"They'll launch Seraph fighters to engage the Pelican and the Longsword." Six said. "To do that, they'll have to drop that section of their shields. We get in, neutralize the crew, and we have a ship with Slipspace capability."
"Rock 'n' roll." Locklear said over the COM, as he was still inside of the Pelican looking for weapons. "Penetrate and annihilate!"
"If I may, Spartans." Haverson said. John and Six looked to him, attentive. "No one has ever captured a Covenant ship. The few times we've had one of them beaten and in a position to surrender, they've self-destructed."
"I appreciate your concern, Haverson," Six said. "And I agree, this plan is very risky. But, unless you or anyone else has a better plan, that's how it's going to go down."
"Hey, I'm in." Clancy said, stepping forward with his hand up. "I've been with the both of them in combat. They know exactly what they're doing. The Sergeant can attest to that as well."
Johnson nodded, but he was obviously still on the fence, along with the rest of the crew.
"The rest of you might want to get as enthusiastic. There's not exactly an alternative, and we need everyone to work together." John said. "Anything to add, Cortana?"
"Our exit orbit burn leaves us low on fuel and traveling at high velocity on an intercept course with the flagship." Cortana replied. "There are overlapping fields of enemy fire on our approach vector. We have to decelerate and dodge simultaneously. That will be tricky."
"Polaski will be on that." John turned to her. "Can you pilot a Longsword?"
"It's been a while, but yes, Master Chief. I am one hundred and ten percent on it." Polaski replied, a look in her eye that hadn't been there a moment ago.
"With all due respect to Miss Polaski's skill," Cortana said. "allow me to point out that I process information a million times faster and-"
"I need you to link with the flagship's intraship battlenet," John cut in. "When we're close you'll need to shut down its weapons. Jam its communications."
"Sending an unescorted lady ahead to do your dirty work?" Cortana asked, sighing. "I suppose I'm the only one who can."
"Lieutenant Haverson." Six said. "Program the Moray mines to release and attach onto the Pelican before we exit orbit. Set half for detonation on impact. Program the rest to detach and track any enemy ship on our approach. And Clancy, Dave..."
Six looked at the two marines, pointing at them. He noticed something. He didn't doubt Clancy's skill with an assault rifle, but he didn't know Dave's capabilities. Whether or not he would be a help or a burden was unclear. Oh, who was he kidding? No soldier was a burden.
Well, probably anyways.
"... Shoot everything that moves." Six finished.
They both nodded. "Sir, yes sir!" Dave said with a rigid salute.
Two crates and a duffel bag rose up to the access hatch, which Clancy and Dave helped pull up. Locklear pulled himself up after them. "That's it, Chief," He said. "An HE Magnum, two extra MA5Bs, one M90 Close Assault Shotgun, and a crate or so of frag grenades. About a dozen clips for the rifles—only a few shells for the shotgun, though."
"How much ammo for the magnum?" Six asked.
"Two clips, including the one in the gun." Locklear replied.
"Then I won't waste 'em." He said. The UNSC HE magnum was Six's second favorite weapon, the first being the DMR. He had years of experience with both, and they were his favorite because of their precision and power. It was easy to use, and, with only one arm, it was extremely convenient. He grabbed the magnum and located the extra clip, sliding both into his pistol holster. It wasn't a lot of firepower, so he grabbed five grenades out of the crate and attached them to his grenade belt, filling it nearly halfway. Sergeant Johnson grabbed an MA5B assault rifle, a few clips for it and and three grenades. John grabbed the shotgun, it's shells and two grenades, and then backed off to load up the gun. Clancy grabbed three assault rifle clips and a grenade, and Dave did the same.
"Orbital exit burn in ten seconds." Polaski said.
"Dog the rest of that and brace yourself." John told Locklear. "Things might get... bumpy."
Locklear filled the duffle bag with the remaining guns, grenades and ammo, zipped it up and put it over his shoulder, looking surprisingly unstrained. Six looked over the crew. Everyone looked like they had a personal grudge to settle, except for Haverson. Haverson instead had a calm look on his face, reading the situation like a book. He might not have been the most prepared, but he looked menacing in his own right.
"Releasing Pelican." Polaski said. The bottom of the Longsword shook as the hatch sealed and the Pelican detached. "Pelican away."
"Pelican autopilot programmed." Cortana said.
"Moray mines attached and armed." Haverson said.
Polaski said, "Exit burn in three... two... one..."
Six gritted his teeth.
"Burn!"
The Longsword's engine shot them forward and against the gravity of Basis. Six bent his knees and grabbed a nearby bar on the wall, the speed on the ship pushing against his stance. The Pelican pushed ahead of them and flew back into the field of alien metal and debris. The cruisers came into view. But they were no longer turned on their side, parallel to the moon. They were aiming right at the far side of Basis.
"They were waiting for us! Evasive maneuvers!" Six shouted. Polaski rolled the ship to the side, trying to lose the cruisers focus in the debris. Precision lasers soared towards them as Polaski nose-dived into the thick space junk.
"Pelican now two hundred kilometers in the lead." Polaski said. "They'll be busy."
She was right. The Pelican immediately drew fire from the cruisers as it streaked through and around the debris at high speed.
"Haverson, deploy Moray mines in three... Two..." Six said. He held up his finger at one, and closed it in a fist at zero.
"Mines away, plugging coordinates and trajectories into NAV." Haverson said. "Polaski, don't run them over."
"Roger." Polaski acknowledged. "Hang on tight, we're going in."
The Longsword entered the debris field, and the cruisers, including the flagship, began to fire in their direction. They knew that they were in the area, and they certainly weren't idiots, but the Covenant were going by luck to hit both ships, and so far they weren't coming up with anything. The less the Covies knew, the better.
"I hate this crap." Locklear muttered.
"What part of it?" Dave asked. "If you don't mind me asking."
"Pshh... all of it." Locklear replied. "Ships shooting each other, fire so thick you could walk on it to the LZ, and me sittin' here not able to do a damn thing but hang on and wonder when I'm going to get blown up."
Six could relate. Although he had experience in dozens of fields, space combat had to be one of his least favorites.
"Amen." Johnson said. "Now shut up and let the lady drive."
Johnson reached into a tactical hard-case and pulled out a chip, similar to the device that Cortana was stored on when she wasn't hooked up to something else. He inserted the chip into an unused slot on the dashboard and waited a moment. The Longsword filled with the sound of heavy beats and guitar riffs.
Six recognized the tune from Jenkin's recording back on Installation 04. It was flip music, which originated from the centuries old genre of heavy metal. Six didn't like it, but it wasn't bad. He preferred 20th century music himself, his favorite genre being what they called "Rock and Roll". To be honest, it was some of the only music he had ever heard, so that wasn't saying much, but the fact that the songs survived for 500 years was an accomplishment.
"Just shoot me now, Sarge, and get it over with." Locklear said in protest, covering his ears with his hands. "Don't torture me with that crap first."
"Suck it up, Corporal. This is a classic." Johnson replied.
"Yeah, well, so's a mercy killing."
Polaski continued to bob and weave through the debris with such precision that even Cortana was surprised. A laser nearly found its mark on the Longsword's wing, but Polaski dodged behind a chunk of alien metal, and the laser instead hit the debris.
"Show-off." Cortana muttered.
Six chuckled.
"Connecting to the Covenant battlenet." She announced. "Accessing their weapons systems. Stand by."
Ahead, the Pelican was still dodging. It went above the debris for a second, maybe less, and an enormous plasma torpedo found its mark. The ship, broken from constant fire of both lasers and plasma alike, burst into a grand explosion.
Polaski flinched.
"Well, Cortana..." Six said. "... We can confirm that they have that."
"No more fooling around." Polaski muttered. She hit the afterburners hard, and the Longsword reached a speed nearly twice as fast as the one that even the two Spartans on the vessel were straining to stand against.
The sudden increase in speed caused Six to lose balance and sprawl over the cryo-pods, grabbing on to one of the bars attached so he wouldn't hit the back of the ship. John, Dave and Sergeant Johnson weren't so lucky, and they flew to the aft of the ship without anything anchoring them down. Locklear was practically horizontal as he hung on to a piece of metal on the wall, the bag on his back pulling on him like a weight. Haverson sat at the base of the cryo-pods, their immense weight moving only slightly from the combination of Six's gravity pulling back and the speed of the ship. He got the best seat in the house, next to Polaski. Six could only imagine what her stomach felt like right then.
Wait a minute... where was Clancy? Six looked around the ship, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for someone?" Clancy yelled. Six looked up.
Clancy was on the ceiling, holding on by a support bar.
"There is now insufficient distance to decelerate and make a soft landing inside the flagship launch bay." Cortana said, concerned, but also with a hint of superiority. She knew that she likely would have made the landing without a sweat.
"Really?" Polaski replied, feigning surprise. "No wonder they call you 'smart' AIs. I never would known! How about I do the flying, and you concentrate on getting those weapons offline!"
"They're launching fighters!" Haverson warned, straining to point at the dashboard. Six could barely see the screen that he was pointing to, but he was correct. On the viewscreen, the Covenant flagship now filled half the display, and several Seraph units emerged from the massive cruiser. "I've still got active signals from twenty of the Moray mines, and their momentum is carrying them within range."
"Track... them!" Six said, grunting as he struggled to use his only arm to pull himself closer.
"On it. Tracking... if I manually control a few of them, then maybe..."
Small blue and purple explosions, the ignition of Covenant fuel cells, formed on the screen where the Seraph ships had been. Haverson laughed. "Bullseye!"
"Forward weapons systems and shields are disabled." Cortana said.
"The doors are open." Polaski announced. "We're invited in."
"It'd be damn impolite to say no!" Clancy said.
"Deceleration in three, two, one." Polaski said. At zero, she released the afterburner and pulled back on the main thrusters, causing Six to flip over the cryo-pods and lay on them like a bed. The three in the back, Dave, the Sergeant and John, fell, their balance against the wall changing. Clancy almost fell freely from the ceiling, but he was able to land safely in front of Haverson, who simply stood up and rubbed his face. They were back to leg straining speed. Still to fast to land safely.
"Collision imminent." Cortana warned.
"Don't let go just yet, people!" Polaski shouted. She cut the engines and hit the maneuvering thrusters, spinning the Longsword in a full one-eighty. She then ignited the thrusters to full power, slowing down the ship's acceleration to that of a slightly safer speed, but it was far from safe enough.
"Hang on - hang on!" Polaski muttered, adjusting the Longsword's trajectory and aiming it perfectly at the hangar.
"Bullseye." She said.
They entered the launch bay at such a high speed that when they hit the hangar floor, Johnson's flip music bugged out and stopped. Unggoy and Covenant Engineers rushed for cover as the Longsword scraped across the alien metal at three hundred meters per second. They slammed to a halt as they hit the hangar wall, crushing an Unggoy or two. Everyone on the ship, except for Polaski, who was still strapped into the pilot's seat, and Six, who was too tense to let go of the cryo-pod, was thrown towards the front of the Longsword.
After a moment of silence, light groaning could be head in all directions. Six still lay on the pods, his heart racing madly as Unggoy screamed outside. Everyone on the ship was silent.
"Status report?" Six asked, breathless.
"Good." John sighed. Lies.
"Unnnh." Someone else said.
Six stood up slowly, his side still pulsing. "Sorry about this, everyone, but we don't have time to wait around."
"He's right." John groaned. "Besides, that there...
...that was the easy part."