0300 Hours, August 31st, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Washington/ Hydra Fleet Shipyards, Beta Hydri System
The UNSC, prior to the outbreak of war, had never thought of building ships larger than heavy cruisers. First off, they would be expensive. Billions of credits would have to be poured into a single dreadnought, and it didn't seem necessary at the time. It also seemed physically impossible. To get a ship with that much mass to not only wield a great amount of firepower, but to also have enough armor to shake off direct plasma hits while also being able to enter Slipspace seemed unfeasible. But, against all the odds, it happened. Over forty dreadnoughts were in the UNSC fleet, and most were older, from the outbreak of war. Only about a dozen were built in the last ten years, and the Invincible class had only been brought into commission three years prior. The Washington was one of the older ones, being rushed into commission in 2527, and sent into the crucible that was Harvest.
After a skirmish on the outskirts of Covenant space, the Washington was recalled to the Hydra Fleet Shipyards, one of the UNSC's largest drydocks, for a complete refit. Having only arrived a day prior, the ship would sit in port for a few days until the refit began. In that time, the crew would gather their things and then move onto the station until being shipped back to an Inner Colony for shore leave. Many were already leaving.
Defensively, Hydra was weak. Instead, it relied on the fleet for any combat action. At any time, around fifty ships would be docked or waiting to be docked. At the time of the Washington's arrival, five other dreadnoughts were there, along with fourteen destroyers, and the rest being frigates. Only one orbital platform hung around the station, being powered by an experimental nuclear drive. It also had a few hangar bays for fighters.
Rear Admiral Henry Cain, the commander of the Washington, stood on the large bridge of his ship, looking down at the massive holographic table in the center. Instead of the conventional layout of other ships, dreadnoughts had an enclosed bridge, with cameras all over the ship filling in for the lack of a window. It also allowed the commander to overlook his crew. The executive officer of the ship, Commander Saul Krause, sat down, looking through old papers. Every few sheets he would crack a smile, and keep flipping through them.
"What's so funny, Saul?" Henry said gruffly.
Saul looked up, and replied, "Oh, just old transcripts from the pilots on the mission when we first attacked Covenant planets."
"When the hell were you able to get paper copies?"
"You'd be surprised at what lurks down in the storage bays," Saul said, looking back at his papers.
"Look at this one. It's from Warbird. Listen to this. 'Hey, Kat, you got one on your six. Just kidding! Damn, this planet's so devoid of defense I almost thought we were attacking Harvest! What, too soon?' That boy has the sickest sense of humor," Saul read, laughing.
"Too bad he won't be flying for three months," Henry sighed, looking up at the scanner hanging from the ceiling.
"I think we oughta deploy at Reach. The boys there need every hand they can get," Saul said, setting down the stack of papers.
"They're already deploying everything. If I had it my way, we'd be there, and probably not in one piece," Henry added.
Saul grumbled, and then asked, "How much of the crew is already aboard the main dock?"
"Just a quarter. Mostly non-essential crew, like technicians, Marines, etc. Old girl is missing some of her bones," Henry said.
"Ah, just think. Few more days, we'll be on a beach on some island on Earth, sipping margaritas and enjoying the view," Saul said, getting up.
"As long as the Covenant don't attack," Henry added sarcastically.
The two shared a laugh, as nothing would get between them and that beach.
...
0300 Hours, August 31st, 2552 (Human Military Calendar)/ Assault Carrier Forever Vigilant/ In Slipspace
Fleet Master Zigra 'Mazumee sat in his command chair in the assault carrier Forever Vigilant, a brand new ship just rolled off of the line. He was part of a moderately sized fleet, consisting of three other carriers, twelve battlecruisers, and around twenty light cruisers. They were tasked with finding anything worthwhile that was human, and destroying it. The bypassed one or two lone ships, but that wasn't suffice. 'Mazumee was looking for a fleet, or a planet. Sure, he was in what the humans called the "Outer Colonies", but that was a mere category of importance. The "Inner" colonies were where the rich lived, whereas the Outer Colonies were mostly farmers or tourists.
"Two weeks and we have found nothing that is worth our breath," Zigra remarked.
"We will find something, Fleet Master. With the Gods on our side, we will prevail," one of the Sangheili on the deck replied.
"Indeed. The Defilers shall all perish by our hands," Zigra said.
"Fleet Master! I have found something on our long range scanners!" an officer barked.
Rising from his chair, Zigra asked calmly, "What is it, my brother?"
"I cannot tell from distance, but it is large and artificial," the officer said.
"How fast are we approaching the object?"
"We are closing fast. It appears to have a ring-like structure," the officer added.
"By the Gods, could it be what the Prophets mention?" Zigra said, a blank expression falling on his face.
"Impossible," another Sangheili whispered.
The officer looked into his console, and said, "It is human!"
Zigra snapped out of his small trance. "Is it a station?"
The officer nodded, and looked at his Fleet Master, "Indeed it is. I'm seeing many of their ships. If we strike now."
"Charge all weapons fleet wide. This is our chance to strike. Launch all squadrons as we exit Slipspace. Initiate the attack," Zigra said, his voice booming.
...
The Washington was finally docked, pulling into a port alongside the destroyer Tarawa and the dreadnought Resolution. The Resolution was having massive plates of Titanium-A being installed, while the Tarawa was having her weapons systems completely overhauled. The planet Etheon illuminated the large ring shaped space station, its oceans making the planet look much tamer than it really was. The crew of Washington was either running through final checks on the ship, or catching some shuteye. The docking clamps were not yet attached, and would not be for a few minutes.
Vice Admiral Cain and Commander Krause read over the constant stream of reports from Reach. A large Covenant space station had arrived, escorted by capital ships. The fleet had failed to repel them. Casualties were steady. The Invincible held strong. No ODP's lost. All ground generators held. A quarter of the total population evacuated. Reinforcements urgently needed.
"Is this refit really necessary?" Saul grumbled.
Henry remained silent.
"Oh, Christ," he whispered.
"What is it?" Saul asked.
"Manassas.. it's gone," Henry said.
Saul said nothing.
"Trafalgar was destroyed," Henry added.
His XO nodded, already knowing.
Suddenly, the operations officer said, "Sir, scanner just picked up an anomaly. I'll zero in on it."
"Keep an eye on it, son," Henry said, flipping through the reports on his datapad.
After a few moments of silence, the officer said, "Huh, that's odd. It's coming in our direction. Could be an asteroid."
"Set the ship to condition three. Have the pilots get to their fighters, just in case the station doesn't take it out," Admiral Cain said.
"Sir, it's coming in out of Slipspace," the officer said, turning around.
"It could be friendlies," Saul said to Henry.
"Pilots are ready," the operations officer said.
"Distance?" Admiral Cain asked.
"About seven hundred million kilometers out, closing," the officer replied.
"Communications, get the station informed of this," Henry said.
...
"Hydra Station, this is Washington Actual. We are picking up multiple Slipspace ruptures about seven hundred million kilos out."
"Impossible, check your source," the station replied immediately.
"Negative, Hydra. Check your scanners."
"We have nothing. Could be an asteroid," Hydra replied.
"Hydra, contacts are now six hundred million out. We are not wrong here."
"Washington, none of our scanners are... hold on just a second..." the voice went away. "Washington, we are detecting two contacts. We are expecting two UNSC ships to return around this time. It's probably them," Hydra replied.
...
"Something tells me it isn't those ships," Saul said.
A clang came from the operations officer's station. His face was frozen in fear, and his skin was as white as a ghost. His headset was on the ground, and his hands were shaking.
"The... the... those aren't UNSC transponders," he said quietly.
Henry then shouted, "Set condition one throughout the ship! All fighters, prepare to launch!"
"Sir... we have hundreds of Slipspace jumps!" the operations officer said, his voice more shrill.
Henry and Saul looked up at the screens above them. The scanners showed the contacts to be right above them.
"Seraphs!" shouted the officer.
...
Hundreds of the teardrop shaped fighters appeared above Hydra Station, opening fire as they came in. Explosions rippled across the station, tearing massive hunks of metal off of Hydra. Longsword fighters scrambled, but were helpless against the swarms of Covenant fighters. The long Big Stick couldn't help at all; its gun was meant for capital ships, not small fighter aircraft. One by one, UNSC ships erupted into balls of fire. Some of the ships turned their smaller guns to space, firing blindly.
"Get us the hell out of this slot!" Henry roared, gripping the table as the Washington was hit.
The engines slowly spun to life, and the ship began reversing out of the port. The point defense cannons opened up, going through ammo fast.
"All fighters are cleared to launch!" shouted Henry.
Three dozen Longsword fighters thundered out of their hangar bays, rushing into battle.
"Sir, transmission from Hydra Command! Patching it through!" the comm officer cried.
"...ships retreat! The station is GAHHHHHH!"
Hydra's command center exploded.
"Bring up a 360 degree view of the ship! I want to see everything!" Saul shouted.
A small screen descended from the ceiling, and a view of the battle came up. UNSC ships were being destroyed right and left. The fleet had no chance. Then, the mighty dreadnought South Carolina exploded, engulfing twenty Longsword fighters and the frigate Itchen. Suddenly, the Seraph's disappeared. The Longsword fighters that remained flew around, remaining vigilant. Two dreadnoughts were in pieces, and many more smaller ships were gone. Moments later, an entire Covenant fleet appeared in close proximity. Four carriers and a dozen cruisers bombarded the station and the ships.
"Torpedoes!"
"Recall all fighters! Prep and emergency jump!" Admiral Cain yelled. Then, the first three plasma torpedoes impacted the Washington, throwing everyone to the ground.
"Send a message to all ships! Tell them to rendezvous with us at Rally Point Beta!" Commander Krause shouted.
Battered Longsword fighters from the Washington and other ships landed in the hangar bays of the dreadnought. The ship spun around, and began rushing away from the battle. Behind it, the final three dreadnoughts, Nevada, Inflexible, and Collingwood tried to follow, but were vaporized by Covenant fire. Then, the Big Stick fired a single slug, ripping apart two small Covenant ships. Seconds later, it exploded.
Another torpedo hit the Washington, causing Admiral Cain to fall onto the table.
"All fighters aboard!" cried an officer.
"Sir, decks 17 through 30 are compromised!"
"Vent them!" shouted the Admiral.
"Engines hit!"
"Emergency jump, anywhere!" roared Henry.
A blue hole opened in front of the dreadnought, and it was gone in an instant.
...
Fleet Master 'Mazumee was mostly pleased. His small fleet had completely annihilated an entire Heretic space station, taking fifty of their dreaded ships with it. Five of which were their mighty "dreadnoughts", which were touted as extremely powerful. But Zigra was not fully satisfied. One of the human ships was able to escape, one of the dreadnoughts. Three armored cruisers pursued, and lost contact. Going by records, the ship was called the Washington, after a location on the human homeworld. It was an older ship, too, which made the shame even worse.
The wreckage of the battle was littered all over space. The corpses of dead humans floated among it, bumping on hunks of metal.
Zigra looked among the wreckage of the space station and smiled.
The doors to the bridge hissed open, and in came a squad of Jiralhanae, led by a Chieftain.
"I see we are not needed for any boarding action," the Chieftain said.
Zigra shook his head, and replied, "No, and had it be necessary, you would be last on the list to go."
"Your arrogance brings you your downfall, Sangheili," the Chieftain snarled.
"Brings? What, are you and your Brutes planning a mutiny?" Zigra laughed.
When he saw the Brutes lift their Spikers, his laugh fizzled away. He dove for cover as the Jiralhanae opened fire, massacring his bridge officers. The Fleet Master checked his radar; two brothers remained, and were in active camouflage. Zigra shouted, "Heretics!" And rushed out, igniting his energy sword. He cut down three Brutes when he was hit square in the chest by the Chieftain's gravity hammer. He flew back, and watched his two brothers valiantly fight back in vain, being gunned down by the Brutes.
The Chieftain knelt down by his former commander, and said, "You see, Sangheili, the Prophets feel as though your kind... simply just don't have the tenacity you once did. You have begun to respect the humans, and... well, they are against our Prophets. They are against the Great Journey. They feel it is time for the chain of command to be reversed."
Zigra took his last breath as he watched the Chieftain sit down in the command chair.
