UNSC 21st Fleet
May 6, 2546
"Exiting slipspace in ten minutes!"
"All combat personal are at their battle stations!"
"Fighter squadrons are ready to fly!"
"All unnecessary sections have been cleared, sealed, and decompressed!"
"MAC is charged and Archer missiles are ready to fire!"
Rear Admiral Lawrence R. Hawkins stood in the center of the bridge of the Midwinter's Night, looking at the tactical display in front of him as he listened to the calls of his bridge officers. In ten minutes, his fleet of nine warships would exit slipspace and engage a lone Covenant destroyer that had no clue they were coming. On that destroyer was a high-value target: a Sangheili shipmaster by the name of Kora 'Koramai.
The 21st fleet was to see to his end.
Lawrence would make sure of that.
"Does the fleet report the same?" He asked his communications officer, his eyes staying on the countdown his AI, Sinha, had going on the display.
"Yes, sir! All ships and fighter complements are ready to engage the moment we exit slipspace!"
Lawrence nodded and looked down at the female AI, "Sinha," He began, getting her attention, "relay this message to the fleet: All ships and fighters are to fire everything, I don't want anyone having any ammunition when this is all over. We're going to see to it that 'Koramai is dead, once and for all!"
"Right away, sir!" She said, giving a short, but energetic, bow as a smile played across her face. "Message has been sent."
"Three minutes until we exit!" A cry sounded out.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense, as everyone prepared themselves for the battle that would determine everything for them. Lawrence took a few seconds to look around at his crew, wondering how many of them would make it through the night. Then, readying himself, he set his eyes forward. "Sinha, I want firing solutions the moment we exit."
"Aye, aye, admiral!"
CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer Ultimate Salvation
"Commander 'Sivai is reporting in that everything is prepared for our arrival, Shipmaster." Jun 'Chavamee, the second-in-command of the Ultimate Salvation, said to the Sangheili in front of him, whom was adorned in the sleek, silver armor of a Special Operations Commander.
The Sangheili Shipmaster, Kora 'Koramai, turned his head about, looking back at Jun. "Are 'Perovyl's Rangers ready for their assault?"
"Yes, Shipmaster."
Kora turned his eyes back to the front of the command center, and looked over each of his brothers that he could see. In the coming day they would once again face the humans on one of their worlds, and once again blood would be shed and honor and glory would be gained. But this time was different than the others; this time, he was in command of his own fleet, even so small as it was.
Aside from his personal destroyer, he had been given two Assault Carriers and a DAV-Class Light Corvette. However, the Prophets had given him few soldiers, and fewer vehicles. Put all together, he had 2,500 fellow Sangheili, and that was all in terms of soldiers. There was not a single Unggoy, Yanme'e, Kig-Yar, or Lekgolo within the fleet. On the carriers there were 900 Sangheili each, with 100 on the corvette, and 600 on his destroyer. The only vehicles he had were Ghosts and the Type-46 Infantry Support Vehicles. 400 Banshees and 200 Seraphs were what made his air force. To say he was troubled was an... overstatement.
Kora was actually quite pleased with how few he had. The Hierarchs had decided to test his abilities as a leader both in space and on the ground, and this was his chance to show them what he is capable of. At least, that is what he... wanted to believe. Recently, doubts had began to surface in his mind, doubts about... everything. The war, the Great Journey, the humans themselves.
After being personally handed this assignment by the Hierarchs themselves, he had briefly wondered if this was an attempt to be rid of him. They knew of his exploits onto the field, as he would personally join the battle on the ground at every opportunity. What's more, is that he had to request for the DAV, a request that was almost, strangely, shot down too quickly.
But, such thoughts are foolishness, he told himself. The Hierarchs had entrusted this mission to him, had put their faith into him. They wished to test his abilities, to prove he is worthy of something more than being just the shipmaster of a single destroyer. If he succeeded, if he passed their test, surely something glorious awaited him.
He would not let them down.
Setting his eyes forward, with newfound determination in his spirit, he started to address his brothers. "Prepare to set course for-"
Then, he was suddenly interrupted. "Slipspace ruptures detected ahead of us!"
"What!?" Kora bellowed out in shock, leaning forward and bringing up the displays.
"Reading nine contacts, identifying them as human warships! They're just outside of firing range off our bow!"
The ship classes instantly came up on Kora's displaying, identifying the ships as four Paris-Class Heavy Frigates, three destroyers, a Halcyon-Class Light Cruiser, and a Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser. Then, as quickly as it had come, he pushed his shock aside.
He had prepared his ship for a surprise attack just out of his personal protocol, but he hadn't actually thought that the humans would find him!
"Target the Marathon with the Energy Projector and fire! Target two destroyers, half of our torpedoes to each! All fighters are to launch, Banshees engage enemy fighters, have the Seraphs finish off the targeted destroyers! 'Lhorasee, prepare a slipspace jump over the fleet!"
"Incoming rounds!"
The UNSC fleet opened fire, one round coming from each frigate and two rounds from a destroyer and the Marathon. The other two destroyers, and the Halcyon, fired seconds after, having just then entered firing range. Two smaller rounds came from the Halcyon, traveling faster than the four other rounds from the destroyers. Then, surprising the UNSC fleet, Kora's destroyer immediately fired its already-charged energy projector, the long-range weapon crossing the distance with great speed and hitting the Marathon only a moment later, the hot beam of energy cutting straight through the center of it, passing through the reactor, and out the other end. Then, the flagship of the 21st exploded outward into a miniature sun, lost with all hands onboard, including Rear Admiral Lawrence R. Hawkins.
Then, the first round of slugs impacted the destroyer's shields. Five slugs found their mark, slamming into the shields with such force that the destroyer reeled back, the force of the five slugs ironically saving the destroyer from another one that went directly below its midsection. Then, six plasma torpedoes launched from the destroyer just as it used the momentum of the kinetic force from the slugs to enter into a slipspace rupture.
"Jun, coordinate the Seraphs!" Kora cried out as they begun to emerge from slipspace over the farthest UNSC destroyer out from the CPV's previous placement. "Charge and fire the energy projector, maintain the beam, destroy the heretics below us!"
Jun hurried to his position, quickly taking charge of the Seraph fighters that had departed before the destroyer had jumped. Just as he did so, the six torpedoes Kora had fired found their marks, burning through titanium armor and disfiguring the hulls of two of the UNSC destroyers. However, both warships were still breathing, but Jun made quick work of that as plasma bombs from the Seraphs slammed into the unprotected and damaged hulls. Longswords attempted to engage the bombers, but Banshees and their trained pilots broke the heretic fighters off of them, allowing the Seraphs to turn their attention towards a tasty-looking frigate.
Below them the destroyer was hastily angling upwards, beginning to pour out its complement of Archer missiles and Shiva-Class nukes. But, before a nuke could be fired, the energy projector tore into the ship, the CPV passing over it and completely bisecting the destroyer in half. Point defense lasers took care of the Archers it had managed to fire; however, the frigates were coming back for more.
Hundreds upon hundreds of missiles came flying out of the frigates in front of them, and missiles from the Halcyon somewhere beside the Covenant destroyer joined the barrage. Point-defenses took out a third of the missiles, but the rest exploded into the shields, and the shields fell, but not before enduring the barrage.
"Our shields are offline!" An officer cried out, Kora growling in suppressed anger.
"Prepare for hull damage! Seal all sections! Decompress all empty sections!"
At this point, the Seraphs swarmed an unlucky frigate, Banshees cutting Longswords down as the heretic's point defenses tried in vain to shoot down the bombers. It was barely a half of a minute before the frigate suffered major damage and ceased to function as ammunition stores went up in flames.
"Fire salvo two, target the remaining frigates! Two torpedoes each!" Kora ordered before setting his sights on the Halcyon. He was saving it for last, because he knew, from experience, that those light cruisers could take a tremendous beating before falling. Then, just as he noticed that it was moving within visual range, the bow of the ship lit up. "Evasi-" The first slug was a glancing hit, shaking the ship; the second was direct, slamming right into the destroyer's armor, and rocking the ship hard enough for Kora to nearly lose his balance if he hadn't activated his boot's magnetic plates in time.
"Damage report!" He ordered as he steadied himself.
"Moderate to major armor damage on the right bow! No confirmed casualties!" Came the report.
"Two frigates destroyed!" Came a report from the weapons officer.
"Only two!?" Kora called out in surprise.
"The other two torpedoes hit... gunships! They used gunships to intercept the torpedoes!" The officer's voice was one of disbelief.
If he had the time, Kora would have felt some admiration for the human shipmaster of the frigate, but he had to focus.
"Incoming!" Just as the officer finished saying that, a slug slammed against the destroyer's armor on the left side, sending it reeling over towards the Halcyon which immediately fired another Archer salvo. Meanwhile, the Seraphs and Banshees were facing much more firm resistance from the Longswords, and couldn't provide any meaningful support to the destroyer.
"Major armor damage on our portside! Hull breaches, reading two, no, three casualties!"
"Incoming missiles!"
A little over a dozen missiles got past the point defense, slamming against the bow armor, one lucky one striking the weakened right side of the bow and tearing apart the armor there, exposing the hull. "We're exposed on our right bow!"
"Enemy frigate approaching! The Halcyon's directly in front of us!"
Kora looked at the display, saw the position of the Halcyon, and knew what had to be done. "Full speed ahead! Bring us alongside their portside side, and scratch their armor!"
"Yes, Shipmaster!"
The destroyer sped forward, the Halcyon's 50mm cannons opening up as the lumbering ship didn't even attempt to veer away, almost seeming as if it meant to ram them. Whether it did or not, Kora would never know, as they continued on and slammed against its side, armor plating being sheared away from both ships. Any Sangheili standing had trouble keeping their balance as the ship rocked and shook with constant force.
"Enemy frigate is moving into position to fire upon us once we get pass the cruiser! It's main cannon is charged and ready!"
"Our fighters are still engaging the heretic squadrons!" Jun called out. He was doing as much as he could, but the humans were fighting like animals backed up into a corner!
"Turn the ship, aim the energy projector directly at the frigate's bow! Give me the firing controls, do it, now!" Kora ordered, his brothers giving him a wide-eyed look for a brief moment before doing as ordered. Still against the armor, or hull in some places, of the Halcyon, the destroyer began to turn to present its ventral side. The action caused moderate to major damage to the armor on the left side of the CPV, and it also resulted in the complete destruction of two plasma turrets, one of which was already damaged by a missile.
"We're passing the cruiser! Frigate sighted, it's directly below us! It's-"
Then, in that same instant as he saw the frigate's main cannon fire towards the most vulnerable spot on the outside of his destroyer, Kora personally fired the energy projector. The beam lanced out, impacting against the 600-ton slug, turning it into molten slag in an instant before disintegrating it and passing through and right into the Mass Accelerator Cannon of the frigate, burning all the way through until it was out of the other end of the UNSC warship. Then, for a brief moment, it was a sun.
Now, there was only the Halcyon left.
"Longsword squadrons down, fighters inbound to provide support!" Jun called out as the destroyer spun around, bringing its weapons to bear on the Halcyon that was also turning about to face them. Then, as one, the two vessels opened fire. MAC rounds tore deep into the destroyer's exposed left side, Archer missiles immediately following afterwards and half of them breaking through the point defense and slamming into the hull and armor. The four remaining plasma turrets of the destroyer opened fire as well, one slamming into the underside of the Halcyon, two into their weakened armor on the portside, and one more on the starboard side of the ship.
Four torpedoes was easily enough to destroy a Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser, but for the Halcyon-Class Light Cruiser, it looked like it just shrugged them off. "Prepare another salvo! Target its starboard side!" Kora ordered, and, just then, an explosion shook the ship, a loud one. "What happened!?" He questioned, keeping his fear under control.
"T-the energy projector... it's been disabled by the heretic's barrage!"
With his piece for ending the Halcyon quickly gone, Kora knew he was in for a beating. "Stay strong! Focus everything we have on the cruiser's starboard side! Take it down!"
Banshees and Seraphs moved in, firing their payloads into the cruiser while under fire from its many 50mms. As it was still recharging its MAC, Kora's destroyer opened fire once more, all four torpedoes slamming into the cruiser's damaged side. An explosion rocked it as an ammunition store and an armory went up in flames, but it didn't stop firing.
Even with a huge, burning hole in its side, the cruiser wasn't going to give up. Next to Warthogs, Halcyons like this one were what scared 'Koramai the most.
The Halcyon's cannon, charged enough to fire one slug, opened fire just as Kora let loose another salvo. The slug tore through the dorsal armor, shearing off plates and scraping the hull, but it was only a glancing hit. Then, the torpedoes and another round of bombs from the fighters slammed into the Halcyon's side. Something blew up inside, flames sprouting high out within the ship, but it still held. Just as Kora was about to order another salvo, explosions rocked the UNSC cruiser and it blew up, the rear end of the ship separating from the bow, its 50mms finally going silent as ammunition stores all across the ship detonated.
It was finally over.
Kora was panting, his hearts beating rapidly as he stared at the exploding ship in front of him. At first, he couldn't believe it. Somehow, he was still alive, even through they had been outnumbered 9-to-1. It was unreal...
He stumbled backwards, managing to keep his balance in the nick of time. Taking a deep breath at an attempt to ease himself, he allowed himself to back up against the wall, leaning up against it for support. With a tired voice, he called out to his crew. "Damage report!"
At his command, the officer in charge of it began to relay the news. There were multiple hull breaches, but all sections were sealed and the breaches were contained. Much of the destroyer's armor had been compromised, but little of what was left needed immediate attention. Multiple pulse laser turrets were offline, along with two plasma turrets and the energy projector. Onboard casualties numbered over two hundred, and over half of the Banshees had been shot down, but only about a quarter of their Seraphs had been lost.
Kora closed his eyes, mourning the deaths of so many of his brethren even as he gave orders to his crew. Although having suffered such losses and such damage before the coming invasion, they still had a mission to do, and he would see to it that it'd be done.
But, something bothered him, how had the humans known where to find him? He had made sure that he had left no trace, so it had to mean... No, he was too tired to think about it. The battle had worn him out greatly and he needed to rest, but not before checking on the wounded and the lost, assessing damage, and so many other things.
Kora reluctantly pushed himself off of the wall and went back to being the shipmaster of the Ultimate Salvation. He is their leader, and only after they get rest can a leader.