The metal doors opened letting Cody into the chamber as he raised his BR55 with practiced precision. He steps further into the chamber while checking his corners, forced to do it on his own as his team was killed before he arrived at this Forerunner facility. He'd seen many friends and comrades die at the hands of the Covenant and it changed him. This whole War against the Covenant changed not just him but Humanity. This war has been going on for decades at this point and mankind is being stomped. It wasn't a war; it was a fight for survival. Even if you called it a war, it wasn't. The fight wasn't evenly matched, the Covenant had Humanity beat almost every way. It felt impossible to win and yet, Humanity never gave up. They kept fighting and fighting. Cody was among the few that didn't give up, but deep down he knew it was pointless. But here he was, inside a Forerunner facility all alone. His squad was sent to this planet after the UNSC picked up a unique signal. Bad news was, the Covenant picked it up too.
When they arrived, the ship that brought them here was destroyed and one by one Cody's team was killed. It wasn't the first squad he lost, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. But now he's stranded on this planet with only one thing in mind. Finish the mission. That's all he could do; it's the only thing left to do. When he started his military service as a Marine, he saw firsthand how brutal the Covenant was and how hopeless their scenario is. When he eventually became an ODST, he only witnessed further hardship, but he never stopped fighting. If by any chance Humanity could win, he was going to keep fighting to see that happen. But right now, he needed to focus on the mission. He had to sneak past numerous Covenant patrols to reach this facility. As he walked further into the chamber he noticed a floating artifact in the shape of a star. This star shaped artifact was the size of a basketball and as he got closer to it, he saw the intricate designs on it. If he was a betting man, he would guess that this was the source of the signal. He gently reached forward to try and touch it before a plasma bolt flew past him.
He quickly turned around and pulled the trigger at the Covenant squad that entered the chamber. He takes out two grunts before the two Jackals and Elite return fire. Cody dodges by rolling to the side and taking cover behind a wall that rose up from the ground. He didn't know why it appeared but he's grateful. The plasma bolts strike his cover before he grabs a grenade and tossed it around the wall. He then hears an explosion before he emerges from cover and opened fire upon the Elite as the two jackals had been killed by the grenade. The Elite had lost his shields when the grenade went off so the bullets ripped through him before Cody pulled the trigger one last time and the bullets ripped through the Elite's head. The Elite's body hits the floor, and our hero lowers his rifle. He turns to the artifact and reaches out for it. When he touched it, the artifact activated causing Cody to back up and raise his rifle. Each point on the star shaped artifact twists and comes off the main body of the artifact. The core of the artifact then begins to spin clockwise picking up speed as it went on.
Cody soon heard a bunch of approaching steps and turned to see a ton of Covenant warriors coming his way.
"Shit." Cody cursed in a whisper.
The artifact then stopped spinning as a swirling blue vortex opened and it looked like a portal. Seeing this, Cody saw a potential escape but it was risky. A plasma bolt flew past his head, and it made him decide to take that risk. He ran through the portal. The second he passed through the portal closed and the artifact returned to its original shape before dropping to the floor and breaking like glass. While inside the portal, Cody felt like he was in zero gravity. He almost lost his BR55, but he caught it and attached it to his back. As he floats through a swirling blue tunnel, he was curious where he would end up and he hopes he won't be trapped forever. He sees a bright light at the end of the tunnel and suddenly pain began to pulse throughout his body. He soon began screaming in pain before the bright light enveloped his body and vision.
[Unknown Location]
Within a town that looked like it had been bombed, a blue portal opened and Cody was launched out of it. He hits the ground and rolls a few feet before he stops himself despite being in pain. The portal closes and he just lays there in pain. It eventually subsides and he pushes himself up off the ground before getting back onto his feet. Once on his feet, he immediately notices the town around him and its damaged state. He wondered what caused all this damage. But if he had to guess, it had to be the Covenant. However, he puts that into question as he doesn't see any plasma burns. His hearing them comes back—something he didn't even noticed was gone—and he can hear gunfire. He instinctively grabs his BR55 and turns to the noise. He debates whether he should run towards the gunfire or head off somewhere else. Technically he's not supposed to be here, he's supposed to be on that one planet, and he is clearly on a different one. He doesn't know if it's UNSC, insurrection or Covenant. But considering the gunfire sounds, he guesses it's either UNSC or Insurrection Forces. Maybe both.
He makes his choice and begins running towards the gunfire. Along the way he keeps seeing destruction and soon bodies. But not human bodies, Robot bodies. He stops running and walks up to one of the robots. It had an orange paint job and looked like it was hit by a hammer. A big hammer. He heard an explosion and looked towards it. He can investigate later, whoever is fighting might need help. He hopes it's UNSC Forces because if its Insurrection, he'll just leave them to die to whatever these robots are. He breaks into a sprint towards where the explosion had erupted. He reaches a turn in the road and hugs the wall of a broken building before peaking around it. He saw a small group of civilians near rubble. He then spots one civilian trapped under the rubble. His mind flashes images of the War against the Covenant during his time as a Marine. People screaming and crying, desperate to escape only to perish.
He runs around the corner and towards the civilians. The civilians hear someone approaching and turn to see the ODST approaching them. They didn't know who it was and were scared. Cody puts his battle rifle onto his back as he approached and slowed down. He moves past the group and to the civilian trapped under rubble. He notices that the man has his legs stuck under rubble and he seemed unconscious. He checked the man for a pulse and found one. He was alive, good. He then moved to the rubble and began removing it. But he then encounters a big piece. He looked over his shoulder at the civilians.
"I could use some help getting this off him." Cody said.
This snapped the civilians out of their mindless state. Some of them moved in and took hold of the piece of rubble while Cody did the same. Together they moved the rubble off the man and once it was fully off, they dropped the rubble onto the ground. Cody immediately knelt to check on the man. He looked at the man's legs and saw countless cuts and bruises. A woman from the small group hurried over and knelt to check on the man.
"Please… tell me my husband is okay." The woman pleaded.
"He is." Cody said. "But hurt badly and unconscious."
He stands up. What does he do now? He's encountered civilians before and has saved as many as he could, but could he do the same here? He's just one trooper. As gunfire rings out in the distance he makes his decision.
"We need to get him out of here." Cody said.
"To where?" The woman asked. "The Omnics have this town hostage."
Omnics? Cody was confused, what was an Omnic? He remembers the robot bodies he saw and takes a guess that those robots were Omnics.
"Not for long, Overwatch is here. They'll save us." One of the civilians said.
Overwatch? Based on how the civilian said it, they sound like an organization. He wanted to press for answers, but before he could a bullet whistled past his head making him grab his BR55 and aim at who shot at him. He sees a small number of Robots approaching with guns in their hands.
"Omnics!" One of the civilians said in fear.
"Take cover!" Cody ordered as he soon opened fire at the Omnics.
The civilians scattered while Cody advanced towards the Omnics coming his way. He pulls the trigger of his battle rifle and removes the head of one Omnic before doing the same for another. A bullet hits his shoulder pad, but he is fine as it only barely hit it. Two Omnics charged forward with swords while Cody kept advancing. He leaned back and dodged the first slash before ducking under the next one from the second Omnic. The first Omnic thrust its sword towards his right abdomen, but he steps to the left and puts his BR55 on his back and switches to his Magnum. He puts one round through the first Omnic's head before he dodged the second Omnic's slash but catching its wrist. He puts two rounds through it. One in the arm and then one into the head. He then quickly shots down a third Omnic that had lunged at him trying to punch him. He moved his head in time and dodged a bullet as he switched back to his battle rifle while putting his magnum away. He saw three remaining Omnics. Two humanoid looking ones and a third big one. The big one looked like it had a minigun on its back and had a gun for a right hand.
He shot down the two humanoid Omnics and tried to do the same for the big one. but it tanked a few shots before it transformed into a turret. Cody's eyes widened under his helmet before he dove for cover as the Omnic unleashed a storm of bullets at him. He gets behind a piece of rubble as more bullets strike it. Thinking quickly, he grabs his last grenade and pulls the pin before he tosses it around his piece of cover at the Omnic. The grenade hit the ground and rolled up to the Omnic before exploding. The bullets stop and Cody gets out from behind the piece of rubble. He sees the blown up Omnic and puts his battle rifle on his back. He then rushed over to the man who was still laying on the ground unconscious. The woman who was his wife was still nearby and rushed over to her husband.
"Grab him, we're leaving." Cody ordered.
"Where do we go?" One of the civilians asked.
"Away from here." Cody answers.
"Sir… are you with Overwatch?" Another civilian asked.
"No." Cody answered.
One of the civilians spotted something on top of a building.
"Look out!"
Cody looked up and saw an Omnic with a rifle aiming at him. He didn't have time to dodge or grab his weapon. But before he did, a sniper shot rings out and the head of the Omnic is torn off. Confused he turned his head to where the bullet came from and saw a woman on top of a building not far from them. He then spots two soldiers and a knight looking guy who was fucking huge coming towards them. The civilians looked relieved to see them.
"It's Overwatch!" one of the civilians said as they got closer.
To these people are Overwatch. Maybe he can get some answers from them.
"You all alright?" The Soldier in blue armor asked.
"Yes, thanks to him." A civilian said before gesturing to the ODST.
The blue armored Soldier looked at Cody and noticed his armor. The other soldier who had two shotguns in his hands and he was looking at the destroyed Omnics that Cody killed.
"This your handy work?" The Shotgun soldier asked.
"It is." Cody answered before gesturing to the unconscious man. "This man needs medical attention."
"Medical teams are already on their way." The blue armored soldier said. "May I get a name?"
"Cody, Cody Calloway."