1400, December 7th, 2542.
Ectanus 45 system. L2 Lagrange point.
Cole stood on the bridge of the UNSC Punic as it left slipspace. The day he'd been preparing for, for what felt like years, had finally come. He'd gone through his plans time and time again with every strategist and tactician in Coalition High Command with the right security clearances. He'd hammered out numbers with Karandis, talked tactics with Aethyta, and talked strategies with Jondum Bau.
"The Covenant fleet is assembling in orbit of the planet. They must have detected our approach." Said Dove from his holotank. Dove was a loyal and reliable AI that Cole trusted implicitly. Dove had taken on the form of a withered old man sitting on a bench, surrounded by pigeons and white doves. He was sitting awkwardly, a pigeon sitting on his head. Dove's avatar stood up, produced a top hat, and placed it over the pigeon. He cracked his neck and wrists as he spoke. "One Supercarrier, fifteen Assault Carriers, three hundred Battlecruisers, and six hundred escorts. I am counting smaller formations slipping into positions throughout the star system"
Cole nodded gravely. It was too late to turn back, and as he'd feared, the initial estimates of Chi Rho's defenses had been merely the prelude for a larger force. But as he thought the odds over, he decided that they were still feasible.
The UNSC had also been able to gather more ships and troops than originally estimated. With the Batarian entry into the war, many Turian ships had been freed up and taken up UNSC garrison duties, while the Batarians provided massive transport fleets, that let the Coalition quickly shuffle their forces around to gather the bulk of the UNSC Marine Corps for the final battle. Although the origin of these bulk transport ships still rankled Cole. Ferrying around millions of soldiers in converted slave-haulers made his gut turn.
The original purpose of which was not mentioned in polite company. The UNSC deployed nearly eighty percent of its fleet to the battle, as well as another nine million soldiers gathered from the far reaches of the UNSC. Veterans of seventeen years of war, gathered together for the most important battle yet.
Cole didn't want to think of the kind of losses those soldiers would take, and pushed all emotion out of his head. He thought of them purely as numbers. He was going to send ten million of the finest soldiers in the UNSC into a bloody meat grinder, and almost twice as many allied forces. And he was still unsure if he'd brought enough. If Cole could have done so, he would have brought more. But there was only so much transport space available. It had gotten to the point that the Coalition had resorted to planning to land whole freighters packed with troops, and march them out to immediately engage the enemy, while the ships were turned into impromptu fortifications.
There would be no retreat. This was their only chance.
Cole had seen the battle plan for the surface, and been horrified by them. The plans to resupply the troops on the surface amounted to what was effectively drowning the enemy in men and material, while scraping together whatever survived previous attacks and sending them back into the grinder.
"Start the assault," Cole ordered. He activated his Omni-tool, and waved it in front of the strategic screen in front of him, and brought up his own preferred display. Fleet dispositions and movements were shown alongside casualty figures, real-time views of engagements, and a vast strategic map, divided into each part of the massive engagement appeared before him.
Cole took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then he exhaled and fully threw himself into command. His crew glanced at him, eager to see him at work.
"All ships. The time has come to drive the Covenant from human space. This is what Operation: CRUSADER has been leading up to. We will break the Covenant here, and then we will drive them out of human space, and into whatever pits they crawled out of. I am counting on all of you to do what's right."
Cole stood in absolute silence as the UNSC Punic followed the battle plan and began heading towards the largest Covenant fleet concentration orbiting Chi Rho. He could feel the soft hum of the engines beneath his feet, and noted they felt differently from his Valiant-Class Heavy-Cruiser. Unlike normal naval doctrine, the UNSC did not stop to get into formation after departing slipspace, instead each ship's engines were pushed to the limit as they headed towards the fight, and the Covenant ships that were now getting into position. Every second was critical, and the UNSC would take the risk, so they could inflict more damage upon the Covenant. They were heading towards an area of space just ten-thousand kilometers wide where their MAC guns were in range, but they were beyond the Covenant anti-orbital defenses. And that was where they'd stay until the planetary assault took down the guns.
Dove's avatar flickered. "Fleet Admiral, the Coalition fleet elements have left FTL and reported their positions. Updating strategic projections."
The large screen Cole used when coordinating his battles updated to show the positions of the Asari, Salarian, and the Batarian fleets in the system. Their arrival had been exactly on time. As he watched, the Salarian fleet broke off into its component parts and headed towards the Covenant space-based infrastructure throughout the outer edges of the system, moving to contest the Covenant's hold over the outer system. It was hoped that the prospect of losing stations to boarding parties, might prompt a Covenant overreaction.
The Batarian fleet broke off and headed towards Prometheus Four, the tidally locked planet closest to the sun. On the surface of the scorching world, the Batarians would fight for control of the planet's orbital dockyards and deploy strike forces to infiltrate the Covenant antimatter refineries on the surface. Cole wished them the best of luck.
The Asari fleet jumped back into FTL, heading towards the inner planets and the asteroid belt. Their sleek aesthetically pleasing ships would throw themselves into a bloody meat grinder for control of the inner planets, where they could target potential supply depots and repair yards.
It gnawed at Cole to see the ships of his allies leaving for these meat grinders without sending at least some Cruisers to assist them. But his cruisers would just slow the Citadel's ships down as they danced around at near-superluminal speeds. And he needed every UNSC ship he had for his own battle.
A glance at the distance between the UNSC and the Covenant fleet confirmed the UNSC had entered effective MAC gun range. "Bring up the minefield." He commanded, and the strategic map showed a spread of marked dots throughout the Covenant formation. The blast radius covered much of the Covenant fleet. But a good chunk of the ships were protected by other ships being in their path, or not having enough mines nearby.
His eyes lingered upon the supercarrier, which had a hundred mines heading towards it. They were in range.
Satisfied with the dispersal, he gave the command. "Light it up."
A few seconds passed as the transmission travelled towards the three hundred and twenty small nuclear mines that had drifted stealthily into the Covenant fleet. Planted ahead of time by most of the UNSC prowler corps, the devices had been deployed and set to float towards the Covenant forces in orbit.
For a moment, space lit up in hundreds of nuclear blasts. Cloaked nuclear mines laid in preparation of the battle suddenly ignited hidden thrusters and flew towards their designated atargets at high speed, getting into range and setting off their nuclear warheads. The Covenant ships docked at their fuelling stations were caught unprepared, and melted away like wax before a blowtorch, setting off catastrophic explosions as the fuel depots erupted from secondary explosions, and roaring fire blasted through the fuel lines connecting to other ships.
The tightly organized Covenant fleet broke apart, moving at high speed to avoid the wreckage of destroyed ships, all the while trying to move back into position to counter the UNSC's arrival. It was a scene of chaos as fuel tanks ruptured and detonated in brilliant blasts. Radiation warnings lit up on the strategic display as reactor after rea
"The Covenant fleet is charging its plasma lines." Ensign Clovis yelled. "UNSC fleet assets have entered optimal firing range."
"Stick with the plan. Keep diverting all power to the MAC guns"
This is it. The deciding moment. He told himself as he watched the charge of the MAC guns building. Their fleet is weakened. One full volley. That's all I need. One volley before the Covenant ships restore their shields. One volley and I can keep the Covenant on the back foot, and wage the battle on my own terms.
"Detecting blue-shifted signatures. The Turians have arrived on schedule."
Cole nodded, putting his hands behind his back as he continued to observe the strategic displays. "And in perfect formation." Cole noted. The Turian ships had flipped their ships around to decelerate out of FTL, thousands of thrusters aimed towards the Covenant.
The Turian fleet immediately split into ten fleets of a thousand ships each, and flipped around to face the Covenant ships. The Turians accelerated again, flying towards the Covenant fleet at near-lightspeed. As Cole watched, the fleets divided again, breaking off towards the many wounded Covenant ships that were still reeling from the detonation of the nuclear minefield.
The Turian lead ships dove headlong into the Covenant formation, where the plasma leaks and nuclear radiation left by the mines obscured them from the sensor readings. Cole's heart felt like it stopped beating as he waited to see what would happen next, or the light-lagged aftermath. This part of the battle was all on the Turians. Cole knew they had dived right into the formation of Covenant ships, their mass-accelerated roaring, and torpedo racks emptying as they attacked wounded Covenant ships mercilessly, and distracted the Covenant ships to allow for the UNSC to charge its MAC guns, while getting back into position. And due to the proximity to Covenant ships, they were somewhat protected from the Covenant anti-orbital weaponry upon the planet below.
There was complete silence on the bridge as the sensory officers tried to cut through the interference from the battle in close orbit. The readings showed ships moving throughout the knife-fight, gravitic anomalies, and fusion reactors going off.
Then the first Turian cruiser to emerge, its hull molten and torn, but both engines burning at high speed, burst out from the melee, quickly followed by hundreds of other Turian ships in close formation. These ships turned off their engines for just a moment, then turned around while still moving at near-superluminal speeds. Their mass accelerators continued to fire.
"Fleet Admiral, Covenant Stormcutter packs and CRS-Class light cruisers are breaking off from the fleet and pursuing the Turian ships." He paused for but a moment, his holographic body flickering. "Admiral Karandist reports that between fifty and a hundred Covenant ships have been destroyed so far… Fifteen-hundred Turian ships were destroyed, four hundred are disengaging from the fight."
A sixth of the Turian fleet lost in a minute. Cole felt an uncomfortable tension in his gut as he ran the numbers. Average Covenant ship mass of a ship of the line times a hundred, nineteen hundred Turian ships… Subtract heavily crippled ships.
An equal loss in tonnage. Or close enough.
Then the Supercarrier opened fire. In an instant, the area of space occupied by the Turian ships lit up as the full firepower of the monstrous ship was unleashed. What had to be hundreds if not thousands of Covenant pulse-laser turrets opened fire simultaneously, burning through Turian ships faster than Cole's strategic display could track. His heart almost froze as over a thousand Turian ships disappeared in seconds. Caught within close range of the Supercarrier.
"That Supercarrier was hit by enough nukes to slag a continent!" Cole exclaimed hyperbolically. "Dove. Concentrate all Punic Super MAC guns upon the Supercarrier. Full charge. Wide dispersal across its shield sections."
Cole looked at the screen again. The UNSC fleet was approaching the red line that represented the effective range of Covenant anti-orbital weaponry, as well as their defensive stations.
"Fleet MAC guns are fully charged, Fleet Admiral." Dove said, a hint of concern and distress in his normally stoic voice. "Firing." The AI said, and the ship shook as the Super-MAC's of the UNSC Punic opened fire upon the Supercarrier. Eight rounds that could instantly destroy a Battlecruiser, or wipe out a small country. All concentrated upon a single ship.
Across the UNSC fleet, thousands of fully charged MAC guns fired simultaneously, sending their projectiles towards the stricken Covenant ships.
It was a monstrous salvo the likes of which had never been seen before in this war. The MAC rounds slammed into the weakened shields and exposed hulls left by the nuclear minefield, punching through and gutting weakened ships in catastrophic internal detonations. It was as if a massive shotgun wielded by an angry god had opened fire at the Covenant, with predictable results.
Eight Super MAC slugs, two for each Supercarrier the UNSC brought to the battle, flew far ahead of the smaller MAC rounds of the rest of the fleet, heading for the Supercarrier, and eight Covenant cruisers moved to place themselves in the path of the projectiles. Cole bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood as the cruisers took the impact, and the Super MAC rounds broke apart into a spread of relativistic buckshot.
The Supercarrier lit up in a bright white glow that was bright enough it shone brighter than any plasma fire or reactor detonations in the background. There was a blast of electrical discharge as the shields of the Supercarrier gave in, and large rents were torn in the hull. But Cole refused to believe for even an instant that was all the dreaded ship had to offer. The Supercarrier's massive engines lit, and it began moving away from the UNSC fleet, moving down into the atmosphere, all the while turning its undamaged side to face the UNSC.
"Sitrep on the Supercarrier," Cole demanded from Ensign Clovis. Clovis was a loyal and obedient young man, one that Cole trusted to do whatever he asked, even if the orders could stray into illegal territory. He was a leftover from Cole stacking his bridge crew with loyalists in anticipation of his now-canceled plan to desert the UNSC.
"The supercarrier is moving into a lower orbit, using the curvature of the planet and its atmosphere as a shield." Dove made a quick hand gesture and brought up a quick overview of the position of the Supercarrier, and the atmospheric density surrounding it.
"Dove. Will our rounds still be effective with the carrier hiding in the atmosphere?" Cole asked quickly, as he began thinking of how to deal with the new issue.
Dove flickered twice, then nodded. He clapped his hands, and summoned a flock of pigeons that flew through the holographic displays, transforming into the projected trajectories of the next volley. "The impact of the SuperMAC upon the upper atmosphere will disperse the rounds into a spread of relativistic plasma that will wash over the Supercarrier if its shields hold. "
"Noted. Continue charging Super MAC for another volley."
"Admiral." One of his bridge officers shouted. "Covenant ships are charging plasma lines. Counting over two hundred distinctive signatures."
Cole noted that the Covenant ships that had not broken off to pursue the Turian fleet were moving into formation at high speed, lines on their hull glowing brightly as they charged their plasma lines.
"We trained for this, people, prepare an interception screen," Cole ordered, knowing all too well that his well-drilled crew were already doing so. There was little room for personal initiative in long range artillery duels. Everyone followed the plan that had been laid out in advance, and would follow it until the full engagement began. Then Cole would have his hands full trying to keep control over his forces. But he did it anyway to appear confident in front of the crew. "We got the first blows in. Now the real fight begins."
The next few seconds felt like an eternity until Cole saw dozens of bright flashes.
The Punic shook violently and made the distinct sound of a ship that had suffered an internal detonation. Cole was almost thrown from his feet, if not for a guard on the bridge catching him. He quickly got back into position, giving the guard a quick thumbs up. "Damage report." Cole demanded calmly from the holotank holding Dove, as the warning lights aboard the ship activated. He could feel thumps through the deck plating and knew them to be the sounds of emergency blast doors closing to contain a vacuum breach.
"Energy Projector impacts on the portside. Clean cut. Twenty decks have been vented. Two thousand casualties among the crew." Dove's AI sat down on a bench and held a large pigeon between his hands. A very fat pigeon. On his face was a look of stress and consternation. "I am closing blast doors to contain the breach, and dispatching repair control teams." the AI paused for a moment. "The forward armor belt has survived three Energy Projector impacts. Armor holding."
"Plasma torpedo volley detected."
Cole glanced at the strategic overlay again noting that the UNSC fleet was finally back in position after their departure from slipspace. "All ships. Fire interception screen." Cole ordered. "Full speed into engagement range."
It was risky but better than sitting at range while the Covenant sniped at them with their energy projectors and plasma torpedoes. The UNSC had to close in so the Covenant couldn't dodge MAC rounds.
"Delivery system dispersion is successful. Optimal coverage for the incoming plasma torpedoes. Impact in thirty-two seconds."
The large strategic screen that showed a real-time feed of the Coalition fleet lit up with the thousands of small white lines representing the modified archer missiles. Each of these represented one of the new plasma torpedo interceptors. They homed in on the Plasma torpedoes, with every torpedo being targeted by multiple missiles.
Cole called up an enhanced image from the telescopic arrays on the Punic. If this tactic failed, the UNSC fleet would be slaughtered in the incoming volley.
There was a bright flash as more than a thousand plasma torpedoes were blown apart, dispersing in expanding clouds of red and blue fire. It was like a wall of fire had been ignited that separated the UNSC fleet from their opponent. The dots signifying the Covenant plasma torpedoes winked out one by one, but not fast enough.
"Half of Covenant plasma torpedoes disabled. Launching further interceptors." Dove stated. It was almost a breach of protocol for Dove to make the judgment call, but Cole trusted the AI. And it was in the spirit of his earlier orders. A good captain could think in sync with his AI, and finish each other's actions.
Another spread of missiles launched, these ones directly targeting individual plasma torpedoes, taking another score of the dreaded weapons. Then the remaining torpedoes impacted the UNSC fleet.
The Punic did not shake.
"Casualties," Cole stated calmly.
Dove began listing the numbers. "Sixty-three Cruisers, a hundred destroyers, three super-heavy cruisers, and two battleships. Damage sustained by twenty percent of the fleet." Dove flickered. "Supercarrier Verdun has been cored by an energy projector strike through the bridge and past the main reactor. Estimated thirty percent crew fatalities. Complete rupture of the primary reactor." Dove paused to process a piece of information. "Surviving crew will receive terminal radiation poisoning within ten minutes." There was no emotion in his voice.
Cole spat out a curse. He opened a communications link to the stricken Supercarrier. "Verdun, break off and abandon ship."
There was silence, followed by a weak static-riddled response. "This is Gunne- Lieutena- B- re attempting -airs. Super MAC Two still holding charge."
"Sailor, there is enough radiation aboard your ship to boil an egg. If you don't abanon ship, you will have to be removed using buckets. Evacuate immediately."
"Negative. -dead already -ne final shot. -ood luck, -Admiral."
Cole shook his head, then nodded. He lit his omni-tool again, and began to transmit a message. "Understood. I am transmitting the clearance codes to disable the security and failsafes of the Super MAC. Overcharge the coils and be ready to fire."
There was no response. Cole continued as before. He now had a single overcharged Super MAC inside a dead ship in reserve. He forgot the doomed men aboard it, all the while making a mental node to have them posthumously awarded.
"Dove. How long does the crew have left?"
"Incapacitating internal necrosis within a day. More if they drug themselves."
"Noted. Tell all ships to fire upon opportunity targets. Have each Punic keep one barrel charged for if the Supercarrier shows itself. Concentrate fire on the enemy Assault Carriers. ."
The ship shook. "Assault Carrier disabled. Scrambling coup de grace."
Across the fleet, MAC guns began firing freely against the Covenant, as massive missile swarms and fighters were launched to head for weakened Covenant ships to deliver killing blows. But the UNSC didn't advance further, lest they enter the effective range of the Covenant anti-orbital defenses. It was a standoff.
Cole glanced at the Strategic map. The Turian fleet was stuck in with the lighter elements of the Covenant fleet. The constant updates sent by the Turian fleet showed a very positive picture of their actions. They were moving with ruthless efficiency, moving to isolate Covenant ships and take them on in detail. The loss of a thousand ships so far had done nothing to lessen their righteous fury. They were spending lives to win, and didn't have the slightest qualms about doing so.
He glanced at the time. The first reports from the Salarians would be coming in any second from now.
As if on queue, Ensign Clovis spoke up. "Salarian fleet elements are reporting successful engagements with Covenant patrols and defensive installations. Covenant forces are engaged and on the defensive."
"Covenant fleet elements in the asteroid belt and outer gas giants are pulling to defend their logistics. The Asari fleet is reporting successful engagements within the inner system, but no victories so far."
Cole made a wide arc with his omni-tooled hand to expand the strategic view. With a few quick flourishes he brought up a full map of the system, and with another three shortcuts, brought up a full map of the system.
The Covenant capital ships were still moving to engage the UNSC, with smaller packs of two or three battlecruisers breaking off and heading towards the skirmishes that were popping up across the system. Cole nodded slowly as the strategic map of the system continued to change, showing the dozens of separate offensives throughout the system. If the Covenant drove off the UNSC's allies, they could potentially envelop the UNSC. Then, two of the eleven remaining Assault Carriers broke off from the slowly developing melee, and began charging their slipspace drives. It didnt take a genius to find out their most likely destination. "Dove. Command the fifth and ninth fleets to support the Salarians and Asari against the Assault Carriers."
The Covenant fleet was breaking up across the system to move against the Coalition's forces, while a hardened spearhead consisting of their super capital was combining their firepower and returning fire with the UNSC ships. But they were visibly decreasing their speed. Then they began turning, with the screen showing their new projected orbits to put them behind Chi Rho, and out of the line of fire of the Coalition ships.
"Fleet Admiral. Incoming message from Fleet Admiral Karandis." Dove stated.
"Put him through." He commanded.
An image of Karandis wearing bloody armor with a cracked helmet covered by a patch seal appeared before Cole. There were sparks all around him, and there were pained noises and yelling in the background. ,"Cole. I need to pull my ships back and return to a ranged engagement. I'm down three thousand ships, with another two damaged. Their Supercarrier is hiding in the atmosphere, but the rest of their fleet is pulling away from the planet to hide from your guns. We believe they're going to try and recharge their shields."
"I can see that. I'll signal the landing forces to deploy onto the planet immediately. We'll put ourselves between the Covenant and the planet, while the ground forces take the planet. I'll position my supercarriers so the Supercarrier can't get in range of the landing zones without compromising its defenses."
"And then we'll crush them." Karandis finished. "My strategic VI calculates that the Covenant fleet has lost a third of its ships, to a fourth of ours. The gap is only increasing. We just need to push a bit ha-"
The feed cut out, replaced by static.
"Hail them again." Cole said. "And clean up the static."
"Karandis's flagship has been taken out by an energy projector strike." Dove stated, and the room went cold for Cole.
Something boiled up inside of Cole as he thought back to Karandis's friendly attitude, the way he'd been able to see whenever Cole was pushed to the limit by his task, and the way the Turian had done monotonous administrative duties without a hint of annoyance.
"Damn them!" He shouted. "Damn each and every one of those split-lipped hinge-headed bastards to the deepest darkest pits of hell." His shout made the bridge fall quiet, as the crew looked at him with mouths agape. They had never seen him raise his voice.
Fleetmaster's Sanctum, Covenant supercarrier Through Moonlight Reflection Upon This Faithfull Odyssey Do We Find Salvation From This Universe Of Sin, In Which We Have Been Shackled (abbreviation: Moonlight Reflection), low Chi Rho orbit, Ectanus 45 system.
Thel Vadamee carefully examined the battle that was unfolding. The Covenant was winning at the current pace of ship losses. Or so he thought. As he ran the calculations again and again, it seemed clear that no matter what happened, the enemy fleet would be reduced to a mere shadow of its former selves.
His fleet commanders all had their orders, and were executing them without fail. His eyes carefully scanned for any potential weaknesses in the enemy formation he could exploit, but spotted none so far. But the battle was not favoring the Covenant. They'd lost too many ships to the ambush, and more to the suicidal charge through their formation. The Turians had shown incredible bravery, and Thel felt honored to have given so many of them a warrior's death.
The plasma-torpedo interceptions had been an unwelcome surprise however, and had left the Covenant open to a much heavier second volley from the Human's ships that the Fleetmaster had expected. His energy projectors were taking their toll on the enemy, while pulse lasers and plasma barrages slowly ground down the enemy ships in a long ranged duel. But it wasn't the quick decisive destruction of human ships that usually followed a torpedo barrage. Instead it was turning into a long ranged duel.
He'd ordered his supercarrier into the atmosphere of Chi Rho's northern pole, with all shield power diverted facing the dreaded human heavy carriers. He'd wait until his ships had taken out the enemy carriers, then burst forth from the planet to slaughter the enemy ships. He wanted to lead the venerable Supercarrier into battle. But the ancient ship was a relic from the earliest days of the Covenant, and its Forerunner salvaged power grid was utterly irreplaceable. If the ship was too heavily damaged, he might as well have lost the battle for all the good it did his honor.
Just the rites to repair the hull would take decades. And he needed to conserve the ship for the push on the human core worlds. He also had numerous relics aboard, as well as dozens of San'Shyuum priests of numerous sects. The loss of the Supercarrier would see his line expunged for failure.
Across from him was a San'Shyuum sitting atop a hover-chair. He observed Thel with interest, but did not say much. It was a minor official from the Ministry of Resolution whose name he hadn't bothered to remember. He had arrived alongside the Corvette that had brought the Silent Shadow to Chi Rho, to report personally to Truth.
"You are losing." The San'shyuum stated.
"I am not neither winning nor losing." Thel said, then quickly snapped to one of his aides when he noticed a small hole in his defenses. "Order the Cleanser of Sin to execute a tactical jump into orbit of supply station X-194 shore up its defenses. Its escorts will jump behind the enemy and catch them in a crossfire, then they will regroup and head for solar station X-1201.A, for a counterattack upon the Turians."
He turned back to the San'Shyuum "Their new weapons put us on the defensive. But they are losing momentum. After the fleet has orbited the moon and fully recharged their shields, we will attack them with all the fury we can muster." He was starting to be annoyed by the Prophet.
Thel noted an air of tension on the bridge of the Supercarrier at the conversation between him and the official. A hard to perceive but undeniable feeling of tension that felt like it was starting to boil.
"Then you had better prepare your orbital defenses." The San'shyuum said and pointed at a new enemy fleet that was approaching the planet at high speed. Their orbital was unmistakable as an orbital insertion. There had to be thousands of ships, and many more smaller transport ships. As he watched, the human fleet launched over a thousand nuclear missiles whose orbit would see themselves slam down onto the planet's surface. Approximately one minute before the fastest ships in the transport fleet would enter the atmosphere. Half an hour later, the rest of the fleet would arrive.
"They'll drown in their own blood." Thel muttered under his breath. This threw his plans into chaos. The rest of his ships were moving out of range so they could recharge their shields, while his Supercarrier would be exposed if it rushed towards the transport ships. He felt the eyes of the official upon him, dreading what he might order if Thel 'Vadamee risked the sacred ship they were upon..
"Fleetmaster. There are demons on the surface!" A Sangheili said from behind his station. "The second divine assembly shrine reports drop pods." He held a hand against the side of his head. "Unconfirmed reports of Shades and Witches."
"You can go contact High Charity and tell the High Council I need reinforcements." Thel almost yelled at the San'Shyuum. "If" He emphasized "We do not win. There will be nothing between the enemy and the Covenant fringe. You can tell the Hierarchs that."
"Worry not, fleet master. The Hierarchs have sent their finest to counter these demons." The San'Shyuum said with a smile, then glanced to the side, where Thel could see a faint shimmer in the air.