Asteroid Belt, Ballast System
Aboard the UNSC Enigma
April 5th 2552
00:19 (Local Time)
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Enigma hovered closer, catching sight of the strange construction just as a phantom unlatched itself from the docking bay.
"Run a scan of that." Katya said, placing her hands on the holotable.
Nguyen conferred with the nav officer, "about fifty signatures on board, Ma'am, minimal life signs aboard the platform."
Katya looked at SPARTAN B312 as he stood silently next to the door. "Our guest was telling the truth, then."
The SPARTAN nodded back, "If she has intel on the local ONI operation, it would be worth asking her, Ma'am."
"Already did… said they are off to investigate." She gestured to the phantom that was now speeding away from the Enigma and off towards the distant planet. "Tala said the ones left behind will likely be a San'shyuum, the one Madeleine burned, and a low ranking Elite called Dehl."
"Kill order?" the SPARTAN asked, menacingly.
"Both are valuable but the Elite is expendable, I have a feeling we can apprehend them without violence, however." Katya noted, smiling eagerly to herself. "I think these heretics genuinely want our help."
"With respect Ma'am, they need to be kept as far away from Beta-7 and ARC DREAM as possible." Nguyen stated, "the project is too sensitive for intel leaks."
"I agree. Luckily, all operational data is being stored elsewhere. I've had Walsingham purge the Enigma of all data pertaining to Beta-7. From this point on, Enigma will return to its stated tasking and only us will know about it, understood?"
The crew saluted and Katya scanned each of their faces, her fearsome glare penetrating the silence.
"Good. Bee, you're with me. Let's go claim ourselves a prophet."
The SPARTAN saluted and unlocked the armoury, returning moments later with submachine guns and shotguns for the pair of them. 'Bee', who was preoccupied with the weaponry, didn't see Katya and Nguyen walk nervously to the windshield.
"Crap." Nguyen murmured, looking out at the covenant fleet moving silently towards the planet. "What do we do?" He added, looking to Katya for ideas.
"They're making their move, now." She said running a hand through her hair, "we do what we came to do. ARC DREAM comes first. Alert the fleet's, track their position and relay it to the seventh. Get the commanders on the comms, let's make sure they're okay."
"Aye, Ma'am!"
"...strange readings…" came the voice of a Lieutenant aboard the Aegis Fate, "Captain, it's the remnant fleet!"
"Christ, all hands battle stations, alert the Northwest Passage and Invictus, tell them we need them. Shiroyama, move to defence pattern delta, I think Enigma has pinged us the location of the covenant fleet."
"Aegis, this is Ides of March, all systems are green, what are we looking at?" George's voice echoed over comms.
"About 80 contacts, mostly corvettes, emerging from the asteroid belt at full speed."
"What do we do, Sir?"
"We regroup, wait for the Shiroyama and Invictus to return and assess the situation."
"We're abandoning the flotilla?"
"They didn't want our help and they're about evenly matched numbers wise."
"Meaning they will lose…"
"Acknowledged, Ides, just get here. We'll do what we can when we're at full strength."
Katya watched as the two UNSC ships abandoned the surface and sped towards the rendezvous at full pelt.
"Captain Harper?"
"Yes, Kohli?"
"My nav team have spotted a squadron breaking off from the main force, they're on an intercept course with the Invictus and Shiroyama, can you confirm?"
"Ma'am? We can confirm it." Nguyen stated, "shall I send it?"
Katya nodded, her knuckles whitening as she watched helplessly.
"Ping from Enigma, Sir. They can see it too."
"Damn it, okay, alert Mallar, tell her we need Broadswords equipped for orbital engagement. Have Shiroyama move to prevent the interception. Northwest Passage, hold the RV."
Then, it was Grissom's turn to speak. "Captain, we have Banshee fliers probing our flanks, scores of them."
"Invictus, deploy to assist."
"Way ahead of you Captain," Mallar said, "but we have fliers of our own. Waves of banshees are stopping our pilots from getting through. Should we turn back and assist?"
"Negative, Mallar, Shiroyama is there to protect you, not the other way around. Maintain course and proceed to the RV. Grissom, target the lead vessel, Invictus you do the same, let's triangulate its location for a precision MAC strike." Alex said, calmly, his voice radiating authority.
Katya looked to Nguyen, "Track those ships, even from here we can get a better lock than Invictus."
Nguyen and the nav team sent the data and Alex's voice could be heard from the comms unit again.
"Targeting data received from Enigma. Sterling, what's your status?"
"Green across the board, Sir."
"Fire mission, Tango, Lima, Delta, Romeo. One shot authorised, fire for effect."
Therewas a pause.
"Shot away!"
"Shiroyama, prime archer missiles."
"Primed, Sir."
"Positive impact on target, shields disabled. Shiroyama, you are cleared for archer missile strike."
"Ranks A through H away."
Katya watched the screen, signalling to her nav team to track the second ship. The first one was scrubbed, shattering on the holoscreen like safety glass.
"Aegis, this is Shiroyama. Banshees are all over us, PDC's are holding them off for now but we need support."
"Best we can do for you is to scrub those ships. Hold tight, Grissom. I've deployed my broadswords to assist. E.t.a. four mikes, callsign Samurai."
"Roger that, Harper, much appreciated."
"Ides, prep second salvo. One shot authorised, fire mission Hotel, Alpha, Lima, Oscar. Fire for effect."
"Shot away."
Katya watched again, in awe of the quiet calm that Alex Harper could instil in his charges. They trusted him completely.
"Aegis, this is Grissom, shot is gold. Repeat, shot is gold."
Shot is gold. It was shorthand for the greatest news a naval commander can hear. Katya grinned, watching as the MAC round blasted the weak neck of the covenant ship, cleaving the bulbous bow from the aft of the ship, exploding without the need to use any archer missiles. The feeling was mutual among the UNSC as the other commanders cheered earnestly into their comms.
Mallar was the first to stop.
"Sir, enemy fliers are breaking off, we're clearing the atmosphere. Should I pursue?"
Alex seemed to pause, "maintain holding pattern foxtrot, track their heading."
Mallar's voice returned almost instantly, "They're heading towards Grissom, Sir!"
"Don't let them reach him, use what you have. Grissom, bug out, NOW. Ides, MAC status?"
"Fully charged, Sir, three rounds loaded."
"Fire mission, Lima, Lima, X-Ray. Three rounds authorised, Fire for effect!"
"Shots away!"
There was a tense silence as the Shiroyama began to climb and the MAC rounds raced towards the target. Swarms of banshees descended on the ship as Grissom struggled to fend them off.
"Shiroyama, this is Samurai, don't stop, we'll clear the lane." The pilot said, red dots began to wink out as the squadron engaged the enemy.
The first shot glanced the enemy cruiser's starboard side, shattering its shield, the second plunged into its engines, huge explosions ripping through the engines and making it list.
The third shot missed.
Katya looked worried, her fingers drumming the table as she watched the final cruiser list starboard, the entire side of the ship glowed as it burned against the atmosphere and threatened to split apart. The list was so great, in fact, that the excavator could be seen, glowing in the sky as it faced upwards.
"Good god." Nguyen murmured, "it's going to fire!"
Katya swallowed as the laser burst into a great beam of light, striking through the sky and into the Shiroyama.
"Shiroyama has been hit, repeat, Shiroyama has been hit." Mallar cried, "we're seeing extensive damage towards the aft, engines are failing."
"Grissom!" Yelled Sterling, his calmness vanishing, "Sir, we have to help them!"
"Negative, Ides. Hold position, that Cruiser is going critical. Firing off a shot like that is going to knock out any ship in the AO. Nothing more we can do."
"E.M. Flare! It's coming from the cruiser!" Mallar said, her voice shaking.
"Jesus," Harper gasped, "that thing is gonna knock out electronics on the entire continent!"
The flare burned as the cruiser exploded, lighting the sky like a faraway fire as the Shiroyama stalled and slipped out of the sky like an old car dropped from a crane. The electromagnetic pulse swept out across the continent, sweeping over Francesca, Rex and even Constantium, as an entire colony darkened beneath its shadow.
Katya shook her head, "let's go secure that platform. We might not be saving Ballast after all."
Bee nodded coldly, then followed.