Maze - Working Title

[GhostHammer]

Prologue: New Found Horrors

1123 Hours, December 11, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Unknown System, Installation 00 "The Ark"

UNSC Marine Lieutenant Cody A. Shaer slid along the wet grass and slammed against a charred chassis of an upturned M12 LRV, commonly known as a "Warthog" by the UNSC forces, as a dozen Covenant Grunts fired their plasma pistols, brilliant bolts of emerald plasma snapping over his head. Cody eased his MA5C assault rifle over his new found cover and fired blindly at the oncoming Grunts, a torrent of 7.62x51mm rounds spewing from the weapon as a pair of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers clad in their signature black armor under his command came running towards him, their heads tucked down as they ducked under the oncoming fire and dove behind the Warthog.
"Business is good today El-Tee!" yelled the biggest of the three that now huddled together. "How much longer is the Arbiter and the Chief going to be up there?"
Cody primed a grenade and hurled it towards a pair of Covenant Jackals that had entered the fight. "Oo-rah Al. Don't worry, the Chief will get it done." He finished just as the grenade exploded, tearing off one of the Jackal's arms and sent the other sprawling into a nearby bush.
Gunnery Sergeant Allister Cox was an ODST veteran. Enlisting soon after Harvest was lost, he quickly discovered he had an aptitude for explosives and heavy weapons. At six foot four, and a solid two hundred and fifty founds, he easily was one of the largest ODST's Cody had ever fought alongside. With his short blonde crew cut and cold ice-blue eyes, Al was also one of the most intimidating. A volunteer from the infamous 105th Drop Jet Platoon, Cody was happy to have him alongside during the battle that could determine the fate of the human race.
When Commander Keyes chased The Prophet of Truth through the portal in Voi, she asked for volunteers to accompany herself and the Master Chief. Naturally, as an ODST, he volunteered himself. Along with other various other volunteers, he had been given a temporary unit of mix matched ODST's to command while the battle raged on the Ark. Currently the Chief, with the help of the Arbiter, were climbing a massive tower to power down a large shielding field while allied Separatist Elites and ODST's made sure no one got in after them. They all knew what was at stake.


The third ODST hunkered down, slowly eased her way to the end of the hog and popped up, her BR55 Battle Rifle spitting a trio of rounds into the last Grunt's methane tank as it turned to flee, high pitched squeaks and grunts dying off as the exploding tank sent the Grunt slamming into the heavy metal wall of the tower with a wet smack. She put another triplet of shots in the limp body. "Got the last one boys, you can relax now."
The three ODST's stood, a few Marines yelling "All clear" as a dozen troopers rose from their cover, the few Elites that joined them roaring in victory. A Marine not far from the trio of ODST's tried to sit up. He coughed up blood and doubled over, a large metal spike from a Brute's Spiker embedded in his stomach.
"Boule!" Cody barked, "Get over to that man now!"
The female ODST shouldered her BR55 and ran to the wounded man. She reached him and lay him on his back before removing her helmet. "It's going to be OK, hang in there!" She assured him as she opened her field medical kit and retried a canister of bioform and began to work. A concerned Private stood overlooking the Medic do her work.
Cody strode over and pulled the trooper aside. "Relax Private. Kelsey know's what she's doing. He's in good hands."
To say Master Sergeant Kelsey Boule knew what she was doing was an understatement. An ex medical technition from the UNSC Hopefull, Boule decided she could do more good on the ground with the troopers on the front lines and so, not long before the fall of Reach, she transferred into the 19th Shock Troopers Battalion and quickly forged herself a reputation for saving her fellow troopers lives, even when most combat medics would abandon hope. An athletic, dark haired woman, she had a soothing effect on her patients like no other. Cody figured it had something to do with her attractiveness rather than her demeanor but it didn't matter to him, Boule got results, and he could appreciate that.

The Private nodded and returned to his cover as another ODST approached them from the beached where a Pelican had just landed, a matte black SRS99D-S2 AM cradled in his arms as if on a quail hunt. He strode over to Cody and Al and depolarized his helmets faceplate. He gave the pair a smile. "Good to see you in one piece Lieutenant."
Cody clasped the newcomer's hand and gave him a short embrace. "Good to see you too Bitansky. Thanks for the cover."
The one member of his rag-tag unit he did know well, Sergeant Major Michael Bitansky was by far the best shot Cody had ever seen in his years serving in the Crops. A member of Cody's unit before they all arrived at the Ark, Bitansky and Cody had fought across multiple planets alongside each other. Long time friends from their days during Boot camp, the two consider themselves brothers. A tall, skinny man with cropped dark hair, Bitansky was rather nimble for a man of his build, and was one of few ODST's to qualify "expert" on every advanced marksman course.

Cody turned to the collection of Marines who now stood scattered throughout the clearing at the base of the tower, distant echos of rifle fire and explosions resounding from inside the structure as the Master Chief worked his way inside. Pausing for a moment, Cody looked out over the water and determined if there had been no Covenant and no war here, it would make a very nice vacation spot. Tearing his mind from dreamland, he quickly assessed the strength of the soldiers left. A dozen marines, a couple SPNKr Rocket Launchers, a handful of Elite warriors, and too many wounded and dead to count. He quickly determined a plan of action and began barking out orders. "Marines! Listen up! We need to make sure nothing gets in behind the Chief while he and the Arbiter do their work. Secure this area and dig in! Rockets take positions up the hill, assault weapons on the flats." He turned to Al and Bitansky. "You two, grab the wounded with Boule and escort them to the Dawn. Pelican's on the beach. Let's move people!"
The troopers sprang into action as they rushed to set up cover with whatever they could find while the Elites quickly set up portable shield barriers and helped remove the burned out Warthog that had provided Cody the others with cover during the previous fight. A pair of Marine's carrying shotguns kicked over a Covenant crate and moved to cover the tower door. Cody turned to Bitansky and Al as they helped Kelsey unfold a stretcher and load on the wounded man, the Spiker's bolt removed and his wound sealed and covered.
"I know you two would rather stay here, but I need a reliable escort for the wounded. Once you're back to the Dawn, I'm sure Commander Keyes will have you re-deploy. I'm staying to organize ground-ops here, has there been any word on Stephen and the other three?"
Mike looked down as he shook his head, as he slowly pulled the wounded Marine onto the now assembled stretcher. "Negative sir, their Hornet took a blast from one of those AA Wraiths coming in. It hit the water pretty hard, no one came up."
Cody nodded as the two ODST's moved to help Kelsey with her wounded. He took a moment and removed his helmet, scratching his shaven head as her breathed fresh air. It still tasted artificial, almost like his helmets scrubbed air, but it was much cooler in temperature. He marveled at a pair of Marines talking to one of the Elites in the dark red armor as they dug a series of Lotus Anti-Tank mines into the path leading up to the clearing and spat in disgust. Regardless of the humans new found allies, he could never forget how many fellow soldiers he had seen lost due to the Elites in their quest for the Great Journey.

Taking a moment to check his ammo in his M7 Caseless SMG, he turned at the roar of the Pelicans and checked the beach to see the pair of dropships lifting off, their engines flaring as the spun and started towards the water back to the Dawn. It was then when he noticed the large object speeding towards them high above in space. A large domed station with an odd colored smog hanging around it with large dark veins lacing it's metallic plating.
An Elite Ranger to his left roared in disgust."High Charity! Brothers! The Parasite is upon us!" he drew his energy blade as did the other Elites around him. Moments later, the once mighty Covenant City High Charity smashed into the ark with a thunderous bang, the domed section imploding on impact sending hundreds of flood dispersal pods and infected rock fragments hurtling into the air, dozens of which flew towards the tower where Cody and the others guarded. A large rock smashed through the tower window above with a crash sending alien glass raining of the defenders below.

A long time veteran of both the Rebel Insurrection and the Human/Covenant war, Cody was a seasoned veteran in combat, fighting on multiple worlds including famous battles such as the liberation of Harvest, the battle for Reach and the battle for Earth. Holding multiple UNSC Navy awards and medals, he was an expert in CQB and Urban Warfare, a bonus when and his team and been deployed to New Mombasa. Although he carried both valuable combat experience and an unmatched level of expertise in his fields of study, nothing could prepare him for what was about to take place.

It would be the upcoming hours that would scar Cody both physically and mentally as the flood came to the ark and tested every ounce of his training and knowledge for it would take everything he knew and more to survive the ordeal. He would become one of a select handful of human survivors that encountered the flood and lived to tell the tale all the while witnessing the end of the human Covenant war where he would later be promoted multiple times and awarded the Colonial Cross for bravery. His experience against the flood however, would be very important in his future, for only months after the battle on the ark, Cody would be faced with yet another terrible battle, this one far deadlier and more challenging than any before it.