1321 hours October 18, 2552 (Military calendar)

Reach system

Task force Hannibal

Over the last two weeks Robinson's task force Hannibal and her twelve thousand personel had been working nonstop. Stripping every UNSC and covenant wreck too heavily damaged to even attempt to repair, to get a score of other ships powered up and moving. The Odyssey had just finished replacing her port engine cluster that had been destroyed during the mop up of the Covenant fighters. As had a couple of other ships who suffered minimal damage.

Their efforts had been very lucrative as Commander Robinson in his stateroom looked over the latest salvage reports they had adding almost three dozen ships five of them covenant ships to their ranks:

Eight UNSC Destroyers been fully repaired as had a trio of covenant CPV-class heavy destroyers leaving sixteen shattered and stripped UNSC and Covenant superstructures in their wake as they had stripped every working system and intact armor plate. They had found over a thousand survivors after they were thawed out and told what had happened were eager to join in with the repairs.

Thirteen frigates were also fully repaired Eleven of them human, the other two Covenant CAR class vessels. They had found nearly two thousand survivors including almost a hundred grunts and jackals using the trusted grunts who was able to understand English the best were able to strike up a deal turns out the Jackals or as they refer to themselves Kig-yar are renown pirates and mercenaries and as payment they would be given every ground and non-space craft and salvage rights on any covenant ships remains after repairs or otherwise salvage. They happily agreed and began to augment the crews stationed aboard their former masters ships.

Five corvettes had also been fully repaired and crewed. Not bad Commander Robinson thought there was only eight in the graveyard. But then again it doesn't take much to knock out the smallest and lightest armed ship in the UNSC. There was only about a hundred survivors found there.

Over a hundred fighters of various kinds had also been found intact or salvaged and were loaded into every ships hanger and vehicle bay was now over crowded with strike craft. And the variety was amazing bringing the task force numbers to thirty nine warships stuffed to overflowing with almost three hundred fighters and dropships

As Commander Robinson looked over the vast number of ships and lights of his men and women working hard In the graveyard there was a significant decline in floating wrecks in the area. Removing almost a quarter of the ships that had once been floating lifeless here would do that Robinson he thought chuckling. As ships were repaired and wreaks stripped of everything they could be whatever was left was launched toward the planets glassed poles where there was no chance of survivors hiding. With entire stripped wrecks pushed out of the way it was much easier for repair and salvage crews to work on the ships they could reactivate. As the area cleared there wasn't much left

As ships became operational and crewed Robinson made sure they were loaded with munitions from other ships. And every intact fighter or dropship they could find so far they had found over a hundred fighters and transports to make room for them on the fleet ships Tanks and hogs were dropped off on the planet to be recovered later The prize for the fighter wing was an entire hanger section of the UNSC Pearl Harbor. Forty Longsword interceptors and eighteen pelicans all undamaged and the maintenance section filled with parts and fuel. Almost as good was almost an entire hanger area on a covenant cruiser with twenty Seraphs and a dozen various dropships As the last two destroyers they could get operational was brought up to strength and loaded with salvage from those that would be left behind.

With all possible repair work completed they turned their attention to the planet there was about ten square kilometers were not glassed.

"Ready the fleets dropships, we are going to do a quick search for survivors and supplies and see if we can find out why the covenant stopped there in thirty years and dozens of lost worlds they have never left a single meter of a planet they overrun not burned to glass." Commander Robinson ordered.

He watched as Pelicans, Spirits and Phantoms began launching it was slow going as they had to move fighters to clear the path for the dropships. The vast majority heading to the square of life others however were heading to underground storage areas depos and the generators that had once powered the orbital MACs. Hopefully they would find survivors with almost fifty ships but less than ten thousand to crew them. They needed more people, food and medical supplies for the people they had.

1041 hours October 20, 2552 (Military calendar)

Reach orbit

Fleet Hannibal

For the last two days the dropship crews had been flying almost nonstop. They had found and evacuated nearly two thousand people mostly army, marines and ODST units who were assigned to generator defense but they were finding the odd groups of civilians. But the biggest surprise came when pelicans arrived at GEN A332 where they found the two surviving Spartans bringing the total to nearly three thousand military, five hundred civilians and five Spartans.

They had also found with the help of grunt translators were able pull up another five hundred grunts and another fifty jackals who agreed to the same payment deal. Bringing the total former covenant soldiers numbers up to a thousand grunts and five hundred jackals. Who in accordance to their deal, jumped at the chance to lay claim to a huge list of ground vehicles that they agreed with the humans fighters were more important had stored in a cave system on the planet over a thousand air Banshees, one hundred Wraith tanks, twenty Scarabs, five hundred Ghost. Not being picky they also grabbed human vehicles that would also be abandoned just shy of two hundred Scorpion MBTs, over a thousand warthogs of all kind, three hundred Mongoose ATVs and just under fifty Hornet VTOL aircraft.

With not much else to grab and the taskforce reorganized into a proper fleet its time to go to Earth where the most important battle yet is brewing.