An Uneasy Welcome
Black space was awash with pinpricks of light; it showered over our two ships as it appeared in the system of Eridanus Secundus. A beautiful system with many human planets once, it was glassed by the Covenant quickly and left to burn and broil. I looked upon it sadly, imagining the lives that may have been lost here. I popped off my helmet with a hiss as I looked upon the destroyed planets. I tried not to think about it. It was easy to look at numbers of death statistics, and that was what many generals did. They didn't see the lives that these people led, the people they affected. Every now and then you have dreams about people. A person you may have never met, but have led simple lives with their families and friends. Then the Covenant comes and destroys everything and everyone. Imagine that in your psyche. Once you start seeing bodies as actual humans, you begin to understand how valuable a human life is, and it's only fueled my resolve to stop the Covenant at all costs. In war, nobody wins, but it is the people who lose the most.
Chief was looking at me, his helmet also off studying my face with worry. "Something wrong?"
"I'm just imagining the people that lived here. The lives that they led." I replied.
He sighed, and looked at the planets. "I lived here once. I don't remember much about it. But this used to be my home."
We spent another few minutes staring into space, just standing on the bridge. Whitcomb was on the bridge as well, monitoring our situation. He'd called us onto the deck as Chief was the closest thing we had to an expert on the supposed 'asteroid field base' that we were going to.
"Systems check," Admiral Whitcomb ordered.
Haverson leaned over the console, whipping through several screens quickly, his eyes canning them intently. "Radiations fading," he smiled. "Nav systems as well as the aft and starboard scanners are all coming back online."
Fred was hovering over the Engineering station and reported. "Reactors are at sixty percent, no rise or fall. Slight leak in coil ten, hysteris leak. Currently compensating to adjust."
"Plasma?" the Admiral asked as he settled into the Captain's chair. Cortana's image flickered onto the pad next to him, and she gave a mock wave to both of us, eliciting a short chuckle from me before she informed Whitcomb about the situation.
"At the moment, we can only fire one turret," She said, and a wash of red bleeped across her image before cooling to her normal blue hue. "The two other functional turrets are offline. Their coils are refusing to align, and from my hypothesis it would be as a result of the radiation that the artifact we collected is emitting."
"One shot…" the Admiral muttered. He tugged on the end of his mustache before sighing. "We'll have to make it count." He looked at Chief. "Lead us through, son."
Chief stared at the three large monitors dominating the bridge. The sun of Eridanus blazed brightly, as Chief looked around. " Move us one-point-five astronomical units relative to the sun, heading zero-nine-zero by zero-four-five."
"Heading confirmed, coming about." Haverson confirmed.
"Plot an elliptical course parallel to the asteroid belt. Scan for asteroids two kilometers in diameter." Chief added.
"Scanning," She said. "It'll take some time, but I'll be done in a jiffy."
"Chief, tell me about your mission. You and the other Spartans were here before?" Admiral Whitcomb asked, a curious expression playing across his features.
"Yes, sir." Chief replied. "Me and 4 others. It was out first true mission. Infiltrate and extract rebel leader. We completed the mission in 2525."
"What the hell? The Spartans were around in 2525?" Lieutenant Haverson whispered in awe.
"Yes, and no sir." Fred answered. "We had no MJOLNIR nor the advanced weaponry. We looked like any other NavSpecWar team.
"Sure you did." Haverson said under his breath.
The Admiral raised his eyebrow, whistling in appreciation. " Five people made a zero-gee vacuum infiltration? Extracted with a prisoner who happened to be the guy in charge?"
"Yes, sir."
" Went off without a hitch didn't it?"
"There were enemy casualties, and we had to blow their cargo bay to escape."
"They're not going to be happy to see a UNSC ship knocking, especially when their leader got taken by them several years ago."
"Wouldn't expect so, sir."
"Faint emissions detected," Cortana interrupted. " Heading three-three-zero."
"Aye." Haverson confirmed.
"Run it down, keep on the course." Admiral Whitcomb ordered.
"Sir, if I may ask," Haverson said as he squinted at the forward displays. " Why are these people hiding here?"
"Think pirates and insurgents," Whitcomb answered. "They hijack ships, sell arms, and trade black market commodities. You might be too young to remember, but remember before the Covenant war not everyone wanted to be ruled under Earth."
"Rebels." Haverson answered. "I read about them. Why continue to stay separated when their chances of survival would definitely be better with us."
I decided to reply here. " Not everyone wants to fight. Some wanted to hide. When you're faced with a terrifying enemy, you have two reactions instinctively, fight or flight. They chose the latter, hoping the Covenant wouldn't bother them."
Admiral Whitcomb smiled, and said. "Well, that's about to change today."
The Bridge doors parted as Dr. Halsey stepped onto the bridge, her eyes bloodshot and fatigued. There were bloodstains on her white lab coat, and we all held our breath as she announced Linda's condition.
She smiled, a tired smile, but a smile nonetheless. "She made it. The organs took. She'll make it."
We all let out our breath, as Chief extended his gauntleted hand and clanked it on mine. No words could express what would be going through his mind at the time. One of his closest teammates, his friend, someone he had thought dead… was alive again. I looked at his face, and saw a smile, a true smile. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Thank you, Doctor." He said.
She waved her hand dismissively, but I could tell she was smiling. Every life must be saved was what she had preached. And she just proved it to us.
"Damn good news. Is she okay?"
"She's alive. She'll need at least a week to recover, even with accelerants. After that she'll need another three to be even nearly combat ready."
"She's a Spartan, and a fighter, she'll be fine." Fred said.
Our double ship moved into the asteroid belt, and three rocks appeared on the screen. One was highlighted. Cortana explained, "Of these three possible candidates, only one is rotating fast enough to generate a gravitational environment fit for humans."
"That's it." Chief replied, nodding towards the display. I looked at the rock. Was it possible that Chief was wrong, and the place was deserted? Or was it a lure for an unsuspecting ship to come by, and be trapped.
"Admiral?" I asked
" I know Lieutenant, we're taking the hook…. At least it looks like we are." Whitcomb chuckled softly to himself. "Cortana, I want you to power up the turrets on the Covenant flagship, even the non functional ones."
"Sir, you know they don't work right?" Cortana's holographic body flushed green for a second as the turrets warmed up.
"I know, but they" He pointed a meaty index finger at the asteroid-" Don't know that."
I had to smile at the Admiral's smart idea. Make it seem like we were very powerful, when we were in fact just as mortal as they were.
"Power dropping," Fred warned the Admiral. "It's dropping to around forty-four percent now and holding."
"Haverson," Whitcomb commanded, " Bring an open channel on their frequency, its time we introduce ourselves."
"Yes sir. Frequency matched, channel open now."
Whitcomb adjusted his collar, then his voice boomed loudly and full of authority, his Texan accent doing much to further the sense of power coming from his harsh twang. "This is the UNSC frigate Gettysburg. Respond. Anyone out there, respond."
Nothing came back but static. We waited patiently, and suddenly Whitcomb stiffened and made a throat-slitting motion at Haverson, who snapped off the communications channel immediately. I was confused at first, staring at the rock, and then I saw it.
"There were two tiny doors, looking as small as a pencil mark on a piece of paper. A fleet of ships launched from these doors quickly, and looking around I could estimate that there were around fifty of them. Pelicans modified with armor and chain guns. Civilian craft carrying huge missiles almost as large as the ship that held them, and single man engineering pods sputtering with arc welders in an offensive pincer. Finally in front there was one ship, which seemed to fade in and out of existence. Around fifty meters long, it had black stealth surfaces, and wavered like a mirage in a sandstorm.
"That's a Chiroptera vessel. That was in commission over forty years ago. Damn things an antique. How do they have these?" Admiral said in awe.
"Is it a threat?" Chief questioned.
The admiral frowned. "No. ONI decommissioned them because they had too many sensitive components without an AI, leading them to break down every other mission. Hell the only reason I know about it is because I piloted one. Only good thing about it is the fact that is has the smallest operations Slipspace drive we ever made. No weapons system. It's not a threat. It belongs in a museum. That should tell you how old it is."
"Slipspace capability?" Halsey perked up at the mention. "Maybe we can use it to get to Earth."
"Unlikely. ONI removed all critical components when they decommissioned these vessels. Their operating systems should be locked down so tight I doubt even Cortana could reactivate them. " Whitcomb replied.
Cortana whispered in Chief and I's ears. "I wouldn't bet on it."
"No weapons, that's all I need to know." I said, staring at the angular geometry of the vessel.
"Their haphazard fleet is flanking us in a wide ark." Fred interjected.
"They aren't a real threat. They must know that." Haverson said to himself.
Whitcomb growled. "They do. Cortana, Scan the nearby rocks for anything out of the ordinary. These rebels have something, an ace in their hole somewhere. If they didn't, staying hidden would be their best bet."
Fred announced loudly. "I'm receiving a video feed!"
The image of a clearly civilian man flickered on the screen in front of us. His auburn hair was tied back into a ponytail, and had a small goatee. He looked calm and collected.
"Captain…" the man said in a smooth tenor voice that sounded like a singers." I am Jacob Jiles, leader of this little establishment. What can we do for you?"
"First of all. I am not a Captain," Whitcomb grinned and replied. " I am a vice Admiral. Second, get your fleet out of my sights before I forget my manners and blast them to hell. Third, let us dock on your little 'establishment' for emergency repairs and refit."
Jiles face wavered only for a second before he laughed, and showed a mocking grin. "Admiral, my apologies, but we are unable to accommodate you today."
Whitcomb looked ready to blow, but said in a very deadpan forced tone. "Mister Jiles, I respectfully suggest you reconsider. It would be unfortunate for you if I have to ask more than once."
"With respect, Admiral, you are in no position to insist on anything." Jiles smiled again, showing teeth, as he nodded to someone who was lying in wait off screen.
"Emissions detected!" Cortana warned. "Radiation spikes, I'm counting around a dozen lying all around us. They're nukes."
"Hidden in the asteroid field. We're not dealing with idiots." I muttered.
" We have survived far far worse than you. We've escaped the long arm of Imperial earth, and the dreadnoughts of the Covenant intrusions. What makes you think we'll be scared of a patchwork ship ready to fall apart on its own? I hardly think we should waste one of these incredibly hard to get and expensive nukes on you." Jiles continued.
I looked carefully at his face. There was something that was off. He was lying about the nukes. With this many stolen someone would have to have known something was going wrong. No way could this happen without someone knowing about it.
I caught Whitcombs eye and whispered. "He's lying about the nukes. Call his bluff."
He looked confused at first, and then looked at Jiles face. He grinned suddenly and said. "Cortana, find me a target- a rock the same size as this man's base."
"Done."
"Destroy it."
Within several seconds a lance of white plasma sliced through the surface of a stone tumbling around the asteroid belt, cutting it clean in half, leaving trails of gas and rock in its wake.
"Target their base now." The admiral smiled.
Jiles's face wavered, but he still maintained that mocking smile. "You're forgetting our nukes."
Chief decided to interject. "And you're bluffing about the nukes. You're using harmless radiation emitters. I can tell."
The smile vanished, and the color drained from Jiles's face, leaving it white as a sheet.
"Where are my manners? Please come aboard and join me as an honored guest. Bring your staff. Join me for dinner; we can discuss what you need. You have my word no one will be harmed." The camera instantly cut off, and the ships surrounding us rotated 180 degrees backwards, and rocketed back to where they came from.
"If we're not back in 30 minutes Cortana? Blast them to hell." Whitcomb chuckled. " We got a dinner date people, lets move."
XXxXxXXXxxXxX
I linked, mission telemetries with Chief as well as Cortana as the governor's men met us in the landing bay. There were a half dozen of them, dressed in black coveralls and old MA3 assault rifles slung over their shoulders. I watched them nervously take tentative steps towards our Covenant dropship. I couldn't blame them, I'd be careful too if I was moving towards an armed enemy vessel. One random pull of the trigger would turn this uneasy welcome to a bloody firefight.
Chief opened a COM channel to Cortana and I, "Cortana: Tactical analysis."
"Cortana replied after a microsecond pause to correlate information," The asteroid is a typical one, but reinforced with a layer of titanium grade armor, the ones we outfit on ships. It's pretty well camouflaged, and it took me a while to spot it with our radar. They have several sections layered with ablative undercoats, causing covenant sensors and human radar to bounce off of these sections, leaving no trace that this asteroid was eve inhabited."
I frowned," How long were these guys attempting to hide here?"
"Decades maybe. We can't be sure. " Cortana replied.
Governor Jiles appeared, and he strolled across the deck. I could have imagined him wearing an eye-patch, the dastardly exterior he gave off. His black fur cap bobbed on his head as he shook Whitcomb's hand, then froze, stunned as he looked at all the Spartans in their MJOLNIR armor. He quickly recovered and bowed to Halsey.
I looked around, and heard Cortana whisper to us. "There are at least half a dozen guards armed with rifles and concealed pistols, some human, some plasma. I'm also picking up a team of 5 waiting and watching in the side passages."
"I saw them. They're overwatch. No problem to us." Chief muttered back.
"This way, please," Jiles announced, and with a flourish he hustled us through a narrow corridor. I looked at Jiles, and he cowered slightly under the giant faceplate staring at him. As I walked through the corridor, Cortana informed," This passage is from a UNSC cargo vessel, ripped out and reinforced with a bulkhead every ten meters. Airtight and tough, this thing can take tons of damage before buckling even the tiniest bit.
"That's not good at all. It's perfect for an ambush." I said, and kept one watchful eye on the motion tracker. It showed several contacts, three behind, and three in front, keeping pace with us the entire time.
Chief grunted in annoyance. "Diplomacy is not something I'm used to. We should have brought more Spartans not just me and you."
"Me and you have handled quite a lot of shit. We can handle this. Plus I've done diplomatic missions before, but technically as bodyguard detail." I laughingly replied.
"Tell me about that op later." He replied, as we were led into a circular room that had red velvet curtains, and behind it showed the windows that overlooked the asteroid field. There was cacophony of rocks tumbling and colliding, seeming almost like a ballet in a way. Men carried in a long table with white cloth on it and set it down before smoothening it out. A succession of women then followed, carrying large trays weighted down with fruit, meats, chocolates, delicacies, and large goblets sloshing with many types of liquor. Chief took position by the door, and I made sure the corridor was clear before I sealed it behind us. Time to enjoy the food.
Haverson leaned in and grabbed a strawberry before biting in to it. He smiled.
"Delicious." He remarked.
Jiles smiled and bowed his head. "Our hydroponics facility is state of the art. We-"
"With respect, Governor, this is not the time. You might not know it yet, but we're all sitting on a timer, with a bomb beneath it."
Jiles sighed, then sat down before throwing his legs over an arm." You have my complete attention Admiral." He lazily said.
Whitcomb frowned at his disregard of the seriousness of our current predicament. He would however change his tone quickly after we explained to him. Whitcomb began to lay it out for him in a quick summary. The fall of reach to begin, the Covenant's search for an alien technology, the chase in Slipspace, and finally the strange radiation crystal that would lead us here.
Jiles set his feet on the floor, as his smile turned to a frown, then to a large scowl as he jumped to his feet. "Bloody Elisa!" He yelled, and swept a glass of a table in fury and rage. Alarmed, Chief raised his rifle but I waved him off. He was no threat. Yet.
"Bloody Elisa?" Chief asked in confusion.
"She would be the patron saint of vacuum, and a pretty popular saint among civilian pilots." I replied, with no idea of where I got that knowledge.
"Oh."
"I'd guess," Admiral Whitcomb kept continuing," That they will garner our location and be here within a day, no more."
"What," Jiles said slowly, the rage in his eyes slowly being controlled," Do you expect me to do about it. Admiral?"
Whitcomb calmly gripped a decanter of wine and poured it into his glass. He took a small sip and nodded appreciatively, before answering with a steely calm. "It's not quantum physics. This is the simple part of all the Jiles. You can help us get out of here, or you can try to kill me and my crew, which I think you will find very difficult with two Spartans standing guard. If you somehow manage to kill us, you can sell our ships for whatever the black market is willing to pay you for. You'll make quite a profit. Of course, none of that matters when the Covenant come knocking on your door for a little hello and a plasma bolt in your face. Assuming you manage to outwit our ship's AI, which I doubt, and disable our weapons, which I doubt, you'll have a fleet to deal with. They don't have my manners. They aren't going to be sociable, sit down and have a little talk like gentlemen."
Jiles sat down, place his face into his hand and rubbed his temples, groaning in frustration.
"You're probably thinking that you have been hiding for a while, you can hide for longer. You've hidden from the UNSC; you've hidden from the Covenant. Thing is, now that we've found you, I don't think the Covenant will even think twice about blowing up every single asteroid in this belt." The Admiral continued
Jiles grabbed another wine bottle and drank it without using a cup. He downed around half before he asked coldly. "What's the other option? I help you? It makes no difference. If they come in the giant fleet that you claim, what is several ships compared to the Covenant juggernaut?"
"If you help us," Admiral Whitcomb said, "get our ships repaired so we can get to Earth and warn them. I'll get your people and promise amnesty for you and everyone here. You have my word."
Jiles laughed a humorless, angered laugh, as he asked." Where's your proof. Tell me, do you have any? How could Reach fall? How could you have alien technology?"
"Chief!" Cortana cried in alarm. In my HUD, a schematic of the Eridanus system formed, and there was a NAV mark flashing near a third planet, which expanded into the bulbous silhouette of a Covenant battleship.
"We have company." Chief interrupted as he strode to the window and pointed to the abyss. The blue glow of Covenant engines flared as it came into view.
"You wanted proof Jiles. You just got it." Admiral Whitcomb Growled.