User:Forerunner/Halo: Hemorrhage

Chapter One
Captain Wilder proudly jumped out of the troop pod of his Falcon as it reached the beach of an elongated canyon. The young ODST had been assigned personally by Major Silva to capture an alien artefact overlooking a lake. He stared at the lower-right corner of his HUD and activated the time feature.
 * 1532, Sept. 20 2552

The Marine contingency had evacuated the a day earlier after Covenant boarding parties attempted to control of the ship. Wilder's body began to shake uncontrollably as he recounted the events of the past month: watching his comrades of 2nd Battalion literally melt away by a Scarab assault at Szurdok Ridge... a Brute in New Alexandia brifly taking him and Corporal Fletcher prisoner and eating his subordinate alive. Wilder began to feel dizzy as his hearing became muffled and his sight darkened. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?"

Wilder woke early in the morning, or at least it looked like the morning - who the hell knows how this thing works?. The sandbags he was laying over made his back ache to the bone. First Lieutenant Jasper stood in front of him. "If you don't mind me asking, sir... but are you okay?" Jasper had been assigned as part of the 1st Battalion complement on the Autumn some time before the Covenant's butcher of Reach, and only briefly encountered them at Aszód on board Echo 419 as it ferried survivors to the behemoth from the ground a mile below. Wilder considered him lucky: he hadn't witnessed the things he'd seen - he didn't want Jasper to know what he'd seen.
 * "I'm fine," he lied, "must've overdone a few at Alpha." Silva had encouraged his officers to encourage the rumour that there was wiskey waiting for ODSTs who got back to Alpha Base. Anyone who believes this, Wilder thought, must be that desperate to - he changed his mind. Silva must have used this rumour to encourage the ODSTs to keep fighting.
 * "Okay, sir. You wouldn't mind filling me in, then?"

Wilder briefed Leutenant Jasper, along with the newly-awoken Second Lieutenant Andrews, over C-company's orders - to capture the alien tower and assess its energy beams, which fire fired at the other side of the ringworld recently revealed by Naval Captain Keyes to be called "Halo", and find out whether or not it could be used as a tactical advantage. Since Wilder had been asleep, it became clear that the Pelicans had been busy. Two tanks, freshly smuggled out from the Autumn's crash site, had been dropped off on the beech. An M831 Troop Transport and an M12G1 "Hog" had been dropped off just in front of the sandbags.


 * "So, where is everyone?"
 * "1st Platoon is over in some caves at the other side of the canyon laying in some Antilons for any Grunt team clever enough to not be in the firing range of our M247s. Second is busy fitting a spare M68 overlooking a brake in the canyon. Third is conducting a recon op. up at the end of the canyon. They're making sure the Covies don't attack before we're ready. Which reminds me..."

Wilder looked ahead into the distance, a Covenant spirit dropship approached their position. "Ah, hell! We've got incomming!"