User:Rotaretilbo

Me
The name is Brandon Rebuga. I'm 16. I live in Arizona (America). I am a gamer, prefering FPS and then RTS style games. I also enjoy satire (and can, at times, be heavily sarcastic...can't help it), and thus view several comics of the nature of Red vs Blue, VG Cats, Pure Pwnage, and Concerned (which ended...how sad). I don't watch much TV because the television is so polluted with nonsense, even in the commercials, that the only channel I watch anymore is the Military Channel, and I've usually seen everything they show several times, so there isn't much to watch. I am a fast reader, but I usually stay inside series that I know. Thus, I usually tend to read Redwall and Halo books, with the occasional World War II history book (Tigers in the Mud for the win!) thrown in and maybe some Conservative propoganda to balance the Liberal control of a large portion of the media and school system. I am a German, and speak the language decently. I am still learning. I am not, however, a Nazi. On my list of heirarchy, Fascists scores twenty-second of twenty six and Hitler (one of six singular beings) scores twenty-sixth, dead last. Anyway, I am currently writing a piece of fanfic for Halo, which won't be any good because I suck at writing, but I'm doing it anyway. That's about it I suppose.

Hitler
As you may have guessed from the above paragraph, I hate Hitler with an uncommon passion. So much so, that it warrants an extra paragraph in my page. I mean, the Jew thing was one thing, but then again, the Soviets did it, the Romans did it, the Babylonians did it, etc. For that, he is just another follower. However, the fact that he could take Germany, the most technologically superior country in Europe, and somehow lose a war to Russia, Britain, France, and America (and the smaller powers involved like Canada and Australia) and have allies like Italy and Japan is quite a feat. I mean, Germany had the King Tiger tank! A regular tiger could effectively take out ten T-34 tanks (Russian tank, Russians ranked second when it came to tanks). Hitler always insisted on making huge tactical errors, canceling projects that could win the war, and refused to listen to his generals. Rommel says "Tag Hitler. Ich denke, dass die Amerikaners werde in Normandy kampfen. (Hey Hitler, I think the Allies will attack at Normandy)" and Hitler is all like "Quatsch! (Balogna!)" and then holds the German Panzer division at Calis for an additional 15 days AFTER D-day. He gets the SS-Panzer division slaughtered in the east when the Russians break through by ordering them a mile behind the line when they should have been five or ten miles back in order to be alerted when the line broke, he sent the German troops to Russia just prior to winter WITHOUT snow gear, he canceled both the Vengance 2 (first cruise missile) and Vengance 3 (ICBM capable of hitting America) programs, he sent Rommel to Africa with low supplies, little intel, and wouldn't even make an effort to resupply him (and yet, against five to one odds, Rommel still holds out against the Allied war machine for three days), he moved the entire German force that could have countered the Russian assault into Germany south of the breach in a futile attempt to break their defence, and he generally destroyed Germany.

Germany and World War I
Many people (usually the ignorant Americans, though there is plenty of ignorance to go around) seem to believe that Germany was not only the aggressor of World War II, which is true, but that they were also the aggressor of World War I. Because of this, I have decided to summarize World War I in a way that might shed some light on the cause for the war, as the History class is apparently failing to do so.

We begin in Austria-Hungaria. More specifically, in the Bosnian reason. Now, we have Archduke Francis Ferdinand. This guy is heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and the king is about to die, so he is gearing up for his new policy. The Archduke isn't the most popular Austro-Hungarian people because he has a radical idea. He regards the Serbs in the Bosnia area so poorly, that he wants to drop them from the empire because he doesn't want to have to deal with them. In effect, the Archduke wants to free Bosnia from Austria-Hungaria. Ok, so the Archduke heads down to Bosnia to parade about his upcoming promotion, and then maybe announce his new idea. However, before he can, a radical Serbian, Gavrilo Princip shoots him and his wife dead. Austria-Hungaria, not wanting to provoke Russia, Serbia's ally, calls the Kaiser of Germany. They ask if, hypothetically speaking of course, Austria-Hungaria went to war with Serbia, would Germany back them up. The Kaiser, not wanting to be disturbed, as he was on vacation, told them yes. Austria-Hungaria then sent Serbia the July Ultimatum, which required Serbia


 * To suppress any publication which incites to hatred and contempt of the Austrian Monarchy
 * To dissolve immediately the society styled Narodna Odbrana (National Defence), and to proceed in the same manner against the other societies which engage in propaganda against Austria
 * To eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia, both as regards the teaching body and the methods of instruction, all that serves or might serve to foment propaganda against Austria-Hungary
 * To remove from the military service and the administration in general all officers guilty of propaganda against Austria-Hungary, names of which were to be provided by the Austro-Hungarian government
 * To accept the collaboration in Serbia of organs of the Austro-Hungarian government in the suppression of the subversive movement directed against the territorial integrity of the monarchy
 * To take judicial proceedings against the accessories to the plot of June 28th who are on Serbian territory, with the help and direction of organs delegated by the Austria-Hungarian government
 * To immediately arrest two named persons implicated by the preliminary investigation undertaken by Austria-Hungary
 * To prevent by effective measures the cooperation of Serbia in the illicit traffic in arms and explosives across the frontier
 * To furnish Austria-Hungary with explanations regarding statements from high Serbian officials both in Serbia and abroad, who have expressed hostility towards Austria-Hungary
 * To notify Austria-Hungary without delay of the execution of these measures.

Serbia agreed to all except to take judicial proceedings against the accessories to the plot of June 28th who are on Serbian territory, with the help and direction of organs delegated by the Austro-Hungarian government. Austria-Hungaria declared war on Serbia on July 28, five days after issuing the ultimatum.

Serbia called on its ally, Russia for aid and support. Russia, who was rather frustrated with having to bail Serbia out again for its lack of self control, decided to help anyway. Russia was, naturally, paranoid, and believed that Austria-Hungaria declaring war on Serbia was somehow proof of a German plan to take over the world. Russia subsequently called France, asked them to advance (defined as to retreat in the direction of the enemy) towards Germany. The Kaiser, who was still on vacation, suddenly found two major countries mobilizing on him. When he asked Russia or France, they both said they were mobilizing against Austria-Hungaria, but the Russian advance was too far north, and France didn't even border Austria-Hungaria. Germany decided they had one option; they had to quickly take out France, and then turn their attention on Russia. The Kaiser asked Austria-Hungaria to cover their flank while they attacked France.

Austro Hungaria jumped to disobey orders, and marched on Serbia into well-placed artillery kill zones rather than cover Germany's flank against the advancing Russian army, so Germany was forced to fight a two front was for a short amount of time. Germany, wanting to avoid France's main defense and take advantage of French lack of hindsight by moving through Belgium, like they had several years prior in the Franco-Prussian War. Germany asked Belgium to allow them passage, promising not to conquer any of Belgium on the way. Belgium refused, saying it would violate their neutrality. Several days later, Germany invaded Belgium.

Britain looked at Europe and realized this was war. Britain, not knowing who to side with, chose France because French trade was better than German trade. Britain used Belgium as an excuse to declare war on Germany. Britain would, however, later break several rules of war that are overlooked.

America, being America, saw the bright side of the war. By remaining neutral and bending the rules, America was trading with both sides, and making lots of money. However, trade was slowly leaning towards the Allies because Britain had created the Hunger Blockade, which stopped any food from neutral or central countries from reaching Germany. Britain used its above surface fleet to block ships physically and then confiscate the supplies. Germany decided to fight fire with fire, and soon German U-boats would surface next to supply ships en route to Britain, tell them they had five minutes to abandon ship, and then torpedo them when the five minutes were up. Britain, always one to break the rules, began issuing weapons on supply boats, so that when German subs surfaced to warn them, they could just shoot the relatively thin-hulled ships and cause them to either sink, or remove the ability to submerge. Germany, in response to this breach of naval rules, stopped warning ships of imminent torpedo attacks, reasoning that a torpedo left plenty of time to abandon ship, and the sub could surface after the ship sank and retrieve survivors. However, Germany limited this submarine warfare to ships flying British flags, so Britain broke the rules again. British ships began flying neutral flags, and when German subs surfaced to warn them off, they would sink them. The Germans, angry at the British lack of respect for the rules of sea warfare, declared unrestricted submarine warfare, which stated that any ship that came within a certain distance of Britain would be sunk, no questions asked. America, angry that they could no longer trade with Britain, reprimanded Germany for breaking the rules, but refused to acknowledge British breaches of conduct. Germany ended unrestricted submarine warfare for a short while, but soon the Hunger Blockade began to take its toll. Germany redeclared unrestricted submarine warfare, and again America reprimanded them. However, Germany ignored.

The British luxury ship, the RMS Lusitania, sailed between Britain and America. Germany realized that the ship was ferrying war supplies, and targeted it. Knowing there were probably Americans considering boarding, Germany got a front page article in a popular American newspaper warning Americans that the Lusitania would be sunk, and that there would be casualties. Americans, being Americans, ignored this warning, and were shocked to find out that the Germans went through with it. America was angry, even though the Germans had photographic proof that proved the Lusitania had been smuggling war supplies. American, however, really liked the power of being "neutral", and remained so.

Germany, realizing that America would most likely join the Allies soon, pushed to keep them busy. German ambassador to Mexico proposed that Mexico and Germany ally, mainly for oil reasons, and that if Mexico helped Germany, Germany would return the favor and help Mexico retake some of the land America "bought" from it. America intercepted the letter, and was quick to accuse Germany. Still, they remained neutral.

America entered the war after a string of American merchant ships off the coast of Britain were sunk. The American troops were fresh, and helped turn the tide of the war.

In the end, Germany, in order to get the cease fire they wanted, and end the Hunger Blockade, had to accept responsibility for the war. If that was not enough, they had to virtually pay for France and Britain's war machines, because France and Britain both owed America a lot of money. Wilson allowed this, even though it went against his 14 Points plan, because Europe had agreed to the League of Nations, and he wanted that money from France and Britain too. America, and most of Europe went into depression, but Germany's depression was far worse than any others. In Germany, it was cheaper to line the walls of a house than buy wallpaper, or to burn money than to buy firewood. Eventually, the Germans would follow Hitler, which was probably the worse mistake they ever made.

Heirarchy Structure

 * God
 * Chuck Norris
 * John SPARTAN-117, the Pope, Dick Cheney (he'll take you hunting)
 * Ninjas, Samurai, Pirates, Vikings, Lumberjacks, Spartans
 * Patton, Rommel, Romans
 * Marines, Navy Seals
 * Army Rangers
 * Soldiers, Sailors, Airforce personnel
 * Normal People
 * Centrist/Liberatarian Politicians
 * Conservative Politicians
 * Ignorant Masses
 * Pacifists
 * Vegetarians
 * Liberal Politicians
 * Communists
 * Mimes
 * Emos
 * France (the nation, not the nationality)
 * Criminals
 * Fascists
 * Traitors
 * Terrorists
 * Hippies
 * Hitler

My Wiki Style
As for my style of Wiki editing, I am what Wiki defines as a "bold" editor. If there is not a discussion and I see an error (which is usually a spelling error or a bad link), I fix it without question. If there is a stub, why discuss when you can just totally overhaul (sorry to Sanghelli about the Battle of Onyx!!! had I known you got a Triple Kill I would have contacted you prior to rewriting it). If there is a discussion, I try to prove my point through text from the books and games. I haven't decided whether I will start removing Fact or Fiction boxes after thoroughly proving my point and not getting any response, but I will probably start doing something liek a five day layover or something, and I will definately leave it up in the Talk page. I spend my time looking for double redirects (none so far, I think I got them all yesterday...lol), articles that need proof, and occasionally wander into the merge discussions.

War on Rank
It exists. There are some people who will refuse to believe that the UNSC ranking system is based on the United States Navy and Marine Corps ranking systems. I don't know why, as 73% of the US ranks are already confirmed UNSC ranks, while 0% of the confirmed UNSC ranks are not US ranks. In fact, 100% of the confirmed UNSC ranks are US ranks. However, some need proof, even to the already confirmed ranks, so I have made a page concerning ranks, which can be found at User:Rotaretilbo/Ranks.

Awards
Courtesy of Darth nexes

Halo Fanfic
It is true, I am writing one. It will be four sections (prologue, two sections, epilogue) long, and will be approximately 22 chapters (prologue, 10 chapters per section, epilogue). Beyond that, I am not saying (partially because I don't know yet). I am currently working on Section 2. I'll try to finish it up, but until then, sit in anticipation (or boredom, whichever occurs naturally).

Note: indent doesn't work on this, nor does a single new line, so the dialogue is all throw into the paragraphs. Sorry about that...

PROLOGUE
COVENANT ATTACK ON ERIDANUS II

1205 HOURS, MAY 16, 2530 (MILITARY CALENDAR)/ ERIDANUS SYSTEM, PLANET ERIDANUS II

Bryan didn't know how he had gotten assigned here. He had joined the Corps in 2519, something Chris would have approved of, had he survived the accident. Chris had always wanted to join the Corps. But there wasn't time for this. The Covenant had been detected at long range. The city was in utter chaos. His job was to maintain the peace, and it would have taken more than his unit to do so. Bryan was a Corporal. He had been since he was promoted in 2525, and probably would be for his entire military career. He had joined the Corps more to honor Chris's memory than for his own self, and he had never truly aspired to much, but what could he do? Now he was here, trying to maintain control of a more than likely doomed city on some God forsaken planet. He missed Earth, with its natural atmosphere, rather than these damned domes that controlled the weather. He missed the arid heat of Arizona.

Anme ‘Onioree had recently been promoted to ship commander of the CCS-class battlecruiser Enlightened Patience. He was a rather reckless Sangheili, standing at just under eight and a half units, and added with the confidence of his new post, he decided to rush into battle against this new human planet rather than wait for reinforcements to arrive. His new golden armor was marked with one of the Ancients’ glyphs, which added to his confidence. The planet didn't appear well defended, and he considered himself to be quite a good ship commander. The planet was speckled with domes, which Anme took to be human population centers. The planet didn’t have a natural atmosphere, from what he could tell, so his troops would have to enter the domes and kill the human scum polluting what might contain Ancient artifacts. If he waited for reinforcements, he would also have to share the glory, and that was not his style.

The UNSC Frigate Socrates was one of several UNSC ships near Eridanus II when the Covenant was detected. It was now assigned to protect Eridanus II until reinforcements arrived. It was commanded by Commander Michael Bartnett. The planet was being evacuated, but there wasn't enough time. When the announcement came down that there was only one Covenant ship approaching, there was a general sigh of relief felt throughout the ship, and the planet below. There were at least five battle-worthy UNSC ships in the area, one cruiser, two destroyers, and two frigates; certainly their combined fire power could take out a single enemy ship. It wasn't going to be easy though. As the Covenant ship approached, Bartnett recognized the distinct outline of a CCS-class battlecruiser. A battlecruiser was still bad, but it could be worse, it could have been a carrier, or, God forbid, an assault carrier. “Bring the MAC gun online,” Bartnett ordered, preparing for the upcoming battle. Lieutenant Luke was a good weapons officer. Most of Commander Bartnett's crew was good at what they did. Lieutenant Junior Grade Purinton was a decent navigator, though the fact that he only had seven fingers hindered his work a bit. Lieutenant Koncar preformed the task of communications officer with a sort of light hearted ease, something that may cost them all in the battle to come. Ensign Zuniga was a bit rough around the edges, but he was a good operations officer. His executive officer was planet side because of an accident. He had been burned when a fire broke out in the kitchen. “Aye sir!” replied Luke, “MAC capacitor at 50% charge.” “Arm archer pods A through D.” “Armed sir!” “Purinton, set new course one eight zero by zero six zero.” “Aye sir!” Commander Bartnett loved how well his crew responded. He hoped it would make a difference in the battle to come.

The Enlightened Patience sped ever closer to the human planet. Anme was beginning to have second thoughts. What he had failed to realize upon setting course for this new planet was that there were five enemy ships there. Had there been two, maybe even three, he would not have doubted success, but five would push his limits. He had decided he would burn one ship and then sling-shot around the planet and deploy his Spirits. These dropships, loaded to the brim with Covenant soldiers, would assault the planet and prepare it for the Huragok to search. He was lucky to have a Lekgolo pair aboard, as this would aid his ground troops greatly. He then planned to deploy his Seraphs and engage the remaining four human vessels.

Bryan was monitoring his radio to get an update. The city was still in a panic, but many had been evacuated, so there were fewer people to manage. It seemed that only a single Covenant ship, a battlecruiser, was attacking. This was good, but a single Covenant ship was the equal match for any three UNSC ships. Perhaps if they won in space, they could avoid a ground battle altogether. Bryan knew this was only wishful thinking. If one ship was here, more were bound to follow. The destruction of Eridanus II was inevitable. Every marine on the planet knew it. The only true question was how many of the marines would be evacuated before the end came.

The Covenant bastard was approaching too fast, thought Commander Bartnett. At this rate, it would be here before all of the ships had full charge on their MAC guns. “How much charge do we have for the MAC gun?” he inquired. “Sir, MAC capacitor at 90% sir.” That wasn’t going to cut it. That Covenant ship would be in weapons range before the MAC gun was fully charged. “Divert all power to MAC capacitor. If they target us, maneuvering won’t mean anything anyway.” commanded Bartnett. “Sir, answering 100% power to MAC capacitors sir. Expecting full charge in thirty seconds sir.” answered Luke. “How much longer before that Covenant battlecruiser is in weapons range?” “Sir, thirteen seconds sir. I predict twenty-three seconds for it to get behind the planet, judging from its current course and velocity sir.” replied Zuniga. “Take the safeties off one of our Shivas,” ordered Commander Bartnett. This was going to have to work. “Aye sir! Safeties disabled.” “Prepare a firing solution. Aim all of the Archers at one point, and set the Shiva to launch so that it arrives immediately after the Archers.” “Aye sir!” Commander Bartnett hoped this would work. If the Shiva managed to get around the Covenant pulse lasers and hit the ship while its shields were down, he was pretty sure it would finish the ship off. Bartnett knew that Covenant pulse lasers could probably take out the 120 archer missiles he was throwing at them, so he needed cooperation from the other ships in system. “Koncar, get me a COM link to all ships in the system” “Aye sir,” Koncar responded. After several seconds, “Done sir, you may begin when ready.” “All ships in Eridanus System, please respond, over.” “This is the UNSC Destroyer Erwin Rommel, over.” Good, a destroyer was listening. It sported two MAC guns and plenty of archer pods. “UNSC Frigate France reporting in, over.” The other frigate was responding. Plenty more archer pods. “UNSC Destroyer Resolute here, over.” The other destroyer. That would give them an additional two MAC guns and 30 archer pods. “UNSC Cruiser Gutenberg, we hear you loud and clear, over.” The cruiser. Everyone was listening. “UNSC Erwin Rommel, what is your charge on your MAC guns, over?” inquired Bartnett. “We have 80% charge, over.” “Does anyone have a fully charged MAC gun?” “Negative,” replied the UNSC Resolute. “Negative,” replied the UNCS France. “Negative,” replied the UNSC Gutenberg. “Ok, here’s the plan. Arm pods A through D and one Shiva each. I’ll have the firing solutions loaded to you.” Bartnett turned to Koncar. “Cut COM please.” Koncar nodded and pressed a button. Bartnett typed several commands into his station. “Zuniga, send each firing solution to a ship.” He waited as Zuniga typed quickly at his station. “Start a countdown to fire missiles so that they will intercept several seconds after the ship is in weapons range.” A seven second countdown initiated. “Prepare fire,” called Bartnett. He let the countdown get to 0, then called out, “Mark!” Bartnett watched as 600 Archer missiles streaked towards the Covenant battlecruiser with 5 Shiva nuclear-tipped missiles in tow.

Anme knew he was in trouble when he saw all five ships fire missiles at once. His sensors read 605 in total. At least the enemy heavy-projectiles, which the humans called MAC guns, weren't online yet. Had they been, he would have been finished. 600 or so missiles could be dealt with, and would probably only break his shields and do minimal damage. Just to be safe, he ordered all his Spirits to launch. The translation report came back. Intercepted human radio traffic had finally been decrypted, and Anme learned this planet to be called Eridanus II. Such filth, that the humans would dare name everything they came in contact with!

Vaskar was one of several Commando Unggoy aboard the Spirit Shining Inquisition. He was the average height for an Unggoy, standing at five units while clad in his jet black armor. His squad leader, a Sangheili named Inel 'Nocotee, was known for his bravery. At least, the Council called it bravery; Vaskar regarded it as foolishness. Luckily, Inel was an exceptional soldier, which was the only thing that had kept his unit alive thus far. Well, unit wasn't the right word. Other than Vaskar, the rest of the Unggoy in the unit had recently been reassigned to fill in gaps, gaps caused be deaths. He hoped these new additions were better than those they had replaced. Vaskar knew little about the operation ahead. He knew they were attacking a human planet called Eridanus II. He had heard Inel mention that. He also knew that the planet didn't have natural atmosphere. This didn't bother him, he couldn't breathe human atmosphere anyway. He double checked his methane breathing apparatus to ensure it was properly secured and filled with methane. He didn't want it to breach on the surface of this human planet, there was little dignity in such a death. Vaskar was thankful there weren't any Kig-Yar aboard the Shining Inquisition. His kind and the Kig-Yar shared a mutual hatred for each other. The Kig-Yar were of the same status as Unggoy, but they regarded themselves as higher beings. They had shields, and could wield particle beam rifles, but they were weak and could handle the kick of a true weapon, like the fuel rod gun Vaskar had over his shoulder. They rarely wielded anything other than a plasma pistol and on rare occasions a needler. But then, he could say the same about his race. Unggoy were not permitted to carry plasma rifles without permission from one of the Prophet’s blessed Sangheili. The Sangheili had not forgotten the Unggoy Rebellion. Vaskar looked at the Unggoy around him. He saw several Gunners, a few Majors, and plenty of Minors. His kind had always been used as cannon fodder, and this would be no exception. The Minors, Majors, and even Gunners would serve only to soften an enemy so that the Sangheili could charge in and take the glory. Vaskar had heard that there was a Lekgolo pair in one of the Spirit dropships and gave thanks that they were there. The Lekgolo were a fierce race, and though they lacked respect for all other Covenant races save for the Sangheili, they were still a huge tactical advantage. They were nearly ten units tall, taller than any Sangheili, or even a Jiralhanae. Their massive shield, which was nearly a unit thick and made of pure alloy, could take hits from a plasma pistol multiple times and still remain cold. The fuel rod gun attatched to their other hand, similar in fashion to the one Vaskar held himself, could reek absolute havoc. Vaskar didn’t realize the ship was on an entry vector until he looked up at the view screen. He oughtn’t to think so much about such deep things. He needed to be focused for the battle ahead.

The Enlightened Patience was now in weapons range of the enemy ships. Anme had to choose which ship to burn before he slipped behind the planet, and he have very little time to decide. He aimed at one of the two frigates, and gave the fire command. The Covenant plasma torpedo was a beautiful thing. It could be guided from inside the ship, and it was almost always lethal. The enemy missiles were growing closer, so he ordered his point defense to start shooting them down.

Commander Bartnett watched the plasma torpedo streak at the UNSC formation. He knew that one of these ships was not leaving this section of space in one piece, and prayed. The plasma torpedo missed his ship and struck the UNSC France, the other frigate. It must have struck near engineering, as there was a large fireball as the France exploded. About this time, Bartnett saw the archer missiles were growing very near to the Covenant battlecruiser. A third of them were intercepted by Covenant pulse lasers, along with two of the Shiva nuclear-tipped missiles, but the 400 surviving impacted the enemy ship and destroyed its shields. As planned, the remaining Shivas crash landed on the hull of the Covenant ship and a ten second time delay started. He had heard of similar tactics being employed, but he didn't know how long the time delay should be, nor if a Covenant shield would contain three Shiva nuclear explosions, so it might not even matter.

Anme knew that he had won when the missiles hit. His crew had shot down nearly a third of them, and the remaining 400 or so had taken down his shields and a few had hit the ship, but there was minimal damage. He knew the human ships would soon be able to fire their MAC guns, but he had already passed behind this human planet, putting it between him and his adversaries. His shields were just coming to full charge when he suddenly ceased to exist.

Bryan had heard that the Covenant ship had been eliminated, something to do with nukes. However, he was still on edge. The ship might have launched dropships before it was destroyed, and that would mean a fight on the ground regardless. Most of the civilian population had made it out of the city, so that meant that they wouldn't have to deal with baby sitting during a fire fight. The Marines had all equipped zero-atmosphere suits in case the dome was ruptured, but if it was, they would probably still all die because of the explosive decompression. Perhaps they would be lucky, and the rupture wouldn’t have enough suction to drag them off the ground, but if there were survivors, they would be faced with the Covenant, and they would be highly outnumbered. Bryan wondered whether he would prefer to be a survivor or not.

The Shining Inquisition landed several units away from a dome entrance to what appeared to be a major human city. Inel and his team were to go in first through the airlock, and if they could not secure the airlock, they were to set charges on the dome so that other Covenant forces could get in. Vaskar recognized this as a standard suicide mission cooked up by Inel, hoping to transcend the physical and go to paradise. Vaskar believed it was all foolishness, but he knew better than to say anything. If Inel was going to transcend the physical, he could do so without bringing his Unggoy with him. The team charged the airlock and made it through without much problem, but on the other end they were met with heavy resistance and were pinned inside the airlock. Vaskar almost wished some Kig-Yar were here with their shields, but he knew Inel had some sort of plan. They weren't far enough into the dome to plant charges and kill themselves, so Inel would have to fight like a normal soldier. Vaskar hefted his fuel rod gun, checked to ensure it was ready to fire, and then walked into view long enough to send two globules of plasma flying at the human resistance.

Bryan was the only marine at the airlock to see the Grunt bastard fire the Fuel Rod in time to jump out of the way. He survived, but was a bit shaken. He decided that he would have to change his tactics, and played dead, hand held tightly on his M90 shotgun. The Covenant walked past him, a bunch of the purple armored spec ops kind. He waited, and then saw a Grunt that carried a fuel rod gun at the rear of the group. He jumped up in front of him, shotgun at the ready.

Vaskar didn't react fast enough to stop the Marine that seemed to come out of no where. It blasted him with its shotgun, and as he fell it grabbed his fuel rod gun. Vaskar, who had survived the shotgun blast due to some miracle, was mortally wounded. He hadn't realized that taking up the back, where he hoped to avoid Inel’s suicide missions, would be a mistake. As life slipped away, he reached for his plasma pistol.

Bryan was lucky the fuel rod gun failsafe hadn’t activated. For that, he was thankful. Now, he turned and began pouring fire into the Covenant before they could turn to see from where the shotgun blast had issued. He took out the Elite first, then the Grunts. As he finished, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his back. He turned in time to see the Grunt he had shot with its plasma pistol raised. He slumped over on top of it and shut his eyes. The airlock was now Covenant property, and Eridanus II would soon be overrun on the ground and in space when Covenant reinforcements arrived.

SECTION 1
ESCAPE

CHAPTER 1
1248 HOURS, MAY 16, 2530 (MILITARY CALENDER)/ ERIDANUS SYSTEM, ELYSIUM CITY, PLANET ERIDANUS II

Bryan could hardly move. Every attempt to do so was rewarded with a searing pain in his back that spread quickly throughout his entire body. He was wounded, probably mortally so. He was surprised he had even survived thus far. He managed to open his left eye, and his vision was filled with a green flame. He immediately jumped up and dashed as fast as he could in his current state, only stopping when he heard the fuel rod gun’s failsafe permanently decommission the weapon in a bright green explosion.

Bryan collapsed again. He sat there, thinking. He had no idea what to do. The fuel rod gun had melted the entrance to the air lock, he was lucky it hadn’t been breached. Maybe the Elite and those Grunts he had killed had been far enough from the explosion to remain intact. Bryan managed to haul himself over to the corpses. He pried a needler from the cold hands of the Elite, policed two plasma pistols and several plasma grenades.

Now what? Bryan knew Eridanus II was doomed, and he needed to either reconnect with the groundside forces or get off the planet before it was glassed. Of course! The Luxor Spaceport. He would have to get on the space elevator in the center of the city and take it up to the Luxor Spaceport. Bryan looked around. Elysium City was the planet’s capitol, and it was huge. However, one structure dominated the city. That must be the Elysium Orbital Elevator.

Bryan began moving towards it. It wasn’t difficult to stay oriented because the structure was hard to miss, standing above every other building in the city. As he moved, he came across bodies. The fighting must be intense, he thought. The Covenant must have secured one of the many airlocks leading into the city. He took the time to liberate a dead marine of his breather, incase the dome was compromised. He was just exiting an alleyway when three sword-wielding Elites and a group of Grunts walked by. The Elites were looking right at his position, but they didn’t seem to notice him. Perhaps they were only messing with him before they pounced. Bryan would never find out, because before he could, out of nowhere, a marine jumped into the group of Covenant soldiers.

The marine grabbed one of the Elites’ sword-hand, wrenched it out of its socket, decapitating the Elite in the process. Then, wielding the energy sword, he killed the other two Elites. The Grunts, faced with such an adversary and seeing three of their leaders cut down like they were nothing, ran for their lives. The marine pulled out his MA5B assault rifle and professionally put them each down as they ran, a trio of bullets per Grunt. The newcomer’s Friend or Foe tag read MGS WIMBLETON, HANK J SERVICE NUMBER 01001-11100-HW.

CHAPTER 2
0309 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 23, 2517/ LAMBDA SERPENTIS SYSTEM, PLANET JERICHO VII

Bryan was only nine years old. It was early, and his mother came in and roused him from bed. There had been an accident. Chris was involved. Bryan was too young to understand. Chris was six years old, and was rather intelligent for his age. He was bit taller than Bryan, and was in the same class despite the fact that he belonged in a lower grade. Chris always expressed the desire to join the Marine Corps and serve humanity, something Bryan could hardly fathom at his young age. At the mention of Chris’ name, Bryan became awake and tried to understand what had happened. There was a truck. Chris had been injured. It all didn’t make much sense. What was Chris doing getting injured by a truck at this hour of night?

A week would pass before Chris came back from the hospital. The doctors called his condition metabolic cascade failure. Those words meant nothing to Bryan, but the result did. Chris had already lost the ability to speak when the doctors finally allowed him to return home. He lost the ability to walk a bit after that, and soon was nothing more than a vegetable. It took him a bit over a year to die. Bryan was horrified by the sad truth of it all.

In 2526, when Bryan turned the legal age to join the Marine Corps, he immediately enlisted. He didn’t have the grades to make it to an academy and come out as an officer, so he was put with the regular soldiers. He was promoted to Private First Class for being one of the better graduates of boot camp, then later to Lance Corporal in 2527 and then again to Corporal in 2529 for showing initiative and skill. As he began to realize the futility of the Human-Covenant War, he began to lack the initiative he had originally had, and never made it past Corporal. He was assigned to Eridanus II in 2530.