0330 Hours, August 30th, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Destroyer Achilles, Over Planet Reach/ Epsilon Eridani System
Jon stood over the large hologram of Reach in the middle of the bridge, watching hundreds of small green arrows maneuver around it. Scattered about the planet were twenty Orbital Defense Platform's, armed with a single Mark V Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, or Super MAC. Just one round could shatter a Covenant capital ship. Of course, the Covenant had made shielding on some of their ships better, and could withstand a direct Super MAC hit. Most of the human ships were concentrated around Rally Point Zulu. At the center of the fleet was the Invincible, the gargantuan flagship of the UNSC fleet. Forty cruisers were in the fleet, mostly Marathon-class. Hundreds of destroyers and frigates were in the fleet too, along with around nineteen carriers, located towards the back of the fleet.
Jon eased into his chair, staring out into the black.
High above the fleet were three old repair and refit stations, to be used as sacrificial shields for the Covenant's opening salvo.
"Everyone ready?" asked Covington, looking at his screen.
Many mhm's came from all souls on the bridge.
"Sir," said Lt. Cortez.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" asked Jon, still staring into space.
"Vice Admiral Whitcomb is opening up a comm channel with the entire fleet," Lt. Cortez replied.
"Bring it up," said Jon, looking up to face the screen above the railing and his chair.
Vice Admiral Whitcomb had a closely shaven head, and a salt and pepper mustache that went over his upper lip and started to droop down along the corners of his mouth. He was easily in his mid-sixties or early-seventies, and had a stern look on his face.
"Invincible Actual to all UNSC ships, multiple Slipspace ruptures detected on the far side of Epsilon Eridani. It's the Covenant. All ships are to go to full battlestations and move into attack pattern Asgard. Wait for my mark. Invincible out."
Jon swiveled around in his chair and said, "You heard the admiral! Let's get this tin can into formation! Covington, charge the MAC gun."
"Aye aye," said the two officers he was referring to.
"You think we'll make it, right sir?" asked DeSemple.
"I know we'll make it, Ensign."
The Achilles moved forward, moving into a tight formation of UNSC ships. In front of the Achilles' firing line, the third one, were twenty cruisers, over a kilometer long. Directly in front of them were over a hundred frigates. In the Achilles' line was an assortment of destroyers, frigates, and cruisers. Still in the center of the fleet was the Invincible, its large bow having a straight firing line into the approaching Covenant. The Trafalgar, the pride of the fleet, was above the rest of the fleet, but on its side to bring most of its guns to bear. Four hundred and twelve vessels were in orbit of Reach.
"All ships, we are looking at over eight hundred ships coming in through Slipspace," said Admiral Whitcomb.
"Eight hundred..?" Ensign DeSemple whimpered.
"Perk up, everyone. Wait for the order to fire," Jon said.
Then, about three million kilometers away from the fleet, a massive hole tore in space, and hundreds upon hundreds of sleek purple ships slipped in. Many were large CCS-class battlecruisers or CAS-class assault carriers. Many others were smaller vessels, like DPV-class destroyers or CFV-class frigates, like the one the Achilles encountered hours prior.
"Attack line Catapult, fire!" shouted the admiral.
Behind the assembled UNSC fleet, all twenty 'Big Sticks' opened up, slinging a 3,000 ton ferric-tungsten round at 4% the speed of light into the oncoming Covenant armada. Just then, the big gun from the Invincible fired, shaking the ships around it and pushing the massive dreadnought back slightly. Nineteen battlecruisers and two carriers erupted into flames and then died.
"Line Pikemen, open up when in range!" the admiral said.
The Covenant fleet advanced, and when it got within two and a half million kilometers, every single ship in the first line fired their smaller MAC guns. Over one hundred frigates fired two rounds each, and when it was over, sixteen Covenant ships were destroyed.
Then, the Covenant fleet launched a large spread of their plasma torpedoes.
The three repair stations lurched forward, maneuvering in front of the UNSC fleet. The torpedoes closed in, and the stations did not move one inch. Over one thousand of the blue bolts ripped into the titanium armor of the stations, literally melting them away. When they were gone, Admiral Whitcomb shouted, "All callsigns, fire at will!"
Hundreds of flashes lit up the skies above Reach. Missiles left their pods, and hundreds of MAC rounds surged out of their barrels and into the Covenant armada. The twenty orbital guns fired, ripping into twenty alien capital ships, blowing them apart. The ship-based weaponry did its toll, too, taking down about sixty vessels total.
Then, the Covenant fleet fired once more.
"All ships, break formation and engage at will!" shouted Whitcomb.
Immediately, the UNSC fleet split, and moved quickly, trying to evade the plasma torpedoes.
"DeSemple, drop us below the fleet at full speed!" yelled Jon, gripping the sides of his chair.
"Roger," DeSemple said.
The Achilles lurched forward, and began steaming downwards at about a 50 degree angle at full speed.
"Bring us up when we've got a clear line of sight on any Covenant ships," Jon ordered.
The destroyer kept descending, until it finally started to lean back, making its rear face the south pole of Reach. A Covenant CRS-class light cruiser screamed over it, firing its torpedoes.
"MAC ready!"
"Send the bastards to hell, Lieutenant. Fire," said Jon.
Two bolts flew out of the Achilles, tearing through the underbelly of the cruiser. It exploded from the inside out.
By then, the Covenant torpedoes impacted on the human ships, melting away four cruisers, twenty five frigates, seven destroyers, and three corvettes. The UNSC Cowpens, a carrier in the thick of the human fleet, took forty two torpedoes to the engines and starboard side, sending it into a spin. The carrier slammed into three frigates and a destroyer, blowing them all up in the ensuing explosion. The cruiser Beacon of Hope, a Marathon-class cruiser that was one of the more recently constructed ones, fired its main MAC gun right as the heavy destroyer Basra flew in front of it, chasing down a fast moving Covenant frigate. The destroyer split in half, and all three Shiva nuclear weapons inside it detonated, catching six UNSC ships in the ball of fire.
Jon watched the whole thing unfold, sweat dripping down his face.
"Sir? Orders?" asked Ensign Davidson.
"Uhh... yeah... get this tin can moving! Ummm... straight up the side!" Jon ordered, coming out of his trance.
The destroyer went forward, towards the Covenant fleet.
"Fire at will, Covington," Jon said.
"I wasn't gonna ask, sir," the weapons officer said.
Jon chuckled.
The two opposing fleets were closing in on each other, and it was apparent that neither side was planning on backing down. The Invincible, with its huge Super MAC gun and two smaller guns, destroyed two Covenant destroyers in a single volley, followed by four CRS-class light cruisers with its remaining armament. The Achilles, firing at will, ripped apart four Covenant corvettes, and two frigates before turning back for the UNSC fleet.
"All ships, regroup into loose formation," the admiral said.
"With respect sir, wouldn't that make us sitting ducks?" another captain asked.
"Unh-uh. I have a little surprise for the Covenant, courtesy of ONI," said Admiral Whitcomb slyly.
The Covenant picked off more human ships as they reassembled, bringing all their guns to bear once more.
"Hold onto your hats, boys. Initiate Independence Day," Whitcomb said.
Suddenly, the entire front half of the Covenant fleet was engulfed in a bright blue light. Twenty HORNET nuclear mines erupted amid the alien fleet, disintegrating over two hundred ships in a flash. The remaining Covenant vessels kept approaching, under heavy fire from the UNSC. The Invincible, along with the ODPs and cruisers, brought down more of the damned enemy. So far, we had lost one hundred and sixty nine ships, and the Covenant lost three hundred and two. If this kept going this way, it would be a decisive victory for the UNSC.
"All ships, break and regroup around Turul. All fighter squadrons, you have a green light! Carriers, drop into atmosphere above Viery. Trafalgar, light them up."
The eighteen remaining carriers in the UNSC fleet lay down all of their mines in their spots before beginning their descent into the atmosphere of Reach. Hundreds of Longsword fighters soared out of their hangar bays, rushing into battle against the Covenant Seraph's. The result was an absolute bloodbath. The Longsword's 110mm rotary cannons ripped apart the Covenant fighters while the Seraph's vaporized Longsword's with their plasma cannons.
By then, the remaining UNSC ships, about two hundred and forty of them, veered away from the battle and sped towards the closest moon of Reach, Turul. The Achilles fired off two quick shots, stripping the shields off of a Covenant destroyer, before the Invincible finished it off with a Super MAC round.
The Trafalgar then opened fire, filling space with thousands of 50mm rounds and Onager bolts. The Covenant fought back, unloading dozens of plasma torpedoes into the supercarrier. The plasma peeled away at the six meter thick Titanium-A armor, fire taking over. The pride of the UNSC Navy then turned to join the other carriers in atmosphere, limping away slowly.
"All orbital guns, protect the Trafalgar!" Whitcomb barked.
The platforms started to turn, firing at the Covenant ships closing distance on the Trafalgar.
All but one of the pursuing ships were blown up.
"Sir, that Covenant ship chasing Trafalgar is opening a link with the whole fleet!" Lt. Cortez yelled.
"Bring it up. Load up the rear camera while you're at it," Jon said.
On the screen of every ship in the fleet, a white Elite stood in front of the camera, and he yelled, "For the Great Journey!" The line went dead.
Suddenly the lone ship crashed into the Trafalgar as it went into atmosphere, enveloping the supercarrier in flame. When the light cleared, the burning remains of the Trafalgar floated back into space, its skeleton all that was left.
"Oh my god... Trafalgar is down! I repeat, Trafalgar is down!" cried someone from one of the platforms.
"Damn the regroup! All ships, get behind the Invincible!" shouted Whitcomb.
The UNSC fleet assembled behind the dreadnaught, as it fired five small projectiles at the Covenant fleet.
"Eat Shiva, you sons of bitches."
Just before the bombs went off, most of the Covenant fleet shimmered away into Slipstream, leaving about one hundred ships behind.
The entire remaining Covenant fleet disappeared. No Slipspace jump, nothing. The nukes so powerful that it literally made the alien ships vanish.
Just as the UNSC fleet began celebrating, fifty more Slipspace ruptures were detected. As the UNSC began to go on alert again, four UNSC frigates popped into view about a million kilometers ahead of the Invincible.
"This is Commander Miranda Keyes, of the UNSC In Amber Clad. Who wants some transport?" a female said over the radio.
"This is the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, with the Aegis Fate and Stalwart Dawn, we have forty six evacuation transports with us, where do we go?" another person said.
Then Admiral Whitcomb said, "Lord Hood said only the In Amber Clad and Forward Unto Dawn would be arriving. Why are you other two here?"
"Admiral changed his mind, I guess," the captain of the Stalwart Dawn said, as the fifty ships passed by the UNSC fleet and into atmosphere.
"Get the cities first, transport captains," Whitcomb said.
Jon slouched back in his chair, exhausted. He closed his eyes, and remembered to back when he was a little boy on Skopje, before the war. Then, he was on the Heracles, in 2525 as a thirteen year old space cadet. It was there that he watched his father die. It was there that the war began. It was here that the war continued. Jon couldn't believe that they'd won. Over half of the human fleet was destroyed, but the Covenant had retreated.
"Sir, contact from New Alexandria. Fleet wide," said Lt. Cortez.
"Bring it up on comm," Jon said.
The comm speakers blared to life, and all of a sudden screaming came through, quickly overshadowed by the loud bangs of artillery and grenades. Someone yelled, "The Covenant are on Reach! There... thousands... my men are being slaughtered! They got little Grunts, Elites, even them hairy fuckers! Valez, get down! Shit! I count... sixteen corvettes over the city! All of our frigates are gone!"
"Sir, there's a video feed coming in," Cortez said, amid the message.
The screen came on, and the dirty face of a UNSC Army trooper stood in front of the camera, panting. All around him, men were hit and fell to the ground. A plasma grenade sailed past the trooper, sticking to the wall. When it went off, the trooper flew forward, landing on his back. He got up, and shouted, "We need reinforcements! I repeat, we need rein... oh my god! Everyone focus fire on that thing!"
The camera panned ahead of the soldiers, who were on a small balcony above a courtyard. A single stairway was in front of them, but it was barricaded by assorted items. Thundering up the stairs, however, was an angry Brute chieftain, wielding a gravity hammer. It smashed through the barricades like nothing, and slammed its hammer into the closest human. Bullets ripped into its armor, doing nothing. It let out a wild laugh, followed by a roar. It killed four more soldiers, and closed in on the others, who were bunching up against the wall.
Before it could kill them, a single Pelican dropship flew over, and two tall green figures jumped out and landed by the chieftain. They were a little bit shorter than it, but they looked about the same strength.
"Hey, ugly," said one of the figures.
The Brute turned its head, and roared, charging it. Then, the two twirled around the ape-like creature, placing their handguns against its head. They fired, blowing the Brutes brains out.
The two faced the human soldiers. Jon could barely make out the writing on their armor. The slightly taller one had 029 on its breastplate, and the other one had 093 on its.
"Holy shit, are those Spartans?!" exclaimed Lieutenant Covington.
...
UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND PRIORITY TRANSMISSION
ENCRYPTION CODE: DELTA
FROM: MERLIN
TO: KING ARTHUR
DATE: AUGUST 30th, 2552
SUBJECT: Reinforcements
CLASSIFICATION: EYES ONLY, RECIPIENT
[START]
Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood,
I can't believe it, but Reach is still held. 423 Covenant ships destroyed, 170 of ours destroyed. Trafalgar is lost with all hands. Many cruisers are destroyed. Covenant have made landfall, and are rapidly gaining ground in cities. I am not going to use tactical nuclear weapons with all the civilians still down there. Only about 30% of the planet has been evacuated so far, and we are losing civilians to the Covenant ground forces.
However, Captain Jacob Keyes has deployed two SPARTANs to the ground on New Alexandria, and the rest are waiting for deployment.
I am requesting for all available units to be sent to Reach. We need more heavy capital ships. I request that the UNSC INFINITY be deployed as well.
OPERATION: RED FLAG has a green light, and we'll try to disable a Covenant ship for the SPARTANs.
Casualty reports are in the attached file.
Send as much backup as you can.
[END]
...
UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND PRIORITY TRANSMISSION
ENCRYPTION CODE: DELTA
FROM: KING ARTHUR
TO: MERLIN
DATE: AUGUST 30th, 2552
SUBJECT: Re: Reinforcements
CLASSIFICATION: EYES ONLY, RECIPIENT
[START]
Vice Admiral Whitcomb,
The 1st and 5th fleets are being redirected from the Serpent Sector immediately; with them are thirty cruisers and ten more carriers; do with them what you please. More evacuation transports are being cranked out daily and are being sent directly from the shipyards to Reach. The first group of three will consist of thirty LIFE-class transports, escorted by a single Paris-class frigate. The following groups will arrive in the coming days.
The UNSC Infinity is tied down with fighting in the Han system against Insurrectionists, but will be deployed when the threat is neutralized.
Also, there is a special surprise with the 5th Fleet; you'll see what I mean by the time you see this message.
I am pleased that the SPARTANs have been deployed on the ground due to the probable morale boost.
It does sadden me that the Trafalgar has been destroyed, but at least they went out with a bang.
Keep holding on, Danforth. Help is coming.
[END]
