Disclaimer: I do not own Halo. I do own Pycuree and all the fan-made content in this story
Covenant Assault Carrier Wise Achievement
Covenant Fleet of Favorable Intervention is currently entering the Mortis System
March 2, 2550
The small sangheili minor sprinted through the halls of the carrier Wise Achievement. Both unggoy and sangheili stood aside from the quickened elite. It paused looking at a clock, sensing that it was late, it sped up faster. The doors parted to reveal the luminous bridge. It crossed stations where generals and spec ops elites were working. The glittering stars in the viewpoints danced as the ship moved towards them. The minor approached a throne sitting at the command center of the bridge. The figure didn't move a muscle when the lesser ranked elite stood in front.
"You're late. Messenger." The sinister voice came from the figure on the throne.
"Forgive me Shipmaster. The communications just got a message and informed me just when I was about to leave."
The dark figure clicked his mandibles, "This had better be good."
"Shipmaster Ckta Pycuree is requested to head to his private quarters to receive an important message from the High Council."
Pycuree stood to his full height, taking in the intimidation in the younger elite's eyes.
"You are dismissed." The minor ran off, nervous in a direct conversation with the commander. Pycuree motioned to one of the generals on the bridge. "Watch while I'm gone."
Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the bridge toward the communications post. After the doors parted, he came to a projector which came online. Pycuree groaned, another heretic mission.
He was wrong.
Sitting in a holographic projector were two elaborately dressed san shyumn as well as several sangheili councilors. They all halted their talk and turned to face Pycuree.
"Noble Prophets." Pycuree knelt to the hologram.
"Ship Master Pycuree." The oldest of the prophets gestured to the council. "The council and I have decided that you will be entitled to join our fellow commanders in the crusade against the humans. You will no longer be taking heretics. We have a new commander to do that."
"What will you have me do?" Pycuree asked, anticipation surfacing in his voice. He was already quite eager to hunt the waning enemy known as humans.
The Prophet of Regret hovered forward. "We recently found a god's secret message that pointed to two human held worlds. Scouting found out that these worlds are named Commerce and Mortis by the human tongue. You shall head to Commerce first, slaughter every obstacle and find what we are looking for."
"What are we looking for? What about this, Mortis?" Pycuree asked.
"An artifact of the gods." Mercy replied, "This crystal shall point us towards our next step in salvation. If nothing shows up at Commerce, move to Mortis and do the exact same thing."
Pycuree looked at his chance and mission to possibly becoming a Shipmaster of glory and rewards when the journey arrived. His fleet was too small, consisting of too few ships. If he hoped to take on a colony like Mortis that by scouting parties, was heavily fortified his forces would have to be much greater.
"My fleet has only five other ships. Two cruisers and three destroyers."
One of the councilors, Haormee stepped up. "We have another fleet assembled for you. Consisting with it are some of our new Bestowed-class frigates. They'll meet you at your current location."
"May the gods be with you." Mercy bowed and the image of the council winked off the conference table.
Pycuree smiled, the Bestowed-class frigates were the newest frigate designed to replace the aging CAW-class. It featured powerful pulse lasers as well as torpedo launchers. Basically lightly armored and built for heavy combat. Three to four Bestowed could overwhelm a CCS cruiser with concentrated firepower. Pycuree had served on one of the first frigates as an ops officer. The Promised Sacrament. With the frigates on his side, he was relieved to have an ensured victory.
Pycuree returned to his quarters and awaited the remainder of the fleet to arrive.
Mortis System
Planet Commerce
UNSC Recon Drone Hotel 48
March 4, 2550
The drone silently sped through space away from Commerce towards the outskirts of the Mortis system. It angled as its operator, on the planet of Commerce, steered it towards the star that warmed Commerce and its sister planet Mortis. The operator at his station was munching on a sandwich as he steered the drone. Not much was going on, although recon was quite boring.
He was busy licking mustard from his fingers when he heard a small ping on the drone's radar. It remained there for a second and then disappeared.
He replayed the screen, seeing nothing in the direction of the signature. The operator stood, returning to his station with the recon captain only to find his screen buzzing with static. Clearly puzzled, the captain sat down.
"It has to be an accident."
"I don't think so." The operator concurred. "It may have been an asteroid or a ship."
The captain turned in his seat. "We had no patrols there. Even ONI classifications deny it. It's nothing. I promise."
The operator sat down, finishing his food. Something told him that it was no accident.
Wise Achievement
"We are approaching the planet of Commerce." The gold armored general at the ops station announced.
Pycuree clicked his mandibles, "Enemy ships detected?"
The general, H'tel Arelmee turned back to his station. "Yes sir. 8 enemy ships closing."
"Arm primary torpedoes. I want them taken out before they get a chance to respond."
Weapons officer Senicee complied, flattening his hands over several glyphs. "Torpedoes armed and ready to fire."
"You may fire when ready."
The massive Assault Carrier fired a volley of torpedoes. Burning through space, the human ships scattered. However, it did little to avoid the inevitable impact. Armor and flames danced from the hulls as half the fleet listed.
Pycuree's fleet moved in, easily overwhelming the survivors with the new Bestowed-class frigates.
The 900 meter long ships had a thinner look, opposed to the bulbous corvettes and cruisers. Six engines glowed bright blue at the stern and were covered by a walkway surrounded by armor. Even the engines proved a flaw, a well-timed shot could easily cripple them. Two delta like wings were in the center, separating the two major sections of armor. The bridge sat at the bow, visible enough to see the battlefield, but hidden enough to not present a prominent target. These powerful frigates had torpedo launchers and bristled with plasma turrets. Easily, its firepower rivaled their fleet of destroyers and even the light cruisers.
"Move to the planet." Pycuree ordered the frigates. "Clear the air defenses and get the legions prepared for an invasion. I will join you shortly to lead the attack."
Planet Commerce
UNSC Navy Headquarters at New Overland
Admiral Patrick Van Kylem had just returned from inspection of the Commerce Defense Fleet's flagship, the UNSC Windsor and was heading to his office when the sirens shocked him out of his casual mood.
The Covenant was at Commerce.
Doors opened everywhere as wide-eyed civilians peered out of doors, windows and cars. Two Covenant ships that Van Kylem had never seen before passed overhead, resonating their famous ominous rumbling. Screams were heard as the civilians panicked, picking up as many possessions as possible, grabbing their chatter devices to call their relatives and suddenly the roadways were choked with traffic. Van Kylem sprinted to his office, hailing the Windsor. No reply. The remains of the Windsor and her fleet lay in pieces orbiting the planet. He stared at the spaceport and the transports already loading civilians. Hopefully it wasn't too late.
The Phantom eased down with a Banshee escort. Pycuree gripped his Energy Sword tighter; it would only be a few more moments. Bright light flooded the cabin as the fleet master and his fellow zealots jumped out of the dropship followed by squads of special ops unggoy.
Pycuree and his team were met by a human armored unit. The four wheeled vehicle fired a powerful cannon at the fleet master who narrowly evaded the blast. The explosion detonated in a fireball. As if the situation was updated, one of his zealots was already on the communications. Seconds later, glowing red volleys impacted the human vehicle, destroying it.
"Human armor destroyed. Let us clear out the bulk and the legions crush whatever stands." The convoy of Wraiths and Revenants slid down the streets, knocking and destroying all humans that attempted to put up a futile defense against another Covenant onslaught. Pycuree saw the numbers of humans firing back. They were putting up a good fight, yet they still continued to fall. The fleet master smiled, raising his Energy Sword in a charging battle cry on top of a destroyed human tank. His legions answered his roar and moved to overwhelm the opposition.
Van Lylem frantically typed on his computer, hoping to send a distress signal to Mortis. The Chatter lines were cut off and the only hope was a file transfer if he was to be rescued and save what was left of Commerce and Mortis. He had just pressed the send button when a marine stormed in. His battle gear was already splattered in three different types of blood and sweat drenched his clothes. Van Kylem raised a curious eyebrow at his sudden appearance.
"Sir! What are you doing here?" The Corporal practically yelled in his face.
"I'm sending a distress call to Mortis." Van Kylem replied, opening a drawer under his desk and pulling out a M6C magnum, a clip was inserted and the admiral was good to go.
"We need to go! Fronts 14 and 21 have been completely overrun! The ships have begun to take off, but those new Covie vessels pluck them out of the sky."
"Hopefully my ship wasn't damaged." Van Kylem muttered under his breath. "This has gone to hell already."
The Corporal met with a marine platoon who fought through the city of New Overland. In the end, only a few men were lost and the Admiral's ship was within visual range.
"Damn." One marine exclaimed. "Never thought a simple ship looked so beautiful."
Van Kylem started for the ship when he heard a plasma blast. One of the new Covenant ships had fired a laser that arced for his ship. It connected and melted the hull, throwing flaming debris over the other ships parked nearby, which the Covenant warship did not hesitate to destroy seconds later.
A Private with a radio twisted a knob. "Thank God the radio still works. I think the guys at Mortis can hear us."
Van Kylem took the radio from the man's hands. "Hello? Anybody there?"
A voice came on, calmly speaking. "UNSC Black Wind here. What's happening at Commerce?"
Van Kylem took a deep breath. "Covenant blew open our fleet and already took New Overland and the surrounding cities! We need rescue!"
"The fleet at Mortis has strict orders to cover the planet. It's way to valuable to lose any of its fleet. We will pull in any evac transports, but Command does not want any vessels venturing to a planet that's buzzing with powerful Covenant ships."
"I think we just signed our own death warrant." The Marine Major muttered under his breath. "Plus a death cyclone is approaching."
Death Cyclones also known as Mortis Storms were powerful weather storms that occurred on Commerce often. They were quite dangerous and even more lethal on Mortis. Fortunately, most dangerous ones occurred out at sea. With the increase in temperature from the lancing beams from the Covenant frigates, it served to intensify the maelstrom. Evac would then become that much harder.
"I do not care of you are a simple lieutenant. This is Admiral Patrick Van Kylem. A group of marines, civilians and I need extraction. Whatever the cost."
The person on the other line paused, never given such strict orders. "Help is on the way."
It is not too late to sign up for this fanfic. If you read my previous fanfic, I posted a submission form on there allowing other users to submit a fan-made character. I would then take the character and implement him/her into this fanfic as a member of an upcoming Spartan team or a member of the Covenant invasion force. If you want to submit a character you need to put this information in the reviews.
If you are going to submit a Spartan, I only need 3, maybe 4 Spartan entries.
Name: (It doesn't have to be your real name nor can it be the same name of an already existing Spartan. No John, Kelly, Fred, Carter, Emile etc.)
Rank: (Be serious. I don't think a Spartan would have the rank of general. If you put something like Warrant Officer grade 2, then I'm going to assume it's standard Warrant Officer)
Armor: (All permutations plus colors)
Birthdate and Home Planet: (All the Spartans are Alpha Company, so their birthdate would have to be around 2521-2523. For home planets, you may make up your own fan made world. You may also use planets that already exist in Halo, Reach, Harvest, Earth etc. Even my fan made worlds, Commerce and Mortis may be used)
Specialty: (I already have a CQC specialist and a Scout. DO NOT submit another one who specializes in those areas. I will reject them instantly)
Bio: (Give a short biography about the Spartan's past)
If you are submitting a Covenant character
I will only accept Sangheili and possibly other species depending on how good it is. If you are submitting a Covenant individual that is not Sangheili, please let me know.
Name: (Make sure the name is like others of their species. For example, Thel Vadam is a Sangheili name)
Rank: (Follow the Covenant ranking system. If you don't know much about their ranks, go to Halopedia, where you can search up the species of your character and can look through the ranks on the page)
Weapon: (You may carry any Covenant made weapon as your primary and then have either the Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol or Needler as a sidearm)
Bio: (A short biography about your Covenant members past)
It is fairly simple, FCFS. There is only one character allowed in a submission and only one submission per user. Unless there is a lack of submissions, please do not submit additional characters. I will let you know when you can submit again, if I get to that point. There is a deadline for signups. I will stop accepting forms when the next chapter is released, which if on schedule, is estimated to be released on February 19, 2011. I'm looking forward to a great fanfiction and the more impressive of a character, the better the role. Happy submitting!