User:FightWithHonor/Halo: Bravo Company: Fighting for Survival

Summary
Bravo Company: Fighting For Survival takes place during the UNSC-Covenant War among the ODSTs of Bravo Company, an elite unit thrust into the turmoil of war with little more than small arms and comradeship to fight with. Led by a young lieutenant and a cadre of determined non-coms, Bravo Company would be to the UNSC-Covenant War, what Easy Company had been to World War II.

Dramatis Personae


2nd Lieutenant Russell Harper, UNSC Marine Corps, Bravo Company, 9th ODST Assault Battalion, 986th Brigade.

Master Sergeant Garry Owens "

Gunnery Sergeant Cornell Wilder "

Staff Sergeant Jiang Li "

Corporal Lance Wilson "

Private Richard Whitehead "

Private Achani Mobutu "

Private Arleigh Gardiner "

Lt.-Colonel Albert Stoner CO, 9th ODST Assault Battalion

Captain Luke Westermann CO, Bravo Compnay

Captain Morris Chandler UNSC Orion's Clasp

Part One: Contact
Chapter 1: Orion's Clasp

The bright array of stars flashed outside the Orion's Clasp, a humble UNSC Frigate. Her light grey paint set her apart from her squadronmates, its lighter color belying the dark mood that lay over the entire ship. They were on the retreat again, dodging the advancing hordes of the Covenant.

Across the length of the grey hull, tiny pinpricks of light shone, porthole from cabing and rooms. A dim light twinkled from one, a small room near the quarters of the ship's ODSTs. Inside this small cabin sat a young man, his face like man other soldiers and Marines, young, smooth, yet edged with the air of hardness brought by the strain of war. But this young face was more determined than most, lean, almost bony, with eyes of a piercing shade of green.

He was of slight build but of formidable stature, towering over most of the men in his unit. Being 6' 8" wasn't always easy, crouching down was a pain, you were often smashing your head on bulkhead doors, you'd often collect plasma burns on your helmet thanks to the fact your head stuck out of cover nine times out of ten, but boy, people would jump when you spoke. Even admirals and generals treated Lt. Harper with the respect normally due a captain, and he had used this status to good use on more than one occasion. But in this brief moment of silence, the calm before the storm there was time to meditate upon the past...

Chapter 2: Aegis''

"Atten-hut!" The voice of the red-faced drill instructor came in loud and clear even over the sound of the Pelicans landing less than a hundred yards away. This would never have happened in peacetime, but landing space at Camp Annan was limited and commissioning ceremonies or not, the war had to go on. The Covenant had attacked the UNSC, and every man was needed at the front.

Clad in full combat gear and desert camouflage ODST uniforms, helmets slung on their backs, boonie caps on their heads, M7 SMGs in their hands, were the men of Bravo Company, 9th ODST Battalion, 986th Brigade. Long hours of training had turned these men into fighting machines capable of hitting a foe were it hurt most. They were a fighting team, all 150 officers and men, they were a young team, a team waiting to be tested, and a team that would soon have its chance to prove itself.

"Men, you're here today for one reason, to take the fight to the enemy." It was the CO, Captain Chandler. "You are the best of the best. You've worked hard to get here, and you'll work even harder on the front lines. Some of us won't be coming back, but I hope a lot of you will. And I know one thing for sure, you won't let me or the man next to you down. Now let's roll. Oo-rah!"

"Oo-rah!" The ODSTs shouted back. Then, turning in unison, they swiveled as and, dividing into fireteams and squads, they marched into the waiting Pelicans. One by one the green craft lifted off and climbed into the grey skies, leaving only the faint roar of jet engines and the ripples of hot exhaust smoke to mark their progress.

Before the men of Bravo Company lay the uncertainty of a life of war, behind them the security of a life of peace. If they hoped to return to the past, they would have to to weather the adversities of the future.

Chapter 3: To War

Bright streaks of glowing plasma flashed overhead. Crouching behind a small boulder, Harper could feel the heat of the whizzing plasma wrinkle his skin, even under his ODST armor. Bravo Company had been dropped right into an already hot dropzone to bail out a pinned down Marine unit. But thanks to the untimely arrival of Covenant reinforcements had resulted in Bravo Company being pinned down as well. The screams he heard form his right told Harper another luckless ODST had taken a hit. "Hope the corpsman can make it to him this time," he muttered. The he heard yell from behind him. "Suppressive fire! Suppressive fire!" The ODSTs all along the line answered the call with a hail of lead, and the volume of the incoming plasma slackened for a moment, but once the Troops clips ran out returned to its normal amount. The distant strains of Bravo's radio operator shouting over the gunfire to an orbiting frigate mingled with the odd cry for a corpsman and the crackle of Bravo's busy SAW teams.

Popping his head from cover for a moment, Harper quickly surveyed the battlefield. Two ghosts were just coming over the ridge, their shrieking engines glowing from the stresses of boosting. A few Grunts were peppering the area with plasma turrets, an Elite was snarling at a duo of Jackals to cover him and his comrades, and a Hunter, bleeding orange blood from a stomach wound was charging his assault cannon. Like the ODSTs, the Covenant had taken advantage of the only cover available on the dusty desert plain, the rounded boulders that were now rapidly collecting plasma scars and bullet pits.

Popping back into cover, Harper, waited for an explosion. Hearing the Grunt squeal of "deemon flare!" and watching a blue plasma grenade shriek overhead, stood and sprayed one of the troublesome plasma turrets,. dropping back behind the boulder, Harper grinned as he heard a satisfying high-pitched scream from the direction of his burst. Still, Harper felt that he was toting the wrong weapon to war. Most of the other troopers were carrying captured Covenant Carbines or Plasma Rifles, UNSC Assault Rifles, or the brand-new Battle Rifle. Puller, as an officer was not expected to fight (or so the brass thought) and so has been issued with an M7 SMG, a weapon that was excellent for run-and-gun battles in ruins and cities, but useless on the open spaces of Sahara 7.

New part
"What do you mean we're not getting more rockets!?! I placed and order for them long before the 41st and you damn well know it, but you're giving them to a militia unit with only a week's training on the M19 when we've been on the line for the past 5 months!"

"But they don't have any heavy weapons to begin with..."

"I don't give a s*** about what they don't have, our biggest weapon right now is the Fuel Rod Gun Sgt. Connors picked up on Reef. It doesn't even have a full clip! How do you expect us to engage a Wraith with that?"

"Fine, I'll try to scrounge up some gear for your boys, but our armory's pretty much cleaned out right now, besides, one of your Pelicans has plenty of M6s and you have that crate of SMGs you inherited from Sanders. I heard the 88th has some spare frags and a few extra BRs, maybe you could trade with them."

"Alright, but I don't like my men toting half-empty Covie stuff into a warzone."

"Neither do I, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'll have Wendler send over a couple M19s when he gets back."

"Okay Guns, thanks."

Ammo and weaponry was tight, and the tension was beginning to tell on all.