Chapter Two
Where the Hell am I?
(This chapter has some marching band and concert band references.)
(Tyler’s POV)
I woke up in my pod, with me slumped against the hatch.
I groaned and asked, “Where am I?
I got up and started prepping the explosive bolts that would open my pod up. I armed the two bolts on top and the three on bottom. As I was doing this, I heard weird voices outside my pod.
They were human voices, asking each other what my pod is, who might be in it, etc. I looked at my viewport and could not see any light.
I said to myself, “Crap. The pod must have landed on the door side.”
I found my helmet and put it on. I quickly prepped my SMG and MA5B and found the button that would detonate the explosive bolts and hopefully, get my pod right side up.
I said, “Here goes nothing.”, and hit the button.
My pod was launched in the air and I flew out of my pod. As I was flying, I saw a group of humanoids around the crater where my pod was. I hit the ground hard. As I was passing out again, I saw several female faces around me.
One of them had hair that looked like fire and was yelling at me, “Stay with me, mate!” My eyes finally closed and I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up in a bed about 24 hours after my jump. I kept my eyes closed, as I heard various voices around me. Some were friendly sounding and seemed concerned about me. Some were not so friendly. The one voice I always heard was the voice of the girl who was yelling at me.
Her voice was friendly and she would hold my hand for a while, then leave. As she was holding my hand, I decided it was time to “wake up”.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw a beautiful girl with orange and red hair sitting next to me.
Her green eyes met my blue eyes and she smiled and said, “Well, someone has been asleep for a while.”
I slowly asked, “Who are you and where am I? All I remember is me flying out of my drop pod and you yelling at me to stay awake.”
She smiled and replied, “I’m Sunset Shimmer and you are in Catherlot Royal Hospital. You have two broken ribs and a broken femur. You are lucky you are alive, Tyler.
My eyes widened and I asked, “How do you know my name?”
She held up my ODST helmet and said, “It is on the inside of the helmet.”
I rolled my eyes and asked, “Has any other pods like mine landed here?
Sunset’s eyes widened and she asked, “There are more like you in pods like that?”
I nodded and said, “I’m an ODST, short for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. We are one of the best groups of soldiers there is. I and 399 other ODST’s were going down to New Mombasa to provide support for the Marines already down there. Then, the bloody Covenant carrier does a Slipspace jump right above New Mombasa and flattens it! Me and the other 399 troopers were either sucked into the Slipspace rift or vaporized in Earth’s atmosphere.”
Sunset looked at me with horror and sorrow in her eyes.
I kept talking, “The Covenant are a group of very religious aliens. They believe humans and any other species are heretics. The Covenant use plasma weapons that burn everything. When they are done killing everything on a planet, they use their giant plasma weapons on their ships and glass the planet, burning it until there is no plant or animal life left.”
Sunset gasped and asked, “Do they feel regret for what they do?
I replied, “No. They believe they are cleansing the galaxy of unholy beings.”
I closed my eyes in anger at the Covenant. I added, “I was born on Harvest, the first planet to get attacked by the Covenant. I was off planet at the time of the attack, on Earth. My parents were on Harvest at the time of the attack.”
I opened my eyes and saw that Sunset’s eyes were watering with tears, like mine.
“I’m sure you can put two and two together and figure out what happened to my parents”, I said. I looked up and saw that Sunset was silently crying with me. She suddenly held out her arms in a “hug me” way. I reached out and hugged her. I was crying into her shoulder, her into mine.
I let go of her and I smiled. “Thank you, Sunset”, I said.
She nodded and said, “Anytime, Tyler.”
I dried my eyes and asked, “Where is my armor and weapons?”
She replied, “Principal Celestia has them. She will give the armor back to you once you get better, but you might not get the guns back. They look super dangerous.”
I nodded, “They are. The big rifle is a MA5B assault rifle. I’m sure you know about guns and such.
Sunset nodded and asked, “What country are you from?
“Ours is not really a country, it is more of a government. We refer to it as the UNSC, or the United Nations Space Command. The UNSC’s main goal currently is to stop the war and to protect Earth.” I said.
“Earth was the planet that started humanity, before we started going and finding new planets. The UNSC will fight to the last man to protect Earth and its colonies. Most of the Outer Colonies have been glassed by the Covenant already. We are still controlling the Inner Colonies and Earth.” I responded.
She whistled and said, “Man, the Covenant want humanity dead. Good thing they do not know where we are.”
I nodded and looked down on my right hand, where I wear my class ring and college ring. They were gone from my hand.
Sunset asked, “Are these yours?”, as she held up two shiny rings.
. I reached over and she dropped them into my hand. I looked at my class ring. It is gold, emerald gemstone with a trumpet on one side (I played trumpet in high school) and a bronco on the other side (A bronco is a horse and it was my school’s mascot). My college one was also gold, emerald gemstone again, but on one side, it has a bearcat and on the other, it has a trombone on it.
I put both of them on and held them out for Sunset to see. She smiled and held out her hand. I saw a gold class ring like mine on her hand. She pulled it off and handed it to me. On the left side of it, I saw her graduation date and a shimmering sun. On the right, it had Sunset and a microphone engraved on it. I handed it back and said, “You picked some cool designs, mate.”
She started to say something, but then the door opened and in walked a tall woman with white hair. She looked at me and Sunset and smiled.
“I see you two have become acquainted”, she said.
I nodded and asked, “Ma’am, Where am I? And where is my pod? God I hope my trumpet survived.”
The woman laughed and replied, “Yes, all of your items from your pod are safe, including your trumpet. Oh, excuse me, I have not introduced myself. I’m Principal Celestia, of Catherlot High School.”
I nodded and said, “I’m Corporal Tyler Jones, of the 105th ODST battalion, second in command of Omega Squad.”
Celestia raised her eyebrows and asked, “How did you get here?”
I responded, “I was being dropped from a destroyer in my pod when a Covenant carrier did a Slipspace jump over a city. I was sucked into the collapsing Slipspace rift and somehow transported to this world.”
Celestia nodded and did a “carry on” motion with her hand.
I started again, “I think I may have either been sent to the past, or sent to this dimension by the portal.”
Sunset popped into the conversation, “I agree with the second option.”
Celestia said, “I agree with that option also.”
I said, “So, what happens now? Are you going to kill me or something?”
Sunset gasped and said, “We would never kill an innocent man, like you.”
Celestia said, “I have decided that since you look about the right age for high school, to keep your cover, we will enroll you here and you can stay until you discover how to get back to your world.”
I sighed in relief and said, “Thank you, ma’am.”
Celestia smiled and said, “Sunset will help you meet new people and try and make friends.”
I asked, “What will happen to my weapons and armor, ma’am?”
She replied, “When you discover a way to get back to your world, we will give them back. You can have your trumpet now, though.”
I smiled and said, “That sounds fine, ma’am. So, when will my bones be healed?”
Celestia smiled and said, “We think they will be healed within 5-6 weeks.”
I grinned and asked, “Can I get out of this bed and into some proper clothes, ma’am?”
Sunset said, “Hold on”, as she rummaged through her red and orange backpack.
She pulled out a bundle of normal t-shirts, jeans, etc. She handed them to me and said, “I got them for you. I hope you like them.”
“You didn’t have to do all this for me.” I said as I sat up in the bed and started to get out of the bed.
I looked down and saw I was dressed in the body suit that I wear under my ODST armor.
Celestia said, “We had to strip your armor off and that suit to treat your wounds.”
I laughed and said, “I appreciate you treating my wounds.”
I glanced over at the corner of the room, where my armor and magnum were laying on a table.
I asked, “Can I at least have the pistol as a concealed carry self-defense?”
Celestia shook her head and said, “Not until you can be trusted.”
I nodded and replied, “I will respect your wishes, since you control this school.”
Celestia smiled and said, “That is what I want to hear.”
I stood up and asked, “So, does this high school have a band?
Celestia nodded and said, “I will sign you up for it if you want.”
“I would appreciate it. When I was on the Johnson, I was part of the ship’s band. It only had three members. Jake was a trombone, I was trumpet and Conner was snare drum”, I said.
Sunset laughed and said, “I could talk to the other girls and see if you could join their band. I’m sure a trumpet in their band would make it more…..jazzy.”
I laughed and said, “Can I go meet these girls? They seem like the kind of people I want to be friends with.”
Celestia nodded and said, “Be careful. You are still injured.”
I nodded and asked, “Could you leave for a moment please so I put on my clothes?”
Sunset and Celestia nodded and left the room. I quickly put on a pair of blue jeans and a red t-shirt and walked out the hospital with Sunset.