Author's Note: I've revamped the first chapter and I've added this and one
other so R&R!
0945 Hours, September 18, 2531 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC cruiser Dominion, Wulpan sector, Suddan star system
High orbit above Suddan
Admiral Preston Cole sat in his quarters contemplating his course of action. He was sipping a soda -as no alcohol was permitted on duty- and examining a mess of papers that cluttered his normally pristine desk. This was going to be one of UNSC's largest offensives against the Covenant in years. In fact it was their only offensive in the years since they had made contact with the Covenant. UNSC had always played defense, a running fight, they needed to gain some lost ground, and more importantly they needed a victory. As of yet there had been no decisive victories for UNSC and moral was slipping. What was needed was a triumph; something to show the rest of the human race that survival was possible. The planned offensive was set to go against the first planet the Covenant had glassed, Harvest. UNSC thought that if they could show the Covenant that they could fight back it might slow them down. It was a long shot. So that was what Cole was doing here in Wulpan. As one of the senior members in UNSC it had fallen to him to plan, command, and carry out the attack. They had given him control of a large fleet of some of the finest ships and captains in UNSC. All told he had under his command three cruisers (including his own), seven destroyers and some twenty odd frigates and carriers. ONI had been quite through in their assessment of the garrison at Harvest and Cole was informed that there were at most a dozen Covenant ships holding orbit above Harvest. The intercom chimed and a voice came in over the speaker 'Admiral Cole sir, the last installment of ships has just exited slipspace and is assembling with the rest of the fleet.' The admiral looked up from his papers, his dark brown hair slightly shadowing his watery grey eyes. 'Thank you Quixos, inform my tactical officers and staff to assemble in the war room in five minutes.' 'Yes sir.' The voice replied and then cut the link. Quixos was the Dominion's AI, he was a "smart" AI and all business. The admiral stood and brushed some lint from his smooth uniform. He grabbed all the relevant papers and slid them into his briefcase before donning his peaked cap and striding out.
Commander Quincy leaned on the metal rail above the "brain cradle" and stared out the main viewscreen. They had just exited slipspace above Suddan and were approaching the massed fleet. The commander looked on with a hint of pride visible as he saw the UNSC ships arrayed in formation above the planet. They looked unstoppable, matte black and glistening metal hulls reflecting the light of Suddan's star. The sheer amount of firepower evident in every Archer missile pod and MAC gun protruding from the hulls. They would win, with this much force how could they not. 'Commander, we are taking up assigned positions within the fleet, orders coming in to stand by for slipspace jump.' The voice of Lieutenant Foreman snapped the commander out of his reverie. 'Very good, Lieutenant Wellard, warm the Shaw Fujikawa generators back up and standby for my order to jump.' The officer tapped a few keys. 'Aye sir, generators at ten percent power and climbing.' Wellard reported. Good they were ready. He could see it in the way they moved, the way they responded to his commands, they knew what they were to face and they relished the chance to do so. The commander sat back down and waited, he was ready to.
The admiral entered the "war room" as his people called it. It was the tactical nerve center of his cruiser and as such of the whole battle as well. The room was hexagonal with computers and stations on every face, with technicians and ensigns running diagnostics and tests on the ship's systems. This was his world, where he belonged. His staff stood around the large hexagonal table in the center of the room peering down at the tactical display grid that covered it. In all he had four advisors, two tactical, two general. As well he had several other officers who had been invited to watch the battle up close. Who invited them onto his ship he didn't know but when this was over he intended to find that person and make their life ten times harder. He hated interference especially from a bunch of political guinea pigs. Still he masked his feelings and wore an unreadable expression. The doors hissed shut and he strode to the table. 'A pleasure to meet you all.' He said as politely as he could manage. They nodded to him some extending hands and words, which he took rather quickly and dropped just as fast. 'Well gentlemen if you'll excuse me I have a battle to win.' Some chuckled lightly, a hollow gesture that meant nothing to them. The admiral turned to his advisors who stopped conversing and looked up from the table at him. 'What is the status of the fleet, number one?' The admiral numbered his advisors from one to four so that in combat he saved the precious seconds used spitting out their names for issuing orders. He knew each of them personally of course and had the utmost respect for all of them so they took this system easily. 'The fleet is fully assembled and waiting for the order to go to slipspace.' 'Tactics what have you got?' He said placing his case on the floor next to him. Number two piped up. 'Sir, we believe we have come up with a suitable plan.' He pointed down at the grid, which switched from the view of the fleet to an overhead electronic analysis of Harvest. 'Each destroyer will be assigned about two frigates or carriers each.' The display showed seven blue dots appear at the edge of the screen with two smaller green dots each.' 'Now we will be entering the system at this point.' He said pointing at the edge of the map where the dots were. 'We have a strategy that will box in the Covenant forces.' The advisor said. As he spoke a group of purple dots appeared stationed around the planet. 'The positions of the ships are based on Intel provided by ONI as well as estimations by some of UNSC's leading tacticians. The second tactical advisor took over. 'Now what we are suggesting is to split their fire and trap them in a crossfire from our own ships.' He pointed down as silver lines emanated from the dots and traced their flight paths across the display with countdown timers and ETA estimations next to them. 'Battle groups one and two assisted by a cruiser will slingshot around the darkside of the planet and hit the Covenant's rear.' 'Groups three and four will hit them straight on from entry in a frontal attack, assisted by the remaining two cruisers.' 'Group five will arc wide to the right and hit their open flank.' 'And finally, groups six and seven will be the tongs, coming from below and above, catching the enemy between our forces.' The dots enacted this action as number one spoke. The first two groups wrapped around Harvest and came in behind the Covenant while another set of dots proceeded straight towards them from the point of entry. The next dot came around wide to the right and crushed the purple dots into the planet. The map switched to a 3D hologram and rose up off the table as the last dots came from above and below and hit the Covenant. The dots then slowly morphed into 3 dimensional holo ships, which traded, fire with the sharp angular Covenant craft. The admiral studied the battle as it raged on, a look of deep concentration on his face. Finally he blinked once and spoke to his advisors. 'Good work all of you, I will handle this ship's maneuvers and tactics from here personally.' The advisors nodded and started talking amongst themselves again. 'Number three, broadcast the organizational orders to the fleet and ensure every ship knows what group they are in and what the plan is to be. I will be making a final address after that and then we will make the jump.' His advisor nodded and hurried out. The admiral looked around at the bustling activity of the war room and let a small smile cross his face; they were going to win.
'Sir, we have just received a transmission from the flagship Dominion, it's the battle plan sir.' Lieutenant Allison reported this to Commander Quincy as the secure transmission appeared on her screen. 'Transfer it to my station Lieutenant.' Quincy said. 'Aye sir.' The commander looked over at his armrest computer as the battleplan from the admiral appeared on his screen. He studied it for a few minutes before he was satisfied that he knew it well enough. He transferred the plan onto the viewscreen. 'Crew, this is the battle plan for our attack on Harvest, I want you to study and understand it.' Quincy said. He left the plan up for a few minutes as he watched his crew look it over. He was pleased to see nods of approval from his bridge crew as they committed the plan to memory. Once he was satisfied that they knew it he tapped a few keys and it blinked off screen. He transferred the plan to Sendai. 'Sendai, this is the battle plan, please commit it to memory.' He waited for a reply. 'Commander, I have stored the plans in my memory unit and I understand the designs.' 'Very good Sendai.' 'Commander, incoming broadcast from the Dominion, fleet-wide sir.' Lieutenant Allison said. 'Patch it through lieutenant.' The face of Admiral Cole appeared the main viewscreen. 'This is Admiral Cole speaking, I trust you all have received the battle plan orders and understand them fully. I need not remind you that we are going up against the Covenant, a race technologically superior to our own, we have never attacked them only ran from their weapons, but today we are going to do just that, attack them. We will take back what is ours and we will not back down or shrink away until every last one of them is sent back to hell where they belong!' The admiral accentuated each word as he drove them home; a fire appeared behind his normally calm grey eyes, which gave him an air of indomitable fury and power. 'Now power your weapons and remove all safeties, we will break them and we-will-triumph!' With that the transmission ended and the screen reverted to the view of the fleet. The commander felt his heart leap at those stirring words he was vital and energized and he was ready to fight! 'Lieutenant!' he barked swiveling his chair to face Wesley 'Sir!' He replied snapping straight in his chair. 'Bring us about point one four declination and rendezvous with battle group one on the double!' 'Yes sir!' 'Lieutenant Raker remove safety interlocks on all weapons, prep a Shiva and arm missile pods A1 through A7, begin charging MAC guns!' 'Commander sir!' The commander leaned back his face set. 'Sir, we have rendezvous with the battle group and are being given orders from the cruiser to begin slipspace jump on the fleet-wide mark.' Lieutenant Foreman reported. 'Sir, slipspace generators are fully charged and ready.' Wellard reported. 'Make the jump on the fleet mark Lieutenant.' Aye sir.' On the view screen he could see the other six battle groups arrayed in front of him. A ping sounded over the speakers. It was the most wonderful sound commander Quincy had ever heard. Light dissapated around the Orion and it vanished from realspace along with the entire fleet. To Harvest and victory.
0945 Hours, September 18, 2531 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC cruiser Dominion, Wulpan sector, Suddan star system
High orbit above Suddan
Admiral Preston Cole sat in his quarters contemplating his course of action. He was sipping a soda -as no alcohol was permitted on duty- and examining a mess of papers that cluttered his normally pristine desk. This was going to be one of UNSC's largest offensives against the Covenant in years. In fact it was their only offensive in the years since they had made contact with the Covenant. UNSC had always played defense, a running fight, they needed to gain some lost ground, and more importantly they needed a victory. As of yet there had been no decisive victories for UNSC and moral was slipping. What was needed was a triumph; something to show the rest of the human race that survival was possible. The planned offensive was set to go against the first planet the Covenant had glassed, Harvest. UNSC thought that if they could show the Covenant that they could fight back it might slow them down. It was a long shot. So that was what Cole was doing here in Wulpan. As one of the senior members in UNSC it had fallen to him to plan, command, and carry out the attack. They had given him control of a large fleet of some of the finest ships and captains in UNSC. All told he had under his command three cruisers (including his own), seven destroyers and some twenty odd frigates and carriers. ONI had been quite through in their assessment of the garrison at Harvest and Cole was informed that there were at most a dozen Covenant ships holding orbit above Harvest. The intercom chimed and a voice came in over the speaker 'Admiral Cole sir, the last installment of ships has just exited slipspace and is assembling with the rest of the fleet.' The admiral looked up from his papers, his dark brown hair slightly shadowing his watery grey eyes. 'Thank you Quixos, inform my tactical officers and staff to assemble in the war room in five minutes.' 'Yes sir.' The voice replied and then cut the link. Quixos was the Dominion's AI, he was a "smart" AI and all business. The admiral stood and brushed some lint from his smooth uniform. He grabbed all the relevant papers and slid them into his briefcase before donning his peaked cap and striding out.
Commander Quincy leaned on the metal rail above the "brain cradle" and stared out the main viewscreen. They had just exited slipspace above Suddan and were approaching the massed fleet. The commander looked on with a hint of pride visible as he saw the UNSC ships arrayed in formation above the planet. They looked unstoppable, matte black and glistening metal hulls reflecting the light of Suddan's star. The sheer amount of firepower evident in every Archer missile pod and MAC gun protruding from the hulls. They would win, with this much force how could they not. 'Commander, we are taking up assigned positions within the fleet, orders coming in to stand by for slipspace jump.' The voice of Lieutenant Foreman snapped the commander out of his reverie. 'Very good, Lieutenant Wellard, warm the Shaw Fujikawa generators back up and standby for my order to jump.' The officer tapped a few keys. 'Aye sir, generators at ten percent power and climbing.' Wellard reported. Good they were ready. He could see it in the way they moved, the way they responded to his commands, they knew what they were to face and they relished the chance to do so. The commander sat back down and waited, he was ready to.
The admiral entered the "war room" as his people called it. It was the tactical nerve center of his cruiser and as such of the whole battle as well. The room was hexagonal with computers and stations on every face, with technicians and ensigns running diagnostics and tests on the ship's systems. This was his world, where he belonged. His staff stood around the large hexagonal table in the center of the room peering down at the tactical display grid that covered it. In all he had four advisors, two tactical, two general. As well he had several other officers who had been invited to watch the battle up close. Who invited them onto his ship he didn't know but when this was over he intended to find that person and make their life ten times harder. He hated interference especially from a bunch of political guinea pigs. Still he masked his feelings and wore an unreadable expression. The doors hissed shut and he strode to the table. 'A pleasure to meet you all.' He said as politely as he could manage. They nodded to him some extending hands and words, which he took rather quickly and dropped just as fast. 'Well gentlemen if you'll excuse me I have a battle to win.' Some chuckled lightly, a hollow gesture that meant nothing to them. The admiral turned to his advisors who stopped conversing and looked up from the table at him. 'What is the status of the fleet, number one?' The admiral numbered his advisors from one to four so that in combat he saved the precious seconds used spitting out their names for issuing orders. He knew each of them personally of course and had the utmost respect for all of them so they took this system easily. 'The fleet is fully assembled and waiting for the order to go to slipspace.' 'Tactics what have you got?' He said placing his case on the floor next to him. Number two piped up. 'Sir, we believe we have come up with a suitable plan.' He pointed down at the grid, which switched from the view of the fleet to an overhead electronic analysis of Harvest. 'Each destroyer will be assigned about two frigates or carriers each.' The display showed seven blue dots appear at the edge of the screen with two smaller green dots each.' 'Now we will be entering the system at this point.' He said pointing at the edge of the map where the dots were. 'We have a strategy that will box in the Covenant forces.' The advisor said. As he spoke a group of purple dots appeared stationed around the planet. 'The positions of the ships are based on Intel provided by ONI as well as estimations by some of UNSC's leading tacticians. The second tactical advisor took over. 'Now what we are suggesting is to split their fire and trap them in a crossfire from our own ships.' He pointed down as silver lines emanated from the dots and traced their flight paths across the display with countdown timers and ETA estimations next to them. 'Battle groups one and two assisted by a cruiser will slingshot around the darkside of the planet and hit the Covenant's rear.' 'Groups three and four will hit them straight on from entry in a frontal attack, assisted by the remaining two cruisers.' 'Group five will arc wide to the right and hit their open flank.' 'And finally, groups six and seven will be the tongs, coming from below and above, catching the enemy between our forces.' The dots enacted this action as number one spoke. The first two groups wrapped around Harvest and came in behind the Covenant while another set of dots proceeded straight towards them from the point of entry. The next dot came around wide to the right and crushed the purple dots into the planet. The map switched to a 3D hologram and rose up off the table as the last dots came from above and below and hit the Covenant. The dots then slowly morphed into 3 dimensional holo ships, which traded, fire with the sharp angular Covenant craft. The admiral studied the battle as it raged on, a look of deep concentration on his face. Finally he blinked once and spoke to his advisors. 'Good work all of you, I will handle this ship's maneuvers and tactics from here personally.' The advisors nodded and started talking amongst themselves again. 'Number three, broadcast the organizational orders to the fleet and ensure every ship knows what group they are in and what the plan is to be. I will be making a final address after that and then we will make the jump.' His advisor nodded and hurried out. The admiral looked around at the bustling activity of the war room and let a small smile cross his face; they were going to win.
'Sir, we have just received a transmission from the flagship Dominion, it's the battle plan sir.' Lieutenant Allison reported this to Commander Quincy as the secure transmission appeared on her screen. 'Transfer it to my station Lieutenant.' Quincy said. 'Aye sir.' The commander looked over at his armrest computer as the battleplan from the admiral appeared on his screen. He studied it for a few minutes before he was satisfied that he knew it well enough. He transferred the plan onto the viewscreen. 'Crew, this is the battle plan for our attack on Harvest, I want you to study and understand it.' Quincy said. He left the plan up for a few minutes as he watched his crew look it over. He was pleased to see nods of approval from his bridge crew as they committed the plan to memory. Once he was satisfied that they knew it he tapped a few keys and it blinked off screen. He transferred the plan to Sendai. 'Sendai, this is the battle plan, please commit it to memory.' He waited for a reply. 'Commander, I have stored the plans in my memory unit and I understand the designs.' 'Very good Sendai.' 'Commander, incoming broadcast from the Dominion, fleet-wide sir.' Lieutenant Allison said. 'Patch it through lieutenant.' The face of Admiral Cole appeared the main viewscreen. 'This is Admiral Cole speaking, I trust you all have received the battle plan orders and understand them fully. I need not remind you that we are going up against the Covenant, a race technologically superior to our own, we have never attacked them only ran from their weapons, but today we are going to do just that, attack them. We will take back what is ours and we will not back down or shrink away until every last one of them is sent back to hell where they belong!' The admiral accentuated each word as he drove them home; a fire appeared behind his normally calm grey eyes, which gave him an air of indomitable fury and power. 'Now power your weapons and remove all safeties, we will break them and we-will-triumph!' With that the transmission ended and the screen reverted to the view of the fleet. The commander felt his heart leap at those stirring words he was vital and energized and he was ready to fight! 'Lieutenant!' he barked swiveling his chair to face Wesley 'Sir!' He replied snapping straight in his chair. 'Bring us about point one four declination and rendezvous with battle group one on the double!' 'Yes sir!' 'Lieutenant Raker remove safety interlocks on all weapons, prep a Shiva and arm missile pods A1 through A7, begin charging MAC guns!' 'Commander sir!' The commander leaned back his face set. 'Sir, we have rendezvous with the battle group and are being given orders from the cruiser to begin slipspace jump on the fleet-wide mark.' Lieutenant Foreman reported. 'Sir, slipspace generators are fully charged and ready.' Wellard reported. 'Make the jump on the fleet mark Lieutenant.' Aye sir.' On the view screen he could see the other six battle groups arrayed in front of him. A ping sounded over the speakers. It was the most wonderful sound commander Quincy had ever heard. Light dissapated around the Orion and it vanished from realspace along with the entire fleet. To Harvest and victory.