Chapter One: Lost in a Hive City.

Noble:

My pod shock violently as the turbulence created by the thousands of my fellow ODST’s and the 10's of thousands of aircraft that tore across the sky over the landmass that was once Australia.

Now an impossibly huge construction that covers the entire continent, equal parts city and fortress. ‘There must be billions living there… and they know we’re coming’.

I look out from the torso sized view port in the pod and feel myself holding my breath as the first tentative burst of anti-aircraft fire quickly turn into a torrential up-pour as drop-pod and aircraft alike explode into flames.

A massive aerial battle has begun around us as the Hive city sends its own fighters out to intercept us.

The pod shakes again more viscously than before and as the armoured plating above my head is torn asunder under the stream of AA fire.

‘Shit they shouldn’t have anything this accurate at this distance’ at that moment our ships in high orbit return fire, finally giving me and the other unfortunates a sliver of hope at making planet fall.

But it’s too late for me, the flak I took moments ago was enough to throw me off course away from the landing site the others would land and then clear allowing for drop ships to land the rest of the legion. Once they had gained a foot hold the plan was for the slow but mind-bogglingly massive troop landers for the Arbiters would land and then the city was as good as ours.

There was a deafening impact as my pod careened through a skyscraper before stopping thankfully right side up in an adjacent courtyard.

In the now shattered viewport I see shadowy forms picking themselves back up outside, ’fuck fuck fuck’ I curse as I rush to hit the release on my straps and I slam the door ejection bar, the front segment of the pod jettisons outwards crushing some poor soul into a low stone wall, I jump out rifle raised and quickly take in my surroundings.

The shocked looks of my newfound company and the dozen skyward artillery pieces told me all I needed, I opened fire on the shell shocked artillery men ‘shock and awe truly is the greatest weapon of the ODST’ I muse as I gun down the nearest stunned soldiers.

The gunfire shock them out of their stupor and they either dived for cover or reached for a gun, soon I was hiding behind my pod as several dozen very angry artillery men throw enough lead and lasfire my was to kill an Arbiter or six.

‘Thank God they don’t have any plasma weapons’ if they had there wouldn’t be much of my pod to hide behind.

Still I couldn’t stay here and honestly I really didn’t want to, Gathering my courage and trusting in a life time of war ‘that and my ballistic plate armour…’ I make a mad dash towards a nearby artillery piece, I snap of some covering fire as I move and they injured screams and lessened fire my way tell me it did some good.

Just as I dive behind my new cover tossing my rife ahead of me the area I had just occupied and the rest of the courtyard was engulfed in a storm of bullets, I look to the sky and see an Arbiter gunship hovering over the courtyard I wave my thanks as the sleek gold hover-jet tears of into the night.

I go to pick my rifle up from where it was thrown I see a chunk of twisted metal impaled through it, I walk over to the remains of the drop pod and look around for the ‘found you’ I grab my beat up combat shotgun of the ground and see the case of shells a few metres away, after reloading and stowing the spare shells I ready myself and move of into the city.

The streets all looked the same, it really screwed with my sense of time, it could have been minutes since I left the courtyard but I could have been hours ‘I hope it hasn’t been hours this assault wasn’t supposed to become a drawn out engagement’.

Moving silently through the streets trying to stick to the shadows I heard the strange language spoken in this city. Ducking into an alley I wait to see what was coming.

A patrol of six strolled down the street seemingly oblivious to war raging in their very city, after waiting for them to pass I step out of the alleyway and aim my weapon at the one with an officer’s cap.

An ear splitting boom erupts from my firearm and a hole the size of a dinner plate is blown through the officers chest, the others spin and start to ready their rifles, trusting in my experience I pump the action on the shotgun an intimidating crunch-crunch is heard in the near silent alleyway and I once again pull the trigger.

The aiming had been rushed and I had fired low. This time one of the men was completely bisected at the waist. I immediately dived back into the alley as the patrol let of their first bursts of retaliatory fire.

The stone chips and pings of the wall as a hodgepodge of bullets and lasrounds glance of my cover. Taking a deep breath I ready my gun and pop around the corner firing of my third of five loaded rounds and killing another of the soldiers.

As I ducked back around into the relative safety of the alley I heard the heavy footsteps of the final three, they had decided to charge.

Not wanting to be caught in the confines of the alley in step out to meet them rapidly firing off my last three shells in a desperate attempt to avoid a melee, the one in the lead catches One in his face and a second in his guts. The next sod behind him had his leg is blown clean off.

Lucky number three dashes in close swinging a short mace like weapon at me, I lean back to dodge the blow aimed for my head, as the head of the weapon passes I could hear the crackling of electricity and the smell of ozone even through my helmets filters.

A short kick to the chest from me forces him back, thrusting the barrel of the shotgun into his mouth and pressing him against a wall. I hurriedly load a shell, pumping and firing into the terrified man as he futilely swings at me.

My dark grey fatigues under my black armour soaked up the splattering of blood and felt almost comfortably warm against my skin. It reminded me of a simpler time when the bow was the peak of ranged weaponry. ‘Nope stop thinking of that era, it is done and dusted. Damn nostalgia is one hell of a drug’ I sighed to myself as I moved on.

‘Damn, the city should have been taken hours ago!’ several hours had passed since the fight in the alley, I had come across a few similar groups a patrolling soldiers, I was down to my last shell for the shotgun and my dull black armour was now splashed with crimson, and slick with the blood and gore of the enemy.

I spun at the sound of movement behind me bringing the shotgun to bear, I freeze in the middle of the street waiting for my stalker.

A soft pitter patter of paws on cobble stone sounds and a small possum looking creature with six legs scurries across the street, releasing a breath I didn’t know I was holding I stand and turn back the way I was going when just around the corner several metres ahead another patrol hurries around.

There was a moment of silence as we stared across at each at each other, broken but the booming of my shotgun, my last shell taking one in the face his body dropping as blood pooled where his head had once been. This snapped the others out of their stupor.

One dressed slightly different than the others the trim on his combat armour indicating he was from a different unit, he waved a staff at me ‘wait staff… oh a sorcerer... shit’ when staff was pointed at me a dark bubbling orb came from it.

Growing until it blocked the entire road it then rolled slowly towards me ‘Humph Indiana Jones flashbacks anyone’ I muse. Before I realised the effect the ball was having on the world around it.

Everything it passed over was left blackened and warped as if scorched by flame, Metal streetlamps withering and turning to slag.

As it came towards me I ran at it chucking the shotgun through it at the sorcerer, the heavy weapon caught him in the chest and he stumbled for a moment I saw nothing else because at that instant I entered the ball.

Pain racked my body, the blood covering my armour dried an flaked away in an instant, the plates of armour smouldered and started to smoke, The air burned my lungs at damaging my fairly quick regen, a minute later I stumbled out the other side of the spell, I chanced a look back and saw the spell hit the possum from earlier.

The animal writhed in pain as its fur burnt away, to my horror the animals flesh then exploded mutating wildly before stopping the creature was definitely dead but no longer recognisable as a possum now the size of large dog the grotesque abominating was a horrific pile of semi mutilated flesh already starting to rot.

It’s not often I’m glad I’m a null, but thank god I am, cause that would have fucked me up otherwise’ the men looked at me in terror after catching on to the fact I’m still breathing , reaching for the holster on my chest I whip out a small chunky laspistol.

Firing rapidly each streak of red from my barrel cutting across the distance leaving a trail of red behind, each round burning a hole the size of a fist through each opponent, the actual lasround was about the size pf a needle point but the heat it radiated was so much that it would cause catastrophic damage to light infantry armour and soft tissue.

I targeted the sorcerer first putting three holes in him, two in the chest and one in the head. It’s better safe than sorry with sorcerers.

I cut through the enemy formation like a hot knife through butter, for the most part their hurriedly fired rounds glanced of my armour.

I could put my trust in the golden age chest plate and helmet. My standard issue ODST greaves and bracers… less so. A sharp pain in my thigh told me one had managed to actually hit me somewhere unarmoured, relying on my accelerated healing to stop the bleeding within the next few seconds.

After the short gunfight and two battery packs for the laspistol later, I once again painted red, moved through the city streets alone and confident in my ability to take on five or guys but anymore was inviting trouble.

Laspistol in hand I dashed around a corner felt and immediately a scorching burning sensation tore its way through my unarmoured midsection.

Sliding down the wall I empty my pistol into the offending party, apparently the last group had a straggler. With my left hand keeping my insides… inside me until it could heal even with my accelerated healing it could be an hour or two until I regained full mobility and with my right I discard the now chargeless laspistol and draw from my thigh holster my final fire arm, the streetlight reflected of the dull scratched stainless steel of the ancient revolver as I moved onwards.

Limping my battered ass towards the sounds of gunfire in the distance hoping to join up with the rest of the unification forces within the city, I notice a strange purple light coming from what looks struck great resemblance to the gothic cathedrals of old.

Upon entering the building it is impossible not to notice the lights source, a large ovular portal several times my height glowed at the far end of the cathedral.

Moving slowly forwards I hesitantly remove my hand from guts holding duty and place my slick grip over my right hand steadying my exhausted bodies aim at the portal. The portal flashed brightly and I dived for cover behind some pews.

Watching with wide eyes what could only be described as a demon exited from the portal standing three metres tall and with muscles which put Arbiters to shame. The monstrosity spoke to itself in some strange tongue. Its gaze fixed right at me.

‘guess it could hear the bloody heart attack I was having’ I pop up from behind the pew and empty the six shots from my cylinder into his centre of mass each one blasting a gaping hole in his chest.

He didn’t slow, let alone register the grievous damage, I snap the revolvers breach ejecting the spent cases as a quickly back pedal away from the demon.

Using a speedloader I rapidly reload and this time I aim for the head, as I raise the heavy gun he breaks into a sprint appearing before me in the blink of an eye backhanding me into an adjacent stone pillar several dozen metres away.

My freshly healed but till tender organs screaming at me, the demon slow walks up to me as I double over and retch blood.

The revolver somehow still in my hand sounds like thunder and echoes around the building as a I desperately fire at his head and chest at the fourth round I had finally blown away all the muscle and bone away and could see his ’two?’ beating hearts within what was left of his rib cage.

The demon as if realising he might be in danger dashes towards me in a terrifying burst of speed his talon-like nails arcing towards my throat.

’this is gonna hurt a looooot’ I put my final two rounds through one heart each. It didn't even slow him a little.

His obsidian talons catching me in the lower throat tearing it from my body and then continuing on to cleave across my torso leaving deep silver scratches over my chest piece and sending me flying straight into the portal, the last thing I see is the corpse of the demon finally collapsing where I had shot him.