could things get any worse?" growled petty officer jake ramirez,

who was struggling with the controls of his dtt7 pelican dropship

it was the year 2556, four years after the human-covenant war

the unit he was hauling to the surface of the eith halo ring had

suffered a terrible blow, pvt. hotchkiss the platoon technitian

was hit from a plasma blast, suddenly he was there, then he was

nothing but a cloud of red vapor and several others were wounded and

two suffocated from a puncture in thier vacuum suits, more losses to add to

the endless list of human casualties as he drew closer, ramirez smiled

seeing a beacon of hope "hang on guys, almost there" he announced

"got it" five voices rang out, of eight men, all UNSC marines

as he got close small arms fire peppered the bottom of the dropship

two guys dropped, dead the other three managed off and were fighting

thier way to the control room."good luck" ramirez said firmly as he lifted

off. without warning the right thruster started to sputter and fizzle "son

of a..." growled Ramirez, eyes fierce and suddenly he felt a stinging

feeling in his shoulder, his blood splashed the screen in front of

him "agh...you no good peices of crap!" he shouted as he flew off.

his co-pilot, carol rawley looked over "sir..your" she drawled, her eyes

cautious. "i know" winced ramirez, his eyes flickerng.