The sirens throughout the base had been going for the past minutes the Covenant had invaded Earth it had been two months now since Reach had been glassed by the Covenant Nicole was in the armory getting suited up in her ODST armor from her locker, she had been stationed with her new battalion for about a month now.Once she had her gear on she went towards the weapons rack grabbing a MA5C Assault Rifle, and a M6G Magnum which she holstered it in it's case strapped to her thigh and took a picture of her family stuffing it into one of her pockets, Nicole followed the rest of her team she was assigned to their assigned post to defend the Lunar Colony.

Nicole stopped to take a look at Earth through a large window overlooking the planet ahead which was pure chaos watching the Earth Defense Fleet and the orbital MAC guns firing at the invading Covenant fleet. The troubling thing she saw next was one of the MAC guns in the distance blowing up assuming that it was the MAC gun Malta that was destroyed and then a few minutes later Athens was destroyed. "C'mon Private move it!" Yelled her commanding officer as a few Covenant ships broke through and went into lower orbit over Earth. Nicole ran to catch up with the rest of her squad when she heard over the coms system. "Prepare to repel boarders." One of the ships had set it's focus on the Lunar Colony.

Jamie sat in the mess when the sirens sounded off. Scurrying to her feet, she, as were all the other personnel rushed to their action stations. Having just come from a joint exercise with a squad of Marines whom were stationed on the Lunar Colony, her ODST armor was already snapped in snuggly. Securing her helmet as she moved down the corridors, she heard a hiss and click as a vacuum seal formed.

Passing a window, she looked out. Far off, above Earth's low orbit, a brilliant flash blossomed in the darkness of space. Another quickly followed.

"Holy shit!" a Marine pointed out the window as other stopped to watch. "Were those the defense platforms? Oh shit!"

Jamie saw enough. She kept moving as her eyes stared right ahead while keeping tabs of the HUD icons on her helmets visor. Comm chatter was already coming through from her squad as the order to regroup was given. Finally, reaching the armory, she sent a confirmation and to her locker. She grabbed her M395 DMR and M7. The familiar weight felt wonderful in her gloved hands as she strapped the M7 to her secondary holster and filled her utility pouches with miscellaneous equipment from the quartermaster.

"Schuster!" Jamie looked back as she was about to step through the armory exit. It was Cole from her squad. "Ready to smoke some Covenant?"

Jamie smiled as they moved towards the rendezvous position. "Thought they'd never come," she said. "Still can't believe they blasted through Reach."

"One word. Plasma."

The ODST scoffed as the speakers overhead sounded the alarm for broaders. The two rounded a corner as their squad came into sight.

"Schuster! Cole! Drop ships coming in," said their CO as others formed a defensive perimeter. "Front and center!"

They both fell in. Jamie checked her DMR and chambered a round. She breathed out slowly. Her mind become focused. She was ready.

Nicole managed to catch up to the rest of her squad most of them were by an airlock she above them there was a Covenant Corvette a few kilometers that appeared in a large glass skylight above the colony and drop ships started approaching. "Someone lockdown that window if a shot from one of those dropships hits then we die!" Yelled the CO one of the marines runs over towards the switch and large metal doors went over the large windows sealing the windows and darkening the whole room only the emergency red lights came on.

Nicole looked towards Jamie who she had met a few times before, she made sure her helmet was sealed and loaded a mag into her assault rifle taking cover behind a metal barricade that was set up standing next to one of the marines. "Hold your fire until you see them." The officer said through the radio, just as he said that Nicole could hear a dropship docking into the airlock.

Then sparks started coming out between the sealed doors cracked. "Their breaking through!" Yelled another squad stationed somewhere on the other side of the colony and then gunshots came out and plasma fire sounds.

Then suddenly the air locks blasted open. "Fire, fire open fire!" Yelled the officer Nicole started firing along with the other marines in the room, Nicole managed to take down three grunts before having to reload. Nicole would let a loud groans in pain feeling a plasma pistol shot hitting into her plated shoulder knocking her down and quickly got back on her feet feeling the metal plates on her shoulder melting from the heat ignoring the pain.

Jamie watched the shutters close as a darkness consumed the fortified position manned by Marines and ODST alike. Cole and she nodded to each other as they watched the airlock before them leak blue flames from a cutter. Looking to her left, Jamie saw another ODST. Her HUD IDed the soldier as Nicole. She had the pleasure of working with the ODST in the past. Their squads worked pretty together frequently.

Eyes trained back on the trail of the sparks, the airlock burst open as plasma fire roared towards them. Acting on trained response, the DMR kicked back against Jamie as she placed her rounds carefully at her targets. The shielding around an elite shimmered as her bullets finally punched through. She smirked in satisfaction as she saw the lizard-like thing clutch at its throat.

Her magazine clipped empty as she ducked behind her position. As she ejected her spent mag and slammed in a fresh one, her stomach churned as she saw the face of a Marine melt away from the plasma. The man screamed, but no sound came out. She looked away as she popped back up. She fell a grunt before she was driven back into cover.

"How many can they fit into one of those things!" Cole ducked down as he ejected clip from his assault rifle. "Too bad we can't lob a grenade over. That'd clear the area."

"Windows."

Cole sighed as he chambered a round. "Precisely why I said, 'no grenades'!"

On the count of two, the two ODST popped up from their barricade, which was bathed in melting, dark, spots from the plasma weapons. The stream of covenant began to die down as the UNSC pushed back the boarding party. Jamie fired as her second clip quickly drained. All around her, bodies of the dead littered the ground. For every covenant that was killed, two Marines laid dead or severely wounded from plasma burn.

As the last grunt fell, she heard her CO's voice cut into her squad chatter. "Cease fire! Secure this section and move to the next sector!"

Nicole watched the last of the Covenant boarding party getting killed, when the whole room was clear she stood up from behind the barricade she took cover behind. Nicole looked towards her HUD her vital signs were spiking still, she quickly removed her half melted shoulder pate off. Some of her suit that was under the plate had been burnt away revealing some of her badly burnt skin. "Damn bastard almost got me." She said to herself.

She ejected the empty mag of her assault rifle and loaded a fresh one in. One of the marine medics went up to her and looked at her shoulder and was about to reach for a bandage, Nicole quickly reached for his shoulder and gently held it shaking her head. "I'll be fine it's a small wound treat the others." Nicole said. "But if you don't get it looked at it would get worse." The marine told her. "It will be fine now go." Nicole sounded slightly irritated then she heard one of the commanding officers to move out. Nicole walked towards one of the elites that was close to dieing and quickly stomped on it's head. "That's for my home you bastard!" Nicole quickly left with the rest of the squad catching up to Jamie and Cole.

As they all traveled down the corridor there was a small group of Jackals with their energy arm shields up and started firing towards them Nicole took cover behind a bulkhead and started to return fire.

Jamie's shoulder shrugged down as the all clear was sounded. She wasn't afraid of the aliens. Far from it. What she was deadly afraid of was the excruciating death from plasma burn. Many Marines died from it while survivors carry its distinct scarring. A grunt - near the edge of death - struggled for its plasma pistol as Jamie walked towards it. She kicked the weapon away and placed one shot through the stubby, non-human's head. It didn't move again.

She finished securing her area as she looked over the body of a dead Marine. Her training from way back when was still green kicked in. She began picking through the Marine's ammo belt with the expertise of a seasoned vulture. The instructor's lesson from Force Recon regarding scavenging was clear. The dead weren't going to get up and cuss you out. If you needed the ammo, take it. They'd understand.

"Folks aren't taking kindly to this," Cole said as he took some clips from another Marine who carried his weapon's ammo. "Wonder if they'd be singing the some moral BS when they're out of bullets."

"Don't really care," Jamie said as she took the last clip she could fit into her ammo pouch. She never understood why they didn't make the capacity for each ammo sleeve larger. "Come on. Station isn't going to clear itself."

Moving towards the direction of her CO, Cole and she began to move to the coordinates pinged on their HUDs. From the main radio, the situation on the lunar colony wasn't looking that good. The defense fleet that was station in its orbit was taking a heavy pounding while Covenant drop ships slipped past the spacial defense parameter. While real bits of information was near impossible to discern from a panicking or routed squad, Jamie had a pretty good guess where the advantage lied.

As her platoon-sized unit moved around a corner, her heart stopped as she stared at a handful of elites with the towering, lizard-like things standing behind them. It took her only one look at the thing's arm before her legs finally obeyed her orders to find cover. She rolled to the side as plasma intertwined with three powerful shots of plasma rained upon those who were unable to move out of the way quick enough.

She fired into the enemy unit as the scream from the dying or wounded leaked through her helmets audio dampeners. When the elites took to cover and the heavies still holding their ground, she heard her name from somewhere amidst the firefight.

"Jamie!" Cole sprawled across the floor as his head bobbed up and down. His vitals were quickly slowing. "Jesus ... the burn ...!"

"Stop moving Cole!" She fired at an elite as shields shimmered around it. She ducked back from its return fire. "I'm going to get you out of here!"

Before her comrade could respond, a plasma shot hit him square in the head as a sickening crack came from his limp body.

Jamie sat back as she stared at Cole's dead body. His vitals flatlined. For a moment, she couldn't believe he was gone - even if his body was laying before her. Shaking away the thoughts, she chambered a round. All she could do was kill as many Covenant as she could. That would be her vengeance for her squad member.