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Aurora Squadron by RogueFox
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Aurora Squadron- Part 1
Date: 2 November 2003, 5:07 AM
The UNSC carrier Hornet glided along its flight path in the Beta Endrinarius system. It was part of Task Force IV that was assigned to protect the system. The routine C709 and C709-E Longsword Interceptor patrols swept through the system. One of these squadrons was the elite Aurora Squadron. The Auroras had served with distinction at Sigma Octanus IV, Jerico VII, and Alpha Ceti III. At Reach, the squadron had bought time for the admirality's evacuation ships. Aurora Leader, Lieutenant Commander Jake O'Malley, orderded the squadron to check in. One by one, his Auroras checked in. Aurora Two, Lieutenant Dan McCafferty, radioed in first. Aurora Three, Lieutenant Jack Edwards, followed Aurora Two. Aurora Four, Ensign Bob Toland, radioed in next. Finally, Aurora Five, Ensign Chuck Lowe, reported in last. Aurora Lead then ordered the squadron to form up in a line abrest to dock with Hornet. One of the last carriers in the fleet, Hornet was a huge ship. She began to collect her fighters, as she made preparations to leave the system to head for the shipyards on Saturn.
Unknown to the UNSC ships in the system, 3 Covenant vessels were inbound to take the system over. An easy match for the carrier, as the rest of Task Force IV had already left for Saturn. The 2 frigates and destroyer closed in through Slipstream, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Hornet.
Aurora Lead suddenly ordered his squadron into a chevron formation and they came about. Commander O'Malley had gotten the message from Fighter Control aboard the carrier about the inbound Covenant forces. Joining Aurora Squadron in the attack were Overlord Squadron and Scorpion Squadron. The C709-E variants were armed with a small 125mm Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, twin Archer missile pods, and a 50mm chin gun. The normal C709s were armed with a 70mm chin gun, and twin Archer pods. O'Malley groaned. Not enough to make any difference against a Covenant battlegroup. The Longswords formed into a giant chevron, with each squadron making its own, smaller chevron. Aurora Two cried out, "Covenant to port!" O'Malley turned and saw the green motes of light that preceded an exit from the Slipstream. The Longswords turned to face the motes. The 3 Covenant ships emerged from the Slipstream, and deployed their single-seat Seraph class fighters. Fighter Control crackled on the radio. "Overlord and Scorpion Squadrons: Run interference. Aurora Squadron: Attack capital ships at will." Aurora Lead grunted and gave orders for his C709-Es to break formation with the other Longswords. Overlord and Scorpion Squadrons split off to engage the Covenant fighters. The Auroras lined up on a Covenant frigate. The frigate fired its point-defense pulse lasers, but the Auroras nimbly dodged them. Aurora Lead ordered his fighters to fire their MAC, then Archers, then their chin-guns at the frigate. O'Malley knew they probably wouldn't get through the shield, but they'd try anyway. The MACs fired, causing the fighters to lose power for a little while, then came back on-line. The shield shimmered from the multiple 125mm hits. All 6 rounds hit in the same place, causing a small hole in the shield. Aurora Lead screamed for the chin guns and Archers to hit that hole. The missiles and bullets streaked for the hole. Luck was with the Auroras that day, because a missile hit a shield generator directly under the hole, taking it out. The shield disappeared. The Auroras cheered over the radio, and then began shooting missiles and bullets into the ship. Three missiles hit the same spot, tearing a small hole in the ship. Aurora Leader looked over at his MAC charge indicator. The display read 100%. He and Aurora Five fired their MACs into the hole. The MAC rounds hit a vital fuel line, and fire erupted out of the hole. The Auroras pulled off their attacks. Hornet saw the gaping hole in the frigate, and put some 50 Archer missiles on course. The frigate was soon a burning mess, thanks to the Auroras. The destroyer had since been destroyed by Hornet. The carrier itself, however, had not fared well. It had taken multiple laser and plasma hits. The hull had multiple holes, and dozens of scorch marks. Aurora Two cringed at the thought of the losses onboard the ship. O'Malley wondered if the ship could handle the trip to Saturn. The other Covenant frigate turned tail and ran out of the system. Aurora Leader sighed. They had defeated the Covenant. But at what cost? The Auroras had been extremely lucky with no losses. Overlord Squadron had lost 4 of its 6 fighters, and Scorpion Squadron lost 3 fighters. The carrier looked bad enough, and the losses inside must be horrendous. Aurora Squadron formed up and headed back to Hornet to await further orders...
To be continued...
Aurora Squadron-Part 2
Date: 31 December 2003, 10:21 PM
Editor's Note: Sorry, I've been busy and just now got around to writing the second part. Here's a link to the part 1 in case you haven't seen it/forgot it. http://halo.bungie.org/fanfic/?story=roguefox.1102030507581.html I may also decide to throw a crossover in here, so if you don't like crossovers at all, just stop reading and go find something else. Thanks.
Aurora Squadron gently touched their fighters down in Docking Bay 5 after their confrontation with a Covenant task force. Lt. Cmdr. O'Malley hopped out of his fighter and let the technicians know about a loose port side stabilizer. The techs nodded and proceeded to take care of the problem. O'Malley looked up just in time to see an power node blow, showering debris and sparks all over the hangar bay. Lieutenant McCafferty ducked and walked over to Aurora Leader. "So, commander, how bout that drink I won the other night?" O'Malley groaned. Aurora Two was the best poker player on board, and beat O'Malley in a game where the loser bought the squadron a round. "Allright, McCafferty. A bet is a bet. Gather up the boys and meet me in the pilots lounge." McCafferty grinned and snapped a salute. He then walked off to collect the members of Aurora Squadron. O'Malley shook his head and walked off towards the lounge.
The Planet Berullion, in a galaxy that is not our own.
"Captain Palleaon, are we ready to move?" Admiral Thrawn stood on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Superior. The fleet he had massed at his command was over 300 ships strong, much of which were Imperial Star Destroyers that flew the banner of the Galactic Empire. Palleaon turned. "Yes sir. The fleet is at your command." "Good." Thrawn said, and leaned back in his chair. Thrawn spotted the ISD Triumph moving off. "What's Triumph doing?" he asked. "He thinks he's got a Rebel fighter group on his scanners, sir." A lieutenant answered. "Why is he taking an entire Star Destroyer over there? Order him back to the fleet." "Yes sir." said a commander. "Triumph, you are ordered back into formation..." the commander trailed off. "What is that?" someone asked. A bright orange wormhole was opening up by Triumph. "Get him out of there!" yelled Thrawn. Even as he bellowed the order, it was too late. Triumph was sucked up in the orange wormhole, and it snapped shut.
The Auroras were enjoying their drinks, when Aurora Four, Ensign Toland, said "Sir...what is that?" O'Malley looked up to see a giant orange wormhole appear and spit out a giant, wedge shaped ship out, then snap shut. Hornet must have only been half to three-quarters as big as the new ship. O'Malley keyed the comm. "Captain Adams, I think we..." "I see it too O'Malley." Adams answered. Captain Robert Adams was a seasoned combat veteran, and he had never seen anything like this ship. "Bring us up to Combat Alert Alpha, Rogue." Rogue was the ship's AI. "Yes sir," Rogue replied. "May I remind you that our ship is horribly damaged. If that ship turns out to be hostile, it will rip us apart." "I am aware of that Rogue." Adams said. "Open a frequency." "Channel open." reported the ensign at communications.
"Where are we?" asked Captain Lee Clark. "What happened to the fleet?" Commander William Murray shook his head. "Sir, we are 500,000 light years away from the edge of our galaxy." "WHAT?!" Clark exclaimed. "Yes sir, it will take us years to get back. Until then, perhaps we should worry about what that thing is." Murray pointed out of the viewport and the strange cylinder shaped craft hanging off the bow. "Sir, we're picking up a signal...primitive, its on the radios that the infantry use when their in remote regions." said an ensign. "Put it on." Clark said. The speakers crackled and a voice came out, "This is Captain Robert Adams of the United Nations Space Command ship Hornet. Identify yourselves, you are in UNSC space." Clark cleared his throat. "Captain Adams, I am Captain Lee Clark of the Imperial Star Destroyer Triumph. We were brought here by some strange phenomenon, I assure you we do not intrude your space by choice. I will return to talking to you shortly, we must ah...repair our communications systems." Clark turned off the comm. Like most Imperial captains, he was trained to assess unknown ships combat capabilities. The lieutenant manning the scanners turned. "Sir, these ships are like nothing I've seen before. They have advanced computer systems, but everything else is...odd. They use a magentic cannon and missiles for their main weapons...the cannon uses a ferric projectile. If it hits our shields, it will damage them because ferric material interferes with our generators. They seem to have been in battle with another unknown race, superior to them as well. They use projectile weapons for sidearms too, sir." The lieutenant took a big breath after his long winded speech. Clark thought for a second. "Can their projectiles penetrate stormtrooper armor?" "Its possible sir, but it would take 5 or 6 hits to breach it." "And their armor?" "Sir, its made of a substance we once used, called Titanium-A." the lieutenant said. "It can't withstand more than one or two laser blasts." Clark nodded. "Prepare the ship for combat. Mobilize Stormtrooper divisions A-G. Get TIE Fighters scrambled to escort them. I want this ship captured so we can see who these people are." The bridge crew saluted and ran to give the necessary orders.
Captain Adams looked at the wedge-shaped craft. "Rogue, what is it?" Rogue's brow wrinkled. "Unknown, sir...wait, I'm detecting increased energy output from the ship...They're launching single-seat craft and...what appear to be boarding craft. Sir, they are going to board us." Adams growled. "Get this ship ready to engage the Star Destroyer. Get the Marines ready to repel boarders Send a signal to Earth for backup. Tell them we have new enemy."
The two ships rotated to bring their weapons to bear. The ships disengaged from Triumph. 5 Twin Ion Engine fighter squadrons and 7 division transports sped towards Hornet, which had released the remnants of Overlord and Scorpion Squadrons, as well as Aurora Squadron. O'Malley sighted one TIE Fighter and prepared to squeeze the trigger...
To Be Continued.
Aurora Squadron-Part 2 remake
Date: 1 January 2004, 10:40 PM
Editor's Note: I looked over the original part 2 of Aurora Squadron, and realized I wasn't happy with the crossover after I submitted it. Shame on me. So disregard that un', and read this one. Keep in mind this is my second or third attempt at fan fic, so bear with me.
Aurora Squadron gently touched their C-709Es down on the deck of Docking Bay 5. Lieutenant Commander O'Malley jumped down from his fighter, and pointed out a loose stabilizer to a technician. The tech nodded and moved to repair it. Aurora Two, Lieutenant McCafferty, jogged next to O'Malley. "Hey, commander," he said, "don't you owe the squadron a round?" O'Malley remembered the poker game from last night and groaned. Dan McCafferty had to be one of the best poker players in the UNSC, and O'Malley made a bet that the loser of the last game of the night bought the squadron drinks the next evening. O'Malley, needless to say, lost. O'Malley grinned and said "Sure, Dan. Drinks for all the Auroras. Round them up and bring them to the pilot's lounge." Aurora Two ran off to gather the squadron.
Captain Robert Adams stood on the bridge of the carrier Hornet. He took a look at the diagnostic of the ship. The two views of the ship and frowned. The ship's wireframe on the screen was mostly yellow, indicating that the hull was stressed, and couldn't take much more. Areas around non-vital areas that the Covenant didn't target were green, indicating a hull at 100%. The red areas meant that the hull was breached, or could give at any second. The hull was red around the engine areas, which were leaking coolant, radiation, and pretty much anything else that went through them. "Sir, if I may interrupt you." The voice was that of Rogue, the ship's AI. "The engine is close to a core breach. If a core breach occurs, this ship will be atomized." he continued. "Yes, Rogue, I realize that." Captain Adams replied. Rogue had a tendency to point out the painfully obvious. "Can we sustain a Slipspace jump?" Adams asked. "Unknown. Faster than light travel is stressful on a ship. We're damaged badly right now, and we've got more than a few hull breaches." Rogue said. "If we make a series of short jumps, rather than one big long one, we should be OK." The AI concluded. "Right, and we will still be following the Cole Protocol." Adams said. "Helm, set a course for..." Adams looked to Rogue. The AI grinned and said "Helm, set a course for Alpha Sigma IV, then we will go to Viridian III, then to Sol." "Aye, Captain." the helmsman responded. Adams settled back in the command chair as Hornet rocketed off into the Slipstream.
SPARTAN-043, Will, sat at the weapons console on the bridge of the UNSC frigate Gettysburg. It wasn't like he could fire anything. They had nothing in the tubes. SPARTAN-117, Master Chief Petty Officer John, was in the corner consulting with Sergeant Johnson and the artificial intelligence Cortana. SPARTAN-104, Fred, kept an eye on the engineering console. SPARTAN-058, Linda, watched the helm console. Will wondered what the Master Chief, the sergeant, and Cortana were discussing. The Master Chief nodded his head and stepped towards the middle of the bridge. "Everyone, listen up. Cortana says the new Slipspace drive dosen't really perform well rigged up like it is and it needs a break. So we'll be stopping in the Alpha Sigma IV system. We'll be stopping there for about 3 or 4 hours, and then continue to Earth." Will kicked back in the chair. Shouldn't be too hard. After all, the Covenant were fairly crippled, right?
Hornet lined up on her exit vector. Unknown to the carrier, a new class of Covenant warship was coming to engage them. The Covenant leadership decided that for the final campaigns against humanity, a heavy class of warship would be needed, heavier than even the mighty heavy crusier. The Covenant had began to produce the mighty battleship class. This ship had 9 plasma turrets on its port and starboard sides, 6 on the dorsal and ventral sides, and numerous lasers. The battleships carried one squadron of fighters as well. They were powerful enough, but the Covenant didn't stop there. The battleships had a powerful gravity well generator, something that could pull a ship right out of Slipspace. The Covenant could use it against fleeing ships. A battleship, and 2 destroyers were about to pop out of Slipspace right behind them. Hornet jumped out as the Covenant jumped in. The Covenant commander quickly tracked the course of the carrier to Alpha Sigma IV. The Covenant jumped out, following the carrier. The Covenant activated their gravity well projectors and the carrier slowed. Hornet was about to be in for the fight of her life.
"Arriving in-system at Alpha Sigma IV." Cortana reported. Gettysburg dropped out of Slipspace in the pristine, uninhabited system. "Hmmm." Cortana mused. "I'm picking up inboound..." Cortana couldn't get the words out before the heavily damaged Hornet dropped into the system. "Wow." Linda said. "Open a channel, Cortana." "Opening..." the AI reported.
Captain Adams looked to Rogue. "What just happened?" Rogue looked up, a distant cold look in his eyes. "Sir, the Covenant have appearantly developed the technology to pull our ships right out of Slipspace." "That's impossible." scoffed Commander Lee Clark. Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Explain our sudden stop and the immense gravity projection eminating from the Covenant ships behind us, then." he challenged. The commander looked away. Adams looked left and right and sighed. "Combat Alert Alpha, Rogue. Launch the entire fighter wing." Rogue looked up. "Sir, we won't be able to effectively coordinate them." Adams turned around to face the AI. "Look, the C709s and C709-Cs run interference. The C709-Es, the C709-As and the C709-Bs attack the capital ships. I want have the C-709s guarding Hornet, half attacking fighter groups actively. Issue those orders, now." "Aye, sir." Rogue began giving launch codes and orders to begin flight ops. The entire bridge crew failed to notice the blinking green light that indicated an incoming hail.
Technicians and Flight Deck personnel ran frantically about on Deck 59, the Flight Deck, where all the Docking Bays for the fighters were. Marines ran past to prepare for boarding, and pilots ran to their ships. The C709-A variants were configured for attack. They had 4 Archer missile racks instead of just 2. The C709-Bs were bombers, pure and simple. They had twin 125mm MAC cannon, an Archer missle pod, and two Shiva warheads. The C709-Cs were configured for interception. Their Archer pods were replaced by Mark VIII class space torpedoes. These had a more powerful punch than the Archer on fighters, but weren't effective on capital ships because of their small size. All the fighter groups, 500 fighters in all, prepared to launch. The Auroras left their drinks and jumped into their fighters. They put on their helmets knowing that this could be the last time they suit up. O'Malley secured his flight suit, got the thumbs-up from the tech, and Rogue gave him the go-code, "Zulu, Zulu, Zulu. Aurora Squadron cleared for launch." O'Malley throttled up and let his fighters into the frying pan.
To be Continued...
Aurora Squadron-Part 3
Date: 4 January 2004, 11:32 PM
1330 Hours, January 15, 2553. (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier Hornet engaged in uninhabited system, Alpha Sigmus IV.
Captain Adams was an unconventional carrier captain. He wasn't a big believer in using carriers for Marine transport. He was one of the ones who pressured for the return of the massive Carrier Air Groups (CAG). He and his fellow supporters believed that massive fighter groups could win the war. HighCom scoffed at the idea. But, if Adams was stupid enough to try it, they'd let him. 500 fighters and only one battalion of Marines. Well, Adams thought, here's my shot.Aurora Squadron was already in the black, and most of the bombers were lining up. This was the C709-Cs first deployment. They were doing quite well. The Mark VIII torpedoes were very effective. Hardly any losses, the battleships only carried one squad of fighters. Adams looked at the board to see his fighters advancing on the battleship. "Rogue, prepare our ship's weapons." Adams ordered. "Yes sir." the AI replied. The MAC began to charge up and the Archer's safety released. The C709s and the C709-Cs were assigned to Red Wing. The C709-As, Bs, and Es were assigned to Gold Wing. "Red Wing here, Captain. All fighters eliminated." Adams nodded. "Red Wing, join Gold Wing and attack that battleship." "Yes sir." Red Wing replied. Adams watched as the Reds joined the Golds in the attack on the battleship. He wondered how they were faring.
Lieutenant Commander O'Malley, Gold Wing Leader, pulled the stick left and pushed the left rudder pedal hard. The fighter snapped to the left. The ball of plasma roared past on the right. "Gold and Red Wings, this is Gold Leader. Target all weapons on the rear of the battleship and line up." The massive CAG lined up and was about to fire. "Gold Lead, this is Red 31. We have a charging plasma turret." O'Malley looked up and saw the white-hot light. He cursed and ordered the group to disperse. "7th Wing, form on me." 7th Wing included Aurora Squadron, Tango Squadron, and Eagle Squadron. All C709-Es, too. "Red Leader, take command of the group." He switched frequencies to the 7th Wing's. "OK, Hellcats, here's what we gotta do. That blasted plasma turret is keeping our bombers from firing their Shivas and everyone from firing their MACs and Archers. So we're going to try something new." "Gold Lead, you've been drinking again!" said Eagle Leader. "Maybe, Eagle Lead. Maybe. We're going to shoot our MACs and make a hole in the shield. Do you see those little wires going up to the cannon? Aim your chin guns and sever them." "Roge-o, Lead." Toland responded. The MACs of 7th Wing fired and tore a hole in the shields. They then let loose with their chin guns and ripped the wires to shreds. The plasma cannon cooled and was silent. "YEE-HAW!!!" exclamed Edwards. 7th Wing reformed with the rest of the Air Group. The massive wave of fighters fired all weapons towards the ship. Streams of missiles, cannon, and bullets sailed towards the ship. The Shivas hit first. The 30 tactical nukes downed a portion of the shields and blew a huge hole in the ship. The MAC guns also blew huge holes in the hull, Archer missiles blossomed inside the ship, and the bullets ripped into crew and vital equipment. Cheers of joy came over the speakers.
Captain Adams' eyes widened at the destruction his Air Group had caused. Even Rogue seemed impressed. "Rogue, fire all weapons at that hole." Adams bellowed. "Yes sir." the AI responded. The ship shuddered as the MAC fired and 100 missiles fired at the battleship. The MAC tore into the engine and Archer missiles blossomed along the length of the hole. "The enemy battleship's core is breaching sir. Suggesting that all fighter wings return to the carrier." Rogue said. "Agreed." Adams said. "Call them back." The CAG scattered and raced back to the carrier as the enemy battleship's core breached and sent the parts of the battleship flying into the two destroyers. One was completely ripped apart, and the other damaged. It was about to fire on Hornet, when suddenly the Gettysburg flew into it and both ships blew up. "Who was on that?" demanded Adams. Rogue shrugged. "I have two life pods on sensors." he said. "Get the Auroras over there and grapple them and bring them back. Call the fighters back. Let's see how HighCom likes this one." the captain of the UNSC carrier Hornet was smiling broadly. 500 fighters, 20 lost, and 3 Covenant capital ships taken down. That's pretty good. The radio crackled. "Aurora Lead, here." O'Malley said. "We're moving in."
O'Malley brought the Longsword up to the lead escape pod. "Aurora Two, form up on me to grapple this one. Three and Four, you got the last one. Five, you have our six." Single clicks came in over the radio, indicating an affirmative response. As they pulled them into Docking Bay 5, the fighters landed. The pilots and techs ran to assist those in the pods, but stopped cold in their tracks. 4 SPARTAN-IIs stepped out, followed by a Marine sargeant. "What the he.." a technician started to say. The Master Chief stepped up and said "Where's Captain Adams, sir?" O'Malley pointed to the elevator. "On the bridge, Master Chief." The 4 giants and the sargeant moved off, leaving the Auroras and their support crews in silence...
To be continued...
Aurora Squadron-Part 4
Date: 11 January 2004, 4:28 AM
1650 hours, April 20, 2553. (Military Calendar)/ UNSC carrier Hornet in position with UNSC Fleet, Sol system, Earth.
Dear God, thought Captain Adams, it's come to this. The Hornet had returned to Earth with the Master Chief's warning about the Covenant knowing the location of Sol. HighCom instantly reacted. Section III had been developing a battleship-class of vessel, because of the Hornet's report of the Covenant's development of one. HighCom accelerated it, and they now had 5 battleships in orbit around Earth, the North Dakota, Iowa, New Jersey, Alabama, and North Carolina. The battleships had 6 MAC guns on its port and starboard sides, and 2 in the front. The UNSC had 40 Super MACs in orbit around Earth. The UNSC had giant stations dedicated for fighter bases. They had 10 of those statons, 50 fighters on each. The Pillar of Autumn's reactor-type was installed on all UNSC vessels, and carriers had CAGs of 60 fighters. (Hornet had taken on a substantial amount of fighters from Task Force III when the Covenant ambushed them at Beta Edrinari V. All the frigates and the two other carriers were destroyed, so Hornet took on all the Longswords.) 300 ships were stationed at Earth, the other 100 and 20 Super MACs were assigned to Mars. Mars was vital to Earth as well. All the Inner Colonies and Outer Colonies were gone. If a human being was outside the Sol system, he was in a ship. No planets outside that system were habitable. Adams shook his head. The UNSC, once spanning thousands of star systems, is reduced to the Sol system. An alien race, for no reason, wiped humanity off the galaxy, all the way back to their homeworld. Hornet was assigned to 1st Fleet, 2nd Task Force, 5th Group. The fleet at Mars would race to Earth if the Covenant bypassed that world. Adams sighed. These were probably the last days of humanity. He walked off to go get some sleep in his room. The Covenant could strike at any time.
Aurora Leader, Lt. Cmdr. O'Malley, walked across the bay and threw a socket wrench at the wall. He had seen hundreds of worlds glassed. Billions die. And now, the Covenant was here, knocking on Earth's door. The UNSC had no place else to go. All the planets of the Sol system were bloated with refugees from the Colonies that had been devestated. Aurora Squadron was part of Hornet's CAG, which was part of the 5th Wing's Air Group. There were over 1,000 fighters in Earth's orbit. Most, however, were the C709s, not their variants. The variants were very effective on the capital ships, but the C709s left a great deal to be desired. O'Malley looked at the squadron, sleeping in the pilot's lounge, because they had to be ready to go 24/7. He looked to his left and saw the blinking green light that indicated an incoming COM. He looked at the origin. "REMOTE SENSING STATION YORK, SOL SYSTEM." "Son of a ..." O'Malley muttered.
1750 hours, April 20, 2553. (Military Calendar)/Remote Sensing Station York on Sol System's Edge.
Chief Roberts looked at the screen. No question. At least 500 Covenant ships. Inbound to Earth. The chief fought back tears. Earth was going to fall. His home. Humanity's homeworld was going to be ripped to shreds by the Covenant. The Chief regained control. There was something he had to do. 5 Covenant frigates dropped out of the Slipstream and moved towards his station. He turned and activated the auto-destruct sequence. The last thing the chief ever did was flip the Covenant ships the bird.
1800 hours, April 20, 2553. (Military Calendar)/UNSC 1st Fleet in Earth orbit.
Admiral Greer on the battleship Iowa opened a channel to the entire fleet. "People, the Covenant are here. They have beaten us all the way to our homeworld. They have destroyed our colonies. They have beaten us repeatedly and pushed us. They attack, and we fall back. They attack again, and we fall back. No further! The line must be drawn HERE!This is not some backwater colony! This is Earth!Humanity's homeworld! Defend it with your lives! Greer out.
Captain Adams watched as 500 hundred Covenant ships drop out of Slipspace. The Super MACs turned and aimed towards the enemy fleet. "Attention. Launch all fighters." a computer voice said. "Rogue, you heard it. Launch." Adams said. "Yes sir." the AI replied.
O'Malley throttled up and led the C709-E in with the rest of the 5,000 fighters. "OK, listen up." Commander Powell said. "C709s and C709-Cs, run interference. Everyone else, we're taking out the battleships closest to Earth." The fighters split apart. 600 of the fighters split off to intercept Seraph-class fighters. The other 400 lined up on the nearest battleship. "Bs! Fire Shivas now!" 25 Shiva missiles streaked for the battleship. "MACs! Now!" The -Es and the -Bs fired their MACs. "Archers! Now!" The 400 fighters released a swarm of missiles and broke. "All fighters, break and attack! There are too many capital ships exchanging fire! Attack the fighters!" said a controller. O'Malley looked up in time to see a giant MAC round streak towards a Covenant crusier. He glanced towards the battleship in time to see it go white from nukes. The battleship had a huge hole chewed in the side of it, and the MACs sailed right in, followed by the Archer missiles. The Covenant battleship exploded, taking two destroyer escorts with it. Aurora Squadron banked to port and lined up on a Seraph group. "Aurora Two, take Five and go after those two strafing Hornet! Three and Four, let's take these guys!" O'Malley barked. The COM clicked Affirmative. Lowe and McCafferty peeled off. Toland and Edwards formed on O'Malley. Aurora Leader sighted up a Seraph. The computer made a beeping tone as it sought a missile lock and became solid when it had one. O'Malley let an Archer go and let loose a hail of 70mm bullets. The bullets pinged away at the shield as it overloaded, and the missile slammed into the fighter, destroying it. Toland and Edwards took care of the other 3 in the same manner. O'Malley glanced up at the two fleets locked in deadly combat.
Admiral Greer's Iowa turned its portside to face the Covenant and fired its 6 MACs. The MACs blew apart a Covenant battleship that returned the favor on 3 UNSC destroyers. The Covenant were pushing in system, but were beaten back by the tenacious UNSC fleet and the Super MACs. The Covenant failed to consider the 100 ships stationed at Mars coming in to assist in the defense of Earth.
Captain Wilkinson led the 2nd Fleet of the UNSC in to combat the Covenant attacking Earth. The Covenant Slipspace technologies had been adapted to the human drives, and they were about to use them. The 2nd Fleet charged up their drives, and zipped into the Slipstream to save Earth...
To Be Continued...
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