"Okay, here we go!" I said, grinning wildly as the Song began her charge.

"Get me a firing solution on the nearest ship, Savatier." the captain cried, "Fetch, divert additional power to the weapons, bring the archers online."

I watched the pair of them work tirelessly, their fingers gliding over the controls like tiny dancers bathed in the light of a theatre. Valette had a childish grin on her face as she plugged the numbers, crunching data that would destroy the lagging ship.

The Song groaned with delight under my hands as we watched the covenant finally take notice. Their strangely shaped crafts seemed to pivot like a hinge, moving in a way that was as alien as the creatures on board it. They swooped almost in unison as they took course to intercept us. I remember during this sort of engagement on the Peony, I'd always listen to music. The captain trusted me, he knew I could kick ass to music but here, the UNSC was different. We weren't some band of loser pirates with a hatred for the man and nothing to lose. The Song of the East was filled with parents, children, hopes, dreams, desperation, and, somehow, the vain hope that humanity might survive this war. Even I, in all my wilful ignorance and wayward stubbornness, had to admit that this was different… altogether more serious.

So, although I missed my tunes, the effect of my friendships was just as profound. With each glance towards Brit and Valette, the nod shared with Brettman, and even the trust I placed in those who disliked me, my confidence grew. My senses were heightened and the adrenaline flowed as Captain Harper leaned forward.

"Valette, on my mark, fire the MAC." he said, his voice like iron. "...Mark!"

Valette opened up and I felt the ship grunt in my hands. Light flared as the barrel of the giant cannon rattled and jolted, accelerating the round down its length and losing it into space with a 'whump'. Now, MAC rounds look cool from a third person perspective, few things can top watching the process of that kinda destruction from the outside. That being said, watching it glow and dim from a seat at the front of the house was another thing entirely. I wanted to bite my nails as we wait for it to slam home but Harper gave me orders.

"Course correction, head Zulu oh-four."

"Aye, sir!" I said, making the correction. It was a small turn, designed to throw off covenant sensors. Captain Harper himself discovered the trick several years ago, ingratiating his name into the academy with his own deception manoeuvre.

"Get me another round down range, Ensign."

"Aye, sir. Ten percent and charging."

"Good. Ready Archer banks A through G. Fire on my mark…" he paused. "Mark!"

Valette fired and I felt the Song rattle dully, the ship fired a thousand missiles, each of them leaving the ship with a burst of energy and speed, the collective noise feeling like an impossibly fast drum beat beneath my fingers. The hull itself vibrated as its missiles sped off into the great black of space.

"Sir, first MAC round… glancing blow!"

We groaned collectively but the captain silenced us.

"Valette, the Archers, alter their target. Shift them to the other ship."

"Aye, sir!" Valette said, frantically. She needed to act fast or they'd be out of range before the signal could reach them. A tense and agonising few moments followed, during which the Covenant ships glowed bright blue.

Incoming…

Valette turned, "Seventy percent received the call, sir. New target acquired."

"Sir!" Mei said, her voice stricken with alarm, "the other corvette has turned to engage us!"

"Begin plotting a random slip jump. Fetch, engage Cole Protocol, wipe our systems. Valette, MAC status?"

"Fifty percent, sir."

"Same ship. Send it. Arm pods H through Q"

"Fire mission away."

Again, the Song became a lurching, hulking, aching mess of mechanical groans and vibrations.

"Plasma rounds incoming!"

"BRACE!"

The Ship clattered and clanged, roaring like a madman as plasma streaked by, its tail scorching the bridge as it came within ten miles of cleaving us in two. The Song jolted under my hands, his metallic wails meant we'd had hull damage but my mind was affixed on a streak headed straight for us. Drippier screamed, his voice cracking as I reacted like the crack of a whip. I slammed my fist into the emergency thrusters. On the port side, canisters filled with gas exploded, pushing us violently to the right in a way that almost overrode the artificial gravity onboard.

There was a crunch and a tearing sound above us as part of the hull peeled away, bubbling like hot chow still in the pot. I gritted my teeth as I forced the Song harder to port. The superstructure groaned in a calamitous roar as we began to push the limits of its physical capabilities under thrust. The bridge darkened as it passed over head, the normal hue of the bridge returned as everyone also regained their composure.

"Fetch! Status!" The captain demanded.

"I'm reading Major hull breaches, losses substantial. Life support in the lower decks is offline. Decks seven and four are venting atmosphere. We've lost armour plating along the top of the ship but weapons, namely the MAC is still operational."

"And thrusters?"

"Unstable, sir, but operational."

"Right, Savatier, what's the charge on the MAC?"

"13%, Sir."

"And the last fire mission?"

"Putting it on screen, Captain" Kohli said, tapping her screen. On the large monitors that surrounded the bridge, a feed of the fire mission blipped into view and we watched silently as the MAC round punched straight through the other ship. We hadn't seen it move but it screened its compatriot and exploded as the round sliced straight through the neck on its broadside. Unshielded, it didn't survive the first attack, let alone the follow up of archer missiles.

"Damn it." Kohli spat, watching as the shielded Corvette approached from the mist of debris, its weapons charging.

"Liang, ETA on the jump."

"Randomisation sequence complete, the computer has a destination sir. Just need to clear the lane."

Now, the thing about situations like these is that we, the UNSC, are royally screwed in nine out of ten runs of this nightmare scenario. Looking at the nav panel, I could see the ship behind us gaining speed. The Covenant have always been faster and more precise than us. Looking towards Valette told a similar story. We had a single effective salvo of Archer's left and two targets plus time for maybe one MAC round. It was clear to me that Alex was weighing up his options. He couldn't realistically fight but given that we were outflanked, we couldn't exactly run either because firing a slip space portal is precise work and we were already running out of time.

"Corvette approaching from the rear…" Mei noted, "hang on, that's an intercept route!"

The captain didn't move. He watched the screen and spoke grimly. "Hold on to your seats, Cadets. Valette, fire at the ship ahead on my mark."

"Aye, sir!"

The ship ahead moved, gliding towards us on a similar course. "Van Graff, punch it."

I rerouted more power, too much, to the thrusters as we powered towards the enemy.

"Fire!"

"MAC away!"

We watched with bated breath as the shot corralled, shunted by the most powerful cannon ever built by humans towards the Corvette in front of us.

"Switch off the MAC, re-route power to the engines!"

I paused, "Sir, we're already past critical-"

"It's do or die, Ollie, do it now!"

I didn't hesitate, taking all remaining power from the now dormant MAC gun and pinning it to the beleaguered engines that groaned and tugged at the hull. If we kept this up, the engines would tear the ship apart, blowing us up and sending us on a great journey of our own.

"Archers primed, Sir!"

"Hold! Wait until they can see the whites of our eyes, Van Graff, prepare emergency thrusters!"

"Aye, sir!" I said, flicking the starboard canisters into standby.

The ship ahead fired rapidly at the approaching MAC round. That meant it was on target, at least. The crew held their breath as it neared and only Kohli, who had run towards the nav panel with Mei, didn't watch the impact. It hit! With a giant and calamitous crack, the shields and part of the alien ship's hull was split from the ship.

"Savatier, now!" Kohli shouted, nodding at the captain. Valette didn't hesitate, she unleashed the remaining archer missiles, they flew from the racks like a swarm of hornets, piping hot trails of fire towards the corvette in the distance. With a grace reserved for the greatest entertainers they sailed through the sky, colliding with the ship in a kaleidoscope of oranges, brown's and black as the ship was torn asunder.

"Navigation, get us out of here!"

Kohli and Mei engaged the slip drive and we watched as the portal began to form beyond the observation window.

"Sir, that Corvette is gonna catch us." One of the SPARTANs said, "we should prepare the crew."

We all looked silently at the captain, "Do it." he said to Brettman, who nodded sullenly.

"Sir, I can outrun them!"

"Not in this ship, you can't."

"I won't lose us this ship!"

I siphoned more power, this time from life support on the lower decks that were exposed to Vacuum.

"Cadet!" Kohli yelled, "you'll pull the ship apart!"

"Massive hull breach in deck eight, the plating is coming apart!" Brit added, looking pleadingly at me as she gripped her console with white knuckles.

"No," I replied, "if we slow down, we get boarded and we die."

"Hull integrity dropping, we're gonna lose the bottom of the ship" Brit grimaced, "evacuating the decks."

"That's an order!" Harper yelled, gripping my shoulder from behind, "Ollie, don't be stupid!"

Then there was an almighty crunch, a ripping and a tearing as the Corvette latched onto us anyway. The Song of the East spun in unison with the Corvette, dragging both of our ships into the deepness of the portal and out into the eerie black of slip space. Sparks erupted from the bridge console and one of them exploded, sending an ensign flying across the room and into a wall. Artificial gravity gave out next and everyone made and involuntary bolt for the glass. Bodies thumped against glass as the centrifugal force of the spin pinned the crew to the edge of the room. I felt myself go limp, my ankle twisting as something gripped it with a vice-like grip.

I looked to my feet as the world spun around me and looked directly into the haunting eyes of Hannah Kohli.

Shit.

I looked away, straight to Brit, who reached with a straining hand towards the bright yellow and black power tripper. She got a hand to it and yanked it.

The light's flickered and the gravity returned, slamming me to the deck with a thump and sending me into a trauma induced sleep.

Hi all!

Hope you're enjoying infinite, here's a small update but hopefully an enjoyable one!

See you starside.