In orbit around Sanghelios, Urs System
May 22, 2553
From afar, the Swords of Sanghelios' main shipyard in Sadibz was thick with smoke. The orbital docking stations were overloaded as they tried to frantically repair the overwhelming amount of damaged ships coming in.
The civil war raging on the planet had not ceased and the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam still held control over the majority of Sanghelios. Many of his own people branded him as a traitor to their beliefs and some of the more radical declared him to be an atheist. Fighting began right after the war against the UNSC ended and given the brutality, it wasn't bound to stop anytime soon.
One month ago, Shadow of Intent, the Swords' flagship had been severely damaged when it was ambushed by the Jul 'Mdama's flagship, Song of Retribution and another carrier, Breath of Annihilation, along with multiple other vessels. Even outgunned, shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum managed to pull off a brilliant strategy, laying antimatter mines behind his path as he fled, forcing most of the escort vessels to give chase. The feint worked and the mines claimed seven of 'Mdama's most valuable destroyers and cruisers, however the Shadow of Intent was rendered combat ineffective.
The distinctive ship was nowhere to be seen as the Kig-Yar merchant ship drew closer. Upon Parangosky's orders, Aegis and Cox had jumped the crew, eliminating all of them and taking the vessel on its scheduled supply run. Their target, the Hindrance was dead center in the repair yard. The CCS-class cruiser was one of the Arbiter's most powerful vessels and with his flagship down, he needed some of the more valuable assets to be battle ready. 'Mdama and other terror groups were going to strike at any moment and every time he was vulnerable meant his enemies had more opportunities to get footholds against him.
Several of the uniquely shaped blockade runners were also seen. Similar to UNSC attack frigates, they were slightly larger and used as swift striking ships. A small fleet that stood guard over the docks.
All around the station were tiny support ships that had two large blue bubbles on their hulls. Many of them fired off their energy projectors on some of the damaged ships.
Aside from the Hindrance, Aegis could see a couple Man-O-Wars, a heavy frigate and a CPV-class destroyer. It was a lot of firepower and it did pain him to see so many ships of their former ally to be in such distress. It was even more bothering that they were about to crash the entire fleet's battlenet and all the effort done by this overworked repair crew would be for nothing.
"Okay, we're clear to check in." Wright's voice came over the speakers, "Crew's waiting on the station to begin offloading supplies. We'll hold here and ready for the transfer into Hindrance."
A chorus of affirms came from the other four ONI Agents. They surrounded a table, loading weapons and giving their gear one last checkup.
"Everyone good?"
"Yeah."
"Coupling with the station confirmed," Wright said, "Initiating pressure equalization and shutting off engine."
"I hope you complied with the air traffic control," Cox added, "Anything erratic from Kig-Yar spacemanship could arouse suspicion."
"Oh relax," Chancellor chided as he put on his helmet, "It's not like their expecting a bunch of humans to fly a Covenant ship like a pro."
"Always the possibility."
"So serious," Inside his headgear, the young agent rolled his eyes.
"Cargo door's opening."
"Okay, get in the crate."
"I finished the touches. This one has priority loading as plasma conduits for the Hindrance."
"Perfect," Aegis confirmed, "We're set to be the first ones onboard."
No sooner had he said that, they all heard a clamping sound as one of the cargo tugs grabbed ahold of their container. Cox peered through his smartlink cameras to the outside.
The crate was just leaving the ship and there was an audible hiss inside as the tug had left the pressurized atmosphere and made the short trip in space towards the Hindrance.
As they drew closer to the cruiser, they got a real look at how badly the ship had been damaged. Her once elegant purple plating was scorched and the grooved linings atop the dorsal section seemed to be burned away. Trip was no forensic expert, but it appeared that the ship was attacked from above by a bombardment of plasma torpedoes which breached the shield to damage the ship's starboard side.
The support ships hovering over were firing off their projectors at damaged sections of the hull. Parts of the top looked new in armor plating and the glassing beams melted the edges and fused them together to make it a full section that roughly resembled an insect carapace.
"Heh, we're carrying a little more of a surprise than replacement parts," Chancellor snickered. "What about the merchant ship?"
"Set to plot a course to the rendezvous point once we've completed the overload," Cox said, "If all goes well, Wright can dock in the Hindrance's bay and get us out quickly."
"Resistance is going to be light," Patterson added, "Mostly maintenance crew, meaning a lot of grunts."
The clamp on the container released and shuffling outside could be heard.
"Move it now!" A guttural sangheili was commanding in the bay, most likely to unggoy, "Get those conduits unloaded!"
They heard the main door become unlatched and the agents all vanished into the shadows.
A pair of unggoy waddled in chattering to themselves in their normal squeaky voices. They went right to the nearest crates and hefted them up, exiting the front and chattering to one another.
In their active camouflage, Aegis and Cox slowly proceeded outside. While in the box, they kept their rifles trained on the two grunts and kept an eye on their motion trackers.
Aside from the grunts, there were four more pings, all in front. The sangheili was dressed in the basic armor of a minor domo and they also saw two more grunts securing the tug inside the hangar bay. The supervisor did not look happy.
"We got contacts," Cox stated the obvious, "We kill that elite, then the grunts will be panicked and confused."
"We could," Aegis agreed, "But all it would take is one to set off an alarm and this mission is over."
"We don't and they'll spot Chancellor and Patterson."
"Okay, so then what's the plan?"
"We'll have to take them out. You ready to put your Spartan skills to the test?"
Cox signaled Aegis to the left and he approached from the dockmaster's rear. He flashed a green light and Aegis aimed at the two grunts clustered together and squeezed the trigger.
Muffled shots from the suppressor on his MA5 rifle peppered the grunts' back and both toppled over to the ground. At the same time, Cox had wrestled the elite onto the ground and twisted his body, while straddling the larger frame. The spine snapped with an audible pop.
That left the two grunts carrying the crates. They had heard the gunshots, but it took them time to drop their cargo without it going on their toes. Just as they set it back down, two pistols opened fire, killing them as well.
Chancellor and Patterson held their smoking weapons as they exited the crate.
"All clear."
"Move up."
They quickly found a central terminal on the upper levels of the cruiser and accessed the terminals.
"Okay," Chancellor pushed a few of the blue holographic buttons, "Crew clocked in right now are a few dozen elites and maybe a hundred grunts and jackals. There are some armed personnel onboard too for regular security patrols. If we can get to the bridge, I can be able to triangulate their locations from their IDs."
"Good work. Let's move."
Through active camouflage, Aegis and Cox guided the other two down the winding corridors. Much of the ship seemed quite damaged with sparks flying from walls and the shuffling of metal that had been jarred on whatever attack it had sustained.
The former had been on a CCS-class cruiser once and knew the layout across the fleet on all vessels were the same. The bridge was actually located at the center of the ship rather than the front. Most Covenant ships were designed like this to throw off their opponents from targeting a certain part of the ship to disable its command center. This also served a double purpose for protection.
The control room was locked down, only giving access to officers with credentials via biometrics or on permission from the shipmaster or the executive officer.
This time, the door was open and only a few crewmembers were present. A couple sangheili and few unggoy were about. In the center was the set of terminals where the officers would control the ship's actions. Aegis saw no sign of any gold armored elite to signify the shipmaster. Perhaps he was away.
Going on the offensive, Aegis tossed a live grenade at the nearest group of grunts, sending them flying. At the same time, Cox headed for the center ramp. The two elites had just been surprised at Aegis' actions, they failed to see the other Spartan.
Firing a hail of bullets, they cut through the first bridge officer's shields and he smashed the stock of the rifle into the alien's skull.
The second elite had his plasma pistol in hand and began firing back at the intruder, Aegis and Chancellor shifted their fire and the rounds punched through the armor. With no options left, the elite roared, throwing his arms up in anger. Ethan took the opportunity to place a round straight through its head.
"Bridge secure,"
"Alright, lock down the bridge." The Spartan ordered, "We're going to need some time to initiate the overload."
Five minutes later, the Spartans stood at the bottom of the bridge ramp as Chancellor approached the main consoles. From here, his seventh-generation AI would wreck the Swords of Sanghelios fleets and complete his mission. Everything worked for BACKSTAB was just a half hour away from being over and all the effort would be worth it.
"Okay," He breathed, sliding out the data crystal chip into his hand, "Here I go."
So what is going to happen?
I've also started on the Halo Fanon wiki under the same name. Much of the content of both the Blades and Eon is going there and there's even part of Eon that I will probably not be putting out on here.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.