Of Hollow Worlds and Floating Structures
SLS Huntress
Shipboard time 1210, February 24, UNSC Military Calendar
Interior of Unknown Planet
The Huntress lifted back off the Spirit of Fire's deck after dropping off Charlie Platoon, taking a position to follow it as the tail end of the Spirit dropped beneath the ocean surface on either side of the ship. Joining the Huntress behind the Spirit were the Leopard-class SLS Big Cat and the Pueblo-class SLS Iga, which had come down on orders from the Admiral on the basis of being a dedicated communications ship, which might still be able to get a signal through to the fleet, even through the surface of the planet. As the hatchway through the planetary ocean surface closed behind them, the ship's lights revealed a massive collection of machinery ahead of them, including a tunnel headed even deeper inside the planet. As the crew aboard the huntress watched in awe the view from the on board cameras projected above the holotable, alarms began to sound.
"Report," Captain Lenora Remis ordered.
"A moment," the Sensors Warrant Officer said as he busily brought up the sensors causing the alarm. "We've got signals consistent with the infection in the tunnel ahead."
"Bring weapons online, we'll use our lasers to scrape off anything that gets onto the other ships," Paladin suggested to the Captain.
"Good idea," she agreed with a nod. "Comms, inform the Spirit, Big Cat, and Iga that we'll be standing by to sweep the hull in the tunnel ahead."
"Spirit acknowledges, and Big Cat agrees with us," the Comms Lieutenant replied after a brief pause. "They're also bringing weapons online."
"Let's go keep our friends safe, huh?" Templar asked with a chuckle.
SLS Huntress
Shipboard time 1250, February 24, UNSC Military Calendar
Interior surface of Unknown Planet
After a 30 minute crawling flight through a decontamination tunnel infested with the parasitic infection, in which the three dropships made quick work of scraping hitchhikers off the Spirit with their medium lasers, the spirit was finally free of the gravity dock and lit her engines to accelerate through the rest of the tunnel. When the four ships emerged from the tight quarters of the tunnel, it was to the sight of an alien ship bearing down on them from directly ahead.
Paladin blinked as the alien ship appeared on their screens. "Hard starboard, evade," Captain Remis ordered. "Take cover behind the Spirit." The three dropships quickly rolled into a starboard turn and put the massive bulk of the Spirit of Fire between themselves and the alien vessel. The Spirit was not anywhere near as nimble as the three aerodynes and her port forequarter slammed hard into the opposing vessel.
"Weapons fire!" the sensor officer exclaimed. "Capital scale plasma discharges from the unidentified ship! Spirit's taking hits!"
"Captain, report from the bridge," the Comms Lieutenant spoke up. "One of the Spirit's deck guns is gone. Helm on the Big Cat also reports seeing it falling from the ship."
"Nothing we can do in the fight between two capital class vessels. Comms, signal the Iga to get altitude. I want her sending reports to the Terra."
"Sensor contacts, small craft and fighters are attacking the deck emplacements on the Spirit," Warrant Officer Shultz reported. On the holomap, dozens of little dots began emerging from the Covenant warship, all buzzing straight for the Phoenix-class.
"This is our kind of fight. Let's see about picking some of those off," Jason ordered. "Tell Big Cat she's got the lead." The other Leopard's icon on the holomap peeled away from the stern of the Spirit, her flight path on an intercept course for the alien small craft.
"Message from Spirit, 'This is a heavyweight fight, we'll handle this here. You get to Anders, coordinates attached.' These… These coordinates are in mid-air," Warrant Officer Kollmann reported, her normally stoic tone shaking slightly.
"Sensors, scan for platforms or the like. We've got a rescue to carry out," Jason declared, balling his hands into fists. "Jump unit, final checks," he called out into the handset attached to the holotable in the command deck of the Huntress. "It's go time."
SLS Huntress, Jump Bay
Shipboard time 1255, February 24, UNSC Military Calendar
Closing on airborne platform, Interior of Unknown Planet
Lieutenant Kian Sinclair rechecked the guidance controls on his Mark 27 Jump Pack, even though he had already confirmed all of the thrust vectoring surfaces were functioning five times in the minutes before. He was always nervous before a jump into hostile terrain, and this jump would be the first time he'd ever tried to hit an airborne landing target. A very small airborne target zone at that.
A shrill triple beep sounded throughout the jump bay to signal that the jump zone was less than one minute away. His Platoon Sergeant, an older man from Outreach, clapped his thigh in assurance. They'd been through many of these jumps before, and his Sergeant was reminding him silently that he could trust his men to see the mission through. Kian checked the charge on his Mauser 960 one last time, then checked his prized vibro-knife, toggling it on and off quickly, before ensuring it was firmly attached to his shoulder pad.
The platoon stood as one at the 30 second warning tone and gathered before the jump bay doors on the sides of the Leopard-RRD, a specialized variant of the ubiquitous Leopard class dropship meant for jump infantry deployment in support of a mech drop. The main engines roared as the Leopard began its braking maneuver as it closed upon their drop target. A countdown above each door ticked down towards zero, the doors hissing open at the five second mark. The light beside the door flared green, and Lieutenant Sinclair threw himself out of the dropship, towards the platform below.
Fifty meters from the platform, he thumbed the jump pack to life, the screaming thruster in the pack slowing his fall rapidly. He could make out the stunned shapes of tall, bent-necked alien warriors looking up at his platoon as they hurtled downwards towards the platform. He hit the surface of the platform hard, the shock jarring his knees. He immediately released the control arms for his jump pack and grabbed his Mauser 960, even as he sprinted to cover behind a pillar as the alien warriors broke free of their shock and raised purple, pincer-like weapons that loosed blue-white balls of plasma at the landing infantry.
Screams of pain told him some of those shots were hitting his men, even as he and others from his platoon returned fire, searing white pulse lasers from their Mauser 960s impacting and felling the alien warriors. Blueish-purple blood sprayed across the platform as one of his men fired their integrated underbarrel grenade launcher, scoring a direct hit. He caught sight of a flickering field around the nearby warriors, protecting them from the shrapnel of the grenade, but this field was completely bypassed by the lasers of his platoon's rifles.
Thanking his good fortune, he rallied himself, and called out to his men. "Bayonets! Push and clear! Advance by squad!"
The alien warriors must have understood his words, or at least his intentions, because they roared a challenge, and several met the charge of his platoon with one of their own, lances at the ready with crackling energy fields alight at the tips.
The two charging groups met, red and blue blood spraying in opposite directions as weapons went right through armor and alien shields. The vibro-bayonets of the Mauser 960 punched clean through the aliens' armor, just the same as the saurian alien's glaives punched through the body armor worn by the Black Watch.
As Sinclair advanced himself, towards the human female at the far end of the platform, held suspended in midair by some kind of force field, he had to duck to avoid a slash by a two-pronged katar-like weapon almost a meter long. With a sharp springing sound, the vibro-bayonet of his own rifle deployed, and he thrust it into the chest of his enemy. His lunge carried enough force to cause him to fall on top of the alien warrior, rifle embedded deep into its ribcage.
"Contact rear!" The shout went up across the platform. Sinclair turned, and recognized his Platoon Sergeant locked in a melee with an alien warrior in ceremonial armor. Vibro-bayonet met energy blade as the Platoon Sergeant struggled to hold back the alien warrior. Half of his platoon rushed past him, pushing towards the captive professor. The other half of his platoon turned to face the new threat.
Kian struggled to his feet, firing a burst into the downed alien warrior he had been atop, before turning and springing back towards his Platoon Sergeant. He screamed in dismay when the alien warrior grabbed something from his hip with his free hand, and then in horror as a second energy blade sprang to life in the alien's hand, spearing through the Platoon Sergeant's heart.
In a rage, Kian charged the enemy commander, hosing the alien down with the last of his magazine(1). The alien's ceremonial armor withstood the barrage of laser fire, due in large part to the reflective surface coating upon it. As he closed upon the warrior, he thrust his weapon forward, intent on skewering the alien upon his bayonet. He froze for a crucial moment as the alien commander bisected his rifle entirely with his blade, and grabbed him by the throat.
Sinclair was hauled into the air and slammed against a nearby pillar as the alien brought its face in close to his own. "Like the rest of your pathetic race, weak and undisciplined," the alien spoke in a deep, gravelly voice.
"Hardly," Kian coughed out, before his hand snapped up to his shoulder and drew his vibro-knife with a sharp keening wail as it sprang to life, ripping its way out of the sheath. In the time it took the alien to blink in surprise, the knife was thrust deep into its throat. The alien gurgled briefly in surprise, dropping him as it collapsed, lifeless, to the floor. Kian rolled away from the collapsing alien so that it couldn't crush him as it toppled over. He saw the tip of his knife protruding from the back of the alien's throat as he moved to retrieve his knife from the alien leader's motionless body.
He turned, and drew in a deep breath as he watched the remains of his platoon policing a now silent battlefield. The men of the 2nd Platoon, Royal Black Watch Jump Infantry methodically checked each body, while a corpsman checked on the captured professor, trying to figure out how to free her from the force field. Sinclair signaled to one of his men.
"Call in for evac, and make sure we keep a hold on this body. He was definitely important, and we can probably learn things from his armor," he told the Corporal.
"A nice trophy sir," the corporal said, collecting one of the fallen commander's still active swords, deactivating it after a brief moment of study. The corporal turned it over in his hands before handing it over, grip first, to Kian.
"If command would ever let me keep one, I'd agree. But these are more likely to end up in the regimental museum once the eggs(2) are done with them." Kian nonetheless took the blade, before finding a spare clip to hook it to his body armor.
"Hey!" The call came up from one of the infantry. "We've got a live one here! Someone get me some flexies(3)!"
Another infantryman ran over with a set of flex cuffs to secure the alien's hands, while a corpsman ran over to check on the alien's wounds. After a moment to check over the alien, the corpsman pulled out his Advanced Medical Kit and calibrated a Plastiflesh bandage for the alien's wound.
"Looks like he's passed out from blood loss. Shrapnel through some major veins. But, seeing as we don't have his own species blood type available, we'll have to settle for a saline solution and time," the corpsman reported as Kian wandered by on his way towards the still captive professor.
"Let's pray we can keep him alive then," Sinclair responded to the corpsman. "Sedate him as long as possible, the eggs will want to interrogate for information." After a brief pause, he added, "Intact, please."
The corpsman nodded, and Sinclair continued towards the professor's location. Upon arriving, the gathering of soldiers around the professor had risen to five men, including the corpsman, and they had still remained unable to remove the professor from the forcefield. With increasing frustration, one of the Infantrymen raised his rifle and took aim at the apparent control sphere and was about to pull the trigger when an artificially chipper voice spoke up from the console.
"Please do not shoot the control terminal," the voice resolved into a hologram of a spherical robotic construct. "It would be quite inconvenient to repair."
Shield World 0459 Etran Harborage
Monitor 295 Harken Watch
Apex Facility Subsystems
The break in the routine, the first in many millenia, began with the arrival of the Reclaimer ship above this facility. Unfortunately, the external transmission and sensor arrays of the shield world had been rendered unrecoverable by the Flood attack so long ago, the same attack that had caused so much damage to 295 Harken Watch, wrecking his major motive systems. Oh how he hoped to be able to move freely once again after 100,000 years.
Then came the new arrivals heralded by the strange gravitational anomalies. 295 Harken Watch's programming duly noted and cataloged the phenomenon for further investigation, should study become an available option.
The limited external sensors still available to Harken Watch reported a series of large energetic strikes upon the last known location of the greatest concentrated gatherings of Flood biomass on the surface of the world. Shortly afterwards, the Sentinels reported the Flood beginning to regress their tactics back into their feral state in their endless series of attempts to intrude upon the inner surface of Shield World 0459.
Data logs have no match to any previously recorded weaponry categories. Cataloged for further investigation.
Then came the arrival of the Reclaimer ship to the entry portal, and the activation of the automated docking sequences. The Humans had recovered their separated forces, with the aid of these new arrivals.
Sensors still inconclusive on any identifying characteristics for new arrivals due to lack of available arrays. Near match to humaniform life possible. Data cataloged for further investigation.
The first concrete data 295 Harken Watch obtained on these newcomers was when their ships accompanied the Reclaimer ship through the entry portal, using actual laser weaponry to purge the exterior surface of the Human ship of the Flood parasite attempting to hitch a ride through the entry portal of the shield world.
New arrival ships lack artificial gravity. Sentinels ordered to withdraw from the vicinity of the cleansing rings after laser fire bypassed shields entirely. Structural damage to entry portal internals limited to cosmetic burn scarring. Data cataloged.
Internal sensors reported the Human ship experiencing an unfortunate collision with the exiting San'shyuum / Sangheili ship. A short battle occurred between the two ships, while the newcomers took cover behind the Human ship or broke for interior orbital ranges. One of the three newcomer ships broke off towards the Apex Site.
Possible cause for concern. Sentinels to be tasked once available units no longer required to contain new Flood Incursion. Data cataloged.
ALERT! Unidentified transdimensional event detected. Source: unidentified ship positioned in interior orbital ranges. Transmission detected outgoing through unidentified event. Data cataloged, threat level increased. Observation of ship closing on Apex Site required. Sentinel drone tasked.
Apex Site sensors report thruster pack infantry drop upon Apex Site platform. Combat underway between new arrivals and Sangheili.
295 Harken Watch partitioned all routine processes onto a sub-monitor and focused his attention entirely on the Apex Site. 295 Harken Watch was witness to conclusive identifying information on the new arrivals.
New arrival species also Human. Error: New-arrival Humans lack Reclaimer Identifiers. Data cataloged for immediate investigation.
New-arrival Humans are utilizing man portable laser weaponry, in excess of all probabilities. Conclusion: New arrival Humans have proceeded along different developmental paths. Investigate possibility regarding transdimensional events. Data logged.
New-arrival Humans began attempting to remove Reclaimer Human female from forcefield restraints. Interface attempts with control sphere proved unsuccessful, as new arrival Humans lack Reclaimer Identifiers, and control sphere would have attempted to unlock Sojourner Dreadnought fleet instead. New-arrival Humans appeared to be growing increasingly frustrated as their attempts to remove Reclaimer Human female continued to fail.
Warning! Laser weapon provides unacceptable risk to operational integrity of control sphere. Intervention required.
295 Harken Watch interfaced with the control terminal's holographic projector. "Please do not shoot the control terminal," 295 Harken Watch requested. "It would be quite inconvenient to repair."
Ellen Anders, PhD Xenolinguistics
Apex Site
1310 Shipboard Time
"Please do not shoot the control terminal. It would be quite Inconvenient to repair." The unknown voice speaking from the control terminal made all of the men surrounding her turn and snap their rifles up towards the terminal. A hologram of a spherical robotic construct was floating above one of the side panels of the terminal, looking back at them.
"Can you tell them how to get me out of this?" she asked the apparent AI entity.
"Certainly," the AI responded. "While it has caused me some level of distress to see a Reclaimer so callously bound by the orders of the San'shyuum, I am unable to release you myself. However, one outside the restraints may simply order them off."
The identified corpsman stepped behind her and in a clear voice said "Restraints, off."
The ring above her collapsed back into the platform with frightening speed, and Ellen Anders fell from the floating position it had been holding her in, to the ground. Fortunately, her fall was interrupted by the corpsman catching her as she collapsed, her muscles too exhausted to support her own weight.
"Are you alright ma'am?" the corpsman asked. "Any pain? Pins and needles?" He held out a bottle of water to her.
"Just stiff, and tired," she responded, taking the bottle and drinking from it in small sips. Anders turned her attention to the AI. "So who or what are you?"
"My apologies, Reclaimer. I am the monitor of this installation, the Shield World 0459, Etran Harborage. I am designated 295 Harken Watch. How else may I be of assistance?"
"What does the terminal do?" she asked. "The Covenant were determined to try to use me to access it."
"The primary function is to unlock the docked warships for access. Other functions at this terminal are locked behind this function."
"Is there any way of keeping the Covenant from accessing the resources here?" Anders asked the AI, "They've been waging a war of extermination against us, and so far, they're winning."
"It is possible, but not from this site," the Monitor answered. The hologram changed, the monitor shifting to the side to display a map of the planet's interior. "You would have to access and lock down each resource storage facility individually. There are seven such facilities across the interior surface of the installation." Seven points lit up on the map, marking each facility. Unfortunately, I must recommend against any use of this installation's teleportation grid at the current time, as there is an ongoing incursion into the interior surface of this installation by the Flood."
"The Flood?" Anders asked, confused.
"A species of virulent parasitic organisms that reproduce and grow by consuming sentient lifeforms of sufficient biomass and cognitive capability." The map disappeared, before showing a tentacle legged green pustule.
"So the crap that's all over the exterior surface then?" a soldier wearing a single green bar insignia on his shoulder queried.
"Unfortunately, you would be correct," Harken Watch answered in a less enthused tone. "I gather from your collection of weaponry and tools that your people are responsible for the orbital strikes on the large concentrations of Flood biomass on the outer surface of this installation?"
"Wasn't my call, but yes, that was us." The officer replied.
"Evac bird 60 seconds out." Another soldier warned. "Secure any loose gear or it might get blown over the side!"
"We have to get the Professor back to her ship, is there any way to keep her in touch with you? From what I've been told, this is the kind of thing that falls under her job description."
"I am uploading my physical location to a data storage device currently held within this terminal for emergency use," Harken Watch replied, with considerably more enthusiasm. From the side of the globe-like terminal, a silver chip popped out. A soldier retrieved the device before handing it to Anders. "This event was not an unforeseen possibility. Recovery of my physical shell would be greatly appreciated. I am afraid previous damage prevents me from making my own way to your ship. Your communications systems will not pick up my direct transmissions."
The officer placed a hand to the side of his helmet. "Huntress, this is 2nd Watch. Have an additional pickup that needs to be made. Local AI construct, friendly. Will feed location data as I receive it, over."
The sound of an approaching Pelican drowned out anything else for Anders as it neared the platform. The corpsman helped her stand and walk to the Pelican once it had touched down on the far side of the platform. He handed her off to Sergeant Forge, who stood at the end of the ramp to assist her inside, along with a pair of UNSC medics. The soldiers then began loading their fallen onto the dropship, along with a pair of Elites, one of which had been bound and had another corpsman watching closely, biomonitor observing the alien's vitals.
Anders was frankly surprised they'd managed to take any of the Elite's alive, considering they usually fought to the death to avoid capture. She sighed in relief and fell asleep in the seat Forge sat her in even as he helped the medics secure her into it. The last thing she heard as she drifted off to sleep was Sergeant Forge muttering something about a rematch.
Authors Afterwords:
Here we have the entry into the Shield World of Etran Harborage, later known to the UNSC as Trove. The SLDF aren't bringing in any spheroid dropships because they're not confident they can make it through the docking system that grabbed the Spirit, so they're only bringing aerodyne dropships. They've decided to bring in the fleet's Pueblo-class dropship just in case they need to communicate with the rest of their fleet, and they aren't sure if radio will work through a bunch of rock and or metal. Good thing they did too.
Fun fact: The Pueblo-class dropship carries a portable HPG (Hyper Pulse Generator), an FTL comms device used by the denizens of the Inner Sphere, as it is meant to be a spy ship. The Star League has the technology to make mobile versions of the HPG, both a 50 ton version for use aboard ships, and a 12 ton version for vehicles and mechs to haul around.
Anyways, on to the inevitable argument on why the energy shields should have stopped lasers. They don't. LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) weapons work by emitting focused light at a target, whether in the form of direct light, free-electron based infrared or ultraviolet waves, gamma ray beams, etc. The only way an energy shield would block a laser would be if it was opaque to light. The Elite's energy shields are definitely not opaque to light, because they can see. The Jackal's energy shield gauntlet, on the other hand, would be effective against a laser. It's not transparent to light.
The covenant's Nanolaminate armor, on the other hand, is generally effective against most energy based weapons due to inherent reflective qualities. This does not mean that it is totally effective however. Energy based weapons will still work against Covenant armor. The arbiter's shiny ceremonial armor has an even higher reflectivity, further negating the effectiveness of the laser rifles against it.
Some of the Covenant's Elites may take to additionally wearing Jackal shield gauntlets in the future once that proves an effective defense, even if laser weapons can eventually defeat the shield gauntlet, it's still better than the laser completely bypassing the personal shields.
Co-writers Afterwords:
Once again, working with real life science and referencing lore is a pain. I've probably made about 20 watch lists by now, but who's counting. Thankfully, I have a few people that I can call up for references and doctrinal information.
Fun fact: Every nation on the planet has different training for close quarters combat/battle, commonly referred to as "CQC" or "CQB". And several of them have different training for each branch. For example, the United State Army and Marines are both taught CQC training with knives, but the Marines are also taught bayonet fighting.
And here we see once again the impressive abilities of the Leopard class dropship. By using their lasers to scrape off the hull of the Spirit, they're able to clean up the Flood infestations rather quickly. And since they're carrying starship grade armor, they can use their medium lasers to clean each other off as well.
Also introduced in this chapter is the Pueblo class. A spy-ship that was meant to be able to run like hell if they got detected, and kill anything fast enough to catch it. Its portable HPG was used to great effect in the lore of Battletech before the Succession Wars rendered them Lostech. In exchange for this, it doesn't carry any 'Mech forces, but its ability to be a mobile information gathering ship in only 'semi-friendly' territory is worth its weight in gold.
Special thanks to our Beta reader for this chapter, Follower38 on SpaceBattles, for catching things that I missed.
Glossary of Terms:
(1) Magazine/'Mag':
While a little strange for this usage, as it's a battery pack in this instance, this is the correct term. A 'magazine' is a detachable part of the weapon that is used to contain ammunition for the firearm. Not to be confused with a 'clip', which is used to reload a magazine, (a common mistake in the firearms enthusiast community).
Beta's Comment: Just my opinion, it's not strange at all. The term magazine would evolve as used here, simply because while the ammunition, or 'ammunition' in this case may have changed, the entire purpose of it has not. Between the Battletech Mauser's laser rifle, and Mauser's Gewehr 48, the magazine still holds the same exact purpose.
Co-writers note: I checked with one of my reference sources, who's a retired US Marine, and he told me that it's referred to as a 'magazine' no matter the type of weapon. If it holds multiple shots and can fire without reloading, its a magazine
(2) 'Eggs' (Short for 'Eggheads')
Eggheads is a term dating back to the 1950s in American Slang. A slightly derogatory or affectionate term used by service personnel to refer to scientists and engineers. Intent is dependent on the user and circumstances in which it is used. The author does not condone the use of targeted derogatory language towards people.
(3) Flexies /Flex Cuffs
A type of restraint that is made similarly to a common zip tie, the flex cuff is a common use item by both military and civilian law enforcement. Made of a tough plastic material, they are light, compact and easy to carry in bulk.
Unlike traditional handcuffs, flex cuffs are a 'one size fits all'. With the ability to string multiple cuffs together to make restraints for larger detainees. They suffer from the drawback of being less durable than traditional handcuffs, which are made of metal.