Chapter 1- The Spartans Last Stand
The Covenant Experimental Battleship The Dark Flame floated silently through the black emptiness of space like an alien fish, lingering on the very border of the Earths orbital ring the craft was surely an impressive sight to any who could have seen it.
The command deck of the craft was surely an even grander spectacle, a force of elite soldiers conditioned from childhood and inhabiting some of the finest military hardware ever created by human hands. A lone group of survivors of the SPARTAN programme operated the ship they single handily liberated from a secret Covenant research facility.
The advanced warship had been idling in Earth orbit for the past several hours, allowing its makeshift crew of super soldiers and artificial intelligences to initiate the repairs of the damage sustained during their escape from the Covenant facility. With the alien craft returned to peak operating efficiency it was time to return to the hunt, to return to the planet Onyx in search of any lingering evidence of the Spartan III program.
The bridge of the Covenant ship was serenely quiet with a lingering hint of military order and efficiency. Every Spartans present was performing one critical task or another; while some of the team were operating one of the main bridge consoles, their wide training and experience with Covenant technology allowing them to quickly decipher the alien console, others busied themselves with maintaining their weapons or themselves through sparring. The majority of the squad however were sleeping on whatever clear patch of deck they could find spare.
"All systems normal. Prepare for transit to Onyx" Sakura announced through the bridge speakers. "Initiating Slipspace jump"
It was just as the ship was initiating the jump that the navigation console suddenly came alive with a flurry of lights and accompanying alerts. The warnings quickly drew the attention of the operator, Spartan III Natasha, accessed the system in an effort to discern the origin of the disturbance. "We've detected contacts, unknown energy signatures"
Sakura emerged on the holographic pedestal beside the navigation console, her holographic eyes scanning across the computer screen, analysing the data at an inhuman rate. Sakuras eyes snapped wide at the realization "Emergency shutdown" Sakura called out into the bridge. "Abort the slipspace jump! Abor-" a tremor tore through the serene calmness formed within the atmosphere onboard the ship. The human soldiers reacted purely on instinct, each reaching out to clasp any solid surface for support or simply shifting their vast weight to counter the roll of the craft beneath their feet. Even those who had appeared to be in a deep state of sleep were swiftly roused as though they had secretly been anticipating such a disturbance. All around alarms blazed and lights flickered and flashed, shattering the tranquil calm that had previously been.
Master Chief, who had taken it upon himself through rank and the loyalty and respect of his comrades as leader of his team, rose to take control of the situation. "What's the status of the ship?"
The holographic representations of the ships two artificial intelligences re-emerged on their pedestal, their holographic forms flickering and sparking as a forbidding account of the current state of the vessel as a whole. The images of the two women finally settled back into normality, allowing them to finally deliver their report on the situation. "Energy cells depleted, shields are down and engines are restarting. Hull integrity maintained, and interior atmosphere stable" Sakura rattled off reports on each of the ships vital systems; it seemed that miraculously the ship had survived whatever cataclysmic event had struck them intact.
"So what hit us?" John asked.
"No direct impacts detected to the ships hull" Cortana replied.
"Then what was it?" John asked, his tactical mind fighting to make sense of the situation.
Sakura interjected. "Currently unknown, sensors array overloaded, recalibrating"
That was the harrowing thing about space vessels, without their vast array of sensors and cameras lining the hull of the ship they were trapped in a single room surrounded by the cold vacuum of space, blind to the universe around them. Their training instructor had dubbed it the 'Fog of War', and constantly assured them that the fog of war could prove fatal if it were not quickly dispelled.
"Activating exterior cameras" the main viewscreen in the centre of the bridge crackled with static, the veil of interference slowly receding to reveal the cold, black vacuum of space which surrounded them. An image slowly drifted past the cameras view, something gray and metallic. Although to the undiscerning eye the image would appear to be little more than one of the infinite pieces of floating debris that had been orbiting the Earth since the development of space flight to any who had encountered the technology before it remained a fresh and dark memory. The camera slowly withdrew to reveal the true extent of what they had witnessed the blanket of grey forming into the angular and smooth contours of a vast machine of ancient origin and design.
"Sentinels" the Spartans spoke with near perfect repetition of each others words.
"Confirmed, Sentinel energy signatures detected emerging from slipspace" Cortana accessed the ships database, a vast array of data gathered on the Sentinels cycled through the holographic display in a search of any information of use. "Alert, Covenant ship signatures emerging alongside Sentinel group" the exterior camera moved to catch the instant as the Covenant vessels emerged from slipspace in a blazing flash of light, their curved fish like structure a vast contrast to the angular and mechanical design of the Forerunner Sentinels.
"I have analysed the energy signatures of the enemy formation" Sakura announced. "The largest sentinel craft appears to be serving as the flagship of the fleet, in terms of size and armament it serves as the equivalent of UNSC Supercarrier" the exterior camera showed the vast Sentinel craft, the largest vessel in the formation its design did not match any known ship parameters. Although massive in scope its structure remained true to the structure of its smaller counterparts. "There are Covenant loyalist Destroyers, Cruisers, Carriers and frigates, they support the Sentinel strike craft which appear to be capable of anti-fighter and close range support. The entire force appears to be the equivalent of an entire human fleet"
"Plotting trajectory" Cortana interjected. "Based on their current fight path they are on a direct course for Earth" As the fog of war slowly began to clear they could finally discern the true extent of the Sentinel force which had just emerged at the edge of the Sol system without warning and the very real threat they posed to the unprepared human fleet.
"We need to warn the UNSC fleet" John said.
Sakura was quick to react, closing her eyes she placed the finger tips of her right hand to her forehead seemingly lost in deep thought as she returned deep to the computer mainframe. "Emergency alert transmission broadcast on all UNSC frequencies, although it is unlikely they will be able to respond in time"
"We need to give them time, allow them to muster a counter attack" John turned to face the holographic representations of the ships Artificial Intelligences. Even though they were entirely artificial constructs occupying the system of the Covenant computer system, capable of responding only to the auditory receivers integrated within his helmet John still chose to face their holographic images as though they were sentient humans."Bring the ship between the Sentinels and the planet" John ordered. "Charge the weapons and bring the outer shields up. We need to hit them with everything we have"
"We just drained all of the ships energy into the slipspace drive in order to attempt the jump, it will take time to redistribute the energy" Cortana replied. "We cannot initiate a cold start of the engines, bring the shields up and fire the main cannons simultaneously"
John pondered the tactical situation. "Focus on priming engines and the shields. We need to get between the Sentinels and the UNSC fleet and defend them until they can retaliate"
"We'll see what we can do" Sakura and Cortana returned back into the computer system, their holographic avatars disappearing into a flurry of shattered light fragments.
Seconds later the ship once again lurched beneath their feet. The readouts scrolling across the computer screen showed the energy being distributed across the ships systems slowly being drained towards the ships propulsion system, the Covenant battleship moving seemingly of its own accord as it floated through the vacuum of space towards the embattled fleets. The ship slowly began to gain speed as the engines returned to life after an extended state of dormancy, the empty vacuum of space offering little resistance to the advancing craft as it shot towards the planet.
As the Covenant ship approached its target Sentinel strike craft patrolling the outer fringes of the encroaching fleet formation swiftly broke away to engage the stampeding ship. The bright orange beams of Sentinel energy weapons flared against the semi-visible barrier protecting the ship. The attacking Sentinels did little to hamper its evergrowing advance; most of the small sized craft were unable to keep pace and swiftly left in the trailing wake of its engine emissions. However those few who dared to stand in its way smashed against the leading edge of the craft, the insignificant craft instantly disintegrating in splinters of alien metal as the Covenant battleship rode over them.
"Warning" Sakura interjected. "The Sentinel battleship is charging its main weapon" From the cameras view they could see the vast nose of the Sentinel battleship parting to reveal the chamber of a weapon similar to the Sentinel Energy beam scaled up to a size possibly capable of devastation on a planetary scale. "Energy levels indicate the weapon will cause significant damage upon impact. Estimated time to firing, twenty seconds"
"Fire all engines; we cannot allow it to attack the fleet" John ordered.
"Disengaging safety restraints, engaging engines to maximum parameters" the alien ship bolted forwards as the propulsion systems were driven beyond their normal range.
The Sentinel Battleship fired its primary weapon, a beam of super charged energy that split the sky and tore across the dark void of space towards its target. "Energy weapon impact in three… two… on-"