So let it be war


"Fire portside railguns!" Alt shouted as he and Cole stood on opposite sides of the holo table, all around them was chaos. The entire bridge was a whirlwind of activity, everyone was running around giving messages, reports or following the orders they were given. So, while a regular everyday person would look at this scene and think it was unprofessional or unorganized. But everything that was happening had a purpose, so while chaotic, it was an organized chaos.

"Incoming fire from above!" a voice called out to them, knowing that it would be too late to issue an order to dive. Alt watched as the admiral and everyone else braced themselves for the attack. It wasn't just like the floor shaking similar to what would happen when the MAC was fired. No this was as if a huge Earthquake just took effect. People who were standing up but not holding onto anything fell to the ground, though to be fair they quickly got back up and kept moving.

"Multiple hull breaches!" a shout called out to them.

Alt took control of the map and saw who was directly behind the Everest before taking control of the radio "UNSCs Earth's Fury, Spring Harvest, Gorgon and Halberd. Concentrate fire on the marked Battle Cruiser directly above us" he ordered to the four ships directly behind them, he would have liked to order more but they needed to do as much damage to the enemy fleet as they could. It was their only chance of winning.

He didn't receive a confirmation of the orders over the radio, just four green lights that came from the ships on the map. He didn't look at them longer, not needing to see them firing himself to believe that they would do it.

"We've lost three full squads of Longswords" he didn't respond to the information, quickly doing the math, figuring out if they lost a whole squad then how many they had left.

"We've reached the halfway point of going through the enemy fleet, most have now turned around and are focusing on us" Picture told the two as it stood on the table and looked at them expectantly, waiting for what the orders were going to be.

And there would need to be some, Even if they weren't outnumbered, the enemy ships still held a large advantage over them and if they stayed on this course barely any ship would survive the process of going through and those that did wouldn't be able to defend the planet "we use the Shivas" Alt said quickly as he looked to the Admiral for confirmation.

Cole looked at him like he had just grown a second head "You're joking, at this range, we'd risk doing more damage to ourselves" he argued.

"It'd still be less than the damage we'd get from the enemy" The counterpoint was quick and left Cole stumped.

He took two seconds before responding "Damit" he cursed "Picture, highlight priority targets full of fleet wipe nuclear blitzing" he ordered the A.I.

Cole may not have noticed but Alt could tell, it was the quick and minuscule head tilts and gasps of breath that came from those around them. Of course, the crew were surprised to hear the orders, this was going to cause a lot of damage the many ships, but this wasn't an ideal situation.

Normally Alt wouldn't have made the call to take their weaker ships through the much more advanced enemy fleet. Getting them closer to the more powerful weapons and fighters, even if they did get an early shot off and destroyed three of them within the first attack. But now that they have the attention and were this close, they wouldn't last. Yet despite all that, despite how many ships they would lose, based on his own estimations they would still be better off than they would be if they lost the ODP. They had to take the risk but since he didn't know how fast the Covenant ships would be when it came to short and quick turns, the losses were more than he thought originally.

Watching the table closely as it showed a detailed 3D image of the battlefield, many of the enemy ships in front of them were highlighted red and if Alt squinted his eyes and tilted his head slightly, it would seem like the redness created a type of whirlpool shape that went around the Everest. While it seems that only half of the Covenant fleet where targeted despite the more ships they had, it should have done a lot of damage as the larger of the enemy ships (Which were now officially designated as CAS-class assault carriers) dwarfed anything the UNSC had by a large margin.

It would seem that of the four of those assault carriers all of them would be getting hit by at least three Shiva-class nuclear missiles. They may not outright destroy them but at the very least it would do some real damage "All ships are confirming order captain, they are loading now. ETA two minutes" Picture told them.

Two minutes wasn't ideal but it would have to do. Still faster than what Alt thought it would take so he wouldn't complain "Picture tell every ship to hide the nukes in a barrage of other missiles and torpedos, we can't afford for them to miss" he added. Alt and no doubt Cole himself has seen that the Covenant does have some advanced anti-missile batteries that would be able to get one loan weapon. Over three dozen of them on the other hand would have much better chances.

"Com. Do we have any contact with the planet yet?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to a woman who had her back to him as she typed away quickly on her console.

"No sir!" she shouted back in order to be heard over the cacophony of voices "We can't get any signal through, but I have found the sources of it. One of the enemy ships is giving off an electromagnetic pulse that's scrambling all attempts and radio communication. I'm highlighting it now" she said to them.

Alt looked back to the table at saw that one of the assault carriers that would be targeted by multiple nukes was the source of the disturbance. It couldn't be too strong though as not even ten minutes ago he was able to speak to the Ajax. Or perhaps it just had a small range? Maybe it was only being used to prevent signals from the planet going in or out. Either way, it didn't matter, Alt continued to issue out orders to all the ships he could, making sure they stayed in formation or only left when doing so would save their lives.


Captain Halt looked on with gritted teeth as he looked at the enemy fleet getting closer to the planet. Despite how much damage they seemed to be doing. The Covenant arrived in the system not even an hour ago and they were only told about the possible attack two days before, hardly enough time to have any type of real defence set up and ready. Though he did have to give it to Colonel Watts, the man might be a traitor to the UNSC but he knows how to set up a defence.

Halt didn't make it a secret that he hated the man, he was a traitor who abandoned his duty and his people so he could play king. Instead of serving the UNSC and the UEG like he swore to do, he left that all behind and decided to help those terrorists. What good is a man if he can't keep his word? It was one of the few reasons why when he arrived in the system as a part of Admiral Coles's liberation fleet, he wasn't happy to hear that the system was brought into compliance while Watts still lived.

That man deserved to be in a cell for the rest of his life or dead. The fact he was free, let alone still in power infuriated him to no end. That was the primary reason why Halt volunteered to take charge of the ODP, so when Watts goes back to his old ways after Atlas and his terrifying amount of power left, he would be ready to end him. Be it through force of arms or awesome power with the use of an ODP, while he was no monster and would never turn the weapon onto a civilian population the threat would do well enough.

Then the warnings came in, aliens.

Of all the things that could have made his job harder. Halt however was diligent in his duty, every report that he was cleared to have was read through thoroughly. He even went a step further and allowed Watts to do the same, just because he hated the man didn't mean that he wanted the civilians on the planet to suffer due to the misuse of information. It wasn't easy of course, there was mass panic, riots, mobs, and the work. It lasted a full three days and Halt didn't think it was going to stop, at least until Watts had an interesting idea, using the fear of the Covenant to bolster their forces.

Halt both liked and hated it.

He hated it because both he and Halt knew that you couldn't use angry civilians as soldiers, for two reasons. Number one is that they are much harder to train and you never have enough time to do it properly. The second reason is that at the first sight of fighting, they would either freeze up, turn tail and run or just fire wildly and hope for the best. Not something they need in order in order to combat the enemy. He said as much to Watts, but his complaints were countered by others, mainly being that they didn't have enough personnel to protect themselves and the UNSC support wasn't enough.

It pained Halt to admit it but he was right, one ODP platform and a couple dozen of many different vehicles to help patrol the one city. It was then that Halt countered that if the planet didn't rebel and kill all the UNSC soldiers then that wouldn't be a problem. Needless to say, they didn't have a good relationship, it wasn't something anyone wanted. For the head of the planet and the leader of the UNSC forces to be at each other's throats it was expected considering everything.

When the warning came in the known enemy movements showed a pattern that was leading their way. Thankfully Watts was quick to act and with the fate of the planet in the picture, they worked together better than they had ever done in the past. Halt because he wanted to protect the planet and the people that were loyal to the UNSC and Watts because he needed this world to thrive as he used it as an example that the insurrectionists could win. Which to be frank was ridiculous considering the size of the fleet that arrived just after what's declared for the UEG.

Either way, they acted quickly, Halt got to work setting up defensive positions in the city and trying to arrange the little they had to the best of his ability. Watts meanwhile to his best to organize the citizens and their evacuations, The two discussed what the best plan would be for that and after a couple of hours of talking the two came to an agreement. There were millions of people in the city that would need to leave but ninety-one percent of the plant was left alone as it was a small and still relatively new colony.

So, there would be hundreds of different points set up all around the planet's surface that would be able to house a couple hundred people. Completely scattering that planet's people, something that would leave them mostly undefended from attack but this went on the gamble that the city which would now be fun of nothing but soldiers would act as bait to bring in the enemy force and leave them alone. You can trust him when he says that he wasn't happy about it but he was convinced that it was the best choice going forward.

Turning around from his own console on the ODP, he saw through a large glass window that looked at a huge spire-like structure that made up the majority of the station, to someone who doesn't know how ODPs work, they would be forgiven for thinking that it was a large structure that housed rooms, halls, atriums and storage units. The truth is much more awesome. The large spire-like structure is the barrel of the weapon.

Every ODP in humanity's arsenal was designed in the same way. In layman's terms.

Build a huge gun in space and build a smaller station around it for people to live.

It may be crude in design, but it did its work well. From his point, he watched as the spire quickly slammed downwards like the barrel of a handheld weapon and a MAC round was fired, aimed right at the closet alien vessel.

"Direct hit captain!" a voice called out to him, he quickly turned around and looked at the holo table "A full hull breach and the power is going offline, it's dead in the water"

"Good" he muttered to himself and placed both his hands on the table. The images showed him the enemy numbers that still approached the planet, despite what they'd been doing since the ships came into range of the MAC. Four of their ships that have been destroyed, though it wouldn't be enough. All they had to do was buy as much time as they could "Why haven't they advanced?" he muttered to himself as he saw that the Covenant forces had stopped their advance. The damned electromagnetic field wasn't just blocking their radio but also their scanners as well.

They could only see the front line of the ships and nothing past them, as much as he hated to admit it. There might be a chance the reinforcements won't get here in time "Sir we have multiple craft inbound!" another voice came at him.

"What?" he quickly turned his head to look at the officer who spoke but before he could ask anything else, multiple red warnings came on the table and Halt watched with great annoyance as dozens and dozens of new contacts appeared and started to make their way towards the station "Get the point defences up and running, target the drop ships!" he shouted.

All he could do was stare at the station on the table as many different points were highlighted in green, signalling that the anti-ship turrets had come online. There was a large light blue dome around the image of the station which acted as a visual aid to everyone understand the range of the station's weapon. Came into multiple small red dots with a large '198' plastered next to them 'It's too many' he thought to himself with a grim resolve.

"Watts, this is captain..." he stopped, just as he was about to send a message down to the planet, letting Watts know that they wouldn't last much longer and that they needed to get ready for a fight, though calling it that would be too kind. It was going to be a massacre.

But he was interrupted. A bright flare entered his field of vision, it was so bright that he and many others had to bring up their hands in order to block it out. Thankfully the station's windows had a sensor that allowed them to darken themselves when a light began too bright. As it did so, Halt and everyone else looked up through the ceiling and in the same direction the barrel was pointing, with both wonder and confusion.

Off into the distance, exactly where the enemy fleet was located. There was a massive flare of light that seemed to come out of nowhere "What was that!?" he asked aloud and the sound of his voice was able to snap everyone out of their stupor.

"One moment!" the voice called out to him from directly behind him. Thankfully it really was just a moment "Sir, I'm detecting multiple nuclear detonations just behind the enemy lines!" they shouted.

"Nuclear?" he asked back as he looked at the table and found himself letting out a tired sigh as new contacts appeared behind the enemy lines.

"Sir, we're being hailed by friendlies"

"Answer it" he ordered quickly and on the holographic surface of the table, a long rectangle came into view with a single thin line running through it.

"Eridanus II Orbital Defence Platform" a voice came through, the line quickly moving up and down as it did so "This is Admiral Cole of UNSC Battle Group X-Ray. We're advancing through enemy lines now but we've taken heavy losses, we need covering fire in order to reach you. How copy?" the voice finished.

"You crazy sons of bitches" he muttered to himself as he saw the numbers of UNSC ships that were now passing the front lines of the Covenant fleet, making their way towards them now unimpeded but it was now clear just how close they must have been to those nukes when they went off "Solid copy. Admiral Cole this is Captain Halt. We read you and will provide covering fire but we have multiple drop ships and fighters making their way here and we don't have the defences necessary to repel all of them. We need assistance. Over" he said quickly as the many different red dots started to get closer and closer.

It seemed like they were increasing speed, though that shouldn't have surprised him. Now that they had been cut off from the fleet due to the UNSC's arrival, to turn around now would be certain death. As much as he hated to say it, landing on his station would be their best chance "Targeting, aim for whatever enemy ship is closest to the friendlies" he ordered and despite the advanced tech the station had, he could still feel the slight pull as the whole thing tilted towards the new target "Com, tell ground teams the reinforcements are incoming" he added.

"Yes sir!" They both said at the same time.


John grits his teeth as the Pelican shakes in order to avoid the incoming fire from the enemy fighters. He knew that he wouldn't be able to fly towards the Ajax while going through the enemy fleet, but flight control gave him clearance for take-off. He didn't hesitate. The bright flare from the fleet-wide nuclear attack was still shinny as his Pelican left the hangar, he was surprised to hear of the ship's com system that nukes were being used at such a small distance but he wasn't against it. It only took him a moment to realize that it was a good idea.

Now that they were free from the immediate attack of the larger ships, he took control of the drop ship and didn't wait a moment before he took off and left Everest. However that didn't mean he was safe, there were still many individual fighters still harassing the ships "Ajax, this is Spartan 117. How copy?" he said into the come as he did a quick barrel roll in order to try and evade incoming fire.

"Go ahead Spartan" the sound of the Ajax's captain Khane came through the come.

"I am inbound to hanger three but have multiple enemy contacts on my direct six, I need covering fire and a clean entrance" he said, forced to make another quick and sharp turn. Multiple explosions going on around him as what was left of the UNSC fighters tried to hold off the large enemy force that was swarming all around their ships like flies, no doubt trying to keep them distracted from the transport ships heading towards the ODP.

"Copy that Master Chief, you've highlighted priority now. We'll provide whatever help we can" Khane told him before the signal cut out, not that there was much more to say.

Chief nosedived downwards, the comforting light of the planet took up most of his field of view, but he didn't allow himself to be distracted by it. Instead, he focused on the squad of frigates that moved forward in a tight formation, all of them ready to head down towards the city as soon as they were given the word "177, this fighter squad Echo. Maintain course, we've got you back" a voice came in through the radio.

Quickly looking down the radar screen on his lower left, he saw multiple friendly contacts taking positions behind the enemy fighters that were pursuing him and started to break off and deal with their own attackers. Allowing him a moment to steady the Pelican as he started to approach the frigate "Ajax, control. This is Pelican HF846. I am on approach and requesting an immediate landing" he added into the radio.

"Understood Pelican HF846, we see you. Approach hanger three, a spot is available" a synthesized voice said back to him without any delay.

"Copy that, beginning approach now"


Sargent Diggs was sprinting through the ship as he made his way to the cargo hold of the Ajax, three of his comrades following close behind him. Not even a few minutes after he just got word they just launched and nuclear barrage against the enemy numbers. Something that was completely back shit insane and something he tried to protest against, but he was cut off by Khane before he could even get a word out, something he wasn't completely surprised by that. Even though he was unsure he wanted to question the orders of Admiral Cole, a man he greatly respected. Though saying it was Coles's orders was being generous as he knew very well that it was on Atlas's orders, he was the only one crazy enough to bring up the idea of something like that.

He didn't know how bad the casualties were on their end, but he didn't think they would be good, which was why he left before they could be told. They used the excuse of getting everyone ready for the drop as they made it through the enemy lines.

All the crewmates who saw them moving were quick to step aside and let them pass while at the same time moving with their own work and very nervous looks on their faces as they tried to continue their work.

Thankfully it didn't take them long to reach their target area. The large doors were already open when they arrived and Diggs got a good look at the sight. The cargo hold was massive and at the moment it was completely full to capacity, the floor of the hold was split into three different rectangular sections. Each and every one of them was connected to conveys that would lower the floor of the entire hold further down so the frigate could quickly drop and deploy all that was needed on the ground without officially landing. A very useful thing for combat situations.

Right now in the middle of those sections, he could see rows and rows of vehicles, the most common being the famous Warthog all-terrain rover and his personal favourite M808B main battle tank, more commonly known as the Scorpion. That thing could pack a punch and he couldn't wait to see them used against the Covenant. However, it wasn't hard to not notice the divide in the hold. On his right he could see his ODSTs who seemed to all be moving around the large cargo creates, most of them were stocking up on supplies and making sure their weapons were ready. The usual stuff that he's seen many times before.

On the other side, however, was something that was the cause of a lot of recent tension. The Spartans, what looked like all of them were moving around and doing much the same as the ODSTs, getting weapons ready, gathering supplies etc. The difference between the two was a big one, from what Diggs could see, there was very little in terms of interactions going on between them.

No talking, no banter, nothing. They all moved so purposefully, and they didn't even so much as glance around as the ship rocked from impacts. Even the ODSTs on board the Ajax, every one of them being veterans of many fights, would glance around with a nervous look when a loud bang or rattle would be felt around them. It was unnerving to him and most likely the others as well.

This wasn't even all of them, it may seem like that but he knew that many of the Spartans were spread out across the squad of ships. It was a good plan to spread out their assets across the ships increase they lost one before they could land. He just hoped that his lot wouldn't do something so stupid like starting something with them, The Spartans would be spread about the city as much as they were, someone could say that it would be almost too easy to miss a call for reinforcements that they might make.

He didn't think it was going to happen, he liked to think that those under his command were smarter than that but at the same time. One of them thought that it would be a good idea to punch Atlas of all people in the face so his faith in their general thinking wasn't as high as it used to be.

While it was true that he disciplined Thomas well enough, the worry started to show, if one could do it then another could as well. Thomas wasn't even involved in this, it didn't matter what his reasons were, he punched a superior officer. The second they got to Reach he was off the ship, and was held in a cell before they left Diggs got word that he was waiting for a trial to see what his punishment would be for it.

Forgetting about that for now, he moved on to the reason why he was here. Moving over to the right he started to make his way towards his lot "ALRIGHT ODST'S!" he shouted getting their attention, as one they all moved away from their work and stood in one straight line with their backs straight and their hands behind their backs "By some fucking miracle we've made it this far! Any moment now we're going to get word that we'll be heading to the planet side! You all know the objective, beat back the enemy invaders and show those Basterds that they can't just roll over us! All your helmets are equipped with the coordinates for your landing and defence points! We will hold that city by any means necessary! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!" he shouted.

"YES SIR!" they shouted back as one.

He looked at the line of troops one more time, giving it a good look up and down the whole line before speaking "Good, as you were" he finished before he moved to the sealed racks of weapons and grabbed his own.

"Sarge, guess you made it first" a voice called to him, Turning to the right he saw that one of the only fully kitted out, helmet included. Leaning against the weapon locker with her arms crossed. She nodded to the other side of the hold and Diggs turned his head to see for himself.

Looking in between the gaps of the tanks and rovers, he looked at the Spartans turned to face the same direction and followed their gaze. His eyes moved to the direction of the entrance to the hold and a large figure in green armour started to make his way inside. Diggs knew who that was. The Master Chief, he didn't know the exact records of the man due to most of it being classified above his paygrade, but he knew the details of the Spartans he was going to serve with. That was standard for the mission, while he wasn't given more than most. There was no way he was going to get every detail for a full city-wide defence, he wouldn't have anywhere near enough time to go through all of it.

No, he was given details about the points of defence and what he was going to work with, the Spartans were included in that. So, he knew their numbers and of course the leader of them.

As if to reinforce the point he made before, the Master Chief walked over to the other Spartans and didn't say a word. At least from what he could see, no words were spoken but they all started working together as if they had a plan all along. Diggs had his own opinion of the Spartans and that hasn't changed, Grabbing his helmet took a step towards the larger soldiers but stopped when the crackling of the ship's com system got the attention of many present.

"All hands" Khane's voice stated "We've been given the go-ahead from Everest, prep for a quick planetary re-entry"

As he heard the announcement, all thoughts of conversation left Diggs mind and he immediately turned to face his guys "ALRIGHT EVERYONE! YOU HEARD THE CAPTAIN! STRAP IN FOR A BUMPY RIDE!" he shouted as he moved back to the far wall of the hold, though not before he made sure that everything was strapped down and held in place tightly. Thankfully he didn't need to worry about that, Once again he was thankful that everyone present was a veteran, they knew what they needed to do.

Making his way to the far wall, upon it were rows upon rows of metal polls connected and bolted into the place, these were to be used by whoever would need them in the case of large-scale turbulence.

A quick re-entry into a planet's atmosphere would do that.

The shaking came as quickly as it always did, Diggs's whole body started to sake to side and his legs trembled to keep him upright against the force being put on him. Though he kept his nerves, being able to deal with shaking is a requirement for something like an ODST. As this continued though, he looked forward through the line of vehicles and saw the Spartans, his nerves started to get the better of him as he saw the ones he could see were standing completely unmoving against the opposite wall, their hands not even up gripping the poles. While he could understand how his peers might not like them, at the moment, he was just happy they were on his side.


In the blackness of space, behind the now advancing and recovered Covenant fleet, there was nothing more than the seemingly infinite distance between the fleet and all the stars behind them. The wreckage from the destroyed ships, both alien and human littered the void around them. The fallout of nuclear strikes simply disappeared into nothingness in the vacuum that space provided.

Then it happened, and the God-made flesh arrived.

The tare of a Slip Space portal opened, this one multiple times larger than any other ship had before and from it. The mightiest of the ships within the Covenants arsenal started to make its way through the artificial rip in space. The Supercarrier 'Krypton's Wrath' flagship of Nam-Ek had arrived to cleanse the human filth from the galaxy.


"This is Atlas to Delta Squad, You are cleared for planetfall. How copy?" Alt said into the radio as they started to circle the ODP with the rest of the fleet. Much like before, they didn't all give confirmation by speaking, he just received multiple green pings from the squad.

"Captain Holt to Everest, do you read me?!" the voice of the captain came in from the com system but unlike before this one was much more urgent.

"We read you Holt. What is it?" Alt spoke into the com back to him as Cole was busy coordinating the rest of the fleet.

"We need reinforcements!" Holt was quick to say back "multiple enemy ships made it through the defences and forced a landing. My security is doing what they can but there's too many of them"

'shit' he thought to himself for a moment as he looked at Cole who quickly turned to face him and nodded. Alt nodded back knowing what needed to be done, All the Spartans were going to the city where they would be needed most. Any extra security teams they send would be as effective as the ones already onboard the station, meaning not effective at all. Which only left one choice "I'm heading over personally right now Holt, just buy me some time" he said into the radio knowing that if they lost the ODP then this fight was over.

"Understood" was all Holt said before the radio cut out.

Alt made to turn around and head out but a voice stopped him "Admiral, we have a new contact entering the system behind the enemy fleet" an officer called out to them.

Upon hearing the news, Alt stopped for a moment as he wanted to hear what just happened "How many?" Cole asked the voice.

The answer didn't come, at least not immediately. Despite all the chaos that was happening on the bridge, everyone running around trying to do their jobs as best they could. For a reason Alt didn't know, the sound of this one woman heartbeat started to get louder than any other. Alt slowly started to turn around and focus on the woman who gave the word, who seemed to be glued to her seat and her head not even turning away from the screen "Just... just one sir" Her voice was just a whisper but Alt heard it perfectly well.

"Picture" Alt said with his voice calm but also firm as the A.I appeared on the command table "What is it?" he asked.

The A.I am as incredibly smart as all other A.I were, knew exactly what he was referring to "A new contact has entered the system, a new class of enemy ship. CSO class Supercarrier" as it finished telling them all of the ship. A detailed image of it came into view.

Even Alt felt his nerves get the better of him as he saw it.

The others weren't much better, Cole's jaw tightened, and he could hear his heartbeat erratically. Around them, the personnel stopped moving as they stared at the image. Its design was different from all the others they've seen before but that wasn't the worst part. No, what was causing the fear in all of them was its size. If the readings they had were true then this ship was twenty-nine thousand meters long.

That was by far the largest ship that they had on record and the firepower around was no doubt more powerful they any others that came before "Sir, what do we do?" a voice called out to him.

Alt turned his head and saw the coms officer looking at him "Nothing" he said immediately, getting control over his own emotions and fears. He needed those around him to be just as strong "The plan hasn't changed, the ships are just bigger than the others, a round from an ODP will still go through it like a hot knife through butter. But only if we keep the station intact, the plan hasn't changed" he told them all before he turned around and confidently walked out of the bridge, making his way down towards the hanger so he could get to the station.

He wasn't lying before, if they lose the ODP. Then any chance at victory would be lost.


And we shall call it there. Let me know what you all think so far. The first sighting of a Covenant Supercarrier was going to be a big moment but I think the cliffhanger aspect it gives off would be better, I'll get into details about its entrance to the fight and how much damage it can give in the next chapter. I'll see you all then.

Next story update: A New Guardian