PROLOGUE

1245 hours July 26, 2552 (Military calendar)

Miridem Star System

FFG-842 Razorback

The six UNSC ships sailed through Miridem Star System on what seemed to be endless patrol searching for Covenant incursion or much less likely this long into the war terrorist activity. With the UNSC spread so thin this long into this hellish war. There were only six ships the Diligence class Destroyer Minotaur, three Paris class frigates the Razorback, Buffalo, and Gettysburg and a pair of Charon-class light frigates Roadrunner and coyote.

Task force Minotaur under the command of Rear Admiral Caleb Stevenson had been assigned with a patrol of four systems and five inhabited planets, they were preparing to make the jump to the next system on their patrol when a FTL drone jumped in sending messages to all ships commanding officers:

UNSC FLEETCOMM PRIORITY MESSAGE

ENCRYPTION CODE: GAMMA FOXTROT ZULU

FROM:REACHNAVCOMM

TO: ALL UNSC UNITS

DATE JULY 25, 2552

SUBJECT: IMMEDIATE REDEPLOYMENT

CLASSIFICATION: FLAG OFFICERS ONLY

[MESSAGE BEGAINS]

I will be short and direct ladies and gentlemen our head is on the chopping block. Deep space assets have detected a massive incoming covenant armada. All UNSC warships are to drop whatever they are doing and rendezvous at rally point GAMMA. Repeat we have detected a massive incoming covenant armada. All UNSC warships are to drop whatever they are doing and rendezvous at rally point GAMMA.

[Message ends]

Commander Phillip Black after reading the message "Lieutenant Richards, prepare to join the battlegroup in a jump for Reach the patrol is cancelled by order of FLEETCOM from the sounds of it sooner better than later. "Richards looked slightly nervous as he ordered the frigate to jump for reach. Within less than ten seconds six bright purple rings appeared in front of each ship as they moved into slipstream. It would take seven hours to arrive at Reach every officer hoped they would arrive in time and there would be more ships coming.

1915 hours July 26, 2552 (Military calendar)

Outer Reach Star System

Rally point Gamma

FFG-842 Razorback

Commander Black looked at the radar screen and whistled appreciatively as he scrutinized the screen. The Minotaur Task force wasn't the only group to of been recalled all over the system battlegroups task forces and even individual ships were jumping in. looking at the number of ships here he blinked. Looking over at Ensign Collins "Ensign, Can you reset your sensors there must be a glitch we are reading over two hundred ships as well as three massive mobile repair docks. That can't be right Admiral Cole only had a hundred and seventy under his command this is the largest fleet gathered since the start of the war." Ensign Collins looked at the screen. "Well sir it is reach after all…" a ships icon caught her eye "look sir there is the UNSC Trafalgar and her battlegroup. They were part of Earths home fleet."

While everyone was looking at the largest concentration of UNSC warships ever gathered they missed the biggest grouping of ships halfway out on the other side of the system over three hundred covenant ships. The silence was defining the only way they had ever won against the covenant was to outnumber them three to one. And UNSC forces would still lose two thirds of their forces. Commander Black opened a channel to Rear Admiral Stevenson "Sir I think it might be a good idea to have the crew wear EVA gear in case we get hit so we can continue fighting or make repairs as needed." The admiral scoffed " Commander your over thinking this with the orbital super MACs the covie bastards are going to be gutted before we even have to worry about that." With nothing more he could say to a superior officer he saluted and the line went dead.

Punching his command chairs armrest he cursed. "That fucking moron well fuck that." Activating the ships intercom "Attention all crew we will be entering combat in the hour we are going to try something new seeing as how covie weapons burn through our armor I want all crew to wear EVA gear and strap down at your stations. Keep your helmets nearby."

As they watched the fleet at rally point Zulu fired their MAC guns and missiles the orbital MAC guns opened fire as well twenty streaks of white hot tungsten flashed across the night on all sides of the Zulu fleet. The Covenant replied by launching a large broadside of plasma torpedoes at the orbital guns so much fire streaking in space that it looked like a solar flare. The deadly arcs of plasma and tungsten shot through space crossing paths.

The bridge crew was forced to watch as the torpedoes raced in to slaughter the fleet just as the engines of the three repair stations came to life. The massive squares of docking space moved to shield the fleet slowly rotating to spread the damage. The path of the first plasma bolt caught the edge of the leading station as fire splashed over its flat surface. Dozens more bolts hit as they watched the station melted bowed inward and boiled. The metal glowed red, yellow then white-hot, tinged with the plasma blue.

The other two stations also moved into position and took the dozens of bolts meant for the orbital guns. However five of the massive gun stations had been destroyed the Looking around he saw other battle groups UNSC Yamato's battlegroup almost a dozen Orion-class assault carrier's task forces. All desperately engaging the enemy as over a dozen more ships in the outer edge of the system poured on speed. Some ships recently pulled from storage considered to be obsolete in comparison to modern ships the most modern one the commander could see was a fifty year old ship. The cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn had just come within range. The Navigation officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Brian Robinson Spoke up "Sir at best speed we are still 30 minutes from point Gamma" frustrated all black could do was grumble but nod his head.

Watching as the task force grew with the addition of three more frigates and a destroyer as the battle continued to rage ships everywhere exploded as the Super MACs fired again along with the rest of the human fleet answered by the plasma and now lasers of the covenant.

Only a dozen or so human ships remained by time the Minotaur and the ships with her were within range. Ensign Michaels announced from the communications station "Sir the admiral is ordering all ships to target the pair covenant destroyers escorting that large unknown cruiser in the back of the force." Looking at the weapons technician Lieutenant Commander Rodrigues who replied "MAC system at one hundred percent arming Archer pods A-F safety's removed."

Within a second the entire force fired their MACs the destroyers wiping the targeted destroyer out without even needing the missiles. With a quick order Black had Rodrigues update the destroyer's missiles to target the other destroyer where they and the seven other frigates had fired knocking the shields down and causing massive damage.

And that was when the large unknown ship fired five beams of silver laced light reached out slicing through Minotaur buffalo a pair of Orion carriers and the destroyer that had linked up with them. With no defense to this ship killer UNSC forces slowly scattered. Some desperately fired missiles to intercept the plasma torpedoes but the explosives did nothing to the stop the superheated plasma.

The Razorback, Gettysburg and Roadrunner all threw their drives past the red line to get away from the monster followed by another pair of frigates hundreds of kilometers away the Super MACs fired again wiping another dozen covenant destroyers or cruisers out. A small group of seven enemy destroyers cleared the debris field from their brothers the razorback and the ships with her fired their recharged MAC guns and one ships reactor went critical and exploded however half a dozen Covenant ships cleared the interfering cloud of vapor. They had a clear shot. So did the Super MAC guns. They both fired at the same time fired again. Plasma shot from the sides of the nearby Convent ships. The Super MAC rounds hit the vessels and destroyed the enemy. The streams of plasma were already on their way. They flashed toward the orbital guns and turned the installations into showers of sparks and molten Titanium A.

When the haze cleared, fifteen of the Super MAC orbital installations remained intact . . . five had been vaporized. Forty more human ships dropped from slipstream. The Covenant ships engaging the fleet turned and fled on an out-system vector at the sight of the human reinforcements. Commander Black as with the rest of the crew breathed a sigh of relief they didn't know why the battered covies decided to run but they had won.

The price was high though too high of the two hundred UNSC ships less than fifty were undamaged only another twenty more were combat ready. They had lost almost a hundred ships and eight of the twenty orbital guns had been destroyed. Commander Black looked around the bridge "Prepare for search and rescue ops there are almost a hundred ships out there were going to be bus.." Ensign Michaels announced "Incoming fleet wide transmission Priority Alpha from the UNSC Pillar of Autumn a short video of hundreds of dropships and fighters streaming into atmosphere." A few seconds later the Super MACs turned and fired not hitting a single ship with their shells but sending hundreds into uncontrolled kinetic falls as they were shook apart by the hypersonic shell. The closest UNSC ships split heading for each pole firing missiles and point defense guns. There were too many however as dozens of distress signals from all over the planet came to life.

Bad news Loves Company as Ensign Collins announced the retreating covenant forces had changed their minds and were coming back for round two with less than a hundred operational ships against twenty five of their big ships carriers, destroyers and cruisers we need help soon.

Razorback and the other ships this far out from the planet to help deal with the landings gathered Gettysburg and Roadrunner, another pair of frigates nearby the Savannah and Chioglossa with a Hillsborough-class destroyer Zeus all surrounding the bulk of an Independence-Class Light Carrier Pride of Defiance. Facing them was seven covenant ships a massive moderately damaged CSO-class supercarrier CPV-class two heavy destroyer and four RSV-class heavy frigates.

As the two forces approached each other fighters launched from both sides the small swarm of Longswords was swallowed by the hundreds of space Banshees. Commander Black was given command of the frigates while Captain Henderson on the defiance took command of the destroyers Zeus and Hydra. Black and Henderson both agreed however the only way to win is to knock them out as fast as possible.

The five frigates targeted a pair of RSVs bashing down their shields with ease and then pounding them with several dozen archer missiles. The destroyers and carrier had it easier targeting the CPV heavy destroyers and the CSO-class with their larger MACs having the first slam down the shields and the other cutting the covie destroyers in half while simply making the CSOs shield flicker then using two dozen of their oversized missile pods to clear almost a hundred and fifty Banshees from the battleground giving the twenty Longsword survivor's some breathing room.

Then the covenant's weapons finished charging and fired Zeus and Hydra took the brunt of the return fire eating dozens of plasma torpedoes before exploding violently Defiance took several dozen laser hits and was disabled. Gettysburg took an energy lance right above the bridge and cutting through the entire ship. Razorback also caught an energy projector and lost power but they had only lost the operating cables to run the reactor from the bridge. Repairs would take several hours not that they had the time. Roadrunner and Savannah both took several hits and with most of the firepower gone they both redlined their reactor and cleared the zone back to reach to join up with the dozens of destroyers and frigates heading toward them.

And from the disabled and to all outside appearance frigate they watched as hundreds of slipstream bubbles appeared each one releasing a covenant ship. With all hope of victory lost the surviving UNSC ships fled.

Reach Earth's last stronghold had fallen.