UNSC Colony World, New Leipzig

Sanctuary Falls, 2132 Hours

David sat atop the roof of a vehicle repair shop, its owner having been captured or relocate by the invading pirates and mercenaries hired by the Batarian Hegemony. From the roof top he could see dozens of pelican dropships and medium sized transporters brought down the equipment and manpower needed to launch an offensive into the city. Four black silhouettes blocked out the light from the stars overhead, instead replacing it with the titanium underbellies of Charon-class frigates assigned to supporting the ground offensive.

The battle in space had been won with little difficulty.

"Hey, Boss man," Kovsky called up to the roof from the street. He'd gotten out of the heavy black armour and body suit and was wearing a set of simple camouflaged fatigues. He'd recently shaven. Looking over the edge and down on his teammate, David sometimes forgot that Kovsky was barely considered an adult on some colonies. He'd celebrated his twenty-first birthday in Slipspace, en route to New Leipzig. "The Dragon Lady wants to see you in the command centre."

"Right, okay," David hurried down into the shop, round a stack of worn tires and past several cars in various states of repair. Kovsky was waiting for him, his hands resting on his hips while he tapped his boot against the sidewalk. He checked his watch. "Any idea what she wants?"

"Nah," said Kovsky. "Just that she wanted you there ASAP." They moved through the streets side by side, passing dozens of marines and sappers getting ready for the coming days.

"Where's Chris and Jameson?"

"Chris is on the COM. Jameson is in the barracks with most of the other guys." Kovsky said. When they arrived outside the command tent David brushed off any specks of dirt on his fatigues, smoothed out any creases and took a deep breath. The two MPs didn't even look at him after he showed his ID.

"I'll see you in the barracks, Kovsky."

"Sure thing, Boss." Kovsky disappeared into the darkened streets leaving David to face the Captain and any other command staff by himself.

Inside he was greeted by a half dozen officers surrounding a display of the city, discussing various strategic options. He immediately noticed a tall man with greying hair and three stars in his uniform. Lieutenant General Heino Stockton didn't even bother looking up at him. None the less David performed the proper salute and stood rigidly at attention. Captain Yates, nicknamed the 'Dragon Lady' by the men, eventually called him to ease. There was also an unmistakable black uniform belonging to an ONI officer, hidden away at the far end.

"Sergeant," Yates greeted with a formal nod. She was still angry with him, there was no doubt, because he had ignored her orders during the assault on the outskirts of Sanctuary Falls. But she also displayed a modicum of respect for him. General Stockton finally looked up at him through narrowed eyes.

"Sergeant Campbell," Stockton said. He had the type of voice that sounded like he belonged in a high school classroom. Drab and monotone the Generals voice didn't exactly install confidence. "I've heard good things from your CO." Stockton motioned towards Captain Yates with a flick of his wrinkled chin.

"Sir?" David didn't know what to say. He had never had to deal with a General in charge of leading an expeditionary force. Or any General for that matter. He certainly wasn't expecting to get praised. A couple of the other officers sized him up, obviously having heard the same 'good things'. The ONI officer weaselled her way into the front of the crowd. She was an unreadable mask, doing nothing except look unimpressed. From what experience he had with ONI, all their officers looked unimpressed.

"You've got the right type of character for a soldier. Strong, reliable and dedicated. I need someone like that right now," Stockton said. David had his doubts about what the General was saying. David lost his will to fight every time the galaxies problems took him a star systems at a time away from Vanessa and Helena.

"What the General is trying to say," The ONI spook said, interrupting the General. She received a vicious scowl from Stockton and Captain Yates but neither of them said anything. "Is that we need someone to lead a strike team into outskirts of Jannermount and secure a central data chip from the Misriah Armoury Lab. ONI doesn't want a bunch of pirates and mercenaries getting their hands on that data."

"Right, and your our man for the task, Sergeant." Stockton said. David nodded in understanding. Despite the fact that he had no clue as to why they had chosen him.

"I would have preferred someone with more experience, though." The spook said. She looked him over with icy eyes, an unhappy curl of her lip signified her dislike of him already. Captain Yates was taller than the spook by several inches and she didn't hesitate to square up to her.

"You wanted the best ODST I've got," the Captain growled, poking a finger into the other woman's chest. "He's it. He's reckless and can't follow simple orders, but he'll get a job done. No matter what." Yates was defending him, albeit with backhanded comments.

"Yes, Ma'am. You give the word and I'll have my men on the road within the hour." David said. General Stockton nodded at him.

"Get moving, son. Word is the Batarians are getting ready for a counter attack. If you're not back here by then, you'll be stuck behind enemy lines."

"Understood. We'll be in and out before they even notice us."

After being dismissed David made a beeline for the barracks, where his team would be. The ODST barracks had been set up in the hollowed out remains of a hardware store. Brushing past the shattered door he was met with ODSTs enjoying some recreational time out in the field. Music blasted through a set of speakers someone had set up while a dozen ODSTs gathered around an empty munitions trunk being used as a cards table. Chips and credits were scattered over the surface while the ODSTs playing the game blasted jokes, comments and stories at each other.

"Listen up!" David barked as loud as he could. The ODSTs snapped to with practised precision and ease. The music and banter stopped within a second. "Lima-Two and Four, pack up your gear. We're leaving in twenty minutes. Head to the motor pool, I'll have a ride waiting for us." He didn't stop to see if they followed his orders. They would do as they were told without question.

He left to get his own gear in order. He tried to ignore the growing sense of doubt about the mission and the unease the seeped into every fibre of his being. Too much didn't make sense to him and he felt like a puppet on strings, completely unaware of the grand plan being orchestrated by people behind closed doors. He hated it. He truly despised it.

He reached the motor pool, fully kitted out and ready before any of the others. They were taking three M12 Warthogs- older models of FAVs used by the UNSC. They were faster than a Foxhound but had less armour. For their planned mission the Warthog was the better option.

"Hey, Dave!" Chris called out from across the motor pools expansive vehicle bay. Behind him the rest of his team and Lima-Four followed. They were all kitted up and ready less than fifteen minutes after he told them. "What's the job?"

"I'll tell you en route," David replied. He ushered the two teams- now one- into the Warthogs and climbed into the passenger side of the middle vehicle. As they drove out of the town and onto the desert plains David began to explain the plan.

He was a little relieved to hear that he wasn't the only one having concerns with the mission. "If ONI wanted this data so bad why didn't they send a team in before launching an assault on Sanctuary? Why are we going in now? When the damn four eyed buggers know we're here?" Chris grumbled over the COMs. He wasn't the only one voicing his disparagement with how it was being planned out by the Brass.

"Enough! It is what it is. We'll go in, grab the data chip and be out before the Batarians even know we robbed it from under their flappy, gross noses." David snarled. The bitching stopped. The rest of the drive was completed in near silence.

They avoided the roads and main tracks- instead driving over the desert plains and rocky mesas to avoid detection. The powerful headlights and fog lights were switched off, forcing the ODST drivers to use their VISR suites and imagery from overhead STARS to navigate.

The Misriah Labs were four kilometres from the city, right on outskirts where the empty desert became lightly developed infrastructure. The three vehicle convoy stopped a kilometre away from the labs and the ODSTs proceeded on foot. The last thing David wanted was to draw attention to themselves.

The labs were surrounded by a wall twice David's own height and the only way in that wouldn't cause a loud enough explosion to draw in every enemy soldier for kilometres, was the main gate. Written in proud gold letters on the left of the gate was the name given to the labs: Mirbat Laboratory.

"Kealy, take your men and scoot right. Clear the buildings on the south side. It looks like they set up a COMs array over there. We'll go in and clear the main building. Chances are what we're looking for will be in there." David ordered.

While Kealy took his men along the right wall David steered his team towards the glass exterior of the main building. Lights saturated the inner courtyard, revealing four Batarian troops huddled together near a portable heater. To their left was on antiquated field gun dating back to the Rainforest Wars. "Fix your silencers." David whispered into the COM. The suppressors allowed the team to fire in near silence. It wasn't completely silent, but it worked well enough.

"Don't fire just yet, keep to the shadows and keep moving."

They moved into the lab without being seen. David took point through the narrow passages and hallways as they moved through the building. As he rounded a corner, heading towards the stairwell, he came face-to-face with a helmetless Batarian. The alien was muttering something to himself and when he saw the black armoured figures he barely got out a surprised curse. David let his rifle fall onto its sling and bull rushed the alien. His knife silenced the Batarian permanently.

"Damn that was close," Chris said, drawing a nod of agreement from Jameson.

"Agreed. Now let's keep moving before his friends show up." David replied as he wiped away the blood from his knife. "Kealy, how's it going on your end?"

"Fine, we've taken out the perimeter guard and are about to take the COM post." Kealy reported, all formal and short.

"Copy that." They took the stairs up to the top level, where he was sure the central data core would be. In the lobby at the top of the stairs a half dozen mercenaries on guard duty lazily kept themselves busy. They obviously weren't expecting something to happen here anytime soon. Several of them were talking; discussing the points of fighting the obviously much more powerful UNSC and Hierarchy. They were talking about leaving or surrendering, arguing which was the better option.

"It won't matter if they surrender," Jameson said. "They'll end up getting shot either way." David knew all too well what the UNSC would do to the mercenaries after a trial. If they were found guilty of any crime they'd end up in front of a firing squad. They were the lucky ones.

Before David or his team could do anything a small explosion could be heard. It came from the south end, near the COM station. It was followed by staccato of gunfire from non-UNSC rifles.

"Shit the bastards saw us! We've got the COM array but they might have gotten word out." Kealy spat out a string of curses as more gunfire could be heard. The mercenaries in the lobby grabbed their weapons and made a bee-line for the elevators.

"Take them!" David ordered. The team swept the room- high and low- felling the relatively poorly equipped mercenaries. As they pushed forward, through a broken glass wall separating the lobby and central lab, he clicked his COM.

"Kealy, fall back and grab the Warthogs! We'll want to make a quick getaway!"

"Copy, we'll make a move for them now." David trusted them to get the job done.

They scoured the lab, looking for the data chip. The problem was it was the size of a playing card. It could have been anywhere. The terminal it was meant to be slotted into was empty. The mercenaries had been trying to crack into the computers with little luck. The would-be hackers were hiding in an office overlooking the inner courtyard. Despite their pleas for mercy, throwing their hands up to show they were unarmed, David wasn't feeling inclined.

"Take 'em." David ordered, raising his DMR.

"Dave?" Chris questioned. He was the only one that didn't bring his weapon to bear. David didn't hesitate and neither did Kovsky. The two ODSTs made short work of them.

They searched the office. The data chip had been hidden in a small compartment inside a blown open safe. Apparently the mercenaries hadn't bothered to look properly while scouring the place.

"We've got the chip and are heading back down now. What's the situation on the Warthogs?" David asked. From the office he saw a half dozen set of headlights heading towards the main gate.

The battle for Mirbat was about to begin.

"They're a no-go, Campbell. We've got enemy reinforcements coming down the road!" Kealy cried out in frustration. The mission was going downhill, fast. He needed to regain some sort of control if they wanted to survive the night.

"Fall back into the building and head up to the roof. We'll fight from the high ground!" David ordered.

"That field gun might be old but should still work, we could use that to thin out there numbers!" Kealy replied. It was a good idea, as long as there was ammo for it and a crew to man it.

"I'll go and get thing working," Jameson offered. If anyone could, it would be him. But he also had the SAW, a weapon that would desperately bee needed on the rooftop.

"Fine but swap with Kovsky, you won't be needing the LMG down there." David said. Kovsky handed over his M20 SMG and took on the much larger SAW. After that they split up. Jameson rushed to the old field gun, which had been left in working order by the Misriah technicians. There was only a dozen or so shells for it in a neat pile designed to impress any visitors.

Kealy and his team burst onto the roof top as the first vehicle smashed through the main gates. Jameson fired the field gun. Despite being centuries out of date it performed brilliantly. The vehicle went up in a ball of flames- a mercenary fell out the back, screaming as he was burnt alive in his armour. The rest of the vehicles pulled up out of view, behind the secure walls of Mirbat Labs.

"Command this is Lima-Two!" David screamed into his COM as small arms fire erupted from the gateway. A shoulder fired rocket screamed out of the darkness and missed the main building. "We've been compromised! We've got the data but are cut off from our Warthogs and are under assault from enemy infantry! Requesting immediate support, over!" Jameson fired the gun again at the gate- the screams of fallen enemies broke through the report of gunfire. How Jameson was manning that gun by himself, David didn't know, it was damn lucky he was though.

Kovsky set up the SAW and opened fire with a practised set of short, controlled bursts that would have made their drill instructors happy. Another rocket screamed out of the darkness and this time it impacted the building: sending up a shower of permacrete and glass and shrapnel over the rooftop defenders.

"Copy that, Sergeant." The ops handler said in a voice so cool and calm he knew the bastard was planted in a nice cosy chair well away from a battlefield. "We've got a Commando team being re-routed to your position. Hold tight, Sergeant."

David bit back a string of curses and continued to fire his DMR at the shadowy figures. Even with the help from his VISR suite it was difficult to make out the enemy infantry. He could see more vehicles approaching, surrounded by swarms of foot mobiles.

Jameson fired the gun again while Desai started taking shots with her SRS. The fighting grew more hectic as more and more enemy infantry poured in towards the gate and the ODSTs. The sheer numbers allowed them to push into the courtyard while mortars started raining down on their position.

Without help the ODSTs were doomed.

The battle around Mirbat Labs reached its peak as the entire night sky was lit up as rockets and mortars were fired and detonated in mighty displays of fire and shrapnel. Tracer rounds criss-crossed the area in a spectacularly deadly light show of burning metal.

The battle went on for some time. David lost track in the dizzying chaos of the fight. The only thing he knew for certain was where his team was and how they were doing. The entire Lab complex was lit up by the crisscrossing flashes of tracer rounds and flashes of mortars as they detonated in attempt to kill the ODSTs.

"Hold it together, troopers! Evac will be here soon!" David called over the COM in an attempt to keep the ODSTs fighting. They didn't need much encouragement.

"Damn it, Dave, where the hell are all these bastards coming from?" Chris asked as bullets pulverised the wall behind him.

"I don't know! Just keep shooting!"

The small shield generators David had picked up in Sanctuary Falls had saved his life a dozen times already and continued to do so as more rounds flickered against the faint transparent bubble of energy. But against the torrent of enemy fire they began to fail, one by one.

Then the ODSTs began to fall. One by one.

The gun Jameson had been using had kept the enemy forces at some distance and was punching holes through the enemy lines until it fell silent. An alert flashed on David's HUD that Jameson was injured. They fell back off the roof as the mortars grew more and more accurate.

The ODSTs spread throughout the complex and courtyard, taking positions that allowed them to rain down hell on the mercenaries pushing closer and closer to the front doors of the Lab. David leapt down from the first story window, landed with a roll and, firing as he ran, moved towards where Jameson lay.

He was covered in his own blood, seeping from a dozen wounds and through his shattered armour. He was propped up against a bullet ridden, burnt out husk of a car a dozen metres from the gun, firing his sidearm at any mercenary stupid enough to move into the heavily lit parts of the courtyard.

"Come on, kid!" David grunted as he skidded to a halt next to Jameson. He grabbed the Biofoam out of his belt and quickly applied it to his wounded friend. He ignored Jameson's cries of agony as the Biofoam expanded in the wounds, sealing them. It was painful, but necessary.

Once Jameson stopped bleeding and the Biofoam settled, less than a minute after David shoved it into bullet wounds, he grabbed Jameson's collar and dragged him back towards the cover of the lobby. He didn't notice Chris and Kovsky move into positions to cover him.

Someone popped a smoke grenade in between the beleaguered ODSTs and the dwindling number of mercenaries. Tracer rounds flared up in the smoke- creating demonic swirls of gas and fire that spread over the blood soaked, corpse covered courtyard.

David had nearly run out of ammunition when the shooting stopped. An eerie silence fell over the complex as the mercenaries decided whatever it was the ODSTs had, wasn't worth the cost in life. They didn't have the same dedication or drive as any UNSC soldier. Let alone the ODSTs who were renowned for their audaciousness and tenacity.

As the smoke began to clear and the bullets stopped flying the sound of agonising cries penetrated the air. He looked at his roster- three BIOS readings had flat lined. Desai, Bray and Svenn had lost their lives. The rest of them were all injured.

"Grab their tags and ammo," David called out, pointing to their fallen comrades. "Chris, police the area and silence those damn mercs. If they wanted bloody mercy they shouldn't have taken the damn job."

Chris quickly closed the gap between them.

"Dave… their non-combatants now. That would be war crime." Chris took off his helmet, revealing his sweaty face. He didn't want this conversation on record. David removed his own helmet.

"Chris, if they wanted mercy they should never have taken a job to invade a UNSC colony. They knew what they were sighing up for and you know damn well they would do the exact same to us."

"I fucking know that! Damn it, Dave. We need to be the better people here. That's the whole point of having a Law of War."

"They're mercenaries!" David shouted. He could feel his temper boiling over as his cheeks began to burn. "They're not lawful combatants! If we arrested them and put them in front of a tribunal they'd be found as unlawful combatants and shot anyway! At least this way we're ending their suffering now, rather than dragging it out over the course of months." He turned away and began surveying the area, looking for anymore threats.

Chris grabbed his shoulder and forcefully turned him around. "At least that way it would be legal. If you want them all dead now, you can do it yourself. I'd go to hell for you Dave, but not because I committed a fucking war crime." Chris stormed off, securing any weapons he came across. His boots left distinct marks in the blood.

David growled as he shoved past a battered looking Kovsky and moved towards the few mercenaries still alive. He un-holstered his sidearm and pointed it at the wounded Batarian. The alien snarled at him and began to say something before David pulled the trigger. He spattered the Batarians brains all over the asphalt.

He did again and again to any mercenary still making a noise. The last one was a human. A middle aged man with a wild beard. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and into the thick bush of hair on his chin.

"Please," the man coughed up blood as David approached. "Please, don't. I surrender!"

"You should have thought of that before you took part in this." David spread his arms to amplify his words. "You took an unlawful job and now you're paying the price. My friends have died here. More died back at Sanctuary and more will die when we assault Jannermount. If the roles were reversed you wouldn't grant any one of us mercy!" David finished off with a swift, brutal kick to the man's stomach. Then he levelled his sidearm at the man's face. He began sobbing, pleading for his life. David hesitated, his hand shaking. The crackling of the dozen or so fires reminded him of all the men that had died so far. It steeled his conviction. He fired.

It was a scene that would haunt his dreams for decades, he was sure, but he felt no regret. No remorse.

As he moved back to the remains of his team he grabbed his helmet from where he discarded it after his conversation with Chris. As he sealed it over his head the unmistakable roar of several Warthogs approached.

The massive four-wheel drive trucks bounced over the corpses and crashed through the broken gates. A bulky, battle scarred APC followed them in. They skidded to a halt metres from the injured remains of the ODST team.

The driver of the first Warthog hopped out and left the weary troopers in awe. Over seven foot tall and covered in a hefty suit of green and grey armour that made the ODST battle dress look like papier-mâché.

"Lima-Two? Blue Team is here to extract you back to base. What happened to the enemy contact?" The lead figure spoke with a voice that inspired a calm confidence in everyone.

"You just drove over them." David deadpanned. He was tired and angry and all he wanted to do was to get off New Leipzig.

"Understood. Where's the rest of your team?"

"Dead. Give us a hand with the bodies, would ya?"

The armoured man moved too fluidly, too naturally to be a robot as did the two others that helped with the bodies and seriously wounded. The ODSTs sat in the back of the APC on the way back to base, mostly in silence. Kovsky kept Jameson talking as they crossed the desert.

One of the armoured figures sat with them, helping with the first aid.

"Hey, what unit are you guys from?" Kovsky asked.

"That's classified, marine." Came a surprisingly female voice. She had a distinct accent, similar to Kovsky's own.

"Yeah, but you got have a name for your unit, right? One that isn't classified. Blue Team doesn't count. I've come across a dozen of those in the UNSC already."

She hesitated a moment. She was completely silent. Completely still. David guessed she was talking to someone higher up in their unit. Eventually she nodded.

"We're Spartans."