Chapter 2
Mars Shipyards 1445 Military Time, Mars
"This is Sergeant Vic! We've got Covies swarming all around the second perimeter! Request for immediate backup!"
"Negative marine. All backup has been given. However, I'm getting reports that the Master Chief is coming in."
"Well, he better be getting here soo-" the sergeant was cut off by a ball of plasma that incinerated the communications system. The sergeant pulled out his Battle Rifle and began firing into the hundreds of Covenant that were assaulting the shipyards.
"Fire in the hole!" he shouted as he threw a grenade into the mist of the Covenant. It landed next to a group of Grunts who panicked wildly before exploding. The barrel of his rifle clicked as his magazine was empty. He ducked behind the wall and slammed a fresh magazine into the stock of the rifle before jumping back up firing hot lead into the rows of Covenant.
"We've got Wraiths inbound sir!" a marine cried out before a blue plasma mortar slammed directly into the marine instantly killing him and others nearby.
"Christ!" Vic yelled as he saw a squadron of Banshees flying towards their position.
"Get cover!" he yelled before he dove to his right narrowly missing a fuel rod blast. A chain gun on the wall fired its .50 calibre rounds into the lead Banshee which erupted into a ball of twisted metal.
"Retreat! Back to the third perimeter. Gather the wounded and all the ammo you can find. We've got to hold them back!" a Lieutenant yelled before the marines started pulling back. A last volley of grenades were thrown before the last marines rushed back to the last perimeter.
"We can't hold them for much longer sir! Any plans?" Vic asked the Lieutenant.
"We've got some Lotus AT mines over there at the second perimeter and we've got a couple left over VX7 nerve gas canisters."
"Can we use the nerve gas to hold them back?"
"Probably, I'm getting a couple of boys to set up a little catapult."
"Any news on reinforcements?"
"Other than the Master Chief coming, no."
"Well then, he better get here soon," the sergeant added before he heard the familiar whine of the Skyhawk Atmospheric Fighter.
"The cavalry has arrived!" a marine whooped as the skyhawks unloaded its payload of Scorpion missiles. The ground trembled underneath the marines as they saw Covenant bodies go flying. Then two Pelicans flew in before landing behind the third perimeter. A group of marines jumped off carrying crates of ammunition before the Master Chief got off the Pelican.
"Good to see you, Chief," the Lieutenant called.
"What's the situation?"
"The Saratoga primed for launch in thirty minutes. We've got about five hundred Covies with artillery support and air support. This is the last thing standing between the Covenant and the Saratoga. The captain of the Saratoga, Captain Welsh, says that if the Saratoga does get off the ground and running, we're to report to the hangar bay immediately."
"Good," before the Master Chief pointed at the small catapult loaded with the nerve gas canisters, "that's not going to work."
"I calculate the range of the catapult is 5 metres. Way too short to be effective. If we had a stronger leverage-" Cortana started before the Master Chief cut her off.
"Leave it to me."
Suddenly, there was a humongous explosion that rocked the earth beneath them.
"Lotus AT mines, sir. It was our last alternative," the Lieutenant informed the Chief before plasma began to fly over their heads.
"Do your stuff, Chief," the Lieutenant called before he ran to meet up with the radio operator. The Chief scanned the Covenant force in front of him estimating a total of 300 Grunts, 100 Jackals, 60 Elites, 15 Brutes and 10 Hunters. He turned to the first nerve gas canister and lifted the one tonne object easily with his enhanced strength and threw it towards a group of Brutes pinning a group of marines down. Like a perfect football throw it whistled through the air before coming to a stop exactly in the midst of the Brutes. The deadly gas broke out of the canister before the Brutes fell to the ground, incapacitated. Next, he drew his Battle Rifle, firing into the scores of Covenant. Still, despite all the obstacles the Covenant drew ominously nearer. The Chief through a grenade and then unleashed a wave of hot lead from his SMG. Then, the ground began to tremble beneath them, and a distant rumbling filled their ears. Suddenly a titanic shape emerged from the hangars of the Mars Shipyards. It was easily four times the size of the supercarrier Trafalgar. Like a giant beast awaking from a deep sleep the engines roared to life before finally steadying itself in the Martian atmosphere.
The Saratoga, one of the last hopes for humanity.
Hundreds of MLA auto cannons swivelled around and aimed at the Covenant below. Like fire raining down on the earth, the super heated projectiles bombarded the Covenant. Screams of agony were heard as they were literally ripped apart by the sheer force and number of projectiles. The marines watched in amazement as Wraiths shrivelled and exploded into a bare skeleton of metal. The Hunter's armour was no obstacle to the cannons which simply shredded the great behemoths into masses of orange blood. Soon, it was over. The stench of innumerable bodies filled the air and marines gagged. The battle was over.
Cairo Orbital Defense Platform 1545 Military Time, Earth
"Good job on those boarding craft. Now, we've got the Saratoga started but she's got to get through a whole Covenant armada. The In Amber Clad is holding with the Saratoga and are currently trying to break through. I'm assigning a group of Longswords to your platoon. You'll have two other squadrons to help you. Now, we need to blow a hole big enough for the Saratoga. Here, is the Covenant flagship, the God's Will. You, need to blow that up, along with their fleet commander. This will cause enough confusion and disorder for the Saratoga to blast her way through. Good luck." Lord Hood addressed the NSOC s.
"Dismissed."
The platoon saluted before they headed towards the hangar.
"Now you all know how to fly a Longsword so I won't bother teaching you all the specifications. Just be careful that the new ASGM-12 missiles are quite a bit more powerful than the AGSM-10s," warned the technician.
"Don't worry about it," Cheffington replied before he clambered inside into the cockpit of the Longsword.
"Opening, air locks. Last check up on engines and weapons. All systems green. Launch!" the technician replied before the Longswords flew off into space.
"This is Alpha-Leader. Retain your course and speed. Bombing run formation. Get ready for Seraphs and unlock the safeties on your 110mm cannons," Cheffington's voice crackled over the comm.
"Acknowledged, sir. Unlocking safeties now," was the reply. The four Longswords swerved towards Mars where an ominous Covenant armada awaited them.
Saratoga 1630 Military Time, Mars
"Welcome to the Saratoga Chief. She's my little baby." Captain Welsh grinned as she greeted the Master Chief who stood at attention.
"I'm glad to be here, Captain. Exactly how many AI s does this ship have?" he asked indicating towards the two hologram projectors.
"Two, though we've only got one at the moment. Second one was supposed to come next week but you know, the Covenant just have to mess everything up. If you're thinking of putting Cortana in there; well, I've got strict orders from the ONI spooks not to let anyone touch this baby, but I don't really care so she can come on board," she grinned before Master Chief took out the data crystal chip from his command neural interface and inserted Cortana into the AI slot. She immediately appeared on the projector smiling.
"Well this is a surprise. More powerful fusion engines with a more efficient cooling system. Your Super MAC guns are much more powerful. I calculate that one shot could pierce a Covenant battlecruiser's shields and destroy it and even almost destroy a Covenant flagship's shields. Interesting. These new guided Valiant missiles are much more powerful than the old Archer Pod Missiles. Too bad the hangars are empty. Would've been useful if we had a couple of squadrons of Longswords."
"They were supposed to come in next week too. By the way, have you met Raven, the ship's AI yet?"
A holographic image of a middle aged man appeared on the other hologram projector.
"Greetings. I am the first of a new class of ship-grade Artificial Intelligence developed to take care of more and complicated commands. I also run the new ballistics Operating System in order for me to control the Valiant missiles and the Super Magnetic Accelerator Cannons. I will be honored to work with you."
"Thank you Raven, now to our problem. We're behind enemy lines with a whole Covenant armada blocking us from earth. Most of the UNSC fleet is too busy trying to survive out there so we won't be able to have any back up. My baby here was made to beat the life out of a Covenant armada but we'll need Longswords to do that. Our best bet is to attack from the left flank targeting the destroyers with a volley of all we've got. Estimated that we take out fifteen of them, we'll double back behind Mars. Obviously they'll try to pursue us with all they've got so we'll go over Mars and attack their destroyers again. That'll make them real pissed at us and probably send their flag ship and the majority of their fleet at us while the others take us head on. I'm planning to drop all of my Moray Space Mines and a SHIVA nuke with a proximity fuse. That should take out a lot of their ships. Then we'll target the ships in front of us with our cannons and Archer Missiles. Chief, are you ready for another boarding?" Welsh asked.
"Yes sir."
"Good, I'm launching you and a squad of marines directly at one of their ships. When you get there, get to the bridge put this chip in. It's going to place a bug into the Covenant battle net and scramble all their communications. Then, they're attacks will be largely uncoordinated and allow us to blow the hell out of them. Then, we'll meet up with the main fleet and protect earth. Ready?"
"Yes sir."
"Well you better be, cause I'm getting reports of hundreds of Covenant ships coming our way."
Thanks for the reviews and support!
Outlawarcher: Have you played Halo 2? Its after the level Cairo station.
I'll try and update as soon as possible but school's starting and I'm going to be really busy.
