Captain Alex Harper
August 30th, 2552
06:19
UNSC Aegis Fate
Epsilon Eridani Fleet
The Fall of Reach 0600-0700 hours (military time)
[}-{]
The UNSC Aegis Fate took a chunk of debris to the comms dish at around 0600. Alex had backed off from the line to behind the local ODP, where he dispatched maintenance teams to the dish on the outer hull.
His fingers drummed on the arm of his chair as the ship cycled: the guns were checked and rechecked, the wounded were moved and treated, the assessments were carried out.
"The results?" Mei asked, avoiding the question.
"Do not hold back. We need to know."
"The comms dish is the biggest problem, sir. We have as much ammunition as anyone else in the fleet but we're down to three banks of Archer missiles and seventeen MAC rounds."
"And the PDCs?"
"Full, for the most part. We used the front ones to carve some debris up about ten minutes ago. The radar dish wouldn't be attached right now if we hadn't."
"So, nothing we can do about that?" Alex asked, pointing to the screen. The Aegis Fate was still collecting data from the rest of the fleet and its myriad satellites sitting in Orbit. The tacmap, though more inaccurate because of the damage to the ships comms array, was still able to display the battle in real time.
Mei turned her head to the map and Alex watched her. As she saw the clock tick over to 06:21, her face hardened. Alex smiled as she concentrated. The covenant were retreating. Having reached their target closing distance, each ship ejected swarms of phantoms and corvettes, bound for the surface of the planet.
Alex watched the fleet respond in kind, lances of MACs and rains of missiles descended upon the unshielded craft, detonating in bright and colourful explosions as they tried to make their way to the surface.
"Hundreds will make it through." She said, softly. There's nothing we can do.
"Maybe. RED FLAG has been abandoned. They're deploying the SPARTANs to Reach."
"That is a hail Mary if I ever heard one."
"Indeed it is, Mei. Indeed it is."
Alex directed the ship to fall back a little, acting in a defensive posture towards the planet's surface. With Reach now swarming with Covenant, and the possibility of more cloaking canopies, the Orbital Defence Platforms were now exposed to their rear.
Holding fast was all Alex could do as the minutes counted away. Eventually after long and silent minutes, and nearly half an hour of radio silence. The voices of the UNSC began to filter through the speakers on the bridge.
"See if you can patch in to NAVSPECWAR, they will have the best assessment of the situation."
'Forces planetside nearly overrun.'
'they're everywhere!'
'hold your position, Charlie one niner, SPARTANs en route.'
'Negative, Colonel, we're-'
'Charlie one niner, repeat your last.'
'Christ. They're gone.'
'Sir, that super battle cruiser is back! Its fired!'
Alex and Mei recoiled in terror as one of the remaining cruisers was smelted two ODPs along the line.
'More targets jumping in, this is it, sailors.'
'Godspeed. All forces hold your ground and defend the ODPs.'
Alex frowned, with each blast from the covenants new weapon, another cruiser went down.
'They've split their fleet!'
'Sir, we have 92 ships remaining, the covenant have split their forces and are approaching to engage.'
'This is Captain Keyes, the Pillar of Autumn will engage the sniper-ship and return to the surface.'
'Keyes, are you mad?'
'Its a priority tasking from ONI section 3.'
'Roger that, Keyes, command out.'
Alex watched again, 75 of the 150 or so covenant ships were tracking straight for the defense platforms. A cluster of five of the ships had mov off from the main group to pounce on Alex's ODP.
"Shit. All hands, prepare for company!"
Aegis fired, the MAC round pierced the shields and cleaved a cruiser in half from stem to stern. Atmosphere bellowed out of its hulls and ignited when a secondary explosion, at the aft of the ship, detonated in a circus of fire. The fireball was so great that it damaged the shields of the nearby corvette, serving as its escort.
"Mark!" Alex cried, "ready the gun!"
'Not nearly enough of us left to effectively defend this point!'
The first ODP, just three along the line from the Aegis Fate exploded, taking two thousand souls with it.
"Fire!"
The shot flew from the great gun beneath their feet and sped into space with a strength and vigour that only an adrenaline-fueled mad man could create. It collided with the corvette upon its upper deck, slicing through the shield on its back and disabling it. Caught in Reach's gravity well, the ship seemed to sink towards the surface, pulled down like a ship of old beneath the waves. Pods ejected from it as Alex called for the engines to spool.
The ODP was shifting behind them. Spinning on its axis as the gun lined up a shot.
'Aegis, this is Caen, bug out and godspeed.'
Alex didn't need an invitation.
"Mei? Send it."
They advanced along side a MAC round for the ODP, which detonated a cruiser ahead of them.
"Brace! Brace for debris!"
Hazards lit the status screen as dust, debris, and plasma peppered the ships hull. Scraping and striking the plating as it passed beyond the two remaining ships.
The PDCs buzzed like a swarm of locusts, the fire control teams worked with brows made of sweat to keep up and keep the flak at bay.
ODP Caen fired right up until its destruction but by the time the last cruiser remained, the Aegis Fate was long gone.
As they made for the safety of three straggling frigates: the Sundown, the Spit in Your Face, and the Demeter. Alex watched the screen as the UNSC was slowly dismantled in front of him.
Pillar of Autumn was making its attack run. From its modified MAC gun, three charged shots rang out, the ship danced away from fire as they flew. Plasma tried to reach ot but the ship fluttered like a leaf on the wind, riding a solar storm as it blasted straight for it. A moment later, a curtain of fire rang from the little cruiser, expanding into a Web of armed archer missiles.
They scratched and clawed at the ships shield, peppering and seasoning it with little cuts, five hundred in total. The Shield cracked and went down, beginning their cycle of regeneration just as the Autumn launched a lone broadsword fighter. Time seemed to stop but Alex checked to make sure: 06:35. The little craft flew, clearly manned, towards the ship as supporting fire from the Pillar of Autumn raked at anything that tried to get close. The fighter dipped off the radar and exploded in nuclear fire moments later.
'By God, the bastard did it…'
'Command this is Keyes, cover me back towards the planet.'
'Roger that, Autumn.'
'What's available to help them?'
'Dear God, we've lost half our number in less than ten minutes. 52 ships remain, nearly all frigates.'
'We have SPARTANs groundside protecting the Orbital Defence Generators. They will keep us in the fight.'
'Only long enough to bug out of the system.'
'Acknowledged. We knew how this would go. All callsigns make your preparations, rally what survivors you can. We're done here.'
Mei swallowed, tears welled in her eyes. "It's done, then." She said as the crew stood quietly.
"Reach is lost. We don't have the numbers to turn the tide now."
As if by the direction of a divine comic, three ODPs fell as Alex said it, destroyed after a power failure from a planetary generator.
The covenant set upon the rest of the fleet, 75 ships against thirty, and slaughted them with a systematic precision that would make an A.I jealous.
The commander's of the frigates asked Alex for permission to evac the system, and Alex granted it. The Commander of the Spit in Your Face begged Alex to leave with them but Alex refused. His crew were all in. They would hide in the cloud layer above the Aszodian Highlands and wait for Maddie to call for them.
As they descended, they watched the 20 ships defending the remaining ODPs struggle to hold the line against the other half of the covenant fleet. They had an easier time of things but only because most of their enemy were deploying masses of troops to the planet's surface.
Decimated: The UNSC could do little to stop the slaughter as the end of all things began to play out in front of them.
[}-{]
Maddie Harper
August 30th, 2552
07:00
UNSC Encampment Bravo
Near the Pillar of Autumn Landing Dock
The Fall of Reach
[}-{]
Maddie blinked dust from her eyes as she stood wheezing beside their warthog. Mikaela and Preston watched as well as the Pillar of Autumn landed in dry dock.
Rumours were spreading through the camp, 'the covenant were here in force'. The battle was over. A grim fog had descended on the refugees around them as they made their peace with their respective Gods.
"Tell Jack and Katya to get a move on." She said to Preston, who nodded and walked away.
"Look. In the clouds where that cruiser came through." Mikaela said, swallowing.
It was only a brief look but the debris glittered in the sky. Some of it burned as it fell towards the surface. Though it was morning, Maddie knew the signs of a pitched battle when she saw it, and she could see that most of the debris was UNSC.
"I'll get you out of here, Mikaela." She said after a long couple of minutes. When the cloud layer recovered, and sheathed them from the cataclysm above, she hugged the young woman and promised her again.
Preston approached and hugged them, too. "You're a kind soul, Mikaela Sorvad. You won't die on Reach."
"Not even ONI can stop us." She said, grinning through the tears on her cheeks. "I actually have something for you, Maddie."
Maddie coughed and turned to face her. She was surprised that Mikaela didn't recoil as she looked at her. Her body was a maze of scarring and violence. Her arm was missing, leaving only the military grade prosthetic arm mount in its place. Her opposite shoulder, once beautifully tattooed was routinely bleeding from the gash that Drake had left in it. Where the skin split, the covenant mark of shame could be seen, seared deep into her flesh. It was an ugly wound but not really as ugly as her half exposed cybernetic eye. It glowed beneath her skin, circuitry faded and bounced underneath her face as it struggled to remain connected to her ONI-issued neural interface. The war had made her a monster but Maddie felt more certain than ever that she had made the right call. ONI had help make her ugly, inside and out. The gift from Preston and now Mikaela made her believe that she could atone for that ugliness and right the wrongs she'd done. If not for Maggie, then Mikaela and Preston. Her friends were her hope. So long as even one of them lived, she could keep going.
Mikaela took her finger and touched it to a small device that had been tucked away in a pouch around her waist. The device clicked green and beeped happily.
"In case something happens. Now my data belongs to you, too."
"Nothing will happen to you Mikaela, you're getting out."
Mikaela, the girl that Maddie could have been, smiled with a perfect and beautiful countenance. "With you two here, the odds are in my favour," she said, "but we both know that things happen that are outside of our control."
"You taught me to laugh at fate, Mikaela." Maddie said, hugging her again.
"I did, but that doesn't mean fate can't laugh at us back."
"Was that what the song you left for me was getting at?"
"Charlemange."
"Oh, no. I thought that song was beautiful and haunting."
"It's a love song."
"Kind of. It's a bittersweet song."
"I'm sorry I lost your media player."
"There's plenty out there. Besides, I still have the master copies."
"I know, it just meant a lot to me."
"There will be more music, Maddie." She said touching her on the side of the face.
Maddie winced, "Katya and Jack will find us a way off this planet, and I will find you another to replace it."
Her body was broken but her resolve had never been stronger, she looked to the acrid sky and prayed.
Maddie prayed to hear new music.
In a Galaxy Far Far Away
《¤》
Cass' father, Ezra, had taught her the way that he had been trained. He had been some kind of Special Forces operator but that didn't mean much to Cass, who took a right as a fork in the path to run a dangerous trail she liked to explore. The feeling was back again, swelling within her as she soared across the mountain top, high above the trees of the forest below. Cass was safe here. Not literally. The trail was treacherous, just a slim chunk of rock that jutted from the mountain side. She vaulted a fallen section of the trail, using the feeling to push herself further than her father could. Grinning, she landed softly on the other side and pushed on, smelling him as he heard her make landfall.
There was movement ahead and Cass' eyes widened and she smiled. It was time.
Having lived in the woods around this mountain range for her whole life, Cass knew them like the back of her grubby hands. There was a small plateau nearby, one she could push him to if she flanked him and cut off his escape. Cass slid down an embankment and rolled, launching herself over a rocky barrier and down on to a smooth section of rock below, which carried her down the mountainside by almost a hundred metres, she resisted the urge to squeal with delight as she reached the quickest part and instead breaked with the soles of her nerfhide boots. To her right, she could see his eyes, burning with recognition. He bolted right, down the path Cass wanted him to take and she followed, stuffing her hand into her fur lined jacket as the ground levelled out.
Cass slowed and met the Nerk's eyes, they were wide, big and brown. It moved to drop its horns towards her but Cass had already drawn the blaster. She fired, the bolt streaked through the air and clashed with the Nerk's skull, killing it instantly.
That's dinner sorted for a few days, she thought, wandering lazily over towards it. It looked peaceful as it lay there, its eyes lifeless and grey. Cass took a seat, watching the sun as it dipped below a faraway mountain she'd never seen the summit of. Cass pulled the carcass towards her and began to clean it, drawing her knife. She cut away the skin and slowly picked the Nerk clean, placing the meat, entrails, bones and everything useful into little containers that Ezra had stolen from the tourist cabins to the south. Cass sighed, looking towards the sky as a ship blasted away from the nearest Spaceport. Her eyes, enhanced by the feeling, tracked it until it stretched and flashed away.
She bit her lip and shook her head. Too dangerous. Stay here, where you're safe, with Ezra.
Cass pushed the remains of the Nerk down the side of the cliff to the ravine below, to Cass, it seemed wrong not to return the Nerk to the forest. They'd been one and the same, keeping each other alive in the wild's of Roon's great rest, she stuffed into a knapsack and slung over her shoulder, slowly making her way down the hill as she hummed an old lullaby to herself.
Do not rise, my angel
Sink with me below
To the darkened hollows
You will know
Fall with me, little angel
Let peace be a stranger
Let passion drive you
Turn not from its danger
It was an odd little song. It spoke of things she hadn't read in the booms her father had stolen over the years. Mothers were supposed to love their children, not use them for their own evil ends. Still, the wind was haunted by it. Cass forced herself to think of other things but it was difficult. There was no one to tell these feelings to, no one to learn from that wasn't her father.
People were dangerous but surely one must have been nice. Cass wasn't sure as she followed the trail, covering her tracks as she went. Somewhere in the distance, the wind changed again and sang a new song. This was one less haunting, this was a natural sound that seemed to spread around the world in giant tendrils. Cass turned for a moment and watched a small bird land on the tree nearby, its white eyes and blood red feathers stuck out like a sore thumb but to most animals, it looked like a collection of poisonous Ench Berries, an evergreen plant that was native to Roon.
Cass heard a rustle. Her ears pricked and she cursed as the feeling panged in her chest. He snuck up on me!
She spun, shrieking as she tossed snow in his face. He moved away but she was on him. She threw a fist right. Blocked. Then left, pulling her body around in a tight arc as she launched her attack. He dodged that too, taking only a glancing blow as he moved clear of the swing and thumped her hard in the stomach. The fight was on and Cass reveled in it, grinning happily as she rolled, dodged, and parried her attackers blows with an effortless and savage precision.
He moved like water, bending in a way that she saw coming but was too small and too weak to fully block. The blow came to the side of her abdomen, rippling through her body as she staggered. Cass yelped like a wounded Nerk but wrapped her legs around him as he came back to attack. With a twist, she had him down on the ground, scrambling away as she rolled on top of him, scarring and struggling as she manoeuvred him into a choke hold. He was thrice her size but Cass felt the feeling give her strength. She trusted it and it came good, pinning him in place until he tried to tap three times on his chest, his face turning blue. He gargled and Cass grinned, her mouth open as she watched him struggle for air. She bit her lip, waiting for the right moment. Then, just as darkness threatened to take him, Cass let go.
He wretched and wreathed about the ground, dislodging the snow from its delicate blanket form to one of dirty mush. Cass stood up gingerly and punched him playfully on the back as he rolled onto his side.
"Too long," he gasped, "I haven't snuck up on you… for years and now… three times in one month." he said, wheezing.
"Sorry, Dad" Cass replied, offering him her hand.
"Not good enough." He said, trying to recover.
"I'll be better" Cass offered, her words seemed almost lazy in the soft whine of the winds that lapped at them.
"Why are you distracted?" He asked, sitting up in the snow, his chest rising and falling with the wind as it moved through the tree's.
"I…" She replied, looking back towards the branch that had housed the Small Ench, the bird shed been fascinated by; he was gone, though. He'd flown far away, further than Cass could ever go.
She sighed. "Where do they go?"
Ezra trudged along the path and towards the entrance to their cavern, "the birds?"
Cass shook her head, "the ships."
"They go to dangerous places" He replied, smiling sadly down at her.
"All of them?" She replied, brushing her wild hair from her face.
He nodded firmly, "all beings are dangerous."
Cass rolled her eyes, "Yes yes, if I see one I hide, if I can't hide, I kill. I know the drill, Dad, I just… I mean we can't be the only people in the whole galaxy who aren't dangerous."
"We are dangerous, Starstuff. I'm a trained killer and now," He winced, rolling his shoulder where Cass had locked it, "so are you. Just remember that we never harm in anger. We fight to live and that's it."
"And for friends?"
Ezra passed as they came to the door of the cave, hidden behind a wall of rocks glued to the door with a sap adhesive. He paused, turning with a strange look on his face.
"One day, I hope you will have the luxury of friends, Cass."
《¤》
Let me know what you think, it will be a long time until this sees the light of day but anything you have to ask/say/critique would be greatly appreciated!
I hope you enjoy my take on The Fall of Reach as much as I'm enjoying writing it!