0300 Hours, August 30th, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ New Alexandria/ Planet Reach/ Epsilon Eridani System
Knock knock knock.
Peter Haroldson opened his eyes and rolled over slowly with the movement of a slug. He saw that his television was turned off, and the remote was on the floor next to him. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Peter looked at the clock. 3:00 A.M., and someone was at the door. Who could it be? though Peter, as he swung his legs over the couch and sat quietly for a second. Three more knocks came at the door.
Peter walked slowly to the door and looked through the peephole. A fully armed UNSC soldier stood outside, carrying an MA5B assault rifle.
"Who is it?" asked Peter groggily.
"UNSC Army, sir. It's urgent," said the soldier.
Peter opened the door, and said, "What is it?"
"Winter Contingency has been declared for this star system, sir. All civilians are to be evacuated via the spaceport. This building will be one of the first evacuated," said the soldier. Then, two more appeared, Peter's neighbors following them.
"Alright, give me a few minutes," Peter said, closing the door.
Peter was shocked. The Covenant were here, at Reach. The seriousness of the situation sunk in, and he nearly collapsed. He staggered to his daughters room, and shook her, saying, "Andrea? Please wake up."
His six year old daughter stretched, and said, "What is it, daddy?"
"Honey, you need to pack your clothes, we're going on a... trip," Peter said, standing over her.
"Why now? What time is it?" she asked.
"It's really early, but we've got to go," said Peter.
"Can I bring Rusty?" his young daughter asked.
"Yes, sweetie. Only one bag of clothes, though!"
"Okay!" she yelled.
Peter laughed, and left to go to his room. He opened his safe, and pulled out a small black case. He unhinged the latches on it, and opened the small box, revealing a silver M6D Magnum. He pulled it out, and slid a magazine into place, clicking shut. He cocked it, and stuck it in a holster on his belt.
"Thanks, Tami," he whispered, referring to his wife who was killed in the battle of Draco III.
He went back out into the living room to find his daughter sitting on the couch, holding a small dog in a handheld cage. A pink backpack was on her back, and she smiled at Peter as he came into the room.
"Ready, Daddy?" she beamed.
"Yes, sweetie. Come on, follow me," Peter said, ushering her to the door.
They went out into the hall, where the soldier was leaning against the wall. He got on his feet, and said, "Okay, let's go."
Peter locked the apartment door and went down the hall with Andrea and the soldier to the elevator along the side of the building.
Rusty began barking, and the soldier said for Peter to shut it up.
Being a vet, Peter had sleeping pills, so he crushed one quickly and sprinkled it over a dog treat. Giving it to the small dog, it was soon fast asleep.
As the elevator went down the side of the tower, it started rattling, and a high pitched whining sound was heard from outside. Suddenly, a UNSC frigate descended from the night sky above the city, weaving between two skyscrapers. A squadron of Sparrowhawks whizzed by, followed by two Pelicans. Below, on the highly lit streets, a column of six M808 Scorpion tanks rolled by, escorting three M9 Wolverine Anti-air tanks. Jesus, this must be really bad if they're rolling out everything this fast.
When they got outside, they witnessed hundreds of people in the streets, being directed to the spaceport by army troopers. Above, the frigate was joined by two Hammerhead-class corvettes, hovering over the city. The army trooper escorting Andrea and Peter led them to a Cougar infantry fighting vehicle.
It took very little time to reach the spaceport. Peter showed them their papers and handed over his pistol to be put in the armory. The trooper led them to their ship, the LSS Star Prince, an old luxury liner converted into an evacuation transport. The trooper nodded the two onto the ship, and then left. Andrea spotted a window seat, and immediately sat in it, Peter sitting next to her. He put their things in the overhead bin, and handed the knocked out Rusty to Andrea. Peter poked his head up and saw that the entire ship was packed with people, some even sitting on the ground.
"Attention all passengers, we will be undergoing a quick security sweep to check for any tracking devices or explosives. Please stay seated," a voice, the ships A.I., said over the intercom.
The whole ship rumbled and a thin wall of blue lines went through the entire length of the ship. Peter looked out of the window with his daughter, as two more Paris-class frigates descended above the city, sitting over the New Alexandria skyscrapers. All around the Star Prince, other transports took off, escorted by two Gladius fighters each.
"Sweep complete, prepare for takeoff," the A.I. finally said.
All of the passengers were pressed back against their seat as the ship began to lift off, the g-forces holding them back. The Star Prince passed the frigates as its escorts joined, two Gladius fighters. Along with the dozens of other evacuation transports, the Star Prince went through the assembling UNSC fleet, which blotted out the sun depending on the angle. Hundred of ships, ranging from tiny Hammerhead or Mako-class corvettes to the three and a half kilometer long UNSC Invincible. The massive dreadnought sat in the middle of the human fleet, its large Super-MAC gun sticking out of the front. Hundreds of guns ran along the sides. Andrea and Peter held their breaths at the sight.
Peter remembered the first time he saw the UNSC fleet. It was over Ariel, just two years ago. Over fifty ships were there, engaging a much smaller Covenant fleet. Peter was there on vacation, when Winter Contingency was declared there too. Andrea was at Reach with her grandparents at the time. Thank god she wouldn't see this.
"Entering Slipspace in three, two, one," the Star Prince's A.I. said.
The ships engines got louder and popped into the large blue Slipspace portal directly off her bow.
Peter leaned back in his chair and smiled. They were safe.
