Okay, I'm working on Ch1, and its pretty okay thus far. I'll hand the excerpt of it below:
CHAPTER 1
DECEMBER 9, 2544
MIRIDEM COLONY
“Do not go gentle into that good night; Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.” - Dylan Thomas.
The twin moons of Miridem shone over the two Spartans' armor; the pale silver light diluting into the smoke columns above. Elias lay prone over a fallen log, looking through his binoculars, and beyond the cliff. The once-vibrant farmland plains where crops had grown days earlier were now burning. Eckzahn “Sichel”-class corvettes loomed over the night skies, the belly-mounted bright-red plasma lances cutting through the Earth - and leaving behind scars of cobalt-blue silicate glass in its wake. On one of the pine trees, Elias’s partner and childhood friend Lucas B-230 leaned over the rough bark. He took a look at his suppressed MA5C assault rifle, slapping the bolt forward with the back of his hand. A smooth “click” followed.
“See anything worth our time?” Lucas asked. Elias turned his head slightly, and the dark-blue visor of his ODST-pattern helmet reflected subtly.
“No.” Elias added, “Nothing but the usual. They’re just stripping the place clean, while the Navy does the rest of the work.”
Elias pointed at the group of Eckzahn Astokn (Army) troops carrying a few boxes. They were mostly wolves or foxes. One of the squad leaders wore a veteran unit patch on his shoulder: A black square with a simplistic, white pine tree.
Lucas smiled, saying, “How much do you bet that I can take them out in…” He struggled to find a good timeframe for a moment, “- Like 30 seconds, tops.”
“Lucas - We’re not supposed to draw attention either way; this is a recon behind enemy lines.” Elias dismissed him.
Lucas scoffed, a grin under his helmet lit up. He raised his MA5C towards the group of enemy troops. The VISR of his SPI Helmet lit up, the bright-blue crosshair reticle lined up with the head of the squad-leader wolf.
“They’re not gonna know what hit ‘em,” Lucas said, before squeezing the trigger.
“Lucas -” Elias said. Too late. A burst of 7.62 rips through the helmet of the squad leader; the wolf collapses on the grass. The rest of the troops frantically drop the box they were carrying with a “THUD”, turning frantically to the forest clearing. In a few milliseconds, Lucas drops the second and third ones.
“Oh no, you don’t…” Lucas turned to the final soldier running off, tracking his movement. He fired off a three-round burst at the chest. The rounds rip through the chestplate of the fox, before dropping him on the grass.
“One of these days, Lucas…” Elias shook his head.
“Hey, look at the upside!” Lucas grinned, “There's no one to draw attention to. And, we just did those farmers a favor.” Lucas would slowly walk towards the box, returning the crate of goods to the small wooden structure ahead.
“Well, that's a plus,” Elias muttered. He turned to his binoculars again, observing troop movements below. However, something caught his eye. Ahead on the prairie region, a few klicks away, was an Eckzahn cargo truck, and a few figures next to it. Elias turned the exposure on his binoculars and zoomed in slowly. The lone wolf wore some kind of red beret - and the standard field-protection kit. A ballistic plate, and nothing else besides his camouflaged uniform and Ismount wrist-mounted computer. Clearly a high-ranking officer, by the looks of it.
“You think that's an HVT?” Elias asked. Lucas could observe a separate window pop up on his VISR’s HUD, showing the binocular-view of the officer. Lucas fiddled with a brass casing, tossing it onto the dirt. He turned over to Elias.
“Does that mean I get to ‘legally’ kill this time?” Lucas smirked, his wide-visor’s opacity turned down - allowing Elias to get a glimpse of his young and hardy tanned face. Elias turned, looking at Lucas. His eyes briefly glanced at the wide scar on the bridge of his nose.
“There’s gotta be issues with you, Lucas…” Elias scoffed. Lucas turned around to the back, unsheathing his high-density machete. A smile grew under his helmet’s visor.
“Guessing that's a yes?” Lucas said.
“Don’t push it,” Elias muttered. He looked towards Lucas as he went near the edge of the jagged and rocky cliff. He continued, “Go then, I’ll cover you.”
(i'm sorry, i'm just horrible at dialogue ;-; )