Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews! I think I've kept you guys waiting long enough. Space battle time. By the way, I alternately call Toshiko Sato "Captain Toshiko" and "Captain Sato".
Chapter 3: Don't Blink
"What do you mean the Stone Angel is gone?" Dr. Zeng asked with no small amount of incredulity, "I don't suppose you can be more specific?"
"Sorry doctor," David apologized, "I'm feeling a bit confused myself. This is a Slipspace gate, similar to the one on Earth that leads to the Ark… However… it's a piece of crap."
Sophia blinked in surprise, "What?"
"This is something we have never seen before; a piece of crappy Forerunner technology. It's like all we've had to study of the Forerunners has been their sports cars, and now we've just found a truck," The AI snorted in amusement, "and just like a truck, when starting it up, it's prone to backfire. We're lucky the Stone Angel wasn't torn in half. From what I can tell, it made it to the programmed destination. However, I don't know if they survived."
"Well that's just great," Lieutenant Powers sighed in annoyance, "we don't have any way of getting to the other side."
"Actually," the technician cut in, "we will have a way."
Everyone turned to technician, who suddenly felt like a deer in headlights.
"I never caught your name," Dr. Zeng squinted at the man's tinted visor, "Who are you anyway?"
The technician removed his helmet, revealing a man no older than 25 with short brown hair and green eyes, "The name is Colton, sir, Colton Smith. I've got a degree in Forerunner Studies, and ONI has me on their payroll."
Powers narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "How come you waited to tell us who you are until now?"
Colton huffed in annoyance, "Because you never asked and just sort of ignored me."
Dr. Zeng nodded, "Fair enough. What were you saying earlier?"
"What I was saying," Colton continued, "was that you seem to have all forgotten about our escort; the Concorde."
"Oh," Sophia slapped herself in the face, "The Paris-class frigate Concorde. How did we forget about it?"
"Maybe because it left a few days ago to scout out the area?" Powers suggested, "Don't feel bad about it. I forgot too."
"I'm contacting them right now," David stated, "They're en route. ETA is ten minutes."
Colton leaned against the wall, "Well, no sense sitting around angsting. Let's start researching."
"Right," Dr. Zeng nodded, activating one of the nearby consoles, "Let's do some science."
[[Breaking News: Two hours ago, Covenant Loyalists launched an attack on Reach! After a grueling battle lasting an hour, the invading forces were routed. The enemy suffered 75% casualties while the UNSC fleet in orbit only suffered the loss of 4% of the fleet. Stay tuned for a special interview with Dr. Catherine Halsey.]]
An Imperial officer stood on the bridge of his Tartan patrol cruiser. He was currently patrolling a particularly boring sector of space. There was little to no traffic here, and the nearest planet was a day's journey away at maximum hyperspace speeds.
His superiors probably stationed him here as retribution for that trick involving a speeder and a bag of death sticks; honestly, they had no sense of humor. At least his peers got a good laugh out of that.
Honestly, sometimes the higher-ups could be such assholes. He may have signed up to be an officer, but that was only because he had a family to feed. He had no love for the Emperor. Respect, yes, but no love. True, the officer would prefer a more peaceful society, but that was just the hits off the cosmic deck. He was no rebel, and had no desire to change the world.
"Anything new?" he asked one of the crewmen manning the sensor station.
"No sir," the crewman replied in a bored tone, "Nothing but dust and echoes."
The officer sighed, "Alright, I can't wait until we get back to dock. This ship is always cramped…"
"Sir!" the crewman exclaimed, "I'm getting some really strange readings from all around us!"
The officer was immediately alert, "What kind of distortions?"
"I'm not sure," the crewman replied, "the computers don't recognize-"
Suddenly, right outside the window, the fabric of reality tore open, revealing the gaping maw of black nothingness.
"In the name of the Core, what is that?!" the officer managed to exclaim, right before the distortion swallowed the ship, leaving nothing.
In a millisecond, the Tartan Patrol cruiser was catapulted across tens of thousands of light years through the eleventh dimension. Forces that defied the laws of physics tore at the hull as insane amounts of radiation bombarded the craft.
As fast as it entered Slipspace, it was unceremoniously dumped out, and the weak hull suddenly showed the effects of slipstream travel.
Massive gouges were rent in the armor and swathes of the hull tore away and spun out into space. Nearly half the engines on the rear exploded, and the cruiser visibly warped; the superstructure heavily damaged from its trip through the portal. Bodies and atmosphere vented from numerous breaches in the hull, as blast doors mostly failed to close throughout the 250 meter vessel.
The entire bridge crew of the Imperial ship were thrown to the ground as all around them the bulkheads stretched and groaned; threatening to rip wide open and suck them all out into the cold vacuum. The consoles blared warnings as numerous ships systems were suddenly and violently torn to shreds. The comm channels yelped with voices as crew members attempted to notify the bridge of their plights, only to be dragged out into the cold abyss; their screams never leaving their throats as the breath was sucked from their lungs.
In an instant, the crew of 120 was reduced to 10. 110 people choked on space, as the Stormtroopers flailed in futility as their suits ran out of oxygen.
[[This Friday, tune in to catch the Premiere of a network exclusive documentary. "ONI: The Dark Secrets of the Office of Naval Intelligence". How the machinations of the UEG's intelligence during the Human-Covenant war services both saved humanity, and nearly brought it to the brink of extinction.]]
A couple of kilometers away, a fleet of silvery geometric ships and a single predatory corvette circled a large, diamond-shaped ring station. They observed the arrival of the patrol cruiser with astonishment and no small amount of caution.
Captain Toshiko crossed her arms, and gave the Monitor on the viewscreen a scathing look, "The odds were slim, huh?"
If a millennia old sphere designed to hold an advanced artificial intelligence could look embarrassed, that one did.
"Well," it stammered, "low probability does not exclude the possibility."
Toshiko massaged her forehead, "Fine. We're not equipped for First Contact at the moment… Activate stealth features; we're going dark."
"As you wish," the Monitor chirped, before severing the connection. Instantly, the Forerunner fleet disappeared. A few seconds afterwards, the Prowler followed suit.
[[Earth is eagerly awaiting a visit from the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, who is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. He intends to discuss plans for a final offensive against the Covenant Loyalists.]]
"Damage Report!" the Imperial Officer coughed, using a nearby chair to pull himself up.
"Hull integrity at 50%, sir," one of the remaining crewmen reported, "110 members of the crew, including our entire Stormtrooper garrison has been spaced. Engines are functional at 20%, communications are down, and sensors are mostly inoperative. Shields and weapons are still fully operational. Life support is stable. Hyperdrive has been knocked offline. In fact, I'm not even sure if we have a Hyperdrive anymore."
The Officer grimaced, this was bad. Without a Hyperdrive, it would take thousands of years to reach the nearest planet, and with only 20% engine capacity, it meant that they were effectively stranded.
"Sir," another crewman spoke up, "Navigation is still online, and it reports that from cross referencing the stars, that we are 98,498 Light years from our previous location."
"What?" the Officer looked at the display incredulously. Indeed, they were thrown tens of thousands of light years away from Imperial space, in a manner of seconds, no less.
"Sir!" the sensors officer cried out, "The remaining sensors have picked up a large station near our position! It apparently has a hangar with a breathable atmosphere. We can land there and determine our situation."
The Officer mulled over this. True, he didn't like this; the existence of that station and their apparent "ship-napping" probably wasn't a coincidence, but he didn't have a choice. With the hull so badly damaged, the blast doors were sealed shut. They were stuck in the bridge unless they could exit it without dying. True, he could just override the doors, but they had no suits, and would suck space if they opened the door.
"Alright," he nodded, "bring us in."
The badly-damaged Cruiser fired its maneuvering thrusters and swung about to face the station. The engines on the back fired weakly, and the Imperial ship limped towards its destination.
[[…Mayday, mayday…This is…FFG… Forward Unto…immediate evac…Survivors… Prioritization code…117]]
Captain Toshiko Sato stared with some concern at the Tactical display on the viewscreen, as the unknown alien vessel limped its way towards the Slipspace gate.
"Wilkins," Captain Toshiko spoke up, "What is your tactical assessment of the alien ship?"
"Their main thrusters are shot to hell, so their ability to maneuver is minimal," Wilkins replied, scrutinizing the images on his console, "but I was able to identify what appear to be weapon emplacements on the hull. There are 20 identical long-barreled cannons. I can't determine what kind of projectile they fire, but I am picking up high energy readings from them; so they are powered."
At times like this, Toshiko missed Bond. True, he may be a bit of an arrogant ass, but his tactical skill was invaluable in situations like this. This was for his own good, though. The UNSC, in the 35 years since the Human-Covenant war, had developed a way to extend an AI's lifespan indefinitely, but it relied on catching the symptoms of Rampancy early. If it progressed too far, there was no going back.
"Reclaimers," the voice of Iridescent Vortex came over the comm, "you must stop that vessel!"
"Why?" Toshiko asked back, "Just leave it to its own devices for now."
"You don't understand!" Vortex sounded slightly panicked, "The Slipspace gate is automatic! It will send that ship through, most likely destroying it!"
Toshiko whirled around, staring at the holographic representation of the alien ship on the tactical display.
"And in the event that it survives…" Toshiko breathed, "It will find Dr. Zeng. Ensign, warm up the Archer pods! Prep the shields and pulse lasers, we may need them. Wilkins, bring us about!"
The Stone Angel crept towards the alien ship, virtually invisible to sensors and invisible to the naked eye, with only a slight shimmer from the photo-reactive panels to indicate its presence.
"Shoot to disable," Captain Sato ordered, "We only need to stop it from moving. Fire at the engines!"
Along the rear of the Prowler, photo-reactive panels slid aside, revealing a missile rack with twelve launch tubes. Propelled on electromagnetic rails, an archaic Archer missile with stealth coating leapt from the invisible ship, and fired its thruster. It oriented itself toward its target, the gunned its main thruster, accelerating to insane speeds on a direct collision course for the alien ship's engines.
Upon nearing the enemy ship, the missile adjusted its trajectory to compensate for the wash from the ship's blue exhaust. In the last second before impact, the warhead detonated, creating a plasma torch that carved deep into the engine block, before detonating, blowing the rear of the ship into so much scrap.
The Imperial Officer grabbed the bulkhead as his ship rocked, "What was that?!" he exclaimed.
"We were hit by something!" the crewman at the Sensors console yelped, "It just appeared out of nowhere and hit us!"
"Helm, full stop!" The Officer snapped.
With its main engine offline, the Tartan Patrol Cruiser fired its maneuvering thrusters, slowing the ship to a standstill.
"Bring the shields online," he ordered, "as well as all weapons!"
"Sir, what is that?!" one of the crewman cried out, pointing out the Bridge's window. Everyone turned to look.
What appeared to be a shimmer of light moved past their field of vision, and while it was undetectable by their damaged sensor array, it was definitely visible to the naked eye.
"Switch to visual targeting!" the Imperial Officer snarled, "Fire on that distortion!"
20 bolts of high energy particles leapt from the laser cannons, and streaked past the camouflaged Prowler, missing it completely. Well, 19 missed.
Captain Toshiko held onto her armrests as the Stone Angel shook from the force of impact, "Damage report!"
"We've lost our left 'wing', captain! No hull breaches, but we've lost a pulse laser turret and our stealth systems are compromised! Shit, their energy weapons pack a punch!" Commander Wilkins swore loudly.
"Stay calm," Toshiko snapped, "bring the shields online and deploy the pulse laser turrets!"
As the Prowler decloaked, photo-reactive panels slid aside to reveal emitters. An envelope with a hexagonal pattern and purplish tint sprang into being around the stealth corvette. More panels opened to reveal eleven slender turrets, which obviously did not belong to the race that built the corvette. They were Covenant pulse laser turrets. In the aftermath of the Human-Covenant war, the UNSC wanted to upgrade their ships, and it was mostly done ad-hoc. Covenant weapons systems were bolted onto existing ships, often resulting in a Frankenstein creation capable of going toe-to-toe with their Covenant equivalent. The Shield systems were also added afterwards. They were mounted in what were once autocannon positions.
"Evasive Manuevers; get us out of their gun's firing arcs! Target their weapons, fire!" Captain Toshiko shouted, inputting a command to warm up the Shivas, just in case.
The pulse lasers fired as the Stone Angel started maneuvering like a possessed Yanme'e. Eleven bluish cyan beams of concentrated energy lanced out at the damaged Cruiser, like fingers of death. Right before they hit the hull, however, they hit an invisible barrier, and dissipated as the shields of the Tartan Patrol Cruiser countered the shots. In retaliation, the Imperial vessel opened up with their laser cannons. Multiple shots missed the nimble Corvette while others impacted its shields.
"Dammit, they have shields!" Captain Sato cursed, "What are they firing at us?!"
"Sensors are reading it as highly energized gas! I don't know how they did it, but it's brought our shields down to 80% integrity!" Jones called back, slightly panicked.
"Dump all auxiliary power into the engines!" Toshiko snapped out, "We can't afford to take more hits! I don't care if we burn out our reactor; push those engines to the red line!"
The Stone Angel's engines and thrusters suddenly flared up like a supernova, as the ship spun, rolled, and swerved; pulling off crazier maneuvers than even a TIE fighter was capable of. The Tartan Patrol cruiser's damaged sensors struggled to lock onto the wildly dodging ship. The Cruiser itself was firing its thrusters to bring more of its guns to bear on the small Prowler, but with the damage sustained to the main engine, its maneuverability was limited. All the while, the pulse lasers kept up their relentless barrage of the Imperial ship's shields, which showed no signs of dropping.
"Just how fast is that little ship?!" one of the Imperial crewmen swore as the alien vessel cartwheeled past their window, swarmed by crimson laser bolts as it pummeled the Cruiser with cyan energy beams.
"Shields are holding sir," the crewmen added, "whatever they're firing at us, it can't dent our shields."
"Alright then, finish them once and for all," the Imperial Officer growled, "override the safety parameters on the laser cannons, hit that ship if it's the last thing you do!"
A chorus of affirmatives resounded throughout the Bridge. Immediately the laser cannons started spewing an almost continuous spray of red laser bolts, filling the space between them and the Stone Angel.
No amount of dodging could save them now.
"Shields are about to collapse, captain!" Wilkins shouted, "10% and falling!"
"No choice, then," Toshiko snarled, "Hit them again with our Archers! Blast them out of the sky!"
Three more Stealth Archers launched from their racks, and streaked towards the Cruiser. Toshiko half expected them to pancake against the shields. However, they passed right though, slamming into the laser cannons of the Tartan Patrol Cruiser, gutting the ship and blasting the entire rear end of the cruiser into an expanding sphere of space debris.
At the same time, energy bolts that had been fired from the cannons before they were destroyed impacted the shields of the Stone Angel. Five bolts slammed against the shields before they flickered and dissipated. Two actually hit the ship itself, blowing off the other "wing" of the craft, and impacting mid-ship. Both the Bridge crews of the Stone Angel and the Tartan Patrol Cruiser were thrown to the floor by the impacts.
"Sitrep!" Toshiko called out over the blaring alarms.
"Hull breach in the armory! Sealing affected bulkheads!" Wilkins shouted out his reply, mashing his console's keyboard.
"Archer pod is unresponsive!" Ensign Jones cried out, "Control lines to the Pulse Lasers have been cut! Shields are overloaded! Engines have overheated and locked up! We're sitting ducks!"
The Stone Angel's maneuvering thruster automatically brought the ship to a full stop as heat sinks sprang out from behind panels in an attempt to dump the heat while hundreds of gallons of coolant were vented out of the ship. Within the ship, the Bridge crew frantically pressed buttons and attempted to get responses out of disabled backup systems.
Toshiko stared in abject horror as the remains of the enemy ship, which at this point was just the Bridge section, drifted in front of the immobile Stone Angel. The reason for her fear was…
The enemy ship still had one functional gun.
"What just hit us?!" The Imperial Officer was in shock after what felt like an earthquake shook his ship.
"I don't know!" one of his crew yelled, "We've lost most of the ship!"
"Only one cannon is operational, sir." The weapons officer stated, "Reactor has been critically damaged. Life support failure is imminent, and shields are offline. However, the laser cannon still has enough power for one shot."
"Then fire it," the Officer snapped, "I'm not going down alone."
As the remains of the Cruiser rotated to bring its only remaining weapon to bear, a swirling disk of nothingness opened up between the two vessels. A large, 535 meter angular gray silvery starship emerged. Its bow was double-pronged, and its two bulky engines on the back screamed as it propelled itself out of the Slipspace rift. On its side, the name Concorde was proudly displayed.
The last laser cannon on the Tartan Patrol cruiser fired. The bolt of energy meant to combat star fighters impacted 60 cm of Titanium-A ablative battleplate, and left no more than a dent upon the advanced armor.
On the bridge of the Stone Angel, a feminine voice with a slight German accent came over the comms.
"Heard a little bird got lost. Missed us?"
Captain Toshiko smiled, "Never been happier to hear your voice, Allana."
Captain Allana Lalonde smiled on the bridge of her Paris-class Heavy Frigate. Her long, non-regulation hair hung around her pale complexion. Her sky blue eyes glinted with amusement at being able to play the Knight-in-Shining-Armor.
"Shall we dispatch the hostiles for you, Captain?" she asked, "Seeing as you couldn't do it yourself?"
"We could've done it ourselves," Toshiko complained indignantly, "but they got lucky and shot up the control lines to our weapons."
"Now is not the time for complaining, Toshiko," Allana chuckled, "Just accept the fact that you needed our help. You're buying drinks next time. Lock our point defense guns onto that alien vessel." The last part was said to a crewman manning the weapons station.
"Actually," Toshiko cut in, "The remains of that ship can fit in your hangar, correct?"
"What are you thinking of, Captain Sato?" Allana asked curiously.
"Do you still have that Spartan onboard, Captain Lalonde?" Toshiko smirked.
"Oh," Allana's eyes widened, before she started grinning from ear to ear, "Oh yes. Rolling out the welcome mat."
The Concorde maneuvered to swallow up the crippled enemy ship as the Stone Angel pressed itself against the Paris-class Frigate's docking ring. Nearby, an entire fleet of Forerunner ships revealed themselves, filling the empty void.
Captain Lalonde's eyes widened, "Whoa," she breathed, "where did they come from?"
"They were always here," Captain Sato quipped as she walked onto the Bridge of the Concorde, "Your Bridge is roomier than mine, where can I find your interior decorator?"
"Very funny," Allana dryly replied, "Seriously though."
On the Bridge's Holotank, the image of a Monitor sprang to life.
"Greetings! I am 1304 Iridescent Vortex, Monitor of Installation…" The construct paused, before continuing, "Anyways, I am already acquainted with Captain Toshiko. May I inquire as to who you are?"
"Certainly," Allana responded crisply, "I am Captain Allana Lalonde of the UNSC."
"Fascinating," Vortex remarked, "has Humanity turned into a matriarchal society?"
Both Captains were taken aback by the comment.
"What makes you say that?" Toshiko asked, just slightly confused.
"Oh, I am sorry if I am assuming incorrectly, I just conjectured that since both of you are commanding officers, I just…" Vortex seemed genuinely embarrassed, "Forget what I just said; I often say what is on my mind without thinking about it. It is one of my faults."
"Don't worry about it," Allana waved dismissively, "We're not offended."
"Good," Vortex immediately perked up, "Now, to matters at hand. What do you intend to do with the prisoners you are taking?"
Toshiko smirked mischievously, "Giving them the old UNSC welcome."
[[Connection established to UNSC database…
Paris-class Heavy Frigate-Refit
After the Human-Covenant War, most ships underwent some form of upgrade to deal with any Covenant ship they may encounter. The Paris Class's refit has been called "Wonderful" by engineers, "Stunning" by Captains of said vessels, and "Overkill of the highest degree" by Admirals.
Length: 535 Meters
Width: 199 Meters
Reactor: Hybrid Deuterium-Plasma Fusion Reactor(s)
Slipspace Drive: Forerunner-Enhanced Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Drive
Shielding: Forerunner-Enhanced Origin-class Shielding (Equivalent to Covenant Destroyer shields)
Armanent:
Enhanced-MAC (Capable of firing a 600-ton tungsten shaped-charge slug at 60 km/s. 30 second recharge.)
Shiva warheads (12)
Oversized Archer Missile pods (26)
Point Defense Guns (12)
Twin Defensive Railgun Turrets (6)
Covenant Pulse Laser Array (8)
Plasma Torpedo Launcher (2)
Prowler-class Corvette-Refit
The venerable Prowlers of ONI underwent refits after the Human-Covenant War. At the time, they were formidable. Now, they are so much tissue paper in a straight up fight. They have since been replaced by Kagemusha-class Prowlers. All refits are listed here, as most details are still classified for ONI personnel ONLY.
Slipspace Drive: Forerunner-Enhanced Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Drive
Shielding: Forerunner-Enhanced Jackal-class Shielding (Equivalent to Covenant Frigate shields)
Reactor: Oversized Hybrid Deuterium-Plasma Fusion Reactor(s)
Armanent:
Covenant Pulse Laser Array (12)
Archer Missile Pod (1)
Shiva warheads (2)
(Hornet Minelayer removed to free up space for oversized reactor.)
WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OF DATA DETECTED! THIS CONSOLE IS NOW LOCKED.]]
Authors Note: I hope you liked my unique form of line breaks. They're supposed to be transmissions through UNSC space. Anyways, while the Prowler technically lost the battle, I think I gave them a pretty good chance. The Tartan Patrol Cruiser is less heavily armed than the UNSC Stealth Corvette, but the Stone Angel has thinner armor than the Patrol Cruiser. The weapons technology is also very different. Do you know how hard it is to find explanations on the workings of Star Wars weaponry without having a load of Pseudo-Science slapped in my face?! They don't explain how laser cannons work, only how blasters do! It's frustrating. Well, I'm open to criticism. Please review this chapter.
Also, I'm looking for Beta readers, so if you can volunteer your services… and I'm toying with the idea of changing the tilts of this fic to "Fifty Shades of Overkill". Also, what would you think if I wrote a Mass Effect crossover with Halo that took place in this same story universe? Do you think I should go for it?