Chapter Two

This Duty Station

Delta Base was a strongly held position. With over five hundred Marines, and a battalion of ODSTs, it was virtually untouchable. Figure in the three Spartans, who were all SIIIs, it was indestructible. It was a large base, sure. But given its location, the only possible thing the Covenant could do would be to glass Earth. And recent events had made it clear they weren't about to do that. After the initial attack, the Admiralty had figured if they were going to destroy Earth, they would have.

That or, they were simply caught off guard. This was exactly what Spartan 382, Ryan, was thinking. The multiple replays and vids he had studied extensively proved that the Covenant had no idea that Earth was the human home planet. In fact, he had reason to believe they thought it was Reach.

But when he had voiced his personal opinion to General Strauss and the brass, they dismissed this as a theory and nothing more. Except for Fleet Admiral Hood, who had stopped and talked with him briefly after the hearing. He seemed to agree with Ryan's opinion.

The Spartan pushed his mental dilemma aside and focused on his task at hand. The Covenant fleet, with a Prophet in tow, had landed on Earth, again. Only this time, the fleet was even larger than the one that had obliterated Reach. Some of the SIIs had made it back, to their delight.

One was currently on their way here, for additional command. In fact, they should be arriving today, if nothing went off without a hitch. Meanwhile, he was making some contact with the High Command. "Sir, due to recent Covenant activity in the region, the area obviously is going to be under siege, maybe overrun. If that is the case, I recommend we either evacuate, or get reinforcements. I have reason to believe that maybe the entire Covenant armada will be here. Requesting orders, sir!"

He waited for almost two minutes while they thought this over in hushed voices. Finally, Colonel Ackerson radioed to him. "I regret to inform you, Spartan 382, that your request for reinforcements is impossible to fulfill. We are shorthanded, and engaged elsewhere." There didn't seem any regret whatsoever in the Colonel's voice. More like glee. "We also do not give you permission to evacuate. That area is too important to lose, so you have no option but to defend it and hope for the best. My…apologies if this may be inconvenient to you.

"Yes, sir. Understood, sir. Spartan 382 out." He clicked off the COM, feeling ice rush into his veins. They couldn't call in reinforcements. Evac was not an option. So they would stay and fight.

0300 HOURS

SPARTAN HELD BASE

EARTH

"And how large is the Covenant force?" he asked the scout. He hesitated, and then said in an awed voice. "I've never seen anything like it sir. There were easily over a thousand of them. Brutes and Jackals mostly. No Elites. But there were these strange aliens. Never seen them around." "Let me see your video feed, Corporal." The noncom handed him the helmet's vid.

The Spartan popped it into one of his slots. He fast-forwarded it to the armada. A thousand were easily moving through the adjacent canyons. "ETA?" he asked during an intermission. The noncom shook his head. "At the rate they were going, I'd say about two days. The only reason I got back so quick was because it was only me on my Mountain Lion." The Spartan nodded and observed the creatures from the vid. Pausing it and using the zoom feature, he made mental notes. Covered with coarse hair, like the Brutes, and a tad taller than a Jackal. They were muscular, though not on the scale of a Brute, or even an Elite. These were fast SOB's, he could tell that much from the way they moved around, and were in a position of command.

He finished the vid, gave it back to the Corporal, and headed to the main control center. Going over to the PA, he clicked it on. "Everyone, this is Second Lieutenant Spartan 382. There is a Covenant armada heading our way. No reinforcements will be arriving, so we need to get battle ready and alert by 1200 hours. I want our Scorpions up and running, and the Longswords as well. You will receive further instruction later, and until then you will answer to Major Harper, Spartan 298, Spartan 362, and Spartan 382. 382, over and out.

He himself headed towards the armory, and was quickly joined by 298 and 362, or Christa and Sara.