Chapter 12
Asari Dreadnought Destiny Ascension
Positioned around the Relay 314's receiving relay.
Currently engaged in long range bombardment of unknown fleet.
"Matriarch! More ship coming from those blue-white portals!" yelled the asari manning the sensor console before the galaxy map shifted showing a fleet of 900 ships pour through.
"Incoming transmission from the new arrivals, the codex is translating" reported the communication officer as she put the transmission on speakers.
"This is Admiral Ivan Cole of the UNSC 5th fleet to all the loyalist bastard in this system, welcome to your worst nightmare!" came the voice.
"Matriarch detecting multiple high electromagnetic spikes!" reported the sensor officer before the view of the new arrivals flashed with lights. Thousands of 600 ton projectiles filled the space and slammed into the Loyalist ships' energy fields. The fields rippled under the barrage of immense kinetic energy before finally shattering and leaving the hull under it exposed.
Seconds later a barrage of Heavier 800 ton tungsten alloy rounds erupted from muzzle the Marathon Cruisers and the sole Astraeus class Battleship. The round smashed through the defenseless Loyalist ships, gutting almost 2 ships with one shot due to the tightly packed formation of the Brute fleet. Seconds later, millions of missiles erupted and slammed into the survivors of the MAC barrage.
"By the goddess…" swore the sensor officer as the sheer amount of missile caused the tracking system of the Asari dreadnought to crash.
"Get the sensor array back online! We can't shoot our target without those data!" ordered matriarch Lidanya as she watch her bridge crews of asari doing their best to keep the Dreadnought in one piece.
…..
Admiral Ivan Cole paced the bridge of his Astraeus class Battleship, as the tactical data displayed the decimated Loyalist fleet. "All ships, lock on Mark2 Archer missiles and target the heavy capital ships and fire at will, take them out before their shields recharge!" ordered Cole.
"Missiles armed and green across the board admiral." Reported Tanya as she projected her avatar on the holoprojector near the tactical table. "Missiles away" Multiple thumps echoed through the ships as 36000 Mark2 Archer missile left their silos. "Impact in 15 seconds" reported Tanya as she constantly calculated the change the flight path of the missiles to avoid the laser fire.
Of the one hundred and fifty thousand missiles fired, 145000 reached their separate targets and detonated, micro suns flared into existence as the three compacted nuclear fusion warheads detonated in each missiles super compressing their fusion materials before blowing outwards at incredible speeds. Hundreds of ships disappeared in the ensuring firestorm in space only to reappear as cooling globs of molten metal.
"217 Covenant ships of various classes confirmed destroyed or disabled." Reported Tanya as she reloaded her twin pistols. "Archer missiles silos reloads completion in 15 seconds." She added.
"Good," said Ivan as he survey the debris of the covenant vessels. "Retarget the other ships, starting with that Assault carrier that survived." Said Cole as he tap the hologram of Loyalist flagship.
"Incoming return fire from the Loyalist!" warned Tanya as 366 plasma torpedoes emerged from the nuclear firestorm. "All ships brace for impact!"
…
"General our sensors are back online…" reported a Turian crewman as he works furiously to recalibrate the warships delicate sensor arrays. "…..With the patch from the Salarians, our sensors should be fine now….. they were overloaded when the new contacts fire 150 thousand missiles simultaneously"
"Fine, status on the enemy fleet?" growled General Septimus as he paced around the CIC with no intention of listening to the technical details of the sensor.
The crewman tapped a few buttons before the tactical map shifted with updates from the sensor arrays. "Sensor readings indicated…" the crewman swore slightly in his native colony language before glancing apologetically to the General "….approximately 54.25% of enemy vessels disabled or destroyed."
The shock on the Turian crew was undeniable. Even with so many of the Citadel ships, taking down one of these unknown hostile's ships was a major achievement and yet a race with only a fleet of 900 ships decimated the enemy in 1 swooping blow.
"Get me a line to the Destiny Ascension and the Advancer." Whispered Septimus as he sat down in his command chair.
"Channel open sir" reported the com officer as he tapped the unique frequency of the two ships.
"Matriarch Lidanya, Fleet commander Pehlan," greeted Septimus as he look at their holo-projection on a side display. "I hope to have a meeting in this situation in light of the recent development in this battle"
"True, amount of missiles fired from the new arrivals have overloaded our sensor arrays." Muttered the Salarian commander in the Salarain's unique fast talking method.
"Maybe now the Turians will seriously reconsider to letting them join the Citadel?" suggested the Matriach Lidanya as she tilted her head slightly in Septimus's direction.
"Indeed, the power shown by these new fraction are indeed amazing" agreed the Salarian "It will be most beneficial to us if they are willing to share their technologies advancements when they join the Citadel."
"You can't be serious?" asked Septimus as he make the equivalent of a turian's shock face. "Look at them! They are savages with insane amount of fire power!"
The Asari frowned slightly at the Turian's statement "I thought the Asari Republic will handle the diplomacy, not the Turian Hierarchy" replied Lindanya as she put the emphasis on the word 'diplomacy'.
"I'm sorry to say we won't be joining you little group" came the smug voice of a female speaking in perfectly translated Asari language.
"What the? who is this?" Growled the Turian as he waved his hand at the com officer to start a trace.
"Tsk! Tsk! Naughty, naughty." Came the reply before the holographic terminal of the com officer locked down. "No use trying to break the encryption on it, not in this lifetime, anyway. As I was saying, We will not be joining your so call citadel council."
"Who is this?" ask Lidanya as she lean forward.
The holoprojector shifted slightly before adding an additional person to those already gathered, it show a alien that bare high similarities to the Asari. "UNSC AI construct SRN-Zero-Zero-nine-seven-dash-eight, codenamed Serina." Smirked the Artificial Intelligence.
There was a hushed silence in the bridge of the three dreadnoughts as the crews stopped and stare at the avatar that suddenly appeared on the galaxy map. The Turian was the first to recover "Artificial Intelligences? Those are outlawed in Citadel space!" roared General Septimus as he glared at Serina. If looks are bullets, Serina would have been Swiss cheese by now.
"Charming." Remarked Serina with as much sarcasm she could muster. "You must be really popular with girls on your planet." As she return a withering glare back at the Turian. "Now the reason I crash this little party of yours is to inform you that we will not be joining the Citadel, not if what your pass history are to go by."
With the message delivered the AI disconnected from the three dreadnoughts system leaving the Citadel's main members speechless. As the tactical map shifted back, the hostile unknown fired a wall of plasma torpedoes, heading for the new arrivals. "I hope they and their damn AIs burn in hell for this" muttered the General Spetimus only to be disappointed to see bright golden energy shields flare into existence, blocking most of the plasma, minimizing the total damage to the UNSC fleet.
…
UNSC Modified Colony ship Spirit of Fire
Sarum star system, 2563, September, 19th
Guarding the Forerunner Keyship.
"Captain, Vice Admiral's message has been delivered" reported Serina as she gave a snort of amusement at the poorly defended networks of the Citadel capital ships. "Incoming return fire on Admiral Cole's fleet!" yelled Serina as she detected the massive wave of plasma heading for the human fleet.
"Time until impact?" asked Cutter as he shift the holographic table trying to find a way out for the fleet.
"Imminent sir" reported Serina somberly as the wave of plasma wash over the human fleet. She frown suddenly as she detected anomaly readings. "Sir picking up new energy signatures from the ships in 5th fleet!"
The video camera zoomed in on a lone destroyer that suddenly emerged from the wall of plasma, completely unscathed, a bright golden film of energy protecting it from the scorching hot plasma.
"Holy shit, they got energy shields!" exclaimed a crewman as they rest of the bridge burst out cheers. The plasmas dissipated and the 5th fleet remain mostly unharmed, with only 25 ships destroyed or disabled.
"Detecting slipspace ruptures!" warned Serina as the blue white portals opened in front of the Loyalist fleet. "The surviving enemy are retreating sir!"
"Good, can you still contact the boarding party? They have been silent since the fleet battle began." Replied Cutter as he shifted his focus onto the men and women stuck in the Forerunner Keyship.
"Negative sir, all attempts to contact them have failed," Reported Serina as she attempted to contact the boarding party on all UNSC channel. "Sensor data suggest that a board electromagnetic spectrum interference surrounding the Keyship, I cann't even begin to pick out the team's signal." Added the AI with a slightly worried look before the look disappeared, reverting to her normal clam expression.
"Then Lord help us all if they fail to secure the vessel from the rampart AI." Said Cutter as he reopened the files on the Forerunner ship given to him by Fleetmaster Rtas Vadum. "That ship have the firepower to anniliate us if it so much as choose to."
…
UNSC 1st Platoon of 1st company
Sarum Star system, 2563, September, 19th
Currently outside the Bridge of the Forerunner Keyship.
"Covering fire!" Yelled Lieutenant Sanders as another pair of Sentinel Enforcers fell from the ceiling and engaged the Marine forces in a cat and mouse chase through the corridors. Two squad of Marines complied and fired their weapons on the sentinel pair, distracting them momentary.
"Heavy weapon teams move up! Get those bastards in the ass!" Ordered the Lt as he and his squad of marines slowed down behind cover and fired out at the Enforcers, sparks show where a few lucky shot managed to penetrate the energy shield of the Enforcers but doing very little damage over all. That was until a heavy weapon team managed to set up a M41 Light AntiAircraft Gun. Hundreds of 12.7x99mm rounds spat out literally tearing into the Enforcers sending chunks of them everywhere. One enforcer fell after a sustain burst before its companion turned around and opened fire, blasting them team manning the guns to shreds.
Bodies flew through the air as the missiles from the enforcer detonated. Suddenly, a green blur moved in and grabbed the still intact M41 LAAG, ripping it of the tripod stands before the M41 spun up and began to spat more rounds at the second Enforcer. Suddenly a blue-white orb flew through the air, before latching onto the back of the Enforcers when it landed. There was a sudden whine before the orb detonated into a shimmering field of white hot plasma, melting through the thick armored hide of the enforcer. "Where the hell did that come from?" yelled Lt Sanders as he reloaded his Assault Rifle in preparation for the next pair of Enforcers. "Covie grunt that snuck on board the Spirit when we got caught in a duel with that Covenant destroyer." Replied Douglas as he reloaded his spent Rocket Launcher. There was a flash followed by the loud crack of a frag grenade detonating in midair. "Sorry to break the chi-chat boys, but we got company; Goldie said they are the last pair." Shouted Spartan 130, Alice as she revs up her M41 LAAG.
"How's the progress on the door Doc?" yelled Sanders as he fired off another burst from his AR "We cann't keep this up all day" as the last pair of Enforcer started to tear into the Marine squad unfortunate to be just beneath the gigantic robot pairs' drop point.
"Almost there, just give me a few more minutes!" shouted back Anders as her finger typed and slashed furiously across the holographic control in her battle with the Forerunner AI to open the doors to the bridge. "Damn it, this AI is starting to tick me off." Muttered Anders as another line of encryption has been added to the already formidable firewall.
"Allow me," said the Golden sentinel as it hover above Anders and fired a small bright blue beam at the holographic console, immediately eliminating two third of the encryptions, "I suggest you finish decryption before the Rogue AI can recover" before the sentinel return its focus on helping the Marines deal with the Sentinel enforcers.
"Got it!" yelled Anders as she got the last line of encryption before the new line was finished. The gigantic Metallic blast doors hissed and slid open, revealing a room in a large area. In the far end of the wall, a bright red casing of the monitor shone, reanimating as the rampart AI return to original casing. Anders only have a split second warning before she jumped out of the way, A bright red beam blasted the space she was standing moments before. "Could you a little help here!" she yelled as she took a few potshots with her M6D Magnum pistol. The 12.7mm High Explosive semi armor piercing rounds struck their target and detonated in small puff of flash.
"Do you mean to blind me?" asked the AI mockingly as it sent another beam of laser at Anders, only for it to be blocked by a green Armor figure. A bright golden field surrounded the Spartan as his suit's Energy shield struggled to block the intense beam before giving out. What remains of the beam struck the Spartan's already dented armor, the reflective coating flaring brightly as it did its job. The Spartan stood for a few seconds before collapsing.
"Douglas!" yelled Jerome as he furiously switched target for his M6 Spartan Laser. The targeting laser stayed on the AI's casing, before a bright laser lashed out, hitting the AI and melting its outer casing.
"You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner. But this vessel is mine!" screamed the AI as it attempted to charged up another shot. Even as the eye glows with energy another red beam struck again, and plasma could be seen venting from the AI's casing.
"Go to HELL!" yelled Jerome with cold fury as he took aim at the Monitor once more. Before he could fire, a beam from the monitor hit him, throwing off his aim, the bright red beam traveled the distance before neatly melting a small hole in the forerunner metal.
"Wh….at…...have… y…ou…..d…o…n…e" before the light from the monitor dimmed. The AI hung limped in its casing as power slowly stopped flowing to it from the ships fusion generators. Without another word, Jerome dropped his weapon and hurried to Douglas, his brother in arms. The TEAMBIO system warned him that Douglas has suffered slight burns to his chest, making moving him unwise until the suit's bioform injectors get to work.
"Anders, tell me it was worth it" said the Spartan quietly as he began to open his pack for a can of biofoam.
"Yes it was, this is the controal bridge of the Forerunner ship, we should be able to deactivate the remaining sentinel enforcers." Replied Anders as she hurrily help Jerome insert the biofoam into the injectors.
"Then deactivate them, I got this" growled Jerome as he administer aid to his fellow spartan, Alice came over seconds later, hefting a M41 LAAG.
"We got the last two pair of enforecer around the bridge. Should be smooth sailing from here on out." She reported as she stood guard over them. "The Marines got the worst of it, three squads down. Not counting the wounded"
Jerome winced slightly at the mention of the casualty report before finishing the first aid treatment. "Hows the Lt fairing?"
"A few bruises aren't gonna keep me from doing my duty if that's what you're worry about." Responded Sanders as he walk over to the Spartans, Assault rifle held casually in hi hands. "Without you guys, we would have lost 5 times, hell maybe even 10 times more men to get here. Now lets get into the bridge and seal the doors. No telling when they'll be back" said the Lt as he nodded his head towards the now destroyed enforcers.
There was a stunned silence as the marines filed into the bridge along with the two spartan who carried Douglas gently into the Bridge. Even as the bridge doors hissed shut, Another sentinel Enforecers dropped from another shaft, there was nothing perculiar until its optical sensor blazed red and it began to move into the ship, hiddend until the time was right.
Authors note: Finally done with this chapter. Loyalist got a hell of a whup ass and citadel aren't doing very well in light of Serina's little message service. And the Rampart AI is still free and running around in the Forerunner vessel. Until the next chapter.
