>The year is 2552
>Humanity is at war with an alien alliance known as "The Covenant"

>We are losing

>The Covenant have burned our worlds, killing billions in their genocidal campaign
>Now they have breached the inner colonies, their leaders hunting for our homeworld with their own fleets
>One such group has found the rich inner world of Ballast
>The small fleet's largest Covenant ship, a 5km-long Assault Carrier, has breached the world's defenses and attacked the mega-city, "New Madang"
>Initial reports confirm major damage and heavy civilian casualties
>Now, Military Leaders of the "United Nations Space Command" have prepared their response

>Teams of highly-trained "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" are ready to assault the carrier from navy ships in low orbit
>This is a near-suicidal mission, but these troopers are the best of the best
>And saving New Madang could mean saving Ballast from becoming glass

>You are "The Rookie" 
>You and three others of your five-man team are sitting in hell's waiting room
>While you're getting some sleep, the others members, whom you barely know, are lounging around a holographic map of the city
>Private Rarity starts off by calmly saying, "It seems the Navy has given it their all."
>"Better late than never." Cheerfully adds Lance Corporal Pie
>Corporal AJ slams his helmet down on the map
>"How 'bout you show some respect, Pinks."
>"Just sayin', Jack. They missed one."
>"No, they left it for us."

>It's then an alarm sounds, the one all helljumpers recognize
>A moment later, two more soldiers enter the room
>One is Gunnery Sergeant Rainbow "Blitz" Dash
>The other is new, a stern-looking woman with black hair and a purple highlight
>Your sergeant announces, "You know the music, time to dance."
>Everyone looks to the new girl, and Pinkie whispers, "Now there's a spook..."
>"Pods. Now."

>Everyone but you, still sleeping and oblivious, grabs their helmets and heads for the rack of assorted weapons
>Rarity moves to Pie's side and tells her, "Is she wearing /any/ armor?"
>Pinkie causally responds, "Hey, spooks get their privileges."
>The Lance Corporal notices AJ grabbing a suppressed smg
>"Pft, seriously?"
>"Well, we're gonna be 'n close quarters."
>Pie offers him a shotgun, "Exactly," which the Corporal pushes away

>Dash and the new girl, Twilight, finish their small argument before heading across the room
>Blitz points to the row of drop pods, telling Twilight, "Second to last, right next to mine."
>"Mm, cozy." says Pie, and asks as the Gunny approaches, "You gonna tell us her name, Blitz?"
>Dash yanks the shotgun from Pie's hands, "/Mis/ Naval Intelligence."
>The shotgun is slammed back onto the rack, "Our new boss."
>AJ mutters "Oh brother." under his breath
>"So check your mouths, find your chairs..."
>Dash grabs a sniper rifle and shoves it into Rarity's arms, "And get SET, for a combat drop."

>As Blitz walks to the pods, Rarity looks down at her rifle
>"And just what am I supposed to with this /inside/ a Covenant ship?"
>Pie rolls her eyes with a grin, grabs her weapons, and walks over to you
>Still asleep, you can't do anything as she open-palms your helmet
>With a yelp, you fall off of your stack of crates and land on the metal floor with a crash
>You quickly pick yourself back up, and are met with a grinning Pinkie
>"Wake up, buttercup."
>AJ pushes her aside, and you watch the demo expert run to her pod for a second
>You then snap right back to the Corporal, who tells you,
>"Relax Rookie, she don't mean nothing. Besides, now's one of those times... it pays to be the strong, silent type."
>AJ hands you a suppressed M7, and you accept it, letting him go to his pod
>You turn to yours, which you were sleeping right next to, and lock the weapon next to your seat

>You climb in, and the hatch swings down as soon as you're set
>The pods then are spun around, the bottom of the Naval ship opening up to the dazzling red of a sunset
>The two screens on either side of the hatch light up, showing Blitz and Twilight
>Twilight calls over your squad comms
>"Latest intel reports Covenant troops are pushing towards the ONI Alpha Site."
>"And you're telling us this why?"
>"I'll tell you once we're on the ground."
>A countdown starts, and your helmets polarize
>Blitz yells out to everyone,
>"Pucker up, Marines! I sure as hell ain't hosing out your pods!"

>The rows of other ODST pods in front of you begin to blast down, and you hear a familiar beeping
>You grip the pod's flight control sticks as tight as you can
>The countdown reaches zero, and you're launched down to Ballast's surface

>On the way down to the clouds, you all get the sight of a UNSC frigate torn in half, debris floating all around
>You hear Pinkie state, "I take it back, Navy got its butt kicked."
>Blitz asks her, "Hey Pinkie, remember when I told you to shut your mouth?"
>"Yeah?"
>"Consider that a standing order."

>One of your teammate's pod rockets down just in front of you, and you see a cloud of over 200 drop pods descend into the lower stratosphere  
>You notice that your team is pretty far away from the group
>As you break through the clouds, Blitz reports,
>"Captain, fifteen klicks off the deck."

>You now see the burning costal city, with the carrier hovering just over it
>Twilight then says something none of you expect,
>"Stand by to adjust trajectory. On my mark,"
>"What'd she just say?" asks AJ
>"Mark!"
>You instinctively activate your thrusters, using the two joysticks to move your pod with the Captain's
>"We're way off course!" notes Pie
>"We're heading exactly were I needed to go." states Twilight
>"But we're gonna miss the carrier-"
>"Battlecruiser!" yells AJ, "One o'clock, high!"

>You look up, and emerging from the cloud cover is one of the smaller, more numerous Covenant starships
>This one looks heavily damaged, and is almost free-falling from the looks of the fire and smoke coming out from everywhere
>The Navy sure did a number on that
>You then realize it's heading right for the assault carrier 

>To make matters worse, you see an electric-blue flash arc across the capital ship
>"Radiation!" yells AJ
>Pie asks, "The Covenant just set off a nuke?!"
>Twilight answers fearfully, "No, the carrier's going to jump... It's a slipspace rupture! Evasive-"

>A blue sun appears out of nowhere
>Someone reports, "EMP! Losing power!"
>Blitz manages to yell out, "Stabilize, then pop your chutes! We're goin' in hard!"

>Someone's pod in front pops it chute, but the move slams the SOIEV right into yours
>The collision almost rips your hatch open, but by some luck you grab onto it's handle
>Now you can only hear the roar of the wind
>Your vision becomes blurry as your pod spirals out of control
>You can't breathe
>Your heart is racing
>You can only think about holding onto the door and not blacking out

>You spin more and more until a skyscrap-

>You are Anon, New Madang Police Department
>You stay in your little hole of debris as you try to regain your hearing
>Spots still dance around your vision, even with your eyes closed

>You aren't sure who set off that explosion, but it probably doesn't matter
>It's just destroying the city faster 
>Blinking hard, you open your eyes and look up
>The whole city is washed in a bright blue, with tiny particles spreading out from the epicenter of the blast
>You were spared the worst of it thanks to the inner-city's walls being over two stories tall

>As you look at the lighted skyline, you notice two pieces of-
>Wait, that ain't debris
>One of the falling black pods ricochet off the Dresden Tower
>Straight at you-FUCK!
>You duck back into your hole, hear a heavy *SMACK*, and catch a glimpse of the pod skidding down the street
>You listen as it skips again and crashes into something 

>Fatally curious, you climb out and peek down the lane
>A shitton of dust was whipped up, but you can see what looks like a small drop pod resting against the wall down at where the turn is
>Isn't that the one drop troopers use?
>Yeah, you're sure of it!

>You run down the street, not really checking your surroundings since your pretty sure the Covenant ain't around
>Doesn't matter now because you have an ODST to help you out

>You slow down when you near the pod and notice movement in it
>You then realize the whole thing's upside down
>Shit, how're you getting him out of there?

>Your question's answered when the hatch simply falls off, and the black-clad trooper falls out
>He tries to do a backwards summersault, but instead lands hard on his back with an "Ah!"
>Right in front of you
>"It works great-oh..."

>He notices you staring down at him
>You can see your dirtied, stubble-ridden face in that visor
>The trooper flatly tells you, "Hey there." his grainy voice a little muffled by his helmet
>You hesitantly reply,
"Uh, hey."
>"Huh? Oh, no, it's just a civie."
"Sorry, sir, or tro-?"
>The marine quickly points a finger at you, "I ain't talkin' to you."
"Wh..."
>As the ODST picks himself up and walks to his pod, you realize he must be talking to his buddy that came down with him
>Nice going, ya fucking idiot

>"Hey, you a cop?"
>You look up from pinching your nose and utter,
"Y-yes?"
>The trooper tilts his head slightly
>"Huh, shouldn't you be helping everyone get out of here?"
"Well, actually I'm trying help a friend of mine. He's at-"
>"Is he in that direction?" He points northeast, and you nod
>"Good, 'cause my Captain's trapped in her pod that way."

>The trooper, now with a battle rifle in his arms and a sleek, black magnum at his side walks up to you
>You must look like a twig compared to him
>"You got a weapon?"
>You pat your holster
"Magnum. G variant, but it's empty."
>The ODST pulls out a few extended mags meant for her fancy magnum and hands them to you
>"Here. They're penetrating instead of semi-explosive, so they're shit against shields."
>The trooper doesn't wait for you to thank him or even load a mag before he starts down the street

>You should've known he'd have his own agendas
>At least he's given you ammo and'll kill a few of the Covies in your way
>Still, you hope your friend's holed himself up in his workplace
>You have a feeling this guy's gonna leave you in the middle of a firefight
---
>The two of you meet your first Covenant roadblock two minutes later
>It's just a small squad of squat, methane-breathing Grunts, all meandering about in a little MG nest they set up at a T-junction
>Their leader, a hulking Brute in a light-blue combat harness, has its weapons holstered and its back turned towards you

>You finally catch up to the trooper, who's crouched just at the corner a grenade's throw down the street from the aliens
>He looks to you as you crouch beside him
>"We have to punch through them. I'll take the big guy and you take care of the little shits."
>You ready your magnum, whispering
"Got it."
>You aim for the Grunt nearest to the heavy plasma MG while the trooper grabs one of his three frag grenades

>Once he primes it with a click, he hurls it right at the Brute
>Damn, he has an arm
>The pineapple lands right at the Brute's feet
>A moment later the blast rips through its armor
>A nearby Grunt loses an arm and is thrown into the wall
>You start to shoot at the rest, and they begin to panic from the sudden combat

>The Brute, while bloodied and without its helmet, is still standing
>No surprise to you; you've seen those things take several bursts of small arms before going down
>The best way is to-
>*BR-R-RT*
>A quick burst from the battle rifle, and the now-brainless Brute is brought down
>By then you shoot the head off of the last Grunt

>There's a moment of silence before the ODST stands up
>"Not bad for a cop." and he starts to jog down the clear street
>You run to catch up, huffing out
"Thanks! I had practice!"

>Hey, at least you're not completely useless

>The two of you run through another alley and down another street without incident
>Gunfire, both ballistic and plasma, near and far, surround you
>The marines aren't giving up on this city easily

>While you try to figure out how the firefights are going from their sound, the trooper is talking to his friend
>It sounds like the Captain is still trapped, but you can't really know for certain since you doesn't know what channel they're using
>You could ask, but you're a little busy running

>When you're forced to stop and wait for a massive city-section door to open, you puff out
"H...hey."
>The trooper finally looks at you as you lean heavily on the wall
"W-what frequency are you using?"
>"You got a radio?"
>You tap your ear
"Com-bead. Haven't used it for hours, though."
>"Alright, here."
>The ODST presses on that small antenna on the side of his helmet, and your bead starts to beep
>You switch channels just as the door opens up to a firefight

>The street angles down after the door, and the large open conduit that the road leads to is lit up with tracers and plasma
>The both of you quickly move to one side of the street, where the sidewalk remains level and ends at a balcony
>A lone marine is crouching behind cover, while a few of her squadmates are down below
>They're all being pinned down by two bases of fire
>To the left is a continent of Grunts led by Brutes
>To the right is a small squad of purely Brutes led by a golden-colored Brute Captain
>And sprinkled throughout all of that are a few small, skinny, and birdlike Jackels armed with mid-rangeed, green-beam-spewing carbines

>The two of you run up to the side to where the lone marine is
>She sees you coming and you can see a momentary look of relief on her face
>When you get to her, she tells the ODST with a gravelly voice, "Trooper, we're pinned down! Use these buildings, flank the bastards on the streets!"
>"Roger that. Hey cop!"
>Christ, you still don't know each other's names
"Yeah?"
>"Grab what weapons you can find get a base of fire going! Try not to get capped by those Jackals!"
"Sure, but where-!"
>He's already gone
"Goddammit..."

>While the marine tries to shoot down at the advancing cluster of Grunts, you look around
>There's a dead Jackal with a carbine at his side that you passed
>No, the marksmen'll get ya
>You look around the balcony and, to your luck, is a tall crate lined with guns
>Five assault rifles and a shotgun, perfect
>You run over to grab an AR, just as your com-bead crackles

>A woman's voice asks, "Blitz, location?"
>"Blitz" answers, "Almost there, what's wrong?"
>"Multiple hostiles closing in on my location."
>Her voice turns shaky
>"Listen, if I don't make it-"
>Blitz doesn't like the sound of that
>"Woah, hold on! We're coming!"

>"Too late! They spotted me!"
>"Dammit, no! Sparks! Talk to me!"

>Nothing

>"Come on, officer, we need to clear these fuckers out now!"
>With suddenly-found determination, you respond
"On it, sir!"
>You rise over the plants lining the balcony and spot a handful of a Grunts running out in the open, hoping to rush the suppressed marines
>You quickly aim and fire a burst
>The rounds rip through the cannon fodder, and they immediately falter
>Another burst sends the survivors running scared back to their Brute masters
>The beasts simply kick and shoot them, forcing them to fight you

>You start to shoot at the Brutes themselves when you see a purple-white light out of he corner of your eye
>You look and your heart skips a beat
>It's a Jackal aiming right at you
>*BR-R-RT*
>The alien's beaky head snaps to the side and the body goes limp
>Blitz's got them flanked
>The rest of the Jackals try to address him, but the helljumper noted each of their positions beforehand
>He starts to pick them off one by one

>Emboldened, the marines down below begin to shoot at the distracted Brutes
>Their armor gets chipped away as they run for cover, and the one commanding the Grunts goes down from concentrated fire
>You simply hang back and take pot shots at the remaining fodder, who are now freaking out from the loss of their leader

>With the Brutes now suppressed and the Jackals eliminated, you watch as Blitz and the marines charge forward, priming grenades and readying shotguns

>That's when the a pair of golden-plated Hunters come clanking down an adjacent street

>One of the marines notice and yell out, "Aw shit, Hunters!"
>The marines now have their attention divided
>All of the grenades meant for the Brutes are now lobbed at the Hunters
>The ensuing explosions stop the armored Hunters for a moment, but now they ready the heavy plasma cannons on their arms
>It's the marines' turn to panic and scatter as the aliens fire
>Two huge streams of green and blue plasma fly through the air
>One unlucky marine gets clipped in the shoulder
>He screams as his arm is torn off violently, the hot plasma melting through his armor
>The remaining marines are forced to leave him and assault the Brute's position: the wreckage of a truck pushed up against the balcony on the other side of the conduit
>Luckily Blitz was busy with that

>A second grenade tossed over the truck forces the Brutes to dive out of cover
>Still advancing, Blitz tosses his third at the aliens now trying to get back up
>The explosion rips them up, killing one outright and tearing off the armor of the rest
>It's then the marines being chased by the Hunters show up
>The still-reeling aliens only get a couple of inaccurate shots off before being taken out by tri-bursts and buckshot

>Blitz turns to the marines, maybe to thank them, but then he sees the pair of walking tanks
>You hear him complain over comms,
>"Hunters? Dammit, no! I don't have time for this!"

>Said Hunters start to charge up their plasma cannons
>A quick burst from your AR plinking on their armor interrupts them
>They turn to you, up on the balcony, and even from this distance you feel a need to move
>You don't need to, since Blitz and the marines open fire
>"Go for the orange spots in the back!" yells one of the marines, "That's their exposed flesh!"

>Unfortunately, the Hunters turn back to them and charge
>The assembled soldiers scatter again, this time in an attempt to surround the pair

>Except for Blitz
>You see him run off past the Hunters and toward another set of big doors
>You waste a moment deciding on if you should stay and help the marines
>...nah it looks like they can handle it
"Hey, Blitz! Wait for me!"

>One of the Hunters go down as you get down from the balcony and run across the conduit
>Yeah, the marines have it in the bag
>As long as they don't let the last, now-enraged Hunter get close enough to smash any of them

>Thankfully for you, the trooper is again forced to stop at the doors
>He tells you in an annoyed voice as he reloads his battle rifle,
>"First off: it's not Blitz. It's either Gunnery Sergeant Dash or, if I'm feeling generous, Gunny. Got it?"
>Caught off guard, you simply nod
>"And second off:"
>The doors slide open to reveal a clear street
>"Nice job."

>That makes you stand there for a second, dumbfounded, before following the ODST down the street
---
>Down in the plaza, in front of the entrance to a subway station, you find another drop pod
>You can't see if anyone's inside, but it's apparent there was a fight due to the half-dozen alien bodies cooking in the sun
>A bunch of Grunts are milling about the plaza, plasma pistols and needlers in-hand but not raised

>One is about to attach what looks like an explosive charge to the pod
>*BR-R-RT*
>Nope

>As you open fire, you get a mixed response from the aliens
>Some panic and run into the station, flailing their grey and calloused arms
>The ones who shoot at the two of you are quickly taken out

>With the plaza clear for now, the Sergeant makes his way down the stairs as you stay back to cover him
>A couple of the Grunts who ran found their balls and ran back out of the station, but a pair of precision shots with your magnum stops them dead

>You're turning out to be a pretty good shot with this thing

>You head for the crater's steps as Blitz takes out his fancy magnum and enters the station from the side
>A few squeaky cries and gurgles later, the Gunny reappears from the front and heads for the pod
>He's already trying to pry open the hatch when you get there, rounding a piece of spiky debris that must've fell from somewhere
>Just as you put your rifle down on the ground to help, Blitz heaves the hatch off

>He only finds an empty seat
>The two of you look to each other in confusion
>A second passes and two particular things happen:
>You hear something rise behind you
>Blitz says, "Aw, shit."

>You realize you are about meet your death and instinctively turn to it
>It's a floating blue ball with tentacles

>That's all you can see when the Sergeant grabs and throws you backwards
>You trip and fall to the ground, rolling, only to stop when Blitz falls on top of you
>Flat on your stomach, you look up to see the pink ball flare out with spiky black armor
>It lets out a shrill, almost electronic screech as you notice the damaged UNSC helmet attached to one of its tentacles
>Blitz, cursing wildly, finally gets his magnum off his thigh and starts shooting
>The thing has shields

>A shotgun blast from the side nearly depletes them
>You all turn to see another ODST appear from behind the drop pod
>He loads another 8 gauge shell with a satisfying *che-chick* 
>Recovering from the shot, the thing shrieks again before its armored "head" tentacle gets blown to bits
>The ball drops like a rock onto the ground, and the new helljumper greets the two of you with a small wave
>Blitz waves back before getting back up

>He turns and starts to help you up when you hear a whine
>It's increasing in pitch
"What the-"
>Blitz realizes it's coming from the alien a second before you do
>"Get down!"
>He tackles you and sandwiches you between his armored self and the concrete
>The wind is knocked out of you

>Before you can take a breath to protest, the alien explodes in a pink fireball
>Heat and light washes over the two of you for an instant
>As the air cools and the ear-ringing subside you lay there, crushed under 150-some pounds of composite armor and toned muscle

>Blitz finally gets off of you and takes a knee
>You take the time to get some air into your lungs
>"You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Almost had my ribs smashed, but..."
>Blitz shakes his head before pulling you back onto your feet

>While he walks over to collect his rifle, he asks the new trooper
>"What the hell was that?"
>You walk over to your MA5, which was flung a ways when Blitz tossed you
>"You ever seen one before?"
>The trooper stays silent, prompting Blitz to take his helmet off
>"Hey, Pinkie. Did you turn deaf?"
>Pinkie, who has a chest lined with shells and a lot more grenades than usual on his belt, shrugs
>"Ah, I see."

>You look to Blitz-
>Woah
>When you think "Veteran Orbital Drop Shock Trooper" you think grizzled, grey-haired, and aged
>Blitz is clean-shaven and has a goddamn rainbow for hair
>He looks younger than you thought, too

>That youthful face is now showing a hint of annoyance
>"Permission to speak."
>You then hear him whisper, "Smartass."
>You look to Pinkie, who's visor depolarizes

>"No, I don't know what it was,"
>/She/ sounds young too
>Did the protagonist's squad drop in your city?
>"but it was gonna paste your asses good. Just like it did to the Captain."

>You look at where the new alien exploded, and chunks of blasted armor were embedded all over
>Damn, you were all lucky to not get any shrapnel
>Blitz walks over to one piece stuck in a pillar
>"Yeah, maybe."
>You're kinda agreeing with him on that
>No one's really dead until you see the body

>"Have you heard from Rarity? Jack?"
>"Negative." answers Pie
>"The Rookie?"
>The new trooper simply shakes her head
>Still not sure if you should say something, you look back to Blitz
>He has his hand to his chin and his eyes to the ground, stuck in frustrating thoughts

>His eyes (which are pink, or magenta, but definitely artificially-colored) slowly look up to meet yours
>There's an awkward second before the helljumper points to you
>"You said you were helping out a friend?"
>You nod, suddenly put into the spotlight
>"Where is he?"
"Well, he's over at the ONI Alpha Site."
>Pinkie asks, "Didn't the spook mention that before we dropped?"
>Spook?

>Blitz glares at her for a moment before saying, "Yes, she did."
>You turn to Blitz, slightly confused

"Wait, what exactly is your guys' mission? If it isn't a secret."
>Both of the troopers look to you, before shrugging
>Pinkie answers, "It kinda was."
>"But now I think it involves the Alpha Site, so that's where we're heading now."
>Blitz replaces his helmet and readies his BR
>"Alright Officer, it's your lucky day, 'cause we're coming with you."

>You can't help but feel slightly relieved
>As long as they don't drag into too hectic fights, you should be safe heading over to your friend
---