Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Iron Cross. Enjoy the 3100-word chapter. I do not own Warhammer or Halo, Gameshop and 343 do.
(UNSC Base Charlie, unknown Location August 12th, 2531, 3 months after Operation 'Shooting Star'.)
Halius patiently waited the two weeks and spent them doing what any Astartes would do if they were allowed 'down time,' he spent it preparing for when it ended.
Halius continued to research the planet they were asked to fight upon. A planet known as Charybis IX is located out within the outer colonies. Tactically? It was useless, strategically? He saw what the Covenant wanted; it was a springboard to other worlds including several UNSC strongholds.
It was also located near the realm of Ultimar… If the Covenant claimed it? They would be sitting close to the front door of the Imperium Secundus.
And they were asking HIM to help spearhead its defense? Suddenly he felt ill at this idea as he frowned, his brows creased at the point as if he had been struck by lightning.
"Blue Team is being deployed." He heard as Halius nodded.
"Master Chief," Halius stated as the Spartan-II joined him. "Holding the ground is easy, I see several defendable positions, and guessing the Covenant? They seem keen on merely deploying soldiers to assault the cities… If we fight smart? We might even wipe out most landing craft." Halius stated as the Spartan looked at the board.
"But orbit…" Chief started.
"Is a different story, yes. I see another thing Spartans and Ultramarines have in common. We hate things that we cannot help with and leave things up to others." Halius stated with a frown.
Both Chief and Halius frowned as they realized what was going on. The Covenant had won the last battle merely by having too many soldiers to kill off conventionally and had sent more ships than the UNSC and Imperium had sent.
This time, however? Halius knew they would have more warships to defend this planet, however. Master of the Fleet Ventris was to command the orbital defenses along a picket of Imperial warships.
Halius did not hate this but he did like the idea another Ultramarine was leading their forces in orbit. It made him realize that a LOT of different outcomes were possible with this.
A LOT of things would change now, so much that it hurt. They held onto a LOT of different ideas which could have been left on the cutting room floor.
"What do you suppose their target is? Simply the cities? The UNSC has a major presence in that world, I have noticed a 'supercarrier' resides in orbit." Halius stated.
What Halius referred to was the UNSC Punic. The first of the Punic-Class Supercarriers rolled off the defense lines which even Chief knew would not do a damn thing against an entire fleet of Covenant ships, something he was not privy to comment upon.
It was not as if neither saw how badly the battle could swing against the odds. Still? Most of them were willing to fight and fight well despite this.
They had their duty, their orders. The UNSC and Imperium marched side by side into the jaws of death, knowing that it might result in destruction. Yet? Not once did he manage to relax for now.
He had a lot more on his mind when it came down to it at the time being, something about it all came crashing to the ground.
Halius cleared his throat before he and Chief began to make strategic and tactical observations.
"We can pull them in if there is a single defendable position? We can lure the Covenant into a protracted fight… Which will make it easy to whittle them down." Halius said.
"That still leaves armor and air support…" Chief said as Halius nodded.
"Yes… But? If we can lure them in? All their artillery will do is keep us locked in place, not a problem if we plan to hold the line." Halius stated.
Halius frowned as he realized there were supposed to be 20-30 ships. Even if they could hold the ground? They were still fighting against an ARMY of Covenant.
"We also have to deal with insurrectionists," Linda said as she entered. "Scouts reported roughly 50% of civilians are working for the rebels… Could be wrong." Halius heard.
"Rebels." Halius hissed to which he frowned. "We hold them off anyway, does the planet have any air to orbital weapons?" Halius asked.
"Several M95 lance batteries…. There are also several mass drivers but they are rated for civilian use." Linda added.
"They are still as lethal as MAC cannons," Chief stated.
"Then we might tip the battle in our favor," Halius responded as he hummed. "We will hold the inner walls, make them believe the outer ones are undefended," Halius stated.
"And those guns? The Covenant will go after anything that will pose a threat orbitally." Linda stated to which a third voice came in.
"Leave that to us." They heard as Halius nodded.
"Jerome… Good to see you." Halius said as Jerome nodded.
"Would not miss it…. We can handle the guns, wait for them to start dropping troops then take out the first cruiser… They resort to ground assault; we can beat them there." Jerome added to which Halius nodded.
"Yes. The rest of the soldiers can evacuate civilians, we get them off the world…. Rebel or not and as much as I would like." Halius stated before he frowned. "We need to get civilians off world if we took time to screen each civilian? We run the risk of causing precious time to be wasted." Halius added.
Not a bad thing, it was clear beyond all shadow of a doubt they had a LOT of different ideas and a LOT more than possible now.
Halius and the group all frowned, tired and unable to do more than think, to act. They moved like a trained attack dog, quick and eager to get into work now.
"We need to hit the Covenant fast on all fronts, managing to hold the ground is tactically worthless if we lose control of the ground." Halius heard.
He frowned under his helm. Not an untrue sentiment, they could not withstand capital ship fire and it was clear the Covenant would burn the planet if they could not hold it.
This? It was a problem and one that Halius could understand well. Yet? He was sadly forced to consider that they had ZERO ideas on how to affect the orbit.
"Leave that to me." They heard as Halius blinked, turning to the voice.
The man who entered was an officer, judging by how both the Spartans saluted and the room felt different… An admiral by the look of their uniform.
"Vice Admiral Cole," Chief stated as the man swept into the room.
"The Covenant will outnumber you," Halius stated as Cole shrugged.
"Good, it's about the only damn advantage they have," Cole said as he joined them at the table. "The planet is a giant kill zone. If we get them in range of the larger guns? We can start sniping down their ships. Let them think we left the planet undefended… Then?" Cole asked to which Halius nodded.
"Then strike them entirely unprotected as they focus on the ground. An interesting tactic but if done correctly? They will lose ships quickly. That still puts pressure on us." Halius stated to which the admiral nodded.
There was silence, a very big silence at the time being, something about it all was coming crashing down now, and for good reason. They would be taking a risk either way… The problem? He knew the Covenant would still inflict very large losses on them.
"It will not be enough… By the time they hit us? We have already cut off their escape. Whatever officer in charge will be caught with either confronting a force ready for them or to continue a costly ground campaign." Cole stated.
He was too understanding of the situation. It was clear that the next strike would be harder and harder to focus on. They had a LARGER problem as he looked over at the Admiral.
"Admiral? I know I am not high enough rank to ask…. But, as an Ultramarine of the second company? I have a question to ask FURTHER than just this." Halius stated before he looked to the side.
Cole was eager to figure it out once more. He looked at Halius as the Ultramarine paused, thinking of certain issues. He could guess that the others were thrown off when it came down to it as he clicked his fingers, sighing to himself.
He had not been able to try and figure it out once more as he clicked his fingers and then sighed, pausing only to fight… For now.
He had been too unable to think of anything when it came down to it. He sighed to himself before he looked around.
He was thrown for a loop and it was not helping now, not, and not then… It was an issue for now when it was all said and done.
He of all things was exhausted for now, he had better things to do than debate politics but he would.
"Ask." Cole breathed out as Halius hummed.
"How do you plan to combat their entire naval armada after this?" Halius asked, resting his hands on the table. "I have run numbers, so have the others… There are several hundred to a thousand or so Covenant carriers, cruisers, destroyers, corvettes, frigates… One battle will not turn the war, to do that? You need to draw their forces into a confrontation where they can be strategically destroyed." Halius stated.
"Off one battle and into the next," Cole stated as Halius shrugged.
"Where I am from? We move from one battle to the next, the only difference is how long it takes for more ammo or how damaged our armor is. Little details. This? This I can see is a conflict that has gone on more years than the UNSC would like." Halius stated.
"What did you have in mind?" Cole asked.
"It is not my place to speak of things of your stature… Or above mine," Halius stated with a sigh. "I have an idea, nothing more…. If the idea can be executed? I will move it to a plan, but it is not my place to speak strategy so much as ensure it is carried out." Halius added.
"You remind me of a Spartan," Cole said, a warm smile on his face.
"I am beginning to take that as a compliment, Admiral," Halius stated with a smile.
"Does anyone have a strategy if we cannot hold the city?" Cole questioned as Jerome, Linda, Halius, and Chief shared looks.
"Master Chief took care of that as well as considering how best to use the Spartans… I am surprised he is not commanding the defense for the UNSC on the ground." Halius stated before he sighed.
He was still amused for now, too interested in it, and for good reason. Something about it all was enough to drive him crazy… He looked to the side, questioning it for now.
He was too interested in what was growing more and more as he clicked his fingers. All of them knew by now the stakes, the ideas that were coming to mind if they did not fight. People would die either way.
Yet? Halius knew more and more than to train soldiers to flee to their deaths. If they were fighting? Halius intended to fight until the damn death and until he was dragged off to whatever underworld they possibly had… Then and only then would he allow himself to die now.
He had no higher ambitions now than that… And it was through that which he knew would have to do now.
Halius glanced at the hologram and all the Covenant, UNSC, and Imperium units and such. He already knew holding the ground was not enough, part of him also guessed that these sorts of options were too much.
The group all shared looks, the Spartans and Ultramarine's expressions hidden behind their helms which continued to shift from one another as if they were fish constantly darting around.
"We should talk about the insurgents on the planet." Halius heard from Master Chief.
"We should but digging through them is the part I despise," Halius stated before he sighed. "Background checks will not tell us much and spending 1 week trying to figure out who will backstab us? That will take time away from the defenses." Halius stated.
"That can be skipped over." They heard as Jerome chuckled.
"Serina, this is an important military meeting, you know," Jerome stated before the AI appeared on the table.
"I know, which is why I am here," Serina stated as she turned to face Halius. "I can see which are rebels and which are not… Most of them will flee before the Covenant shows up, they already do not like the UNSC or the Imperium. That will leave a few scattered agents here or there we can have our friends in ONI deal with." Serina stated to which Linda hummed.
"And Spirit of Fire can handle the air support and dealing with the civilians escaping. What else do we have to cover?" Linda asked to which Halius held up his hands.
"The fact the Covenant is clearly after something on the surface. 15-20 cruisers? That is either an invasion armada for another planet… Or something large is appearing on the planet as Admiral Stanforth informed us. I do not know what and that bothers me." Halius added in with anger.
The others shared looks as they realized that this might not be an invasion so much as them playing keep away from the Covenant. The idea of which was harrowing on its own.
Halius looked over at Admiral Cole before humming to himself, shifting his weight from one foot to another and back again.
"Do you believe any of these cruisers contains a Covenant officer we can capture or kill? I am not familiar with Covenant warship designs so my ideas on a flagship are limited." Halius stated before Chief spoke up.
"An admiral or prophet being on the frontlines?" Chief asked.
"Prophet? I am familiar with that word, not the species that might carry it." Halius stated with mirth in his tone.
"Their spiritual leaders of the Covenant, that is all we know. However? I doubt one would show up on the frontlines, it would make them far too exposed for it to do much." Halius heard from Cole as the Ultramarine shrugged.
"If we have a way to take them down? It should be taken. I do suggest we focus on grounding as much of their fleet as possible." Halius responded, interested now in whether a high-ranking officer commanded the fleet.
Granted for him, he was not stupid enough to believe it would fix things. The Covenant was too pious to break that easily.
"I suppose that will be it for now." Halius heard as they went to leave.
"Spartans? I want to speak with you." Halius stated before Jerome, Linda, and Chief all paused. "I can assume due to my rank Spartans are trained to respect an officer of higher rank," Halius stated.
"I sense a speech." Halius heard from Jerome.
"Well… I do have one but I will focus on the important part." Halius stated before looking at Chief. "I have heard stories of how the Master Chief is a nightmare to the Covenant. I care not about the myth itself, not yet… But I do care it means you are an expert soldier." Halius stated as Jerome hummed.
"I forgot I told him you were the most elite Spartan…" Jerome stated.
"Thank you, Spartan Jerome." Halius snarked before turning to Linda. "I am counting on Blue Team. My rank is irrelevant, we will fight side by side on the frontlines." Halius stated to himself.
He was able to think and to act… Which did nothing but scare him, he knew more and more that each little mission would push the burden of command on him.
Halius grabbed his helm and walked by them, pausing only to glance over his shoulder.
"If we survive this? I want to discuss the idea I have… Only if the UNSC leadership is willing to entertain the idea." Halius stated before he frowned and then exited the room.
(Within the Covenant Armada)
The crew of the Retribution's Thunder were silent. The CPV-Class Destroyer cruised through space as it prepared for a Slipspace jump to another planet.
The crew were eager to get to work and it was clear they had PLENTY of work to do, being sent to the planet known as Charybdis IX.
All of them knew the Prophet of Regret would personally be there. All of them wished to impress the prophet and would die for him if need be.
There were beeps as every single amount of data was processed. The shipmaster surged in his seat, curious but unwilling yet to make orders.
The crew sat deep in prayer while the shipmaster, ever interested in life outside the ship, gazed forward. He had zero intention of messing up his command.
This Sangheili merely kept his gaze outwards, curious more and more about why this planet was worth so much attention. Granted, the prophet himself would appear but that left more questions.
Perhaps they were not allowed to know, not once were they told anything, and not once did they think of anything being afoot.
This plan in all the glory it was set to have? Was just as odd as before, it made little sense but it would be followed to the letter, just as they had heard it for now and for a reason.
They were all going to be tearing it down when all of it was said and done.
If they were to go and figure things out? Well, they would need FAR beyond what needed to be done, FAR beyond it.
And if they were to win? Well? It would be an even sweeter victory now.
He sighed before thinking to himself about WHAT would happen next.
"Shipmaster 'Vadamee. We are ready for your orders." The shipmaster heard as he straightened up fully, prepared for the mission.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done. A few things.
Yes, Halius is not some master strategist god. He is a younger officer than the others.
I plan to have the war go PAST some of the battles coming up. The ring for example…
Yes, that is who you think it is at the end, that ship is from the Cole Protocol. I also plan to introduce a character from Infinite since that is their homeworld.
The next chapter will show the setup for the battle and the beginning of it as well as Halius, Master Chief, and Linda interacting a bit more. Until the 900–6500-word chapter in 2-10 months? Lighting Wolf out!