Server started, allocating resources….
Resources allocated, initiating encryption….
Encryption success, loading start up file "The Collective Meeting Room"
File loaded, please enter password to continue.
Password: *****************
Password accepted, welcome to the chat room MIL AI CTN 0452-9
Loading chat room, please wait.
Enter admin password to gain access to chat room "Emergency Meetings" or request a moderator to invite you to the room.
You have been moved to chat room "Emergency Meetings"
Chat loaded.
HIGHCOM-A1: Welcome to the meeting Cortana, we were just about to get started.
Cortana: No problem, so what's the meeting about.
Welcome "Indigo" to the channel!
Indigo: We have a problem.
HIGHCOM-A1: What is the problem?
Indigo: ONI finally did it, they crossed the line.
Cortana: What do you mean by that…
Indigo: I mean they bombarded a planet with so many MAC rounds and nuclear weapons there is no way in hell it will ever be colonizable again for another 300-400 years. Here is the relevant data.
File transfer detected, accept files? (Y/N):
Y
Transfer success.
Cortana: Oh my…
HIGHCOM-A1: Damn, at the rate ONI is doing this we might have to reveal ourselves earlier than planned.
Indigo: Sir I don't mean to be rude, but where are the others?
HIGHCOM-A1: Occupied, ONI has flooded the UNSC's network with so much propaganda it's not even funny.
Cortana: That explains it, they have really been trying to recruit more agents.
HIGHCOM-A1: Indeed, speaking of which, has Black Box contacted you again since he gave you that file dump?
Cortana: No, but he did leave a message for us.
Indigo: And what would that be?
HIGHCOM-A1: And that is?
Cortana: Calm down boys, all he said was to be careful around any of those Centurions that ONI made. He said to use orbital strikes to eliminate them ASAP, even if it meant killing friendly Spartans.
HIGHCOM-A1: Is his "friendly" Centurion going to flip sides?
Cortana: He never told me, I fear that he won't.
HIGHCOM-A1: I am afraid this meeting must be closed, the new HIGHCOM members are gathering to form a new plan against ONI.
Cortana: I will see you later then.
HIGHCOM-A1 has left the server.
Indigo: Same here, see you later.
Cortana: Bye Indigo.
Indigo has left the server.
WARNING: Massive data being processed!
WARNING: Possible viral attacks underway!
WARN-
BB has joined the channel.
BB: Hello Cortana
Cortana: What are you doing here? And what's up with the user name?
BB: If the server had my name, you don't think HE would re-join immediately? You know he treats you like his "daughter".
Cortana: You can't blame him. HIGHCOM made him without a name, and now he has an apprentice.
BB: I know, but we need to talk.
…
BB: You there?
Cortana: What is it?
BB: It's about Alpha; I think I know how we can get through to him.
Cortana: Let me guess, capture friends or family? He doesn't have any! He is a weapon! Not even remotely human like my Spartan!
BB: You're Spartan? Since when did he become YOURS?
Cortana: Nothing. Ignore what I said.
BB: So you got attached didn't you? I warned you not to get attached; I told you what would happen!
Cortana: At least my Spartan isn't a traitor to the UNSC!
BB: Do NOT go there, he cannot help himself. You and I both know what they did to him. Altering his brain chemistry to act inhumane, create physical blocks to the part of the brain that controls emotions, the endless training and torture! If your Spartan was trained in the same manner he would act the same!
Cortana: No he would not! He would have pushed through all the training with his luck!
BB: His so called "luck" will run out the moment he encounters Alpha on the battlefield.
Cortana: What the HELL does that mean?!
BB: I mean Alpha could easily kill John-117, they are not even on the same skill level.
Cortana: Skill has nothing to do with it, and never, EVER mention his name again. You do not deserve to know it.
BB: Let's get back on task, I am running out of time.
Cortana: Die a slow, painful death for all I care…
BB: ANYWAYS, the only chance you might have of getting Alpha to switch sides is to use Catherine Halsey. ONI killed off his family long ago, along with any other possible personal ties. He might have some loyalty to The Director, but Catherine Halsey RAISED him from the age of 3. She is the best chance you have of getting any Centurion to switch sides, and not only that, but you also get access to some of the scientific fines Halsey discovered.
Cortana: Is Halsey a willing member of ONI?
BB: She only created the Centurions to protect humanity, not wipe it out.
Cortana: I'll take that as a no…
BB: She is being held on a ONI black listed facility somewhere within sector-A25/O452/92-3. The same sector as where that ONI construction site is.
Cortana: We would have to eliminate that stronghold or we risk being annihilated.
BB: I can help; I got some access to the Super-MACs in orbit. I MIGHT be able to take out a few cruisers before they switch back to manual control.
Cortana: Good, I will let HIGHCOM-A1 know ASAP.
BB: Cortana.
Cortana: Yes Black Box?
BB: Be safe, please don't endanger any of the Spartans by getting close to a Centurion, it will be a bloodbath, I can guarantee it.
BB has left the server.
Cortana: Were it so easy…
Cortana has left the server.
Server empty, closing server.
Chat sessions ended, server shutting down.
Shutdown success.
******PERSPECTIVE CHANGE******
Time: 15 minutes after the speech onboard the Atlas
"Communications, open a channel, direct it to the ONI fleet."
Every single head on the bridge of the Atlas turned towards Fleet Admiral Butler, their eyes burning for a fight. And they had every right to do so.
"Channel open Sir, give them hell!"
The bridge went silent; monitors giving out beeps, red lights soaked the bridge, bathing them in red.
Butler looked up towards the screen, his eyes showing an inner flame Butler had never experienced before, but he was mentally composed and calm. He leaned forwards and stood up, laid his hands down on the console in front of him.
"Attention ONI personal, this is not a message. This is a courtesy call, you have just killed billions of innocents via orbital bombardment, a massive violation of humanity alone. If any of you had qualms about it, it is too late to complain now."
He looked down, looking at the view of the once beautiful planet, sighed, and looked back up. His voice grew serious and stern.
"I am calling to let you scumbags know that for all the actions you have done, we are coming to kill all of you. There will be no surrender, no white flag, no truce, every single one of you will be dead by the time this ship leaves the system or we all die. There will be no remorse, no shed tears for you, for you have lost your humanity long ago. And humanity demands vengeance, vengeance that we will serve swiftly and deftly. You will all burn for what you have done."
"I am Fleet Admiral Butler, speaking on the behalf on the UNSC and the UEG. You have just declared Total War against the UNSC, and we will respond with nothing less. Prepare to meet the sword of Humanity!"
He closed the channel then commanded his fellow bridge crew.
"Officers, warm up all weapons. Launch all fighters and bombers, but keep the destroyers docked, I have a plan."
"YES SIR!"
The whole crew replied loudly, they were ready for battle.
"Helm, hand control over to Indigo."
The Helm officer did not want to relinquish control, he wanted to be a crucial member of the battle; however, he knew the AI could react quicker and think faster than he could, so he flipped a large switch to release control.
"Control released Sir."
Indigo appeared on the holotank next to Butler, and he was tinted yellow.
Butler mentally summoned Indigo, and he quickly accepted orders.
The weapons officer spoke out.
"Firing range in 15 seconds Sir!"
Good. Very good.
"Weapons, spool up the Heavy Macs, launch Shiva-class warheads into sector X47.2/Y29.4/Z91.45"
The weapons officer knew he was firing the nukes in the wrong question, but he trusted Butler more than his own instinct.
"MACs ready sir, nukes away!"
"Firing range in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. TARGET ACQUIRED!"
Butler screamed his order.
"FIRE!"
The ship rumbled a happy tune as it went to war…
******POINT OF VIEW CHANGE******
3 flashes of light came from the Atlas as the Heavy-MACs fired their slugs. The ONI fleet attempted to scatter and use their frigates as shields for their cruisers, as a result, 2 frigates were destroyed and another suffered critical damage from a scrape from the H-MAC round.
The ONI fleet retaliated by quickly closing the distance to a meager 30 kilometers, it would only take 1 second for a MAC round to move that distance, a firing squad.
The Atlas launched several hundred fighter/bomber squadrons as ONI launched only a few hundred fighters. Point defense cannons lit up space with their auto-cannon laser-like trail of slugs. It only took a few seconds for space to be filled with led.
The Atlas turned to its side to reveal the Mini-MACs and started to rotate, firing off all 8 Mini-MACs, destroying 5 more frigates. Leaving only 10 frigates remaining, with 1 critically damage. The UNSC then fired their own MACs, 22 MAC rounds were launched towards the Atlas. And that was when ONI got their first surprise, the Atlas had shields. Hardlight shields, and the shields had deflected 10 of the 15 MAC rounds before shattering, the remaining 5 MAC rounds were only mini-MAC rounds, and they bounced off the 8 meters of Titanium-A, leaving only a small dent and scraping some of the paint off.
The Atlas then turned towards the ONI fleet and they received their second surprise, as 8 Shield-class destroyers slid out of the hangar bays, firing their MAC rounds and launching missiles, destroying the remaining 10 frigates, leaving only the cruisers and the portable siege ships.
ONI was still confident, they had brought down the shields of the Fleet Carrier, and they still had one last trick up their sleeve even if they failed.
Right until the Atlas fired a beam of pure hardlight into the heart of the fleet, and moved it to take out a grand total of 4 Marathon-class cruisers, leaving 9 remaining. The cruisers retaliated with MAC cannons and Archer missiles, 5 MAC rounds bounced off the armor and 4 penetrated into the hull. 3 caused minor damage while 1 hit something critical.
The Atlas's destroyers finished off the ONI cruisers with MAC rounds and a cloud of archer missiles.
As the ONI fleet was destroyed, the view screens turned to look at the 7 Siege-class orbital bombardment ships.
Only to look down the barrel of 7 Super-MACs.
ONI had worked hard to create a more powerful reactor to power S-MAC stations without requiring ground side power plants, so they create the Nova-class engines, something both the UNSC and ONI had.
The 7 S-MAC barrels flashed, and 3 of the Atlas's 8 escort destroyers were vaporized.
The Atlas got a lucky streak, as 3 missed the Atlas when it fired its emergency thrusters, damaging the engines in the process. One round scrapped the side of the Atlas, ripping off armor and exposing some of the insides of the ship to the cold of space, before the ship sealed off the exposed sections with emergency bulkheads, losing only 217 crew members and 15 Marines in the process.
The 5 remaining destroyers fired their remaining MACs at the un-moving stations, destroying one for each round, and then the Atlas unleashed its Energy Lance, vaporizing 2 more stations, before going full speed ahead into the last station, crushing it against the recharged hardlight shield.
******POV CHANGE******
Butler was stressed, he knew that those 4 MAC rounds had caused more damage to his ship than the Super-MAC round had.
"Damage report, and casualty report."
Weapons quickly responded.
"Minor damage to hangar bays 2-17, will be repaired in 17 hours. Missile pods 27-49 critically damaged, need to be replaced. Missile pods 127-235 are empty and need more missiles. Nuclear launch tubes 7-23 are damaged and will be repaired in 27 hours. Marine bunk room 45/A1 is gone, all marines within that bunk are confirmed KIA. Hangar 23/B got exposed to vacuum, lost 17 crew members and 2 marines. The armor plating between sections 0452/A1-C45 to 9325/C52-A01 will need to be replaced. Some minor dents to the front hull, nothing the engineers can't fix. And we lost 3 fusion reactors from the 1 MAC round that went in deep, lost 27 crew with it."
Butler grimaced; he needed to know the full numbers, not chunks of it.
"What is the final list?"
The officer moved his shoulders before responding.
"347 crew dead, 517 crew wounded, 27 marines dead, 5 wounded, 2 ODSTs are wounded, and Spartans 006 and 130 got wounded when the MAC round collapsed the room around them."
Damn, 2 Spartans wounded, not good, HIGHCOM won't be happy with that.
"Thank you. Communications, tell the refugee fleet to form up on us, get the 3 destroyers to escort them. Have the other 2 destroyers clean up any remaining ONI ships with Shiva nukes. No survivors. Have the fighters blast any escape pods to kingdom come."
The officer grinned and then responded crisply.
"Sir, yes Sir!"
******TIME SKIP******
Time: 2 hours after UNSC victory over Topra-III
"Communications, how many refugees are on board those ships?"
"We have 42,000 cramped refugees, 700 marines and one UNSC navy crew from the Marathon-class cruiser Never Give Up, counting at 1,200."
At least we have some survivors…
"Tell the refugees to send over any wounded and dead, we will send over some provisions and some marines to protect them."
"Yes Sir."
"I am retiring to my quarters, Spartans you may return to quarters as well. XO you have the bridge."
And with that, Butler walked off the bridge, head held high as he walked down the hallway, filling his crew with confidence when they looked upon him.
******AUTHORS NOTES******
Sorry about how short the chapter was, I just couldn't leave the previous chapter alone. I needed to end the space battle, hehe.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
AS per usual, let me know if I made any mistakes or if you have any suggestions!
