Chapter Nine, Part One

CAP patrol

7 light-minutes out from ODC Hera

March 01, 2327

The obsidian-black fighters streaked through space at .4c, a rather slow speed for them but perfectly fine regarding the commander's orders. Their patrol and ceaseless swooping about right in front of the Unggoy fleet had done little to deter them; their speed and course were unaltered. "Hera, the alien's course and speed are unaltered. The Arbiter and his vessel have been let past our patrols without incident."

"We read you, Lieutenant. Orders of engagement are still as ordered for now."

"Very well, Hera. Alpha One out."

Unggoy Cruiser Hierophant

15 light-minutes out from ODC Hera

"Commander, the alien station has repeated their message." The Unggoy at the communications array were frightened even more out of their wits than otherwise. "They say this is their last time they're going to talk, then they are opening fire."

The commander was a very small Unggoy named Payay. Payay's heart was burning with the need to finish off the Arbiter's captured Unggoy vessel, which was leaking from several gashes on their hull from his fleet's weapons fire. Since the abominable death of Freem jhour'in he had been the next in command, and had risen to the occasion.

And now his heart warred with him. The need to destroy the now-avowed enemy of the Unggoy race was great, but this new enemy posed a possible obstacle.

His heart won, to the detriment of all. "Continue on full speed. Channel auxiliary power to the shields. We'll take their fire, and exchange it for our hatred. Anything to see that Arbiter dead!"

112 of the Unggoy's most powerful capital ships descended in full force upon the Arbiter, not heeding the warnings of the unknown enemy that has spoken to them.

ODC Hera

Same time

"All right, they have refused to even respond back. Order the fighters to let fly the anti-ship rounds."

"Yes sir."

The 36 fighters that represented the UNSC's fighter CAP patrol turned their ebony wings to the Unggoy ships. Each fighter carried two anti-ship missiles under their wings, each with a 20-gigaton antimatter warhead. The missiles fired and rapidly accelerated to .74c, then impacted square on the frontal shields of the lead Unggoy ships. The warheads of the Greater Fire burned bright, stripping shields away and searing away metal alloys, flesh, and all virtues. The frontal halves of over 23 Unggoy ships flashed into pure actinic vapor, their rear halves melted into charred slag.

The remaining ships continued and fired their remaining plasma missiles at the UNSC ships. Travelling at over .36c these missiles were the fastest weapons the Covenant had yet possessed by way of long-range weapons, but the UNSC's infusion of Fifth Imperium technology served them well. The massive point defense net of the Hera flashed into action, destroying over half the warheads, and the cap patrol which was returning closer to the base destroyed more. But over 37 missiles streaked in, smashing the Hera's shields to barely a flicker of their former strength. The Bridge rocked to the impacts, throwing many into steel bulkheads at speeds that would have been fatal to them were it not for their biotechnic enhancements.

Morales' only command was, "Fire."

The capital-ship launchers of the Hera opened into action for the first time, as well as the first salvo of the Hera's MAC cannon. Massive 250-ton tungsten projectiles flashed into relativistic speeds, punching right through the lead Covenant ship and grazing the two behind it, gutting the first and detonating its reactors in a flash and carving massive gouges into the other two's hulls, leaving almost all decks exposed to vacuum. The hyper-missiles launched by the Hera streaked in even before the slug had reached its target, Greater Fires detonating INSIDE the Unggoy ships as the missiles came out of hyperspace inside the ships.

The only response the Unggoy offered was to vanish in a blip of light…and reappear right over the Hera. Close-range plasma beams lanced out into the reeling space station, her burgeoning shields collapsing again and hull serrated under the titanic onslaught. Later, it would be a wonder to both Covenant and Unggoy analysts that the station's hull took so long to vaporize as it did, sometimes even taking as long as seventeen hits to fully slag.

On the Hera's Bridge, Commander Morales and his crew fought their controls to keep their station alive. The Unggoy's attack was devastating, their plasma wreaking more damage upon the ODC's frame than perceived possible. Morales' last act, before the bridge vanished in actinic flames, was to activate the permit the ODC's automated networks to take action.

The Hera did not die without fighting back. All missile launchers fired at virtually point-blank range, streaking across the hundreds of kilometers separating them from the Unggoy and thousands of multi-gigaton missiles impacting in full. In the resulting firestorm, the Unggoy fleet vanished, replaced by an expanding miasma of white-hot plasma, rippling outward in a ball of hellfire that wreaked further damage upon the Hera's hull and orbital generators. Hera tilted as it began to fall into Harvest's atmosphere.

The Arbiter and Hades sat in awe at the Greater Fires unleashed. "This is madness," Hades growled. "The Unggoy have been driven mad!"

"So it would seem."

"Should we render assistance to the aliens?"

The Arbiter looked askance at Hades. A Jiralhanae that thought to aid others, how…novel. "If they ask, yes. They have proven to be credible allies, and most definitely would be worthy foes to fight." The Hope of Ages was currently in orbit of the alien's world, their life-support systems and others being repaired by the Engineers at full speed. Their ship was a wreck; without the protection of their shields or viable armor, they would shot out of the skies without even a blow being fired. "Any time they could buy us to get our shields and weapons back online is vital, though it pains me to stay out of the fight."

"Me as well. Credible foes are hard to find, these days."

"Agreed," the Arbiter chuckled.

Then the Unggoy jumped, next to Hera. They watched in horror as the Unggoy performed a suicidal jump, CLOSER to the enemies' guns. "Never mind, that," the Arbiter snarled. "Get us into range, and provide some cover for our allies!"

"Too late. The station is…" then Hades silenced himself. The Hera was in flames, was dying. Their allies had defeated the Unggoy ships, but at a terrible cost.

"Get us into range with our tractor beams, and provide double the power to the shields. Perhaps we save their station, and what survivors remain, from a fiery death," the Arbiter said quietly.

Chapter Nine, Part Two

The Braveheart was in Slipspace, its captain reading the Slipspace courier probe that they had received. Braveheart was one of the new Peregrine-class assault carriers, and had left the ODC Hera about an hour ago for a training mission a dozen light-years away. Such a message from Morales, after they had departed, was an unusual circumstance. But, as Captain Cirales noticed, the message itself had been most unusual itself.

"Sir, we're about two minutes from Slipspace emergence."

"Good, about damn time. Anything unusual on the sub-comms?"

"Nothing yet, though the amount of ambient Cherenkov radiation is spiking gradually in places."

"Sir, we're ready."

"Good. Activate all weapons and point-defense systems, just in case. Combat Alert Alpha."

"Combat Alert Alpha, aye."

The Braveheart emerged in a flash of white light, into a storm of white flame. "What the hell is this?"

"Plasma storm, but its dissipating! Detecting weapons residue from a blast; Commander, it's standard UNSC weapons!"

"Get us out of it! Contact the Hera!"

"Sir, look…" and Cirales jerked his head up.

The Hera was plummeting into Harvest, and…there was a ship there. One of alien ships from the Hera's message, , but it was beaten up bad, rents in the hull and a leaky drive from what Cirales could tell from his biotechnic interface. It was close to the Hera. "Those bastards. All weapons, target enemy vessel! Launch alert fighters!"

"Countermand!"

Cirales turned to his SIC, Commander Harper. "Pray tell why I shouldn't override your order, Harper! These bastards just damn near glassed UNSC property! A blatant declaration of warfare, if I ever saw one!"

"Sir, look. The alien ship is trying to pull the Hera OUT into orbit, not attacking. Look," and Harper forwarded the sensor data to him. "Whoever they are, they aren't attacking now."

Cirales looked at the data. "Hmm. Thanks for blocking my order, Harper."

"That's what I'm here for, sir."

Cirales turned to Navigation. "Get us into tractor beam range, and assist the alien vessel. Send out a standard greeting, see if they respond."

"Sir, they're sending US a message! And in English!"

"Any visual?"

"Receiving now, Captain."

"Put them on." Cirales couldn't be surprised any more.

An image of presumably the alien commander appeared on-screen. It was a reptilian-like creature, encased in form-fitting armor. Strange glyphs coated his armor, and the alien snout ended with two mandibles, which were moving in speech. "I am the Arbiter of the Covenant. I am a Sangheili of the First, and Holy Warrior of the Hierarchs. I am grateful for the assistance."

"Um, thanks," Cirales replied. "I am Captain Thomas Cirales, of the United Nations Space Command, commanding the Braveheart. The UNSC is the power in this area of space. I have to ask, though, by what means are communicating in our language?"

"We possess language-cipher technology as well. The station's transmissions to us provided enough data on your language for us to do this."

"Ah." Cirales paused, as if not sure what to ask next.

"I propose that we both get your station to a safer orbit. Afterwards, we should talk."

"A good idea, Arbiter. We'll do what we can on our end."

"As will we. Your warriors fought with honor today. I am transmitting our recordings of the battle with the Unggoy to you now. You should know how the UNSC faces foes."

Cirales looked at the Hera, her molten hull and radioactive interior. They had put up a hell of a fight. He turned back to the alien's image, his eyes slightly watery in knowledge, but his voice steady. "We know already this, Arbiter. But we appreciate your data. Thank you."

"We shall speak later." And the Arbiter closed the link on his end.

Cirales turned to his chair, and sat heavily on it. "Harper, prepare salvage crews. Tell them to check for survivors, once we've steadied the Hera's bearings."

"Yes sir."

Cirales closed his eyes, thinking of his friend on that savaged hulk of metal outside. "Morales, you damn fool," he whispered.