answers to reviewers questions or statements:
War Sage: Just wait until Jacob Keys pops up and Peter realizes he's the father of a woman he's slept with recently.
Random3: Peter's raw physical strength isn't on the same level as his comic book counterpart is, and really Peter is easily replaceable compared to Jorge. All ONI has to do is find another Spartan Three, Gamma company is just about to or already has graduated, that they can pull aside to further augment like they did Peter. Once more, ONI is unaware of Peter's sixth sense, had they been, they never would've let him leave ONI in the first place, as super solider that can sense danger coming is nigh invaluable. Peter should be considered extremely valuable yes, but ONI has a tendency to make some rather questionable decisions in regards to it's assets, especially when Spartans are involved. They didn't hesitate to send hundreds of Threes to the slaughter on the off chance it helps extend humanity's existence. Plus, Peter's attitude and slowly diverging views from the UNSC might be seen as a problem to some of ONI's higherups so they rather nip a potential problem before it grows beyond their control.
Guest: What can I say, I'm going through an intense Halo phase in preparation for Halo Infinite. It'll probably die down in the next week or two.
GH1049: Glad you like the story. I'm trying to flush the Spartans out a bit more, which is partly been made easier by making them more open and conversive, something I feel they'd have to become given how often they work with non-Spartan personnel compared to other units.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or halo characters seen, mentioned or used.
"Jorge, I think there's something you should know" Peter said once their Sabre had finally reached Reach's orbit and the rockets that were attached to the fighter began to break away as it entered a zero gee environment.
"What is it?" Jorge asked from the Sabre's co-pilot seat, directly behind Peter's a he glanced out the Sabre's canopy and saw several more Sabres were also rocketing towards space.
"I never successfully qualified on any UNSC air craft" Peter revealed as the last of the rockets to help the Sabre reach orbit broke away and Peter took control of the fighter and activated it's primary engines and accelerated further into the void.
"..."
"..."
"...You never qualified?" Jorge said in a slow tone, as if he wasn't sure he heard right and was simply trying to be sure.
"Except for the Hornet! That I did pass, with flying colors I might add" Peter said as he turned as far as he could to look at Jorge out of the corner of his vision, damn these cockpits were cramped "In fact, Kurt said I was and I quote 'the best damn hornet flier he's seen'"
"Oh sweet mercy..." Jorge began with a shake of his head "Than why in God's name were YOU sent to retrieve and pilot these things when they were stolen? In case you hadn't noticed Six, but these aren't even remotely like Hornets!"
"Honestly... because I was closer than Blue Team was by a full week and a half and ONI wanted these back fast" Peter revealed with a shrug as he turned his attention back to the Sabre's display in front of him and input a few commands to help manage the fighter's velocity "And I had an A.I. the whole time talking me through what to do. So I'm kinda going off what I remember it saying"
And really it wasn't too hard given that many fighter craft in the UNSC had their controls made as close to as universal as possible. That way if a Pelican pilot ever had to fly a Longsword or vice versa for whatever reason, they'd be able to do so decently. He wished this thing was set up more like a Hornet but he'll manage, he always did.
"Well thank god we're in space" Jorge said with a tired sigh "Though I think you'd somehow manage to hit something up here. should have one of those 'How's my flying' stuck on the back of whatever you fly"
"If you wanna get out and walk, your more than welcome to" Peter scowled at the man as they came up on the refit station, Anchor 9, just as the UNSC Savannah, a Paris-class heavy frigate, began it's approach for docking.
According to Kat, the Savannah would be giving up it's slipspace drive to be modified into a bomb of sorts that will than be placed aboard a Covenant Corvette which in turn will be sent towards the Super Carrier and 'ignited'. But until Anchor 9's engineers could remove the slipspace drive from the frigate and transfer it to a Pelican, they were both sitting ducks.
"Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo oh two niner, over"
Jorge responded to the hail "Copy, Actual. Colonel Holland?"
"Affirmative, Noble Five" Holland greeted the Spartan-II "Welcome to Operation UPPPER CUT. I'll be your control from here on out"
"Ooh, we get to run a Op with Dad instead of Mom this time around" Peter joked as he made a few more adjustments to the Sabre as it glided through space.
"Understood, Colonel" Jorge said as he did his best to keep from laughing.
"Noble Six, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense. You may need to get reacquainted. Rendezvous at Anchor 9 with the frigate Savannah and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready"
"Trust me Colonel, he'll need it and than some" Jorge chuckled.
"Copy, Holland out" the Army Colonel said with a hint of a grin in his voice.
"Jorge I will turn this thing around if you keep your backseat commentary up!" Peter snapped at the veteran Spartan who in turn laughed.
As the Savannah began to dock with the refit station, Peter began to slowly run through the Sabre's various systems so he could get a feel for the craft. Flying in space always felt odd to Peter as he was used to some form of air resistance, but out here in the cold void between planets, there was none. Thus he took the next few minutes to modify how he pitched, turned, rose and descend in the empty vacuum less he end up spiraling out of control.
"Savannah Actual to Sabre teams, be advised, we have bogies inbound" the Frigate's com officer reported to the Sabre craft flying around the station, his tone even and controlled.
"Okay, this is starting to get a little suspicious" Peter said with a frown as he glanced through the fighter's canopy to see if he could spot the incoming Covenant craft "First they attack the facility that happens to house the craft we need for this mission and now they just happen to attack the station we need for the next part of this plan? I'm starting to think that these guys are on to us or something"
Before Jorge could offer his own input, another voice, this one from Anchor 9, spoke over the strike force's comm channel "Anchor 9 to all UNSC ships, station defenses are down. Requesting combat support until we can bring them back online"
"Copy that Anchor 9, Noble Five, Six, deal with those Covies" Holland ordered the duo.
"Yes sir" Peter said as he watched the 'bogies' that were picked up finally come into view, or at the very least close enough that his helmet's magnification could see them reasonably enough.
They were Banshees, though these seemed modified for combat in space rather than in atmosphere.
Peter quickly turned the Sabre so that his and the rest of the 'squadron' were on an intercept course and waited until the first of the single pilot craft were within range of the Sabre's twin M1024 cannons and fired their 30mm rounds. Numerous Banshees went up in purple and dark blue flames as the rounds tore through their lightly armored hulls, reducing the fast attack craft to clouds of shredded and partially melted metal. The Banshee squadron quickly dispersed and moved to engage the human's larger fighter craft.
It quickly became apparent that what the Banshees lacked in side and armor, they more than made up for in their speed and maneuverability. Plasma bolts began to pepper Peter's Sabre from seemingly every direction while a fuel rod rocket struck the underside of the fighter's frame. Had Peter and Jorge been in a Longsword, they would've been reduced to a smoldering slag of metal by now, but the Sabre's experimental shielding system offered a buffer long enough for Peter to pull the fighter out of the literal storm and return fire.
"Not bad Six" Jorge commented as he watched Peter score three more kills with the Sabre's auto cannons.
"Defensive batteries are at fifty six percent. Hang in there, Sabre teams!" Anchor 9's controller said over the comms.
"Us hang in there? It should be them that need to hang in there" Peter said as he used the Sabre's cannons to blast another Banshee into a cloud of metal and plasma discharges.
"Anchor 9 to UNSC ships: impulse drive signatures detected. Fighter-class. Heads up, Sabres!"
"Just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Jorge said in a dry tone as a dozen Seraphs suddenly raced into the area and began to spray the Sabres with high velocity plasma shots, far more powerful than the ones the Banshees were using.
Within seconds, two of the twelve Sabre squadron's shields flickered out of existence moments before the craft themselves were torn to shreds and exploded into a brief fireball. Peter grumbled as he quickly dodged a stream of plasma cannon fire and quickly linked back up with the other remaining Sabres and switched to the fighter's missile systems and locked on to several fighters.
"Defensive batteries at 79%; buy us another minute, Sabre teams!"
"That minute better be a literal one" Peter said as he and the rest of the Sabres fired their missiles towards the approaching Seraphs, numerous streaks of white vapor made from the rockets tore through space and towards the alien craft.
The Seraphs didn't bother to dodge, they flew into the approaching wave of missiles, using their shields to absorb the brunt of the explosions the rockets triggered when they impacted. Fortunately the Covenant craft were flying close enough that once a fighter lost control because of a series of missile explosions going off around it's shielded frame, it sent it flying into another, creating a explosion of plasma and alien metal.
"That one was mine to any keeping track" Peter said over the Sabre's comms.
"Pretty sure it was several of ya'lls" another pilot said before adding "Respectively, sir"
"Damn right respectively" Peter mumbled before he cleared his throat "Acknowledged"
"Ah, your one of those kinda pilots" Jorge said with a eye roll.
"The hell does that mean?" Peter asked as he performed a barrel roll as a Seraph fighter tried to shoot out their engines.
"The kind of pilot that's not really a pilot and gets very... anal, about any kills he may or may not have gotten" Jorge clarified with amusement "Strap yourselves in a fighter and all of a sudden you think your Baron von Richthofen"
"Who?" Peter said, confused at the name that Jorge muttered.
He thought he knew the word Baron, some kind of old fashion noble rank, but the rest of the name was unknown to him. It sounded... German, he thinks, though it could've very easily been Hungarian.
'They both speak German-ish, right?' Peter thought with a contemplative look under his helmet's faceplate.
"The Red Baron" Jorge said with annoyance at Peter's apparent ignorance of one of Humanity's historical figures, specifically in terms of piloting "He was known as the Ace of Aces during the first World War in the early Twentieth century back on Earth"
"Oh" Peter said after a pause before he made a 'hmm' sound and switched to the Sabre's auto cannons and began to spray an enemy fighter's shields with short controlled bursts until it flickered out and finished the craft off with a pair of missiles.
"Anchor 9 to all craft in the vicinity, be advised: we show a large attack force inbound. Combat air patrol and Sabre teams are directed to engage and defend the station" Anchor 9's operator said.
"Is there any place the Covenant isn't?" Jorge asked with a air of sarcasm.
"I don't think they've hit any bars yet" Peter said as he felt a faint tingling at the base of his skull as dozens of Banshees and Seraphs raced towards the UNSC refit station and the Savannah.
"Anchor 9 to all UNSC ships: station defenses are back online. Clear the lane, and we'll light 'em up" the comms officer stated.
"Oh good, I was beginning to think that by the time they did come back online, the fighting would be over" Peter said as he flew his Sabre up and over the oncoming Covenant fighters as the defense turrets of Anchor 9 began to open fire.
"Luck must be changing" Jorge commented as he brought up the Sabre's inventory and hummed "Careful Six, auto cannon is at sixty percent capacity, and you have thirteen missiles left. We're still gonna have to deal with any possible fighters the Corvette will have protecting it"
"Which is why I'm gonna lead those Banshees and Seraphs into the line of fire" Peter said as he flipped a switch that deactivated the fighter's shields "Hang on, we're gonna get a little... reckless"
"Ah shit" Jorge said as he held on to the dashboard in front of him as Peter suddenly hit the afterburner.
The Spartan's Sabre raced down towards the Covenant fighters as they began to spilt up, half going to engage the other Sabres while the rest began to make their runs against the refit station and the frigate attached to it. Jorge was tempted to close his eyes as Peter began to maneuver the fighter around in ways that he swore were made by someone with their eyes closed. Peter also brought the Sabre far too close for comfort towards some of the dry docks that orbited Anchor 9 as he evaded plasma fire from a half dozen or so fighters, four Banshees and two Seraphs, that were following them.
Unknown to Jorge however, Peter was in fact flying with his eyes closed, using his sixth sense to navigate through the hectic space conflict. It was a little trick that Peter discovered his danger sense could help him pull off after he was rendered nearly blind by a flashbang that a Insurrectionist threw at his face a little over a year ago on a Op he ran with Romanoff's ODST fireteam.
'Wonder how he'd react if I told him that I'm flying blind' Peter snickered to himself as he suddenly brought up the Sabre and allowed a point defense turret on Anchor 9 to blast his pursuers into scraps.
"Six, if your trying to give me motion sickness, it's slowly starting to work" Jorge said in a strained tone.
"Good to know" Peter said with a smirk before he felt his danger sense flare a little more in intensity as Anchor 9's comm officer spoke over the net again.
"Anchor 9 to Sabre teams: Phantoms signatures detected on a forward facing vector" the man said as several Phantoms appeared on the very edges of Peter's radar, moving at a steady pace towards the battle "Anchor 9 to Sabre teams: Phantoms are inbound on vector Seven Mark Four Niner"
"Think they plan to board the station?" Peter asked as he banked the Sabre in the direction of the Phantoms.
"Maybe" Jorge said as he used the Sabre's advance and still experimental systems to scan the approaching Phantoms "Hmm, their configuration seems to be more heavily armed and armored than usual. I'm also counting six cannons, one on the front, one on the back and four on the sides, two each... hmmm it even seems a bit bigger. Could be modified for combat instead of troop carrying"
"And just when I thought regular Phantoms were bad enough" Peter sighed before he pitched the Sabre to the side as two of one of the Phantom's side cannons opened fire on the approaching fighter "At least they seem rated for space combat, not planet side"
"Anchor 9 to all UNSC fighters: multiple inbound Phantoms headed straight for our defensive batteries. Sabre teams, marking high-value gunboat targets - now" Anchor 9's operator said before the Phantom gunboats were marked with seven waypoints on the Sabre pilot's HUDs' detailing where the Phantoms were.
Peter hummed as he dodged several more plasma bolts from one of the Phantoms before he activated his fighter's missile system and painted the shooting gunboat with the target locator. With a slight squeeze of the fighter's trigger mechanism on the Sabre's yoke, four missiles shot out from the Sabre and raced towards the first Phantom. Whoever was piloting the Phantom seemed to have noticed the incoming missiles and had the two side cannons that were facing the approaching projectiles open fire on them. Two of the missiles were hit and exploded only a hundred meters from the Phantom, the third had hit a passing Banshee and destroyed the small fighter. The fourth however was able to make it towards the Phantom and struck the gunboat right between the two plasma cannons mounted on it's side, destroying both cannons and causing the Phantom to lean slightly before it's engines seemed to go dark and if was left drifting5 in the void.
Peter quickly finished it off with a long concentrated burst of the Sabre's auto cannon.
"There's one Phantom down" Peter said as he brought the Sabre up and over the small cloud of debris and plasma emissions that were once a Phantom gunboat.
The other Phantom gunboats increased their speed towards the UNSC refit station, doing their best to dodge the cannon fire from Sabres and the point defense turrets of Anchor 9. Slowly, one by one, the Covenant gunboats were destroyed, though at the cost of another Sabre and a few plasma shots fired on Anchor 9's lower levels, breaching through several layers and exposing the interior of the station to the cold vacuum of space.
"Bad way to go Six" Jorge said as he glanced out the Sabre's canopy and watched as dozens of UNSC personnel were sucked out of the breached sections of the space station and drifted into space.
"Could be worse" Peter said as he dodged a stray fuel rod rocket fired from a now destroyed Banshee.
"How so?" the Spartan-II asked with a raised brow.
"Could burn to death" Peter answered with a mental shiver at the thought "At least with being exposed to vacuum, it's fairly quick, if unpleasant, like drowning. But burning to death? That could take a few minutes depending on the temperature of the flames roasting you"
"I suppose so" Jorge said with a thoughtful nod before he gripped his dashboard a bit too tightly when Peter had their Sabre just barely skim past a retreating Seraph, both craft's shields flickering from the near contact of their hulls.
"Well will you look at that, guess the Covies decided that this place isn't worth the hassle" Peter said as he and Jorge watched what was left of the Covenant attack force, a dozen of so Banshees and a third as many Seraphs, flying away from Anchor 9.
"Or their regrouping with a Covenant cruiser that's inbound to reduce this station and us to molten slag" Jorge theorized grimly.
"Think there's a cruiser around here somewhere?" Peter asked, genuinely curious.
If the Covenant could get a fucking Super Carrier in Reach's atmosphere, getting a few cruisers in system didn't seem so hard to believe.
"Anchor 9 to UNSC ships: all targets neutralized. Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, you are cleared to dock. Activating marker" Anchor 9's operator said before a waypoint appeared on Peter's HUD, identifying which hanger to dock with.
"Copy Anchor 9, en-route" Jorge answered as Peter brought the Sabre in towards the hanger.
It was than Holland's voice spoke up "Holland to Bravo Oh-Two-Niner. Noble Five, you ready to go?"
"Affirmative, Colonel" Jorge answered with a nod even though Holland wouldn't be able to see it.
"No need to sound so broken up about leaving me Jorge, I'll still be around" Peter said as he angled the Sabre towards the selected hanger and began to power down the fighter's engines.
A few hundred feet away from the pair, a Pelican was slowly rolled out, a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine attached to the undercarriage that usually held a Warthog or Scorpion. A few of Anchor 9's engineers were still making a series last minute modifications and adjustments to the makeshift bomb to ensure that it went off when it was supposed to and not before.
"Peter, I've met my fair share of bad drivers, and you are one of the worst" Jorge said with a laugh as the Sabre connected with Anchor 9 and began to input the commands to open the Sabre's cockpit, overriding the computer's safeties.
"For that, your walking back" Peter joked as the cockpit depressurized before the canopy opened, exposing the two Spartans to the vacuum of space.
"See you soon Six" Jorge said over a private channel before he climbed out of his seat and aimed himself towards the Pelican in the adjacent hanger before kicking off.
Peter watched him go for a moment before he returned his attention to his Sabre and began to close the canopy and re-pressurize the cockpit. As the canopy slid closed, the Spartan-III briefly glanced down towards the surface of Reach just as a series of explosion began. The Covenant had begun their plasma bombardment of some of the more remote areas of the planet, one of the locations being bombarded with plasma was where SWORD Base was if he recalled correctly.
'Halsey's still down there...' Peter thought as he spared a glance towards Jorge as the Spartan-II had reached the Pelican that will be carrying the slipspace bomb.
He was tempted to ask Jorge if he was okay, but decided against it, they had a mission to complete. Mourning could come afterwards, and who knows, maybe Halsey was evacuated long before the Covenant began their attack.
"Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, you're cleared to re-engage thrusters" Anchor 9's comms officer said.
"Roger..." Peter said as he flipped a switch that began to power up the Sabre's engines.
"Noble Six, this is Holland" Peter and Jorge's controller said.
"Go ahead Colonel" Peter said.
"We've flagged a Corvette-class vessel on a predicted docking track with our target" Holland revealed "Get our makeshift bomb on that Corvette, and we have our delivery system. Noble Five will escort the bomb. I need your Sabre team to clear the way for boarding"
"Count on it sir" Peter said with a determined nod as he glanced over to see the Pelican Jorge will be on pulling away from the hanger, it's makeshift bomb prepped and ready for use.
"As she's already donated her slipspace drive to the cause, the Savannah will be joining you to provide local fire support in the event the Corvette proves a bit too much for your Sabres" Holland revealed as Peter slowly pulled the Sabre away from the hanger while the Savannah dethatched from Anchor 9, her engines burning brightly.
"Sabre Teams, this is UNSC Savannah. Our wings may be clipped, but we've got your back" the Frigate's commander said over the strike team's channel as Jorge's Pelican and the Sabres converged around her.
"Lieutenant, I've stuck my neck out for Noble on this one. Don't make me regret it. There's quite a few people with more stars on them than you and me combined that'll be looking for someone to crucify if this doesn't work out" Holland said in a grim tone.
"We'll get it done, Colonel" Peter said as he and the rest of the strike began to move away from Anchor 9 as Dot's voice echoed through the comm channels.
"Targeted Corvette sighted within proximity of NAV Beacon RA-15, approximately eight hundred kilometers from Anchor 9's current position, holding steady over the northern pole. Setting Waypoint now" The A.I. said before a marker appeared on the HUD of Peter's Sabre.
The rest of the flight was made in silence, aside from the occasional update from Dot on the Corvette and Super Carrier's positions. Peter used this time to run a quick check of his Sabre's status, something that took a little longer given he was the only one operating the fighter now. The auto cannons were at forty percent ammo capacity and he was down to seven missiles, not exactly the sorta of armament to have a pitched dog fight in space with.
'Could try going straight for the Corvette's hanger, avoid a drawn out fight I'm not armed for...' Peter thought as he checked the fighter's shielding and saw that because of the damage from the Phantom gunboat earlier to some of the Sabre's more sensitive systems, it's recharge speed had dropped by sixty percent 'Hmm, might not have a choice. Unshielded and understocked? Not great odds'
And if he does manage to make it to the Corvette's hanger, he was likely going to be on his own for some time until the rest of the strike team and Jorge can join him. While a Corvette didn't have a very large crew compared to a CCS-class battlecruiser, it still likely housed a number of enemy soldiers that'd make any attempts to board the vessel... costly.
"Oh this is just gonna be all sorts of fun, I can tell" Peter said with a shake of his head before he saw the Corvette they were to capture, barely the size of a grain of rice given how far it was.
And behind it, the ever growing profile of the Covenant Super Carrier, silently drifting through space like some Lovecraftian super predator.
"Damn that thing really is massive..." Peter muttered as he stared at the distant form of the Covenant Super Carrier, only just realizing he spoke over his and Jorge's private channel.
"Eyes on the smaller ship Noble Six" Jorge responded in a quiet but firm tone "Don't think about the Carrier. Just focus on the Corvette"
"Kinda hard to when that thing is literally looming over us in the distance like a monster from hell" Peter said as he turned his gaze back towards the Corvette they were to board and send on a refueling run towards the Carrier with the Savannah's modified slipspace drive and activate it which in turn will send a good portion of the ship into oblivion.
It sounded so simple on paper... or drawn on a patch of dirt with a mentally unhinged Spartan's knife.
...
And done.
Next chapter, The Hero of Reach...