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FICTION
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"Christmas came early!"
December 25 2525 - Hour 1232
CPL Logan 'Log' Sutton
Utgard, Edda, Planet of Harvest
It was lunchtime, and three hours since I got my own Padawan.
I had a name, a reason to chagrin and another to be hopeful this didn't come to blow up on my face. Serin Osman was a name that, in Halo lore, was synonymous with evil proteges for evil 'overlords'. In this situation, the one that canonically would have ended up leading ONI after getting removed from the Spartan-II Program had been pulled out by Mendez and... she was part of Project BALMUNG. She was my direct subordinate and she was... adorable.
Now, one should never mix 'Serin Osman' and 'adorable' without a good reason, so here's what really drove me to think of that combination: As the dropship that was holding her landed on the established LZ of the makeshift military base we were currently helping the garrison of, I could sense some nervousness with the Spartans. I think they recognized at first glance one of their own- or who had once been part of their family. Stiff, uneasy, but unable to say much without being uncalled for. Instead, Serin was quite 'reactive' when it came to this whole predicament.
"P-Private First Class Celik, Corporal Sutton. Ready for orders."
I nodded at her salute, ignoring as the dropship had already started to depart the moment she disembarked it. The young woman- or girl considering she was 15- tried to put on a good effort to hide her upset away at being around those that had once been part of something she felt her life had revolved around. Here, the 'reject' and the successful ones in the form of the three Spartan-IIs I was commanding. Instead of just letting the girl commit some stupidity due to this topic, I decided to play it safe and keep her quite close.
She was suddenly shy and unable to find a reason to really talk bad of her 'teammates' for the mission without getting suddenly whisked away on another topic. And she could tell from the flagrant way I did this that I just didn't want this kind of behavior to cause problems for the whole mission. Much to my delight, Serin was much calmer after two hours of being subjected to this and... 'that'.
Sif could enter her suit- it was expected as it was something she did with mine, but it was clear from the way Serin jumped at hearing the AI's voice that nobody had told her of this possible development. So, if it wasn't me 'entertaining' her with questions about her training or seeing if she knew how to handle standard tasks within a garrison of this kind, the girl would be subjected to the endless questions of a very bored AI.
And while the two were busy with each other, I had to take care of the team's part within the current situation we were in. After we were done clearing up Utgard, Cole had numerous bases set around the major settlements in Harvest. Each would have the role of creating a large strike force to repel any lucky land force that got through the space fight and got into the planet's surface.
From numerous battalions of highly-trained marines, to special frigates equipped to focus on the deployment of ODSTs behind the enemy's rear and a fair amount of AAs to cripple any aerial support getting through the blockade. But the real things that made the defense of the surface even more important were the orbital defenses prepared in case of an invasion. Those were going to be enough to give our current navy the chance to put up a fight with twice the chances of victory.
The moment some Covenant troops would reach the ground, the marines were to clean up the pockets, protect the defenses and make sure nothing of importance was destroyed in the process. But for the time being, with no threat to deal with, the usual tasks of keeping the garrison up and running at maximum efficiency. I wasn't the big boss, as expected, and I had to bow heads and salute respectfully to at least three to six senior officers in charge of the battalion.
Some were skeptical about me and expected some sort of trophy kid that the Corps were flaunting around for more recruits to join the UNSC, but I believe I lessened that kind of perspective by doing a good job and not trying to be the 'arrogant dipshit' many believed I was. Fame was a double-edged mirror where the famous one would get too much into it while others would just imagine that happening and assume the guy is already shit regardless of his achievements.
So, here I had to show how a proper Marine fucking worked during these tense situations and help where necessary and asked. Some were still upset I existed and was 'kicking asses harder' than others could, while a good majority was already 'endeared' by the fact I wasn't some sort of robot that didn't know shit about sarcasm.
Everything was nice and all, and, as far as I could tell, Serin knew how to do stuff rather than let others take care of it. The reason why I wanted her to do more stuff than a rookie should was tied to something I picked up early on. She didn't admire me, but the girl was up to prove her worth. Considering her backstory, I could tell the reason was legitimately good in a logical sense, but highly detrimental if it wasn't curbed through hard work and a clear grasp of responsibility that can be only attained through field experience.
As if answering my prayer, something that granted Serin her chance to shine happened as... the Covenant had taken their sweet time to get a strike force to try and wrestle Harvest from us and it was nothing to scoff at considering the composition of their fleet. The forward scouts had noticed a slipspace signal approaching quickly, a big one, and the resulting entry into Harvest's orbit was perhaps the biggest fleet the Covenant had dispatched since the beginning of this war.
I was staring annoyed at the big purple issues approaching the planet, with two of those in particular having me grit my teeth in irritation.
I'm not ready to board two small ships and ram TWO Super-Destroyers at once.
"T-Those are..." Serin's voice was muffled by the alarm, but it managed to reach my ears as we stared at the outside situation from one of the monitors in the command room.
Two big ships. Just as big as the one you destroyed a while ago.
"We, and the size doesn't matter- it's the fact that there are way too many 'small fishes' to make it an even fight for our fleet," I muttered grimly, glancing at the orbital section where Cole's ships had rallied, hoping that his plan was going to work even in these harsh conditions. "What's the operational status of the Orbital Cannons?"
All three MACs are fully operational and will soon start to-
Before Sif could finish that sentence, three loud cracks broke the nervous silence, with the cannons picking off a couple of vanguard ships that were deployed in a formation to protect the big shots. The difference between a UNSC Ship's MAC and those dispatched on the planet was that the planetary defense version was three times stronger. If a ship's cannon needed three shots to pierce shields, the Orbital one would need only one to cut through and slam a hole in their defenses. And if those strikes were placed just correctly, the result would be devastating. Case in point being what happened to these three ships entering the MACs' range. The 'bell tolling' shredded the quiet as three titans were slain instantaneously.
The bigger ones were still out of range and seemed to stop getting too close due to what had just happened. And this was really bad considering they were the ones that needed to go down hard and fast. Sure, Cole's current fleet was slightly bigger than the one he had back in Canon Battle of Harvest, but he lost a lot to kill a single Super-Destroyer, two were something the current navy couldn't handle on the spot. Which meant... we had to at least thin out the other ships.
The marines were quickly employed as Cole gave the order: 'The current defenses will fail to stop the invading ground force.'. And he was right.
The Covenant Super-Destroyers were packing an incredible amount of troops compared to what smaller ships had and soon those proved to be too difficult to contain with the Anti-Air System. Turrets worked at maximum efficiency to shoot down most of the dropships, but there were just too many and it wouldn't take long for the Covenant forces to try and rush to destroy the MACs. Sadly for them, we were already there putting on some heat on their convoys. My team was dispatched to cover the weakest defensive spot. It was in one of the worst parts of the capital, the Cannon deployed on one of the few mid-tall buildings within this big plaza. The position offered great reach and sight to the MAC and a degree of cover from attacks from above.
I had switched for a sniper for the occasion, numerous boxes with high-caliber bullets laying at my feet. I had taken one of the higher positions, right by the platforms near the MAC as I provided some cover for the troops down below. Serin was crouching right beside me, having her DMR trained on anything that lacked a shield for quick kills. I took care of heavier targets and the Spartans... they had fun. Jerome was coordinating his siblings around, his BR54HB showing no hints of going quiet anytime soon with his high-paced shooting and reloading. Daisy had taken a route with some Marines to kill anything that tried to go around the main road and encircle us while Grace...
I think this Spartan is receiving a form of nice treatment from God Almighty. Either that, or she was actually showing some Master Chief-level Spartan badassery way more than she did in Canon. She literally rushed through the incoming plasma, dodged everything thrown her way, punched and kicked some Jackals and Grunts, and masterfully stole a Wraith before slamming left and right any Elites trying to hijack her vehicle while also using the Plasma Mortar to tear into the other Alien Tanks. Now, one can only wonder: what did Logan order her to do for her to be this brutally efficient and murderous?
Oh why, that's simple. I just told her. "093, go and have fun."
I should have known from the way the other Spartans were reacting, the flinching and the sudden unease, and the fact that Serin was slightly shivering at that situation too, that something was not 'right' about what I just said. And the result of it confirmed my suspicions. When I asked her 'what the hell are you doing?', she merely answered with 'I saw a vehicle, sir, and that looked useful'. I could tell now that Grace had some backstory I wasn't unaware about. Something that makes her more memorable than her canon version. And I definitely was going to find out what context I was missing about this crazy attitude of hers.
Also, if she lives, I'm seeing her promoted the very moment I get hold of Cole once this battle is over.
Still, despite our best efforts, there were things that just couldn't be dealt with immediately. Such as three damaged Phantom Dropships shelling all they had left in their arsenal against the MAC we were defending. The cannon's integrity held, but it suddenly stopped to shoot down ships.
"Sif, status report."
MAC's Automatic Aim system is offline. It can't be fixed with what the engineers here got.
Fuck.
"Can I man it?"
If Noble 6 can, then I want to believe someone like me can do that too.
Oh? Is someone eager to destroy more ships?
Who wouldn't be?!
"Yes or not?" I pressed sternly, causing the AI to sigh.
Yes, you can. Just give me a moment and... you can now board the cannon.
The terminal section lowered and gave me the chance to jump inside it before it returned to its previous elevated position.
"Team, keep the pressure up, I'll make sure the Xenos up above get a healthy diet of death and destruction."
Multiple green lights, I was now shifting my focus on the MAC's commands and... boy, did this feel nostalgic. It felt like back when I was playing Reach... except the situation was grittier than how the mission went and I had to shoot down multiple big ships at once. Speaking of 'big ships', the Super-Destroyers had been in the MACs' range for a while now, resulting in various holes tearing into their muzzles. Sadly, no visible slow down in their combat capability. That sight would have deterred me from trying to strike at those, but I had an idea that I intended to give it a try about.
"Sif, can you highlight the spots where their main plasma orbital cannons are?"
That should be simple and... wait, are you trying to shoot there? Any particular reason why?
"Remember Chi Ceti? When we were trying to destroy that invading ship?" I asked, getting a positive hum from the AI. "If these spots get blasted just right, they are gonna explode for good."
They will and... Hmm, give me a moment- Yes, that will work. Setting up red marks on your HUD to highlight the target.
The spots were easy to see now and I slowly turned the Cannons' mouth at my target. I heard the battery charging, my entire being shaking at the impressive power being channeled within the MAC's long chamber and- The Big Bell tolled once more, and this time, a louder noise came out of it. The blast hit squarely on the belly of the first Super-Destroyer, the Plasma Orbital Cannon suddenly overheating and exploding, the blast creating a large detonation which tore the ship in two precise halves.
One down, two to go.
I saw the second ship trying to pull back, hoping to avoid getting destroyed like its 'brethren', but it was too late. The MAC was quickly ready and charging up the second ship, once again getting a bullseye and repeating the same phenomenon as seen with the previous Super-Destroyer. It sounded so simple and easy and quick- but then I got a bit of a nasty fright in the form of the rest of the Covenant ships disengaging from the space fight and... rushing towards my general direction. I was quite sure I already had a reputation with the bastards, but to see them actually take such a risky move to kill me was kind of... adorable. But not as much as the other MACs and the remaining UNSC fleet helped my own efforts in killing off the ships before they could have gotten their way into this battle.
After an overall six hours covering the entire defense, I felt exhausted and yet 'excited'. This was definitely one of the biggest brags I will be able to pull around when needed. Yet nothing would fix the tremendous dread and sense of mourning at the news that more than half the UNSC fleet had been destroyed in the engagement. Cole's own ship was badly damaged and so what was left on Harvest was going to need to be docked for an unknown amount of time. Harvest was still under the UEG's foothold, but this was one of the most gruesome victories we got. We shed blood, but the Covvie bastards shed way more than us. What was now left to do for us here on the surface was to wait and... hope we got some reinforcements to hold for another assault or two.
I was unaware that things were just going to get rowdier the moment January struck... but I enjoyed this bloody Christmas with a small smile at the victory, and a somber gaze for the losses we sustained.
AN
Battle of Harvest... is a mild success. Definitely the first victory where the UNSC actually left the brawling with a broken nose and a missing tooth, while the Covenant definitely got a sound beating in return.
Next chapter... Halo Wars begins early. Sorta.
REVIEW Q&A!
Guest (Chapter 11): The insurrection didn't employ advanced weaponry compared to what the UNSC could munster. There was a rebellion, yes, but it wasn't enough to force the implementation of some seriously needed advances in space warfare. Hence why the UNSC ships were underprepared to handle some of the Covenant fleet early on during the war.
Monkiepawn: I think the Cole Protocol was mentioned in CE, so the lore behind it predated the overall introduction of Preston Cole. So yeah, it's not that odd that readers would know first of the Protocol and then the guy that made it.
Derpangel: There are plans. I can't say much at the moment tho... but yes, it will exceed early Halo timeline and go through the whole War between time-skips.