A great Master Chief moment:
Cortana – "You do know what you're doing? I mean, we're headed straight toward the largest and most dangerous Covenant Ship in this system. I assume this is part of some daring and brutally simplistic plan you've cooked up?
The Master Chief – "Yes."
Cortana – "Oh, good. Hang on"
Chapter 5: Diplomatic Contact with the Federation
UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast', Deep space near Wolf 359 star cluster, The Bridge
The Master chief stood aboard the bridge of the UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast'. It was surprising that High Command had allowed such an important ship to leave the hastily marshaled defenses for earth. Even more surprising was the pair of Frigates that were escorting the 'Steadfast'. It was a substantial amount of firepower being taken away from the defenses. But Admiral Lucien had said that if the Covenant attacked, the battle wasn't going to be decided by the presence or absence of three ships.
The detachment had been hastily assembled by High Command and sent off on what could possibly be the most important mission of the war. A mission that could mean victory or extinction for the human race.
The Master Chief was just as curious about the goals of the mission as the others. He turned slightly, just to reassure that they were there. Fred SPARTAN – 104, Linda SPARTAN – 058, Will SPARTAN – 043. Not to forget himself either, John, SPARTAN – 117.
Four, out of an original group of thirty-two. Their numbers had dwindled; they'd fought to defend REACH from the Covenant, and had paid dearly for it.
John shook his head slightly as his mind recalled each and every one of the SPARTAN's that had died. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of sorrow for all of the lives lost, his friends lost. He even remembered the first, Sam, his best friend. All of them, dead because of the Covenant and the war. Kelly, missing in action, she'd been taken by Doctor Halsey for some reason that only she knew.
But John pushed the sorrow aside; he didn't have the time for it.
He looked at the slowly spinning ring as it hung in space before the trio of UNSC ships. John felt a pang of hatred for the ring, for the HALO. The last had killed so many good soldiers. The last ring had nearly wiped out all sentient life in this galaxy.
John shook his head slightly; he'd been feeling guilt and hatred towards the HALO since his harrowing escape from the last. But now, now he had to go back to another, one of thousands of these rings and use it to summon help.
He sighed; his duty was to the UNSC and Earth. His orders were to take the remnants of the SPARTAN II's on a mission to contact other Human and Alien civilizations and try to gather support for the war with the Covenant.
Considering the current buildup of Covenant forces, and their knowledge of Earths location, it seemed as though this mission didn't have enough time to get the support it needed.
John felt as though he'd been sent on a fool's errand.
Captain Hastings stood aboard the bridge of the Destroyer 'Steadfast' and glared at the ring with a nervous anticipation. If the techs were right, if the translations were correct, if a thousand other things were right, then they were about to create an inter-dimensional gateway to another universe.
'If' played too high a role in this situation.
Captain Hastings consulted the information that he'd been receiving from the techs on the ring. They'd located the control room and had hooked up four 'smart' AI's into the HALO networks. It had taken a week of constant, extremely complex operations but the AI's had taken full control of the construct's systems. They'd even managed to decipher a massive amount of data that had been contained on the ring.
"Captain, the AI's report that they are beginning the transport sequence." The Comms officer reported.
"Keep me informed. Helm, take us into position." Hastings ordered. The 'Steadfast' accelerated towards the indicated point in space. It was dead center in the ring.
"Transport systems are coming online. Energizing." Ops said.
Hastings nodded then he clenched his hands together. Right now he was taking his ship into the exact location that multiple beams of an unknown energy. Hastings almost wished he were facing a Covenant force.
Almost.
"We're in location Captain, Frigates 'Yuri' and 'Hinesburg' are in position as well." Helm said. Hastings nodded again and glanced at the Spartans. They seemed all to calm for this situation.
"Any idea what's going to happen Chief?" Linda asked over the comm.
"Nothing good." John said.
"Did you have any clue that the HALO was anything other than a weapon?" Fred asked.
"No. Cortana said it was a weapon, not any kind of transport device."
"That was what Guilty Spark was so concerned with. Eliminating the Flood. He didn't care about HALO's other functions. He was surprisingly single minded." Cortana put in.
"Well, considering that the Covenant had broken out the Flood, it was understandable." Will said.
"But, a transport device, capable of spanning interstellar distances. It's unfathomable how it works." Linda said.
"Yes. I think we should hang on." John said looking out the main viewport. The energy beams were activating, the white bolts of light darting through the vacuum.
"This should be fun." Cortana said over John's internal speakers.
"Tell me that when we're finished." John said as the first energy pulse hit the ship, and everything went black.
Federation Sovereign Class vessel USS 'Waterloo' Deep Space Near Wolf 359 star Cluster The Bridge
Captain Gordon Chard looked at the main view screen at the massive ring before his ship. It had been catalogued by a Federation freighter investigating the remnants of the Wolf 359 debris field, leftover from the battle with the Borg.
The ring hadn't been there then. But it was here now.
The science teams speculated that the trace amounts of material that lined the hull pointed towards the possibility that the ring had been in the gas atmosphere of the nearby world, then had propelled itself into open space. The preliminary scans done during a flyby by the Defiant vessel USS 'Pawtucket' had revealed an atmosphere and ecosystem along the inner surface.
Chard couldn't figure out what this thing was. A dedicated science vessel was on the way. But his task force had been diverted from their patrol route. A pair of Defiant class Light cruisers and a Sovereign class Battleship were not the best choices for a scientific expedition. A Nebula class Battle Cruiser would have been better; they were dedicated science ships for the most part. He was on his way to the Neutral zone, and he wasn't pleased with the fact he had to spend his time investigating some strange construct.
Yes, his curiosity was piqued by the structure, but he had other duties to attend to. Another taskforce needed to be relived. And with the recent ending of hostilities after the Starbase 'Unity' situation, the Romulan neutral zone was a little more active than it should be.
Whatever this thing was, it wasn't worth his time, and the tying up of his taskforce. What could possibly be worth this much effo-
"Captain! I'm detecting a spike in energy emissions from the structure." Operations said.
"Put it on the main screen." Chard said. The image leapt into sharp focus, it was some sort of structure on the surface of the ring. As they watched, an energy pulse gathered and shot into the sky. The image scaled back and focused in on the pulses, they were coalescing in space. Gathering into a large shimmering mass of light energy.
"Captain, the energy pulse seems to be forming into a coherent wavelength. It's similar to the energy emissions of a transporter beam, but on a much more massive scale. Or, like the energy signature of a Borg Transwarp drive." Operations responded.
"Tactical, raise shields. Go to Red alert." Chard ordered. As Chard finished his command the lighting on the bridge changed to a muted glow, as the emergency signals started, notifying the crew of the alert status.
"There appear to be three vessels within the energy pulse, they seem to be wavering in and out of phase with this dimensional plane."
"What type of vessel are they? Borg? Romulan?" Chard asked, he couldn't rule our any option. It could be the Borg, or it could be some sort of Romulan weapon.
"Negative sir. The vessels match no known class of ship the Federation has ever encountered." Tactical said.
"Sir, the energy wave is dissipating." Operations said. On the main screen the energy waves were indeed dissipating. The pulse seemed to fade away and reveal the ships.
"I am detecting no tangible signs of shields or weapons systems." Tactical said.
"Open a channel."
UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast' Wolf 359 System The Bridge
John shook his head slightly and glanced around at the other Spartans, they all appeared to be fine, and their affirmative signals verified the fact. John then glanced at the main screen.
He froze as he saw the three opposing ships sitting in space.
This was not good.
"Captain, I am detecting three unknown vessels in space." The ships AI said.
"All hands to battle stations. Can you tell me what kind of ships these are?" Hastings asked.
"Judging from the design of them, they are from the 'Federation'. A pair of Defiant class Light Cruisers, and a Sovereign class Battleship. All three ships boast energy shields, projected energy weapons and advanced heavy weapons."
"So, worse than the Covenant?"
"Yes Captain."
"Sir, they're attempting to hail us." Comms said.
"Put it through. I don't think we'd win this if it came to a battle." Hastings said.
He looked at the main display screen in front of the command chair. Another human appeared on the display screen.
"This is Captain Chard of the Federation vessel, USS 'Waterloo'. Greetings."
"Greetings Captain. I am Captain Hastings of the UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast'. We come in peace."
"Well Captain, what are you doing here, and why exactly does your ship not appear on any Federation ship logs?"
"It's a long story Captain." Hastings said.
"We have time Captain." Chard replied.
"Captain, you would find it extremely unbelievable. But if you insist; my squadron comes from another galaxy. We used this alien transportation system to travel here in hopes of finding assistance." Hastings said.
"Assistance Captain? Assistance with what?" Chard asked.
"Assistance in preventing out annihilation. Right now the UNSC is losing a war for our survival. We are fighting an alien race known as the Covenant. They have been steadily eliminating human worlds, systematically murdering Billions of human civilians. We came here seeking help." Hastings explained.
"I see. Well Captain, I trust that you have some form of proof to support your claims?" Chard asked, he sounded skeptical.
"Captain, our AIs have extensive records of the Human-Covenant war. We also have computer records of what has transpired over the past years of conflict. Perhaps we should discuss this in person." Hastings said. Chard paused.
"Captain Hastings, perhaps you should consider my position. You just appeared from an alien structure into vacuum. We've never encountered any ships matching the description of your vessels at all."
"But Captain, as your weapons officer can probably attest, your ships could easily rip ours to shreds. It would serve no purpose for us to attempt to attack you. Especially considering our need of you assistance." Hastings said.
"I see Captain. I will, allow you to come aboard my vessel, but tread cautiously Captain." Chard said and ended the transmission.
"Pleasant chap. Chief, I want your team to escort myself and the ambassador aboard the Federation ship." Hastings said. The Master Chief nodded.
"Sir, I'll have a Pelican prepped for your transit." Operations said. Hastings nodded.
"We don't want to keep the Captain waiting Chief." Hastings said.
USS 'Waterloo', Wolf 359 System, The Main Shuttle bay
The strange ship flew into the shuttle bay without grace. Its thrust nozzles deafened the occupants of the bay as the ship settled down. It was twice the size of a standard shuttle, but not as sleek. The bulbous protrusions along the wings had been identified as primitive projectile rocket pods. Beneath the chin of the dropship was a multi-barreled projectile cannon; it tracked around the bay slowly. Captain Chard was hesitant to allow such a visibly armed ship to enter the bay, but he really didn't have a choice, it was on final approach.
The ship settled and the rear of the vessel shifted and a ramp lowered and the delegation proceeded out from the ship.
At the forefront was Captain Hastings in his gray ship uniform; a few medals were on his chest along with his nametag. Next to him was a man dressed in a dignified looking uniform, but not a military outfit, but closely related to one. A small nametag with 'Bueller' on it adorned his chest.
Behind the pair of officers marched four, massive soldiers clad in green armor plating. They carried what looked to be projectile weapons and marched with a cautious demeanor that had been wrought of many battles.
Captain Chard was a little annoyed that the UNSC Captain had brought an armed escort. But he stopped when he thought about the six-man squad of marines he had brought with himself, and the security team in close proximity.
Chard glanced at the marines. They stood ready in their armored Hazard suits, a design from Lt. Tuvok on the USS 'Voyager'; the suits had become standard issue for federation marines. Each was armed with a phaser rifle. Easily capable of disintegrating an unarmored humanoid, Chard had little to worry about; even if the shortest UNSC trooper stood a foot taller than the largest of the Federation marines.
"Greetings Captain Chard." Hastings said striding up to Chard. He raised his hand in a salute.
Chard returned the gesture and then extended a hand to shake.
Hastings accepted the offered hand hesitantly. He was a soldier, not a diplomat. He'd read the information on the Federation. They weren't a military oriented group; they made combat a secondary consideration on their ships. They didn't seem like a group that would make good allies.
"Welcome aboard Captain." Chard said.
"Thank you. May I introduce Ambassador Bueller." Hastings said stepped aside.
"Greetings Captain." Bueller said and extended his hand. Chard shook willingly.
"So, gentlemen, we should head to the main conference room so that you can discuss this matter more readily." Chard said. Bueller nodded. He followed the Federation Captain out of the shuttlebay and into the ship.
The UNSC delegation followed tentatively. They were in 'hostile' territory and they were uncomfortable.
John stood rigid as the ramp at the rear of the Pelican dropship lowered. A small breeze as the pressure inside the Pelican and the Federation ship equalized, then he looked into the bay. He saw the Federation Captain standing there, his red and black uniform looked simple and functional, much like the ship uniforms Naval personnel wore. Te only visible insignia on the uniform were four small pips on either side of the Captain's collar, and a strange badge on his chest. The Federation captain seemed to be slightly uneasy, but he looked as though he took heart in the presence of the six, heavily armed figures behind him. John almost snapped his weapon up, but caught himself before acting.
They were standing with their weapons in a low guard position; John and the other Spartans mimicked the motion. There was no need for any hasty violence; this was a diplomatic matter right now.
Instead John studied the armor and weapons of the Federation troopers. He was a soldier; he did have some experience with that sort of thing.
The body armor that the Federation marines wore appeared to be a full suit of armor; it looked to be as flexible as any cloth uniform, but slightly thicker. In fact, the uniform appeared to be an exact replica of the Captains lightweight ship uniform.
The Federation appeared to be rather keen on the upper torso color scheme and the black outfit.
"Interesting, it appears that those suits have an energy field around them." Cortana said over John's com.
"You mean they have shields?" John asked.
"Mhmm, I can't tell you much about their armor without some form of more intrusive analysis, but it looks to be an ablative armor that's highly flexible. Along with some form of energy shielding it seems to be very effective." Cortana said examining the armor with the MJOLINR armor's sensors.
John glanced at the weapons the Federation troopers were carrying. The rifles looked very sleek and had a refined aura. There was no location for a clip to be inserted.
"Cortana, are those energy weapons?" John asked, already knowing the answer.
"I believe so. There's an excited photon energy emanating from the weapons. They appear to be much more efficient that any type of Covenant weapon we've encountered.
"Personal energy weapons, and personal shielding, standard on their troops? I don't think we want to cause trouble." Will said.
"Just the same, stay alert. We'll let the Captain and the Diplomat sort things out here. But I don't like the idea of being alone aboard this ship." John said. His team's acknowledgement lights winked on.
John was glad he had his team with him, Cortana included. He had a nasty feeling that something was going to happen.
John followed along behind the Captains and the Ambassador. They walked out of the shuttlebay and into the bright, clean corridors of the Federation ship. The Spartans walked along the wall on one side of the corridor, the Federation troopers walked along the other.
John was slightly surprised at the bright, clean nature of the Federation corridors. For the most part, UNSC vessels were designed with structural integrity and counter boarding considerations above neatness and comfort. Most of the time Corridors were both cramped and dark, or had supports and material stored in them. Federation vessels didn't seem to be concerned with such implications.
The Master Chief checked that line of thought. Just because he didn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there. This ship was completely unlike any he had been on before. For one it had artificial gravity, and it had energy shields in places that UNSC ships used blast doors and hatches.
"I'm detecting energy emitters placed regularly around the corridor." Cortana said.
"What kind of energy emitters?" John asked.
"Some appear to transmit on the wavelength of the Federation shielding, although some seem to transmit on the same principles as an AI holo projector. It seems as though they have AI's just like me." Cortana said. She sounded slightly off put. John ignored it.
The group of officers and guards made their way through the neat and orderly hallways of the Federation vessel. The UNSC group wasn't visibly uneasy, but the lack of any form of identifying markings in the halls made them slightly wary. They had no idea where they were going or where they had been for the most part.
Captain Hastings breathed a visible sight of relief when Captain Chard led them out of the featureless halls and into what looked to be a lounge area. A long table was sitting in the center of the room; other smaller tables and chairs were laid out around the room. It appeared as though it were a mess area or lounge. But there was no window or door to any form of kitchen. There was some sort of access panels set into one wall.
"Please Captain, Ambassador, have a seat." Chard said and gestured to the table. Captain Hastings nodded and took a seat, Ambassador Bueller did the same, and the Spartans remained standing. Captain Chard sat down, but the Federation soldiers remained standing behind him.
"Captain, now if you could please explain what this 'Covenant' is and how it is such a threat." Chard said, his tone held something akin to disdain in it. He did not sound as though he was too concerned with this new threat.
"Captain Chard, I would ask that you do not take the greatest threat to the survival of the Human species so lightly." Captain Hastings replied coolly.
"I hardly think that a greater threat than the Borg exists Captain." Chard said his voice holding a similar chill. Both Captains glared at each other. Ambassador Bueller cleared his throat audibly.
"Gentlemen, if we could move on?" Bueller said sounding very annoyed.
"Yes, please continue ambassador." Captain Chard said.
"Thank you Captain. As Captain Hastings stated, the Covenant is the greatest threat that we have yet encountered. They have managed to eliminate over two hundred and fifty human held colonies. The approximate death toll of Human civilians has been impossible to measure. Although last census numbers indicated that nearly eighty billion civilians lived in the outer colonies. The inner colonies boast a comparable amount of civilians. Fleet losses exceed over two thousand vessels, and military losses are estimated at eight million from all branches. In twenty-eight years of warfare we've managed to carry out four decisive defeats of Covenant forces. With every engagement starting with a three to one ration in favor of the UNSC. Covenant forces boast superior technological achievements, looted from what we have come to call the Forerunners." Ambassador Bueller said. He nodded to the Master Chief. John nodded back and reached for the small holo projector that he had been ordered to carry along.
The six Federation marines snapped their weapons up in unison. The Spartans did the same in response. The atmosphere in the room became very tense.
"Captain, I wish to display some relevant data." Bueller said. Captain Chard motioned to the marines. They slowly lowered their phaser rifles. The Spartans did the same with their MA5B assault rifles. Slowly, the two opposing sides resumed their guarded stances. John fished out the holo projector and set it on the table. Cortana manipulated the projector and showed one of the Covenant Elites.
"From what we have learned the Covenant operates on a caste based Religious hierarchy. They are for all intents and purposes fighting a holy war against the UNSC. They're intent on recovering artifacts left by the Forerunners and have the coordinates for earth." Bueller said.
"Wait. Earth? What are you talking about? These, 'Covenant' have no reason to come here." Chard said.
"No, not this earth, our earth." Cortana said. She broadcast her image into the Holo projector and stood on the table.
"Your earth?" Chard said scepticaly.
"Captain, the UNSC has recovered information from a Forerunner facility just like this one," Cortana said and gestured at the HALO spinning in space outside the windows, "and from what we've gathered, Humanity and a massive number of other alien races were either discovered or engineered for combating another species. We believe that multiple identical 'Earths' were created. Every one created as a 'control' environment for a massive experiment. Then human colonies were established on them, each population altered in subtle ways. Not every human population is genetically identical."
"What do you mean?" Chard asked. He'd had the academy science classes and knew that the type of Genetic experimentation this AI was talking about was highly illegal, and highly experimental.
"Some populations were engineered to be more violent and aggressive, others made to be more docile and subservient, others were given a higher potential for reasoning and scientific knowledge. The list of combinations tried goes on and on, the Forerunners were attempting to induce an evolutionary leap on a massive scale. But the Forerunners didn't isolate their experimentation to genetic and physiological experiments. They also manipulated social interactions amongst us, shaping many histories of human colonies to be nearly identical, then warping them at pivotal points." Cortana explained.
"To what ends?" Chard asked tentatively, the officer did not want to know what was coming next.
"Apparently, experimentation to create a more powerful race that could combat the Flood." Cortana said.
Chard blinked.
"The Flood is a parasitic organism that is capable of spreading at an alarming rate. It can take over a sentient life form, re-write it's DNA and create combat or carrier forms, which in turn spread more Flood." Cortana explained, her image being replaced with the horrific likeness of a 'human' combat form.
Chard recoiled slightly. At least when the Borg took you you still looked human, this thing barely looked humanoid.
"Captain, we need to speak with your leadership. It is imperative that we gain your assistance. The UNSC has a few months left before the Covenant assaults Earth, if that." Bueller said.
Captain Chard looked at the UNSC personnel thoughtfully. He was standing at an impasse. Right now he could do one of two things, turn them away.
Or try and get help for them.
Decisions, decisions.
"Captain..." Chard said looking at the UNSC soldiers.
They looked hopeful.
"I'll take you to Earth. You can put your case before the Federation Council. They'll decide what to do." Chard said. He'd cast his hand to fate, now it was up to time to tell him whether he'd made the right choice.
"Captain Chard?" A voice asked, it seemed to spawn from nowhere. Chard tapped his com badge and responded.
"This is the Captain."
"Sir, the HALO structure appears to be activating again." The voice said.
"Go to Red Alert. I'm on my way." Chard said standing and heading towards the bridge, he gestured for Hastings and Bueller to follow. The UNSC officer and the Ambassador followed along. The Federation marines and the Spartans followed along. They headed back into the featureless hallways and through the ship. Captain Chard stepped through a sliding door and into a small chamber, Hastings and Bueller stepped in with him.
The marines and the Spartans remained in the hall.
"Where are they headed?" John asked.
"The bridge." One of the marines answered simply.
Federation vessel USS 'Waterloo', The Bridge.
Chard strode onto the bridge glancing at the main view screen. The HALO construct was radiating the same energy pulses it had when the UNSC vessels had appeared.
"Captain Hastings, are you planning on any company?" Chard asked looking at the screen.
"No, but I can guess who this is going to be." Hastings replied.
"The Covenant?"
"Yes Captain."
"Captain Chard, the energy pulse is dissipating. I am reading three vessels present. They do not match any known ship types or designs." The Sensor operator said. Hastings looked at the vessels with a careful eye.
"That's a Covenant Cruiser, a pair of Frigates and a Destroyer." Hastings said.
"Formidable?"
"Very."
"Order the taskforce to full alert and prepare for battle." Chard said.
"Sir, energy emissions have spiked on all four vessels. The signatures are similar to those found in Romulan Plasma torpedoes." The sensors officer said. Hastings looked at one of the tactical displays and saw the three UNSC ships of his force and the three ships of the Federation force arrayed in Blue against the four Covenant vessels.
The three ships he commanded began to accelerate away from the Covenant fleet.
Too late.
"Captain! Enemy vessels are firing!" Tactical reported. Across the void of space the Covenant vessels discharged their plasma torpedoes. The massive reddish white spheres tracked the fleeing UNSC vessels. Unfortunately the Covenant weapons were much faster than the lumbering UNSC ships. Each of the Frigates took a plasma torpedo in the aft sections, engineering. Both ships spiraled out of control, as they were hit and their engines obliterated. Almost immediately both ships began to spew escape pods. Clearly, both captains knew that their vessels were as good as gone.
But, the 'Steadfast' did a maximum burn, then cut engines and reoriented towards the Covenant force. It's massive MAC guns fired once, twice, and sent a pair of multi-ton projectiles streaking through space. Each one hit a Covenant Frigate. The first was holed and split in two. The round bored the other through, a massive hole no present in its hull. Even as the contrail of the MAC rounds dissipated a cloud of Archer missiles was launched.
The comparably small missiles sailed through space and peppered the other Covenant Frigate with high explosive welts. The ship seemed to flicker slightly and they went adrift.
"Captain, the 'Steadfast' just destroyed two of the enemy vessels. No energy signatures, they're dead in space with minimal life signs." The sensors officer said.
"Good. Tactical, lock weapons on that Cruiser and open fire. Target their shield generators. I'm rather keen on landing marines and taking it intact." Chard said.
"Yes captain." The Tactical officer said. On the main screen a flurry of phaser pulses opened up and sliced through the darkness, connecting with the Covenant Cruiser. The shields flared and pulsed under the onslaught, but held. Five blue white Quantum Torpedoes sailed through the abyss and collided with the Covenant shields, their warheads erupting into a conflagration of fire immeasurable amount of explosive force. The Covenant shields shattered. The Phasers lanced out again with pinpoint accuracy, they targeted weapons emplacements and shield projectors. Captain Chard wanted that ship intact. "I want all marines to board that vessel and capture it intact." Chard ordered. "Captain, perhaps my Spartans should lead you assault. They have more knowledge of the Covenant than you could ever hope to accrue." Hastings said. Chard nodded. "Master Chief, join the Federation marines and board that Cruiser. You are in command." Hastings said over his comm. "Yes sir." The Master Chief replied. Chard turned his attention to the other Covenant vessel. The two Defiant Class vessels were nimbly avoiding all the Covenant fire sent their way. Their pulse phasers and Quantum torpedoes pummeling the alien ship into semi-submission. But the Covenant vessel wasn't standing around. It was turning away. It was running. "Captain, the remaining hostile ship is attempting to break contact." Tactical said. "Don't let it escape." Chard ordered. The 'Waterloo' opened fire. The full might and fury of a Sovereign Class Battleship capable of leveling planets was now being leveled against a single ship. It could have been vaporize in an instant, had it remained in its location. The ship accelerated back to the point it had come from. The HALO ring activated and the ship vanished into the unknown. "Shit." Hastings swore. "Don't worry Captain, we still have that Cruiser to deal with." Chard said. Hastings nodded slowly. The Master Chief had actually captured a Covenant vessel before, and he'd been on more Covenant ships than any other member of the UNSC. He could get the job done.
Federation Vessel USS 'Waterloo' Transporter Room
John and the other Spartans had been uneasy with the fact they weren't being led back to the shuttle bay and the Pelican. The Federation Marine had said they had a faster way of getting to the Covenant ship. John had been a little skeptical but decided to go along with it. If it were a trap he and his team could deal with it.
The Marines turned and filed through another doorway and into a large room. To the right was a waist high control panel facing a cylindrical area. A multitude of complex equipment and gear was lining the walls.
"Okay, we need to know where you need to go in the enemy ship before we can transport you in." The technician behind the control panel said.
"Excuse me?" John asked.
"We can transport you into the enemy ship. Where do you want to be dropped?" The operator prompted again.
"It must be some sort of transit system similar to the one on HALO." Cortana said over the helmet speakers. John felt a sudden surge of unease with this. He was having slight flashbacks of Guilty Spark's transit grid.
And the incident when Cortana managed to rematerialize him upside- down in the corridor of a Covenant Cruiser.
Oooo, bad idea.
"Chief, don't worry, I think they have a better grasp of what they're doing than, er, I did." Cortana said, clearly the memory of her use of the HALO transit system pushed back to the forefront of her mind.
"Coordinates?" The operator prompted again.
"I'll upload them into your system now." Cortana said using the external suit speakers. Cortana had managed to slice into the Federation networks and input the data in less time than it had taken John to blink. He shook his head slightly Cortana really was something else.
"Okay, just step up onto the pad and get ready. I'll drop you in at this location. The other marines will be coming in every ten seconds afterwards. Good luck." The operator said. John stepped up onto the transporter pad. Fred, Will and Linda did the same. John was carrying his standard MA5B assault rifle and a combat shotgun. Fred had an assault rifle as well, along with several packs of high explosives. Will had a Jackhammer Rocket launcher in addition to his MA5B. Linda carried a sniper rifle and an assault rifle.
They were ready for a fight.
Four of the Federation marines crowded aboard the transporter pad.
"Energizing." The operator said and John felt himself being enveloped in a strange energy field. Then blackness. A sensation of detachment from his physical form. Rapid movement. Reconstruction of his body atom by atom. Color and sound returned to him. That was the easy part, then all hell broke lose.
Disabled Covenant Cruiser 'Strict Vengeance', Atrium access to main Command Bridge
The boarding party had managed to rematerialize smack dab in the middle of a security patrol. Two Elites, four Jackals and ten grunts, oh what fun. As soon as everyone figured out just what the hell was going on things got messy. The four Spartans opened up on full auto, sweeping their streams of death back and fourth over the security patrol they so rudely interrupted.
The four Federation marines fired their phaser rifles in two distinct modes, one fired a small energy pulse, and the other disintegrated its target.
The firefight was messy to say the least. It barely lasted seven seconds, but the entire Covenant security team was dead, and none of the boarders were injured. The Chief turned towards the entry way to the bridge; it was smeared with the bluish ichor of a grunt, the lights on the hatch blazed red, it had been sealed.
"Fred, blow that hatch." John said. Fred nodded and moved to the sealed door. If they were placed correctly they had a chance to breach the alien alloy armor. If not, then they were trapped.
"Let's clamp this place down people." The Federation Marine commander said. His troopers moved out and down the hall towards an intersection. The Spartans remained in position by the door. They were going to storm the bridge, the Federation could hold back the Covenant.
Fred knelt by the door placing the large demolition packs, little more than backpacks crammed with C-12 high explosive. They could each rip through two meters of titanium warship armor. They might work on two inches of Covenant armor plating. Fred nodded as he placed the final charge and set took the remote detonator. John, Fred, Will and Linda fell back from the doors. They moved halfway down the corridor and took cover in a small outcropping.
"Fire in the hole!" Fred shouted and triggered the explosives.
The crack and detonation was deafening in the enclosed hall. The MJOLINR armor compensated for the pulse of raw sound easily. John glanced back; the Federation marines had shook somewhat at the detonation, but had held their positions. One of them started to fire their phaser rifle down the corridor, the other four followed suit. The Covenant was coming.
But John ignored it. He kept his attention on the end of the hall, and the now devastated hatch that led into the Covenant ships nerve center. He saw movement and raised his assault rifle; Will and Fred did the same. But Linda was the quickest to the draw. Her sniper rifle snapped up and cracked four times in quick succession. Four ghostly forms fell as the armor piercing rounds found their marks.
The Chief motioned and then moved forward, accompanied by Fred and Will. Linda remained by her post, her rifle firing and causing death amongst the Covenant defenders. It was somewhat unnerving have AP rounds cutting through the air scant millimeters from your head, but Linda knew how to handle her weapon; she was the best sniper out of all the Spartans.
From behind them another energy charge sprung into being, the blue transport 'effect' from the Federation technology illuminating the hallway. Eight more Federation marines had arrived. They broke into two groups, one moved to assist the marines at the intersection, the others moved towards the Spartans.
John sent the signal for grenades, the three Spartans drew fragmentation grenades and threw them. They hit, bounced once...twice...then detonated inside the room. The blasts peppered the interior of the room with deadly steel fragments.
John, Will and Fred sprinted to the hatch and crouched down behind the cover they began to exchange fire with the Covenant forces still inside. John leaned around as he fired, risking a glance at the other entrances to the room. Covenant troops were pouring into the room.
Will exchanged his assault rifle for his Jackhammer launcher and leveled it at one of the Covenant security teams. He fired off one of the rockets and it streaked across the chamber, it's smoky contrail adding to the confusion of the killing ground that the command center had become. The rocket detonated and sent the security flying through the air, as though they had been toys tossed by an angry child. Will shifted his aim and sent the second rocket flying smack dab into the chest armor of a black clad commando elite, the elite morphed into a fountain of purple blood and body parts that coated the troopers behind him. Will reloaded with inhuman speed and precision. The smoke trails hadn't even dissipated and he was reloading his weapon.
John and Fred were firing on full auto. They were running out of ammo and their weapons were actually overheating. This wasn't good. The firing pin of John's MA5B slammed home on an empty chamber and the bolt locked open, he was out. He dropped the weapon and readied his shotgun. The Covenant were close enough that their mass worked to his advantage, swaths of the defenders fell with each blast.
But there were too many, it was as though the Covenant knew that they were coming. They'd been ready for the attack.
John was about to order his Spartans to fall back when an unfamiliar voice shouted from behind him.
"You need a little help?"
John almost bucked his head around, his mind had been so focused on the fight he hadn't thought about what was behind him, and that was dangerous in combat.
From behind him it sounded like four energy capacitors were being charged. He didn't know what the Federation troopers had in mind, but whatever it was, hopefully it was going to take down the defenses in the Command deck. How right he was.
Four glowing packets of energy lanced out from behind him, they streaked forward and detonated amongst the Covenant. They had no contrail, they had no exhaust of any kind, but they did blow up rather spectacularly. They packed more power than a Demolitions pack when they went off, which was a good thing. Plus they fired a whole lot faster than a Jackhammer launcher, very good.
Covenant forces were simply vaporized when the rounds hit. Entire teams were decimated in the volley. Jackals were blasted clear off their feet, their overlapped energy shields not enough to overcome the energy blasts.
"Personal Proton Torpedo launcher. Nice little toy don't you think?" One of the Federation marines said, slinging the weapon. But he didn't put the weapon over his shoulder, rather he held it to his side and it seemed to dematerialize. In it's place his phaser rifle appeared. John paused for half a second, then moved forward onto the bridge.
The room was strewn with corpses. The Covenant had poured a large amount of troops into this battle and didn't seem too intent on loosing the bridge. For the moment though, it seemed as though the PPT bombardment had driven back the Covenant forces. John nodded as they moved into the room.
"Clear." Fred said.
"Cortana, can you seal the doors?" John asked as he moved up onto the command platform.
"Accessing.... hmmm, it seems as though the Covenant has decided to de- lineate their systems to a degree. Probably after my handy work with their flagship." Cortana said with an air of pride about herself.
"Can you?" John prompted again.
"No. They've set the door codes apart from the main systems. I can't access them." Cortana said.
"Now what Chief?" Fred asked.
"We dig in and hold off any Covenant attempts to retake the bridge." John said. The Spartans acknowledged and the Federation Marines did the same. Eight more Marines moved into the bridge from the hall, phaser rifles read.
"But, where are we going to dig in?" One of the Federation marines asked.
"Right here." John said gesturing at the elevated command platform.
"But we're hideously exposed up here." One of the Marines prompted.
"We'll build a barricade." John said.
"With what?"
John looked down at the corpses.
"Oh."
Back at the intersection the Federation forces where holding off what seemed to be a major push towards the bridge. The marines were holding their own against the Covenant attacks. They had cover, shields, energy weapons and a whole lot of power. They weren't going to be budged from their position of cover. The Covenant bodies were stacking up in the hallways; the last attack had drowned in blood and phaser fire that had left the bodies pilled up down the hall.
"Fall back to the command center, we'll hold there." Came the command from the master chief.
The Marines complied and fell back in good order, leaving behind their strongpoint and retreating to the 'bridge' of the ship. They entered the bridge and headed up to the gruesome 'rampart' that the defenders had erected. The Covenant corpses had been stacked like firewood around the periphery of the elevated command platform, grunt, jackal, elite, or Hunter. It didn't matter what the alien was, it had been piled up to form a modest defensive position, and judging from the height of the 'wall' it had been a charnel house inside the bridge.
"Get up here and order the ship to bring their marines in right here." The Master Chief ordered. The marines scampered up and hopped into the position. This was a grim sign if they'd been forced into this posture.
The Federation marines complied and moved into the new defensive position. They did just in time. Another assault was being staged on the control room. The enemy forces were made up of an alien species that the Spartans hadn't seen before.
They looked like bipedal lizards. They stood about a head or so taller than a grunt. Their scaled skin was mottled green color, but instead of seeing that strange olive green, it was covered in elaborate paint. They skittered slightly as they moved, like they weren't too far separated from their lizard ancestors at all. Their eyes tracked around the room on short turrets, much like those a chameleon had, they could move around independently. Both eye turrets gazed out over a pointed snout filled with needle sharp teeth.
The carried strange weapons in their clawed hands, very much unlike standard Covenant plasma weapons, they were sleek and resembled a human assault rifle. But when they discharged their weapons they fired much faster than a plasma rifle or pistol. A stream of discarded ammunition casings flew from one side of the weapon. They were for all intents and purposes, standard mechanical assault rifles. But they fired plasma.
The rapid fire barrage of plasma chewed away at the barricade while the Federation marines and Spartans returned their deadly rain of steel and energy.
The 'lizards' – for lack of a better term – weren't like Elites, or Jackals, or Grunts. They laid down cover fire, they leapfrogged, and they took advantage of cover. They were soldiers, not cannon fodder; these troopers understood the ways of modern warfare.
Both sides were loosing forces. The 'lizards' were losing troopers as they advanced, and the Federation marines were dropping.
"Keep firing!" Cortana shouted unnecessarily.
USS 'Waterloo', Wolf 359 System, The Bridge
"Well Captain Hastings, these are the ultimate threat you and the UNSC is so worried about?" Chard asked looking at the disabled Covenant vessel as it hung in space.
"Captain, the Covenant are more dangerous than you think." Hastings replied as he watched the ship. He knew that something was going to happen. That second Covenant ship was going to cause them problems.
Something bad was going to happen.
"Captain! The HALO is activating again!" The Operations officer said.
There it was.
"Report." Chard said turning his attention to the massive alien construct.
"Same energy buildup as before. More ships are coming through."
"Prepare for combat." Chard said just as the energy sphere dissipated.
The glowing white sphere was replaced with fifteen Covenant ships. Ten light Covenant Frigates escorting a core of Five heavy Cruisers. This force was more than ample to destroy a UNSC fleet five times that number. Going up against three Federation ships and a wounded UNSC Destroyer.
It would be like a man crushing a bug with a sledgehammer.
"Captain, I suggest you pull our men off the Covenant ship and we retreat." Hastings said. He clasped his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking. He was staring certain death in the face, and the only hope was to run...very, very fast.
Chard stood stock-still. He didn't even blink. It was as though the entire sight had frozen him in place, and he didn't even know the true power that the Covenant could wield. For a moment, Hastings saw that titanic difference between a captain in the Federation, and a captain in the UNSC. A Federation captain was not a true warrior; he was a man that had more on his mind than combat. A UNSC captain was a soldier, he knew how to fight, and he'd seen war in all it's horror against the Covenant.
Chard wasn't a combat captain, no matter how much he thought otherwise.
He'd only seen a bare shred of their power, and he was frightened.
"Captain, we have to go NOW!" Hastings shouted, startling the Federation captain from his frozen state.
"Yes, yes..." Chard said, his eyes still locked on the Covenant fleet.
Hastings stood there.
Chard said nothing.
"Pull those people off the Covenant vessel now. Helm; set us a course out of here. Is there a nearby strongpoint we can head too?" Hastings shouted, he couldn't stand around and let his forces, and these Federation troops get killed because their captain couldn't face true combat.
"Yes...uh...sir, Starbase 187. It's a few light-years from here." The Helmsman said.
"Set a course and send the coordinates to the 'Steadfast'. We jump on my order." Hastings said.
Covenant Cruiser 'Strict Vengeance', The bridge.
The battle wasn't going well. Although the Spartans were still alive, the Federation marines weren't lasting. They fell one by one, their numbers dwindling as they fell to the 'lizard' plasma weapons.
These new aliens were good. They were soldiers, and they knew how to fight. Even though they didn't have the energy shielding that Elites or Jackals carried, they still knew how to move in a firefight.
"I'm out!" Fred shouted dropping his MA5B and picking up one of the phaser rifles.
"We need to pull out!" The most senior marine shouted over the strange din of the alien weapons. John nodded and emptied another magazine into the approaching Lizards. Two fell as the rounds hit flesh rather than body armor, their red blood smearing the elaborate body paint they wore. The others in the unit skittered and moved apart avoiding the deadly hail.
"This is Lieutenant Mortenson, we need to be pulled out now! We have wounded and casualties." The marine shouted through his comm badge. He nodded to himself.
"They're pulling us out!" Mortenson shouted, just as the blue haze of the transporter descended upon them.
John rematerialized on a transporter pad, crouched in the same position he'd been in during the fight. His hand motions to reload his assault rifle continued as though he had been uninterrupted. His head and eyes darted about looking for hostiles, but they were back in the Federation transporter room, several men and women in blue colored outfits moved towards the Spartans, they carried several strange items. John was wary, but the Federation marines accepted the others without worry they had to be medics.
John stood up, and looked around.
"What happened?" He asked.
"More of those enemy ships arrived and we're bugging out." One of the gold colored crewmen said.
John shook his head. That was how it always happened, the Covenant might not win on the ground, but they always won in space.
USS 'Waterloo' The Bridge
"The away teams have returned!" The ops officer said.
"Helm, get us out of here." Hastings ordered. Even though he wasn't their captain, they still complied, not wanting to hang around and face that fleet longer than they had to.
In unison the three Federation ships and the lone UNSC Destroyer engaged their Faster than light drives and left the HALO and the Covenant forces behind.
Hastings turned to Chard. The Federation captain still looked shaken.
"Captain. We came here to find help in fighting the Covenant. And we've proven just how dangerous they are, and the kind of threat they represent. They came here to conquer you, or rather to exterminate you." Hastings said as he looked out at the starfield before them.
"The Covenant is the greatest threat to humanity. And that's because they regard us as insects, they regard every single other alien race in the universe as an annoyance. They don't want to subjugate us, they want to exterminate us. That's why we need help, because if we don't win, we die. Every man, woman, and child in every single galaxy that boasts humans will be exterminated, untold trillions will be wiped out like bugs. The UNSC will be the first to fall Captain, that's why we came for help." Hastings said, his tone silent and cool.
Chard simply nodded.
Coming up next, and hopefully much sooner [sorry again for the long hiatus]:
Chapter 6: The new forces of the Covenant Hegemony.
Get ready to see all the bad asses that the Covenant get to help with their holy war.
Cortana – "You do know what you're doing? I mean, we're headed straight toward the largest and most dangerous Covenant Ship in this system. I assume this is part of some daring and brutally simplistic plan you've cooked up?
The Master Chief – "Yes."
Cortana – "Oh, good. Hang on"
Chapter 5: Diplomatic Contact with the Federation
UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast', Deep space near Wolf 359 star cluster, The Bridge
The Master chief stood aboard the bridge of the UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast'. It was surprising that High Command had allowed such an important ship to leave the hastily marshaled defenses for earth. Even more surprising was the pair of Frigates that were escorting the 'Steadfast'. It was a substantial amount of firepower being taken away from the defenses. But Admiral Lucien had said that if the Covenant attacked, the battle wasn't going to be decided by the presence or absence of three ships.
The detachment had been hastily assembled by High Command and sent off on what could possibly be the most important mission of the war. A mission that could mean victory or extinction for the human race.
The Master Chief was just as curious about the goals of the mission as the others. He turned slightly, just to reassure that they were there. Fred SPARTAN – 104, Linda SPARTAN – 058, Will SPARTAN – 043. Not to forget himself either, John, SPARTAN – 117.
Four, out of an original group of thirty-two. Their numbers had dwindled; they'd fought to defend REACH from the Covenant, and had paid dearly for it.
John shook his head slightly as his mind recalled each and every one of the SPARTAN's that had died. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of sorrow for all of the lives lost, his friends lost. He even remembered the first, Sam, his best friend. All of them, dead because of the Covenant and the war. Kelly, missing in action, she'd been taken by Doctor Halsey for some reason that only she knew.
But John pushed the sorrow aside; he didn't have the time for it.
He looked at the slowly spinning ring as it hung in space before the trio of UNSC ships. John felt a pang of hatred for the ring, for the HALO. The last had killed so many good soldiers. The last ring had nearly wiped out all sentient life in this galaxy.
John shook his head slightly; he'd been feeling guilt and hatred towards the HALO since his harrowing escape from the last. But now, now he had to go back to another, one of thousands of these rings and use it to summon help.
He sighed; his duty was to the UNSC and Earth. His orders were to take the remnants of the SPARTAN II's on a mission to contact other Human and Alien civilizations and try to gather support for the war with the Covenant.
Considering the current buildup of Covenant forces, and their knowledge of Earths location, it seemed as though this mission didn't have enough time to get the support it needed.
John felt as though he'd been sent on a fool's errand.
Captain Hastings stood aboard the bridge of the Destroyer 'Steadfast' and glared at the ring with a nervous anticipation. If the techs were right, if the translations were correct, if a thousand other things were right, then they were about to create an inter-dimensional gateway to another universe.
'If' played too high a role in this situation.
Captain Hastings consulted the information that he'd been receiving from the techs on the ring. They'd located the control room and had hooked up four 'smart' AI's into the HALO networks. It had taken a week of constant, extremely complex operations but the AI's had taken full control of the construct's systems. They'd even managed to decipher a massive amount of data that had been contained on the ring.
"Captain, the AI's report that they are beginning the transport sequence." The Comms officer reported.
"Keep me informed. Helm, take us into position." Hastings ordered. The 'Steadfast' accelerated towards the indicated point in space. It was dead center in the ring.
"Transport systems are coming online. Energizing." Ops said.
Hastings nodded then he clenched his hands together. Right now he was taking his ship into the exact location that multiple beams of an unknown energy. Hastings almost wished he were facing a Covenant force.
Almost.
"We're in location Captain, Frigates 'Yuri' and 'Hinesburg' are in position as well." Helm said. Hastings nodded again and glanced at the Spartans. They seemed all to calm for this situation.
"Any idea what's going to happen Chief?" Linda asked over the comm.
"Nothing good." John said.
"Did you have any clue that the HALO was anything other than a weapon?" Fred asked.
"No. Cortana said it was a weapon, not any kind of transport device."
"That was what Guilty Spark was so concerned with. Eliminating the Flood. He didn't care about HALO's other functions. He was surprisingly single minded." Cortana put in.
"Well, considering that the Covenant had broken out the Flood, it was understandable." Will said.
"But, a transport device, capable of spanning interstellar distances. It's unfathomable how it works." Linda said.
"Yes. I think we should hang on." John said looking out the main viewport. The energy beams were activating, the white bolts of light darting through the vacuum.
"This should be fun." Cortana said over John's internal speakers.
"Tell me that when we're finished." John said as the first energy pulse hit the ship, and everything went black.
Federation Sovereign Class vessel USS 'Waterloo' Deep Space Near Wolf 359 star Cluster The Bridge
Captain Gordon Chard looked at the main view screen at the massive ring before his ship. It had been catalogued by a Federation freighter investigating the remnants of the Wolf 359 debris field, leftover from the battle with the Borg.
The ring hadn't been there then. But it was here now.
The science teams speculated that the trace amounts of material that lined the hull pointed towards the possibility that the ring had been in the gas atmosphere of the nearby world, then had propelled itself into open space. The preliminary scans done during a flyby by the Defiant vessel USS 'Pawtucket' had revealed an atmosphere and ecosystem along the inner surface.
Chard couldn't figure out what this thing was. A dedicated science vessel was on the way. But his task force had been diverted from their patrol route. A pair of Defiant class Light cruisers and a Sovereign class Battleship were not the best choices for a scientific expedition. A Nebula class Battle Cruiser would have been better; they were dedicated science ships for the most part. He was on his way to the Neutral zone, and he wasn't pleased with the fact he had to spend his time investigating some strange construct.
Yes, his curiosity was piqued by the structure, but he had other duties to attend to. Another taskforce needed to be relived. And with the recent ending of hostilities after the Starbase 'Unity' situation, the Romulan neutral zone was a little more active than it should be.
Whatever this thing was, it wasn't worth his time, and the tying up of his taskforce. What could possibly be worth this much effo-
"Captain! I'm detecting a spike in energy emissions from the structure." Operations said.
"Put it on the main screen." Chard said. The image leapt into sharp focus, it was some sort of structure on the surface of the ring. As they watched, an energy pulse gathered and shot into the sky. The image scaled back and focused in on the pulses, they were coalescing in space. Gathering into a large shimmering mass of light energy.
"Captain, the energy pulse seems to be forming into a coherent wavelength. It's similar to the energy emissions of a transporter beam, but on a much more massive scale. Or, like the energy signature of a Borg Transwarp drive." Operations responded.
"Tactical, raise shields. Go to Red alert." Chard ordered. As Chard finished his command the lighting on the bridge changed to a muted glow, as the emergency signals started, notifying the crew of the alert status.
"There appear to be three vessels within the energy pulse, they seem to be wavering in and out of phase with this dimensional plane."
"What type of vessel are they? Borg? Romulan?" Chard asked, he couldn't rule our any option. It could be the Borg, or it could be some sort of Romulan weapon.
"Negative sir. The vessels match no known class of ship the Federation has ever encountered." Tactical said.
"Sir, the energy wave is dissipating." Operations said. On the main screen the energy waves were indeed dissipating. The pulse seemed to fade away and reveal the ships.
"I am detecting no tangible signs of shields or weapons systems." Tactical said.
"Open a channel."
UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast' Wolf 359 System The Bridge
John shook his head slightly and glanced around at the other Spartans, they all appeared to be fine, and their affirmative signals verified the fact. John then glanced at the main screen.
He froze as he saw the three opposing ships sitting in space.
This was not good.
"Captain, I am detecting three unknown vessels in space." The ships AI said.
"All hands to battle stations. Can you tell me what kind of ships these are?" Hastings asked.
"Judging from the design of them, they are from the 'Federation'. A pair of Defiant class Light Cruisers, and a Sovereign class Battleship. All three ships boast energy shields, projected energy weapons and advanced heavy weapons."
"So, worse than the Covenant?"
"Yes Captain."
"Sir, they're attempting to hail us." Comms said.
"Put it through. I don't think we'd win this if it came to a battle." Hastings said.
He looked at the main display screen in front of the command chair. Another human appeared on the display screen.
"This is Captain Chard of the Federation vessel, USS 'Waterloo'. Greetings."
"Greetings Captain. I am Captain Hastings of the UNSC Destroyer 'Steadfast'. We come in peace."
"Well Captain, what are you doing here, and why exactly does your ship not appear on any Federation ship logs?"
"It's a long story Captain." Hastings said.
"We have time Captain." Chard replied.
"Captain, you would find it extremely unbelievable. But if you insist; my squadron comes from another galaxy. We used this alien transportation system to travel here in hopes of finding assistance." Hastings said.
"Assistance Captain? Assistance with what?" Chard asked.
"Assistance in preventing out annihilation. Right now the UNSC is losing a war for our survival. We are fighting an alien race known as the Covenant. They have been steadily eliminating human worlds, systematically murdering Billions of human civilians. We came here seeking help." Hastings explained.
"I see. Well Captain, I trust that you have some form of proof to support your claims?" Chard asked, he sounded skeptical.
"Captain, our AIs have extensive records of the Human-Covenant war. We also have computer records of what has transpired over the past years of conflict. Perhaps we should discuss this in person." Hastings said. Chard paused.
"Captain Hastings, perhaps you should consider my position. You just appeared from an alien structure into vacuum. We've never encountered any ships matching the description of your vessels at all."
"But Captain, as your weapons officer can probably attest, your ships could easily rip ours to shreds. It would serve no purpose for us to attempt to attack you. Especially considering our need of you assistance." Hastings said.
"I see Captain. I will, allow you to come aboard my vessel, but tread cautiously Captain." Chard said and ended the transmission.
"Pleasant chap. Chief, I want your team to escort myself and the ambassador aboard the Federation ship." Hastings said. The Master Chief nodded.
"Sir, I'll have a Pelican prepped for your transit." Operations said. Hastings nodded.
"We don't want to keep the Captain waiting Chief." Hastings said.
USS 'Waterloo', Wolf 359 System, The Main Shuttle bay
The strange ship flew into the shuttle bay without grace. Its thrust nozzles deafened the occupants of the bay as the ship settled down. It was twice the size of a standard shuttle, but not as sleek. The bulbous protrusions along the wings had been identified as primitive projectile rocket pods. Beneath the chin of the dropship was a multi-barreled projectile cannon; it tracked around the bay slowly. Captain Chard was hesitant to allow such a visibly armed ship to enter the bay, but he really didn't have a choice, it was on final approach.
The ship settled and the rear of the vessel shifted and a ramp lowered and the delegation proceeded out from the ship.
At the forefront was Captain Hastings in his gray ship uniform; a few medals were on his chest along with his nametag. Next to him was a man dressed in a dignified looking uniform, but not a military outfit, but closely related to one. A small nametag with 'Bueller' on it adorned his chest.
Behind the pair of officers marched four, massive soldiers clad in green armor plating. They carried what looked to be projectile weapons and marched with a cautious demeanor that had been wrought of many battles.
Captain Chard was a little annoyed that the UNSC Captain had brought an armed escort. But he stopped when he thought about the six-man squad of marines he had brought with himself, and the security team in close proximity.
Chard glanced at the marines. They stood ready in their armored Hazard suits, a design from Lt. Tuvok on the USS 'Voyager'; the suits had become standard issue for federation marines. Each was armed with a phaser rifle. Easily capable of disintegrating an unarmored humanoid, Chard had little to worry about; even if the shortest UNSC trooper stood a foot taller than the largest of the Federation marines.
"Greetings Captain Chard." Hastings said striding up to Chard. He raised his hand in a salute.
Chard returned the gesture and then extended a hand to shake.
Hastings accepted the offered hand hesitantly. He was a soldier, not a diplomat. He'd read the information on the Federation. They weren't a military oriented group; they made combat a secondary consideration on their ships. They didn't seem like a group that would make good allies.
"Welcome aboard Captain." Chard said.
"Thank you. May I introduce Ambassador Bueller." Hastings said stepped aside.
"Greetings Captain." Bueller said and extended his hand. Chard shook willingly.
"So, gentlemen, we should head to the main conference room so that you can discuss this matter more readily." Chard said. Bueller nodded. He followed the Federation Captain out of the shuttlebay and into the ship.
The UNSC delegation followed tentatively. They were in 'hostile' territory and they were uncomfortable.
John stood rigid as the ramp at the rear of the Pelican dropship lowered. A small breeze as the pressure inside the Pelican and the Federation ship equalized, then he looked into the bay. He saw the Federation Captain standing there, his red and black uniform looked simple and functional, much like the ship uniforms Naval personnel wore. Te only visible insignia on the uniform were four small pips on either side of the Captain's collar, and a strange badge on his chest. The Federation captain seemed to be slightly uneasy, but he looked as though he took heart in the presence of the six, heavily armed figures behind him. John almost snapped his weapon up, but caught himself before acting.
They were standing with their weapons in a low guard position; John and the other Spartans mimicked the motion. There was no need for any hasty violence; this was a diplomatic matter right now.
Instead John studied the armor and weapons of the Federation troopers. He was a soldier; he did have some experience with that sort of thing.
The body armor that the Federation marines wore appeared to be a full suit of armor; it looked to be as flexible as any cloth uniform, but slightly thicker. In fact, the uniform appeared to be an exact replica of the Captains lightweight ship uniform.
The Federation appeared to be rather keen on the upper torso color scheme and the black outfit.
"Interesting, it appears that those suits have an energy field around them." Cortana said over John's com.
"You mean they have shields?" John asked.
"Mhmm, I can't tell you much about their armor without some form of more intrusive analysis, but it looks to be an ablative armor that's highly flexible. Along with some form of energy shielding it seems to be very effective." Cortana said examining the armor with the MJOLINR armor's sensors.
John glanced at the weapons the Federation troopers were carrying. The rifles looked very sleek and had a refined aura. There was no location for a clip to be inserted.
"Cortana, are those energy weapons?" John asked, already knowing the answer.
"I believe so. There's an excited photon energy emanating from the weapons. They appear to be much more efficient that any type of Covenant weapon we've encountered.
"Personal energy weapons, and personal shielding, standard on their troops? I don't think we want to cause trouble." Will said.
"Just the same, stay alert. We'll let the Captain and the Diplomat sort things out here. But I don't like the idea of being alone aboard this ship." John said. His team's acknowledgement lights winked on.
John was glad he had his team with him, Cortana included. He had a nasty feeling that something was going to happen.
John followed along behind the Captains and the Ambassador. They walked out of the shuttlebay and into the bright, clean corridors of the Federation ship. The Spartans walked along the wall on one side of the corridor, the Federation troopers walked along the other.
John was slightly surprised at the bright, clean nature of the Federation corridors. For the most part, UNSC vessels were designed with structural integrity and counter boarding considerations above neatness and comfort. Most of the time Corridors were both cramped and dark, or had supports and material stored in them. Federation vessels didn't seem to be concerned with such implications.
The Master Chief checked that line of thought. Just because he didn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there. This ship was completely unlike any he had been on before. For one it had artificial gravity, and it had energy shields in places that UNSC ships used blast doors and hatches.
"I'm detecting energy emitters placed regularly around the corridor." Cortana said.
"What kind of energy emitters?" John asked.
"Some appear to transmit on the wavelength of the Federation shielding, although some seem to transmit on the same principles as an AI holo projector. It seems as though they have AI's just like me." Cortana said. She sounded slightly off put. John ignored it.
The group of officers and guards made their way through the neat and orderly hallways of the Federation vessel. The UNSC group wasn't visibly uneasy, but the lack of any form of identifying markings in the halls made them slightly wary. They had no idea where they were going or where they had been for the most part.
Captain Hastings breathed a visible sight of relief when Captain Chard led them out of the featureless halls and into what looked to be a lounge area. A long table was sitting in the center of the room; other smaller tables and chairs were laid out around the room. It appeared as though it were a mess area or lounge. But there was no window or door to any form of kitchen. There was some sort of access panels set into one wall.
"Please Captain, Ambassador, have a seat." Chard said and gestured to the table. Captain Hastings nodded and took a seat, Ambassador Bueller did the same, and the Spartans remained standing. Captain Chard sat down, but the Federation soldiers remained standing behind him.
"Captain, now if you could please explain what this 'Covenant' is and how it is such a threat." Chard said, his tone held something akin to disdain in it. He did not sound as though he was too concerned with this new threat.
"Captain Chard, I would ask that you do not take the greatest threat to the survival of the Human species so lightly." Captain Hastings replied coolly.
"I hardly think that a greater threat than the Borg exists Captain." Chard said his voice holding a similar chill. Both Captains glared at each other. Ambassador Bueller cleared his throat audibly.
"Gentlemen, if we could move on?" Bueller said sounding very annoyed.
"Yes, please continue ambassador." Captain Chard said.
"Thank you Captain. As Captain Hastings stated, the Covenant is the greatest threat that we have yet encountered. They have managed to eliminate over two hundred and fifty human held colonies. The approximate death toll of Human civilians has been impossible to measure. Although last census numbers indicated that nearly eighty billion civilians lived in the outer colonies. The inner colonies boast a comparable amount of civilians. Fleet losses exceed over two thousand vessels, and military losses are estimated at eight million from all branches. In twenty-eight years of warfare we've managed to carry out four decisive defeats of Covenant forces. With every engagement starting with a three to one ration in favor of the UNSC. Covenant forces boast superior technological achievements, looted from what we have come to call the Forerunners." Ambassador Bueller said. He nodded to the Master Chief. John nodded back and reached for the small holo projector that he had been ordered to carry along.
The six Federation marines snapped their weapons up in unison. The Spartans did the same in response. The atmosphere in the room became very tense.
"Captain, I wish to display some relevant data." Bueller said. Captain Chard motioned to the marines. They slowly lowered their phaser rifles. The Spartans did the same with their MA5B assault rifles. Slowly, the two opposing sides resumed their guarded stances. John fished out the holo projector and set it on the table. Cortana manipulated the projector and showed one of the Covenant Elites.
"From what we have learned the Covenant operates on a caste based Religious hierarchy. They are for all intents and purposes fighting a holy war against the UNSC. They're intent on recovering artifacts left by the Forerunners and have the coordinates for earth." Bueller said.
"Wait. Earth? What are you talking about? These, 'Covenant' have no reason to come here." Chard said.
"No, not this earth, our earth." Cortana said. She broadcast her image into the Holo projector and stood on the table.
"Your earth?" Chard said scepticaly.
"Captain, the UNSC has recovered information from a Forerunner facility just like this one," Cortana said and gestured at the HALO spinning in space outside the windows, "and from what we've gathered, Humanity and a massive number of other alien races were either discovered or engineered for combating another species. We believe that multiple identical 'Earths' were created. Every one created as a 'control' environment for a massive experiment. Then human colonies were established on them, each population altered in subtle ways. Not every human population is genetically identical."
"What do you mean?" Chard asked. He'd had the academy science classes and knew that the type of Genetic experimentation this AI was talking about was highly illegal, and highly experimental.
"Some populations were engineered to be more violent and aggressive, others made to be more docile and subservient, others were given a higher potential for reasoning and scientific knowledge. The list of combinations tried goes on and on, the Forerunners were attempting to induce an evolutionary leap on a massive scale. But the Forerunners didn't isolate their experimentation to genetic and physiological experiments. They also manipulated social interactions amongst us, shaping many histories of human colonies to be nearly identical, then warping them at pivotal points." Cortana explained.
"To what ends?" Chard asked tentatively, the officer did not want to know what was coming next.
"Apparently, experimentation to create a more powerful race that could combat the Flood." Cortana said.
Chard blinked.
"The Flood is a parasitic organism that is capable of spreading at an alarming rate. It can take over a sentient life form, re-write it's DNA and create combat or carrier forms, which in turn spread more Flood." Cortana explained, her image being replaced with the horrific likeness of a 'human' combat form.
Chard recoiled slightly. At least when the Borg took you you still looked human, this thing barely looked humanoid.
"Captain, we need to speak with your leadership. It is imperative that we gain your assistance. The UNSC has a few months left before the Covenant assaults Earth, if that." Bueller said.
Captain Chard looked at the UNSC personnel thoughtfully. He was standing at an impasse. Right now he could do one of two things, turn them away.
Or try and get help for them.
Decisions, decisions.
"Captain..." Chard said looking at the UNSC soldiers.
They looked hopeful.
"I'll take you to Earth. You can put your case before the Federation Council. They'll decide what to do." Chard said. He'd cast his hand to fate, now it was up to time to tell him whether he'd made the right choice.
"Captain Chard?" A voice asked, it seemed to spawn from nowhere. Chard tapped his com badge and responded.
"This is the Captain."
"Sir, the HALO structure appears to be activating again." The voice said.
"Go to Red Alert. I'm on my way." Chard said standing and heading towards the bridge, he gestured for Hastings and Bueller to follow. The UNSC officer and the Ambassador followed along. The Federation marines and the Spartans followed along. They headed back into the featureless hallways and through the ship. Captain Chard stepped through a sliding door and into a small chamber, Hastings and Bueller stepped in with him.
The marines and the Spartans remained in the hall.
"Where are they headed?" John asked.
"The bridge." One of the marines answered simply.
Federation vessel USS 'Waterloo', The Bridge.
Chard strode onto the bridge glancing at the main view screen. The HALO construct was radiating the same energy pulses it had when the UNSC vessels had appeared.
"Captain Hastings, are you planning on any company?" Chard asked looking at the screen.
"No, but I can guess who this is going to be." Hastings replied.
"The Covenant?"
"Yes Captain."
"Captain Chard, the energy pulse is dissipating. I am reading three vessels present. They do not match any known ship types or designs." The Sensor operator said. Hastings looked at the vessels with a careful eye.
"That's a Covenant Cruiser, a pair of Frigates and a Destroyer." Hastings said.
"Formidable?"
"Very."
"Order the taskforce to full alert and prepare for battle." Chard said.
"Sir, energy emissions have spiked on all four vessels. The signatures are similar to those found in Romulan Plasma torpedoes." The sensors officer said. Hastings looked at one of the tactical displays and saw the three UNSC ships of his force and the three ships of the Federation force arrayed in Blue against the four Covenant vessels.
The three ships he commanded began to accelerate away from the Covenant fleet.
Too late.
"Captain! Enemy vessels are firing!" Tactical reported. Across the void of space the Covenant vessels discharged their plasma torpedoes. The massive reddish white spheres tracked the fleeing UNSC vessels. Unfortunately the Covenant weapons were much faster than the lumbering UNSC ships. Each of the Frigates took a plasma torpedo in the aft sections, engineering. Both ships spiraled out of control, as they were hit and their engines obliterated. Almost immediately both ships began to spew escape pods. Clearly, both captains knew that their vessels were as good as gone.
But, the 'Steadfast' did a maximum burn, then cut engines and reoriented towards the Covenant force. It's massive MAC guns fired once, twice, and sent a pair of multi-ton projectiles streaking through space. Each one hit a Covenant Frigate. The first was holed and split in two. The round bored the other through, a massive hole no present in its hull. Even as the contrail of the MAC rounds dissipated a cloud of Archer missiles was launched.
The comparably small missiles sailed through space and peppered the other Covenant Frigate with high explosive welts. The ship seemed to flicker slightly and they went adrift.
"Captain, the 'Steadfast' just destroyed two of the enemy vessels. No energy signatures, they're dead in space with minimal life signs." The sensors officer said.
"Good. Tactical, lock weapons on that Cruiser and open fire. Target their shield generators. I'm rather keen on landing marines and taking it intact." Chard said.
"Yes captain." The Tactical officer said. On the main screen a flurry of phaser pulses opened up and sliced through the darkness, connecting with the Covenant Cruiser. The shields flared and pulsed under the onslaught, but held. Five blue white Quantum Torpedoes sailed through the abyss and collided with the Covenant shields, their warheads erupting into a conflagration of fire immeasurable amount of explosive force. The Covenant shields shattered. The Phasers lanced out again with pinpoint accuracy, they targeted weapons emplacements and shield projectors. Captain Chard wanted that ship intact. "I want all marines to board that vessel and capture it intact." Chard ordered. "Captain, perhaps my Spartans should lead you assault. They have more knowledge of the Covenant than you could ever hope to accrue." Hastings said. Chard nodded. "Master Chief, join the Federation marines and board that Cruiser. You are in command." Hastings said over his comm. "Yes sir." The Master Chief replied. Chard turned his attention to the other Covenant vessel. The two Defiant Class vessels were nimbly avoiding all the Covenant fire sent their way. Their pulse phasers and Quantum torpedoes pummeling the alien ship into semi-submission. But the Covenant vessel wasn't standing around. It was turning away. It was running. "Captain, the remaining hostile ship is attempting to break contact." Tactical said. "Don't let it escape." Chard ordered. The 'Waterloo' opened fire. The full might and fury of a Sovereign Class Battleship capable of leveling planets was now being leveled against a single ship. It could have been vaporize in an instant, had it remained in its location. The ship accelerated back to the point it had come from. The HALO ring activated and the ship vanished into the unknown. "Shit." Hastings swore. "Don't worry Captain, we still have that Cruiser to deal with." Chard said. Hastings nodded slowly. The Master Chief had actually captured a Covenant vessel before, and he'd been on more Covenant ships than any other member of the UNSC. He could get the job done.
Federation Vessel USS 'Waterloo' Transporter Room
John and the other Spartans had been uneasy with the fact they weren't being led back to the shuttle bay and the Pelican. The Federation Marine had said they had a faster way of getting to the Covenant ship. John had been a little skeptical but decided to go along with it. If it were a trap he and his team could deal with it.
The Marines turned and filed through another doorway and into a large room. To the right was a waist high control panel facing a cylindrical area. A multitude of complex equipment and gear was lining the walls.
"Okay, we need to know where you need to go in the enemy ship before we can transport you in." The technician behind the control panel said.
"Excuse me?" John asked.
"We can transport you into the enemy ship. Where do you want to be dropped?" The operator prompted again.
"It must be some sort of transit system similar to the one on HALO." Cortana said over the helmet speakers. John felt a sudden surge of unease with this. He was having slight flashbacks of Guilty Spark's transit grid.
And the incident when Cortana managed to rematerialize him upside- down in the corridor of a Covenant Cruiser.
Oooo, bad idea.
"Chief, don't worry, I think they have a better grasp of what they're doing than, er, I did." Cortana said, clearly the memory of her use of the HALO transit system pushed back to the forefront of her mind.
"Coordinates?" The operator prompted again.
"I'll upload them into your system now." Cortana said using the external suit speakers. Cortana had managed to slice into the Federation networks and input the data in less time than it had taken John to blink. He shook his head slightly Cortana really was something else.
"Okay, just step up onto the pad and get ready. I'll drop you in at this location. The other marines will be coming in every ten seconds afterwards. Good luck." The operator said. John stepped up onto the transporter pad. Fred, Will and Linda did the same. John was carrying his standard MA5B assault rifle and a combat shotgun. Fred had an assault rifle as well, along with several packs of high explosives. Will had a Jackhammer Rocket launcher in addition to his MA5B. Linda carried a sniper rifle and an assault rifle.
They were ready for a fight.
Four of the Federation marines crowded aboard the transporter pad.
"Energizing." The operator said and John felt himself being enveloped in a strange energy field. Then blackness. A sensation of detachment from his physical form. Rapid movement. Reconstruction of his body atom by atom. Color and sound returned to him. That was the easy part, then all hell broke lose.
Disabled Covenant Cruiser 'Strict Vengeance', Atrium access to main Command Bridge
The boarding party had managed to rematerialize smack dab in the middle of a security patrol. Two Elites, four Jackals and ten grunts, oh what fun. As soon as everyone figured out just what the hell was going on things got messy. The four Spartans opened up on full auto, sweeping their streams of death back and fourth over the security patrol they so rudely interrupted.
The four Federation marines fired their phaser rifles in two distinct modes, one fired a small energy pulse, and the other disintegrated its target.
The firefight was messy to say the least. It barely lasted seven seconds, but the entire Covenant security team was dead, and none of the boarders were injured. The Chief turned towards the entry way to the bridge; it was smeared with the bluish ichor of a grunt, the lights on the hatch blazed red, it had been sealed.
"Fred, blow that hatch." John said. Fred nodded and moved to the sealed door. If they were placed correctly they had a chance to breach the alien alloy armor. If not, then they were trapped.
"Let's clamp this place down people." The Federation Marine commander said. His troopers moved out and down the hall towards an intersection. The Spartans remained in position by the door. They were going to storm the bridge, the Federation could hold back the Covenant.
Fred knelt by the door placing the large demolition packs, little more than backpacks crammed with C-12 high explosive. They could each rip through two meters of titanium warship armor. They might work on two inches of Covenant armor plating. Fred nodded as he placed the final charge and set took the remote detonator. John, Fred, Will and Linda fell back from the doors. They moved halfway down the corridor and took cover in a small outcropping.
"Fire in the hole!" Fred shouted and triggered the explosives.
The crack and detonation was deafening in the enclosed hall. The MJOLINR armor compensated for the pulse of raw sound easily. John glanced back; the Federation marines had shook somewhat at the detonation, but had held their positions. One of them started to fire their phaser rifle down the corridor, the other four followed suit. The Covenant was coming.
But John ignored it. He kept his attention on the end of the hall, and the now devastated hatch that led into the Covenant ships nerve center. He saw movement and raised his assault rifle; Will and Fred did the same. But Linda was the quickest to the draw. Her sniper rifle snapped up and cracked four times in quick succession. Four ghostly forms fell as the armor piercing rounds found their marks.
The Chief motioned and then moved forward, accompanied by Fred and Will. Linda remained by her post, her rifle firing and causing death amongst the Covenant defenders. It was somewhat unnerving have AP rounds cutting through the air scant millimeters from your head, but Linda knew how to handle her weapon; she was the best sniper out of all the Spartans.
From behind them another energy charge sprung into being, the blue transport 'effect' from the Federation technology illuminating the hallway. Eight more Federation marines had arrived. They broke into two groups, one moved to assist the marines at the intersection, the others moved towards the Spartans.
John sent the signal for grenades, the three Spartans drew fragmentation grenades and threw them. They hit, bounced once...twice...then detonated inside the room. The blasts peppered the interior of the room with deadly steel fragments.
John, Will and Fred sprinted to the hatch and crouched down behind the cover they began to exchange fire with the Covenant forces still inside. John leaned around as he fired, risking a glance at the other entrances to the room. Covenant troops were pouring into the room.
Will exchanged his assault rifle for his Jackhammer launcher and leveled it at one of the Covenant security teams. He fired off one of the rockets and it streaked across the chamber, it's smoky contrail adding to the confusion of the killing ground that the command center had become. The rocket detonated and sent the security flying through the air, as though they had been toys tossed by an angry child. Will shifted his aim and sent the second rocket flying smack dab into the chest armor of a black clad commando elite, the elite morphed into a fountain of purple blood and body parts that coated the troopers behind him. Will reloaded with inhuman speed and precision. The smoke trails hadn't even dissipated and he was reloading his weapon.
John and Fred were firing on full auto. They were running out of ammo and their weapons were actually overheating. This wasn't good. The firing pin of John's MA5B slammed home on an empty chamber and the bolt locked open, he was out. He dropped the weapon and readied his shotgun. The Covenant were close enough that their mass worked to his advantage, swaths of the defenders fell with each blast.
But there were too many, it was as though the Covenant knew that they were coming. They'd been ready for the attack.
John was about to order his Spartans to fall back when an unfamiliar voice shouted from behind him.
"You need a little help?"
John almost bucked his head around, his mind had been so focused on the fight he hadn't thought about what was behind him, and that was dangerous in combat.
From behind him it sounded like four energy capacitors were being charged. He didn't know what the Federation troopers had in mind, but whatever it was, hopefully it was going to take down the defenses in the Command deck. How right he was.
Four glowing packets of energy lanced out from behind him, they streaked forward and detonated amongst the Covenant. They had no contrail, they had no exhaust of any kind, but they did blow up rather spectacularly. They packed more power than a Demolitions pack when they went off, which was a good thing. Plus they fired a whole lot faster than a Jackhammer launcher, very good.
Covenant forces were simply vaporized when the rounds hit. Entire teams were decimated in the volley. Jackals were blasted clear off their feet, their overlapped energy shields not enough to overcome the energy blasts.
"Personal Proton Torpedo launcher. Nice little toy don't you think?" One of the Federation marines said, slinging the weapon. But he didn't put the weapon over his shoulder, rather he held it to his side and it seemed to dematerialize. In it's place his phaser rifle appeared. John paused for half a second, then moved forward onto the bridge.
The room was strewn with corpses. The Covenant had poured a large amount of troops into this battle and didn't seem too intent on loosing the bridge. For the moment though, it seemed as though the PPT bombardment had driven back the Covenant forces. John nodded as they moved into the room.
"Clear." Fred said.
"Cortana, can you seal the doors?" John asked as he moved up onto the command platform.
"Accessing.... hmmm, it seems as though the Covenant has decided to de- lineate their systems to a degree. Probably after my handy work with their flagship." Cortana said with an air of pride about herself.
"Can you?" John prompted again.
"No. They've set the door codes apart from the main systems. I can't access them." Cortana said.
"Now what Chief?" Fred asked.
"We dig in and hold off any Covenant attempts to retake the bridge." John said. The Spartans acknowledged and the Federation Marines did the same. Eight more Marines moved into the bridge from the hall, phaser rifles read.
"But, where are we going to dig in?" One of the Federation marines asked.
"Right here." John said gesturing at the elevated command platform.
"But we're hideously exposed up here." One of the Marines prompted.
"We'll build a barricade." John said.
"With what?"
John looked down at the corpses.
"Oh."
Back at the intersection the Federation forces where holding off what seemed to be a major push towards the bridge. The marines were holding their own against the Covenant attacks. They had cover, shields, energy weapons and a whole lot of power. They weren't going to be budged from their position of cover. The Covenant bodies were stacking up in the hallways; the last attack had drowned in blood and phaser fire that had left the bodies pilled up down the hall.
"Fall back to the command center, we'll hold there." Came the command from the master chief.
The Marines complied and fell back in good order, leaving behind their strongpoint and retreating to the 'bridge' of the ship. They entered the bridge and headed up to the gruesome 'rampart' that the defenders had erected. The Covenant corpses had been stacked like firewood around the periphery of the elevated command platform, grunt, jackal, elite, or Hunter. It didn't matter what the alien was, it had been piled up to form a modest defensive position, and judging from the height of the 'wall' it had been a charnel house inside the bridge.
"Get up here and order the ship to bring their marines in right here." The Master Chief ordered. The marines scampered up and hopped into the position. This was a grim sign if they'd been forced into this posture.
The Federation marines complied and moved into the new defensive position. They did just in time. Another assault was being staged on the control room. The enemy forces were made up of an alien species that the Spartans hadn't seen before.
They looked like bipedal lizards. They stood about a head or so taller than a grunt. Their scaled skin was mottled green color, but instead of seeing that strange olive green, it was covered in elaborate paint. They skittered slightly as they moved, like they weren't too far separated from their lizard ancestors at all. Their eyes tracked around the room on short turrets, much like those a chameleon had, they could move around independently. Both eye turrets gazed out over a pointed snout filled with needle sharp teeth.
The carried strange weapons in their clawed hands, very much unlike standard Covenant plasma weapons, they were sleek and resembled a human assault rifle. But when they discharged their weapons they fired much faster than a plasma rifle or pistol. A stream of discarded ammunition casings flew from one side of the weapon. They were for all intents and purposes, standard mechanical assault rifles. But they fired plasma.
The rapid fire barrage of plasma chewed away at the barricade while the Federation marines and Spartans returned their deadly rain of steel and energy.
The 'lizards' – for lack of a better term – weren't like Elites, or Jackals, or Grunts. They laid down cover fire, they leapfrogged, and they took advantage of cover. They were soldiers, not cannon fodder; these troopers understood the ways of modern warfare.
Both sides were loosing forces. The 'lizards' were losing troopers as they advanced, and the Federation marines were dropping.
"Keep firing!" Cortana shouted unnecessarily.
USS 'Waterloo', Wolf 359 System, The Bridge
"Well Captain Hastings, these are the ultimate threat you and the UNSC is so worried about?" Chard asked looking at the disabled Covenant vessel as it hung in space.
"Captain, the Covenant are more dangerous than you think." Hastings replied as he watched the ship. He knew that something was going to happen. That second Covenant ship was going to cause them problems.
Something bad was going to happen.
"Captain! The HALO is activating again!" The Operations officer said.
There it was.
"Report." Chard said turning his attention to the massive alien construct.
"Same energy buildup as before. More ships are coming through."
"Prepare for combat." Chard said just as the energy sphere dissipated.
The glowing white sphere was replaced with fifteen Covenant ships. Ten light Covenant Frigates escorting a core of Five heavy Cruisers. This force was more than ample to destroy a UNSC fleet five times that number. Going up against three Federation ships and a wounded UNSC Destroyer.
It would be like a man crushing a bug with a sledgehammer.
"Captain, I suggest you pull our men off the Covenant ship and we retreat." Hastings said. He clasped his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking. He was staring certain death in the face, and the only hope was to run...very, very fast.
Chard stood stock-still. He didn't even blink. It was as though the entire sight had frozen him in place, and he didn't even know the true power that the Covenant could wield. For a moment, Hastings saw that titanic difference between a captain in the Federation, and a captain in the UNSC. A Federation captain was not a true warrior; he was a man that had more on his mind than combat. A UNSC captain was a soldier, he knew how to fight, and he'd seen war in all it's horror against the Covenant.
Chard wasn't a combat captain, no matter how much he thought otherwise.
He'd only seen a bare shred of their power, and he was frightened.
"Captain, we have to go NOW!" Hastings shouted, startling the Federation captain from his frozen state.
"Yes, yes..." Chard said, his eyes still locked on the Covenant fleet.
Hastings stood there.
Chard said nothing.
"Pull those people off the Covenant vessel now. Helm; set us a course out of here. Is there a nearby strongpoint we can head too?" Hastings shouted, he couldn't stand around and let his forces, and these Federation troops get killed because their captain couldn't face true combat.
"Yes...uh...sir, Starbase 187. It's a few light-years from here." The Helmsman said.
"Set a course and send the coordinates to the 'Steadfast'. We jump on my order." Hastings said.
Covenant Cruiser 'Strict Vengeance', The bridge.
The battle wasn't going well. Although the Spartans were still alive, the Federation marines weren't lasting. They fell one by one, their numbers dwindling as they fell to the 'lizard' plasma weapons.
These new aliens were good. They were soldiers, and they knew how to fight. Even though they didn't have the energy shielding that Elites or Jackals carried, they still knew how to move in a firefight.
"I'm out!" Fred shouted dropping his MA5B and picking up one of the phaser rifles.
"We need to pull out!" The most senior marine shouted over the strange din of the alien weapons. John nodded and emptied another magazine into the approaching Lizards. Two fell as the rounds hit flesh rather than body armor, their red blood smearing the elaborate body paint they wore. The others in the unit skittered and moved apart avoiding the deadly hail.
"This is Lieutenant Mortenson, we need to be pulled out now! We have wounded and casualties." The marine shouted through his comm badge. He nodded to himself.
"They're pulling us out!" Mortenson shouted, just as the blue haze of the transporter descended upon them.
John rematerialized on a transporter pad, crouched in the same position he'd been in during the fight. His hand motions to reload his assault rifle continued as though he had been uninterrupted. His head and eyes darted about looking for hostiles, but they were back in the Federation transporter room, several men and women in blue colored outfits moved towards the Spartans, they carried several strange items. John was wary, but the Federation marines accepted the others without worry they had to be medics.
John stood up, and looked around.
"What happened?" He asked.
"More of those enemy ships arrived and we're bugging out." One of the gold colored crewmen said.
John shook his head. That was how it always happened, the Covenant might not win on the ground, but they always won in space.
USS 'Waterloo' The Bridge
"The away teams have returned!" The ops officer said.
"Helm, get us out of here." Hastings ordered. Even though he wasn't their captain, they still complied, not wanting to hang around and face that fleet longer than they had to.
In unison the three Federation ships and the lone UNSC Destroyer engaged their Faster than light drives and left the HALO and the Covenant forces behind.
Hastings turned to Chard. The Federation captain still looked shaken.
"Captain. We came here to find help in fighting the Covenant. And we've proven just how dangerous they are, and the kind of threat they represent. They came here to conquer you, or rather to exterminate you." Hastings said as he looked out at the starfield before them.
"The Covenant is the greatest threat to humanity. And that's because they regard us as insects, they regard every single other alien race in the universe as an annoyance. They don't want to subjugate us, they want to exterminate us. That's why we need help, because if we don't win, we die. Every man, woman, and child in every single galaxy that boasts humans will be exterminated, untold trillions will be wiped out like bugs. The UNSC will be the first to fall Captain, that's why we came for help." Hastings said, his tone silent and cool.
Chard simply nodded.
Coming up next, and hopefully much sooner [sorry again for the long hiatus]:
Chapter 6: The new forces of the Covenant Hegemony.
Get ready to see all the bad asses that the Covenant get to help with their holy war.