CHAPTER 23
1204 Hours, August 15, 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Location of fallen UNSC battle cruiser Pillar of Winter on moon of planet Raiek
The Covenant had found the Pillar of Winter! The dropship swooped in low and fast. They all knew that the ship had to be taken before those pesky cyborgs were able to uncover their plan.
A capture of the battle ship would surely ensure an easy escape from the moon itself. After lying in wait for several hours, the Covenant were ready to put their plan into action and destroy the humans for good.
As the dropship neared the ground, two Hunters, fully equipped with a six-foot shield and a powerful arm-mounted plasma cannon, landed with a mighty thump on the dust, kicking it up around them. They moved their massive heads from side to side, watching for signs of any humans. Seconds later, three Elites came down next to them. Two wore red armor and the third was covered in gold.
"Move out and take the ship from all sides!" Zaran 'Gangolee shouted to his four troops. "I want warriors taking it from the front, and more moving in through the bridge hatch. Also, another force should go in on the underside. Tunnel under it, following the maps, and get in that way! Go go go!"
Once the dropship had come within two feet of the ground, the side hatch opened. Two Elites and four Grunts, fully equipped with plasma pistols and needlers, dropped to the ground, an equal amount of the same force dropped on the other side. Total, that made four Elites and eight Grunts.
"Let's get moving!" the Elite cried out. "To the main hatch!"
On the back of the ship was a large hatch. It was used as the main hatch for loading equipment onto the ship. After coming in, cargo was loaded to the storage decks underneath the main level. Otherwise, troops were ordered to their barracks.
Four Grunts, backed by an Elite, stood in front of the door. Two Grunts were hefting a large explosive device in their arms. They grunted with exertion, slowly moving up the boarding ramp and trying to tilt the bomb. Since they weren't strong enough, the Elite behind them used one claw to heave the bomb into place. The magnetic seals attached instantly, and the pulsing, purple bomb was secure. The device was essentially a huge plasma grenade, much like the Covenant version of a LOTUS mine.
The Grunts worked feverishly to activate the device. Behind them, the Elite stood watch. Several meters away, on the ground past everything, Zaran stood next to an eight-foot tall Hunter. Zaran looked up at the heavily-armored warrior and spoke quickly to him. They'd have to be fast, and he wanted to reinforce this point.
"Make sure those Grunts work faster than they normally do. I don't want to have to deal with any human interference," the arrogant Elite snapped.
The Hunter nodded and looked towards the boarding ramp on the back of the ship. As he did, he watched as the Grunts and Elite backed away. The bomb was set to blow. Pulsing started, and it began to flash faster and faster and faster until the entire device shattered in a fury of metal and plasma.
Every Covenant warrior dropped back as four Elites came forward. They held plasma rifles and aimed their weapons up. In unison, they fired their weapons at the door, burning away excess metal. As they pulled back, eight Grunts came forward, all holding needlers and moving towards the now-open hatch.
Zaran wanted to finish the job, because an explosion of that magnitude would light up every sensor on the humans' radar within two hundred miles. They had to move quickly. "Go faster!" he shouted to the Grunts.
After electing an unwilling Grunt to go first, his comrades shoved the "volunteer" forward and into the hatch. Taking his time and not wanting to move too fast, the Grunt stepped cautiously up the ramp and looked around once he passed beyond the intial threshold.
Inside, all he could see was a tunnel leading away from where he stood, and several computers to the side. Also, on the left was another doorway, small enough for a human, too large for a Hunter.
Just then, two guns dropped from the ceiling. They were attached to metal poles that were jointed in three places. The weapons swiveled on their placements and aimed right for the Grunt.
Screaming for his life, the Grunt threw himself to the side. Bullets whizzed by overhead and caught two Grunts coming in behind him. They screamed and fell back. One was dead and the other was shot in the left leg. The Grunt inside aimed his weapon up and fired three needles. They stuck into one gun and blew it to pieces. The other gun immediately turned and fired. The Grunt let out a shriek, and fell limp, dead instantly after two shots to the head.
"What was that?" Zaran asked.
Almost immediately sensing their plight, another dropship came down. Eight Jackals dropped from the side and moved towards the ship. Grunts and Elites alike pulled back, making way for the Jackals. They screeched in their birdlike manner and moved up the ramp. Two held plasma shields in front of them as the remaining gun fired.
Bullets pinged from the shields of a Jackal in the lead. Another behind him raised his weapon, lowering the shield. That was a mistake. The gun instantly swiveled and fired. Screaming in pain, the Jackal fell backwards, knocking another over. In the fall, both shields shattered. The gun eliminated the remaining Jackal.
Only six warriors remained. They elected to leave, holding their shields behind them. However, an emergency door over the hatch slammed shut. All six Jackals were locked inside. They howled in frustration and spun around, only to have two of them be gunned down by the weapon. The four left sprinted down the hall, their hooves clattering over the metal as they ran.
As they rounded the corner, they spotted a door. However, it slammed shut. When they turned to come back they way they had before, another door popped from the ceiling and closed. The Jackals collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Then, the room began to get very hot. So hot that none of them could stand it. Temperatures climbed from room temp to nearly two hundred degrees fahrenheit. The aliens screamed and hollered as they literally burned alive in the sweltering heat.
Just as quickly as it came, the heat faded. All the Jackals stood as the temperatures dropped. However, the temp didn't stop there. It just kept dropping until it was nearly one-hundred fifty below. All the liquid in the Jackals' bodies froze instantly, sending them into convulsions. They twitched madly and collapsed to the ground, moaning as all the fluid in their veins froze solid. They were all dead after four seconds of agony.
Four red dots vanished from Zaran's thermal scanner. The Elite cursed. He turned and faced the Hunter next to him. "Get your men to blow open that door! I don't want anything slowing our progress!"
The Hunter nodded quickly, flexing the long metal spines on his back. He lumbered forward and pointed to the first two Hunters that landed, and motioned towards the metal hatch. He roared out something, and the two warriors seemed to understand. They moved in unison and faced the hatch. Both cannons on either Hunter started to vibrate and glow with plasma.
With a roar of fury, the beams were unleashed. The first blast cut through the middle of the door, and the second sliced the hole open wider, making for easier entry. The Hunters cried out in glory as the Grunts and Elites moved forward.
They came quickly upon the door and moved easily through. When the auto- gun inside snapped onto their location and opened fire, the Elites threw themselves in the way, their plasma-powered shield taking the brunt of the bullets. Grunts howled in panic and moved quickly past, going down a hall to the left. The Elites followed quickly.
A red Elite named Gargan kept the group moving. He was the highest- ranking Elite of the group, and he immediately took charge. Raising his plasma pistol and motioning the men forward, he quicly scanned a holo-map of the ship and directed his small group down a hall ahead of them.
Outside, Zaran called in a group of ten Grunts. They were the tunneling team. Their job was to bust in under the hull of the ship and come in through the hatch on the underside of the ship.
"Make sure you don't fail me!" Zaran told the elected leader, Zazag.
Zazag nodded vigorously and moved his group around to the side of the ship. On his order they raised their weapons and began to burn through the dirt and moved under the ship.
Zaran called forth another team, comprimised completely of the only Howlers left with the Covenant. Only six of them remained, and the commander of the group was a strong leader named Targon. He snapped a salute in the alien way and watched as Zaran pointed his group towards the front hull of the ship.
"I think Howlers are the best race made to deal with the defenses on the bridge of the ship. Get around to the front, and find a way in. I don't care how you do it, just get in any way you have to! But remember, if you encounter the cyborg Commander, leave him to me!"
The group of six Howler warriors moved away from the Elite commander and kept their group moving. Zaran turned to the Hunter next to him. "This will be cake once we're on the bridge. The humans won't even know how we got here before they could spot us!"
The Constitution was nearly surrounded. Captain Martin stood next to Moores, both of them trying to act the part of being completely unworried about the present situation. But adrenaline ran through their blood and they were beginning to sweat. Three Covenant battle cruisers against one UNSC ship weren't exactly good odds. However, Martin wasn't the best tactical man the UNSC had for no reason, and he wasn't a Captain for no reason. He knew what to do.
"Missile pods armed?" he called.
"Aye, sir," Lieutenant Jeremy responded.
"MAC guns charged?" he asked.
"Aye, sir," Lieutenant Hara said.
"How far is the first battle ship?"
"Several thousand miles, sir."
On the side of the Covenant ship, lights began to shine and it seemed like the whole right edge of the ship was glowing. The resulting attack would send a large wave of plasma through space which the Covenant could control very easily from their own ship. If any wave of energy hit the Constitution, the entire battle would be over and Orean would fall to the Covenant.
"Fire the MAC, and then launch all armed missile pods," Martin ordered.
Aimed towards the closest ship, the MAC gun spat three bolts of energy. Then, all along the lateral edges of the ship, the Archer missiles fired. The first MAC shot slammed into the ship's shield, weakening them, and the second hit made them fail. Finally, the last hit entered the ship through its front and exited through the back, oblitering the control deck (which was tucked into the ship and surrounded by armor, making it impervious to anything but a mortal blow). Archer missiles slammed into the ship's front, some disappearing through the hole itself. Soundlessly, the whole ship detonated.
However, they weren't out of the water yet.
The remaining battle cruisers turned and primed their own plasma beams. They were facing right for the Constitution, and a direct hit from either one would end their lives. Martin had to think quickly.
"Charge the MAC!" he barked. "Arm Archer missile pods C1 through E7. Order Major Silver to launch the Longsword interceptors, and arm one with a Shiva nuclear warhead. We want some men willing to go to their deaths and save the rest of us."
Lieutenant Comm Officer Shirley keyed in the radio. She told the Major the Captain's orders. Lieutenant Jeremy ordered Archer missile arming, and Hara started to charge the MAC guns. "If I pull this off, we'll make history," Martin said to Moores, who only watched in awe. Martin winked at his fellow CO. "Let's try it out."
Just then, the left battleship fired! A wave of plasma energy lanced through space on a direct course for the Constitution. Martin shouted, "Fire bottom thrusters!" and Sara nodded. She fired the underside thrusters and watched as the ship shot into the air. "Rear cameras!" Martin ordered, and Sara complied. Martin watched as the plasma wave changed its course and shot towards them. So, they could still control it rather well. "Hold, Sara!" Martin ordered calmly as the beam came right towards them.
"Four seconds to impact," Jeremy said. "Three...two..."
"Fire starboard thrusters!" Martin shouted. Sara fired off a hundred or more of the jets, and the ship obligingly launched to port. The wave tried to follow their movements, but shot backwards. "Fire rear thrusters!" Martin commanded.
Sara activated the rear thrusters and the Constitution took off, on a collision course for the left Covie cruiser. Just then, the right cruiser opened fire. Another wave of energy headed right for the Constitution as Martin had hoped they would. Just before the second wave slammed into them, Martin gave his order, "Port thrusters away!"
The Constitution lurched starboard and began to spin. Just as Martin had anticipated, the two waves slammed into each other, causing the largest spike of energy any of them had ever seen. Soundless in the vacuum of space, the wave jumped to incredible temperates for plasma and failed the shileds of both the cruisers as the Constitution shot underneath it.
"Launch Longsword interceptor squad and target right cruiser. Set the Shiva on that thing!" He turned to Jeremy and shouted. "Fire the MAC into the underbelly!" Jeremy nodded and hit the red button. The lights in the bridge dimmed, and a bolt of molten slag spat from the cannon. It slammed into the ship's underbelly and took her right through her bridge in the middle, crippling her.
The Longsword landed on the final ship and activated its Shiva. The Constitution was racing away as the shield snapped back on. "Detonate the warhead!" Martin shouted. As the nuke detonated, the Covenant's own shields effectively held in the explosion, and kept anything else from being harmed. When the explosion died down, the shields shattered and released pent-up energy. The ship was gone. As a safety measure, Martin completely demolished the first ship with his Archer missiles.
Martin would be in the record books for that maneuver. But even though he had taken out three warships, the war was not over yet.
Master Commander James Carser moved silently from the Fortress. The Spartans had located a lift that allowed them to easily get out of the base. As the lift itself rode easily along its track towards the hatch above them, the Commander turned to face his dwindling team of only three.
"We don't have much time before the Covenant will have taken the Pillar of Winter for themselves. For that reason," he said, looking directly at Farr 'Tenglannee, we'll have to move as fast as we can. Now, who is the best driver here?"
Alex raised his hand. "I've always thought I've been a good driver."
James nodded. "Of course. You will drive the Warthog Moores left outside for us when he arrived. Also, I have gotten word from the Captain himself that some Marines left us a present in the forest, to aid us in our task. They left it hoping it would come of some use, and now it's close enough to the battle cruiser's landing site to actually be of use."
"Excellent," Bryce said, shouldering his assault rifle. "Let's make tracks, sir!" he said, laughing.
The lift shuddered to a halt, and the entire team moved around the front of the Fortress and found the Warthog just where it should have been. Before leaving, the team had visited the weapons room of the Fortress, and it contained many stolen human weapons and crates of ammunition, captured by the Flood and Covenant alike.
They had uncovered many useful weapons, including enough grenades for each to have four. Farr and the Commander had plasma, Bryce and Alex elected to take frag grenades. In any event, they both had enough to suffice. They also restocked all their ammo supplies for assault rifles and pistol ammo. Farr, favoring plasma weaponry, took a plasma rifle and gave up the M6D. Alex and Bryce had taken shotguns in place of their assault rifles.
Spotting the Warthog from afar, James ran quickly towards it and hopped into the passenger seat. He would be riding shotgun. Alex took the driver's seat and started the engine. Bryce hauled himself into the gunner's seat, activating the powerful LAAG gun and swinging it around a bit. In front of the gun, Farr 'Tenglannee grabbed onto the back of the seats and held on to steady himself.
Alex pressed on the accelerator and the vehicle took off across the grass, kicking up dust in its wake.
Jason was furious. But the Flood inside him only fueled the anger. After being elected the new leader of their band on Orean, Jason decided it was time to end the menace of the Spartans he used to love so much for good.
The combat Flood form watched in anger as the LRV took off across the grass. Jason watched as the dust flicked up behind them and the engine revved in bursts of speed. The fact that they would make it to the crash site before he did only served to tick him off even more.
After howling in anger and moving through the hatch, lowering himself on one tentacle, Jason spotted a Banshee parked on the deck. He smiled inside and lowered himself to the ground. He didn't know if he would be able to fly the thing, but if it would allow him to catch the Spartans, it was worth a try.
Jason Lent pried the cover open and gawked at the vehicle. He slowly lowered himself inside and gripped the controls. In a shaky move, the Banshee lifted from the ground and streaked out the open hatch. Jason could fly it with realative ease.
Infection Flood below cried out in joy. Their leader was going to do it! He was going to lead them to victory. The Flood scuttled across the ground, following Jason. He might get there before them, but even a warrior like him would need back-up eventually. They were the ones that would give it.
1204 Hours, August 15, 2553 (Military Calendar)/ Location of fallen UNSC battle cruiser Pillar of Winter on moon of planet Raiek
The Covenant had found the Pillar of Winter! The dropship swooped in low and fast. They all knew that the ship had to be taken before those pesky cyborgs were able to uncover their plan.
A capture of the battle ship would surely ensure an easy escape from the moon itself. After lying in wait for several hours, the Covenant were ready to put their plan into action and destroy the humans for good.
As the dropship neared the ground, two Hunters, fully equipped with a six-foot shield and a powerful arm-mounted plasma cannon, landed with a mighty thump on the dust, kicking it up around them. They moved their massive heads from side to side, watching for signs of any humans. Seconds later, three Elites came down next to them. Two wore red armor and the third was covered in gold.
"Move out and take the ship from all sides!" Zaran 'Gangolee shouted to his four troops. "I want warriors taking it from the front, and more moving in through the bridge hatch. Also, another force should go in on the underside. Tunnel under it, following the maps, and get in that way! Go go go!"
Once the dropship had come within two feet of the ground, the side hatch opened. Two Elites and four Grunts, fully equipped with plasma pistols and needlers, dropped to the ground, an equal amount of the same force dropped on the other side. Total, that made four Elites and eight Grunts.
"Let's get moving!" the Elite cried out. "To the main hatch!"
On the back of the ship was a large hatch. It was used as the main hatch for loading equipment onto the ship. After coming in, cargo was loaded to the storage decks underneath the main level. Otherwise, troops were ordered to their barracks.
Four Grunts, backed by an Elite, stood in front of the door. Two Grunts were hefting a large explosive device in their arms. They grunted with exertion, slowly moving up the boarding ramp and trying to tilt the bomb. Since they weren't strong enough, the Elite behind them used one claw to heave the bomb into place. The magnetic seals attached instantly, and the pulsing, purple bomb was secure. The device was essentially a huge plasma grenade, much like the Covenant version of a LOTUS mine.
The Grunts worked feverishly to activate the device. Behind them, the Elite stood watch. Several meters away, on the ground past everything, Zaran stood next to an eight-foot tall Hunter. Zaran looked up at the heavily-armored warrior and spoke quickly to him. They'd have to be fast, and he wanted to reinforce this point.
"Make sure those Grunts work faster than they normally do. I don't want to have to deal with any human interference," the arrogant Elite snapped.
The Hunter nodded and looked towards the boarding ramp on the back of the ship. As he did, he watched as the Grunts and Elite backed away. The bomb was set to blow. Pulsing started, and it began to flash faster and faster and faster until the entire device shattered in a fury of metal and plasma.
Every Covenant warrior dropped back as four Elites came forward. They held plasma rifles and aimed their weapons up. In unison, they fired their weapons at the door, burning away excess metal. As they pulled back, eight Grunts came forward, all holding needlers and moving towards the now-open hatch.
Zaran wanted to finish the job, because an explosion of that magnitude would light up every sensor on the humans' radar within two hundred miles. They had to move quickly. "Go faster!" he shouted to the Grunts.
After electing an unwilling Grunt to go first, his comrades shoved the "volunteer" forward and into the hatch. Taking his time and not wanting to move too fast, the Grunt stepped cautiously up the ramp and looked around once he passed beyond the intial threshold.
Inside, all he could see was a tunnel leading away from where he stood, and several computers to the side. Also, on the left was another doorway, small enough for a human, too large for a Hunter.
Just then, two guns dropped from the ceiling. They were attached to metal poles that were jointed in three places. The weapons swiveled on their placements and aimed right for the Grunt.
Screaming for his life, the Grunt threw himself to the side. Bullets whizzed by overhead and caught two Grunts coming in behind him. They screamed and fell back. One was dead and the other was shot in the left leg. The Grunt inside aimed his weapon up and fired three needles. They stuck into one gun and blew it to pieces. The other gun immediately turned and fired. The Grunt let out a shriek, and fell limp, dead instantly after two shots to the head.
"What was that?" Zaran asked.
Almost immediately sensing their plight, another dropship came down. Eight Jackals dropped from the side and moved towards the ship. Grunts and Elites alike pulled back, making way for the Jackals. They screeched in their birdlike manner and moved up the ramp. Two held plasma shields in front of them as the remaining gun fired.
Bullets pinged from the shields of a Jackal in the lead. Another behind him raised his weapon, lowering the shield. That was a mistake. The gun instantly swiveled and fired. Screaming in pain, the Jackal fell backwards, knocking another over. In the fall, both shields shattered. The gun eliminated the remaining Jackal.
Only six warriors remained. They elected to leave, holding their shields behind them. However, an emergency door over the hatch slammed shut. All six Jackals were locked inside. They howled in frustration and spun around, only to have two of them be gunned down by the weapon. The four left sprinted down the hall, their hooves clattering over the metal as they ran.
As they rounded the corner, they spotted a door. However, it slammed shut. When they turned to come back they way they had before, another door popped from the ceiling and closed. The Jackals collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Then, the room began to get very hot. So hot that none of them could stand it. Temperatures climbed from room temp to nearly two hundred degrees fahrenheit. The aliens screamed and hollered as they literally burned alive in the sweltering heat.
Just as quickly as it came, the heat faded. All the Jackals stood as the temperatures dropped. However, the temp didn't stop there. It just kept dropping until it was nearly one-hundred fifty below. All the liquid in the Jackals' bodies froze instantly, sending them into convulsions. They twitched madly and collapsed to the ground, moaning as all the fluid in their veins froze solid. They were all dead after four seconds of agony.
Four red dots vanished from Zaran's thermal scanner. The Elite cursed. He turned and faced the Hunter next to him. "Get your men to blow open that door! I don't want anything slowing our progress!"
The Hunter nodded quickly, flexing the long metal spines on his back. He lumbered forward and pointed to the first two Hunters that landed, and motioned towards the metal hatch. He roared out something, and the two warriors seemed to understand. They moved in unison and faced the hatch. Both cannons on either Hunter started to vibrate and glow with plasma.
With a roar of fury, the beams were unleashed. The first blast cut through the middle of the door, and the second sliced the hole open wider, making for easier entry. The Hunters cried out in glory as the Grunts and Elites moved forward.
They came quickly upon the door and moved easily through. When the auto- gun inside snapped onto their location and opened fire, the Elites threw themselves in the way, their plasma-powered shield taking the brunt of the bullets. Grunts howled in panic and moved quickly past, going down a hall to the left. The Elites followed quickly.
A red Elite named Gargan kept the group moving. He was the highest- ranking Elite of the group, and he immediately took charge. Raising his plasma pistol and motioning the men forward, he quicly scanned a holo-map of the ship and directed his small group down a hall ahead of them.
Outside, Zaran called in a group of ten Grunts. They were the tunneling team. Their job was to bust in under the hull of the ship and come in through the hatch on the underside of the ship.
"Make sure you don't fail me!" Zaran told the elected leader, Zazag.
Zazag nodded vigorously and moved his group around to the side of the ship. On his order they raised their weapons and began to burn through the dirt and moved under the ship.
Zaran called forth another team, comprimised completely of the only Howlers left with the Covenant. Only six of them remained, and the commander of the group was a strong leader named Targon. He snapped a salute in the alien way and watched as Zaran pointed his group towards the front hull of the ship.
"I think Howlers are the best race made to deal with the defenses on the bridge of the ship. Get around to the front, and find a way in. I don't care how you do it, just get in any way you have to! But remember, if you encounter the cyborg Commander, leave him to me!"
The group of six Howler warriors moved away from the Elite commander and kept their group moving. Zaran turned to the Hunter next to him. "This will be cake once we're on the bridge. The humans won't even know how we got here before they could spot us!"
The Constitution was nearly surrounded. Captain Martin stood next to Moores, both of them trying to act the part of being completely unworried about the present situation. But adrenaline ran through their blood and they were beginning to sweat. Three Covenant battle cruisers against one UNSC ship weren't exactly good odds. However, Martin wasn't the best tactical man the UNSC had for no reason, and he wasn't a Captain for no reason. He knew what to do.
"Missile pods armed?" he called.
"Aye, sir," Lieutenant Jeremy responded.
"MAC guns charged?" he asked.
"Aye, sir," Lieutenant Hara said.
"How far is the first battle ship?"
"Several thousand miles, sir."
On the side of the Covenant ship, lights began to shine and it seemed like the whole right edge of the ship was glowing. The resulting attack would send a large wave of plasma through space which the Covenant could control very easily from their own ship. If any wave of energy hit the Constitution, the entire battle would be over and Orean would fall to the Covenant.
"Fire the MAC, and then launch all armed missile pods," Martin ordered.
Aimed towards the closest ship, the MAC gun spat three bolts of energy. Then, all along the lateral edges of the ship, the Archer missiles fired. The first MAC shot slammed into the ship's shield, weakening them, and the second hit made them fail. Finally, the last hit entered the ship through its front and exited through the back, oblitering the control deck (which was tucked into the ship and surrounded by armor, making it impervious to anything but a mortal blow). Archer missiles slammed into the ship's front, some disappearing through the hole itself. Soundlessly, the whole ship detonated.
However, they weren't out of the water yet.
The remaining battle cruisers turned and primed their own plasma beams. They were facing right for the Constitution, and a direct hit from either one would end their lives. Martin had to think quickly.
"Charge the MAC!" he barked. "Arm Archer missile pods C1 through E7. Order Major Silver to launch the Longsword interceptors, and arm one with a Shiva nuclear warhead. We want some men willing to go to their deaths and save the rest of us."
Lieutenant Comm Officer Shirley keyed in the radio. She told the Major the Captain's orders. Lieutenant Jeremy ordered Archer missile arming, and Hara started to charge the MAC guns. "If I pull this off, we'll make history," Martin said to Moores, who only watched in awe. Martin winked at his fellow CO. "Let's try it out."
Just then, the left battleship fired! A wave of plasma energy lanced through space on a direct course for the Constitution. Martin shouted, "Fire bottom thrusters!" and Sara nodded. She fired the underside thrusters and watched as the ship shot into the air. "Rear cameras!" Martin ordered, and Sara complied. Martin watched as the plasma wave changed its course and shot towards them. So, they could still control it rather well. "Hold, Sara!" Martin ordered calmly as the beam came right towards them.
"Four seconds to impact," Jeremy said. "Three...two..."
"Fire starboard thrusters!" Martin shouted. Sara fired off a hundred or more of the jets, and the ship obligingly launched to port. The wave tried to follow their movements, but shot backwards. "Fire rear thrusters!" Martin commanded.
Sara activated the rear thrusters and the Constitution took off, on a collision course for the left Covie cruiser. Just then, the right cruiser opened fire. Another wave of energy headed right for the Constitution as Martin had hoped they would. Just before the second wave slammed into them, Martin gave his order, "Port thrusters away!"
The Constitution lurched starboard and began to spin. Just as Martin had anticipated, the two waves slammed into each other, causing the largest spike of energy any of them had ever seen. Soundless in the vacuum of space, the wave jumped to incredible temperates for plasma and failed the shileds of both the cruisers as the Constitution shot underneath it.
"Launch Longsword interceptor squad and target right cruiser. Set the Shiva on that thing!" He turned to Jeremy and shouted. "Fire the MAC into the underbelly!" Jeremy nodded and hit the red button. The lights in the bridge dimmed, and a bolt of molten slag spat from the cannon. It slammed into the ship's underbelly and took her right through her bridge in the middle, crippling her.
The Longsword landed on the final ship and activated its Shiva. The Constitution was racing away as the shield snapped back on. "Detonate the warhead!" Martin shouted. As the nuke detonated, the Covenant's own shields effectively held in the explosion, and kept anything else from being harmed. When the explosion died down, the shields shattered and released pent-up energy. The ship was gone. As a safety measure, Martin completely demolished the first ship with his Archer missiles.
Martin would be in the record books for that maneuver. But even though he had taken out three warships, the war was not over yet.
Master Commander James Carser moved silently from the Fortress. The Spartans had located a lift that allowed them to easily get out of the base. As the lift itself rode easily along its track towards the hatch above them, the Commander turned to face his dwindling team of only three.
"We don't have much time before the Covenant will have taken the Pillar of Winter for themselves. For that reason," he said, looking directly at Farr 'Tenglannee, we'll have to move as fast as we can. Now, who is the best driver here?"
Alex raised his hand. "I've always thought I've been a good driver."
James nodded. "Of course. You will drive the Warthog Moores left outside for us when he arrived. Also, I have gotten word from the Captain himself that some Marines left us a present in the forest, to aid us in our task. They left it hoping it would come of some use, and now it's close enough to the battle cruiser's landing site to actually be of use."
"Excellent," Bryce said, shouldering his assault rifle. "Let's make tracks, sir!" he said, laughing.
The lift shuddered to a halt, and the entire team moved around the front of the Fortress and found the Warthog just where it should have been. Before leaving, the team had visited the weapons room of the Fortress, and it contained many stolen human weapons and crates of ammunition, captured by the Flood and Covenant alike.
They had uncovered many useful weapons, including enough grenades for each to have four. Farr and the Commander had plasma, Bryce and Alex elected to take frag grenades. In any event, they both had enough to suffice. They also restocked all their ammo supplies for assault rifles and pistol ammo. Farr, favoring plasma weaponry, took a plasma rifle and gave up the M6D. Alex and Bryce had taken shotguns in place of their assault rifles.
Spotting the Warthog from afar, James ran quickly towards it and hopped into the passenger seat. He would be riding shotgun. Alex took the driver's seat and started the engine. Bryce hauled himself into the gunner's seat, activating the powerful LAAG gun and swinging it around a bit. In front of the gun, Farr 'Tenglannee grabbed onto the back of the seats and held on to steady himself.
Alex pressed on the accelerator and the vehicle took off across the grass, kicking up dust in its wake.
Jason was furious. But the Flood inside him only fueled the anger. After being elected the new leader of their band on Orean, Jason decided it was time to end the menace of the Spartans he used to love so much for good.
The combat Flood form watched in anger as the LRV took off across the grass. Jason watched as the dust flicked up behind them and the engine revved in bursts of speed. The fact that they would make it to the crash site before he did only served to tick him off even more.
After howling in anger and moving through the hatch, lowering himself on one tentacle, Jason spotted a Banshee parked on the deck. He smiled inside and lowered himself to the ground. He didn't know if he would be able to fly the thing, but if it would allow him to catch the Spartans, it was worth a try.
Jason Lent pried the cover open and gawked at the vehicle. He slowly lowered himself inside and gripped the controls. In a shaky move, the Banshee lifted from the ground and streaked out the open hatch. Jason could fly it with realative ease.
Infection Flood below cried out in joy. Their leader was going to do it! He was going to lead them to victory. The Flood scuttled across the ground, following Jason. He might get there before them, but even a warrior like him would need back-up eventually. They were the ones that would give it.