The Life

The We Are ODST is a live-action short made exclusively for the launch of Halo 3: ODST. The trailer along with the upcoming short film is directed by Rupert Sanders, who also worked on the Halo 3: Believe campaign. .

This short showcases the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, an elite organization of UNSC Marines, focusing on the 19th Shock Troops Battalion during their operations in the Human-Covenant War.

Overview
The film starts with a military funeral held for SSGT K. Stark, with a young Tarkov watching, and then shows his recruitment and basic training to enlist as a Marine. Later, the video skips to a combat drop as Tarkov, now an ODST in an insertion pod, dropping towards a Covenant-held battlefield on an unknown planet, where he quickly encounters a Brute and is nearly killed, acquiring wounds to his face. The Brute closes in for the kill as Tarkov fires his pistol, but the Brute is killed by a crashing Banshee, saving Tarkov's life. The scene skips ahead to Tarkov again, now several years older, the wounds on his face having become scars. He and a number of other ODST's hold a small service for a fallen comrade killed during combat, and hear a distant explosion and plasma fire in the distance. Forced to abandon the service, the ODST's put their helmets on and move out.

Transcript
{Translated from Hungarian}

{''The video starts at Stark's funeral proceedings. Tarkov is seen in the background.''}

UNSC Officer: Present arms!

{Marines raised their assault rifles,as Tarkov visibly flinches.}

UNSC Officer: Fire!

{''The video then skips to Tarkov who apparently joined the ODST, having his head shaven by an officer. The video then skips to a scene where a group of men stood in a file. The UNSC Officer yells in front of Tarkov.''}

UNSC Officer: "Steady! Thirty, now!

{''The scene changes to an obstacle course. Tarkov performs a commando crawl and a UNSC Officer follows him, yelling.''}

UNSC Officer: "Do you want to die? Do you? Faster! Go go go!"

{''As Tarkov took a dive in the obstacle course, the scene changes to him being dropped into an unknown planet. Several HEVs are seen. As soon as he hit the ground, his HEV's chute opened. Tarkov along with several other ODSTs fire their SMGs. A Brute Major knocked Tarkov to the ground, knocking his helmet off. The Brute growls at him and soon after died after a Banshee struck down by a rocket hit the Brute from behind. Tarkov, lying on the mud, stared at the open space. The scene changes to a funeral proceeding with Tarkov, now looking older, along with several other ODSTs standing beside him. A song sung in Gaelic fills the background.''}

The song sung in Gaelic: "And my army of brothers went over the hilltops, drenched in blood we may be... but fighting is all left to me... Together with my army of brothers... down we fall... darkness in all... through hell!"

Trivia

 * The Marines are meant to speak a form of Russian, says Rupert Sanders during an interview, a language not commonly seen or used previously in the Halo universe. He said that the Russian language better reflects the tough training the ODST's have to go through. He acknowledges that the Marines actually speaks a form of Hungarian, but for all sense and purpose, in canon they are considered to speak Russian.
 * The Gaelic song is a version of Café del Mar's "Light of Aidan - Lament", which is much more lighter and softer.
 * This short is the only known piece of Halo to ever show a civilian. (with the exception of Dr. Anders in Halo Wars)

Internal

 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo 3: Believe
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers

External

 * We Are ODST on YouTube