Halo Return of the Covenant

by Legacy498

After fifty years of relative peace the UNSC prepared for the inevitable. Now that they are returning can the UNSC defeat their old enemies and deal with betrayals on the inside and abroad?

2. Chapter 2

A/N I do not own Halo.

Chapter 2: Surprises

December 10, 2603

Location: Harvest orbit

The Brute Shipmaster onboard the Prophets' Vengeance stared at the tactical display while he growled orders to the orderlies. The Brutes knew they weren't necessarily supposed to win; their mission instead was to determine the new strengths and weaknesses of the combined UNSC/Sanghelli (Elite) Fleet. He knew that the humans have made huge advancements due to the fact that there were more Human warships then Elite. They had ships waiting for final armaments on every available space dock in Covenant space. All they needed to know was just what these new ships are capable of.

"Fire at will burn these heretics and the Human scum from the stars, and let us celebrate the returning power of the Covenant," ordered an annoyed Brute Fleet Master.

"Fleet Master we cannot get a lock on the Human warships! We are firing upon the Sanghelli ships," growled a Brute ship master.

"Find them; full sensor sweep 100 power."

120 Gladius fighters and 80 Seraph fighters were scrambled by the UNSC fleet which the brutes could not ignore. Answering with 800 Seraph fighters the brutes thought they had the upper hand. The two formations sized the other up while Captain Zimmerman of the 11th Gladius squadron lined up his command of 12 fighters to take on the massive swarm of fighters approaching them. He dove his Gladius straight into the first rank of seraph fighters while barrel rolling through the massed fire. The plasma bolts, even though they were bouncing off the hull, was putting stress on the hull of his fighter and could only sustain another 20 minutes of sustained fire. Yet still he waited. His squadron approached 300m almost spitting distance for dog fighting in space, only then did he fire his charging Laser battery. The laser splashed against the shields of a brute seraph flashing a brilliant bright blue they failed the laser uninterrupted sliced through the seraph and continued on bringing 2 more to the same fiery, but silent death. Turning to the fully automatic gauss cannons Zimmerman fired the self sharpening tungsten ferrite rounds. Bringing down 3 more before breaching through the massed cloud of seraphs, He lost 3 wing mates due to collisions and 1 other due to hull polarization failure. Overall his squadron took 28 seraph fighters down on the first pass. The legendary 11th Gladius squadron struck again; they swung up in a wide arch and came through hitting an astounding .19c pushing the Inertial dampeners and reactors to the limit as they fired their gauss canons flashing through the confused brute formation. Zimmerman took down 5 more seraphs before his hull plating finally became compromised and he was forced to eject the cockpit from the fighter. On his first combat mission the well trained pilot became an ace, one of the few to exist in the space age.

As the Fighters wore each other down the two opposing fleets sized the other up.

"Plato, I want their communications down. I believe the fleet is ready…. Fire laser battery one and launch starboard Howitzer Missiles, power up the slip space generators for the port MAC guns target the carriers; fire on my command, fire!" ordered Captain Lufberry.

The Untold Heroes fired first, the massive laser battery equipped on the cruiser slammed through the carrier's shields and slammed into the bow of the Brute carrier, gutting it. The Howitzer missiles after exiting the tubes went into silent mode cruising through space advancing on their target like piranhas below the surface. When the MAC guns fired, the slugs entered the slip space field and later appeared inside two other carriers instantly unleashing a hellish explosion due to instability created in an atmosphere when a slip space tear opens then the resulting slug finished off what remained of the damaged ships. Just as the three carriers died the Howitzer missiles impacted the shielding of the Prophet's Vengeance draining them to 40 The Brute fleet master was surprised the humans just destroyed 3 ships with one and they only used half the weaponry on that ship the Brutes although weren't known for retreating. Instead they turned to the more animalistic rage and charged in. firing at any targets their sensors could lock on; the Elite ships took a beating. The confusion among the brute ranks became more intense when Plato and 20 other AIs coordinated their efforts and effectively eliminated the Covenant battlenet. They were blind, deaf, and completely surprised. The Humans proved themselves and the brutes had all they needed to know.

Just as soon as it started they jumped deep into covenant space. The battle cost the Elites 5 ships, half of a squadron, and 3 human ships. The Brutes lost 50 ships, Humanity was ready. They could stand up to the Covenant now. Captain Lufberry ordered first fleet to return home to get replacement ships for the 8 ships they lost and repairs for the others. It was time to lick their wounds and prepare for the brutes' next move.

A/N Please R&R flames welcome to I will attempt to answer any questions you have. I may even defunct a flame or two. Quick question long chapters and an update a week or short 700-900 word chapters and updates every other day or so?