Prologue
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Halo 3: ODST (Reclaimers) Prologue
A harsh light and a soft chime awoke Veronica Dare from her slumber. She groaned, rolled out of bed, and padded softly over to the datapad on the dresser.
UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 11785S-76
ENCRYPTION CODE: BLACK
PUBLIC KEY: FILE/GAMMA-THUNDER-TWELVE
FROM: LORD ADMIRAL TERRANCE HOOD, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS, UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND
TO: CAPTAIN VERONICA DARE, OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, SERVICE NUMBER 73998-38490-VD
SUBJECT: THE PORTAL IN VOI
CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (BGX Directive)
/ START FILE/
CAPTAIN DARE, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE BRIEF NOTICE, BUT YOU HAVE TO MOVE FAST.
ASSEMBLE A TEAM AND PROCURE A DROPSHIP TRANSPORT. YOU NEED TO SELECT SOLDIERS WHO CAN PROTECT SPECIALISTS AND KEEP THEIR COOL AROUND ALIEN FRIENDLIES. MAKE SURE YOU CAN TRUST THEM. I DON'T WANT THE BOYS FROM THE BLACK OPS GROUP MUSCLING IN ON THIS MISSION.
YOU ARE TO RENDEZVOUS WITH SIERRA 117 AND THE FORWARD UNTO DAWN ABOARD THE SEPARATIST ASSAULT CARRIER SHADOW OF INTENT. THEY DEPART WITHIN THREE HOURS. POSSIBLY SOONER.
I'VE ATTACHED TWO SPECIALISTS FROM THE IN AMBER CLAD TO YOUR TEAM. THEIR JOB IS TO SECURE ANY AND ALL DEFENSIVE TECHNOLOGIES THAT MIGHT BE FOUND ON THE OTHER SIDE. CSV's ARE TO FOLLOW THIS MESSAGE.
FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE FORTHCOMING.
GODSPEED CAPTAIN,
TERRANCE HOOD.
Dare stared at the message, her sleep-fogged brain trying to make sense of it all. Clarification came when she opened an image attached to the email. She saw drone footage of the Voi excavation, the very thing that had been weighing upon her mind for the past two weeks.
The Engineer named Quick To Adjust (AKA Vergil) had told her that the Covenant Loyalists were digging up some kind of installation that had been installed by the vanished alien race that the Covenant worshiped. To hear the Covenant themselves talk about it, the thing at the bottom of the pit was a superweapon, a sacred shelter, a key to salvation. When exhaustion had finally driven her to bed, it seemed as if the High Prophet of Truth was just hours away from pushing the big red button.
But now the installation was alive. Great shields like flower petals had unfolded, and hovering above it all was… a glimmering ball of energy. A stable slipspace rupture.
"What is it?" Buck asked.
Dare tossed the datapad onto the bed and gestured for him to read it. She was already pulling her BDU undersuit on.
"Get the rest of the team on the horn," Dare began pulling on pieces of armor. "We leave in an hour."
"You are aware that we're down a member, right? Mouthy fella, missing a chunk of his lungs?"
"I've got someone who can fill in," Dare grabbed her comms gear and tied her hair into a loose bun before securing the headset. "Is Mickey still flying that Phantom?"
"The Brutes haven't shot him down yet."
"They'll get another chance then," Dare said as she grabbed her helmet and tucked it under one arm. "You coming? Or are you just gonna lay there and stare?"
"Can I do both?" Buck grinned and began changing into his own kit. "Go ahead, I'll catch up."
"Dare," a broad-shouldered redhead answered the door, dark bags underneath his eyes. "You only show up when something's wrong."
"Need you for an op." Dare tossed the man a datapad. "Lord Hood's authorization, you're being transferred effective immediately."
"Bloody 'ell you don't fuck around, do ya?" the man slid the door open all the way, letting Dare into the darkened bunkroom.
"Adam," Dare stopped the man. "We're going through the portal and my team's sniper is down."
"I'm in," Adam sighed, grabbing his SRS and slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll need a new BDU though," he drew Dare's attention to the plasma-scorched armor lying on the floor.
"Geeze, what'd you do? Piss off a Wraith?" Dare asked as she picked up the partially melted armor.
"Something like that," Adam shrugged, his gear and undersuit slung in a pack over the shoulder that didn't have the barrel of a rifle peeking over it. "I'm ready to go if you are."
"We'll stop by the armory," Dare closed the door behind them. "Get you something that isn't slagged."
"Fine by me," Adam let the barracks door slide shut behind him. "Let's go kill us some apes."
–
–
The two walked up and out onto the loading bay of Firebase Voi. Awaiting them was a Phantom dropship painted in the drab colors of the UNSC Marine Corps hovering just above the bay.
"I'd heard the rumors," Adam stopped in his tracks and stared with jaw agape. "But I didn't bloody believe it."
"Get in line," Dare scoffed. "We've got a mission to run.
Adam stepped into the grave lift, and after a moment of weightlessness, he landed into the cavernous interior of the alien dropship. When his eyes adjusted to the strange light, he saw a gunnery sergeant tending to a stack of ordnance, and a pair of ODSTs clustered in the cockpit.
"Hey, Mickey!" a voice gruff said. "Try not to get shot at too much. You know how much I hate flying."
"Dutch, I've had my butt glued to this seat for the past two weeks," the other trooper, the pilot, said. "I've picked up a few tricks since then."
"Are we really that bad off?" Adam asked. "Have we really lost so many Pelicans that we need to nick a floating brick off the Covies and paint it green?"
"Green like a leaf on the wind," Mickey said. "Wait 'till you see it soar."
—
Co-Author’s Note: This is a fanfic co-written with Rasq’uire’laskar.
A harsh light and a soft chime awoke Veronica Dare from her slumber. She groaned, rolled out of bed, and padded softly over to the datapad on the dresser.
UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 11785S-76
ENCRYPTION CODE: BLACK
PUBLIC KEY: FILE/GAMMA-THUNDER-TWELVE
FROM: LORD ADMIRAL TERRANCE HOOD, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS, UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND
TO: CAPTAIN VERONICA DARE, OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, SERVICE NUMBER 73998-38490-VD
SUBJECT: THE PORTAL IN VOI
CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (BGX Directive)
/ START FILE/
CAPTAIN DARE, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE BRIEF NOTICE, BUT YOU HAVE TO MOVE FAST.
ASSEMBLE A TEAM AND PROCURE A DROPSHIP TRANSPORT. YOU NEED TO SELECT SOLDIERS WHO CAN PROTECT SPECIALISTS AND KEEP THEIR COOL AROUND ALIEN FRIENDLIES. MAKE SURE YOU CAN TRUST THEM. I DON'T WANT THE BOYS FROM THE BLACK OPS GROUP MUSCLING IN ON THIS MISSION.
YOU ARE TO RENDEZVOUS WITH SIERRA 117 AND THE FORWARD UNTO DAWN ABOARD THE SEPARATIST ASSAULT CARRIER SHADOW OF INTENT. THEY DEPART WITHIN THREE HOURS. POSSIBLY SOONER.
I'VE ATTACHED TWO SPECIALISTS FROM THE IN AMBER CLAD TO YOUR TEAM. THEIR JOB IS TO SECURE ANY AND ALL DEFENSIVE TECHNOLOGIES THAT MIGHT BE FOUND ON THE OTHER SIDE. CSV's ARE TO FOLLOW THIS MESSAGE.
FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE FORTHCOMING.
GODSPEED CAPTAIN,
TERRANCE HOOD.
Dare stared at the message, her sleep-fogged brain trying to make sense of it all. Clarification came when she opened an image attached to the email. She saw drone footage of the Voi excavation, the very thing that had been weighing upon her mind for the past two weeks.
The Engineer named Quick To Adjust (AKA Vergil) had told her that the Covenant Loyalists were digging up some kind of installation that had been installed by the vanished alien race that the Covenant worshiped. To hear the Covenant themselves talk about it, the thing at the bottom of the pit was a superweapon, a sacred shelter, a key to salvation. When exhaustion had finally driven her to bed, it seemed as if the High Prophet of Truth was just hours away from pushing the big red button.
But now the installation was alive. Great shields like flower petals had unfolded, and hovering above it all was… a glimmering ball of energy. A stable slipspace rupture.
"What is it?" Buck asked.
Dare tossed the datapad onto the bed and gestured for him to read it. She was already pulling her BDU undersuit on.
"Get the rest of the team on the horn," Dare began pulling on pieces of armor. "We leave in an hour."
"You are aware that we're down a member, right? Mouthy fella, missing a chunk of his lungs?"
"I've got someone who can fill in," Dare grabbed her comms gear and tied her hair into a loose bun before securing the headset. "Is Mickey still flying that Phantom?"
"The Brutes haven't shot him down yet."
"They'll get another chance then," Dare said as she grabbed her helmet and tucked it under one arm. "You coming? Or are you just gonna lay there and stare?"
"Can I do both?" Buck grinned and began changing into his own kit. "Go ahead, I'll catch up."
"Dare," a broad-shouldered redhead answered the door, dark bags underneath his eyes. "You only show up when something's wrong."
"Need you for an op." Dare tossed the man a datapad. "Lord Hood's authorization, you're being transferred effective immediately."
"Bloody 'ell you don't fuck around, do ya?" the man slid the door open all the way, letting Dare into the darkened bunkroom.
"Adam," Dare stopped the man. "We're going through the portal and my team's sniper is down."
"I'm in," Adam sighed, grabbing his SRS and slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll need a new BDU though," he drew Dare's attention to the plasma-scorched armor lying on the floor.
"Geeze, what'd you do? Piss off a Wraith?" Dare asked as she picked up the partially melted armor.
"Something like that," Adam shrugged, his gear and undersuit slung in a pack over the shoulder that didn't have the barrel of a rifle peeking over it. "I'm ready to go if you are."
"We'll stop by the armory," Dare closed the door behind them. "Get you something that isn't slagged."
"Fine by me," Adam let the barracks door slide shut behind him. "Let's go kill us some apes."
–
–
The two walked up and out onto the loading bay of Firebase Voi. Awaiting them was a Phantom dropship painted in the drab colors of the UNSC Marine Corps hovering just above the bay.
"I'd heard the rumors," Adam stopped in his tracks and stared with jaw agape. "But I didn't bloody believe it."
"Get in line," Dare scoffed. "We've got a mission to run.
Adam stepped into the grave lift, and after a moment of weightlessness, he landed into the cavernous interior of the alien dropship. When his eyes adjusted to the strange light, he saw a gunnery sergeant tending to a stack of ordnance, and a pair of ODSTs clustered in the cockpit.
"Hey, Mickey!" a voice gruff said. "Try not to get shot at too much. You know how much I hate flying."
"Dutch, I've had my butt glued to this seat for the past two weeks," the other trooper, the pilot, said. "I've picked up a few tricks since then."
"Are we really that bad off?" Adam asked. "Have we really lost so many Pelicans that we need to nick a floating brick off the Covies and paint it green?"
"Green like a leaf on the wind," Mickey said. "Wait 'till you see it soar."
—
Co-Author’s Note: This is a fanfic co-written with Rasq’uire’laskar.