UNSC Red Rover, Darwin System, February 4, 2560
With a flash of light and exotic, radioactive, particles, the UNSC Red Rover re-entered the normal dimensions of space. As it aligned itself on an intercept trajectory with the second planet from the star, one the two UNSC colony worlds in system, its engines burnt a brilliant blue while smaller thrusters along the bow fired in short, perfectly timed burns to alter the vessels angle of trajectory. Inside the corvettes small cryo-bay, Lance Corporal David Campbell, woke up. Still inside his sealed pod he got a lungful of the frigid cold air. As the curved hatch opened, wisps of fog bellowed out and fell down on to the rubber floor, followed shortly by David himself. Landing on his hands and knees he coughed- violent, wet heaves until the bronchial surfactant oozed out like a long strand of bile.
His cryo training, as short as it was, had done little to prepare him for the gut wrenching feeling and the aches and pains in his joints. He heard the soft slapping of bare feet on the rubberized floor and a small, white towel entered his downward turned field of view.
"Thanks," David coughed. At twenty three David wasn't very old, still a youngster, but having grown up on Earth meant he'd spent most of his time there, not among the colonies.
"You're welcome," a woman's voice, not too much older than his, replied with a slight laugh. "You Army boys are all the same, can't handle a little cold."
David looked up. Like him the woman was naked, her skin shockingly pale. Short, shoulder length red hair was loose and slightly damp. She had a smooth face, small, flat nose and full lips. A faint, jagged scar that ran across her jaw line told him that she'd seen some action. He took the towel and slowly got to his feet, his knees trembling and his head spinning.
"Molly Tilton, Petty Officer Second Class. Corpsman."
That meant she had rank on him. He gave a salute as he responded. "David Campbell, Lance Corporal, vehicle Operator."
Molly laughed at his response, her eyes crinkled and her cheeks puffed, as she returned his sloppy salute with one equally as sloppy.
"Relax," she said. "I'm not one for formalities."
He quickly got dressed, grabbed his stuff and followed the corpsman to the hanger. As they walked into the hanger, the Petty Officer still mocking him for his lack of coordination and service of choice, he noticed a single SKT-24 shuttlecraft taking up the entirety of the Rover's modest hanger. Having entered the ship through its airlock while it was connected to Victory's Perch, the large wayward station in geosynchronous orbit over Earth, he hadn't known how small the hanger was. Until now.
"About time!" the shuttle's pilot barked as they stepped aboard. "Sit down, strap in and hold tight." The pilot ordered. The shuttle was nearly full, mostly with other Army personal that were, like him, transfers and most looked even younger than him. There were a few other Navel personal sat by the pilot. Probably all on shore leave like Tilton. David thought.
He stowed his gear; a duffel bag and a Bergen. He sat in one of the few remaining seats. He pulled a U-shaped restraint bar over his shoulders as Molly sat in the seat next him and pretty soon he felt the shuttle lower down through an airlock in the hanger's floor before he felt a kick as the shuttles thrusters engage. Most of the other passengers busied themselves with their COM pads or an old fashioned book- the type his father kept plenty of in their countryside Manor back on Earth, but David found himself wringing his hands and straining his neck to try and get a glance of the colony through the clear partitions of the cockpit's canopy. A variety of greens and blue, tan and white layered the land masses, clear as day through the unpolluted atmosphere of this strange, distant world.
"You ever been to Falkland?" Molly asked, raising her voice so she could be heard over the roar of the shuttles engines. David shook his head.
"Yeah. Haven't really done much traveling. been to Reach and Mars. I honestly never knew this place existed until a couple months ago." David replied. "What about you?"
"Once before, a few years ago now. Back when it was just a Marine Company stationed here. Now it's an entire Army Division and Marine Battalion. That's not including the Armoured Brigade. I guess HIGHCOM took the NCA threat seriously out here. "
By now the shuttle was entering the Falklands atmosphere and he could see flickering of orange flames creep up from the bottom of the canopy. With a shudder that caused David's teeth to chatter, the shuttles decent smoothed out and the next thing he knew they were darting east, low over the calm, Blue Ocean. In the distance, far on the horizon, through the glare of the early morning sun, he could make out what looked to be city. So small, at the distance they were, the city's towering skyscrapers looked like fine bristles on a toothbrush.
San Carlos Bay was a metropolis. Four towering orbital elevator tethers rose out from the city's massive industrial zone, like golden pillars stretching up to the heavens and beyond. Lines crisscrossed the city, spreading far out into the surrounding mountain range and beyond, heading for the next major population centre. Darting across the lines were the colonies Maglev trains, some carried large cargo containers, filled with a variety of goods to be transported off-world and onto other colonies. Others pulled thinner, more streamlined, passenger carriages, filled with early morning commuters on their way to work.
Nestled neatly in a long, curving, bay, surrounded by the vast mountains of the Lafonia Highlands and built on both sides of the Chartres River, San Carlos covered the entire delta. Newer estates, both industrial and residential, could be seen through the shuttle's canopy as they flew overhead. Partially hidden by the massive trees that lined the mountains a road snaked its way up the steep massifs.
"Wouldn't you? The Alliance is still a threat. There was no formal declaration ending the war. They're just biding their time, regaining their strength." David said. "Plus the Alliance Parliament have been laying claim to this system for years, ever since they declared themselves a sovereign government back in '26. And because, as I understand it, the people here are pro-UNSC it makes sense for HIGHCOM to defend it. It also makes it a target for the Alliance."
The shuttle was following the Chartres River through a wide valley, flanked on either side by the Highland mountains. Minutes later the topography flattened out into a wide, sprawling floodplain and beyond that was a dense forest.
"I guess. Still not a bad place to be if you ask me. It could be worse, you could end up somewhere like Eridnus II or Tribute. Those places are just bad news."
He felt the shuttle slow down and saw the UNSC base he was being stationed at for the first time. It was hard to tell from the angle but he guessed that the base was the size of a small city. Hundreds of buildings, hangers and depots, parade squares and field training areas. Roads ran throughout, connecting everything together and right in front of them was a large airfield, two long runways crossed at their northern ends and a tall control tower overlooked them both. A flight of F-39 Atmospheric Interceptors lined up- ready for take-off. The heat from their exhaust distorted the view behind them and made the sharp, stealthy angles, of the jets look like a mirage- spectres in the early morning sun. The shuttle slowed and came to a hover and lowered itself onto a designated pad. The small indicator light above the shuttles rear hatch changed from red to green. Outside the air was cold and his breath billowed bone-white. He hadn't expected it to be so cold.
He lined up with the other transfers, most of them Army like him, and waited. They formed three rows of eight. David was at the end, where the Army became Navy. To his left was a younger man, the rank on his collar showed him to be a Private, and to his right was Molly. The shuttle, after it had unloaded its cargo, closed its hatch and lifted off again, back to its parent vessel. Its small, stubby wings looked almost comical on the large, bulbous fuselage as it slowly lifted off; its engines whining loudly.
"Sir, Corporal?" David looked to the private next to him. The small name patch on his breast labeled him as C Taylor.
"Yeah kid?"
"What do we do now? Why are we just stood here?" Taylor asked. Most of the others had started talking to one another, lit up a cigarette and just generally milled about, barely keeping the formation they were in.
"Now we wait," David said with a shrug. During his service on Earth he'd spent plenty of time at different bases. A couple on mainland Europe, three in Asia and two in North America. He'd spent some time on Reach and Mars as well, but not as much as he'd spent on Earth. "Someone will come along and show us where our new accommodation is and then we'll unpack before reporting to our new Commanding Officer."
"I just wish they'd hurry up. It's freezing." The kid replied, shaking his arms and legs to try and keep the blood flowing. David crunched his hands into fists and concentrated on controlling the severe shivers in his arms and legs. He was still sore from his trip in cryo and the frigid air wasn't helping. His joints ached and felt swollen- a common occurrence for people who'd just come out of cryo, a aliment colloquially known as 'freezer burn'.
"You and I both kid but we could be here for a while."
Thankfully they weren't. Half an hour later a Lieutenant, followed by a marine sergeant, walked up to the group and gave a quick introduction.
"Right," the lieutenant said. "I'm Lieutenant Rowkin and this is Staff Sergeant Eton, welcome to Camp Moore. Here's how things work around here; weekends are yours unless you're on exercise or guard duty or told otherwise by your immediate superior. Now, let's show you lot to your accommodation shall we?" Rowkin said. He flicked his head, signalling sergeant Eton forward.
"Marines, Corpsmen," he hollered. "Follow me and we'll get you settled." As he moved off in a fast march, marines in tow, Molly on her way past gave a quick wink and smile which caused him to laugh beneath his breath. Unfortunately for him Rowkin heard and saw everything.
"Don't even think about it trooper. Women like her are all for bone headed marines and you're not a jarhead now are you?"
"No, Sir!" David replied. He struggled to keep the corner of his mouth from curling up into a smile. Maybe this won't be so bad. He thought. Not too bad at all.
CFM Iron Heart, Theta-Crwys System, September 12, 2560
The Iron Heart was an older Springhill-class mining vessel. Fifteen hundred meters long and capable of strip mining an asteroid in just a few weeks as well as being capable of supplying enough raw material to build a Destroyer squadron. Old ships like the Iron Heart were usually used out in the far reaches of known space, simply because if something went wrong, which was always a possibility, the UNSC wouldn't be losing a multi-billion credit ship that was straight off the production line. Then there was the cost of recovery; it was cheaper to leave an old ship out in space then to mount a rescue on a more modern vessel.
A Springhill-class ship could be described as many things; slow, cumbersome, unreliable. But it was for none of these things that Henry White, Captain of the Iron Heart, had decided to stay with the old colonial era vessel. He stayed with it because it was familiar to him. Years ago, when he first joined the Colonial Mining Fleet, his first posting was on the Iron Heart- back when she was fresh off the production line. While he had since served on other ships he took the opportunity to finish his career on the same vessel he started on. He knew his ship. He knew every hum, every vibration in the hull and he knew just how far he could push her before she packed in. Some would say he knew the ship better then he knew his ex-wife.
The view from the bridge was, as always, spectacular. He could see the angled hull sloping off to the side as well as the fourteen large, cylindrical, tanks used to house fuel for the smaller, autonomous, mining bots as well as the ship itself. If needed the tanks could also be used to transport gasses, like deuterium or triamino hydrazine. The Milky Way was brilliant background stipe. Running diagonally across the bridge's curved view port. Stars littered the sky- a billion pinpricks of light scattered throughout.
He moved about the bridge, it was dark, the only light coming from the blue holographic terminals and the reflected light off of the moon they were in orbit over. He looked over the shoulders of the crew as he walked past, looking over their reports as they came in. It would be a while before they were done with their operations in system- another couple of weeks at least but there was no particular rush. The UNSC, and before them the CAA, paid per tonne, not by how quickly you got it. Theta-Crwys was also out of the way- a resource rich system that only a few privately owned vessels would risk going into due to its perilously close proximity to Colonial Alliance space. That and reports of ships going missing in the area certainly weren't helping. Especially when one of the missing ships was, according to rumour, an UNSC scout ship.
"Sir," his ship operations officer called out. "Reports from engineering; they say our Slip Drive is going to need an overhaul when we get back. The drive core is cracked."
"Thank you Mr Uberti, I'll make a note." Henry said, taking the data pad from the younger man. He sighed. A Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive was one of the most expensive things on the market. Even though the Iron Heart could only house an older model, due to her fusion generators not being powerful enough to power a newer one, it would still cost a lot of money to get it replaced. 'Maybe it's time to sell the old girl for scrap' He thought sadly. She was, after all, nearly as old as him.
"Ugh… Sir? I've got something on the long range scanners. A ship by the looks of it but I don't recognise the design." The sensor officer announced. Suddenly his worries about the Slipspace drive seemed insignificant.
"IFF?" He asked.
"Negative sir. None detected."
"How many?"
"Five, moving in fast, sir." The sensor operator called out, never taking his eyes off the readouts, his hands a flurry of movement over the controls.
"Try hailing them," Henry ordered. After a tense few minutes of silence his communication officer shook his head. No response. That meant whoever was on board had no interest in talking.
"Cancel the mining operations, get everyone back on-board now!" Henry barked. He watched a display showing the unknown vessels getting closer and closer. If they were going to make it out of there it was going to be close. "Spin up the FTL drive. As soon as everyone's back initiate the jump."
"Aye, Captain."
There wasn't much he could now except wait. He watched still as the five yellow triangles on his display closed in on them. With a quick command he switched the view to the external cameras and zoomed in on the approaching ships. They were like none he'd seen before. Long and sleek with wing-like components folded into their side. Their hulls were whitish silver with red stripes painted along the predatory hulls. What was most visible to him the most was positioned along the ships spine. It was Mass Accelerator Cannon. A MAC. While it looked smaller than the ones typically found on UNSC warships it would still be more than enough to tear the Iron Heart asunder- and they were just about to enter weapons range. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at end and he felt a cold lump in his stomach.
"We're ready to jump, sir!" The Navigation officer said. Her hand hovering over the ignition switch.
"Unknown vessels are opening fire, Captain!"
"Do it! Get us out of here!" He called out. In the time it took for the translight engine to open a hole between the normal universe and the extra dimensions of slipstream space, the first slug impacted along his starboard side. Instead of crashing straight through like he expected the rounds squashed, creating creators in the titanium hull and blowing surrounding sections of hull plating off entirely. Four rounds struck before the full entered Slipspace- one dangerously close to the engineering section of the ship. The ships shook viciously as workstation and power conduits overloaded. The sheer force of the impacts had caused the Iron Heart to list- making it a miracle they even got into Slipspace and stayed there. Fires burned as fuel lines were ruptured and the hull groaned from the stresses being exerted on it. The old titanium hull and TR steel superstructure were never meant to handle the pressures of combat.
But they'd made it, that was the main thing and they were on route to the closest colony world. Except with the damage sustained the old girl was even slower than normal. It would at least a week before they arrived in system. If they made it at all.
AN; Okay. It's been a while since I've done anything. I have my reasons and most of them are personal. But I haven't been idle I promise. I just lost my momentum and needed to get it back. It's not as easy as you'd think though. Especially when my previous work was as cringe worthy as it was.
So try this one on for size and let me know how it fits. So you know, tell me what you think of this. Also I'd like to point out there is no covenant, the species involved don't exist. Forerunners do but their involvement is off-screen. Any and all advances made by the UNSC are made due to the civil war that erupted. (The one that would of happened if it weren't for the covenant.