No POV
"Identification please." One of the two Honor Guards who stood watch outside the Prophets room steps forward and holds out an arm expectantly.
The other remained where he was standing, but kept a firm grip on his energy pike as he eyed the two Spec Ops Sangheili.
Zur nods and pulls out a small disk which he hands into the Honor Guards outstretched hand. He turns around to place the disk into a terminal beside the door while his partner keeps close watch of then two, just in case they attempt to stab him in the back. The screen rapidly runs down Zur's vital information which it verifies and the light above the screen turns green as it verifies and accepts all his information.
The door slides open and then guard removes the disk from its slot and returns it to its owner and does the same with Tos 'Rofumee. "Very well. You may enter." The guard rumbles and steps aside.
Zur enters the chamber, pushing the light red see-through curtains that were hanging from the ceiling. Most Prophets preferred using the style of natural beauty by surrounding themselves with plants, organic furniture and even small environments. Even though all of such environments would undoubtedly be artificial, they at least enjoyed the illusion.
But with the Minister of Elegance, that was not the case.
He intended to enjoy his wealth granted to him by his rank to the fullest. He allowed only the most lavish of things into his rooms, from wines, furniture, food and clothes. The Minster was seated on a cushion made from imported Thremaleon leather and dressed in dark blue robes made from Doamir and Filigree.
On either side of him were two female San'Shyumm dressed in skimpy robes giggled as they served him imported wine. Tos averts his eyes while Zur silently shakes his head in disapproval of such excess.
He actually respected the San'Shyumm's desire to live alongside nature, and never approved of such luxuries on a warship now less, not even for a Prophet. He pushed his discomfort aside and salutes. "Minister."
The Prophet looks over his shoulder and holds up a glass of wine. He smiles, a slurred and drunk smile. "Greetings Commander. Would you care to join me?"
He respectfully declines remains standing behind him. "There is important business I must discuss with you alone." He emphasizes the last word with a glare at the females who were still standing there and watching the exchange.
Elegance sighs audibly and gestures the females away with the flick of his hands. The two disappear into an adjoining room. "Very well. What do you have to discuss?"
Zur gestures to Tos who steps forward and places a hand on his chest. "This is Tos 'Rofumee, one of my best officers and spy." He explains until the Prophet stops him.
"Yes, yes." He says impatiently. "I've read your recommendation to have him transferred to your unit. Now what does this have to do with what you have to say."
"Have you read my most recent report?" Zur quiestions.
The Prophet doesn't reply at once. With a great sigh he draws himself from his cushion and begins to make his way towards his desk. The Ministers legs tremble with every small step he takes, evidently he does not have his gravity belt with him.
He digs through several files on his desk until he pulls out a datapad and begins to read. His eyes move back and forth as he scrolls through it. The wattles dangling on his chin bounce around as his lips parth. "How many ships?"
"Four battleships and several more supply ships." Tos replies grimly. His mandibles press together in anger. "Along with several thousand warriors on the surface."
"And have you been able to verify who these humans were? Can we be sure that they are the Demons?" Then Prophet sets the tablet down and rests himself on his chair, pouring himself another bottle of wine.
"For that I think Tos can handle then report." He backs away to let the younger Sangheili forward.
He attaches the recordings from his helmet to a projector. An image of five Spartans sprinting through a skyscraper that had once been an officer, but was now used by the Covenant as their main supply base. "Several days ago these Demons infiltrated our base on the planet known as New Nicea. They had planted a bomb that destroyed the entire city, and to our knowledge, all the demons were able to escape."
When he finished his report, Zur spoke up once again. "This is why I've proposed to assemble a team to hunt down the Demons and stop them from causing any more damage to our operations here."
"And I presume that it will be you who will be the one leading this team?" The Prophet guesses, smiling a bit.
Zur pauses. "If that is what the Prophet wills."
"Well Commander, I do not believe that hunting them will necessary." Then minister says at last.
Both Sangheili stare at the Prophet, mandibles slack in shock. Tos was the one who recovered first. "Prophet, how could you possibly say that?" He gestures towards the image again, which now changed to the massive crater that remained out of the city. Part of the remains were tinted green from radiation. "This is only proof of the destruction they can cause."
"I agree." Elegance says readily. "But I have already handled the situation."
Zur looks at the San'shyuum questioningly. "What do you mean? How was the situation handled?"
"Those Demons escaped to a ship did they not?"
The two Sangheili nod. "Then those ships are being hunted down. I sent two Battlecruisers to finish them off. More than enough to deal with a few human survivors."
"But would it not be best to have a squad prepared if these humans manage to survive."
"They will not survive Commander." A little bit of impatience begins to creep into Elegance's tone.
"Do not underestimate the humans Prophet." Zur reminds him quietly.
The Prophets nostrils flare. "This is the end of this discussion Commander."
Percy's POV
Bang. Bang. Bang. Three shots, three hits. I squint my eyes and look at then targets. Although they all hit their target, none of them were complete bullseyes and were just in the inner ring.
Still, it was over twenty meters away and I was definitely not a sharpshooter like Nathan. I set my M6 down and slide the now empty clip out. I pick up a fresh one and jam it in.
Activating the 2X scope, I peer through it take aim. I exhale and squeeze the trigger. My magnum bucks several times as half a dozen rounds are discharged.
One was a clean miss while the other five hit, including one bullseye. I do a mental cheer and fist pump.
"Heh nice job Spartan." A voice says from the other side of the shooting range. Annabeth appeared and grins at him. She was dressed in her black ONI uniform. She removes her gun from her holster and takes aim, firing a single round at a bullseye.
"Lieutenant." I give her a quick nod.
"Please, call me Annabeth." She says, placing a finger on her chin. "Percy right?"
"Ya. Thats me." I look at my tacpad as the computer begins to automatically calculate my scores, factoring in my fring speed, accuracy and number of shots. My score wasn't great, but it was passable. "So what brings you here?"
Annabeth quirks her eyebrow as she fires several shots into the target. "Oh right." I flush in embarrassment and Annabeth chuckles. A shudder goes throughout the entire ship and causes them to stumble around.
"What was that?" I demand, planting my feet firmly on the ground.
"What do you think." Annabeth leans in and leans to the side. "It's the General."
I glance at her in surprise. "The General? What does she have to do with this?"
Annabeth quickly looks away sullenly. She straightens herself once the vibrations have died down. "She caused this by staying here. The General is fighting a losing battle by trying to stay here, yes she saved us but we're trapped like cattle."
"You don't agree with her strategy?" I question, moving in closer to look her in the eye.
She doesn't back away and meets my stare, even stepping closer. "No, I do not. But I suppose you wouldn't understand." Her gray eyes lit up like a thunderstorm
"I do." I reply much more quietly. "That last battle proved that she's far too reckless."
Annabeth look up at me, but more of curiosity rather than anger. "She can plan for defeat, but never admit defeat. She's risks the lives of her soldiers without a moment's hesitation to take on a superior foe."
"I didn't see you saying any of you that when she wanted to take on a battlecruiser."
I feel my jaw clench up tightly. "Well ya thats true. But what would you have expected me to do? Just yell at her in the middle of a battle?"
"That's what you're sister did." Annabeth counters.
"And where did that go?" I remind her, raising my voice a bit. I was careful not to become too aggressive, Annabeth may have been the same age as me, but I she still outranked me considerably. "Look what happened to her. She was nearly court martialed and sent off the bridge and did it change a damn thing? No. She only listened when I gave her another idea."
The young ONI agent bites her lip, she didn't have a good response to that and simply nods in begrudging agreement. "I suppose you're right there. She's as stubborn as a mule."
Despite his effort, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Yes, yes I suppose she is."
Annabeth cracks a smile and joins in. "Just don't tell her that I said that."
I nod as the Intercom sounds above our heads on the speaker there. "Will Lieutenant Annabeth Chase please report to the bridge."
"Well." Annabeth sighs and places her pistol back into her belt. "It looks like I need to go now."
"I can walk you to the bridge." I offer open the door for her.
She smiles gratefully and nods. "Thank you. I'd like that."
The two of us make our way to the bridge where Athena was hunched over her command chair. She kept her hands intertwined with each other as she mumbled to herself.
"General." I salute and Annabeth steps forward.
The looks up and regards both of us with cold calculation. Her grey eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. "Why is he here?"
"He is with me."
She considers that for a long moment, before finally shrugging. She nods and points towards the viewscreen. "Good. What do you see on the monitor."
I look up and instantly I knew what she was talking about. All my anger and frustration about everything that's happened so far now melted into my feet and was replaced by fear.
They still were hidden in the debris field left over from the last naval battle that took place here. The Paris was able to hide for several days under the cover of hollow armor plates that were once used to protect living humans and now did so once again.
But now there was nothing large enough to hide them from the two battlecruiser looking to bear down on us. A few bits of armor and destroyed hulls blocked our path, and thankful theirs, but that wouldn't be nearly enough to stop a dozen speeding plasma torpedoes.
"I've spent hours racking my brains for a way to get out of this mess to no avail." Athena admits, looking at Annabeth who seems to also be doing the same thing. But eventually she gives up and shakes her head mumbling the words no over and over again. "So you have the same idea as I have?"
Annabeth nods miserably as the General places a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. It was the kindest gestures I've ever seen her give. "There no other way."
"Excuse me." Percy interjects. "But I don't follow with what you are saying."
Athena shoots me an annoyed look. "I'll let Annabeth explain it to you."
She sighs and slumped back on the wall. "Percy. Our camouflage equipment won't matter once they see us and get a lock on our electromagnetic signal." She looks at the General for confirmation who simply gestures for her to go on. "So hiding out of the question and so is using our weapons. With all the debris we don't have a clean shot and the other ships are still hiding."
"But that means their ships can't hit us either." I add hopefully.
"True, but they have better tracking systems and they don't need a clean shot. Not when their plasma torpedoes can be redirected to hit us. The only thing they need is less debris in the way."
"So our only option is to die?"
"It isn't. After considering all our variables, I deduce that we can attempt a break out with all our remaining weapons. We have four MAC rounds, Three Shive Warheads and all remaining Autocannons and Archer missile tubes are still functional."
"We can probably put up a good fight before we're destroyed." Athena puts in, her jaw clenched in determination. Even Annabeth seems to be a bit more hardened after that discussion.
I curl my fingers into a fist and slam it into the wall. "No. That can't be the only way! I'm not about to give up that quickly." Desperation creeped up into my voice. I was terrified. I knew from the moment I signed up to be a Spartan that I would die. But I always wanted it dying on the battlefield, preferably after killing many, many Covenant.
"It is." Athena replies somberly. Her normally commanding voice sounded so tired. Almost as if death was welcoming, like a break from everything. It scared the crap out of me. "Lieutenant arm all warheads and put a fresh MAC round in the cannon. Let's give these aliens a fight they will remember forever."
The weapons officer, pale as death nods. In the split second I saw his face, pity filled me for all the men and women on board the bridge for having to rush headlong into death, and jealousy for the people below for their ignorance.
I was tempted to run downstairs and warn my teammates to get out of here. To jump aboard an escape pod and fly out while they still had a chance. But in the end I knew they wouldn't go without me.
"Fire all autocannons." Athena shouts, putting her glasses back on. A dozen point-defense guns going off rattle the entire ship. Bullets ping against metal, blowing tiny holes into them until they were weak enough to just break apart on their own.
A sustained burst when on for almost a minute before the guns stop, smoke rising from the barrels and literally thousands of empty shell casings were floating around them.
"Forward!" Athena shouts. The Paris begins to move forward, pushing through the tiny bits of wreckage. Now there was only a tiny pieces of metal between us and then enemy ships. An easy clean shot for us
"Energy levels climbing on the cruisers. Their preparing to fire on us." A tech reports urgently.
Athen doesn't seem overly concerned. "Good. That's what I was hoping for. Prepare the MAC to fire on the cruiser on the left. We use the same tactics we used on the Destroyer."
That last sentence didn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence from the crew after our last battle nearly cost us our lives. But none of them protest, especially after seeing the lights on the battlecruisers plasma cannon begin to power up and charge. A sphere of plasma begins to form in front
The shield around the cannon's begin to vanish. A small hole forms and the shield angles towards me. "Fire!"
A shudder goes throughout the ship as the MAC fires once. Made from a depleted uranium core, the massive slub easily flies through the tiny bits of debris in its path, burning its way towards the Covenant ship.
It strikes home, crumpling the ship's hull like paper. The cannon tries to fire, but the damage was too much for it and causes explosions begin to blossom throughout the area. It wasn't a killing blow, but at least it would leave it disabled for the moment.
But the other ship was still in action. Its plasma turret was preparing to fire, and though over a hundred Archer missiles do manage to hit it. Its effect is far less effective than the MAC gun, it does manage to knock the turret off course.
The plasma torpedoes fly towards us, thankfully missing the bridge narrowly. Instead it burns through the sides. The Titanium-A armor starts to boil away and klaxons start to blare as the decks begin to melt away.
A large gash was left in the starboard side like a brutal scar.
"Begin pressurizing all damaged decks and reload our weapons." Athen marches around the bridge, pointing at then battlecruisers. "Lets show them that we're not about to give up so easily"
The MAC fires again at the first cruiser. Then slug stops short as the shields were back up and absorb the weapon. Flames were burning on the side of the ship and its armor took a serious beating. But it was still ready to fight again. And that wasn't even starting with the second ship.
I felt my heart begin to thunder rapidly in my chest. So there really was no way around this. Sweat begins to trickle down my face. Gods no not like this. I don't want to die like this.
The console of the navigation officer begins to beep. What could he be doing? A slipspace jump is impossible in these quarters and with ships with us. "Slipspace signatures! ETA in twenty three seconds!"
Gods what was happening.
A blue portal materializes right behind the cruisers. Then another. And three more. It kept going until there were nine in all.
The largest one began to swirl as something came out. A massive Carrier begins to speed towards the damaged cruiser. It tore through the narrow section behind the head.
The battlecruiser didn't stand a chance.
Maybe if it was at full power and undamaged from our previous salvo then it might have been able to handle the attack. Instead it broke like a head snapping off from a neck. The Carrier emerged through the flames, smoke trailing behind it.
The other ships, a Halcyon-class light cruiser and several Frigates and Destroyers form up around the Carrier. As one they fire on the surviving cruiser. Each one slams along the length of the ship.
Almost instantly then shields shudder and overload, now unprotected the MAC rounds rip its hull and breaks apart.
Everyone was silent for a long moment. No one was able to comprehend what had just happened. A moment ago everyone was expecting death, but now. We were alive.
Slowly, the woman behind the Operations controls begins to cheer. She was followed by the Lieutenant on Weapons systems. Then two techs standing behind him. The effect was a chain reaction with everyone bursting out to cheering and clapping.
Even Annabeth surprisingly throws her arms around me in a tight hug. "We did it! We survived."
I shake off my surprise and smile back, returning the hug. "Yes, yes we did."
A holotank powers up. This was supposed to be used for the shipboard AI, but as we don't have one it can double as a communication device. A short, stocky man was projected a few inches in the air. He wore full marine uniform with the badges of a Brigadier General. The only thing that ruined his strict militant image where the Ray Ban sunglasses.
"Greetings Paris crew." He announces, grinning broadly. "I've come with reinforcements."
"Oh excellent." Athena grumbles unhappily. "Thank you brother."
Ares lowers his shades slightly to reveal a pair of unnaturally red eyes. He was full on smirking now. "Oh. Hello there little sister. I hope I'm not too late to the battle."
"Where were you a few days ago?" Athena whispers under her breath. "Well maybe not too late to retake New Nicea."
"Already ahead of you." He gave one more confident smile before vanishing.
Athena shakes her head. "What the hell is he planning."
"Well ma'am." Annabeth was looking at the scanners of one of then techs the looks at her data pad. "We're detecting a large number of HEVs being launched from the Carrier towards the planet's surface."
The General's eye twitches. "How many ODSTs were deployed?"
"Approximately a single company of 130 Helljumpers." Annabeth replies.
The General unleashes a string of curses that a fourteen year old should probably never hear. But finally she calms down and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Annabeth, begin deploying our own ODST to support them. I need you with them to gather information." She turns to me. "I need you down there too Spartans." A small smile begins to form. "Someone needs to stop General Ares from getting too crazy."