Prologue 1:- The Storm Gathers
Sorry for the delay guys. But here it is. The first chapter. The Storm gathers over New Glasgow
Now For Reviews:-
StormSentinel:- Current year is Late 2533. You answered right.
StormSentinel, zilla boi, Omar118, edboy4926, Doom60, King Tiger The Heavy:- Thanks for all the suggestions, my beautiful readers. I will surely include them in the next chapter. With some changes, if you don't mind :) :)
AlphaWolf00117:- Oh they will fight of course ;) ;)
Guest 1, Aedwards179, Guest 2:- I am really Sorry for the delays. Here is the chapter.
Location:- Milky Way Galaxy
Orion Arm
48 Tauri Star System
New Glasgow
The Planet of New Glasgow is a beautiful sight from the orbit. The Colony is as big as Earth, with beautiful polar Ice Caps and 3 Continental Landmasses which separate its 6 Oceans, though only one of the Continent, the middle one, was currently inhabited by the human race, with nearly 40 Million Souls. And even from Space, the marks of deforestation and beginning of an advanced civilization could be seen with Four cities, and thousands of smaller towns dotting the middle continent.
The remaining two continents were covered with dense forests, with thick foliage and vegetation and exotic Fauna of all kinds which was native to the ancient jungles of this Earth-Class Planet.
However just because the Two Continents were not inhabited by Civilians, doesn't mean it didn't have any human presence. The two Continents while not home to Civilians, were still dotted by hundreds of Anti-Ship as well as Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silos, deep within the millions of years old Vegetation. All primed and ready to unleash fire from the deepest pits of hells, towards the enemies of Humanity.
And they weren't the only ones. Aside from the Missile Silos, the Planet also had nearly 20 Ground Based Super MACs, each one of them capable of knocking out Cruiser grade Capital ships which dared to enter into the Planet's atmosphere.
Then just above the ground, in the geosynchronous Orbit of the Planet, the orbit was also home to another 28 Super MAC Platforms. Each Platform was armed with Super MAC's as strong as the ground based ones. The Platform's Secondary weaponry consists of Hellfire Torpedoes for if the main gun falls silent.
For defense the Super MAC Platforms had Defense Lasers and Guass Autocannons. Capable of swatting any enemy fighter or troopship from a km away.
The Planet only has one natural satellite, an Icy Moon. And it was no less dangerous. For the Moon is also fortified with ground based Missile Silos as well as another 12 Super MAC Platforms in its Orbit.
However the most notable feature of the moon was its huge 8 km long and 6 km broar Space Station, which is a Lorenzo Class Refit Station, which was capable of repairing damage of half a dozen Frigate Sized vessels at the same time.
And the cream of the defenses are the 128 UNSC Warships that made up the Glasgow Defense Fleet. 50 Frigates and 45 Destroyers, both light and heavy. 15 Light Cruisers, 6 Heavy Cruisers, 3 Battlecruisers and 1 Battleship (which also acts as the Flagship for the Fleet).
Supporting the Capital Ships were 8 Carriers. 6 Light Carries and 2 Heavy Fleet Carriers. And of course there were 20 Supply and repair Ships complementing the Fleet.
There were also 12 of the Stealth Torpedo Prowlers armed with Hellfire Torpedo which roamed the Star System like predatory Sharks. Thus making the New Glasgow Defense Fleet numbering nearly 160 Ships.
In the Planet, ground Forces comprised nearly 60 Division of New Glasgow Planetary Defense Forces (PDF), 16 Divisions of UNSC Army, and 4 Marine Divisions. Which is nearly 1,600,000 Combat Personals defending New Glasgow.
This also doesn't include nearly half a million Militias which had been recruited from the civilian Population for the defense of the Planet.
All in all, New Glasgow is well defended...not that it ever stopped the enemy who was currently invading the System.
Terran Calender:- July 22, Year 2533
Commodore Carl Patterson
Carl Patterson gritted his teeth as the ominous whine of the Claxons blared on the bridge of his Ship, which was located safely deep within the reinforced bowels of his Musashi Class Battlecrusier, named Destiny.
"Meryl! Status!" Carl barked out his order, and in que a blue light emitted as the Holo Projectors of the bridge turned on, and a figure of a 10 year Old girl, wearing the garb of a medieval Princess appeared on the deck.
"Another Slipspace whisper, Sir. Just a few AU away from the moon" Meryl, the resident AI of Destiny, reported her voice that of a child of her appearance but no less grim "We have probes in route"
Carl frowned as his hand clenched the armrest of his seat and took a glance at New Glasgow from the Ship's Windows.
No not windows. The Bridge of the Ship is actually inside the belly of the Ship, surrounded by reinforced Armour to protect the Crew manning the Ship.
The Windows were actually Holo Screens which captures the Camera image of the Space outside the front of the Ship. Which gives it a feel that these are Windows, and they were staring outside.
It's not practical but it gives Crew members who love to look at the Stars without compromising the protection which could happen if the Crew Bridge was in front of the Ship with only Protection being reinforced glass.
After all no Engineer, either human or Xeno, worth their Salt would make a Ship design with exposed bridges in the front of the Ship, protected by only reinforced Glasses. One lucky shot is all it would take to cripple the Ship.
And Carl really didn't want to lose his Ship. The Destiny, a Musashi Class Battlecrusier. Coming at the length of 2.8Km in Length, it's one of the biggest Ship Classes of UNSC Navy.
Suddenly the console beeped and Meryl blinked and said "Sir, Rear-Admiral Harrington is on the line. He is taking you and Captain Matilda on conference"
Carl just nodded "Patch us through".
The image of New Glasgow was replaced by two Screens. On the left was a rugged looking man with impressive stature of nearly 6'9 feet. His eyes pale silvery, which looks almost milky like liquid mercury. His skin is as pale as Snow which was further accented by his short pitch black hair cropped into military style. He was wearing the standard Naval Uniform and had a near emotionless look on his face.
He was Rear-Admiral Kyle Harrington, the leader of the New Glasgow Defense Fleet and Co-Commanders of all the defenses in New Glasgow, alongside Field Marshall Aleksiej Reznov on the ground.
On the right was a beautiful woman in her thirties, the same age as Carl himself maybe a year or two older. She has vibrant brown hair, deep charcoal coloured eyes with beautiful eyebrows and sun tanned skin, tanned by the Starlight of her home. Her height is around 6'4 feet, only three inches shorter than Carl, who himself stood at an impressive height of 6'7 feet, though still shorter than Admiral Kyle himself.
She was Captain Vivian Matilda and Carl had to admit she was pretty.
Both Carl and Vivian gave crisp salutes to the Commodore which he returned with a grunt.
"We don't have much time for military theatrics so I will go straight to the point" Kyle said, his voice cold and emotionless something which caused a shiver to tingle up Carl's spine.
Carl would never admit it. But he would rather fight the Covenant outnumbered, then face Kyle Harrington. This man gives him a negative feeling. Something about his emotionless face and his soft whispery voice, always fills him with dread and primal and irrational fear.
It was irrational. Kyle was a fellow human, not a Xeno. Kyle was his superior Officer and on the same side as him.
"Stop it! Stop your irrational fear" Carl thought to himself as he tried to steady his nerves as well as his beating heart as he stared at the pale eyes of his superior officer "You have faced bigger and uglier opponent. And Kyle is on your side"
However despite his inner monologue of reassurance, Carl felt his gut clenching like an icy clawing inside his heart. His gut feeling had never been wrong and is one of the reasons why Carl is still alive in this war while Officers, better and more intelligent than him had persihed in front of Covenant fire.
And his gut is currently telling Carl that Rear Admiral Kyle Harrington is a man he should never cross.
And by the looks of it, he wasn't the only one who feels like that. He could see the tension in Captain Vivian's eyes though she didn't give any more sources of her discomfort.
And not just Vivian. Carl could feel every single Officers and Ensigns on his deck were tensed as they listened to Kyle. Even though the words weren't directed towards them.
"Our Prowlers and deep space Scanners had detected multiple probes, much more than the past week" Kyle said in his thin whispery voice, which is colder than icy winds of glaciers "Which means the main attack would be coming soon. The ground forces had already been alerted and the evacuations are hastened"
Over the past two weeks, the Covenant ships had done multiple probing attacks in the System, with the largest attack being two days where a small Covenant Fleet of Six Ships had struck the UNSC refineries in the Gas Giant of the System.
While all the Covenant Ships were destroyed, this attack had forced Kyle and Marshall Aleksiej to begin evacuation of the Planet.
New Glasgow had 40 million Souls, but with the evacuation beginning two days ago, that number had dwindled to only a couple Million Civilians...alongside nearly 2 Million armed Soldiers and Militias all hungry for Covenant Blood.
"Commodore, you and Captain Matilda would take your ships and protect the Freighters evacuating the Civilians while my Ships would hold the Xenos at bay" Kyle ordered softly "If any Covie Ship slips past us, its the duty of you two to stop them"
Normally a Commanding Officer's voice should be firm, hard and booming, filled with authority, to make sure that his subordinates listen to his commands and not fuck it all up.
But unlike other commanding officers, Kyle's voice was soft and whispery as always even as he gave his command. And it suited him just fine, because his voice had the same effect as any Commanders with a booming voice.
And it chilled both Vivian and Carl to the core, even as they saluted.
"Sir, yes Sir" Both of them saluted, though Carl did so grudgingly as he wanted to fight in the front lines not guard Civilian Convoys. But an order is an order, and Carl would follow it to Hell and back.
Especially when it's an order from Kyle, and Carl had decided way back that he is someone whom he would never dare cross or make his displeasure known.
"Guard them with your lives" Kyle said before ending the transmission leaving Carl with Vivian, stuff and rigid.
"Well..." Vivian began, the first one recovering from her stiffness, looking at her superior "It would be an honour, Commodore. To fight beside the famous 'Buster'"
Carl smiled thinly as the bridge crew smiled at Vivian's words. Buster. It was Carl's nickname. Carl 'Buster' Patterson.
"So you say" Carl muttered amused as Vivian gave a final crisp salute before the transmission ended.
"Open a channel to our Battlegroup" Carl ordered the Communication Officer.
"Channel opened, Sir" Was the crisp reply.
"Attention Battle Group Zeta! This is Commodore Carl Patterson. The Covie bastards have finally graced us with their undivided attention instead of the low attacks they had been doing past two weeks" Carl spoke gravely "I know many of you wish to shed xeno blood, but unfortunately we are assigned to a far greater duty. And that is to make sure the remaining Civilians of New Glasgow were safely evacuated from this Planet"
Carl knew there would be mixed reactions to his orders. The bloodthirsty ones, who had already lost their homes and families to the Covenant would be fuming that they weren't given any chance to shed Xeno Blood.
While the cautious ones would be stone faced, but beneath their facade, they would internally sigh with relief at the thought of not facing the Covies directly in a head long clash.
"Helmsman! Chart a course to this coordinates" Carl ordered as he also passed the Coordinates to the rest of the Battlegroup.
Soon nearly 24 Ships broke off from the Admiral Kyle's main formation and made a beeline towards the Planet's Orbital Elevator which was supporting in the evacuation.
While this was happening, Rear Admiral Kyle Harrington's Ships quickly took defensive perimeter around the Orbital Super MAC's, each strong enough to gut a Covenant Cruiser in a single shot.
Carl knows with the Slipspace Jammers spread around the Systems, the Covenant Ships wouldn't be able to do the dreaded Inner System Jumps which they loved to do during the dreaded years of Harvest Campaign.
So the Covenant would be forced to fight through the layered defenses, which consisted of Mine Fields laid by the Stealth Prowlers, then Admiral Kyle's Ships as well as the Super MAC's who were all prepared to take out enemy ships like shooting Fishes out of the barrel.
Carl's eyes strayed towards the Hologram of Admiral Harrington's ship, which was also the Flagship of the Glasgow Defense Fleet.
The Ship was an ugly monstrosity. Nearly 4km in Length and 1km in breadth and width, the Ship looked fearsome. It was a Warlock Class Battleship, named The Endeavor.
Carl knows that Warlock Class Battleships had enough firepower to take on two CAS Class Assault Carriers and win with sheer firepower.
Though of course, Carl also knows that the Warlock would only have 2 chance of coming out operational after such an encounter. But still, the Ship is one of the most powerful ships in the UNSC Navy, especially in the hands of a Commander as capable as Kyle.
The Warlock Class is often the Flagships of Real Admirals of the Navy. And Carl's heart yearned for commanding such a fearsome ship in the future.
Carl's mind briefly wondered how the crew of that Ship bared with Kyle Harrington being constant with them considering how unnerving he is. Did they overtime get used to him? Or were Endeavor's crews as unnerving as the Rear Admiral.
Carl shook his head as he thought of his life, something he always does before a fight. Not knowing if it would be his last.
He was from the Inner Colony of Sigma Octanius IV. Coming from a Martial Family, with both his parents and grandfather had served in the Military. And from a young age he had heard stories and tales of honour of serving in the armed forces from both his parents.
So it was no surprise, when he admitted himself in the Sigma Octanius Naval Academy, located at the Capitol City of Lyrone, after he finished his schooling at 17, where he spent his three years.
After which he graduated at age 20 from Sigma Octanius, 189th Lyrone Cadet Branch of the Officer's Corps, coming in the 8th Rank, which is not bad considering the number of Cadets the Lyrone Academy had.
After that he spent another year in the Training School Of advanced Warfare in the Inner Colony of Dwarka, especially Torpedo and Counter Missile Warfare as well as Simulation Command and Control as well as engaging in mock Battles and Wargames against other opponents, commanding Ship as well as entire Fleets in simulated environments to see how he could operate under pressure.
And only after that he joined the Navy as an Ensign aboard an old ageing Frigate from the Pre-Insurrection Era.
Carl's Father is a Lieutenant General in the UNSC Army while his mother is Rear-Admiral in the Navy. While his Grandfather is a Field Marshal in Inner Colony of Calypso.
So his family is very influential, especially in the lower to middle echelons of the Military. However that doesn't mean, Carl had earned his place on a golden platter or through any favours.
No he had to start as an Ensign on an aged Frigate guarding some mining outpost. And it would take him three years fighting in the Insurrection before he would earn his position and command his own ship, a Corvette.
In the Insurrection War, he would have kill count of Four Insurrectionist Ships. Three modified freighters and one Frigate. While an impressive kill count, considering Carl was only commanding a Frigate, it isn't especially outstanding considering most of Insurrectionist Ships were modified junks and old husks.
Still it earned him and his crew a promotion from a Corvette to a Frigate.
However it was during the Human Covenant War where he would earn his own fame. He will take part in the Harvest Campaign, in its third year. There with his Paris Class Heavy Frigate he would destroy a Covenant CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer by using traps of Mine Fields and finishing the enemy with precise MAC Shots while it was still recovering from the Nuclear Mines.
This would be Carl's fifth kill making him an Combat Ace of Ship Warfare.
After that Carl would destroy two more Covenant Ships over the course of the remaining two years of the Harvest Campaign. One SDV-Class Heavy Corvette and another SCC-Class Sword Frigate.
Carl would also have two team kills, one CAR-Class Frigate and one CCS-Class Battlecrusier. But those two kills don't count as they were Assisted-kills by other ships.
However it was during the Battle Of Outer Colony of Ularc where where Carl earned his nickname. During the Battle, his Ship was rammed by a CCS Class Battlecrusier which had done a Inner System jump to successfully get behind him as Ularc System didn't have any Slipspace Jammers at that time as they were recent inventions and were only being equiped in Inner Colonies during the first stages of production.
However the Covenant Ship didn't destroy them, instead they only crippled their ship and boarded them. And before Carl could authorise the Self Destruction of the Ship in accordance with Cole Protocol, the enemy were upon them.
The Covenant Leader, which was surprisingly a Brute instead of an Elite, had taken Carl hostage and ordered his crew to hand over the Star Charts and Nav Data to them otherwise they would rip Carl limb from limb.
That was one of the scariest moments of his life. Carl wasn't afraid of death nor the torture that would befall him. No that was something he accepted long ago when he joined the Navy.
No. What he was afraid of was the Nav Data falling in the enemy's hand, something which would lead them directly to Earth and Humanity would fall.
So Carl had done what he could at the moment. He took his monomolecular blade and slammed it on the Brute's shoulder. Which only annoyed the Brute and broke Carl's knife.
However Carl had used this opportunity to slam his forehead on the Brute's face with all his strength. His temple had burst at the force of the slam and blood had gushed forth, however his attack had stupefied the Brute for a few seconds, which had all it taken for Carl to escape from his enemy's clutches.
The moment he was out of enemy clutches, the Marines and ODST's on board surrounding them, who were holding back because of his capture, had opened fire on the enemy cutting them down. After which Carl had authorised the Cole Protocol as well as started the self destruction sequence of the Ship.
He along with what remained of the Crew had managed to evacuate the Ship with escape Pods before the Ship's reactor detonated, destroying his ship as well as the CCS-Class Battlecrusier which was latching onto his ship.
This act of daring and bravery had earned him recognition from the Legendary Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole himself, who gave him the name of "Buster" for bursting the Covie's hopes of finding Earth.
And from then on, his name was dubbed as Carl "Buster" Patterson by his men. Something which is solidified by his fearlessly daring and bold approach during battles as well as for his aggressive and cunning offensive tactics.
And now he is a Commodore. Leading his own Battlefleet.
His parents would be proud.
"Commodore!" An Ensign shouted "Slipspace ruptures, a couple AU away from Admiral Kyle's Fleet! Their signatures designate them as Covenant"
Carl immediately cleared his head of all thoughts as his eyes sharpened and he sat up straighter on his seat.
"How many, Ensign?" Carl asked sharply.
"Nearly 80 Signatures, Commodore" Came the hasty reply "Nearly...nearly 1/4th of them are designated as CCS Class class"
The crew on the bridge inhaled sharply at that. 1/4th of the Enemy Fleet comprised of Capital Ships?!
"This Fleet must be part of a bigger invasion Fleet" Carl thought. No doubt this is a multi-theatre attack and New Glasgow must be one of the many Planets which must be struck simultaneously.
And there were only two such Covenant Fleets, inside Human Control Space, which could make such simultaneous attacks. And whenever they make any attack in Human territory, they do so by attacking multiple Worlds at the same time.
"How many carriers?" Carl asked calmly, not wanting to show any anxiety in front of his crew. He had done it dozens of times, in dozens of different battles, both Insurrection and Covenant.
"5 CAS Class Assault Carriers sir" The Ensign replied shakily as his eyes were glued to his screen, showing the massive 5.4 Km long behemoths of alien metal "4 of the Rough edged Patterened Carriers and one being the Smooth Pattern"
"That must be the enemy Flagship" Carl mused as he looked at the CAS in the center. The one which didn't have the City like structure into its back.
Till now the UNSC had encountered two variants of Covenant Assault Carriers. One of them being the more commonly sighted Assault Carriers which had jagged city-like structures at its top.
The other is the less common variant of the CAS Class Assault Carrier, with a smoother plainer hull.
As far as Carl is concerned there isn't much difference except that. Both of the patterns were similar in Size and Firepower as well as in Shielding and defense. With the only difference being the Smoother Varient being rarer than the jagged one, and is often used as the Flagship of the enemy.
Something which Carl always found ludicrous. It's like announcing to the enemy 'Look the enemy Leader is here. Take me out please'.
"Maybe it's one of their weird traditions" Carl thought in amusement as he shook his head and supressed a grim smile. While the Covenant always had the edge in Space Warfare with their more advanced ships. They are sometimes inflexible in tactics which was the reason for many of their defeats in the hands of the UNSC Navy.
Still Carl is not an expert of Xeno traditions, nor does he want to be one. He would leave that job to the Xenologists. And he also isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
If the Covie bastards were making their jobs easier by their incompetency, why should Humans reject their...oh so honorable gift.
"Order the Fleet to maintain our formations and let Admiral Kyle deal with the bastards. Our orders were to protect the Civilians" Carl said impassively as he watched the Orbital Elevators working tirelessly and the Freighters boarding the Civilians for evacuation.
"Meryl" Carl called the AI "Keep track of the Covenant Fleet and continue scanning the System for any more Slipspace whisper. Also order the other Ships to do the same and warm their Weapon Systems online"
"Expecting trouble Commodore" The Artificial Intelligence asked, her childish voice filled with concern.
"If what I am expecting is correct then we will be having some problems soon" Carl said grimly.
His eyes also strayed towards Rear Admiral Kyle's formation knowing that soon the dark clouds are about to burst as thundering storms over the orbit of New Glasgow.
He only hoped that the Civilian casualties, while unavoidable, would at least be minimum this time around.
Covenant Age:- The 9th Age of Reclamation
Fleetmaster Marock 'Taralumee
As his ship came out of the blinding portal of Slipspace and into the Real Space. Fleetmaster Marock of Kaidon Turalumee was eager for Battle against the Human heathens, his sharp reptilian eyes yearning for his Fleet to set the Human World on fire, until it was nothing but glass and ash and light the glorious path towards the Great Journey.
His Fleet, The Fleet of Swift Retribution, was 100 Ships strong. With 1/4th of them being Capital Ships of Various Classes, most common being the 1.8 Km Long Ket-Pattern Battlecruisers.
While his Fleet is mighty in its own right, it's only one of the several large Flotillas which served under the Combined Armada Of The Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence, under his elder Cousin Supreme Commander Luro 'Taralumee.
Even though Marock was Supreme Commander Luro's cousin, it wouldn't mean much in grand scheme of power. And Marock had earned the rank of Fleetmaster through pure merit rather than his connection to the Luro, who is very close to the Ministry.
This is because, Marock was just one of the hundreds of cousins of Luro and one of the thousands who belonged to the Noble House of Taralumee.
Not to mention. Luro is the eldest nephew of the Current Kaidon of House Turalumee which means he was much closer in the position of becoming the Future Kaidon if the current Kaidon and his children all die (in the war or political assassination that plague the Sangheili Fiefdoms) or loss the Political Power in the Council of Kaidons, something which is very likely to happen as the current Kaidon isn't a very good ruler nor a good Commander like Luro was.
Not to mention Luro has a very close connection within both the Council of Kaidons in their homeworld of Sanghelios as well as with some Minor Prophets in High Charity, especially the Vise Clergy of Zeal, who was part of the Ministry of Resolution, whom Luro sends almost daily reports to about the Progress of the War Effort. (If Marock didn't know any better he would have thought that Luro is in love with the Prophet of Zeal with the amount of devotion Luro shows within his regular reports).
Compare that to Marock who is from one of the lower Cadet Branches of House of Taralumee. Ans had no hopes of becoming a Kaidon, considering there are hundreds of others who had better and higher claims than him.
But that suits Marock just fine. He was a Warrior and the Game of Politics doesn't interest him in the slightest. Not to mention all the dangers that come with politics.
Politics of Sangheili is like raw plasma. Playing with it can give you power, but it would also kill you. Either with loss of power and honour, or a blade of assassin in dark.
And while Marock ain't afraid of death. He at least wants to die honourable in the Field of Battle, instead of having his throat slit in his sleep or poisoned by his enemies. For the Great Journey, requires no less honourableness.
"How many Human Ships are in this System?!" Marock asked, his voice a deep bass as he sat on his Anti-Gravity chair.
The bridge deep within the bowels of his Ship, a Kerel Pattern Assault Carrier, named The Sundered Shadow, was abuzz with activity as the navigators took on both his Fleet as well as that of the enemy's.
"Fleetmaster, the Humans have 148 Warships in System" A Navigator said, his Blue armour glittering on the yellow light of the Holo-Console "Most of the Ships were facing us. While a small group were converging on the contraption that the humans designate as an Orbital Elevator"
"They must be evacuating the Civilians" A barritone voice said from his side and Marock briefly looked at the Sangheili.
The Sangheili was nearly 9ft tall, much taller than average, and was wearing the Blood Red armour of a Zealot. He has his Okarda'phaa-Pattern Plasma Rifle strapped on his back and a Eos'Mak-Pattern Plasma Pistol on his waist. He also has two Energy Blades strapped on his waist and one energy dagger hidden on the gauntlet of his wrist.
The Sangheili Warrior was Blade Master Najok Murasee. The best Swordsman/Blademaster in his entire Fleet, and maybe even in Luro's combined armada. Someone who is skilled enough to become a Honour Guardmen for any Prophet back in High Charity.
And Marock was certain that Najok could at least take three of the High Charity Honour Guardsmen at the same time before he was brought down.
But Marock knew that Najok would never become an honour guard even if he is offered the position, for Najok's taste of Battle is only surpassed by Marock's own. Najok doesn't want to do the boring and menial task of guarding Prophets in the safety of High Charity, no matter how honourable the position is both in terms of political power and prestige within the Covenant Empire as the position of the Honour Guards were revered and perfect chance for a lowly Noble to make his name.
Najok, just like him, was a lower cousin of the House of Murasee. However unlike House Taralumee which is an Old and proud Noble House, the House of Murasee is a small almost obscured House, who didn't even fit the title of Kaidon Or has any power in the Council of Kaidons.
The Kaidon of Murasee is located in the Planet of Baroka, which only had a population of nearly 6 Billion Sangheili as well as 2 Billion Or so Yanme'e. And Kaidon Murasee only controlled that Single Planet. And in times of war Baroka and Kaidon Murasee couldn't provide more than 600 Ships and only 2 Billion Warriors.
While certainly a big number, it's nothing more than a drop which makes the vast Ocean that is the Covenant War machine. Because of this House Murasee is a barely relevant Kaidon in the Council Of Kaidons. And bad for Najok, who just like Marock, was nowhere close to inheriting the Title of Kaidon, being one of the hundreds of cousins of the lowest branches of the family.
But that only makes Najok's rise to one of the Finest Swordsmen within the Covenant Empire all the more aspiring. And Marock, himself a fellow lower member of his House, could appreciate and even admire that.
"So it would seem" Marock noted, his golden reptilian eyes sharpened as he looked at his navigator "Can we do an Inner System jump?"
"No Fleetmaster. The Human heritics had their vile jammers in this System" The navigator replied grimly.
Marock nearly growled. Those Human Slipspace Jammers had ruined many a Fleetmaster's tactics of Inner System jump, which was a core tactic for Covenant Navy.
"At least the Humans themselves can't do any precise inner System jumps with their Primitive Slipspace Drives" Marock thought with contempt "Small mericies"
Though he had no doubt that in future, the Humans would find a way to make Inner System jumps for their ships possible. Marock had fought the Humans for over 8 Years and one thing Humans were, resourceful and adaptable.
During the opening Years of the War. It had taken nearly 2:1 advantage for Humans to win in Naval engagement. However in just 8 years the Humans had closed the technological gap so much that now a Human Capital Ship commanded by good officers could take on a Covenant Ship of the same size and come out on top.
The only thing the Humans lack the most is Faster FTL and Shielding Technology. And Marock knows that overtime, the Humans would overcome it too.
And not for the first time, Marock wondered the decision of the High Prophets of not offering the Humans a part in the Covenant. They are excellent Soldiers, more so than cowardly Unggoys, opportunistic Kig-Yar who didn't even believe in the Great Journey and the Brutish uncivilized Jiralhanaes.
The Humans were a perfect blend of bravery and discipline and even their Commanders are good tacticians. Something many Covenant Fleetmasters wouldn't agree to see past their prejudice and rigid tactics.
The Humans would have become an excellent Client Race for the Covenant. And overtime, equals to the Sangheili. As brothers in arms fighting side by side, towards the Great Journey.
Marock shook his head to clear such heretical thoughts. Such thoughts were treason, deserving of a Swift execution with a power Sword chopping his head off.
Focusing on the Battle, he ordered "Tell the Fleet to release half of our Fighters" Marock ordered swiftly "Tell them to sweep the space for any of those human stealth mines. I don't want my ships to be crippled before the enemy even fired a shot"
With their ships not able to do any inner system jumps, they have to fight to the Human layered defenses. And one thing the Humans loved, were their stealth mines which are strong enough to strip the Energy Shields of a Battlecruiser. This is something many Covenant Ship and Fleetmasters had found the hard way.
So by screening with his Fighters, he could at least neutralize and destroy some of the Human mines. He knows that there were too many mines, and too stealthy, for his fighters to destroy completely. But at least the threat would be lessened somewhat.
And until the Hierarchs designed any such device that could bypass the Human Slipspace Jammers, this is the only way.
"By the Forerunners, I hope the Humans don't have many of their Stealth Ships here" Marock thought grimly. The Human Stealth Prowlers were a nuisance to the Covenant as even their greatest of Sensors couldn't pick them up. And the dreaded Human Ships have been responsible for glassing many Worlds in Covenant Space.
Still he had his own strategy to deal with the pesky Human World. His main fleet of 80 Ships will be doing the frontal assault pinning most of the Human Ships and hopefully tying them to a slugfest. While his reserve 20 Ships, which were only 2 Lightyears away from this System, would jump from behind and attack the Orbital Defenses as well as the Orbital Elevator to either cripple or destroy them.
And even if his Fleet failed to destroy the World. His attack on the Orbital Defenses would cripple this World's defenses allowing any other reinforcements sent by Supreme Commander Luro to mop up the surviving defenders and set the Planet on fire.
"Order the Fleet in echelon formation" Marock ordered "It's time we bathe this World with Holy Fire and the filthy blood of our enemies. FOR THE GREAT JOURNEY!!"
"FOR THE GREAT JOURNEY!!" Came the roaring voice from the Bridges of all the Ships across his Fleet. As they all prepared for the inevitable clash between the two giant Fleets.
And Done!!
I hope you all liked that. So we were introduced to both Human and Alien Characters. Like Carl Patterson (one of my fav badasses of Halo Universe. Those who are curious, he took on a Covie Fleet in Battle of Onyx which outnumbered two to one and beat the shit out them. You can search it up in Wiki) as well as Marock (an OC Cousin of Luro Taralumee, which I made). And I hope you like their characterization. And the chapter which is nearly 6000 Words.
Also yes. Humans of UNSC/Terrans would be taller. Average height for Male is 6'6 and for female is 6'4. Remember in the Timeline Chapter, and project Ascension and the Civilian mode Gene Therapy. Which had increased heights, durability as well as lifespan of Halo Humans up to 200 years.
And Spartans would be much more taller and stronger and longer lifespan too that they have in Canon, as now, because of the Therapy, they will be much closer to their Kin, The Ancient Humanity before their devolution by the of the Didact and the Forerunner Empire.
I also couldn't help with writing a bit about Sangheili Lore, especially their political structure. The Covenant Military structure is more of a Medieval Feudal Military rather than a modern standing army.
In the next chapter, the Battle would begin as well as show the PoV's of Ground Pounders where I would introduce the OC Characters that you all left the suggestions with.So I hope you all are ready and I can do justice to their characters.
And I also hope you like the new Ship names of UNSC, especially the Musashi Class and Warlock Class Ships.
If you liked the chapter then don't forget to leave a comment down below because remember reviews are food for a writer's soul.