Ch. 27: Loss of Control

Sol System, Earth
October 2, 2552 / 1226 pm
New Mombasa City, Kenya

Stacks of black smoke rising from destroyed buildings filled the orange sky illuminated by the Sun. The sounds of gunfire and shouts echoed in every alleyway and street as the two sides fought each other. Snipers perched on top of rooftops took down infantry soldiers, while the artillery pounded away with their precision strikes.

Overhead, four medium sized aircrafts flew in a loose diamond formation. The Railjack, followed by three Pelicans flew toward the gigantic CAS-class assault carrier at their maximum speed. There was no doubt that the UNSC's high value target was inside that ship.

"Mobile armor ahead of us, Captain. 200 feet and closing in. Classified as a Type 47A Scrab." replied Cy. The AI uploaded the image of the mobile armor onto the main screen. Sure enough, it lumbered into view. One of its legs speared through a truck, destroying it immediately.

Roscoe stood in front, his arms crossed. "Hit it, Rylan," he said. His question was answered as the Tungchanka Cannon roared. A beam of white light pierced the Scrab's main cannon, destroying it. A hail of Helix Missiles struck its joints, crippling its mobility.

"Cortana, could you check if its energy shields are up?" asked Roscoe.

"Negative, the energy shields are currently down. It looks like he's trying to recall his forces." replied Cortana. The word 'recall' caused the Rhino to sweat. "He's retreating from Earth," he thought.

"Jack, find us a hangar bay immediately. We're running out of time!" Roscoe yelled as he assembled the ODST and Tenno team near one of the doors. Jack guided the Railjack, trying to find a suitable landing zone. Noticing a small group of Phantoms entering from below the ship's aft, he steered the Railjack toward to the spot. Once he reached it, he realized it was too small for the Railjack to fit in.

"Okay, so I found a possible landing zone. Bad news is it won't fit the Plantagenet. I can get you guys in as close as I can." yelled Jack's voice over the intercom. Meanwhile, both fireteams were geared up and ready to go.

With a hiss, the doors opened and green plasma shots caused their energy shields to flare up in response. Overhead, one of the crew members was manning the turret, raining down suppressive fire. Both fireteams jumped down, landing on the metal purple floor. Eventually, the Railjack backed away from the hangar bay entrance.

"Rylan, hack the terminal and find the Prophet's location." The Revenant nodded and bullet-jumped toward a nearby console. Rapidly tapping the holographic symbols, he bypassed its security system and sifted through the network.

"I found him. He is on the bridge." Transmitting the coordinates to their respective communication systems, both the Tenno and UNSC HUDs were updated. The Rhino nodded and walked over to a nearby door. Finding it shut, he sighed and backed away from the door.

A second later, the door was blown apart by a Rhino Charge. Roscoe blinked a few times and opened his inventory. Tossing a few Specter orbs to the ground, he watched as the pale globs morphed into humanoid forms.

"We will be going ahead, Gold Team. The Specters will cover you."

"Wait - " With a burst of speed, the Tenno left Sargent West behind. The veteran shrugged his shoulders and followed them.

Shoot, slash, repeat. The mantra was drilled into every Tenno's mind from day one. Emptying his clip into a red Elite, Roscoe switched to his nikana and unsheathed the katana. So far, it was going well. The Covenant soldiers were surprisingly weak and unable to fend off the Tenno onslaught of spamming their various abilities.

The sizzling heat and smell of molten metal announced the intruders' presence to the Prophet. He turned around to face them, his hands steepled together. He watched carefully as they entered the room, raising their primitive rifles at him. Surrounding him in half-circle formation, he chuckled at them. He took a peek at the digital countdown near his right hand. He had already programmed the coordinates into the navigation system. Once it reached zero, the ship would automatically enter slipspace and head for the destination.

"What a surprise. And I thought my forces would - ." said the Prophet. He was interrupted by pelting bullets that harmlessly bounced off his energy shield. He shook his head, disappointed at their actions.

He tapped his the holographic control panel under his armrest, commanding the gravity throne to enter combat mode. With a loud hum, the dual plasma cannons powered up and started firing at the Tenno. The Warframes rolled out of the way and ran around him, taking pot shots at him as they ran. Rylan stopped in front of the throne and unleashed his Dense Macabre beam at it. The green-whitish stream of Sentient energy splashed against the energy shield, which crackled and hissed from the impact. The crackling slowly died down as the Prophet concentrated the majority of his energy shield against the laser beam.

An explosion underneath him caused the gravity throne to wobble. From the corner of his eye, the Prophet scowled at the Chroma who had disabled the throne's anti-gravity engines. Turning toward the dragon-like humanoid, he fired a large plasma shot at it. The blast flung the Tenno against the purple walls, knocking him unconscious.

A loud roar distracted the Prophet for a second. He turned to his left and the throne lurched forward. With a crash, the gravity throne was embedded into a wall. Electricity arced around the damaged throne. The Prophet gasped, blinking rapidly. His vision was hazy and he could see a blurry black figure approach him. He felt a hand grab his throat, slowly clenching his throat with increasing pressure. A vibration on his wrist alerted him the slipspace drive had activated. He grinned as darkness took him.

Roscoe slowly choked the Prophet. He watched the alien gasp for breath, raking his feeble hands against his wrist. The Prophet's hands fell limp and Roscoe released his iron grip. He stepped ways from the unconscious alien leader. He lifted the alien leader from his throne and handcuffed him to a nearby pole.

"Guys, we got a problem!" exclaimed the Excalibur. A massive slipspace portal erupted in front of the ship. The pitch-black darkness of the portal filled the main screen. Carson feverishly tapped the holographic controls, trying to gain control of the ship. Frustrated, he grabbed various knobs and levers, hoping one of them would turn the ship away.

"I can't do anything! The entire ship is on automatic" the Chroma cried out in desperation.

"Then, we will just have to ride it out," said Roscoe, who sat down on a nearby anti-gravity seat. Typing a brief message, he sent it through the encrypted channel.

"Follow ship ASAP. Unable to stop nav system. Everything is on auto." Lieutenant Lambert read the message aloud on the bridge. It had been ten minutes since the two fireteams boarded the Covenant assault carrier. She looked up to see the vessel entering the portal. Half of its body was already in the slipspace portal.

"Well, we don't have a choice anyway," said the Frost Warframe. "If we stay here, we will be left behind." Steering the Railjack toward the Covenant's rear, he kept pace with the massive vessel.

Checking the stern camera, the ONI officer noticed the In Amber Clad trailing behind them. She gripped the sides of the control panel, bracing her for the aftershock that would follow at the end of their journey.

The portal shrank until it disappeared. However, since it was used on the surface, it was essentially a giant vacuum. With a blinding light, it released its destructive energy across the Kenyan city. In the aftermath, the majority of the administrative and business district was vaporized by the blast, leaving behind a giant crater. The death toll was estimated to be in the millions, many of the deceased unaccounted for in the official report.