Team NOBLE had regrouped.
Barely.
Behind them, Covenant weapons platforms fired beams of hatred at their army comrades. Scarabs strolled past, feet thundering against the sands of the Szurdok region as the team climbed the side of a cliff face. Elster stared, mute, as the Covenant warship above had broken for orbit, while the Covenant's newly-deployed armies had begun their wider campaign in this area.
She sighed deeply as they entered a strange cave, walking with Jorge, Six, Emile and Jun all the way to the back. Sat at the mouth of the cave, Carter and Kat began talking. Dot, meanwhile, gave the report, "It seems our enemy is far more cunning than we thought. The Teleportation Spires doubled as a Covenant Cloaking device that concealed the presence of a Supercarrier in low orbit above Reach. Command has already recalled most of the Epsilon Eridani defense fleet from existing deployments and their arrival is imminent.."
Sitting herself down as Jorge threw down an armored briefcase containing heavy equipment. She paused as she heard Dot add, "The first Battle Groups should arrive within..." She paused, then a hint of fear in her deadpan voice made itself known as she stated, "Forty-eight hours..." words which caused Elster to double over. She took her helmet off, revealing fearful eyes.
"Forty-eight hours!" Jun snapped, "That's imminent?!" and he looked to Emile. The shotgunner shrugged and sighed, back leaned against a rock behind him, while Elster went on to reload her magazines with extra bullets they had on hand. She sighed and looked up at Kat and Carter as the two talked at the mouth of the cave, with Jun humming, "Uh-oh... Who's your money on this time?"
"Her," Jorge replied calmly.
"You always pick her," Jun replied with a scoff, garnering a laugh out of Emile and a short chortle out of Six as the SPARTAN started taking apart his firearm.
Jorge chuckled, "She's always had him dialed in." And that got a quick giggle out of Elster, too. The girl shook her head at the antics of the team, before looking forward at their two team leaders. It wasn't as much of a chat as it was an intense, focused conversation, it seemed. Pertaining their next course of action, Elster figured. Her enhanced auditive systems could tell faintly what was being spoken, though the surprising bout of tinnitus from fighting didn't help.
... How the hell did Replikas even get tinnitus? She wordlessly wondered as she tried to clean her ears with her pinkie. Emile noticed and laughed, before tossing the girl an MRE. She caught it, nodding in thanks to their resident lunatic and popped it open to start eating. She also noticed the light beam beating down in the middle of the cave was coming from a hole in the roof. One she hoped the Covvies couldn't easily peek through.
Popping open the food packet, the girl asked, "I never got to ask you all what your relationship is with each-other..." before taking a bite of a cracker. She technically did not need to eat, but her familiarity at this point, plus the resurfacing memories of her Persona, meant she felt more comfortable with munching down on anything to keep the boredom and mind-breaking idea that she had been someone else away.
"Most of us are replacements," Jorge noted as he hefted his LMG off the floor.
Jun pointed at Kat and Carter and stated, "Just the two of'em are original members. We had another guy, but he died a few weeks prior to us being assigned on Reach. Same company as me, Carter and Emile..." before humming and laughing, "Thom was a good guy..." before Jorge had noted Six was slightly uncomfortable with the discussion. They couldn't have been the only ones to read files, could they?
He got an elbow in the shoulder and shut up. Six stood there, awkwardly, before humming and turning toward their TLs. He tilted his head toward them and the rest of NOBLE nodded in reply, those that were seated standing up and marching up to their team leaders. They overheard Kat talking first, clearly indignant, "... and we're waiting for backup? They'll be backing up a graveyard!"
"All our nukes are out-system or went down with the ships that carried them," Carter replied annoyedly, noting the look on his XO's face, "You're preaching to the converted."
"How converted?" She tilted her head questioningly. If Six and Elster had learned anything, it was that when Kat had a plan, that plan was gonna come to fruition one way or another. And they could also tell that Kat and Carter had gone through enough together that the man knew what he was about to get asked:Some insane plan that would probably lead to death if it failed. Desperation makes one do weird things.
"I know that look, Kat," He stated bluntly.
Kat shrugged, "You can say no-"
"No," He deadpanned.
"Don't even wanna hear it?" She inquired, hopeful.
He clicked his tongue and took a moment to think. If it was bad, Holland would throw it out the moment it came up. If it was good, well, there was only so much life left in SPARTANs like them anyway, so why push death farther away than it should've been, right? He hummed and sighed, defeated, "Okay, let's hear it..." before leaning back and waiting to see what Kat's plan was. He saw the nigh-imperceptible catty smile on her face form and disappear in a split second.
She began, "Remember that accident a couple of years back? Colony ship en-route to Cygnus? Seven hundred dead?"
"If I remember correctly, a slipspace drive malfunction, right?" He inquired, well-aware there was some hidden gem here he wasn't catching on to.
"Actually, it worked fine," She smirked, leaning forward. Carter had seen lightbulbs pop up in Kat's brain before, but this one felt a little shadier than most. Listening to her explain confirmed his belief. She stated, "The drive was mounted improperly after a service haul-out. When it fired, it..." She paused and figured out a good way to explain it. She settled on, "Teleported half the ship to oblivion..."
"And this is relevant... How?" Carter raised a brow at his XO, all while noting that his team was approaching them. He had a feeling he knew where Kat was going with this.
"Well, a certain Covenant supercarrier could, with some assistance, suffer the same, unfortunate fate," She quipped, crossing her arms to her chest. She seemed to have struck a nerve there, seeing the faintest look of surprise form on Carter's face. She had to admit, it'd never get old, catching her old friend by surprise. Age difference or not, the two of them were still the SPARTANs that built NOBLE, so they knew each-other well.
"Even for you, Kat, that's-" Carter hummed.
"Inspired?" She shot back.
"Not the word I'd use..." He shook his head and leaned back. Noting the presence of his squad, he saw the confusion behind their eyes, despite the impassive stares of each. He looked to Kat and ordered, "Go ahead. Tell them..." as he straightened his spine a bit. He hummed and looked outward at the distant engagements up above as UNSC troops staved off a Covenant counter-attack around Szurdok.
Kat walked up to Emile, much to the man's surprise, and grabbed the hilt of his Kukri to try and remove it. Emile, defensive as ever with his toys, grabbed her right hand, that being her prosthetic, to stop it. She tilted her head with a grin and asked, "May I?" quite playfully. The SPARTAN looked back at his team-mates, including an amused Elster, then sighed.
"Don't cut yourself," He replied jokingly, letting go of her hand. She yanked the blade out of the magnetic lock sheath and kneeled in front of them, beginning to explain the plan. And Elster wasn't sure she liked the whole situation. So many things could easily go wrong with something like this. It was an improv plan wherein the training she was remembering demanded a strict adherence to doctrine.
... Wow, that was an odd memory to come up at this time.
"Objective," Kat began drawing a rough diagram of their plan with the tip of Emile's knife, "Destroy Covenant supercarrier in geosynchronous orbit above Reach."
"This sanctioned, sir?" Both Elster and Jorge whispered toward Carter, then looked to one-another and gave approving nods. Guess it was a common worry.
Carter snorted and replied with a half-hearted, "What do you think?"
"Oh," Jorge sighed. Elster crossed her arms. Of course, it wasn't. It was an impromptu, Guerrilla Warfare-style plan.
"Method?" Kat continued, looking at the team now that they were done talking, "A Slipspace drive in lieu of the Nukes we don't have. Delivery system:Us. Solvable, getting us up there. That," She hummed and stood to her feet, "and getting our hands on a Slipspace drive..." she then lifted the knife, letting it slightly fly and grabbing it mid-flight by the flat side of the blade. She smiled at Emile and handed it back, stating, "Thank you for sharing," as Four slotted the blade back in its specialized sheath.
"So..." Carter took a moment to process the plan, then sighed and asked, "All we need is orbit-capable transport and the single most expensive piece of equipment made by man..." with an unimpressed look. Elster snorted at the implausibility, which got a look from Carter and Six that shut her up immediately. The man hoped he wasn't too tough on the girl.
Kat noticed and ignored it, too, grinning. She shrugged defensively, then spoke in the usual ONI denial-deflection way of, "As a soldier in the field, I couldn't possibly have access to all of those assets. Though, I think a good place to look would be, oh, I don't know..." and her gaze slowly shifted to the left, "The nearest non-existent launch site for the non-existent 'SABRE Program', dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor, and in which our second newest arrival," she locked gazes with Six, "Was never a pilot."
While Six avoided her gaze, Emile bluntly stated, "You're scary, you know that?"
"She's fuckin' terrifying," Elster whispered absentmindedly. Jorge chortled at the comment, while Kat gave Elster a quick wink. The Replika took a moment to register that and her cheeks turned a tinge redder. She facepalmed and sighed, thinking of Ariane instead. Kat chuckled at the sight, then looked to Carter and hummed as she thought of the next step of the operation.
"All we need is a green light from Holland now," She stated as she fished through her pockets.
Carter scoffed and snorted, "Good luck with that."
"You're the one asking him," Kat pulled a tacpad out of her pocket and wiggled it in front of their team-leader, who didn't seem too fond of the idea of asking to do a suicide op like this from their CO. Thankfully, Kat knew NOBLE Actual would find some way to make it happen. She wiggled the tablet in front of Carter again, causing the man to sigh. He stood up and grabbed it out of Kat's hand, then walked to the back of the cave.
He sighed, "Oh, there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this..."
... Colonel Holland did go for it, in fact. Elster held on to the seat of the falcon she was on as they flew toward Farkas Lake in the Eposz area. Another beautiful vista with a wide lake sprawling across multiple kilometers. There was a beach ahead of them, full of rocky outcroppings, as well as a massive UNSC Military installation located at the other end from where they were landing. There was a fierce gunfight going on around the facility, too, obviously.
The bird dipped and performed a quick deployment of five of Noble's members. Jorge quipped, "Bit of a hike to the launch facility," as he readied his MG.
"Any closer's too hot to land.." Carter noted. Jorge gave a nod and Carter made a forward hand motion, "Move up the Beach, Noble!"
The group began their sprint up, feet stomping against the black sand below as they moved on in. Ahead, they could hear the thunder of assault weapon fire and the wail of plasma weapons. They saw a Covenant dropship swing in, dropping its deadly cargo of hostile Aliens while the UNSC troops inside fought. The Army Troopers behind the barricades fired away at the Covenant troops, forcing them into cover behind rocks.
Elster was the first to push, picking up speed due to her enhanced robotic physiology. She hefted her assault rifle and let loose a stream of bullets at the first Covenant Elite that came into view. A Blue-armored basic Elite got filled full of rounds, shield collapsing quickly, only for the remaining rounds to rip into it like it was nothing. Purple blood stained the beach, flowing down-slope toward the lake like a small river.
Kat followed up behind Six, her pistol knocking off the heads of several Grunts while their Elite handlers turned around to engage them. Plasma rounds lanced through the air, hitting and melting sand into glass. She ducked behind a rock herself, then poked out and opened fire, suppressing the enemy with Jorge beside her. Carter, Six and Elster pushed on forward, sallying through the line of Covenant troops.
A pair of Grunts turned toward them and opened up with their plasma pistols and needlers, but none of them were lucky enough to score any decent hits before Six put a bullet through each of their skulls with a DMR. The group paused, however, as the whistle of engines flaring echoed from above. Jorge jumped back, while Six and Carter combat-rolled off to the right and left, respectively, as a dozen Covenant drop pods thundered down onto the beach.
Elites spewed out of them. Minors, Majors and Ultras. One of the aforementioned Ultras zeroed in on Six, charging the SPARTAN and slamming into him by using its full body-weight, throwing the man backward and slamming him against a rock hard enough to break chips and chunks off of it. The Elite then drew its energy sword and swiped at the SPARTAN, but was quickly kicked in the chest.
It got staggered enough for Elster to push toward it. She slammed into it, feeling a sharp pain surge through her shoulder for a moment. She kicked it as it fell, then put the butt of her rifle in its face once, twice, thrice. The shield shattered and one of the Elite's teeth was chipped as the Replika hit it with the rifle. She then climbed onto its back, slinging her rifle on a mag-lock, grabbed it by the mandibles and twisted. A crackle-pop filtered into her auditory sensors as the Elite's spine snapped. It fell, limp, to the floor.
She stood up and, with her rifle now in hand, she opened up on another Elite Minor, putting several rounds into it before her gun clicked empty. She quickly reloaded it as Six joined her, DMR ringing. Bullets sparked off the shield around the head of the Elite, before said shield flashed, sparked and died, the monster collapsing with a high-caliber rifle round through its skull.
"Really good at headshots, ain't'cha...?" Quipped Elster as she slammed the fresh mag home, then racked the bolt. Six nodded and patted her on the shoulder, showing her to follow along with Jorge and the others. She took cover behind Jorge as plasma bolts halved her shield, then pushed up with the big man. Carter's rifle sang beside them, while Kat kicked away the Elite Major and put enough rounds into it to stagger and kill it.
The Troopers at the doorway to the base waved the Spartans and Elster over, with them all turning around and opening up on another squad of Covenant coming in to land. A platoon of Army troopers quickly filed out of the building as a heavily-accented voice called to the SPARTANs, "Get inside, SPARTANS! We'll hold the door!" before a multitude of UBGL 40mm rounds flew out and detonated.
Carter nodded and motioned to his team to move inside. Above, air defense cannons lit up the sky as a Covenant fighter swooped down toward them. Its shields flared as multiple high-caliber rounds and missiles struck it, before the shields died and the rounds tore at its hull. It careened off to the right and slammed against the top of the building, shattering in a blinding explosion.
The group moved down the Corridors, past squads of Troopers tending to the injured of the place. One of the Troopers pointed to their left. The group entered where they were directed and found a rather nasty hole in the roof, with remains from the Seraph fighter hanging from the roof. Jorge murmured, "Still can't believe Holland said yes to this..." as they pushed further into the facility via the narrow corridors.
"When it's the best we got, I can't imagine why he'd complain," Elster replied, pushing up with him and Six. The building shook and shuddered as plasma rounds impacted the place. Elster had to register Kat's little glance, but continued on with the team eitherway. They needed to get to that fighter and get the hell upstairs in order to get that Slipspace drive bomb operational. She needed to be up there.
"Right this way, SPARTANs!" Waved a Trooper toward them. Another blast shook the base and the Trooper, who was carrying a Jackhammer rocket launcher, stated, "Oh, dammit! Wraith on the lower platform!"
Six rushed up to the Troopers and grabbed a launcher from the side, hefting it onto his shoulder. He and the rocket team launched together. Six missiles streaked over toward the Wraith as it charged its plasma mortar. Each struck, cratering the armor at a specific point and causing the vehicle's internal fuel lines to catch fire and detonate, the blast causing the tank to blossom into a burning flower of alien alloy.
Dropping the Launcher, Six then followed the team deeper into the facility. An Elite appeared, throwing a trooper against a wall hard enough to snap her spine, before the SPARTANs all stopped and levelled their weapons on it. Elster could swear she saw the faintest twinge of fear appear in the Alien's eyes before five assault weapons lit it up like the lights on Heimat during the Anniversary of the Revolution.
They walked past the corpse, with Elster going to check on the dead Trooper. With a sigh, she closed the man's eyes and stood to her feet, rejoining Noble. Her mind raced now, as she entered the control room. Corpses littered the place, both Covenant and Army Troops, as well as another branch of the UNSC Military:Marines, clad in their olive drab uniforms and carrying MA5B Rifles.
She guessed this'd be a joint Army-Navy-Marine op, honestly. They had a ship coming in that contained a squadron of Marines. Walking up to the center of the room and holstering her assault rifle, the girl leaned over the Holographic table displaying the form of a Covenant Corvette stationed in low orbit above them. Their exact target for Operation:UPPERCUT's first Phase.
She watched blast doors split open ahead of her, revealing the frame of the four-engine heavy-duty Sabre-class fighter of the UNSC. An experimental design, it would be launched into orbit alongside the rest of its squadron with the aid of the specialized booster system attached at the tail-end, made up of four heavy-duty rocket engines and a central fuel cell.
It was a two-crew bird. She hummed. The UNSC probably needed someone who could tend to their impromptu 'warhead' if it got damaged, so with one motion of her hand, she let Carter know she was going, much to his and Jorge's surprise. She marched with Six up to the launch platform, before noticing Jorge approaching, too. The man spoke, faint worry hidden behind his usually calm voice, "You gonna be alright, Seven? I can take your place. Reach's my home, after all, not yours," to which Elster nodded. She looked to Six, who was already climbing to the top of the Sabre and mounting up in the cockpit.
She looked to Jorge now, and replied, "I have to go on this one, Jorge. I'll make sure to keep our bomb in top shape... And that we'll wipe that Covvie carrier."
Jorge sighed deeply, then extended a hand to the girl, which she shook firmly. He told her firmly, "Take care of yourself and Six up there. We'll make it count down here."
"I'll do my best," She smiled, depolarizing her helmet's visor for Jorge to see it. A sudden regretful expression formed, her smile dimming slightly, "You... Take care of Ariane if I don't-"
"Don't start with that, Els. Go," He stopped her, then tilted his head to the aircraft, "You'll tell'er you blew up a Covvie ship yourself, ya hear?"
Elster nodded and smiled, before rushing toward the aircraft. She strapped an M-SPEC Re-entry pack to her armor, before clambering up onto the aircraft's side and then pulling herself into the co-pilot/gunner seat. She gave Six a thumbs up and made sure her suit had enough juice and oxygen to keep her alive. As Six started running diagnostics, the canopy of the aircraft closed above them, locking into place and sealing with a sharp hiss of pressurization.
As the computer ran through diagnostics itself and the system, Elster started, "Hey, Six," while strapping herself in. Six turned toward her, looking out from behind the console ahead and straight at her, though she couldn't make it out thanks to the visor. She continued, "You're gonna need to give me a brief rundown of what I'm supposed to do... This is a RIO position, right?" She remembered that much from the old memories of encountering pilots during Vineta... Ugh, Vineta. Hell on the sea.
"WSO, but yeah," Six replied, turning back to his own console and running the final launch sequence. He explained as calmly as he could, "The touch screens should tell you what weapons we have selected. I'll be running the 35mm autocannons on the side. You have the missiles and gauge the fuel we have left for the flight. Keep me posted on the ship's status while I'm focused on flying, too... Oh, right. Radar as well."
"Got it," Elster braced herself as she heard the muffled roar of engine ignition and began to feel the rattle of the bird's frame as the escape-velocity-capable boosters powered. She felt the craft launch forward on a rail system, her body compressed against the cushioned seat behind her. She held onto both her belt and the console as the aircraft lanced up, leaving a trail of smoke behind itself.
In the corner of her eyes, despite her vision blurring, Elster could see half-a-dozen other Sabres launching from the facility's other ramps. The ascent was a G-force-heavy endeavor, forcing Elster to use techniques like focused breathing to keep her oxidant from flowing to the back of her skull and causing her to pass out. Sure, she was not human, so the G-Forces didn't affect her nearly as badly as they probably affected even Six, a SPARTAN supersoldier, but it was still an annoyingly common problem, it seemed. She thanked the lord, Kat and UNSC Procurement for her armor, though.
Piercing through the clouds and the upper atmosphere into the void above Reach, Elster once again saw the beauty of the planet below her. Scars now pockmarked Vieri, however, marks of the Covenant's deadly campaign on the planet below. The enemy Supercarrier had to go down if they wanted any hope of saving Reach as a whole. She hummed and thumbed her controls, feeling the vehicle's ascent begin to normalize. Beside them, the other strike fighters began to jettison their extra fuel and the boosters.
Six tapped a few buttons on his console and gave a thumbs up to Elster, who nodded and touched the few flashing items on her screens. A muffled thunk echoed from outside, followed by another, louder one. She checked the rear camera of the aircraft, watching as the orange tube containing liquid rocket fuel began its descent back into the atmosphere.
Six tugged on the bird's stick and brought them facing 'up'. Admittedly, there was no real direction in space, just the variabilities of their rotation in the three-dimensional space, rotation provided by the RCS thrusters installed aboard the void-capable fighter. She saw the gusts of RCS thruster exhaust as the craft stabilized, nose pitched toward what looked to be a distant orbital facility.
Six turned on their mainline engines, the craft rumbling slightly as its own rocket boosters engaged. He pushed the throttle to max and the bird lurched and launched forth, entering higher orbit in formation with the squadron. Six radioed in, "Anchor Niner, this is Sabre Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, en-route to your current position. All thruster systems green and engines hot. WSO, rear SYS and Weapons checks. Master Arm SAFE."
Elster nodded and ran through the list as the squadron moved toward Anchor 9. She spoke like a well-oiled machine, running the checks, "Master Arm SAFE, aye. Missile systems operational, lock-on and helmet HUD display check," she tapped a few buttons and wirelessly linked her helmet's HUD to the targeting display. It flashed, ran a quick diagnostic and gave a green light as the HUD-based crosshair for the missiles, a disconnected diamond-shape in a circle, flashed on. Elster reported, "Lock-on and HUD systems are green. Shipboard AShMs are hot and ready for combat use. All nominal, subsystems green, green, green, guns green, shields and radar, green. Bravo Oh-Two-Niner Wizzo confirms SYSCHECK complete, systems nominal."
"Roger. Bravo Oh-Two-Niner Pilot, confirming All Systems Green. On suborbital approach vector," Six stated and powered on his own HUD. Elster grabbed onto the handle next to the console, eyes locked on their displays. The display flashed with a rough approximation of their trajectory toward the Station ahead. Elster watched with muted awe as a Paris-class Heavy Frigate flew toward Anchor-9, the station itself resembling a massive three-prong construct with various hangars, guns and airtight corridors going between each prong. There were also various repair 'drydocks' in orbit, structures made up of two massive boons filled with tools and magnetic locks meant to keep ships in place during repair and refit. Or disassembly.
"Broadsword Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, this is Noble Actual. Do you copy?" Holland's voice surprised Elster. To the point the girl felt the need to double-check.
"... Bravo Oh-Two-Niner here, copy you loud and clear, Actual... Colonel?" She replied carefully, scanning the horizon for any enemy movement.
"Affirmative, Seven. Good to hear your voice, Sergeant, though I'd have expected Five to be the one to come with Six up top," Holland replied calmly, audible behind him being the noise of consoles beeping and AIs and personnel working. The man, meanwhile, spoke calmly, "Welcome to Operation:UPPERCUT. I'll be your control from here on out."
She blinked, "Sir, I'm not a-" And she paused as she received a data transmission. Holland's picture appeared on one of the consoles, the man grinning. Elster read the transmitted data aloud, "... Per request of Commander Two-Five-Niner, NOBLE One, field promotion required for NOBLE SEVEN, Private LSTR-512, to Sergeant for operational duty purposes and concentration of force... Sir?"
"Carter needed an NCO, Seven. He wants you to be able to form your own impromptu Fire Team if the situation calls for it during battles. I and Doctor Halsey agree. We'd have done a bigger ceremony if we had the time, but we've got more pressing matters to attend to. Good luck up there," Holland replied. Elster looked over to Six, who gave a simple thumbs up, before bringing the Sabre up next to Anchor-9 just as the UNSC Savannah docked at an 'umbilical', a long, armored tube meant specifically to allow docking procedures.
"All Sabres, this is Anchor ATC. We've detected impulse drive signatures. Multiple hostile contacts incoming. Our weapons systems our down and we need time to reboot them." A male voice stated. Six and Elster both noted the marker pointing out the arrival point of the enemy force, with Six banking the craft right and utilizing their RCS thrusters in conjunction with their normal engines to bring the aircraft about.
As alarms blared for contact in the fighter, Elster saw the first wave appear. A squadron of a dozen Space-capable Banshees, bearing extended plasma cannons in their mouths and seemingly-fixed canards. She held on tightly as Six banked right for them, ordering, "All fighters, break and engage," as he settled the crosshair of his 35mm cannons on the leading bird of the V-shaped formation.
The twin cannons thundered in half-second intervals, high-caliber shells whizzing by the enemy light starfighter. It and its squadron broke formation, with it turning hard left and diving toward one of the nine station-based refit and repair drydocks. Its siblings spun about to meet the UNSC's fighters as they, too, dived on their prey alongside the SPARTAN and his Sabre.
Tracers lit the void, meeting twin plasma bolts and slamming into the bodies of the enemy's lightest space-capable fighters. One round tore a canard off the targeted Banshee, sending it careening into a piece of Titanium armor that was floating around Anchor-9. The vehicle shattered against it in a blazing purple-red explosion. Six, meanwhile, chased the fighter that had banked and was running away from them.
35mm cannon rounds snapped by the enemy bird in bursts as it danced between the skeletal frames of ships undergoing maintenance. Elster prepped to fire missiles on Six's mark, locking the weapons onto the enemy Banshee. She braced and held on tightly as the voidcraft's RCS thrusters kicked in and it banked with the Covenant fighter. A round sparked off the Covenant fighter's canopy, followed by another that tore one of the rear engine fins off. The bird burned, but stabilized itself.
It made an incredibly sharp turn as it flew between two of the drydocks. Six pushed past the frames and banked up next to Anchor-9. The station was under the belly of their Sabre, so Six and Elster could barely make it out. Not like they were focused on it. Elster yelped as two bolts of plasma washed over the canopy, dissipating off the energy shields of the Sabre.
The enemy craft popped up behind them. Elster noted it and focused on it. The four boons making up the diamond in her targeting reticle realigned and blinked twice. She called out, "Target lock with the missiles!" words to which Six thumbed his stick. Four missiles left the side tubes under the wings of the aircraft, powered on their own maneuvering thrusters and engines and lanced off toward the Covenant craft.
Two missed and two struck, twin explosions flaring and dying due to the lack of oxygen. Six veered right and banked into the furball in the middle of the nine docks. He zeroed in on an enemy that was trailing one of their own. He opened fire, lighting the small-craft up with a four-second autocannon burst. The shells tore through the body of the Banshee, globes of drying purple blood floating out into space as the vehicle's engines died, leaving it a small, floating husk in the middle of nowhere.
Elster gripped onto her seat, tracking targets in the small furball as best as she could and calling them out for missile launches. Two of their Sabre squadron dived on a trio of Banshees trying to retreat. Another Banshee swept down on them while they were trying to kill its buddies, plasma washing over the wingman pair, with one of them taking a full burst of Plasma which burst his shields.
High-cal rounds tore through the enemy Banshee, however, as Six veered to intercept. The aircraft tried to dodge, veering right and utilizing its own maneuvering capabilities to avoid the UNSC bird. Six utilized his HUD's systems, allowing a lead indicator to appear in front of him. He lit up the enemy aircraft afterward, shells tearing it apart as it tried to flee.
"Good kills, but we're not out of the woods yet. Savannah Actual, reporting new bogie signature. Larger impulse drives, fighter-class. Station defenses are at fifty-six percent!" The shipboard crewman of the Savannah reported. Indeed, a dozen Covenant fighters, the teardrop-like Seraphs, appeared. They immediately banked for the Sabres, each firing their twin plasma autocannons rapidly.
The Sabres dodged, several taking bursts of fire that flared their shields. One of them had its shields burst and several plasma rounds melt the underbelly armor, but it still flew. The pilot aboard it swore and said, "Took some damage, but I'm still flying!" as she dived on another Seraph. Six used his RCS thrusters to push his bird down below a flurry of plasma shots, before using them to brake and get behind the enemy aircraft. He grit his teeth as the high-Gee maneuvers he pulled in order to stay on the wavy bastard's rear got to him.
Elster held onto her teeth metaphorically, as well, watching the SPARTAN dive on the enemy. Autocannons lit up the Seraph's shields, a full ten-second burst blasting through the Covenant craft's own energy protection. Six called out, "Lock it!" as Elster settled the crosshair on it. The two aircraft entered a turn-fight against each-other, forcing Elster to quickly lock onto the bastard before its shields recharged.
Her vision blurred due to the Gs for a moment, but she locked it on. Unable to speak, she slammed her console and Six gave a nod. Four missiles lanced out of the aircraft and turned hard to meet the oncoming Seraph. Three of the four struck, detonating on the hull of the ship. The blasts tore one of the rear stabilizers off, sending it careening into the void, one of its plasma lines broken and venting.
Six immediately veered for the next one as it charged him in a head-on, all while his comrades worked on thinning the enemy's numbers. The SPARTAN lit it up and was lit up in turn, plasma rounds splashing onto the shields of the Sabre. Luckily for Six, he'd started firing first. When he gave the go-ahead for Elster to send another burst of missiles, the enemy fighter was out of shields already. When all four missiles connected, there was little left but a cloud of debris through which Six and Elster flew.
Plasma bolts raked the top of their craft as a Seraph dived on them. Six was quick to pull another blindingly-high-gee maneuver, shutting his engines down and cancelling forward momentum with RCS, before turning to face the enemy craft and lighting it up with both guns and missiles, courtesy of Elster. It was torn to pieces by the heavy fire, detonating in a white-hot flash.
Multiple new contacts came in as the third wave. Anchor's guns, however, lit up. The 5cm coilguns in their rampart mounts lit the void as the last wave of Covenant craft emerged, tracer and HE shells tearing through both Banshees and Seraphs, all while the UNSC's fighters mopped up whatever survived. Six and Elster put down another pair of fighters and four Banshees before the word came, "Phantom Gunboats, detected on approach! Those things have anti-ship weaponry aboard!" from the Anchor.
As the four enemy gunboats warped in, Elster could immediately spot the difference. Whereas a normal Phantom was plain purple with some silver, these ones were darker, almost brownish in color and carried much, much bigger plasma cannons than their normal counterparts. One such cannon immediately tracked Six and Elster as they went in for the attack.
Bursts of plasma lanced forward, forcing the SPARTAN to roll their vehicle to the side to dodge the shot. He let loose multiple missiles after Elster locked onto it, the full burst setting the gunboat ablaze. The next one over was lit up by the cannons as it fired at them, with Six's squadron trailing close behind, missiles washing the ships that survived in hellfire.
Before long, the Gunboats had been dealt with before they even arrived in range. Holland voiced, "Well done, Bravo Oh-Two Niner. Seven, I take it this is your stop..." before Elster gave an affirmative hum. Six flew the ship toward one of the hangars and docked it, before punching in a code and pressurizing his suit. The cabin hissed with pressure equalization with the outside and Elster saw her target:A Pelican bearing the Savannah's slipspace drive.
She removed her harness and clambered out, making sure her M-SPEC Re-entry pack was still on just in case. She then gave a wave to Six and pushed herself off the Sabre and toward the Pelican, where a pair of Marines were tending to the bomb. As she floated through the void, she gazed down at the planet below and whispered, "I hope you're safe, Ariane..."
She saw several detonations flash down below. SWORD Base had come under attack again, it seemed. She felt her heart begin to race, Dot inquiring something in her ear that she didn't bother to answer. They needed to destroy the damn carrier now, free Reach from this mess. She looked forward at the Pelican and stretched her hand forward, grabbing onto the rails by which the massive Slipspace Drive that would be their bomb was attached.
She looked over the device, over the systems and over all necessary requirements as Holland gave a briefing about the situation. The Corvette they were aiming for had to be taken over, its com relay destroyed and it, brought in on a refueling track in order for the bomb to be close enough. Easier said than done, she thought to herself as she watched Six detach from Anchor-9. Boarding the Pelican, the girl strapped herself in alongside the Marines as the vehicle took off and joined with the others.
Their next target:The Long Night of Solace...