The "Proven Consequence" exited gracefully into normal space, its engines changing their hum as their energies were redirected from the Slipspace drive to the sublight engines. The four mile long ship performed a graceful arc against its starry background, turning to face its pursuers as they emerged themselves. Millions of micro thrusters dotted over every square meter of the Rvarn'ii ship controlled its flight down to the nearest millimetre, to the smallest second of a degree. Weapon covers were opened, bulkhead doors were sealed, and hundreds of other various checks and controls were conducted and carried out. The ship braced itself for a fight.
"Activate the main energy shields, and bring the main combat display online." Ordered Rniork to his well-drilled crew. A grunt flicked several switches on his display and with a gentle purr that seemed to reverberate across the entire ship, the silver lined energy shields formed around their generators and extended to cover the entire ship within a fraction of a second. A second grunt at another console also got to work. It touched a small panel and then the main viewscreen went entirely black, before beginning to expand across the entire face of the wall at the front of the room. The holographic display began to curve however, and soon encompassed the entire forward view of the command room. The display returned, much bigger than before, and John could see the predicted re-entry points for their Covenant pursuers as well as the firing arcs for the various weapons the "Proven Consequence" carried.
Rniork now stood silently on the central platform, his eyes following the movement of the Covenant vessels on the screen. Briyanku let out a low growl, his eyes darting from one console to the other, as if making sure everyone was ready for what was about to come. Dozens of Grunt hands tapped through hundreds of holographic buttons, and in the corner of the view screen the yellow outlines of the ships of the Covenant task force appeared, each model framed by a blue outline and labels written in the Rvarn'ii language.
John felt the hum of the engines lower slightly as the movement of the vessel stabilised. The viewscreen reverted back to the normal outside view, looking out onto the space that was soon to become a killing zone. His right hand gripped the edge of his helmet hard as he felt the adrenaline surge. He had been on the bridges of multiple UNSC vessels as he watched the Covenant destroy world after world before his very eyes, and now, he hoped perhaps the Covenant wouldn't emerge victorious this time. He looked upon the Elites with silent envy.
A second later, the light from distant stars began to distort as the fabric of space bubbled and tore apart in a sea of green light as the first of the Covenant craft appeared. The destroyer. The shark-like lilac hull appeared out of the breach, bathed in a green hue. It headed straight for the "Proven Consequence" as soon as it cleared the subspace tear, and soon enough four more exit points appeared in a perfect 'V' formation around the destroyer itself as the rest of the task group appeared. Elegant and threatening, they moved purposely as one towards the Rvarn'ii cruiser.
"Lock on primary cannon to the destroyer and disable their main systems." Ordered Rniork, his head moving from one screen to the other. "Load all missile bays, and activate all defensive batteries". The Grunts at the various consoles immediately set about their task. Then one of them spoke up in its customarily high voice.
"Sir, the group is arming their primary guided energy weapon. Launching in six cycles." The Grunt blurted out. Rniork didn't look concerned.
"Maximum power to the forward and flank shield arrays." The Captain stared intently now at the lead ship on the viewscreen. The Chief merely waited, watching as much of what was going on as he could. He watched the now familiar ventral lines of the Covenant craft glow red as they powered up their plasma torpedoes.
"All missile bays loaded captain," yelled another Grunt, this one a major who had jumped onto one of the weapon control consoles.
"Target the frigates only, destroy them…." Replied Rniork before he was interrupted by the news that the plasma torpedoes had been launched. "All crew prepare for impact. Launch all missile tubes now!"
The Chief felt four minor shudders through his boots, and on the viewscreen he saw four of the small plasma coated missiles that destroyed the original Covenant vessel appear from the nose of the "Proven Consequence". On the screen four red digital trails showed the intended path of the weapons, one for each of the Covenant frigates. And then the Covenant fired.
Five blazing red balls of fire leapt from the Covenant vessels, flying in graceful arcs towards the Rvarn'ii vessel. They glided gently through space curving towards the "Proven Consequence". They were not going to miss.
"Eight Cycles to impact!" Yelled the first Grunt. Rniork turned and looked at the Master Chief.
"You better grab onto something." Rniork muttered. The Grunt on the console counted down from his display.
The torpedoes flew into the bow of the "Proven Consequence". A massive shudder ran through the bridge, flinging a few of the Grunts from their seats and nearly landing the Chief on the floor. The holographic displays flickered and massive yellow energy tendrils shot across the viewscreen. The vessel stabilised after a slight pitch and the upended bridge crew returned to their stations. The Master Chief righted himself as Rniork ordered a damage assessment.
"Forward, ventral and flank shields at forty percent, hull plating intact with no reported breaches. All systems operating to within specified parameters. Medical is reporting no serious injuries to the crew." Reported the grunt major, his eyes following the lists on his display.
"Good, how long to our weapon's impact?"
"Seven Cycles and counting." Called out another Grunt. The Chief watched the path of the weapons on the screen. The seconds seem to slow down as the missiles approached, their courses becoming slightly erratic as they dodged the pulse laser blasts the Covenant tried to shoot them down with. The first one impacted into the frigate on the destroyer's right flank. A dull white light filled the screen, and the Chief saw the yellow model turned red as its blue outline disappeared. The white light faded, and revealed only the blackened rear half of the frigate, the front portion entirely vaporised by the blast. The nearby frigate and the destroyer reeled away from the blast, their shields shattered by the explosion.
The next three missiles didn't miss either. The other frigate on the destroyer's right was hit with its shield down. When the light faded, nothing remained, just a purple and blue cloud of exhaust plasma generated by the explosion. The remaining vessels tried to turn, but to no avail. The farthest vessel on the destroyer's left flank was hit amid-ship. The explosion tore the vessel in two; a pair of blackened metal hull pieces drifting around each other in the wake of the blast was all that survived the explosion.
The last frigate has nearly made it.
Nearly.
The Rvarn'ii missile tore into the rear of the vessel, erasing the engine unit and setting off the reactor. A bright purple cloud engulfed the entire scene, and the last of the Covenant frigates was no more. The four frigate models were displayed in bright scarlet across the bottom of the viewscreen. It reminded the Chief of the kill markings on a Longsword's hull.
Of the Covenant battle group, only the destroyer now remained. It set off a pitiful round of pulse laser bursts that evaporated harmlessly over the hull of the "Proven Consequence" before turning and trying to flee. Rniork wasn't going to let that happen. The massive beam cannon mounted on the Rvarn'ii vessel's prowl ripped into the unshielded hull. The beam ripped the armour apart, penetrating deep into the vessel, disabling most of the systems inside. The purple haze surrounding the engines faded, and the horribly disfigured Covenant ship began to drift in space.
The Chief just stared. In less than a minute the "Proven Consequence" had destroyed a force an entire UNSC carrier battle group would be outgunned by. He was silent with jealousy, his military mind comprehending the raw power this vessel contained. If only the Rvarn'ii had got to humanity first…if only…
"Well, Master Chief, now it's your turn." The Chief looked into the eyes of Rniork. "Into the belly of the beast." The Chief couldn't help but grin.