0825 HOURS SEPTEMBER 11, 2553 (MILITARY CALENDAR)
INTERPLANETARY SPACE, EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM
ONBOARD UNSC ATHENA
As Hoshi opened her eyes, back to the 'real' world, the sound came back in an instant. The cacophony of voices, klaxons and the general hubbub of the ship overwhelmed her, and the captain shook her head, desperately trying to clear it, before she managed to distinguish the voice of her tactical officer.
"-Covenant contacts, dead ahead, standard line across our vector."
Hoshi focused on the lieutenant, holding her head gingerly. "Number and class?"
"Two CCS cruisers, one destroyer, four frigates, one carrier," he rattled off. "Also reading multiple Seraph squadrons. They're holding position, ma'am."
"Waiting for us," Hoshi said quietly. She leaned back in her chair, contemplating the wide viewport in front of her. The alien ships were too far away to actually see, but Monty projected a red holographic indicator on the viewport. According to the numbers, the Athena was only five minutes away from combat range. And a full hour from reaching minimum velocity for Slipspace.
"Weapons status?"
The lieutenant turned fully to Hoshi, clearly disbelieving. "Seven MAC rounds, one in the tube, the capacitor is at 100%. Pods A-M are fully loaded. Point-defence autocannons are full up. We're...are we going to engage, ma'am?"
The young woman was no coward; there was no visible fear on her face. However, she was also clearly not suicidal. Hoshi flashed an easy smile at her. "A bit of faith, please, lieutenant. We didn't sleep for the last eight months just to die on Earth's doorstep." She paused, contemplating the open space ahead. "Where's the Twilight?"
"They're still at dark protocols, ma'am, heading directly away from us on an out-system vector."
Hoshi wasn't particularly bothered by the prowler's flight. The stealth craft was woefully underarmed and would be next to useless in a stand up fight; running and hiding was their only real option.
"And the rest of the battlegroup?"
"Twenty minutes away, heading to us at maximum acceleration."
It was a perfectly executed trap. In an odd way, the knowledge that the Athena was so totally cornered made Hoshi feel calm, almost frighteningly so. She tapped a control on her chair, and a small hologram of Gomez popped up on the holoprojector normally reserved for Monty.
"It appears the Covenant beat you to it, sir."
"No kidding," he replied bleakly. "The monkeys got some reinforcements since we arrived. That carrier and its destroyer escort should be trapped at Sigma Octanus, not trapping you here. I assume you haven't got any nukes?"
Hoshi shook her head. "I used them all retreating from New Gaia."
Gomez ran his hand from his hair, exasperated. "One Shiva missile and you could scatter their entire formation. Clear a path. Short of that..."
"Shiva..." The word lingered on Hoshi's tongue, the sibilance elongating the word. She glanced out the viewport; the Covenant battlegroup was almost visible. "Sir...I might have a way. But you'll have eight pissed off Covies to deal with if it works."
The admiral opened his mouth, paused, then nodded. "We can deal with them, don't worry. Just stay alive."
With that, his image flickered out to be replaced immediately by Monty, who looked at her expectantly.
"Monty, launch a pelican on autopilot. Once it's clear, turn us around and pump the reactors to 120%. Take energy from the MAC capacitors if you have to, just slow this ship down."
"Yes ma'am. Pelican away. Where do I put this bird?"
Hoshi smiled, although there was nothing nice about it. "Straight at those Covenant ships, if you please. Burn out its engines and keep it in one piece, no matter what."
As she spoke, an almighty roar erupted within the heart of the frigate. The engines, suddenly forced to burn far past their specifications, were now effectively in full reverse, and the ship's spaceframe shivered in response. Several bridge officers glanced at each other nervously; it felt as if the ship was shaking itself apart.
Ahead, Hoshi caught a glimpse of the Pelican. Its shape was completely obscured by its engines, which burned a pure white, the tell-tale sign of a fusion overburn. Further ahead, all eight of the alien ships fired at once and dozens of plasma charges raced after the little craft.
"I assume this is part of some insane plan," Monty said drily. "Once I get within range of their lasers, I'm buggered."
"They won't let it get that far," Hoshi said confidently. Her words, however, were belied by her tight grip of her chair as it vibrated mercilessly. "Just dodge that plasma, Monty, and we stay alive for another five minutes."
The AI sighed, and closed his eyes. Ahead, the Pelican seemed to accelerate even more; by now, it was little more than a hunk of metal. Its velocity was now a respectable fraction of c as it raced towards the plasma, which homed in...
...and missed. A last second, last ditch jink allowed the Pelican to skirt around one of the plasma charges and continue on its way, straight at the heart of the Covenant fleet. The holographic HUD on the viewport indicated that it was missing most of its right wing, but Monty still had basic control.
"I rather liked that Pelican," the AI muttered. "Best maintenance record I've ever had..." His eyes opened in amazement. "Captain...the Covenant..."
Hoshi released her grip on her chair, one finger at a time. Ahead the Covenant warships were scattering in all directions, fleeing from the rapidly accelerating Pelican, and leaving an open path for the Athena.
"Small miracles," she sighed. Standing up, Hoshi stepped up to the helm and placed a hand on the helmsman's shoulder. "Turn us back around, lieutenant. Maximum acceleration for the battlegroup."
"Yes sir," he whispered. Apparently the drama of what had just happened had stunned him. Honestly, Hoshi couldn't blame him. Monty's description of her plan-'insane'-wasn't far off. There had been no guarantee that the enemy Fleet Master wouldn't call her bluff and maintain position. Hell, there had been no guarantee that the alien would've realised what she was attempting, even when he saw the Athena turn on its axis and try to run in the opposite direction; a futile gesture, done only for appearances. It would've taken the Athena a least an hour to decelerate fully.
Regardless, it had worked. The Covenant believed the Pelican had a nuclear bomb onboard, which would've wrecked their fleet had it come close enough, and had thus taken the only logical action.
"Captain," the tactical officer reported. "The plasma that missed our Pelican. It hasn't dissipated."
Hoshi frowned as she turned to the woman, who was herself scowling at her console. "Why would...oh. It's aimed at us."
She nodded. "Impact in ninety seconds. The plasma is losing cohesion this far away from their point of origin, but there are twenty one torpedoes out there. We can't take that kind of hit."
The helmsman swore under his breath. "We're a lot bigger than that Pelican, ma'am. No way I can dodge them."
Hoshi resisted the urge to swear as well as she glared at the oncoming blue plasma. It was far less intense than she was used to, but no less deadly. A horrible silence fell over the bridge. The roar of the engines had quietened somewhat as the frigate returned to its original course, and the ship's murderous vibration had stilled to a more sedate thrum, so the absence of speech was painfully prominent.
"The Covenant are turning round," Monty reported dully. "Wouldn't be enough to catch us if it wasn't for the plasma." He shook his head. "Pelican is still intact, believe it or not. My counterpart on the Halcyon has promised to pick it up."
The silence returned. It was practically deafening.
"Slipspace rupture! Dead ahead!"
The tactical officer's exclamation caught Hoshi by surprise, and she wasted a second in amazement before reacting, jumping out of her chair. "Ready all weapons for the moment they appear. Let's at least take the bastards with us." She paused, squinting at the viewport. "Monty, I still see eight Covenant ships out there. Is there a ninth? A stealth ship we didn't see before?"
The AI crossed his arms, puzzled. "It's possible, but unlikely. Covenant stealth craft are exceptionally rare and never used in open combat." He waved his arm and a magnified view of the Slipspace rupture appeared on the viewport. A second passed, and a shape began to appear...a shape that was familiar. A few seconds later a shadowy black starship less than half the size of Athena appeared right in front of the frigate, its lights dimmed and engines dark.
"I don't believe it," Monty muttered. "The Covenant are the only ones who can do precise jumps like that. We've never gotten close to that kind of precision."
A sudden, heavy realisation fell upon Hoshi, and she half fell back into her chair. "The UNSC has advanced, apparently," she said quietly. Ahead the prowler Twilight came back to life, turning fully into the oncoming plasma. "They're sacrificing themselves. For us."
The silence now become even more painful as the crew realised what was happening. Some closed their eyes, their mouths moving soundlessly as they whispered ancient prayers.
Many kilometres ahead of Athena, even as it raced forwards, the Twilight turned fully into the plasma. Without any armour, the white-hot energy burned through the ship as if it were made of paper. The first eight plasma charges hit simultaneously and instantly turned the human stealth ship into a molten wreck. Seven more followed, and the wreck finally blew in a mighty explosion as the reactor exceeded its tolerances. The rest of the plasma dispersed as it entered the hyper-hot cloud of gas that was once a starship.
Without prompting, the Athena's helmsman entered a minor course correction, bringing the frigate around the newly created graveyard.
"The battlegroup?" Hoshi asked softly.
"Seven minutes away," Monty replied equally softly. "They should begin engaging the Covenant soon. I don't know whether they stand a chance, though. The Waterloo is on an intercept course with us and their Pelican will launch in ten minutes once the Waterloo begins to match velocities. The Halcyon, Ghosts of Harvest and Bombay are outnumbered more than two to one."
The idea of even more people sacrificing themselves for the Athena and its secret cargo made Hoshi physically sick. A standard prowler had a crew of ninety; between the three warships preparing to engage the enemy, they had a combined complement of over six thousand men and women aboard. Five thousand were onboard the Halcyon.
"Monty," Hoshi said roughly, determined to get her mind off the numbers. "Brief us on the Halcyon. I haven't heard of those old cruisers in years."
The AI hesitated. "You won't like it."
"I already don't like it. Just brief me."
Monty sighed, clearly discomforted, but waved his hand and a schematic of the Halcyon appeared on the viewport. "The Halcyon was designed in 2510 to be the first in a new line of cruisers. They weren't that large compared to some other designs, but were designed explicitly for survivability." He shook his head. "Honestly captain, the Halcyon-class was a disaster. Only six ships were built before the Marathon-class cruisers went into production. They were extremely expensive, under-armed, and slow. In engagements with the Covenant, only two ships have survived to the present day; the Halcyon and the Pillar of Autumn."
Hoshi shook her head in disgust. If this was the best the UNSC had left, they were in torrid shape. "Any good things about the Halcyon?"
"Some. One thing I can say about them is that they're virtually indestructible. The Halcyon has twice the armour of a Marathon and a unique internal structure that incorporates a honeycomb design and extensive structural reinforcement techniques. There are records of these ships continuing to function despite losing 90% of their armour and suffering critical damage."
"A pincushion, in other words," Hoshi said, shaking her head. "Only useful for absorbing enemy fire and giving supporting ships the opportunity to engage."
"In essence, yes. The only other good feature of the Halcyon design is their ground assault capacity. They carry the second most effective ground assault complement in UNSC history, short of the old Phoenix-class. Combined with decent Longsword support, they're an army all by themselves."
"Which is useless in vacuum." The impossible nature of the situation hit her hard. Ironically, with her secret cargo below decks, the Athena could equal the Halcyon's ability to dominate the ground. The problem for both ships was that there was no ground to fight on; they instead had to match the Covenant in space, and unfortunately, the Covenant had always had an overwhelming advantage there.
That horrible feeling in her stomach returned, and Hoshi reeled. The crew didn't notice; they were likewise distracted by the lopsided engagement in the making and the six thousand lives about to be lost.
"Get the Slipspace engineers below decks ready," Hoshi said quietly. "I want a new record on a Slipspace core installation when that Pelican arrives."
"Yes ma'am," Monty replied. "I hope it's worth it."
Captain Hoshi Zhukov closed her eyes and didn't say a word in reply.