Shadow of Sol Redux
Chapter 1
Earth / Sydney Australia
UNSC High Command
Grand Admiral Lord Terrance Hood
Breaking through the clouds, the Pelican Dropship started its slow descent toward one of the most important cities on Earth. The freshly painted olive-green hull shimmered in the sun's rays, and drops of water stuck to the hull after passing through the clouds.
Two FSS-1000 'Sabres' from a nearby UNSC Air Force Base enter formation with the Pelican. One on each side of it to protect it from incoming threats. The three aircraft continue their descent until they reach an altitude of 400 meters from the ocean level.
The three military aircraft soar across the light-blue Pacific Ocean towards the coastline of Sydney. The aircraft boom over a Cruise Ship causing those onboard the Cruise Ship to look at the aircraft with pride and joyfulness.
Earth is the only planet in the UNSC and UEG that still uses water vessels. Some planets only have fishing boats and small boats to cross rivers or dams. But Earth is the only one that still uses Cruise Ships, Transport Ships, and Military Vessels.
Something that most of the other Colonies envy. Their tourists come to Earth to explore the planet where humanity started. There are many places for them to explore ranging from the various ancient monuments. The diverse landscapes, the continent-wide sprawling megacities. The ocean that humanity used to connect all the continents.
The different nations that still exist ranging from the United Republic of North America to the East African Protectorate or the Commonwealth of Australia. There are millions of things to do for people who want to visit Earth.
Unfortunately, not everyone has had the opportunity to do it. Even in the 26th Century, interstellar flight is still expensive. It is a much better investment for people to just stay in the Colonies that they were born on. Not that it matters now since all of the Colonies outside the Sol System were wiped out.
The UEG and UNSC…Humanity has only six worlds left and a handful of cities build on the moons in the Sol System. All other worlds outside the Sol System are either glassed or rebelled.
According to the UEG, only 11 Billion humans survived out of 39 Billion. Only a dozen worlds survived out of 800. Humanity was massacred.
Even as the three aircraft fly across the crowded beaches of Sydney, humanity is still rebuilding after surviving the war. Most Cities are already rebuilt but it will take a couple of years for New Mombasa to be back to pre-war status.
After crossing the beaches, the aircraft flew over Sydney Harbor and the Opera House. With Elegance, they maneuver between the kilometer-high skyscrapers that dot the entirety of Sydney. Taking a hard left the aircraft flies low and slow over the man-made canal that leads inland, slowly approaching their destination.
Continuing down the canal for another twenty kilometers the two escorting Sabres veered off and went on their way back to their airbase. The Pelican however continued on its journey on its own.
Getting closer to the intended destination the pilot of the dropship sends the clearance codes towards the ATC of the base. Getting the green light, the Pelican starts slowing down considerably with the back engines tilting downwards as it slowly descends towards the landing pad.
With a gentle thud, the hulking beast touched down on the landing pad. The dropship's engine's whine came to an end as it powered down. Slowly the rear ramp opened revealing the sole passenger of the flight.
The current de facto leader of the United Nations Space Command. Grand Admiral Terrance Hood.
Taking in a deep breath of the salty air, Lord Hood can't help but let out a sigh of relaxation.
"Thank you for the ride Second Lieutenant. I appreciate it." Lord Hood says to the pilot of the Pelican who is also exiting the rear ramp.
She smiles and gives the Admiral a friendly wave while walking down the staircase at the landing pad. "It's not a problem sir, it is a privilege being able to transport you around sir. Now if you'll excuse me, sir, the mess hall is calling my name."
Lord Hood can't help but smile at her. "You are excused Second Lieutenant." With that, she salutes the Admiral before walking towards the mess hall inside HIGHCOM.
Lord Hood stands on the landing pad for a couple of more minutes, basking in the sun before starting to move down the small staircase. After all, it is nice to enjoy moments like this when you are not stuck in a spaceship or a space station for most of your life.
Moving across the concrete floor, Lord Hood walks towards the main building where the elevator is located which will take him to the floor where the meeting is being held.
An officer with an unknown rank slowly jogs towards the Admiral. "Lord Hood! Sorry, I am late sir. I didn't know that you would arrive at this time, sir." The officer responded while saluting.
"It is quite alright Commander. I believe I am running a bit late, so let's talk while walking." Lord Hood told the exhausted Commander before the two of them started walking.
"Tell me Commander, how is your family?" He asks the Commander walking next to him. It is a common thing for the Grand Admiral to learn more about the soldiers under his command.
It is so common for him that before he boards a ship, he would learn the names of and hobbies of everyone on board said ship, solely for the reason that he can talk to them without it being awkward and to make them feel like they matter. Even if the ship has a crew of five thousand, Hood will learn everything about them and make sure that they are comfortable.
"Well since you asked Admiral, me and my wife are having some relationship issues, but we are working through it. My son enlisted into the Marines earlier this year and my daughter is going to join the Air Force next year after she is finished with her college degree." The commander says with a smile while thinking about his family.
"That is good to hear. I know your twins would make excellent soldiers. And for your wife, just buy her some chocolates and talk it through with her. I am certain you would come to an understanding." Both of them came to a stop in front of a security door.
"Thank you, Lord Hood. I'll buy her the best chocolates in Sydney." The commander says with a grateful smile on his face.
"What is your service number Grand Admiral?" The VI in charge of the security door asks in its dead synthetic voice.
"Grand Admiral Lord Terrence Hood, service number 07960-48392-TH." Hood said while waiting for the VI to respond.
"Affirmative Admiral. What is your date of birth? And your homeworld?" The VI asks for the next step of verification codes.
"Date of birth is the 4th of September 2490. Homeworld is Earth, born in the state of the United Kingdom."
"Affirmative. Everything is green and voice patterns match. Welcome to Facility Bravo-6 Grand Admiral. Please enjoy your stay." The security door slides open allowing entry for the Admiral and Commander.
"Is the rest of High Command already here Commander?" Hood asks the Commander as they travel kilometers downwards in the spacious elevator.
"Yes, Admiral. All commanding officers of the different branches have already arrived from Fleet Admiral Harper to Commanding General Rachel Fabray. The only one who isn't here at the moment is the head of ONI Admiral Parangonsky because she is well you know, facing court martial for treason." The Commander said with a satisfied smirk. Happy that Parangonsky is facing court martial.
"That's Good to hear. Let's move. It would be best not to keep everyone waiting for too long." The elevator came to a stop, and the two of them exited and started moving down the long, narrow hallway toward the room where the meeting was being held.
On the walls of the long narrow hallway, dozens of paintings hang for top military brass. The content of the paintings is of countless important military battles throughout human history. Ranging from the Battle of Waterloo where the greatest general in human history met his defeat to the Battle of Stalingrad which to this day is the deadliest battle that was fought between humans, at the end of the hallway is a painting of the Battle of the Coral Sea, where the United States of America turned the tide of war against the Empire of Japan.
And Lord Hood can't help but admire these paintings. Hood after all was obsessed with history. In his free time, he would always learn more about human history and conflicts and how they changed everything. In Hood's own opinion, those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
Stopping in front of the door Lord Hood turns to the Commander of the base. "Thank you for escorting me here Commander, you are relieved…. oh, and tell Martha I said hi."
The Commander gives Lord Hood a crisp salute with an acknowledging smile on his face before walking back towards the elevator at the end of the hallway. "Yes sir. I will be in the Command Centre if you need anything."
As the Commander walks towards the elevator Lord Hood turns around to face the door again. Pressing his hand against the scanner the light at the top turns green, opening the door and allowing entry for Lord Hood.
Entering the room, Lord Hood could already see that everyone was present and, in their seats, waiting for him. "Sorry I am late ladies and gentlemen. There were some issues with Air Traffic Control. I take it that everyone is doing good so far."
"Yes Grand Admiral. So far everything is right on schedule and we have no issues at the moment. It would be best to get this meeting over with so that we all can return to our respected station." Juliet Bowles, the Chief of Staff of the UNSC Army said with a somewhat bored expression. Not everyone is a fan of long meetings like the one that is being held now.
"Okay then General. We will start the meeting with you then." Lord Hood says as he takes his seat at the round table.
Comfortably settling in his leather chair before continuing. "How is the current recruitment drive going for our ground forces across the solar system?"
"Of course Admiral. If you all would please open the documents in front of you and turn to page 3." Everyone in the room grabbed the folder and opened the aforementioned page.
"As you all can see recruitment is going great at the moment, but it can be better. Only around 2 billion in the solar system are in the Army at the moment. And our goal is to raise that number to 4 billion. After all 2 billion Army personnel are not enough to defend the colonies in the system."
The general takes a breath before continuing. "There are numerous things we can do to increase our ground defence. We can start by building even more fortifications and bunkers around the planets and the moons. Build even more planetary defence guns. We can start forming militias in every town and city, that will raise our number to 3.5 billion and if that doesn't work we have the controversial option…conscription and mandatory military service." The general finally finished her part of the report.
"That's good news. I approve of the construction of extra defenses and the formation of militias. The conscription and mandatory military service on the other hand while be an unpopular choice among the civilians. We will need to think about that one." Lord Hood finishes while taking a sip of the coffee that was brought in while Juliet was busy delivering her report.
"Now that Juliet finished her report. It is my turn to deliver mine. If everyone would please turn to page 6. As we can see construction of our planetary defence fighters is complete. A Total of 4000 'Sabres' have been built as well as their bases throughout the Sol system. But I don't believe that is enough." Robert Basil the current head of the UNSC Air Force says while looking at Lord Hood with determination.
"Grand Admiral I would like to get permission to build an additional 3000 'Sabres' as well as build more launch points for them. I would want a launch point on Europa, Venus, Pluto, Ganymede, the various asteroids and a couple of dozen hidden in Saturn Rings. This will allow us to conduct quick hit-and-run tactics on any invading forces. The estimated cost of this will be around 40 billion credits."
"That is quite expensive Air Marshal…but I'll allow it. There is no price too great to ensure humanity's future and survival." Giving the Air Marshal his approval Lord Hood turns his attention to the Commandant of the UNSC Marine Corps.
"Rachel I take it that the Marines are where they should be? That they are well equipped and that their new ODST armor has been delivered to everyone?"
Rachel simply leans back in her leather chair causing it to squeak. "That's correct Admiral. Everything regarding the Marines is green. They all were excited when they got ODST armor and had to ditch the ineffective combat armor. The only issue we have is that we are still waiting to be deployed. We're getting bored here Admiral."
Her laid-back response caused some of the room's occupants to smile. And some to shed some stress knowing that Marines are always ready to be deployed at a second's notice.
"Good to hear Rachel. Next up, Fleet Admiral Carolyn. What is the status of the new fleet that we are building? Their condition? And is their crew trained to their fullest extent."
Fleet Admiral Carolyn Webster, the current Chief of Naval Operations immediately straightened up in her chair and quickly assumed her professional attitude. "Yes sir. On page 10 you will see all the current ships that are under construction. The Martian shipyards are currently building around 120 military vessels."
She flipped her page causing all of us to follow suit and flip ours. "At our current rate we are producing 7 Frigates every month. 5 Destroyers every month. 10 Corvettes every month. 2 Cruisers every month and for our Capital ships we are producing one ship of each type every three months."
Everyone in the room nods their head in approval at the rate at which the navy is being rebuilt. "It takes around 4 months to fully train our Screening ships and 7 months to fully train the Capital ships…if we keep up at this rate then five years from now the navy would reach Pre-Great War numbers again."
"That's wonderful news Fleet Admiral. Keep up the great work. Harper your up next. What is the status of the Storm Covenant and our Orbital Defences and our Escape plan if shit hits the fan."
Fleet Admiral Edward Harper is the current head of the United Nations Space Command Defence Force. The one who is going to be Lord Hood's successor upon his passing responded calmly.
"The Storm Covenant is still busy rebuilding their navy, economy, and infrastructure. They unfortunately still outgun us in every single way so a pre-emptive strike against them will be ineffective. The best we can do is continue on rebuilding our navy and increasing our defenses."
"Okay, please continue Harper." Hood and everyone else listen attentively to Harper because the biggest threat to the UNSC is the Storm Covenant at the moment.
"Intel estimates that they will be ready to attack us and continue with their Great Journey in ten years. Now this wouldn't have been a problem if the Arbiter was still alive and his faction not in pieces. Thank you for screwing us over ONI and Parangonsky."
Parangonsky ignored orders to help the UNSC's new ally the Sword of Sanghelios which is led by the Arbiter. They instead developed a plague that wiped out their crops. They assassinated the Arbiter causing his faction to shatter and causing the Storm Covenant to win the Civil War. ONI caused humanity to lose its only ally in the Universe.
When Lord Hood found out about Parangonsky's treason, he immediately ordered ONI Section Zero to arrest her. This caused a mini-war to happen between ONI and the UNSC. In the end, ONI was reformed and placed under the Navy's Command. Parangonsky and Osman are facing court martial. Most ONI agents defected back to the UNSC. Basically, ONI fucked Humanity over.
"But at the rate, our fleet is being rebuilt, and with the Forerunner technology that is being incorporated, we would be able to take on the Storm Covenant head-on. And as for our Orbital Defences, each planet will have 350 Orbital Super MAC cannons. It will be more than enough to take them on."
One Super MAC cannon is enough to obliterate a Covenant Super Carrier. And with 350 in orbit of each Colony in Sol, there will be thousands of them dotting the Solar system. The Storm Covenant will suffer heavy losses trying to breach our defenses.
"And if they breach all our defenses, our ground forces will try to hold them back long enough so that most of the Sol system can retreat through the Portal in New Mombasa towards the ARK. The moment enough civilians and soldiers are through the portal we will initiate ENDGAME. That would be all Lord Hood."
ENDGAME. The final order for all UNSC forces. When ENDGAME is activated it will order Prowlers that stalk the Storm Covenant's planets to deploy a NOVA bomb at each planet. Neutralizing it entirely and the said Prowlers will self-destruct.
All other UNSC Assets will also self-destruct. The portal will be closed and 20 Nuclear bombs will be detonated around the portal to prevent the Covenant from following us to the ARK…And all that would be left is to wait for them to fire the Halo Arrays and we can go and reclaim our Galaxy.
The final fuck you to the Covenant.
"Thank you, Admiral Harper. Now on to the Parangonsky issue. Joseph, you have the stage." After calling him. Deputy Supreme Commander Joseph T. Casey stood up from his chair and looked everyone in the eye.
Joseph is one of the few people Hood trusts. Because unlike almost all of the UEG politicians, he is a man for justice and law. He hates greed and corruption and will do everything in his power to strike it down. Which means he absolutely despises Parangonsky for her corruption and greed. Yes, she was loyal to humanity…her version of humanity but she still committed high treason.
"Parangonsky's Court Martial will be held next week in Site Alpha Zero Two in the city of Washington DC. We all will be gathered at the Pentagon to decide her fate. But we all of course know what her fate is. Death. Osman will be sentenced to life in prison. I trust you all to be there. That is all, thank you." After keeping his report short and crisp he sits back down waiting for Hood to continue.
"Thank Deputy Commander. You hear that everyone, I expect to see everyone there next week." Everyone nods their head in approval.
"It seems we are finished with the monthly reports. But I do have one last thing to add. I will not be in the Solar system until Friday. The reason is that I am going with the newly commissioned Battlegroup Sol to the ARK to inspect things on that side. So until I return you are in command Harper. Dismissed."
Everyone gave each other a salute before they all returned to their workstations throughout the Solar system.
Arriving back at the landing pad, Hood walks up the stairs and greets his pilot who is leaning against the Pelican. "Second Lieutenant. I trust that you had a wonderful time in the mess hall. Please start the bird up. Our destination is UNSC Sol at New Mombasa."
The pilot quickly straightens herself and salutes. "Yes Admiral. Thank you Admiral my lunch was great. Just climb on back and I'll take you to UNSC Sol in a jiffy."
Settling in his seat in the back of the Pelican, Hood watches with interest as the rear ramp closes again and the turbines of the Pelican's engines start to whine. Not even a minute later the Pelican was already in the air soaring across the empty desert of central Australia accompanied by two Sabres.
"Just lean back and relax Admiral. We will arrive at UNSC Sol in an hour." The pilot said over the aircraft's intercom. Following her advice Lord Hood closed his eyes and leaned back into the uncomfortable bench. He envies the Marine and Army personnel for having to sit on these uncomfortable benches.
After an hour of flying across the Pacific Ocean and over the ruins of New Mombasa which is slowly being rebuilt. The pilot of the Pelican sent the verification codes and was granted access to land inside of UNSC Sol.
"Wake up Admiral, we have arrived and it seems like they put up quite a welcome party for you." The pilot said over the intercom before switching it off.
Standing up and straightening his pristine white navy dress uniform and putting on his cap. Lord Hood prepares himself for having to walk through hundreds of soldiers saluting him and having to salute every soldier he comes across in the ship.
As the ramp lowers Hood stands at the edge of it before slowly walking down. Surrounding the Pelican are hundreds of marines in their newly issued ODST armor and the different naval personnel of the ship. All of them holding a crisp salute as he walks past them with his own salute until he reaches the two commanding officers standing at the end of the hangar near the elevator.
Admiral James Becket in command of all the ships in Battlegroup Sol and Captain Thomas Omar. The captain in charge of the UNSC Sol. Both of them salute Hood before extending their arms for him to shake. "Welcome aboard Sol Grand Admiral. We hope you'll enjoy your stay here."
"It's a pleasure gentlemen, unfortunately, my stay won't be permanent. I am going back to Cairo station after we finish our visit to the ARK." Hood says while shaking both of their hands.
"That's truly a shame Lord Hood. We would have loved to have you stay with us longer. It's not every day that a living legend steps on board my ship. Shall we head to the Command Centre, we will be entering the Portal soon." Captain Omar asks while pointing to the elevator.
The three of them step inside the elevator that will take them towards the top deck where the Command Centre is located as well as the Officer's rooms. "Tell me Becket, where is the rest of the battlegroup? I couldn't help but notice only Sol here hovering above New Mombasa."
"Ahh yes. Unfortunately the rest of the Battlegroup is in maintenance above Mars. The good news is that they will join us tomorrow above the Ark. So we are going to be alone for a while, but we still have the frigates in the belly of the beast to provide support in case something goes wrong." Becket explains
"That's unfortunate. I hope the rest of the Battlegroup will be able to make it tomorrow." Hood says slightly disappointed until the captain handed him a holo-tablet.
"Here you go, Lord Hood. This is the ship's manifesto. It shows the names of everyone on board Sol at the moment. All of our equipment, munitions, everything. I know you like to go over this stuff."
Taking the tablet Hood gently pats the captain on his shoulder. "Thank you, captain. Let me quickly go through here while moving to the Command Deck."
Lord Hood starts going through the manifesto. Leaving the crew list for last he starts with the ship's airwing. There is a total of 642 different fighter aircraft on board Sol, which are divided into 65 different squadrons.
For the bomber wing, there are 206 different types of bombers which are divided into 30 different squadrons. Not as impressive as the fighter wing but Sol is a Command Carrier, after all, its entire role is being a planetary assault ship.
For the Transport wing, there are a total of 48 Pelicans, 48 Condors, 250 Falcons, 200 Hornets and 50 Vulture gunships. And a large number of unmanned UAVs.
Swiping the tablet with his finger, the screen shows the ground forces of Sol to the Grand Admiral.
There are currently two Marine Expeditionary Brigades on board and one Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Brigade. That brings the total number of ground pounders up to a whopping 15,000.
As for Spartans, there is a total of 150 Spartan IVs on board the ship. It is wild for Lord Hood that the Spartan numbers grew from 75 Spartan IIs to thousands of Spartan IVs. Even if the fours are inferior to the twos and threes, that is still an impressive number.
There is also a regiment of Promethean knights on board. Lord Hood immediately decided that they would become extremely useful in any ground assault.
As for ground vehicles, there are 255 Scorpion Main Battle Tanks, 100 Grizzly Heavy Tanks, and 20 Experimental M1000 Tiger Heavy Battle Tanks. 200 Mantis Armor Defence Systems. 1000 different variants of the Warthogs. 250 different APC and IFVs. 50 Elephants and finally 10 Mammoths.
An impressive number of ground vehicles. But that is to be expected of a ship that is solely designed for planetary assault.
The elevator opening brought Lord Hood's attention away from the tablet. Pocketing the tablet, the three officers' step into the Command Bridge. Hood can't help but note how similar it looks to the Infinity and Eternity's.
It is similar because the Sol class is an almost exact copy of the Infinity class, the only two differences are that the Sol class is meant for planetary invasion and that they don't use any Forerunner technology.
"Officers on deck!" Someone shouted throughout the bridge causing everyone inside to salute us while staring at us.
"At ease people. Get back to work, we are entering the portal to the ARK in tee-minus 5 minutes. Do the last-minute preparations." Admiral Becket firmly ordered them and not even wasting a second, the entire bridge crew were already back at their stations, preparing for our departure.
"Shall we take our position gentlemen?" Captain Omar asks with a smile on his face. He is clearly excited about seeing the ARK for the first time in his life.
The three of them stand near the glass while staring at the giant opened slip space portal. As the ship starts to slowly accelerate Lord Hood can't help but think about the last time he entered through the portal.
It was he and a handful of Frigates charged after the fleeing Covenant forces with their Prophet that was on the Key ship. The Battle of Earth was the worst month in his entire life. The only other one that comes close is the incident with the Spirit of Fire…he will never forgive himself for that.
The synthetic voice of the ship started counting down.
"Entering Slipspace in… 5…4…3…2…1"
Author Notes.
Yoh, I decided to rewrite, and rework the entire plot of the fanfiction.
I am extremely unsatisfied with the previous version so yeah. Im not gonna rush this one, imma take my time writing this one. Making sure the sentences work and fit together perfectly.
Compare the first chapter of the two. I strongly believe that this is a MAJOR improvement over the previous one.
Until next time.