Halo Spec-ops: Unknown Heroes

Chapter 1

The year is 2552, humanity has been in conflict for decades with an alien force known as the covenant. We are losing. We have been relentlessly slaughtered yet we persevere in a one sided battle for our very existence. They will not cease to kill us until every last man, woman and child has been erased from the universe, they do not pity us and will show us no mercy so we shall do the same. If they want to kill us all then we will make hell crowded with their soldiers before we are sent there ourselves.

I am what is known as a Spartan, or more officially a Spartan III. I have been assigned to an ODST Special-ops group called Whiskey-9 they specialize in assassinations and sabotage so our mission should gowell. I was previously part of team Gladius in gamma company we were stationed at Onyx however I was pulled out last week for this mission. I am on my way to the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in a pelican they are already aboard the UNSC 'Silent Joe', a Sahara-class heavy prowler, this would be its fifth operation since it was commissioned earlier this year; just before the battle of Reach actually.

The Pelican interred the docking bay you could hear the sounds of creaking as we entered the larger vessel. There was barely enough room for the pelican with about 25 feet in each direction as we landed in the centre of the room. The Pelican pressurized to the same levels as the 'Silent Joe' and the door lowered as I walked towards it. I was greeted by two ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence)operatives who escorted me to the war room where the ODST's were already waiting. The walls were glistening white and the floor contrasted well as a dark gritty steel. I took my helmet off as we turned the corner and greeted a set of stairs. We climbed the steep set of stairs when one of the ODST's walked up to us at the top of the stairs. "Ah good you're finally here I see." he said in adeep Texan accent. I walked up to him and he was about 5ft11 in his armour. He looked up at me and uttered, "So you're a Spartan huh?You don't look much more than a glorified ODST to me."

I smirked at him and pushed him to one side with ease as I past him butto a normal person it would have taken much more force to have moved the 400lb man and armour.

AsI entered the room I saw five other ODSTs around the room they were all checking their guns and loading their weapons. "I am their commander, Captain Joshua." the ODST who had greeted me at the door said.

"And you are Major Edward right?"

"Yes I am Edward 'D-327' and I will be assuming command of your squad for this mission as I am sure you have already been briefed about.However due to this mission's vital importance I will go over it one last time to make sure it's clear. So listen up!" I commanded.

"We are to land on the planets surface, the 'Silent Joe' has state of theart stealth systems that will get us into high orbit of the targetplanet undetected, we will then proceed to exit the ship on board the pelican which has similar stealth systems based off of the 'Silent Joe's' however it does not have an active camouflage system and can be spotted by eyesight just not radar so we will be landing 2 miles away from the target location, which is a mile away from the Covenant refuelling base. There we will have a good view in the base and our primary objective is to assassinate the Prophet, this should demoralize the covenant forces and put them in disarray. If possible we are to blow up the entire base with a prototype HAVOK nuke which contains billions of fragments of highly radioactive metals which will make the planet's atmosphere extremely radioactive and inhabitable. Not even covenant ships will be able to land, this will cause them to use their fuel more efficiently meaning less time on earth."

The ODSTs looked fuelled and ready with anger in their eyes, their commander stood up and shouted commandingly, "Helljumpers be ready to deploy in thirty minutes sharp. That includes you too Ryan. We are gonna send these covey bastards a message and then we are gonna send them all to hell!"

"HURAH"all five shouted as they picked up their guns and marched out the room the sixth, there commander followed behind them.

We entered the final slip-space jump and we had approximately thirty minutes before we entered the solar system the planet was in. During this time I observed the troops I would be working and possibly die with. First there was Corporal Ryan, he was lazy but that's what made him good with computers as he would always try to find an easier way of doing things. Then there was Sargent Esmeralda she was the teams sharpshooter, claims she can head-shot an elite at five-thousand yards with a sniper. Next would be Corporal Dom excellent with the assault rifle and SMG's anything automatic he can shoot with great effectiveness. Private Sam was the teams medic, he was also talented with the shotgun and magnum which were his preferred weapons. Then there was Warrant officer Bud, the demolition expert and vehicle technician, boasts he can fix any vehicle and he has a knack for anything that can explode and kill anything from multiple to millions of covenant. Finally there was their new member Corporal Carter, he doesn't speak very much but from what I can tell he prefers the DMRand assault rifle a good balance if he expects to be in medium and short range combat.

"So...What kind of armour is that? It doesn't look like standard Spartan armour like in all the propaganda posters." I looked to see it was captain Joshua who asked me this. I turned around and replied, "That's because it's not the same as what the Spartan II's would be equipped with. I know i'm not supposed to tell you this but since it's the end of days ONI regulations mean very little to me. I am what is known as a Spartan III. This is power armour it's just a lesser cheaper version. It's called SPI. In reality it's just a upgraded version of your armour to be honest." He didn't look too shocked by this and just shrugged it off he wasn't too impressed. "So basically the Spartan II's are Gods and you're a demi-god." I nodded at his analogy it was kinda weird but accurate. He sighed and then walked into the armoury with his men. Joshua seemed to prefer the standard Assault rifle and magnum combination he, however had a customized magnum which used higher calibre rounds than a military issue one. He could probably down an elite or brute's energy shield in one or two shots and an extra to the head to kill it he commanded great respect from his troops and despite being in his early fifties he was in excellent fighting condition.

As we exited slip-space we could see the planet through the window it must've been 20,000 kilometres away but it shined and reflected off the ships reinforced glass windows it had a red atmosphere but white patches of clouds dotted its sky. We would be at the target location in ten minutes. The ODSTs were ready and we headed to the Pelican to deploy. I hoped this mission would succeed. We must succeed. For the sake of humanity we must succeed.