This chapter I know for sure will piss off people, making them think the Forerunners just got extra-retarded. However, I am thinking of making a smaller side story to go along with this story to explain why the Forerunners didn't spam Cruisers and destroy everything. This however, is entirely dependent on you guys, if you'd like this, just post a review saying so, or PM me. If you can overlook the apparent stupidity in the chapter that's fine, but if you'd still like an explanation without the story, I'd be more than happy to PM you one. Also, please disregard anything in this story referring to the Mantle's Approach as a Planet Breaker. Though the Didact did have a Planet Breaker, the Mantle's Approach is not one.
I probably should've put this in the beginning of the story, I apologize for this:
In this story, the Covenant are somewhat stronger than they are in canon Halo series. Also, they are supported by the San 'Shyuum (There are no Jirlhanae or San 'Shyuum in the Covenant except for a few prophets). In canon, the Humans and San 'Shyuum together were able to fight the Forerunners(Even if they lost). This being said, the Covenant being bolstered with the tech that the San 'Shyuum sympathizers give them are able to take on the Forerunners. Obviously they cannot win in single ship combat, but with a large enough fleet, they could probably do some good damage to a Forerunner fleet.
The Mantle's Approach rocked as each Plasma torpedo slammed into it's shield, giving off enough energy to glass a small sea. "The Didact got up from his chair. The Librarian stood beside him, looking through the glass on the bridge worriedly at the Halo ring. A beeping noise sounded and the Didact raised his hand. A small hologram was projected in front of him. It was the monitor of Installation 04, 343 Guilty Spark. "This best be important." He said.
"The Flood have been released," Guilty Spark said nervously. "Calamity! I must fire the ring to prevent the specimen from spreading."
The Didact exchanged a quick glance with the Librarian. "No. Do not fire the rings yet, I will send the Warrior-Knights." Guilty Spark protested, but the Didact closed the hologram. He turned to one of the Engineers on the ship. "Get those Warrior-Knights on the ground now, and recall all biological units." The ship rocked again as more Plasma Torpedoes hit it, and then space outside lit up as the glass polarized when the Particle cannons fired.
"Sir, Faber and Fortencho are both attempting communication." a Warrior-Servant said.
"Put them both through." The Didact said, as a chair formed next to his for his wife to sit in.
Fortencho appeared on the left of the hologram, flanked by several of his guards. On the right, there was an explosion, and the interior of a builder ship was breached, only to have the hole sealed up by hardlight. Faber came into view, Builder security running frantically around the bridge. The first to speak was Faber. "Didact, we need your Prometheans!" More explosions rocked the builder ship. "Those terrorists have fooled the Jirlhanae and San 'Shyuum into an attack on our worlds, and they're attacking us with stolen ships."
The Didact turned to one of the warrior-servants. "Notify a portion of our reinforcing feet to break off and head to assist the Builders with defense of Core worlds.
The warrior-servant bowed and turned to a communication console. Before Faber could say anything else, the hologram cut off. Fortencho's hologram now took over the whole space. "Didact, I would have gone to Faber for help, but unfortunately he is dealing with problems of his own."
"Be quick about what you need." The Didact said.
"I'm going to need help," The Hologram shifted, showing outside of an observation deck. Two fleets were clashing outside Charum Hakkor. One fleet was made up of over a hundred ships. All Human design. The other fleet had hundreds of ships, varying from Human and Forerunner design, to Jirlhanae and San 'Shyuum. The hologram then came back to look at Fortencho. "The Jirlhanae refuse to send any aid whatsoever, and the San 'Shyuum don't want to get involved as well. Our only other option is the Forerunners, and if you can't help us, I have orders from Yprin to withdraw all ships from joint Forerunner-HUman stations to defend Charum Hakkor."
The Didact was about to send a small battlegroup from the fleet sent to intercept Jul' Mdama's fleet to aid Fortencho when a warrior-servant called his name. "Didact, reinforcing fleet has arrived, one Fortress class vessel, three Dreadnoughts, and ten picket cruisers." Beams of Hardlight connected with the Shadow of Intent, bringing it's shields down. The Particle cannons on the Mantle's Approach fired. Before they could hit, a purple sphere-like thing appeared. Out of it came a Covenant Battlecruiser, which took the hits for the Shadow of Intent, and was subsequently destroyed. Hundreds of Covenant ships then appeared out of Slipspace. Several Supercarriers were flying towards the Mantle's Approach in an attack vector, their lateral lines already charged up. They fired at the Fortress-class vessel. Although their Energy Projectors looked far stronger than other Supercarriers the Didact encountered, they weren't enough to bring down the shields on the Fortress-class. The Picket cruisers speed head-on into the Covenant fleet, while the Dreadnoughts approached from the left and the Fortress-class from the left. What looked to be about fourteen Battlecruisers and an Assault carrier turned to face one of the Dreadnoughts. They unleashed a salvo of Plasma torpedoes and their Energy Projectors produced a blinding light. After about fifteen seconds of sustained fire, the shields on the Dreadnought finally dropped, but before the Covenant could follow up with another attack, the Dreadnoughts unleashed a salvo of Particle Cannon blasts, tearing away at the shields on the Battlecruisers, destroying ten of them, and leaving the Asault Carrier badly damaged. Hundreds of pods were seen ejecting from the Assault carrier as she sped towards the weakened Dreadnought. The remaining four Battlecruisers moved in close, spamming Plasma Torpedoes. The Assault Carrier slammed into the bridge of the Dreadnought, preoccupied with returning fire at the Battlecruisers. There was a brief and bright explosion, but the Dreadnought was still there, albeit damaged. The bow of the Dreadnought slammed into a Battlecruiser that got too close, slicing it in half. The other three Battlecruisers fired Energy projectors. The Dreadnought stood, returning fire, when several Plasma Torpedoes from a Supercarrier hit it. Thousands of fighters, dropships, and Falco-class escape pods flew out into empty space. The dropships zooming towards Installation 04, and the Fighters moving to intercept Covenant Seraphs.
The Didact turned back to the hologram of Fortencho. "I'm sorry, but I cannot lend any aid, the problems here outweigh any other that has presented itself at this moment."
The Librarian was about to say something, but the Didact cut off the transmission. The Didact then turned to the warrior-servant at the communications console. "Alert the Emergency Circumstance fleet, tell them there is a flood outbreak at Installation and we need the fleet immediately. Also inform the intercept fleet that Jul 'Mdama's fleet cannot be allowed to escape no matter what."
The warrior-servant nodded and set about sending the messages. The Didact looked back out the glass, to see several more Energy Projectors hit the damaged Dreadnought, causing it to ignite into a short-lived fireball.
Miranda, Liara, and Shepard followed closely behind the Arbiter and several Zealots. A few Jackals stopped running, and turned to fire on the flood, in an attempt to slow their approach. Several Revenants came into view. The Arbiter jumped into the driver's seat of one, and motioned for the three to get into the passenger seat of the other Revenants. Each of the Zealots got into the drivers' seats. Several Unggoy stood heroically with two Elite Minors, but as soon as the Flood came into view, several of them scattered in panic, the Minors trying to restore order. The Revenants zoomed away, Thel leading the group. Shepard sat uncomfortably in the passenger seat with Thel. The seat was clearly not designed with human passengers in mind. The ride was smooth, unlike a ride would be on the terrain if he had a wheeled vehicle. "Where are we headed?" Shepard asked.
"I've highlighted a rendezvous point about two kilometers from here. Hopefully whatever troops we have left assemble there, and we can try and hold out, perhaps warn the Shadow of the Flood breakout." Thel was very focused on his driving, every now and then stealing glances at the sides, checking for Flood signatures.
Shepard looked around, not sure what to do, or think of the situation. His eyes turned up, to see the Shadow of Intent hammered by the same Forerunner ship that lead the Assault on Earth. Then, a smaller Covenant ship came out of a Purplish hole in space, and sacrificed itself for the Supercarrier. It was followed by hundreds more, varying in size. He was awestruck. The beams of energy arcing through space, the firepower was clearly far more than anything the Citadel could ever hope to output. There was a deafening explosion, and the Revenant flipped forward, the momentum threw Shepard out of the Revenant, but Thel held on a little longer, eventually letting go before the thing slammed onto its top, the Plasma Mortar bending. Thel rolled on the floor, and picked himself up, and then drew his Carbine. Shepard groggily rose to his feet and steadied his Plasma repeater. When his vision cleared, he saw something similar to the drones he encountered in the containment room. It had two, arm-like appendages and grapple fixtures on each one. It hovered several meters of the floor and underneath it, carried a beam emitting weapon. This one however was larger than the others. There were two more surrounding it. One fired, and the Arbiter jumped out of the way. The beam kicked up dust, causing Shepard to shield his eyes. He opened fire on one. Its shields flared in all the spots were a plasma bolt connected. Thel threw a sticky grenade into the air and shot it while it was right next to the lead Sentinel. The grenade exploded, collapsing the Sentinel's shields, and Shepard opened fire on that one. Thel tackled Shepard to the floor before the other Sentinel could fire at him. The two Sentinels fired at Thel, knocking him back and taking out his shields. Before he could get back up, a Plasma Mortar blast slammed into one, sending it to the floor in a molten heap of Metal, the other with its shields now compromised turned to face the new threat, when another Plasma Mortar blast hit it. The two Revenants slowed to a stop, and one of the Elites got out to help Thel flip his damaged Revenant. Shepard walked over. "Are you sure you want to keep using this thing? It looks pretty beat up."
"Would you rather walk?" Thel jumped in and after fidgeting with the controls a bit, and a few kicks, the Revenant rose a few inches and the engine thrummed to life. "Just keep heading that way," Thel pointed forward. "The rendezvous is still about a mile out."
Shepard looked around, the other two Revenant began speeding off again. He jumped in without hesitation, though still uncomfortable with the seats.