“Listen up! You already heard the mission plan, but because some of you have short memories, were going over it again.” He looked around the room, his dark brown eyes missing nothing. “We will be dropping out of slip space momentarily. If the navy flyboys manage to get us in the right place for once, we will drop down and kill any bastard that is either under five feet, or has more than two jaws before they know we’re there!”
A cheer rose up among the marines. Collins looked over at Jordon who had worked his way to where Collin was standing and whispered, “Maybe you should sit this one out, you didn’t make the height requirement.”
Jordon laughed and replied sarcastically, “Yeah, well with your shooting I don’t have much to worry about.” Kelly slapped him in the back of the head, bringing his attention back to the Major.
“We are dropping onto the southern hemisphere of the planet SV2-131N, otherwise known as ‘Newdawn’. We will be joined by a second battalion from the cruiser Paladin. Our mission is to clear the anti-air defenses and secure a staging area in the desert for an attack on a Covenant facility that will be nearby. When we finish the hard part, our comrades in arms will kindly decide to join us. We don’t have very good Intel. so we're going to have to do one of the things we’re best at, improvising. We know that there are anti-air defenses, and we know the covenant don’t have any ships within one standard days distance.” He paused for a moment, leaving unsaid the fact that Covenant ships had a tendency to move faster than expected and show up where you didn’t expect them. “We know they have some kind of facility down there. Our mission is to kill or capture the defenders, capture the facility, take anything valuable, and get the hell out of there. As I stated before, we are going in first. No surprises there. While we’re down there playing with the spit-chins and grunts and getting dirty, our friends will be flying down first class, sipping champagne and eating expensive cheeses. Not us. Tell me, how will we be going down?”
Everyone in the room shouted in unison, “WE GO FEET FIRST SIR!!” It was the time honored mantra of the Helljumpers.
As soon as they finished the captain’s voice came over the com. “Attention all hands! We’ve come out of slip space and are in position to begin force deployment in three minutes.” He paused for a second; Collin could feel the usual pre-drop adrenaline spike. “There are no Covenant ships in the area, just like we predicted. The drop timer has started; good luck.”
Lieutenant Pierce stepped forward and shouted, “Alright, you heard Captain Whitticker. Into the pods!”
Collin turned to Kelly. “See you on the ground.” She made a three fingered salute, a private joke between the two of them, and then turned to find her pod. Collin returned the salute to her back, and then turned to his HEV; or Human Entry Vehicle. He pulled a grease pencil from his pocket, the kind mechanics use to mark what they’re working on. He laughed inwardly at the stupidity of his pre-drop ritual of writing the name of the ship he was dropping from on his pod every time for good luck. He reached his arm forward to write ‘Templar’ on the vehicles ceramic skin, only to be bumped from behind by a careless trooper. The pencil fell to the ground, landing in a crack in the floor. Collin swore colorfully and jumped into the pod, closing the door behind him. Claustrophobia immediately set in, but he did a quick breathing exercise he had taught himself and got over it within seconds. He quickly stowed his gear and strapped in, and then ran through a checklist to make sure none of the systems were malfunctioning.
Collin glanced at the small count down timer, four inches away from his nose on the opposite wall. One minute left.
The HEVs are disposable one man pods ODSTs use to drop into unfriendly territory. The idea is that they go down ahead of the main forces, and secure an area for the drop ships to land, carrying the main forces and heavier vehicles. The HEVs are covered in a ceramic coating to deflect heat, however the coating has a habit of melting off making it extremely hot inside, giving the ODSTs their nickname, Helljumpers.
Collin was thinking about that while he stared at the count. His mind raced as he sat strapped in his chair. “What if the parachute doesn’t deploy? What if I land separated from the main force?” He was plagued with self doubt and worry until the last agonizing second passed and the timer reached zero.
There was a loud bang, like someone had set off explosives in his skull. He slammed against the restraints, bruising his ribs. Collin knew something was wrong instantly. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He could vaguely sense that he was being spun head over heel, faster and faster until he passed out.