Wolves

Anastasia sat in silence on her bunk, quietly reading, back against the wall, supported by the pillow she’d put there to make herself more comfortable, and book held just close enough to block out the world around her. She was fully engaged in the words on the page, escaping the gray metal box of the barracks to the world laid out on the page by a skilled author. This book was one of her favorites and she'd read it several times already, loving it every time. When Anastasia had been a kid her father had forbid her from reading the books, so of course she'd read them all. She'd even at one point owned them all in paper but her father had found them. He'd made her watch as he burned each one before punishing her for the defiance. Now that she was older though she owned them again, and just to spite him she owned them in paper.

The books had always given her a safe place away from reality. She loved the tails of Lords and Kings, the twisted motives of the characters, and the web of lies. She'd made a particular bond with one character that she had related to easily as a child. The character had a brother with a bad temper, she'd been just a tool to him for most of her life, and she eventually found her own strength. Anastasia had dreamed as a child of following that lead and becoming strong like the woman in the book and be able to stand up to the things in her life. She used to dream of dragons, of burning the things she hated, but that was years ago and she had learned better. Harsh reality had destroyed those dreams but still Anastasia had immortalized that old dream, that lesson to be strong, in a tattoo of a dragon on her ankle.

She had just started a new chapter when one of the other occupants in the room shouted. Anastasua lowered her book and glared at the source of the voice. "Hey, I'm trying to read," she shouted at the men.

The larger of the two men turned toward her. "You can go back to reading when Shadow's done cursing me out. He's almost finished losing all his money." The two men were sitting on their bunks playing cards on a table between them.

"I don't care," Anastasia snapped. "Keep your mouths shut before I break your jaw." She turned her attention back to her book and tried to ignore the two men and the string of curses as they continued to play.

She'd just started getting into the chapter when the door to the barracks opened and two men stepped in. Anastasia tore her gaze from her book as she realized one was their CO. The other man was unfamiliar and she frowned as she realized who he must be. "All right, Mutts, we've got out new teammate," their CO announced.

Anastasia studied the new soldier and frowned, not happy with him. He looked to be in his early twenties, younger than Anastasia, younger than anyone on the squad probably. He looked inexperienced and she wondered if he was fresh out of boot. He had light green eyes and his blond hair was recently shaved. There were no visible scars and he had a confident look on his face that annoyed Anastasia.

"Oh, so we got a new pup," Shadow joked and he grinned at the new soldier. Shadow was a fairly well tested soldier, having been with the squad for almost a year. His black hair needed to be cut but he'd put it off until their squad leader ordered him to. His dark brown eyes stared intently at the new soldier as though trying to see through him. "Hey Gray, how about double or nothing? Who dies first, Rookie or Hot Pocket."

Gray glanced toward the new soldier and then to Rookie who had been minding his own business, cleaning his boots, until he'd been mentioned. Gray scratched at the stubble on his chin as he considered the bet. He was the oldest member of the squad at the age of thirty-one but despite his name his hair was still a dirty blond. He'd made jokes of the stress of their job making him go gray but so far there was no indication it was actually happening. There was a jagged scar from the hinge of his jaw to the space between his ear and his eye. Gray had been in the military long enough that he had fought rebels before humanity even knew there was intelligent life bent on killing them. "Sure, why not. I say Rookie goes first. Hot Pocket might have a grace period before he goes."

"Naw," Shadow said looking over to the new soldier. "Look at Hot Pocket, he's a kid. The Covenant will eat him alive." Anastasia unconsciously scowled at the comment. She glanced over to Hot Pocket who's confident look was gone. Rookie was indifferent, having grown accustomed to the taunting.

"That's enough," their CO snapped. Alpha, as they called him, stood tall and imposing, every bit the leader he was supposed to be. His brown hair was cut short to the prefect length, his ice blue eyes held at firm gaze that was imposing but not too stern, and he was well built like a proper ODST should. "Get settled on a cot," Alpha instructed Hot Pocket. "I'll go check what orders we have." With that Alpha moved out of the room.

Hot Pocket moved over to a cot and sat down, making himself comfortable. Anastasia returned to her book, half listening to the conversation between the two newest members of the team. "But why am I Hot Pocket if I'm a rookie?" the new soldier asked. "What's the difference?"

"You're Hot Pocket because you'll cook in your pod like a microwave meal," Shadow answered. "Your pod will roast you just right so the Covenant will be too busy eating you and we'll be able to save the day."

Hot Pocket turned to Rookie but Anastasia couldn't see his face from where she was lying. Rookie looked unsure, not positive he could give Hot Pocket tips or if that was breaking the unspoken code of the squad. "The pod is unforgiving," was Rookie's response.

"So is it true what you guys are called? I heard some people talking about you guys and what you do. Is it true?" There was an edge of excitement to Hot Pocket's voice which annoyed Anastasia.

"Not Exactly," Gray answered. "They call us Hell Wolves but really we're just Wolves. Shadow Wolf, Gray Wolf, and Fire Wolf. But the rumors about what we do are true. We drop into places being attacked by Covenant to push them back and allow evacuations."

"Can I ask something?" Hot Pocket didn't wait for an answer. "Why wolves? Why not something like a phoenix or griffon? Wolves are just so normal."

"Because phoenix and griffons are myths, lies, while wolves are real," Anastasia spoke up. "We are real, mortal people. We don’t' pretend to be some animal of legend. We are wolves."

"That and the story is that three of the first members of the squad had wolf tattoos," Shadow added. "Why don't you show him what I mean, Fire?"

Anastasia shut her book, realizing she wasn't going to get any reading done. "Bite me," she responded as she put the book away. It was true that the nomination of the wolf as their name had come from them having tattoos of wolves, which had been completely by chance, but that was long ago and she didn’t like to look back on the past. She also wasn’t too fond of showing off her tattoos. Each one meant something to her and she wasn’t willing to answer the questions that came with people seeing them. The one of her back was a wolf head that, after she’d become an ODST, she’d surrounded in fire like the ODST skull. She had originally gotten it for the same book series that had given her the dragon tattoo. In the series there were wolves that some of the characters owned, they protected them from bad things or when they were upset. Anastasia knew there was no wolf to save her from the things in her life so she’d gotten the wolf’s head to remind herself that she had to be her own wolf, protect herself. It had been her first tattoo and was still her favorite.

"I would if Alpha wouldn't get jealous," Shadow replied. Anastasia stood up and clenched her fists. That was crossing a line and Shadow was well aware that Anastasia didn’t like to be crossed. He put up his hand to ward off her attacking him. "All right, I'm backing down."

"Let that be a lesson, Hot Pocket. Don’t mess with Fire or you'll get burned," Gray warned. He grinned and chuckled at his own bad joke.

Anastasia was about to respond when Alpha moved into the room. "Get suited up. The Covenant are in system and we're being dropped in. Move it, marines." The Wolves snapped to action, moving through the ship. They made their way to the lockers and changed into their armor, securing everything in place. Anastasia double checked that her gear was in place and followed Shadow, who always made sure he was first to get to the pods. Anastasia grabbed grenades, a DMR, and a pistol. She stored them away in her pod and the marines took their place. The doors shut and Anastasia heard her pod seal, securing her in her cocoon of metal. In here it was quiet and she was alone and she let herself relax against the padding in the pod looking to the red light. When it turned green they'd fall and all Hell would break lose.

Alpha's voice broke the quiet. "The Covenant are expected to reach the planet fires so it will be a hot drop. We're heading to a major city to maximize how many civilians we can assist. ETA two minutes." He paused for just a second. "May the odds be ever in your favor." It was the traditional last words of the Wolves before a drop. Someone always said it until the new leader caught on and started to use it. Anastasia couldn’t remember where it had come from or who had started it, it just felt like they’d always said it.

Anastasia didn't count, knowing that counting would only make it worse. The light turned green and there was no time to prepare. Suddenly she was weightless and then there was a force pushing up on her as she fell. The force few as her pod gained speed and she could feel the heat seeping in. Her team was unusual as they didn't listen to music as they dropped like most other ODST squads. It wasn't that they had always dropped in silence but the current group couldn't agree on a song so they'd settled for none. Anastasia braced herself for the pod to slow her down. The chute opened and her thrusters activated, jerking her violently. She relaxed a tiny bit, knowing the most dangerous part was over.

"Shit," she heard cursed over the radio. The voice belonged to Alpha and they knew what it meant. He didn't say another word, accepting his undeniable fate like a soldier. Anastasia looked down to where she could see his pod speeding toward the planet, pulling far ahead of the rest of them. Flames licked over the outside of the pod and she could see the metal turning red as it heated. Alpha tried to keep quiet but when the heat started to burn through, burn him inside the metal, he screamed. There was a particular sort of scream that came from burning alive in a drop pod, the kind of scream that stayed with you. Each soldier screamed just a bit different depending on their level of panic, pain, and fear. Alpha’s scream was all pain, no panic or fear to it, just pain. It wasn't as bad as the panicked screams of some ODST that Anastasia had heard over the years but she knew it would stay with her. She listened until the heat melted away the electronics in Alpha's pod and the signal died.

Anastasia's pod landed in the middle of a road, cracking the asphalt in a wide circle. Anastasia hit the release on her door and it was forcefully jettisoned, hitting the ground with a loud thud. She moved out of her pod, grabbing her weapons with a practiced ease of years of drops. She moved off over the broken street, heading to the nav marker on her HUD where they were to meet up. She met up with a small group of Grunts on her way but they were easy kills with her pistol, killed before they could even raise their plasma pistols. She arrived at the marker and found Gray waiting for her. The others hadn't arrived yet so Anastasia took a seat to give them a chance to catch up.

Gray was staring out at the sky, his gaze distant and unfocused. He didn't look to Anastasia just watched the city around them. There were alarm sirens blaring through the city, sound of plasma shots, and she could hear some cars as some people tried to drive toward the escape shuttles. They were of no concern to the squad, only those that were under attack were part of their job. Anastasia stopped to check her gear had made it through fine, being sure that nothing was damaged or would jam. "How many marines have you heard burn?" Gray asked out of nowhere.

Anastasia looked to the older soldier and frowned.  "Lost count," she answered as she stood up. She looked down one of the roads and spotted Shadow running toward them. She ignored the way Gray looked at her, that sort of unfamiliar look that questioned if she was joking or not. She'd gotten plenty of odd looks over the years because of the way she handled the death of teammates so she was used to it and now found it easy to ignore.

"So you're in charge now?" Gray asked as Shadow joined them. Anastasia shook her head in response. "But you're senior soldier, how are you not leader? If Alpha’s dead who’s supposed to lead us?"

Anastasia scanned the area looking for the two newer members of the squad. "I don't lead. I don't like taking the safety of others into my own hands. I'm responsible for me and you and Shadow can decide which of you leads," Anastasia explained. Neither Shadow nor Gray had been around when the last leader of the Wolves had died so they wouldn’t know. If Sky were here she would have understood. She'd been there when the leader before Alpha had died but unfortunately a plasma grenade had taken Sky some months ago. Anastasia wasn't a leader, it just didn't suit her. The role required getting attached to the members of a team in the way Anastasia wasn't comfortable forcing. "Besides, you're more senior than me."

There was a bit of silence before Shadow spoke. "So what's the plan, Old Man?"

The group set out across the city toward where Phantoms seemed to be going. They made radio contact with the others and changed their meeting location to their new destination. Their trek was met with resistance in the form of Grunts, Jackals, and a couple Ghosts that all were easily stopped by the ODST. There were a few civilians that they were able to direct to the safer paths and lead a few patrols away from civilians in hiding. The three of them had been working together for long enough that they'd learned how to act and react to each other's movements. It took them nearly a half hour to reach the position that seemed to be what the Covenant had been attacking. The roads were burnt, windows broken, and doors forced open. All signs of Covenant looking for civilians to kill. There was nothing left alive and it was a familiar sight for Anastasia, the Covenant having torn through the area leaving behind just burn marks, bits of meat, and blood.

"Seems they went that way," Anastasia observed. "If we hurry we can catch up to them and at least delay them giving civilians a chance."

Gray nodded and suddenly turned to his right, assault rifle raised and scanning the area. Anastasia raised her gun and turned to the same direction, searching for anything. She didn't see any enemies but something had caught Gray's attention so she remained on guard. They didn’t spook easily so for a reaction like his the man must have been sure he’d seen something. There was a flash of light and Anastasia turned toward Gray, finding two blades of light stabbing through the man's chest. There was an odd movement behind Gray and Anastasia realized it was a stealth elite. She'd only met them a few times before but they were almost completely invisible and experts in being silent. She’d heard soldiers talk of enemies killing entire teams with ease and no one even seeing so much as a shimmer of their camouflage. The elite pulled its blade from Gray's chest and the marine fell to the ground.

The elite moved forward but it was too fast. Anastasia only got off one shot before the Elite raised its weapon and swung its sword. Anastasia dove to the side but she felt the blade slice through her side. She fell to the ground, her gun sliding across the road and out of reach, as the Elite loomed over her, prepared to finish her off. Gunfire pierced the air and the Elite turned away from Anastasia to Shadow. The bullets hit the alien’s personal energy shield and it shimmered a bit but held strong. The alien darted toward the male marine, roaring in anger. Anastasia turned to her gun and tried to grab it, wanting to give her teammate whatever back up she could. Shadow screamed and she looked back to see that he was hanging limply from the Elite's grip. Blood seeped down Shadow's armor and Anastasia knew he was dead. There was just too much blood for him to be alive.

The Elite turned toward Anastasia and moved toward her. She turned back to her weapon and scrambled toward it. She'd just grabbed it when a foot landed on her back, pinning her down to the hard road. She looked over her shoulder and could see the Elite drawing its blade back. There was motion in the corner of her eye and she looked over just in time to see Rookie charging forward. He slammed a rock into the side of the Elite's helmet, causing it to stumble back and making its energy shield shimmer brightly before it vanished, overloaded by the force. Anastasia recognized the sound of a DMR and could see blood spout from the Elite as it tried to regain its senses. Rookie smacked it again in the head with the rock to keep it stunned, the force of the blow breaking one of the alien’s mandibles. Anastasia rolled over and aimed, firing at the alien. Their rounds tore through the Elite’s head and neck, killing it.

Rookie moved over to Anastasia and checked her side. "Hot Pocket, bring me the med kit. Shadow had it." Hot Pocket did as he was instructed and Rookie retrieved the biofoam from the kit. Anastasia felt him inject it, ignoring the fire that spread over her side as the foam filled her wound.

Anastasia stood, her hand going to her side for a second as she adjusted to the pain. Her suit was covered with blood but it had stopped flowing which was good enough. "Good shooting, Rookie." She moved over to Gray's body. She picked up the assault rifle and moved back over to the pair. "Here, Stone, arm yourself. That rock's not going to stop a Wraith." The two others looked at each other and then nodded, understanding. Anastasia motioned down the street, the way they'd been heading before. "The Covies are that way. If we hurry we can still do some good." The others nodded and Anastasia took off at a brisk jog, wanting to make sure the mission wasn’t a complete failure; Stone and Rookie following close behind.