Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my remastered Halo - MechWarrior/BattleTech crossover. I apologize for not updating my other Halo crossover. I was helping a friend since he had a doctor's appointment. I will upload the next chapter for my Halo - Star Wars crossover tomorrow. Hang in there. More chapters are on the way.
Also, as a reminder, do not forget to review this crossover. Every small bit of feedback will help make this story better than before. I apologize if this is a little patronizing. I just need all the feedback I can get.
Either way, thank you for your support, and I hope to see you in later chapters. As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or MechWarrior/BattleTech crossovers. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs, Piranha Games Inc, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
SLS Dallas
Low Earth Orbit, Reach
August 18th, 2552
Today is the day, Chernenko thought as he looked out into the blackness of space, at one of the many Safe Slipstream Entry Points around Reach. It wasn't an actual physical location; rather, it was more like a boundary, where a ship would be able to safely enter Slipstream Space. UNSC WarShips would use this entry point to enter Slipstream Space without sucking in anything that Captain's didn't want to. He could even see a few civilian TransportShips entering Slipstream Space here, as they, and hundreds of others, worked to continue evacuating civilians from the planet of Reach.
That is not why we are here today, though, he thought as he looked out into the blackness of space.Today is the day that we make our stand here against the Covenant. No more running or hiding; we're going to be fighting today.
Looking around at the region of space they were in, he could see a number of other WarShips that were present. There were three of the roughly eight Dallas-class WarShips, including his own that were present, with the remaining two being the Atlas and Lincoln. A handful of Orion-class WarShips were present as well. Adding to that were the McKenna II-class WarShips, with one of those being the namesake of the class, the SLS McKenna II.
The SLDF wasn't the only faction that had WarShips present in space either. Next to the SLDF WarShips were UNSC WarShips, each one fully armed and ready for war. Thanks to reinforcements that arrived two days ago, the UNSC had a total of roughly sixty WarShips present at Reach, with another ninety that were on the way from Earth and any other colonies that hadn't been hit by the Covenant yet. This, combined with the roughly 40 SLDF WarShips present, constituted a joint fleet that numbered around 100 WarShips in total, more than enough to protect Reach from a conventional foe. The 20 odd ODP's were also present, as they were behind where the massive stations were orbiting the planet.
Unfortunately, we won't be fighting a conventional foe, Chernenko thought as he remembered some more intelligence that Xhov's contacts in the Covenant had managed to send to them clandestinely. The Covenant had assigned more than just the Fleet of Particular Justice to Reach; they had also assigned the Fleet of Holy Respite and the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance as well, bringing the number of enemy WarShips up to 255 WarShips. This, combined with the Fleet of Particular Justice, as well as a fleet from the Ministry of Resolution, meant that they would be facing 315 Covenant WarShips in total.
There was a flicker of hope, though, in this dire situation. Apparently, due to the distances the Covenant had to travel, and the peculiarities of Slipstream Space, the Covenatn WarShip fleets would be arriving in waves, with a delay of a week to a few days between each wave. This meant that, if the joint SLDF/UNSC fleet worked together and eliminated the enemy quickly, they would be able to repair and rearm their ships in between each assault, allowing them to indefinitely keep the enemy at bay.
As a result, the SLDF had to begin refitting and upgrading the remaining UNSC shipyards in order to meet the demand of such a battle. After some more debates and discussions, it was decided that UNSC WarShips would be retrofitted with Lamellor Ferro-Carbide armor, in order to give them a better chance of surviving an engagement with Covenant WarShips. It was a similar case with ship mounted weaponry, though the SLDF made it clear that this was only due to the extreme circumstances that they were facing. As such, only the SLDF had the ability to manufacture SLDF WarShip weaponry.
Despite the hectic action of the past four days, everything was as ready as it was going to be. Intelligence indicated that the Covenant WarShips were going to be arriving today, though the exact time that they would be arriving wasn't fully determined yet. As such, a small Kig-Yar scouting vessel had been sent to the edge of the star system as a forward scout. If they detected incoming Covenant WarShips, they would immediately alert the fleet to the impending attack.
Time to check the fleet for the second time today, Chernenko thought. Keying the fleetwide MILCOM channel, he said, "All WarShips, report in." As the second ticked by, each of the WarShips reported in their status, with all of them stating that they were ready for a fight.
A moment later, he heard Vice Admiral Stanforth say, "Admiral Chernenko, our ships are ready to go. Should the Covenant arrive, we'll be ready to hammer them into paste, if all goes well that is."
"Good," Chernenko nodded. As the SLDF WarShips prepared for combat.
As soon as he said this, Xhov came in over the MILCOM channel. "Captain Xhov to Admiral Chernenko, our forward scout just reported multiple Slipstream Space ruptures at the edge of the star system. The Covenant has arrived."
"Affimative. All hands, man battle stations," Chernenko ordered. As soon as he said this, an alarm began to blare inside of the WarShip's hallways, alerting the crew that combat operations were about to begin. Crew members calmly, but quickly, moved to their battlestations, having been nearby in anticipation of the upcoming fight. Two hours of waiting had paid off, as the crew quickly moved into position.
"All crew are in position," a Captain informed Chernenko.
"Excellent," Chernenko nodded. "It's time that I address the fleet. Open a MILCOM channel."
As soon as one was open, he began his speech, knowing that it might be the last words that the crews of each WarShip, his own included, might hear. "All personnel, this is Admiral Chernenko speaking. It is an honor to be serving with you in one of the most prestigious military fleets of the Star League Defense Force.
"As you now know, the Covenant is on it's way to Reach in order to destroy us, or so it believes. It is our mission to show the Covenant that we will not bow to their might. It is our mission to show them Humanity's supremacy.
"We will show the Covenant why the SLDF is the most advanced military force in the history of Humanity. We will show them that we will not go gently into that good night. We are going to live on and survive. We will drown the Covenant in an ocean of their own cold blood, and we will ensure that their genocide ends here!
"However, we must remain vigilant. The Covenant is a devious and crafty foe. They will do everything in their power to stop us. As long as we remain vigilant and careful, we will achieve victory over the Covenant. Man you stations, keep your wits about yourself, and we will win this war."
With that, he closed the MILCOM link. Over a receiving channel, he could hear shouts of agreement and cheers as the rest of the fleet voiced their support for him. Morale is high, he thought. Good. We will need that in the coming days and weeks, when the Covenant attempts to batter us into pieces.
As soon as the though passed through his mind, he heard an Ensign say, "Admiral, we're getting Slipstream Space Ruptures just outside of ODP range. The Covenant performed an intra-system jump. Should the ODP's engage?" As he said this, seventeen Slipstream Space Ruptures opened up.
From this distance, they were nothing more than pinpricks of light against the blackness of space, small enough to be mistaken for stars. "Not yet," Chernenko reported as the Covenant WarShips exited Slipstream Space. "Once they close within range, then we will strike."
"Yes, sir."
As the Ensign went back to his business, Chernenko observed the incoming WarShips. According to long range scans, there were three CAS-class Assault Carriers, ten CCS-class BattleCruisers and around four SDV-class Corvettes. That is likely the Ministry of Resolution WarShip fleet, he decided. Large, but not large enough to pose a major threat if we play our cards right.
Having studied Covenant fighting tactics, he knew that, for the most part, Sangheili tended to use brute force, which worked well against UNSC forces. They only employed tactics when it would increase the amount of so-called glory they would earn in the eyes of their peers. We can exploit that weakness, he thought, remembering the battle against the Long Night of Solace. The Covenant is used to winning against an enemy that is less advanced than they are, not one that is near the same level of technology they have, if not equal.
He also knew that the Covenant WarShips were about to have a very unpleasant surprise. Right on cue, as soon as the Covenant WarShips moved in, several of them seemed to splutter before going dark, the lights on their WarShips fading into nonexistence. At the same time, small points of light winked in and out of existence in milliseconds. Looks like our Icarus EMP mines did their job, he thought as twelve of the Covenant WarShips began drifting helplessly forwards into ODP range. I love it when a plan comes together.
Moments later, the disabled Covenant WarShips drifted into range of the ODP platforms. As soon as they did, twelve of the twenty ODP's opened fire, sending ferrous slugs at a fraction of the speed of light. Within a few seconds, each slug smashed into the hull of the enemy WarShips, tearing massive rents and gashes in the nanolaminate armor plating on the hulls of each WarShip.
Half of the disabled WarShips were neutralized, with three of those detonating explosively as the pinch fusion reactors went critical, tearing the affected WarShips into numerous pieces of debris. The other three were mission killed, with the reactors on those WarShips undergoing SCRAM procedures to prevent themselves from blowing apart. Those WarShips continued to drift forwards helplessly, with more ODP Super-MAC rounds tearing their hulls apart.
The other WarShips, however, quickly restarted, regaining their shielding before pressing forwards, using their repulsor engines to close the distance and engage the ODP's at close range, where they were more vulnerable. Spotting this, Chernenko said, "All McKenna II-class WarShips. Move in and engage the five remaining SDV-class Corvettes. Orion-class WarShips, move in and engage the five remaining CCS-class BattleCruisers."
Moments later, the WarShips in question began to move in at flank speed, their Interplanetary Drives reaching maximum power. Thanks to inertial dampeners that the Engineers had installed, the SLDF WarShips could engage maximum acceleration without harming or killing their crew, with said maximum acceleration drastically increased thanks to Huragok tinkering and improvements. As a result, it wasn't long before the WarShips reached firing range.
Once they did, it quickly became the AeroSpace equivalent of the Fourth of July. The Naval Pulse Lasers were the first weapons to fire, with pulsing beams of blue and green light cutting through space and towards the Covenant WarShips. Thanks to AI targeting, the lasers impacted their targets with pin-point accuracy, causing the Covenant energy shielding to flare.
A few seconds later, they came into range of one of the SLDF's more powerful energy weapons: the Naval PPC's. Bolts of blue-white energy cut through the vacuum of space at a fraction of the speed of light, crossing the distances between the WarShips in milliseconds. Covenant shields flared, with the shields of some of the Corvettes failing due to thermal and electrical overload.
A moment later, the Covenant WarShips began to fire, launching plasma torpedoes while firing large bolts of plasma at the SLDF WarShips. Gold energy shields flared on the SLDF WarShips, since these, and the 34 other WarShips in the SLDF fleet, had been equipped with energy shielding just in time for the battle. In retaliation, the SLDF WarShips began firing their own weaponry, cutting into the Covenant WarShips.
Two McKenna II-classWarShips, the Montgomery and Monroe, moved in to tackle one of the CCS-class BattleCruisers, hammering it's hull with the fury of a titan. The Covenant WarShip's Captain, knowing the ship's shields were failing under the firepower it was subjected to, began firing back, sending plasma torpedoes and bolts at the SLDF WarShips. Unfortunately, the strategy of divide and conquer worked in the two WarShip's favor, as the CCS-class 'Cruiser's shields failed, with the Naval Lasers, PPC's and Gauss Rifles smashing the hull with each blow. It wasn't long before that WarShip blew apart, allowing the Montgomery and Monroe to move to other targets.
At the same time, the SLS McKenna II was engaging one of the SDV-class Corvettes, hammering into the enemy WarShip's hull. While it was fighting, another Corvette moved in, ambushing the McKenna II. While surprised, the Captain of the McKenna II didn't lose her wits for a second, as the WarShip began firing the weapons on either side of the WarShip at both targets. Under the pressure, the shields failed, but the armor plating held strong, allowing the SLDF WarShip to quickly break off the attack and retreat until it's shields recharged, a process that would take four minutes.
In retaliation, an Orion-class WarShip, the SLS Italy, moved in on the two WarShips. Despite it's bulk, the Italy moved quickly to engage the two SDV-class Corvettes, firing it's greater compliment of weapons into the enemy WarShips. Weakened by the previous engagement, the two SDV-class Corvette's shielding failed, with the Italy quickly blowing them apart before quickly moving towards a CCS-class BattleCruiser.
. . .
It was at this point that the UNSC WarShips began to move in. Onboard the UNSC Leviathan, Stanforth could feel the Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser rumble as the powerful deuterium fusion engines pushed the WarShip towards the fight. Looks like the SLDF is holding it's own, he thought as the SLS Italy fractured a CCS-class BattleCruiser in half in a ramming maneuver. Time to toss in our own two bits. Looking at the AI of the WarShip, Icarus, he asked, "How long until we're in firing range?"
"Twenty seconds remaining, then we'll be in firing range," Icarus replied, the Grecian themed AI having run the calculations. "Vice Admiral, I'm eager to see how the weapons the SLDF loaned us will perform against the Covenant. If the SLS Italy is any indication, we'll perform well against them."
"Maybe," Stanforth remarked skeptically. "Power up all weapons. Time to see how that professionally jury rigged cooling system they finished installing hours ago does in combat."
With that, they entered firing range, along with the UNSC Grafton and Say My Name. As soon as as they were in range, two N-PPC's that had been installed onto the WarShip days earlier fired, sending blue-white bolts of energy at a CCS-class BattleCruiser. The bolts impacted, causing the shields to flare, while the Leviathan moved along in a broadside maneuver, hammering the Covenant WarShip's shields with it's MAC's and loaned NPL's.
The combination of the blow, combined with the Grafton and Say My Name firing as well, shattered the shields of the larger WarShip, rendering it vulnerable to UNSC weaponry. Onagers and other MAC's mounted on the hull of the Leviathan hammered at the now-exposed hull of the Covenant WarShip, tearing off large chunks and pieces of the hull. The Grafton, taking advantage of this opportunity, charged up it's MAC cannon and fired, piercing the hull of the Covenant WarShip with the ferrous slug. Apparently, it hit something important, as the CCS-class BattleCruiser began to explode, with the UNSC WarShips escaping the blast radius, but barely at that.
"Whew," the Captain of the Grafton whistled over the COM. "That was too close. I almost got my ship's ass cooked there."
"Cut the chatter," Stanforth barked. "We've still got targets to neutralize. Enter formation and start hammering any Covenant units that you encounter." With that, the UNSC WarShips formed up and began looking for more targets to kill.
Onboard the SLS Dallas, Chernenko was coordinating the destruction of one of the CAS-class Assault Carriers. Shield strength at 65%, he thought as the Dallas hammered at the hull of the enemy WarShip. I hope this Carrier falls before we do, otherwise this will be one big embarrassment.
Right on cue, the Covenant WarShip began to fracture as it's reactor core overloaded. Seconds later, as the Dallas powered away from the enemy WarShip, the CAS-class Carrier detonated, tearing the enemy WarShip into pieces. "Enemy WarShip destroyed," Persephone informed him, her voice cool and calm. "The Lincoln and Atlas have destroyed the two remaining WarShips."
"Excellent," Chernenko nodded. "This battle is going well. Still, inform me of any Covenant reinforcements that enter the system. If more Covenant forces arrive, then we'll be in a world of hurt."
A moment later, bad news followed. "Admiral," Captain Xhov reported in. "I'm detecting fifteen more Slipstream Space Ruptures at the edge of the star system. Apparently, our informants were fed false information. I'm also detecting Covenant DropShips that are moving in towards the planet surface. They must've gotten past us during the fighting."
"Understood," Chernenko nodded. "Have the AeroSpace Fighters take out the Covenant DropShips before they get to the planet surface. It's in their hands now." With that, he began ordering the Dallas to begin moving in on the incoming enemy WarShips, and fast. If more DropShips got through and onto the planet surface, then this situation was going to go from excellent to FUBAR.
. . .
At the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range near Farkas Lake, Six could feel his heart racing as began moving towards the experimental Sabre-U waiting on the landing pad ahead of him. Ever since the year 2547, the UNSC had been conducting research into an AeroSpace Fighter that was capable of matching the Covenant Seraph fighter, with the program making use of captured Covenant equipment for study and reverse engineering. The loss of critical manufacturing facilities, though, had crippled production of the fighter.
That was when the Star League came in, Six thought. During the initial negotiations between the SLDF and UNSC, it was found that the SLDF already had their own stockpile of ASF's. Most of these ASF's were Firebird IV's and Morgensterns, with a smattering of Dragonfire's as well as so-called 'Light ASF's', with the prime example being the DCMS Sabre IV.
Once the treaties were finished, the SLDF was granted access to the UNSC's SABRE Program, one of the few classified programs the SLDF was allowed to participate in. Over the weeks, the SLDF had begun applying it's own upgrades to the design, from more advanced Fusion Engines, to better armor plating, avionics and weaponry. To distinguish the UNSC Sabre from the SLDF Sabre, the UNSC ASF was reclassified as the Sabre-U.
Climbing into the ASF, Six noticed a number of differences. For one, the controls in front of him were more advanced, with many of the buttons and switches having been replaced by touchscreens. He also noticed that a modified MJOLNIR helmet was in the cockpit. A small paper note said, 'Put this on when piloting.'
Reading the note, Six removed his current helmet and installed the new one, lightly tapping it as he did so. Powering up the ASF, he immediately felt a surge of vertigo, which was replaced by a mild headache. At the same time, a loud buzzing sound reverberated in the helmet, with the words, Warning: Neurohelmet Improperly Calibrated. Do You Wish to Recalibrate? Y/N.
If it gets rid of the headache, yes, Six thought, hitting the Yletter. Moments later, he felt some more dizziness, before the headache suddenly disappeared. Neurohelmet Calibration Complete, the HUD displayed. Continue ASF Power-Up Procedure. Nodding at that, Six began powering up the ASF.
Reactor: Online, a synthesized female voice reported as he went through the procedure, following the instructions as he went along. He had done this a few days ago, but this was the first time he had gotten into the actual fighter, having done simulations before. Sensors: Online. Weapons: Online. All Systems: Nominal.
With that, the UNSC ASF thundered to life. Unlike the previous models, Six could tell that this new ASF felt powerful, like it was a thoroughbred horse that was ready to begin racing. Despite having only used the simulators for a few days, he immediately felt familiar with the AeroSpace as he felt it's new VTOL system engage. The ASF slowly rose before it's engines began to flare. I hope those mental commands in the simulator line up here as well, he thought as he increased the throttle.
Almost immediately, the ASF launched itself forwards, the VTOL system disengaging as it accelerated by roughly 20G's before pitching upwards, with the engines roaring even louder than before. The sky quickly went from sky blue to blue, then navy blue, before turning ebony black as the ASF exited the atmosphere. Since he was close to where the battle was taking place, he knew he would just fly there on his own power.
Pitching the ASF downwards, he spotted the battle that was in progress. It was clear that enemy reinforcements had arrived, as there were 20 Covenant WarShips that were engaging the SLDF/UNSC fleet. Casualties had been taken, as he could see a couple SLDF WarShips that had been severely damaged, forcing them to retreat, while two had been destroyed, or abandoned. There were more UNSC WarShips that had been destroyed, and more that were retreating.
As the ASF continued to move forwards, he spotted two Firebird's that were approaching his position. Once they arrived, they moved just above him and to the left and right, forming a V formation. "Noble Six, is that you," one of the ASF Pilots asked.
"Affirmative," Six replied.
"Good," came the reply. "Chernenko's got a mission for you. We're going to be harassing Covenant ASF's that are attempting to assault our retreating WarShips. If we lose those, then we're going to have a harder time when the actual Covenant offensive rolls in here."
"Understood," Six replied. "We'll keep those fighters safe." With that, they began flying towards the retreating WarShips.
Flying along, Six could see the damaged WarShips that were heading to Tribute for repairs. It was clear that they were damaged, as he could see massive tears and rents in their armor plating, and parts of the hull as well. Still, he could tell that the Covenant had to use a lot of firepower in order to penetrate the armor plating the SLDF had retrofitted the UNSC WarShips with. That armor's the reason why they haven't been destroyed, he thought.
As they flew closer, he spotted them: Banshees and Seraphs that were flying towards the retreating WarShips, intent on blowing them into pieces. Accelerating to stop speed, Six fired off the ER Large Pulse Lasers that were installed into the Sabre-U, catching the attention of the enemy forces. At the same time, eight more ASF's moved in to reinforce the defenders, weapons blazing as they closed the distance.
Performing a roll, Six dodged an incoming plasma bolt, before using the RCS (Reaction Control System) to slow his ASF down. Unable to compensate, the attacking Seraph fighter whipped past him, allowing him to get in behind the enemy ASF. Firing the ER Large Pulse Lasers, he began whittling down it's shields in order to open it up for an attack with missiles. Once the shields failed, he fired off the only weapon system on the Sabre-U that had been upgraded rather than replaced: the ST/Medusa Missiles.
Missiles flew out of the missile racks, streaking through the vacuum of space before smashing into the Covenant ASF. The Seraph's engines were critically damaged, causing it to spin briefly before it exploded. Six merely flew the fighter through the expanding debris cloud before reengaging another enemy target.
As he did so, he noticed how the SLDF ASF Pilots were fighting. Most of them were using LRM's that used warheads designed for Anti-AeroSpace Fighter roles. Once they closed the ranges, though, they quickly switched to their shorter ranged weaponry. As a result, most Covenant ASF's that tried to get in close were destroyed, the majority of which were the Banshees. Only the Seraphs, thanks to their energy shielding, were able to survive the missile salvos, forcing the SLDF Pilots to use their closer ranged weaponry.
The battle went on like this for some time, with Six and the others fighting off any Covenant ASF's that tried to get close enough to fire on the retreating WarShips. Once they were out of Reach's LEO region, the SLDF WarShips would perform an FTL jump, while the UNSC WarShips would accelerate, allowing them to peel away from the engaging Covenant ASF's. Thankfully, it seemed as though there were more WarShips in the fight than not, as Six was able to join the main battle once he escorted his third WarShip to safety.
. . .
Captain Richmond of the Fort Worth snarled as another round smacked into his WarShip, a McKenna-class WarShip that was firing on an SDV-class Corvette. Looking at his tactical readouts, he could see that the armor plating was holding up, but he didn't know for how much longer that would last. If only we got access to energy shields, he thought, a frown on his face. If we did, we wouldn't be having moderate armor ablation right now.
"Sir," an ensign called out, his voice ringing out over the sounds of alarms and crew shouting to each other. "We've got a line on the enemy WarShip. If we attack now, we can destroy it!"
"Got it," Richmond shouted. "All batteries fire! Blast that ship to hell!"
As soon as he said that, the Fort Worth began firing all of it's weapons at the SDV-class Corvette, weapons blazing as they fired. Gauss cannon slugs and laser beams tore into the enemy WarShip's hull, even as the Corvette fired back. As the ship shuddered from the impacts, Richmond watched as a Gauss slug tore through the enemy WarShip's hull. Moments later, the enemy WarShip detonated.
There was only one problem: they were far too close. One moment, Richmond was watching the enemy WarShip detonate before him, the next, he was lying on his back, his vision reddened from pain. Wincing as he got up, he shouted, "Status?!"
"We've taken severe damage, sir," a Lieutenant shouted, his voice trembling somewhat. "We need to get our WarShip out of here!"
"We can't," another crew member shouted. "Our engines are down. Our WarShip's dead in the water."
"That's it then," Richmond decided. Keying the InterCOM, he shouted, "All hands, this is the Captain speaking. Our WarShip is dead in the water, and we have no way of getting out of the combat zone. All hands, abandon ship. I repeat: abandon ship. Get to the escape pods and any DropShips that are available. Good luck, Captain Richmond out."
Closing the InterCOM, he keyed the MILCOM and said, "This is Captain Richmond of the SLS Fort Worth, our Warship's been crippled. I'm requesting urgent evacuation for my crew. If you can spare any rescue DropShips, send them immediately. This message will repeat every five seconds." With that, he set the broadcast to loop before turning around. "Get the crew out of here," he ordered a Lieutenant.
. . .
On one of the medical DropShips, Corpsman Alexandria McNeil was having to treat as many injured people as she could. Inside, people ran to and fro as the DropShip, filled to capacity, rocketed away from the warzone, fusion thrusters nearing their limits as they propelled the DropShip to safety. They had already been hit once, and they didn't need to get hit again.
Inside one of the surgical bays, she was having to remove some shrapnel that had embedded itself into the stomach of one of the ensigns. Apparently, an explosion had occurred on one of the 'mission killed' WarShips. When they had arrived, the ship had been spinning helplessly in the vacuum of space. Fires poured out of tears and rents in the hull where the atmosphere was leaking out, and bodies floated in the cold vacuum of space. It's a miracle that some people were alive in that wreck, she thought.
The worst part, though, were the screams and cries of agony as the wounded suffered. As she worked, she could hear an ensign screaming for his mother, begging someone that he knew to come to him. As she worked on her patient, medical scrubs and gloves red with blood, the man was screaming as she pulled out the shrapnel from his stomach. "Please," he screamed, eyes wide with terror as he writhed in pain. "I don't wanna die! My kids need me! Please!"
"Hold still," Alexandria replied, doing her best not to shout at him. Looking at her assistants, both of whom were wearing sealed body suits that were a bright white, she said, "Hold him down!" As they moved to do so inside of the surgical bay, she said to her patient, "You're going to be OK. Once we get this shrapnel out, we'll get some hemostats inside of you and use the nanites to fix you up. You'll see your kids again. OK?"
"OK," the man gasped. He was still terrified, but he knew he was in good hands. Even as he groaned and screamed from the pain, Alexandria knew one thing; this was the true price of war. Anyone who said otherwise was a fool.
. . .
Onboard the Dallas, Chernenko could tell that they were gaining the upper hand. The Covenant fleet was quickly losing steam, and only a few WarShips were left. "We've almost got them beaten," he told the rest of the fleet over the MILCOM link. "Do not let any stragglers get away."
"Roger that," came the reply. "We'll keep any Covenant from getting away." With that, the other WarShips refocused their efforts, firing on the fleeing Covenant WarShips. Soon, there were only two Covenant WarShips left, and those were quickly fleeing.
As the other WarShips fired on them, Chernenko could feel his gut tense. We have to destroy them before they can leave, he thought, If they get through, the Covenant will know our capabilities, and reconfigure their strategies accordingly. He began to pray quietly to any deities that existed that the Covenant wouldn't escape.
If there were any deities out there, they had apparently listened, as soon, the two fleeing WarShips exploded, just before they would've reached the SSEP at Reach. "All enemy WarShips down," Chernenko announced, with a cheer coming from the crew. Looking around, he could see the price they had paid. WarShips, both UNSC and SLDF, floated in the cold vacuum of space, some moderately damaged, some severely, while others were disabled. From those, he could see fires coming from hull breaches that had yet to be sealed. Engines flared before dying, and he thought he could see bodies and debris from this distance.
Either way, as the rescue DropShips went to work, he knew they had won. We paid a hard price for it, but we won, he thought. Still, this was just the first wave. When the Covenant Fleets arrive, that is when the real casualties will begin.