Halo: The Squad

by PingasMachine

AU staring at the ending of Halo 3. With the Human-Covenant war over, the Galaxy is returning to peace as the Galactic Alliance is formed to promote peace, technological advances and trade. In order to give them an edge, ONI has created a squad made up of some of the best warriors of multiple species that are loyal to the Alliance. This is Section 4's "The Squad".

17. Chapter 16:Battle of Installation 06 pt2

Well, guys… Thanks for all the reviews you guys game me. It really means a lot. Anyway, I'm not good with the opening A/N, so.. let's move on.

Chapter 16: The Battle for Installation 06, part 2

UNSC Spearhead of Dawn, Over Halo installation 06, February 20th, 2553.

The Spearhead was much more manoeuvrable than the average UNSC frigate. John found it extremely strange watching the ground of the Halo whizz by below them, while at the same time turn side to side as though they were in a longsword dodging enemy AA fire.

Cortana and Vala were in control of pretty much everything on the Spearhead, with Thel being the only member of the Squad who had a role on board the ship. The rest of the Squad could only sit tight and hope that they didn't get blown up.

"Six plasma torpedoes coming around at 214 by 043." Cortana reported.

"Engage Triteries, come about 75 port." Thel ordered.

The side thrusters fired, pulling the frigate around. The plasma torpedoes flew by the shields and came around again.

"Torpedoes are on return trajectory. The CCS Battlecruiser that fired is on our tail. They are charging energy projectors." Vala announced.

"Refocus energy shields to plasma impact zone, fire Bowmen pods one to six." Thel snapped, strapping himself to his chair. "All hands, Brace!"

John couldn't help for a moment but marvel at how quickly the Sangheili sprouted the commands. Then he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, strapping himself in as the chair creaked angrily against his weight.

The rest of the squad also sat down and strapped in. The plasma torpedoes slammed into the shields, giving a loud GONG sound. The Master Chief's chair snapped forward from the force of the impact and barely stayed in tact, groaning as it did so.

"Bowmen pods impact in three... Two... One... Impact." Cortana reported.

A red speck vanished from the holograph.

"Target destroyed. Shields down to sixty-three percent."

"Very well." Thel sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Let's get out of here."

"We can't, unfortunately. The Covenant station is destroying any ships that attempt to leave. That's why the flood are still fighting around the Halo. They're winning a lot of the ground below, though." Cortana informed them.

There was silence in the bridge for a few seconds. John turned back to watch the holographic display of the battle over the Halo; tiny red specks travelled between the larger spots representing ships. Occasionally, a spot disappeared completely.

"A destroyer bearing signs of infection and two battlecruisers are closing on our vector." Vala informed them.

"Get us out of their trajectory, evasive 67 by 29." Thel grumbled.

The side thrusters ignited, and the Halo below began to fill the viewscreen. The Spartan, watching the holographic display, noting several small pinpricks moving in on the Spearhead from a rising Forerunner ship on the ring.

"We've got a lot of very small contacts coming in from the forerunner ship." John informed them.

Thel paused.

"What are they?" He asked.

"Scanning." Cortana replied. "They seem to be... Sentinels! Sentinels of various classes closing in on 243 by 59."

"Bring AA online, focus fire!" Thel spat, spittle flying from his jaws.

The Sangheili seemed to notice this, and swallowed several times before giving his next order. The AAs opened up with a crackle. Streaks of yellow and white flashed; and several Sentinels exploded, but enough remained for them to maintain a V formation, and execute an attack run.

Their yellow beams and a few small explosives detonated against the Spearhead's shields. No change. Zhab snorted from somewhere behind John. He, personally, found the whole attack very anticlimactic.

The front viewscreen was filled by the landscape of the Halo below. A covenant destroyer streaked below, pursued by two battlecruisers.

"The battlecruisers are splitting up. One for the destroyer, one for us." Cortana remarked.

"Too bad for them." Zhab snorted.

Thel parted his jaws in a grin of agreement.

"Bring us down to half a kilometer over the atmosphere. Fire Bowmen pods 7 to 9."

The pods fired and streaked towards the battlecruiser. The ship lunged to the right, avoiding half of the payload fired at it. The other half slammed into the front of its hull.

"We're over atmosphere." Vala reported.

The battlecruiser turned back over and charged its plasma torpedo launchers. Red lights winked to life across the covenant ship.

Ahead of them, the destroyer took several impacts, pulled back up, and narrowly streaked by over the Spearhead.

"That's close." Jimaenius growled slightly.

The seconds battlecruiser flew by overhead as well, and then fired at the destroyer. Their persuing battlecruiser also fired, but at them.

"Evasive, pull back, spin 20 degrees per second." Thel ordered.

The torpedoes sped towards them, but Cortana hit the undercarriage's main emergency booster. The torpedoes whizzed by and fell into the Halo's thicker atmosphere, where they were torn apart.

"Nuclear missiles are now online."

The Spartan blinked; he'd forgotten they even had nukes in the first place.

"Fire pods 20 to 24." Thel ordered, slamming his hand into the armrest of his chair.

The cruiser powered straight underneath the frigate, spun right beneath them, and took all the pods straight in the midsection. It exploded violently, sending the debris falling into the planet's atmosphere.

"Target destroyed." Cortana announced. "The destroyer and battlecruiser have exited range."

"Okay... Any thing else to worry about now?" Jimaenius asked, resignedly.

The Master chief scanned the holograph. There were no ships within the immediate range.

"Nothing else." He announced.

"What's going on the Halo?" Thel asked.

"The flood has spread extremely quickly; 35% surface coverage now." Vala announced.

There was silence in the bridge.

"Argal." Thel snarled. "Cortana, Vala, get a NOVA class nuke ready."

"Aye." Cortana replied. "Nova ready in one minute thirt-"

"Slipspace rupture dead ahead!" Vala suddenly shouted.

A flash of blue lit up space dead ahead. From the swirling portal, a huge shape emerged; it was like a sword, vertically pointing down. From its sides were two long almost hooklike smaller swords. (The Forerunner Dreadnought from Halo Wars if I'm not mistaken)

It did not approach. Instead, it seemed to effortlessly be matching pace with them, staying the same distance away.

"We're receiving a hail from the ship." Cortana announced.

"Patch it through." The Sangheili hissed.

"Ah! rEclAimeR! SAnghEiLi! I hAvE FouNd yOU!" Barrier voice came over the speakers.

He sounded ecstatic, as though finding them two was his lifelong goal, and he'd finally achieved it. Howvere, his rampancy was belied by his voice breaking as he said the words.

Several lights winked on across the Forerunner ship.

"They're charging weapons!" Cortana warned.

I+-+-+I

UNSC Infinity, somewhere in slipspace, Bridge, February 20th, 2553.

Margaret Parangosky had so far enjoyed her stay on Infinity. However, she hadn't seen the new Flagship of humanity in action yet. Hopefully it would turn out as well as shed told it would be. And how better to test her than against a Covenant fleet at a Halo.

"Arrival at Halo in five seconds!" Someone yelled from across the bridge.

Infinity had no dedicated AI yet, so everything except for really complicated mathematics was done manually in the bridge. Dumb AIs could still handle things such as firing solutions and impact coordination. In many ways, Parangosky rather preferred that. Just one ship and her crew, the ship a well-oiled machine, and the crew the cogs.

"4… 3…"

"Bring all ships in fleet to red alert. We are going into most likely hostile territory. Arm all weapons. Stand by to fire." Hood ordered.

"2… 1…"

Stars suddenly winked to life around the Infinity and Parangosky felt her gut settle as the fleet dropped into realspace. Ahead, a huge ring drifted above a huge gas giant.

"Captain!" Sensors yelled. "We have multiple contacts and fire being exchanged. It's full on war!"

Parangosky could make out explosions of plasma in the distance, along with ships darting across space. However, the most noticeable thing was definitely the huge covenant station that drifted near the center of the ring.

"Get a reading on the Communications being exchanged around both fleets. I want to know who's shooting and why." Parangosky said, as firmly as she could.

"Right away, admiral!" Someone called out.

"We've picked up a friendly ship in the dead center of the combat. It's the UNSC Spearhead of Dawn!" Another voice called from across the room.

There were a few grunts from around the room; but no one recognized the ship's name. Hell, Parangosky barely knew anything about it. All she knew was that it was Admiral Walker's ship, and it contained his top squad. Parangosky hated being in the dark. Usually it was her who gave the traces of secrets, not others. She'd forgotten the last time that it had been that way.

"Ping that ship, get her up for me." Captain Del Rio ordered. "I want all the info she has."

"Stand by, deploy aggressively." Hood ordered to the entire fleet.

"Ten Covenant ships just grouped up and are headed directly towards the fleet on an attack vector. They have launched fighters and are charging plasma weaponry." Cme a shout from across the bridge.

"All ships, launch your own fighters, counter those bogeys incoming. All ships lock missiles and torpedoes on the advancing covenant fleet." Parangosky ordered.

"We've got a visual on the Spearhead."

"Onscreen." Hood ordered.

The image of a UNSC frigate appeared on the main screen. It was a version Parangosky had never seen before. Apparently, Walker was keeping more secrets than she taught. She'd have to step up her own Sector's security.

The frigate moved quickly, rapidly firing plasma torpedoes, or those new BOWMEN Pods that were replacing the ARCHER Pods, from its sides. Something huge pursued it. The view screen moved to keep focus on the frigate, leaving the ship behind a blur.

"Pause it." Parangosky ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

The frigate froze in place, the huge ship occupying the corner of the screen.

"What," Parangosky asked, "Is that?"

There was silence for a second.

"Approaching ships closing to twelve thousand kilometers." Someone announced.

"Fire at will." Hood quickly replied.

The torpedoes and missiles streaked into space, forming that "sea" of plasma that the UNSC had once feared so much.

"Admiral?" Someone asked.

"Yes?" Both her and Hood answered.

"The ship in pursuit seems to be a Forerunner ship; but it matches nothing in our records. I'm reading huge energy buildups in various locations across the hull; I assume that the Forerunner ship is charging weapons."

Parangosky bit her lip. "Not good." She muttered.

"Weapon impact in five seconds!" Another shout joined the bustle of the Bridge.

Parangosky had found this battle chaotic already, and they hadn't even engaged. The plasma weapons closed on the covenant fleet and slammed home. Nine bright flashes of light came to life on the distance. The bridge fell silent for a few seconds.

"Nine ships destroyed, sir." Someone reported. "We've got one ship that survived emerging from the debris."

The small cruiser was slightly damaged, but still discharged a swarm of six plasma torpedoes. Then a late plasma torpedo slammed into the center of the cruiser, sending it spinning away before being ripped in half by and explosion. Someone laughed.

The offending ship's plasma torpedoes flew through space, before detonating against the shields of the GA fleet. No ships destroyed.

"Admirals! The covenant station is locking weapons on us!"

"Target their energy charge points. All ships, coordinate fire to arrive at the same time." Hood ordered.

"Aye, sir. All ships standing by."

"Fire." Hood sighed.

The covenant ships in the GA fleet fired first; plasma torpedoes arced through space, followed by light MAC rounds from the UNSC ships; finally followed by the Infinity's heavy SMACs.

At once, the station was lit by several bright flashes across its hull.

"Target has suffered heavy damage along the side facing us."

Parangosky nodded her head almost involuntarily; shed forgotten what active battle felt like. She did it anyway; it was a neat way of presenting relatability to the crew. It would make it easier to get any of them on side, if she needed to.

"We are ten thousand kilometers from the battle, entering combat zone."

The Infinity turned to the side to avoid the debris of the ships that had been already destroyed.

"Sir? Ma'am? We've intercepted the interfleet COMs. It seems that some of the fleet... Has been infected by the flood from the ring."

The bridge fell silent once again.

"That explains the presence of the Forerunner ships." Hood finally muttered. "They must be attempting containment."

"Surface scans of the Halo have revealed that there is a large Flood infection in several sections of the ring."

Parangosky glanced over at Hood. His usually calm, collected demeanor was mostly gone, replaced with the grim, almost resigned look that many UNSC commanders had taken on during the war.

"That's not good." Hood sighed, leaning heavily against a railing in the bridge.

"Nine thousand, five hundred kilometers from battle center." Someone called out.

"Two Forerunner ships are locking on the fleet, and are moving an attack interception course." Sensors suddenly reported.

Parangosky turned to the central holotable aboard Infinity, which was now projecting a display of the battle, and now the Forerunner ships. They seemed to be almost sword shaped; Long, thin, and pointed at the bottom. They had smaller; thinner swords like extruding from the side.

Two covenant ships on the battlefield holograph turned towards the fleet. Several GA ships fired. The covenant ships winked out of existence.

I+-+-+I

Unknown Star system, deep space, February 20th, 2553.

Kursnow drifted outside a huge hole in his cruiser. Beside him drifted his chief engineer.

"How long will it take to fix?" He asked, sounding irritated.

"Well, chieftain, Our estimates would put it at six to eight hours." The engineer paused, sounding concerned. "The stream containers were fried by the plasma impact. We have to seal up the breach and then refit the circuitry. Until then, our ship isn't moving."

Kursnow sighed. "How long until you can start?"

"I... Cannot say, Chieftain. We still have to finish up with the underside plasma turret and the main projector."

He gestured to the underside of the cruiser in front of them. The gesture sent the Jiralhanae into a spin. He grumbled something and fired his thrusters to stabilise himself.

The hole in front of them was ten meters long and five meters high. Two decks were exposed by the burnt and twisted metal. Kursnow spun around and headed towards the phantom hovering several meters away. The engineer sighed and followed him. The dropship had its doors wide open and exposed to space. The two Brutes flew into bay. Both sets of doors closed and there was a hiss as the atmosphere repressurised.

Kursnow removed his helmet. "Take us back."

He stepped up into the cockpit and watched as the phantom headed back to its home cruiser. They passed over the huge city-like structures on the central rear of the cruiser, whizzing by underneath the two bars that were attached over the cluster of structures.

The pilot pulled back the main stick and brought the phantom back, diving under the long top section and into the hangar bay.

Kursnow watched his crew chaotically milled about the hangar bay. Another day wasted.

Patience. Patience.

Who doesn't love a good hunt, after all?

I+-+-+I

UNSC Spearhead of Dawn, Somewhere over Halo installation 06, February 20th 2553.

Zhab knew that if he got out of this alive, he would have a great story to tell his bartender. Provided he actually managed to get to Eayn afterwards. Provided the bar was still standing back on the planet.

The ship creaked as it pulled a hard right and accelerated upwards to avoid a blast from the Forerunner ship. It did so so quickly that for a second, the counter-gravity fields were unable to compensate for the sudden change.

He was momentarily glued to his seat.

"BOWMEN pod capacity down to fifteen percent." The human AI called.

"These things are bloody invincible." Jimaenius snarled from his seat.

"Cease fire Cortana." The shipmaster sighed. "No need to waste ammo."

The ship jerked again as the Forerunner ship fired again, scoring a direct hit to the shields.

"Shields down to thirty two percent. Integrity will be compromised at twenty percent." The Sangheili AI affirmed.

The shipmaster snarled angrily.

"It seems that its hull is too strong."

The Spearhead took another impact from the Forerunner ship's beam.

"I have you now!" The forerunner machine broke out of the jamming spectrum they'd placed on his messages and began shouting in his garbled voice again. "You will burn in a f-"

"Isolate him and cut him off." The Sangheili ordered angrily.

"Done." The monitor's voice was squelched mid-sentence.

Zhab was thinking.

"That ship has to have some kind of weak point." He thought allowed.

"It's possible that it doesn't;" The human AI countered immediately. "The Forerunners had been building ships for millennia. It's very possible they perfected the design. After all, why have a machine that has an exposed weak point guard their last hope?"

Zhab growled and settled back into his chair, his argument defeated.

"The SMAC is fully charged." The Sangheili AI announced.

The Spartan's head suddenly jerked slightly.

"Perhaps the MAC will make a difference." He said slowly.

"I doubt it." Zhab replied.

"Perhaps..." The Sangheili said. "It packs more punch than a single BOWMEN pod."

He spun his chair towards the holotable, which now displayed a large model of the forerunner ship.

"Perhaps if we go for the extremities on the side..."

"There is a magnetic current holding them in place. It deflects any nearby BOWMEN shots." The human AI replied.

An idea came to Zhab.

"Could we use the MAC to separate the two? If we hit the wing on the inside, it could be forced out of the magnetic range." He proposed.

The other members of the Squad stared at him silently. The other two who were present but weren't a part of their squad did the same, but that was no surprise; They'd been doing that for the whole battle anyway.

"... That may work." The Human concluded.

"It's the best we've got." The Shipmaster grunted.

He turned to face the front viewscreen.

"Bring us up, cut power and line us up as they pass. Fire when ready." He ordered in a serious, deadpan tone.

"Aye." The human AI answered. "Hold on tight, boys and girls."

The ship's engines roared loudly for two seconds and then shut off completely. The artificial gravity fluctuated for a second, then rectified. The Spearhead rose over the Forerunner ship as it sped by underneath them. It began to turn to face them, still maintaining its speed, going around in a wide arc.

The maneuvering thrusters fired. The bow of the ship aligned.

"Fire." The Sangheili growled quietly.

The ships moved in silence for a second, and then the hull gave a faint thud. A streak of white light streaked away through space and intercepted the Forerunner ship, slamming into the left "wing" of the ship. There was another, albeit more faint flash of white.

The wing was torn clean from the central structure and flew out into space. The forerunner ship spun violently as well. As it did, Zhab spotted an opening where the wing had been prior.

"There!" He gasped. "An opening!"

The Sangheili did not hesitate. "Fire at will!"

The Spearhead spat dozens of BOWMEN pods at the opening. They curved around and dive into the hull as the frigate passed. They vanished, but then a few flashes came from the opening.

"I'm detecting several unbalances in the Forerunner ship's reactor." The human AI warned. "The ship appears to be about to implode."

"Get us out of range."

The ship's engines roared and the ship accelerated away. Behind them, the forerunner ship shrunk and exploded immediately after.

"Forerunner ship destroyed." The Sangheili AI confirmed.

"Well done." The Sangheili sounded relieved. "Good idea."

Zhab's pride inflated a notch.

"Thanks." He grinned.

"How long until we can contact that GA fleet?" The human asked.

"Long range COMs are down, as you know, but we need to get within five thousand kilometers to be able to use the short range ones." The human AI replied. "Our long range receiver is damaged, so we can't receive anything they're sending us, if anything."

"Get us into range, then." The shipmaster growled.

The engines changed in pitch; and the Spearhead brought its nose up.

"On course for GA fleet. Arrival in twelve minutes; in COM range in t- Concentrated energy flare detected on 23 degrees on the Halo." The AI suddenly paused and alerted them.

The holotable changed to a view of the whole Halo ring. A huge red pulse emanated from a section of it. A line from space impacted into the ground. It zoomed up, revealing another Forerunner ship; the same kind in fact; except this one was surrounded by several smaller versions of its wings. They were interconnected by several lines of beams; all aligned in a circle formation, with the larger Forerunner ship in the center. (Halo legends part 1, the flood invasion of the Forerunner Empire shows this configuration)

"What's it doing?" Jimaenius asked.

"It seems to be firing a concentrated beam at the Halo's surface. It must be attempting to wipe out the infection."

At that moment, the monitor burst onto the COMs again, although, this time he didn't seem to be talking directly to them, more just broadcasting to everybody nearby.

"We will no- I will not- heh heh heh- stand for this, Parasite. Shaping sickness. I name you plague, destroyer, unspeakable, the evilest thing to exist, defiler! Now I, I will destroy you, Burn your final Essence, DO, WHAT THE FORERUNNERS COULD NOT!" Screamed the insane machine.

He who talks the highest falls the smallest.

Zhab didn't know where the voice came from. He didn't hear it, He more... Felt it. It was inside his head. It was like a thought. A thought that was not his. The voice was powerful and deep. It felt old; older than anything Zhab knew of. And it terrified him.

I+-+-+I

UNSC Spearhead of Dawn, Somewhere over installation 06, Febraury 20th, 2553.

Vala felt helpless. Cortana single-handedly flew the Spearhead, leaving her with nothing to do. So she watched the battle.

There were around thirty covenant ships left, all fighting around the Covenant station. The GA fleet was about to be intercepted by two Forerunner ships. They had no idea what the weak spot of the ship was.

They were still out of COM range by five hundred kilometers. The GA fleet opened fire. Plasma torpedoes and MACs streaked through space and smashed into the ship. It was thrown backwards by the sheer force of the weapons, but was undamaged. The second ship passed by and fired two beams at the GA fleet. It hit one frigate and a battlecruiser. The battlecruiser spun away, stunned, while the frigate was punctured through the upper and undercarriage, destroying the MAC. The frigate continued firing ARCHER pods though, unperturbed by the damage.

The fleet opened fire on the ship, but it was undamaged by the plasma torpedoes and BOWMEN pods. It charged up its weapons again. The second cruiser fell into position beside it and began to do the same.

They entered COM range. Vala was first to send a message as they barraged by messages from the GA fleet.

"This is the AI Vala of the UNSC Spearhead of Dawn. The Forerunner ships have only one weakness. Target this point." She sent a diagram showing how the SMAC ripped the Forerunner ship open.

"We read you, Spearhead of D... Target the point!" Someone from the lead ship; Infinity, responded.

"It's Lord Hood!" Cortana said in the bridge.

Vala didn't recall the name, but had an effect on Thel and John. They paused briefly and looked at each other.

"What's our SMAC charge?" Thel asked.

Vala checked. "16%"

The GA fleet fired at the second Forerunner ship. The plasma torpedoes and BOWMEN pods were deflected away from the target; but the MACs hit home. The wing of the ship was pushed to the limit, but was caught and jammed in the ship.

The Infinity fired its SMACs. The wing was ripped clean from the ship.

"Point exposed!" Hood announced. "Fire at will!"

The plasma torpedoes and BOWMEN pods smashed into the exposed hole. Flashes emanated from the hole, and the ancient warship detonated. The second Forerunner ship fired. The stricken battlecruiser was smashed apart by the beams and exploded.

From another point on the ring, the last ship fired at the Halo ring, giving off a huge burst of energy and radiation. The monitor screamed angrily over the COMs again.

"You will not have this ring, It is mine, It has always been, and it will always be!"

The Spearhead fired a volley of BOWMEN pods at the remaining Forerunner ship. This made no impression on the behemoth, but it turned around and charged.

"Right," Cortana muttered. "We've got their attention, now what?"

"SMAC?" Thel asked, scratching his left bottom jaw somewhat nervously.

"23%" Cortana replied.

"Shields?"

"30%"

The Foreunner ship's weapons charged, glowing against the hull.

The GA fleet fired. They had reloaded, MACs slammed against the Forerunner hull once again. No damage, but the ship was sent spinning by the Spearhead. It fired. All shots missed.

Cortana hit the binaries and pulled under the hull of the nearest ship, the Infinity, The second Forerunner ship came around quickly, almost angrily. It charged its weapons again. The GA sent a swarm of plasma torpedoes and BOWMEN pods towards the ship. It flew through the explosion unharmed.

It fired its weapons. The beams cut through space, two smashing straight through a marathon class cruiser. The cruisers middle seemed to liquefy as it exploded, and the cruiser collapsed, broken into two halves.

The other two beams dashed against the Infinity. The battleship didn't even flinch.

"Main batteries to seventy five percent!" Someone yelled from the Infinity.

The Forerunner ship's weapons lit up again, gradually getting brighter and brighter...

The Spearhead lined itself up behind the Infinity, using her hulk as another shield. The Forerunner ship fired again. A covenant destroyer's main hull was cut apart. The ship spun away, broken.

"Fire MACs!" Lord Hood suddenly ordered.

The UNSC GA ships fired. The Infinity fired her main batteries. The heavy MACs of the Infinity were first arrive, smashing into the Forerunner ship's wing and tearing it off. The UNSC MAC payload arrived almost immediately afterwards. The rounds sent the ship flying backwards, stunned.

The ancient ship spun through space for several seconds, then a well-placed energy projector shot hit home, driving straight through the hole in the side of the Forerunner ship.

It exploded into several large fragments. The GA fleet COM was silent for several seconds.

"Both Forerunner ships have been destroyed." An AI announced.

Vala initiated a long range scan and once again identified the last Forerunner ship hovering over the ring. It fired at the ring again. There was a brief flash from the struck portion of the Halo.

Once again, the monitor screamed in laughter.

"Burn, Parasite. Burn and begone from my ring!" He screamed.

No. Not this time. Not again.

The Gravemind's voice reverberated through the COMs. The source was untraceable. It was almost like it wasn't broadcasted. But that was impossible. Or was it?... For a second, Vala was stuck in a blank loop for a second.

The GA fleet argued amount at themselves whether or not to engage the monitors bombardment formation. Barrier turned his ships towards the covenant station. The first shot smashed straight through it, but the second shot narrowly missed the lower pillar second as it accelerated.

A slipspace rupture tore open space and the station jumped to slipspace. With the station gone, there were only seven non-GA covenant ships were left. The monitor's huge formation turned towards them and fired. A mostly undamaged Covenant destroyer exploded from the impact and went spiralling down towards the ring below.

It fired again. Another ship was destroyed.

The remaining five were still fighting, and their manoeuvring brought them into... The formation fired. Three ships were struck straight through by the shot. They all exploded in sequence.

The other two ships turned and fled, but the monitor was prepared from this. Two smaller ships separated from the formation quickly and peeled after the two escaping ships. They smashed through the shielded ships, and the pair detonated at almost the same second. The smaller Forerunner ships pulled back to the formation and took their places.

"Space above ring cleared to seventy-five percent. Targets acquired. My ring will be mine and mine alone, once again!" He laughed.

"Focus fire!" Hood ordered, and the GA fleet locked targets.

Cortana hit the Spearhead's top thrusters and pulled them out of the shadow of Infinity. They aligned their weapons as the Forerunner turret formation turned to face them.

They fired. MACs and plasma torpedoes whizzed through space, slamming against the different ships of the formation. Many ships were driven backwards or were sent spinning by the force of the rounds. Infinity and the Spearhead fired last; they were aiming for the central ship in the formation, hoping to expose a hole under the wing of the ship. The rounds impacted, but the monitor had learned from this tactic, and had shut his wings as tightly as he could against the main hull. As it was, the SMAC shots failed to knock the wings out of their housing, but managed to get them completely stuck in sides of the Forerunner ship. As the plasma torpedoes closed in, a few ship from the formation glowed and executed a pinpoint slipspace jump, arriving less than a hundred kilometers from the fleet. One of the smaller focusing ships lunged forward, smashing into the hull of a destroyer. The ship's reactor immediately exploded, and the smaller ship withdrew, but was pounded by several volleys of BOWMEN pods and plasma torpedoes, many of which had turned around and targeted the ships again.

"Evasive!" Came a cry from several ships over the interfleet COM.

The GA fleet turned away from the formation in from of them. Cortana sent full power to the starboard triterries, pulling them away from the formation dead ahead, bearing port. Infinity pulled to the other side as well. Barrier's ship fired. The beams smashed through a covenant corvette.

The unshielded hull was cut apart amidst several explosions.

Infinity released a huge volley from her port side. This smashed into one of the nearby smaller ships. The ship gave several small explosions across its hull and fell silent.

Barrier screamed in anger again and fired. These shots lashed across the Infinity but failed to penetrate the shields. Two battlecruisers and the ten strident class frigates fired fired a mixture of ventral beams and MACs straight at the more dented looking of the wings. The wings was smashed off and spun away slowly. A sea of plasma torpedoes and BOWMEN pods converged on the opening.

"No, NO, NO!" Barrier screamed again. "I WILL DEFEND MY RING! YOU WILL NOT HAVE IT! IT IS MINE! MY GIFT!"

He rapidly opened fire with all his beams. They broke plasma torpedoes apart on impact. For a second, it seemed as though the monitor would succeed in his goal of repelling the swarm, but the sheer number of torpedoes overwhelmed the defences.

The weapons made their way into the hole in the ship's side, destroying the internals.

"NO! NO! NOOOAHHHHHHH!" Screamed Barrier.

His ship detonated in a blinding flash of light. His COMs fell silent for the last time.

The GA fleet now drifted alone above the Halo. The surface was largely blackened and smashed apart by Barrier's weapons.

I+-+-+I

Well, here ends the Installation 06 arc of this story. But it's not over yet. Not by a long shot. There's plenty of questions that have to be answered, except for one that won't be.

Cya next time, and in the meantime, R&R.