[0900 hours, December 8th 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Orbiting Shaquille Colony]
The fleet was packed back up after three days of fighting on the colony. There were very little casualties with the upgrades the UNSC now had on most of their equipment, and almost no pilot casualties. The brutes were routed quickly in the first day, and remainders were hunted down for the better part of the next two days. Elena unfortunately was kept up in orbit for the entire time, and was ordered by Admiral Hood to keep an eye out for any return of the alien fighter coming back.
Her ordinance was almost entirely designed for dog fighting now, as her missile racks were revolving around the Penetrator anionic missiles and a micro missile system for harassment. The smaller missiles were nowhere near strong enough to take out a ship or even a fighter on their own, but enough of them hitting a target could destroy it or at least damage the craft. Elena had it equipped simply to keep shields down, as the constant hammering of them would stop the alien fighter from recharging. One pod carried over one hundred grenade sized missiles.
Elena and Dr. Wright were starting to realize that the Black Blade's 20mm Vulcans were now being considered obsolete despite the specialized ammunition they were using. The original intent was not for dog fighting, that was what the gauss cannons were for, but to assist in ground assaults. Most wraith tanks turned into swiss cheese in seconds from a burst of the Vulcans. Even scarabs would lose a leg quickly from a full spray of dual armor piercing Bull Dozer rounds.
"We're working on miniaturizing the particle cannons so they aren't expansion equipment my dear, and a newer Vulcan system that is stronger than the 20mm you're using" Dr. Wright told Elena as he stood in the hangar bay viewing room above while she sat with a drink in hand in a chair watching the maintenance below.
"Yeah, thanks for that. The 20mm were just gnat shots against that fighter last time… we have any more information on it since that time?" she asked and sipped on her fruit juice.
"We've sent back the debris you were able to recover, and may I say ONI is sending its thanks for that. They actually have their collective eye on you" Dr. Wright told her chuckling. She didn't smile.
"I'll pass on any job offerings they hand out thank you very much. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. I'm Air Force, and last time I checked we have our own secret agency don't we?" she asked.
"Oh, you could say that. They make ONI look tame in comparison" he smiled.
"I don't know who they are though" she sighed and sipped her drink.
"I hope you never do. They're friendly enough, but they're even better at keeping secrets and blending in than ONI is. You wouldn't even tell if someone was one of them. Ah, we've spoken a bit much about a group of people we barely know exist. Back to the fighter" Dr. Wright said, swapping back to the subject they were discussing.
"Alright, so, the 20mm need an upgrade. Can we get the 50s installed on the next iteration?" she asked.
"We think alike on that my dear. It's already done, I sent a notice for those to be replaced soon. They're still smaller than the cannons on a Long Sword, as that craft has a 120mm ventral, but what you lack in size will be significantly improved in ammunition type. I had a small chat with your friend, Marcus at his company. Very smart man may I say. The ammunition is based on a diamond compressor they have. The diamonds they produce are used in the focus systems of the M6 GRINDELL nonlinear rifles used for ground forces, and the excess unusable ones tend to be kept for re-bonding." Elena looked at her fighter as the maintenance was being done on it. She was so tired from running boring patrols without her squadron in orbit. They were the ones who went down to the surface and helped in the clean out.
"Re-bonding? So what does that have to do with the ammunition?" she asked.
"We've found a way to use that cast off in the ammunition. Diamond tipped rounds with a quartz underlayer and high explosive. It's both shield piercing and armor piercing. There is also an armored encasement that reacts once the outer shell detonates, and a small nanite pod opens up to continue damaging their surroundings. They search out for power signatures. Against shields the nanites would be destroyed easily, but against armor once you've penetrated the shields…" Dr. Wright trailed off.
"A poison dart. Now that's useful. I'd take a guess as to the expense for it?" she asked.
"Actually my dear, you'd be surprised the cost isn't that much higher than what you are using right now. Since it's cast off from compressors creating full perfect diamonds, we have the compressors now just create nothing but cast off chips" he told her. She seemed surprised.
"Alright, that sounds good. The next one is I heard we have an EMP cannon that can be equipped?" she asked.
"Um, yes… that… you see my dear; that is carried by the X23 NNEMP Gremlin vehicle. We can get one for you, but the thing is somewhat… difficult to repair. Your friend Ezekiel expressed concern with that. It also does not repair from the nano weave armor on your fighter like most of the other equipment, and it will require an upgrade to the generator. We've already been working on a dual layer pinch fusion reactor that can seal itself off in the event of overheating, with a twin ion generator to replace yours right now. Should provide far more power when you need it, and less of a cool down on the laser battery you have" he said as he wrapped his knuckles against the armor of the Black Blade.
"Ok, so new cannons, new power supply, new EMP cannon, the particle cannons are being miniaturized… wait, the particle cannons aren't going to be expansions anymore? Are you developing some new housing for them or something? They broke stealth characteristics pretty easily" she said as she looked off towards the vehicle armory, and saw both of the cannons through the small door window.
"Mainly, yes, and shortening the barrel. Newer advances in focusing control have made the need for a longer barrel moot my dear. Gone will be the day of having two tusks growing from the front of your craft and obscuring vision" he said smiling.
"Not obscuring my vision, just Merricks. He loves those things… I'm about to authorize him to have them installed what with that thing lurking out there" she grumbled.
"Yes, I can understand your wariness. We've been working on a new ECCM system to replace what you have now, and it is being transferred as we speak. It should be able to cut through what that thing was able to produce to jam your sensors, though considering you've found out how to cut through it on your own, I don't know if it is much of an improvement. Still, useful for the rest of your squadron." Dr. Wright swapped between files on his data pad to cover more information he had.
"Ah yes, the new P-2 anionic missile is coming along nicely. Should provide more of a punch than what you have now. Until then, you'll just have to hit the right spot and hope it's something essential. Knowing you however, that makes no difference. The engines are also being upgraded. Nothing especially fancy, simply better materials for cooling and control. Should allow you to eek out a bit more speed, but nothing especially amazing. Well, thank you my dear on your report log for your craft. I've read over the reports of the others in your squadron, but frankly, all theirs says is "Awesome craft, simply awesome." I believe yours has far more detail in suggestions for upgrades and capability" he said grinning.
"I said it how I was supposed to. The Black Blade is an incredible fighter, however against what we just dealt with, I'm surprised we won. Next time I might not be so lucky. That thing ran because I caught it off guard, and continued to attack it quickly and aggressively. Daveth, you saw the video footage. The shields ignored four medusas, the anionics simply took armor off, and the Vulcans did nothing but annoy it. Gauss cannons seemed to weaken the shields, but not by much. Don't even get me started on that thing's weapons either…" she sighed.
"I can understand my dear. We noticed the shields recharge quite quickly, with almost no delay before the start of the recharge cycle. That's very impressive. We calculated it took only a second for it to start recharging. Even the Spartan's MJOLNIR armor takes at least 4 seconds, and the Sabre and the Black Blade take three. The power source on that thing must be… highly advanced my dear… more so than even the forerunners maybe" he said softly, almost as if someone would hear.
"That's disturbing. Someone out there more powerful than forerunners and they're hostile to us. Not something I really want to accept" she said in a worried tone.
"Well, you were able to outfly the thing, all we need to do is advance our technology significantly enough for you to win the next time. I hope that will be much later my dear. Well, I should send this information off for the Skunk works to work on the Black Blade II" he said and patted her on the shoulder. She nodded to him and continued watching the maintenance down below and finished her drink.
"Oh, by the way, I cannot believe it slipped my mind, my apologies my dear. Your shields are going to be modified a bit. We've found a way to provide a better defense not through Covenant or Forerunner technology, but by age old stealth technology. The shields will be auto angling if hit, providing quite a bit more defense against beam weapons and projectiles. It will still react the same against explosives, but it should provide a better defense against the new threat." Elena looked up at him and cocked her eyebrow, then remembered just how stealth technology worked back in the day. Matte black armor paneling to ignore radar signatures. She wondered how that would look if her shields had to activate with a beam hitting it. She suddenly didn't want to find out.
"Thanks. You wouldn't per chance know where we're heading now do you?" She asked.
"I believe the next colony is called Erule. It is surrounded by an asteroid field from what I hear. The Jiralhanae have contracted some Kig-Yar to assist them in ambushing ships there, and they have a sizeable pirate fleet. You'll have to be on your toes while we head to the colony" Dr. Wright said. She nodded and thanked him, and he walked out of the viewing room.
[Two hours later]
"Alright lady and gentlemen, we are going to run simulations on going through the asteroid field today" Elena told her squad as they stood around her.
"But… we already know how to maneuver through asteroid fields ma'am" Roberts told her.
"Not with pirates attacking you don't. This is why I'll be fighting against you" she told them. They all groaned.
"In a pirate tug, not a Black Blade for the simulations" she finished. They looked up at her.
"Don't get cocky, this is why I want to run these. I want you to expect the unexpected. The tug I'll have could be equipped with anything do you understand? Mine laying equipment, stolen nukes, EMP cannon for boarding, flash bangs, grenade launching, tow winches and cable lines, the list goes on. You fly into the wrong area, and boom" she said and made hand gestures emphasizing the explosions. They nodded in agreement.
"I didn't know insurgents or pirates could be so adaptive ma'am. I've never fought anything besides Covenant" Jacobs told her.
"Now is your chance to learn. I'm going to try and pull every trick in the book to kill you guys in there, and you may die a lot, or a little, depending on how careful you are and what I can think up to catch you off guard. Are you ready?" she asked. They nodded and she escorted them to the sim pods.
"Alright, let's begin" she told them.
[1900 hours, December 8th 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Leaving Shaquille Colony]
Elena had put her squad through the wringer. She had mined multiple asteroids, planted nukes, placed cable lines to snag the fighters, blinded them and disabled their fighters with hardened EMP cannons. That was a thought she soon realized she needed to be fixed and sent an email to Dr. Wright immediately for the Black Blade IIs involving EMP shielding.
She had attacked them guns blazing while they were sorting through asteroids, slung them into asteroids and hired mercenaries to try and overwhelm them. She still had other tricks to use on them, but they were getting tired.
"God I'm dead again" Jacobs said.
"I am too" Merricks replied.
"Yeah but you weren't an idiot and flew around that last asteroid while she detonated a mine inside the thing. Damned fucker split in two and crushed me against another asteroid. That's a new one" he laughed.
"I take it you are not bored Lieutenant?" Elena asked with a smirk.
"Actually ma'am, no I'm not. It was boring dying so many times at first, but now, at least we're learning about this you know? I never expected mines to be so versatile" he responded.
"Yeah, no kidding right? Hey, um, Elena, how are you getting the mines in the asteroids? Drilling before?" Roberts asked.
"That's an interesting question David. Yes actually. Before you came in, I set the map up and drilled into multiple asteroids for this" she replied.
"Ok, so, that would mean we could detect vibrations or debris around right?" he asked. She smiled.
"Sweet. Thanks ma'am. All we have to do is look for craters that have drill debris near them for next time" Jacobs said. They all seemed genuinely eager to learn the different attack strategies the pirates could use.
"Please make a note all of you, this is not how pirates could fight you, this is how I'd fight you if I was a pirate. They may act differently than this, but at least you'll be careful" she told them.
"Oh I can see one way you couldn't prepare us ma'am" Merricks said.
"And what's that Merricks?" she asked.
"They could use diplomacy ma'am. They could use bribery to get us to ignore them, and when our back is turned, drop a fuck ton of rounds into our aft. You can never tell if they're for real or not" he told her. She thought for a moment and nodded.
"You're right, but that wouldn't be our problem as the ambassadors and ONI spooks on board would be able to respond to that for us, plus the dozens of AIs that could read tonal pitch in responses and other biological readings to see if someone is lying or for real. If we're sent out, it'll be to fight or escort transports. Point and shoot, not talk" she told him.
"I guess your right ma'am. We just have to take them out before they take us out" he responded.
"God I'm hungry…" Roberts said as his stomach growled.
"Yeah, dinner time. Alright boys and girls, we're stopping for the day. We'll pick up tomorrow at 0900 and do it again. I want to make sure you guys don't get caught unprepared. Dismissed" Elena said and they saluted. She saluted back and they walked out of the sim room.
"Being pretty hard on them I'd say lass" Ezekiel said as he walked up with a data pad.
"Better safe than sorry. An Asteroid belt is a pilot's urban warfare. There's no telling where something nasty could pop out. I'd rather not write condolence letters if I have to." Elena sighed and scratched her head.
"I hope the other squadrons are as expectant of an attack as me. I'd hate to see our squadron make it no problem but see everyone else get caught half blind. I wonder if they're running sims too" she said.
"I would take a guess as to yes Elena. Knowing how dangerous this next colony could be simply getting there, I doubt they wouldn't be refreshing on their belt strike flights" Ezekiel said as he tapped a few buttons on his data pad. Elena's stomach growled.
"I better get something to eat. I'll see you tomorrow Zeks" she said and patted him on the shoulder and walked out.
[0600 hours, December 10th 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Slip Space towards Erule colony]
Elena woke up early to head to the gym for a work out. She went immediately to the tread mill and started it at a jog.
"Hey you, haven't seen you around for the past few days" Renee said as she got onto the tread mill next to her.
"Hey, yeah, been busy. Erule colony is gonna be a bitch" Elena grumbled.
"How so? I heard it wasn't going to be so bad. Mostly pirates and rebels and… oh" Renee replied but then realized what that entailed.
"Exactly. Dog fighting. Very little ground combat, and lots of taking on hidden things. You guys are going to be doing urban warfare down there I heard though. Rooting out key rebel factions hidden in the cities" Elena said as she continued her jog.
"Yeah… we have a team of Sangheili Majors joining my squad to help find rebels. Just as they say all humans look alike, the feeling is mutual for us. I wouldn't be able to tell if someone was a rebel or just a civilian, especially if they're an alien race" Renee chuckled.
"Hey, I heard John and the other Spartans are training hush hush in a sealed off part of the ship" Elena said. Renee looked at her.
"So that's why I haven't seen him the past few days! He's been awfully stand offish lately… I wonder if I did something to make him angry?" she asked.
"Doubtful. I heard a rumor they're going to be equipped with booster frames to help us pilots through the asteroid belt. He and Linda are going to be flitting around with my squadron. That's probably why he hasn't had much time to be with you" Elena told her.
"Oh, well that's good in a way! I still feel alone without him, but if he's helping you guys then I can survive until this battle is over" Renee smiled.
"I can't. I kind of wish they weren't assigned with us. Those battle frames have no stealth characteristics to speak of. They stand out like a sore thumb. Would rather he stay inside and wait for us to do our job" Elena chuckled.
"Are you trying to tell me that Spartans are liabilities for you? Wow, I've heard it with Spartans and us marines, but that's funny" Renee giggled.
"It's true! We're used to zero g combat and staying in the air. They're used to being on the ground. Frankly I feel they'll get in the way of us flight jockeys. You can tell him that one if you like. It's simple experience. We're trained for this. They just sort of help where they're needed in space. We excel at flying" Elena said and turned off the tread mill and walked to the cable machine.
"Oh, I think he'll get a kick out of that. He probably won't feel insulted at all either. I think he knows where he stands these days. Super soldier, and not super pilot. That title belongs to you" Renee smiled and sat down on a dumbbell bench and started putting weights on.
"I just do my job RenRen. I just do my job" she said as she started pulling. Renee stopped putting weights on the bar and sat staring.
"What's wrong?" Elena asked.
"That's the first time I've heard you use my nickname" she said.
"Um… ok? Bad nickname, don't like the nickname…?" Elena asked.
"No, just… that's what a friend used to call me a long time ago" she said and seemed to be remembering a past memory.
"Should I stop using it? I can stick with Renee or Ren if you prefer, I don't want to make you uncomfortable" Elena said as she stopped pulling and looked at her.
"No, it's fine… don't worry about it. Just thinking that's all" she said and broke into a smile, but Elena could see it was a show.
Elena shrugged. "If you say so" she said and went back to her pulls. Renee got under the dumbbell and started doing sets.
"Well all be, how's it going Ghost?" they both heard and Elena shot up. She looked at the door.
"No fucking way. I didn't know you were stationed on this ship!" Elena laughed out. Standing in the doorway was Mark Jones.
"And I thought you were grown up the first time I met you! Sheesh, guess they let you bum around back then cause of Jack huh?" Jones chuckled.
"Yeah, well, don't let that fly around please. Keep it on the low down. Not many people know about that" she grinned and got up to hug him.
"God it's good to see you again. It's been way too long girl. How have you been?" he asked.
"I'm good, you? I heard you survived the… you know, being sent out" she replied.
"Yeah, a lot of pilots didn't make it. I was one of the lucky ones" Jones said in a low voice.
"Well at least a good pilot survived that battle. I hear you're a Lieutenant Commander now" she said smiling.
"Yeah, I keep the kids working in our squadron. But look at you, seriously, a Colonel? Sheesh, you really are bad ass, ma'am" he said, and then saluted suddenly as he realized what she was.
"At ease Commander, we're in the gym after all" she giggled.
"Sorry, force of habit these days. So I heard you were looking for me before. Wanted to incorporate me into your wing I think?" he asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, that doesn't go over too well with cross transfers between different branches as I later found out. Still, I had hoped" she laughed.
"Yeah, makes me wish I was Air Force sometimes. Still, being a Lieutenant Commander isn't bad. I'll be a Commander in six months" he said with a small grin popping up on his face.
"Well early congratulations. Aww fuck, where are my manners. Mark Jones, this is Sergeant Renee Kilburn" Elena suddenly turned around and saw Renee had stopped her sets and was just sitting there.
"My pleasure Sergeant" Jones said and shook her hand. Renee just stood there grinning.
"Yes Ren, he's a commissioned officer. Same as me. You don't have to feel awkward around him" Elena chuckled.
"Yes ma'am. Nice to meet you sir" she said and saluted. Jones looked back and Elena and cocked an eyebrow. Renee felt awkward.
"At ease Sergeant. Gym rules override rank most of the time. This is a downtime area, not a formal meeting. Still, good to meet you. You're the one with the Master Chief right?" he asked. She nodded.
"I'm surprised you didn't snag one of those Spartans fly girl" he chuckled.
"I'm engaged to a fire fighter in San Francisco bub" she smirked.
"Ah! That's great news! I'm really happy to hear that! He's a lucky man. Hey, I just shot over here to see you then I gotta head back out to help my commander snag the sim pods for our squadron" he said.
"Thank you… wait, what? Sim pods? My squadron is using them today" she said.
"Um… we scheduled them Elena. You didn't check the list?" he asked.
"I made the list Mark. Wait, we're not talking about the same sim room are we?" she asked.
"Lemme think. Sim room 4?" he asked.
"Nevermind. We have sim room 1" she said and sighed.
"You know, this is new having multiple sim rooms. Hell, remember when we had just the two hiding in the maintenance office down in the hangars?" he said chuckling.
"God… and swapping through the different flight ops was a pain in the ass" she giggled.
"Yeah! Half the time it was set to a Sky Hawk's score sheet!" he laughed. Elena rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Ah, good times. Hey, I really should get going. You said you're training your pilots in sim room 1 right?" he said.
"Yeah, room 1. I'm training them in pirate tactics in a modified tug against our fighters" she told him. He whistled.
"I've seen what your fighters can do Elena. I wish I had one of those. We're lucky we have Sabres now. I got trained last year in one. Impressive things they are, with the shields and new missiles. You said you're using a tug to fight them though?" he asked. She nodded.
"Lemme guess, they lost" he chuckled.
"Multiple times. I think they've seen just about everything a pirate could use against them though, at least what I'd think up if I was a pirate." He cocked his eyebrows and looked at Renee.
"Knowing her, that means things the pirates would be too stupid to think up. Still, doesn't hurt to be prepared." He looked over at Elena again and smiled. She sighed out loud and rolled her eyes.
"I'll go I'll go. It was good to see you again fly girl" he said and hugged her again.
"Good to see you too. Crash and burn" Elena smirked and put her fist out for a knuckle bump.
"Crash and burn" he replied bumped his knuckles against hers, and then walked to the door.
"Wow, I didn't know you knew so many people from during the war" Renee said as she walked up next to her.
"Yeah, he was sent off with the rest of his wing to a sector of space under attack while I was with my father when I was thirteen. He was in the same wing as some bastard who tried to… well, he was just a bastard" Elena told her and corrected herself at the end.
"Something happen?" Renee asked.
"I… don't really like talking about it. It was swept under the rug and now what's done is done. The pilot who did it is dead now" she replied.
"Did he hurt you somehow back then?" Renee asked.
"He… promise you won't tell anyone? Not even John?" Elena asked. Renee nodded.
"Back when I was on the Honor Bound John was ordered to escort me from the shadows, keep me from harm's way. It was a test. I can't go into details on why the test was done, but I can tell you I was in a gym like this one. The pilot in question came in with two of his friends and started badgering me, so I tried to leave. That's when things got out of hand and they grabbed me" she explained. Renee looked horror stricken.
"Did they…" Renee trailed off.
"No, they never got the chance. John came out of nowhere and threw one into a wall, socked the one holding me and launched him in the air, and was going to choke the pilot to death on the ground. I got him to stop, but still, the whole thing was… dramatic to say the least. If he wasn't there, I'm sure they would have raped me." Elena sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me any more if you don't want to. At least John was there to help" Renee said and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, well, as I said, what's done is done. The pilot is dead somewhere in space and life goes on you know? I um… I kind of want to drop this Ren. Sorry" she said. Renee nodded and they both walked out to get breakfast.
[0800 hours, December 11th 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Slip Space towards Erule Colony]
Elena watched with fascination as the Spartans weaved and slipped through their training in the Zero g environment. She was bored with the sim room as her squadron was now getting used to all of the tactics she pulled with the tug and even tried blowing up each asteroid themselves, which was actually a sound tactic as her tug ran to hide. She distinctly remembered hearing Jacobs yell "FUCK THIS!" before unloading all of his ordinance into the asteroids, blowing them apart and causing debris to scatter everywhere, forcing her tug to back off and escape further into the belt.
Now they were capable of getting through her training with very little problem. The Spartans disabled a fake bomb in one section then rolled around a large crate they used as an asteroid. No one aside from high ranking officers and Spartans was allowed into the section, so Elena felt honored that she was allowed to observe. John actually gave her a thumbs up and a Spartan smile, and she returned both as he glided through the air with no gravity to stop him.
"Alright, everything looks good for space walks. Let's get back to the sim room for the booster frames" Fred told them. John wasn't the ranking Spartan in the room anymore, as Fred was now a Lieutenant.
"Come to see us ground pounders zip through the air ma'am?" Fred asked.
"Yup, I just completed training my squadron yesterday. I'm pretty sure they're fit for asteroid combat. I have a question if I might be so inclined" Elena asked him as the other Spartans started to file out of the room once the gravity was returned to normal.
"Shoot ma'am" he said.
"Is it possible to provide a stealth cover in any way to the booster frames?" she asked. Fred looked at John and he shrugged.
"I believe they tried that ma'am. Doesn't work with the design" he responded.
"Hmmm, answers my question. Oh well, we'll adapt like we always do. Just asking" she sighed and walked towards the door.
"Is that going to be a problem ma'am?" he asked as the other Spartans looked at her.
"No, no problem I think. My squadron is just going to have to get used to booster frames zipping around in front of them. They're sort of used to being the fastest thing out there right now. I'm just fine with having back up. I've already flown alongside the Short Sword Bombers so it doesn't worry me much" she told him.
Kelly watched the both of them talking. "Well, we Spartans will make it easy for you up there, so don't worry" she told Elena. Elena blinked and looked at Kelly. She seemed to have a smug look on her face.
"Kelly…" Fred growled.
"What? I'm simply saying how we'll handle the problems that arise and let them fly through. We are Spartans, it is normal for us to escort others" she said. Elena's eyebrow twitched.
"Escort? Petty Officer, you're assisting Super Long Sword IIs. I can understand you saying that about them, but I am a whole different ball game" she retorted.
"We'll just have to wait and see ma'am" Kelly replied. Elena could tell that Kelly was full of herself. She knew the Spartan was one of the fastest on the ground, and reacted almost as quickly as she could, but that was only without a cortex scanner and everything else she had. With her cortex scanner Elena knew she could literally see in slow motion and her reaction time was a tenth of what she was without, which was already lower than the Spartans to begin with. Elena was designed to fly. Kelly was designed to fight. On the ground.
"I thought you had respect for us pilots Petty Officer. What happened to change your mind?" she said with a small smile creeping onto her face.
"Nothing has changed ma'am, but it's simply a fact. We're faster at responding, we can see farther and we shoot with greater accuracy" Kelly told her. Elena really thought she was full of herself now.
"Alright. Fair enough. I can understand you saying that about a normal pilot" Elena said. There was no point in arguing with her if she was set in that way.
"Ma'am? Normal?" Kelly looked suddenly confused. She clearly had no idea Elena was augmented.
It's supposed to be classified I know… Elena thought.
"That's enough Petty Officer" Fred growled.
"Sir" she said flatly. There seemed to be some tension between the Spartans, and Elena didn't want to be a part of it.
"Apologies Colonel" Fred told her.
"I gave her permission Lieutenant. It's alright. I can see how she can think that what with your strength and speed as well as your armor. Well, I'll let you guys get to the sim room. Pleasure talking with you all" she said. They saluted her and she saluted back, then they all walked out of the room. Elena smirked and just shook her head. She was getting tired of proving herself over and over. It wasn't that she was being egotistical, she simply didn't like being looked down on.
Elena walked out of the room and down the hall to eat.
[0900 hours, December 12th 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Approaching Erule Colony]
Elena slid into her cockpit and closed the hatch. She did her preflight check and was locked onto the mag rail. She then was given her launch number and sat for a minute, before being fired from the tube like a bullet. The rest of her squadron slid in next to her as two booster frames came up.
Elena slowed down a bit with her forward thrusters as she didn't know how fast the booster frames could go, and didn't want to end up plowing into them and explaining it to Renee.
"You can go faster than that right?" John asked. Elena smirked.
"We just held back for you geezers on your mopeds that's all" Elena chuckled.
"Ouch, that hurt, right to my heart. How vicious you can be" John laughed.
"Alright, touch the nose and let's get on with this. Raven Squadron, follow the boosters. I'll run drag and keep an eye on your exit" Elena said. Her squadron winked green lights and headed forward carefully into the asteroid belt.
"Sarah, keep your scanners at max, Merricks keep your ECCM working" Roberts said. They both acknowledged as they slid through the small paths between the asteroids, other paths closing as some mountain sized ones crashed into each other.
"Surprised pirates would try and stay alive out here… too much damage could happen…" Jacobs said as he looked from place to place.
"Not for us to judge, just kill. Keep your eyes frosty" Elena told him.
"Yes ma'am, just worried about the asteroid movements. Wait… Colonel, ma'am, you used mines inside the asteroids against us? What about thrusters buried into them?" he asked. Elena blinked. There's no way they'd try and sling asteroids at them.
"It makes sense. Spartans hold up right now!" Elena barked over the coms. John and Linda came to a stop with their thrusters and looked back at them.
"What's wrong?" John asked.
"Drop a scanner beacon on a nearby asteroid. I hope Jacobs isn't right…" Elena said worriedly.
"I hope so too ma'am…" Jacobs replied as Linda flew to an asteroid and attached a scanner beacon to it. The signal popped out quickly, waves of information coming back to them.
"Son of a bitch there's gotta be a whole corridor of booster modified asteroids in front of us… good call Jacobs. We're going around" Elena said. Jacobs chuckled on the other end.
"I was kind of hoping for there not to be any ma'am. Still, that's a whole new way to fight. Hey Spartans, detecting anything out of the ordinary that we haven't picked up? You never know" Jacobs said.
"Nothing. We'll keep you posted if we see anything odd" John said. The squadron zipped back and around two asteroids then slipped through a large hole on a large asteroid in the shape of a rough donut.
"Ok, something isn't right… anybody else getting way too many echoes?" Roberts asked.
"We're getting the same readings out here. The asteroids must have a metal that's screwing with our scanners. Motion tracking is still good though" John replied.
"That's… that's a bad thing though… we could get caught blind… shouldn't we… should we group with another squadron?" Sarah asked.
"Heads up! Hostiles sighted! They've opened fire! Collision! Returning fire!" A sabre pilot yelled and an explosion followed by a flare of shields was seen in the far distance.
"Son of a bitch, we really are fighting blind out here. Too many damned echoes!" Roberts said as Raven squadron moved to engage. They were cut off suddenly by a barrage of gatling turrets attached to the asteroids.
"Break off! Drop aerosol grenades! Should screw with their targeting!" Elena yelled as Raven squadron flew up and away, dropping small bomblets that opened up and disperse a mixture of argon gas, copper filings, iron filings and quartz shavings.
They all whizzed by and up over another asteroid, as Merricks operated a VOLCANO mine layer system to cover their tracks.
"Tangos on vector four four three-" "We've got multiple contacts trying to intercept-" "Verified hostiles, we are engaging" chatter was heard over the coms as all fighter squadrons engaged a very aggressive pirate fleet.
"Shit, having difficulty with locking onto this fucker!" Merricks growled as he dove after a very clumsy fighter.
"Those echoes are knocking our locks off kilter, do not fire blindly, we don't have enough missiles to do that and hit an asteroid. You could blow debris off and kill yourself" Elena warned as she shot off towards two tugs trying to drop a mine field.
"Copy that, looks like it's knife fight range until I can get a decent lock then" Jacobs replied as he shot up and away from a pursuing fighter coming after him.
"Look! Um… boarding craft!" Sarah spotted multiple transports going in the opposite direction of them.
"Shit, they're leading all squadrons deeper into the belt away from the fleet! Conundrum! You've got incoming boarders heading straight towards you! I don't know how they'll get by the shields, but suggest Spartans return and defend the ships. They planned this out" Elena said over the coms as she shredded a V wing from a fighter and sent it careening into an asteroid.
"Understood, all Spartans defend the fleet" Captain Dare said as their auto cannons opened up outside.
"We're handling multiple tugs trying to mine the area ma'am, if we leave now it could take days to find and detonate them" Kelly said over the coms.
"Negative, come back and defend the fleet" Dare ordered. Kelly shot past another asteroid and fired her chain guns at a fighter defending a tug, as the tug shot through a very large asteroid with multiple corridors.
Jacobs zipped after two fighters towards the same asteroid and got a lock on one.
"Finally, I got a lock ma'am, it seems only some of the asteroids have the metal that's screwing with us. Taking two on and heading back around" he said as Elena flipped and headed to assist.
"Keep an eye on the exit Jacobs, I know you have two easy pickings but they could be leading you" she warned.
"I know ma'am, I'm keeping an eye on the door and my foot on the breaks in case they are waiting for me" he said. She sighed in relief. He was thinking carefully. She taught them well.
Kelly headed straight towards the tug who was diving into the cross corridor in the asteroid and saw another tug fly right by her with no one on its tail. She only had one chance to get both. She opened her wings and fired a double volley of missiles without a lock straight at the tug heading into the corridor and shot after the tug that ran away in another direction.
Jacobs saw a tug slide by him in the crossing and continued on, right after the second fighter. The missiles flew straight down the corridor… and locked right onto him. He flew down the corridor and suddenly found multiple missile locks on him from behind.
His shields failed and he was trailing smoke from damage to his wings.
"Mayday! Mayday! Friendly fire on Raven 4-1! What the fuck! I have damaged thrusters! Forward thrusters barely functional!" Jacobs yelled over the coms.
"I'm coming to assist! What's the damage?" Elena asked.
"Thruster control was hit by a barrage of… fucking booster frame missiles or something, I'm leaking hydrogen and my shield emitters are damaged. Nano weave is working to repair, but I have no first defense!" he told her.
"Fuck, this was a screwed up run! We need to get back to the fleet! Jacobs can you move?" Elena asked.
"I'm functional but maneuvering is difficult. Oh shit!" he suddenly yelled as he saw on the exit of the corridor two tugs and the two fighters flip around and aim at him.
"They're waiting for me and I can't back off with the damage!" he yelled as they opened fire on him. He tried to dodge but his thrusters had difficulty responding.
"Jacobs! All Ravens! Respond immediately and assist!" Elena barked and shot fast towards the asteroid he was at. She saw the two tugs and two fighters firing at him, as the right wing ripped off and the armor chipped away quickly all over. She fired two missiles quickly into the first tug then fired her laser straight through the second, and hit the first fighter on the exit path. The second fighter ran but she was already on it, firing her Vulcans and shredding it.
"They called for backup" Roberts told her. Four armored tugs flew over an asteroid and opened up on her and Jacobs. He wasn't responding to calls. Multiple turrets woke up outside of other asteroids and fired at her.
Elena pushed her fighter right in front of Jacobs's, using herself as a shield and maxing her front arc with as much power as she could divert, using the new angled configuration against the guns they used on her. Two dumb fire missiles shot out and struck her head on, but she couldn't move or they would hit Jacobs.
"Shields are dropping quick! All fighters on the E-band, need immediate assistance coordinates nine nine two tap four eight one tap two two three" Elena started calling out as she fired at the tugs. She had two down before her shields started to fail from the huge onslaught of rounds she was taking.
Roberts and Sarah sailed over an asteroid nearby right then with Merricks hot on their tail, as John and Linda shot through the same opening Jacobs had come out of and fired all of their decoys and flares they had on their booster frames. Roberts and Sarah opened up with their gauss cannons on the last two tugs and Merricks sprayed at the turrets.
"Colonel! Are you ok?" Roberts asked.
"Minor hull damage, I have a breach on the second engine, closing it off. To hell with me! Check on Jacobs now!" she growled with a large hint of worry. John and Linda floated over to Jacob's fighter. His cockpit was dented and damaged, sparks coming from some of the outside hexagonal cameras, and his left engine was almost on fire. There were bullet holes riddling the outside armor paneling and one of the gauss cannons was bent out of shape. Half of his right wing was gone.
"I need an emergency transport over here now!" Elena barked over the coms.
"Copy, Hotel 2-2-1 coming to pick up" she heard. Hotel 2-2-1 was a medical transport that was directly linked to her wing.
"Raven Vulture 3-1-1 coming for escort." They all saw a lumbering gunship move over the top of the asteroid, its twin GUA-23 Linkless autocannons at the ready. Jacobs was still not responding.
"Who the fuck fired those and didn't get a damned lock?" Elena growled over the coms.
[Five hours later]
Elena sat next to Jacobs's medical bed as he lay unmoving with a breathing mask over his face. He had two IVs stuck into his arm, and he had recently gone through surgery. A round had managed to punch through the cockpit and penetrate his suit, smashing right through his lower rib cage and coming out the other end. The suit had sealed against vacuum quickly, but he was barely alive when the medical transport got to him.
She was reading a data pad with video footage around that area, looking for all clues as to what happened. He would have been fine if he wasn't hit by the missiles before. She knew he could have easily gotten away from the ambush if he wasn't attacked by a friendly. She simply had to find out who it was.
"Cherry, I need you to do me a favor. Would you tell Petty Officer Kelly to come to the medical ward immediately please?" she said just as she saw the raw footage of Ash G-099's booster frame. Ash was assigned to be the partner to Kelly for the battle, and had video of her heading after those two tugs and firing her missiles. Elena was livid. The Spartan had just gotten through being so proud of her top notch abilities only to produce friendly fire on someone. That someone was one of her pilots.
"How is he doing" Dr. Wright said as he walked through the glass door into the recovery room. Admiral Hood was right behind him.
"Sir" she saluted quickly and he saluted back.
"At ease. He's out of surgery. Is he going to be ok?" Hood asked.
"They said he'll be fine now, he just has to take it easy for a bit. I can't believe it. The round punched clean through his liver. They had to clean him out and clone a new one for him. And all of this because a Spartan fired from the hip" Elena growled.
"A Spartan you say? Which one?" Hood asked.
"Petty Officer Second Class Kelly-087. She fired a barrage of missiles down into an asteroid with multiple corridors to catch a tug trying to escape just so she could go after another tug, AFTER all Spartans were called to assist the fleet in repelling boarders. The only reason John and Linda came to assist was cause of my emergency call to them. God damn it…" Elena explained and balled her hands into fists. She was angry, and Hood could relate.
"After all that talk about how good Spartans were, and she produces friendly fire. That just gets me you know?" she said.
"I understand. How was it she attacked Lieutenant Jacobs?" Hood asked. Elena picked up the data pad and handed it to him. He watched as she fired her double missile volley into the corridor while Ash was trying to catch up. He saw something fly across the corridor and the missiles suddenly gained lock and followed it.
"I see. So she didn't bother to get a lock in a very difficult blind area. That was a very poor choice" Hood told her.
"I mean, seriously sir? No more Spartans in space please? At least until they go through some flight competency test for others safety. Let the flying be done by us pilots. I respect them on the ground, we'd have much higher casualty rate from the last battle if they weren't there, but for crying out loud, she just put one of my pilots in the med bay for doing his job" she explained.
"I agree. Spartans only attack threats, and Jacobs was clearly not a threat. He's your pilot Colonel Gripen, how would you like to handle this?" Admiral Hood asked her. Dr. Wright gazed at her. She sighed.
"I was originally livid with her after finding out about this, now…" she trailed off just as Kelly walked into the medical bay. She looked over to the glass door and walked in.
"Petty Officer Second Class Spartan-087 reporting as ordered ma'am" she said and saluted. Elena could see the glance towards Jacobs lying on the medical bed.
"Petty Officer, I know what happened out there from video footage. Now, I'm allowing Colonel Gripen to handle your punishment. You were ordered to return to the fleet, and instead you disobeyed that order to go on a personal glory quest to take out two tugs you said were dropping mines. Granted you might have been clearing them out before backing off to assist the fleet. While those mines might have hampered our movement towards Erule, that would not have caused casualties. Colonel?" Hood told Kelly, and then looked at Elena.
Elena looked up at Kelly and could see she looked genuinely sorry. She screwed up, and now a pilot was wounded. Jacobs liked the Spartans. He talked to them whenever they were nearby, which the Spartans found odd. He was quite social to everybody now, and his view of being full of himself had all but evaporated. He now realized making others feel good about themselves made him look good.
Elena just looked at her with disappointment. "Admiral, I do not believe it is in our interest to have Spartans upstairs with us again unless they go through mandatory safety flight courses. She ruined it for the others. While I do not enjoy broadening it across the whole Spartan squad, it will keep things like this from happening. It's for the safety of our pilots. When fighters are not outside, I don't care, but this… this wasn't thinking about others around you. What made you think to fire without a lock?" she asked.
"I was attempting to destroy an enemy threat that could take lives in the future ma'am" Kelly responded.
"What you attempted and what you did are two different things. This is why we pilots save our missiles. Those things are more powerful than gauss cannons or our guns. You fired an entire salvo at the tug when one would have sufficed. Why? Why so overzealous?" Elena asked.
"Some of the missiles would have hit the side of the asteroid ma'am" Kelly said, a slight hint of nervousness in her voice that Elena could detect.
"So wait until you are on the other side or pursue him Petty Officer, we had no idea how many pirate forces they had out there. We're a long way from home with a supply chain that isn't fully up and running yet. And here, right here, it shows you heading after another tug nearby after firing your missiles. You changed targets without checking to see if the first target was hit! Your fire and forget nearly cost a pilot his life! Did you even bother to check your motion trackers? I know for a fucking fact John and Linda's trackers weren't affected by the jamming from the materials in the asteroids. It only affected our sensors, not motion" she said. Kelly looked like she was trying to think of the right words.
"Ma'am… I… I am deeply regretful of my actions today. I did not intend for Lieutenant Jacobs to fall victim to my attacks. I know I am to still be punished for my actions and will take whatever measures are necessary in my punishment. My attempts obviously failed and it was a grave error in judgment on my part." Kelly stood there waiting for what Elena had in store for her.
"Petty Officer, I don't care if you are a Spartan, I know what you have inside you, I know what you think you're capable of and what we've seen you do. How you fly is completely different than how you fight on the ground. There isn't any cover you can hide behind up here except temporary ones like asteroids or ships, and you are still moving by them. You rely on locks to make sure your missiles and rounds hit the target and not a friendly, cause all of it will keep going out here. You are relying on your booster frame or fighter you are flying, not yourself. All other fighter pilots had adapted during that battle by swapping to guns and using very few explosives. The chance of blowing debris off of asteroids was too great. I don't know what you thought would have happened, but we KNEW what would happen. We didn't have any problems until you fired that salvo."
Kelly looked hurt by her words but continued to try and keep her stone mask showing. Elena just shook her head and sighed, disappointed.
"After all that talk, you're just like any other ground pounder thinking it's the same up here as down there. It's all guts and glory and never realizing just how careful or boring some other jobs are. During the battle of Shaquille I had to stay up top for reasons I can't explain to you while you guys were running around blowing things up. I didn't disobey orders then, and I didn't fire random volleys down below hoping they'd hit something I saw shoot by. You're dismissed Spartan" Elena told her in a soft tired voice.
"Ma'am, I don't know what my punishment is" Kelly said.
"I already told you. Spartans are not allowed outside to assist in dog fighting for the duration of this mission unless a mandatory flight safety course has been taken. It's too dangerous for others without it. You are a loose cannon, one that I don't want near my squadron again until you can change how you respond in a fighter battle as well as your attitude. Dismissed" Elena ordered. Kelly saluted hesitantly and turned on her heel, then walked out of the medical bay.
"You handled that well. Not a very harsh punishment however for friendly fire" Hood said.
"Trust me sir, it's very harsh once the other Spartans find out she's to blame for their being watched like little kids and put through safety courses. Her peers will put her in her place for me. I hate that it is a punishment placed on all the Spartans, as John and Linda were helpful out there, but this has proven just how much experience they have in a fast space combat situation" she told him. Hood smiled.
"That's good leadership. You balanced her punishment well and with thought put into it. Most officers would simply have put her in the brig or court martialed her, or if they wanted to, destroy her career and make her do menial jobs on board. They could have even transferred her to some backwater post somewhere watching a farming colony. I must admit, I didn't expect that Colonel." Hood saluted her and she saluted quickly back, and he nodded to Dr. Wright and walked out of the room.
Jacobs was still asleep from the anesthetics, and Elena just stared at him.
"I hope I did the right thing to make sure this doesn't happen again." Elena took a small box she was given during the surgery and placed it on the table nearby. She opened it and aimed the box so Jacobs would see it when he woke up. Inside was a purple heart medal.
"You just rest and get back to us when you can Lieutenant" she whispered and patted him gently on the shoulder. She then walked out of the medical room.
(Author's Note: Eep, Kelly is a bit wild compared to the other Spartans. She needs to chill out like John. By the way, the VOLCANO system is actually a mine layer in real life, this is just like a MK 20 something version in the future. They are automated mine layers equipped on tanks or choppers to create a random pattern mine field. A friend of mine works on them. I wonder who will cover for Jacobs's position until he's back on his feet? Please review!)