New Mombassa, October 21st, 2552, 2:10 AM
Sector 2-A: Central Park.
Tracking ODST: CPL. Christopher Xavier Lugo
“Hey! Are you alright?”
Lugo opened his eyes.
“Ugh.... my head....”
The first thing that greeted him was a short man, with short, unkempt brown hair looked down at him. He was wearing the armor of a Marine Corps Medic, with the red cross on a white arm band.
“Relax...” The man said when Lugo tried to sit up. “That was one 'ell of a fall, ya know” He had a distinctively Scottish accent.
“What happened?” Lugo asked, getting to his feet.
“The top of the tunnel collapsed while you were driving on the road up there.” The medic said, pointing to the gaping hole in the ceiling. “You're one lucky S.O.B.”
“How the hell did the road collapse?” Lugo asked, looking over at his overturned Warthog.
“The carrier that was over the city split, the slipspace rupture tore apart a good chunk of the city.”
Lugo flipped on his radio.
“Don't bother, radio's can't cut through the interference.”
“Who are you?”
The marine held out his hand.
“Corporal Adam Waters.”
Lugo glared at him. Waters pulled his hand away.
“Corporal Lugo. TREC 1.”
“An ODST? I didn't think any of ya made it down 'ere.”
“You haven't seen any others?”
“Nope. Me an' Rich ain't seen a soul.”
“Uh... Rich?”
“Specialist Malodov. 'e's over there.” Waters said, pointing to a marine digging through rubble”Don't know what division 'e's from. Found 'im in a crashed pelican a few blocks back after the carrier jumped. 'e was in bad shape. 'is vocal chords are completely torn apart. Must be one tough bugger to have pulled through, even with my skills.”
Specialist Malodov wore the standard BDU for Marines, with several areas stained with blood. He wore a full medical face mask to protect his throat and face, concealing his appearance. He nodded to Lugo.
“Uh, hey there...”
Lugo looked around the tunnel. There wasn't much past abandoned cars and rubble. The Warthog still looked serviceable, save for it laying on its hood.
“Alright, well... protocol says-”
“Protocol?” Waters scoffed. “Ain't nothing close to this in the rulebooks!”
“That is,” Lugo continued, louder this time. “Protocol says, in the case of separation from command, follow your commanding officer's orders. So, unless you've got someone waiting somewhere else in the city, that's Sergeant Mathison.”
“Don't see no Sergeant around here boy.” Waters said, narrowing his eyes at Lugo.
“Well, if he was here he'd be in charge.”
“If my grandmother had wheels she'd be a wagon, what of it?”
“What?” Lugo said, scratching his head.
“'e ain't here, so it's no use sayin' what we'd do if 'e was, you follow me?”
“Right... In that case, you and Malodov over there will follow my orders until we find him. Got it?”
“'ey, ODSTs get seniority. You'll get no complainin' from me.”
“Alright then...” Lugo turned to Malodov. “Hey! Buddy! Get over here! We need to get this Warthog on it's wheels!”
Malodov jogged over, and set his DMR on the ground.
“A DMR? The hell'd you get that?” Lugo asked, receiving a glare from him. “Uh, right... can't talk... sorry.”
Lugo braced against the back wheel of the Warthog.
“Alright, on three! One! Two! Three!”
After a few solid shoves, the Warthog rolled over onto it's wheels.
“Alright...” Lugo said, looking into the drivers seat. His SAW was still locked into place under the seat. “Pile in! Malodov, you're on the gun.”
Lugo climbed in the driver's seat and started the engine.
“Good, she still runs...” He said in quiet relief.
“I don't want to shatter your dreams, buddy.” Water said, hopping into the passenger seat. “But where exactly do you think we'll find your Sergeant?”
“I dropped him off a block or two that way.” Lugo said, pointing to the collapsed tunnel behind him. “We go this way, get topside, and find our way back. If I know him, his plan'll be to hold out and wait for us to come to him.”
“Alright, well, if memory serves, there'll be an off ramp up ahead on the left.” Waters said, pointing ahead of them.
Pulling near the gate, there was a Warthog on fire, with a Marine laying on the ground nearby. The off ramp was blocked by a large Bulkhead. Lugo parked the Warthog, and hopped out.
“Waters, check them.” He ordered, pointing to the Marines laying on the ground. Malodov hopped off the gun and jogged over to the Bulkhead.
Lugo tried the radio.
“Sarge? You there? Anyone?”
Static.
“They're dead, Jim. Er.... Lugo.” Waters said, crouching over the body of a Marine.
“Uh... right.” Lugo looked over to Malodov. “What the hell is he-”
The sound of scraping metal filled the air, deafening with the echos of the tunnel.
Malodov flashed Lugo a thumbs up before climbing back behind the Warthog's chain gun.
“Uh... nice work. How'd-”
“'e's a Tech specialist.” Waters said from the passenger's seat. “It says so on 'is Squad's patch.”
“Oh.... Great!” Lugo said as he got the Warthog moving again.
Returning to street level, Lugo was able to see exactly how much damage the Covenant had caused.
“Jesus, one carrier did all this?”
“Sure did.” Waters nodded. “'ell of a thing ain't it?”
“At least we got a good chunk of the Civies out...”
On the road ahead, Lugo could see a silhouette in the darkness. He heard Malodov spinning up the gun.
“'ang on there, Rich. That don't look like an alien to me, boyo.” Waters said, squinting at the figure.
“I sure as hell know who that is.” Lugo said with a grin. He honked the Warthog's horn.
“Logan!” He called as he pulled alongside the hulking ODST.
“Lugo?” Logan said, turning to look in the Warthog.
“Man, am I glad to see you, Blondie! Hop in the back!”
Logan jump onto the back on the Warthog
“This is Waters and Malodov.” Lugo said, introducing his companions.
“Nice to meet you, Logan. 'ell of a day, eh?” Waters chuckled. Logan didn't even crack a smile.
“Lugo, we need to move. Mathison and the Rook are pinned down a block and a half from here.” Logan said, bracing against the Warthog's roll cage.
“You got it!” Lugo said, slamming down on the throttle.
(Special Thanks to HaloGeek for Rich Malodov and Vangelis for Adam Waters. )