Episode 5: Gauntlet
After a misfold the SDF-1 was sent to the
future near Pluto orbit. While in this new time period the SDF-1 was
refitted and sent to fight vicious aliens bent on mankind's
destruction. In it's first encounter with it's new alien foe the
SDF-1 christened the Macross was able to successfully defend itself
by firing the main gun. Now the next move is left up to the crew of
the Macross.
"Enemy ship destroyed Captain Gloval. The
rest have bugged out." Cortana observed with glee at current good
news.
"Yes that is true but it seemed a little too easy." Captain Gloval replied with an air of suspicion in his voice. "They'll most likely hang back and try to attack us from outside our main gun firing arc. Prepare to execute Cole Protocol article 1." he further added.
"Is that really necessary Captain? We did defeat the enemy." Claudia stated plainly to Captain Gloval.
"We didn't defeat them Claudia. They retreated." Captain Gloval pointed out to his inexperienced helm officer. "Cortana prepare to initiate a short jump for the Adair Nebula. We'll evade them there and try to make our way to Reach." Gloval further added as he looked at the star Charts Vanessa had pulled up on the computer plot.
"Of course sir. It'll give me more time to look over the notes the lead archeologist from Coral gave me." Cortana replied.
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On board the Covenant command ship Nola 'Thanosee discusses the appearance of the SDF-1 and the loss of several ships to the Prophet Hierarchy.
"My Prophets." Nola stated as he prostrated himself before the holographic images of the Prophets Regret, Truth and Mercy.
"Speak Elite!" Truth commanded hastily
"My Prophets, My task force has encountered a human ship that annihilated half of my ships." The Elite stated somberly. The thought of a single human ship destroying so many ships at such long range disturbed the Elite.
"You said a ship. What does it look like?" the aged Prophet of Mercy asked of the Elite.
"Here are the records we have on it." The Elite said as he motioned to his subordinates to activate the video feed on the Macross. It showed the SDF-1 firing off it's main gun and wiping out part of Nola's fleet.
"Is that what I think it is?" Mercy asked Truth.
"Yes it is. It's the Super Dimension Fortress that our most ancient records links to the Great Journey. Yet it has changed so." Truth told his fellow Prophets after looking intently at the image.
"Arrogant knaves these humans are. They dare to use Holy Relics against us. We must capture that ship for our own." Regret said to the other two prophets.
"This is true my brother. Nola 'Thanosee You are now the supreme commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. You are to find and capture that ship. This may be the key to completing the Great Journey." Truth said to the Golden Elite.
"Thank you my Prophet and my Lord. We have the general position of this 'Fortress'. We will vector in our fleet to intercept them in the nebula." The Elite stated to the Hierarchs.
"Do what must be done. Do not hesitate; show no mercy and you'll be the instrument that leads us to the end of this Journey." Mercy stated to the Elite. Then the transmission killed over and the Golden Elite, the former ship master, now the Supreme commander of a vast armada, rose up triumphantly.
"Have my new fleet form up near the Nebula as it arrives in the system!" Nola yelled to his subordinate as he walked out of the control room.
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"So how did you do?" Max asked his friends that had just landed back on the Prometheus.
"Not bad. I got five kills." Master Chief said as he took off his helmet.
"Four kills for me." Rick stated to Max uneasily. Rick still had doubts about killing another living being. Sure the covenant wouldn't think twice of killing but that didn't make it any easier for him.
"One for me Max. I'm sorry." Ben stated disappointedly. Ben just couldn't get the hang of flying but was glad that he did contribute something to the war effort.
"That's alright Ben. You'll do better next time." Max told his friend sympathetically. "Let's celebrate shall we. I know a place that makes great chow mien." Max added enthusiastically.
"I think that there is one place here on this ship that makes chow mien Max but after we eat we should probably try to find Linda and Fhajad. They've been missing for sometime now." The Master Chief stated to his new friends. Linda and Fhajad were the only other Spartans that were assigned to the Macross. Fhajad received the new MJOLNIR mk. IV armor and wanted to give it a little test run by exploring the ship with Linda. They should have been back by now since the Macross wasn't that big of a ship.
"Their most likely at the base now. After we get something to eat we'll find them." Rick said consolingly to the Master Chief. Yet Rick could help but to remember the long twelve days he spent with Minmei all alone.
"Yeah, your probably right Rick. Let's get something to eat." the Master Chief supposed. The Master Chief was slightly relieved by the support he was receiving from the crew of the Macross. He sensed changes being made in him as he associated more Rick and the others on the Macross. They didn't look upon him as a freak, or aberration as some of the UNSC personnel did. It was refreshing for him, and the Master Chief was determined to keep it that way.
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"We are now entering the Adair nebula." Claudia stated out loud.
"Very good. Put Dr. Lang on the monitor screen" Gloval stated to his crew as he took his seat. The monitor screen in front of Gloval came alive with Dr. Lang on the screen. "Ah, Dr. Lang, do you have any news on that barrier system you were developing?" Gloval asked his Chief Engineer.
"Yez captain we've dizcovered away to move ze barrier zyztem." Dr. Lang told Gloval through the monitor screen.
"Ah you have!" Gloval said perked up by this piece of good news.
"However there iz a problem. We can't cover ze entire ship at any one time." Lang added.
"Oh, I see… I guess she's too big." Gloval supposed.
"Captain the bezt we were able to come up with iz thiz. Our zyztem can still be uzed az an effective countermeazure in caze of enemy attack. Ze three photon barriers can be moved to defect any incoming lazers like zo." Lang stated while a diagram depicting what he was saying popped up on the screen.
"Hmmm… I see." The captain said to himself as he saw the computer mock up of the system in action.
"Deflection point control can be handled by either univerzal gyroz from the bridge or Ship AI. We refer to it az the Pinpoint Barrier." Lang said concluding his presentation.
"Yes you've done well." Captain Gloval supposed.
"That's pathetic!" Claudia exclaimed to herself after overhearing the conversation between Captain Gloval and Dr. Lang.
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"Hi Rick! How was your mission?" Minmei asked gleefully as Rick and his new friends sat down at their usual table.
"As well as can be expected I guess. Is there anything new with you?" Rick inquired of Minmei. Rick didn't want to think any further of the recent battle he was in.
"Well the Mayor announced today while you were gone that he plans to restart the Miss Macross competition. He hasn't announced when they are going to begin but I'm very excited." Minmei said enthusiastically.
"I'm liking this place more and more." the Master Chief said to himself. Then he noticed a group of UNSC marines that sat next to him. Chief was still worried about Linda and Samuel so he asked, "Sergeant, do you have any news on Spartan 058, and 084?"
"Nothing yet Chief. We have three teams roving through the ships corridors in Warthogs trying to find them." the Sarge replied.
The Master Chief then turned his attention to Minmei and asked, "Do you mind if we take this to go?"
"No not at all, but you have to order something first." Minmei pointed out to the Master Chief.
"Fair enough." The Master Chief replied.
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After ordering their take-out and going to the motor pool in the military block of town the Master Chief, Rick, Max, and Ben speed through an unexplored region of the SDF-1 in an attempt to find Chief's two missing Spartans. They do not know what awaits them.
"Hey, I'm picking something up on the motion tracker dead ahead." Max observed as the warthog sped through the dimly lit corridor.
The Master Chief slowed the warthog to a slow crawl now and asked Max, "Can you grab that spot light and shine it toward the front of the hog?" Max without saying anything grabbed the spot light next to him and started to slowly scan the front of the Warthog.
"You got anything?" Ben asked from the back seat of the Warthog. His voice was slightly muffled because He and Rick were eating their take-out once this little ride began.
"No nothing…." Max was cut short when he his light revealed the form of a woman walking slowly toward the warthog. She was at least 6' 5" in height Max surmised.
"Turn that light off Max. Rick go get me that blanket in the back." Chief asked of his friends as he turned off the head lights on the Warthog. Everyone noticed that the woman was naked and seemed to be in a state of shock. Rick quickly grabbed the blanket and handed it to the Master Chief who had already climbed out of the Hog. Max followed suit and followed the Master Chief as they approached the woman.
Once the Master Chief got to her he wrapped the blanket around her and lead the stunned woman toward the Warthog. Now that she was semi-clothed Max turned his flashlight back on to give the area some light. Chief recognized her as Linda but she changed a lot. Her skin was a pale complexion, her once short blonde hair had now turned to a light blue, and her blue eyes had also changed to an unsettling red.
"Linda. Linda!" the Master Chief shouted at Spartan 058 in an attempt to gain her attention. The attempt failed; she was clearly in a state of extreme shock. They placed her carefully in one of the backseats in the Hog with Rick and Ben to keep her safe.
"Sir, I have a transmission from the our recon group ahead of us." Lisa said to Captain Gloval.
"Thank you Lisa; put it through." Gloval responded.
"This is Sepia 3 recon to Macross. We have a little problem." the pilot stated over the comms.
"What is it Sepia 3!" Gloval inquired in an alarmed manner.
"Sir, I have two large ships that look to be Covenant directly in our path." Sepia 3 replied.
"Confirmed, the ships are CCS class battle cruisers." Cortana stated out loud to the whole bridge crew. "I recommend immediate evasion." She further added.
"No, if they have two battle cruisers searching for us in the nebula then they must have a large support fleet nearby. No, we'll have to go through the two enemy ships in order to escape. Claudia, go all ahead flank toward the ships. Lisa, have the ship go to general quarters. And Cortana, work on a random slipspace jump and activate the Pinpoint barrier system. We may need to get out of here in a hurry." Gloval ordered in haste. "Sepia 3 return to Prometheus immediately!" he further added.
"Hey I got another track!" Ben yelled as he looked into the motion tracker on the Hog.
"Fhajadl! Spartan 084! Respond!" The Master Chief cried out toward the dark and damp corridor.
"Wait, it's gone. Man, he moved fast." Ben further observed.
"Max, go get the two M6D's from the glove compartment on the Hog. We may need them." Chief said somberly toward his new friend.
"Right Chief, I'll get the guns." Max stated as walked over to the warthog. All of the sudden an ominous growling noise could be heard in the distance.Max and the Master Chief stopped in their tracks. "What was that noise?" Max asked.
"I don't…." The Master Chief before he could finish his sentence was speared to the ground by a man wearing a skin tight body glove.
"Chief!" Rick cried out as he and Ben jumped out of the Hog leaving Linda in the backseat. Fhajad and the Master Chief were rolling on the ground wrestling each other in brutal hand to hand combat trading haymakers and upper cuts. Max jumped into the fray but was quickly thrown to a nearby bulkhead by Fhajad.
"MAX! Nooo!" Ben yelled as he attempt to jump into the fray. He was successful in getting Fhajad off of the Master Chief but was hastily knocked to the side by the enraged Spartan. Fhajad turned his attention to the Master Chief when a shot rang out. Rick had grabbed one of the M6D's from the glove compartment. Fhajad fell to the ground with a round in his chest. Rick realizing what he just did dropped the gun to the floor and walked shakily toward Max and Ben.
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"Both enemy ships are within firing range!" Vanessa yelled out to the bridge.
"Good, Cortana prepare to fire the Main Gun." Gloval stated to Cortana.
"Now firing Main Gun." Cortana stated. The bow section of the Macross separated as usual but the their was no orange glow emanating from the bow. "What! I don't' understand…." Cortana tried to say but was cut off by Dr. Lang who suddenly came on the intercom and said, "The Main Gun will not fire! In all probability the Pinpoint barrier iz interfering with ze energy tranzformerz. I'm running an analyze now."
"Bohze Moi!" Gloval said to himself in disbelief. "Lock the Rail guns onto their targets! Continue advancing in between them. We'll use our standard ordinance instead." The captain added.
"Enemy plasma torpedoes approaching! Pinpoint barrier system ready?" Claudia called out.
"It's ready." Cortana replied worriedly. 'I need to concentrate on this one.' Cortana thought to herself. As the volley of blue super heated matter sped toward the Macross the Pinpoint barriers positioned themselves quickly throughout the ship's hull to intercept the first few torpedoes. As soon as the torpedoes struck harmlessly against the Pinpoint barriers the Macross' Rail Guns quickly acquired their targets and let out their deadly 1780mm payload toward the CSS battle cruisers. The initial shots brought the shields on both ships down to the 50 range. The Covenant replied in kind by firing a volley of pulse laser shots that flew twice as fast as the plasma torpedoes.
"I can't move them fast enough! BRACE FOR IMPACTS!" Cortana screamed out as she tried desperately to intercept the new enemy attack. Luckily most of the shots that were aimed at vital locations were intercepted by the barrier system but a few did make contact with the hull with deadly consequences.
"Sir, we are approaching point blank range! I can't intercept every shot they fire!" Cortana exclaimed.
"Now! Fire all weapons!" Gloval demanded as he jumped quickly out of his seat. Now as the Macross came along side each CSS cruiser the rail guns fired again finally downing the shields on both ships. Then the missile bays extending from their protective holds and fired swarm after swarm of reflex missiles toward the defenseless Covenant ships. Just as the missile systems expended their available ammunition the plasma cannons located throughout the Macross fired on the crusiers, slicing through the hulls of the already crippled ships. As the Macross finally passed by the two mangled hulks of the CCS cruisers the reactor units on both Covenant ships failed and both ships exploded in bright blue spheres of nuclear energy.
"We did it!" Kim and Sammy exclaimed jubilantly.
"Ah… sir I have a large group of objects in front of us. It doesn't look good." Vanessa stated hesitantly as she pointed at the large computer plot in front of her.
"It's a Covenant Fleet!" Cortana cried out.
"Initiate Slipspace Fold immediately!" Gloval bellowed out.
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"My lord! The battle fortress is entering Slipspace!" the Major Elite yelled out.
"All ships pursuit course! We must have that battle fortress!" Nola yelled into his fleet wide communication link up.
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"I'm sorry sir for that rough jump but we did have a small energy drain." Cortana apologized to Gloval.
"That's alright. We're safe now." Gloval said reassuringly as he took out his pipe from his coat pocket for a brief puff.
"Captain Gloval! How many times have I told you that there is no smoking in the bridge." Sammy told Captain Gloval out right.
"Yes in the 21st century that was true but we are under new regulations now." Gloval replied as he lit his pipe and took a puff.
"Yes Sammy, smoking on the bridge is now allowed in the 26th century." Cortana pointed out.
"Oh I'm sorry Captain." Sammy apologized as she took her seat again.
"That's alright Sammy. Cortana what is that ring like structure out in the distance?" Gloval inquired of Cortana as he took another puff from his pipe.
"I don't know sir. There is no such structure cataloged any where in UNSC files." Cortana replied.
"Let's check it out." Gloval supposed.
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Next on Robotech/Halo. Part of Breetai's taskforce arrives at Installation 04 as the Covenant fleet closes in on the Macross. During the battle between the Zentradi and the Covenant the Macross splashes down on the Ring world and drops off the Daedalus and Prometheus with the best humanity has to offer. Don't miss Halo in the next exciting episode in Robotech/Halo
