CHAPTER 3
The Sky's the Limit
0550 Hours, November 14th, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Sol System, Planet Earth
ONI base STRONGHOLD, Armory
Brock and the rest of Team Scimitar entered the Armory as kids would if they were entering a candy shop. The room was so huge that the Spartans couldn't really make out where the walls were. Hundreds of shelves holding weaponry, human and Covenant alike, made mini-halls you could walk down. Under each weapon was enough ammunition to get a soldier through five large scale battles.
"Spartans, over here!" a gruff voice yelled. Team Scimitar followed the sound of the voice to a back corner of the room, finding a single ONI scientist standing in front of a vaulted door. "My name is Dr. Huffman and I've received special orders from Colonel Ackerson to equip you with the necessary weapons for your mission." The man held out his hand. Brock grasped it and shook firmly.
"Now," the doctor said, opening the door behind him and reaching in. "Each of these weapons have been tailor made for all of you." The first weapon he pulled out was a long rifle that slightly resembled the classic S2 AM Sniper Rifle, but with a few variations. "May I introduce the SL7-SR, aka the Shredder. This puppy fires pointed spines for extra penetration, even effective against energy shields and Brute skin." He handed the Shredder to Myrin, as well as three boxes of ammo for it. Then he pulled out a special box and also handed it to him. "I believe Ackerson already told you what these are for."
"Next we have the Sear Sword," the doctor said, passing the hilt of a katana-style sword to Rachelle. "We used a variation of the Covenant Plasma Sword to charge up a blade of focused blue plasma. Unlike the Plasma Sword however, we've managed to focus the particles for increased cutting power."
Rachelle hit the activation button on the hilt and watched as a slightly curved, thin line of plasma shot out, ending in a sharp point. She flashed the Spartan signal of a smile.
"Now meet the M20-FPL, my personal pride and joy" Dr. Huffman said, hefting a massive rocket-launcher on his shoulder and staring through the scope. "I used a stripped down version of the Covenant Wraith's plasma launcher to give this baby the power to focus plasma and fire a similar round. Her battery power is a little limited, but she's also two times faster for cool down and firing time, enjoy." The doctor passed the launcher to Forrest who greedily accepted it.
"Don't think I forgot about you" the doctor said, pointing at Brock. He reached in and pulled out an assault rifle. "This is the MA5D Assault Rifle, capable of alternating between Full Metal Jacket- Armor Piercing rounds and Magnum rounds for extra stopping power. She also has an ammo counter and a built in compass."
Brock looked over the weapon and smiled.
"We're also going to provide you each with M6C Magnums for sidearm weapons and four of each grenade as well" the doctor said, tossing the weapons to the Spartans. "Now, leave me to my work- I'm designing a new shotgun that fires tiny explosives."
The Spartans each thanked him and headed back for the door.
"Spartans, form up!" Brock yelled.
In a flash, his three teammates stood about face in a line in front of him. Brock looked over each of their weapons, made sure they had enough ammo and checked their vital signals. They were ready, as always.
"The Flood hold a massive portion of the Halo we're headed to, which means we'll have to fight our way in," Brock began. "When we land and are met by the Separatist SpecOp team we will show them the utmost respect! Ackerson informed me before we left that the Divine Unit is currently on a recon mission to discover the positions of the nearest Sentinel spawning ports. They will lead us to whatever they find, but we are in command, understood? If any of them turn on us or we even suspect them of treachery, Ackerson has authorized us to down 'em."
"For now, our orders are to reach the landing zone of the Separatist destroyer Blind Fury" Brock instructed. "We'll be airlifted to the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific, the safest place for their ship to land, and from there we will begin our mission. Perform all safety double-checks and we'll head out."
Within the hour, Team Scimitar was picked up on the STRONGHOLD landing pad above surface by a Pelican. Soon after lifting off, they were joined by a pair of guard dog SkyHawks.
Brock looked down and watched the majestic crashing waves of the Atlantic morph into the beautiful landscape of the United States of America. Far below, he could see flashes of explosions and heard the faint echo of gunfire as Marines fought for their world. Having never been to Earth before his most recent landing, Brock got a real sense of what he was fighting for.
Harvest had been beautiful, but nothing Brock had ever seen compared to the home world of the human species.
Further up in the sky, Brock watched the silhouette of a UNSC Frigate turn into a smoking comet of shrapnel as it was blasted by Covenant weaponry. There were flashes of MAC guns being fired and plasma turrets releasing their burning payloads. Defense platforms such as the Cairo station were the only things truly keeping the Covenant from completely overrunning Earth's defense forces.
"Beautiful ain't she?" Rachelle asked, putting her hand on Brock's shoulder and breaking him of his momentary trance.
"Yeah" Brock replied.
"Ready to save her?" the female Spartan asked.
Brock smiled underneath his SPI helmet. "Definitely" was all he said.
Five hours of riding in a Pelican was really starting to affect Forrest's stomach in a negative way. The Spartan peeled off his helmet and took a deep breath of air. He impatiently stood up and walked to the cockpit.
"Pilot, when do we land?" he asked.
"Estimated time of landing is 1200 hours sir" the pilot answered.
Forrest sighed and slipped his helmet back on. He sat back down and pulled out a package of C-12, fiddling with its wires.
"Banshee formation ahead" a stern male voice stated over the COM link. Team Scimitar's heads up displays identified the voice as belonging to their starboard side SkyHawk bodyguard. "Suggest we alter our course to evade."
"Affirmative Burning Eagle, altering course now" the Spartans heard their pilot respond. Brock made his way to the cockpit.
"Trouble?" he asked.
"No sir," the co-pilot piped in, "we just need to make a few minor adjustments to our course."
Brock nodded and went back into the cargo bay, taking a seat next to Forrest. He opened up a private TEAMCOM link to the rest of the Spartans.
"We've got twelve Banshees on our eleven, coming in fast" he said.
"But we're avoiding them right?" Myrin asked.
"I'm not so sure we can" Brock answered.
"A Pelican and two SkyHawks should be able to tackle twice as many Banshees, they don't even have shields" Rachelle said.
"Neither do we though, and they outnumber us 4 to 1" Brock retorted.
"So what can we do about it?" Forrest asked.
"What we always do, win."
Tenth Age of Rejoining
On board the Separatist Destroyer Blind Fury
Sol Relative Time: November 14th, 2552
Ship Master Ryu 'Gallamee stared at planet Earth from space. It was a truly remarkable just how hard humanity was fighting for such a run-of-the-mill planet. Then again, the same could've been said about 'Gallamee and his religious devotion only a month or so ago. Now he fought against it with equal ferocity. Ryu had been merely a Major before the civil war had broken out, but was quickly elevated when he managed to lead a tactical strike against the Jiralhanae that ended with a massive death toll for the Loyalists.
Now he stood in his very own ship, the honor, not to mention the gold armor, all belonging to him. As Ryu shouted for a simple course correction, he was reminded of the mandible he had lost in the brutal fight that had accelerated him to such a powerful status.
Across the deck, three other Sangheili warriors controlled the ship, acting as the arms and eyes of the Ship Master. At Navigation was Major Lox 'Hanalee, an experienced war veteran transferred from ground operations to Navigation by order of the Arbiter himself. Not too far away, over at Operations was Minor Nim 'Olloxnee, a fresh from boot camp pilot whose courage had made him the perfect warrior for his position as Operations Officer. Finally, at Communications and Sensors was Major K'gar 'Nonokee, rumored to have the best hearing and sight of his division.
'Gallamee was very satisfied with the level all three pilots were on, and the trio had more than proved themselves in the multitude of dogfights the Blind Fury had been engaged in. The Sangheili Ship Master stared at the holographic projection of the battle outside his ship.
Two of the human carriers unloaded a salvo of shots from their MAC guns, tearing apart the Jiralhanae-controlled battle cruiser Path of the Pure. Just as the humans would have celebrated, Covenant frigates emerged from behind the wreckage and fired their super-heated turrets. 'Gallamee squinted in the light of the ensuing explosions as both carriers took direct hits along their upper decks and began eternal drifts through space.
"Major 'Hanalee, bring us to course zero five by six four zero, ahead full" Ryu ordered.
"Aye sir" the Major replied.
"Minor 'Olloxnee, I want confirmation for when we have a shooting solution on the Divine Rage" 'Gallamee said.
The young Sangheili scrambled momentarily, a common impatient trait found amongst most Minors. Finally, he got control of his anxiousness. 'Gallamee feared one day that the Minor's inexperience would cost him his ship, or worse, his life. "Aye sir, we'll have a firing solution in five units" the Minor said. "Shall I charge our plasma coils?"
"Yes, divert power from our communications systems to speed up the process" Ryu replied.
The Loyalist frigate Divine Rage turned to face the oncoming threat that was the Blind Fury, charging its lateral lines and preparing for an all out assault. 'Gallamee watched as the enemy ship charged hastily towards them, evidence of the Jiralhanae Ship Master's impatience. It was a move that would cost him.
"Ready torpedo launchers A-7 through A-10!" Ryu yelled.
"Readying torpedoes sir!" 'Olloxnee announced.
"Minor, where is my shooting solution?" 'Gallamee asked in a growl.
"Sir, we have shooting solution in five, four . . ." the Minor began.
"Major 'Hanalee, turn to starboard side, use emergency thrusters if you have to, we need to fire before they do!" Ryu barked.
The Blind Fury's thrusters kicked on, swinging the destroyer around to its starboard side. Its lateral lines were glowing with plasma.
"Sir, we have a shooting solution!" 'Olloxnee yelled.
"Fire plasma turrets!" Ryu commanded.
Without hesitation the young Minor typed in the commands and 'Gallamee watched as ten boulder-sized comets of burning plasma shot toward the Divine Rage as it struggled to turn and prepare to return fire.
"Minor, what's the progress on those torpedoes?" 'Gallamee asked.
"Sir, all torpedoes are ready to fire on your command!" Nim answered.
"Fire A-7 through A-8 now!" the Ship Master ordered.
The Minor tapped a few on screen buttons and the ship rocked momentarily as two plasma torpedoes screamed out of their tubes, leaving trails of bright blue exhaust.
'Gallamee watched as his first salvo of plasma slammed into the shields of the Divine Rage, waves of fire washing over the barrier between it and the ship. Despite the damage, the shields held and the enemy frigate fired its plasma coils.
"Fire remaining torpedoes, then take evasive action!" the Ship Master bellowed.
The Navigation and Operations officers both yelled "Aye!" in unison.
Multiple torpedoes shot out just as the Blind Fury's emergency thrusters kicked on and the ship boosted out of its current place.
"Sir, enemy plasma is making course correction," Nim said, "impact with primary shields in six units!"
"Turn straight for the enemy fire Major!" 'Gallamee ordered.
The Major's face became very confused for a moment but he obeyed.
"We only make a bigger target exposing our side like this" the Ship Master explained. He watched as the first group of torpedoes exploded into the sides of the Divine Rage and bathed in the glorious feeling of watching its shields flicker out of existence.
Just then the enemy's fire caught the Blind Fury directly in front of her main deck. For a moment, all 'Gallamee could see on the holographic projector was an inferno of blue and orange fire. Then it simply vanished.
"Sir, shields remain at 26, second wave of torpedoes are due to strike within three seconds!" 'Olloxnee announced.
Divine Rage tried to turn and avoid the projectiles that had been fired at it, but to no avail. All but one of the torpedoes fired exploded on the port and aft sides of the ship, leaving trails of fire in their wake. The frigate was torn into multiple pieces as all of its decks caught fire and it began melting.
"Sir, enemy ship destroyed!" Nim yelled.
"Good work warriors, now prepare for departure, we're heading to Earth" the Ship Master ordered.
1003 Hours, November 14th, 2552
Sol System, Planet Earth
Air space above Pacific Ocean
"Screaming Falcon this is Burning Eagle, enemy Banshees are altering their course, estimated time for collision is four minutes" the SkyHawk pilot said.
"Roger that Burning Eagle, engage enemy formation" the Pelican pilot responded.
Brock listened as both SkyHawk fighters broke off of either side of the Pelican and boosted ahead. He hoped the UNSC fighters would survive the next ten seconds or they would all be consumed by plasma fire.
"Burning Eagle this is Adept Phoenix, maneuvering into Beta Formation now!" one of the SkyHawk pilots announced.
Both fighters broke apart and angled themselves in diagonal angles toward the Banshee formation. With the Banshees' weaponry all facing forward, the pilots hoped to neutralize them without even a scratch.
"Firing 50mm cannons!" Adept Phoenix yelled. Trails of high-caliber bullets spat out of the fighter's main cannons and slammed into the enemy ranks. Across the way, Burning Eagle did the same. A torrent of fire slammed into the Banshee formation from either side, trapping it in a wall of 50mm rounds. Or so they thought.
The Banshees activated their propulsion systems and climbed up with intricate spins, only three of them being destroyed as the rest evaded fire. Now the Covenant attack craft turned and returned fire, their twin plasma cannons lighting up the sky. The SkyHawks rolled to evade, but each took glancing blows.
The UNSC fighters tried to keep formation, but the enemy attacked in twin swarms, forcing them to break and run.
"Screaming Falcon, this is Burning Eagle, run for your lives!" the SkyHawk pilot yelled.
"Roger that Burning Eagle, God speed" the Pelican pilot responded.
Brock was impressed with the courage of the SkyHawk pilots, they were giving their lives to give the Pelican a few precious extra seconds to escape. But it just wasn't going to be enough.
Burning Eagle halted amid flight and turned around, firing both of its main cannons. An enemy Banshee was torn apart by the hail of gunfire and spiraled toward its doom. Four Fuel Rod Guns fired in unison and the SkyHawk pilot closed his eyes and hit the ejection button just before his fighter was engulfed in neon green flame.
Adept Phoenix watched his partner's fighter go up in flames and tried a different tactic, turning nose up and reaching for the stars. The enemy Banshees followed for as long as they could, firing wildly, but the UNSC fighter climbed high into the upper atmosphere. The Covenant Banshees gave up their chase, deciding the Pelican was more important and turned around.
"Sir, Banshees approaching on either side!" the co-pilot yelled.
"Fire anti-air defenses!" the pilot ordered.
The Pelican's twin 70mm cannons turned to either side and opened fire, the anti-armor rounds downing a pair of Banshees immediately. The rest of the Banshees split and swarmed the dropship, raining plasma on it from above. Brock looked up and saw the ceiling of the Pelican turning red from the extreme heat.
"Pilot, climb up, get us above those Banshees and we'll take care of the rest!" Brock ordered over the COM link.
"Climbing now, shall I open the cargo bay?" the pilot asked as Brock felt the Pelican turn for the sky. The dropship rocked as another volley of plasma slammed into its port side.
"Aye, Spartans, hold on, we're going to go for a quick drop!" Brock shouted.
The cargo bay of the Pelican slid open, immediately creating a powerful air vacuum as the dropship continued its ascension into the sky. The Spartans held on tightly to the safety bars that had been placed all around the cargo bay for situations just like this.
Brock stared out at the Banshees below them as they formed up into a wedge formation and boosted after the dropship. The lead Spartan was thankful that by activating their booster systems, the Banshees had to disable their weapons.
"Forrest, still got that C-12?" Brock asked over TEAMCOM.
"Yes sir" Forrest answered. The Spartan-III pulled out the package of explosives and waved them in the air momentarily.
"Toss it" Brock ordered.
Forrest nodded and chucked the package of wired explosives, then quickly grabbed the triggering device. The Spartan waited until the C-12 bounced off the nose of the first Banshee and then pressed the activation button. The package of explosives tore apart, morphing into a ball of destruction that consumed the lead four Banshees.
"Spartans, aim and jump at will!" Brock commanded, then let go of the safety bar and rocketed out of the Pelican's cargo bay. The rest of Team Scimitar followed after momentary hesitation.
Brock slammed into the front of the closest Banshee and immediately lost all the air in his lungs. Luckily, his SPI armor didn't crack, though it was sure to have a good sized dent after an impact like that. The Banshee cut off its thrusters systems and came to a sudden halt. Fighting his momentary lack of oxygen, Brock scrambled to grab hold of something as the momentum of the halt slid him across the attack craft.
The Spartan pushed himself off the side of the Banshee and grabbed onto one of its 'wings'. The craft lurched at the sudden shift in weight. Brock quickly found air and felt a sudden surge of energy as oxygen filled his body. The Banshee now struggled to right itself, leaning the opposite direction to avoid being drug down. Brock used the change of direction to his advantage, sliding down the wing and coming into contact with the craft's main body.
From there, the Spartan got a grip on the underside of the latch that protected the pilot. Using his augmented muscles, Brock managed to tear the cockpit open. The surprised Brute pilot had no time to react as Brock climbed on top of him, drew one of his sidearm Magnums and pumped two rounds into the alien's head. The Brutes now limp body slid out of the craft and fell back down into the atmosphere as Brock grabbed the controls.
"How goes it team?" Brock asked over TEAMCOM. Two green lights winked on immediately, followed closely by the last. Looking out the holographic projection of the airspace ahead of him, Brock watched as three Banshees turned on the remaining three enemy attack crafts and opened fire.
The Covenant pilots were much more experience with their craft though, easily evading fire and turning to finish them off. Brock activated his Banshee's boosting thrusters and shot to intercept the approaching enemies when twin streams of bullets caught them from behind.
Brock looked up and saw the Pelican and SkyHawk left from their original takeoff closing in on the remaining enemies. Pinned by two firing squads, the Banshees were blown out of the sky within seconds.
"Report status team" Brock said.
"I'm good sir" Rachelle said.
"A-okay buddy" was Forrest's response.
Myrin's acknowledgement light just winked green.
"Okay Adept Phoenix and Screaming Falcon, lead the way!" Brock yelled.
A/N: This chapter is by far my longest yet and I worked hard to get the extra 1,000 words out at the end (mainly because FFN wouldn't let me upload any documents). Hope you all enjoyed it and thanx to everyone who has reviewed.