UNSC destroyer Arizona
December 10, 2550
Uncharted Planet
An explosion resounded through the ship.
"Damage report!" Phenix ordered immediately.
"Decks G-K have been breached, sealing pressure doors, the hull in those areas are at 24 integrity." Came the report.
"Stanford, get us closer to that planet, I don't want anything sneaking up on us."
"Roger that." The navigations officer replied in a voice devoid of fear.
"What's our weapons status?" he asked.
"Sir, two guns have been damaged beyond repair. The 1st and 4th guns are still operational. We have expended 59 of our Archer pods and we still have 3 Shiva warheads."
"What about our Slipspace engines?" he already knew the answer.
"Sir, Slipspace drives were destroyed in the initial assault as soon as we came in." Stanford answered in a quiet tone. The bridge crew suddenly stopped and looked at the captain.
Phenix thought of his options. He had either expended or last over half of his firepower, he couldn't jump, and he sure as hell wasn't about to die here, that left one option. Land. He had no other choice; he stood a better chance fighting the Covenant on the ground than up here in space with the odds against him 15 to 1.
"New contacts and lots of 'em sir!" yelled the radar officer.
Phenix snapped his neck around and faced Johnston. "More Covenant?"
"Unknown classification sir," he said.
"Put them on screen." He ordered.
The cameras showed a picture of dozens of ships. The hulls of the ships were a smooth metallic blue. They looked vaguely like Covenant ships, but different at the same time. Phenix prayed they weren't.
"Enemy ships have turned on the new vessels." Johnston said in awe.
Phenix watched the battle unfold. The Covenant fired bolts of plasma at the newcomers; but the plasma just dissipated on the other ships' shields.
"Unidentified vessels returning fire sir." Johnston reported quietly.
The undersides of the ships glowed a bright white, then fired thick silver streams of light at the Covenant ships. One Covenant ship that got too close was completely disintegrated. The beams sliced through other ships with ease. Apparently the Covenant's shields were no match for these new ships.
"Orders sir?" Johnston asked.
"Hail the new ships, see if their friendly or not." He ordered the Lieutenant Jackson.
Jackson tapped away at the keyboard then rubbed his bald head, a habit he did when he was nervous.
"Hailing now sir." The Lieutenant was sweating.
"Good," he turned to Rodriguez, "Rodriguez, Get our MAC cannons warmed up in case we have to fight our way out of this."
"Warming MAC cannons aye sir," came the report, "MAC cannons are at 60 and climbing."
"Sir, lead ship is answering the hail, translation software is active."
Phenix looked out the viewport to look at the ships, "pipe it through the speakers if you will Lieutenant."
A low resonating voice boomed through the bridge speakers. "This is the leader of the Fleet of Righteous Truth, who are you?"
"This is Captain Denarius Phenix of the UNSC destroyer Arizona." He replied in an official tone.
"What purpose have you of coming here Captain Denarius Phenix?" the leader asked.
"My crew and I were ambushed by the Covenant and were forced to jump here to escape them, it would appear that we accidentally found this place."
There was a pause, "If what you say is true, then it would appear that we share a common enemy."
"So I've noticed, is there any way for us to find a place to repair our ship?" Phenix asked.
"I am unsure if our technology is the same of yours, but, seeing as this is our home world, we will allow you to dock."
"That will be much appreciated Fleet Leader." Phenix made up an official sounding title and hoped he was close.
Unbeknownst to both the Fleet Leader and Phenix, a Covenant cruiser was outfitted with an experimental cloaking shield. It had worked perfectly, and Ship Master 'Oso Elnomee thanked the Prophets for his luck.
He ordered the enemy human ship targeted, he destroy the human ship, jump back to the nearest Covenant repair yard, and gather reinforcements.
"Target the human's engines, I want them dead in space so I can finish them off."
"Of course Ship Master." Was the reply.
The Covenant ship Invisible Fury edged toward its victim, and charged its plasma turrets.
"Sir! Enemy weapons at our six o' clock!"
"Engage emergency thrusters on my mark,"
"Enemy plasma fired!"
"Mark!"
The thrusters exploded and the Arizona jumped onto a new course but it was two slow. Plasma impacted the engines and caused a series of secondary explosions in the reactor.
"What is happening Phenix?" asked the Fleet Leader.
"Sir, we've been engaged by Covenant forces, my ship is done for, I'm gonna try and crash land on your planet, is there a place that isn't populated?"
"I will send you a set of coordinates, if you are able, land here."
"Thank you Fleet Master, I hope to see you soon."
Phenix sent the coordinates to his navigation officer.
"Put the ship on automatic pilot and lets get the hell out of here."
A series of ragged aye aye's chorused across the bridge. Emergency beacons pulsed red throughout the ship. The ship was in a frenzy. Marines and Naval personnel went to their emergency pods but the ODST's stationed on the ship went in their own unique way.
They went in their pods and landed in a rough three mile area. It would take a while for the UNSC forces to regroup but, for better or for worse, the UNSC had made landfall on the home planet of some newfound allies.
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Author's notes: sorry for the long wait guys and ladies, but I had some major testing this week at school so… yeah. Anyway ill try and get some more chapters out here in the next few days. Also thanks to Octane, Tony, and HeatWave for the reviews.