"Bravo Oscar one-nineteen dash-" explosions rang through the air and a buzzing sound came from the radio, "Repeat. Bravo Oscar one-nineteen dash Alfa, respond."
He lifted his rifle and shot two burst fires over the half-wall. "This is Projection Zulu, responding. We're pinned down, we need med-evac. Heavy casualties, seven wounded. Shi-... zzzzzzz."
"Med-evac enroute, clear a landing zone. Again we repeat. Bravo Oscar one-nineteen dash Alfa respond, over."
"This is Lance Corporal Brickson! Blizzard is MIA assumed KIA, OVER!"
At that point hope was lost, Projection Zulu listened to the plasma run by him like a dog chasing a ball. He stood up and hopped over the half-wall. A hole in his side searing with pain, he lifted a magnum and looked towards the invaders. Elites, hundreds... maybe even thousands. He looked down his magnum sights, and for a moment everything slowed down. A bullet left his magnum, slowly. Plasma... his arm, then his legs, then his other arm. Still he fired again, then again. One elite fell before Projection Zulu was gone.
"Echo Five-Fifteen is down. All forces retreat, we lost Aurora Site."
There was no retreat that day, the covenant killed all those who could have retreated. That was the end, and there never was a beginning.