so deep into its throat that his hand was in its jaws, choking it. It roared in extreme pain, threw up blood all over Tom's arm and then finally died. Tom kicked its dead body and screamed some obscenities at it. He then ran over and helped Douglas up.
"Are you okay Techie?!" Tom said in a concerned tone as he put away his knife.
"I'm fine. Finish off the core." Douglas replied. Tom took out his dual SMGs and shot at the core until it exploded. He then picked up the Commander and slung him over his shoulder. Douglas picked up the Commander's weapons and ran. Tom and Douglas got out just in time and the gun exploded. They met up with the rest of the squad and drove back to the Elephant in the Scorpion. Tom got the Commander conscious again and Douglas gave him his weapons. They then set off back by their small army of marines.
All guns were down, and they could finally destroy the base.
ODST Squad 68 9
Date: 17 December 2010, 11:11 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 9
The Elephant trundled towards the base with an escort of around 10 Scorpions, 10 Mongooses and 30 Warthogs and Falcons. There were some Longswords and Shortswords flying overhead for aerial support. They were closing in on the base. Suddenly, out of the horizon, came some enemy forces. There were 5 Wraiths, 5 Ghost and 10 Revenants and 5 Banshees. Within a few seconds the forces clashed. Immediately a Banshee was shot down by a Scorpion that was then destroyed by a Wraith. Ivan ran up to the turret and opened fire. Andy climbed into a Grenade Turret he had salvaged from a semi-destroyed Falcon and joined in. Andy took down another Banshee and Ivan made short work of a Wraith. Douglas hit a Ghost head on destroying and crushing it. "Zeph, get up top and give some support!" Douglas shouted. Zeph obliged and took down a Ghost and a Banshee simultaneously with a skilfully rebounded shot. A Gauss Warthog took down another Wraith while a Rocket Warthog destroyed a Banshee. A Falcon engaged and destroyed the last Banshee. A Longsword swooped in and dropped a small bomb. Two Wraiths, three Revenants and four Ghosts were taken out and another badly damaged Wraith was displaced by a Scorpion. The other two Revenants were taken out and the remaining five retreated.
Douglas and the Commander surveyed their remaining forces. One Falcon, Two Warthogs and 3 Scorpions had been destroyed and about 15 marines had been killed and a further 10 injured. The injured were picked up by a Pelican and taken away for treatment. Once all the guns and vehicles were ready, the battalion moved on with the Elephant at its head. As they climbed a ridge in the distance they saw the base. The Longswords and Shortswords swooped and destroyed the guns defending the base but not before a few were taken down. The battalion then charged full speed all guns blazing at the base. They were immediately attacked from all sides. They were heavily outnumbered by countless vehicles including a Scarab. Most of the air support was destroyed and the rest was busy trying to take down the enemy ships which had engaged them. "Scarab!" Tom shouted. "We're outnumbered!" Douglas shouted. "Incoming!" Zeph yelled. The fuel rod cannon of the Scarab hit the Elephant in the side, setting it on fire. "Drive and get to cover!" the Commander shouted at Douglas. "Mayday! Mayday!" Douglas shouted into the radio. "Any remaining friendly forces in the area please assist!"
Almost instantly some air support came along. And then, coming out of slipspace, appeared a Frigate. "This is UNSC Frigate Bristol reporting." The Bristol then fired a MAC Round right into the heart of the Scarab, making it explode violently. "Now what?" Tom asked. "Look there is a small lightly guarded service entrance there. We could slip in and destroy the base from the inside." Douglas replied. "How would we do that?" the Commander asked. "If we get in and find the power room we can blow the core. That will take the rest of the base with it!" Douglas replied. "Let's do it then!" came the reply.
The Elephant quietly slipped away from the rest of the battalion and went to the side door. It stopped and Tom and Douglas got out. Zeph climbed to the roof and silently dispatched a few guards. Tom and Douglas then took out the remaining guards and lowered the shield door. Douglas ran back into the Elephant and drove it into the small hangar. Tom followed turning the shield back on as he got into the Hangar. "Right Zeph, Andy and Ivan you stay here with the Elephant and me Tom and Douglas will find the room. When I radio you come to our position and Andy can plant the explosives." the Commander said. So they split up and set off to find the room. Douglas stopped in the corridor and kicked the wall. He then shot the corners and pulled of a panel. He fiddled with wires and tapped his TACPAD. There was a beep and a holographic map appeared on his TACPAD. He explored it and then highlighted an area. "That's where the core is." he said. "And how far away is that?" Tom asked. Douglas zoomed out a long way and pointed at a faraway corner of the map. "Oh." Tom said.
Douglas rifled through the grunts lining the hall as he ran down it. The Commander was running behind him shouting orders, and Tom was bringing up the rear, running backwards shooting with his dual SMGs. "To the right here!" Douglas shouted a he checked the holographic map on his TACPAD. "Left! Right! Keep ahead!" Douglas shouted. Suddenly he stopped and looked around. "Dead end!" Tom shouted. "It's not a dead end! It's a shortcut!" Douglas said as he chucked an explosive on the wall. The squad took cover and Douglas pressed the button on the detonator, destroying the wall and clearing a path. "That has halved our journey time!" Douglas said happily. "Well done Douglas! Lead the way." the Commander said. So they set off down another purple hall.
They came to a small room which was filled with Elites. "Is this it?" Tom asked. "No. We're almost there. If we can just sneak past these guards…" Douglas replied before being cut off with a gasp as he hit in the shoulder by a needle. Tom jumped at the sniper and shot it with his shotgun. Suddenly all the guards were alert and attacked the squad. "You 'okay Techie?!" Tom shouted. "I'll be okay!" he shouted back as he took out his pistol to fight. Tom jumped onto the wall and rebounded, flattening an Elite and stabbing it in the head. He got up with his SMGs at the ready and mowed down a couple more Elites. The Commander shot down a few with his Assault Rifle and Douglas dispatched some with his pistol. Douglas finished the last guard by driving his knife into its neck and the room was clear. "Are we there yet?" Tom said, rather impatiently. He looked tired and his armour was scratched, dented, and covered in blood. Douglas looked at the Commander's armour and then his own. The Commander's was slightly scratched and had a dent in it. Douglas' armour was the most badly damaged. It was scratched all over and the top layer of his bodysuit was ripped in places. He was covered in dents, had lots of blood, including his own, over him and he was leaking Biofoam. He paused for a second to tap his TACPAD and then lead the others away.
Finally the group came to a large door that was covered in red light indicating it was locked. Douglas shouted and kicked the door.
"Ivan, Andy, Zeph, come in." he said into his radio.
"Reading you loud and clear Techie." Andy said over the radio.
"Alright move in, we're gonna need Ivan." he said.
Douglas was sitting on a crate, idly fiddling with his TACPAD, and Tom and the Commander were slumped against the door when Ivan, Andy, and Zeph rounded the corner.
"You found the NAV-point then?" Douglas said, looking up.
"Nice to see you too comrade!" Ivan laughed.
"We got stuck at this door." Douglas said.
"Is there some kind of opening mechanism?" Zeph asked,
"Not one I can find. Must be for security." Douglas replied.
"I say we blow it up!" Andy said enthusiastically.
"No. You need to save your explosives." Douglas sighed.
"What do we do then?" Ivan asked.
"Well that's where you come in Ivan. We are going to break it down!" Douglas said.
Ivan lifted a huge crate up and ran at the door. He hit and bounced off causing a small dent. The others helped him on the second attempt and they caused a bigger dent. Eventually after three more attempts the door had almost collapsed in on itself. Ivan got out his Spartan Laser and shot right at the centre of the door. It was blown off and the team stepped in. They had come to the core room. It was a large chamber with a bright light coming from a large amount of machinery in the middle. Strangely, it was empty. Andy ordered them to start placing explosives in various places around the core while Ivan carried in some crates to be used as cover. Andy rigged them all up and turned round to get to cover. Instead he was slashed by an Energy Sword. And then the stealth Elites came out of camo with a smile.
The squad immediately engaged the Elites. Tom ran to Andy and protected him by shooting any curious Elites with his Shotgun. He was trying to speak. Tom told him to be quiet and took off his helmet. Andy was coughing blood and had a look of extreme pain on his face. Tom administered some Biofoam to the wound and then bandaged it up. Andy managed to splutter; "Protect the explosives!" Tom relayed his message to the rest of the squad and they moved into defensive positions. Tom put Andy's helmet back on and helped him up. He then threw Andy over his shoulder and ran to the crates. He put Andy in cover behind the crates and then went to join his team. Most of the Elites were gone except for a better armoured one who was probably the leader. The leader broke away and kicked away Douglas who was protecting the explosives and then slashed at them. Tom jumped on its back enraged and drove his knife into the roof of its mouth. It fell backwards and the Elites were finished.
With the help of Ivan and Tom Andy hobbled over to the explosives.
"Will they still work?" Douglas asked anxiously.
"Yes but the detonator won't work. Someone will have to detonate it manually." Andy said.
"But who?" Ivan asked.
"I will." Andy said.
"No." Douglas said. "I have Armour Lock and you are too injured anyway."
"Ok. Good luck." Andy said.
"Thanks." Douglas replied.
The squad was all ducking behind cover apart from Douglas who was standing next to the detonation panel. He pressed the button. There was a massive bang and a thick cloud of smoke covered the room. There were several loud crashes as the room began to cave in. "We have to go!" the Commander shouted. "Not without Techie!" Tom replied. The smoke cleared and there Douglas was, popping out of Armour Lock. Ivan slung Andy over his shoulder and the squad ran. The entire building was collapsing around them. "Back to the Elephant!" Douglas shouted. The rounded a corner and were about to enter the hangar where the Elephant was waiting when the ceiling caved in and blocked their path. "Now where?" Tom shouted. "There is another hangar with some spare vehicles!" Douglas replied as he tapped his TACPAD. "Follow me!"
They ran through the halls and found it increasingly harder to run and breathe as the base collapsed around them and the smoke got thicker. Just when they felt like they were about to drop down they reached the hangar. There stood, the only vehicle left, a captured Falcon. Douglas threw himself into the cabin and shouted; "All aboard!" Zeph and Ivan got on the turrets and put Andy on the bench, while the Commander and Tom sat on the two remaining seats. They managed to pull up just in time as the building collapsed around them. They all cheered as they reached the open sky.
"Frigate Bristol, you still there?" Douglas said over the comms.
"Reading you loud and clear!" the Frigate replied. "Nice explosion, we could see that from up here!"
"Can you send some Pelicans to pick up other friendly survivors and then some Longswords and MAC rounds to finish the job?" Douglas asked.
"Of course!" came the reply.
The squad watched as the requests were carried out. Then the Bristol radioed them.
"Well done. You did it ODST Squad 68!"
ODST Squad 68 10
Date: 24 December 2010, 2:32 pm
ODST Squad 68 Part 10
Douglas was sitting on chair speaking to a large screen. On the screen was his superior ONI Officer. He had just finished giving him his account of what happened. Douglas was in just his bodysuit and was covered in bandages. The ONI Officer gave him some news to tell to the rest of the squad, congratulated him and then the screen switched off.
It was Christmas, and in-keeping with tradition there was a small holographic tree in the centre of the leisure area. The Commander was sitting on a table filling in some paperwork. Tom was sitting on a chair eating and helping with the paperwork and Zeph was standing over by the weapon racks, polishing his Sniper Rifle. Ivan and Andy were sitting on two chairs, chatting. Douglas walked in and coughed, causing everyone to turn around.
"Good news! We have been upgraded to a special unit for ONI. We are still ODST Squad 68 but we will be working for ONI and the UNSC and we will receive some special armour." he said.
Just then a crewman walked in carrying some armour. Five more came all carrying armour.
"Here is your new armour. It is based on the ODST Armour but is modified. It has energy shielding and is stronger. It can also be customized to your liking. We have here the base armour and if you follow me you can pick your customization." one of them said. The squad put on their base armour and followed the crewman to the armoury.
Andy picked a blue-visored EOD/CNM for his helmet, a CQC right shoulder, a Grenadier left shoulder, an ASSAULT/SAPPER chest, two UA/NxRA utilities, two UA/BUCKLERs on his wrists, and Grenadier kneepads. He picked the primary brown and secondary brown paint scheme.
Ivan picked a black-visored GUNGIR/CBRN helmet, a SECURITY left shoulder, a GUNGIR right shoulder, a COLLAR/GRENADIER[UA] chest, two UA/CHOBAM utilities, two UA/BRACERs on his wrists, and Grenadier kneepads. He picked a primary brown and secondary black paint scheme.
Zeph picked a black-visored Operator/UA/HUL helmet, a Sniper left shoulder, a UA/Base Security right shoulder, a TACTICAL/PATROL chest, a TACTICAL/SOFT-CASE utility, a TACTICAL/UGPS left wrist, a UA/BUCKLER left wrist, and FJ/PARA kneepads. He picked a primary black and secondary black paint scheme.
Tom picked a silver-visored CQB helmet, a SECURITY right shoulder, a Mark V left shoulder, a COLLAR/BREACHER chest, a TACTICAL/TRAUMA-KIT utility, an ASSAULT/BREACHER on his left wrist, an UA/BRACER on his right wrist, and GUNGIR kneepads. He went for a primary brown and secondary brown paint scheme.
The Commander picked a normal-visored ODST helmet, ODST shoulder, and ODST chest and left the rest as it was. He went for a primary grey and secondary grey paint scheme.
Douglas went for a black-visored Recon helmet that was made especially for him by ONI, some ODST shoulders, a MULTI-THREAT chest minus the grenade belt, his old TACPAD on his left wrist, a UA/BRACER on his right wrist, a TACTICAL/HARD-CASE to hold his pistol and other important items on his right utility, a TACTICAL/TRAUMA-KIT left utility, and FJ/PARA kneepads. He went for a primary black and secondary black paint scheme.
Andy got a Grenade Launcher and a Rocket Launcher. He then picked up his Armour Lock, a pistol and his knife. Ivan got a Spartan Laser and an Assault Rifle. He then picked up his Armour Lock, a pistol and his knife. Zeph grabbed his customized Sniper Rifle and a DMR. He then picked his Active Camo, a pistol and his knife. Tom picked up a Shotgun and two SMGs. He picked up his Drop Shield, a pistol, and his kukri. The Commander picked up an Assault Rifle, a Magnum, and his knife. Douglas picked up an Assault Rifle, an SMG, his pistol, his custom-made multi Armour Ability, and his knife.
Everyone was fully equipped and the squad were ready. They had their names, emblems, and other insignias sprayed on. Then some received promotion. The Commander stayed as a commander and had his rank sprayed on. Tom was promoted from a Captain to a Major and had his new rank sprayed on. Zeph was promoted to a Sergeant, Ivan to a Gunnery Sergeant, and Andy to a Corporal. They then had their ranks sprayed on. Then they moved to training where they learnt how to use their new energy shields as well as the changes from their old armour.
They were then congratulated and debriefed by their UNSC superiors and Douglas' ONI superior. They were told that they would be allowed a week of rest to get used their upgrades and to recover from their wounds, and then they would be straight back to work as the new ODST Squad 68.
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