Alternate Past, Uncertain Future MKII
Unggoy: Grunts
Sangheili: Elites
Kig-Yar: Jackals
Chapter 3
Shanxi: Arrival of the Fleet/End of Conflict
V2.1
"Did I know what I was heading into that day? That I would be blazing my way into the history books with a single battle? No, I didn't. If I did, I probably would have requested some other poor soul to take my place. Lord know it would have saved me the headaches."
-Excerpt from the journals of Jesse De La Rosa.
In the skies above Shanxi, Desolas Arterius watched with the skies above the colony from his ship with an almost tired expression as both his and Torsk's force subjugated the alien residents on the planet below. It had been sometime since the moment of First Contact with this species, and already they had laid claim to much of the planet. Capturing and holding the majority of the aliens in some of the larger settlements, and resistance had been relatively light and inconsequential. Mostly.
There had been a single settlement built right into a mountain that was putting up a not inconsiderable amount of resistance. Whoever had designed the city, and indeed it was a city, had been either paranoid or a tactical genius as it was also surrounded by a canyon, with the only means of entering the city either through the air or by a number of bridges spanning the gap. The only reason they hadn't tried to take it out from orbit was that the mountain provided a degree of protection, and it possessed enough anti-orbital weapons to keep itself protected. Still, it was not of much importance as they had taken the larger settlements, along with the planet's orbital elevator. Desolas grimaced, the loss of the alien's orbital elevator was a loss, as it would have made movements to and from the planet's surface that much easier. "Damn it Torsk, would it kill you to exercise a little more restraint?" He muttered. "We're to exploit these aliens, not exterminate them."
Still, least the favors they had called in had borne fruit. Several dozen vessels from private military companies from Citadel space, along with a several more factions in the Terminus systems had come to bolster their numbers and subjugate the planet. In exchange for a cut of the later profits of course, for some that is. Others would be getting nothing from this venture except repaying an old favor that either Torsk or Desolas had been holding over people's head for quite a while.
Suddenly, one of the bridge officers, the one in charge of the scanner station called out, "Unknown energy readings! Massive! Coming in front!" At the same time, in the void of space, a disk of energy boomed silently into existence. Its core blue as the deepest sea, the color fading to white as it came close to the event horizon. Then another disk boomed into existence close by. And another, then another. Within seconds, dozens of the disks have flashed into existence. And not moments after they had appeared, something began to come through them. A metal rod, attached to a great hulking mass of metal: ships. An entire battle group of ships began to come through the portals. Each one closing behind the ship after it had passed through. The majority of the alien warships, upon noticing the new arrivals, began to reorient themselves and accelerate towards them.
Upon seeing the ships, Desolas snarled, before ordering as all ships to get into combat formation and to follow his commands, while at the same time, having a message relayed to Torsk's flagship. Knowing him, the krogan was too busy enjoying whatever spoils had already been brought up from the planet. As the ships began to get into formation, following orders he had sent out beforehand just in case, Desolas prepared for what very well maybe the fight of his life.
**APUFMKII**
On the bridge of the UNSC Infinity-Class Dreadnought, at its head stood Rear Admiral Lower Half Jesse De-La Rosa. A man often heralded as one of the best that Humanity had to offer. Called the "Paragon of Humanity", he had earned that reputation for his service during the Heretic Wars and the Second Insurrection; by being the best humanity had to offer.
His fleet consisted of a mix of ships. A total of fifteen frigates, which were a mix of the Montreal-Class Heavy Frigates and Rider-Class Light-Frigates, along with ten Midway-Class Destroyers, and three Vadrigos-Class Carriers. Along with his flagship, the UNSC Infinity, now renamed, UNSC Era of Retaliation. He noticed the disappearance of the colony's space elevator.
Seeing the alien ships that were appearing on the tactical display, the Admiral started to think back to when he had been informed about these new aliens and his new mission back on Reach a few days ago.
**APUFMKII**
Reach: UNSC/New Covenant HighCom: The Nest
The hydraulic doors leading to the most secure room on Reach known the military hissed open and Fleet Admiral stepped through, the same doors closing behind him right after.
He snapped off sharp salute. In front of him sat some of, if not the, most powerful people in the Alliance Military. "Sirs! Reporting as ordered."
The room was currently filled by perhaps the most powerful beings in the known galaxy, or at least, those who held the most power. One side sat Fleet Admiral Terrence "Lord" Hood. De facto leader of the entire UNSC and the UEG. Admiral Hieronymus Michael Stanforth, highly decorated veteran, and commander of planetary defenses across UNSC territories. Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky, Director of ONI, and her protege; Captain Serin Osman. The latter of whom was widely regarded as the second most dangerous woman in the UNSC after her mentor, Parangosky.
On the other, was UNSC Army General Howard Graves, once leader of the First Insurrection, now returned to the UNSC. His return generated many a rumor as to the circumstances how it happened. Army Colonel James Ackerson, who was a permanent liaison to ONI from the UNSC Army. Arbiter of the People of Sanghelios: Thel'Vadam, with his right hand, Special Operations Commander of the New Covenant Rtas'Vadum.
A meeting like this was unprecedented. There was rarely ever a meeting like this as few circumstances required so many to be in attendance.
'This does not bode well.' De La Rosa thought.
Lord Hood raised his hand. "At ease." With that, the Rear Admiral relaxed his stance ever so partially but was still ramrod straight. "Have a seat." De la Rosa sat in the proffered chair. Soon the room was plunged into darkness and from the center of the table a holoprojector activated, displaying what De La Rosa recognized as the newly named Shanxi System. Hood began to explain, "Some time ago, we received a direct beam transmission from the colony of Shanxi. And as many of you know, an artifact of unknown nature was only recently found on the outer edges of the Shanxi system." The holo changed to show said relic: a massive object shaped like a sideways tuning fork with antennas. "Only recently have science teams been granted to approach the object, escorted by the CDF Marathon-Class Cruiser, Right of Way. The artifact is apparently some sort of means of FTL. It snared both the cruiser and the science vessels before accelerating them to an unknown location and an identical object." Hood motioned to Parangosky to take over.
The ONI Director motioned to Osman, "Upon arrival, the Right of Way made First Contact with another alien race, possibly two." The hologram changed to show several ships of two distinct design ideologies. The De la Rosa's eyes widened, as did many others. If Osman noticed, she didn't show it. "It is unknown just what exactly transpired without the black box flight recorder, but we know that the after the civilian ships returned, they were followed by the unknowns. The Orbital Defense Platforms engaged them, however, there were...complications."
The holo of the planet reappeared and holographic representations of three orbital defense platforms appeared. Soon after the red triangles reappeared and started firing on the platforms until they came apart. "All three Orbital Defense Platforms were lost, assumed all hands. The Right of Way was taken down soon after." Osman explained. "As of last transmission, the enemy has made planetfall and have taken up positions in orbit of the planet. Local militia and Colonial Defense Garrisons were reported as being deployed, and have also received plenty of reinforcements and munitions from the Way before it fell."
Ackerson stood up, Osman already handing over the reins as it were. "From the data they sent before transmissions were cut off, we've managed to gleam some of the capabilities of these unknowns' apparent warships." The hologram changed to give a more detailed and enlarged view of the two design ideas. One was angular in design and flat, not unlike an elongated Longsword fighter, the other, was not unlike a flying box. A heavily armed, lethal, box.
"As you can obviously see, it is more than likely we are dealing with at least two new species. The first group of vessels, those that are streamlined, have been designated as Type-1s, with their own subcategories. And the same with the other, which we've labelled as type-2s." The holographic ships reflected their new designations. "From what little battledata we've received, based on the information sent by the Right of Way, the weapons of these aliens are some cause for concern, but in the long run are inconsequential."
The holoprojector against changed, showing what was obviously a camera-view from one of the Orbital Defense Platforms, and from the looks of it, the one for the main cannon, alongside a map-overlay of the system. "However, there is something else that is cause for concern." On the gun-cam, the alien ships were barely a spec, while the overlay showed the ships at the max range of the platforms, still a considerable distance, considering Super-MACs could send a three ton projectile at speeds of twelve kilometers a second. The platforms soon fired, the slugs streaking across like slivers of light towards their targets. Some hit, the others missed. Then, something happened; the ships were wrapped in a blue aura, completely encompassing them. A split second later, they were within point defense range of the ODPs. Outside the view of the gun-cam, the feed quickly switched to that of an point-defense emplacement. As the autocannons began to fire, the alien ships returned in kind. Streaks of blue striking the station and making it shudder with shot after shot. Eventually the station was just torn apart by the rapid fire and the feed died out soon after. "These aliens are capable of jumping into FTL in real space, and it seems they are capable of using it with pinpoint accuracy." This got murmurs amongst those present. FTL as they knew it, specifically slipspace, was incredibly difficult to use accurately, even with modern calculations.
Slipstream Space, or slipspace as it was called, was actually another 'plane of existence' as it were. The intricacies were beyond most people, however, in slipspace, the laws of physics only worked to a certain extent, and even then, not always. The slipspace portals were literally tears in reality as ships entered and exited the higher plane. However, when exiting, it was only partially predictable. Arrival locations could be anywhere from t hundreds of thousands, to over a million kilometers away from the predicted exit point, and there was also the time-dilation effect, ships entering slipspace and exiting anywhere from weeks to in rare cases, months after. There were even rumors of ships having traveled back in time but those were unsubstantiated. The newer calculations ensured ships entering formation would exit the same and for the most part, where they expected to. However, extreme short range jumps as these aliens did was all but impossible.
Ackerson sat down, his job down. Hood taking over again, he said, "We've since sent a Prowler to recon the system. They report that reinforcements have been rolling in, and the planetary situation does not look good. Rear Admiral De La Rosa," Here, said Admiral sat straighter, "We're sending you to retake the system. As of right now, only UNSC forces will be at your disposal. Any and all tactics and weapons are available to you, barring nuclear weapons. Do you have any questions?"
De La Rosa nodded, "Just one sir, what is my flagship?" Hood simply smirked in response.
**APUFMKII**
Back in the present, De la Rosa focused on the task at hand, listening to the various status reports of his bridge officers. So far everything seemed to be good, though there were some anomalies in the slipspace drives but well within acceptable parameters. The fleet had checked in and so far no mishaps and in perfect formation.
One of the sensor operators reported, "Sir, we've got multiple contacts, IFFs confirmed as hostile. Moving to intercept."
"Classifications?"
"Based on size and projected weights, the majority, approximately seventy-five percent, are reading as UNSC corvette-tonnage vessels, along with three cruiser-tonnage vessels. The remainder read as frigate-tonnage vessels, sir. Multiple Type-1s and Type-2s sir, along with numerous unknown classifications."
The Rear Admiral considered his options for a moment. He knew that based on the sheer number of contacts, his ships may be in for a fight, but his flagship gave him considerable leeway as to how he utilized his ships. And those planetside could use all the aid they could get. His decision made, he began to distribute his forces. "Send down the Heaven's Wings to the planet's surface. Have them provide support to the local forces and aid. Have frigates Dawn of Light and the Forward Unto Dawn escort her down to the surface. Let's get those people some help." On the tactical map, the symbols of the designated ships altered to reflect their new purpose. "Have them start deploying ODSTs, along with their onboard Army and Marine contigents." The Heaven's Wings was one among the three Carriers in the battle group. It carried not only their standard compliment of fighters but a battalion of the 105th Marine Expeditionary Unit, aka, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers Division, better known as 'The Helljumpers.'
"Solera," to the Rear Admiral's right, a hologram of a woman dressed in the garb of an Amazonian Warrior appeared. "Hail the aliens if you can. Use whatever you can to access their linguistic programs. I want to give them the chance to surrender before anything else." Solera answered in the affirmative before her avatar faded away. "In the meantime, have the rest of the fleet get into formation. I want the majority of our frigates and destroyers form into wolf-packs, and have the two carriers flank the Era. We'll be providing escort for them." The battle-group began to move to their assigned groups. "I want targeting solutions prepped and ready for all ships. Ready the MAC guns, and arm Archer and Howler Pods, A1 to A6."
Solera's avatar reappeared. "Sir, they are ignoring hails. Should I-"
Alarms blared momentarily as one of the sensor stations yelled out. "Sir! Energy spikes among the enemy ships! It's focused on the bows of their ships."
"We've got enemy ordinance inbound. Missiles with unknown energy signature. Impact in sixty seconds."
"Enemy vessels are beginning to enter into some sort of formation."
De La Rosa sighed, he had hoped that diplomacy was an option. That the bloodshed could be ended here and now before it could go any further. Apparently it was not. Steeling himself, he asked, "Weapons station, confirm; are we receiving signals from the mines?"
"Confirmed sir, receiving signals from ten Hornet-Class nuclear Mines. They are armed and ready to detonate on your command."
Before De la Rosa could do anything, Solera held up a palm. Grabbing the entire bridge crew's attention. "Hold on, I'm getting a data stream from the planet."
"Is it Second Eden?" Second Eden was the location of the command headquarters of the local CDF contingent.
"No, it's a superintendent-class AI. Getting a status report and video feed. Decompressing and analyzing no-oh my god." The moment the bridge crew heard the AI, everything stopped. With the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence creation, especially 'smart' AIs, they could process the whole of known recorded history, Human, New Covenant and Forerunner, in the span of a few hours of first activation. And they did it with the barest of shudders. The genocides committed when Humanity was still trapped to Earth. The atrocities committed during the Human-Covenant War. And the wars recorded by the Forerunners. War crimes had been committed. They accepted it. What they processed did indeed disturb them, but they did not let it affect them. For an AI to be shocked by what they had seen, meant that whatever she had seen was near unprecedented.
When the bridge crew turned to face Solera's avatar, she had crumpled to the 'floor' of her projector. Propping herself 'up' with her arms. "Solera." The Rear Admiral whispered in a voice so low, she almost missed it. She turned her 'head' to face the rear admiral, though she was an AI, there was a display look of real anguish. "Show me." She shook her head no. "Solera," the Jesse repeated. "Show me."
This time she did nod. Standing back up, her face had changed from sadness to rage, her voice was laced with so much venom and anger it sent a shudder down the backs of a few who heard her. "No mercy." She snarled before her avatar disappeared and a direct beam flashed from her podium into the admiral's eyes. Seconds later, it stopped and his face displayed no emotion.
When he spoke, his voice was completely devoid of emotion. "No mercy." He whispered. He stood from the command chair. "Coms, fleet wide broadcast."
"Aye Sir, fleetwide broadcast. Confirmed, everyone hears you sir."
"All ships, this is Rear Admiral Jesse De La Rosa. You all know who I am, you know of my reputation. Of how I am a man who prefers peace over bloodshed, surrender over death. And I know many of you think me weak for it. Well today, that is no longer the case." Across the fleet, men and woman stopped in their actions to listen to their commander. From the lowly Marine private shining his boots and cleaning his rifle, to a mighty Colonel to the UNSC ODST division and the Captains of the other vessels.
"Many of you remember the dark days of the Great War and the Heretic War. The atrocities our enemies committed against our fellow man, the systematic attempted genocide of our race." Some of the older veterans who remembered the last days of that war gritted their teeth or flexed old wounds at the memories. "Along with the vows we made to ensure such events never occur again, and the hope with the end of the war, that those memories can lie buried in the past." Old memories were remembered, old wounds reopened. "It seems that is no longer the case. Once again we have made first contact, and once again have they fired the first shot. But this time it will be different. We are no longer hiding amongst the shadows in the void," Many remembered how during the Heretic Wars, the ships of humanity were almost always dwarfed by those of the Covenant. "But we now stand tall amongst the stars!" Many of the younger generation cheered, recalling the first time they had seen the UNSC Infinity and the new warships, now almost equal to the New Covenant.
"These aliens believe that we are weak! That we can be beaten, thrown down and humiliated! And we, shall prove just how wrong they are!" If any amongst the various crews, marines, or soldiers felt any sort of hesitation or trepidation of the coming battle, it was all but gone now. Replaced by a desire to both show humanity's strength, and just how badly pissed off it was.
**APUFMKII**
Shortly after the Rear Admiral's speech, the carrier UNSC Heaven's Wings, entered low orbit of Shanxi, directly overhead of Second Eden. From the ship, signs of heavy battle could be seen; wrecked structures, smoking and burning buildings, vehicles and the like, the occasional detonation of explosives and other signs. And that was just Second Eden.
Inside the lower section of the carrier, on its dropdeck, called by the ODSTs as 'Hell's Waiting Room', was separated into several sections, and each hosting several squads. Here the ODSTs were making final preparations for their drop. In each section, a platoon of ODSTs in armor, some helmeted, some not, stood around a pair of holodisplays; both projecting a 3D image of Second Eden with a tactical holographic Second Eden was surrounded by a mass of red dots, representing enemy IFF tags, a number of which were inside the city itself. Opposite were blue dots, representing Second Eden's police force, militia and CDF garrison.
"Shit, this is Shanxi?" Private Maks asked, a relatively young and 'green' ODST, he had only a few combat drops under his belt, mostly against Heretic remnants. He was often called 'the Rook', being the youngest on the squad. "Where are the ODPs?" The Rook still had his helmet on, but it was un-polarized, showing his young and unscarred face. Strapped to his back was a Type-51 Directed Energy Rifle/Improved or "Plasma Repeater". With the end of the Great War and those that followed, old Covenant weapons began making their way into human hands on a more regular basis, resulting in some adopting covenant weapons as their personal weapons. "I mean, those things can take out a New Covenant Assault Carrier one shot, so these things…I mean, how the fuck could they take them out?" It was a question shared by many ODSTs, if not all of them. ODPs were seen as almost being invincible as, provided no significant boarding action happened, the only way to take one out was to sacrifice a number of other ships just so a handful could get in close enough to neutralize them.
"Well they did." Designated Marksmen Sergeant Lance Trel answered, drawing the Rook's, and several other ODSTs', attention. His helmet was sitting on the holodisplay, and was cradling a SRS99D-S5 Anti-Material Sniper Rifle in his hands, playing with the scope, and had an M395-B Designated Marksman Rifle on his back. "According to the reports, the stations took out one of the bastard ships but the others dodged them. Used some sort of weird shit to get right in the stations' faces, took them out at point blank range." Lance had the reputation of ALWAYS being the first to read the reports, and getting a bit more info then there was usually available
.
"Shit, just like that?" Rook asked. "But aren't these things supposed to be, I don't know, invincible?"
"No, they're not. Once the enemy ships got to close for the SMAC, it was over. Those things don't have much in the way of point defenses." Corporal Hadrian Maxim answered. He was older than the majority of the other ODSTs in his squad, well into his fifties, apporaching his sixties, but thanks to modern medicine, had the stature of a fit forty year old. "You all read the reports when we got them; the station was pummeled by these aliens' main cannons. Shoot anything enough times and it'll snap under the pressure." Strapped on his back was a M95 Close Assault Weapon, along with spare rocket canisters. He was the designated Heavy-weapons trooper of the squad, usually carrying the heavier arms for to break up large infantry groups or for anti-armor.
"But-"He stopped hearing the door to the launch bay open to allow a single heavy armored trooper into the bay. He like everyone else turned to see the new arrival. Their armor resembled the standard ODST battle suit, but had so many bolt-ons and modifications that it bore little resemblance to the original gear. What drew their attention were two things: the double silver bars on his left and right shoulder signifying his rank as a captain, and the Horus eye emblazoned on the right shoulder. "SpecOps…" Someone muttered. SpecOps was not the official name of those with the symbol, rather one that was applied to them, based on the missions they showed up for. These missions being those that were reserved for the elites.
Last time this particular squad had gotten involved with a SpecOps agent, they ended up having to take down a Heretic Covenant cell. The ODSTs ended up with stopping the release of some sort of Forerunner bio-agent they found before the canister detonated. They had lost a lot of good men that day. The SpecOps agent had barely done anything on the job; only taking out the cell leader and confiscating the suspected bio-agent container.
Upon seeing the captain bars, someone shouted out. "Officer on deck!" Every single trooper straightened, a near involuntary reaction at seeing an officer rank and/or the call to attention.
"At ease." Said a voice behind the ODSTs, making them all jump slightly. When they turned to face the voice, they found themselves looking at their platoon leader. Major Hadjit Striker, he was easily into his sixties but thanks to the miracle of modern medicine he looked as though he was in his mid-forties. A veteran of the Heretic war, he had gained the respect of every single last man and woman under his command, barring the new bloods. Approaching the hologram projectors, he began, "As you all know the colony of Shanix is currently under siege an unknown entity. We do not know the status of the colony, of its population centers or anything. The only things we do know are that the Orbital elevator has fallen and the the capital, Second Eden is currently under siege. Our missions is to drop in onto the city and assist in whatever way they can. They have been fighting nonstop since First Contact, and we are here to liberate the colony from whatever foothold these hostiles may have." He looked at many of his troopers as he could. "Any questions?"
"Sir, you said that the hostiles were unknowns?"
"Correct. It seems that the local garrison had a First Contact scenario that went much the same way as it did at Harvest." A few mutters passed through the ranks, before he dropped the bombshell. "There are two alien species, and recently I have received intel about them and their apparent powers." More than a few bewildered and quizzical looks were quickly directed to him.
"Sir what are you talking about? What powers?"
"I don't know, what intel I got showed that these unknowns possess some sort of energy manipulation ability." With that an image of a reptilian looking creature appeared, the video started to play, soon the alien was wrapped in a cloak of blue-black energy, it threw its hand forward, a sphere of energy flew from its hand. The sphere impacted a colonial marine, throwing him backwards; another video started playing where another marine was flung forward toward one of the aliens.
Taking a step back from the group, he walked toward the armory nearing the drop pods, "I know many of you want to simply drown these aliens in a pool of their own blood but that is not why we are here."He picked up an MA5-D rifle, "We are here for one purpose and one purpose only: we are here to take back Shanix from the arrogant fools who think they can take what belongs to the UNSC!" He shouted, getting roars of approval.
"They have been fighting cops, civilians, and soldiers! They think they have nothing to fear, they think that they can win!" The rage coming off the marines was thick in the air.
"But we are ODST! We are the Elite! The rest of our friends will be going down in dropships, enjoying tea and crumpets, and listening to fine music all the way, but not us! How are we leaving this ship boys and girls?!"
It was not planned, it was not tradition, but it was something burned into the minds and souls of all ODSTs, from the new recruit to the experienced officer, gained through drops they all shared, they all knew the question and they all knew the answer as one: "WE GO FEET FIRST SIR!"
"Damn straight! Now shove a cork in your asses and get in your pods. As of this moment, only two kinds of aliens are staying in this planet: the dead, and those who are going to die! Now get moving!"
"HOO RAH!"
All the ODSTs soon dispersed, each heading to their own individual pods, sliding in and securing the hatch. Within minutes over a thousand ODSTs throughout the ship had entered their pods, now dangling over open air from the bowels of the ship.
The radio crackled to life and the Major's voice came over the comm. "We are dropping into Hell! Get ready to fly Marines!"
Soon they pods dropped and hundreds of men and women began hurtling toward the surface of Shanix. Every single one of them with only one thing on their minds: making the enemy regret ever coming to Shanxi, and having them pay in blood.
**APUFMKII**
Back on the Obelisk of Turipa, Desolas was watching in both fascination and fear as he watched three of the unknown warships, one of them outsizing his own dreadnought made their way towards the planet. Moments later, unleashing an apparent barrage on the planet below as it fired what were likely missiles from it's 'belly'. "I need to know where that ordinance is heading, anyone have an answer?"
"Sir, tracking trajectory of objects; they're heading right to the largest city of the planet. But, I don't think they're missiles sir, or even bombs."
Desolas raised an eye-ridge at that. It didn't make sense for anyone to fire that many pods, or whatever they were, at a single target if they didn't expect them to do any damage. But if they weren't missiles, then what were they? It's not as though they were firing soldiers out in those pods. "Well whatever they may be, alert our forces on the ground that they have, something, incoming. Torsk can handle the command of our forces on the ground, ours is going to be up here." 'Which is easier said than done', he thought to himself. Though he didn't show it, he was terrified by what he was seeing: multiple ships that were three times the length of a most Council dreadnoughts, and one that defied classification. The apparent alien flagship, it could be little else, was seven times the length of his own ship, and looked as though it could just plow over his own ship with little effort. He off-handedly noted that this would be classified as a the theoretical fortress-class warship: a ship that would be able to serve as mobile Citadel as it were.
Still, despite whatever objections he may have had, he did not feel too worried. If these ships, despite their different design, were anything like that first alien ship they had encountered, they would be able to win this fight. Not easily, but they would, and it would take considerable coordination and ordinance. "Order groups Censta and Droh to engage the aliens. Tell them to stay in formation and attack the smaller targets first, focus their fire and avoid whatever comes at them. Use their FTL drives to close the distance once they can."
The respective groups signalled their assent and began moving towards the alien fleet, unknowingly flying straight forward to their deaths. As the ships made their way towards the alien fleet, the lead ships, the super-dreadnought-length vessels and the fortress-class, each fired two missiles at the approaching forces group, six in all. The missiles evading the GARDIAN lasers with aplomb until they reached the center of each group. Then, for the briefest of moments, six suns lit up the darkness.
**APUFMKII**
Back on the Era, as thousands of Drop-pods rained onto the planet, De La Rosa watched impassively as the Kali nuclear missiles enveloped the enemy in balls of nuclear fire. Over two dozen enemy ships had been caught in the blast. The majority of them corvettes, along with two frigates. No survivors.
As the balls of fire dissipated, the Rear Admiral ordered, "All ships, engage. Proceed to your targets." From the UNSC fleet, more than half the frigates began moving away from the group and heading towards the planet. Each of them on different paths than the carrier and escorts sent earlier. Their task was to provide support and supplies for the beleaguered defenders below. The destroyers, led by the newly named Heracles, charged forth in a wolf pack. Their H-MACs firing with deadly accuracy the moment any ships entered their range.
And ss the enemy soon learned, these cannons possessed a far greater lethality than those of the aging Marathon. A half dozen streaks of hot metal raced across the stars towards their targets. Any ship struck by these rounds were gutted as the round passed from bow to stern, or cracked in half as they struck midline of the ships. Whether they were of the angular design or the flying blocks of metal; the only difference was who had the larger wrecks. Some were clean misses, other scraping what the aliens considered shields. Popping them in a display of arcing electricity as it was thrown about by the transfer of energy. Within moments over a dozen ships were out of the fight.
And the aliens had yet to make another move.
Then, as if shocked into action, the alien vessels began forming into their own wolf-packs and moving towards the UNSC vessels. Trying to close the distance between the two groups. All the while, the destroyers kept picking off the alien vessels from a distance. The Admiral watched all this from the bridge with a dispassionate look as his ships decimated the enemy's. 'This is too easy. De La Rosa said these aliens had short-distance capable FTL drives. So why haven't they-'A small ripple streaked across the shield in front of the bridge, followed by another. "Solera, report."
"Impacts are reading as low-power Mass accelerator shots and some sort of unknown ordinance. I'm guessing it was an antimatter charge. Shields are holding at 98%." She paused as she manipulated the center table on the bridge. Her snarl not having dissipated in the least, the display showed the entire battlespace around Shanxi. The UNSC warships were utterly annihilating the alien warships at range. The battle was far from a completely one sided fight. "Mostly likely pot-shots than an actual strike, but we have other problems." On the display, several of the UNSC ships were highlighted. Apparently, several ships, either in a fit of bloodlust or seeking glory had split off from their groups, charging off on their own, and had paid the price.
Three Rider-Class light frigates and two Montreal-Class Heavy-Frigates floated dead in space. Their hulls breached and precious atmosphere pouring out from great rents in the hulls. "Solera, how the hell did this happen?" De La Rosa demanded, "What happened to them?"
"Apparently, someone remembered on their side remembered their FTL engines. We got packs of ships picking off the ones that are isolating themselves." With a wave of her hand, a video of just how the aliens managed to take down the UNSC vessels was shown. "The main guns on the hostile vessels are nowhere near our cannons, but they can fire a hell of a lot faster." On the video, one of Montreal-class, the Oasis, was surrounded by alien vessels as they brought themselves in close using their FTL drives, right before they cut loose with their main guns. The shields of the Oasis lit up as they intercepted the rounds, with Archer missiles and autocannons letting loose on the enemy vessels. Several alien ships were knocked out of commission by the combined fire, but the majority evaded the attack. "Once they get in close, our ships can't use their MACs, and from what I've seen, we'd need at least a cruiser's amount of autocannons to pierce their shields using them alone." Solera commented. In the video, the Oasis's shield's popped. A second later, it was gutted as the alien vessels added their own missiles to the barrage, gutting the ship but leaving it largely intact. The alien ships were wrapped in a blue aura, altering their heading. But before they could vanish, five were decimated as H-MAC shells struck them amidship, utterly destroying them. The others vanished before repairing several tens of thousands miles away.
"Damn it, get everyone back into their formations, I-"
"Already done," Solera added, but it's too late." As to emphasize her point, a Midway-Class destroyer, the Heart of Sparta started to tumble in space as it was attacked by no less than a dozen corvettes-tonnage ships and another three frigates and one of the cruiser-tonnage. Each had some sign of damage, either lucky survivors from the Hornet Mines, or part of Hunter-Killer Pack that had taken down four of five downed UNSC warships. They had been using their FTL drives and sublight engines to rapidly close the distance between themselves and their targets. The Sparta's hull flare in pockets as it attempted to use its chemical boosters to reorient itself. As it was turning, dozens of antimatter missiles struck along the length of its hull. Explosions strafed the side of the warship, missiles detonated inside their tubes, triggering a chain of explosions, reaching its reactor. The detonation of the reactor sheared the Sparta in two. Bodies and scrap floated out from the wreck.
The Era of Retliation herself, though right in the middle of the battle, was no yet in the thick of it. All of the alien ships had given her a wide berth. Staying as far as possible from it. "Damn it! Order the other ships to stay in their formations and pick their targets. Don't let them get separated! As for us, we're taking out those wolfpacks. Solera, I want our gun-decks directed right at the thickest cluster of enemy vessels! Find their flagships!"
Solera nodded. "Understood. All hands, brace for hard rotation." Across the ship, chemical boosters placed at key points Engaged. The sheer force of the boosters began rotating the five point seven kilometer warship faster than normal. Within seconds what was once the 'top' was now the 'bottom', as all orientation was relative to one's point of view in space.
And displaying its most heavily armed vector, barring its bow, to the enemy.
**APUFMKII**
On the Son of Kalros, Torsk was looking what could only be akin to glee as he saw the aliens engaging the ragtag fleet he and Desolas had called in with all their favors. "HAH HAH! This! Is a true battle!" Roaring his approval, a bloody thirsty grin slapped across his face. Even as the alien warships began to tear into the motley fleet. "My warriors, for centuries I have promised you all the fight that you all desire! The battle of a lifetime! And now I finally fulfill my vow!" Thunderous cheers filled the bridge and speakers, even as their compatriots were being destroyed around them.
"Sir, a request to open a communication line from the Obelisk, its Desolas himself!" Torsk huffed an affirmative, not taking his eyes off the battle and directing ships as needed.
The dulcet tones of Desolas blared through the speakers, "Torsk! We have to fall back! We need to leave the system, we don't know what we are trifling with!" The turian commander was obviously in a state of fear and near panic, which was understandable, in the face of what seemed to be overwhelming odds. "Torsk, do you hear me?" Said krogan motioned for the officer to cut the line, ending the discussion before it could begin.
"You may have lost your quad turian, but I still remember what it means to be a krogan. And now, I will make my ancestors proud." With that he threw himself back into the battle, directing as many ships to the dark side of the planet as he threw at the enemy.
Back on the Turipa, Desolas slammed a fist against a nearby console in anger. "Damnable fool! Doesn't he realize what's going on?" In his eyes, unlike his krogan compatriot, the battle was not something that they could brute force their way, not with the ragtag forces they had, but if they fell back into Council space, perhaps they could spin a tale and get the whole of the Council's Might to bear on this new species." But until then, we can't-" He was cut off as alarms began to blare on the deck, signalling a potential lock on their location their location. Which didn't make sense as he had made sure that their ships were a considerable distance from the battle. "Report!"
"Sir, we've got several contact's coming in! Cruiser-size vessels their advancing on our position!" As if to emphasize his point, the deck shuddered, knocking anyone not in a security harness of their feet, several consoles began sparking from energy surges. "Get a group tasked for those cruisers! I want them taken out before sundown!"
"Sirs, Hexilion pack has been assigned. They're moving in and," The officer paused, not believing what they were hearing.
"And what?" Desolas snapped out.
"Sir, the alien cruisers, they're, they're backing off. Hexilion lead reports that they are breaking course and heading away from us…" Desolas felt his jaw go slightly slack. It didn't make any sense, why would they peel off like they did without reason? There was no way they could have realized that he would send someone to attack them in response.
"Show me." On one of the bridge's screen, Desolas watched as he was given a live-feed of the front of his ship. As the officer said, two of the alien vessels had been approaching their position and now were heading on a vector that went away or around them. But why? Then, he realized something, "Check their previous vectors, follow them back, in a straight line. Tell me if there's something behind them."
At his command several officers began to frantically search until one finally answered, "Sir! it's that massive unknown vessel, it's presenting it's broadside in our direction!" On the screen, the image of the ship was magnified and could be seen clearly.
'It's broadside?' Desolas thought, 'Why would it do that? It only presents us a bigger target.' As the fortress-class alien warship completed it's rotation, the turian's eyes widened in realization. "By the spirits…Helmsman! Full power to the engines, get us moving away from our current position at a downwards angle! Sharp as you can manage! Comms! Order the other ships to do the same!" The ship lurched as the officers obeyed without hesitation, an response that saved all their lives as just as the Obelisk of Turipa began to gather speed on its downward arc, the broadside of the alien warship spat out a wall of fiery death as all her guns opened fire.
The Obelisk's position had been reinforced by the entirety of her original force from the first patrol, along with another dozen cruisers and frigates from the favors that Desolas and Torsk had called in. Of the perhaps three dozen ships in that formation, only about half of those from the original patrol followed the strange commands by Desolas as soon as they received them. The rest…
The moment the veritable wall of fire reached the ships, no one onboard had the time to scream in panic as hot metal just ripped through the ships like they were little more than paper. Ripping through effortlessly and tearing the ships and those within to pieces through sheer volume of fire. A single salvo from the guns eviscerated the ships in it's firing line to the point where the largest piece of wreckage was no bigger than a turian, if that. In a single strike, over thirty ships were utterly destroyed by one ship.
As Desolas witnessed the utter carnage that the alien fortress class vessel unleashed in a single salvo, he knew that only course of action remained. One that he so desperately desired that it was not that case, but he quickly realized that he brought it upon himself. "I may have started a war, simply because of my own greed and ambition. I will pay for my actions in some way or another, but I will be damned before I surrender the lives of those under my command in a needless slaughter. My only saving grace be that none of my soldiers are on the planet right now." He said to himself.
As he looked to his crew, they all looked back at him, waiting for his orders whatever they may be. 'Good turians, all of them. Better than I deserve.' He thought to himself. As he took a deep breath, he considered just what he was about to do, would do to his future. His choice would forever be a black mark both upon him, and his family. One that would stay for an unknown number of generations, but still, when he spoke, he did so loudly and clearly. "Order the retreat."
