A/N; Got this up sooner than expected, enjoy!
Disclaimer; i own nothing
Thanks to all that wished me a happy B-day and a merry Christmas
Philip Walters sat on the grass next to the small stone protrusion, there were hundreds of them organised into neat rows and columns and each one had a different engraving on it and the one he was sat next to simply read; Rear Admiral John Newman; A leader and a father. His mum had already divorced his dad and remarried by the time of his death some twenty years ago. His father always made the effort to see him when he could but… the life of a Naval Officer is a busy one and it left very little time for family.
"So… Hey dad, it's been a while since I last came to see you. Sorry about that but i-uhh I got involved in a situation a little over a year ago and my lord you not believe what I had to do… actually you probably do, I mean after all you served during the 'Great war', hell you met the Admiral Cole, but the brass sorta just gave me a medal and a promotion and told me not to play hero too much." Philip paused as if waiting for his father to say something but he was greeted with silence,
"I got my own ship now, I haven't seen her yet though, apparently she's a real beauty, from the specs I've seen she's fast, agile and has a proper knockout punch but… I-I don't know… I mean I'm not even thirty yet and I have my own ship, yeah I know I turn thirty next month but still, most officers aren't even thirty five when they get their own ship, am I really ready for this? I'm trying not to think about it too much." Philip took yet another breath before continuing,
"Speaking of girls with a knockout punch… I met someone, she's an absolute badass, seriously I saw her K.O a Marine that got a bit too touchy feely, poor kid never knew what hit him. But I asked her out, granted I was protecting my nuts the entire time but I still asked and to my surprise she said yes. Can you believe it… me, I got a date? I know crazy huh? But ahh… she's a mechanic and a damn good one. You would've liked her; I mean I asked her out nearly a year ago now and everything's going all right for once." Philip explained with a smile on his face, he looked at his watch to see that he would have to go now if he were to make to the spaceport on time,
"I gotta go now dad, I'll come back to see you soon I promise, just… wish me luck so I don't fuck up major out there." Philip said before getting up to leave, he cast one last look at his father's grave before leaving.
"No! Don't go daddy!" the little girl cried out, David sighed at the sight of the little five year old girl clinging to his leg begging him not to leave,
"Meredith, I have to go, you know this, daddy has to go fight the bad guys, to protect you and mummy," David really hated leaving home, leaving his wife and daughter to go fight Insurrectionists, people who would happily bomb a school if given the chance, they feel they have the right to be free of the United Earth Government and the UNSC because the UNSC were busy saving their ungrateful asses.
"I don't want you to go!" Meredith started crying and clung even tighter to his leg,
"Emilie! I could use a hand here!" David called out to his wife, he might not be able to deal with a crying five year old but his wife could,
"Nah-ah, you have to deal with all by yourself mister hard core ODST," was the reply from the doorway into their kitchen,
"Oh come on! That's not fair! You know I can't say no to Meredith!" David whined as his daughter clung even tighter to his leg, starting to cut off the blood supply to his foot,
"Tough, you're the one that's leaving, you deal with her, she got her stubbornness from you, you know," David groaned at his wifes reply,
"Right okay come her munchkin," David reached down and had to forcibly remove her from his leg, he picked the small child up whom then immediately threw her arms around his neck all the while still begging him not to leave her,
"Meredith," David tried to get her attention, "Meredith look at me sweetie," he tried again with a little bit more success, her large soft brown eyes looked at him, they glimmered from the light reflecting off of the tears in her eyes, "Look, sweetie, you know I don't want to leave you but I have to go, daddy's got an important mission to do," David tried to tell her but she just started crying again,
"Look, how about when I get back we go on a nice little holiday together, just you, mummy and I, huh, how does that sound, I'll take you somewhere, anywhere you want to go, you find the place and I'll organise it, okay?" David tried bargaining with her,
"Promise?" she asked in a small, delicate voice,
"Pinkie promise," David held out his smallest finger for her, she wrapped her little finger round his,
"Just, come home daddy," she whispered softly, barely loud enough for him to hear,
"I will and then I'll take you on that holiday I promised," David whispered back, he looked up to see his wife stood by the kitchen door with a smile on her face, a small sad smile that showed she understood that he was leaving, David gave Meredith a tight hug before setting her down again and picking up his bags, he walked over to Emilie and held her tight,
"I don't want to go, you know, I'm thinking of getting a security posting here on Earth, somewhere nice and safe," he told her,
"Good, I'd kick your arse if you decided to stay out in the front lines," she told him,
"I know." He kissed her before letting go; he lent down and kissed his daughter, his precious little angel, before heading towards the door and leaving. Leaving his daughter and wife as he went to go fight on a world far away from home against an enemy he didn't know existed.
Orbit over Palaven, heart of the joint fleet, Flagship Indomitable, CIC, 2154 Citadel Standard
General Septimus Oraka was a distinguished officer within the Hierarchy, he had fought Krogan, Batarians, pirates and all sorts of other undesirables that the galaxy had thrown at him and he always came out on top. That was why he was chosen to lead the joint fleet against the Batarians and that bastard Edan; he personally looked forward to watching Edan's flagship burn.
The fleet was still gathering around his ship, the Indomitable, one of the Hierarchy's most powerful Dreadnoughts ever put into service, at 1.2 km long she was the second largest ship in the known galaxy and has the most powerful main gun ever created by Turians, it had one of the most sophisticated GARDIAN laser suites available and had enough broadside guns to rival a small fleet.
One of the Ensigns walked up to him to hand him a data-pad, he looked at the information displayed before letting out a satisfied grunt,
"Have all ships form up on the Indomitable and to prepare for immediate departure." He ordered, a figure walked up to him and stood next him,
"Once more unto the breach," the Turian next him said, Septimus nodded in agreement,
"Indeed it is Desolas, two hundred ships to take out that bastard Edan, he should be honoured, this many ships in one battle hasn't been seen since the Krogan Rebellions," Septimus replied,
"Yes, what he did was… disgusting, and now he's gone and enslaved a new race, will his madness ever end?" Desolas queried,
"I fear that his madness won't end until either he's dead or when the Batarians are the number one species in the galaxy, and you know which one would be more preferable." Septimus replied sadly.
UNSC Orbital Defence Ring, Reach, Epsilon Eridani, August 20th 2587
Commander Philip Walter stood by one of many observation windows on the massive orbital ring over Reach, it was still under construction and wasn't due to finish until the turn of the century, the ring itself wrapped all the way around the planet, millions of missile pods, point defence guns, anti-fighter missile pods, anti-ship weapons ranging from small mass drivers to the large MK7 Super Mass Accelerator Cannons, in theory it would prevent Reach from falling to enemy hands again, but it was exactly that, a theory. Other than being a massive weapons platform it acted as the primary naval yard, while the side facing away from the planet was made up of incredibly thick armour plating and weapon systems the side facing the planet was in essence a large ship building facility.
The observation window he was looking through was mostly obstructed by deadly angular form the Inheritance Class Destroyer known as the Sevenfold, he could just about see one of the massive towers that would act as a massive shield, protecting the planet from any hostile invaders. He could see the name plate of the ship that was his. He had his own ship, it was a great responsibility he wasn't sure he was ready for, but when an Admiral tells you that you can do it, it's a confidence boost.
He heard the sound of foot steps behind him but he didn't bother to turn around until he heard Lasky's old, withered voice,
"She's a beauty isn't she?" the Admiral asked as he came to a stop next the Commander,
"Yeah she is, I just don't understand why I'm in charge of her," Philip replied softly, not expecting a real reply,
"I wasn't on about the ship but if that what you want to talk about… you're in charge of her because we have faith in you, the type of thinking you displayed during your encounter on the Gorgon hasn't been seen since Admiral Cole did the same damn thing, hell I doubt even Keys could have pulled that off, granted he probably would have found a way to win anyway though." Lasky answered, it was the same damn reply he had gotten every other time he had asked since finding out, he always got the same answer; 'We have faith in you' be that as it may he still wanted to know…
"Why? Why do you have so much faith in me sir?" Philip asked, Lasky let out a small sigh before answering,
"Simple; the Navy needs a figure head, it's all well and good using an aged war veteran to promote the Navy but you? You presented a whole new area that we could use to get more recruits, Commander Philip Walters, Hero aboard the Gorgon, hell the fact that you were an average nobody before joining the Navy was a serious boost to the propaganda, 'if he can do it so can you', type slogans appeared the next day. If we keep you in the limelight you'll be this generation's version of Preston Cole," Lasky informed him, he had guessed it was purely for propaganda but to hear about it from an Admiral… he didn't know what to think,
"Sir, permission to speak freely?" Philip asked, it was better safe than sorry,
"Of course," Lasky replied,
"I never joined the Navy to be a figure head like that, I don't want to be some hero that people think is some sort of genius, I simply joined because it's what my father did and it'll be what I do and when I have children I expect them to do the same," Philip told the Admiral, it was true, the only reason he had ever joined was to do his father and his family proud.
"A lot of people joined for that reason Walters, but you're the only one that's actually worth it. Now you might want to get on board, you've got some trial runs to complete before hitting the rendezvous, wouldn't want our poster boy to miss the action." Lasky told him before walking off leaving Walters with the small paper photo of his girlfriend, the one he mentioned to his father, he glanced once more out the viewport and left, heading towards the docking point with a new bounce in his step and smile on his face, he would take the Sevenfold on her trial runs and then meet the rest of the fleet at the ONI base and then kick the arses of the bastards that dared to enslave one of Humanities colonies and attack their ships, he was determined to show those alien dirt bags why Humanity held the Mantle of responsibility and no one else held it with them.
Flagship Indomitable, Relay 314, 2154 Citadel Standard
General Septimus Oraka stood at the centre of the CIC of the Indomitable, looking over the Status of the joint fleet; they were just about ready to go as the last of the ships discharged their cores and topped up on supplies. A young Ensign walked up to him,
"All ships just about ready sir, just waiting on the Nefrane now," the Ensign reported and Septimus nodded,
"Good, as soon as the Nefrane ready have the fleet move through the relay, no point in waiting around, Edan isn't going to kill himself… unfortunately." Oraka instructed as he walked round to the large holographic display at the centre of the CIC,
"Yes sir," the Ensign acknowledged before going off to fulfil his duties.
UNSC Sevenfold, Slip-space en route to rendezvous point, September 5th 2587
Commander Walters was looking over the workstations dotted around the large bridge of the Sevenfold, it was larger than the ones on the older Gorgon-class Destroyers but it felt more cramped, probably because the bridge was located near the back and surrounded by two and half meters of Titanium-A3 armour, the view screen at the front showed an armoured lip covering the bridge, to him it felt like he was in some high-tech cave with the entrance covered by super hardened plastic.
The Lieutenants were manning their stations flanked by at least two Ensigns as assistants, but from what he had seen the Lieutenants were more than capable of doing the work alone. His XO stood to his side, his back straight and arms folded behind his back, if Philip didn't know otherwise he would have thought the man was the epitome of military perfection but he had seen his First Officers record and it wasn't pretty, in fact Philip was surprised that the man was still in the Navy. He had been demoted several times, arrested several times for either attempted mutiny or usurping a superior officer's order, Philip was sure he should have been Court marshalled by now but Philip guessed that someone higher up the ladder was keeping him out of jail.
Walters also knew that his XO was not impressed when a thirty year old got command over him; in fact Lieutenant Commander Skye was pissed at the idea of losing out on command of one of the finest vessels produced by the UNSC. Skye seemed to just pass by what is expected of him, one slip up however and Walters would have the man off of his ship in a hart beat, preferably via the airlock.
The ship shuddered slightly and the lights on the bridge cut out and several alarms blared, Sky had to grab hold of the brass railing in front of him, 'Shit, not again, please God not again,' Philip prayed to himself,
"Report!" he demanded; Lieutenants were working furiously to find out what happened, where they were and… "Where is Lorelie?" the Sevenfolds A.I had yet to make an appearance since the malfunction,
"Sir, Lorelie isn't responding to any prompts, she might have shut down for a systems check," Lieutenant Helen Vickers reported from the Comm station, "Sir, Engineering is reporting a glitch in the Slip-space drive, and they say they'll have it fixed in less than an hour,"
"Holy fuck," Philip sighed a sigh of relief, "tell engineering to fix the drive ASAP and once Lorelie is back up and running let me know," Philip ordered, "Get on the horn with Admiral Lasky and let him know we're going to be a little bit late to the party,"
"Uhh… sir? I'm picking up a gravitational anomaly at the edge of our scanner range, whatever it is it's messing with space-time in its immediate area," 2nd Lieutenant Mark Robson informed Philip from the Sensor station,
"Shit, Robson shut the alarm off, Vickers tell the Admiral of the…
"SIR! Multiple contacts appearing by the anomaly!" Robson shouted in alarm, typing away with a renewed vigour to get as much information as possible out of the scanners,
"How many?" Philip demanded, if it was those bastards that had attacked the Gorgon and enslaved the colony than chances were that he would need the Slip-space drive, now.
"T-two hundred sir, I'm picking positive contact on two hundred vessels of unknown origin,"
"Fuck! Skye, get down to engineering and get that drive fixed," Philip was about to continue but Skye interrupted him,
"With all due respect sir, Lieutenant Vickers is capable of informing engineering of our problem," Skye rebutted the order,
"Damn it Skye get your ass down to engineering now! I need Vickers to get Admiral Lasky on the Comms, not to be bogged down telling the men in engineering to fix the drive, so MOVE IT!" Philip stood up to his full height, a full head taller than Skye and yelled at the most pathetic excuse for an officer in the UNSC, Skye narrowed his eyes and straightened up but said nothing as he left the bridge,
"Vickers where the hell is the Comm link?" Philip asked, to her credit Helen was working so hard she had started to sweat, her uniform was slowly growing damp,
"Got it!" she yelled in triumph almost straight after Admiral Lasky's form appeared on the plinth next to his chair where Lorelie would normally appear,
"What's the emergency Walters?" the Admiral asked,
"Sir, our Slip-space drive glitched out on us and two hundred contacts have appeared on our long range scanners, so far they haven't acknowledged seeing us, they're just sitting by some sort of gravitational anomaly they appeared next to," Philip reported, Lasky looked thoughtful for a moment,
"Damn it, Walters you are both the luckiest and unluckiest officer in the Navy, hold tight I'm sending battle group Daedalus to reinforce you, try and avoid any…"
"Sir! The unknown fleet is trying to hail us!" Vickers interrupted,
"…Contact, damn it, Walters I am here by ordering you to answer those hails, try to appear as nonthreatening as possible, the Daedalus will be there within the hour… good luck Commander," Lasky amended his order, Philip sighed, hopefully Lorelie would reactivate soon to make things easier but the Admiral was right, he seemed to be at the centre of everything at the moment,
"You heard the Admiral Vickers… open the channel," Philip ordered and he prayed it wouldn't it wouldn't be his last.
SO? hope you enjoyed, see ya's next chapter ;)
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