Chapter 26: Overconfidence
"We'll be exiting slipspace in t-minus five minutes, Captain!" Sosa reported from her station.
Vivian was standing by the port side tactical display with some of her staff officers. A projection of the system they were jumping to covered the entire screen. Standing in front of the crowd, she glanced between it and the smaller display of the map on her personal data pad. She began noting the various entities within the system, labeled as X909. There were two blue suns in the center, one smaller than the other. Other than a double asteroid belt around the suns, there were a few, barren worlds on the periphery of the system. It was a wide, open plane offering few natural obstacles for her pursuers and organic cover for her ships. She took some solace in Decatur's quick analysis of available destinations under pressure and upholding the Cole Protocol, but it was not enough.
Outwardly, she betrayed no emotions. But her heart was still fluttering and her pulse still high after being surprised by the ships. The enemy fleet possessed some heavier tonnage ships but not to the degree of her recent, previous engagements. Yet, they had a numerical advantage she could not ignore. Already, the strategies formulating in her mind were nullified as they encountered that constant variable. Without natural formations in the system, her tentative position was further compounded.
She turned slightly and looked back. Her officers crowded around terminals and bent over data pads. Each cluster murmured quietly among themselves, discussing tactics and options. Heads shook, hands waved, and occasionally an exchange of whispers became heated. Her attention turned to Jasmine and Frost. Both seemingly forgot the pretenses of their ranks and were still in one another's arms. They were visibly shaken; Frost's gray eyes were wide and Jasmine's shoulder trembled. He squeezed them while she kept her hands on either side of his cheeks. Whatever they were saying to one another seemed to provide little comfort. Jasmine looked down at her feet suddenly, her eyes wide behind her glasses, and she shook her head slightly.
She was scared. This was not Jasmine's world. Like any Navy officer, she possessed the basic leadership skills each one was to embody. And like every UNSC Armed Forces service member, she was well-trained in the use of firearms and basic combat tactics. But all her individual training was meant for the operating room and the medical bay. In those facilities, she was the chief commander with authority in matters that dwarfed Vivian's understanding. Jasmine was so attuned and diligent to her profession that Vivian never even had to consider developments for the medical wing on the I'm Alone. Medical reports and evaluations, robotic transplants, flashing cloned organs, surgery, long-term patient care, physical therapy, rehabilitation, medicine; that Jasmine's world.
Vivian was scared too. Everyone had fear and she wasn't blind to it. But to see her best friend so visibly shocked by what happened to the Pennier made Vivian's stomach turn. She felt anger bubbling, roiling, up from within until it engulfed her heart. Grimacing, she finally turned around.
"Listen up!" she said loudly. Everyone lifted their heads simultaneously. Even Decatur, standing calmly atop his pedestal, was brought to attention. "I need you all to put the Pennier at the back of your minds. We just lost a lot of good people but we need to focus. We've got a Covenant battlegroup on our tail. Grieve for the Pennier's crew later. Right now, knuckle-down, focus, and figure out a way to kill those bastards."
She set her data pad down and folded her hands behind her back. Her officers gathered around.
"Ma'am, we're heading to a tactically dis-advantageous system," Tsang advised. "We're on the backfoot. I think we should immediately jump to another system upon entry, one that can give us a field advantage."
Bassot lifted his hand.
"Ma'am, I'm inclined to agree with Lieutenant Tsang but our objective is to deal with any Covenant threats on the main task force's flank. If we slip away, they might turn their attention to the main attack."
"An appropriate suspicion, Lieutenant," Decatur said. Everyone turned to face him. He waved his hand towards them and disappeared. The tactical display shifted, turning from orange to blue. Decatur appeared in the upper left hand corner of the screen, taking up about a quarter of it. Seeing a larger projection of him lent greater detail to his uniform; his buttons were bolder, the trimming of his coat was more fine, and there were even elegant designs to the rims of his long scabbard.
He brought his hand upward and a series of dossier fields appeared. Each one bore a title of UNSC Navy actions against the Covenant and noted which units were engaged in each battle. A few of the I'm Alone's and the battlegroup's battles were posted, but the majority were from other fleet elements. Some were even back from the 2530's. "I have taken the liberty of studying previous engagements of the entire fleet, searching for commonalities between them in relation to our rather precarious situation. It appears the Covenant have made a habit of pursuing fleeing battlegroups quite frequently rather than taking up targets of opportunity. I believe we can attribute this to the Covenant's self-superiority due to their fervent theology and vehement xenophobia. On a level of strategy, it also makes tactical sense to engage your most immediate targets rather than un-engaged targets. Still, I believe the former reasoning is more prevalent than the latter. Make no mistake, our enemy is quite skilled and highly intelligent, but we've used their overconfidence against them before."
"Decatur's right," Vivian said. "I understand your misgivings but I don't think this Covenant fleet is going to pass us up that easily. If anything, they're hot under the collar after we wrecked a couple of their fleets and stations."
Vivian knew it was bound to happen eventually. She took time in OCS to study commerce raiding and, much like ground-based raiding, knew it could only go on for so long. The initial shock and awe of a raid could last for some time. But once it was absorbed, the enemy would assemble a force specifically to deal with the raiders. Once the element of surprise was gone, the raiding force would be pursued by the responders. It was the natural response and Vivian knew going in the Covenant would eventually track them down. She just didn't think it would be this soon.
"We could try to wear them out, press deeper into no-man's land," Tsang offered. "Decatur, can I have the screen for a moment?"
"Oh, quite so, Lieutenant!" Decatur said. The projection on the display flicked his fingers, absorbed the various dossiers, and then winked away. Then, it faded back to orange. Linking his data pad, Tsang transferred a projection of the star map the Marines discovered back at the port. He began highlighting various clusters.
"After you transferred the contents of the map to the I'm Alone's database, Sosa and I took some time to study it," Tsang continued. "There's a lot more star clusters in these sectors, some UNSC surveyors never even discovered. We have a lot of options to prolong the chase and maybe even hide."
"Without wishing to appear impertinent," Decatur offered, raising a finger. "I reiterate the Covenant are unlikely to give up on a chase so easily. A merry chase can go on for only so long. By the time we lose them, we would have lost valuable time we could otherwise spend supporting Vice Admiral Travers' fleet."
"The only way we can support his fleet is if we're alive, Decatur," Tsang responded dryly. "If you're suggesting an engagement with these Covvie ships, I think you need to check your subsystems buddy."
Decatur frowned at the Lieutenant. Tsang just bounced his eyebrows and glared back, as if waiting for a challenge. Vivian half-expected the AI to draw his sword and flintlock. Instead, Decatur simply folded his arms across his chest. "My subsystems need no inspection, Lieutenant. It is perhaps your frontal lobe that needs to be inspected. Or perhaps there's not much left of it after your average work. Which, from what I understand, is quite minimal even for a human."
"Wow, you just got burned by the AI," Delaney said quietly to Tsang.
"Yes, I'm aware," Tsang said through clenched teeth.
"That's gotta be embarrassing. I'd be embarrassed," added Delaney as he fixed his glasses briefly.
"Shut up, ONI Sec-One," Tsang growled.
"Lock it down you two," Vivian ordered. "Decatur, that goes for you too. I don't need my AI and operations officer challenging each to pistols at dawn. Amusing as that would be." Vivian's brief smile faded. "Drawing the Covenant out could still fulfill our mission. Diverting units that could otherwise be utilized against the Vice Admiral would still be to our advantage. However, it would tie up our own capabilities. It would be more expedient to our battlegroup and Travers' task force if we eliminated them."
Vivian linked her data pad back to the tactical display and revived the image of the system they were heading to. She stared at for a few minutes, trying to devise a feasible strategy utilizing what natural formations the system offered. Looking down at her screen, she activated a function that allowed her to mark plots and began moving her finger across the screen. "If we move at half-speed, we can draw the Covenant ships after us. We'll make a feint around the suns, making it appear we'll use them for cover and use their gravity wells to bounce out of their line of sight before making it a jump. No matter how they approach, they're going to have to stagger their line in order to get around and then reform. Instead of seeing us making a jump, they'll glide right into our guns."
"We'd have to get through those asteroid belts, ma'am."
"Those do present a significant threat to our ship's hull integrity. We'll have to maneuver carefully. But we can use that to our advantage too. River Styx can pepper the asteroid belts with HORNET mines, as many as possible. The Covenant will be relying on their shields to get them through the asteroid belts. Combined with the mines, we should be able to weaken their shields on the heavier ships and destroy some of their lighter ships."
Vivian continued drawing plots on the map. She marked I'm Alone, Batavia, and Best of the Best in line formation waiting for the projected enemy ships. She granted them the call sign Sabre. MAC rounds, Archer missiles, and Shiva-class nuclear warheads would decimate the spearhead of the advance. Meanwhile, Determined Guardian, Lion's Den, Frying Pan, and Double Down, call sign Dagger, would loop around the suns, keeping along a narrow path between the edge of the gravity well and the asteroid belts. Once the initial exchange between the line ships was over, they would attack the enemy in the rear with MACs, Archer missiles, and their own nuclear warheads. It was risky to send the lighter ships on their own, but she was confident the Covenant would take the bait. Their combined firepower and speed would be their best defense against superior Covenant weaponry. Once they attacked, the three original ships would abort evasive maneuvers and begin attacking. Both formations would launch all their available strike aircraft. Being attacked from two sides and being buzzed by star fighters, she wagered, would force the Covenant battlegroup to react in multiple directions, eliminating their numerical superiority. Squeezed between two aggressive forces, the Covenant ships would be forced to break out.
Vivian finished her plan and looked at the various lines and arrows all over the star map. She let the officers take it in. Some seemed apprehensive and exchanged nervous glances. Others grinned or nodded confidently. Knowing it was no time for a speech, she pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Decatur. "Give me the probability of success, Decatur."
The AI nodded and flickered briefly.
"Factoring in data from previous engagements, the integrity of our repairs and rearmament, ship classifications and numbers, we have a seventy-five percent chance of success with minimal losses."
"Seventy-five percent," Vivian echoed as she turned around. "The UNSC Navy has faced worse odds before. Let's do this Navy proud and burn some Covvie ships. To your stations!"
Like a sports team breaking from a huddle, everyone immediately scattered across the deck. Fingers began tapping on keyboards, streams of data coursed over terminal screens, and everyone began speaking to one another. Vivian took her own seat. "Decatur, Tsang, make nice and began drafting the individual plots for each ship in the battlegroup. They need those numbers fast. Ngouabi, get all our Longswords on standby. Delaney, draft an intel packet for all ships notifying them of the terrain." She hit the intercom. "Engine room, bridge. Divert as much power from nonessential functions to help power our weapons systems. Get everything you can."
She turned in her chair. Jasmine and Frost were still standing in the rear of the bridge. They both had an arm around one another. Vivian motioned for them to come over. "Jasmine, I know we've been through a lot these past couple weeks but I need you to get to medical. We need to be prepared for casualties."
"Yes, Captain," her friend replied. The order sank in quickly and she stood up straight. Dr. Jasmine quickly turned into Lieutenant Commander Ebrahimi. The stately, dignified, strong traits of a UNSC Navy officer took over and she began striding towards the bridge exit. Vivian couldn't but admire her friend and smiled. Turning her attention to Frost, she found him looking out of place.
"Gunnery Sergeant, you're invited to remain on the bridge to observe how the Navy wins its battles."
"Any hope of boarding an enemy ship today, Captain?"
"Let's not bite off more than we can chew, shall we?"
"Hell, Captain, we could do it," Frost said. Vivian shook her head a little, faced forward to begin working again, hesitated, then looked back.
"What makes you so sure?" she asked. Frost turned around and thumped his chest with one hand.
"Because I'm made of that Marine material!"
It was the perfect boost to Vivian's morale. Laughing as the doors slid shut, she returned to her station. Before long, the I'm Alone plunged out of slipspace and into the darkness of X909. She found the other ships in the battlegroup already waiting for her. Vivian ordered Koroma to patch the I'm Alone into FLEETCOM. All the other ships were already speaking to one another, but the loudest voice came from one of their new additions.
"This is Frying Pan," came a raspy, accented voice. "Gimme your goddamn numbers, will you!?"
"Watch your tone with me Commander Dobb," Vivian responded swiftly. "All ships, this is I'm Alone. Review your intel docs and the battle plan. We're moving out in less than five mikes."
FLEETCOM went silent for less than a minute. One by one, all the other ships acknowledged the plan. The frigates took the lead, assembling into line formation, while the three heavier ships formed up behind them. River Styx remained by their line to lay her mines. Together, the eight UNSC ships began moving towards the two blue suns. While Decatur and Tsang kept scanning the system for slipspace ruptures, Vivian cooled her heated brow and rapidly beating heart by focusing on her station. But she couldn't resist looking up at the alluring, bright blue suns. Their surfaces roiled and flowed, almost like water, as pockets of white collided with larger blue spots. Coagulating, the flowing blue and bright white would seemingly burst and fray from another.
Vivian's emerald eyes twinkled momentarily as she gazed at the two suns. Eventually, she released a tiny, sad chuckled only she could hear. If she was going to die here, she thought, then the pair of suns would make for a beautiful final sight. Taking a breath, she paid close attention to the approaching asteroid belt. Lieutenant Sosa was hunched over her terminal, her hands glued to her controls. She was staring straight ahead and ignored the sweat dripping down her temples. Vivian thought about issuing a final command or offering encouragement, but instead allowed the navigator to focus.
"Slipspace ruptures de—" Tsang began.
"Slipspace ruptures detected, Captain."
"There's no need for showmanship, Decatur," Vivian lectured. Decatur nodded slightly but still stole a glance towards Tsang, who was glaring at the AI menacingly. "Activate stern cameras." Her screen was overtaken by the feed. Behind her, the Covenant ships quickly assembled into two echelon formations. The DDS-class carrier took the forward position and led the lower formation, while CPV-class heavy destroyers took the lead on the upper echelon. The light cruisers, frigates, corvettes, and remaining destroyed spread themselves as evenly as they could between both sections.
After they finished assembling, they began pursuing the UNSC ships at full speed. "Maintain half-speed until we get through these asteroids."
The four frigates ahead of them deftly avoided the asteroids and maneuvered between the belts fluidly. Batavia and Best of the Best, abreast of I'm Alone, took a few hits but the damage wasn't serious. Asteroids continued to drift in front of the bow and float in all directions. But Sosa's hands continued to glide over her controls; she was in full control of the super heavy cruiser, adjusting her course and powering up the engines as necessary. More asteroids continued to go by, some appearing as if they would smashed through the viewing screen on the bridge. Vivian, more than once, gripped the edge of her chair's armrests as she watched them. It took all she had to remain, or at least appear, calm. Eventually, Sosa directed the I'm Alone through both belts without grazing a single asteroid. When they were running along the gravity well, Sosa sat back and released a long, loud breath. Vivian smiled. "Well done, Lieutenant."
Looking over her shoulder as if she had just run a marathon, the scarred navigation nodded.
"This is River Styx, we're engaging our stealth unit and laying half our mines along both belts in their predictable trajectory. There's no way they'll be able to engage without flying through them. I'm Alone, we're going to lay low and wait for your go to engage."
"Roger, River Styx," Koroma replied.
The frigates slowed their speed and began proceeding to their position on the other side of the sun. Meanwhile, I'm Alone, Batavia, and Best of the Best, began their maneuvers and lined up. I'm Alone took the center position. MACs were charged, Archer missile pods opened, and nuclear warheads armed. "Best of the Best and Batavia are reporting green across the board, Captain."
"Both MACs are fully charged," Bassot added. Their reports were corroborated by the ship readouts on the port side tactical display. Vivian ordered Koroma to contact River Styx to activate their cameras and direct the feed to I'm Alone's bridge. She wanted to maintain eyes on the enemy fleet, not just look at their approaching shapes on the starboard tactical screen. The upper echelon, made up of three lighter cruisers, one frigate, a destroyer, and a corvette, were up and behind the heavier tonnage echelon. Both formations began approaching the asteroid belts. Already, some strays hit their hull and their shields flared white and blue.
Suddenly, the Covenant ships in the first formation halted. Vivian sat forward, alarmed. The formations broke apart and then reassembled into two inverted wedge formations. Instead of the lower formation progressing first, the upper wedge took the lead. Just as Rundstrum predicted, the leading ships on either side of the wedge encountered the mines. Battered by so many simultaneous detonations at once, the orange explosions blossoming on either side of it from bow to stern, the destroyer broke up amidships. Opposite of it, one of the CRS-class light cruisers and a DAV-class corvette were also destroyed by the massive explosions. Boldly, the lone CAR-class frigate plowed through the remains of the destroyer. The commanding officer must have thought all the mines had gone off. Instead, it hit another layer of mines and exploded a few minutes later.
"Number of enemy ships has gone from thirteen to nine," Decatur reported.
"Now for the second wave," Vivian said coldly. But the next inverted wedge did not proceed through the second asteroid belt despite being level with it. They took the time to raise to the leading formation's plane and followed in their wake, avoiding all the other mines.
"Shit," somebody murmured.
"Police that attitude," Vivian said aloud, "the Navy gave us big guns and we're going to use them. Prepare to fire."
She began sending firing vectors to all the other ships. But when she looked back at the camera feed, she found the two formations were not moving at all. They remained outside of the gravity well. Vivian could only assume they were waiting for their shields to recharge. She wondered if was better to sacrifice her surprise advantage by attacking at that very moment. Before she made her decision, the enemy ships began moving again. The long, purple shapes make slow, deliberate turns. With the darkness of space behind them, their movement took on a sinister, serpent-like appearance.
Vivian watched in horror as the heavier formation began heading not around the two suns towards her line, but along the front towards the frigates. The lighter, more depleted formation remained in a blocking position. Two ships became three as the destroyer from the undamaged inverted wedge formation was detached.
"Dagger, this is I'm Alone," Koroma reported quickly into FLEETCOM. "DDS-class carrier group is approaching your position." She turned around in her seat. "Captain, orders?"
It only took Vivian a few seconds to make her decision but it felt like she ruminate on it for days. Despite their combined arms, the frigates were outmatched numerically, by tonnage, and by weapon systems. If they attempted to engage the heaviest Covenant ship by themselves, they would be destroyed. Even if they managed to survive the opening salvo, the lighter ships would easily wipe them out.
Vivian stood up. "Task Force Dagger is to turn about and retreat to our current station. Sabre, we're turning about and assuming their position. Sosa, execute a one-hundred eighty degree turn and then proceed to Dagger's current coordinates full speed ahead. All Sabre ships, maintain line formation."
The I'm Alone shuddered as Sosa turned the ship around. Once they were flying towards the other side of the suns, the frigates changed elevation and flew underneath the heavier ships. Before I'm Alone, Batavia, and Best of the Best reached their coordinates, the Covenant ships were already overtaking the location. The inverted wedge righted into a wedge formation. "All ships, fire on the carrier!" Vivian ordered.
Blazing, golden streaks were flung from the ships' bows. The blue shielding around the carrier flared with each hit. The augmented MAC guns fired again, their experimental upgrades giving them a lethal edge. But by the time the opening salvos finished, all the ships main guns were recharging and the DDS-carrier, although having lost its shield, had taken no damage to its hull. Hundreds of purple dots began to flood out from either side of the ship.
"Captain, Type-26 Banshees and Seraph fighters are scrambling," Decatur reported.
"Ngouabi, get your aircraft in the fight!" Vivian ordered. "Bassot!?"
"Point-defense guns are up and ready, ma'am!"
Batavia launched her expansive pool of fighters into space as well. Best of the Best's minor contingent joined the fray as well. Fighters began engaging each other closer to the UNSC formation. Covenant orbital craft began to explode into tiny gray-purple puffs. Some burned out. Longswords looped around the enemy, some breaking formation as they entered dogfights. Others maintained their course and descended on larger Covenant formations. The strike craft battle teetered towards the UNSC; the Covenant still possessed a numerical advantage, but the Longswords were strong and their pilots were veterans of countless battles. Still, some were riddled with plasma and broke into pieces. Engines detonated and all that remained after the explosion was a wing or just a piece of the cockpit.
Blobs and arcs of plasma flew from the Covenant ships' weaponry. Only the carrier and the corvettes on either side of it fired, while the others were still in formation.
"All ships, adjust elevation!" Vivian ordered. All three heavy ships ascended to another plane on the battle sphere, narrowly dodging the incoming plasma. Point defense blocks were able to chew up some of the plasma, but just barely. "All ships, fire Archer missile pods! Bassot, at your discretion!"
"Launching pods one through three!"
Clouds of missiles streaked through space towards the enemy ships. Those that managed to survive the onslaught of the Covenant ships' point defense systems blossomed on the hull. The DDS-class carrier took the majority of the hits.
"Give me a readout on that MAC charge," Vivian ordered.
"Sixty-five percent."
"Ma'am, the two remaining frigates are retreating," Tsang reported, then leaned over his station. "No, they're rejoining the rearguard. Ma'am, the second Covenant formation is approaching Dagger's location."
Vivian looked at the tactical display. The four frigates had not reached their destination either and the enemy ships were approaching rapidly. Her three ships and the four lighter vessels were now back to back; the battlegroup was now being attacked on both sides and had limited maneuverability. I'm Alone shuddered as enemy strike craft bombarded the hull. Serpahs strafed the titanium ship with heavy cannons and plasma charges, while the Banshees riddled critical locations with rapid-fire plasma bolts. More than once, the bridge was jarred by a nearby plasma charge. Damage control began reporting tears in the hull and fires.
Her hands curled into fists. When she turned to look at the tactical display again, she saw the frigates were beginning to engage in evasive maneuvers. Just as she looked back, she found Frost standing by the screen, his eyes wide as he watched the battle unfold before him.
"Gunnery Sergeant!"
"Ma'am!" He snapped towards her, almost at attention.
"How does a Marine break out of an ambush?"
"Ma'am, he charges right into it!"
Vivian turned in her seat and slammed her fist on her dashboard.
"All ships, full speed ahead, fire at will!" she hollered into the open FLEETCOM channel.
I'm Alone shot forward. As they approached the enemy formation, the Covenant ships began taking evasive maneuvers to avoid collisions. The MAC guns recharged and Bassot fired. Two golden streaks tore into the bow of the carrier. Batavia demolished one of the corvettes, snapping the ship in two with a direct hit amidships. Best of the Best scored a brilliant hit on the final corvette, its MAC round smashing through the length of the ship and detonating the engines. Both smaller ships broke apart and drifted into the suns' gravity wells. Soon, the hull fragments burned up and were seemingly swallowed by the suns.
At point blank range, Bassot fired another cluster of Archer missiles. On the right flank of the enemy ship, Batavia did the same. Although some of the missiles were destroyed prematurely by the carrier's defense systems, the majority struck the hull. Still, the carrier survived. Only a CRS-light cruiser remained in their path. Unable to get out of the way, the I'm Alone smashed into amidships. Bassot fired the MAC gun point blank and the round pierced the other side of the enemy vessel. Breaking up, the light cruiser disappeared from view.
"I'm Alone, this is Commander Ibrahim on Double Down," came a calm voice through FLEETCOM. "We've managed to break through but our ships have received moderate damage. We managed to destroy one frigate but we have a destroyer, light cruiser, and one more frigate after us."
"Roger, Double Down, maintain your course around the suns and swap for our position," Vivian ordered. "Sosa, adjust elevation so we'll pass underneath the frigates. River Styx, I'm Alone hailing."
"River Styx rogers, send your traffic."
"Confirm we're out of range of your M947 Shiva, over."
"Confirmed, I'm Alone, task unit Sabre is clear, over."
"Roger River Styx, fire the M947 when ready, out." Vivian sat back. "Decatur, give me the stern cameras."
Just as the I'm Alone rounded the suns, she saw a huge, white explosion engulf the carrier. The feed transitioned to River Styx's bow camera; the shockwave was still spreading from the initial blast. When the dust finally settled, only a few, charred hunks of hull remained of the enemy carrier. Vivian breathed in relief, knowing the frigates' path was clear. The smaller ships passed above the heavier ships. "Half-speed," Vivian ordered Sosa.
I'm Alone, Batavia, and Best of the Best entered a holding pattern and waited for the Covenant ships. Soon enough, the destroyer, the two cruisers, and the single frigate appeared. Entering a line formation, their weapons began to flare. But the I'm Alone and her fellow ships were already prepared with the MACs. "All ships, fire!" Vivian ordered. The MAC rounds smashed against the enemy ships, their fiery explosions spreading over their blue shielding. One by one, the shields flickered and died. But the volley of plasma was already hurling towards them. "Emergency thrusters!" Vivian ordered.
It was too late. As the I'm Alone slid to starboard, a streak of plasma hit the forward titanium battleplate. The entire ship rocked and Vivian was thrown from her seat. Other personnel were flung from their chairs.
"Stabilizing!" Sosa shouted. Vivian picked herself up but there was another jarring impact as as a plasma lance glanced the bow of the ship. Turning, she reached out just as Frost grabbed her hand. He kept her from falling and practically shoved her back into her chair. The Marine lost his footing and slid across the deck, ending up colliding with a terminal station along with two other officers.
Vivian managed to sit upright in her chair and gripped her dashboard. She narrowed her eyes at Covenant ships lining up once again to fire on them.
"Ma'am, permission to fire Archer missiles!" Bassot shouted.
"Hold fire, wait for my command!"
The plasma turrets on either side of the ships' hulls flared. Everyone stared ahead, waiting for the next blow. But before they could fire, the four frigates appeared again. Almost simultaneously, they fired and their MAC rounds struck the enemy ships on the stern. Engines exploded causing secondary explosions to billow across the hull. Archer missiles swarmed into them; the light cruisers broke apart. The lone frigate caught fire and soon exploded. Vivian pointed at the destroyer. "Fire missiles!"
Archer pods were launched and blossomed on the exposed hull of the Covenant destroyer. The enemy ship shuddered, drifted aimlessly for a few moments, and then its stern exploded. Amidships and the bow began to break up.
Vivian sat back in her chair and exhaled. Everyone on the bridge cheered and hooted. She looked at Decatur who nodded with a smile.
"All enemy ships destroyed, ma'am."
Vivian just smiled at him as she caught her breath. She gazed at Frost, who was being picked up by the two officers he fell with. He talked with them briefly and gingerly stepped on his right foot. Immediately, he winced and shook his head. But when he caught her staring he offered a small smile and a reassuring, amiable expression.
"What are your orders, Captain?" Tsang asked, standing in front of her station.
Vivian took a few moments to think and then leaned forward.
"Scan the system to ensure there's no more targets. Then set a rally point outside of the asteroid belt, and then issue orders for all commanding officers to come aboard the I'm Alone. We need to discuss our next plan of action.
###
After the system was confirmed to be empty, the bridge was cleaned up and the majority of the staff were sent to perform other duties. Vivian stood back by the tactical display nearly an hour beforehand but this time was in front of a smaller crowd. Captain Kelly stood in front of her alongside Captain Slater. The former's arm was in a sling but he seemed no worse for wear. Slater maintained his grim disposition, keeping his arms folded across his chest. Commander Alastair was leaning on a crutch and she had an adhesive bandage on the right side of her neck and cheek. A nasty, fresh scar on Commander Kolchak's left cheek was covered by a pressure dressing. Blood was still caked onto his stubble of beard. From Fying Pan, Commander Dobb appeared slightly disheveled. His hands were jammed into his trouser pockets and the top buttons of his tunic were undone. He had short brown hair, a reddish beard, and rectangular spectacles. From his accent, she gleaned he was from one of the southwestern locales from the United Republic of North American. Beside him was Commander Ibrihim; he was a dignified looking man with swept back black hair, a crop of hair on his chin, rich tan skin, and a bright green gaze. The right arm of his tunic was tied off at the shoulder. Behind them all, Rundstrum sat in Vivian's chair, spinning around aimlessly while he whistled.
Vivian frowned. "Captain Rundstrum?" He planted his foot on the deck and looked over at her, almost surprised. "Would ONI Sec-One care to join us today or will you be sitting this one out?"
He chuckled.
"Well, you made it an order so I think I'll stick around."
"Thank you," Vivian seethed while the prowler captain joined the others. They looked at him disapprovingly. Clearing her throat, Vivian folded her hands behind her back. "We achieved a decisive victory today. But only the blind and the arrogant would refute it was a close call. The Covenant have recognized the damage we're causing in their interior lines and are responding accordingly. We are now being hunted."
"Begging your pardon, Captain, but if we managed to beat one hunter-killer group, we can definitely destroy another," Captain Kelly offered confidently. Vivian smiled, appreciating his demeanor.
"I would like to say I don't doubt such a prospect. But our victory presents an even larger threat to local Covenant positions. They'll send another hunter-killer group and it'll be larger than the last. We might be able to win in another encounter, and it's possibly we can beat a third if we hit them with everything we've got. But we won't be able to beat a fourth without unacceptable casualties." Vivian turned slightly, reached out, and touched the I'm Alone's bulkhead. "For too long, we've relied on surprise, aggression, and firepower to defeat the enemy. As much as it pains me to say it, the fortune of war has always played a hand in our continued survival."
She turned back around, letting her hand drop. "We must meter our morale with logic. Today, we faced superior ships who were able to turn the tables on us. We can subsist for only so long detached from our base of operations and the main task force against determined enemies like that."
Vivian paused and folded her hands behind her back again. She did her best to appear as stately and authoritative as possible. "I would stay the course and continue our operations behind enemy lines. But in light of the information Commander Dodd shared with me before our departure, I'm afraid I must reverse such a decision."
Everyone but the commander in question appeared confused. They turned their attention to him. He sighed and shook his head. "We've made some gains. Took back several planets, installed Army garrisons, and moved onto the next. Minimal losses among the Marines and the Navy. But the Covenant are responding in force, and I do mean in force. We tried another assault and Travers called it off when we lost too many ships. We fell back and the Covenant counterattacked. We're no longer on the offense, people, we're on defense. It's not looking rosy."
Everyone looked back at Vivian. She smiled sadly at them. "We've done a hell of a thing out here. We struck deep into Covenant space, destroyed planetary garrisons and defense fleets, wiped out vital supply and refitting stations, and eliminated dozens of heavy ships that could otherwise threaten Operation: EXALT and other sectors of nearby UNSC space. Because of our actions, we've taken a lot of heat for Travers and his task force. But now that he's holding ground, our operation is null and void. They need our help. We're abandoning our raiding operations and joining the main force."
Their expressions were of shock, disbelief, and a desperate pleading to not give up. Vivian felt tears well up in the corners of her eyes and she managed a stiff smile. "I know what we've done out here is great. I know it seemed like the Navy could never do something like this again, not this late in the war. But we did. I want you to be proud of that. But we can't ignore the operational variables presented to us now. I'm sorry. Return to your ships, make your repairs, and then prepare for a slipspace jump. We're heading out."
Words: 6,215
Pages (Google Docs): 15
Original Font: Garamond
Original Font Size: 12
Original Line Spacing: 1.5
Author's Note: Boy, I wonder what the theme was if this chapter. Obvious chapter titles/themes aside, I really liked this chapter. The space battle felt fresher and more dicey, so that's a nice change. Not to mention a shift in the story is always pleasant to write. And although I didn't have plans for this, maybe a little rivalry between Tsang and our erstwhile AI will add some much needed levity from time to time! Hope you liked it; see you next week for Chapter 27.
Comment Responses
Edgeofdoom: I believe somebody brought that up in the previous story! I usually don't like to spoil anything whether it's going to happen or not, but for this instance, I'll tell you that she isn't. It'll come up somewhere along the line as a joke between her and Frost, but for now, that's not on the table.
Qrs-jg: Did this one catch you off guard too or nah?
MightBeGone: Yes, Moser, he is dead. And he will always be dead. And he will never come back. Would you like more salt in the wounds, good sir? Joking aside, it is a bummer but it's important to meter the bummer stuff with some uplifting stuff. A good default in this story is the developing relationship between Steele and Carris, and the developed one between Jasmine and Frost. Balance is always key. Decatur is becoming more fun to write as well! Life sure does that, but never feel like you have to break your back to comment. I appreciate it all the same.