Chapter 11: The Eye of the Storm
30 kilometers Northwest of Power Facility Bravo, 69.5˚ North, 154˚ West, Alaska, Earth
8th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
1240 hours, October 27, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Senior Chief Petty Officer Frederic-104 watched the Covenant unload their troops from his hilltop perch. They prepared for an assault on the power generators that kept the Super MAC orbital defense stations online. Suddenly Fred was reminded of his struggle on Reach. This time, the Spartans would not fail.
Nearly an hour ago, Fred and his team received word that they were being transferred to the largest power facility, Bravo, in northern Alaska. That meant one thing: the Covenant had begun a full-scale assault on Earth and they wanted the Spartans to protect the power stations if the Covenant decided to pull what they did on Reach.
When Fred had arrived, he saw scores of Phantoms descending into the atmosphere. Immediately, he and his team set out to survey the Covenant LZ. The Spartans were not defensive soldiers and decided to take the Covenant by surprise as they marched to the facility.
"Alan, is there anything beyond that ridge?" Fred asked. Alan-017 and two others were on a short ridge across the Covenant LZ from Fred. The region that the power facility was built was rather mountainous. This gave the Spartans a huge advantage: they could fire down from tall hills and cliffs upon the Covenant as they maneuvered through the winding valleys and passages.
"It's all clear. Everything seems to be in this confined area, sir," Alan reply via helmet radio.
"There's only one way they can get to facility Bravo from here, and it's through a valley. We'll set up an ambush there," Fred said to his team. "Everyone return to my position and I'll explain what I've got in mind."
Five acknowledgement lights winked on Fred's heads up display. It wasn't long before Alan and the rest of the team met up with Fred.
"The Covenant has brought Wraiths with them, so that means that they have to go through the valley and they'll be moving slowly," Fred explained. "We can set up our Lotus anti-tank mines there. The Southwest wall of the valley is taller than the other, so Linda and Nick can snipe from the taller cliff, and Alan, Will, Jo, and I will take them out from the lower cliff. From there, we gotta improvise. Let's move out."
Linda-058, Nicholas-065, William-043, Joanna-130, and Alan fell in line behind Fred as jogged down the hillside away from the Covenant. They entered the valley Fred spoke of and took off the mines strapped to their backs. They set the mines up in a line down the length of the valley. Fifty meters between each mine ensured that the explosion from one wouldn't cause the next to explode. The Spartans quickly scrambled up the near vertical cliff faces. Linda and Nick climbed the eighty meter precipice in twelve seconds flat by punching their own hand and foot holds into rock face. They set themselves up near the end of the valley. Luckily the tops of both sides of the valley were lightly forested so the Spartans could hide in the trees and shoot down into the open gorge below.
"Jo and Alan, take up positions near the second and fourth mines respectively and ready your Jackhammers," Fred ordered. Joanna and Alan jogged away through the trees. "Will, set up the thirty-caliber turret near the fifth mine, but don't open fire until the Covenant passes Alan's position. I'll hunker down in the trees by the third mine and do what I can."
Fred ran off to his position and watched the entrance of the valley anxiously.
"Is everyone in position?" Fred asked over the radio. He received five acknowledgement lights a split second later.
Finally the Covenant entered the valley. Several rows of Jackals marched ten across along the eight meter wide valley floor carrying their energy shields at their sides. Every fifth row a pair of Brutes marched on either side of the Jackals as if herding them along. Fifty meters into the valley, the first Lotus mine exploded. The first ten rows of Jackals and Brutes flew into the air flailing their appendages as they hit the walls of the valley. Now, not only did the Covenant have to march through the crater from the mine, but they also had to march over the dead bodies of those caught in the explosion. That would slow them down considerably. Even still, the Covenant marched on as if nothing had happened. It was only after Linda and Nick opened fire that the Covenant realized that this was an ambush rather than just a minefield.
Two white streaks appeared from the far end of the valley and Fred watched two Brutes slump over. A rocket from Joanna's position landed in the middle of the Jackals sending the little creatures headlong into the opposite cliff face. The Jackals immediately hid behind the safety of their energy shields and frantically fired at where they thought they were being shot from, but the Spartans had already vanished into the trees. Bolts of plasma charred the trees along the cliffs and melted the rock.
Fred wondered why there were no Grunts or Elites. Usually they would be at the forefront of any battalion, but Fred hadn't seen a single one.
The Covenant kept marching and the second Lotus exploded. It had the same effect as the first but was enhanced by another rocket from Jo's Jackhammer. Two more white streaks came from Linda and Nick's position and two more Brutes fell. Then Fred saw what he hoped not to see: Drones. A large force of Drones came fluttering through the valley at the height of the lower cliff. As they flew past they fired their plasma pistols into the trees. Fred opened fire with his fully automatic MA5B assault rifle, and the Drones dropped like the huge flies they were. But the horde of Drones just kept coming.
"Will, help me with these Drones!" Fred shouted over the radio.
Fred heard the rattle of the thirty-caliber machine gun turret as Will opened fire. The Drones fell out of the sky by the dozens and littered the valley floor. Carefully concealed in the trees, the Spartans were left unscathed as they finished off what seemed to be several hundred Drones. Meanwhile, Linda, Nick, Jo, and Alan continued to whittle away at the ground forces.
Despite being fired upon by forces they couldn't see, the Covenant still marched through the valley. Row upon row of Jackals entered the valley but did not exit. Molten rock rained down into the valley as plasma splashed along the cliff faces. Explosions from Jackhammer rockets cost the Covenant dozens of lives each. The Covenant had made it past the third and fourth mines when Fred finally saw the cavalry and artillery. Ghosts hovered into the valley two abreast. Three rows entered then came a single Wraith mortar tank. The pattern continued for about five repetitions, and then more Jackals and Brutes on foot followed.
"Take out the Ghosts and let the first Wraith hit one of the mines!" Fred yelled.
Two rockets sped towards the first six Ghosts. The rockets exploded between the first four. The explosions of the rockets caused the Ghosts themselves to explode. Two more streaks from the snipers appeared and the following two Ghosts halted in their tracks as the Brute drivers were incapacitated. The Wraith continued over the Ghosts. Suddenly the Wraith fired at the shorter cliff to the Northeast. The large blue ball of plasma lazily arced toward Will's position. Because of the immobile turret, Will was the most vulnerable and visible. He left the turret and scrambled into the woods when he saw the plasma coming at him. The plasma smashed into a cluster of trees, which instantly ignited.
"Fred, the turret is lost!" Will exclaimed.
"Right. Everybody fall back! Everyone meet at the rendezvous point!" Fred shouted. He saw two more rockets explode in another group of Ghost before he left. As he ran through the woods near the cliff edge, he saw the first Wraith tank explode as it passed over one of the Lotus anti-tank mines.
He continued running at a decent twenty kilometers per hour for several minutes until he came to a small clearing. Will and Alan were already there and Nick, Linda, and Jo arrived soon after.
"Let's get back to Bravo facility. We can handle the rest from there," Fred said. The Spartans jogged back through the hills and woods back to power facility Bravo. Along with Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, these were the last of the Spartan II's. The other twenty-six were either MIA or KIA, but they were all listed as MIA to give the impression that the Spartans were invincible.
---------------UNSC orbital defense station Cairo, in geosync orbit around Earth
8th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
1325 hours, October 27, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood, or Lord Hood as he was more colloquially known, stood looking out the large window on the bridge of the Cairo. The Cairo was one of the orbital defense platforms around Earth. The defense platforms had been nicknamed Super MACs because of their size. Each platform was essentially a giant Magnetic Accelerator Cannons with a dock, a hangar, a barracks, and a bridge. Like the platforms that used to orbit Reach, these cannons could hurl a three thousand ton projectile at four tenths of the speed of light. It didn't take much to eliminate a Covenant ship with those guns, especially when each cluster of three platforms targeted the same ship. At one point, there were three hundred of these Super MAC defense stations orbiting Earth, but since the Covenant had arrived that number had dwindled to less than one hundred fifty.
"Sir, we've received word from power stations Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Echo," a young female Lieutenant said from the communications station. "They have eliminated all Covenant forces. Unfortunately, power station Delta is out of contact."
Admiral Hood didn't move his gaze from the window. After several moments he turned and walked to the communications console, "How many platforms does that leave us with, Lieutenant Owen?"
"One hundred eighteen," Lieutenant Sara Owen answered. "Delta station provided power for nineteen platforms. It was relatively small."
"We can't afford to lose any more of the orbitals," Lord Hood took his cap off and scratched his head. "Have our reinforcements arrived?"
"Yes, forty-five ships from Alpha Centauri arrived ten minutes ago and another thirty-seven from other colonies have been arriving scattered in these last minutes," Lieutenant Owen replied.
"Good," Lord Hood said as he put his cap back on, "Get me a link with General Bradford on priority Alpha."
"Aye, sir," Owen quickly typed a few things and one of the viewscreens on the bridge lit up. General of the Army Henry Bradford's face occupied the center. He was roughly the same age as Admiral Hood. His face was thin and he had jet-black hair that was balding on top.
"General, is there any way to recapture power facility Delta from the Covenant?" Hood asked.
"Facility Delta has been completely destroyed, Terrence," Bradford replied.
"Have you sent out any scouting parties?"
"Of course I have, but none of them reported back."
"Send in an attack force then."
"Are you out of your mind? That would be suicide! And besides, we just got GPS images back that show a smoldering crater where power facility Delta used to be."
Admiral Hood didn't like what he was hearing. He buried his face in his hand for a second to think.
"There's nothing more we can do, Terrence. Delta station is lost," the General of the Army didn't like that a Fleet Admiral was trying to tell him what to do. They may have both been of the five-star rank in their respective branches, but Bradford believed that Hood should stay away from ground conflicts and let the Army handle those.
"Well, I guess our options are running low then," Hood said with a sigh.
"Indeed. I am sending additional troops to the remaining power stations in case the Covenant comes back for a second try. And unless you have anything else to bother me about, I have to get back to work here," Bradford had a hint of irritation in his voice.
"I have nothing more, Henry. Hood out," Lord Hood said. With that, General Bradford's face disappeared. Hood patted Lieutenant Owen, who was watching nervously, on the shoulder. The Admiral walked back to the large window on the bridge that looked out to the massive cannon and rested his chin in his hand. He took in the view with part of the Earth in the distance and tried to clear his mind. After several minutes Lieutenant Owen spoke up again.
"Admiral, sir, there's an incoming message from the Solaris remote sensor outpost," she announced. When Admiral Hood didn't turn around, Lieutenant Owen continued, "It says that a very large mass suspected to be the Covenant fleet again was just seen traveling towards us through Slipspace. It is expected to arrive in less than a minute, sir."
"So be it," Lord Hood muttered under his breath. Without turning the Admiral told her, "Set this station to combat alert Alpha. All hands to battle stations."
"Aye sir," Lieutenant Owen typed in the command and a siren sounded throughout the station.
Hood finally turned from the window and walked to the large tactical display board at the other end of the bridge. The board displayed the Earth and its moon in the center and the positions of every ship in the Human fleet. Suddenly, hundreds of red dots appeared in the top right corner of the tactical display.
"Sir, multiple Slipspace ruptures at one point five million kilometers from Earth near the forty-five degree mark," one of the male Lieutenants nearby said.
"Estimated number of ships?" Lord Hood asked.
"Nearly three hundred, sir. More than the first attack," the Lieutenant replied.
"Damn," Hood whispered. "Lieutenant Owen, send a message to the Preston Cole saying that it is to join up with the rest of the fleet."
"Aye, sir!" Owen said with a large grin as she typed out the message.
"Let's give those Covenant bastards a little surprise," Admiral Hood said.
The Preston Cole was named after the legendary Vice Admiral. The brilliant tactician led the first of an unfortunate few major successful assaults on the Covenant during the fall of the Outer Colonies twenty years ago. During his four year long campaign, Vice Admiral Cole and his fleet tried desperately to defend the Outer Colonies after the original assault, but were constantly hammered and outgunned by the technologically superior forces. Cole ultimately perished while defending a colony with a dangerously small and war weary fleet. Vice Admiral Preston Cole was labeled a war hero after his unfortunate death and to Lord Hood it seemed an honorable motion to name their secret weapon after him. This ship could finally turn the tide of the war.
Fleet Admiral Hood went back to the large window at the back of the bridge. He could see the UNSC fleet waiting to engage a Covenant fleet twice its size. From behind the massive MAC a beige triangular ship appeared and moved to join the UNSC fleet: the Preston Cole.