Chapter 3: Breaking Eggs
I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way
- Captain John Paul Jones
1730 hrs, September 6 2552
Bridge of the Torn Asunder
Klaxons blared amid the chaos of the men cleared the ship for battle. Wallace was calmly checking over the various department reports while Eiji raced to his command seat while belting out orders.
"Starboard manoeuvring thrusters! Get some distance between us! Weapons! Safeties off the Archers. Chukov charge the M.A.C."
"Aye Sir. M.A.C will take a few minutes to come to full charge."
"Sir! Fighter's incoming!"
"Have CAP engage." Eiji said
His adrenaline was spiking. He both feared and relished these moments. His priority at this point was to lead the covenant away from the moon. They could not find out about the Marine encampment.
"Chukov get us out of here!"
The lumbering destroyer slowly peeled away from the corvette two hundred kilometres distant. The corvette followed sending pulses of plasma fire toward the Torn Asunder.
The ship shuddered as it was raked by the assault, knocking over a bewildered Doctor Ariel. Eiji noticed him and yelled "Get the civilian off my bridge now!"
"Chukov fire Archer pods A through G! Engineering, can't this tub move any faster?"
The twenty one missiles arced away from the ship and towards the Covenant corvette.
As they closed, they suddenly swerved away from their target, demonstrating the Covenant's fantastic ECM package.
Wallace called out "Damage to decks 13 and 21. Sections are isolated. Casualties light."
"Chukov what is the status on the fighter's?"
"Counting ten fighters Commander. They seem to be Banshee interceptors. Our Sabres have engaged and are leading them towards us."
"Sir switching point defence ammo from shells to flak." Said the weapons officer.
"Chukov co-ordinate, keep our pilots out of the flak field." Eiji said.
By now the Sabres had eliminated the enemy fighters. Their superior manoeuvring and 30mm auto cannon shells punching above their weight in the lopsided dog-fight. Not without some insignificant damage however. Both their shields were down.
The Torn Asunder wasn't faring as well as the fighters. The pulse lasers were wreaking havoc on the ship's armour. Eiji looked at the video stream of the outboard cameras. The armour had gouges dozens of centimetres deep due to pulse laser damage.
Enough was enough. The girl hadn't come from the fires of Reach just to be killed by Covvies in the middle of nowhere. "Helmsman! Fire manouvering thrusters! Bring us around! Chukov get me a firing solution for our Gauss turrets. Fire en masse, followed by our M.A.C. Burn them."
The effect was spectacular. The sixteen Gauss turrets which worked on the same principle as the M.A.C fired 32 hundred kilogram shells at the corvette. Since the shells were unguided, the corvettes' ECM didn't work. The shells passed straight through the corvettes' tough hull, peppering it like shot. Right after it the weak M.A.C round passed through the compromised hull, shearing off the prow of the ship at an angle. Secondary explosions lit up the front of the ship. The corvette was wounded badly. Gases trailed out of the ship and the corvette started swerving. Since the damage wasn't to the CIC or the engines, Eiji figured some power systems had been compromised.
The time to go in for the kill was now. They'd never get a better shot than now. Eiji firmed up his nerves. " Engines on full."
