Captain Alex Harper
August 30th, 2552
11:00
Hurricane Bled
South East of Aszod
The Fall of Reach
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"All callsigns assembled, Sir." the Aegis Fate's nav officer was standing near the window, observing the storm as it slowly wound down. "It's lucky, too. The storm is breaking."
The order of battle was there, staggered diagonally to the Aegis' port side. One back from the Aegis was UNSC Last Summer, the Charon Class Frigate, then Skopje, Exponential, and Sovereign followed as the formation began to steam northwest at a hard burn, searing the top of the sea and kicking up plumes of steam. It was a speed that could damn near ignite the atmosphere but, Alex reasoned, that wouldn't matter on a world that was already in absentia regarding its own future.
"Okay, listen up." It was the commander of the UNSC Exponential, a sahara-class prowler at the centre of the line. "We will come up on the Boneyards in fifteen minutes. The Covenant have the yards surrounded but they cannot break through because of the MAC guns in the atmosphere. There we need to go hard and fast. We'll stagger our lines to look more numerous and fire at hyper-intense intervals to project more firepower. We might burn our MAC coils out but the chances are we won't survive the charge, anyway."
"He's right," Alex said, talking to all UNSC personnel in his reformed Battlegroup. "So steel yourselves and fill each action hence with the fuel of defiance and hatred. We will not yield. We will not cower. We will never die such is the fury in our hearts. They tried to take Reach from us but they will never take the defiance in our hearts. Never run. Never back down. There are army and Marine troopers rock-side: let's show them what true naval service looks like."
[}-{]
Captain Alex Harper
August 30th, 2552
11:15
Approaching the Boneyard
Aszod
The Fall of Reach
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"Aegis, you're green! Fire!"
The rounds flung forth like a fountain of magma thrown from a volcano. In the atmosphere, the traditional whump of the cannons became magnetically accelerated cracks that severed their way through wind, rain, dust, and cruisers with the ease of an asteroid in vacuum.
"Second Rank, go!" Alex said, "Fire three!"
The MAC gun of the UNSC Last Summer loosed three bolts of its gun. Cracking, breaking, fracking, the skies above reach as another cruiser exploded in a ball of fire.
"Sovereign, Fire next! Don't let them know how many we are!"
The sound echoed as a bolt streaked beside the formation, the covenant had fired back.
"Keep up the charge, sailors!" Alex cried into the microphone.
"Incoming!"
The Sovereign was hit. On the tacmap, it began to list to its starboard side, "Dumping our archer missiles, good luck guys. Remember Reach."
Carried upon the wings of a hundred missiles the Skopje avenged Sovereign as another MAC round shattered the sound buried and speared a covenant ship.
Alex watched them collide in a kaleidoscope of colour in the skies above the boneyards, raining debris down over the forces on the ground. Huge waves of terror struck a cruiser, the shields exploded as the ground-based mac cannons turned on them, slotting them with precision strikes as the beleaguered and panicking covenant ships tried to round on the three remaining frigates.
A plasma torpedo shattered the Skopje in immediate reply. It limply fell from the sky as the covenant lines broke and they began to fight a retreat away towards the horizon, where ranks of ships began to assemble.
"UNSC Exponential, take position over the William Wallace. It's the last ship out. We need to cover the Pillar of Autumn, too."
The Exponential signalled green, taking position above its final posting.
"Last Summer?" Alex asked, "You in position?"
"Roger that, Aegis. Listen, we have uh, we have damage to propulsion systems. We're not burning hot enough to escape the gravity well. When Autumn bugs out, we'll cover you."
"I hear you, Commander. It was a hell of a last ride. Have non essential staff transferred to Aegis, I'll get some of your boys home."
"Thank you, Captain. Means alot. We'll circle the yards opposite you, pick off anything that wants to get close. Reckon anyone from the Sovereign or Skopje made it off?"
"I'll dispatch a Pelican to look. Don't worry. Keep in contact, Summer. Aegis out."
Alex stood up and looked up over the battlefield. The sun hung like it was already setting. Acrid smoke filled the skies and they had lost two frigates but Alex and the others had eked out yet another pyhrric victory over the covenant. Three ships disabled and limping away, two in the dirt alongside Skopje and Sovereign… it wasn't a bad hall for four frigates and a prowler.
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Captain Alex Harper
August 30th, 2552
12:30
Approaching the Boneyard
Aszod
The Fall of Reach
[}-{]
For an hour, Alex and his fellow commanders had watched, relaying the grim news to the UNSC Army HQ located in the mess below them. At 11:42, a series of drop pods drops from the skies and landed in the breaking yards. The covenant began using para-drops, forcing the Army back into an ever tightening pocket around the docks. While Aegis, Summer, and Exponential tried to blast them out of the skies with their point defence cannons, the respective Captains could only watch in horror as a group of cruisers landed westward across the plains and began to deploy one of the biggest armies Alex had ever seen.
"Communique from Auntie Dot."
"The Sword Base V.I?"
"She's attached to Noble Team, now. They are en-route from Sword with a package bound for the Pillar of Autumn, due here around 1700 hours."
"So, five hours to survive. Then we can bug out."
"Aye, Aegis. Last of my swabbies should be aboard within the hour. Fight carefully Captain Harper. I didn't send you my sailors to get them all killed. Dot said that Covenant force will likely breakthrough around the same time."
"Go figure." Alex sighed, sharing a pointed look with Mei. "Any news from Orbit?"
This time the commander of the UNSC Exponential spoke up.
"Basically nothing sir. The last few ships are still near the moon but the only ships planetside are us and the Autumn."
"Those ships, are they still in contact?"
"We get a ping every hour, Sir. They're waiting for the William Wallace."
"So, we wait. An army at our throats, and an armada in our skies. Cut off, dispersed, and broken, we're sitting here waiting for a delivery; and with it, the final rolls of the dice in a game that's all but over. The enemy are at the gates and we can do nothing but wait for them to knock."