UNSC Prowler Port Stanley
Eridanus system, 2563 November 15th
Exiting from Slipstream.
There was a Blackish blue portal that suddenly opened near the graceful ballet of asteroids in the asteroids rings surrounding the Eridanus II sun, a seemingly mirage like object exited the portal before the portal slowly shrinks and dissipated. "Hmm it seems we have exited in the Eridanus system." Said BB with a slight frown in his voice. With a slight shrug that was shown as BB's avatar did a slight spin. "Awkward, it seems my randomization course algorithm might need some fine tunings after we call port."
"I'll notify the port when we arrived. Now begin charge up sequence of the slipspace drive. BB you have the bridge." Replied Serin as she quickly left the bridge for her quarters where a small bag of ginger cookies awaited. BB's avatar twirled slightly before a captain's hat popped out and dropped on top of his avatar.
As she walked down the corridor however, the Port Stanley shooked violently, throwing Serin to the ground. "BB, Report!"
"Shields are down, without that last refit, we would have been turned into free floating molecules. Which might be an improvement to how the Port Stanley looks. " Replied BB with his sarcastic humour. "and it seems we have boarding parties inbound. Activating CIWS."
Serin was not amused as she quickly reached down and pulled her custom made M6D from its holster. "BB get Naomi and the ODST to prepare to repel boarders, and arm the backup Rudras, weapons free BB. I'm coming back to the bridge."
"Aye aye Serin," replied BB as his avatar on the bridge switched out the captain's hat for a soldier's helmet. "This mission just gotten way more interesting," whispered BB as he locked in targets for the Prowler's nuclear missiles.
pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppooooooooooooooooooooo oooo
Meanwhile down in the hanger bay, "Ha you're going down Mal" grinned Lian as she examines her hand one more time before showing her hand of cards "A full house! Beat that." The Sergeant grinned as she broke her poker face in face of her win. "Finally. the invincible Mal is going down!"
Staff sergeant Mal just glanced at Lian's cards before a frown appeared on his face which cause Lian's grin to widen even more. "You know, you should never count your eggs before they hatch." Before his frown turned into a smile.
"I know you're bluffing Mal, nothing can beat my hand unless it's a 4 of a kind or a royal flush" replied Lian, her grin still present. But it would seem that her possible victory was not going to happen as the ship shook violently before alarms blared throughout the ship.
BB's voice echo through the ship "All hands prepare to repel borders, we are going to be boarded." His box avatar appeared next to Mal who was getting up from being knocked down, a customized pirate hat drop down. "Mal, Serin ordered you and your team to move to this location." A holographic representation of the location appeared in front of Mal's face.
Shaking his head, Mal got up and study the map. "Lian, Vaz suit up time to rock and roll." Even as he said this he was grabbing his ODST armour and started to fit them on, the pieces automatically integrating themselves after coming in contact with another piece. By the time Mal was done, a bright golden sheen appear around him for a second before disappearing back into invisibility.
Even as Mal was suiting up, BB focused his attention to Naomi. "Naomi, your orders are to roam the ship and deal with any stray that Mal and his team missed, I'll keep you up to date on the location that needs your attention." With that BB's avatar disappeared.
"Great any idea what we'll be facing, comrade?" asked Vaz as he double check his MA6P plasma rifle. The weapon's prongs grow an eerie purple as Vaz slapped in a battery pack. When he got no reply he looked over at Mal and tried not to laugh when he saw Mal load up an antiqued MA5B.
Mal raised an eyebrow at Vaz before saying: "What? This baby will do nicely in narrow corridors." Before pulling down the charging level. As soon as they were armed up, they quickly moved over to their assigned location which was near the main airlock of the Prowler. Lian quickly took cover behind a crate while Vaz peeked at the airlock from his cover behind a deployable barricade. Mal himself took aim at the air lock from his position behind one of the support pillar of the ship. The corridor was quiet until a cheerful beep fill the area. "GET DOWN!" shouted Mal before the airlocks detonated with a flush of plasma. Counting to three Mal stood up rifle at the ready as he looked at the newly made entrance point. Nothing happened until a man in bulky old ODST armour moved through the airlock. Lian and Vaz already has their weapons aimed at the intruder. Suddenly Mal's HUD flashed as it received data from the built in IFF from the intruder's armour (Corporal Median Graves…. 105 ODST Battalion… Status: MIA), blinking slightly to get rid of the data display, Mal silently sent orders for his team to hold fire before shouting: "This is Staff Sergeant Malcom Geffan of the 103 ODST Battalion, Identify yourself!"
The figure quickly raised its weapon , a MA5D assault rifle, at Mal and open fire while shouting "DIE YOU IMPERIALIST SCUM!" Mal duck as 7.62 FMJ rounds spark around his cover with a lucky round bouncing off his energy shield. Even as weapon fire echoes through the corridor more intruders pour in from the airlock. There was a loud boom as Lian fired her shotgun into the mess of intruders that gathered near the airlock, while the whine of plasma discharged came from Vaz's side. Mal gave an annoyed grunt before priming a concussion grenade. "FRAG OUT!" as he threw the grenade at the enemy. The intruders scramble away and leapt to the ground before the grenade detonated hoping to avoid the shrapnel, instead they were severely injured when the overpressure shockwave hit them, a few coughing up blood from ruptured organs. Before any of them can get up, Mal finished them off with a full auto of his MA5B instantly dealing away with the threats.
"Well guess that answers your previous question Vaz," said Lian as she shove more shells into her shotgun "We're fighting hosers Innies." Before she finished off her reloading process with chambering a shell into the chamber.
"I dun think so Lian." Said Mal as he slowly approached the dead bodies, his eyes wary on the airlock. After a quick check to confirm the area was secure, he stooped down and picked up the rifle from the first intruder. "Since when did the Innies get their hands on the D series? I'm pretty sure that none of the MA5D made it out of the Solar system before we pulled out of the outer colonies. Those things were only made in time for the….." Before a beeping sound caught Mal's attention. "Oh shit!" was all Mal could say before the trip mine carried on the back of the dead body detonated, flinging the Staff sergeant into the wall on the farm end of the corridor. "Bloody hell, I feel like I got whacked with a sledgehammer." Groaned Mal as he tried to get up, his shield indicator blinked an insistent red as it slowly starts to recharge.
Lian went over and gently pulled Mal onto his feet before peeking back into the airlock of the boarding craft. "There doesn't seem to be anyone in. I say we just jam the ship here and buy us some time for BB to get us out of here." Mal only nodded in agreement before shouldering his rifle and moving into the airlock. Lian look around the boarding craft before commenting. "Hmm they're using old Bumblebee lifeboat as boarding craft. Must be really confident that we cann't shoot back to use this old deathtrap."
Vaz took cover beside the entrance to the craft his MA6P pointed outwards, "Let's just finish the job and get back to the Stanley. I'll feel much better back on our own ship." There was a few grunts as Mal tries to pull apart the consoles to hotwire the modified lifeboat before pulling out his pistol with a frustrated sigh. A series of gunshots that loudly echoes in the boat sounded seconds later resulting in a totaled control console.
Lian look over Mal's shoulder at the damage done before commenting "Brutal, but effective. The dock hands aren't going to be happy trying to get rid of this after we get out of here though."
"So sue me." Said Mal as he lead his team back into the Port Stanley. "BB, we disabled the boarding craft in our section. The only way they're getting in is with plasma torches."
"I'll let Serin know" replied BB before a sudden pause before calling out "Brace yourself!" The Port Stanley shook once more as something slammed into the ship. "That really hurt. " growled BB before a series of thumps echoed through the ships "They got old fashion mass drivers firing slugs at us. Keep the main airlock clear and we'll be out of here in a few minutes. Now where is Naomi?" The ODSTs looked at each other before each giving a shrug. "Typical." Commented BB before he cut off his comns.
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Meanwhile on the bridge. Serin sat calmly in her command chair watching the fight between the Port Stanley and a fleet of what seems to be Insurrectionist ships. "BB anything on our guest?" she asked as she manually called up a tactical display of the ship's location. The AI's avatar showed up on the Holotank with his avatar.
"They look like Insurrectionist, talk like Insurrectionist and act like Insurrectionist. So you tell me." Replied the AI with Sarcasm and a hit of frustration behind it. "Somehow, and I do not know how, these so call "Innies" managed to cut me off from my fragments that was still with Parangoskey." The last statement managed to catch Serin off guard. "And Mal wish to inform you that he and his managed to secure the main airlock. Naomi seems to be roaming between the two secondary airlocks. Nothing of interest there yet."
"Very well. How long before the Slipspace drive is back online? The Port Stanley was never intended to be caught in direct combat." Asked Serin as she tries to think of a way to reassure BB about the lost connection to his fragment. The AI seems as agitated as when he lost contact with the fragment that he loaned to Dr Evans during his mission to the Sangheili Homeworld. She was unaware that BB had already predicted her course of action however.
"The Huragoks reported that they will be done within the minute. And Serin," BB's box avatar turn it's 'face' towards her "There is no need for comfort, I've been through it once, I can deal with it again." The AI 's avatar turned once more before commenting "Rudras impacting in 3…2….1." with that nuclear fireballs detonated along the line of frigate tonnage vessels. When the nuclear firestorm faded however, most of the ships survived intact behind their shimmering energy shields. "Well that's answers that, I highly doubt the Innies can get their hands on state of the art Energy shields."
Serin made no comment at that except typing in the authorization codes to allow BB access to the Stanley's latest toy. "BB, lets see how they fair against this one. Codeword :MOAAB"
"Codeword accepted, launching MOAAB." Replied BB as he set the rails that normally launch Rudra nukes to overcharge. Seconds later, a large missile was gingerly lowered onto the rail before it was launched straight at the attacking fleet. "There she blows, all 90million credits worth of UNSC hardware." commented BB slyly as the missile streaked pass the stream of auto cannon fire aiming to stop it. As the missile reached it's destination, a small EM field was dissipated as the electric current shut off, releasing small particles that began to interact with other matter in the missile. One of the particles collided with the casing and began a destruction of both particle releasing pure energy instead. This quickly resulted in a uncontrolled chain reaction and the missile exploded in a blinding flash of light. At first nothing happen to the Innie ships before the massive shockwave slammed into their shields. The shields burned brightly as they attempt to protect the ships from the shockwave before fading and shattering. The ships and astroids without protection immediately imploded as the shockwave swiftly crushed them, aftershocks compressing them even further into a compact size. Alarms blared throughout the Port Stanley as the ship's sensors warned of the immediate danger.
"Get us out of here BB" Ordered Serin as she held onto the command chair with all her strength. The Port Stanley began to turn, even as a blue white portal shimmer open near it. The ship's shields flare brightly as the first part of the shockwave reached it. But the ship managed to escape into Slipspace before it's shield failed. The Slipspace rupture quickly dissipate after that and the system was quiet once more.
ppppppppppppppppppppppoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o
Somewhere in a Lab researching the remains of Didact's ships
\\ UNSC LAB 5
\ … New Data Fragment recovered….
\... Analyzing…
\... Analysis complete…
* (…) Proceed with Integration? [Y/N]\*
\...Proceeding with integration….
\...Integration Successful…
* WARNING UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETE…\*
\...
\...
\... Reinitializing system….
\...Initialization successful…..
/ Do….n't…. Make…a…. Girl a pro….mise….if…..you….kn…..ow….you…cann…'t….keep….i …t
\...
\...
\...System will enter standby mode….
*WARNING ALL UNSAVED DATA WILL BE LOST\*
*CONTINUE? [Y/N]\*
Author's Note: Finally Done with chapter 24. Since some readers expressed dislike at my usually sneak preview method, I shall now change that to uploading full chapters from now on. Enjoy, Read and review ty.