2543
Battle of Psi Serpentis
UNSC Remembrance
"Commander Lee. We are exiting slipspace in 3…2…1…realspace emergence. Good god, our Cherenkov radiation is going through the roof! The covvies will definitely see us coming now…"
"Good. All hands prepare for in-system slipspace jump in 3…2…1…jump."
Commander Tiang-Xia Lee, captain of the UNSC frigate Remembrance, braced himself as his vessel entered the unreality of slipspace. In the bridge's reinforced windows, he caught glimpses of the silhouettes of the rest of Battlegroup India, Cole's flagship taking the lead as usual. All about him, his crew worked frantically to divert power and arm weaponry.
"Get that MAC gun ready. The covvies will be waiting for us, so we'd better be prepared."
"Commander! Exiting slipspace in 30 seconds!"
"All right, here we go. All hands! All hands to battle stations!"
Up ahead, a black disc opened up in the turmoil of slipspace. Lee silently counted down in his head, his mind racing through Cole's battle plan."
"Exiting in 3…2…1…realspace!"
As the frigate's sensors struggled to take in all the contacts, Lee took a long look at his surroundings. All around the human fleet, a massive Covenant armada was slowly going through the motions of manoeuvring to face the new threat. Checking his scans, Lee discovered that the Remembrance was stranded a good ten thousand kilometres away from the main body of the fleet.
Even as he watched, the main force formed up around the Everest and executed a slingshot around the gas giant Verpidae.
"Goddammit. We're cut off from the main force…divert all power to engines! We've got to get back to the Battlegroup!"
"Covenant corvette on intercept course, Commander. Looks like we've got our hands full."
"Damn. We can't outrun it…Serina! I need a firing solution on that corvette! Maximum damage, minimum effort."
The frigate's AI immediately got to work, her translucent blue from changing into a slowly rotating ring.
Turning his gaze back at the corvette, Lee racked his mind for a plan to rejoin Cole. While he was distracted by the corvette bearing down on him, the battlegroup had already split into two and begun their encirclement of the enemy fleet.
"Firing solution ready, Commander. 5 Archers, 2 Shivas, 1 MAC round. Prepared to fire at your command."
"Change to bearing 1-7-2-15. Fire on my mark. 3…2…1…mark!"
The deck shook under Lee's feet as the Remembrance let off a short bark of fury. Half a dozen missiles tracked towards the corvette, followed closely on their heels by a ferrous-tungsten round accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light. A moment later, the shields of the Covenant ship flared once before failing. A second after that, the MAC round disembowelled the ship and punctured the reactor. A small star filled Lee's vision, overloading a score of sensors and prompting a shout of victory from his crew.
"We're not out of this yet. Serina, what are the odds of us getting back to the fleet with a short slipspace jump?"
"…three hundred and twenty-two to one against, Commander. Shall we go anyways?"
"You know me too well. Change heading to 8-6-35, and jump when ready."
Serina's kimono-dressed avatar turned away for a moment, causing a few male crew members to sigh in pleasure at the sight.
Executing jump now, sir. Exiting in 5."
Bracing himself for re-emergence, Lee barely swayed as the deck around him shuddered from a near-miss.
"Proximity alert! Contacts—two CCS battlecruisers, twenty SDV corvettes within weapons range. Orders?"
Glancing at the sensors, Lee noticed a small squadron of frigates attempting to take out a cruiser. While they were doing some damage, it appeared as though they couldn't get in a firing position for their MAC rounds.
"Serina! Firing solution on that big battlecruiser, designate CCS-1. I want Shivas and MACs, ASAP."
Two of the attacking frigates flashed into dust, victims of a plasma lance, Three more followed a quick second later, meeting the business end of an energy projector. The final frigate accelerated to ramming speed, going out in a blaze of glory and momentarily draining the cruiser's shields.
"Dammit. We lost the Crecy, Malta, Troy, Jerusalem, Paris, and Vainglorious…we shall honour their sacrifice. Shields down! Serina! Execute attack!"
The cruiser's crew frantically attempted to raise their shields, kicking the occasional Unggoy down a gravity lift and in general causing havoc and doing the exact opposite of their jobs. A handful of Engineers and Yan'mee went about resetting junctions, with the Sangheili shipmaster nervously eying his sensor readings. A single red dot suddenly split into ten, causing the shipmaster to swallow slightly before hearing the inevitable explosions.
"Shivas impacted. EMP effect spreading…shields resetting! Wait…EMP stopped it! MAC away!"
The battlecruiser was obscured by a sea of nuclear fire, the flames quickly disappearing to be replaced by a pair of explosions.
"CCS-1 destroyed! Score one for the Remembrance!"
Turning his attention back to the battle at hand, Lee saw the destruction of the remainder of the CCS battlegroup. Crecy's sister ship, the Agincourt, sacrificed herself to stop a blast from an energy projector. Taking advantage of this, a pair of Marathon-Class Cruisers advanced to fire their MACs at the remaining CCS. The impacts punctuated by a purple explosion, the silhouettes of the surviving corvettes were easily isolated and bombarded by nuclear strikes and ferrous-tungsten rounds.
However, the main battle was going far less in the UNSC's favour. Battlegroup India was regrouping in the shadow of Verpidae, having taken out twenty-three Covenant ships at the cost of a quarter of the human fleet. The occasional plasma torpedo and Shiva nuke was fired by either side, although they were currently licking their wounds more than anything else.
"Commander. Multiple slipspace signatures detected. …over two hundred hostile contacts incoming. I advise a tactical withdrawal."
"Dammit…we can't—"
"More incoming signatures…most are those of decommissioned UNSC ships of the line. 521 to 1 odds that they are Insurrectionists."
"Serina, are you sure? Why would the Innies help us?"
"ONI archives state that our very own Admiral had a …liaison with a known Insurrectionist captain. Perhaps this is their way of paying him back."
Chuckling in spite of himself, Lee turned to watch as a motley group of frigates and destroyers exited slipspace, blowing through the Covenant fleet and leaving charred hulks in their wakes.
"…calculating. Psi Serpentis Covenant garrison depleted to less than fifty ships. Incoming Covenant fleet reinforcing. Insurrectionist ships entering slipspace. Orders?"
"None, Serina. Thank you."
Having finished regrouping, the Covenant force once again advanced upon Verpidae. Lee watched anxiously as stray frigates were blasted apart, the large purple ships getting closer with every moment.
Suddenly, a calm, hoarse voice came on over the fleet net.
"This is Vice Admiral Cole to Battlegroup India. Execute slipspace jump back to Epsilon Eridani. Godspeed."
However, just as he was about to order the jump, Lee was shaken off his feet by an explosion echoing throughout the Remembrance.
"What the hell was that? Lieutenant: report!"
"We got hit by a flight of cloaked Seraphs! Helix guns took them out, but the power to the slipspace drive has been taken out! The only way we're leaving is by sublight."
"Of all the times…Lee to engineering. Get that drive running NOW! I needed slipspace capability an hour ago!"
Even as Lee watched, the battered UNSC fleet engaged their drives and fled, leaving behind the Everest and the crippled Remembrance.
"Commander! Cole's broadcasting on an open channel…it seems like he's taunting the Covenant!"
"Listen to me, Covenant. I am Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole commanding the human flagship, Everest. You claim to be the holy and glorious inheritors of the universe? I spit on your so-called holiness. You dare judge us unworthy? After I have personally sent more than three hundred of your vainglorious ships to hell? After kicking your collective asses off Harvest—not once—but twice? From where I sit, we are the worthy inheritors. You think otherwise, you can come and try to prove me wrong."
"Radiation from Verpidae's going through the roof! Same with energy readings! Oh god…Sir! Cole just fired off a hundred Shivas into Verpidae! It's going nova!"
"GODDAMMIT ENGINEERING, GET THAT DRIVE OPERATIONAL NOW!"
"We're trying sir, but the controls are fried! We've got to do this manually."
As he watched, a single Covenant battleship exploded from a series of MAC rounds, courtesy of Cole's parting shot. Moments before his screen went white, the silhouette of the Everest disappeared, replaced by the shadow of a derelict cruiser. Son of a bitch. He jumped out!
"Energy wave from Verpidae incoming. ETA two minutes. May I suggest a retreat?"
"Serina, now's not the time. Engineering! What's the status on the drive?"
"Almost got it…there! Drive operational!"
"And not a moment too soon…Serina! Execute slipspace jump—Cole protocol! It's time we left."
From: RADM Streetson, James
To: ADM Hood, Terrence
RE: Battle of Ps-[REDACTED]-tis
Lord Hood,
The losses from Psi Serpentis were indeed high. We lost almost half of Battlegroup India, along with Vice Admiral Cole. However, I am amazed at the losses we have inflicted upon the Covenant navy. Over 300 enemy ships were destroyed by Cole's noble sacrifice, although the amount of letters I had to sign was distressing, to say the most. Given the recent losses in personnel, I would like to forward a few possible candidates for promotion. Among them is your old friend, Commander Tiang-Xia Lee of the Remembrance. I'll spare you the drivel of the commendation and just summarize his deeds.
Lee's frigate was cut off from the battlegroup, alone and surrounded by hostile ships. However, he managed to take out a lone SDV corvette and made an even more dangerous third slipspace jump to reach our fleet, ending up within spitting distance of twenty-two hostile capital ships. When six frigates were lost attempting to take out a CCS battlecruiser, Lee boldly destroyed it with precision application of his ship's limited resources.
When Cole ordered a general retreat, Lee's frigate was damaged by cloaked Seraph fighters and had its slipspace capability disabled. However, his crew boldly fought on and managed to escape just before the shockwave from the nova hit them.
In light of these unprecedented actions, I would like to wholeheartedly and officially endorse Commander Tiang-Xia Lee's promotion to Captain. I hope that, as a member of the senior promotion board, you will consider this and make the right decision.
Lee's actions were an exemplary example of human ingenuity and quick thinking in the highest traditions of the United Nations Space Command Navy, and his skills would be a great asset to us.
Regards,
Rear Admiral Streetson, James
Captain, UNSC Defiant
Commander, Epsilon Eridani Defence Fleet