2132 hours, October 17, 2552 (revised date Military Calendar)/ In atmosphere of earth.
Log 3, Capt. Matthew Jacobson.
As I stare at the molten crater that was New Mombassa I wonder two things. Why were the Covenant in such a rush hat they would risk destruction to their ship in slipstream and did anyone track them?
End Log.
The Captain stared at the video of the Covenant ship jumping inside the city of New Mombassa. He watched the sphere of light engulf the city.
"Archimedes, rewind the footage."
"Yes, captain"
The footage jumped back to the beginning. The captain watched intently as the ship jumped to slipstream. He then noticed something. It was small but he could slightly make it out.
"Archimedes, zoom in."
"Yes, sir"
The footage zoomed in and the object became larger.
"Zoom in again"
The footage became larger and fuzzy."
'Correct the quality."
"Yes Captain"
The footage became less fuzzy and the Captain saw the object fly next to the ship as it disappeared.
"That's a ship."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. That's good. That means that we were able to track them. One problem taken care of. Take us up to space, Archimedes."
An ensign walked up to him and said, 'Sir, the sergeant is here to give you a report."
The Captain heard boots clanking and turned around to see Sergeant McClau standing there. He stepped in, walked up to the Captain and saluted.
"At ease soldier. Do you have a report?"
"Yes Captain. When we came down we were shot down immediately by a Scarab super tank, which left pilot and four good soldiers dead. After that we moved out and called for evac, but it was shot down. We than launched an assault on a Covenant re-supply station. Soon afterward we were picked up and saw the ship bug out. "
"Good Sergeant."
"May I add sir that I don't think that we scared them away."
"Yes, I understand that."
Archimedes appeared on the pedestal next to the captain. Archimedes was a smart A.I. He was programmed with the same hacking software that was in Cortana and was programmed with every single space maneuvering protocol ever. He took the appearance of a World War 2 American paratrooper.
"Captain, we are past moon vectors."
"Good, keep me posted."
The sergeant spoke up.
"Sir, may I ask what we are doing out here."
"That is a good question. After the prophet bugged out the other ships retracted and I do not think we scared them away either. More than likely they are regrouping for another attack. That is why we are here."
The sergeant stood there as the captain looked intently into space.
"Archimedes, scan the area."
"Sir, I detect large levels of radiation. It could be a slipspace rupture."
"Very well. Warm up the archer pods and get me a firing solution for the MAC guns."
"All for MAC guns are ready, Captain."
"Good, put the ship in lockdown."
"Aye, sir"
The captain looked out into space as it green streaks appeared and distorted into the whale like hulk of a Covenant ship. It crept closer and closer to the Leviathan.
"Concentrate all fire at that ship."
"Yes sir"
Four streaks of light erupted from the MAC guns and trailed toward the ship. The first two impacted the hull. The ships shields flickered and faded. The last two delivered the knock out punch. Both the shells hit the bow of the ship and punched a hole through the other side. The Covenant ship leaked atmosphere and plasma before it ignited into a bright display of plasma. The bridge crew started shaking each other's hands and clapping. However, the Captain kept looking into space. More green streaks of light appeared and distorted into four Covenant ships. The sergeant muttered under his breath.
"Oh my God."
The Captain stared at the Covenant ships as they closed in.
"Unlock the archer pods, ready the MAC guns."
"Aye sir."
"Put the ship in reverse."
"Sir…"
"Do it!"
"Yes sir."
The ship shook as reverse trust was applied. Archer missiles streaked from the sides of the ship and impacted the ships causing their shields to glisten shiny silver. One of the ship's sides started to glow. Two glowing balls of plasma erupted out of the ship and toward the Leviathan.
An alarm rang out through the bridge.
"Plasma torpedoes closing in on the ship."
The Captain yelled out to the crew.
"Prepare the emergency thrusters. Fire on my mark."
"Aye sir."
The two blue steaks edged closer to Leviathan. The crew already began to feel the intense heat that was soaring toward them.
"Fire emergency thrusters."
The Leviathan's thrusters ignited and blew the ship into another course. The torpedoes swerved in an attempt to reunite with their target. The blue streaks brushed by the back of the ship, melted the titanium-A armor plating, and spun off course colliding with an orbital station.
"That was too close."
"Sir, ionization around the Covenant ships. I think they're ready to fire again."
"Noted. Prepare MAC guns"
"Sir, the reactors been damaged. It will take more time too charge…"
"Just do it."
"Yes sir."
The Captain watched the side of one of the ships start to glow and then discharge. Archimedes shimmered on to the display panel.
"I don't mean to alarm you, but we've got incoming pulse lasers and they are headed for the bridge."
"That won't do."
"Send the archer missiles to intercept the lasers. "
"They're jamming our launch frequency. I can't get them to fire."
"Damn it," he yelled out as he turned toward his crew, "Abandon the bridge, move it now."
The Captain grabbed Archimedes' hard disk and sprinted out the door. The Sergeant followed along with the command crew. AN alarm rang in the bridge and grew faster and faster as the lasers drew closer.
"Close the blast doors. We can't risk damage to the rest of the ship."
The doors started to close. One of the men tripped and started to drag himself across the room. The doors shut on him as he screamed in horror. The lasers impacted. A blinding flash flooded into the room as searing heat coursed through the Captain's flesh. He gritted his teeth and screamed as electrical discharges conducted to his mechanical leg into his lower body. He watched the Sergeant as he flew into a near by wall and slumped over. Two other figures flash vaporized while three others were stripped of there flash and left only with smoldering skeletons. His vision blurred and blacked out.
2140 hours, October 17, 2552 (revised date Military Calendar)/ near the moon
The Captain opened his eyes. He felt like he was about to vomit. His vision cleared up and he noticed that he was in the ship's infirmary. The Sergeant walked up to him in a crutch. He had bandages on his arms and one wrapped around his head.
"Thank God your awake. If it weren't for the blast doors closing we would have all been Covenant sausage sticks."
The Captain sat up in the bed. He looked around and then looked at himself. He had bandages on his chest and arms. His real leg was covered also and the mechanical one was replaced with a newer one.
"Were is Archimedes?" he asked with worry in his tone.
"I'm right over here."
Archimedes appeared next to him on the panel.
"How are you doing? I expected you to wake up a half hour ago. You have been slacking off."
"I'm fine. What is the situation of the Leviathan?"
"The ship's bridge was…"
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Well, sir. The ship that shot you down was classified as a super carrier. It is similar if not the same one that shot down the MAC gun's from long range."
'They're going to take out our guns from a distance that we can't fire at them. That just won't do. Archimedes, check our weapon's systems see if anything is operational."
"No sir, only three auto cannons are operational, barely, and we are slowly drifting toward the ships as they fire on our defense platforms."
The Captain thought for a second. They couldn't fire on the ships, but they couldn't just let them take out all the defense platforms. He got up.
"Archimedes, how long until we drift into the middle of the station."
"Exactly fifteen minutes from now."
"Are the reactors still operational."
"Yes sir."
"Good. Rig them to explode in fifteen minutes. The code is 789032424ACB483."
"Captain, reactor detonation has begun. Lifeboats are operational."
"Lifeboats are to slow. We won't be able to clear the blast radius. Send a message commanding all personal to make for the Long-swords and Pelicans."
"Yes sir."
The Captain tried to walk but was rewarded with sharp pain spazeming through his back. He got up and tried again, this time a lot slower. HE slowly started walking for the service elevator. The Sergeant followed behind and yanked Archimedes from the module.
"Captain, we have eleven minutes before detonation," Archimedes said as he was abruptly torn away from the ships secondary computer.
The elevator screeched to a halt and the two men limped toward the hangar. Long-Swords were whining out of the station and Pelicans hummed as their engines heated up. The captain and sergeant walked as fast as they could to the long-Sword nearest. The hopped into the cockpits seat and started flicking switches and pushing buttons. The Sergeant stuck the A.I into a little slot on the control panel. Archimedes' voice rang on the speaker.
"Five minutes till reactor meltdown and detonation."
"Archimedes, get this ship out of here as fast as you can."
"Yes sir."
The Long-Sword soared out of the hangar and into the deep vastness of space.
"Three minutes left," Archimedes rang out.
The Leviathan slowly drifted toward the middle of the battle cluster. Long-Swords and Pelicans rushed out of it like a swarm of bees.
"Two minutes."
The Long-Sword ascended through space in silence.
"One minute."
Clouds of smoke seeped through the Leviathans engines.
"Thirty seconds."
A drop of sweat ran down the captain's nose and landed on the control panel.
"Five, four, three, two, one."
"Duck," the captain yelled out.
Both men hit the deck and shielded their eyes. A bright flash burst through the windows of the cockpit. The Leviathan erupted into a sphere of fire, which grew larger and larger. Small ships that tried to escape disintegrated and added to the consuming flame that drew closer. The four Covenant ship's shields flickered and died as the energy tore through the hulls.
"We are losing control," the Sergeant yelled.
"I am aware of our situation."
The Long-swords cockpit dimmed and all the lights on the panel included Archimedes shimmered away. The Long-Sword drifted into the moon's orbit and stabilized down its path. The Captain got up.
"The EMP must of damage all the electronics and computer systems in the Long-Sword."
The Sergeant got up and stared at the on-board thermometer as it slowly decrease from 80 F to 60 F.
"This is bad."