Hello! theotherpianist welcomes you back! Are you ready for another chapter because I'm sure ready to post one!
But first as a PSA:
On November 18th, Halo: Rise of the Empire crossed the 50,000 view marker and the 100,000 word count! Many thanks are due to those of you who have stuck through my writing in the beginning!
To those of you are asking me I do plan on doing a rewrite of the beginning but I would like to complete this book first before I move on to the second installment. I would like to apologize for being late in posting this. Consider this a Christmas (if you celebrate it) treat if you will. If not then please enjoy this a random gift. I have been extremely busy with school work. That is all I can say on the matter. But let us move on to reviews!
Legionary Prime:I have no idea about if the Chief will show up. The idea was based solely on a OC character that struggles to make it through some of the toughest points in galactic history. I hesitate to do the Chief solely because I have no idea what 343 Industries plans to do. This is my story but I like to confine it to established canon when possible. Will he show up? Yes. But I can't decide in what way.
Mandalore the freedom: There will be Mandalorians and more exploration of Zek's character. All good things come to those who wait.
For this chapter I decided to cover more of the events going on outside to give perspective to forthcoming events.
And now, please enjoy the show.
UNSC INFINITY (INF-101)
BRIDGE
Cryptum, Wild Space Regions
Captain Thomas Lasky,
Dec 9th, 2552: 9:15:56 Hours Standard UNSC Military Calendar/Time
"XPO, what's our situation?" Captain Lasky asked as he hurried in, trailed by Doctor Halsey, Spartan Palmer, and the Admiral.
"The mountain side started opening five minutes ago. It's still doing so, look!" Executive Petty Officer Henry Armstrong said pointing a finger.
He went over to one of the observation windows and looked. Below him a large circular hole was opening up, massive in diameter, that was opening up as if to swallow the Infinity. He knew and mentally reminded himself they were in no danger of that, UNSC Forces had already disabled the mechanisms that captured ships and pulled them inside. The sight still reminded him very much of Requiem.
And he would love nothing more than to not repeat that again.
He shivered unconsciously at the thought. Why did Forerunners make giant holes anyways?
"Captain Lasky? Fleetmaster 'Vadum on the line! We've got trouble!" Roland reported.
"Captain? I trust you can handle things on the Infinity?" Admiral Tchkova interrupted him.
"Yes Admiral, hold on-Roland what kind of trouble?"
"It looks like a lot more of a Storm fleet. Whatever is inside there must be valuable enough that they're willing to throw an entire fleet at it!" an Officer called out.
The Admiral next to him swore as the holo-table lit up with the new contacts.
"Sensors make out contacts as 3 RCS Heavy Cruisers with 15 CRS Light Cruisers, make that five per Heavy." Roland said.
"More Contacts!"
"Nevermind, add two Assault Carrier and four CCS class cruisers to the mix shall we?" Roland said sarcastically. His avatar glowing darkly as he contemplated the new arrival.
"What could possibly be so important to throw their entire fleet at us?!" someone yelled as they passed by Lasky.
"They still don't know. Darn it Lasky! Pull yourself together!"
"Captain, I'm going to rotate the Dauntless out and pull some lighter vessels down here for support. We received reinforcements and resupply minutes ago. I need to coordinate them with the Sangheili. Good luck. You know what to do." the Admiral said interrupting his thoughts. He had briefed him on what he wanted to happen seconds before they had gotten here to the bridge.
He saluted and Lasky returned it as the Admiral ran as fast as he could out of the bridge and onto a transport, a cadre of ODST's around him.
"Roland, transmit an open message to all friendly forces."
"Aye Captain. Recording in three...two...one..." he gave a thumbs up and Lasky spoke.
"Attention all Allied Species Forces. This is Captain Lasky with a message for all personnel. The nature of our assignment here on Yukon, now designated Cryptum, has become much more severe and important than we have realized."
Across the Bridge the frantic communications stopped as they all turned to look at their Captain.
"Inside that mountain lies the source of the UNSC distress signals but also at the same time something much more valuable to any of us. Knowledge. Inside that mountain, that crypt, lies the Absolute Record."
He took a breath for a moment before dropping the bombshell.
Spartan Thorne
"This, is the key to every piece of Forerunner Technology in the universe. It's all here. Everything cataloged in one single location."
Thorne cursed as he nearly lost his balance on the gun as the Warthog he was in swerved.
"Did he just say-?"
"Every piece?"
"Mother of-"
"Holy-"
"Shut it Majestic!" DeMarco hissed.
"And we, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey who has been recovered from captivity with the Storm, were able to confirm this. Here and now in the next few hours will determine our fate as a galaxy, as brothers and sisters, as friends. Our task is now of even greater importance and urgency...
"Hoya, you better step on it. We're still a kilometer from the tunnel!"
Spartan William Gunther
He stopped his walk towards the center of the FOB at the foot of the tunnel, now wide open to look back at the Infinity overhead. The Dauntless next to it ignited its engines and started ascending rapidly. While he watched other reinforcement vessels sink lower to take the place of the Infinity.
"...our enemy is not done nor is he finished. While we were almost certainly able to critically wound Jul 'Mdama almost an hour ago, his forces are still zealous, loyal, and are evidently bent on revenge.
"Hey Will, what's going-"
"Here." he said in a daze tossing a disposable comlink to Chelsea who was currently replacing her com unit on her helmet that had been damaged in their fight with 'Mdama.
"Our future, depends on whether we are able to secure the information and personal inside there as fast as possible. And in addition Admiral Tchkova has asked me to make one more announcement." He cleared his throat. And Will paused listening with the hosts of other UNSC personal
"It's a half truth that for the sake of security we needed to cover up. There are not one but two ships inside that mountain. And one of them...is the Spirit of Fire."
"What?! Chelsea said snatching the comlink again as she dropped it in surprise.
"Did he just-"
"Communication patterns match frequencies unique to UNSC Naval ships almost 30 years ago. A quick reference to those in service before the Spirit of Fire vanished confirmed our theories." Lasky said interrupting Will.
"Ho-ly crap." Will said as Lasky was trying to explain the significance of this find.
"Guess we were right when we decided to throw this much men and material to one planet. The public is going to have kittens." Chelsea chuckled.
"The Politicians and Brass can deal with the fallout."
"Anymore revelations from Lasky?"
"Shhh."
"We have also confirmed recently through a series of scans that the other ship down there is the UNSC Svalbard. A vessel declared missing with 5000 men and women during a tactical retreat in the fight against the Storm.
"What?!" It was Will's turn to yelp in surprise. He swooned slightly on the spot as a wave of euphoria crashed over him as two words registered in his mind.
UNSC Svalbard
"Do you know what this means?!" Chelsea said becoming more ecstatic by the second
"Castle?" he said a grin spreading across his face.
"Castle."
"Race you to the mountain!"
"You're on Will."
Shadow of Intent
Bridge
Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadum,
9:20:00 Hours
"Fleetmaster! We're being hailed by Admiral Tchkova."
Rtas 'Vadum sat in the grav-chair with a hand underneath his mandibles as he observed the Storm Reinforcements start to organize. He looked up at the Sangheili who had called him up.
"Go ahead."
A screen above him blinked on with the face of the Admiral.
"Fleetmaster. I assume you know of the Storm rearing its face again?"
"More than I would care for at the moment." he grimaced staring at the fleet.
"Do we have the numbers to take them on right now?"
"We do but we put ourselves at great risk. With a Carrier of their own over there they've forced us to be patient. We could fight them but, as one of you have famously said, 'Discretion is the better part of valor.' Am I correct?"
"You are. I'm scraping as many ships off the surface as I can but they have us in a hard spot. And yet while we wait they set themselves up for deployment of troops below. You've just heard Captain Lasky's speech correct?"
"Indeed I have." Rtas looked at a screen to his left that was scrolling text on repeat of Lasky's speech. "The presence of the Absolute Record is troubling. Why here of all places."
"We won't know that until later. The Republic hasn't shown up?"
"No. I dearly hope they're not breaking their vows." Rtas said angrily.
"What is your Fleet's status?"
"During the first round my ships sustained some minor injuries that still have yet to be repaired. My warriors are more than willing to give battle to any heretic that stands against us.
"Fleetmaster! The enemy is advancing!" a young Officer called out.
"Prepare yourself Admiral, for we have a long fight ahead of us. I'm pulling my lines back to mix with yours."
"Roger. We'll be in touch."
The connection closed.
"Weapons! Charge plasma turrets and wait for my command. Stagger our ships among the UNSC line but I want our heavier firepower on our flanks."
He fell silent as his crew relayed orders and
"Fleetmaster, they're sending their lighter warships out first."
He looked at the screen and saw not the Light Cruisers but the Battle Cruisers leading the charge. It had to be a trap. He thought back to his days at the Academy where he had studied history. The Sangheili had a saying proverb about traps. In essence, one could never know until one tried it out for sure for himself. Better to spring one now then later and be surprised. And who wasn't to say you could respond to a trap with your own?"
It was time to spring it now.
"Helm, launch fighters but keep them in reserve on our lines and move the Shadow of Intent forward."
"Aye."
He watched as his Carrier moved forward to intercept the four warships. They started splitting apart.
"All weapons, prepare to fire! On my command."
"Fleetmaster, they're moving into staggered formation within range and launching fighters!"
He allowed a grin as he saw the enemy move for his own trap
"Fire at will! Torpedoes on our diagonals!"
"On our diagonals?" one of the Crew asked.
The diagonals referred to 45 degree imaginary lines that extended out from the ends of the ship. An attacking ship would have its best chance in destroying a vessel by attacking a ship along those lines because the shields were configured in such a way as to absorb more damage from anything head on or broadside. The diagonals were harder to defend but the presence of an energy projector negated that advantage.
"Just do it!" another Sangheili roared.
The ship vibrated as the turrets, red from plasma heat opened up and started spewing lances in very precise directions and plasma torpedoes launched with no apparent guidance.
"Slipspace jumps on our diagonals!" Navigation called out as addtional ships now appeared in a diagonal box around the Shadow of Intent.
"They outnumber us eight to one!"
"Then it is a fair fight. All weapons fire again! Burn the heretics! Reload torpedoes and launch again."
The enemy battlecruisers that had just appeared suddenly tried veering off course as they realized there was plasma in their path.
Four torpedoes collided with four ships. Rtas had been counting on them to try and surround his ship and as four plasma charges met the hulls of four different ships he took full advantage of the critical milliseconds after a slipspace jump that the shields of a ship, if not gone, were weakened as they tried to recharge.
The Storm, with their slipspace drives cooling down and with no immediate maneuverability were, as the humans liked to say, sitting ducks. Four plasma charges slammed into the hulls with such an impact that they flared and stopped for a second before bursting into chaining series of explosions.
The cloud of Seraphs, Banshees and Phantoms thinned as the pulse lasers came alive from every angle and started thinning out the cloud of enemy fighters. Behind them the four battlecruisers that had orginally advanced were in a full retreat. Followed quickly by the fighters.
"After them! Burn their ships!" he called out as the
The crew growled in approval as the Shadow of Intent raced forward. Her plasma turrets sending calculated volleys of plasma toward the fleeing Storm.
Yet something in Rtas's mind was not at ease. He had not fought the Parasite and more battles than he could count for nothing. Something wasn't right. But what? The Storm were in fact legitmately fleeing, almost killing each other to get away from the Assault Carrier.
Better safe than sorry at any rate.
"Hold!" he called out suddenly standing up.
His crew looked up at him.
"Turn this ship around."
"Fleetmaster! I'm picking up contacts moving at faster...than light..." one of the Crew said and faltered.
"Show me!" he ordered at once to where the Sangheili had pointed. A large red mass was moving towards them at high speeds.
"What is-"
"Contact!" a Sangheili behind him roared.
"Doesn't match any we've seen before!"
"On screen!"
He paused to take in what he was seeing. The ship reminded him of an energy sword vaguely. There were two pronged tips making up the prow. A large ring like structure was dully glowing on one side of the ship. From there it flattened it out into a large tubular section bristling with guns. At the end a large tower jutted backwards, most likely, he thought, the command tower.
He noticed a large blue and white symbol painted on the side of it.
"Confederacy." he snarled.
"But who could be on the bridge?" he wondered.
"Hail that ship!"
Malevolence II
Bridge,
Wild Space Regions
Planet, Separatist Designation "Lockup"
"General! Scanners show two fleets near the Planet. One side looks to be in retreat." said a Battle Droid from his console station.
General Grievous scanned the space he and the Malevolence was occupying in the middle of a battlefield with light casualties coming from what only could be the Storm's fleet. The other side had a retreating ship the same size as the Malevolence
"Hail both fleet's." he coughed after a moment.
"Roger roger."
He stepped backwards and composed himself.
"General. The Commander of that ship is turning about and hailing us.
"Answer them." he said coldly.
The Hologram of a large reptilian looking alien who was missing two of four mandibles greeted him.
"Greetings. I am Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadum of the Swords of Sangheilios which are a part of-"
"I know who you are Fleetmaster." the General said scathingly. "I am General Grievous of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. With orders to negotiate your surrender or the terms of your execution. Whichever you prefer." he coughed loudly before straightening again.
"Then General, we are at an impasse. I have been charged to keep this planet under our control while our brothers of the UNSC search for survivors. We do not wish to seek conflict at this time General. Our mission is humanitarian, NOT totalitarian. And do not idle my time with false threats of surrender. I've heard and seen your history. Do not take me for a fool."
Grievous laughed. "Then we are left with no choice-"
"General! The Storm are moving into attack formations!"
He turned away for a moment at the incessant cry of the battle droid to realize they were doing exactly that.
"Rarrgh!" he growled as he watched one of the ships the size of his own leading that charge. "Begin charging plasma rotors!" he growled at his Weapons Officer.
The droid responded with trademark efficiency.
"Fleetmaster, you are about to get a taste of what will happen in the very near future. I am being merciful. I suggest you take it now. Leave the UNSC to their fate. It would be better for them than you."
"We can not do that abomination." Rtas said coldly.
"General, the Storm is charging weapons!" another one of his pathetic crew called out slightly panicking.
"Firing sequence intiated!" another droid called out.
To his right ahead of him a large disc of purple ionic energy began forming.
"Rotate the Malevolence!" Grievous ordered.
The Malevolence II shifted itself broadside and the disc began expanding more and more.
"Cannon ready!" Weapons called out.
"Fire!"
With a dull roar the cannon fired and a spinning, churning ring of energy burst out clawing its way outwards expanding as it went. The Storm Vessels tried breaking ranks. The ones on the outside were lucky and narrowly avoided it and raced back to their depleted lines. The Ion pulse raced and the largest vessel and her smaller escorts plunged into the middle of it.
There were silver and gold pops as the shielding was disabled all over the enemy fleet and the ships lost power.
"Fire all cannons!" the cyborg General roared pointing with a finger at the crippled ships.
He felt a sense of sadistic glee as numerous bolts of energy streaked towards the helpless ships. They blossomed into hellish flowers of flame on impact.
The Storm, to the credit of the designers of the ships were able to shake of the damage for half a minute until they all started to burst into flame. Bulkheads were ripped open, chunks of armor blasted apart and vaporized, oxygen turned into flames in milliseconds, occupants roasted instantly or asphyxiated from lack of air, decks were sucked out from depressurization, ghostly clouds and contrails of debris, plasma, and oxygen,
The biggest highlight was when the largest vessel suddenly shuddered and exploded outwards as its reactor went critical and blasted the other wreckage away.
"Have you changed your mind Fleetmaster?"
"But you have but one ship."
"Not any more barbarian scum."
And then all around him was filled with Separatist warships. Lucrehulks, Providence class Carriers and Destroyers, Rescusant Light Destroyers, Munificent Star Frigates, and Saboath class Destroyers.
If the Fleetmaster was afraid he didn't show it. His face didn't show a trace of fear that was ever present in one of the Republic's Admirals. Oh what he would even give to have any Jedi witness this.
"You underestimate us General." Fleetmaster 'Vadum said. "This conversation has no more meaning." With that the connection broke.
"General the Storm are retreating!" a Battle Droid called out enthusiastically.
"Move the fleet into position. How much longer until the Ion Cannon can be used?"
"According to my calculations the cannon will be ready in 25 minutes."
Grievous growled angrily. "And why not?"
"Uhh...well if we fire prematurely we risk damaging the cannon permanently."
"Move the fleet into position. I want to land troops as soon as possible on the ground."
"Roger roger."
UNSC Dauntless (DBD-312)
Bridge
Planetary Orbit of Cryptum
9:30:08 Hours
"Can anyone tell me what the **** they just fired?" Admiral Tchkova said peering the observation windows towards the third enemy fleet that day. As much as he wanted to bloody the Separatists his game plan had just been changed dramatically in the last thirty seconds.
"Working on it sir!"
"****it I need answers now!"
"Admiral? I have your answer." a female voice spoke up.
"Finally. Hit me Sarah." Tchkova said turning to the pedestal where Sarah had materialized.
"Do you want simple or complex terms?"
"Einstein."
"Very well. It would appear that warship fired a class five pulse of negatively charged ionic energy contained within a destabilizing and expanding EMP field. The actual damage was done by the ionized particles contained in the field. When the EMP field hit, it disabled the shields. The ionic particles took care of the rest of the process and took everything else electronic off line. The heat produced most likely melted several key components of the ship power grid and then proceeded to irreparably damage all systems."
Tchkova let that sit for a second.
"Wait. The Dauntless, isn't it hardened to this type of thing because of the EMP cannon onboard?"
"Yes and no Admiral. While it is resistant to a class three electromagnetic pulse that does nothing to mitigate or prevent damage caused by the ionized particles or the accompanying class five EMP pulse."
"Admiral that ship is turning about to face us! The fleet is splitting to attack them and us!"
"****it Sarah how do we survive another one of those?"
"We can't." she said after a moment. "Not where you stand now."
"That ship is turning toward us Captain!" one of the Bridge crew called out nervously.
"Calm down son." Tchkova turned and said to panicking Petty Officer. He put his elbows down on the holotable and rubbed his temples and stared at the oncoming fleet. It was almost like fighting the Covenant way back when he had been a Captain. He knew he had to be optimistic but reasonable.
What could a group consisting of the Infinity, Dauntless, Eight Autumn class cruisers, six destroyers, four light carriers, two light battleships, and ten frigates. He had sent many of his original ships back to Coruscant too early and even with a smaller replacement fleet he was very unhappy with his numbers.
"Tell the ground teams they have a limited amount of time before the enemy is all over us. We can't cover their escape if we're cut off."
She nodded and was about to turn away when Tchkova stopped her.
"The Republic's doctor, Doctor Yallat, where is she?" he asked suddenly.
"She is aboard the Infinity in the medical ward undergoing-"
"Never mind that." he interrupted her confusion. "I need her input. Hail Infinity and see if we can get her on the line."
He turned away and looked over the enemy fleet slowly approaching them. He wasn't concerned about the smaller vessels, during the battle of Rhen Var the Dauntless had proved itself against many of the smaller vessels. Granted the Dauntless almost destroyed its slipspace drive during the fight but it came out on top during the fight. What he was concerned about was the larger vessels, Providence class ships that were almost as large as the Dauntless.
"Admiral? She's on the line." said Sarah.
He turned to the holoprojector which now displayed an image of Doctor Yallat in a hospital bed sitting up.
"Sorry to disturb you Doctor. I'm Admiral Tchkova, the commander of the UNSC forces on this planet. I hate to interrupt your recovery Doctor but we are in rather dire straits."
"Understood. Tell me what this problem is." she said straightening up.
"The Confederacy just came out of hyperspace with this ship." A 3D image of the largest ship was displayed.
"You mean the Malevolence?"
"The Republic has seen this before?"
"Yes, briefly. If I recall Jedi Master Plo Koon was investigating a Separatist superweapon in the Abregado system which turned out to be the Malevolence. It had a ion cannon that has left entire fleets helpless while General Grievous slaughtered them. It was only due to the intervention of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi that they survived and were able to reveal the identity of the weapon."
"Is there anyway to negate the cannon?" he asked quickly.
"I...uhh...well no." she said. "We destroyed the vessel by sabotaging its Navicomputer from inside. There's no way to shield yourself unless your vessels are built to withstand such things."
The Admiral let the sink for a moment.
"Thank you doctor. We wish you a quick and speedy recovery. Admiral out."
He turned away and started pacing around in front of his main observation window trying to figure out some strategy.
In the distance now the Confederacy was pushing on the storm. Multicolored explosions obscured part of the scene trailing out in long ghostly ribbons of light that looked like the northern lights he had seen on Reach.
Suddenly an idea emerged. His ships might not be shielded but there were natural shields at his disposal.
"Sarah, the atmosphere of this planet. Does it have a magnetosphere?"
Sarah had caught on in an instant and was already one step ahead of him.
"The atmosphere from my readings should be able to disperse the ionized particles enough that we should have no serious damage if we move our fleet deep enough within atmosphere."
"But that seriously hampers our maneuverability, they'll force us to the ground." he said frowning.
"But we will have negated their ion cannon." she said.
"Let's just hope that we can match their fleet in atmosphere up close." He turned away from the window. "Helm! Move the fleet closer to the planet's atmosphere."
"What? Say again Admiral?"
"Move the fleet into lower atmosphere as soon as that monster gets close. We can negate that ion cannon on the enemy vessel."
"Aye Admiral!"
That taken care of he strode over to another station and looked at the fleet's position.
"We're not moving a **** meter unless we absolutely have to." he said clenching his teeth. "That understood?"
The bridge chorused in agreement.
"Sarah where is the Republic's reinforcements we were supposed to have received?"
"Unknown. They were supposed to have shown five minutes ago."
"Admiral, contacts are in range of the MAC!" Weapons Officer Ensign Garrett Silverstone called out.
"Prioritize targets by threat level and open up with the MAC gun!" he called out.
"Send off a message. Let them know that we need immediate assistance."
"I'll do what I can Admiral but there's only so much we can do."
"Sir! Enemy fleet closing positions fast!" Weapons called out. "Multiple objects peeling away from enemy ships!"
"Analyze!" he ordered.
"Scans show multiple fighters incoming! They've brought boarding craft, and lots of 'em too!" Weapons called out.
"Give the order for all ships to go to full combat alert and prepare for boarders. I want our fighters in close range of our ships."
A new alarm was added to the mix of klaxons and other sirens that blared throughout the ship.
"Our cruisers have a shot!" Ensign Silverstone called out.
"Give them a volley!" he called out.
"Aye sir!" Silverstone responded.
From around him all UNSC ships turned and oriented themselves towards targets before sending their lethal payload of shells accelerated to a respectable fraction of the speed of light. The Dauntless only shook slightly as its guns were added to the mix.
A blink of an eye saw twenty two explosions blossom into fire as the high velocity rounds penetrated the shields of an advance guard of Munnificent Star Frigates and impacted on their reactions. The other ships that were not decimated were simply sheared apart from kinetic force, their hulls tumbling and venting atmosphere and parts.
"Kills confirmed Admiral!" Sangheili moving to cover our flanks!"
He glanced to his left and saw the Sangheili moving some of their ships lower into orbit to prevent anything from entering atmosphere.
There were still many more ships behind that steamed past the wreckage of the fallen and that behemoth, the Malevolence or whatever it was called, was steaming closer and closer.
"Admiral?" a Petty Officer hailed him.
He strode over quickly to a sensor scan station.
"They're launching more ships and I'd be willing to bet my entire year's pay those are troop deployment vehicles."
He looked again at the fleet and saw a score of larger objects behind the still approaching fleet with their fighters and boarding craft.
"Dear..." he trailed off. He looked over to the Sangheili who were in a position to do something and strode over to the holotable.
" Sarah? I want a message sent to the Fleetmaster, they are to intercept as many of those landing craft as possible! If those things land this entire campaign could be shut down."
"Done sir." she answered. "Boarding craft are two minutes out."
"All hands prep for boarding!" he called out.
"Enemy fleet firing weapons!" another Weapons officer called out.
"Brace yourselves!" he ordered.
The ruby bolts from the enemy fleet traversed the distance much slower than a MAC round but their ability to damage was not lost upon the Admiral. With a flash they collided with the fleet. The Dauntless bucked and shook as the energy dissipated on the shields for 15 seconds and Dean Tchkova felt his neck jerk around a little more than he would have liked.
"Status!" he coughed as he regained posture.
"Shields still holding at 83%. Getting damage report from the rest of the-"
"****! Another Officer called out. The Pontificus is not responding!"
He looked over to see the Pontificus...or rather what had been.
What was left was a mangled hulk that somewhat resembled a Destroyer drifting aimlessly with leaking reactors spiraling like a bullet trailing debris, frozen oxygen, and bodies. With a flash what was left jettisoned escape pods. It was made quickly apparent that the presence of light shielding did nothing to save it.
"Pull back our lighter class ships, supporting roles only! I want them out of the line of fire.
"Sustained enemy fire! Incoming!"
"Evasive actions now!" Launch Archer Pods 1-50 and open up with our secondary armaments!"
"Done-Incoming fighters!"
"Get the AAA on it stat! Prioritize boarding craft and bombers and let them have it!"
The Dauntless hummed and fired with secondary gun emplacements including Onagers and a wave of missiles that took advantage of the fighter cloud swarming towards them and several Confederate ships that had their shields down. The missiles impacted deep within the ships and exploded ballooning them outwards until they burst sending fire out the sides and blowing ships apart.
The Confederacy had one advantage that they were pressing heavily. Multiple primary weapon emplacements meant that they could keep up an infinite salvo (provided that they were conservative in their firing which at the moment they were not.) The Admiral jerked again as the Dauntless stumbled again. The crew flinched when two Frigates fell to the Separatist's in quick succession.
"Shields at 70% now!"
"Weapons, fire the EMP cannon! Sarah coordinate the MAC with it. Kill as much as possible. I don't care whether its partial charge."
From underneath the ship a cannon began taking electromagnetic energy generated by the shields and shaping it into a pulse that was inserted into the tip of the shell that was smaller than a standard MAC round. The ships lights flickered and it fired. The round flew towards a Providence class Battleship that was coming closer than anybody preferred. The round struck the shield where instantly the EMP pulse exploded outwards disabling the shields clearing the way for the round which gutted the ship in an instant shearing through the Bridge and decapitating the jutting tower on the back.
The explosion that resulted literally blew it to atoms as the reactors turned it into a supernova enveloping two smaller ships flanking it.
The MAC round that followed soared through the center of the explosion to strike a large Lucrehulk class Battleship in the center where it was instantly vaporized as its reactors went critical.
The bridge cheered and the Separatists slowed their advance and started zigzagging patterns backwards that would give them protection at the cost of speed still unleashing a frightening amount of fire towards the UNSC.
"The fleet is regrouping!"
"Hold the line! Give the ground as much time as possible!" Tchkova yelled.
"I sure hope the ground is having better luck than we are."
Spartan William Gunther
Interior of the Mountain,
Cryptum, Wild Space Regions
9:32:00 Hours UNSC Standard Military Time/Calendar
"Hold!" he ordered suddenly crouching in the shadows. Behind him Chelsea paused as well and covered their backs with the shotgun cradled in her arms.
They had been put into contact with Infinity's Spartan IV handlers (it was ironic to Will that Spartans now served the purpose of talking to other Spartans through their missions and served in an advisory role) when they had arrived at Base Camp. The tunnel had one gigantic hole yes, but branching off from it was a myriad of others that held no other purpose save to slow them down.
Per protocol no stone could be left unturned in a rescue situation and so many of the Spartan IV "Fireteams" as they were called were diverted off to explore while a Joint Army/Spartan team pushed forward in the larger tunnel. Even with so many people down here progress was agonizingly slow.
"How's it going down there Castle?" the voice of their Handler, a Spartan named Dalton crackled in their ears.
"Peachy." Will said under his breath.
"I'm sorry say again Castle Lead?"
"We're fine Dalton. Thought I heard something."
"There still are isolated reports of Promethean activity. Fireteam Crimson just reported a lone Knight on the opposite side as you guys. But where there is one there's bound to be more. Keep an eye out."
"Will do."
"Thanks. Dalton out."
"Will, we should keep moving. This passage is giving me the creeps." Chelsea said from behind him.
"What, a giant forerunner maze isn't enough for you?" he said raising his left arm to the square and waving his fingers forward.
"No." she said as she walked by him keeping an eye on their rear. "Its the winding, totally in the dark part of these side corridors. Come on, how are we supposed to find anything in this?"
"You sound like Ripa." Will said shaking his head.
"Where is he anyway?"
"He's probably somewhere with the other Sangheili ships. Special Operation teams aren't called in for party favors or on a whim. They're saved until they are absolutely deemed necessary to be deployed. That's what he said to me at any rate."
Silence filled the corridor for just a second or two more as the two armored figures moved as fast as they could while maintaining silence. Will moved the FS2000 in his hands from left to right for a second before making a right hand turn and following the corridor.
The corridor suddenly widened out significantly to around 15 feet wide. And the presence of blue white light in this section did little to shake Chelsea's wariness of the place.
That was only enhanced as a solid metal clang suddenly startled them from somewhere behind him.
They both spun around and pointed their weapons towards the sound.
"What was that?" Will asked not amused with the sudden surprise.
"Beats the crap out of me El-Tee."
"Castle Team. This is Commander Sarah Palmer aboard the Infinity. Do you copy Spartans?"
"What's the problem Commander?" Will asked pausing again.
"I got a two part mission for you. And you are the only ones nearby who can complete it."
"Shoot. Commander."
"There will be a lot of that happening soon. The Storm evidently had scouts, small Zealot class teams that have infiltrated the mountain through the door that we opened on our side. They surprised a Platoon of Marines and now the survivor is headed in your direction. Eliminate it."
"We'll take care of it."
"Good. There's also the task of securing the rescue of the Rangers that opened the mountain up. They're on the run. It looks like from where their IFF tags last marked them that they'll eventually run into the main party. Scout ahead, find them, and secure anything else of value."
"Yes Command-"
"Hold on Castle. Update for you. The situation in orbit isn't good. The Admiral and Fleetmaster are pulling their fleets into atmosphere."
"What?" Chelsea interjected suddenly.
"How did that happen?"
"Seppies showed up with a new warship. Big zappy cannon took out part of a Storm Fleet. An Assault Carrier and several other ships were left completely defenseless. It was all over in 45 seconds. We've also lost three ships in orbit."
Chelsea swore. "That fast?"
"If things continue to get worse at the rate they are we'll be forced to pull out all together unless the Republic manages to show up. That should let you know how time-pressed we are." Palmer said plowing ahead.
"Copy that Commander."
"Get it done Castle. Palmer out."
Another metallic thud much closer this time snapped them to reality.
"The Zealot?" Chelsea asked.
"Could be. Castle Four? Stack up in the corners over there."
They both moved out of sight on opposite sides of where the corridor opened up into a much larger room. If whatever was making the noise was to look to either side their cover would be blown. It would serve to distract it though while the other assassinated it.
Twenty seconds had passed when Will started hearing footfalls. Ragged, uneven, stumbling. A curse in Sangheili was heard and Will knew that it was the previously mentioned Zealot.
"Sounds like Ripa when he's drunk." Chelsea whispered.
"Quiet Castle Four." Will whispered back but he couldn't help but laugh to himself.
The small grin on his face was replaced with a frown as the footfalls got louder and eventually passed them. A long purple trail oozed out behind the cloaked Zealot. With a flash in the middle of the room he stumbled and fell again making his camouflage falter for a moment. The Zealot cursed and decloaked while it knelt down to examine its injuries. Several bullet wounds had torn through its powerful armor making the blood trails they had seen.
It was too distracted by its injuries to pay attention to Will as he moved from his cover and approached with caution. Even wounded a Zealot was not to be trifled with. It was best to make this quick.
He decided to seize the moment and in when fluid motion turned his silent walk into a two step run. He jumped and unsheathed the knife on his shoulder bringing it up in a plunging motion.
Suddenly the Zealot give a roar as it sensed the change in air pressure and charged towards Will. It slammed into his airborne legs and Will went flying over top. He hit the ground with a crash and rolled to his feet with the momentum suddenly bringing up and throwing the knife with a snap of the wrist. It spun in a hazed blur and only stopped and became visible when the Zealot in a move of sheer skill caught it with it embedded itself in the Zealots armor. It took a hold of it and hurled it towards its sender.
Will rolled out of the way and it skittered past into a corner. He rolled backwards and crouched flipping the FS2000 to full-automatic and squeezing the trigger down while Chelsea surprised the Zealot by opening up with her Shotgun. His own fire caught the Elite in its armored abdomen and caused it to stumble and for the remnants of its shield system to flare up.
"Number Four look out!" he cried.
The Zealot rolled of the way and charged towards Chelsea igniting the energy mounted wrist daggers in twin snap hisses and at the same time letting out a guttural roar. She fired again and what shielding the Zealot still had failed with a blue pop of light and sound. But it was enough of a break to allow the Zealot to take a massive leap towards her.
Will had dropped his weapon and charged straight after it within a split second of it turning away. It may have been faster but it was slowed by a wound and fatigue. Will launched himself and tackled the Zealot mid jump throwing it off its target. They both slammed into the wall next to Chelsea knocking the air slightly out of Will and dropping his shields slightly.
A massive hand grabbed his collar and flipped him over. A plasma dagger was launched towards his face in the moments after impact and he narrowly avoided being impaled by lashing out with his hand and catching the arm. The floor around was now covered with the Zealots blood which was splattered all over the metal walls and floor making a rather macabre canvas which proved the next moment detrimental to the Zealot as it lost its footing.
"Will get out of the way!" Chelsea shouted as she pumped the action on the Shotgun.
"I'm...trying!" he said grunting with the effort of standing up and wrestling hand to with the Zealot.
"Heresy! Why do you not die!" it roared in its native tongue as it struggled with Will who had pinned the Zealot to the wall. The Zealot gave another angry roar and headbutted him knocking him back staggering. It seized him in a bear hug but the shields around Will protected him and the Zealot lost its grip on the slippery surface of Will's shields.
His left hand shot towards his leg for one of the M6s secured with magnetic strips and yanked it off and the same time throwing a right hook to dissuade the Elite from coming closer. It connected with its left mandibles and it gave a painful howl as it reeled back. Will moved in with the Magnum and launched a high two leg kick that caught that floored the Zealot and cracked its combat harness down the middle. He fired but the Zealot rolled again.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Chelsea yelled annoyed.
She put the Shotgun on her back and move forward taking the imitative and launching a series of punches that Zealot countered with a wheeling kick that sent her flying back. Will fired twice in quick succession and was forced to try and punch with the pistol. It connected with the bottom of its helmet but was knocked back as a punch connected with shoulder. One of the Zealots hands snatched Will's weapon holding arm as he brought it to bear on the head.
He pulled the trigger repeatedly trying to hit the Sangheili but the shots went wild. Both of their hands were on the gun as it flailed around dangerously shooting bullets.
"Chelsea do you have a shot or not?" Will snapped impatiently as he tried to contain the angry Sangheili.
"Move yourself! You're in the line of fire! I can't get a shot!"
"I'm trying over-" *click*. His magazine had spent itself.
The Zealot gave a laugh as he realized the threat of the gun had been disabled and tried shoved him away with an armored hoof only to have William be the one to duck underneath as he dropped the empty gun and dove underneath the leg.. It staggered as it lost purchase on the ground and Will jumped on its back forcing it to the ground.
"Fire!" he yelled.
Chelsea grabbed her own M6 and fired as fast she could at the pinned alien.
The explosive full metal jacket rounds did their lethal work and the Zealot seemed to sense his end was near.
"I will rip off your head Demon spawn! A thousand-" the Zealot trailed off into gibberish, howled, and spit with flecks of frothy blood as it dislodged Will and was trying to stand again.
"Shut up!" yelled Chelsea who had appeared next to him and launched an upper cut knocking the Zealot down.
It struggled weakly as the two Spartans contained it on the ground.
"What are you doing down here? How many others are down here?" Will yelled at the Sangheili who was now spouting fanatical religious gibberish.
The Zealot stopped and started laughing. Slowly but building up in intensity and coldness.
"Answer me!" said Will drawing his other M9 from his hip and pointing it underneath the neck to secure the Zealot on the ground while he retreated back slightly. Overhead Cheslea trained the barrel of the M90 on the heart of the Elite.
"A bloody fate...awaits your race heretic...for those who seek the mantle of responsibility, there are things on this planet not even the gods know about it."
"What does that mean?" Will interrogated looking it square in its dimming eye.
"Leave...demon. There are...things...that lie in wait on this planet."
It laughed weakly twice and William felt its pulse stop.
He twisted the dead Elite over to look for anything of value it was carrying. Nothing.
"Freaking figures." Chelsea said with a slight snarl as he got to his feet. "Cocky arrogant hingehead taking its secrets to the grave."
Will got up and brushed as much of the blood as he could of him and scanned the scene. Changing his eyes from the grisly scene he retrieved his knife and sheathed it.
He reloaded his weapons and twisted his head over his shoulder.
"Come on, we've spent enough time here."
"And who exactly is the one sounding like Ripa now?" Chelsea retorted.
"Touche."
Special Operations Sangheili Ripa 'Talam
CAS Shadow of Intent
9:47:09 Hours
From inside one of the smaller barracks on board the Shadow of Intent Special Operations Officer Ripa 'Talam paced agitated.
Pacing had been his newest hobby when he had nothing to do in the middle of a combat zone. Especially when the news had come from the Fleetmaster themselves to prepare for potential boarding action from the enemy.
Because of this it was mostly empty with the exception of eight SpecOps Sangheili with dark red armor each with their family crest emblazoned on the right shoulder plate. Ripa had been issued a new set of armor when he had transferred at the request of the Arbiter himself aboard the Shadow of Intent from the Dauntless and been assigned to one of the SpecOp units that was fresh out of training and, to his surprise, give him a promotion. He was their SpecOps Officer, their superior.
He wasn't feeling too great about not telling Will when he had visited him aboard the Dauntless. One new revelation at a time was his rationale. His promotion had caught him off guard. Personally he felt very honored but inadequate. He hadn't seen as much experience as any of his fellow Officers.
He was still getting to know his Lance's names. He had just met them not even twenty minutes ago. He had given a small speech about him and his expectations and a synopsis of why they were here. This planet was their first assignment as a unit and Ripa had never seen a group of SpecOps that were so...innocent. That was the best word he had to describe them. They of course had all seen war but they still held a youthful air about them.
Ripa could tell they were new to this to. They didn't have the same level of maturity and seriousness he had seen with more senior operatives.
"Peace brother. You'll wear a hole in the deck if you keep that up." another Special Operations Sangheili spoke from a corner where he sat upon a chair and looked in interest at a datapad scrolling through in mild boredom.
"Does anyone even have an answer as to why we're descending into atmosphere?" he asked ignoring the other SpecOps Sangheili. "We've spent enough time on board doing nothing.
An alarm suddenly blared and the lights dimmed to their emergency setting.
"Oh what irony brother." one of them called out.
"Hold your tongue Obla." said Ren 'Xytame. "Something's not right about this situation."
The ship's PA system suddenly blared to life startling the distracted ones. "Attention all hands we are being boarded. I repeat we are being boarded. All units are ordered out of corridor seven on level eight. All Combat Teams report to designated assignments immediately. This is not a drill."
"Does that answer your question Gharan?" Ripa asked as he scooped up the weapons he had been cleaning off the table and ran out the door flicking the safety of his Plasma Rifle.
Gharan 'Konar, one of the younger members of their unit simply shrugged and then cursed as the ship actually shook hard enough to make him stumble as he ran out the door with the seven other Sangheili towards the Main Hangar, their assigned post.
"Hurry brothers. Time is of the essence." he ordered and they moved faster towards their destination.
"Attention all hands! Enemy contacts are attaching on level 3. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!" the shipwide PA system blared.
They rounded a corner and entered the hangar which was devoid of all vehicles (they had either been launched to assist in the fight outside) or moved elsewhere.
A General was standing in the center giving orders to Lances of Infantry.
"General, what can my warriors do?"
He turned to face him. "Ah. Good, more help. Officer 'Talam, we are intercepting a number of landing craft as we speak and destroying them before they can reach the surface. However since the cowards dare not face us ship to ship they launch boarding parties to divert us from our task. We have them quarantined in the main corridor above us. They look to be trying to break through the barriers we have set up there. You are going to skirt around them and take as many of them out as you can to thin their numbers out.
"Understood."
"Peace brother. You have others at your side. Go, move out!"
Ripa turned away and motioned with his hand.
"They're breaking through the door! Warriors, prepare yourselves!" came the call on the Battle-Net.
"Haste brothers. Activate camouflage and proceed behind me." Ripa ordered.
The enemy was above them several decks up in the narrower section that connected the prow to the rest of the ship. To get there quickly he moved towards a maintenance causeway and opened the hatch slowly. With it open he lead them in single file into a dark hole with a ladder leading straight up and down. They climbed on and moved cloaked through the darkness. He relied on a map in the corner of his HUD for guidance when they exited the ladder and came into a network of smaller causeways. The security systems, he was glad to see, had been nice enough to mark every hostile for him in red circles. He turned a corner and a large red mass appeared on the other side as the causeway skirted very near the enemy.
He could hear them as well. Metallic clanking could be heard on the other side with a robotic voice occasionally giving indistinguishable orders. There was a lot of them.
"Officer 'Talam." the voice of the General in his ears interrupted his movement. "There's a combat team on the other side. Strike when the doors open. We'll open them for you so you can ambush unless you would prefer to wait for the enemy to break them. "
"We're on it."
Presently they came to another left hand turn that took them past a T-intersection. They crossed the T and Ripa motioned with his hand to a spot where they couldn't be seen by the enemy.
He motioned for his Lance to step back before igniting a small plasma cutter that was built into the side of one his gauntlet's and carved for them a doorway. As it fell another warrior caught it and moved towards the side placing it silently on the opposite wall. The Sangheili all filed out with Ripa leading them to the intersection where they gazed at the enemy.
It was definitely a significant amount of troops that filled the corridor. He glanced them over and made note. Skinny ones in front, rows upon rows of the Super Battle Droids, and, most disturbing of all, several of the "Destroyers".
"Take out the bronze ones first. General, give the order to open the doors."
The Sangheili on the other side made no comment but in a second the doors suddenly unlocked with a clunk and hissed open. The droids manning a device that was burning through the door promptly dropped it in panic and ran backwards.
"Grenades!" roared Gharan from next to him.
Three of the Sangheili tossed the glowing plasma grenades at the Destroyer droids. The droids did the only sensible thing they could and deployed their shields. Unfortunately for them the grenades ignited in a storm of white hot plasma that completely filled their shield bubble before exploding outwards and engulfing others.
He heard a distant roar and recognized the cries of an angry Hunter pair from beyond them.
He motioned his Lance (still cloaked) to take cover behind the walls as moments later radioactive green beams tore through their ranks atomizing those that were directly caught.
"For the Honor of Sangheilios!" roared Ripa as he uncloaked and started spewing plasma bolts from his twin rifles. He was met with a resounding roar as carbines, needlers, and plasma rifles came to life and added to the chaos surrounding the droids.
The Destroyers gone he focused on taking down the Super Battle Droids who were not amused at the turn of events. Conflicted they turned towards both sides and pushed forward firing as they went. Their armor had the most annoying effect of bouncing the occasional bolt or radioactive pellet off armor.
"Aim for the legs, not the body!" he called out as they turned towards them.
He ducked past the wall as a large concentration of ruby bolts were sent at him. He crouched and fired one of his rifles leaning out of cover when he had a shot.
He had a good view of his lance which was doing extraordinarily well. Fire was shifted to priority targets, soldiers were covered when they had to reload, they communicated well too shouting encouragement and orders to each other. He liked this group although he still needed to learn names. When this was all over he would start over fresh.
The droids still pressed on them and were getting too close for liking.
"Fall back to cover!" he ordered and tossed a grenade to eliminate some of the greater threats to them.
When it detonated he sprinted out of his cover to the opposite side of the T and leaned out firing at the droids ushering the other Elites to move. They did so providing cover fire as they sprinted back for more defensible positions in the hallways. He left his cover and charged back.
"How many of these abominations are there?" asked N'thro 'Zamame.
"Enough to give us and our families much honor!" Ripa called out trying to stir up the hearts of his Lance.
His words served their desired effect and they fought back with a savage glee as they droids came around the corner. The droids stood no chance. Even en masse they could only go three maybe four at a time around the corner, down the hallway, and try and turn another corner to touch them. They fell before they could get off a shot.
Too easy.
He heard a roar and a whoosh from behind the droids and the Hunter pair he had heard earlier tore into the center of the formation followed by a Major and a trio of grunts who were more than happy to put an end to any machine still standing. With a mundane clunk the last battle droid fell to the deck with an energy sword gutting it.
Ripa and the others cheered as it did so and while the Lance moved to inspect this damage
"General, the hostiles are gone."
"Excellent work. However there is more for us to do. The Separatists are making it through our blockade and landing troops on the planet. Within a matter of hours it shall be theirs unless we can prevent that on the ground. Fleetmaster 'Vadum has ordered us on the ground. Report to the hangar again and you'll ride down in drop pods."
The connection closed and after explaining the situation the lance left as quickly as they had arrived.
UNSC Infinity (INF-101)
10:20 hours
"Captain Lasky?"
"What Roland?" asked the Captain as he strode over to his hologram.
"The Fleetmaster is on the line for you."
"Put him up." he said striding over to the Captains chair and sat down looking at a screen.
The Fleetmaster fizzled into connection.
"Fleetmaster Vadum', what can I do for you?"asked Captain Lasky.
"Captain, as you can probably tell the situation in orbit is deteriorating slightly. I am sending the majority of my forces ground side. It would be better to give my warriors a fighting chance on the ground. I also have two special operations units I can give to help with the search for your lost men."
"Good to hear it Fleetmaster." Lasky said slightly surprised. "Send your teams to these coordinates." Lasky replied entering said coordinates into a datapad.
"Understood captain. You will have my warriors. We will prevent as many of them as possible from landing but we can only do so much. The Admiral has a much harder job holding back the fleet and we can't spread ourselves too thin. We'll be in contact."
"Understood. Good luck Fleetmaster."
Interior of Forerunner Mountain
The "Labyrinth"
It had felt like they had been walking for hours in the twisting winding tunnels. After they had killed the Zealot they had found nothing else to deal with. In fact nobody had found anything. He had heard some chatter from Fireteam Shadow about their passage joining up with the others. For William, the presence of nothing but the silent corridors was slightly unnerving. No Covenant, UNSC, or Prometheans. It was starting to drive Willliam mad.
"Commander Palmer to Castle team. Sitrep, over." She said interrupting their slow pace
"We've seen nothing, commander. This place is empty." Will replied slightly irritated.
"Your attitude is noted. I have some good news for you Spartan. The Hingeheads have sent two SpecOps teams to help you. You know the Officer of one of them. Ripa 'Talam? Correct?"
"Yes Commander." he paused. "Wait, say the name again?"
"Good I guess you do know him. He's on his way he landed minutes ago with a squad. Thought you would appreciate the assistance. I still need you to recover the Ranger's. Last heard they still had Storm coming after them. Keep me posted out. Palmer out.'
"Ripa's coming down here? Seems kinda odd, doesn't it?" Chelsea asked.
"It must be bad in orbit." Will replied as they came to another junction. "We'll wait here for him."
They waited a good ten minutes before they saw the familiar outlines of Special Operation Eiltes.
"Good to see you again, brother." One of them said revealing himself to be Ripa.
"Likewise Ripa. How many are with you?"
"There are three more warriors guarding our exit as well as the two with me so six in total."
"You know nobody told me you were promoted."
"You were long on the ground when I was called for and promoted."
"Alright." he shrugged. "I guess congratulations are in order. We have a job to do here though, let's get it done." Will said, waving the UNSC/Sangheili team forwards.
The larger group were able to make much more progress. Ripa occasionally ordered the rear guard to move up to cover them but for the most part they walked in a slightly less dead silence.
They were pleasantly surprised when their passage way suddenly curved to the right and opened back up into the main tunnel which seemed a bit lighter than when they had entered it.
He radioed into Palmer to report this discovery and they were ordered to move forward. To his surprise she had told him that they were ahead of the others and to move forward with all haste. Will noticed the main passage of the cave was starting to slope down gradually and thought he could see the end of the tunnel.
"I think we're close." Chelsea said as they started jogging.
"I see light ahead." said one of Ripa's Elites.
Will switched off the low-light filter on his helmet and was met with a blue glow coming from ahead. He looked up and saw the roof of the tunnel sloping upwards more and more drastically. Suddenly from along both sides blue and above lights flashed to life along the wall in regular intervals.
Will suddenly paused and ordered the group to hold up as his helmet registered a message of some sort trying to display itself but kept getting lost in a sea of numbers. After a moment it displayed itself.
"We've awaited you for a long time. Unseal the hushed caskets. Take us home to the light."
"What the?"
He looked over to see Chelsea obviously confused.
"What is it?" anxiously asked one of the Elites holding his weapon ready looking about.
"Its...a message of some sort." said William. He repeated it to elicit the same confusion he had.
"Something has noticed our presence at least. It could be survivors." Ripa grunted.
They quickly moved on after no one said anything more.
He moved onwards and suddenly the floor suddenly became covered with a thin layer of snow until they were running on top of a hardened crust which cracked underneath their feet.
"This mountain has more surprises than I thought." Ripa commented. "Where did this come from? The mountain has no hole in the top."
"Perhaps the Forerunners decided to make it snow inside the mountain?" someone suggested.
"Hey! Look ahead!" Will called out. Ahead of them they could see the ground dropping down at a more dramatic angle. He suddenly realized what he thought was the end of the tunnel was in fact the other side of the mountain.
"Come on!" Will urged. The group ran faster and faster until they stopped at the edge of where the tunnel opened up. And there they all stopped and stared.
"Oh...my-" Chelsea breathed out.
"By the Forerunners!" exclaimed Ripa.
"Commander Palmer?" Will asked hailing the Spartan Commander aboard Infinity.
"Good news?"
"Commander, we've found them."
Will mentally saw her blinking surprise.
"Please confirm Castle One?" Palmer asked.
He looked below at the scene facing him.
Ahead of him the ground sloped into a large circular basin that encompassed the perimeter of the mountain as far as he could see. Lights illuminated the whole thing helped by the presence of several large holes in the top that let in natural light. Waterfalls cascaded down creating two small lakes and rivers that flowed to the outside world. And in the center of the mountain, with barely enough room to fit, lay the dormant shape with letters neatly stenciled in fading white paint.
SPIRIT OF FIRE
CFV-88
And next to it resting a moderate distance away lay a Marathon class cruiser, the UNSC Svalbard.
"Transmitting visuals now." he said clicking one of the buttons on the Field Commander-Intelligence Module on the side of his head that started transmitting a live image of what he looked at.
He heard her intake of breath as she saw the images.
"Tom, get over here!" he heard her call out.
"Castle One?" another voice interrupted after a moment longer. "Do you read me? This is Captain Lasky"
"Read you loud and clear Captain." Will replied with a growing smile on his face as they looked around. "Do you like the view?"
"Beautiful." he said choking slightly. "And its all thanks to your group. I'll put you in touch with Doctor Halsey as soon as her debrief is over. Your new orders are to find the Ranger's and secure the area. Good work soldiers, you have the thanks of humanity. Lasky out."
He must have forgotten to terminate the link because he heard him call out to his crew.
"Attention all hands, we've found them!" a muffled cheering was heard as well as the Captain celebrated with the jubilant crew aboard Infinity.
Will closed the connection himself and stopped recording the area with the FC-I module.
"Officer 'Talam? Can you secure the entrance? We're going to find the Rangers."
"With honor." he bowed and immediately the lance cloaked and went to work securing the area.
"Come on!" he said motioning to Chelsea. He looked over to their right and saw a railed ramp leading up to what looked like an open structure with a pinnacle at the top that overlooked the massive room. A long walkway that circled the entire chamber. They hurried up it and paused when they heard what sounded like human voices.
"The walkway! There's a tunnel that connects to it!" Chelsea said pointing with her shotgun free hand. The two of them hurried towards it. But before they could they so thirty men all staggered out of the tunnel and onto the walkway with chests heaving.
"Think it's the Rangers?" Chelsea asked.
"I don't know." he said. He suddenly moved closer towards them. "Javelin!" he called out staying out of sight as he approached weapons raised. Javelin was a code word used to identity friendly forces. If the group didn't give the proper code word they would be shot on sight.
"Sparrow!" the group called out in nervous, exhausted voices looking around for the speaker.
He lowered his weapon as he heard the correct word and emerged. "At ease. Spartan at your service. Are you from the 75th Rangers?"
There was a weary chorus of yes and Will breathed a sigh of relief. He noticed some of them were wounded. One of them was being carried upon stretcher missing an entire leg.
"We have friendly forces en route to our position. Move the wounded first. I need one or two squads guarding this door though. I presume there are Storm following you?
The group looked around hesitantly.
"Yes sir. We had an armored column following us. We got rid of them but we're out of heavy weapons. We just followed the passages until we go here...so...I would assume there are people following." said one of the Rangers. He looked at the speaker and almost jolted when he realized it was his brother Eric standing there.
"Alright. I'll take care of the door. Head down the ramp and over there and take a rest. Thank you for opening the door."
The Ranger's began to disperse and William contacted Palmer to inform her that the Rangers had been located.
"Watch the door. I'm sealing it up." Will said crouching down and removing a small canister from a small pouch.
He cracked it open and placed the first item, an extremely volatile incendiary device in the hallway where it glowed a pale green in the dark. Then he placed the second one, a small cylinder in the door frame and popped the safety off. Instantly it began to explode outwards and up creating a thick instacrete slab that sealed the corridor into silence within seconds. All one had to do now was step on the device and it would torch the entire corridor with a wall of flame.
"So what now?" asked Chelsea as they finished creating their deathtrap.
"We rescue everyone, go home, and spend our days on the beaches of Costa Rica."
"Mmm." Chelsea said imagining what that would entail. "I could use a little relaxation."
They heard a sudden muffled cry and then a much larger muffled explosion as the incendiary device detonated behind the concrete wall. In spite of themselves they laughed and began walking back.
And there you have it! The mountain is opened and everything is falling nicely into place with the confirmed discovery of the Spirit of Fire and the Svalbard. However the Confederacy still has the Malevolence in orbit. How will this play out in future chapters? And what about the Republic? They still have to show their faces! The action may have quieted down but it is sure to pick up again. Please leave a review! Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? Give 'em to me. Your input is always welcome.
Merry Christmas to all of those celebrating it today!
Many thanks to my wonderful beta-readers gwb99, Lord Razer, and ARCCaptainFordo for their work and ideas. And additionally my thanks to Mandalore the freedom for suggestions and ideas.
Have a wonderful day!
theotherpianist