Hey, y'all! DarkNovaExtremia here! This is going to be my second crossover-related fanfic on this site and in AO3 (link will be posted), and to start, I am writing this story largely as a tribute to the late FreedomGuard, whose Halo x Warcraft crossover has been one of my most favorite reads and sometimes on repeat, and his work has given me that inspiration even back when I didn't play Halo.
Now I have played the Master Chief Collection on Steam, and that just made me understand more on why Halo is such a loved franchise. As it turns out, WarCraft (especially III) is also one of my childhood games, hence I loved it when he crossed them. I wish I had an Xbox to at least play Halo 5: Guardians as a form of tribute and respect to the series (even though reviews state it to be rather bad), and to truly feel on how an entire generation spent countless hours on this sci-fi masterpiece.
Years may have passed, but I still hope you're partying up there in heaven, FreedomGuard. Thank you for showing me a wonderful piece of your passion, and that same passion that I now have, I wish to better as my form of gratitude to you.
-DarkNovaExtremia
P.S. This is gonna be one long-ass prologue just to cut to the chase for the story. Enjoy!
A03 Version Link: /works/56993920
A FEW EDITS HAVE BEEN MADE.
CHAPTER I: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
During the start of the Human-Covenant War in 2525, a lone human ship was raided. Six months later, open war was declared, starting with the glassing of Harvest, one of the UNSC's agriculture planets. As the war went on 6 years later, Arcadia was placed under attack by the Covenant on February 9, 2531, with its populace evacuated with the help of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and a contingent of SPARTAN II-s named Red Team. With the reported losses of many valuable UNSC assets, the United Earth Government (UEG) wasn't sure if they were ever going to survive the war.
In 2537, Operation: PROMETHEUS saw heavy losses from the recently-activated SPARTAN-III Program, which in itself was a desperate attempt to buy the UNSC time to fight back, and as six months went by, the future looked more grim than ever.
The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had many plans in secret, and one of them was a contingency plan. With losses of world after world, the option of rebuilding elsewhere was becoming a more favorable choice. On that end, Project: OUROBOROS was put on full steam, with plans ranging from an entire fleet of Phoenix-class colony ships to secret convoys shipping out onto uncharted territory, a flaw was pointed out in terms of feasibility and survivability, as both options had ships that were rather easy to destroy once spotted.
Seeking a ship that's well-protected and can house a huge complement only left a few options, and one of the viable options was the acquisition of former Colonial Military Authority (CMA) assets, specifically from its Navy. The attractive choice was the Punic-class supercarrier, as it was large and heavily armored, and although the UNSC had requisitioned all of them for the charge of defending humanity as the war started, especially the UNSC Trafalgar, there was another that was bound to be scrapped due to battle damages from the Insurrection, but at a rather convenient time, ONI acquired the ship and had something special in mind.
This particular supercarrier was renamed the UNSC Aegina, after one of the Greek naval battles that was rather short, ending with the capture of 70 vessels and Aegina paying tribute to Athens. The damages assessed were rather serviceable, for a covert organization that can pull its funding from God knows where.
The diagnostic results showed this:
(2) CR-01D Series 6 Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (MAC) = minor damages sustained on one
(2) Mark 15 Breakwater naval coilgun batteries = 3 cannons damaged; one on the port turret, two on the starboard
(100) M42 Archer Missile Pods = 30 pods damaged
(20) M96 Howler Missile pods = 10 pods destroyed
(80) M85 Scythe Anti-aerospace turrets = 50 turrets damaged
(100) M965 Fortress point defense guns = 60 guns damaged
(4) Frigate docks = 3 intact, 1 needing repairs
(20) Hangar bays = 10 damaged and needing repairs
(1) XR1 Boglin Fields: S81/X-DFR Primary fusion drive = heavily damaged
(4) Orphios System Jupiter-1 Secondary fusion drives = 2 damaged, port and starboard
All the sustained damages were from her lone stand against a medium-sized fleet of Insurrectionist warships attempting to capture her when she was caught unaware over an unnamed world. Now, the ship was still salvageable on their own terms, as the parts for the fusion drives and the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine were accessible, and by compensating the shipbreaking facility (and telling them to keep quiet), they effectively gained their asset without much hassle. Due to the ship's mil-spec equipment and overall architecture, acquiring replacements and repairing were going to be quite accessible.
The next part of the plan was making sure the Aegina was able to perform the same capabilities as the Phoenix-class colony ship. Onboard facilities were still mostly military, and large spaces were repurposed for housing UNSC vehicles for rapid deployment. Improved and upgraded factory modules from the Phoenix-class were installed inside, and basically everything the colony ships had, the Aegina was given. The secondary drives were replaced
What stood out as a great exception, however, were the specific factory modules that could actually produce another slipspace engine, and all this has made the supercarrier into an arkship, one that could save humanity from extinction.
December 15, 2537
ONI Alpha Site
New Mombasa, Kenya
East African Protectorate
A meeting was adjourned by CINCONI Vice Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky, who flew in from Sydney, between ONI officers over the approval of greenlighting the UNSC Aegina. Also present were Vice Admiral Stanforth and a particular UNSC Navy Captain, Adrian Vought.
"We are here to discuss the UNSC Aegina, and it seems to me that the result is, in essence, a giant version of a Phoenix-class colony ship, only that it can actually fight back. The Orion-class assault carriers seem to be a more viable option, so what good reason is there to choose a supercarrier with none of those capabilities?" the admiral started off
"The Navy wasn't willing to relinquish one of their Orion-class assault carriers due to the Covenant getting more and more aggressive. A covert shipbreaking facility on Neos Atlantis in the Alcides system was about to scrap the Aegina due to battle damage and time constraints in setting up for the war effort. We were fortunate to acquire a ship for the intended purposes, and one that won't draw unnecessary attention from the public." Lt. Col. Asher clarified
"Fortunate indeed. Now, I admit that the end goal is for the good of the UNSC's survival in this war and is indeed in line with Project: OUROBOROS, but we should be cautious about this decision as we have to face the possibility of wasting immense resources when the Covenant find out about it and hunt it down, not to add the costs of repairing and adding upgrades. So, any contingency plans?" she started
"I believe I can help clarify details on that, admiral." Lt. Col. Asher spoke up
"Explain."
"The UNSC Aegina is just a prototype for our future possible plans similar to this one. In essence, what we do to the Aegina will only be marginally expensive compared to retrofitting it with experimental technology."
"So you are saying that her equipment is purely mil-spec?"
"Yes, admiral. Whatever cheap and reliable military equipment we can get rid of, we put onto her. The frigates are considerably old, they will be ventrally docked and can still serve as their own escort, but I suggest at least two Halberd-class destroyers to be our primary escorts since they can absorb substantial damage for their size, and return damage just as effectively, and to add that their maneuverability will be a valuable advantage."
"A rather logical input, but I shall ask on how prepared the ship is against potential hazards. I know that the Titanium-A battleplate can weather against many of those, but I am talking about situations like phenomena and potential infiltration."
"Well... this may sound far-fetched, but how about Spartans as our premier force onboard?"
"They are rather expensive, and at most, we can only pull around 2, factoring in MJOLNIR maintenance costs and acquisition of spare parts."
"How about the washouts from the SPARTAN-II Program? Are there any available for re-conditioning?" Capt. Vought asked
"First, and foremost, whatever we have discussed in this room does not leave it. Am I clear?" she gave her warning
"Yes, ma'am." the captain replied
"Good. We have several Spartans from the SPARTAN-II Program that have been listed as killed by the augmentations. However, there is one particular candidate from a small group that survived the incident, listed as Akane-119."
"Didn't she suffer extensive damage during failure?" Vice Adm. Stanforth asked
"119 is a rather odd case, in the sense that her injury has not effectively halted her progress, but made her more... eager. Her arm was damaged via unstable muscle growth and rupturing and was deemed to be unusable. However, after trying to graft a prosthetic arm as a replacement, it was stated that she requested the arm to house a retractable blade alongside the functioning hand. When we asked why, all she said was that the new arm only made her more confident to jump into the fight, and also requested a compartment to store a dose of Modafinil to be included in her prosthetic arm."
"Wait, why?"
"119 stated that she would like direct access to the dosage when needed, so her arm has a tube that directly connects to her axillary vein, and the pump mechanism activates either when under extreme stress and damage or when she manually activates it."
"So, a potentially psychotic Spartan with a highly weaponized prosthetic sounds rather wild, but if she can do the job, I have no complaints." Stanforth gave his assurance
"In summary, a Spartan that has a disturbingly increased thirst for war is still comparatively a high value asset that I am still hesitant to invest in the Aegina's journey. But I believe that 119 will still be of use through this mission, hence she will be immediately transferred under your command." Parangosky gave another point
"This is quite the generous offer, admiral. I'll be glad to accept her, and I hope you allow me in the matter that I shall provide one of my own in return." Capt. Vought offered
"Who would that be?"
"I know a certain individual, and he was part of the original ORION project."
"I know there were several candidates from that program, so who do you have in mind?"
"Staff Sergeant Michael Hamilton. He supposedly retired after Operation: TREBUCHET's hiatus 12 years ago, but I have a feeling he's gonna want this job, especially with his situation. He once survived several insurgents closing in on him with only a kitchen knife he found lying around during a mission. Talk about dedication and adaptiveness."
"Are you sure he's willing to accept?"
"I'll take care of that, ma'am."
"I suggest immediately, while this meeting is still ongoing."
Nova Scotia
Canada
United Republic of North America
It was winter in Nova Scotia and SSgt. Hamilton, a 57-year old Caucasian man with a lumberjack's build, would take hikes and mountain climbing, but would sometimes swim in the Gulf of St. Lawrence even in winter, to test himself and keep himself strong, even when he was honorably discharged after the Insurrection. He swam back to shore and was about to ride home in his HC1500 Truck after changing, but his COM Pad received an anonymous call.
"Hello?"
"Sergeant, this is Capt. Vought."
"Captain? Well, I'll be damned. It's been a long time since we talked."
"Yes, sergeant. Too long. However, I believe I can offer you something that you can't refuse."
"If you're talking about getting me back in the UNSC, then I'm sorry to decline."
"Allow me to finish, but this offer is important to the UNSC. You do know that the war is still going on, right?"
"Yes, but what in the hell can I do? Captain, I'll be frank with you, I've lost too many good men when I was fighting the Innies, and I am not going to go through that again, especially when it was y'all that discharged me. The Covenant's a different story, but if I were still in service, I'd have no complaints fighting them."
"I know what you're going through, but what I can say is that instead of having to lose them, this time, you can directly protect them."
"What are you saying?"
"Further details will be disseminated once we have a secure line."
*HANGS UP*
Then seconds later, an encrypted call came on, requesting him to videocall, prompting him to accept.
ONI Alpha Site
SSgt. Hamilton's face appeared on the meeting room screen, and was surprised to see ONI officers around a table.
"Greetings, Staff Sergeant. This is Vice Admiral Parangosky, and I am requesting your cooperation."
"Good day, ma'am, but may I ask on what's the occasion?
"You have been handpicked for a particular mission, sergeant. One that would benefit from your skills and experience on the battlefield. Knowing that you were an ex-ORION operative, I take you have more than a fair share of experiences."
"Yes, I do. Now, what's in this for me?"
"I believe you won't be able to refuse the offer of 1,000,000 credits to be directly deposited in your pension."
"Wait, what? That much?"
"Tell me, have you been around your wife recently?"
"Well, I can say I haven't.."
"You wish to stay dead? I believe you were listed as MIA, and you seem to be making good use of it."
"Look, ma'am, that part of my life I won't bother much talking about, and if it is true, I'll gladly do anything to make sure my family is well off even long after I'm gone. In their eyes, I'm already gone anyway. Twelve years since TREBUCHET, and I stayed low for the UNSC. Being an ORION carries great weight, especially ever since Far Isle and Callisto. You and I both know we aren't clean of anything, but I am willing to accept since I got nothing else to go for."
"A wise decision, sergeant. We will bring you on-site for further dissemination of your mission. Head to Pictou Island, and we will pick you up there. You have 30 minutes to pack up."
"Yes, ma'am."
After Admiral Parangosky cut off the transmission, she was relieved that the ex-ORION operative accepted after much consideration.
"So, admiral, what are we going to do about his setup? I wouldn't expect him to wear just baseline Marine BDU Armor. He's practically a SPARTAN-I, and I wish he'd been given better equipment." Capt. Vought asked
"Very well. This will require an additional investment of resources too valuable to lose. But if it will give humanity a fighting chance, then so be it. I will approve 119's MJOLNIR armor for transfer onboard the Aegina, alongside replacement parts just in case, with equipment and a facility dedicated for her. For your ORION partner, I will reserve him a special SPI-related prototype."
"What does the prototype aim to do?"
"This SPI will be called the MIRAGE. It is expected to meet the baseline requirements of the standard MJOLNIR armor at a fraction of the price, but it won't be as robust as the latter. It is still capable of stealth to a similar degree as the original SPI, which your contact might like very much. He will have partially-enhanced strength, and is more than what the mainline SPI series could offer, but he won't be as strong as a SPARTAN-II or a III. We took a little inspiration after Lt. Col. Ambrose's idea of the SPI Mark II for Beta Company."
"That'll help convince him. Now, do we tell him of the true nature of this mission?"
"I will handle that myself, captain. Now, if nothing else, he should be here within an hour and thirty minutes."
HC1500 Truck
SSgt. Hamilton
"Jesus on a mongoose... what the fuck did I just get myself into? Refusing the CINCONI herself would've been a dumb-ass move. Damnit, Adrian, why in the hell did you choose me out of all people..." he muttered to himself, in a mix of confusion and despair
He searched the glove box for anything that could calm him down, but a particular photograph dropped itself on the car's floor. He picked it up, and saw his younger self in ORION armor with Adrian Vought, who was still a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG). Remembering PROJECT: KALEIDOSCOPE, he thought that was going to be his big break, but was called for testing the ORION armor's leg components on the surface of Mars. Looking at the armor, it said 029, remembering his candidate number.
He and Vought were close, as they had each other's backs during the early stages of the Insurrection, and that got him thinking on why he was chosen. He would get his answer later, and headed to Pictou Island as instructed.
Pictou Island
Being given further instructions to head to a more remote part of the island, a Razor-class prowler lay within the evergreen scenery, and the ex-ORION soldier was escorted onboard by two ONI agents that waited for him. As the ship ascended, it activated its stealth mode, and proceeded to head back to ONI Alpha site in New Mombasa, all the way across the Atlantic. As the trip carried on, he noticed that an entire ODST platoon of 40 was in its troop bay. He was wondering on why there was this much onboard, and on what the mission truly was. He decided to keep quiet to himself, knowing how the ONI agents, or "Spooks" as he also called them, operated when it came to covert operations, meaning it was next to useless in asking them as they will most definitely keep shut.
ONI Alpha Site
New Mombasa, Kenya
East African Protectorate
As the prowler landed in the courtyard, SSgt. Hamilton was then led to the building, and straight to the door of the meeting room. As he entered, he saw his old friend. He asked to head to the restroom with his old friend for a while.
VOUGHT & HAMILTON
"Michael. It's been a while since we talked in person."
"Adrian. Christ, it's been years since we talked, and now ONI personally gets me to come here. Why in the hell did you even pick me? Do you know how I've been trying to pull through ever since I got discharged? Especially when the UNSC still decided to list me as MIA even though I came back alive much later, and my wife still believes I'm missing. I bet they took advantage of that initial error and basically told me that I should stay dead."
"Then why didn't you try to visit her?"
"She really thought I was dead. I tried to see her two years later after ONI stuck me on duty in Arcadia back in 2532 trying to help oversee the recolonization. Now I saw her with her new boyfriend, and I really don't blame her, especially when the Marine Corps sends two jarheads to your house and tells your wife that you went missing fighting the insurgents, and with the Covenant starting to hunt down human colonies, that pretty much slimmed down her hopes that I was alive. With everything I've gone through, I decided it wasn't worth the slog and disrupting her newfound balance. My kids are all grown up anyway, so there's nothing left for me.
"Michael, I-"
"Look, even if I tried to get back to her, what in the hell could I offer? I can't get a job since they'd get suspicious on how this 50-plus years old scumbag looks like he's 30. I tried getting a job and was rejected because of that. My pension got siphoned off to her for 10 years just so my kids could live just in case I was gone. Now, I really am gone."
"So you decided to disappear out of the fear of inadequacy? What happened to you?"
"I lost the chance to really be a father to my family ever since I got signed up to ORION. After TREBUCHET, it just seemed that war was always gonna follow me. So, to make sure my family was able to go on without me, I signed an agreement to directly give my wife access to my pension."
"You can just tell me that you're afraid that once you go home, there might not be a home for you. I know you have demons and skeletons in your closet, and that you don't want to bring your family into it. I will say this, but your fear was founded on good intentions, then you lost your way and never tried to go back."
"Alright, you got me. Now, why did you pick me?"
"I picked you to save you. I knew there was nothing else that could convince you to move forward in life. Besides, there's nobody else that I could trust but you."
"Adrian, what is this really about?"
"You'll understand once the vice admiral debriefs us. I'm under strict orders not to reveal anything due to protocol. Come on, let's go."
ONI Meeting Room
"Ah, sergeant, glad to have you here." Vice Adm. Parangosky greeted
"With all due respect, ma'am, I wish to know what this is all about." SSgt. Hamilton spoke up
"You will in a moment. Now, Capt. Vought here brought you for reasons I do not care much about, but I believe you will be of great aid. To cut to the chase, ONI is acting under the goal of Project: OUROBOROS, and this is a mission to ensure that humanity would survive even if the Covenant succeeds in destroying the Inner Colonies." the admiral said
"So, you're preparing to find another world to colonize?"
"Yes. Before I enter the one million credits in your pension, I want to make sure that you are cooperating with this plan."
"I basically agreed to it the moment I decided to show up for your guys back in Nova Scotia. So yes."
"Good. Our first step before carrying out this plan is to get stocked up in Onyx within the Zeta Doradus system before we finally decide to leave and head out to uncharted space."
"So, what are we gonna ride out of the Milky Way? I suppose it's something like a colony ship like the Spirit of Fire, or if I don't know any better, an Orion-class assault carrier because last I heard, those had manufacturing capabilities."
"You are not far from the answer, sergeant. In fact, I will delight myself in telling you. Have you ever been on a Punic-class supercarrier?"
"Wait, are you saying that's going to be our ride? I'm no naval architect, but last time I was in one, they didn't have the capability to colonize."
"You are technically correct. Hence, a few modifications were made to ensure it would have the same capabilities as those aforementioned ships."
"A giant lifeboat is what it is, am I right? I've gotta say, getting your hands on one without the Navy trying to cook you up for potentially weakening their arsenal by taking a command ship is in itself a commendable feat. Now, I'll ask how y'all are going to recoup the costs just in case the ship gets fried by Covvie warships."
"The Aegina is rather old, and her equipment was selected to be the same as her specifications, but we managed to throw in some that aren't usually standard in her class. Cheap, but reliable and easily serviceable, which I believe would benefit the journey just in case the world to be settled in is a harsh backwater. After all, the factory modules to be installed onboard can't produce higher-end technology by themselves."
"That's the military for you. If it works, it works, even if it's cheap and total shit. Especially when the world you'll go to can be an absolute shithole that could damage expensive tech." he thought to himself
"Also, the civilian populace that will be introduced onboard will be of a limited number, around 6,000 should do. They are largely from colony worlds destroyed by the Covenant's glassing efforts, and will be picked up in Onyx as the final detour before your journey."
"Would that include the Outer Colonies? Ma'am, there will be a risk of Insurrectionists amongst the 6,000 that got chosen."
"All the better that we have someone like you with the right experience onboard to sniff them out if that is the case."
"Don't you have anything or anybody else besides me to safekeep the ship from infiltrators?"
"Actually, you will be part of a small fireteam of 2, including you. There is one Spartan in the team, two if you would like to be considered as one since the ORION program has been effectively redubbed as the SPARTAN-I Program."
"This makes me sound really old. So, a Spartan fireteam? You all made sure of this. So, where are we headed after Onyx?"
"That is the part where it is up to the captain. The instructions are to search for a semi-distant system that the Covenant will need time to find. To further enact the Cole Protocol, once you leave the Zeta Doradus system, all navigational data onboard will be wiped. We will not expect to hear from you for quite a long time. After all, this war might take longer than expected."
"About those credits, will you include a personal note saying that I saved up over the years? That'll help reassure my wife. Please try to make sure that I am truly dead in her eyes, so that she won't have to worry anymore. I know you guys are capable of that."
"Granted. From here on out, you now are officially reinstated as your rank upon discharge. Welcome back to the UNSC, Staff Sergeant. Oh, one more thing, you will have a pleasant surprise later on. Please follow Capt. Vought. The rest of the details will be given to you later on. If nothing else, I have other matters to attend to."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"So, Michael, I mean sergeant, how did you take all of that?" the captain talked again
"Look, Adrian, you don't have to call me by my rank when it's one-on-one and not in front of the other military personnel. We had each other's backs, and you still do. So, please ease up a little when we can, alright?"
"Heh, okay then. Follow me to the armory."
ONI Alpha Site Armory
Spartan-119 was in the armory after getting geared up in her Mark IV MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. Akane was checking her weaponized prosthetic arm if it functioned properly, along with the retractable arm blade made of Vanadium-alloyed Titanium-50. Her Modafinil reservoir, in the form of an inert canister that could be inserted into a port, was checked to be fine. The ex-ORION and the Aegina's captain walked in.
"Oh, it seems the Spartan is here too. Michael, meet 119."
Akane only gave a salute, then went back to her stoic posture
"Alright, enough about other things. I brought you here because the vice admiral wanted you to be a tester for a certain armor."
"Wait, what? I'm getting new gear? I'll be damned. It's been a while since I wore armor, especially the ORION one."
A small crew of technicians handed him the MIRAGE SPI (Semi-Powered Infiltration) Prototype armor and the way it felt when they put it on him flooded him with memories of his younger years when he was fighting the Insurrection. The helmet finally came on, and it showed him the HUD. He moved around and felt the armor was quite reactive to him.
"What the hell is this? It feels kinda amazing, not gonna lie."
"The Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor was originally made for the SPARTAN-III program as a cheaper alternative than MJOLNIR. This particular armor is ONI's newest prototype from the line, the MIRAGE. As the vice admiral told me, it's made to meet the basic requirements of MJOLNIR armor but at a fraction of the price. Although you won't have as much strength as 119 here. It is also equipped with the latest HUD software, the Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance. In short, the VISR."
"So what, this is baby MJOLNIR? I've heard of the MJOLNIR killing unaugmented users, but at least I have some enhancements. Better something than nothing. Wait a second, did you say SPARTAN-III? They made another one?" SSgt. Hamilton remarked on its capability
"Yes, they did. It was spearheaded by Col. James Ackerson."
"Oh, God. After the hot mess surrounding Halsey's SPARTAN-II Program, they decided to make another one, and this time, under a real asshole."
Then he looked at SPARTAN-II Akane-119 and saw her prosthetic arm. The experienced former ORION operative was able to notice the presence of the hidden blade and noticed a canister that looked like it would directly connect to her veins. Just these two made him infer that she was at least adept and very attuned to close-quarters combat.
"Ey, um, 119, is it alright if you showed me the blade in that arm of yours?" he asked
Akane-119 looked at the others present in the room, and after a few seconds, she extended the titanium-alloy blade, revealing it to be dagger-shaped but more akin to a Roman gladius in terms of taper and length, and retracted it. SSgt. Hamilton then whistled as a form of conveying his impressed reaction and decided to ask one more thing.
"So, since we're getting to know each other, and this mission is pretty much secret, I think it's safe for you to show your face to me. Makes me feel more comfortable knowing what you look like. Would it be fine?"
119 removed her helmet, revealing her face.
Akane-119 (born Akane Kimura), standing at the height of 7 feet, had the look of a rather youthful Japanese woman. Her jet-black hair styled into a textured bob haircut contrasted her pale complexion. Her looks, accompanied by her dark, almond-shaped eyes with her button nose and heart-shaped face, only served to belie her ruthless nature and conditioning as a SPARTAN-II. Her additional time under ONI's guidance only enhanced her performance, along with her demeanor that would be very suited to a ninja, or as they were called in Ancient Japan, shinobi.
Michael Hamilton, candidate No. 029, stood at a modest height of 5'10", in comparison to her.
"Well, damn, now I really look old, and diminutive compared to you. So, I'm Michael Hamilton, former ORION operative number 029. Oh, I almost forgot, what's your name, 119?"
"Petty Officer First Class Akane-119 of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command, sir!" she saluted in a crisp military fashion
"I'm glad we got to know each other. So, do any of you have any idea on what's next?"
"We'll be hitching a ride in the same prowler that brought you here. We better pack up, as this is going to be a one-way trip from now on."
"Alright. I hope the credits reached my wife. So, let's go. I know this may be a little cheesy, but I wanna be classified as a SPARTAN-I from now on. I know it's still technically ORION, but I like the new name much better. I'm ready whenever you are."
As they all exited the building to the prowler, the ONI ship activated its cloaking system and exited the atmosphere. Once it did, it made a slipspace jump straight into the darkness.
Austin
Texas
United Republic of North America
Tess Hamilton was visited by two UNSC Marine personnel later that night at the doorstep of her new home. Her boyfriend, Matt, also wondered what was going on. She was given a letter which told her that in her husband's pension was 1 million credits, stating that Michael Hamilton was officially pronounced deceased effective immediately, and that in the envelope were photographs of his deceased body complete with scars. It also stated that he was to be cremated in a will he made during his service, and to send his ashes home. When she asked why that much, it was said that her husband saved up over his years and placed it in a different account, and the rest of the money was supplemented by the UEG itself as a form of respect to him.
They explained that the body was found just recently, and further expounded that it took some time to find it long after when the Covenant attacked Harvest and turned the planet's atmosphere into a tundra after they glassed it, explaining his thawed-out look. This solidified her assumptions, finally moving on that her husband was truly dead. The letter lastly stated that the credits were for her and her alone to live off of.
As the personnel left, she broke down and cried with the knowledge that he was truly gone, with Matt attempting to comfort her.
From her eyes fell out tears, tears that landed onto the photographs of his "deceased" body. As she looked out the window, she gazed into the stars, wishing her husband a peaceful journey to Heaven.
Back in ONI Alpha Site...
"Ma'am, with everything that's happened, do you think it's worth it?"
"I've killed several birds with one stone. A chance for humanity to re-establish itself outside of the Covenant's reach has been increased with the supercarrier as the ship for the job. On the other hand, I have basically gotten rid of many assets getting too costly and old to maintain and use for war. That former ORION was a risk for secrets spilling out, as the program itself didn't exactly produce desirable results, and his depressed behavior was already a red flag. With Capt. Vought out of the picture, hopefully for a long time, his successor will hopefully be more promising."
"How about the Aegina? Was she a military asset worth sending away?"
"The Aegina was a supercarrier too damaged and expensive to keep and reinstate in the fleet. Sending her away is a mercy, and would serve a better purpose as a lifeboat instead of sending a colony ship that wouldn't survive a small battle group of Covenant or Insurrectionists. The vehicles and equipment for the Marine Corps and Army are cheap to replace, and many of them to be sent away have underlying issues that they should be able to manage on their own."
"The manpower to be stationed onboard, what of them?"
"As for the military personnel, a considerable portion of them have records of misconduct worthy of being demoted to the Wet Fleet, and them having use as shipboard reinforcements is an adequate compensation for a partial loss of available manpower. The rest have a large percentage of retrainees who signed up as a way to compensate for their failures. I think it's safe to say I have made some rather fine results getting rid of undesirable assets and giving them a new purpose."
"Indeed..."
"But with every purpose, it must be intently watched to ensure its success..."
ONE YEAR LATER, 2538
Special Assembly Plant Concord
Oort Cloud
Sol System
The assembly plant where the Aegina was secretly towed to from Neos Atlantis in the Alcides system, had her fully repaired and upgraded. SSgt. Hamilton, with Akane-119, looked at the ship and were wondering if the time to go and find a new home had come. Just like the workers there, they were subjected to the same secrecy concerning shipbuilding. To pass the time, every military personnel involved trained for one year inside the ship's undamaged sections and alternated with a different section every time. It also served the double purpose of being familiar with the ship by the time deployment was going to happen.
Michael had gotten completely used to his MIRAGE SPI Armor, and was able to use it more effectively, feeling that it was reminiscent of old times when he tested the ORION armor. As a little present, they gave him two chemical injections that enhanced his eyesight and metabolism, since any more would compromise his already-augmented body courtesy of Project: ORION.
Akane was in the process of learning to loosen up a bit when she was around Michael, and that was a lesson he wanted to teach her, in a way, it was his caring parental nature that came out and reached for her. He knew that such feelings weren't typically encouraged, especially around Spartans, but he didn't give a damn, as he knew what it was like to go through an experimental government program meant to create supersoldiers, and wanted to give her a sense of normalcy and the dignity of being treated as a human being instead of a military asset. By that time, Akane's hairstyle was no longer but with bangs and was called a Hime cut.
"Akane, how's your training going?" he asked her
Akane just gave a tiny nod and resumed her near-robotic stance.
"Girl, you gotta learn how to smile and talk more sometimes. We're going to be working with civilians, and it'll help if they can actually approach you. I know you're just that way cuz of the SPARTAN program, but we all have the opportunity to grow. I get that there may be an Innie amongst them, but you don't have to be cold and distant to them, you'll effectively scare them and if you put too much fear into them, they will start to not trust you."
"Sir, why are you telling me this?"
"Remember, you can call me Michael when it's just us and the captain. Look, I'm telling you because one, you're still young, Spartan or not. Your body is still able to develop even with those suppressors implanted in there. I get that Mendez beat the training deep into your head, but he never said it wasn't allowed to be emotional to other people. So, let's try again. Akane."
"Michael."
"I was making some burritos back in the kitchen for lunch. Want one?" he handed her one wrapped in foil
The SPARTAN-II accepted the burrito, curious about what it was, before proceeding to take a bite. She found it rather enjoyable, and a welcome change for her tastebuds from the MRE that was standard issued by the Navy. Her indoctrination started to kick in, but the senior SPARTAN-I sensed it and tried to reassure her.
"Nobody's judging you if you wanna enjoy your food. You don't have to be so stoic at all."
Akane looked at him in a mix of struggle and doubt
"Oh, come on, I know you wanna smile cuz it tastes good..."
Akane gave into her basic human instincts even for only a brief moment, and smiled due to the burrito's wonderful taste and the teasing from Michael.
"See? That wasn't so hard now, wasn't it?"
The SPARTAN-II then gave a faint hint of melancholy even when the indoctrination was effective in instilling a duty-first mindset. As always, the SPARTAN-I was there to help.
"Hey, it's not too late to have a life. You're still young, and if what I read was correct, you're just 27 years old. You've got a lot of time to live. Between you and me, I lost my parents to the Hydra System Massacres. I was living in the streets when I was in my teens until a UNSC recruiter found me. Real funny that the same organization that sent my parents off to war had found me. You can still have a life, especially when we'll be heading off to a new world to colonize. There's your chance, and don't be afraid to take it. You don't need to stop being a Spartan to have a life, because you still can while being one."
She about his words, and deep in her mind, they knew that they could never shake off their Spartan indoctrination, and learning to live a life outside of it was still new territory to her, but she wasn't going at it alone, as the Staff Sergeant made it his job to guide her in that path of life.
"Okay, come on. We best head to the briefing room."
As everyone headed to the aforementioned room, the plans were already put in place. They were going to make a slipspace jump straight to Onyx, where they would load up their final remaining cargo and equipment, and pick up the civilians that signed up for the exodus program a year ago. They were largely screened for potential ties to Insurrectionists and were largely found to be clear, but the SSgt., now codenamed as SPARTAN-X29 for security purposes against potential infiltrators, was there to provide his insight and experience in rooting out those that could be sleeper agents. Akane-119 served as the two-man fireteam's heavy reinforcement, which would further deter potential hostiles from making an attempt onboard, if any.
The Cole Protocol was to be upheld at all times, and strictly enforced by Capt. Vought. To help them in the journey, a smart AI straight from ONI, named Alessandra, was installed onboard the UNSC Aegina. She would autoregulate many routines that would require extensive manpower, which left the engineers mostly on maintenance duties for the cryotubes and factory modules.
Speaking of maintenance, many of the war vehicles including aircraft were discovered to have issues but were fixed as the year went on. As protection against enemy fighters, antiquated S-14 Baselards were given small upgrades by the crew to increase their chances of survival, many of them being dissatisfied with problematic second-hand vehicles sent their way.
Infantry equipment was a mix of Navy and Marine MA5B & MA5C Assault Rifles, BR55, and BR55HB Battle Rifles alongside the Army MA37 ARs and M392 DMRs. The M6G and M6G2 Magnum sidearms were respectively used by the Marines and Army. The SRS99-AM Sniper Rifle and M41 SPNKr Rocket Launcher were used by every branch onboard. For special forces units such as the ODSTs, and vehicle crews confined in tight spaces, the M7 and M7S Submachine Guns were available as an option, and as a special exception, a whole stock of M6C SOCOM sidearms was delivered for use by the ODST. For shipboarding and urban environments, two other options introduced were the Navy M90 CAWS Shotgun and the Army M45E Tactical Shotgun, both deadly close-quarter weapons in their own right.
Heavy vehicles were the M808B Scorpion, M650 Mastodon, the SP42 Cobra, and the M9 Wolverine. Under ONI's supervision, many of these were CMA-era, meaning they were old. Warthogs of different variants were also onboard, but as if a miracle came down, a dozen M850 Grizzly Tanks made it on the list, although these were also old. Light vehicles included the M274 Mongoose, and its armed variant, the Gungoose.
Navy and Marine AV-14 Hornets alongside Army UH-144 Falcons were the main atmospheric aircraft. Pelicans were standard for all branches, but one D80 Condor was put onboard, as the UNSC slowly wanted to get rid of them due to their prohibitively expensive maintenance costs, largely in part due to the slipspace drive that had a rather short lifespan. The D96-TCE Albatross would serve as the main cargo transport of the Aegina due to its rugged nature, in place of the smaller and more recent D82-EST Darter.
Adding more to the cargo was an entire stock of 40 old Troop Pod attachments for the Pelicans which was a way for ONI to free up space from the main airfields and hangars back in Sol, and to skimp out on including additional dropships onboard.
For rapid deployment by ODST forces, the M8823 SOEIV Drop Pod was chosen and was a rather aged design. Adding salt to the wound, older drop pods were at risk of falling apart mid-drop, which only added to the fear and stress. Modifications on the ventral side of the carrier, besides additional launch bays for the SOEIV drop pods, included extra docking entrances for the smaller Albatross dropships to increase deployment and resource transporting speed.
All the military personnel, including the enlisted, officers, and engineers joked that the UNSC Aegina was more befitting to be called a gigantic trash barge due to the majority of the equipment onboard being old, having issues, and the crew at their mercy to fix and maintain, and many of them even acknowledged that they themselves had shitty personalities and carried misconduct records, adding to the dark humor. As the year went on, the differing branches learned to live and interact with each other, as the majority of the spaces were shared, which led to interesting results.
Army hanging out with the Navy, Marines hanging out with the Air Force, etc. and even the ODSTs learned to lighten up despite their hardcore culture. They all would crack jokes with each other, play games with each other, and all that, as they knew it would suck making enemies out of each other since this journey would really take a long ass time. Slipspace drive components were pre-assembled for rapid replacement of damaged drives in an emergency. A few drives were partially built to hasten assembly in a pinch.
After hours of preparation and loading, the UNSC Aegina would finally leave the Milky Way forever after it makes its last stop in Onyx in the Zeta Doradus system.
COVENANT SPACE
Sublime Transcendence
Fringes of Covenant Space
Flagship of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose
Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree was contacted by the Prophet of Truth and immediately hailed the transmission.
"Imperial Admiral. I have a task for the Combined Fleet of Religious Purpose. It is a rather important one."
"What is the mission, hierarch?"
"One of the surveillance drones near the supply station next to the system where Saepon'kal resides has reported enemy movement, and it seems to be heading out of our space and theirs as well. Dispatch them immediately."
The imaging from the surveillance drones showed the outline of the Punic-class supercarrier being escorted by two Halberd-class light destroyers.
"It will be done, hierarch."
Scutum-Centaurus Arm
Salia system
Close to Saepon'kal (Joyous Exultation)
The Unrelenting Absolution, A Kewu-pattern battleship under the command of shipmaster Ivu 'Zodamee, was on the prowl and was on the fringe of Covenant-controlled space. A Ruma-pattern light carrier named the Clarity of Contrition, under the command of Shipmistress Ceia 'Vavamee, was its partner. Escorting both was a pair of Ceudar-pattern heavy corvettes named the Sacred Resolve and the Penitent Prayer, and all four were part of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose under the command of Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, tasked to scout the fringes of Covenant space, but in truth, were sent away by the Hierarchs due to his position being capable of challenging theirs, thus their solution was to practically exile him but with sacred duty plastered on as a label.
The Imperial Admiral tasked the battleship and the light carrier to patrol the space just outside the 51 Pegasi system, as the former was unconventionally built to counter other Covenant ships, with the light carrier acting as support by virtue of its air wing. The system was home to a Covenant starship fuel refinery and staging station built on the moon of Pegasi Delta, with the Kewu-pattern being perfect to police that location as it can destroy other Covenant ships and be built to withstand their damage, in case of rebellion or insurrection occurring on that world. Strangely, that particular battleship was granted a Phar-pattern excavator beam, which was typically located on Varric-pattern heavy cruisers, to extend its lethality, requiring a retrofit with a slightly more capable powerplant.
The Ruma-pattern was no slouch in terms of protection as it had unusually thick armor of over 30 meters, which was unorthodox for its classification. In addition, several were added to the Imperial Admiral's fleet by the Hierarchs, as it was in many cases, unwanted by a sizeable number of other shipmasters since it made for a rather bad compromise due to a considerably reduced capacity for starfighters and ground troops than a Syfon or Kerel-pattern assault carrier, and while more heavily armored, frontline combat was not its main role and its quality of life onboard was subpar in comparison to the latter due to poor upkeep and lack of extensive automation, explaining the disproportionately-large percentage of Huragoks onboard.
Essentially, it was a starter ship for new shipmasters and pilots, who would jump ship to better warships if given the chance, which further added to the workload in terms of maintaining morale. The Contrition's shipmaster, or shipmistress, in this case, was a truly special case.
Female Sangheili were typically barred from Covenant or even Sanghelios's military service based on the established gender norms. Back on Sanghelios, she was deemed to be unfitting of a female Sangheili due to her higher-than-average aptitude for combat and warfare, along with her mannerisms that are typically aligned with the males. Ceia 'Vavamee was close to social excommunication due to her frequent and rather aggressive lobbying for recruitment into the Covenant military.
To quell further incidents, the Prophet of Mercy chose to personally intervene and declare that she would be at his service, which saved her keep the shame they endured from the repercussions of her rebellious actions. However, Mercy only chose to do so to prevent political unrest on Sanghelios concerning the House of 'Vavam. The High Council was not entirely pleased by those turn of events, as they felt that a female of their species was inadequate and not compatible with military service. Ceia 'Vavamee, once again, defied the odds when she rose up the ranks, garnering the respect of many other races under her command, but the overwhelming majority of her kind still did not accept her as a commanding officer.
Having proven her merit, she chose to undergo training from the Special Warfare Group and was able to attain the rank of a Ranger, becoming highly competent in low and zero-gravity environments and boarding enemy warships and stations.
Ultimately, she garnered the attention of the Imperial Admiral, placing her under his command. When the latter was going to be sent to the fringes of Covenant space, her being already a part of his fleet meant that she too had to go. During her time there, she was given command of the Clarity of Contrition, and even when she was a shipmistress, she still chose to don her Ranger harness but had a gold trim added to help the crew distinguish her from the other Rangers onboard. The choice was made out of preparedness, in case there would be a hull breach that could kill unprepared crew, and with the armor, she was confident that she would survive even the destruction of the ship she was on, but it would ultimately violate the mantra of a captain, or shipmistress in this case, of going down with their ship.
Her years of service in the Covenant military strafed with hardship and discrimination led her to adopt a pragmatic mindset, and she thought of being more useful by surviving instead of going down with the ship. Currently, she was starting to grow bored of the mundane routine, and the unnecessarily increased workload due to some crew leaving, and hoped for something else. The replacement of some Unggoy with Yanme'e and Jiralhanae only made it more challenging, as the former had a competitive rivalry with the Huragok in terms of engineering, and the latter generally had some disdain towards her species.
A transmission from the Imperial Admiral had reached the Unrelenting Absolution, requesting its cooperation.
"I have a task for you, shipmaster. I have received a report from High Charity concerning the human forces." the Imperial Admiral started off
Both of Ivu 'Zodamee's hearts beat in eager anticipation, as he wanted to be freed of the mundane task of patrolling, and the chance to exterminate human combatants and warships lay right in front of him.
"A large human warship escorted by a battle group was spotted by one of the surveillance drones next to the system where you are in, and close to where the resupplying station resides. Eliminate it, and do not let any of them get away. Leave none surviving."
"Yes, Imperial Admiral!"
As the transmission cut itself off, Ivu 'Zodamee then contacted the Clarity of Contrition, Sacred Resolve, and Penitent Prayer. Their commanding officers answered the call, wondering what was going on.
"I have just received an order from High Charity through the Imperial Admiral. We are to intercept a human warship escorted by a small force and eliminate them. The coordinates are close to the resupply station just adjacent to the system where Saepon'kal is. We will head out in a minute."
Shipmistress 'Vavamee checked her complement to see if all were ready for combat. The 200 Morsam-pattern Seraphs, the 100 Bkowe'nei-pattern Vampires, the 50 Is'belox-pattern and 50 Oghal-pattern Banshees were all prepped for combat, with Dextro Xur-pattern Spirits and Ru'swum-pattern Phantoms for additional support. The heavy corvettes had their share of Elsedda-pattern Banshees. The light carrier's ground craft included Ruwaa-pattern Shadows, Karo'etba-pattern Ghosts, Muz-pattern Wraiths, and Wuzum-pattern Spectres, with a small number of Rizvum-pattern Revenants. A rare addition to the complement was the Haruvr-pattern aerial artillery, dubbed the Wight by some UNSC troops who witnessed it firsthand. It was essentially a flying Wraith, but its design was deemed to be a waste of resources as it was too vulnerable on the underside and was rather slow. Thus, it was only rarely used, but a few were thrown into the Imperial Admiral's care as a form of disposal.
For the infantry, their weapons in all the ships were standardized to a set. The Nakata'vho-pattern plasma repeater, Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle, Eos'Mak-pattern plasma pistol, Nahle'hax-pattern needler, the Mosa-pattern carbine, and the Gadulo-pattern needle rifle. Heavy armaments include the Jovokada Workshop Type-25B Brute shot, Kopasa'mada-pattern plasma launcher, Korva-pattern fuel rod gun, and the Elo'Nakada-pattern concussion rifle. Last, but not the least, melee weapons were mostly reserved for high-ranking individuals, thus the Akelus Workshop gravity hammer and the Pelosus-pattern energy sword were in stock, with a few unnamed variants put onboard as reserve.
With all three commanders signaling their readiness after checking their status, the four Covenant warships in their sleek, fluid, organic grace, entered slipspace like sharks swimming right into the dark waters of space.
Uncharted Space
100 Light Years from Zeta Doradus
The journey searching for a new planet to at least colonize began the moment they left Onyx. The Aegina's captain had chosen to do tidbits of slipspace jumping to not get lost, as the Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace drive was rather crude in comparison to the Covenant's borer drives. As per the implementation of the Cole Protocol, effective 2535 as standing orders by the UNSC, the supercarrier-arkship would then have to make random jumps to unknown locations, and it was transmitted shipwide as standard procedure.
The ship's effective complement consisted of:
MILITARY PERSONNEL
1 Fireteam = SPARTAN-II 119, and SPARTAN-I 029 (officially SPARTAN-X29)
1 Battalion = 1000 ODSTs (3 Rifle Companies, 1 Weapons Company, 1 Headquarters and Service Company)
1 Brigade = 5,000 Marines
1 Regiment = 3,000 Army Soldiers
1 Wing = 900 Airmen
4,000 Navy personnel (Engineers, Technicians, Specialists, etc.)
CIVILIAN
5 Research Teams = 100 scientists per team
6,000 Civilians from glassed colonies
VEHICLES
30 M808B Scorpion Tanks
12 M850 Grizzly Tanks
30 SP42 Cobra Tanks
30 M9 Wolverine Anti-air Tanks
30 M274 Mongoose Gungoose
25 M650 Mastodon APCs
50 M12 LRV Warthogs
150 S-12 Baselards
40 D77-TC Pelicans (included with 40 Troop Pod attachments in storage as an option)
40 AV-14 Hornets
30 UH-144 Falcons
30 D96-TCE Albatross Dropships
6 D20 Heron Dropships
600 M8823 SOEIV (Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle) Drop Pods
ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENTS:
4 Paris-class heavy frigates (attached to ventral docks)
2 Halberd-class light destroyers (serving as escort)
32 F-29 Nandao Strike Fighters (from the Halberd-class destroyers replacing Marine complement)
24 GA-TL1 Longswords (C712 variant)
To answer the question of sustenance, the UNSC was able to balance the budget by formulating a mix of food supplies: from those that would expire next week, gradually working up to the next months' expiry, to one year, then five, and at maximum, 10 years expiry. The supercarrier's large size had several compartments repurposed or temporarily utilized to store perishables. To make sure that none was wasted, the near-expiring foodstuffs were first to be consumed, and as for cryosleep, additional pods were added which would partially explain the reduced military complement to make up space, the others such as the factory modules taking up more space.
For hygiene, the same expiration date formula applied to the foodstuffs was also applied to the hygiene supplies. As for water, a considerably upgraded filtration system was installed to help recycle water, which had a mix of osmotic and mechanical filtration, along with sterilizing techniques such as UV, temperature, and chemical treatment. Additional water and minerals would be expected to be harvested from other planets or asteroids encountered along the way.
The slipspace drives that were partially pre-assembled were in the process of undergoing maintenance checks, especially the temperamental models meant for the Condor. Every ship that had a drive underwent routine inspection to ensure that nothing happened to it or them.
All was well and life onboard was rather leisurely for the past few days.
*ALARMS BLARING*
"Enemy contact! Covenant battle group approaching! Red alert! All hands to battle stations! Get those guns online!" Capt. Vought commanded over the comms
Every able military personnel immediately headed to either the fire control systems, the guns, or the airwing to man the Baselards. As for the four frigates, they detached from the ventral side of the supercarrier, and the two Halberd destroyers joined in on the fight, with the former deploying the Longswords they had in their launch bays and the latter deploying its two F-29 Nandao squadrons. Every gun while the Super MACs charged were firing at the battle group, which mustered its own forces.
The Unrelenting Absolution's shipmaster, Ivu 'Zodamee, ordered the shipmistress of the Clarity of Contrition, Ceia'Vavamee, to send three squadrons which consisted of 300 Morsam-pattern Seraphs. Supporting her was a small flight of 20 Elsedda-pattern Banshees from the Sacred Resolve and Penitent Prayer. They spread out to prevent being downed by cluster fire.
Seeing that the measly complement of Baselards was outnumbered, even with the help of the 32 F-29 Nandao fighters from the Halberds, it was getting more evident that it'd be a losing fight if they stayed as minutes passed. The supercarrier may be heavily armored, but it won't be able to fight back once its ammunition runs out, or its fighter complement gets decimated.
"Damn you, Parangosky..." the capt. thought to himself
He thought that the only option was to run, and further away. Not towards any UNSC settlement, but away. At this point, they were on their own. Seeing the battle group, he was able to identify the light carrier and the corvettes as he had seen some during the early years of the war, but the battleship was what truly scared him. From its looks alone, it looked heavily armed and protected, which meant that if it were to get close or in range, the Aegina would most likely be destroyed.
He ordered the Super MACs to fire on the battleship to at least catch it off guard, the twin shots significantly depleting its shields. Taking advantage of the momentary surprise, he issued an order.
"All hands, prepare for slipspace jump. Frigate captains, return to your docking vents immediately. Every fighter out there, please return to your hangars! Setting a jump in three minutes!"
Every pilot manning a fighter was stumped by the sudden changes in tactics, but realizing it would be a losing fight, they immediately returned to their respective ships. As soon as every fighter and ship were properly prepared, the Aegina made the jump with the frigates piggybacking, while the Halberds made their own jumps coordinating with the supercarrier's relayed coordinates. The rather slow deployment and retrieval of UNSC fighters were largely due to mechanical doors needing to open in comparison to Covenant warships enjoying the luxury of vacuum-sealing energy fields in their hangar bays, allowing them to deploy quickly.
"TRACK THE HUMAN FILTH! They dare to run from us! Destroy them at once before they run off to another galaxy!" Ivu 'Zodamee expressed his rage at the sudden changes after the shields were significantly depleted
The Banshees and Seraphs returned to their respective ships, and the shipmasters immediately went to track the fading slipspace wake created by the UNSC ships. Within a few minutes, they were able to get a lock on. Grinning from his mandibles, the Sangheili shipmaster then gave the orders to pursue.
UNSC POV
In slipspace, the Aegina was a chaotic mess. The civilians were panicking, while the military personnel attempted to keep the order. While the technicians and engineers were struggling to keep their stations free of clutter, Akane and Michael then headed up to Capt. Vought in the bridge.
"Captain, what the hell was ONI thinking when they decided to give us a small number of old fighters? We can't even properly fight back!"
"That decision was a blunder on their behalf! I bet Parangosky didn't think that an enemy carrier and a goddamned battleship would be the ones to find us!"
"No shit! I bet they thought we'd only face a cruiser or a frigate!"
"The real question is, how in the hell did we even stumble onto them? We were pretty much far out from any kind of civilization."
"Captain, I believe I may have an educated guess on this matter." the smart AI Alessandra spoke up
"Explain."
"There is the possible likelihood that we may have been spotted going past Covenant-controlled space when we left Onyx. With the warships we faced of such caliber and class, it would only be logical to think that they would come from a planet in a nearby system and that they may have had reconnaissance posted close by. I wouldn't think that a large warship such as that battleship would go far out of the Covenant's reach being restricted by its logistical limits." she stated, with her mild Italian accent
"The nearest systems to Onyx would be the 51 Pegasi and Salia systems. Of all the rotten timings, we just had to make a random jump possibly close to their sphere of influence. Nonetheless, it won't matter, as our duty is to make a run to another galaxy where the Covenant won't find us. I just hope to God the UNSC finds out the Covenant's reach is just close to the damn door. We need a plan to shake them off or they'll overwhelm us." Capt. Vought thought to himself
COVENANT POV
UNKNOWN STAR SYSTEM
30 Minutes Later
As the Punic-class supercarrier and the Halberd light destroyers attempted to run, they exited slipspace and stumbled upon a collapsing star facing its starboard side after a random jump. Its slipspace drive was exhausted from the previous jumps before facing the enemy battle group and needed to cool down. Hoping that the star won't start to suck them in, it only got worse as the Covenant battle group caught up to them.
Both sides saw they were in a dangerous situation. If the Covenant group goes in to attack, they too were at risk of being sucked in by the collapsing star. The Punic-class supercarrier decided to get closer to it but not enough to get sucked in to deter the Covenant from approaching. Seeing this, the Kewu-pattern battleship fired its Muesh-pattern flensing lance, which shot out a powerful beam through the distance that grazed one of the rear fins of the UNSC supercarrier. It rocked the ship, which caused some tilting and some cargo to topple, setting off some alarms. The Ruma-pattern light carrier followed with its two Ignis-pattern plasma lances which left a scar on the port side. A small group of Seraphs were deployed to cripple its guns.
The Baselards on the port side were set to fly out the port hangars as a response when a small complement of Seraphs and Space Banshees were sent to attack.
Barely resisting the gravitic forces of the star, Capt. Vought thought the only way to survive was to get away from the star at the risk of getting closer to the Covenant battle group. He took that chance and was attempting to make another jump as soon as the Aegina's drive was considerably cooled, but saw there was no time to lay around and get hit. The Halberd-class light destroyers were attempting to protect the Aegina by providing fire support against the Seraphs.
The supercarrier inched further away from the star, facing the battle group, with both UNSC and Covenant commanders readying themselves to face each other head-on. As the Baselards and the Seraphs fought each other, each side was squaring up and charging their most powerful weapons.
However, fate decided to draw one of its most cursed cards of all: shit happens.
The collapsing star's black hole suddenly got stronger, and now the human and alien warships were starting to get pulled into it. The Sangheili and Human captains noticed it on their radars, which led them to immediately try to make a run for it, but to no avail. The now-unstable black hole, growing ever stronger and larger every second, only made the gravity well immensely strong which started to pull everything in its vicinity into its bottomless maw.
As the black hole made its widest expansion, all ships seemingly vanished from existence as they were engulfed, and the rather magnificent phenomenon died down to nothingness a few seconds later.
The quiet that followed after the darkness was eerily... peaceful.
CHAPTER I END
Author's Note:
I admit I made some rather eclectic choices when formulating this story but I hope it wont detract from the plot, like pulling a Chekhov's gun for the portal sequence as I hate Deus ex machinas. As much as possible, I prefer to use the former and felt it was necessary to explain how they were sent to another reality. I also chose to create separate headlines to make it easier for y'all to read, especially when it's on a phone you're reading on.
Some of the specifications are made-up, like the engine model of the UNSC Aegina, taking inspiration from the UNSC Infinity's and relabelling it as a previous-gen model to make sense as both have giant fusion drives. To further clarify why I had to take creative liberties, many UNSC warships weren't given a model and stats until Halo: Fleet Battles was created, and even then, some details are still vague and unspecified.
To give you an idea of how the UNSC Aegina performs as a support ship, try playing or at least watching Halo Wars 1 and/or 2 to get a bit of the feel. From this point on, I will try to get as realistic as I can on how the UNSC or Covenant would interact with Azeroth's environments, and feel free to give me your insights if I got anything wrong.
So, ya enjoy it? Feel free to comment, and thanks for the support!
SHIPS AND LEADER PROFILES (for quick reference)
UNSC Expeditionary Group
Captains: Adrian Vought, Tolu Ogunde, Hikari Nakamura, Francesca Bellanti, Henry Johnson, Alexander Ramirez, Helena Marceau
UNSC Aegina
Punic-class supercarrier
Status: Upgraded to arkship (mixed capability of warship and colony ship)
Length: 4,000 meters (13,123 ft)
UNSC Roswell and UNSC Tucson
Halberd-class light destroyer
Status: Escorting the Aegina
Length: 485 meters (1,590 ft)
UNSC Marseille, Zaragoza, Algiers and Casablanca
Paris-class heavy frigates
Status: Attached to the Aegina
Length: 535 meters (1,755 ft)
Lost Covenant Patrol
Shipmasters: Ivu 'Zodamee, Tyvo 'Gottinee, Ozo 'Ragamee, Ceia 'Vavamee
CNV Unrelenting Absolution
Kewu-pattern battleship
Status: Placed on patrol duty
Length: 3,500 metres (11482 ft 11 in)
CNV Sacred Resolve and CNV Penitent Prayer
Ceudar-pattern heavy corvettes
Status: Escorting the Absolution and Contrition
Length: 956 meters (3,140 ft)
CNV Clarity of Contrition
Ruma-pattern light carrier
Status: On patrol duty
Length: 3,000 meters (9,843 ft)
Cole Protocol (pulled straight from Halopedia)
ARTICLE I
United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1
Encryption Code: Red
Public Key: file/ First light/
From: UNSC/NAVCOM Fleet H. T. Ward
To: ALL UNSC PERSONNEL
Subject: General Order 098831A-1 ("The Cole Protocol")
Classification: RESTRICTED (BGX Directive)
The Cole Protocol
To safeguard and protect the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessels or stations must not be captured with intact navigation databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilian population centers.
If any Covenant forces are detected:
1. Activate selective purge of databases on all ship-based and planetary data networks.
2. Initiate triple-screen check to ensure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized.
3. Execute viral data scavengers (Download from UNSCTTP/EPWW:COLEPROTOCOL/Virtualscav/fbr.091)
4. If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream space with randomized vectors NOT directed toward Earth, the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center.[Note 1]
5. In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces and boarders, all UNSC ships MUST self-destruct.[Note 2]
Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON and pursuant to UNSC Military law articles JAG 845-P and JAG 7556-L, such violations are punishable by life imprisonment or execution.
ARTICLE II
Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable.
*SUBSECTION 7*
No captured Covenant craft may be taken to human controlled space without an exhaustive search for tracking systems that could lead the Covenant to Human bases.