Prologue

2150 Hours, October 12, 2553 (Military Calendar) /
Sol System, Earth / Planetary Defensive Platform
Omicron; near Beijing, China

Colonel Tien Wobretts leaned over, holding his hands against his face. He silently wept as the once lush world around him grew more and more stark and cold with each passing minute. Covenant capital ships, endlessly lining the expanse of the murky sky, continued to destroy the planet he once called home. It was a moment in time he would never forget.
Next him, lying flat against the ground, was his MA5C Assault Rifle, still smoking from the recent firefight he had had with the Covenant troops. It was obvious they were searching for something, otherwise “those sons of bitches would stay in their goddamn ships and remain safe from harm.” Colonel Wobretts had said it a thousands times, if not more, too his fellow marines around him. And it was obvious they agreed.
The Beijing Planetary Defensive Platform couldn’t withstand much more of the hell the Covenant were giving her. It was already starting to fall apart; a fact that could be confirmed by the melting blast doors, the damaged Super MAC gun and the dead marine bodies scattered everywhere. Everything was a mess.
Colonel Tien Wobretts was the last high ranking officer; his primary objective was to protect the Platform at all costs, even the lives of his fellow soldiers. But this wasn’t his area of expertise; after all, he had only ever achieved the rank of Colonel.
“Sir!” came the sudden and terrified voice of a marine private. “The Covenant have breached the secondary blast doors and are advancing on our position! We’ve gotta move…now!”
Colonel Tien slowly stood, wiping trace amounts of dust from his wrinkled and blood stained uniform. He then reached for his Assault Rifle, which he picked up with an exasperated sigh. Another battle was about to ensue, and he sure as hell wasn’t ready…