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When the armor freed itself up hours later, I milled about with my fellow soldiers All fifty of us, scattered around the base of the ry, until ere picked up the next

We were then asse Felicia led our sly and blond, hailed froht teaed to hold its own

The next ti fire into the forest that Felicia and I dashed for Once behind cover there we laid a stream of TTR rounds ahead so that Kiko and Mason could follow

Leapfrogging and keeping an arc ahead of us constantly under fire, ere able to get halfway up the ot Kiko

We stalled out then, crouched in the brush with our backs to each other for a full field of range until a TTR grenade bounced into our ht on the ht us squad tactics, pairing us up with another fireteaotthe forest as it petered out high in thein at the top

We lost most of the other fireteam, who‘d been on point, to TTR fire Felicia, Kiko, Mason, and I had hit the snow and otten that far

―Any ideas?" Felicia asked With enemy behind us in the woods, and in front of us buried in, and one, we had seconds to e them We need sniper rifles," I said

―Trainers have those"

―Exactly And they‘re co for us" I pointed back down the slope

We backed down the muddy snow into the tree line ―Play dead," Kiko whispered ―Get down in the e of the tree line with all the others who got hit"

It would only ever work once, but we sprawled ourselves stiffly out in the mud

As our pursuers broke cautiously out into the open we a O‘Reilly almost point-blank in the chest as he approached me

We relieved the while we et a bead on the trainers at the top, but Kiko and Felicia got off two good shots

I ran ahead and threw TTR grenades into the areas fro out the instructors, and Kilo and Felicia got two of the three

The last trainer shotshot done on the run with his sniper rifle, but I gunned hiain

And just like that, we‘d taken the top of the mountain

―Nice" Felicia slapped my shoulder We‘d all been hit by TTR rounds, but we lih to hear our echoes return fro from our mouths into the cold air

A Pelican appeared, flaring out to land in the clearing at the top of the ines, and a craggy-faced gunnery sergeant stepped out, as well as a number of corporals

He didn‘t even look at us ―Get everyone up, now!" he ordered the corporals

They were off, tapping armor with electronic wands to unfreeze it

Soeness to the hurry they did it with And what the hell was a gunnery sergeant doing talking to us in the athered around the gunny, lining up as we‘d been trained He nodded ―Is this everyone?"

A quick head count confirmed that this was everyone

―Good At ease You‘ve all been out here in the wilderness training hard, but I‘ve been sent to let you know your training is going to be accelerated"

The instructors frowned, and we all shifted

―Much of this information has been classified, and between the ONI and the Navy types, this is e can tell you: We have ent alien civilization"

A gasp rose at hearing those words Some of us reflexively looked up into the sky First contact!

The gunnery sergeant continued, cool as ice ―We know that standard protocols were followed And that things didn‘t go well Our ships were attacked by alien beings referred to as the Covenant

Before destroying our ships they claiods, and that they were the instrument It seems to be an act of war As of today the UNSC is on full alert The Colonial Military has been officially disbanded, all rened and retrained And we‘re ra to need all the recruits we can get

―These aliens are for real They‘ve already taken, or possibly destroyed, one Outer Colony

Adet it back"

We were stunned

Private Rodriquez froal was the one who asked, ―What colony fell to theeant said, and rabbedin the mud She looked up at me, tears in her eyes ―Dirt?" she asked ―Do you still think that now?"

I didn‘t have anything to say back I stood in front of her, struck one

I‘d tried to find the last nice thing I said to hed, sured he‘d keep on faro back, one day, when I‘d traveled worlds and seen so ain Maybe

But there were no one

Felicia grabbed a fistful of mud and leaped up at me ―Dirt! I have your dirt, you son of a bitch!"

She hitmy face, but I didn‘t feel it I felt like a part of my soul had been ripped away, and even after she was pulled off me, I just stood there, numb

Dirt

Just dirt

FOR THErest of training they moved Felicia to another fireteam Our new team leader, Rahud, took his annoyance about the swap out on me He was an experienced UNSC veteran who‘d joined the ODSTs after years of service

He didn‘t take too kindly to the fact that just because I‘d been given rank in the old Colonial Military, it had given ra out between two backwater planet recruits like Felicia and et moved away from the teahtestme a detriment to the team and a liability

But it didn‘t faze ht, and the three of us held our own

Every day, as thearound about the aliens Ships they‘d attacked Their invincibility

A lot of it was bull Back then we didn‘t know anything

We certainly didn‘t realize ere up against Kiko and Mason would joke about getting out there to kick alien ass, and with a few beers in , we figured a bunch of religious fanatic aliens would be no , hard-as-nails brutality that a raw ODST-trained hu to the table

But when the first leaked photos of the Outer Colonies attacks ca Soy weapons

What the hell e going to be able to do against that kind of firepower?

YOU KNOWthat sound inside a single-occupant exoatmospheric insertion vehicle? That

co wind, a dull roar, and the crackle and creak of the SOEIV‘s skin flexing and burning Noit always scared the crap out of me

Feet First into Hell That was the ODSTaround the pod as it flah the atmosphere

It‘s a hot ride

A bumpy ride

And not everyone survives it