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Halo: First Contact

Chapter 7 :Training Days, Part Two

Liam watched the young cadets through his tinted helmet as they scrutinized him with wide awe filled eyes. The looks he was getting were a little unnerving, but he did his best to not think about it. It had only been a few seconds since he stood at the front, and if he waited any longer it would become even more awkward. So with a sharp quiet intake of breathe he prepared to speak. Liam brought himself to attention, standing tall and stiff, and used his best drill instructor's voice. "Today, you all have the privilege of learning from one of the most proud and noble fighting forces that humanity has ever conceived".

He paused for a second to gauge their reactions so far. The cadets had eager and excited looks, Starfox watched raptly from their place at the side, the russet vixen was fully occupied watching him, and the admiral and minister were talking quietly. "The ODST core prides itself on its excellence. Every member must have previous combat experience in the marines or other service branches, and must pass the brutal and rigorous exams before they can even begin to aspire to our hallowed ranks. Since you all will not be joining the core, I am merely going to teach some of the skills those who do join, earn. Questions will be allowed, feel free to raise your paws during any portion of the class. Considering that I know none of you, names should come first." As he said that, a large fellow, a bear, raised his paw. "Yes?" Liam inquired, unsurprised that questions came so early.

The brown young brown bear spoke up. "I am Private Ben Cunnings, sir."

"Well than, Private Ben Cunnings, what do you want to know?" Liam inquired.

The private cleared his throat before answering. "You are an ODST, sir?"

"I am."

"So that means you have a lot of experience then?" Ben asked curiously. They were all fresh out of school, and so they were interested in knowing what it was like.

"Right again, I was in the marines for four years before I managed to join the ODST core."

"Did you fight a lot?" It was a harmless question, but the meaning behind it was colossal. Fight was such a short and simple word. But the connotations behind it were anything but short and simple.

"Yes I did, and as much as I am sure you would all like to hear about it, I did not come here to show off. I came to teach you all how to survive as a friendly hand from the UNSC. If you are that interested, you will see for yourself before class is over. So for now, please keep questions relevant." Liam replied with a firm but courteous tone.

Ben nodded, signaling his questioning was over. And Liam picked back up where he left off. "Moving along, the first important thing a soldier, ODST or not, learns, is that the most valuable weapon is not your gun, but your brain. If you are quick and smart enough, you can survive most any situation. A gun cannot think for you, you must learn to think for yourself. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. When it all comes down to it, the only thing you can rely on is yourself and the soldiers beside you." As he gave his lecture, he found himself walking back and forth across the room slowly, hands clasped behind his back. With an internal chuckle he realized he was emulating his own instructor. "The second most important think you can learn is to preserve your equipment. They are your second most important assets. If you fail to keep your weapon maintained, it will fail you in combat, and that is a death sentence. You take care of your equipment before yourself, no matter how tired you are."

This time, a young female wolf had a question. Liam stopped pacing and acknowledged her. "I am Private Luna sir, and I was wondering, what do we do if we don't have a weapon?"

Liam smiled, his grin concealed behind his helmet. "You are a weapon. I assume you have all been trained somewhat in the art of hand to hand combat?" The wolfess nodded uncertainly. "Well then, that should answer your question. You have the training, but you lack the motivation. With a show of paws, how many of you could kill someone with them?"

A few were raised tentatively, mostly from the larger males. "You all are wrong." Liam said with a bark. "Until the time comes, no one can know for sure. Take it from my experience, it is easy to think, but when you reach that point, come face to face with your enemy. You will find that your resolve could crumble. War is ugly, and we wage it for many reasons. But to a soldier, you fight for survival, and you must remember that while that is another sentient being under the blade of a knife, sight of your gun, or under your paws, they are also fighting for survival. And if they have more resolve than you, or you hesitate, you will be the one left lifeless on the battlefield." His lecture seemed to have a solid impact, many had attentive expressions and their muzzles were set seriously.

Private Luna had one last question. "Sir, did you hesitate?"

Liam still remembered the first man he ever killed, five years ago. He wasn't a man really. the kid looked much to young. It was back on Vesuvius when they finally got the orders to pull out and let more experienced soldiers handle it. His warthog had drove over an IED and flipped. As he was scrambling for his rifle, a kid charged him with a mining axe. The adolescent was probably younger than he had been, but it was hard to tell with the ash and dirt covering his clothes and face, giving him a pale and gaunt look, like a corpse. It was ironic considering he would soon be dead. Acting fast, Liam had tackled the other teen and bulled them both over. He still remembered the look of fear in the other kid's eyes as he had shoved his combat knife into his sternum. The look of fright and despair in those dimming hazel eyes haunts him to this day. It took him a moment to realize that he had not answered and had been standing there quietly for too long. "No....no I did not." Liam replied slowly.

Luna did not reply to his distant answer, sensing that she had gone down a path he did not want to delve into. She just thanked him for his answer and went quiet. He knew that he was not being a conductive teacher so he quelled his remembrance and pressed on determinedly. "That is not what's important though, is whether _you_will hesitate. That is the defining factor you must be prepared to answer. I assume that you are all going into the army, the ground forces?"

A wave of nods answered.

"Then you will have a much harder time. It is easy for a pilot to snuff out another's life. They do not hear or see the other pilot die. It is just a magnificent explosion followed by the feeling of satisfaction. They are lucky, you will be forced to see the enemy when you kill them, see the light fade from their eyes, or cry out in pain for the last time. As I said before, war is ugly, but it is fundamental in preserving the peace, an ironic truth." Liam stopped a moment to collect his thoughts. He looked to check on his friends and saw them; they all looked deeply troubled. It seems that they had just figured what he had explained. Krystal was particularly troubled. The cerulean vixen had a pained expression. She had no love for killing. And that was exactly what she had been doing. Liam tried to send her his support and love. She focused on him and smiled weakly, appreciating the gesture.

"Now, before I continue on to the next portion, are there any more questions?" None did; they were all too busy absorbing his lessons so far. Seeing this, he frowned. Now he had to get to the painful part. He was not sure if he could stay for the whole video, but he would do his best. He would rather never have anyone see it. He had not been the same good man he was now; Caldernum had changed him for the worst for a long time. He was afraid that once Krystal and the others saw it, they would see the monster he used to be. "This next portion of the lesson will be by far, the most important. I may say much about combat, but until you experience or see it for yourselves, you will not truly understand. So it is in that inherent reason, you will see combat." When they heard that, all the cadets were jogged out of their musings, looking to him quizzically. "It is ODST tradition for an instructor's students to witness a recorded video of their time in service." He turned to Fara. "Lieutenant Fara, if you will assist me in setting up the screen."

The auburn furred vixen nodded. He walked over and softly handed her a small chip. He grabbed her paw and closed it gently around the electronic wafer. She found herself blushing as she took it and pulled away. That recording held a deep significance for the man, and she was curious as to why. It took some doing, but she managed to get it hooked up with the large flat screen monitor at the front of the class. She had to plug it into a small adapter device and thread the cables into the machine. Usually, the screen was lit up with statistics for the previous week's war-games or scenario plans. But now it would broadcast the first glimpse of human infantry warfare that the cornerians will ever see.

As she set it up, Liam began to explain what the mission was for. "At the time of the recording, I was a corporal, leading a single squad of ODSTs. We were sent to assist the current forces deployed on an inner colony world...Caldernum." When he said that, the ODST in the back shifted their helmets to look at him. They had been on Caldernum, and they knew what awaited these young cadets.

"It went from a small movement to a planetary revolt. We, the members of the ODST 4th battalion, became stranded on the planet with the surviving members of the loyalist militia and elements of the 6th armored and 3rd mechanized infantry division. For many weeks we were stranded, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. In the interest of time, I will start the video after our deployment and a week into our isolation." The screen turned on and he fiddled with the small wafer plugged into the larger device. After that he moved to the far side of the room, away from everyone, where he could suffer in silence.

After a few moments, the video turned on, showing what Liam had been looking at through his helmet. He was propped against a wall on the outside of a strange building. The outside was a dark grey, signaling that it was sometime during the night, and it was raining heavily. The ODST was unmoving as the rain plinked against his armor's ebony plates. Droplets of water were flowing slowly down his visor as it showed his armored chest. Liam was breathing softly, clutching a bullpup rifle firmly in his gloved hands. He looked to be sleeping. That is at least until a booted foot prodded his plated thigh.

******

"Wake up dunderhead. The Lieutenant Colonel has ordered the battalion to move out." A young voice full of the exuberance of life chimed in.

"Come on brother, let me sleep I'm the oldest, do as I command." Liam muttered grumpily, turning away from the annoyance.

The boot would not have that as it began to nudge him harder, almost kicking the reluctant trooper. "Not this time Liam, the Lieutenant Colonel has called for you by name. It seems he has a job for you."

Liam groaned and unsteadily got to his feet, complaining. "Just a few minutes of rest, that's all I want. It has been days since we had the time to, and now that we can, I have to do something. Even hiding in the rain didn't work" He grumbled angrily.

"Sorry Liam, it's not my fault." The other ODST replied, face concealed by his own helmet.

"Yeah whatever, you still get to sleep Mark." Liam retorted as he walked away, watching as his brother took his spot. With a scoff he went around the bend to the front of the building. The structure used to be a bank, but now it was home to the broken remnants of the UNSC army. The bank was caved in in some spots and there were small holes and craters in it, all due to the intense fighting hours ago. Stationed in the front were two massive treaded tanks parked aside the doors with a large four wheeled car sporting a tri-barreled machine gun on the back between them. The scorpions and warthog was all that remained of their vehicular power. There was a soldier manning the turret, he was in a different type of armor. It was composed of silver plates tarnished by dirt and grime, and it had a battered helmet that left the face open to the air, just a regular marine. Liam nodded to the soldier who returned it with a tired grimace.

Liam bypassed the jerry-rigged defenses and entered the foyer of the damages building. Rain leaked inside from the pock marketed ceiling and a collection of worn and wounded soldiers were spread across grey tile. Liam was one of the few who had not received any serious wounds so far. If this war kept going and they did not get reinforcements, many would not live to see the end. The ODST weaved through the men until he found a small room, the least destroyed of the bunch, and opened the door to step inside. It used to be the office of the manager; god only knows where the poor person was now. Inside were four men. The man who could only be the Lieutenant Colonel was talking over a small portable holo table erected on the floor, gesturing to points on it bathed in a crimson swathe; he was speaking in a grim tone. Standing beside him was an ODST with the ranking of a Lieutenant on his shoulder and two others garbed in standard marine combat armor. When he heard the door open, the Lieutenant Colonel looked up from the map projection. He had green eyes, a greying beard, and his hair was beginning to grow ragged. "Ah, Sergeant Liam, glad you could make it son." The exhausted looking man greeted.

"I'm here sir, just a little tired." He replied, saluting.

"At ease son, at times like this, saluting is just a formality." The older man waived off. They had lost the decorum of well fed and well supplied soldiers long ago.

Liam put his hand down. "What do you need sir?" He asked, apprehensive of the answer.

"I need eyes and ears, we are hopelessly lost and we have no idea where any other forces are, or if they are even still alive. I know this is a lot to ask from one man, but I need you to go scout ahead. Go a few klicks west along the main highway; see if you can find the rest of the 6tharmored. The last transmission we received puts them somewhere down that stretch of land." The commander was pointing his callused and grimy finger at the large blue stretch of road. There were countless buildings on the sides and wrecked cars strewn across it. There were also globs of red, like cancerous growths, dotting the way. The commander pointed those out too. "These are the places that others reported seeing insurrectionists before the comms net went down. If you can try to avoid them, or get some data on their location, see if they are still there. But that is secondary, the most important thing is to find any surviving UNSC personnel and get them back here intact. If we have any hope of getting through this, they would need every soldier they could get their hands on.

It was a hell of a mission, but he was ready. It was what he signed up for after all. "I can do it sir, you can count on me." Liam said confidently.

The Lieutenant Colonel visibly relaxed, a huge problem swept of his plate. "That's good to hear son, we are all counting on you. Remember, comms only go so far, once you lose it, you're on your own and I can't afford to send someone after you."

"I'm an ODST sir, I can handle it." Liam grunted.

"Alright then, Godspeed." The commander went to look at the map again, a dismissal if Liam ever saw one. The poor man had much to worry about. Liam thought that he was getting the easy job. It was far harder to lead men then to follow a man.

Liam turned around and exited the room; he headed for the small quartermaster station assembled at the east wall, and the most stable location. There he filled up on ammo for his weapons, switched his assault rifle for a shotgun, and grabbed a BR55 rifle with a silencer. He stowed the ammo in the various pouches on his armor and slung the shotgun on his back. Ready for his dangerous expedition, he left the fortified bank and headed out into the streets.

Once he was out of sight of the bank he began to sneak. With a stalker's grace he wove through the throng of abandoned cars and broken homes. This was the gift war brought, ruination and death. War an anathema to life, its opposite in almost every way. This place used to be filled with people going about their lives, living happily. Then the rebellion occurred and everything was destroyed. Market places once filled with the sounds of a bustling populace and the laughter of children was now polluted by the harsh bark of automatic weapons fire, high pitched whine of artillery, and the thrum of explosives.

Liam climbed over a small family car and dropped down. He looked to his left and saw a marine, draped over the open door of the vehicle, blown in half. There was a large pool of blood under him and the shell casings from his rifle lay scattered around him as if he was some macabre piñata. With a sad sigh, Liam pulled him off the car and tried to set him in a descent way, placing the corpse's hands on its bullet hole riddles chest. The soldier's helmet was located a few feet away, the insides filling up with rain. Liam picked it up and dumped the rain out, placing it on the ground at the man's feet. He looked to his face and saw a young white kid, his glasses were somehow pristine despite the terrible conflict the kid had been a part of before his grisly death.

Liam, his morbid act of kindness done, grabbed the kids dog-tags. Poor Eric Daniels would not be returning home. As sad as this was, Liam was not here to tend to the dead; he was here to send the enemy to join them. With one last look and salute, he departed from the car with the corpse and continued down the road.

Progress was slow. Having to move forward without making noise was hard to do. Thankfully, the rain and darkness did much to aid him in his quiet endeavor. As he crouched along, he heard a small shuffling noise inside of the many decrepit buildings. Instantly, he froze in place, scanning the area and checking his motion tracker. He sat in silence as the rain bounced off his plates, ears strained, listening for the noise.

Right as he was about to press on his tracker went off and he heard the noise again. Quieter than a mouse, he slid the shotgun off his shoulder and braced the stock against it. Then he turned to the right to where he heard the sound. It was a small department store with the entire front shorn off from an explosion. Liam took a deep breath and crept inside. Merchandise was scattered across the floor, clothes, shoes, hats, and toys. Carefully, he meandered around the mess, avoiding anything that could give him away to whatever lay inside. After checking several of the smaller stores inside he was ready to dismiss the noise. But he heard it again, farther inside. Weary of a trap, he pumped a round into the shotguns barrel and ventured deeper into the dilapidated and unlit store.

HE rounded the corner near the back and came across a small campsite. There was a tent, the kind only meant for your backyard, food wrappers thrown lazily littering the floor, cans of food, and a small camp light, still lit. Seeing the light, Liam stiffened, there was someone here. He decided to take a chance. "Hello?" He called out softly. He stood in silence for a few minutes, fingers trembling on the trigger, waiting for the trap to spring. But as soon as he was about to turn tail and run, a small figure emerged from the tent slowly.

It was a little girl, no more than eight years old, covered in dirt and filth. She was clutching a small stuffed animal, a little red fox and was looking at him, eyes filled with abject terror. "H-hello there m-mister." She whispered softly.

Seeing here, he immediately lowered his weapon, letting it hang from its sling. He crouched down to her level. "Hey there sweetie, what are you doing all alone out here?"

"My parents left a few days ago and they haven't come back yet." She answered, looking about ready to cry.

Liam's heartstrings were shredded. "Are you alone?" He asked, looking around the area.

"Yeah, my little brother was at the daycare and I haven't seen him in a while. Mommy and Daddy said they were going to look for him." She answered, a little less afraid of him.

Liam nodded solemnly, there was every chance they were still alive, but he could not leave her alone like this. "Do you want to come with me? I can take you to some other people who will take care of you until your parents come back."

She looked uncertain. "My Mommy taught me to never go with strangers."

"Well my name is Liam, and I am a soldier, I came here to help people just like you." He replied in a friendly and kind voice. "What's your name?"

"My name is Sarah." She answered, clutching the fox plush tight to her chest.

"So then Sarah, are we still strangers?" Liam asked with a smile in his voice.

"I suppose not." She answered uncertainly.

"Well then, would you like to come with me?" He asked again.

She stood their silently until she nodded. "Okay."

Liam chuckled warmly. "Atta girl, if you have anything pack it and I'll take you back to base. There are even other kids you can play with in the lower level.

At that she smiled softly and hurried up, grabbing a few things and placing them in a small backpack shaped like fox. "Do you like foxes?" He asked with a small amused chuckle.

"Yeah, I always wanted one but Daddy said that I was too young, so when I get older I'm gonna get a hundred foxes!" She exclaimed excitedly as she walked over, ready to leave, happy to be talking to someone again.

"No doubt you will. Now let's go, the faster you get there the better." He turned to lead her out of the huge store. Within a few minutes, Liam and his new friend managed to exit the building. He looked around for hostiles and checked his tracker. Satisfied the area was clear he motioned for her to come out. The little girl hesitantly left the building after looking around and walked over to him, standing in the rain. Seeing that, he took his helmet off and gave it to the girl. "Here, wear this." He ordered.

She complied and put it on, the large helmet covered her head and blocked out the rain. "Wow! There are so many lights in here!" She exclaimed as she looked up at him. The camera now afforded a look at the human's face. Liam looked a little younger than he was currently, short black hair and no facial hair. The man was smiling as he looked down at the girl.

"There are indeed, try not to blink too much or look around really fast, it'll mess up the system and make you dizzy. Now, follow me and I'll see about getting you somewhere better." Liam spoke, his voice was normal, unaltered by the helmet. He smiled down at the little girl and turned to lead the way.

Liam guided her through the cratered and bloodied streets, doing his best to keep her away from anything too gruesome. She talked quite a lot and he was preoccupied with answering her questions. It was because of this that while he passed a large broken down truck and crossed the street, there was a loud bang followed by a whistling sound and a puff of blood shot out from his left arm, causing him to snarl in sudden pain. Swiftly, he rolled backwards and pulled the little girl out of the street. "Are you okay Mister Liam?" She asked worriedly, looking at her new protector's bleeding arm.

He smiled as he looked down at her. "I'm alright it's my fault for letting my guard down, now stay quiet and get under the car. I'll take care of the bad guys." He ordered. The little girl complied and crawled under the car with little difficulty. The camera's angle shifted so all that could be seen was the ODST's black boots. He grunted and the shifted as he stood up. A few moments later the sharp bark of gunfire resumed and his boots wandered off out of sight. She hid under there for ten minutes as the intense gun battle raged deafeningly. On the eleventh minute, everything went silent. The silence in itself was loud. Three minutes later his boots returned and she heard him speak. "You can come out now."

Sarah wiggled out from under the truck and looked to him. Liam was smiling as he gazed down at her, not wanting the little kid to worry. His arm was bleeding heavily. "Are the bad guys gone?" She asked innocently as she looked up to the grinning soldier.

"Yes, they're gone." Liam answered softly as he helped the little girl back up to her feet and they resumed their journey. The ODST led the little girl back to the bunker. The rest of the trip passed without incident. Eventually the pair stopped at the doors to the fortified bank and he opened the battered steel to let his charge inside. The first soldier to greet them was his brother, Mark, who was sitting inside, a few meters from the door. His helmet lay at his feet. The youngest son of the Callahan family had short blonde hair and deep blue eyes, an obvious descendant of the German people. He looked up and was about ready to lay out a joking remark as per usual when he spotted the unhealthy and ragged state of his brother and his new little tag along companion.

"What happened, Liam?" He asked worriedly, leaping up from his place and rushing over.

Liam brushed him off unconcernedly. "Just a little tussle with the local vagrants, but they won't be bothering us anymore. I brought a friend, found her in the department store a klick or so down the main road."

Mark looked down to the little girl and smiled. "Hey there, how are you?" He asked, doing his best to be friendly to the wide eyed child.

She looked up to him, still wearing Liam's helmet, and answered. 'I was a little scared, but Mister Liam protected me."

"Yeah he tends to do that for people he cares for." Mark chuckled as he looked up to his older brother with a smile.

"Get her down to the others, maybe her parents are there. I hope they are." Liam ordered his brother.

Mark nodded and gently took the helmet off the little girl's head, handing it back to Liam. "Hey, wanna check for your parents?"

She nodded enthusiastically and followed after Mark. Liam turned to leave, placing his helmet back on his head, when he heard her call out. Liam shifted over to look at her. The little girl was smiling and waving at him. "Thank you Mister Liam!"

He smiled as he waved back, watching her disappear down the stairs to the lower levels where all the civvies were hidden away. Once she vanished from sight he shifted his focus back to his primary task. But first, he rested against a support column and attended his left arm. The bullet had gone through and through, only a flesh wound. He didn't even need to use biofoam. Liam bandaged it up and gathered his gear, ready to press on. His first trip had ground to an unexpected halt and delay; he only hoped that his second would be a better one.

With that hopeful thought he exited the building and ventured back into the city with a more positive disposition.

******

Liam smiled as he watched that part of the video; it was the only happy part. Sarah and her family survived the war, and he even saw her again before he left. HE had heard from the soldiers that her family had been inside the bank's vault. The parents had been almost in tears because they were not allowed to go back for her, but when they saw her walk in through those doors, there fear was replaced with elation. The thanks from them he received after that war went a long way with helping him with all he had endured. He tried to tune out the rest of the video and succeeded for almost an hour. But it was like watching a train wreck; one could not keep their eyes away.

Before he was drawn back in, a warm feeling of love and compassion welt up inside and looked to the source knowingly, it could only be one person. Krystal was looking at him with a beaming smile. She looked so happy to see that wonderful and caring side of him. It made the coming parts that much harder to bear. He could not bear to look at her knowing that, so he turned his attention to the room, not seeing her confused frown. HE needed to focus on something else, anything else, so he looked to the cadets. The trainees were watching the video with rapt eyes, devouring the happenings on the screen like a starving man in a buffet. They were completely enthralled by the alien images being displayed. Occasionally one would look at him in awe, amazed at his actions. Liam began to feel ill; they too would see his dark side. The unwell helljumper shifted his gauze over to the back and saw Mathias and the minister watching the video. Mathias had seen it all already, and he was frowning deeply. It brought a little dark pleasure to see his discomfort. He had already seen one of his friends kids die, and now he appeared to do it again. Only this time he was an active participant.

Liam did not like his dark feeling and so he looked back to the front. Fara was switching between looking at the video and him. Watching as his personality unfolded on the screen. She looked at him with respect. He knew that it would not last long. Liam heard a loud noise from the screen and looked back, watching as the final pieces of the act were unveiled.

******

It had taken some doing and dodging rouge bands of grubby clothed insurrectionist, but he had found the remnants of the 6tharmored. They were laid up in a sports stadium at the end of the highway. He would have missed them if not for the three tone beep on his radio. It was a covert communication. Liam could only assume that it meant that the enemy had gotten hold of their radio frequencies and were listing in. That did not bode well for their continued survival.

With that running through his head like a car without breaks, Liam activated the seven responding beeps in the memorized order. After a few moments, a location was pinpointed on his HUD, the sports arena. Another eighteen minutes of stealthy travel and he saw himself at one of the many entrances to the large stadium. He slipped inside and walked through the huge debris strewn mezzanine. Soon he picked up friendly IFFs and so picked up his pace.

He jogged past a row of support pillars and arrived at the actual stadium. He was surprised to find a huge assemblage of marines and the bulky armored chassis of four scorpion tanks. There were two marines at the entrance he walked through, and after a brief explanation he was allowed through. Five minutes of jogging and directions later, he found the Commander, he was propped on one of the four treads of a scorpion, smoking a cigar and talking to a group of marines. Upon seeing the ODST approach he jumped of the tread and headed over, meeting him halfway.

"An ODST eh, you're a little far from home trooper. What are you doing here?" He grunted in a gruff voice, exhaling a cloud of tobacco smoke. The ID on his uniform named him as a Wallace T. Clerk.

Liam let the smoke wash over his helm. "Sir, I was sent to reestablish contact with the 6th armored sir."

"Huh, who gave the order?" Wallace inquired.

"It was Lieutenant Colonel Frazier sir." Liam replied.

Wallace chuckled. "Well I'll be, he survived. That's some good news at least. Good news is hard to come by at the moment." His chuckle faded into a frown. "I suppose he wants us to regroup?"

"Correct, Sir." Liam nodded.

The commander sighed. "There's a problem with that. No matter how far or close your group may be, there is no way we could get the scorpions there intact. The insurrections bastards have the streets on lockdown. Only small groups like you have a chance of slipping through."

Liam let out a long gusty breath. If that was true, his trip had only been a partial success. He felt like collapsing. The ODST was tired, wounded, and unmotivated. "What do I do then sir?"

Wallace patted his shoulderplate, taking a puff of his smoke. "Son, you have to get back there and get him to come to us. This place is far more defensible and the open air of the stadium allows for an extraction for whenever the hell our reinforcements arrive."

"How am I supposed to get back? No doubt it will be much harder now." Liam muttered.

At that, Wallace grinned, cigar still in his mouth. "I have someone I want you to meet." The commander guided Liam by the shoulder to the far back of the stadium. They passed everyone until they arrived at the exit. Liam was confused until they entered a small room and Liam's jaw dropped.

Standing over a table and assembling a rifle, was a massive armored figure in olive green power armor. He (it could only be a he), easily surpassed seven feet in height. The armor was incredibly thick and looked as if it could absorb a god-awful amount of punishment. The helmet had a wide orange reflective visor, making it impossible to discern any face underneath. When they walked in, the figure slowly and efficiently placed the weapon on the table and saluted. On the breastplate three numbers could be made out clearly, painted in white.

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